"T...Take what you want...Take anything...Just...Just leave..."

Sid lowered her spear at the pathetic captain. He was on his hands and knees, gasping for air and covered in sweat. Around him, his men were strewn about their ship in the same condition. Sid grinned behind her horned mask and twirled her spear playfully before putting it on her back.

"I'm glad we're finally on the same page," she said as she flipped her mask up and strolled across the deck. She whistled a cheerful tune as she wandered into their galley. She opened up all the cabinets and stood back to examine the contents thoughtfully and in one go. She then selected a few jars and placed them in the cloth bag that hung over her shoulders. When she got everything she could out of the galley, she walked back out to the deck and looked expectantly at the captain, "Weapons?"

"You...You want to take our weapons?!" the captain gasped. He tried to get up to his feet but the thin air of the White Sea got the best of him.

"Not all...Just the best ones," Sid said as she looked around the ship for any signs of weaponry, "Don't worry. I won't take everything. I'm not heartless...Not today, anyways..."

"D...Down in the lower decks..," the captain conceded.

Sid nodded her head. "Thank you kindly."

She didn't even bother to look for a hatch. She leapt up high into the air and stomped right through the floorboards with her waver strapped feet.

"AH!" the captain cried out overhead but Sid paid him no mind. She kept right on whistling as she looked around what was obviously the captain's quarters. She only saw a few things of interest to take from his desk but otherwise left everything untouched.

"Tch," Sid clucked, "Not even a potted plant or anything..."

She sighed and left the room. She found herself in a storage area. "Now we're talking."

She opened up crate after crate in search for something of use.

"Ooh. Shiny," Sid marvelled as she spun two pistols around her finger and then tucked them under her yellow beaded belt. She opened up another crate of bullets and filled the rest of her bag with those. She stopped whistling only when her eyes rested on a few cannonballs tucked behind another crate. Then she shook her head. There was no way she could carry everything she had and the cannonballs, especially since her day of pillaging had just started. Boo would not be happy about that. After all, anything she couldn't carry would wind up on his cloud.

She jumped back up to the upper deck through the hole she created and she nodded her head again to the captain. "Alright. I'm done here. You guys can carry on and go back to wherever the hell you guys came from. Good luck!"

She leapt over the railing and skated away from the ship. When she was just out of earshot, she heard someone cry out.

"CAPTAIN! She took our Eternal Pose!"

"SHE DID WHAT?!"

"Eternal Pose?" Sid stopped and pulled out an ornate object she had swiped off of the captain's desk. It was translucent and it curved in the middle. It had a wooden top and "Sabaody" etched on the wooden bottom. Inside was a white and red triangle that was suspended by a string and it twitched every now and then. She took it because she thought it looked pretty, "So that's what this is called..."

She shrugged and tucked it back into her bag. She went on her way but she didn't make it very far when she saw a silhouette skating towards her at breakneck speed. When the person got close enough, the sight of his green and red painted mask made her heart fall right down to her stomach.

"No! Stop! I checked! There's no Divine Soldiers on there. They are just Blue Sea people!" Sid shouted as she waved her arms in the air, "Wyper! Stop! They're-"

Kaboom!

His bazooka fired right past her and she felt the heat graze across her shoulder and cheek. The ship behind her exploded into flames. He didn't even pause to acknowledge her as he passed. All he did was slam her mask back down her face with the end of his shield and kept going. She spun indignantly on her wavers and that's when she spotted another ship in the distance.

It was a much smaller ship than the one that Wyper had just destroyed. It had a figurehead that sort of resembled Boo's face and it had a skull with a yellow hat painted on it's sails. Sid's eyes widened when she saw a familiar puff of cloud float down past the sails and towards the figure head.

"BOO! NO!" she screamed as she skated towards the ship. "Wyper! Stop! Don't destroy the ship! Boo is there! Boo!"

She was about 20 seconds behind Wyper but that was enough for him to kick down three people on the ship and take aim with his bazooka. Hurriedly, Sid lifted up her mask and let out a shrill whistle with her fingers but her little pet was too enthralled by the wooden lookalike to turn away.

Sid clenched her fists and just when she decided that it was finally time to have it out with Wyper, she received some unofficial divine intervention.

"That is quite enough!" Gan Fall shouted as he sailed down with Pierre and jabbed his lance towards Wyper. The Shandian warrior easily blocked it with his shield but with a burst of force from an Impact Dial, he was sent down into the clouds just as Boo settled in front of the figurehead.

"What the heck? What's going? Who was that?! Who are you?! EEK! And who are you?!" an orange haired woman shrieked when Sid jumped right onto the deck and walked towards the figure head.

"I am the Sky Knight!" Gan Fall said as he hopped off Pierre and stood on the upper deck.

"Sky island is scary. Sky island is scary!" a long nosed boy whimpered as he tucked his knees to his chest and rolled around in circles.

"Don't worry," Sid said with a wave of her hand, ignoring Gan Fall's presence completely and stepping over a boy in a red vest, "I'm just here for my sheep. Pretend I'm not here."

"Wh-Whoahhhh! Lady! Beautiful lady!" a man with blonde hair and curled eyebrows gasped, "Her wings! Her face! She...She must be an angel!"

"J-...Just die," a green haired man scowled with just as much labored breath.

Sid stopped and turned with her hand on her spear, ready for battle but then to her shock, she realized he had directed that comment to his own crew member. She went on her way and she laid flat across the top of the figurehead, to ensure she could make eye contact with her pet.

"Boo?" she asked gently.

Her pet blinked and finally his black eyes moved up to meet hers. "Boo?"

"Boo," Sid said, "That's not your mom...You know that..."

"Boo...." Boo's eyes watered and Sid braced herself for what's to come. Her pet turned black and it began to rain.

"Boo, don't cry..." Sid coaxed gently and reached out her hand. "Come on, Boo...You've got me!"

"Is...is he alright?"

Sid jerked her hand back and she gaped at the small animal standing behind her. He had a pink hat on with his antlers poking out from the side. His blue nose twitched and he tilted his head to the side. She studied him for awhile and she opened up her mouth to say something but then she thought the better of it.

"Yeah...it's just hard for him," Sid said as she returned to the task at hand, "He's a sky sheep. Probably the last of his kind. Come on, Boo. You're not alone. I'm here, alright? I'm right here and we have a home to go to. So let's just go home, okay?"

"Boo?"

"He said 'home?'," the small animal translated.

"Oh, you can understand him?" Sid asked.

"Yeah..."

Boo was refusing to move an inch. Sid sighed again and reached into her bag. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "Boo? Want some chocolate?"

The rain stopped almost immediately and his eyes blinked. "Boo?!"

She held it out for him to see but then quickly drew her hand back when he started to move forward. "Only if you promise we can go home as soon as you finish eating. No distractions."

"Boo!"

"Good boy," Sid said as she watched him shrink back down to his normal size. He floated right to the palm of her hand and covered the two sticks of chocolate with his cloud body. She could see nothing and could only hear the sounds of muffled crunching. Sid cradled her arm around him and held him protectively to her chest, "Good boy."

She turned and finally took a good hard look at the former Skypiean God. "I'll leave you to it then," she said with a nod and then was just about to hop over the railing when she spotted something on the other end of the ship.

"Are those...trees?! You have trees on this ship?!" she gasped as she ran across the deck and was just about to reach up to touch it's fruit when her hand was smacked away by the orange haired girl.

"Oy! Don't touch my tangerines!" the girl scolded, "Who the hell are you?"

Thwack!

"AH! NAMI!" the small animal shrieked as Sid easily grabbed the girl's wrist with one hand and threw her over her shoulder, slamming her hard down on the floor. All while still holding onto Boo.

"Don't hit me because I fight back," Sid replied with a grin and then looked back at the fruit, "So these are called tan...ger...rines?"

"Why you-," Nami snarled as she got to her feet but was slightly surprised how much of a struggle it was for he, "What is going on?"

"The air is thinner up here in the White Sea than it is down in the Blue Sea," Gan Fall called out from the deck.

"Ah, that does make sense," a woman with black hair said thoughtfully as she rested her chin against her hand, "Must be why everyone is having a hard time moving."

"Yeah...now that you mentioned it," the boy in the red vest said.

"Can I have a tangerine?" Sid asked with her hand already on a fruit.

"OY! Don't touch my-" Nami started again but then found a spear to her throat.

Sid grinned. "So can I?"

Nami scowled. "Fine. Take it but only one!"

"Many thanks!" Sid sang as she moved her spear back into it's holding strap between her wings and then plucked the fruit out of the tree. She whistled and trotted down to the deck, bouncing the fruit in her hand as she did so. She sniffed the top and found that she did not enjoy the smell even though it wasn't unpleasant. It just wasn't to her liking.

"How do you eat this?" she asked to no one in particular.

"You take a big bite out it. Skin and all!" Nami seethed.

Sid bounced the fruit in her hand and she looked towards the small animal. "How do you really eat this?"

"You...you peel off the outer layer and eat the fruit inside," he said.

"CHOPPER!"

"Eh? Don't be mad at me, Nami!" the smaller animal said as he attempted to hide behind Sid's leg but only by sticking the top part of his head behind her. The rest of his body was exposed, "She doesn't seem like a bad guy."

"Thank you!" Sid said with a grin, "Boo? Wanna try some?"

"Boo!" he floated off her palm and she used her newly freed hand to tear off the outer layers, which she was surprised to find was tough and leathery. The fruit on the inside, though, as plump and juicy. It naturally grew in segments and she tore one off for herself and then another one for Boo.

"Sweet...and..." she scrunched up her face, "Sour...I don't know if I like that. So...what's it's medicinal use?"

"Eh?"

Sid raised an eyebrow. "Why would you grow a weird tasting fruit if not for it's medicinal use?"

"Are you calling Bell-mere's tangerines weird?!" Nami gasped in horror. She looked like she was about to have some sort of conniption.

"It's...oil can be used for anti-fungal and antiseptic properties. It can also restore damaged tissues in the body. It helps reduces the appearance of scars. The fruit is a great source of vitamin C, fiber, folate, and potassium. It can help fight off colds," Chopper stated and shrank a bit further when he caught Nami's glare.

"Good to know," Sid said as she scooped up the fallen peel and stuffed it into her back, "Can I have more then?"

"WHAT?!"

Sid grinned up at the orange haired girl and then leapt over the railing. "Thought I'd try asking one more time. Well, I'm off. I'll leave this to you, Ga-...er...Sky Knight."

She skated away with a whistle on her lips and her pet floating above her head.

"YOU OWE ME 100,000,000 BELLIS!" Nami screamed behind her.

----------

When they were far enough away, Sid leapt up and Boo puffed outwards. He scooped her up and carried her up through a small opening in the upper clouds and they moved up to the White-White Sea while she finished the last of the tangerine. She didn't enjoy eating it but if it was good for the body, she might as well try it out. Soon they were floating over the village of Shandia. Even though, Boo was headed straight for her tent, she hopped off a couple of tents ahead. She took off her wavers and then stuffed them into her bag.

She sucked in a breath and then stormed right into Wyper's tent. The sharp end of her spear was directed right at his face. "Wyper! You didn't need to destroy the ship. They were from the Blue Sea! There weren't any Divine Soldiers on there. No one on that ship was our enemy."

"They are all our enemy!" Wyper snarled as he swatted her spear away like it was a fly and carried on wiping his body down with a towel he had wetted from a basin. The fact that she barged in without any recognition of his nudity was somewhat admirable yet mostly ridiculous but then again, she was both those things to him on a constant basis.

"Since when?!" Sid demanded, "What if they were a ship coming from the same land as Noland? What then? You would've blown them up to join their ancestors before they had a chance to put them at peace!"

"You think any of the Blue Sea people care about Noland any more?" Wyper asked.

Sid sat down on one of his pillows and folded her arms across her chest. "I get that we're at war. Truly, Wyper, I do...but I cannot keep fighting in a war where the enemies are adding up more than our allies."

"You think we should make peace with the Skypieans and drive off Enel and his priests together?!" Wyper demanded, "You think the Skypieans would hand us back Shandora if that happens and relinquish Upper Yard? The war will still continue."

"But at least there would be one less enemy," Sid shouted, "We cannot win a war against Enel AND Skypiea at the same time. And now this?! Suddenly you're adding Blue Sea people to the equation too?! How many more of our people have to die for you to realize that some fights are just not worth it?"

Smack!

His slap across his face was strong but not unexpected. Sid brushed her thumb against the corner of her lip, touching the broken skin, and then bashed him across the jaw.

Thwack!

"You little-" Wyper raised his fist as Sid matched his stance.

"Ah! Sid! Wyper! Stop it!" Laki rushed through the tent and made her way towards Wyper to block him off but then she let in a startled gasp and put her hands over her eyes, "Wyper! Put some clothes on!"

If Wyper scowled any harder, he would crack his teeth and Sid was revelling in his reaction. She crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a healer. He's got nothing I've never seen before. Very...very average."

"GET OUT OF MY TENT!" Wyper roared.

"We finally agree on something," Sid said with a nod and then made her way out. She paused when she reached the opening, though, and threw the two pistols she had on the ground. "Oh yeah...I got these today..."

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out the bullets she took as well. She dumped it all on the floor in one big heap. "You're welcome."

A small crowd of Shandians had gathered around to hear what today's fight was about. They pretended to busy themselves when Sid brushed past the tent flaps but she saw right through it. After all, how could someone polish a gun with just his bare hands?

Sid rolled her eyes and went back to her tent. Hers was the easiest to recognize as it was the only tent in the village that was almost completely encircled with potted plants of various types and sizes. When she entered, Boo was already fast asleep on a pillow. Her tent had become much more crowded now with more jars and crates than pillows. She also had a few smaller plants nestled near the opening of her tent. Her home had become less of a place of comfort and more a place of work.

Sid sat down next to Boo and pulled her bag into her lap. She started to take things out one by one. Majority of today's loot were all medicinal but there were some trinkets and weapons that she managed to get her hands on.

A slight shadow darkened one side of her tent and Sid couldn't help but laugh at the small feet rubbing nervously together right under the opening of the tent flaps. "Come in, Aisa."

"Eeek!" Suddenly, the feet leapt back and then after a second, the young Shandian child came sheepishly into the tent, "How...how'd you know it was me?"

"Your feet," Sid grinned and when Aisa was within arm's reach, Sid made a grab for her. She put the child in a headlock and gave the top of her head a gentle grind of her knuckles, "If you consider yourself a Shandian warrior, then you need to be more stealthy."

"Ah! Let me go. Let me go!" Aisa thrashed against the healer's hold but was only released when the healer chose to. The child pouted at Sid while readjusting her head cover. However, her mood was lifted when Sid drew out the Eternal Pose and waved it in front of her face.

"Another one?"

Sid grinned. "Why don't you add it to the collection?"

Aisa took it into her hands and ran to the far side of the tent. She stuck the new Eternal Pose on a shelf where three more Eternal Poses stood. They were all twitching in different directions, which Sid found oddly mesmerizing to watch. It was the only sort of decoration visible in the tent. Even the blue waves that her grandmother had painted was partially blocked by stacks of crates and the tops of Sid's baby trees.

"Apparently, it's not a toy like we thought it was. It's something important...The Blue Sea people were in a panic when they found out I took it," Sid said and then she clapped her hands, "Okay! I showed you what I got...Now it's your turn."

Aisa stiffened and looked over at Sid. "What?"

"Don't 'what?' me," Sid said with a raised eyebrow, "Who are you trying to fool here? Now show me the Vearth."

Aisa gulped and hesitantly left the tent. When she returned, she was lugging a bag almost as big as Sid's and it was filled to the top with the treasured Vearth.

"You...you're not going to tell Wyper, are you?" Aisa asked quietly.

"Have I ever?" Sid snorted. She picked up the bag and dumped some of the Vearth into a deeper set bowl, one of the few empty ones she had left. Then she pulled out of her pocket a sticky seed she had saved and buried it in the Vearth.

"Ah! You got a seed?!" Aisa gasped as she ran over to take a good look, "What kind is it?"

Sid smiled and retrieved the tangerine peel from her bag. "It's called a tangerine tree. It'll grow and produce this..."

Aisa took it from her hands and then brought it closer to her eyes. "It...it smells nice."

"You think so?" Sid asked and wrinkled her nose, "I don't particularly like it for some reason. However, it's supposedly good for the skin and the fruit will help fight colds."

Sid lifted the bowl and took it out of her tent. She placed it amongst her other potted plants and then watered it with a nearby watering can. When she went back inside, Aisa had crumpled to her knees. The tangerine peel rested on the floor while Aisa's hands were around her head. Her whole body was trembling.

Sid sighed. "Wyper?"

Aisa nodded. "He's...he's really mad at you."

"What else is new?" Sid scoffed.

"How...how are you not scared of him?" Aisa whispered, "He's...he's a demon."

"Because he knows better than to kill me," Sid shrugged, "What is this tribe going to do without a healer?"

Sid went over and lifted Aisa up by the waist. The girl still was stuck in a curled up position.

"You wanna hide in Boo for a bit?"

"Y-Y-Yes, please," Aisa stammered.

Sid nudged her toe against her pet, who woke up with a start. He blinked groggily at her and then he spotted the terrified child.

"Boo?" he asked and then he began to expand in size until he was the size of a mattress. His cloud pushed up against Sid's crates and plants but it was soft enough not to knock anything over. Sid set Aisa down right in the middle and the child sank into the cloud, almost disappearing from sight completely with only the top of her head and parts of her back visible. Sid didn't know much about Mantra but somehow, hiding in Boo's Wool Cloud helped Aisa block out the voices. They had discovered this by accident when Aisa was a baby. Sid had gotten tired of holding the screaming infant and had relinquished her to Boo.

With Aisa out of the way, Sid went back to work. She grabbed a handful of leaves from various plants along with the tangerine peel and then threw it into her mortar and pestle. She started to grind them all together to form a sticky paste.

"You look just like your grandmother when you do that."

Sid grinned up at Chief Urepo, who took over her entire opening, and she motioned for him to take a seat on a pillow next to her. "How are you feeling today, old man?"

"Exactly that," Urepo chuckled, "Like an old man."

Sid sat up at attention and she narrowed her eyes. "Are your joints bothering you again? Any aches in your hip? Back?"

"No...No...None of that..." Urepo said, "I just feel old."

Sid chuckled. "A bottle of Braham's Shandia Sake might make help with that. I heard a glass of that would make even the dead dance around."

"Cassidy?" Urepo asked as he eyed the bruise already forming on her cheek, "Did you get in a fist fight with Wyper again?"

"Not really. Laki stopped it before we could really get into it."

"Cassidy..." Urepo sighed. The fact that there was actual disappointment in her statement made the chief's stomach knot together. This would be something his wife would usually handle. She would know what to say and would do a better job...but she was no longer here and he had to do the best he could. He took off his wolf's head and placed it on the ground. He didn't want to address her as the chief. At this moment, he only wanted to be seen as her kin. "I understand how you feel but-"

"You're taking his side." Sid threw her hands in the air, balancing the mortar expertly in her lap, "Of course, you are."

"The only side right now is us, Shandians, against those who stop us from returning to our rightful place...To Shondora," Urepo said, "You and Wyper must stand united together."

"If you're talking about marriage again-"

Urepo laughed. "It has been 6 years. Don't worry. I no longer will try to persuade you on this." He covered his hand in his, admiring how well calloused her hands were, "You are a strong Shandia warrior. You have a fire burning in you just as fiercely as it does in Wyper..Maybe just as fiercely as it did in the legendary Calgara. Shandia needs you in this battle. I need you...Wyper needs you."

"So you're saying I should just shut up and let him lead our people into battle. Not say anything if I have any concerns?"

"I'm not asking you to not say anything. Just don't say it in front of everyone else," Urepo advised and then he chuckled when his granddaughter gave him a perplexed look, "You and Wyper...your fights get too heated...and people hear it. It creates dissonance. Once they step on the battlefield, they need to see one person, one leader, one voice. One that they can trust and will listen to no matter what difficult demands he asks of them...And it has to be-"

"Wyper," Sid finished and hung her head, "I get your point, old man. I really do but it's just so hard. He just does whatever he wants and knocks everyone out of the way to do so. I have to beat it into him just so he will listen to me sometimes."

"Cassidy," Urepo said with a smile, "Sometimes is better than never. No one else in this tribe questions, much less challenges, Wyper the way you do and he knows that. All I'm saying is...some fights are just not worth it."

"Hey!" Sid sat up a bit straighter and she frowned, "That's exactly what I just told Wyper."

"Then I guess you are becoming as old and wise as I am," Urepo chuckled as he put his helmet back on his head and walked out of her tent, "Either that or you've forgotten that I live right next door to Wyper and could hear you two clear as day."