Guys and gals, the footnotes are at the bottom of the page. I find it best, when stories have footnotes, to open Mircosoft Word or WordPad or even NotePad and copy and paste the footnotes to that document so you can flip back and forth without losing your spot.

And on another note, enjoy. (If you didn't catch it before, WARNING: OWN CHARACTER. If you don't like it, please leave.)

"Alright, Mrs. M, I'm off to the docks." the woman put away her mop and apron and headed for the door, slipping her double-bladed swords over her back.

"Be safe dear!"

"It's a beautiful day, I have nothing to fear!" she laughed walking out the door.

"Shanks, we're heading into a military docking area." Ben said as he looked over the bow of the ship and to the docking that they were steadily heading for.

"Oh come now, Ben!" Shanks laughed as he hit his friend square in the back with this left arm. "Do you see any military battle ships of any sort?" he too gazed off into the distance.

"No, but still, ---"

"No is none my dear friend." Shanks laughed and walked off.

"…" Ben angrily stared at the dock.

Fifteen minutes later, Shanks ordered the crew to slow the ships knots1 down so they would be able to dock. As they reached the dock Shanks looked around, and not seeing his crew. "Ben," he called in an un-amused gay manner. "Where's my crew?"

"In their rooms; sleeping." Ben replied as he gathered the cable2 so that the docks man could moor3 the ship to the dock.

"…." Shanks was angry. He hadn't giving any order to do so! "Fine then. They can find us on the island when they wake up." Shanks grunted as he walked over to the larboard4 and leaned on it, looking for the docks man. And all he saw was a woman. "Where the blazes could that man be?"

"Yo!" the woman called up to Shanks, grabbing his attention. "You need to be moored?" she shouted up.

"Yes! Would you get the stevedore5?" Shanks asked politely.

"That'd be me!" she laughed.

Shanks' mouth turned into an over exaggerated frown and his eyebrows went up. That was a pleasant surprise; a woman stevedore. "Ben! Throw over the cable." Shanks motioned him to throw the cable overboard.

"Right." Ben heaved the cable over and it oddly enough landed on the dock whereas the woman tied a secure knot to three different posts.

"Tell your captain everything's secure!" the woman shouted up to Shanks.

"That'd be me!" Shanks mocked as he laughed, giving her a sarcastic salute.

She laughed back. "You need a ratline6 capt'n?"

"Nah, we got one!" Shanks walked off, as he and Ben picked up the ratline and tossed it over to her on the dock. She once again secured it to a post.

"Secure!" she shouted

"After you, capt'n." Ben bowed and hinted for him to go first.

"Oh, all high and noble." Shanks scoffed happily as he hopped over the taffrail7 and climbed his way down the dock where the female stevedore was. Shanks hopped off the ratline just like he had gotten on it, and Ben wasn't far behind. He turned to the woman, smiled, took off his hat, his red hair tossed in the wind and he held out his hand. "Captain Shanks."

The woman took his hand and shook it, mindlessly staring him. She realized she had been shaking his hand and not said anything. "Stevedore Suzuna." she laughed, smiling back and letting go of his hand.

At that time, Ben had now joined the two, to the left of Shanks. "And this is my first mate Ben Beckman," Shanks introduced. "Ben, this is stevedore Suzuna."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." the towering man said to Suzuna as he held out his hand smiling.

"Likewise." she smiled and shook his hand then letting go. "So where's the rest of the crew?" Suzuna asked. "That's ships huge and I know for a fact that two pirates wouldn't be able to man a ship like yours."

Shanks merely smirked and laughed and crossed his arms.

"The remaining crew is being insolent." Ben answered for Shanks politely.

Suzuna laughed. "I see." she paused. "So what is it I can do for the two of you?" she asked kindly. "My Dock Master is out, so I'm in charge of taking care of whoever comes here."

"Taking care of?" Shanks asked.

1 Knots: a unit of measurement for the speed at which a ship or aircraft travels.

2 Cable: heavy rope or chain for mooring a ship.

3 Moor: to fix a boat, ship, or aircraft to one place with cables, chains, or an anchor, or to be secured.

4 Larboard: left side of a ship.

5 Stevedore: somebody whose job is to load and unload ships.

6 Ratline: a small rope forming a rung in the form of a rope ladder so that the crew can leave and board.

7 Taffrail: rail around the stern (back) of the ship.

Hope that wasn't too much of a mouthful of sea-word XD. Review please!