Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Piece or Axe

Chapter 36: Captain or First Mate V

Cool air touched Aro's face and she blinked. Her eyes opened slowly and she quickly shut them again to keep out the glaring sun. Great, just what I needed. I died and came to heaven just to wake up blind… she frowned and rolled her head to the side, and cracked opened one eye. Ew… it's that icky water again… what kind of heaven is this?

She blinked a few more times and sat up. "Hold up…" she got to her feet and looked around. "Where am I?"

"You're in my territory."

Aro jumped and turned around, hands up in fists and in a basic fighting stance. No one was there. "Who are you?"

"Ugly."

"What was that?!" She shouted. "That's no way to treat—"

"My name is Ugly."

"Oh." She blushed slightly, "I-I knew that."

"What are you doing here?"

"I guess the swamp brought me here."

"Pretty."

"Well thank you."

"My brother is named Pretty."

"Oh." She blushed more. "Does everything here have names like that?"

"Some, or all, a few, or none."

Aro put one hand to her forehead. "My head is starting to hurt…"

"You're partners are still alive?"

"Hopefully."

"I shall take you back to my brother then."

"Um, where are you?"

"I am in the river."

"I can't swim. Devil Fruit diets keep me from doing that."

"Then walk on the shore."

"Okie-dokie, which way?"

"Follow the current, but hurry. Pretty might eat your friends."

Aro hesitated, "Eat? I bet they both taste bad…"

"Hurry, Cat, Hurry!"

"It's Aro! Not Cat!" she broke out into a run along the current. "That's who we're looking for!"

---

Kit landed on the last stone and stumbled slightly. "How come they were put at jumping distances?"

"You'd have to have the place memorized and take running jumps endlessly to make it through here without resting." Axe said, landing behind her. As they went, the rocks got bigger.

"Exactly." Pretty said from the water, gurgling. The two had come to find this was his way to laugh. "I get hungry, and if they have to rest, I have time to strike."

"So, you were going to eat Aro?" Kit jumped to the shore after she asked.

"Like I said, you put her first, and I didn't know you weren't killing her for me to let you two go by…" Pretty looked to the side.

"I bet she'd have tasted bad." Axe muttered and followed Kit and landed beside her.

"There, if you keep going forward, there should be a path that goes to a green river—"

"We could have gone the other way?!"

"No, Pretty doesn't give people chances. He eats them as they come down the slide. But, when you get to that path, go down and walk the other way. She should be along the shore somewhere, or she might just be dead. Either way, good luck." He gurgled some more and disappeared in the thick brown water. The two stood in silence for a heartbeat or two.

"He's weird." Kit muttered finally.

"A lot of creatures are, save a few." He started down the path. Kit followed,.

---

"Up this hill?"

"That's right. You'll go to the place right after Pretty's territory."

"Thank you, Ugly. Will you be here later? I'll stop by on my way back after I win." She laughed. "I owe you at least that much."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Or at least one of us." She took off up the hill, not waiting for an answer.

Gurgling came from the water, and something snake-like slithered out of the underbrush of the woods that lined the river. It entered the river, then exited it towards the hill.

Aro jumped over a log and landed on a high rock formation that looked like a frog but wasn't. She put one hand above her eyes and looked around. The forest here was thick, barely enough room for running, and lots of shadowy spots. "Well that's fun, I guess." She muttered, cupping her hands around her mouth. "AXE!" She shouted, "KIT! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Aro?!" A voice answered—Kit, she knew it had to be Kit.

"Kit!" She broke out into a run towards the voice. "I'm coming! Where's Axe?"

"Axe?"

Aro burst into a small clearing and stopped dead. Kat was hanging upside down in a tree, staring down at her. "Kat? This is where you've been? What happened?"

Kat started to swing, yelling, "Some hot guy came by that had so many human like features that it was hard to tell that he was a project of DNA fusion of the mad doctor that runs this place! Get me down, please!"

Aro undid the tie that kept the abnormal surfboard on her back through all this and stuck the nose of it in the ground. "How did you know he wasn't human if it was so hard." She started to climb up the tree.

"His tongue for one thing."

"What, did you try to French him or something?" She couldn't keep from chuckling.

"Ha, ha, ha, laugh it up, Kitty." Kat frowned at her, as if it'd do something.

Aro landed next to her, chuckling still, and drew her scythe. She carefully started to cut the… vines? "How do you tie someone up with real vines?"

"No one tied me up. The tree grabbed me."

"It… It grabbed you?"

"Yes! Now get me down!"

Aro hesitated, but cut the main part. Kat wiggled out as she fell. At the last minute, she turned it into a roll, sitting in front of Aro's surfboard. "You ok down there?"

"Yeah, still in one piece."

Aro jumped down next to her and smiled. "Kit's been looking for you."

"I'm surprised she even cares."

"To be honest, me too."

"WHAT?!" Kat turned, grabbing her collar, "WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!"

"Chill out, Kat, I'm just saying the obvious. She cares more about you than she does about anyone else in the world, even herself." Aro stood, putting her hand on the board. "That's why I said I'd help her. Now all we have to do is find Axe and Kit and then we can all be on our way."

"You do know… once Kit and I are back together, we'll just be killing you. Right?"

"You can try, but I don't think you will."

"Doubting our skills?"

"No, believing in your morals. Now, lets go." She pulled up on the board and suddenly was on the ground with something on the other side of the board.

"Aro!" She could hear Kat as she drew something. The weight on the other side of the board left and shout filled the air. Aro scrambled to her feet, board to one side. A large dark green humanoid snake was on Kat, biting into her arm.

"Oh no you don't!" She stood, kneeing the middle of the board causing a click sound to come from it. She put her hands in one of two indented handle holds, and took a step forward. Something in the board clicked and she threw it. The snake-man glanced at Aro and caught the board in one hand and pulled back from Kat, leaving large gashes in her arm. Kat whimpered and started to crawl away. The board clicked again and the snake-man screamed as both he and the board vibrated. Kat ran over to Aro, one hand holding the wounded arm that held her wire blade ring.

"What's happening?"

"Shock treatment. That thing can give enough shock to kill five men."

"It's not dying…"

"Nope."

"How can you be so calm?" Kat asked.

"Because, this is how you treated Kit when she was afraid. Learn from your mistakes, Kat." Aro drew her scythe as the snake-man threw the board to the side, hand covered with burns that looked like embers now. "Get back, you're in no shape to fight." Aro waited for some form of recognition. When a few seconds pasted, she looked back and saw no Kat. "Kat? Where—" Pain suddenly filled her as she fell backwards. The snake-man was on her, snapping around the scythe at her face. "Son of a—" The fang suddenly sank into her neck and she screamed.

---

Kit stopped dead. "Axe…"

"Yeah, I heard it." He broke out into a run into the thick woods.

Kit followed, "Axe! There's too much… nature! How can we be sure that we'll get where we need to be in time?"

"We can't. We can only hurry—" Something slammed into his side and sent him into a tree trunk. Kit skidded to a stop, slipping on the undergrowth. A dark brown snake-man stood where Axe was.

"What is that?!" She gasped as she tried to get to her feet. It took a step towards her and she scrambled backwards. It opened its mouth, large fangs bared at her. Panic started to rise in her. She pulled out her bladed wire and prepared to strike.

Axe got to his feet shakily, vision slightly blurred from the impact. "Holy sh—"

"Stay back!" Kit shouted as the snake-man suddenly lunged at her. She turned, the wire blade making a nice ring around her and she came back with snake-man in front of her. The wire cut through its arm easily, dropping it to the ground. It shrieked, rearing back. Axe ran up, and with a quick punch, sent the snake into a thick bush, making it disappear from view. It's shrieks filled the air.

"What is that?"

"It's Blade wire, A Serpent product. This one has acid in the tips of the small teeth that line it."

"Not bad. Lets go." He turned and started off again in a run. Kit rolled the Blade wire up and followed as another screamed filled the air ahead of them.