A/N: I know this fic is dragging, but thanks to those that stick with it. Again, thank you dear reviewers.

Cryptic Cove

Picky half walked, half dragged his feet, leading his "escorts" to the edge of the town, near the harbor. As ten minutes passed by, he heard another set of feet join them. Trying to get a better look at the figures, Picky turned only to have the front two shove him forward.

"Keep walking."

Stifling a whimper, Picky plowed on painfully while the three figures conversed.

"So Tatchi, did you have fun?"

"Yep, it's nice stretch my arms once in a while."

"Heh, well that's good. Pretty soon, we'll all get our turn…"

Picky tried to block out their conversation. It had been obvious, even for someone as stupid as him, that these figures were planning to do something to the town, something horrible. Reaching the corner of the town, the path turned left. Not too far away, was an unoccupied lighthouse, and the first dock. Picky stopped.

"What'erya stopping for, MOVE IT, before I gut ya!"

Picky squeaked and rushed onto the dock. Attached to one of the wooden pillars was a small rowboat, probably big enough for two. One of the black figures shoved Picky in it, as he was examining it.

After seeing stars, Picky raised his head in pain toward the sky just in time as the figures unbound the cord from the wooden pillar and slip into the water.

"Who are they?" thought Picky, rubbing his head. But he didn't have time to think when he felt the boat being dragged out into the ocean. Whoever they were, they were pretty strong and not to be messed with. Giving up any thought of escape, Picky slumped down in the boat.

After a half a mile or so of being pulled to sea, the cord started to pull taut in another direction, towing the boat left. There, out in the distance was a dark cloud. Only it wasn't a cloud but a cliff surrounded by rocks. Upon being pulled closer, Picky saw, that it was not just rocks, but a small cove, overshadowed by the large cliff. The figures seemed to know what they were doing as they weaved the boat around the rocks blocking the tiny entrance.

After a good ten minutes of maneuvering, the cord relaxed and the boat went into a sudden halt, the waves, isolating the boat on some rocks. The three figures leaped out of the water, landing silently on the rocks. Water collected in pools around their feet, as the shadows dragged the boat further inland. After securing the rope to a nearby rock, the front shadows proceeded to move inward, closer to the cove. Picky could see a faint light emanating to the far right of the cliff, near the center. "How did that get here?" he thought, but was suddenly interrupted by the third figure, who had grabbed him roughly, and tossed him off the boat.

"YOWCH!" cried Picky, landing on his bottom. However, he was too afraid of what would happen, if he had said anything further. After watching what the three figures were capable of doing, Picky chose to shut his mouth.

"Aw, shut up and get moving!" the figure scowled. The two figures had reached the base of the left side of the cliff and seemed to be moving upward in thin air. Upon moving closer though, Picky saw that there was a cleverly disguised ledge, winding around the outside of the cliff that eventually stopped at where the light was emanating from.

Shuffling around the ledge, Picky whimpered as the ledge began to rise higher and thinner. However, the figure he was with, kept a rather tight grip on him, so he had nothing really to worry about…yet.

The light, upon being reached, revealed a cave entrance. Stepping inside, Picky felt water dripping off rocks, and the sea splashing underground. Although it was dark, the figures seemed to know where they were going as they escorted him deeper into the cave.

As 15 more minutes passed, Picky spotted the glow of another light, emanating from a tall pillar. When they finally reached the light, Picky gave a gasp, while the other figures sniggered.

They had reached another ledge, which had lengthened into a large cavern. Below the ledge, was a lake of water brought in by the ocean. In the middle of the lake, were three ships, most likely galleons from the large size. The glowing pillar Picky had seen was a mast. The galleons were bustling with dark figures rushing around on the deck. Apparently, the cavern had more than one entrance, and judging by the galleons, it was a big one. However, Picky could not find it, as he looked around.

Still in awe of the giant ships, Picky had no time to scream as a figure had grabbed him, and sprang off the ledge, toward the ships. Picky merely opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Since the lake was vast in diameter, Picky thought that the figure would not make it until he felt an impact accompanied by a thud, causing him to slightly lose consciousness. The other two followed close behind, making equally heavy thuds, as they all landed on the largest galleon. The figures on the ship stopped scurrying around at the sounds, and rushed to the figures.

"Hey, Kuromaru, Fuu, Tatchi! Back already! What did ya bring? Is it food?" cried some of the figures pointing at the semi-unconscious Picky, who was still being gripped by the one called Kuromaru.

"Yarr, GET OUT OF THE WAY! This is a puny human the boss asked us to bring back, so we'd know all about that town!" Sweeping everyone away, Kuromaru dragged Picky towards the main cabin as Fuu and Tatchi followed behind. The rest of the figures followed curiously.

Kuromaru pounded on the door. "Come in." rasped a low voice. Opening the door, Kuromaru, Fuu, Tatchi, and the rest flooded in, filling in the ample space around the cabin. The walls were decorated with skulls and weapons. In the middle of the room was a large chair where the voice had come from. There was also a table filled with books and maps.

"So, this is the filthy human, that you chose to guide us?" the voice rasped gesturing at Picky, "He doesn't seem like much, but I guess he'll do for now. I trust there were no problems with the villagers?"

"Nope." exclaimed Kuromaru tossing Picky on the ground in front of the large chair. "All asleep. They didn't even post sentries." The fall seemed to have thrown Picky out of his unconsciousness, as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"Good…just in time." the voice rasped menacingly, with a hint of pleasure in it. The figures around all cackled in delight.

As Picky rubbed his eyes, the stars surrounding them, dispersing, he glimpsed a rather large figure, getting up from his seat and stepping into the light. His three captors, who were next to the large figure disrobed, and followed him.

What Picky saw next, sent him back to unconsciousness, as a pair of claw like arms reached out, grasping his throat, the figures all around cackling with glee. Picky wanted to scream, but again, his throat would not permit it, as his eyes bulged at the figures around them. They all had a blue tinge to their skin, some of their body parts were warped horribly. His captors were no different. All three had the same blue tinged skin. However, the one they called Kuromaru had large fins protruding from his bulky arms. Fuu next to him, evidently a female, had a sunken face with large lips poking out from under a mess of long blonde, tangled hair. Tatchi, well he had six arms, all covered with suction cups, and his mouth was shaped like a trumpet. His head had white spike-like things, jutting out of his head. They were all mermen.

But of course they were nothing compared to the one that had a grip on him. He was twice as large as them, with saw-like teeth and small yellow eyes. The sight of his ferociousness caused Picky to wet himself again, as the mermen all around jeered at him. The one holding him, smiled a nasty smile revealing all his teeth. "Welcome…to the Cove of Sarlong, Future Emperor of all East Blue!"

And with that, Picky fainted, whilst the mermen roared and cheered.

Meanwhile, Luffy had just led Shanks toward the back of the town. The running in combination with lack of sleep was starting to wear the little boy down, but he continued nonetheless. This caused Shanks, who had been behind him all the time, to slightly regret his decision of not leaving Luffy at Party's. However, his thoughts were cut short, when Luffy abruptly stopped.

"Well, I guess he's at his limit." Shanks thought. However, he had misinterpreted, as Luffy had stopped, not because of fatigue, but because there was nowhere to go.

Outside of town, Luffy had taken him through a small field, a small patch of woods, and over a hill, outlined by a layer of willows. The hill, as Shanks had described it, wasn't really a hill, but a ledge, jutting slightly forward.

Peering over the edge, Shanks glimpsed a large sandy area, forming some sort of natural bridge to another large piece of land. On closer inspection, it was a strait, with a thin land bridge connecting the two pieces of land; the marshy look had mainly resulted from the slightly rising water levels. The land across was rather dark, and covered by a blanket of large trees. Lining the banks were arrays of jagged, sharp rocks and stray roots of trees that had nowhere to cling. Overall, the place looked rather ominous, even in the moonlight. Who even knows what lies beyond those dark woods across the bridge of land?

Looking at Luffy skeptically, Shanks spoke up, "Hey are you sure this is the right place? This place sure doesn't look like somewhere kids like you should be hanging around. And how the hell does your brother get to the other side anyway? I don't even see a path."

Luffy stretched his arms, putting them behind his head, "Are you kidding? This place has lots of good places to hide treasure. And Ace fishes here all the time from the other side." Gesturing with his right hand, Luffy pointed at a patch of dark land, that was incidentally covered with less trees.

"But Luffy, I don't see anyone there…" Shanks replied scratching his head, "are you sure, he's around here somewhere?"

"Yup, he should be around, sleeping in the hiding places probably," replied Luffy with a smirk. "We could always go down ya know, that is unless you're afraid of heights…captain."

Shanks grinned, "Cheeky kid," he thought, "but he does have a hint of the adventuring spirit."

As the wind stopped blowing, Luffy left his spot to search for something. "Hm…its pretty dark even with the moonlight, I can't see the path damnit!"

Shanks peered from around a willow tree, at the bottom of the ledge. "Damn lots of sharp rocks over here." Walking along the ledge, Shanks continued to survey the bottom until he came to a place where there appeared to be less rocks. "It doesn't look much different from the other places, but I suppose it'll do."

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Shanks hollered out to Luffy, "Hey kid, I think I found the pathway!"

Luffy immediately scurried over rather sluggishly, "What? But that's impossible, the ledge practically drops straight down from there!"

"Oh I know, but I found a 'short cut' through that," replied Shanks cheerfully, and before Luffy had time to react, Shanks had scooped him up and leapt outward off the ledge.

"WHA-Aaaaaaaaaa—mmph!" cried Luffy as Shanks sailed off, his black cloak trailing behind him. For a minute Luffy enjoyed the flight, but upon dipping down, he couldn't help but think that they were going to go splat. What was that stupid pirate thinking? Fortunately, his thoughts of death were cut short, as they had ended up landing on one of the smooth, larger rocks. The impact was still there, but it was better than going splat.

"THAT was your shortcut?" stammered Luffy scrambling out of Shanks's arms. He looked like he had swallowed a watermelon and was about to burst.

"Yep," replied Shanks hopping off the rock and dusting the gravel off his hat, "brilliant ain't it?"

"YEH! That was incredible! How did you do that? Can we do it again!" exclaimed Luffy.

Shanks, who was slightly taken aback, tipped his hat back and leaned over, bringing his face close to Luffy's, "Oh, so you wanna know the secret to the art of levitation?"

Luffy nodded eagerly in response.

"Well, first you have to eat a thousand stalks of brocolli!"

Luffy blanched, "Seriously?"

Shanks straightened himself back out and ruffled Luffy's hair, "Nope, I was just kidding about that. I'll teach you sometime after we find your brother and get out of this mess. Now come on, lets look for your brother."

Luffy ran ahead of Shanks, sloshing around the brackish ankle-deep water, across the strait. "Really, you're gonna stay? But I thought pirates were always traveling, or something."

"Oh yeh, of course kid. But I was thinking of stopping somewhere like here for a year or so. We plan to stock up and prepare before me crew and I go to the Grand Line!" After 15 minutes, they were nearly at the end of the land bridge now. However, unbeknownst to them, the water had started to rise a few inches again.

"Do you think it's like any of the stories?" asked Luffy, as both made a right turn onto the bottom of the bank.

"Nah, well unless they were talking about the calm belt, but other than that, it's pretty fun over there. Lots of nice places, kingdoms with real princesses like Alabasta, pleasure islands filled with good food and drink like Jaya, magic islands that only have one season like Drum, and there's even rumored to be some island in the sky. There's lots of different people too, and different pirates." Shanks paused, "Just thinking of the Grand Line reminds me of all those good times. But, it wasn't all fun and games of course…"

Luffy listened rather intently, hanging on every word. He had been sucked into stories before, but this one was real. Inside, he had felt a tingly sensation, as if he himself was actually in Shanks's story: fighting pirates alongside him, drinking with his mates…

"Oof!" Luffy's dream was interrupted, as he tripped over something long and thin.

"Hey there mate, are you all right?" Shanks knelt beside him as Luffy crouched in rising water, inspecting the long thin rod.

"Shanks, this is Ace's fishing pole." Luffy's voice had become void of all cheerfulness now, as he clutched the rod tightly, "Y-you think he got attacked?"

Sensing the anxiety within Luffy's voice, Shanks tried to comfort him by patting him on the head, "Hell, you said you could never beat him in a fight, am I right? So don't worry, I don't think he's…you know. And plus, look on the bright side, there's no body around here."

His words didn't really convince Luffy, but he relaxed nonetheless. "Haha, I guess your right Cap'n, after all, Ace beats me all the time. And I'm good, so there!"

"Exactly, so where are these hiding places you spoke of? You said that he might be sleeping in one of them or something."

"Yeh, come on, most of them are on this side, over the bank." Luffy trekked up some rocks leading up to a path out of the steep bank. "I don't think he's in the secret caverns in the bank, they're pretty muddy at this time of year."

Grabbing stray roots, Luffy climbed bit by bit, Shanks steadying him whenever he slipped or needed a hand. Eventually, they made it to where the trees were, their darkness almost encompassing the two. Luffy looked up at the trees calling for his brother, while Shanks looked behind. The water level had risen more prominently this time, almost covering the sandy land bridge.

"Hey Luffy, any chance of speeding this search up? The water seems to be rising in that strait!" said Shanks rather urgently.

Luffy, upon hearing those words quickly jerked his head toward Shanks his eyes wide with shock, "Oh crap, did you say the water level is rising?"

"Yeh, and the waters are also starting to flow towards the right, into that sea in the horizon. Is it high tide or something?"

"No, it's the yearly flood that sweeps over here. The villagers don't pay attention to it, since it never reaches them. But if Ace's still here, I don't know." Luffy had seemingly become panicky again, although he wasn't trying to show it. "I think he might be in the trees, or at least I hope so. The flood can't get him there."

Shanks himself was trying to keep calm, "And you didn't tell me this, why?"

"Erk, I forgot?" squeaked Luffy.

Sighing, Shanks responded, "Well, lets just find your brother, we'll figure out how to get back later. I'll swim across that damn flood if I have to."

Luffy shook his head, "I don't think that's possible, even for a pirate like you. The water's too fast. Besides the waters won't recede for about a month, see?"

Shanks looked at where Luffy was pointing, his heart sinking. The water in the strait had risen three quarters up the steep bank now and was beginning to flow at incomprehensible speeds. Any chance of going back now was lost. He was about to turn around, but his body refused to do so, as he had felt some eyes watching him from the tall trees.

Luffy scraped his shoes against each other as he stared at Shanks, who was still looking at the flooding strait. The only option now, would be to look for Ace, since they couldn't go back. He had never been in the woods before, so going there to search was out of the question. Walking up to Shanks, Luffy was about to suggest that they stay in the trees tonight, but before he could, Shanks had pushed him down into the dirt in a flash, and leapt up, drawing his sword.

Apparently, the figure in the trees had decided to attack while Shanks was still facing the bank, a fair distance away from Luffy. When he had thought the timing was perfect, the medium sized figure had leapt from the tree with his knife raised, hoping to catch the unsuspecting adult off guard.

But quick as a flash, the adult had turned around, pushing the little boy he was with, down, and crouched over him as he neatly intercepted the attacker from above. Instantly the knife was deftly flicked from his hand by Shanks's sword, but pulling another one from behind his boot, the attacker managed to plant it between the captain's fingers before he was kicked across the dirt floor.

The attacker would have still been skidding across the forest floor, if not for the large tree roots and jagged rocks slowing him down. However, despite the pain, Shanks's attacker had refused to acknowledge defeat, stumbling into a simple fighter's stance, his raised in a protective position in front of his chest.

Shanks gave no thought to the blood dripping from the wound in between his fingers, as he watched the fallen figure rise. His sword was still out, and his hat had been knocked off his head. The assaulter was probably as high as his hip, or so Shanks thought. Still, it seemed like feisty fellow, so Shanks didn't dare leave Luffy who had his face stuck in the ground (from when Shanks pushed him).

"Oh, so you want to play huh?" taunted Shanks shifting his weight around. "Well then, there's more where that kick came from, or would you prefer cold steel?"

He received a snort from the short assailant, "Did my ears hear right, or did a bandit just say he that was gonna stay and fight?"

"Hey punk, I'm no bandit, I'm a pirate. A PIRATE!"

"Whatever, they're all the same, stealing, plundering, cheating, and fighting dirty!"

"Are you stupid? Can't you see that I'm standing here to fight? And kicking your puny ass?"

"Yeh, I'm sure you'd still be here, even if your little companion wasn't hiding in the ground, waiting for his own opportunity."

Shanks looked down at Luffy (who was still trying to dig his head out), his head emitting a sweat drop of embarrassment. "Right, as if Luffy was actually capable of doing something like that." he thought sourly.

"Well, aren't you going to get me?" the voice from the figure yelled, displaying a little impatience.

Shanks was about to respond when he was interrupted with the sounds of a large pop and a person greedily sucking in the air around him. "Guess, Luffy's finally freed himself. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed him too hard." he thought. However he had no time to continue his thoughts, as the shorty had begun to rush forward to attack again.

"Get back Luffy," growled Shanks as he sheathed his sword and placed his left foot back into a long sword stance. "This might get ugly—HEY!"

Luffy much to his surprise, had ignored him, running in front of Shanks and waving his arms. "ACE! ACE! IS THAT YOU!"

"What the—LUFFY!" The rushing figure had suddenly skidded to a halt in hesitation, the moonlight illuminating his features. He was another kid that looked somewhat like Luffy, except he was about two heads taller, had slightly longer hair, and freckles on his nose. Shanks also lowered his sword back into his sash. After all, his opponent had just turned out to be the other kid he was looking for.

"Luffy, why are you here? And whose that crazy bandit!" exclaimed Ace, gesturing to Shanks who had appeared behind Luffy.

"Oh him? He's Shanks, a real pirate captain. Makino hired him to baby-sit (Shanks recoiled at the word) us or something like that. And we're here because we're looking for YOU! And now that we've found you, we don't have anyway to go back because of the floods!"

Ace looked skeptical, "Makino, hire a pirate to baby-sit us? We're not even babies! And how do you he's not some stupid bandit trying to kidnap us! I bet he lured you with meat or candy, didn't he!"

Shanks, having gotten back from retrieving his hat, rolled his eyes, and butt in, "I'm not a baby-sitter! I'm just here to deliver you two safely back to Makino. And if you want proof, here." Handing Ace the paper, he watched as the older child unfolded it.

"Well, I don't know what to say. This is definitely Makino's 'drawing'. Hell, she even makes hangman stick figures look ugly." Ace looked up at Shanks with a sincerity in his childlike face. Clapping his hands to sides, Ace bowed in apology, "Sorry for the trouble Captain sir. The name is Portgas D. Ace. Oh, and thank you for taking care of the monkey for me."

"HEY! I'm NOT a monkey!"

Shanks chuckled, "Well, what's done is done. Besides, at least you guys are both safe. Now all we have to do find our way back to Party's. Oh and your fighting back there Ace, excellent level for someone like you. Almost got caught by your ambush. Now I know where that monkey gets it all."

Ace beamed at remark (while Luffy seethed at being called a monkey), "Haha, and if all pirates fight you, I take back what I said about you guys being like bandits."

Luffy pulled at Ace's shirt, interrupting the conversation. "Ace, Shanks, I don't want to butt in, but what do we do know? The waters are almost reaching us!"

Sure enough, the water level had risen higher, this time splashing slightly over the banks. Ace however, was not worried in the least. "Come on! Into the woods, I know a little bit of the area!"

Luffy and Shanks followed. This time with Ace leading them, the forest seemed almost less eerie in a way.

"Say, you must have known the flood was about to happen, unlike someone," Shanks jogged behind Ace, "so how come you were still here?"

"Yeh Ace! Good thing we showed up!" Luffy chirped, running alongside his brother.

Ace frowned, "I'll tell after we get somewhere where the flood can't reach us!"

Clutching his hat, Shanks also grimaced. He had forgotten about the wound between his fingers. It had stopped bleeding awhile back, but the inflammation was still kicking in.

Ace finally stopped after ten minutes of jogging around trees and through rocky paths. They had arrived at a slightly raised clearing in the woods. "The water definitely won't reach here. It used to be some woolanders' campsite or something at the time of the floods."

"Woodlanders? You mean people live here?" asked Shanks as they hiked to the top.

"Yep, most of 'em are stupid bandits. Some of them are okay, a few minimal to be precise," growled Ace, as he plopped himself on a stretch of ground. Judging from his tone, Shanks thought that Ace held a grudge against them.

Luffy sitting next to him however, piped up, "Yeh, we even know some of the kids! They're fun to play games with, if they aren't in a bad mood! Ace always fights with 'em though. Especially this bigger guy, Bory, or Bowy was it?"

Shanks lit a small fire, seating himself across both kids, watching in amusement as Ace planted a fist into the ground. "Bowly, that bastard! He took the treasure!"

Luffy's eyes widened into shock and anger, "No!"

"Yes!" said Ace gritting his teeth, "Bastard took it, while I was fishing or something! I knew I should've switched burying places yesterday!" Ace heaved a sigh and continued, "Anyway, I decided that I would camp out in the trees and search for him the next day. And then you two came along."

"Treasure?" asked Shanks, his face becoming more serious now. To steal a man's treasure, that was rather a blow to a pirate's pride.

"Nothing much, just Grandpa's favorite knife, and his necklace. But mom entrusted them to us and now that I've lost them…I just couldn't go back." Ace scrunched up face trying not to sniffle. The air had become much colder.

"I see, so that's why you were still here." Shanks patted Ace sympathetically, "Aah, don't fret, I would have done the same if I was in your place. Tell you what though, since we're probably gonna be here awhile lets get back your treasure first. Then we'll find a way to contact Makino and my crew and let them know we're here. Savvy?"

"Yeh!" yelled Ace and Luffy. However, the lack of sleep overwhelmed them both, as the kids crumpled in a heap, next to the dwindling fire. Shanks grinned to himself, and spread his black cloak over them. "Those are some kids," he thought, leaning back to stare at the stars. "Hmm…I wonder what Beckman and the guys are doing now. Ben's probably still waiting in the bar, knowing him. Lucky Roo's probably started on his 12th drumstick today. And Yassopp? Hmmm…probably shooting seagulls."

The moon was starting to set now, indicating that it was about four in the morning. But the stars had never looked prettier that night, even if the eerie feeling of the forest had revealed itself again to Shanks. Or was it the forest?