Growing Heart

Ch 10 - A Fight for Survival

Despite having to drag the giant golden ball behind him, Luffy ran faster than Sid on her wavers. It wasn't because she was tired or because she had to carry Pierre. She was skating as fast as she would even at perfect health and with no additional weight. It was more of a tribute of just how determined the Blue Sea pirate was to get to the false god. He was quite vocal about it too.

"Raaaahhhhhhh!" Luffy roared as he ran up Giant Jack, "Nami! I'm coming to get you. Enel! I won't let you have that golden bell!!!"

They broke through the cloud layer that hid away Shandora and continued up and around the vine. Once the white clouds disappeared, the sky was replaced with Enel's thunderclouds, which were thicker and blacker than ever before. Rolling thunder reverberated above their heads and it only motivated Sid to move faster. It wasn't until Aisa shouted did Sid and Luffy's eyes move anywhere except forward and upwards.

"Look! Down there! There they are! Stop! Stop!"

Sid and Luffy kept running but they looked over the edge of the vine to see Wyper, Gan Fall and the others, who were all still laid out and unconscious except for one Blue Sea woman.

"Ah! Robin!" Luffy cried when he spotted his nakama.

"Boo, come here," Sid ordered and when Boo got close enough she grabbed Aisa by the back of her dress. Boo bleated out in surprise while Aisa let out a high pitched shriek but Sid ignored all of that and threw the child over the vine, "Go to Wyper! Oy! You down there! Take care of them, will you?"

With that she tossed Pierre over as well. Sid only stopped in her tracks when she heard both Aisa and Luffy scream for very different reasons.

The Blue Sea person had sprouted a net of arms to catch Pierre and Aisa, which freaked the child out. Meanwhile, Luffy's ball had glided over the edge and almost took Luffy clean off the vine if not for Luffy's firm grip. He dangled over the sides with his fingers dug deep into the flesh of the plant. "Sid! Help!"

"Luffy?!" the woman named Robin called up. Her additional arms vanished in a burst of flower petals and she continued to look calmly up at her captain, despite the non-stop screaming from the child.

"She grew hands! HANDS!!! GYAAAA!"

"Aisa. Shut it!" Sid snapped while she grabbed Luffy's wrist with both hands and started to pull him back up while Boo flew down to give the rubber boy a boost. The child's mouth snapped closed but it only muffled the screaming.

"What's that gold on your arm?" Robin asked.

"Robin! The gold bell is up at the top of this vine, right? Enel's after it, right?!" Luffy shouted.

"If the belfry does exist, it'd have to be there," Robin answered with a nod, "But he's already-"

"Yosh!" Luffy said and sprinted right past Sid, almost clobbering her with the bouncing metal ball.

"Wait! Luffy-" Robin called out but her voice was covered by the healer.

"Watch it!" Sid snapped and then hurriedly followed behind the rubber boy, "Oy! Luffy! How does that woman know where the bell is?"

"She just does," Luffy said, "Robin knows things."

Sid raised an eyebrow. "Got it. I'll ask her myself."

Underneath them, Robin turned to smile politely at the terrified child. "Say, can you help me with something?"

Aisa's scream immediately stopped and she took one step away from the weird woman.

"Do you know where our navigator is? She has orange hair..." Robin said slowly but in a serious tone so that the child could understand that she was not playing around.