"I'm disowning you if you lose, lass. Luffy'll be sad, but I'm sure he'd understand why we need another navigator," Varin called out from atop one of the ruined stone structures overlooking the fight. He was mostly being a dick. Even if he'd never admit it out loud, he did get along with Nami unusually well. He wouldn't say he had favorites among the crew because that would sound downright unfair to the crew who saved him, but her fiery attitude reminded him of his sisters before his exile. Same sharp tongue. Same tendency to start arguments they absolutely intended to win.
Nami shot him a furious glare while ducking beneath another floating swamp cloud hurled toward her. "HELPING would be appreciated!" she shouted back.
"Nah. You're doin' good."
And honestly? She was sure the priest's abilities were mildly dangerous, but they happened to match up surprisingly poorly against Nami specifically. Gedatsu's main style revolved around manipulating and launching those swamp clouds to trap and suffocate opponents, but the Clima-Tact's wind bursts countered them almost perfectly. Every time he tried throwing one toward her, she blasted it aside before it could engulf her.
The ruins around them echoed with impacts as clouds slammed into ancient stone, swallowing chunks of broken walls whole. Gedatsu himself moved strangely fast despite his size. The cloud skis attached beneath his feet let him glide effortlessly across the unstable battlefield, darting between floating swamp clouds with sudden bursts of speed that didn't match his otherwise vacant demeanor at all.
And that was where the real problem started. Nami blocked another incoming cloud with a gust of wind from her Clima-Tact, only for Gedatsu to suddenly vanish sideways behind the drifting mass. "Shit—" He reappeared behind her almost instantly. A heavy impact slammed into her back before she could fully turn, launching her sideways across the ruins. Nami barely caught herself before crashing into one of the purple clouds waiting nearby.
The edge of it brushed against her boot, and immediately her leg sank downward almost to the knee. Nami's eyes widened in panic as the cloud tried pulling her deeper like living quicksand. Gedatsu calmly raised another cloud overhead. "You are weak."
"Yeah?" Nami snapped, jamming the Clima-Tact downward. A powerful burst of compressed wind exploded beneath her feet, forcibly blasting her free from the swamp cloud before she could sink further. "Well, you look like your thoughts get lost halfway to your mouth!"
Gedatsu paused. Then he blinked slowly. "That was rude."
Varin barked out a loud laugh from above while watching the exchange. "Aye, that's my navigator!" Nami honestly wasn't sure if that counted as encouragement or not.
Gedatsu launched himself forward again, cloud skis hissing across the stone ruins beneath him while several swamp clouds drifted after him like hunting animals. Nami backed away quickly, Clima-Tact spinning between her fingers as she forced herself to stay calm.
She couldn't match him physically. That much was obvious. Every direct hit he landed hurt, and if she got trapped fully inside one of those clouds, the fight was over immediately. But she didn't need to overpower him; she just needed to outthink him, and that was one thing she was very good at.
Another swamp cloud flew toward her face. Nami swung the Clima-Tact sideways, blasting it apart with a focused burst of wind before immediately ducking low. Gedatsu shot over her head instead of behind her this time. "Too predictable," Nami muttered. She slammed the Clima-Tact upward into his side as he passed.
The hit wasn't especially powerful, but it threw off his balance enough that one of his cloud skis clipped the edge of a drifting swamp cloud.
One leg suddenly sank halfway through the purple mass. Gedatsu stared downward blankly. Then both eyes rolled upward into the back of his head. The soldier standing far behind him immediately screamed, "PRIEST GEDATSU, YOUR EYES AGAIN!"
"Ah," Gedatsu replied calmly while still sinking. "How careless."
Even Nami paused for half a second, visibly confused by what she was witnessing.
"Please, lass, don't make me beg," Varin called out from atop the ruins, one hand dragging down his face dramatically. "At this point, I wish I'd died on Alabasta. I mean, come on, it's a miracle he's lived this long."
Gedatsu, currently halfway sunk into his own swamp cloud, blinked slowly. Then, somehow managed to sink further. The soldier in the background looked moments away from having a breakdown. "Sir! Sir, please stop standing in the swamp!"
"Ah," Gedatsu replied calmly. "That explains it."
Nami physically recoiled. "How is he a priest?!"
"I've got no clue," Varin admitted. "I'm honestly startin' to feel insulted on behalf of the lightning bastard. Imagine gatherin' followers and this is what shows up."
Despite the absurdity of the situation, though, Varin's eyes never fully relaxed. Beneath the jokes and laughing, he was still watching carefully. Because, stupid or not, the priest was somewhat dangerous. The ruins around them were filled with hidden swamp clouds, and Gedatsu moved fast enough that one mistake from Nami would still end the fight immediately.
And judging by the look on Nami's face, she knew it too. The navigator exhaled slowly and tightened her grip on the Clima-Tact again. "Alright," she muttered, "I'm officially done overestimating idiots."
"A valuable life lesson," Varin replied sagely. "Most dangerous people I know are idiots."
"That includes you."
"Aye."
Gedatsu finally managed to pull himself free from the swamp cloud with a wet sucking sound before landing back atop the ruins. His expression remained completely serious despite what had just happened.
"You mock the ordeal," he declared.
Varin snorted. "No, priest, I'm mockin' you specifically. Important difference."
A faint twitch crossed Gedatsu's face. Not enough to lose his composure entirely, but enough that Nami noticed it immediately. Several swamp clouds shot toward her at once from the dials mounted along Gedatsu's arms and shoulders. Unlike before, there wasn't much rhythm to the attack anymore. He was firing faster now, trying to overwhelm her instead of carefully cornering her.
Nami darted sideways across the uneven ruins, Clima-Tact spinning through her fingers as bursts of wind blasted incoming clouds away before they could touch her.
"Persistent little criminal," Gedatsu muttered.
"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Nami shot back.
Gedatsu suddenly accelerated again, cloud skis hissing across the stone while another dial fired directly toward her face. Nami swung the Clima-Tact, blasting the incoming swamp cloud upward. But that had been the distraction. Gedatsu appeared behind her again, arm already cocked back to shove her straight into another cloud waiting nearby, only this time Nami was ready for it.
The instant he got close, she slammed the end of the Clima-Tact directly into the ground. A concentrated burst of wind exploded outward in every direction. Gedatsu's eyes widened slightly as the sudden force disrupted his balance mid-glide. One of the cloud skis beneath his feet lifted awkwardly sideways. Which meant he couldn't dodge. Nami grinned as she released that. "Found your weakness." She swung the Clima-Tact like a staff directly into the side of his head. The hit cracked loudly through the ruins. Gedatsu stumbled sideways, cloud skis scraping violently across broken stone before one caught the edge of a root and snapped completely. For the first time since the fight started, the priest actually lost control.
He pitched sideways directly toward one of his own drifting swamp clouds. "Ah," Gedatsu said calmly as gravity betrayed him. "Unfortunate."
Then he vanished waist-deep into the cloud. Nami immediately jumped backward while Gedatsu continued sinking slowly into his own trap, expression as blank as ever. One arm reached outward weakly before another hidden swamp cloud beneath him gave way too.
The priest dropped entirely through the ruins below with a distant splash somewhere beneath the cloud layer. Silence followed, then somewhere far below: "...How careless."
Nami stared downward for several long seconds, then slowly lowered the Clima-Tact. "I..." She blinked once. "Did I just win?"
Varin barked out a loud laugh from atop the ruins before hopping down beside her hard enough to crack the stone beneath his boots. "Aye, lass," he grinned. "You beat the world's most dangerous idiot, scratch that, second behind Luffy."
Nami let out a long breath before immediately pointing her staff at him. "You are never allowed to make me do that again."
"Who's gonna stop me?"
Before she could yell at him further, though, part of the ruins beneath them shifted. Gedatsu slowly climbed back upward through a broken section of stone, covered in dirt and cloud residue but somehow still conscious.
Varin immediately sighed and jumped down from his perch, his weight causing a minor thump as he hit the dirt, as well as the added bonus of his height truly showing now. The atmosphere changed instantly; gone was the amused spectator from earlier. The grin remained, but there was weight behind it now, enough to make the soldiers and the priest tense. Varin stepped forward slightly as he spoke. "Alright, priest," he said casually. "I'll make ya a deal."
Gedatsu blinked slowly. "A deal?"
"Aye." Varin's grin sharpened. "I promise not to kill ya if you tell me where Enel is."
Nami glanced sideways at him. "'Promise not to kill him' was your opening line?"
"I'm bein' polite."
Gedatsu stared at Varin for several seconds in complete silence. Then his eyes rolled upward again. The soldier nearby screamed in frustration. "PRIEST GEDATSU, PLEASE FOCUS!"
"Ah," Gedatsu muttered. "Right." He looked back toward Varin. And with absolutely zero hesitation. "Lord Enel resides near the Upper Ruins."
Varin looked at him for a moment, then simply shrugged before turning around. "Alright then," he said casually. "That was easy."
"Too easy," Nami replied immediately, eyes narrowing as she looked down toward the priest, still half covered in dirt and swamp residue.
Varin glanced back toward her over one shoulder. "God fruit, lass," he reminded her. "Even if he loses, they probably think we've got no real chance against Enel, even if we beat a priest. That whole speech? I'm willing to bet it's probably just like with Conis. He's instructed to send us straight to Enel."
Nami's expression tightened slightly at that realization. Gedatsu, meanwhile, simply stood there silently, which honestly somehow made the entire thing feel more suspicious. "So this is a trap," Nami summarized.
"Obviously."
"And you still want to walk directly into it."
Varin's grin spread again, but he didn't respond. Nami groaned loudly as she realized. "I don't know why I even ask anymore."
"Because deep down you know I'm right."
"No, deep down I know you're insane."
"Those ain't mutually exclusive."
Honestly, the more Varin thought about it, the more sense it made. A man like Enel wouldn't hide from challengers. Especially not if he genuinely believed himself untouchable. Everything they'd heard so far painted the same picture. Overwhelming power, absolute confidence, and the kind of arrogance only someone undefeated for years could develop.
"Ah, right," Varin said suddenly. Then he turned around. Before anyone could question what he meant, he walked straight back over to Gedatsu, grabbed the priest by the face, and slammed his head directly into the broken pillar he'd been leaning against. The impact cracked the already damaged stone, and Gedatsu immediately went limp.
"You said you wouldn't kill him!" one of the surrounding soldiers cried out in panic.
Varin glanced sideways toward the man briefly, mildly confused by the reaction. Honestly, he was more surprised none of them had attacked him yet. Sure, they were obviously outmatched, but they were still soldiers. Priests of a self-proclaimed god, no less. Most people in their position would've at least attempted a desperate attack by now. Instead, they just looked terrified. Varin supposed that answered a few questions about how Enel ruled this place. Fear worked very well on weak people. He sighed and walked back toward Nami while casually dusting stone fragments off one hand. "I didn't," he replied. "Just knocked him unconscious. He'll be fine, probably."
Nami stared at him flatly. "You have a deeply concerning understanding of what counts as restraint."
"Didn't want the man tailin, lads weak but his clouds make the perfect support fighter."
"That is not what I meant, and you know it."
Behind them, the soldiers cautiously rushed over toward the unconscious Gedatsu. One checked for breathing before visibly relaxing. Another stared toward Varin with open disbelief. The giant pirate noticed the look immediately. "What?" he asked.
"You..." the soldier hesitated. "You defeated one of God's priests."
"Nah," he corrected casually while jerking a thumb toward Nami. "She did. I just bullied him afterward."
Nami looked mildly pleased by that, not that she'd ever admit it. Then Varin started walking again, boots thudding heavily against the ancient stone beneath the roots overhead. "C'mon, lass," he called over one shoulder. "We've still got ourselves a god to go bother."
Nami followed after him with a long-suffering sigh. "I really should've just stayed with Nojiko," she grumbled while climbing over another section of collapsed stone. "Or literally gone anywhere else in the world instead of ending up surrounded by gigantic morons, psychopaths, and now gods."
Varin glanced back toward her. "A bit rude to call me gigantic before moron."
"That was the least insulting part of the sentence."
Varin shrugged as the two continued deeper through the ruins, ancient stone slowly giving way again to massive tangled roots and towering trees that disappeared endlessly upward into the clouds. The place felt ancient in a way Alabasta never had. Dead, but not empty. Like something still lingered beneath the island's skin.
Varin found himself humming as they walked. The sound was deep and rough coming from him, more vibration than melody at first. Low enough, it almost blended into the groaning wood and shifting roots around them.
Nami glanced sideways. "You sing too?"
"Hum," Varin corrected. "Different skill."
"What even is that song?"
Varin frowned slightly. "...Don't actually know." That answer surprised even him. The tune felt familiar. It was old, something from childhood, maybe? He couldn't remember words to it, or where he'd first heard it, but the melody itself sat strangely comfortably in the back of his mind.
For a few moments, the only sounds were his rough humming and the distant creaking of the enormous trees surrounding them.
Then Varin's expression shifted slightly. Subtle at first, then his stomach growled loud enough that Nami physically jumped.
"Jesus!" she snapped. "Warn me before your organs start roaring."
Varin ignored the comment, frowning harder now. That was... strange. He'd eaten before leaving the ship. A lot, actually. Enough that he definitely shouldn't still be hungry. Yet the feeling twisting in his stomach now didn't feel normal.
It wasn't the sharp ache of starvation. It felt deeper than that somehow. Like craving, a need beyond survival.
Varin slowed slightly as the sensation rolled through him again. His mouth watered faintly, and his teeth sharpened without him noticing. For one brief moment, the smell of the ancient forest around them became overwhelmingly intense: damp earth, moss, old stone, and animals somewhere deeper in the ruins. Varin blinked hard, and the feeling dulled slightly, though not completely.
Nami noticed immediately. "...Varin? You're making a weird face."
Varin rubbed one hand across his mouth thoughtfully instead of responding. The hunger twisted again, stronger this time, but not painful or discomforting, like most assumed when it came to hunger. Instead, it was almost tempting, like his body was trying to point him toward something.
Nami's eyes narrowed. "You okay?"
Varin was quiet for a second before shrugging. "Probably."
"That is never comforting when you say it."
"Nothing I ever say is comforting to you, apparently."
Nami snorted at that. "You're literally a giant w—" She cut herself off immediately as Varin's eyes slid toward her almost instantly. The same warning look he'd given Usopp earlier flickered across his face for just a second before his usual grin returned again.
"Good, lass," he said. "Glad you remembered."
Nami rolled her eyes. "I still don't get why you're so paranoid about it."
"Because our enemy can apparently hear conversations across an island," Varin replied bluntly. "And I'm not givin' the lightning bastard free information."
"A fair point," Nami admitted reluctantly.
Varin's grin widened slightly afterward, though, the sharper edges of his teeth showing again. "Though," he added casually, "I'm not opposed to blue ballin' Enel."
Nami stared at him before face-palming. "Why are you like this?"
Varin barked out a laugh loud enough to echo faintly through the ruins around them. "No clue," he admitted honestly. "Pretty sure I came out the womb annoyin' people."
"That explains so much, actually."
"Aye, my mother used to say the same thing." For a moment, his expression softened slightly again at the mention of her before the grin returned in full force. "Then again," he continued while stepping over another collapsed section of stone, "if Enel really is listenin', I figure irritatin' him's probably worth it."
"You're trying to provoke the lightning god." Nami dragged a hand down her face. "One day I'm going to learn to stop being surprised by the things you say."
"Nah," Varin replied immediately. "That'd ruin half the fun."
Nami sighed heavily before finally pointing ahead through the ruins and tangled roots surrounding them. Far off in the distance, rising high above the rest of Upper Yard, the massive giant stalk pierced through the clouds like some colossal pillar connecting the sky itself together. Even from this far away, it dwarfed everything around it.
"Well," she said, "I think we should head toward that giant stalk in the distance. It's basically the only landmark around, so it's better than nothing."
Varin followed her gaze upward. "Aye," he admitted. "That's probably where lightning dick's sittin' too."
"Please stop calling him that."
"No."
Nami chose to ignore him this time and kept talking. "Though we probably won't reach it until nearly dawn, so we should make camp tonight."
Varin blinked once. Then slowly looked around at the ancient ruins, massive roots, strange forests, hidden soldiers, priests, and whatever other horrors Upper Yard probably contained. "We're makin' camp here?" he asked slowly.
Nami crossed her arms. "Unless you'd prefer wandering blindly through a death jungle all night."
Varin considered it. "Tempting."
Nami pointed the Clima-Tact at his face immediately. "No."
"Aye, aye."
Truthfully, she was right. As much as Varin hated admitting it, wandering Upper Yard in the darkness sounded like an excellent way to get ambushed by something unpleasant. The place already felt dangerous enough during the day. At night, it'd probably become outright murderous.
The two moved a bit farther through the ruins until they found a relatively stable section of elevated stone nestled between several enormous roots. Part of an ancient building still remained intact there, enough to provide partial shelter while also keeping them above most of the ground level, and hopefully out of sight of any wandering beasts.
Nami immediately got to work setting things up with the practical efficiency of someone very used to traveling with idiots incapable of basic survival instincts. Varin mostly watched.
"You could help, you know."
"I am helpin'."
"You're sitting on a rock."
"Aye. Guardin' the rock."
Nami threw a loose stone at his head. Varin caught it without looking and snorted quietly to himself. Eventually, a small campfire crackled to life between the ruined stone walls, the orange glow flickering against ancient carvings half swallowed by moss and roots. The gigantic trees overhead blocked most of the sky, leaving the ruins wrapped in deep shadows beyond the firelight. For a while, neither of them spoke much. The constant movement and tension from earlier had faded into something quieter now. Not relaxed exactly, Upper Yard didn't really allow for relaxation. But calmer.
Nami sat near the fire while checking over her Clima-Tact for damage from the fight with Gedatsu. Across from her, Varin leaned back against one of the massive roots with his arms folded behind his head. His eyes remained open, lazily scanning the darkness around them every few moments.
"You know," Nami muttered after a while, "this whole island would almost be beautiful if everything on it wasn't trying to kill us."
"Aye," Varin replied. "Adds character."
"That is not what character means."
"Sure it is."
Nami shook her head lightly before glancing toward him again. "You really think the others are okay?"
Varin snorted before looking up at the stars. "Luffy's too stupid to die."
"That's not reassuring."
"Zoro's too stubborn to die."
"Slightly better."
"And Robin's smarter than everyone on this island combined."
Nami smiled a little at that. "True."
Varin shrugged one shoulder against the root behind him. "Point is, they'll manage."
Nami rolled her eyes good-naturedly before finally standing up from beside the fire. "Try not to pick a fight with the wildlife while I'm asleep," she muttered before pausing near the tent entrance. Her expression softened slightly afterward. "And... thanks. For being a jackass today. I know you're trying to keep my mind off the others and the god we're supposed to fight."
Varin snorted quietly from where he sat against the massive root. "You're thinkin' too much," he replied, though his face softened slightly around the edges. "But no promises."
"Of course not." She waved him a lazy goodnight before disappearing into the tent. Or rather, the tent, singular. Varin had refused one immediately the moment she unpacked it, insisting he neither wanted nor needed one.
Truthfully, sleeping inside something that small sounded miserable to him. Instead, he settled himself against one of the enormous roots surrounding their camp, the rough bark pressing against his back while the dying campfire crackled nearby. One arm rested across his raised knee while the other hung loosely at his side.
To anyone else, he probably looked relaxed. Maybe even asleep already once his eyes drifted shut. But the crew knew better by now. Varin never truly slept deeply, a habit that had started long before they found him on the iceberg. So instead, his body rested lightly, balanced somewhere between waking and sleep, where even the slightest sound or shift nearby would drag him fully conscious in an instant.
Still, despite all that supposed trauma and hyper awareness, nothing actually happened during the night. No ambushes from nocturnal beasts looking for an easy meal, no priests vying for revenge. A few distant animal calls echoed through the roots and ancient stone. Something enormous moved far away once, heavy enough that the massive trees creaked faintly afterward. At one point, an absurdly large bird landed somewhere above their camp and stared directly at Varin for nearly ten straight minutes before eventually losing interest and flying away. Varin stared back the entire time out of principle.
But beyond that, though, the night remained quiet. By the time dawn finally started creeping through the endless canopy overhead, the campfire had long since burned down to glowing embers. Pale golden light filtered between the colossal branches and roots above, painting the ancient ruins in soft, hazy colors that almost made the island look peaceful.
Varin opened his eyes fully with a low grunt and stretched slightly against the root behind him. Several joints cracked loudly enough that birds somewhere nearby scattered into the air. Inside the tent, Nami groaned. "Please stop sounding like a collapsing building first thing in the morning." The navigator slowly emerged a minute later, looking tired, annoyed, and generally unhappy about existing this early. Her orange hair was a mess, and she immediately started trying to fix it with one hand while glaring at the ruins around them like Upper Yard itself had personally offended her overnight.
"I hate camping," she muttered.
"You hate everythin'."
"That's because everything keeps trying to kill me."
"That's a lie, I'm not tryin' to kill ya," Varin laughed back.
Nami snorted quietly at that while taking the rolled blanket back from him. "Debatable." The two cleaned up camp quickly afterward. Or rather, Nami cleaned up properly while Varin helped in the vague, destructive sort of way he always did. He packed heavier supplies, kicked dirt over the last of the fire, and hauled pieces of broken stone aside so Nami could retrieve some of the things that had rolled into cracks during the night.
It wasn't long before the small campsite looked like they'd never been there at all. Well, mostly, Varin had accidentally cracked part of the ruins while stretching earlier, but Nami decided she was too tired to care anymore.
The morning air felt strange as they prepared to leave, too still. The giant trees overhead barely moved despite the height, and the deeper parts of the ruins seemed quieter than before somehow. Then the world flashed white. A deafening crack split through Upper Yard so violently that the ruins around them shook. Lightning slammed down near the distant giant stalk hard enough that even from miles away, they could see ancient stone explode outward from the impact point. For a brief moment, the entire massive vine was illuminated against the clouds.
Nami froze instantly. Varin's grin vanished. Both of them stared toward the distant strike point in complete silence. "...That was near the stalk," Nami said quietly. Neither of them spoke for another second.
There was no point saying the thought out loud. They both already knew it. One of the others could've been there.
Varin slowly clenched one hand hard enough that his claws dug into his palm slightly before he forced himself to relax again. "C'mon," he said finally, voice lower now. More serious. "We're movin'." Nami nodded immediately. The earlier calm vanished completely as the two broke into a faster pace through the ruins, weaving between massive roots and ancient stone while the giant stalk loomed larger and larger ahead of them.
They began trekking toward the giant beanstalk afterward, though before long, Nami started noticing something was... off with Varin. Normally, his pace was steady despite his size. Long strides, sure, but controlled ones. Now, though, he kept unintentionally pulling ahead. One moment he'd be beside her, the next he'd somehow be twenty feet farther forward, weaving through roots before stopping abruptly after realizing she wasn't beside him anymore.
Or after Nami yelled at him. "Slow down!" she snapped while climbing over another massive root. "Some of us don't have giant monster legs!"
"I am slowin' down," Varin growled back, though even as he said it, he accidentally sped up again.
It was strange. Every instinct in his body felt restless. Agitated. The closer they got to the beanstalk, the worse it became, too. His muscles felt tight beneath his skin like they wanted movement. Faster movement. The waiting itself had started irritating him more than the actual threat ahead.
Nami noticed the tension eventually. "You okay?" she asked once she finally caught back up again.
Varin dragged one clawed hand through his hair roughly. "Aye." Then immediately accelerated again without meaning to.
"Varin!" He stopped hard enough that dirt scattered beneath his boots. For several seconds, he just stood there breathing slowly while the massive roots around them groaned softly in the wind.
Then, apparently, he finally had enough. Varin turned around suddenly, walked directly toward Nami, grabbed her around the waist despite her startled yelp, and hoisted her upward effortlessly.
"VARIN?"
Before she could continue yelling, his body shifted violently beneath her grip. Bone cracked. Muscle expanded. Fur erupted across his frame in seconds as the massive wolf form burst into existence beneath her. Gray fur rippling across layers of dense muscle while glowing eyes narrowed toward the distant beanstalk ahead. Nami landed awkwardly across his back, grabbing fistfuls of fur immediately to keep herself from sliding off.
"Varin?" she shouted over the sudden movement. "What happened to not letting him know your abilities?!"
"I don't care anymore," the giant wolf growled back.
Then he took off. The ground exploded beneath him as his massive body surged through the forest at terrifying speed. Trees blurred past almost instantly while his powerful legs launched him over roots larger than some buildings. When obstacles got in the way, he simply bounded off them instead, claws digging into bark and ancient stone alike as he redirected himself mid movement without losing speed.
Wind roared past Nami hard enough to whip her hair behind her violently while she clung tighter to the thick fur along his back. "VARIN, SLOW DOWN!"
"No!" he barked back immediately. "I'm gettin' antsy, and this waitin's pissin' me off!" Another massive leap sent them clearing an entire section of tangled roots in seconds. Nami honestly wasn't sure whether to be terrified or impressed anymore. Probably both.
Varin's movements had changed, too. This wasn't the casual confidence he normally carried into fights. This felt sharper, but restless. Predatory in a way she hadn't really seen from him before. Like something beneath his skin had gotten tired of waiting and finally decided to move.
The giant wolf's lips peeled back slightly as he sprinted, exposing rows of monstrous teeth while his eyes remained locked toward the distant beanstalk towering above Upper Yard.