Hello! It's me, tailbone finally healed writer here. Back for more CfoK! Yes, I am so lazy I just abbreviating my own title. Doesn't sound half bad, though!
If anyone was curious about the twitter thing, I kinda dumped that idea shortly after I posted the last chapter. Will probably erase that authors note once you've seen this.
Enjoy!
"Listen up," Cricket said as he walked out of his house, "I'll tell ya everything I know about the Sky Islands. Believe or don't, this is what we know."
"I believe you," Luffy answered. He'd already spent a good portion of his life believing in one legend, what was another going to cost him? Cricket just regarded him bemusedly before continued.
"Sometimes in these seas," he said. "The sky will grow dark as night out of nowhere. Some people have even seen figures in them. This darkness is caused by an extremely dense cloud formation in the sky."
"Nimbostratus?" Nami asked, "They can't make the sky dark, but not like nighttime."
"I'd be likely to agree if it was that type of cloud, little miss," Cricket replied as he took a drag from his cigarette. "But it isn't. These types of clouds are called Millennium Cumulonimbus. These clouds don't ascend, descend or create rain. They stay stagnant, like cloud fossils that could be millions of years old."
"No rain?" Nami asked, brow furrowed. Luffy thought she looked goofy when she thought this hard. "But at the density required to blot out the sun, surely they would."
"Aye, our current understanding of clouds says that's the case," Cricket agreed. "But this wouldn't be the first time we humans discovered something that shattered our previous understanding. If Sky Islands do exist, the only reasonable location would be on these clouds."
"I'm assuming how to get there is the life and death part," Nojiko offered. Cricket nodded along to this.
"Naturally," he said. "That involves the Knock-Up Stream."
"Knock-Up Stream?" Nami asked, "Is that the same thing as the Blast-Off Stream?"
"Different name for the same anomaly," Cricket said. "Pressurized water gets shot high into the sky frequently around here. That's your ticket skyward, right there."
"Is such a thing even possible?" Vivi asked incredulously, "The poor Merry would get torn to shreds."
"Yeah, uh, I'd like to avoid that!" Usopp claimed.
"Most ships would, yes," Cricket said. "Including yours, from the look of it. But the key is the timing. You need to ride that current all the way to the Sky Island."
"Time out!" Nami exclaimed, "How is such a thing even possible?! Is it a gigantic geyser? Some sort of water volcano?"
"If I knew that I'd have mentioned it," Cricket replied looking annoyed. "The best theory is that cold water gets trapped inside underwater caves, gets heated by the planet's core, and erupts upwards once it boils too much. You have to ride the stream upwards at the same time the clouds are above. Such a thing is not a frequent occurrence, but you're in luck; Sky Island is nearby."
"How do you know that?" Luffy asked curiously.
"Because the sky went dark today," he replied. "When the skies turns to night during the day, it means the Millennium Cumulonimbus is approaching. Give that, we still need to time the eruption with the clouds arrival. The Knock-Up Stream only happens five times a month. We'll need to be lucky to catch it, and you'll be even luckier to not smash back into the water at any point during this event."
The crew could practically hear Usopp shaking.
"M-Maybe we shouldn't do this!" He said, "After all Luffy, there's no guarantee that Sky Island exists!" Luffy knew the resident scaredy-cat was right. Even with all these coincidental facts, including the ship that had nearly dropped on top of them earlier that very day, it was still a shot in the dark.
"Not to mention we can't stay longer than a day, or the Log Pose will reset," Nami added. That was a problem too.
"Oi, old man," he said, "how soon will the stream be active again?" Cricket crossed his arms.
"Calendar date lines up with tomorrow," he said. "The clouds are approaching as well. The timing is perfect, if you want to go that is." So they only had the one shot. If there was no Sky Island, they were dead. If there was, they could only have this one shot to get to it.
"Any one not ready to die tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yes," Usopp and Nami answered together. No one else did. Luffy grinned and let out a chuckle.
"Let's get ready to go, Cricket," he said. "We don't have long to prepare." A smile broke out across Cricket's face as well.
"Damn right," he said. "We'll need to do some remodeling on your ship, but before that we should eat. Come, there's liquor in the house."
"Now you have my attention," Zoro noted.
It didn't take long for a party to take over the entire shack. Drinks were poured out, and soon enough those who did drink were giddy and loosened up.
"Listen to this one!| Cricket shouted, Noland's journal in hand. "When we arrived on the island, we heard the strange chirping of birds and the ringing of bells. they were beautiful bells, made of solid gold! They rang as if to sing of the civilisation's glory across the seas for all to hear! These bells sounds were so deep and intense, it made the men anxious whenever we heard bells from thereon!"
"Solid gold bells?" Nami asked, as if she'd completely ignored the rest of the story. "And they're massive, hm?"
"Don't lose your head, sneak thief," Zoro told her as he elbowed her.
"Plenty of gold down here, anyway!" Cricket announced, whipping out a sack from nowhere. Reaching in, he pulled out all matter of small gold trinkets and showed them around. There were little bells, seemingly to mimic the larger ones, coins, bricks, as he did so, Masira pulled out a large gold bird statue. This just made Luffy more excited.
"So how do we start to remodel the ship?" He asked Cricket. The man took a long swig of beer before he opened his mouth to speak.
"First things first, you need to find a South Bird." He said. "That's the most important thing."
"What's a South Bird?" Usopp asked.
"Thing right here," Cricket said as he gestured to the bird figure. "looks just like it, just less gold. Chirps just like this, see?" He pressed down the birds head, and the statue let out a strange chirp the likes of which Luffy had never head before. "Go to the Southern Forest and find one."
"Why do we need one?" Johnny asked.
"Easy, my dear simpleton," Cricket replied. Johnny didn't even seem to notice the insult that made Marianne snicker from beside him. "Losing your way on the Grand Line is easy, as I'm sure you know. That's why Sailors use the Log Pose. You lot try to sail out of here not looking for an island, you'll get lost altogether."
"Where does the bird come in?" Sanji asked.
"I believe I know," Robin said. "Many animals in nature have a sort of built in bio-compass. If I could hazard a guess, it's that this bird can point us to the Knock-Up Stream."
"Exactly," Cricket said. "The bird points straight to the stream in the South. Without it, you may as well forget about the Sky Islands.
How the hell did Marianne get herself into these situations?
In one moment she was sitting in Cricket's house enjoying a drink, in the next she'd been ejected into the forest with Johnny and Yosaku with a net in an attempt to catch a South Bird. Now the three of them were trudging through the forest as the sky began to blacken.
"If it gets too dark, we'll never find it." Yosaku noted, shielding his eyes with his hand as he observed the top of the trees.
"How the hell did we end up on a team?" Marianne asked in confusion.
"We are a team," Johnny replied. "Big Bro Luffy said we had to look after you."
"What?" Marianne asked, "that was before we landed in Alabasta! You don't need to shadow me anymore."
"Well someone has to look after you," Yosaku said, "you're just a little girl!"
"Do you morons just ignore me when I say I'm sixteen?!" She demanded angrily. "I'm just short!" Johnny let out a laugh and ruffed her hair.
"It's just easy to forget, since you're only a Chopper and a half tall," he said.
"Do not refer to my height as a 'Chopper and a half! I'll have you know I've gained height since we met."
"Really?" Yosaku asked as he stared at her, "I don't see it."
Trying to ignore the stabbing pain of shortness in her stomach, Marianne craned her neck upwards to scan the treetops. She knew the bird had to be shaped like the idol Cricket had showed them but, other than that they had nothing to go on. Was it big or small? Colorful or not at all? Thankfully she had a good eye for color, otherwise it might have been even more annoying.
Which is what alerted her to something being wrong. Above them, in the canopy of the trees, something was gathering. No, a whole lot of something's. Bugs?
Marianne watched in horror as a swarm of locusts descended on them, ready to swallow her whole.
"RUN!" she screeched, turning and bolting as fast as her legs cold carry her. Both swordsman soon followed after her, quickly overtaking her.
Why are we being chased by grasshoppers?!" Johnny demanded.
"Did we mess up their nest or something?" Yosaku asked.
"Who cares?!" She demanded, "Just run!" Marianne could say this all she wanted, but the truth was she was falling behind. Johnny and Yosaku got further away with every stride of their longer legs, and the buzzing of the locusts got louder. One flew right past her ear, and she screeched.
"Carry me!" She shouted desperately, "I can't run fast enough!"
"Didn't you just say you weren't a little girl?!" Johnny asked.
"I'm short okay!? I'm short! They're gonna catch me!"
"Damn it all!" Yosaku shouted. Slowing down, the swordsman veered and grabbed her around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. He did it with so much easy Marianne forgot to be offended at her own lack of weight. Despite being able to flee the locusts, she know had a full view of them from Yosaku's back. They looked mad.
"Run faster you oaf!" She cried, "they'll catch us!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, unpaid transient!" Yosaku snapped back. She'd ask where he learned the big words later. Deciding she did not want to become locust chow, Marianne dug into her pack and looked around for what she needed. Pulling out a vial of Betrayal Black, she uncorked it and reared back. Once a few locusts got close enough, she splashed the paint directly into the swarm.
The effect was imminent.
The size of the locusts meant that getting splashed even a little switched their loyalty. In an instant about a quarter of the swarm turned on the others, attacking their brethren. it wasn't enough to stop them from getting chased, but it did slow them down.
"Go go go!" She shouted. Johnny and Yosaku sped up at her will, putting distance between them and the bugs.
"What the hell was that?!" Johnny asked, "why were they chasing us?!"
"Who cares?! Marianne asked bouncing on Yosaku's shoulders. "Let's get the hell out of here!"
"But we need that bird!" Yosaku replied.
"Screw the bird! I don't want to die to bugs!"
"What the hell is wrong with this forest?!" Nami demanded angrily. She ducked as the giant praying mantis she was fleeing from swiped at her, before Luffy punched it in the back of the head.
"I don't know, but these bug are sick!" He shouted gleefully. "Nami, look! It bleeds green!"
"I don't wanna look, that's disgusting!"
"This bird better show up soon," Nojiko said in disgust as she fired a bullet in between the eyes of a huge centipede. "I'm losing my patience!"
"Choh!" Nami's ears perked up when she heard a bird call. Her eyes darted to the tops of the nearby trees, but with the sun setting it was hard to see anything.
"I think I heard the bird!" She called to Luffy. "Do you see it?"
Luffy cartoonishly stretched his neck to crane it upwards, humming to himself as he kicked a moth in the head.
"No," he answered, "nothing."
"I don't see it either," Nojiko offered. Nami frowned as she did a spin, still unable to see anything.
"This is ridiculous," she hissed. "What is even happening in this forest?!"
Vivi was exhausted. It wasn't because she was running or fighting.
It was because was was mediating between Zoro and Sanji.
Somehow, as the crew split up, she'd been stuck with them, Chopper and Usopp. Usopp had insisted going with the stronger members of the crew, which she thought had something to do with it.
"Guys, can we please focus on finding this bird?" She asked, interrupting another argument about Lord knew what. "Sanji, can you please keep your eyes open? For me?" Vivi knew she was being manipulative, but she wanted out of this was fast as possible.
"I'd do anything for you, Vivi-swan!" Sanji shouted happily as if the prior argument had never happened. Zoro still looked annoyed, as long as he didn't walk off randomly, they'd be fine.
"Good thing you're here, Vivi," Chopper noted from her arms. She'd long since picked him up and started to hold him like a stuffed animal, which he didn't seem to mind. "It's hard getting those two to stop arguing."
"I was brought along to do the talking," she reminded him, "So it's nice to fulfil my purpose."
"Granted it isn't hard to make Sanji do something," Usopp said with a cheeky grin. "All you really need is to be a woman." That was also true, Sanji wasn't exactly hard to please.
"He is rather persistent, isn't he?" Chopper asked. "Maybe I should run some tests on him, see if he's okay."
"He isn't," Usopp replied, "he's sick in the mind."
"He is?!" Chopper asked. Vivi sighed as Usopp chuckled.
"Indeed," Usopp said, "Sanji suffers from 'will do anything if he might get laid'-itis. It's incurable, sadly."
"Oh, poor guy," Chopper muttered.
"Usopp please don't fill our Doctor's head with nonsense," Vivi said, "else he'll try and cure us with potions and magic sp-!"
Vivi was cut off by a cracking sound, making them all pause. Zoro's hand flew to his swords, and Usopp hid behind her. How manly.
No one got to ask what had just happened, as soon a rumbling sound passed through the air. And it got louder, and louder. Turning in the direction of the sound, Vivi's eyes widened as she saw a massive boulder flying towards them, showing no signs of stopping. Usopp let out a scream that could compete with a bird screeching as it barreled towards them. It didn't get close, though, as Zoro and Sanji flew into action.
Zoro drew a single blade and prepared himself, waiting until the boulder got a little closer. Once it passed a certain tree, He burst forwards and brought his sword down on the boulder, splitting it vertically. As it split, Sanji jumped up in between the pieces and raised his legs, kicking them off to the side. In a split second, both of them turned the boulder into a complete non-threat, the pieces coming to rest in some underbrush.
"I didn't need your help," Zoro noted.
"I didn't ask for yours, either?" Sanji said.
Yet you both worked in perfect sync Vivi thought to herself.
"You both saved us," she said to calm the storm. "what the hell was that? Why did that come flying at us?"
"It wasn't a boulder," Zoro noted. "It was a bug." Vivi raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the remains. Sure enough, the bisected bug was oozing,
"Why did it roll at us?" Usopp wondered aloud. "Was it just a coicidence?"
"Someone did it on purpose," Zoro said as he regarded the split boulder. "We're being hunted."
"Don't say stuff like that!" Usopp cried. "You're freaking me out!"
"Choh choh choh choh!" A bird's cry punctuated the darkness around them, making them all look up.
"He's over there!" Chopper said, pointing his hoof upward. Following this, Vivi saw the bird in question. It had a deep purple color to it's feathers, while its stomach was green. It's bill was long and shaped oddly, with a bull color on the end.
The imporant part, though, was that he looked exactly like the state they'd seen.
"Now we just need to grab him," Vivi said.
"Choh!" The South Bird chirped. Chopper blanched.
"That wasn't necessary!" He shouted, "We just need your help!"
"Choh!"
"Well, we haven't done anything like that! Don't antagonize people for no reason."
"Choh Choh Choh!"
"Wha-?! That was uncalled for!"
"What is he saying?" Vivi asked. Chopper looked annoyed with the bird, pouting in her arms.
"I won't repeat most of it. It was half cursing. But from what else he said, he's the one who threw the rock at us. He's also been messing with the others. He finds it funny that we're running around aimlessly."
"Can you tell him we just need his help for a bit?" She asked. "We won't hurt him."
"Yet," Zoro muttered.
"Choh!"
Vivi was about to ask what he said, but it soon became apparent it was an order. the bushes around them exploded, revealing hordes of massive bugs. Forced to drop Chopper, Vivi whipped out her peacock spinners and sliced open a beetle that tried to grab her.
"Why are the bugs listening to it?!" She demanded as she readied herself to fight.
"Bird is asking to become wings," Sanji muttered, punting a ant back into the woods.
"We need to keep up with him," Chopper said, "He's been commanding the bugs to attack the others, too. So we need to stop him." Before the group could even more, the line of trees were sliced down in front of them. A dozen or more flying mantis flew straight at them, their cleaver-like arms raised to swing.
"What the hell is wrong with this forest?!" Usopp demanded.
Luffy had never really disliked bugs before, but after all of this he was ready to eliminate them off the face of the earth.
He'd just spent who knew how long running around the forest, fighting random bugs. Bees, mantis, beetles, slugs, and everything in between assaulted them constantly and refused to stop.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he and the others converged in an opening together, all of them looking worse for wear.
"I assume we've all had the same problem," he said.
"This forest is hellish!" Usopp shouted, "and that bird is a prick!"
"I swear if we didn't need it I'd fillet the little bastard," Sanji hissed.
"Ah, there you all are," Robin's voice saif. Everyone turned to watch the women cut through the brush on her own, having been the only one to go solo.
"I figured you might have run off," Zoro remarked.
"Not quite yet," Robin said with a wink. "I'm used to working solo, so it just worked better for me."
"Choh choh choh!" Everyone looked up in sync to see the South Bird up in the trees, seemingly laughing at them. Luffy was getting fair more interested in Sanji's idea by the minute.
"Ah, there he is," Robin said. Luffy watched as arms sprouted straight out of the bird's body, grabbing it to prevent it from flying off. More arms sprouted off the trees and pushed it, causing the bird to tumble to the ground squawking it's head off. Chopper visible flinched.
"That bird swears like a real pirate," he said. Luffy chuckled as he picked the bird up, still wrapped in arms.
"Had your fun, did you?" He asked the bird, who looked alarmed at his current state. "Listen closely, you little bugger. You're gonna come with us and point South. If ya don't, I'm trying Sanji's chicken wing recipe. Got it?" Luffy didn't know how the bird understood him, but it nodded vigorously. "Good. How long did that take us, anyway?"
"The Sun had set," Nami said, "So a few hours, at least."
"Maybe we fry him up after we find the Knock-Up Stream," Nojiko said.
"We'll figure that out later," Luffy replied. "Let's get back to the old man before the sun rises and we lose our chance." Having found their psychotic bird, the crew reoriented themselves as best they could and made back for Cricket's house.
"Finding their way back in and of itself was a challenge, as they had gotten totally and completely lost. However, after a decent hike through the trees, they managed to find their way back to Cricket's before the sun rose. That wasn't the shocking part.
That came when Luffy realised they'd walked straight into the aftermath of a battle.
The area around Cricket's house looked like a battlefield. Various household items were strewn all over the place, the house itself looking in need of repairs. That wasn't the worst part. That came when he saw Cricket, Masira and Shoujou were lying around on the ground, covered in blood and dirt.
"Cricket!" He shouted, dropping the bird onto the ground as he ran to the man's side. Chopper ran up with him, assessing the damage.
"Various cuts and bruises," he said as Luffy shook him. "Possible concussion, internal damage...Battle must have been pretty intense."
"Old man!" Luffy shouted as he shook him harder. "Wake up, would ya?! What happened?!" Cricket's eyes finally fluttered open as he rambled, making him wince as he did so.
"Ugh, damn it all," He hissed as he rubbed his head. "Kid got us good."
"What happened here?" Zoro asked, standing above Luffy.
"Some upstart from town came over here," Cricket replied as the others checked on Masira and Shoujou. "Claimed he'd heard about the gold we'd found and said he wanted it. Took it for himself."
"Gold?" Nami asked from Masira's side, "you mean the gold you guys have been diving for?"
"Yeah," Cricket said, glaring at the ground. "All of it. He and his men took all of it." Luffy felt a vein bulge in his forehead. He recalled how Cricket said Nolan's lies had ruined his life. How he'd stayed here to find out if his ancestor was a liar or not. How Masira and Shoujou had been helping him, diving day in and out.
"Cricket," he said in a low tone, "do you know who did this?"
"Huh?" He asked, "well, his crew called him Bellamy."
Bellamy. Of course.
Luffy stood up straight, hat falling over his eyes.
"Nojiko," he said.
"Yeah?" Nojiko asked.
"You're in charge of the others. Anything happens, you're the boss."
"You got it, Captain," Nojiko said.
"Zoro, Sanji," Luffy said as he turned. "On me." Neither man objected, walking alongside Luffy as they turned away from the others.
"Don't do something stupid kid!" Cricket shouted, trying to stand. "That gold isn't valuable enough to risk your life over! We need to outfit your ship for the Knock-Up Stream!"
"Not valuable enough?" Luffy asked. He turned to meet the mans eye, not backing down. "I disagree, Cricket. That gold is a part of your dream. No one ruins the dreams of my friends. Not while I have something to say about it."
With this, He turned back, Zoro and Sanji following him as they made their way back to Mock Town.
I always feel like I need to apologise for taking so long to update, but I have to remember this is my hobby. Burning myself out accomplishes nothing at all. I wanted to save the Bellamy fight for next time, and then we can get to Skypiea!