Lack of... pre-chapter rant... draining my power! Nooo! -face-plants- I do not own One Piece. Reviewer thanks go out to Sakura-chan, Rose-chan and especially to Dixxy-san, who's reviews I still need to reply to, as he/she is going through this story and seems to be reviewing everything from the beginning. That so totally rocks out loud.

Inherited Will, Destiny of the Age

Chapter Thirty Six

Piiman: I Like Warm Places

Drum Empire is cold... really, really cold. I didn't like it, but Ninjin did. He thought it was fun to dive in the snowbanks and throw snowballs at Aisa. She didn't like it at all, since she ended up wrestling him to the ground and shoving his face in the snow. Paulie had to break it up, 'cause Aisa wasn't listening to Rika when she was telling her to stop it. Aisa always did kinda freak me out, but it's okay. She's pretty cool.

...but yeah, I was still cold. It reminded me of when Ninjin, Tamanegi and I were younger, back when Usopp-sama was still alive, we'd all play out in the snow whenever it fell. We never got much, but what did fall was enough to scrape together some muddy snowballs and maybe, on the good snowfalls, a snowman. On Drum, we could have made a thousand snowmen and still have leftover snow for miles.

We seriously did not know where we were going. Well, we knew we were going in the direction of the Drum Rockies, but other than that, nothing too much else. It took us all morning to get to the base of the mountain and once we did, it didn't look like we were any closer to getting to the top.

"These cliffs are too sheer to climb up," Paulie said, staring up the side of the mountain, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Even with the proper equipment it would be too dangerous for all of us to go straight up."

"So it's the perfect fucking fortress," Kappa said, spitting at the mountain. "How lucky they are to have a great defense such as this. I bet they built this." Tamanegi rolled his eyes and walked up to the dark rock and ran his hand over it.

"This is a basaltic igneous intrusion," he said. "The country rock must have eroded away long ago, leaving the tall butte-type structure. Most likely it was the final stage of a volcano, being as how the shape is nearly a perfect cylinder." Ow. That made my head hurt.

"Move out of the way ruddy imbecile," Aisa grumbled, shoving Tamanegi into the snow. She clapped her hands together, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then placed her hands on the dark rock.

"What are you doing Aisa-sensei?" Moda asked. Aisa's eyes snapped open and she looked like she was in a trance.

"We should move clockwise around the mountain. There's an opening there, about a kilometer from where we stand," she said.

"How can you tell Aisa-chan?" Rika asked. "You're just touching rock."

"There are guards stationed there," Aisa replied. "Two are posted every fifty metres."

"Every fifty metres?" Rika asked. I was kind of confused too, but luckily, Aisa explained.

"They're guarding a tunnel cut through the rock," she said. "Every fifty metres up, there's a new pair of guards. If we are able to take out the first pair swiftly, then the rest should be a piece of cake."

"Piece of cake?" Paulie asked. "We'll be moving in a tunnel!"

"The tunnel is large."

"How can you tell?!"

"Just trust me, okay?!" Aisa made a real angry face at Paulie, who made a real angry face back. I thought for a second that they were gonna fight right there, but Kappa and Rika stepped between them.

"Come on, let's just go Paulie-ji," Rika said, leading along Paulie. We all began walking to go left around the mountain. The wind began to pick up, making me shiver more than before. I saw Moda shivering too, like me, so I let her ride on my back. It made us both a little warmer, 'cause I don't want her to collapse like she did the day before. That was scary.

Before we knew it, what Aisa had predicted had come true. We all were hiding behind some really big rocks that were close to the large entrance of a tunnel, two guards on either side. They had guns and looked like they were much more used to the cold than we were.

"Never doubt a Shandian," Aisa laughed, peeking at the soldiers. She turned around and took out of her one pocket a shell that had a strap attached to it and pointed the open end into the wind.

"What's with the seashell?" I asked. Aisa glared at me, so I hid behind Ninjin. He's a good human shield like that.

"How do you think we're going to take them out quietly?" Rika asked. "I might be able to control their movements, but I can't control their screaming."

"I guess we're just gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way," Paulie said, cracking his knuckles and grinning. "I doubt they can stand a chance against me, mano a mano."

"They're half your age, fucktard," Kappa said. "Do you really think you can take them both without causing some alarm?"

"I can try," Paulie smirked.

"Neither of you are trying anything," Aisa said, strapping the shell to her hand.

"Aisa-chan, I really think we need to agree on our plan here... or at least know what you've got in store," Rika said, grabbing Aisa's elbow.

"Please let me do this," Aisa said. "You want to get up to the castle while staying as rested as possible, right?"

Rika nodded.

"Then let me lead this charge. If you really want to rescue this AWOL sap, then let me do this. I'm no fool when it comes to ambush attacks."

"...fine," Rika said. "Just be careful."

"Right," Aisa said, a kinda creepy smile going across her face. "Old Man, Kappa, Chabo, Ninjin, I want you guys right behind me. Once I knock those blokes to the ground, I want two of you each ganging up on one. It may seem a bit unfair, but we're going for surprise here. Don't kill, just render unconscious."

"What do the rest of us do?" I asked. Aisa shrugged her shoulders and made a scoffing noise.

"Just lay low until the coast's clear. It'll take just a jiff."

Silently, Moda, Rika, Tamanegi and I watched as Aisa took the others behind the rocks that were closest to the guards and kept hidden. I saw Aisa talk to the shell strapped to her hand and then hold it out, probably through a crack in the rocks.

Now I thought she had cracked or something. A seashell against two full grown men doesn't seem like a fair fight on the side of the seashell. What I had never expected to happen was that out of the shell came a huge burst of wind, strong enough to knock the two soldiers onto the ground. I don't think that anyone other than Aisa was expecting it, because Paulie, Ninjin, Kappa and Chabo almost didn't move when they were supposed to.

They did move though, even if they did take a few seconds to admire what Aisa had just done. Both of the guards were beaten up and the rest of us were able to join them at the mouth of the tunnel.

Don't worry Tashigi! We're coming to save you!

Author's Notes

Gotta hand it to Piiman for title originality. He's a sharp one! Anyways, look at how I try to flaunt my limited geology knowledge. It's kinda funny, 'cause I think I got something wrong in Tamanegi's little rant. Oh well. Not like I'm being graded in here. Happy Sinter Klass/St. Nicolas to all those that celebrate and I'll see you next time!