A.n I own nothing

Please Review

The day had started like any other; wake up, have breakfast and continue a seven day hike across the dessert. Not long after beginning the days trek Luffy wanted to play a game with everyone, the catch was that the winner had to carry all the supplies. Connor was not so good with games so he expected to lose; the other straw hats only agreed to play because Luffy would not shut up about it until the played.

Turns out Luffy won, so he had to carry all the luggage. Sanji pointed out that normally the loser would have to carry the luggage and not the victor. Luffy carried the luggage for five minutes before he started to complain. Connor offered to take some of it for him but Nami reminded the boy that Luffy had made the rules so he should obey them.

After an hour Luffy was struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. Vivi decided that they would take a break at the next lot of shade they found. Before too long some tall rocks were seen and as soon as Luffy caught sight of it he dashed towards the shade.

This was not surprising to the others, what was surprising was that Luffy had come running back yelling for Chopper to treat some injured birds. When the group arrived there were no birds and the supplies were gone. The crew glared at Luffy.

"Luffy, where's our water?" Nami asked dangerously.

"I'm telling you there were injured white birds," Luffy defended himself.

"Did these birds look like stalks, white feathers and long necks?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah that's them, but they looked badly hurt,"

"Luffy those were Warusagi Birds. They trick travellers and steal their supplies,"

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US ABOUT THEM?"

"I'm sorry I just forgot,"

Connor looked towards the horizon, crossing the dessert without food or water would be impossible, he suddenly noticed a flock of birds with their supplies. The birds were smirking at the crew and had an evil look in their eyes.

"Hey are those the birds that took our stuff?" Connor asked and pointed at the flock.

Luffy took one look at the birds and chased after them demanding the supplies back, the birds flew off into the dessert and Luffy followed them.

"Luffy wait, we can't get separated out here," Vivi warned, but Luffy ignored here and kept going.

Ace watched his brother go with an indifferent look on his face. They all sat down on the rocks waiting for Luffy to return. After forty minutes Zoro decided to look for Luffy.

"Wait Zoro don't go," Sanji begged.

"What why?" asked Zoro.

"Because you'll get lost and then we'll have to look for you too,"

Zoro froze and his eye twitched at what Sanji was implying; this of course started another fight. Vivi made a move to stop them but Ace grabbed her shoulder, he shook his head. Tacking Ace's advice Vivi did not stop the fight. Suddenly a large dust cloud approached the group at an alarming pace; Usopp used his binoculars to get a better look and discovered that Luffy was riding a camel. They were being chased very large purple lizard; Sanji and Zoro stopped fighting and in brought the lizard down in one combined attack.

"Well that's our food problem solved," Usopp claimed.

The straw hats agreed and Luffy was pestering Sanji to cook the giant lizard. Vivi was looking around in panic.

"Vivi what's wrong?" Nami asked.

"Well it's just that this particular type of lizard…" she didn't get to finish her sentence when a second lizard burst out of the sand.

"Always hunt in pairs," Vivi finished.

The second lizard looked over the group; it focused on the closest member to itself which was Ace and swallowed him whole. Suddenly the Lizard started spewing out flames and it ran in a circle trying to get spit what Ace up. The lizard spat Ace into the air and as soon as Ace was out he sent a coelom of fire at the Lizard,; when the fire faded the lizard was burnt to a crisp. Ace landed in front of the now flame grilled lizard.

"Ace are you all right?" Chopper asked concerned.

"Yeah, guess he couldn't handle a little spicy food," Ace joked.

Sanji cooked the first lizard using the hot rocks around as frying pans. The thicker and tougher pieces were cooked using Aces powers. Both Chopper and Connor were amazed that Sanji could cook using rocks. The straw hats decided to keep the camel and ride it across the desert; unfortunately the camel was a massive pervert only let ladies ride it. So Nami named it Eyelashes.

After the lizard had been eaten the group continued on, they needed to find water and quick. As they were walking a nice light breeze began to blow. This was unusual due to the lack of trees in the dessert.

"Hey wat's that?" Zoro asked and looked to the west of them.

The straw hats looked out west and Vivi panicked. There was a large sandstorm heading their way.

"Everyone group up quick," She urged urgently.

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"That's a massive sandstorm, we need to take cover. Without our tents or any kind of shelter were sitting ducks,"

"There's no shelter around," Usopp panicked.

"Exactly so group up and stay together, we'll have to walk through it," Vivi said "whatever happens do not get separated,"

The storm hit them a few minutes later, it was rough and sand was blowing everywhere. Fighting against the wind and extremely low visibility was difficult. Connor tried to activate his second sight but it was impossible to keep his eyes open with all the sand blowing around.

Suddenly the storm stopped, the straw hats were relieved that it was over. Vivi however warned otherwise.

"Everyone join hands quick. A sand tornado is coming," she warned.

"How do you know?" Nami asked.

"You could say that we're in the eye of a sandstorm now,"

"You're joking right? Pleas say that you're joking," Nami cried. As the ships navigator she knew full well what Vivi was implying.

Vivi shock her head "I wish I was," she said.

"Everyone hold hands NOW!" Nami yelled.

Sanji wanted to hold Vivi's and Namis hands but got stuck with Luffy's and Zoro's. Just then the tornado hit the group, the wind was incredibly rough and it only got worse; it felt like the storm was specifically targeting them. Try as they might each straw hat knew that it was only a matter of time before they were blown away.

Nami, Vivi and Eyelashes were the first to be blown away. Zoro, Chopper and Luffy were next; followed by Usopp and Sanji and finally Connor and Ace.

A caravan was making its way across the desert; it was pulled by two camels. Two men sat in front one driving the other held a rifle at the ready. Inside were four other men, they were sitting on various wooden crates and barrels. This was a supply caravan headed towards the city of Rainbase, one of the few cities that had withstood the drought.

The man driving the craven pulled it to a stop; something was half buried in the sand in front of them. The man with the rifle got down and went to investigate, he walked up to whatever was buried and was surprised to find it was a person. He jabbed the half buried person twice with his rifle but didn't get a response.

The man dug the person out and got a good look at him, his eyes went wide when he realised who he'd just discovered; it was Connor. The man checked the boys pulse and he was still alive, he picked up the un-moving boy and carried him back to the caravan.

"What'cha got there?" the driver asked.

"It's that kid from the wanted poster, you know the one who knows the boss's secret," the man carrying Connor answered.

"Seriously? What's he doing all the way out here?"

"Who knows who cares? We just found the number two on the boss's most wanted list, if we take him back with us we'll be promoted to double digits,"

"Your right, he looks in bad shape though,"

"He's still alive, if we keep him that way then we might get a bonus. You know how the boss likes to make his enemies suffer,"

"Put him in the back and have the others guard him," the driver ordered.

The man carrying Connor was happy to oblige, once he got in the caravan started moving again. The man placed Connor in the centre of the cart and bound his hands and feet with rope; he ordered the other four men to guard the boy and never take their eyes off him before moving back to his original position up front.

"We are going to be so rich after this," the driver claimed.

Ace had been wandering the dessert alone for some time now, ever since the storm blew him away from the others. When the storm had hit and he'd been blown clear of the sand in the air; Ace had immediately changed his body into flames. Thanks to this he had travelled quite the distance through the air and when he'd hit the ground it' hadn't hurt.

Now lost and alone in the dessert Ace had used his Observation Haki to see if anyone was around. He doubted that any of the Straw hats would be in range, but if he could find a settlement then he could get directions to Yuba and much needed supplies. Fortunately his Haki detected a six people, they were altogether and he suspected that they were travellers; they were on the very edge of his senses.

Ace started walking in their direction; he'd be lucky to catch up to them before dark. As he walked through the dessert he could not help worry about Luffy. Ace new that trouble always found his little brother and he had been worried about him ever since he left him alone on their Island back in the East Blue. When he saw Luffys wanted poster he had been extremely proud of him and it also increased his worry; however the rest of Luffys crew seemed quite capable.

It was comforting to know that they were looking out for Luffy, although he'd never admit it. He checked with Haki every now and again to make sure he was still following the six travellers. As night approached he noticed that the travellers had stopped probably to make camp, they were still several miles away from Ace.

It was close to midnight by the time Ace approached the camp, he noticed six figures sleeping around a medium sized camp fire. Off to the side was a caravan that likely held supplies, Ace decided to borrow some water. He'd explain himself and his situation to the travellers in the morning, he walked over to the caravan expecting supplies to inside it what Ace was not expecting to find was Connor tied up and shivering in the cold.

Ace approached the boy silently and knelt in front of him, he placed a hand on the boys shoulder. As soon as he touched him Connors eyes snapped open, the boy stared at Ace with a mixture of relief and fear.

"Ace?" Connor whispered.

Ace nodded and a felt the Connors forehead, taking his temperature; he was incredibly cold. Ace moved his hand to Connors chest, using his powers to raise his palms temperature. Warmth flooded Connors body and he realised what Ace was doing.

"Better?" Ace asked.

"Yeah," Connor answered "How are you doing that?"

"Well I am living fire, so it's only natural that I can control my own body temperature. It took a while to learn how to do it without bursting into flames though,"

Connor nodded and they stayed that way for about five minutes before Ace removed his hand, during that time Connor asked about the rest of the crew but Ace hadn't seen them. He then went moved behind Connor and cut his hands and feet free with his dagger.

"What happened why were you tied up?" Ace asked.

"I woke up like that, these men work for Baroque works they must have found me after the storm blew us away. They were planning to give me to their boss in exchange for a promotion," Connor explained.

"Baroque works? That bounty hunting group. Why would they want you? You don't have a bounty,"

Connor then explained the about the civil war, Vivi and how the straw hats had got involved. Ace interrupted to ask the odd question but mainly listed to what Connor had to say. When he was done Ace rubbed his template in annoyance.

"Luffy what have you gotten yourself into this time?" he muttered to himself "we need to find the others,"

"How? They could be anywhere by now," Connor said, he doubted his second sight would help.

"Leave that to me, by the way these men didn't hurt you did they?"

"No, I struggled a bit when I woke up but stopped when I noticed their guns trained on me,"

"Good, let's grab some supplies and get out of here before those men wake up," Ace suggested.

Ace found an empty sack and stared loading it up with dried beef, bread and anything else that would survive the dessert heat. Connor found a couple of water skins and a few barrels filled with water, he filled them and gave them to Ace. Ace also grabbed a barrel of water to take with them; as soon as Connor climbed out of the caravan the cold hit him and he began to shiver.

Ace mentally cursed himself, Connor would not be able to travel at night; Ace could carry the boy to keep him warm but then he'd have to forfeit the supplies. He thought about taking the caravan but that would leave these men with no way to survive the dessert and staying with them was not an option either. Fortunately there was a sled among the supplies, Ace grabbed it and loaded the supplies onto the sled.

"Climb on my back," Ace told Connor, and removed his desert robe.

"Wh…a..tt?" Connor asked in surprise, he was shivering and only just managed to get the word out.

"Look we're going to have to travel at night, the cold doesn't affect me like it dose you. If you climb on my back I can keep you warm and pull the supplies," Ace reasoned.

Connor was very hesitant to but he did what he was told. Once on his back Connor instantly felt warmer and Ace put the desert robe back on covering Connor to help keep the boy warm; Ace started walking.

Ace and Connor continued through the dessert, Ace was using his Haki trying to find any sign of a settlement or his brother. They had been walking for two days now and still no sign of the other straw hats. During the day Connor and Ace would walk through the dessert, at night they'd stop and make camp; Ace would wake Connor up a few hours before dawn so they could cover more ground. Ace would carry Connor to keep him warm while the boy went back to sleep on his back.

While looking for Luffy was defiantly Ace's top priority something else was on his mind; Connor. When Ace had been on his own he'd found the caravan with the six Baroque works agents with Haki, and used it to track them through the day. However when he did catch up Connor was with them bring the total up to seven people; yet Ace had only sensed six the entre time.

He knew that observation Haki had a hard time telling the difference between someone who was dead or just asleep/knocked out; Ace had just assumed that Connor was unconscious most of the time he'd been with the caravan but the boy claimed otherwise. Ace had been using his Haki over the last day or two and every time he used it Connor did not even register, Ace knew that the boy was walking beside him and he could even see him; but his Haki was not picking him up.

During the journey Ace asked Connor what it was like to sail with Luffy. Connor honestly had no complaints as he enjoyed it, he told Ace about some of the straw hats past adventures. The more Ace heard the more he felt relieved that Luffy had good friends watching over him. Ace made a mental note to speak with the rest of the straw hats about his brother.

On the third day the supplies that they'd stolen had run out, they had no more food and were running dangerously low on water; thankfully Ace had picked up a settlement nearby. When they arrived it turned out to be a town that was built into the side of a canyon. The canyon walls provide shelter form both the sun and sandstorms; it was likely that there was an underground source of water nearby otherwise the town would not have been built here.

As they walked into town people stopped what they were doing to stare at the two travellers. The towns' folk looked at them with suspicion and fear. Connor found it unnerving; he activated his second sight and was relieved that the towns' folk were white and not red. Ace understood their suspicion; the country was in the middle of a civil war after all.

A man approached them "Greeting travellers, what bring you to our town," the man asked.

"We're kind of lost our way and need supplies desperately," Ace claimed.

"Oh you're not bandits or rebels right?"

"Nope just your average travellers who lost their stuff thanks to a sandstorm," Ace answered.

The man sighed with relief and led them to the market square, it turns out that the man was the mayor of this town. They'd been having trouble with bandits and Sand pirates lately; also a group of rebels had passed through a while ago and taken most of their food. Thankfully they missed a few hidden store houses and the town had managed to get back on its feet.

Ace bought a whole bunch of food and water; he bought as much as the sled would hold. Connor had spied a restaurant and Ace decided to grab a bite before leaving town. They were in the middle of lunch when the mayor came in looking for them.

"Oh good you're here, I need your help," the Mayor said.

"Sure what's up?" Ace asked.

"The Sand pirates are approaching," the mayor claimed "they always come here to steal our food and water. If you can fight please protect us,"

"Don't you have any weapons or solders here?" Connor asked.

"Not any more, the solders that were stationed here left to fight in the war and they took all the weapons with them," the mayor claimed.

"Fine I'll go fight them, I need to work off lunch," Ace claimed and asked the waiter if they could get there uneaten lunch as a takeaway.

Ace and Connor went to meet the Sand pirates and were quite shocked when it turned out to be Luffy and Sanji. They were both happy to see Ace and Connor were alright, Luffy hugged his older brother when Ace showed them the supplies he'd bought and gave Luffy his uneaten lunch.

While Luffy was devouring Aces lunch Sanji filled them in on what had happened to the rest of the crew. He and Usopp had landed in a hidden supply storage, they had waited for the owners to come and were surprised to meet up with Luffy. Apparently the Storage belonged to a group of desert Pirates that had found Nami, Vivi and Eylashes.

Luffy, Zoro and Chopper had only met up with them thanks to Chopper following the scent of Nami's perfume. Luffy had instantly befriended the pirates and offered to make a supply run for them. The nearest supply cache was the one where Usopp and Snaji had been. After reuniting with the others on the ship Luffy wanted to find Connor and Ace; as they were both still unaccounted for.

Nami suggested that they head for Yuba because that is the most likely place that both Ace and Connor would be found. The captain of the Sand pirates agreed to give them a ride on his ship, he also mentioned a town not too far from Yuba that they should cheek as well.

Ace and Connor followed Sanji and Luffy back to the Sand pirates ship, the rest of the straw hats we're quite happy that they were all back together again.