"Hand over... The Golden Bell!"
"Disappear with the land! Raigo!"
"Gum-Gum... Fireworks!"
"I'll ring you as well! Gum-Gum Gold Rifle!"
"Reach!"
The loud sounds of a bell rang.
"The city of gold... was right here!"
.
.
.
Slowly, he fell. Content with his victory, but overjoyed with his promise. That old man and the others must have heard it, he was sure! Although... now that he thought about it, where exactly was he going to land? Quickly glancing around, his eyes landed on what would have been his landing spot if the recoil of his stretched arm wasn't as severe as it was. As he fell, he locked eyes with Nami. The distance might have been a lot, but he could still see her clearly and knew she could see him as well.
Her tired eyes simply looked at him and his face adopted a rather "simple" expression as time seemed to slow down while he descended. Gradually, her face gained more emotion.
"You Idiot!" She screamed.
Idly, Luffy always wondered how she gained sharp teeth out of nowhere. Did she learn it from Arlong? Or was it one of those Haloc-Haleci-Haluci...
Eh. Didn't matter. As he passed her, he looked below. It was just clouds! He'd surely fall off Skypiea! His eyes bulged before he looked around for anything he could use, the greenery that slowly flooded his peripherals made him calm down. He was saved! He just needed to pull off an old Gum-Gum Rocket. He'd have to thank Zoro, he definitely helped with spotting green quicker.
As he neared the clouds, the Trees he'd been looking at grew closer as well.
"Gum-Gum Rocket!", He yelled as he stretched his arms to grab a branch.
Eventually, they gained a sturdy hold. He propelled himself forward, Flying through the air once again. He was so happy he came up with this move, could he be considered a bird if he flapped his arms? Before he could continue that thought further. He flew headfirst into a tree.
"Shishishi... That was fun!", He laughed in joy as he fell to solid ground. He lay there with his arms spread out, simply taking in the feeling of victory, which unfortunately wasn't long since he was interrupted by his stomach.
"Man, I knew I was gonna be hungry... I don't see any meat around here though." He sat up and looked around for anything that could walk. Sadly, he found nothing.
"Damn it! I want food! Sanji!" He cried, trying to make his cook appear out of thin air, much to his disappointment, it didn't work.
"Aw... well, time to go hunting. Food! Food! Foo-" As he got up and prepared himself for his quest. Something fell and bounced off his head. Looking down at the object, it was a fruit. Luffy was by no means picky, even if he preferred meat and so he'd take what he could get. Gulping down the fruit with not a second to spare, he quickly began hitting every tree in the area. Fruits fell like raindrops and he hurriedly began to act not too dissimilar to a blackhole to catch them. Running out of trees near him that had fruit, he looked around for more.
His eyes fell on an odd blue-looking fruit. Had he been thinking rationally he would have noticed something that would have made him stop. He didn't.
Shoving the fruit in a single gulp down his throat to satisfy his never-ending hunger, he immediately recoiled in disgust. It was horrible! It tasted like ash! He quickly tried scrubbing his tongue off to remove the horrid taste, but it didn't go away.
However, the taste was the least of his worries. Soon after, he felt immense pain. His stomach felt like a whirlwind of spikes. His skin felt like it was being stretched to its absolute limit and then some. His muscles ached with strain. He lay on the ground crouched and curled. His screams were barely voiced out. In an attempt to quell the unbearable pain, he sank his fingers into the dirt and slammed his head towards it. While it didn't help, his screams could finally be heard. The excruciating pain and torment he felt were audible to everyone on the island. He had no time to think of anything as the pain became too much for him to handle.
Right when the pain was nearing its eventual peak, everything became numb. White clouds covered him while a low beat of drums played. Before he could even think to understand it. He fell unconscious.
-----------
"Hey hey, was that Luffy?", A blonde-haired man said as he tried to get his feet below him.
"Ah! Wait, sit down, Sanji!" Chopper was quick to rush to his side. "You'll aggravate and open your wounds if you move that fast!"
While Chopper was fussing over Sanji, A woman with tanned skin and hair as black as night, gained a thoughtful expression. "Did that False God, land a killing blow?" If anything, this worried Chopper and Sanji. "Don't joke about that, Robin!" The reindeer couldn't and didn't want to imagine what blow might have caused that sound from their captain. It wasn't anything he'd ever heard from his captain before.
Robin was quick to placate the young reindeer, "Don't worry, I'm sure the captain is fine. No matter the damage, I'm sure our capable doctor will be able to patch him up?" This had its intended effect, "Huh? You shouldn't say things like that dummy~ It's not like I'm a good doctor~ you bastard~" The woman gained a small smile.
Her thoughts, however, were focused on the possibilities. Sanji was much the same.
Zoro, from his resting spot, heard his captain as well. Immediately rushing to stand, uncaring of his wounds. "Luffy?" He looked around to try to pinpoint the sound of his captain. Unfortunately, the screams stopped before he could accurately tell. Some would wonder if he was the correct person to go searching for his captain. Nevertheless, his actions had caused the Skypiean near him, Wyper, to question what had just occurred. "Do you know what that was?" To this, the man with a head of moss could only respond with a frown, "I'm not sure."
-----------
Nami had her relief spoiled by her stupid rubber-headed captain. She swore his actions would lead to her early demise. The idiot completely missed the landing. The only saving grace was that she saw him propel himself to the forest instead of falling off the damn island. But just when she was about to gather her thoughts, a scream rang perhaps even louder than the bell to her ears.
"Luffy?" She went to look at his landing spot once more. She did find it odd that he hadn't tried flinging himself back up, knowing the distance probably wouldn't have stopped his attempts, yet instead, she heard screams that didn't sound befitting of their captain at all. She could only worry from where she was.
-----------
A few hours had passed since the defeat of Eneru. The Skypieans were partying, celebrating and in an all-around happy mood. Their atmosphere was infectious. Spreading to all those who kept entering the fray, all but the straw hats. Ever since meeting up, the only thing on their mind was Luffy. He hadn't shown up yet, and when Nami had seen the others, she took them to the spot of his fall, but no matter how they searched, he wasn't there.
"Just where is that idiot." Smoke accompanied the words as Sanji's cigarette dimly lit his face in the fading light of the setting sun. "Luffy!" Chopper cried with tears in his eyes. "Calm down, Chopper, he'll be fine. He's probably just roaming around lost." Three swords landed gently on the ground as Zoro sat next to Chopper.
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Nami slapped his head, sending the swordsman face-first into the dirt. While Zoro was muttering something about an evil witch, Nami was busy trying to think of a way to find their captain. Robin had looked at her companions with a calculating eye. She was glad they were still able to continue their antics, but it was clear that their missing captain sparked worry in them.
Just when she was going to continue her theories on where the captain could be, the rustling of leaves caught everyone's attention.
A straw hat was first to poke out of the leaves, followed by round eyes. Eyes that the straw hats knew. "Oh. There you guys are, why were you hiding from me?" a tilt of his head followed the words.
The straw hats stared dumbly at their captain. The backdrop of celebrating Skypieans did nothing to eradicate the deafening silence that formed. That was until their navigator acted.
"Idiot!" She ran to him, clobbering him and sending him face-first into the dirt, much like the first mate of their crew. Unfortunately for Luffy, she didn't let up, trying to strangle him out. Chopper ran to accompany them, "Wait! Nami! I need to see him first!"
"Tch, why was I even worried." Sanji lit another cigarette, the first dropping from his mouth from the words of his annoying captain. Zoro sat with a smirk, relieved and happy his captain was able to handle his battle without suffering any crippling damage and that the sounds he heard earlier weren't cause for worry. Robin observed Nami and Chopper with a light laugh. Just like that, the straw hats were back together and stronger than ever. Only, in the mind of the one at the centre of their thoughts, something was amiss.
'Why did that hurt a bit? Did Nami get stronger?', Luffy could only ponder while Chopper looked him over.
The festivities continued, this time with the added addition of Luffy and the crew, their antics adding to the joyous mood that had fallen over the Skypieans, and when it came time to eat, they, namely Luffy, consumed everything in their midst. Yet an odd sight for the straw hats made everyone's eyes bulge, even Robin. Though, admittedly, it was only a slight widdening. Luffy had eaten enough for 5 men before he said he was full. This confounded his crewmates, being witness to his many exploits with food, he usually ate enough for a mini army! Never mind the fact his stomach would grow to accommodate the food. Luffy, while slightly confused, thought nothing of it since he felt full. "What?" He looked to his crew. They merely looked at him before coming up with their own explanations of why their captain had eaten so little.
Only Zoro, Sanji and Robin maintained their doubts.
-----------
With the party continuing into the night, Many were quick to fall asleep, including the straw hats, with Luffy actually deciding to sleep early. With the party settling down for the day, the crew decided to sleep as well. Before that, though, Zoro had called Sanji aside. "What do you want, Mosshead?" Sanji looked at Zoro, annoyed. He'd been talking with a Skypiean woman before Zoro had called him aside. She was even laughing at his jokes! That was until the meathead had to ruin his fun, of course.
"Shut it, curlybrow. This is more important than your perverted fantasies." Right when Sanji was about to respond as per usual, Zoro spoke first. "This is serious." The tone he used implied the same. Sanji got the hint and adopted a more appropriate posture and voice. "Alright then. This about Luffy?" Sanji's eyes locked with Zoro's. "Yeah. Something isn't the same." Sanji could only nod before pulling out a cigarette. "As much as I hate to say it, you're right. During the party, the times that I saw him, it looked like he was thinking."
"Sanji."
"Yeah, yeah, I don't mean that as a slight to him. Knowing you, you can tell what's wrong with that. Can't you?" Zoro could only nod. "Well, the only thing I got, mosshead, is that he might have taken things a bit more seriously after Eneru. Hell, maybe the fact that he might have lost if he wasn't rubber could be bothering him." Finally, lighting his cigarette, he looked at Zoro. "Regardless, it's not our place to ask unless he brings it up first. If the shift in his behaviour endangers the crew, then we talk about it. Before that, we trust in him. Got it? Curlybrow?"
Sanji adopted a light frown, opting to take a puff of his cigarette before speaking. "Got it." A silence loomed over them. While most would assume it was one of tension, it was, in fact, one of understanding. They assumed the roles of the 2nd and, begrudgingly, 3rd in command. While they wouldn't question their captain, they also had to make sure he wasn't needlessly risking the well-being of the crew. With their discussion over, they went to help the rest settle in for the night.
-----------
With the Moon centring the sky, the soft light shining on the sleeping faces of those present, only one was awake. The light illuminated her tanned skin, her actions causing it to slightly diminish as she moved closer to the darkness. While Robin felt safe with the straw hats, she wasn't completely open to them yet. She opted to spend her night in a more secluded area. She had already slept for a few hours. It was enough.
Her life on the run had accustomed her to it. Now quite a ways away from her... friends... she looked for a comfortable spot to sit and read her current book of interest. She was content as it was. Being on a sky island wasn't where she imagined she would ever be, yet travelling with this eccentric crew had proved to be as adventurous as it seemed.
"Robin?"
She was startled by the voice. Had someone followed her? Yes, that was the only way they would even be near enough for her to hear. Why? Was someone trying to coll-
These thoughts paused when she turned her head to see just who had called out to her. It was the captain. His presence calmed her mind from those racing thoughts. She knew he wasn't one to endanger those he thought were friends... that word replaying in her mind for an uncomfortable amount of time, the implications of what it meant, what she knew she'd eventually do and cause.
Still... willing words to exit from her mouth, she asked him what was wrong, "Oh, Luffy. What are you doing awake at this time of the night?" She studied his face for an answer before his words would give them. While he may be a simple person, his recent actions have shown a change. The extent to which she didn't know, but she couldn't help but be slightly more observant than usual. Yet, try as she might, she couldn't figure out what was going through the captain's mind. Thus, she'd have to wait for his words.
The captain stared at her for a short while, not too long as to make it awkward but just enough to cause her slight discomfort. Thankfully for her, before it could grow, he spoke. "Are you okay, Robin?" She was bewildered as to why that would be the first thing he said. Did she express something? No... no, it was probably the fact she was awake and away from the crew. He usually wasn't awake back on the ship, so he had no way of knowing this was a common occurrence for her.
"Oh, I'm usually awake at these times, Captain. I'm not one to sleep much. I worried about waking others, so I decided to go somewhere else, but it looked like I did what I feared. My apologies, Captain." The slight smile on her face was one placed to hopefully ease her captain's worry and back her claim. Such small body language cues were things she had learned and picked up on. It was almost a skill she'd do without thinking anymore.
However, instead of calming the captain, a small frown appeared on his face. "That's not what I meant... Robin. You looked sad"
Robin was speechless... She was sure that even when alone, her face didn't show anything of what she thought. Added to the new question of how long the Captain had seen her in her thoughts... was he spying on her? Did he deem her a threat that he had to watch over? With her eyes still calm, she tried to look into his for an answer.
Only to be met with what she comprehended as concern. She hadn't known at the time, but a small part of her did; a slight warmth touched her heart. "Did I? Perhaps you may be seeing things?" She reasoned with the captain. Almost begging him to agree in the depths of her mind.
"No... I'm sure of it. But, if you don't want to talk about it... That's okay." He went over to sit next to her. As she was in an elevated position due to the rock she was sitting on, his back was the only thing visible to her as he stared ahead. He couldn't have known what his action would do to affect her. Her mind, which was put on caution, worrying about whether the captain saw her as a danger, fell on deaf ears due to what he did.
It was an act Robin had unknowingly taken to heart. In one motion and in one sentence, he had put himself in a vulnerable position while assuring her that she could answer him if she felt comfortable. Of course, she doubted she could harm him without a knife or a sharp object. Still, the act didn't lose its meaning.
When had the captain become this mature? It was an intelligent way to calm someone, even more so, to get them to trust you. Yet, while it could have been used as a tactic, she was almost completely sure it wasn't a conscious action. The captain had used a tone of voice that she had never heard from him before. It was kind, low and caring. It was a stark contrast since she'd only seen him boisterous. Just what happened with Eneru for this change?
When she decided to stay quiet, both because she didn't know what to say and because she wanted to see what he would do, after a brief few moments, she watched him change the topic. Sticking to his earlier words. "Say... Robin, Whatcha reading?" His head turned to her, Eyes now shining in curiosity. It endeared her, and so she answered, "It's just a book about ancient history. I figured it fitting." She assumed he'd grow bored and ask her something else. Her captain had always acted with a short attention span, yet much to her surprise, he asked her about it. "Oooo... What's it say?"
As Luffy seemed to have gained an interest in Robin's hobby, she was all too delighted to indulge him. While it was a bit uncharacteristic of him, she ultimately ignored it as she was delighted to share her passion with somebody else. Luffy's unending curiosity and enthusiasm led her to answer more of his questions. At first, it started with small, silly doubts, before going on to full discussions. The captain had quite an imagination, and Robin enjoyed dreaming of such outlandish theories with him. It eventually led to her reading through the book for him. As they talked and discussed, Robin had a lot of fun, being the happiest she had ever been in decades, going so far as to let out a laugh she almost forgot she had.
"Dereshishishi"
She immediately noticed what she did, covering her mouth with a surprised expression, all with Luffy staring at her dumbly. She was embarrassed, another feeling she hadn't felt in a while. A light dusting of pink covered her cheeks as she tried to regain herself by coughing into her hand. Trying to hide her flustered expression. Until Luffy said something that made her feel light and heavy, an oxymoron of emotion that she had only left to imaginary characters in her books to feel. Yet it seemed to be true.
"Woah! You have a nice laugh, Robin! You should definitely laugh more! Shishishishi", his expressive eyes capturing her attention once more. "Maybe if the situation calls for it... Luffy." She had decided to call him by his name just once, and much to her amusement, his eyes she'd come to start to understand, lit up once more. "Hey! You didn't call me captain!"
"Are you sure? Captain? It is quite late, you may be imagining things." She teased, riling up the captain again. As he bickered, she led him on, laughing lightly to herself, yet not the same one she'd unintentionally shown the captain. They eventually settled on returning to the book. Until she noticed him fall asleep against the rock she was sitting on.
Looking at him in thought, she decided to say some words to his sleeping form. "How you can be this relaxed in my company is something I may never understand. Very peculiar, aren't you? Captain." She took the hat off his head, moving his body with her ability to a soft piece of grass next to him before finally placing the hat back on his face, covering it from the world.
"Thank you for tonight, Captain. I had a lot of fun." As she said that with a smile, she had also come to a conclusion. The captain changed without a doubt after his fight with Eneru. It's not that he seemed more curious, no. He was always a bundle of curiosity and excitement. It was that he somehow became more patient and, dare she say it, more intelligent. It wasn't what she expected from the captain at all. Some of the theories he had given her had been so out of the box, but, after some thought, made a very fitting explanation for some unsolved mysteries. How curious, she mused, before she got off the rock she was sitting on. Deciding to sit on the ground next to her sleeping captain. She rested her back against the rock as she continued to read. Her mind was entertained by the book while replaying their conversation over and over. A rare grin spread across her cheeks, her eyes closed to take the feeling in. The Captain was pretty special, wasn't he?
-----------
As the light broke through the trees, it pierced through straw. Leading to an orangish glow that stirred Luffy awake. His eyes trying to make sense of it. Realising his hat was on his face, he moved it aside before looking around. "Awake, captain?" He heard and saw Robin standing up. "The others should be wondering where we are. Should we go to them?" She asked, the soft smile ever present on her face. It took a minute for Luffy to regain his bearings. Shaking off his sleepiness. "Of course!"
As they reached the gathering of Skypieans and their crew. They were side by side. The walk was peaceful, neither of them speaking. Robin was lost in her thoughts while Luffy enjoyed nature. With their crew in front of them, Sanji was the first to ask them where they had been. Or rather, ask Luffy. "Oi! Rubberbrain, What did you do alone with Robin damn it! Why were you gone when we were awake? Answer me! You better not have touched her! Damn shitty captain!" He shook Luffy before twirling to Robin, his face accomplishing a complete 180 of his outburst. "Robin! My mature beauty! He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Hearts popping out of his eyes.
To this, Robin could only answer, "No, don't worry. Mr Cook. It was a pleasant experience. We decided to venture out for a talk since you were all still asleep." Sanji dropped to his knees, crying about how rubber idiots shouldn't be allowed to be so lucky.
The rest of the day continued as she expected from her eccentric crew. They planned to steal some gold and leave. Robin silently thought that if they asked, the Skypieans would have given them even more than they could carry. However, she decided to withhold that from them. It fit for this crew to have a loud and humorous exit. Thus, she let it play out.
-----------
Later, at a Poneglyph, Robin had just told some Skypieans that their fight was over. Really... wasn't she supposed to be a pirate? Try as the captain might, she felt their crew to be heroes more than anything else he might say. Oh well, she didn't mind. Walking away from the now weeping Skypieans, she could only question what she had read, "Gol D. Roger... To the ends of the line, to Laugh tale..."
"Young lady, the feeling that straw hat kid gives me is reminiscent of Roger. Is it my imagination?"
"His name is Monkey D. Luffy, my interest in him never fades," she said, albeit without uttering the rest of her thoughts. 'And it just keeps growing.'
"A D.? He's got the same letter in his name." The old man laughed.
"Yes. I'm sure it has something to do with history." She would start taking the name a tad more seriously, maybe an account of all those who possessed it?
Another Skypiean interrupted her thoughts.
"By the way, young lady...You guys wanted gold, right?"
This led to the other Skypieans gathering together and reasoning that the straw hats deserved it, getting the gold together and looking forward to presenting it to them. Robin, on the other hand, just followed them.
When they saw the straw hats, their bags were full of something they couldn't make out, looking like they were about to leave.
"What, they're leaving already?"
"No way, we need to give this to them first!"
"Hey, Miss, aren't you guys going to take all this gold?"
She stared at the crew for a moment. When the words of her captain from last night crossed her mind. 'You have a nice laugh, Robin!'
"Dereshishi"
She laughed softly to herself. The only indication to the others around her that she laughed was that her shoulders were moving. She quickly got her laugh under control and turned to give them a smile. "Well, looks like they don't need it."
She ran before they could counter her words.
"Oi! Robin! What took you so long? C'mon, let's get outta here!" Luffy yelled at her, a wide grin on his face.
As she was running, she responded to him in kind, "Don't worry, captain, I'm on my way." She ran with her hand waving up.
"Hurry, Robin!" Heart Eyes accompanied the plea
"Hey! Wait! Take this gold!" Inaudible cries shouted
"We're running all the way to the end of the sky!"
-----------
Back on their ship, before their descent down, Luffy rather disgustingly admitted he had an octopus stashed away in a particular location, one that he himself wondered why he kept there. Thus, with the bizarre property of the octopus, they were calm as they watched the blue sea grow closer. That is, until Sanji noticed something.
"Hey Luffy! Something is strange, so come back down!"
Luffy, who was on top of the octopus bouncing about, looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean?" Before the bouncing stopped, he rolled over to Sanji, knocking them both off. Luckily, before all was lost, Luffy had grabbed hold of the ship. "Woah! Glad we almost didn't fall off there, Shishishi!"
Although he didn't need to stretch to save them, he wasn't worried in the least.
Then suddenly, the octopus lost some of its air, sending them higher than where the boat was. Luffy, still holding on, said, "Hey! I didn't even need to carry us back up, we're higher than the boat now!"
Ussop, in a moment of bravery, stilled his shaking body and leapt off the boat with a hook attached to the railing, placing his breath dials. Slowing down the boat to a manageable rate. "Heh! Did you see that!" Ussop said proudly, with Chopper cheering him, "You're so cool, Ussop!"
"I thought we were going to die."
"Yeah, I thought that was it."
"Mhm"
.
.
The octopus shrank until it was smaller than the boat.
"..."
"WHY!"
They were back to rapidly approaching the blue sea. As Ussop flew in the air with his hook attached, Luffy tried grabbing him before noticing something strange, eventually opting to just yank him by the hook back on the boat.
As they hit the sea, the water rushed aboard, and there was chaos all across the ship. Thankfully, they managed to get everything under control.
"You know, looking back at it, we really went to a wonderful place."
"Yeah... now that we're down here, it really is so far up..."
"It's almost like we were dreaming."
"It is like a dreamland! I wonder if we can visit it again someday." Chopper wished aloud, fortunately or unfortunately, Zoro offered advice, "You might be able to get closer to it if you die."
"You really think you'll go to heaven, Zoro?" Ussop raised his head in confusion. It irked Zoro that it wasn't said in animosity or in a teasing nature, but in honest confusion.
"You Jerk!"
"Well, now that things are calm, how about I make some coffee or tea?" Sanji went towards the kitchen.
"Sanji, dinner would be better."
"I'm making it anyway, so just tell me if you want some snacks."
To this, Luffy gave a happy, "Okay!"
"Also, one more thing, guys."
This captured everyone's attention. Looking to their captain.
"I can't use my rubber powers for some reason."
His neutral face met the other's shocked expressions.
The sound of spotlights came next, aimed at the boat from multiple directions.
The mountain in front of them, having two words engraved on it.
THE MARINES
- To Be Continued -