Author's Note: chapter eleven here! hurrah! almost done, just a couple more chapts. then the next story will come!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece

Chapter 11: Southbird Hunting

"How wonderful! A golden bell!" Nami exclaimed.

"Ossan, what's the deal? You DO like Norland!" Usopp said.

"Only when I'm drunk!" Cricket roared. Then calming down, he reached behind him. "Here, look at this." He reached behind him and uncovered three golden bells, about the size of his own head. Nami immediately picked one up and rubbed her cheek against it, eyes turning to Beli signs.

"So… what's very large about them?" Usopp asked.

"Oh, these aren't the real bell. They're bell-shaped ingots I found while diving."

"Oho! So the city of gold does exist!" Luffy exclaimed.

"NOT TRUE!" Shojo said, raising his hand. "You could find ingots like that at any old ruin in the world."

"But it does prove that there was a civilization here once," Robin pointed out. "Ingots were designed to divide up gold into gram masses, meaning that there was trade and commerce here," she explained, still ever much the historian.

"Wow Robin, you sure know a lot!" Hoshi said. "How do you do that?" Robin smiled.

"It's just a matter of putting all the puzzle pieces together," she said.

"Right-o! And as for the call of that strange bird… Masira! Show them!" Cricket called.

Obediently, Masira uncovered another gold artifact. It was a sculpture of a strange bird with a huge beak, perched on a gold base.

"Oh! There was more!" Zoro said, gulping some more beer.

"It's beautiful!" Hoshi murmured softly.

"That's all I've found," Cricket said. "These four things are the results of 10 hard years of diving!"

"Golden bells and birds… those might be the symbols of ancient Jaya," Sanji commented.

"I'm not sure, but I think this may have been part of an ancient molding," Cricket explained, pulling the bird closer to him. "This is a Southbird, and it lives right here on this island."

"And it sounds weird when it calls?" Luffy asked, leaning in for a closer look. Cricket nodded.

"Yes, just like it says in the logbook."

Masira cut in. "Southbirds have been used since ancient times to- AHH!"

Suddenly, Shojo, Masira, and Cricket all traded horrified looks. "OH DAMN!!"

"What!? What's wrong!?" Hoshi shouted.

"This is bad, you guys have to go NOW! Head to the forest to the south!" Cricket yelled.

"Huh? What are you talking about Ossan? Have you lost it?" Luffy asked.

"You guys need to catch one of these birds!" Cricket explained furiously. "Listen carefully! Tomorrow, you guys are going to sail for the Knock-Up Stream, but this is the Grand Line! When you loose sight of land, you loose all sense of direction! And Log Posts aren't compasses!"

"Then how do we get there?" Nami asked.

"You have to make use of this bird's special trait. Certain animals evolve with acute senses of direction."

Luffy laughed. "So that would make Zoro less evolved than an animal!"

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled. "You're the LAST one who can tell me that!!" Hoshi roared with laugher, clutching her belly, and Zoro felt heat rising to his face. He growled and clenched his fists. What was with him lately?!

"The Southbird is the most extreme example of this trait," Cricket continued, ignoring the fighting pair. "No matter how big a stretch of land is, or how much the sea tosses and turns, the Southbird will remain pointed in a single direction." He stopped for a moment to let this info sink in

"Anyway, you guys have to go out and catch one, now! Or you'll loose your chance for getting to Sky Island!"

Hoshi, Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy all screamed. "WHY ARE YOU ONLY TELLING US THIS NOW?!"

Everyone rushed out the door. "But how are we going to find a bird in the jungle in the middle of the night?" Usopp asked. "It's dark out and you want us to go tramping through the woods?"

"Dunno. You guys figure it out," Cricket said, tossing them three nets. "We're going to get to work on your beat-up ship. In the light of common sense, we really shouldn't have had that party! Now listen! You guys only have until dawn to catch that bird! Understand?"

"Yosh, we got it Ossan," Hoshi called cheerfully, helping Zoro drag an unwilling Usopp into the forest.

Hoshi suddenly got another attack of chills, and her phoenix half chimed angrily. Shut up you stupid bird! Hoshi raged at it. But the sinking feeling in her stomach told her that one of them should've stayed behind with the Ossan…

Later, the eight of them were walking through the forest together. "Ohhhh… it's pitch black!" Usopp moaned, clinging to Sanji's suit.

"Get off me you parasite!" Sanji growled.

"Urgh… I ate so much I can't move very well," Chopper groaned. "I'm not sure I can catch the bird…"

"Where is that weird bird?" asked Luffy. "WEIRD BIIIIRD!" he called.

"Shut up!" everyone hissed. "We'll never find one if you scare it away!"

"Damn it, how did things get so out of hand?" Nami muttered to herself.

"Maybe when you decided to join this crew in the first place?" Hoshi suggested.

"And what about YOU!?" Nami demanded.

Hoshi grinned and laughed. "I'm having the time of my life here!"

Nami fell down.

"Ah… where's that weird bird?" Luffy asked Zoro.

"If we knew where it was, we wouldn't have to be out here!" Zoro growled.

The guys (Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy) gathered around in a circle. "The only clue we have is that the weird bird has a weird call," Luffy said.

"And it looks like that gold statue in the ossan's house," Sanji added.

"Are there really birds that look that screwy?" Zoro asked.

"And saying it has a weird call is too vague! How are we supposed to tell?" Usopp asked.

Suddenly, a weird call came floating though the forest. Jyyyyyoooooooo…

"WHOA! What a weird call!" the four said simultaneously.

"I think… that's it…" Hoshi said.

"Yosh! Now that we all know what it sounds like, let's go!" Luffy shouted.

"We've got three nets. Let's split into three teams and search," Sanji suggested. The crew agreed. Chopper went off after Luffy.

"Yosh! We're gonna kick that weird bird's ass!" Luffy cried happily.

"No no Luffy! We just want to catch it!" Usopp called after Luffy.

Sanji, Nami, and Usopp all went a different direction, and Hoshi, Zoro, and Robin went in another.

After about five minutes, Hoshi perked her ears up. "I hear screaming," she commented.

"Leave 'em. They'll be fine," Zoro said, glancing in her direction… and spotting a centipede about to grab her neck with vicious pinchers.

"Don't move!" Zoro commanded, running towards her. She froze, and he unsheathed his swords and slashed the bug in one slash. Maybe he'd overreacted but…

"Dammit, it's freaking huge!" Zoro exclaimed, picking up the five-foot long centipede by an antenna.

"You really shouldn't go around killing everything we come across, the poor things," Robin commented.

"Doesn't matter… it's their fault for coming after Ho- us in the first place," Zoro retorted. He started walking off.

"But…" Robin said.

"What is it?" Zoro asked gruffly.

"Isn't that the way we just came from?" Hoshi asked him, finishing Robin's sentence. Blue lines appeared on Zoro's forehead.

Jiyyyoooo…

"The bird's call!" Robin exclaimed.

"It came from over there!" Hoshi yelled. She let out her wings and flew in the direction of the sound. "Look out for that quagmire!" she called over her shoulder.

Robin hurried to follow. Hoshi's flight was slow, as she scanned the branches for the Southbird.

"Oi, just wait up a se-" Zoro stepped into the quagmire.

"Zoro!" Hoshi yelled in alarm. She quickly flew to the quagmire and grabbed Zoro's hand before he disappeared. He came up, covered from head to toe in mud.

"Geez, listen to what I tell you!" Hoshi growled at him as she sharply banked and placed him on the ground. She hovered over him. "I told you to watch out for that quagmire!" Hoshi was about to tell him off a little more, but another chill shot through her body, and the phoenix chime resounded through her mind so loudly that she lost her vision. Listen! it shrieked. The ossan! Chestnut! The phoenix forced her to pull her wings in an attempt to get her attention, and she fell to the ground on her butt.

"Hoshi! What's w-"

"Ouch! Damn phoenix, just shut up!" Hoshi yelled angrily into the air. In retaliation, the phoenix chimed again, even more loudly, then sulkily retreated to the little corner of her mind where it lived.

"Um, Hoshi… you okay?" Zoro asked warily.

"Yeah… damn phoenix just won't shut up though," she replied. She got up and dusted off her pants. "It's learning how to talk… wonderful. That's just what I need, a little voice inside my head. OUCH!" she yelled as the phoenix chimed, jabbing the sound like a spear. I heard that.

Hoshi refused to reply to it.

Robin called back, "Are you two alright?"

"We're good," Hoshi called. She grinned apologetically at Zoro. "Sorry about that."

Zoro felt heat rushing to his face. Damn, what is the matter with me?! "No problem…"

Suddenly, the call cut the forest again. Jiyyyyooooo…

"Listen!" Robin said. "It's that bird!"

"Hang on… I hear another sound…" Hoshi muttered. It was a thumping sound, like a million soft footsteps…

"Oh my. It seems that an oversized cicada army is coming to attack us," Robin commented. Hoshi looked in the direction she was pointing… and saw she was right.

Hoshi drew her whip from the air, and Zoro growled, drawing his blade. An army of two-meter tall cicadas rushed towards them. Hoshi got hearts in her eyes. "AH! SO CUTE!!" she cried.

Zoro thought the phoenix must've messed up her head. If large panda-eyes was all it took for a bug to be cute…

"Well they might be cute, but they're in our way!" Zoro growled.

"Yeah, guess there's no helping that…" Hoshi said.

They took their stances and attacked. Zoro was still irritated about Robin's remark on him killing everything, so he just beat them all up with the flats of his blades. Hoshi cracked her whip lightly over their heads to knock them out.

Ten minutes later, they were still going at it.

"Damn it, there's no end to this!" Zoro growled. "What's with the cricket army? Do you honestly think you can beat me? Eh?" he asked one of the cicadas. He bopped it on the head.

"Zoro! There's more coming!" Hoshi yelled.

"You mean the fireflies over there?"

"No! The cockroaches!"

"What about the slugs over there?" Robin asked.

"Hornets too?!" Zoro yelled in frustration.

"What's up with the pigs?" Hoshi screamed.

It was wave after wave of attackers from the forest. Through it all, Hoshi heard the bird's call. Jiyoooo… jiyoooo…

"That bird's to blame! It's the control tower for all this!" Hoshi suddenly realized.

"We should go back and see if any of the others have had any luck," Robin said. "We'll never find the bird in all this."

"That's just what it wants, isn't it?" Hoshi growled.

Later, the crew met up together. No one had any luck.

"We didn't even see a single one," Nami sighed.

"We saw one, but we couldn't get to it 'cause of all the bugs!" Chopper gasped.

"Man, eight of us and we pull a big zero!?" Usopp exclaimed. "Get it together guys!"

"You too," Sanji exploded at him.

Jiyooo…

The bird flew and landed right on the tree next to them. It started hopping around on its branch, making noises.

"'You all will never catch me. Moooroons,'" Chopper translated.

"What was that? You just came here to gloat?" Hoshi asked, leaning back on the tree.

"Dammit, I'm going to shoot you down!" Usopp yelled.

Two arms sprouted around the bird, and a third threw it down. "If I can see it…" Robin said. Everyone sweatdropped.

Hoshi suddenly gasped and bent over, sweating, as the phoenix clamped her mind in its beak and started chomping on it. It was incredibly painful. CHESTNUT OSSAN! it screeched in her mind.

"Hoshi! What's wrong?" Zoro asked, running over to her.

"P… phoenix…" she gasped. She felt like her head was being split in two. GO TO CHESTNUT OSSAN!!

"It wants… us… to go back… to the ossan…" Hoshi gasped.

"Hmm? Why would it want that?" Sanji asked.

Hoshi just shook her head. Listen phoenix, she told it silently. If you keep screeching in my head like that, I can't get to the ossan! "It's still learning how to talk," Hoshi explained. "I don't think its vocabulary is that big yet."

The screeches instantly died down. Go to chestnut ossan, the phoenix told her gently. Then it held a note on a low tremolo. Hoshi felt as though she had swallowed a warm drink, and her headache suddenly stopped. Zoro watched her haul herself into a standing position again and grin at the crew.

"Yosh! Let's go to the Ossan then!" Luffy said. "We've caught the weird bird!"

The captured Southbird protested the ill treatment.

Poor Hoshi! Now she has a weird voice inside her head! Why does it want her to go back to Cricket so badly? Did something happen? What's wrong with Cricket and the monkeys? They were just fixing up the Going Merry… right?