Chapter 33: Dessert Trek, A Long Journey

I am tearing through the chapters I have... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. So status report: I'm halfway through Thriller Bark and there will be at least two major arcs after that one, maybe three, that I still have to plan out and write. As a result of that and my increasing college workload, I'm going to have to stop posting on Wednesdays. Mondays and Fridays, however, are still up unless I get several reviews and/or messages asking me to move the last one to Thursday or something. I'll leave that up to you guys. Either way, I will still post twice a week until I either a) catch up and run out of chapters, or b) complete the first half of my story. The rest will have to come after quite a bit more of the New World is revealed to us.

PS. And just because, I feel like I have to add a new disclaimer. I don't know why; maybe the old one expired or something. Either way, I do not own One Piece.

Sure wish I did, though. Sure wish I did...

PPS. "Special Writer Attack: 3,000 Words!"

Chapter 33:

Dessert Trek, A Long Journey

"So this is my older brother, Ace," Luffy introduced as the Merry sailed away from the port of Nanohana. "Ace, this is my crew. That's 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro, his student Coby, our sniper Usopp, our chef Sanji, the 'Man-Demon' Gin, the sisters Amy and Grace, our doctor Chopper (he's a reindeer! Isn't that cool?!), and finally my girlfriend Nami, our navigator."

"Thank you all for being there to care for my little brother," Ace said, bowing. "I know he can be a bit of a handful all of the time. And you," he indicated Nami, "I wasn't sure if I believed you were real or not. I mean, I was pretty sure when I left three years ago that my brother was asexual." Ace smirked. "So tell me, do his powers change anything in the bed-"

"Nope!" Nami interrupted, her face the same color as the band on Luffy's hat. "We haven't done any of that!"

"Any of what?" Luffy asked. "You know how I sleep, Ace. Why would you ask if my powers changed that?"

"Nevermind," the Whitebeard pirate sighed, slightly put out. How was he supposed to be the embarrassing older brother when his target was completely ignorant of such things? It was very disappointing. "Anyway, I don't think you've introduced me to this other young lady."

"Oh, right. This is Vivi, the princess of Alabasta, and her duck, Carue."

"And what is a princess like yourself doing on a pirate ship?" he asked her.

"Trying to save my homeland," the princess answered honestly, wary of this new pirate. "What is a pirate like you doing in my country?"

"I'm looking for someone by the name of Blackbeard. He was a member of my division, but committed the worst crime a pirate could; he killed a crewmate and jumped ship. Now it's my job to track him down. I'd heard rumors that he was around here."

"Warning!" Usopp called from the crow's nest where he had taken up a position in an attempt to give Ace a good first impression. "There are five ships coming toward us. They're Baroque Works!"

"Let me handle this, Luffy," Ace offered. He hopped off the ship and into his own small boat tied to the Merry. He unhooked it and took off, powering the boat with his Devil Fruit powers. Ace sped toward the ships as fire slowly covered his body.

"Hiken! (Fire Fist!)" A massive ball of fire in the shape of a fist shot out, hurtled toward the closest ship, and made contact. The fire engulfed the ship, burning every man on-board to a crisp and lighting every piece of wood on fire. The Straw Hats watched in awe as he maneuvered his ship to attack the other four vessels, ending all of them and all of their crews in one strike.

"He..." Usopp muttered. "He just killed all those people."

"That's the power of a Whitebeard Division Commander?" Coby wondered in awe. Next to him, Grace dropped her rice cracker.

"That was so cool, Ace!" Luffy shouted.

Ace took his time returning, stopping to show off and do some tricks before his boat was hooked back up to the Going Merry. He climbed onto the ship and was promptly glomped by Luffy. It was slow, but the crew was able to pry their captain off of his brother.

"So where to next?" Zoro asked, slightly annoyed by the delay.

"I need to find my way to Rainbase," Ace stated.

"We're headed in that direction," Vivi offered, a mask of indifference on her face. "We need to go up the Sandora River to start. Then we'll drop anchor by Eramalu and hike through the desert to Yuuba. Last I heard, the Rebels were based there. Rainbase is to the north of Yuuba."

"What are we waiting for?" Coby questioned.

"Let's go!" Luffy cheered. The crew maneuvered the Merry in the direction they needed to go. Once their course was set, Usopp rounded up the crew for an announcement.

"Alright, everyone," he began, trying to pretend he was the captain. "As your wonderful leader, I have made an investment for the crew."

"Oh?" Nami interrupted. "You spent your allowance on something for everyone, not just yourself?"

"Yes I did," he answered smugly, bringing a medium-sized bag out from behind his back. Out of the bag, he pulled a snail small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. This snail was an aqua color and had a mark under its left eye-stock that looked like Luffy's scar. On the side of its white shell, the Straw Hat mark was painted on both sides, the microphone on top stylized to be the hat. To completing its image, Usopp also pulled out a tiny straw hat that looked like Luffy's and placed it on the snail's eyes.

"I got us a den-den mushi!" Usopp smiled. Luffy ran over and gingerly stole the snail phone from Usopp's hand, happily examining it. As he tickled the snail, causing it to wiggle happily, Usopp pulled more presents from his bag, baby den-dens all mounted on watch straps. They had caps labeled from 1 to 14 with little straw hats that Usopp informed them that he'd painted himself. "I was also able to get a batch of baby den-den so we could stay in contact."

"Great thinking!" Chopper gushed, studying the tiny snails.

"Wasn't it, though?" Usopp responded. One could almost see his head getting bigger.

"Yeah," Nami drawled, "except for the fact that it was my idea back when we were on Drum Island and I told him to remind me."

"Well," Luffy began, hopping over to his girlfriend and wrapping an arm around her waist (much to Sanji's chagrin and Ace's satisfaction), the den-den in his other hand, "since it was your idea to get these guys, why don't you name this one?"

"Hmm," she hummed. "How about Shelly."

"Perfect." The baby den-den were passed out as well, each member of the crew getting the one who's number corresponded with their official joining, so Luffy got 1, Zoro- 2, Coby- 3, Usopp- 4, Sanji- 5, Gin- 6, Nami- 7, Grace- 8, Amy- 9, and Chopper- 10. Usopp said that he'd gotten more for the others that would inevitably join, knowing Luffy's... persuasive arguments.

Usopp also admitted that he'd gotten his own personal den-den for calling his girlfriend back on Gecko Island. The fact that he had a significant other shocked the sisters, the doctor, and the princess. Nevertheless, he went to the men's quarters to do just that and inform Kaya that his story of fighting a giant goldfish was, in fact, now true due to the events after Little Garden.

Even if his story role was a little bit bigger than it had been in real life.

"Hey, Nami," Vivi called out. "Could we stop here for a second?"

"Why?"

"I have a mission for Carue." The Straw Hats dropped anchor by the shore, allowing Vivi, Carue, Luffy, Usopp, and Coby to let themselves on shore. There, they watched as Vivi gave Carue his instructions.

"This is a letter to my father about everything that has happened so far including Crocodile's plans that we uncovered. I trust that you will get it there safely. You have plenty of water for the trip, but conserve it all the same. Go now." Carue saluted the princess and ran off in a cloud of dust, stopping every couple hundred meters to take a gulp from his water supply.

"I said conserve!" Vivi yelled at him. "Not consume!"

"He'll be fine," Coby assured the princess. "I've seen how fast he can run. No one could catch him."

"Yeah." She sounded melancholic. She and her duck hadn't been separated for as long as his mission would take in the last three years. "I know. I'm just worried is all."

"Let's just get going," Usopp offered. "Eramalu shouldn't be that far ahead; we can get there quickly."

"Good idea, Usopp," Luffy complemented. "You all heard him. Raise anchor."

"Finally!" Luffy exclaimed, ready to jump off the ship. "Time to go kick Crocodile's ass!" Zoro was preparing to drop anchor, that being his assigned duty. There were shadows in the water, but he thought nothing of it and dropped the weight. The anchor hit the water before rebounding into his hand.

"The Hell?" he wondered aloud. He threw the anchor, but it came back to him. Out of the water came a pod of animals that looked like seals with turtle shells. "Turtles?"

"Actually," Luffy commented, "I think they're seals."

"They could be small manatees," Gin suggested.

"They're Kung-Fu Dugongs," Vivi told them. "We can't stop here." The dugong in the lead made several noises, gesturing at the crew the whole time.

"You'll have to beat me in a fight if you want to land here, you bunch of cowards" Chopper translated. "He says," the reindeer added.

"No one calls the brave Captain Usopp a coward!" the sniper declared. He jumped off the ship and onto the rocks...

...and was promptly beaten up by the semi-aquatic martial artists.

"Kung-Fu Dugongs are really strong!" Vivi told him a little too late.

"That wasn't too hard!" Luffy laughed, half of the pod scattered around him.

"Captain Luffy," Coby muttered, rubbing his face.

"Dammit, Luffy," Zoro sighed.

"Luffy!" Vivi cried. "If a Kung-Fu Dugong loses a fight, it becomes the student of the person who beat it! They think you're their master now!"

"Cool!" Luffy laughed. "Hey, Coby! Captain's orders, you're gonna help me train half of these guys!"

"Ugh," Coby groaned. He could hear some of the crew laughing at him. Oh, the pains of being one of the first and most trusted. And of course Luffy would have chosen him; Zoro would have just fallen asleep or something. Nevertheless, the younger Zoan climbed down from the ship to stand beside his captain whom all the animals were bowing before.

"Alright!" Luffy announced. "This is Coby. He'll be teaching any of you that want to learn weapons." With his declaration, about a fifth of the pod split off to dive into the water only to return a few second later, sticks in hand. Begrudgingly, Coby led the smaller group through beginner's exercises as Luffy showed the larger group how he fought. Coby had to admit, they were very fast learners. Soon, he was forced to move on to advanced exercises.

Meanwhile...

"Amy-chan!" Sanji noodled. "I got you some new clothes!" He pulled out a dancer outfit identical to the ones Nami and Vivi were wearing in a yellow color.

"Aww, thanks," she said, giving a fake smile. She took the two-piece outfit, fully intending to burn it and revel in Sanji's tears. The woman headed to the women's quarters, leaving the lovestruck cook behind. Opening the door, Amy found Nami and Grace inside, the latter helping the former into a white robe to cover her blue dancer outfit, a rice cracker in her mouth.

"What are you doing?" the blonde asked.

"Covering up," the navigator answered. "Vivi said that any exposed skin would get sunburnt, so she suggested that we get robes for when we're in the dessert. She and I got one for everyone while we were out in Nanohana." She noticed the clothes Amy was carrying. "I see Sanji gave you the clothes he bought. You can wear them; they're comfy and he won't see anything under your robe anyway."

"If you say so. Could you help me, little sis?" Grace nodded to her older sister.

While that was happening, the other crewmembers were making their own preparations. Chopper was making extra Rumble Balls, Usopp tweaking a special weapon Nami had requested and tested next to him. Sanji was covering Nami's tangerine orchard to protect them from the harsh dessert winds before moving to the kitchens to get food ready for their trip. Gin and Zoro were working in silence in the shade of the mast, maintaining their weapons for the inevitable battle. Vivi, in a dark blue robe, was staring out over the horizon, thinking about Carue, and the war, and her country in general.

As for Ace, he was sleeping on the deck in the bright sunlight, his nose spontaneously combusting in random intervals.

(I'm just going to overview their trek since very few things of interest happened if we cut out the fillers, which I will.)

The trip to Eramalu was quite boring. Luffy whined through half of it, disappointed that they couldn't bring any of the Kung-Fu Dugongs with them through the dessert, but he gave in in the end due to a mixture of logic and, when that didn't work, violence. The fighting animals were left to guard the Going Merry instead. The city of Eramalu itself was deserted, not a single soul in sight and the buildings crumbling. Vivi told them the sad story of how the City of Green had withered away from the drought and the civil war. The group moved on quickly, there was nothing of value to them there and the ruins were just plain depressing.

The dessert wasn't exactly fun either. It was scorching by day, leading to many fights over conserving water. Chopper ended up having to be carried or drug along due to his fur coat nearly giving him heat stroke. That night was possibly worse for all but the reindeer. The temperature sunk faster than a Devil Fruit user in the ocean, leading to a lot of shivering. Most of the males ended up sleeping in one big pile, Zoro, Sanji, Gin, and Ace sitting on the outside and all the rest knotted up within. The females slept in a separate, much more orderly, bundle.

A sand storm blew in the next morning, burying their tents in sand. The crew was able to dig them out, but it was a pain and a half. They continued to trek onward much like the day before. Eventually, after many hours of travel, they spotted a rocky outcropping that provided shade and decided to eat and renew their strength there before continuing. Within the rocks, they found a gaggle of white birds with distinctive swirl-styled head feathers, all of them looking beaten and bruised. Chopper ran forward to try to help, but Vivi held the others back. She informed them that those birds were thieves that stole from weary travelers. With the realization that the small creature was a doctor, the birds fled, knowing that their injuries were fake.

With the birds gone, the group enjoyed a pleasant meal. Had Luffy not been mellowed out by Coby's influence or his dating Nami, it's possible he could have ended up losing all of their supplies to the conniving avian flock. As it was, though, they didn't have to worry about that.

Their peaceful meal was interrupted by the call of a panicked animal. In the distance, a camel loaded with a saddle could be seen running from a large dust cloud. As the dessert mammal drew closer, the thing chasing it was revealed to be a Sandora Dragon, a purple lizard with razor-sharp teeth and claws, big enough to swallow any of the pirates whole. Luffy decided to rescue the camel by having himself, Sanji, Zoro, and Gin attack the reptile, killing it with one combined blow. Ace ended up killing a second when the first's mate attacked from the other side. The pirate captain extended their lunch so the group could eat the two gargantuan lizards.

"You know," Nami commented to the other women as they watched the males dig in to the one Ace had fast-cooked, "I almost feel bad for the monsters when they end up fighting us."

"I don't," Amy laughed sadistically.

After all the confusion ended, it was made known that the camel and Chopper knew each other from a side trip the reindeer had taken when Sanji left him behind in Nanohana. When Luffy tried to ride him, the camel threw him off before grumbling something.

"I'm sorry," Chopper translated, "but, while I am grateful for you saving me, and while I am willing to carry some of you, only female passengers are allowed. I'm just too macho to carry any men."

"Perverted camel," the men whined in unison.

"What should we name him?" Nami asked.

"Stupid," Luffy suggested, waving his arm.

"Moron," Zoro offered with a yawn.

"Idiot," Sanji growled, glaring at the camel.

"Pervert," Coby grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Bastard," Gin supplied helpfully.

"Eyelash it is, then," Nami finalized. She, Vivi, Grace, and a one-kilogram Amy boarded the mammal. With their new companion and Zoro carrying Chopper on his shoulder, the crew and their three friends struggled forth.

Yuuba couldn't be that much farther, could it?

End of Chapter 33

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-SwordOfTheGods