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?

32. Myth

Myth: as viewed in classical Greece, any story, whether true or imagined, with a plot; often the characters and setting are thought to be of an entirely different world or breed than humans.

Gerbilfriend: Don't worry, things will get better in a little bit.

gamelove41592: Oh, it'll help. And thanks! The scene with Usopp and Robin was fun to write. Onward to Skypiea!

ScarletCatnip: I'll try to make sure Zoro gets his time to be hilarious once we get into the jungle. Lots of stuff to do in Skypiea.

LittleAngel2292: Excellent! Thank you!

Dragondancer81: I might write that party someday, as an omake/sidestory. I am gathering a list of them to do during the timeskip. Thanks for the suggestion!

EvilpuppyofDoom: Huh... Never thought of that. I always thought it was inspired by El Dorado.

Tactician101: Thanks! Although I'm sorry I made you cry...

The Keeper of Worlds: Thanks. And you'll see the first bit of it here, although Aisa won't be meeting most of the crew just yet.

stephen51991: No, I wasn't shipteasing. And... Yes, it is indeed a good time for him to learn.

Draco Oblivion: Thank you! I've found I have the best time writing big fights like that if I play through them as a D&D encounter first. Helps me keep track of who gets hurt how badly and by what. And yes, Toma can sense the spirit hugs. Among other things...

Keiolsha: They did, this time. Mostly.

rosewillow narusasufangirl: Hehehe... Unfortunately, you'll be waiting a while. Lots to go through before I get to the training break and its causes. And yes, that was an emotional chapter. I'm glad things came across that well.

707cloud: Sorry about that. But don't worry, Jones and Sanji will be better soon.

Anime no Akuma: Thank you so much!

Taiski: He is. *grins*

deant33: You'll see in this chapter.

FairyGirl960: The reason Toma can see things is because he spent a long period of time with a cursed sword messing with his head. And don't worry; Jones and Sanji will make up fairly soon.

trilbybard: Pretty much, yeah.

GreenDrkness: No, Cricket didn't tell Luffy to ring the bell. But it'll still happen, one way or another.

Tombs456: Already have plans for both Ghin and Merry. And you're right— most of Merry's damage isn't as extensive as it was in canon. There's a reason for that; can anyone guess why? As for topping the Teach fight? I don't know if I ever can, but I'm sure eventually I'll try. Thank you very much!

Azurai Wolf: Sesehihihihihi! Don't worry— I thought it was funny too. And puns will actually be playing a part when I get to that fight, so make as many as you like.

ShinigamiMaster: Yes, they grabbed some earth before they took off. Don't worry, Sanji will come around in a little bit. And the answers to both your questions about Toma are yes. XD

Bombadillo Baby: Yes, Ghin will be alright. And Luffy is a very good captain. As for what it'll take for Sanji to calm down? Kicking the crap out of some priests, and a good one-on-one discussion over some maple syrup.

Unca Bob: Yeah, FFN was having some trouble with alerts around that time. Sorry about that. Thank you very much!

The Pyro Jawsome: Yeah, most people don't release the butterflies quite so early. But they're just so pretty! And yes indeed; we're all our own brand of cracked here. I'm like a stoneware mug that was dropped and then glued back together.

Insanity Lord: Thank you! ^_^

sdkop21: Thank you very much!

Sairafius: You are rude. Incredibly rude. Since nothing happens when I report you, I've actually bothered to learn how to block someone. Congratulations; it takes a lot of effort to get me to do something like that. I do not appreciate your blatant sexism, or being told that I should've been strangled at birth; please leave me alone.

AnerianJames: Thank you very much!

Guest (March 5): Yay! And here's another!

Lily Noir: No, you're right— Sanji does think she manipulated him a bit. But things will get better in a chapter or two, once the two of them get a chance to talk in private for a bit. And yes; Jones' feeling like she doesn't belong and not knowing exactly what her place is on the crew certainly contribute to the pendulum personality. Although part of that is just me. In real life, my personality swings back and forth between terrified and cocky depending on the situation, so it might take a lot of development for Jones to outgrow that. I'm glad you think I did that talk well; it was... difficult to write, parts of it. And I did know about the TVTropes page; sorry if I forgot to announce it... I am derp...

JD: Thanks!

Stormlord654: Thank you very much! ^_^

Holly: Thank you. ^_^ I love it when people enjoy my references.

Guest (March 10): I didn't give it an angst tag because I don't actually find most parts all that angsty. And also because I figured that the warning at the beginning would alert people to the parts that are. Sorry that my perceptions of angst don't match up with everyone's.

YoChicken: Thank you very much! And I'm sorry I made your cheeks hurt.

zilla: Yes, everything is going to change, at least a little. As for Jones getting payback on the other girls... Hadn't thought about that. Maybe someday. And yes, Luffy knows Ace would've died; he overheard Jones and Ace talking about some things and made the connection.

Jojobrn: You're welcome! And thank you so much. ^_^ Yes, Awakened!Jones could pull some awesome things like nuclear explosions at a distance. And yes, she can shield herself to a certain extent from her own powers. So a nuclear reaction she set off even in close proximity would hurt, but she'd probably survive. Unless she blew up something huge like, say, a ship or a building.

Vergil Leonidas: I don't mind long reviews, so don't worry about them getting too big. I'm sorry, though; while I like long reviews, it's harder for me to respond to all your points. I'll do my best to hit the important ones. Your analysis of Jones sparring with Zoro in chapter 2— I'd never thought of it that way, but yes, that fits quite well. Thank you. And the whole issue with Ghin and Luffy... I will admit that was partially me trying to find my feet writing Luffy as a captain for the first time, so I'm glad it works well. Although you're right; there are other things I could've done with Ghin to flesh him out. Sorry about all the new crew members... I know it's a lot, and I know not everyone likes that. I'm confident in my ability to handle them all, but I know even if I do it well, all the new faces aren't everyone's cup of tea. I'm glad you like Jones' interactions with Arlong, and the way I portrayed Jones' reaction to feeling like she was on suicide watch. It's... never fun, when people look at you that way. Even if it's only one or two who know... As for your analysis of my Deadpool schtick— you're right, that's more or less what I was going for. Trapped inside my own head as I am, I do have a lot of awareness of why I think and act the way I do, as well as of my own writing style. I've been trying to get a bit of that across with Jones; I'm glad it seems to be working. ^_^ Thank you very much.

The Utterly Fabulous Z: ^_^ Thanks! Those feels were hard to write, so I'm glad!

Dreamer Miyu: Not crazy. Every example you gave was correct. If you'd like to understand Ruatha faster, though... He speaks Dovahzul from Skyrim, or at least a version of it. And yes... Lafitte being absent may present some difficulties for the Straw Hats further down the Grand Line. As for everyone's bounties... I have it planned, where and how they'll get them. Just need to decide on one more epithet, and the amounts everyone is worth.

Pokemonever1994: Huh. I hadn't noticed that. I gave him his colours for... You'll see at the end of this chapter. And yes, general consensus was that Cross and Soundbite won. Don't mind that chapter; it was just me and Evan having some Xomniac-approved fun.

Molly Grace: Thank you very much! ^_^ And I hadn't really thought of it that way, the thing about strength and recruiting. I was just doing what felt right. But you make a good point... Thanks! And here's the first chapter of Skypiea!

For a few minutes, I couldn't see anything but black. Even most of the Merry was obscured by thick clouds, like dark cotton. Condensation gathered on my hair, my clothes… My glasses fogged up so I wouldn't have been able to see anything even if there was any light. Hands shaking, my heart leapt into my mouth; what if we hit the bottom of Upper Yard? We'd never see it coming until it was too late.

The air was getting thinner. Between that and the fear and all the moisture, I could barely breathe.

All around me, the ship was humming. Lines and wings strained, vibrating in the wind. The sound of rain on wood, flesh and fabric made a thunderous drumming sound. But somehow, despite this, there was an eerie silence. None of my crewmates were speaking, or even screaming- although a few of them clutched the rails so tight their fingers were turning blue.

Or maybe that was from the cold. It wasn't just the air pressure falling as we rose; it was the temperature as well. Not below freezing, but enough to be noticeable. And uncomfortable. Hopefully it wouldn't get too low; I didn't think I could deal with it if our wings iced up.

POP!

My ears felt like they were exploding as the pressure equalized. Whoops. Better pay more attention to that. Didn't wanna lose my hearing; it was the only sense I had that worked. Rhythmic swallows every few seconds helped, keeping things nice and equal- although taking time for that meant even more trouble catching my breath as the air thinned.

The minute amount of gravity I was absorbing, I redirected to increase friction between my feet and the deck. With the Merry nearly vertical- a sudden shift of the wind could send us into a stall, or even keeling over backwards- I needed all the help I could get maintaining my footing. My legs and back burned from the effort; standing like this was so much harder than my usual Spider Climb.

And then… Light.

Merry's figurehead pierced through the top of the clouds, followed swiftly by the rest of her. After so long in darkness, it stung my eyes.

There was much less wind up here; we were losing lift rapidly. Kicking the elevators down, I levelled Merry out- then immediately pulled her nose up again. The little caravel landed heavily on the White Sea, spraying clouds up on either side. She skipped over the pale waves a few times, shaking us about; it wasn't the best landing. But at least she made it through in one piece.

Dropping my control over forces, I collapsed on the deck. My everything ached, and I could barely breathe. This was… Not good. Panting rapidly, I tried to crawl to the rails in order to pull myself up. Even moving a few feet left me exhausted.

And I wasn't the only one. Ghin was leaning heavily on the winch, too weak to turn it and fold Merry's wings in. Johnny and Yosaku sat on deck, shaking, Lisa and Usopp draped tiredly over their laps. Toma looked white as a sheet, barely strong enough to maintain consciousness; Chopper cuddled the boy worriedly, sluggishly checking his eyes. Nami swayed, looking dizzy. Sanji offered a hand to support her, although looking a bit lightheaded himself. Robin and Zoro were trying very hard not to let anyone see they were affected by the altitude change, while Luffy was sprawled out across the deck like an octopus. Drifter had curled up into a ball.

Geier and Ruatha, of course, were fine. My dragon charged over to where I knelt, butting me with his head and crooning with concern.

"Oww…" I shoved my baby away weakly. He snorted and whined, returning to rest his chin on my head.

Nami actually took the hand Sanji was offering, leaning heavily on the cook. "I… I knew air got thinner when you went up a mountain, but I never expected it'd be this much thinner…"

"We're in the bloody stratosphere," I panted, "On any sane world, we'd be dying soon."

Yosaku blinked blearily at me. "Big Sis… Just cause that's how the world you're from works, don't mean it's the only sane one."

Hmm… True. I'd only ever experienced two; that was hardly a good sample to work from. Bleh… My head ached, all fuzzy-like. "Sorry…"

Usopp whimpered. "We'll never be able to fight like this! We can barely move! That lightning guy you mentioned will be able to pick us off like fish in a barrel!"

I wanted to whack Usopp over the head, but was too exhausted to move that far. "Donna talk 'bout future stuffs up 'ere," I slurred. Ergh… I was starting to feel dizzy. And sick. "Enel-face's got Mantra; can 'ear almost all the island… Sesese… Ear… Got 'uge ears too…"

Ghin shifted, groaned, and made a face. "Someone poke her for me. Her brain's falling out."

"Schrawk!" Geier hopped over, extending one huge wing to buffet my head lightly. It didn't help. My brain still felt like it was made of cotton balls. Or feathers… Such soft, pretty feathers… With black and white spots dancing over them… Fuzzy…

Oozing to his feet, Luffy frowned with concern. "Jones? Jones, you don't sound so good. And I'm starting to feel better… Does the strato-thing you mentioned hurt people from your world more than ours?"

"Meeeeeeeeeeh? Whatcha talkin' 'bout? I feel fine. I feel happy. I think Imma go for a walk." So saying, I tried and failed to drag myself to my feet. The only result was me rolling across the deck for a bit, before deciding that even that was too tiring. Stopping, I pressed my forehead into warm wood. My lungs struggled for air.

Can't breathe, can't breathe, can't breathe! Part of my brain was panicking… The rest was focused on how pine-y the planks tasted. Darkness wasn't so much nibbling at the edges of my vision as it was… Taking Jaws-sized bites from it.

Never did like that movie…

A small hand grabbed my shoulder, shaking me roughly. Nami's voice- slightly out of breath, but no worse than after a brief run- was an urgent hiss in my ear.

"Jones! You need to use your powers- now! Raise the air pressure around your head!"

Powers? Yeee… My powers were always fuuuuuuuuuuun… But why did Nami want me to use them?

…

Of course; we were sailing now. On clouds! So if the weather was calm my powers could make wind. Not much, and not sure if it'd be going in the right direction… But it was better than nothing. Although doing it around my head would be a bit odd, but whate-

"Under Pressure!"

Or, well, more like Reverse Force Choke. My mind suddenly cleared as I sucked in a few breaths of proper air. Holding the pressure close to me at close to an atmosphere of pressure left a constant tingling throughout my body, but at least I could think now. And move.

Rolling onto my back, I took a few deep breaths. Sweet, sweet air! Or, well, not all that sweet- it tasted like a busy photocopy room- but I'd take the ozone as long as I had to, as long as I could think straight. "Ergh…"

By now, everyone else seemed to have adjusted. Even Ghin and Toma seemed as close to alright as they could be, what with their injuries. Taking a few more deep breaths, I rolled to my feet. "Sorry about that…"

"You really do come from a world where people are weaker," Zoro mumbled thoughtfully. I could see gears spinning in his head- they ground to a stop, though, when he realized I already trained my ass off most days.

Plus, he already had Toma.

Now that I had more energy, I strode across the deck and thwacked Usopp on the back of the head. The gunner winced and rubbed his skull, staring at me in disbelief. "What was that for?!"

"We can't talk spoilers here. At all. Or any plans, really."

Luffy frowned and pouted slightly, arms folded. "Jones… I thought we agreed you need to talk to us."

That made me flinch slightly. "I know… And… I'll tell you if you insist, but- counterpoint."

Everyone looked at me expectantly. I raised an eyebrow. "Don't think about pink elephants."

For a long moment, no one spoke. The whole crew blinked in unison a couple of times- which was actually kind of creepy. Then Robin frowned.

"Is this a matter of reverse psychology?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, it is. This is the only time this'll happen, as far as I know, but for this island, I need you to let me not tell you anything. Enel's Haki lets him hear across the entire bloody island- I'm honestly not sure if we're inside his range yet or not. And the more you know, the more likely you'll say something out loud and land us all in trouble. Admittedly not much trouble, since god-complex or not, Luffy's immune to pretty much anything a lightning logia could throw at us, but still."

A large bead of sweat rolled down the side of Ghin's head, and I don't think it was entirely from the pain of his wound. "Jones… If anyone was gonna say something and get us in trouble, I think that would've done it."

Well… Oops. My blood ran cold. Listening, I couldn't hear any crackling that might indicate an incoming lightning strike, but just to be safe… "You can smite me where I stand, or you can watch me repeatedly slam my head against the mast. Which would you prefer?"

There was no indication of any sort of answer, but that didn't stop me. Spinning on my heel, I faced the mast and deliberately minimized the absorptive quality of my powers.

"I."

Thunk.

"Am."

Thunk.

"Such."

Thunk.

"An."

Thunk.

"Idiot."

Thunk.

Of course, minimized as they were, my powers still absorbed some of the force, so despite slamming my head into the mast quite hard, I ended up with only a mild headache. After the fifth thunk, Usopp came over and placed a hand between my head and the wood. "Jones…"

"Sorry, sorry. Forgot. Sorry, Merry." Rubbing my forehead with one hand, I reached out and patted Merry with the other. A line came undone somewhere above, falling to drape across my shoulders.

Ghin rolled his eyes.

"Not what I was worried about," Usopp grumbled, "But if it gets you to stop…"

Luffy was looking around like ha half-expected Enel to drop out of the sky after what I'd said. Which, okay, given what happened with people like Dragon and Ace, that wouldn't have been all that surprising. Didn't happen, though. My captain frowned.

"Jones… I thought you said there was an island up here. Where is it? Is it invisible?"

Nami spoke up hot on his heels. "The log pose is still pointing up. Steeply."

I nodded. "We're not at the island yet, no. There's two levels up here- the White Sea, which we're on, and the White-White Sea, which is three kilometers up. That's where Skypiea is." Looking at the clouds above us, I frowned. "On my world, that'd be two kilometers too high. We'd suffocate. But I guess the only one in danger of that is me."

Around the ship, the wind fwooshed softly. It was weaker than at sea level, but still noticeable. Oddly rhythmic, though.

Also frowning, Nami followed my gaze. "Three kilometers up… How do we get up there? Will there be another Knock Up Stream?"

"No, no, nothing like that. There's a bridge."

Freezing for a moment, Nami chuckled and sighed. "Of course there is. We sailed up a mountain to enter the Grand Line- why does anything surprise me anymore?"

I shrugged, as did about half of the rest of the crew. Rolling her eyes fondly, our sailing master checked the log pose to see if she could use it to determine where Heaven's Gate was. Which… She must be able to eventually, given that they got there in canon.

"Umm… Jones?" Lisa sounded oddly worried. The little girl was looking out over the rails, eyes fixed on something below the ship. I glanced over, confused. What could she possibly be looking at? There was nothing there but cloud.

"What is it?"

"If the island's supposed to still be above us… Where'd that guy come from?"

Tabarnak. I'd forgotten about Wyper, hadn't I? Rushing to the rails, I followed Lisa's gaze. There. Small, dark figure, approaching rapidly across the clouds. Still too far to see details clearly, but I could make out the shape of his Burn Bazooka slung across his back.

Merde… Even if people weren't struggling for breath now, I didn't think anyone was in a state to be fighting just yet. But then, how could we protect the Going Merry? How could we protect each other? We had wounded people aboard!

Luffy seemed to be able to tell that the rapidly approaching figure wasn't friendly. Frowning, the captain pointed at Wyper. "Usopp, get him!"

"I can't!" The gunner flailed beside me. "I'm all outta ammo!"

"Crap! Sorry!" Jumping up on the rails, Luffy held onto Merry's rigging with one hand. He held his other close for a minute, waiting for Wyper to get closer. Soon enough, the Shandian warrior skated into focus. Not that much could actually be seen of him no matter how close he got- Wyper was wearing a large, garishly painted wooden battle mask that concealed his face and large portions of his body. Feathers, beads, and braided fur adorned the edges of the mask; the whole of it was painted with a grimacing face in bright red, white, and green.

"Gum-Gum BB!" Luffy snapped his fist forward. He couldn't reach Wyper yet, but the concussive burst of air that flew off Luffy's knuckles soared plenty far enough.

The clouds at Wyper's feet exploded from the blow, sending the Shandian warrior tumbling. He flipped through the air, landing back on his feet and skating towards us even faster than before. Pulling his bazooka from his back and setting it in position, Wyper took aim as he approached.

"Oh no you don't." Luffy fired off a few more punches, trying to drive Wyper off. "Gum-Gum BB! Gum-Gum BB! Gum-Gum Pistol!"

At this point, though, Wyper was prepared for the attacks. Clearly used to fighting and dodging while skating, he leapt aside as each strike came in, hardly slowing his forward motion. His bazooka was still aimed steadily at the Going Merry.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

Wyper jumped over Luffy's final punch, soaring into the air. His wings may have been vestigial, but they flared as the Shandian warrior reached the apex of his leap. Vestigial flight instincts too, perhaps? Then, adjusting his aim, Wyper fired on the ship.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! KA-FWOOM! KA-FWOOM! KA-FWOOM!

Four shots. Three were solid shot, oddly-shaped missiles that arced through the air like skipping stones. But the first blast was a wave of fire, expanding over the ship in a cone-shaped wave. It also provided a burst of hot air that gave Wyper a brief moment of lift, allowing him to flip over the Going Merry and land on the other side. He didn't stick around either; with a few swooshing steps on his skates, Wyper darted away, vanishing before his missiles had even hit.

The fire hit first, catching on Merry's wings. Hissing and crackling filled the air, accompanied by the stench of burning wool and oil paints. The fumes made me ill; from the looks on their faces, many of my crewmates felt the same. Not that we had more than a fraction of a second to smell it.

Something must've switched off what little common sense I have, because I took a slight step to the side as the solid missiles arced in. That movement put me right at ground zero when the missiles hit and exploded. Which… At least I was more resistant to such things than the Merry?

Still odd to think that sort of thing.

I raised my arms above my head in a cross block. Flinching, every muscle in my body tensed as I shut my eyes tight.

Right before the missiles hit, Usopp grabbed my shoulder, trying to pull me out of the way. "Jones, what're you-?!"

FBOOM! FBOOM! FBOOM!

Osti d'épais de marde! What was in those things? Reject Dials?! That's certainly what it felt like, although I knew Reject Dials were too rare for that to actually be the case. Still, though…

The missiles exploded against my forearms one after another; force sang through my bones. Merde. That hit so hard it hurt. And made me sick… My head throbbed, over my limits. And then…

KA-SHOOM!

Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air, staring up at the clouds above. I felt less nauseous now, at least. Although there was a certain level of embarrassment… I hadn't exploded like that since, well, ever. Even when Ace kicked attacked me in Alabasta, I hadn't overloaded that badly.

Well, first order of business- find out how far I'd flung myself from the Going Merry and, if possible, find a way to steer my descent onto something that wouldn't kill me on landing. I slowly extended one arm, causing me to roll in my flight, extending the other shortly after so I'd end up level on my stomach. Ideally I'd arch my back to slow my fall, too, but there was a slight problem with that…

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

I wasn't alone. Rather than letting go or being knocked away when I exploded, Usopp had grabbed on tight to my shoulder. His brave but foolish attempt to pull me out of danger now meant that both of us were flying through the air away from the ship. And he was throwing my balance off, clinging to one side like that.

"Usopp!" I snapped, unsure if he could hear me over his own wailing and the wind whistling past us.

The answer was apparently yes, as the gunner immediately snapped his mouth shut with a startled "Meep!" It was followed a few seconds later by what sounded like quiet words, but was probably a fairly loud whine in actuality.

"We're gonna die!"

"Not if you deploy your parachute and help me level out!"

I felt Usopp relax as he remembered he had that. A panicked shift took him to the center of my back so he was no longer sending us keeling sideways. Then there was a loud click, followed by a brief snap and whoosh as rope and fabric unfurled.

"Usopp Parachute!"

Momentum- both forward and downward- halted with a sudden snap. The shock of it nearly ripped me away from Usopp- would have, had he not squeaked loudly and hugged tight to my neck. I flailed for a moment as my breath was cut off for the second time that day.

"GRCK!"

"Sorry!" Usopp shifted his grip so he was basically hugging me from behind. Which was… Still uncomfortable, but less likely to lead to me strangling or snapping my neck.

Rubbing my throat, I took a deep breath before letting out a pained croak. "How far are we from the Merry?" The position we were in, it was slightly easier for him to turn and look than for me.

"I- I don't know…"

Keeping my body as still as possible so as not to send us flipping around or getting tangled in the 'chute, I turned my head to stare at Usopp out of the corner of my eye. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean I can't see the Merry!"

"You what?!" How the bloody Hell could we have flown that far, that quickly? Line of sight up here should be ridiculous!

"I said I don't see the Merry!" Usopp squeezed me reflexively, a brief jolt of force. Not that I could do anything with it- I didn't think I could steer us, and there was no point shooting forward faster.

"Tabarnak!" This was bad. This was very, very bad. I had no idea where we were headed, if we were headed towards anything at all. Only thing I could think of was maybe G8. Merde, was my writer seriously going to have me and Usopp miss Skypiea? That was no fair!

Or… Was she planning to kill us off? Was my job done, now that Blackbeard was dead?

I closed my eyes, face scrunching into a frown. No… No, even if that's what she intended, I wasn't going to let her. If she was trying to drop us into the sea, I'd find a way to fly to G8; if she was trying to make us miss Skypiea, I'd find a way to float back up. I could manipulate fucking gravity, at least a little. There had to be a way through this.

"Usopp! If you see anything that looks even a little like land, tell me immediately!" Still wasn't sure how I'd steer, but first things first. I absorbed as much gravity as I dared, slowing our fall until, between the parachute and my powers, it was barely noticeable.

Of course, thanks to the parachute, our forward momentum was lessening greatly as well. While not ideal, it at least made it easier for Usopp and I to hear each other.

"Will do!" Usopp slipped his goggles down over his eyes with one hand, nearly dropping me in the process. I flinched and momentarily lost my hold over both gravity and air pressure, setting the both of us to swaying and leading to a few seconds of being unable to breathe as I got things back under control. Usopp cringed and resumed holding me tight with both arms. "Sorry!"

I'm not sure exactly how long we flew after that. Every second the gunner and I hung suspended in the air felt like an hour. My brain was going haywire. This was terrifying- I had no idea where we were, how far we'd flown, how long I could maintain both my breathing and the reduced gravity. Would we fall? Were we even going in the right direction to encounter any land? What would happen if we did?

But at the same time… It was exhilarating. We were flying, and there was nothing- nothing- beneath or around us. Usopp and I were gliding under our own power, more or less, even if we were even less capable of steering than an early hot air balloon.

Samsung stuck its eyestalks out of its pouch, took one look around, and quickly withdrew into its shell. I patted that pouch absently. Yeah… Snails weren't meant for the sky. Not the way dragons were. It was kind of too bad Ruatha wasn't with us- he'd have loved this. Then again, I wouldn't want my baby in this sort of danger, so it was best that he'd been left back at the ship.

"Land to port!" Usopp shouted after a while. I jerked in surprise, setting us swinging.

Land? Already? But we hadn't even passed the edge of the White Sea yet! What kind of land could possibly be visible? I glanced in the direction Usopp had indicated. Sure enough, while it was still too distant to make out any details, there was a dark blotch on the horizon. Had some mountain island poked its peak up through the clouds? Were Usopp and I headed for a non-canon island?

Well, it could be worse.

Of course, we still had to get there. I began pumping my legs back and forth, as if I was on a swing. "Okay, follow my rhythm. I think we're falling slow enough that we should make it if we redirect now."

Frowning, Usopp did as I asked. He glanced from me to the land several times as we slowly, slowly managed to shift our course, until… "Can't you just use your powers to shoot us over there? That's what got us into trouble in the first place."

"I would if I could," I panted. My control over air pressure was starting to slip; I'd have to release gravity soon to be able to maintain my ability to breathe. "But that only works when I've got something to push off of."

Usopp's frown deepened. We started sinking faster as I was forced to focus my powers on my breathing- couldn't work two forces at once for very long, it seemed. The faster we sank, the more frantically Usopp and I swung, until every movement was almost big enough to tangle the parachute lines. Every swing brought us slightly closer to the land poking up through the clouds.

But not close enough.

I didn't need to do the math- I could see, could feel our trajectory. We were going to fall short by several hundred meters. And we had no way of knowing what was under the clouds, as far as landing underneath. No way of knowing what sort of terrain we'd encounter, or how long we'd take to hit it after falling through clouds that would temporarily negate my powers due to their high pyrobloin content…

"Are you sure you can't make us go any faster?" Usopp asked, worried. His arms were shaking with fatigue from holding onto me so long. "I'd even take a crash landing like when Luffy Rockets people around, as long as we land."

"Still nothing to push off of." My voice cracked loudly mid-sentence. Usopp flinched, looking around wildly.

"You sure? Absolutely sure? You can't, I dunno, kick off a cloud or something? Not even a little? Raise the air pressure enough to make yourself a trampoline?"

Huh? I… Hadn't thought of that, actually. Maybe… It was certainly worth a try. I wouldn't be able to hold anything like that for very long, but I wouldn't need to. A second at the very most; that should be plenty. The technique would be difficult, though- timing was critical.

I knew exactly what to call it.

Snapping one leg back and down as if stomping on something, I very briefly increased the air pressure under the ball of my foot until the air was nearly solid. Only for an instant, though, like with punching- time on target was key, in this case, to getting the most speed out of it. I released a burst of force into the solidified air even as I let go my hold on it; the result sent me and Usopp careening forward in spite of the parachute's drag. I grinned as the wind whistled around us.

"Geppo!"

-V-

"MONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Ruatha's distressed scream cut through the air as Jones and Usopp disappeared into the clouds with a twinkle. And Luffy… Well, even if he wasn't screaming like the dragon, he wanted to. His friends were being taken away again. No way of helping, no way of knowing if they'd be safe, if he'd be able to meet up with them again. The rubber boy tried to grab his gunner and quartermaster, but the explosion happened so fast… They were out of range by the time he'd reached for them.

"Monah! Daal! Daal!"

Before anyone could stop him, the dragon jumped up on the rails, then onto Zoro's shoulders, which he used as a springboard to launch himself into the air. That sent the bosun crashing face-first into the deck- while Ruatha may still have been much smaller than the adult dragons they'd seen, he wasn't really little anymore. Luffy was pretty sure the dragon was heavier than he was, at this point.

White wings spread out to a distance of almost eight meters as Ruatha leapt. His first frantic flap clipped the rigging as he cleared the ship, nearly sending him into a roll. Luffy snapped an arm out, not willing to lose another crewmate so soon… Only to blink in surprise as his hand came back to him without making contact as a few quick, powerful beats raised Ruatha into the sky.

"MONAH!"

Luffy could have grabbed onto the dragon, hauled Ruatha back. Unlike Jones and Usopp, he wasn't disappearing all that quickly, and now that he was flying steady, Ruatha was an easy target. But the rubber boy's hands remained at his sides. In part because he was a little stunned, and in part because…

Ruatha could finally fly now and even if he wasn't big enough to ride it was just so cool and maybe he could find Jones and Usopp and help them but he was too small to ride but Jones had gravity powers so as long as they didn't fall into the water she could make them light enough for Ruatha to pull them back to the ship, right?

Blinking a few times, Luffy finally forced himself to move again. And the first thing he did was point in the direction Ruatha was headed. "Drifter! Geier! Follow Ruatha! Find Jones and Usopp; help them if you can! We'll come too, but you're faster!"

Aye-Aye Captain! Drifter was on his partner's back before he'd even finished writing his sign. Geier shrieked as she took to the air, feathered wings pounding.

"SCHAAAAAAOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The pair took off like lightning. Unlike Ruatha, Geier was nowhere near clipping the rigging as she barrelled away from the ship. She did, however, nearly collide head-on with a shadow that descended from the clouds just as she was taking off. Squawking loudly, the vulture rolled sideways to avoid impact. Drifter clung tightly to his Stetson to keep it from falling off during the maneuver.

"SKYARK!"

The descending shadow was no less surprised. A large and awkward shape, it shot to one side with considerably less dexterity than Geier, accompanied by the sound of heavy, metallic clanking. An elderly voice called out in alarm.

"Pierre, get a hold of yourself! It's just a bir- Ah! What in the name of sea and sky is that?! And why is it burning?!"

Right, the wings were still on fire. Luffy turned to try and put them out, only to find Nami, Johnny, and Yosaku had beaten him to it. The sailing master had her Clima-Tact snapped together and was waving it like a wand while the hunters fired their spray guns at the flames.

"Rain Tempo!"

"Water Cannon!"

The fires were put out in relatively short order. And… While none of them had damaged the Merry proper, her wings were no more. The frames and inner workings… might be salvageable. They'd bent and deformed a bit from the heat, but they were mostly intact. But the wing membranes had burned as only wool coated in oil paint can; those were gone completely. Merry wouldn't be flying again any time soon.

Once he'd determined that his crew had the situation under control, Luffy looked up at the shadowy arrival. He could see it- them- better now, with the flames gone and the fact that the shadow was hovering a lot lower over the ship. An armoured man, kinda old and skinny, sitting on the back of a pink and red winged horse. The old man held a long lance in one hand; his other gripped the horse's reins.

A sky knight. Cool.

"Oh. Blue Sea dwellers. My apologies." The knight seemed a lot less confused now that he could see the ship properly. He was still a little confused, though. "Where did you come from?"

"The Knock-Up Stream," Luffy answered bluntly, folding his arms. Spinning his head around, he searched for Ghin. But the rigger was nowhere to be found… Must've gone below decks. Why, though? Well then… "Were our sails burned? Can we use 'em?"

"No and yes." It was Sanji who answered. The cook was halfway into the rigging, securing a couple of lines. "Nami dear and the shitty hunters managed to get the fires put out before they damaged anything important."

"Good. Everyone, get ready to sail after Jones and Usopp. We'll find the sky island later, once we've got them back."

"Jyoooooooooooooh…" said the southbird sadly, still tied to its perch. Chopper blinked, ears twitching.

"No, I don't think we need you anymore. Sorry about that." Popping into Heavy Point to be better able to reach, the little doctor untied the bird. She let out one last eerie call as she spread her wings to fly away.

"Jyooo-oooh!"

"The Knock-Up-!" The sky knight nearly fell off his horse in surprise. "That was very brave of you. Not many crews chose that way; it's-!"

"Yeah, we know, all or nothing." Zoro had finally peeled himself off the deck where Ruatha had squashed him into it. The bosun came up to stand at Luffy's right. Folding his arms, he stared at the sky knight. "Our quartermaster told us. But none of us knew any other ways up here."

"Well then…" The knight took a moment to process this. His horse descended to land on the deck of the Going Merry and- turn into a giant bird? Cool! That bird must have a transforming Devil Fruit, like Chopper!

Luffy reached out to pet the bird absently. It jerked in surprise and started to fluff its feathers. But Luffy knew from Geier where to rub to make birds like him, now- this wouldn't be like the chickens in Foosha Village. Finding the special spot, Luffy dug his fingers in. The pink and red horse-bird melted into his touch.

"Krooooooooo…"

"Well, you seem to have made it up unscathed," Unlike his mount, the sky knight wasn't distracted, "But… What was that about going after a couple of your crewmates? Were they knocked off by the Stream? I've never heard of that happening before."

"Nah. Some idiot in a mask shot at us and blew 'em up." Luffy frowned. Why had that guy shot at them, anyway? They weren't doing anything wrong. "They should be okay for a bit, though- Ruatha, Drifter, and Geier went after them. But we should go too; they might not be able to bring Jones and Usopp back by themselves."

He had to believe that his quartermaster and his gunner would be alright, that it was just a matter of finding them and pulling them back aboard. He had to. Because otherwise…

Luffy really wished Jones would stop doing these things. There was only so much of his crewmates nearly dying when he couldn't help them that he could take.

"Mask…?" The sky knight smacked a hand into his face, gauntlet meeting helm with a mighty clang. His voice came out an irritated hiss. "Of all the… Attacking innocent Blue Sea dwellers who have nothing to do with…"

Sighing, the knight reached awkwardly around and began fiddling in one of his saddlebags. It was kind of funny to watch- they clearly weren't meant to be accessed while his mount was in bird form. Pulling out a shiny thing dangling from a string, he cleared his throat.

"Normally I charge for these, but since you're new here and obviously in distress…" The knight shot a glance at Toma as the boy leaned dazedly against the mast. "My name is Gan Fall, knight of the sky, and this is my partner Pierre. This whistle will call us, wherever we may be."

He passed the whistle to Luffy. Which… The rubber boy's first instinct was to say No thanks, that they didn't need help, but… They were in the sky, and their dragon wasn't big enough to carry people yet. Having a flying person they could call if they needed help was probably a good thing.

"Thanks, Knight Fall!" Luffy hung the whistle around his neck. It made a cool necklace, so shiny it was almost white.

Then Lisa came scrambling over. Her eyes were wet; worry rolled off her in waves. But no sadness, which was odd. Luffy was always confused when people's faces didn't match their emotions. The little girl thumped against Pierre's feathery flank, clinging to one of Gan Fall's legs.

"Please, Mister Knight Sir, can you go after Jones and Usopp too?" Lisa pointed in the direction that so many people had flown off in as of late. She sniffled as she continued. "It's just… Ruatha and Geier aren't big enough to pick up people…"

"Of course, little one. I'll see if I can find your friends." Gan Fall patted Lisa on the head; Pierre turned from a bird back into a winged horse. Hooves clacked on wood as the horse-bird jumped onto the rail in preparation to take off.

"Now, before I go, I should warn you. Blue Sea dwellers often have trouble brea-!"

"Breathing?" Nami interrupted, one hand on her hip. Gan Fall paused and nodded. Luffy's sailing master smirked. "Yeah, we already noticed. Most of us are getting used to it though, more or less. It's a little weird… But we'll be okay."

The sky knight looked taken aback. "Unusual," he muttered. "Then again, it's been a while since I had anything to do with Blue Sea dwellers, so I may have forgotten some things… Well, if you're certain…"

"We'll be alright," Luffy confirmed. "But if you could go try and find Jones and Usopp, that'd be great. I… don't know how quick we can reach them, and I don't want them to fall…"

"Of course, of course. My apologies for the delay." Clicking his tongue, Gan Fall nudged Pierre's flanks. The horse-bird whickered and leapt into the air, great pink wings opening wide as the pair shot away. The wind carried Gan Fall's voice back to the ship as he and his partner shrank away from view.

"Remember- just whistle if you need anything!"

Luffy nodded, even though he knew the old man wouldn't be able to see. He'd remember… Although he'd try to make sure his crew didn't need anything.

Shaking himself, Luffy looked around. "Alright! All hands on deck! We've gotta head after them too!"

"AYE-AYE CAPTAIN!"

Everyone shouted in unison as they scrambled to their positions- except Toma, who was still sitting by the mast. He couldn't scramble anywhere, not with Chopper watching him like that. And Ghin, who was still missing… Luffy was starting to get worried on that front. He knew Ghin wouldn't have left the ship, but… Why had he disappeared?

Merry turned slowly as everyone got to work. With a number of the crew missing or injured, she felt noticeably different as she moved- or maybe that was the clouds being different than the ocean they were used to sailing on. Luffy thought both, actually.

In Ghin's absence, the captain took his rigger's usual place aloft. Which… How was Ghin going to keep doing that with only one arm? Luffy knew you could still be a pirate with only one arm- Shanks did it, after all- but being a rigger specifically… Tying all the knots and climbing around all the time was a lot easier with two hands.

They hadn't sailed very far when Ghin reappeared from below decks, climbing awkwardly with something large tucked into his jacket. His skin was pale and sweaty; once back on deck, the rigger collapsed in a heap and panted. He wasn't up for that sort of thing yet. Worried, Luffy dropped from the lines.

"Ghin… Where'd you go? You should rest." The rubber boy placed a hand on his rigger's head and rubbed gently. So soft… Ghin's hair was unusually fluffy, for being so short. Made Luffy wonder what the rest of his crewmates' hair felt like.

He should check. Later.

"Needed a way to check on Jones and Usopp." Propping himself up against Nami's tangerine pots, Ghin undid his jacket and pulled the large lump out. It was a brown and tan den-den mushi- one of the ones Jones had gotten in Alabasta. Despite his worries, Luffy beamed.

"You can call them and see if they're alright?"

"Assuming Jones' main snail is awake, yeah." Setting the den-den on his knee, Ghin awkwardly dialed a string of numbers. Luffy frowned, trying to memorize them in case he ever needed to call Jones in the future.

Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru.

The snail rang for a long time. Long enough that Luffy started to get worried again. He bit his lip as he stared at the mollusc. And then, finally…

Ka-clik.

"Can you call back later, Sabo? Now's not a good time." The snail's expression was scrunched up in a good impression of Jones' frustrated expression.

Ghin stared flatly at the den-den mushi. "I'm not Sabo."

"Oh." Jones sounded sheepish now. "Sorry… I forgot you knew my number… What's up?"

"Where are you guys?" Luffy butted in, unable to help himself. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Usopp and I are… Alive," was Jones' hesitant answer. "Okay is… debateable, but it's something I think we can get out of. We're… Gonna be making a slight detour, but we'll meet you in Upper Yard. Don't worry."

"Upper Yard?" Ghin demanded, "Where's that? How long 'til we get there?"

"It's part of the upper level… Of Skypiea proper. Don't worry about us; you need to get there. We'll catch up soon." There was a loud, incomprehensible burst of noise; the snail flinched. "Sorry, but I've gotta go. Shit's going down that shouldn't be. Remember, Upper Yard!"

Ka-clik! Jones didn't give them a chance to respond before she hung up. Luffy scowled at the den-den mushi. That was rude.

Ghin let out a grumbling sigh. "At least they're alive. And close enough, I guess."

All around them, the ship had gone still. Everyone had paused to listen to the call, faces showing varying degrees of relief. Chopper was outright beaming, his hooves shaking. Zoro placed a hand on Luffy's head, flattening his hat into his hair.

"So… Which way? Follow them, or look for this Upper Yard place?"

Well… That was actually pretty easy. If Jones and Usopp were alive, and expecting to meet them in Upper Yard, then by the time the Going Merry got to wherever they were now, the quartermaster and sniper might be gone. So it made more sense to go to the place they expected to meet and look for them, then backtrack later if they had to.

"We'll go find this Upper Yard thing," Luffy decided. "Jones said there was some bridge somewhere, right? So we need to find that. If she'n Usopp are okay, I trust them to meet us there."

Nodding absently, Zoro looked around. "A bridge up to the next level, huh? Sounds easy enough. All we need to do is head north."

Over by the base of the mast, Toma groaned. He reached up to rub his temples, although one hand immediately pulled back on feeling the wounds on that side of his head. "With all due respect, Sensei…"

"Mhmm?" Zoro turned to look at his apprentice. The boy went completely deadpan.

"You're an idiot."

Lisa nodded in agreement. "North and up aren't the same thing at all. That's why Nami navigates."

The tips of Zoro's ears turned faintly red. Grumbling something about not hitting people who were in no state to defend themselves, the bosun wandered off to polish his swords.

Nami tapped impatiently at the corner of one of her maps. "The only problem is, even I can't navigate if I have no idea where we're trying to go. If we got close enough to the cloud bridge I could find it, maybe, but that still requires me knowing which direction to start looking."

For several minutes, everyone was quiet. If they'd been able to see the sky properly, maybe their sailing master could've done something with the position of the sun, but… They couldn't see the sun from here. Just vague, diffuse light through the clouds. And Nami's log pose was pointing too much up still for them to get a reliable direction off of it.

Luffy thought he heard a cricket chirp in the silence. But no, it was just Yosaku adjusting something on his sprayer.

After a few minutes, Toma frowned up at the sky. "Jones-senpai… She said there were people in this Skypiea place, right?"

Sanji nodded, lighting a cigarette. "Yeah… Both some shitty bastards for us to fight, and some less shitty non-bastards who could help us figure out those shell dial things. Why?"

Zoro's apprentice looked thoughtful, gazing at a specific cloud formation a little to starboard. "I… Not every person has one, but the lights are usually attached to people. It's worth a try…" Toma's eyes flickered to a patch of empty air by the door to the galley on the word usually. Luffy wondered what that was about.

Apparently, so did the rest of his crew. Especially Chopper. The little reindeer cantered worriedly to Toma's side, placing one hoof on the boy's forehead. "You don't feel feverish, and I don't think anything's infected… But you're seeing lights? Where? What do they look like? How long has this been happening?"

"Since before I got hurt," Toma insisted quietly. "It… I noticed it around when we left Asuka Island- sometimes, people and objects just glow. Always different colours… But I don't know what they mean…"

The boy shook his head, wincing as that aggravated his injury. Then he pointed at the cloud formation he'd been staring at, starboard and up. "There's one up there- a really bright one. White-gold. I… can't tell if it's a person or not, though."

Toma's words were followed by another long silence. And more chirping noises as Yosaku absently fiddled with his sprayer. Luffy… Wasn't sure whether to be worried or not. Seeing things that weren't there was usually a bad thing, right? But what if whatever Toma was seeing was there, and most people just couldn't see it?

Ah, well, even if there was something to worry about, once they knew what it was, they could fix it.

Nami rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well… I mean, it's not what I'd usually chose as a form of guidance, but we don't really have any other clues. So why the Hell not? Sure, let's follow the glowing lights in the sky that only Toma can see. We've done weirder things."

So saying, Luffy's sailing master took the helm. "Alright everyone, let's move. I hope this works."

"Yes!" Luffy bounced into the rigging to adjust the sails. "Island in the sky!"

Everyone else who was capable of it got to their posts. Not all with his enthusiasm, but… Eh, they'd come around. Once the crew was reunited, they could kick lightning bastard ass, then have a great party in the sky. This was so cool. Slightly worrying- Luffy was anxious to get his crew back together as soon as possible- but cool.

Now if only they could call Drifter like they could call Jones… Ah, but otters had good noses, right? So he could probably sniff people out. It'd be okay. Or at least, that's what Luffy kept telling himself as the Going Merry slowly turned and skated across the clouds.

As they drew nearer, the odd cloud formation resolved itself into something resembling a tangled lump of spaghetti. One strand rose up from the rest to disappear into the cloud layer above. Down at the base, level with the Merry, was an archway that held a set of intricately-wrought gates made of some pearly substance. A small, humanoid shape stood on a lump of clouds beside them.

The gates were open.

Closer still and it became obvious the human shape was a little old woman. Small and wrinkled like a raisin, her silvery hair was done up in two tight buns. A pair of white wings sprouted from her back. Like the man who'd attacked the Going Merry. Unlike that attacker, though, the little old lady was dressed in a pink smock that wouldn't have looked out of place in a shop in the East Blue.

A little out of style, said Luffy's inner Makino, but not out of place.

The little old lady didn't say anything as the Going Merry drew ever closer to her location. She did, however, raise up an oddly-shaped shell and click it several times. It gave off strange, small flashes. Luffy wondered what it was for; the flashes weren't enough to blind anyone or anything.

There was awkward silence as the Going Merry came right up beside the old woman's cloudy pier. For a moment, both sides just stared at each other. Then Nami waved.

"Hi! This, uh… Is this the way to Skypiea?"

"Yes."

Well, this old woman wasn't very talkative, was she? Luffy frowned. But she wasn't lying…

"So…" Nami fiddled with a section of her Clima-Tact. "Can we just… go through? How does this work?"

"The entry fee is 1,000,000,000 extols per person."

"WHAT?!" Nami's jaw dropped to the deck. When she brought it back up, her eyes were glowing faintly red. "That's highway robbery!"

Shrugging, the old woman continued to stare at them with blank, uninterested eyes. "That's the toll."

"There's no way we can afford that with a crew of our size!" Nami switched from shouting to pouting. "Can't we have a group discount?"

"No."

Groaning, Nami turned to look at the rest of the crew. "Does anyone know what the exchange rate is between beri and these extol things? Although with an amount that high, I don't think it matters…"

No one spoke up. Which wasn't surprising; none of them had ever been to an island in the sky before. Luffy shrugged helplessly at his sailing master. He didn't particularly care about this stuff; it sounded like money and math. Nami and Jones cared about those things; not him. Not usually, anyway.

Nami sighed and turned back to the old woman, a frown creasing her face. "Look… We're pirates. We don't have to pay your toll if we don't want to. So we'll be heading up now; stop us if you dare."

"Okay." The old woman shrugged and wandered over to a chair. Her flat, uninterested stare never left her face as she settled down.

"WHAT?!" Nami's jaw dropped again. Her eyes were glowing bright red this time as she yelled. "You're not even going to bother trying? What's the point in having a gatekeeper and a toll, then?!"

Once more, the old woman shrugged. "I don't know. But it's not like I could stop you, so go right ahead."

"Er… Okay… Thanks…" Nami's voice was small and confused. Luffy reached out to place a hand on his sailing master's shoulder as everyone got ready to sail up the spaghetti clouds. Then…

"What's the catch?"

Lisa leaned on the rail, shooting a piercing stare at the old woman. The gatekeeper, for her part, looked highly uncomfortable receiving such a look from a twelve-year-old girl.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do." Lisa scowled. It was adorable; Luffy just wanted to scoop her up and cuddle her. So he did. Which made the little painter pout, although she didn't break eye contact with the old woman even for a second as she continued talking.

"Like Nami said… There's no point in having a gatekeeper if you can sail through without paying the toll and face no consequences. There has to be a catch. And I'm insulted that you thought you could get away without telling us." Lisa's pout hardened into a glare. Which didn't make her any less adorable, so Luffy kept snuggling. "We're young, not stupid."

Luffy jerked in surprise. He… hadn't thought of that. Which he should have. It was just like the nobles in Goa; even the ones who did charity work, claimed to be helping the people of the lower classes… They always expected something in return.

A heavy sigh; the old woman slumped in her chair. "Fine. You got me. Snotty brats…" Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on her knees. "I can't stop you from going through without paying. If you do, though, you'll be branded as fugitives and hunted down by the White Berets and the Priests."

Well, that didn't sound good. Although Luffy was confident his crew could take anyone who came after them- especially if they knew people were coming. Still, it would be annoying.

Nami didn't seem to think it was worth the risk. Returning to the rail, Luffy's sailing master glowered down at the gatekeeper. Her eyes were starting to glow red again. "Will you tell us the exchange rate between beri and extol?"

"Yes."

There was a momentary pause. When the old woman didn't offer up any more information, Nami sighed, her eyes glowing brighter. "What is the exchange rate?"

"10,000 extol for 1 beri."

"That means… 100,000 beri per person to enter legally?" Nami thought for a moment. "That's… still expensive with a crew of our size. But at the same time… We should try to avoid unnecessary fights right now."

Right… Luffy winced. When he'd thought about being attacked randomly as "annoying," he'd been thinking with everyone at full strength. As they were now… He was still confident they could win, but it would be a lot riskier. Bowing his head, the rubber boy turned to his sailing master.

"If we can afford to pay, we should. I don't want people getting hurt again so soon. Don't wanna lose anybody…"

Nodding, Nami strode off to the galley and the small safe that was their treasury. She was muttering to herself the whole time. "Eleven people on the ship right now… That's 1,100,000 beri… 100,000 beri per person; it's the same as the cost for an adult back then…"

When she returned a moment later, Nami was frighteningly pale. She was shaking; her left hand strained as it clutched a small bundle of bills and coins. The sailing master looked like she might vomit, her eyes blown wide.

"We… don't have enough."

"What?" Luffy blinked in surprise. Setting Lisa down, he moved over to hug Nami. She looked like she needed a hug. "What do you mean?"

Whatever had Nami scared had to be bad- she didn't relax at all as Luffy hugged her. "The cost for everyone on the ship right now is 1,100,000 beri. We… Only have 800,000. We're almost broke… And we're three people short."

It was telling of how frightened she was that Nami didn't even ask who'd been spending all their money or try to figure out where it had gone. She seemed in a daze, barely registering the world around her. When a line came loose to fall and drape over her head, she flinched at the sound.

Oh dear… This… This was reminding her of what happened to her mother, wasn't it? Luffy rubbed Nami's shoulders soothingly- that was how you helped people relax, right?

"It'll be fine. We'll pay for everyone we can, and the rest of us will hide or fight or something. Everyone'll be okay."

Still shaking, Nami made a small squeaking noise. Then… "What- What about the ones who aren't on the ship?"

"It's Jones, Usopp, Ruatha, Drifter, and Geier." Luffy continued rubbing. "They're good at the sneaky ninja spy stuff; they'll be fine. Those White Bay guys will never even know they're around."

Zoro nodded. The bosun folded his arms, face creased with a determined scowl. "I'll be one of the ones we don't pay for. My leg's not that bad; I can fight just fine."

Chopper looked like he wanted to protest that. But a whimper from Toma and a stifled groan from Ghin made the doctor freeze. Furry ears laid flat. Because… Zoro was one of the less injured members of the crew, and strong enough that he could fight despite his wound.

Sanji huffed, chomping on the butt of his cigarette. "If Moss Brain's going in as an outlaw, I will too. Wouldn't do to have one of the lovely ladies in the middle of any upcoming madness, now would it?"

Luffy got the feeling that if Jones were there, she might've kicked Sanji for that comment. As it was, Lisa and Robin both looked tempted, and Nami probably would've been too if she'd been in her right mind.

"And me makes three." Because like Hell was Luffy putting another member of his crew in danger when he was fully capable of taking the target on his own back. Probably the most capable, from what Jones had said- his chest still hurt, but at least he was immune to one of the bastards who'd be after them. Apparently.

Immune meant the bastard's powers wouldn't hurt him, right? Luffy was pretty sure he knew that word- it was one Sabo used to use a lot- but pretty sure wasn't completely sure.

"But-!" Nami squeaked again, although she didn't seem capable of putting words together. Luffy gave her shoulders a final squeeze before removing his hat and placing it on his sailing master's head.

"We'll be fine. You'll see. You won't have to lose any of use again. I promise."

In lieu of answering, Nami shoved the money into his hand and tugged his hat low over her ears. Luffy patted her gently on the head before turning to look down at the old gatekeeper.

"Here you go! We're gonna pay for most of us, but me, Zoro, and Sanji are gonna be fugitives, 'cause we don't have enough money!" Luffy tossed the cash to the old woman, gesturing to himself, his bosun, and his cook so there'd be no confusion as to who was supposed to be attacked.

The old woman picked up the money and counted it. Then she looked up at the ship and counted the people on deck. "Okay. Have a nice day."

Well, that was underwhelming. Luffy shrugged as his crew took their positions and set sail once more. What an odd woman.

And an odd word. Luffy had heard people call things overwhelming before, and underwhelming too, but never just whelming. What would a whelming situation be, anyway? Shaking his head, the rubber boy derailed that train of thought before it started to make his brain hurt. If a whelming situation ever came up, someone would tell him. Then he'd know. Problem solved.

The Going Merry slowly rose higher and higher as they sailed her through the spaghetti-like bridge of clouds. Breathing became slightly more difficult again, although nothing too bad. They'd adjust soon enough. Luffy hung upside down from the lines, rocking back and forth. This was so cool… Island in the sky!

Below him, Lisa was frowning at Robin. "Why didn't you say anything about the old woman? You must've known she was hiding stuff too."

The archaeologist shrugged. "I wasn't sure it mattered." She closed her eyes and looked away, voice going quiet. "I've been on the run for most of my life; almost everything has some element of danger, hidden or no. I suppose I've grown so used to people trying to trick me that I didn't think it relevant."

"That's sad," Lisa stated bluntly. "I… I could fix it for you, that jaded suspicion. It wouldn't take much. But… I won't do it unless you ask."

"Thank you." Robin took a step away, then hesitated. "It's… more courtesy than most show, your reluctance to alter my emotions without my permission."

She moved away quickly after that, not giving Lisa a chance to respond. The little girl stared after her sadly for a moment. Then, shaking herself, Lisa headed over to the lead line- only to stop with a frown.

"I… don't think I'll be able to find the depth here," the little girl muttered. "The line's not long enough. Oh well." Sighing, Lisa wandered off to renew some damaged paint on Merry's figurehead.

Over the next few minutes, the ride got… weird. Luffy held tight to the lines, keeping an eye on his crewmates to make sure they didn't fall off as Merry listed far to one side, then the other, then pitched forward, then flung back nearly vertical. The cloudy path they were following was less a bridge than it was a rollercoaster. It was fun- and a little concerning. Luffy felt a wave of relief about a third of the way through the bumpy ride, when Ghin and Toma disappeared below decks at Chopper's insistence.

It almost felt like something had grabbed the ship and was dragging them along. Luffy was pretty sure Merry couldn't sail that way on her own.

And then they levelled out in bright, piercing sunlight. Once more, the Going Merry floated flat on a calm sea of clouds- although this time, she didn't come under attack. Instead, Johnny shouted excitedly.

"Land ho!"

"YES!" Flipping down from the rigging, Luffy took off for the figurehead. He was careful not to touch Lisa's fresh paint- she said it dried fast, but he wasn't sure how fast- as he hung on and leaned forward.

Sanji huffed and shook his head. "You shouldn't do that, Shitty Rubber. What if you fell off? You can't swim."

"Yeah. But that's okay." Luffy shot his cook a winning smile. "I know you guys'll get me out, so I'm not afraid."

"Heh. Stupid shithead." Sanji turned away with a huff. But while the cook's words were biting, Luffy could hear affection in them. Kind of like when Ace and Sabo used to yell at him for getting eaten by gators.

The beach before them wasn't made of sand; rather, as the Going Merry drew close to shore, it was obvious that the "land" was really a weirdly thick cloud with the texture of heavy clay. There were a few plants growing from it as if it was real soil- green, pumpkin-like things, and a few small trees that were making a valiant, if sad, attempt at a jungle. In the distance, some ways behind the cloudy beach, a proper jungle rose high.

There was someone sitting on the beach. She was… Kinda familiar, although Luffy couldn't quite place from where. Slender and pale, with blonde hair and tiny, fluffy wings. Cool! Although… Luffy actually felt kinda bad for all these winged people they kept meeting. Even he knew their wings were too small to let them fly. That had to be so hard, having wings but not being able to use them.

"Fancy brings a thought to me

Of a flower rich and rare

Its grace and beauty does combine

So fancy and so fair

'Twas of a maiden that I loved

She was my happy lot

Where we parted and she whispered,

You'll forget me not"

Music drifted over the waves. The girl was playing a small harp. Pretty music… Maybe she could be his musician? Luffy liked that idea. He really wanted a musician. Music was fun. Even sad music just made him so… happy. He wasn't sure why.

Sabo always said that was weird, but Sabo's head had been messed up by his evil snot-brain parents, so sometimes Sabo was the weird one.

"At length there came a happy day

When something that I said

Which caused her little murmuring lips

To say that we should wed

Down by a tiny little lot

In a little garden spot

There grows a tiny flower called

the sweet Forget-me-not"

A silver fox darted out of the greenery towards the girl. She never looked up from her playing, not even as the tiny creature scrambled up onto her shoulders and wrapped itself around her neck like a scarf. Which was… Surprising. Fox claws hurt- Luffy knew this from experience. He sure would've been distracted if one of them started climbing him.

As they got closer to shore, Luffy could make out part of a small town between the scrubby trees. The road leading there, like the rest of the ground, appeared to be made of heavy clouds. As did the buildings. Even the curtains and decorations he could see hanging on the walls were sort of fluffy and washed out in colour, as if the fabric was made of strands of cloud too.

"She's graceful and she's charming

As the lily in the pond

Time is swiftly passing by

Of her I am so fond

The daisies and the roses too were blooming round the spot

Where we parted as she whispered,

You'll forget me not"

Sanji's eyes turned into glowing pink hearts as he glanced at the shore. "Who's she?" the cook asked excitedly. "She's gorgeous!"

"Mind outta the gutter, Shit Cook!" Zoro looked like the only thing keeping him from pounding Sanji into a pulp was the fact that he was in the process of dropping the anchor and would damage the ship if he abandoned his post too suddenly. It spoke volumes about Sanji's enthrallment that the cook didn't respond to the bosun's words.

It spoke even louder volumes that Nami was still too distracted to tease or admonish Sanji. Instead, Luffy's sailing master was fiddling with the had he'd placed on her head.

For his part, Luffy didn't really know the answer to Sanji's question. The girl's name and everything… They'd need to find that out later. Although she looked so familiar… Like a vision in pearly mist. But there was one thing he did know about who she was-

"Musician candidate number one!"

"We met I really don't know where but still it's all the same

For Love walks in the busy street as well as in the lane.

She threw her arms around me

I glanced at her a-shocked

She dropped a flower I picked it up

'Twas a sweet forget-me-not

She's graceful and she's charming as the roses in the pond

Time is swiftly passing by of her I am so fond

The daisies and the roses too are blooming 'round the spot

Where we parted and she whispered,

You'll forget me n-!"

"GUM-GUM ROCKET!"

Stretching out one arm, Luffy grabbed a tree and fired himself at the beach. His course carried him into the clouds right at the harper girl's feet, without actually hitting her or her instrument. What? He'd been getting much better at aiming lately. Although the angel on the beach certainly didn't seem to appreciate it…

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Jumping back, the girl grabbed something from her pocket and flung it at Luffy's head. Her eyes were scrunched tight in fear, though, and Luffy had enough experience with Nami winging bottles at people that he was used to dodging flying objects. He ducked his head as a small shell flew by. It exploded when it hit the ground, making him really glad he'd dodged.

"Who are you? Where'd you come from?" The girl had another shell in her left hand; her right still held her harp. On her shoulders, the silver fox snarled, baring tiny teeth.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn…"

"Hi! I'm Monkey D Luffy, future King of the Pirates! This is Skypiea, right? Can you tell us the way to Upper Yard?" As much as he wanted a musician, Luffy was a little more concerned right now with finding his wayward crewmates. Not in the least because every time Jones wandered off, she managed to get in varying levels of shit.

Was this how Ace and Sabo always felt when they were worrying about him?

"Aie?" The angel blinked in disbelief, seemingly frozen. Then… "You want to go to Upper Yard? Is- is that why some of you didn't pay the toll at Heaven's Gate?"

"Dunno what that has to do with Upper Yard," Luffy muttered. "I just wanna go there 'cause that's where we're s'posed to meet Jones and Usopp. Where is it?"

By now, the rest of his crew were disembarking from the Going Merry. Luffy grinned; the angel girl, on the other hand, looked steadily more uncomfortable. And her fox looked like it was considering trying to rip someone's ankles off.

"I… Um… Upper Yard is where criminals go to be judged," the angel's voice was very small. She had yet to lower her shell. "God and his Priests demand it."

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice, don't care." Why should he worry about a bunch of priests of a god he didn't follow? If they got in his way, he'd just go around them or beat them up, depending if they were bad guys or not. "I just wanna know how to get there."

Then Luffy tilted his head to the side as something occurred to him. "You're… Conis, right?" He was pretty sure that was the name he'd heard in the Mists. Somewhere behind him, he heard Sanji give an interested squeak.

"Huh?" Once again, the angel was stunned for a moment. Or maybe she'd never stopped being stunned. "How- How did you know that?" Conis looked like she wanted to melt into the clouds and hide, like she was being faced with a monster. But hadn't she been…? "I-If you just give me a m-minute, I can get someone who can take you to Upper Yard."

"Great! Thanks!" Luffy bounced eagerly in place. He didn't need to look back at his crew mates to know at least some of them were shaking their heads in exasperation. Although… What was with the malicious aura he could feel slowly growing around Nami?

FWEEEEEEEEEEET!

Conis stuck two fingers in her mouth and let loose a piercing whistle. Then, taking a few large steps back, she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"HELP! FUGITIVES! PIRATES! GUARDS!"

Oh no. People calling for guards had never meant anything good before. Luffy slid into a fighting stance as he looked around desperately, wondering what direction the guards would come from. He wasn't a little kid anymore- he wouldn't let a few guards drive him off!

Anti-climactically, nothing immediately happened. It took several minutes for anyone to appear on the road from the nearby town, and several more for the small shapes to resolve themselves into uniformed figures that might have been guards. Luffy stood there awkwardly in a fighting position the whole time.

He could feel his crewmates sweatdrop simultaneously.

Jogging up, a few dozen men came to a halt behind Conis in perfect unison. They all wore identical pink shirts and light blue pants, with white berets pulled down over their right eyes. Their leader also had a turquoise coat, which he wore over his shoulders like a cape. Like Gramps… It nearly flew off as he snapped an odd salute.

Luffy had to fight not to laugh. It looked like the leader guy was giving himself bunny ears…

"Heso!" The lead soldier frowned in concern. "What seems to be the matter, Conis?"

"Heso, Captain McKinley." Half-turning, the angel pointed at Luffy and his crew. "It's… them."

"I see…" Captain McKinley scowled at the pirates- and at Luffy in particular. "Ruffians, cease and desist at once. A captain of the White Berets, I order you- leave this young woman alone and come with me. Peacefully. You must pay a 70,000,000,000 extol fine or be deported to Upper Yard."

Oh. That sounded alright. Luffy grinned. "Why would we pay you, then? I wanna go to Upper Yard!"

McKinley froze, blinking at Luffy as if he was crazy. "You… want to go to Upper Yard? Why?"

"We're meeting my quartermaster and gunner there!"

Something clicked behind Luffy, pieces snapping together with an all-to-familiar sound. The vaguely malicious aura he'd felt growing around Nami burst into full-blown rage. It almost felt like someone had lit a fire at his back.

"You. You put me through that. You made me think we needed to spend every beri we had, that it still wouldn't be enough to protect everyone, when to get where we want to go, the fastest way was to not pay at all." Something was crackling around the end of Nami's Clima-Tact. Loudly.

"YOU. ARE. A. MONUMENTAL. IDIOT!"

CRR-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRT!

Luffy leapt out of the way an instant before a massive bolt of lightning stuck the spot where he'd been standing. And yes, he remembered Jones saying lightning wouldn't hurt him- or at least, he thought that might be what she meant- but there was one big problem with that…

When lightning got big enough, it made heat too. And burning definitely hurt.

Ducking behind Captain McKinley, Luffy peered back at his sailing master over the angel soldier's wings. Nami was livid, eyes glowing red, steam rising from her hair, teeth as sharp as a shark's. Everyone else was backing away from her- even Zoro. Lisa and Chopper were white as sheets as they stared at the infuriated redhead.

Hopefully all that steam didn't damage Hat.

"Right… Rubber." Nami muttered to herself. She shifted her hands on her weapon. "Immune to electricity. Gotta try something else… Blizzard Tempo!"

This time it was a wave of cold that fired out at Luffy. Shards of ice and snow. Curling into a ball, the rubber boy hid completely behind Captain McKinley, letting the startled soldier take the brunt of the attack. His troops too… Nami's new technique made a big burst. Half a dozen angels were flash frozen- luckily, Conis wasn't one of them.

That was dangerous.

"Sorry!" Luffy uncurled to peek at Nami again. "I didn't know!"

"IDIOT! YOU AND JONES BOTH! SHE SHOULD'VE KNOWN! YOU SHOULD'VE ASKED!"

"Sorry!"

"BLIZZARD TEMPO!"

Luffy ducked another frigid attack. And he wasn't the only one. All the soldiers who hadn't yet been frozen hit the dirt, fumbling for their weapons. Conis spun on her heel and ran, her fox clinging tightly to her shoulders.

"You're under arrest for assaulting officers of the White Ber- GRK!" One soldier bravely tried to carry out his duty in his frozen captain's stead, rising and aiming a pistol at Nami. He halted in his tracks halfway to his feet as a blast of ice hit him in the face.

"Um…" Johnny fidgeted, staring at something on the sea. Luffy couldn't look, though; he was still busy dodging snowballs.

"YOU MADE ME RELIVE MY MOTHER'S DEATH FOR NOTHING!" Nami's blizzards were mixed with lightning now. She was really mad. How to calm her down, though?

"Um…" Johnny fidgeted again. He was sweating now, despite the plummeting ambient temperature.

Nami closed in, swinging her Clima-Tact at Luffy's head. He jumped out of the way, only to get hit in the stomach by the other end of the staff as Nami brought it around. It fired him a surprising distance backwards, although it didn't hurt much. The spiky bush she launched him into, though, did.

"UM!"

Freezing mid-stride, Nami turned to glare at Johnny. "What?"

The blue hunter cowered momentarily, then straightened and set his jaw. He pointed out to see. "Big Sis… Is Merry supposed to do that?"

"Do wha- oh shit!" Nami's ire deflated like a punctured balloon. She stared in the direction Johnny was pointing; her red eyes quickly paled to white. "Not again!"

Not again what? Finally free to look around, Luffy hauled himself out of the bush and glanced at the sea. Huh. Merry was wandering off agai- oh wait. Last time this happened, Nami said that ships didn't just sail away on their own. Although this time, at least, it was pretty obvious who- or rather, what- was taking it. Red claws, like those of a lobster or a shrimp, gripped the hull of the ship securely as she sped away.

It was about that time that Luffy realized there were two faces missing from among his crewmates as well- or, well, two other than all the ones who had flown off. A sinking feeling worked its way up his spine.

And Yosaku seemed to notice too. The green hunter shifted guiltily as they stared at their retreating ship. "Um… Were Big Bro Ghin and Li'l Bro Toma still below?"

"Yup," Chopper confirmed dazedly. The little doctor looked like he wanted to ram his head into something. Hard.

It was Sanji who voiced what everyone was thinking as Merry disappeared from view. "Well shit… What do we do now?"

-V-

Geier was livid as she rolled through the sky. Wide wings swiped through towering cloud formations, scattering them to the four winds. {{How did I lose a fresh-faced hatchling who's barely been flying for five minutes?!}} she raged. Drifter patted her neck.

{{Because he's four times your size with wings built for active flight, while yours are meant for soaring?}}

{{Not helping!}}

{{Sorry.}} Drifter combed soothing paws through his partner's feathers. She crooned in flight, eyes sliding half-shut.

{{Besides… I can outfly almost anyone. Jays, falcons… Not hummingbirds though. Those little guys are monsters.}} Geier threw herself into a loop to emphasize her words. Her path carried them up, through the clouds, high above even the White Sea. Drifter flailed.

{{Wait! Go back down! We'll never find them up here!}}

Turning her head, Geier shot him a deadpan look. {{Could you smell any of them anywhere?}}

That made the otter fidget. {{No…}} he finally admitted. His partner clacked her beak.

{{And I couldn't see them. If they're beyond both our ranges, we'll never get to them in time to do any good.}}

{{So we're just abandoning them? The captain won't be happy. I'm not happy.}} Drifter folded his arms and scowled. Geier rolled her eyes.

{{We're not abandoning them. I trust those three to find a way to survive. And Jones knows where everyone was headed- and island in the sky. She'll find a way up there, and drag Usopp and the brat with her. So we find this island and meet them there, then tell the others how to get there.}}

Wincing, Drifter rubbed one of his partner's wings. {{Sorry for doubting you. I should've thought of that.}}

{{You're getting attached,}} Geier observed drily. She snorted when Drifter stiffened. {{It's not a bad thing. They're good kids. And that's what I'm here for- even when your judgement might be compromised, mine isn't.}}

{{Are you saying you're not getting attached?}} Now that they were clear of the twisting cloud formations of the White Sea, Geier felt like she could see forever. Flicking her wings, she popped into an aerial somersault that nearly flung Drifter off. He giggled.

{{I never said that!}} Spiralling upwards, Geier swept around in a wide arc to better get the lay of the clouds. {{I… I am. More than I like. Not always sure what to do with it. I just don't let that cloud my judgement like you emotional mammals do.}}

{{And that's why we need each other.}} Now Drifter was doing a handstand on her back for no reason. Geier wished the otter would at least use a harness if he was going to do things like that.

{{Oh really?}} she snorted, amused. {{You need me because I fly and keep a cool head; why do I need you?}}

{{Swimming and opposable thumbs.}}

{{That… is a compelling argument.}} Chuckling, Geier caught a glimpse of something green on the horizon. She banked towards it; that was the only things she'd spotted since leaving the ship that looked remotely like it could be called an island. And it grew more and more island-like as they got nearer, a small plot of land topped with a dense jungle and a towering beanstalk.

The beanstalk pierced an even higher cloud that looked like it might have a small building on it. This truly was a bizarre place.

{{Wow…}} Soaring overhead, Geier peered down through the trees. Broad rivers, huge beasts, a city glittering gold… Yeah, this had to be that Skypiea place. Full of treasure indeed; Nami would be thrilled. There was no way they could take more than a fraction of that with them.

Assuming the armed and funny-looking people living in a nearby stone temple would even let them near it all.

This place was beautiful. And so warm… It reminded Geier of the mountains in southern Newfin, where she'd been hatched. Where she'd learned to fly. Although… Above the clouds like this, she doubted those living here ever had to deal with late winter snow.

{{Bogey, eight o'clock!}}

Drifter's tail prodded her side urgently. Geier didn't question it; she dropped into a steep dive as soon as her partner spoke. It had been a while since they'd been in a dogfight, but she'd hand enough years of practice that the movement was second nature. Flipping over right before hitting the trees, she skimmed low for a second before climbing sharply. Her flight carried her past a huge bird, large as a small boat, all decked out in flashy purple and gold feathers.

A southbird. An enormous southbird.

{{I knew Teri and her kind were bad news,}} Geier grumbled, {{But did anyone listen to me? No.}}

{{I'm not sure that's the same species!}} was Drifter's quick reply as he drew his clam blades.

Which… was a fair assessment. Golden talons clipped Geier's tail as she darted past. The huge, banana-shaped beak opened in a hoarse scream.

{{GET OUT OF MY SKIES BLUE-SALT FEATHER RAT!}}

{{Who are you calling a feather rat?!}} Geier wished she had her gun. If only that sword slinger hadn't broken it…

{{Horseshoes!}} Drifter flung his blades at the giant southbird; they clanged off its beak and rebounded. Geier flipped in the air, catching them in her talons before slashing their attacker with her beak. Her blow yanked a chunk of feathers from one purple wing.

{{Pluck!}}

{{GET OUT! MY SKY! MINE!}}

{{No one owns the sky, asshole!}}

Geier rolled and wheeled, dropping the blades for Drifter to grab as she came around. She met the giant southbird talon to talon, tearing at its chest with her beak. And that was an area in which she had the advantage; it may have been larger and stronger, but it was not a bird of prey. Its beak wasn't meant for fighting, nor could it turn properly to get at her anyway.

It helped that even the slightest turn of its head seemed to make the larger bird nauseous.

{{Bell Toll!}} Drifter flipped up to smack the southbird on the head with his tail. Combined with the directional issues, this was enough to make the southbird start trying to pull away.

Geier disengaged. Her specialty was ranged combat and hit-and-run tactics, not grappling. There was no point maintaining hold of a larger opponent once they started retreating- it was a good way to get herself and her partner killed.

{{Where too?}} Her wings ached. Geier wasn't used to spending so long at this high an altitude; every wingbeat was just that much harder than she was used to. She could keep flying almost indefinitely, but it wouldn't be comfortable.

{{Let's look around in the woods,}} Drifter gestured downwards. {{It looks interesting, and there's lots of good hiding places. Exactly the sort of place Jones and Usopp would like.}}

{{Good point.}} Angling her wings, Geier began a long, spiralling descent into the trees. Dark green shadows rose up around her. Not the sort of terrain a vulture like her always preferred, but if it meant she didn't have to face down any more giants without a weapon, she would hide like a songbird. She wasn't proud.

-V-

Of course, despite me giving it the same name, there were a few major differences between my Geppo and the proper version. The main one being that mine was a single use way to send myself careening through the sky like a rocket, rather than a controlled method of flight. And there was also the fact that for a few seconds afterwards, I lost control of the other forces I'd been playing with, so it took me a bit to catch my breath at this altitude…

I'd have to work on that.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Tears streamed behind us as Usopp panicked. His suddenly clinging tight to my neck didn't help with the breathing bit. "I REGRET ASKING YOU TO DO THIS!"

"At least we'll land somewhere you'll live to regret it! Probably!" I rebalanced the air pressure around me, finally regaining my breath as I flailed. Just in time for…

SMA-THUD! CRNCH! FMM FMM-FMM-FMM-FMM! THWACK!

Usopp and I crashed into the ground heads first, setting us somersaulting across soft, light coloured soil. We rolled for quite a ways- which probably saved us, or at least him, from a nasty impact at the end when we came to a rest upside down against a rock. As it was, by then we'd dispersed enough momentum that we barely got a bruise.

It was a nice rock. Very big and square, dark grey and polished smooth. Higher up there were pictures; my dazed mind couldn't figure out what they were, though. Squiggly and strange… But also somehow familiar. I'd need to stand up and get a better look.

Of course, we were so dizzy from all that rolling, it still took Usopp and I a minute to collect ourselves and get up. And even when we did, we were all wrapped in parachute ropes… And each other.

"Usopp… Get your fingers outta my face."

"I can't! Not until I untie this knot that's got me stuck to your head. Speaking of which, I need you to move your left foot ten centimeters to the right so I can get the loop off it."

"My foot can't go anywhere. You're sitting on it."

Many sets of footsteps were rapidly approaching. Oh good; whatever island we'd landed ourselves on was inhabited. Maybe they could help us get to Skypiea. Usopp and I scrambled, finally managing to untangle ourselves and get to our feet.

Ka-clik.

Turning away from the rock- which, merde, I hadn't even gotten to examine yet- I found myself face to face with a dozen glaring, heavily armed islanders. Whose dark skin and small, fluffy wings gave me some idea where Usopp and I had ended up. Pistols, spears, arrows, and a bazooka were all aimed directly at my chest.

The air vibrated with the sound of heavy wingbeats in the distance.

Meeping softly, Usopp hid behind me. Which must've looked funny, given that he was half a hand taller than I. Made it easy for him to peer fearfully over my shoulder, though.

Tabarnak. I'd pierced the bottom of the White-White Sea at some point. We were in the Shandian encampment.

"Who are you?" demanded the chief. The fur on his wolf headdress waved gently in the breeze. His accent was… familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

A shot of fear went up my spine. Authority figure. I bit my lip and glanced at the ground- anything to avoid looking people in the eye. Which was when I confirmed that yes, we were definitely standing on island cloud.

"Um… Hi. I'm Jones, and this is Usopp."

"Jones…" the chief mused, "Usopp… What odd names. Where do you come from, Jones and Usopp? Why did you fall from the sky? Are you from another world?"

Well, that was the fastest anyone had ever caught on to me. Or… Wait. The White-White Sea was so high up, with few if any clouds rising higher… Skypieans and Shandians must be masters of astronomy. This was the perfect place for it. And with Enel's goal…

"Not- not exactly. Or, well, we don't come from one of the moons, if that's what you mean."

It apparently was. The chief took a threatening step forward, his grip on his spear tightening. "Then where do you come from?"

Usopp meeped again, eyes fixed on the sharpened wood. Which appeared to have a Dial embedded just below the head; I wonder what that di- no. Focus. Opening my mouth to try and answer, I was interrupted by heavy wingbeats and a screaming white streak across the sky.

"MONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Nothing quite knocks the anxiety out of you by being tackled by a dragon the size of a large dog. Usopp jumped out of the way as Ruatha knocked me onto my back- a move which nearly carried the gunner into the spear of a Shandian dressed in leopard furs. Not that the warrior noticed. No, all the Shandians were completely focused on my baby as he licked my face with all the eagerness of an untrained puppy.

"Monah! Fahvos hi drey lif zey?"

"Get off! I taught you better than that!"

Wide blue eyes stared at me sadly as Ruatha backed down. "Nuz… Zu'u drey kos vothni hi. Zu'u drey kos zofaas."

One of these days I really needed to learn my dragon's language. I just… didn't know where to start. Patting Ruatha on the head, I rolled back to my feet. My baby squawked with joy, clambering up to his favourite perch on my shoulders and wrapping himself around me like a giant, scaly scarf.

"I- You- What is that?" The Shandian chief's eyes bugged out as he stared at my baby. I glanced up at the man as I rubbed Ruatha behind the ears.

"He's a dragon." Well, it looked like Millennial Dragon migration routes didn't pass anywhere near Skypiea, then.

Neither the chief nor any of his warriors seemed to know what to say about that. They just kept staring, long enough that Usopp and I lost our fear. I, at least, was wondering if we could use the distraction to make a break for it; I think Usopp was thinking the same. Although when the distraction was riding my shoulders, that tactic probably wouldn't work.

And then…

"A white feathered serpent…" breathed a small voice from somewhere behind the chieftain. "A scar-faced sun child. A long-nosed eagle with hair like a pyramid. Quetzalcoatl. Nanahuatzin. Ehecatl."

A small, dark-haired girl pushed her way through the frozen warriors. Aisa. Her words were enough to shake a few people out of their stupor; the chief reached forward and grabbed her arm.

"Aisa, stay back! They could be dangerous!"

"It's fine. They won't hurt me. Quetzalcoatl would never allow it." Aisa squirmed free and ran up to me. Stretching on her tiptoes, she reached to pat Ruatha's tail where it was dangling down.

My baby squawked and pulled the trailing appendage up and away.

Usopp shook, stepping in close beside me. He looked like he wanted to grab my hand, or maybe disappear into the rock behind us. Probably both. "I… You… Who're you talking about? What're those names? Can we just go? Please?"

Aisa frowned, apparently unable to comprehend his questions. "What do you mean? They're your names. And you can't leave; you just got here."

"That's enough, Aisa." A vaguely familiar woman- my memory of this arc was fuzzy, but I think her name was Laki- darted forward and pulled the little girl back. "They said their names were Jones and Usopp."

"And what about the serpent's name?" Aisa pouted. Laki shook her gently but was unable to answer the question.

"He's Ruatha," I offered. But the little girl just shook her head.

"No! His name is Quetzalcoatl, the Sun in Victory! And you're Nanahuatzin, the Sun Beginning! And the long-nosed one is Ehecatl, Maker of Winds!" Aisa was practically screaming by now.

Laki shook her again. "Aisa, be quiet. Why are you even out here? I told you to stay in the tent."

"But I wanted to see them."

"See who?" A tall, dark figure emerged from behind the warriors. He shouldered his way between the one wearing jaguar furs and a woman dressed as a giant golden eagle. Removing the large, wooden mask he wore, the newcomer shook hit head to free the long tangle of braids pouring down his back.

Wyper.

Aisa squirmed free of Laki's hold and darted forward, grabbing Wyper's hand. "The gods!" she yelled gleefully, pointing at me, Ruatha, and Usopp. "The gods are here! Quetzalcoatl, Nanahuatzin, and Ehecatl! That means the age is about to turn again!"

"You've been listening to too many of old man Calli's fairy tales." Wyper tugged his hand free of Aisa's grip. "The gods don't exist; Noland proved that in Calgara's time. Go back to your tent."

"But they do," Aisa insisted, "Look!"

She pointed at- not me and Usopp, but the rock behind us. One by one, every Shandian looked up. Eventually, Usopp and I couldn't contain our curiosity anymore; we turned around to have a peek.

The gunner whistled, then squeaked. "Is that-? Wow…"

"Mu los frahkei…" Ruatha trilled, eyes going wide.

And… while my eyes physically couldn't go as wide as my dragon's they were making a pretty valiant attempt. Because that rock Usopp and I crashed into earlier? I could make out the pictures now.

There were hundreds of figures, animal and human, carved in worn, mossy stone. The style was similar to some Aztec art I'd seen in a museum when I was young, but not exactly the same. More real somehow; I don't know how to describe it. And while most of these figures were just that- figures- three of the ones nearest the center of the stone made my heartrate speed up.

A feathered serpent with a flowing mane. A scarred, androgynous person with ragged sleeves and a coiled, thorny bundle of weapons. A crouching man with a long nose, wind whipping his long, curly hair into intricate shapes.

Tabarnak.

Wyper hissed. "Why do we even still have that around? It's been ages since we believed those foolish stories."

"Maybe that's why we lost Shandora…"

Dead, muffled silence fell after Aisa's words. Everyone in sight turned to look at her in a single synchronized movement. The little girl was staring up at the rock, her eyes watering. "Maybe… Maybe if we hadn't lost the gods, they wouldn't have let false ones take our home."

"Those trees were killing our people," Wyper snapped. "And sacrificing our sons and daughters to giant snakes was only making it go faster. Those fairy tales caused us nothing but trouble."

Usopp looked at me in confusion. "What's going on here? I'm confused."

"Long story." I shrugged. "I don't know all of it. But in the past, their ancestors were plagued by some sort of virus or fungus from some infected trees they believed were some sort of connection to the afterlife. The explorer Montblanc Noland saved them by cutting down the trees and burning them; ever since, the Shandians have lost faith in the gods. It's part of why they're so angry that Enel the Pretender has set himself up in their old city as a false god."

"Oh…" Usopp rubbed his nose. "Enel… That's the guy Luffy's gonna beat up, right?"

"Yep."

The Shandians were quiet again, staring once more. Laki blinked so slowly and heavily it sounded like window shutters being slammed in the silence. "How did she know that?"

"Because they're gods," Aisa insisted. "They've come to help us remove Enel- they said so themselves!"

Usopp jerked, stepping back until his spine was pressed against the stone. The gunner flailed wildly. "What? No! We never said anything like that!"

"But… You just said someone named Luffy was going to beat up Enel…" Aisa looked like she was going to cry now.

"Listen to me." Wyper crouched down in front of Aisa, resting his burn bazooka on the ground beside him as he looked the little girl in the eye. "They are not gods. There's no such thing as gods. You need to stop listening to fairy tales and quiet down before Enel hears this and finds us again."

"He can't…" Aisa whimpered, rubbing her eyes. "I can't hear him."

"But that doesn't mean he can't hear you."

"Actually, it does." Yet another newcomer approached, this time someone I didn't recognize. An elderly man, even more so than the chief, dressed in clothing that looked like it was made of the shed skin of one of Shandora's great serpents. "Her mantra is going stronger every day. Aisa has been able to hear all the way to Ancient Shandora for over a week."

"Calli." Wyper got to his feet, nodding towards the newest arrival. He made no attempt to disguise his distaste. "You should be in your tent. These intruders may be dangerous."

"And if they are, Aisa will give us plenty of warning and you'll deal with it." The old man stepped forward, limping. He leaned on a staff carved in the shape of a great snake. These Shandians sure knew how to stick to a theme.

Forcing a sigh out through his nose, Wyper closed his eyes. His next words were ground out between gritted teeth. "Get back, old man. Let us handle this."

"Oh, come on. Settle down Wyper." Calli didn't have any interest whatsoever in getting back. No, he was limping his way into my personal space, forcing me to back into Usopp. Ruatha hissed at the intrusion. Calli tapped him on the nose; my dragon snarled and snapped.

"You think they're not gods; Aisa thinks they are. I'm just suggesting that we test, that we can know for sure."

"Foolishness." Wyper scowled and snorted. "There's no test that could determine that, because there's no such thing as gods. You're going senile, old man."

"And you're neglecting all the other stories to focus on one." Calli shook his head. "Look, I'm just saying we should take them to the trial site and test them. Or… I suppose we could do it here."

To everyone's surprise, the old man whipped out a short knife with an obsidian blade. He was so close to me, there was no way to dodge, barely any time to react. Even Wyper- who probably was all for killing me, Usopp, and Ruatha- could only let out a hiss of surprise.

Fwip-ting!

A mallet shot out just before the blade stung my face, knocking it out of the old man's hand. Usopp didn't even seem aware of his own actions, eyes blown wide and white- almost as pale as his knuckles as they gripped the handle of his small, unlikely weapon.

Calli's knife spun through the air. It thudded to a halt against the carved stone, its obsidian blade shattering on the impact. Shards of black glass sprinkled on my head. Calli grinned.

"Fast… As the god of winds should be."

"That proves nothing!" Wyper's snarl hurt my ears. The berserker slammed his fist against his wooden mask, hoisting his bazooka and aiming it at us. "Step aside Calli. These are Blue Sea dwellers; I've seen their ship. Let me deal with them."

Calli didn't look like he was going to move; Laki grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the way. The chief held onto Aisa to keep her from running in as well. The little girl had tears in her eyes as she screamed.

"NOOOOOO!"

"Burn Bazooka: Explode!"

A shell fired out of the muzzle- like, and actual shell-shell, although I guess in this case it was an artillery shell too. Ruatha let out a high-pitched keen as he constricted around my shoulders; Usopp squeaked and threw his mallet. The little hammer bounced off Wyper's shoulder; the berserker didn't pay it any mind.

I grabbed the shell as it flew at us, a jarring impact that sang up my arm. It took my breath away for a moment. Then it exploded, shaking my control loose even more. Smoke and shards of calcium carbonate filled the thin- very thin- air. Usopp coughed; I would have, had I been able to breathe. By the time I'd managed to regain my control over the air pressure, the debris had settled and the air was clear.

And Wyper was staring at me like I'd just morphed into Cthulhu right in front of him.

Calli wore the biggest shit eating grin I'd ever seen on an old man's face. "The speed of the wind, the endurance of the sun, and a white feathered serpent. Now will you test them properly?"

Wyper's eyes blazed. He looked like he was about to try and rip someone's head off- Calli's, mine, Usopp's, I couldn't be sure. The chief released his hold on Aisa to instead grab hold of Wyper's shoulder.

"They are unusual. We should at least find out why." The chief shook Wyper gently, trying to bring the berserker back to his senses. "You take them. Tomorrow morning, take them to the lake of the gods. I know you know the way."

He was giving Wyper an admonishing, slightly exasperated look- the berserker may know the way to this place, but it wasn't because he was supposed to. Wyper pulled away roughly; looking away. The chief frowned.

"And Wyper… That is all you are to do. No running off half-cocked to attack Enel just because I'm letting you go to Upper Yard. If you see him, I want you to retreat."

"Fine." Wyper grit the word out like it hurt him. He still couldn't meet the chief's eyes. "Can I at least bring some reinforcements? In case we run into other trouble, or the Blue Sea dwellers try to escape."

"Who?"

"Laki, Kamakiri, Braham, and Genbo."

The chief hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. But my orders stand- if you see Enel or any of his priests, you are to come straight. Home. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

Slinging his bazooka over his shoulder, Wyper grabbed my arm. The berserker dragged me away from the god stone, past the ring of warriors into the encampment proper. I couldn't resist without dropping my control over air pressure; this need to breathe was leaving me pretty helpless.

Usopp squawked and flailed as he followed along. "Hey! What're you doing?"

"Tomorrow I take you three to Upper Yard to test your divinity," Wyper snarled. "Until then… Even if you are gods, you still have physical form. Chains should hold for one night."

He shoved me roughly into a tent on the edge of the encampment, grabbing Usopp before the gunner could flee and dragging him in too. Ruatha squawked in protest and opened his mouth to scream, but one of Wyper's glares shut my baby up tight.

The berserker shoved Usopp and I down around the tent pole, manacling our hands behind our backs. At first Wyper seemed somewhat confused by what to do with Ruatha; eventually, he clipped one end of a manacle around my baby's leg and the other around the pole.

"Don't try to escape." Wyper paused just before he left the tent. "If it were up to me, you'd stay like this until dawn. But since I know Aisa will at the very least come and try to feed you… Hurt her, and no power between the sun, moon, and stars will be able to save you. Gods or no."

He stormed off, the tent flap snapping shut in his wake. Usopp, Ruatha, and I were left in the dark, surrounded by dense cloud and heavy leather. And weakness was starting to seep up my arms, into the rest of my body. Heavy, pervasive weakness that brought with it a sense of impending doom, and made my limbs feel like nothing more than limp noodles. My breath came in rapid pants as I started to lose control over the air pressure around my head.

Tabarnak. Kairoseki.

"Manacles," I gasped out, "Seastone." Then I fell over- as much as I could, anyway, with my hands bound around a thick wooden pole.

Usopp yelped. "Oh crap! What do I do? What do I do?! WhaddoIdo?!"

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

The pocket that I kept Samsung in was starting to ring. Even if I hadn't been slowly asphyxiating, though, neither Usopp nor I was in a position to answer it. I gulped at the air, not quite short enough of oxygen to die, but far, far too close for comfort. My chest started to hurt.

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

"Jones! You need to calm down!" Usopp's voice was shaking as he tried to coach me through it. The gunner had broken out into a cold sweat. "Deep, slow breaths- you'll get better air that way!"

Unfortunately, while Usopp's advice would've been great if I was having a panic attack, it didn't prove so helpful here. No change in the pace of my breathing could fix the fact that there just wasn't enough air for me. How could the people of this world adjust so quickly? Why was I so weak?

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

Samsung, both concerned and eager to deliver its message, hand managed to worm its way out of my pocket and was now sitting on the clouds in front of me. At first the little snail almost looked frustrated that I wasn't picking up. Then it saw how much trouble I was having breathing and its eyes went wide with panic. But it was just a regular den-den mushi; no matter what Samsung was feeling, it could do nothing but continue to ring and squirm around.

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

Usopp's hands being bound around a pole behind him didn't prevent him from snapping his fingers as his face lit up with realization. "Wait- that seastone stuff only makes you weak if it's touching you- same as seawater, right? So if I can get some sort of padding in between the manacles and your wrists, you can use your powers again!"

That… Would probably work. It was worth a try anyway. I nodded mutely, the seizing muscles in my torso making me want to vomit.

Usopp tugged at his own manacles a few times but was unable to get his hands free to go through his bag. For a moment, the gunner looked around in panic; then his eyes fell on my baby. "Hey! Ruatha! Can you open my bag and find the scraps I use for mending sails?"

"Geh!"

Puru-puru-puru-puru.

Ruatha yanked Usopp's bag open- possibly damaging the clasp in the process- and shoved his head inside. A few seconds later, my baby remerged triumphantly, a large wad of colourful cloth clutched in his jaws. Usopp beamed.

"Good boy! Now, shove those cloths in around Jones' wrists- do you understand me? Cloth around mommy's wrists, between her and the icky metal."

That earned Usopp a withering look. "Geh. Zu'u mindoraan."

Twisting around so he could reach behind me, Ruatha began shoving the scraps of thick canvas between my wrists and the manacles. It was a process that took several seconds and left my arms covered with more sticky dragon slobber than I'd ever wanted to have anything to do with. So gross. At the time I didn't care, though, because the more canvas there was between me and that power-draining metal, the better I felt. By the time I was able to use my powers again, I could almost breathe a bit without them. Almost.

Huh. Maybe I was adjusting to this after all.

Still sore and nauseous, but recovering, I leaned forward to press the accept button on Samsung's rig. Yes, with my nose. And yes, I managed it without getting any snail slime in my mouth despite how hard I was currently gulping down sweet, sweet, lightly pressurized air. My den-den looked relieved as I finally answered the call.

Ka-clik.

"Can you call back later, Sabo?" I gasped, tugging against my bonds in frustration. "Now's not a good time."

"I'm not Sabo." The voice on the other end of the line belonged to… Ghin? Oh, right… I slammed my face into the cloudy ground, even more frustrated with my own derp. Low oxygen may have been damaging my brain.

"Oh. Sorry… I forgot you knew my number… What's up?"

"Where are you guys?" Luffy's voice butted in. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Usopp and I are… Alive." I winced. "Okay is… debateable, but it's something I think we can get out of. We're… Gonna be making a slight detour, but we'll meet you in Upper Yard. Don't worry."

"Upper Yard?" Ghin demanded, "Where's that? How long 'til we get there?"

"It's part of the upper level… Of Skypiea proper. Don't worry about us; you need to get there. We'll catch up soon."

CRR-SNAP!

Something cracked loudly behind me; I flinched. Hopefully whatever it was didn't draw Wyper's attention; I didn't feel up to dealing with him right now. Of course, I could never be that lucky; seconds later I heard angry footsteps storming towards the tent. "Sorry, but I've gotta go. Shit's going down that shouldn't be. Remember, Upper Yard!"

Ka-clik! I pressed the button with my nose again before using my head to roll Samsung back into my pocket. The snail was not amused. I got it hidden just in time, though- not a second later, Wyper thrust his head through the tent flap.

"What's all that noise?"

"Nothing!" Usopp and I squeaked in unison, squishing together so the berserker couldn't see what we'd done to my hands. Ruatha yelped too, wings flaring and feathery scales puffing up slightly in fear.

"Nid!"

"It better be…" Scowling, Wyper dropped the tent flap and left again.

Usopp let out a sigh of relief, deflating into the ground. "That was too close."

"A bit, yeah." I looked around as best I could, although seeing behind me was a bit of a chore. "What broke, anyway? That was loud."

"Oh, that?" Usopp strained against his manacles a bit, obviously trying to rub his nose. "That may or may not have been the main tent pole breaking in half as you got your powers back and started pulling on it. Don't worry though! As long as we don't damage the other two, it shouldn't come down!"

"Eh?!" Fidgeting around, I could feel it. My hands were still suck behind my back, but the pole they were attached to was now moving as I did. And forcing Usopp and Ruatha to move with me.

Well, that was awkward.

"Umm… Oops?"

"You saying that word never means good things," Usopp groaned. "So… Who was here instead the first time, and how do we get out of this?"

"First time?" I was momentarily confused. Then realization hit like a freight train. "Oh… No, this didn't happen in canon. Entirely new to me too. But… Why would we want to escape? Tomorrow, Wyper's gonna take us exactly where we need to go. At most, we just have to ditch him once we're there."

A look of utter disbelief. Since he couldn't reach his head with his own hands, Usopp substituted facepalming with smacking his face into Ruatha's wing, right beneath the claws. My dragon was not amused.

"Why are you suggesting ditching a highly-dangerous sky warrior on his own turf like it's no more difficult than going for a walk around the Merry? He's gonna have allies! We'll be surrounded!" Usopp's attempts at panicked flailing wrenched my shoulders and Ruatha's leg. "They'll kill us!"

"Nah. We'll be fine." I grinned widely, the scars on my face pulling tight. "I have… three-quarters of an Elton John worth of a plan."

Usopp shot me a deadpan look. "I have no idea what that means, but it doesn't reassure me. At all."