Chapter 21: An island above
A big galleon was falling down from the sky and almost hit them. It would if it wasn't for Shayla creating a strong wind next to the Merry and pushing the ship to the ship aside.
When the other ship hit the water, it caused this huge wave that made them feel like they were in the middle of a storm.
Except for the rain.
Even when they got control of everything there were still small pieces of wood falling from above. Shay started questioning Usopp's sanity when she found him meditating in the middle of it all.
She laughed when he slowly opened his eyes and saw a skeleton falling from the sky and he screamed like a little girl.
The small crew started asked how or why a ship was coming from the sky. Their attention was on Nami as she looked the log pose was pointed upwards, "it's broken" she claimed but Robin assured her that it wasn't, and it was locking onto an island's strong magnetic field.
It still confused them because the needle was pointing up into the sky, "It means the log has been caught by the Sky island" Robin explained.
The idea scared some but most of them were excited, especially Shay. She had heard stories, but had always some doubt as to rather or not they were real. Now, seen their guide through Grand Line pointing up gave her a new sense of hope of it actually being a reality.
"Is it a floating island?" Luffy asked, he may be more excited than her. "But there's nothing in the sky that looks like an island," Zoro said hesitant, "I wouldn't say that. To be more precise, what's floating up there's a sea" the older woman elaborated.
"So, there's an ocean in the Sky with an island. Yosh let's go" the young captain smiled while pointing up. "Okay men. Steer the helm up" the long-nosed friend continued.
Shayla sighed along with Robin; the idiots would surely get it soon, right?
Well, they did when Sanji explain it to them and Nami started saying it was broken again. Robin told her that no matter what happened on their journey or whatever, she should never doubt the log-pose. That's the iron rule and if there's something she should doubt, it should be common sense.
"Wherever the needle points, you'll find an island" she finished.
Soon everyone was distracted by Robin collecting the bones in the casket. Luffy and Usopp were running around the ruins of the galleon in search of something.
Shayla looked up and wondered how far up it was?
The newest member of the crew started telling, that he died of an illness 200 years ago in South Blue. It was actually amazing that she could find that out by just looking at the bones.
Suddenly there was a scream behind them, and they found Luffy in the sea about to drown because the ship was sinking deeper. Usopp jumped in to help him before they came back to the ship. The young captain had a huge smile on his face as he gave Nami something.
She opened the piece of paper and discovered a sky island map with the name Skypiea written on it. The silly trio danced around all excited until the navigator told them that the map might be fake.
Nami felt sorry for running their fantasy with logic as they all looked gloomy, "I'm sorry, it exits" she quickly said a second later slamming her fist into the mast, "Luffy, I don't know how to get there" Nami said with shark teeth, "You're the navigator, figure it out" he was frustrated too.
Usopp was mumbling something about not to damage the ship while Sanji thought that the orange-haired looked cute, angry. While Shay smirked at the two's interaction, 'he has such high expectations of her. Nami must be that amazing' she thought.
There was a suggestion that they should go back to the now sunken ship and look for some clue to get to sky island. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Shayla chose to go and unlike the guys, she didn't think they needed the barrels.
She sighed and told them to take it off but hold onto the tube so they could communicate with the others but mostly as a robe. Shay stepped onto the rail and split the water but not all the way down, impressing the small crew. She told the guys to jump down before jumping down herself.
They soon saw a huge snake underwater while the young woman would expand their breathing space go with them. She was holding on to Zoro's tube above him. "There's a lot of monsters down here" the captain commented with a smile on his face.
The sunk ship became more clear to them and they stop at the bottom, "This is amazing, Shayla-san. The sand is completely dry down here, how does that work" the cook praised, "Thanks, I can control the water particles and bend them to my will" she smirked.
Sanji's eye turned into a heart for some reason and she hardly understood why.
Whatever.
Two others just walked around and as long as they weren't too far away, they could walk within the breathing space.
Shayla looked around and stopped by a huge mirror. She saw her reflection and tried to fix her hair into a ponytail. She went over the guys, who were on the higher part of the ship, and opening a treasure chest, only to find out it was empty.
Disappointment clear on their faces.
Suddenly very big hooks attached themselves to the ship and started lifting the whole thing up to the surface. There was a low sound coming from the hooks and Shay put her hand over it, "Someone is trying to blow air into the ship" she informed.
"But there's already air here," Luffy said, "But they clearly don't know that" Sanji continued, "True, but to be fair, no one would expect a ship at the bottom of the ocean to have breathing space" Shayla replied and removed her hand.
"Who the hell is trying to lift this thing," Zoro asked, "Nothing better have happened to Nami-san and Robin-chan" the blond warned.
Shay took a step back, confusing the other but a few seconds later someone punched the wall next to them, "Who the hell are you . Who is trying to muscle my turf" a big monkey asked angrily.
"Oh, a monkey," Luffy said calmly, "Do I really look that monkeyed to you" he blushed with a huge smile, "Yeah, just like a monkey" the pirate captain replied.
'What's going on here she thought with a sweatdrop.
"What kind of conversation is this" the green-haired swordsman asked.
Exactly, at least she wasn't the only one confused.
Luffy befriended the monkey rather quickly and they started introducing themselves to each other.
"Oh, you guys come from East blue" the monkey is known as Mashira smiled, "That's right. But man, you really do look like a monkey" her brother commented, "Oh, you just saying that" he apparently took it as a compliment.
Shay could only stare at their strange encounter. She went over to the stuff over at the corner and Zoro and Sanji did the same but actually but put it into a bag.
As soon as they touched it the monkey started rampaging like a wild animal
She was ready to defend herself, but her attention quickly switched to a huge present outside the ship. Shay quickly got the water back in before shooting them all out of there and got them on board the Merry.
She finally felt like she could breathe better and fell to the floor relieved.
Nami went over to Luffy and tried to slap him awake but with little luck. The cook and swordsman told them to set sail and away from that crazy animal.
Usopp started talking about that he was happy they got away from the turtle. They looked confused and explain their entire adventure to the other members.
Like how a monkey attacked them, that he must be some kind of sea monster even though Luffy got along with him rather quickly since they were both monkeys. Just because we touched something, he started attacking them like a gorilla.
But Usopp was still happy they escaped from the weird acting turtle. But they haven't really noticed it until right then and the three conscious started panicking, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING" they screamed.
Luffy was suddenly awake and started asking why it was dark, but Shay hasn't really questioned it considering it was the Grand Line. They were getting ready to set sail, but the weird monkey jumped out of the water and onboard their ship.
Some members of the small crew stood there shocked, and it was the same with Mashira's crew. Shayla's eyes followed their gaze and she saw 5 ginormous dark figures, "MONSTERS" Luffy screamed, and they quickly rowed the ship out of there.
The Yonko pirate looked back at the dark figures and thought it was crazy that something that big was still unknown. They must have been 50 times bigger than Oars. There was no way that could have been real.
The pirates didn't stop sailing until it was back to normal weather. They started talking about the insane thing that happened to them today.
Until they noticed that the crazy monkey was still there with them and Luffy, Zoro and Sanji kicked him out. The guys showed Nami their so-called treasure and to her, it was trash and she started tramping on it.
Luffy appeared in front of her wearing armor and the navigator smashed that too. She went over to Robin and Shayla that was just calmy observing them.
The older woman gave Nami an eternal pose to an island called Jaya, which she took from the monkey ship, "You guys are the only ones who are on my side" she smiled with tears in her eyes. The two sympathized with her, "It must be hard" Robin said, "But you're doing a great job, Nami" Shayla smiled.
The straw-hatted captain had a problem deciding where to go now. Nami suggested that they could go to Jaya to get information on how to get to Skypiea. Then Usopp asked if they did that wouldn't the logs reset itself, but Robin told them that the logs wouldn't do that immediately. As long as they were there for a short time it would be okay.
That how they ended up sailing toward the island now.
Shay hasn't slept that well since leaving Alabasta and Nami said that she slept on her bed for a couple of hours. The Whitebeard pirate quickly went inside and was soon in a deep sleep.
-x-
When Shayla finally woke up, she still felt tired. She decided to get up, considering the sun was already setting. She noticed that it was awfully quiet and went out to the deck.
There wasn't anyone ou there, but there was a house by the shore that was clearly partying. She went over there and opened the door.
"Nee-chan, come sit with me," a drunken old man with a big chestnut on his head told Nami and Sanji kicked him in the face while carrying plates of food. "What is going on in here," Shay asked dumb folded.
"Oh, Shayla-san, come let me get you something to eat," the cook said happily. She hesitated but sat nonetheless and he place food in front of her and she dug in.
"By the way what did I miss," She asked Sanji, "Well this old man and the shitty monkey are helping us get to Sky island using something called knock-up stream to shot us into the sky" he replied.
She blinked a few times, "That sounds simple enough" and continued eating, "Come and sit with me, miss" he came closer to her but Shayla kicked him away from her.
The old man started telling them about the city of gold and something about the eye of a skull, but Shayla was too busy eating to actually listen to any stories right now.
Shay did know what was going on when Luffy suddenly dragged her into the forest, "Idiot, what are you doing". He didn't stop and just faced her, "We are going to look for this mystery bird".
The whole crew was behind them to search for it, too, but they were arguing amongst themselves about how to find it, "You don't know how it looks" she asked them, "Old man diamond-head told us it had a weird call that we would know it by".
As soon as he said that, a weird sound came behind them and they split up into three groups.
Shayla ended up with Luffy and Chopper.
They were searching around when Luffy went over to a tree root opening and pulled out something, "I got it. See, Chopper it's an atlas" and there it was, a hand size bug.
Shayla hasn't felt this kind of fear for a very long time and slowly stepped back, "Which one is cooler, the one piece or that" the reindeer asked and Luffy had actually trouble deciding.
Seriously?
"Shayla come and see what Luffy found," he said cutely, "Oh, no. Get that thing away from me" her back hit a tree, "Are you still afraid of bugs," her brother asked in a disappointed way, "Shut up" she responded.
"But Shayla there's one behind you," Chopper said, "It's a miyama" Luffy screamed and tried to catch it. Shay almost passed out when she discovered those things could fly
She was frozen there when the two ran after the bug, but they were chased back by bees and Shayla calmed down a bit. At least she could handle those, and she just smirked when they came back with stings.
Weirdly enough another set of bees chased them again and she looked up to the tree and saw this weird bird. That might be the creature they were looking for.
Bingo
She jumped up to one of the branches and sneaked closer to it. When it looked her way, she hid behind the brushes and her dark clothing help her blend into the darkness. She was about to jump and catch it when arms grabbed around it and another threw it down to them, "I almost had that".
"Sorry, I took your change, Hell Bender-san Robin said, and Shay sighed, "Well, at least we have it now".
They went back to the house together and found the diamond-head along with his friends uncurious on the ground and water. They had clearly been beaten up and Sanji jumped into the sea to help them.
Usopp was ready to cry when he saw the sight of their front part of the ship split in half. The old man got up and apologized to them and to told them there was still time to fix it. The pirates insisted that he told them what happened, but he dismissed it.
Nami came out of the house, "Luffy, the gold was stolen".
Zoro called the captain too and showed him the mark on the wall, "Bellamy's mark". Shayla was confused, she knew who's mark that was and she hasn't seen the heavenly demon in six years. So, who was this other dude?
She realized that clearly, Doflamingo was a busy man and wouldn't bother with anything on this far side of the Grand Line. So maybe it was his subordinate or rather a fan?
Luffy understood and stood up, "Need a hand," the swordsman asked, "No, I'll be fine," he said.
"There's only three hours left till we set sail" Nami warned, "Don't worry. If he's late I can use my powers to get the ship to sail quicker. Luffy take your time but hurry" Shayla said. "Got it," he said before facing Robin, "If I follow the coast, will I reach the town from this afternoon".
"Yes, you will" she answered. The old man tried to stop him, but Zoro told him he'll need more than that and offered him his sword.
"I'll be back by dawn," Luffy said, and Shay saw him running in the direction of the so-called town they visited without her knowledge.
What is during her sleep?
"Three hours Luffy. If you delay us more than that it'll be your fault that we lost our chance to sky island" Nami yelled after him.
-x-
It took all night, but the ship was fully fixed or as fixed as it can get in such a short time. Luffy was still not back yet and the crew started to stress a little.
Shay used that change to call her father back before going up in the sky.
Since they were on the other side of the world, it should be daytime, right?
It ran and a familiar deep voice answered the snail, "Guess what dad, I'm going to sky island. Although we're not sure it's actually real" she beamed excitedly nonetheless, "I'm sure it exists, Shayla" the Yonko grinned.
"Dad, did I call at a bad time?" she asked when she heard some yelling in the background, "No, just someone sending me a letter like he's someone important" Shayla smirked, and the captain attention shifted, "Tell that red-haired brat that if he wants to talk to me, he'd better bring some good drink and come himself".
"If you got that leave. I don't have time to talk to a little snot like you. Buffoon" Shayla felt her father's strong spirit from the other side of the world. "Continue, treasure," he said more gently, "You know, dad I would really like to see that person Shanks send face right now. I bet he's peeing himself" she laughed.
Shayla went over to one of the trees and sat down by its roots, "Actually, he looks ready to fight" Whitebeard stared down at him, "Oh, he better not if he wants to live that is" her voice turned serious.
"Oh, would you look at that, he's leaving" she heard someone said before people laughed. Shayla leaned her head back, "What did Shanks want" she asked, "He wanted to talk about Ace and Blackbeard" and that made her eyes widen.
"What about Ace and Blackbeard?" she asked, "Not sure, I tore up his letter and told him to come himself if he's got something to tell me" he explained. "Did I make a mistake letting him go alone? Because I can return to him now" Shay asked carefully.
Good thing Luffy wasn't here to hear her concerns.
"No, just trust he can do it" her father sighed, "I guess you're right, dad," she said calmly.
"Oiii~" Luffy yelled from the distance, "I did it" he came running. "Luffy, hurry we passed due to set sail" Sanji informed. Shayla was still on the line with her father when she stood up and walked over to the rest, "Look at this. It's Hercules it took forever to find" he said happily.
"A b-b-bug" she almost yelled, "You scared of bugs" Haruta suddenly asked from the snail, "No…" she said nervously, "Shay don't be like that. Look how cool it is" Luffy went over to and everyone on the other end heard and was teasing her over the fear.
She stepped back a little and has had enough, "Bye dad, and everyone else laughing you can suck it" before she hung up.
Shayla went over to Luffy and smashed him over the head, "Don't embarrass me in front of my crew" he looked confused and of course, he didn't know what she was talking about.
She normally did the pranks and teasing to them and didn't like the idea of it been the other way around. Her revenge would be very sweet when she got back.
The young captain gave the old man his gold back and told the monkeys they could have his bug and Shay thank God for that.
Her wish had been heard.
They all boarded the ship and set sail as they waved goodbye to old man diamond-head. Hahaha, still a funny name.
"It's 7 am and we'll arrive at our destination at 11 am" one of the monkeys started. Shay's eyes widen, she wasn't sure if she ever had been up this early. She was tired, yes, but she wanted to see this knock-up stream and all its surprises kept her up.
Dark clouds appeared in the distance and the monkeys started panicking that the knock-up stream was early. Shayla smirked and faced the crew, "Are you ready" and they nodded. She moved her hands around each other, so the ship would face directly toward the dark ocean.
Shay then moved her arms from the front to the back in circular motions and the ship was moving very quickly through the now calm sea, "This is so awesome. Faster Shay" Luffy cheered. "Get into the whirlpool's current and go with the flow. Get as close as you can to the center and don't back out" Mashira informed.
Nami and Usopp were now panicking. They didn't expect them to actually go into such a dangerous thing. The two grabbed Shayla's arms, "Stop it, stop. Let's go back" the long-nosed guy panicked, "Give it up Usopp. It's too late. Someone's already riding high" the swordsman said.
"Let's get to sky island" Luffy screamed happily.
A sea creature suddenly popped out of the water but got sucked in by the whirlpool. The two cowards started complaining again, "It's a dream within a dream" Usopp tried but little did they know that it only made their captain want to go even more.
"An island from a dream within a dream. I could never pass up such a great adventure" he faced them with a huge smile.
Everyone had mixed feelings as to rather or not they would survive this. Shayla guided the ship into the whirlpool but it somehow it disappeared like with wasn't there, to begin with.
Everything was calm.
The crew started asking confusedly what was going on but Nami explained that it was just beginning. No one knew what happened or what was going to happen.
"Wait" and an evil laugh could be heard behind them, "I've come for your 100 million berries on your head. Give yourself up" a ship with three skulls as jolly roger came sailing towards them.
"What do you mean 100 million" and Shayla went over to the rail to see who it was that sounded so familiar, "So, you really didn't know. You got a 100milion berries bounty on your head and pirate hunter Zoro you got 60 million" the former crewmate she was supposed to be after grinned.
He was seriously after Luffy now. Didn't he think that he'd done enough hurt to the people she cared about?
Shayla jumped up on the rail and used her water bending to make a big wave trying to sink him, "Shayla, what are you doing here" he dared to ask, "I'm here to end your life" she said with a glare and he actually looked scared.
Shay was about to jump off the ship and over to him when she felt a quake and lost her footing, almost falling into the water if it weren't for Zoro who held her hand.
"You're okay" he sounded concerned, Shay just smiled at him, "Yeah, thanks". She couldn't go with them knowing that Teach was right there before facing them, "I'm sorry but I have to go" but an even bigger rumble came from below and was ready to shoot them up.
Shayla was still determent to go, but she felt Luffy holding on and prevented her from leaving, "You can't leave Shay, it's dangerous" he begged, "But he's right there. The man that betrayed us" depression in her eyes.
But it was too late, cause a giant stream knocked them into the sky with a very strong force.
Shay looked down and saw the bastard's ship breaking apart. She hoped he drown but she was doubtful.
Wait, did Nami say that she'd met him in Mock Town.
The town they visited yesterday while she was sleeping…
Shay wanted to scream and pull her hair out. Figuratively of course.
She scolded herself for letting her normally focused mind entertain by the idea of a Skyland. How come she was so close but didn't notice him, was she really that tired that she'd fallen it to that depth of sleep? She wanted to scream even more now and might actually pull her hair.
Well, if he were after Luffy, she'd see him again soon.
If Ace didn't get him first that is.
That thought was supposed to calm her down, yet it didn't.
The ship was riding the stream up to the sky and everyone was excited. Sanji told them that it wasn't going to be that easy because the hull was starting to become loose and if they didn't do anything soon, they would fall back down.
Shay wouldn't allow that. She laid down on the deck, maybe leaned against it would be the correct word now and to look ahead. She released a huge wind to prevent the ship from tilting over and forced it against the stream.
Coming above them was the sea king from before falling down along with other stuff, "Unfurl the sail right now" the navigator ordered, and the crew looked confused at her, "This is the ocean. Not just some column of water and the wind that is blowing us up was caused by the expulsion of geothermal heat and stream. If we got wind and ocean, it can be navigated. Who is this ship's navigator" she asked in confidence.
Shayla smirked at the idea, 'Nami really is amazing'.
"Do what Nami-san say," Sanji ordered, "Someone take the rudder so we can catch the wind from starboard. Bring the hull in line with the current" Nami ordered before looking at Shayla, "You can let go now, Shay."
"Alright, only if you're sure" she smiled, "I am" the girl replied. Hell-Bender stopped her wind and decided to trust her cause everyone else did too.
"We are falling, Nami, do something Nami" the captain panicked. The orange-haired girl looked up without hesitation, "No, we'll make it".
The ship leaned back a little but soon it was caught by a strong wind and they were literally flying.
The pirates all had mixed feeling about this but most were enjoying themselves, "Oi, Nami. Are we going to make it to sky island" the captain asked, "If it really exists, it's just beyond that cloud" she pointed up.
Shayla was so glad to be here. It was this kind of adventure she hadn't really experience before and she was about to see a whole new world. Sky island was definitely real.
She was sure of it.