DATE: MAY 30th, 2019 (30/5/19)


Yo.

I was thinking about saving posting this until June 1st for that feeling of a bunch of views from the start rather than the prior month with 2 days left, but considering how infrequent my updates'll be, I don't want to blueball people for the pettiest reason imaginable. So here's the day and night after Jinbe finds the Dream Realm.

Also, let's answer some reviews while we're here.

(Guest) Matt [CHP1, MAR 26]

Worry not, my friend, all will be making sense in due time. Madness comes later, anyway.

Water-Fox-Raine [CHP3, MAY 23]

I appreciate the words of encouragement, and am happy somebody has confidence in this thing, but I have to be honest, I'm improvising most of this story until at least like, ten years before Luffy leaves. Until then, it's simply introducing the characters to the Dream Realm, the impact it has on their lives, and learning about the others on board the Thousand Sunny, which probably won't be called that until Franky comes by. Also, the Time Travel part won't be answered for probably years, as that's at like, the end of the story. Like, the Epilogue. But you do have a point. Otherwise, thank you!

But yeah, there's that, and then there's the reason you're even on this page in the first place; the story. Enjoy, mate.


"Brother Ti?" Jinbe asked, approaching the tall Fish-Man.

Tiger looked down to the young whale shark. "Hm?"

Jinbe looked hesitant now that he'd asked. He didn't think he'd get this far, honestly. "What's your opinion on...on...humans?"

It was the day after Jinbe had met Brook and been shown around the Sunny and ITS SOFT GRASSES HOLY SHIT. During the time, he learned how Brook's crew from decades yonder, the Rumbar Pirates (yes, he was once a pirate, wouldn't you know) had set out for two things in mind; adventure, and music, to, as they would say 'Bring a smile to every child!'. This, of course, had sounded absolutely nothing like the humans, nor pirates he had heard rumors about.

Even in the Fish-Man District, there weren't really that many pirates, rather small gangs formed by some of the young adults and other miscellaneous thugs that came through from time to time, be it those local, or even from Fish-Man Island itself.

Tiger seemed put off by this question. His eyes narrowed slightly, but otherwise remained still. "What do you mean by that, Jinbe?" He inquired.

"Well...I was thinking…" Jinbe started, being a little nervous. "I had a thought about something, but I want to hear what you have to say."

Tiger put a hand to his chin, seemingly thinking. It took a good twenty seconds before he had an answer for Jinbe. "As far as I'm concerned, humans care about nothing but themselves, even to the bitter death." He then looked ahead from where they were sitting. "And until I'm proven otherwise by even a single human, that's likely to be my view unto my deathbed."

Jinbe was a little conflicted by this. Although it turns out Brook was a human before death, he didn't seem that bad. He even offered him some tea, a cot in the quarters in the ship, even some tales of when he sailed, where he drew his crew were in the same vein as Brook.

Jinbe didn't want to tell this to the sea bream Fish-Man right out the gate, or it'd be too abrupt. So he started simple. "Okay. So," Jinbe paused a bit. "What if...not all humans are evil?" He asked.

Tiger turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "While there are fair odds that not all of humanity is cruel, and I can only hope that is true, what I've seen only backs up my claim, much to my dismay."

Jinbe turned to Tiger in shock. "W-wait, seen?"

Tiger looked confused for a moment before it got to his head. "Ah, right. I haven't brought it up yet." He muttered to himself, facepalming. He then lowered himself to Jinbe's level. "Listen, what I'm about to tell you, speak it to nobody. I'll do it myself when I feel it's right." Tiger's face was stern, demanding, almost afraid. So many emotions that it was hard to keep track with those words.

Jinbe nodded slowly, kind of scared about what caused the 25 year old to become so serious.

"Very well." Tiger nodded, before standing up. "Not just the Fish-Man District, but I have left Fish-Man Island itself many times before." Jinbe's look of shock had spoken his mind; Fisher Tiger had left the whole country before? But wait...he didn't mean-

"I have reached the surface, the long sea known as the Grand Line. I've seen humanity." Nope, nevermind. It's exactly that. "When I tried to approach them and greet them, some ran away in fear, some in disgust. Many tried to scare me into fleeing, some tried fighting me into submission." Tiger then let out a tired sigh. "They called me every name under the damned sun, be it 'Fish-Freak', 'monster', 'beast', 'demon'...it never stopped, no matter how hard I tried to calmly reason." He lowly growled at the end. "Humans think us as beasts lower than them, be it from higher population, greater manpower, overall grip of history of old, I don't even care anymore…" He turned to look at Jinbe. "Not once did I see a single human who was decent enough to so much as reply, as much as you or even I would have hoped. All they did is hate without hesitation, and likely try to save their own hide at the first sign of trouble."

Jinbe had eyes as wide as his jaw, and pupils as shrunken as his hands. Had these humans really done this? Just despide Tiger for merely existing? What kind of egos did these humans have?

But..wait. What of Brook?

"W-w-well, T-Tiger…" He could barely speak, still reeling from shock. "S-something happened to me last night…"

Tiger immediately was on edge. "What happened?!" He sneered.

Jinbe quickly waved his hands in front of him. "N-no no, nothing like that!" He wasn't shanked in the back of his neck or anything like that. To Tiger's credit, though, he definitely could have worded that better. "You see, when I slept, I...something happened in my sleep…"

"Like?" Tiger motioned, giving him a 'go on' look.

"I…" Jinbe's muscles tensed, preparing for Tiger's very likely outburst. "I met a carcass." A slight pause. " A human carcass."

Strangely enough, as rude as it sounded, Tiger didn't go on a rampage, demanding Jinbe what they had done with him, or where were they, he'd beat them up within an inch of their life. Credit where it was due, he was holding up much better than Jinbe expected.

All he did do was narrowed his eyes, almost glaring at Jinbe. "And what happened during this 'meeting'?"

Jinbe figured he'd get straight to the point. Fuck taking it easy. "I talked with my future self in a pitch-black void, had some sake from one of the four seas on the surface (I believe he said from the West Blue?), fell into another pitch-black void with an almost invisible ocean, found a giant ship with a lion's head afront it, got called out to by a tall skeleton, wanting to know who I was, let alone how I got there, swam over and climbed onto the ship, learned his name, how he died, how he'd never heard of a Fish-Man in his life, that he'd been dead for fifteen years, been on that ship for forty five years, how he'd named that place the Dream Realm, tried some tea with some ingredients called 'peach' and 'mint', and OH MY GOD HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF GRASS, HOLY HELL, IT'S THE MOST COMFORTABLE THING EVER!"

Now Tiger was the one reeling back, partly from all the information at once, partly from how calm this human sounded, and partly from the sudden outburst about this 'grass'. He'd have to ask what that was.

No. Focus.

"Jinbe." Tiger spoke slowly. "Are you certain you didn't harm yourself too badly yesterday? Or that what you had was some sort of fever dream?"

Jinbe straightened up a bit after having his little...episode, we'll call it, about fucking grass. Honestly? He almost looked offended, but answered his senior as straightforward as possible. "100%."

Tiger nodded, accepting that this is what he'd have to work with "Very well. Then what was this human like?" He tried. Dammit, he sounded like a father teaching their young about how everything worked and why.

Jinbe cleared his throat, so no flem could interfere his explanation. "Alright, his name was Brook, and he was once a pirate fifteen years ago." Ignoring Tiger tensing, or just not noticing it, he moved on. "He said they were called the Rumbar Pirates, mostly playing music and fighting when attacked. He also said, before he died, he met an Island Whale named Laboon. A baby, actually." This surprised Tiger a bit. Island Whales were commonly found in the exit of Fish-Man island, entering something called the 'New World'. What was a baby doing in one of those seas?

"Hold on." He suddenly said. "You said he'd never met a Fish-Man before, yes?" Jinbe nodded. "Then what did he say about you, or Fish-Men in general?"

Jinbe started thinking, trying to remember what Brook had said.

"I have heard claims that Fish-Men are mindless monsters hellbent on raw destruction from primal instinct."

"Me, though? I've never met a Fish-Man before today, so I have no right to claim anything about you without being a hypocrite, or even flat out wrong in my judgement."

"He'd said that he heard that Fish-Men were monsters, wanting to destroy everything...But…" Tiger had to hold in a low growl from that first bit. "He didn't want to assume anything from what he heard. He said he wanted to judge from what he saw, not what he heard." Tiger raised an eyebrow at this. This human judged not on gossip, but character? That was new. Almost too good to be true. "He was worried of being wrong in his judgement, so he didn't choose to believe anything." Jinbe smiled a bit. "He was actually really pleasant to talk to."

Even Tiger was smiling to himself. Delusion or real, JInbe had met a half-decent human. Huh. Turns out they are once in a blue moon, let alone exist.

He then went back to his straight face. He needed to tell this. "Jinbe." Said kid looked up to Tiger. "I'll be honest; I don't fully trust this yet. But…" And he was smiling again. "For your sake, I'm willing to give benefit of the doubt. Hopefully it works out well."

Jinbe was ecstatic. Tiger had heard him out! And he was open to listen! As he said, Jinbe would have to learn more about Brook, but hell! Progress is progress!

"Thank you for hearing me out, Brother Ti!" Jinbe exclaimed, bowing deeply in thanks.

The former simply smiled, sighing. "Of course, Jinbe."


By the time he'd fallen asleep to arrive aboard the Sunny later that night, in the cot that Brook had shown him prior, he had greeted Brook, whom had been making a cup of coffee (how did a hollow skeleton drink?), only to run past him to check outside. Yep, as voidish as ever. More importantly, however, GRASS.

It took Brook fifteen minutes to pull a whining Jinbe away from what was essentially his personal ecstasy. "But it's so comfy." Is what he'd say, but it just really be like that sometimes.

After what was possibly the mildest tantrum in the past millennia (not that anybody would know), Jinbe had gone to the library to see what there was to read. There wasn't much, but hey, he'd take what he could get. Strangely enough, though, they were cut down to only a few subjects; along with the odd novel such as Reign of Glory, Harbinger, and The Rainbow Mist, there was books on various kinds of swordsmanship, a bakery guide with a bookmark two fifths of the way in, a book on helmsmanship, and a couple history books on Fish-Man Island.

Jinbe had caught on to the pattern that, along with miscellaneous other books added by choice, these were generally associated with Brook or Jinbe. Except the helmsman book; Jinbe had no idea why that was there.

"Ah, so you came to look for a book, too." Jinbe jumped slightly, but calmed down after seeing that Brook was behind him. "Oh, how I love a good read every now and then. Tales of old warm a heart long since gone, bringing a smile to my face! Not that I can say I really have either. YOHOHOHOHO!" Brook exclaimed. And Skull Joke aside, Jinbe had to agree. If nothing else to do, losing yourself in a book was a good idea. I mean, knowledge, right? "Now then, if you need me, I'm going to grab my copy of Mantra and see where the white river leads." As Brook grabbed a book with gold engraving and white clouds on the cover before taking a seat, long black beside him on the bench.

Jinbe simply nodded. "Very well." He then left the library, heading back onto the deck. The first thing that went into Jinbe's mind was the SHEER COMFORT OF THE GRASS BENEATH THE FEET OH HELL YES. After that, though, something that Brook had said last night popped into his head.


"What exactly do you do here, anyway?" Jinbe had asked the corpse from the table, curious as to what even goes on here.

A thoughtful look on his skull, Brook put a hand to his chin. "Well, I check the Sunny once every month to make sure she's in good condition. Additionally, I find a few new books in the library every now and then with old ones going, nowhere to be found," The spooky tone at the end was ridiculously cheesy, to the point where Jinbe deadpanned a massive frown in disappointment. "Elsewhere, I often make myself a long black coffee I learnt from my own journey in the Grand Line, sometimes tea instead, and I either read one of the new books, relax on an odd day, or train my swordsmanship on the lawn.

Jinbe's attention was at the ready when he heard that last part. "Training?" He asked, confused. "I thought this was the Dream Realm. Wouldn't training in your sleep be a bit, well, redundant?"

"Yohohohoho," Brook chuckled, stirring the two cups of tea on the bench with a teaspoon. "I used to think that as well, merely hoping that it would simply help me remember the correct posture for certain battle situations," He then proceeded to throw his hands sky high. "But NOPE, it actually helps you become stronger when you're awake, too! Training every night here since I was eighteen has really helped me in protecting my hometown and old kingdom, as well as make a name for myself as a Rumbar Pirate!"

Jinbe nodded hopefully. He didn't have time now, since all the explaining with Brook had taken up all of his time here, but he'd have to try that soon. He had learned when he finally falls asleep here, he'd wake up back in 'the real world' after a couple minutes. From how he yawned every now and again, that was about an hour away from now.

Jinbe was curious now. "Do you still train? I thought you died years ago."

Brook nodded. "I did. I may not train as frequently as I did back in the day, but I still make sure to every two-three days, give or take. Don't want this sack of bones to go brittle, huh?" He answered, laughing to himself again like the jolly bastard he was.


Now that he had hours left before waking back up on Fish-Man Island, he could take up that idea. He could outclass every other student there. Hell, even in general, more training = stronger overall!

He immediately planted his feet in the grass straightforward, stiff as a board, before holding his tiny hands to his side, curled up into fists. After taking a couple deep breaths, he started doing standard punching motions ahead of him, making sure to not move his waist when punching the air in front of him, as well as keep his feet planted at all times.

An hour later, Brook had come by to check up on the Fish-Man, only to find the latter slowly moving his hands and body in yoga-esque poses, as if he was flowing water around him within his own control. He looked so calm, yet focused on his movements.

'Is this part of Fish-Man Karate?' Brook thought to himself.


"Alright then, do you do anything during your spare time?" Brook asked the young whale shark, finishing the second cup of tea on the bench in front of him. Jinbe was just as curious as what peach and mint were like together. Hell, he'd never heard of either before, so three new things at once, huh? "Do you take part in a sport, do you hang out with friends, or maybe something more personal?"

Jinbe seemed to get the question. "I train in Fish-Man Karate." He replied, nice and simple.

Brook hummed to himself as he brought the two cups to the table, with Brook sitting at the back seat furthest from the door while Jinbe sat adjacent to his left. "You know," Brook wondered. "You never did tell me what exactly that is."

Jinbe grunted in acknowledgement. "My teacher taught me that Fish-Man Karate is a style of fighting that focuses on the movement of water. It is best used in an ocean or lake, as there is an abundance of it, but can also be used on dry land."

Brook nodded himself, taking all of this in. "You said it's a water-based fighting style, yes? How can one use such a style on land, a place with little if no water?" He asked, curious.

"Water vapour," Was the response Brook got, who tilted his skull in confusion. "The near invisible droplets of water in the air. Fish-Man Karate is said to be able to manipulate the droplets into making shockwaves." Jinbe then shrugged. "Believe me, I have no idea how either." he then tried to get back on track. "Anyway, there are more things to Fish-Man Karate then just that, though our class is yet to learn them, like being able to throw a single drop of water with the force of a bullet."

Brook laughed to himself. "Yohohoho, I didn't think that a fighting style could be so unique, and so complex."

Jinbe chuckled himself. "Me neither." He then took a small sip of the tea Brook had prepared him. Apparently, while he said it was normally hot or warm, Brook had made this tea cool, an 'iced tea' he said, due to the flavours. It was fresh in the throat, but it had a sweet aftertaste. "This is really nice!" He cheered.

"Yohohoho! I'll have to make sure we have more of those teabags then!"


Brook smiled at the memory from yesterday.

"Perhaps I should start training full time again." He muttered to himself, leaving Jinbe to train and put Mantra back in the Library.


Nice and subtle. I'll have a bit more for Jinbe for when he's 18 before the next crewmember arrives. Both should be happening next chapter.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.