Morning came rather harshly for everyone as a sandstorm was the first thing that greeted them.
"Sandstorms are another danger in the desert!" Vivi shouted.
"Tell us these things sooner!" Usopp shouted as they all braced themselves. The sandstorm blew around them for a while before dying out. Everyone began to dig themselves out of the sand before looking around.
"Bleeh!" Johnny said.
"I got sand in places that I didn't know were there." Yosaku said.
"One heck of a wake up call." Zoro groaned.
"Where'd the tents go?" Gin asked. Soon they all dusted off their clothes before packing up and traveling again.
"Can we eat yet?" Luffy asked.
"No. Not until Vivi says so." Sanji said.
"Please Vivi! Can we eat?" Luffy said.
"We're not even close to Yuba yet Luffy, so we have to make our supplies last." she said.
"Haven't you ever heard the proverb Vivi? Eat when thou art hungry!" Luffy said.
"You made that up!" Usopp groaned.
"Words to live by." Gin said with a smirk.
"You're not helping!" Usopp shouted.
"Okay Luffy. We'll eat at the next group of rocks we stop at." she said.
"Then let's get going guys!" Luffy yelled before challenging them all to a game of rock-paper-scissors, with the winner carrying everyone's stuff. Luffy won and was now carrying it all, despite not knowing how it happened.
"He'll never change." Ace said under his breath as Usopp spotted rocks up ahead.
"TIME TO EAT!" Luffy yelled as he raced off towards the rocks with all the supplies.
"FAST!" Usopp yelled. Luffy was now resting in the shade before hearing some pain filled groans coming from a few rocks over.
"What's that?" he asked himself as he went over to look. He gasped when he spotted a group of injured birds lying all of the place. "What happened?! Hang on! I'll get you a doctor!" he said before he started running. He ran a few yards before suddenly stopping. "Wait a second. Didn't those birds run off with our...oh crap!" he said before running back. Sure enough, the birds were up and healthy and packing everything onto their backs with sneaky smiles on their beaks, not even noticing Luffy running at them.
-Back with the others-
"Stupid moron running off like that!" Zoro grumbled.
"If he ate everything again, I'm gonna kill him!" Sanji said.
"That's a high possibility." Ace said. Before they could go further, all of them saw a flock of strange birds flying away looking like they got into a fight with a sea king.
"What happened to them?" Gin asked. Vivi gasped before telling them that those birds are known for decieving travelers and stealing their stuff.
"Guess they tried to steal from Luffy." Alvida said with a smirk. They all finally got to the rocks before spotting Luffy acting like a guard.
"Hey guys." Luffy said with a grin. "Some birds tried to steal our stuff, but I kicked their asses." he said.
"We saw that." Greg said before seeing one of them lying on the ground next to a rock. "One of them didn't get away."
"That's definitely a Warusagi bird." Vivi said. Grace walked over to see it before it lunged at her and grabbed her backpack before flying away and squawking.
"What's he saying?" Nojiko said as Grace got to her feet.
"He said that guy's crazy, but we aint leaving empty handed!" Chopper said.
"That's got all my art supplies!" Grace cried out as she tried to give chase.
"I got it!" Luffy said as Sanji followed. Both of them chased after the bird before Luffy sent a tempest kick at it. The bird freaked out and dropped the bag which Sanji caught before a group of giant plants began attacking them. They fought them all off and helped a camel in the process before they began running from something under the sand.
"Where'd that camel come from?" Nojiko asked.
"What are they running from?!" Gin asked. He got his answer when a giant purple lizard appeared from under the sand.
"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Usopp shrieked.
"A Sandora Dragon!" Vivi shouted. "It's the largest reptile in the desert. It's fangs and claws are razor sharp, yet they only need to swallow their prey whole!"
"Just like when we were kids." Ace said with a smile. "Luffy's always attracting trouble one way or the other."
"Yeah, and we have to clean up his mess!" Zoro said. "Still, I bet that stupid cook helped him out." he said as he ran towards them. "You two morons need a hand?!"
"Like we need any help from you Moss Head!" Sanji said.
"Don't worry! We got dinner right behind us!" Luffy said before all three of them jumped at it.
"GUM GUM!"
"TATSU!"
"EPOULE!"
"PISTOL/MAKI/SHOOT!" All three of them attacked at once, defeating the giant lizard with ease. All but Ace gapped at them as the lizard fell down dead.
"That was a little overkill guys." Usopp said.
"Way to go Big Bros!" Johnny and Yosaku cheered.
"I feel bad for whoever those three gang up on." Nami said before another lizard appeared right behind them. "Another one?!" Nami shouted as the rest freaked out.
"I forgot to mention that they hunt in pairs!" Vivi yelled.
"Stop forgetting these things!" most of them said as Ace looked at it in boredom.
"Watch out Ace!" Nojiko yelled.
"Big guy isn't he?" Ace asked. "Wanna fight huh? Alright then!" Ace said as he jumped into the air before being swallowed. The lizard's mouth and nose erupted with fire before it was surround in a pillar of fire while Ace jumped out towards the others. The others stared in shock as the crispy lizard fell down dead.
"These rocks are nature's frying pan." Sanji said. After the fight, everyone began eating the lizard while wondering where the camel came from. Chopper immediately recognized him and smiled.
"I remember you!" he said. When he was getting supplies, he somehow wound up in Katorea but escaped thanks to him.
"A passenger carrying camel huh? That'll be a great help out here." Usopp said.
"Looks like he can carry two at a time." Sanji said.
"Camels and deserts go hand in hand." Zoro said.
"Good. I'm tired of walking. Me first." Gin said before the camel bit down on his head. "What was that for?!" That's when Chopper translated for the camel, telling them that though he was grateful that they saved him, he'd only carry females, which resulted in a majority of the men kicking his ass until he was black and blue.
"Did my barbaric friends hurt you?" Nami asked in a sweet voice, making the camel's eyes turn into hearts. "Now, what should we call a sweet guy like you?"
"Idiot!"
"Moron!"
"Lame Ass!"
"Dumbshit!
"Fuckface!"
"We'll call you Eyelash." Nami said.
"All those names, and you pick that?" Zoro asked.
"So, who get's first shift then?" Alvida asked. After a quick debate, Nami, Vivi, and a 1 kilo weighing Valerie got the first ride as most of the men started calling out 'Pervert Camel.'
"Now we can get to Yuba faster." Nami said. "Go Eyelash!" Nami said. Eyelash then dashed off with them on board.
"HEY! WAIT UP!" everyone else said. The women followed Eyelash just fine. The men, not so much. Ace got lost in the middle of nowhere while the rest of the men were now wondering around the desert before encountering the BarBar Sand Pirates and their captain Barbarossa. Luffy had jumped over and broken the mast by accident since they had all the women tied up besides Alvida before they apologized for treating their friends like that. Since the mast was now broken, Luffy and Vivi, along with Rasa and Zaba, went to a nearby ruin to gather wood. When they got there, they learned that Rasa was a citizen of the once great city before it fell to ruin. She stayed, clinging on to a promise that if anything happened to the city, the King would come and help. No one came before she joined up with Barbarossa, yet she asked why she stayed. Vivi cried before apologizing to her and they went back with the wood.
-With the ship-
Back at the ship, the ones who stayed behind had started to bond with the Sand Pirates before desert bandits had arrived to attack them. The BarBar Pirates got ready to fight before the Desert Bandit Leader got flattened by a ball of dung from a Grand Dung Beetle. The ball flattened Barbarossa, but Zoro, Sanji, and Greg destroyed it before it could hit the ship.
-With Ace-
Ace was still wondering the desert after frying a giant scorpion and was riding a top a strange lizard.
"LUFFY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" he called.
-Back with the ship-
The Straw Hats left to go towards a village called Ido as they waved goodbye to their new friends. As they did, Vivi saw that Rasa was waving as well before she waved back with a watery smile. As they got closer, they saw Ace coming towards them with a lizard pulling a large amount of food and water behind them. When Vivi asked how he got it, he explained that small group of people calling themselves the rebel army were there. Turns out, they were fakes who used the name of Rebel Army to free load off the town. Vivi was angry, but Ace said that, thanks to them, bandits and such left the village in peace. Vivi then decided to test them to see what they would do. Meanwhile, the 'Rebel Army' tried to escape, only to be surrounded by all the male Straw Hats while the villagers watched and cheered them on. Luffy attacked the leader and knocked him on his ass with a single punch. As he lay there, he remembered that he wanted to be as strong as the heroes of Albasta that he looked up to when he was a kid. He then got up and told them that they may be fakes, but they'd die as heroes before punching Luffy. His friends then stood up, only to watch as Luffy and his friends run, saying how strong their spirit was. Vivi was pleased to see them stand up to fight and had no problem leaving the village's protection in their hands as they all moved on.
-Some time later-
Everyone was traveling onwards to Yuba. The boys were getting into petty arguements about water, Alvida, Nojiko, and Grace, due to her small size, were riding on Eyelash, and Vivi was telling a story about the Rebel Leader. She told them about Kohza, how they met, the Sand Sand Clan, his father, the bandits that tried to kidnap her, and how Yuba was built after the King put Kohza's father, Toto, in charge. When she was asked why she talked about Kohza, Vivi told them all that he was the Leader of the Rebel Army while the boys ate a giant scorpion they had found and killed. The women just left in a huff at their stupidity before they all kept on going through the desert.
-Some more time later-
Everyone was eating, or attacking Luffy for stealing their food, while a man was watching from afar. He was aiming a bazooka at Ace before his bird at the fuse, which caused him to yell and chase him. While that was happening, Luffy was following a floating piece of meat before he heard the man yelling. The man's bomb dropped down the giant rock he was on, but Luffy caught it before talking with him. They then left as the man said his name was Scorpion, and that he was gonna fight Ace.
While that was happening, Ace and the rest of the Straw Hats met two young brothers named Dip and Chip. They asked them to find a man, but were stopped when the same man came riding towards them on an ostrich with Luffy accompanying him. The man then challenged Ace to a fight, who accepted without hesitation. The two fought, with Ace winning by a landslide, until Chip and Dip begged their father Scorpion to stop. The Straw Hats listened and discovered that their father gave up the bounty hunting life, which was his dream, to raise his kids. He went back to bounty hunting to show his boys that life should be lived, no matter the hardship. The two boys begged him to come home as the three of them hugged each other, but was short lived when Scorpion's bazooka shot out and blasted the rocks above them. Ace jumped in and saved them by blasting the rocks, along with the whole rockcliff, away with his Fire Fist.
-Near nightfall-
"Well, I'm off." Ace said as he gathered his things.
"You're really leaving Ace?" Chopper asked.
"Yeah. Blackbeard's not in Alabasta, so I have no reason to stay here." Ace said.
"Where you heading off to now Ace?" Grace asked.
"Scorpion says Blackbeard was seen out West. I'll try there." Ace said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bit a paper before throwing it towards Luffy. Luffy caught and looked at it before gasping a bit as memories of this paper burning away as his brother died flooded his mind. "Luffy!" Ace said, snapping Luffy out of his thoughts. "That paper will reunite us one day."
"Okay." Luffy said. Ace's smile faltered when he saw the pain and nervousness on Luffy's face.
"Don't worry Luffy. I'll be okay." Ace said with a smirk as he placed his hand on Luffy's left shoulder. Luffy sighed before a smile came to his face.
"I know you'll be fine Ace." Luffy said. 'This time, I won't let you die Ace!' he thought as Ace looked at Luffy's crew.
"Having a little brother like Luffy always makes his big brother worry." Ace said. "You'll all have your hands full taking care of my screwball brother. No doubt about it." he said. "Luffy. Next time we meet is at the Pirate's Summit."
"Right." Luffy said with determination in his eyes.
"At the top!" Ace said with a grin.
"BYE!" came two small voices. Everyone looked to see Scorpion, his ostrich, and his two sons waving goodbye before leaving. They waved goodbye before turning back to Ace, only to see that he had disappeared.
"He's gone!" Johnny and Yosaku said as they all looked around.
"Fire Fist Ace!" Sanji said. Luffy stared at where Ace was with a sad look in his eyes before smiling.
"We'll meet again! That's a promise!" he said before they all continued on towards Yuba.
A/N: Okay. A few things I wish to say. First, from now on, I'll be adding fillers. If they're fillers that I like, I'll go into more detail, if they don't interest me, I'll do just like I did with all these fillers. Secondly, please stop asking and demanding, even if you're joking, for me to add this person and that person. Please leave a review.