Chapter 7: Boats and Snatching

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

Dusty opened her eyes and looked around lazily. The moon was high in the air and the air was nice and cool. She yawned and stretched as far as she could on the mattress, "Really lucked out. A place to stay, for free and people helped me out...," she whispered to herself as she sat up. She looked around the room. It was a nice room. Had a desk, a small trunk and the very comfortable bed she was currently resting on.

Maybe I should leave. I mean, yeah, this is a great place so far...but if Dmitri and the others are still after me...I don't wanna endanger these people. Especially that little kid that goes with Devon. Guess I should go on ahead since it's dark out... she thought to herself sadly.

She slinked off the mattress and hefted her pack and money bag over her shoulders and quietly opened the window. Dusty hopped out and landed on the second floor rooftop. "Well Doc...hate to look like an ungrateful guest...but I gotta do what I gotta do...see ya," she whispered before jumping off the roof and into the black of night.

The next morning, Kirsty, Austin and Devon were at the table, eating pancakes quietly. They had noticed that Dusty had fled during the night, and they could probably guess why. "So where exactly are you two headed?" Kirsty asked, hoping to clear the room of the uncomfortable silence. Austin looked at her, than at Devon who was, again, flipping through his book of swords.

"Wherever the pull comes from,"

Kirsty blinked in confusion, A pull?

Devon put down his fork and stood, "C'mon Austin...we need to go," he ordered. The small boy nodded and wiped his chin before standing up. Devon grabbed his jean jacket from the back of his chair and pulled it over before taking the large sword that was leaning against the wall.

Austin ran upstairs and then returned a short time later, carrying a bag over his shoulder. Kirsty couldn't help but feel sad that her new 'friends' were leaving already. "Thanks Doc...maybe I'll see ya sometime in the future," Devon said as he headed to the door. Austin took a last look at Kirsty, then followed his brother out of the door.

"Bye...and good luck you two,"

The pair of brothers made their way to the village docks, looking for a way off the island. "Austin...wait here while I go and see what I can do," Devon ordered. The small boy nodded and hopped onto a small crate.

Devon shook his head, smiled, then made his way to a hut a short ways away. At the hut, an old man was arguing with a bizarre looking trio.

One was a fine looking woman, with a great figure, and long, dark blue hair dressed in a dark red jacket with tight leather pants.

The second one was a huge man with very big arms, had a face that somewhat resembled a gorilla's face. He wore a spotted bundle over his bag and held two large clubs in his hands.

The final one was a fat man with a long, pointed, red nose and an odd hair do that stuck up on both sides of his head. One thing that Devon noticed about these people, is that the woman and the giant gorilla-man wore the same black masks that he had seen Dusty wore the day before.

"Look, pal. I told ya, I haven't seen her! Back off, already!" the old man barked.

The fat man laughed, "Pip pip pip pip pip! C'mon, friend, have a heart! We're just a group of travelers looking for a friend of ours,".

Devon squeezed his way between them, "When's the next ferry?" he asked, ignoring the other three. The old man glanced at the trio behind Devon, and they didn't look happy.

"Well? When is it old timer?"

The poor man looked at a peice of paper that was nailed to the wall, then back at Devon, "In one hour, kid," he reported. Devon nodded and walked back to Austin who was rummaging through his bag. "Hope you got something in there to pass the time, Austin...we're gonna have to wait a while,".

The first thing Dusty saw when she opened her eyes was a large lizard that was staring at her with it's round eyes. She screamed and batted the poor lizard away before scooting away. She looked around to see the small clearing she had slept in earlier the night before. Tall trees surrounded her, filled with various fruits with sunlight pouring through the branches.

"Not a bad spot for something I picked out in pitch dark...," she mumbled as she cracked her neck. A loud pop later, she winced and rubbed her neck, "Aw geez...I hate it when this happens...," she moaned, her ears flattening against her head. With a quick jerk, and another loud pop later, Dusty sighed in relief as her neck returned to normal.

"Okies...now what?" she asked herself, looking from side to side. A loud hissing sound made her look ahead to see some kind of smoke enter the clearing. Ah man...jungle mist... she thought. Jungle Mist. This is what people called the white fog that covered the jungle floor from time to time during the day.

Wait... Dusty rubbed her eyes and squinted. This wasn't the Jungle Mist...this smoke was a dark blue color. Before Dusty could move out of the way, it surrounded her and she breathed it in. Immediately, she began coughing and wheezing. Whatever this stuff was, it burned and it was starting to make her feel numb all over.

What...what...what...the hell...

She hit the jungle floor, out like a light. A dark chuckle from the front of the clearing echoed off the trees as a small group of Silver Fox Pirates entered. Dmitri smirked at the unconcious form of his prey. He nudged her with his foot, and grinned wider, "Gotcha little fox...time to come home...,".

He turned around and started walking off while the others advanced on Dusty. "Make sure you tie her up good...we don't won't her causing trouble on the way back...," he ordered over his shoulder. The crewmen laughed as one of them slung the knocked out fox girl over his shoulder.

Little did they know, they weren't the only ones nearby. On a high tree branch of a nearby tree, the man in black that had helped the Doctor, the Fox, and the Demon the previous day watched in silence. As soon as the men disappeared into the trees, he jumped down and landed effortlessly on his feet.

"This is interesting...,"

Kilnorc: oh no! this ain't good! what will happen to Dusty?

Next Piece of One Piece: Crew of the Axe!

Dusty's Fight For Freedom, Part One!