IMPORTANT! READ THIS FIRST!
For those of you who don't know, I rewrote the ending of the last chapter. There are changes that affect this chapter, so please read that first if you haven't done so. Otherwise you'll be confused.
Special thanks to Talon of soaring Eagle for helping me with the changes last chapter.
I do not own One Piece.
"That was awesome!"
"Will you stop following me?"
"Hey, join my crew!"
"No!"
"Why not?!"
"Because I said so!"
"That's not a good enough reason!"
"I don't care!" Zoro yelled over his shoulder and Luffy pouted.
Luffy had followed Zoro in the hopes of getting him to join his crew, but Zoro didn't want to join. Luffy had already decided that Zoro was going to be his swordsman, though, and he would make sure that happened. Even if he had to follow the guy around until he agreed.
They walked in an uncomfortable silence. Luffy was never more than ten steps behind Zoro. They walked until they came across a small clearing with a dead bear in the middle.
"Weren't we just here?" Luffy asked. The bear in the middle looked like the bear he and his brothers killed.
"That's weird. The village is supposed to be here. Don't tell me it moved again." Zoro said to himself.
"Whoa! The village moves?!" Luffy asked excitedly. He had never been to an island where villages moved around. This was a cool island.
"Yeah, things move around a lot on this island. Trees, boulders, caves, the village…" Zoro listed with his fingers.
"That's so cool! Can clearings move too?!" Luffy looked around in awe.
"Yeah, like everything else, clearings move. It makes things confusing, but I eventually find my way back." Zoro said, and walked in a random direction. Luffy followed close behind.
"Awesome! I've never been on an island like this! How often do things move?" Luffy wanted to know as much about this place as possible.
"Things move around all the time." Zoro said as they entered a small clearing with a dead bear in the center.
"Hey! Another clearing with a dead bear!" Luffy pointed out.
"No. It's the same place. It just moved again." Zoro sounded more frustrated than before, and walked off in another direction.
They walked a little ways. Luffy looked around to see if any of the trees would move while he was looking at them. They didn't, but they looked familiar somehow. Luffy tried to think of why they were familiar, but was distracted when they entered a small clearing with a dead bear in the center.
"I don't believe it! The clearing moved again!" Luffy yelled. How did it keep moving without them noticing?!
"I hate it when it does this." Zoro said, and ran in another direction.
Luffy ran after him. He looked harder to see if anything moved. Nothing moved, but everything looked familiar again. Luffy nearly bumped into Zoro who stopped suddenly when they entered a small clearing with a dead bear in the middle. Zoro grunted in frustration, and ran in another direction. Luffy chased after him.
"This is going to take a while, isn't it?" Luffy asked.
Zoro's lack of response was all the answer he needed.
XxXxXxXxX
"What is this place?" Ace asked as he stretched his arm muscles again. He still had cramps, but they weren't as bad as they were earlier.
He and Sabo were in a fairly large clearing just inside the forest. All around the clearing were broken training dummies, and broken wooden swords. It looked like someone went crazy tearing everything up, and then left in a hurry.
"It looks like some sort of training area. Maybe the student's at the dojo use it?" Sabo suggested, and inspected a nearby headless training dummy.
"They need new equipment if that's true." Ace said and kicked the remains of a wooden sword.
"Hey, look at this!" Sabo gestured for Ace to stand next to him.
Ace walked over. Sabo stood in front of a path that, more than likely, went to the village. But Sabo wasn't pointing to the path, instead he was pointing to a bright red ribbon that was tied to a tree. The ribbon was around their eye level, and practically glowed in the sunlight.
"Why is there a ribbon here?" Ace asked.
"I don't know, but there's another one further down the path." Sabo said.
Ace looked down the path, and sure enough, there was another ribbon tied to another tree in the same fashion as the first. It was just as red, and just as eye catching as the first.
"Why are there ribbons tied to these trees?" Sabo asked as he scratched his head in confusion.
"Maybe they're decorations?" Ace asked.
"Maybe… Hey! There's another one over there!" Sabo pointed to said ribbon.
"Okay, this is freaky." Ace said and walked up to the third ribbon.
"And another ribbon!" Sabo ran to the fourth, which was where the forest ended. The entrance to the village was about ten feet from where they stood.
"Hey, there are two ribbons at the entrance!" Ace pointed out. On either side of the gate that led to the village were the same bright red ribbons they found in the forest. Just like the other four, they were at their eye level.
"I think they lead somewhere." Sabo said.
"Only one way to find out." Ace said and walked through the gate. Sabo followed right behind him.
"But what about, Luffy?" Sabo asked.
"He probably followed the ribbons too. They're hard to not notice, and they're his favorite color. Do you think he'd ignore them?" Ace turned to Sabo.
"Good point." Sabo said.
They wordlessly followed the ribbons throughout the village. They were on buildings, posts, and food stands. All of them were the same bright red color, and all of them were at their eye level. They made a path to the center of the village. The trail ended at the gates of the Isshin Dojo. The gates were covered in the ribbons, which made it very hard to ignore.
"They lead here? But why?" Sabo asked.
"Who cares? We were trying to get here anyways, right? This just made our job easier." Ace said, and walked in.
"Ace! You can't just walk in without being invited first!" Sabo fussed from the outside.
"Hey! We need to find Luffy, and this is the most likely place he'd be! So you can stand out there waiting to be invited, but I'm going to find our little brother." Ace said, and started walking. He walked a few feet before he heard Sabo's footsteps approach from behind.
"I hate it when you're right." Sabo said flatly.
"This place is pretty big. He could be anywhere." Ace said as he looked around.
"Let's split up. We'll cover more ground, and find Luffy faster." Sabo said.
"Good idea. I'll take the main building. You take the courtyard. We'll meet back at the gate once we're done looking." Ace said, and Sabo nodded in understanding.
Ace ran up to the building, and walked in. There was no one inside the room, so Ace looked in another room. It too was empty.
"Luffy! Get your ass out here now!" Ace called out. There was no response. Ace growled, and ran into another room. It was also empty. Ace ran around looking in every room he came across, all the while calling out for his idiotic brother.
He eventually came to a room with an old man in it. He sat with his legs under him, and he was sipping tea from a cup. He wore a pair of glasses, and had his hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"I was wondering when you'd get to this room." The old guy said, and looked at Ace.
"Who are you, and what did you do with my brother?!" Ace yelled, and tightened his grip around his pipe. He ignored the cramp in his forearm starting to flare up again. If this guy did anything to Luffy, there would be nothing to stop him from beating this guy's brains out.
"My name is Koshiro. As for your brother, I never even met him." He said, and took another sip of his tea. Ace felt anger rise in his chest.
"You liar! He's somewhere in this room!" Ace yelled, and started looking around.
"Feel free to look anywhere you wish, but I have never even seen your brother." Koshiro said.
"Yeah right! Cut the act, old man! He followed one of your students here!" Ace's annoyance grew with each second he was stuck with this geezer.
The old man sighed and asked, "Did this student of mine have green hair, and carry three swords?"
"What difference does it make if he did?!" Ace asked.
"You met him in the forest didn't you?" Koshiro asked, and Ace inwardly freaked out. Just who was this old kook? Was he psychic or something?
"How do you know?!" Ace asked in a mixture of anger and panic.
"If your brother followed Zoro, they're more than likely still in the forest." Koshiro set his tea down, and stood up. Ace held his pipe up in a defensive position. Ace didn't trust this guy for anything, and he freaked him out. Not that Ace would ever admit that.
"Zoro has the worst sense of direction of anyone I have ever met, student or otherwise. I led him to the training area just inside the forest to train. On the way there I tied several red ribbons on various landmarks around his eye level, and made sure he saw where they were. This way he could find his way back easier. That was a few days ago. The fact that he hasn't returned yet can only mean that he still managed to get lost." Koshiro finished with a patient sigh. Ace sweat dropped at the thought of someone have worse directional skills than Luffy.
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe that someone is worse at navigation than Luffy?!" Ace demanded. Koshiro didn't answer. He only smiled, and walked toward the door.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Ace yelled.
"To save your brother from my directionally challenged student." He said, and Ace felt his guard go up significantly.
"Why should I believe you?! You could be luring me into a trap for all I know!" Ace held his pipe in a threatening position.
"You can look around here if you want, but the chances of finding him here are little to none." Koshiro said, and walked out of the room.
Ace stood there. The old geezer just gave him permission to look around, but that could be a trap. He could always follow him, but that could also be a trap. What if Luffy really was lost in the forest? If Zoro was really as bad as the old man said, then it was a case of the blind leading the blind. They didn't stand a chance of finding their way out. If that was true, then that means he and Sabo just abandoned Luffy in the forest with the only person who was dumber than he was.
But Luffy could also be stuck here somewhere, and the old man just wanted to lead him away from his baby brother. What if Luffy did make it back, and the old guy tied him up somewhere? What if he was going outside to do the same to Sabo?
In a fit of protectiveness, Ace dashed out of the room and fell over when his calves cramped up again. He growled in anger and pain. His brothers were in trouble, and he couldn't even move!
"Ace?!" Sabo called as he walked into the building.
"Over here, Sabo!" Ace yelled and tried to stand up.
"Who was that guy that walked out? He said he was going to find Luffy." Sabo asked.
"He's Luffy's kidnapper!" Ace yelled, and managed to stand.
"Wait! What?!" Sabo asked bewildered.
"He has Luffy tied up here somewhere!" Ace said and tried to walk off the cramps.
"What makes you say that?" Sabo asked.
"He said that Zoro kid had worse directions than Luffy." Ace said.
"But Luffy has the worst navigation of anyone I've ever met!" Sabo said.
"Exactly! He even said that the ribbons were meant to lead Zoro back here." Ace said, and looked in a room he hadn't checked yet. Sabo had a thoughtful look on his face.
"Wait, Ace. Let's really think about this." Sabo said, and Ace felt annoyed by the blond.
"What's there to think about?! He was lying, and Luffy is tied up around here somewhere! We just have to find him, and kick that guy's ass for messing with our brother!" Ace checked another room, but grunted in frustration when it too was empty.
"But what if he isn't lying?!" Sabo asked, and Ace turned to look at Sabo.
"And what if he is?!" Ace challenged.
"I'm just saying that we need to look at this logically. It's true that he could be lying, but he could also be telling the truth. We need to think of strategies for both possibilities." Sabo said and Ace calmed down some. At least Sabo admitted that Luffy could be around here somewhere.
"Fine. The strategy is: find Luffy, and kick that guy's ass!" Ace said checked another empty room.
"How about one of us follows that guy, while another one stays here to look for Luffy." Sabo suggested, and Ace paused in his search.
"No way."
"Why not?"
"It could be an ambush." Ace said and resumed his search.
"What if we stayed in the shadows so he doesn't see us?" Sabo suggested.
"Yeah, and it'll work as well as it did with the old geezer." Ace said as he walked up a set of stairs. He winced at some cramps that refused to go away.
"You can't compare Garp to everyone. Garp is a marine. He had special training." Sabo said.
"Not to mention that he's crazy." Ace deadpanned.
"Exactly! Look, if it's true that Luffy is out in the forest, and we're here, then who will stop that guy from attacking him?" Sabo asked and Ace stopped. He hadn't thought of that. Worry prickled at his mind, as he thought of that creep attacking his practically defenseless brother. He turned to Sabo, and saw the same worry reflected in his eyes.
"Fine. But if anyone is following that old guy, it's me!" Ace said, and started for the door. He was stopped by Sabo.
"Nu-uh! Your muscles are still spazzing out. Out of the three of us, I'm the only one that could possibly take that guy on." Sabo said, and Ace tried to mask the pain of another cramp flaring up.
"I'm not letting you go alone, then!" Ace said, and Sabo shook his head.
"You couldn't even finish Zoro off earlier. You'd be better off looking for Luffy here, and between me and Luffy, I stand a better chance of fighting him!" Sabo said, and Ace felt angry and helpless. If it weren't for the cramps, he would've left Sabo here a long time ago. He hated it when he couldn't help his brothers. He would've argued further, but Luffy's life was in danger.
"Fine! But you better get back here in one piece!" Ace relented, and looked in a nearby room.
Sabo nodded before he ran back down the stairs to follow that Koshiro guy. If Sabo and Luffy didn't return unscathed, then Ace couldn't be held accountable for his actions.
XxXxXxXxX
"Is it just me, or is the food on this island pricey?" Thatch asked, as he carried a large portion of food on his back.
"It only seems pricey because we're buying enough to feed an army." Marco answered, also carrying a large portion of food.
"It isn't my fault! Those brats eat more than anyone I've ever seen." Thatch argued.
"I'm not saying it is, but do we really need this much? The kids will more than likely bring their own chunk of food."
"Better to have it, and not need it." Thatch shrugged, and Marco rolled his eyes.
They walked a few feet before Marco spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Sabo somewhat hidden behind a corner, and appeared to be looking for someone. He could sense apprehension, and indecisiveness rolling off of the brat. Marco raised an eyebrow at this. Sabo was easily the most sensible one out of the small trio. It was odd to see him acting like this. Not only that, but the brat was alone. He began to feel concern for the two missing brothers. Did something happen to them already? They were only gone for little over an hour!
Marco stopped, and gestured over to Sabo. Thatch nodded, and they walked over to the blond, who spotted them quickly.
"How's it going, brat?" Thatch asked when they approached.
"It's, uh, going okay. Look, I'm kinda in a hurry, so I'll see you later." Sabo quickly said, and ran off.
Marco and Thatch watched the small pirate disappear into the crowd. Something was definitely up if Sabo was acting that strange. The missing two didn't help matters, either.
"Hey, Thatch, can you-"
"Yeah, I can carry both loads. You follow them to see how much trouble they're in." Thatch said, and took Marco's load. Thatch struggled under the extra weight for a few seconds, before steadying himself.
Marco nodded his thanks, and trailed after the kid, who was heading for the forest. Marco hoped that they didn't get themselves into too much trouble.
XxXxXxXxX
Sabo ducked behind a tree. The dojo guy hadn't noticed his presence so far, which Sabo was eternally grateful for. He had a few close calls, though. He didn't want to fight the guy, but if he had to, then he had to.
Sabo got the feeling that he didn't need to worry about this guy, however. He seemed like a calm, reasonable man. Maybe Ace was jumping to conclusions again. He knew better than to listen to the delusions Ace would dream up about people, but he couldn't take chances with Luffy missing. If this guy was dangerous, and Sabo didn't listen, then it would be like killing Luffy himself. He could never live with himself if that were to happen.
A part of him wished that he had told Marco and Thatch what was happening. They could be a big help if he ended up needing to fight this guy, but this was their battle. He knew he shouldn't rely on anyone other than his brothers to solve their problems. The Whitebeard pirates were no exception.
Sabo dashed to another tree when the old guy got far enough. This had been a repeating pattern for a long time now. He wondered how far they'd go before the dojo guy noticed someone was following him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the smell of something cooking. Sabo briefly wondered what it could be before he remembered the bear he and his brothers killed. He felt a small pang of anger at whoever was cooking it.
The guy walked into the small clearing where the bear was being cooked, and Sabo stayed in the shadows. Luffy and Zoro had made a fire, and were cooking the bear. Sabo was upset that Luffy would eat the bear without him and Ace, but he also knew Luffy could barely contain himself when it came to his stomach.
"There you are. I've been looking all over the forest for you." the guy said, successfully capturing their attention.
"Master Koshiro." Zoro said, and Luffy looked up in excitement
"This is you master?!" Luffy asked while bouncing.
"Yeah." Zoro answered.
"Awesome! Hey, tell Zoro he has to join my crew!" Luffy said, and Sabo resisted the urge to punch him in his rubbery head.
"Will you cut that crap out?! I already told you, I'm not joining!" Zoro yelled, and Luffy pouted.
"But I already decided that you would! So you have to!" Luffy said.
"I'M NOT GOING TO BE YOUR SWORDSMAN!"
"Of course you aren't! You're going to me by swordsman AND first mate!" Luffy said with a big grin.
"YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE THAT!" Zoro yelled, and Sabo felt bad for him. Once Luffy got you in his sights, he refused to give you up. Hell, he followed Ace every day until he finally caught up to them, and now he was their little brother. That just showed that Luffy usually got what he wanted. Which meant that Luffy would more than likely get Zoro to join his crew. He didn't know how, but Luffy would find a way.
"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, and Zoro fumed.
"You must be Luffy." Koshiro said, and Luffy turned to him.
"Yup! How do you know my name old man?" Luffy ask while picking his nose.
"One of your brothers burst into my dojo looking for you, and the other one followed me here." Koshiro looked directly at Sabo, and he jerked back in surprise. This guy knew Sabo was following him! How did he know? Why didn't he attack if he was being led to an ambush?
Sabo gulped loudly, and cautiously stepped out into the clearing. He remained in a defensive position as he slowly made his way to Luffy.
"Hi, Sabo! Isn't this island cool?!" Luffy asked, and ran up to Sabo.
"Stay behind me, Luffy." Sabo said, never once taking his eyes off of Koshiro.
"You don't have to be afraid of me. I don't intend to harm you or your brothers. And if I did, I think your friend would have something to say about that." Koshiro said, and Sabo wondered what he meant by that.
"So, you could sense me too." Marco said as he stepped into the clearing. Sabo gaped at the man with the unfortunate shaped head. He wasn't really shocked that Marco had followed. No, what shocked him was that Sabo had no idea Marco was even there. Yet, this dojo master could not only sense that he was being followed, but also that his follower was being followed as well.
"Hi, Pineapple Head!" Luffy chirped from his spot behind Sabo, and he heard Zoro snort at the nick name.
"My name is Marco." He said almost sadly.
"I hope you don't mind me asking why a Whitebeard pirate is in the East Blue." Koshiro asked.
"We're just here to keep an eye on these brats." Marco said turning toward the only other adult in the area.
"We?"
"Thatch is here too!" Luffy said, interrupting the conversation.
"Yes, he is. What I'm worried about is their missing brother." Marco said, gesturing to Sabo and Luffy.
"You mean Ace?" Sabo asked.
"The third one is probably at the dojo, still." Koshiro answered.
"No fair! He got to see the dojo without me!" Luffy whined.
"That wouldn't have happened if you didn't run off again!" Sabo yelled, and bonked Luffy on the head. He seriously wondered how his noisy brother always managed to slip away without them noticing.
"But I had to get Zoro to join my crew!" Luffy pouted.
"How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not joining your dumb crew!" Zoro yelled, and Luffy grinned at him.
"I already made up my mind!" Luffy laughed and Zoro looked ready to bash his skull in. Sabo made sure he was in between the two.
"C'mon, Luffy. We'd better go get Ace before he destroys the dojo looking for you." Sabo encouraged.
"But how are we going to get around if things on the island keep moving?" Luffy asked, and Sabo looked at him confusedly.
"What are you talking about, Lu?" he asked.
"Zoro tried to lead us out of the forest, but this clearing kept moving back in front of us." Luffy explained, and Sabo was more confused than before.
"Things move around on this island, which makes it hard to move around." Zoro said, and Sabo honestly had nothing to say.
Koshiro sighed and said, "Forgive my student. He gets lost easily."
"No, I don't! This island keeps moving around! That's why it's hard to remember where the village is!" Zoro yelled.
"Zoro, I left a trail of bright red ribbons that led back to the dojo. How did you not see them?" Koshiro asked tiredly.
"You must've misplaced the ribbons or something. I didn't see them." Zoro said, and Koshiro gave a defeated sigh.
"Let's just go back to the dojo." Koshiro said while rubbing his temples.
"Can we eat the bear first? I'm hungry!" Luffy asked, and his stomach growled in agreement.
"Fine, but we better save some for Ace." Sabo relented, and sat down next to the cooking bear.
"Yay! I'm starving!" Luffy cheered.
The bear still had some time left to cook. So Sabo and Luffy sat there while Marco, Koshiro, and Zoro headed back toward the village. Luffy started to chat endlessly about his and Zoro's misadventure of making constant loops back to the small clearing. Sabo listened, and shook his head in disbelief. He didn't think it was possible for someone to be worse at navigation than Luffy. If Zoro did end up joining Luffy's crew, then Nami had better be the world's greatest navigator to make up for their poor directional skills.