Legal stuff: I do not own One Piece. All One Piece characters, settings and plot belongs to Eiichiro Oda. I also did not receive any payment of any kind for the writing of this story. Dreams/daydreams will be italicized and underlined for your convenience. Enjoy Chapter 8!

Gash stared at the loyal ex-General and his 'guest.' The silence stretched. The man shifted his feet nervously. Finally, Gash inhaled slowly.

"What did you say?"

"Your Majesty, this gentleman," Kigen said, smoothly sarcastic," informed me that Princess Mimi and Jotaro have left the island."

"I thought that you weren't going to arrest me if I told you about those brats," the man said timidly, the sweat collecting at his temple.

"I didn't arrest you. I just extended the King's invitation to the person who knows the whereabouts of his little sister. You might have neglected to tell me the whole truth, but you wouldn't lie to the King," Kigen smiled coldly at the trembling man.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Gash might have smiled. There weren't many men brave enough to face the ex-General's wrath. He cleared his throat and both men turned their heads.

"What do you know about my sister's disappearance?"

"Uh, well, the brat…er, young lady said that she had some important business with some hats. But she needed to leave the island without her brother's knowledge. She was afraid that you'd stop her. I helped both of them smuggle aboard a merchant ship headed toward River 7. No, uh, Ocean 7; no, that's not right either…" the man stuttered.

Gash's head throbbed, the pressure building from a headache just beginning. So, Mimi headed to Water 7 to meet the Straw Hat Pirates. She was such a pig-headed girl!

"Kigen…" he trailed off tiredly.

He hated to ask the retired General but he couldn't go himself and Kigen was the only person he trusted to bring back his errant little sister.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll leave immediately," Kigen bowed respectfully.

The man bowed clumsily too and scurried out of the chamber.

"I'll leave my sister to you, Kigen. Finding the Straw Hats first might be the best course of action, especially if they are her true objective. If I know her, Mimi has some sort of mischief planned for them. I'll leave the decision to you though," Gash said drolly.

Kigen bowed and exited the chamber as well. Gash rubbed his temples before his next consultation could be announced. As much as he wanted to be the one to search for Mimi; he was King now. Gash sighed heavily and gestured for the next objector to come in.

…

Magina hated pushy salesmen. But she hated pushy salesmen who decided that flirting with her was the best way to sell her something the most.

"I've never seen such a beautiful lady! A lady of such rare magnificence needs jewelry to match your splendor! Come and see my wares," a scrawny man with oil-slicked hair grabbed her hands and pulled her unwillingly to his stall.

Chopper was already in the bookstore and Robin was…Magina's heart jumped in her throat. Robin's song, normally mellow and slightly seductive, was beating like a rapid drum, nervous and frightened. She recognized the sound; it wasn't that long ago that she heard Robin terrified.

"I have all the jewelry that you could possibly want. Rings wrought of the finest metal and jewels, bracelets with the smoothest stones, necklaces with the most intricate designs. Try any that you like. Buy today and I'll give you 20% off," he grinned at her, one of his front teeth missing.

He held her hand captive like a fish on a hook. Magina tried to slip out of his grip but his fingers tightened mercilessly.

"I don't want any jewelry," she answered sharply.

"Then, perhaps I can interest you in scarves made from the purest silk. I also have bolts of cloth with the most spectacular hues this side of the Grand Line. I'm bound to have something that will catch your eye."

Magina was only paying a little attention since she was concentrating more on Robin's song. Suddenly, the music faded so abruptly that she panicked. It hadn't disappeared but she could no longer tell where Robin was. Magina turned her head to glance up and down the street. She didn't see Robin anywhere! Where was she? How did she move so quickly away?

"I'm sure that if you were to feel the lushness of the fabric that you'll find much that you'll want to buy," the salesman added in his most wheedling tone of voice.

"Let go of me! I don't want to buy anything!" Magina snarled angrily.

"Magina! What are you doing? Where's Robin? She didn't follow me into the bookstore and I can't smell her anymore!" Chopper said behind her.

The man took one look at Chopper and shrieked, instantly letting go of Magina's hand. He stumbled back and sat trembling in a corner of his stall. Magina almost felt sorry for the scared vendor but his annoying insistence hadn't endeared him to her. She rubbed her wrists carefully, wincing at the slight stiffness.

"Let's look for her. Between your nose and with me listening for her song, we'll find her."

Magina spoke confidently since she didn't want to worry Chopper. Robin's song was too faint for Magina to even guess which direction she was in. And if Chopper couldn't smell her either… Chopper nodded and began calling desperately. Magina took a calming breath and did the same.

"Robin!"

"Robin! Where are you?"

…

"Mr. Bushido, Miss Siren will be fine. If you continue to insist on smothering her with your protectiveness, I will start calling you Mr. Guard Dog. There's no need to worry. Mr. Doctor is escorting us."

He didn't often think about his past. There wasn't any reason to think about it. The past was done with, one couldn't change mistakes by regretting or recalling. But sometimes he was forcibly reminded of it. And that one innocuous conversation with Robin was all it took to bring Zoro back as he slept.

"Kenta! Where are you?"

He had to be around here somewhere, along with those damn pirates. The bastards attacked while he was training and Sensei left for a journey. They were going to pay for hurting the other students. Zoro would make sure of it!

"Oh, look. Mr. Guard Dog has finally shown up. Well, Mr. Guard Dog, I really hate being the bearer of sad news but it sounds like your charge has…expired. I guess we were too rough on him," the dark voice said nastily. Zoro growled as the men surrounded him, their swords unsheathed.

His consciousness suddenly snapped back to reality. He unsheathed half of his katana, effectively blocking the strike meant to take his head, and glared balefully in the afternoon sun.

"Oh, you're awake. I thought we got the drop on you."

Zoro narrowed his eyes at the several men on all sides of him. Maybe this would turn into a fight. After that dream, he always needed to go a little wild and relieve some stress.

"Who are you? Give your names!" he demanded harshly.

The men chuckled. Zoro stood up while unsheathing Kitetsu and Yubashiri. The leader smirked insolently at him.

"Eh? You want our names, Pirate Hunter Zoro?"

Zoro glanced at their clothes. They weren't dressed like Marines. That meant that they were…

"We're the scariest scallywags on this sea. Crying babes wet themselves when we show our faces! We are the legendary bounty hunters: The Franky Brothers!"

The rest of the gang laughed and hooted in agreement. Zoro only hoped that they were legendary for being strong. He could use a proper workout.

"Since you have a 60 million bounty on your head, we'll be taking it, thank you very much. And then we'll round up your crew mates for some easy money. Lucky!"

The oaf moved to attack again. Zoro blocked easily. He had just about enough of these rats' boasting.

"Yeah, lucky! Get him!"

Zoro couldn't help smirking. "Lucky? I'd say you're unlucky."

Sweat dripped down the leader's face at his low words. The other men went pale. Without blinking, he threw the leader overboard. The rest of the men hesitated briefly before charging at him.

"Don't be scared!"

"He's only one man!"

"Yeah!"

Zoro prepared his strike.

"Nitoryu Sai Kuru!"

The followers flew into the sky like fireworks and hung there for a moment before landing in the water. Zoro shook his head.

"Pathetic."

With the excitement all over, Zoro soon slipped into another sleep. Sanji was no longer an annoying curly-eyed frog but a sleazy salesman bound and determined to force Magina to buy something. He growled. Next time he saw that damn Love Cook, he was going to kick his ass!

A slight Tpp! roused him a little. The presence wasn't threatening so Zoro cracked an eyelid. The sun blocked the man's features but his long square nose gave him away. Usopp was back.

"Excuse me for intruding."

Zoro pictured taking some of the rings and stuffing them up Sanji's nose.

"The mast will need replacing."

The multicolored scarves would make a spectacular noose for the Ero Cook too…wait. What was Usopp doing back and what was he talking about? It was Usopp; he had a long nose. Zoro was instantly awake when he realized that Usopp's nose wasn't square. A man with very rectangular features was examining Merry's front deck casually.

"WAIT JUST A MINUTE! Who the hell are you?" he demanded angrily.

"Oh, did I wake you?" the man smiled easily. "Sorry about that. I'm just having a look around. I'll be leaving soon."

Zoro eyed him suspiciously. He sighed silently. Guess he would just have to wait to go back to sleep until after the bastard left.

I hope you enjoyed Chapter 8 everybody! This is going to be kind of sad but I might have to take a 6 month hiatus from posting. My laptop is still broken but I'm taking her to a person who fixes computers tomorrow. Depending on how long that will take/if it can be fixed depends on if I will be able to post sooner than later. Right now I'm using my little sister's laptop but she is moving for six months for her job. Of course, this is all really depressing news but fingers crossed the forced break that's coming isn't as long as six months. I still plan on working on the story while I'm without a computer. And a big thanks to all of you fans out there! I'll be thinking of you that whole time too! I can't promise a chapter in the approximate two weeks that there are left but I'll work hard to try to get Chapter 9 before my sister takes off!

Nitoryu Sai Kuru: Two sword style: Rolling Rino

SoraLover987142: I'm glad you loved it! In compliance to your wishes, here's another chapter for you. *Wink* Hope you love the new chapter too! Hehe

ShikaTachidoriKitsuneHebiTak a: Thank you! *Grin*