"It's too hot here." Nami finally complained, but no one really paid heed to her words.
Everyone was busy doing their training, and Sin was silently standing on the Forecastle Deck, looking at the tall mountains far away.
After staying a day in Nanohana, they decided to move up the Sandora River early in the morning. It might have taken any other ship several more hours, but the Black Pearl was set to reach its destination by noon.
"They are tall." The orangehead commented after she came to stand by his side, and then frowned a little. "Shouldn't there be snow on them? Considering how tall they are?"
"There once was." He smiled. "This area of the Island was a lot greener than that it is today, especially the North-Eastern part where the Capital is situated." He pointed in its direction. "Sandy Island was always a desert Island, but the Northern Part of it, where those Rocky Mountains are, was always cold. It rained and snowed on them at different times of the year, mostly in December and January, and they were two of the main sources of the Sandora River, which once used to be an entirely freshwater river. Now, the salinity levels have risen, and the river current is continuing to lose its force, letting the sea gain more control of it."
"The freshwater is still coming from the mountains though," Nami observed that as they travelled up the river, the current was slowly gaining force.
"Yes." He nodded. "There are water springs up in this Rocky Mountains, and that's where this freshwater comes from."
"I read it in a book that Sandora is the world's third widest, and sixty-seventh longest river." She smiled at him and enjoyed the head pat he gave her in the form of praise.
Half an hour later, the Black Pearl reached the Eastern Port of the Sandora River, and they decided to anchor the ship two hundred meters away from it.
The Capital City was only an hour and a half away from this port, and on the Western Port, which was adjacent to them, was where the people anchored to head to the Rainbase.
There were all kinds of ships here, but other than theirs, no pirate vessel could be seen. This was because Rainbase was only an hour away, and there, one of the eight Warlords of the Sea, the Desert King, Sir Crocodile, resided.
Ever since he had made Arabasta his base, the Pirates have wisely kept their distance from Sandy Island, especially from the settlements along the Sandora River.
Nanohana was the only Port that they dared to stop at to replenish their supplies, and even then, no one there dared to mess around or loot the place.
The people on the Eastern Port were a little alarmed when they started recognising their ship and the flag, but from the voices that they could hear, it was not as serious as it was yesterday at Nanohana.
The news of their arrival must have travelled fast.
"Should I stay on the ship?" Bart asked as everyone got ready to step on the ground.
"No need." Sin smiled at him. "They won't touch our Ship." He told him before he made the first trip and dropped off Robin and Hancock at the port.
A minute later, they were all standing together, and Robin and Hancock were busy making a deal with an owner, renting his F-Wanis, also called Accellegators, which they would take to head to the Capital.
"People travel on these gators here?" Nami asked in surprise, a little excited as she looked at the alligators with banana protruding on their heads and at the end of their tails, and most of their Crew shared their excitement.
"They also use Giant Scorpions for travel in some parts of the country, but since they are hard to tame, they are not as common as the Accellegators. There are also Bananawani, Banana-Gators, which are thrice the size of these Accellegators. But they are extremely hard to tame and are rarely used except by certain tribes."
"Wow!" Nojiko too could not hide her excitement and followed her little sister as they chose their ride, not in the least scared of these beasts.
Bart, given his size, could not help but think how he would be able to travel with the rest, but his worries proved unnecessary when two carriages, led by four Accellegators were called over to them.
They were mostly used to transport luggage and trade goods, but Bart could easily ride one. He picked up the chest that Hancock entrusted him with and then climbed on one of the carriages together with the two doctors.
Sin chuckled as he watched Nami, Nojiko, Kuina, and Paschia decide to travel on the second carriage because Ronin picked it for herself. And the reason was that she was using her powers to keep her immediate surroundings quite cool. A blessing on this ridiculously hot day in the desert.
Bepo was extremely troubled too, feeling much worse than the rest, and seeing his pitiful state, Robin asked him to board the carriage as well, which he happily did, quite grateful to her.
"Well, good luck catching up with us," Bonney smirked at them, having already made her pick of the Accelgators. "We are racing." She declared.
Hancock grinned at her words and then chose one too, and Hachi and Augur did the same, looking forward to some fun.
The younger girls started complaining, but they were unwilling to leave the air-conditioned carriage and get an Accellegator to compete with them.
Sin stared at the Accellegator that they had left for him, the smallest of the lot, and also the weakest. And when he saw the pinkhead smirk at him, he smiled back at her.
"Very well. I guess I will take a head start in compensation." He said and grabbed the Accellegator, disappearing with it in a flash of lightning.
"That's cheating!!!" Bonney screamed behind him, but he paid no heed to her words.
He stopped a couple of miles away and then grinned at the shaken Accellegator, who was fearfully looking at him.
"You better win, or I will kill you." He threatened before he climbed on top of it, and was happy that the beast got straight to work, giving its best.
Sin could sense his crew chasing as fast as they could, and he laughed at the curses Bonney was throwing at him, well aware that he might be listening to their conversations.
However, soon, he decided to expand his domain, focusing on other things.
He sensed the creatures that lived in the desert, over and under the sand, as well as the nomadic groups that were taking shelter under the tall dunes, letting their camels get some rest.
Deciding to push himself even further, he expanded his domain once again, and it allowed him to hear and sense people from the Capital and its outskirts, which were still dozens of miles away.
"Kyyaaaaa!!!"
A sudden scream jolted his mind, and his heart thumped hard against his chest.
Sin's eyes shot open as he could no longer maintain such a large domain, which was quite taxing on him, and he started feeling a little restless.
"Take it easy now. Allow the rest to catch up with you." He told the poor Accelgator before he rushed to the location he had heard the screen come from.
On the outskirts of Alubarna, a girl with beautiful light blue hair, a shade that mesmerised you when you looked at it, was struggling in the arms of a man who was holding his dagger against her throat, keeping his hand on her mouth to keep her from screaming again.
She was only around nine years old, but instead of fear in her eyes, what one would see was rage.
"Look how brave our princess is." The man laughed at her struggle, and the group of bandits around him laughed too as some of them beat up the children who had tried to save the young girl.
One boy was lying on the ground with a gash on his face, and the drops of blood on the bandit's dagger told where it had come from.
A cry of falcon resounded in the sky, tensing up the bandits as they sensed who was coming, but only a fraction of a second later, they saw lightning strike the sand, and a tall young man emerged out of it.
There was a sudden silence in the area as the bandits dumbfoundedly stared at Sin, and only a few seconds later, cold and raw fear jolted through their spines.
Even the blue-haired girl had stopped struggling in the hold of the Bandit, and her eyes were wide in shock as she recognised the man whose picture she had seen in the newspaper, along with his Bounty Posters.
But strangely enough, she was not scared of him when he looked right into her eyes.
"Close your eyes." He told her, and the girl subconsciously listened to him.
She did not even open her eyes when she heard a few thuds but was forced to open them when she felt herself drop to the ground as the bandit's arm loosened around her.
"No, no, please don't kill me!"
She had just managed to land on her feet when she heard the bandit beg for his life, and it was also when she caught the dead bodies that were now lying on the ground, their blood leaking out and staining the sand.
The children in her group were utterly terrified at the scene, and some had even peed their pants, and the girl too felt her legs go weak.
"Princess!" She heard a familiar voice, and instinctively hid behind the man who had just descended from the sky.
Sin smiled at the Royal Guard who had wings of a Falcon protruding from his back.
"I am Pell, third in command of the Royal Guards." He narrowed his eyes at Sin, keeping his guard up, but the older Black could hear his erratic heartbeat.
"All yours." He harmlessly said, knowing well that the Falcon had seen everything that transpired in the last few seconds.
There was no need for an explanation either, and he simply walked over and crouched down to check on the boy who was fainted and bleeding from the gash on his face.
"Koza!" The princess suddenly realised that her friend was hurt and immediately rushed up to his side, her small body trembling as she saw the horrible gash on his face.
"He will be fine. I will take him to my doctors." He told her and then looked up at her. "Want to come along?" He asked, and before the Royal Guard could interfere, the process nodded her head and the second second, they disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a crackling sound.
Pwll felt his body grow cold and his heart slow down, and for a moment, his mind went blank.
It was not until he sensed the bandit making a run for it that he regained his bearings, immediately catching the culprit, and then looked in the direction where he had seen the lightning disappear.
"Pell!"
A while later, an entourage rushed over to the area, led by the King himself, and the Royal Guard immediately dropped to his knees.
"Forgive me, Your Highness!"
Cobra's face turned pale as soon as he heard those words, his body trembled as his eyes scanned the bodies, and some hope returned to his heart when failed to locate his daughter amongst them.
"Vivi..."
"The new Warlord was here. He grabbed Princess Vivi and her friend and disappeared. He told the princess...."
Pell gave him a detailed account of what happened there, even saying that Sin had come out of nowhere and saved the Princess, and Cobra visibly relaxed after hearing his words.
"I see." He just said and then started walking back towards the Palace.
"Your Highness..."
"I want to know exactly why this bandit tried to kidnap my daughter, Pell. I need an answer before the sun sets." He ordered. "As for Vivi, you don't have to search for her. Return to the Palace."
The guards were confused by his words, but they obeyed his orders regardless of their confusion.