The Storm Pirates Chapter 44 (Jaya) (Patreon)

The Pirate Crew makes it out of the dark sky into the light, the boys drop down, and Vivi wipes away her tears as she collects herself and gets to her feet. "No way..." Zoro huffs as he tries to catch his breath.

"That was new, never seen or heard about something like that," Luffy commented, still looking up at the sky. Shanks had told him about many things that were very dangerous out there. He found it odd that he failed to mention giants the size of the sky itself.

"No way can someone be that big..." Usopp moans, and Sanji lights another cigarette.

"Man, the Grand Line is just one mystery after another! Today, too!" Sanji comments, looking around the sea, almost expecting something else to pop up.

"We saw a huge Gallen fall from the sky," Zoro states.

"The needle of the Log Pose is now pointing to the sky," Nami adds.

"A weird monkey appeared and salvaged a ship." Usopp joins in.

"Then, we saw a huge turtle that ate the whole ship." Chopper adds.

"Then, night came." Robin even joins in.

"And, in the end, we saw huge monsters who were dozens of times larger than the Giants!" Luffy gasps.

"Yeah, those guys scared even me." Masira agrees, and the others finally notice him, and the boys kick him off the ship.

"Beat it!" They shout, and he goes flying, so they start moving again.

---------

"In any case, those monsters were huge," Usopp says, still trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah... I don't ever wanna see them again." Chopper added in, still hiding behind Zoro's leg.

"You know, Chopper... if I went all out, I would've been able to beat them." Usopp boasts a big old lie.

"Really?!" Chopper buys into it as Vivi walks past them.

"Yeah, right." Vivi scoffs as the boys start showing off their treasure to Nami, who doesn't seem too happy with the haul.

"What on earth did you guys go into the water for?" Nami complains as Luffy walks around in some rusty armor and holding a sword in his hands. Vivi looks over some of the stuff. Some seem valuable. Some seem a little like junk though Nami still seems upset at the objects. "This stuff is all junk, and I don't see any clues on how to get to the sky!"

"Like I said, there was nothing!" Zoro argues.

"Well.. that's the truth, Nami. It was clear that the ship had already been plundered. Or perhaps there was some sort of mutiny, and they killed each other." Sanji explains, and it sounds to me like the stories of the Shandorians are even more true. He did not comment on the picture he had found on the ship. There was no need to remind himself of...

"Then, all the more reason that we need information! You see, if we are to go to the sky, that means what happened to that ship could happen to us! We need the information to stay alive, and what'd you get?! Rusty swords, dishes, and a live octopus?!" Nami complains and starts trying to kick the pile of objects, but Vivi pulls her away. "We need stuff like a 'journal' or a 'sea chart'!"

Luffy chooses this time to walk over. "What's that, Luffy?" Nojiko asks him, and he opens the helmet.

"Amour!" Luffy answers happily with a gleam in his eye, but Nami is not in the mood, and she punches him. He crashes to the floor with the rusty armor breaking into pieces. Well, Luffy escaped her attack before it could hit him.

"Whoa! She crushed the armor!" Vivi gape at her feet of strength.

"I got pretty seashells for you, Nami!" Sanji coos at her as he holds up the shells as she walks over.

"I don't need them, you big dummy!" She snaps at him.

"Nami#s cute when she's mad, too!" He swoons with hearts in his eyes.

"You'd better keep your distance from her right now," Usopp warns him as Vivi walks up the steps toward Robin.

"Having a tough time?" Robin asks her.

"It's only gonna get worse! Really, they're all a bunch of idiots! Now we can't get to our destination!" Nami snaps again.

"I resent that! Don't lug me in with these morons! Anyway, I know where we can go." Vivi tells her with a huff. She simply pulls out a diary she found amongst the 'treasure' their captain found, the pages move on their own to the page she wants, and she hands it over to their navigator as she reads the delicate handwriting.

"This says they witnessed the day turn to night and the giant shadows, so they headed to the nearest island, named Jaya," Nami informs everyone, and Vivi takes the book back, putting it into the bookcase in their room. "I see. We'll have to get there, but where? Any clue?" She asks and Vivi shrug and points out in front of Nojiko as she sees Robin holding an Eternal Pose.

"Here..." Robin hands it over to the navigator.

"What?! An Eternal Pose... this..." Nami stutters, and Vivi grin as she accepts the gift.

"I took it from those monkey peoples' ship earlier... just in case." She replies, and Nami seems to tear up a little.

"You're the only ones on my side!" She beams at us, and Vivi pats her on the back.

"Hey, we've got an octopus! Let's make some takoyaki!" Usopp announces as he holds the octopus by its legs.

"It must be quite tough for you." Robin comments, and Nami looks at the Eternal Pose.

"Jaya. It must be their headquarters." Vivi comment. "Lucky us."

"Jaya? Are we going there?" Usopp asks as he stuffs his face with takoyaki, and Vivi pinches one popping it into her mouth.

"That's not your decision, you idiot!" Nami snaps at their gunman, who jumps down from the railing.

"Alright! Jaya rudder full! Jaya rudder full!" Luffy orders but stops. "Nami, which direction would that be?"

"Starboard!" She tells him.

"Chopper, give me a hand!" Luffy says as Chopper runs over.

"Right!" Chopper beams.

"Jaya, speed ahead!" Luffy exclaims with glee.

"Hey, hold on a second... if we go to that Jaya place, won't the log be updated there again? In other words... we won't be able to go to the sky island." Usopp makes a good point.

"What?!" Chopper exclaims.

"Stop Jaya, rudder!" Luffy shouts. "Hey, Nami! What's the deal?!" He steps up to her.

"What?! You're the one who decided to go to Jaya." Nami replies calmly.

"Oh, yeah... but I didn't think that'd happen!" He argues.

"It's your fault that you didn't think of it! The Log Pose has always worked like this, right?" She points out.

"Anyway, it takes a few days for the Log to reset. That's plenty of time." Vivi jump in.

"Yeah? Hey, listen up! Since I'm the Captain, I'll decide where we're going! We're heading for Jaya!" Luffy orders and Vivi shakes her head as they stuff their faces.

"I wonder what kind of place Jaya is." Chopper ponders.

"Nami! Nojiko! Robin! Your 'Unprecedented takoyaki just for ladies' are ready!" Sanji swoons as he runs towards us with three plates as they all eat.

---------

It's been a day since they set out for Jaya. "I wonder what kind of place Jaya is." Chopper ponders again as they eat more takoyaki.

"I heard it's called the Land of Meat!" Luffy added in with a broad smile. He didn't know what kind of place it was, but as long as they could find clues on how to go to Sky Island, he was happy. He pondered if there was anyone powerful up there. Shanks never said anything about Sky Islands. I wonder if it slipped his mind or if he wanted my journey to be a mystery instead of just straight up telling me everything I should expect, Luffy thought, with a thoughtful look on his face.

It doesn't matter if there's anyone strong up there. With my devil fruit and Haki, I can beat whoever challenges us, Luffy thought, swallowing a massive chunk of meat.

"But you just wish it was, right? Well, it's true that I'm tired of eating takoyaki..." Usopp complains as Sanji walks over to them and takes their food away.

"Then, don't eat them. Those were for the ladies!" Sanji snaps at them, and they run after him.

"They said they wouldn't eat them, so what's the problem?!" Luffy yells as they chase after the cook down the stairs and around the mast.

"Give them back! Give us back the takoyaki!" The boys shout as they chase after Sanji.

"Shut up!" He keeps saying back, and he's deep in thought.

"In any case. Is there really an island in the sky?" He wonders aloud.

"We've experienced enough to know by now that no matter how illogical things seem, it's not strange because it's this sea's logic," Robin says. Nojiko smiles, knowing she's not wrong. She looks down to see Sanji give the boys back their food which calms them down before Luffy and Usopp run off to look out for the island though they're hours away, at least by now.

"Still don't see it, Usopp?" Luffy asks him.

"No, I don't see it yet." He answers as he looks through his binoculars.

"This Jaya island isn't that far, right?" Zoro asks no one in particular.

"Yeah, we're not far off since the weather's been stable for a while now," Nami answered as she walked down the steps with him as they tried spotting the island.

"Then, Jaya must be a spring island," Luffy comments as he lies on his back on the figurehead with Chopper sitting on the railing next to him.

"It feels nice and warm. Spring weather's nice. It looks like the seagulls are enjoying it, too." Chopper comments when Vivi feels something heading towards them fast, and suddenly one of the seagulls falls onto the deck along with the other two as well. "Ahhhh! They were shot!" He cries out and jumps down. She walks slowly up the steps to see the three birds twitching on the floor and feels like someone is watching them.

"Oh, let's make yakitori!" Luffy cheers as Chopper kneels over the birds who are still alive.

"Shot? I didn't hear any gunfire, did you, Vivi?" Usopp asks, and Vivi shakes her head, but she still can't shake the feeling of being watched.

"Look, I found a bullet!" Chopper exclaims as he holds up his tweezers with a bullet. "Considering the direction they were flying, the bullet came from the direction the ship's facing!" He points over in the direction of Jaya, which makes some sense if the marksmen is skilled enough and a powerful rifle is used.

"Are you saying that shots came from an island we can't even see yet? That's impossible, Chopper." Nami denies it as she joins us.

"But I was watching them the whole time," Chopper argues.

"Then what kind of eyesight, snipping skills, and rifle do you think this sniper has?" Chopper asks with a nervous chuckle.

"Most likely perfect eyesight with some help from a scoop of some kind, and their snipping skills are perfect with some of the greatest though they didn't kill the birds with direct hits, I'd say it was a test run at best, and the rifle would have to be powerful long-range and high quality," Usopp answer as she looks out into the water.

"Wait, you really think someone shot us?" Nami asks everyone as Luffy nods.

"I do, and I think they're about to shoot again. Move to the right," Luffy tells everyone, and Nami steps away from him when a bullet skims past him and is about to hit Zoro when Nojiko grabs the bullet midair.

Luffy narrowed his eyes. She had stopped the bullet with her bare hands without using Haki in any way. And her skin was flawless, with not even a single scratch.

"What will you do with it?" Usopp wonders out loud, seeing the way Nojiko was holding the bullet in her palm, inspecting it for a second before putting it between her thumb and index finger, slowly pointing it from where it came from.

"I will return it back," Nojiko commented dryly before pointing in the direction it came, still holding it between her thumb and index finger.

"Wait, wha-" Usopp didn't finish whatever he was about to say when Nojiko launched the bullet with impressive speed back to from wherever it came from. For a minute, they all waited for a counter-attack, but no bullets were shot at them.

"Wow, Sis, you're incredible." Nami complimented, and so did Vivi, who quickly added that Nojiko had saved her life back in Alabasta.

Luffy and Robin kept quiet, and so did Zoro, who noticed the way his captain was gazing at Nojiko with suspicion.

Hmmm, something is off here, Luffy thought, his fingers on his chin.

"Sanji, we got seagulls!" Usopp picks up the dead birds handing them over to the cook, who seems worried about Nojiko, but the blue-haired woman smiles to assure him.

"I could do with something to eat," Nojiko tells him with a cute smile. Her eyes closed, and Sanji quickly picked them up, running off toward the kitchen.

"Works every time." she jokes.

"Why would someone on Jaya wants to kill us?" Robin wonders out loud, looking at the direction they are heading.

"Jaya is a hot spot for pirates. It's practically lawless."

"Sounds fun." Zoro grins, holding an unsheathed sword over his shoulder.

"Wow! Cool! I see a neat-looking town!" Luffy exclaims as they get close enough to see Mock Town.

"Hey, hey, doesn't it look kinda like a resort!" Usopp exclaims as he runs over with Chopper.

"Resort!" Chopper exclaims, joining in.

"Hurry up, Merry!" Luffy cheers as he taps the figurehead.

"Yeah, it makes me feel like I want to stick around a bit." Nami agrees with the boys, and Usopp seems to notice the pirate ships docked at the port.

"But is it my imagination, or do the ships lined up in the harbor look like pirate ships?" Usopp questions as he looks over the ships, and Nami slaps his shoulder playfully.

"Silly Usopp, since when can pirate ships just openly line up in a harbor?!" Nami pointed out, but she knew what she was seeing. She had heard of this kind of town even back home.

"Y-you're right!" Usopp chuckles nervously.

"Help me! He's gonna kill me!" Someone shouts from the town, scaring the cowardly duo.

"What's with this town?!" Usopp cries out.

"I did warn you. It's a pirate hot spot," Vivi reminds them calmly as they dock in the port. "Zoro, Luffy, and Nami should go into town and find what they can," she suggested, and Nami suddenly had berry eyes. "Zoro, Luffy, stop Nami from stealing. Pirates aren't fond of thieves."

"Okay, go it, Vivi!" Luffy agrees with a grin, and Zoro nods in agreement.

"And Nami, you keep them from starting fights," Vivi tells her, and she nods as the two boys jump off, walking into town.

"Hey! Zoro! Luffy! Wait up!" Nami runs after them leaving them behind.

"She went..." Chopper whispers sadly.

"Well. she'll probably be okay since those two are with her." Usopp comforts the reindeer as Sanji walks over.

"What? If Nami's going, then I'm..." Sanji says, about to jump over the railing, but they stop him, pushing him away.

"Don't go!" They shout.

"If you go, wh-what'll happen I-I-If this ship is attacked...?!" Usopp cries, and Vivi shakes her head at their antics.

"Please don't go!" Chopper begs him, tearing up.

"Fine! Let me go!" Sanji gives in and turns towards the others though Robin makes her escape before Vivi can.

The princess wondered what the future would bring them; suddenly, a cold breeze flew over the ship. Suddenly Vivi felt a chill go down her bones as if things would soon get much worse. And the dark clouds approaching weren't exactly comforting her.

Cobra

It had been perhaps weeks since his daughter had left, and The King of Alabasta already missed her. Sitting in a royal chair in his solar, he gazed melancholy at a picture.

She's so much like her mother, Cobra thought, feelings his eyes welling up. In his hands was a picture of a beautiful woman with long blue hair like the ocean.

Titi, I miss you so much, he thought, his hand sliding across the portrait, a tear falling on the frame that he quickly wiped away. The death of Pell had left them all in shambles. Just because Crocodile was killed, there were countless bands that had appeared during and after the rebellion. There were still too many things left to fix.

Cobra wished he could do more for his country, he knew it was selfish of him, but a part of him wished the Pirate Crew was still around to help when he heard a knock behind him. "Come in," Cobra called out, not turning to face the door when he heard it opening.

"Your Majesty. I'm sorry for bothering you at such a late hour. You have a guest waiting for you in the Throne Room." The shaky voice of Igaram reached his ears.

"What?!"

......

"Who is him?" Cobra asked as he marched through the long corridors, followed closely by ten Royal Guards.

"We don't know, your majesty. He didn't give names." Igaram informed him, but his pale face, like a ghost, put the king on high alert.

Opening the giant double door, Cobra walked inside, and his eyes found his late guest. He had found the throne to be quite comfortable to sit on.

"Stand up from the throne of his majesty unless you want to lose your head," Igaram shouted in outrage, seeing this man just sitting on the throne as if he was a King. Who does he think he is? Igaram thought, but the pressure around the air was almost suffocating him. Cobra squinted his eyes. He could hardly make out the details of his face due to almost no light around the man.

"It has been some time, Cobra."

Hearing that voice, Cobra's heart fell to the deepest of pits, his stomach turned around, and his body shook as if a jolt of electricity had passed through his body.

"W-why are you here?" Cobra found the strength to ask, sweating harder than he had ever sweated before.

"I'm sure we have a lot to talk about, don't we," The man was a thick man with a full white mustache and beard. He possesses white dreadlocks, which he wears a flat black hat over. He has a scar on the left side of his face, stretching diagonally over his eye. His outfit consists of a black suit over a dark purple tie and a white collared shirt, as well as black pants. Standing up from the throne with the help of a walking cane.

"Why are you here, Saturn?"