Twelve Red Lines

by Vikingr

I expected to die when I went into the water. Instead, I was rescued by a crew of people who I knew only as characters in a story. But what does it take to become worthy of being a Straw Hat? And why are so many little details not matching up to what I know?

31. Hyperbole

Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally

Snowgirl7589: I think it turned out as much for the best as it really could, don't you?

Gamelover41592: Thank you very much! ^_^

Krazyfanfiction1: Thanks! I'll do my best!

Demonata1-04: Dammit Jones indeed... But it all turned out okay, eh?

sdkop21: Thanks!

ScarletCatnip: Oooh... Sorry about that. Thanks. And yeah, I figured Teach would probably have Conqueror's even if at this point it'd be untrained due to him hiding from Whitebeard. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he does in canon, but I'd bet the answer is yes.

Keiolsha: Don't do anything reckless? I make no promises. XD After all, if Jones never did anything reckless, we'd lose a lot of fun moments.

Lightsbane1905: Shit went down indeed. And yes, I've made up a bit of a backstory and legend for the Force-Force Fruit that'll be coming out eventually. After all... It was pointed out to me (rightly) that a Fruit whose schtick is literally "power over physics" would've had at least one or two previous users who figured out its potential through sheer luck and experimentation, even if most users never got past the "human Impact Dial" stage.

The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you very much! And yes, I found killing Teach that way to be very cathartic.

LittleAngel2292: One of your questions is about to be answered. The other... May take a while.

ZF IAnswerToNoOne: Thank you very much! And nope— no worming out of it. Teach is dead, dead, DEAD! *waves a cheery goodbye to the rails*

Azurai Wolf: Sorry for keeping you up so late. And you're right— it could take a while for Sanji and Jones to get along properly again. As far as Robin and Ghin... I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

777blackfox777: Yes, he did brush it off easily, didn't he? At first appearance. But there'll be something coming of it, never fear.

GreenDrkness: You know the first sentence of your review? That was how I felt after finishing Chiaroscuro. I'd been planning that for so long. Now that it's over, it's a very strange feeling... Until I remember some of the other things I have planned! Thank you very much!

Sideshowmail: Yes, I enjoyed giving Teach's death that nice little bit of symbolism. As for you missing the previous update... I did post them close together, and FFN was having some issues with notifications for a few days. Sorry. And thank you very much!

ShinigamiMaster: Yes... After Thriller Bark, there are a lot of things that are suddenly wide open, aren't there? So much fun... But for now, to the island in the sky! Time to go full Elton John!

Lily Noir: No need to apologize for the long review. That was very well thought out. Thank you. And... No, it didn't occur to them. There are indeed issues on both sides, which neither Jones nor the rest of the crew are really sure how to fix. Hopefully what I've got here is a good start. But it'll definitely take some time. Thank you. Thank you very much.

FairyGirl960: You need wait no longer.

An Bouwer: Thank you very much! ^_^

Very brave: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

DragonBookAddict: *dances* Yes indeed! Ding, Dong, the Dark-Dark Man is Dead!

trilbybard: XD Oh, that's funny. Thanks!

LuffyLover: Sorry about the sad and the anxious... But happy is good. And I suppose, if I'm making people feel things, that means I'm doing a decent job as a writer.

RedWyrmLord: Thank you very much! ^_^ *happy dancing*

Insanity Lord: I hope so too. But it's Oda-sensei, so I'm sure Blackbeard's canon death will be ten times better than anything I could manage. I just did my best.

TheCopyUniverse: Yep, Blackbeard's dead, Cricket's here, and now, we must fly! *dramatic pose*

stephen51991: Ah, true. Aithusa would've worked well too. I suppose I picked Ruatha because Dragonriders of Pern was such a big part of my childhood. As far as a connection between Whitebeard and Jones... We'll just have to wait and see. After all, you can bet Pops will eventually want to meet this little East Blue crew that helped his boys take down Teach, eh?

DutchessBatCat: Thanks! Hopefully I continue to live up to your expectations.

drrainbowfish: Thanks! And you're welcome. I'm glad people like you can connect to Jones. I've struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, and my father is bipolar, but that doesn't mean we can't kick ass! Just that we need to do some things a little differently along the way. So... I write this story to try and help people see that. If that makes sense? Sorry... I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into words right now. I'm glad you like my story, though. Thanks!

"What in blazes happened here?"

Cricket's voice cut the air like a knife, making me flinch. Ghin groaned in my arms. But at least the diver was no longer pointing his gun at everyone. Cricket bent to retrieve his walking stick, never taking his eyes off our crew and the flattened, blackened battlefield. Although he did glance at the bound forms of Van Auger and Burgess when one of them let out an incoherent groan.

"A fight," Luffy replied simply. My captain prodded experimentally at the stitches on his chest, until Chopper trotted over and slapped his hand away.

"I can see that." Cricket looked around again before approaching, apparently deciding that we were too worn out to be much of a threat, no matter how many of us there were. "Hell, I could see it from my house! You practically blew up half the island!"

Nami shot her own calculating look around the battlefield before blinking at Cricket tiredly. "That's a bit of an exaggeration. At most, we blew up a twentieth of the island."

That didn't seem to make the old diver feel any better. "And who in blazes were you fighting that did so much damage? Whitebeard?"

"No. A shitty mutineer from his crew." Sanji lit a cigarette with shaking hands. "Although we did have a few of his less shitty commanders helping us. They're gone now, though."

Cricket's jaw dropped to the ground, his eyes bulging slightly. I shuddered at the sight. That looked… weird, in person. "You-? What-? Who-? How-? Why-? And you didn't run?"

"A true swordsman never runs from a fight," Zoro growled. Toma nodded dazedly, leaning on his shoulder.

Luffy's hat shadowed his eyes. "If we hadn't fought Blackbeard, he woulda killed Ace."

"Ace?" Cricket's jaw snapped back up to where it should be. "You mean… Fire Fist Ace? Whitebeard's second division commander?"

"Yeah. He's my big brother. So we couldn't let Blackbeard get away…" Luffy sighed. "Look, Chestnut-Head, I don't wanna be rude, but we're all tired, sore, and Chopper's gotta get a better look at Ghin's arm to make sure it's not gonna get int- inv- make him sick or anything. Now's not a good time to talk."

I flinched at the mention of Ghin's arm. My fault. If I'd remembered to take off my weights before the fight… If I'd planned things better… My big brother groaned again. His skin looked waxy.

Nodding his understanding, Cricket winced as he looked our crew over yet again. "You kids're certainly in pretty rough shape. Only to be expected after fighting one of Whitebeard's boys." He whistled and shook his head. "Shit… You fought one of Whitebeard's boys and survived. You won. Even if it was a mutineer and you had a couple of his boys helping you, that's damn impressive for a bunch of kids."

The blond diver's face softened, the chestnut-shaped growth on his head bobbing gently. "Do you kids need help? I'm not much of a doctor, but you can come to my place, get warmed up and dried off…"

Our ship's just down there. Drifter huffed and waved a sign in the direction of the Going Merry. He didn't say anything else, though, looking to Luffy and Chopper as he preened Geier with one paw.

Chopper's ears flicked back and forth. "Everything I need to do anything more for Ghin's arm is on the Merry."

Nodding, Luffy looked up at Cricket with a small smile. "Thanks, Chestnut-Head, but no thanks."

"If you don't mind, though," Nami added, "Could you tell us how long it takes a log pose to reset here?"

"Well, that depends where you wanna go," Cricket said thoughtfully. "There's a couple of paths from here. Banaro Island is the quickest reset- only two days- but it's a long journey at sea. There's also Kyuka Island if you're willing to wait a week, and Foolshout Island after two weeks. Or, if you're not in a rush and don't mind backtracking a bit, you'll get the heading for Papanapple Island in about a month."

We were all on our way down to the Going Merry now, with Cricket following us as he carried on the conversation. Usopp squawked and tripped as we walked, catching himself just before he rolled down the slope.

"I thought we were going to the sky island next!"

"We are," Luffy confirmed.

Nami growled at the pair of them, looking like she wanted to hit them over the head. She decided against it, though, her knuckles going white as she gripped her Clima-Tact. "And how do you propose we get there? The Going Merry can't fly!"

If Cricket had been drinking anything at the time, he would've spat it out. "Island. In. The. Sky? I think that Blackbeard boy maybe hit you kids a bit too hard."

"Obviously," Chopper muttered, tugging at the hem of his jersey. We were at the Merry now; the little reindeer shifted to Walk Point to better jump to the deck, before changing to Brain Point. "Alright, Jones, bring him to me."

"Eh?" I'd been falling into a bit of a daze. Shaking my head, I jumped, using my powers to prevent too much of the force from jostling Ghin. Slightly lessening the force of gravity as I rose allowed me to jump as high as- or even higher than- I would've managed had I not been carrying my unconscious brother. Also made the landing nice and light.

For all I used Newton's name in some of my techniques, I think my Fruit would've given the poor man a conniption.

I followed Chopper to the galley as the rest of our crew climbed or jumped aboard. With Cricket still behind us… What did the old man want, exactly? Was he that fascinated by a bunch of kids managing to take down a deserter from Whitebeard's crew? We had help…

Once Ghin was on the table, Chopper began his examination. I, meanwhile, curled up into a ball in the corner. My muddled daze returned; I could hear and see what was going on around me, but a lot of it didn't register or make sense until later.

Zoro was apparently as confused as I about Cricket's continued presence. Sitting Toma on a bench and propping the boy up against a wall, our bosun shot the diver a flat look. "We've answered your question, Old Man. You can go now."

"I. You. But. No, you have not." Cricket shook his head violently. The diver leaned on his walking stick, swaying slightly. He looked like he was ill, or in pain… Probably recovering from a too-deep dive. "All you did is leave me with more questions! Like, who are you kids, that you're connected to the Whitebeard Pirates? That you were able to beat one of them, even with help? Why do you think there's an island in the sky? How in blazes do you intend to get there if there is?"

Luffy frowned. "I already said- Ace is my big brother. This Blackbeard guy was gonna kill him if we didn't do anything, so we kicked his ass. Ace'n them came to help cause Blackbeard already tried to kill a guy named Thatchy, so they wanted to kick his ass too."

"As for who we are," Usopp put in, striking a pose. Although his shaking legs betrayed a certain level of stress and fear. "We're the Straw Hat Pirates! One of the greatest crews to ever sail the seas! My name is- erk!"

Can it. Drifter jabbed our gunner in the side with a sign. Coping mechanism or not, now's not the time.

"Sorry…" Deflating, Usopp sat on a bench and began going through his ammo stash, checking if he'd run out of anything. Geier hopped over and perched on his shoulder, running her beak through the gunner's hair.

Nami picked Drifter up and began petting him. The otter began purring involuntarily. "Don't be too hard on him; it's been a rough day for everybody. And we are the Straw Hat Pirates."

Cricket snorted. "That, I could guess from your flag." Sighing, the diver reached up with one hand to rub the chestnut on his head. "Look… You kids're in bad shape, and I'm a curious old treasure hunter who wants answers. Why don't you come by my place; I'll make you something to eat, and you can explain what's going on with the island in the sky and everything."

"Properly," he added, when Johnny and Yosaku's response to the phrase island in the sky was to point at Nami's log pose, the needle of which was nearly vertical.

Luffy perked up slightly at the mention of something to eat. "Food is good. Eating'll help people heal faster, right? So we should do that."

"Not exactly how that works," Chopper grumbled. He had unwrapped Ghin's arm at this point, and was now busily examining burned, hastily stitched flesh with a magnifying glass. "But it won't hurt."

Sanji, however, was still in a foul mood. Lightning a cigarette, the cook stared flatly at Cricket. "Are you saying I can't feed my crew?"

"Not at all." Cricket shook his head. "Just that you could use a break, and I'm willing to help. Call it nostalgia… I used to be a pirate, and you kids remind me a bit of myself. Not always a good thing, but I'm sure it makes for some interesting stories."

That seemed to calm Sanji slightly. Or maybe it was his cigarette that did that. And Luffy… In hindsight, it was frighteningly easy to see the gears turning in Luffy's head. Pirate + Food + Stories…

"Okay! Lead the way, Chestnut Head!"

"It's Cricket," the diver grumbled, "Montblanc Cricket." Whatever irritation he had, though, didn't stop him from heading to the bow to spot for us and give directions.

The Going Merry moved slowly, without Ghin in the rigging. Or maybe she was just trying not to rock too much and disturb Chopper's work. Either way, it took nearly an hour to sail around the island to Cricket's house. Sanji gripped the whipstaff with white-knuckled hands the whole way.

Me? I stayed with Chopper, Ghin, and Toma. Occasionally I handed the doctor something from his kit if he asked for it, but for the most part, all I could do was go over ways that things might've gone better. If I'd remembered to take my weights off… If I'd blindfolded people during practice to simulate the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to produce darkness, instead of worrying so much about the gravity effect. If I'd insisted on more Haki training- although we still may not have had time for anyone to unlock it. If I'd used a different poison, maybe one that hampered the nervous system more… But cyanide was the easiest thing for me to get my hands on.

"Clean wound…" Chopper mumbled. "No bone fragmentation in the stump to worry about. Even the nerves seem pretty intact, aside from being sliced in half. If it'd happened closer to the end of the fight, or if the mines hadn't gone off, I might've been able to save the arm and try to reattach it. Not sure I could've done it alone, though… It's complicated surgery, but I could've tried."

And now I felt even worse. The mines had been my idea too. Curled into a ball, I glanced up at Chopper between my knees. My voice came out quiet and cracking. "Would… If I knew where to get a cyborg prosthetic, and Ghin was willing to use one, would it work?"

"Eh?" Chopper's ears flicked back and forth. "A cyborg pros-? You mean a robot arm? People can actually make those? Cool." Snuffling at Ghin's wound, the little doctor nodded. "Yes… Yes, as long as no infections rise that could damage what's left of the nerves and muscles, that should be a viable option."

Rebinding Ghin's stump as Zoro dropped the anchor, Chopper sighed. "Unfortunately, until then, there's not much I can do except monitor for infection. I've cleaned and sewn up what I can, and hopefully the dressing will protect it. What I'm more worried about is how he'll adjust in the meantime."

Sighing again, Chopper rested one hoof on Ghin's forehead. "I'm a medical doctor, not a psychological one. Physical injuries, I can deal with. But being a pirate with one arm, while doable, is hard. I don't know how he'll manage emotionally."

Neither did I… Nor did I know how to help when the time came. But I'd have to try. It was my fault Ghin got hurt… Stifling a whine in the back of my throat, I curled into a tighter ball.

Part of me insisted that everyone would be better off if I'd never come here. But… If I wasn't around, Blackbeard would be, and Ace would die. So that wasn't true… Right?

"Should we stay here?" Toma wondered as the rest of our crew disembarked with Cricket. His voice sounded funny, slurred and singsong.

Thinking for a minute, Chopper shook his head and blew air out his nose, making an almost whistle-like sound. "No… No, as long as we keep his arm elevated, the fresh air and sunlight will do Ghin good. And I need better light… Need to have a look at your eyes."

"What for?" Toma tilted his head to the side- then immediately winced in pain and straightened it up.

"To check if you have a concussion."

Shifting to Heavy Point, Chopper helped Toma to shore, once more leaving me to carry Ghin. As with boarding, I manipulated gravity as I disembarked in order to minimize the amount of jostling my big brother received.

Our entire crew was outside- Cricket's house was too small for a pirate gathering indoors. The diver quickly went in and brought out a table and chairs, so people would have somewhere to sit where dirt wouldn't get in their wounds.

A quiet groan met my ears as I tried to decide the best place to set Ghin down. "S'alright. I can walk. Lost an arm, not a leg."

I went stiff at the sound of Ghin's voice, not having expected him to regain consciousness so soon. Thankfully, my reflex was to hold tighter, rather than drop him. My brother winced at my grip.

"Getting stronger… Not like Baratie anymore, eh?"

Squeaking, wordless, I rushed Ghin to one of Cricket's Adirondack chairs. Once he was settled in- well supported in case he lost consciousness again- I backed away and knelt in seiza. I bowed low, my hands forming a triangle in the dirt to which I pressed my forehead. My voice took a moment to find, and when I did, it was shaky and broken.

"I'm sorry… So, so sorry…"

"Get up." I could hear the wince of pain in Ghin's voice. "Told you already, it could've still happened if we did things differently."

That… Didn't make it okay. My fault that he got hurt; my fault. Bad Jones. I did as Ghin said, though, not wanting to upset him. Rising partially, I skidded over to sit on the ground beside his chair, in case he needed help with anything. A lot of our crew mates shot me strange looks for that, but no one said anything.

Nearby, Chopper clucked as he looked at Toma's eyes. "Yep. Concussion. No sleeping tonight; I need to monitor you for the next twenty-four hours to make sure your brain doesn't start bleeding excessively. And no training or anything for at least a week! Preferably longer!" Here, Chopper shot a pointed glare at Zoro. The bosun, for his part, looked mildly offended that anyone would imply he might do something that might harm his new apprentice's brain.

Delicious smells soon filled the air- Cricket cooking something that smelled like chicken on a charcoal grill. Sanji stayed near the diver, keeping an eye on things and occasionally muttering about how he wished the Merry had room for more equipment, like a grill and full-sized fryer.

"So," Cricket hummed as he marinated the poultry with an unknown sauce that smelled pleasantly spicy. "Putting aside for now that fight that destroyed half-"

Nami frowned. The old diver rolled his eyes. "Fine, a twentieth of the island… You kids said you were headed for a sky island? What makes you think there's something up there? And don't just point at your log pose again."

Johnny and Yosaku wilted; Nami immediately leapt to their defense. "But the log is pointing at something up there, so there has to be something. Although I don't think we can get to it…"

"Log poses can be mistaken," Cricket said. Although I'm not sure if he meant it… There was something off about his voice, as if he was testing us.

"Jones said there was something up there," Lisa pointed out. "I know she's not supposed to say what's coming, but if she said something like that, doesn't that make it true?"

Luffy, Sanji, and Cricket all tensed at those words. But while the captain and cook said nothing, the old diver responded with a tense, shaking voice. "You know you can't believe everything people say, right? Just look at the tale of Liar Noland."

Sanji frowned, biting down on his cigarette. "What's an old fairy tale got to do with us? Sure, Jones's a manipulative shithead, but she wouldn't lie about something like this. Although I have my doubts about whether we should follow her shitty stories anymore."

Luffy placed a hand on the cook's shoulder. "It's gonna be alright. Me'n Jones're gonna talk, figure this out." The rubber boy tugged at his hat with his free hand.

Sanji didn't appear to be paying attention to him, though. Instead, the cook's eye was focused on the chestnut-shaped growth on Cricket's head. "Wait a second… You said your name was Montblanc Cricket? Ain't that a Lvneel name?"

"Indeed." For the first time since we'd met him, it looked like Cricket might smile. "I'm rel- eh?!"

"EEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by twin screams from the beach, coming from a pair of large ships that had dropped anchor on either side of the Going Merry. One of those voices was loud enough to shake the bay. The sound of them attracted Ruatha's attention; my baby raised his head with an inquiring chirp, face morphing into a toothy grin as two large, monkey-like men ran up from the shore, brandishing muskets.

"DON'T WORRY CRICKET, WE'LL SA- EH?!"

Masira and Shoujou stormed up towards Cricket's house, only to come to a screeching halt when they saw my crewmates gathered all around. There was a large bruise on Masira's face; Shoujou dropped his gun and clapped his hands over his ears, staring at Ruatha. Cricket looked at the monkey brothers with one eyebrow raised.

"There you are, boys. You're late; I was starting to worry. What happened to Masira's face?"

"He did!" The younger monkey brother pointed at Luffy, hiding behind his brother and staring up at the sky as if he expected to be attacked by a giant bird.

Cricket looked askance at Luffy; my captain shrugged. "He'n his guys shot at us and tried to take stuff we found. So I punched him."

That made Cricket roll his eyes. "Masira… What've I told you about salvaging?"

The monkey man looked sheepish. "That it's finder's keeper's… Possession is nine-tenths of the law…"

"Right." Cricket nodded. "And does the definition of find include waylaying random pirate ships because they got to a promising bit of salvage before you?"

"No…" Masira scuffed at the dirt with one foot. "But… But what if they'd found proof? I was just trying to help with your dream!"

Cricket sighed fondly. "And I appreciate it. But that doesn't mean you can steal from others, pirates or not. However long it takes, I'll find answers the right way." Then the old diver looked at Shoujou. "And you, Shoujou? Why do you look like you just woke up in bed with Shiki the Lion?"

"Dragon…" Shoujou muttered, still not removing his hands from his ears. "Screams…"

Ruatha looked quite pleased with himself, grinning smugly as his tail swished back and forth. I didn't have the energy to try and chastise him, especially when I wasn't sure what had happened in the first place.

The monkey brothers stood where they were, frozen. I don't think they were even blinking. It took several minutes for Masira to speak up again in a trembling voice. "Er… Cricket? Why're they here? And where're the others?"

"These kids just got through the fight of their life with a deserter from Old Man Whitebeard's crew, apparently." Cricket shrugged and flipped the meat he was cooking. "I offered to help them out a bit while they settle down and figure out what they're doing next." Then he frowned. "What others?"

"Marco the Phoenix, Cat-Eye Haruta, and Namur the Maelstrom," Masira squeaked. Shoujou nodded.

"And some blond guy in a top hat."

Cricket's jaw dropped, his eyes bulging out. "Marco the-? No wonder you kids survived! With him at your back… You're an interesting bunch, definitely."

Luffy smiled. "Thanks! And Pineapple, Huggy, and Namur went back to Pops with Ace, to tell him we dealt with Blackbeard. Sabo couldn't stick around either… His teddy bear came to pick him up."

Both monkey brothers and Cricket were now staring at my captain in amazed confusion. Shoujou finally dropped his hands from his ears as he whispered to Masira- if something that loud can be called a whisper.

"These guys make less and less sense the more they talk and I'm terrified."

"Same," Masira gulped. "All I got out of that's that they're somehow related to Whitebeard and someone has a sentient plushie."

Geier fluffed up her feathers and croaked at the brothers; she was accompanied by Drifter holding up a sign. Just sit down, Hosers. We're not gonna eat you.

Neither Shoujou nor Masira looked confident in that as they lowered themselves to sit on a couple of stones, well away from the main body of our crew. Cricket, meanwhile, had successfully picked his jaw back up and returned to his grill.

I guess his pirate past gave him more experience with crazy things than the brothers had. He was a veteran of Roger's time, albeit one of the younger ones.

For a few minutes, the only sounds were those of the grill- sizzling, crackling, and Cricket humming as he cooked. Robin pulled a book out of her pocket and started reading; Johnny and Yosaku fell asleep, leaning on each other to stay upright. Lisa sat down beside Toma and Chopper, petting the doctor as he measured ingredients for a tea that would help people heal faster. Grunting, Zoro moved off to one side and began performing kata.

Ruatha decided that the best use of his time was guarding me and Ghin. My baby marched around us in circles, hissing and snapping at every insect that came our way.

The slightly awkward quiet didn't last long, though. Loud voices echoed from the road, followed by multiple footsteps. Someone was approaching from Mock Town, and they didn't care who knew they were coming. While I couldn't hear individual words, I could pick out a number of voices, both male and female. Familiar voices, too…

Bellamy soon came into view. Sarquiss was on his right, white coat flaring dramatically. Or fluffily- the fur looked so soft. Behind them were the women who'd pulled me from the water, as well as the rest of Bellamy's crew. Couldn't remember any of their names; didn't get enough screen time.

"Hey Old Man!" Bellamy roared, apparently somehow failing to notice that Cricket's house was surrounded by Straw Hat Pirates. "We're here for the gold!"

Cricket turned away from the grill- which Sanji immediately took over- and glared at Bellamy with folded arms. "I've told you assholes before- I'm not giving the gold away. Any of it. I need it for my research."

"And I've told you before," Bellamy got right up in Cricket's face, "No ain't an answer I'm taking. 'Sides… Your research ain't ever gonna amount to anything. Cities can't just sink into the sea!"

Cricket pushed Bellamy out of his personal space, a clear expression of disgust o his face at the Hyena's breath. "I've proof that something used to be there; I just don't know what happened to it, yet. Now go away."

Bellamy snarled. "No."

Sighing, Cricket assumed a very unusual fighting position. It had a bunch of obvious openings… Although it looked like it was pretty good for bonking people on the nose. "Last chance, brat. Leave."

"Not without the gold." Bellamy snapped one springy fist forward. "And I'll take it by force if I have to!"

SMACK!

Flesh met flesh as Bellamy's hand slammed into- Luffy's palm? My captain looked livid, even as he winced in pain from the movement pulling at his stitches.

"Hey, Stitch Head! The old guy said to go away, so back off!"

One of Bellamy's eyes twitched; he grinned widely, showing far too many teeth. "Watch what you're saying, kid. I'm Bellamy the Hyena, wanted for 55,000,000 beri. Some no-name brat like you couldn't possibly match up."

Behind him, Bellamy's crew was laughing. Sarquiss had taken out his kukri and was flipping it back and forth; this caught Zoro's attention. The bosun paused in his kata to stare at Bellamy's first mate.

"And who're you?"

"Big Knife Sarquiss," the white-haired man said lazily, "Worth 38,000,000 beri. Which," here he sniffed, "is probably more than you've ever seen in your life, sword-brat."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Sarquiss' weapon. "Big Knife, huh? I'm not seeing it. That's not a knife."

"Why you-!" Face turning red, Sarquiss raised his blade and charged at Zoro. His movement was followed by an immediate blur of green.

"Ittoryu: Shishi Sonson!" SHING! CHK! FWISH!

Steel flashed against the sky as half of Sarquiss' blade spun up into the air, landing point-first in the dirt with an audible thud as its wielder froze, still holding the handle. Sarquiss' eyes went wide; his skin paled from red to chalk white with a hint of blue.

Zoro held the tanto from Asuka Island in one hand, drawn and sheathed so fast I'd barely been able to follow. "That's a knife."

"Meep!" Sarquiss fell back on his ass. Behind him, the various mooks with no memorable name pales and mumbled incoherently.

Rather than scared, however, Bellamy appeared to become enraged. His face turned red; veins swelled up in his forehead so his increasing blood pressure didn't burst a vessel. "You kids need to learn some manners!"

He pulled back his fist to swing a springy punch at Zoro; this time, Luffy grabbed his arm before it could extend at all. My captain's fist soared up to slam into Bellamy's jaw, sending the Hyena tumbling backwards ass over teakettle.

"OI! LEAVE MY CREW ALONE! AND THE OLD GUY SAID GO AWAY, SO MAKE LIKE A TREE AND GET OUTTA HERE!"

Johnny and Yosaku snickered as Bellamy rolled across the ground. The Hyena came to a halt against a tree, upside down, his irises morphed into spinning spirals. A quiet groan was his only reply to Luffy's words.

One of the women who'd pulled me out of the sea earlier looked like she wanted to say something. A glare from Luffy stopped her. She and the rest of the crew turned on their heels, picking up Bellamy and Sarquiss insensate forms and scurrying out of view like someone lit their butts on fire.

"They were annoying," Luffy groaned. Turning to look at Cricket, my captain smiled. "Sorry about that. They're gone now, though."

"Ah… Thanks," was Cricket's hesitant, somewhat mystified response. "But… Why?"

"That gold and research and stuff…" Luffy asked, "That's related to your dream, right? The one the monkey man mentioned."

Masira blushed and squirmed at being called a monkey. Cricket nodded, prompting Luffy to smile wider. "Ne, then I can't let some asshole get in the way of your dream. You're my friend!"

"Friend?" Cricket chuckled. "I'm grateful, but… You barely know me."

"So what?" Shrugging, Luffy picked his nose. "I know enough to know you're a good guy. And you're making us food; that means we're friends."

"That's not how that works," Shoujou said, still eying Ruatha like he expected my baby to eat him. Luffy shot him a look of confusion.

"Why not? That's how we got Sanji."

Shoujou and Masira didn't know what to make of that. Cricket, meanwhile, burst out laughing. "Oh, you kids are interesting alright. Fine; if that's how things are, then I guess we're friends."

"Yay!" Luffy bounced off to do a happy dance while waiting for dinner to finish cooking. He wasn't dancing for long, though; when he passed Chopper, the little doctor shoved him into a chair with a growl.

"Calm down! You'll tear your stitches!"

"Mmmm…" A glance over at Robin showed she was no longer immersed in her book. Instead, she was staring at Cricket over the bindings, her eyes calculating. "Gospodin Cricket… You're doing research involving gold… There was mention of a missing city… And as Gospodin Cook seems to have noticed, you share the same surname as the fairy tale character you yourself mentioned, who was killed for lying about a city of gold. This dream… You're not trying to prove your ancestor's innocence by finding that missing city, are you?"

For a moment, Cricket froze. Then, abruptly, he spun on his heel and headed into his house. He returned a few minutes later with a stack of plates and cutlery, busying himself with setting the table. As he did so, the old diver sighed.

"Not… Not exactly." Cricket shook his head. "I don't care one way or another; whether it exists or not, it's all the same to me. But I would like to know."

Cricket set a golden statue of a southbird in the middle of the table with a heavy thunk. Everyone was immediately drawn to it; Nami's eyes turned into beri symbols before she caught herself. As did Ruatha's… Oh dear. On top of everything, my baby was starting to develop hoarding instincts.

"I've found a number of artifacts like this," Cricket said, gesturing at the bird, "All in the sea around here. Jaya was the island my ancestor mentioned in all his journals; I could hardly believe it when I found out the island was real, whether or not the city was. So I stopped here… Been looking for answers ever since."

"How long was that?" Usopp wondered. Cricket rubbed his chin.

"Hmmm… About ten years or so, now."

Usopp whistled; he was echoed by Johnny and Yosaku. "That's a long time."

"I suppose it is…" Shaking his head, Cricket smiled wryly. "A lot of experience chasing an impossible dream… But I won't be able to rest until I know the truth."

His smile broadened. "That's why… if you kids wanna look for an island in the sky, I say go for it. There's a big waterspout just south of Jaya that might take you- the Knock-Up Stream. You've got a pretty limited timeframe, though- it'll fire late tonight, but it'll be months before it goes again. And I'm betting you kids don't wanna wait that long, even if it looks like you could use the break."

Luffy shook his head, fidgeting. Chopper's warning gaze kept him from outright bouncing, though. "Nope! I wanna go on an adventure."

Nodding, Cricket's expression grew more thoughtful. "Then me and my boys'll have to help you get that little ship of yours ready. Won't do you any good if she breaks apart when she hits the spout or something."

Masira and Shoujou squeaked, not entirely comfortable with this turn of events. I wondered exactly what had happened between them and my crewmates while I was gone- Luffy's explanation hadn't been very detailed. I'd have to ask later.

Nami had reservations as well. The sailing master frowned as everyone sat down to eat, giving her log pose a meaningful tap. "That's great and all- and I don't mean to belittle your offer- but… This is the Grand Line. How are we supposed to find south? Unless this Knock-Up Stream has its own magnetic field?"

"Nope!" Cricket's answer was almost cheerful as he bit into his dinner. He tapped the golden southbird with his fork while he chewed. "You need one of these; it'll point the way."

Rubber hands prepared to sneak across the table, raiding everyone's plates as they were so often wont to do aboard the Going Merry. A solid whack across the knuckles from Chopper's hockey stick prevented Luffy's usual tomfoolery, though. The doctor growled at the captain's flabbergasted look.

"Not now, Luffy. No one has the energy."

"Oh… Sorry…" Luffy dug into his own plate. He still ate like an animal, although he did keep it to himself. "This's really good, Chestnut Head!"

"Heheh… Thanks. And it's Cricket."

Nami frowned at the statue sitting in the middle of the table. "I don't get it. How will a statue help? Gold doesn't have any magnetic properties."

"Not the statue," Cricket clarified. "What it depicts. It's a southbird; they live in the jungle around here. Always face south, no matter what you do to 'em or where you put 'em. Catch one of these, and you'll be able to find the Knock-Up Stream no problem. They're nasty little buggers, though."

"Okay then." Nami perked up. "After dinner, we'll all go out and track down a southbird."

"Of course, Nami dear!" Sanji's eyes turned to hearts for a brief moment before he reined himself in. I glanced up at the pair of them from where I sat next to Ghin.

"There's insects the size of horses in that jungle…"

Both Nami and Sanji paled; the cook even looked a bit ill. Pushing her food around her plate with her fork, Nami couldn't meet anyone's eyes as she modified her last statement. "Like I said, after dinner, Luffy and Usopp will go out and track down a southbird."

Luffy pouted, swallowing a piece of chicken nearly as large as his head whole. "Aww… That sounds fun. But I can't; me'n Jones have some stuff to figure out."

I flinched at that, sinking lower in my seat. Ruatha crooned as he climbed up onto my shoulders resting his head on top of my hat. I reached up to pet my baby. His weight on my back was a comfort, but it couldn't drown out the growing nausea in the pit of my stomach. I was barely able to touch my food, a fact Ruatha took gleeful advantage of.

Usopp rolled his eyes. "I'm fine going alone. Bugs don't scare me, and I barely got hurt in the fight at all." The gunner hid a wince as he spoke. He may not have received any direct attacks, but his arms were still peppered with their fair share of burns.

"You needn't go alone," Robin offered quietly. "I am also largely uninjured; I would be pleased to accompany you."

Everyone stared at her. In the short time she'd been with us, Robin had never volunteered for something like that. The archaeologist looked away, self-conscious. "Gospodin Cricket's tale interests me. Accompanying Gospodin Sniper into the jungle would give me the opportunity to search for signs of civilizations that may have been lost in the last few centuries. And unlike some, I do not fear any insects."

"Wha-? Um, er," Usopp stammered for a minute. "That's great! We'll be the best bird trackers ever! So don't worry everyone; you can count on us!"

The gunner spent the next few minutes scarfing his meal like Luffy was trying to steal it, a huge smile on his face. Okay, apparently Usopp was looking forward to going bird hunting. Which… I would've been too, had my captain not already claimed me for whatever period of time was to follow. The sinking nausea in my stomach was growing almost painful.

Unlike Usopp, Robin finished her dinner at a normal human pace. This led to the gunner bouncing at her side as he waited; when the archaeologist finally rose, Usopp reached out and grabbed her hand, about to pull her along with him towards the jungle. Robin pulled back quickly.

"Please don't."

"Oh, okay. Sorry…" Even without holding Robin's hand, Usopp's excited skipping forced her to walk quickly to keep up with him as he headed for the trees.

By that point, I'd long since given up trying- or even pretending- to eat, leading to Ruatha stealing everything on my plate. I couldn't look at anyone, couldn't speak. Slowly, silence fell as one by one, everyone finished eating. The final clink of Luffy's fork on his plate made my heart leap into my mouth.

"Jones," my captain said evenly, "We need to talk about some stuff. D'you wanna do it here, or do you wanna go somewhere where it's just us two?"

"Here…" My voice came out as a worried squeak, spikes of cold running down my spine. Admittedly, my choice of location had less to do with being comfortable talking around the rest of the crew and more with the fact that I wasn't sure I could walk very far… I felt like I might faint.

I'd screwed up. Big time.

-V-

"Jyoooooooooooh!"

Usopp jumped at the noise that sounded as he examined a large beetle. Looking around frantically, the gunner could see nothing that might've made the eerie call. His knees shook a little as his stomach made itself at home in his feet. Bugs may not bother him at all, but there were plenty of other things in the jungle. Things he'd forgotten about in his eagerness to explore.

"Robin?" Try as he might, Usopp couldn't completely hide the way his voice shook.

The archaeologist appeared from behind a nearby boulder, a knife held in one hand. There was something green on it, as if she'd been using the blade to scrape moss off the stone. "Is something wrong, Gospodin Sniper?"

"No! Nothing!" Usopp winced as his voice gave an embarrassing squeak. "Just making sure you were alright! I can't protect you if I don't know where you are, after all."

Robin smirked in amusement, which only served to increase Usopp's discomfort. He fidgeted in place under her gaze, rubbing his nose and praying she didn't catch him in his lie. Although it looked like she already had…

"I see. Rest assured, Gospodin Sniper, I can defend myself long enough for you to get to me, should I come under attack." Robin chuckled lightly. "Unless, of course, some beast were to catch me by surprise and swallow me whole."

A spike of cold ran up Usopp's spine; he gulped. "Do- do you think there's anything here big enough to do that?"

Deep blue eyes scanned the tall trees and dense undergrowth. "Possible… I couldn't say for sure. Gospozha Witch did say there were insects the size of horses, though, so it wouldn't surprise me."

Usopp didn't find that reassuring in the slightest. Jumping as a branch cracked somewhere overhead, the gunner abandoned the beetle he'd been examining in favour of looking for the bird that was supposed to be their primary objective. Robin, on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy to keep scraping moss off various rocks. She was even humming a creepy- yet oddly soothing- tune as she did so.

The creepy very quickly overcame the soothing as the slightly jarring, high-pitched notes jangled in Usopp's brain. It was a tune that could drive people mad. Turning to ask Robin to maybe switch to something else, the gunner opened his mouth-

-And instead let out a loud yelp of surprise as something grabbed him from behind and hoisted him into the air.

"IIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Something hard and sharp was digging into his back- although thankfully, it had latched onto more cloth than skin. Usopp twisted in the thing's hold as Robin came bolting around her rocks. Long, wiry antennae flicked over the gunner's face as he managed to turn just enough to see what had grabbed him. A flattened, eyeless head, sharp forcipules that held him tight- although thankfully they hadn't managed to dig into his skin enough to deposit their load of paralyzing venom- and hundreds of clawed, jointed legs that skittered and clicked…

It was a long way to the ground from the centipede's hold.

Robin, for her part, froze as soon as she came into full view of the giant arthropod. Her amused smirk was still pulling at the corners of her mouth, even as she appeared stunned.

"My apologies, Gospodin Sniper. It would seem that Gospozha Witch meant that the insects were as big as houses, not horses."

"Gah! Not funny!" Squirming and flailing in the hopes that it would get the centipede to drop him, Usopp managed to retrieve his slingshot and a few rounds of ammo from his duffel bag. "Usopp Rubber Band of Doom! Triple Exploding Star!"

Rubber snapped and pinged, bouncing off the centipede's head. The arthropod, having no real eyes, was unaffected. It did, however, notice the three gunpowder-filled rounds that exploded between its antennae a second later. Dropping Usopp, the centipede reared back even higher as it flailed in pain.

"KR-KRRICK!"

Usopp landed in a roll. Segmented legs skittered around him as the centipede came back down, its antennae sweeping back and forth as it searched for its escaped prey. The massive body nearly crushed Usopp as he scrambled to his feet, darting away from those clawed legs so quickly he nearly set himself rolling again.

"Once Fleur Slam!"

Eleven hands sprang up under the centipede's head as it tried to chase after Usopp, knocking it back again. Robin dispelled them almost immediately as the arthropod changed tactics to go after the immobile limbs. There was an echoing crash as the centipede slammed mandibles first into the ground. Skittering with anger, it panned around with its antennae and lunged at Usopp once more.

"Ah! Blasting Cactus Star! Crackling Star!"

"Seis Fleur Slap!"

Jumping out of the way, Usopp let fly. A steel ball that exploded into myriad needles made contact with the centipede's underside as six hands slammed into one of its body segments. Chitin cracked; tiny pieces of steel were left embedded in the joints between body and legs. A follow up bullet of mesh and glass sent an electrical charge surging through the giant arthropod, making it stiffen and curl as Robin's hands vanished once more.

A strong, smoky smell filled the air.

The centipede lunged again, although noticeably slow and uncertain. Its legs twitched oddly; not all of them were fully under its control anymore. Usopp ducked as the forcipules tried to grab his head, groping for more ammo. Just above him, the centipede grabbed a tree, pinching into the wood so hard that the trunk split in half. Splinters showered down on the Straw Hat gunner's head.

His shaking hands couldn't find any more ammunition, though. Usopp's supplies had been too depleted by the fight with Blackbeard; he hadn't had enough time to make more yet. So he was forced to drop his slingshot and take hold of a similarly sized, but much heavier, wooden handle. He swung the weapon with all his might at two of the centipede's nearest legs.

"USOPP HAMMER!"

CRNCH!

Chitin smashed under the blow, leaving the gooey bits inside flat and unsupported. The centipede reared back in pain, its remaining legs flailing. Antennae waved in the air. Deciding that Usopp was more trouble than he was worth, the giant arthropod skittered away, listing noticeably to one side.

Shaking, the Straw Hat gunner retrieved his slingshot and tucked both it and his hammer back into his bag. He couldn't take his eyes off the trail of destruction left in the undergrowth by the centipede's retreat. That… Was by far the biggest bug he'd ever seen. Usopp wasn't usually afraid of bugs, but he made an exception when they were large enough to eat him alive! That centipede was the size of the Going Merry!

"Indeed," Robin observed coolly, "A magnificent specimen."

Usopp clapped his hands over his mouth. "Did I say that out loud?"

Robin's amused smirk returned. "Yes. But you needn't fear; I don't intend to tell anyone."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Usopp allowed himself to relax- only to immediately stiffen again as Robin chuckled. "Unless it would amuse me to do so."

"Grk!" Spinning to face the archaeologist fully, Usopp flailed, unable to properly put his thoughts into words. Fear and embarrassment warred in his chest, with annoyance at Jones for understating the size of the bugs in this jungle whistling in the background.

The only response Robin gave was to raise a single eyebrow. "Hmmm? But won't Gospodin Doctor need to look at your back? The centipede did manage to grab you, no?"

Sighing, Usopp deflated. It was true… Even if he tried to hide it, Chopper would smell the fresh blood on him. The story would get out eventually.

Robin chuckled again. "You needn't fear, I believe; the others won't think less of you for the way you conducted yourself. After all… Gospodin Cook and Gospozha Navigator looked positively ill at the mere mention of insects that size. They may have done more than scream when it grabbed them."

"I didn't scream!" Usopp replied indignantly, "I yelped! It was a very manly yelp!"

"Whatever you say." Robin looked like she was considering patting him on the head, but decided against it at the last minute. Usopp… Wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or not. On the one hand, her doing so would've been annoying and condescending- he didn't actually want head pats. But on the other… It would've been good if Robin got comfortable enough to do that, even if it was annoying. Right?

"Jyoooooooooh!"

A second iteration of the eerie call from earlier sent shivers down the gunner's spine. Shaking his head, Usopp got back to searching for the bird. It would've been so much easier if he knew what colour it was supposed to be- he always noticed colours and movement before shapes.

"Here Birdie, Birdie, Birdie!"

Quickly wrapping a strip of cloth around his torso to bind the scrapes on his back, Usopp whistled a vague approximation of a bird call. No response. Which made sense, since he had no idea what this bird was supposed to sound like either. Sighing, the gunner rubbed his hands together and picked a nearby tree. He'd just have to search for the birds on their own level.

With a multitude of low, thick branches adorned in craggy bark, the tree didn't take long to climb. Being up there immediately put Usopp at ease. He's always liked heights. So much easier to see everything; so much harder for people to sneak up on him. Any tree was good, although it was the one outside Kaya's window that was his favourite. Always felt like home, somehow. Although the crow's nest of the Going Merry was a close second.

Robin remained on the ground. The archaeologist had a notebook out; she was sketching something with painstaking detail. A frown of concentration creased her face as she made unblinking eye contact with one of the rocks she'd scraped clean. She must've found something important.

…

There was something big approaching her slowly from behind as she sketched. Nearly silent, but its blue and white body still disturbed the undergrowth enough for the gunner's keen eyes to pick out. Usopp yelped and grabbed a vine, swinging down to land beside Robin as he groped for his hammer. "Look out! It's a-!"

"Seis Fle-!" Robin stood and spun, faster than Usopp would've expected from someone so deeply engaged in what they were doing. She froze mid motion, the name of her attack dying on her lips. A sweatdrop ran down the back of her head.

"Gospodin Sniper… It's just a snail."

"I… Yeah…" Usopp rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, putting his hammer away. "Sorry… I couldn't see what it was with all the ferns in the way."

The enormous snail paused in its movements, bewildered. Large eyes blinked at the pirates; they blinked right back. It was the largest snail Usopp had seen in his life, easily the size of a refrigerator. And totally harmless; when it eventually decided that the humans it had found posed no threat, the gastropod turned its head and began munching slowly on the glossy leaves of a nearby shrub.

A small smile crossed Robin's face- a true smile, rather than one of her amused smirks. The archaeologist reached out and patted the snail on its shiny shell. "Thank you for your concern, but I don't think it means any harm."

"Ah… No." Usopp also reached out to pat the snail. Its shell was very solid, heavy… Then again, it was a very large animal. A thought suddenly occurred; Usopp snapped his fingers.

"Hey! Jones's tryna get her snails to breed so she can make that Internet thingy she told Chopper about; think this guy'd be useful if we brought him back?"

"A snail is not a guy," Robin shot Usopp a flat look. "All snails are hermaphroditic. And I'm afraid I don't know. I'm an archaeologist, not a biologist; while I have some general zoological knowledge, I wouldn't be able to identify this snail's species, or tell you how closely it might be related to a den-den mushi."

"Oh… Sorry…" Usopp drooped. On the other side of the snail, Robin waved him off.

"It's fine, Gospodin Sniper."

Leaving Robin to her snail and sketching, Usopp climbed another nearby tree to see if he could find any birds. He… Couldn't do it quietly, though. Any time he wasn't talking, all he could hear was the eerie "Jyooooooooh! Jyooooooooooh!" cry as it grew gradually more frequent. Desperate to drown it out, the gunner blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So… Uh… Why aren't you afraid of bugs? Not that there's anything wrong with it!" Usopp tacked on hurriedly, nearly losing his grip on a branch as he clambered from one tree to its neighbour. "Just, um, most girls seem to be really scared of them. Kaya always flipped out, and Nami… Well, you saw the look on her face. And Mom always threw a fit if she found any bugs in the house."

"You shouldn't generalize from a sample of only three." Robin was sitting on the snail now, using it as a bench as she continued to sketch. The archaeologist sighed; a misty look came into her eyes. "Being afraid of a few insects would be very counter-productive in my profession. After all… You never know what sort of creepy-crawlies you'll unearth when opening a forgotten tomb or overturning a broken piece of pottery."

She hesitated, her breath hitching for a moment. No tears fell, but Usopp got the feeling that Robin only managed to control that because she still wasn't quite comfortable in his presence. "I… Never got to do much fieldwork myself, of course. I was too young. But the others used to tell stories."

"About?" Usopp sat on a branch, swinging his legs back and forth nervously. This was good… But also scary. Robin was opening up to him, telling him something she probably hadn't told anyone for a very long time. Jones and Luffy could get her to laugh, but no one else had managed to get her to talk about herself yet.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do with it.

"Well… Apparently one time, Professor Clover opened an old burial chamber where he was expecting to find an artifact of the ancient Arklos religion, only to fall face-first into a pit full of snakes." Robin was smiling; she closed her eyes, so Usopp could no longer tell whether she was close to crying. "They were asps- very dangerous. But his hair made them think he was a fallen tree, so they completely ignored him until Hocha was able to chase them away with a torch."

Usopp wasn't sure whether he was meant to laugh at that or not. The idea of someone falling into a nest of venomous snakes was terrifying to him- but from the way she was smiling, this story seemed to be one of Robin's happiest memories. Although… Maybe that was because of the people involved, rather than the subject matter.

Or maybe her people actually did find life-threatening situations amusing. In which case she, Luffy, Zoro, and Jones should get on very well, in Usopp's opinion.

Humming thoughtfully, Usopp tried to think of a story to offer in exchange. "I… Found a yak's skull with Carrot, Pepper, and Onion once. We couldn't figure out where it came from; there weren't any yaks on the Gecko Islands."

Robin looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her face. Usopp shrugged. He hadn't known why he shared that either; it just felt like he should say something, after Robin told him about the archaeologists on her home island.

"JYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

This time, the eerie call sounded right beside Usopp's head. He nearly fell off the branch he was sitting on, sliding back so he was hanging upside down by his knees. A quick look around pinpointed the source of the noise- a large, purple and green bird with a bright yellow crest on its head in a familiar, distinctive shape. Beady eyes glared at Usopp; the bird wasn't happy.

The gunner, meanwhile, was. Even if his ears were ringing something fierce, and his everything ached from sliding over like he had.

"Robin! I found one!"

"More like it found you." The archaeologist put her notebook in her pocket and crossed her arms. "Trienta Fleur Grab!"

Thirty arms bloomed from nearby surfaces. The bird squawked and panicked, spreading its wings wide to take off- but the forest of arms meant it was unable to do so. Half a dozen hands grabbed onto the bird's wings, beak, and body, holding it still until Usopp could right himself and climb up to get it.

The gunner bound the bird with sturdy twine, preventing it from biting or escaping. When the bird tried to rake him with its claws, Usopp bound those too. Robin's arms disappeared in a flurry of petals when he finished. Hanging the southbird over his shoulder with an extra loop of twine, Usopp climbed back down to the forest floor.

"Are… Are you done with what you were drawing?" he asked Robin hesitantly, "Or do you wanna stay a few more minutes?"

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "As much as I could spend weeks searching through this jungle, we should probably head back. Tovarisch Captain may get impatient and leave without us if we take too long, even without a bird to guide him." Robin patted the pocket she kept her notebook in. "I've found enough to keep me occupied for now; that will have to do."

"Okay, if you're sure…" Usopp hesitated before heading back towards Cricket's house. Robin shook her head and started out in that direction with long strides, forcing him to run to keep up.

"Of course I'm sure, Gospodin Sniper. What I've found here is interesting, but not my primary area of expertise. It will amuse me, and may prove of interest to Gospodin Cricket, but it's hardly worth delaying the voyage over."

Shrugging, Usopp raced to keep up. Robin walked fast. Muted protests came from the southbird, which bounced against his back as he trotted along. Even though he wasn't looking at it, Usopp could feel those beady eyes boring into the back of his head.

A faint splashing noise sounded high above as the pirates headed back towards their crew. It was soon followed by heavy drops, as rain poured down from the darkening sky. It seemed light at first, with the jungle canopy catching most of the water. As the rain picked up, though, more and larger drops broke through, until walking under the trees was just as drenching as standing out in the open.

At least it was warm, though.

Usopp's hair was plastered to his skin within minutes, and Robin was no better off despite her cowboy hat. Even warm, this was uncomfortable. Looking around, Usopp wondered if there was anything he could use to stay dry.

Ah. There.

Plucking a few large, long-stemmed leaves off a strange plant, the Straw Hat gunner bound them together so the stems made a nice handle. Then he stuck the edges of the leaves together with a few quick knots of twine and reinforced the veins in the leaves. Grinning, Usopp scrambled forward to trot beside Robin, holding his makeshift umbrella over both their heads.

At first, the archaeologist shot him a bewildered look. Then, slowly, that changed to a small smile. Wiping her sopping hair away from her eyes, Robin slowed her gait so Usopp no longer had to run to keep up. She also paused for a moment, plucking some sort of flower from a climbing vine and tucking it behind one ear; the stem helped keep her hair away from her face. The archaeologist even started humming again, that same soothing, yet jarringly creepy tune from earlier.

Except this time, Usopp didn't find it so creepy.

-V-

Luffy sighed when he realized I was shaking, although I don't think he knew how close to passing out I was. My captain took his hat off and played with it as he stared at me, dark brown eyes catching mine, making it impossible for me to look away. A small part of my brain wondered if his ability to do that was related to his latent Haoshoku Haki, or if it was just something special about Luffy.

Spikes of cold shot up and down my spine. Invisible arms wrapped around me from behind, holding me tight.

"Jones…" Luffy's voice was quiet and strained, "You shouldn't have sprung the whole poison pie thing on Sanji. You know how he feels about food. I know you know lots and you wanna help, but that was going way too far. You can't do things like that."

"Sorry…" Pulling Ruatha off my shoulders, I wrapped myself around my dragon in a hug. He squawked in discomfort, but didn't try to escape. My breath came in rapid pants; my heartbeat felt like it was coming from my mouth.

The arms squeezed tighter, trying to calm me down.

Sighing, Luffy flipped his hat around before putting it back on his head. "We don't need you to be sorry- you do that more'n enough already. We need to know you won't do it again. You can't push your friends into stuff that'd con- cop- make 'em go against what they believe. S'not right."

I felt like I was choking. Burying my face in Ruatha's wings, I gagged my way through several false starts before I managed to get any words out. "I- I- I- kn-know. Tried to do it m-myself, but couldn't… Didn't want Sanji to have to…"

"And that's why you need to talk to us." Luffy frowned. He fiddled with his hands, not quite sure what to do with them. "You're smart, and you know a lot, but you can't do everything yourself. Like… I can't use a sword, or navigate, or cook, or even lie very well. So I need Zoro and Nami and Sanji and Usopp because they can. No one can live without being helped."

My captain's face scrunched adorably as he made his point- although I wouldn't be able to appreciate it until later. "So you need to talk to us, so nothing like that happens again."

Sanji nodded, smoke spiralling off of him like a chimney. "Friends don't make friends go against their principles. Shit, Jones, you know us. You knew even if you did it yourself, I'd be pissed. Poisoning food goes against everything I stand for, shithead."

Nami gasped a little at his words, a look of realization crossing her face. Although I wasn't sure what she was realizing. Too busy being scared.

I flinched and hugged Ruatha tighter, nodding. "I- I knew… Knew you'd be mad at me no matter what. But Teach h-had to die."

"And you didn't think we could take that shithead head on?" Sanji's eyes blazed. "You didn't think training and mines and numbers would be enough?"

If you were that upset, why didn't you say no? I wanted to ask, but I couldn't get the words out. And… I had an idea of what the answer might be. Because I'd cried… Gender identity issues aside, as far as Sanji was concerned, I was female. And he was weak to female tears.

All I could do was hug my dragon tighter, wishing I could just disappear into Ruatha's scales. And then Zoro spoke up as well.

"You're always doing things like that. Even back at Cocoyashi Village… You ran off and gassed those marines who were gonna take Nami's stuff." Zoro folded his arms and stared at me. His eyes were dark, accusing. The No real warrior would stoop to poisoning their enemies from hiding went unspoken, but was still loud and clear.

"I- I needed to…" Shrinking in on myself, I wished I could just disappear into the ground. "Couldn't- couldn't take on a whole company myself. Not sure I could n-now." Not that I'd needed to attack them in the first place, but I couldn't bring myself to mention that bit.

"Then why not ask one of us to come help?" Zoro's voice had a hint of a growl in it, although I don't think he meant it to. "You know we would've- you're one of us. And barring that, you know the Shit Cook always helps girls."

"Couldn't. Nami needed more…"

Which… No one could argue with. My assault on Nezumi's marines hadn't really been needed at all. Change for the sake of change… A cheap tactic by my writer, even if it was in character for me. I couldn't say anything more, though- my throat felt like it was closing up. And no one else seemed to know what to say next either. Until…

"She knows… But we don't."

Nami's voice was quiet, but everyone still heard. As one, nearly the entire crew turned to look at the sailing master. She took a deep breath, biting her lip, a small frown creasing her face.

"I'm not saying Jones gets a free pass or anything- she needs to talk to us about her plans- but… We're not blameless either. She knows us so well from her stories… But how well do we know her? Do we know why she doesn't share her plans until the last minute?" Nami stared at a place slightly to my left, unable to meet my gaze when I forced myself to look up. "We've… Taken for granted how well she knows us, how well she seems to fit in, but… Have any of us made an effort to get to know her?"

Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other. "I always thought Big Sis didn't say anything cause of the No Spoilers rule."

"Me too…"

"Part of it…" I mumbled into Ruatha's wings. My baby crooned and began grooming my ponytail.

"Monah… Nii kul. Los hi kul."

Luffy cocked his head to the side, confused. "Whaddya mean? We know Jones. She's smart, comes from another world, and was really lonely before we met her. And she likes animals lots!"

"Claims not to have a favourite food, but goes gaga for anything maple," Sanji put in. "And likes meat almost as much as the shitty captain."

"She doesn't like girly things," Lisa added, "Because she's part guy too. Or something like that… I don't really understand fully…"

"Trains a lot, but also keeps resorting to complicated, underhanded tactics," was Zoro's offering. Nami snapped her fingers at that and was about to respond when Ghin interrupted.

"She's from a world where people are weaker, Moss-Brain," my big brother ground out with a wince, "Where she was considered a freak for doing things that're normal- a bit below it, even- to us."

Everyone went from staring at Nami to staring at Ghin. He shrugged, flinching as the movement pulled at his stump. "What? Back at Cocoyashi Village, Jones and I talked during the party. I still don't like the poison and stuff- reminds me of Don Krieg- but it makes sense. She does that 'cause she's used to a world where people aren't as strong- where they probably have to fight underhanded a lot of the time."

I cringed involuntarily at Ghin's voice. He shouldn't have been defending me, not after what I'd done. A heavy hand rested on my head; my wounded brother continued speaking. "She also said she was used to being alone…"

Nami nodded. "That's what I just realized too. Jones needs to talk to us about her plans… But she doesn't know how. She's still not used to having people she can rely on, any more than I was before…" Here, the sailing master wiped away a single tear, "Before Luffy took down Arlong. And… We haven't really been helping her get used to it, have we?"

"Eh?" Luffy, Chopper, and Toma all tilted their heads in simultaneous confusion- although Zoro's apprentice quickly righted his with a wince of pain. Half a second later, Drifter and Geier facepalmed. Or, rather, face-pawed and face-winged.

"I don't get it," Luffy said after a moment. "Jones knows she's one of us, right? That she belongs here. So why wouldn't she be able to rely on us?"

"Because years of loneliness and being pushed aside take a toll," Cricket said quietly. Up until now, he, Masira, and Shoujou had been silent, just watching to see what our crew would do. Now, the diver stood and looked from me to Luffy, arms folded.

"Someone who's used to being ignored and only worrying about themselves… It can take a lot of practice to open up. To stop viewing others with suspicion. To realize you don't have to do everything yourself." Cricket glanced at Masira and Shoujou with a small smile. "It's important to learn, because the alternative… can drive you mad. But it's not something they can learn alone, just by being told they need to."

"Oooooh…" Nodding slowly at Cricket's words, Luffy rubbed his temples. "So… What do we do? Jones needs to talk to us so this never happens again… How do we help her see she can?" He sounded hurt, which only made me feel worse. "Why doesn't Jones trust us yet?"

I… didn't really appreciate being talked about as if I wasn't there. But at the same time… I had nothing to say. Not really. Or at least, nothing I could put into words properly, and my throat felt too tight to talk. The best I could manage was a whimpered groan after Luffy's question. That noise drew Luffy's attention to me, bringing with it a confused, almost pained stare.

"Being a captain is hard," he mumbled. "Shanks never told me about stuff like this."

No one was able to offer any easy answers- if we were, it likely never would have come to this point. A quiet rumble echoed in the awkward silence; warm rain began to pour. I shivered. Even though the rain was warm, I felt chilled to the bone.

I'm not sure how long we sat there in sopping silence. Half an hour, maybe? Eventually, the sound of footsteps squelching through mud drew my attention. Glancing up through my soaked bangs, I saw Robin and Usopp approaching from the direction of the jungle. The sniper held an umbrella made of crudely joined leaves, keeping the pair more or less dry.

Muffled noises came from Usopp's back. A southbird hung over his shoulder by a piece of twine, still facing resolutely south even as it swung back and forth… upside-down. Its beak, talons, and wings were all bound tightly to keep it from attacking. The best it could do was glare at Usopp's waist, occasionally swinging its body back and forth to thud against his ribs.

"Hey guys!" Usopp waved with his free hand. "We're back! It was tough, but we've got the bird! What's next?"

Luffy's eyes flicked up towards our gunner. "Not sure yet… Still tryna sort this stuff out about Jones… It's hard…" The captain sighed heavily. "We all need to talk more with each other- about everything. But I don't know how to make that happen. Except…"

Letting out a strangled little moan, Luffy clutched at the brim of his hat. "I don't like it, but I think… I think we need to get rid of the no spoilers rule. For important stuff, at least."

"What?" Zoro inhaled sharply, eyes widening. "But when she joined, you said-!"

"I know!" Luffy pulled his hat down around his head as if he were trying to disappear into it. His face was bright red. "But it's not helping! Sanji's angry with Jones and Jones is scared and my head's hurting because of all this, so if not being able to talk about it before things happen is making all this happen, or making it worse, then it needs to stop!"

Everyone stared at Luffy in silence- there was even a brief lull in the rain.

Nami was the first to find her voice. The sailing master tugged at a lock of her hair, fidgeting slightly. "That's… a start, I think. Not sure it'll solve the problem, but…"

"I know!" Luffy groaned and collapsed forward, slamming his face forward into the table. "But it's the best I can do right now. Thinking is hard! And this's gonna take a while anyway. A start's better'n nothing, right?"

One by one, everyone nodded. Even Ruatha. Then Luffy raised his head and gave me a pointed look, prompting everyone else to do the same. No one said anything, but there were still words ringing in my head. Does this help? Can you talk better if you're not afraid of us getting angry about spoilers?

Hugging Ruatha tight, I nodded, still unable to break eye contact with Luffy. No matter how much I wanted to. And… I couldn't really speak at the moment. A lump of something clogged my throat, stuck my jaws together. My dragon let out a squawk as I squeezed him maybe a little too hard.

"TAAK!"

"Sorry…" I released Ruatha; he scampered away, preening his wings that had been mussed by my hugging. Curling into a ball, I hugged my knees instead. "I'll... I'll try. I'm… I'm sorry… So sorry…"

"Don't be sorry." Luffy stood up, sighing, and walked around the table towards me. "It's not good… But we can fix it. Together."

Wiry rubber arms wrapped around me in several loops, hugging me tight. It was uncomfortable- even painful. I squirmed, but Luffy didn't let go. The captain cleared his throat, shooting pointed looks at the rest of our crew.

Chopper fidgeted, looking like he wanted to say something- but instead sighed and trotted over and hugged tight to our legs. Lisa and Toma followed. They brought Drifter and Geier with them, grabbing the grumpy otter and his partner before they could protest and squishing them slightly as they joined the hug. Warm fur and feathers squashed between shaking arms.

"Schraaooooo…" Geier protested the indignity loudly, but was notably careful not to hurt anyone with her beak and claws. Drifter just grumbled and shook his head.

Ghin moves stiffly, wincing in pain. His arm draped around my shoulder as he turned. Johnny and Yosaku joined right after, doing their best not to touch the rigger's stump. Ghin held it gingerly to his side, twisting slightly so it required less effort to keep the severed limb clear of the group.

Nami and Usopp joined at the same time as Ruatha climbed up to perch on my head. At that point things were starting to be uncomfortable- so many bodies all jammed together, soaking and warm. And Ruatha's weight on my head- I was used to it on my shoulders, but not my skull- made my neck ache and pressed my hat into my eyes. I couldn't say anything, though. Both because I was shaking, needing the hug, and because the tangle of arms, feathers, and fur made it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

Zoro and Sanji were more hesitant. The cook especially. Stomping out his cigarette, Sanji frowned. "A group hug? Really? How's a shitty group hug s'posed to help anything?"

"It just does," was Luffy's answer. Chopper spoke up simultaneously, voice muffled from being hidden within the knot of people.

"Hugs make your body release chemicals that relax you, relieve pain, and stabilize mood. Or at least, that's what Doctorine said- I never had the opportunity to test it." Chopper's ears perked up. "Could I-?"

"Not right now," Nami chided. Chopper nodded in understanding, ears returning to a neutral position.

Sanji didn't look convinced, and he, Zoro, and Robin were still hanging back. Luffy raised his head, spinning it like an owl to look at them. "Come on guys. Hug. Captain's orders."

I'm willing to bet that was one of the weirdest orders ever given by a pirate captain. Although… This was the world of One Piece, so I could be wrong. Grunting and rolling his eyes, Zoro stepped in and gave everyone a rough, firm squeeze. Sanji was more hesitant- and even when he did join in, made sure he was mostly hugging Nami. The sailing master rolled her eyes.

Robin was still hanging back. Luffy twisted to look at her, opening his mouth to repeat his order. But before he could do so…

"YEOW!"

A near-simultaneous shout went up from the majority of the crew. Releasing the hug, everyone staggered apart, hands instinctively going to whichever Blackbeard-related injury had just been aggravated. Luffy's chest bled slightly, one of the stitches pulled; Toma looked like he was about to vomit. Zoro stepped away with a pronounced limp, while Ghin fell back on his ass with a heavy thud, skin going pale.

Even the least injured of the group- Usopp, Lisa, and Nami- were nursing various burns, bruises, and scrapes. The gunner rubbed his nose, glancing around nervously. "Is… Should we really be heading to another island so soon? With everyone hurt like this? What if we get in another big fight? We always get in another big fight!"

"But… Island in the sky," Luffy whined.

Nami rested a hand on my shoulder. "Jones, threat assessment."

The demand took me totally by surprise, delivered so soon after Luffy's frustrated repeal of the no spoilers rule. I blinked, stunned, taking several minutes to find my voice. When I did speak, it came out squeaking like a rusty water pump.

"The geyser we have to use spurts five times a month, but strength varies greatly. Tonight's will be strong enough to get us to Skypiea; I don't know how long it'll be 'til another one that is. Could be a week, could be a year." I reached up and played with Ruatha's tail; my dragon inched down off my head to settle properly on my shoulders.

"Luffy's immune to most of the main asshole's lightning powers, but almost everybody up there uses Kenbunshoku Haki- they call it Mantra." My captain looked a bit disappointed by that, but at the same time, both he and Zoro looked eager to test themselves against Haki users. And maybe to learn more about Haki in the process.

"There's lots of giant animals- snakes, birds, bugs, dogs. And a lot of plants I don't know the properties of." Chopper bounced excitedly at the chance to find and study potential sources of new medicines. Drifter and Geier nodded, the otter grinning.

"Other assholes working with the lightning bastard, of course, but aside from Mantra, they're not a huge threat. Explosives, swordsmen… Business as usual. That said, we'll technically be dropping into the middle of a civil war."

Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku squeaked at that. Lisa smiled. "We've broken those up before, though. It'll be fine."

I nodded at her words. "We'll have to, most likely. Which… Negotiations and trade and stuff will be easier if we bring some dirt- it's in short supply up there. Very valuable. Can probably use it when bargaining for peace, and definitely for getting Dials."

Everyone looked at me oddly. I shrugged and stared at the ground. "Those weird shells I told you to pick up from the St. Briss. They're gadgetry things- there are people up there who could explain better than I can. Just trust me, they can do cool stuff."

The three tinkerers who'd moments before been so worried about the civil war suddenly looked eager. Nami seemed interested as well, one hand going to her Clima-Tact.

"And, of course…" I forced a smile, "There's plenty of treasure up there, of the monetary variety." Even with the spoiler rule eliminated, I didn't want to give Cricket the answers. Not until someone could ring the golden bell.

Nami and Ruatha both let out little noises of anticipation. Their eyes turned into beri symbols and began to glow gold. I rapped my dragon on the snout; Ruatha shook his head, eyes going back to normal. My baby hung his head. "Zokrosis…"

"Sorry Bud… Better get those instincts under control early. Don't want you ending up like Smaug."

"Zu'u ni mindok wo daar los." Ruatha rested his chin on my head with a whine.

But while I could discipline my baby, I couldn't do the same to Nami. The sailing master's eyes shone even brighter. "How much treasure, Jones?"

That… was a hard question to answer. I didn't know the price of gold in One Piece, nor the exact measurements of the golden pillar to calculate the mass of gold- assuming we could even find a way to carry it. But still… Knowing what they'd picked up in canon…

"300 million beri minimum. Maybe more, if we can wrangle it." And actually… Gravity powers might be very useful there. I might be able to make the pillar light enough…

Nami looked like she might be about to faint. She also, apparently, saw the calculations I was trying to run as I frowned. "Jones, if you can pull whatever I think you're thinking about, how rich will we be?"

"Umm… About…" Okay, rough calculation. Assume diameter of three meters, so radius of one-and-a-half… Length of ten… Mass of gold per cubic meter was roughly nineteen tonnes, if I was remembering highs school chemistry correctly…

V=πr2h

V=π(1.5)(1.5)10

V=70.69 cubic meters

M=(70.69)(19)

M=1,343.11 tonnes

I had no idea what that was worth, but it was… A lot of gold. Not that my calculations were necessarily accurate, but as a rough estimate… "A few hundred billion beri. I think. Very rough calculation- I don't actually have any measurements, so it's all based on guesswork."

Cricket, Masira and Shoujou were just all staring at us at this point. The salvagers' jaws had hit the ground, their eyes bulging out painfully as their faces went pale. I could feel their brains break.

Biting her lip, Nami looked like she was about to melt. "Jones… if you can figure out a way for us to get even a quarter of that, I'll love you forever."

The invisible arms that followed me everywhere hugged me tight again. It felt different this time, though. Off to one side, Toma squeaked and went pale. "Don't say things like that…" The boy whispered, "It- he?- doesn't like it…"

Nami didn't seem to hear, lost in daydreams about upcoming wealth. And… Was that a little bit of drool? Okay, time to snap her out of it.

"If we don't modify the Merry to be able to handle the Knock Up Stream, we won't be able to get any treasure. And we'll be stuck going to an island where I can't give a threat assessment."

That sent a jolt of something running down the sailing master's spine. She snapped her Clima-Tact together and jabbed the nearest person- Johnny- with the butt of the staff. "What're we waiting for? Let's get moving!"

Our entire crew rose- even Ghin and Toma, despite flails of protest from Chopper. The rigger rested his remaining hand on the doctor's muzzle, preventing him from saying anything. "We won't strain ourselves, but this is our home. You can't leave us out." Ghin growled, breathing heavily, "I'll just… Hand people nails or something."

"Fine…" Chopper's ears laid flat. "But if either of you starts feeling the slightest bit worse, I want you to just sit down and watch. Okay? Promise?"

I don't think Ghin could've protested if he wanted to. As we walked down to the beach, he and Toma were struggling noticeably. Both could barely go in a straight line; while Toma showed only the slightest hesitation before leaning on Zoro, though, Ghin was determined to do it on his own. He actually growled at me when I moved closer to offer him support.

It made me flinch.

I… Lagged behind a bit, after that. Didn't want to make people angry… And… Hurt. Understandable that Ghin wouldn't want my help- was my fault he got injured- but still… I just wanted…

A warm hand rested on my shoulder, drawing me from my thoughts. I turned in surprise to see Robin standing just behind me. A faint smile played across her face.

"They're trying to improve things, Gospozha Witch. That's a rare quality." Robin removed her hand quickly. "Just give it time."

"Yeah…" Time, and effort. It'd be hard, but… We'd be better eventually. All of us. Right?

Cricket, Masira, and Shoujou followed our crew down to the beach, faces masks of disbelief. The old diver was rubbing his temples as if we were giving him a migraine.

"You kids're going the wrong way. If we're gonna improve your ship, we need to go to town first. Get some lumber, supplies."

That made Luffy pause for a moment. He wasn't thinking, though. Wiping sopping bangs out of his eyes, my captain gifted Cricket with a brilliant smile that was somehow magnified by the rain. "Nah, we're good, old man. Might not even need you and the monkeys- but thanks for offering! My crew's the best, though; even if we have problems sometimes, we can do anything as long as we have each other."

Luffy's words made me feel all warm and fluffy- and judging by the faces of my crewmates, I wasn't the only one. Smiles all around, even people like Zoro and Drifter and Robin.

"G'awww, shucks!" Masira squirmed and blushed at being called a monkey. His brother scowled.

"I'm not a monkey, dammit!" Shoujou looked like he was considering unleashing one of his sonic screams- but he froze with a squeak at a toothy grin from Ruatha.

Ignoring both brothers, Luffy turned back to the rest of us with a wide grin. Hands on his hips, he addressed us as a captain- something he did so rarely. "Jones… This Knock Up thing, it's gonna make Merry fly, ne?"

"Well, um, technically no, but… Close enough." We didn't have time for me to get into semantics. Luffy nodded.

"Alright. Drifter, Geier, you know most about flying. You plan what Merry needs for that- wings and stuff. Jones, you know science stuff; help."

"Aye-aye Captain!" Back ramrod straight, feet together, I reflexively snapped a salute. I spun on my heel and joined Drifter and Geier as the former pulled out a large piece of paper and began sketching. Behind me, Luffy continued to shout orders.

"Sanji, Zoro, we need wood- lots of it! Gotta make Merry stronger and build her wings! Usopp, you're the one who does most of the repairs. You and Johnny rep- reinv- reinforce Merry once you've got enough lumber! Yosaku, Lisa, you make any feathers and colours and stuff we need for the wings- she's still gotta look like Merry! Nami, find a way to make sure the compass bird doesn't escape! Chopper, help me hang this bell I found underwater!"

"And us?" Toma asked shakily as he shifted from leaning on Zoro to standing shakily between Ghin and Robin. Luffy thought for a second.

"Help Lisa and Yosaku," he decided finally. "I don't think that'll make you hurt more, and we prob'ly need a lot of feathers."

Once everyone had been given their orders, the crew split off. Drifter, Geier, and I had barely started designing the wings when we heard voices on the edge of the jungle.

"Hey, Shit Cook, I'll do the fine shaping if you take down the trees."

"Idiot Moss Brain. You don't even know what shapes we need yet."

"Grrrrrmmm… Fine. Worry about that later. Tatsumaki!"

"Anti-Manner Kick Course!"

CRASH! KRSH! SHBASH! FWUSH!

The ground shook; unnatural wind whipped the rain upwards for a brief moment before allowing it to resume falling in sheets. A dozen trees fell, scattering bark, leaves, and broken branches everywhere. Zoro wasted no time in cutting half of them to boards for Usopp and Johnny's use making reinforcements.

"Sanzen Sekai!"

Geier flared her wings to keep rain off the paper where Drifter and I were designing Merry's flying apparatus; Ruatha copied her a moment later. I reached up to scratch my dragon behind one ear as I drew. Beside me, Drifter rubbed his partner's leg absently.

If we include a series of gears here and here, we can fold the wings in more easily for storage.

"Oh! Hadn't thought of that!" Would Merry be able to keep her wings in this version? I guess that was up to her. "Well, if were doing that, that means we can have spoilers, slats, flaps, and ailerons here, here, here, and here."

I marked the places on the diagram. Drifter frowned. Don't think we'll be needing to roll the ship, but okay. If you want spoilers and ailerons, there's no real reason not to include them. Now… How're we going to steer? I don't think the rudder we have will cut it; not as much resistance in the air for it to work with.

"Of course not. We'll have to give Merry a tail. The same folding rig can be replicated smaller for that."

Nodding, Drifter put pen to paper- then frowned again. I take it you think we should have elevators as well as expanding the rudder?

I shrugged. "In for a penny, in for a pound. Is there any reason not to have them?"

No. The otter hesitantly sketched out a tail. But… These are all theories. Untested. The World Government specifically outlawed practical testing on these ideas after Kit Hawkins and Will Orr crashed an experimental flyer into a Tenryuubito ship. Three hundred years ago. Will these… Will these things work?

"Attached to a ship? Not a clue. Attached to an airplane?" I double-checked the sketches. As far as I knew, we'd covered everything. Everything important anyway. "They work. My world's had powered flight for more than a hundred years. We don't have any flying creatures large enough to ride, though. Or a World Government."

And it's something your average person just knows about? Drifter's writing was shaky with disbelief. I shook my head.

"No. But… My dad was a pilot, until his medical was taken away. He flew Search and Rescue… But they grounded him because of psychological issues." And he'd been living vicariously through Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe ever since, forcing me to play with him so he had a wingman on hard missions. "So I know a bit about planes."

With Geier and Ruatha still making their wings into an umbrella, we took the designs over to Zoro. The swordsman looked them over for a few minutes, then nodded.

"Alright. Gimme a sec." Closing his eyes, Zoro tensed his muscles. "Ichi Gorilla… Ni Gorilla… Nigori-Zake!"

A blur of motion and silver, spattered with mud from the driving rain. When Zoro stopped, the remaining wood had all been painstakingly cut and planed to shape. Sheathing his swords, the bosun ran a thumb over one spar with a frown. "Tch. Still not the same."

"Huh?" Yosaku looked up from where he was… crocheting? Yes, crocheting the fabric that would become the skin of the wings. With incredible speed. Beside him, Ghin frowned in concentration as he untangled and sorted balls of yarn. "Not the same as what, Big Bro?"

Zoro was quiet for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Before Kuina…" He skipped part of the sentence, instead opting to caress the hilt of Wado Ichimonji. "She taught me how to work with wood. So I could replace my shinai and bokken when I inevitably broke them. But I could never get quite as good a result as she did."

That was… a bit of a surprise, but it made sense. Leaving Drifter and Geier to look after the plans, I gathered up as much of the wood as I could carry and headed over to Usopp and Johnny. Zoro and Sanji followed suit. The gunner and the blue hunter had just finished with the reinforcements when we got there.

Usopp nearly fell in the water when Drifter shoved the wing plans in his face. "I... You… What makes you think I have some of those parts? Spiral bevel gears? Worm drives? Who do you think I am?"

The master gunner and tinkerer of the Straw Hat Pirates, was Drifter's swift, no-nonsense reply. I also happen to know you have a stash of failed inventions under your bed, and that if we cannibalize those, we'll have more than enough of the parts we need.

"I! You! Fine…" Usopp trotted off to get the stash Drifter had mentioned. When he returned, his arms were full of bizarre attempts at recreating the technology of Clockwork Island. "Stupid police officers searching everywhere they have no business…"

Cricket and his boys watched in fascination as we worked, dextrous hands and paws disassembling and reassembling wood and steel. They looked like they were debating trying to help. But… Luffy was right. There were enough of us, and things were different from canon… The Straw Hats could modify Merry by ourselves.

Below, Lisa whistled as she worked, mixing large quantities of… something with Toma and Robin. It looked different than her usual paints. More… Plastic. There were four tubs of the stuff being made- red, white, gold, and black. Some sort of dope, perhaps?

. . .

The aircraft kind, for anyone whose mind just went to performance-enhancing drugs or something like that.

Heavy raindrops made wood and metal very slick. Those of us assembling the wing frames had to be careful not to drop anything, and to oil all the pieces well. Sanji helped with that part, although he wouldn't come anywhere near the gears when we put those in position. Probably worried about getting his hands caught in the assembly…

Luckily, that didn't happen to anyone. I think Chopper would've killed us if it had.

Soon enough, the frames were ready. Usopp turned a crank, extending the wings and fins out to their full span, so we could stretch the fabric across. It was… very thick, and a little lumpy, but strong. Yosaku just barely got it done in time; the green hunter rubbed his hands, fingers curled into aching claws from having to crochet so much in such a short time. But we hadn't had enough canvas to do it the easy way…

Once the fabric had been secured in place, Lisa climbed up. She wielded a large, square, industrial paintbrush rather than her usual little artistic one. Quick swipes drew curves patterns of colourful dope across stretched fabric. Thankfully, whatever solution she'd used was resistant to being washed away even when wet.

It was… Nothing like Merry's canon rooster modification. Despite Luffy mentioning feathers, the wings were smooth and… Rather bat-like, actually, do to the folding mechanisms that doubled as lift, drag, roll, and pitch control. Her rear sprouted a great fin that would hopefully control yaw. About her figurehead, someone had given Merry a spiky crown of scrap wood and string, almost like Ruatha's mane.

No, she was no rooster this time. Our Merry was a dragon.

Kling! Kling!

The bell Luffy and Chopper had been hanging clanged gleefully as everyone cleaned up and prepared to set sail. Below it, a very grumpy looking southbird had its talons tied to a perch. Unlike Merry, the bird didn't sound pleased at all.

"Jyoooooooooh…"

Cricket blinked slowly. He and his boys hadn't spoken in… I actually didn't know long it had taken us to assemble the flying apparatus. The old diver cleared his throat. "Wow… You kids are impressive."

"Of course we are!" Luffy beamed, hanging upside-down from the strut that held Merry's bell. "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates someday, so it only makes sense that my crew's the best at what they do! I already told you- as long as we're together, we can do anything!"

"So you can." Chuckling, Cricket shook his head at us. "Good luck, then, with finding your island in the sky- I'd like to know how you know so much about it, but I get the feeling you're not going to tell me. But… All that talk of gold and treasure…"

Luffy's grin grew wider; he righted himself and dropped to the deck. "If we find anything that says what might've happened to that gold city, we'll make sure to tell you! Don't worry Chestnut-Head!"

"It's Cricket!"

Giggling like mad, Luffy bounded to his special seat. "Alright everyone, let's go! I smell adventure!"

"It must smell like ozone," Nami muttered good-naturedly, "If there's a lightning-based enemy ahead."

Everyone moved into position as Zoro raised the anchor. Or, well, almost. Some people's positions were a bit different than usual, after all. With Ghin's arm… I took my brother's place in the rigging, though I was slower and less certain. Not that Ghin didn't try, but Chopper vetoed any climbing on his part. Aggressively. In Heavy Point. With a hockey stick. So Ghin stayed on deck, operating the wing winch and frowning at the horizon.

And the winch certainly did need operating. As soon as we were out of the shelter of the bay, we were hit by the full strength of the storm. Winds strong enough to rock a bus slammed into us from the side; Ghin retracted the wings as fast as he was able. Good thing, too. If he'd been any slower, the extra air captured by the starboard wing might've been enough to flip the Merry.

Wings furled against her rails, Merry bobbed through the storm like a little cork. It was slow going, both because of the direction of the wind, and because visibility was reduced to almost nothing by the spray and darkness. Waves broke continually over the railing; Lisa's usual job of monitoring speed and depth was made nearly impossible.

"Jyoooooooooh…"

Chopper winced at the southbird's call. "Sorry… But we can't find the Knock Up Stream without you." The doctor's ears drooped.

"Jyooh!" His words didn't seem to placate the bird at all. It turned to try and peck at the doctor- but immediately pulled back to its previous position, eyes spinning. Even a few seconds of not facing south was apparently enough to make it ill.

Huffing, Geier hopped over to perch by the smaller bird. This made the southbird very nervous; its eyes went wide as it tried to edge away along the perch. It couldn't get very far, though, not with its talons bound. "Jyo-oooh…"

"Schareeeeeeeeeee! Schaaaaooooo. Chree!"

Whatever Geier said, both Chopper and the southbird looked horrified. The little doctor didn't translate, though. Instead, he squawked loudly and flailed, jumping up to stand unsteadily on the perch himself as he waved his arms.

"Geier! That's not nice! Don't say things like that to Teri- she has a legitimate reason to be upset!"

"Skiiiir…" Huge wings shrugging, Geier clacked her beak a few times before hopping away to help Drifter make sure Nami's trees were secure.

The pouring rain made everything slick and heavy. I fell out of the rigging numerous times over the next few minutes, as did Johnny, Yosaku, and Luffy. And the wind didn't help, setting everything vibrating as the ship rocked on the waves. But with Teri providing a heading, we still managed to keep a more or less true course through the storm.

Kling! Kling!

Merry's new bell rang out with every rocking wave, a bright, cheery sound. Something about the shadows and the spray- and probably her dragon-like cosplay- gave the little caravel a determined expression as we tacked south.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!"

Usopp's scream cut through the storm without warning, nearly making me lose my grip and fall out of the rigging again. "Sanji! Turn us around! A giant whirlpool just appeared out of freakin' nowhere!"

"Belay that!" I hollered before the cook could change our course. Sanji poked his head out of the galley to glare up at me. I flinched- it was going to take a while for the cook to stop being mad at me, wasn't it?- but held firm.

"That whirlpool's the first stage of the Knock Up Stream! We need to sail into it!"

"You're nuts! Shitty little-!" Sanji didn't believe me. He looked like he was about to turn the ship around anyway; a yell from Nami stopped him.

"No that makes sense! It's like a geyser or limnic eruption- just, on a massive scale!" The sailing master gripped the rail with white-knuckled hands. "Keep true! We'll need to be close!"

Tangerines secure, Drifter scrambled around the ship like furry lightning, bringing each crew member a long piece of rope. The other end of each line was bound around the base of the mast. Safety lines. It'd be bad if someone fell off when we got hit by the Knock Up Stream. I made sure to secure mine tight around my waist.

The Going Merry lurched as the whirlpool started to pull her in. A brief thrill of adrenaline raced through my system; Johnny nearly fell out of the rigging again in surprise. Soon our little ship was leaning forwards, pulled inexorably in and down. Sanji gave up trying to steer as powerful currents caught hold and dragged the caravel around counter-clockwise.

Usopp whimpered in the crow's nest. "Jones… You're sure we won't get pulled to the bottom and die a horrific death?"

"Well…" I suppose it was possible this wouldn't go exactly the same as canon. "The Knock Up Stream is the all-or-nothing method for getting to Skypiea. So it's a 50-50 chance… We either get there perfectly fine, or we don't."

"THERE ARE OTHER WAYS?! YOU COULDN'T HAVE TOLD US THIS EARLIER?!"

I shrugged, climbing up past the crow's nest to make sure the flag was secure. "I don't know what they are or how to find them."

Usopp paled, looking as if he was about to faint. And then, somewhere to port, from the depths of the whirlpool…

RUMBLE…

The sea around us suddenly inverted, going from a cone pulling in and down to a pillar shooting up into the sky. Although there was still a fair bit of suction pulling us towards the base. The Going Merry was picked up and fired into the air like a child's bath toy. A hundred meters, two hundred… When we were about half a kilometer up, the Merry began to fall back and to the side, no longer in the grip of the main pillar.

"GHIN! NOW!"

"SCAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"VIINGGE!"

Nami and I yelled in unison, accompanied by screeches from Geier and Ruatha. Gritting his teeth, Ghin turned the winch as fast as he could. For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening, like the gear assembly had gotten jammed. Like Merry's wings were stuck. Then wood and fabric snapped into position with a deafening noise, and the Going Merry levelled out with a sharp jerk.

Taught fabric hummed in the wind, each massive wing as large as the Merry proper. Huge Jolly Rogers smiled at sea and sky as Merry soared around the Knock Up Stream in a tight spiral. The whipstaff guided her extended rudder; dropping from the rigging, I took control of the levers that adjusted her ailerons, elevators, slats, flaps, and spoilers.

Spoilers flat, slats and flaps extended, slight deflection on the ailerons to bank with Sanji's steering, elevators raised to force the nose up… "Johnny, Yosaku, furl the sails! They're causing too much drag!"

"Aye-aye, Big Sis!"

Once the sails were out of the way, things were better. Not the greatest- wings or not, a caravel wasn't exactly designed with aerodynamics in mind- but better. The strong winds that had previously hindered us were now a source of lift, along with the air being pushed up near the Knock Up Stream. Still… I decreased the force of gravity on the ship slightly, as much as I was comfortable maintaining. Just in case.

"SHISHISHISHISHI! THIS IS AWESOME!" Despite how high we were- with altitude ever increasing- Luffy hung off the figurehead as if we were sailing on the calmest sea.

"SESEHIHIHIHIHIHI!" I had to agree with my captain- this was awesome. The best. This flight, the feeling of lightness and freedom… For a few minutes, it seemed like everything bad was just spiralling away as we rose. I could briefly forget my guilt, all the problems with the Blackbeard incident, Sanji's anger and Ghin's arm…

No, for the next few minutes there was nothing but the wind and the rain, and the little ship rising ever higher in spite of her design. And… My crewmates all seemed to feel the same. Everyone was smiling, gazing eagerly up at the clouds that grew closer and closer. The humming of the lines and taught wing fabric made excited music as we rose.

Kling-kling! Kling-kling!

Oh, how I wished we could fly like this all the time. But without something like the Knock Up Stream, Merry would never be able to get up the speed to take off.

Clouds darker than pitch grew closer and closer above our heads. Everything my father had ever told me about flying started screaming at me to descend- entering clouds like that was a bad, bad plan. We'd never be able to see anything… We could crash into something, or be hit by lightning, or our wings could ice up. We could lose steering, or gain so much weight and drag we'd fall out of the sky.

But… Skypiea was up there.

Gritting my teeth, I closed my eyes and braced myself. Best to just get this over with. Hopefully we wouldn't hit the bottom of Upper Yard or anything like that. I raised the elevators even more, enough that Merry very nearly risked going into a stall as she went nearly vertical. Our airspeed slowed, not quite enough to make us fall, but enough that several of my crewmates were set staggering from surprise and the change in momentum.

And then the smiling ram head pierced through the stormy ceiling.