"Wealth, fame, power. The man, who once owned everything, the Pirate King, Gold Roger. The words he said before his death sent all the people of the world out to the seas."

"My treasure? If you want it, I'll give it to you! Find it! I left everything in that place."

"Men, searching for romance, pushed forward towards the Grand Line. The world is now in the Grand Age of Pirates!"

Chapter 14: Sabrina Reappears, Major Hina's Arrival!

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Beek thrashed about wildly in a terrified panic as he shot through the air with Luffy. They were so high up in the air! "I AM GOING TO DIEEEEE! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, STRETCHY BOOOOOOOOY!?"

Luffy could only respond by laughing merrily at Beek's terror. "Loud guy, you're funny!"

As Luffy landed gracefully on the ridge above with Beek in tow, the latter dramatically crashed into the ground and rolled away making a plethora of amusing cries of pain. As Beek finally came to a stop, Luffy looked around curiously, his eyes falling to the ground. He simply stared at it, blinking for the longest while before turning his attention to Beek as he came stumbling over. "Oi, loud guy, why's the ground look like this up here?"

Luffy pointed to the ground which, unlike in the valley below, was not covered in a variety of grasses. It was, instead, a rocky surface covered in fine, white powder. "OH! THIS IS NOT GROUND, STRETCHY BOY!" Beek leaned down and pullef off a part of what looked like rock and stuck it in his mouth. "THE TOP OF THESE RIDGES ARE COVERED IN EXCESS ROCK CANDY! THE WHITE POWDER IS SUGAR THAT HAS BROKEN DOWN AND SEPARATED FROM THE CANDY."

"Rock candy!?" Luffy's eyes lit up excitedly as he dropped to the ground and hastily bit into the ground, tearing up a large chunk of the rock candy as he promptly started chewing it and grinding it up. "Oooooh! This is so good!"

Beek was about to respond, but his attention started to wander as he peered around the sugary ridges of Sugarcane Fjord curiously. "SOMETHING IS AMISS."

Luffy looked up from another chomping of rock candy. "Huh?"

"THE SUGAR SQUIRRELS ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN! THEY ARE SQUIRRELS NATIVE TO BON BON ISLAND THAT EAT NOTHING BUT CANDIES AND SUGARCANE, AND THEY ARE ALWAYS PLAYING ON TOP OF THESE RIDGES, BUT..." Beek looked all around curiously. "THEY ARE ONLY NOT HERE WHEN IT IS NIGHTTIME O IF THEY ARE SCARED."

Luffy, still chomping on rock candy, stood up and looked around with Beek at the mention of the sugar squirrels possibly having been scared off. Beek looked perplexed and worried as he slowly scanned the ridges until he saw her. Standing one ridge over and watching them through a hole that she had opened up on the edge of their ridge. Beek tensed up, immediately starting to sweat as he pointed towards the figure. "I-I-IT'S THE HOLE WOMAN AGAIN!"

"Whole woman?" Luffy tilted his head as he looked at Beek in confusion before following the direction he pointed in. When Luffy saw the hole, his eyes widened in delight. "Oh, hole woman! Ooooooh! What's with the hole?"

"DO NOT GO IN THE HOLE, STRETCHY BOY. IT GOES WHEREVER SHE CHOOSES. SHE ABDUCTED MISS PRETTY LADY WITH HER HOLES!"

"Miss Pretty Lady?" Luffy, growing confused again, turned his attention back to Beek again. "Who's that?"

"MISS PRETTY LADY IS NAMED CONIS. SHE PLAYS THE HARP!"

Eyes widening in surprise, the normally forgetful Luffy at the very least could never forget a friend. "C-Conis!? Oi, loud guy, did she have wings?"

Beek merely gave a firm nod in response. "PRETTY WHITE WINGS."

Turning his gaze back to the woman, Luffy pointed at her and yelled abruptly. "HEY! GIVE CONIS BACK, DAMN HOLE WOMAN!"

"Do not refer to me as 'damn hole woman', you irksome boy! My name is Sabrina! And if you want the sky islander... then you're going to have to find her." Sabrina sneered at Luffy, crossing her arms as she stared him down from across the ridge.

Luffy gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow before letting out a yell. "HOLY WOMAN! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! GOMU GOMU NO-" Sabrina smirked as Luffy reared up for an attack. "- PISTOL!"

As Luffy's arm flew towards Sabrina, she merely dropped into a hole beneath her, vanishing from sight completely. Luffy's eyes widened as he arm returned, quickly glancing around before looking at Beek. "Loud guy! Where'd she go!?"

"THAT IS HER DEVIL FRUIT POWER, STRETCHY BOY. SHE DID NOT SEEM TO BE HERE TO FIGHT. WHAT PURPOSE DID HER PRESENCE SERVE?"

Luffy merely glared towards where Sabrina had stood before speaking to Beek once again. "Oi, loud guy. Show me how to get to Marshmallow Marsh."

"Ungh, shit..." Sanji clenched his head as he stood up, vision blurry from just waking up. He could barely remember anything after he jumped into the sinkhole to try and save Luffy other than being thrown around inside the underwater river an awful lot. "All that banging around must've knocked me out."

Raising to his feet slowly, Sanji reached into his coat and pulled out a wet cigarette that promptly drooped and broke in two. Sanji simply glared down at the broken cigarette and growled before taking the time to survey the area around himself. He was resting on the sandy shore of a small inlet, a waterfall nearby that he had possibly dropped from. He peered towards the end of the inlet, which was only several dozen feet away, catching sight of a fine and sandy beach. "So it took me out to the shore, huh?"

Still grumbling over his wet cigarette, Sanji carefully made his way along the inlet until he reached the shore, looking down the beach and seeing nothing but an expanse of sand. Was there nothing here? Then, when he turned to look up the beach, Sanji froze in his tracks. In the distance, he could see it. A flag bearing the mark of the Marines, something that he never thought he would see on this island. He looked at the sizable ship that the flag clung to for a moment before looking past the ship and catching sight of a large formation of officers littering the beach. It was then that Sanji saw her. "Shit! This is the last thing we need right now!"

"You two, stay behind and man the ship." Major Hina looked back and forth between Fullbody and Jango, turning before even acknowledging their responses.

"Yes, Major Hina!" Fullbody proudly saluted his commander.

Jango copied the salute, blushing and grinning at the same time. "We will guard the ship for our lives for you, Major Hina!"

Their words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Hina slowly descended from her ship, looking further up the coast towards the lollipop forest she did so. The Straw Hats' vessel was in that direction, docked at a local port town. Hina had smartly decided to anchor further down the shore, out of sight from anyone who might be on the ship. When she reached the sandy shore, she glanced over the assembled officers, all of whom promptly saluted her.

"At ease." Hina's cigarette bobbed in her mouth as she surveyed her men. "Our mission on this island is to determine the wherabouts of the Straw Hat pirates and, if possible, apprehend them." She paced back and forth slightly, keeping her gaze on the officers. "We will not do as officers have done by underestimating them. The Straw Hat crew is strong, and we must be on guard when approaching them. Preferrably, do not engage any of them without my presence! Understood?"

"Yes, Major Hina!"

"Hina happy." Hina then shot her arm up, motioning for her men to disperse. "Move out!"

As her men began to wander off the beach and onto the island, Hina watched them for a moment before looking back towards the lollipop beach and sneering, knowing that the Straw Hats' ship was in that direction. Turning, she peered off towards the other end of the beach, somewhat relaxed by the sight of the pristine beach... but then she spotted a spot of black in the distance. A figure. Someone dressed in black. Eyes narrowing, Hina slowly started down the beach in the direction of the figure.

"Hina investigate."

TO BE CONTINUED