Chapter 8: The house in the forest
Even tough Kid went through the forest on walking speed she still looked around to make sure that no one of the group would get lost, because she didn't have the nerves for that, at least that's what Nami and Robin assumed. About half an hour later the group arrived at a forest glade where an old-fashioned house was built. Kid persisted and gazed in abstraction at the old building before she mumbled: "Here we are…"
"T…that building looks so creepy…" Usopp stammered under his breath, while he hid behind Sanji, "I don't wanna go in there! It has a bad vibe!" he screamed in fear.
In the darkness with the shadows of the trees around the house, it really seemed like a haunted house, it even made Kid jitter, or was it because of the cold air?
"It's getting cold!" Nami said when she started to shiver.
Kid swallowed once before she mumbled: "All right let's go inside." and approached the house.
"I said I'm opposed it!" Usopp yelled in fear.
"Well then, you'll be here all by yourself in the cold with all that spooky shadows around you." Sanji said with a smirk, while he and the rest followed Kid to a window, because she knew it was bolted.
After Usopp was persuaded that he would be alone in the forest if he wouldn't join the rest of the group he went after them. Luffy, Nami, Robin, Usopp, Chopper and Ace climbed in at the window, which was held open by Kid, then Sanji alternated with Kid so she could climb in.
As soon as Sanji was inside the house the group was standing in a pitch-black room. Kid rummaged in her bag until she found what she was searching for when she kindled a matchstick she walked over to a dresser. Suddenly the Straw Hats and Ace heard how something was slammed with a jerk. "WUAAH! WE'RE DOOMED!" Usopp screamed in panic.
"Calm down man. That was just the dresser I put into place." Kid said annoyed while she kindled two candles on the dresser.
Even though the candle light illuminated the room only sparsely, the group could see that there was a thick layer of dust on the furniture.
"Is no one living here?" Chopper asked after he coughed after he tried to breath in the scent of any occupier.
"Looks like it was derelicted long time ago…" Robin answered in thoughts, for her it was clear that no one set foot in here for at least half of a decade.
"The boys will sleep down here…" Kid explained while she turned to the group, "and the girls are going upstairs... go into the third room after the stairs…" she instructed Nami and Robin while she approached them.
"Damn it!" Kid could hear Sanji swear under his breath.
"While I'm looking for that swordsman." continued Kid hackled up.
"I follow you wherever you go, Kitty~Kid!" Sanji yelled madly in love.
"No, you won't!" Kid hollered, but all a sudden she seemed to be nervous when she looked around, "I mean… it's better if you stay here and cook super for your friends." Kid continued after she breathed through.
At the word supper the tummies of Luffy, Usopp, Chopper and Ace started to rumble.
"YAHOO!" Luffy screamed happily, "You should listen to Kitty-Cat!"
Luffy hold his breath because he was sure Kid wouldn't get easy on him, but all she did was mumbling death wishes under her breath, while she climbed out at the window. "Weird…" Ace mumbled when Luffy breathed relieved through before he and the other boys started to unpack their sleeping bags while Nami and Robin went upstairs. "Robin, why did you change your mind? I mean about hooking Kid and Ace up on each other" asked Nami as soon as they were out of earshot and launched herself with her sleeping bag on an old bed, before she started coughing
"Well… the opportunity was convenient… and you are right they would be a lovely couple fufufuf" Robin answered giggling while Nami tried to fawn the dust away.
"Don't you think Kid acted strange after that "convenient opportunity"" Nami hint at Kids' insecurity when she let herself fall back into the sheets.
"Right, but I think it's rather to do something with that house then with Ace." Robin responded mature placing her sleeping bag on the floor.
While Nami and Robin were upstairs chatting Sanji, who unpacked his stuff in a blink of an eye, climbed out at the window to pursue Kids request. After Ace finished unpacking his sleeping bag he watched some minutes how Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were quarreling over the couch. When Luffy came to the conclusion to play Rock-Paper-Scissor Ace shock his head, turned it away and glanced around. He could see the outlines of some picture frames at the walls so he stood up, let his Hand burn and had a closer look on them: they were all empty. `Why aren't any pictures in them?` Ace questioned in thoughts before he went to the dresser with the candle. By a closer look it looked like there had been standing an item, because the layer of dust on that place wasn't as thick as on the rest of the dresser. Ace searched through the drawers, until he found the item he was looking for: it was another picture frame it showed a Family picture but three faces had been cut out of it. One of the out cut faces would have belonged to a huge fat man, another to a fine-boned woman and the third to a baby-girl, only the baby in the arms of the woman still had his face. `Who are those? And why the heck tried Kid to hide this picture from us?` Ace wanted to know and tucked it into his pants pocket away. Just when Usopp could bring out that Rock-Paper-Scissor wasn't the solution for everything, Luffy jumped on his feet and ran through the bolted door. " Oh Yummy Food!" Luffy yell in excitement.
"Hands off, Luffy!" Ace could hear Sanji object while Usop and Chopper freed themselves from their entanglement of sleeping bags to follow their captain through the now open doorway.
Ace went the dust-covered stairs up and found Nami and Robin in the third room, where Nami nestled herself down in her pillow.
"Oi have you heard that Sanji can barely restrain Luffy from supper! If you want some you gotta hurry!" explained Ace.
"Thanks, we're on the way!" Robin responded before Ace hurried the stairs down.
"C'mon Sanji give me some meat I'm so hungry!" Luffy tried to persude Sanji to give him some of the dragon goulash when Ace entered into the fresh air.
"Can't you at least wait for Nami and Robin?!" Sanji countered upset and pulled the pot from the fire and out of Luffys' reach.
"It's alright Sanji, here we are!" said Robin calm when she and Nami stepped out of the building.
"Nami~Swan, Robin~Chan! It is so cold outside, please have a seat close to the fire and eat some of the hot goulash I made for you!" Sanji said when he saw how Nami began to shiver while he filed two bowls with rice and goulash.
After everyone was provided with rice and goulash they started to eat, but it didn't take long till Luffy asked for a refill. When the group was more or less sated Nami began to yawn, "I'm too tiered to wait for Zoro and Kid. Nighty-night everyone!" Nami said getting up on her feet and walked back into the house.
"Thanks, have a wonderful night too!" Sanji responded flattered.
Short time after Nami left the fireplace Chopper stated to yawn as well and Robin asked him: "Hey Chopper why don't you go to bed as well."
"I'm too concerned about Zoro and Kid, what if they don't return?" Chopper said yawning.
"Well… if Zoro don't show up by his own, we can't do anything till Kid returns anyway and if Kid won't come back we probably will get lost in the forest and starve." Robin explained ghoulish and Chopper and Usopp looked at her with big appalled eyes.
"stop scaring that little moose and that long nose, we'll get along alone too." Ace said mature while Luffy started to laugh.
"I'm not a moose! I'm a reindeer!" Chopper yelled upset.
"Hihihi you shouldn't worry, Kid will return with Zoro…" Luffy said still laughing.
Just when Luffy stopped laughing, he and the others heard Kids' completely stressed out voice sound through the forest. "ZORO!"
"I'm gonna kill that bastard, how dare he to upset my lovely Kitty-Kid!" Sanji swore gnashing his teethes, while Luffy took his chance and snapped the pot from his ships cook away.
"Did you hear Kid? Everything's just fine… you can go to bed now…" Robin persuded Chopper when he yawned again and this time he listened to her and went to his sleeping-place.
After Luffy started to complain, because the pot was empty, Sanji woke from his rage agains Zoro and started to cuss his captain out. Just when Sanji started to cook a stew from the warthog Usopp was frightened witless by some rustling leaves. "WHAA IT'S A KILLER!" Usopp screamed in panic when he saw a shadow coming near, "WE'RE DOOMED! I HAVE TO HIDE MYSELF!" Usopp yelled standing up and ran into the house.
"SHUT UP, MAN!" Nami yelled sleepy from the house when Kid stepped out of the bushes, jerking an unconscious Zoro on his ankle.
"Oh Kitty~Kid dinner will be ready soon… I hope you'll eat tonight with us!" Sanji said madly in love when he added the last carrots to the stew.
Usopp returned to the doorway and walked out after he looked round the corner. "What happened to Zoro?" Usopp asked in another twinge of panic.
"Don't worry, I knocked him out…" Kid explained with an unfazed expression when she sat close to the fireplace down.
"What why?" Usopp asked puzzled while he approached the fireplace as well.
"I found that nuisance in the canyon five kilometers away from here, but less then three minutes later he was disappeared again!" Kid explained suppressing her anger by that memory, "so I had no other choice."
"You're so smart my dear Kitty~Kid." Sanji said when he handed her a bowl with stew over.
Kid inspected with risen eyebrows the stew before she took the spoon in the bowl and started to eat slowly.
"Would you like to try a bit of the stew as well?" Sanji asked Robin while he filled the next bowl.
"I want some!" Luffy yelled waving his hand.
Sanji gave Luffy an annoyed glance, but he dispensed to everyone a filled bowl. After Robin went to her sleeping bag, once she finished her serving, Zoro woke from his unconsciousness and got a bowl of stew as well.
"Tell me pill, why did you try to hide this picture in the dresser?" Ace asked and pulled the picture-frame out of his pocket when Luffy asked a third time for a refill.
"What?" all present asked and they looked first at the picture, then to Kid, whose expression was startled, and then back to Ace.
"Well… I didn't want to disquiet you guys unnecessarily… I mean cut out faces are pretty creepy. That picture was like this when I saw it for the first time" explained Kid credible, already calm again, but Ace wasn't convinced.
"W…what Y…you mean out there is someone how is mentally ill…" Usopp stammered, "what if that lunatic comes back and will be mad because we're in his house?"
"Listen, the only person you must fear is me!" Kid said with a sinister tone and smiled shifty, what caused Usopp to squeak while he hid behind Zoro.
"You're more afraid of her then of me? Huge mistake." Zoro murmured with a devilish smile, what let Usopp wince.
After some time passed everybody from the Straw Hats and Ace as well were getting tiered and so they decided to go to bed. When Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Ace stood up, Kid made no move and Sanji asked: "Don't you wanna go to bed as well, my sleeping beauty?"
After an annoyed snarl from Kid she answered sinister and starring at the house: "No… I will stand watch in case any unbidden guests are showing up."
"Unbidden guests?!" Usopp squeaked fearful.
"Don't worry, Usopp" said Luffy confident, "I'm sure we're completely save with Kid as a watchdog!" and so everyone except Kid went into the house. Before Kids cold look drifted to the dying coal an evanescent smile flashed over Kids face while the others went to their sleeping bags.
Later that night Ace woke up but he let his eyes closed hoping he would fall asleep again; normally he doesn't have any problems to sleep. When he heard a creak from the stairs he opened his eyes and looked over to the source of noise, and he saw why he was woken up in the first place: there was Kid walking up the stairs with a burning candle in her hand. Ace stood up, he wanted to confront Kid why she was lying about the picture; something at the picture was so interesting but he couldn't tell what it was. While Ace walked the stairs up he saw how Kid opened the door of the second closest room to the stairs and walked into it, not realizing that she was followed. As Ace entered the room he saw Kid sitting on an old chair next to a baby crib, her back turned to the door.
"Pill, you can fool my brother and maybe the others as well, but not me…" Ace started to talk while he approached her, but she didn't seem to bother to answer him, "Why have you been lying about that picture" he asked when he stood next to her; still no answer.
Just when Ace was about to start yelling at her, because he thought she was messing around with him, he noticed an old ripped picture lying on Kids' lab. It showed Kid when she was around seven years with a baby in her arms; even though the little Kid was smiling, there was no joy in her eyes, it rather seemed that she was afraid of something or someone. It seemed like the Kids were sitting on someone's fat belly, but the part of the picture where the face of the man would be visible was torn off. "Is that the same man from the other picture?" Ace asked curious when he saw how Kid was absentmindedly starring at the picture.
"I don't know what your talking about…" Kid mumbled dolefully; for Ace it was clear that she was lying.
"So you have no idea who those persons are on that picture?" Ace asked sarcastically, he knew he would draw Kid out, when he would aim at the empty picture-frames, "Even though that picture is precious enough to you to keep it?"
Kid snarled something under her breath that sounded like: "Just shut the fuck up…" before she stood up and walked over to the window and stared at the half-moon. It would always remind her on a promise, which was given to her long ago, "it's my brothers' favorite picture from us…" she wispered regretfully.
"Why do you have it then? Where's your brother?" Ace asked interested, he knew he wouldn't get any information about the man from Kid, at least not tonight.
"That's not your business, just leave me alone!" Kid said loudly when she turned around to Ace, but all a sudden her features slipped, while she looked terrified around.
Ace starred at Kid, for one second she had the same panic-stricken expression on her face as at the forest. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to!" Ace said with a wave of his hand, before he turned around and walked to the doorway, but then he said across his shoulder with a sassy tone, "but if you need any help handling a problem you aren't capable of solving, let me know."
`What a boastful jerk.` Kid thought irritated, again with a bugged look on her face while she watched Ace leaving the room, before her view wandered first to the baby crib, then she turned around to face the window again, `no one can help me.`
Only A few hours later the guys were rudely awakened by Nami, Robin and Kid. "Everyone wake up!" Nami and Robin were yelling while they jolted their crewmates awake.
"Breakfast's ready?" Luffy asked half asleep.
"You'll get it later!" Kid said just a bit irritated, she already knew that food was Luffys' only drive.
"Hey you, get up!" Kid said annoyed while she was trying to wake Ace up by kicking into his side before she added frustrated, "Jerk!" and went out side to wait for the others.
After the guys were half awake, the group followed Kid outside.
Gosh, that was a long chapter, but at least is the plot going along, Yay!