Adventure in the Land of Sand

Cairo, Kingdom of the Desert
The sand gleamed in the sun as if gold, beckoning travelers from all over the world as if it was a treasure trove of riches galore. In fact, many times in the past, when humans were a less intelligible race, the island of Cairo had been mistaken for such a thing, wealth floating in the ocean waiting for a man brave enough to collect and naturally they came, and their ancestors make up the islands residents today. Now it is no different, travelers, pirates, thieves, they call come in search of the same thing but if they find it... well, that is up to fate.

Avery looked through his telescope. "I can see it!" he called excitedly. "Land ho!" He jumped from the helm of the deck down to the main floor, running to the edge of the ship. "There it is! Cairo!"

"Is it really worth getting so worked up over?" asked Shephard. "It's just a big desert."

"Just a big desert?" Avery was aghast. "My dear Shephard, it's not just a big desert. Cairo is a kingdom. And kingdoms are where pirates can get the most loot and notoriety!"

"Sure, whatever."

Looking brazenly upon the forthcoming Island, Seizawa let out a bored yawn as he slumped lazily against the ship's railing. Turning to his captain he grumbled a bit having been forced to awake from his slumber.

"What's our reason for coming to this specific island Again?" Seizawa questioned as he pulled himself up.

“You mean other than restocking our supplies, possibly recruiting more crew members to replace the ones we lost, or simply because our Log Pose is pointing towards Cairo? No reason.”

Grumbling under his breath about it being too early for this, Seizawa properly dropped to the floor and fell back to sleep deeming this next few moments unimportant.

As the ship closed in on the shore, it rumbled. "What do you mean there's no port?" The ship rumbled again. "Well that's weird. No towns on the shoreline either?" Another rumble. "Well, just get us as close as you can." One more rumble. "Don't worry, I won't be leaving you alone this time."

Avery walked over to Arukana and tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you think you can start on those modifications I talked about?"

Glancing over his shoulder to look at his captain, Arukana took a drag of his cigarette before flicking it off the side of the ship and responded with a nod. "Despite how insane they are, I can get to work on the modifications as soon as possible.

"Excellent! Well, you won't be alone. Seizawa will be here to help with the construction. If you need any extra supplies to finish anything up, don't hesitate to call us on the Den Den Mushi, we'll make sure to pick it up for you." He addressed his crew. "Yo, Shep, Set, we're moving out!"

"Aye-Aye Sir!" Seth walked onto the main deck from a room to the back of the ship, a radiant purple tuxedo-like ensemble on, shimmering under the day's sun as she dusted himself off and walked to the side of his captain. " Just a thought, but I doubt an island with no port is gonna be very...welcoming. We may wanna be careful." Seth commented, now standing alongside his captain.

“Oh Set,” said Avery, when am I not careful?”

Shephard rolled her eyes as she followed them off the ship.

"Judging from the landscape, this might take a while," Avery addressed Arukana. "If we're not back in two days, if something goes wrong, or if you just wanna talk, call us on the Den Den Mushi." Avery jumped off the ship, a small cloud of dust being kicked up from the surprisingly dry sand. It wasn't so much a beach, as the ground was elevated too far to touch the ocean. "Alright guys, let's head out!"

Shephard was the next to disembark, still wearing her regular suit, despite the high temperatures. She gave Seizawa a brief wave before jumping off herself.

Gazing at the sky, Yoichi found herself lost in thought. Strangely enough, she was completely sober, and had been for a while. Not even the usual gourd was hanging from her hip. Even though they were close, the loud voice of Avery and Sheppard seemed quite distant. She gripped her abdomen, and hid in her pocket what seemed to be a piece of paper.

Shaking her head, she then slapped herself lightly, in order to gather her senses. She grabbed her quiver and bow, and made way to the edge of the ship, where she glanced at her captain who had been complaining.

“You always have to make a ruckus, Avery. We can’t land in peace for once,” she said, chuckling at her crew’s usual antics.

Yoichi jumped overboard and into the sand. As the hot breeze grazed her body, she removed the top part of her kimono, leaving it hanging on her waist. “If you guys weren’t such pervs, I’d gladly explore this desert completely topless”. Her skin was radiant as a few drops of sweat began to be released from her body. “Lead the way, captain.”

"It's so... hot!" Avery complained as he trudged through the sand. The sun beat down on the flat, bleached land as he walked behind his crew. "What the hell! Why is it so hot!"

"We're in a desert Avery," said Shephard.

"I mean other than that! Not all deserts are hot!"

Shephard rolled her eyes as they continued their trek through the desert.

Yoichi looked around, and she knew, not her nor any of her crewmates had any idea where they were headed. "Sigh...you know, this is a recipe for disaster. Wandering around aimlessly through a desert. For all we know there could be nothing on this island. We'd be walking until we die of thirst or heat..." She reached for her hip, but then remembered, she left her gourd back at the ship.

Avery walked up next to Yoichi, panting as he put his arm on her shoulder. "Hey," he spoke in a hushed tone, "you've been drinking a lot less than normal, ever since the Marin battle. Are you alright?"

Yoichi looked away from Avery, not wanting her eyes to reveal what she truly felt. "Yes, I'm fine. Just wanting to detox myself for a while, that's all." She gripped her pocket and continued forward, wiping some sweat from her chest and face.

"Alright," said Avery, "just know, that I'm here for you if you need anything. I'm your captain after all." He took his hand off his shoulder as he tilted his head towards the sky. "It's so hot!"

Yoichi nodded, and followed Avery's glance at the sky. She grunted in annoyance. "uuhg...I'm sick of just wandering around in this stupid desert! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGG!!!!" Yoichi screeched, her voice resounding in various pitches, as if it were varios people screaming with the strength of thunder, and with the use of her devil fruit powers, the sand trembled, the winds shifted under the power of her voice. It seemed she had screeched in anger, however, she was actually using echolocation, in order to determine whether there was something alive in the endless desert. Her eyes widened.

"Umm..Captain...we got some company."

"What do you mean?"

As if on cue, something erupted from the desert sands. It was large, with a grey backside and white underbelly, rows of razor-sharp teeth, black, soulless eyes, and a fin on its back. Overall it was fish-shaped, but it couldn't have been an actual fish. Just as soon as they had taken stock of the creature, it dove back into the sands.

"Um... what the hell was that?"

"What was what? I wasn't looking..." responded Yoichi, confused, which was strange, given she had just detected the thing's presence and warned them about it. She looked blankly into the horizon, searching for something that wasn't there.

The sand beneath Yoichi began to tremble. What appeared to be a pair of jaws came out of the sand beneath her. "Yo move!" But it was too late. The creature began to fly out of the ground, Yoichi within its jaws.

"Nagareru Kawa!" In a swift motion, the head of the beast was cut off, blood spurting into the sand. The bandages wrapped back around Shephard's sword as she held back down near her hip.

"Wow..." said Avery, "Good work, Shep."

"Welp...that was short-lived." Seth remarked, his clothes flaring through the wind, seemingly made of a free-flowing and aerated fabric, perfect for the desert. "This heat is not that bad, good for the skin." Seth said, looking up at the sun with his hand above his eyes.

The ground beneath them began to rumble. The fins of more the creatures poking through the sand. One's head popped out, sinking its teeth into the dead shark right next to them. At that point they finally got a good look at the creatures.

"Yep," said Avery, "that's a shark."

"Oh, there's more. I'll make quick work of 'em." Seth responded, reaching deep into his pocket to reveal a small pocket harmonica. He pressed it to his lips and began to ring out some notes, dragging the sharks from the sand to the air, exposing them completely.

"Now for the finale." Seth spoke, running his lips across the harmonica and swiftly playing each not it carried, ripping the sharks to shreds in an instant.

"And that's two sharks, one harmonica." Seth chanted, tucking the instrument back into his pocket with a small laugh at his joke.

As the blood and gore rained down upon the crew, More fins began to extend from the sand. "Alright," said Avery, "maybe we should determine a less gory method of dispatching these sharks. One flew out of sand, leaping straight for him. He punched it right in the nose. It went limp as it fell back into the sand.