Finishing touches made by hexabyss!
Again, to all those who have made it this far, I give you my heartfelt thanks and love!
"It seems the entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain!" Nami declared as she slammed a worn map down onto the table.
"A mountain!?" the rest of the crew exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right," the navigator continued, "I first thought that it was impossible, too. But the place where Loguetown's guiding light is pointing to is Reverse Mountain, on the Red Line!"
After a large storm had broken out, the crew had been cooped up indoors for several days. To pass the time, they were discussing their future routes, though it was only Nami who had a full understanding of what was to come. Sakura peered over the map, studying the detailed lines and arrows. She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to be looking at.
"Sailing up a mountain," she mused, "You can do that?"
"There's a canal we can use," Nami said, pointing at a small line on the map, "Right here, see?"
"Don't be stupid," Usopp argued, "Even if there is a canal, there's no way that a ship can travel upwards on a mountain."
"But that's what the map says," Sakura replied, "We should follow maps right?"
"Great, listen to the wise words of a chibi. Makes sense," Zoro muttered.
"I told you to stop calling me that, you stupid rice ball!" Sakura growled. Would that jerk never listen?
"You got the balls to criticize our lovely spy!?" Sanji roared at the swordsman, causing them both to glare each other down.
"I can fight my own battles, Sanji! Shove it!" Sakura cried angrily.
"Use a ship to cross a mountain? Sounds interesting!" Luffy exclaimed, interrupting the trio's fight.
Nami sighed. What a peaceful bunch.
"Why even bother to use that entrance to get into the Grand Line?" Zoro asked, as he attempted to push Sanji's nagging foot away from his head, "If you head south, you can still enter, right?"
"No, Zoro! The coolest way to get onto the Grand Line is this way!" Luffy argued as he pointed at the map, before earning a smack from Nami.
"That's not the reason, you big idiot," she muttered, "But we do need to go through the main entrance. Sailing south would lead to even worse problems."
"Only Zoro could come up with such a stupid idea," Sakura said as she stuck her tongue out at the swordsman.
"I'm gonna' kill you one day, chibi!" he spat back.
"Bring it on, rice ball!"
"HEY! The storm died down!" Usopp announced, right as Sakura's hands lit up with a pink glow, and Zoro's hands balled into fists.
"You're right. It's so calm now," Sanji remarked, as he peered through the peephole.
"Calm?" Nami cried as she ran to Sanji's side. For some reason, she looked extremely shocked. "It can't be...no, we need to turn back now!"
"But it's such nice weather!" Luffy whined, as the rest of the crew swarmed out to gaze at the smooth ocean, "Hey, Sakura, Usopp, let's go fishing again!"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Usopp screeched. Sakura had a flashback of the sniper screaming as he was flung overboard and couldn't help but grin sheepishly.
But...a calm ocean... she mused. Those words struck a memory within her. Back then, at Garu's bar, hadn't there been a sailor who had talked about some kind of super calm ocean area? He had said something about…
"The Calm Belt," she murmured, "Are we on the Calm Belt? Is that what it's called?"
"Calm Belt? What's that?" Zoro asked.
Nami gave a sad nod of acknowledgement. "Where you end up if you travel south, like you said, Zoro."
"So the Grand Line?"
"NO, YOU IDIOT!"
Sakura frowned thoughtfully. "But the Calm Belt. Isn't it supposed to be full of.."
Before she could finish her sentence, the ship began to shake violently, and the Straw Hats all tumbled to their feet. Barrels and other odd bits rolled around the deck.
"An earthquake?" Luffy cried, as he struggled to steady himself.
"Don't be stupid! We're in the middle of the ocean!" Usopp yelled back.
"...Hey...what's that?" Sanji shakily pointed over the railing. The rest of the crew crowded around to take a look. What Sakura saw made her want to faint from sheer terror.
The whole ship was out of the water and balanced precariously on the snout of an enormous fish-like creature. Several more of the monsters surrounded them. The Going Merry was like an ant compared to the size of the strange creatures.
"…Sea Monsters?" Sakura croaked, finally managing to finish her sentence.
"SO HUGE!" the crew screamed.
"Start paddling once the monster dives!" Zoro ordered as he frantically lunged for an oar. For once, even Sakura agreed with him.
The monster suddenly began sniffing, much to the confusion of the crew. Sakura watched with wide eyes as it slowly opened its mouth, and let out the biggest sneeze she had ever heard.
"Ahhh...CHOOO!" The ship went flying forward into the air, along with its pirate inhabitants. Sakura gripped onto the railing tightly with her legs, while struggling to hold on to a screeching Usopp by his ankle.
Luffy pointed back. "There's a giant frog thing coming towards us!"
"FROG?!" Usopp let out a very unmanly scream, and his wriggling caused him to slip out of Sakura's grasp, and start falling right into the mouth of the frog monster.
"Even a cabbage has more balls than you!" Sakura yelled. She reluctantly loosened her hold on the ship railing and free-falled until she was alongside Usopp. With a grunt, she grasped onto the back of his trousers with one hand, and aimed the other at the frog.
"Heavenly Sparks!"
Large sparks of energy shot out of her hand and attacked the frog. With a pained grunt, monster curved sideways, and splashed back into the water. Sakura felt an arm (Oh jeez, it was definitely Luffy's) wrap around her middle, and she shot backwards, landing with a yelp into the ship sails. Usopp's rear end smashed into her face a nanosecond later.
Why does this always happen to me? she thought sadly as she and the sniper slid down the sail and landed onto the wooden deck with a thump. The storm had started up again, meaning that they had been able to make it back out of the Calm Belt. Sakura managed to move her head around, and could see the rest of the crew sprawled out around her in exhaustion. Luffy's arm was still elongated, and his tongue hung out of his mouth as he panted for breath. In short, they were a big mess.
"So we'll never follow Zoro's suggestions, right?" the spy managed to sputter out.
"Agreed," the rest of the crew moaned, even Zoro. Suddenly, Nami sat up, her face lighting up with understanding.
"I get it now!" she cried out.
"What? The Calm Belt?" Usopp wheezed, "What's there to get about that place?"
"No, how the canal will work!" Nami replied. Sakura raised her eyebrows. Was this really the right time to figure that stuff out?
"If the waves from the four oceans head to Reverse Mountain, it'll create a stream," the navigator continued, "That stream will push the water up the canal, and when the water has reached the mountain's peak, it will push us into the Grand Line! We just need to figure out how to control the ship rudder. If we can't control our ship to the entrance, the currents will push us straight down to the seafloor and we'll sink."
"You tell us this all now?" Zoro groaned, as the rest of the crew staggered to their feet.
"I see...So it's a magic mountain right?" Luffy grinned.
"So smart, Nami-san!" Sanji crowed.
"Are they always like this?" Sakura muttered. Nami chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"Still, a ship climbing a mountain is unheard of," Zoro mused.
"But they say even getting to the Grand Line is very tough," Sanji chuckled, "So it's not like it'll be an easy job!"
Sakura peered into the fog. Despite the low visibility, she could make out what was almost like a huge mass in their path...
"Over there!" she cried as she ran to the railing and pointed into the mist, "I think I can see the mountain!"
"Is that the Red Line?!" Usopp asked, his eyes wide, "You can barely see anything through the fog!"
"Man the rudder! We're going up the magic mountain!" Luffy ordered. Both Sanji and Usopp hurried to comply.
"Am I dreaming or something?" Zoro muttered as he peered at the scene before him, "The stream is really going...up the canal?!"
"Wait! We're getting off course! If we don't turn more to the right, we'll crash!" Nami yelled.
"The rudder's not moving!" Usopp cried back, as he and Sanji desperately pushed.
"Let me help!" Sakura knew she wasn't all that strong, but she leapt forward and slammed against Usopp, putting in all her weight. The rudder seemed to comply just a bit, before…
*Snap!*
Everybody watched in shock as the top of the rudder broke off.
"WHAT DID YOU DO, CHIBI?!" Zoro roared.
"...Sorry? And I told you to stop calling me that!" Sakura roared back.
"We're gonna' die!" Usopp wailed.
"The ship's going to crash into the gateway!" Nami screamed as tears of panic welled up in her eyes.
"Gomu Gomu noo…BALLOON!"
Sakura watched as Luffy leapt out of the ship and expanded into what looked like a rubber ball. Seconds later, the ship crashed straight into him, and she could see him struggling to hold his breath. However, the force of the impact as enough to send the ship bouncing sideways, straight into the canal pathway. With a yell, Zoro lunged over and grasped onto Luffy's hand, before pulling him back to the safety of the ship.
"We...made it..." Nami whispered, "WE'RE SAFE!"
"We're actually traveling up a mountain," Sanji remarked breathlessly while Usopp danced around laughing in delight.
"Unbelievable," Sakura agreed.
To everybody's delight, the ship quickly traveled uphill, and before long, they emerged from the stormy clouds into a bright and sunny sky. They were so high up, even the splashes of water coming from the canal quickly froze to ice. Sakura felt a grin erupt on her face as the ship cleared the top of the canal and leapt into the air, before plummeting straight back down.
"This is amazing!" she whispered, as her hands subconsciously wrapped around her necklace charms. She let a sheer cry of delight, basking in the sunlight that shone down on her. Below her was the Grand Line, the key to her dream! Finally, she was going to see the world, in all its glory and wonder!
Just you wait, Keri! I'm finally on my way! I'll show you everything this sea has to offer! There's nothing that can stop me now! She thought excitedly. The speed of the ship was increasing now as they continued their way down the mountain.
"The largest ocean in the sea!" Luffy cheered, "I can see it! The Grand Line!"
"BOOOOOOHHHH!"
Wait...was that...a horn?
"Guys, did you hear something?" Sakura called out.
"Who cares? Keep going!" Luffy yelled out.
"BOOOOOHHHH!" It was much louder now.
"Uh..Nami-san! I think there's a mountain blocking out way!" Sanji yelled.
"A mountain? There should only be open ocean at the bottom of Reverse Mountain!" Nami yelled back.
"BOOOOOHHH!"
"Do mountains make that kind of noise?" Sakura stammered out.
"That's not a mountain," Usopp screamed, "THAT'S A WHALE!"
Sakura thought Usopp was kidding around as usual, but as she squinted into the mist below, she realized he was right. The enormous wall-like thing in front of them was tinged a dark blue, and the edges of the whale's eyes could be seen towards the sides of the wall. Strangest of all, huge scratches and thick scars covered the top of the whale's nose.
"Are we supposed to fight it?" Luffy yelled.
"Don't be stupid! How the hell are we supposed to fight a giant whale!" Zoro retorted.
"But we can't get past with it blocking our way!" Usopp yelled.
"It sure looks like a wall, though," Sanji muttered, "You can barely see its eyes!"
"Let's try using the rudder! Maybe we can steer the ship to the side!" Sakura suggested.
"We can't! You broke our rudder, remember?!" Usopp wailed.
"Oh yeah..sorry about that."
"Wait, Sakura, can't you use your devil fruit shield thingy?" Luffy cried, "You can block our crash with that, right?"
"Crashing into a shield and crashing into a whale will kinda' do the same thing!" Sakura yelled back, "And the pain I receive from an impact like that will be enough to kill me!"
"Would do us all a favor."
"Shut up, rice ball!"
"Ahh, fiery Sa-chan is so marvellous!"
"Not helping, Sanju-kun!"
"We might as well do something!" Zoro growled as he ran inside, "Trying to use the rudder's our only chance!"
"Sanji and I will help with the rudder, too!" Usopp cried, with Sanji nodding in agreement behind him.
"Oh! I have another good idea!" Luffy declared.
"OI! What are you planning to do?" Nami screeched, but Luffy simple chuckled and dashed inside.
"MOVE RUDDER MOVE!" Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all yelled as they frantically pushed on the broken end of the rudder.
"It's not working!" Sakura yelled as they sailed closer and closer. She let her hands light up. "Should I try attacking it or something?"
"And anger it so that it kills us!?" Nami shrieked in reply.
Before either of the women could say more, a large boom could be heard coming from…directly beneath them? Sakura watched in complete shock as a cannonball shot out from the front of the ship and smashed into the whale. The resounding impact was so strong that she was knocked to her feet, and the ship's course began to slow down.
"C-c-cannon?!" the crew sputtered out.
"Hey, it worked! The ship's slowing down!" Luffy called out from below deck.
"Where does that guy get his ideas?" Sakura muttered underneath her breath. But, truth to be told, their pace was decreasing immensely. The ship was finally jolted to a halt by the Merry figurehead, which smacked into the side of the whale and snapped clean off. Sakura watched, her mouth wide open, as it flew back and landed a few inches away from Nami's head.
"I'm going to die here," the navigator murmured, her face pale white with fright. Sakura couldn't really argue with that, given the ongoing events.
"MY SPECIAL SEAT!" Luffy shrieked as he ran out from the ship's interior. Oh geez...
"This time it's not my fault!" Sakura quickly yelled out in defense.
"Guuuuuuu…" A large rumbling filled the air, and the crew turned to see the whale's eyes staring straight at them. Not good. Definitely bad.
"So...is now a good time to go?" Sakura asked.
"First smart thing I've heard you say all day," Zoro remarked. Sakura's mind was too busy blanking out to make a retort.
"Shouldn't the cannonball have hurt?" Usopp muttered, "Or is it just really stupid?"
"Now's not exactly the best time to find out," Sani slowly replied, "We need to get out. Now."
Everybody quickly seized an oar and began rowing with all their might. The whole time, the whale's rumbling echoed all around them. Only Luffy seemed unperturbed by the noise, as he silently stood on the ship deck.
"Oi, Luffy, lend a hand so we can get out of here!" Usopp cried as he pulled the oar with Sanji.
To everybody's surprise, Luffy shot his hand back, as if to ready himself to deliver a punch. Sakura watched, aghast, as he lifted his head, and a murderous look filled his eyes.
"You destroyed...my special seat!" he growled out.
"And you're gonna' get us killed," Sakura muttered. Everybody could only watch with open mouths and teary eyes as Luffy sent a punch straight into the whale's eye.
"YOU IDIOT!" the crew choked out. Nami herself looked like she was ready to faint from terror. Everybody stood trembling as the whale's eye slowly shifted to look right at them.
"Come and get a piece of me, you stupid whale!" Luffy yelled out.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Usopp screamed as he and Sanji tackled their captain to the floor.
Sakura, Nami, and Zoro carefully watched the whale. What was it going to do?
They soon found out. With a resounding roar, the giant animal slowly opened its mouth, allowing the surrounding seawater to pour in. Unfortunately, flowing in with the mass of water was the Going Merry. Sakura could feel the boat tipping over as she gazed into the black depths of the whale's throat. She struggled to hold on to the railing of the ship. Falling from the ship would spell definite disaster.
"WE'RE GONNA' DIE!" Usopp screamed as he clung on to the ship mast.
"AGHHHHH!" Luffy screamed as he flew straight off the Merry, having never anchored himself down to anything. Without pausing to think, Sakura released her hold on the ship and turned to follow him. Before she could jump off however, Zoro grabbed a hold of her ankle and jerked her back, causing her to slam her head painfully into the wooden deck.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, chibi!?" he yelled, "Just because you got lucky with Usopp back at the Calm Belt doesn't mean you can go saving everybody now!"
Sakura ignored her throbbing head and steadied herself. With a cry, she slammed her free foot into Zoro's fist, forcing him to release her ankle.
"You can't abandon friends, right?!" she screamed back as she pushed off the ship, "And STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
Sakura dived through the air and smashed straight into Luffy, who screeched in reply. The force of her impact sent the pair of them flying sideways, straight onto the back of the whale. They lay there immobile, momentarily stunned from what had just happened.
"Blegh..you saved me. Thanks, Sa," Luffy croaked out as the two of them struggled to catch their breath.
"Don't say that so soon," Sakura moaned back as she studied their surroundings, "I think the whale just ate everybody."
"HUH?!"
They watched as the whale slowly closed its mouth with a grunt. Luffy let out a scream of anger and began desperately punching the whale's back.
"Let my friends out!" he screeched, "We have to travel together! It's very important, you stupid whale!"
"Umm..Luffy?" Sakura called out hesitantly, "I think...we're sinking."
"Planning to escape, aren't you?!" her captain continued to yell, "I'm not gonna' let you!"
Despite Luffy's pounding, the whale was indeed submerging into the ocean. Sakura looked around desperately. Unless they could find a way back to land and off the whale, there would be no hope left for the two Devil Fruit eaters.
A metallic glint caught her eye. Sakura turned to see a small metal door located about ten feet away on the surface of the whale's back.
A door.
On the whale's back.
Wait.
WHAT?