Noah, Nami, and Emma finally made it back right before the sun went down.
Noah dropped the heavy bags on the ground with a sigh.
Luffy rushed over at full speed the moment the bags touched the deck.
"Food! Food!" he yelled, digging into the supplies.
Nami smacked him hard on the head. "Stop that! Those are for later, you moron!"
Emma snorted and tried not to laugh.
Sanji walked out of the kitchen. "Everyone, gather up! Soup's ready!"
The crew sat in a circle with warm bowls in their hands.
Nami let out a breath and then told everyone what happened in Mock Town—
the fight, the trouble, and most of all, the new bounties.
Luffy jumped to his feet. "One hundred million! That's awesome!"
Zoro crossed his arms. "Sixty million. Hmph. Not bad."
Nami pointed at Noah and Emma. "They got bounties too."
Luffy's eyes went wide. "Noah! What's yours?!"
Noah shrugged. "Same as yours—one hundred million."
Emma raised her hand. "Mine is fifty million."
Usopp fell on his knees. "Whyyy?! When will we get bounties?!"
Chopper cried with him. "Yeah! We want posters too!"
"You two just need to… y'know… cause a lot of destruction," Noah said.
"No thank you!!" Usopp and Chopper shouted at the same time.
Cricket cleared his throat loudly. "Alright, listen up."
Everyone turned toward him.
"There's one more thing you need before you can ride the Knock-Up Stream," he said. "You must catch a South Bird."
Chopper tilted his head. "What's a South Bird?"
"It's a bird whose head always points south," Cricket explained. "Because of the magnetic force around here, your compass won't work right. To reach the Knock-Up Stream, you need to keep going south. The bird will show you the way."
Nami nodded. "So without it, we can't reach Sky Island."
Cricket pointed toward the thick forest. "Lucky for you, South Birds live right here on this island. But be careful—they're fast, loud, and they love making fun of people."
Everyone looked toward the jungle.
Bird cries echoed from deep inside the trees.
Luffy grinned. "Alright! Let's go catch one!"
We all stood at the edge of the jungle, staring into a giant wall of trees, vines, and weird noises that definitely sounded like monsters. Or Sanji when someone hides Nami's tangerines.
Cricket waved at us. "Good luck! Try not to die!"
"Great pep talk…" I muttered.
Luffy stretched his arms. "LET'S CATCH A BIRD!"
"It's not just any bird," Nami said. "It's a South Bird. Be serious."
Luffy ignored her and ran straight into the forest like a mad child.
Zoro followed… then immediately went the wrong direction.
"Zoro! SOUTH!" I yelled.
"I KNOW!" he yelled back while still going the wrong way.
Yep. We were doomed.
We split into four groups.
Group 1: Luffy and Nami
Group 2: Zoro and Usopp
Group 3: Sanji and Chopper
Group 4: Me, Emma and Robin
One mosquito landed on my arm.
I slapped it.
It slapped me back.
"…Did that mosquito just hit you?" Emma asked.
"Yes," I said. "And I think it wants round two."
We could hear Usopp screamed. "This jungle is cursed!"
"Keep your guard up," Robin said calmly as she walked beside me.
Emma pushed some big leaves out of her way. "How bad can birds be?"
Right then… a loud GWAH-HAA-HAAA! echoed from above us.
Emma froze. "...Okay. Maybe that bad."
I sighed. "Great. Mock Town pirates were easier than this."
I could hear Sanji screaming at Usopp somewhere on the left.
"USOPP, YOU LOST THE FOOTPRINTS!"
"I DIDN'T LOSE ANYTHING! THEY JUST… RAN AWAY!"
Far to the right, Zoro's voice cut through the trees:
"Chopper, are you sure we're not walking in circles?"
Chopper yelled back, "YOU'RE THE ONE WALKING IN CIRCLES MORON!"
And ahead of us…
Nami's angry voice shook the vines.
"LUFFY, STOP CHASING RANDOM ANIMALS!"
"But Nami, that one looked delicious!"
Yeah.
This was going great.
We reached a small clearing.
Robin stopped and pointed up. "There."
On a branch sat a big green and purple bird with a long narrow beak.
Its beak curved into something that looked like a… smirk?
The bird stared at us.
Then tilted its head.
Then tilted it again.
Then… it pointed its head south.
Emma gasped. "That's it! The South Bird!"
I took a step forward—slow and quiet.
"Easy… easy…"
The bird blinked once.
Then laughed in my face.
GWAH-HA-HA-HAAA!
I lifted my hand to grab it—
The bird spat a berry at my forehead.
"...Did a bird just hit me?"
"Yes," Robin answered flatly.
Emma covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
"Don't you dare," I said.
She burst out laughing anyway.
The bird laughed too.
Great.
Even birds bully me.
The South Bird jumped from the branch and sprinted across the ground with tiny legs moving faster than my eyes could follow.
"AFTER IT!" Emma shouted.
We ran.
The bird ran faster.
It zoomed between trees, hopped over a log, and turned around to mock us twice.
"STOP LAUGHING!" I yelled.
It laughed harder.
We crashed through bushes. Leaves slapped my face. I tripped over a root but caught myself.
Robin, somehow, didn't sweat even a little.
"Why does it run like that?!" Emma cried.
"It enjoys the chaos," Robin said.
The bird poked its tongue out at us.
"That's it," I growled. "I'm catching this overgrown chicken!"
Meanwhile… the Others
Luffy and Nami ran past us at one point.
Luffy yelled, "NAMIII! THE BIRD ATE MY MEAT!"
"It didn't eat anything! YOU DROPPED IT!"
Then they disappeared into the trees again.
Sanji and Usopp came next.
Usopp screamed, "SANJI, THAT IS NOT A BIRD, THAT IS A TIGER!"
Sanji screamed, "WHY IS THE TIGER CHASING YOU THEN!?"
They also vanished.
A minute later, Zoro ran by holding a tree upside-down instead of a sword.
Chopper shouted while riding on Zoro's head, "WE'RE LOST AGAIN!!!"
I didn't even have the energy to comment.
Our jungle search team was a disaster.
We cornered the South Bird on top of a rock.
Emma held her net ready.
I stood to the left.
Robin stood to the right.
"Don't let it get away," I whispered.
The bird stared at us… calm… quiet…
Then its eyes narrowed.
"Oh no," Emma said.
The bird inhaled—
Then launched a whole fruit at my face.
BLOP!
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!"
Emma laughed so hard she had to hold her stomach.
Robin sighed. "These birds seems to have… strong personalities."
The South Bird puffed out its chest proudly.
Then it lifted one wing…
And gave me the bird.
Literally.
"Okay. You asked for it."
I rushed forward.
The bird jumped over me, landed behind Emma, and tapped her head.
Emma spun around. "HEY!"
She swung her net—
Missed—
Spun again—
Missed harder.
The bird laughed.
I slid across the ground and cut off its escape.
Robin used her power—
A pair of arms appeared on a branch and blocked the top path.
The bird looked left, right, up, down.
Nowhere to run.
Emma grinned. "Got you!"
She threw the net—
The bird darted under it—
But ran straight into Robin's extra arms.
It froze.
Then slowly turned its head toward me like it was offended.
I smirked. "Not so fast now, huh?"
Emma dropped the net over it.
The bird let out one last angry gwah and stopped moving.
We finally caught it.
We carried the South Bird back toward the ship.
It pecked me three times on the walk back.
And made fun of my hair.
And tried to bite Emma's sleeve.
Robin just smiled the whole way like this was normal.
When we reached the shore, Luffy waved at us with a giant grin.
"You guys caught one! I knew you could!"
Emma wiped sweat from her face. "You didn't help at all!"
Luffy laughed. "I chased lots of animals! That counts!"
Nami smacked him.
I put the cage down and stretched.
"That bird is evil," I muttered.
The South Bird stuck its beak through the cage bars and snapped at my finger.
Yeah.
Totally evil.
But at least we had it.