A/N: The Island of Silence arc has been in mind for quite a while, and it gets dark, so warnings for this overall: some language, violence, minor spoilers, emotional turmoil.

**PLEASE NOTE** This story is updated (mostly) in accordance to OP canon, so unless you have caught up to the Zou Arc, major/minor spoilers will occur. The Zou Arc is awesome btw.

So, without further ado, please lovely readers enjoy and drop a review while you're at it! Thanks! (Kisses)

Chapter 38: The Separation of Silence

**Countdown: Two Months, 2 days left**

There it was; the Island of Silence, or whatever it was officially supposed to be called. The island certainly was uninviting. The air around it had an unnatural chill; the kind that seeped through however many layers of clothing one wore and chilled them to the bone. It certainly didn't help that the sky was overcast, and that a strange fog surrounded the island. A large, dark and twisted mountain rested in the middle of the island, with jutting rocks that were bent and twisted as they reached towards the sky. A few of the towering rocks actually looked as if they disappeared in the fog, somehow giving the place even more of an ethereal look.

Even though it was, or should have been daytime, Katara could feel the power of the Full Moon in her, and for some reason that scared her. She didn't want anything to do with this island. While everyone had laughed and talked on the way to this island, now that they could see it, their uneasiness could be felt. Even Luffy's smile and words were forced, as he talked about adventure.

"Katara, you okay?" Toph asked, probably due to a mix of trying to distract herself and out of concern.

"I…don't know." Katara said. It was a half-truth. Maybe it didn't matter that it felt so unnatural to feel the Full Moon, because hadn't Robin said something about islands working by their own rules or something before? Perhaps it felt unnatural because the Moon wasn't on the schedule she had gotten used to in the time being here, or that it was like it was she was somehow being forced into this situation with no say in the matter. "I just have a bad feeling about this place…"

"You aren't the only one, Katara-chan…" Sanji stared at the island with a narrowed gaze.

As the Sunny sailed closer, Usopp pointed to a section of the island. "Hey, I can see a village! But…" he gulped. In a harsh whisper, he added, "It doesn't look like anyone has lived there for years…!"

"Perhaps there are ghosts?" Brook shivered, which in turn caused Sokka to shiver. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Brook functioned just like a normal Human being, just without the skin, muscles, and organs. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Hey, so it's abandoned? I've seen lots of abandoned things before: villages, ships…the usual." Sokka said quickly. "So people left; people leave things behind all the time, it's not that big a deal."

Ebony telling them what little he knew about this island certainly had put them all on edge. A place that was infamous enough for people to brag about having been there, when in fact those who had actually been there didn't want to talk about it. A place where it seemed people went missing. Normally, Sokka wouldn't have thought twice about such a thing; there was logic behind this, there had to be. Even if his World had Spirits inhabiting it one way or another, there was always a practical explanation for why and how things happened the way that they did.

Aang had an odd feeling about the place, almost as if he should know what the feeling was, but he couldn't place it. For some reason, looking at the island made him feel sad, lonely, and homesick…maybe even a little angry. But those feelings simply itched at the back of his mind, like an afterthought.

They sailed around the island full circle, in search of a dock. If a town was here, or at least had been, then it would make sense for there to be a dock. From what they could see of the town from their ship, it was decent-sized. On another section of the island, they saw a few huts, but those looked to be abandoned too. When they finally found a dock, or at least what remained of one, they simply decided to weigh anchor from where they were, and have someone make a bridge.

Franky pursed his lips, and then scowled. "Nami-sis, how's the tide?"

"Hm?" Nami questioned, but she looked over the railing, studying the water. The tide seemed to be pushing and pulling their ship towards the island, and was succeeding. Keeping calm on the outside, she said, "The water seems to be pushing us towards the island…its strong enough that it makes me very thankful we have people who can manipulate wind and water, and have the 'Coup-de-Burst'…"

"Yeah, I super-felt it the entire time as we were sailing around it…" Franky half muttered. "Let's put the anchor down here."

Both Nami and Franky didn't want the ship to get trapped inland, so she formed a layer of clouds for the Sunny to rest on, along with making a bridge for them to cross. Toph of all people let out a laugh as she touched the cloud's surface. It was such an odd thing to her, as she carefully walked while guided by Zuko. It was like walking on wet cotton, but her feet didn't get wet. Perhaps because the others had been so nervous, she actually enjoyed the sensation of something other than her beloved earth under her feet. But as soon as she touched the surface of the island, a feeling of dread washed over her, lasting only for a few seconds.

"I can tell that there are buildings over there," she pointed to the small town, "there are a few buildings in the forest, sort of like those look-out things hunters like to use, a few small houses are spread around as well in various parts of the forest, and a few more buildings are on the opposite side of the island." She focused a bit more, giving the ground a single, loud and heavy stomp for her seismic sense. "There's also a structure of some sort at the base of that weird mountain…and there's like, a maze in there too. It even tunnels down beneath us."

"Could they be mines, or something?" Usopp questioned. Although he was scared, he had a morbid curiosity about the place. "But this place doesn't exactly strike me as a mining sort of island…I mean, there's usually signs of equipment, tools, or something."

"Then perhaps they're natural." Ebony offered. He made a face at the look of the island. The sand was ashen gray, and was so fine that Toph almost questioned if it was actually earth. She could bend it just as well as any normal sand, but for some reason she suspected that she could only bend it because it contained her element.

"What's up with these trees?" Sokka ran a hand along the bark of one of the questionable trees. The trees were just as twisted looking as the mountain, and were tall and thin. They looked as if they had been burned, yet the trees didn't show the classic signs of a fire having been there. The trees were just…dead and gray. The trees were spread out in various large patches, with there actually being a forest on the side opposite the town.

"I'm going to look at the town," Robin said. She smiled her eerie smile. "Let's hope we don't meet the bitter end that caused this island to be abandoned."

"Please don't say things like that Robin…" Usopp pleaded. He looked to the others, curious as to what they were going to do, mostly because he wanted to stick with whoever he felt it was safest to be with, as that curiosity of his seemed to beckon him to explore for reasons unknown to him.

"I'm going with Robin," Sokka said, grinning. "I want to look at the town or whatever's there. Who knows? Maybe we'll find some useful junk or treasure."

"Town for me as well," Ebony said. He looked to his sister and to Nami, both of whom looked uncomfortable. "Do you want to come with?"

Surely, everyone thought that at the mention of "treasure" Nami would jump at the chance of finding some, or even Eurynome. Both girls rapidly shook their heads.

"It's safer on the ship," Nami said quickly.

"That place gives me the creeps." Eurynome stared uneasily at the twisting pylons, making a face. "I don't like it here. You guys do whatever the hell you want; I'm not stepping one foot onto this place."

"Don't worry my beauties!" Sanji crooned, clasping his hands while he had hearts in his eyes. "I'll protect you!"

"This place is so creepy…" Momonosuke said pitifully. He wrapped an arm around Eurynome's leg, in response she looked down at the little Samurai boy. She rolled her eyes, and picked him up. "Dammit, kid. You're growing up and aren't you gonna be a Shogun or something?" she turned to go to the kitchen, mostly as an excuse to have at least something between her and the creepy atmosphere. Momonosuke clung tightly to her, very much appreciating her muscled form. "You need to show a bit more bravery. When I was your age I had already managed to kill a shark – although to be honest it was just a bit bigger than me…" her voice disappeared as she entered the kitchen and shut the door.

"Brat…!" Sanji cringed. He had wanted it to be only him and two of their ship's beauties. Things were made worse in Sanji's opinion as Kin'emon cleared his throat. "I believe I shall stay on the vessel as well. In fact, I believe I need to have quite a long rest…in the sleeping quarters…that I do…" he glanced awkwardly at the others, before quickly adding, "Safe travels to all of you!" and he rushed to the men's quarters and slammed the door.

On the other side, Kin'emon leaned against the wall before sliding down to a sitting position. He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. This island…he truly believed it was cursed. He cursed the stupid Kelpie Spirit and the Troublemaking Spirit most of all. They needed to get away from this island, and he hated not knowing how long that would be.

Back outside, Zoro decided he would explore. "There's something…off about this place…can't the rest of you tell?" he scowled heavily, suspiciously staring at the mountain. "For some reason…" he closed his eye in thought. "I think we aren't the only ones here."

"AHHH!" both Chopper and Usopp simultaneously wailed.

"Must you two scream every time something is even remotely off-putting?" Law asked irritably. He sat down at the base of the crow's nest, pulling his sword closer to him. He felt more on edge and tired than usual, and decided to simply stay put. "I don't think wondering around is a good idea, to be honest, Zoro-ya. Especially alone."

"I'll be fine, Law." Zoro insisted as he sounded somewhat annoyed as he casually gave wave of his hand. "It's the rest of you fools who get lost and move the damn ship around."

"No one moves the damn ship! And the only one who gets lost around here is you, and you're even worse than our idiot Captain!" Sanji shouted, his voice echoing eerily throughout the island.

It was then that they all noticed it: there was no straw hat-wearing rubber Captain pestering them to go on an adventure, to have adventure bento made, no talking or complaining… Chopper looked around, asking, "Where is Luffy by the way?"

When had he wandered off and why?

"LUFFY-BRO!" Franky cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, and apparently he had some sort of amplifier hooked up to his larynx, because everyone ended up having to cover their ears as his nearly thunderous voice called out. "COME BACK LUFFY! WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

His voice echoed eerily throughout the island, sounding like deep, reverberating wails before coming back to them. Somewhat surprisingly, there was no answer. All of them looked at Franky with some irritation, save for Usopp, Chopper, and Ebony.

"Wow, you modified your voice?" Usopp was impressed.

"So cool! Just like a Mega-Den-Den Mushi!" Chopper's eyes sparkled.

Ebony gave a round of applause. "That's so impressive, Cyborg-san! You're so capable! You think of everything!"

"Hmm…that didn't work?" Franky put a hand to his chin in thought, before bringing his fist to meet his hand in an "aha" moment. Franky opened his shirt with a yell, "NIPPLE LIGHTS!"

"Nipple what now?" Toph questioned incredulously.

The others who had never had the experience of seeing Franky's flashing nipples simply stared with dumbstruck horror, although Sokka was the first to recover and he began laughing so hard that he soon was doubled over in a silent fit of laughter. Aang of course followed suite and he was currently lying on the ground, holding his sides. Katara looked disgusted, while Ebony looked at Franky with an odd expression, almost as if numerous questions were coming to mind.

"How useful…" Ebony said. "Cyborg-san is such a genius."

"Stop doing that!" Nami demanded, obviously not humored by the whole light display. "And why is that," she openly cringed as she jabbed a thumb at Franky's chest, "even remotely useful?"

Ebony was about to reply, the look on his face showing he was very likely going to vehemently explain, but he was stopped when Sokka started leaning on him and giving his back a few hard slaps in between his fits of laughter.

Zoro face-palmed, sighing heavily. "I suppose I'll have to go look for him before he gets lost…"

"I've said it already, you're the one we need to be concerned about!" a frustrated Sanji insisted.

"I'll go with Zoro and help look for Luffy." Chopper said. Even if he didn't exactly want to be on the island with whatever Zoro suspected to be there, the reindeer Doctor wanted to find Luffy safe and make sure that Zoro didn't get lost in the process.

Zoro put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Why does it seem so weak…?"

"Zoro…?" Chopper questioned nervously.

"It feels cloudy…" Zoro muttered. "My Haki feels all muddled." He then looked at the others, saying, "I'll go look for our idiot Captain in the forest."

"Maybe Luffy is at the town," Katara said hopefully. "I guess I could go look where those other houses are."

"I'll go with you." Aang grabbed his glider and walked over to Katara. "The two of us can check it out. I agree with Law that it's a bad idea to go anywhere alone here."

"Okay, it shouldn't take long." Katara nodded.

"Then I guess Zuko and I will explore other parts of the island then." Toph said as she crossed her arms. "You still owe me a life-changing field trip, by the way, Sparky."

Zuko only sighed in resignation, and muttered, "I think this whole thing is pretty life changing," before he answered, "Alright fine. Let's just do what we need to do and get back to the ship. Saying that this place is 'disturbing' is a downright understatement."

"I'm going with you guys!" Usopp quickly moved closer to Robin and the others after weighing his options.

Since the group was splitting up, Nami went to get everyone personal Den-Den Mushi, but when she found them, each of them seemed to be…terrified. Was that the right word for it? Either way, they seemed to be scared of something. She tested one, and found that the sounds it emitted were akin to pained groans and labored breathing, but Nami then thought it was her nerves or imagination as the noise turned to static, and the Den-Den Mushi just looked tired and lazy. This understandably made her even more uneasy, as she didn't think it was possible for something to interfere with the Den-Den Mushis' ability to communicate. Sure there were dampers, but…

"Could the magnetism of the island be interfering?" not liking the fact that they had no easy way to communicate, she went back to the deck to inform everyone that they wouldn't have access to the phones.

An uneasy feeling arose once again, but Aang tried to muster some optimism and encouragement in the group.

"It'll be okay!" he grinned. "Besides, we've got each other's backs. As long as we keep an eye out for one another, nothing can hurt us. We know how to defend ourselves if the need arises. All we have to do is find Luffy and then wait for the Log to set. I don't remember there being any rules about having to actually explore the islands we stop at, so we'll just wait it out once we regroup."

Even though the reasoning was weak even in Aang's opinion, it seemed to do the trick.

"Get back here in an hour, got it?" Nami ordered. For some reason, the fact that she uncharacteristically didn't order them to bring back treasure was almost discomforting. But no-one chose to question it. They didn't want to be here for any longer than they had to.

"I'll continue to keep an eye out for Luffy-bro!" Franky said. "I'll call out once he returns."

Everyone then split off with their intended designations in mind.

oOo***oOo

Toph and Zuko…

The pair of Benders walked towards one of the smaller settlements on the island. Toph didn't like how silent it was. Was it possible to hear silence? It was a total oxymoron, she knew – but it felt like she could hear the wrongness of the island. Did that make sense? No, it didn't. Toph shook her head.

"H-hey, Zuko?" Toph spoke up. She needed to hear his voice right now. Anything was better than the quiet.

"Yeah?"

"D'you think that any of it's true, what Ebony was saying about this place?"

"…I don't know. Maybe. Who knows." In Toph's seismic sense, she could see that Zuko shrugged.

"I wonder what this place was like when people were here." Toph pressed for conversation.

"It was probably beautiful." Zuko thankfully answered. He pointed at something. "There was a watchtower there. There's also a place that looks like a silo."

Zuko frowned, and started towards the silo. "Hey, Toph…let's get a closer look at the buildings here."

"Huh? Okay." Toph shrugged.

Zuko inspected the various buildings, and said, "Hey, Toph…" his voice was hesitant. "The buildings here have been burned…but…" Zuko moved to another building, one of the few that hadn't been burned. "It's weird; it's like only select buildings were burned, and the others were just…left."

If it had been an attack, wouldn't it make sense to burn all the buildings? Zuko glanced between the burned and still standing structures. "You know, it looks like only the storage buildings have been burned."

"Really? Well, smart move I guess." Toph shrugged. "But, thinking about it…why burn the food storage when you can just plunder it?"

"Exactly. It doesn't make any sense." Zuko's voice was grim. "Besides, it's usually houses and other facilities that are primarily targeted."

The goal was to be destructive to people's livelihoods and other conveniences. While burning the storage areas was a good tactic for inconvenience's sake, it didn't make any sense in the long run. Besides, why would they leave everything, and not make any attempts to repair the damage?

With a sigh, Zuko decided to act on the reason he and Toph were out here. Zuko cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out, "LUFFY!"

Toph stomped firmly on the ground and focused. She could see her friends moving about the island, and one jerky motion from one of the figures caught her attention. She grinned. "Found him!"

"Great, let's go." Zuko responded in relief. "Lead on."

"Of course!" Toph took the lead. "How wonderfully ironic that you're being led by a blind girl."

Zuko didn't respond at first.

"Eh, Zuko, I didn't think my joke fell that flat…" the blind girl muttered.

But Zuko shook his head. "Sorry,"

Zuko glanced at the tall mountain in the center of the island. "You don't happen to hear music, do you?"

"What music?"

"Guess that answers that question…" Zuko shook his head again. "I swear, I can hear this old tune. It's really faint. I think it's a song from when I was little. A lullaby." The Firebender sighed. "I have no idea why I'm even thinking of it…"

"Let's hurry and find Luffy, then you can reminisce." Toph stated practically.

"…Yeah…" Zuko was being pulled in by that tune. He could hear it in the back of his mind like an itch. The voice singing that tune sounded so familiar and inviting. He needed to find the owner of that voice. He didn't know why.

"I think we should go this way." Zuko said, and he simply stepped off in the direction he thought they should be going.

"Whoa, whoa, Zuko!" Toph grabbed Zuko's arm. "Uh, Luffy is this way. Remember? 'Sides, there's no need to head that way."

"But…" Zuko could almost hear the words. "The singing…"

"Zuko, there isn't any singing!" Toph insisted, this time grabbing Zuko's arm with both hands and pulling.

Something in Zuko snapped. "But I have to find her! You're getting in the way!"

Zuko raised his body heat temporally to force Toph to let go. It was his only option – one that didn't burn her or force him to attack her in some way. But he figured the Earthbender simply didn't understand. Why couldn't she understand? He needed to find whoever was singing! Zuko felt as if he would find answers to so many questions.

"Ow! Hey! Zuko!" Toph's hands were slightly stinging, but overall uninjured. "Hey!"

Toph would have earthbended at Zuko in order to trap him, but he had run into the forest. The trees hindered such an idea. She tried to chase after him, but to no avail. Zuko was very lithe and she lost him in a matter of minutes.

"What the…" Toph stared dumbly, or more accurately – faced the direction dumbly, in which Zuko had disappeared. Toph stomped on the ground angrily, creating small fissures in the dusty, gray earth. "WHY'D YOU UP AND LEAVE YOU IDIOT?!"

Her voice echoed around her. Something in the forest shifted.

Toph swiveled around to face it. Nothing…

But she had been sure that something was there.

What was she supposed to do now? Chase after Zuko and get Luffy, or find Luffy and track down Zuko? With a huff, Toph started in the direction Zuko had gone. She tried to ignore the random shifts of movement that occasionally appeared in her hearing sense every once in a while. She wasn't sure how often it appeared, but it unnerved her because she could hear something, yet her seismic sense couldn't pick it up. So whenever she did hear it, she would send random stones and craters in its general direction.

Toph decided that when she found two particular idiots, she was going to make them very sorry. One for wandering off and forcing people to look for him; and the other for running off and leaving her on her own. Especially with what seemed to be an invisible, disembodied stalker.

oOo***oOo

Zoro and Chopper…

Chopper rode on Zoro's shoulder, nervously looking at the forest around them. The swordsman and the reindeer were the only sources of color in the environment, and that fact was somehow unsettling for Chopper. He shivered, his fur coat not even offering protection from the unnatural cold.

Putting his nerves aside, Chopper took a deep breath and called out, "LU-FFY!"

"Oi, Luffy!" Zoro shouted. His senses felt muddled in this place. He didn't like that one bit.

Zoro also didn't like the fact that Luffy had simply wandered off. Normally, he'd pester the Ero-cook for adventure bento and whine to everyone to come exploring with him. Something had made Luffy deviate from the norm. But what?

Zoro didn't like the forest. There were times he thought he saw shadows out of the corner of his eye. But whenever he turned to look at them, there was nothing. Something about this forest was setting him on edge. He hated the stillness and the silence…

Zoro froze, because for a moment, only for the briefest of seconds, he saw a little raven-haired girl carrying a white sword. Very much like the one at his hip. It couldn't be…

"Zoro?" Chopper questioned. "Why'd you stop, suddenly? Did you sense Luffy?"

Zoro shook his head, both to clear it and to answer Chopper.

"I thought I saw…" No. He stopped. "It was nothing."

That's what it was. It was nothing. Yeah, he and the others may have been caught up in some stupid Game with Spirits, but that didn't mean anything. They could be injured and they could be killed. That's all that mattered.

Zoro told himself that this island wasn't anything special. All he had to do was find Luffy, return to the Sunny, and then they would wait things out. Zoro didn't believe in any higher power. Yeah, he had seen Aang in action and had felt the sheer power the boy wielded. But that didn't mean…

A giggle broke through Zoro's thoughts.

"Hm?" the scarred swordsman looked around. "Chopper, did you hear something?"

"Huh? No." Chopper answered. "…Why…? Did you?"

"I don't know…" Zoro frowned. "This place is testing my…patience."

Zoro wasn't sure he wanted to say 'sanity'. He then began trying to rationalize what he was seeing and hearing. He was tired, irritated and stressed.

"I don't smell Luffy, I don't think he came this way." Chopper mumbled.

Just then, a very familiar figure entered Chopper's vision. It was only for a second, but the reindeer Doctor knew for a fact that it had been Doctor Hiluluk. Chopper let out a gasp.

"Doctor?"

"Hm? Chopper?" Zoro questioned. Then he narrowed his gaze. "Are you seeing things too, Chopper?"

Chopper mutely nodded.

"Let's get out of the forest and look for Luffy somewhere else." Zoro quickly turned around, and headed in the direction he thought they had come. Well, Chopper wasn't correcting him, so it had to be the right way.

"If Luffy came through here, we'd have seen evidence of it." Zoro reasoned.

"Y-yeah…" Chopper answered hesitantly. He slowly glanced back where he had seen the smiling face of Hiluluk. Chopper wanted to find him – something was compelling him to seek out his old mentor. But Hiluluk was dead, wasn't he?

Chopper was so focused on his own thoughts, he didn't realize how off-course he and Zoro were getting.

Zoro saw her again. Scowling, Zoro determined once and for all to prove to himself that it was all in his head. Perhaps if he followed the apparition, he would find who was responsible for it and kick their ass.

oOo***oOo

Aang and Katara…

The couple walked hand-in-hand towards their chosen section of the town. The handholding was more of a comfort than anything else. Already, their hands were getting sweaty, but neither of the Benders moved to let go. Even if neither of them spoke, it was comforting to have someone else there – a physical presence when things were so disconcerting.

Aang felt that familiar pang in his chest, the one that told him he should know what was going on. The island was cold and lonely, and he was so far from home…Aang shook his head.

"Aang, you alright?" Katara asked.

"Y-yeah…" Aang said uncertainly. But Aang knew it was a bad idea not to share some things. "It's just…I feel like I should know why this place looks like this…" Aang struggled for the right words. He didn't know how to explain it. "Something terrible happened to the people here." Aang stated the obvious. "And I should know what it is."

"Well…what is the feeling?" Katara asked. "Can you describe it?"

With a sigh, Aang answered, "All I can get from it is; cold, angry…and lonely…" Aang thought about that feeling just a bit more. "Really angry. And so lonely…it's almost painful."

"Oh." Katara looked down sadly. She smiled. "But you always know what to do, Aang. You'll figure it out."

"I hope so." Aang reached out and touched one of the buildings that hadn't been 'burned'. The wood felt cold for a brief moment before it suddenly felt warm.

People were laughing. Aang looked around. His movements may have been swift and erratic, but each movement had a purpose. Aang realized he could hear festive music. There were people playing instruments, and the tune was beautiful. The women wore bells on their wrists and ankles. Flowing material graced them, and they moved in swooping motions with every beat of the drum. The children were laughing and shouting as they waved large leaves either in time to the music or in some personal beat only they could hear.

This was a harvest festival, and Aang loved it every year. He enjoyed seeing the people play; they were always so interesting! Aang looked over, and saw a mural that was painted on the side of a building. It depicted a proud creature with wings extended…

But then, things changed. An angered, far away voice sounded from somewhere, screaming.

"Let them burn! Let them rot!"

The world warped as it turned cold and gray, the music became distorted and very soon had no sound. The people were dying, becoming dried husks that died right where they stood. Good. Because that is what they deserve.

Aang gasped when the vision suddenly ended. He felt sick. Aang stared at the building he had touched. It was certainly faded, but Aang could see the mural. The creature depicted on it had it wings outspread, and its body looked almost wolf-like…

"That was a vision of the past…" Aang said aloud, talking mostly to himself. He had seen the people, before all of this happened. It was then Aang realized that Katara was no longer holding his hand; he was alone.

"Katara?" he said quietly at first. Maybe she had walked behind one of the buildings. Why would she have gone there? He wasn't sure, but it didn't hurt to look anyway. "Katara!"

His words echoed back to him, and Katara didn't respond. Aang then desperately looked down at the ground, hoping to find her footprints, but the only set of footprints present were his. "What's happening here…?"

Aang was worried for Katara. Why had she left? How long had he been having that vision in the first place? He had no concept of time in this place. Aang then tried out his seismic sense, and found that Katara was wandering around the base of the twisted mountain. How had she…that place was a few miles away! He also found it odd that Zuko and Toph both seemed to be alone. Why had they separated?

At first, Aang was ready to charge towards the mountain and Katara, but something stopped him. He wasn't done here. A thought then came to him. Aang quickly went to the entrance of the building he had gotten the vision from. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. A few well-aimed pebbles knocked the wooden door off of its hinges, and Aang couldn't help but grin to himself at his success. If Toph were here, she probably would have had some snarky-sounding compliment on his earthbending skills. The door was made out of some kind of thick wood, which Aang had some slight trouble lifting. He only lost his balance twice, but he was able to gently lean the door against the building.

The place smelled musty, and decades-old food and other decorations of sorts rested on elaborately carved shelves and tables. Strange, though. Although the building had been closed off for who knows how long, it didn't really look as if it had been abandoned, in the traditional sense. In Aang's opinion, it looked as if everything around them simply stopped; frozen in grays and muted colors.

"A shrine?" Aang said as he looked around. The monk delicately ran a finger over some tapestry, afraid that if he were too rough somehow it would fall to pieces in his hands. The people who had lived here were truly skilled. Thoughts of the long-gone sky monks back home entered his mind.

All gone. So lonely. The thought entered his mind. He recognized this feeling and knew it so well.

"It isn't right, is it?" Aang asked no-one in particular. He sighed, "Whatever that means…"

Aang studied the carvings and the paintings that depicted a tower covered in a vast variety of flowers and trees. There clearly had been so much life…it saddened and angered him, staring at that tower…wait… Aang inspected the paintings and the tapestries one more time before leaning out of the doorway to look at the twisted mountain.

"…Why did it all die?" Aang muttered to himself. "…That mountain...why is it so important?"

Although Aang desperately wanted to find Katara and ask her why she had wandered off, he felt a stronger drive to inspect the mountain. Perhaps the mountain held all the answers. Fanning out his glider, Aang took to the sky. He kept his eyes peeled for anything odd – well, anything a little more odd than what was going on here. For a moment, Aang thought that he saw Law walking on the beach. But then smaller spires and trees blocked his view, and he had a clear view of the beach again, there was no sign of the Dark Doctor. There wasn't even any sign of anyone having been on the beach.

"…Must've been imagining it…"

oOo***oOo

Robin's Group…

The town, just like the trees, was dark and gray. There were definite signs that people had lived there long enough to make a life for themselves. Not including the buildings that were definitely houses, there was one for a general store, a school, a small courthouse that was connected to what looked to be a prison and an orphanage. There were also other buildings that likely served as storage or served some other purpose, but those were the only ones that showed signs of decay as it looked as if they had been burned, but the fires had been put out before the flames could consume them. They could see that the town was likely very colorful at one point, because there were the faintest hints of color that showed this place at least used to be welcoming.

Beyond the buildings, they saw what used to be fields for crops, but it was just empty land now. Nothing was growing in the fields, not even weeds. Old scarecrows were placed in various sections of the fields, and they were so worn that their arms flopped lazily in the soft wind.

"Luffy!" Robin called, but only her echoed voice answered back. She looked around, for any signs of Luffy having been there, or anyone for that matter. The buildings looked gray, depressing, and…

"This is…" Robin put a hand on one of the buildings, giving it a slight push, but nothing happened. She narrowed her eyes. "Don't any of you see it?"

"What?" Usopp asked, slightly shivering.

Sokka only shook his head, feeling too unnerved by the sight of the place to actually think about what Robin was asking.

Ebony didn't seem to be paying attention as he was trying to look through the dirty windows of one of the buildings they were behind.

"It looks like it was just left." Robin answered. "These buildings were well-maintained, but even if it was untouched, there should still at least be signs of decay. Yes, these buildings look dead, but there aren't any signs of it. I've seen what the passage of time and the elements will do to a place. Everything here is sturdy…if anything, it's more like its dust covered from not being cleaned, rather than the actual suffering from no one being there to maintain it."

Both Usopp and Sokka looked at her, feeling uneasy. Sokka wondered about that last comment. They stood in silence, hearing the cold nothingness around them. Sokka wondered about that last comment. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu for some reason. He and Usopp both jumped (with Usopp giving a squeak) when the silence was interrupted.

"Hey, I think I see people in there!" Ebony announced, pointing to the house of whose window he had been looking through.

"But that's impossible! How could anyone live here?" Usopp questioned.

"Well…I don't know…" Ebony admitted. "I don't sense anything though, but there are definitely people in there! Let's go take a look!" Ebony ran around the side of the house to go to the front. Sokka followed, somewhat irritated that he had Usopp nearly breathing down his neck, and Robin brought up the rear. It was definitely one of the nicer houses of the town, as it was bigger and was a three-story.

"Oh, shit!" Ebony shouted as he stumbled, falling backwards onto his rear. He was looking at something in complete shock and horror.

"Oh, Spirits…" Sokka looked as if he was going to be sick, and he turned away because he started to look sort of green.

Usopp screamed, and Robin went to look at what had the boys so disturbed. She gasped when she saw it: a man or at least a desiccated form of a man was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair. His features weren't clear, but his skin was a dark, almost black-gray just like everything around him. His once fine clothes looked as if he had been an important person when he was alive. He was clutching a large silver flask in his skeletal fingers in one hand, and a small framed faded photograph in the other. He seemed to have a pained, saddened expression on his face. He seemed almost alive, as if he could move at any moment, but the only movement he produced was the light waving of his clothes and hair from the wind.

"How could this have happened?" questioned Sokka once he had recovered after a few deep breaths. "I mean, this guy was obviously someone important…I mean…" Sokka struggled with what he was trying to say. An important dead person being overlooked because people think they are just sleeping is not likely to happen. But from the looks of things, it was as if he simply died in his chair, because he had no visible wounds. Another thing was that there were no signs of any kind of battle anywhere, other than the storage buildings.

"He looks mummified." Robin stated, as she bent over to take a closer look. "But that doesn't make any sense. We aren't in the right environment for it."

"Let's go in." Ebony said quickly giving a wary glance to the man, as if expecting that the corpse would suddenly come to life – not that any of them blamed him.

The house's interior was covered in a thick layer of dust, but yet just like outside, none of it was falling apart. It was all just there; like everything had stopped. There were pictures of the people who owned the house, and it seemed that this man had some sort of well-respected position in the town. From a few old photos on the wall, they saw the man sitting with various children, and in another he was with various townsfolk, and in another, he was with what appeared to be his family. In each of the faded pictures, he and the people in the photos with him looked genuinely happy.

Sokka walked through one of the doors before he came out in a matter of seconds, his eyes looking wide with worry and fear. "Um…guys? You're gonna want to see this."

Curiously, they all followed him to the kitchen, and evidenced by one of the windows having a clean smear on the outside of it, this was the room Ebony had been peering into. Usopp just dumbly stared at the sight before them, and Robin was the first to move.

A family; the people from a few of the photographs were sitting at the table, slumped in their chairs as if they had fallen asleep. They just sat there, plates of dried and dusty food in front of them, although it looked as if it had been rather dismal. A husband, wife, and three kids; one looking to be around a teenager's years, the second was small, probably around 3 or 4 years, and the third was in a high chair. They all had that same, mummified appearance.

"Okay, I'm officially creeped out now." Sokka said.

Usopp noticed a piece of paper on the counter. Curious he went over to look at it, but didn't dare touch it for fear that perhaps it was somehow contaminated and the weird mummification process would happen to him. He gulped when he saw the writing on it, and he spoke with a shaky voice at first;

"U-um…I-I found so-something…" he then began to read the letter.

"'It's an odd thing, death. You don't really consider it until it comes upon you. I've lived a full life, and I'm saddened by the fact that my daughter and her husband, and my grandchildren won't get that chance. I felt that they deserved to be together in the end, because somehow I felt like I was imposing by my being there.

My daughter has her own family, and I'm a widowed old fool who got to spend those last precious few moments with my wife at her bedside; just the two of us. I felt that it was my daughter's right to share those same moments with her family, it's only fair after all. At least this way, they won't suffer like many other people have, and they're having one last meal. I requested that my daughter make her favorite, even if we have to scrounge for it. They will go into a peaceful sleep, never to wake up. Pretty soon, I'll be joining them.

I hope my daughter, son-in-law, and my precious grandchildren will forgive me for what I've done. But I felt I had no choice; there is no other way out. I'm truly sorry, Kelsa.

Things took such an unfortunate turn these last few years. Everyone says this island is cursed, but that's just superstitious nonsense that folks use to try and lazily explain away everything that has happened. I suppose that this island's time is up, and it's taking us with it. It was so beautiful back then. It's a shame that my grandchildren won't ever be able to see it, and experience Fēihú Island like the last five generations of my family has.

They're going to sleep now. I suppose the last thing I want to do is sit on the front porch and watch everything go by, just like old times. It honestly seems silly in retrospect, because the world has stopped. It was good while it lasted. I'll be able to sit on that silly porch and imagine the world going by, as the first peaceful sleep I've had in a long time finally claims me.

I'll be seeing everyone soon.

Kaza'"

"Wait, he did this to them?" Sokka motioned to the family at the table.

"Poison…?" Ebony looked to the family, furrowing his brow. "What on earth could have been going on that he was this desperate?"

"Let's go look around some more…" Robin suggested. "Perhaps we should find the house of the mayor…maybe there we can find out more about what happened."

"What about Straw Hat-san?" Ebony questioned.

"I believe Luffy can take care of himself, and he has the others looking for him." Robin replied. "What has me concerned is that I don't think whatever affected this island has actually left. We need to find out more."

They walked out of the house, and Robin looked at all of the buildings carefully, listening for anything. She didn't hear it. It was so unnervingly quiet. It was obvious the wind was blowing, but there wasn't a sound. She shivered slightly as she wanted to keep her mind busy.

"Usopp-kun, why don't you and I go look over here?" she pointed to the left of them. Turning to Sokka and Ebony, she continued, "And the two of you go look over there," she pointed to the right. "Just find books, such as journals, or letters, even local newspapers. We need to find out what happened here. We'll meet up here again in an hour."

Usopp gulped and nodded, following Robin closely. Sokka only nodded, and Ebony shrugged.

Sokka and Ebony walked through the town, and it was then both of them noticed the quiet – really noticed it.

"So, uh," Sokka started awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Ebony, what you intend to do once you've met up with your family and things have settled?"

Honestly, Sokka wanted a question or two that required a long answer. It was too damn quiet.

A noticeable look of relief crossed Ebony's features, and he gave a small smile. "Well...we'll probably meet up with them for a while, just to let them know we're alright, but Eury and I don't intend to stick with them for too long, now that we both have bounties." He walked up the steps to the orphanage, giving a quick, "Let's try here, there's probably files or something," mostly because he wanted to be anywhere other than outside. He tested the door, which opened easily without a sound. He turned back to Sokka. "We've discussed it, and we'll very likely discuss it with them as well."

"Don't you want to at least stay with them?" Sokka questioned as he followed Ebony into the building. "I mean, they're family, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't intend to spend the rest of my life with them, constantly hiding out and running away…I do have goals, you know." Ebony kept looking into the various rooms, as if fully expecting to find another unpleasant sight or some unknown creature would jump out at them.

They both looked around the dusty building, with all of its gray hues. Sokka momentarily looked at a large, faded painting of an older woman whose portrait hung in the hall they were currently walking through. A quick look at a plaque hanging underneath it showed that she was the founder of the orphanage.

"What goals would that be?" Sokka asked quickly. The silence lasted just a few seconds too long for his liking.

"Author," Ebony stopped at a door, and smiled at Sokka. "At least I'd like to be. Just gotta find a story worth telling, I guess." He looked at the faded sign on the door for a moment. "This looks like the office…" he tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. With a sigh and a muttered, "Locked," he manipulated his ink so that he easily opened the door. Ebony looked back at Sokka, a tired look in his eyes. "This just keeps getting better."

Sokka entered the office after Ebony, and saw that a woman was sitting at the desk, but she had a large hole in the back of her head, apparently from a pistol that had been dropped on the floor next to her chair. Faded bloodstains were splattered on the wall behind her. Numerous files were stacked neatly on her desk, and in spite of being dust covered, everything was neatly organized.

Sokka carefully picked up one of the files from the top of the stack, trying to not look at the woman out of the corner of his eye. He opened the file, and noticed it belonged to a young boy.

Name: Amerit Peter

Age: 10 yrs.

D.O.B. 13.10.619

D.O.D. 15.5.629

(Gunshot to back of head)

"What…?" Sokka questioned aloud, he scratched the back of his head.

"'Name, Beritha Anitahana…'" Ebony started, eyes narrowed. "Age, twelve years…birth is 27th of February…died on the 15th of May…gunshot to back of head…"

Ebony pulled another file from the pile, and read that a boy named Krik Baxer also died with a gunshot to the back of the head.

"Wait, were they executing kids or something?" Sokka said horrified. He and Ebony both started pulling file after file, reading the ways, or in this case, the way the children had died. Each of them had died due to a gunshot, all on the same day. Sokka noticed a lone file that was carefully set to the side, and the words Headmaster, Harika Dilana were neatly printed on the front. In the file was a single page, and all that was written on it in shaky handwriting was,

I didn't have a choice.

I'm so sorry. But they're at peace now.

May the Deities forgive me for what I have done.

I hope they understand.

-Harika Dilana

"Let's get out of here…" Ebony was starting to look increasingly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, let's go look somewhere else." Sokka agreed.

Saul chirped timidly, his nose testing the air. He suddenly leapt from Ebony's shoulder, and ran to the door, looking back at the boys expectantly.

"Saul?" Ebony followed after his monkey-sword, with Sokka not far behind as the creature ran down the hall to a large door which had a sign that read, Dining Hall. Saul looked at the door and hissed, before screeching and scratching at the door. Sokka was the first to move, and he opened the door, allowing Saul inside.

Sokka simply froze at the sight, and fought the urge to vomit right then and there. Ebony just stared wide-eyed at the wall across from them, which had THEY WON'T SUFFER messily painted on it in large, black letters. On both sides of the room, the small, blood-stained, sheet-covered forms of children were lined up against the walls.

"What the hell happened on this island?" Sokka questioned on a hoarse whisper.

Ebony didn't answer; instead he was staring out the window, almost with a spaced-out look in his eyes. Sokka turned back to him when he didn't answer.

"Hey, Ebony!" Sokka raised his voice a bit to get the other's attention. "Ebony!" He waved his hand in front of the other's face.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Ebony asked, as if he hadn't been zoning out just a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, I asked 'what happened here' and you didn't answer!" Sokka was borderline panicking at the moment, although fighting to stay calm. "I expected you to answer! We need theories! We need to figure out what did this!"

"Yeah…" Ebony stared out the window again, as if he was expecting something. "…you didn't happen to hear a voice, did you Sokka-san?"

"No, why?" Sokka cocked an eyebrow at Ebony.

"Nothing." Ebony quickly turned around, saying, "I don't like this place, let's go. I think it's getting to me."

Saul chirped in what was probably an agreement and jumped onto Ebony's shoulder

Ebony had left fairly quickly, leaving Sokka to almost have to run to keep up with him. Ebony was already a few buildings down when Sokka came out of the orphanage. He was walking as if he knew exactly where he was going.

"Hey, we have to stick together!" Sokka reminded him. Sokka honestly felt as if he was being strangely childish, but the more he saw and learned of this island, the more he desperately wanted to get back to the ship.

"Yeah…I guess…" Ebony said in an almost slurred tone. He was staring at the forest, an odd expression on his face.

"Ebony, are you-"

"Yeah, we should look here." Ebony pointed to another building, but due to its faded sign, Sokka couldn't exactly tell what it was.

With a shrug, Sokka climbed the steps, and he heard Ebony behind him. Sokka tried the door but found that it was jammed, so he turned saying, "Jammed. Ebony, would you…" only to realize he was talking to thin air. "What the-?! Ebony! Ebony! Saul!"

Sokka jumped from the porch of the building, and ran in between the buildings, calling out for the Ink User and the monkey-sword, but to no avail. They were both gone, as if they had never been there. Sokka froze, taking deep breaths. How could Ebony just leave him behind like that?! It was only when his breathing calmed down he realized how truly quiet it was…and it terrified him.

"Okay…keep calm, keep calm, keep calm!" Sokka breathed, grabbing his head as he racked his brain trying to think up a plan or some reason as to why Ebony would have just left like he did. He looked towards the forest for any signs of life. And then Sokka heard it: a whisper, in a voice that made him freeze on the spot; one that he could never forget, no matter how many years would pass.

Sokka…my love. How I've missed you.

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Next Time: More questions and concerns arise as Robin and Usopp explore, Sokka searches for the only one who could have such a lovely voice, Ebony finds himself facing a ghost, and Luffy confronts what he had only hoped to see in his nightmares.

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A/N: Ah yes, the inevitable division of the crew as they explore the island. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Who doesn't enjoy their favorite characters suffering through angst-y stuff?