The guys and Ryoko had seemingly made some progress on catching up after the girls, but they all had to slow down to walk. In order to keep themselves from overheating and losing precious hydration from sweating excessively.
Ryoko had her head down as she walked, trying to take deep steady breaths, but even her lungs didn't want to breathe in the dry desert heat. This had gone on for at least an hour, seemingly the desert was silent other than the shifting sand and the desert winds. She was following after the footprints in front of her, having fallen to the back of the group as she was slightly slower than the others.
"Ugh... Luffy do you see Nami anywhere?" Ace asked, seemingly because the sun was also affecting him a bit, which was saying something. But when he looked up and around he only saw Ryoko trailing not too far behind him, "What the?!"
Ryoko looked up as Ace spoke, and looked around, "So that's why it was so calm..." she says tiredly, not seeing anyone else around other than the Firey individual in front of her. She sighs as she continues to walk over to Ace, "Well, better being with you than being off on my own I suppose."
Ace chuckled with a nod of the head as he began to walk alongside the girl, holding onto the strap of his bag, "Knowing Luffy he'll turn up eventually."
"That certainly is accurate from what I've seen, he has an uncanny timing when it comes to showing up out of nowhere," Ryoko says rubbing the back of her neck while keeping pace with Ace.
"That certainly sounds like Luffy," Ace says with a bright grin, glancing over to Ryoko who seemed to be more aware and chatty than she had been a couple of days prior, "Actually, how did you meet him anyway?"
It was Ryoko's turn to chuckle, "Ah well, we met when he was trying to get Nami and Sanji to a doctor on Drum Island. "He was very determined to get to the castle, which of course he decided to climb up the side of one of the mountains to get to. I helped him climb up to the top, that was a challenge in and of itself since there was so much snow and wind blowing down at us. There were a few times that he almost fell, but he was too determined, and nearly got frostbite all over him. He was pretty battered by the time we got close to the mountain edge... I'm glad that Chopper pulled them up, I..." She paused with a frown crossing her face. "I didn't really help much in the time I could have... I froze... if Chopper hadn't managed to pull them up they would have fallen to their collective deaths." A pained look crossed her face. "He didn't hold it against me though, I wasn't really all that helpful against Wapol either, but he still invited me to join his crew."
Ace looked at the girl, listening to the story before setting a hand on her shoulder, "Well, he probably saw something in you, even if you were scared. He is just the kind of person to help someone out."
"I really owe him a lot... More than he knows. Definitely, more than he thinks, he gave me something to do again. Even if it is just being a tailor." Ryoko says with a soft chuckle, the pained expression loosened up, "He seemed like an old friend, even if I had just met him there..." she squints her eyes thoughtfully, "I think that was the first time I met him... can't really remember, I was a drifter in the east blue for a time, perhaps I met him or something."
Ace thought about it for a moment, "Maybe, did you ever stop at a place called Dawn Island?"
Ryoko paused at the name, still moving but seeming to be thinking hard, "Possibly? I really didn't ask what the name of the islands was while I was there... not that anyone really wanted to tell me anyway."
There was that tone again, Ace had heard it before, and the more he looked at the girl beside him, a nagging thought pulled at the back of his mind. "Well... have you ever been to an island with a village that included a bar called 'Partys Bar'?"
"Partys Bar..." Ryoko copies while walking eyes looking down at the sand as she wracked her mind, "I think... was it a pinkish building with five windows on the front?"
Ace perked up as he thought about the building and grinned, "That would be the one, haven't seen a pink bar in my travels other than that."
"There was a real nice lady who gave me some food there, that's why I remember it," Ryoko says with a small fond smile crossing her face at the memory, "I think that's the place the red-haired pirates went to too."
"You knew Shanks?" Ace asked as they walked.
"Knew would be a strong word, I sorta stowed away on his ship and was very quickly found. Got to work on keeping the ship clean while I was there, since I wasn't tossed overboard I figured it was only fair. He seemed kind enough, dunno if he really had too much of an opinion on a stowaway like me, didn't punish me like I thought he would when I got caught."
As Ryoko laughed she tossed her head back slightly with a bright grin on her face which only stayed for a couple moments before disappearing into the emotionless look she normally wore. A frown broke over her lips as the sand near them shifted and a giant scorpion broke out of the sand, attempting to sting her. She quickly pulled the two weapons at her hips, locking them together around the tip of the stinger.
This was the first time Ace had seen the interestingly shaped weapons pulled out of their sheaths. His eyes quickly scanned over the sharp blade that curved into a crescent shape, it looked like a sickle of sorts but had two loops at the bottom of the handles opposite to the blade. The two weapons certainly were intimidating to look at, but the way she was holding them seemed quite rigid and unfamiliar.
Ryoko gritted her teeth as she couldn't stop the stinger, instead pulling it slightly to the side so that it would hit the sand rather than her chest. She was quick to unhook the blades from the stinger and jump away as flames erupted forth from Ace's outstretched arm. This caused the creature to scuttle backward, "I suggest ya back off." Ace says calmly towards the creature with made a strange hissing noise. "Suit yourself." He says with a shrug before winding back his arm and punching a large firey fist into the scorpion which screeched in pain before going silent. The giant scorpion burnt and cooked while standing where it had died. Ryoko looked to Ace clearly a bit out of breath, "Can't say I didn't warn ya." Ace says towards the scorpion as the duo continued walking in the current direction they were heading.
"Thanks..." Ryoko says as she tucks her weapons away.
"No problem, glad you moved yourself out of harm's way." Ace began before they both stopped as they noticed a standing lizard that was in their way.
"A... Lizard?" Ryoko questioned looking at the creature before trying to step to the right along with Ace while the Lizard seemed to mirror them. This made Ryoko stop and watch as Ace and the Lizard continued to mirror each other.
Ace's brow twitched in annoyance as he looked at the lizard, "Do you wanna get in my way to pal?"
The lizard looked past the man as tears poured from its eyes as it almost seemed to sweat seeing the charred scorpion behind him.
Ryoko moved closer to the lizard seeing its distress and slowly moved to give it a pat on the head, which it mimics causing the lizard to give Ryoko a pat on the head, "It's... kinda cute." she says as she worked on calming the creature down, "don't worry, he might be scary but he's pretty nice."
"I'm scary?" Ace asked a bit offended at the accusation, which caused Ryoko to point toward the scorpion.
"Definitely to animals," Ryoko says petting the lizard gently. Ace rolled his eyes at the statement as he looked at the lizard thoughtfully.
"Think we could ride it?" Ace asked causing the girl to look between the gecko, who had calmed down, and Ace.
"Would you mind?" She asked the creature who looked at her and tilted its head at her, "I think he doesn't mind." Ryoko carefully climbed onto the lizard's shoulder, "Well come on Ace."
Ace paused for a moment before climbing to sit right behind Ryoko, "Just make sure you don't fall off alright?"
"I'm not that clumsy," Ryoko says with a chuckle, a blush dusting her cheeks as Ace reached around her and grasped onto two of the odd dangling scales of the lizard as it began to run. After getting a feel for how the creature moved she looked over at Ace, "So what did bring you to Alabasta?"
Ace's expression changed from a small smile to a much more serious expression, "I'm looking for someone, he goes by Blackbeard, and there is a lead that I am looking into here."
"What... Did he do?" Ryoko asked as a frown formed on her face, becoming aware of the slowly increasing heat on her back.
"He killed a crewmate, and it's my job to hunt him down and kill him," Ace says as he grits his teeth at the memory.
Ryoko looked at Ace searching his expression, concluding there was a strong connection among the Whitebeard pirates. She smiles reassuringly as she reached back, setting her hand on his shoulder for a moment, "Just be careful... Also, calm down a bit, I would rather not catch fire from your anger." She teases slightly.
Ace looked at her quietly, simply nodding as they continued trekking through the desert on gecko back. It was quiet for a long while, which was a bit tense, but eventually, it became a peaceful silence while they ran around looking for Luffy and the others.
The sun began to set behind them, and in frustration, Ace yelled out into the desert, "Luffy! Where are you!?"
"We should set up camp for the night before it gets too cold," Ryoko suggests as the gecko stopped to lie down on the cooling sand, clearly it was getting tired. "Not to mention our mount is gonna need to sleep soon since it is getting cold."
Ace nods in understanding as he climbed off the gecko and helped Ryoko stand up as well. The duo worked quickly in the last hours of sunlight in order to gather whatever wood they could in order to make a small fire. Once Ace had lit the fire, Ryoko set up the small tent that she had with her, "it was built for one but could fit a second if you don't mind being a bit close." she says as she sits down, "since the temperature is going to drop quickly, it might be smart to share a tent to keep warm."
"So, you want to cuddle is what I'm hearing." Ace teased causing the girl's face to flare red as she smacked his arm.
"I-It's to stay warm in the c-cold d-damn it." She stumbled out before covering her face with her hands, the mask at the side of her head not even being a thought in her flustered state.
Ace laughed at that, which caused her to smack his arm once again, before falling silent for a little while. It was Ace who decided to break the silence, changing the topic as well in order to help her calm down, "you don't seem too confident with those blades you carry." he observes causing the girl to flinch slightly.
"I... They aren't really mine... I don't know how to use them very well... Not to the same extent as my brother. They are his chosen weapons, normally he has chains around them, but I don't really think that I can control them enough while fighting alongside others." Ryoko admits looking forward to the distance, "I have never been one for fighting up close, I would much rather stay back and hidden while sniping with my rifle. I don't really have a choice at this moment in time though, it's too awkward to carry around while traveling."
"You are carrying your brother's weapons, doesn't he need them since he is a solo pirate?" Ace questioned, listening closely before feeling her body tense for a moment in front of him.
Ryoko froze at the statement, she hadn't thought that far into it, "I-I suppose he does... But he..." Her stutter betrayed her, just as her mind was as she tried desperately to think of something.
Ace stared at her for a couple of moments, picking up that it was likely a lie or not a full truth, "You don't have to lie, I won't judge your reason, I just would like to know if we are traveling together."
Ryoko took a shaky breath as she pulls her mask over her face. She anxiously played with the ends of her sleeves. "I'm... brother... alive..." she mumbled out, barely audible
Ace who only caught a few words, had no idea what she was trying to say. It wasn't making any sense, he moved closer to sit on the sand next to her, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you." Her body was tense as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'd prefer we don't talk about him." The tone of voice Ryoko spoke didn't seem to be quite right, "He'd want to kill you if I told you." She adds quietly while pulling her knees to her chest her tone changing from guttural anger into nervous sorrow.
Ace looked at her quietly as she curled further in on herself, he let out a sigh, "Alright, we don't need to talk about it." he assures her as he puts one arm around her, noticing she was shivering slightly and the sun had gone down, he pulled her to his side to help her keep warm. A few minutes passed in silence, and he blinked a few times as he heard the faint sounds of snoring coming from the girl. "And I thought I fell asleep fast." he chuckles scooping her up and bringing her into the small tent, it would be a bit odd to sleep next to someone, but due to the freezing temperature, it would be better to keep her from getting sick from the cold.
The process of helping Ryoko, who was mostly asleep, into her sleeping bag was certainly comical to Ace. Especially when Ryoko would grumble as she woke up a little before drifting right back off to sleep. Once she was in her sleeping bag Ace moved and shut the flap of the canvas tent before lying on top of his own sleeping bag turning his back towards her. As his head laid on his arm he was out like a light, they would head out early the next morning, preferably before the heat hit.