Chapter 4

On the horizon

"Here, I thought you might like this book. I found it at a bookstore with Brook." Robin handed a book to the navigator lying on her deckchair and Nami grabbed it with curiosity.

"The mysterious disappearances of Vorgo Island: the Climate Hypothesis," She read, "Oh, I heard about those boats disappearing from the face of the Grand Line near the island! Maybe weather events are involved," She agreed.

She then flipped through the first few pages quickly while her friend sat down beside her. "That sounds really interesting," Nami said after a few moments, "Thanks, Robin." The young woman nodded back and grabbed the drink the cook had left for her earlier.

The Log-Pose had finished loading overnight, and the Sunny had sailed away from port a few hours earlier. The weather was still unstable because of the island, but broad rays of sunshine had prompted the crew to go to the deck as soon as possible.

"How was your evening with our captain?" The archaeologist inquired after tasting her strawberry cocktail.

The red-haired young woman put down her book to grab her own glass with a casual gesture. "As expected, there were a lot of people. Reservation was essential."

"Did the food live up to the reputation of the island?"

Her friend nodded as she adjusted her sunglasses. "I had a seafood platter, the oysters were delicious and there were magnificent langoustines. The sparkling white wine was also particularly suitable."

"I conclude that our captain was delighted too," Robin guessed, glancing at the straw hat boy a few steps away.

"I think he devoured a hundred crabs," Nami remembered, settling a little more in her lounge chair.

"The check must have been expensive," Her friend noted.

"Insane. In addition, he swallowed a mountain of fries and two jars of mayonnaise… Fortunately, I had anticipated enough the day before. Franky, Usopp and Brook helped pay the bill," She concluded with a smile.

Robin smiled in turn, amused, before looking at the boys again. They had gathered around the cyborg who presented the plans for the prototype of his new sea scooter.

"On the way out, we came across a cinema," The navigator continued, "They were playing this romantic comedy… You know, the one where the couple meet on a lost island?"

"Oh, is it the one where the hero has eaten the fruit of the soul mate and he's looking for his mate on all the islands of the Grand Line?"

"Exactly. I wanted to see what it was like but it was crowded once again…"

Robin looked questioningly at her friend, curious in front of her mischievous face. In the end, Nami winked at her. "I accidentally dropped Luffy's wanted poster at the entrance to the cinema. Thirty seconds later, everyone had recognized him and cleared out. The salesman offered us the tickets and we had a private screening just for the two of us," She explained with satisfaction. "They even insisted on giving all their stock of popcorn to Luffy so imagine his enthusiasm and how relaxed I was during the movie," She added with a pleased sigh.

"I recognize your negotiating skills," The archaeologist approved with amusement. "What did you think of the movie?"

"I don't know for Luffy, I don't think he really watched it," The young woman said, shrugging. "For my part, I liked it. It was rather good. By the way, I was wondering, the fruit of the soul mate, do you think it really exists?"

"I don't think I saw it in the devil fruit encyclopedia," Her friend remembered.

"Too bad. Traveling all over the Grand Line in the hope of meeting the woman of his life whom he can recognize at first sight, it really was a good idea…"

The dark-haired young woman tilted her head slightly. "That takes the charm and mystery out of the relationship, don't you think?"

At these words, Nami sucked the last drops of juice into her glass through her straw. "The day you fall in love with a totally reckless person who endangers you every minute, you'll want to know if what you're doing is really worth it."

The archaeologist smiled as his gaze drifted to Franky in the middle of the group and the navigator shook her head. "Perverts don't count, Robin. I'll admit that it's another kind of danger, but it doesn't seem to put your life on the line. Only your morals."

The young woman couldn't help laughing at her friend's comment.

"When will it be ready?!" Luffy wanted to know.

"Ah, not for several days," Franky regretted. "We'll need to do some tests before putting it in the water…"

"It's long!" His captain whined.

"Imagine it's sinking, we won't look smart if a devil fruit eater is on it at the time!" Usopp scolded him.

"Nami-san's Waver was already very fast, do you think you can improve it further?" Sanji asked.

"I wanna make it a vehicle worthy of the best Grand Line competitors!" The cyborg exclaimed with conviction.

"It could be useful to move around in case of an attack on the Sunny," Zoro approved.

"We need to think about a name to match its talents!" The sniper got enthused.

"The roar of the seas!" Brook suggested. "This will defeat our enemy before he even sees it appear!"

"I wanna try it!" Luffy begged again.

"Hey, look!"

The group turned to Chopper behind them. Clinging to the rail, the little reindeer pointed to a big, not very shy fish a few meters from the Sunny's hull. "She looks like a huge dolphin!" The doctor showed them, trying to get her to approach.

"She's magnificent!" Brook admired.

"It's a farvolo," Sanji recognized, "Mammals who can be used to pull boats."

"Kind of a giant beluga," Franky agreed.

"They're like carriage horses!" Usopp marveled, his eyes widening in front of the imposing mass of the fish.

"I've seen some during village festivals," Zoro remembered. "They're real attractions and people pay to ride them."

"I hope they're treated nicely," Chopper grimaced.

"Don't worry, they can defend themselves," Brook reassured him.

"Yes, they're just very sociable by nature," The cook added, "They enjoy the company of humans and come close to them on their own most of the time."

"It seems like an unforgettable experience," Usopp sighed dreamily. "I'd like to try one day…"

"Even children can ride them safely with the right harness and saddle," Franky added.

"Awesome!" Eyes shining greedily, the captain propelled himself towards the animal and landed on its wet back. "Come on, horse of the seas! Swim as fast as you can!"

"Luffy, no, you idiot!" Usopp panicked. "What if she dives, what are you gonna do?!"

"Why don't you come, she's great!" The straw hat boy shouted, patting the back of the fish, his huge smile on his face.

"B-But… You sure?" The sniper suddenly hesitated.

"Hurry up, she's leaving!"

Usopp still seemed undecided, but the prospect of such an experience won him over and he finally jumped over the railing to land behind the straw hat boy. "Forward, trusty steed! Take us to the end of the world!"

"These bath mats are extremely soft!" Brook raved as he hung one on the clothesline.

"Nami told me she chose them in cotton for their quality of absorption," Chopper told him, handing him a clothes peg.

"The little lemons on the new shower curtain are adorable!" The skeleton continued.

"Robin showed me the washcloths, they match!" The little reindeer got enthused in turn.

"I heard that the linen for the girls' bathroom is decorated with strawberry-shaped patterns! I wish I could go have a look!" The musician dreamed.

"It's only washcloths and curtains," The cyborg muttered while hanging out another bath mat close to them.

"Bath mats and washcloths that have the chance to see and touch the bare skin of these charming creatures!" His friend blissfully replied.

Franky shook his head and walked off towards their own bathroom to get the rest of the linen from the washing machine the girls had bought. He then saw the swordsman and cook still busy arguing near the door of the aquarium.

"Use those wipes, mosshead."

Zoro frowned as he looked at the small package his companion had just thrown at him. "Why? I don't need it to clean my swords, I got my kit," He showed him with a nod while taking all the three out their sheaths.

"You clean the blades but there's also everything else that you do much less often," The blond reproached him. "Yet you put the hilt of one of your swords in your mouth, I'll have you know!"

The swordsman studied the wipes critically. "How do I know your thing won't attack the paint and gilding? I ain't taking any risks," He decided, pushing them aside.

"Of course not, these are wipes of natural origin, I use them for my worktops!" The cook got annoyed, taking the package back to prove it to him.

"I don't trust it," The fencer persisted.

"You'd better do it, mosshead, because I'm warning you, you won't put your tongue in my mouth anymore if it's to give me disgusting stuff from your swords!"

"You're talking crazy, stupid eyebrows!" The swordsman fumed in his turn.

Franky walked past the couple in crisis with his arms full with wet laundry and without paying them any more attention, he walked back towards Brook and Chopper who were still happily discussing the patterns of the bath mats. When he reached them, the shipwright put down his pile of laundry and glanced enviously at the sea. He was eager to get rid of his task and get back to working on his invention. Indeed, he was hearing in the distance the bursts of laughter of Luffy and Usopp on the back of the farvolo who had been following the Sunny for quite a while now and he was impatient to offer this gift to his friends.

Shaking a napkin, the cyborg congratulated himself on suggesting to use a rope they had wrapped around the farvolo's massive neck so the two riders could hold on. Indeed, when the large mammal was diving below the surface of the water, Luffy was losing his strength and Usopp had to make sure he came up at the same time as them. This dangerous game had, of course, not altered the captain's enthusiasm in any way and he was laughing even harder each time he spat out the water from his lungs.

"Hey, what you doing?!"

Usopp's panicked voice made the rest of the crew turn their heads in the direction of the sea. The farvolo was suddenly struggling furiously and the two friends on his back had trouble keeping their balance.

"What's happening?!" Chopper got alarmed, rushing to the railing at the same time as his crewmates.

"She seems tired of the riding," Zoro said.

"It's weird, she looks scared," Sanji noted.

"You should get back on board. If she pulls you underwater, you'll have a hard time getting back to the surface," Robin pointed out.

Usopp nodded and jumped into the ocean while Brook threw a rubber ring for the captain so he wouldn't sink. Luffy tried to remove the rope around the animal's neck first, but the beast was becoming more and more restless and she almost threw him against the Sunny. The straw hat boy fell off her back and the sniper lunged forward to pick him up. He then hooked him to the rubber ring and pushed him as quickly as possible towards the ship.

Not far from them, the farvalo struggled furiously to free herself from the rope, creating huge waves which engulfed the two swimmers. Franky then went down along the hull to help Usopp bring Luffy back.

"This attitude isn't normal," Sanji mumbled, watching Robin's arms undo the mammal's rope. "Farvolos are docile and this one came on her own."

"She may have mood swings," The swordsman replied, frowning.

"Stormy squall at two o'clock!" Nami's voice suddenly cried from the middle of the deck.

At these words, everyone instinctively raised their eyes to the sky and could actually notice the black clouds which were rushing towards them. "Ascending winds in the north-northwest sector, it's about to get bumpy!" The navigator cried again, her binoculars fixed on the ocean. "Get ready for an emergency manoeuvre!"

"No wonder something was wrong," The fencer growled, rushing towards the sails alongside the cook.

Usopp, Luffy and Franky hoisted themselves onto the deck at that moment and they joined Brook and Chopper who were picking up the equipment at full speed. For her part, Robin watched the farvolo dive under the sea. She then went to the helm to join the redhead.

"The climate really is changeable," She quietly noted amid the gusts that were already rising.

The archaeologist didn't know how right she was. For ten minutes already, the navigator had been struggling to predict the raging elements that had engulfed the Sunny in just a few seconds. "What do we do, Nami, a Coup de Burst?" Franky shouted in the direction of the young woman a moment later.

"No, the winds are unpredictable, they could capsize us!" She shouted back.

Behind her, the crew had divided up the tasks and was clinging on as best they could to avoid falling or flying away under the force of the seawater that was breaking on the Sunny. The torrent of rain that fell on them a few minutes later didn't facilitate the task and at the helm, Usopp and Brook screamed in terror.

"Hold the ship steady, it's not acid rain!" Nami commanded them firmly.

"Nami-san, there are large whirlpools on the right flank!" Sanji pointed out to her.

"There are also some on the left!" Chopper panicked.

"Franky, how is it up front?" The navigator immediately asked.

"It's fine for the moment but I don't see much!" The cyborg shouted from the figurehead.

"Zoro?"

"The rain hides the horizon!" The swordsman yelled from the lookout.

"What a pain, I don't see any sunny intervals," The redhead muttered while she was observing the ocean with her binoculars. "Robin, can you open all the sails at once?" She then asked her friend, "I'm afraid we must be prepared to deviate sharply."

"No problem," She answered, positioning her multiple arms.

"Luffy, go look at the back-"

"Whirlpool straight ahead!" Franky's voice interrupted her.

"Starboard side!"

Usopp and Brook frantically turned the helm to the right but Sanji's voice stopped them. "Whirlpool to the right!"

"45 degrees to port!" Nami ordered again, trying not to topple under the shock of the change of direction.

"There's something weird in front of us!" Zoro's voice yelled in turn.

The young woman aimed her binoculars dripping with water on the horizon and bit her lips. "Usopp, Brook, turn another 15 degrees to port!" She decided. "Luffy, check the stern, I don't want any surprises!"

"Okay!" The captain raced at the back of the ship and Nami looked again at a kind of opaque vapor that seemed to rise from the sea despite the pouring rain. "It looks like a veil," Robin noticed beside her as it got closer.

"I don't know what it is so we're not gonna take any risks, we avoid it," Her friend answered with determination.

"The whirlpool decreases, it's gonna be okay!" The cyborg suddenly got enthused.

Not losing her concentration, Nami nevertheless felt her shoulders relax slightly at this news and she was about to give new orders when a huge gust of wind brutally deflected the Sunny from her trajectory. Horrified, the navigator watched their ship sink into the mist she had tried to avoid.

The sky turned intense blue and a second later, the calm brutally succeeded the storm. The sudden stop threw the crew forward and Nami fell to her knees in the sodden grass of the deck. However, she got up quickly while the rest of her friends were joining her, looking worried and intrigued. Beneath their feet, the Sunny was streaming with water and shimmering in the now bright sun.

"What happened?" Luffy asked incredulously.

"Is the storm over?" Usopp was surprised.

"It is rather unexpected," Robin admitted.

"There's nothing around," Chopper noted while observing the sea.

"The Sunny seems to have held up," Franky told them, examining the hull.

"The farvalo was right to take cover," Brook noted philosophically.

"What was that fog we went through?" Sanji wondered.

"Can clouds disappear like that?" Zoro asked in turn, doubtful.

"I don't know, I…" Nami instinctively glanced at her Log-Pose and noticed that the needle was frozen.

"This is strange," Robin said, following her gaze.

"Maybe not, thunderstorms disturb the electromagnetic field," She reminded her. The young woman then approached the railing and observed the sea. It was perfectly calm and not a breath of wind disturbed its surface. The storm they had faced a minute before seemed to have never happened. Around them, the ocean stretched on forever and the particularly clear water allowed her to see a multitude of fish.

"All's well that ends well!" Usopp got enthused behind her. "We're ain't gonna complain the storm is over and we're all in one piece!"

"Storms are really terrifying on the Grand Line," Brook agreed.

"It's true," Chopper sighed, "The sea was really rough, I thought we were going to capsize…"

"I need to determine our location," The navigator beside him muttered.

"Nami-san, I'll make you a little snack while you're working!" The cook whirled.

"Huh-uh." The young woman straightened up before turning to the captain and his first mate. "Open the sails, I wanna be able to move forward."

Nami was still concerned. She had barely touched the pastries the blond had brought her earlier and she frequently surveyed the sea to try to determine their location because the Log-Pose was remaining stubbornly frozen. She was worried now.

"Island straight ahead!" Usopp then shouted.

The navigator raised her head in disbelief. Indeed, she could see the contours of a land looming on the horizon. "There's no way, the next island is about ten days from here!" She rushed back to the rail to observe the ocean. She knew she was missing something. "This isn't normal," She whispered.

"What is it?" Robin asked her.

Nami frowned, searching the water for the answer to her questions. And then, a realization struck her. "It… It doesn't make sense but…" The young woman finally took her eyes off the sea to fix her gaze on her friend. "It's not the same seabeds! It's like… we switched to another ocean!"

Hearing her remark, the crew froze around her. "What do you mean it's like another ocean? There's only the Grand Line," Franky pointed out, frowning.

"We are much too far from East Blue or even from the other seas," Brook approved.

"I know all that and I know what I'm telling you!" The redhead insisted. The incomprehension was perceptible in her voice.

"What could it be then?" Luffy wondered as he leaned over to look at the water.

"I-I don't know, it's just… The seabeds are different and look at this multitude of fish! There are so many and-and-and…"

The navigator suddenly seemed to realize something and she froze. She then turned to fix her gaze on the cook of the crew who was a little further away, holding his tray of drinks in his hand. "What's going on, Nami-san?" He got worried when she brutally turned pale.

"Salmon, scorpion fish, crabs, tropical fish, cutlass fish,... These animals don't live in the same waters, we shouldn't be able to observe them together," She answered in a quavering voice.

The crew members shared a look, puzzled, except for Sanji who frowned before setting down his tray and striding towards the rail. He plunged his own gaze into the depths and observed in turn a multitude of fish and crustaceans of absolute variety.

His gaze widened and he froze. "N-Nami-san, can you confirm that these seabeds are different?" He finally asked her, his throat dry.

"I can confirm that, Sanji-kun. These seabeds are sandy while those of Vorgo island are rocky. Moreover, the presence of crabs around this island is a mystery because they can't develop in too hot maritime regions and yet there's a lot of them out there," She replied, staring at him straight in the eye.

The blond felt breathless and his fingers tensed on the railing of the Sunny. Around them, their crewmates had followed their exchange without understanding it and when the cook suddenly jumped overboard, cries of surprise rang out.

"Sanji!" Chopper panicked as he rushed to the rail, "What are you doing?!"

"We don't know what's going on under this ocean!" Usopp cried in turn.

The blond didn't reappear and the crew leaned a little more towards the water. "Perhaps he saw a rare species of fish for dinner?" Brook suggested.

"Sanji, you fishing?!" His captain yelled above the sea. "Bring back lots of fish!"

The silence lasted a few moments before the cook finally emerged from the water under the astonished eyes of his friends.

"What the hell are you doing, bathing fully clothed, cook?" The swordsman asked him as the blond made no attempt to explain himself. His companion's laugh burst out in response and the fencer frowned. "What's with him, he really went nuts this time?"

Wide-eyed, his friends watched the cook laughing without managing to catch his breath until Nami approached in turn with Robin.

"What's this ocean, Nami?" His captain asked her.

The navigator watched her crewmate for a moment. Sanji was still laughing in the water and she smiled, moved. "It's the ocean of his dreams…"

At these words, his friends turned at once in her direction. "Y-You mean that… that… You sure?" Franky stammered.

"Yes. I don't yet understand how but I don't see any other explanations."

Zoro instinctively fixed his gaze on the figure of his partner who was still laughing out loud, his arms outstretched to let himself be carried by the ocean which shimmered under the light of the sun. A shiver ran through him and at his side, Nami nodded softly. "All Blue…"

Yes, Sanji discovered All Blue.

I hope it's unexpected and that this first reaction from the crew is up to the shock. Of course, the next chapter will develop this event.

See you next Friday!