Girl Falls Into One Piece

Chapter 32

We all starting walking again, I was beside Nami and Vivi, walking beside the camel. It was quiet and hot, we didn't want to waste any energy on talking. Suddenly Luffy let out a scream. My shoulders jumped in surprise and I looked behind me to look at Luffy. Luffy was screaming about Crocodile. Usopp asked. "Is he running on air?"

I snorted, massaging my forehead with a groan. "If anyone could, it would be him."

Nami sighed. "Can't he stay out of trouble for five minutes? Chopper!"

Zoro spoke up. "I don't think he'll be much help."

I looked over to see on the make shift wooden sled Zoro was pulling him on. He looked dead to the world. I grimaced. "I feel bad, all that fur..."

Nami nodded. "Yeah, he looks in bad shape. Well...it looks like it's up to you!"

Zoro glared. "Why is it my job?"

"I seem to remember a certain debt you owe me."

I felt my eyebrow twitch and muttered. "I think she's the devil..."

Zoro dragged Chopper off and Nami said. "Mace, you go too."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"He's your brother, your responsibility!"

I glared at her in annoyance. "He's a pirate captain, he can take care of himself."

Nami smirked. "Oh? And leave Zoro and Luffy with no way to get back, who knows how long they'd be stuck in the desert?"

I felt my brow twitch in anger at her again. She knows I'm not good with diections too. I scowled at her, fixing my hat firmly on my head. "Fine, whatever, you greedy witch."

Zoro snapped. "If you don't end up in hell, I'll kick you down myself."

I walked up to Zoro and heard Nami said. "Bye then, Oh, and have a good time, she-hulk."

I growled at her happy tone and walked forward. Luffy was still running around screaming, his eyes dazed. I sighed and Zoro said. "Moron, will you snap out of it? Oh, great. Chopper, would you hurry up and stick the fool with a needle or something?"

I winced, how can he be easy going about a needle like that, talk about heartless. I said. "Zoro, I think our doctor is down for the count."

Zoro groaned. "Yeah, I can see that."

Luffy growled at us and Zoro sighed. "Looks like we have to deal with this."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah." How many times have I told Luffy not to eat strange plants. Does he listen, of course not! Why would he? He growled, looking at Zoro. "Crocodile!"

My eyes widened. "I think he thinks your the Warlord."

Zoro swore as Luffy rushed toward him. "Ah, shit!"

I moved out of the way and got to where I was behind Luffy. Zoro and Luffy were throwing punches. I took my sword sheath and smacked him in the head with it, making his head bounch and he tripped over his own feet. Zoro glared him down and I grinned, until I had to stumble back when Luffy punched me in the face.

I rubbed my cheek. "You bastard..."

He grit his teeth. "Damn Baroque Works, you'll pay!"

My eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what!?"

He attacked me and I drew my sword, stopping his punch with the flat of my blade. I noticed Zoro watching. A wave of something pushed the sand around us away and I heard Chopper scream in shock, but kept Luffy busy, blocking him with my sword as he screamed in rage. I'm so kicking his ass when he wakes up. Suddenly, I saw Chopper stick him with a needle and Luffy slumped unconsious, but not before giving me a hard right hook to the jaw. I winced and yelped as I bit my tongue.

I shealthed my sword and went over to them. Chopper looked up at me. "Mace!? Are you okay?"

I rubbed what I knew to be a bruise on my jaw, damn that last hit hurt. "Yeah, just a small fight."

Zoro grumbles. "It looks like we lost the others, how considerate of them."

I snorted. "Hn."

Zoro said. "It looks like we'll have to follow their footprints."

Chopper asked. "What footprints?"

I sighed and gave Zoro a deadpanned look. "Did you really think there'd be footprints in the sand?"

He glared at me, a slight blush on his cheeks. "Shut up!"

I threw Luffy over my shoulder and we started walking again. It was quiet as we looked for them and Luffy stirred on my shoulder. I scowled at him and dropped him in front of us. "Huh? Where is everyone?"

With an annoyed and angry look, I punched him in the head. "That's your fault!"

I hit his head again, making him yelp. "And that's for punching me in the face twices!"

Luffy shook the hits off and looked at Zoro. "Why'd you leave everyone behind."

For the 3rd time in 5 minutes, Luffy was punched in the head. "Idiot! we lost them trying to find you!"

Luffy asked. "Chopper, can't you find them with your nose?"

Chopper said, now in his bigger form. "That's what I'm trying to do, but I can't smell anything at all."

"You don't know which way to go?"

Zoro asked. "Can you tell which way the wind is blowing?"

Chopper said back. "The wind is blowing from our left, that's all that I can tell."

Zoro said. "Since Chopper can't smell anything, you know they ain't in that direction."

Luffy made a face. "I don't know what your saying."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Fine, you can stay right here if you want to, come on Chopper."

I glared at Luffy as they started walking. Luffy grinned at me and I grabbed his collar, throwing him over my shoulder. He yelped and hung there, his front looking ahead. I started following the other two and Luffy whined in my ear. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm not going to lose you again."

I heard his huff in my ear. "At least let me ride piggyback."

I loosened my hold and he hopped on my back, his arms loosely around my shoulders, his knees near my ribs. He laughed in my ear, his arms and chin laying on my hat. He took my hat and placed it on his own, moving his chin and arms on my bare head.

Luffy whined. "So hot."

I walked forward with him as Zoro and Chopper talked. I heard Luffy pant. I grimaced. "Luffy! Gross! Don't drool on my hair!"

He grinned with a laugh. "Sorry Mace, my bad!"

It was better after that. I chuckled to myself. "Sorry, Luf. If you want, I'll put you down."

He shrugged. "Don't care, it's fine."

Sometimes, I didn't know with this crew. I respect Luffy and would follow any decision he made. But I was used to Luffy being my brother, not my captain. So some things I did had me worried it would look like I was going against his judgement. I barely thought like this, but something I did. Luffy was telling me it was okay. He wanted me to act like I usually did, without getting protective too much as he had to risk his life, something the older sibling in me hated him doing.

Suddenly, I noticed that we gotten behind the other two. My eyes widened when Luffy removed his arms from my head and stretched them to a rock a bit ahead of us. My eyes widened and I stiffened, if Rocket'd himself with me, it would hurt and badly at that. "L-luffy, wai-"

I screamed in shock as not only me and Luffy, but Chopper and Zoro were sent forward. I heard the both of them exclaim in shock and horror too. I yelled out as my stomach slammed into a smooth jutting out rock and I fell on my back in pain. "Dammit, dammit! Ow!"

I got to my feet and walked farther in the cave, passing Zoro who was on the ground. I frowned in worry and looking around, feeling relief when I saw Chopper outside in the sand. Luffy was sitting on a rock with a grin. He laughed and Zoro got up with a snarl. "I should cut you in half!"

I glared at my brother and Lufy raised a hand. "Hey, sorry about that. Hey, where's Chopper?"

I felt my eyebrow twitch. "Maybe if you didn't throw us, you would know."

I scowled as Luffy ignored me and said. "Oh, I found him. What's he doing out there? Pretty weird guy, huh?"

I smirked when Zoro held his sword near Luffy's neck. Luffy admitted. "Yeah, this is my fault, I'm sorry."

I rolled my eyes with a sigh and sat down. The shade was nice, though I wished Luffy could wait. Zoro grumbled. "There is no point in talking to you, you know that."

He went to sit down, but fell. I burst into laughter, holding my side. Luffy asked. "Hey, what's up with this big hole here?"

"How should I know that, you idiot!?"

I laughed a bit louder, the cave making my voice echo. Zoro shouted. "Dammit! Mace if you don't shut up, I'll kill you!"

I just snickered, calming down. Luffy asked if he was okay. I walked over and looked down. It was deep, I couldn't see him at all. I looked back up to see Luffy jumped down. My eyes widened in shock. "Luffy! Why the hell did you jump in for?!"

"I'm gonna look for Zoro, you comin'?"

I sighed, rubbing the skin above my eyes. "No, I'll wait with Chopper, you find Zoro."

"Sure thing!"

I heard him walk off and I tensed when I heard Chopper scream. I looked back, but couldn't see him. I yelled down. "Hey, what happened?"

Luffy called. "Chopper fell too!"

I shook my head. "Really? I guess I have no choice in the matter." I jumped down and landed in a crouch, so the jump didn't hurt as much. I walked to where I heard the others and saw Chopper, Luffy and Zoro in some underground area. There was broken pillars and a huge thing in the ground with some picture writing on it.

I waved my hand. "Yo."

Zoro eyes widened. "Mace!? What are you doing here?"

"Since Chopper went down, I figured I'd be no help up there, so I came down."

Luffy grinned at me. Chopper asked me. "Are you okay, that was a long drop?"

I shrugged, looking around. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad of a drop."

Zoro looked up. "From what I can tell, we're in a giant dome."

Now that I think about it, this place did looked dome. Like a crappy version of the Baseball domes from my time. Chopper said. "I think people used to live here too."

Zoro asked. "What?"

"These look like ancient ruins or something."

I looked around. "Yeah, if that's true, this place has to be really old."

Zoro looked at the both of us. "How can you tell?"

Chopper said. "Look at this thing, it almost entirely covered with rows of hidden characters. I've seen something just like this in a book before. It's like an ancient alphabet."

I rubbed my chin. It looks like something Egyptians would do. With the Great Pyramids or something. There are a lot of languages that used drawings instead of words. I remember some simular to this one, but can't read it.

Luffy called over to us. "Who cares about that stupid stuff anyway? The only thing I care about is that it's cool and shady in here, how nice."

I stuck my tongue about at him. "Shut it, it's interesting."

His was laying on the ground, but he lifted his head to stick his tongue out back at me. Zoro ignored us and asked. "Then what's this place doing underground?"

Chopper said. "Was it built underground or was it burried sometime after it the built. Either way, I have a feeling they're trying to hide the building for some reason."

I nodded in agreement. "I think your right, but I think this place was build underground to hide whatever this thing is."

Zoro shrugged. "Whatever it is, it doesn't concern us. Come on, Captain, let's get out of here."

Luffy was still laying down. "Why, it's nice in here?"

"C'mon already, will ya?" I could hear the annoyance in Zoro's voice.

Luffy curled into a loose ball and rolled back and forth, whinning. "No, I don't wanna! Let's just stay in here a little while longer, okay? It's really really hot outside!"

I chuckled to myself as Zoro punched him in the head. I winced at the hit he gave me next. I rubbed my head. "You turning into Nami or something."

He bared his teeth at me and snapped. "Shut up, dumbass! Your not helping."

Luffy said it was time to catch up with the rest of the crew. Luffy asked. "That hole is where Zoro fell on his ass, right?"

Zoro snapped at him for laughing and I chuckled again, grinning. "Yep."

I heard Zoro growl. Luffy did his Gum Gum Pistol, but hit the side of the roof, making rocks and dust crash onto him. I sighed and went back a couple of steps. Zoro asked. "What're you tryin' to do?"

He did the same thing, but the same thing happened when he hit the hole, the stone broke through and fell on him. Luffy shook the sand away from him with an annoyed look on his face. He yelled. "That's it! Gum Gum Gatling."

My eyes widened and I backed up as he sent fists flying at the roof. "You idiot!"

I dived to the right and the other two went the other way, the boulder almost hitting us. Zoro screamed. "What'd you do that for, you idiot?! How're are we going to get up there now that you brought the boulder down here!?"

"Oh, it's alright, I have an idea."

I stiffened and shared a horrified look with Zoro. We know his ideas never went well. Luffy said. "Chopper, you should get little though."

I felt myself pale, I think I knew his plan, living with him so long. He wrapped himself against the pillar in here and I sighed. "I knew it."

Zoro sighed. "I should've guessed something like this, c'mon Chopper."

I grabbed onto Luffy, the others doing the went flying and I tightened my grip, the wind hitting me in the face. Luffy laughed and Chopper screamed. "Luffy, how are we going to land?!"

"Don't know!" He laughed some more.

I sighed. "Just roll with it."

Zoro snapped. "Didn't I tell you to just except it!"

"You didn't metion this part!"

Luffy dropped us and I felt myself flail and I saw Zoro and Chopper. I snatched Chopper as we fell and yelped in pain when I used my body to roll with the fall on the shoulder, groaning when I landed hard on my back. I felt Chopper shake in my arms and I let him go. "Thanks Mace."

I groaned. "N-no problem."

I felt my back and shoulder flame with pain. Chopper said. "I definatly chose the wrong ship to join."

Zoro groaned. "Yep, I know what you mean, Chopper."

I rolled on my side. "Imagine having to deal with that since you were seven."

They both said at the same time. "We feel bad for you."

I rose to my hands and knees . "I do too."

I got back to my feet. "C'mon, let's go."

Zoro said. "You got up quickly."

I shrugged a little. "Eh, I'm used to it."

We started walking again and the heat was better since the sun was going down. Luffy ran ahead and said. "Come on, hurry!"

Zoro grumbled. "Of couse, he gets all of his energy back now that the sun is going down."

The cold air was a relief. I jogged forward until I was walking with Luffy. He grinned at me and I smiled back. Zoro called a few minutes later. "Hey, we found the others, toward the sunset."

Luffy ran off and I sped up, following him. Zoro called. "Hey, don't run off. We'll get seperared again."

I called. "Hurry up, then! Let's find them before it gets dark."

After a while we found the others and Luffy was jumping up and down. I grinned, waving at them. We walked down and I saw Vivi looking at us, eyes filled with relief. I smiled at her. "You weren't too worried, were you Vivi?"

Nami smiled. "The whole time you all were gone."

I chuckled. "Don't be, everyone in the crew can hold their own most of the time."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / /

At least as we walked together again, it was still around sun rise, so the head wasn't bad. The cloaks helped with the cold too. I walked with Luffy and he was looking at the blank piece of paper Ace gave us. I had mine safe in my pocket. Usopp asked. "Luffy, Mace? What was that blank piece of paper Ace gave you?"

Luffy shrugged. "I don't know, it looks like a scrap of paper."

I nodded. "Yeah, Ace is weird anyway, but we'll still keep it."

Luffy made a sound of agreement and Chopper asked. "It's just paper?"

Sanji said. "Let me see it."

I looked over curious as Sanji grabbed the paper. "Well, it really does look like it's a piece of paper, nothing written on it or anything."

Sanji asked me. "Mace-darling, is yours the same?"

I nodded. "Uh-huh, I checked."

Luffy said. "I'm not sure why Ace gave them to us, but like Mace said, I'm gonna keep it."

I closed my eyes and walked forward, only to open them at Luffy scream. I saw Eyelash eating it. I ran over with Luffy and tried to force his mouth open. "Oi, give it back!"

Luffy yelled. "Don't eat that!"

He punched it in the head so his mouth opened and I snatched the paper out, grimacing at the drool and handing it to Luffy. "Here."

"Thanks."

Nami came over. "Hey Luffy, give me your hat. Mace, you too."

I raised an eyebrow as we stopped and I walked over to her and Luffy. Me and Luffy asked. "Why?"

Nami said. "If it's really that important to you, I can sow it to the underside of your hat ribbon."

I grinned with Luffy as he said. "Good idea, sow it on real good!"

I handed her my hat and the blank piece of paper from my pocket. Nami did Luffy first and then mine. Luffy grinned. "Thanks!"

I nodded, shoving my hat back on my head. At least I didn't have to worry about losing it now. Zoro asked. "If it has nothing on it, why are you hanging on the the thing?"

Luffy said. "Ace said it's important and to hang on to it, so I'm hanging on to it, that's all."

I nodded. "Yeah, he must of gave it to us for a reason, plus whatever this thing is, he said it would reunite us."

Nami raised an eyebrow. "So basically your both going by instincts."

Me and Luffy nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Vivi suddenly smiled. "Guys, we're close. Yuba's just past those rocks, there."

I felt my eyes lighten up in excitment and I gave her a toothy grin. "Huh, really?"

Vivi smiled wider. "Yes."

Luffy cheered and ran away. I jogged after him, I was not losing him again. Luffy asked Zoro to carry him and he denied that. I smirked and Luffy asked me. "Come on, please!"

I shook my head. "Nope, I already did earlier. You know, your getting pretty heavy."

He pouted. "Am not."

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Are s-"

"KNOCK IT OFF, THE BOTH OF YOU!"

My eyes widened at Nami's yell. I shared a look with Luffy and we laughed. I could hear our navigator grit her teeth from here. I chuckled some more and saw Usopp panting as he dragged himself along. Of course Nami and Vivi were sitting on Eyelash. At least Chopper looked to be fine. Walking in the sand was annoying though, with the rolling it caused, making my footsteps a bit shaky and the sand got in my boots too.

What was really funny was that I always wanted to see Egypt back in my time, but at least now I know I wouldn't of liked the desert anyway. The wind was really howling. Suddenly Vivi said. "Look ahead, I see a light!"

I blinked, but it was hard with the harsh wind blowing sand in our faces. Luffy said. "Is that Yuba? I can't see with all this sand blowing everywhere."

I saw a couple of sand dunes ahead of us, but nothing else. I covered my face with the hood of my cloak and saw the others do the same. Vivi said. "Something here doesn't feel right. There's something wrong down there, I can tell!"

I gave her a look and shrugged. "Well, Vivi, this is your home country, you would know more than us. What do you want to do?"

Vivi eyes widened and she shouted. "It's a sandstorm!" But it stopped and I gave Vivi a questioning look.

Vivi had a scared, but determined look on her face. "Let's go forward, look on ahead."

Sanji started walking. "You all heard Vivi-chan."

We followed him and Vivi was leading, looking horrified the farther we got into town. My eyes widened in surprise. "Shit, the whole place is covered in sand."

Zoro nodded. "It looks like the last place we went to, Eramulu."

Sanji asked. "Vivi-chan, I thought this place was supposed to be an Oasis?"

"It looks like the Oasis has disappeared. It has beem swallowed up by all the sand." I frowned at the small hitch in her voice. Seeing your home like this would bother anyone.

I tilted my head to the side at some kind of sound ahead of us and walked forward, the others following me. A guy was covered from head to toe and digging a hole. His voice was rough with either disuse or from dehydration. I think it's a bit of both. "I'm guessing you are all travelers. You must to exausted with the time spend in that heat. Sorry, this town is a bit dried up too. It doesn't have much relief to offer. But still your free to rest here for a while."

He turned to face us and I saw that he was actually an underfed old man with a bushy white mustashe and weathered face. "We may not have much water, but we have plenty of inns in the town. It's what we prided ourselves in, afterall."

Vivi spoke up. "Thank you, but we came here because we thought the Rebel Army was in this town."

His attitude changed as he turned to face us again, he looked mad. "What business do you have with the Rebel Army?! Curse all of you! If you're here to join the Rebel Army, you can go back where you came from!"

He started to throw stuff and I ducked, calling. "Hey! Old man, calm down!"

He did and said as he continued to dig. "If your looking for those fools, look elsewhere. They're no longer in this town."

I stumbled a couple of steps back in horrified shock. "What!?"

Luffy screamed. "Wait, they're gone!?"

Vivi called. "They left!?"

"I'm sure you noticed the town was just hit by a sandstorm. But that one certainly wasn't the first. After three years of no rain, the land has become increasingly dry. Sandstorms become a regular occurance here. Little by little the Oasis we knew has been swallowed up. So the town became what you see now. A dying wasteland, with the flow of supplies ended, the Rebel Army couldn't maintain their drawn out struggle. So they packed up and moved on. The Rebel Base is now located in Katorea."

I frowned at her. "What's so shocking about it?"

Luffy eyesbrows furrowed. "Is Katorea near here, Vivi?"

Vivi told us it was near Nanohana. My eyes widened. "What?"

As Usopp, Sanji and Luffy beat up the camel for not saying he was helping the Rebel Army, I noticed the old man coming closer. I didn't put a hand on the hilt of my sword, but I did move in front of Vivi. "Hey, old man? What do you want?"

They all turned to look at him. Luffy gaped and tried to say she wasn't a princess. I sighed at him and the old man moved closer. I scowled. "Oi."

He said, speaking over my shoulder since I wouldn't let him pass. "Your alive, I can't believe it."

Vivi told me. "It's okay, Mace. Move over."

I frowned, but did as she asked me. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't you recognize me, I'm different. I lost some wait I suppose."

Vivi's eyes widened in shock. "Toto, is that really you?"

"That's right."

The old man started to cry. "No matter what it's worth, I have faith in you and the king. He's a good man, a true king who would never betray his country. I know it!"

It seems I overreacted again. I know old people aren't defenseless, as Gramps was a prime example and walking for days on end in the desert has me a bit on edge without me realizing it.

Toto shouted. "This rebellion is foolish! A bunch of faithless fools! True our country hasn't seen more than a drop of rain in three years, but I still put my trust in the king as I always have. Most of the country still has faith in him actually. I tried to stop them, so many times. But they won't listen to anything I say. The rebellion isn't stopping. Their strength, suppiles and men have reached the limit however. They're attention is to settle everything with their next attack. The backs are against the wall, their stuck in a corner. Prepare for death! Please Vivi, you have to stop these fools from tearing our country apart!"

I crossed my arms over my chest with a frown. Vivi smiled and handed him a hankerchief. "Toto, old friend. Please don't be worried. We'll stop this."

"Thank you Vivi."

I shared a quick look with Luffy. Chasing the Rebel Army was getting insane. We were just running around all over the place. I have a feeling no matter what, the royal army and the rebels would clash. I understand the rebels, I really did, but we needed to do something and this running around wasn't helping. From the deep frown on Luffy face, I knew he agreed with me.

I then looked at Vivi and my frowned deepened as my hat shaded my eyes, Vivi was looking worriedly at Toto.

Yeah, we needed to do something.

There we go, done! This wasn't that exciting, but it should getting interesting soon enough. Until then...