Chapter 3 - What are the odds?


The sea was still calm but the majority of the day had gone. All the parties involved in the prison transport breakout were now long gone, leaving behind the devastation of their actions. Itzal, Rob and the stranger now identified as Zarina stood silent for a moment. Zarina waited patiently for their reply to her question. It was only fair as after all, she gave her name they should give theirs.

"I'm Itzal, he's Rob." Itzal hiked his thumb toward Rob, he was very straight forward with the answer but his response didn't appear to satisfy Zarina.

"I was looking for more than that." said Zarina, she put on her glasses to get a better look at both of the men standing in front of her, barely keeping all of the items in her hands from falling. "Neither of you look like mainres, so I want to know why two random civilians are aboard a marine battleship." Her tone of voice dictated she was more curious than worried.

"Well the names Bellow Itzal. Nice to meet you." Itzal politely nodded his head toward Zarina, "He's Jackdaw Rob."

"It's nice to meet ya!" interrupted Rob, who gave a tilt of his head and a small wave of the hand as he continued to stride over to the helm before Itzal continued.

"We're pirates and we commandeered this battleship to make our escape before more marines showed up." Itzal turned back to keep the ship in the right heading to where Rob had indicated before handing over to Rob.

Zarina shifted slightly at the news that these two men were pirates and took a step back, and then another, a sudden burst of fear engulfed her briefly. Not that taking a few steps back would do her much good, she was trapped on a ship with the two of them, there would be nowhere to run if she had to. She composed herself for the most part after that, her expression returned to a largely unreadable poker face, a face she'd call her customer service face. She understood the world was more grey than it was just black and white. All she could do was hope these pirates weren't the worst of them.

'Jackdaw Rob? Why does that sound so familiar…' Zarina wasn't entirely sure where we had heard that name before but it rung a bell, "So you're both pirates? I don't believe I've ever seen either of your wanted posters. Which crew are you associated with?" Zarina was poking questions to get as much information she could, she hoped they weren't infamous or murderous pirates.

"We're the sky pirates. I'm the captain of this crew!" Itzal stated proudly which got a smile from Rob as he continued man the helm, Zarina however wasn't as impressed by this.

"Sky pirates? Never heard of them. You mustn't be very good pirates then." Zarina instantly scolded her herself for her somewhat insulting comment, 'Why insult pirates?! That was stupid!' She internally screamed to herself. She looked down for a moment and hoped they weren't angered by her statement. When she looked up, she released a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. Rob didn't seem to have even bothered to turn around at that remark and Itzal just stood there looking straight at her, seemingly unaffected by what she had said.

"Yeah, we're a new crew. Robs my first mate which I recruited just under three days ago." said Itzal who glanced over his shoulder for confirmation from Rob which came in the form of a thumbs up. Itzal turned back to Zarina, "So that's why you haven't heard of us. Yet."

Zarina straightened up more and strolled over to the main mast of the ship. She decided to position herself near something for cover if either of them made a move she kept a tight hold of her rapier. Although they weren't angered by her comment she still didn't know what kind of pirates they were and she'd be damned if she found out the hard way.

She looked directly toward Itzal and the back of Rob further behind him. Now for the biggest question. "So let me get this straight. You two new pirates decide to attack a marine transport by yourselves. For what reason? I find it hard to believe you did it just because you could." Her tone was rather condescending as she spoke, she didn't mean it but it was still rather stupid to be snarky with pirates. Thankfully, neither one of them seemed to care for her tone.

It was Rob who spoke up this time, "Nah, Itzal just wanted to check out the ships or something. They're the biggest ships you've ever seen, right Itzal?" explained Rob, to which Itzal responded, "Yeah, I hadn't seen anything like these battleships before and I wanted to explore them a bit." Itzal laughed lightly, "That turned out well didn't it?" His comment got a small laugh from Rob who replied with an Ay!

Zarina was rather shocked, "So you just wanted check out a battleship? No rescue mission to free another pirate ally? Not plundering for beli or supplies?" She fixed her glasses, "Forgive me but I'm finding that hard to believe." The sea breeze picked up and rustled her hair and clothes, as it did for the others too.

"Well it's the truth. I just wanted to see a battleship. We never actually knew the ships would be here. Rob was sailing us to an island he had passed by on his way to Toredo island." Itzal scratched his chin, "Well now that I think about it we might have gotten some food out of this." He laughed sheepishly, "We haven't had anything to eat in two days."

"Well forgive me for not entirely trusting you right now. It's hard to take the word of criminals."

"That's ironic coming from a convict." said Rob casually, throwing in his two cents into the conversation. He glanced over his shoulder to look as Zarina and state of dress, she checked herself out realizing he was right. Here she was criticizing pirates while she was dressed in an orange prisoner jumpsuit. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, not happy at being caught like that.

"A fair point." was all she replied with, Rob turned back to his current duty of manning the ship. Itzal decided to join in now that the topic he wanted to discuss had come up.

"What exactly did you do to end up as a prisoner?" The question caught Zarina' attention immediately. "No offence but you don't look like a murderer or fearsome pirate. So what did the marines get you for?" Itzal scoffed and turned to the side slightly before adding under his breath, "Was it for some stupid marine justice or something."

Zarina thought for moment on what Itzal said but chose to ignore it, "I'm, in basic terms, a scholar, I worked for the world government." This got both Itzal and Robs absolute attention, "Well kind of, I worked as a librarian. I looked after all books, documents, files, anything related to government paperwork basically. Unfortunately I'm sometimes too smart for my own good and I ended up digging up some secrets that weren't meant to be dug up." Zarina let out a heavy tired sigh, "Of course the government found out eventually, they do tend to notice when someone's been rummaging through their dirty little secrets. Not wanting to let those secrets slip away from them, they went after me. I tried to flee before that but I didn't last long.I..I'm far too weak to have made it. I wouldn't have lasted very long on the run. If they hadn't caught back than, it would have be soon after."

"So they threw you aboard the first ship to Impel Down to rot, right?" interrupted Rob from the helm, not turning toward her. Itzal remained in place. Zarina leaned against the mast of the ship, rapier still in her hand.

"That was what they had planned for me, yes." said Zarina, neither Itzal and Rob were impressed by this, in fact it rather pissed one of them off. "Well lucky for me, two fearless pirates came and unintentionally rescued me from such a fate." She added drama to the word fearless, which got a somewhat sheepish smile from Itzal and probably one from Rob if she could see his face.

"Yeeeaah, what can I say. We just do things." Itzal defended himself, not that it was much of a defense.

Zarina just shook her head, "You just do things huh?" It was hard to believe they both attacked a marine convoy of ships, that were meant to go under the radar, that were heading to Impel Down as part of the government trying to bury its secrets on a simple whim.

"Basically." Came the replies of both Itzal and Rob at the same time.

Zarina just rolled her eyes, "You two are unbelievable." She sighed before continuing, "So, since I'm stuck aboard this ship would it be too much to ask if you were to drop me off at the nearest island so I be on my way?" She hoped they wouldn't fight her on this, she needed to get a head start on the marines as soon as possible.

Itzals reply surprised Zarina a great deal, "Sure, we'll bring you to an island but are you sure you want to leave? I'd prefer if you joined my crew!" Itzal gave a small smile and a confident pose.

Zarina just blinked at him for a moment but before she spoke, Rob jumped in, "Straight to the point aren't you Itzal?" Rob laughed to himself, which got an amused smirk from Itzal before Rob turned to face them both, one hand still on the helm. "So she'll be the second mate of the crew? I think that could work. A scholar as the third crew mate, sounds good to me." Rob gave them the thumbs up to show his agreement.

"I think I'll have to decline you on your offer. I don't think I want to be a pirate." She shut that idea down rather quickly. However, Itzal and Rob didn't lose their grins.

"Well if you ever change your mind you can join anytime." and with that Itzal returned to the maps laid out on the table near to the helm. Zarina just watched them both from her position beside the mast, somewhat confused by them both. She was drawn from her thoughts by Rob however, he called out to her.

"I suggest you go change! A prisoner jumpsuit is going to draw a lot of unwanted attention to yourself." He turned back to manning the massive ship, which he found somewhat difficult. 'Damn, we're going to need a helmsman at some stage.' he thought as he continued to steer the ship.

Zarina examined her state of dress again. He was right, this would just scream I'm a criminal, come catch me! to everyone she came across, unfortunately she didn't have any clothes of her own to wear. They'd all been taken from her and were thrown away. Although she was lucky they had stored her rapier, glasses and some of her other more valuable trinkets, she still lost the majority of her things.

Rob didn't need to be told anything, "If you need clothes, raid the marines sleeping quarters, I'm sure you'll find pants, boots and a shirt of some kind." suggested Rob as if knowing what she was thinking.

She considered his words for a moment before turning to leave for the sleeping quarters below to scavenge what she could from them. Hopefully they had something for her.

With that she disappeared below into the depths of the ship in search of clothes and anything that could be of use leaving Itzal and Rob atop the main deck.

Zarina descended down the stairs to the main sleeping quarters, her thoughts on the two pirates above. 'They don't seem to be evil from that brief conversation with them but pirates are known for deceiving people and stabbing you in the back when you least expect it.' She thought, Zarina was still uncertain about them but they were nice enough to allow her request of bringing her to another island.

Zarina strolled through the halls of the marine vessel, scanning the rooms looking for a sign as to where the sleeping quarters were. Her thoughts still occupied by her two pirate saviors.


-Main Deck-

The atmosphere had vastly improved since their departure from the battlefield. After a rather dark revelation about what the marines had been up to and the death that followed their actions it was refreshing to have a bit of positivity in the air again. The ship gentle rocked and creaked in the sea, the wind blew strong, the ship had gained a good travel speed. The skies above were clear of clouds but the sun had begun to approach the horizon causing streaks of orange to spread across the sky, the blue and orange colors of the sky appeared to be in a battle for dominance across the sky. The conversation with Zarina had been an interesting one for both Itzal and Rob.

"So what do you think? Zarina would make a great crew mate, right?" asked Itzal, who had moved to sit by one of the railings in a meditative seating position. Arms and legs crossed as he sat straight up, his attention on his first mate.

Robs lips turned up into a small smile of his own, "Yep, shame she doesn't want to join us right?" Robs statement just encouraged Itzal more.

"Yeah it is but we can't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. She deserves to make her own choices." Itzal deflated slightly, "It wouldn't be right to after all those marines were going to take that freedom from her." Itzal sounded slightly disgusted when he mentioned the marines which didn't go unnoticed but it went unmentioned.

"I guess we'll just have to win her over with our charming personalities and show the appeal of piracy!" joked Rob, gaining an amused chuckle from Itzal.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Itzal smiled slightly as he turned to the sea in front of them. It was time to see what the future had in store for them.


-Time Skip-

Itzal and Rob continued on their sail, waiting for Zarina to show back up, they wanted to tell her where they were heading to. Neither wanted to leave her in the dark, they wanted to show her they were trustworthy, they'd just be honest and tell her they're going somewhere possibly dangerous and tell her to be careful when they part ways once they make land.

Zarina had spent a considerable amount of time below deck before she finally returned to the main deck, must to the others relief, waiting can be a pain sometimes. First things first, she had traded in the prisoner jumpsuit for a plain white shirt, buttoned up and tidy, with male blue pants and a pair of black marine boots. On her hip was the rapier she had earlier, an armband hidden under her shirt on her upper arm. It was meant to be hidden but if you looked hard enough you could tell there was something there. Her glasses firmly where they should be. She had clearly washed her hair, from what Rob and Itzal noticed, it looked cleaner than it did before she left, a bit more fluffy looking. Her clothes were all mens clothes but that was to be expected.

"Does it feel better to be out of that damn jumpsuit? I bet that thing was suffocating." asked Rob, he was glad he didn't know what it felt like to be a prisoner.

"Although it isn't perfect, it'll do." She gave a soft smile, "I prefer mens style of clothing anyway so that's a plus. Something my size as well."

"You look like a marine who's missing a few pieces of their uniform. I think you could pass yourself off as a marine if you really tried too." joked Rob, hard to imagine someone who was dressed in a prisoner jumpsuit could also pull off the marine look.

"Well, better to pass as a marine than a convict right?" retorted Zarina, she was quick to counter.

Itzal decided now was the time to explain what they had planned, "Zarina," he said, gaining her attention, "Right now, we're heading to some unknown island in the middle of the East Blue. We're using a map the marine had and Rob noticed an island on their map that was missing on other world maps he'd seen before. That's the very island we are going to as we speak." explained Itzal, he had hoped she wouldn't react poorly to the idea to heading off to some uncharted island.

Her response surprised them both, "Show me the map. I've seen many government world maps before so I can tell you if there's something wrong." Itzal nodded to her and lead her to the map on the table, Zarina fixed her glasses and examined the map for a few mere moments before speaking, "I've seen this island on maps in the government libraries before, sorry to disappoint you both but this isn't some undiscovered island. It's probably just an island some map makers forget to add. It's more than likely just an average island with some small town or two on it. Nothing special." Zarina told them both, being as blunt and to the point as possible. Itzal didn't seem that bother although he furrowed his brow at the information.

Rob scoffed in slight disappointment before shrugging, "Oh well, doesn't matter. Either way we're heading there to drop you off like we agreed. Then I suggest we find ourselves a new ship Itzal." Itzal turned to Rob as did Zarina. "We can't go running around on a marine battleship forever, it's just too big to use and we don't have the crew to man this ship properly. Besides, this battleship has seen better days." Itzal, Rob and Zarina all glanced around the damaged vessel. He was right, the deck was destroyed in some places, a small hole or two on the hull and the mast wasn't going to need much to be done for. "So once we make land I say we go ship hunting, sound good?"

"Agreed." Itzal smiled to the group, "This'll be my first time browsing for a ship. This should be interesting!"

With that, they all settled down for the small remaining journey to this not so mysterious island. Itzal went off to explore the insides of the battleship. He really wanted to check out this massive ship. Zarina settled into a seating position by the bow of the ship, she stared out to sea a vacant expression across her face. Rob simply found a comfortable standing position, he was going to be steering for a while.

The ship continued to glide across the water, the sun had now set, only the faint orange horizon and the soft light of the moon lit their way across the sea. They were running out of time, if they didn't hit land soon they'd have to stop, it was a tremendously stupid idea to sail through the night. They could sail right past the island if it wasn't properly light up. Rob didn't have problem with it, hell he would have loved to keep sailing through the night, it would have been interesting to see if they made it out alive! However, Zarina wasn't going to die for some excitement and told him off for even suggesting it. Going as far to call him an idiot, which Itzal and Rob found amusing that she blatantly insults a pirate, they had to admit she didn't pull her punches.

After all this sailing, "Land!" yelled Rob from the helm, alerting both Itzal and Zarina causing the both of them to move further toward the bow of the ship to check as well. In front of them was a massive island. It was dark, no signs of light from any part of the island that was visible to them. Through the darkness they could tell the island was covered in dense jungle, the trees far larger than the tallest mast of the ship, a short beach shore separated the sea from the jungle. The ship barreled toward the island, the ship was heading straight toward the shore.

"Finally! It's been so long, time to check out this suspicious island." Itzal leapt onto the main bow cannon of the battleship to scope out the island. The ship continued to plow toward the island at speed.

"Ahh, R.. Rob?" Zarina stammered for a moment, "Aren't we going to slow down?" She was getting nervous now, the ship wasn't slowing down.

"Oh we'll slow right down." said Rob as he calmly stared at the island. "When we crash…" he added. Zarina just gaped at him like he was a moron. "What?!" She yelled, she turned back to the island just as the ship hit the shore. Hard.

The ship came to an abrupt stop, Zarina was thrown forward from the impact she barely kept herself up straight, stumbling a few feet forward. Rob smacked, chest first, into the helm, the wood creaking under the stress of the impact. The mast creaked horribly under the strain, the wood splintered severely at the base of the mast from coming to such a forced stop. The hull compacted and splintered from running aground, Itzal who stood atop the cannon was flung toward the island. The last either Zarina or Rob saw was him disappear down the front of the battleship. The ship grinded across the sand, beaching itself further up the beach.

Zarina fixed herself and stood straight once more, turing to Rob to tell him off for not even caring about what they were going. She paused for a moment when she saw Rob walking toward her with the wheel of the ship in his hands. Zarina had to admit, his expression was almost unreadable as he stopped beside her.

"Well that was an adventure wasn't it?" Zarina was astonished and irritated at the same time, was that all he really had to say?!

"You okay too Zarina? It was a rough impact, are you hurt anywhere." Rob took a quick scan of her to make sure she was unharmed. "Well?"

"I'm fine but next time try to avoid ramming an island with the ship we're on! That was just stupid!" She scolded Rob, although Rob didn't seem all to bothered by it. He just gave a small smile.

"Itzal! You alright?!" yelled Rob, hoping to get the all clear from Itzal.

"All good!" Itzal yelled back from over the railing of the ship.

"Well, as long as everyone is alright. It's fine." Rob turned to Zarina, "I assume you want to head out now. It's dark but you should be able to find a town of some sort if you follow the coastline."

Zarina moved to the bow of the ship, Rob following behind her. "That would probably be the best plan." As they both looked over the railing to the beach they ran aground on they saw Itzal brushing the sand off his clothes. "It wouldn't be wise to travel through the jungle at night so following the beaches would be the better of the two options."

"Agreed" said Rob as he grabbed Zarina and picked her swifted up. "Rob?!" she shouted right before Rob leapt over the railing and slammed into the ground below, kicking up the sand before placing Zarina back on her feet.

Zarina' secured her glasses and fixed her clothes before responding to Robs actions.

Smack!

Zarina slapped Rob across the back of the head, "Next time ask before you go grabbing me like that, okay?" Although she sounded calm you could still hear the promise of pain if it happened again.

Rob just rubbed the spot where he was hit, "Good hit…" His response only got Zarina to shake her head and a poorly hidden snicker from Itzal.

Crunch!

The group stopped their shenanigans and turned back to the beached battleship. All they saw was the mast had tilted and was now toppling to the side. The entire mast slammed into the water to the right of the ship, kicking up small waves and created ripples in all directions.

"Well that ships not sailing anymore." said Itzal, breaking the silence after the thunderous crash of the mast hitting the water.

"Not like we were going to use the thing anyway." countered Rob, "Doesn't matter to us."

"Well it's been great but I believe I shall be on my way." spoke Zarina quiety, Itzal and Rob both facing her now. "Best of luck with the whole… pirate.. thing I guess. Thanks for putting up with me this whole time, I know it's not easy sometimes." she said the more self-degrading part under her breath but Itzal and Rob still picked up on it.

"You've been great yourself." Itzal countered her self diagnosed critique of herself. "Are you sure you won't consider joining our crew? We think you'd make an fantastic crew mate!" Zarina was rather surprised by how Itzal defended her. Rob did too.

"I agree with Itzal, it'd be great to have you apart of the crew, keep you around. I bet you'd bring a lot to the table too." Rob added to Itzals statement surprising Zarina further, these two just accepted her as she is and like it was nothing. It actually felt rather nice to hear that.

"Thank you both but I'm not a pirate so I'm afraid I can't go with you." Her answer just disappointed her two companions but they recovered quickly and seemed to understand her view.

"Yeah I guess, that's a shame though but it's your life after. You make your own choices." said Rob, he placed both his hands in his pockets. Itzal nodded to his statement.

"Best of luck! Hope we get to see you around." Zarina gave a gentle smile and courteous bow before turning and heading down one end of the beach in search of a settlement of some kind. Itzal and Rob watched her figure slowly distance itself from them.

"Well, time to get going Rob, lets go check this place out. No point standing around." With that Itzal walked off down the beach, the other way Zarina had gone. Although Itzal was probably in search of an adventure of some kind rather than just any old settlement. His curiosity was always the strongest part of his character it seemed.

Rob watched Itzal move down the beach before turning to the direction Zarina had gone. From where he stood he couldn't see her but he could sense her presence due to his observation haki. He then turned his attention to the crippled battleship, looking over its devastated remains.

"Someone will come clean it up… surely." Rob attempted to reassure himself but in the end he failed. Not wanting to let Itzal get to far ahead Rob went to follow him, leaving behind the mess they had made.


Zarina continued to walk briskly across the beach. She'd only been walking for a minute or so but her nerves were getting to her. "Why did we have to arrive at night, in the pitch black on an island I know nothing about." complained Zarina, she was starting to get a little freaked out.

The rustling of the shrubs nearby caused her to jump slightly from surprise, her hand shot toward her rapier ready to fight if she needed. Quickly scanning over the jungles edge for any sign of movement. When the rustling stopped she deduced it was nothing more than the wind that caused the noise. Even with that rational thought she was still anxious of her surroundings.

Hear mind kicked into overthink mode. She was now coming up with ideas of everything that could go wrong. 'What if this island is was meant to never be visited. What if the world government removed this island from world maps because its inhabitants are dangerous. How would I survive if that were to happen?!' Her thought were slowly creating various situations that would end very poorly for her.

'What about the pirates? Maybe it would have been safer to stay with them for a while longer. Until I at least found somewhere safe to go on my own. I don't even know anyone else outside my home island besides those two.' Zarina quickly rationalized that it would be better off to stick with the pirates for protection. They seemed like decent people on the surface and they did ask for her to join their crew, maybe she could travel with them until she came up with a better plan than to just wander off on some mysterious and possibly dangerous island.

'Nice work Zarina. Wander off to your death. No wonder the marines caught me so quick. I'm brilliant.' She mentally scolded and degraded herself. Not one of her smartest moves she had to admit.

'Well Itzal and Rob probably went the other way up the beach. Maybe if I head back quickly enough I could catch them before anything happens.' Zarina turned and ran back in the direction she'd come from.

'Hopefully they haven't gone to far…' Zarina continued her run back but she had missed the shrubs move as she did. Through the shrubs at the jungles edge two piercing yellows stared out after her retreating figure.

Grrrrr

The shrubs rustled again and the eyes faded back into the jungle from whence it came.

It didn't take long for Zarina to pass the crippled battleship. Even with the night being complete pitch black apart from the soft light of the crescent moon Zarina could still make out the footprints left behind by her two pirate companions.

She slowed her pace to a more manageable jog, even though she had only been running for a minute she still wore herself out a bit. 'I need to get back in shape.' she mentally complained. She was starting to get a stitch from all the running.

Another minute later and finally her two pirate companions came into view. Seeing the both of them Zarina slowed to a walk, contemplating how she should do this. 'Should I really go running back to them for protection? Would they even help me? I did reject their proposal.' She continued to watch them from afar. 'I could just follow them until I get somewhere safe and hope that if I do get into trouble they'll help.'

Meanwhile, with her comrades ahead of her.

"Does she really think we don't know she's there?" asked Rob who kept pace with Itzal.

Itzal shrugged his shoulders, "I guess so. I mean she doesn't know anything about us how would she know we have haki." Itzal defended her. "Should we call her over?"

"Nah, I'm actually finding this rather entertaining!"

"Uhh, are you sure that's a good idea?" Itzal was more concerned about leaving her further behind them. It'd be better if she was with them.

"Nah don't worry about it. I'll keep an eye on her I promise I won't let anything happen to her. I just want to mess with her abit!" Rob grinned at Itzal hoping that was enough for him. "I'd never let anything happen to our crewmates." he added at the end, Itzal smirked.

"Alright. Well I want to go explore the island for a bit. You check out the beach while I take the jungle." Itzals curiosity was starting to get the better of him.

"Sure thing Itzal. I'll keep an eye on Zarina and let you know what I find." With that Itzal and Rob nodded to one another before Itzal turned and dashed into the jungle. He was gone within seconds because of all the foliage that separated the beach and jungle.

Zarina on the other hand just signed when Itzal took off into the forest. From what she had gathered from spending the little time she had with them, she could tell Itzal was a very energetic and curious person so him disappearing into the jungle like that meant he went off to explore. For Itzal that wasn't a problem, him and his first mate had attacked a marine prison transport convoy so he'd be okay in the jungle by himself… hopefully. Now Zarina could only follow Rob, there'd be no way she could keep up with Itzal, she'd be lost in no time flat.

"Well looks like I'm sticking with Rob now." said Zarina, her tone rather disappointed, she didn't mean for it to sound like that it just came out like that.

"Yep! I guess you're stuck with me." laughed a voice to her left.

Zarina screamed and jumped backwards from fright at the sudden appearance of a voice next to her. She gripped her rapier without thinking but before she drew it she recognised the voice almost immediately afterwards. "Don't do that! You scared the daylights out of me!"

It was Rob of course, why wouldn't it be?

Zarina glared at him and slapped him in the arm, "You shouldn't scare me like that!" Zarina continued to scold the pirate.

Rob gave a small laugh, "I know, I'm sorry but I saw an opportunity so I took it."

Zarina signed once more, "Please try to be more serious, I could have tried to strike you if I hadn't recognised your voice."

"Sorry?" said Rob in a rather sheepish manner. "Maybe you shouldn't try to secretly follow us. Deal?" Zarina scowled at him and his response. "Deal." Her response earned a grin from Rob.

"Alright then now that that's out of the way let's get moving. We'll meet up with Itzal at some stage later on. You and I will continue along the beach, sound good?" Zarina responded with a nodded. Together Rob and Zarina walked off down the beach in search of a settlement of some kind.


Itzal continued to dash through the jungle, none of the shrubs and roots that covered the jungle floor slowed him. The jungle canopy maybe it complete darkness in the jungle, the soft moon light couldn't break through the tall trees. Not many would run blindly through a dense, dark jungle. But Itzal wasn't like most people, he found it invigorating and exciting to be exploring a jungle. Itzal could take care of himself if anything were to rear its ugly head.

After having sprinted through the jungle for a few minutes, heading up a large hill Itzal came up with an idea, 'I should really climb up a tree and scan my surroundings. I bet I'd find a settlement of some kind.' With that thought in mind Itzal searched for a tall tree to climb, with how big all these trees were he could pick any really.

Itzal leapt at a random jungle tree and began to climb, he had no difficulty as he rapidly ascended the tree to the very top. Once at the top Itzal examined the island from above. The entire island was covered in darkness apart from one, massive, area in the centre.

'Is that a…' Itzal narrowed his eyes at what he saw. 'Fortress?' What he saw was best described as a massive compound or fortress that covered the centre of the island. The jungle surrounded the enormous compound making it almost impossible to spot it from sea level despite how it was lit up brighter than anything Itzal had seen before. The fortress was enclosed by a security wall and seemingly had only one entrance. The entrance was a wide river that winded and curved until it hit the sea by the southern half of the island. The only way for people to attack this fortress was through the river or to try and break through the wall. The fortress was built around a large lagoon, ships were docked in the lagoon ranging from small ships to a frigate. Itzal scanned the compound for only a few seconds but one thing caught his eye more than anything. The flag that waved in the night sky atop the largest building in the fortress.

Itzal narrowed his eyes at the flag, "Marines…"


Chapter 3 done. Be gentle please! I don't mean for these to take so long I swear! It's unfortunate that this chapter has no fight scenes but I promise the next chapter will have a few (Hopefully Good) fight scenes.

What did you ladies and gents think of the chapter? Good, Bad or Acceptable? Leave your thoughts in a message or a review and tell me everything you think so far.

Special thanks to SpaceDragon for beta reading the chapter!

Disclaimer, I obviously don't own One Piece (For Shame). All OC' go to their respective owners and such.

AlcatrazDGold - Till the next chapter… (Chapter 4 - Into the Fire)