Chapter 5

"The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy."-John F. Kennedy

"We're quite far from the pub now."

Kya walked behind Zoro, lifting the other side of Luffy's cage for him. They had been walking for what seemed like 30 minutes now, hopefully far enough away from Buggy and his crew. "They won't be able to catch up with us immediately now." She added as Luffy began chewing the bars, nearly biting her hand off. "Idiot! Watch it!" She cried, smacking him in the face.

"Our escape was done okay, but this cage is really starting to annoy me." Zoro grumbled, clutching his wound. She told him to stop some time back, she told him to let her fix him up. But nooo, he wouldn't stop for a 'measly wound' as he put it. 'Men.' She thought glumly.

"Yeah. If this thing doesn't open then when all those bad guys come I can't even attempt to fight them." Luffy complained when suddenly the green haired man up in the front collapsed. "Zoro!" Kya yelled, dropping her end of the cage and running over to the fallen swordsman. "This is it...I don't have enough blood. I can't walk any longer." He muttered tiredly as she bent down next to him. "Idiot. You should've let me help you." She bent her arms back to dig into a her pocket, when it bumped into something furry.

"A dog?"

She pivoted, falling on her butt as the animal stared angrily into the distance. "What's with this dog?" He questioned, rolling on his back. "Dog? Hey! It's a dog!" Luffy shouted happily. "What is this? Is it really a dog? Hey look Zoro, Kya, the dog isn't even moving at all." he continued, scooting up closer to it in his cage.

'Shouldn't it be the other way around?' She thought, sighing as she helped Zoro sit up against the wall. She pressed her hand to his bleeding wound and he gasped in surprise. "What ever." he grimaced, grabbing her hand to make her stop. "What it does is up to the dog. Right now you've got to think of a way to get out of that cage."

"I wonder if it's dead." Luffy ignored Zoro's fruitless efforts to get the boy on track. "He's a lost cause." She muttered, lowering her head. "Ahhhh! You stupid dog what the hell d'ya think you're doing?" The dog attacked Luffy's face, biting and chewing it. "He probably deserved it." She murmured to no one, and Zoro shot forward, hitting her with his head sending her to the ground. "You idiot do you even realize the seriousness of this situation?" He yelled, not even noticing the young girl lying on the ground clutching her head in pain.

"My head."

"Stupid dog."

"Dammit... I don't have enough blood."

"You three, what are you doing? If you just lie around here in the middle of the street Buggy will surely find you." Kya sat up next to the dog, seeing the orange haired thief standing in front of them. "Hey, our navigator." Zoro commented from the ground. "Who says?" She yelled before sighing. "I just came to repay my debt to you, because you saved my life back there."

"Repay?"

A rather large key was thrown in front in between Kya and Luffy, making a loud clanking sound as hit came in contact with the ground. She smiled brightly. Finally, Luffy could get out of the cage and they could leave. "The key! You stole the key to the cage!" Luffy shouted happily. "Yeah..even if I think so myself it was a really dumb thing to do...Because of that I couldn't steal any treasure." She complained, but her self misery was overcome by Luffy's laughing.

"The cage was such a problem I thought we were just gonna die from the headache it gave us!" he said, wrapping his hands around the bars and Kya shot him a look. "We? I'm pretty sure we would've just left." She said, smirking lightly as his face fell. "Wh-what?" He said, his jaw dropping slightly and she laughed. "Only kidding Luffy. Only kidding." He pointed at her, laughing. "You're funny Kya!"

"Anyways," Zoro groaned as he sat up. "At least making such a difficult escape's reward is finally shining through." She nodded at him, and that's when things went wrong. As Luffy reached for the key, the dog picked it up and swallowed it. All four of them froze and their eyes widened in anger. "That...damn...dog." She muttered, and Luffy grabbed it by its throat.

"You stupid dog! That thing you swallowed wasn't food!" He shouted, pulling the dog in the cage and fighting with it. "What're we gonna do?" she muttered, burying her face in her hands. "Oi! You people! Don't do anything to Shushu!" An unfamiliar voice shouted off in the distance, making her look up. There stood an awkward looking man with crazy white curly hair, homemade armor, shorts, and sandals.

"Shushu?"

"Who're you old man?"

"I'm the villages leader! Or in other words, the chief!" The old man declared, smiling. Kya laughed lightly. "Old man, you can't be serious? There's no one here." She said to him, standing up. He walked forward, staring her down hard. "You know nothing missy! You can't talk about us like that! There may be few of us, but we stick together! Ever since Buggy invaded our little town we've been hiding out on the other side." He said sadly and she huffed, looking away. "When it comes to life or death situations, everyone is on their own." she muttered and he growled. "Don't say such things! We're like family here!"

"Even family can turn on you." she answered boredly, crossing her arms across her chest. He sighed. "There's no hope for you is there?" He whispered, and she turned away, only making him sigh again. "You're bleeding." he pointed out to Zoro, who chuckled. "I'm fine. Just a small wound."

"Small wound! Kid your guts are gonna fall out!"

"I'm alright."

"Nonsense. Come with me."

"No."

"Zoro, get your ass up." She finally said, annoyed by his constant ego. He looked up at her, frowning. "I said I'm fi-" "Fine. I know. Get up and let the man help you." He stared at her for a long moment before sighing. "Alright." He gave in, and she bent over to help him off the ground. "Where do you want me to take him?" she asked, throwing the swordsman's arm over her shoulder. He groaned as she lifted him off the ground, leaning onto her. 'He's a lot heavier than I thought he would be.' She grimaced to herself as she followed the old man into the building next door.

"I have some bandages, I'll wrap him up for you." He offered as she laid him down on a small bed in the upstairs bedroom. "Thank you." she mumbled, going over to a chair on the side of the room. She felt slightly bad for being so hard on the old man. She hadn't really meant it, she was just a little annoyed with the whole ordeal here. She was never one to stay in a place for long. Her body itched to move on, to go to the next island. Thought, if they made it to Grand Line, she most likely wouldn't be with them long.

"Hello?"

She jumped back as the old man waved his hand in front of her face. "H-huh?" She muttered, looking at him with a confused expression. He frowned and headed towards the door. "You looked lost for a second. I wanted to make sure you were still with us. I wrapped your friend up. Will you be staying here?"

Nodding lightly, she stood up and grabbed her chair. "Ya. Uhm, thanks by the way." she murmured, still slightly embarrassed about before. "No problem. Check on you guys later." He said before closing the door behind him.

"You don't like this do you?" Zoro said to her as she situated herself by his bed. She sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the bed and held her face in her hands. "I'm not used to traveling with people I guess." He laughed lightly before putting his hand on his head. "You'll get used to it."

It wasn't long before he was out cold, leaving her with no one to talk to in the room. "Idiot. Going and almost getting himself killed. Again. What have I gotten myself into?" She wondered out loud, looking at the older man who lay in the bed snoring loudly. He didn't really care what he did, as long as he became the greatest swordsman ever. He really was an idiot.

Sitting in a room listening to a snoring man became quite boring after a half an hour, so Kya decided to wake him up. She poked his arm, then his shoulder, and finally his face. Nothing happened. "Oi. Get up lazy." She yelled. Nothing. "Zoro!"

Snoring.

"Wake up!"

Still, he snored away.

Finally she got fed up. "Oi! Asshole!" She said, getting up to hit him in the face, but her action was prevented by the floor giving way beneath her. A large rumbling ran through her ears, making them ring, and she hit her head against a plank. Her body ached as it hit the ground, pieces of the house falling on top of her. She felt the blood trickling down her head and her ears rung loudly.

"Hey! Zoro, Kya, are you guys still alive!"

Luffy's voice surged through her ears and made her head pound. "I'm right here baka." She coughed, pushing the debris off her. She stood up on shaky legs, holding her bloody head and smiled at her captain. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, me too. That was some bad way to wake me up." She looked over at Zoro who was sitting down in the middle of the debris, holding his head too. "Idiot. That was the only thing that could ever wake you up." She mumbled to him, but he ignored her. "What a relief! You guys are alive!" Luffy yelled at them, laughing. "And just how is it that you guys survived...?"

She looked at the thief, who was some reason still there. She opened her mouth to say something, but the chief cut her off. "It feels as though my chest is being scraped out! Do you think I'll allow pirates to trample all over us again? For a 'horse-skeleton-like-guy' who suddenly pops out, he has absolutely no right to trample all over our 40 years! I am the chief! I won't leave and let this village be treated this way!"

Kya smiled, removing her hand from her bleeding head. The guy finally grew a pair. "Alright! I'm going to fight!" he shouted, about to take off but the orange haired girl grabbed him. "W-wait a minute chief!"

"Let go of me kid!"

"Those people are dangerous! So what's the point in going? This is too reckless!"

"I know it's reckless!"

All four of them frowned as they watched the old man run off. "You just wait! Buggy the Clown!" He shouted before disappearing. "Glad he got the guts but, don't you think this is a little to steep for him?" She said and Zoro shrugged at her. "Guess we'll find out."

"The chief...was crying..." The other girl muttered quietly. "Oh really? I didn't see anything." Luffy told her, smiling. "For some reason, this is starting to feel more fun." Zoro added in.

"Hehehehe. I agree."

"I just hope this is all over soon."

"How can you still laugh!"

"Don't worry! I like that old man! I'm not going to let him die!"

"How can you still laugh in this kinda situation! Where the hell does your confidence come from!" The girl cried at Luffy, who simply smiled at her. "Our destination is the Grand Line. Now we're going to go steal that map again! Will you join us?" He held his hand out for her. "You need the map too don't you? And the treasure?"

"I'm not going to become a pirate!" She smacked his hand away. "Rather than 'partners' let's just say that we're cooperating. Helping each other achieve our goals." Kya sighed and helped Zoro to his feet. "Let's get going." She said as they walked over to Luffy. "You guys are going too? What about you're injuries!" The girl yelled at them "It's all healed." Zoro said simply to her, untying the bandana around his arm. "What injury?" Kya asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "More important than the injury done to my body, is the injury my name suffers because all I did in my last fight was get hurt. Should we go?" He said, tying the green fabric around his head. Luffy cracked his knuckles and smiled. "Yeah, lets go."

"I'm dumbfounded..." The girl slapped her face as they began walking. "You'll get used to it." Kya smiled at her, holding out her hand. "Kya." The girl shook it hesitantly. "Nami." she answered lightly. "You don't seem like a pirate..." She added, then looked at Zoro. "And he definitely wasn't a pirate." Kya only laughed at her. "I wasn't. I was an assassin. And Zoro was a bounty hunter. Luffy saved our lives and now, here we are."

They walked in silence for a while, until they heard shouting coming from the building directly ahead of them. "There he is." Nami said quietly, and Luffy growled. "I won't let him hurt the chief!" he shouted before running forwards. The three of them followed in pursuit as he ran up to the chief, who was being held by the throat by Buggy's floating hand. "I've kept my promise...I've come to beat you!" Luffy shouted loudly, removing the hand and grabbing the chief by his armor.

'This is a waste of time.' Kya thought boredly, placing her hands on her hips as she stared up at the circus like crew. "So you come without a single trace of fear by your own will!" Buggy shouted, connecting his hand back. "You morons! You're all so dead!"

Nami turned to her and Zoro, pointing accusingly. "Listen, I don't care whether you fight or not, you guys do as you wish. I'm just here for the map and treasure." She said sternly. "Ya, ya. We got it." Kya waved her off and Zoro only grunted, his hands placed deeply in his pockets.

"All of you..." the chief said suddenly, standing up shakily. "What did you come here for? You four just stay out of this! This is my war! I'm the one who must protect this village! Don't interfere!" He began to lunge at them, but was stopped by Luffy, who shoved the poor man's face into the wall.

Kya slapped a hand to her face, watching the bleeding man fall to the ground. "Well, he didn't have to go that far." She muttered, and Zoro chuckled at her. "You! You idiot! What the hell was that for? Why did you do that to the chief!" Nami yelled, her face red in anger.

"Cause he would get in the way." Luffy answered simply, his eyes set on Buggy. Kya was starting to understand him now. He couldn't sit by a let people he cared about, even if he's known them for mere hours, get hurt. When he's made up his mind, he's made up his mind. There was no stopping him.

"That was smart thinking. If you had left him alone, without a doubt, he would've charged recklessly. It's safer for him to be unconscious." Zoro spoke. Though it didn't seem like he cared all that much. She punched him in the shoulder, causing a strong glare from the swordsman. "Don't encourage him." She muttered.

"Don't do anything unnecessary!" Nami yelled, but her voice was ignored by the strong willed young man. "Hey you, huge, red, ugly, big nose!" He shouted and everyone froze. "Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka. Baka." Kya muttered over and over again, slamming her still bloody forehead into her palm."We're screwed." Zoro muttered to her, his voice strained, and she sighed. "All we can do now is not get killed."

"Fire the Buggy-Special-Cannon-Ball!"

Her face fell. "Shit. Luffy, if we die I swear-" He cut her off. "Don't worry, Kya-chan. I won't let you guys die." He said happily at her and she only sighed, standing behind him. "You better not. Or I'll haunt you for the rest of your life if I do."

"Be gone!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed idiot?" Nami shouted, running off to the side. "Oi! Luffy, dodge it!" Zoro chimed in, his face finally fading to worry. Kya didn't say anything, only stepped back a couple of inches, her arms crossed over her chest as the cannon ball flew towards him. "Do you think just because of a cannon ball, I'll move a single inch? Gomu Gomu no... Balloon!"

Her eyes widened slightly as Luffy inflated three times his size, catching the cannon ball in his stomach . 'He could've at least said something...' She thought to herself, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "What the hell is that kid?" "Could the Buggy-Special-Cannon-Ball...?"

"He bounced it back!"

Sure enough, the large metal ball was sent flying back to where it came from. "Could've said something sooner." She heard Zoro mutter from her side. She knew he got as annoyed as she did sometimes. "Yay! There number has decreased! Shall we start!" Luffy shouted, returning to his original size. She simply walked up behind him and hit him on the back of the head. "Idiot, you could've gotten yourself killed!" She yelled in a caring tone and he smiled at her, rubbing his hurt head.

"What the hell are you?" Nami shouted as she fell to her knees. 'Oh, she hasn't realized it yet? Is she stupid or something?' Kya thought boredly, looking back at the orange haired girl as Zoro spoke. "So much for blowing us up..."

Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. :) I appreciate it. Sorry this chapter is slightly boring, but it will get better! I promise!