Second Wind

43

When the Strawhats arrived at Upper Yard, they were taken aback by the size of the wildlife. It seemed that plants and animals alike on the displaced half of Jaya had evolved drastically in the past 400 years.

They didn't have much time to ponder that, though, as their ship was soon deposited on what appeared to be some sort of altar.

"If Heaven's Judgment is just to leave us here with no way to get to land, I'm not impressed," Sanji commented, standing at the edge of the steps and staring out at the sea cloud. "I can already think of five ways to get out of here." Suddenly, an oddly shaped shark surfaced from the depths and lunged at him, forcing him to jump backwards onto higher ground. "Make that four," he corrected.

"The easiest way is probably to use those," Zoro said, pointing to the vines hanging from the trees above the altar.

Nami hummed in thought. "I have a better idea. Luffy, tame those sky sharks with your Haki and have them give us a ride across!" she shouted triumphantly.

"Nami-san's a genius!" Sanji declared.

"You can do that if you want," Luffy said nonchalantly. "I'm gonna swing from the vines."

Nami looked at him quizzically. "Why? You're a Devil Fruit user. I'm not going to help you if you fall in!"

"If I fall I can just use Geppo. Not that I will. And besides, swinging from a vine is also part of a man's romance."

Nami palmed her forehead in frustration as Zoro and Usopp nodded sagely. Not this shit again!

Luffy grabbed onto the vine and cleared his throat, before swinging across and letting out a yell. "Ahhhh - ahhhhhh - ahhhhhh!"

"What was that supposed to be? A call of the wild?" Nami muttered, before walking up to the vine. She stopped in her tracks when she saw how high it was, and how many sky sharks there were below. While she was debating whether or not to make the swing, Zoro spoke up.

"We should probably split up. The ship will be in danger if we leave it unattended. Usopp and the Cook, you guys can stay here in case one of those priests we heard about shows up. The rest of us will go looking for the City of Gold. Usopp, try to repair the Merry as much as you can. She's probably taken some damage on the way here," he said. Usopp saluted, before rushing below deck to get some supplies. Zoro turned to Sanji. "And Cook—"

"Yeah, yeah, kick the crap out of whoever comes. I got it," Sanji said.

"You do that." Finally, he turned to Robin, Nami, and Chopper. "You two should probably come with us. We have enough members here."

"All right! Let's find some gold!" Nami agreed easily.

"That works for me. I'd very much like to see what sort of history this island harbors," Robin said thoughtfully. With that, the three of them swung across the vine one by one, Zoro echoing Luffy's call of the wild in the process.

In God's Shrine, atop Giant Jack, three men were gathered together, in the middle of a heated argument.

"You poor delusional souls. Actually believing that your petty trials can compare to my Ordeal of Iron," Ohm said condescendingly.

"You're the one who's delusional!" Satori exclaimed. "The only reason your ordeal has a higher mortality rate is because it bores your victims to death!"

Gedatsu attempted to provide his own input in the conversation, but no one could understand him because he once again had his mouth closed.

"Open your mouth when you talk, you dimwit!" Satori yelled.