The Night Before the Gold Hunting:

-x-

The battle between the Shandian Warriors and Eneru's Priests waged on. Strike that. The battle between the Shandians and Eneru's Priest waged on. Gedatsu had been taken out when Wyper blasted him in the face with his cannon. He wasn't dead. But he'd been taken out of the equation.

Ohm was now the last Priest standing. But he wasn't alone. His still had his massive dog Holy. Ohm rode on Holy's back as he dodged cannon blasts from the remaining Shandian Warriors. Even if he was the only Priest left, Ohm wasn't giving an inch and was actually holding his own.

"RAAAH!" Kiko roared as he lashed out his arm. FWOOSH! A long blade of fire came out of the tube on his arm. The blade became a whip as he swung his arm down at the Priest and his massive dog.

SWIIISH! Ohm lashed out his sword, the blade grew and swung like a whip and cleaved straight through Kiko's flame whip. Ohm's whip-like blade kept going and connected with Kiko's stomach, SLISH! Kiko was knocked back and went crashing to the ground. THUD!

"RUFF!" Holy swung to the side and knocked a pair of charging Shandians aside with a massive tackle. WHAM!

Ohm and Holy raced through the battlefield. Ohm used his Mantra so they could avoid the cannon blasts while he used his versatile sword to strike down any of the Shandians that got close enough to them.

"Those two together are a problem," Laki noted as she and Kamakiri watched from nearby.

"We have to find some way to separate them," Kamakiri resolved.

Wooosh! Genbo sped up behind them, "Hey, I've got an idea," he told them. Genbo raced off and Laki and Kamakiri quickly followed after him.

Swish! Ohm swung his sword and blocked a shot from a Shandian.

"ROOOAAHH!" Holy roared as he barreled through the trees.

KA-BOOOOM! Ohm looked up in time to see a massive tree start to fall. The tree dropped enough for him to get a glimpse of Genbo perched on the branch of the tree behind it with a smoking cannon-barrel before the tree came crashing down.

SKISH! Ohm lunged one way while Holy dove the other. KRASH! The tree crashed to the ground and effectively separated the Priest from his canine steed.

"RAAAH!" A group of Shandians charged at Holy and started to blast the monster dog with their cannons. KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! Without Ohm to guide him, Holy was unable to dodge the blasts and ended up taking fire. But the massive dog was so huge and powerful that the blasts had very little effect on him.

On the other side of the fallen tree, Ohm let out a whistle to signal Holy, "SWEEEEEEEEE!"

Ohm turned to the side and watched as three Shandians came charging over a tree.

"Three attackers," Ohm observed using his high-level Mantra and read their movements perfectly. Ohm drew his sword and slashed it at his attackers. SLIISH! The whip-like blade flew through the air where Ohm already knew the three Shandians were going to be. SLA-SLA-SLISH! His attack connected and all three Shandians were sent flying.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Laki perched on a tree and fired her rifle at Holy. But her long-distance shots were having no effect. SKISH! Laki leapt off of the tree branch and bounced down it for a closer shot.

"RAAAWWR!" Holy lunged up from the ground and tackled Laki to the side. WHAM!

Laki went flying... but she didn't fall. Her backpack was caught... on the blade of Ohm's sword.

"LAAKII!" Genbo shouted as his fellow warrior dangled from the Priest's sword.

"Can you get a shot?" Wyper asked Braham from on a tree branch overhead.

"Not without hitting, Laki," Braham admitted.

"Damn her," Wyper cursed.

"You look so sad dangling there while all of your hope drains away," Ohm remarked. Ohm smirked as he watched the dirt or Vearth in Laki's backpack drain out and spill to the ground.

Laki scowled and her skis suddenly activated. WOOSH! The skis propelled Laki forward and she flipped up over the top of Ohm's sword. Took aim with her rifle and went for a point-blank shot at the Priest's face.

Whak! Ohm reached up and battled the barrel of Laki's rifle aside just as she fired. BANG! Ohm threw Laki off of his sword. The woman was left in free fall and had no way to dodge as Ohm swung his sword.

WOOOSH! Kamakiri dove in on his surfboard and tackled Laki out of the way just as Ohm's sword came down. SLOSH!

"NOW!" Wyper shouted at Braham. Braham fired his guns at Ohm while Wyper shot a blast from his cannon. BANG! BANG! BANG! KA-BOOOOM!

Ohm spun to the side and slashed his sword. SLISH! The blade extended and not only swung through the rounds that Wyper and Braham had fired at him but almost cleaved the two Sandian Warriors in half on their distant tree branch. SKA-SKISH! The two of them had only barely managed to jump up off of the branch in time.

"Thanks," Laki said to Kamakiri down on the ground, "I owe you one, Kamakiri."

She sat up AND SAW BLOOD! Kamakiri had saved Laki from Ohms attack but in the process had ended up taking it himself.

"KAMAKIRI!" Laki shouted in alarm.

"NOOO!" Genbo shouted.

"Wyper, Kamakiri's down," Braham informed the leader.

"RAAAHH!" Kiko surged between the two of them on his surfboard and used a flaming whip to block an attack from Holy. FWOOSH!

"Damn it, so close to victory..." Wyper growled.

"Heh," Ohm scoffed, "But you never even had a chance. Once night falls, I'll have an even greater advantage. You'll lose your visibility... but I'll still see all your attacks coming."

Wyper glared at Ohm but he knew better than to fight Eneru's Priests at night. He didn't want to lose any more of his warriors. Despite his warriors pride, he had to concede defeat on this day. "WE'RE MOVING OUT!" Wyper called out to his men, "GRAB ALL OUR WOUNDED AND MEET BACK AT THE RENDEZVOUS POINT! NOW!"

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Ohm shouted after them.

"Ohm, wait..." Gedatsu came staggering over the fallen tree.

"What do you want, you useless fool!" Ohm snapped.

"We've been summoned by the Almighty Eneru," Gedatsu informed him.

Ohm knew better than to disregard an order from God so he reluctantly allowed the Shandians to make their escape.

WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOOSH! The Shandian Warrios gathered all of their fallen comrades and bounced off through the tree.

-x-

In the forest surrounding the Altar and the area that the Straw Hats had claimed as their campground, Chopper stopped in his tracks.

"Why'd you stop?" Zoro asked from nearby. The two of them had been sent off by Sanji to gather what they could find to add to their dinner.

"All that racket seems to be getting farther away," Chopper told him.

"Well, maybe all those guerillas and priests decided to call it quits for the night," Zoro reasoned, "Sounds like the right idea." Zoro turned and started to head off. "Let's go."

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Chopper exclaimed as he hurried after Zoro with his basket.

"If you keep up, I won't," Zoro replied.

"But you don't know how to get back to the camp!" Chopper reminded him.

-x-

Back in the clearing around the campfire, Sanji smiled as he cut a slice of carrot into a heart. He gave the carrot-heart a kiss and placed it down next to another one that he'd prepared on his cutting board.

"Grrr..." Luffy grumbled as he stared at the campfire and the large pot they'd brought from the ship that was on top of it. "Grrr..." Luffy continued to whine while Sanji sliced a Sky Shark up into smaller bite-sized pieces and dumped them in the large pot he was using to make his stew. "Grrr..." Luffy growled when Sanji placed a pan on top of the pot on the fire.

Eventually, Luffy couldn't take it anymore, and rolled away from the fire, "GAH! BORING!"

"Nobody told you to watch the water boil," Sanji reminded him, "You only have one job to do and that's to use the distilled drinking water to fill the canteens. So make sure that happens, we'll need fresh drinking water tomorrow."

"Hmph," Luffy grunted, "Whatever..."

"Sanji!" Chopper called out as he and Zoro came out of the woods and into the clearing. "We found tons of great stuff!"

"Let's see the haul," Sanji instructed.

"We found walnuts, aloe, bananas, garlic..." Chopper listed off as he rifled through his basket.

"Grabbed some frogs too," Zoro chimed in as he held up the sky frogs and sky possums that he'd managed to catch.

"Great, it all goes in the pot," Sanji told them.

"DISGUSTING!" Nami complained from where she was kneeling in front of a crate pouring over a map with Y/N. "YOU DON'T EXPECT US TO EAT THAT MESS, DO YOU?"

"Oh, silly me," Sanji bashfully replied while he rubbed the back of his head, "Miss Nami, I promise, I'll take the garlic out."

"THE GARLIC'S THE ONLY GOOD THING!" Nami shouted.

"Frog's not bad if it's cooked properly," Y/N told her without looking up from the map.

"I heard shouting," Robin said as she came into the clearing, "Is Miss Navigator having another melt-down?" The archeologist was using both arms to carry a huge crystal.

"Now that's what I call a gem!" Nami remarked.

"I'm not sensing anything from it," Y/N said, still without looking up, "It's not valuable."

"That's right," Robin said. "It's salt."

"Good find Miss Robin," Sanji complimented the archeologist.

"I found it on the shore," Robin informed Nami as she stared in fascination at the huge crystal. "I figured we'd find some use for it."

"Not only is salt vital to survival, but without it my food would taste awful," Sanji stated.

"If I take half of the garlic and aloe then I can make antiseptic and burn ointment and use it to heal the Sky Knight," Chopper reasoned as continued to look through his basket.

"Oh yeah... need any frog?" Zoro offered.

"No thanks," Chopper replied. "No frog."

"Hey Zoro," Sanji called out, "You're not doing anything. I've got a job for you."

A couple minutes later, Zoro was staring incredulously at his swords. "Ugghh... damn cook... My swords are not meant to be used like this!" Zoro complained as he used two of his swords to lift a burning stone out of the fire then dumped the stone into the pot.

"Yeah, but if you don't listen to the chef than you probably won't eat," Sanji told him.

"Aah!" Luffy yelped. "You just dumped a rock into the stew! Does it taste good?"

"We don't eat it," Sanji explained, "it helps the pot cook. The stone's heat cooks the stew from the inside-out."

"Ohh!" Chopper said.

"Trust me on this one," Sanji reassured him, "you'll need all the nutrients that you can get to survive this place."

"Prefect then," Chopper remarked.

Luffy lifted the lid on the pot and took a sniff, "Smells good!"

THWAK! Sanji raised his leg and kicked him on his head. "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF!"

"Sanji... I'm hungry!" Luffy complained.

"WELL IT'S NOT READY YET!" Sanji yelled at him, "WEREN'T YOU JUST CRAMMING A SKY SHARK DOWN YOUR GULLET NOT TEN MINUTES AGO?"

"Yeah... but that was just an appetizer," Luffy told him, "I figured you knew that."

Nami and Robin looked on in annoyance and mild amusement respectively. "He must have rubber stomach too," Nami commented.

"Of course he does," Y/N replied. "I figured you knew that." He finally looked up and his eye widened in surprise. "Since when do you wear glasses?"

"Oh these?" Nami questioned, as she motioned up to thin-framed glasses she was wearing. "They're reading glasses. I only really use them when I do detail work on maps and charts." Nami narrowed her eyes at Y/N. "I've been wearing these this whole time. Are you telling me that you only just noticed them?"

"I didn't want to get distracted so I focused solely on what we were doing," Y/N stated. "But they look good, they bring out the brown in your eyes."

"That's it?" Nami asked, "You don't think they make me look smarter?"

"I've always thought you were brilliant," Y/N answered, "Why would you wearing glasses make me think any differently?"

Nami's cheeks pinked while Robin smiled faintly from where she was silently watching the by-play between the two. "Good answer," she remarked.

"What're you guys working on anyway?" Chopper inquired.

"I think you can figure that out for yourself Chopper," Y/N assured him, "What could a Treasure Hunter and a Master Cartographer be working on together?"

Treasure Hunter + Map Maker "YOU'RE MAKING A TREASURE MAP?" he exclaimed.

"A treasure map?" Luffy repeated, he raced over to the group, "Lemme see it!"

"We're not done with it yet," Nami explained, "We can't seem to agree on the location of the City of Gold and where we'll find the treasure."

"Aren't those the same thing?" Robin inquired.

"Not according to Y/N," Nami told her, "He believes that the gold and the City of Gold are in two separate locations."

"My Treasure Sense has never led me wrong before," Y/N stated, "But then again, it's never been almost overwhelmed like it has been recently." Y/N glanced around them and noticed that Luffy's, Chopper's, Robin's, Zoro's and half of Sanji's attention was on their map. "Since we have their attention, we might as well show them what we figured out. Zoro, would you grab Usopp for us?"

Zoro, who was standing on top of the roots of one of the massive trees they were camped out under nodded and climbed down the root in search of Usopp. He eventually found him on the shore next to a big pile of wood.

"Usopp, what're you doing down there?" Zoro questioned.

"Since I'm not doing anything anyway, I thought I'd start hauling this wood over to the ship for repairs," Usopp answered. He began to remove his shoes so he could swim it over.

"You're gonna swim over there, huh?" Zoro asked him.

"Yeah," Usopp confirmed.

"So you don't have a problem with the giant sharks?" Zoro inquired. The two of them watched as a Sky Shark dove by in front of them and sank back down into the Sea Clouds. SPLOOSH! While most of the Sky Sharks had been knocked out when Luffy, Usopp and Sanji had arrived on the Crow, by now they had all recovered and the Sea Clouds were dangerous once more.

Usopp blinked. "The ship'll still be broken tomorrow," he reasoned, "I'll fix it then!" He quickly scrambled up the roots back to camp. "Let's eat Zoro!" Usopp practically sprinted the rest of the way back to camp.

"What a moron," Zoro grumbled as he picked up Usopp's shoes and followed after him.

"Alright everybody, dinner's ready!" Sanji announced when they'd made it back to camp. Sanji handed off two special bowls with heart-shaped carrots to Chopper, "Remember its ladies first."

"Sure," Chopper agreed as he headed off to give the two special dishes to Nami and Robin.

"If you would all please take your seats, I'll be around with your meal shortly," Sanji addressed the others, "And eat up, I don't want it getting cold."

Y/N and Nami sat down on a root together with their treasure map.

"And if you'll all listen up while you eat," Nami called out, "we'll explain how we'll handle this tomorrow,"

Chopper handed one dish to Robin then headed over to Y/N and Nami with the other.

"Ooh, looks tasty," Usopp remarked as he took the two dishes that Sanji gave him and handed one off to Nami. When Chopper made it over with the special dish, he saw that Nami had already been served and that Usopp still had a bowl in his hand so he passed the remaining one to Y/N.

Y/N raised an eyebrow as he used his spoon to pick out the heart-shaped carrot then turned and offered it to Nami. "Do you want this?"

"Aw, Y/N! That's so sweet," Nami remarked. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek then pulled back and opened her mouth. Y/N smiled as he slipped the spoon into her mouth and fed her Sanji's special carrot. "Mmmm!"

"WHAT? NO!" Sanji shouted as he ran over. "Miss Nami! That wasn't from him! It was from me! I made that special for you and Miss Robin!"

"Then why was it in my dish?" Y/N inquired.

"You probably stole it you thieving one-eyed bastard!" Sanji snapped.

"Well I think that instead of focusing on who got what plate you should probably concern yourself with the person who's eating all the stew," Y/N suggested as he motioned passed Sanji to the pot he'd left abandoned.

Sanji turned to see Luffy using the ladle to pour scoop after scoop of stew into his mouth. "Sanji! This is really good!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THAT'S NOT ALL FOR YOU!" Sanji yelled as stormed over, grabbed the lid and slammed it down on Luffy's head. KLANG! This resulted in Luffy's head being trapped in the pot.

WOING! "GAAH! YOU JERK!" Luffy shouted when he finally pulled his head out of the pot, "I was paying you a compliment!"

"As amusing as this all is," Robin spoke up, "I believe we were going to discuss how we're going to find the gold tomorrow?"

"Oh right," Y/N agreed, "Thanks Robin. Way to keep us on track."

"Isn't that usually your job?" Nami asked.

"Eh, I'm on vacation," Y/N said dismissively.

"Anyway, let's review Noland's book first," Nami decided, "He discovered the City of Gold four hundred years ago. However, after leaving the island and returning with his King, he found that the gold ruins had vanished. Luckily, we now know what happened to these ruins. The gold didn't sink into the ocean like the story says but was instead shot up here into the sky by the Knock-Up Stream just like we were."

"Do you really think a whole island could have done that?" Chopper asked as he handed Robin another bowl of stew after she'd passed hers off to Pierre who was dutifully sitting at Gan Fall's side.

"Well it's the only thing that makes sense," Nami replied, "Remember, Cricket said that every time this phenomenon occurs it's in a different location."

"Yeah, that explosion was enormous," Usopp recalled, "I'm not surprised that it lifted an island."

"It's just hard to believe that the forest we're sitting in is the same one from back on Jaya," Zoro remarked as he stared up at the massive trees that were towering above them.

"I believe that has something to do with the odd composition of the Island Clouds up here," Robin theorized, "Look at all the trees, fish and wildlife, something about this environment dramatically increases growth rates which explains why a society here could have been swallowed up by these immerging forces."

Sanji glanced over at Robin and saw that she had a regular bowl of stew while the bird/horse beside her was helping himself to the special one he'd made for her. The cook sighed and hung his head in dejection as he was faced with his wasted efforts. "So tragic..."

"That explains why those South Birds that Y/N and I saw were so huge," Chopper realized, "I couldn't believe it!"

"Well, four hundred years of growing will do that to a bird," Zoro told him.

Sanji came over and carelessly tossed Zoro a bowl of stew then sat down next to him with his own bowl, "Why were those South Birds so concerned about the old man, anyway?"

"Um... I don't know," Chopper admitted, "but they kept referring to the Sky Knight as God."

"HE'S GOD?" Luffy exclaimed, "So you mean if we beat the crap out of that old guy then our job here is done?"

"PIE!" Pierre squawked and threw his wings over Gan Fall to protect him.

"No you idiot!" Usopp scolded him, "how'd you get that out of what he was saying?"

"Actually, Eneru referred to him as God too," Y/N chimed in, "Well, he actually called him a 'sad excuse for a former God'. I'm guessing that up here the title of 'God' means about the same thing as 'King'. But while the Sky Knight was clearly more of a protector that saw it as his duty to protect everyone, Eneru came along and took over at some point and now he uses the position and his powers to rule over everyone and keep them oppressed. So Luffy, I'm guessing that if you wanna do something about it, then you've gotta beat the crap out of the current God."

"Oh, okay, then let's go beat him up," Luffy decided.

"We're here to find the gold," Nami reminded him, "Not to dethrone a super-powered God!"

"So you can do that after we find it," Y/N added which caused Nami to glare at him.

"SPEAKING OF GOLD," Nami said loudly to get the conversation back on track. "Does anyone remember what Noland's log said about the City of Gold?"

"Oh, I know!" Luffy exclaimed, "It's a city of GOLD!"

"You're such a dumbass!" Usopp snapped, "Do you ever think before you talk?"

"I think he wrote about South Birds and a giant gold bell," Sanji recalled. "Of course, there could be a lot more."

"The last thing he wrote in the log before he died was something odd," Robin answered, "It's something I can't figure out even after seeing this island. It says 'the City of Gold is in the skull's right eye'."

"Bingo," Y/N told her, "And that's exactly what Nami and I have been working on. Luffy, do you remember when you were looking at our map of Jaya and thought it looked like a mouth?"

"Not really," Luffy admitted.

"Well at the time, I told you that you were looking at it wrong," Y/N reminded him, "When actually you were looking at it the right way. It is a mouth." Y/N held up the map of Jaya that he and Robin had managed to get at a bar during their trip to Mock Town. Held up right, the island looked like a sloppy 'U'. But then Y/N turned the map sideways and the 'U' ended up looking like a mouth.

"And if we take the map of Jaya and match it up with the map of the Sky Island..." Nami continued for Y/N as she held up the Skypeia map that Y/N had found while exploring the sunken remains of the St Briss, "which we've already established is the missing part of Jaya..." The others came closer as Y/N and Nami put down their two maps and slid them together, "Then this is what the island of Jaya looked like four hundred years ago."

The Straw Hats stared down at the two combined maps and saw a skull-shaped island.

"Neat!" Luffy exclaimed, "It's a skull!"

"It is a skull," Chopper agreed as he peered down from his perch on Y/N's shoulder.

Y/N pointed out a circular clearing on the left side of the map, "Right now, we're on the edge of the forest surrounding their clearing where the altar is. That's the skull's left eye."

"And that means this clearing here is the skull's right eye," Nami supplied as he pointed to the other eye.

"Okay, but where in the skull's right eye?" Usopp questioned.

"I'm thinking right here," Nami answered as she pointed to a small structure in the middle of the right clearing. "It's the one structure that's actually inside the eye. And no one's found it yet because of all the people who tried, we're the ones who had both maps."

"It kind of makes sense," Zoro remarked.

"HIDDEN TREASURE!" Luffy shouted.

"TREASURE!" Chopper cheered.

"I see, so we must me lucky pirates," Usopp resolved.

"Lucky?" Y/N repeated, "I'd like to think that skill was a major part of it too. We were lucky when that ship nearly fell on us. But I was the one that managed to find the map to Skypeia. Then Robin snagged Masira's Eternal Pose which led us to Jaya. There, Robin and I managed to get the map of Jaya and found out about Cricket by following my 'Ask the Creepy Outcast' Policy. We befriended Cricket and those two monkeys like only we can and they filled us in with the rest of the information we needed. We managed to catch two South Birds out in the forest and even had time for Luffy and I to make a quick stop so Luffy could beat up Bellamy while I got Cricket's gold back. Thanks to Cricket and the monkeys we managed to survive our trip up the Knock-Up Stream and we made it up here. We may have been lucky starting out but when we combine the skills of a treasure hunter, a master archeologist and a brilliant cartographer with our crew's unnatural ability to make friends then that gold was as good as found once the St. Briss almost fell on us." Y/N's face lit up with a broad smile, "And you know what... this is just the kind of adventure that I live for."

None of the Straw Hats had noticed that Gan Fall had woken up and was now listening to their conversation.

"Now, I don't know how much gold will be there," Y/N admitted, "I don't sense much coming from the direction of the City of Gold but I still think we should head for the skull's right eye and check it out."

"But we can't leave the ship unguarded," Nami reminded them, "So tomorrow morning we'll split the crew into two teams." Nami grinned, "This is our time, somewhere on this island waits more gold than we've ever dreamed."

-x-

Feelings for Vearth:

-x-

The Shandians had returned to their camp and discarded their skis and boards. The injured were being tended to and the Shandians were attempting to regroup.

As expected, Wyper was in a foul mood as he made his way through camp.

"Wyper," Genbo called out in greeting as he rested against a tree.

"How serious are Kamakiri's injuries?" Wyper asked.

"Well, they're tending to him right now," Genbo answered, "He's back there."

"Is he going to make it?" Wyper inquired.

"See for yourself," Genbo replied.

If the War Demon Wyper was in a bad mood, then Laki who was nearby and could hear their conversation was in an even worse one. Kamakiri had gotten injured saving her from Ohm. She couldn't help feeling guilty and responsible for her comrades blood being spilled.

"I didn't expect him to be defeated like that," Wyper confessed.

"What can we do?" Genbo questioned. "Ohm will not easily be beaten."

"It's me," Laki spoke up drawing Wyper and Genbo's attention to her. "It was my fault. He's dying because of me."

Wyper turned to stare at her.

Night had fallen and a torch representing the Fire of Shandora was still burning overhead. After their near defeat at the hands of Ohm, the Shandians were in for a restless night.

-x-

"Ah," Luffy sighed in contentment, "Now that's what I call gourmet!" The Straw Hats had finished their stew and now even Luffy was satisfied.

"Tomorrow we'll get the gold!" Chopper chirped as he carried everyone's discarded bowls to the water bucket.

"You've got it," Nami agreed.

"Hey Chopper," Y/N called out as he sprang up from his seat, "I'll take care of washing those."

"Don't worry, I can handle it," Chopper assured him.

"I know you can," Y/N told him, "But you served everyone their dishes earlier. I wouldn't be fair to make you do everything."

Luffy stood by the fire with Usopp and stared up at the dark sky that was peeking through the giant tress overhead.

"Do you think it will be sunny again?" Luffy questioned.

"We're above the clouds," Usopp pointed out as he crouched down and stoked the fire with a stick, "So I'd guess 'yes'."

"Let's put out the fire if we don't need it," Robin suggested as she sat nearby, "It's getting kind of late you guys. We don't want to announce our location to our enemies."

"Hmph, what a rookie move," Luffy remarked, causing Robin to stare at him in surprise. "You hear that Usopp, she wants us to douse the fire. What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know," Usopp replied, "It's not really her fault, though. She's never been exposed to this kind of living before. We should be tolerant."

"What are you two saying?" Robin asked in a rare moment of confusion.

Luffy and Usopp turned to her and then to her increased surprise, threw themselves down at her feet and started sobbing.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CAMPFIRE WHEN YOU CAMP!" Luffy wailed, "THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT 'CAMPING'!"

"It's the force of the flames fighting through all this wilderness that reminds us that we're human!" Usopp sobbed.

"It's never ending with those idiots," Nami muttered. "Hey! Lay off the sob stories. You know how dangerous this island can be! Let's not give it any help in killing us!"

"Don't care," Luffy stated.

"We're in the middle of a war between priests protecting their God and guerrillas forging a coup," Nami reminded him, "Not to mention the blood thirsty monsters that wait around every corner to eat us!"

"NOT MONSTERS!" Chopper shrieked.

While Luffy still wasn't worried, Usopp was getting scared now and was warily backing away while keeping a frightened eye out for the aforementioned blood thirsty monsters.

"Sky Island scary... Sky Island scary..." Usopp chanted.

"Luffy!" Zoro called out, "Take a look." Zoro and Sanji were standing next to a large stack of logs that was over their heads and stood over six feet tall. "Is this enough wood for your fire?"

"CAN YOU IDIOTS THINK FOR ONE SECOND?" Nami yelled.

"Dishes are done," Y/N announced, "And relax Nami, we're gold hunting tomorrow. There's no harm in letting them have a bonfire party the night before. If a scary monster comes, Zoro can deal with it."

"Fine by me," Zoro agreed with a predatory grin.

"Heh, don't worry," Sanji added, "Wild animals are afraid of fire." Sanji held up a small torch that he planned to use to light the firewood but was oblivious to the ominous sets of feral yellow eyes that had just appeared in the trees behind him.

"BUT THEY'RE SURROUNDING US!" Nami shouted. She streaked across the clearing and grabbed her favorite meat shield, "WE HAVE TO RUN OR WE'LL DIE!"

"Zoro you want to deal with this?" Y/N inquired as Nami clutched him from behind.

"Sure," Zoro said as he reached for his swords.

"Grrrr..." a low growled emanated from the forest as a tough-looking wolf with white fur and a scar next to its right eye stalked out of the forest. "Grah-rah-roo-raaah-rraaah!"

"Chopper, I think it's trying to say something," Sanji pointed out, "Do you mind translating?"

"Graah... raaah rreehh rugghh!" the wolf growled.

"'You jerks are being so loud that we can't even hunt!'" Chopper translated for the wolf. "'Why don't you dumb-ass humans go to hell and sleep already?'"

"WHOSE A DUMB-ASS?" Luffy and Sanji yelled at Chopper.

"I didn't say it!" Chopper defended himself, "It was the wolf!"

"Growff! Rowwrr ruff raaarrhh!" The wolf continued to growl.

"'You rotten two-leggers better not be trying to muscle in and take what doesn't belong to you!'" Chopper translated the wolf's threat.

"No, we're not like that!" Chopper attempted to reassure the wolf. "We were brought here against our will!"

"'This is our forest!'" Chopper snapped at the wolf. "'You think you can just come in and start building fires?'"

"Sorry..." Chopper apologized sheepishly.

"'Everything here belongs to us!'" Chopper continued to translate while the wolf kept growling, "'The land, the trees and the air!'"

BONK! "Aaaaah!" Chopper gasped as Nami stood over the wolf with her fist raised while the wolf was left whimpering and nursing a large lump on his head.

"NOTHING'S KEEPING ME FROM THAT TREASURE!" Nami snapped at the wolf.

GRRRR... The rest of the wolf's pack emerged from the shadows of the trees and began closing in on the Straw Hats.

"Great!" Usopp whimpered, "Everything's gotten worse again! Now we'll get eaten by wolves!"

"Y/N! Do something!" Nami exclaimed as she ran back behind him.

"Why me?" Y/N questioned, "You're the one who punched their leader."

"GROOWRRR!" the lead wolf howled as he got back up. The other wolves quickly became docile as it was clear that this wolf was the alpha. "Rowwrr graaah greeeh..."

"'Back down, boys,'" Chopper translated the alpha wolf's orders "We may have the numbers but they've got the raw power. It's not worth it." The alpha wolf gave Nami a wolfish grin. "Girl, you pack one mean punch there, gotta say, you're my kind of angry.'"

Both Nami and the wolf grinned at each other.

"So that's what a happy ending looks like," Usopp observed.

"I guess so," Zoro agreed.

Y/N grinned as he patted Nami on the back, "Well what do you know, Nami," he remarked, "You've got an admirer."

"Aw, what's the matter Y/N?" Nami teased him, "You're not jealous are you?"

"Ruhruhruhruh!" The wolf seemingly laughed, "Rawwrr ruuuff roowwrr!"

"'You stupid fox-human!'" Chopper translated, "'You know you can't compare to a big strong alpha wolf like me!'"

"Watch it, fluffy," Y/N retorted, "You challenge me and you'll end up embarrassed in front your pack there."

"Growwrr rooowff!" the alpha wolf snapped.

"'Bring it on, two-legs!'" Chopper supplied.

"Guys, guys," Nami slipped between them, "There's no need to fight over me. I know a better way you can settle this..."

"OH! OH! ME TOO!" Luffy shouted, "CAAAAMPFIIIIIREEEEE!"

This was met with loud cheers from humans, the reindeer, and the wolves and just like that the Straw Hats found themselves having a campfire party with a pack of white wolves.

Zoro's and Sanji's huge sack of firewood was lit and Luffy, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper found themselves dancing around the fire with the pack of wolves.

"IT'S THE FESTIVAL ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GOLD HUNTING!" Usopp cheered as he beat a barrel drum that he'd thrown together.

"HOOOWRR!" Luffy howled as he did a wolf impression.

"RROOOOO!" a wolf howl back as he did a Luffy-impression.

"Wow, this is delicious!" Nami remarked as she tasted a purple drink that the wolves had provided, "And you guys really make this stuff?"

"Ruff," one of the wolves barked and nodded.

"Who knew wolves knew how to make alcohol," Y/N commented as he faced off against the alpha wolf in an inter-species drinking contest. Y/N threw his mug and drank it down. "What's the matter, fluffy? Don't tell me you're starting to feel it already!"

The alpha wolf stopped swaying and shook his head then growled at Y/N "Rooowrrr!" The wolf somehow lifted his own mug with his paws and drank it down.

"Hmm..." Zoro grunted as he sat to the side on a root and drank from a purple bottle of the wolves' special drink. He glanced beside him and spotted a wolf sitting next to him drinking from his own cup. "Huh?"

The wolf grinned and knocked his cup against Zoro and the two of them drank.

"Teeheehee!" Chopper laughed as he rode on the back of one of the dancing wolves.

"Wahahaha!" Sanji laughed with Chopper while a wolf rode on his back while he danced.

"Fufufufufu," Robin laughed softly as she sat to the side and watched the Straw Hats party with the wolves.

FWUMP! The alpha wolf collapsed to the ground while Y/N finished off his latest mug.

"Told ya you'd wind up embarrassed," Y/N taunted, he had a slight flush on his face. "I win."

"Oh yeah, so what do you win then?" Nami inquired as she finished off her own drink. Anyone paying attention would have noticed that she'd kept up with Y/N and the wolf through the whole contest.

"We decided that the winner gets to dance with you," Y/N answered with a smile as he held out his hand to her.

"Oh," Nami said. Then she smiled and took his hand and allowed Y/N to pull her up to her feet and then lead her out into the crowd of dancing wolves and pirates.

"TOMORROW THE TREASURE IS OURS!" Luffy hollered.

"TREASURE!" Chopper cheered.

"TOMORROW!" Sanji exclaimed.

"I'm surprised you're getting along so well with the cloud wolves," a voice came from behind Robin. She turned and saw that Gan Fall had woken up and was making his way towards her. "I know of no one else who could have such raucous festivities on Eneru's land."

"It's good to see that you're awake," Robin remarked, "Are you feeling any better?"

"I apologize for being such a burden to you all," Gan Fall replied.

"Hey, you're too hard on yourself, old man," Zoro reassured him, "You saved Y/N and Chopper and you kept our ship from being blown to a thousand pieces."

"That's my duty," the Sky Knight stated.

"There's plenty of stew left, would you like some?" Robin offered.

"Thank you, but no, not right now," Gan Fall answered as he took a seat between the two serious Straw Hats.

Luffy turned and noticed the old man sitting between Zoro and Robin. "HEY!" he called out. "THANKS FOR EVERYTHING SKY KNIGHT GUY!"

Y/N used his close hold on Nami to maneuver them around so he could give Gan Fall a brief nod of gratitude.

"LET'S DANCE, OLD GUY!" Luffy shouted.

"C'MON! DANCE WITH US GAN FALL!" Chopper chimed in.

"Chopper, have you been drinking?" Zoro asked, looking concerned at the reindeer.

"Shishi!" Luffy laughed but was cut off when a drunken cloud wolf jumped on his back.

But then the cloud wolf was caught off guard when a drunken Sanji jumped on its back.

"Hey old man," Sanji called out, "I've got a question, Conis... is she okay?"

"Very much so," Gan Fall replied, "I've sheltered her and her father at my house. They're fine."

"Great," Sanji said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried she'd never see me again!" Then a cloud wolf jumped on Sanji's back but that was quickly followed by Usopp jumping on the wolf's back.

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp laughed, "I'm so happy that both of them are safe! Let's celebrate by tossing Chopper!"

"Why me?" Chopper asked. But Usopp and Sanji still grabbed him and tossed him up into the air then caught the reindeer on the way down. "TEEHEEHEEHEE!"

Y/N spun Nami around and pulled her back to him but along the way Nami stumbled and tripped and fell against his chest.

"Looks like you've had enough," Y/N commented as he helped her back up.

"Nope, guess again," Nami told him, "That means I'm losing my buzz and we need to go and get some more." Nami grabbed Y/N's hand and led him away from the fire to get another drink.

Meanwhile, Usopp and Sanji had stopped throwing Chopper and the cook was instead swinging the laughing reindeer around in circles.

Gan Fall smiled as he watched the pirates and the wolves continue the joyous celebration.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," Gan Fall apologized, "But I heard your earlier conversation about how this island was known long ago by the name 'Jaya'."

"Yeah, that's right," Robin confirmed.

"But I believe you have yet to hear the story of how this island on which we sit came to be known as such holy ground," Gan Fall informed her.

-x-

The mood went from joyful to tense and angry when Wyper tore Aisa's bag away from Laki.

"Is this what was so distracting for you in battle, Laki?" Wyper demanded. "Are you here to sabotage us? Get in our way and slow us down?"

"No I'm not," Laki answered, "I feel awful for Kamakiri."

"We were fighting the Priests," Wyper reminded her, "We can't afford to be off task at all if we plan to make it to God's shrine!"

"Apologizing won't fix anything, I know that," Laki retorted as she stared at the bag in Wyper's hand, "So give that back to me now. It belongs to Aisa. It's hers." Laki desperately grabbed the bag and attempted to pull it away from Wyper. "I promised I would bring back some Vearth for her! Give it back to me, please! You have to let me have it!"

"Stop..." Wyper growled as he continued to fight against Laki for the bag.

SWISH! Wyper and Laki were thrown apart and a heavily bandaged Kamakiri was left standing in between them.

"Kamakiri!" Laki gasped, "You shouldn't even be standing right now!"

"I can still fight," the wounded warrior assured her. The Vearth fell from Wyper's hand to the clouds they were standing on. "Wyper, you're right about this being our best time to strike the Upper Yard. With Satori and Shura gone, we proved today that we can defeat the remaining Priests. I say we attack again tomorrow at first light."

-x-

"The ground of Upper Yard must remind you Blue Sea People of your home below," Gan Fall commented to Zoro and Robin. "It is similar, right?"

"It is," Zoro confirmed.

"Yes, you're lucky," Gan Fall informed him, "What you see all around us and beneath our feet is something that does not naturally exist in the sky." Gan Fall slowly scooped up a handful of dirt. "Island Cloud can support plant life but it can't generate its own. Greenery and soil are both foreign things to our life here." Gan Fall stared down at the dirt in his hand. "Our people have our own name for this, it's Vearth." Gan Fall tilted his hand and allowed the dirt to spill back down to the ground. "Those living here on the clouds hold this sacred. It's what they all desire."

-x-

"Once we kill Eneru there will be no need for you to sneak around obsessing over a single bag of Vearth," Kamakiri told Laki after she'd reclaimed the fallen bag of dirt. "The time is now. We will return after four hundred years of exile to the true home of the Shandians."

-x-

Enter Eneru:

-x-

The party had finally ended and most of the Straw Hats and the wolves had passed out around the fire. Pierre had even joined the party at one point because he was now lying amidst the unconscious wolves and pirates. Robin was sleeping in a private tent that Sanji had happily pitched for her. It was supposed to be for Nami too but she had made other arrangements.

Everyone was sleeping except for two pirates.

"Go take a leak by yourself!" Zoro complained.

"Ugghh... that's cold Zoro!" Usopp groaned. "That's really cold!"

Seeing how Zoro wasn't going to accompany him, Usopp trudged off on his own. He climbed over the large roots, stumbled a bit and eventually came to the shore of the Sea Clouds that surrounded the sacrificial altar.

Konk! A loud thud broke the silence and caused Usopp to jump and let out a whimper.

"What was that noise?" he wondered.

Konk! Konk!

It sounded like someone hammering something, a sound that Usopp was fairly familiar with given all the times he'd repaired the ship himself.

Konk! Konk!

The sound was coming from the Going Merry but there was fog surrounding the altar so it was hard to make out the ship.

Konk! Konk!

Usopp stared through the fog at the Going Merry. "There shouldn't be anyone on the ship at this hour," Usopp thought to himself, "Geez, the fog is so thick I can't see who it is." Usopp crept closed to the shore and peered through the fog and strained his sharp eyes.

KONK! KONK!

He spotted a silhouette pounding the hull of the Going Merry with a hammer. But when Usopp tried to make out the features of the person to figure out who it was he came to a shocking realization. HE COULD SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT!

KONK!

The figure turned towards Usopp and a wide ghostly smile spread across its previously featureless face.

KONK!

Usopp's mind went blank and he did what he normally did instinctively.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

FWUMP!

Drawn by Usopp scream, Zoro stumbled upon the scene a moment later and found Usopp lying on the ground twitching. The Going Merry was silent and there was no ghostly figure in sight.

"What's your problem?" Zoro asked as he stared down at the twitching sniper.

"Gah... gah..."

"Moron," Zoro scolded him, "Did you fall asleep mid-piss? That's pathetic."

"I... I... saw..."

"Hey Usopp!" Zoro growled, "Would you snap out of it?"

"I... saw... gah... gah... host..."

"Ugghhh..." Zoro grumbled. He stalked away since the sniper was making no sense.

That meant he didn't hear Usopp when he called out, "Gah... ghooooooost..."

-x-

Back at the camp, Nami had been woken by Usopp's scream. She wiggled against her large fleshy pillow for a moment. Then she remembered exactly what her pillow was and her eyes flew opened and she found herself cuddled up along Y/N's left side.

She sat up and stared down at him then slowly nudged his shoulder, "Y/N..." She shook him again but got no response. For someone who had previously claimed to be an extremely light sleeper, he was sleeping rather deeply at the moment. But then again, they'd had a lot to drink.

"Y/N..." she called out again and shook him with a little more force but she still received no reaction. Whump! She 'accidently' drove her elbow into his side.

"Uuugghh..." Y/N groaned.

"Y/N, are you awake?" Nami asked.

"I am now," he grumbled. He slowly sat up and held his head. "What's the matter?"

"I wanted to tell you something," Nami answered, "About when I gave you such a hard time earlier on the ship."

"Oh that?" Y/N questioned. "For some reason it seems like that happened ages ago."

"You're smart but I don't think you realize why I got so angry at you," Nami explained, "Y/N... when you sent us off earlier we all knew what your plan was. You didn't know what you were getting into or if you could handle it on your own. You were sacrificing yourself to save us. I know in that stupid noble heart of yours that you thought you were doing the right thing to keep us safe."

"But Y/N..." Nami continued in a soft voice, "You need to realize how much you mean to all of us... And... how much you mean to me. I know you'd give your life to protect us... but you have to know that we'd all do the same for you. So next time you're coming up with a plan to get us all to safety, you'd better make sure that it includes you too because sacrificing yourself is not a proper solution to a problem. Are we clear?"

"Yeah we're clear," Y/N replied.

"Are you sure?" Nami inquired, "Because I can think of a way to make myself clearer."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Y/N countered.

Nami smirked and swung her leg over him so she was straddling him. "I can give you a demonstration that'll make the 'how much you mean to me' part very clear."

Y/N grinned, "I'm listening."

-x-

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours Ohm and Gedatsu found themselves standing outside the doors to God's shrine.

"Why are we—mmmffmmmm..." Gedatsu trailed off when he bit down on his lower lip.

"If you're trying to say something spit it out," Ohm snapped, "I've had enough of your foolishness for one day."

Gedatsu spat out his lip and gasped, "How careless."

"If you're done wasting time," Ohm said, "I'd like to find out why God summoned us just when I was about to finish off the last of the Sandians."

"Hmph..." came a grunt, "As usual, you're filled with hot air."

Ohm and Gedatsu spun around and saw a heavily bandaged Shura staggering towards them.

"Well look who the bird dragged in," Ohm remarked, "I'm surprised you had the nerve to show your face here after your defeat at the hands of that Blue Sea Dweller."

"At least I managed to take out that old fossil Gan Fall," Shura pointed out.

"Yes," Ohm admitted, "but we were specifically ordered to apprehend that one-eyed Blue Sea Dweller and you failed to do so."

"God Eneru should have let me deal with him," Gedatsu boasted, "I could have taken care of him and I would be reaping the rewards from my victory right now instead of standing here with you two fools awaiting Eneru's punishment."

"Please Gedatsu," Shura scoffed, "There no way you could have handled him. You're stupid."

"I'M WHAT?" Gedatsu roared... before he bit down on his lip again and cut himself off.

"As for you, Ohm!" Shura growled, "If you doubt my strength then I'll show you that I'm still capable of defeating you!" Shura raised his lance and swung it around at his side.

"You think you're hot stuff, do you Shura?" Ohm questioned as he drew his sword. "I'll show you why my Mantra is superior to yours!"

"Amusing!" Gedatsu exclaimed as he raised his arm and got into a fighting stance.

KREEEEEK! The Priests were so caught up in their bickering that they didn't notice when the doors to God's shrine swung opened.

"RAAAAHH!"The three Priests roared and charged each other and began to wage a three-way battle. SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! The Priests used their Mantra to avoid each other's attacks. The three Priests fought their way through the opened doors to God's shrine and into the wide opened courtyard.

Yama stood by watching and scoffed at the Priests' behavior. "What are you doing? This is disgraceful! You should be ashamed!"

"Shut up!" Shura snarled at him. He, Ohm and Gedatsu had stopped fighting and were waiting for each other to make the next move. "These two have held me back for far too long! I'll show them that even injured that they're no match for my power!"

"That's some big talk, Shura!" Ohm retorted, "Maybe it's time for me to teach you what the true meaning of power is! Come get me if you've got the guts! Let's see if you can handle the Ordeal of Iron!"

"Your Ordeal of Iron couldn't even test the strength of a child!" Gedatsu taunted as he tried and failed to cross his arms. "My Ordeal of Swamp is the ultimate challenge. Try that if you're not too afraid!"

"Priest Gedatsu, that looks extremely tiring," one of Eneru's servants remarked, "If you're trying to cross your arms then you need to hold them like this and rest them on your chest." The bearded man demonstrated the proper way to fold his arms.

"ENOUGH!" Yama shouted, "Cease this chatter! You are standing in the presence of God!"

"All I see is an empty chair," Shura pointed out, as he motioned to Eneru's empty throne. "This is the same thing that happened last time."

"Yes, if He really wanted to speak with us, then He'd be here," Ohm insisted.

FWOOOSSH! Lightning flashed and Eneru appeared in the middle of this three Priests. "SURPRISE BOYS!" FWISH! BA-ZAP-ZAP! Lightning flew off of Eneru's body and his Priests were sent flying away from him. Fwip-fwip-fwip-FWUP! Eneru did an impressive series of slips that eventually ended when he landed in his throne.

"You asked, so here I am," Eneru announced, "You're out of practice if that pathetic display is any indication you're all well on your way to ending up dismal failures like Satori."

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Gedatsu demanded.

"Why God?" Ohm asked, "Did you summon us here just to mock us?"

"I do have a point," Eneru assured him, "And I'll get to it in due time. But first..." Eneru turned his attention on Shura. "I don't recall summoning you here, Shura. I gave you one task: bring the Blue Sea Dweller to me... and you failed. Tell me why I shouldn't put you out of My misery."

"God Eneru, I came here to apologize for failing You," Shura explained, "I underestimated him and he caught me by surprise. If You'll give me another chance, I promise I will not let You down again. At the very least I managed to kill Gan Fall."

"And you even failed at that, Shura," Eneru replied, "Gan Fall still lives."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Shura insisted, "I tell You I killed the man himself!"

"You injured him certainly," Eneru informed him, "But he's far from dead. What's more he seems to be hitting it off quite well with the Blue Sea Dwellers. So it seems that even your greatest success has ended in failure."

"I... I..." Shura sputtered.

"I have half a mind to get rid of you right here and now," Eneru stated, "But at the very least, your battle against that Blue Sea Dweller allowed me to gauge his skills so I've decided to endure your incompetence for one more night."

"I... thank you, God," Shura said. "I will not fail you again."

"We'll see," Eneru answered, "If you fail again, it will result in your death. Now sit down."

The three priests approached Eneru's throne and sat down in front of it. Shura removed his aviator cap to reveal his short black hair.

"God Eneru, why are the Blue Sea Dwellers here anyway?" Ohm asked.

"Why they're looking for gold," Eneru informed him, "That's obvious."

"What? Gold?" Gedatsu questioned.

"Impossible," Ohm said, "How did they know?"

"This island was originally part of the Blue Sea," Eneru explained, "It's not so odd that they should know about it. Of course, they'll move tomorrow... as will that Shandians. And that Shura is why I've decided to keep you around. All three of you will be on hand to deal with the Shandians and the Blue Sea Dwellers tomorrow morning. Now normally, the rules state that each of you run an area of Upper Yard and you're not allowed to enter each other's areas or interfere with one another in any way. Tomorrow, I'll allow you to go where you will. You may set up your Ordeals wherever you want with no restrictions, get as vicious as you like."

"What are you being so generous all of a sudden?" Gedatsu inquired.

"Because, My friends, I'm pleased to announce that the Maxim is almost complete," Eneru told them, "So it's time for us to put an end to the wretched island and set forth on our journey to the world of dreams."

-x-

The Merry Retrieval Plan:

-x-

Gan Fall was lying in his bed surveying the sleeping Straw Hats. Luffy was using a cloud wolf as a pillow, Zoro was sleeping against his swords, Usopp had fainted after his ghostly encounter, Sanji and Chopper were using large roots as beds while Robin was still sleeping in her actual bed in her tent. Nami had finished 'convincing' Y/N and was cuddled up on Y/N's left side, both of them were fast asleep.

"To think that these children could defeat Satori and Shura," Gan Fall thought to himself. "They've managed to set Eneru against them for sure. And if I know the Shandians they won't pass up this chance for another attack. Eneru, I wish I could figure out what it is you want."

-x-

Wyper sat alone outside the Shandian camp. His fire had long since gone out but he couldn't sleep due to being too caught up in his thoughts of their planned attack in the morning.

"We did put up a good fight," Wyper thought to himself. "And today we will break into God's shrine. And then... Eneru..."

-x-

And so the night went by and became morning. Zoro, despite being the last Straw Hat to go to sleep the night before was the first one to wake up that morning.

Zoro quietly made his way over to Y/N and Nami and kicked Y/N in the side. Thwak!

"Ugghh..." Y/N grunted, "You people have got to find better ways to wake me up..."

"I noticed that you seemed to have had an interesting night," Zoro pointed out as he motioned to Nami who was still cuddled up against Y/N's side. "I thought maybe you'd want to move before the others wake up and cause a commotion."

"Oh, thanks for that," Y/N replied.

"So... are you guys together now, or what?" Zoro asked.

Y/N sat up stretched. "You know, that actually came up at one point," Y/N informed him, "But Nami specifically said 'not tonight'."

"Why the heck not?" Zoro pressed.

A smirk spread across the 'sleeping' Nami's face. "Why so curious, Zoro?" Nami asked as she sat up beside Y/N. "You seemed oddly fixated on the two of us getting together in a rather specific way."

Zoro tensed. Oh crap. She knew about the pool.

Y/N frowned, "Nami, what did you do?" he scolded her, "I thought we agreed that we'd let them have their little pool."

"Yeah, you said you'd leave them alone," Nami pointed out, "I got curious and investigated."

"You're unbelievable," Y/N muttered as he stood up, "Oh well, it's no real concern of mine since I didn't have any money on it. If you'll excuse me, nature calls." Y/N headed off leaving Zoro and Nami glaring at each other behind him.

"You kept from getting together just to spite me, devil woman!" Zoro snapped.

"Now why would I do that?" Nami teased him.

"Because you're evil and heartless!" Zoro growled.

"Well Y/N certainly doesn't seem to think so," Nami countered.

"I've gotta tell the others that you know about our bets!" Zoro realized.

"Yeah, you could," Nami admitted, "But then I'd have to tell them how you were trying to ensure that we got together due to a... what was the phrasing... 'drunken confession'. That seems awfully underhanded of you. What do you think they'd be more concerned about... you – the honorable swordsman – trying to swindle them out of their money... or an unbiased party having knowledge of their wagers?"

"Unbiased my ass!" Zoro retorted, "You just intentionally sabotaged me!"

"You guys have to have set up some rules that say you can't influence us," Nami reminded him, "I'd hate for everyone to think that the honorable swordsman Roronoa Zoro was a cheater."

"You... you..." Zoro sputtered.

"That's what you get for thinking you could get something passed me," Nami taunted.

Zoro glared at her, "Maybe Usopp'll let me change my bet to 'No – Y/N realizes she's a lying, cheating, underhanded, manipulative bitch."

"Hehehehe," Nami laughed in response, "Unfortunately for you, that's one of the things he likes best about me."

Zoro sent her once last glare and stomped off.

-x-

Y/N made it to the shore and immediately noticed Usopp lying on the ground.

"Oi Usopp," he called out as he walked over to the sleeping sniper. "Usopp! Usopp!" But the sniper still wouldn't wake. "Maybe they were onto something with the nudging thing." Y/N glanced around him then jabbed Usopp in the side with his foot. Thwak!

"Ugghh..." Usopp groaned, the last night came flooding back and he sat up and screamed. "AAAAAAAHH!"

"Oh come on, I didn't kick you that hard," Y/N defended himself.

"I SAW A GHOST!" Usopp shrieked.

"You saw... a ghost?" Y/N repeated, "Look Usopp, if this is another one of your stories..."

"No, I swear I saw it!" Usopp insisted. "I came here to take a leak last night and I saw a ghost doing something to the Going Merry! I swear I'm not lying!"

Y/N glanced over at the caravel that was sitting silently and seemingly untouched on the altar "I don't see anything," he stated.

Usopp looked over at the Going Merry but there was no sign of the ghost he'd seen last night. "All I know is that I saw something messing with the ship last night," Usopp insisted.

"If it means that much to you, I'll take you over there to have a look around," Y/N offered. Y/N led Usopp over to the Crow and they got in. "Um... do you mind driving? I still haven't figured out how these Sky Island ships work."

"Yeah, I can drive this thing," Usopp replied as he sat in the driver's seat and pressed the pedal. Vrooooom... The dial-powered engine fired up and the Crow pushed off from the shore and headed for the Going Merry and the Altar.

"I guess I'll keep my eye out for sharks," Y/N offered as he stared off the sides of the ship for any signs of familiar purple fins.

"So... you actually believe me?" Usopp asked.

"No offense, but you're a terrible liar," Y/N told him as they approached the altar. "Everyone but Chopper can easily tell when you're lying. I don't know what you saw last night. But I know that at the very least you saw something."

They made it over to the altar and climbed out of the Crow and headed up the steps to the Merry.

Y/N stopped short of the top, "Didn't we leave the mast lying next to the ship?"

"Yeah... I think so," Usopp answered.

"Then why's it back on the ship?" Y/N wondered. "You weren't here fixing it were you?"

"I had planned to," Usopp admitted, "Then Zoro reminded me about the sharks."

"So someone snuck over here and fixed our ship in the middle of the night?" Y/N questioned.

"The ghost must've done it!" Usopp realized. "It's the only thing that makes sense!"

"A ghost... snuck over here in the middle of the night... and fixed our ship..." Y/N reiterated. "That's the only thing that makes sense?"

"Well what do you think happened?" Usopp countered.

"I don't know," Y/N confessed, "But I know I don't believe in ghosts."

"HEY Y/N! USOPP!" came the loud call of their Captain. "WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING OVER THERE?"

"Might as well tell them what we found," Y/N reasoned.

-x-

A few trips back and forth from the altar in the Crow and one 'supernatural' explanation later, all the Straw Hats were standing on the Going Merry having been filled in about the 'ghost'.

"I know I'm not insane!" Usopp insisted, "I saw a ghost fixing our ship last night!"

"I don't believe it... the mast is fixed," Nami realized as she ran her hand down the mast. Chopper had torn it off to keep the fire Shura had set from spreading to the rest of the ship. But now it was reattached looking like it did after Usopp tacked it back on after Luffy had used it a weapon to battle Laboon the whale. "Hey, now that's service."

"Fufufufu," Robin laughed lightly, "You can say that again. Can you imagine what a chore it was just to stand something that heavy upright."

"Well, I hate to say it," Sanji said as he surveyed the repairs, "but they did a lousy job."

"Whoever did it sure is nice," Luffy remarked, "Shishishi!"

"There was somebody here!" Usopp insisted as he paced back and forth on the deck. "I knew I saw him!"

"But who would risk crossing a river full of sky sharks to come all the way out here and fix our ship for us?" Zoro attempted to rationalize, "I mean, as far as we can tell, the only ones here on Upper Yard are us and our enemies."

"Did any of you guys notice that they took the flying stuff off the ship," Y/N pointed out.

The wings that the Saruyama Alliance had added to their ship had been removed and chicken plumage that they'd added to the figurehead was gone too.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that since we came over here," Usopp told him, "And it's really got me wondering. How could this phantom repairman know what the Going Merry is supposed to look like? How did he know that she didn't always have wings or tail?"

"Who'd you see, Usopp?" Chopper asked as he swung back and forth on a length or rope. "Who was it?"

"Like I said before, it was a ghost," Usopp repeated for what seemed like the fifth time.

"Well I still say that you were partying too hard and had a nightmare," Zoro stated. "GAH!" Chopper let go of his rope and landed on Zoro's face. WHUP!

"Will you two quit goofing off," Nami scolded them. "Or did you forget?" Zoro glared at her.

"But Nami, aren't you even a little bit curious?" Chopper questioned.

"About what?"

"About who fixed the Going Merry for us," Chopper replied as he slid down Zoro to the floor, "What else?"

"Who cares," Nami resolved, "If they wrecked it, that would be another case. But it's fixed. What, do you want to track them down and thank them?"

"Well no," Chopper said, "But I..."

"How could he possibly have known?" Usopp wondered as he thought back to the ghostly silhouette he'd seen hammering on the hull of the ship. Usopp glanced over at the figurehead, "Come on Merry, just tell me who I saw."

The sheep figurehead remained silent. But its smile seemed a bit wider than normal.

-x-

A little bit later, Y/N, Usopp and Chopper were sailing around the altar on the Crow.

"Right," Usopp boasted as he stood at the head of the ship, "Watch as I, Usopp the Mighty, Chief Operating Officer of Operation Get-the-Going-Merry-Off-That-Stupid-Altar swing into action."

"I'm Assistant Chief Operating Officer of Operation Get-the-Going-Merry-Off-That-Stupid-Altar," Chopper called out, thinking they were taking roll. "Everyone's counting on me."

"And I'm just here to watch and be amazed," Y/N dead-panned as he sat under the umbrella.

"HEY! WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING?" Nami called out to them from near the bottom of the Altar stairs. "YOU GOT A PLAN USOPP?"

"He does," Y/N confirmed, "And that's why I'm here... to clean up in case it goes bad."

"Chopper!" Usopp called out as he moved to the side, Chopper saluted and took the driver's seat.

Usopp moved to the side of the Crow and grabbed his grappling hook belt that he'd used during the battle against Satori in the Lost Forest. BANG! The grappling hook shot out of Usopp's belt and dropped down on the figurehead of the Going Merry. Whup! The hook swung around the figurehead a few times before it finally hooked on the rest of the rope. Shwuk!

The other Straw Hats – minus Robin – cheered at Usopp's success.

"Okay Chopper, give her all you've got!" Usopp encouraged him.

"Right!" Chopper agreed as he pushed down on the pedal. "You're awesome, Usopp!"

VROOOOM! The Crow shot off across the Sea Clouds while the Straw Hats on the altar ducked down as the rope pulled taut and swung over their heads.

WHING! The Straw Hats' cheers faded as the Crow flew up into the air and pulled futilely on the much bigger Going Merry which wasn't budging a bit.

WHAP! The rope split and the Crow went flying and crashed down on the shore. THUD!

"It didn't work Usopp," Chopper pointed out.

"You got a Plan B, Chief Operating Officer?" Y/N inquired.

"Of course," Usopp assured his 'loyal crew' "I've devised a cunning back-up plan for just such an emergency."

"Oh boy!" Chopper cheered, "Can you tell me what it is?"

"Sure," Usopp replied as he pulled out a long pole, "This river is full of huge sky sharks, right?"

"I'll say," Chopper agreed, "There are whole swarms of 'em!"

"So, what if we use their power," Usopp suggested.

"The shark's power?" Chopper repeated, "That's a great idea! They've got lots of power!"

Y/N touched his finger to his nose, "Not it."

"Then in that case," Usopp said, "I've got a special job for you, Chopper."

"Just name it, you can count on me," Chopper assured him, "I'll do anything!"

"Ahahahaha!" Usopp laughed, "That's the spirit." He turned around and revealed that the pole he was holding was a fishing pole.

-x-

A moment later, Chopper was hanging off the back of the Crow from Usopp's fishing line.

"Usopp... did I miss something?" Chopper asked.

"No, you're doing great," Usopp reassured him as he stood at the driver's seat while holding the end of the fishing pole. "The sharks will try to eat you."

"YOU MEAN I'M BAIT?" Chopper shrieked. "NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA BE BAIT! I DON'T WANNA BE EATEN!"

"Don't worry, Chopper..." Y/N said, he'd relocated to the other side of the gondola pole so he was closer to Chopper. "I'll make sure they don't eat you."

Sploosh... A purple shark fin went passed the ship.

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed in terror.

"Usopp, this plan had better work," Y/N warned the C.O.O. of the operation. "I don't wanna put Chopper through this for nothing."

"It'll work... at least I hope so," Usopp agreed.

"AAAAAAH! AAAAAH! AAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed.

SPLOOOSH! A sky shark dove out of the Sea Clouds and launched itself at Chopper.

"LET 'ER RIP SANJI!" Usopp hollered back to the altar then he floored it. VROOOOOM!

THWAK! Sanji kicked a stick that was tied with a rope and sent it flying towards the shark.

"WAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAHH!" Chopper screamed as the sky shark dove at him.

Woooosh! The stick turned out to be a spear. It swung around and sank through the sky shark's purple dorsal fin. SHUNK!

"WAAAAAH! WAAAAH! WOOOOO!" Chopper screamed.

The rope pulled tight as the sky shark reached the end of the rope. YOINK! The sky shark was yanked backwards away from Chopper and dropped down into the Sea Clouds. SPLASH!

"Aaaaah...haaaa... haaaaa..." Chopper whimpered, his throat hoarse from screaming.

"Okay shark, time for dinner," Usopp called out as he pressed down on the pedal again. VROOOOM! The Crow shot forward and pulled Chopper along with it.

SPLOOSH! The shark came flying out of the Sea Clouds for another attack but Chopper was yanked right out of its opened mouth. YOINK!

"AAAAH! AAAAH!" Chopper found himself suddenly able to scream again as the shark came after him.

Krek... krek... krek... The sky shark swam after Chopper and the rope going through its fin yanked on the figurehead of the Going Merry that it was tied to and started to drag the Merry after it. KROOOSH! The Going Merry slid along the top of the altar to the top of the stairs.

"WAAAAAH!" Chopper screamed.

"Don't worry Chopper," Y/N tried to reassure the terrified reindeer. "It's almost over."

Zoro ran down the steps and slashed the rope tying the shark to the ship with his sword. SLISH!

WOOOSH! Since the line snapped, the shark went flying passed Chopper and the Crow and crashed back down into the Sea Clouds. SPLASH!

"THATTA WAY USOPP!" Luffy cheered, "YOU SHOW 'EM BUDDY!"

KROOSH! The Going Merry slid down the altar stairs and crashed down into the clouds below. SPLOOSH!

"THAT'S THE WAY YOU GET A SHIP OFF THE STUPID ALTAR!" Usopp bragged.

"Uughh... uughh..." Chopper whimpered as he hung limply from the fishing line. "Um... uh..."

SHOOM! The sky shark lunged out of the clouds for one last attempt to eat Chopper.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Chopper screamed again.

SKISH! Y/N leapt off of the Crow and drove his feet into the shark's snout. THWHAM!

TMP! Y/N landed back on the Crow and grabbed the line and pulled Chopper to him.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Y/N asked.

"Yeah... no sweat..." Chopper whimpered. "I hate being bait..."

"But you're so good at it!" Usopp assured him. "Thanks to you, we got the Merry off the altar."

Chopper glanced over at the Going Merry, "Yaaaayyy..." he sighed.

-x-

"Okay, let's look at the map," Nami addressed the crew a little bit later, "The Exploration Team will be taking this route, moving south." Nami ran her fingers along the map. "There should be some ruins in the skull's right eye, keep an eye out for enemies, and bring back that gold."

"Hmph, you make it sound so easy," Zoro grunted.

"I'm looking forward to investigating those ruins," Robin remarked.

"Hold on," Luffy said as he stared hard at Nami, "You're the one who keeps going on about gold and more gold, but you're not coming?"

"Well of course not, it's way too scary," Nami replied. "Besides, Y/N will be leading your group as my representative so I get my cut." Nami glanced over at Y/N, "Right?"

"Uh... right," Y/N agreed.

"What the hell happened to you?" Zoro grumbled, "You used to stand up to her."

Even Chopper voiced his annoyance, "She wants the gold but she doens't want to risk anything to get it! That's not fair!"

"Did you say something?" Nami growled at him.

"Um... no," Chopper squeaked and shook his head.

"We'll be in danger too, you know," Nami informed him, "We'll be taking the Merry down river through the island. Then we'll head for the beach near the ruins as fast as possible." Nami traced a line through the map and pointed to the shore. "We can meet here and then we can escape this stupid Sky Island. At long last, we'll be a rich and powerful pirate crew able to buy anything."

"Do you I really need to remind you about the turtle filled with treasure that we left behind?" Y/N inquired.

"Does that mean you don't need your cut of the gold then?" Nami asked.

"No!" Y/N snapped, "If I've gotta find the gold then I'm gonna keep it."

"OH YEAH!" Luffy cheered, "ALL THE MEAT I CAN EAT!"

"Escape..." Usopp whimpered, "That sounds great..."

"Just don't make me the bait," Chopper whined.

"Look, the weather's perfect," Usopp pointed out.

"Sure, we're on top of the clouds," Sanji reminded him.

"Okay, we'll all meet safely on the east coast," Zoro resolved.

"LET'S GET GOING THEN!" Luffy exclaimed.

"YEAH!" Chopper cheered.

And so the Straw Hats split up. Luffy, Y/N, Zoro, Chopper and Robin headed off into the forest to find the gold while Nami, Usopp and Sanji stayed back with Gan Fall and Pierre to steer the Going Merry through the island to the meeting point.

-x-

The Straw Hats weren't the only ones preparing for a big day. The three priests Gedatsu, Ohm and Shura had all spent the night preparing their Ordeals for the upcoming attack.

Eneru sat back on his throne and grinned to himself, "And so the Survival Game begins. Magnificent, today will be great day."

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!