Ben Ali was his adopted name, it was strange because when he was young he used to hate people calling him just 'Ben'; he moves behind Clarence Green, the shorter teen leading him and the small group through the forest like area.
Helen Smith was behind him, Fred Kingston was following up last; the tall blonde kept glancing over his shoulder, making use the 'villagers with pitch folks' as Clarence dubbed them, did not try and come after.
Ben was panting, lungs burning as he forces himself onwards; he could not remember the last time he had such a hike. He was not the only one to suffer, Helen and Clarence was also having a hard time yet no one spoke to ask for a rest.
"How far?" Ben asks slowing his pace just slightly, "You said it was a three hour walk."
"Yeah," Fred mumbles, "It is, but at the rate we're going it will be more."
'The rate?' Ben thinks bitterly, knowing that the taller was more fit than he was, "Why didn't that group know about the town on the island?"
"Because they are to scared to move two yards." Clarence laughs out with a wheeze, "They spent most of they time looking after others and fishing the dead out the water."
"We spent Fred out the second day," Helen mumbles softy, keeping her head down causing her brown hair to fall over her face, "He went much further than any of them, in fact, we did not think he was coming back! He was so long."
"I guess... three hours there and back, that's six hours right?" Ben says with a nod, pushes forwards.
"Well I was going around and around at first," Fred explains, "I set off early morning and got back after dark."
"They're find it in time." Clarence said with a huff, "Hopefully we will be long gone."
"Mm." Ben hums in agreement. After he recovered from his odd awaken, he rested a few hours had something to eat then set off, they had been walking for four hours by Clarence's wristwatch, and still no sign of this town.
"We're almost there!" Fred cries out joyfully, making both Clarence and Ben turn behind to look at him, the blonde points over the top of Helen's head, "See there rocks, it is just over them!"
"Yay!" Ben cheers dully, lightly bringing a hand up and half pumped the air as he turns and starts walking again. It was done it such a bored manner that Helen laughed out loud, which turned into a cough. "Are you alright?" he asks quickly, the girl nods fast, smiling through her tears her coughing had caused.
"What's the town like?" Clarence asks loudly over his shoulder, "And the people there?"
"You didn't ask him that when he first got back?" Ben said with a frowns, Clarence seemed like the person to ask right away.
"We were busy," Clarence explains, "They calmed some at that time but still were after us."
Ben did not have to ask who 'they' was, from what he had been told the people who had fallen with them went completely insane; he had also learnt there was two other people who was meant to have been a fan of One Piece, unlike Clarence, Fred, Helen and Ben these two had not been so lucky.
"They speak Japanese." Fred said with wonder in his word, "I could not get much out of them, I only know a few words."
"What?" Ben says turns, but continues to move sideways, "You can not understand?"
"No," Fred answers frowning deeply, "I don't speak Japanese. Why is that so surprising?"
"Because normally when people fall into other world," Ben said a matter of fact, he "They instantly know the language."
"That's true!" Clarence says snorting, he played with his glasses for a moment, staring only ahead, "Even when aliens come to Earth, they seem to know whatever language of the country they land on."
"Well, what are we going to do?" Fred asks with a heavy sigh, "This is not a movie or a cartoon! We're here and we don't know the language!"
"Speak for yourself." Clarence says coming to a stops he turns and held the front of his glasses, posing as he grins at the three behind, they also halted and waited for whatever he was about to say, "I know Japanese!"
"So do I," Ben said simply with a smile, glad that someone else knew also, turning to Fred he says, "Don't worry, I can teach you."
Fred suddenly looked thrilled by this news, his whole face lit up he rushed over to Ben and bear hugged him; Ben laughed at the taller one's reaction, he stops when he sees Helen looking at him with hopeful eyes.
"If you don't know, I can teach you as well." Ben said kindly to the shy girl, who went red in the face and ducked her head down low ever more. Turning to Clarence who strangely looked somewhat relieved, he nods his head for them to continue.
Together the four began to walk forward, the thin teen, geeky glasses teen and overweight tall all tried, the tallest of the group seemed to be doing well, Fred even had enough energy to do a little jig as he let go of Ben.
The rest of the trip was in silence. It was another half an hour before the town came into view, to which Ben cheered lightly the same way he did before, earning him a giggle from Helen; as they came to the edge of the town and saw the people for the first time, Ben could not help but think of his surrounds. It really appeared to be something out of the anime, the people themselves looked anime one piece style.
Glancing towards Clarence he could only see him as a normal human, however the smaller teen hand's looked odd, parts of it seemed to be peeled at his skin, the shade of his skin there looked the same yet it did not.
Eyeing up Fred now his hands were fine, but the tips of his dark blonde hair was different, more forced together than the strands one would normally see on a person.
Shifting his eyes he stared at Helen, she since had her head down. Then she suddenly gazed upwards, and his heart froze at the heart. Her eyes was much larger than a normal person's, the white was different the colouring was more defined as fear shone in them.
"What the hell!?" Ben hisses out as he stops and steps away from the group, "What the hell!"
"Oh? You noticed then." Clarence says as he grins, "Took you more enough, but given that you still out of it from sleeping those two days after that fall, I guess your brain took a while to catch up."
"What is happening?!" Ben asks as he continues to back away, but he hit his back against the side of a house that they came across.
"It began on the second day." Fred said touching his hair in a fond manner, "Another reason why some people went off their heads."
"Wait! This is happening to them as well?!" Ben asks as he glances back towards the forest, thinking of the people who they left behind, he had not gotten the chance to talk to them after Clarence had dragged him away.
"Yeah," Helen says shaking violently, wrapping her arms around herself, "Anyone who showed more signs of it, they killed."
"What?!" Ben cries out in shock, "I thought they was just after you?!"
"No," Fred mumbles darkly, then spoke up looking more serious than Ben had seen him during their short time they had spent together, "Its like Helen' said, they killed people whose eyes or ears changed fully, after that they began just cutting the parts off of them."
"Some people found food from the things fallen, a trunk containing stuff, we but sure what, but those who ate and drank from that remained human," Clarence explains, looking at some people who walked passed, they talked in a hush tone as they stared at the four strangers, "However it seems only those of ate from what they found on the island changed..." he held the under side of his hands, showing the colour of his palms, they looked fully cartooned.
"You haven't eaten much," Helen says in a softly word, he barely able to hear her, "Because they forced water from the things fallen down your throat as well..."
Ben lifts his own hands up suddenly, he turned his body twisting himself as he looked over; so long there was nothing, then he remembered. They had given him something to eat; while he rested, they had given him fruit and berries.
"I am...I am going to change into a cartoon!" Ben asks looking which one in the eye, they nodded, "Wow!" he suddenly says grinning madly, then he threw his head back and began to laugh, "WOW!"
"I know right!" Fred says grinning too, he looked overly happy.
"It's so great!" Helen said with a small smile as she rose her head up more, showing off more of her anime One Piece style eyes.
"Come on!" Clarence calls lightly over Ben's mad laughter, "Let's go talk to someone! Find out where we are in the world!" Ben shook his head, wiped the tears that poured out of his eyes and grinning followed them as they began walking, "We should ask for the mayor right?"
"Mm..." Ben hums his answers he looked around, more buildings closer together appeared the further they went into the town. He wondered just how he did not see it when he first woke up, the fresh greens of the trees, the blue of the skies and the deep blue and greens of the sea. The more he looked now, the more he saw it to be animation like.
"Ben!" Clarence said stopping in front of him, "You're up! Show me what you got!"
"Huh?" Ben said frowning, he then sees a man in front of him, eyeing him up, it was then he noticed how the man was dressed. Realization hit him, this was the mayor checking on the strangers of had entered his town.
Walking up to the man, he gave the red haired man a quick bow and politely introduced himself and thinking fast explained that he and his friends had been shipwreck losing everything; the man brow cleaned in understanding, and invited them to follow him.
"What did he say?" Fred asks as he follows along.
"He asks that shipwrecked people are allowed to stay in a home for a while," Ben told as he went along, "Until they get on their feet again."
"Shipwrecked?" Clarence said grinning, "Nice one!"
"I wasn't sure what else to say," Ben admitted, they mayor lead them to a wooden hut which had a metal pipe coming out of the side, "You should have given me more warning."
"That was fine." Clarence said then stepped back as the mayor came to speak with Ben once more, then he saw that the others spoke something completely different.
Ben listened carefully, his mind working out what was being said; thankfully the man had realized that this was not his mother tongue and was talking more slowly and clearly than before.
The man handed him over the key and began walking away, he took he and went over to the hut opening the door; the inside was basic, having a kitchen on the right side of the room where the pipe was for the stove, a low table in the middle, and two buck beds flat against the left side of the wall.
"This is home for the next month," Ben says walking inside, "Hopefully the 'villagers' would find this place and we'll be safe."
"Not much." Clarence says happily walking towards the low table, sitting down on one of the pillows that was on which side, the dust flew out as he flopped down.
"It's fine!" Fred said grinning also pleased at their new home, he rushed over to the beds and climbed up on the first top one,"I can't believe he is letting us have this!"
"Just for the month," Ben points up as he went over to a chest freezer, "He also said there is food to last that long."
"Why do they have this place?" Helen asks taking a seat on one pillow, looking to Ben for answers.
"I asked where we are," Ben said as he looks over the kitchen supplies they had, "We're in East Blue, close to a whirlpool. They get a lot of shipwrecks here."
"The island's name?" Clarence asks with interest.
"Oops..." Ben says looking at them, "I did not ask that...sorry, I'll ask later..."
"No worries!" Fred booms out jumping down, he hurries over to the table joining the other two. Ben also took a seat.
"We'll think of more to say later," Clarence agrees with Fred with a nod, "Right now we have to work out where to go from here."
"Yeah, we have to get a job or something." Helen points out, "Or else how are we meant to get money to live off of..."
"What? Jobs!" Fred cries out looking shocked, "We are in the One Piece world! And you're talking about jobs?!"
"She has a point." Clarence spoke up, "We don't have any money of this world, we don't know how this world works other than what we have seen from the manga or anime, but the main characters are outlaws."
Ben's head had been moving to one to the other as each spoke, every one having good points in his eyes; they wanted to go out to sea, they wanted to be pirates, but they were things in their way before they could just get up and go.
"We have to remember the 'villagers' as well," Clarence said bitterly, "They may come at any time, they did not know the language that much is sure, they may attack as, or get us kicked out if they make trouble!"
"These are all things that need to be given thought." Ben said as he stands, "But right now, my legs are killing me! Right at the top joints!" to prove his point he began rubbing his thighs, "I want to sleep some more..."
"Is that wise?" Fred asks, "You have just walked for miles, something that you're not used to, you need to stretch out."
Ben moans loudly, "Fine, show me how to do the stretches right."