Chapter 25

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Another early start was definitely not what you needed, even after a slightly earlier night than the night before. And now you somehow find yourself struggling to keep your eyes open as you wander through the dense forest where the early light of the rising sun can't reach the ground. There is a slight chill in the air under the canopy but you know it will vanish in the hours you will spend climbing to the top of the mountain.
Your eyes droop again as your mind slowly begins to shut down but a small nudge from Robin has you jolting back to life and picking up your slowing pace.
"I'm awake." You assure, stumbling over the words in your sleepy state.
"Sure." Robin chimes, somehow fully awake. She tugs on the cord that is tied around her left wrist, connecting her to Zoro so it's harder for him to wander off. He gets back on track and follows quietly behind Robin.
The rest of the group are further ahead and not waiting up for you. Luffy and Chopper take the lead with Nami and Vivi behind them. Sanji and Usopp are next, the long nosed boy often getting distracted by plants and reciting his botany knowledge to Sanji, who is adding his own culinary knowledge for the edible flora.
Every now and then you hear a bird fluttering above your head, unseen in the dense forest. The ambient sounds of birds chirping and a river running somewhere through the trees are very relaxing and are lulling you back to sleep.
Robin nudges you again and you open your eyes to see your friends who had been ahead of you have vanished around a corner. Luckily there is only one track and you can hear them so they aren't too far away.
"Alright, alright, no more sleeping." You grumble.
Despite your best efforts you keep falling further behind, especially as the mountainside becomes steeper and you beat the top.
"They better wait for us." You huff as you push yourself forwards, legs beginning to burn from walking for so long. The temperature has been gradually rising as the sun climbs higher into the sky and eventually not even the thick canopy above you can protect you from the boiling heat.
Eventually you, Robin and Zoro manage to clamber your way up to the bright opening on the top of the mountain where there is a small space cleared of trees with a few benches scattered around, which are currently occupied by your friends who are sitting around looking rather bored. They've obviously already rested and must have been waiting for you to catch up.
"Great!" Luffy exclaims. "They're here, let's go!" And with that he tries to sprint down the track but is stopped by Sanji sticking out his leg and tripping the raven haired boy.
"Let them rest." The blonde instructs as he forces Luffy back onto a bench. "Marimo must've slowed them down so much that they fell behind." He adds.
"What was that supposed to mean!" Zoro shouts back and you zone out as you fall heavily onto one of the benches.
You look out over the slope of the mountain to see the town and the sea, isolated from the rest of civilisation by the huge forest. The entire town looks like a toy box from this high up.
Your short moment of peace is interrupted as Luffy makes a break for it through the trees while Sanji is distracted by Zoro, who has been untied from Robin so she can rest instead of being dragged into the fight. Chopper bounds after him, barking with joy.
"Luffy!" Sanji yells, rushing forwards to the tree line but the raven haired boy is nowhere in sight. "I'm going after him, I'll meet you guys at the end of the path." With that the blonde dashes down the path in pursuit of Luffy.
"I suppose we should start walking." Usopp grumbles, rising to his feet. "Uh guys, where's Zoro?"
You all glance around and confirm that Zoro has gone missing, again.
"He was untied for one minute." Nami exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air. "He could be anywhere."
"Why does this always happen?" You complain, following your friends back down the mountainside despite still being exhausted from the climb up.
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The walk back down is easier on your legs and much faster but there is no sign of Zoro even after you have caught up to Sanji and Luffy at the base of the mountain. Sanji has a tight grip on Luffy and doesn't seem like he'll be letting go anytime soon. Chopper is panting and seems to be very excited from the chase down the mountainside.
"Any sign of Zoro?" Vivi asks him.
"No, did he wander off again?" The blonde replies. "He'll probably show up at some point." He shrugs and drags Luffy away from the mountain base by the back of his red shirt.
The path that guided you over the mountain has brought you to a dark and seemingly unpopulated part of town. Overgrown trees cover the cold abandoned looking buildings and you can't see anyone other than your friends. The knee length grass is a dead shade of yellow and broken glass from the lifeless warehouses is scattered around the ground. You would imagine the inside of the buildings to be filled with spiderwebs and grotesque buzzing flies that would see you as an easy meal, an oasis in the middle of the desert. You build up some courage and walk up to a shop window to peak inside, dodging the scattered remains of the window, to find that this place is so dead that any decomposing fauna has long since vanished. The burning sun seems to have vanished behind the sudden appearance of a dark cloud and caused a chill in the air, and it makes you wonder, for a millisecond, if you are ever going to escape this cold and isolated place.
"Stay together." Sanji instructs, walking briskly through the dodgy streets.
"What's with this place?" Usopp asks, arms crossed defensively from the cold air.
"This town has some history." Sanji replies vaguely. "It's best not to get caught up in it."
"Keep an eye out for Zoro." Nami instructs, sticking close to the rest of the group. "It would be nice if we could bring everyone home with us and not have to explain any disappearances."
Sanji leads you all through the dead town at a fast pace, trying to get everyone out as quickly as possible.
"Guys look." Usopp shivers. "There's someone over there." He points through a gap in the cold concrete building where there is a silhouette of someone moving around.
"Do you think it's Zoro?" Nami asks.
Luffy runs forwards a bit and begins to yell for the stranger's attention it Sanji tackles him and muffles the raven haired boy's shout with his hand.
"Get down!" Sanji mutters to everyone and you follow his example, hiding behind the buildings and abandoned objects that are scattered around. As you lie down you feel a sharp pain in your forearm and you stifle a gasp.
The silhouette looks around towards you all but doesn't seem to scare you. It then leans down and lifts a large black garbage bag over its shoulder.
"Who has that much garbage?" Usopp inquires under his breath. Sanji shushes him as the stranger vanishes from view. You all stay down for a few minutes longer until Sanji gives the all clear. As you pull yourself to your feet you notice the reason for the pain in your forearm. There was a large chunk of glass where you had dropped down and you had cut yourself. It doesn't seem like there is any glass left in your arm as the glass share was large and didn't shatter anymore.
"Are you okay (Y/N)?" Vivi asks, rushing to your side to check your injury. "We need to make sure it doesn't get infected."
"Let's just get back as quickly as possible." Sanji suggests, almost running away from the scene.
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Zoro has still not shown up by the time the rest of you return to the nicer part of town and eventually to the bach.
Sanji sits you down to tend to your arm with the help of Nami. You are quite the difficult patient as you keep flinching and squirming around.
"That was a bit much excitement for today." Sanji murmurs as he tucks away the first aid kit.
"Agreed." Nami sighs. "Let's just relax for the rest of the afternoon."
You return to the rest of the group in the games room and let yourself fall onto one of the couches next to Robin.
Sanji and Nami follow you with packs of cards and cookies. As Sanji keeps Luffy off the cookies so everyone else can have some, Nami deals everyone in.
"Hey, you forgot about me!" Zoro complains. Everyone stares at him for a minute before returning to the game.

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