Journey to Raftel Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Journey to Raftel! After meeting Miss Obon, and the partner of Mr. Two giving Vivi some information, the Straw Hats set sail for the next island after Whiskey Peak! While they sail, Vivi has to get accustomed to the daily routine of the Going Merry! That means training and exhaustion! Kek! No slackers on Luffy’s ship! But just what kind of island are they heading to? Will it be a fun adventure?

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 19 – Little Garden, Giants: Dorry and Broggy

“Come on guys!” Luffy laughed as he led laps around the Going Merry’s deck. The rest of the crew gave various replies. Some were positive, others not so positive.

“Right." Zoro replied, fully focused on the run.

“Whatever." Sanji shrugged as he easily kept pace.

“I’m…trying…” Carina breathed heavily.

“How many more laps?” Nami questioned, before pushing Carina forward again. Anytime the other thief slowed down, Nami shoved her to keep pace.

“So harsh, Nami.” Reiju grinned playfully as she kept pace behind Nami.

“How…do you…do this…everyday?” Vivi was also breathing heavily as she brought up the rear.

“Shishishishi!” Luffy laughed at his nakama. “You’ll get used to it!” He told Vivi as he bounded up the stairs again.

After laps it was time for a quick break. Everyone got water and caught their breath for a bit. Once their heartrates were even again, Luffy immediately resumed the exercise. Just like he’d grown up doing with his grandpa.

“Jumping jacks next!” Luffy called out and everyone lined up on the deck. Sanji, Zoro, and Reiju were up front, while Nami, Carina, and Vivi were in the back. Luffy started and made sure they all stayed at his pace. If one was observant, and not trying to keep breathing from the continuous exercise, they might notice the flirting going on between Luffy and his two lovers.

Nami grinned, maintaining her breath through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. She caught Luffy’s eyes on her again and relished in his gaze. She knew her tits were bouncing from the jumping jacks. Even the sports bra she was wearing couldn’t keep her buxom breasts immobile. She winked at him as they continued. She occasionally snuck glances at Carina and Vivi too. Inadvertently, or maybe on purpose, leading Luffy’s eyes to the other women as well. The princess was borrowing clothes from Nami right now. Vivi wore her own shorts but was wearing a sports bra and a blue shirt of Nami’s. Carina had bought a small wardrobe of clothes back in Loguetown, so she had everything that she needed, including a tank top and a sports bra. Watching the other women’s blessed bosoms bouncing was a quick little distraction for Nami, who had grown quite comfortable with appreciating other women after Reiju had joined her and Luffy’s relationship.

Speaking of Reiju, the pinkette sent teasing smiles and smoldering gazes at Luffy as they did the jumping jacks. Being in the front row made it all too easy. The exercise barely kept Luffy’s attention, so Reiju had no problem giving her lover something to look at. The way her tits bounced in her sports bra repeatedly drew Luffy’s eyes to her, and Reiju almost giggled as she saw several of Luffy’s copies watching her from around the ship as well.

Another short break after the jumping jacks was followed by various stretches. Toe touch, leg stretches, arm and shoulder stretches, and back stretches. Sanji had quite the remarkable flexibility, able to move his legs a full one-hundred-eighty degrees for a split. High kicks required such flexibility though, so Luffy wasn’t all that surprised. Zoro wasn’t quite that flexible, something that Sanji was clearly holding over the swordsman, but he wasn’t stiff as the crew went through the stretches. Nami, Reiju, and Vivi easily bent backwards at the waist, all three women able to stretch until their heads were below their waist level. Carina copied them but let out an ‘ooh~’ as her back popped nicely. She knew she was flexible, but had rarely had a reason to stretch like this.

The stretching turned out to be the easiest part of the exercises. What followed was a grueling gauntlet of push-ups, sit ups, lunges, chin ups, and leg lifts. As they rested from the gauntlet, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji fetched the weights from the storage room. Seeing the large weights made both Vivi and Carina pale a little. Neither of them were used to strength training like this. Carina’s only lifting usually involved treasure and cash that she pilfered! Vivi had never had to do hard labor or heavy lifting in her life either, given that she was a princess.

Zoro placed a large bar across his shoulders weighing roughly double his full weight and started to do squats. Sanji, not to be outdone, put his own bar across his shoulders and got a bit of extra weight on it. Enough to surpass what Zoro was doing. Then he started his own squats, making sure to keep the same pace as his ‘rival’. Both men shooting glares at each other the whole time.

“Less than that, please.” Reiju rolled her eyes at her brother and Zoro. A bar that weighed her full weight was put on her shoulders and she proceeded to do her reps. Feeling Luffy’s eyes (as well as his various copies) watching her form, and especially her ass. She giggled a little, giving Luffy a sexy grin as she kept going.

“It’s not so bad; you just have to work up to it.” Nami assured Vivi. The orangette winked at Luffy as she put a bar over her shoulders; the weight being just over half her body weight. She dropped down into a perfect squat and grinned saucily at Luffy when she knew she had his eyes on her booty. She stood up and then lowered herself back down in another perfect squat. Vivi was a little red in the cheeks as she watched Nami purposefully tease Luffy.

Luffy grinned widely before setting Vivi and Carina up with their own weights. Neither of them was given a lot to start, about a quarter of their body weight. Both women breathed as they matched Nami’s form and pace. The navigator was more than happy to offer encouragement as they went through the workout.

After the squats, it was free training. Zoro immediately set up his personalized bar. It was much the same as a regular bar, but this one only allowed weight to be added from one end. Zoro stacked the plates on until the bar weighed more than he did, possibly triple the swordsman’s body weight! Then the green-haired man picked it up like it was a sword and set about doing his practice swings! Sanji had strapped a bar to his ankles after making it weigh as much as Zoro’s. The chef then laid back and proceeded to do leg lifts with the ridiculous amount of weight!

“Come on, Carina!” Luffy laughed as he scooped up the chain woman and leapt towards the stern of the ship. “Let’s spar so that you can get more practice in with your Devil Fruit!”

“Luffy!” Carina squawked as she was picked up and carried off.

She wouldn’t lie, it was kind of nice being in Luffy’s arms like this.

“Shall we, Nami?” Reiju offered a spar with a little grin.

“Alright.” Nami agreed with a small smile of her own. “No Devil Fruit and no poison?”

Reiju agreed with a nod. “Of course, same as usual.”

Vivi, resting against Karoo, could only sigh in disbelief at the crew still continuing even after everything they’d already done. “This crew isn’t normal at all…” She lightly petted Karoo.

“Quack!” Karoo seemed to agree with Vivi as he enjoyed her affection.

Vivi would regain her breath and some energy as she watched Carina wobble her way to a lounge chair to rest after her spar with Luffy. Only for Nami, and then Reiju, to take turns sparring with the Captain. Even after the two women returned and sat on their own lounge chairs next to Carina’s to rest, Sanji and Zoro both challenged Luffy right away.

“Shishishishi! Good workout today, guys!” Luffy laughed as he came down the stairs from the rear deck, leaving the beaten Sanji and Zoro sprawled out behind him.

“One of these days…” Zoro promised with Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri still in his hands.

Sanji slowly reached for his pack of cigarettes and his lighter. “Shitty, Captain…”

Vivi could honestly only marvel at Luffy’s strength and stamina. ‘He’s not even breathing hard!’

“Shower time.” Nami sat up from her lounge chair and headed for the bathroom with Reiju and Carina. “Come on, Vivi. A shower will perk you right up.” She helped the princess to her feet with a smile.

“A shower does sound lovely right now.” Vivi agreed with her own small smile.

The women gathered changes of clothing before monopolizing the bathroom for a while. Once they’d finished, the men showered as well, before the crew went about their day. As was usual aboard the Going Merry, Luffy’s copies took care of the rigging and lookout duties.

“Hey, you guys want to try a special drink I made?” Sanji questioned as he came out of the kitchen.

“Yeah!” The crew called back with smiles.

“Quack!” Karoo raised one of his wings in agreement too, making Vivi deadpan at her duck.

“Are they supposed to be doing that?!” Vivi pointed at the crew before looking at Nami is exasperation.

Nami already had two of the drinks in her hands, one that she was currently sipping from, and the other she held out to Vivi. “Why not? Luffy’s copies take care of the basic needs of sailing, and I’m keeping my eye on the Log Pose. They’ll all pitch in if there’s a sudden storm. Have a drink.” She lightly shook the glass filled with green juice and ice with a fruit wedge on the rim.

“Alright… But this still seems weird to me.” Vivi let out a little sigh as she accepted the glass from Nami. “Mmm!” Vivi’s eyes widened after taking her first sip. “This is amazing!”

“Good drink, Sanji!” Carina laughed as she’d already finished off half of her glass. “What kind of fruits did you mix to make this?”

“I’m curious too.” Reiju gave her brother a smile. “I detect lime, some lemon, mikan, but the last flavor is escaping me.”

Sanji twirled once from the praise and smiled at the women. “The last fruit is melon that I bought in Loguetown! I’m so happy that it pleases all of you!”

“Quack!” Karoo drained his entire glass in seconds and quacked for more.

“Whoa!” Luffy cheered at the fast drinking duck. “That was cool!”

Sanji chuckled and switched out the empty glass for a full one. “You sure can drink, huh?”

Karoo proved that he could when he drained a second glass just as fast as the first. “Quack!”

“It’s really good!” Luffy agreed with Karoo, a big smile on his face.

“It’s pretty good.” Zoro shrugged, making Sanji narrow his eyes at the swordsman.

Carina snickered behind her hand at the two dopes constantly picking fights with each other.

Reiju just shook her head with a little smile.

“Don’t your cares just melt away on a ship like this?” Nami asked Vivi with a warm smile.

Vivi sipped her drink as she watched the crew laugh together, Sanji having snatched a drink that Zoro was reaching for and giving it to Karoo instead. This inevitably led to both men getting in each other’s face, much to the amusement of Luffy and Carina.

A gentle breeze past, Vivi’s long blue hair dancing in the wind for a second, prompting the princess to move it behind her ear with her free hand. “Yes. It’s very relaxing.” She smiled at the warm and light atmosphere on the Going Merry.

It would be a pretty average day at sea for the rest of the day, giving the newest shipmate plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere and mood. By the time night fell and everyone was starting to head for bed, Vivi had a small smile on her lips without even realizing it.

-Two Days Later-

Luffy was practically bouncing from his special seat atop Merry’s figurehead. The Adventurer could see the island on the horizon getting bigger and bigger. Their second island on the Grand Line was getting closer! He couldn’t wait to explore and see what it was like!

“Yep, that's definitely the island the Log Pose is pointing towards.” Nami confirmed as she lined up the needle of the Log Pose with her eye. “Do you know anything about this island, Vivi? What was it called?”

“It’s called Little Garden, Nami.” Vivi replied to the navigator. “I know it’s supposed to be a fairly dangerous island. According to stories, most crews that sail here don’t come back. But there are plenty of islands with stories like that in the Grand Line.”

“Then it's a mystery island!” Luffy’s grin only got bigger as they sailed closer. “I sense adventure!”

“Of course you’d say something like that. Ushishi!” Carina laughed at Luffy’s excitement. She’d stay on the ship and let her fearless Captain roam the dangerous island.

The Going Merry sailed closer and closer, as details about the island of Little Garden became clearer. It seemed to be tropical, or perhaps sub-tropical in nature. So the island was probably a Summer Island. The dense jungle came into clear view as they sailed the Merry into a large river that connected to the ocean.

“Why in the world would anyone name this place Little Garden?” Vivi pondered aloud while she blinked at the scenery. “Just look at this place. It's a giant overgrown jungle! There's nothing ‘little’ about it!” As they sailed further inland the crew could hear the sounds of the animals that made the jungle their home. Another point against calling this island Little Garden came in the fact that most of the trees grew higher than the Going Merry’s main mast!

“You're right, everything here seems to be gigantic! I’m having trouble identifying any of the plants and trees either.” Nami noted as her eyes looked over various foliage.

Reiju looked perplexed as well, standing beside Nami and observing the flora. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of these even in books before.”

“We'll have to stock up on provisions before we leave.” Sanji mentioned, taking a drag of his cigarette. “We have more crew members now, Luffy’s bottomless pit of a stomach isn’t going anywhere, and there was no chance to restock at Whiskey Peak.”

A loud shriek tore through the air. None of them had ever heard anything like it before. Carina and Vivi cringed at the sound while Zoro looked around cautiously, one hand on Wado, just in case.

“What the hell was that?!” Nami demanded as she tried to see through the dense canopy for the creature that had made such a noise.

“A bird?” Sanji guessed, even though he’d never heard such a shriek in his life. “You’re cute when you’re scared, Nami-swan!”

“Hey guys, look at those weird lizards!” Luffy pointed to the creatures climbing up some trees near the edge of the river. “They have feathers! That’s so weird!”

A loud rumble was heard, as if the island was shaking slightly, before a blast went off that made most of the crew flinch at the unexpected noise.

“Was that a volcano? What kind of island is this?” Carina demanded, already looking around to see if debris from an eruption was going to start raining down on their heads.

“It's an island untouched by time…” Nami mumbled out, just loud enough for the crew to hear her. “This is a literal prehistoric island.”

“Prehistoric?” Luffy frowned as he mulled over the word, then his eyes widened as he looked over at Nami. “You mean like dinosaurs?!” Luffy’s eyes sparkled at the thought of seeing dinosaurs! “Sanji! I need an Adventurer Lunchbox!" Luffy called out, the Sun Wukong Man was practically vibrating as he looked over the jungle. “I smell adventure!” Luffy declared with a big smile.

“Right, right, calm down.” Sanji exhaled the smoke from his cigarette before he walked into the kitchen.

“Grooowwrrr!” A massive tiger let out a roar as it staggered out of the forest.

A second later it dropped dead, revealing a massive chunk had been taken out of its back. As if something even more massive had taken a bite out of it!

“Wait a minute, you!” Nami looked at her lover like he was crazy. “Where do you think you’re going on an island like this?!”

“On an adventure!” Luffy smiled brightly at Nami. “Wanna come?”

“No, thank you!” Nami declined, warily looking at the dead tiger. “I don’t want to meet whatever beast took a bite out of a tiger that size.”

“Hm, the ones back home were that size, or bigger.” Luffy shrugged without a care. “It’s been a while since I’ve had tiger…” He rubbed his stomach.

‘Right… Luffy is from Dawn Island.’ Nami facepalmed at her lover’s words.

“Anybody else want to come?” Luffy looked around at his nakama with a wide grin.

“Why not?” Reiju smiled back at her lover. “I doubt that there's anything on this island that can really threaten you.”

“I think I'll come too. Karoo can keep us safe.” Vivi took Luffy up on his offer as she hopped onto Karoo’s back.

The bird was visibly trembling at the thought of going into the forest. “He’s more chicken than duck…” Zoro deadpanned at the large duck’s obvious fear.

“If I just sit around I'll probably do nothing but worry. Hopefully, this will keep my mind off of my troubles until the Log Pose resets.” Vivi patted Karro to try and settle her mount’s fear.

“I’ll help watch the ship.” Carina volunteered, even as she pulled out a lounge chair and sat down.

“Well, I'm not going to lay here and wait.” Zoro stretched and a satisfying ‘pop’ was heard. With a yawn he followed Luffy, Reiju, and Vivi off the ship. “I'm going to take a walk.”

“Wait a minute Zoro!” Sanji yelled out, making the swordsman stop. “We need to try and replenish our food stores. If you see anything out there that’s edible, bring it back here.”

“Yeah sure,” Zoro gave a careless wave over his shoulder. “I'll hunt a beast that you could never take down.”

“Wait a damn minute!” Sanji's foot stomped onto the Going Merry's railing. “Those’re fighting words. You really think you can hunt a bigger beast than I can?”

Zoro stood there with a smirk on his face. “Of course I can.”

“It’s a challenge then!” Sanji snarled, a vein throbbing on his forehead. “Let's see who can hunt the biggest and best tasting beast on the island.”

“It looks like it’s just the two of us then…” Nami deadpanned as everyone else disembarked and headed into the forest. She turned her eyes on Carina and received a grin from her fellow thief.

Carina relaxed on the lounge chair, seemingly without a care. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that, Cat Burglar.”

Nami walked down the stairs to the main deck. “You know why, Hell Cat.” The navigator rolled her eyes. “I’m still not fully convinced that you aren’t playing a long con.”

“Are you still on about that?” Carina glanced over at Nami.

“I know you…” Nami replied instantly.

Carina grinned. “Ushishi! I guess you do.” The two women did have a history together.

Nami sat on the lounge chair next to Carina’s, but didn’t lie back on it like the purple-haired woman was doing. “What’s your game this time, Carina?”

“No game, Nami.” Carina used Nami’s name, since Nami had used hers. “Honestly, I’ll always have the habits of a thief, I know that won’t change. But I felt that I had gone as far as I could in East Blue. Stealing, running, hiding, moving constantly…” Carina let out a little sigh. “It was all becoming so…”

“Monotonous?” Nami finished the other woman’s sentence. She’d felt that way for a long time herself, but she couldn’t stop with Arlong keeping her home crushed beneath his foot.

“You get it.” Carina nodded once. “I decided to head for the Grand Line. I wanted to see the so-called ‘Pirate’s Graveyard’ and find something different.” She held up her right hand, connecting the tip of her index finger with the tip of her thumb while curling her other fingers halfway. “And if I could make myself some cash along the way, all the better!”

Nami briefly rolled her eyes, but the small grin on her lips showed her actual feelings. “So, we’re just a means to an end for you, huh?”

“Ushishi!” Carina actually laughed at Nami’s words. “I think this ship, and this crew, are the end that I was looking for. How lucky I found it before even getting into the Grand Line, huh?”

“Lucky you.” Nami said, a little snort escaping her.

Carina accepted a drink that one of Luffy’s copies brought her with a smile. “I mean… I could try and steal Luffy for myself.”

“Shishishishi!” The copy laughed as it handed a drink to Nami.

“I will burn you, Hell Cat.” Nami narrowed her eyes at Carina before sipping her drink.

Carina giggled into her drink at how possessive Nami could get about her lover. “What if I just took Reiju then?”

Nami reached over and flicked Carina’s forehead. “No.”

“Stingy!” Carina held the spot on her forehead and stuck her tongue out.

“Damn right.” Nami finally leaned back onto her lounge chair with a smile. “You want in? Then prove that you actually care about Luffy, about Reiju, about…”

“You?” Carina looked over at Nami with a little smile, her blue eyes locking with Nami’s. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem with that.”

Nami blinked at Carina’s words, seeing no hint of deceit in the other woman’s eyes. “Hell Cat…” Nami looked away for a second and sipped her drink.

It was quiet between the two women for a long moment.

“So…” Carina spoke up to break the silence. “How’s Luffy in bed? You done anything naughty with all of these copies yet?”

“Carina!” Nami nearly spat out her drink at the sudden question.

“USHISHI!!!” Carina laughed loudly at the reaction she’d gotten from Nami.

Neither of the women noticed the faint ‘thump’ in the distance. The sound slowly growing louder as whatever massive creature it was got closer to the Going Merry.

-Luffy, Reiju, Vivi, and Karoo-

“Wow, this squid has a shell on it!” Luffy picked the aquatic creature out of the river they were walking along. His eyes roamed over the odd, prehistoric creature.

“That’s called an ammonite, right?” Vivi was also inspecting the, supposedly extinct, animal.

“Yes, but ammonites died out a long time ago, eons ago.” Reiju mentioned as they looked at the flailing tentacles and the hard shell.

Seeing the distress of the creature Luffy placed it back into the river and let it swim away. With a grin Luffy turned his head to the creature that was lightly shaking the earth with its every step.

Karoo began frantically quacking drawing both Reiju and Vivi’s attention.

“That's a dinosaur.” Reiju’s voice was flat as she craned her neck to see the head at the top of the long neck. After seeing the ammonite, it wasn’t impossible that they’d see a literal dinosaur, she supposed.

“Is it even possible for an island so untouched by time to exist?! Even on the Grand Line, this shouldn’t be possible, right?” Vivi shook her head, her eyes wide. “I know some islands have advanced technology, while others are still in the tribal ages… But these creatures died out millions of years ago!”

“And…he's climbing it.” Reiju couldn’t help but smile and giggle at Luffy’s antics.

Vivi stared up at Luffy, stunned, unable to formulate words at the Adventurer’s actions.

“How’s the view up there, Luffy?” The pinkette called up to her lover.

“This island is so awesome!” Luffy shouted down from his perch atop the sauropod’s head. “There are huge caves and I can see the volcanoes!”

“Be careful Luffy! That is a dinosaur! Who knows how it’ll react?” Vivi yelled up to him in concern.

“We’ll let him get it out of his system. Once he gets bored up there we can keep looking around.” Reiju placed her hand on Vivi’s shoulder while watching Luffy check out the island from atop the sauropod’s head.

“Hmm?” Luffy perked up and leapt off the head of the dinosaur, backflipping through the air, before landing easily in front of Reiju, Vivi, and Karoo.

In a flash of steel the great dinosaur’s head was cleaved off its neck in a single swing. Vivi’s eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped. Karoo was frozen in place, still as a statue from fear. Reiju’s eyes widened as she looked up at the one that had slain the sauropod.

“Gegyagyagyagya! Got a good one today!” The giant laughed as he rested his sword over his shoulder. He had a long, dark beard that reached his navel. He wore a war helmet, brown pants and leather boots with an armored belly warmer. He had a dark-purple cape on, which Luffy thought was pretty cool. The sword resting on his shoulder was a massive longsword with a straight blade that completely dwarfed the Going Merry.

“You’re huge!” Luffy laughed loudly as he looked up at the giant. “Are you human?! Do you want to join my crew?!”

Vivi facepalmed without even thinking about it. Reiju could only smile at Luffy’s obliviousness and the sheer excitement radiating off of him. Vivi turned to Karoo, only to find that her duck had collapsed and was foaming at the mouth from sheer terror. Vivi was quickly at his side and trying to wake him back up.

“Gegyagyagyagya! I'm the giant, Dorry! I’m the greatest warrior to ever come from Elbaf!” The giant laughed loudly as he answered Luffy’s question. “You're all invited to my home! I haven't had a guest in ages! Let's have a feast, shall we?!” He patted the dead dinosaur with a massive smile.

-The Going Merry-

“So… Have you got any sake? What about rum? Maybe some grog? Can you hear me, little ones?” The large, bearded giant questioned the stunned Nami and Carina.

“Well, uh, what should we do?” Nami whispered to Carina, never taking her eyes off the giant. “We could try and fight… But I don’t think I like our chances.”

“Follow my lead…” Carina forced a bright smile on her face as she looked up at the giant. “Yes, we do! We have a few barrels left!”

“That’s your plan?!” Nami questioned, only taking a split second to send Carina an unimpressed look.

“Are you going to say ‘No’ to the giant that’s bigger than our ship?” Carina shot back with a whisper.

“Gabababababa! You little humans are funny!” The rotund giant laughed. He had a wide, blonde beard that fanned out from his chin and was dressed in a dark-red shirt, with white ruffs of fur on the top and bottom hem. He had various leather armor pieces covering him, his legs were covered by burnt orange pants with vertical black stripes, and he even had a navy-blue cape. He wore a red, horned helmet on his head and a wide grin on his lips. “GababaARGH!”

Carina and Nami nearly screamed in terror when the giant suddenly yelled loudly. They both glanced behind the giant and saw a large Tyrannosaurus biting the giant's rump! The giant turned his head, his eyes shadowed by his helmet. The carnivorous dinosaur suddenly seemed to realize the danger that it was in. But it was already too late. In a movement that Nami and Carina almost couldn't follow, the giant whipped around, and his massive axe cleaved the Tyrannosaurus’s head off in a flash!

“Aaaaahhhhh!” Carina and Nami couldn’t hold back their screams of fear this time after seeing the towering dinosaur slain in an instant.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The giant raised his axe in triumph of his kill, naturally assuming the two human women were cheering for his skill and the successful hunt. “Behold little humans, I am the mightiest warrior to come from Elbaf! Broggy!” Broggy’s voice was like thunder, reverberating through the jungle. He hefted the Tyrannosaur’s decapitated head in his left hand. “We have plenty of meat and you guys have booze!” Broggy grinned widely at the two of them. “Let's have ourselves a feast! Gabababababa!”

Nami and Carina were barely keeping themselves form crying in terror as they reluctantly followed after Broggy while he hefted the Tyrannosaur’s body over his shoulder. The giant easily cleared a path back towards his ‘home’ for the human women just by walking.

It was less than an hour later that Nami and Carina were sitting on a fallen tree outside of Broggy’s cave ‘home’ and watching the giant cook the dinosaur meat.

“And, we’re finished!” Broggy grinned at the cooked dinosaur meat. “Help yourselves, guys!” The blonde giant hefted one of the massive legs and bit right into it.

“Y-Yes, Mr. Broggy...” Carina, nearly in tears, used her Devil Fruit to make a thin chain which she held rigid with but a thought, as a knife to cut off a hunk of meat for Nami and herself.

“Y-You see those…right?” Nami pointed to a scattered piles of skulls and other human bones lying around the place.

Both women were almost convinced that they were going to be eaten now. But they decided to eat, in hopes of keeping Broggy in a good mood, and hopefully put off their deaths.

“This is great!” They both exclaimed in unison after their first bites of the dinosaur meat.

“Luffy would love this!” Nami said as she took another bite.

“It’s very tender! Who would have thought dinosaur would be anything but tough?” Carina smiled as she cut her piece into smaller bite-sized bits so she could eat easier. ‘Then again, who would ever dream of eating a dinosaur at all?’

“Gabababababa!” Broggy laughed, slapping his knee. “Yeah, this meat is second only to Sea King! A pinch of sea salt really brings out the flavor! I hewed out some bowls from the mountains and used them to boil seawater and gather salt. There was a reason my friend and I chose this island.”

“Luffy mentioned eating Sea King once. He said his grandpa caught it on the way to their home island. Is Sea King really that delicious?” Nami questioned the giant as she ate.

“Aye, it’s some good eating.” Broggy gained a fond smile, seemingly reminiscing. “Oh I’d love to fish one of them up. It's been so long…” He had a wistful look for a brief moment. “Sea King practically melts in your mouth even when lightly prepared. It can make a great meal just by cooking it over an open flame with a little salt. Unfortunately,” Broggy glared over towards the sea on one side of the island. “With that damn fish swimming around this island, none of the Sea Kings will come close.”

“You mentioned a friend? Is there another giant from Elbaf here with you?” Carina asked after she swallowed her food. “How long have you been here?”

“That's right!” Broggy grinned as he turned to face the two women. “As for how long we've been here…” He paused for a moment, seemingly counting in his head. Carina and Nami leaned forward, their curiosity peaked, as it took Broggy a moment. “It's been one hundred years!”

-Dorry’s Cave-

“It's so good!” Luffy exclaimed as he devoured a large chunk of the sauropod meat that Dorry had cooked up. Even Reiju and Vivi were happily eating the dinosaur meat that they’d place on large leaves as makeshift plates. Karoo was eagerly swallowing down chunks of the meat that Vivi set in front of him too. For his part, Luffy was literally climbing on a large piece of the dinosaur meat and tearing chunks off to eat. He’d made an impressive dent in the large piece already!

“We've got to stock the Merry with as much dinosaur meat as possible!” Luffy declared, with a bright smile on his face. “Hey, Dorry, do you guys have one of those Eternal Pose thingies to Little Garden? I’d love to come back and eat more dinosaur meat whenever we get the chance!” Reiju and Vivi both had to giggle at the totally ‘Luffy’ statement.

“I'm afraid not, little guy.” Dorry laughed loudly. “Most people seem to try and avoid this island at all costs!” He held up his massive hand. “This Pirate Lunchbox of yours was pretty damn good too. We don’t have much in the way of seasonings on this island. The new flavors were great after so long!”

“Of course, it is!” Luffy laughed along with Dorry. “My chef made that lunch. If you said it was bad, I would’ve had to kick your ass. Shishishishi!”

“Kick my ass, you say?” Dorry spoke heavily.

Vivi visibly flinched at the giant's suddenly dark tone. Reiju tensed up a little, in case a fight broke out.

Then Dorry immediately wiped the trepidation away by laughing loudly. “You’re a funny human! Gegyagyagyagya!”

“They're like old friends already.” Vivi exhaled heavily before she smiled at the pair. “Luffy could make friends with almost anyone, huh?”

“That’s Luffy for you.” Reiju grinned at her lover. With a playful smile on her lips she pulled Vivi into a side-hug. “Give him some time and I’m sure he can be more than friends with just about any woman too~” Reiju spoke with a little purr. She’d certainly fallen for Luffy rather quickly, after all.

“Reiju!” Vivi yelped in shock, a blush covering her cheeks as the other woman teased her.

“Mr. Dorry, how long does it take the Log Pose to record this island’s magnetic field?” Reiju asked the giant after she stopped teasing Vivi.

“Just a year.” Dorry shrugged as he took a large bite of meat. All three humans immediately felt a weight fall on their shoulders.

“A year!” Luffy exclaimed in shock. “We can’t stay here for a year! We have stuff to do!”

“You can try looking for an unbroken Log Pose and see if one of them has reset. We haven’t had any visitors on this island in over a year, so if you can find an unbroken Pose, then you should be fine.” Dorry offered as he ate.

“What happens when you do get visitors?” Vivi inquired as she’d noticed the human bones scattered here and there across the island.

“Most of them die.” Dorry admitted, taking a large drink of water from a stone bowl. “Some die from the weather, others from the forest and animals, and some…” He looked down at the three of them with a serious gaze. “Some die because they attack us.” Vivi held onto Reiju as she shivered in fear. Luffy was still stuffing his face and didn’t seem to see a problem with Dorry’s statement.

“Hey Dorry, why aren't you and your friend in this Elbaf place?” Luffy asked as he finished off another portion of meat. “Didn’t you say you lived there?”

“Ah, home. It's been so long.” Dorry chuckled, a wide grin on his face. “I wonder if any of them still remember us.” Dorry, seeing he had the humans’ attention, continued. “Elbaf is deep in the Grand Line… beyond the Red Line in fact.” He leaned forward a bit as he spoke. “You see, on Elbaf there is a certain custom that must be followed. When there is a dispute between two giants and neither side will give any ground, we leave it to our God to decide who is right. The two will engage in combat until one side is declared the victor!”

“Whoa! Really?!” Luffy perked up at the rite that the giants believed in.

“But we've already been at this for a hundred years! And nothing has been settled!” Dorry cracked up, laughing loudly at the length of time they’d been at it.

“A HUNDRED YEARS?!” Vivi blurted out in shock. “But why?!”

“Gegyagyagyagya! A hundred years is nothing to us.” Dorry waved off Vivi’s incredulous look. “Our lifespans are three times longer than a puny human’s.”

“But what's the point after all this time?! Do you two really want to kill each other that much?!” Vivi couldn’t help but ask the giant. The very idea of fighting someone that long was impossible for the gentle princess to understand. “What was the dispute even about? What kind of argument breeds such hatred that it keeps you hacking away at each other for an entire century?!”

“Hatred?” Dorry blinked at her in confusion. “I don't hate him at all. He's my oldest friend.” Vivi could only slump to her knees, completely stunned at such a revelation.

Reiju gently placed a hand on Vivi’s shoulder as she knelt beside the bluenette. “I don't really get it myself, Vivi.” Reiju shook her head. “I think it’s more a ‘man’ thing.” She smiled at the princess while motioning in Luffy and Dorry's direction. “But this is what makes them who they are.”

“Damn right.” Luffy nodded with a grin matching Dorry's on his face. “This battle isn’t about hate or anything stupid like that. It's about honor.”

“You get it, little guy!” Dorry laughed, before looking over as the center volcano on the island erupted. “Well, that's my cue. I guess I’d better get going.” Luffy grabbed the two girls, each of them now sitting on one of his arms. He leapt up into the trees, easily following Dorry as he picked up his sword and slung it over his shoulder before walking off. “Miss Vivi,” Dorry turned to look at the princess. “The reason for our dispute… IS LONG FORGOTTEN!” The equally huge shadow of Broggy appeared through the forest on the opposite side of a massive clearing. The two giants met with a clash that caused a massive wave of displaced air!

“Don't you long for home, Dorry?!” Broggy roared as he deflected a slash with his shield and then kicked his friend in the chest. The size and power of the two giants shook the ground. Luffy instantly noticed something ‘off’ about the blows from the two giants.

“All the more reason to defeat you, my friend!” Dorry merely took a single step back from the kick to the chest. He parried Broggy’s axe with his own shield and spun, looking to take Broggy’s head off with his longsword.

Broggy ducked under the slash and jumped back. Dorry had just found his footing when Broggy leapt into the air with his axe raised over his head. Dorry was the one to backstep as Broggy slammed his axe into the dirt, a massive chasm opening up in the very earth, while a large plume of dirt was thrown into the air. Dorry jabbed his sword forward, Broggy pivoted out of the line of the thrust. The force of the attack kept travelling however and parted a large section of the forest.

Broggy swiped at his friend with a one-armed swing of his axe. A massive clang rang through the air as Dorry deflected the blow with his helmet. Luffy’s eyes briefly spotted the top of the helmet turning black for just an instant to deflect the blow.

“Huh… Grandpa did that before.” Luffy recalled a time during his years of training that he’d seen Garp’s fist turn black like that. “Mystery power.” He nodded his head, as if that explained anything.

“This is insane! The smallest blunder would mean instant death!” Carina watched on, nearly gaping at the battle between giants.

“This fight is crazy. They've been going at each other like this for a hundred years?” Nami could barely believe it. “How have they kept going for so long?” Her eyes were still locked on the fight.

The titanic battle was winding down as both Dorry and Broggy lost their weapons. The final clash ended with each of them slamming their bucklers into the other's face! “73,466 battles…” They both collapsed to the ground, which shook slightly from the impact. “73,466 draws.”

“Shishishishi! That was so awesome!” Luffy cheered loudly. He landed with Reiju and Vivi in his arms beside Nami and Carina.

Nami saw the redness on Vivi’s cheeks and smirked a little. It seemed like their newest shipmate enjoyed being held by Luffy. ‘I might have to tease her a little bit.’ The navigator grinned.

“You guys are strong! Can I spar with you too?” Luffy asked the two giants with a huge smile.

“Luffy, no...” Nami pinched the bridge of her nose.

Reiju just stared at him, deadpan.

“Oh, you must be the little ladies Captain.” Broggy grinned at Luffy as the two giants sat up. “You want to spar eh?”

“Don’t you two ever take a break?” Vivi questioned the two warriors. “After a hundred years of fighting each other, are you sure you’ll be able to break the stalemate?”

“Ugh, another hundred years on this rock?” Dorry shook his head with a mirthless chuckle. “Wouldn't that be awful? I've wanted some Sea King for decades, though. Of course with the damn Island Eater swimming around, the Sea Kings won’t come close.” He grumbled, glaring off towards the opposite side of the island.

“I don’t recall us ever taking a break since we decided that the center volcano would be our signal.” Broggy admitted with a thoughtful look on his face as he ran his fingers through his beard.

“Broggy has the better memory between us,” Dorry chortled lightly. “If he says we haven’t then we probably haven’t. But seeing as even he can't remember what our initial fight was about, maybe his memory isn’t so great? Gegyagyagyagya!”

“Ooh! Why don't we have a giant party then? I'll go gather the rest of the crew!” Luffy suggested with a gleam in his eyes as he thought about eating even more dinosaur meat!

“We’d have to find both Sanji and Zoro though.” Vivi looked at Luffy. “They were having a hunting contest, remember?”

“Hunting contest…” Dorry and Broggy both cocked their heads to the side slightly. They looked at one another, before grinning widely, slight chuckles beginning to bubble up from their massive frames.

“I’ll just search the whole island! No problem!” Luffy chuckled as he pulled a few hairs from his head and blew on them. In clouds of smoke, a dozen more Luffy’s appeared. Vivi’s eyes widened at the reminder of just how many strange abilities Luffy’s Devil Fruit provided. He’d already demonstrated a few of them in the time that she’d known him.

Carina had finally shaken herself from her shock at the battle between giants and whispered to Nami. “Hey, you don’t think giants would use the same Beri that we do, right?”

Nami thought about it for a quick second. “I don’t think they could. It would be way too small, wouldn’t it?”

“Exactly!” Carina had a big smile on her face. “Imagine the size of coins these guys would have!”

Nami’s eyes turned into Beri Symbols as she thought about what a giant like Broggy or Dorry would consider a single gold coin. “The coins would have to be huge…”

“Right?” Carina’s eyes were also Beri Symbols now as she imagined it. “We should absolutely go to Elbaf in the future!”

“That sounds like an adventure to me!” Luffy had overheard the last part of the conversation after sending his copies out to find Zoro and Sanji. “Put it on the list, Nami!” He grinned widely, already bouncing in place in his excitement.

“Noted.” Nami giggled at her lover. Both she and Carina rubbing their hands together at the vast riches that would undoubtedly be treated as pocket change by the giants.

“Anyway, Mr. Dorry, Mr. Broggy… Would you two be willing to have a truce for the party?” Vivi smiled up at the two chuckling giants.

“Of course!” Dorry grinned, before his chuckles became full-blown laughter. “Thanks to you little guys, we actually remembered what our fight was about!”

“Gabababababa!” Broggy burst into matching laughter. “It was a hunting contest, much like the one your two crewmates are having!” All three women of the crew facepalmed at this revelation. Broggy chuckled and pointed behind him at the massive caves the giants called their homes. “Those are their skulls!”

“EHHHHHHHHHH?!” Everyone gaped at the massive skulls that they’d believed to be mountains and cliffs!

“What kind of Sea Kings did you drag in?!” Nami demanded, her mind barely able to wrap around the sheer enormity of the two giants’ century-old catches!

“You guys are awesome! Are you sure you don’t want to join my crew?" Luffy asked both of the giants with his hands raised above his head and sparkles in his eyes.

“They wouldn’t even fit on the ship!” Nami, Vivi, and Carina yelled at him with shark teeth on full display. Reiju only laughed brightly at Luffy’s offer to Dorry and Broggy.

The two giants could only laugh loudly in response to Luffy, both of them slapping their knees as their laughter almost shook the air. He was certainly the most interesting human they’d met in a long time!

-Sea-

Unbeknownst to the Straw Hats or the two giants, a small ship was sailing towards Little Garden with two people aboard.

“Ugh, I can’t believe this.” A black-haired man wearing a blue and white, vertical-striped shirt and white trousers complained to his silent partner. “No one has heard from the Unluckies in almost a week and now we have to rely on the back up mail system. Then the boss wants us to check out everyone that could potentially kill the Unluckies and find out what’s going on. This is a waste of my talents.”

“…” His partner didn’t respond to his complaints. She simply sat on the deck of their small ship and painted.  She was a teenager with a more childish appearance, with relatively large eyes and circles of blush on her cheeks. She was also fairly short in stature and wore her dark red hair tied in twin braids. Her outfit was a wide-brimmed pink hat with a green band, a dark blue T-shirt with the word ‘GOLDEN’ written on it in pink, a sky blue cloud-patterned button-down shirt, a maroon-colored overalls skirt with the top folded down, blue striped stockings, and big red shoes with white cuffs and white soles. This was Miss Goldenweek, partner to Mr. Three.

“We were supposed to meet up with Mr. Five and Miss Valentine after they finished eliminating the traitors. But Little Garden is the only island a Log Pose points to from Cactus Island. We’ll do a quick check before moving on to the surrounding islands. We have the Eternal Poses for most of them, right?” Mr. Three questioned.

“Yes.” Miss Goldenweek nodded as she continued to paint.

“Good, let’s get this over with.” Mr. Three huffed as they sailed towards the island on the horizon.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

ADVENTURE!!!

Luffy is ecstatic about Little Garden!

Dinosaurs! Giants! Food! What’s not to love, right?! Kek!

The Straw Hats have met Dorry and Broggy! The two giants seem to like having the group around, leading to a party being prepared!

Unfortunately… A certain duo is going to come around and probably ruin it!

We’ll see how well that goes for them, won’t we?

Looting a ship of valuables is still ‘technically’ treasure hunting…right?

How will the Straw Hats handle their next encounter with Baroque Works?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!