WONDERLAND | ONE PIECE

TWENTY

"Cheshire's known him for longer," Zoro childishly deflected.

The blond girl looked up, her blue eyes wide at the accusation. "I've known him for only like an hour longer then you," she remarked. "Plus, he obviously trusts you more."

Zoro grumbled to himself quietly, unable to argue with the obvious ego inflation. "Fine..." he mumbled. With how thick the fog was, as Zoro approached Luffy on the bow, the other three lost sigh of him. A minute passed before the swordsman returned, and he reported Luffy to be fine.

Nami huffed a sigh. "Did you even ask him?" she said dryly to the boy who didn't reply.

Luffy bounced to his feet, his silhouette recognisable amongst the thick fog. He held a finger up and sniffed the air. "Hey! You guys smell that?"

"What, the humidity?" Cheshire asked rhetorically, brushing a hand through her increasingly greasy hair.

The thick air refused to part as Luffy continued to sniff it, beginning to list the different scents flooding the fog: butter, soy sauce and meat. The last taste in the air brought Luffy's grin back.

"I can't smell anything?" Usopp said, spinning in a full circle in search of what Luffy meant. Behind him, Cheshire, Nami and Zoro stood together, watching their captain seemingly in disappointment.

The swordsman tucked his hands in his pocket, peering out into the fog in search of some source of the supposed smell. "Think he has brain damage?" he asked.

"I think that every day," Nami replied tiredly.

"Look, Luffy, playing follow the smell is fun and all-,"

"No, Luffy right!" White Rabbit interrupted Usopp, startling awake. He squirmed in Cheshire's arms, hopping out of her hug and dashing for the bow, leaning between the railing as his nose twitched. Closing his eyes, he continued to sniff the air with Luffy, yelling that he could smell garlic and chicken as well. "Full speed ahead!" The rabbit hopped happily, clapping his paws together with excitement.

With the combination of Luffy's abnormal abilities and White Rabbit's natural sense of smell, the crew sailed through the fog with their guide. Eventually, a dim light began to broke through the thick air, the gentle glow of a lantern brought amongst the haze.

"What is that?" Zoro pointed to the glow, watching it grow as a ship appeared in the horizon.

Cheshire squinted against the fog, reading out the ship's bright sign with a tilted head, "Baratie? What the hell is a Baratie?"

Luffy gasped, letting out a laugh as he watched the restaurant become closer and closer. The Going Merry finally broke the fog, giving the crew a clear view of the floating restaurant designed on top of a large fish. With its docks packed, Nami managed to steer the vessel towards the end, slowing it to a halt behind another large pirate ship.

The crew crowded around the edge of the ship, eyeing the large ship in confusion. The smells Luffy and White Rabbit had picked up on finally hit them, and Cheshire felt her stomach growl impatiently.

"Everyone's going to that fish ship?" Zoro observed.

"That smell. I think this place is a restaurant," Nami added, a smile finding its way onto her lips.