The island existed as a single unit, neither a chain nor a cluster of islands but rather one single, very long strip that extended a hundred miles from east to west, tailing off with a long tail at each end and curving into a slight arc in the center.
The chakra of the island was different from that of any other that Kael had read.
The difference was biological in nature.
Every single living thing that inhabited Long Ring Long Land had evolved in response to the ambient field of the island, becoming longer with age in ways that horses, pigs, and other things did not elsewhere.
Horses were taller than other horses.
Pigs grew to lengths greater than normal.
Birds possessed necks twice as long as any that Kael had ever seen.
Even the trees were tall and thin, the very same trees that he had once seen at sea level appearing thick and stocky.
There was something about the chakra energy here that his Sage Mode picked up on, an urge to extend.
That was peculiar in its way.
But, in another way, it was beautiful.
They made landfall at the western tail in late morning.
Luffy was off the ship before the ropes were untied.
Chopper rushed after him.
The rest of the crew – having gotten accustomed to Luffy and Chopper being the first to make contact with new creatures because they had more experience dealing with those sorts of situations – took their leave of the Going Merry at a more measured pace.
Kael and Robin wandered inland together.
They weren’t out looking for anything in particular, simply allowing their minds and bodies to settle into a new place, to begin taking in their surroundings slowly and deliberately as they had done before when coming down from Skypiea.
They encountered the old man and his horse midday.
The old man identified himself as Tonjit.
He perched atop stilts on the porch of a house that stood higher than anyone in his family.
He explained to Kael and Robin that he had spent the past ten years on stilts, ever since his horse Shelly had run off one day while they rode, and he had waited for her to return.
His horse had been his family since his wife had passed away many years before.
Shelly returned to the eastern beach each year for the past decade, and it had become an important tradition in Tonjit’s life. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Kael heard all of this with his Sage Mode humming in the background of his mind, slowly pushing forward to get a more detailed understanding of the situation.
Finally, he opened his mind just a bit more and located the horse.
Shelly was alive, and she was very old.
As far as horses go, that is.
He recognized the signature slow, amber glow of a chakra energy that belonged to a creature that had grown old on this island, extending itself within its environment.
Kael read the chakra trail left behind from Shelly, finding that she nested herself in the dunes each spring and returned to the beach during the warm season.
“I’ve found her.”
“Where?” Tonjit’s grip on the porch railing tightened until his knuckles went bone white.
“At the eastern tail.
Nesting in the rocks above the water line.
She’s alive.
Very old and very tired.
But she’s in good health.”
“How do you know?”
“I read it in her chakra.”
Tonjit stared between the two of them, absorbing the news.
“You read it… like someone who knows how.
Yes.”
His eyes brimmed over, but the tears were silent, coming from ten years of waiting suddenly seeming to dissolve in a single instant.
“I can’t reach her on my stilts and I’m too weak to stand.”
“We’ll bring her to you.”
Robin and Kael turned toward the eastern beach.
It took them hours, but they found Shelly on the rocky shore.
Her chakra revealed that she had returned each summer for the past decade and made herself comfortable above the tide line at a certain headland, nesting among the rocks with her long, elongated neck stretched out to lie upon a smooth stone surface. Follow the newest chapters on novelping(.)com.
As they approached her, Shelly lifted her head, her eyes dark and intelligent.
She didn’t show any signs of panic.
Robin coaxed her gently.
She spoke softly to the horse as they drew nearer to where she rested.
As Kael touched her flank, he eased into her chakra signature, not to heal her for she didn’t need healing but to recognize her.
The aged mare accepted this with a sigh and slowly got to her hooves.
Kael guided her down from the rocks and led her across the miles of sand to Tonjit’s home.
They arrived at the house well past sundown.
Tonjit stood waiting on stilts, slowly making his way down the steps when Kael and Robin presented Shelly to him.
With trembling legs, he shuffled across the dirt floor of his yard until the mare was standing close enough for him to bury his face against her neck.
She nuzzled him gently, accepting her old friend and letting her owner weep in joy.
It seemed to Kael and Robin that the old man had waited for that moment all ten years.
They remained outside as Shelly settled down next to Tonjit on his porch.
The mare laid her elongated head across his knees, and he cradled it tenderly as Robin and Kael watched.
Finally, Robin turned to Kael and took his arm.
They walked back to the ship together, slowly, enjoying the long blue dusk of Long Ring Long Land and the grasses taller than they were elsewhere in this world.
Robin said little during the walk back.
Neither did Kael.
But at the thought of leaving Long Ring Long Land, Kael felt a pang of guilt at what seemed to be an empty adventure on the crew’s part.
There didn’t seem to be any purpose in the visit, except for the brief moment of fulfillment experienced by Tonjit.
It was a small thing.
No one had known about it beforehand and nothing had been gained except for some peace.
And yet it had been one of the best hours that Kael had spent in this world.
He lingered by the ship as the night drew closer, staring at the rising moon beyond the long grasslands of Long Ring Long Land.