Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“There’s no doubt about it. Our next destination is that island!” Exclaimed Nami, watching the needle on the log pose point to an island barely visible on the horizon.

Luffy threw his arm in the air before shouting, far too loudly given how close they all were, “Our second island on the Grand Line!”.

The crew was slowly getting closer to the island that Miss All Sunday had called Little Garden, and they could already see that most of it was covered in trees forming a thick jungle, with a huge volcano on the background and a few other smaller volcanoes on the outside. Two huge skulls which put together were easily half the size of the island rested on each side.

“We should be careful.” Started Vivi, “I’m worried about what Miss All Sunday said…” The warning about them not surviving the island was still clear on her mind.

“Y-you don’t think there are monsters here, do you?” Asked Usopp, his knees shaking slightly in fear, his mind following the same path as Vivi’s.

“We gotta stock up on food pretty soon, I wasn’t able to restock at all at the last town.” Said Sanji, clearly not at all worrying. “But man, just look at this place… It’s like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle.”

“So this is Little Garden…” Whispered Nami, clearly worried. If the second island that they met on the Grand Line looked to be inhabited, it clearly didn’t bode well for them. Her mind conjured various reasons to explain why nobody seemed to be alive here, and none of them were good. “I can’t say I see anything that would deserve such a cute name like that though.” She continued, looking at the jungle surrounding them. The trees were easily thrice as tall as Merry, and were looming over them.

“Just what about this island is little?” Asked Ussop.

“And look!” Exclaimed Nami while observing the vegetation around them. “I’ve never seen any plants like these even in my encyclopedia!” The plants were all larger than expected and didn’t look like any other type of plant she knew. Suddenly, a loud and strange sound made her flinch, and she instinctively tried to hide. “What was that just now?” She shouted.

“Terrified Nami is so cute!” Swooned Sanji, before trying to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it’s just a normal bird. And even this island is nothing but your average jungle.” He said confidently, turning around to reassure her and turning his back to the jungle.

Which proved to be a mistake, when a few seconds later a huge creature that looked like a lizard, but with wings, passed just behind him. Nobody had time to react before a loud boom echoed through the jungle, the sound so loud that it made the ship vibrate.

“Does this sound like your average jungle?” Asked a terrified Nami, while Usopp exclaimed at the same time “That sounded like a volcano exploding or something!”

The island seemed to try to scare them, because they didn’t have the time to say more before a huge tiger appeared on the land just next to the river they were sailing in, before dropping dead.

“I don’t care what anyone says, that’s definitely not normal!” Shouted Nami. 

“Alright, then it’s decided. We are to not set foot on this island.” Said sagely Usopp, nodding his head.

“Let’s just quietly wait on our ship, and leave the very second our log pose finishes recording. After all, we have to hurry on to Alabasta as soon as possible.” Continued Nami.

However, her captain seemed to have a very different idea.

“Sanji, prepare a lunchbox!” He shouted, nearly vibrating with the need to go explore. “This island seems so interesting, I smell adventure ahead.” He said with a huge grin on his face.

Nami tried inefficiently to stop him, before being betrayed by Vivi who asked Luffy if she could go explore with him, which he quickly agreed to. Going on an adventure with friends and a lunchbox, he couldn’t think of anything better.

“I know that if I stay on the ship without doing anything, I’ll just keep worrying about Alabasta.” The princess explained after seeing Nami’s betrayed look. “So I may as well go explore and try to think of something else until the log pose is set. I’ll be fine with Luffy and Karoo by my side.” She said with a smile to the shock of said duck who tried to protest, his shouts being covered by the shout of “Vivi!” coming from the kitchen. 

“Then allow me to make a lunchbox of love for you, Vivi-san.” Said Sanji smoothly, getting out of the kitchen just in time to offer his help to a lovely lady in need.

It took him a few minutes to get the food ready, and then Luffy, Karoo and Vivi on his back left the Merry to go explore. Seeing them leave seemed to spark something in Zoro, who quickly decided to go for a walk. It took less than ten seconds for him and Sanji to challenge each other to a hunting competition after he jumped off the deck, and both swordsman and cook left the ship insulting each other, to the despair of Nami and Usopp that were left behind.

~~One Piece~~

The cowardly duo fell on the floor next to each other, their back on the railing so they wouldn’t see the scary island. Nami hugged her knees in an effort to reassure herself. “I hate this, and I had a bad presentiment since Miss All Sunday mentioned Little Garden… Wait, now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve heard this name before. Wasn’t it in a book...” She stood up suddenly to go inside the ship and started searching through her small collection of books for the one she wanted. When she found it, however, she wished she didn’t. ‘To its inhabitants, this island is like a little garden. An island of Giants’, stated the book.

“Usopp!” She shouted, coming back outside running.

“Did you find where you’ve heard of it before?” He asked.

“We’re in trouble! On this island…” A huge shadow suddenly fell over them, and she stopped talking in shock. Slowly, the both of them turned their head and came face to face with the most terrifying sight they had ever seen before.

“Do you have any rum?”

~~One Piece~~

“Hey, check this out!” Shouted excitedly Luffy, before showing what he was holding to Vivi. “There’s a clam that looks like a squid! A clam-squid!”

Vivi dropped from Karoo’s back to get closer. “This looks like an ammonite if you ask me.” She started. “It’s strange, I didn’t think they were still alive.” She added pensively.

“What do you mean?” Asked Luffy while poking the now named clam-squid to see if it could go inside its shell. “This one is clearly alive.”

“Hm, well, I think I’ve read somewhere-” Started to say Vivi before stopping abruptly as she saw something moving from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes opened wide in fear when she saw what it was, and Luffy turned around to see what had made her react.

“Ah.” He said calmly. “Why is there a Sea King on land?” He asked, looking at the animal in front of him. It easily towered over the trees, the only part of its body they could see was its long neck. It had moved to grab a few leaves from one of the biggest trees around and was leisurely munching on them.

“That’s not a Sea King!” Shouted Vivi as soon as she had recovered from her shock. “It’s a dinosaur ” She dived to hide behind Karoo, the duck standing frozen in fear.

“A dinosaur?” Repeated Luffy. His habitual huge grin appeared on his face. “I’ve never eaten a dinosaur before.” He muttered, swallowing the small drop of saliva that had appeared at the corner of his mouth at the prospect of eating a creature as big as this one.

“It means that we’re on a prehistoric island.” Despaired Vivi.

“A prehiwhat?”

“Prehistoric. That island is still stuck in the age of dinosaurs. That’s a particularity of the Grand Line, not every island has access to the same level of technology. This one must have stopped evolving thousands of years ago, and we’re now on an island full of dinosaurs. ” She finished her explanation with a cry before turning toward Luffy to tell him that they must go back to the Merry, only for him to have disappeared from her side.

Before the thought that he must have been eaten could do more than cross her mind, her attention was grabbed back by a shout of “Awesome” coming from the dinosaur's direction. To her despair, she could see that Luffy had climbed most of its neck, and was looking around from his vantage point. “I can see almost all of the island from here!” He shouted.

He climbed up the few meters left and sat cross-legged at the top of the dinosaur’s head. “Wow, the view is really great.” He marveled. “I should start to eat my lunch here. Oh, I didn’t notice that there were that many volcanoes.” He grabbed his backpack and started to rummage through it, ignoring Vivi’s cry that he should get down and that it was dangerous. As if he hadn’t noticed that the dinosaur he was on was only eating leaves, and not meat. “I would have to beat you up if you started to eat my meat.” He muttered, patting the top of its head. “But we can be friends. I’ll give you all my vegetables.”

He finally found the particular box that he wanted to eat right now, Sanji having packed a few different boxes for him knowing that he would have eaten all in one seating if he hadn’t. Before he could get it out of his backpack, the head he was on suddenly twitched. “Wha-” The dinosaur moved his head back, throwing Luffy into the air. Before he could do more than extend one of his hands and grab his backpack, the dinosaur's teeth closed just above him.

He expanded his other hand, wanting to grab a tooth or something that would stop him from being eaten, when he felt a rush of air below him. His head snapped down, and instead of seeing the darkness of the dinosaur’s gut, he could see the top of the trees. He let himself fall down, surprised by what happened, but instead of falling on the ground, a huge hand appeared below him, stopping him.

“Whoah!” He exclaimed when he saw how big the hand that held him was.

A loud laugh reverberated through the forest around them, before the being holding him started talking. “Aren’t you a lively one! I haven’t had guests in over a year, and for at least a decade before he came.”

Luffy stood up, his eyes following the arm to reach the face of the man that had prevented him from being eaten. “You’re huge!” He shouted. The man was easily towering over the surrounding trees. “Are you human?”

“I’m a Giant!” Exclaimed the giant. “I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Dorry!” He presented himself with a laugh. “Let me invite you folks to my place.” He continued with a smile.

“A Giant!” Vivi’s cry attracted both of their attention. “This is my first time seeing one. AH! He spotted me!” She shouted.

~~One Piece~~

Both Nami and Usopp were openly crying, staring at the huge figure that towered above them.

“I asked you.” Repeated the giant, his huge smile not leaving his face. “If you have any rum.”

The voice managed to drag them out of their stupor, and the navigator stuttered, her voice coming out in a wail “W-we have a little.”

“So you do have some!” The giant said happily, crouching to be face to face with the two pirates. He suddenly shouted in pain, scaring the normal-sized humans. The giant looked back in rage, and the three of them could see that a T-Rex had bitten him in the ass. 

“A d-dinosaur…” Wailed Nami, tears of fear dripping down her face. “A giant and a dinosaur…” Usopp sobbed next to her.

The giant violently turned around and, swinging a huge battle axe, promptly decapitated the dinosaur.  He grabbed the dinosaur’s fallen head with his free hand, the other raising his axe high above his head.

“I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Brogy!” He introduced himself with a laugh. “I have some meat to go with your rum.” He said, stopping his posturing to look back at the two small humans. “Let me welcome you as my guest.”

He put his axe back on his hip, grabbed them both with his hand and started to walk back toward his camp. Nami and Usopp could only watch, frozen in fear, as the Merry disappeared behind them, each step from the giant taking them dozens of meters away.

It wasn’t long before he dropped them on the ground in front of a huge log, telling them to sit down while he started a fire. They sat on it and shared a desperate look, Nami clutching Usopp’s arm tightly.

“Did you see…” Hissed Usopp, his eyes darting left and right for a second before fixing themselves resolutely on the fire in front of them.

“Hmm hmm” Nodded Nami dejectedly. It was hard to miss all the skeletons surrounding them.

"There, eat this." Said Brogy, holding out a hunk of meat.

“We’re not hungry.” They said in sync. The giant was probably trying to fatten them up before eating them, and they weren’t going to make it easy for him. He didn't insist, and started to eat his own part.

When he started to slow down, almost all the meat gone, Nami felt that he had eaten enough that he wouldn't turn on them instantly. They still needed to escape, but they needed to time it right so when they ran back to the Merry they were able to immediately leave.

"Hmm, Mr. Brogy?" She started, gathering her courage. "How long does it take for the log pose to finish recording?"

"One year." Answered the giant, his smile not leaving his face even as his eyebrows rose when he saw the dread coming from the two small pirates.

~~One Piece~~

“This is really good, Mr. Giant.” Said Luffy, happily munching on the giant piece of meat that the giant had cooked from them.

“And your pirate lunchbox is pretty good, even if it is small.” Dorry answered just as happily, the piece of meat he was holding looking ridiculously small between his fingers.

“You bet it is!” Exclaimed Luffy, still smiling but his tone a little more serious. “I would have kicked your ass if you said it tasted bad. Sanji is the best chef.”

They both continued to laugh and eat, ignoring the shocked Vivi that watched them.

“Ne, why are you living alone here?” Asked Luffy. “Don’t you have a village to live in?”

“I have a home, but it's far away. The island I'm from is called Elbaf, it's the main island for us giants. The law there says that if two people have a disagreement and can't solve it, they have to fight to the death, and our god Elbaf will judge who is right and bestow divine protection on them to ensure their survival. I've gotten involved in a quarrel once on this island, and since then we have been using it as a battleground to determine who is right. But it has been one hundred years since we started fighting, and we just can’t seem to settle our duel!” He concluded with a booming laugh.

“You’ve been fighting for a hundred years?” Said Luffy, impressed.

“It may seem long for you, but the lifespan of a giant is three times as long as yours.”

“But how can you still fight after all this time?” Asked Vivi, before being interrupted by a huge explosion, the same one that they heard when they arrived at the island. “Are you trying to kill each other?” She insisted, before Dorry stood up on his feet.

“This explosion is the signal for battle.” He explained to Luffy.

“How can you hate each other so much that you tried to kill each other for a hundred years.” Continued Vivi, angry at being ignored, before Luffy silenced her with a hand on her mouth.

“It’s not about that anymore.” He started to explain.

“Yes, it’s about pride now.” Continued Dorry.

They could see a huge form appear on the other side of the island, and the two giants started running towards each other. “We forgot the reason for our clash ages ago!” Finally shouted Dorry, while bringing sharply his sword on Brogy’s head and parrying his fellow giant’s battleaxe with his shield.

The clash continued, each giant trying his best to kill the other, while at the same time none of them managing to really hit each other, too used to their fighting style not to anticipate each attack from their rival.

“Don’t you long for our home, Dorry?” Asked Brogy, after he parried a vicious slash from Dorry’s sword.

“That’s exactly why I’ll crush you today and leave for Elbaf victorious, Brogy!” Dorry shouted, before bringing his sword sharply forward and piercing the rock behind Brogy in a show of strength. The battle-axed giant managed to avoid the attack by jumping sharply into the air, using the opening to bring down his axe on the head of his rival. Dorry took the hit to the side of his helmet, managing to avoid it piercing his shoulder and his head.

“If he received that blow just a few centimeters off, it would have meant instant death!” Exclaimed Usopp from their place high above the ground on the side of one of the smaller volcanoes where Brogy had dropped them when the fight had started, half impressed and half afraid. “All of their attacks are aiming for each other’s most vital points.” He continued his analysis.

“It’s our chance to escape.” Said Nami, trying to drag him back into the forest and away from the fight, but Usopp stood his ground.

“This is what a fight between men is!” He proclaimed, awed. “Can’t you see?” He continued, seeing that Nami wasn’t understanding. “This is a real battle of pride between two warriors! I’m going to stay here a bit longer and watch, because this is what I meant by brave warrior of the seas… I want to become just like them!” He said, determined.

Nami stopped trying to get away, and came back to sit next to him. “So… You want to be a giant?” She asked, smiling smugly at Usopp's spluttered denials.

During their talk, the two giants had lost their weapons, and were now fighting each other with just their fist and their shield. They managed to hit each other’s heads with their shield at the same time, the hits strong enough to make the earth vibrate around them. They stood their ground for a few seconds before dropping at the same time on the ground.

“73 466 fights…” Started Brogy.

“73 466 draws.” Finished Dorry.

They panted for a few seconds on the floor, before Brogy started laughing. “Hey, Dorry, I got some rum from guests!” He explained happily. Dorry's laugh soon answered him. 

“Excellent! I haven’t had rum for so long, pour me some, will you?”

A few minutes and an exchange of rum later, Dorry was back next to Luffy and Vivi, bringing them news of Usopp and Nami's presence with Brogy.

“Sorry to change the topic.” Interrupted Vivi. “But you said earlier that it takes a year for the log to finish recording on this island, is that true?”

“Did you not see the skeletons of the little humans lying around? Most humans who come here end up dying long before their log pose sets. Some get eaten by the dinosaurs, some try to attack us… I only know of one human who managed to survive more than a year here, all of the others end up perishing on this island. It seems that spending even a single year here is too long for you little ones.”

“What do I do.” Whispered desperately Vivi, her head between her hands. “Even if I survive on this island for that long, who knows what would become of my country during that time…”

“Yeah, spending a whole year here would get kinda boring.” Agreed Luffy. “Isn’t there some other way?” He asked the giant.

“Well, I do have one eternal pose, but it only points toward my home, Elbaf. But I said there was one little human that managed to survive on this island for more than a year, and he is still here. You could try asking him if he has a log pose?” Dorry offered after a moment of reflection.

“Really Mr. Giant? Could you show us where he lives?” Asked Luffy.

“Sure.” Dorry offered.

He put down the barrel of rum he had just opened and was going to take a swing off and rose from his sitting position.

“He tries to stay away from our battle, so he lives closer to this small chains of volcanoes that you can see over there.” He said, pointing to the other side of the island, closer to Brogy.