The New World

(A/N: For those recognising the place, I won't go too deeply in on it.)

When all is said and done, only a few words remain to be said. One being, Hell.

The time they arrived at the surface was short, but their free time was short lived. Once the ship arrived above the water, strong winds tore at the ship, pulling it in multiple directions as giant waves that were the height of small mountains were slamming down all around them.

Some places of the sea water had a green tinge to them as a acrid smell arose from those bubbling waters.

Ban had thrown a piece of wood at it for fun, the smile freezing on his face when it eroded away in but a second.

Above them, purple lighting was rumbling as the clouds were swirling about like vengeful snakes ready to strike. That wasn't too far off point though, as the purple lighting seemed to act like that just fine when it struck the sea below it.

When storms of this magnitude appeared, Navigators truly came through. Lafitte aptly handled the instructions given, reading the currents, the wind and other possible factors that might divert the ship from its course.

The needles on the log pose were all trembling a lot, but that only seemed to excite them even more as they chose the one that trembled the most.

Akane could only lament at her choice of crew, as the vote had been unanimous. Only one person came to mind, as she had seen her crew with their excitement all bubbling up.

'Luffy would surely do the same, no doubt.'

Not bothering with voting against the majority, she just went with the flow and would see where they would end up.

Not that this storm was a good omen.

They continued to battle the storm through the night and only when the sun rose again did it calm a bit down. A bit.

With the worst behind them, they could finally take a breather, as they switched every now and then with who did what.

Before long, the normal temperature began to drop, as snow took the place of lighting.

Ice floes took the place of the acidic green seawater, making it harder for the ship to pass through, but not impossible.

With the help of fox fire, the ship pased through without any problems.

A few more hours passed by, the weather becoming normal again, as an island came into view.

Walls were errected all around it, towering high above the rest.

There appeared to be no place to anchor the ship safely, with the only option being near a cliff. From there they would have to take a small boat to reach the shore.

The rest needed to be seen when they got near the wall.

"This island sure seemed inviting."

Ban muttered.

They had arrived before the wall, which reached a few hundred feet above them.

"Then I suppose we need to invite ourselves in."

Akane replied, elongating a set of claws on her hands and feet and dug them deeply into the wall.

"I'll see you at the top."

She smirked and rushed up the wall as if she was flying.

"There is never a dull moment here, is there? My, I wonder what the other side of the wall looks like."

Shinobu commented, as she glanced up, giving a short wave. A single rope was dropped down, which easily pulled her up.

Ban waited for them to dissapear, Lafitte having gone up already as well.

'Will they be nice and help?'

Ban thought, wondering when the rope would fall. When after ten minutes nothing had appeared yet, he just sighed as he stretched a bit and measured the distance to the top with his eyes.

"Guess not. Well then...one two...three."

Pushing of the ground, Ban reached the top easily.

When he did reach the top, all thoughts of chiding the others for being petty was gone, as before him giant human like creatures were walking around. A bunch of them had gathered below them as well, scratching at the wall as if they were insane, looking up with empty yet hungry looking eyes.

"What the hell am I looking at!?"

Ban exclaimed, crouching down to take a better look at the creatures below them.

"Giants?"

"They're not. Giants are intelligent. These ones below us are certainly not."

Lafitte replied to Ban's question.

"Then what are we doing? We can't just stay up here. Who knows how long the log pose will take to find another place. Can't we just rush through. I imagine we are a lot faster than them."

"I suppose that would work."

Not longer debating on what to do, they quickly chose the first suggestion. Looking downwards, Akane looked for a direction they could go towards, which quickly became clear.

As more of those creatures gathered, the area on the right side of the wall was less densely populated. Nodding to the others, she quickly shifted in her giant fox form. With the others on her back, she took a few steps through the air.

Seeing the creatures follow her closely, she opted to land.

The reason being she would be a lot faster on the ground than running through the air. Simple as that.

"Tell me where to go."

Akane said as she dashed forward, the creatures slowly but surely being left behind. There were a few that were a lot faster than the others, but they too were soon left behind.

Running randomly, Akane made her way across the plains and forests around them, the island being a lot larger than expected.

Before long, a walled city came in sight.