Foreword: This story is intended as sort of "what if there was another island before Sabaody?" deal. It brings back a few minor (but recognizable) characters who haven't been seen since East Blue and a few more from the Grand Line and is set just before the Sabaody Archipelago arc, so this is a little bit before the time skip. As such, there is a hint of slavery in this fanfic, though not quite to the extent of what happens at Sabaody Archipelago. This fanfic is positioned in this specific spot in the timeline, again for the slavery theme, and also because I feel like the antagonists would fit in around that point of the story (very tough adversaries, but not New World levels of toughness despite one of the original Devil Fruits in the fanfic being quite extraordinary - the user simply does not have enough experience with it to be a terrifying A-list enemy). As for the story length, I'm going to shoot for somewhere around 30 chapters, all of which will be almost bite-size chapters at around 1000-2000 words each for the sake of easy reading. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Feel free to review.


"Wealth, fame, power. The man, who once owned everything, the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The words he said before his death sent all the people of the world out to the seas."

"My treasure? If you want it, I'll give it to you! Find it! I left everything in that place."

"Men, searching for romance, pushed forward towards the Grand Line. The world is now in the Grand Age of Pirates!"


Chapter 01: From Sky to Sea, Conis' Troubled Descent

It had been a long and taxing day working at the Pumpkin Cafe, with relaxation under the sun being the reward for Conis. The young Skypiean sighed contently as she rested her head against the tree that bordered the edge of the island, closing her eyes as her pet cloud fox Su nestled against her. There had been so much peace in Skypiea for a time now, and it was all owed to a group of friendly pirates that Conis had come to know as friends. Would she ever see them again? It wasn't likely, they all had their own dreams and wishes that surely kept them away from Skypiea... but perhaps one day?

Conis half opened her eyes and smiled lazily to Su, reaching over to pet her as she glanced off towards the sea of white clouds. She would surely have to return home at some point, her father would be worried about her if she was out for too long. If anything, Pagaya was at least a loving father to Conis. The thought of her gentle father worrying about her caused a small giggle to escape Conis as she slowly sat up and stretched her tired arms before letting out a very long yawn. Su's head raised to look at Conis before mimicking the yawn, prompting Conis to laugh as she fidgeted with a small pouch that she had tied to her side. She carefully pulled out a small loaf of bread and smiled to Su. "I was saving this for the birds, but I don't think they're coming by today. Would you like to share it?"

Su bounced around excitedly, making her trademark "su" sounds as Conis laughed happily. As Conis reached out to place her hand on Su's head, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to spot a bird lazily flying towards them, prompting her to raise to her feet happily and wave to the bird with both hands. "Over here, mister bird! I've got plenty of bread for y- ... o-oh my."

As the bird drew closer, Conis began to realize how frighteningly large the animal was. What Conis believed to be a gull flying slowly towards her was anything but! She watched as the large bird, which was easily the size of her entire house, flew towards her at a rapid rate. As it grew close, Conis panicked and lept to her feet as she prepared to retreat, but she was just too slow. The bird seized her with its talons and quickly turned around and began to head back to the clouds, prompting Su to bounce around and "su" loudly at the sight of Conis being taken away. All Conis could do was respond by screaming in fear at the bird, but it seemed to have little effect.


How much time had passed? Conis had fallen asleep several times, and she was getting desperately hungry. The bird had been flying without rest for what felt like an eternity, and had surely put more distance between Conis and her home than she cared to guess. She groaned to herself as she looked around helplessly, barely able to muster enough strength to wiggle about in the bird's grasp.

The bird continued on for some time further with Conis almost falling asleep from exhaustion, and she surely would have done so if it had not been for a sight on the horizon. Was it an island? Conis wasn't sure, exactly. She believed herself to be looking at massive trees, but something about them looked very unusual... and then there were bubbles. Hundreds and hundreds of bubbles. Her eyes fluttered wide open as she looked in awe at what they were approaching. When the bird drew near, one rising bubble brushed lightly against Conis' leg, yet it did not burst. Her eyes fluttered quickly before she glanced at the bird holding her and then back at the rising bubbles... and then she hatched an idea. She waited and waited for another bubble to be rising just below her and, when it looked like there was one headed straight for her, Conis turned her head, opened her mouth, and chomped down on the bird's talon as hard as she could. The bird's eyes widened suddenly as it let out a gasping cry and accidentally loosened its talons, prompting Conis to wiggle free and drop from its grasp. Again, she let out a frightful cry as she began to fall but, once she collided with a bubble, she sunk into it and then found that, slowly but surely, it began to descend. It must have been lighter than the previous bubble? Conis hadn't the slightest clue but, upon glancing into the sky above, she saw no sign of the bird. Did it even realize that she had wiggled free?

After some time, the bubble had drifted close to the ground. As she glanced around, Conis noted that all of the "trees" had numbers on them. Where was she!?

BANG!

Without any warning, the bubble burst! That sound though, that was not the sound of bubble itself bursting! As she screamed once again and fell with a loud thud to the ground, Conis forced herself into a sitting position as she grimaced and grasped at her elbow. "What is that, sister? Is it human? It has wings! Oh, I want it!"

The battered and tired Conis raised her eyes to spot two humans before her, one male and one female, clothed in strange white suits and wearing strange domes over their heads. Despite looking peculiar, there was no denying their ominous faces. Conis knew right away that she wasn't welcome before them.

"Is she an angel? Are angels real?" The female sneered at Conis, almost as if she viewed her as an animal before stepping towards her. The male joined in as he idly picked his nose, an action that made Conis curl her lip. "She will make a perfect slave for you, brother! Don't you agree?"

"S-SLAVE!?" Conis' eyes widened as she recoiled in fear. The two strange looking humans did not respond as they drew close. "P-Please don't hurt me!"

"Ohoho, too late!" The female raised a small firearm and pointed it at Conis, disdain etched on her face. Just as she started to pull the trigger, a large metal rod knocked the gun away and Conis was grabbed and pulled by an unseen entity. "You're not enslaving this girl! C'mon, we're gettin' outta here!"

As there was a commotion from the two strange humans, Conis struggled to her feet to weakly run with her... captor? Savior? She had no idea! She glanced towards him, glimpsing a blue and gray headband that covered a head of shaggy black hair. He wore a gray jacket with a blue stripe running down each arm and snakes sewn into the chest. He looked pretty scraggly and untrustworthy but, at least for now, Conis assumed that she was in safer hands.

After a moment of running, though with no end in sight, she finally worked up the courage to speak. "W-Who are you?"

The man offered her an awkward and almost ugly smile in return as he thumbed to himself. "No time to talk now, gotta get outta here... but me? Name's Gin!"

Conis struggled to keep up with the man, almost stumbling over her own feet as the tired Skypiean did her best to keep his pace. Just what was happening? First a giant bird abducted her, then she dropped to an island full of weird trees and giant bubbles, and then she was rescued from some weird people in white costumes who had wanted to enslave her! "G-Goodness!"

Gin barely acknowledged her exclamation as he caught sight of his small boat, hastily throwing Conis towards the boat. She landed smack dab in the middle with a loud thud, prompting her to rub her now aching leg. So many aches! She truly wasn't getting a break at all! Before she could tend to herself too much, Gin called out to her. "Sky Island girl! Get in the back and hit those jet dials as soon as I'm in!"

Blinking back in confusion, Conis analyzed him before turning her gaze to several dials at the back of the boat. What was he doing with those? How did he know that she was from a sky island? She had never seen him in her home before. She was broken from her train of thought as he crashed into the boat and glared at her. She jumped slightly before turning and smacking the dials. Immediately, the boat took off into a roar. The small vessel quickly soared between the strange looking numbered trees until they broke the open ocean without looking back.


It had been a few minutes since Conis had fled with Gin in his small boat, their pace now lessened as they drifted quietly across the gentle waves. Not a word was spoken in all of that time until Conis eventually stirred out of sheer uncomfortableness, reaching out slowly towards Gin. "U-Um, Mister... Gin? Why did you help me? Who are you?"

Gin did not answer for a moment, his head dropping slightly as he glanced off towards the water before turning over his shoulder and looking at Conis quietly. Why wasn't he saying anything? Conis simply blinked back at him, her big doe eyes wide with curiousity. After several more quiet seconds, Gin let out the quietest chuckle as he shook his head and glanced back out onto the water. "Guess I'm just tired of seeing people pushed around. Besides, I'm not gonna start turning a blind eye to slavery." He peered up towards the sun for a moment and sighed before reaching for his oars. The dials had almost run their course.

"But..." Conis paused and bit her lip when Gin himself had paused at the sound of her voice, yet he did not turn around. She swallowed and continued. "You didn't have to bring me with you... did you?"

"If I left you behind, you woulda wanted to kill yourself. I'm never gonna rest with that on my conscious again." He remained still, head lowered straight down as if in shame for some reason before he carefully attached the oars to the side of the boat and started rowing.

Again? Conis shifted nervously at the hint of what could have been a dark side to the man. Even still, he had just saved her from being enslaved. "U-Um... I'm... I'm really grateful. Thank you, Gin. For saving me, I mean."

Gin rowed slowly for a few more seconds before gently letting go of the oars and turning to face Conis. He looked tired, maybe even visibly shaken. There was a glint of something in his eyes, perhaps a tear or two? Before Conis could say anything, Gin leaned over and placed both hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to thank me for doing the right thing. You're gonna be safe now, though. I promise, Sky Island girl."

"C-Conis." Her voice was hardly audibly as she hastily fumbled her own name. It prompted a mild grin from Gin as he pat her on the shoulder and turned to continue rowing. Silence, again, took hold.

TO BE CONTINUED