Adventures At Sea

Chapter 8- Stolen Maps

I run through the unfamiliar streets looking for a tall man that left me in G-8. Anger boils inside of me and I run faster, desperately trying to find Ace. After long minutes of blindness running, I see a man ahead who sticks out from the crowd. His back faces me and I smile when I see a tattoo on his back; the Whitebeard symbol.

"Hey!" I scream causing people to jump out of the way. I take a final swing from the bottle and throw at the mans back. It breaks nosily and civilians run away, knowing a fight is about to start. The man turns around with a scowl on his freckly face. His eyes light up when he sees me and smiles but then that smile disappears when he notices how angry I am.

"How could you!?" I run towards him, ready to kick and punch. Ace dodges them easily. "I'm sorry!" He tries to stop the fight. I take out my knife from my boot with a red handle and I smile at him. He swallows nervously, he must know how angry I am at him since I never use weapons whilst fighting. Even though the knife is no longer than my forearm, I try to stab him several times. He dodges my attacks with ease, only making me angrier.

"Let's talk about this." He puts his hands up in defeat and I lunge towards might and cut his arm. He hisses and I lunge again.

"One month I was left in there, with hardly no food or water." The edge of my blade catches him in the cheek. "And to top it all off, I hear you're in Alabasta having the time of your life, whilst I was in a stinking cell!" I scream. A circle has formed around us and people cheer when I manage to cut Ace's leg.

"I didn't want to leave you, you know that." He tries reasoning with me but the only answer he gets is a kick to the chest that sends him flying backwards.

"Thunder go!" I point at Ace and signal Thunder to attack. Thunder whines conflicted about what to do.

"Thunder go!" Thunder runs towards Ace who is sitting up and jumps in his arms happily.

"Thunder, what the hell are you doing?!" He licks Ace's face and Ace strokes him lovingly.

"Wow, you're so big now Thunder. I remember when you were just a pup and Luffy and I saved you and Sky from those men." I smile at the memory.

I was only 6 at the time and I had seen some men carrying a bag that barked everyone five seconds. I confronted them and I managed to cut open the bag but was kicked and punched by the men. With Thunder in my small arms, Luffy and Ace found us and fought the men off.

"I'm sorry, Sky." Ace was now on his feet and had his arms open, ready to hug me. I smile and embrace him. I let out a surprised yelp when Ace lifts me up and starts turning.

"I have something to tell you..."

"SKY, IS THAT ACE?" I hear Luffy yell, "I WANT TO PLAY TOO!" Luffy runs towards the bloody Ace and was followed by the rest of his crew. "Woah, Ace why are you bleeding so much?" Luffy laughs.

"That was just my way of saying hello." Luffy looks at me and laughs again, "Sky you've got blood and dirt on you two. Why do I always miss the fun parts?" Luffy pouts and smile.

"Let's go and find Chopper." Nami says disapprovingly.

***

"Nothing too deep or too infected." Chopper tells us as he wraps bandages around our cuts. "I'll go and tell Sanji to give you an extra serving so you can regain your health back." With another smile, Chopper leaves the infirmary, leaving Ace and I alone.

"Look, I have to say this quick." Ace says, searching around the room for other people, "The Marines are after you."

"When aren't they after me?" I reply.

"I'm not joking, this is serious." He digs his hand in his right pocket. "I left G-8 for a reason and I couldn't take you with me for another." He pulls out an old looking map that I have seen many times.

"I was looking for that!"

"I stole it from you, right after you showed me what you think it leads to. I knew that this map was not safe in a cell in G-8 so I left but, I was going to come back after I had found if the place was real or just a myth."

"I know what its real, silly." Ace looked at me as if telling me to continue.

"Its the Treasure Island, the one and only." I puff my chest out if pride.

"When you told me that, I thought you had gone mad. I though the Treasure Island was just an old dream Luffy, you and I used to have when we were kids, so I-" I look up to see him asleep. I shake my head, some things never change.

With a soft kick, Ace woke up. "The Marine that you stole this from is angry and won't stop until he finds you."

"Who?"

"It's-" "GUYS, THE FOOD IS READY!" Luffy burst in through the door and we both hit him on the head.

"Hey, you nearly made me drop my meat."

***

Dinner had passed by in a blur and the next moment, Ace was gone. With everyone celebrating Ace's arrival no one noticed my spaced out self as I walked away from the party and into the darkness. I pull the map from my bra and open it. So many life's lost for this piece of paper...

I looked up to the stars and thought about what Ace had told me that evening, "Won't stop until he finds you."