Sun Sailor

Chapter 5

Luffy was the first to run off to the other beach leaving the rest to scramble after him. Zoro, having the unfortunate fate of sliding down the hill with Nami hanging onto his leg, screamed at her to let go. Though for Nami she climbed up and over Zoro's body and found herself at the top of the oiled hill and smiled back at Zoro thanking him for his help. Zoro yelled after her and used his swords to dig into the dirt. He did not want to fall down the hill. He cursed nami out using every word under the sun. Pearl, who had started running, looked back and saw Zoro struggling to climb up the hill. She hesitated but thought it would be better to have him along for the fight than not. She looked around and tried to find something to throw to him so that she could pull him out of the trap. Spotting rope that was used to tie up the barrels on the boat she ran over and united them. This rope would be helpful in getting Zoro out of the trap, she just hoped that it was long enough. Wrapping the rope up she hurried back to Zoro who was still struggling and yelled down to him."Grab onto this!" She said, Zoro looked up and saw that he in fact wasn't alone. He was sure that they had all left him behind but the girl in the half cut jeans was there waiting for him to grab onto the rope just barely out of his reach. Zoro extended his hand out, his fingertips grazing the end of the rope. He dug his sword into the dirt once again and used it as leverage to pull himself further up the hill. The rope at this point was coated in a layer of oil. Pearl looked down at Zoro who was struggling to grab a hold of the rope. She scooched closer towards the edge of the oiled hill and hoped to hell and back that he wouldn't pull her down the bottom with him. The added length of rope allowed Zoro to wrap it around his arm. Pearl immediately tugged on the rope. She thought that her arms were going to be pulled off as she struggled to gain some fitting on the hill. Zoro was heavier than she had thought and she wasn't nearly as strong as she thought she was to pull him up. It took nearly every ounce of her being to get him up that oiled hill. When Zoro finally was able to get out of that horrendous trap Pearl lay breathless on the ground. Zoro looked over at Pearl who looked half dead and smiled."Thanks a lot for that." He said as he got up and offered a hand towards Pearl. She looked at his hand and smiled before grabbing it."Yeah whatever you say, you owe me though." She said as she wiped her hand clean of the oil from Zoro's hand. "If we get out of here alive, I'll think of something." He replied.Pearl smiled and started running to the other beach, Zoro close behind her. It was a strange feeling being able to run without end, being on ships for the better half of her arrival she hadn't been able to put much use to her legs. She was slow and soon Zoro had passed her, his swords clanking together as he ran out of view. Pearl huffed and made a mental note on beginning her training so that she wouldn't be so useless in a fight. She had a nagging feeling in her gut that fighting was going to be an ongoing thing with this particular crew. — Pearl was out of breath by the time she had reached the outter limits of the town. She stopped to catch her breath as a trio of kids came running by her all wearing expressions of anxiety and fear. She suspected that these three knew something about the happenings on the beach. "Come on, we have to help Captain Usopp!""Hurry guys, there's no time left!""Wait up!" pearl yelled The kids turned around an looked at her. The nerves that they felt made them weak in the knees and pearl could visibly see how scared they were."Where is Usopp?" she asked."Usopp? Yeah, we saw him heading towards the beach just a while ago." "The beach... that's where I need to be!" She said as her strength and breath came back to her."We heard what's about to happen, we can take you to Captain Usopp!" Another said, he face steading into determination."I need to join the fight. Can you show me the quickest way?" She nodded."Just follow us, we'll take you there." The shortest one said.Pearl nodded her head and began to follow the trio as they took off running. Her lungs ached but she needed to get to the other beach before it was too late. Every time there was a feeling in her gut that made her want to vomit something bad always happened, something that she was right about. Fenghuang had been quiet for a long time and though she didn't mind it at the moment she really hoped that seh wold help her out at the beach. She wasn't very skilled in combat, she hadn't gotten any training in. As the beach came into view the kids scatter off into the bushes, they were scheming up a plan to help Kaya out as the screams of rowdy men drifted up the hill. Pearl saw Zoro fighting against two pirates, both wearing what seemed to be cat ears. Pearl skidded to a stop at the top of the hill as Zoro clashed with the two weird looking pirates. She did a double take at their appearance and couldn't get over the idea that they both wore, willing it seemed, the ears. Fenghuang snickered and Pearl couldn't help but smile herself. It seemed that Luffy's crew was doing well in this fight, yet as she scanned the hill she couldn't find Luffy anywhere. "Where did he go?" Pearl mussed as she walked to the side of the hill. The veggie trio had wandered off back into the thicket of the woods keeping out of site. Scanning the beach below the cliff Pearl saw that the front portion of the ship that was docked on the beach had fallen over. A group of pirates all stared at it, looking closely at it Pearl saw two hands sticking out from underneath. "We got the strawhat!" One pirate yelled as the other cheered. Pearls blood ran cold as she looked at the hands that belonged to luffy lay still under the broken piece of ship. "There's no way he survived that..." Pearl questioned as she pulled her focus to the door that seperated Fenghuang's power from her. "Did he?" she mumbled as the door slowly creaked open within her. The heat wafted out and around the void. The meditation training from the past few days has helped her gain more control over the direction of the heat. She continued to pull it into her own body and as more pooled into her chest she begun to heat up. A flicker of light radiating from her chest."For now, I have to do what I can." Pearls voice was laced with determination but the shaking of her body wanted her to desperately find somewhere to hide. Maybe with the veggie trio? No, she couldn't. She shouldn't. As the heat washed through her body she took a few steps back from the edge of the cliff. She wasn't quite sure what she was doing but a part of her knew that she would be okay with whatever happened. As the heat built to its peak within her she made a mental note to ask Fenghuang what this feeling was. She had felt it before. Closing her eyes she charged forwards and jumped right off of the cliff and down towards the group of pirates were. She would use her ability to help Luffy out.As she soared through the air and descended towards the group she heard Nami yell from the top of the cliff. She couldn't look back and as she crashed into the ground with a powerful thud she ran towards the stunned pirates. This feeling pulling her forwards felt the same as when she charged the cruise ship when she was with Alvida. It pulled her through the fray of pirates and one after the other they fell yelling in agony. She grew closer and closer to where luffy lay and a glimmer of hope weaved its way through her veins, she could help.—Nami was standing with Usopp trying to keep the pirates from entering into Syrup village. She was scared out of her mind but was somehow keeping up with everyone else. She was glad that Usopp was by her side when more pirates charged up the hill. Knocking a pirate away from her, leaving him unconscious, she saw that Zoro was having a harder time than she was. It seemed that there were two pirates ganging up on him, she hoped that he would be able to take care of himself cause there was no way she was going to step into that fight. Fighting the other crew men was enough for her. Nami finally caught a break in the middle of the fight when she noticed Pearl standing near the edge of the cliff. She saw that Pearl was looking down towards the group of pirates. She wondered if she could see Luffy. Nami was sure that Luffy was crushed but he wasn't out for the fight. She had seen too much to know that something like a piece of wood wouldn't kill him. Nami noticed that Pearl had smoke rising from her body, it was strange, she hadn't see the girl fight before. She heard about the fight she put on during the raid Alvida's pirates did but no one said anything about her steaming. All that was mentioned was the plume of fire that burst from her hands. Knocking another pirate out of the way, which was then knocked out by one of Usopp's attacks, she saw that Pearl was stepping away from the cliff. She wanted to go an see if she was okay but the onslaught of pirates coming her way made it impossible to escape. Knocking out another pirate Nami took the split second gap to escape from the fight and see if Pearl was okay, she needed her help. As she ran to Pearl, she saw that she wasn't turning away from the cliff but rather facing it head on, a determined look on her face.What the hell is she thinking? Nami thought as she was approaching the steaming girl."Hey Paerl!" She called out but before she knew it the girl in th half cut jeans was sprinting full force, maybe even faster than normal, towards teh edge of the cliff."Hey Wait!" Nami yelled as she picked up her pace, she needed to catch the girl before she plummeted to her head. It was too late, Pearl had already jumped from the cliff and was now propelling at an unreal pace towards the ground."Pearl!" Nami yelled as she skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff. "What the hell is her problem, she's gonna die." She cursed as she looked below at the beach where a dozen or so pirates waited. Nami's heart was pounding in her chest, for what it was worth she liked Pearl, even if it was for only the fact that she was the only other girl on a ship filled with dumb boys. Considering her amnesia as well Nami also wanted to see if she could convince Pearl to be her raiding buddy, she could get way more berries if Pearl was an extra pair of hands in her thievery.Nami continued to look on an brace for the impact that soon would cripple Pearls legs, yet when the plume of smoke dissapated she saw that pearl was completely fine. In fact, she was steaming more than before. It was wafting off of her in waves. Nami furrowed her brows."What the hell is with this chick?" she questioned as she continued to look on as Pearl ran at an alarmingly fast pace towards the group of pirates."She's not going to try and save him is she?" She questioned further. Maybe there's more to this weird girl than meets the eye Nami mussed as she walked away from the cliff. Whatever Pearl was doing she hoped to any god that she would make it through the fight. She had questions that needed to be answered.Pearl was dashing through the sea of pirate like they were nothing more than bugs. The heat that sweltered under her skin marred their skins as her strength snapped their feeble necks. One after the other they fell to the ground, luffy just within her reach. The pirates that were on the outskirts of the fight looked on in abject horror as they saw a girl taking down men after men. They were too scared to face her for fear that their own necks would get snapped.Kuro who stood at the top of the hill monitored the fighting below him. He was keen on watching what the swords man had in him but the screaming of his men below on the beach reached his ears. He couldn't help but look past the Meowban brothers and saw a lone figure running through his men taking one down after the other. The person was headed straight for where he buried the strawhat kid. He grumbled in disgust as he sent an attack down the hill. It hit the edge of the cliff, not moments later a it cut through his men and headed straight to where the stranger was. He'd have to take care of this person before it was too late.Pearl was in arms reach of Luffy before something grazed her arm. Immediately her body wasn't her own and she was thrust into the back seat of her own consiousness. Watching as he arm moved at light speed away from the attack she was then again thrust back into her won body looking at her arm and then again back up the hill where the attack originated from. Kuro.Did Fenghuang just save my arm? She thought before returning back to Luffy. Pearl prayed that she had enough strength to get luffy out from underneath the piece of wood. Again, before she could even move she was thrust back into her own consciousness and watched as she jumped backwards. Kuro was keeping her from getting any closer to Luffy than she already was. A searing pain coursed through her as she was once again thrust back into her own body. She staggered and fell flat on her ass. The heat that was once coursing through her body faded but didn't disappear. She was being reckless, did she already hit her limit?She cursed under her breath as she saw pirates slowly closing in on her and Luffy, dark and sinister smiles on their faces. She looked back up the hill and saw that Nami and Zoro were both struggling to beat the two cat-like pirates and— oh no, Jango was there as well. She couldn't worry about that right now, Luffy was her mission at the moment, she would just have to hope that Zoro and Nami could hold their own. Pearl looked back to where Luffy was and saw that he looked relatively okay, she was about to get back up on her feet when another attack came from behind, this time she wasn't thrust into her own consiouness. The ttack hit her back and she stumbled forwards. The sand that entered her mouth made her cough and she looked up and was face to face with Luffy."Motherfucker, hes sleeping?!" Pearl yelled as she saw the snoring face of the strawhat boy. Suddenly a foot came crushing down onto her back. She wheezed and sputtered up spit before turning her head and looking at who stepped on her. It was some no good pirate who sneered down at her before pulling his sword from his hilt. "You're done killing my mates, girlie." He sneered, the tip of his sword coming to point at her neck. Pearl gulped and before the pirate could do anything Nami yelled from the base of the hill. Pearl turned and looked at her, she was running towards them."Nami don't!" Pearl yelled.Pearl saw that Nami was hurt and didn't want her to get into a fight she couldn't get out of. Suddenly a surge of heat welled inside her once more, it wasn't as hot or as powerful as before but it was enough to give her strength to remove the pirate from her back. She needed to keep Nami safe and wake Luffy up. She needed to do it, every fiber of her being was yelling at her to complete her mission she had set out for herself. She couldn't fail. Using her foot she kicked at the pirates achilles heel and he stumbled backwards, leaving enough room between his sword and her neck. Pearl used this to her advantaged and rolled onto her and threw sand into his face obscuring his vision. The pirate coughed and sputtered at the meager attack. Yet, it was enough for Pearl to land on her feet. "Pearl watch out!" Nami yelled, she was closer the pirates around her all too stunned to attack the orance haired girl as she ran thorugh them.Pearl saw the pirates raise his sword once more but this time she dashed forwards and kicked him stright between the legs. She had not proper fighting techniques but she new a mans weak spot. In a split moment her focus pinpointed itself to her fist and all the heat within her body moved. It focused itself in her fist and a swoosh echoed across the beach as her fist made contact with his face. The pirate flew across the beach several meters away finally out of her way. "Nami duck!" Zoros voice yelled from atop the hill. Pearl saw that one of Jango's weapons was flying right towards her. She tried to run towards Nami as quickly as she can but the energy in her own body was slowly fading. She wasn't able to hold the power she had, the heat was slowly fading from her body. She wasn't going to be able to keep Nami safe. She was going to fail.I am not. Going. To. Fail. Her mind echoed repeatedly, over and over again as she willed herself to usher the heat back into her body. The heat below her skin came ushering back to her and she moved from her spot so quickly that before she could even register it in her own mind she had grabbed Nami and pulled out out of the way before kncoing the wepon out of the air. In another moment she turned and kicked Luffy in the head."Wake the hell up, moron!" she yelled.Luffy suddenly was wide awake and glaring at the girl in the half cut jean with an expression that could only be seen as annoyance."What the hell baggy?" Luffy said as he stared at the girl who kicked him. He was dreaming about meat before he was rudely interrupted. However, his annoyance was short lived when Nami called for him."Luffy, Kuro is here, he's trying to take the village and Kaya now!" She said as she pointed up towards the hill.Luffy followed to where she was pointing and sure enough he saw the so called butler standing at the top of the hill. Luffy fixed his hat and walked off to meet Kuro half way. He would finish this fight if it was the last thing he did.Pearl on the other hand fell to her knees as Luffy walked by her, his face steeled in determination. She smiled faintly as her vision faded in an out. Shit, I think I'm gonna pass out. She thought as she felt the sand under her fingers. They felt warm and she suddenly had the urge to lay in it. It was so warm. So, so warm.Nami turned her head and saw Pearl shakily trying to stay awake. "Shit, shit, shit, Pearl!" she said as she ran to her side. She knelt down and grabbed onto pearl who fell into her chest."Don't pass out on me, stay awake. Come on!" Nami urged as she continued to hold onto Pearl. Nami saw that she was trying her best to stay away but the skin on her body was blistering hot that she couldn't hold her for long. She winced in pain as the heat radiating off of Pearl burned her own body. She laid Pearl onto the sand and tried to fan her off, but it was no use. Pearl was slowly loosing copiousness.Pearl wheezed and focused all of her remaining energy on staying awake. Yet the more she tried the harder it became for her to keep her eyes open. The heat that once radiated through her body was gone and with it she lost her energy. I can't keep doing this, child.A surge of energy flowed through the door and into Pearls domain. She was teleported into the expansion of her own soul— where sky and water melded together as one. As pearl looked around her own domain she saw small fissures in the distance. They glowed like molten sun. She wondered what they were before everything around her turned to midnight.