Adventure in the Kingdom of Sand:
-x-
"UUUGGGHHH..." a loud groan carried across the open expanse of hot desert.
"UUUUGGGGHHHH..." the groan sounded out again and echoed over the sand.
"LUFFY! STOP THAT GROANING!" Nami complained, "YOU'RE MAKING ME TIRED!"
"Uugghh... I'm so hot..." Luffy groaned as he supported his entire weight on a stick that was serving as a makeshift walking stick, "I can't even sweat..."
"Ugggghhh..." Chopper moaned softly as he was pulled along over the sand on a small wooden sled that was tied around the waist of Zoro. "I can't take hot weather... I'm fine in cold weather..."
"Itsh becaushe of all that fur," Usopp slurred as his dry tongue hung out of his mouth while he leaned all his weight on a stick. "Why don't you take off that shtupid reindeer coshtume?"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, BIG NOSE?" Chopper demanded as he transformed into his big Heavy Point form. "DON'T MAKE FUN OF REINDEER!"
"AAAAAAHHH! MONSHTER!" Usopp shrieked in terror at the sight of Chopper's huge form.
Zoro tried to keep pulling Chopper but with Chopper's sudden weight increase in addition to the two thousand kilograms from the weights he was wearing on his arms he found himself rooted on the spot.
"Chopper!" Zoro scolded his passenger, "Turn small or I'm gonna quit pulling you."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A MONSTER, YOU BIG NOSED FREAK?" Chopper snarled at Usopp, the sniper's knees were shaking as he stood in a weak kung-fu pose.
"HEY! Take it eashy with the noshe!" Usopp warned him, "Or I'll have to get tough!"
"TURN SMALL, WILL YA!" Zoro snapped as he pushed Chopper back down onto the sled automatically shifting him back into his much smaller Brain Point form.
Ace merely spared them a quick glance as he walked passed. The desert heat wasn't having much of an effect on the pirate that could turn his body into fire whenever he wanted. Ace kept walking and joined Vivi, Sanji, Nami, and Han at the front of the group and left the others to trail behind them.
"The desert doesn't seem to bother you much Miss. Vivi," Sanji noted.
"Well I was born and raised in this country," Vivi reminded him, "So I guess you could say I'm used to it."
"Although, those two don't seem to be affected much either," Nami noted, she glanced over her shoulder at Y/N and Ollie who were trailing behind the group. The two of them were totally engrossed in a pair of books and seemed to be blindly following the others.
"It's a technique they learned from one of our crewmates on the Whitebeard Pirates," Han informed her. "By focusing entirely on what they're reading they can completely ignore the extreme effects of the environment they're in. I didn't bother with it because I like to be aware of my surroundings at all times."
The group of ten pirates and the princess pressed onward and began to make their way up a mountain-sized dune of sand.
"Ugghhh... uggghhh... sho... what'sh with all theshe hills?" Usopp wondered. "I wash expecting a deshert to be more flat!"
"This is a very old desert," Vivi explained, "some of the sand dunes here are over nine hundred feet high."
"Nine hundred... oh my God... I think I'm gonna faint..." Usopp whimpered but he still managed to drag himself onward.
"Ugghhh... so hot... water..." Luffy gasped, he reached down and lifted the barrel that was hanging from a strap around his neck.
"Just one sip Luffy," Nami instructed him, "Just one mouthful."
