Run walks silently through the town's streets back towards the docks, and the Merry. A drink with Fawkes had turned into several before either of them knew what had happened. Fortunately, Fawkes took it upon himself to end their drinking, and after paying their tab, they said their goodbyes and that was it. It was certainly a far cry for their last meeting which ended with both of them bloody and bruised before Luffy and Ace could separate the two of them. Fawkes had come all the way from the New World seeking a 'sparring' match while he was still living in Foosha Village, and Run recalls it as probably the closest he's ever come to dying.
"Haaah...at least he didn't come for a fight," Run mutters.
"Who didn't come for a fight?" asks a familiar voice, causing him to stop in the middle of the street. He turns around with a smile to face Robin. Her new outfit is certainly...appealing. She's wearing a purple jacket that reveals her toned stomach, skin tight purple pants and a pair of boots. It's completed with a purple cow-girl hat. Even if he wasn't so openly admiring her, she would have noticed his eyes devouring her form. She slowly stalks forward, hips swaying to and fro, and reaches a hand out. With a single finger-tip, she lifts the red head's chin, closing his mouth. "I guess I don't have to ask you what you think then."
"Yeah," Run drawls, brazenly looking her up and down again much to her enjoyment. "I gotta say, the cow-girl look?" Run pauses, reaches out with his free hand and plucks the hat off her head to deposit it on his own. "It's really doing it for me."
"You know, I think purple might just be your color." Run chuckles in response, and then holds her hat back out in offer. She takes it back, and places it back on her head before they begin walking back to the Merry side by side.
"I guess I don't have to ask what you've been up to, huh?"
"Nami didn't seem to mind me borrowing her clothes but I felt it was time I stopped. So, I thought I should do some shopping while we were here." Run nods in understanding. "And, while I was out, I thought I would get you something, too." She holds a bag out in offer to him, which he takes without a second thought. "Now, then...I take it you did some shopping of your own."
"Aah, this? It's a gift from the old man, apparently."
"From Shanks?"
"Yeah." Run explains everything to her as they walk. From Shanks sending Fawkes to deliver the sword, as a birthday present as well as the two letters he's got folded and tucked into his back pocket. He can see she shows some confusion at the mention of Fawkes' name, and so he chuckles a bit. "Fawkes is Mihawks son." Robin's eyes widen in surprise. "What? Didn't know Mihawk has a son?"
"No. I had no idea."
"Well, I guess it's not that well known. As far as I know, he's spent most of his life training with Mihawk."
"So, Shanks sent him to deliver the sword...for your birthday." Run nods in the affirmative. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Aaah, well, in all the excitement lately, it kind of slipped my mind." Robin chuckles in response.
"Well, happy birthday, Run." The rest of their walk back to the Merry is made all the shorter by the two of them chatting about this and that. It takes only a few minutes to reach the Merry, and when they're within ear shot they're treated to Nami loudly complaining about something that happened in town.
"What's with you guys?!" Nami screams. "Are you men or not?! If someone provokes you, then you should just go ahead and beat them up!"
"Haaaah...sounds like Nami's in a good mood," Run mutters, walking around the dock towards the gangplank connecting the ship to the pier. They take the plank up to the deck, listening to Nami continue yelling at everyone the whole time.
"My, it's awfully lively up here," Robin says in way of greeting. "What's gotten you so upset, Miss Navigator?"
"Aaah! Robin! Welcome back!" Sanji gushes. "Would you like something to eat? Or perhaps I should draw you a bath?" Zoro is the first to notice what Run is clutching in his hand, and his attention immediately focuses on the blade.
"Oi, Red, where'd you get that sword from?" Zoro asks, staring pointedly at the weapon from his position on the upper deck.
"Aaah, well, it's a birthday gift from my old man," Run says matter-of-factly. Upon hearing this the whole crew goes quiet enough to hear a pin drop. It ends, however, when Luffy suddenly leaps up onto the railing, holding his hat firmly against his head.
"Shanks is here?!" Luffy screams in question, grinning wildly.
"No, Luffy. It's...let me explain." Just like with Robin, Run explains everything that happened. When he's finished with his short story everyone but Luffy and Robin are left staring in shock. None of them would have imagined that Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in the world, had a child.
"So, Mihawk has a son?" a stunned Zoro mutters. Of course, it only takes him a moment to come to terms with it, and a smirk suddenly appears on his face. "So, he has a son. Alright, then that's just one more person I have to step over, then." The swordsman is silent for a few moments before motioning to Run's sword once again. "Anyway, about that sword. I'm sure you know but-"
"Yeah, it's a Kitetsu. One of three cursed swords." Run reaches into his back pocket and produces a folded letter. "The old man explained everything in this letter. Although, even if he hadn't I could tell that the moment I laid hands on it." He sighs and raises the weapon slightly to examine it. "Unfortunately, he didn't explain exactly WHY he pawned this unlucky thing off on me."
"A Kitetsu?"
"Yeah, he said it picked it up a long time ago, but never used it because of the curse." He continues to stare at the katana. "Nidai Kitetsu."
"Nidai? Oi, oi, are you serious?" Honestly, it's a rather unassuming form for such a notorious Meito to take. The tsuka of the blade is wrapped with dark red silk with a black kashira and square, equally black tsuba. It has some rather ornate carvings of what appears to be falling cherry blossoms on the tsuba, and the kashira bears the tree they're 'falling' from. These blossoms aren't spared on the sword's kojiri, either. A white sageo stands in stark contrast to the ebony wood of the saya, and lends the weapon some much needed color.
Run drops the bag in his hand, and then grips the weapons tsuka, a perverse shiver racing through his body as he exposes several inches of the silver blade to the sky. It's hamon rolls in waves down the exposed blade with, oddly enough, a slightly pink hue to it.
Any swordsman worth the name can get a feel for his blades 'temperament', and this Kitetsu was certainly going to give him trouble...in more ways than one, if he was a man who believed himself to be lesser than it's curse. Just that simple motion was enough to rouse a sleeping blood-lust within him. His grip tightens, his eyes narrow...just this much was enough to make him start itching for a fight. There is no doubt in his mind that the weapon is razor sharp, and extreamly durible.
"Haaah...talk about a foul temperament." A soft 'click!' sounds as he shoves the blade back into the saya. "Anyway, I don't suppose you found out anything about Skypiea?" Nami immediately begins complaining, her foul mood having not improved in the slightest.
"Here, Captain," Robin says, a map suddenly appearing in one of her disembodied arms that sprouted from the railing at the upper deck.
"Ohh, a treasure map," Luffy says, taking it from the arm and paying it no mind as it disappears. She explains that it's a map of the island, and that the 'X' marked on the map is the location of a man who doesn't exactly 'fit in'. Robin tells them the man's name is 'Montblanc Cricket', a man who constantly spoke about his dreams and so was forced out of a town where no one dares to dream...
After Robin had given them the map, they immediately set sail for the home of Montblanc Cricket. While they did, Run went down into the men's sleeping quarters, and momentarily threw the bag containing Robin's gift onto his hammock. Run is then left with a decision to make, as he stares again at the sword. He's always been more comfortable with a saber than a katana. He'd only ever learned sword fighting with a saber. It is Shanks preferred type of sword, after all. Even so...does he carry it with him? Or would it be better to leave it here on the Merry?
Aside from being disrespectful to both Shanks and Fawkes, it's disrespectful to a sword like this to just let it sit and gather dust. It gazes at the blade intently for several long moments before firmly nodding. In a flurry of motion, he secures the weapon firmly to his belt at his right hip, having resolved to both carry and master the gift his father has given him. After he'd decided that he turns his attention to the bag Robin had given him, and digs inside it only to pull out a dark navy colored shirt moments later.
He chuckles a bit, shucks off the one he's wearing, and tosses it into his hammock before slipping the new one on. He buttons a few buttons, and rolls the sleeves before climbing back out onto the deck with the rest of the crew. Unfortunately, rather than finding them sailing on, he instead finds that they're stopped in front of a much larger vessel while Luffy talks with a strange looking, long haired man. While he's come into the conversation in the middle of it, the man seems to prattle on about Crocodile's defeat and how he'll fill the empty position.
"Eh? So you want to be a one of the Seven Warlords?" Luffy questions him.
"Naturally. But the best part about me is that I haven't cut my hair in all the twenty-five years of my life."
"Aah...that's kinda dumb. Can you move aside? We're trying to get through."
"First you insult me and then you demand I move?! This is MY part of the sea, if you want to pass you've got to pay the toll!"
"Oi, oi...you know, that guy is talking a lot like Masira," Usopp suddenly points out.
"Masira?! What about Masira?!"
"We kicked him off the ship," Run tells him bluntly.
"K-Kicked?! You kicked him?! This is revenge! I'll talk revenge for my brother!" Before they can explain further the man produces a microphone, and strikes a pose. "Havoc Sonar!" He begins wailing like a banshee at the top of his lungs into the microphone. They watch as the man's own ship begins splintering and cracking.
"Is he really destroying his own ship?"
"It's amazing!" Luffy gushes, grinning. "Destroying his own ship with just screaming!" While some of them are content just to stand and watch, Nami quickly urges them to set the sails and begin bypassing the ship in their way. Which proves to be a good idea when the sound waves reach their ship, and begin destroying IT as well. "Aaah! He's destroying the ship!"
"We need to leave!" With haste they set sail at full speed, moving as quickly as possible to get out of range of the sonar attack...
After making their escape they sail around the island towards the home of Montblanc Cricket. They spend most of their time repairing the Merry, listening to Usopp's complaining the whole while. Run drives nail after nail, attempting to patch the ship as best he's able...but he's no shipwright and the damage is wracking up quickly. "We need to find a shipwright quickly," Run mutters setting the hammer down in the tool box and standing. "There's no two ways about it."
With the repairs finished, they gather on the upper deck at the bow of the Merry. "We're almost there," Nami says. "What is the man's name, again?"
"Montblanc Cricket," Robin tells them. When the man's 'house' comes into view, Luffy and Usopp are amazed by the sheer size of it. Unfortunately, they're disappointed when Zoro urges them to take a second look, and they discover that the gigantic 'mansion' is in fact nothing but a wooden cut out hiding the man's real home. Luffy stretches his arms out towards the shore, covering the distance with ease while the rest of the crew waits for the Merry to sail closer.
"So, what kind of dreams did he talk about that got him thrown out?"
"I don't know the details but I heard he claimed a large amount of gold rests somewhere in Jaya."
"Is there some buried pirates treasure around here?"
"Well, who knows?" The Merry has barely reached the shore before Nami has cleared the railing and has Chopper digging up the ground with his antlers. They drop the anchor and then disembark the ship, all of them spreading out to have a look around. Luffy wastes no time in entering the man's home, calling out as he does.
"Luffy, even if it's unlocked you can't just go letting yourself in," Usopp tells him, following after him and actually ushering him out of the man's home.
"Aah, but how else are we going to talk to him?" Luffy questions, looking over his shoulder as their sniper as he pushes him back out the door and closes it behind them. "I had to know if he was home." Nami finds a book sitting on the man's hand table outside his home, and she begins reading it a loud to the crew. It's all about a man called 'Noland the Liar', and is apparently quite a well known fairy tale as Sanji immediately recognizes it as something widely published in the North Blue, where he originally comes from.
In the middle of the fairy tale, Run notices Luffy squatted down by the shore, staring into the ocean and slowly approaches.
"Oi, oi, Run!" Luffy calls, noticing the red head. "Look! Bubbles!"
"Haaah...I see that," Run says, squatting down beside him.
"What do you think it is?"
"Dunno." Luffy continues staring at them seriously, as if considering something and Run heaves a heavy sigh. "Alright, stand back." Run leans forward and reaches a hand out towards the surface. He's barely moved before a hand suddenly shoots out from below the surface and grasps his wrist. "What the fu-"
"AAAHHH! SOMETHING'S GOT RUN!" Luffy bellows, pointing at the hand and drowning out Run's cursing. Everyone's attention immediately turns to the two of them, the story and book falling by the way side. It pulls sharping, nearly taking the red head in before he can firmly plant a hand on the ground and stop himself fast. He grips the person's wrist tightly, the color vanishing from the hand before he yanks back in response. The person is hauled up out of the water, and goes sailing through the air to land on his back like a fresh caught fish. "It's a person!"
The man suddenly rolls onto all fours before sprinting to his feet. He begins gently rubbing his wrist while staring daggers at all of them.
"Who the hell are you?!" demands the man. "You've got a lot of guts relaxing at someone's home without their permission!"
"You're one to talk," Run counters. "Trying to drown someone your idea of hospitality?"
"The sea around this area is my turf! You expect me to welcome thieves trying to steal my gold?! Just die!" The two rush each other quickly with the man thrusting his palm out towards the red head's chest the moment he's within range. Run simply side steps the attack, knee raising towards the man's stomach.
"Sea King's Sw-" Before he can finish he finds himself face to face with the barrel of a pistol. His grey eyes widen in surprise as the shot goes off...and if not for his quick reflexes he'd have taken the bullet right to the head.
"RUN!" everyone exclaims, watching the cloud of gun smoke clear to reveal their unharmed First Mate. The way his head is leaned back it's amazing he didn't strain or break his neck. There's a flash of silver moments later as Run draws his sword, aiming for the weapon and actually cutting through it with a single stroke. Both men pace back from each other, staring daggers at each other.
"That was pretty close." The man tosses the now useless weapon aside and reassumes his stance...only to collapse into a heap in front of him. "Haaaah...really...?"
After gathering the man up, who they discovered was in fact Montblanc Cricket, they carry inside and lie him down on his bed. Chopper examines him while he's unconscious, and tells them that he's suffering from Caisson Disease, which is more commonly known as decompression sickness. It's a result of surfacing too quickly, and not allowing the nitrogen bubbles that formed in his blood stream to dissipate. Normally, it wouldn't be too much of a problem but it seems that the man has been diving again and again without allowing the sickness to go away and now he's running the risk of dying from it.
"Is he going to be alright now?" Run asks, standing beside the bed with arms crossed.
"He should be fine when he wakes up," Chopper assures them. "We just have to wait." They intend to just wait quietly for the man to awaken...that plan falls through, however, when the door to his home is suddenly thrown wide open and two very familiar monkey-faced men shove their way in.
"Old man, what's going on?! Is everything alright?!" demands the two. Upon noticing the whole crew gathered they immediately question them; demanding to know what they did to Cricket.
"Aah, we're taking care of him," Luffy tells them. The truth it may be but the rest of the crew is absolutely sure that they'll never believe them...at least until they break out in tears.
"You're so kind!" When the two started crying, Chopper immediately ran them all out of the house to make sure that his 'patient' had some peace and quiet while he was resting. While the two are calm, Luffy takes the opportunity to strike up a conversation with them.
"So, you two live here?" Luffy asks.
"Aah, well, the old guy's house is the headquarters of the Saruyama Alliance, after all," Masira explains. "But we usually sleep on our ships cause his house is too small." While the three are laughing and chattering on Zoro, Usopp and Run are standing next to Cricket's house, watching them.
"How can he get along with them so well?" Usopp mutters.
"Probably cause they've got a lot in common," Zoro reasons. The door to the house is thrown open several minutes later and Chopper comes storming out shouting that Cricket has finally woken up. They all immediately gather inside his home, finding the man sitting cross-legged on his bed, a cigarette in his mouth.
"Oi, oi, old guy!" Luffy says quickly in way of greeting. "We wanna ask you a question!"
"Aah, yeah," Cricket replies, taking a long drag on his cigarette. "Sorry for causing you trouble. I just thought you were more idiots after the gold." The mere mention of gold was enough to excite their navigator, although they ignored her for the moment to focus more on the task at hand.
"We wanna get to the sky island! Tell us how to get there!" Rather than a helpful response, Cricket suddenly breaks out into laughter. "Oi, Oi..."
"You guys believe in sky island?"
"Are you saying it doesn't exist?!"
"Aah, who knows? I know of someone who once said it did. But people now call him a legendary liar. His family became a laughing stock forever. It's an old North Blue tale that almost everyone from there knows...Noland the Liar."
"You know, come to think of it, his full name was actually Montblanc Noland...could he be your relative?" Cricket sighs heavily, and then nods in the affirmative. He explains that the man is a VERY distant relative of his from far back in the family. He also tells them that although the family was driven out of their country and have kept a low profile since, they're still denounced as a liar's family. Even so, Noland died believing in what he found, and no one could convince him otherwise.
"Aah! I get it!" Usopp exclaims. "You're looking for the city on the sea bed so you can clear the family name and prove to everyone that Noland wasn't a liar!"
"Don't be an idiot!" Cricket yells, pointing his cut in half pistol at the man...which is not very intimidating to any of them. "Whether or not the man was a liar, or even a great explorer has nothing to do with me! Can you even begin to understand how a child would feel being laughed at by strangers just because he's the descendant of such an idiot?!" After several tense moments of silence he finally lowers the ruined pistol. "This has nothing to do with that. At the end of the day I could care less about any of it. I'm not doing this to prove the man's innocence...this is a duel. A duel between the man who threw a wrench in my life, and me."
"And those two out there?" Run asks, motioning with his chin towards the door and the two captain's outside it.
"They're fans of the story. They joined because they believe the gold exists. They do as they please without any regard for how I feel. Honestly, simple minded idiots like them...make me feel relieved."
"Well, putting that story aside...I wanna go to sky island, old guy!" Luffy bellows. "So tell us how!" Cricket heaves a heavy sigh in response, and then reaches over to pull a book from the many gathered in a row in front of the window. He tosses it to Nami, instructing her to read a passage from it. She reads from the log book, Noland's log book, and it appears to be an entry regarding something called a 'waver' that can generate wind to move on days where there isn't any. But it was what she read after that that really got their attention.
"'Speaking of sky island, one of my good friends showed me a live 'sky-fish'. It looked very different from anything I've seen before! Though, it's still an unknown area to the crew and myself, I hope to one day visit this sea in the sky!'" Nami reads a loud.
"It's just like Robin said! I wanna go there so bad now..!"
After all the excitement had finally died down somewhat, Cricket called them outside and sat them down around his small table. He told them that if they were all that set on trying to find the place, then he was going to help. He was going to explain everything he knew about sky island, although, it was little more than speculation, and it was up to them whether or not to believe it. He starts by explaining the strange phenomenon that occasionally happens around these waters...something they had already experienced first hand.
"The sky will suddenly turn dark, as if it's the middle of the night," Cricket tells them. "This sudden night fall is caused by dense clouds called 'cumuloregalis clouds'. They produce no wind and no rain. When they gather, it's enough to block out all the sunlight. One theory is that these are actually fossilized clouds that have been in the sky for thousands of years. So...if a sky island does exist, it must be on those clouds." Naturally, Luffy is chomping at the bit to go and find those clouds.
"Alright, let's go!" Luffy bellows, standing from the table and turning to face Zoro and Run. The two are sitting back to back, cross-legged and leaning against each other in silence. "Zoro! Run! Let's go find those clouds!" The two slowly stand, stretching and brushing themselves off. Unfortunately, Nami has to 'gently' remind Luffy to stay on task.
"Now comes the real problem...the Knock Up Stream! It's a current that propels air, and anything else caught up in it straight up into the sky! Using it, you could potentially reach those clouds." He pauses for a moment, letting this sink in. "However...if everything I've just told you turns out to be wrong, then the only out-come is that you'd fall back down to your deaths. You'd have to put your lives on the line to do this!" Naturally, Usopp is immediately against going to this island and riding this strange stream.
"Well, let's go then!"
"No risk, no reward, right?" Run agrees, grinning in response.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Cricket retorts. "Even a ship in mint condition wouldn't stand a chance if it were caught up in the Knock Up Stream. Your ship would be torn apart in an instant." He stops to take a drag on his cigarette. "But, don't worry. I'll have Masira and Shojo help get you there. But only after we strengthen that ship of yours."
"We don't have that long," Nami tells them all. "The longest we can stay here is one more day before the Log Pose begins to reset."
"That's fine. The next Knock Up Stream will happen tomorrow afternoon." While everyone else is ready to go, Usopp immediately begins questioning the man. Why would he go out of his way to help people he's only just met? How can he be so sure it'll happen again so soon? He raises several valid arguments...that seem to fall on deaf ears. "You're right, it's not one hundred percent certain...but it's your only chance, isn't it?" The door to Cricket's home is suddenly thrown wide open, and Sanji comes jumping out to announce dinner is ready. "Let's go. Take it easy at my place and have some food."
While everyone else follows the man back into his home, Usopp and Run remain behind. The red head watches their sharp-shooter sink to his knees slowly, and approaches to stand beside him, arms crossed.
"Run...can I ask you something?" Usopp ventures, earning a nod in response. "Am I really...that miserable and cowardly?"
"Haaah...you know, taking the first step into the unknown is always frightening," Run tells him simply. "But..." He reaches down and places a hand on Usopp's shoulder. "...that's what it means to be a brave warrior of the sea, Usopp." After several long moments Usopp begins sniffling and then nods firmly in agreement before standing and rushing off towards the house with Run following. The dinner grows into a party within seconds of everyone getting inside Cricket's house.
It's all a blur of food, drinks, laughter and chatter. Usopp spends time teasing and then pranking Masira by making him eat one of his Tabasco bombs, Cricket is drinking and calling for Nami to sit by him with Sanji attempts to ward him off. Zoro, Shojo and Run spend their time drinking together. While it's nothing new to Luffy or Zoro, Shojo is surprised by just how high the red head's alcohol tolerance is. He seems to drink it like water, honestly. He also isn't prepared for the change in the man's personality when he's got a few drinks in him.
"Dahahahah! This is some pretty good stuff!" Run laughs, slamming his empty mug down on the ground in front of him. Across the room, sitting quietly in a corner Robin watches him with a small smile. When he starts partying in earnest, the similarities between himself and Shanks are plain as day to see. He even laughs the same. In the middle of pouring himself another drink, Run notices her looking and grins from ear to ear before jumping up and walking over. "Robin! Don't just sit in the corner! Come on! It's a party! Drink! Drink!" Before she can utter even a single word for or against this he's grabbed her hand and is pulling her to her feet.
Even though his face is flushed from the alcohol, and he's clearly had a bit too much to drink, his grip is still gentle if firm as he pulls her up. "Alright, alright," Robin concedes, standing quickly with his help. When he turns he finds himself suddenly face to face with Cricket.
"I saw gold in the skull's right eye," Cricket says seriously. "That tear stained sentence was the last thing Noland wrote on the day he was executed. Even now, those words make no sense to me. That's why we dive! That's the dream we chase!"
"To dreams, then!" Run exclaims, raising his mug high towards the man. "And to those that dare to have them!"
"Yeah! To dreams and dreamers!" Everyone raises a toast, the party resuming the next moment. Cricket continued talking to them about strange birds and the like while everyone sits in a circle around the food and drinks. Run shows no sign of slowing down, and even takes to teasing Chopper much like he was teased as a child. When the little reindeer attempts to pour himself a drink rather than allow him to take the mug, he picks it up himself.
"Hey, I can drink too!" Chopper protests, reaching for the mug. "I'm a pirate, after all!"
"Dahahahah! A pirate you say?" Run asks. "Then here! Try this!"
"Ohh! Juice!"
"See! What kind of pirate drinks grape juice?" Chopper immediately begins yelling at the red head who only laughs louder in response, actually reaching out to pat him on the head. "I'm just teasing, Chopper! You are a real pirate, ya know!"
"O-Of course I am, dumbass! I-I don't need you to...pat me on the head, dumbass! It doesn't make me happy to hear that at all!"
"Alright, stop teasing Chopper," Robin chastises him, pouring herself a drink. Cricket surprises them all by suddenly producing several golden bells and placing them in front of them. He explains that he'd recovered them from the sea floor during several of his dives. Cricket tells them that they aren't the bells he was talking about but actually bell shaped ingots.
"Ingots," Luffy echos. "So that means there was a city after all."
"No, you could find that much gold in any old ruin," Shojo counters.
"But it does prove that a civilization in this area," Robin asserts. "Ingots are made to have a standardized weight. Which means they were used for trade."
"Exactly," Cricket continues, producing a solid gold bird statue. "The strange bird calls I mentioned belonged to this. It's called a South Bird, and they still exist on the island today. They've been used by sailors for...oh, shit! We need to go into the southern forest now! Right now!" Cricket tells them that the Knock Up Stream is directly south of the cape, and that they'll have no way of knowing which way is south once they're on the ocean. Compasses don't work on the Grand Line, after all.
The reason they need the bird as that no matter what, it'll always show them the right direction...
"Aaaahh!" Run sighs, lowering the bottle and wiping his mouth with the back of his wrist. "This stuff sure is good. Sure you don't want some, Zoro?"
"I'll pass, Red," Zoro tells him.
"Suit yourself, then." There's a soft 'click' as Run shoves Kitetsu back into it's saya, and two halves of a gigantic centipede drops to the ground on either side of their path.
"Are you sure you should be drinking while using your sword?" Robin questions him, stepping over one half of the centipede. The red head shrugs his shoulders in response as they continue walking down the path. After leaving the party they'd split up into groups to search for the bird. The bird's strange calls echos through the forest and Robin turns in it's direction. "This way." Without waiting for them she goes running off into the darkness. The take off after her, the strange call continuing to echo through the forest.
Each call of the bird seemed to come with some...strange reaction from the forest. Every call seemed to result in a small army of insects getting in their way, which slowed them down somewhat as Zoro and Run had to stop to beat them back each time.
"I can hear the call, but it doesn't feel like we're getting any closer," Robin says, watching them sweep the bugs aside. Eventually Robin, Zoro and Run regrouped with the others, who seemed to be having the same problems as they had. Fortunately, though, Luffy and Chopper had at least seen the bird they were after. Usopp began complaining about how they couldn't catch one, even with all of them running about.
"You're included in that too," Sanji retorts.
"Aaah! There!" Luffy suddenly says, pointing up towards one of the tree's and a strange bird perched in it's branches.
"It says, 'You're never gonna catch me,'" Chopper tells them, translating it's calls. In the middle of it's gloating, however, arms suddenly sprout from it, wrapping it up and sending it falling out of the tree.
"There," Robin announces. "It's easy to catch if I can see one." With the bird caught, they all quickly make their way out of the forest and back towards Cricket's home...only to find the place completely trashed. And not just his home, either! Cricket, Masira, Shojo and even the Merry are completely beaten and broken!
"Old guy! What happened?!" Luffy demands, rushing to Cricket's side.
"Sorry," Cricket responds. "I'm truly sorry. There was nothing we could do! But...But we can still strengthen the ship before sunrise!" He slowly leans up, breathing heavily. "No matter what! The three of us can do it!" Nami, who had been sifting through the ruins of his house, suddenly comes running back to them.
"It's gone!" Nami cries. "His gold is gone!"
"Don't worry about it."
"What do you mean?!" Usopp demands. "You spent ten years diving for that gold!"
"I said don't worry about it! It's not your problem! So...even if the gold is gone, don't worry about it. If the Saruyama works on it, then we can definitely reinforce and repair your ship! No matter what, there won't be any problem with your departure tomorrow." Zoro walks over to what is left standing of Cricket's home, and stares intently at one of the walls. So intently, in fact, that Run walks over to have a look as well.
"What is it, Zoro?" Run asks, staring at the symbol painted on the standing wall.
"Oi, Luffy," Zoro calls, turning to look back at them. "Look at this. It's Bellamy's mark, right?" Luffy growls and stands slowly. "Want help?"
"No, I'll take care of it myself," Luffy tells them.
"Don't be an idiot, Luffy!" Nami complains. "We set sail in three hours! We don't have time!"
"Oi, Robin, if I run along the coast I can make it there?"
"You can," Robin confirms.
"Alright! I'll be back by dawn...!"