Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter!
This is short, but this was the best for what I have planned
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Thatch moved to the door of the room their travelers had, where Ace and his crew resided. They had been here for a while now and he really liked them. He was going to train with Deuce now, but no one had seen him for a small bit. Thatch then knocked on the door, and as he did, the door opened a bit as it wasn't fully closed, but no one was inside. He decided to walk in and looked around and saw still no one, but noticed a parchment on the desk, and curiosity got the better of him and he walked over to the desk and looked at it, and it was a parchment from Deuce's village, Hidden Leaf Village. He opened it and read it.
Your time is running out, the Hokage can no longer wait, we need you to do the plan now, the troops are awaiting the order from the Hokage to move. Hurry. If you can't find what you are there for, we might be doomed.
Thatch felt there was something seriously wrong and maybe Deuce was in over his head on something. He had been told by the others Deuce would be here as they were busy. And he knew Deuce interacted with his village now and then. Thatch then put it back as he found it, before he moved out and tried to not think of it. But he couldn't help to think about it, being worried for Deuce. After an hour, Deuce came and found him and asked if he wanted to learn some more things, or train on things he already knew, to which he said yes to, and they went to try and teach how to make a clone, which would be so cool.
Then they went to train, and Thatch didn't manage anything. But he also noticed Deuce seemed… off. He seemed to be brooding and worried, and when Thatch tried to ask about it, Deuce said it was nothing, he was just tired. While he didn't quite buy it, he would get it if Deuce had slept bad if he was in over his head. As they were training, Deuce didn't seem to know how to help him go on, but they tried more and more. After a bit, Ace came and said he needed to ask Deuce about something, so Deuce went over to him so they could speak in private, and Ace seemed himself, but Deuce seemed worried. They spoke for a bit, one time at the end, Thatch was even sure he heard his name. He had tried to not listen in on their talk, but the wind carried some words over to him.
Then Deuce came back, and Thatch looked at him. "Is everything okay?" Deuce nodded. "Yes. Just something about Trevor... I got an idea that we can try to help you make a clone." Thatch nodded and Deuce explained another way to make a clone for the first time for him to get the hang of it. And when Thatch tried it, for a couple seconds, there were two of him, which had him so happy and ecstatic, but he also found it very hard to keep the clone, and only had it for a few seconds. As the clone went away, Thatch did feel drained, but felt better when Deuce clapped his hands. "Good! You're getting there! Thatch nodded, he was happy as well. Thatch was on his way to speak, when Trevor came from around a corner. "Deuce! Need you! Important!" Deuce nodded and looked at him. "We need to catch this up later." Thatch nodded. "That's fine, thank you for the help." Deuce shook his head and with a smile said it was nothing.
Then Deuce headed towards Trevor, and he saw Trevor had what looked like the parchment Thatch had found in the room Deuce had, and Trevor looked a bit worried. He felt maybe not only Deuce was in trouble, maybe Trevor, and possibly Mika, were as well. That was why when evening came and he saw Pops was out in his chair and no one close, he went up and told what he had found and what the parchment said, before also telling how Deuce and Trevor had acted.
When he had said that, Pops nodded as he looked worried. "I will try and speak with them, it might be nothing, but it does seem odd. Shinobi's are secretive and there have been big things happening for them we never noticed." That was true. He remembers hearing about the end of a small war once, and they had not known there had been one ongoing. For now, he could only hope nothing bad was going on for Deuce, Trevor, or Mika. He would just hope. They would dock tomorrow, it was a large island, and the part they would dock on was uninhabited as about a quarter of that island was. Many people did dock there, but no one really stayed long. He would do his best to be there for Deuce, as he had a feeling Deuce was in the middle of this, but also try to be there for Trevor and Mika as well. He was worried for them too.
When they did dock, he felt something was off. As they had just docked and he looked around, he felt there were people there, watching them, but he saw no one, but he felt it. He did mention it to Marco, who said Thatch was just stressed, which could be true. Marco was good at noticing stuff too, so he would try and relax.
-x-
Whitebeard was off the boat as they had docked half an hour ago. They would be here for a day or two to relax, they all needed it. He had also noticed Deuce, Trevor, and Mika seeming more worried, but Deuce seeming the most maybe, which he felt was because of the note Thatch had found. He would try and approach Deuce while they were docked here. He hoped nothing was seriously wrong.
But then, as they had been docked for just over half an hour, he suddenly heard Marco speak. "Pops!" Whitebeard turned towards Marco, who as the others around him, including Thatch, was looking towards the forest edge, where a group of people stood, and based on the clothes and such, these were shinobi's, all from the Hidden Leaf Village based on the mark they had. Deuce's village. Whitebeard looked around for any of their travelers, but they were most likely on the boat still.
Whitebeard turned to the shinobies, on his way to speak, when they charged. And a fight started. Well, calling it a fight seemed wrong. It was the shinobies that charged, but they never really landed a blow, seeming to really hold back and just counter them. Then, after a short while, the fight died down, the shinobi's standing still a bit away, like a pathway between them, when Whitebeard decided to speak up. "What business do you have with us?" One woman in the front, seeming to be the leader of sorts, spoke. "We have urgent business based on orders." Whitebeard looked at the woman. "What is it Deuce has done? He is with us now." The woman looked at him. "We are not here for only him, we are here based on orders from the Hokage." Hokage? Right, that was the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village. He was on his way to speak again, when something happened.
It was as if the battlefield stretched, before a huge waterfall suddenly appeared in front of them. Out of thin air. He had never seen something like that before. Whitebeard had no idea what was happening, but noticed that Thatch had gone pale. "N-no! It's the trial! It's the shinobi trial!" Whitebeard blinked, before it made sense. That was why the enemy attacked them, to get the chocolate. Someone wanted someone to try the trial. The attack was just a diversion while someone went for the chocolate. A shape then came out of the waterfall, and Whitebeard felt his inside grow cold at what or who he saw.
It was Ace. It was the shape of Portgas D Ace, just with black eyes. Ace had eaten the chocolate. His first thought was that Deuce probably had been after it, that Ace found out about it, and had eaten the chocolate to keep it from Deuce, as this was dangerous. But that would mean Ace would die if he failed, and many failed. Ace had eaten the chocolate to keep it safe, Ace just sacrificed himself. And if anyone interferes, they would die as well. Whitebeard didn't know what to do.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed!
We are nearing the big thing! What is going on? Next chapter will be much longer and hold many answers!
If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!
I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!
If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter
