The sun had just come up and the air was still thick with dew from the early morning frost that had all but evaporated now. She pushed aside the covers on her bed and dragged herself to her feet. "Today's the day. Time to carry on with my lifelong adventure!" She threw on a pair of tattered denim shorts and a shirt she left unbuttoned, exposing her light blue bikini top. She then threw on some boots and ran downstairs to the kitchen. The chefs were busily running about trying to get breakfast prepared in time. She waltzed over to the head chef and asked if he could set her up with a few days worth of non-perishable food, which he gladly did. Most of the Palaces help took an immediate liking to her because compared to everyone else they served, she was relatively normal. He'd put all the food into a brown fabric bag which she gladly accepted and then went on her way. She snuck through the halls until she came to the garden and then scoured the palace wall so she wouldn't have to go past the guards. Once she was over the wall, she was as good as home free. The shops where just beginning to open (they opened early for the locals, and later for the tourists) and the streets were already bustling. She made her way through the town, to the abandoned beach she'd found a few days before. Her boat hadn't been discovered, so she brushed off all the foliage she'd used to hide it and threw the bag of food inside, fixed her New World log pose to her wrist and set sail. As far as she could see, she hadn't been sprung; Doflamingo was probably still sound asleep in his ridiculously oversized bed.

At least that's what she'd thought. Doffy had been keeping a close eye on her, knowing too well she was likely to try something along these lines. He'd followed her to the beach and quietly stood by and watched as she sailed off, slowly disappearing into the horizon. A sly smirk came over his face as he pulled out one half of a torn vivre card, that gently tugged at his fingers in the direction that his lovely muse had only moments ago vanished in. He returned to the palace and ordered Baby Five and Da in to accompany him on a short trip, without telling them their destination.

~SEVERAL HOURS LATER~

The wind had been strong and it quickly pushed her little boat across the tops of the waves. The first Island had come into view. After this there was just one more Island to go. She pulled up at the shore. The sands were black and the skies were cloudy with ash. A volcano was rumbling away on the other side of the island spewing lava and turning the underside of the ash cloud a glowing red. The few trees that were still left had unusually dark green leaves and there were animal bones scattered across the rocky ground. If the bones were still there then the animals couldn't have died from the lava flow. It was most likely that the gases from the volcano were leaking out from the base and poisoned what little life this island had. The surroundings gave her the creeps, so she decided to stick to the beach and eat her lunch quickly so she could leave this island as soon as possible. She'd just started to get used to the volcano's rumbling when a spot appeared on the sea. She automatically suspected Doflamingo, but as it neared she noticed it was just a man on a bicycle… A MAN ON A BICYCLE! In the middle of the sea?! What the hell?! He was headed to a spot on the beach to the west, but noticed her and changed his course. She followed his every movement as he casually approached her. When he was close enough, she noticed a line of light blue beneath his bike wheels. It looked like ice. Well, at least that would explain how he could get the bike to stay afloat in the middle of the sea.

He pulled up at the beach and ambled over to her, sitting down about a meter away.

"Nice day don't you think?" He was waiting for a reply, but Kaiyan was too baffled to form any kind of speech.

"Sooo, what brings you out this way?" Still no reply. "You should have stopped an island over. It's a nice autumn island, not all groggy and gloomy like this one." She was trying to apply a reasonable explanation to the ice bicycle man when she remembered, 'the world I live in isn't governed by reason or logic' and dismissed him as another anomaly, probably an inventor of some kind.

"Mm, it is a nice day, and this just happened to be the first Island I came to. So I'm not too fussed about the cloud cover. I'll be on my way soon enough."

"Hm, I understand, just a passerby then."

"Yep, that's me."

"Fair enough."

The conversation was a little dull to say the least, but it wasn't awkward. She put it down to his simple personality. She glanced over to him and noticed his vagabond like clothing all tattered and torn.

"Would you like some lunch. My destination is the Island after this one, so I have more than enough food. You're welcome to help yourself."

He smiled kindly at her, "I think I will. Thank you." And so, the two new acquaintances quietly ate together, not sharing another word, enjoying the relative quiet (except for the volcano in the background). The time went by quickly, and soon, two hours had already passed.

"You said you were heading to the next Island? That's Bell Island, if I'm not mistaken."

"Bell Island is where I'm going."

"Hm, yes. What is it that takes you there?"

"My brother's idol is supposed to be there, and I'd like to meet him and thank him for looking after Luffy." She'd inadvertently let something important slip. She assumed this man was just an adventuring inventor, but that wasn't the case.

"Oh, I see. Your brother. You must really care for him, coming all the way out here to meet his mentor."

"I do. He's a bit of an idiot, but his hearts in the right place." Aokiji pondered to himself a little, 'idiot ha? Well it must be him then.'

Before he had the chance to say anything else, the young girl next to him bounced to her feet, "Shit!"

"Hm, why the concerned look?"

"Dammit, I have to get out of here." Before she had the chance to tie up the food bag, cannon flew past and blew up her boat.

"Oh my, that was unexpected." Aokiji glanced over to her. Kaiyan was unable to move. Oh man, the trouble she was in now.

"You said you needed to leave? Well since your boat is in tatters, I'm willing to take you there." He climbed to his feet and stretched his back out before ambling over to his bike. "So, would you like a lift?" She didn't even give it a seconds thought before jumping on the back behind him. The two hit the water and were out of sight in a matter of minutes, once again heading for Bell Island.