I woke up, tired and feeling sick. I sat up and looked around to see where I was. The room I was in was an infirmary, though a small one. 'This must be where they set Chopper up.' I got out of bed and opened the door.
I walked around to see the crew setting the ship for docking.
"We're finally here!" A seemingly exhausted voice sounded. I could tell it was Luffy's voice.
"Wow! So we're going into the desert? Does anyone know how hot it's supposed to get?" Chopper's adorable voice squeaked.
I walked up and joined the crew. Karu was gone but seemingly replaced by... Ace? I didn't say anything when I walked up, and they didn't know I was there.
"Over 100 degrees in the daytime," Nami answered Chopper, seeming calm.
"WHAT?!" Chopper yelped, "Please tell me you're joking!" I heard the two walking up behind us and I turned around to join their conversation.
"Don't worry Chopper! I'll bring lots of water just for you!" Hearing my voice made them a little happier, and I felt eyes on me from behind.
Sanji ran up behind me and yelled at Nami "Nami! What happened?! Where is your dancer outfit?!" He turned and saw Vivi was dressed the same as Nami, in a long cloak with a hood-like shape around the neck. Looked comfy, maybe they have one for me.
Vivi explained that they changed because they didn't want to get sunburned. She turned to Luffy and gave him a pair of clothes she was holding, then turned and walked over to me. She gave me a dark red colored cloak and hood, the same design as her only the same color as Luffy's cloak.
I slid the cloak over my current clothes, which was a simple t-shirt and shorts, and turned to the railing where Luffy watching something.
I leaned on the rail next to him, and he got excited when he saw that we were matching. I giggled and agreed until I saw what he was looking at over the railing.
"Kung Fu Dugongs!" I and Vivi yelled in unison.
"If you wanna come ashore, you're gonna have to beat me first! But I doubt that'll happen, ya bunch of cowards." I turned to Chopper on my right with stars in my eyes.
"Woah! Chopper is that what the Kung Fu Dugong is saying?!" I got on his level and looked at him hopefully.
"Yeah! Since I was originally an animal, I can tell what they're saying!"
"You're so cool, Chopper!" I hugged him and he just blushed and told me that complimenting him won't make him feel better. The classic 'Chopper line'.
Usopp put a foot on the rail and spoke. "No one calls me a coward and gets away with it!" I'm sure Usopp thought he could take them because they were seals, but boy was he mistaken.
"Usopp!" I yelled after him as he jumped off the Merry and to the animal who spoke. He got beat up. Bad.
I turned to Luffy, "Should I bring him back with my devil fruit?"
He immediately got off of the ship and beat up one of the Kung Fu Dugongs. I have to admit, I was impressed, but I should've expected it. His bounty is 30 million after all.
The Dugong that Luffy beat got up from its spot on the floor and bowed to Luffy, as in a Taekwondo bow. I jumped down with Luffy and stood beside him, against what Vivi was yelling behind me. The Dugong looked up with sparkles in its eyes and Luffy just looked confused.
"SO CUTE AH!" I got down and hugged the Dugong, who graciously accepted it. I was blabbering about how cute he was until I noticed the rest of them were bowing to Luffy as well.
I stood behind Luffy as he started training them for some reason. When he was done telling them how to punch right, I knocked him in the back of the head and sighed, "Luffy, we need to be o our way. Alabasta, remember?"
"Oh, right!" He turned to the Dugongs and spoke, "Alright! Let's go to Yuba!"
"Wait... You're not bringing them with us, are you?!" Zoro gasped at the little army Luffy had with him. Nami scolded him.
"Luffy! You can't!"
"They're water creatures, they won't make it," I said calmly, trying to convince him to make them stay.
The Dugongs started hugging his legs, not wanting to leave Luffy's side.
'But they're so cute!' I thought to myself, yet I could tell the other girls thought the same thing.
After a girl circle, talking about what we should do, we decided that it's gonna hurt, but they have to stay.
Chopper found a way to make them stay, and We headed off, while Luffy was walking backward, waving bye to the Kung Fu Dugongs. I was walking behind Vivi with Zoro to my left and Usopp to my right.
The only reason I chose to be there was that even though his sense of direction was terrible, he was probably the second strongest in the crew, so if anything happens, I would like to be stuck near him. I could also help keep him on track with the rest of us so he doesn't get lost.
We came across the city of Aramaloo, and having to see it again was heartbreaking. I blanked out for a lot of Vivi's explanations because I couldn't take hearing the sad tale. This is where I grew up.
The city of green. Long story short, its prized possession was the Uddo Uddo no mi because of its nature-like power, and I ate it. On a dare. From Vivi. Don't judge me.
"This is also," I was facing away, holding back tears as Vivi finished explaining with a final fact, "This is also where (Y/N) grew up..." I felt all eyes on me and I didn't want to bring the mood down. I could feel small tears moving down my face. "Take a look around, everyone. This is what Baroque Works doing to my country! Our country!"
After she said that, Vivi pulled me into a hug, and I just wiped my tears into her shoulder. No one noticed until I walked away and Vivi saw the difference in the color of where my tears had been on her cloak. She looked at me and then suggested we keep moving.
I nodded and went back to my former spot as we trudged through the destroyed city. Vivi explained how and why this city was in this state, and Dance powder came up.
"Oh! I remember that stuff! I ate some when me and (Y/N) were on an adventure! It tasted pretty bad, yuck!" I giggled at the memory and walked past him. Nami and Zoro said in the short term that he was stupid, and he retaliated by yelling about he had no way to know it wasn't edible.
Shortly after we happened upon the canal that was now empty. They all stopped and Listened to Vivi explain, but I kept walking.
This was still a recent thing, and it still hurt now I have no true place to call home. Sure, I hated almost every second I could remember, living here with my mom, and Vivi invited me into her home, but still. It was my hometown, and now that it's gone, I have nowhere to call home.
The group was behind me because I walked early. I was ahead of them about 20 yards (60 ft) and I was about to start crying. All this stuff running through my head, and remembering it all, it was stressful.
I pushed back the urge and kept walking. I didn't want to look like a crybaby in front of the Straw Hats or Vivi and Ace.
I heard the footsteps behind me stop. So I turned and saw them all looking at Vivi. I started to go back over when they all turned and looked at me panicked, or rather, looked behind me.
I turned to look as well, only to see the wind blowing sand around fast, and the wind howling through the empty cement buildings. Usopp and Chopper were freaking out and Ace calmed them down. Man, I thought someone was behind me or something, that scared me. It picked up so fast to the point that my hood came flying off.
I turned and noticed a small dust tornado come straight at me. It got almost unbearable as I went through it. I turned and barely saw the other's silhouettes struggling as much as I was.
Suddenly it just disappeared, and I saw myself and Luffy still watching where it went. I was still the same distance away from them, but I could tell they were talking about the wind.
I was looking around and saw a cloak laying in the field of sand a bit ahead of me. Before I knew it, I was running for the cloak, I could tell it was a person.
I heard a pair of footsteps behind me and then heard a group of footsteps when I knelt down beside the person.
I got out my canteen of water and was about to give it to the person. When I saw their face, I screamed and backed up. Luffy came up next to me and saw I had a skull in front of me.
"The poor people, what did they ever do?" Vivi said, dropping next to me and almost on the verge of tears. She started venting about Croco and I was just sitting there, looking at the skull. Seeing a skull in this town looked, sadly...familiar.
Before I comprehended what I was thinking, I heard a grunt, and a tower behind us collapse. Luffy broke it. I started walking over to him yelling, "Luffy! What the hell?! This whole city is-" I stopped when I saw him.
He was so mad, that he took down an entire building. He walked past me and I just stared at the building, really looking into nothing but my thoughts.
'He did that because he was worried about someone's business that wasn't even his own, was he crazy?! He was so willing to help us defeat Croco, a warlord of the sea, and he nor his crew are even scared!'
I turned to look at the crew,
'Who are they?!'
I noticed the crew was walking off, so I followed suit. I was a bit behind, about 10 yards, (30 fr) but I was happy. I was relieved that even if my hometown couldn't be saved and I technically didn't have a home, I could still save Alabasta, which was technically my home as well. One town lost will be ok if we can save the rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was night and holy cow it got cold. I can deal with the cold, and I can deal with the heat, but both in 24 hrs? No thank you. I prefer the cold though, so this wasn't so bad, it was just a little too cold.
Chopper was threatening Usopp for a second time today. Apparently, Usopp didn't believe he was a reindeer.
I mean, it's kinda obvious...
"Chopper, don't turn big. We have to huddle for warmth." Zoro grumbled next to the two.
"Woohoo!" Luffy yelled as he soared past me and started a snuggle pile with Usopp and Chopper. Vivi nudged me and I took my attention off of the idiot trio. She whispered to me that we should talk to him.
"Ehe, I'm not the best comforter in the world, you should do it." I sweatdropped. She giggled and went to talk to Ace. He was acting weird the whole walk from the Merry to where we are. I hope he's alright.
It was night so people started heading to bed, but I decided to take a walk.
Cool the nerves a little, not considering it was already very cold. I was walking and walking until I realized something rather dreadful.
'Well shit, I'm lost.'
This wasn't good. I'm not as bad as Zoro is with getting lost, but I'm no expert.
I guess I should just keep walking and hope to find someone or something. Boy was I tired. Being dragged by Luffy all day and walking through the desert? I needed at least a few minutes of sleep. I had been walking for about an hour or so and I saw a big group of rocks.
'I'll just rest here for tonight.'
I used some of my devil fruit powers to strap my ankle to the rocks so that if something happened, I would stay there.
As soon as I laid down, I fell asleep
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I was sleeping, though not great, the sand wasn't very warm or anything. I heard incredibly fast footsteps, so I sat up, though groggily, and took in my surroundings,
'Same place, wooden cuff still on my leg, though that dust trail coming this was says something. Maybe I should just lay back down.'
I had a cunning idea. I used my wood powers to hide in a small-shaped oval and it leaned against the rock. So even if I'm moved or blown away, I won't be harmed unless someone really strong comes by.
By the time I was done with my little hiding spot, the footsteps were very close. Must be a fast creature.
"Oh~! Shade! It feels so good~" I heard an exhausted voice grumble from near me. The voice was familiar. Luffy!
I took away my powers and got rid of the egg and the cuff around my ankle.
"Luffy?"
The tired head looked up and beamed, "(Y/N)! Where have you been?!"
"Well, I-" I was cut off by a weird grumbling noise near us. Luffy grabbed my hand and pulled me with him to check it out. It wasn't a forceful pull though, he was calmly walking to wherever he heard the noise.
When we got around a corner, we saw a bunch of birds beaten up and on the ground.
"What the hell?" I mumbled as I walked behind Luffy, "Who would beat up birds?"
Luffy ran to a bird and held it in his arms, "Hey! Say something!" The bird looked at him slightly, I think trying to be discreet, " (Y/N), Stay with the birds!"
"Got it." I nodded to him as he walked past our stuff and out the door. The next thing I knew, I felt a ton of talons around my arms and legs, and I was... lifted? I tried to shake free but the birds were holding me?
These birds tricked us to take our stuff. Instead of flying away, I was dropped in mid-air. I was falling fast, how high did those birds go?
I noticed that some of the birds didn't leave. In fact, they were on the ground to rub it in the Straw Hats' faces. I leaned my aim towards them. As I got closer to the ground, I heard Sanji yelling at Luffy for losing me and the food. As I saw the birds were leaving, I knew I wouldn't have enough time if I waited to touch the ground and spawn branches there, so I held both hands on my stomach and made about 7 trunks come out.
The trunks moved faster than I did and caught the birds one by one before they could take off. Unfortunately, I could only catch about 4. Luffy chased after the other 3. He was going to get lost, I could tell.
I didn't realize it, but I was really close to the ground. I screeched and landed face first. I was helped up by Sanji and Vivi. Chopper asked to treat me, but I said I'm fine.
When I looked at the birds I caught, I only saw two small bags of stuff, one bird had nothing, and one bird only had a water bottle. I apologized to the crew for not being able to catch them all.
Sanji, of course, said I don't need to worry about it, and we just had to wait for Luffy to get back.
I nodded and slouched against a wall, "You don't mind if I take a nap, do you? I didn't sleep well last night." Before I even let them answer I was asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh boy, when I say that was the best night's sleep in a while, I mean it. I slept so well, that I could climb a mountain. When I woke up, the crew was strategizing and I joined the conversation.
"He has absolutely no sense of direction, yet he's always running off!" Nami whined.
"There are still so many desert dangers I didn't warn him of," Vivi mumbled, nervous.
"Not to mention the moron was hungry, so he's not thinking straight." Sanji groaned from his spot on the rock next to me.
"That guy's so hopeless," Zoro grumbled from my other side, standing up.
"I'm sorry, I know my brother can be a flake. I apologize." Ace said with a slight grin, as he was for some reason sitting away from us all. Sanji and Zoro smiled as they walked off near the direction Luffy went.
I got up to go with them when all of the sudden the ground started to shake. We looked to where Luffy went and saw shots of sand going up into the air.
"That has to be Luffy..." I said, going in front of Zoro and continuing walking outside the shaded area. When I got out of the shade, the heat was a lot, and I heard Luffy laughing, and the rest of the crew heard him too, according to their groans.
Luffy was being chased by something big, underground. "Someone wanna tell me what he's being chased by?" Sanji groaned, holding his cigarette.
"Can't really tell, Looks like something underground." When Zoro said that, I shrank back to him, who was at the edge of the shade. When the creature jumped, Me, Usopp, and Chopper shrieked. Zoro and Sanji prepared their swords and I got ready as well, just in case, for support.
"It's a Sandora Dragon!" [Vivi]
"A Sandora WHAT?!" [Usopp]
"A Sandora Dragon! A reptile that lives in the desert! They wait underground for prey and then ambush them!" [Vivi]
"SO WE'RE GONNA DIE?!' [(Y/N), Chopper, and Usopp]
"I gotta admit, that boy does have a talent for attracting trouble." [Ace]
"Right and all of us have the scars to prove it." [Sanji]
Zoro pushed me behind him and yelled over the monster "What kinda crap star was he born under to attract trouble like that?!"
Sanji and Zoro headed in the direction of the monster, planning to stop it. They all attacked it at once and I just stood there, feeling bad for not doing anything. I knelt down, ready to respond if their attack didn't work. Though we were safe and the monster fell with a thud.
All of the sudden, I turned around and saw something giant coming from the sand. I shoved my hands on the ground, ready to handicap the beast. I don't know what happened, ever since I and Vivi temporarily joined Luffy, my reaction time and will to fight has gotten a lot better.
When the sand left the monster's body, I saw that it was another giant frog. I knew that Ace was strong, but I used a small piece of wood and threw him towards us while using two larger trunks of wood and holding the beast where it was. It was hard to keep the wood up, that sucker was strong.
"Alota pests in these deserts!" Ace exclaimed, jumping up from where I threw him and walking towards the beast, "Wanna play?"
Ace looked at me and I deactivated my devil fruit power, getting scoldings from Usopp and Nami, a punch on the head from each. Ace made quick work of the beast and the three strongest were back already.
I am just so ready to continue this walk and get to Yuba, even if we have to fight Croco...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yall I'm going to skip the rest of the walking parts and just get to The capitol because I wanna get to the exciting stuff lmao
(A/N - Edited - Oml I remember writing this, I had an idea with (Y/N) walking off, but it completely left my mind because I went to sleep mid-chapter, so I just stopped it there LMAO. Now I do all my writing in one session.)