when one looks back to their childhood, one remembers the vivid springs of laughter, climbing trees and reaching out for the stars, and making flower crowns in fields of flowers. but when [name] looked back at her youth, her memories were void of th...
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chapter 003. lead us the way!
[ trust isn't something i seek ]
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yuba was in sight.
well, not exactly, because the sand stung [name]'s vision so much that she could barely see anything. the wind was strong, and the sand kept obstructing her, causing her to repeatedly blink and squint her eyes as she looked over her hood, cape flying and staining her clothes with dirt.
"waaaah, [name], help!!"
she didn't know why chopper was holding onto her cape with a scream but she still grabbed his hoof, "hang on to me!!" she called to him, pulling him close and against her chest as she continued to traverse the storm with her comrades, eyes set on sanji's figure (it felt like he was shielding her) standing not far from her so she and the tanuki in her arms don't end up getting lost.
chopper was sweatdropping nervously as vivi called out, "i see a light!"
luffy groaned, "is it yuba?!" he whined, "i can't see with this sand!"
slowly yet violently, the sand began to die down yet it was still difficult to see yuba clearly. vivi paused and slowed down, her worried eyes constantly scanning around, "what's that sound?" when the wind died down and they could finally see clearly, vivi was in shock to see the sandstorm heading straight for yuba as if it was calculated to do so, "yuba is being hit by the sandstorm!"
vivi desperately tried to rush to yuba but fortunately, sanji managed to hold her still while nami worked on calming her down, "vivi, you can't just rush in! it's dangerous!" [name] set down chopper to the ground, dusting her clothes, "we should wait for it to die down first!"
"y-yes..." the princess nodded hesitantly, snapping away from her sudden outburst, "i apologize...i wasn't thinking straight."
"seriously though," chopper muttered, holding onto the hem of [name]'s cape in fear of getting blown away again, "how did a sandstorm appear out of nowhere?"
[name] concluded, watching the sandstorm engulf the oasis, "i want to say 'nature'...but it seems too directed and accurate for nature..."
as soon as the trick of 'nature' died down, the group began to hurry up to yuba, only to receive a sorrowful sight of a town. not a single soul was seen in this place with the gold peeks of sand building up to form small hills, every building vacant and absent of light from torches or lanterns. it was lifeless and there was nobody, not even a thing, that gave life to yuba, and [name] was sure this was an oasis, yet there was not a single drop of water visible.
