I update!

Finally! Honestly, if school had not been as bad as it has been, I would have gotten this chapter out sooner (please don't ever take three 300/400 lab sciences and a stats class all at the same time! it is not fun!) but it is done now, so I really hope you enjoy, especially a few scenes. Also, expect there to be more information about updates on all my stories on my profile page soon.

Right then. Just two more things before we get started with this chapter.

First: Thank you for reading and, for some, reviewing. It's been one wild ride of a year and every time I got a message about some one favoriting this story or leaving a review, it made my day. Thank you, Thank you so much! You all are amazing and I don't think I could thank you enough even just for reading this story!

Second: A recap. Shiary is right, since I take so long to update adding a recap would be a good idea. I'm, also, going to apologize in advance because I really suck at writing recaps. So let's begin.

Previously on The RedHair, The Witch and The New World

It has been five since Sara left Fuusha village and she has been living on Hat'ha making jewelry. At the Spring Solstice festival, Sara sees some familiar faces in the crowd. Shanks and his crew had stopped on the island. Sara joins them for a round of drinks and to catch up. In the end she joins the crew and leaves her life in Hat'ha behind. It's a life of partying, and work but it's not been paradise. After being woken up by Shanks poking Sara in the side while she had a hangover, it caused her to become angry and accidentally using a part of her powers. He becomes cold to Sara much to her dismay. At the behest of a few of her fellow crew members, Sara goes to talk to Shanks about what had happened earlier that day. The two realize that it was all a big misunderstanding and make up. Just when the two had made up, someone breaks up their touching moment by pointing a cocked pistol at them.

The pair quickly separated, Shanks pushing Sara behind him. The man holding the gun was a little taller than Shanks with dark purple curly hair that made him look like a clown. "Red-Haired Shanks," sneered the man, "It must be my lucky day."

A confused look came over Shanks' face. "Do I know you?"

"I'm the Great Salty Quarken! The feared pirate from Turquoise Island! When I defeat you, I shall become a fear pirate!" cried Salty Quarken, "Then none sha-"

"Your name is Salty Quarken?" interrupted Shanks who was now laughing hysterically. Sara was burying her face into Shanks' cloak trying not to burst out laughing. Salty Quarken face slowly turned red with anger. One could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

"Don't you laugh at me, you bastard!" screamed Salty Quarken before pulling the trigger.

Instead of hitting its intended target, the bullet struck a tree to the far right of Shanks and Sara. Sara froze, blood draining from her face. While she could defend herself with a weapon, she was currently without one. Shanks shifted, placing his hand on his sword. Salty Quarken let out an inhuman howl and drew his sword. Before the man could take more than a few steps, a shot rang out and the Great Salty Quarken fell. Shanks visibly relaxed and released the grip on his sword.

Shanks turned to Sara as Ben Beckman, Lucky Roux, Yasopp and several other members of the Red Haired pirates materialized out the underbrush. Shanks looked over Sara, worry in his face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," replied Sara with a small smile. It was not a whole lie. She was fine physically but Sara realized how scared she had been. Sure she had been a few fights before; Sara had little brothers, it was part of the job but Sara was a healer not a fighter. Her grandfather had always scolded her about being too soft. Shanks gave her a look but did not press her.

"Captain," Ben Beckman's voice cut through the silence. The pair turned towards the first mate. He looked annoyed.

"Were you attacked as well?"

Ben nodded. "They attempted to ambush us but greatly overestimated their abilities."

A few of the men nodded and laughed. Some commented on how easy it was to defeat the other pirates. Shanks looked down at the limp form of the Salty Quarken and regarded him for a moment. "Let's head back to the ship."

Shanks took Sara's hand and pulled her back down the trail towards the beach with the rest of the crew following behind them. When they reached the trailhead, Shanks pulled Sara to the side as the rest of the crew headed back towards the ship.

He studied her face for a moment and then embraced the women. It was not that he worried for her. Shanks knew Sara could probably defend herself. Her grandfather was Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp. Shanks was also glad that a few of his fears were not confirmed and that he was able to work through some others. After a few moments, Sara pulled away from Shanks.

"Come on, Red-hair," spoke Sara, "Let's get back. I'm in need of a drink and I want to get one before the rest of the crew drinks it all."

"Sara, we don't run out of rum," laughed Shanks as the pair head back towards the ship.

The black haired women gave the Yonkou a pointed looked. "I specifically remember last week there was no rum or almost any grog left and no one wanted to work or do anything."

He chuckled and shrugged. "Grog makes the world go round."

Despite the attack, the crew decided to camp out and party on the beach. As many of the Red-Haired pirates merrily parties around several bonfires, Sara had returned to her perch atop a crate to watch. As she sipped a tankard of rum, Sara laughed at the men who were very drunk and attempting to dance.

"So, did you work out everything with the Captain?" came a male voice to her left, causing Sara to jump. Yasopp chuckled. He really loved sneaking up on her. She was always so easy to scare, always of in her own little world. She reminded him of Banchina, who had always had her nose in a book when they were younger.

"I think so," replied the woman, "but why does everyone seem so vested in Shanks and I?"

Yasopp did not answer. He was not quite sure of the answer himself. He had noticed his captain seemed a little happier than before and Yasopp liked the Ferrin woman. She was a pretty damn good shot and anyone who could handle Rowland was made of stern stuff. She was, also, an excellent healer, even without her powers, so a few of the crew were invested in making her stay. Anything not to deal with Rowland's horrible bedside manner, Yasopp shivered at the memories.

Yasopp looked at Sara and shrugged. "Who knows."

"Figured I'd ask," sighed Sara as she took another sip of rum, "Not that it bothers me, I was just curious if you knew anything."

"Wish I could help ya. Well, better see what Roux wants."

Sara turned back to the fire before her and laughed. Some of the men were attempting to dance in their heavily intoxicated state. A few were attempting to sing and failing miserably. Eventually, Yasopp and Roux returned and pulled Sara off the crate saying that she needed to join in the fun. The pirates would party well into the night and the early morning hours.

Two days later, Sara found herself traipsing through the forest with Shanks, Beckman, Yasopp, and one other crew member, while Lucky Roux and a few other senior members, along with the rest of the crew, had stayed behind to protect the ship. They were searching for treasure that was rumored to be on the island. Sara was miserable, she could handle walking through the woods but she had been up since dawn and was still feeling the effects of the hangover from all the partying. After hours of cutting paths and walking, the group stopped at a small stream.

"Captain, do we even know what we're supposed to be looking for?" asked Jacques, a tall blond with shades, as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Supposedly, there are some ruins in the middle of the island," replied Shanks as he took a seat on tree stump.

"That's really helpful," commented Jacques sarcastically but he did not say any more when Shanks gave him a pointed look.

By this time, Yasopp had scrambled up on the larger trees. While he was surveying the land, Sara was playing with one of the bushes she was sitting next to. The fern like leaves of the plant would fold themselves towards the stem every time she would touch just one of leaves. Even the red flowers, the five petals would close in on themselves with the lightest touch.

"It's a Timid Lady," comment Jacques over Sara's shoulder, causing her to jump, "I've only seen them in books."

"You like plants?" questioned Sara. She had only met Jacques a few times. She knew he liked poisons but Sara never expected him to know about any other plants than the dangerous ones.

"Yeah but I mostly know the poisonous ones. The Timid Lady is in the same family as Mercy's Bane."

"That's one of the most poisonous plants in the Grand Line."

"Yep. Though that families' poison is in the leaves, so I doubt that there will be any harm from making the leaves close up," stated Jacques as he leaned back against a tree.

By the time Sara had made all the leaves and flowers of the Timid Lady close up, Yasopp had climbed down from the tree and was explaining what he had seen.

"There are ruins about five kilometers to the east of here. They're not very big and it's surrounded by a lake like a moat."

"Supposedly, there treasure is hidden within these ruins. We should make it there before nightfall."

The group set out and as the sun was getting lower in the sky, they came upon a small town. It was a bustling town, people were coming and going from shops or just milling around. There were children playing in the canal and even a few people fishing. None of the town's people seemed bothered by strangers entering their town, in fact, there were a few people gave the pirates smiles and greetings. After ten minutes of wandering through the town, the pirates decided to split up and gather information.

Sara and Shanks wandered around the marketplace, asking a few people if they knew anything about any ruins on the island. Everyone they spoke to did not know anything about any ruins, and though a few older people recalled some catacombs, none of them could remember where the entrance was. As the sun began to set, the pair thanked the store owner and was leaving when Sara felt a tug on her shirt. She turned around and there was a little girl with black curly hair. She had a bashful look on her face as she held out five red flowers.

Smiling, Sara kneeled down. "Are those for me?"

The little girl nodded as Sara took the flowers from her.

"Thank you," said Sara as the little girl darted back to her father. Sara stood and waved to the little girl, who was in the arms of her father, before following Shanks out of the store.

Before Sara could make a comment about how sweet the little girl was, Shanks plucked one of the five petal flowers from the bouquet. He observed the flower for a moment, and then reached up and tucked it behind Sara's ear.

"Beautiful," he whispered as he pulled her into a kiss, "So beautiful."

Sara smiled and returned the kiss, feeling better than she had felt all day. The two quickly navigated the streets of the town to get to the Blackthorn Tavern, where they had decided to stay for the night. When Shanks and Sara got there, Ben was waiting for them at a table, smoking a cigarette. The three did not have to wait long for Yasopp and Jacques, who entered the tavern a few minutes later. They ordered some food and drinks about began to talk about their findings.

"What have you learned?" asked Shanks looking at the three other men.

"So far no one seems to know anything about any ruins. A few have said that this is the only town on the island," commented Jacques looking around at the people in the tavern.

"There are supposedly catacombs underneath the town but the woman did not know where the entrance was," remarked Ben as he took a drag from his cigarette.

Sara glanced at Yasopp before speaking. "Are you sure you saw the ruins?"

"That's the only thing I remember seeing besides the forest," replied Yasopp as the severing woman placed food on the table.

"It couldn't have been a trick of the light, Yasopp's eyes are better than most," Shanks pointed out take a bite of food.

"So what now?" asked Sara taking a sip of grog and fiddling with the food.

"The catacombs might be our best bet but the entrance could be anywhere," spoke Ben, "though there might be something at the town hall."

"Yeah a five of the people I talked mentioned there might be something in the basement of the town hall," piped up Jacques.

"Then we will start there in the morning. Let's eat and get some rest," ordered Shanks.

After the dinner, pirates went to their respective rooms. Later that night, the moon rose high over the town. Everything was still but it was not silent. A haunting melody wafted on the light breeze through an open window of the Blackthorn Tavern. Sara sat up, awoken by the music, and looked towards the window. The music continued to play as Sara got out of bed and padded softly to the window. However, just before Sara could look out the window, the music stopped. Frowning, the woman stuck her head out and looked around. There was no one in sight or anything that could have even remotely made that sound. Sighing, Sara pulled the panes shut and went back to bed. Unbeknownst to her, a shadowy figure had been watching from the alley across from the tavern. The man knew he had to be patient; soon he would destroy the Red-Hair Shanks. He cackled to himself as he stepped out of the shadows.

"I am the feared pirate from Turquoise Island! I am the Great Salty Quarken!"

Well then...this makes things interesting.

Lizziecats: Thank you for that awesome review and some of the ideas. Don't worry about throwing things out there, my roommate and I do it all the time for each other. And apparetly great minds think alike. ;)

So thank ya'll for reading and I hope to see you soon if all goes well.