Growing Heart

Ch 11 - A Thing to Protect

"Everybody! Head's up! Something's falling again!" the long-nose cried and he ducked behind the green haired swordsman, who had only recently awakened. They had been waiting in silence for some sort of update from the people above. The Blue Sea people did not plan to leave without their captain. Wyper and Aisa were certainly not going to leave and abandon Sid. As for Gan Fall and Pierre, well, neither the Shandians or the Blue Sea people even bothered to ask for their motives.

"What?" the swordsman asked as a large leaf floated casually down to the floor, covering the sleeping reindeer.

"A leaf?" Aisa asked.

"It has some writing on it," Robin said. She took a couple of steps towards the leaf and Aisa did as well. However, before she could even read the first letter, she got her own message from above.

"Aisa! If you can hear me, repeat this message out loud for the others to hear. Okay? Ready? I'm going to say the message on the count of three," Sid barked, "One..."

"It's Sid!" Aisa gasped.

"Two!"

"The leaf must be from Nami and them!" the long-nose said with a snap of his fingers, "What does it say?"

"Three! Cut-"

"Cut down this huge vine so it falls towards the west," Robin and Aisa said at the same time.

"Eh? Aisa, you can read Blue Sea writing? Since when?" Wyper asked.

"No! Sid! Sid just said that to me," Aisa said

"What's towards the west?" the Blue Sea swordsman asked and everybody looked up.

"Enel's ship is in that direction," Gan Fall said.

The swordsman scoffed and poked the leaf with one of his sheathed swords. "Isn't it obvious then? They want to jump to the ship by crossing the falling vine."

The long-nose's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "That's crazy!"

"Well, you go up there and try and stop Luffy then," the swordsman said.

"As if he could be stopped!" the long-nose sputtered.

"In any case, reckless or not, we've got no choice but to let him do this."

Wyper snorted. "Sounds like he's just as much a pain to deal with as Sid." His own words jolted him to another curious thought and he looked over at Aisa, who might have an answer, "Why is Sid helping that Blue Sea pirate? Why isn't she just using Boo to get to Enel and the bell directly?"

"Because-"

Kaboom!

Aisa's sentence was cut off not only from the sound of thunder but a bolt of lightning striking just a few feet away from where they stood. The patch of sea cloud exploded from the impact but before the child could fall through the sky, Wyper scooped her up with one arm and ran towards more stable ground. Clusters of bolts were coming down hard around them and it was too concentrated for it not to be mere coincidence.

"Enel knows what we're up to," Wyper growled while the Blue Sea pirates and Gan Fall, dragging Pierre, ran for cover.

"Robin! Catch!" the swordsman shouted, throwing the reindeer doctor to his nakama and drew his sword, "All I have to do is cut the vine, right?"

"Wait! Zoro!" the long-nose protested as the swordsman ran off.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

He could not make a straight run towards the vine. Lightning came crashing at him every few seconds and if not for his own naturally quick reflexes, he would've been struck countless times.