Chapter 8

"The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones. They erode our strength, our self-esteem, our very foundation."-Cheryl Hughes

Kya breathed in deeply as the waves crashed against the boats. She sat crossed legged with her eyes closed; finally relaxed enough to meditate. It had been weeks she had felt relaxed enough to meditate. Her crew was really quite the annoyance. Luffy never shut up; Name was always yelling and hitting; and Zoro was always asleep and snoring.

"We need to plan things more."

She let out a harsh breath as Nami spoke, ending her scarce peace. "What do you mean?" Luffy spoke as Kya opened her eyes. He was sitting on the front of the boat, and she was slightly worried he would fall. She would be the one swimming after him. "Are we going to the Grand Line like this?" Nami scoffed at him from her boat. "Oh, that's right! Although Uncle Cabbage gave us plenty of fruits, we have no meat on the ship!" The boy was hopelessly clueless. "I am not talking about the food supplies!"

"And we don't have any sake to drink either! How boring!"

The pink haired girl shot the swordsman a glare as he spoke. He was sprawled out in front of her, arms behind his head. He was so lazy; it was crazy how strong he was. She shook her head as Nami shouted, "Let's not worry about the problem of food and drink first! The place we are going, the Grand Line, is the most dangerous place in the world! Every pirate in the world wishes to get their treasure there, so we need to get a better ship first! We're also short on crew members and this ship doesn't have any equipment. No matter what you think, we can't possibly be safe."

"Oh, what do we do then?"

Kya chuckled at Luffy. He was such a kid at heart. "We have to prepare first, and plan the journeys ahead." Nami continued thoughtfully. "There's a village due north, we should go there first. First thing to do when we get there is look for a better ship."

"And eat some meat!"

"Luffy not everything is about meat." Kya spoke and the boy turned to look at her with pursed lips. "What did you say?" He drawled out and she snickered. "Nothing. Nothing at all." She said, closing her eyes again. She smiled lightly as the breeze hit her face, and she could feel the calmness coming back to her. All she had to do now was clear her mind and-

"Why do you do that?"

Her smile quickly faded and she snapped her eyes open to glare at the green haired swordsman who spoke. "Why do you think?" She growled and he raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea. That's why I asked." He shot back smugly and she rolled her eyes. "I do it to keep myself centered and sane." He snorted and closed his eyes. "You sure are weird, for a kid." He muttered quietly and her fists clenched. "I'm 18 you dipshit!"

After a momentary silence, with Kya still attempting to meditate, the crew finally began to get close to the island. "Zoro, Luffy: row." Nami demanded, tossing the boys two oars. "But whyyyyyyyy?" Luffy whined, putting the wooden object in the water. "Because the wind has died down, there isn't enough to get us to shore. And we need to go slow to watch out for debris and coral." The orange haired girl nagged on. "But I'm soooo hungry." He dragged on, his tongue hanging out his mouth.

Eventually, without casualty, they made it to land. "Wow! There's really an island here!" Luffy said cluelessly as Nami jumped out of her boat. "So what did you expect? We followed the map so it wouldn't be wrong." She explained haughtily. "Oh…is there a village there?" He pointed off into the distance. Kya sighed as she made her way off the boat, nearly tripping over Zoro. "Uh huh! Looks like there's a small village there." Nami closed the map she had been looking at as Zoro and Luffy jumped out of the boat. "Been a long time since I stood on firm ground!" Zoro exclaimed, stretching and yawning. Kya rolled her eyes and pushed him lightly. "That's because you were asleep the whole time." She mumbled and he grunted in response.

"By the way…." She began, turning towards the group of people sitting behind a log staring at them. "Who are those guys?" She finished, and the four boys froze in place. The three youngest took off quickly, leaving the long nosed fellow behind. "Hey! You! Don't run away!" He shouted before slowly turning back towards the pirates and walking forwards. He had an unruly large nose, black curly hair, dark eyes, and a tan skin tone. He wore dark overalls with a scarf around his waist, large shoes, a hat, and wore a messenger-like bag. 'What an awkward kid…." She thought with an eyebrow raised as he spoke:

"I am the great pirate fleet leader, Usopp, who is in charge of security in this village! I'm also known as Captain, Captain Usopp! It's best if you don't try to attack this village, because my 80 million men are not going to forgive you!"

"You're lying right?" Kya said simply, crossing her arms as the boy, Usopp, made an unintelligent sound. "Waa! I've been caught!" He shouted and she shook her head. "You even said so yourself…" Nami chimed in, obviously not amused. "Argh, did I just say that? Bad planning! Bad planning indeed!" He yelled at himself as Luffy laughed loudly. "You're so funny!" He bemused, which hurt the other boy's pride. "Hey! Don't underestimate me! I am a man of high self-esteem! Everyone here calls me honorable Usopp!" He pointed at himself, obviously distraught. "Ya, ya. Whatever. Just take us to town." Kya waved him off and walked past him towards the woods. "Wh-What?"

"Ya! I'm hungry! I need meat!" Luffy chimed, skipping up behind her and throwing an arm around her shoulder. She shot him a glare but all he did was give her a genuine smile, causing her to sigh. "Oi, oi. Wait up!" Zoro shouted from behind them. "There is no need to walk so fast." He complained, catching up to them with Nami and Usopp close behind. "I'm not even walking fast, it's this idiot." Kya poked Luffy in the side and he giggled like a little kid. "Don't be so uptight." Zoro placed a hand on the girl's head. She simply waved him off and scooted closer to the younger boy. "This is why I like Luffy better." She stuck her tongue out at the swordsman, who looked hurt for a moment. "Aha! Kya-chan likes me best!" Luffy shouted triumphantly, putting a fist in the air. "Shuttup!"

"Uhm, you guys know you're going the wrong way right?"

The three pirates stopped and turned to look at Usopp (who looked awfuly confused) and Nami (who was ticked off, per usual)."Oh. Well show us the way!" Luffy shouted, marching towards the two. Nami shook her head and sighed. "How have you three made it in this world?" She muttered as Usopp began leading them towards the village.

"You never answered our question." Zoro said, pulling Kya back slightly from the others. She sighed and shot him a glare. "I told you. It was nothing. A strange animal attacked me. I got its blood all over me." She said coolly and he chuckled. "Stop lying. They told me none of the animals on the island were harmful." He said, putting his hands in his pockets as the small town came into view. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Listen, let it go. You'll know soon enough." He grumbled lightly, but didn't pester her anymore.

In silence, except for Luffy's humming, the group made it to a small tavern. Kya watched disgustedly as Luffy tore into his meat and explained to Usopp why they were there. Across from her, Zoro simply chuckled, drinking his grog, while Nami sighed next to him. "So you're looking for companions and a big ship?" Usopp asked from the end of the table. "Yup." Was the captain's reply, his mouth still stuffed to the brim with food. "Oh, sounds like a big adventure! There's only one place where you can find the stuff you want in this village…although it's not a very big ship, it's not that small either." Usopp said, gaining everyone's interest. "Where?" Nami asked for the crew, as they were all eating and drinking. "There's a mansion not far from this village that belongs to a wealthy family. That ship belongs to the mansion's owner." He continued as Luffy, Zoro, and Kya began to do their own thing. Zoro's leg accidently kicked hers, and she grabbed his sake in retaliation. "Give it back." He demanded, holding his large hand out. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked devilishly. "No." She said simply before taking a swig. His eyebrow ticked, and he grabbed the uneaten apple from her hand. "Hey!" She protested, but he only took a large bite from it. "Hey old lady! Can I get some more apples!"

"And another plate of meat!"

"I want some more sake!"

"Are you listening to me?" Usopp shouted, annoyed his story had fallen on deaf ears but he continued anyways. Kya kicked the green haired man in the knee. "What the hell was that for?" He grumbled, glaring at her. "Taking my apple." She sung and took another sip of the stolen drink. He smirked lightly and took a big bite of the apple. She puffed her cheeks and frown. "Bastard."

"Nevermind." Nami's sudden sigh gathered everyone's attention again. "Let's forget about searching for a ship in this village. We'll go search somewhere else…." She said slowly, as if she was slightly disappointed. "Okay! But we're not in a hurry anyways; I still want some more meat! Let's buy some meat for our supply!" Luffy chimed, banging his fists on the table and smiling like an idiot. Kya chuckled and pulled his cheek as Usopp leaned towards them. "Oh yeah, you…you said earlier that you were looking for companions?" He asked slowly. "Is there somebody who wants to be our companion?"

"Let me be the captain, and I'll join you!"

Everyone's heads fell. "Nevermind." They said in unison, and Usopp deadpanned. "What kind of attitude is that?" He shouted angrily. "Luffy's the captain." Kya stated simply, pointing to the kid next to her. "So! He could be my co-captain!" The long nosed kid was relentless, and she finally waved him off as the old man brought some more apples, meat, and sake to the table. "Meat!" Luffy shouted, digging straight in. She shook her head and sighed. "So rude." She muttered, munching on a new apple. Her mind wandered off to Ron. She certainly hadn't killed the man, so he would be after her soon. Or maybe he went back over to the Grand Line with the others. Wherever he was, he was waiting for her. Along with everyone else. She could stay with the pirates until they came to her home island; there was no need for them to get involved with her problems. She had to-

"Oi, Pinky!"

She slapped the tan hand from her face and glared at Zoro. He smirked lightly to himself as he gathered up his swords. "We're leaving." He told her, and she nodded before taking one last bite of her apple. She looked around and saw the others had left. "Where did they go?" She asked him as she slid out of the booth. "Already gone. You were zoned out for a good ten minutes. I stayed back to make sure you didn't get lost." He said proudly, like he deserved an award. She scoffed at him. "We're probably already lost." She said, wiping her hands on her pants. "Hey now. No need to be so rude." He didn't even bother holding the door open for her, letting it almost smack her in the face. "Jerk." She muttered, sulking after him. He turned to laugh at her before shoving his hands in his pockets and marching forward. Sighing, she couldn't help but smile lightly. She would really miss tis crew.