"Where is he?!" Nami demands, pacing back and forth. "We're going to miss the Knock Up Stream at this rate!" Everyone is gathered around, waiting for Luffy's return from Mock Town. For hours after he left things had immediately spun into an organized chaos of sorts. True to his word, Cricket had succeeded in both repairing and reinforcing the Merry for their coming trip up the Knock Up Stream. After everything was said and done the Merry was sporting several large 'wings' and had begun to resemble a chicken, rather than a ram.
"Relax, relax, he'll be here" Run assures her, grinning from ear to ear. "Just trust me! Have I ever mislead you?"
"You keep saying that but he's already four-five minutes late!"
"OOOOIIIII!!!" bellows a familiar voice, drawing their attention to the coast. Running toward them at top speed is none other than Luffy, all grins while he holds a huge beetle out in front of him. "GUYS! LOOK WHAT I CAUGHT ON THE WAY BACK!!"
"You were looking for a beetle?!"
"Aaah! Wow! Look at the ship! So cool!" Luffy gushes. The rest of the crew is a little less enthusiastic about the changes but they decide not to mention it after all the work that Cricket, Masira and Shojo have done. When Luffy has finally had enough of gawking at their improvements he turns and marches right over to Cricket. He slings the pack he's carrying around and drops it right on the table in front of the man before turning and walking back to the Merry. Everyone boards their ships, and they set sail heading south.
As they're sailing away from Cricket's home, Luffy run's to the stern of the Merry and waves at the man. "Thanks for the ship!"
"Don't take me, thank Masira and Shojo!" Cricket yells back. "And remember! No one has ever disproved the existence of the city of gold or of Sky Island! People may laugh and call it foolish logic, but who cares? It's enough for me! That's what romanticism is about, after all!"
"Yeah! See ya, old guy...!"
- - -
While sailing away from the island, Masira and Shojo take this time to explain what they were going to have to do. They begin by confirming that, just as Cricket said, the Knock Up Stream changes location every time it goes off. So, they need to arrive before it actually does in order to properly locate it. Of course, rather than listen, Luffy takes this time to irritate the South Bird they've caught. Chopper even goes so far as to translate it's calling in which the bird tells them that it's going to intentionally mislead them...unfortunately for the bird, it's instinct to face south wins out. And, with nothing to do after they've finished their explanation, they can only try to keep themselves calm and relax. Several long hours of sailing pass before someone finally calls out about dark clouds on the horizon.
"Boss! Night is coming from the southwest! Cumuloregalis Clouds!" calls a man from Masira's ship.
"That's sooner than expected!" Masira shouts. "We need to find the current quickly!" Shojo sends his divers into the water, and after several tense minutes they surface, calling for them to turn their ship hard to their ten o'clock! They change their heading, sailing hard in the direction of what the man has said is a gigantic whirlpool. The waves grow larger, and larger, and their ships pitch and roll violently this way and that along with them.
"We're gonna sink!" cries Usopp, holding onto the mast for his life.
"Keep pushing forward! It's a pre-explosion earth-quake! Get ready for it!"
"Miss Navigator! What does the Log Pose say?" Robin calls, holding onto the railing.
"It's pointing right at those clouds!" Nami tells them. Ahead, the whirlpool they're looking for finally appears, the swirling water pulling their ship towards it and the bottom of the sea. Masira and his crew suddenly toss grappling hooks onto the Merry, telling them that they'll tow their ship to the edge of the whirlpool. "And then what?"
"Just go with the flow," Masira laughs, grinning. "That's the only thing you can do if you want to make it to sky island!" A Sea King suddenly leaps from the water, swirling around and around the outside of the whirlpool before sucked back down into the ocean's depths. Upon seeing this, Usopp begins panicking immediately, begging for them to just stop what they're doing and turn back. Luffy, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be the least bit bothered, and instead waves good-bye to Masira and Shojo as they cut the ropes holding them together.
"Dahahaha~!" laughs Run. "Nothing we can do now! Luffy! Let's ride this thing all the way out!"
"Yeah! There's no way I can pass this up!" Luffy laughs. "If I did, I'd regret it for the rest of my life!" The Merry sails forward past the rim, tilting straight down towards the bottom...and suddenly striking nothing but sea, as the whirlpool disappears completely. "Huh? What the?"
"Wha...? It's over? What a rip off! I feel so cheated!"
"No," Nami murmurs, voice trembling. "It's just starting!" Hearing a loud voice carry across the now silent sea, all heads turn to find another ship sailing quickly in their direction.
"Hey, Zoro," Luffy chirps. "It's that guy from the town."
"I finally caught up with you!" calls the dark haired man. "I'm here to collect your bounties!" He thrusts his hand skyward, holding a trio of papers in them for all to see. "I'm here for all three of you!"
"Three?" Usopp produces a pair of binoculars, and points them at the man.
"Aaah, he's right," Usopp confirms. "There's new wanted posters. Zoro, you have one now, too!" Sanji goes leaping up to where he's at, asking their sniper to take a closer look. It seems he wants to make sure that there are only three, and not a forth hidden somewhere. "No...no, there is only three." Run can barely make out the wording at such distance but what he can see is that both his and Luffy's bounties have gone up quite a bit. Run's, like Luffy's, has raised up to one-hundred million...something Run finds to be quite respectable, while Zoro has picked up a bounty of sixty million.
"Yeaah!" laughs Luffy. "One hundred million! We're worth one hundred million, Run!"
"That's pretty respectable," Run agrees, laughing.
"Sixty million, huh?" chuckles Zoro. "That's a bit disappointing!"
"Would you three idiots stop celebrating?!" Nami screams at them. "How can you be so happy about--"
"Hey, don't get distracted!" Shojo yells. "It's coming!" The sea begins bubbling, and raising under their ship. Sanji immediately calls for everyone to hold on or to get inside of the ship itself. The next second, they find themselves propelled skyward by a huge explosion, with Luffy laughing and cheering the whole time! In the middle of all this excitement, the Sea King that was swallowed by the whirlpool comes dropping out of the sky, missing the Merry by only a few meters.
"We've got a problem!" Sanji suddenly barks. "The ship...it's lifting! If it keeps going, we're going to fall!"
"Well, what do you wanna do about it?!" Run asks him. "Unless you've got a set of wings, I'm outta ideas!"
"Lower the sails!" Nami screams. "We'll catch the up draft from the explosion!" With no other option, they do as they're told, and unfurl the sails...which propels them even faster skyward, and keeps the ship out of danger. Luffy's laughing and cheering doubles in volume as they actually 'fly' up towards the clouds, punching through the bottom. The thick cloud cover lasts only a few brief seconds before they break through, the wings of the ship sheering off in the process. When the crash down, everyone is sent sprawling across the deck, gasping for breath in the thin air.
"Wha...What a wild ride!!" exclaims Run, breaking the silence that's fallen over the ship. "Dahahaha~! I thought we were goners for a moment there!"
"Goners?!" demands Usopp, suddenly leaping to his feet. "I thought you said that everything was going to be alright! You promised me!"
"Aah, relax, Usopp! I kept my promise! Everyone is alright!" Robin giggles a bit in response as she rolls towards the red head, reaching out to pat him firmly on the chest. Run reaches up and grasps her hand before raising it and kissing her knuckles. "Never doubted our navigator or the Merry for a second. You alright, Robin?"
"Mm, a little weak," Robin admits. "But I'll live."
"Look, look!" Luffy barks, running to the rail of the Merry. "Clouds! We're sailing on the clouds!" The rest of the crew finally scrapes themselves up off the deck to scan their surroundings. True to Luffy's words, they're surrounded on all sides by thick, fluffy clouds. In fact, it seems that the Merry is even sailing across the surface of these clouds.
"We're sailing on clouds?! How?!" Nami screams, staring out at all the white clouds. She seems to process the whole situation quickly and slowly nods. "Basically...this whole place is like an ocean in the sky, then. That's why we can sail on them." She steals a quick glance at the Log Pose, and her brow furrows. "Look. The Log Pose is still pointing up."
"So, then, this must be the middle section of the clouds," Robin concludes.
"Alright, so then we just have to sail higher," Run says, scanning their surroundings. "If that makes any sense."
"How?" Nami questions him.
"That's a good question."
"Alright, in lane number one, Captain Usopp!" Usopp suddenly announces, drawing their attention to their sniper crouching on the railing of the Merry. Without another word, he dives into the cloud sea, disappearing blow the swirling white surrounding them. Luffy and Chopper watch the spot he dove into with envy, neither one looking away as they wait for him to resurface.
"Oi, oi...he's been down an awfully long time," Zoro mutters.
"It just occured to me," Robin begins. "Do you think...that this ocean has a bottom?"
"Aah," Run grunts, eyes raising in surprise. "Oh, are you kidding me?!" Luffy jumps onto the railing and casts an arm down into the clouds, stretching it straight down after Usopp. Robin offered her assistance to them in the form of extra eyes along Luffy's stretched arm...and in no time at all they're pulling their sniper back up to the ship. "Good job!" His words seem to be a bit premature, however, as a pair of strange creatures follows after Usopp towards the Merry. "Whoa! Throw it back!" Zoro makes quick work of the creatures before the crew can react, cutting them down and watching them deflate almost like balloons.
"I can't believe things like these live in the clouds," Nami mutters, staring at the strange snake like creature.
"Perhaps it would be best to think of this as an ocean rather than clouds," Robin reasons. Usopp, who has been lying quietly on the deck suddenly comes to life, and begins digging into his pants before tossing out a strange looking fish. "He's certainly having a bad day."
"Yeah, I'd say so," Run agrees, approaching and picking up the rather toothy fish by it's tail. "I would most definitely consider something like this in my pants to be a bad day."
"These must be the sky fish Noland described. They must have evolved to survive in this bottomless cloud ocean."
"So...what? They evolved to be more buoyant to avoid falling?"
"Mm, it seems so. The buoyancy here seems to be much weaker than the sea below." Luffy snatches it out of his hands and then disappears with it only to return with it cooked on a plate courtesy of Sanji.
"Oh! Looks good, Sanji!" Run compliments, taking a piece of the fish from the plate and popping it into his mouth while Nami yells at them for eating something unknown. Chopper, who has been quiet the whole time, begins panicking out of the blue. While the crew attempts to calm him down and get him to make sense, the only thing that they can gather from his ranting is that something is coming their way.
"Oi, look," Sanji calls, pointing to someone skating across the clouds in their direction. "Someone is coming! He's...skating on the clouds?" The strange man leaps in their direction. "Stop! What do you want?!"
"To eliminate you," retorts the man, kicking Sanji in the face and sending him smashing into the wall behind them. His next target is Zoro, and Run who he deals with in much the same way as Sanji. A single kick brings down the swordsman, before he hones in on Luffy. He seems to be completely weightless as he kicks Luffy, smashing their Captain into the deck hard enough to crack the planks. He leaps skywards afterwards, and then levels the cannon he's been toting around squarely on the ship.
"Not so fast!" exclaims a man, suddenly dropping out of the sky and nearly skewering the masked man. Thankfully, it blows him away and only the armored man remains, now crouched on the railing of the ship.
"Oh, what now?!" Nami demands. "And what's with you four?! Losing four against one like that, that's just pathetic!"
"Aaah, who was that guy?!" Run shouts, pushing himself up from the deck and leaning against the mast of the Merry. "Why was he so pissed? And...why can't I catch my breath?"
"It's most likely the effects of the thinner air," Robin informs him. "We ARE at a much higher altitude, after all."
"Are you Blue Sea people?" the armored man asks, stepping down from the railing of the Merry and ascending the stairs to the upper deck.
"Blue Sea people?" echos Nami. "What's that? Actually, who are you?"
"I am the Sky Knight. 'Blue Sea people' is the term for those who live below the clouds. In other words, did you people come up here from the blue seas?"
"Yeah, we sure did!" chirps Luffy, grinning up at the man.
"That explains it then. This is the White Sea, seven thousand meters in the air. The White-White Sea reaches even further at ten thousand meters high. Ordinary Blue Sea people can't possibly endure it here."
"So, who was that guy skiing on the clouds?" Chopper questions him.
"Now, now. I'm sure you have a lot of questions but let's talk business first. I'm a mercenary by trade, and these seas are fraught with danger. If you don't know how to fight in the sky then guerrillas like that one will come after you and turn you into food for the skyfish. For a five million Extol One Whistle, I will help you." Everyone on the crew draws a blank at the mention of 'Extol' but they all assume it must be the currency of this place, which the sky knight confirms. "You must have passed an island or two on the way here, right? You came here from the High-West summit, didn't you?"
"Wait, there are other ways to get here?" Nami asks. "Does that mean there are lots of other sky islands?!"
"Of course. Hold on...don't tell me you all rode the Knock Up Stream here?" They all nod in the affirmative and the man's eyes widen in response. "My word, so there really are still people gutsy enough to ride that monstrous current?"
"I KNEW it wasn't a normal route!" Nami immediately rounds on Luffy and grasps him by the front of his shirt before she begins to shake him violently. "We could have done it more safely if we'd gathered more information! We could've gotten killed!"
"Well, I suppose that's the gamble involved." He surprises them by tossing a whistle onto the deck in front of them. "Here, take this as my gift for your bravery. Normally, I charge for the whistle...but I'll cut you a break this time. If you're ever in trouble, just blow that and I'll be there." With that, he turns towards his strange mount.
"Wait, we still don't know your name!"
"Aah, I am Gan Fall, the Sky Knight! And this is my partner, Pierre!" He goes onto explain that his mount had eaten the Horse-Horse Fruit, and gained the ability to turn into a winged horse which it demonstrates...much to their disappointment, as it's a rather lack-luster and strange transformation. The man takes off into the sky, disappearing into the clouds and leaving them to find their own way. They scanned the surrounding area, and the only sort of land mark they find it a strange 'water-fall' in the distance. With nothing else to go on, they sail for it. They're forced to cut a strange path through the clouds, dodging dense clouds that are strong enough to support their weight...as Luffy figures out. When they finally make it to the base of the water-fall, they find a large gate awaiting them.
"Look at that," Sanji mutters. "'Heaven's Gate'."
"That sounds really unlucky," Usopp adds. "Like we're on our way to die!"
"Who knows, maybe we're already dead," Zoro taunts, smirking.
"It would explain a few things," Run agrees, the two of them watching their sniper, and even Chopper panic in response. "Dahahaha~! Relax, we're-- ow!" Nami immediately silences the two with sharp blows to their heads, raising small knots as they sail forward to the gate. "Didn't hurt!" The red head continues to rub the knot on his head before turning away, and approaching Robin. "Robin! Nami hit me again!" Robin giggles and reaches up to gently stroke the top of his head. As they near the gate, they watch as an old woman some walking through one of the man sets of double-doors and begins snapping photos of them.
"Wings! She's got wings!" yells Chopper, eyes wide as he stares at her.
"I am Amazon, the Heaven's Gate inspector," she tells them. "It's a one billion Extol fee per person to pass. It's the law. Eight people...that's eight billion Extol to enter."
"A billion? What kinda cover charge is that?" Run calls back. "Kinda sounds like you're extor--" Nami immediately clamps a hand over the red head's mouth, a sheepish smile on her face.
"U-Um," begins Nami. "What if we don't have that kind of money just lying around?"
"You can pass," Amazon assures her. "Or you don't have to pass. I am neither gate keeper nor guard. I simply ask your intentions."
"We're going then!" Luffy chirps, grinning. "So, how do we get up there?" From out of the clouds, a huge pair of claws suddenly raise and clamp onto the sides of the Merry. "What the?" Without a pause, it suddenly pulls them towards the water fall, and they begin rocketing straight up it. "Whoo-hooo!!" Everyone holds on tight to the Merry as they're pulled up the winding water-fall high and higher still with no sign of slowing down. "Ohh! Look, look! It's a sign! It's...Skypeia!" They've barely passed the sign before they reach the top, and go flying skyward before crashing down into more cloud like sea. "An island! It's an island!"
They sail forward towards the island with Luffy barely holding himself back the closer they get. They've barely made it to the shore before Luffy suddenly leaps off the ship, and goes running through the shallows and onto the beach. Usopp, Chopper and Sanji are the next to follow while Zoro and Run drop the anchor to make sure that the Merry doesn't float off.
"They're like a bunch of kids," Zoro mutters, watching them sprinting around on the beach.
"Man, you're surly lately," Run says, walking past him and giving him a firm slap on the back. "C'mon, next bar we hit I'll buy the first round so try smilin' a bit." A smile appears on the swordsman's face as he follows him towards the bow of the Merry.
"Huh. Make it the first two rounds and we'll talk, Red." Nami finally comes sprinting out of the women's room, ready to join the rest of the crew on the beach while Zoro follows. The red head stands quietly, watching the crew on the shore.
"Not going to join them?" Robin asks, appearing at his side.
"I was waiting for you," Run tells her, offering her a grin. "Aah...I can almost smell the adventure from here."
"Mm, the smell of adventure, huh? I spent so long traveling that I'd almost completely forgotten that sailing or going ashore can be an adventure. Maybe it's because I'm back with you and Luffy but...I'm really looking forward to it." A hand grasps his own and Robin steps forward quickly. "Let's go. We don't want to let them have all the fun." The two leap the railing of the Merry, splashing down into the ankle deep white sea. Everyone seems to love experiencing the new sights and sounds to be found here in Skypiea. Luffy is busy trying to crack open some strange fruit while Usopp and Chopper are playing in the sand, and Sanji is running around on shore collecting flowers that he no doubt intends to bring to Nami and Robin.
"Run! Oi, Run!" Luffy shouts suddenly, attracting his attention. "I can't get this thing to crack open! You give it a try!" He hefts the large nut over his head quickly.
"Hey, hey, hey!" begins Run, raising his hands quickly. "Luffy, don't throw--" Without waiting for him to continue he chucks the large nut in his direction quickly, and it strikes the red head in the chest, nearly knocking him off his feet. "Ah, fer-- c'mon, I told ya not ta throw it! I'mma have a bruise, Luffy!"
"Hahaha~! I knew you could catch it, Run!" Luffy leaps down from the tree he's on, and dashes in his direction. "C'mon, c'mon! Give it a whack!" Run drops the large nut to the ground with a sigh and cracks his knuckles loudly.
"Alright, alright. Stand back, huh?" The red head draws back and drives his fist straight down into the top of the nut with a loud 'crack!' immediately following, as the nut sinks into the cloud beach and immediately recoils back, flying skyward between the three, who immediately track it's path. "Wow. That thing's hard."
"Aaah! Run, what did you--"
"I lost it in the sun," Robin tells the two of them, raising a hand to shield her eyes. "But based on how hard you hit it, I'd say it should be coming down--" The nut strikes Luffy in the top of the head, and the two go tumbling straight to the ground. "--a few seconds earlier than I anticipated." The musical sound of a harp reaches their ears, and all heads turn to find a winged woman standing several meters away on top of a large boulder like cloud.
"An Angel!" Sanji yells. "It's an angel!" At his shouting, the woman stops her harp playing and finally takes notice of them.
"Heso," she says, offering them a kind smile as she climbs down and approaches. "Did you come from the Blue Sea?" A small furry creature sneaks between Run's legs, brushing against one of them as it goes walking quickly towards the woman. Luffy slowly pushes himself up apparently not worse for wear and picks up the large nut as well.
"Yeah, we flew up here from below," Luffy confirms, approaching the woman. "Do you live here?"
"Yes, I do. Welcome to Skypiea's Angel Beach." She notices the fruit that Luffy has tucked under his arm, and offers to help him crack it open. She takes it, turns it upside down and cuts a small hole in it, all while explaining that it's almost impossible to open any other way. Luffy seems beside himself with the delicious taste of the juice inside, and Usopp takes a sip to confirm as well. "My name is Conis. And this--" She bends to retrieve the small creature. "--is Su, a cloud fox. If I can be of help in any way, please let me know."
"Awww, look at the little fox!" Run says, approaching with a grin. "C'mere, Su!" To their utter surprise, the fox actually leaps into his out-stretched arms. "Awww! Who's a good little fox? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Everyone stares in silence at the red head while he scratches the fox's belly much to it's enjoyment for several long moments before he suddenly stops. "Ahem. Sorry about that. I like animals." Run hands Su back to Conis while Robin giggles, and gently pats him on the back.
"Oi, we've got something coming this way," Zoro tells them, motioning to the cloud sea.
"Oh, that's my father. Heso, father!" Conis tells them,
"Hey, what's that thing he's riding on?" Nami questions her.
"That's a waver." The man calls out that he's going to stop...but instead comes crashing into the beach and then right into a tree.
"Hey, isn't that one of things you guys fished from the sea bed?"
"Aah, now that you mention it, yeah," Luffy agrees, still drinking from the strange fruit. When the man recovers enough, Conis introduces them all as her friends, and the man as her father, Pagaya. He even invites them all back to his home for dinner. Before that, however, their fearless Captain decides that he wants to take a spin on the man's waver, and he is happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Luffy doesn't seem to have the ability to control it and he only manages to get himself into deeper 'water' before crashing and getting thrown off into the clouds.
"You know, I wonder how the place treats those with Devil Fruit abilities," Sanji mutters.
"It's not an ordinary sea," Zoro agrees. "Maybe he'll float." The all watch as their Captain disappears under the clouds. "Aah. I guess it works the same."
"Crap!" shouts Run, rushing towards the white sea. "Hold on, Luffy! I'ma comin'!" He quickly disappears beneath the clouds, reappearing several long moments later with Luffy as he swims back in their direction and drags him back up onto the beach. After everything has settled down, they all finally notice that Nami is taking her turn on the waver with considerably better results. In fact, she seems to be a natural.
With Nami enjoying herself they decide to take Pagaya up on his offer, and head back to his home. Along the way they pass what Pagaya calls a 'cloud quarry' from which they 'mine' the clouds that are used up here. He explains that there are two different kinds of natural clouds. There are 'island' clouds and 'sea' clouds. Island clouds are used to build things on, and the sea clouds are the one's that ships travel on. He explains exactly HOW these clouds are formed but the explanation goes right over the heads of most of the crew. What they do take from the explanation is that the clouds contain particles from Sea Prism Stone which weakens Devil Fruit users, which explains why Luffy is helpless if he falls into the sea clouds.
"Please tell me you understood that," Run whispers to Robin as they climb the stairs to Pagaya and Conis' home.
"More or less," Robin assures him. "The 'sea clouds' are created from an element within Sea Prism Stone. It's expelled into the air from eruptions, attracts moisture and forms the clouds around us. At least that's the gist of it." The red head nods slowly.
"I clearly need to read more than just the newspaper."
"I have some books that--" Run comes to an abrupt halt and turns sharply to face the direction they've come from, his arms turning an inky black immediately. "Run?" The red head slowly scans the stairs and the 'quarry' behind them, several long seconds passing before his Haki finally fades. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Guess the smell of adventure is making me a little jumpy, that's all."
"Oi! What are you two doing?" Luffy suddenly calls, attracting Robin's attention to the top of the stairs. "C'mon! You're fallin' behind!" She turns her attention back to Run who still stands with his back to her, staring in the direction they've come. After a few seconds, she reaches out and grasps his hand.
"Come on," Robin tells him. "It looks clear to me."
"Yeah," Run replies, slowly turning away. "Let's go before we fall behind, huh?" He flashes her a bright grin and follows her up the stairs. Although he doesn't sense the same hostility that had first attracted his attention, the feeling of being watched doesn't fade entirely. When they've reached their destination, Conis and Pagaya have them wait in their living room while Sanji and Pagaya cook in the kitchen.
"Miss, I don't mean to be rude, but you mentioned 'dials' earlier," Robin begins, breaking the silence. "Would you explain a bit more about them and how they work?"
"Of course," Conis replies. "How do I explain? Well...dials are basically the remains of shell-fish that live in the shallow reefs around here. Their shells usually wash up on the beach, and each one has a different use." The first one she shows them is called a Tone Dial, which records whatever is spoken into it. The next she shows them is a Breath Dial, which stores air and is used on wavers to propel them forward when there's no current or wind. The final one she shows is called a Light Dial, which stores light in them to be released at night.
"Sounds like Dials have a lot uses up here," Run says.
"Yes. You could even say that the Dials make life possible here." After she's finished her explanation, Pagaya and Sanji leave the kitchen, balancing plates of food in their hands and on their arms to serve to them all. It's some of the most delicious food that any of them have had in quite a while. Maybe it's because of all the excitement or maybe it's because the food is different than anything they've tried before but everyone eats without reserve. However, rather than start eating right away, Sanji walks out to the balcony to have a look.
"Oi, Nami is gone," Sanji tells them.
"She's out there on the waver, isn't she?" Luffy counters.
"No, she isn't."
"She probably just went a little far out. She'll be fine."
"Father, do you think she's alright?" Conis asks. "You don't think she went to that place, do you?"
"What place is that?" Luffy asks, around a mouth of food.
"Here in Skypiea, there's a place we're never to step foot no matter what. It's next to this island. If you travel a bit by waver, you could possibly reach it."
"Why not?" Usopp questions her. "What's so special about it?"
"It's sacred ground. It's Upper Yard...the place where God lives. The God Eneru."
"Aah, I don't suppose anyone's ever actually seen this God in person, have they?" Run asks, setting his fork down on the plate.
"No! We're never to step foot into Upper Yard." Everyone can tell from the look in Luffy's eyes that he wants to go there no matter what...and it takes some convincing from Usopp to get him to 'promise' that he's not going to do it. Although, they can tell he doesn't have any intention of actually keeping it.
"Look, let's not jump to conclusions. There's no guarantee that Nami actually went to Upper Yard." Even so, Sanji wants to go look for her just to be sure, and so Pagaya agrees to help them...
- - -
After somehow managing to drag Luffy away from the food, they made their way back down to the shore. Unfortunately, Pagaya tells them it will take them quite a long time to make it to Upper Yard under the current conditions which is unacceptable to Sanji. So, instead, they drag out the waver they recovered from the bottom of the ocean, and ask Pagaya if he can fix it for them.
"Hmm...this thing is quite old," Pagaya mutters, looking over the broken waver. "But I think I can fix it."
"Please do!" Luffy chirps. It apparently contains parts he isn't familiar with, so it may take some time to actually fix. So, they can only wait for him to fix the waver. Usopp and Chopper find ways to amuse themselves on the beach, mainly by building sculptures out of the clouds in the likeness of each crew member. Robin and Run watch the two from the bow of the Merry.
"Run," Robin whispers. "What happened earlier?"
"Aah, just jumping at shadows, I guess," Run tells her, offering her a smile. "Nothing to worry about."
"Mm, I've never known you to jump at shadows."
"You there!" calls a voice from up the beach. Everyone immediately turns towards it, finding a large number of strangely dressed men in white berets crawling towards them. When they've reached them, they suddenly jump up and offer both Conis and Pagaya the traditional greeting before turning their attention to the crew. "You eight! You're the illegal entrants from the Blue Sea, aren't you! I'll humbly bring God's judgement upon you!"
"Illegal? No!" Pagaya says quickly. "These are good people, Captain McKinley! There's no way they would do that!"
"Don't deny it!" He reaches into his jacket and produces several photographs. "Amazon took these of you entering!"
"Dahahaha~! Criminals already?" Run laughs, leaping the railing of the Merry and walking in their direction. "Man, that was a quick turn around!"
"There's no need to panic just yet. Illegal entry is only an 11th degree crime." He tucks the photos back into his jacket. "If you accept your punishment and pay the fine, then I'll humbly write the crime off and you'll become legal tourists. The fine will be ten billion Extol per person. There's eight of you, so the fine will be eighty billion."
"Eighty billion?!" explodes Usopp. "Wait one second, just how much is that in Beli?"
"Beli? The currency of the Blue Sea. One Beli is equal to ten thousand Extol."
"So, eighty billion Extol is eight million Beli," Robin says.
"Eight million?!" exclaims Run. "That's highway robbery! What kinda cover charge is that?!" It takes considerable effort on Usopp's behalf to keep the crew calm, and then convince the man to let them wait for their friend rather than trying to pay them right that moment. So, they separate into small groups to wait. Conis shows Chopper and Usopp somewhere they can go fishing while Zoro goes to sleep, and Sanji drives himself up a tree with worry. Luffy waits with Pagaya while he looks over their broken waver and Robin and Run relax in the shade.
Unfortunately, their relaxation is short lived when Usopp, Chopper and Luffy reel in a huge fish that leaps straight up out of the water and towards the beach. It's mouth opens wide, and it heads straight for Conis, intending to swallow her whole it seems. Zoro reacts instantly, using the back of one of his swords to strike the fish and stop it in it's tracks a few meters from Conis.
"That was close," Zoro says.
"What a strange fish!" Usopp shouts. "It tried to eat Conis!" Pagaya goes running over to them, thanking them for saving Conis. The rest of the crew walks over to take a look at the huge fish...and so does Captain McKinley.
"Well, well, well," begins McKinley. "This skyfish is so rare that it's forbidden to even catch it. To do so is a violation of the protection law, that's a ninth degree crime."
"It's fine. It's not like Zoro killed it, right?"
"No, I just smacked it with the back of my sword," Zoro tells them, watching it begin flopping and flailing in the shallow water. Rather than allow them further time to explain, Luffy makes things worse by running over to it and attempt to take a huge bite out of it.
"So you say," retorts McKinley, watching Luffy. "Attempting to eat it is theft, which is an eighth degree crime."
"It's fine, it's fine," Run assures him, approaching the situation quickly with a smile. "Hey, fishy." The skyfish immediately stops it's thrashing, it's whole body shivering at it turns it's attention to the red head. "You're alright. So swim on home." It shakes Luffy off, and then retreats into the cloud sea seconds later. "See, McKinley? Everything is fine."
"I've about had it," Zoro growls, staring daggers at the man. "Laws this and laws that...if you don't cut it out--" Run immediately thrusts his palm against the kashira of his katana, holding it in it's saya.
"Relax, relax! There's no need to get all riled up now, Zoro. Since everything we're doing is a crime...let's no do anything!"
"R-Right!" agrees Usopp quickly. "We can't break a law if we just don't do anything! So let's just take a nap!" Luffy, Chopper, Zoro and Usopp are quick to act, making themselves comfortable on the beach before lying down in an attempt to just pass the time.
"Your actions fall under destruction of the environment, that's a sixth degree crime," McKinley tells them.
"Hold on a second!" bellows the familiar voice of Nami, turning their attention to their Navigator racing towards them. "Don't give them any trouble!"
"Nami, pay them seven million Beli for the fine, please!" Usopp begs. Rather than slow down, she suddenly picks up speed and goes running right into McKinley.
"That's too expensive!" Nami pulls the waver over to Pagaya and Conis, thanks them for letting her use it and then begins pulling everyone towards the Merry. "Everyone, let's get out of here! I don't want to have anything to do with this God thing!"
"Wonder what kind crime is striking him is going to be?" Run questions.
"Aah...interfering with offical duties is going to be a fifth degree crime," Pagaya explains. "It's punishment is being sentenced to cloud drifting."
"Cloud drifting?" echos Luffy. "What's that? Sounds kinda nice!"
"No, it's not! It's the death penalty!"
"That must be what happened to that galleon and it's crew," Robin mutters. "They must have received that punishment over two hundred years ago, and being unable to escape they must have turned on each other." Nami tries to smooth things over with the White Berets but it doesn't seem they're buying what she's selling.
"There's only one punishment for you how!" McKinley says, having made a quick recovery from being struck by the waver. "You, who are fifth degree criminals, are going to be sentenced to cloud-- what the?!" The men behind McKinley begin dropping face first to the beach, foaming at the mouth. "What's happening?!" It isn't long until only McKinley is left standing from the group, and then collapses as well.
"Aah, I really didn't wanna do that," Run mutters, scratching the stubble on his jaw.
"Good job, Run!" Nami says quickly, flashing the red head a thumbs up. "We should--"
"Hold up. Just...give it to us straight, exactly HOW broke are we?"
"We've got about fifty thousand Beli left."
"What?! Why are we so poor?" Luffy complains. "As your Captain, I demand an answer!"
"It's because SOMEONE uses all of it on food!" Run scratches the stubble on his jaw with a heavy sigh. It makes sense to him, honestly. They don't really engage in very 'pirate-like' activities, after all. They don't exactly plunder or loot.
"You fools!" exclaims McKinley, attracting their attention.
"Wow!" exclaims Run, staring at the man in surprise. "You recovered quick from that! I've...I've actually never seen that before. I'm sorta at a loss for words here."
"You should have just behaved and done what I told you! Now..." An involuntary shiver races through him, bringing with it another wave of chills. "...now you're second degree criminals! You'll have to deal with THEM from now on! No matter how much you beg or cry...you'll be judged...by the priests of Upper Yard...!"