CHAPTER 4 - A Pirate Alliance
"And what the hell do you think you are doing?" Zoro asked.
He was stopped on his tracks.
"It's me that you'll have to go through next." Lyn clashed blades against the swordsman.
"That's an interesting sword you have." Zoro was surprised, "You remind me of someone that I had met a while back."
"You cannot take Ninian away from us, Black Fang scum." Lyn retorted.
"You've got guts for a woman." Zoro grinned, "Let's settle this. Let's see what you got."
Thunders roared.
"Lyn, don't be reckless. That man is dangerous." Hector warned.
"I'm not fighting him alone. This battle hasn't been fair since we had landed upon the shores. Imprisoning helpless kids is outrageous." Lyn was enraged.
"Heh, I don't know what you are talking about." Zoro replied, "It doesn't matter. You wanted a fight? I'll give you a fight."
But to his surprise, Lyn retreated. Something flew in from the sky.
"Spears have an advantage against swords. She can handle him." Lyn mentioned.
"Stay away from us!" a voice wailed in from the sky.
Zoro found a horse falling down upon him.
"What the…" He dodged the impact that crashed upon his vicinity.
"Oh man!" Hector couldn't believe the folly.
The horse wailed in pain, as the dust gave way to a woman entangled along with her spear. She got back up and aimed her weapon against the swordsman.
"G… give up, you evil man." the woman shook as she spoke. She had purple hair and blue eyes, with a timid demeanour.
"Hmm... now that I think about Leila might've mentioned of someone showing up. I heard they were going to storm that stupid fortress." Zoro had his doubts.
"Leila?" Many of them were surprised. Matthew got to the frontlines and confronted the foe.
"Wait, how do you know Leila? Where's she?" he demanded from concern.
"Matthew, comport yourself! That man is a threat." Hector reminded.
"My apologies, Lord Hector."
Zoro had withdrawn his blade. He had heard enough.
"If you are a friend of Leila's, I have no need to continue this fight." he mentioned, looking below, "Hey you, fancy pants. Stand up and get your sword." He kicked Eliwood. The latter crawled his way away from his opponent.
"Who are you?" Lyn demanded.
"I'm just here as a detour." Zoro replied.
"What? Why didn't you wake us up?" Sanji bellowed upon the former members of the Black Fang who had failed to mention of Zoro's decision.
"Your friend mentioned that he'll handle the situation. He had proven his strength, and I hope he's good with negotiation." Uhai mentioned.
"Oh no." Leila was worried.
"You think so, huh? That Moss Head wouldn't be able to find his way back here. What the hell were you thinking?" Sanji was annoyed, "Damn, I should've seen such troubles."
"I think we should head out before things get out of hand." Brook mentioned.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Wait! We need to entrust someone to keep an eye on the troops." Leila mentioned.
"Leave that to me, Leila. It would be shameful to betray you now, after my defeat. You can trust me." Uhai said. Leila agreed.
The walk was short and they soon found themselves amidst the expected.
"Leila!" Hector bellowed, "You are alive! Good to see you."
"Lord Hector!" Leila bowed before her Lord.
"Whoa! Look at all those ladies!" Sanji was overwhelmed from the presence in front of him.
"Oh my. Yohoho…" Brook chuckled, "I hope they'll show me their panties."
"Kya!" A woman shouted in the vicinity. She stood along with her horse.
"A ghost!" she screamed.
"What is that thing?" Lyn was shocked.
"A ghost? Where is it? I'm afraid of ghosts!" Brook flipped.
"Please, calm down everyone." Leila stood in, "They've helped me through the way. They are good people."
"But how do you explain that fellow, the skeleton." Hector mentioned.
"How rude! My name is Brook you know." Brook was offended.
"What's wrong with these people? First it was that crazy swordsman and now a talking skeleton. This island is cursed." Eliwood wailed from the ground.
"Wait, you've met that stupid Moss Head? Where is he? I don't see him around here?" Sanji walked up to him.
"I don't know, please don't kill me!" Eliwood pleaded.
"Get up, you wimp! What would the ladies say with your attitude? Did that swordsman kick your ass or something?" Sanji pulled him up by his collar.
"Please stop, Sanji. That's Lord Eliwood, the son of Marquess Pherae." Leila mentioned.
"Is that so? Ain't you a fancy pants? Getting all the ladies whilst at it." Sanji was enraged.
"I don't know. I believe Zoro must've left to find us." Brook mentioned.
Sanji dropped Eliwood with a shock.
"Don't tell me…"
"Despite the evil sorcery, the skeleton is right." Hector said, "Your swordsman friend had just left with one of my scouts."
"I have feelings, you know! And I'm not cursed!" Brook made himself clear.
"Hey, where are we? You said your friends were nearby." Matthew asked.
"Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate here." Zoro replied, "Huh? This place looks awfully familiar."
Zoro led them out of the forest, finding themselves upon a beach.
"Ahoy there? How's it faring, young thief? I thought you were with your friends."
A large man was found near the shore, along with a large ship on the waters beyond. Matthew recognised the man
"Ah, I knew it. We were lost." Matthew was annoyed.
"Hmm… a pirate, I presume?" Zoro observed the man.
"C'mon we need to head back. And I'm taking lead. You are hopeless!" Matthew couldn't control himself. He decided to travel along in the first place to find Leila.
"Hold your horses, young man. A young lady showed up whilst you were away. She was eager to jump into the island." the big man mentioned.
Zoro and Matthew approached him for more information.
"Ah, so you are pirate, eh boy? My name is Fargus, and I'm the Captain of that ship." the big guy mentioned.
"I'm Roronoa Zoro."
Fargus nodded and looked upon Matthew, "What happened, kid? I thought you were after that Black Fang who had tried to kidnap that Lord lady."
"We got lost and managed to find ourselves here." Matthew replied with replied.
"Hahah!" Fargus burst out, "Come on, your friends shall be fine. How about some drinks on my ship? You can meet the newcomer whilst at it."
"You've read my mind, old man. I'm in." Zoro said with jolly.
"Zoro! We don't have time. And we don't know much of what had happened to the Black Fang that had tried to apprehend lady Lyn. He might be lurking around with his horse and men."
"If you are talking about Uhai, he had surrendered." Zoro mentioned, "Now, what's the fuss about? We are invited for booze. The day's getting good."
The sun rose from the east.
Matthew gave in to the offer and joined the Captain on his ship.
"Whoa! I wasn't expecting guests, Captain. Have they all returned?" Dart asked looking upon Matthew.
"No quite. We had a little detour." Matthew replied hesitantly.
"Who cares? Bring out the lady. Bring out the booze. We are here for a merry conversation." said Fargus.
"Aye." Dart went below deck.
"This is a nice ship." Zoro looked around.
"How fares your travels, young man? Are you a member of a crew?" Fargus asked.
"Yeah, I'm from the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Straw Hat? Hahah. What a strange name for a crew!" Fargus laughed out.
"We had run into some hindrance when we landed upon this island." Zoro mentioned.
"Shipwrecked, eh?"
"More like a battle. We faced a Warlord named, Bartholomew Kuma, who was determined to annihilate my crew. We found ourselves awake behind bars later at some weird dungeon."
"What?" Matthew was surprised.
"Hah! Quite the adventure you had. I believe you were not the only one who had landed ashore?" Fargus asked.
"The stupid cook of our ship and a skeleton had landed alongside." Zoro mentioned.
"Hey, tell me what happened to Leila? You had mentioned her name when we departed from the army. You've kept that anticipated for long enough." Matthew demanded.
"What does that woman mean to you?" Zoro asked, "She's being pursued by enemies, and relaying information to the wrong people can cost her life."
"I'm her fiancée, for God's sake!"
Zoro was surprised, "Hmm… I guess you are not lying. Well, she's safe with the cook and the skeleton. They'll take care of things."
"Now, I'm worried." Matthew mentioned.
"A skeleton? Hahahah!" Fargus burst out, "What in the world did you find in that cursed island?"
Meanwhile, there was a stowaway upon the ship. A man with an afro observed the situation from behind some crates, listening to the others making fun of him.
"Ah!" A pirate shouted out.
Brook was found out.
"What's going on?" Fargus demanded getting up.
"A… a walking skeleton!" a group of pirates gathered now the terrified Brook.
"Brook!" Zoro was surprised.
"Why's everyone flipping out here?" Brook asked, "Those Black Fang did not complain."
"Hey, move aside. That's my friend." Zoro walked ahead.
"I can't believe I'm seeing a walking skeleton." Fargus mentioned, "The Black Fang must be poisoned into their mind! Those fools have stayed long enough on that cursed isle to see ghosts as mere things."
"Hey! I'm neither a ghost nor a thing! I'm a living person!" Brook retorted.
Everyone was surprised.
"Anyway Brook, how did you find us out here?" Zoro asked.
"That's my question? How did you get here?" Brook demanded, "Those people mentioned you had a battle against one of their leaders. Sanji was going crazy over the women and so did I. But someone had to take responsibility and find you before long. Fortunate as it was, I was able to catch up with your trail. I can't believe you got lost like that."
Zoro couldn't reply to his folly.
"Hey, I don't care if you are a talking skeleton or not, where's Leila?" Matthew demanded.
"Huh? Who's he?" Brook was confused, "Oh yeah, you might be Lord Hector's scout?"
"That I am."
"Well, then you must be Leila's friend. She's safe with your people. But we need to head back soon." Brook mentioned.
Matthew sighed.
"What's up with the hurry? The booze is here." Fargus announced.
Everyone sat down and found themselves along with the woman that Fargus had mentioned. She was dressed for the occasion.
"What a beauty!" Brook remarked.
"Wha! A ghost from Dread Isle!" she shouted.
"Yohoho..." Brook wailed in misery.
"Calm down, Brook is a friendly guy." Zoro mentioned, "You seem familiar for some reason? I hope we haven't met?"
"My name is Fiora, and I'm a knight from Ilia."
"Ilia?" Matthew was surprised, "That's far away."
"I came to the Dread Isle on a mission, only to be apprehended by these pirates." Fiora mentioned.
"Come on now, love. We mean no ill harm." Fargus said, "These fellows might help you out if you are heading into the island."
"I'm not so sure." Fiora was hesitant.
"Do you by any chance happen to know Florina, the Pegasus knight?" Matthew asked.
Fiora was surprised, "She's my sister."
"Ah, that horse-lady with the spear." Zoro remembered.
"She's with the lords from the mainland. We are here to find Marquess Pherae who had gone missing a while back." Matthew mentioned.
"Ah! I take back with I had said. I'll come with you, if that's not a problem." Fiora contradicted her former statement, "I was sent here to investigate a situation. My squad was killed by the Black Fang."
"Those bastards!" Matthew barked.
"This patch of waters has become more ominous as of late." Fargus mentioned, "My boy Dart mentioned a weird island that he had seen moving through the sea. As per my knowledge, no island can do that."
Dart showed up, "My eyes didn't lie, Captain. I went out for a distance but the island had disappeared."
"Well, I trust you, kid. We'll need to investigate once those lords are returned."
Brook was in for a shock, so was Zoro.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Matthew asked.
"They are excited for some reason." Fargus observed. Dart and Fiora were confused.
"Well, you are right." Zoro said.
"We might have an idea for what you are looking for. And that goes for us the same." Brook mentioned.
"Wait, you are saying that you have seen that island?" Dart was surprised.
"Oho, let's hear it." Fargus was eager.
"We have arrived here from that 'island' you've mentioned. If that's what we think it is, then I believe that can be the largest pirate ship in the world. The Thriller Bark." Brook declared.
TO BE CONTINUED...