+~*~*~*~*~*~+

I toss another fritter into my mouth as the chaos around me ensues. Everyone is either eating their hearts out, dancing around without a care in the world, or both. Besides Zoro and Cricket who are getting their fill of alcohol in while they have a chance to relax. The small house of the Mont Balance residence is filled with joy and laughter that warms my heart.

"Akari, dance with us," Luffy whines as he plops down beside me.

I giggle, stretching out his cheek for a moment. "And why can't I just rest for a moment and get something to eat."

"That's no fun," he chuckles.

"Fine, I'll dance, but I get your hat!" I snatch his hat off his head as I pop up, rushing into the fray as he chases after me.

"This is good grog!" someone calls out.

"Eat up everyone!" Sanji smiles as he hold two platers above his head. "A course of mackerel is coming up!"

Masira falls to the ground as his mouth is steaming from eating something hot.

"Take that salvage monkey!" Usopp laughs. "Tabasco Bomb!"

"You long-nosed buffoon!" Masira pops back up and rushes at Usopp.

"Nice hat Akari," Zoro chuckles as I run past.

"That's Captain Akari for now," I chuckle as a stretchy Luffy arm grabs me and pulls me back to where he is eating the new course that Sanji has placed down for everyone.

"Captain, huh?" Luffy grins.

"I was joking," I pinch his arm a few times. "I could never be captain. That's a job fit for you."

"You're cute, dumpling." He turns to look at the food and starts stuffing his mouth. Every now and again offering me something to eat.

"Hey pretty lady, come sit near me," Cricket drunkenly grins.

"Keep your hands off Nami!" Sanji demands.

"You can really drink!" Shoujou pats Zoro on the back.

"I'm just getting started," Zoro says.

"Looks like we might need to start calling you straw hat Akari," Nami teases.

I giggle, "Oh no, that's reserved for Luffy. I'm sure that I'll get some cool epithet on my first wanted poster."

"Which hopefully is soon," Luffy mumbles through a mouthful of food as he takes his straw hat back.

Cricket stands up, walking over to where Robin has been sitting on the ground sipping tee and reading Noland's log book. "I saw the gold in the skull's right eye."

"Gold?" Nami brings her barrel stein up to take a few sips.

"That tear-blotted sentence is the last thing Noland ever wrote. It was on the day of his execution," he downs his bottle in a few seconds. "After all this time spent on Jaya, I'm still not sure what he means. The right eye of a skull? Was that a town's name or an omen of death? The remaining blank pages offer no explanation. That's why we dive!"

"Our dreams are at the bottom of the sea!" Shoujou exclaims.

"That's right!" Masira nods.

"We're gonna fly!" Luffy cheers.

"Yes, we are going to fly!" I excitedly wiggle in my seat.

It takes a few minutes to calm everyone down enough for Cricket to recite from memory a passage from Noland's log. Well, calm enough for us to hear the story, but the excitement is buzzing around the room.

"May 21st, 1122, arrived on Jaya!" Cricket shouts.

"Noland! Noland!" Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Masira, and Shoujou shout. The rest of us grinning in pure delight.

"We got to the island and heard the strange cries of a jungle bird, and the tolling of a giant bell. The sound of the giant bell of pure gold resonated and resonated, as if celebrating the untold riches of the ancient city. Throughout these seas over countless generations, a great civilization has blossomed. Those of us whose lives encompass only a few decades and think we know everything, are speechless. The sound of the bell stopped us all in our tracks."

"Noland, you are extraordinary!" Luffy, Masira, and Shoujou cheer.

"A giant bell of pure gold!" Nami gushes.

"I think you actually like Noland!" Usopp chuckles.

Cricket walks over to grab an item to show us, and places a small bell shaped gold ingot on the floor in front of us all. "Take a look at this."

"A bell of pure gold," I lean into Luffy's side.

"It doesn't look giant to me," Usopp grimaces.

"I never said it was that bell," Cricket chuckles. "This is just a bell shaped ingot I found on the ocean floor. One of three, actually."

"There is really of city of gold then," Luffy widely smiles.

"No, this doesn't prove there is a city of gold," Shoujou says. "An amount this small can appear in any ruins."

"What's an ingot," Chopper steps up to touch the bell. "What is this?"

"It is solid gold, Chopper," I whisper to him.

"It does prove that there was a civilization in this region at one time," Robin speaks up for the first time all night. "Ingots are used for trading, so they are created as a weight standard."

"The strange bird mentioned in that passage," Cricket motions to Masira to get another object."

"Right, right," Masira walks over to grab a larger covered object to place on the floor.

"There's more!" Luffy and Usopp exclaim.

"That one's a lot bigger," Zoro says.

"You were right, it is a strange looking bird," I hum as the cloth is removed to reveal a gold statue of a bird with a long beak to make its head look like a fish, and two bumps on the top of its head. Its wings are holding a small bell like the other gold piece we've been shown tonight. "The people that made this must really like these birds."

"This is the last item," Cricket chuckles. "Not much for ten years of diving."

"So beautiful!" Nami gushes.

"What even is it?" Usopp asks.

"Pure gold bells and birds," Sanji speaks up. "Those might have been the symbols of Ancient Jaya."

"Not sure," Cricket takes a drag of his cigarette. "I think that it was once part of a larger statue. This is a South Bird, and they are still found on this island." He pats the bird's head as Nami looks on in glee.

"Does it have a weird cry?" Luffy asks.

"Yes, like the log mentions."

"Speaking of the South Bird, ancient mariners wrote of it-" Masira cuts himself off as him and Shoujou look at each other in shock. "Damn it!" they scream as one.

"What's wrong?" I look at the brothers and then at Cricket as we all jump to our feet.

"This is bad!" Cricket exclaims. "You have to go out into the jungle right now!"

"What are you saying? Are you out of your mind?" Luffy asks.

"You have to catch one of those birds!"

"Why!?" Usopp blurts out.

"Why do we need a bird at all?" Sanji asks.

"Listen very carefully," Cricket frowns. "The Knock-Up Stream is directly south of here. How will you get to it?"

"Can't we just sail straight?" Luffy crosses his arms.

"This is the Grand Line! Once out to sea, there is no way to know the directions!"

"I understand," Nami perks up. "The log pose can only guide us to an island. That's no good to find a patch of water. Our compass won't work! How will we know if we are heading south if we can't use our compass?"

"You have to rely on the South Bird! Some animals have an inherent sense of direction."

"I've heard that, like pigeons and salmon."

Luffy laughs, "Zoro, you're worse than an animal."

"You're one to talk!" Zoro shouts at him.

"The South Bird is the best of all animals," Cricket explains. "No matter where it is, land or sea, it always points it in the right direction. You have to go get one! You will never be able to get to Sky Island without it!"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner!?" Sanji shouts.

"It's the middle of the night now, and we have to go out into that jungle where all kinds of creatures could be!" I exclaim.

"There's no time to whine!" Cricket says. "We will work on your right while you're out looking for that bird! We should have never been partying like this."

"A bit late to be saying that now!" Usopp groans as our crew starts to rush around and get ready to leave.

"Before you leave, you must know that you have to get this bird before sunrise. Do not fail!"

+~*~*~*~*~*~+

"Geez, it is pitch black out here," I pout as I wrap my arms around Luffy's torso.

Once everyone composed themselves, Cricket gave us three nets to help catch the bird, and we were sent off into the jungle. It didn't take long for us to get deep into the trees and for all light to be almost completely blocked out. I'm not sure how long we've been wandering around, but it doesn't seem like we've made any progress.

"Don't hang onto me!" Sanji groans as he tries to shove Usopp away.

"Let's get this bird as quickly as possible so we can get back to drinking," Zoro says.

"I'm too full to move anymore," Chopper sighs.

"How did we even get out here?" Nami cries.

"Why didn't we do this before it got dark?" Usopp trembles.

"Where is this bird?" Luffy demands.

"If I knew that we wouldn't be out here wondering around this stupid jungle," Zoro grumbles.

"Okay, we need a plan," I say as the boys come together into a sort of circle while Nami is nervously looking around, and Robin is curiously looking around. "Our biggest clue is the weird cry, but we also know that it looks just like the golden bird statue."

"Does a bird like that even really exist?" Zoro asks.

"And what does weird cry mean?" Usopp asks. "What makes it weird? That's way too vague."

"He said we'd know when we heard it," Sanji shrugs.

A cry that sounds like 'Joh' rings out; the weirdest cry that I've ever heard from an animal.

"That was a weird cry!" all of us but Robin call out. Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro raising their nets at the same time.

"All right," Luffy grins, placing his arm around my shoulders, "let's get it!"

"We have three nets, which means we need to split into three groups," Sanji says.

"Let's smash that bird!" Zoro shouts.

"No, we have to catch it," Usopp says.

"What will the teams be?" I ask.

"You'll be with me," Luffy glances down at me. "And Chopper can join us."

"Yay!" Chopper bounces around.

"I'll go with Robin," Zoro says.

"That leaves Nami and I with Sanji then," Usopp says.

"Don't get too lost," I giggle as I step away from Luffy to grab his hand.

In the next moment, our three groups are all heading off into different directions in search of the South Bird. The pitch black jungle that has who-knows-what around every single corner.

"You're not scared, are you Akari?" Luffy gives my hand a squeeze.

"The dark is a bit freaky, but I don't have to worry about what is hiding out there with you by my side." I take a deep breath, "No one is hiding in the shadows. No one is waiting for me to get home. It is just animals and bugs out here."

"Why would someone be out here?" Chopper reaches up to grab my other hand.

"Before I set sail with Luffy, there was a man who hated me for things I could not control, and he let me know it," I shake my head. "The dark freaks me out because of it."

"We'll protect you Akari," Chopper happily says. "Isn't that right, Luffy?"

"From those demons, every single day," Luffy presses a kiss to my temple.

"Whoa!" I break away from the boys and rush at a tree where a beetle is resting. "There are beetles out here! This just got better!"

"Catch it! Catch it!"

"I'm not picking it up with my bare hands!" I motion at the beetle as I step out of the way.

"I've got it!" Luffy slaps the net down right on top of it before grabbing it with his hand.

"What species is it?"

Luffy holds it up for both of us to see, and his eyes widen at the sight of the atlas beetle. "Chopper, come look at this! It is an atlas beetle!"

"Atlas?" Chopper comes trotting up to us.

"The atlas and Hercules beetles are the most treasured beetles in the world," I explain.

"Really? Are they valuable like the One Piece?"

"Eh," Luffy grits his teeth and tilts his head to the side. "That's tough."

"Bugs to Luffy are amazing, so they are up there with things he considers valuable," I say. "But if you asked someone who hates bugs, well, they would say the One Piece is more valuable. It all depends on the person."

"Oh, okay, I understand," Chopper nods a few times, looking around to find a beetle of his own. "Oh look, there's one over here too."

Luffy whips around to see the stag beetle on the nearby tree. "That's a stag beetle! Catch it Chopper!"

Chopper tries to jump up and catch the bug, but it easily flies away as the reindeer is to slow. "No, it's flying away!" he starts to race after the bug.

"Catch it!" Luffy rushes off in the direction the beetle went. "Don't let it get away from us!"

"We're supposed to be looking for the South Bird!" I break into a sprint to catch up with the boys.

"Look! A huge spider is up ahead!" Chopper announces.

"Kick it out of the way!" Luffy orders.

"Wait, don't just kick something!" I shout, but it is already too late.

The object identified as a spider is not that at all, but instead a massive beehive that drops right in front of us. In the next second, all the bees inside angerly burst out, but I have turned around and am running at full speed to avoid getting stung. Luffy and Chopper screaming behind me give me the motivation to keep going until the buzzing dies away.

"Sorry for letting you take all the stings, boys," I grimace as we come to a stop and I take in the state of Luffy and Chopper. "I didn't even realize how fast I was going."

"I don't blame you," Chopper huffs, having changed into his reindeer form to run faster. "That was not fun at all."

Luffy takes a deep breath, "Where did the hive even come from?"

As if on cue, another hive drops down right next to us, the bees angerly exploding from within. None of us hesitate to start running to try and save ourselves from the stings.

"What the hell is wrong with this jungle!?" I scream.

Chopper glances behind us, shock instantly taking over his face. "Akari, Luffy, look up there!"

Luffy and I glance back to see a colorful bird that looks exactly like the statue that Cricket showed us. The bird that we need to catch.

"A bird?" Luffy asks.

"No, it's the bird!" I swat at some bees that get to close to me. "And it is dropping the beehives on us!"

"Joh! Joh! Joh!"

"Is it trying to say something, Chopper?" Luffy asks.

"Yes," Chopper looks back at us. "Whoever invades this jungle will die!"

"Are you kidding me!?" I groan, taking a sharp turn to try and escape the horrors of this damn jungle. "Don't come this way!" I scream as I come face to face with giant praying mantises. I spin on my heels, running right back to Luffy and Chopper to find that the bees have left them alone. "Watch out!"

The three of us hit the ground as one of the praying mantis slices at us with sword-like front legs; the tree that we land in front of being sliced clean through. That thing was clearly trying to kill us, and now it is smugly standing on the tree stump while it brandishes their front legs.

"Damn it," I clench my jaw. "A giant praying mantis is going too far!"

"What kind of jungle is this!?" Luffy grabs my arm to lift me to my feet as we all burst into running once more as the bugs attack us. "No, the net!" He lets go of the now sliced to pieces net.

"JOH!"

Chopper's eyes narrow as he looks back at the bird that is taunting us. "It's the bird!"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The South Bird is ordering the bugs around!"

"Why would a bird give orders to bugs!?" Luffy shouts.

"Because it wants us dead!" I groan.

In the next moment, the praying mantises retreat and are replaced with hornets that are more fired up than the bees were.

"I am sick of running away!" Luffy raises his fists and turns to face the hornets. "Bring it on you big bugs!"

"No you don't!" I grab his arm and keep pulling him with us.

"Listen to Akari, Luffy!" Chopper shouts. "Hornets have the nastiest sting!"

"We just have to keep running!"

Over the next ten minutes or so, all kinds of bugs chase after us, and we have to keep running in order to avoid whatever natural weapon they have on their body. There is barely any time to catch our breath as we are running from the danger. Someone, we end up back where we all split up some time ago, and the rest of the crew rushes in at the same time.

"It's no use," Zoro says. He's the only one who still has his net. "We didn't even get a single feather from that damn bird."

"We saw one, but it was ordering those bugs to make sure we didn't get it," Luffy takes a seat on the tree root.

"We had to run away," Chopper pouts as he flops down.

"It seemed like no matter where we went, that bird was sending some kind of bug that could harm us our way," I sit down in front of Luffy, letting my legs rest for a moment.

"Shape up, guys!" Usopp shouts. "There are eight of us, and we didn't get anything!"

"You shape up, jackass," Sanji shakes his head.

"I can't run another step," Nami places her arms over her stomach.

"Joh! Joh!"

"Ugh, I want to kill that bird," I groan.

"Joh-Joh! Joh! Joh!"

"He's laughing and saying, 'You can't catch me' at us," Chopper translates as we all look up into the treetops.

"What!? He's taunting us!?" Usopp exclaims.

"I'll shoot you down you damn bird!" Luffy shouts.

In the next moment, two arms pop out of the sides of the South Bird, and it comes tumbling to the ground. All this running around and avoiding killer bugs could have been avoided if Robin had a chance to use her Devil Fruit powers.

"As long as I can see what it, I can use my powers," Robin says. "That was the first time I've seen it all night."

Zoro walks up and grabs the bird by the legs, lifting it up for all to see. "Now we can head back and get back to drinking."

I roll my eyes, "I think we should head back and rest up for tomorrow. It sounds like it is going to be an intense day."

"No doubt about that," Nami sighs.

"Let's get back then," Usopp groans.

Without any more reason to stay in the jungle, Nami leads the way back to the Mont Blanc residence where the brothers should be close to done with repairs on the Going Merry. It would be nice to see the ship ready for us and the three men waiting with smiles on their faces. However, life is never that easy, especially for us.

"Diamond-head guy!" Luffy exclaims as we see Cricket and Masira bloodied on the ground, and Shoujou floating in the water.

"Masira!" Usopp and Chopper shout.

"Shoujou!" Sanji and I scream as we rush to get the man out of the water.

"Who did this to you?" Sanji jumps into the water as I stand on land waiting to help.

"I'll help pull him out," Chopper says, stepping up to me in his big form.

"Wonderful," I nod as I reach for Sanji's hand and Chopper pulls Shoujou out of the water. "Always jumping in to save someone in the water," I tease.

"Look at the Going Merry!" Usopp screams in horror, causing me to look over at the Going Merry where the front is snapped off from the rest of the ship. "Who would do an awful thing like that!?"

"Sorry," Cricket spits out blood.

"Mister, hey, are you okay?" Luffy frantically asks as he crouches in front of the beaten man.

"I'm sorry that we failed you! We couldn't stop them no matter how are we tried. We can still fix