Chapter 37
"A solitary island in a distant sea! The legendary Lost Island"
I ended up losing my footing and being thrown straight to the mast and crashed my back against it before falling back on the ground…
"Ittai…", I whispered then I sat back and said to myself: "Ow… ow… What the hell's wrong with this ocean! Not long ago there was a damn huge fog and now hell's raining down on us!"
"Sanji-kun! Zoro! I'll take care of the helm, you have to loosen the ropes! Dan-kun! Take Apis to anywhere safe!"…I heard Nami shouting from the crow's nest.
"Understood!", I shouted back, stood back up, trying to balance my body, because the ship was swaying with the waves, and went to where Apis was. She, Sanji and Zoro were still on top of each other due to that first shake up. They quickly left, leaving Apis to me.
"Apis-chan! Let's get inside the room!", I said while holding her arm.
"No! I have to stay close of Ryuuji!", she said, yanking off from my grip and running to the back of the ship.
"Fool! You're not gonna do nothing standing close of Ryuuji and putting your life at risk! Come with me!", I said, going after her and trying not to slide off…
"Ryuuji's all alone there and can't do anything! I must stay close of him!"…she said while the ship leaned and she was desperately trying to run, but going nowhere and finally sliding off until hitting the opposite railing.
"Please, can you listen to me? We're gonna be in danger if we just stay here for any longer!"…I said while I, slowly, holding myself in the room railing, slid to where she was. But I ended up letting my hand slip up, hit the side of the ship where she was and I was almost thrown off the ship! The only thing that saved me were the ropes that hold the front sail in place…
"Dan-niichan!", Apis screamed.
"Ow… please, help me!", I screamed back, desperately.
The ship leaned again and she ended up sliding off to the other side and I could grab the ship and get back in. I slid again and bumped on Apis… but I tried to climb until I got a hold of a corner of the entrance to the room, I grabbed Apis and kept awaiting until the ship got right again.
It didn't take too long until the ship was straightened again, although still shaking a bit due to the strong waves.
"Phew… that was close!", I said, relieved and brushing the hair off my field of vision.
I flinched for a moment when a lightning struck the sea and created a visible shockwave in the water! When I got back to myself, I saw Luffy still standing at the front of the ship!
Me: "Luffy! Get here quick! It's dangerous to stay there!"
Luffy turned to me and said: "Hm? Dan… Apis, where's she?"
Me: "She's right he-…are? EEEEEHHH?"
And in this moment, I realized that Apis was gone, she ran away from me!
Oh, that's great… in the middle of a freaking storm I have to take care of a stubborn little brat!
I went to the back of the ship, walking carefully because the ship swayed violently.
"Ryuuji! Ryuuji! Don't you worry! This storm's not gonna sto-Aaaaahhh!", I could hear Apis saying and screaming when a wave hit the railing of the ship…
"Apis-chan!", I shouted… I saw the girl leaning against the railing… I tried to run to save her… but the ship rocked again, she fell on the ground and I saw the ropes loosening up!
"Oh no! The ropes!", I ran to try to pull them back… Apis did the same with the other rope… I turned my attentions back to the rope that slid off my hands… I tried to pull it with all my strength but the rope… won't… stop!
"Dan! Open way! Go to the other side!"…I heard this and turned… to see Zoro bringing the other rope to where I stood.
I nodded and we exchanged positions in order to stop the ropes from loosening up.
"Ryuuji! No! What are you talking about? We're gonna save you! Don't you give up on me now!", I heard Apis shouting… "Didn't we promise that we would find the Dragon's Nest?"
"GOMU GOMU NOOOO… NAGENAWA! (Gum Gum Lasso)"…and suddenly, I saw Luffy's arm stretching to catch one of the cart wheel's junctions and hold onto it.
Apis: "Luffy!"
Me: "Captain!"
"Leave it to me! I promised we'd take you to the Dragon's Nest, didn't I?", Luffy said.
"Yeah!", Apis replied.
"Yosh! Zoro! Dan! Hold these ropes the tightest you can!", he ordered.
Zoro: "Right!"
Me: "Your desire's an order, Captain!"
And we kept holding the ropes tightly… I was about to get a blister on my hands… they were getting hot due to the friction with the rope… and I also saw some dark stains… the rope was sliding slowly… until we finally saw the skies turning blue again, the rain finally stopped and the waves got calmer… we went through the storm!
"Ah… finally!", I said… while Zoro and I tied the ropes in the back mast again and Luffy's arm snapped back in place. I saw my hands and they were bright red with the irritation. I done some hand stretching and put them behind my head.
"Phew… that was pretty close!"…I said while walking to the lower deck. Nami, Usopp and Sanji stood in the front deck. We arrived where they were while seeing an island come into our views. The island in the middle of the storm…
Nami: "So… this island is surrounded by a stormy sea… how mysterious… it's just like some sort of obstacle put here in order to let no one get here… That may be why this island was never found before."
Me, leaning against the railing: "Wow! Is this the Lost Island?"
Luffy: "You know this? This island looks more like a castle in the middle of the sea than a proper island…"
Me: "Yeah… looking from this distance… it's just like a castle! It must be pretty interesting…"
It didn't take long until we docked at the island.
Usopp: "Look at that! Don't you think it looks just like a dragon? This explains it all! This is really the island where the Sennenryuu live!"
Luffy: "Haaaa… These dragons really are skilled!"
Sanji: "Aho! It's crystal clear that these buildings were made by humans!"
Me: "Is it that humans and dragons lived together here?"
Sanji: "It's kinda possible…"
The shore had stone buildings… or ruins that were already accumulating mosses. It makes the island look like it's abandoned since some time ago.
Zoro: "Independent of whether they lived together or not…"
Luffy completed: "…what matters is that we finally arrived… at the Lost Island!"
We anchored our ship and finally set foot in solid land… at the Lost Island.
"I'd like to know for how long no one set foot around here… It's like the jungle seized control of about everything around here…", Sanji said.
Me: "It must have been a long time… and sincerely, I think something happened… some sort of incident around here… because, look, this place's all ruins now… and the buildings were taken over by the greenery."
Nami: "You sure?"
Me: "It's just a kinda wild supposition…"
Nami: "Still about that… Do you have any idea of where the Dragon's Nest is?"
"Oi! Ryuuji! Ryu-uji! We already arrived at the island of the Dragon's Nest! Come on! Wake up!"…we heard Apis saying.
I came closer to the scene, leaning against the cart.
Me: "Apis-chan? What's wrong? What did he say?"
She turned to me and said: "He said that he doesn't know… Maybe here… maybe we're not at the Lost Island"…what?
Zoro: "What?"
Sanji: "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Me: "But… Luffy told me that Ryuuji told you that he remembered where Lost Island is! It can only be here!"
Usopp: "Besides… we've been through such a hardship to overcome that huge storm back then and come here!"
"Apis! Guys!"…huh?
Luffy: "Look at that top! If we go there, we'll be able to see the entire island!"
Nami, getting close to the car: "He's right… we won't get too far if we just stay here only thinking and doing nothing. Let's go?"
Me: "You have a point… Apis-chan, wanna take a look up there?"
Apis: "Yes!"
Then it was settled that we were going to the top of the island. Nami and Apis were walking ahead while the five of us were in charge of pushing the cart. I helped Sanji and Usopp push the cart while Luffy and Zoro stood at the front and pulled it.
"Man… that Nami… leaving all the work for us men to do! Why doesn't she help as well?", Usopp whined as he struggled to push the cart…
"Are you nuts? No matter how much you complain, you're already supposed to know that if we're available and at women's service to hard work, we must always do it!", I replied.
Nami: "You over there! Less chatting and more pushing!", Nami said from the front.
"Don't you get too cocky, you witch!", Usopp said.
Sanji: "Don't call her witch, you bastard!"…now talking about Nami… "Yes, my dear! I will stop the chit-chat and keep pushing because I'm at your service! Ah… Nami-san's just divine when she's all lively!"
Usopp: "Ah… just shut up!"
Me: "Can you stop complaining and keep pushing?"
Usopp merely grunted annoyedly. I then let out a sigh… I had nothing to complain about. Well, ok, I'm strong because of all my training from hell and pushing a huge cart carrying a dragon who weighs some tons isn't too hard.
"A village…"
We stopped the car to take a look. I was at the extreme back, right behind the dragon, thus, I had to leave my post and get in the front to actually see anything. And what I saw was a ruined city with trees and plants ingrained in the destroyed buildings.
I got back to the car and we walked while checking out the village.
Luffy: "Incredible… everything's all destroyed… It looks like there really were people who lived here…"
Zoro: "That's obvious, with so many houses around here…"
Usopp: "Then why there's no one else living here?"
Sanji: "Dunno… maybe they found somewhere else to live…"
Me: "…or, somehow, they got exterminated or stuff like this…"
Usopp and Sanji were giving me a funny look…
"What? It's just a hypothesis! Ok, it's more ominous, but still!", I said trying to excuse myself.
We went past a grassy field where Apis stopped. Then she returned with a bird in her shoulder and said: "Y'know? This bird have just told me something! There's a building with dragon marks in the top of the mountain!"
Me: "Really?"
And Apis ran after us. Nami didn't follow her, though, instead, she kept looking at the ruined buildings.
"Nami! Hurry! You'll be left behind!", I shouted.
"Wait!", she said while running after us.
We went up for a bit more until we stopped in front of a big gate with weird dragon-ish drawings marked on it.
"One, two!"…Luffy said and we gave the final push on the cart. Usopp sat on the ground, exhausted from working this much.
"Phew! We finally made it to the top… That was harsh!", I said while stretching my arms and shaking them to try to ward off the built strain. I went where the ladies stood and saw the green little bird leaving.
"Thank you for taking us up here!", Apis thanked… then talked to us: "Guys, thanks for the help and good job!"
Nami: "Good job, boys!"
Me: "You're welcome… that was piece o' cake!"
Sanji: "I'm always at your service, Nami-san!"
She then faced the wall: "This image… is it one of a Sennenryuu?"
Luffy: "Yeah… kinda looks like it."
Sanji: "Is this the building where is the Dragon's Nest?"
Usopp: "Here?"
Zoro: "Wait a second… the entrance… where is it?"
Me: "That's right… how are we supposed to get in?"
Luffy, pointing to the wall: "This is the entrance!"
Nami: "Fool… we got no keys or stuff to open it!"
I saw Apis approaching the gate… I then realized that on the painting marked on the gate, there was a small hole… a hole in place of one of the fingers of the dragon's paw.
Nami: "Apis… your pendant… is it…?"
Me: "The key to open the door to the Dragon's Nest?"
Sanji: "Seems so… the pendant and the hole seem to fit each other…"
Apis approached a bit more… but when she tried to fit the pendant in the hole…
"Ahh… I can't reach!"
Luffy: "Haha! You're too small for this, right, Apis?"
"Any problems?", she said, angry.
"Yosh! Leave this with me.", he said, took the pendant from Apis and went to the gate put it in place. Suddenly… "Are? Is it me or I'm getting smaller as well?", Luffy said…
Me: "No… I think it's the ground that's falling!"…and I meant it… the ground started rumbling and then it broke in pieces in a matter of seconds. We fell in a cave just below. After the impact on the ground, I sat back up, cleaned the dust off and took a look on our surroundings.
"We… we're alive, aren't we?", Usopp asked.
Zoro: "It seems so…"
Sanji: "Speaking about that… whose idea was to use the pendant as a key up there again?"
Apis smiled sheepishly… and received back her pendant from Luffy. We stood back up and cleaned the rest of the dust.
Sanji, while standing up: "Well… this doesn't matter right now… what really matters is that we're in."
Apis smiled and gave a thumbs up: "Everything's alright!"
"Oooooo… this tomb's really wide!"…I said while spinning and looking at the place that was also filled with plenty of logs and branches ingrained in its interior. This cave looked more like a room of a castle, since it had some weird inscriptions and markings on its walls.
Zoro: "But… what is this place?"
Luffy: "And… what do you think about this?"
"What's this?"
Suddenly, we found ourselves looking at the ceiling. The ceiling was significantly damaged, but there's still sort of a drawing marked in it.
Dan: "Phew... all we got so far was to see an island with buildings and jungle mixed together and a drawing in the ceiling! What could it possibly mean?"
Wait for it! There will be more twists awaiting the pirates.
On the next chapter: They are going to make an important discovery that will lead them to the true whereabouts of Lost Island. But... a known enemy of theirs will put himself in the way of the pirates... again! What will happen?
Look forward for Chapter 38!