The clanks of metals resounded on the Main Deck of the ship, where a young girl was aggressively fighting against a tall young man, who was wearing an unbothered smile on his face.
All of the crew except for Augur, was gathered around as they watched the swordsgirl fighting against their captain, and they were all cheering for her.
"Come on, Kuina!"
"You can do it!"
"Just 10 more minutes!"
Nami, Vivi, and Nojiko once again shouted out, and the determination in Kuina's eyes intensified.
All she had to do was survive for half an hour without leaving the circle they were fighting inside, and she was quite close to her objective now.
Of course, she realised that Sin could push her out any time he wanted, but that was not the point of this exercise.
The circle they were fighting inside had a radius of only 2 metres, and the way Sin had to push her out was by exploiting the flaws in her style and causing her to lose her balance.
It was an exercise they had been doing for over three weeks now, ever since the day they had left Winterheim on their journey to an unknown destination. And she had gotten quite close to passing the test yesterday, which was why everyone was gathered today to cheer for her.
Minutes passed by, sweat dripped from her face, and her mind and body remained focused.
Even the girls who were cheering for her turned silent when the countdown reached the final minute, all hoping for her success, and Vivi's eyes brightened in excitement when the last ten seconds remained.
She kept staring at the stopwatch, and just when the last second was up, she raised her head to cheer but froze when she saw Kuina missing her sword in her hands.
High up in the air, her blade was spinning its way down to her, and just when it was about to hit the deck, she caught it and returned it to its sheath without any hint of sadness on her face.
"Thank you." She bowed to him and then raised her head to smile at him. "I will pass the test tomorrow."
She had said the same words yesterday, and her determination was not in the least lacking. Instead, she was ever more confident in her ability and wanted to learn more and more.
"I hope you do." He smiled at her and then turned to look at Hiyori. "You are up."
The turquoise-haired girl happily stepped forward, now wielding a standard Katana.
She bowed to him before she got into her position, and when Sin nodded to her, she attacked him.
Even Kuina was quite surprised at her speed the first time she had watched her train, and it was only after Yamato informed them that Hiyori had eaten a very special Zoan Devil Fruit that they understood why she possessed such high speed and stamina for an untrained person.
Hiyori was simply ferocious. It was the word you would use as you watched her relentless attacks. She was inherently an offensive and aggressive fighter, and though she lacked any proper form, her speed and reflexes helped her a lot in these training sessions.
Sin ended their spar just as they reached the one-hour mark, and the girl was still breathing evenly, looking as excited as ever.
"Thank you." She bowed to him again and then left with Robin, Nojiko, Pascia, and Lily to prepare lunch for everyone.
"Land ho!"
Suddenly, Augur's call came from the Crow's Nest, and everyone stopped in their tracks before they excitedly rushed up to the Forecastle Deck and Bepo ran the other way to take the helm.
They all refused to use Log Pose and left their journey to the next Island entirely on fate, and they honestly did not know where in the Grandline they were right now.
"It's a Spring Island!" Nami, who searched all around with her spyglass, finally located the Island and excitedly informed everyone about it.
"We will hunt fresh meat!" Lily excitedly said, looking forward to the feast that she was going to devour since Spring Islands were never short on food supplies. "And I will beat you this time!" She declared as she looked at Bonney, who grinned right back at her.
The Giantess was quite dismayed after she lost an eating contest against the Pinkhead, and when the crew informed her that Bonney had even beaten Dory and Brogy, she was determined to win against her one day.
"And there are Pirate Vessels everywhere," Vivi, who took a look after borrowing the spyglass, informed them.
"Doesn't matter. Sin will take care of them." The orange head confidently said, and Bonney patted her head.
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
"I will do it myself when I am old enough." She stuck her tongue at the Pinkhead, and Vivi giggled at her words.
"Sin!" The Princess excitedly called out to him, and then curiously looked at him when she found him staring at the dark clouds in the sky.
"Is everything okay?" Robin approached him and asked, and he lightly smiled at her question before leaning in and whispering something in her ear that made her eyes go wide.
"Hey! Tell me too!" Bonney pouted when she failed to hear his words as he was guarding against the prying years with his Haki.
"Later." He brushed her off and then approached the Forecastle Deck, taking a good look at the Island.
"That's Ruin Island." Vigaro, who took a good look at the place when they got close enough, informed them. "This Island is close to Jaya. And the only town on it is the Pirates' Bay."
"So, there are only Pirates there?" Nojiko curiously asked.
"It is a Pirate Heaven, just like the Mock Town in Jaya. All nearby Islands of Jaya are Pirate Heavens."
"Why is it called Ruin Island?" Nami curiously asked.
"There are ruins of an Ancient Civilization all over the Island. That's how it got its name." He told them.
"There could be treasure in this place!" The girl excitedly exclaimed, and everyone smiled at her enthusiasm.
"All gone. The Adventurers and Pirates over the years have turned it upside down and found everything that was possibly in the ruins."
Hearing his words, Nami pouted, losing all her interest, and Sin chuckled at her reaction.
"Been here before?" He asked the blue-haired boy.
"Yes." Vigaro nodded his head. "I was seven years old at that time, and my father, who was a merchant, brought me with him when we came here to buy Booker's Whiskey. Pirates' Bay is famous for it."
"I see."
Sin smiled when he heard the Alarm Bells start ringing on the Island as soon as Black Pearl was spotted, and no one seemed willing to put on a fight.
However, strangely enough, only a few Pirate Crews ran away in fear, and though the town turned deathly silent, people inside it stayed their ground.
When they docked and stepped on the port, the people fearfully looked at Sin, and visibly relaxed when they saw children on his crew.
It was only after they entered the town did they realise why no one had run away, and it was because they had their families there.
The crew felt quite awkward when they saw groups of women carrying their children, including babies, looking their way in fear, almost pleading to them to not harm anyone.
"We are just here for booze and food." Sin spoke, loud enough, and used his Conqueror's Haki to convey his words to everyone in the Town.
Though people were far away were shocked at the voice that they heard, they knew exactly who was speaking, and they all relaxed a lot.
Some people thanked him for his mercy and the rest silently dispersed, getting back to whatever they had been doing before his arrival.
They chose the restaurant that had the most appetising smell coming out of it, and the people running it were more than happy to serve them just as much as they were nervous. However, their happiness only lasted for an hour before they realised that they were going to run out of all their rations.
Bonney and Lily showed no mercy as they held another eating competition between them, and the Pinkhead kept eating even after the Giantess stopped.
And she kept at it until people came and begged her to stop.
"Hmph!" She pouted at them but then stood up and walked out of the restaurant with the rest.
The Crew then bought loads of Booker's Whiskey, enough to last them a year, and then they went deeper inside the Island to explore the place.
Bepo, Augur, Vigaro, and Bart, under Robin's instructions, gathered fresh fruits and vegetables that they came across, and even hunted several wild animals to stock up on their meat supplies that had run dry.
Hours later, when the night fell, making it too hard to see even a metre away, everyone returned to the ship, having found nothing interesting in the Ruins.
"Robin. What's wrong with the Log Pose?" Name came running out from inside the Ship, and asked the girl who was leaning against the railing of the Main Deck with her brother.
"What happened?" The younger Black smiled and asked.
"Look!" The orangehead showed her the Log Pose she was wearing on her wrist. "It's pointing upwards. Is it broken?" She asked.
"No, it is not broken." Robin shook her head. "I heard the people of the town telling a Pirate Crew that the Log Pose often points upwards in this place, especially at this time of the year."
"Why?" Nami curiously tilted her head and watched the siblings grin at her.
....
...
..
.
"Nojiko, Vivi, everyone!" Two minutes later, Nami came rushing inside the girls' lounge. "We are going to a Sky Island!!!" She announced.
And unsurprisingly, the shocked cries of the girls soon rang in the room.