Yeah, I know. Haven't updated in forever. I've had a massive dose of writer's block. Plus everything has gone into overdrive in my life recently, and i've just been so busy and tired. So, I apologize profusely and offer this extra long chapter as a cheap bribe against angry readers. .. Though, I'm not particularly happy with this chapter... It just doesn't seem to flow. Anyway. I had to update, so here it is. Hope you like. Next update hopefully will be for Night Vigil.

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Chapter 5: Say what!?

Luffy didn't know what, or why he woke up, but his eyes opened and he blinked a little as he slowly sat up and rubbed at his face. It was still very dark, but a soft glow in front of him showed that the fire had almost gone out. That meant that Sanji hadn't tended to it during the night like the chef had said he would. Humming in slight confusion, the boy shrugged before standing and looking around automatically for his sickest crew member. There was, wall, wall, wall, dying fire, cave entrance, floor… nope, no Zoro there. Wait…

"AHH! Where's Zoro!?" Luffy cried, leaping to his feet and panicking slightly, "Sanji!? Sanji, where the hell are you!?" Running to the cave entrance, he peered out into the darkness of the island. There were no stars or moon, indicating that the clouds were still lingering. A light misty rain was speckling his face, blown in a fairly strong wind.

"Sanji!!" he called out into the darkness, "Zoro!" There were no responses. Not even an echo. Biting his bottom lip slightly, Luffy shifted back into the cave again. Surely they must be in here… Surely! Yeah, he just had to search the cave! Feeling his way along the wall, Luffy put a hand out in front of him… and nearly fell over when the wall that he'd been expecting to find… wasn't there. He blinked as he felt a cold breeze washing over him and frowned a little, still unable to see as he began feeling his way forward.

"Hello?" he called, frowning a little when his own voice echoed back to him nearly ten times before it quieted again. Grimacing, he moved back over and grabbed up Wadau, slipping it into his belt before pulling on his shirt. Both Zoro and Sanji's shirts were gone too. Had they left? No… Sanji wouldn't waste his time trying to take a sick Zoro with him. Hell, he wouldn't waste time taking a healthy Zoro with him if he ran away. Moving back to the exit again, Luffy began moving forward into it. The corridor was long… and the darkness didn't lighten any. The more he walked, the more he felt that something was very very wrong.

That he was walking into a trap… and his hunches were usually right with this sort of thing. Nevertheless, he continued forward. His hand brushed many different materials. Sometimes the wall was soft, sometimes scratchy and making his hand itch, but most of the time though it was smooth and cold rock. He was going around a rather sharp corner when a bright light made him wince and shut his eyes, grunting slightly at the ache it sent through his face. Walking forward and trying to crack his eyes open to see, he stumbled a little and then his toe snagged on a rock, and over he went.

His face hit the ground rather nastily, but thanks to his rubber powers, his nose just bent and didn't break. Shifting to his feet again, he rubbed at his nose idly, his eyes finally beginning to adjust to the light. Blinking as he looked around, Luffy noticed that the light that had seemed too bright, was in fact really quite dim. Four kerosene lamps were sitting on four large rocks. Blinking a little, Luffy moved forward and grabbed one up, hooking it on his finger and holding it aloft.

"What is this?" he groaned, "Where are my friends, you stupid cave thing!? Did you eat them!? You DUMB thing!!" and he kicked the wall for good measure. Nothing replied to him other than his own echoing voice and shuffling. Sighing heavily and rubbing at his forehead, the captain pouted and began moving forward again. It wasn't long until he came out of what was now discovered to be a tunnel. Frowning heavily, Luffy looked around at the trees, bushes, vines and large, almost squishy looking flowers around him. Where the hell were Sanji and Zoro!? Surely the chef wouldn't desert him, and Zoro was too sick to go anywhere right now.

"Sanji…? Zoro…?" His voice sounded so small in the jungle world around him and he swallowed a little before frowning deeply. He'd find them. He'd found them before, he'd find them again! No problem! Placing the lamp back into the stone cave, Luffy headed forward into the jungle. His face was set, hat drooping slightly over his eyes and shadowing them. Wherever his Nakama were… he was going to find them.

---

Sanji frowned in the darkness, finding it absolutely possible to see anything. Where they were, he had no idea. All he remembered, was that Thelonius had yelped about a spider behind him, he had turned and looked… and then darkness. That bastard of a lizard-bear thing must have knocked him out! He knew it was evil! Next to him, he could feel the heat that was literally streaming from Zoro's skin. The bastard's fever had gotten way worse, seeing as the two of them had been dragged through water, mud, and most of the jungle. He knew this from the fact that his hair was full of leaves and twigs, he was soaking wet, and he could feel still wet mud on his pants and jacket.

So yeah, it kinda wasn't hard to deduce what had happened. Frowning heavily, Sanji gazed out into the darkness. It was silent except for Zoro's shallow and sometimes erratic breathing. The blonde could feel the two pieces of chain that were wrapped around his ankles, and the thick piece of rope around his wrists, binding them together. Hence, he wasn't making any attempts at escape. He was finding this quite sucky, yes… but he could do nothing about it for the moment. If only Zoro would fucking wake. Up! As if on cue, the marimo-head let out a soft moan, his breathing turning even faster as he began to wake up.

"About freaking time!" the blonde growled slightly, shuffling sideways until he felt the hot skin of Zoro's arm against the back of his hand, "How do you feel? Are you tied up? Can you stand?"

"Fuck… up, love cook… you're making my head hurt…" Zoro groaned as a response, and Sanji felt the heat shift as the man beside him began to sit up.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we've been caught. Who knows what by! And you've been freaking unconscious the whole time! And you're telling ME to fuck up!?" Sanji ranted, waving his bound arms around and freaking out.

"… You sound tense…" Zoro muttered as a response, his voice dull and tired.

"Tense? Heh…" Sanji noised humourlessly, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from you, Marimo."

"Luffy likes meat…"

"No freaking duh! Anything else you wanna say that's completely and utterly pointless right now?!" Sanji was SO not in the mood for the bastard's sarcasm right now.

"3344... 3345..." came Zoro's dull voice once again. The chef blinked in complete and utter confusion. Had Zoro lost his mind? It sounded like he was counting like he did when he trained… but… he wasn't training. What the hell…? Calming quite quickly at this new development, the blonde eyed Zoro carefully.

"Zoro, who am I?" Sanji asked, frowning in the darkness.

"… Bird?"

"Great, you're delirious. That's just fucking fantastic now, isn't it?" the blonde snapped, sighing heavily and shaking his head.

"Would you both, be quiet. You're disrupting my plan." a soft, almost melodic voice said from the darkness. Zoro was reduced to muttering and mumbling now, obviously not even conscious. He hadn't even been awake in the first place! Sanji knew that voice though… and he frowned heavily.

"Thelonius." he said, his tense and panicked voice now calm and cool. It didn't do to show enemies fear, "Let us go. What do you even need us for?"

"You have a very good point. I should have killed you before, but I didn't… heh… I have a better idea." the bear-lizard's grim voice came back to him, "I'll show you humans why you shouldn't come near our island. Why you shouldn't harm our protector."

"…Wait, what? So there are more of your freaky species around here? Well that's just wonderful, isn't it?" the blonde returned, frowning in annoyance and wishing deeply that he had a cigarette to calm him down. His hands were shaking with anger, and he was sure it wouldn't be long before Thelonius picked up on the angry tremble in his voice too.

"Fool!" Thelonius spat, and a light suddenly flared, a fire having been lit in a kerosene lamp, "I am the only inhabitant of my species. The rest all died." Wincing slightly in the bright glow, Sanji kept his cool and glanced to the side at Zoro, who was once again well and truly unconscious, though he was still mumbling incoherently.

"Sorry to hear that." the chef replied coldly, not sounding sorry at all. Thelonius growled dangerously as he approached the chef, meeting Sanji's cold blue eyes with black, furious ones.

"Do not mock me… It may be the last thing you ever do…" he warned softly, voice and tone dangerously low. Sanji frowned, his eyes dark and angry.

"Don't piss me off… It may be the last thing you ever do." he replied, his tone matching Thelonius' easily. The bear-creature frowned before spinning suddenly and lashing out with his spiked tail. The blonde's eyes widened and he ducked instinctively, but he didn't get low enough, and the tips of the spikes ripped through the back of his jacket and shirt, grazing rather deeply into his skin as they flew overhead. Gritting his teeth angrily, Sanji jerked heavily at the chains around his ankles, pulling and trying to stretch his legs apart, looking like a bizarre version of a frog. Thelonius's pebbly lips lifted in a derogatory smirk as he watched, tiny, thin arms crossing over his broad chest.

"Struggle all you want, idiot. You won't get free. In case you hadn't noticed, which I'm sure you haven't, this island brings up exactly that which you dread." the bear-thing smirked, eyes narrowing maliciously at his captive. Sanji paused in his struggling and looked up slowly, eyes wide.

"What…?" he asked, teeth gritted slightly but half believing what had been said. He'd been dreading it raining… and it'd rained. He'd been dreading finding nasty creatures on this island, and the spiders had shown up! Glancing down at Zoro, his eyes narrowed minimally. Zoro would have been dreading hitting the ground the wrong way when he landed, and probably would have been dreading the idea that he would become weaker from such a hard hit. And Luffy… Luffy would now be dreading Zoro dying… wouldn't he? He remembered the other night, when Luffy had been sitting against the wall, watching his first mate with concerned eyes.

"He'll be fine, Luffy." Sanji had said, ignoring his own twang of concern, "He always has been, always will be."

"… I don't want him to die, Sanji… because of me." Luffy replied, before sighing and shaking his head, smiling instead, "Ah, yeah, he'll be alright. Night, Sanji."

"Ah, it's making you think now, isn't it?" Thelonius mocked, eyes still narrowed darkly, "What else do you dread, chef?" Sanji's eyes snapped back up to the bear-thing's face again, his mouth opening in a small gasp as he looked instinctively down at his hands. Frowning deeply, he clamped his eyes shut and forced himself to dread something else. He wasn't going to dread losing his hands, because then it would happen! … But wait, why should he believe the words of this… this creature? What authority did it have? Or knowledge even. How the hell did it know what the island did, or didn't do?

"What are you, linked with this place?" Sanji half snapped, hoping to put Thelonius off his guard. His hopes died though when their captor just chuckled.

"No no, I'd never hope or wish to be linked to this place. It's a horrible place, but… it's home. And it's very private. Or, at least it was, until you and your friends came here." he replied. Sanji smirked slightly, keeping his mind off his hands as best he could.

"Then how the hell do I know that this place does what you said it does, eh?" the blonde frowned, still shifting slightly as he attempted to free himself from his bonds. Thelonius's smirk turned cold and cruel.

"Don't believe me… test it out." he chuckled darkly, eyes so narrow and dark that it was a wonder they weren't made of chips of coal. Sanji was almost tempted, but he kept himself in check.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Then you do believe it will happen?" Thelonius was smirking smugly, arms still crossed loosely as he watched the blonde frown.

"No!"

"Then try it…" For a few minutes, Thelonius and Sanji stared at each other silently. Black eyes were lit with malicious intent, while blue were determined and focused. He wasn't going to let this… thing, beat him.

"It'll conjure up what I dread then?" the chef asked easily and Thelonius blinked before smirking again and nodding slowly.

"Indeed…. Go right ahead."

"Okay… I shall." and Sanji smirked widely. He had a nice plan up his sleeve… Closing his eyes, the blonde imagined something that was bad… but would help both he and Zoro at the same time. His eyes snapped open as he felt it take effect and with a short gasp, both he and Zoro were spiralling downwards into darkness.

---

He had no idea how long he searched. All he knew, was that by the time he finally found SOME semblance of a clue as to where his friends could be, it was raining heavily and he was soaked to the bone once again. He was desperately hungry, but that was unimportant right now, even though the hunger was making his stomach growl loudly. Luffy had no idea where he even was, if he had doubled back on his own trail, if he was still heading in the right direction. What if Sanji and Zoro were dead already? Who had taken them? The bear thingy? He'd seemed so nice though! Still… Luffy hadn't felt right about him when he'd first met him.

At the moment, he was following what looked like two almost washed away drag trails in the mud. When he'd first found the trails, they'd been thick and easy to follow… but then the rain had started, and as Luffy had continued following the tracks, they'd been washed away. Now, he was occasionally finding a deeper gouge in the ground and from there, he would continue on his way. But the rain was increasing, getting to the point where it was becoming hard for him to see through the curtain of water that was streaming from the front of his hat. Groaning softly to himself as the rain just continued to pour, and the task of finding his friends became harder and harder, Luffy leaned against the trunk of a tree and slammed a fist into it.

"My nakama…" he muttered, slamming his fist harder this time. The tree shook slightly, water falling from it's leaves and making Luffy whine slightly before he slammed his fist into it once again. This time, something rattled and with a short whistle that was lost in the sound of the rain falling, it smacked into Luffy's head and then rolled innocently across the ground.

"OWW!!" the boy whined, grabbing at his head and rubbing it, "What the hell was that!?" Looking around, dark eyes widened when they found the cause of the throbbing lump on the back of his head. Gasping slightly in disbelief, Luffy kneeled down in the mud and reached out. Gently, he ran a hand over the sheaths of Zoro's other two blades. They'd searched and searched for these, but never found them. They must have been stuck in the tree, and Luffy's abuse of the trunk had shaken them free. Grabbing the red and black swords up, he clenched them slightly before adjusting his belt and looping the blades into it.

The appearance of two of Zoro's most prized possessions, only intensified Luffy's determination and strengthened his resolve. Stalking forward with new vigour, it was almost as if the rain didn't touch him and the mud didn't trip him up. His dark eyes burned with latent anger. Someone had taken his friends, and when he found them… that someone was gonna pay. Dearly. He walked stoically for another hour or so before a smirk wound it's way onto his face. There was another cave up ahead. He could see the blackness of it from here. In the very middle of the darkness, was a tiny glitter of light, no bigger than a pin's head.

Luffy's gut urged him onwards, and with a short sprint through the undergrowth, he found himself in the cave and heading towards the small light. It was silent, aside from the sound of his wet sandals flopping on the floor and echoing back to him. He continued on his way, the light ahead growing steadily larger until the cave began to lighten in front of him. Before he knew it, he was standing in a large and well lit cavern. Condensation dripped from the ceiling, creating an eerie but constant sound in the background. Everywhere possible, lamps were hung. In the corner, there was a small table and a chair with a few scattered papers littered over it.

The ground was quite dry surprisingly, and the whole cavern had the general feel of a bad guy's hide out. Frowning a little, Luffy began moving into the main part of the cavern, eyes darting back and forth for any signs of his friends, or any movement at all. So it came as no surprise when he dropped down on all fours to avoid the spiky ball that flew overhead and thwacked instead into a stalagmite. The crumbling sound echoed around the room as Luffy twisted and glared at the thing that dared to attack him when he wasn't looking.

"You." the captain growled as he saw the thing that he was sure had taken his friends away. Out of the shadows, slid Thelonius. His paws were clasped behind his back, and his pebbly face was twisted and cruel, a cold smirk lining his lips.

"Me." he replied, chuckling softly, "I must wonder, what did you come here for, Monkey D Luffy?"

"Where are my friends?" Luffy asked, his voice tremulous with anger. He'd gotten Sanji and Zoro onto this island, and now he'd failed in his job as captain to protect them. He'd brought an enemy into their midst and they'd been taken away. It was just one big screw-up after the next… This time, he wasn't going to mess up. Once he got the two back, he would rocket them onto Merry, and they would leave. Thelonius was chuckling as though Luffy had just told him the best joke in the world.

"Your friends? Is that what you came here seeking, Luffy?" he mocked, before running his forked tongue over his distorted lips, "They're dead." Luffy's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't lie to me… If they were dead, I'd know. Now," Jerking forward, the incensed teen snapped his hand out and around Thelonius's throat, shoving him backwards until he slammed into the wall, "Where. Are. They? I won't ask again…" The bear-lizard chuckled thickly, rasping slightly at the increased pressure on his windpipe. Dark eyes narrowed as they met with burning brown.

"You couldn't save them, captain. They're dead… Go see for yourself. That hole beside the wall over there? Ha, in they fell… and I heard a nice loud crunch when they hit bottom." Thelonius replied, still chuckling as though Luffy wasn't holding his life in his hand. Rubber fingers tightened dangerously on the thick throat, starting to crush it cruelly before with a short growl, they released. Putting a hand on his hat, the captain stalked over to the hole and crouched beside it, leaving Thelonius to gasp for air.

"SANJI!?" he called down into it, hands cupped around his mouth, "ZORO!?" No response, not even an echo. Sighing at the lack of response, Luffy grimaced and glared down at the hole in the ground in front of him. If he had to jump down there, he would. BUT, he wouldn't until he was assured that they were down there. Because then his gesture of heroism, would be wasted, and it'd probably be a pretty stupid thing to do anyway. He wasn't THAT dumb. Standing up, Luffy frowned deeply as he turned to face… an empty cave. Everything was as it was, with only one exception… no Thelonius.

"… oi?" Luffy noised, moving into the centre of the room and looking around. He flitted around, searching under the desk, under the papers, and even under a rather sizable rock. Still no sign of Thelonius.

"Coward…" the captain muttered, but without affirmation that his friends had gone down that hole, he wasn't keen to take the jump and end up down a hole… with no paddle. … Or was that up a river? Oh well, didn't matter right now. He would be stuck if he jumped down the hole, but his friends were down there, but they might not be! … Gah, now his head hurt. Well, he'd done stupid things before - why not? With a short cry, he ran at the hole… and leaped into it.

Luffy had made another mistake though… in his search of the cave, he conveniently overlooked the rug that was slightly sunken in by a nearby wall. It's edges curled a little, it's middle was sinking slowly but surely… and after a while, it would fall through into the hole below it. Too bad this hadn't happened before Luffy had seen it… Dark chuckling started from the ceiling, one place the flitting and confused captain hadn't inspected. Dropping down and wriggling his sticky padded fingers, Thelonius licked at his pebbly lips with his long and forked tongue. Eyes narrowed cruelly as they focused on the hole that Luffy had just jumped down.

"So stupid..." Thel chuckled to himself, moving to the hole and peering down it with a smirk, "Ah, and now… the fun begins."

---

That idea had been stupid. It had been an escape, true… but it had been all together, really stupid. Sanji had thwacked his head on the wall on the way down the hole, and was now bleeding profusely from his forehead. He was dazed, and dizzy and to make matters worse… Zoro was on top of him!! He raised a knee and shoved the much heavier teen off him, ignoring the resulting thump and groan. Grabbing at his head, the blonde sighed a little as he realised his hands were still tied.

"S'goin' on?" a groggy voice said beside him. With a short glance, Sanji realised that they had fallen into a well lit cavern. Light was fairly bouncing from every angle, turning the place into a blazing oasis.

"You awake then?" the blonde asked, this time turning and watching as Zoro slowly sat up and put a hand to his head.

"Yeah… Where are we?" the swordsman grunted, eyes still closed and breathing shallow and weak.

"Che, you tell me. …I have no idea." With that, Sanji sat up again and looked around, squinting to try and see through the light. There were… plants. Yeah. And there were lots of them.

"… Sanji? Is it just me, or are those plant things moving…?" Zoro groaned, getting up beside him and squinting ahead as he stumbled slightly and let out a sharp gasp, pain throbbing through him. Sanji frowned, thinking the swordsman was delirious again. That idea was bolstered by the fact Zoro had just used his correct name. He was about to berate him for being such a moron when he paused, and looked slowly back at the large and leafy looking things before him. They were indeed moving. Not only that, but they were getting closer.

"… That can't be good…" the chef muttered, before frowning and starting to bite at the ropes binding his hands. Zoro stumbled and barely managed to catch himself before he slumped over onto his rump, placing his head between his hands and grinding his teeth to try and stop the world from spinning around him. Bright colours were obscuring his vision, and he was sure he had felt something crunch and grind when he'd stood up just then. His wrists were bound, but his feet were free, unlike Sanji's. Glancing over at the first mate of the crew, Sanji frowned slightly.

"Listen, Zoro, you're pretty sick. Stop being a stubborn ass, and just stay there." he reprimanded. Zoro frowned deeply.

"Go to hell… You're not my mother…" he growled slightly. Shrugging, Sanji shook his head.

"Well, Luffy can't say I didn't try." the blonde muttered as he continued chewing at the ropes. Gradually, and with much swaying and stumbling, Zoro got back to his feet and squinted at the plants in front of him.

"Hn… they have giant teeth." he commented. Sanji's head snapped up.

"Say what now!?" he almost squeaked, his voice definitely taking on a much higher note than usual. His eyes widened incredibly when he saw that Zoro was indeed speaking the truth. The swordsman frowned a little, shaking his head slightly and ignoring the way his breathing was short and quick.

"We'll have to fight them… There's no other way out…" and he reached down to his side, but paused when he felt nothing. Not even his Haramaki, "Shit… Still missing?" Finally, Sanji grunted as his teeth ground through the last thread of the rope. His jaw was tired and he worked his mouth a little to try and relieve the ache.

"We found the white one, but it got left behind when that bastard Thelonius dragged us out of the cave." Sanji muttered as he began pulling at the chains binding his ankles. Wait… what the hell was he doing? Why didn't he fucking think of that sooner! Silently, he berated himself for being such an idiot. … Then wondered if talking to himself was the first sign of insanity. Looking over at Zoro, he hoped this would work.

"Oi… reckon you could find a weak link in these chains and get me free?" Sanji asked, frowning slightly. Zoro looked over, one eye blinking more slowly than the other before he looked down at the chains.

"Can't free yourself?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm returning as he leant over and began tugging at each link of the chain.

"Shut up, moron…" Sanji frowned, but his voice was quiet. He was watching the way Zoro's hands were shaking as he tugged at each loop, the way sweat was beading quicker than lightning could strike, on that bony face. He began to wonder if Zoro really was going to die here…

"Nn, here…" Zoro grunted finally, squinting at the chain and digging his thumbs into the individual link. Tugging outwards, he slowly began stretching the steel, until it was almost at it's breaking point. Pulling away, Zoro fell back against the wall panting like he had just ran a hundred miles in two seconds. Grinding his teeth a little, Sanji jerked his legs and was rewarded when the link snapped and the chain fell apart. Grabbing at it, he ignored Zoro as the moron got to his feet again.

"This place is crappy..." the marimo stated, causing the blonde to roll his eyes.

"No freaking duh, genius." He paused though when he heard a serious of rather horrible sounding crunches and momentarily thinking that the plants had arrived, he leapt to his feet. … Not the plants… Zoro. Having stood up while Sanji had been untangling the chain, he was now hunched over, hugging himself and shaking slightly.

"What the fuck…?" Sanji muttered, before moving over, "Oi, moss head… you alright?" Mild concern was in his voice.

"F-Fine…" Zoro replied, straightening slowly again before blowing out a slight breath, "What do you care anyway, darts?" His voice was strained and he had turned even paler than before.

"I don't. I just don't want to have to drag your sorry ass out of here by myself." the blonde returned, glancing up as those carnivorous plants got closer and closer by the second.

"Fuck up…" Zoro replied, his voice harsh as he stood straight again, "I guess we'd better get ready to f-fight…" He couldn't stop the wince and the instinctive twitch as his body shook with pain again. Sanji frowned at him, before looking back at the plants.

"I'll take the right, you take the left. We meet in the middle, and the loser has to clean the ship's deck for Nami-san, for the next week. Alone." Sanji challenged, pretending everything was normal. Zoro looked up at him with a very small smirk, before he scowled again.

"Your mop head would suit that job." he responded before turning so his back was to Sanji.

"I'm sure it would, but short, thick bristles are better, cactus." he responded, turning to put his back to Zoro's and glaring at the plants out of the corner of his eye.

"Asshole… 1!" Zoro growled, also glaring at the plants.

"Moron… 2!" the chef replied, getting ready.

"Idiot… 3!" they both cried before diving off in their own directions, both smirking at the challenge, "May the best man win! ... I will!" It was really quite amazing how alike the two idiots were. Morons...

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Oooh, cliffy. I'm so sorry, but any more and it probably would have been too long. BUT, the next chapter (hopefully, cross your fingers) should be up in the next two - three weeks. Sorry for the wait, but I have work, and heaps of crap to do at the moment. I can't just sit and write like I used to.

Reviews would be great, please.