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"Beats me. He doesn't look like he wants to fight though. He's just standing there" Luffy casually shrugs.
The two of them side step to the right, to get out of the way, but the gecko mirrors their movements to stay in their path. They try again, by side stepping to the left, but the reptile continues to follow their movements. When they side step in opposite directions he continues following Luffy.
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"Why'd you choose me?!" Luffy asks as he keeps sidestepping in different directions, but the lizard keeps blocking him.
"Want some help?" Ace laughs at his brother's distress, and watches the dance show in front of him. His brother shakes his head as he gets his fists ready.
"No, I got it. Gum Gum Pistol!" he punches the gecko on the head, to make him collapse, with a large lump growing on the top of his head. Because of that, Luffy finally manages to sidestep without him blocking, then looks the lizard over "Hey Ace, do you think we can eat him?"
"Actually, I think he'd make a better ride for us" the reptile quickly tears up at the thought of being eaten, while Ace strokes his chin.
"Really?! Awesome!" the gecko quickly nods at the second option, with Luffy grinning in excitement. He goes to get on the lizard's back first, but Ace beats him to the punch.
"I'll drive" Luffy begrudgingly gets on behind Ace, before the gecko starts running ahead, with his new passengers on his back.
Ж
Anamaria, Sable and the boys quickly run up a large, sandy hill, to find the source of the large rumbling sound. When they make it to the top, they to see a large pirate ship, with an open umbrella on the figurehead, sailing on the sand.
"Whoa, that ship's sailing on land!" Chopper looks at the ship in shock, as it sails to the left of their direction.
Usopp adjusts his goggles, to get a closer look on the ship, then hitches his breath when he sees Nami and Vivi tied up to the mast, with Eyelashes hogtied, and surrounded by pirates wearing umbrella hats.
"Nami and Vivi have been caught! Oh, and the camel too" he exclaims.
Zoro and Sanji turn to him in shock while Anamaria slid down from Sable smoothly, letting Chopper on the snake as he rested in the cool scales of the reptile.
"Dammit, let's go!" Zoro says as he runs down the hill with the others following.
"Come on darlin'!" Ana shouted as she looked back at Sanji as the man ran behind her with Zoro at his side.
The dark haired woman suddenly tripped and fell, making Sable come to a dry stop which, in turn, threw Chopper off over her head and everyone saw the doctor of the crew fall into the sail of the ship and creating a hole in the fabric.
"Oh the ship!" Anamaria exclaimed when she saw the damage.
"Forget the ship! Eyelashes is about to be eaten!" Vivi says as she struggles in the ropes.
"Will 'e taste good?" Anamaria asked curiously making the princess sweat drop. A large, chubby, man, with dark hair under an open pink umbrella hat, laughs at the suggestion as he walks up to the girls with a large smirk.
"We, the Barbar Sand Pirates, have a saying: 'Aside from friends, anything in the desert can be eaten'"
"Oh I like that!" Anamaria agreed with a nod of her head "Food is the most important thing"
"Exactly! If it's a choice between food and money, food always wins" the large man nods in agreement "Do you want to try some camel?"
"Ana!" Nami exclaimed when she saw how the darker haired woman was considering the suggestion.
"What?! What if it tastes good?!" Anamaria said. Eyelashes can only tear up at the conversation, while the captain only laughs.
"Hahaha, this pipsqueak's funny!" Anamaria quirked an eyebrow in confusion since she considered herself quite tall.
"Oh, so they're your friends. We can't eat the camel then" the captain looks over Nami and Vivi, then unties them along with the camel. The rest of the Straw Hats finally make it up to the ship, only to see what was going on, and lower their guard.
"What the hell?" Zoro asks as he watches the pirates free his friends. Once Nami's free, she groans as she walks up to her crew mates.
"Don't ask me what happened. One minute, they wanted to eat Eyelashes, and now they're friendly"
"My name's Barbarossa, I'm the captain of the Barbar Sand Pirates. Sorry for the rough treatment of your friends, we're all just really hungry..." the sand pirate captain chuckles as he takes a seat, and turns to the guests.
"Barbarossa? Like Barbosa? How many more similarities are there here?" Anamaria thought to herself
"We shouldn't apologize captain! What about our main sail?! The hole's too big to patch up. We need a replacement, or we can't move!" one of the man's crew mates steps up, while he looks at the sail. The other sand pirates look at each other with complete worry.
"Yea, what are we gonna do?!"
"We can't stay here! Should we leave?!"
"Quit your yammering! We sand pirates live in our ships, and we'll die in our ships! Abandoning our ship is unthinkable!" the straw hats sweat drop at their dramatics when Barbarossa speaks up.
"Yea, that's right!" the crew starts smiling and quickly agrees.
"We're the pride of the Barbarossa Pirates after all!" Vivi looks around in shock then turns to the captain.
"Wait a minute, what are you saying?! You shouldn't give up" the princess says.
"Who said we're giving up? We can still get it fixed. There's plenty of cloth at the Meriyasu Oasis" Barbarossa chuckles at her concern.
"Ya need help?" Ana asked him despite Nami pulling her away.
"I appreciate it, but the sand has changed a lot lately. It's too dangerous for outsiders to journey there alone" Barbarossa looks out at the desert while contemplating the offer.
"It's ok, they spared us, so it's the least we can do" Vivi shakes her head with a smile.
"Alright then, if that's how you feel, I won't stop you. Boys, get two sand sleds ready!" the others nod in agreement while Barbarossa gives the freckled girl a large smile. The others nod as they bring out two of their sand sleds, and lower them down while Barbarossa, and the Straw Hats get off the ship.
"Those looks more like small sail boats than sleds" Nami says as she takes a closer look at the tiny sail boats.
"They may look different than your usual sled, but they can get you sailing through the sand faster than this ship can. You should be able to carry the cloth in them" Barbarossa says while a young man gets off the ship "Zaba and Rasa will be guiding you to the oasis" Barbarossa says while he point to the young man named Zaba who waves at them, but Rasa isn't anywhere to be found.
"Where's Rasa?" Nami asks.
"She'll be on her way. It's better if she comes along. She's the best sand sled rider we have" Zaba shrugs as he gets on his sled.
"These sleds hold two people so you can take someone else with you" Barbarossa hums in agreement before he turns to the Straw Hats.
The princess touches the sled and looks inside when a knife is thrown her way. She quickly ducks to dodge the knife before it hits the ship, then she and the others, look to see a young woman, with her small pink umbrella, pinned in her dark blue hair jumping off the ship.
"That was a good throw Rasa, but no throwing them at friends" Barbarossa laughs at his crew mate's antics.
"The others seem to be outsiders, but you're from here aren't you?" Rasa ignores the command as she lands on her feet, and frowns at Vivi.
"Yes I am" Vivi nods at the accusation.
"Then you should have some experience with a sand sled. How about you go with your friend"
"What are you saying?! Vivi can't do anything that dangerous!" Sanji narrows his eyes at he suggestion.
"Yea, that's crazy!" Nami says but Vivi raises a hand up to stop them.
"Wait guys, she's right. I'll come with you on your journey Rasa" the sand pirate smirks at the declaration, as she joins Zaba on his sled. Anamaria helps the princess get on it and takes a step back while Vivi gets herself acquainted with the sled's rigging.
"Now let's see. I believe it goes like this and..." she manages to get the sail to catch a tailwind, and gets the sled sailing at top speed.
Rasa's eyes widened at the head start, before she steers the sled, and sails after them to leave Barbarossa and the Straw Hats alone. Nami watches them sail off before she looks around, and realizes that a pair of brothers are missing.
"Hey, what happened to Luffy and Ace?" the navigator asked.
"Ace and Luffy wandered off somewhere" Usopp says casually.
"Are you serious? Looks like those two are brothers after all..." Nami's eyes opened wide at this, before she runs a hand through her hair.
"You guys lost some friends?" Barbarossa raises an eyebrow at the conversation.
"Yea, our captain and his brother. We're not sure where they went" Chopper answers sadly. Barbarossa nods at this before he looks at his ship.
"Well, since you guys are being nice enough to help us out, we can give you a ride towards a nearby village. Your captain might be over there" the large man said.
Sanji gives him a small smile, before he puffs a smoke from his cigarette, handing another to Anamaria since he had gotten used to her asking him for some. The woman said to herself that she should remember to buy a packet of them since they tasted cleaner than the ones she usually had.
"That'll be great, thank you"
"Think nothing of it. So, what do you guys want to do while we wait? We can always eat the camel" Barbarossa smiles back before he looks at the camel.
Eyelashes tenses up at the offer while the sand pirates start cheering. Usopp, Sanji and Zoro raise their hands up in agreement.
"We're ok with that" they chorused, receiving a slap on the back of their heads from both Nami and Anamaria.
"Sorry, but I was just kidding" Barbarossa laughs at the agreement. Everyone, but Nami, Ana and Eyelashes, groan in disappointment before they relax.
"That didn't sound like a joke to me..." Nami says as she goes back to the deck to make sure no one tries to eat the camel, and silently wishes her friends luck.
Ana took a contemplative drag from her cigarette and turned to Sanji, who was nursing the small bump on his head from Nami's slap. She exhaled a plume of smoke, her voice laced with curiosity.
"Do ya think we'll find the captain and his brother out here in this endless desert?" she asked him. Sanji shrugged, his gaze distant as he scanned the arid landscape.
"I don't know, but that idiot always manages to get himself in trouble," he replied, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
Ж
As Luffy and Ace ride on the gecko under the evening sky, Luffy groans from the boredom.
"Haven't we found the others yet?"
"No Lu. Hey, wanna set up camp for the night? I'm sure they've set up camp too" Ace quietly sighs, in annoyance of the constant question, then looks up at the sky.
"Yea, sounds good" he and Ace get off the gecko before Ace turns to the lizard.
"Don't run away tonight, and we'll give you some dinner too"
The gecko yips in agreement as Luffy gets some sticks ready for a campfire. Ace wastes no time in lighting up the sticks, then grabs some meat from his bag, and cooks it before the three of them dig in.
Luffy and the gecko happily enjoy their dinner, with only the sounds of loud chewing coming out of them. Ace quietly eats while he sneaks a glance at his brother, who's oblivious to what he's planning. Luffy laughs at the sudden snooze, then sees that Ace didn't finish his dinner yet, so he tries to grab it, but a hand quickly snatches his own.
"Nice try Lu" Ace finishes his meal before Luffy can touch it.
"Stingy..." Luffy can only pout at his brother's unwillingness to share, as he grabs another piece of meat.
"Hey Luffy, what do you think about that dark haired woman in your crew?" he asked his brother since he was still curious about the strange woman.
"Ana!? She's so cool" Luffy responded with stars in his eyes "One time she fell into the water and the water brought her back up onto the ship"
"She ate a Devil Fruit?" Ace asked him with a quirked eyebrow.
"Noooo. She told us she was blessed by a goddess! Didn't I tell you before?" Luffy asked as he managed to sneak a piece of apple into his mouth "Besides she can swim. I've seen it"
"How interesting" Ace said as he cupped his chin.
"Yeah she is" Luffy nodded in agreement.
"Should we be going? We need to find your crew" Ace told his younger brother.
Ф
Ace and Luffy happily ride their gecko out of the village and towards the direction they were told that the desert pirates are coming from. Ace looks around for the sand pirates that they're supposed to fight, but pauses when he sees a familiar camel on the horizon.
"Hey Lu, isn't that the camel that took Nami and Vivi?" he asked the boy with the straw hat. Luffy looks over his brother's shoulder in confusion, but freezes when he sees the camel along with the rest of his crew.
"Yea, it's them!"
"Hey guys!" he jumps off the gecko and starts running towards the crew.
Ж
The group pauses when they see Luffy running towards them with his brother riding behind him.
"So he really did make it there" Nami says as she watches her captain run towards them.
"How did they score that?" Sanji looks at the food that Ace's dragging with interest.
"Don' know but I'm hungry" Anamaria said as she put out the cigarette under the sand.
"Ace probably did it" Usopp looks at the food with no belief that Luffy managed to get it.
"So this was where you guys went. How did you guys wander off?" Luffy reaches the group with a large smile.
"You and Ace were the ones who disappeared on us!" Zoro twitches an eyebrow at the assumption.
"We were?" the rest of his crew groans at their captain's ignorance but they let it go. Ace makes it to them on his gecko then gets off the animal.
"So you guys were the sand pirates?"
Anamaria observed their captain to see him rubbing his head. She went up closer to him and placed a hand on his forehead, pulling it away when she felt how warm his skin was.
"Doc, I think Luffy's overheated!" she shouted out for the deer.
"Really?!" Chopper widens his eyes at the diagnosis. He goes to approach them but Usopp grabs the back of his jacket to hold him back.
"Don't bother..." Luffy scowls at his friend's disbelief, and takes her hand off him. Vivi sighs before she looks at the food and changes the subject.
"Luffy, how did you and Ace get so much food? You didn't steal it did you?"
"We didn't steal it. The fake rebel army gave it to us" Luffy lets go of the argument then turns to Vivi with a smile.
"Wait, what do you mean fake?" Vivi's eyes widened at this.
"They called themselves rebels but they didn't look that tough. They asked us to go and protect the village from the sand pirates for them" Luffy shrugs as he grabs a drink from the barrel.
"They must've faked it to get free food. Wouldn't they have been found out though?" Nami looks at him in shock.
"Don't know, they looked pretty weird. The town looked pretty safe though" Luffy shrugs at the assumption. Vivi clenches her fists at the thought of people using the rebel army's name in order to get free food.
"Rebel soldiers aren't meant to be bodyguards nor was their name meant to give them free food..."
"Should we go teach them a lesson Vivi?" Sanji light up his cigarette and puffs a smoke before he turns to the princess.
Vivi keeps her fists tight as her hood covers her eyes. She remembers how her kingdom wasn't able to help the Oasis Rasa grew up in and how her kingdom can't help every town. She lifts her head when she comes to a conclusion.
"There's nothing wrong with villages seeking help in order to keep themselves safe" Vivi said. Nami blinks at the explanation.
"Does that mean we're going to let them go?" she asked the blue haired princess.
"No, I want to test them first. If these impostors truly wish to protect the village then it should be fine to leave them as is" Vivi replied with a small smile.
"So you want to test their character then?" Zoro quirks an eyebrow at this.
"Yes. So, I hate to ask but would you all be willing to fake an invasion?" Vivi nods.
"We'd be more than happy to help Vivi-chwan!" Sanji quickly nods with hearts in his eyes.
"Yea, it'll be fun!" Luffy grins at the idea.
"If you were hired to get rid of us then shouldn't you stay out of it Luffy?" Chopper looks at his captain in confusion.
"This shouldn't be a problem. We'll just tell him that he was pretending to help them or something" Nami quickly shakes her head at the question. Usopp's eyes opened wide at the idea then he tilted his head in thought.
"Yea, that can work" he agreed.
Ф
As the group kept walking forward, Anamaria was beginning to get more and more nervous about the looks that Ace was throwing her. She slowed down her pace until she was at the very back of the group, earning her a few strange looks from the others.
Just as she thought, her captain's older brother did similar to her until he matched her pace. Anamaria saw how Sanji threw the man a look before getting pushed forward by Nami who was behind him.
"What can I do for ya?" she asked him.
"Who are you? Really?" Ace asked her a bit aggressively as he tipped his own hat a bit further over his eyes.
"I've told ya already. I'm Anamaria Sparrow, second mate of the famous captain Jack Sparrow from the Black Pearl" Ana said proudly as she dispersed another mist of cold water in front of her face.
"That's not what I mean" he said, scratching the slight stubble on his chin.
"Oh well..." Ana shrugged before turning around and forcing the man to stop in place as she smiled dangerously at him, making a shiver go down his spine "...then keep yerself out o' ma business"
Ж
Ace manages to shrug the feeling off as they get closer to the village. Once close enough to the outer wall, they see the villagers on the outer wall watch the boys in Luffy's crew surround the fake rebels, so that they can't run.
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Ana went over to Sable whose head was perked up in a certain direction and she clambered onto the snake and head to see that Eyelashes and the girls are hiding behind it. She and the snake sneaked forward until they reached the two other women.
"Look what we 'ave here. Hello loves" Ana smiled charmingly down at the two, and the camel. Nami and Vivi jolt at Ana's voice then turn around to see her standing behind them. Vivi sighs in relief that they're ok then turns back to the show.
"Sorry, but we wanted to test the fake rebels to see if they're worthy of staying"
"They're acting pretty spineless though" Nami says as she peeks over the rock to see Camus and his companions looking at the pirates nervously.
"So...when can we, ya know, get in there"
"Yes, but let's see how it goes a little longer" Vivi nods as she looks at the rebels. Ace smirks at the show as he grows closer to them
"Maybe what they need is a push" he said.
The girls look at the freckled man in confusion as he goes off to sneak past the wall. The girls look at each other for a moment then go back to watching their friends surround the impostors.
Ж
Camus looks at Luffy's face in utter dread, when he realizes that he's still invading, even though they fed him! And where's the other guy?! He looks around to see that none of the crew members with him resembles the freckled man that travelled with him. He looks back at the serious look in Luffy's eyes causing fear to dwell in his body. He barely recognizes him from the guy that was stuffing his face before.
"Come on rebel soldiers!"
"You can do it!" Camus snaps out of it as he and his henchmen look back at the villagers to see them cheering for them.
"Hey!" the group turns around to Luffy's voice to see him glaring at them. "If you don't want to get hurt then move" the four impostors cry comical tears as they stay frozen in place
"Um, well" Camus tries to come up with something to say when his look out turns to him.
"What do we do now? We can't escape" Camus tries to come up with a correct answer but freezes when he hears Ace's voice mixed through the cheering villagers.
"Hey guys" the four fake freeze at the freckled man's voice as they looks around to find him but they can't.
"What's going on? Aren't you with the crew?" Camus asks softly so that the cheering villagers can't hear.
"I'm not, we were just travelling together"
"If that's true then help us"
"This isn't my fight it's yours. Try to get through this on your own" Ace snickers at this from his hiding place behind the wall as he keeps going.
"We can't do that! We're fakes!" Camus' eyes widened at this but keeps trying to convince him.
"If you're men, then act like it. How long are you gonna keep up this petty crap of yours?" Camus pauses at this when his comrade that's dressed as a boxer turns to him.
"So what do we do big bro?!" Camus nervously turns to him as he tries to figure out what to do. When he figures out what he has to do he narrows his eyes at the pirate.
"We have no choice but to lie our way out of this!" the other impostors look at him in confusion as he steps up and glares at Luffy "Listen you, we have to warn you!" the pirates and the villagers look at the fake rebel in confusion as he points to the village "Listen up, we're not the only rebels here! Through these walls there are over 100 million more soldiers like us just ready for you when you come in!"
The villagers look at him in confusion as they stop cheering for them.
"That was worse than a kid's lie" Usopp sweat drops at the lie and mutters under his breath.
"You're not one to talk" Sanji says as he grabs a cigarette and watches how his captain will react to the lie.
"WHAT?! 100 MILLION?!" Luffy stares at him intensely until his eyes bug out from the shock.
"THAT WASN'T EVEN BELIEVABLE!" Sanji and Usopp face plant from their captain believing the terrible lie then they stand up and yell simultaneously.
"What?! That was a lie?!" Luffy says as he turns to them in shock.
"Ay Luffy" Anamaria sighed as she stopped herself from hitting her face with the palm of the hand.
"That was close" Chopper, who was silent this whole time in heavy point, sighs in relief in knowing that it was a lie.
"You believed him too?!" Zoro turns to him in disbelief. Chopper nods but stay quiet while Luffy glares at the impostors.
"How dare you trick me?!" Luffy gets his fists ready as he narrows his eyes at the rebels. Camus steps back in fear as Luffy pulls his fist back "Gum gum pistol!"
Luffy throws a punch square in Camus' face that sends him flying ten feet backwards. Camus' three men just stare at their collapsed leader in utter shock as Luffy's rubber arm pulls back.
"What the hell?!" the villagers look at the Camus' state in utter shock as they talk among themselves.
"That pirate's a devil fruit user?!" "One hit knocked him out!" they all chorused.
"Luffy you idiot! You didn't need to go that far! The plan won't work if he knocks him out" Nami looks at Luffy in shock from her hiding place then groans.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Looks like a turn around's coming" Anamaria sees Luffy walking towards the others while cracking his knuckles and a smile stretches her lips upwards as she expects the fight.
Nami and Vivi look at her in confusion then looks back to see Luffy still going towards the other fake rebels. The villagers look at the pirate in fear when a group of kids start calling out to Camus.
"Big brother Camus get up!"
"The pirates are coming! Hurry!"
In Camus' daze from the punch, he remembers how he used to cheer to the warriors of Alabasta as a child as he listens to the children's pleas. He starts snapping out of it then looks up at the wall to see the villagers and the kids relying on him.
"How long are you gonna keep up this petty crap of yours?" he pauses when Ace's words ring through his head again and forces himself to stand up.
He sees Luffy cracking his knuckles to get ready to attack his subordinates. Before Luffy can touch any of the subordinates though, Camus rushes to the scene and grabs Luffy's arm before he can punch anyone.
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"Nooooooo!" Ana shouted softly as she huffed out in boredness.
"No Ana. No" Nami grabbed the woman's arms from behind so she didn't move,
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The henchmen, pirates, and villagers look at Camus in shock as the fake rebel glares at Luffy. Camus narrows his eyes at Luffy as he clenches his free hand.
"Yes, we're not real rebels. Even though all we wanted was to be the heroes that we saw as kids, we wound up as scoundrels. Even if I can't live my dream I can't let those kids' dreams die. If I have to live the rest of my life with those kids seeing me as a scoundrel then I'd rather die as a hero today!"
Luffy smirks at his enemy's speech just before he was punched in the face by the fake rebel leader. The rest of the crew that are in the act look at Luffy in shock as they watch Camus knock him down.
"Bastard!" Sanji starts walk up to them but the fake revolutionary that's dressed as a sumo wrestler blocks them off.
"What's your deal?" Usopp looks at the large, nervous man in confusion.
"You won't pass!" the sumo wrestler steels his nerves as he stands his ground. Camus looks at him in shock as he keeps going "Your dream is my dream big bro! We may have been scoundrels since we were kids but you were always there to protect the weak!"
The sum wrestler raises his fist up and tries to punch Sanji to the ground, but the chef jumps back in time to dodge. Sanji looks in shock to see that while the impostors words are strong he's still tearing up in fear.
"No matter what, I'll stay on your side big bro! If you're staying to fight then so will I!" Camus softens at his friend's speech before he sees his other two subordinates getting ready for action.
"We don't have anything to lose!" the two rebels glare at the pirates.
"Guys..." Camus begins to feel touched by the sentiment before he glares at the pirate that's still down "So that's how it is! We're not leaving so come at us!"
Ж
"Looks like they're not running. Though it looks like they're only doing it because they're backed into a corner" Nami smiles at the show from her hiding spot.
"Yes, but I don't think they can change that easily unless they have a good reason deep in their hearts" Vivi nods as she looks at them.
"Ya sure?" Ana asked the woman as Nami held her back just in case she tried to run into the fight "Come on Nami don't do this ta me" she muttered behind her to the orange haired woman.
"Yes, I can entrust this place to them. At least for now" Vivi replied. Nami smiles at this as she takes a mirror from her pocket in order to reflect the sunlight into Usopp's face as the signal.
Ж
"Sanji, we gotta go!" Usopp cringes at the flash in his eyes then realizes that it's the signal.
Sanji turns to him while just then realizes what he meant. Meanwhile, Camus keeps his stance ready to wait for the pirates to attack.
"So what's it gonna be pirates?!"
"Shishishi, this is great. Now I can face Crocodile without worrying!" Luffy grins at the determination in Camus' face as he sits. The fake rebels and the villagers look at Luffy in confusion as they watch the rubber man stand up "Man, this is a rel..."
"Shut up and come on!" Sanji says as he grabs Luffy's shoulder and runs away with the others. Sanji keeps a smirk on his face as he runs away while yelling loud enough for everyone to hear "THOSE BASTARDS! THOSE REBEL SOLDIERS ARE TOO FRIGHTENING!"
"I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH STRONG PEOPLE BEFORE!" Usopp follows in suit as he yells while running. Zoro rolls his eyes at his friends' acting as he runs after them with Chopper.
"What just happened?" Camus looks at the fleeing pirates in shock, as he stands still.
He snaps out of his daze when he hears the villagers cheering for the four of them. The four protectors softly smile at the cheering crowd as they go back into the village with wide smiles.
Ж
Meanwhile, Ace rushes out of town before he can be spotted and catches up to his brother and the rest of the group.
"Hey Luffy"
"Hey Ace" Luffy smiles as he turns to his brother.
"How long are we gonna keep running? They can't see us now" he chuckled.
"Until we're tired" Luffy shrugs as he laughs at the fight.
The rest of the crew sweat drops at their captain's insistence as they kept running while Anamaria was denying that Sanji needed to carry her on his back all the while Chopper was screaming as Sable carried him by the back of his shirt. Zoro quietly sighs at the crew as he keeps running, and speaks more to himself than to anyone else.
"This trip just made itself even longer..."
Ф
The crew's journey felt painstakingly slow as they travelled through the scorching desert for the rest of the day. Anamaria was still spritzing the water in small constant mists over the rest of the crew as Chopper laid flat on his back on the broader part of the snake's torso.
"Sanji darlin, come up here" Ana motioned for the blond man. Vivi were already on the camel, Eyelashes leaving only the men on the ground to walk over the hot sand.
"Anaaaaa" Luffy dragged out the woman's name and smiled when she sighed, patting Sable on the top of her head when the snake slowed down by herself.
Zoro and Ace looked up but were both far too prideful to admit that they too, were tired. Vivi looks over Nami's shoulder to see that they're reaching a small terrain with tall rocks filling the area. She looks up, to see that the sun's starting to set, then turns to Nami.
"Maybe we should call it a day. That terrain over there will be a good place to set up camp" the blue haired princess said. Nami looks over the terrain then nods.
"Good idea" she turns around to call out to the guys "Guys, we're gonna set up camp at the rocks!"
Anamaria smirked at the two men when they nearly shouted sighs of relied when they looked over at the terrain and waste no time travelling there with the girls.
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