Chapter 43: Chapter 40: Close encounter of the third kind

 

“Well… That was rude.” said Rick.

 

He didn’t expect to be shot at and by pure reflex diverted the bullet with his gravity.

 

“Who are you?” asked the woman with a scowl, still on the defensive. She lowered her gun but was ready at any moment to use it again.

“I’m Rick and this is Robin. We’re sailors from the blue sea.” he replied.

“You’re here to take some vearth? I won’t let you!”

 

She raised her gun but it didn’t matter. Rick pulled it towards him fast and caught it.

“No, no really. Vearth is a common thing on the blue sea so we're not really interested in it.” said Robin.

 

The aggressive lady didn’t understand what happened, she only knew that right now she was without any weapon. She took a good look at the people before her. They were calm; not searching for a fight. She didn’t let her guard down, however she chose to talk with words instead of fist. A physical confrontation would do her no good, it was two versus one. Add to that the weird powers the man manifested, she was certain she would not win.

“Why are you here and what do you want?” she asked.

“Do you want the short version or the long one?” Rick replied.

“...”

“...”

 

Robin sighed, and was getting tired of this exchange. She spoke up.

“We got attacked by a giant snake in the forest. We fled as far as we could and ended up here.”

“That takes care of the why as for the what… We’re here to kill god, find the lost city of Shandora and its gold and ring the giant golden bell.”

 

That one was too much for the woman. Kill god? Find her ancestral home? Ring the giant bell? And what was that gold he talked about? Those were the questions that ran through her mind. She needed context here.

“And the long version?”

“Oh! Okay.. well… All began when I was 4, I woke without any memories in a forest with…”

 

He couldn’t finish his tale as Robin smacked him hard in the back of his head.

“Stop acting like an idiot!”

 

He was stunned, Robin hit him! She never did that to anyone. She wasn’t a violent person like that. She threatened with her terrifying glare and people behaved. That’s how it normally went. This behavior was new.

“We came to this sky island with the help of a man named Cricket Montblanc. He is the last descendant of Norland the explorer.” started Robin.

“Norland you say?!” the lady was surprised. Of all the things she thought she could have heard, that was definitely not on the list.

“Yes, he’s still searching for Shandora to honor his ancestor’s promise. He thinks it sank under the sea, but when we arrived here we quickly understood that Shandora was propelled into the sky and landed on this sky island.” the archaeologist replied.

“Then..”

“Yes, that’s why we’re going to ring the bell. To fulfill the promise between your people and Norland’s family. You see, all the diving Cricket does is slowly killing him. And he’s too nice a man for us to let it happen. By ringing the bell we can tell him that he can stop diving and risk his life.” said Rick.

“My people?” asked the woman.

“You’re a shandia, right? The original inhabitants of Shandora, exiled from their home 400 years ago by the god of the time, correct?” he replied.

“How… How do you know that? How do you know so much?”

 

Robin took a turn.

“Your people and Norland’s story was recorded in a book where we came from. And the story of your people from 400 years ago is also recorded in documents and books on Angel Island.”

“As for how we know you’re a Shandia it’s simple, angels don’t come to upper-yard, too scared of god’s judgement. And your appearance is nothing alike, from your clothes to your tattoos.” the Vice-captain added.

 

‘Could it be true? Are they really here to fight god and fulfill the promise between our people and Norland?’

 

The woman stayed silent. After so many hardships she almost lost hope for her people. But here, were two strong looking people, with the objective to take down god. Her leader, Wyper, was hell bent on taking back their land, making any sacrifice he deemed necessary like leaving behind unattended a wounded comrade. She couldn’t agree with that way of thinking and leading but didn’t have any other choices. He was the descendant of their great warrior Kalgara, revered leader of the Shandia tribe. That simple fact made it impossible to go against him. She was scared of him and his predisposition to violence. He couldn’t be talked or reasoned with and that may lead the tribe to its doom one day.

But now? Now the tribe may have new allies in their fight. But they were only two. What could two people do? How could they tip the scale in her people's favor?

 

“What can you possibly do with the two of you alone?” she asked

“Oh! We’re not alone. We got a whole crew with us. The snake attack ? it separated us. That’s actually the reason we approached you. We were hoping you could tell us where we are on this map, so we could know in which direction to go.” said Rick holding the map of Skypiea in his hands.

 

The knowledge that there was a whole crew ready to defeat god quelled any worries the lady had.

 

‘Maybe we can do it then.’

 

She imagined a big number of seasoned sailors ready to fight. Fortunately for Rick and Robin, he was vague about their numbers otherwise she may not have agreed to help had she known the truth.

She took a loop at the map and with her finger pointed where they were.

 

“We’re here.”

“Shit, we went way off course. At least, now, we know where to go, thank you.” said Rick.

“Raki. My name is Raki.” replied the woman.

“It was nice meeting you Raki despite, you know, the whole shooting me thing” he joked.

“I’m really sorry about that. I..”

“It’s fine, I understand the position you were in.”

 

The ex-marine made himself and Robin float and was about to depart when their new friends stopped them.

“Wait! Take me with you! My friends will attack you thinking you’re with god without me!”

 

Rick had to agree. With her around the chances of getting assaulted by the shandia warriors along the way dropped drastically. He made her float too.

“Just to be sure, are you good with high speeds?” he asked.

“Yes, every Shandia’s once they come of age are trained to use hoverboots. I won’t have any problem with it, don’t worry”

 

Rick nodded. And starting to fly fast. The same speed he used when he fled with Robin. He could have gone faster but the stamina consumption was a lot higher so he didn’t. Now, they were too far from their friends and had to pick up the pace. He accelerated bit by bit to the point where the trees on their sides began to blur. The Vice-Captain slalomed with great agility between the giant trees.

 

They were flying for a bit more than a quarter when Robin asked Rick to stop and go back a bit. Despite the frightening speed, her eyes caught the existence of some ruins. They may have known the general direction which to go but the place was gigantic. They could have passed on the side of the city without knowing it until they reached the shore of the island on the other side of the forest. By taking the time to study the ruins they may find some information allowing them to avoid such a disaster.

Rick backtracked a bit and landed Robin on the ground.

“You’re awfully quiet.” she noticed.

“You spoiled my fun and you hit me, so I’m not talking to you anymore, you bully.” was all that he said.

She just rolled her eyes towards the sky. It had become a habit when dealing with him.

 

‘Ugh... Sometimes he’s even more childish than Luffy.’

 

The Vice-Captain set himself and Raki on a tree branch to watch the surroundings in case one of her people came close or one of Ener’s men.

 

Robin took her time and was astonished by what she found. The ruins were some sort of memorial, built there after Shandora landed on Skypiea by the shandoria when they had to flee. She uncovered writings behind moss and vines relating to the gold city’s history. It began 1100 years ago, around the same time Skypiean left the moon to settle on skys islands. What was really important to her though was the disappearance of Shandora to the world 800 years ago. Right about the time of the void century. She hoped that maybe she could find what she has been looking for for the past 20 years in Shandora.

 

Because Rick and Raki were on the lookout for potential newcomers they had their back turn to Robin, who had to get farther away to study the entirety of the ruins. That’s why they didn’t see one of Ener’s men attacking her. When they finally realised what was going on, Robin was already displaying some nasty bruises.

 

‘Shit, I forgot about him! Heck, I kept forgetting things about this entire arc. I’ll need to keep track of events or it could turn out really badly.’

 

Raki raised her rifle ready to support her new ally but was stopped by Rick shaking his head sideways.

“What are you doing?!” she asked.

“She won’t like it if we interfere.” he replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Robin is an archaeologist. History is all her life and that dude she’s fighting? He keeps destroying it. It became personal for her. This is her fight.” the ex-marine explained.

 

Raki couldn’t believe what she was hearing. His friend was hurt and fighting an opponent stronger than she was and he stood by because the fight was personal?

“In case you didn’t notice she’s losing!”

“For now, but she will win.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Everyone who has faith is crazy and I have faith in her.” he joked.

 

She took a look at him. There was no trace of worry in his eyes. Perhaps was he right? He knew her better than she did after all. His conviction won her over; she lowered her file and watched the battle. 

 

Robin’s opponent was a tough bastard and had a belt of impact dials across his big belly. Those dials were very deadly, they could store the impact they received and send it back with multiplied power. Since he was really fat, the power behind his charge was enormous and combined with the half dozen of impact dials he was wearing on hit may have really well killed Robin. Thankfully she was smart. She put herself between a tree and her enemy. When he charged at her she covered his eyes with two hands she bloomed, while with two others she turned his belt making the dials face inward. She dismissed the four appendages and dodge at the last second. Her opponent collided with the tree’s trunk and experienced the full might of the impact dials. By some miracle he was still alive but fortunately passed out.

 

“See? Told you she’d win.” said Rick with a smug face.

 

They floated towards Robin who was sitting on the grass catching her breath.

 

“Are you alright?” asked Raki.

 

She only got a nod for an answer, clearly Robin was not ready to talk yet.

“I wanted to support you with my rifle but Rick said this fight was personal and that I should not.” 

 

Robin, still breathing heavily, looked at Rick from the corner of her eyes and just smiled before nodding again. It took a few minutes but she got her breathing under control.

 

“Those ruins were a memorial built by your ancestors. It contains the history of your people as far as 1100 years ago. It’s not detailed though, it’s just dates coupled with events.” said the archaeologist.

“They are records of our history?! That’s... That’s great! Ever since we were driven away from our land we didn’t have any! It was passed on orally from elders to elders.” exclaimed Raki.

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Robin had rested enough, she stood up and delivered the rest of her findings.

“That wasn’t everything. I found a map of Shandora, I know where to go.”

 

At that moment when everyone’s guard was down, the man she had defeated raised suddenly and tried to attack her. Tried because before he could do anything Rick used his gravity on him and pushed him over the cliff that was near. When he was in the air he was drawn and pushed, at the same time, 30 feet below onto the ground.

 

Both ladies looked at Rick with an indescribable face. Before that sight he just shrugged his shoulders. Raki leaned towards Robin and whispered in her ear.

 

“Is he always that ruthless?”

“Not always. Only when someone is in danger. He’s very protective.” smiled Robin.

“I can see that.” replied Raki.

 

Robin walked with slightly unsteady legs towards her Vice-Captain and looked him in the eyes.

“...”

“...”

“I’m exhausted.” was all she said before putting her arms around his neck and jumping on him.

By reflex, he caught her sideways and ended up carrying her in a princess carry, still looking into each other’s eyes.

“...”

“...”

“Happy?” she asked

“Very.”

 

Raki couldn’t help but smile at the dynamic they had between them.

“My, you two make a cute couple.” she said.

“I know, right?” was the beginning of Rick’s answer, but before he could say anything more, Robin pinched his neck hard and sent him a murderous glare that froze his blood.

“Do you want me to scream your ears off?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“Then be quiet.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

 

That exchange prompted Raki to giggle.

 

~~~~~ 

 

The trio was on the move again, following Robin’s direction. She was still being carried and had a peaceful and content face. Rick was unaware, too busy looking forward and dodging trees. As they went over a river of clouds Raki asked him to stop. She had seen a friend of hers on the riverbank heavily wounded. 

They landed next to him.

“Kamikiri!”

“Ra.. Raki, you must...go… Stop him… Wyper can’t… win… Ener is… is… invincible.”

 

Saying those words took all the strength he had left. Raki checked his pulse and let out a sigh of relief when she felt one, albeit very weak. She stood up and asked Rick:

“Are you sure you can defeat Ener?”

“If I can't, my captain will. I’m 100% sure of that. Before dawn tomorrow, Ener will be gone.” he answered.

“Then let’s go.”

 

They resumed their journey towards Shandora when Raki pried into Rick’s abilities.

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” she said to the one the ex-marine carried as he was once again too focused on the ‘road’.”

“What is it?” replied Robin.

“What are Rick’s abilities?”

“He controls gravity. By manipulating it he can attract or repel things, make them heavier or float.”

“I don’t see how he can defeat Ener with it. He’s a logia.”

“He can’t, that’s why he prepared a secret weapon.”

“A secret weapon?”

“Yes. Logia are not invincible, they are weak to an opposite element.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say someone ate the suna suna no mi making them a sand person. To defeat it you would have to use water. Water would solidify the sand and counter the intangibility of the logia.”

“What kind of element can counter lightning?”

“Rubber.”

“What’s that?”

“Rubber is a material made from very specific trees. It’s durable and can stretch but most of all is isolant. Lightning is not conducted by it.”

“And Rick as a weapon made of rubber?”

“... You can say that. If it doesn’t work it’s fine, our captain ate the gomu gomu no mi making him a rubber man.”

“Then Rick was right then, Ener is really going down.”

““I’m / He’s always right.”” was said in perfect sync, making Raki laugh.

“Are you sure you’re not together?”

““Yes!””

‘Could have fooled me’ thought Raki.

 

Soon enough they reached their destination. A big structure made of stones stood before them. At his center, a tunnel leading to somewhere.

“What do you want to do Robin? Fly over or take the tunnel.” asked Rick.

“Let me down, I’ll take the tunnel, you can survey the area by the air.” she replied.

 

He did as instructed. Raki decided to join him, she wanted to see from a bird view her ancestral home. Once high enough, she was disappointed with the sight. She had imagined plenty of tall buildings, towering in the sky, not… that. There were some buildings, true but not in the numbers she had dreamed of. They weren’t tall either, barely half a dozen feet above the clouds.

 

“Something is not right. This does not match the description Norland did of shandora. I mean the architecture is correct, but the city itself is all wrong.” said Rick.

 

He knew the reason why but he couldn’t say anything. Shandora was actually under the clouds and the few edifices visible were actually the top of the tallest building. Robin needed to find it herself the actual city as she was destined to meet with Ener. It was too soon for Rick to confront him. Luffy, Zorro and the giant snake were nowhere in sight and they were needed for the fight. Speaking of Robin, he saw her exiting from the other side of the tunnel. He descended with Raki to cloud level and joined her to share his discovery.

“Did you learn anything?” he asked

“From the mural carvings I got the confirmation that we really are in Shandora.Yet ...” she replied.

“Yet something’s wrong.”

“You noticed?”

“Yes, it doesn’t look like a city at all.”

“I agree.”

“I might know why though.”

““Really?!”” this time it was Robin and Raki who were in sync.

“I’ve seen plenty of cities from the sky, and almost all of them follow the same basic structure. Without any exception they all have a big central building. Most of the time the city is built around it in a circle, the other times half a circle. But it’s always connected to every part of the city. Looking at the area the only building that fits that description is that one.

 

He pointed at some kind of pyramid place just in front of a giant bean growing towards the sky through another layer of clouds.

 

“It looks like a temple, but it’s too short.”

“I don’t see how that helped you know what’s wrong.” said Raki

 

Robin was pensive. There were clouds all around and they proved themselves to help greatly with the growth of the fauna and flora. Yet the city was made of stone, there was no way the clouds would have any effect on it.

 

‘Perhaps those clouds have corrosive properties, effective on minerals reducing the city to debris on the ground.’

 

“The ground!” exclaimed Robin

“What about the ground?” asked Raki.

“Shandora was built on vearth, yet do you see any around you?” said Rick

“No, only clouds.” replied the shandia.

“That's because we’re not on ground level! We’re actually at a higher altitude! That’s why the buildings are so short, the clouds we’re walking on are covering the city.” explained Robin.

 

She took out a knife from her backpack, kneeled down and started carving the clouds with it. Raki looked at her go; her heart was beating really fast. Her home was here, just under her feet, separated by a thick layer of cloud. She could barely contain her excitement.

 

Rick looked up at the bean, wondering if Chopper had already reached the upper level when he saw Wyper climbing it.

“Raki, is it a friend of yours?” he said pointing to the shandia’s leader.

“That’s Wyper! We need to get to him!” she answered.

 

The Vice-captain used his gravity to push the clouds down to the ground of Shandora.

“Robin, let's find the bell. Raki I’m sending you to your friend. If you could brief him of the situation, that would be great.”

“He can’t be reasoned with but if I explained you’re here on behalf of Norland's last descendant he may listen.” she replied

“I hope he does. One last thing, you may encounter some friends of ours, just tell them you’re with me. They are easy to recognize. One has a weird hat and a scar under his left eye, another is using three swords, and the last is some kind of small animal that can talk.”

“Understood.”

He sent her to the upper layer of clouds so fast, she screamed out of surprise. He turned to Robin and raised his arms before him.

“...”

“...”

“I’m not exhausted anymore.”

Rick dropped his head with a sigh in defeat.

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