A/N: I spent a lot of time sifting through cliche ways to deal with this situation, and eventually just decided to go with one. Hope you enjoy and it isn't just my tired mind saying this is decent enough to post!

His eyes flicked over the deserted house.

Of course she'd run.

He had to admire her for it- her determination to avoid the King's Hunters. He himself could remember when they'd first been told of the hunters and their methods. Of how there were varying degrees of execution and what signs marked the judgement you'd been deemed worthy of. Even now, the old saying flickered through his thoughts. Of course, he no longer had to imagine what such executions entailed. He'd performed several of them himself- and many times he'd had no qualms over doing so.

As his thoughts flickered in such a direction- recalling a few of his more exciting hunts- a lone figure slipped from the house with a blank expression on their face. The faintest bit of annoyance flickered through his mind- he may have kept all his expressions hidden, but couldn't his second-in-command show at least a little? It would have been nice to know whether the information he was about to receive was to be good or bad.

Although, he probably would have chastised the woman for it.

The faint flicker of amusement that crossed her face for the faintest second told him that she knew what he was thinking- and what she thought of it- as she reached him. He simply pursed his lips slightly as his own response to the silence exchange, an action which spurred her to give her assessment.

"As you expected, Ryuu-sama, she most likely left the moment she'd finished with the grave. I examined the house for missing items as you requested, there's little gone beyond the bag of apples you saw her buy. She's running with extremely low supplies."

He noted this, filing it away with the collection of information he was beginning to compile on her.

"She'll have gone for the docks," she added when Ryuu didn't immediately respond. "It's only reasonable given the circumstances. I doubt even a break in the hunt would have dulled her memory of us that fully."

He considered this as well.

"... go check," Ryuu decided. "Ask around and see if there were any others besides those pirates docked here last night. If there were, see if you can get a description of the flag. She'll be on one of those ships. Have some of the others help you."

She nodded instantly, stepping past him to start down the dirt path as to follow his orders.

"And Lin?"

She paused, glancing back at him. The expression that crossed his face in that brief moment was wolfish.

"Hurry. We wouldn't want to leave my little sister for a bunch of pirates to devour, now would we?"

__________________

Minori woke with a bang.

Or, perhaps more correctly, with a shout.

Not his- of course. He'd been careful to do his best to muffle any noise that escaped his lips upon jolting from a nightmare after the ship had departed from port. Thankfully, he was rather certain that it'd been early the next morning- a time which had somehow kept the hunters from appearing on the vessel before it'd left. Knowing that he needed sleep if he was going to keep his wits about him when it became important- like figuring out what he was going to do next- Minori had grabbed a random bag of supplies and used it as a pillow, carving out a hollow between a large collection of barrels holding different items and the wall.

Upon the shout, he'd instantly stiffened, thinking that he'd already been found despite the rather nice position of his hiding spot. When he'd cautiously peered between the barrels and one of the two walls decorating his corner of the ship, however, he became aware that that was hardly the case. Instead of someone getting pissed over the fact that he'd stowed away on their ship, he was surprised to realize it sounded like one of the crew members- one whose voice he faintly recognized as the one of the blonde that had glowered at him in the bar the night before- chewing out some other member of the crew for eating something.

Whatever the result of the argument, Minori ducked back behind the barrels when a second later the sound of someone grumbling as they approached the door could be heard. He kept himself carefully concealed when the metal fixture swung open, his heart pounding in his ears. The fear only lasted a matter of moments, however, as within the next dozen minutes the man, whom Minori recalled hearing the others dub Sanji during their stay in the bar, simply shifted around a few crates and departed. Presumably, he'd found whatever he'd come into the room for. With a quiet sigh of relief, Minori slumped against the barrels he'd concealed himself behind.

It would seem that some abnormal stroke of luck had kept him from being discovered thus far. As it was, the knowledge that Sanji- who'd made it obvious how little he'd cared for Minori the night before- very well might be the cook of the ship was a bit unsettling. After all, if the cook disliked him and he hid among the food storage, it was rather obvious that the eventual discovery that was bound to happen most likely wouldn't be able to be handled with private words. Minori had honestly been hoping for it to be the redhead-Nami- from the night before, she'd at least seemed like the type he could barter with.

Minori wasn't against using the strange pull he had with girls if it meant keeping himself hidden long enough for the ship to dock at another island.

Armed with the new knowledge, Minori closed his eyes, attempting to pull up the map he'd memorized long ago in his mind. After all, a fugitive like him was only as good as his ability to run away- which required knowing where he where he was running to and what he was running into. It only took a few moments for him to place where the ship's next destination would most likely be- Sandy Island. For a moment he kept his eyes closed, faint memories sweeping through his mind at the realization.

Minori had been to Alabasta several times before, the majority of them had been in a different time. He'd been different then- much, much different. He had to wonder if the friends he'd made there had heard the stories of him.

If the had... no doubt they hated him now.

He shook his head, discarding where his thoughts had begun to head. There would be no peace on that island- no matter how powerful his friends had been. He would just have to barter his way onto another ship once he made it there- Alabasta had never been lacking commerce when he used to pass through. Surely he'd be able to offer his assistance to a captain in exchange for transport to another island. Even with his limited skills, he would be able to manage something.

His plan decided, Minori shifted so that he could press his ear to the wall behind him. Even after the blonde had disappeared the voices outside of the room had continued to drift through the door. Obviously, that meant there were people out on deck and in Minori's opinion, his best option of managing to stay concealed was if he knew what was going on. Luckily, since the barrels were placed in exactly the right spot to keep him almost concealed while he eavesdropped, there was no danger in his position.

The voice that he almost instantly picked up on sent a shock through his system. Perhaps it was the fact he'd just been reflecting on the memories the girl laid within, or perhaps simply because Alabasta was on his mind, but Minori was instantly able to link the voice with an all too familiar face.

"What are you doing to Carue?!"

As his mind spun, attempting to figure out exactly what he was listening to, a few more voices joined in on the conversation. One of them he faintly recognized as the boy from the night before who'd introduced himself as Luffy. The other voices were faintly familiar as well, Minori being able to pick out Nami from among them, but his attention had drifted to the first.

How had he not recognized her voice the night before?

The answer came to Minori within a moment. First, it'd been more than a few years since he'd seen her. It made sense that when she and the rest of the pirates joined the crew in the bar later that evening he hadn't recognized her right off. Secondly, he'd been distracted by the man- the one that he still felt as if he should have been able to place as well.

When he had managed to pull his emotions into check and tune into the conversation once more, he realized that it sounded as if a majority of the crew was on the deck by this point.

"Yes, it's a hotspot."

"What's that?"

"It's where magma comes out. Down below us are underwater volcanoes," Nami explained.

"There are volcanoes underwater?"

Minori closed his eyes once more, simply resting his head against the wall. The conversation didn't sound as if it would be very helpful at all when it came to learning about the crew beyond that Nami seemed intelligent. Any other time, he most likely would have kept listening in case it ended up revealing anything. As it was, however, his thoughts had begun to wander once again. The fact that she was on the ship changed matters.

If there was anyone that might be willing to listen to him- whether they'd heard the stories or not- it would be Princess Vivi. Minori just needed to figure out a way to approach her. Then again, perhaps he was better off waiting. If he managed to make it to Sandy Island without being discovered then there was no reason for him to reveal himself to her. If the princess was on a pirate ship... she obviously had to have enough problems of her own.

He'd be best off leaving her alone- after all, he deserved whatever fate came. Minori would run, but he wouldn't let others be dragged into it.

His mother and Fuyu had been the last.

Decision made, he settled fully into his hiding spot, eyes still shut.

____________________

Her hands were sticky with blood, the liquid slipping over her pale skin and slowly falling in crimson drops to the floor. A sense of urgency forced her to take a step back, her eyes, however, were stuck on his face. That chilling crimson pooled around it- soaking into the previously snowy carpet. The other crumpled form was just as bad- his eyes stared back at her, as if damning her actions even from the grave.

The fact that it would have had to been from the grave was obvious. The first sign being the bloody gash across the side of the first corpse's soaked forehead. The second sign being the hole smack dab in the center of the second body's head, revealing the shattered bone and mutilated flesh. Then, if even those signs weren't enough, there was always the spray of blood and brain matter that the single shot to the head had left over the furniture behind it. As she took another step back, the carpet made a wet, squishing noise beneath her foot and an object was sent rolling through the crimson.

Not for the first time since she entered the room, a scream bubbled to her lips. She forced it back, pressing one of her crimson hands over her mouth, then the other, as if she could physically force back the emotions surging through her. In that moment, the first figure's eyes jolted open and they sat up. Her hands slipped from her mouth to her ears, coating her cheeks red as she continued to back away, unwilling to hear the damning words from the figure's lips.

Not that her effort amounted to much. His voice cut through the hair- each word feeling as if a knife was being shoved into her gut.

"Murderer. Killer."

The corpse lurched to its feet, baring it's teeth in the self-satisfied grin that was far, far too familiar. She took another step back, her foot catching on some unseen object and sending her sprawling on the ground. The other figure picked itself up as well, blood pouring down its face as it stumbled forward. The words continued to cut through the air as she scrambled to shift backwards, frantic to put distance between them. No matter how hard she worked, however, they only got closer. The scream she'd forced back earlier returned, escaping her lips as the first figure stretched one hand towards her. The moment it's grotesque hand brushed her skin, her scream picked up in volume. It clasped her ankle--

His restless cries were cut short as even half-conscious, Minori managed to clamp his hands over his mouth, muffling the sound. His heart racing, he slowly attempted to drag himself out of the dream still flashing through his mind, each part replaying itself with gruesome clarity. Bile churned in his throat, tears burning his eyes. Even as he forced himself to swallow the sour taste, his mind suddenly latched not one, important detail.

His initial search of the ship upon arrival had placed the sleeping quarters of the woman to be right beneath the storage room.

Had his crying out in his sleep been enough to wake them? Was it late enough that they'd actually been asleep? His fuzzy mind had difficulty recalling the time of the day- as he was well aware that the gentle rock of the ship could have just as easily lured his exhausted self to sleep. The stress of everything had led to just as unsettling nightmares the night before, even if he'd managed to keep himself from making such a noise before.

A creek from beyond his hiding place had him freezing in place.

A soft thud followed the noise, the sound striking him as one of wood hitting wood. His frame trembled as the sound was followed by the shuffling of a tired form from the stairs to the women's quarters. For a moment, he couldn't breathe.

"... hello?"

The tired voice sent a strange mixture of relief and fear surging through him. Relief because he recognized it as Vivi. Fear because the voice existed at all. He shoved himself deeper into the corner, hands still clamped over his mouth. All sleepiness had fled his tense form, only his locked jaw keep his teeth from chattering with the force of his shaking.

"Luffy? Zoro?" the voice cautiously questioned, a yawn echoing the names. "Sanji? Chopper? Are you up?"

When nothing came, Vivi fell silent for a moment. The next few minutes stretched on, each second sending a new wave of fear through him. Eventually, the sound of the door flipping shut met his ears and he hesitated. Moment's later he shifted in his position behind the barrels to peek out.

His eyes locked with Vivi's the moment his head cautiously raised above the barrels. Her gaze widened, shock coloring her expression.

"Don--"

"NAMI!"

  A/N: So, as you should be able to tell after reading this, I adjusted the plot just a little to fit Minori's little island into the plotline. So, to give you an idea of where it lies, I thought I should add a note here. The island that Minori was hiding on laid about three-fourths of the way between Drum Island and Sandy Island. So, it's after Luffy had eaten all of the food- hence how hungry he was when they landed on the island. Of course, Luffy being Luffy, the supplies they picked up on the small little unnamed island didn't last long anyways xD