After McKinley had taken off with the rest of his men, they were left standing on the beach to figure out their next move. Obviously, their best course of action, and the one that Nami seemed dead set on, was to leave Skypeia as quickly as possible. Conis tells them that their best bet for making an escape is to sail for Cloud End. To do that, they'll have to go back down to the White Sea first, though. Which may not be possible under the current circumstances. Of course, rather than escape right away, Luffy begs Pagaya for the left overs of their dinner. After Pagaya agrees, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp accompany him back to his home to help gather up what is probably going to be a large amount of food. The rest board the Merry to wait for their return.
"You do realize that there's no persuading Luffy, right?" Zoro announces, descending to the lower deck of the Merry to sit at the base of the mast. "Even if we all went to complain it wouldn't help."
"Fine, then I'll stay here!" complains a petulant Nami.
"Suit yourself, then."
"How can you say that so easily?! Aren't you worried?! I'll be killed by those guys, you know!" Zoro offers a shrug of his shoulders before dozing off. "Robin." Nami turns to look at their archaeologist with a smile. "Why don't you and I go beat Luffy together?"
"Wouldn't something like THAT be impossible?" Robin counters, smiling back.
"Aaah! You!" Nami exclaims, whirling to face the red head who is slowing pulling the anchor up. "You're the First Mate! Can't you talk some sense into him?!"
"Dahahaha~!" Run laughs, still slowly raising the anchor. "Relax, Nami! If Luffy is dead set on going there then talking to him isn't going to do any good. Just go with the flow!" He reaches the end of the rope and then pulls up the anchor with a grin on his face.
"You're as bad as HIM! You wanna go there, too, don't you?!"
"Well--" The ship suddenly lurches backwards, nearly tossing them all off their feet. "Whoa! What the hell?"
"Oi, what's going on?!" Zoro demands, running up the steps to the upper deck. The ship begins sailing backwards through the cloud sea, pulled by something against the currents. "Are we getting pulled out by the current?" The culprit is suddenly revealed when they look over the railing. "It's that lobster from the gate!"
"Looks like we're going for a ride! Dahahaha~! Go, crabby, go!" Zoro surprises them by leaping the railing of the Merry, hacking and slashing at the shell of the crab. "Oh! The tables have turned! Get 'im, Zoro! Get 'im!" The next second Run finds himself tumbling through the air, however, as Nami boots him off the Merry.
"Don't just stand there, idiot!" Nami screams, as he lands head first on the crab and falls spread eagle. "Get down there and help him!"
"Why are you so violent?!" The shell of the crab cracks loudly as the red head stands. "I don't even know--"
"Oi, Red!" Zoro shouts, interrupting him. "It looks like this'll work. You punch a hole and and I'll finish it off."
"It won't work," Robin calls, interrupting him. She casts a rope ladder over the side of the Merry. "Come aboard."
"What are you talking about?"
"Even if the two of you kill it, they'll just pull out their next card." She points towards the bow of the Merry, and the rapidly disappearing Skypeia. Chasing quickly after them is a number of strange fish with huge mouths, and even bigger teeth. "If you kill them, no doubt more will arrive. We'll just have to wait out 'Heaven's Judgement', it seems..."
- - -
"That damn thing just dropped us and left," Zoro mutters, scanning their surroundings. The lobster had dropped the Merry at the top of a gigantic stone structure surrounded on all sides by a pool of cloud sea and thick forest beyond that.
"Where are we?" Chopper asks.
"Looks like an alter," Robin tells him, motioning to the strange symbols on the stone structure. "A sacrifical alter, at that."
"What's that mean?"
"I'd say it means we're up next on the chopping block," Run says, approaching the railing of the Merry when Chopper is standing, and staring down the stone stairs. "With or without consent." The little reindeer panics, and as a result falls from the rail. "Chopper!" He bounces down the stairs quickly heading towards the cloud sea. Thankfully, he's stopped just shy of falling into the water by Robin, who's sprouted a pair of arms from the last step to catch him. "Good catch!" From the clouds, a huge skyfish suddenly surfaces and launches itself towards Chopper.
"Look out!" Zoro growls, coming out of nowhere to launch himself at the fish. Both go splashing down into the cloud sea seconds later, disappearing under the surface.
"Hold yer breath, Zoro! I'm comin'!" Run leaps the railing and bounds down the stairs before diving into the water as well. Everyone watches the surface of the clouds in silence, waiting for some sign that they're alright or...or not alright.
"They got eaten!" Chopper cries, after several minutes. "There's no way they weren't eaten!"
"They're fine," Robin assures them. "If they had been eaten the clouds would have turned red."
"Why are you always pointing things like that out?!" Nami screams, panic rising. Suddenly, Zoro and Run rise out of the water...riding a shark? The two men stand on it's back as if it's completely natural, and the creature makes no move to shake them off. "What the?! What's going on?! Get off of that thing!"
"Dahaha~! It's fine, it's fine," Run shouts up to them, dropping down to straddle the creatures back and pat it on the nose a few times with a grin. "He's gonna give us a hand for now!" Chopper jumps the railing of the Merry and rushes back down the stairs towards the two men to take a better look. His fear seems to have fallen by the way side entirely.
"So cool!" Chopper gushes as Zoro jumps back to the stairs.
"Hey, if you could tame something like that then why didn't you stop that lobster from taking our ship?!" Nami screams.
"Aaah," Run grunts, head turning up as if in thought. "I guess it must have slipped my mind in all the excitement."
"Liar! You just wanted to go to Upper Yard, didn't you?!"
"What? Noooo. It was just all caught up in the excitement, that's all."
"You and Luffy really are two of a kind! Idiots, both of you!" When Zoro reaches the top of the alter he notices a hole in the hull of the ship and shucks his shirt off.
"Oi, there's a hole in the hull," Zoro tells them. "The Merry isn't going anywhere like this. Chopper! Try to fix the ship." Nami throws a blue shirt down to the swordsman who pulls it on quickly.
"Fix it? Are you planning on going somewhere?"
"As long as Red has that sky-shark under control, we might as well use it to get into the forest. Luffy and the others are probably on their way to find us, so we can use this as our base for now. Like they say, 'if you get lost you should just stay put'."
"Hey, why are you two going into the forest?" Chopper questions them.
"God's on this island, right? I wanna go meet him."
"Don't be an idiot!" Nami yells. "His Priests are still somewhere on this island! You can't make them or God angry!" Zoro laughs in response, and begins slowly descending the stairs.
"Since the two of you are going, I'll come along as well," Robin tells them, descending the stairs after them.
"Huh? Yeah, whatever. Just don't go slowing us down," Zoro tells her.
"Not you too, Robin!" cries Nami.
"But of course. Looking at this alter, I would say that it's at least a thousand years old. Historical things like this make my body tingle all over!" Robin leaps the gap to the back of the sky shark, settling in behind the red head with her hands on his shoulders. "Where there is great history there are bound to be great relics as well. Perhaps even a few jewel fragments to help our ship out." This is all the incentive that Nami needs to come bounding down the stairs as well, leaving Chopper to watch the ship as they all jump onto the sky-shark's back.
"Alright," Run says. "Let's go, then...!"
- - -
"Aaah, where is this 'God' at, anyway?" complains Zoro, scanning the forest. It's slow going through the thick forests in Upper Yard. They spend a lot of their time scaling the gigantic roots of the trees just to make any head way with little to show for it.
"Aah, give him time," Run says, dropping down from a large root. "I'm sure he'll show himself before long."
"If he's really a God, he might have foreseen our actions long ago," Robin says simply.
"Don't you three know any fear?" Nami cries. "I keep telling you that the God on this island is horrible!" She breaks into a prayer asking the god to stay kind and peaceful...and then ends it by asking for him to help them find treasure as well.
"We should check out the other side," Zoro decides. "Just following the river isn't going to get us anywhere."
"How are we going to do that? Should we try to find a vine and swing across?" When Nami approaches to look for a vine, she nearly falls in and is nearly attacked by a sky-shark in the process. If not for the fast reaction of Run punching it hard enough to send it sailing to the opposite bank and smashing into a tree, it would have eaten her completely. "I'm not crossing! You can forget it! We'd just be feeding ourselves to the sharks at this point!"
"Relax," Run tells her. "We're not gonna get eaten by sharks."
"Then why don't you do that thing of yours and--"
"It takes a bit of finesse to do that. Knocking them out is one thing but--"
"Hey, look," Robin calls, attracting their attention. The woman in question is kneeling in the grass and examining it closely. "This ground is...dirt."
"...Yeah? You feeling alright, Robin?" Run approaches and squats down in front of her, pressing the back of his palm to her forehead. "You don't feel warm..." Robin sighs softly, and reaches up to capture his hand before dropping a handful of dirt into it. "It's dirt."
"It's a sky island."
"You're right," Zoro agrees, tapping his foot on the ground. "It's not fluffy like a cloud."
"Something is unusual about this island. Looks like checking into it might be worth it after all." So, they push on further into the forest, still following the river's bank as they do. Zoro blazes the path for them while Nami and Robin follow and Run brings up the rear. They don't want anyone getting separated in this forest, and they certainly don't want to be blind-sided by having both Zoro and Run up front. They need to find a path across the river, and after walking for what feels like hours in the heat, they find their opportunity in the way of a large root spanning the distance high above the cloud river. They scale up the root slowly, and begin their crossing...although, Nami takes her time to make sure she won't fall.
"Don't over think it," Run tells her, following behind her with a smile. "Just relax and--"
"Shut up!" Nami shouts. "Don't talk to me right now! What will you do if I fall?!"
"Jump in and save you so just--" Run comes to an abrupt halt, turning sharply to face the direction they've come from. Nami stops in her tracks and turns as well, scanning the forest behind them quickly.
"W-What is it?! What--" Before she can finish, a sky shark surprises them by leaping up out of the river below, and heading straight for Nami with jaws spread wide open. A firm hand pushes her to the ground, and Nami looks up just in time to see Run smash the back of his fist into the sharks side. A wet 'crunch!' sounds as pieces of the shark splatter across the vine ahead of them, and the remains drop into the cloud river below them. It is, without a doubt, the hardest they've ever seen Run hit anything since setting sail with him, and after a few moments the Haki slowly fades from his arms. "My apologies...for troubling you...Run." If he hears her he doesn't acknowledge for several long moments before finally nodding.
"It's no trouble." Nami crawls across the vine the rest of the way while Run eventually follows, reaching the opposite side of the bank.
"Run, I think I spotted something up ahead," Robin says, finally breaking the silence. "Walk with me?" Run nods and follows after her while Nami and Zoro trail a bit behind. "Are you alright? I haven't seen you hit something that hard since...well, it's been quite a long time."
"Yeah, I just...I guess I must have forgotten my own strength."
"Was it that same feeling from before?"
"Yeah. Someone watching us."
"I guess we'll just have to be on the look out, then." The two walk in silence towards what Robin had spotted which happens to be a well, almost completely swallowed by the roots of a near by tree. Robin crouches down to peer into the hole, and hands off a small vial to one set of many arms that rapidly lower and then raise the vial back up now filled with water.
"So...any reason we're so interested in this well?" Run asks her.
"Look." She points to the roots that have nearly swallowed it. "It's been almost entirely covered by the roots. It's almost as if this civilization couldn't tell it was going to happen. This kind of thing isn't normal." She tosses the vial down the well and the arms disappear.
"Oi, Nami!" Zoro calls, turning his head skyward. "Do you see anything?" Both Robin and Run follow his line of sight to the Navigator perched high in a tree. "Well? What is it?"
"I...I see something!" Nami calls back. "We need to go to the shore...!"
- - -
This walk through the forest has raised more questions for them than it has answered. But if what Nami has told them is right, they may find some answers to their questions at the shore. So, they cut a path through the forest, some times using the trees and sometimes the ground to make their way there. The sounds of battle and explosions accompany their walk through the thick forest. Whatever is going on in the distance, it seems to be quite serious. Fortunately, it's not heading in their direction. The closer they get the fast Nami seems to be going, eventually leaving them behind entirely.
"Hey, don't go ahead alone!" Run shouts after her, moving at a brisk pace to keep up. "Everything seems to want to eat you here, ya know." She disappears over a thick root and the red head sighs.
"She must be quite tasty," Robin calls.
"She got all energetic when she heard the sea," Zoro adds. "What's gotten into her?" The three scramble up the root she's climbed, dropping down on the opposite side and stopping in their tracks. Nami is standing in front of the remains of a home nearly entirely reclaimed by the forest.
"There's no need to explain," Nami announces, stepping back from the home. "After all...we can all recognize it. We were looking at it just this morning."
"Why is that up here? What's something from the ground doing up here?!"
"Perhaps it'd be more accurate to say this is the other half of the one from below," Robin tells him. "It's been bugging me for quite a while, honestly. This ground is something that shouldn't exist here. It seemed strange that this place wasn't made of clouds. Seeing this, I believe it's safe to assume that Upper Yard...was originally one the ground."
"So, then, Noland wasn't a liar," Run begins. "He just had everyone looking in the wrong place. Not underwater...but in the sky." A grin slowly begins to spread across his face. "Which would mean that the city of gold he talked about..."
"Yahoo~!" screams Nami. "After all this trouble, I can't believe that the sky island we reached was the city of gold! Thank you so much, God! This must be a reward for behaving myself, right?"
"Oi, I thought you were scared of this islands God," Zoro retorts. This kicks off an argument between the two, and while they're busy Robin walks over to the ruins of the house and begins carefully picking through it as if looking for something. Run walks through the house, careful to avoid stepping on anything and stopping at her side to peer over her shoulder. Robin giggles lightly in response, and gently picks up an aged piece of what could have been a vase at one point.
"Find anything interesting?" Run asks, looking around as well.
"Not particularly," Robin tells him. "It's mainly just items one might normally have in their home. But you never know." She turns to look over her shoulder into his eyes. "You? See anything interesting?"
"I dunno. I don't really have an eye for this kinda stuff...or the brains for that matter." He steps around her now, scanning the ruins of the house slowly stopping when something catches his eye. "Oh. Oh, hold on now." The red head steps forward, and carefully sets aside several pieces of shattered ceramic and what was most likely once a table before revealing a small golden ingot. "Oh-ho! Jack-pot!" He picks up the small ingot and tosses it back to Robin with a grin. "How's that for a souvenir?"
"I'm sure it'll bring a smile to Nami's face."
"Oi! Robin! Red!" Zoro calls. "Let's go! We're going back to the Merry!"
"Guess we should go." Their walk back through the forest is faster going than before. That said, it still took them nearly the rest of the day to make it back in one piece. When they finally make it back to the edge of the pool surrounding the Merry, they all relax...at least until they see what's happened in their absence. The Merry looks like it's taken a real beating since they've been gone. Scorch marks cover the hull, and the main mast has been snapped off entirely.
A feeling of worry sinks into each of their stomachs. They left Chopper on his own, and this is what they return to? Something terrible might have happened to the little reindeer. They need to give over to him and the Merry as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Robin untangles a thick vine from the tree limbs over head, and they go swinging across without a second thought.
"Hey, Chopper!" Run shouts, landing on the stairs of the alter, and taking them two at a time towards the Merry. "Chopper! Talk to me! Are you alright, buddy?" When they've reached the top, they find themselves staring up their tear streaked and bandaged doctor.
"Chopper," Nami mutters.
"I...I...I'm fine!" Chopper assures them. "N-Nothing happened at all!"
"Chopper. Alright, you're strong. Just tell us what happened." Before he could begin his explanation, they're all surprised by the loud call of a familiar voice. They turn to look, watching as Luffy, Sanji and Usopp come splashing down into the cloud sea in front of the alter. While glad to be reunited with everyone, they express the same concern for the Merry and Chopper when they see him. When everyone has gathered on board, they immediately notice the addition of the sky knight and his bird. Chopper explains that while they were gone, he was attacked by one of the priests of Upper Yard, and had no choice but to blow the whistle for help.
During the fighting, the Merry and the sky knight, who Chopper tells them is called 'Gan Fall'. Unfortunately, both of them were injured in the fight, and so Chopper kept them on board to treat them.
"Well...I guess we owe him a thanks," Sanji says taking a long drag on his cigarette. "Still, since the ship is in the state it mean's we won't be heading back to Angel Island tonight. We should head to the forest and make camp there for the night."
"Ehh? Why?" Luffy asks.
"Because it's easier to fight on the shore than on the ship," Usopp reasons. "Besides, if we have a fight here then we could damage the ship even more!"
"Alright!! Camping!! I LOVE camping! It's gonna be so fun...!"
- - -
It didn't take them long to set up a small camp on the lake shore, and they soon had a small fire blazing...over which Luffy was roasting a sky shark he'd killed earlier. While everyone settled in, they decided it was a good time to compile all the information they'd managed to gather. First and foremost was the information that Luffy, Usopp and Sanji gathered from a fight with one of the priests. Apparently, the man used an ability called 'Mantra' during their whole fight which allowed him to predict their movements.
Chopper tells them that besides toting around a spear that set whatever it struck on fire, and riding on a bird that could spew flames from it's mouth the priest he fought could do the same thing. To Run it sounds as if they're using Kenbunshoku Haki...but that can't be right. What are the odds of finding someone other than himself here in Paradise that can use Haki? And not just one but TWO? So, he chooses not to bring it up at the moment. Nami explains to everyone what they uncovered earlier in the day; that the island they're on now was originally part of Jaya, and the city of gold didn't sink into the sea but instead flew into the sky.
"Really?!" Luffy exclaims, face splitting into a grin as he tosses the remains of the sky shark into the forest. "Gold, huh? This is the kind of adventure I've been waiting for!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Nami adds, grinning as well.
"How can we as pirates ignore loot just ripe for the taking," Run asks, a smirk appearing.
"Us against them," Zoro laughs. "A game for all out survival. Sounds fun!"
"Alright! Let's go treasure hunting...!"