A/N: Don't worry I'm not going to blab for too long, just want to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review last chapter! Much thanks XD This chapter took me a bit longer to get out than what I wanted but here it is~

Chapter 2:

Rude Awakening

The ground beneath Haruna seemed to sway back and forth, as she lay within the darkness of her mind too afraid at the moment to open her eyes-unsure at the moment if she even could.

What had happened to her? Did she drown to death? Did that creep somehow fish her body out of the strange lake? Too many of these disturbing questions floated around in Haruna's head. Though before she had time to ponder anymore of those bleak thoughts, a sudden harsh poke to her side startled her out of the dark limbo of her mind.

"Ah my head..." Haruna gasped out loud, gripping the side of her head as she came to a upward sitting position from where she lay. As her eyes began to clear, Haruna then couldn't help but notice the multitude of strangely dressed men and woman who surrounded her with startled/confused looks on their faces.

Uh...What in the world? Since when do ships like these sail in lakes? Haruna thought to herself in confusion. Her eyes darting back in forth as she stretched her neck to see past the crowd that circled around her, only to then find out that she appeared to be stuck on some type of old looking ship.

"Well is it some sort of magic mermaid or what?" A tall lanky man within the circle of strangers suddenly said. Pointing his finger towards Haruna with one brow lifted, looking Haruna up in down in question.

"No you idiot! Just look at her legs, its just some kid." A red haired busty woman to Haruna's left replied with an aggravated sigh.

"It can't just be a kid! Hell the whole sky lit up and the sea was bubbling like crazy when that freak strike of lightning hit, it was insane! The storm went as quickly as it came And your trying to tell me this girl had nothing to do with it? That she was just floatin' on by?" The lanky man shouted back at the red haired woman, who now once again stared at Haruna with her eyes scrunched.

Storm? Lighting? Magic Mermaid? What's with these people? Better yet where the heck am I? Haruna thought to herself as she then began to examine her surroundings.

Wherever she was at, one thing was for sure she surely wasn't any where near the cold lake that she had fell into. The sun was setting in the distance, and its dimming light shone across the vast ocean waters that surrounded the weird ship she was on. Shakily Haruna got to her feet as she brushed past the crowd of oddly dressed strangers that surrounded her, her mind desperately trying to piece together what was going on.

"What!? The Ocean!? How did I get here! I-I need to get back home..." Haruna said out loud to herself voice raised, unable to keep her rising panic to herself.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible anymore young girl." A new voice among the strangers rang out. Everyone's sudden silence pulling Haruna's attention away from the setting sun and back towards the strangers behind her.

"You see, now you're our property. And although I can't seem to put my finger on it, there's something different about you...and I bet that will fetch quite the pretty penny at a auction house." A surprisingly handsome man said as he slowly approached Haruna, hand on one of the two blades strapped to his side.

Judging from the way the man stood and from the manner of how the others looked at him with fear mirrored in their eyes, it became obvious to Haruna that this man was the one in charge.

"Human trafficking...You people...you are not going to get away with this! By now people will already know that I'm missing, I bet the cops are already looking!" Haruna shouted out unbelieving and angry at the situation she was in.

Just how did things end up so bad? Why didn't she listen to her mother? What had she done to suddenly deserve all of this? All these questions and more flew throughout Haruna's mind, as she clenched her hands into fists down at her sides.

"Cops? What? does she mean the Marines?" The lanky man questioned with a look of confusion. At that point a slight second of silence pasted between all of the strangers as they seemed to take a quick moment to ponder about what Haruna had said, before they all burst out into roar of laughter.

"The Marines!? It's been a year since the fall of Whitebeard and those idiots are still out looking for that crazy Straw Hat kid. Just as long as none of us wave any of those flags they could care less at the moment." The leader stated boldly, lifting his hands up in a triumphed gesture as the rest of his gang continued to laugh.

"They could still-wait...Whitebeard...Straw Hat...Are you guys talking about One Piece? Like the series?" Haruna said mid-reply, her anger fading as this time her face was the one that scrunched in confusion.

"One Piece! What do you know about it girl!?" The leader of the strangers said in startled voice, his blue eyes shining as he closed the gap between himself and Haruna; uncomfortably close.

At that moment Haruna then let out a loud laugh of relief, unable to hold back her laughter as she finally stopped looking around surprised that she hadn't put it together earlier.

"Oh man! This is all just a dream...Like one of those weird lucid like dreams I've heard about in my psychology class! Wow! everything is so vivid, I've never had one of these dreams before." Haruna exclaimed with a cheerful laugh.

"You guys are pirates right? Are we in the New World or the Grand Line? Are any of you devil fruit users?" Haruna asked as she walked around what she now knew to be a pirate ship deck looking for some indication of just whose ship she was stuck on.

"A dream...what the hell is she going on about now?"

"I think she drank too much sea water..."

"We are the Iron Fang Pirates, and as you might of already guessed I am the captain of this ship. Now the time for questions is over, Louie take this strange girl below deck quickly it seems we are going to have company." The blonde captain called out to the lanky man in a hurried tone, hand drawing one of the swords that hung at his side.

"Yes Captain Tenzin!" Louie replied with a smirk as he then roughly grabbed Haruna by the arm and began pulling her away from the deck.

At the draw of their Captain's sword the group of pirates that had surrounded Haruna quickly dispersed to their posts, the once still ship now seemed to shake with their rushed movements.

"Stop! Let go of me!" Haruna yelled out in protest, trying to rip her arm out of Louie's shockingly tight grip.

"Not a chance, your going stay down here and shut-up." Louie hissed in Haruna's ear as he pulled her below deck; his pistol now firmly planted at the middle of her spine.

This dream is starting to feel a lot like one of my nightmares. Haruna thought to herself. The feeling of panic that had left her now arose again, killing the brief excitement that she had felt.

Not too far off into the distance...

"Captain! They're trying to get away!" Bepo called out leaning against the rails of the bright yellow submarine, the wind blowing throughout his fur as the sub sped ahead to close the distance between themselves and the smaller pirate ship.

"Awe damn, looks like the captain was right! They must of picked up whatever caused that freaky storm." Penguin said looking over at Shachi with a grin, not so secretly hoping that whatever had caused the random storm was valuable.

"Hmph cowards..." A large man with a fierce looking face said under his breath, his size easily surpassing that of the Captain and the other Heart Pirates who stood on the deck of the sub.

"It's not a problem. They can't outrun us." The Surgeon of Death said rather smugly, his face already partly twisted into a triumphed grin.

Walking forward to stand next to his furry first mate, Trafalgar Law's grey eyes shined dangerously.

It wouldn't be a problem. Not at all. Because whatever was on that ship was already as good as his.

A/N: This was more of a building chapter but if you haven't guessed already, next time Haruna comes face to face with the Heart Pirates! As always Reviews, Favorites, and follows are highly appreciated~