One Piece: The Devil Bats Dia-Journal!

[Hotaru987]

"Jack are you sure we're going the right way? I mean, I could have sworn we passed by that piece of driftwood before." Said the young purple haired female. She was leaning over the side of the ship, a bored expression on her face. Hearing her complaint a young man rolled his eyes, "How on earth can you tell it's the same drift wood? Besides have a little faith in my navigational abilities Sena."

"Well it was those same skills that got us 3 days off course if you don't remember. And I ha-Look! It's that same drift wood! That's it you've gotten us lost!" Sena exclaimed throwing her arms up in exasperation.

"What are you talking about! It's so not the same! The other one had a chip off on the right side!"

"So you've been keeping tabs on all of the drift wood we've been passing? Give me the wheel! I'll take over from here!" Sena said walking up to Jack and trying to pry him away from the mast. Jack, however, wasn't about to give up. "No way! You move! This is the right way! We're not lost!" He yelled back now both of them tryign to push each other away from the wheel. Down below the ship Yura, their doctor, was tossing out old pieces of wood that had decayed and couldn't be used or even sold. He paused in his work hearing Sena and Jack fighting over who knows what and sighed. "....They are.....Like children..." He said before continuing his work. Back on deck, Jack and Sena were still fighting over the wheel until Sena gave a hard shove and Jack's hands slipped off the wheel. She smirked, "Ha! Take that! Now, why don't you go do something useful like tell Dan that now with me in charge we'll be at Konomi Island in no time." Jack stood up and sulked as he walked away.

In the captain's quarters Dan was in his cabin writing in a journal. "Captain's Log Day 25 since the last [i]incident[/i], I've been getting better, but it seems as though I'm still recovering, but I'll get their soon-" Dan was interrupted by Jack's voice.

"Are you writing in your little diary again?" Jack asked in a sarcastic tone as he leaned on the door.

A vein popped up on Dan's forehead as his body began to tremble. "IT'S NOT A DIARY!!!! IT'S A JOURNAL!!!! MEN DON'T KEEP DIARIES!!!!" Dan yelled out in annoyance.

"Alright, alright, whatever you say." Jack responded, his face showing comical signs of nervousness and a big sweat drop can be seen on his forehead.

Dan regain his composure and sat back down onto his seat. " Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be navigating?"

Jack hung his head a dark, raining storm cloud hovering above him, "Sena kicked me off of the wheel again."

Dan nodded as he continued to write in his journal, "I see, so you got us lost again. Tell me again, why are you our navigator?"

"Hey I was doing just fine! But Sena was obsessed with the idea that we were passing the same drift wood over again! I mean, who keeps up with these things."

"Perhaps if you paid more attention and not napping on the job us getting lost wouldn't happen."

Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets and mumbled, "At least I don't keep a diary."

Dan twitched at his desk, "I ALREADY TOLD YOU!!! IT'S A JOURNAL!!"

Back on the deck Sena was whistling to herslef now content that they would be reaching Konomi Island within the next few hours. Suddenly, the shore line of the island was seen and a wide smile greeted her face, "Hey guys!!" She yelled, "I can see Konomi Island! We'll be there in another hour or so!" She yelled. True to her word Jack and Sena took the task of docking the ship while Yura stood with a list of supplies they needed to restock on and Dan waiting on Sena and Jack. When they were finished they walked into the town. Cocoyasai Village was the name posted on the sign. It was known to be a highly festive village especially ever since the Straw Hats liberated them from Arlong's tyranny; however instead of a cheerful welcome it appeared to be a rather dead place. The feeling of sadness and grief was heavy in the area, as the large volcano off in the distance seemed to loom menacingly over the small village.

"I guess we shouldn't expect a welcome party." Jack mumbled as they looked at the sad and depressed towns’ people.

"Well...Either way, we should get the supplies we need."

Sadly when they went to the stores they were almost completely empty. They couldn't even buy half of the things they needed to restock on, which came as a highly surprising outcome. It was widely known that Arlong Park - now turned into a tourist attraction - was the source of a lot of the town's income, which they used to purchase items from traders. However, it looked as though they hadn't been able to buy anything. And from the insanely high prices they were charging for what they did have, it was apparent that the town was in a much more poor shape than they had originally thought.

"What is going on here?" Dan asked rhetorically.

"It appears.....We will not be able...To stock up here." Yura provided his answer, in his emotionless voice.

"Maybe we should just leave." Sena said voicing an option.

~~~~~~

In a small house located roughly in the center of the village, a young woman and man stood out back. The young woman was extremely beautiful, with her flowing dark green dress and long blue hair. Her blue eyes watched another man, a few years older than her, swing down an ax onto a log in order to make fire wood. This young woman was named May Ryga, granddaughter to the village elder. She smiled at the young man in front of her, neatly arranging the firewood. "I can't thank you enough Kazuya for doing this for me. I can barely lift that ax let alone mate enough fire wood for us." She offered a heart thumping smile. "Do you think you can make a bit more? We almost have enough to give each person a bundle."

May looked off into the distance towards the market, or at least what was left of it. "I hope Romero was able to find some food. It's been so hard ever since the volcano became active." She whispered, remembering back before the volcano started acting up.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Romero stood atop of a hill and sighed, looking over at the volcano and then back at his hometown. [color=#000080][i]The volcano is acting up again...that'll mean another innocent life will be taken. [/i][/color]he thought, biting his lip a bit. Romero shook his head then glanced at the katana sheath at his side: "Ao Urufu" and then sighed. [color=#000080]"Steele, I know your there..." [/color]he said, watching as a spirit of a wolf appeared near his side. Romero was the only one who could see Steele, the wolf spirit...hell he was the only one the spirit trusted.

Steele looked up at Romero and whined a bit, his ears drooping back a little.

[color=#000080]"Don't worry Steele, I'm alright." [/color]he smiled, petting Steele's head some. Romero turned around and walked towards the town, making sure bag of food on his back wasn't falling. He watched Steele smile, running beside him...until they reached May's house. Then Steele faded away, returning into Ao Urufu. [color=#000080]"May, I got the food." [/color]Romero said, sighing a bit. [color=#000080]"Its not a whole lot...but its what I could get."[/color]

[ANBU]

Kazuya stood there holding the ax in his right hand whilst May thanked him before he pulled up another log and swung the ax down through the center of it. "It's no problem.. anyway this kind of stuff will keep me strong enough for my work.." he said smiling lightly as he looked back towards May before grabbing another small log to chop. "hm.. after this I could go find.." he said looking up as he saw Romero with the bag of food looking back down to the wood as he continued to chop, "..looks like he got some.." Kazuya then said before hearing Romero saying about getting the food but not having much of it. "Perhaps I could find some food.. I mean there was plenty of trees where I crashed.. maybe some of them had food" he then said to both may and Romero as he quickly swung the ax over his shoulder being careful to make sure it didn't hit may or anything else nearby.

[Hotaru987]

May looked at the food Romero managed to find and sighed. "This will hardly be enough to last two days." She reached for the bag holding it in both of her hands. "Well I'll take this inside and start dinner. I hope you two didn't forget about the town meeting in an hour." Her eyes downcasted as she said her next sentence, "Another arrow was found earlier this morning...Another sacrifice to the volcano will be made tonight." May's hands tightened slightly on the bag and her face became pale. If one would look closely they could see her trembling slightly. May quickly shook her head and smiled at the two males, "I'll meet you at the village square. Don't be late." Was her last parting words before heading into the house. Moments before closing the door tears could be seen gathering at the corner of her eyes.

~Elsewhere~

"There is no food." Jack whined laying on his back and on the ground. The rest of the Devil Bat's were close by, Sena and Dan leaning on the building they were beside and Yura standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Well you could stand to go on a diet. It looks like you've been gaining some weight." Sena teased, pulling a glare from Jack. "Hey!"

Before that argument could escalate a bunch of people could be seen walking towards what appeared to be the center of the town. There were a lot more people then they believed liked in the town. Strangely, there were hardly any women older than 19 years old. Slowly but surly the group of people grew larger and larger until the entire town was gathered at the center of town. In the center was a small platform with an old man. The man was very short, and hunched over making him appear even shorter than he was. Wrinkles lined along his face showing he was up in age. He was aided in standing with an old wooden stick and in his left hand was a blue arrow. He wore a white t-shirt, a bright green vest with matching pants.

Sena put a hand abover her eyes and one on her hip, "I wonder what's going on over there."

".....Perhaps....It is a town meeting..." Yura suggested.

It was then May walked up onto the platform standing next to the old man. Her head was held down and her eyes closed. Though the Devil Bats didn't know exactly what was going on, by the way the two of them and the twons people look whatever was happening it wasn't a good thing. The old man first servayed the crowed his eyes displaying the sadness he felt. Finally he said, "The day has come....That we have all come to dread." He held up the arrow in his right hand, "An arrow has come from the forest and this time...This time...My own house has been hit, and my dear May will be the next one to be given to the Volcano god." A commotion broke out in the crowd, everyone expressing their displeasure about being forced to give up their villagers to the Volcano.

"Something weird is going on here." Sena turned to face Dan, "What should we do?"

Surprisingly enough Dan had been quiet the whole time, but the reason for it wasn't know. Though now that he was asked a question directly he said, "At the moment I am not entirely sure. Something is definately going on here, but whether it is smart to get directly involved with the village's costom I am not sure. However," He continued crossing his arms, "Whatever it is, it is apparent it is not liked by the rest of the village. I would bet you anything that it has something to do with that volcano in the distance."

The other three looked up at the aforementioned volcano. They could all feel the strange aura coming from the landmark. Jack then said, "I am inclined to agree with you. I mean look at this place, there aren't even any pretty girls here. Well besides the girl up there, and despite the highly popular tourist attraction 'Arlong Park' this town seems to be relatively poor."

"It sounds like....The work of Pirates....." Everyone nodded in agreement with Yura.

"That's exactly what it sounds like." Dan said. He smirked and looked up at the old man who was still trying to calm the angry crowed. "I don't like it when people are being taken advantage of by idiot pirates. So I think the issue of whether to get involved or not has been answer."

Sena grinned, "You guys are a bunch of softies, but I have to agree. Only pirates would be able to come up with a scheme like this. Not only that, but the aura coming from the Volcano seems strange. It doesn't feel natural."

"Then it's settled." Dan pushed himself off of the building and walked forward so he was in front of his crew, "Before we do anything else, we should speak to this village's elder. I'm guessing it's that old man up there. Let's go."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[quote name='Fail_FTW' timestamp='1321585425' post='5649914']
May looked at the food Romero managed to find and sighed. "This will hardly be enough to last two days." She reached for the bag holding it in both of her hands. "Well I'll take this inside and start dinner. I hope you two didn't forget about the town meeting in an hour." Her eyes downcasted as she said her next sentence, "Another arrow was found earlier this morning...Another sacrifice to the volcano will be made tonight." May's hands tightened slightly on the bag and her face became pale. If one would look closely they could see her trembling slightly. May quickly shook her head and smiled at the two males, "I'll meet you at the village square. Don't be late." Was her last parting words before heading into the house. Moments before closing the door tears could be seen gathering at the corner of her eyes.
[/quote]

Romero bit his lip again, as he walked back towards his own home. [color=#000080][i]Another woman...I can't stand to see this happen!! [/i][/color]he thought, looking downtrodden. He lost his own mother this way...back when it first started. Romero grasped the Wolf pendant around his neck and sighed, the last thing his mother gave him before he saw her being sacrificed. He walked into his home and saw his father sitting at the table, drinking again. This is something he tended to do after his wife died. [color=#000080]"That isn't something you should be doing dad...we've been over this..." [/color]Romero said, shaking his head.

[color=#FF8C00]"Son...don't you...yell at me..." [/color]Romero's father, Jim, said with his speech being very slurred. [color=#FF8C00]"Only I get to yell at...me. Me yell at i..."[/color]

[color=#000080]"Fine...whatever." [/color]Romero sighed as he shook his head again. [color=#000080]"Town meeting tonight...we should get ready." [/color]Though for the most part, Romero hoped that he didn't have to have his father there. Cause ever since he started drinking and lost his job...he's been called "The Konomi Drunk". And being the son to said drunk...wasn't a good thing.

[ANBU]

Kazuya watched as the town meeting had come to happen, May having been chosen as a sacrifice the the volcano god thus causing him to come to feel more hatred towards the village's traditions which he had respected so far. Kazuya then stepped forwards towards the village elder, "I have respected the tradition you have had.. but if it is a god why would there be an arrow, something made by man... I'm sorry but if the volcano didn't stop after the other tributes why would it now?" he then said finally questioning a village tradition which he had previously let slide as he learned about the village's ways. "If you are scared the volcano will attack us.. make boats or small ships.. we don't need to live with sacrificing the village's girls to a supposed god that wont be able to do anything once we are not on this land" he then continued arguing his case as he stood angrily looking towards the village elder...