sailmasterofthestrawhats

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

The Forgotten Angel: Sky Island Saga

Chapter 5: Forgiveness! Tenshi Reaches the Clouds!

Rated Mature for: Explicit and suggestive language and graphic violence; rating may increase with time.

Characters may have altered/differing features from the canon. These are in accordance with the author’s vision of these characters.

Following a shocking revelation about her rescue, Tenshi still can't help but feel grateful for Cricket and the Saruyama Brothers for saving her life. And after some encouragement, she is finally on her journey to regaining her memories.

“Bells and a bird, carved out of pure gold. It makes you wonder if they were symbols of an ancient Jaya.”

“Can't know for sure. My working theory is this bird might have been part of a larger statue. In any case, this is a model of a South Bird, which still exist on the island.”

“They make the weirdest noise.”

“Just like in the book?”

“Exactly.”

“Sailors used to use South Birds a lot back in the day. What they used them for was...”

“AW, CRAP!” “AW, CRAP!” “AW, CRAP!”

“What is it?!” “What's wrong?!”

“You need to catch one of these birds! Posthaste!”

“The bird? Why?”

“Why would we need a bird?”

“Listen closely! The Knock-Up Stream that will go off tomorrow is located directly south of the cape. How do you all expect to find it? Once you're out in the open sea, there's no way to get your bearings properly.”

“That's why just going in a direction, or using a regular compass doesn't work. Just getting to an island is a pain in the ass unless you're lucky, know how to read a map, or have a Log Pose.”

“And because we're looking for a section of ocean, and not an island, the Log Pose is useless to us! And because compasses already don't work, we won't know if we're going south!”

“And the stars won't help, since it'll be daytime. And the sun will be directly over us, so it'll take us too long to figure out which was to go. Especially if we get turned around.”

“So, you'll need this bird.”

“What I'm about to tell you is something I probably should have told you a long time ago: I was the one who rescued you from the ocean.”

“... Why didn't you tell me any of this?”

“I was afraid you might not believe me, and that I would lose you. If Masira and Shoujou are like sons to me, you're like a daughter to me. And I couldn't bear the thought of losing you in any context... But that's selfish, and even cruel. I'm sorry, Tenshi.”

“Please, forgive us, Big Sis!” “Please, forgive us, Big Sis!”

“I heard the story of your family back at the pub. It moved me to tears. But you know what's more touching? The reward of stealing someone's treasure, especially after they've suffered so much to get it in the first place. You know what people call me? The Hyena! Bellamy the Hyena!”

~ * < Forgiveness! Tenshi Reaches the Clouds! > * ~

Tenshi slowly crawled out from under the bed and towards the door. She pressed her ear against the wood, listening intently.

“We gladly accept fights people pick with us!” Shoujou declared.

“Don't underestimate the Saruyama Alliance!” Masira added.

Cricket was still silent.

She could hear Bellamy's crew charging, demanding the gold. And sounded like Sarquiss squaring off with Cricket until someone was kicked to the ground with a pained grunt. Thankfully, it sounded like Sarquiss.

Then, she heard Masira and Shoujou's combined attacks, “Saru Lunge!” “Saru Lunge!” Several bodies were sent flying and tumbling to the dirt.

She heard the swift swishing of a bladed weapon. As far as she could remember—and she tried not to think of Bellamy or his crew that often—Sarquiss was the only one with a weapon. That giant kukri.

She nearly yelped in fright when she heard Sarquiss yell, signaling an attack. But then she heard him grunt in pain again, and the swishing of his kukri faded away until there was the sound of a blade being plunged into the ground.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It sounded like they were winning. Even though she was upset at Cricket and the brothers for keeping such big secrets from her, there was still a part of her that didn't want them to get hurt. Especially when she couldn't even help them.

“Spring... Snipe!”

Tenshi gasped when she heard Bellamy's attack. She heard that 'sproing' sound she knew was associated with his Devil Fruit—she heard it enough times to remember. First Masira grunted in pain, and then Shoujou cried out. She heard their large bodies falling and rolling along the ground.

There were more 'sproing' sounds. Then, there was what sounded like something huge and wooden being split in half with a loud crack. The house wasn't shaking, so what could...

“The Going Merry!” She grabbed the doorknob, but it wouldn't twist open. Cricket had locked it, she had forgotten about that.

Another 'sproing'. Then, someone being hit hard, and Cricket's groan of pain before he fell to the ground.

“Stop!” Tenshi cried out, pounding her fists against the door.

But nobody could hear her. She heard Bellamy exclaiming something, but her heart was pounding too loudly in her ears to make out what it was.

But she did hear what sounded like people being beaten up as their attackers laughed. And she knew which side was which.

“Stop! Bellamy! Leave them alone!” She continued to punch the door, even throwing her shoulder against it. But it refused to budge. “Don't hurt them! Please!”

Eventually, everything stopped. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Then, she heard footsteps approaching the house. “The gold must be in here,” the man said.

“You stay away... from that house!” Cricket shouted, stopping the footsteps. “You're not worthy... of the treasure in there!”

She heard someone charging, and Sarquiss asking loudly, “Does this make us worthy?! Big Chop!”

She heard a strangled groan of pain, and then a large body collapse. “Masira!” Shoujou cried out.

Tenshi was now pounding her fist against the door and jiggling the knob as hard as she could. “Stop it!” she begged, feeling her throat beginning to tighten. “Stop this, now!”

Sarquiss was laughing, spinning his kukri. “We're stronger than you guys! How much more worthy do we have to be for your treasure? Well, old man?!”

“Watch out, boss! Havoc Sonar!” Shoujou began to yell out a note. Tenshi could feel the waves coming through the house. He was so close, they were pulsing painfully in her head. She had to stop trying to get the door open to cover both ears. She couldn't hear anything else.

Then, his voice was cut off by a loud thud. The last thing she heard was Cricket calling out his name before, suddenly, something large was sent hurtling clear through the house. She didn't have time to get out of the way before she was taken with it, falling into the ocean.

When she surfaced, shaking the water out of her eyes, she saw she was several meters away from the shoreline. Shoujou surfaced next to her, floating on his back.

“Those damned bastards!” She started to swim for shore, but something grabbed her. She was held tight against Shoujou, with his hand covering her mouth. Even as she struggled to get free, her shouts muffled against his palm, he didn't let go; not even when he passed out shortly after grabbing her.

Even at the distance, she could hear Bellamy and his crewmates laughing and cheering about taking Cricket's gold. With an angry growl, she squirmed and writhed, she punched and bit, but Shoujou never loosened his grip. She was trapped in his vice-like grip, somehow even as he remained unconscious. She could barely even see what was happening past the castle cutout, which now had a huge hole in the middle clear through the house.

Finally, the laughter and voices faded away. But she still couldn't get free. She couldn't even swim them both to shore.

Luckily, she heard a more friendly voice shouting out, “Old man! We caught a bird!... Old diamond-head!”

“Masira!”

“Shoujou! Tenshi-sama!”

“What in the world happened?!” she heard Nami exclaim.

Someone jumped into the water and swam towards her and Shoujou. She saw the blond head of hair in the moonlight. “Tenshi-sama! Are you alright?!” he called out.

She tried to shout, but was still muffled by Shoujou's hand. She tried to squirm away, but was still held tight by his other arm.

When he reached her, Sanji pried Shoujou's limbs away from her, finally freeing her with a gasp. She immediately pulled Shoujou's arm over her shoulder and swam to shore. She was still so incensed, she barely heard Sanji saying he could help her, or that Shoujou was being pulled along by the back of his coat. As she climbed ashore, not even sparing a moment to squeeze the seawater from her hair or skirt, she ran past Chopper to the front of the house.

Cricket and Masira lay in the grass, both seemingly unconscious as well. Masira was on his front, with a long, bloody gash running up his spine. Cricket was on his back, bruised and bloodied as well.

Usopp screamed when he saw the ship. “Look! The Going Merry!”

When she spared a look, she saw that the bow of the ship had been broken, with the figurehead practically buried in the mud. The mainmast was also broken, though it hadn't fallen completely off of the ship.

“What the hell?!” Usopp continued to cry out. “Who would do such a thing?!”

She finally reached Luffy, who was crouched by Cricket's side. “Tenshi, what happened?” he asked as she finally started to squeeze the water out of her hair and skirt. “Who did all of this?”

Before she could answer, Cricket wheezed out, “Sorry...”

“Old man!”

“I'm truly sorry... We couldn't stop them... But there's... still time... before sunset...” He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. “We can still... fix your ship...”

“Tenshi-sama! Are you injured? Do you need a towel?” Sanji ran up to Tenshi and tried to check her over. He attempted to gently grasp her shoulders to turn her to face him.

“Get off of me!” she snapped, shoving him away. He backed away, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Wait a minute!” Luffy protested, grasping Cricket's arm. “Just tell us what happened first!”

“It doesn't matter now... It's nothing... What's more important is...” He looked up, his shoulders relaxing in relief when he saw Tenshi standing before him, looking angry.

“I'll tell you guys what happened!” she declared. “Those fuckwa-”

“Quiet!” Cricket suddenly snapped, startling her into silence. His face relaxed when he looked past her. “Good, you got the South Bird.” He coughed up a small amount of blood.

When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Zoro standing a small distance away, holding the South Bird upside down in his hand. It let out a disgruntled cry.

“F-forget the bird! What happened was-”

“Luffy!” Nami called out from the destroyed house. “The gold is all gone!”

Everyone was stunned into silence, all with concerned expressions.

Cricket let out a resigned sigh. “Yeah, it's gone. But it doesn't matter, just forget about that junk. What you need to focus on is-”

“Junk?!” “What do you mean, 'junk'?!” Tenshi and Usopp snapped.

Tenshi continued on, “You three spent ten years getting that 'junk'! All those diving trips, all those times you could have killed yourself with fucking bubbles in your blood! And you're just gonna let them walk away wi-”

“I said quiet!” Cricket snapped again, though not as harshly this time. “This isn't the thing we should be focused on. Listen to me, all of you! If they all work together, the Saruyama Alliance can fix and reinforce that ship in no time. They'll be finished by morning. You all need to get ready to sail out. We will send you to the sky without fail, I promise you that. I promise you, Tenshi.”

“But... But that was your treasure...”

Cricket snorted. “That junk? Hardly.”

He suddenly took her arm and pulled her down against his chest. She gasped in surprise when he hugged her close, causing her to stiffen. She was so unused to physical contact, let alone the gentle kind; she hadn't had a proper hug in all the time she could remember. Most of the physical contact from Cricket were pats on the shoulder or him ruffling her hair.

“You're the real treasure, Tenshi.” He sounded choked up now, like he was in tears. “When they were going up to the house... When Shoujou was blasted through it... I was so worried about you. I'm just relieved that you're not hurt.” He hugged her tighter. “I'm so relieved...”

She could only kneel in his arms, stunned into silence. This was nothing that she had ever expected. She knew Cricket cared about her, even as he had kept those heavy secrets from her. He had said as much earlier before everything went wrong.

“If Masira and Shoujou are like sons to me, you're like a daughter to me.”

But this still caught her off guard, how emphatic he was that he didn't care about the gold. That the only thing he had been worried about, in the house, had been her.

“You're not worthy... of the treasure in there!”

It was then she finally realized what he had been talking about. She had thought the treasure had been the gold, the ingots and statuette. It would certainly be a great treasure to any pirate worth their salt. Not to mention they were the fruits of his labor.

But not to him...

For a moment, nobody said a word. Until Zoro said, “Luffy. Have a look at this.”

Tenshi looked over Cricket's shoulder to where Zoro was pointing at. On part of the broken castle cutout was a painted-on jolly roger. But not just any jolly roger. It was a grinning face with a diagonal line crossing through it, from the upper right to the lower left.

“Bellamy's mark!” Nami realized.

“Yeah,” Tenshi agreed, her voice low and angry. “I'd recognize that anywhere. They did this.”

Luffy stood up silently, with a stern look on his face. “Want any help?” Zoro asked.

“No,” Luffy refused, adjusting his hat. “I can handle them alone.”

“No, Luffy!” Nami shouted in protest. “Don't be stupid! We have to get ready to set sail in three hours!”

“... Tenshi? If I run along the coast, will I reach that town?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed, backing out of Cricket's hug to stand. “I've taken that route probably hundreds of times. If you're fast enough, the trip to and back should only take a combined hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half.”

With a nod, Luffy turned and started walking away.

“Boy, where are you going?” Cricket asked, looking utterly stunned. When Luffy didn't stop, he said louder, “Don't do anything rash! You have no idea who you're dealing wi-!”

He was cut off when Zoro plucked one of his swords—the one with the white-wrapped handle—from his hip and held it out in front of him. “If you want to stop him, you'll have to use this.”

Cricket remained seated, his eyes flickering between the sword and Luffy.

“Luffy!” Tenshi called out to him. When Luffy paused and looked over his shoulder, she said firmly, with a fire in her eyes, “Kick his ass this time!”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He looked back ahead. She could hear his knuckles cracking. “I'll be back by morning.”

Once Luffy disappeared into the jungle, Nami stormed off to the side in an angry huff. “Throwing a tantrum's not going to get the ship fixed,” Zoro remarked, hooking his sword back on his hip.

“Scolding me's not gonna help either!” she countered. “I'm not a child!”

“I agree! You leave Nami-san alone, stupid mosshead!” Sanji snapped.

“You butt out of this, pervy cook!” Zoro yelled back.

“Both of you knock it off!” Nami yelled.

Tenshi could only watch in bewilderment and amusement.

Eventually, thanks to Chopper's doctoring, Masira and Shoujou were bandaged up enough to where they woke up. And, of course, tearfully hugged Tenshi when they discovered she was alright. Their combined hug was a much tighter squeeze than Cricket's had been, and only loosened when he told them to stop crushing her. They were then sent to fetch their individual crews from their ships docked in the Mouth Bay.

In the meantime, Tenshi sat nearby as Chopper dressed Cricket's wounds. She had her arms crossed, and was frowning. “What are you still angry about?” Cricket asked.

“Why did you lock me away?! I could have helped you guys!”

“You wouldn't have stood a chance against him, Tenshi.”

“I can fight! You taught me some moves! And I got my gully knife! I'm not scared of him!”

“He's got a Devil Fruit. A nasty one, at that. You already know this. Besides, how do you think he would have reacted if he knew you were here? You told me how obsessive he is with you in town alone. What do you think he would have done if he saw you here?”

She sobered at the questions. “Right. He would have done worse to you guys... He would have killed you...”

“Wh-us?!” Cricket sputtered out. “No! You! He would have dragged you back to town, no questions asked! He probably would have kept you hostage! I've seen guys like that! I know what they do to women!” He shook his head, sighing in exasperation at her confused expression. “Tenshi, you have to think about yourself once in a while too. You don't need to put everyone else's troubles and needs above yours. Be selfish once in a while! You matter too!”

Tenshi could only look at him quietly as Chopper finished the last of the bandages. With how he glanced at her with a surprised and concerned expression, she knew he had been listening. She looked away, resting her forearms on her bent knees.

“... Hey, kid. You're a good doctor. Could you see what kind of scars those are on Tenshi's back?” Cricket asked.

Tenshi turned back to him in surprised confusion. Out of all the things to do, why that? He had already explained what her back scars were.

Chopper seemed confused too, but agreed, and padded around Tenshi to stand behind her. “May I?” he asked.

She nodded, and sat up straight so he could gently pull down the back of her dress to see her upper back better.

He grunted in confusion. “These... these are undoubtedly amputation scars. Not the most professional-looking ones, but substantial enough.” He carefully ran his hooves over her scars, backing up a little when she tensed. “Whatever had been removed, it was a major-enough surgery to leave these large scars. And they look several years old as well... What was removed?”

“That's for Tenshi to explain,” Cricket said, lighting a fresh cigarette. “Besides, if you guys find the sky island, you'll probably understand.”

Tenshi fixed her dress, looking at Cricket again. Though, it wasn't quite out of confusion, nor even suspicion; it was more so contemplation.

Soon enough, Masira and Shoujou returned with not only their crews, but also supplies to fix the Going Merry and strengthen her up to be able to survive the Knock-Up Stream. Despite still having bandaged injuries, both brothers and Cricket insisted on assisting. Chopper agreed, but only if he could be on standby in case somebody needed a break or fresh bandages.

Tenshi assisted by reinforcing the stitches in the sails, making sure the ropes weren't frayed or broken, and tightening the knots. Though she was focused on her tasks, she still spared a thought in between for everything that had happened. Namely, what had happened before Bellamy attacked.

The secrets that Cricket revealed were still bouncing around in her head. He had rescued her, but kept it a secret from her. He practically knew that she came from the sky, between her once having wings—now she realized he had Chopper medically confirm they were amputation scars to further drive the truth home—and falling out of the sky into the ocean, but kept all that secret from her. He probably had other secrets that he didn't have time to reveal.

Keeping her non-human heritage a secret from the town was a no brainer. She hadn't been witness to the slave trade, as far as she knew, but she had read about it in the newspapers, and overheard talk about it at the Wild Cherry. It disgusted her that people who were considered less than human simply because they looked different could be treated like cattle; worse, even. So far, she hadn't heard of any winged people being sold. But it wouldn't have surprised her if such a thing would have started with her, had people known what she looked like.

And keeping his involvement secret from her just because of his reputation in town... she was starting to understand. She had never been witness to the town's treatment of him either—Bellamy and his crew were technically not citizens, but pirates that had taken up residency on the island—but he told her that because he talked passionately about dreams, they ran him out of town with cruel words and mocking laughter.

And if they knew they were connected in any way, however small, she likely would have gotten worse treatment than she already had. If she had lived with him, she would have still had to have gone to town for supplies and groceries. And she would have gotten that worse treatment.

And she was also starting to understand his point-of-view in not revealing everything to her from the get-go. What if she hadn't believed him? What if she thought he was crazy? What if she started to reject him, just like the town had? Just the idea of such things happening hurt her heart.

It still hurt that she never knew all of this until just now. But she was starting to understand the secrecy...

It was morning by the time the Going Merry had been fixed and reinforced. Metal plating had been used to reattach the broken bow to the rest of the ship, and several others were used to reinforce the keel and hull. There were also attachments, made from wood and metal, that gave the Going Merry a chicken-like appearance, complete with spread wings, and a red comb and waddle. Masira and Shoujou's ships, the Victory Hunter and the Utan Sonar, were docked nearby.

“Um... Why is it a chicken?” Tenshi asked, tilting her head to the side. “Chickens aren't known for their flight... at all.”

“Who cares?!” Nami shouted, clenching her fists. “Luffy's not back yet! He said he'd be back by morning!”

While she ranted, Cricket gestured for Tenshi to follow him. “There's one last thing I need to show you,” he said softly.

They went into the destroyed house. There was a hole where the door had once been, and in the castle cutout, where Shoujou had been launched through. Broken pieces of wood and stone lay scattered about. Her boot nudged against something, which she realized was the framed picture of them that had been on the wall. She picked it up, letting the shards of glass fall away, and looked at it. Aside from the frame and its glass, it wasn't too seriously damaged.

She carefully pulled the picture out and set the broken frame aside. The picture had been taken the first time she visited them at Cricket's house. It had been several years ago, though not too long after she had woken up. Even though she couldn't live with him, they were always happy and eager for her to visit. Many memories had been made between the four of them; ones she would always hold precious to her, no matter what.

“Ohh, this wasn't destroyed. That's good... That's good.” Cricket let out a loud, shuddering sigh of relief as he took a wooden box from the bottom cabinet of the bookcase. She recognized it as the box she had seen earlier when he was bringing out the bell ingots to show everyone. Part of the bookcase had been destroyed in the fight, but the box remained intact.

Running a hand over the top of it, Cricket held out the box for Tenshi to take. He nodded for her to open it.

Inside were a multitude of things that, at first, she didn't know what to make of. Neatly folded at the bottom of the box were fabrics of light aquamarine, light purple, orange, dark blue, and white; they all had black scorch and singe marks. On top were a pair of singed red sandals, pieces of gold and amethyst jewelry, large golden needles, rope—all of which had similar black marks, though could likely be wiped clean—and singed white feathers.

“Do they look familiar?” Cricket asked, his voice still soft.

After a few seconds, Tenshi replied just as quietly, “Kinda... It's a more nostalgic déjà vu than when I'm just looking at the sky.” She blinked and lightly gasped in realization. “Are... Are these..?”

Cricket nodded. “Mm-hmm. These are everything you had on your person when I found you, when you fell into the ocean. You were holding those needles really tight in your hands, even unconscious, so I figured they were some kind of weapon. When you were recovering, the doctor put everything in the box for me to hang onto—I guess he thought I'd be your caretaker or something, even though I had asked him to keep my involvement a secret. I never got around to giving them to you when I was visiting you in Mock Town, nor when you started visiting me... I never bucked up the nerve to give them to you, ever. I didn't want to get your hopes up in case you weren't able to remember anything... But I also didn't want to lose you, whether it was because you hated me for lying and keeping secrets from you, or if you set off to find the sky island yourself.”

Cricket sighed bitterly, turning away from her. “How ironic, Noland's the most honest of my family, even though he's been branded a liar for four-hundred years; but I'm the one who's been a liar... A selfish, cowardly liar... I'm sorry, Tenshi.”

Without a second glance, he left her in the house, alone with her forgotten belongings.

She slowly knelt down and placed the wooden box on the floor in front of her. She took out each item, one by one, and lay them all out on the floor. They still felt so familiar, like old friends that were trying to remind her of what life used to be like years ago. But nothing helped anything click.

They were more things he had kept secret from her, things that could have jogged her memory. But, then again, they didn't really jog her memory now. Who was to say they would have earlier, especially so fresh after her initial rescue and recovery? Would they have sparked that nostalgic déjà vu, or would they have just been clothes and junk to her?

Everything was swirling around in her head, and she had to really think on everything. Yes, it hurt that so much had been kept secret from her. It hurt that she could have started her journey in recovering her memories earlier, had Cricket and the brothers been honest with her. It hurt that she never knew that Cricket himself had been her rescuer—she should have realized the clues to begin with.

For a fleeting second, she compared them to the people in Mock Town.

But even considering that action made her sick and angry. Despite keeping secrets from her for their own selfish reasons, they were nothing like Mock Town. They didn't do what they did to maliciously hurt her, nor did they hurt her like Mock Town had, period. They never said or did anything cruel to her just because they thought it was funny or because she deserved it. And though it took her actively wanting to go along with a pirate crew to ride the Knock-Up Stream to the clouds to find the sky island, they did come clean with what they had done, admitted their faults, and were genuinely sorry. She knew them well enough, despite their secret-keeping, to know when they were being honest.

All in all, they had done more for her than anyone in Mock Town ever had.

Outside, Cricket sat by the stump, smoking yet another cigarette. He had a dish full of several stubbed-out butts already. He barely listened to Nami complaining about Luffy being late, or Masira and Shoujou wondering if Tenshi would forgive them.

He was far too distracted by his memories...

Cricket was swimming up to the surface after yet another fruitless dive for any treasure that could point to Noland's lost city of gold. But he was so dead-set on settling this dispute between himself and his long-dead ancestor, he refused to let the disappointment get to him. Besides, Masira and Shoujou had said they would work hard to do their own diving expeditions anyway. That would certainly lighten the load, at least on paper.

Above the surface, through the water, he heard a distant rumble of thunder. All the more reason to surface and head home, if there was a storm brewing.

Suddenly, something heavy plunged into the ocean. For several seconds, it was encased in a cloud of bubbles, preventing Cricket from seeing what it was. He kept his distance in case it was some sort of enemy. But more than likely, it was some junk or even part of a ship that had fallen out of the sky. That was known to happen once in a great while.

He nearly gasped in shock when he finally saw what it was: a young woman. And she was sinking down deeper into the water, no limbs twitching to try and surface.

Barely even thinking about his next move, Cricket swam up to her, held her in his arms, and kicked his legs as hard and fast as he could. He instinctively inhaled a lungful of air once he broke the surface, and hoisted the woman's head against his shoulder to make sure she could breathe too. If she was even still breathing.

When he looked down at her, he was surprised by how she looked. Her skin was pale, and she had fresh harsh-looking burns on her face and throat, like she had been struck by lightning. Her clothes had black scorch patches, and her long brown hair was still frizzed up from the attack. Clutched tightly in her hands were what looked like large twin golden needles, with dirty pale wrappings just under the eyes. They were as long as her forearm, as thick as her thumb, and sharpened to a glistening point. In each of the eyes were a trail of three hoops, with the middle ones being smaller, and a long length of rope attached to the last hoops.

But the most startling thing about her were what were on her back: wings. A pair of folded, long, white wings attached to her upper back. They spanned her shoulder blades, and seemed long enough to reach the small of her back. They were charred and broken in several places, with some of the feathers falling out and floating around them.

Her head lolled back against his arm. She was so limp, he wondered for a moment if she had even lived. She had fallen into the ocean from an obviously great height; not doubt her wings had gotten broken from the impact, likely weakened by the lightning attack that had harmed her face.

Even with the visible damage done to her, she was beautiful. Angelic, even. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if she had fallen from a sky island. Noland's logbook never said anything about sky island citizens having wings, or if they even had wings in the first place. But an island up in the clouds, on a sea in the sky; it made sense that angelic beings with wings would live up there.

But that would mean she literally fell from the clouds into the ocean.

“What fresh hell have you gone through, kiddo?” he muttered. Still treading in the water, he pressed his ear against her chest. For several tense moments, he could only hear the ocean waves around them.

But then...

It was faint, but he could hear a heartbeat. Miraculously, she was alive. But likely hanging by a thread, between being struck by lightning, falling a great height, and hitting the ocean to nearly drown.

Without another thought, Cricket immediately began to swim for shore. He was a fast swimmer, so it didn't take long. Masira and Shoujou and their ships were nowhere to be found. But he didn't have time to look for them.

This young woman needed a doctor.

His feet pounded along the ground as he ran for Mock Town, still clutching her against his chest. She didn't make a single sound or movement. But he had no time to check if she was alive. The doctor could do that.

Though he was surrounded by jeers and shouts when he finally came upon the town, he ignored them all and made a beeline for the doctor's office. Kicking the door in, he shouted, “Hey! This young woman needs a doctor! Or she'll die!”

Though startled and disgruntled by the sudden invasion and demands, the doctor did bring her in to look her over. She was alive, but just barely. And had obviously suffered great trauma, with a harsh lightning strike leaving her with third-degree Lichtenburg wounds on her face, and her wings being charred and broken—he had nearly been shocked into stillness upon seeing them until Cricket barked at him to keep doing his job.

“Do not tell anyone about her or her wings!” he demanded. “And don't tell anyone I was involved either! She's gonna have enough hell to deal with in this shit town. Wait until she's awake and talking. I'll be back to see if she makes it.”

Before he completely left, Cricket said one more thing over his shoulder, “If you need a name for the records, until she can tell you her real name... Call her Tenshi. She looks like an angel, anyway.”

Later on, it was during his second visit when he brought Masira and Shoujou after explaining what happened that Cricket learned about her wings. They had been too damaged to save; even if they had been splinted, there was no way to know what type of nerve damage there was, or if they would even heal properly. They had been amputated, leaving her with two thin stitched up surgical wounds between her shoulder blades.

Masira and Shoujou had many questions, naturally. But they were also excited to get to know her when she woke up. If she indeed came from a sky island, maybe she could fill in some blanks that Noland's logbook hadn't explained.

But it was during a third visit when they learned the harsh truth: she was awake, but had no idea of who she was or where she had come from. She had complete amnesia, not even knowing her own name. The doctor, surprisingly keeping to his word, didn't tell her who had rescued her. He claimed that she had been left with a note explaining what happened and that they had called her Tenshi because she looked like an angel—though he left out the part about her once having wings. So, she claimed the name as her own.

Even with her having amnesia, she was friendly. And she wished she knew who her savior was so she could thank them for saving her. But even without knowing them, she was grateful to them for saving her life.

But she was still saddened by her lack of memories, leaving her lost and confused in an unfamiliar world, surrounded by strangers. Not to mention, with her face being completely wrapped up, save for her eyes, nose, and mouth, she didn't know how she would look. She had been told about the burns, and that they were likely to leave scars. It wasn't until the bandages were removed that she realized the extent.

Though he never told her the circumstances behind her rescue, Cricket still couldn't help bonding with her. Especially when, in lieu of him visiting her, she took the time to visit him and the brothers. Even though she never lived with him—he didn't think it would be proper, a young lady living in the house of an older man; and she herself never asked to—they all became something of a family. It was that bond that made him keep those secrets tightly hidden away.

What if he had told her? What if she didn't believe him and distanced herself from them? Or if she did believe him but hated them for keeping said secrets? What if she decided to ride the Knock-Up Stream herself and got herself hurt, or worse? He couldn't lose her. Not in any way, shape, or form.

But he still knew there would be a day, someday, when he had to let her go...

~ * <|> * ~

Still pondering on his memories and the what-ifs, Cricket heard a louder commotion. It sounded like Luffy had finally arrived.

As everyone boarded, getting ready to set sail, Luffy approached Cricket. Without a word, he placed a large duffel bag on the stump. The contents inside clinked against each other, and the vague shapes told Cricket what was inside.

Cricket inhaled a puff from his cigarette, and let it out with a sigh. “Better get going, there's not much time. Tenshi should be joining you soon enough. Don't waste yourselves or her this opportunity to get to the sky, you fool.”

“Right!” Luffy nodded with a wide grin. “Thanks for fixing up the ship!”

He stubbed out his cigarette and pointed at the other two ships over his shoulder. Their crews had already boarded and were ready to set sail. “It's them you should be thanking.”

As Luffy thanked the crews and gifted them a Hercules beetle he had found, much to their amazement and glee, Cricket finally heard footsteps exiting the house. He looked over his shoulder with a solemn expression.

Tenshi slowly walked out, adjusting the rope around her waist. She was wearing the clothes and jewelry that had been in the box. The wrap top was light-teal, with long flair sleeves that had ruffled cuffs. These cuffs, and the long ties, were light purple. The ties were wrapped around her waist as much as possible, and were tied at the front. The long tiered skirt, with four layers of ruffles down to the hem, was light-orange, with the ruffles being black.* The white headscarf was twisted and tied around her head like a headband, leaving her long messy brown curls to fall past her shoulders. On her feet were the red sandals.

Her jewelry consisted of a necklace and ring. The necklace was a black cord, with a flat amethyst pi stone pendant and gold bead, resting just below her collarbone. The ring was a thin golden one, with two purple gems—presumably amethyst as well, though one looked a little pinker—and was on her right ring finger.

Around her waist was the weapon. The rope had been folded in half, wrapped around her waist, and tied with what looked like a slip knot. This left the needles to dangle and clink against her hip.

Under one of her arms was her cream work dress, presumably with her corset top and boots wrapped in it to carry back to the ship. She looked contemplative, glancing down at herself.

Cricket was briefly taken back to that day when he found her again, unconscious and injured—back then, though, she had been wearing the headscarf like a proper headscarf, her midriff had been showing between the wrap top and tiered skirt, and he couldn't remember which finger her ring had been on. He wondered if he would have done anything different, if he would have told her the truth sooner, if he knew how things would go now.

She stopped in front of him, silently looking at him. He lit another cigarette and puffed on it. He turned away to blow out the smoke and said, “You better hurry up. They're already la-”

Tenshi interrupted him by dropping the dress bundle, crouching down, and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He froze, stunned into silence. She never initiated physical contact like this.

“I forgive you,” she whispered, leaning her head against his neck. “You weren't exactly lying, just keeping secrets. But I understand why you did it. And... Thank you. Thank you for saving my life.”

Cricket finally scoffed softly, loosely wrapping his arms around her. “I didn't do much, I just got you to a doctor.”

She shook her head. “You did more than just that. You and the brothers... You guys saved my life more times than you realize. More than just that first day.”

The breath caught in Cricket's throat, and his heart dropped in realization. Without a second thought, his arms tightened around her. His eyes shut tightly, squeezing the tears out. Now he really didn't want to let her go. He wanted to keep her here, in his arms, in his house. He wanted to go down to that town and destroy every building and person in sight; specifically those who had hurt her the worst. And he wanted to demand what secrets she was keeping, to where she would thank him for something like that. What pain was she hiding from him? What had she gone through that she wasn't telling him? What demons did she keep hidden inside of her?

He didn't want to let her go.

But he knew he couldn't keep her. She was close to discovering her truth. And she always mentioned how she wanted to leave the island someday anyway. This was her chance; keeping her back because he loved her would be far too selfish. Even more than he had been for the last six years.

“... You should stay with them,” he whispered, his voice choked up in her ear. “Those pirates. Whether or not you discover your truth. They're good people, they'll take you far. They'll help you explore the world, find more people who will accept you for who you are, no matter what you look like. Maybe even love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

“... I-I'll think about it,” she said quietly, her own voice cracking.

“And Tenshi?.. Never give up on your dreams. Even if they seem impossible, even if people talk down about them, don't lose sight of them, ever.”

“I won't. I promise and swear it.”

They stayed in that tight, emotional hug for a few seconds longer before they finally parted. Cricket's face was a mess of tears and snot, which he quickly wiped dry with his forearm. “Alright, hurry up, kiddo. They're waiting for you.”

She nodded with a watery smile, picked up her wrapped up dress, and ran to the Going Merry. Her skirt and sleeves flowed behind her, almost resembling the wings she had lost all those years ago. Her hair was a long curtain of messy brown curls in the wind. The light glimmered off of her gold jewelry and needles.

As she boarded the ship, it suddenly hit her: she was leaving. She was really leaving Jaya, off to rediscover herself. But she was leaving behind people she cared for, that she loved, and that cared for and loved her; that had become her family. And it hurt. Especially since she had no way of knowing if she would ever see them again. The world was a huge place. And whether she stayed up in the clouds, or traveled with this crew, there wasn't much likelihood that she would see the Saruyama Alliance ever again.

It made the lump in her throat grow even tighter, and the hot stinging in her eyes worsen. But she blinked the feeling away, tilting her head back, and let out a long breath. “I'll be okay...”

“Saruyama Alliance!” Cricket shouted.

They all shouted in return, listening closely. Tenshi turned to look back at him.

“Don't screw this up! No matter what happens, give it your all for these guys! For Tenshi!”

“Aye aye!” “Yeah!”

Tenshi could hear Nami announcing that it was time to set sail, and Usopp and Sanji answering her call with gusto. The anchor was raised with a mighty groan. The Going Merry was turned around to face south, just as the South Bird was pointing.

As the ship began to sail away, Tenshi ran to the stern until she reached the mizzenstaff. She climbed up it until she could stand on the lateen sail's boom, holding one of the ropes with both hands.

Cricket approached the shoreline and shouted out, “Boy! Kiddo! This is where we part ways!”

Luffy joined Tenshi on the poop deck, looking out over the chicken tail at Cricket. He shouted in agreement. Tenshi's heart tightened in her chest.

“Let me say one thing that I'm certain of: no one has ever proved or disproved the existence of either the city of gold or sky island!

Both Luffy and Tenshi nodded in agreement. The rest of the crew slowly joined them.

“People might laugh and call it foolish logic or silly legends. But that's fine with me. Let them laugh!” He spread his arms out and declared loudly, “That, after all, is what great adventure is about!”

“Great adventure...” Tenshi's smile grew wider. She always wanted to go on adventures, to explore the world, even if she couldn't find her memories. She had said it herself. It had been partly to escape the hell that was Jaya and Mock Town. But the new possibilities that the world had to offer excited her. The islands, the people, and the experiences.

“Thanks for getting my gold back,” Cricket continued. “And take good care of my kiddo. Don't fall out of the sky! Especially you, Tenshi!”

Tenshi laughed in agreement, and lifted her arm up to wave at him. “Thanks again for everything... Pops!”

Though initially caught off guard, he jokingly scolded, “Are you calling me old, you damn brat?!” But there was clear affection in his voice, even as he was getting choked up again. “You be careful, kiddo! And get good and strong!”

“See ya, Tenshi's pops!” Luffy called out.

“Thanks for everything, Cricket-san!” Nami shouted.

“You'll find the city of gold, Tenshi's pops!” Usopp added.

“We'll take good care of Tenshi-sama!”

“Don't overdo it with the diving again!” Tenshi added.

“Mind your own business!” Cricket countered, still affectionate.

The Victory Hunter and Utan Sonar sailed after them, flanking the tiny Going Merry. Masira and Shoujou, having heard that Tenshi forgave Cricket, cheered loudly from their respective ships. She continued to cling to the lateen sail, watching the island disappear into a small dot in the distance. The vast open ocean almost felt too open, and even a little scary and lonely.

But when she glanced back along the ship, listening to Luffy play with the South Bird and converse with the monkey brothers, she felt a surge of confidence. She had no reasons to worry, not with these guys by her side. Though they barely knew her, they had been the kindest and friendliest people she had ever met outside of Cricket and the brothers. And they were willing to take her along to help her fulfill her dream.

Eventually, she migrated to the port-side of the ship, where the Victory Hunter sailed. She and Masira fell into an easy conversation. It was mostly about her wearing her old clothes again, what she hoped for the future, and how they would get on without her.

“What're you gonna do if you do remember everything?” he asked, leaning on his forearms against the taffrail. “Especially if you're not completely the same person as you were back then.”

“I'm not sure. But I have considered that.” She was sitting on the taffrail of the Going Merry, letting her legs dangle over the side, and holding the clewline with both hands. “What I wonder is if Mock Town made me nasty... Or if I've always been like that. Sometimes it scares me a little.”

Masira snorted. “That's stupid. I mean, yeah, you're pretty vulgar, you enjoy dishing out insults and are even quick about it, and you have a short temper at times. But you're also kind, selfless, and loving. None of that comes from a place like Mock Town, of all places. And you were like that even after waking up. So, you must have been a good person before.”

Tenshi was quiet, watching the waves go by. When he put it that way, it made sense. And it made her feel a little better.

Three hours later, one of Masira's crewmates looked out along the upcoming horizon through a pair of binoculars. “Boss!” he suddenly exclaimed. “We got a problem!”

“What is it?” Masira asked, running to join him.

“'Night' in the southwest! It's the Emperor Cloud!”

“Are you shitting me?!” Tenshi ran to the bow, looking out a little to the right of where they were going. Indeed, far in the distance, she could see a small patch of dark clouds. “Pops said it was in the south, not southwest!”

“And it's only ten o'clock!” Nami added, grabbing the sides of her face. “That's too early!”

“Shoujou, can we make it?!” Masira asked across the way.

“Utan Divers! Submerge immediately! Check for nearby currents!”

Several of his crewmates attached the antennae of their suits to hoses and dove into the ocean over the sides of the ship.

Usopp and Sanji burst out of the storeroom and lounge respectfully once they heard the commotion. “What's going on?!” Usopp asked.

“Night's a'coming faster than we thought, boys!” Tenshi exclaimed.

“The Emperor Cloud's here earlier and in the wrong spot!” Nami added. “We haven't even found the Knock-Up Stream yet!”

From his ship, Shoujou sent out a Search Sonar, which were gentler sound waves than his Havoc Sonar. “He uses those like echolocation,” Tenshi explained. “The Utan Divers listen for returning sounds, which signify something is out there.”

Sure enough, a few Utan Divers surfaced. “Reverberation confirmed! Giant current at twelve o'clock!”

“Reverberation confirmed! Giant creature detected at nine o'clock! Possibly a Sea King!”

“That's all we need,” Tenshi grumbled.

The last Utan Diver broke the surface. “Reverberation confirmed! Waves coming from the direction of the current at ten o'clock! Possibly a giant whirlpool!”

“That's what we need!” Masira exclaimed. “Turn the prow to ten o'clock! That whirlpool is a sign of the Knock-Up Stream! Full speed ahead!”

The waves began to pick up in strength and size, tossing the ships like they were bath toys, even as they continued to sail onward. Everyone had to grab onto something solid to keep from being tossed to the ground or overboard. The waves were so choppy, it almost seemed like it was raining. “We're gonna sink!” Usopp cried out.

“It's the pre-explosion tremor!” Masira shouted. “Hang on tight!”

“Navigator!” Robin called up to Nami. “Where is the Log Pose pointing?”

“Wasn't it pointing straight up?” Tenshi asked.

Nami lifted her wrist to look at it. “... It's pointing up at that cloud!” she confirmed.

“Th-the sky island's... up there?!” Usopp stammered out.

“Pops said that's where it's likely to be!” Tenshi recalled. “It's a mass of clouds solid enough to block out the sun! If there's a sea in the sky, it could hold it!”

“The wind direction is perfect!” Nami declared. “And the Emperor Cloud is headed straight for the middle of that whirlpool!”

“What whirlpool?” Luffy asked, looking around. “I don't see it.”

“Looks like we hit the jackpot, brother!” Masira called out with a wide grin.

“Oh, yeah!” Shoujou agreed. “And it'll be a nice-sized explosion too!”

“Can we make it?!” Luffy asked.

“Yep, we're gonna make it!” Two long ropes shot out from the Victory Hunter. Each one had a large claw attached to the end, both of which grabbed the Going Merry on either side of her figurehead. “We'll tow you to the edge of the whirlpool!” Masira explained.

“Then what do we do?!” Nami asked.

“Sail directly into the flow of the current! If you make it to the center, you'll be fine!”

Now they could see the whirlpool. It was massive, big enough to swallow Jaya easily. The center was pitch black, even without the Emperor Cloud overhead. And it was deafeningly loud, requiring everyone to shout at the top of their lungs to be heard.

“The center of this huge whirlpool?!.. Nobody said anything about this!”

“Don't worry, Nami-san! I'll protect you, Robin-chan, and Tenshi-sama!”

“I've never seen such a huge whirlpool...”

“This is bad! Stop the ride, I wanna get off! Let's go back!”

“Nope, it's too late. No turning back.”

“Let's go! Sky island!”

“Here we come! I'm coming home!”

Suddenly a giant sea creature burst out of the waves. It was yellow, with darker mottled stripes, whiskers like an axolotl, and long arms. It was big enough that it could swallow all three ships at once.

But just as quickly as the Sea King surfaced, scaring everyone into shaking silence, it dove back in as it was sucked into the whirlpool.

By this point, the Going Merry was at the very edge of the giant whirlpool, letting the current slowly take them in. The Victory Hunter and Utan Sonar were several kilometers behind them, a safe enough distance to where they wouldn't get caught in the Knock-Up Stream as well.

“Alright, guys!” Masira called out from the bow. “The rest is up to you now!”

“Yeah! Thanks for the lift!” Luffy shouted, waving his arm. Usopp and Nami tried to protest and complain, but they were ignored.

“Thanks for all you've done for me, Little Bro Masira and Little Bro Shoujou!” Tenshi added, stretching both her arms up to do the combined Saruyama Pose; both arms curled inward over her head, but with one palm facing downwards, and the other facing upwards. “Look after Pops for me!”

Masira and Shoujou both burst into tears. “Farewell, Big Sis! We'll watch out for your first bounty poster!” “Farewell, Big Sis! We'll watch out for your first bounty poster!”

“I haven't even decided if I'm a permanent pirate yet, you morons!”

The sky suddenly went completely dark. It was almost impossible for anyone to see anything. “It's night again!” Usopp cried out.

“We're being sucked in!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Luffy! Let's turn back!” Usopp begged, crying by this point. “There's still time! Don't you see this! It's gonna swallow us and kill us all! This sky island's just a dream within a dream!”

“A dream within a dream, huh..?”

“He's right, Luffy!” Nami added. “I don't think we can do this either! This is impossible!”

“A dream within a dream... I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I pass this up!” Luffy was beaming, almost lighting up the area with how bright his smile is. “This is our greatest adventure yet!”

“I'm not turning back!” Tenshi declared, her crooked grin wide and bright as well. “Definitely not back to Mock Town! Not ever again! I made it too far to just roll over and give up! Pops and my little brothers gave it their all for me; for us! And I, for one, am not going to shame them or throw away their efforts!”

Nami, Usopp, and Chopper could only glance between Luffy and Tenshi. “He's enjoying this... And she's just as bad...” “He's enjoying this... And she's just as bad...”

“Oi, when you guys are finished whining...” Zoro pointed out at the whirlpool. “We're gonna get swallowed!”

The Going Merry was now sailing straight for the heart of the whirlpool. As they screamed with fright and excitement, the ship actually managed to glide through the air away from the current and down into the funnel.

“We're falling!” Usopp screamed. “We're falli-!”

With a half-hearted splash, the Going Merry landed in surprisingly calm waters, especially considering the loud whirlpool just minutes ago. Everything had gone eerily quiet and still.

“Huh? It's gone? How?” Sanji asked, confused and stunned.

“What happened?” Luffy added.

“Who turned off the whirlpool?” Tenshi wondered, glancing around. “We got a schedule here!”

“Th-that whirlpool was huge! What's happening?” Usopp looked out along the ocean. Even the waves had calmed down.

“... No!” Nami exclaimed, looking straight down at the deck where her feet were. “... It's already starting! The whirlpool only disappeared from the surface!”

“You... Y-you don't mean...?”

“... We better hang onto something,” Tenshi suggested.

“Hold it!” a familiar voice shouted from off to the side.

In the distance was what looked like a giant raft. It was made of four giant logs, with a red-lined gunport in each trunk. The mainstaff had three giant black square sails, with the middle one having a jolly roger: three skulls, side by side, with six crossbones.

“Hey, Zoro!” Luffy said. “Look.”

Tenshi squinted her eyes as she stared at the raft. Only for them to widen when she recognized one of the figures and his laugh. “... You gotta be shitting me!”

“Ze-hahaha! Ze-hahaha! Ze-hahaha!” he laughed. He was standing with three other men, two of which were paddling on each side of the raft. In addition to the rotund ugly man from the Pub and Pies, she recognized the sickly doctor and horse that had the exploding apples, the masked fighting champion that had been challenging everyone; and even the silhouette of the sharpshooter from the rooftops.

“They're all a pirate crew? No wonder you said there were more than just the big ugly one, Zoro!” Tenshi said.

“I caught up to ya, 'Straw Hat' Luffy! We're gonna take that 100 million-Beri bounty of yours! Prepare yourselves!”

“Did you say my bounty is 100 million Beri?!” Luffy asked as the raft drew nearer.

“You didn't know?!” The man held up two bounty posters. “There's a 100 million-Beri bounty on your head! And 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro, you're worth 60 million!”

“It's true!” Usopp said, looking through the binoculars. “He's got two bounty posters! Zoro! You got a bounty now!”

“What? Hold on, now!” Sanji ran up to Usopp, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “How about me? Where's my poster?”

“There isn't one.”

“Look again.”

“... Nope.”

“Let me see!” Tenshi took the binoculars from Usopp to take a look.

The bounty posters were labeled 'Monkey D. Luffy' and 'Roronoa Zoro'. Luffy's picture was of him grinning and waving at the camera—and there was also the back of Usopp's head behind him. Zoro's was of him frowning over his shoulder, like he was looking at an enemy; the setting looked like a desert kingdom, in addition to the shadow of some hook-shaped object behind him. Their bounty amounts were indeed 100 million and 60 million respectively.

“I get it now. Your bounties skyrocketed after Arabasta!” Nami realized.

“You guys were there?” Tenshi asked in surprise.

Luffy was cheering. “Did you hear that?! I'm worth 100 million!”

Zoro had his arms crossed with a proud grin. “Only 60 million, huh?” He chuckled.

“Congratulations, guys!” Tenshi said, lowering the binoculars. “That's quite the jump from 400 mil', Luffy!”

“Stop celebrating, you three!” Nami shouted.

“... H-hey, you guys! Don't get distracted!” Shoujou called out. “Here it comes!”

The ship began to rise. The waves were picking up again, as well as the roars from the ocean. The waters were bulging upward under them, like a bubble attempting to surface.

“Everybody! Grab something secure or get inside!” Sanji yelled as everyone scattered.

“Do we got any extra ropes?! We could attach lifelines!” Tenshi suggested.

“No time for that!”

“The sea's gonna blow!”

The bulge rose up higher and higher, also taking the giant raft in its wake, until it paused. Chopper was clinging to the mainstaff, with Robin next to it. Usopp was clutching the doorway to the storeroom, and Sanji was hanging onto the nearby taffrail. Nami was backed up against the wall opposite to Usopp, and Zoro had a hold of the taffrail across from Sanji. Luffy and Tenshi stood on the deck, looking down with bated breath. She could feel the shaking from the waves. Something was going to happen, she could feel it in her bones.

*KA-BLOOSH!*

It happened almost too fast to register. With a loud explosion, a giant water stream burst up under the Going Merry, taking it with them. Tenshi barely saw the giant raft being blown apart and falling back down to the ocean.

“Ha-ha! So long, fuckers!” she yelled, even though she knew they wouldn't be able to hear her. Hanging onto the clewline she managed to grab, she flipped them off with her other hand as she cackled. “Better luck next time!”

The Going Merry was sailing up the stream as though it were a regular current. “What the heck is going on?!” Usopp yelled.

“The ship's going up this pillar of water!” Sanji said.

“It's the Knock-Up Stream!” Tenshi declared.

“This is fun!” Luffy shouted with a laugh.

“How is this even happening?!”

By this point, Zoro and Robin had been able to orient themselves so they were standing on the stairs and cabin wall, now that the ship was going vertical. Usopp was hanging onto the rail for dear life, Sanji was bracing himself against it, and Chopper was still clinging to the mainstaff. Tenshi kept a hold of the clewline, even wrapping her legs around it. Luffy had managed to mount onto the figurehead's waddle like it was some sort of special seat.

“Alright! We can get up to the sky on this!” he cheered. “Go, Merry!”

“Wait a minute... I don't think it'll be that easy!” Sanji realized.

“Wh-what's wrong?”

“Did we forget something?”

Tenshi looked over the side, and gulped. “I see it... We're losing the stream! I see the hull... Make that the keel!”

“If we tilt back any further, it's over!” Sanji continued.

“What should we do then?” Usopp asked. “We can barely hang on as is!”

“Huh?! What's that?!” Chopper shouted, looking out over the side as well.

The Sea King from before was falling out of the sky from further along the Knock-Up Stream. It tried to grab the Going Merry in its jaws, but managed to miss. It quickly disappeared down below.

“See? It's only a matter of time before we end up like that too!”

“Well, I'm not falling back down again!” Tenshi stated. “My luck's probably ran dry from barely surviving the first time!”

“Hey, now! We're riding up a powerful explosion!” Zoro pointed out. “It's too late do anything else!”

Now there was a bunch of other debris falling. Broken planks of wood, barrels, and other pieces from other ships.

“Those are victims of the Knock-Up Stream!” Chopper realized.

“We'll be goners too!” Usopp cried out. “We're done for! It's over! We're gonna fall and slam back into the ocean and die!”

“Tenshi! Hoist the sails!” Nami commanded, now standing with Zoro and Robin. “This isn't just a stream of water, it's an ocean current! We can sail on it just like any other one! And the heat from the steam and explosion created a blast of warm air! If we're dealing with the wind and sea, I can navigate us!”

“On it!” Tenshi began to scale up the mainmast and untie the gaskets to release the sail. “What do we need to do, Nami?!”

“Catch the starboard wind! Sail to port! And we'll let the ship follow the current!”

Tenshi was in her element, yet again. With a few tugs of ropes and quick knots, and assistance from the others by steering, they were headed in the right direction.

Then, she realized something. “Um, Navigator! We're losing water again!”

“We're gonna make it!” Nami said. “Hang tight!”

Instead of the ship tilting backwards again, the wings caught the upwards wind. Soon, they were gliding up the Knock-Up Stream, heading straight up for the clouds.

“Awesome! We're flying!” Luffy shouted. “The ship is flying!”

“N-no kidding? Is this for real?”

“We did it!”

“Well, whattaya know?”

“Nami-san! Tenshi-sama! You're both amazing!”

“Such skills with ropes and sails,” Robin said in admiration. “Just like a sailmaster.”

“Sailmaster, huh?” Tenshi watched the fast-approaching clouds, letting the term echo in her head. “... I kinda like the sound of that. It has a nice ring to it, I think.”

Her stomach was churning with several emotions. She was inspired by such a title, excited to be finally reaching her dream, and nervous for what was to come. Hardly anyone had reached the clouds, and fewer lived to tell the tales of what was up there.

But she was ready to meet it all head on. And though she didn't know it then, this was only the beginning of her life changing forever; her adventure in the sky island, up in the clouds, was only the first of many to come...

*** To Be Continued ***

* Tenshi's top and skirt were inspired by https://www.etsy.com/listing/1677846042/flowy-tiered-long-skirt-with-ruffle

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

I thought the days of all but begging people to follow you on social medias were long past us. But...

Apparently I was wrong.

Friendly warning: if you do this, you'll get automatically blocked.

I shouldn't have to say this, but

If you are commenting on a fanfic, whether it's on Tumblr, or Archive of Our Own, or FanFiction, or Wattpad, or whatever other fanfic websites there are.

Do. NOT. Self-advertise your commissions. It's shallow, it's selfish, and it's hurtful.

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

The Forgotten Angel: Sky Island Saga

Chapter 4: The Truth! How Cricket and the Saruyama Brothers Found Tenshi!

Rated Mature for: Explicit and suggestive language and graphic violence; rating may increase with time.

Characters may have altered/differing features from the canon. These are in accordance with the author’s vision of these characters.

Preparations are under way to reach the clouds for the sky island. However, Cricket and the Saryuama Brothers must tell Tenshi the whole truth of why and how they became friends.

~ * < The Truth! How Cricket and the Saruyama Brothers Found Tenshi! > * ~

Cricket called for everyone to come outside and gather around, as he wanted to explain some things before they decided on a plan to get them to the sky island. Eventually, while Masira and Shoujou helped Sanji cook dinner inside the house, and Robin disappeared somewhere else, Luffy, Nami, and Usopp sat around the large stump to listen to Cricket. Tenshi was sitting criss-cross in front of it, with Chopper sitting in the hollow created by her legs. Zoro was sitting off to the side and had dozed off. Cricket stood before them, arms crossed.

“What is it you need to explain, Cricket?” Tenshi asked.

“First, I'll start by explaining everything I know about the sky island. Mind you, it's all hearsay, so it's up to you if you want to believe it or not.”

Luffy nodded firmly. “Right, we believe it.”

“Let the man speak!” Usopp chided him, smacking him in the shoulder.

“On occasion, a mysterious phenomenon happens around these waters.” Cricket pointed out at the ocean as he further explained, “Sometimes, it turns to pitch black night, even in the middle of the day.”

“Yeah!” Luffy exclaimed, raising his hand like he was in a school class. “We saw that! Right?!” He glanced between Nami and Usopp.

Usopp nodded in agreement. “It got dark, and then some monsters appeared in the sky!”

“It was really scary!” Chopper added, shivering back against Tenshi.

“I remember that happened earlier today,” she recalled. “It happens on occasion, but it's pretty rare. It's not the whole sky, just a big chunk off in the distance.”

“Ah, you saw the giants too, huh?” Cricket asked. “There's a story about how that occurs, but that's not important right now. What is important is this sudden nightfall.” He blew out a puff of smoke before continuing, “It's caused by the shadow of an extremely compact mass of clouds.”

“Cumulonimbus clouds, right?” Nami asked. “But it was far too dark to be just clouds.”

“You're not too bright, mister!” Luffy declared. “It gets cloudy on days with a lot of clouds, duh!”

“Yeah, that's why it's called 'cloudy',” Usopp added.

“'Cloudy'!” Chopper chimed in.

“One at a time, class,” Tenshi said sarcastically.

“All of you, shut up and listen!” Cricket snapped. “While it is true that cumulonimbus create shadows, what can cause total darkness is Imperial Cumulus, the Emperor Cloud. Like I said before, it's a very dense mass of clouds high up in the sky. But despite this, it doesn't produce any air currents or condensation. It's so compact, it completely blocks out the sun when it comes around, effectively changing the daytime to 'nighttime'. One theory postulates that this Emperor Cloud is a mass of clouds that has remained fossilized for thousands upon thousands of years.”

Nami stood up with an unconvinced frown. “That's ridiculous! A cloud formation that doesn't produce air currents or condensation, even after all that buildup?”

“This world has fruits that give people superpowers, and yet you can't believe there's a giant cloud fossil floating in the sky?” Tenshi pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Cricket shrugged. “You're free to believe it doesn't exist, I'm only stating what I've heard.”

“So, they're mysterious clouds, huh?” Luffy asked.

“Pretty much,” Cricket agreed. “Nobody's been able to completely explain it to this day.”

“Luffy's so smart!” Chopper declared.

“He's something, alright,” Tenshi muttered. “I'm not sure if 'smart' is the right term, though...”

“Listen up. If there is an island in the sky... the Emperor Cloud is most certainly where you'll find it.”

“Got it!” Luffy rose to his feet. “Okay, let's get above those clouds! Zoro! Wake up!”

Zoro lifted his head with a sleepy grunt as Luffy and Usopp began dancing around. “Huh? Morning already?”

“You'll get your memories back in no time, Tenshi!” Chopper cheered, laying back against her stomach as he raised his hooves up.

“Full speed ahead!” Luffy called out. “To the clouds! Thanks for telling us all that, mister!”

“How many times do I have to tell you?!” Nami shouted angrily. “We don't even know how to get up there yet!” She proceeded to punch them both until they were swollen in the face.

“She sure gets her point across, huh?” Tenshi remarked as Chopper shrunk down in her lap, attempting to pull the brim of his hat over his eyes.

“As I was saying, here's the real problem,” Cricket said once everyone had calmed down. “Firstly, you'll all be risking your lives in order to pull this off.”

“We're already half-dead...” “We're already half-dead...”

“What you'll need is the Knock-Up Stream. It's a deadly current that shoots straight up into the air. In theory, it can take you up to the sky islands. Get it?”

“That's the ocean current that can send a ship flying up, right?” Nami asked. “We heard a bit about it in Mock Town.”

“Ah, so it'll send us straight up into the clouds?” Luffy realized cheerfully. “Easy!”

“But we heard that ships sent flying up eventually come crashing back down into the ocean,” Tenshi pointed out. “Y'know, gravity being a bitch and all that.”

“In layman's terms, yes,” Cricket agreed. “But timing is the key. It's one thing to talk about being sent up via this current, but actually achieving it is another. It's a violent experience. The Knock-Up Stream is a natural disaster, something that should normally be avoided.”

“But how does such a thing even happen?” Nami asked. “We've heard what it can do, but not how.”

Cricket blew out another puff of smoke. “As of right now, it's mostly based on speculation. Nobody's been brave or stupid enough to jump in and properly research it for themselves. But the most widely-accepted theory is this: deep beneath the sea floor, there are enormous cavities, where low-temperature sea water seeps in. Geothermal heat heats it up from below, creating steam. The resulting pressure results in a massive eruption; one big enough to send the sea flying and create a temporary torrent into the sky. It's only for a minute, but the sea stream rises high up into the air, reaching the clouds.”

“Heh, an eruption of a stream that only lasts for one minute? Sounds like my sex life in a nutshell,” Tenshi remarked. “Except the buildup lasted for only about a minute too.”

Everyone stared at her in bewilderment and confusion. “... What?” She shrugged her shoulders with an impish smirk. “It's called the Knock-Up Stream. I wasn't gonna let that one slide by.”

“You're a grown woman!” Nami yelled. “How can you be that immature?!”

Cricket waved it off with a groan. “That's just her sense of humor, ignore it for the time being. In any case, the location of the explosion changes each time. But it occurs five times a month.”

“It wasn't all in a month, but I've almost had five one-night...” She trailed off with a sheepish grin when Cricket shot her a warning look. “Alright, I'll behave.”

“... You want us to be blown to smithereens?” Usopp stammered out.

“In all fairness, it's impossible to truly describe such a grand natural phenomenon with mere words and logic.”

Usopp approached Cricket, looking both nervous and indignant. “S-so, basically, unless this unpredictable current, which only occurs five times a month, erupted in the right spot...”

Cricket nodded. “If you miss, your ship will come crashing back down into the sea, killing everyone aboard. But even if you managed to get above the Emperor Cloud, you'll still fall back through if the sky island isn't even up there in the first place.”

Usopp was shaking as he exclaimed in a high voice, “Welp! How's about we forget about this sky island?! It's utterly impossible! We've gotta have the luckiest luck that ever lucked to even make it up there!”

“We'll be fine!” Luffy insisted, laughing happily.

“Where there's a will, there's a way,” Tenshi added.

“How can you two take things so lightly?!” Usopp protested. “Just look at the poor Merry!” He gestured to the ship. “She's being held together by string, boards, bolts, and hopes and dreams! She'll get smashed to kindling by the current!”

“I doubt many ships would be able to withstand such a sudden up-burst,” Tenshi pointed out. “And if it was somehow too big, it'd probably get a hole blown clear through anyway.”

“Hmm. Even if it was in mint condition, that ship wouldn't make it,” Cricket agreed. “The speed, the gravity, the intensity; that explosion of sea water will blast that boat apart.”

Usopp swallowed thickly and said in a faux morose tone, “So it is impossible...”

“Not necessarily so,” Cricket said. “The ship can be reinforced. Masira and Shoujou will be able to help with that.”

“Yeah! Leave it to us!” “Yeah! Leave it to us!” Both brothers shouted through the windows, pumping their fists in the air.

“We're counting on you guys!” Luffy shouted back.

“Make us proud, boys!” Tenshi added.

“You don't get it, do you?” Nami asked. “We can only stay on this island for one more day. Any longer, and the Log Pose will lock onto the next island. We'll lose our course.”

“Right! See?! We don't have time!” Usopp frantically agreed. “We won't have time!” He turned to Cricket with a nervous laughed and said, “Hey, mister! You're not a psychic! Riddle me this: how much longer will it take for the Knock-Up Stream and Emperor Cloud come together just right? A few days? Weeks? Months? Even years?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Cricket answered. “So, if you're all going to go, get ready and fast.”

Usopp screamed in frightened frustration. “You mean there is time?!”

“Well, if you're that scared, then just give up.”

“Hell no!” Tenshi snapped, standing up. “I have too many reasons to believe that the sky island and I are connected! I fell into the ocean after losing my memories, the sky is nostalgic to me, and that waver from Noland's logbook feels familiar! Fuck, even the fact that I have lightning scars, of all things, might even be a clue! I'm way too close to finding out the truth to just give up! I'll go up there myself if I have to!”

Everyone turned to her in surprise. Cricket looked especially stricken by her sudden outburst, but sobered up with an expression that suggested he knew such an event was coming.

Usopp clenched his jaw and pointed at Cricket. “Y'you're a liar!” he accused. “A dirty, rotten liar! Tenshi's talking about her own coincidences, but what about yours?! We only just met you, you're friends with Tenshi, who we also just met, and you're being way too nice! Why? Besides-”

“Usopp!” Luffy tried to interrupt.

“What the hell are you suggesting?” Tenshi practically snarled.

“Shut up, both of you!” Usopp snapped. “You're telling me that tomorrow is the only chance we got to get up to this massive cloud and sky island?! And you're even willing to fix up our ship to get us up there?! That's way too convenient! Even if it's just to help Tenshi! What's your game, old man!? Besides all that, you're a descendant of Noland the Liar! We can't trust you!”

“Alright, that does it!” Tenshi nearly charged at Usopp, but was held back by someone big and hairy hooking their massive arms up under her armpits. When she looked up, she saw it was a large humanoid creature, wearing a pink top hat with a white plus cymbal. “Are you Chopper?! Lemme go!”

“Tenshi, relax,” Cricket said gruffly, puffing out more smoke.

Masira and Shoujou threw open the door. “Boss! Food's ready!” Masira yelled out. “We're in for a real treat!”

“This guy's amazing!” Shoujou added. “Everything's delicious!”

“Move!” Sanji demanded, elbowing his way past them—he was without his suit jacket. “I told you two I'm a first-class cook. Nami-san! Tenshi-sama! Time to...” He trailed off when he realized the heavy tension between Cricket, Usopp, and Tenshi. Usopp was still glaring at Cricket, and Tenshi was glaring at Usopp in turn.

Cricket, however, just stood there, puffing quietly on his cigarette.

“Wh-what? You wanna fight? Put 'em up!” Usopp challenged, holding his fists up. “If Tenshi wants a fight, let her go, Chopper!”

“... Whenever the 'midday night' occurs in Masira's side of the territory, the Emperor Cloud appears the following day in the southern sky. And judging by the rotation of the five-per-month rate of the explosions, the Knock-Up Stream is bound to erupt tomorrow. And it'll occur just south of here.”

As Cricket explained, he walked past Usopp, who gradually relaxed until his hands were by his sides. Tenshi also relaxed, allowing Chopper to return to his small form. She glanced down at him and muttered, “Devil Fruits are so weird...”

“It's not a complete certainty, but the odds are good,” Cricket continued. He stopped once he was a few feet behind Usopp. “... I'm glad to have met you fools. And I'm even more glad that you're so good with Tenshi. I haven't seen her laugh and smile this much in a long time. I'm especially glad that you're taking her in to help her achieve her dream.”

Tenshi smiled warmly. She hadn't noticed it before, but she was a lot more relaxed and happy around the pirates. Though they had wildly differing personalities, and had varying initial reactions to her scars, they were all kind and welcoming with her. They didn't try to butter her up to get a favor out of her, didn't act like they were doing her a favor by being nice to her, and talked to and interacted with her like she was... a person who was worth it.

And not only that, but they were also helping her achieve her dream. They didn't judge or make fun of her for not remembering anything past six years ago, nor for having such a seemingly odd dream—or even having a dream at all. They accepted her, seemed concerned about her, and allowed her to join in their adventure to reach the clouds, all because she thought there was a chance that her home and people were up there.

In only one day, she felt like she was already great friends with them.

“But, for the time being, let's go and eat some dinner,” Cricket continued. “And we can all relax at my place tonight... comrades.”

Tenshi noticed Usopp flinch when Cricket used that word. As Luffy laughed and cheered for the food, Masira shouted for everyone to come inside, and Sanji sent off Chopper to fetch Robin, she and Nami approached Usopp as he sat down heavily. “Looks like this is our only chance,” Nami said gently. “All we can do is try our best and go for it. But, at the end of the day, it's all down to luck.”

“And me without any lucky charms,” Tenshi remarked with a chuckle.

“Nami... Am I just a pitiful, miserable coward?”

Tenshi turned to Usopp, surprised at his question at first. But she could see the guilt and shame in his gaze, especially as he avoided looking at her.

“You forgot 'jerkish',” Nami said bluntly, yet with a fond smile. “But I understand. You know what you need to do.”

Wincing, Usopp eventually looked up at Tenshi. “T-Tenshi... I'm sorry I snapped at Cricket, and accused him of being a liar.”

Tenshi shook her head with her own light smile. “I get that it's scary, the thought of going up to the sky island in such a dangerous way. And Cricket can be blunt, but I trust him to help us all get there safely. And I understand why you're nervous. Truth be told, I am too. Not just about getting there, but about what will happen when we eventually get there. But I-no, we can't let our fears hold us back from accomplishing great things. Especially when we're all in this together to help and support each other. No hard feelings,” she added, holding out a hand.

Usopp took her hand firmly and stood up. He looked up at her, gratitude evident in his tear-filled eyes. With a harsh sniffle, he ran to Cricket, almost tackling him. “I'm sorry, old man!” he cried out, attempting to hug him.

“What the-Agh! Knock it off! You're getting snot all over me!”

Evening came quickly and without notice. Everyone was inside the house, eating, drinking, and having a great time. There was laughter, dancing, and pranks, which inevitably led to people chasing each other around until they were yelled at to settle down.

Tenshi had told Cricket and the brothers about her day, including her proudest moment yet. “No hesitation, no second thoughts, I just said what I always wanted to say! And I said it with my whole chest!” she declared, tipping her head back for another swig.

“I'm proud of you, kiddo,” Cricket said, patting her roughly on the shoulder. She smiled shyly, nudging her glasses up her nose. “That place didn't deserve you!”

“Yeah, you're way too good for that shitty bar!” Shoujou added.

“You've never even been there, you nitwit!”

“But I know you!”

“They're gonna suffer without you, Big Sis!” Masira stated. “Just watch! They're gonna come crawling to you, begging for you to come back!”

“Well, they can kiss my fat ass, then. 'Cause this is my response!” She raised both hands up, middle fingers proudly raised. “No more mixed drinks from this bitch!”

Everyone cheered and applauded.

Nearby, Robin was calmly eating and drinking, reading from Noland's logbook. She paused, letting out a confused hum when she realized she had reached the last page. Seemingly noticing this, Cricket crawled over to her and recited one of the last lines, “'I saw the gold in the right skull's eye.'”

“Can you be any creepier, old man?” Tenshi teased. “What happened to ice breakers?”

Everyone froze at Cricket's mention of gold. It was staggering, how utterly quiet it now was.

“That tear-soaked sentence was the last thing Noland ever wrote,” Cricket continued, standing to his feet and ignoring Tenshi's jibe. “'I saw the gold in the right skull's eye'. Noland was executed just hours later. But even after I came to Jaya, nothing makes sense. 'The skull's right eye'... Was it the name of the lost city? A premonition of his own death?” He tipped his bottle back to drink more.

“What about a location?” Tenshi added. “Not the city, but how to get to the city.”

“There's nothing here remotely shaped like a skull. And there's no other information to add any more clues. But that's why we dive! We have a dream! And it's on the bottom of the sea!”

“That's right!” Masira cheered, pumping his fists up as Usopp remained sitting on his shoulders. Zoro and Shoujou tapped their mugs together in a cheers.

“We're gonna fly!” Luffy shouted, eating another roasted fish.

“Not if you keep gorging yourself like that, we're not!” Usopp contradicted.

~ * <|> * ~

After everyone calmed down to rest off their full stomachs, Cricket took back the logbook to read a specific section. Still drunk, Masira and Shoujou were rocking back and forth where they sat, arms around each other's shoulders, as they chanted Noland's name repeatedly.

“'May 21st, Year 1122. We arrived on Jaya. Upon reaching the island, we heard the strange cries of a jungle bird, and the tolling of a giant bell from deep within the trees. The sound from that giant bell, made of pure gold, resonated and reverberated far and wide. It was like it was celebrating the prosperity of an old city. One that, throughout the countless generations of these vast seas, had blossomed into a great civilization.'”

“Noland! Noland!” “Noland! Noland!” the brothers continued to chant.

“Hey! Both of you shut up, or I'll gag the two of you with Shoujou's hair!” Tenshi snapped at them over her shoulder. But they either didn't hear her, or simply didn't listen.

“'We, whose lives have spanned but a few decades, thought we knew everything. But through the experiences of this great civilization, we were left speechless!”” Cricket rose to his feet again as his voice grew louder with excitement. “'The sound of that beautiful bell had stopped us fully in our tracks.'” He raised his arms up in a loud cheer.

Luffy joined in, as well as the brothers—Shoujou ended up falling on his back from the excitement. And possibly his lingering drunkenness.

“Wow. A giant golden bell!” Nami sighed with reverence.

“Aww, I think you actually like Noland after all, old man,” Usopp teased with a wide grin.

Everyone was laughing as Cricket turned around and opened bottom cabinet of the bookcase behind him. Inside was a large wooden box, as well as a few objects that glowed in the light. He lifted them out and set them in the middle of the room, one by one. “Have a look at these!”

They were thee golden bells, bigger than Cricket's head, though a little smaller than half of Chopper, and identical in appearance. There was a divide near the top, with the top part being flattened, and the rest of the bell being slightly fanned out. There were three rows of outlined rectangles—one around the top part, and two around the lower portion. On top was a small node.

Nami practically squealed with delight as she lifted one up to nuzzle her cheek against it. “Erm... Those don't look 'giant' to me,” Usopp said, confused.

“These aren't that bell,” Cricket explained. “They're just bell-shaped ingots. We found them at the bottom of the sea.”

“That's what I meant when I said the gold wasn't buried in the ground,” Tenshi said to the rest of the group. “I always knew these guys were diving for gold; I just didn't know the context behind it until today.”

“Ohh! So there really is a city of gold!” Luffy said, intrigued.

“Nah, they don't prove that,” Shoujou denied, sitting up. “You can find that much gold in any old ruin, above or below the ocean.”

“But it does prove there was once a civilization with gold,” Robin pointed out.

“What's an ingot?” Chopper asked, poking at his reflection in one of the golden bells.

“Ingots are created as a weight standard, and are used for trading. They were used long before paper money and coins.”

“Right. And that strange bird that was mentioned-hey, Masira?”

Masira had taken a large object, much bigger than the ingots, wrapped in a cloth from another corner of the room and set it down as well. This one looked and sounded heavier, just from being placed on the ground. When he removed the cloth, it revealed another golden object. But this one was more intricately carved into what looked like a large bird with a long hooked bill, two protrusions along its head, and holding a bell in its wings.

“Another one?!” Usopp exclaimed.

“This one's big!” Zoro said.

“This is all we've found,” Cricket said. “Not much to show for ten tears of diving, but it's been hard work.”

“No kidding! Nearly getting yourself killed over it too.” Tenshi lightly punched him in the shoulder.

“So beautiful!” Nami cooed, reaching a shaking hand out to it.

“Bells and a bird, carved out of pure gold. It makes you wonder if they were symbols of an ancient Jaya,” Sanji pondered aloud.

“Can't know for sure,” Cricket said, taking his cigarette out of his mouth to hold it between his fingers. “My working theory is this bird might have been part of a larger statue. In any case, this is a model of a South Bird, which still exist on the island.”

“Yeah, I've spotted them while I've gone through the jungle,” Tenshi recalled, brushing a spot of dust off of the statuette. “They're pretty shy and funny. And they make the weirdest noise.”

“Just like in the book?” Luffy asked.

“Exactly,” Cricket confirmed.

“Sailors used to use South Birds a lot back in the day,” Masira said. “What they used them for was...” He trailed off, and glanced at Shoujou with a sudden wide-eyed expression, which his brother mirrored. Even Cricket exclaimed in shock.

“AW, CRAP!” “AW, CRAP!” “AW, CRAP!”

“What is it?!” “What's wrong?!”

“This isn't good! You all have to go into the jungle! The southern part!” Cricket yelled, suddenly sober.

They all stared at him in utter confusion. “What are you talking about?” Luffy asked. “Have you gone nuts?”

“You need to catch one of these birds!” Cricket continued, pointing at the statuette. “Posthaste!”

“The bird? Why?” Usopp asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Why would we need a bird?” Sanji added.

“Listen closely! The Knock-Up Stream that will go off tomorrow is located directly south of the cape. How do you all expect to find it?”

“Just going straight south?” Luffy suggested.

“Where do you think you are?! Once you're out in the open sea, there's no way to get your bearings properly.”

“That's why just going in a direction, or using a regular compass doesn't work,” Tenshi added. “Just getting to an island is a pain in the ass unless you're lucky, know how to read a map, or have a Log Pose.”

Nami gasped in realization. “And because we're looking for a section of ocean, and not an island, the Log Pose is useless to us! And because compasses already don't work, we won't know if we're going south!”

“And the stars won't help, since it'll be daytime,” Tenshi added. “And the sun will be directly over us, so it'll take us too long to figure out which was to go. Especially if we get turned around.”

“So, you'll need this bird,” Cricket concluded, nodding at the statuette. “There are animals that have their own internal magnets, just as accurate as a compass, if not more so—especially in the Grand Line.”

“Like pigeons and salmon,” Nami recalled.

Luffy laughed. “You're worse than an animal, then, Zoro!”

“You can talk!” Zoro snapped.

“Of all those animals, the South Bird is the greatest of them all! No matter what direction its body is facing, no matter how chaotic the area is, their instincts will always point it in the right direction.”

Tenshi slammed her fist into her open palm. “That's why they always look so goofy! I just thought they were part-owl or something. We'll use the bird to guide us southward!”

“Without that bird, you all have no chance of finding the Knock-Up Stream, and thus, no chance of finding the sky island!”

The crew screamed in realization. “You're telling us this now?!” Luffy yelled indignantly.

“Quit that whining! Get!” He practically chased them out of his house. “There's no time to sit around, dilly-dallying!”

“It's the middle of the night! You expect us to go out in the middle of the jungle?!” Usopp protested.

“Don't forget these!” Cricket threw three long-armed nets at them. “In the meantime, we'll get started on that ship of yours! Thinking about it now, this was no time to be sitting around and partying.”

“A little late for that!” Usopp stated as Zoro and Sanji dragged him into the jungle, followed by the rest.

Tenshi was following them until Cricket snapped out her name. “We have something important we need to talk to you about.”

Nodding, Tenshi returned to the house and sat down. Outside, she heard Cricket telling the crew to catch at least one South Bird before dawn.

Masira and Shoujou sat down before her, making room for Cricket in the middle. Their excited expressions were gone, leaving them looking serious and nervous. This surprised and worried her, as it was rare to see them like this. It only made her wonder what was going on and what they needed to talk to her about.

Closing the door, Cricket joined them. He sat down before her, puffing anxiously on his cigarette. This only increased her worry. “... Cricket-”

“Don't say anything until we've told you everything, kiddo,” he interrupted. At her nod, he took a deep breath. “What I'm about to tell you is something I probably should have told you a long time ago: I was the one who rescued you from the ocean.”

It felt like the floor had dropped from underneath her. She stared at him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Even if she wanted to speak, her throat and tongue wouldn't cooperate. When she glanced between Masira and Shoujou, they didn't look surprised at all. They had their hands clasped on their criss-crossed legs, still looking serious and nervous.

“Years ago, during a dive, I was surfacing when I saw something fall into the ocean above me,” Cricket continued, crossing his arms. “It was a young woman, completely unconscious and injured. Her clothes were charred, she had fresh electric burns on her face; and, to my shock, she had wings on her back. White wings, though they too were charred. And broken, far beyond repair. Tell me, Tenshi... did you remember your back being injured when you woke up? Or the phantom pains you felt on your back? Have you even seen the scars?”

She nodded, slow and numb. She did recall having injuries to her back. But nobody had explained what they were, aside from just simple injuries from her falling into the ocean. And she did notice odd pains, like she had limbs missing from her back. And when she was able to glance at her back in the mirror, she had two thin scars between her shoulder blades. She always assumed they were those injuries she had been told about, and never thought much of them.

But now... now it made so much sense.

“I thought you were an angel, at first, fallen from a sky island. It wasn't until then, despite Noland's notes in his logbook, that I realized they might have been actually real. But I didn't have time to ponder, you needed a doctor. Masira and Shoujou weren't anywhere nearby, so I had to swim you to Mock Town by myself. I swore the doctor to secrecy about you and my involvement so that nobody would find out I was involved, or what you were—with how the slave trade was, and still is, I had no doubt that because you weren't visibly human, you would have...” He shook his head with a thick swallow. Masira and Shoujou's hands tightened on their laps, and they noticeably gritted their teeth.

A cold shiver ran through her body, making her feel sick.

“Anyway, I couldn't stay in town for long, since they don't care for me. But I told the doctor that I had called you Tenshi, since you looked like an angel. I went back a couple of times, occasionally with Masira and Shoujou so they could 'meet' you, and saw that your wings couldn't be saved. And when we heard you couldn't remember anything from before falling after waking up...” He shook his head again. “Just as well I gave the doctor that name, I guess.” He gestured to her, indicating that she could speak.

“... Why didn't you tell me any of this?” she asked slowly, her voice tight. She was hugging her knees to her chest by this point “Why did you keep this all a secret?”

“I was already the outcast of Mock Town. And since you woke up before I was able to be there, they would have probably told you stories about me that would have soured your opinion of me before you even knew who I was. And I was worried about what would have happened if you were associated with me in the first place. Or if you were to tell people that you likely came from a sky island. You already know how Mock Town is by now. I just didn't want you to become completely isolated from the town because of who I am to them.”

His arms tightened across his chest. “But over the years, I realized that was a horrible, horrible decision. You might not have become a complete outcast like me, but you still suffered. You were still looked down upon, spoken down to, just for how you look. You were left alone and hurt, something I never wanted for you. But I thought it was too late to explain. Not to mention I was afraid... I was afraid you might not believe me, and that I would lose you. If Masira and Shoujou are like sons to me, you're like a daughter to me. And I couldn't bear the thought of losing you in any context... But that's selfish, and even cruel. Especially now that you're so close to your truth. That's why I'm telling you this, after all this time.”

He turned his head away from her with a bitter sigh, letting a fresh puff of smoke out at the same time. “I'm sorry, Tenshi. I'm sorry for keeping this all from you, and for effectively lying to you. If you can't forgive me, I won't blame you. I don't think I can even forgive myself.”

Masira and Shoujou glanced at each other with worried expressions, and raised their clasped hands to their chins. “Please, forgive us, Big Sis!” “Please, forgive us, Big Sis!”

“We've been looking for solid evidence of sky islands too!”

“We hoped if we found some, we could get you home!”

“Don't hate us, please!” “Don't hate us, please!”

Tenshi stared at them all, letting the new information echo in her head. She couldn't believe that, all this time, Cricket had been there from the start. He had been the one who found her, who brought her to town, who gave her her name. But he had been keeping it a secret from her; all because he didn't want her hurt, and eventually because he didn't want to lose her. It made her wonder how her life would have been if he had been truthful from the start. Would she not be so alone? Would she have actual confidence in herself? Would she like how she looked?

But it all made sense. It made sense why she had so easily befriended him and the brothers, why they hadn't treated her like the rest of the town had; and why he kept looking at her with guilt, yet acceptance, all day after hearing she wanted to find the sky island to remember herself. He probably knew this day would someday come, even.

She felt an influx of emotions: hurt, confusion, betrayal, and anger. But somehow, one was lingering in the background, though not strong enough to overcome them all: gratitude.

But before she could say anything, Cricket gasped. “Shit! Masira! Shoujou! Hide the gold! Close the windows”

Both brothers leaped to their feet, stashed away the ingots and statuette, and pulled down the shades. Tenshi rose to her feet, trying to look out one of the windows in confusion. But Cricket pulled her away and practically shoved her under the bed. “Stay quiet!” he told her. “And don't come out until I say it's okay!”

“Wait! What's going on?” she hissed as all three of them exited the house. “What are you-?”

She was cut off by the click of the door. Cricket had locked the door behind him, leaving her in the pitch-black house. For a few moments, she remained quiet and still. The wind was whistling outside, sending a shiver down her back. It was like the premonition to something horrible.

She froze when she heard a familiar voice shouting loudly, “Hey! I heard you got gold?! Hand it over, now!”

“Hey, now! Don't go making us mad!” Shoujou scolded.

“It's not nice to show up in the middle of the night, demanding gold!” Masira added, audibly cracking his knuckles. “We're busy, so beat it!”

She heard the other man laugh mockingly. She clenched her teeth, growling angrily. Why now, of all times, was he here?

“Are you two this guy's bodyguards? That's cute! Y'know, I remember a pirate called Cricket. I heard the story of your family back at the pub. It moved me to tears. But you know what's more touching? The reward of stealing someone's treasure, especially after they've suffered so much to get it in the first place. You know what people call me? The Hyena! Bellamy the Hyena!”

*** To Be Continued ***

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

I shouldn't have to say this, but

If you are commenting on a fanfic, whether it's on Tumblr, or Archive of Our Own, or FanFiction, or Wattpad, or whatever other fanfic websites there are.

Do. NOT. Self-advertise your commissions. It's shallow, it's selfish, and it's hurtful.

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

The Forgotten Angel: Sky Island Saga

Chapter 3: Legendary Friends! Liars, Simians, and Gold!

Rated Mature for: Explicit and suggestive language and graphic violence; rating may increase with time.

Characters may have altered/differing features from the canon. These are in accordance with the author's vision of these characters.

Upon reaching the spot marked on the map, Tenshi reveals she is more acquainted with the outcasts of Jaya than initially expected. Following introductions and explanations, the crew finally begins to make headway to finding the sky island.

“Get these two out of my sight. They're both sickening eyesores.”

“The sky island exists.”

“That new era they're spouting about is crap. The era where pirates have dreams is over, they say?! Huh?!”

“PEOPLE'S DREAMS... HAVE NO END!”'

“See, I was wondering... Can I go with you?!”

“Six years ago, I arrived at this island, but not in the usual way. Basically, I have amnesia, and so I don't remember how I got here.”

“So, you can't remember anything?”

“Since you three are seriously looking for the sky island, this is my biggest, and probably my last chance to find out who I am and where I came from.”

~ * < Legendary Friends! Liars and Simians! > * ~

It didn't take long for the Going Merry to get out of range of the sonar attack, leaving the jungle-themed ship far behind along the horizon. And it was only then when Nami called for Tenshi, who had long since given up on trying to tell the crew she knew the other crew's captain, to slow down the Merry's speed, and took over steering.

In the meantime, Usopp begrudgingly got to work repairing the ship again, alongside the rest of the men. Tenshi fetched her sewing kit from her fishnet bag, which she had also left down in the women's room, to look over the patches in the square sail.

She scaled up the mainmast again, and hung upside down over the yardarm by her knees in such a way that she faced the sail to start fixing the patches. As she expected, the sewing job was decent, but not up to ship standards. It was a wonder they didn't completely unravel while they were sailing away at the highest speed they could manage. She cut out the stitches in one side of a patch, and got to work replacing them with zig-zag stitches, before moving to the next section. She was so hyperfocused on her task, she didn't notice Robin watching in amusement.

“... Perhaps there's an easier way to repair the sails that doesn't risk you falling and breaking your neck?” she suggested.

Tenshi was startled enough to nearly poke herself with the needle, but was able to not fall. “What's life without a little risk?” she asked humorously. “Besides, if I had an extra length of rope to tie to the mast, and then myself, I'd use it. For now, I gotta work with what I got, and just hope you all are kind enough—and strong enough—to catch me if I fall.”

Evidently seeing no holes in this argument, Robin changed the subject. “You're quite skilled in both rigging and sewing. Both admirable traits when it comes to sailing.”

“Thanks. I've known how to sew for a long while. But most of my craft goes into shit involving rope, yarn, or string. Knitting, crocheting, and cross-stitching, for now. I even made my fishnet bag with macramé. Plus, I know how to make any knot, whether it's for crafting or ships. As for rigging and sailing, I was fascinated by it early on when watching pirates come to and leave Jaya. I learned how to do it all by reading books, watching, and even being taught by a few good eggs before they left—and likely forgot about me. I even had a little boat that I practiced with when visiting Cricket. I like to think, by now, I'm pretty goo-”

She cut herself off when she realized she had been rambling. Her scarred face turned red as she grinned sheepishly. “Ehh, sorry about that. I normally don't like to brag, so I don't know how all that came out.”

“There's no shame in stating what you're good at,” Robin said, having listened to her patiently with a gentle, fascinated smile. “You should be proud of yourself.”

“I s'ppose...”

By the time they were approaching the X on the map, both of the sails had their patches reinforced. The rest of the crew had taken to watching Tenshi work once they were done re-repairing the ship, all with a mixture of fascination and anxiety—mostly from Sanji and Usopp, who were both worried about her falling.

But she simply righted herself up like she had been doing it for years, climbed down the mainmast, and put away her sewing kit. “I really appreciate that, Tenshi!” Usopp said, once he had calmed down now that she was safely on the deck again.

“It's no trouble,” she said, brushing it off as she fixed her ponytail. “I figured if I'm gonna be sailing with you guys for a while, I might as well make myself useful.”

Nami was mumbling to herself as she read the map. “Tenshi, can you tell me a little more about this... What was his name?”

“Mont Blanc Cricket,” she answered. “He visited me a couple of times in Mock Town just after I woke up, but it was easier for me to visit him, since the town hates people who have dreams. I was even able to practice my rigging and sailing with a small boat. But that little thing would have turned into broken matchsticks and toothpicks once it got out into the rest of the Grand Line; not to mention someone stole it. Other times, I legged it through the jungle. But he's pretty much one of the few people who I can safely call a friend on this forsaken island. He knows the thing I want most in my life, and has encouraged me to try and achieve that dream.” She smiled when she saw they were approaching the marked spot. “He and the others saved my life a few times, even if they don't realize it.”

Nobody had time to ask about the implications before they saw the most baffling sight of their lives: a huge white castle, with additional colors of pinks, red, yellow, and green near the edge of the shoreline. Luffy and Usopp were immediately taken with it, utterly amazed. “That's his house?! It's a whole castle!” Luffy exclaimed.

“He must be loaded!” Usopp added. Even Chopper was staring in amazement.

Tenshi snorted behind a hand, especially when she saw that the others weren't nearly as fooled. “Idiots,” Zoro stated. “Look closer.”

“A dreamer, huh?” Sanji remarked, holding his cigarette in his fingers. “Your friends certainly likes to create illusions, Tenshi-sama.”

“Illusions?” Chopper asked in confusion, stretching his eyelids open with his hoof-fingers.

Luffy was already jumping onto the shore, eager to get a closer look. “Erm, Luffy!” Tenshi tried to call out to him. “That castle isn't-”

“What the-Hey!” Luffy exclaimed in shock. “This castle's just a giant piece of plywood! What gives?!”

“What?!” “What?!” both Usopp and Chopper shouted.

Indeed, the 'castle' was a decoration cut and painted out of wood, disguising the actual house. It was made of stone, with a straw roof, almost resembling a tribal home. It was right at the edge of the shoreline, like the missing half had been cut away.

“Why does he have that, Tenshi-sama?”

“I dunno. I never asked, and he never explained.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“What sort of dreams did he talk about to get him kicked out of town?” Nami asked as the Going Merry was slowed to a stop by Zoro dropping the anchor.

“He never really explained that either,” Tenshi replied.

“I don't know all of the details myself,” Robin added. “But he's been said to claim there's a huge hoard of gold somewhere in or around Jaya.”

“Gold?!” Usopp shouted.

“A lost pirate's treasure?!” Nami asked, excitement evident in her voice.

“I don't know.”

Nami squealed in excitement, her eyes practically turning into Beri signs. She leaped onto the shore and pointed to the ground. “Chopper! Dig the ground! We'll find the gold yet!”

“Wait, that's not what he means,” Tenshi said, watching as Chopper leaped onto shore as well. He transformed into a regular reindeer as he fell through the air, though his hat and pants remained. He began to dig at the ground, using his antlers.

“Chopper, wait a minute. The gold's not... in the... ground.” She trailed off when she realized, again, nobody was listening to her. She sighed, but disembarked from the ship regardless, followed by the others.

Luffy was already opening the door to the house, announcing himself coming in. “You couldn't wait a minute?!” Usopp yelled at him. “Or knock?!”

Tenshi approached the house as well, glancing inside. It looked the same as it usually did when she visited.

“Hello?!... No answer. Where is he, Tenshi?” Luffy asked over his shoulder.

“Probably out for a swim,” she replied. “Hopefully we didn't come just as he was leaving. He stays out for a while.”

Luffy grumbled before announcing, “Hey! Nobody's home!”

“Tenshi, he's not... dangerous, is he?” Usopp asked nervously.

“Dangerous? Nah.” She waved off the notion with a smirk. “Definitely not to the extent that the town is.”

Meanwhile, Nami had found a book on a tree stump that seemed to serve as a table, complete with a few smaller stumps around it like chairs. “What's this... A picture book? An old one too. 'Noland the Liar'.”

“Catchy name,” Usopp remarked with a wide grin. “I like it.”

“'Noland the Liar'? That brings back childhood memories.”

“You recognize it, Sanji-kun?” Nami asked in surprise. “But this book was published in the North Blue.”

“Right,” Sanji confirmed. “I was born in the North Blue. Did I never say?”

“No, that's the first I've heard of it,” Usopp said. “I thought you came from the East Blue, like the rest of us.”

“Chopper! Knock it off! What the hell are you doing?!” Nami yelled at Chopper, causing him to stop digging and exclaim in bewilderment. He had dug a good-sized shallow hole by then.

“I was raised in the East Blue—but never mind that,” Sanji explained. “In any case, the story is popular in the North Blue. It's marketed as a fairy tale, but supposedly Noland did live a long, long time ago.”

“The East Blue? You folks sure came from far away,” Tenshi remarked, sitting by Chopper as Nami read aloud from the book.

“I came from the Grand Line,” Chopper said, folding his legs to rest on the ground. “From Drum Island.”

“Oh? What's it like?”

“Snowy! It's a winter island, so it's always snowing and cold. And there's really big mountains that look like tall drums! And there's ropes that you can travel along to go from the main mountain, where Drum Castle is, down to the villages and back.”

“Sounds fascinating. I've always wanted to see snowfall. Since Jaya's a spring island, it never gets cold enough for it to actually snow.”

“Maybe you'll see snowfall someday!” Chopper said brightly. “There's got to be plenty of other winter islands along the Grand Line!”

He sounded so excited, she didn't have the heart to repeat that she was only a temporary crewmember, and didn't expect to stay.

Instead, she listened more as he continued, “I ate my Devil Fruit there when I was small, the Hito Hito no Mi. It's why I can transform into a Human Reindeer. And when my herd kicked me out, I was taken in by the greatest doctor in the world. He taught me about being a doctor before he died; the rest was taught to me by Doctorine. Luffy and the others helped me fight and chase away the former king of Drum Island, and invited me to join the crew as their doctor. Someday, my biggest ambition is to cure every disease in the world!”

“That is a big ambition,” Tenshi remarked. “But I think you'll be able to do it.”

“Y-you think so?” Chopper asked, his eyes wide and sparkling.

She nodded as Nami finished the story with an added statement of her own, “Alas, the liar died without ever becoming a brave warrior of the sea.” She snapped the book shut with an exaggerated morose expression and sigh, the former of which she turned towards Usopp.

“... Hey, quit looking at me like that!” he protested. “And quit adding that depressing commentary too!”

“I guess that means to say Usopp lies a lot?” Tenshi asked in amusement.

Before Chopper could reply, Luffy yelled in surprise. He was suddenly pulled into the ocean with a big, loud splash.

“Luffy fell into the sea!” Nami exclaimed.

Usopp ran to where Luffy had been crouching. “What're you doing?!” But he skidded to a stop when someone else leaped out.

Like Bellamy, he too was several inches taller than Tenshi, but quite a bit older. He was only wearing a pair of dark-red-purple tracksuit-pants with a white stripe down each pants leg, and a thick rope tied loosely around his waist. There was a tattoo of a large chestnut with 'Maroon' written across it in red on his left bicep. He had a long pointed face with short blond hair, eyebrows, and sideburns, a downward pointed nose, thick lips, chestnut-brown eyes, and what looked like a large chestnut in the middle of his head. There was a cigarette in his teeth, despite him just coming out of the water.

“Who the hell are you?!” he demanded as he landed in the grass, taking a defensive stance; he stood sideways, feet planted and legs slightly crouched, with his left arm outstretched and his hand pointed down to the ground, and his other arm held out behind him and palm outstretched. “You got guts, relaxing at someone else's house without permission! The sea in this area is my turf!”

“Usopp! Go rescue Luffy!” Sanji commanded as he charged.

“On it!” Usopp exclaimed, diving in.

“Wait, hold on a minute!” Tenshi yelled, jumping to her feet.

“You're after the gold, aren't you? Die!”

When Sanji reached him, the man sent out a sudden thrust kick, which Sanji managed to dodge by leaning backwards. Sanji spun around, and had to duck under a roundhouse kick. When he charged forward to kick the man, his ankle was caught by a knifehand strike.

The two were locked in a stalemate for only a moment before the man pulled out a flintlock pistol. “Stop!” Tenshi yelled. “Hey, Cri-!”

*BANG!*

“Sanji!”

“Sanji-kun!”

Sanji had managed to get his ankle unstuck just before the pistol was shot, sending him leaning backwards. When the smoke cleared, he was unharmed. “I'm alright,” he said, standing up straight. “He missed.”

The man continued to shoot him, causing him to have to dodge like he was breakdancing. “Hold on! Timeout!”

“Both of you! Knock it off!” She gasped when she saw Zoro charging towards them, sword in hand. She ran and stood between them, arms and legs outstretched. “Stop!”

Zoro managed to skid to a stop. “What the hell are you-?” He stopped in mid sentence with a surprised exclamation, looking past her.

When Tenshi looked over her shoulder, the fight had stopped. But, to her horror, the man had collapsed to the ground, and was shaking.

“CRICKET!” She ran to him and collapsed on her knees. She had never seen him in such a state, and it made her shudder with a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Cricket, what happened?! What's wrong?!”

He couldn't speak. Even his grunts and groans of pain started to peter out. He was still shaking, with a twisted face of pain.

“No! Stay with me!” She glanced around at the group, who was watching in shock, confusion, and realization. She could hear Usopp surfacing with Luffy, who was coughing between explanations of what happened.

When she spotted Chopper, she cried out, “Please! You're a doctor, right?! Hel-”

She didn't need to finish her sentence, as Chopper was already dishing out commands as he transformed back into his reindeer-human hybrid form, “Bring him in the house! Keep him in a horizontal position, and lay him in that same position! We need warm towels!”

For a moment, Tenshi was stunned. She couldn't move or speak. She could feel her eyes growing hot and stingy. But she managed to shake herself out of it and run into the house to make sure the bed was cleared. Then, she grabbed the towels from a wall shelf and placed them on a chair. Her hands were shaking as she attempted to light the stove. But between the matches refusing to light half the time, and her shakiness dousing out the fire, she was having trouble. Which caused her further anxiety.

“Here, let me.” Nami took the matches from her with surprising gentleness and lit the stove. At the same time, Robin brought in a pot of water to place on top. “Just breathe.”

Nodding, Tenshi took several slow, deep breaths. In and out. She was still shaking, but not nearly as bad as before. She whispered to herself under her breath, though it wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear.

Behind her, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were carefully carrying Cricket inside and placing him on the bed on his back. He had completely passed out by now, but seemed to still be breathing. That was good.

Chopper pushed a chair closer to the bed and hopped onto it, with a stethoscope already in his ears. He listened to Cricket's heart and chest, and told everyone where to put the towels, squeezed out and damp from the heated water. “We need to keep him warm! Open all the windows! We need fresh air too!”

Tenshi stood by, watching them place the towels on his forehead, arms, and chest as she wrung her still-shaking hands. She could see Luffy opening all of the windows out of the corners of her eyes. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Tenshi-sama?” Sanji asked, concern in his gaze.

“I-I've never seen him like this,” she said. “Nothing like this has ever happened! I thought... I thought I lost him.”

“Well, you didn't. Chopper is a good doctor, so he's in good hands... Er, hooves.”

She nodded, and listened to Chopper explaining what was going on. “It's a condition divers sometimes get. But it's not usually chronic. When a diver comes up out of deep water too quickly, the sudden decompression causes nitrogen to dissolve in the blood, which in turn causes air bubbles to form in the blood and tissues. Because these bubbles expand in and outside of the blood vessels, they cause problems to blood flow, muscles, and joints.”

“So, it's an unnatural, bizarre phenomenon, huh?” Luffy asked.

“He's probably been diving day after day, all without giving his body enough time to decompress the bubbles,” Chopper continued. “Especially today. This is all a heavy risk he's taking, as in some cases... this is fatal.”

Tenshi growled under her breath, wrapping her arms around her middle. “Damn it, old man! What's so important in the ocean that you have to risk your fucking life for it?! Is it just gold? It's not worth it!”

“Sorry about that, Tenshi,” Luffy said awkwardly. “I didn't realize he was down there.”

"I apologize too, Tenshi-sama. He caught us off guard and-"

“No, it wasn't your faults. You both couldn't have known. Hell, I didn't know where he was, or how he would react to us being here.”

“Luffy, this water's gone cold,” Sanji said, handing him the bucket that the water from the stove's pot had been poured into. “Go ahead and throw it out the window.”

Tenshi glanced among the whole crew, who were working together to help a man they didn't know and had attacked them. But they didn't even hesitate to help him anyway. They didn't even need to finish hearing her plea to help him. She didn't know what she would do if they hadn't been there, or if they had even refused to help. It was so much more than anyone in Mock Town would have done.

“Guys... I want to thank you all, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, for-”

Suddenly, two large men suddenly thrust their heads into the doorway. One of them was the orangutan-like man from before. The other was more monkey-like, with short, brown, spiky hair, large arms, and bead-like piercings around his wrists and ankles. He wore a brown and white mid-sleeved shirt, a yellow-orange jumpsuit with his name on the front, and pink headphones and yellow goggles on his head.

“Boss! Are you alright?!” “Boss! Are you alright?!” they both shouted, gripping the door and door frame.

Everyone froze, startled by their sudden appearance. Usopp and Chopper began running around, screaming in fear. “They've come to kill us!” Usopp cried out.

“What are you guys doing here?!” the green-themed man yelled angrily.

“What did you do to the boss?!” the other man demanded to know.

Luffy, still holding the bucket of cooled off water, said bluntly, “We're giving him medical treatment, so go somewhere else.”

“Idiot!” Usopp exclaimed, stopping to shake in place. “They're not gonna listen to us! They're savages! We gotta escape out the window!”

“Usopp, chill out!” Tenshi said, growing even more exasperated. “They're not gonna hurt-”

Both large men suddenly burst into tears. “You guys... You're so nice!” “You guys... You're so nice!”

Usopp and Chopper collapsed from running around in their panic. “They listened?!”

When they wiped their tears away, both men suddenly became angry again when they saw Tenshi. “I told you she was here!” the green-themed one exclaimed.

“Why is she here with you?! What did you guys-”

Silently fuming, Tenshi strode up to them, grabbed them both by their hair, and, despite them both being three feet taller than her, knocked their heads together with a mighty thunk. They fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

“Will you two pea brains shut the fuck up and listen to me?! I went willingly with them! They've been nice to me! I'm fine! And they're helping Cricket too! So, both of you, behave!”

“Sorry, Big Sis...” “Sorry, Big Sis...” both of them whimpered out.

“... 'Big Sis'?” Luffy asked, his confusion mirrored by the rest of the crew.

~ * <|> * ~

Once Tenshi had calmed down, she was able to explain the situation. Everyone, save for Chopper, Sanji, and Nami, went outside to talk; they stayed inside to keep an eye on Cricket.

“These two bananas and rambutans for brains are Masira and Shoujou. They're sworn brothers, and they roam around the Mouth Bay and Jaya as a whole in their own ships, the Victory Hunter and the Utan Sonar. They do their own diving for treasures—which is what Cricket does himself—except Masira uses nets or blowing bubbles with his own air to grab or raise shit out of the water, and Shoujou uses sonars to find shit before diving in for it. Any ships that sink in their territories are their fair game. Together, with Cricket, they form the Saruyama Alliance. They're friends of mine too.”

“Wh-why didn't you say something earlier?” Usopp asked, waving his arms frantically. “We could have avoided all these heart attacks!”

“I tried, but you guys wouldn't listen.”

“You need to start speaking up more, Tenshi,” Zoro said, lounging back against the house with his hands behind his head.

She shot him a glare as she went back into the house to sit on the edge of Cricket's bed. “I thought you said you were completely friendless,” Nami pointed out.

“I don't recall really saying exactly that. But I guess it was implied. But I don't have any friends in town. Cricket and the brothers don't live in town, I just go to visit them.”

“How did you end up befriending those two as well?” Sanji asked, glancing at a picture hanging on the wall. It looked like it was a few years old, with the brothers and Tenshi appearing younger, and her scars being a darker pink color. Masira was wearing a yellow-orange tank top with his name on it, his hair was in bunches, and he didn't have his bracelet piercings. Shoujou had a dusty-purple button up shirt, his beard was shorter, and he had a green handkerchief with orange-pink flowers on his head. The brothers had their arms over each others' shoulders, and Shoujou was holding Cricket's shoulder; Tenshi, who was wearing a simple pink dress and had her hair in a thick braid, was sitting on Masira's crooked arm with her hand braced on his shoulder. Cricket was standing before them, arms crossed. They were all four smiling brightly.

“They tagged along with Cricket when he visited me in Mock Town, and I saw them a lot more when I started visiting him instead. Sometimes we raced ships to get there, not that I ever won,” she added with a fond smile and laugh. “Their crews are still wary of me—not that I blame them—but those two are good friends. Sometimes stupid, but that's how brothers are, I guess.”

“Well, that's good you have some kind people,” Robin remarked. “So you're not entirely alone.”

On the bed, Cricket began to stir and groan. With a soft gasp, Tenshi turned to him. “Cricket? Can you hear me?”

“... T-Tensh? Is that you, kiddo?”

“Careful, Tenshi,” Chopper said as she helped Cricket slowly sit up. “Let him go slow, don't rush him.”

“You damned idiot!” she snapped, grasping his shoulder. “Don't fucking scare me like that! You've been diving for how long, and you let yourself get this bad?! Was it worth it?!”

Cricket let out a scratchy huff of a chuckle. “Sorry for scaring you, kiddo,” he said gruffly, patting her hand.

“You better be sorry,” she said, though there was obvious affection in her voice.

Once he determined that Cricket could sit up, Chopper ran to the door and threw it open. “Luffy! He's coming to!”

She heard Luffy exclaim happily, and then what sounded like something heavy being kicked and Masira's shouting voice fading into the distance. “What do you know? I can kick his ass!” she heard Shoujou remark in amazement.

“What are those two up to out there?” Cricket asked, folding his legs to sit criss-cross on the bed. He lit a fresh cigarette.

“Knowing them? It's anyone's guess.” She rolled her eyes with amusement.

Both Usopp and Luffy walked into the house, followed by Chopper and Zoro. “Hey, old diamond-head,” Luffy said. “I wanna ask something.”

For a moment, Cricket remained silent as he took a puff of his cigarette. He let it out with a sigh, and said, “I'm sorry I attacked and scared you guys. I thought you were more idiots after my gold.”

“So, you do have gold?!” Nami exclaimed, the Beri symbols back in her eyes.

“Oi, don't even think about it,” Usopp admonished her. “Now's not the time.”

“What was it you wanted to ask me?”

“Old guy!” Luffy said, rounding the bed to stand beside it. “We wanna go to the sky island! And Tenshi wants to find it to regain her memories too! How do we find it? Please tell us how to get up there!”

Cricket's head perked up, and he first turned to look at Tenshi. She could see a look she never recognized on his face. For the briefest of seconds, he looked like he had been caught in the middle of something and was about to lose something precious.

But then it was gone, and he turned to Luffy with a raised eyebrow. “Sky island, huh?” He took his cigarette out and threw his head back with hearty laughter. “You guys believe those stories, then?”

Nami would have attacked him out of anger, had it not been for Usopp holding her back. “Stop that! He's still recovering!” he protested.

“So... they're not real? Sky islands?” Tenshi asked softly. That sinking feeling was back in her stomach, except on a different scale. Had she been wrong in her theories? Her assumptions? Was she back to square one already?

Cricket calmed down from his laughter to glance at her again. His expression was softer, almost... accepting. “... No one knows,” he finally said, taking another puff of his cigarette. “But there was one man who said they were. However, he went down in history as a liar, and his descendants have been the subject of ridicule ever since.”

Luffy turned to Usopp with wide eyes. “It's not me!” he shouted.

“There's an old story that most of the North Blue knows about, 'Noland the Liar'.”

“I keep telling you, it's not me! Our names are different!”

“Noland's your ancestor, right?” Tenshi asked. “Sanji said that, supposedly, he was a real figure a long, long time ago—around four-hundred years ago, if the story is to be believed. And both your last names are Mont Blanc, and he had a chestnut on his head, just like you. Therefore, either you two are related, or you took on his last name for some weird reason. But seeing as he's been branded as a goofy-ass liar in a fairy tale for kids, I don't see any logical reasoning behind doing the latter. Which leaves only one conclusion...”

Cricket laughed softly. “Sometimes you're too sharp for your own good, Tensh.” He sounded a little proud of her.

“So, you are his descendant!” Nami realized. “Then, that means the island in the story is this one?!”

“In any case, he was my great-great-great-great-great-something... Bah!” He waved it off with a snort. “He's my distant ancestor, the great nuisance. There's probably only a drop of his blood in my veins. The Mont Blanc family was driven from the Lvneel Kingdom and forced to live in shame. Even to this day, the family keeps a low profile, as the reputation is still stuck. But nobody has ever held any grudge against Noland.”

“Why not?” Chopper asked.

Cricket's face hardened. “Because we all know that, despite what the story claims, Noland was a very honest person.”

Everyone blinked and grunted in surprise. “But the last page of the storybook...” Nami started to point out.

“It's true, Noland's last words in that story were that he thought the great mountain of gold had sunk into the ocean. And the book did show him as this stupid-looking fool with a smile on his face. But in truth, he died with a face and eyes full of tears. There's no doubt that the island he reached was Jaya, with ruins of a city of gold, as he claimed. He wasn't the type of person to just create fictional stories like that out of the blue. Noland was of the theory that those ancient ruins sunk beneath the sea, due to crustal movements in the ocean floor, but everyone thought he was just pulling desperate excuses out of his ass to save his own skin. He was executed before a crowd of hecklers and mocking laughter, and has been branded a liar ever since.”

“That... That's awful,” Tenshi whispered, hugging one of her knees to her chest. She already hated being heckled and laughed at in Mock Town, even if she gave off the air that she didn't care anymore. And in truth, she didn't, for the most part. It was a mix of her hearing everything mean and cruel that they had to say and think about her, and her putting up a mask to not let anyone see that she was indeed being hurt. It was one of the first hard lessons she learned: conceal your vulnerability, don't let them see even a hint of it, and pretend it doesn't hurt.

But to be outright killed, with the last sounds in your ears being jibes and laughter...

“I understand now!” Usopp exclaimed, enthralled. “You've been diving to the seafloor to try and find this city of gold to clear your family name!”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Cricket shouted, grabbing his pistol from the windowsill and shooting at Usopp.

Usopp barely managed to duck down to avoid getting shot in the head. “Cricket, was that necessary?” Tenshi asked in a deadpan.

“I couldn't give a damn whether Noland was a liar or not! It has nothing to do with me! Can you imagine how it feels for a kid to be laughed at by complete strangers, to be made fun of for their whole childhood, just because his descendant was a lying fool?! That's how I grew up!”

“I understand it,” Tenshi said quietly as Cricket calmed down. “Maybe not the 'being related to an infamous family member' part, but... Being ridiculed for something you can't control, that you never asked for in the first place... I get it. It sucks.” Her free hand brushed against the lightning scars that branched over her cheek.

Cricket's face softened as he looked over at Tenshi. There was a look of guilt before he let out a sigh and turned his head to look out the window at the jungle. “In any case, over the last four-hundred years, countless members from several generations have taken to the seas to restore our family's honor. But none ever returned, nor were ever heard from again. I was so ashamed of being part of such a family, I eventually struck out on my own to become a pirate.”

“Oh! You're a pirate too?” Luffy asked, intrigued.

“It wasn't my plan. I just wanted to distance myself from the Mont Blanc curse. And eventually, I found myself with my own crew. And we eventually entered the Grand Line, and had many adventures and voyages. But ten years ago, we came upon Jaya by complete accident.”

He let out a bitter chuckle that sounded slightly amused. “How ironic. Here I was, leaving behind everything I grew up with to avoid the family curse, only to be the only one to actually find the damn island. And by complete coincidence. No city of gold, just as the story said.”

“But what made you stay?” Tenshi asked. She had never heard any of this before, not ever asking Cricket about his past or goals. Though she was admittedly nosy, developing a habit of eavesdropping on gossip at the Wild Cherry, she wasn't one to outright ask someone about their story unless they started the conversation. It felt way too awkward, especially with her not being friendly with anyone in town. And old habits stuck hard, even among friends.

Thus, even with her being friends with Cricket, asking about his past never occurred to her either.

“When I was standing on the cape of the island, overlooking everything, I realized that this must have been some twisted destiny. No matter how far I went, I couldn't escape my family's curse. So, I decided this: 'let's settle this, Noland! Once and for all!' Naturally, my crew wasn't having it. They didn't want to get tangled up in my family's history, or my grudges. And so, they all left on the ship. I haven't seen them since.”

“Good riddance,” Tenshi muttered, crossing her arms. Though, if she were put in a situation, she wouldn't want to burden others with problems that were entirely her own, it still hurt to imagine they would up and abandon her without a second thought—even if it was something she, admittedly, would have expected. But it was a completely different matter to hear it happened to someone she cared about.

Cricket chuckled softly, patting her on the head. She tried to push his hand away with a grunt, but couldn't keep the smile off of her scarred face.

“Whether or not I find it, it doesn't matter,” he continued. “If it's there, that's fine; if it's not, that's fine too. I'm not looking to prove his innocence, or even find the gold, really. This is just a personal duel with the man who ruined my life. I just want to set the record straight before I die.”

In that moment, Tenshi felt like she could relate to Cricket so much. She knew how it felt, being looked down upon for something she couldn't control and didn't ask for. And she too was trying to find answers for herself, even if it was just to explain something and set a record straight. And they had both ended up on Jaya, even if it by different reasons. And if it was true that Noland believed in the sky islands, it must have been another form of destiny that they had met.

Usopp had his eyes buried against his forearm as he wept. “How inspiring! What a guy!”

“So, what about those two?” Luffy asked, gesturing outside with his thumb. “What do those monkey guys have anything to do with this?”

“They, too, must have some moving, dramatic tale of men going the distance to risk their lives, searching the ocean's depths for the truth!” Usopp practically wailed.

It made surface-level sense, in Tenshi's mind. Both Masira and Shoujou were dedicated to diving and searching the Mouth Bay for sunken ships and their treasures, even if it was through varying methods. And they had been partnered with Cricket for as long as she knew them.

“They're fans of the picture book,” Cricket said bluntly.

“Are you serious?!” Usopp snapped.

Tenshi threw her head back in laughter. “I should have known! Those simpletons!”

“It was six years ago, just before we all met Tenshi,” Cricket recounted. “They heard the rumors about me and barged in. They believe wholeheartedly that Noland's gold exists.”

As if on cue, she could hear them both arguing just outside. It sounded like they were egging each other on into a fight. But she ignored them, as they weren't causing trouble at the moment.

“The sea around here is deep. It gets damned lonely, diving down into the deep, dark cold. For the first few years, I dove by myself, day after day. Then, those two came into my life, became something of underlings without my permission, and do as they please. But honestly, for being single-minded idiots... They make life a little less lonely. And then we met Tenshi not long after.”

“How come you never told me any of this?” she asked, not sounding offended or hurt; just curious.

“You never asked,” he answered, nudging her with his elbow with a smirk. She rolled her eyes at his subtle jab. “And besides, you have your own life in Mock Town. You didn't need to be roped into my problems as well. But I'm still glad for your company whenever you are able to come around; we all are.”

She waved him off with a light scoff. “Just trying to make sure you nitwits don't kill yourselves or each other,” she grumbled, trying to chase off the light feeling in her chest.

“What a family!” Usopp wailed again. “What comrades! Such inspiring strength and-”

“I'm tired of these monkey stories,” Luffy said bluntly, ignoring Usopp's attempts at scolding him. “Like I was saying earlier, we want to get to the sky island, old man! Tenshi wants to get there to remember her past!”

She cleared her throat, feeling a little uncomfortable at being put on the spot like that.

With another glance at her, Cricket chuckled. “Impatient, aren't you? But I did say that Noland believe the sky island exists, huh? But I will warn you, if you get mixed up in his history, you'll become as much a laughingstock as I am.”

“A little late for me, even if I don't have anything to do with Noland,” Tenshi remarked as Cricket took out an old book and thumbed through it. “But such has been my life for the last six years, so I'll be okay.”

“Noland went to a sky island too?” Luffy asked.

“He didn't necessarily say it was a sky island, but...”

“Is that... an old logbook?!” Nami exclaimed. “Is it Noland's?”

Cricket hummed in acknowledgment. Once he reached a particular page, he tossed the book at Nami. “Read for yourself.”

She managed to catch the book before it fell to the floor or she lost the place. “Amazing... A four-hundred-year old logbook... 'June 21st, Year 1120. It's a clear and sunny day. We sailed from the cheerful town, Villa. We'll follow the Log Pose, which is pointed in a general east-northeast direction. We found a rare and unusual item from a merchant ship today. It's a ski-like, one-person boat called a 'waver'. This strange vessel can sail on its own, even in windless conditions. But there's some trick involving operating it that I haven't been able to master it yet. The crew is having fun with it though.'”

The boys, save for Zoro and Sanji, had gathered around Nami to listen closely. Chopper ended up climbing onto Usopp's shoulders to get a better vantage point. Though she didn't get closer, Tenshi was listening as well. The term 'waver' rang a faint, tiny bell in her head, but it didn't feel too important at the moment to ponder on it further.

“Cool! I want one too!” Nami declared.

“Never mind that! Keep reading!” “Never mind that! Keep reading!” “Never mind that! Keep reading!”

Unperturbed by the boys' demands, Nami continued on, excitement growing in her voice, “'It seems the power system for this vehicle is exclusive to the sky island, among many other special items and properties. And speaking of the sky island, a fellow explorer once showed me a living sky-fish. I was surprised and amazed at how different it looked compared to the fish I'm used to. It's a land that our ship hasn't visited yet. But as an explorer, I'm compelled to visit this sea in the sky someday. Mont Blanc Noland.'”

Nami looked up at the boys, completely excited by now. “He mentioned a sea in the sky!”

“Just like Robin said!” Luffy exclaimed.

“And it sounded like people didn't doubt the existence of a sky island four-hundred years ago!” Usopp added, shaking with excitement so much that Chopper fell off.

“It really does exist!” Chopper declared, hopping to his feet.

“So, that means I must have come from the sky island!” Tenshi cried out, jumping to her feet as well. “I can go home! I'll get my memories back!”

As they all cheered with excitement and delight, Cricket had walked outside to where Masira and Shoujou were still wrestling. His smile as he listened to the chaos in his house was one of amusement, happiness, and resolve.

“Boss!” Masira said when he noticed Cricket, though he didn't relent from his standoff with Shoujou. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Couldn't be better!” he declared.

“That's splendid!” Shoujou said.

Cricket shook his head as the brothers continued to push against each other. “Knock it off, you two, and listen for a minute. Do you like those guys? They're good to Tenshi?”

They froze and looked at him. “Why do you ask?”

“It seems they're all determined to reach the sky island at any cost, both for their sake and for Tenshi's”

The brothers finally separated from each other. “Sky island... But there's only one way up there, isn't there?” Shoujou asked.

“If they go on their own, they're likely to be killed!” Masira exclaimed.

“Right. Which is why I think we should give them a hand,” Cricket declared. “But there's one more important thing.”

The brothers grunted in confusion.

“It's about Tenshi... It's time to tell her the truth.”

*** To Be Continued ***

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

The Forgotten Angel: Sky Island Saga

Chapter 2: New Hope! Tenshi Wants to Remember!

Rated Mature for: Explicit and suggestive language and graphic violence; rating may increase with time.

Characters may have altered/differing features from the canon. These are in accordance with the author's vision of these characters.

Upon learning that the Straw Hats are seeking out the sky island, Tenshi pleads her case to accompany them. The crew slowly begins to discover that there is more to her than even she herself realizes.

“Mister! We want to go to the sky island! Do you have any information?!”

“She said 'sky island'!” “Give me a break!”

“But our Log Pose is definitely pointing to the sky!”

“Zoro! Wait a minute!”

“I'm just taking him up on his offer! He wants a fight? He'll get one!”

“Luffy! Zoro! Forget the promise! Beat them up already!”

“Yeah! He started it!”

“No matter what happens… Don't fight back.”

~ * < New Hope! Tenshi Wants to Remember! > * ~

Even as they were clobbered by not just dishes, but now also chairs, with mocking laughter and jeers echoing throughout the Pub and Pies, Luffy and Zoro stood tall and strong. They were taking every brunt of force, barely flinching, even as blood began to run down their faces. They never said a word, or even so much as grunted in pain.

Tenshi could only watch, cringing with each blow the two of them took. Even in the last six years of witnessing brutal beatings, and even killings, this somehow affected her the worst. She was growing more and more frustrated and confused. Nami had told them to beat everyone up, so it was obvious that they were strong enough to do so. And they had every right to fight back, as Bellamy had started the whole thing. Not to mention if there was one thing she knew about pirates, it was that they weren't afraid to jump into a, or even start fight at the drop of a hat.

So, why were they just standing there, taking it?

“Luffy! Zoro!” Nami shouted angrily. She was holding Luffy's hat after it had been knocked off of his head. “What are you doing?! Why are you just taking this from them?!”

“If you can kick their asses, then kick their asses!” Tenshi added. “What's the matter with you two?”

Luffy and Zoro remained quiet though. In fact, the whole bar had gone silent and still, revealing the carnage. Broken wood and shattered glass lay everywhere. There were fresh cracks in the walls. Blood was spattered on the floor and counter.

Sarquiss laughed. “It's no use goading them, lady. They're smart, for some dumbass dreamers. They've realized how far out of their league their opponents are. It's like with Tenshi, for example.” He gestured at her with his giant kukri, still spattered with blood. “She never fights back unless someone attacks her first. But that's only physically. Which is to say if someone insults her, saying every cruel and nasty thing in the book to and about her, she just stands there and takes it. You can say anything mean about her, and she won't defend herself or deny it. Because she knows the validity behind those statements about her.”

Nami turned to Tenshi with a light gasp, eyes wide. Tenshi wondered if she realized that she might have overheard Nami calling her creepy.

She just silently shrugged, not saying anything to defend herself. Because, as much as she disliked Sarquiss and how he spoke, he wasn't completely wrong.

“But those two, not even trying to fight back against a strong opponent, it's disgraceful,” he continued.

Another of their crewmates, wearing a white cap with long earmuffs ending with puffs, laughed as well. “This so-called pirate captain has no honor!”

“The Navy's very generous these days, assigning 30 million Beri bounties on nobodies like this one!”

Bellamy had stayed out of the fight, lounging back against the broken counter with a fresh drink in his hand. “Pacifism,” he snorted. “Sounds like an excuse for cowardice to me.” He took the last few gulps of his drink and let out a satisfied sigh, not caring about the liquid dribbling down his chin. “Not only are these two weak, but they have no pride between the two of them! No heart to fight, but plenty of space in those heads for dreams!”

He wiped the drink from his mouth with the back of his hand and sneered at Luffy and Zoro. “They're like worms!”

The bar laughed and cheered like he had made some grandiose speech.

And still, Luffy and Zoro stood there, saying nothing. Internally, Tenshi was actually starting to approve of this. It reminded her of herself, how she had to learn to ignore every hurtful word shouted her way; to not let them see that their insults affected her, and to act like she didn't care. It also helped when she started to agree with them, since it either caught them off guard or bored them.

She had a bad feeling about what would happen in this situation, though. Experience reminded her that if she ignored the wrong person while they were badmouthing her, one of three options happened: they gave up and ignored her, they kept at it with increasing ferocity, or they snapped and initiated a fight. Bellamy showed no signs of giving up—not that she ever knew him to easily do so. And while he was still going at it, she didn't picture him keeping it up for much longer.

Which only left one option.

“Alright, I'm done here!” Bellamy exchanged his empty mug for a bottle of the alcohol and stood up. “This weak-looking, puny little worm is worth 30 million Beri? I wondered what kind of man he was. But he's just a total disappointment! Too chicken to fight! This is more than a letdown, it's boring! This coward calls himself a pirate? I've met braver cowards than him!”

Bellamy tipped the bottle back, taking another few mouthfuls of the liquid. Except he wasn't swallowing; instead, his cheeks were ballooning. Nami gasped in realization beside Tenshi. “Aw, shit,” Tenshi muttered.

Sure enough, Bellamy spat out the alcohol all over both Luffy and Zoro. They finally reacted, clenching their eyes shut tight as they became doused in the liquid. Luffy was even coughing as the alcohol dripped from their clothes and hair. Okay, that has to be a fight! Tenshi curled her lips in disgust.

But before Luffy and Zoro had a chance to react if they wanted to, Bellamy was already speaking, “Get these two out of my sight. They're both sickening eyesores.”

The response was almost instantaneous. One crewmate leaped forward and kneed Zoro across the face. He was knocked away so hard, he broke through a table, shattering the glass mugs that were still sitting on it and splattering more alcohol everywhere. Another one grabbed the back of Luffy's head as he was still coughing and charged at the opposing wall, smashing his face against the window. The wooden frame and glass panels splintered and shattered. Blood ran down from the shards down to the wall underneath.

The whole time, the rest of the bar was laughing and cheering.

“Luffy! Zoro!” Nami exclaimed, kneeling by them.

Tenshi had seen her fair share of fights. Plenty of bloody ones. They ranged from fisticuffs to weapons, and the outcomes were either the losers limping away to lick their wounds, left passed out until the following morning, or their bodies being tossed into the alleys to be forgotten about until the wild jungle animals wandered into town and scavenged from them. She had gotten so desensitized, the fights barely phased her anymore.

But this... this was somehow different. Perhaps because they didn't fight back at all. They just took it all on the chin—literally.

Or maybe... it was because they had showed her an ounce of kindness before. Because they didn't completely balk in shock and disgust at the sight of her scars.

“Ooh! Your scars are so cool!”

“You look like quite the fighter.”

Their compliments rang through her head one last time. When she had heard them, she was so confused and skeptical. Nobody in town said nice things like that unless they wanted something out of her; a free drink, a favor, a boring night in her bed, there was always some kind of catch. But they just said what they said and continued on like it had been a normal conversation, even when Nami shoved them away. And they had been friendly too. Something she didn't often experience in town.

“Hey, girl!” Sarquiss called out to Nami. “You're not going to get anywhere in this era if you stick with those two. How about I buy you? What'll it cost for you to travel with us?”

“You're fucking disgusting! You circus-tent wearing, bleached out scuzzball!” Tenshi snapped.

“Aw, you're just jealous,” he scoffed, waving her off.

Tenshi let out a scoff of her own. “You need to get those ears checked. And drain the grape juice out of that visor.”

Nami was staring Sarquiss down with an equally disgusted face. “You're gonna buy me?”

“That's right,” Sarquiss confirmed unabashedly. “Come on over! It'll be fun!”

The rest of the bar let out snickers that sent a shiver down Tenshi's back. Her glare tightened, and she subtly stepped closer to Nami, angling her body so she stood between her and Sarquiss. Her hardened eyes darted around the bar at the snickering men. A few of them stopped, though not out of shame; only because with her lightning scars, she looked scary when she was glowering.

Nami slowly stood to her feet, her scowl turning to a mirthless smile. “Sorry, but I'm not interested. I'm too good and expensive for a team of low-class worms.”

Tenshi's scowl relaxed to an approving smirk. “Well said, girl,” she murmured with a small nod.

The bar had gone quiet again. The girls in Bellamy's crew glanced at each other, looking confused at Nami's blunt refusal, until one snickered behind her fist.

Sarquiss burst out laughing. “Stuck up little tramp! You think you're hot stuff, huh?!”

The rest of the bar laughed as well. “Their whole gang is nothing but dumbasses!” “They're utterly hopeless!”

Bellamy returned the bottle to the bar counter. “Pack up those two and beat it while you're still alive,” he said over his shoulder.

With one last glare, Nami grabbed the back of Luffy's vest and Zoro's shirt and dragged them both out of the bar.

Tenshi moved to follow them, but paused when Bellamy finally acknowledged her, “Hey, Tensh! What's your hurry?! Come sit with me and have a proper drink!” He lounged back on his stool and patted his lap. “Maybe we could have a repeat of that night tonight,” he added, his tongue darting across his lips as he arched an eyebrow.

The girls from his crew scoffed with annoyance and disgust, sticking their noses up in the air. The guys let out lecherous chuckles.

Tenshi turned around, but only to back up out of the bar through the doors. Scowling silently at Bellamy, she lifted both hands to flip him off. She let the doors swing shut as she was finally out in the sun. His hyena-like laughed echoed as she turned back around to follow after Nami. More bottles were thrown in her wake, smashing against the ground.

“I can help you with Zoro, if you'd like,” she offered gently, catching up to Nami.

Nami ignored her as she stormed down the street. Tenshi didn't take offense, however. She still followed her, glancing down at the guys as they were dragged along on either side of her. She couldn't tell if they were awake, but they at least looked like they were still alive. When she looked at Nami, she could see tears of frustration beading in the corners of her eyes. But she kept a stiff upper lip.

For a moment, Tenshi saw a younger version of herself; not entirely new to the embarrassment, but still very vulnerable. And with seemingly nobody to speak up for her or even show her support.

“The sky island exists.”

Both women paused at the familiar gruff voice. They turned their heads towards it, and saw the rotund man from before. He was sitting on the sidewalk, his basket of cherry pies by his knee, and was eating one and laughing to himself about how good it tasted.

Nami dropped both Luffy and Zoro to the ground with a thud. “You're that guy...”

“Why so angry, missy? They're the ones who won that fight,” the man remarked.

“Huh?”

“That comeback of yours was quite sharp too!” he complimented, pointing at her in approval. “You've got nerves of steel.” He let out a loud laugh.

Zoro and Luffy pushed themselves to their feet, brushing the dirt off of themselves. Luffy took his hat back from Nami, placed it on his head, and turned to face the rotund man.

“That new era they're spouting about is crap,” he continued, the corners of his mouth still curled in a large smile. “The era where pirates have dreams is over, they say?! Huh?!” he exclaimed, spreading his arms out and to the sky. He laughed again, drawing confused looks from passersby.

He suddenly stopped laughing abruptly, and slammed his rum bottle on the sidewalk. “PEOPLE'S DREAMS... HAVE NO END!” he declared loudly, his voice echoing against the surrounding buildings. “Ain't that right?!”

The small crowd that had gathered started to laugh, though it wasn't as obnoxious as it had been in the Pub and Pies. But like with Luffy and Zoro, the rotund man didn't seem to care, or even notice.

“Outdoing our betters isn't always easy!” he continued. “Ze-hahahaha!” He calmed down from his laughter again and continued, “They can all laugh at us. Let them! 'Cause when you're aiming for something as high as the stars, there'll always be fights not worth fighting. And even then, your fists aren't always your best weapons.”

Tenshi nodded slowly. “I think I understand,” she said quietly.

The man grinned straight at her. “I'm sure you do. You're a smart one, aren't you?” He laughed again, sending another shiver down her back. There was something about that stare, those dark eyes, that boisterous laugh, that greatly unsettled her. She wasn't usually deeply scared by much, save for one specific thing.

But this man... he was something uncanny. It was like something was in the shadows, too dark for her to see. But it was there, watching her every move, waiting to make its own move.

“Let's go,” Zoro said quietly. He was barely limping as he walked down the sidewalk and away from the laughing man.

“Y-yeah,” Nami agreed. But when she went to follow him, she realized someone wasn't moving yet. “Luffy?”

Tenshi turned to look at Luffy, and was surprised by what she saw. He was staring straight at the rotund man with a blank look in his dark-orange eyes. But not like he was disassociating. It was more like he was staring him down, watching his moves to make sure he didn't try something fast and funny. He saw past the shadows, and was waiting to see if he needed to make his own move.

But instead of entirely unsettled, Tenshi felt... something else. She almost thought it was protected, but that didn't sound right.

“Luffy,” Nami called out again, sharper this time. Zoro kept walking.

Finally breaking the staring contest, the rotund man grabbed his bundle of pies, his bottle of rum, and stood up. He was at least twice Luffy's height, thus towering over even Tenshi by a few feet. “Well, I guess I won't keep you. You all seem like you're in a hurry.” As he turned away, he glanced one last time over his shoulder. “Best of luck, finding the sky island. I hope you get there!”

Tipping the bottle back for a swig, he walked down the sidewalk away from them. “Ze-hahahaha!”

Only then did Luffy finally turn around and follow Zoro. Nami exclaimed softly in surprise, but jogged to catch up to him. Tenshi took one last glance at the retreating man and walked after the small group.

“Hey,” Nami said to her, a little friendlier than before, albeit still confused. “Do you recognize that guy?”

“This town does see its fair share of regulars,” Tenshi admitted. “And some do come back frequently enough for me to recognize. But I've never seen him before today! He gives me the creeps though...”

Nami grunted in acknowledgment. “But he might've known something about the sky island. He at least thinks it exists.”

“Maybe,” Luffy said, his voice surprisingly serious. “But it's not 'he'.”

Nami and Tenshi turned to him in confusion. “Not 'he'?” Tenshi asked. “So... 'she'? Or 'they'?”

“Yeah, 'they',” Zoro agreed, sounding on edge as well. “But like 'more than one'.”

“... What do you mean? Was there someone else with him? Where?” Nami demanded to know.

Tenshi's thoughts turned to something else. Nami had wondered if that man knew about the sky island. It was too late to ask him now—and frankly, she wasn't comfortable with being in his presence again, much less talking to him.

But Nami had been the first to mention them, showing that her Log Pose's needle was pointing straight up. They at believed that they existed, at least enough to comfortably ask about them. She felt that small flare of hope again.

She stopped walking. “... Hey. Are you guys really looking for the sky island?”

The three of them stopped and looked back at her. “What?! Gonna laugh at us too?!” Nami accused her. “You just didn't want to follow the pack?!”

Holding a hand up to stop her, Luffy nodded. “Yeah, we are. Why?”

“Well... The thing is...” Tenshi started to play with her fingers, twisting the slender digits and picking at the small scattering of calluses on them and her palms. “See, I was wondering... Can I go with you?!”

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami all exclaimed in surprise at her sudden request. In the short time they knew Tenshi, she had either been sarcastic, irritable, or defensive. Not this vulnerable.

“You... want to come with us?” Nami asked.

Tenshi sighed, letting her hands drop at her sides. “Let me explain. Six years ago, I arrived at this island, but not in the usual way. Basically, I have amnesia, and so I don't remember how I got here.”

Zoro and Nami looked at her with a mix of surprise, confusion, and suspicion. “Amnesia?” Luffy asked. “So, you can't remember anything?”

“Almost nothing beyond six years ago. The only memory that surfaced so far was my birthday and age—February 2nd, twenty-nine years old this year. Other than that, nothing. I don't know who I really am, or where I came from. Nobody knows. I was just told I was rescued from the ocean, and it was like I fell into it from the sky.”

“Is it possible you fell out of a ship? Even one that was launched up by the Knock-Up Stream?” Nami asked.

“I'm not sure. The first thing I remember after waking up was being in a doctor's office, my face and back bandaged up. I don't even remember my own name. The name 'Tenshi' was only given to me because, apparently, I resembled an angel when I was found.” She let out a sarcastic laugh. “Hella ironic, I know. Especially with the fresh injuries.”

Zoro and Nami glanced at each other, looking a little uncomfortable with just how casually poor she was speaking about herself.

“What does the sky island have anything do to with that?” Luffy asked, either not noticing or unbothered.

“It's not just that I supposedly fell into the ocean. When I look up at the sky, I feel... nostalgic.” She tipped her head back to look up, taking in the deep blue of the afternoon sky and the fluffy white clouds lightly scattered about. “It's like... It's more than a sense of comfort, or something I just like doing. It's familiar, like I... likw I came from up there. And when I learned about sky islands, even with them supposedly just being myths... something clicked. Not enough to trigger a memory, unfortunately. But it just... sounds right.”

She let her head drop back down to look at them again. “And since you three are seriously looking for the sky island, this is my biggest, and probably my last chance to find out who I am and where I came from. I-”

“Alright!” Luffy said cheerfully, finally grinning again, despite the earlier fight. “You can come with us!”

“Hey! You can't just decide without asking the rest of us!” Nami protested. Zoro seemed, somehow, both amused and irritated.

“Why not? I'm the captain.”

Tenshi was caught by complete surprise. He had said yes? He was giving her permission to come? Her chance was finally coming? Her dream was finally within her grasp? The thing she wanted the most in the world, it was finally becoming a reality?

Her lips finally curled into a wide, genuine smile as well. Despite being crooked, her own grin was wide enough to bring out a single dimple in her right cheek. Her rich brown eyes lit up behind her glasses. “R-really? You'll... You'll take me?”

“Yeah,” Luffy repeated, nodding. “You want to find out where you came from, right? We'll take you to the sky island with us!”

“We need to figure out how to get there first,” Zoro added, eyeing Luffy.

Tenshi was practically shaking, she was so excited and happy. She hadn't felt this ecstatic in a long, long time. For several months, it felt like her heart had been encased in a dark fog, still beating, yet sluggishly so. The loneliness didn't help whatsoever. It wasn't just loneliness from the town shunning her; it was not knowing who her people or family were, and whether they were still alive and waiting for her, or if they were dead without her being able to say goodbye.

But things were looking up for her. She was finally going to make headway in her dream of regaining her memories. And she wasn't going about it completely alone.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her. “J-just let me go pack real quick! It won't take long!” She turned a corner to run as fast as she could down the sidewalk. The flopping of sandals alerted her to Luffy following after her, followed by the quick tromping of boots.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Nami protested, even as she followed as well. “We don't have much time! We need to get back to our ship!”

“This won't take long!” Tenshi repeated over her shoulder. She didn't care that she was brushing past people or running through small groups, earning her dirty glares and angry shouts. “I don't have much shit to pack!”

It didn't take long for her to reach her house at the edge of town. It looked more like a shack that had been decorated into a livable home. Inside, there were barrels and crates that substituted as furniture and storage units. There was an old-looking stove in one corner, a set of curtains that were parted to reveal a 'bedroom'—which was nothing more than an old mattress, a flat pillow, a larger one that looked handmade with, and a patched blanket—and a shoddy-looking bathroom with a broken mirror. Stacked around the edges of the room by the bedroom were folded blankets and pillows that looked like they had been handmade too. They certainly looked nicer than the one on her bed.

Luffy and Zoro were looking around the house, eyebrows raised, as Nami waited in the doorway. Tenshi grabbed out two old-looking suitcases and began to pack one them with a few articles of clothing, and the blankets and pillow.

“Say, Tenshi, are you poor?” Luffy asked bluntly.

“You can't just ask someone that!” Nami yelled.

Tenshi, however, acted like she didn't care about the rude question. “I guess in a way. My cheap-ass boss doesn't pay me much. It's funny, he likes to hang it over my head that I'm lucky to have my job, and yet he practically pays me in peanuts. But I've also been saving away most of my money.” She closed up the suitcase once it was full, and opened the next one.

Zoro had been eyeing the broken mirror in the bathroom, noticing that there were two points of impact. It hadn't been just one force that broke it, it was two at the same time and height.

His gray-green eyes moved to look at Tenshi's hands as she packed the second suitcase, and noticed small, thin scars on her knuckles. Though he didn't use his hands in combat, he recognized scars from punching.

He glanced at Nami, and she looked a little stunned as her green eyes flicked between the mirror and Tenshi's scarred knuckles. She had noticed and put it together as well.

“What are you saving up for?” Luffy asked, crouching by the suitcase to watch her pack. At first, it was all tools and supplies for knitting and crocheting: knitting needles and crochet hooks of varying thicknesses and lengths, a packet of blunt-ended needles, large safety pins, and a pair of scissors. But she also put in a large leather bag that distinctly jingled and crinkled, and a few dogeared books of varying thicknesses and subjects; a few were patterns for knitting and crocheting, and the rest looked like cheesy, smutty romances.

“I figured if I couldn't ever regain my memories here, I'd save up to buy a small ship and leave this island in the distance,” Tenshi explained. “I've been here so long, I want to see what else there is in the world, if there's a better place than this.”

Luffy gasped like he had the greatest idea, and jumped to his feet. “Join my crew!” he exclaimed, much to Zoro and Nami's chagrin. “You'd be able to go on so many adventures with us! And there's plenty of friends for you to make!”

“Yeah, yeah, I'll think about it,” she said distractedly, shutting the second suitcase. She wasn't going to get her hopes up about such a prospect. She had tried to join various crews in the past, and was either outright rejected or fooled into thinking she had a chance, only to be either ghosted or left behind at the last minute. It took a while for the lessons to stick, but she had resolved to be a lone sailor someday. Just because these folks were kind to her, it didn't mean she was going to think she'd be a permanent member, even if the captain had personally invited her.

In only about twenty minutes, everything she couldn't absolutely live without was packed in the two suitcases and her fishnet shoulder bag—in that was just a smaller bag of money, a folded gully knife, a small sewing kit for emergencies, and a mint-colored headband that also looked handmade. As she promised, she didn't have much to pack.

“You want me to take one of those?” Zoro offered, already holding his hand out to take the heavier suitcase of crafting supplies and books.

“No, it's okay,” Tenshi refused, holding up a hand. “You're still injured, I don't want to inconvenience y-”

“Wahoo!” Luffy cheered, grabbing the handle of the suitcase and taking off out of the house. “New crewmember!”

“Luffy, she didn't definitively say yes!” Nami protested, running after him. “And quit running around! You're still injured too!”

Feeling the contagious excitement, despite Luffy's premature claims of her being a new crewmember, Tenshi grabbed her other suitcase and ran after him. She was laughing, growing more and more excited. This was real, she was leaving the town; she was finally leaving the island. There were a few people she did at least wanted to say goodbye to, but she could think of how to ask for that once they reached the ship.

They passed by the Wild Cherry, which looked very much worse for wear. It looked like an intense, strong fight had broke out and broken the building. Windows were shattered, and there were even holes in the stone walls.

Her boss was outside, sweeping up a pile of broken wood and glass. When he saw Tenshi, he either didn't notice or care about the state she was in, or who she was even with. “Tenshi, the bar's gonna be closed for a few days while we make repairs.”

“Don't care! I fucking quit!” she declared, flipping off her boss and the bar with her free hand. “I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!”

As she disappeared down the street, whooping and cheering, the boss just continued to sweep. “Should we be worried?” one of the employees asked.

“No, she's easy to replace,” the boss responded, unperturbed.

~ * <|> * ~

By the time they reached the docks, Luffy and Tenshi had slowed down to a walk, allowing Zoro and Nami to catch up—Tenshi overheard Nami lecturing Zoro about getting lost, which he was attempting to brush off. But she was mostly glaring at them, probably still remembering how they didn't defend themselves or fight back in the Pub and Pies.

She saw the ship they were approaching. It was a cute caravel, with a smiling sheep head as the figurehead. The sails were furled, with the mainmast's square sail being dark tan, and the mizzenmast's lateen sail having red and off-white stripes. At the top of both masts were the jolly rogers: a skull with a straw hat. And it looked like there were three mikan trees on top of the storeroom.

Even from a distance, Tenshi could tell the ship had seen better days. There was patching on the port-side of the hull, the figurehead had been reattached with a metal brace, and the sails had patches.

She could also see someone's head pop up over the taffrail. “L-Lu-Lu-Lu-Luffy! Zoro!” the person shouted in shock. She could see he had black curly hair under a bandanna, and a long nose. “Why are you injured?! What happened?!”

“Nami-san!” another person exclaimed, shoving the first person aside. He had blond hair, and what looked like a cigarette in his mouth. “Are you alright?!”

A younger, high-pitched voice cried out, “D-D-D-Doctor!” To Tenshi's surprise, giving her pause, what looked like a teddy bear with reindeer features and a pink top hat pulled itself up onto the taffrail. “Call a doctor!”

“So, check them out already!” the first person snapped, slapping the creature across the back of the head. It grunted in pain and adjusted its hat.

Tenshi blinked a few times in surprise, staring as Nami was the first to board the ship—with the assistance of the worrying blond—and then Zoro. Luffy was about to, and looked over his shoulder at Tenshi. “Come on aboard!” he invited her. “Maybe Sanji will make some food to welcome you!”

Still feeling a little skeptical, Tenshi followed Luffy onto the deck just as the blond, having been shoved away by Nami, asked, “Welcome who, Lu-oh!”

The blond, the long-nosed man, and the little reindeer creature all stared startled at Tenshi—mostly at her scars. The long-nosed man, who looked around the same age as Luffy, stepped back with a cringe. “Whoa! Th-those look gnarly!” he exclaimed. He was wearing brown overalls, a white sash around his waist, an olive-green plaid bandanna on his head, as well as gray sniper goggles, a blue and white-striped armband on his left forearm, and olive-green boots. His skin was a darker tone than Zoro's, he had tight black curls that reached his neck, thick lips, a long nose with prominent nostrils, and round dark-brown eyes.

The blond shook off his surprise and smiled widely at Tenshi, declaring, “You're still so pretty, despite those scars, my lady!” He looked he was as old as Zoro; he certainly looked his height as well, albeit with longer legs. He stuck out against the rest of the pirates with his black double-breasted suit, buttoned with six gold buttons, with a light-blue dress shirt and black dress shoes. He indeed had a cigarette in his mouth. His hair had a few waves to it and reached his jaws, with the bangs swept over his left eye, which was a deep ocean blue. He also had some stubble on his cleft chin, and his eyebrow had a clockwise swirl to it.

After getting over its shock over seeing her lightning-scarred face, the little reindeer creature climbed all the way onto the taffrail to get close to her eye-level. It was the size of a small child, with brown fur, the beginnings of a darker ruff of fur around its neck, and the hooves on its front legs resembled hands, with the dewclaws acting as two thumbs; the back leg hooves looked normal. Its nose was blue, it had small pointed ears and blunt-ended antlers poking out of the pink top hat, which had a white doctor's plus symbol on the front, and the left antler had a metal brace at the base. Its cheek fur was teased out, and its eyes were round and brown. It only wore a pair of dark-pink pants, with a tiny pointed tail poking out.

The creature leaned forward, its eyes darting along the branches of Tenshi's scars. “Those look like third-degree Lichtenburg figure burns,” he said. “Harsh enough to leave deep scars. They look a few years old too. Were they from a lightning strike?”

Tenshi felt very overwhelmed by the sudden 'welcomes' from the rest of the crew. The long-nosed man's reaction was the only kind she was used to, though it was quite light in comparison to how it usually was. But between the blond claiming that she was pretty, and the creature looking even closer at her scars, like he was taking a genuine, almost medical interest in them, both were a little too much.

Thankfully, Nami intervened, even if she didn't do it for Tenshi's benefit, “Chopper! Leave her alone and see to these two idiots!”

“Eeh! R-right!” Chopper jumped down and ran up and into the poop deck's cabin, returning with a blue backpack with a similar doctor's plus symbol to his hat and a larger medic box. He opened both and took out a few supplies.

“Who's this, Luffy?” the long-nosed man asked, still looking both curiously and warily at Tenshi's scars.

“This is Tenshi, our new crewmember!” Luffy declared happily as Chopper began to tend to Zoro's wounds first.

“T-temporary!” she quickly exclaimed, holding her hands up. “I-I'm just coming along for the ride temporarily!”

“Oh, that's such a shame! It would be such a delight, having another lovely lady on the ship.” The blond sighed morosely. “And such a befitting name too! Angelic, one might say.”

“That is what tenshi means,” Zoro said dryly.

“No one asked you, Mosshead!”

“That's Usopp, our sniper,” Luffy continued, either not noticing or ignoring Tenshi's correction. “And that's Sanji, he makes the yummiest food! And Chopper, our doctor! There's one more... Where's Robin?” he asked, looking around.

“We're not sure,” Chopper said. “She left without saying anything.”

“Ah, okay. Anyway, Tenshi wants to go to the sky island with us to remember her past.”

“Eh... In a nutshell, but it's a little trickier than that.”

“You have amnesia?” Chopper asked, his ears perking up.

“Yeah, I do.” Tenshi nodded. “Starting six years ago. I only remember my birth date and age so far. And I have a deep nostalgia for looking at the sky, and I was told that my rescuer said I looked like I had fallen into the ocean out of the sky. I'm hoping that finding and visiting the sky island will help me remember. Maybe even find out where I came from.”

“We'll do our very best to assist you, Tenshi-sama!” Sanji declared, taking her hand to kiss her knuckles. She cleared her throat in discomfort, and wiped it on the back of her skirt when he wasn't looking.

Once Zoro's wounds were bandaged, and he was lounging back against the taffrail with his hands behind his head, Chopper moved onto Luffy. “So, anyway, what kind of giant monster did you guys fight?” Usopp finally asked.

“Just pirates,” Luffy replied happily. “But it's okay, it's all over now.”

Zoro grunted in agreement.

“Maybe it's over for you two, but not for me,” Nami grumbled before throwing her fists up in the air and shouting, “What's with you two?! How can you call yourselves men?! Men don't shrink from a fight! When someone provokes you, you beat them up! Even Tenshi understood that! Better yet, let's just blow this annoying town to smithereens!”

“No skin off my nose,” Tenshi remarked, smirking in amusement.

“So, what was that stuff you said earlier about not causing trouble by fighting in town?” Zoro pointed out, only to flinch when Nami turned to him with the angriest face yet.

“What's past is past! Don't bring up ancient history! You want me to kick your ass too?!” She buried her face in her hands with a loud groan. “This is why I prefer women!”

“Why's she in such a sour mood?” Usopp asked, raising an eyebrow. “You two got beat up, not her.”

“Dunno,” Luffy replied, shrugging his shoulders, even as Chopper applied the last bandage to him.

“So, did you guys get any information about the sky island?” Chopper asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Sky... Island...?” Nami drawled, turning her head slowly to glower at Chopper, causing him to shake and whimper with fear. “Who cares? All I did was ask about the sky island, and the entire bar burst out laughing. Did I say something funny?! Why were they laughing?! WHAT'S WITH THIS TOWN?!”

Usopp smashed a small amount of ketchup on his chest and pretended to pass out in fear, muttering something about a ketchup star. Chopper grabbed Tenshi's skirt and made an attempt at hiding himself. Except instead of hiding his whole body behind her, he only hid the upper side of his head, leaving the rest of himself completely exposed. Tenshi could only look down at him in confusion and bewilderment.

“That's just Mock Town for you,” she replied to Nami with a shrug. “Anything out of their ordinary, they'll laugh at and make fun of it. They can be real nasty with it too.”

“How did you survive living in a shitty town like this for six years?!”

“Thickened skin and heightened walls,” she said dryly. “And practice. Not to mention I learned the art of giving it back just as good.”

“Well, it's quite lively up here,” a calm feminine voice remarked off of port side. A woman around Tenshi's age was boarding the ship, with shopping bags in both hands. Her whole ensemble was a dark-purple, down to the cowboy hat. She had a long-sleeved leather crop top jacket over a white shirt, matching leather pants, and heeled boots. She had tanned skin, sharp blue eyes, and straight black hair with blunt ends and bangs.

“Oh! Welcome back, Robin-chan!” Sanji called out. “Would you like something to eat? Or shall I draw you a bath first?”

“Robin!” Nami shouted, pointing angrily at her. “This is all your fault!”

“Is he... always like that with girls?” Tenshi asked Zoro in a whisper.

“All the time,” he replied, sounding very annoyed. “You'll just have to get used to it.”

“Well, luckily, I'm not the jealous type.”

“What? No, I mean for when he flirt-bombs you.”

“Why would he flirt-bomb me?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Zoro just shot her a deadpan. “... Are you playing stupid, or just that dense?”

“Depends on the day.” She shrugged her shoulders.

As Nami ranted, Chopper crunched a small yellow ball in his teeth and, to Tenshi's astonishment, transformed into a taller humanoid version of himself, albeit with his reindeer legs intact. Whimpering out “Jumping Point!”, he leaped over the taffrail and into the sea. Zoro leaped to his feet and dove in after him, exclaiming his name in shock.

“If this stupid island in the sky doesn't exist, I'll send you to the bottom of the ocean!” Nami declared.

Usopp approached Robin, holding his hands up with a grimace. “Ehh, I wouldn't bother her right now,” he advised. “Maybe not even get too close.”

Robin simply smiled in amusement, and then blinked in surprise when she saw Tenshi. “Oh, a new crewmember?” she asked.

“Yeah! That's Tenshi!” Luffy exclaimed, either not noticing or ignoring Tenshi pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation over him assuming she was a permanent member again. “She wants to find the sky island too!”

“Welcome aboard,” Robin said. “Though, I must say, you look like you stood out in a thunderstorm at the wrong time.”

“Gee, thanks.” Tenshi eyed her over her hand, smirking. “I hadn't noticed.”

Robin simply chuckled, and waved a hand in some sort of flourish. Along the taffrails of the poop deck, phantom arms with Robin's skin tone sprouted. She held up a piece of paper for the arms to pass up to Luffy. When he took the map, the arms disappeared in a light shower of pink flower petals. She smiled wryly at Tenshi, who was staring at her in bewilderment. “Have you never seen a Devil Fruit in action?”

“On occasion... Just not so often that I know what I'm looking at.”

Up on the poop deck, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji were looking at the piece of paper, which turned out to be a map of Jaya. “The town on the western side is Mock Town,” Robin explained. “And that X on the north-eastern side? I've been told a man who doesn't blend in with the town lives there.”

Tenshi finally blinked out of her stupor upon hearing that. “Hey, can I see that?” she asked, holding her arm up.

Luffy dropped the map, allowing it to float into her hands. She looked it over, and smiled with a light chuckle. “I know this place. That's where Cricket lives!”

“Indeed,” Robin agreed as she started to take her shopping bags into the storeroom. “Mont Blanc Cricket is who they say he is. He was chased out of town for talking about dreams.”

“Yeah, that's what he told me. I visit him on occasion, so I can show you guys the fastest route to his place.”

“Why didn't you tell us about him in the first place?!” Nami demanded.

“You guys didn't ask me about anything,” Tenshi replied with a shrug. “Besides, he's never mentioned anything about sky islands to me. But if you guys think he's a good lead, I'll show you the way. I've been meaning to visit him for a little bit anyway.” Handing the map to Nami, she took up her suitcases and followed Robin into the storeroom.

“Our rooms are down below, through this hatch,” Robin explained, gesturing to a hatch in the floor. “You can unpack your luggage down there while they set sail.”

Nodding, Tenshi opened the hatch and carefully walked down the steps with her luggage. It was lavishly decorated, which made her wonder if this ship was originally meant for someone richer than for a pirate crew. The ship was certainly tinier and cuter than most pirate ships she was accustomed to seeing.

Since she didn't anticipate staying with the crew forever, she left her suitcases by the coffee table. Given how shabby they looked, with random patches sewn on, they stood out among the beautiful furniture. It was a perfect metaphor for how she felt, even among these pirates. Among any pirates, really. She had spent a good amount of time trying to join a crew herself, wanting to be free of the island, memories or no memories. But her attempts were met with varying degrees of failure; they either brushed her off entirely, not wanting some ugly woman like her, or pretended to agree but left without her, leaving her feeling foolish. Especially if there were witnesses to laugh at her. Eventually, she learned her lesson.

Even with how friendly this crew was, maybe even too friendly where Sanji was concerned, she still didn't entirely trust that she was welcome permanently. She was grateful that she was given a chance to discover if the sky islands were real and if she came from one, but what happens after that? Would they kick her off, once her request had been fulfilled? And if the sky islands were real, would she be welcomed back home? What if her memories didn't return at all? Was she making a mistake, being too hasty to throw what little trust she had into this wacky bunch?

She didn't have much time to make another decision, as she realized the ship was already sailing away from the docks. There weren't any windows, so she couldn't see the town off. Though it would have been nice to see it disappear around the corner, even if it was just one of the ways she went to visit Cricket anyway, she didn't feel like looking at that town a minute longer. Not to mention if Bellamy went out looking for her, it likely wouldn't take long for him to at least wonder if she went with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami. And the last thing she wanted was for him to stir up trouble with them again.

She eventually wandered back up the stairs to the storeroom to explore when she heard them talking to someone; someone who sounded familiar to her. When she opened the door, she smirked in amusement. It was exactly who she thought it was.

Dwarfing the little ship was a much, much larger one, themed after the jungle and orangutans, complete with giant trees as the masts. The jolly roger was an orangutan skull with green hair. Alongside the captain, she could see the multitude of crewmates, still in their diving suits.

She could hear the captain talking to them. He was a large orangutan-like man with long green hair flowing down his back, and a beard that reminded Tenshi of lettuce. He wore a black button up shirt that was many sizes too small, leaving the buttons holding on for dear life, dark-red pants, black and white shoes, a captain's coat that faded from green to white, and a green captain's hat with his jolly roger on it.

She managed to overhear the last part of his conversation with the pirates, “... Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. When you consider my abilities, they may very well be waiting to call me to the post.”

Tenshi let out a loud laugh. “You? A Warlord?” she shouted out at him, startling everyone else on the smaller ship. “The only war you're lording over is the one with Masira!”

She couldn't see his expression, but she could certainly hear him shouting, “Why is she with you?!” Then, she heard him announce an attack: “Havoc Sonar!”

“Wait, don't!” Tenshi yelled, running to the taffrail closest to the opposing ship. “I'm still on the damn ship, you fucking idiot!”

But it was too late. She could already hear his own ship starting to break apart from his sonar attack. And it would only be a matter of time before the littler pirate ship suffered a similar fate. “Oi! Rambutan for brains! Are you listening to me?!”

Through the sound wave, she could hear Nami, who had evidently calmed down, commanding everyone to sail the ship away. “Wait!” Tenshi called out to them. “I know him! If I can just-”

She was interrupted by the cracking of the deck's boards, as well as where the shoddy repairs were. “Hey! He's damaging the Going Merry too!” Usopp cried out, stomping on one of the boards to keep it down. “He's undoing all of my repairs! And the ship's in bad shape as is! We'll break apart if we stay here!”

“Full speed ahead!” Nami shouted. “Get us out of range of his voice! Tenshi! You said you knew a fast way to get to this Cricket guy! Help us out!”

“But if I can get his attention-”

“Now!”

Tenshi grabbed the roots of her hair, groaning in irritation, but got straight to work. “Which way are we headed?” she asked as she charged for the mainmast.

“Currently north!”

“We're going around the north side of the island to turn the east then. That's the best way to go, just past Mouth Bay. We'll be there in no time!”

First, she found the rope that was attached to the yard, and pulled on it until it rose up all the way to the crow's nest. "Hoisting the yard!" she called out.

Once the yard was up all the way, she tied it off scurried up the mast like a squirrel, even still in her dress, and wasted no time in untying both gaskets to unfurl the square sail. “Hoisting the sails!” she yelled, grabbing both clewlines and jumping back down to the deck. She landed in a heavy crouch. Wasting little time, she ran ran to one side of the ship to tie a clewline to the cleat; she did the same with the opposite one on the opposite side.

Next, she ran to the lateen's sail and grabbed the rope to control it. “Wind's in a good direction. Let's get going!” She pulled the rope until the lateen was angled in a way that it could both speed up the Going Merry and angle it to begin to turn around the island. Despite having thick curves, and thus not looking it, she was surprisingly strong and fast.

The whole time, she didn't notice the crew watching in awe and admiration.

*** To Be Continued ***

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

The Forgotten Angel: Sky Island Saga

Chapter 1: Sakidō Tenshi! The Laughingstock of Mock Town!

Rated Mature for: Explicit and suggestive language and graphic violence; rating may increase with time.

Characters may have altered/differing features from the canon. These are in accordance with the author's vision of these characters.

Life has become monotonous and lonesome for Tenshi, despite the chaotic crowds of Mock Town. But a chance encounter with a straw hatted captain and his swordsman and navigator sparks the beginning of a new adventure.

The bar was as busy as ever. Both citizens and visitors of Mock Town were scattered about, laughing and chattering among themselves. The fan spun gently above them, sending out a light breeze throughout the upper level of the Wild Cherry. A few people sat in the booths and at the bars, nursing drinks and munching on pretzels.

But for the most part, the majority of the customers were watching a card game between two pirates: Bellamy the Hyena, and 'Executioner' Roshio. For the most part, the game was calm, with the only sounds being their cards being placed on the table and sliding against each other, and their audience making remarks to each other.

After one play, the patrons began to remark on Roshio's win. From what they were saying, he had been on a winning streak.

“Sorry, bud,” he remarked, not sounding sorry at all. “Now you're all out of money. But if you wanted to, we could make the game more interesting by betting... first, your pants?”

Loud laughs barked up all around them, followed by jovial taunts. They were common sounds, hearing mocking laughter and remarks in the town named after such a descriptor. One either learned to ignore them—especially when they lived among such laughter for a number of years—or let themselves get affected by them. Which usually didn't end up in the favor of either party.

And such a case was proven when, as Roshio stood and attempted to gather his earnings, Bellamy suddenly stabbed a knife through the back of his hand straight into the table. He let out a guttural shout of pain, and the bar went dead silent in shock.

“You cheated, didn't you?!” Bellamy accused. “The whole game, you did!”

“What?!” Roshio somehow exclaimed through the pain. “I would never-”

“Don't lie!” Bellamy snapped again. Instead of glaring angrily at him, he was grinning. It was a maniacal look, befitting his epithet. “I saw it with my own eyes!”

The bar patrons took steps back, eyes trained on Bellamy like he would attack them as well at the slightest inconvenience. “Don't go throwing out that accusation!” one warned him.

“Shut up!” another man exclaimed. “He's got an over 50 million Beri bounty on his head!”

“Sarquiss... Oi, Sarquiss!” Bellamy shouted without glancing over his shoulder.

Sitting at the bar counter, arm wrapped around one of their crewmates, sat the first mate of Bellamy's crew, 'Big Knife' Sarquiss. He looked over his shoulder with a grunt. “What?”

“This guy was cheating! You saw it all, didn't you?!” Bellamy demanded. “You saw him cheat me!”

“Cheat?” Sarquiss spun around in his chair to lean back against the counter. “Yeah... That's right. I saw it all, Captain,” he proclaimed as he laughed. “That dirty rat! Shall we make an example out of him?”

Everyone glanced between the men and themselves. Even they could observe that, being that Sarquiss had his back turned to the entire game, and he had been distracted by his crewmate, he wouldn't have any way of knowing if Roshio had cheated or not. But it was best to not question this claim, so as to not be dragged into a bloody fight.

Gritting his teeth through the pain and humiliation, Roshio shouted, “You damn bastards! Do you know who you're dealing with?!”

There was a sharp bang, throwing Roshio back against his seat; the knife was pulled loose from the table, but not his hand. With his smoking pistol in one hand, Bellamy grabbed up the bottle he had been drinking from and broke it over Roshio's head, dousing him in the alcohol.

Roshio barely had time to react before Sarquiss flicked a lit match at him. The alcohol instantly went up in flames. Before he had time to scream in agony, Bellamy stood and kicked him square in the chest. He was sent hurtling back through the glass window. A loud crash outside indicated that he had landed on the deck outside, possibly on something else. People outside scattered with screams and shouts of shock.

Bellamy stood at the window, laughing triumphantly. Everyone was staring at him in shock, save for his crew, and someone else working behind the counter. “Oi! Tenshi! Did you see that?!” he shouted over his shoulder, puffing out his chest. His tongue hung out of his wide grin. “Did you see how I put that cheater in his place?!”

Tenshi continued to ignore him. She was leaning on the counter on one elbow, resting her cheek in her palm. She had barely flinched during the whole fight, only reflexively during the loud noises. Between mixing and giving out drinks and wiping down glasses, she had only been casually observing.

Rolling her eyes with a curled lip, she sighed heavily. “I need a fucking vacation...”

~ * < Sakidō Tenshi! The Laughingstock of Mock Town! > * ~

The bar calmed down after the impromptu and one-sided fight. It always did; sudden fights weren't anything new in Mock Town. Tenshi was certainly used to it. She just continued her job, half-listening to the drunken gossip and chatter.

“... called Sapphire Scales...” “... sunlight made it worse...” “... could have picked them off and sold them...” “... not real sapphires...” “... no cure...”

“... about Arabasta...?” “... Warlord Crocodile...” “... the whole time...” “... Marines took him down...” “... Cap. Smoker...” “... will be the new Warlord...?”

“Hey, Tensh!” a regular snapped at her, their drink sloshing messily in their hand. “If-if you smiled more, ma-maybe you wouldn't look so ugly!”

His companions laughed like he had said the funniest thing in the world. They verbally agreed with his statement, pointing out the features they thought were severely unattractive. “Nah, that smile's probably just as hideous!”

“Yeah, I mean, look at those scars! Ain't no smile in the world that can fix those!”

Most people would have been hurt by such statements. But they rolled off of Tenshi's back like she didn't even hear them. She didn't bat an eyelid, or even blink. She just kept working diligently, nudging her round black glasses up her nose with the back of her wrist. She had a blank expression on her face, betraying little emotion.

Until finally her boss, a surly-looking man who was as wide as he was tall, called out to her, “Alright, Tenshi. Your shift's done for the day. You can go for the rest of the day.”

“Aww, you're so generous, boss,” she remarked with a sarcastic grin—ignoring the taunts that claimed they had been right about her smile not being an improvement. “An absolute diamond!”

“And don't you forget it,” her boss answered, no humor to be heard in his straitlaced tone. “Remember, you only have this job because I took pity on you after nobody else wanted you.”

Her smirk stiffened, but she barely faltered otherwise. “I remember, boss. It's stuck in me brain.” She emphasized by poking herself in the temple with a slender finger. “I won't be forgetting that anytime soon.” She grabbed up her fishnet bag, slung it over her shoulder, and strolled out from behind the counter and down the flights of stairs.

As she descended the levels, her smirk gradually faded away to a frown. It was one of both frustration and disgust. She glanced down at herself, taking in her stained work uniform: a cream dress with puffed sleeves and a tiered ankle-length skirt, a black vest-style corset bodice, and old black boots with ropes wrapped and tied around the vamps and soles. Her boots were the only article that she personally owned; thus, they were the only part of her current clothing that she liked. Her long brown hair was tied back with a piece of rope, keeping the messy curls out of her face.

“... I certainly won't forget that I hate this job neither,” she grumbled. She passed by Roshio, who was laying crumpled on a broken wagon. The fire was finally starting to die out, but he didn't look like he would last much longer. A few people had surrounded him, staring and muttering in shock.

Once she passed him, she heard something heavy land on him with a heavy, distinctive 'sproing' sound. She didn't need to glance back to see what had happened. And frankly, she didn't want to. She just kept walking down the wooden sidewalk, eyes trained in front of her.

There were a few loud pops, like that of a rifle. When she vaguely turned her head towards the sounds, she saw a man sitting up on the roof of a building. He was too far away and shadowed to make out his features, but she saw a long, smoking rifle in his hands. She ignored this as well and continued walking. She didn't really have a destination in mind, she just wanted to get far away from the Wild Cherry for the rest of the day.

All around her was chaos. It wasn't just people talking and sitting around drinking. There were small fights, with words, fists, and weapons. Some people were left passed out to be dragged off the street. Men fought men, women fought women, and on occasion, men fought women. It was like a free-for-all in the resort town, where the fancy and sharp buildings severely contrasted the chaotic messes.

Tenshi just stepped over and around the fights and bodies with barely a twitch of the eye. And everyone avoided her in kind.

She paused in midstep when she saw something unfamiliar a few meters ahead. There was a skinny, sickly-looking horse, and an equally skinny, sickly-looking man on the ground, nearly swallowed by his thick brown furred coat. This wasn't the unfamiliar part, however.

What was unfamiliar were the two young men helping the sick man onto his horse. Giving out help in Mock Town was very rare, though newcomers did naïvely give out help. And these two looked green behind the ears. The youngest was a young man with a red buttoned up vest, blue denim cargo shorts, sandals, and a straw hat on his head. He had thick shaggy black hair that ended around his ears. The older man, though no more than a few years, was taller and broader. He wore a white shirt, a black handkerchief around his left bicep, a green haramaki around his waist, three katanas on his hip, and black pants and boots. His skin was a darker tan than his friend's, his hair was short, fluffy, and moss-green, and he had three long golden earrings on his left earlobe.

Watching from nearby, arms crossed, was a young woman with short orange hair, a white and blue-striped tank top, a light-orange mini skirt with two white rings on each side, and short brown gladiator high-heeled sandals. She also had a gold bracelet and Log Pose on her left wrist, and some kind of blue tattoo on the same shoulder over a few stab scars.

With how the two young men stood with her, it was clear they were a small group.

Tenshi watched curiously as the two young men also helped the horse up when it collapsed after trying to leave. Seeing them helping a stranger in a town like Mock Town reminded her of herself, how her first instincts were to help people when they were in trouble. Of course, that had been largely beaten out of her during the last several years of living here. People either rejected your help with extreme prejudice, or demanded more from you. It was better to just keep to yourself unless absolutely necessary.

That didn't mean her instincts didn't scream at her every time she passed by somebody in need of assistance. But though she admitted she was a slow learner, she learned regardless.

Suddenly, a nearby store exploded. This caught everyone's attention, stalling squabbles and arguments. Even Tenshi was startled by the sudden fireball. For a moment, she had no clue what had happened. Until she overheard someone exclaiming that someone had been giving away apples, and a few had exploded once the people took a bite. Once she heard that, she relaxed; this wasn't anything new.

She only flinched when she saw the young man in the straw hat had a bitten apple in his hand, and his cheeks full of the fruit. He was still slowly chewing as he and his friends stared in horror at the blazing building.

Once he swallowed, the young woman grabbed him by the throat with both hands. “Luffy! Spit it out!” she cried out, shaking him until he turned blue in the face. “Spit out that apple, now!”

“I already swallowed!” he gasped out.

The swordsman grabbed one of his katanas. “Bastard!” he snapped. “What's this all about?”

The man on the horse simple chuckled, even as he wheezed and hiccuped. “Ehh, he'll be alright.”

When the trio stared blankly at him, with the young woman letting Luffy go, he continued, “If it had been a bad one, you would have died at the first bite. So...” He had to take a minute to catch his breath, as if he had been running a marathon before speaking. “... So, you're lucky.”

Tenshi couldn't help laughing at the bewildered trio. “Welcome to Mock Town,” she said sarcastically. “Where you're more likely to get a shooting than a handshake; whether it's of the verbal or physical kind is up for debate.”

The three young people turned to look at her. They all exclaimed in surprise at the sight of her.

She was tall, much taller than all three of them—a good foot and some change taller than the green-haired one. And as opposed to the young woman, having a slender hourglass figure, she was practically shaped like a pear with a head, arms, and legs. Her shoulders were narrow with a generous bust, her waist was slightly-tapered, leading to a pudgy stomach, wide round hips, and thick thighs that, in turn, lead to long strong legs.

But the most significant part of her was her face. More accurately, her scars. She had lightning scars branching across her rich brown eyes, round cheeks, and full lips, as well as up over her forehead and down along her throat. They were sharp and jagged white lines contrasting with her softer curves, forever marring what was no doubt once a beautiful face.

~ * <|> * ~

For several moments, the trio stared at Tenshi, all with varying levels of shock in their dark-orange, gray-green, and green eyes. The woman even took a step back, letting out a startled squeak. Tenshi said nothing, only lightly smirking at them.

That changed when Luffy's eyes widened more, and his mouth curled into a big smile. “Ooh! Your scars are so cool!”

Tenshi's smirk fell away, and she blinked in surprise. “... Wh-”

The other man's grin was more impressed. “You look like quite the fighter,” he remarked, thumbing his chin.

Tenshi didn't answer. She couldn't. She was too caught off guard; and, in all honesty, too confused. The young woman's reaction was far more familiar than the two young men's compliments. At least, they sounded like compliments. She had to run through both sentences over and over in her head, trying to sniff out any hidden meanings. She was usually good at this, having grown to expect nothing but ridicule and cruelty for how she looked.

But this time, she couldn't find anything. So she just stood there, mouth hung open like a fish that had been taken out of the water.

Finally, the green-haired man asked something she was able to respond to, “You live here?”

Shaking her head with a grunt, she answered, “Y-yes, I do! Six years and counting.”

“Maybe she could help us!” Luffy exclaimed excitedly, pumping his fists in front of him. “Say, do you-”

“Nope!” the young woman exclaimed, pushing both Luffy and their friend away. “Thanks, but no thanks!” She grinned a little too widely at Tenshi.

“Nami, what gives?” Luffy complained.

Even though they were already a good distance away, Tenshi still heard Nami, “She's way too creepy-looking! And too nonchalant about this crazy town!”

Tenshi stood there on the street, watching them disappear into the distant crowds. She heard the barely-restrained laughter around her, as well as unfamiliar tourists asking about her.

“That's Tenshi, the freak of the town!” “She's always had those scars! Ever since she came here!” “They say she was thrown off of a ship because she was just too damn ugly to look at!” “She's crazy too, always shouting out threats and insults; she's way too creative with it!” “If she wore makeup and lost twenty, forty pounds, she might actually look good!” “I'm surprised she doesn't get stuck in the doorway, with those bulbous hips!” “Those scars, though. Did she get hit by lightning?” “People say she stood in a thunderstorm for too long. Idiot!”

With a shrug of her shoulders at the trio's attitude and departure, she continued down the sidewalk. Even as the quips and insults bounced around in the air all around her, she ignored it all. It was like white noise to her, just an annoying buzzing in her ear that she had grown used to. She didn't even looked affected by any of it, keeping a neutral expression on her scarred face.

Overhead, a large man was laughing and shouting out to 'challengers' from the rooftops. “Wii-hahaha!”

Down on the ground, people watched him and muttered about how he had been picking and winning fights with people. They called him a Fighting Champion, and remarked that they should stay away from him.

Still unbothered by everything, and still alone, Tenshi continued walking.

After several minutes of wandering, she found herself in the Pub and Pies. Several customers shot disgusted glances her way, but didn't say anything to or about her. The bartender, Terry, casually greeted her as she sat at the counter. “What'll it be, Tenshi?”

“A virgin gin and mint,” she requested.

“'Virgin'? You?! Since when?” someone exclaimed, slapping their knee as they laughed. “Now that's an inaccurate description about you!”

She rolled her eyes. “Very clever,” she muttered. “And original.”

“Hey, sweetheart!” a large rotund man with long woolly black hair and an open white shirt called out to her from several seats away. “You should try the cherry pies here! I hear they're great!”

“I'm decidingly not in the mood for anything related to cherries,” she retorted, leaning on the counter against her crossed arms.

The man simply shrugged with a grunt and continued with his food.

After a few minutes, her drink was placed in front of her: a tonic water on crushed ice, tinted pale-green with mint extract. There was even a couple of mint leaves floating on the small chunks of ice.

With a muttered thanks, she took a sip. It wasn't as sharp or smooth as a proper gin, but she wasn't completely in the mood to get drunk yet. Not that she easily could; working as a bartender had given her a high tolerance over the last six years. It would take a good while of drinking to get her even buzzed, much less properly drunk.

She barely lifted her head when a few people came in, sat at the counter, and ordered drinks. She only turned her head when a familiar voice remarked, “Fancy seeing you here.”

It was the green-haired man. And sitting next to him were Nami and Luffy respectively, with their respective glasses and mugs. He himself had a mug as well. Luffy was casually drinking, and Nami was gripping her glass, grumbling under her breath.

“Small town,” Tenshi remarked.

“And a horrible one!” Nami added.

“That's a shame you think that,” Terry said. “Mock Town depends on pirates spending money, after all. Lots of tough people, both locals and pirates. Which means a lot of trouble. If you're bothered by every inconvenience, you'll never make it.”

“You don't seem too bothered,” the green-haired man said to Tenshi. It made her wonder if he had heard the locals and visitors talking about her behind her back and in front of her.

“Six years means a lot of time to thicken my skin,” she replied, swirling her drink in her hand. “I had it especially rough, with this ugly mug,” she casually added, gesturing at her face with her free hand. “But I learned to tune out everything people say about me. Besides, I've seen myself in the mirror.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she tilted her head back to take a drink.

She didn't catch the surprised look the young man gave her at how nonchalant she was about insulting herself.

Nami was still complaining about the town, with Terry remarking that a right-minded person like her was rare in Mock Town. Tenshi found herself nodding in agreement. She felt like she could count herself as one such, even with how snappy she could be with her own insults and threats. It was a surprise that she hadn't been snuffed out a long time ago. But if there was something about her, it was that she was stubborn.

“In any case, the log will be stored within four days or so,” Terry continued. “If you want to leave before you get into trouble, you have that time-frame.”

Nami sounded like she was going to ask him something before Luffy and the larger man from earlier simultaneously interrupted her, “Hey, old guy!” “Hey, buddy!”

“Hm? What's wrong?” “This cherry pie tastes so bad, I could die!” “This cherry pie tastes so good, I could die!” Both men grunted in surprise at their contrasting statements and turned to glare at each other.

Now that Tenshi got a look at the larger man, she noticed he was almost as ugly as she was. He had a broad chin, thick lips, was missing several teeth, a pronounced crooked nose, and round dark eyes. He had a scraggly beard along his jaws, and his open shirt displayed his hairy chest and stomach.

The two men glared at each other before taking a gulp of their drinks. “That drink was really good!” “That drink was really bad!” Once again, they glowered at each other.

“Something wrong with your tastebuds?” the larger man snarled.

“Is something wrong with your brain?” Luffy challenged. Suddenly, he turned to Terry and exclaimed, “Old man! I want fifty steaks to go, please!”

“Hey, bub! I'll take fifty-one cherry pies to go!” the larger man stated, to Luffy's irritation.

Tenshi could only watch in growing amusement as they attempted to one-up each other, even as Nami protested that they couldn't pay for so many steaks. It eventually ended with Luffy standing on the stool, planting his other foot on the counter, and pulling back his fist; the larger man pulled back his fist as well. “You bastard! You wanna fight?!” “You bastard! You wanna fight?!”

Tenshi laughed, slapping her hand on the counter. “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“What the hell are you fighting about?!” the green-haired man snapped.

With a grin, the larger man asked, “So, you three are pirates? What's your bounty?”

“Yeah.” Luffy nodded. “30 million.”

Tenshi's eyebrows rose to her hairline. It was in the middle-range of pirates that usually frequented the town, but it was still impressive in her eyes.

But before she could ask about the rest of Luffy's crewmembers, the larger man grunted in surprise. “Only 30 million? You? That can't be true, you liar!”

“Who're you calling a liar?!” Luffy shouted. “It's the damn truth!”

“Knock it off!” the green-haired man yelled, pulling Luffy back down by his vest.

Terry placed a wrapped package on the counter—cherry pies, Tenshi guessed, since he placed it in front of the larger man. “No fighting inside,” he scolded. “Here's your fifty cherry pies, now scram.”

With a huff, the larger man took his package and promptly exited the bar.

Unfortunately, the man who replaced him was someone Tenshi didn't want to see: Bellamy. “Ugh, just my luck,” she groaned, turning back around to slump against the bar counter.

“You know him?” the green-haired man asked as Bellamy shouted for 'a pirate in a straw hat'.

“Unfortunately.”

The rest of the bar stared at Bellamy, fear in their sober, half-drunken, and drunken eyes. He stood tall and proud in the doorway, grinning that hyena-like grin. He had a round face, shaggy blond hair, a scar over his right eye, and was usually wearing a blue captain's coat over his shoulders.

“What's this about?” Luffy asked as he leaned back against the counter.

“Sounds like he's got business with you,” his friend remarked as Bellamy strolled to the counter.

“Is that the Bellamy that's taken over the hotel?” Nami asked.

“Ah, you heard?” Tenshi asked, taking a sip of her drink. “Yeah, they claimed it as their base of operations. Top dogs always get the fancy and comfortable shit, I suppose.”

“Boy, there's a lot of tall people here,” Luffy said as Bellamy approached him. Bellamy was a few inches taller than even Tenshi.

Briefly ignoring Luffy, Bellamy called out to Terry as he sat down, “Give me your most expensive drink! And get this guy whatever he wants!”

Tenshi was already hunkered down to avoid Bellamy's gaze. She scrunched up even more when she heard familiar voices entering the bar, complaining about how full, filthy, and cheap it looked. She didn't need to look over her shoulder to see the rest of Bellamy's crew had followed him inside.

She could also hear several people vacating the bar as Bellamy's crewmates threw their weight around, taking seats for themselves. Nobody noticed her so far, to her relief. In this town, she either stuck out like a sore thumb or was completely ignored.

But her ears also picked up the faint dripping of liquid. She chanced a peek over her shoulder, and saw fresh blood dripping from Sarquiss's giant kukri, creating a small puddle of red on the floor. He caught Tenshi's eye, but simply held his knife in front of his face to dart his tongue against the smeared blood.

Curling her lip in disgust, she turned away.

Terry finally placed the prepared drinks in front of Luffy and Bellamy. “Have a drink,” Bellamy urged Luffy, causing Tenshi to narrow her eyes in suspicion. The only time he freely offered a drink was to flirt with someone, or to cause trouble. The former, she had experienced before. And she had a feeling this wasn't going to be a similar case this time.

“Aw, thanks!” Luffy said happily, lifting his glass mug. “You're not such a bad guy after all!”

Just as he was taking a drink, before Tenshi or his friends could react, Bellamy suddenly grabbed the back of Luffy's head and slammed him face-down onto the counter. It shattered into pieces and splinters of wood as Luffy was practically shoved down to the floor.

Everyone gasped and exclaimed in shock. Tenshi, a little startled herself, managed to grab up her drink before it was sent tumbling to the ground. The only sound in the bar was Sarquiss laughing loudly.

“... What's your problem, low life?” Bellamy growled with a grin.

It was only then that Tenshi realized the green-haired man, having moved so fast she didn't realize he had, was sitting on one of the remaining halves of the counter with one of his swords drawn against Bellamy's throat. He was glaring intensely at him over the guard.

“You're the one with the problem,” he retorted, his voice low and calm. It sent a shiver down Tenshi's back, even though she wasn't the target of his anger.

“Zoro! Wait a minute!” Nami cried out, holding out her hands. “We haven't gotten the information we need from this town yet!”

“I don't care!” Zoro snapped, not taking his eyes off of Bellamy. “I'm just taking him up on his offer! He wants a fight? He'll get one!”

Luffy pushed himself to his feet, wiping the bits of sawdust and splinters from his face and adjusting his hat. “You got up, huh?!” Bellamy laughed, still not caring about the sharpened steel against his neck.

Luffy scowled at him. “Alright, that's it. You want a fight?”

As Bellamy continued to laugh, and the remaining patrons and his crewmembers began to chatter about the inevitable fight, Zoro withdrew his sword and stepped down to the floor. They all began to cheer, pumping their fists and calling out bets. Tenshi herself leaned on one elbow against the counter, sipping her drink. Luffy didn't seem like much of a fighter, being probably a little over half her age. But he had Zoro to back him up with swordsmanship, so this should prove to be interesting.

“Luffy! Wait!” Nami turned to Terry and quickly shouted, “Mister! We want to go to the sky island! Do you have any information?!”

The bar instantly became so silent, a pin could be heard dropping. Tenshi nearly dropped her glass from her fingers. She forgot to breathe until her lungs reflexively took in a breath. She stared at Nami, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. 'Sky island' echoed in her head, over and over. A hint of hope began to flare up in her scarred heart...

… Until the entire bar burst into uproarious laughter, save for herself, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Terry.

“She said 'sky island'!” “Give me a break!”

Nami stammered for a moment before protesting, “But our Log Pose is definitely pointing to the sky!” She held up her wrist.

Tenshi glanced at the small instrument, and saw that the red end of the needle was indeed pointing straight up. Though it wavered from Nami's movement, the direction never changed. It was definitely something to consider, but even Tenshi knew that Log Poses were finicky at best, and easily broken at worst.

The mocking laughter only paused for a moment before starting up again, this time taunting her about the Log Pose. Tenshi started to feel bad when she saw the deep red appearing on Nami's face, all the way to her ears.

Bellamy sat back down, still snickering. “You got me there!” he remarked. “You guys actually believe in those ancient legends about islands in the sky? Which era and sea are you slack-jaws even from? Listen, all the unusual currents of the Grand Line are being explained one after the other, year after year. Including the Knock-Up Stream.”

He eyed the trio with a smirk. “You three probably don't even know what that is, huh? Ships that fall victim to this current are launched up into the clouds, and eventually come crashing down into the sea. Without knowing any better, sailors from long ago swore that the falling ships come from sky islands, lands floating unimaginably high up in the sky. 'There must be another world up there!', they said.”

Bellamy scoffed, spitting out of the corner of his mouth. “There's always a scientific explanation! In time, every myth becomes properly explained!”

He shook his head with an amused sigh. “And here I was, testing you and thinking about inviting you to join my crew for the new era. But you're just a delusional, gullible dumbass! You listen, and you listen good: the era of pirates' dreams is over! 'City of Gold'? 'City of Emeralds'? The fucking One Piece?! Idiots who can't see the real treasure at their feet for the fantasies they dream of are blind and stupid! In these days, in this era, some of the most capable pirates who keep dreaming just wind up getting themselves killed, all for a child's fancy! And to make matters worse, other people can only say 'They were lucky enough to die chasing their dreams'!”

Tenshi pulled up one leg to hug against her chest, bracing the heel of her boot on the stool. She stared down at her drink, now a mix of melted ice and tonic water, with the soggy mint leaves floating on top. She thought about her own desires, her own wants and dreams. Especially the one she kept close to her, that she didn't share with anyone who didn't know her entire situation.

Even though Bellamy's taunts weren't directed at her, they still sent little pangs to her heart. Her hand tightened around the glass tumbler. She took a slow deep breath in, let it out, plucked out the mint leaves, and knocked the remainder of her drink back like she was taking a shot.

“When I see idiots wasting their lives chasing pointless dreams...” Bellamy continued, wrapping his fingers around the neck of a nearby bottle. “... It makes me sick!” He swung the bottle over Luffy's head, shattering it across his skull and splattering alcohol everywhere.

“Luffy!” Nami cried out as he collapsed to the ground. Tenshi exclaimed in shock; Zoro simply watched, like he was waiting for Luffy to say or do something.

“It's weaklings like you that make stronger, better pirates like us look so bad!” Bellamy declared, standing over Luffy's supine form.

Someone threw a full mug of beer. It shattered by Luffy's ear, sending out a shower of liquid and glass. “Get outta here, you maggots!” someone shouted. “You're spoiling the atmosphere!”

Other objects started to get thrown. Bottles, glass mugs, wooden mugs, plates; anything at the tables. They called for Luffy and the others to leave town or get up and fight. While Luffy and Zoro stood still, despite the projectiles, Nami hunkered down and covered her head with her arms. Tenshi stood up from her stool, placed her empty glass on the counter, and stood with her back to Nami, holding one arm out to further shield her.

“Luffy! Zoro! Forget the promise!” Nami exclaimed. “Beat them up already!”

“Yeah!” Tenshi agreed, grunting when a glass practically bounced off of her shoulder. “He started it!”

Luffy slowly sat up, wiping the mixed alcohol from his face, and said, “Zoro... No matter what happens... Don't fight back.”

*** To Be Continued ***

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

Recently, I decided to change Tenshi's age from 32 to 31. It entirely has to do with something I'm trying to implement for her way later in the story (basically, I'm developing as the manga is coming out, but will be following the anime as for her fanfic, though I'll occasionally omit things/scenes, or substitute for manga-shtuffs) But it adds a lot to her character, including the fact that, post-timeskip, she is now the same age Eneru was when he destroyed Birka, putting some extra anxiety on her XD

Also, according to this cool-ass website https://listfist.com/list-of-one-piece-characters-by-age she is now the same age as Scratchmen Apoo, Makino, Gedatsu, Fukurou, Daz Bonez, Charlottes Poire and Galette, Boa Hancock, and Basil Hawkins; previously, she matched Pedro, Chess, Charlotte Dacquoise, Caribou, Blueno, and Bon Clay/Bentham.

It's hella fun to not only see how old certain characters are, but who matches your OC in age. Just be VERY aware of spoilers for unintroduced characters, especially anime vs manga, who's died between where you might be at and where the anime/manga is, and whose age hasn't been revealed until certain plot points.

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

Tenshi jolly roger 2.0!

I wasn't super happy with the earlier concept, between the hair and the pixeled style. So I did some digging, and found a Discord where they post high quality scans of printed media, including the magazines where the designs for the Straw Hat jolly rogers came from! They're actually avatars for the individual portions of the magazines, like recipes, costumes, animal details, etc. The main design is based off of them, save for the color of the ring. If Tenshi had a section, she would represent the concept designs for characters before they were finalized, because a big part of her story is her amnesia and her desire to remember her previous years.

As for the design, I took inspiration from both Robin and Nami's jolly rogers, since Nami's skull was a bit bigger than Robin's, but Robin had an actual mouth (Nami's just sticking her tongue out) I tilted her lower jaw to the right because she has a distinct crooked grin (very much inspired by the Avatars in A:TLA and LoK having crooked grins) Her glasses still have her eye color and distinct eye shine, but I added her eyebrows this time. Her scars are pretty much still the same.

I have a better idea for how I want to do her hair now. It's still inspired by Pinkie Pie's, but there'll also be influence from Adiago Dazzle (mostly for how her bangs looked when she had long hair) and Lee Kanker from Ed, Edd n Eddy. I also added the rope for her rope needles, since it's still a big part of her fighting style. But it's shaped like a pair of wings, as a reference to Tenshi being a sky person! And the headband looks a little more detailed now. I actually finished making it in real life, and realized I could make it a bit more detailed once I tried it on. It's super simplified, since again it's a cable-knit headband, but looks more like what she's meant to have.

The references are still the same as before, but come from the high quality screens from the Discord. If anyone's curious/interested, the server is called Punk Records.

Sakidō Tenshi's personal jolly roger

This took some time XD I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do her hair (my goal is for it to be a messy curly bob) The style is partially inspired by gen4's Pinkie Pie, particularly the thin lines inside the curls. It won't 100% look like this in her "official" pics, it's just a very simple representation.

For the base, I used Robin's since I wanted a more "feminine" skull shape than what the boys mostly use. I initially was going to leave the glasses black, but then got the idea to use her eye color. I'm going for a "rich brown", whatever that may be XD Again, the "official" pics will probably look better. Also, the star-shaped eyeshine is my interpretation of her having a "mischievous spark" in her eyes; when she's angry or upset, it disappears.

The scars were fun to draw, yet NOT to get to the final design. I originally tried to follow organic lightning shapes... which was a bad idea XD In the end, I was inspired by Jinbe and Inazuma's scars, and by the general shape of lightning, for her final scar design. Kinda highlights that eighthead, but the bigger bangs didn't look right. She doesn't normally have an eighthead, it's just tricky getting the scars branching over her eyes just right. I guess I COULD HAVE added her eyebrows, since they're thicker than most normal women's, but they're not really a signature part of her like Sanji's are. And the headband is hella simplified too--the darker part will be a cable stitch, as the headband was knitted.

Speaking of, the needles in the background were based on the needle going through Leo's Devil Fruit. They're normally attached on either end of a long rope, like a double-ended rope dart, but the picture would have looked too busy. Also, I initially had brown and mint as her signature colors, but I might just go with mint. I forget why I decided she would have mint as her color, scent, and one of her tastes, but it's sticking XD Plus, it just goes nicely with her hair and eyes.

references https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/a/a2/Robin_PJR_%28PoT%29_OPM.png https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/0/00/Nui_Nui_no_Mi_Infobox.png

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

Sakidō Tenshi's personal jolly roger

This took some time XD I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do her hair (my goal is for it to be a messy curly bob) The style is partially inspired by gen4's Pinkie Pie, particularly the thin lines inside the curls. It won't 100% look like this in her "official" pics, it's just a very simple representation.

For the base, I used Robin's since I wanted a more "feminine" skull shape than what the boys mostly use. I initially was going to leave the glasses black, but then got the idea to use her eye color. I'm going for a "rich brown", whatever that may be XD Again, the "official" pics will probably look better. Also, the star-shaped eyeshine is my interpretation of her having a "mischievous spark" in her eyes; when she's angry or upset, it disappears.

The scars were fun to draw, yet NOT to get to the final design. I originally tried to follow organic lightning shapes... which was a bad idea XD In the end, I was inspired by Jinbe and Inazuma's scars, and by the general shape of lightning, for her final scar design. Kinda highlights that eighthead, but the bigger bangs didn't look right. She doesn't normally have an eighthead, it's just tricky getting the scars branching over her eyes just right. I guess I COULD HAVE added her eyebrows, since they're thicker than most normal women's, but they're not really a signature part of her like Sanji's are. And the headband is hella simplified too--the darker part will be a cable stitch, as the headband was knitted.

Speaking of, the needles in the background were based on the needle going through Leo's Devil Fruit. They're normally attached on either end of a long rope, like a double-ended rope dart, but the picture would have looked too busy. Also, I initially had brown and mint as her signature colors, but I might just go with mint. I forget why I decided she would have mint as her color, scent, and one of her tastes, but it's sticking XD Plus, it just goes nicely with her hair and eyes.

references https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/a/a2/Robin_PJR_%28PoT%29_OPM.png https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/0/00/Nui_Nui_no_Mi_Infobox.png

[sailmasterofthestrawhats]

Happy Birthday, Tenshi!