Chapter 45: Leaving the sky
Dialogue "sample"
Thoughts 'sample'
Author notes -sample-
Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.
Chapter 45: Leaving the sky
White sea, Skypiea lower level.
"We are rich!" Luffy exclaimed at seeing all of the gold artifacts that they got from the Giant Snake.
"What are we going to buy with this? what about a giant statue?."
"Idiot!, that's a waste, we should buy cannons!" Suggested Usopp.
"I want some medical books"
"I want booze"
"Can I have a new refrigerator?"
"Quiet down already!, we will talk about how to spend the gold after we are back to the surface," Said Nami.
"Everyone!, look at the front, we are almost at Cloud End." The voice of Conis came from the side. She and her father were riding a waver next to the Going Merry and guiding them to the exit.
They all looked forward and saw a big building with a sign that says 'Clouds End'.
"This is it, right? That's the exit." Said Nami.
"Aww…we are leaving already?" Luffy felt a bit depressed.
"Yeah…it felt like we were here for a very long time. But it's only been a few days." Added Sanji.
"Time to say goodbye to this white sea," Said Zoro.
"Sky Island was fun but it was kind of scary…" That was Chopper's opinion.
"Some of us had more fun than others. Did you say goodbye to your friend, Princess?" Teased Robin.
"Of all of the members of the crew, I expected You to be the last one to tease me…but yes I did say goodbye and got a nice souvenir also." Answered Vivi, grasping the item in her bag.
'Can't wait to try this thing.'
"This is as far as we can accompany you. Just follow the milky way!" Said Pagaya.
"Take care, everyone! I'm going to miss you!" Cried Conis.
"Take care you two!" The crew yelled before they reach the end of the road.
"Wait…I don't see anything ahead of us. How do we get down again?" Asked Usopp while looking around.
"Now that you mentioned it…" Zoro was also unsure.
"Be careful everyone! you are going to start falling soon!" The yell from Conis was heard.
"Did she say…fall?" Asked Chopper.
As soon as the ship reached the end of the road, it started to drop down the cloud.
Everyone on board started screaming.
Then, all of the sudden, a giant octopus came from inside a cloud and grabbed onto the Going Merry, acting like a hot air balloon and reducing the fall.
"Whoaa!!, an octopus!" Exclaimed Luffy.
"This is soo cool!"
"Phew…it seems like we have slowed down quite a bit." Sanji pointed out.
"I thought we were goners…" Usopp's legs gave up and He collapsed on the floor.
They all then started hearing a beautiful bell ring.
"Is that the Golden Bell?" Asked Robin.
"Is beautiful indeed. No wonder Norland liked it soo much." Said, Vivi.
"I guess is their way to say goodbye and thank you." Said Nami.
"They also wanted to give us a giant pillar made of pure gold but the Princess said that there was no need." Robin brought it up.
"Vivi!, why would you do that!?" Nami seemed outraged.
"Robin!, I told you not to bring that up! There is no way the poor Going Merry can take that weight!." Complained Vivi.
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As soon as they landed back into the blue waters, everyone sighed in relief.
"We are back!" Yelled Luffy.
"Blue water! soo happy to see you again!" Exclaimed Usopp.
"That whole adventure felt like a dream." Said Sanji.
"Do we have a direction, Nami?" Asked Vivi.
Nami took out the log pose and noticed that it was already pointing to the next island. "We do."
"Alright!, to the next island we go." Said Luffy.
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After getting the ship en route, the crew got together to decide what to do with the gold they got.
"Alright. Thank you for waiting. Now we can start the official distribution of loot. Each of these is worth a lot of money". Nami had placed all of the gold pieces on top of a table.
"Yey!" Cheered Usopp.
"Let's build a statue!" Suggested their Captain.
"I want more books"
"Let's see…new pots, pans, silverware and…"
"I want rum and beer...and some whiskey…and"
"Wait wait! everyone. We are forgetting about something more important before all of that!" Said Usopp, looking very serious.
"We should first repair the ship."
"Repair the Going Merry?" Asked Luffy.
"The ship is barely holding up together at this point, I don't have the tools or the skills to completely repair it." Admitted Usopp.
"He is right. The ship is in terrible shape." Added Zoro.
"Alright, it's decided then. We will give the Merry a super upgrade on the next island!" Declared Luffy and no one had any objection.
"Maybe we can also get a good carpenter to maintain the ship. Poor Usopp can't do everything." Offered Vivi.
"Well. I'm supposed to be the sniper." Said Usopp.
"Ok, I have decided!." Luffy stood up. "Our next crewmate will be a ship repairman! For our journey to continue, we will need such a person."
He then continued.
"The Going Merry is our lifeline. We will need someone who can keep it in good shape!"
"Did our Captain say something intelligent?..." Sanji was baffled.
"He did say those intelligent things…" Usopp was the same.
"Hopefully we will find someone nice" Said Chopper.
"And then we can get a musician!" said Luffy.
"That can wait!"
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It took them two weeks to reach the next island.
The crew spent their time on various things. Vivi dedicated most of her to mastering one skill. Observation haki.
Observation haki can be used in mainly four ways.
Presence sensing: It allows you to know the location of anyone inside your range even if they are behind walls. This will be very useful to aim her attacks without having to rely on eyesight alone.
Strength sense: You can measure the level of strength of someone, or at least the strength of their aura.
Intent sensing: This is what the priest of Skypiea did. You can hear the people's intent for the immediate future.
Emotion sensing: you can read and empathize with people's emotions.
Even with vague answers of Aisa, she was able to make some gains in presence sensing after only two weeks.
It's still faint, but she can sense the auras of her crew mates even when she is alone in her room.