Chapter 23 South bird

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 23: South Bird

"What's the wrong old man? what did you forget?" Asked Luffy.

"The south bird! you need to get one of those birds before leaving! You should be able to get some in the forest south from here." Montblanc said with urgency in his voice.

"What? what do we need a bird for?." Asked Usopp.

"Listen carefully….the knock-up stream will appear directly south from here. How would you get there?."

The first one to realize the problem was Nami.

"That's right…since our destination is not an island, the log pose will not help and a regular compass doesn't work here."

"That's why you need that bird. Some animals have an innate enhanced sense of direction. One of those is the south bird. No matter where it is, his head will always point south. Without that bird, you will never find the stream!." Montblanc exclaimed.

"And you didn't mention this before?!!."

"It's already dark. We need to go to the forest now?."

"Stop complaining!, we have no time. The three of us will start to work on your ship while you guys find the bird. Come to think of it, this really wasn't the time to party…" Said Montblanc.

"That was your idea!!" Nami said angrily.

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Masira gave the crew some nets and explained how to find the south bird.

They were all prepared to leave when they notice Vivi staying behind.

"Vivi? what's wrong?." Asked Sanji.

She smiled. "Nothing. I was just thinking about staying here and helping Mister Montblanc and the others. There are enough of you to catch one bird and my abilities will not really help with the task at hand."

Luffy shrugged. "If that's what you want, it's fine. Stay here. Well, come back with that bird."

After the crew left, Montblanc turned to her.

"So…you know something about repairing ships or carpentry in general?."

"No, I have absolutely no idea." Answer Vivi with an innocent smile.

Montblanc scratched his head.

"I'm not sure that you can help up much with the ship then…"

"Don't worry about it, Mister Montblanc. I'll just go make some coffee." She said.

"I suppose that would help…and you don't need to keep calling me Mister. You can just call me Montblanc or Cricket."

She looked at him.

"I have been educated to be polite to my elders. At least those that deserve the respect, Mister Montblanc."

He sighed."Don't take offense…but you don't really look much of a pirate. You seem way too polite and educated."

"None was taken, now if you'll excuse me. I'll get started with that coffee."

She ended the conversation and went back to the house.

Montblanc stood there for a second before remembering all the work He has to do and ran away.

Vivi entered the house and made her way to the kitchen. While she started making the coffee she was also thinking about how to approach the situation that was coming.

She wasn't looking forward to fighting Bellamy and his crew by herself, but she could not let them get away.

''I don't really care that much about Montblanc and the two monkeys but Bellamy has always pissed me off…and there is a chance that I may be able to avoid the second encounter with Blackbeard.'

She wasn't worried about the first time Luffy meet him because Blackbeard had no idea who Luffy was. He is just looking for someone with a high bounty to capture so He can request a spot as a Shichibukai.

But, after Luffy beats up Bellamy, Blackbear goes after his crew and that's when they tell him about Luffy's current bounty which should be at one hundred million.

It was pretty much a miracle that they escape from Blackbeard and his crew in time. She would prefer not to take that chance if possible.

'There is a possibility that He finds out anyway, but if I can at least delay it an hour or two, it will be more than enough. We will be in Skypiea by then and well out of his reach.'

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She has been observing the three of them work for almost two hours, wondering when the pirates will show up when she finally heard some footsteps approaching.

"Oh? did they already come back with the south bird? that was fast." Said Masira with a smile.

"No…" Shoujou´s expression turned serious. "This is not them, it's someone else. Five people."

"I'll go take a look." Montblanc stopped working and walked back towards his house.

"We should go too. He could need our help." Masira looked at Shoujou.

He nodded. "You are right, lets's go." He then looked at Vivi. "You should stay here, Lady Vivi."

She smiled at him. "What a gentleman."

Vivi watched them go for a bit before she also started to approach the house from a different angle. She put her right hand on the pommel of the knife that she was carrying on her belt. Something that she had borrowed from Nami in case she had to fight.

She was at least ten feet away when she started to hear them arguing with each other.

"That gold doesn't belong to you!" She heard the voice of Montblanc.

Bellamy and his crew laughed.

"I'm a pirate!, ill take whatever I want! Be grateful I only want your gold and not your lives."

Vivi peeked her head around the corner of the house and saw that Bellamy had come with four others. She remembers the guy with the big knife and the girl that was always with him. The other two guys looked very generic and they probably were very weak.

The knife guy and the other three started to fight against Masira and Shoujou while Bellamy took on Montblanc.

Vivi stood hidden behind the wall, waiting for her opportunity to strike.

Soon enough, one of the two generic guys positioned himself close to her position, He had his back against her and his focus was solely on the two gorilla pirates.

'Alright…I cannot afford to hesitate now.'

She prepared herself to attack.