Sorry for the wait. I had it done, I was just being lazy. I will get back to reviewers, but it just may take a while. I'm not in the best shape right now.

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Chapter 4: The Secret

Back on the ship, an absolutely panicked out of his brain reindeer was running back and forth, up and down the deck as the rain fell onto the heavily bobbing ship. The storm had caused some mild waves, but nothing too drastic. Usopp idly watched as Chopper raced around, he himself in a mild state of panic. He had just LET Zoro jump out of the boat. He should have stopped him! Tied him up like he and Johnny had at Nami's island. The red head herself was standing outside the kitchen, her pink raincoat on and eyes narrowed as they watched the green and dense island before the ship. They couldn't get there… That stupid fish would destroy Merry if they got beyond the two large cliffs that marked the entrance into the cove of the place. If they could get past that stupid thing, then they would have at least a chance at finding their friends.

Usopp had a secret of his own. He'd blown up the fish upon getting back to the ship, but he was so guilty because… he was sure he'd killed Zoro. The man hadn't screamed, hadn't looked even conscious as he flew over the island and onto it. Nami, Chopper and Robin hadn't been around when he'd shot the fish, hadn't seen Zoro fly through the air. They'd all been poring over a map, trying to figure out the origins of this place so they could gauge whether it was dangerous or not.

"Don't worry navigator-san… As long as the fish isn't dead, then the Island has no reason to wage war on Captain-san, swordsman-san and cook-san…" Robin said as she moved out beside Nami. Usopp gulped nervously… he'd killed the fish. That meant that… oh God, he'd killed ALL of them!

"Robin…" the long nose asked as he turned and looked up at the archaeologist, "What exactly would the Island do if it's protector was killed?"

"Well… I'm not quite sure." she replied, inclining her head slightly before turning to go into the kitchen, beckoning the others after her.

"I'm going to stay here and watch…" Nami said quietly; Robin smiled and nodded. Chopper and Usopp followed the older woman into the kitchen where the three sat down. The doctor of the group was bouncing and twitching nervously, but it was obvious he was paying close attention, hoping probably to learn something that would help him diagnose the others when they come back. If something was wrong with them, which the reindeer hoped there wouldn't be.

"So, what would the Island do?" Usopp asked, clasping his lightly shaking hands under the table. The others would SO kill him if they knew what he'd done…

"Well, it says in a book I read just recently, that the Crystal Isles are known for their almost living Islands. The main islands have protectors. The first of the four has a sea dragon, the second has a large crab, the third a leviathan and this one, a gigantic fish. They were to stop people from entering the islands and either disrupting the local wildlife, or the nature in which the creatures lived. As of so far… No one has been able to kill any of those protectors." Robin explained, leaning her cheek on her palm and tapping the table delicately with her nails, her way of showing nervousness. Though she didn't show it, she was as worried as the others.

"Wow… So the Islands are alive?" Chopper whispered, awe in his tone. His friend beside him was twitching almost like a nervous wreck, eyes wide and nose quivering slightly. What he done…?

"In a way… If their protector is killed, then they go on the self defence. It will conjure up a person's worst fear, hoping to scare them away. The thing is… if it conjures up something, it literally isn't just an illusion. It actually creates it." the archaeologist nodded, smiling a little. It was quite fascinating, but horrifying at the same time.

"So… If someone is hurt, or poisoned or something like that on the Island BY their worst fear… it would be real?" Usopp asked, gulping slightly as he looked up at his fellow crew member.

"I presume so, yes." Robin nodded, "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Oh… very." the long nose squeaked, "Excuse me…" and he hurried from the room.

"What would the others be afraid of?" Chopper muttered, tapping his bottom lip with a hoof.

"Ah, Cook-san is scared of spiders, but he would be worried about losing use of his hands." Robin provided, smiling a little, "Swordsman-san is afraid of weakness… And I believe Captain-san is afraid of losing what he holds closest to him."

"…Naa?"

"Us." and with that, the older woman gracefully got to her feet and then exited the kitchen, going back out to Nami to try and keep her hopeful. Or at least from attempting to do something silly, or courageously idiotic like Luffy was known for. Chopper was left sitting in his seat, staring at the table and letting all of that process. What was he going to end up dealing with when the others came back…?

Usopp was leaning on the railing in the rain, hands clenched so hard on his own arms that he was sure to have bruised them. He'd killed that Fish… he'd doomed his captain, and two of his best friends. God… didn't he feel like a hero? Sighing and biting his lip, the long nose watched the Island voraciously. No way was anything going to escape his eyes. Not after what he'd done…

---

On the Island, everything seemed pretty dismal. Sanji's face was starting to swell around the goop, which was worrying the chef and making him think that there was some sort of poison or something in the yellow stuff. Zoro was still out for the count, and Luffy had deemed it necessary that they stop their hunt for the man's swords in favour of finding a place to sleep for the night. Having found a rather dry cave further onto the island, behind a high waterfall that was only a thin stream now. Once it may have been large and fast flowing but now, it was barely strong enough to be called a shower. Searching the cave, Sanji had been absolutely ecstatic when he'd found a few branches and lots of built up twigs and dead leaves. How they had gotten there, the blonde didn't care, only that he had managed to start a fire thanks to his cigarette lighter.

Luffy was sitting at the front of the cave, his turn to be look out while Zoro was laid out beside the now large, and very warm fire. Three different coloured shirts were laid out over a place on the ground that Luffy and the chef had managed to clear of dust and such. Zoro's shirt wasn't really a shirt anymore. It was more two arm holes, a neck hole, a solid bit of material and then tatters. All three shirts had been cleaned by Sanji, who had washed them under the miserable waterfall before laying them out by the fire. The way things were going, they would be dry well and truly before night fell. While Sanji had been playing housemaid, Luffy had been watching over Zoro, constantly putting a hand on his head to see if he was too hot, or too cold. The swordsman's body temperatures were basically going spastic, ranging from freezing to boiling hot in the space of half an hour to an hour. It hadn't been until Sanji had told him to let Zoro alone that Luffy had moved from his place beside his first mate.

"Oi, Luffy. If the rain doesn't let up we're going to have to stay here the night." Sanji called, looking up at the solitary figure at the entrance to the cave. When there was no reply, the chef's eyes slanted and he shook his head slightly. After a few minutes, there was a long sigh.

"What are we gonna do for food? I'm hungry." the captain half whined, turning to look imploringly at his chef.

"There's nothing to cook in here, idiot!" Sanji snapped, irritable due to lack of nicotine. Being a chain smoker certainly had it's drawbacks when he wasn't able to get the drug that his system now relied on to keep him at least moderately calm. Luffy blinked at him for a second, idly wondering why the older teen was so annoyed at him for asking a question that he asked on a daily basis. Surely the chef would have been used to it by now? Apparently not…

"… blaaaah." the boy noised, turning to look out of the waterfall again, "I could go catch something?"

"If you feel like going out in the rain, go for your life, I don't care. Just don't get fucking lost, I'm not coming to find you." the blonde returned irritably. He hadn't had a cigarette since the rain had started. Damn one sounded so good right now…

"Ok!" Luffy replied brightly, turning to grin at his friend, "I'll catch us something nice to eat, ne? Don't let Zoro, or our shirts catch on fire!" The captain glanced at the swordsman and watched him for a second, before sighing a little and turning away.

"Well?" Sanji grumped, putting a fist on his hip and silently emphasising the fact that he would like to eat today if he could.

"Sorry." Luffy replied, turning with a grin, "I was just thinking about something…" With that, he leapt out of the waterfall and ran off… without a shirt, in the pouring and ice cold rain…

"…Idiot." Sanji muttered, turning to look at the shirts and then Zoro. Idly, because his brain really couldn't be occupied with anything else, he wondered what Luffy had been thinking about. Why he had glanced at Zoro before leaving. Sure, the swordsman was hella sick, but surely Luffy knew that the bastard would be fine. He'd always been fine before. Frowning slightly, Sanji got to his feet and moved around, turning the shirts over and then peering at the green haired teen's face. Far away he looked bad, up close… heh, he did NOT look well… His skin was mottled many different colours, his breathing light and shallow. Dark red circles were around his eyes and the wounds on his back. They'd found one of Zoro's swords in bush, the only part of it visible, it's gold tipped end.

Luffy had proclaimed that it was Zoro's favourite one, and therefore he would at least be sedated by that fact until they found the others. They were going to go back out and search again tomorrow for the rest, if the weather was fine. Wadau was now clean of any mud or grime and was resting against the wall beside the swordsman, who was oblivious to the fact that his childhood friend's sword was like, right there. Frowning slightly, Sanji crossed his arms. Blue tinged the outside of Zoro's lips, while his actual lips were a light shade of purple. Not having anything on them of medical value, all the two had been able to do was clean out the large, and deep gashes in the man's legs and back, not to mention the large amount of grazing over the rest of the swordsman's body. He was like a walking wound.

Well… he wasn't even walking, so that analogy was a waste of time. Reaching out a finger, Sanji rested it on Zoro's forehead and then blinked when the temperature of the man's skin seemed warmer again. A few minutes ago he had been shivering. Frowning and then wiping his finger on his pants in case Zoro had some sort of disease, the chef settled himself back on the other side of the fire again.

"Great time for you to get sick, Marimo…" Sanji grouched, huffing in annoyance. He was muttering about Zoro's lack of consideration and about how if the swordsman had of been awake now, then he would have had the opportunity of griping right along with him. They fought, they hated each other, but that was a clash of egos more than anything else. They were friends… sort of. Anyway, Sanji glared at the marimo in front of him. He could not believe the bastard had gotten so sick, so easily, and so quickly. This was only the chef's way of killing his boredom, and griping about crappy things in life was always fun. Zoro seemed to do that well.

Heaving out a breath through his nose to try and calm himself down, the blonde looked out to the rain and began thinking about what Nami was up to. How was she handling that current… the ship. Robin would help her of course, but Chopper and Usopp would be a handful. They were down to earth when the situation called for it, so hopefully they would help out, rather than scream and panic. …He really hoped Nami was okay. He was so involved in thinking about all of this… that he missed the glowing ruby red eyes that appeared in the darkness of the cave further down. He wouldn't have believed they were there anyway, for when the two had explored the cave further earlier, there'd been a wall blocking their path.

---

Luffy wasn't having much luck… So far he'd seen absolutely nothing. No animal life at all. Hell, he would have settled for cooking that big spider, but when he eventually found the fight site again, it was gone. Now, the lost (yes, lost) captain was trudging through ankle deep mud, trying to find something that would at least satiate his and the other's hunger for the night. Didn't look like he would have any luck today though… Yawning widely and shivering a little in the cold rain, Luffy turned to look around himself.

"Come on fooood, I'm hungry! Come out so I can not be hungry anymore…" he whined. That was when he spotted it… It was HUGE! In fact, it was so big, that it would probably last at least four days worth of food. Or… Two days with Luffy's wild appetite. He didn't really know what it was though. It kinda looked like a bear, but it wasn't, because it had the scaly hide of a weird snake. It was a dark brown that shimmered blue when any light hit it. It had a long tail that ended in a cluster of lethal looking spikes. Large bronze spikes covered it's broad and lizard like head, while it walked on it's back legs. Actually, it kinda looked like a weird dinosaur, only not… because it had the ears of a bear and the paws of a bear too.

"Wow… what a freak." Luffy stated bluntly, before shrugging. It looked tasty enough! Swinging his arm back, the teen grinned.

"Gomu Gomu no…" he began, giving his arm the time it needed to stretch out behind him, "Pistol!" With a snapping sound, his fist collided with the creature's thick and large back. Blinking a little, the beast reached a paw back and scratched at the spot before continuing on it's way, Luffy's jaw nearly hit the earth below his feet. His eyes bugged out for a second, before he frowned and ran forward towards the beast.

"Heeey!!" Luffy cried, waving his arms like a windmill and splattering mud everywhere. Finally, the thing looked up and blinked as it saw the weird looking human running towards it, flailing his arms and generally looking like a crazy and rabid creature.

"What… may I ask, do you think you are doing young sir?" the beast asked, raising a scaly and prickled eyebrow at Luffy… who squeaked and stopped in mid stride, staring up at the creature before him. Had it just… talked!?

"… Err… eating you?" the captain stated bluntly, grinning sheepishly as he stayed perfectly in pace, foot still raised behind him and arms still held in a windmilling position.

"Eating me? Tch, not in your wildest dreams my young lad. Nothing has been able to bite through my impenetrable hide in years, nay, centuries. That is how long I have been on this obtuse island." the being replied. Luffy's jaw was gaping open as he watched the lizard-bear-dinosaur creature blink down at him with bright blue eyes. It really WAS talking!! … How interesting!! But still… he needed food.

"… But, I have to eat something! I have to get food for my two friends! They're waiting for me!" Luffy pleaded, "Please can I eat you, mister bear-lizard-dinosaur thing?"

"I beg your pardon?! My name is Thelonius! It would do you well to learn some manners you impertinent young homo sapien." the thing frowned, "And I do not give a wit's end about your friends, if you're going to be so irrational in your attempts at a truce!" Luffy by now had become bored with the use of long words which had no meaning to his young, pirate brain, and had fallen asleep. His head was nodding and a tiny bubble was forming around his nose as he snored slightly and muttered 'Food' in his sleep. It didn't matter apparently that they were standing in the rain. Thelonius waited, a small tic beginning to go in his scaly temple, before he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Excuse ME!" he growled, reaching out a paw and attempting to pat Luffy's cheek with a small claw, trying to wake the boy up. He blinked in surprise though when all Luffy did was to twist and bite down on the claw, chewing idly as he muttered a muffled 'meat'. Raising his arm, Thelonius was not in the least surprised when Luffy came with it, hanging off the claw like a fish on a line.

"Hello…" the creature said loudly, shaking his arm wildly. Luffy flew around in the air like a rubber flag, flopping back and forth and grunting every now and again. Blearily, dark eyes finally opened and turned to focus on the paw that was holding him up.

"Eh? Meat?" he noised, not releasing his teeth. Thelonius sighed heavily. How he loathed human beings for their stupidity…

"Not here there isn't. Listen, shouldn't you be getting on your way or something?"

"… Ah! The others!" Luffy yelped, letting go of the claw and dropping to the ground easily. How could he have forgotten his nakama!?

"So there are more of you?" the bear-lizard asked. Looking up at Thelonius, the captain nodded.

"Yeah. There's me, and then there's two of my friends. One's hurt real bad, and the other has some sort of goo from a spider on his face." It had never been like Luffy to keep details like that to himself, and therefore he didn't bother to change his pattern now. Dark blue and almond shaped eyes gazed down at the human before them, before a smile crossed Thelonius's face.

"One's sick? The other has spider goo? I think I should take a look at these fellow homo sapiens, yes? I am a doctor after all." he bragged slightly.

"Wow… are all animals, doctors?" Luffy asked, thinking of the fact that Chopper was a doctor too. Thelonius gave him a weird look and then sighed and waved a paw slightly.

"Just, lead me towards where your friends are and I'll see if I can help them, very well?" he said, giving Luffy a look that indicated he wasn't a very patient bear-lizard-dinosaur-thing.

"Okay!" and grabbing Thelonius's arm, he began pulling the weird thing in the direction he hoped was the right one. Apparently, the fact that he didn't have any food, hadn't occurred to Luffy yet.

---

Sanji was just starting to get positively livid when there was a soft crunching noise outside. Blinking a little and then narrowing his eyes dangerously, the chef got to his feet and watched the entrance carefully. If anything came through there that looked hostile, he was going to kick first and ask questions later. Actually, he probably wouldn't even ask questions. If he kicked it away, then there really was no point asking questions about it was there?

He glanced at the unconscious swordsman and frowned slightly when he saw the man was making no improvement what so ever. He was still those weird colours, his breathing was still shallow and weak, and those red circles were only darkening with every hour that passed that he didn't get any treatment. There was another soft crunch and then a scaly paw appeared on the edge of the cave's opening. Dropping instantly into a fighting stance, the blonde placed a soft snarl on his face and then began making his careful way towards the paw. Another paw followed, and then a lizard/bear/dinosaur like head popped it's way up and over.

"Hello!" the thing greeted jovially. It didn't get the chance to say anymore than that as Sanji's black booted foot came down on it's head and sent it falling straight back down to the bottom of the small waterfall again. Luffy popped up and frowned.

"Sanji! Why'd you do that!?" he growled slightly. The blonde stared at him and then leaned out over the edge.

"Is it gone?"

"That was a doctor you idiot!! He could've helped Zoro and you!!" Luffy roared before jumping away from the cliff, leaving his hands there and stretching himself down to the bottom again to grab up the stunned bear-thing and started heaving it back up the cliff side again.

"… That's a doctor?" the blonde asked doubtfully, "Alright. I guess Chopper's one too… At least Chopper's cute though…" And he walked back over to the fire and dropped down by the cave wall, yawning and frowning as he heated his hands in front of the blaze. It took a while before Luffy reappeared with the so-called doctor and when he did, the captain was a tiny bit miffed that Sanji had kicked him down.

"Oh my…" Thelonius gasped as he hurried over to Sanji and inspected him, "Oh you certainly ARE sick, aren't you lad?" The bear thing continued feeling over Sanji's face, his temperature, until the chef could take no more and growled in annoyance.

"Get the hell away from me!" he growled, "I'm not the sick, weak ass one! He is!" He pointed towards the motionless and up until now, unnoticed Zoro across the fire from him. Luffy chuckled a little as he walked in.

"He's telling the truth. Zoro's sick, not him. Zoro's the green haired one. Sanji, this is Theloni-whatsit. Theloni-whatsit, this is Sanji."

"Oh my, I'm am terribly sorry. I did not mean to offend you." Thelonius apologized, "And my name is pronounced, Thelonius. If that is too difficult, call me Thel." With a short shuffling, the bear-lizard-dinosaur-doctor-thing made his way to Zoro's side and crouched down, muttering under his breath as he looked the swordsman over many, many times. Finally he pulled away and shook his head a little.

"Is it… bad?" Luffy asked, fiddling with his own fingers and biting his bottom lip.

"Hm… He's dying." Thelonius replied solemnly, "He's been poisoned, incredible impact trauma to his body… And it looks like he may have caught one of the forest's diseases. His wounds are infected… And his heart is steady, but weak."

"Che… Marimo's always dying, but it never happens. How do we fix him?" Sanji commented from the side, smoking the second-last of his precious cigarettes. He wouldn't be able to smoke all day tomorrow, and that was going to cause havoc with his temper - yay! Such fun. Sighing a little heavily, Sanji conceded to make this cigarette last as long as he could. Who knew how long they'd be stuck here?

"There is no way to fix him, aside from antibiotics, some antiseptic on his wounds and a good, long rest." Thel muttered as he continued looking the silent and still swordsman over.

"So he's gonna die?" Luffy asked, his tone and voice quiet as he watched his sick friend. If Zoro died… He didn't want to think about it. He'd never really thought about Zoro dying. Not since he'd seen Mihawk slash him open. He'd been sure he'd been dead then, but he'd stuck around. It seemed that every time Zoro was close to death, he always came back one way or another. He didn't stay down… Luffy only hoped he would do that this time.

"Not for a long time, I don't think… He has at least a week left in him. But any longer, and it'll be touch and go." the bear-lizard sighed slightly as he sat back, "I'd like to watch him, make sure nothing else appears, if you two wouldn't mind? It'd be in his best interests." Luffy and Sanji both nodded.

"We should get back to the ship in a week… I hope." the blonde muttered slightly, glancing at Luffy in an almost annoyed fashion. The captain wasn't paying attention, having settled himself against the wall where he commenced watching his best friend silently.

"Luffy…? You okay?" Sanji asked, not sure if he could have the patience to deal with his idiot of a captain right now, but not wanting the kid to get all depressed and miserable on him. Heh, there was a weird thought. Luffy, depressed and looking it. The kid got depressed, but the more he was depressed, the more he hid it. It became knowledge that when Luffy ignored someone purposely, it meant he was in a bad mood, or was a little upset about something. Those moods certainly didn't last long in the captain, for that the crew was thankful. And if he didn't get over it on his own, then Zoro would always be able to help him out.

The two always seemed to know how the other worked, how they thought, what moods they were in. Most of the time they never really spent any time near each other really. Just co-existed, occasionally getting pissy with one another, fighting, and then getting on with their day as if nothing had happened. But then, Zoro started fights with pretty much every one. Whether he meant to or not, heh, who knew? It was more likely the idiot's blunt statements that got him into the fights then his own wish to fight with his friends. Finally, Luffy seemed to notice that he had been spoken to and looked up with an inquisitive expression.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, fine." and he chuckled a little, "Zoro'll be okay."

"Damn straight." the blonde replied, taking another small drag on his cigarette. He was getting annoyed with such small inhales, but he had to.

"Heh…" Luffy noised softly, glancing at Thelonius who was standing silently by the wall, paws behind his back in a show of respect. Night was filtering in… and still they had no food, "Sanji has that stuff on his face." Luffy smiled a little, and then turned his gaze briefly back to Zoro, and then back outside to the darkening island.

His own stupid, stupid fault for wanting to go exploring. Zoro would never have come after him if he hadn't of decided to go off on some crazy adventure. He couldn't help wanting to explore, it was in his natural personality. But it got his friends in more trouble than he was willing to admit was real. Heaving a silent sigh, he brought his knees up and placed his chin on them. Hopefully tomorrow, he would wake up and Zoro would be there frowning at him, telling him off about his idiotic ideas and then threatening to murder him if he did it again.

"Ah…" Thelonius nodded and moved forward, leaning down to check the chef's face. Sitting still and allowing the bear-lizard to touch him, Sanji waited for the verdict.

"Hmm… Looks like a homing beacon." the 'doctor' said, a light twitching of his pebbly lips indicating that he was feeling the urge to either smirk, or smile.

"Homing… beacon?" Luffy blinked, raising his eyes up and looking very confused indeed. He'd never heard of such a thing.

"Oh yes. The much more advanced, and larger arachnids on this island use a sort of goo like this that puts out a trail that any hungry spider could find." Thel explained, eyes on Luffy as Sanji's face paled to the colour of porridge. The poor chef… He let out a barely audible squeak as he glanced around himself, ready for any eight-legged, pincer wielding creature that should dare to show it's ugly… err, face. Did spiders have faces? … He didn't wanna know!

"… I hate spiders…" he muttered, drawing his knees up and looking like he was about to try and climb the walls at any second.

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There. Another chapter ish done. If you think it's only gonna be Zoro pain, think again people. Zoro is only the tip of the iceburg, and the catalyst for something much much bigger. Reviews would be great, thanks. :)