A strange welcome

(3023 words! Enjoy it!)

The whole crew arrived safely in the sea of ​​clouds. Everyone breathed heavily. Well, everyone except Tami, of course, but the others didn't even notice it. Everyone was practically exhausted from this trip. Who wouldn't be? Well, always besides Tami ...

Everyone calmed down and looked around. They were amazed at what they saw. "Hey, guys! Look out of the ship!" Luffy, as usual, was more energetic than ever. Pure Tami was amazed by this sight.

"How nice it would be if there was such a place in my world where I could live. Too bad it's not there and I have to settle for a house in a forest ..." Thinking about it, something like that was sad. All the gods lived in the sky, while he, even if he was a God, had to settle for a home in a forest uninhabited even by animals only because the gods themselves created him.

While Tami was lost in his thoughts, all the others were lost in the infinite vastness of clouds around them.

"We are on top of the clouds. How would it even be possible to navigate the clouds?"

"Well, it's obvious. They are clouds!" Luffy replied as if it were really obvious, even if it was completely different. But the others really couldn't say anything. After all, they have the truth before their eyes.

Nami looked confused at the Log Pose. "The hand still points upward." Robin intervened. "I knew it. Apparently we are still in an intermediate part of the fossil cumulonimbus. Our journey is not over yet."

"So we have to go even higher. And how?" Chopper asked. "I have no idea." She always answered.

Tami, now out of his thoughts, spoke. "Don't worry, Nami. In one way or another, we will do it. If we got here, then we can go even higher. Just find a way." Nami lowered her head. "Make it easy." He gave a reassuring smile. "As I said, one way or another, we'll do it."

Usopp took off his shirt, loudly announcing to dive. Just before he dived, Tami spoke. "Usopp, I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a death wish." The boy in question was confused. "Why?"

"Some physical laws may not make sense here on the Grand Line, but I remind you that many still exist. I'm not sure but think about it. We are above the clouds. In your opinion, is there a seabed, or is there the void?" The crew members widened their eyes and Usopp paled, thinking of the bad end he would have done had he dived into the clouds.

Immediately, he got off the ship for fear of falling. "Thank goodness that we knew immediately!" Sanji said, smoking his cigarette. "Again, I'm not sure, but if I were you I wouldn't risk it. But why don't you check?" "How?" Zoro asked.

"Luffy can stretch out, can't he? As he reaches out to the bottom, Nico Robin can use his devil fruit to see through his arm." Nico Robin's eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know that I have a devil fruit and what can I do? I never told you about it. " Tami noticed it and began to sweat.

"Well, here ... Actually I only knew that you could sprout your arms everywhere, but I thought that your devil fruit was not limited only to this. It was, more than anything else, my bet, let's say so."

Robin still distrusted him but left him alone for the moment. Tami heaved a silent sigh of relief.

"Alright then. Let's check!" Luffy exclaimed. He pulled his arm back and pushed forward reaching out. Robin indulged him and used his power on Luffy's arm.

After a few seconds, Robin deactivated his power. "Tami is right! Under the clouds, there is the void!"

Usopp sighed again with relief. "God bless Tami." Tami chuckled. "Nah... I can't bless myself." He thought.

Then from the sea of ​​clouds, a huge octopus followed by a huge eel. "And what do they want now?" Luffy asked. "It seems pretty clear, doesn't it? They want to eat us." Sanji replied, little nervous.

"I'll handle that!" Zoro lunged for the octopus and cut one of his tentacles, which burst like a balloon.

Despite the shock, Sanji went down the giant eel.

"I never thought such animals lived on clouds." Nami said. "It would be better to start thinking of this place as a real sea." Robin then said calmly.

As everyone argued, Usopp suddenly shouted. "What's wrong with you now?" She always said calmly.

"This thing swims in my pants!" He pulled a strange fish from his pants.

Robin looked at Usopp with pity. "Poor thing." "I want to go away! I want to go away!" The boy whispered as he cried on the ground.

Then he took the fish and examined it. "You are a celestial fish, am I right? You are that strange fish described in the diary. Apparently you managed to change your appearance in order to survive in this sea in the middle of the sky and without a backdrop, right?"

Luffy took the fish in his hand and had it cooked by Sanji.

"This is delicious!" he said as he ate it.

"Luffy, what are you doing?! Who told you to eat it?!" Nami said. But then he thought about it. "Um... can I taste it?" Tami was about to tell Nami that the fish was found inside Usopp's pants. "Mhh... it's delicious!" He saw it was too late and closed his mouth before he caught his fury.

Meanwhile, Chopper was looking through the binoculars for the island in the sky, but he saw a ship and a person in front of it.

"Hey, guys! There is a ship! .. EH?! "

The ship exploded and Chopper, in panic, dropped the binoculars

"There is a ship, did you say?" Luffy asked, who approached Chopper.

"It was there, but it's useless to tell you because it's gone now!"

"What does it mean?" Sanji asked again.

Chopper tried to explain, but nobody could understand anything, because he was too panicked. Tami noticed this for a while but said nothing.

Then Sanji saw someone heading for them. "Who would that be?" Sanji asked, looking at him with keen eyes. "It moves on a cloud!" Zoro noticed. Tami looked at him and intended to intervene before he could even destroy this ship.

"What do you want?!" Zoro shouted. "I want to wipe you out!" "That's looking for trouble!" Zoro said. Luffy was more confused than ever. Zoro, Sanji and Luffy were hit by that boy, unable to do anything. "Hey, what are you up to? Do something!" Nami yelled.

Tami moved and kicked him in the stomach making them fly backwards. "They have not been able to react because the air is rarer here. They have to get used to it! "

The man in the mask was shocked for a brief moment by his speed.

Then he jumped very high, held the bazooka, but not even the time to aim that Tami was already in front of him, ready to punch him in the stomach. He received the blow and flew far back, falling to the bottom of the clouds. Her mask came off her face upon the impact of the fist and Tami took it.

Soon after, another person came from heaven.

"STOP IMMEDIATELY!!" Another person said coming from the sky on the back of a bird but immediately stopped. He was surprised to see that the situation for those boys was under control.

The man landed on their ship. "And who would you be?!" Nami panicked. This man was an old man of medium height. He wore a knight's armour with his visor pulled up and had a white beard and moustache. He also wears a long dark blue cape, which is yellow on the inside and on the back. He is carrying a spear.

"Hello. I am the Sky Knight and he is Pierre! " The old man introduced himself and his bird.

The Sky Knight looked out of the ship for a while. "He's gone." Then he turned to Tami. "Was it you who sent him away?" The boy nodded.

"You have to be strong, then." "Let's just say I'm doing fine." He said modestly

"I do not understand. Who was that? And above all, what did he want from us?" Then he turned to the boys on the ground. "And you three, you made a fool!" The three were panting. "As I said, I'm not used to this rarefied air. I also felt a little slower when I attacked him."

"So you are citizens of the blue sea?" The knight asked when he heard Tami speak. "Blue sea? What do you mean? And who are you?" Nami also asked. "I am the Sky Knight and the people of the blue sea are the people who live under the clouds." Explained the old man.

Chopper was amazed. He didn't think he was a knight. "Can I know if you come from the blue sea, yes or no?"

"Yes, exactly!" Tami replied. "This explains everything. The white sea is located at 7000 m altitude compared to the blue sea. Breathing at this altitude is very difficult for you, so every movement you make requires enormous effort. It's a real feat." The knight of heaven explained. Luffy and the others were getting up.

"I'm already getting used to it." "Yes, me too." The knight sweated a little on hearing the three boys but then turned to Tami. "How did you manage to move so easily?"

Tami didn't really know what to answer. Certainly, he couldn't say nonchalantly "Oh, well, you know, I'm a God! Pleased to meet you!" He would take him for a madman who should only stay in the asylum, but who is instead on board a ship, also pirate.

"Well, I've lived most of my life in a place where the air was really thin. Even if it wasn't at this level, I know how to control my breathing so I can move around easily and fight, in case it is needed." So he answered in this way. In fact, it was partly true. The forest where he lived, had a very rarefied air, even if he never suffered from it.

The knight was surprised, as were the others on board the ship. Then he changed the subject. "I am a mercenary and this is a dangerous sea. Those who do not know how to defend themselves in the sky are very likely to be attacked by villains like the one before, or devoured by fish. I am willing to protect you for 5,000,000 extols." Everyone was confused.

"What are extols?" Sanji asked the question. The old man in a knight's armour was surprised. "What would that be like? Didn't you pass through the Highwest? Didn't you pass a couple of islands before getting here?" Everyone was even more confused than before.

But Nami understood what he meant. "Wait up! So are there any other ways to get here?! Did you say there are multiple Sky Islands?! " The Sky Knight was shocked, to say the least. "Won't you make me believe that you got this far by going through the Knock Up Stream?"

"Yes!" Robin replied. "Amazing! You have faced that monstrous flow. You are really brave!" The knight of heaven said again.

Nami was crying. "I can't believe it. There was an easier way to get here ..." Nami took Luffy by the shirt and started yanking him. "We would have made a safer trip if only we had gathered the right information!"

"Calm down, Nami. We are still alive, aren't we? This is the important thing!" Tami replied smiling, but he didn't calculate anything well: when Nami is furious, one should never speak to her in this way.

Nami took him by the throat and strangled him. "Stop, please!" He pleaded with Tami in the small voice he had.

"I kill you! I kill you!"

"No Please! I still have to pay you the money, remember?" Immediately Nami left him.

"Money lover as she is, it was obvious enough that he would let go of my beloved throat. For God's sake, I'm immortal, but I don't think Nami needs to know." He thought to himself, pretending to fall to his knees and hold his throat asphyxiated.

The knight took a whistle in his hand and threw it at them. "This is my whistle. Use it when you want to sound the alarm. As soon as you whistle I will run to your aid from heaven. Usually, I ask for 5,000,000 extol per whistle, but, in honour of your courage, I want to give you the first one."

Just before flying away, Nami spoke. "Wait, we don't even know what it's called!" The man turned to them and answered. "My name is Gan Fall, the heavenly knight! And he's my helper, Pierre!" The latter began to transform.

"I forgot to introduce it to you. Even if it is a bird, it has truly exceptional powers! "

"Is ... is it a pegasus ?!" "Yes exactly!"

Gan Fall posed with Pegasus ... (I don't need to add anything. If you've seen it, you don't need to know more.)

"He left us the whistle, but he didn't give us any explanations." "It's true! It was very vague."

"How do we get on now?" Said Nami

"Why don't we ask our friend?" As he was about to whistle, Nami and Usopp stopped him. "Luffy, haven't you heard what he said before? The whistle is only needed in an emergency!" "If we waste the free whistle, what will we do if the one with the mask returns?!"

"Don't worry, guys. If he comes back I can defeat him. " Tami said with a smile. "Well, you actually defeated him quite easily." Nami thought aloud. Tami's smile grew wider. "Exactly! And now that I think about it, I also took that guy's mask!" He put on the mask and posed with his hands closed on his hips, his face turned upwards.

"Yes, now stop being an idiot and find a way to climb higher!" Zoro said, breaking the short moment of Tami, who pouted, but was not seen since he wore the mask.

Chopper noticed something. "Hey, guys! Look over there! It's a strange cloud." He said pointing in front of him. Robin came over and looked. "Yeah, it looks more like a waterfall."

"Why don't we go check it closely?" Zoro asked. The ship, therefore, moved in the direction of the waterfall, but they were soon blocked by a huge cloud

"If it's a normal cloud, can we go through it?" "Why don't we check?" Luffy asked, who reached out to hit the cloud but pushed it away.

After a few seconds, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were having fun above the cloud. Tami also decided to try to get on it and joined them. "AHAH! How beautiful! I've said it before, but I'm really having fun! Hahaha!"

Usopp then saw something strange and checked. He saw a huge door and decided to notify the others.

Nami manoeuvred the ship, thus managing to overcome the clouds and arrive at the waterfall cloud. "In fact, there is a huge gate!" Tami stated and saw the writing above. "Gate of Paradise... Perfect, now we know that we really died." He always said with a serious face, but he knew perfectly well that it was not so, since he is immortal. He just enjoyed making fun of others.

Zoro indulged him. "It's possible, maybe it happened without our realizing it." Chopper was frightened. "What?! I don't want to be deceased!!" "SHISHISI! We are in paradise! How beautiful!"

"None of us are dead!!" Nami shouted, hitting them all. Usopp spotted someone on the sides of the gate.

"Are you here to visit or to fight?" Asked the old woman with wings. "To visit!" Nami answered immediately. "Then you'll have to pay 1 billion per person." Usopp was surprised, but Sanji reminded him that the currency is definitely in extol.

"Excuse me, but how much is it in berry?" Tami asked. "1 billion extol equals 100,000 berry." "Well, there are 8 of us, so 800,000 berry. Do you have them, guys?" Tami asked.

"You can actually go in without paying." The old woman intervened. "What?! Really?!" Tami asked immediately, with wide eyes, even if they could not be seen.

"I am only a guardian. I can't impose anything on you." The old lady replied calmly.

"Then let's go in without paying!" Usopp said.

Tami's eyes widened. "What?! Guys, are you serious?! Why don't you pay?!"

"Because, as you said, we are not obliged. We save money." Tami's mouth was wide open. "It's only 800,000 berry! There is certainly something wrong if we are not forced to pay!"

Nami then smiled and spoke. "Okay, but when we get back, you'll have to double it! That is 1,600,000 berry, which added to the 200,000,000 berry you owed me earlier, make 201,600,000 berry!"

"It's not right! This is a rip off! At most, I only pay for my entry!" Nami gave a mock sad sigh. "Then I guess we'll go in without paying a single berry."

At that moment Tami just wanted to scream aloud that Nami was a *****, but he refrained.

"Ugly witch ..." he murmured in a low voice, trying to calm down. Zoro put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand you."

"But how do we get to the island in the sky?" As Luffy asked, pincer hands popped up on both sides of the ship. "Do not be afraid. It's the Express Lobster!"

The ship will speed up quickly. "We really left without paying ... You see you are pirates ..." "If you didn't want to be with pirates, you didn't come with us!" Sanji shouted and kicked him.

"I'm sure there is something underneath." He continued, without even paying attention to the cook.

And so, everyone left for the island in the sky, now closer and closer.