Welcome, ladies and gents! (Are there any gents here? 0.0)

Anyways, Portgas Ace D, I hope that this was a fast update, love :D

Thank you Lady Okori and phoenix-like-fire on the alerts :D Welcome, and I hope you enjoy!

This was a very amusing chapter to write :D

Chapter 11: Prayer of a Refugee – Rise Against

The waves are high and untamed. The clouds are covering the skies, not allowing the sun rays to go through. The dark sea rises up and goes down in a steady, hard rhythm, as if it is breathing. One wrong move and you are forever swallowed in its deep lungs, never to see the light again. That is what the thrill is, though. That is what gets all of your blood pumping. That is what calls to you. Once you experience the struggle between life and death in pure, untamed nature, how can you not go back?

The raindrops hit her goggles and smear as she rushes forward, following the violent currents. Storms are like a challenge. She loves them, yet fears them. She flies high and low, left and right, often in circles, dancing with the whirlwind of air gusts, as if she is playing with them. Her gloved hands grip the bars of her glider hard as she flies free in the open seas. It is nothing short of terrifying, and yet, it is beautiful, and she is hooked. She always goes back. No matter who begs her not to, she will always go back, even when she is old and wrinkled.

The bird under her let out a loud screech and with a swift adjustment to her position, the young pilot is lying on her glider. She catches just the right current and presses the hidden paddle on her vessel and up they go. The machine doesn't break under the force of the two propellants, it merely trembles slightly. It has a skilled pilot after all. The glider shoots upwards, wings pulled in tight, through the stormy, ice cold clouds with another shout of joy and then silence. The colors change as if a spell was broken. The grey and black and navy are gone and golden, pink and white take their place. It's calm above the storm. The sun it up high, shining, as if oblivious to the rage of the sea below. The glider levels out, and it smoothly heads towards the horizon of blending gold and red. She looks to the wings, and they are softly extending again, almost as if they are flapping.

Ran shot up from her bed, and her head pounded right away. She clutched her forehead, hoping to relieve the pressure. It didn't work. She sat still, eyes open in the darkness of the night. She could still see the beautiful sunset. She could still smell the salty waves. She could still feel the icy clouds on her body. The sea was calling again. She sighed, laying back slowly.

This wasn't the first dream. There were dozens before this one, each more thrilling than the last, more beautiful. She was filled with nostalgia. She was weak at the knees when they came. And she always woke with salt on her lips and ocean in her ears. She needed to go back down.

The past few days had been hell on earth. Bohai and her mother kept babying her, not letting her leave her bed without assistance. She had always hated her room. It reminded her of a cage. A cage she could never leave. She liked to sleep in Jinhai's room. Shrimp had a soft, cloud bed and he had booze under it most of the time. And, most importantly, he didn't mind her sleeping in his bed.

Her father had come to see her when she had gotten home from the hospital. He had told her in an icy tone that she had been reckless, stupid and selfish and that she wasn't allowed to go see the Sparrow ever again. Ran had stayed silent throughout the lecture. Her father was a military man. He didn't understand her passion for flying. He only saw it as a convenient way to attack their enemies. She had begged Shrimp to go check on the glider. In the end, the man had caved and gone. True to his word, he brought her a full report of the damage and some ideas on how to fix it. He spent a lot of evenings by her side, tweaking golem arms and legs. Ran had ended up attaching some of it to a piloting glove, making it a small hook and line. She didn't know how she would use it, or if she ever would, but it looked cool and seemed versatile. That failed when her mother confiscated all of her flying equipment. Damn. Auntie and uncle had been to see her, too. The elder brother had laughed it off. He knew that this wasn't the first nor the last time that his niece would take a nosedive onto the rocks.

Ran looked to the small clock on her nightstand and saw that it was just after midnight. Her mind cooked up a devilish idea and she was too weak to resist. The temptation to see her longtime friend was too much. The pilot got up quietly and got dressed in some cargo pants and one of Shrimp's huge shirts. She tied it to the side so it wouldn't slip off, but it still showed her bare shoulder. Ran tied up her hair and grabbed a pair of bulky, protective boots. They were very different from what she usually wore, but they were comfortable, and that was important. Now, came the crazy part of her plan. She couldn't go through the house. Her father had the ears of a fox. Getting caught was not an option. The pilot opened her roof window and climbed up with some difficulties. She carefully closed the lid after her.

Moon lighting her way, the pilot slowly and softly walked over the rooftop. The wind wasn't too violent, but if she wasn't careful, she would take yet another nosedive, and this one wouldn't end too well. However, Ran knew how to read the current. She followed the pull of the wind and started running. Her boots hit the roof harder and stronger, but she was too far gone to worry about waking her father now. She was feeling the familiar, before-flight nerves. With that, the young girl jumped off the edge of the roof and flew for a few seconds, the wind pushing her forward. Then, Ran landed onto the next roof. Breathing hard from excitement, she prepared for another jump, eyes finally alive with the death and life thrill.

~~~~pb~~~~

Ace was laying contently in his favorite place on the Moby Dick, on the roof of the captain's quarters. He stared up at the sky, his mind peaceful. Surprisingly, there wasn't a party on the deck that night. When he had asked Thatch about it, the Commander told him something about low alcohol and being economical until the next island. This led to Ace laying there, in the middle of the night, unable to sleep and completely sober. His narcolepsy was a pain sometimes. Since he slept a lot, randomly, during the day, he slept like that during the night, too. Essentially, he had a very weird sleeping schedule.

The ship's doctor, Jade, or doc, as everyone called her, had tried to help him with it. She had given him a fixed schedule of when he should sleep to fix the random attacks during the day. Ace had tried, he really had, but it didn't work out for him. He still liked being awake at night. He missed the stars when he wasn't. There was just something very appealing about the thousands of tiny lights up there. They made him feel small and insignificant, and that comforted him somehow. It made him feel so human.

On the other hand, he liked hearing the stories. He never was much of a reader, but on occasion he would pick up a book or two. The legends that people thought of were fascinating. He had learned most of the major stars when he was younger, dreaming about using them as navigation when he became a pirate. Luffy had been horrible at learning the names and the positions. Ace figured that his little brother would probably just drift around before he got a decent navigator on his crew. Sabo, on the other hand, had already known most of the stars even before Ace had gotten into astrology. His dear brother had been a great help during the learning process. Now, Ace knew almost all of the stars that he could see even on a cloudy night. He could tell apart the constellations in the sky, too.

Ace raised his hand, looking at the white bandages around it. The pure color stood out against the dark sky. It had been a while since he'd gotten hurt. From the moment he had eaten the Mera Mera no Mi, he simply put physical pain to the back of his mind. For a Logia getting hurt in a fight was a low probability, unless there was kairoseki involved. Thus, Ace had been lulled into a false sense of security. Until Jinbei, Whitebeard and then finally Marco slammed him back into reality. Haki was truly a fearsome thing. Leo had explained all three types of Haki to Ace, quite well, too. The raven had remembered an incident from his childhood when he thought that he had used Haoshoku Haki. His blonde friend had done a full interrogation after that, and had proclaimed him, in the end, a one in a million person. Leo told him that both Shank's and Whitebeard had that form of Haki, and that he was a very lucky guy to possess it. Ace, on the other hand, was frustrated that he had no idea how to use the wondrous ability.

"Of course you're here." A woman's voice came from somewhere to Ace's right, surprising him. He raised his head, only to see doc walking over to him and making herself comfortable. She had a bottle with her. Ace lit up like a Christmas tree. She gave a short, throaty laugh and passed him the precious liquor. It turned out to be Pop's sake. He was going to regret it in the morning. Again.

"How come you are awake?" The raven asked. He wasn't too familiar with Jade. She was a private person. She stayed in her medical wing, and she yelled like a banshee. Having a casual conversation with doc was like walking on thin ice. At any moment it could break and you would be falling headfirst in the fiery volcano below.

"Just finished all the records. I need to be on top of all the medicine usage and buying." The woman drank some sake and put the bottle down gently. They sat in silence. Ace watched the stars and the woman beside him stayed quiet with her eyes closed. "You gave up on the schedule?" She asked him after a while.

"Sorry." He gave a small, nervous laugh. Hopefully, he wasn't making his way into the active volcano. "I missed the stars. And the faces that the rest of the guys make when I fall asleep in my food." He was still grinning when he looked at the woman. She had a small smile on her face, eyes fixed on the crow's nest now.

"Whatever you say, cowboy." The doctor got up, leaving the sake. Ace followed her form till the edge of the roof. "Goodnight, Ace." Jade told him and jumped down gracefully.

"Goodnight." He said into the empty space. He heard heals clicking away on the planks of the deck. Ace drank some sake and raised his eyes to the skies again. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, a long haired figure climb into the crow's nest. Wasn't it flaming chicken's shift tonight?

~~~~pb~~~~

Ran found the Sparrow in the abandoned garage. His wings were broken in a very weird way, almost half their original size. She saw the rest of the bird sitting still in the corner, looking pitiful. In fact, the whole glider looked pitiful. One of the hand-drawn eyes of the bird was scratched off, probably by the rocks. She sighed and walked over, closing the garage door behind her carefully. Ran placed her palms flat against the Sparrow's head and leaned her forehead against the cool metal. She could feel the hard, cold plate against her skin, where it wasn't covered by the bandage.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I rushed and pushed you. Forgive me."

She stayed there for a while. Then she pulled back. It was time to fix her bird once more. It was time to leave, for Calypso's sake. She couldn't resist the calling anymore. Ran inspected the breaks first. They weren't too messy. Something could still be done to fix these wings. She remembered her dream. She remembered the way the Sparrow stretched his wings and retracted them in her dream. Maybe it was her conscious giving her an idea? Whatever it was, it was brilliant. With that thought the young pilot headed over to Shrimp's golem prototypes. She found the one that she had played with the most. That was the one that she had used as a model to make that addition on her piloting glove. A smirk making its way onto her face, Ran took apart the failed prototype of a robot. She would make her friend fly again.

~~~~pb~~~~

"Wake up, Ace! We've hit the jackpot, my friend." Thatch shook his friend/brother again. The raven rolled away from him, mumbling something about sweet sleep. However, Thatch wasn't one to give up. If there was a person on the Whitebeard crew that rivaled Ace in stubbornness it was him. He followed the young pirate and poked him once again. "Wake uuuuup!"

Ace cracked one eye open and squinted through the sun. He had fallen asleep on the roof again. "Wha?" His voice cracked from a dry throat and his head was pounding. He knew that he was going to regret that sake. Thatch grinned and gave him a glass full of red goo. The Commander had come prepared. Ace grabbed the remedy and chugged it. He had found that the faster you drink it, the easier it is later. "Thanks." He handed the glass back, but Thatch evaded it.

"C'mon, let's get you some breakfast, and then we should get ready. We have hit the jackpot. Somehow." Ace followed Thatch off the roof and towards the cafeteria. He was kind of confused now. Jackpot? Thatch turned and saw the raised eyebrow. He gave a small laugh and then explained. "Doc is taking us on an adventure! So, it's no duties for you, and no paperwork for me!"

Ace nodded. He could see why Thatch was happy. Doc was, no other way to say it, beautiful. He understood why the Commander was excited. Ace wondered if he should tell Thatch about Jade visiting Marco in the crow's nest last night. Then again, it could've been nothing. He wasn't Izo. He wasn't going to match make and assume. Then again, the pink Commander in question probably knew about the last night's late visit. He simply knew everything. About those kinds of things especially.

"Morning, Kondor." Ace greeted the old cook. "The usual, if you would." The raven leaned through the window and into the kitchen. "Hey, Penny!" He greeted the small girl. She squeaked, and whirled around, red faced.

"Good morning, Ace-sama, Commander Thatch-sama." The girl gave two polite bows to each and then smiled and continued her work. Thatch gave a small wave back before she turned. Kondor watched the exchange, amused.

"Ace, my boy. Thatch, you rascal." He greeted. "A-aah~ What will it be, Commander?" The cook asked as he started preparing Ace's mountain of food.

"Some eggs and bacon would be great." The Commander ordered and then turned to Ace. "As I was saying, this is great. Doc told me that there is a small island close by that she loves to visit."

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned, eyebrows furrowed, for once not paying attention to the soon-to-be-his food.

"It's an island full of herbs. Natural grown, of course. The place is uninhabited. She goes there once or twice a year to gather the best of her supplies." Thatch continued. "Naturally, Pops liked for her to take some protection. This time, Jade asked for the two of us." Thatch was grinning by the end of his explanation. His eyes were wide with anticipation and excitement.

"I can see the benefits." Ace grinned and picked up his trays.

"Here you go, Commander." Kondor pushed Thatch his food and the pompadour took it. The two friends left for Ace's favorite seat by the windows. By now, Thatch had accepted his new brother's weird habits and was humoring the younger pirate quite often.

~~~~pb~~~~

The sun was high in the skies when Ace and Thatch met doc on the deck. Pops gave them a small nod and the trio boarded a small boat and set off. Ace noticed how Marco and Jade exchanged glances. He just couldn't put it out of his mind for some reason. The raven located Izo, which wasn't too difficult, the man was wearing a pink kimono for Triton's sake, and tried to read his painted face. However, the cross-dressing Commander betrayed nothing. He either didn't notice the exchange, which Ace doubted, or he didn't want to meddle. The raven was pretty sure that it was just a matter of time before the second thing happened.

"Homesick already?" Thatch asked from right behind him. Ace whirled around and shrugged, masking his thoughts. He had seen Penny on the deck waving enthusiastically. Thatch smirked, but left the young pirate alone in favor of adjusting their only sail. Doc came back to the two, looking rather content.

"We are on course. I hope that we arrive by the end of the day and leave tomorrow afternoon." She told them, not leaving room for arguments. After that, Jade left towards the tiny deck and sat down, sunbathing. The two pirates could handle the boat.

~~~~pb~~~~

Ran dreamt of the Blue Seas again. At first, she couldn't fall asleep after coming back from the garage. However, she forced herself to nap. She needed to dream again. This time, she focused on the way the Sparrow flew in her dreams. She saw all the gears and wires and the tiny Dials and connections. Needless to say, it was some of the most amazing work that she had ever seen. She wondered where her brain had gotten all that from. Sure, the dreams were an extension of your conscious, a sleeping part of your knowledge, but still, the wings were impressive. She remembered reading about some of those things, but some, she had seen in her unconscious mind for the first time. She wondered if those lay dormant there, what else was hiding? She wanted to access the dark chambers of her brain and use that knowledge.

However, she would have to put that on hold for now. Today, she had to pretend that she wasn't working on her machine. Ran pushed her covers off, only to realize that she had fallen asleep in the dirty clothes from last night. Soot and oil were all over her bed. Her heart clenched in fear and she jumped up, stripping in record time. If her father found out that she had been working on her machine and was planning to leave again… She pulled the covers off her bed and put them in a bundle, along with her dirty clothes. Forget the confiscated piloting equipment, her mother would confiscate the Sparrow's core next. Ran stuffed the clothing into the back of her closet quickly and grabbed a dress. She didn't wear those often, but she would manage for a while. Her head pounded in protest as she pulled the dress over her head. Her door opened.

"Ranmao, sweetie, what are you doing up?" Her mother spoke from the door, entering quickly. Ran froze, her throat clenching. She wasn't a good liar. Her mother would see through it. She lowered her head and shook it slowly. "Oh, what happened to your bed, love?" Ran shook her head again. "It's ok dear. You must have been sweaty from the fever, after all. It's ok. Come on, let's get you into a bath." The pilot let her mother lead her into the family bathroom and get her into the tub. She didn't relax until the woman left.

With a sigh the pilot settled into the warm soapy water. She loved her family, but they were a tad overprotective. Four years ago there had been a horrible rebellion of the workers on Arcadia. The ruling nobles had been too strict and too harsh towards the Fourth and Fifth level and the people rebelled. Of course, those that lived off mainland, on the peripheral islands, joined in. In mere days it turned into a bloodbath. The workers were demanding better conditions, less work time and more provisions only to get shot or butchered on sight by the soldiers of the royal army. That is also the time when the soldiers got their red uniforms. To conceal the blood.

Ran's father had been in the army back then, too. He supported the nobles and their cruel ways. She remembered the way her dad and her uncle argued for days at a time. Since they were in the Third circle they were relatively safe, however, the streets were rather tense. Ran, Shrimp and Bohai weren't allowed out of the house for days. Her uncle and aunt ended up supporting the rebels. They gave them food and machinery, helping their cause. That's when all family hell broke loose. Her mother had stayed in her room, crying for days while her father hunted his own brother. Ran ended up in the middle of it all. She loved all of her family, so she ended up delivering things to her aunt and uncle in hiding. She enjoyed seeing Shrimp and Bohai, too. When her father found out, well, let's say it hadn't been pretty. She ran away. She chose to be free from all of that. So she flew away from Arcadia, the exploding island full of battle cries in the background.

She dreamt of that for days after arriving to the Blue Sea. Of course, returning two years later hadn't been easy, but her family had worked out their differences by then. Bohai had joined the army. Shrimp had started working with his father. Her aunt was a baker and her mom a famous artist. There were small changes after the rebellion, however, nothing much. She knew that, half of the time, her family merely pretended to be civil. She trusted her cousins, though. The two had never betrayed her. She would always trust them.

Ran got up from her bath and dried off. It was time to play pretend and be a good girl.

~~~~pb~~~~

Ace and Thatch sat on the grassy shore, waiting for the doc. The woman was searching for her map of the island. She had a detailed explanation of which plant grew where that she used every time she came. Jade appeared and motioned for the duo to follow her. The Commander and the young pirate jumped to their feet, at the ready. They each picked up a large back basket without complaints. The doc led them uphill and towards a lush valley full of yellow flowers. The island was small, uninhabited by men and it was almost like paradise.

Colorful birds were flying around, calling to each other. Smaller animals were running around, larger hiding deeper in the forest. There were trees everywhere, growing strong, thick and healthy. There were various bushes, flowers and vines growing wild in the forest.

Ace wondered around while Thatch helped the doc. He had left his back bag with the two and would be back later to help again. Now, he wanted to explore. Jade hadn't been too happy about his 'adventure time' but after he had promised to be careful with the plants, she had allowed him to leave. The pirate wondered around for a while until stumbling upon something weird. A fire pit. He remembered doc saying that the island was inhabited. Why would there be a fire pit then? Ace saw footprints leading away from the campsite and decided to follow silently. He was on full alert now.

The recently made path led him all the way through the forest and to the shore. He noticed all the crumpled leaves and stomped on bushes and even some broken branches. He could almost guess that this was the doing of pirates. He didn't want to admit it, but there were some less-than-likeable pirates in the New World. Obviously, these weren't aware that this was Whitebeard territory. Or that most of the herbs on the island were medicinal. Jade would have a field day.

Ace crept all the way to the end of the tree line and scouted the area carefully. He saw the pirate galleon first and then the rowdy crowd that was making lunch on the beach. They had obviously caught an animal and were making themselves comfortable, partying. Ace resisted the urge to go and join them and turned around. He needed to consult with Thatch and doc before acting. He wasn't a Captain anymore. His stomach growling the young pirate begrudgingly walked back to the valley.

~~~~pb~~~~

Ran went back to the Sparrow that night. She used the same clothes as before, and the same route. Her feet were a bit sore from all the jumps and lands, but she would be fine after a while. She had fixed a part of the wing last night. It looked good so far. There were gears and wires connecting the body to the wing. If you looked hard enough, they almost seemed like muscles of a bird's wing.

Ran hoped to be done with the first quarter of the wings tonight and start on the mechanism for the next. The fall and the slow burning fire had melted the gold even further into the iron, the patchwork seemed even sturdier now. True, the bars on the belly had taken a bit of a hit, as they were still bent in odd ways, but that was simple. All she needed to do was to heat them up and straighten them. All in all, she would be able to get off of Arcadia by the end of the week.

The pilot worked fast, under the light of a single oil lamp, without breaks. She needed to get this done as quickly as possible. She needed to fly again. Most of all, Ran wanted to leave this island. It wasn't her home. It wasn't a place that she came back to. It was simply somewhere where she had existed in the past. She didn't have many friends here beside her cousins. She wasn't very attached to Arcadia. She even hated it a bit. The strict rules, the harsh treatment, the constant surveillance, the nobles and the working class. She really disliked the way her island was. She wished that there was a chance for piracy here. She liked how some of the people at the Blue Sea could live by their own rules. She respected it. Ran, too, had chosen to live by her own rules, regardless of the consequences. Because of that, she could never live on Arcadia permanently.

Ran connected the last gears and wires for the night and stood up. She threw a black cover over her glider and smiled fondly at it. Just a little while longer, and they would soar again. A bulky helmet on the metal stairs caught her eye. She stared at it for a while, but then she dismissed the idea of core connecting. At least for now. Ran left the garage, taking her oil lamp with her. The Sparrow and the helmet stayed in the dark, almost sad-looking at the young girl's departure.

~~~~pb~~~~

The three Whitebeard pirates waited until dawn to check out the guests on the island. Jade had been awake most of the night collecting plants. Ace remembered waking up a few times, as usual, and seeing her walk back to the camp and then away again. She had forbidden them to start a fire and instead led them to a place where there were some kind glowing bushes. Doc had explained the luminescence to the two men, but they tuned out in the middle of her botanical lesson. However, Ace had gotten an idea from it.

When the trio got to the beach the unwelcome pirates were loading their ship. Thatch came out of the trees and approached the group. The Commander was noticed almost immediately. There were various kinds of weapons pointed at the man pretty soon.

"I'm Thatch, 4th Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, this is our territory. State your business." Ace was surprised at how mature and serious the man sounded at the moment. The raven leaned against a tree, on alert, but relaxed. He knew that Thatch was fully capable of defending himself.

"Whitebeard Pirates? Hahahaha!" The crew started laughing. "As if we'd believe that Whitebeard Pirates went around with only three members?"

"Why not?" Thatch shrugged, smiling.

"Well then... Even better for us. New to the New World and already having a chance to make a name for ourselves! Get them!" And the crew attacked. Thatch sighed and drew his swords, ready to clean up. Ace pushed himself off the tree and prepared to defend himself. And maybe attack a bit. He saw doc smile beside him and twirl a scalpel in her hand.

"You asleep, Ace?" Thatch yelled, pulling back a bit. No matter the strength, a lot of attackers at once were a bit of a nuisance, even for a Commander.

"As if!" Ace yelled and jumped forward, yelling out his signature move. "Hiken!"

That's all folks!

Okei, so I'm winging it here a bit with:

Marco – We don't really know how good of a Haki user he is, but I suspect that he is pretty amazing, since he is Whitebeard's first mate and all that.

Ace – He does have Haoshoku Haki (Emperor's disposition) and it is shown in the Marineford Arc that he is aware that he has it, even though he is never seen using it. He even recognizes that Luffy has the same type of Haki. There isn't any info on whether Ace can, or can't use Haki.

Arcadia – they have rocks. Not like Vearth on Skypea, but they have coal for their machines, as the island is based on steampunk. Therefore, coal and rocks are very much needed. Their primary materials are clouds, though, just like all the other Sky Islands.

Ran's family – They all have wings, Ran doesn't, that's why she feels a bit inferior and like an outsider. Also, Ran's father doesn't abuse her or anything, he just believes in the system. He thought that what he was doing was right. He just wanted to protect his family.

I'm probably forgetting something… Ah well… Cheers peeps :3

Savage Kill: Firefly isn't a well-known series, it's a pretty old one, I guess. It had a movie made along with it. I love it, it's witty, interesting, new and fresh :D If you're into Star Wars and that kind of stuff, look it up :)

Oh man, that golem version is hilarious xD Now I'm going to be seeing that whenever I write about them xD

I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D