Yuba Oasis

After Luffy eagerly blasted himself towards who knows where, the rest of the crew arrived at a nearby rock formation for a little break. However, as soon as they reached the rocks, they noticed multiple birds lying on the ground, looking like they were about to die.

As soon as Chopper saw that, he immediately wanted to help them, but before he could do so, Vivi stopped him.

"Careful, those are Warusagi Birds. They pretend to be hurt so they can rob unsuspecting travelers."

The moment the birds heard Vivi's words, sweat began to flow down their heads. They had not expected this group to be accompanied by someone knowledgeable!

"Sanji?"

"Yes, Yuna-chwan~"

"Got any recipes?"

"Mhh, I've never cooked such a bird before, but I'm sure I could come up with something delicious."

"Well, go right ahead."

As Yuna and Sanji continued talking,  more and more sweat started flowing down the birds' bodies until they straight up scrambled to get up and fly away, with neither Yuna nor Sanji making a move to capture them.

What a joke, there was barely any meat on those birds, so Sanji could easily tell that Yuna was just messing around.

"HEY GUYS!!! LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!"

Hearing Luffy screaming, all eyes wandered toward the source of the noise, where Luffy could be seen running away from a giant lizard. And somehow, a camel was running away with him.

While Nami, Vivi, and Usopp were shocked by the giant lizard, Yuna could only scratch her head in wonder.

"What the hell happened in the last five minutes since Luffy went missing? How did he not only aggro a giant lizard, but even find a camel we can use?"

As no one had an answer to that, Zoro and Sanji only shrugged their shoulders as they got ready for combat, taking the giant lizard out pretty much instantly, almost causing the others to feel a little pity towards it.

Following that, Chopper translated the camel's words, which pretty much could be summarized as: I don't mind carrying people, but I only carry women, earning it a beating from Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro.

Of course, the ever-opportunistic Nami stopped them rather quickly and immediately cozied up to the camel.

"Now, now, don't let those three bully you. You are a good boy, aren't you~"

Seeing the hearts in the camel's eyes after Nami's coaxing, Yuna snorted in disdain as she approached Nami and seized her chin with her hand.

"Now, now, Nami. How about you forget about that perverted camel and let me carry you instead. Would you like to sit on my shoulders, with your thighs firmly pressed against my cheeks, or would you prefer a princess carry? Of course, if that is what you're into, I wouldn't mind allowing you to sit on my back while I'm on all fours, but that one won't be for free~"

As Nami's face flushed redder and redder due to Yuna's words, Sanji didn't hesitate for even a split second as he slid next to Nami on his hands and knees.

"NAMI-SCHWAAAN~ PLEASE TAKE A SEAT!!! I'LL CARRY YOU WHEREVER YOU WANT!!!"

So, as Sanji's legs were twitching like crazy after his upper body got buried into the sand by one of Nami's punches that might or might not have been infused with Conqueror's Haki, the journey continued with Nami sitting on the camels back together with Vivi, her face still red in shame. While she was riding on the camels back, she occasionally threw a glare at Yuna, which Yuna only answered with a wink and a smirk. Well, since Nami and Vivi's bodies were much weaker, Yuna didn't mind them riding the camel, which Nami apparently named Eyelashes.

Anyway, since the lizard had some good chunks of meat on it, Sanji,  after recovering from Nami's attack, immediately started cooking, putting chunk of meat after chunk of meat on the heated rocks sitting in the sun, cooking the meat at a decent pace.

After everyone was full, the crew continued traveling, and a few hours later, they could actually see a light in the distance, signaling that they had arrived at their destination: The Yuba oasis.

However, calling Yuba an "Oasis" was a stretch, as it looked just as dried out as Erumalu, causing Vivi to almost feel physical pain due to remembering how prosperous this city once was.

"I got completely swallowed by the desert!"

Rage filled Vivi as she saw one of the most prosperous cities of Alabast completely collapsed.

However, things got even worse as they entered the ruins of the once-prosperous city, where they found an old, thin man wielding a shovel, digging up the sand in search of water.

"Hello, travelers. Unfortunately, Yuba is rather dried up and upright now, but we still have quite a few high-class hotels for you to stay at."

Of course, what the old man didn't mention was that those so-called "high-class" hotels had been abandoned a long time ago. While the rooms were still luxurious, that was all they could offer.

"Vivi, didn't you say that there would be an oasis here? What's goi..."

That was as far as  Luffy got before Nami smashed him into the ground, her face turning vicious as she whispered to him in a harsh tone.

"Idiot, we need to keep Vivi's identity a secret!"

However, the old man had clearly heard Luffy calling Vivy by her name, briefly putting him into a daze.

"No way, Vivi? Is it really you? Don't you remember me? Well, I suppose I've lost some weight, but you should still recognize me. It's me, Toto."

Initially, Vivi was apprehensive due to her identity being revealed, but hearing the old man's name instantly sent her into a daze.

"No way. Old Toto?"

"Haha, that's right, that's me! So you still remember me. Don't worry, I still believe in the king. He would never betray his people!"

Hearing those words, the other Straw Hats nodded in approval, happy that not everyone had gone against Vivi's father. Well, "the other Straw Hats" might be somewhat of a loose term, as Luffy only roughly got what was going on due to not really paying attention, and Zoro was nowhere to be seen, but this was as close as it was about to get.

After a little more chatting, Toto revealed that the rebels Vivi was trying to stop had already left Yuba behind and were now stationed in Katorea. Vivi was almost about to storm off, but Toto quickly convinced her to at least rest for one night.

Since most of the crew was rather tired from traveling through the desert the whole day, no one disagreed.

Hours passed, and after everyone had stuffed themselves full with Sanji's cooking, it was time for. While Yuna considered sneaking into Nami's bedroom to take advantage cough to have some girl-to-girl talk, Yuna noticed someone was outside.

Looking out of the window, Yuna saw Toto still at work, constantly shoveling away the sand. Wondering why he was digging a hole in the middle of the desert, Yuna jumped out of the window and approached him.

"Still at work this deep into the night?"

Hearing Yuna calling him, Toto briefly glanced at her before he continued digging.

"Yes, this is my fight. Yuba and I against the sand. I'm not giving up this city."

"Mhh, I can feel quite a lot of water deep underneath the sand."

"What!?"

The moment those words left Yuna's mouth, Toto's head instantly snapped towards her.

"You can feel water!? What do you mean!?"

Seeing the frantic look on Toto's face, Yuna decided not to tease the old man and simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I control ice and as such, I have a decent feeling for water as well."

Toto was in a daze after Yuna's explanation.

'She can control ice and feel the water underneath Yuba. Doesn't that mean she could just...'

Before Toto could finish those thoughts, he noticed Yuna's head abruptly snapping in another direction.

"I-Is something wrong?"

"A sandstorm is coming."

"WHAT!? Damnit! The last one wasn't even a day ago! It's getting worse and worse!"

Yuna ignored Toto and squinted her eyes at the sandstorm instead.

'Kurama.'

[Yeah, there is malice in that sandstorm. Someone made it to attack this place.]

'Seems like we got the same impression.'

"Seems like someone doesn't like you, old man."

"Mhh? What do you mean?"

"That sandstorm is manmade and is either directed at you, or the city as a whole, possibly both."

"H-How can that be?"

"Mhh~ I got an idea, but I think not telling you is the better choice here."

[Sand-Sand Fruit, huh?]

'Guess so. Crocodile being able to turn into sand isn't exactly a secret, but to think he could create a whole sandstorm. This might actually be quite the challenge~'

[Getting excited.]

'Yup, it's been a while~'

After finishing her conversation with Kurama, she briefly glanced at Toto, who was looking at her in confusion, and then decided that she might as well stretch her legs a little and do some work.

"Well, no need to worry too much about the situation. We are here to solve the problem. Just give us a few more days. As for the sandstorm? I'll deal with it."

"D-Deal with it? What do you m..."

Before Toto could finish speaking, the ground started grumbling as the sand surrounding the duo started moving. Ice platforms appeared under Toto's feet to make sure he doesn't get flooded by the sand, and seconds later, the sand burst apart, as dozens of colossal ice pillars rose to the sky.

"Well, since you and Yuba have been fighting the sand for so long, I'm sure you wouldn't mind me lending some support."

Before Toto got even a chance to answer, the ice Pillars moved. The twisted and turned, becoming thinner but wider, and a few seconds later, a good chunk of Yuba was protected from the storm by a gigantic ice wall, utterly dumbfounding Toto.

"What incredible power!"

"Meh, just some small tricks. The presence of all this water made it almost effortless."

Could Yuna have done the same without Yuba's oasis? Certainly, but it would have cost some stamina. With all that water present? Pretty much effortless.

Seconds later, the sandstorm crashed harmlessly against the ice walls surrounding Yuba, harmlessly passing by the city, and as soon as the storm was gone, the ice moved yet again. It pooled together into a giant ice block that drilled itself into the ground until it was reconnected with the water supplies beneath the city. Then, the ice simply melted away, turning into a huge pool of water.

Seeing the now easily reachable water supply, Toto couldn't help but thank Yuna heartily. An oasis that would have had him spending months digging and digging and digging was opened up just like that. It didn't even take Yuna 10 minutes!

"Truly. Thank you for reviving Yuba like this."

"Well, no need to thank me. Besides, as long as the culprit is still around, this place is far from safe. However, there is no need to worry about that. We'll clean this country up really soon, so look forward to it."

To those words, Toto could only eagerly nod his head.