Kira rose before the sun.
The sky was still dark, lit only by the thin glow of the Peace Bell tower in the distance. Angel Island slept quietly below her as she packed her bag.
Dried fish. Half a loaf of bread. Two water shells. A sharp scrap of metal tied to a stick — not elegant, but enough to stab something if she had to.
She slung the bag over her shoulder and stepped outside. The wind was cold. The cloud beneath her feet felt damp with morning dew.
Today was the day she'd start scouting the Upper Yard.
She made her way east, moving along the cliff edge that bordered Angel Island. There were no patrols this far out. No one came here unless they were looking to get lost.
Perfect.
The first stretch of cloud gave way to a line of floating stones — natural skyrock, solid underfoot but spaced unevenly. She tested each step carefully, jumping from one rock to the next, crouching low to avoid sudden gusts of wind.
When she reached the final stone, she crouched and looked out across the sea of cloud.
The Upper Yard waited on the other side. A long stretch of forest towered in the distance, trees like jagged shadows against the soft white mist. The land rose out of the sea cloud like an island carved from ancient bones.
It looked quiet.
But Kira knew better.
She followed the outer rim, sticking to the cloud path that curved along the Upper Yard's west side. She didn't step onto the forest soil. Not yet. She needed to get a feel for the perimeter first.
She stayed low and quiet, noting everything she saw.
A broken archway swallowed by moss.
Ancient stone slabs buried in the grass.
Strange vines with glowing blue tips.
She spotted bird tracks — large, three-toed. Sky predators. And scat, old but full of bones.
Good. That meant the ecosystem here still worked. Nothing had come through and killed everything.
Which also meant the fruit probably hadn't been found yet.
By midmorning, the wind picked up. Kira stopped under the remains of a shattered column and pulled out a water shell. She drank carefully and scanned the tree line.
No movement. No humming. No static in the air.
Enel hadn't been here yet. The Goro Goro no Mi hadn't awakened.
But it could be anywhere. Buried beneath a root. Sitting on a ledge. Waiting to be touched.
She checked her compass — a cheap dial she'd traded for. It barely worked but gave her a rough sense of direction.
She started marking her path, scratching simple signs into trees and rocks. A system only she would understand.
Circles for cleared zones. Arrows for possible paths. Crosses for danger.
She moved slow, methodical. Calculating.
After an hour, she stopped near a large hill that overlooked a crumbled ruin.
The building was half-swallowed by tree roots. A stone staircase led into the earth. The entrance had long since collapsed, but something about it felt off.
Like it had been used recently.
Kira crouched and scanned the ground.
There were no footprints. But the vines near the entrance had been cut. Not torn, not snapped — sliced clean.
With a blade.
Someone had been here.
And recently.
She backed away without making a sound.
She didn't return to Angel Island until sunset.
Her legs ached. Her shoulders were sore. But she didn't care.
She'd seen enough to know she was right.
The fruit was in the Upper Yard.
And someone else might already be looking for it.
That complicated things.
Back in her ruined shelter, she laid her bag down carefully and sat in the corner, unwrapping the rest of her food.
She ate slowly, eyes locked on the sky.
If someone was after the fruit, she had two choices: move fast, or take them out.
She didn't want a fight. Not yet.
But she'd kill if she had to.
One knife in the dark. One push off a ledge.
It wouldn't take much.
She'd done worse in her last life — not in action, but in thought.
This time, she wouldn't hesitate.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
She stared at the ruined ceiling, mind running through routes, cover options, traps she could make.
Tomorrow, she'd go deeper.
The ruins were the key.
One of them had the fruit.
And she was going to find it.
Before Enel. Before anyone.
She would claim it, and when the time came… she'd use it.
Lightning. Speed. Destruction.
She wouldn't rule Skypiea. She had no interest in that.
But she'd make sure no one ruled her.
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