Fun Time in Skypeia!

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

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After fainting, Devon and his brother were taken to a large tent in a part of the ancient city. Austin came to faster than Devon, and was out in the city, getting to know the surroundings while Kirsty stayed in the tent, looking after Devon until he came to. She was joined by Aisa, and a woman with dark hair dressed in pinkish-violet clothes, who turned out to be Aisa's cousin Laki.

Outside the tent, while the others explored the area, Axe and Chizuru waited for the others. Axe was pacing back and forth while Chizuru calmly leaned against a stone wall of a ruin.

"I cannot believe this!" Axe tugged at his hair, his eyes wide as saucers, "Icannot believe that the mother of my First Mate was on the same crew as the Pirate King!"

"Well, when you think about...," Chizuru held up a finger, "With Devon's wild, violent nature in combat, and his unusual strength, it makes perfect sense. I've talked to these people and it seems that these Shandians are quite fierce in battle. A strong warrior for a father, and a pirate for a mother...," she clicked her tongue, "Nice combo,"

"You're telling me...," Axe scratched his head, "Still, this is unbelievable! Devon's mom and dad are practically legends!"

Chizuru shot a calm look at him, as if to say, "Wouldn't call them legends, yet, Captain,"

"How is the boy doing?"

Both Axe and Chizuru turned to see Gan Fall walking up to them, his lance over his shoulder.

"He ain't dead, if that's what you're asking," Axe stretched, "But man, that was a doozy, old man, finding out about his mom and pop like that. Well, now that he's got that settled," he clapped his hands together and grinned, "Where's the gold from this City of Gold?" he asked eagerly.

Gan Fall, while having an even look on his face, seemed to think Axe was being rude, but he left it alone. The old man nodded his head in a direction, "If you come with me, there's is something that I think you would like to see,"

"Aw, shweet," Axe clapped again and turned to his navigator, "Wanna come?"

"I don't see why not," Chizuru placed her hat on her head, "Devon's being looked after, so there's no point in staying here for now. Lead on, God,"

The old man chuckled, "Please, call me Gan Fall,"

As they started to leave the city, they saw that some of their nakama were taking in the cultures of both groups of people. Axe walked over to Dusty and Herman, who were looking at food, "Me and Chizuru are gonna go look at something for a bit. Can I trust you to behave?"

"Don't worry, Cap'n," Dusty patted Herman on his shell, "I'll make sure he's a good boy,"

Herman facefaulted and looked down at his nakama, "I think he was asking you that, kit,"

"Why me?"

Axe rolled his eyes and left them to the hospitality of the Sky People.

Herman looked around picked up what looked like a large, green, pumpkin, "This looks interesting...wonder what it tastes like?"

"Gimme!" Dusty swiped it from him and before anyone could stop her, she clamped her teeth around the pumpkin, only to whimper as tears rolled down her face. She dropped the pumpkin and held her mouth, "That hurt! It's like biting steel, why didn't anyone tell me that?!"

The Angel in front of them sweatdropped, "I was going to tell you...but you went off like that," he picked up the pumpkin, flipped it over and used a small knife to cut a hole in the bottom of it, "There we go," he stuck a straw into the hole and handed it to Dusty, "You're supposed to drink the juices inside, not actually eat it,"

Dusty looked warily at the pumpkin and took a slow sip. Herman was about to ask how it was when Dusty's eyes went wide and she began sipping like mad from the straw.

"I guess it's delicious," Herman turned to the Angel, "May I have one, please?"

"Of course, feel free,"

After cutting and putting a straw in, Herman tasted the delicious juices of the pumpkin. He drank all of it and sighed contently, "That was most delicious!" he bonked the hard shell of the empty pumpkin, "You never would've expected something so good from such a hard exterior,"

"I'm sure people say the same about you at first, Red," Dusty grinned, smacking him on the shell again. She tossed the pumpkin to the side, nailing another Sky Angel in the head, and looked around until a familiar sight reached her eyes. "Check it out!" she nudged Herman in the gut, pointing to a collection of shells on a blanket nearby, "More of those Dial doohickies!"

Dusty ran over the Angel she had nailed in the head and stared at the dials, "Dude, these look a lot like the Dials Austin has...but these others, I've seen before!"

"Oh, so you know of Dials, huh?" a third Angel asked, "I suppose the sons of a Shandian would have some at least, so it's not that surpising,"

"What kinda dial is this?" Dusty asked, picking up a gray, conch-like shell, "Doesn't look like an Impact Dial...,"

"That's because it isn't," the Angel explained, "This is a Tone Dial. It record your voice and any sound you make. Put it up to your mouth and say whatever you want,"

"Alrighty," Dusty raised the Dial to her mouth and thought for a few moments, "Devon is a pain in the ass who will never get laid because he is a fat-head dork!"

Herman sweatdropped, She is so lucky he's not awake...

"Now what?"

"Just press the top of the shell,"

Dusty pressed the top of the shell, "Okay...,"

"Devon is a pain in the ass who will never get laid because he's a fat-head dork!" the Dial repeated Dusty's message word for word, and even in her own voice.

"WHOA!" Herman and Dusty stared at the shell, "AWESOME!"

Dusty shot to her feet and ran off, "I GOTTA SHOW THE OTHERS THIS!"

"Dusty, don't run off with things that don't belong to you!" Herman yelled at her back before turning to the Angel and bowing, "I'm so sorry, sir, she just gets excited,"

"Oh, that's perfectly alright," the Angel waved it off casually, "Would you like to see another type of Dial?"

Herman nodded, "Sure, I'd love to...," he looked at the collection and pointed to a very large and heavy shell, "What kinda Dial is that?"

"A Heat Dial," the Angel patted the large shell, "Ideal for cooking because it's so big, it's as good as an oven,"

"Oh...really...," Herman scrunched his face, "Wait a minute, Austin has Heat Dials that he sometimes he uses in his gloves, but they're not that big...,"

"Must be the ones we use for Warfare,"

Herman turned to see another Shandian, one with a hat on his head that even covered his eyes, "Warfare?"

"Braham, don't go and tell our guests about the barbaric uses of the Dials!" the Angel scolded, "Honestly, the war's over, leave it alone!"

The hat wearing man growled.

Herman quickly came between them, "Please, don't fight, you two! Now, I did ask why it was different so it's alright that he told me that it was used in warfare," the merman reasoned to the Angel, "I was just curious, I don't want to start another war here," he joked.

Braham snorted, "See? He admits that he asked...," he looked Herman over, "What the hell are you anyway? You look like some of the fish around the White-White Sea..,kinda,"

Herman sweatdropped, "That's right, you've probably never seen my kind before, have you? Well, in that case, I shall tell you what I am! I am a Lobsterman from the Merman race down in the Blue Sea, which I and my comrades call home. We can live both in water and on land, so we're quite adaptable to about any environment!"

"So...you're basically both a man and a fish?" Braham asked slowly.

Herman nodded, "Yes, pretty much,"

The Shandian turned to the Sky Angel, "Think he tastes like Sky Sharks?"

"Hey, wait a minute! I may be part fish, but I'm not gonna be a part of someone's dinner!"

-----

While her nakama were off either having fun or trying to protect themselves from hunger Shandians and Skypeians, Niri found herself with a couple of Skypeians herself. One was a lovely young woman with blonde hair, named Conis, and the other was her father, who had bushy eyebrows and a very bushy beard, Pagaya.

Niri watched as both Conis and Pagaya walked between small boats with handles and a strange circular object in the back. She had been watching them work on these boats for awhile now while Azu was currently trying to hit on Conis...or at least parts of her.

"So, Wavers, huh?" Niri knelt down and looked the nearest boat over, "Never heard of it. How does it work?"

Pagaya put down his tools, "Well, as Luffy and his friends learned while he was here, the Waver's engines are powered by Breath Dials, and controlled by the pedals and steering," he turned to Azu, "You said you are the engineer for this crew, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but shipwright is more like it,"

"Ah, sorry then, for my mistake," Pagaya apologized as Niri climbed onto a Waver and tested the steering, "You may try these out if you wish, but I must warn you that it takes a while to be able to control a Waver, so don't expect it to work on your first try...,"

A loud humming sound made Pagaya, Conis, and Azu turn to see Niri practically skipping over the waves of the White-White Sea. To the three's surprise, she was able to control the Waver without any problems at all! Azu whistled and turned to Pagaya, "You were saying, pal?"

Pagaya scratched his beard, "My my...first Nami rides it well, and now this girl," he turned to Azu, "Are all girls from the Blue Sea this able-bodied?"

"God, I wish they were, otherwise I wouldn't be so lonely in the sack...,"

"..."

"We are talking about two totally different things, aren't we?"

Niri let out a loud whoop as she weaved in and out of the waves of the White-White Sea on the waver. She had a huge grin on her face as her hair flew behind her, "I AM LOVIN' THIS!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I WANT ONE OF THESE!!!"

Azu grinned as he heard his nakama scream and turned to Pagaya, "Question,"

"Ask away,"

"Would it be possible to either have the plans and supplies for these things, or can we just have a few?"

Pagaya looked at the wavers, then back at Azu, "I don't suppose it'd be harmful in anyway to lend you what plans we have. Do you think you can build one?"

"Build one? Ha!" Azu jerked a thumb to himself, "I'm from the famous Galley-La Company of Water 7, I can make it even better!"

"Oh, really?" Pagaya turned to the Wavers, "Perhaps you can help me modify some of these then. The White Berets and Wipers friends said they wanted to travel up the Milky Roads to explore more of Upper Yard, and some improvements would make it easier,"

Azu grinned, "Sure, be glad to help!" he grabbed the hammer from his belt and stood in front of the nearest Waver, "Prepare to be graced by the fingers of Galley-La!" he raised his hammer high, "HERE WE GO!"

Both Pagaya and Conis watched as Azu became still, not lowering his hammer, not even an inch.

"I have no clue as to what I'm supposed to be doing here,"

Father and daughter fell over.

Conis sat up, a smile on her face, "You're an odd one, Mr Azu,"

"Aw, please Babe, call me Azu," the shipwright flexed his muscles, "That's right...this is real,"

"Oh my!" Pagaya shot up and pointed out to the sea, "Azu, you're friend's in trouble!"

Azu waved him off, "Aw, she's fine, that Waver's already her bitch so-,"

"It's not the Waver!"

"Huh?" Azu turned to see something or a number of somethings following Niri as she sped across the Sea, "What in the name of the Pirate King is that?!"

"Sky Sharks!" Conis' hands went to her mouth, her eyes wide with fear, "If we don't warn her, Niri's going to be eaten by them!"

Niri didn't even seem to notice the Sky Sharks coming after her, she was having too much fun on the Waver. She spent every second she could on the contraption, jumping over waves, making her own waves, anything she could think of. Her joy was short-lived however, when a large Sky Shark made itself known to her, bursting out of the water in front of her.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Niri veered the waver hard to the side, dodging a lunging shark, but before she could go back to land, the Waver sputtered and died. Cursing, Niri stomped on the pedals of the Waver, trying to get it to go as large fins cut through the clouds beneath her.

A loud roar from behind her made Niri snap her head back to see the same Sky Shark from before coming in for her again. Niri shut her eyes, but instead of the beast swallowing her whole, a burst of heat rushed past her and she heard the Sky Shark roar again before a big splash was heard, followed by the Waver moving around.

Niri cracked an eye open to see that the Sky Shark was now sinking beneath the waves, a gaping hole in it's body, smoke rising from it.

"Sky Sharks are always on the hunt, Blue Sea dweller,"

"You turn a Waver like that, it stalls and your fish-food,"

Niri turned to see two men coming towards her at an alarmingly speed. One of them wore a vest of reddish feathers and ruby-colored sunglasses as he rode a board powered by Breath Dials while the other one was a fat man on what looked like skates. The latter held a smoking bazooka on his shoulder.

"Uh, thanks...," she looked at them closely, "You're Shandians, aren't you?"

The thin man in shades nodded, "I am Kamakiri, and this," he pointed his spear to the fat man, "...is Genbou. We were out testing the modifications to our rides that Pagaya made when we saw that you were in trouble,"

"Well, for that, I owe you both big time," Niri looked down and stomped on the pedals again. Sighing she looked up and placed her head on the steering handles, "Any chance you can give me a tow?"

-----

"Heso, God Gan Fall!"

"Heso!"

Axe and Chizuru stared at the group of strange men in camouflage pants that stood in their way. The men were definitely soldiers of some kind. They wore purple tops, white berets on the tops of their heads and, for some odd season, they each held a hand behind their head, index and pinky fingers raised.

"Who are these guys?" Axe asked abruptly, pointing to them, "They're weird,"

Gan Fall chuckled, "These are the White Berets. They are soldiers who try and keep things peaceful around here. Before Eneru destroyed their home, Angel Island, they were the police force there," he nodded to the apparent leader, a man with a beret sloping down over his eye, "This is Captain McKinley. Captain, these are our guests,"

McKinley looked them over, "More Blue Sea dwellers, hm?" he walked over to the of them, "I'll warn you now: make any trouble for us and our societies and you will be punished severely!"

"Okay, for starters," Axe shook his head, "We won't. We're here for a friend and his brother, so we have no intention of starting trouble. Secondly, back off or I'll throw off the nearest cliff," he threatened, pointing to a cliffside nearby, "Seriously, you do not wanna piss me off,"

"Why you...!"

"Captain McKinley, why don't you go and see if the others need any help in the city?" Gan Fall suggested quickly, glaring at Axe for his attempt at starting something.

"Heso!" McKinley gave the salute and turned to his men, "White Berets, march!"

Both Chizuru and Axe sweatdropped as the White Berets fell to the ground and began crawling back the way they had came.

"Okay, they're even stranger than before," Axe muttered under his breath and turned to Gan Fall, "About this thing you wanted to show us before, where is it and how far away are we?"

Gan Fall turned and pointed to a thicket of trees, "Just past those trees, so it's not much farther now. However, before we go on," he turned to Axe, "I do believe you won't want to make trouble for Devon or his brother, but threatening to throw a White Beret off a cliff seems to defeat that purpose,"

Chizuru nodded, "He's right, Captain,"

"Aw, bite me,"

After following Gan Fall a bit further, both Axe and Chizuru were greeted by an amazing sight. Axe's jaw practically fell into and through the ground while Chizuru's eyes went pretty wide. There, standing like a magnificent monument to something, was a giant, golden bell. While it was covered with vines and moss, it was still beautiful to behold. Axe reached down and picked his jaw up, "Holy...shit!"

Chizuru whistled, "Wow...I...just...," she shook her head, "...wow,"

Her captain stared at the bell for a long time, and when he started to turn to Gan Fall, he stopped again when something very familiar caught his eye. Axe staggered to a huge, stone block at the base of the golden belfry, eyes boring into the strange characters that were carved into the stone.

"Whoa...a Poneglyph? Here?!" he rubbed his eyes furiously to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He wasn't.

Axe ran a hand over the black stone of the Poneglyph, "What is one of these puppies doing here in the sky?!" he shook his head, "Forget it, I don't wanna know, I do not want to know," he pressed his head against the block, "A City of Gold and a Poneglyph. I never doubted that there was an island up here, not one bit,"

"Yeah, right," Chizuru said, waving a hand idly before turning to Gan Fall, "Excuse me, but could you lead me back to the city? I want to see how my friends are doing?"

"Of course," Gan Fall nodded and turned to Axe, "What about you, boy, are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a while, I wanna stay here for a bit," Axe waved at them from over his shoulder, "If I'm not back by nightfall, just send Herman with my food, as well as a camera or something!"

Gan Fall raised an eyebrow, "Why...?"

"Because!" Axe spun around, a very excited look on his face, "I gotta record this! I wanna remember there being a Poneglyph in the sky, and that I got to be with it!"

"Can you even read the letters?"

"You bet your old ass I can!" Axe nodded rapidly, turned around and hugged the stone, "Sweet, sweet karma,"

"I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be disrespectful," Gan Fall turned to the red-haired woman, "But is he suffering from an illness?"

Chizuru giggled and adjusted her hat again, "Yes. It's called Treasure Fever. It's very common among pirates and treasure hunters,"

-----

Night fell on Upper Yard, and the Axe-Heads were still in good graces with their hosts, Skypeians and Shandians alike. Niri became quick friends with Braham, Kamakiri and Genbou while Kirsty and Austin became friends with Laki and Aisa. Even Pingu managed to become fast friends with the Sky People, especially the females who thought he was absolutely adorable. Axe and Devon, however, were not able to dig in to the supper Herman and the Sky People had prepared. Devon was still out of it and Axe was still at the bell.

"So, Flash Dials and pistols, huh?" Niri looked at her own pistols, "Not a bad idea, Braham...I wonder what other Dial combos I could do with my guns?"

Braham laughed and punched Niri in the shoulder, "You're alright, for a Blue Sea dweller, girl,"

Niri returned the punch, knocking Braham down, "Back at ya, man,"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SOMEONE STOP THESE THINGS!"

Niri and Braham turned just in time to see Dusty hit a stone wall, Breath Dial skates on her feet.

"That's gotta hurt...,"

"Dusty-chan!" DJ ran over, "Dusty-chan! Quick, someone get the doctor, Dusty-chan's hurt herself!" he looked around, "Where's Kirsty-san?!"

She was still in the tent with Devon, keeping an eye on him while the others went about their own things. A small fire was outside so that if she needed to warm up, she'd just have to step out.

Hard to believe that Devon's parents knew the legendary Pirate King, she thought as she chewed on a thumb a little, Devon...you and Austin are very lucky. Most people would kill nowadays just to be in your shoes, to have this connection to the man who started the Era of Dreams.

Movement from the corner of her eye made Kirsty turn to see the shadow of Gan Fall sit in front of the fire. She patted Devon on the shoulder and quietly left the tent, taking a seat next to the old man.

"Thank you,"

"For what, child?"

"For your hospitality," Kirsty looked at the crackling fire, "Usually, wherever we go, we are greeted with hostility, so it's nice to be welcomed openly by the one who's in charge,"

Gan Fall stared at the fire as well, "I couldn't turn away Sefu's children, my dear. I knew they would come one day, with questions filling their minds, and it would be wrong to send them away,"

"Which is what you should've done, regardless, old man!"

Both Kirsty and Gan Fall looked up to see Wiper walking up to them, a deep scowl on his face. Gan Fall frowned, "Wiper, let the hate for Sefu go. The war is over and both our people are living peacefully here on Upper Yard. What more could you possibly want?"

"I want that bastard and his runt brother out of this city, and off this land!" Wiper shouted, "Their father left the war like a coward just for a woman and we should welcome them back like nothing happened! You can for-,"

SLAP!

Both Gan Fall and Wiper were surprised when Kirsty shot to her feet and slapped him hard across the face. She glared at him, her palm warm.

"Now, you listen to me!" she growled, "Both Devon and Austin lost their father, and they watched their mother as she was murdered by those thieves! For years, they have been wondering who their father was and where they came from and the one, and possibly only time, they have to find out, you greet them with hate-mongering for something in the past! So, their dad left, it happens! There is some shit that happens in life that we have no control over, and we have to move on from that! If we don't, it will gnaw at us from the inside and maybe one day destroy us!"

Wiper turned and glared down at her, "I don't need a Blue Sea dweller telling me how to live!" he raised a hand.

Gan Fall rose to his feet, "WIPER!"

The Shandian Warrior brought his hand down, ready to strike Kirsty, but he was stopped when a strong hand grabbed his wrist.

"You lay one finger on her...you'll taste my blade," Devon glared as he walked in from the nearby shadows, "You have problems with my family, fine, I don't mind, but if you think for a minute I'll let you lay a hand on my nakama with anger directed at me, then you have another thing coming!"

Devon... Kirsty looked at him, both touched and suprised.

Wiper growled and pulled his arm away, "Get out of this city, you don't belong here!"

"I'm not gonna leave my father's land," Devon hissed, "I'm gonna stay in this place as long as I like and if you have a problem with that, then I'll gladly beat the shit out of you to convince you otherwise,"

"That is enough, both of you!" Gan Fall roared, making nearby people stop and look at the scene, "Wiper! Devon, Austin, and their friends are welcome here in Upper Yard! We have fought for centuries because our two different cultures have wanted this land for themselves. Do not start a personal war with one who shares Shandian blood!"

Wiper glared at Gan Fall, "This doesn't concern you, God! This is between me and the traitor's sons!" he pointed at Devon, "If he and his brother aren't leaving the city that we have fought and died for, then I'm leaving until they leave for the Blue Sea again,"

With that, the Shandian turned and walked away from the fire.

"Wiper! WIPER!" Gan Fall sighed deeply and sat back down, "I'm sorry, Devon...please, don't let Wiper's attitude towards you tell you that all the Shandians are like that,"

Devon let out a 'feh' and turned back to the tent. He bent down to enter the flap, but stopped and turned to Kirsty, "You alright?" he asked quietly.

Kirsty nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks,"

"Good," Devon smiled a little before entering the tent, ready to sleep (even though he had plenty of forced sleep).

Gan Fall looked at the two of them and chuckled, "You two are very much like them,"

"Huh? Like who?"

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Axe: Well, guys, looks like some funny and emotional stuff is going on! BTW, if you're wondering why I am doing this instead of kilnorc-sama it's because...

Kilnorc: Damn puzzle! I will solve you no matter what!

Axe: He's still trying to solve the Rubix Cube he got for the holidays. Anyhoo, hope ya enjoyed and there's more to come! 'Til then, folks!

On the next chapter of Homeland...

Axe: Roger could also read Poneglyphs...amazing! This is definitely a treasure in my book.

Gan Fall: We're still trying to clear the forests of Eneru's leftover Enforcers and traps so we may begin to rebuild.

DJ: Man, these guys have Dials up the yin-yang!

Dusty: WHEE! BALL DIALS ARE FUN! I call dibs!

Journey into Upper Yard

Devon: I won't prove myself to that asshole just to be here. My father was a part of this tribe and since his blood runs in my veins, I have as much a right to be here as he does!