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(X)(X)
Chapter six
"Pirates do have honour you know Anchor?" Shanks said through his big smile, after taking a refreshing gulp of his bear.
"I wouldn't have guessed. For someone who steals and pillages and kills people."
"Uh-uh!" Shanks shook his finger back and forth in denial. Luffy puffed her cheeks in annoyance. Shanks was always saying she was a kid, but Shanks was the one that looked like one right now!
"Just so you know, we don't kill unless we need to. But we still have our own honour." He took another big gulp. "We don't go against our promise to the crew. You also don't go against your captain, of course!" He puffed his chest self-importantly, only to be kicked by his first mate.
"Seriously captain, you're too drunk already!" Ben shook his head in exasperation. "But he is correct Luffy. A pirate doesn't turn on his own crew. That is the most sacred oath of all!"
"Heck yeah!" Came the effusive agreement of all the others around the bar.
(X)(X)
"EHHH!"
At Nami's sudden shout, Luffy lifted his head from where it had been resting against Zoro's tight for their nap time.
"What is it Nami Sis?" Yosaku asked from where he and Johnny had been training their swings.
"The logue pose is pointing to the sky!"
"What? Is it broken?" Chopper asked.
Robin shook her head. "The golden rule of the grand line is that the logue pose is never wrong."
"But it's pointing at the sky!" Johnny exclaimed.
"Then, that means that there is an island in the sky."
"In the sky? Amazing!" Luffy jumped onto the railing, looking up to the sky trying to see something. "Let's go to this island in the sky!"
(X)(X)
"Hey, how do we get up to this island in the sky?" Nami questioned, her no-nonsense face looming over the oblivious group of pirate hunters.
"Oh, right… We need to figure that out first. Shishishishishi!"
(X)(X)
Not even a couple of hours later, a half-broken pirate ship was falling from the sky almost on top of them.
"Hey, Hey! Nami! It came down from the sky! This is proof that Sky Island exists!" Luffy cried in victory.
Zoro nodded. "Looks like it. We still need to figure out how to get up there though."
"Can't we go down to look for clues? Me and Yosaku are good divers, and Laboon could help"
"Umm…" Nami contemplated the possibilities. "That could work. Usopp, help me fix up some gear for them."
(X)(X)
Diving down, Luffy in a full body suit while Zoro, Sanji, Johnny and Yosaku only needed headgear, the five nakama held on to Laboon as their whale friend helped speed up the descending process.
"Whoa… so cool!"
Exploring a sunk ship was a new and very cool experience for Luffy.
There were lots of interesting stuff.
But nothing about an island in the sky…
How disappointing.
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Luffy looked up at the sudden warning from Laboon.
"Something is going on!"
The ship shook and the water suddenly started to flow away as air took its place.
"What's happening?"
So weird.
The water fell away completely and they could take off their gear., but Luffy made sure to keep hers close by, just in case.
She was way down here. No way was she taking any chances with all this sea water around her.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooonnnnnnnnn!"
"Someone is coming!"
BAMMM!
"Who the hell is here!"
…
"It's a monkey!"
…
"You really think so~?"
(X)(X)
The Monkey was a nice guy.
And he looked just like what she was named after!
But he wanted the treasure they had found, and that was a big no-no!
So, she punched him and they took of out of there as fast as Laboon could swim!
(X)(X)
They were running off when they came over another ship with a Monkey captain.
This one didn't take well to the news that they had punched the other monkey and they almost destroyed the Merry with their weird sound waves.
She was tired of all the damn Monkey people!
At least Robin had swiped an eternal pose to an island named Jaya in all the confusion.
So, to Jaya they went, trying to find any information they could on the Sky Island.
(X)(X)
Jaya appeared to be a very strange Island. Just from their view of the port they could hear a lot of ruckus.
But most important. All the ships in the port sported pirate flags.
"Well, shit."
Luffy stretched her arm to knock Usopp over the back of the head. No need to swear.
"It seems like this is a pirate friendly town." Zoro commented.
"Yes. There are probably very few marines in this area." Luffy crossed her arms. Looking seriously at the town. "Nami, let's move the ship to a more discrete place, and then came over on foot."
"Alright!"
They moved the ship to a more secluded bay, and anchored without any problems.
"Well, this doesn't seem like a very calm place. So, four of us go into town and five stay, alright?" Luffy said, stretching her arms to grab a tree and propelling herself over to the beach.
"Sounds good." Zoro fixed is sword belt, jumping over the railing and onto land. "I'll go with you."
"I will also go. Someone needs to keep an eye on you two, and as the Navigator I should go to get the information myself."
Luffy nodded. Seeing as it made sense.
"I will also go and see wat I can find." Making a bridge out of her arms, Robin elegantly made her way down to the island.
"Alright! Let's go! We leave the ship to you!"
"See you soon! Have a good time!"
(X)(X)
Luffy and Zoro both agreed that the best place to find information was the local watering hole, so they made their way directly there without bothering to explore the town too much.
Sitting themselves at the bar, Luffy asked for some food while Nami and Zoro got some booze.
"Excuse me, this town looks very lively. Is it always like this?" Nami started questioning the bar keeper as Luffy started wolfing down her pie.
"Ah! This town is a hotspot for pirates due to its location in a convergence of grand line paths. It makes the town very lively and a bit dangerous, but also brings in a lot of money."
"Ah… I see. Tell me, have you ever heard of…"
"This pie is disgusting/amazing!" Two voices said at the same time.
Her face turning into a frown, Luffy leaned over to her left to see a big man with wild black hair with bits of pie sticking from his beard.
Luffy narrowed her eyes, before turning back to her front and taking a sip of her bear.
"This beer is great/awful!"
Luffy frowned even deeper. Beside her, she could sense Zoro and Nami paying attention to what was happening with the strange wild man.
"I will take 50 pies to go" The man said with a scowl, turning slightly to her as if to challenge her in some way.
It might have worked if Luffy was more immature, but she had no interest in such a stupid meaningless challenge.
Watching carefully as the man took his pies and left, Luffy drained the rest of her drink and shared a look with Zoro. Seemed like he had noticed too. Those pirate hunter instincts never failed her first mate. Turning back to the bartender Luffy asked casually. "Is there a place we can buy meat in town?"
"Sure!"
What was the point in buying meat already cooked? Sanji would cook it much better on the ship.
"Thanks! By the way, old man, have you ever heard of a logue…"
Once more they were interrupted, this time by a loud blonde pirate stomping his way inside the bar, followed by his posse. Everyone around them gave way as if the blonde guy was a super dangerous person.
Turning back to the front and ignoring the commotion of the newly arrived group bullying a table for themselves close by, Luffy returned to the problem at hand.
"So, old man, our logue pose is pointing at the sky. Ever heard of an island being up there?" She asked with a smile.
The man blinked at them in surprise, momentarily speechless at the question. Close by, Luffy and Zoro noticed that the tables closest to them seemed to fall silent, before suddenly bursting into laughter.
Unsurprisingly, the blonde's pirate table seemed to be the loudest one.
"Hahahh-haha! Don't tell me your one of those idiots that believes in that! Hahahh-haha!"
"They sure look like weaklings! How much are you worth?"
The group laughed and sniggered in derision. Completely dismissing their ideas as ridiculous and worth of being humiliated over.
Luffy rose one eyebrow, totally unimpressed.
"We don't have bounties." She said with a shrug, turning back to the bartender. "So, have you heard about it?"
The man looked fearful of the pirates, for he only shook his head, bending down to take cover under the bar.
"No bounty? HEY! How dare you a no bounty no-one turn your back on me!"
"Yes! Do you know who we are! Bellamy is worth 55 million!"
"Oh? Good for you. Congratulations." Luffy sent them a smile, picking up her refilled cup.
The pirates seemed slightly stumped, but quickly recovered their anger.
The newly named Bellamy raised his bottle and smashed it against Luffy's head, just as he was met with Zoro's sword at his neck.
"What do we have here? Who do you think you are! You dare to fight me?!"
Luffy grabbed her fallen hat, brushing the dust and glass pieces from it. "Zoro, Nami, we're going back."
Her nakama got up, ready to follow them.
"You think you can just leave?" The bloody stupid pirate stated, blocking their path. "People like you disgust me. You think real life is made of dreams? Get real. Dreams are never achieved, and have no place in this age of piracy."
"Huh." Luffy snorted, before she broke into peals of laughter. "Geez. This is so unlucky. You're so funny. In another situation I would love to fight you, but right now I just don't have the time. The logue pose sets in 3 days, so I have to leave before that or I will lose my path towards this mystery island in the sky. So, kindly move, Bellamy the Hyena."
The man sneered. "Like I would ever do that just because you said so."
He raised his fists and bunched up his legs to attack and Luffy grabbed Nami and vaulted over him. Zoro simply ducked under the man, and the three made their way to the door as Bellamy flew over to counter and smashed into the wall.
"Where do you think you are going, you running away?"
"Sorry, we don't have time right now!"
"Run-away little girl! Not only are you a nobody, you are also a coward! You don't deserve to be called a pirate!"
Luffy snorted again. "Never said I was one, idiot" She muttered to herself. "Hey, Zoro, do those taunts really work on guys?"
Her first mate smirked at her. "They probably would. But since we aren't pirates, it's not like I would be bothered by them, right?"
"Shishishishishi! Right!"
"Zehahahahahaha! Sky Island really exists!" The three nakama stopped at the sound of laughter turning to see the big, wild man from before standing by the side, half of his pile of pies already eaten. "You guys were right! That other guy was just a looser! The new era they were talking about is bullshit! A time where pirates don't have dreams? Zehahahahahaha! People's dreams have no end! Isn't that right? They can keep laughing at us! But they can't tell us what to do! Zehahahahahahaha!"
"Let's go." Zoro called.
Finally taking her eyes off the man, Luffy nodded, leading the way towards the meat store.
(X)(X)
"Luffy! You're bleeding!? We need a doctor! Doctor!" Chopper screamed, running around the deck.
Sanji sighed. "You're the doctor."
"Ah! Right!"
Sitting still to let Chopper treat the cut she had gotten on her cheek from the stray glass, Luffy frowned deeply at the wooden deck. "Zoro, you saw it?"
Her swordsman nodded. "Yeah. And there were more people."
"Oi! Marimo! What happened?"
Nami sighed. "We got laughed at the pub, and this arrogant pirate that thinks he is the king of the hill just because he's got a 55 million bounty wanted to start a fight. He smashed a sake bottle on Luffy's head."
"WHAT!"
"Hey! Luffy, why didn't you beat him up? We could've gotten his bounty and given him a lesson!"
"Tch! And done what with it? Not like we can wait for the Marines to get here to pick him up. The Logue pose could set by then and we would lose the guide to the sky island." Zoro admonished.
Nami nodded in agreement. "And this town is really filled with pirates. Starting something here would be more trouble than it was worth."
Finally free from Chopper's care Luffy got up, her face serious. "We didn't find anything on the existence of the sky island. Except for a certain man that said it was real. But he didn't say why he believed so."
"Well, why didn't you ask him?"
"Because that man was Blackbeard. The guy Ace was looking for."
Everyone around her went silent. Usopp and Chopper started shaking in their boots at the thought of having to face a nakama-killing pirate, who had stolen a supposedly super powerful devil fruit.
Sanji exhaled his latest cigarette drag, turning to make his way towards the kitchen. "I guess you'll want to report this to the guild. I'll go get the snail."
"Oh? It appears you've had a very interesting morning." Robin stated as she climbed up to the deck, her arms full of bags. "I may have been luckier. At the book shop the seller told me that there is a man named Norblanc Cricket, who lives on the other side of the island and who has spoken before about the idea of an island in the sky. Apparently, he was chased out of town for having such strange ideas."
Feeling in a much better mood at the news, Luffy broke into a smile and jumped up in excitement.
"Alright! Finally good news! Let's go and visit this Cricket man!"
(X)(X)
Finding the diamond head old man had been easy. The guy was pretty cool and also believed that the sky island existed.
The two monkeys from before were apparently his friends, and together they would help them get ready to sail towards the sky island the next day, which was totally AWESOME!
Getting back from hunting for a south bird only to find her new friends all beaten up by that arrogant pirate bastard was not at all awesome.
She was pissed and decided that it was time to teach someone a lesson.
Screw no making trouble in a pirate town. She was too pissed for that.
(X)(X)
"BELLAMY! WHERE ARE YOU!" She shouted from the rooftop of the tallest building.
She didn't want to waste time searching for the bastard. Let him come to her with all his stupid posse and be humiliated in front of all his followers, just like he had wanted to do with her.
"You coward came back for a beating?"
He sounded cocky and stupidly confident, just like before.
Behind him all the rest of the pub goers had come out to watch the show.
Good. More people to witness.
"Give me back the diamond head old man's treasure."
"Heh? What's it to you? I'm a pirate you know? I steal. That's what pirates do, if you don't know that yet, you should learn quick. You shouldn't care about these things."
Luffy sneered. "I care, because he is my friend. So, give me back what you stole."
"Hahahh-haha! If you want it, then take it!"
He turned his legs into springs, and Luffy just sneered as he bounced around, easily avoided with simple dodges.
She let him rant about his greatness and how dreams where not meant to be achieved, before he finally came at her in full force and she simply punched him in the face with all her strength.
Looking at his smoking body lying in a crater in the middle of the street, Luffy took her foot and slammed it to the back of his neck, prompting a new gurgle from the bastard.
"Next time, don't forget that you're only worth 55 million." She stated, sneering down at him. Getting back up, she turned to the bastard's followers who were looking dumbfounded at the scene. "Where is the gold?" She asked, her cold voice and hard face making several onlookers scream in fright and flee.
"It really was them! The Straw Hat Bounty Hunters Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro!"
"Run! Run! Before they come for you!"
The surrounding pirates ran away, while Luffy came out of the restaurant with the old man's treasure.
As she turned to go back the way she came, she spied the filthy black bearded pirate slouching against the side of a building looking interestingly at the scene in front of him.
Luffy considered using this opportunity to do something. Injuring him. Give him a warning or something.
But no. It was better not to show her cards too much. She would leave that for later.
(X)(X)
She got back at the nick of time to find a retrofitted Merry with lots of flying accessories.
She looked awesome!
Leaving the gold with the old man, she looked over the improved ship, before finally looking back at her nakama.
She blinked. Had she forgotten something?
"Hey, you think Laboon will be able to come with?"
The others looked back at her, and she could swear she could almost see all the lightbulbs turning on over each of their heads.
"OH MY GOD! WE FORGOT ABOUT LABOON!" They all screamed.
Luffy pulled at her hair in a panic. "I'm such a bad captain!" She cried in despair, before Zoro came over and gently put a hand on top of her hat, shaking her head around for a bit.
"No, you aren't. You were the first to remember this problem. I'm sure our new friends will think of something."
"Actually, I already thought about it!" Masira said with a huge smile. "I remembered your whale friend from before. Come up Laboon!" He called over the cliff.
"Wheeeeee-oooooouuuunnnn!"
Laboon came up from the water, showing her own accessories that made her much more aerodynamic.
"Whoa! It looks awesome Laboon! You look so cool!"
"These applications will not only allow Laboon to rise up in the air better, but also to swim faster!" Masira explained proudly.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Shishishishishishi! Yep! We are about to have a great adventure! Luffy laughed. "Let's go! On towards Sky Island!"
"LET'S GO!"
(X)(X)
"Okay, so the marines actually gave us a lot... That's kind of generous. I guess" Luffy said, looking over the several pieces of seastone the marines had sent over.
"They actually took into account our numbers, do you think?" Nami asked, looking over the seastone booty.
Zoro nodded, testing over a stone to see if it could be fitted into one of his sword's hilts. "It would kind of be a sacrilege to alter of these great swords. It might be better to fit it over a daggers hilt. Kind of like Smoker's jitte."
Luffy nodded. "Let's do that, and each of you should carry one. Just in case. Nami should get a piece on the other end of her baton. And Usopp, can you try to make a seastone net? Like the ones we saw the marines use in Loguetown when they captured Buggy."
"Um… I'll try, that would be a great thing to have in my arsenal."
"Umm… what else? Anyone have any ideas?"
All her nakama turned their heads in contemplation. "Um… maybe something that could be thrown besides the net? Like a spear or something like Vivi's weapons? Or a dart? Or arrows? It could be useful to have some longue range capabilities." Johnny proposed.
"Ah! Good idea! Let's do that!"
"Actually..." Usopp mumbled, rubbing his chin. "I think I might try to make some seastone bullets. It might take a while to figure out how though. Seastone is actually quite soft and usually not a good material for bullets or projectiles in general."
The others nodded in understanding. "Alright, take your time. Do you think you could try to make a dagger or a sword with a blade actually made of seastone? It would be great for Zoro, Johnny or Yosaku."
"Maybe something that could be melted into Sanji's shoes?"
"Hey! I'll have you know that these shoes are imported from the island of Milani!... But something like that might actually not be a terrible idea..."
"Um… maybe. I will have to see. Again, it would take a while."
"No problem. We need to figure out how Luffy would use any kind of seastone weapon too. I don't see her not having a possible accident while using one."
"Yep, agreed."
"Hey! I'm the captain!"
"And we are realists. You yourself said we should all have a weapon, you took yourself out of the picture on purpose."
…
"Shishishishishi. I guess you're right! Shishishishishi!"