Chapter 129: Starfall
Chapter 129: Starfall
Usopp had cried out a sighting of the island of Starfall a while ago, but it almost hadn’t been needed. While the start of the demarcation between ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ was subtle at first, they were coming in under a mid-afternoon sun. Which meant that it rapidly grew less subtle as they approached the island. They had struck any pirate flag from flying, replacing them with Alabastian Expeditionary Flags they’d been provided with but rarely used. Though they hadn’t shifted the mark on their sail, so it wouldn’t exactly be hard to identify them.
Still, for whatever reason, Starfall was considered a freeport that somehow existed outside the Grand Line. Which meant Luffy chose to approach openly, rather than attempt to hide the Discovery as they had for the Torino Kingdom. From what they’d been able to learn, any ship was welcome to dock at Starlight, the main port of the island. Even outright pirate ships were accepted, so long as you brought no trouble to the town or island. Which was the trade hub of the small island. How they dealt with those who did bring trouble was unknown, but apparently it was widely known that they could.
Luffy had been a little skeptical, right up until they’d apparently hit the edge of Starfall’s territory proper and both he and Kaya had both jolted upright in surprise. They looked at each other, then out into the Night that was now firmly around their ship at barely four in the afternoon, their eyes tracking to a beacon that they’d thought was a lighthouse at first. Now knew must be something else. They had, after all, just passed through a barrier. A potent one, which had previously hidden the fact that the glowing pillar was radiating immense amounts of energy.
Holy energy, or something very like it at least.
It felt very much like Shichiseiken did when fully drawn, only far larger and…shaded somehow? , That wasn’t the right term for it, if there were words for it at all, but Luffy couldn’t think of a better one. It was like the energy of the pillar and the energy of Shichiseiken were both slightly different tints of the same thing. Frowning in intense concentration, Luffy’s mind raced as he remembered other sensations that were similar. The energy Kaya had called on to protect the ship at Asuka was almost a ‘colorless’ version. But, back then…
“Kaya. Tell me you remember that Yamato’s energy back on Asuka island felt…”
Kaya’s eyes widened and she nodded.
“…something like this, yes. Only not quite the same. Hers felt like the sun, somehow. This one feels like starlight. Though don’t ask me how I know what starlight feels like!”
Luffy nodded agreement, though he hadn’t quite gotten as much out of the feeling as Kaya obviously had. A few connections were slotting into place in his head, though. For the most part it was all blind conjecture and theory, but some of it certainly made a sort of sense.
“Odds that barrier would react violently to something cursed trying to cross the threshold? Say, an Elder, given what little Rayleigh could tell us? Actually…you aren’t still carrying that cursed blade aboard ship, are you?”
Luffy’s tone shifted to worry for a moment, before Kaya shook her head.
“No. Well yes, but also no, as it isn’t cursed any longer. After Asuka Island I decided to experiment with curse breaking, and Grumpy-Baby-Knife-Kun was the best testbed I had. I ended up purifying it mostly by accident after one too many attempts to see what affected the curse built up. I am suddenly rather glad of that, as it happens, as I suspect you are quite correct about how badly that barrier would react. Which would rather explain why the World Government prefers to simply be quiet about this place, so long as it pays its Heavenly Tribute like an obedient little island nation.”
He couldn’t help but nod at that, having had precisely the same thought. If this island were rebellious, or if it were positioned in the Grand Line where major pirates might use it for cover, he suspected the story might be different. Even if that barrier did more than protect from just cursed items or individuals, he doubted, from the feel of it, that it would stop normal Marines just doing their job. A resource that the WG could have flooded the place with.
Since the island wasn’t rebellious, being a member nation in good standing? Well, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ likely applied. Whatever that pillar was, it felt ancient, far older than the Void Century. He couldn’t be certain, but he strongly suspected that whatever it was, it just wasn’t worth the effort of the WG to tear it down. Assuming they even could. Much like trying to kill Neethrax. They’d somehow managed to force her compliance with their rules about the Void Century, but hadn’t attempted to outright eliminate her. Presumably as she was powerful enough to make doing so too costly.
“I suspect we should probably get Vivi to bring Robin and the others here. I have a feeling this island is going to be more interesting than anticipated.”
Kaya nodded, even as she stared up at the ‘Night Sky.’ Where, Luffy noted, the stars were not quite where they ought to be. There were more of them than there should be as well, and all of the light they spilled was radiating with that same ‘holy’ feeling that the pillar gave off. The rest of the crew were staring around in awe at this point as well, even those without spiritual sensitivity…and Luffy noticed that Yamato was very nearly enraptured by the pillar.
A very interesting island indeed…
“Captain! There’s a ship heading for us! A cutter of some sort. I’m guessing a local guide? It doesn’t look hostile, at last.”
Luffy blinked, his attention snapping away from his examination of the stars and energy he could feel, to Usopp. The sniper sounded a bit chagrined, likely at having not noticed the incoming ship faster than he had. To be fair, the mid-afternoon night sky was distracting. Also to be fair, however, it was Usopp’s job to have been watching. On balance, Luffy wasn’t going to take him to task for it, given that he’d been distracted himself. If he hadn’t been, he’d have noticed the cutter coming himself with Observation Haki.
“Heave to! Let’s see what they want, shall we?”
The crew was quick to respond, even as he did his own part to adjust beam-on to the wind. As the sails were adjusted, the ship slowed to a crawl, coming to an effective stop at sea for the cutter to meet up with them. It wasn’t something they did all that often without using the engines, which usually made such a maneuver far easier, but Nami had pounded the relevant actions into everyone hard enough that they still managed it smoothly even under pure sail.
Which was good, as Luffy legitimately had no idea how much the Marines knew about the Discovery. They’d rarely engaged in ship battles and gone out of their way to hide her advantages over the nearly two years since first setting sail, up to and including hiding her engines. Frankly, they hadn’t been so careful with that last bit when they weren’t sure they were being observed, and he honestly expected the Marines had at least guessed about the engines. Which wasn’t the same as having confirmation he had no desire to provide them with. Even if this island really was a sort of free port, somehow, it still paid lip service to the WG at least, and he wouldn’t risk giving information away for free.
Usopp truly had slipped up a fair bit, as it only took a few additional minutes for the cutter to come alongside. Luffy, who had handed the wheel over the Nojiko, blinked at the man he saw standing in the cutter, who shouted a hail up at them.
“Ahoy! Permission to come aboard, Captain? As you’ve brought The Bearer of the Sun with you, I’ve been tasked to guide you to a more private dock where you won’t be spotted.”
Luffy blinked, trying to process that into something that made sense and mostly failing. Which wasn’t helped by the fact that the man looked like Yamato. Not in a ‘family resemblance’ sort of way, but it was clear from his physical features why the Torino Kingdom natives had thought Yamato was from Starfall. He was easily eight and a half feet tall and heavily muscled, from what Luffy could see. Not to mention he sported skin as pale as Yamato’s…and a very similar set of horns. Considerably more so than even the few images of Kaidou that Luffy had seen. Pushing aside his surprise and confusion over the man’s words, Luffy felt him out briefly with both his empathy and Haki. When he sensed no hostility, he nodded.
“Permission granted. I’m not sure what this Sun business is about, but I’ll certainly hear you out.”
Kaya, in an act none of the others had thought of, due to how rare a relatively normal person needing to board their ship was, appeared near to Luffy…and lowered a rope ladder for the man. Luffy twitched and mentally chastised himself for forgetting they were in one of the Blues, not somewhere like Amazon Lily, and they couldn’t expect random people to be able to leap aboard. Thankfully, Kaya had considered it, and the man proved he was an experienced seaman at least by quickly clambering aboard. The cutter pushed off as soon as he was clear and started separating from them a bit, but didn’t go too far.
“Greetings, Captain! I’m afraid for The Sun business, you’ll need to talk to someone higher up than me. Suffice it to say, however, that the World Government would…well…lose its shit entirely, if they realized she was visiting Starfall.”
The man pointed at Yamato, who was staring at him in blatant curiosity. The horns alone weren’t that odd, by the weird-as-heck standards of this reality, but their guide was just a bit too similar to Yamato to easily dismiss the obvious. She looked startled when he pointed her out regarding the ‘Sun’ business, though Luffy rather quickly connected the dots to the comment he’d only just been making to Kaya. Whoever these people were, they might know something about Yamato, or possibly her Devil Fruit, that he did not. Which only made him more interested in what these higher-ups had to say, particularly as his statement implied they intended to cover up their visit here.
“Very well, I assume you’re here to guide us into this private dock then, Mr…?”
The man nodded briskly, moving toward the pilot house as he responded.
“Harbor Pilot Ossamen, Captain. Though I doubt you’ll be dealing with me much. I can guide you easily enough. Though you’re ship’s an odd enough one that I’ll leave the actual call outs to you, aye?”
Luffy nodded instantly. Most times, a ship guide or harbor pilot existed due to dangerous local conditions for non-native sailors. Complex reefs, underwater wreckage that wasn’t obvious, or any number of other oddities that could complicate a specific harbor enough that the locals preferred using local experts to guide ships in or out. Theirs was obviously a bit more of an unusual case, which Luffy was glad of. A normal sailor wouldn’t really have much clue how to handle the Discovery, after all.
“Right. I assume we’re following the cutter, since it hung about. Kuina, get us moving, Quarter Sail only, if you please.”
The command was, in and of itself, an example of the problem. Most ships would only use Full Sail, Half Sail, or Bare Sail, then Ease, Trim or Reef as needed. The way the Discovery was rigged, and her sheer speed, meant that Nami had needed to introduce some extra terms just for their ship. At Quarter Sail, which normally referred to something else entirely, they’d make better speed than most ships at Half Sail. A stranger wouldn’t know the extra commands, and would struggle to handle the Discovery as a result. Thankfully, their guide was happy enough to give simple directions, and even play a bit of tour guide as they circled farther around the island.
“I’m quite sure you’re all new to Starfall! Once you’ve spoken with the High Priestess and Elders, make sure and come visit Starlight! Our town is unique in more than one way, you know! In addition to the obvious, Starlight’s status as a flike yamree port, as well as the fact the effects of the Starlight Spear extending well under water, mean we have one of the only fishman communities outside the Grand Line! No mermaids, I’m afraid, which is tragic if what I’ve heard about their beauty is true, but-”
As the Guide chattered on, Luffy had to admit that he was getting more interested in this particular island with virtually every word. Listening intently, he mentally noted he needed to do something nice for Dis for pushing them into exploring the South Blue a bit while they had the chance…