Hey there! Sorry this chapter's a little late. So, I'm going to kick things off with the shout out and get to the chapter!

Shiningheart of Thunderclan: Yeah, I don't really know what made me write that part. I guess it was to show just how far she's coming along.

Christmasloot: It always makes me happy to hear that someone likes my stories! Thanks!

aqua-empress: Why thank you! *hands you a cough drop* I think I'm going to have Ace come in for real in the next chapter. *adjusts the party hat* I am so looking forward to writing that!

TheLightFairyHearts: Thanks! That's so nice! Coco-san: I know, that would have been a problem. Can you imagine, Zia sitting at a desk, 'staring' in horror at the huge piles of paperwork in front of her, and Marco standing near her, saying "You wanted the post..." If that were a dream, I'd be waking up in a cold sweat. AnimeObsessionGirl4ever: Yeah, I actually didn't intend for the age difference to be so big... Oh well... I guess it was when I wanted her to be younger than Luffy, but her birthday is December 31st and Ace's is January 1st. So, yeah, it just kind of worked out that way.

ZabuzasGirl: Here's the update!

Chapter 8

"Patrol duty?" I asked.

Pops nodded. "Just routine business. It's easy stuff."

I grinned. "Great! You can count on me, Pops!"

Pops laughed. "You won't be going alone, Zia." He motioned behind him, and a tall guy with beefy arms and a small head stepped out.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Ratchet. How are you?"

Ratchet is a really nice guy. He's in the third division, and I've sparred him a few times. He might be a little intimidating at first, but he's got a heart of gold. Ratchet grinned. "I'm doing pretty well." he said. "You ready for a bit of boring routine patrol duty?"

I grinned. "Ready!"

Hand island. That was the name of the island we had to patrol. And I must say, there are worse places to be stuck for five days. It's an island of artisans. According to Ratchet, it's been under Pops' control for over twenty years. I walked through the town, breathing in the fresh air, and the smells of fresh cut wood, metal being welded, and wax.

"Hey, Zia!" I turned around to see who was calling. It was Regis, the son and apprentice of a wax statue maker. He was a good foot taller than me, and about seven years older. He's a really nice guy, though. He even 'showed' me how to make my own wax sculptures once.

"Yo!" I called. "What's up?"

Regis skidded to a halt beside me. "I've got something to show you! C'mon!" He grabbed my hand and started pulling me along down the road.

"is this another one of your wax sculptures, Regis?" I asked.

Regis nodded. "Yeah, and it's the best one I've ever done, I think. I think you'll really like it!"

I frowned. "Hey, Regis, you know I've kinda got patrol duty. I can't just go running off. Besides, I might nt even know who the statue is of."

Regis chuckled. "I don't think your big friend will be too bothered. He's out patrolling the shoreline, after all. And, this'll only take a few minutes."

I sighed. "Fine. But this better be good, or Marco'll have my hide." Regis tilted his head towards me. "How goes things with him, anyway? He still as strict as ever?" "Ah, Marco means well. Actually, I'm surprised he didn't pull me aside and warn me about all the dangers of patrol duty again. I think he's finally starting to treat me like an adult."

Regis chuckled. "What?" I asked. "You? An adult?" He dropped any pretence of courtesy and started howling with laughter. "I hate to tell you this, but you're still a kid! Even to me!"

"Right." I said sarcastically. "You're an old man, that's why."

Regis just laughed even harder.

Finally, we climbed the hill that led to Diego's hut. Regis opened the door, and I stepped inside. "It's down here." he said, stepping into the cellar. Or at least, I thought it was a cellar at first. It turns out, it was a huge basement, full of life-sized wax sculptures.

"Hey!" I said, running to the back of the cavern-like room and stopping in front of the biggest statue there. "Did your dad sculpt this? It's outline is exactly like Pops!" "That's right." Regis said. "He sculpted all of these but one. This one."

"Who's that supposed to be?" I asked.

It was a girl. Pretty short, with long hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a skirt that reached down to her knees, combat boots, and a T-shirt.

Regis sighed. "You seriously can't figure it out?"

I shook my head.

Regis brought his hand down on my head and gave me a noogie. "It's you! Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't know what you look like."

It's true, I didn't really know what I looked like. Apart from the fact that I was short, with longish hair, not much size in my chest and had big feet. "Wow, Regis." I said, stepping up to the sculpture. "What made you want to build a statue of me, eh?"

"I wanted to make a sculpture of a pirate, but I didn't have enough wax." he said. There was a short, awkward pause. I slumped a bit. "That's nice..."

"He didn't have enough wax so he made a statue of you?! What a hoot!"

I sighed. "Okay, I get it, Ratchet. That got old the last five times you said it."

We were sitting in a small boat that served as our ocean patrol vessel. Quite honestly, if a storm were to blow through, we'd probably capsize and drown. Not that that would happen now. It was a beautiful day, with only a slight breeze.

I leaned against the side of the boat, and widened my field of observation. I could sense anything coming for a few kilometres around. "Hey, Ratchet." I said. "That ship coming this way... What I you think it is, anyway?"

Ratchet shrugged. "Probably just a fishing boat. There aren't too many people aboard. It's too small to hold over ten, I'd say."

I nodded. If that was the case, though, why did I have this odd feeling in the pit of my stomach?

Ratchet leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "So, has Marco finally gotten over the whole tattoo thing?"

The very thought of Marco shouting at me like that made me shudder. No way in hell I'd ever forget that. "I dunno." I said. "But considering the fact that he hasn't brought it up in a while, I'd say it's a good sign." I took a deep breath of fresh sea air. It really was a nice day. Suddenly, I stopped, and sniffed. "That's funny..." I muttered. "Smells like gun powder."

That's when the boat lurched.

I gasped as I toppled into Ratchet and we crashed into the bow.

"Enemy attack! Off the starboard stern!"

"No! Really?" I said, sarcastically. "I didn't notice!"

I heard a whistling sound. Cannonballs coming our way again. Not on my watch.

I bent down, then sprang up into the air. "See how you like this!" I said, grinning. I focused my colour of arms haki to my feet and lower legs. I tucked my head down and pulled my arms close to my chest. I shifted m weight and started spinning. I caught a cannonball with my left foot and sent it flying away from the ship. It exploded in mid air. I caught the second one with my heel, and it flew off and exploded too. "Ratchet!" I shouted. "Steer us towards the eastern shore! There's a sheltered bay back there surrounded by cliffs! If we can get there, we can lose them in the network of channels!"

Ratchet nodded. "Aye aye!" He manned the rudder and let the sail drop.

I pulled out of my spin and used Geppo to stay in the air.

Something still wasn't right. Someone was coming towards me. No, not someone. Five people. All of them seemed to be walking on the water! One of them jumped into the air and was bounding towards me. "Ratchet!" I shouted. "We're dealing with rokushiki users here!"

Ratchet pulled a gun from his belt. "Well then, looks like we got a brawl on our hands."

I'm not gonna lie. I had just learned Geppo, and I still wasn't very good at it yet. I could easily tell that this guy had mastered all six forms. I did know one thing, though. Observation haki and arms haki were stronger and more versatile than tekai and kami-e. I could hit this dude, even if he used one of those defensive techniques.

I kicked myself higher into the air, and got ready to fight.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion underneath me.

"Ratchet!" I shouted. Then, I gasped. Another opponent turned up behind me. One I hadn't noticed.

He hit me hard in the neck, making spots dance in front of my eyes. Then, something ripped through my chest.

Someone's calm voice said, "Shigun."

I felt the world spinning around me. I coughed up blood, and I blacked out.

Ow... Everything hurt. Opening my eyes doesn't help at all, so I decided to try something a little more discreet. I twitched a finger. Then, I twitched another one.

Then, a voice spoke out of the darkness. "Captain, she's awake."

Damn. So much for not being noticed. Time to turn on the observation haki.

Well, Toto... I definitely wasn't in Pops' territory ... On a friendly ship anyway.

I was in a large room, with at least fifteen other people.

One of them was a large man, with a rather rough outline. He was built a bit like a beast; you know the rou features and all. Honestly, I didn't even think he was human. He was sitting on a huge chair, his clawed fingers curled around the end of the armrests. He motioned to a man standing next to me (I noticed it was the guy that had stuck his finger through my chest) and he grabbed my my upper arm and hauled me to my feet.

"Come on." he said tonelessly, dragging me along towards the huge guy. He dropped me on the floor, and I landed with a thud, wincing when my chin hit the floor.

The huge guy stooped down and lifted my chin so I was staring, supposedly, into his eyes. He ran his huge tongue along his lower lip. "Well," he said in a kind of delighted growl. "This is perfect..."

Marco strode back and forth across the deck of e Moby Dick, his head spinning from worry.

"Ah, calm down, Marco!" Thatch called from his place on a pile of barrels. His honey-blond pompadour was being blown out of place by the wind. He scratched his long nose. "Zia is really tough. Pops didn't offer her the command of the second division for nothing, you know. Besides, Ratchet's with her, and it's just routine patrol duty. She's fine, and probably bored out of her mind right now."

Marco sighed and stared out mournfully at the open ocean. He couldn't help it. Zia had never gone on a mission without him or one of the other commanders before. He couldn't help but worry about her.

He turned his back on the ocean, and his shoulders slumped.

Thatch jumped off his pile of barrels and walked up to him. "Hey." He poked Marco in the middle of his forehead. "You want me to bring you a cup of tea? You're tenser than a bowstring."

Marco sighed, but nodded all the same. "Yeah. That would be nice, thanks."

"Be right back." Thatch said as he skipped off to the galley. He came back about five minutes later, a steaming cup of tea in his hands.

"Here you go."

Marco reached out to grab the cup's handle. He pulled his hand back in surprise as the cup shuddered and cracked. He and Thatch both stared in amazement as hot tea leaked from the broken cup.

"Are you superstitious at all, Marco?" Thatch asked, not taking his eyes off the cup.

Marco blinked hard. "No." He was being ridiculous. Everything would be fine. Zia and Ratchet would be back in a couple of days, and all this would seem like a few seconds of worthless worrying.

"Perfect?" I repeated, incredulous. "What the hell do you mean by that? Who do you think you are, committing an act like this in Pops' territory?"

The guy chuckled darkly, running a claw along my jawline. "Who do I think I am? I think that I'm the master of the waters bordering your 'Pops'' territory. I am the Beast King, Kaido."

I thought my heart would stop. "Kaido..." I said. I bit my lip. "You do realize, what you're doing is a declaration of war, right?!"

Kaido chuckled again. This time, he stuck the point of his claw into my chin. "You think I'm scared of that dying old man? He's become careless. Sending a child and one man out on patrol duty; that geezer has some pretty bad delusions of grandeur." He laughed openly then.

I felt frustration and anger crawl all over me like an army of termites. "You shut up!" I shouted. "How dare you talk that way about Pops!? He's a much better man than you ever were or will be!"

Kaido pulled his huge hand back, then hit me in the jaw so hard, I almost blacked out.

My head snapped backward, and I flew across the room. If I could still see, stars would have flashed in front of my eyes. I hit the wall on the other side of the room.

"You little snot." Kaido growled. "You are not in any position to be flying off at the mouth like that, especially not around me!" He stalked over, making the floor shake with every step. He picked me up by the neck and shoved his nose right up against mine. "The only reason I haven't killed you in a horrible way yet, is because I need leverage against Whitebeard. He may be the most powerful man in the world, but he is a soft-hearted old man. He wouldn't let any of his crew be killed, while he was alive."

"I would rather die than be used as a hostage!" I spat.

Kaido smiled. "My, you talk awfully serious for a little kid. Would you really rather be like your friend? At the bottom of the sea, feeding the fish?"

My blood turned from fire to ice. "You... You had your men kill him, because I was the wiser target." I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. "You thought that you would have a better chance of pushing Pops' buttons!"

Kaido grinned evilly again. "You can have a clear head. I see blindness hasn't dulled your sense of the world." He nodded to his men. "Take this brat to the boiler room and cuff her to the main pipe. I'm sure that will discourage her from trying anything funny."

So that was what the vibrating was.

A brief explanation. Boiler rooms are basically rooms full of water heaters, that boil water to produce steam to help power the ship. It's a effective way to travel when the wind isn't blowing your way. It was fairly new technology when Dad got it it installed on the Patience. And any idiot can figure out that the main pipe can get very, very hot. Also, since that day my parents died, I had a healthy fear of that kind of thing. Though I usually kept it well under control.

Kaido stood up to his full height. "I'll be in the main ship. Come back when you've secured the brat." With that, he turned away.

All the other men in the room stood at attention and said, "Aye aye, captain!" They waited until The main ship raised anchor and sailed a few hundred metres away.

Then, the one closer to me grabbed my arm. "You won't be seeing the light of day for a long time, brat." he said.

I sneered at him. "Please think of a better will destroying phrase than that." I haven't seen any light since I was eleven.

That, I may say, was when things got interesting. The door opened, and someone stepped inside.

The men all stopped. "Who in hell are you?!" They shouted.

The new guy didn't say anything, but instead, he pointed a huge rifle at them. "By the way," he said calmly. "You might want to take another look at your boiler room controls. It's never a good idea to have your controls on the floor above in case of an attack." Then, he fired his rifle.

A wave of heat blasted from the control disk!

Something grabbed me around the waist, and jumped.

Another wave of heat battered me.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I completely blacked out.

I hate fire...

I groaned and rolled over on my side.

It felt like I was on another boat. well isn't this a familiar scene. I think I'm having a sense of déjà vu. Or, déjà felt.

A small enough boat, and I was with one person.

When he noticed I had woken up, he smiled. "Hey. How do you feel, kid?"

"Fine." I said, not looking up at him. It was a total lie, but still. I had more important thingson my mind now. "Not to quote those guys who captured me or anything, but who the hell are you?"

The man leaned back and chuckled. "My, quite the language for a young girl to be using." he said.

I shrugged. "I'm a pirate. Pirates don't exactly talk pretty."

"I guess not." He shrugged and rested his rifle on his shoulder. Needless to say, I don't trust strangers with rifles. So, I kept a very careful 'watch' on his movements.

"Why did you attack those guys anyways? Are you a bounty hunter?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm a pirate too. Though, I've been sailing these waters since before you were born."

I frowned. "Are you one of our allies?"

He shook his head again. "No. I'm not an ally of Whitebeard."

I stood up. "Then what the hell are you doing in his territory?!"

"Keeping an eye on Kaido's crew. My captain has had suspicions about him for a long time now. Kaido must have been waiting for just the right moment to strike."

"Then, you're saying you think he knew that I was a Whitebeard pirate and he was just waiting for a chance to capture me?" That was a pleasant thought. Not.

"Anyway, what's your name kid?"

I froze. He had just manipulated the conversation so I would forget the first question! I pouted and folded my arms over my chest. "It's common courtesy to give your own name first." I was mapping out the conversation in my head now. I was getting prepared for any kind of subject-changing remark he could throw at me.

The man fished inside a pouch on his belt, pulled out a long cigarette and a match. He lit his cig, took a long drawl, blew the smoke into the wind, and said, "Fair enough."

Okay, confession time. I wasn't expecting that.

He held his hand out to me and said, "Benn Beckman. Nice to meet you."

I shook his hand. "Zia."

Beckman raised an eyebrow. "Zia... That means 'light', doesn't it?"

I chuckled darkly. "Ironic, isn't it?"

We sat in silence for a minute or two. Then, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Hey, look, I'm grateful to you for what you've done, but I need to get back to Pops as quickly as possible. Could you just drop me off at the closest island? I'll find my way from there."

Beckman shook his head. "You're injured. My ship isn't far from here. My captain will figure out what to do then."

"Hold on!" I said, standing up. A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I slumped into a sitting position. Great.

What kind of a mess had I gotten myself into this time?

"Hey. We're here."

I blinked stupidly. Had I fallen asleep? "What happened?"

"You fell asleep. I felt it was better if I didn't wake you."

I mentally kicked myself. I had fallen asleep in the company of an enemy pirate! Or at least a rival. Stupid! Stupid!

I widened my field of 'vision' so I could tell what kind of a pirate ship it was. It was very big. About as big as the Moby Dick, with a dragon masthead.

Someone dropped a rope ladder from the deck, and it landed on the deck in front of me.

"Can you stand now?" Beckman asked.

I nodded. "It'll be a cinch to climb. Not that I want to, really."

"It'll be fine." Beckman said, handing me the ladder. Funny. He sounded just like Marco when he said that.

I took the rope and hauled myself up.

The deck was crowded with people. I couldn't believe how quiet it got when Beckman and I stepped onto the deck. Beckman raised an eyebrow. "What?" he said. "This isn't a show. Get back to work!" Everyone stiffened. "Aye aye!" They all scattered.

"You're a pretty high ranking pirate, I see." I said huskily. Geez, my throat was dry as sandpaper.

Then, someone stepped up to us. "Hey, Beckman, who's this?" Then, he stopped.

I stopped and thought. I recognized that voice.

The guy was fairly tall, with longish hair that blew slightly in the light wind. He had three scars over his left eye, and he was missing an arm.

"Red-Haired Shanks!" I said in disbelief.

He ruffled my hair. "Hey! How're ya doing?! Wow, it's only been about half a year, and I barely recognized you!"

Beckman raised an eyebrow. "You know her, captain?"

Shanks nodded. "Yup. We spoke after I spoke with Whitebeard the last time I went to visit them." He turned back to me. "So, you learned observation haki. Good for you! So, you took my advice. By the way, I got a feeling that you got an earful after our conversation."

I shrugged. "Ah, Marco never stays mad at me for long." I paled. I had almost forgotten! What would Marco do when he figured out about what was going on?"Hey, Red-Hair," I said, fixing him with a determined (though unseeing) stare. "Can you lend me a small boat or something? I need to warn Pops about what Kaido's up to!"

Shanks shook his head.

"What?! Why not?!"

He grinned. "Because I've got something to discuss with Whitebeard. We'll take you there ourselves."

It took a couple of seconds for that to sink in. I blinked. "Seriously?"

Shanks nodded.

I smiled from ear to ear. "Thanks!"

Then, my legs turned to jelly, and I collapsed on the deck.

"Whoa there!" Shanks said, bending down and helping me up. "What's the matter?"

"Well, she did just go through a very rough time. No doubt she's injured." Beckman said.

I shook my head. "I'm just... hungry..."

Beckman and Shanks looked at each other, then laughed.

I sat at a table in the galley of Red-Hair's ship, an empty plate and flagon at my elbow. I was 'staring' into space, drumming my fingers on the table nervously. My eyelids were drooping slightly.

I shook my head violently. I couldn't afford to fall asleep, not now. Might as well take Marco's advice for once.

Then again, if they wanted to hurt me, they could have by now.

I had stopped using observation haki because I needed to give my brain a break. I could navigate well enough by ear at this point, even on a strange ship.

There was a scraping sound and Shanks sat down next to me.

"So, ya feeling better?" he asked.

"Are we there yet?" I asked impatiently.

Shanks sighed. "Did you sense it yet?"

I shook my head. "Then, we're not there yet."

He leaned back, and cracked his neck a bit. "You're a little injured, you know. You should go visit the doctors in sickbay."

"No." I said flatly. "I'll wait, thanks."

Someone else sat down beside me. I heard the voice of the big round guy say, "You don't have to wait long then. The Moby Dick was just sighted off the port bow."

Marco stood on the deck, staring at the ship of the Red-Haired pirates coming closer and closer. "What the hell does he want this time?" he growled. Then, he gasped.

Standing on the deck of the ship, biting her lip nervously, was Zia.

When the ship got close enough, she jumped off the deck, propelling herself through the air with Geppo. She landed right in front of him.

Marco growled. "Okay, now what the hell are you doing this time..."

Zia stumbled forward and grabbed his shoulders. "Marco, I don't have time to explain! Where's Pops?"

Marco raised an eyebrow. "I think you need to explain what you were doing with a rival Yonkou."

"Later!" Zia shouted. Her hands gripped his shirt desperately. "This is really bad! I have to tell Pops right now!"

Marco felt his heart skip a beat. "He's in his quarters."

Zia nodded and let go of him, then dashed off, stumbling when she stepped on a piece of rope.

Marco turned and shot Red-Haired Shanks, who had stepped onto the deck at this time, a look. "How on earth did she end up with you?"

Red-Hair gave him a very serious look through his bangs. "I think you should go and ask her." He stepped past him, and said, "Aren't you coming?"

So, that's chapter 8! The next chapter will be full of explaining, tension, and all that fun stuff! If you like, please review! It's always great to hear your comments! See you next time!