Coco: Hey, guys, I'm back. Sorry for the long wait. I know it's been a while since I've posted for this story. I'm trying to get back into writing more. Thanks for your patience though and your continued support.
Well, hope you enjoy the chapter!~
As the crew was getting ready for dinner after the sun went down, Wren sat apart away from them. She was leaning against one of the large rocks as the others were around the fire. Havel was in her lap sleeping away. She looked to be lightly dozing herself, but she was very much awake. Hard to sleep with companions as loud as hers.
She could hear Sanji snapping at Luffy and Usopp to wait for the food to be done as Nami was complaining about the change of temperature. Wren opened her eye supposing it had gotten rather chilly. Though she preferred it over the scorching heat.
"Hey, Wren, aren't you cold over there?"
Wren blinked then turned her head to see it was Zoro who called out to her as he looked at her curiously.
"No." Wren said. "It is a bit nippy. However, I don't mind it."
Zoro nodded his head supposing that Vivi was right about Wren being able to handle colder weather.
"Well, you should stop being so antisocial." Nami called over to her. "Come join the rest of us."
Really Nami just wanted an extra source of heat to snuggle to like the boys had with Chopper.
"Hmm, I believe I will remain antisocial as I do not wish to move," Wren said quite honestly.
Nami rolled her eyes as Vivi giggled in amusement. She wouldn't want to move if she was Wren either. They did do a lot of walking today.
"I'll carry you over here, my darling, if that is what you wish~" Sanji gushed as he rushed over to Wren.
Then before she could decline his offer, Sanji had her up in his arms, which a drew a hiss of complaint from Havel who was jostled. Wren wasn't too pleased either if the small frown on her face was anything to go back. Ace chuckled at the look on her face, which had her throwing him a glare.
"Here you are, Wren-chan." Sanji, who took her over to Nami and Vivi, said as he set her down beside Nami.
Wren sighed though thanked Sanji, which had him smiling widely at her in return. Nami then leaned into Wren for warmth. Wren stiffened at first from the contact, but she tried to relax as she distracted herself by stroking Havel's fur. She began to hum softly as she did so. Havel purred at the melody she hummed as she snuggled farther into her lap. Nami smiled at the song as well with a feeling of nostalgia washing over her as she thought of Nojiko.
Leaning against Wren like this was like being close to Nojiko. Her older sister never hummed to her, but Nami could picture Nojiko's face as she listened to Wren's humming. Sanji, who was watching the two women, smiled when seeing Wren relax slightly as she continued to hum. As Nami and Wren stayed huddled together, they ignored the boys as Usopp and Chopper got into another argument. It was resolved soon though when Luffy became involved.
Wren watched Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper, who were all huddled together, soon drift off into the land of dreams. She wouldn't be surprised if Zoro had already joined them there. She then glanced to Nami to see the ginger haired girl had dozed off while leaning against Wren.
Oh, how she wished she could find sleep so easily. However, she has never found sleeping to be an easy task. Like Ace, Wren had her own sleeping disorder, but it wasn't narcolepsy that led to randomly falling asleep. No, she was more like an insomniac, and found it hard to sleep at regular intervals. Her paranoia making it worse. She could only truly sleep when she felt safe both conscious and subconsciously, which was almost never.
'Nothing to help that, however,' Wren thought.
She then gave a sigh as she looked up at the star covered sky. Not even its beauty could put her mind at ease and bring her sleep. Wren glanced at Nami again as the younger woman continued to snooze. Wren waved her hand with a gentle breeze wrapping around Nami to move her towards the tent. Vivi, who stood, watched with slightly wide eyes before opening the tent, so Nami could be moved inside. Once she was settled, Vivi went into the tent, so she could rest as well.
"Aren't you going to turn in, Wren-chan?" Sanji asked. "You should rest while you can, darling."
"Thank you, but I am alright," Wren assured him. "Someone needs to keep watch."
Sanji frowned in concern as he didn't wish to leave Wren on her own. With that in mind, he moved to sit next to her.
"Well, I'm not about to leave a lady all on her own." Sanji said as he grinned, but not in that usual love-struck way of his. "So, I'll keep watch with you."
Wren went to protest, but paused while already knowing that he would insist at remaining at her side. And a part of her didn't mind, she supposed.
"And feel free to cuddle me for warmth if you wish~" Sanji added as he puffed out smoke from his cigarette in the shape of hearts.
Wren gave him a look as she wondered if she'd ever truly get used to Sanji and his peculiar ways. As Wren thanked Sanji for his offer, Ace watched the pair with an unreadable expression.
Wren began to stir as the early morning started to lighten the darkened desert. She opened her eye silently while wondering when she had shut them.
'Did I fall a sleep?' She thought as she spotted Havel across from her and curled up against Ace.
She then realized she was laying down instead of in a sitting position like she previously had been. She blinked then turned her head to see Sanji's sleeping face above her. She realized her head was in his lap, and that at some point in the night that he or maybe even Ace draped a blanket over her to keep her warm. She was quite surprised as she didn't expect to sleep at all. She sat up while looking to Sanji's peaceful expression as he continued to sleep.
'Did I sleep because he was nearby?' She wondered.
"Ah, I found a shrimp!"
Wren turned her head again while seeing that Luffy, who was holding up a scorpion not a shrimp, was awake along with Usopp and Chopper.
"Are you sure it's a shrimp?" Chopper asked. "That's neat!"
Usopp then ran over as Wren moved the blanket, which had fallen into her lap around Sanji.
"But shrimp don't live in the desert." Usopp said.
Luffy just turned around grinning as he showed Usopp his catch, and apparently the sniper didn't know what a scorpion was either because he immediately corrected his last statement while believing in Luffy's claim that what he had caught was indeed a shrimp.
"I'm afraid you are incorrect, Luffy," Wren spoke up, which had Usopp and Chopper jumping at the sound of her voice.
Luffy wasn't at all startled and turned his head to grin at his friend as she was combing her hands through her hair.
"Are they edible?" Luffy asked hopefully.
"I suppose they could be if they were prepared properly." Wren said.
Her words nearly had Luffy shoving the scorpion into his mouth raw before she could even finish speaking.
"However," She continued to make Luffy pause. "The stringer on its tail carries a heavy toxin. A toxin so deadly it will kill you if you aren't careful."
Usopp and Chopper gasped with horror written on their faces as they leaned away from the scorpion Luffy was holding. The young captain just frowned not looking worried in the slightest. Though he did look a tad annoyed he couldn't eat the scorpion.
"Oh really? Guess I don't want it then." He deadpanned. "You?"
He held it out towards Usopp who immediately flinched back away from Luffy and the scorpion.
"Hey now, keep that away from me!" Usopp ordered with his voice so loud it had Havel waking.
As he let out a yawn and watched the boys curiously, Luffy finally just threw the scorpion over his shoulder. The creature scurried away as Vivi came out of the girls' tent.
"What's all the noise about?" She asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Nothing of import." Wren said as she reached out to scratch Havel's ears as he padded over to her. "Luffy almost ate a scorpion is all."
Vivi's mouth dropped open in shock when hearing that Luffy could have almost died by eating something so deadly. As Vivi thoroughly freaked out, Wren got up onto her feet. She was adjusting her cloak, which had become wrinkled when she had slept when Chopper suddenly became alert. Wren wasn't the only one to notice since Luffy looked down at the little reindeer quizzically.
"What's wrong?" Luffy asked. "What's going on, Chopper?"
Chopper didn't reply at first as he climbed up on top one of the smaller rocks to get a better look at whatever triggered his animal warning senses. Havel straightened up as well as he jumped onto Wren's shoulder.
"Something's coming and quick." Chopper said.
Wren frowned as she looked in the direction that Chopper was. She will admit that there was a bit of unease in her stomach. Almost like the feeling she received in Erumalu.
"Something…like what?" Usopp asked.
Wren stepped forward while grabbing her sword, which she had left leaning against a rock nearby. She stared out at the horizon to see the wind was picking up and that there were several sand twisters that were much bigger than the one in Erumalu. Just then Ace woke from his sleep since it had been disturbed due to all the noise the wind was making. He got to his feet then moved to stand beside Wren.
"Heh, the wind's picking up." He said grinning.
He then looked down at Wren to see her pensive expression as if she was bothered. She was also a bit tense as if prepared for battle.
'Is she's sensing something with her haki that I can't?' He wondered.
"Everyone!" Vivi suddenly shouted, which woke Sanji quickly. "Hide behind the rocks quick!"
"How come?" Luffy asked.
"A sandstorm is coming!" Vivi warned.
Ace didn't look all too worried about this sandstorm since he was gazing at it with an almost impressed expression on his face. Wren, who was still on edge, sighed when seeing that he wouldn't be moving, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She grabbed the strings of Ace's hat, and he grunted in surprise when she tugged him down to her level.
"I believe Vivi said to find shelter behind the rocks not gape at the sandstorm like an idiot." Wren said bluntly.
"Worried about my safety now, are you?" Ace asked grinned.
Wren narrowed her eye at Ace then shoved him towards the rocks beside their camp after she had let go of his hat strings. She then turned to Sanji who seemed stump on what was going on as Luffy commented about how cool the sandstorm looked.
"Sanji, we need to move behind those rocks there," Wren said as she held out her hand to him.
"Anything for you, Wren-chwan!" He said.
He took her hand then let her help him up. They walked to get behind the rocks just in time as the sandstorm hit. Wren sat against the rock as the sand whirled around them harshly. Havel curled up between her and Ace with a growl of annoyance as it'd take forever to get the sand out of his fur.
"Okay, enough with the sand already. I'm not impressed anymore." Luffy, who was laying on the ground with a deadpanned expression, said as he held his precious hat to his head.
Wren just sighed feeling as if it'd be a while before this sandstorm stopped being an annoying pest to them. With that in mind she hunkered down while patiently waiting for the storm to past. She's traveled many places and seen and gone through many things many others haven't. She was used to having to deal with the elements.
"I should have mentioned it earlier." Vivi said as the tents were being ripped apart. "Sandstorms are another one of the desert's dangers."
"You've got to start remembering this stuff!" Usopp wailed.
Wren just silently brought her hood up over her head while drawing her knees to her chest. Sanji brough his hood over his head as well as the wind seemed to become even harsher. He and Wren then heard a snore from beside them, which had the two glancing at Ace to see he had fallen asleep.
"He can honestly sleep through anything." Wren scoffed shaking her head.
Her eyes then widened when Ace leaned against her in his sleep with his head on top of hers. Sanji's eyes widened as well, and he expected Wren to shove the older man away while waking him to yell at him about needing to respect her personal space. However, she was surprisingly silent as she looked at Ace with an unreadable expression. She finally just sighed as she looked away with a displeased look on her face.
"This is why I don't like being around you the most," Wren grumbled. "You think I am your personal pillow."
Sanji stiffened at her words as he wondered just how close Ace and Wren were. Wren acted as if the fire man annoyed her, but yet she was allowing him to basically use her like a pillow. Sanji felt like he should be the one cuddled with the lovely goddess known as Wren.
Sanji looked off to the side with his eyes burning with determination. He didn't care if Ace was Luffy's brother. Sanji would keep him far away from Wren as soon as this storm was over. No one was allowed to be so close to the lovely ladies on his crew except for him. He burned with determination to keep Wren away from Ace as he looked off to the side in anger. Said woman was looking at him with a quirked brow as his body was literally covered in flame.
"Sanji, did you know you happen to be on fire?" She asked him.
After the sandstorm finally subsided and everyone had packed up to leave, the group continued their journey. During their trek across the sand Wren, who had Havel return to her shadow once more, started noticing that Sanji kept a lot closer to her side, and made sure she had little interaction with Ace as possible. She was starting to really wonder why. However, said nothing since she somewhat feared the answer she might get.
"Hey, Sanji, let's have one of those boxed lunches." Luffy spoke up suddenly.
"Not yet." Sanji said. "Not until Vivi-chan says so."
Luffy pouted because he felt as if he hasn't eaten for days even if he had dinner last night. Luffy then smiled at Vivi while hoping to get her to say okay to them having lunch.
"Come on, Vivi, how about it?" He asked as he walked over to her. "Let's eat. Doesn't that sound good?"
"But we're not even a tenth of the way to Yuba, Luffy." Vivi said. "And we have to make our supplies last the whole way."
Even without gorging themselves it was still possible to run out of supplies before reaching their destination. Wren knew that when dealing with terrain like this that anything could happen.
"Don't be silly, Vivi." Luffy said. "Haven't you heard the old proverb? 'Make sure you eat whenever you're hungry'."
Wren actually felt a small chuckle leave her lips as she looked towards Luffy. It seemed trying to get him to think logically even in these conditions was impossible.
"Oh, quit making things up, ya big fat liar." Usopp said.
Sanji shook his head towards Usopp thinking the younger boy didn't have much room to talk.
"Okay, if you're that hungry, I'll tell you what." Vivi said. "Why don't we stop and eat at the next group of rocks we come by?"
Luffy's entire face lit up when he heard that because it sounded like a deal to him.
"Alright, rocks it is!" Luffy said then whirled around to face his companions. "Onward to the next group of rocks! Okay, guys, whoever wins at rock-paper-scissors has to carry everybody's stuff!"
"Quit deciding things!" Usopp snapped.
Wren just remained silent as she wondered if Luffy purposely said the winner has to carry everything, or if he didn't understand that winning would be bad in this situation.
"Don't you mean the loser carries the stuff?" Sanji asked as he was wondering the same as Wren.
Luffy didn't reply as he got started on the game. His crewmates all shouted at him to hold up as they ran forward to throw out their choices. Wren, however, remained beside Ace, who was watching on in amusement, when Luffy declared he won.
"Your brother never ceases to amaze me with his…uh…interesting decisions," Wren commented as Luffy cheered about his victory. "Though I doubt he'll be too happy with his win much longer."
"Probably not." Ace agreed as he chuckled.
Wren was proven right in a few seconds when Luffy was complaining about everyone giving their packs to him after Usopp made him a wheelless cart of sorts to lug everyone's stuff. They ignored him completely though.
"Wren, my dear, allow me to place your pack with the others!" Sanji said as he ran over to her.
"That won't be necessary, Sanji." Wren assured him. "Thank you though."
Sanji was about to insist that she at least let him carry her bag since he didn't want her to wear herself out, but Ace spoke up before he could.
"I wouldn't worry about Wren." Ace said from beside Sanji. "She can handle herself. She's a tough little thing."
Sanji narrowed his eye at Ace as he remembered during the sandstorm that Ace was practically laying on top of Wren. Sanji didn't want to be hostile to a guest amongst them, but he didn't want the older man getting too close to Wren either.
"How long have you known Wren?" Zoro asked as he glanced back at Ace and Sanji who were bringing up the rear of the group.
Though Luffy was actually behind them since the weight of all the packs were slowing him down considerably.
"Two years," Ace said with a grin. "It wasn't exactly a good start since she tried to, uh, cut me into pieces."
Ace chuckled remembering that she had chased him around the entire island until Marco, who finally took pity on him after hours of chase, stepped in. He managed to calm down Wren enough to allow Ace to escape from her wrath.
"You deserved it," Wren spoke up from in front of the men.
"I know," Ace said. "I still feel back about breaking it, you know. Do you still have the tea set I made you?"
Wren didn't answer verbally at first as she reached into her bag, and pulled out a teacup that looked as if it had been made by a child.
"I was only able to save this when…my former crew and I separated," Wren said honestly. "It's a shame really. Why couldn't it have been the actually fine made cup?"
Ace didn't grin or laugh like she thought he would. In fact, he had a troubled expression on his face as he gazed at her. Though he then shook his head and smiled.
"I'll make you another one then," Ace said. "Your birthday comes up in a couple of months, right? I'll have it by then."
"Hmph, well, what you make is good for a laugh," Wren said as she put the teacup away. "I suppose I would accept the gift if you make it."
As Ace smiled, Sanji frowned as his jealously only grew. He's going to have to try even harder to keep the two separated. He can't let Ace get too chummy with Wren.
'What if he tries to take her away?' He fretted then mentally growled. 'No, I won't allow it, dammit!'
Sanji came out of his thoughts as Luffy groaned from behind them, which had all of them turning to see him really lagging behind.
"Heavy…so heavy." He said. "Why am I doing all the work?"
"You said the winner carries all, so shut up and haul." Sanji ordered.
"Make sure not to drop anything." Nami added.
Luffy hung his head while feeling a bit too tired to even take another step forward. Wren, who was starting to feel sorry for the boy, was about to offer assistance, but Usopp's voice cut her off before she could even speak.
"Hey, guys, I spotted rocks dead ahead!" Usopp called out.
"Ya mean it?!" Luffy asked then zoomed past everybody. "It's lunchtime!"
Wren watched him go while having a feeling that it wasn't good for the Straw Hat captain to get too far ahead from the rest of them.
"I believe we should hurry to catch up." Wren said. "I've learned it's best not to leave Luffy on his own for too long."
The Straw Hats sighed hanging their heads while knowing a lot could happen if Luffy was on his own for even a few seconds. The damage might already be done. They started hurrying towards the rocks, so to catch up to Luffy. They were halfway there when Luffy suddenly came running back towards them.
"I need help!" Luffy shouted as he ran towards them.
Wren frowned at the urgency in his tone as she wondered what could have happened.
"That's weird." Usopp said. "Why's he coming back?"
"There's a whole flock of injured birds here that can't move!" Luffy said. "We need a doctor! Chopper!"
Chopper, who had been laying on the small platform Zoro was pulling him on, sprung to his feet despite how uncomfortable he was, he was a doctor after all. He had to put aside his tired feeling to help the injured. He hurried towards Luffy while holding his medical pack to his back.
"Alright, let's go, Chopper." Luffy said.
"Coming!" Chopper said.
"We've got to help these birds." Luffy said.
Chopper nodded then went to help Luffy with the birds when Vivi suddenly gasped.
"What birds?!" She asked. "Wait a minute, Luffy, those birds might not be what you think they are!"
Luffy paused in running back to the rocks to look at Vivi in confusion as did the others. Wren sighed though while having a feeling another one of the deserts many dangers had struck again, and that Vivi had completely forgotten to mention it. The group hurried to the rocks after that, and as Wren looked around, she saw no birds and no packs.
"All of our stuff is gone." Zoro said.
"We've been had." Nami added.
Yes, it appeared those birds were quite the actors, and managed to quickly steal most of their stuff during the time that Luffy was gone to get them. Wren was pleased that she still had her own pack. However, she didn't have enough supplies for all of them. She wished she did, but she was far from having enough for everyone to last the rest of the trip.
"But I saw them!" Luffy said as he pointed to where the birds had been laying. "There had been a whole flock of dying birds laying right there!"
"We believe you, Luffy." Wren assured the boy. "However, I believe those birds were only playing possum."
Luffy and the others—besides Vivi and Ace—looked at Wren with wide eyes. They then looked at Vivi wondering if Wren's assumption was correct.
"She is right." Vivi said. "And I am so sorry. I should have mentioned this earlier. Warusagi birds are desert bandits that deceive travelers and steal their belongings."
"You've gotta be kidding!" Luffy growled.
Based by Vivi's expression and the absence of their stuff, Wren would say that Vivi is not kidding in the slightest.
"You mean these birds play dead?" Usopp asked then snapped, "What a lousy bunch of crooks!"
He would love to get his hands on them to teach them a lesson about stealing from pirates.
"This is all my fault." Vivi said.
Wren was almost inclined to agree since the rest of them couldn't prepare for all these dangers if they didn't know about them. Wren has said it many times that information is important, and without it it's hard to prepare for things like this situation they were in now. However, Luffy shouldn't have left the packs behind either, but his kindheartedness seemed to have compelled him to run and get Chopper.
"Those birds tricked me." Luffy said frowning.
Sanji ran up to him to grab him by the front of his shirt to glare right at the younger boy.
"Luffy, you dolt, is that all you have to say for yourself?" Sanji asked. "There were three days' worth of supplies in those packs, and you just had to go and let a bunch of stupid birds rob us blind in the middle of a desert! How are we supposed to get across this wasteland without food or water? I hope you're proud of yourself!"
"Come on, it's not my fault." Luffy said. "I mean they outsmarted me."
Sanji got right in Luffy's face when the Straw Hat captain said that, and Wren sighed having a feeling that things were going to get worse.
"You mean you're dumber than a bird?" Sanji asked.
"What's that?!" Luffy demanded.
They started tussling on the ground while throwing childish insults at each other. Wren shook her head though supposed the heat was getting to them. Understandable. She found her patience running thinner and thinner the longer they were in the heat.
"Knock it off, you two!" Zoro ordered.
He then glanced back at Ace when the older man placed his hand onto Zoro's shoulder.
"Just save your energy." Ace said. "At times like this, it's better to just let them have it out."
"Yes, sometimes it's best to let things like this run its course," Wren agreed.
Zoro sighed though supposed that was true, so he just grinned while taking his hood down.
"Fine with me." He said as he sat down on one of the rocks. "Let's just take a break. This heat is just starting to wear on everybody's nerves. I'm sure we'll manage food and water wise. It's nothing that will kill us right away. Let's put it out of our minds for now."
Wren just hummed in thoughts as calculated the time it'd take to get to Yuba, which fell to about three days' time. The human body could go three days without water and three weeks without food. Wren's body could go a bit longer, which meant she could give up her little number of supplies to the others. It wouldn't be much, but reaching Yuba alive was still possible. Wren came out of her thoughts as she sensed a few animal-like presences nearby, so she turned her head at the same time as the others to see those bird thieves standing there with their stuff.
"It seems as if they've come to taunt us." Wren said as one took a large gulp of water from one of the barrels.
No sooner than the words left her mouth, Luffy gave a shout as he ran after the birds. He shouted at them to bring back their stuff as the birds ran from him.
"No, Luffy, don't chase them!" Vivi called after the boy.
Luffy didn't listen as he got farther and farther away from the rocks and his friends, so to chase the birds.
"That idiot." Sanji complained.
"Wait, will you be able to find your way back?!" Nami called out.
"Come back here, you dope!" Usopp shouted. "Luffy!"
Again, Luffy ignored his friends as he continued to give chase to those birds. Wren sighed as she kept those birds in slight.
"Havel," Wren called.
Havel, who was aware of the situation, appeared from her shadow and was growing into his larger form before Wren even finished talking. She ran his hand along his back with a pale glowing force surrounding him for a moment before seeming to sink into his fur.
"Dinner," Wren said pointing in the direction of the birds.
Havel nodded then took off running at alarming speeds that he was soon a speck in the distance. As he got farther away, Wren sat down on one of the large rocks.
"Now we wait." Wren said as she crossed one leg over the other.
