Vast Seas and Great Food
A/N: Is this…yep! Another update. Couldn't resist the urge. Got another chapter today, and started going crazy on outlining a few more. Probably will wait a bit longer on the next chapter…maybe until I finish outlining the Alabasta Saga?
Here's thanks to my wonder reviewers, FahmiWasHere, BlackDove WhiteDove, Xipholynx, Hitler's Moustache, Gamermary, and Lukasia. And thanks to any and all who read, follow, and vote! Love to hear from my readers, so don't hesitate to leave a review or send me a PM.
Everyone assembled on deck for the official flag christening of our ship But, for a first attempt…
"Ta-dah! What do you guys think? I spent a lot of time and effort of thinking about a good design!" gleefully stated Luffy.
"Is that what you call art?!" I gaped. Truly, truly horrible, even if I was not that great of an artist in my previous life, at least I could sketch something passable.
Nami painfully considered, "Maybe…it's an example of abstract art?"
Zoro's sentiment was that, "A pirate's mark should strike fear in our enemies. This…I guess I find it a bit terrifying in a way…"
I snorted, "Yeah, terrifyingly terrible! Luffy, hand me that brush!"
I scanned Luffy's embarrassingly sloppy art one last time, aghast. A memory popped into my head.
My first flag…was a replicate of the one the original Usopp drew just for my own amusement at my unamused crewmates' faces.
"YOU COMPLETELY CHANGED THE SYMBOL!" all three exclaimed.
I scratch my head and muttered, "Aw, can't you guys take a joke?", then went and painted a perfect Straw Hat Pirate flag.
"Wow, that's great looking," Nami complimented me.
I smiled and stated, "Yeah, I wasn't considered my island's best artist for nothing. I practiced a lot by pranking my neighbors with various designs strewn over various trees, rocks…buildings. A shame they always got erased or repainted eventually."
One tiring, paint-splattering experience later saw to the design proudly smiling from the mainmast and foremast.
*Boom!*
Aaand, that was the cannon.
"Luffy, what do you think you're doing?!" questioned Zoro.
"What? I'm testing our cannons. They won't do us any good if they don't work. But, I completely missed that rock island!"
I chuckled, "Stand aside, amateur, and let a marksman handle this. Why does that sound familiar? I paused mid-movement.
"Hey, Luffy? Do you think there might be someone docked there?"
"Huh, why?"
I put a hand to my chin. "I thought I saw something move briefly. Do you mind if we tried firing on the other side of the rock? We don't have to change the distance."
Luffy shrugged and stated, "Shishishi! Alright, no problem."
When the Going Merry rounded the island, we did see another boat docked to the side. We pulled up and…
Someone leaped right onto the Merry and started to swing their blade around, yelling, "Damn pirates think you sneak up on a guy? My partner is really ill, so back off or die!"
His next swing nearly took off a piece of the Merry's railing. Not on my watch! I loaded one of my pachinko balls and aimed for the hands. The swordsman let go of his blade on reflex from the unexpected sting of metal.
The brunet with glasses cradled his affected hand and cursed, "Damn you, pirates!"
"Johnny?" our dear swordsman finally realized.
"Z-zoro? Is that really you, bro?" stuttered Johnny.
"So, it is you. How have you been, and what happened to Yosaku?"
At that the man burst into sobs and cried, "Aniki, it's bad! Yosaku is dying!"
Johnny went back to the island and laid the prone form of his partner across the deck. I took a look at him. Old wounds opening? Check. Rotting teeth? Double-check. I shook my head and told the hysteric swordsman, "Take a seat while I go into the kitchen. I'll grab lunch alongside the limonade juice I squeezed this morning."
"How can you eat when my partner could be dying?!"
"Actually, Usopp-kun has a point. The limonade should really help," Nami contributed. "It's a good thing he did go through the trouble of making it, there should be plenty to help your friend."
"Wait, food and drink will save Yosaku?!"
I decided a meal out on deck would be best and brought out a table we had stashed in the cargo hold. I poured a full glass of limonade juice and warned Luffy and Johnny to not accidentally drown the guy when they started pouring the glass at a sharp angle.
Nami shook her head at the two bounty hunters. "Honestly, don't you recognized signs of scurvy when you see them?"
"What's scurvy?" mumbled Luffy from his mouthful of stir-fry. Nami had told them to stop and get some food, too.
"Scurvy is a sickness due to a lack of nutrition," I explained, "like vitamin C, which is high in citrus fruits like lemons and limes. If you don't eat certain kinds of vegetables and fruits, you can get all sorts of problems, but fresh produce is hard to get on the sea, especially for larger crews. That's why a chef who can calculate exactly how much groceries to get for a voyage is pretty important if you want to stay healthy out here."
"Oh~"
"You don't understand, do you?" I deadpanned.
"It's a mystery illness, shishishi!"
"You're hopeless," Nami summarized. She looked closely at the ill man. Yosaku's skin had a bit more color now. "Looks like he'll be fine a few days. And Usopp-kun's right, a professional sea cook would be useful for this kind of thing. In the past, scurvy was a common ailment among sailors because they didn't have the technology to keep vegetables and fruits preserved for long periods of time…"
"Oh, that makes sense! The last time we ate vegetables and fruits were…a couple of weeks ago?"
"You idiots! You can't go eating like that!" Nami yelled at the only aware bounty hunter.
After I finished dishing out the meal, I went over to the cannon. We had tied the two's boat to our own and had drifted quite a way from the rock island.
"There wasn't anything else living on the rock island, right?" I asked the bounty hunter.
"That's right, Usopp-nii," confirmed Johnny as his friend began to stir.
"Good! Fire!"
There was something about blowing up meaningless stuff that sent a thrill through me. Nothing like practicing my marksmanship, I thought with keen satisfaction as the cannonball made a direct hit with the center of the island.
"Wow! Usopp, you really hit it! And we're even farther away than we were before! Okay, you're the crew's official sniper!" declared Luffy.
I smiled my acknowledgement and went back to cleaning up the cannon while looking over the other ones.
"Hey, Usopp, since we're talking about skills, how'd you do the whole disappearing act?" asks Nami. I rub the back of my neck as I consider my answer.
"I guess you can say it's a result of my years of mountain training. I figured if I was going to become a brave warrior of the seas, I needed to get stronger and faster. Not sure about how well I did on the stronger part, but I did figure out a technique similar to what Kuro did. Basically, if you're fast enough to kick ten times in a second, you can practically vanish with the propulsion it gives you. Granted, you need really quick eyes or else you end up like Kuro; practically a danger to the crew and yourself. My stamina sucks, though, so I can only use it a certain number of times or for only so far before I collapse from exhaustion or leg muscle strain. I don't think kicking will ever be my thing, but I've always known how to make a quick getaway."
"A quick getaway, huh?" contemplates Nami.
I nod and add, "Or for quick movement in general if you micro-size it and add a whole lot of control if you watch my hands closely, you'll notice at times I draw faster than the eye can track. It's a variation based on muscle control more than anything. I call it Quick Draw."
"Oi, don't give the thief any ideas on how to rob people better," Zoro complains.
Luffy grins. "Wow, I wonder if I could do that, shishishi?"
"Probably, you're nearly as fast as me when I use Flicker – that's the name of my speed technique since it's more of short-term use – and I can't normally move that fast on my own two feet." Maybe that'll encourage Luffy to learn Soru properly instead of risking his lifespan and health with Gear Second so much. Now that I think about it, the muscle control for my second Soru skill would be good practice to keep Luffy from killing himself by speeding up, well, everything with Gear Second.
"Any interest Zoro?"
"No thanks, I can move pretty quickly on my own."
Yosaku later came to full consciousness and started to leap around the deck until Nami yelled at him to keep resting, too late. Yosaku spat out some blood and keeled over.
"You know, there lesson in this," I began, leaning against the mainmast.
"Yeah, this is just one of the many dangers of sailing on long voyages while at sea," Nami continued. "If we want to even survive on normal seas, we really need someone who professionally knows how to handle this kind of thing. If those two didn't come across us, Yosaku would have died for sure."
"Someone who can cook better than Usopp would be good," Zoro agreed.
Hey…wait a minute… "What's wrong with my food?!"
Zoro grunted, "Nothing, it's just that. Food. Simple and nothing that interesting."
I huffed, "Excuse me for valuing simple fare. I didn't exactly live on treasure trove island of spices and ingredients, you know! I do what I can!"
"Okay then it's decided. Our next crewmate should be a sea cook! After we find him, we should find a musician!"
"A musician? How did we go from nutrition to entertainment?" I wondered aloud.
"Don't bother arguing with him. He told me he wanted a musician shortly after I joined," grunted Zoro.
"Shishishi, good food and music! That's the pirate life!"
I snorted, "I suppose that makes sense."
"Aniki! Listen up everyone. Not sure about a musician, but I know where you can find some pretty good cooks," offered Johnny. "How you can get one to come along is another matter, but Yosaku and I are in debt to you guys. We can lead you there, to the restaurant on the seas!"
"Restaurant on the seas?" we echoed.
Johnny grinned. "Yeah, that place serves some of the best food around. It's about 2-3 days away from here, but you should take care because the place lies close to the Grand Line. Lots of dangerous folks come by. Including a certain "Hawk-Eyed" man bro's been looking for a while a now. There's been sightings once before according to the rumor mill."
I kept an eye out in the crow's nest. Coming into sight was a colorful fish of a ship. The Baratie.
"Johnny, Yosaku! Is that the place?"
"Alright! We made it here. Zoro-nii, Luffy-nii, Nami-nii, take a look!"
"Why am I brother?" Nami complained but then looked over and gasped. Everyone gathered to gape at the three-tiered restaurant ship. I made sure to position myself close to the cannon.
If that was the Baratie then…there! A marine ship slowly passed by us.
"Marines!"
"When did they…?"
"It probably wasn't too hard for them to draw up alongside us," I speculated. "We were all too busy staring at the restaurant to notice. And it looks like someone finally noticed us, too."
Lavender hair reminiscent of another government affiliate I really wanted to nail with my special ammunition, Fullbody, a marine lieutenant (though, not for forever) came out of the cabin.
Arrogantly, the man raised his fist and demanded, "I am a lieutenant of marine headquarters known as Ironfist Fullbody. You, unidentified pirate ship, name your captain."
Luffy stood up proudly and clear announced, "I'm Luffy, the captain. We just painted our mark the day before yesterday!"
While he was doing that, I was quietly trying to prep our cannon. I sighed as I heard Johnny and Yosaku bluster and attempt to take down the marine lieutenant. Which failed, epically.
I side-eyed the papers fluttering on the deck. Wanted posters. I caught a glimpse of the poster Nami picked up. My hands trembled as I thought about next island we would land on. Or rather, we would chase our ship to.
The marine went back on his words as he ordered a marine grunt to aim their cannon on them. Luffy leapt up onto the rails. I thought for a second to warn Luffy to take care, but honestly, it might be easier to let Luffy blunder.
And blunder he did. I gaped alongside the others as Luffy's body expanded impossibly. Ugh, I can't imagine how weird that must feel, to have skin stretch like that and rebound. Seriously, devil fruit powers were cool, but freaky to a normal person, especially up close and personal. But Luffy had those powers for roughly ten years, so he didn't think anything of how other people would react by now. I lit the fuse just as their cannonball ricochet off into the unfortunate bystander ship.
The percussion of two cannonballs slamming into their intended (and unintended) targets rang.
One was the Baratie.
The other was the one I just fired into the marine ship, causing them to slowly sink.
I always wanted to see that guy's smug face sink for myself. Literally and figuratively.
"Okay, guys! We'd…just better go dock and pay for the damages," I proposed with a nervous laugh. Zoro and Nami were shooting "are you crazy?" looks. Since I didn't hear any protests, I went over to direct the ship past the sinking marine vessel.
A group of angry chefs marched onto the Merry and demanded the guy who blasted their restaurant. All fingers pointed to our dimwitted captain who threw us a betrayed look as they hauled him away.
Everyone waited on the ship for a little bit after. I ducked behind a barrel when I caught sight of a bunch of soaked marines pulling up their lifeboat alongside us. Fullbody looked positively steamed.
"YOU! Where is your captain and the person who shot that cannon?!"
Zoro smirked wickedly and answered, "And why should I tell you? I'm a pirate. I have no obligation to answer to your authority. And, what makes you think I'll give up my crew's sniper, much less the captain?"
"Why, you-!"
"Dear, let it go," urged his date who was sopping wet. Oops, sorry miss. "Why don't we just go inside and clean up? You can ask if they have a den den mushi for you to call in another ship, or we can take the lifeboat and sail back to the base, okay?"
Fullbody growled low, but actually listened to her. He still ordered his men to keep an eye on us. Then he huffed and puffed as he marched inside the restaurant, the lady trailing behind him.
I peered around my hiding spot and called out to them, "Exactly how do you suppose you can take us in? Your gunpowder must be soaked, and you have only a handful of swordsmen. And against Roronoa Zoro, the best swordsman in East Blue, do you think you can really beat us?"
The men in front of us didn't move away, but they did fidget uneasily. It probably didn't help that Zoro kept grinning at them in that scarily demonic way of his.
Something gray caught my eye. Gin. Soaked to the bone, the marines' former prisoner hauled himself up onto the restaurant's lower deck. The sunlight glinted off steel. Looks like the pirate had the forethought to snatch someone's sword.
"Sheesh, I should just cut these guys up."
*Bonk!*
"Don't go looking for trouble, Zoro!" screamed Nami. The swordsman ducked with a pained shout, one large goose bump rising on his head.
"Knock it off, you witch!"
A marine ran outside and began to shout hysterically at his cohorts. They abandoned their post and followed their comrade inside.
Everyone on board was confused.
"Err, Zoro-nii, Nami-nii, what was that about?"
Both shook their head.
I nodded my head and announced, "Looks like this is job for the Great Captain Usopp! Since Luffy is taking so long, I'll go check out what's happening. I'll be back soon!"
"Hold on, you're voluntarily going into that? Who replaced our cowardly sniper?"
I had already leaped onto the deck of the Baratie, choosing to ignore that comment. For now. I ducked inside and watched the scene unfold. The marines from before were down from various cuts (none fatal, thank Kami). Fullbody was down, too, but the shoeprints pointed toward someone other than the brutal battle commander of Don Krieg's fleet. Speaking of him, Gin had slouched into a seat, sword held to Patty.
Patty didn't even bat an eye at the fleeing marines. In a sudden movement, he grabbed Gin's hand with the sword and pried it away. Hands clasped together, he slammed them on the stoic and disarmed pirate.
"Punks without money ain't customers," asserted the sea cook, arms crossed. I winced in sympathy as the pirate's stomach growled. It was still rather admirable he took the abuse so stoically, even as the chef proceeded to literally kick him out of the restaurant.
Fullbody, the coward he was, used the distraction to haul himself out of there, his men unsteadily following after their commander.
Using Flicker, I vanished from my hidden corner and crossed the room silently to Luffy's side. I took a deep breath. I really did need to work on that move, though it didn't feel nearly as hard to do as before. Which was strange, since my lackluster versions of Rokushiki usually progressed at a snail's pace over the years. Either the force to be identified felt pity for me, or maybe Luffy's presence is influencing it? People who interacted with D's did look like they improved pretty quickly under their watch. Maybe the mysterious initial stands for Development? Although, I highly doubted I would ever get to even Kalifa's level.
"Huh, Usopp? When did you get here?"
"Just now. You really need to improve your situational awareness, Luffy. What if we run into someone who can perfect what I and Kuro can do? Anyways, the others are wondering how long we're staying here. There were some marines, but they all rushed in here when Mr. Hungry and Stoic made that ruckus. Looks they fled, though. So? How long?" I asked.
Luffy pouted, "The chef-ossan said I needed to work off my debt for one year."
"One year? I don't know if we have the time and resources for that. Especially with your stomach," I noted. "Hey, that blond guy is taking a dish out onto the deck."
"Shishishi, food? Okay, let's go and follow him!"
I let myself be tugged along outside. On the deck below, the future chef of the Straw Hat Pirates grinned, simply happy to feed a hungry belly.
"Lucky!" my idiotically loud captain yelled. "You got some food! I guess that's good, huh? You looked like you were going to die if you didn't eat something, too! Shishishi! Hey, you're a good cook, right? Join my crew, will ya? You can be a cook on my pirate ship!"
I sighed and clarified, "Yeah, don't mind my captain. He tends to say the first thing that comes to mind."
"Shishishi!."
Both of us joined Sanji and Gin on the lower deck. I tried not to wince as the smoke drifted in my direction. I disliked the scent of cigarettes but reminded myself I would have to get used to it really quickly when our future chef was a irredeemable smoker.
Sanji frowned. "Pirate? So, care to explain why you inexplicably fired a cannonball on the restaurant?"
"Fire a cannon? Well, I think Usopp fired one…"
"Hey, hey! While I admit I am the crew's sniper, my aim isn't that bad! I fired on the other ship," I defended myself.
Luffy laughed and stated, "Oh yeah, that's right! Usopp fired a cannonball at the ship of that lousy marine guy from earlier. The other one, though, was an accident of my self-defense!"
"I'm sorry? I don't think I get your meaning…"
"My captain had to switch the target of those marines' cannonball from away of our ship. He didn't think about the trajectory, and it so happened the restaurant was a tad too close to the impromptu battle," I hastily explained before Luffy could confuse the two further.
Sanji didn't seem to care for either explanation and just warned us to stay off the bad side of the head chef. I kind of wanted to know a bit more about Zeff's past since neither the manga nor anime went too deep into it (and, considering we didn't land on the island of weird animals, this was following the manga timeline). What was his old bounty? Did he work out a deal with the marines to leave him be? Or was he like Rayleigh, too dangerous for the local authorities to bother arresting? And…did he ever make it to the halfway point or beyond?
I zoned back into the conversation.
"This place is pretty wild for a restaurant," I remarked.
"And no wonder. Like I said, all these chefs here are not only in awe of the old geezer, but they're all hot-blooded and crude enough to match any pirate. Which is a necessity considering the Red Line is only a few days away from here. Lots of big shots come by here."
"This is a really bustling place then, eh?"
Sanji shrugged. "I suppose, but that's just the daily routine for us. Actually, some customers come solely to watch the pirates and chefs duke it out. But, because of that, all the waiters got scared and ran off."
I nodded my head and sagely stated, "I can understand that. Getting stuck in the middle with crazy pirates on one side and crazier chefs on the other probably is hard on any ordinary person's nerves."
"Ohhhh, that's why the chef guy wanted me to work here…eh, who cares? You should join my crew!"
"Sorry, but I'll have to refuse that offer. I have my own reasons to stick around this place," declined Sanji.
I watched amused as the two kept arguing back and forth as Luffy refused Sanju's refusal.
"Hey, Long Nose! This is your captain, right? Get him to see reason!"
I shook my head. "Sorry, but I think you have me confused with another of our crewmates. And, if Luffy wants you to join and you're a decent guy then I have no problem with it."
"Excuse me? Sorry to interrupt your conversation…"
"What is it?!" both men shouted. I inclined my head in question.
"My name is Gin. I'm a member of the Krieg Pirates. So, you guys say you're are pirates? May I ask you what your objectives are?"
Luffy grinned wide and proudly declared, "I'm going to find One Piece and become the king of the pirates! That's why I need a chef before I head off to the Grand Line!"
Gin looked taken aback.
I shrugged and announced my own goal, "While my dream isn't so grand, I believe in it as much as Luffy! Someday, I'll become a brave warrior of the seas!"
Gin shook his head at us, probably thinking we were idiots and loons. "Well, if you guys are looking for a chef, I suppose you must not have many crewmembers."
"If you include him, that makes five!"
"Hey, why are you including me?! I told you, I refuse!" complained Sanji
"You don't seem like a bad pair of kids, so let me give you some advice. Give up on your dreams to sail the Grand Line," said Gin, voice heavy with repressed memories. "You guys are still young. You don't need to go and recklessly give up your lives so soon. If you think about it, the Grand Line is only a small part of the seas. You can become great pirates in any of the other seas if you decide to travel."
Luffy quirked his head and naively asked, "Oh…hey, does that mean you know something about the Grand Line?"
Gin shuddered, body trembling. "Know? No, I don't know anything…that what makes it so frightening…!"
Sanji remarked, "Strange for a member of one of the most dangerous crews around here to act so scared."
"Not really," I felt compelled to say. "The Grand Line has a reputation as the Pirate's Graveyard. Many crews sail there, but never make it. In fact, our own part of the world rarely has any crews who make it there. Which is odd since the few we do have are such big names or are close to big names."
"Oh, like your dad, Usopp," chimed in Luffy.
I chuckled, "Exactly. They're basically the outliers of outliers who somehow come out of this sea."
Gin looked at us like we were speaking a foreign language. That was understandable, all the innuendos and lack of names would frustrate anyone.
"You sound like you know something, Long Nose," suggested Sanji, cigarette in hand.
I chuckled nervously and corrected him, "Usopp. My name is Usopp, official sniper of the Straw Hats. And, I'm nothing like Gin-san who actually went there. I simply read a lot on the subject. I, mean, my dad did go there himself when I was really young, so reading about the place was as close as I could get to knowing him myself. I kind of remember him, but it has been many years since he left for the Grand Line."
Gin probably thought I was either really naïve, insane, or a combination of the two. Not that I could blame him, I spoke of the Grand Line pretty casually back there. Anyways, the three of us said goodbye to Gin, my smile somewhat forced as I thought about how the next time we would meet would be under less than happy circumstances.
After telling Luffy I would not be interested in helping him with his debt, I headed back to the ship but not before warning Sanji and the head chef that they may want to reconsider making Luffy pay off the debt as the errand boy. After all, Nami and I had Luffy help us in the kitchen once. And only once because we now had to add new dishes to the list of supplies to get at the next island.
Now it was only a matter of waiting. I told Zoro I could foot the bill so long as he kept his orders reasonable and promised to pay me back what with the copious amounts of alcohol he was guzzling. Nami asked me where I got the money and I explained about how I was my village's jack-of-all-trades so to speak, running mail all over the island, doing handyman odd jobs, and finally getting that apprenticeship with Merry. I reluctantly told the greedy woman I had accumulated about 50,000 beli over the past several years, mostly due to my neighbors' generosity and my own hard work. I tried to ignore the beli signs in her eyes as I dug into my food.
"ACK! IT'S YOU GUYS! What are you doing eating while I'm stuck working?" whined the straw-hatted teen.
"Well, what did you expect? We have no obligation to suffer like you," remarked Zoro.
I shook my head at Luffy, but the rubber-brained idiot ignored it as he rubbed his booger into Zoro's glass.
"He doesn't learn, does he?" I commented to Nami as the green-haired swordsman forced the contaminated glass of water down the captain's throat.
"Honestly, boys," she agreed. Both of us were outright laughing at the sight.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Such a beautiful lady to grace my day! O' what a blessed day this is, and how the seas seem all the more dull next to your splendor~ Oh, forgive this mere mortal, but I am overwhelmed by love at first lovely sight~ If I could but be greeted by such a beauty every day, I would gladly go on the path of a rogue and scoundrel that is the pirate's life! Yet, alas, there still is an obstacle barring such a decision!" gushed the blond chef.
I cringed at the sight. Another bit of real-life trivia; I was not a fan of sappy people. I don't think I even ever had a boyfriend in my old life.
Then Head Chef Zeff butted into Sanji's ode of love and told him to join our crew. With a bit of foresight, all three of us grabbed our plates before the two upset them (along with the table). In some ways, I rather dislike my new gender after Sanji served Nami such a tasty looking dessert. The chef noticed my rather envious stare.
"What are you looking at, Long Nose? If you want one, order it," he stated harshly.
I deadpanned, "Thanks for the recommendation, but I think I value my wallet more than my taste buds. Although this tea you brought out was lovely."
"Great to know, but I don't need compliments from a guy." If you only knew I internally snorted. Although, I'd rather keep that day farther down the line. If ever. "And what kind of guy uses the word lovely?"
Okay, that's it! I got into Sanji's face and told him exactly what I thought of him. After all, I may not be that brave, but as a former modern-day woman, I had a lot I could say to the chef about his behavior.
"I do! You sappy cliché hypocrite! And what about yourself? What kind of self-respecting man loses his intellect for any dame and goes spouting lovey-dovey odes to their beauty? That kind of crap is superficial, and some would say demeaning. What happens if you met a girl who took immediate defense? Spout more of the same? The way you keep going about it, a lot of women would take you for a chauvinist pig if you can't even hold a normal conversation with them every once in a while!"
Sanji narrows his eyes dangerously. I pivot back on my heel, narrowly dodging the incoming kick heading for my head before rounding my own kick. All that practice and running did pay off (sort of) since I didn't get flat out destroyed like Fullbody. I still end up crashing into Zoro, though, since Sanji's block sent me flying back.
"Usopp! Get off!" I roll off him hastily, and hop back onto my feet, fists curled in defense as the blond didn't look anywhere finish yet.
"Oh, Kami! Sorry, Zoro!" I apologize to the peeved swordsman. I blink as Zoro goes from glaring at me to giving Sanji a deadly look. Don't tell me…
"Yo, Curly-Brow! Watch where you fling people!"
"What did you say?! You damn Marimo!"
"What did you call me?!"
Good thing we had Nami. She managed to pull off her charm and get Sanji to cool off (temporarily). Looks like I started the two's rivalry a bit early, if only by one island.
…Hey, I changed something, even if only something pretty minor. Maybe I had a hope of changing other things (please, oh mysterious forces, don't let that come back and jinx me)?
Two days passed. Right on cue, a huge galleon approached the Baratie. I shuddered. The manga couldn't do the damage justice. The flag hung ragged, scars littered the wood, and you could smell the scent of decay and blood from here. It was a true testament of unforeseen events and a case of truly terrible luck.
The doors slammed opened. There they were, Gin and his bastard of a captain, Don Krieg. Let the battle of egos and dreams begin, I grimly thought.
And here came our indentured captain, rushing righting into the middle of this dangerous scene.
