2.10

2.6 Warship Island 1

You shake your head to clear your thoughts. Of course you're going to take the time to help a kidnapped child get home. You may not be a hero on Earth-Bet yet, but this is basically the same, right?

Unfortunately, said child is still freaking out about her rescuers being pirates. Apis dodges Usopp, who apparently is doing a very good job at accidentally looming menacingly, skitters across the deck, and hides behind your legs. You turn your head to look over your shoulder at her and she squeaks, stumbling backwards and pressing her back against the opposite railing.

Um...

"Apis," you say as gently as you can, "we're not, I mean, we aren't going to-"

"To chop me up and eat me?!"

"Apis, no, we don't-."

"-hang skeletons of children from the rigging?"

Apis inches away down the railing as her imagination seems to get more and more outlandish.

"No!" you and Usopp and Nami exclaim all at once.

"But you hide slugs in shoes so people get slime on their feet in the morning!"

"That's not even very scary," you say. "And we don-"

"-on moonless nights rise from the bottom of the sea in a ghost ship with black sails-"

"WHAT? WE CAN DO THAT?" Luffy yells excitedly.

"No!" Usopp protests, "And the Merry's sails are white, not-"

"-drenched red with blood in your mad quest for demonic power of-"

"What?!" Nami exclaims, a horrified look on her face.

You just sigh. "No, Apis, we-"

"-lead a horde of undead Sea Kings to-eeeeeeeeep!"

Apis inches her way to a part of the railing that'd been blown off during the battle, flails comically, and starts to fall overboard.

You step forward and catch her in a single stride.

"Please be careful," you say to her under your breath.

"Taylor," you hear Apis mumble into your chest, "save me?" She points across the deck to the rest of the Straw Hats.

"They aren't so bad," you tell her. "They freed an island from Arlong, a nasty pirate. They beat up a bad marine called Axe-Hand Morgan, but left him to get arrested by the good marines. We don't hurt anyone if we can help it."

"..." Apis lets out a long breath, then mumbles again "...okay..."

You look down at her in your arms. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is getting slower. You think she's fallen asleep.

With the help of the crew, you set up a mattress for her in the kitchen and help Nami tuck her in to bed.

Tired, you ask Nami how long it will be until you arrive, and are told it will probably be late morning, maybe as late as noon. Tomorrow's probably going to be another long day, so you slip away home to sleep.

Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-SWB

Date: Sunday, January 2, 2011

You wake up a little late, even for a Sunday. Dad's in, already finished breakfast and reading a book on... Twilight of the Silver Age of Parahumanity? An interesting choice.

"How was it?" he asks.

"Ran into the marines," you tell him. "We had to abort."

"Oh," he says. Then he drops his book, processing. "Oh. Did everything go ok? Are you all right?"

"Yeah," you say. "We ran instead of fighting. Picked up a little girl who was adrift, and we're going to take her home. After the detour, the marine blockade should be gone."

"Just be careful," dad warns, reaching for the book he dropped.

"I will," you promise.

There's a few hours before you have to go, so you spend some time finishing up your handywoman project, as you've now taken to calling it. You study the wiring in your home, but don't really find anything serious. Still, you're confident you could tackle most household electrical-power related problems now.

Overall, you've now got a basic grasp of plumbing and carpentry, a decent grasp of electrics, and a pretty good idea how to repair most common objects if they aren't too broken. You could probably shore up some of these areas, and repair seems like it would get even more useful the more you practiced it. Plus, you have this crazy idea for combining common repair and maintenance skills like this into some kind of rudimentary tinker ability, you just need to experiment with it a little to figure it out.

Location: Vincinity of Warship Island, Polestar Sea, East Blue Ocean, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-SWB

Saturday, May 14, 1532

Even though it's mid-morning, the Merry drifts through a hazy fog, making it impossible to see anything but an outline of the sun. Despite this, Apis is running around the boat exploring and often runs up to the prow and looks off into the distance, apparently eager to catch a glimpse of home. Sanji tells you she warmed up to the crew quite a bit after breakfast, having apparently refused all food on the marine ship.

"Can we really find Warship Island through this fog?" you ask Nami.

She shrugs in reply. "Depends. The maps I have of this area aren't very good. If they're off by too much we'll need the fog to clear. We might have to wait until afternoon to get our bearings."

Apis, at the front of the ship, glances up into the sky and waves. A moment later, a seagull comes gliding down and alights on the railing next to her. Weird. You knew she had the habit of talking to birds, but is there more to it?

"Heeey! She says that she can see an island from above the fog."

"Oh. That's good! We should see it soon, Taylor," Nami remarks to you.

Wait.

"Apis! How are talking to the bird?" you call down to her as she makes her way across the deck to you, seagull on her shoulder.

"I ate a devil fruit," she replies with a sheepish grin.

"Um, really?" you ask, before catching yourself. Luffy wasn't any older when he ate his, after all. "I mean, do you know what kind?"

Apis blinks, then shakes her head.

"I can understand animals?" she says, in more of a question than an answer.

She glances over to the gull sitting on her shoulder, which lets out a squawk and flies away.

Sure enough, within five minutes, the mountainous top of an island loom out of the haze, the stacked stone cliffs looking fairly accurately like the sails of a massive ship. It's still a ways away, but Nami manages to correct your course without difficulty. The indistinct, looming form of Warship Island isn't very interesting to look at after the first impression, but you notice Apis is missing.

"Apis?!" you call.

There's a crash from the kitchen, followed by what you can only assume is a wordless exclamation of surprise and not a word a child of her age should really not know.

"Apis, what are you..."

You open the door. Apis dusts herself off the floor, her yellow dress stained yellow-er with what might be saffron or even curry powder. The Merry's supply of spices lies in a heap, thankfully mostly still in their jars, behind her. She sniffs, then screws up her face, attempting not to breathe in any more.

"Ah, nothing. I'm not doing anything!"

Apis punctuates that statement with a small sneeze.

"It looks like you're trying to cook something," you tell her, giving the kid the benefit of the doubt, even though you're not sure she deserves it. "Are you hungry?"

"I just wanted to make lunch for everyone, okay? As a thank you for helping me." She looks rather downcast at getting caught.

You blink. The girl has a frown on her face that you don't really feel comfortable with.

"Do you know how to cook?" you ask.

"Sure! How hard can it be?"

That's probably a no.

"Well, if you don't mind, I can, uh, give you a few recipes. While you cook."

You spend an enjoyable hour guiding Apis through a basic lunch, doing tedious things like ingredient preparation and cleanup, while letting her do the fun stuff, like cracking eggs or tossing frying pans. Sanji looks in from time to time, but seems to accept that he's lost the kitchen for this meal. You try to impart some of your vast cooking knowledge, but you're not sure Apis learned anything. Still, disaster was averted and Apis is all smiles as she presents lunch to the crew.

Shortly after, the haze finally clears and you find the Merry approaching a small pier between two cliffs of rock. You spot a lookout, who drops his fishing pole in the water and scrambles down, yelling something. You wonder why, before remembering Apis's reaction last night. Right, pirates.

No one else on the crew seems to notice the lookout, but everyone sees a squad of islanders come running out with makeshift armor, fishing spears, and a few bows. It's more organized than the squad of hunters that you fought the Giant Fur Fish with, but not quite the small marine garrison whom you helped capture Fenteng. Still, you shouldn't be surprised that most islands have an organized militia. And it would be enough to deter an East Blue crew without a heavy hitter.

They tense as the Merry approaches the docks, and you decide enough is enough. You grab Apis by the waist and hold her up over the railing, where she waves and shouts.

"Hiiii! Hi everyone!"

The wariness in their postures relaxes somewhat, and is replaced by a combination of confusion, relief, and maybe a bit of suspicion.

"Apis," the leader calls out, "is that really you?"

"Uncle!" she shouts back.

The rest of them lower their bows and shift their spears so they aren't pointed at the ship anymore, which is nice.

The Merry pulls up to the docks slowly, and Zoro throws a ladder down over the side. Most of the crew ignores it and hops down to land on the shore. Usopp and Nami are more careful, and you carry Apis down. She runs up to the militia leader and hugs him, armor and all.

"Apis, we were so worried," he says to her. He drops his voice to a loud whisper, then says "There were marines were asking around for you. How did you get away?"

Apis releases the hug and points to the six of you.

"Uncle, these are the Straw Hats! They rescued me and brought me back."

"Thank you for returning Apis to us. And apologies for the wary welcome." He gives a small bow. "I am Matsuda. Welcome to Warship Island."

Luffy laughs good-naturedly.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Say, do you have any meat-shops?"

"Um..."

"Smoked meat? Barbecue? Roasts?" Luffy seems to be staring off into the distance and starts to drool.

"We should go see my grandpa," Apis says, tugging on Luffy's shirt. "He makes the best pork buns on the island."

"Apis! Are you giving away family secrets?" A wavering aged voice calls from down the road. The crowd of militia parts to reveal a hunched man with a large nose, a spiky beard, and fully grey hair, leaning on a homemade cane.

"Grandpa Bokuden!" she shouts, running up to him.

"Welcome back, Apis," he says. Then he looks up at the rest of you. "I'd be glad to host you for a meal, for returning Apis to us."

"Food?" Luffy asks. "Hey, you're pretty cool, gramps."

Well, that settles that.

As everyone starts to walk inland, you glance back at the Merry.

"Shouldn't we hide the ship," you ask Usopp as he passes you.

"Huh? Oh, that's a good idea, Taylor. How would we hide it?"

"Um..." You think for a few seconds. There weren't any secluded coves you spotted on the way in. You don't have camouflage for it or anything. The flag's tied down and the sail is furled. You suppose all you could do would be to move it away from the docks, but it'd still get spotted by a patrol.

"I guess we can't," you say, "it just doesn't feel right leaving it here like this."

"Well, the Merry has always been fine before. Even if the marines arrive, one of you could take the ship back if we had to. Come on, we're falling behind."

You glance back at the ship. Something nags at you about that statement. But there isn't anything you can do with such a small crew. Instead, you put it out of your mind and jog to catch up.

At his house, Apis's grandpa puts his buns in an old-fashioned Asian-style wooden steamer in a cookhouse out back, then informs everyone that they'll take a few hours to finish, much to Luffy's shock. As you're served tea inside and Luffy's stomach grumbles, the crew questions Apis and Bokuden on why the marines would kidnap a kid.

"You're sure you don't know anything special? Something the marines would want to know?" Nami asks.

She shakes her head.

"Nothing!" she says. You aren't sure, but she seems a bit too cheerful at that statement.

"Well, it might have to do with the ancient legends of our island," Bokuden says. "Apis has been taking history lessons with me, after all."

She pouts at that.

"Legends?" Zoro asks.

"We're said to be descended from the inhabitants of Lost Island, which sank thousands of years ago. Lost Island was said to be a place where dragons called sennenryuu made their homes."

"Real dragons?" you ask. You think about what you know about this island's history, but you only know common knowledge, not myths.

"Who knows?" grandpa Bokuden says. "But their bones were said to make an elixir of eternal youth."

"But why would the marines be interested in some old story?" Nami asks. "Isn't Lost Island...lost?"

"Maybe there's something specific in the legend?" you say.

Bokuden seats himself again and takes a scholarly tone.

"Well, to begin with, the Island's first king was..."

You lean forward. Lost Island. Surely the history of this place will reveal something about it, right?

Thirty minutes later, you're the only one still paying attention. History has increased listening to this dry account of ancestry, and your power's knowledge of this island's history has been filled in. In generations past, they did worship "dragons", which were rumored to be a lot like mythological birds - you wouldn't be surprised if they're similar to the giant albatross you killed. The so-called "Lost Island" appeared to be a mythical place the dragons both originated from and returned to. You aren't sure it even exists, but if it does, it's almost certainly as hard to find as its name indicates.

Oh, and Apis slipped away sometime in the first five minutes. You noticed, but she's probably heard this story before, and she seemed to be in a hurry.

Of course, Grandpa Bokuden doesn't stop there. Another thirty minutes later he seems to be dedicated to accounting the ancestry of every single person born here for the last thousand years.

Luffy wakes from sleep suddenly and makes some noise about heading to the washroom. He stumbles out the door half-awake.

Twenty minutes later, you've tried to catch Bokuden's attention several times, but haven't managed to. He seems to be in a trance of sorts, despite still lecturing on the 34th generation of descendants. Nami stretches, indicating she was never asleep in the first place, and gestures she's going to check up on Luffy. You glance out the window. The sun isn't setting, but it's about three in the afternoon.

Ten minutes later, you realize none of them have returned. You lean back, slowly and quietly get up, gather up Kishi-Ko from the entrance and step warily out the door. Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro appear to be asleep.

You follow the sound of snoring to Luffy, who is sleeping in the cooking shack out back. There's no sign of Apis or Nami, but there is a trail on the ground. Looks like someone or something was dragged out of here. Oh, and the steamed buns are mostly missing, but that could just have been your captain.

You take a half step forward to look closer to look at the trail, but something catches the light on the ground in front of you and you jerk your leg to a halt. There's a wire here? And that smell... just behind the smell of steamed dough, it smells like... oil?

There isn't even a sound to warn you. Something glints in the direction of the midday sun and you throw yourself backwards, against the outer wall of the shack. Three metal projectiles go flying through the space you just occupied and thunk into the ground. Pointed metal stars? Shuriken? And they were aimed at your heart, jugular, and right eye. An ambush!

You reach for Kureimakureisho, but before you can even draw it, wires spring upwards from the ground, curling around the shack and inward, threatening to wrap you in place. You jump upwards, the only open to you, tucking your feet in and preparing to spring off the wall at the apex. You don't even have to think to ready yourself against the next attack, the natural follow-up to forcing you to go airborne.

With Kerimakureisho half-slid out of its sheathe, you meet a short blade thrusting for your shoulder and deflect it sideways. Before you can push off the wall and grab the edge of the roof to meet the opponent up there, the attacker rolls into their strike and tumbles to the ground in a swirl of black cloth. You push off the wall, completing the draw as you do so, holding the sword in one hand and the sheathe in a backwards grip in the other. Below you, the wires snap shut, splintering wooden framing but failing to cut into the stone walls. You land on the dusty ground in a ready stance and face your opponent, a dark figure a little shorter than you, who appears to be dressed entirely in black and navy cloth, from head to toe.

That was close. In fact, either they held the last attack back for some reason, or your opponent may not be quite as strong as you. Someone like you or Zoro wouldn't have been deflected so easily. And if the trap with fewer escapes, or if your instincts were any less sharp, you could have died. Your heart pounds a little harder at that realization.

The attacker sheathes what can only be a tanto behind their back, and turns slowly to face you. A black fringe of hair and two blue eyes peek through a wrapped face mask. It seems ridiculous, but you appear to be fighting a genuine ninja, stereotypes and all.

She laughs in a gravelly voice. At least, you think it's a she.

"Hebert Taylor. It seems the rumors were not exaggerated."

"What do you want?" you ask, voice low. Your opponent has wasted the element of surprise, but they're a ninja. If they don't have tricks up their sleeve, you've been watching the wrong movies.

Luffy lets out a gurgling snore behind you, apparently completely unaware of the fighting.

"Rumor of a promising new bounty hunter reached our ears. A rising star in East Blue. Multiple million-beri bounties. But bounty hunters like you and me can be more than just lone warriors. Together, we can bring order to the seas. I'm here to extend you an invitation to my organization."

"And what organization might that be," you ask, mostly to stall for information. You already have a team. You aren't going to let yourself get recruited.

"Baroque Works," the ninja says.

Oh. Baroque Works. You know that name.

Author Notes

Taylor knows that Baroque Works are a secret mercenary organization that employs large numbers of warriors, run by a secretive boss known only as "Mr. 0". Lower-ranked "agents" vary greatly, but officer agents with smaller "numbers" are usually very strong. The jobs Baroque Works do involve bounty hunting, spying, assassination, or other criminal acts. The boss claims that Baroque Works exists to create some kind of idealized nation, although the nature of that nation isn't known. Naturally all of this is technically a big secret, so revealing she knows anything might tip this ninja off.

Taylor also knows that Neferati Vivi, the Princess of Alabaster, a Grand Line kingdom, attempted / is attempting to infiltrate Baroque Works and that if nothing changes you might meet her either right after Reverse Mountain or when you reach the Grand Line island known as Whiskey Peak.

Baroque Works are pretty much unequivocally bad guys. Taylor might liken them to a large and dangerous parahuman gang.

Taylor has read up to Chapter 111 in the One Piece manga, which is where this is explained. She was unable to read any farther, but you can consider all the chapters up to 111 IC knowledge.

2.7

You dip your sword towards the ground slightly, still on guard. You're going to refuse, but this is an opportunity to find out about future enemies. Nothing you read in the manga about Baroque Works is good. Still...

"Who?" you say.

She makes a "tch" noise, then says, "You wouldn't know. Supposed to be some kind of secret. Not much of one if you ask me. We're mercenaries. The Boss hands down jobs, and we get paid. It's good, steady work. You know how it is - bounties come and go. This doesn't, but you're still paid proper."

"What kind of jobs? And how do you get them?" you ask.

"The Boss is in charge, but there's officer and frontier agents too. Thirteen pairs, when they're full. They hand down the orders most of the time.

"As for jobs...all sorts," she croaks. "You're not the subtle type, not with that big sword and the devil fruit." Devil fruit? Oh, she must know about the bear thing.

"Probably bounties for you," she continues. "Guard jobs. Pirate hunting. Leading squads. Me, I do things more suited to my talents. Spying. Killing. You know how it is."

You successfully suppress a shudder. You do not know how it is, and your experience with Arakaki was bad enough. Not that killing is entirely avoidable, but it's not and never will be a job.

"So where would I be working?" you ask, hopefully not sounding too skeptical.

"Grand Line, of course," she replies. "We have a handful of the routes on lockdown after Reverse Mountain. Ah, but you'll be an agent-candidate with that fruit. So I guess there's no harm to say you'll want to get familiar with a desert climate. Can't say much more, you understand."

She's drawn some kind of knife - you didn't see where it came from - and is twirling it between her fingers. She follows your gaze to her hands, before disappearing the knife somewhere in her sleeve and coughing lightly. Some kind of nervous habit?

"And what kind of people do you employ?" you ask.

"All sorts," she says casually. "Ex-pirate, ex-soldier, bounty hunter. Couple hundred of each in the agent-candidates alone. You get a rank, you don't tell others your identity, you impress the boss, you move up in rank. That's how it works."

"I see," you say. This conversation is probably running its course. You can't keep being non-committal and suppressing your distaste for much longer. "What about you? You got a rank or something?"

You see a brief flash of the knife, and she coughs lightly again. "Tch, does it matter? Mr. 3 says I might make frontier agent soon. Guess that makes me pretty high-up. Never did care much for their stupid codenames, though."

An evasive answer, you conclude. And you've run out of questions. She seems to realize this, looking up to meet your eyes.

"So, you gonna sign up or not?"

In response, you ready your sword.

"No. What kind of person uses lethal force as a test? I don't agree with your methods, or those of Baroque Works."

The lady ninja doesn't move a muscle in reaction at first. You think you see one of her eyebrows raise slightly. She coughs, then starts a chortling laugh.

"Chehehehehehehe," she laughs, almost doubling over. "Oh, that's rich. How'd they find someone like you? Lethal force? Girl, if that was lethal force for you, I wasted the trip. But, if you insist..."

She straightens and the shadows of the trees seem to grow longer. You blink a little and shiver. Something about the situation puts you on edge, nothing physical, but it feels dark and cold and evil. You tense, ready for a fight.

She flourishes her sleeves, and weapons appear in her hands. Something rolls out and drops on the ground. You don't have time to see what it is, as a short knife appears in her right hand and a throwing star appears in the other. Both thrust towards you, not using any throwing technique you're familiar with but obviously an attack. You spring forward, Kerimakureisho leading, trying to close the gap between you and trusting in movement to keep you alive against an attack. She twists and parries your swing with the shuriken somehow, denting the pointed star and flinging it from her hand, and suddenly there's a knife thrusting at your stomach, screaming killing intent. You manage to get your free hand in the way, balled into a fist, the tiny blade deflecting from your cestus and pushing your hand into your stomach instead. You jump back, winded. Shit. She isn't joking around.

The white ball that fell on the ground picks that moment to explode in a massive cloud of thick white smoke, billowing out fast enough to feel the force behind it and enveloping the entire yard. You push yourself back and catch a glimpse of a black shadow moving through the smoke, readying Kerimakureisho to block, but no attack comes. Then the shadow is gone.

Carefully, although your footwork would look rapid to anyone else, you back away from the center of the smoke, reaching back to draw Kishi-Ko with your other hand, dropping your scimitar once the larger blade is in hand. You focus on Musashi's technique to make Kishi-Ko's two-handed swing wider, then swipe the blade flat in a wide arc in front of you. Smoke billows in all directions, and the white clears enough to see through.

The yard is empty.

There's an echo of rough laughter on the wind, faint enough that even your enhanced hearing can't tell what direction it comes from. That's a neat trick. Ventriloquism or something. She's going to be a problem. You put Kishi-Ko back in its sling and pick up Kerimakureisho, but don't sheathe it, still wary of another surprise attack.

Luffy slept through the entire fight, apparently. The noise seems to have roused Zoro and Sanji, however, who both come running out of the house, Usopp a few steps behind them.

"Taylor, what was that?" Usopp asks, breathing heavily. Sanji looks you up and down, seeing you uninjured, and then looks around.

"Some ninja lady," you say, gesturing to the shuriken embedded in the ground. "She tried to recruit me to this thing called Baroque Works. Didn't take a 'no' well, I guess."

"I remember that name," Zoro says. "Huh, you too?"

"Too?" you and Usopp ask in unison. Oh, now you remember, from the manga. Zoro had been approached by Baroque Works before.

"Yeah, about when I started getting calling Pirate Hunter, they sent someone to recruit me. Didn't think it was important, but he called himself Mr. 7. Some kind of secret organization deal. I didn't care much for it."

"What happened?" you ask.

Zoro shrugs. "I told him I'd join if they made me the boss. He tried to recruit me by force after that, and I had to make the refusal permanent."

Oh.

You blink a few times to clear your thoughts. Self-defense, right? Still, you're surprised to learn that Zoro has killed in the past, even if you probably shouldn't be.

But does that mean the ninja will be coming back? You're going to have to do something about her, or she'll hit you, or worse, someone else in the crew, when they aren't expecting it.

"Was Nami here?" Sanji asks you, sounding worried as he checks on Luffy. You shake your head. Not only Nami, but Apis is missing too, and if you were tracked here, the Merry is out in the open as well.

"Up!" Sanji shouts as he drags Luffy to his feet.

"Huh? Pork buns?" Luffy says as he's shaken awake.

"They're gone, you glutton," Sanji says.

"Whaaaaaaaaaa?" Luffy says in a panic, glancing over his shoulder. Most of the pork buns are indeed gone, only a dozen left in the bottom steamer.

"You mean you didn't eat them?" you ask.

Luffy shakes his head, even as he reaches an elastic arm behind his back and snatches the remaining steamed dumplings straight into his mouth, bulging his cheeks comically.

"'t wsmmt mh," he says through his food. You cringe, mentally refusing to translate the Luffy-speak even though you know what he's saying.

"Anyway, there's a trail here," you change the subject, showing them the drag marks. You crouch down and inspect the dirt. "And sandal marks in the trail. Nami's size. She probably went that way too, walking on her own. Hopefully that means she's fine. No idea where Apis is, though."

Sanji inspects the trail and nods. "It goes through the bush there. I think that way goes up the mountain?"

You stand and look back towards the harbor, checking the ground for tracks of the ninja, and not really finding any.

"I want to check on the Merry. If this ninja found me here, she could have brought friends," you tell him.

The five of you share a look.

"Right," Usopp says. "I'll go with Taylor. The three of you go on up?"

Luffy swallows his food with a gulp. "So we get to follow the mystery trail?"

Zoro nods. The two of them push the bushes aside and start walking.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Sanji tells you, patting your shoulder as he walks by.

"Hold up." You reach down to your belt, which is hidden by the hem of your shirt, and find what you're looking for in hooked to it securely - a pair of handheld two-way radios dad picked up second-hand from a friend. Probably ex-construction equipment. You hand one over to Sanji.

"We call this a walkie-talkie where I come from. It's a radio, uh, it works like a den-den mushi. You press the button," you depress it with a click, "and what you say into this part here can be heard through the other one. Release the button to let them talk back to you. It only goes a few miles, but keep us up-to-date if you can, okay?"

Sanji takes it from you, practices once, "Test," to which the radio gives a small squawk of feedback. You shrug, and wave him away, hooking the other back onto your belt.

"Okay, shall we?" you ask Usopp.

As you descend the winding path towards the harbor, it's obvious both of you are on-edge. Soon, you see the masts of three ships in the harbor. Two fly the flag of the World Government.

"Oh no," Usopp moans, saying what you're both thinking.

You both decide to avoid the main path, instead slinking along the fences and hedgerows. A small patrol of marines passes you as you hide, apparently searching the town for something, probably you. You manage to quietly make your way to a small stable overlooking the harbor and peek out from from behind a hay cart at the bay. Sure enough, you can see two marine ships, one parked on either side of the Merry.

As Usopp fiddles with the optics on his goggles, you survey the scene. There's one large ship, although you don't recognize what fleet or deployment it's with from its markings. Next to the dock, you can see a score of marines lined up taking orders from what appears to be a moustached marine captain. The smaller marine ship is, you hate to say it, almost certainly Captain Smoker's. You scan the shore, spotting Lieutenant Tashigi directing the search in the town, but Smoker is...

"Shit," Usopp says, swearing uncharacteristically. "S-smoker's on the Merry."

Sure enough, Captain Smoker is standing on the Merry's foredeck in all his bare-chested glory, arms crossed, looking out over the docks where the other marines are being ordered around. Part of you wants to scream in frustration - staking out your ship is an incredibly savvy move, but not one that makes things easy for you.

"Ah, crap," you say. Not good. Not good at all.

As you watch, the other marine captain turns around and they seem to exchange a few words. Another figure in a grey suit emerges from one of the buildings and interjects into their conversation. Smoker seems to scowl as the suit gestures to the ship, then to the path into the village. That's unusual. Is he someone outside the marines' usual command?

And how did the ninja from Baroque Works figure into everything? She shouldn't be affiliated with the marines, but you don't see any other boats here.

"Taylor, what do we do? He's on the Merry." There's some panic in Usopp's voice.

To make matters worse, your radio picks that moment to crackle. Sanji's voice comes through.

"This working? Taylor, you're not going to believe this."

"I hear you," you say, motioning to Usopp to calm down a little. "Go ahead." You're wondering what he's found.

"There's a dragon in a cave up here. An actual sennenryuu."

"A real dragon?!" you say, at the same time as Usopp hisses a surprised "What?!"

"Oh. It ate Luffy."

Sanji delivers that line in a complete deadpan.

"Whaaa-mmmph," Usopp starts to shout before you clamp your hand over his mouth. His eyes widen and he stops trying to yell, realizing that you're supposed to be hiding right now.

"Sanji, did it really eat Luffy?" you ask, concern welling in your chest.

"Give me that!" There's a clattering noise as the radio is handed over. "Luffy is playing around in its mouth!" Nami says a little too loudly over the radio. You fumble for the volume knob.

"Is it dangerous?" you ask her.

"No, it's a big senile feathery blockhead with no teeth, and it can barely move," Nami says. You hear Apis chirp something affirmative in the background. "Stop playing around you two!" she says away from the radio.

"Um, do you need help?" you ask.

You hear some conversation in the background. Sanji's voice comes back through the walkie-talkie.

"We're going to try to get this dragon out of here. Apis says he's looking for Lost Island, and, well, with a name like that, how could we not help out? Might take us a while to figure out how to transport him, though, he's a little too big to carry."

"Sounds good," you say. "We've a bit of a problem here."

"A bit!" Usopp says in reaction to your understatement.

You shush him, and continue. "Two marine ships, including Smoker. He's guarding the Merry himself. I might be able to get him away, though..."

"Shit," Sanji says. "Let me tell the others" You set the radio down for a moment.

"Taylor," Usopp whispers. "Some of the marines are leaving."

You peer over the cart. Sure enough, the other marine captain is leading about twenty marines towards the path up the mountain, in the direction of Apis's house. The suited man is going with him, too. They appear to be having a friendly conversation, but your superior vision picks out the captain clenching his fist enough to go white. Hm, perhaps they don't entirely agree with each other. If only you knew who that suited man was.

"Marines on the way," you say into the radio. "About two dozen troops, a captain, and a strange man in a grey suit and a weird hairdo."

"I got it, Taylor-chan," Sanji replies. "The plan's to build a raft with wheels and ride it into the sea, I think."

There's a crashing noise in the background as he speaks, then the sound of Nami yelling something indistinct.

"Hey sword-brains, we want lumber, not kindling!" Sanji shouts. There's a pause, then he says to the radio this time, "Sorry, Taylor. This might take a while, no one here is good at building things. We'll deal with the marines though, don't worry. Can you handle the Merry?"

Huh. Okay. So you have to get the Merry back from Smoker. Easier said than done, but it should be possible. You mull it over. There are three basic steps. First, you need to get Smoker off the ship itself and away from it. Second, you need to sail away with the Merry before he can get back on board. Third, you need to either outrun or hide from the marine ships that pursue you. Oh, and you don't want any of you to get caught either.

The obvious method is to make a distraction somehow. You could do it now, but waiting until dusk might be better. You could sabotage their ships, which carries some risk if you're noticed, but would prevent immediate pursuit. You could sail out into the persistent fog bank that surrounds this island and hide there until Sanji calls you in. You could grab the Merry right on time and try to outrun their ships. You could fight if Smoker leaves, but it would be you versus two marine ships and that's not a great idea.

Lots of ideas, but you need a plan.

Spoiler: Rolls and gains

The next update will cover a few hours into the evening.

Warship Island 3

"Yeah, I'll take care of it," you say, mind settling on a plan of action. "Can you send Nami down? She'd be best at sneaking onto the ship."

"Sure," she says, sounding like she's standing a few feet away from Sanji's radio. "Need my expertise, huh? Wouldn't be the first time I've snuck off with that boat."

"Just watch out for the marines," you tell her. "There's a stable overlooking the bay on the north side. I'll meet you nearby."

Then you turn to Usopp, still holding down the transmit button. "Usopp, do you mind going up to help them? They're building something up there and none of them are experts."

"Sure, don't worry. Captain Usopp is on the job!" he states confidently, flexing one arm.

"Be sure to get there before the marines see you," you say. Usopp pales rapidly at this, nods, and scrambles to get to into the forest before the marines who are walking up the road get there.

You sigh, and glance back at the marine ships. Smoker's still standing on the Merry's deck, arms crossed, almost a statue in his vigilance. How inconvenient.

Well, if he's watching for you from land, he won't be expecting what you're about to do. You make your way down to one of the island's rocky beaches, lay Kerimakureisho on the ground, and morph into a swordfish fishman before picking up your sword again. Thus armed, you slip into the water. Diving down, you cut through the water towards the bay like you were born in it.

You thought you'd have more trouble navigating down here, but it's remarkably clear and easy. The dark and the way sound travels would have been a problem as a human or a bear, but in this form? You're completely unhindered. In fact, you suspect your senses as a fishman are even better underwater than in the open air.

As you enter the cove where the dock is, you slow and take care not to stir up the silt and sand as you drift past the anchor cables and underneath the hulls of the three ships above. The Merry is easily visible as the smallest one. To its north, there's the fat wooden hull of the large marine patrol ship, what some pirates call a "battleship", although the marines consider real battleships to be more heavily armed. You can hear faint echoes of voices from above, possibly from within the hull.

To the south, there's the dark hull of Smoker's ship, a sleek frigate designed for pursuit. Strangely, the lower hull is made of some kind of dark, black-green material instead of wood. There's also two spots where what appears to a paddlewheel can be lowered into the water, which you would never have guessed from just looking from outside. Unlike the other ship, Smoker's seems to be completely silent. Are all his marines away, or is it something else?

You drift upwards until you're directly underneath Smoker's ship, placing your hand on the hull. It feels like some kind of rock, and has the smooth texture of obsidian rather than the roughness of granite or concrete. You withdraw your hand and make a fist to knock on it, to test its strength, then stop yourself. You have a job to do, and it won't be helped by making noise just because you're curious.

Holding Kerimakureisho, you inspect the rudder, noting that although it does have ropes, they aren't what guides it. The rudder is attached to the hull with three pinned metal hinges, and well above the waterline the top is part of a tiller leading into the hull. The cables guiding it would be inside the hull. Thinking about it, that's a fairly typical setup. Changing plans slightly, you surface very slowly, emerging in the shadow of the rudder and the aft cabin. To your surprise, you do hear the sound of someone cooking within the ship. So the hull must dampen sound? That's an interesting feature. You'll have to think on it later, but you have a job to do right now.

Quietly is key. You could slash the rudder off its hinges with Kerimakureisho, but you suspect that would get noticed. Instead, you grip the rudder from both sides just past each hinge, and crush the wood between your hands. It takes a minute as you strain, but it works, and you are rewarded with splintered, useless wood under each hinge. Yeah, this form definitely has some kind of super-strength. You test the rudder slightly, and are pretty sure it would fall right off if they moved it.

You slip beneath the waves again and repeat the treatment to the other marine ship. No one seems to notice you. There's some noise above here too, perhaps someone chopping wood, or the sound of at least two swordsmen beating on training dummies? Nevertheless, both ships are sabotaged without incident and you make your way back to the deserted beach.

You slip out of the water, standing on the rocks and morphing back to human. This doesn't take away the water you're soaked with, however, and you don't want to leave a wet trail back to your hiding spot. You think for a moment, before focusing on the Sube Sube devil fruit power. After about twenty seconds concentration, the water slides right off. Apparently, that didn't count as training, but good to know you can do it. It's a quick trek up to your hiding place, where you confirm Smoker is still standing guard and the marines are still searching the town. You keep watch for about twenty minutes before something happens.

"You weren't kidding about the marines," a voice says from right behind you.

You jump to your feet and your scimitar is halfway out of the scabbard before you realize it's just Nami.

Sheepishly, you return your sword to your side and relax, huffing out a breath of air.

"You're going to have to show me how you're so quiet," you say.

"Trade secret," she says, jokingly, her eyes twinkling at the prank. "So what's the plan?"

"I'll get him to chase me," you say, gesturing down to Smoker on the Merry. "Once he's away, you slip on board and sail into the fog bank. I've already broken the rudders, so they can't chase."

"You sure you'll be okay?" she asks. "You're fast, but he's supposed to be inescapable..."

"Ah, honestly, not really sure," you tell her. "He can probably catch me if he's lucky. But I'm the only person who can escape any time, so even if he does..."

Nami nods in understanding.

"Well, good luck!"

"Thanks."

You take a minute to dump most your heavier gear in your bedroom on Earth-Bet, hand off the radio to Nami, before making your way down towards the docks. The best way is probably to just get yourself noticed by a patrol. Speaking of, just around this corner...

You walk down the dirt street like you own it, straight past the two marines who are questioning a villager. You're almost afraid you won't get noticed at first, but then one of them looks up.

"Hey, isn't that..."

"It's Hebert," the other one says.

"Hey, you! Stop there."

You come to a halt and turn to face them, keeping your face expressionless.

"Hebert Taylor, please come with us," one of them says as they approach

"Sorry, but no," you say under your breath. You raise your sword in defiance.

The pair of marines share a glance, then draw their weapons. On that signal, you leap forward, deflecting both swords just lightly enough to let them keep their grips. Then you're past them, as they stumble backwards. You start a leisurely jog towards the harbor. Well, leisurely for most people.

No way anyone should fall for that. But the sound of pounding feet behind you, your average marine does.

"Hey! It's Hebert, we've found Hebert!" one of them shouts as they chase you.

You pick up the pace very slightly, sliding down the hill towards the harbor, disarming the slow-reacting marine standing guard next to the pier and skidding along the pierside. You look up to the Merry for Smoker.

He's already billowing off the Merry in your direction. You don't have to fake the "oh shit" that comes out of your mouth, and instead take off running again, this time at full speed. You scramble up the slope, and leap over a fence and duck under someone's laundry as you flee, putting your freerunning practice to work for the first time.

Behind you, there's a whoosh of noise as Smoker passes straight through the gaps in the fence. The buildings in this village are pretty spread out, but you manage to duck into the one alley you see, flicking your sword upwards and in the process overturning an entire cart of hay to block the entrance. There's a crash and the sound of cursing behind you, so you suppose physical barriers do work if they're solid enough.

At the end of the alley, you spin past a surprised villager, sending a herd of ducks squawking, and run towards the forest at the edge of town at maximum speed. You make it about ten seconds before someone steps from behind a hedgerow into your path. You have enough time to recognize Lieutenant Tashigi and a squad of three marines with swords at the ready.

"Hebert Taylor," she says, sounding incredibly angry, "you-" -disgrace the name of swordsw-holy shit how is she so-

You don't give her a single moment to speech at you and just use your momentum to attack her. Extending your arm as you, charge Kerimakureisho flicks upward. Tashigi is able to lower her sword to block, but isn't fast enough to brace and in a single blow you send her sword flying out of her grip. You follow that by barreling into her with your free forearm, clotheslining her and sending her flying after her sword. The marines behind her attack, but you duck under their swings and throw one into the other two, sending them flying in a heap. Tashigi lands on her back almost twenty feet away, and her sword completes its lazy arc to bury itself point down less than an inch from her neck. You think you did that on purpose, maybe? Headway tingles with a new skill, the sign of a job well done.

"Lieutenant!" Smoker shouts behind you. Shit, he's close again. You duck a grasping hand of smoke and leap sideways past a the corner of a barn, taking off running full speed towards the coast. Losing him in the forest would take way too long. Up ahead there's a field, and you dive into the five-foot-tall stalks of grain. You slash outwards with your sword to create the illusion you're running one way, then duck as low to the ground as you can and sprint the other way.

There are shouts behind you as more marines emerge from the town and stumble into the field after you. Smoker charges in too, but the stalks shift the other way, your ruse a success. You emerge twenty seconds later onto a path leading towards the coast as the shouts behind you start to spread out. How long has it been, maybe a minute and a half? Not long enough. You glance at your escape route down the coast and instead start jogging back towards the town.

It only takes half a minute for the marines to catch you again.

"There she is!" "She's doubling back!" "Don't let her get to the ship!"

You break into a full speed run, dashing between houses, over fences, and through gardens, taking a lazy semicircular path back towards the coast.

Suddenly, Smoker appears to your side, a literal wave of smoke looming over you. You dive forward, and it smashes into the ground behind you, billowing and swirling everywhere as you roll out of the way. You seriously doubt advice like "smoke rises" will do you much good, so you just scramble not to get caught. As you spring to your feet you kick over a rain barrel, splashing a small wave of water in front of him. The smoke flows around it but it's a half-second delay, good enough to get back to full speed. You could outpace him, but every obstacle you have to run around slows you ever so slightly. No, hopefully this has been long enough.

In another half minute of running and dodging you finally see the cliff. You leap off it towards the water, spinning so you can see behind you. Smoker billows off after you, and there's a moment of panic as a smoke closes in around you. You slash with Kerimakureisho as you fall, but it doesn't do anything, as far as you can tell.

But before the smoke can solidify and pluck you out of the air, you hit the water and it's blown away. As you sink and slowly swim away, you watch as Smoker reforms at the cliff top, and the marines gather around him. They aim rifles into the water and shoot, but you're already a dozen feet deep, the bullets halted by the thick curtain of water. As you kick yourself away from the shore you dive deeper, until you're certain they can't see you, then take the time to morph to swordfish fishman and swim away towards the harbor.

It takes you about twenty minutes to locate the Merry, starting from the harbor and searching outwards into the fog. Nami seems to be keeping her drifting, half sail and with not much of a breeze. You release fishman form and scramble up the side. As you pull yourself aboard you note there's a few more bulletholes, but nothing serious.

"Who's there?" Nami announces, emerging from the cabin staff drawn. "Oh, you found it all right."

"Yeah," you tell her. "Kind of scary running from Smoker, though. Don't want to try that again."

Nami shudders slightly in agreement.

As you fetch your equipment from Bet and throw off the disorientation, Nami has a conversation with Sanji on the radio.

"Ready to go?" your hear her ask.

"Just about. Zoro just finished off some weirdo with sunglasses and a devil fruit. And...hold on," Sanji says over the radio. There's a moment of pause. "Huh, there's something else coming up the mountain."

"Can you tell what it is?" you ask. Nami relays your question for you.

"Not really. It's moving fast, and there's too much dust."

Dust...oh shit.

"Sanji, it might be Smoker!" you shout. With the Merry gone and the marines he sent up the mountain defeated, they would be his next logical target.

"What?!" There's a slight pause. "Usopp, we have to go now!" The radio clicks off.

You're running around too, pulling on the ropes as Nami directs you in getting the Merry to full sail. Nami steers you towards some unknown point, Warship Island looming to your side, holding a conversation you can't hear on the radio.

It only takes four minutes of sailing for you to break out of the fog, sailing towards the point of a cliff. You can hear shouts from the mountainside, and it only takes a moment to find their source. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Apis. There's a massive feathered creature lying on a rickety-looking cart, craning its neck backwards up the mountain. The cart is careening down the mountain a breakneck speeds, jumping over rocks and generally looking unsafe as all hell for its six riders.

You and Nami maneuver the ship alongside the cliff, and with a final whoop from both Luffy and Apis (and a scream from Usopp), the cart/raft flies off the edge and into the water behind the ship. The boat rocks with a large wave as you run to the back with a coil of rope in hand. As you lash the raft to the Merry with Sanji's help, everyone else scrambles aboard.

"Where to, Luffy?" Nami asks him.

Out of the corner of your eye you see Zoro wince as he leans against the railing. Is he hurt? He catches your concerned gaze and gives you a tiny shake of the head. You resolve to ask him about it later.

"Lost Island," Luffy exclaims.

"Lost Island?" you ask.

"The sennenryuu came from a place called Lost Island," Sanji explains. Your history power fills in a little more - Lost Island is the original home of the people of Warship Island, about a thousand years ago. Of course, its name says a lot about your chances of finding it.

"Lost Island!" Apis shouts enthusiastically.

"But do we know how to get to Lost Island?" Usopp asks, ever the skeptic.

...

"Is that really a problem for us?" Zoro asks everyone.

Everyone shares a look. Expressions range from Apis's questioning face, Luffy's wide grin, Sanji's easy smile, Nami's sheepish shrug, and Usopp's casual "of course not".

"That's right," Sanji says. "Since when a little thing like being lost mattered to us?"

"All right, set a course to Lost Island!" Luffy shouts.

"Aye, captain," Nami says.

You join in a rousing cheer with the crew. With a smile Apis runs off to talk to Ryu. Luffy and Usopp go with her, excited to see the dragon in action again. You're left with Zoro, Sanji, and Nami. You all exchange looks, but it looks like no one is going to voice the pressing question.

"So, anyone know how to find out where Lost Island is?" you say bluntly.

Warship Island 4

Nami shrugs. Zoro looks uninterested. Sanji lights a cigarette.

"I'll check the charts. Zoro, could you do lookout?" Nami says.

"I guess I'll go ask the dragon," you say.

You make your way to the back of the ship and balance your way down the rope. Apis and Luffy are there, holding a one-sided conversation with the extremely-old-looking feathered dragon.

"Hi," you say. "I'm Taylor."

How do you introduce yourself to a dragon who doesn't speak your language?

"This is Ryu!" Apis chirps, waving her arms wildly and gesturing. Ryu turns his head towards you and sniffs, before laying it back down on the raft. You get the impression his eyesight is not very good. Then he breathes out, foul-smelling dragon breath washing over you, and attempts to lick you. You unsuccessfully try to fend off his tongue with your arms, but no, you have dragon drool everywhere. All this time, Apis is looking into his eyes, presumably communicating in some way. Luffy, on the other hand, just laughs at Ryu's antics.

"Ryu says hi too," Apis says. You'll have to take her word for it. She's the one with the devil fruit.

"Um, Ryu, nice to meet you. You're the one we're trying to find Lost Island for, I guess."

Ryu doesn't respond, but Apis says, "That's right!"

"It's his home?" you ask her.

She nods yes.

"Um, can you remember anything about it, Ryu? What it was like, where it was?"

Apis nods and looks him in the eye for a minute. Even Luffy looks curious.

"It was warm," she says, translating. Or perhaps relaying Ryu's thoughts. "The sun was the same warmth as it is here. There were rocks, and pools of water, and the sky was pure blue. The breeze tastes kind of like this one. And he was surrounded by other dragons."

"Other dragons?" you ask.

You barely catch it, but as you ask that, something unnatural echoes on the breeze. Apis freezes, seeming to sense it too, but the one who reacts is Ryu. The sennenryuu rears up, old worn wings flapping, opens his mouth, and lets forth a mighty roar to the heavens. You have to grab Luffy to keep Ryu from knocking him into the ocean.

"Whoa!" he shouts.

Before Ryu can push himself off the raft, he collapses again, breathing heavily with exertion.

The roar echoes around the ocean, somehow returning louder than Ryu gave it, even though you're standing right there. You're about to comment on this, when Zoro yells from the mast "Sail ho!"

"It's the marines!" Usopp shouts.

What? Again?

"Don't worry," Luffy tells Apis, "I'll be right back." He grabs onto the Merry and shoots himself over the tangerine trees onto the main deck.

You stand straight and think for a moment.

"Apis, it'll be safer on the ship," you tell her.

She gives a glance at Ryu, then at you. You bend down to carry her, and she lets you.

"We'll be back," you tell her.

Back on the ship, you immediately see the problem. In the distance in front of you, there's a fleet of nine marine ships. Eight are spreading out in a fan formation, but the one in the middle immediately draws your attention. It's a ridiculous three-hulled, three-masted monstrosity, with a stylized demon head as the figurehead and two massive cannons set into the deck. The other ships are chained to it in some kind of strange chain net.

"That's the flagship of the 8th squadron," Sanji tells you, apparently recognizing the ship, somehow.

There's the crackle of a loudspeaker from the ocean across from you.

"Straw Hats! Surrender the dragon and we may spare your lives!"

Yeah, right.

You pull out your binoculars to look over the marine ships. Is that...?

"Hey, they're preparing to fire the cannon!" you shout.

"Sanji!" Nami shouts.

Inside the cabin, Sanji yanks the tiller to the right. Behind the ship, the raft swings in a wide arc as the Merry cuts starboard.

One of the giant cannons of the flagship fires with a loud crack, followed by an echoing boom. It echoes out over the ocean and drowns out almost all other sound. Next to you, Apis's head snaps up, looking up into the sky. She cocks it to the side, as if listening to something else, but you can't hear anything as it's drowned out by the cannon.

"Something's coming..." you hear her mumble as the noise of the cannon fades.

On her shoulder a seagull cries once, twice, and she turns to face it, eyes widening.

The eight-foot cannonball splashes down where the Merry used to be. Ryu's raft rocks violently as the wave pushes it even farther out. Sanji drifts the tiller back to port in case they fire again.

"There's going to be a big wind!" Apis shouts.

Several things happen at once.

You feel the Merry shake slightly, as if the ocean itself is trying to dislodge you. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was the wave from the massive cannonball, but the timing is wrong.

There's a roar on the wind, like Ryu's but more...varied? Shadows flit by the sun. You think you might be the only one who notices.

In front of you, behind the marine fleet, the sky parts vertically, the blue sky fading like glass revealing a storm behind it. Winds howl. The marine fleet bucks on the sea, dragged around by their own chains.

Luffy yells back at the marines in defiance. What, exactly, he says is drowned out by all the noise.

You can see the marine commander yelling at his troops through your binoculars. It's a towering, somewhat obese man with what's practically a villain whiskers and a ridiculous purple hat, seated on a literal throne.

The chains holding the fleet together are released, falling into the sea, probably an emergency release of some sort. As the sea swells underneath the ships, their formation is broken and most of the ships pushed in all directions. Only the flagship remains on course towards you.

No longer worried about the marines, you look up for whatever just passed overhead. And what you see...

That's...

There are hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands. Feathers gleaming vivid green in the setting sun, dragon after dragon soars overhead, a massive flock descending from on high, heading in the direction of the setting sun.

Slowly, everyone else seems to notice. A silence falls over the crew, broken only by the howling wind and the low keening of the dragons overhead. As you watch, there's a CRACK of thunder from the horizon. Your gaze flashes to the marine flagship, there the other massive cannon is smoking. You follow the trajectory upwards, straight into the swarm of dragons, who nimbly dodge out of the way for the most part. Two are clipped, spinning before recovering and crying out loudly.

Luffy makes a wordless noise of anger and shoots his arm skywards, grabbing onto a dragon's neck. He snaps himself into the sky, borrowing a sennenryuu's neck as a perch, and stretches his foot skyward, up and up and up.

"Gomu-gomu no AXE!"

As everyone watches, Luffy brings his massively extended foot down on the marine flagship, and with a CRASH splits it straight in two. Marines scatter as they're thrown overboard. You jaw drops open at the blatant display of power. It would take you months to reach that level, and Luffy is going to keep growing...

As you watch, the water shakes again, but before you can say anything, Zoro shouts a warning from the crow's nest.

"Whirlpool!"

Nami snaps her mouth shut as she whips up her spyglass to look at the ocean ahead. Then she takes a glance over the edge of the ship, and turns back to the crew.

"Steady, Sanji!" she calls to the tiller.

What?

"Nami, that's straight into the whirlpool!" you shout.

"Trust me," she shouts.

Okay?

You grab Apis, who is still gawking at Luffy, and run to the side to see what Nami saw.

Underneath the ship, the ocean is remarkable shallow and, is that the bottom quickly approaching? Is the sea level changing? Then...

The ship pitches as you enter the side of the whirlpool. You grab onto the railing with one hand and hang onto Apis with the other.

"Ryu!" she cries. Ah shit.

"Hang on tight!" you tell her, throwing her over your neck and morphing into a very, very large bird. As you do, you leap upwards, flapping away from the rapidly descending ship. Apis grips the arm-length feathers on your neck for dear life. Ryu's raft is balancing on the edge of the whirlpool, and even lying slumped over, the dragon's eyes wide as it teeters on the edge. You swoop in and catch Ryu in your feet as best you can. The giant albatross is a little smaller than the dragon, and your webbed feet aren't really any good for grabbing, but you try your hardest. Below Ryu, the raft begins to tip.

Ryu doesn't have enough energy to flap his own wings. Your grip slips, and as he begins to fall, he manages to snap his toothless jaw around your feet. That really hurts, and you let out a short bird-screech as you keep flapping.

The raft falls away, and you're left with a dragon dangling from your bird legs on the edge of the whirlpool as you flap your wings as hard as you can to pull it away. Futile, as the current starts to drag it under. You redirect your efforts to stabilizing yourselves. For several tense moments you strain against the water, coming inches from being dragged into the side of the whirlpool yourself.

Slowly the height of the water decreases, and then the weight disappears as Ryu settles on the seabed and the last few feet of water sloshes away. The seabed has literally risen out of the sea, what you can only presume to be Lost Island itself rising from the depths. Behind you, it's connected to Warship Island, and in front of you, where the storm just cleared, a second island towers out of the ocean. The ruins of human-built structures dot it all the way to the top, and on the summit there appears to be some sort of temple reaching towards the sky.

Ryu releases your legs and you morph back to human, before stumbling and falling down. Apis detaches herself from your neck and runs over to him. You massage your extremely sore legs, trying to figure out if you've sprained or pulled anything - you'll be feeling this for days.

The Merry bobs lightly on one of the few remaining patches of water, a shallow lake with a channel to the sea. Nami is just that good, apparently. The marine ships are nowhere to be seen, blown past the horizon by the water displaced by the rising seabed and by the unraveling of the strange storm. There is some wreckage from the flagship, but not enough to be the main part. Surrounding you are hundreds of pools of water, and more interestingly, calcified dragon corpses, dozens upon dozens of them.

"Ryu!" Apis shouts. The dragon has closed his eyes. "Ryu, say something!"

Oh no.

Around you, more sennenryuu are landing. The calciform pools around you must hold some significance for them. Little depressions in the ground contain what appear to be eggs, and you realize you're surrounded by sennenryuu nests.

You stumble towards Apis and Ryu, eventually getting close enough to place your hand under Ryu's chin and feel for movement. He isn't breathing. You press your ear to his body, and don't hear anything either.

You don't really have any way to check, but it feels correct to you. Ryu is dead.

"I'm sorry," you say to Apis. She bursts into tears, hugging Ryu's feathery corpse. You lean in and hug her, too. She latches onto you as she cries. A few tears dribble down your cheeks, too.

Apis cries for a good five minutes. As you hold her, you think over what's happened, if there was anything you could have done, and nothing really comes to mind. Ryu was old, and he managed to make it home before expiring. If the history you know is true, this place only appears every thousand years. That's a long time for anyone, even a dragon.

At some point, Apis's sobs subside, and she pushes herself away from you. She looks up at you, wipes something away from her eyes, and pulls out a handkerchief to blow her nose.

"He was old," she says through a few hiccups. "I should have realized..."

You nod.

"He was probably just...looking to find his way home before he died..." you say, trailing off. It's a sad thought, but a true one.

Your attention is drawn away from by a noise next to you. Ryu has died right next to one of the nests, and from it, there's a knocking noise. You turn your head to look, and one of the the eggs cracks. The snout of a baby dragon pokes through.

"I see..." you whisper to yourself.

"So this is where they come to die," Sanji says from behind you, cigarette already in the mouth and lit. The rest of the crew has dismounted the Merry and is gaping at the incredible sights around you.

"And to find their newborn," you tell him.

Eyes still watery, Apis reaches out for the newborn sennenryuu as it struggles from the egg and adult dragons land around it.

Warship Island 5

You can't help but be drawn to the dragons gathering around the newborn. They take turns supporting it, cleaning it, some of them even cough up food for it. Which you know is natural, but still a little weird. You realize that somehow, this chick has to be able to fly before the island sinks again. Apis and you are caught up in the flood of sennenryuu and watching them dote on the newborn is a literal once in a lifetime experience.

The sennenryuu don't seem to mind the two of you, and Apis is a goldmine of information, relaying all your questions and informing you of far more about these amazing creatures than you would have learned on your own. Apparently, they usually live in ones or twos on high peaks and on lands "far above all waters". It's difficult to piece together exactly where the sennenryuu spend their time in the thousand years between migrations, but you get the impression that it's far away from human habitats and in remote corners of this planet. Perhaps the mountains of the Red Line, or even more exotic locations. You get the chance to inspect the dragons' wings, their feathers, the various muscles that make such large creatures capable of movement and flight, and eventually make your way to the cracked eggshell.

"Do they mind if I look at this?" you ask Apis. She shakes her head, giving you permission.

Something is strange about the shells the baby sennenryuu hatch from. The hatched eggs you can find are covered in the same strange mineral that the various dragon remains here are covered in. Some kind of calcification process, you think. There are new eggs being laid all over the nesting ground that don't have this at all.

The dragons have to have a gestation period of a full thousand years while the island is below the waves, as implausible as that is, but there also should be a reason why they come here specifically. You have a lot of difficulty breaking the eggshells into smaller fragments even with your considerable strength, and can't really understand how the chick, which doesn't look particularly strong, was able to hatch itself. Still, the process provides an extremely strong armor to the eggs from the outside, which would make it nigh-invulnerable to scavengers and predators. If this material was known to the world at large, it might be in high demand, which makes you glad that the dragon's roost seems to be a lost secret.

A glance upwards shows that the sun has basically set. You duck back to the Merry to retrieve a flashlight from your gear. Night is a scary time on the ocean, as you've quickly discovered, and you're starting to wonder if you shouldn't put more emphasis on outfitting the Merry with modern conveniences like electricity to run proper lights. And earning the money to do so...

As you make your way outside, Usopp and Zoro are building a large fire near on the shore, the flames already burning several feet high out of a firepit made from an abandoned stone nest. Luffy eagerly looks on at the cuts of meat and fish Sanji is preparing to roast.

"Dinner?" you ask.

"Dinner," Luffy moans.

Dinner is a party, but for you, a somewhat subdued one. You nurse your legs and determine that you aren't really injured, just sore. Luffy and Apis share food with the sennenryuu, who seem happy to join in the celebrations, prancing around the fire and letting your friends take rides and play with them. It also makes you wonder a bit about Luffy's ability to somehow understand the big animals.

"I've been investigating how this place came to be," Nami tells you and Usopp in a quiet moment. "Didn't find much, but there has to be something I'm missing."

"Why?" Usopp asks bluntly.

"Because this island could sink back into the ocean any time," Nami says. "And if that happened while we were here..."

"Oh. That's dangerous! What if-"

"Calm down," Nami interrupts him. "I had Apis ask the dragons how long it would be. We have until a little after sunrise tomorrow morning, apparently."

"Were you able to find out anything interesting?" you ask. How the entire seafloor raises itself is a mystery that has been nagging you ever since you saw it happen.

"Not really," Nami says. "It could have to do with currents and pressures. There could be some balance of air and water pockets that causes the island to float suddenly. Or maybe tectonic activity or magnetism. I don't know if we'll ever find out though..."

"Ah, that's too bad," you say. If only you had more time here too, you would have looked into that too.

You yawn and stand, intending to head to bed early.

"Hey, Taylor, I was wondering if you could be here early tomorrow," Nami asks you as you prepare to leave for the night. "I want to get out of here before it's light. The marines and Smoker might show up if we stay too long, and we've had too many close calls."

"I can be here early to help you set sail," you tell her. "I know none of them are morning people." You gesture to the rest of the crew, who are getting ready to turn in for the night too.

She laughs slightly at that.

"Ah, thanks. An hour before dawn would be great."

"Sure. Good night, then."

"Good night Taylor."

You slip back to Earth-Bet, fill dad in on the day's events quickly, set an alarm, and pass out in your bed. It's hardly 10 PM, but still, it's been a long day.

Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Bet, Worm Multiverse, Worm-SWB

Date: Monday, January 3, 2011

It's five in the morning. In Brockton Bay in January, the sun rises at about seven. The grey of dawn hasn't even begun poking its way past the dark of night as you prepare yourself for the day.

Location: Dragon's Roost Island, Polestar Sea, East Blue Ocean, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-SWB

Sunday, May 15, 1532

Fifteen minutes later, you appear on the Merry's deck, disoriented and a little tired, but ready for a morning of sailing. Sanji will have breakfast, and you can catch a nap later once you've escaped Warship Island.

Naturally, there's no one here. You glance out over the risen island, where most of the sennenryuu are sleeping in nests of the strange mineral and in shallow pools of water, although there are still some wandering about doing... something. You can't quite tell in the dark. The bonfire of last night has dwindled glowing embers and a few licks of flame, and your crew plus Apis is sleeping on blankets, bedrolls, and hammocks nearby. Well, everyone but Nami. Strange, if she's not still sleeping, she ought to be up here on the deck with you.

Maybe she's still getting ready for the day? You slip into the kitchen, noting that everything is as you left it, including the den den mushi you stole from the marines, still sitting on the table, apparently asleep. You're about to start making your way down to the girl's room, but you pause as you hear noises. From below, there's a thump, and then voices.

"She lives here. Where is she?" a rough voice demands.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nami says in a petulant tone.

Ah, shit. The ninja from earlier is down below decks, looking for you. And it looks like Nami has gotten caught up in things. This could be a hostage situation.

But unlike last time you fought, this time you have the element of surprise.

You draw Kerimakureisho silently, pausing at the top of the ladder and contemplating a plan. The entire inside of the ship is shrouded in darkness. You don't think that ninja had any real special abilities, but you don't want to tip her off until Nami is rescued. First, you need information.

You dip your sword down the ladder's hole a few inches, keeping it in the shadows so it doesn't glint. The room reflects on the blade, showing you exactly what is happening. Except for moonlight from the portholes, the room is dark. A figure robed in black is holding Nami at the point of a short sword. It's about three inches from her neck. Nami's back is to the starboard wall, and she herself has a knife in hand behind her back, but she's in no position to use it without getting her throat slit.

Several exotic ways to turn this situation on its head occur, but the simplest is just to, well...

You withdraw your sword, and position yourself above just so. Silently, you drop from above about a third of the way down the ladder, redistributing your weight so it doesn't creak, and launch yourself in a mighty spring, blade first. No one is expecting this, as the widening of eyes of both the ninja and Nami show. The ninja tries to stab forward into your friend, but with a clang your sword drives into the side of hers and it is ripped from her hand and sent spinning into the corner of the room. There's a crack in its metal.

She springs backwards, two short knives appearing in her hands from her sleeves.

"Looking for me?" you ask. Hm, is banter a bad habit? Something to decide later. Nami steps beside you.

"This is the one who tried to recruit you, Taylor?" Nami asks. You nod.

"Tch. I suppose I'll have to kill all of you."

"Can you really take us both?" Nami asks, snapping the three pieces of her staff together and pointing them at her. You don't know if the anger in her voice is a bluff, but she's doesn't seem happy about being held at swordpoint.

Rather than respond, the ninja meets your eyes and attacks, knives in each hand flashing in the moonlight. You counter easily, her moves easier to read now that you've fought her once. As you bat her attacks away, she seems to realize she's at a disadvantage. She springs back and goes for a smoke bomb, but you don't let her, pressing the attack and forcing her to dodge a series of thrusts, driving her a step back with each. She barely twists herself out of the way, and you tear through the dangling fabric of her black ninja garb in three places.

She goes for her pockets again for some kind of tool, and you slash upwards to keep her hands away. This time, it's you who's outmaneuvered, as her knives reappear in her hands and she redirects your sword into the wall with a double-block, the tip burying itself in two inches deep. She charges past you and you're forced to release your sword and deflect two thrown knives with your hands and sleeves. Headway gives you something for that, but you don't have time to think about it in the middle of the fight. As the black-clad assassin runs for the ladder, Nami appears to the side and trips her with her staff. The ninja kicks it away as she falls. You seize your sword and slash at her back. She appears to roll out of your swing, grabbing at your sword with her the palms of her hands and shoving it into the deck this time. With both of you off balance, the ninja springs to her feet at the base of the ladder and scrambles upwards.

You wrench Kerimakureisho free. There's a significant quantity of blood on the blade. Above, the door of the kitchen slams open. You take the ladder in two steps, catching the door to the Merry's deck before it swings closed. Something loops down from above you, but you're focused and aware this time. You cleave the ninja wire in two with Musashi's technique as it reaches for your neck. You hear a quiet curse from above, but instead of pursuing, you grab one of the wires in your gauntleted hand pull it downwards. The curse becomes a shriek, and the ninja lands heavily on her back three feet in front of you, pulled down by her own weapon.

And then the fight is over. You hold your sword at her neck, not giving her a fraction of an inch to move. Headway seems to think this is good enough, giving you several abilities, but before you can really figure out what they are, your attention is drawn by lights on the hills around the ship. You keep an eye on the ninja, but there are bigger problems.

"See, men! This is worth dragging ourselves out here after that storm. Look at these beasts! The secret of the elixir of life is before us." A very loud voice echoes around the empty seabed, waking several of the dragons and causing your crew to stir awake.

"That fool again," the ninja you're holding at swordpoint croaks out.

"Who?" you ask her.

"Commodore, it's the Straw Hats!" someone else shouts.

"Nelson Royale," she says. "An idiot chasing a myth, who doesn't understand real power."

You digest this information even as you jab the tip of your sword forward slightly remind her that you're still holding her captive. The marines finally come into view. Nelson Royale is apparently the massive man you saw yesterday on the ship Luffy smashed. Beside him there's a mustached marine captain, and a large number of marines. Easily more than three dozen, and that's just what you can see from here. There are a large number of lights, and several of them are carrying spotlight lanterns, illuminating the Merry and your crew's camp completely.

Luffy rolls to his feet, blinks blearily, and yawns.

"That man is worth thir-" Nelson Royale doesn't finish his sentence, because Luffy immediately punches him in the face. The commodore flops to the ground groaning, down but not out. The marines around him gape open-mouthed, although the captain just seems to sigh, tensing for a fight.

"Fooooood..." Luffy moans, turning towards the Merry, grabbing Sanji out of his hammock and dragging him along.

"Oy, Luffy!" Sanji protests. "Hey, what's the big-"

Zoro seems to already be awake and has drawn two swords.

"Captain, snap out of it," he says calmly. "This is serious."

Sanji twists and manages to kick Luffy in the face. Your captain seems to shake off his sleep, looking around at the marines, a quizzical look forming on his face.

"Damn you!" Nelson shouts as he struggles to right himself, spitting blood. "ALL SQUADS, TAKE AIM!"

Out of the pre-dawn mist on the hills and ridges around the Merry, hundreds more marines appear, carrying rifles and aiming down at you, your crew, and the sennenryuuu nesting there. It's a firing squad from three directions. Worse, because you still have the ninja at swordpoint, you can't take your eyes off of her. And even if your sword was free, you can't block this many bullets. Sweat drips from your forehead as you start to focus in on the Sube Sube power, but even with it, you can't really defend anyone but yourself. Zoro and Sanji face in two directions, ready to fight but probably thinking the same thing you are. Usopp cowers behind a calcified dragon, holding Apis where she'll be shielded, brave but likely futile. Luffy is staring down the officers, looking casual, but he's bulletproof. Behind you, you can hear Nami hurriedly raising the Merry's anchor.

Then the tension is suddenly broken by the warble of multiple den den mushi ringing in stereo. It's the first time you've heard it in person, the "puru puru" sound a little strange to your western sensibilities, even if it seems to make sense in Japanese. You glance around for the source of the noise.

One of the men next to Nelson is wearing some kind of large pack on his back, and scrambles to grab the receiver of the snail mounted there. You can hear the den den mushi that you left back in the Merry's kitchen ringing too. The marine yanks the receiver off and looks to hand it to Nelson, but he's in no state to take it. Instead, the mustached captain grabs it. You hear a click in the wheelhouse as someone picks up that receiver too, likely Nami?

"Yes?" the marine captain states. Beside him, Commodore Nelson Royale groans on the ground again and starts to sit up.

"This is HQ," the den den mushi speaks in an aged female voice, "with an all-hands broadcast for the Marine Eighth Branch, East Blue. For numerous violations of the marine code, Commodore Nelson Royale is relieved of all duties of command and stripped of rank. Eighth Branch personnel are to apprehend the ex-commodore, his conspirators, and surrender them to the nearest unaffiliated marine unit for questioning."

"Vice Admiral Tsuru-sama?" the marine captain asks, as Nelson Royale seems to roll to his feet.

"Oh, is that little Hardy I hear? I should tell Garp another one of his boys is out in East Blue."

The captain just gapes at the receiver, like he can't believe what he's hearing. You yourself wonder if the marines are always so casual.

"BULLSHIT!" the ex-commodore shouts, his voice echoing throughout the clearing. "It's a trick! Take aim and shoot!"

"How undignified," the voice on the den den mushi says. "You have your orders. Hardy, Smoker, I expect a full report."

There is a clack, and the den den mushi goes silent.

"One million beri to every man who kills a sennenryuu," Nelson Royale shouts. "Any who take down a Straw Hat shares half their bounty!"

Some of the marines look uncertain. A few raise their rifles again. Others draw pistols and swords and point them at their companions. This is a mess. You brace yourself, trying to think of a way to defend the dragons and your crew.

Dozens of things happen at once. The mist seems to churn, then solidifies, smoky tendrils pulling marines down and jerking swords and guns away from their targets. There's a roar, a battle cry, and several rifles crack, firing at someone. No bullets hit near you, although you're not sure if that's just luck. Cries of "kill the dragons!", "traitors!", "defend the commodore!" and even "Justice!" echo around the island, and it appears some marines are fighting others. The sennenryuu, startled by the gunfire, shake off their sleep and roar loudly.

And the marine captain who took the call turns and punches Nelson Royale in the face. He goes down in a heap again, and does not stir this time. Lights flicker as lanterns are dropped and the island quickly becomes a messy, sightless battlefield.

"To the ship!" Nami shouts behind you. Luffy springs aboard quickly, followed by Sanji carrying Apis and Zoro with Usopp thrown over his shoulder.

What. Just. Happened?

Distracted by the sudden appearance of two factions of marines, your eyes leave the ninja for a little too long. She rolls away from you, jumping up onto the Merry's railing. You step after her, but she turns towards you and flares her sleeves, and suddenly you have to deflect a storm of throwing stars and knives. As you do, she leaps off the ship far higher than any normal human ought to, robes flapping, using some kind of technique to glide towards the summit of one of the nearby hills.

No way are you letting her get away.

You draw your slingshot from your utility belt and fire three quick shots. You only manage to put a single steel ball into the ninja's back - evidently your aim needs work - but she screams and stumbles, falling in a heap at the foot of one of the crystalline ridges. She scrambles to her feet, and you carefully aim and put a second shot into the side of her head. She goes down and this time does not rise. You can see her still breathing.

That person was nothing but bad news. She's down, maybe even badly injured, but should you kill her?

Before you can make that decision, someone appears next to the downed ninja. It's Lieutenant Tashigi, sword drawn. She leans down to identify the body.

"Captain, it's one of the mercenaries," you hear her shout over the din of the battle. Below you, you can feel the Merry jerk to life as the sails spread and catches the dawn breeze.

As you watch, Tashigi looks around and notices you standing on the ship's deck. Shouts of "they're getting away" can be heard over the din of battle, but the fight itself hasn't made its way down into the nesting grounds quite yet. Tashigi meets your eyes and glares at you. There's hostile intent there, maybe even killing intent, but it's weak. You face her down and try to show no expression on your face. Then Tashigi is obscured by another wall of smoke, and fades into the darkness. The Merry glides out of the bay, the sounds of battle fading behind you. As you sail into open waters the first grey of the coming dawn lightens the sky.

With a sigh of relief, you release your devil fruit power and turn around. Apis is standing there, looking back at the dragon island with an anguished expression.

"Taylor," she half sobs, "are they going to be okay? What's going to happen to Ryu's friends?"

You think back to how the battle was going. There were a lot of traitor marines, but against a force without abilities, Smoker would be overwhelming.

"Well, I've met that marine captain before," you tell Apis. "He's a good sort. Smoker wouldn't attack innocent people," you say, referring to the sennenryuu.

"Really?"

Your stomach churns at that question. You can't really be sure of anything.

"Let's go take a look," you tell her. You transform into a giant albatross, offering her a perch on your neck.

"We'll be right back," you shout to the crew, before taking off and soaring as high as you can into the sky.

From above, the sky is even lighter, but it's still dark enough that you don't really have to worry about being spotted. Up here, you're joined by dozens of gulls and even two dragons, flying lazy circles around the risen island. It's been about twenty minutes since you left the battle, but you can see below that there's a large number of marines being held prisoner by a slightly smaller contingent. It looks like Smoker himself is overseeing them as they're herded onto ships. Nelson Royale is nowhere to be seen, perhaps below deck already.

Beyond the marines, the nesting grounds seem intact and the sennenryuu have calmed down. On your back Apis calls towards some of the surrounding birds, seeming to hold a conversation with them as you glide in slow circles. Finally, you can feel Apis relax slightly.

"Taylor, are you going to leave now?" she asks.

"Yeah," you say to her. "We're headed to the Grand Line. Luffy's going to become the King of the Pirates, and we're going to help him and fight for our dreams."

Apis slumps over against your neck, and then you realize she's hugging it as best she can.

"One day..." she mumbles, before straightening herself again. "I have to say bye," she tells you.

You fly low over the Merry, matching the ship's speed. Apis shouts her goodbyes to the rest of the crew, and then you make the quick trip back to Warship Island and deliver her to her grandpa's home. Did he sleep through this? Too bad you don't have longer to find out.

"Bye Taylor! I'll see you again!" Apis shouts as you tilt a wing in a wave, and then fly back to the Merry.

"Next stop, the Grand Line!" Luffy declares as you land and transform back to human.

You give him a smile, and stumble below decks to find a hammock to catch a nap. You never did get around to breakfast...