Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. All rights go to the respective owners.

It seems in the last chapter I forgot to mention that Ursa Miroku was created by reader, Munchlax Jr, also: Happy early new year!


New World Bound

Chapter 8: That's What a Captain Does


"Lord Katsua! Lord Katsua, you have to get up!" Hideo's vision had blurred horribly and everything had mixed into some kind of strange pinkish orange blend from the setting sun in the distance. He had an earsplitting ring vibrating through his ears and as Takato helped pull him to his feet he attempted to remember what had just happened.

His legs shook and wobbled beneath his weight and he was slowly regaining his composure. Everything within his sight began to meld back into its original place until he could see again. There was a fire on the ship, or at least half of it. The other half was just floating wreckage. The half that he and Takato were standing on however was slowly beginning to sink into the water.

There was something wrong with this picture though, only two of them. "Haze!" Hideo suddenly realized and ran to the edge of their half of the ship. His eyes quickly scanned the waters to spot her but she was nowhere to be found. "Haze! Haze! Damnit Haze, answer me!" He continued to call into the water as if it could actually respond back to him. Still he got no answer. "She's a fruit user, she can't swim…" Hideo muttered to himself.

"Lord Katsua, what are your commands?" Of course, being the captain, Hideo had to make a decision and he needed one fast. He quickly took off his coat and tossed it to Takato while snapping his goggles onto his forehead.

"Takato, I need you to hold on to that. If my explosives get wet they'll be no use. I'm going to look for Haze." He paused suddenly and turned to look at his marksman. "Your job as marksman of my crew is to take care of them. Can you manage that from this distance?" Without a bit of hesitation Takato nodded and put the coat to his side.

There wasn't another word from either of them before Hideo tossed himself into the cold waters below. Takato remained on deck and took in a heavy breath before going into a short fit of coughs. The smoke from the fire wasn't helping the situation or his aim at the moment. He pulled back an arrow on the string and tried to take aim but the smoke was beginning to burn his eyes.

"I have to do something…Lord Katsua is depending on me." Takato began to think through what few options he had. It would be waste and pretty stupid on his part to just randomly fire off arrows and hope he got the one who was using the cannon. Besides, chances were that they were below deck anyway and there was no way his arrows could pierce the hull of their marine ship.

"The best I can do is buy time then." Takato pulled out three arrows, each one having a bit of wicker at the end instead of an arrow head. Placing the ends of each of them into the fire in order to light them he lined up a shot. The distance between them was more than enough for Takato's accurate eyes to hit this target, the large flower on their sail. "Hell's Bolt."

The flame lit arrows soared through the sky leaving a light streak in their trail. Each one skillfully hit its mark and before he knew it the entire sail was lit ablaze. "Mission accomplished." Takato grinned ever so weakly; this would be a perfect setup for his next attack. With the fire spreading from the sail and to the mast now it would probably be weakened enough for him to knock it down with a few Gunpowder Bolts.

He picked up his bow once more and prepared three of the explosive rounds. As His fingers gently began to release the string though he could see a light gleam coming from the side of their vessel. The cannon! He now knew the perfect spot to take care of their weapon. "Argh, I have a perfect shot on it but if I take the time to shoot it I'll be blasted before I can escape." The boy thought quietly to himself, this was a now or never opportunity, there was no way he'd be able to lineup a shot from in the water in the middle of all of those crashing waves.

"Gunpowder Bolt!" His fingers let go of the string. Not wasting the time to see if his shots connected Takato made a dash for the water to escape their possible shots. It wasn't until he reached the railing until he remembered something and ran back to his previous position. There was another heavy booming noise and an explosion destroying the remaining ship half. Takato was sent sprawling to the water, with what he had gone back for; Hideo's coat.

x-x-x-x

Not leaving another word for Takato, Hideo jumped into the water below him and began his search. Takato was capable; he could handle himself up there. He gave one last look back to the surface before submerging himself deeper and deeper. Hido wasn't the smartest guy around, but he did know a bit about water pressure. As long as Haze hadn't sunken to deep they would both be fine. Hideo suddenly stopped and looked around for the briefest of moments. "I was sure I saw something."

He shrugged it off and continued moving, Hideo knew he could probably only last underwater for about a minute to minute and a half before needing to resurface for air. So far he had already managed to waste about twenty seconds of his oxygen. This process would probably manage to move a bit faster there was so much going on around him. Bits of debris and random materials from their ship were leaking out and just randomly floating around him. Looking down below him and into the darker parts of the water Hideo's face began to sink. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she had already gone down there.

Hideo didn't even have a decent idea of how long he was out of it. That time period could have been anywhere from a few second to a couple of minutes, and here every moment would count. He groaned a bit, causing some air bubbles to leaves his lips and rise to the surface. Climbing on top of a bit of debris he used it to kick off and launch himself to the surface.

He rose with a heavy gasp and reached onto a bit of wood. Looking up to the ship again he could see Takato lining up a few shots. "Good." Now scanning the waters a bit his eyes shot open at the sight of a few air bubbles to the left of him. "Haze!" He took in a deep breath and dived once more.

This time he had clear sight of her and was kicking his legs as hard as he could to reach her. It seemed that some of her clothing had caught on to a bit of sinking debris. She had a few cuts on her from the explosion, but nothing too serious. Oddly though, Hideo was certain he could spot something moving beside her body.

Swimming a bit closer and more hesitant now, he neared her and attempted to take her hand before finding something sharp digging into his hand. He immediately pulled back and got into and offensive position. From behind her motionless body appeared some sort of fish, though the strangest thing about this creature would have to be its lack of eyes. He was no marine biologist, but even Hideo could tell this fish was more than likely attracted to the blood seeping from her wounds. The fish was about 4 feet long with a slender body and was quite territorial.

What was Hideo to do though? None of his explosives were on him at the moment. "Guess I'll just have to take her back by force then." Hideo swam near her body, the fish now giving him a warning snap that Hideo paid no attention to. He instead put a single one of Haze's arms over his shoulder and began to move the other until he felt something biting into his shoulder.

"Go to hell!" He screamed out from beneath the water and rammed his shoulder into the debris Haze had previously been stuck to. The fish struggled to hang on but soon lost its grip. Hideo smirked as he finished getting Haze onto his back and began moving back to the surface. As he looked up he was shocked to see that the rest of the ship had managed to disappear as well.

During his time battling the marine creature he hadn't realized the second cannon shot had gone off. He attempted to pick up his pace, but he could feel something causing him to slow down and eventually sink instead of rise. He looked down to see the same fish from before pulling them down by Haze's foot.

The captain growled under his breath and grabbed a plank of wood. "I said let her go!" he spun around to gain the little momentum he could and gave the thing a head splitting slam onto the forehead. The creature suddenly let go and dizzily began to fall to the darkness below them.

Reaching the surface Hideo immediately began to look around for Takato, but it seemed that wasn't needed. His loyal companion was already above them with a decent sized bit of debris to carry the three of them. His body was soaked and covered in blood and injuries but he still clung onto the crimson coat that his captain had given him beforehand. It was still completely dry and just as Hideo left it.

"I told you I'd k-k-keep it safe and dry, L-l-lord Katsua." The boy managed to get out as he hung to the edge of their new makeshift boat.

As Hideo heaved Haze's body on to the wood and pulled Takato up as well he couldn't help but ask why the archer would do so much just to protect a coat. "Because you ordered me to, Lord Katsua." Takato responded before passing out.

Hideo slammed his forehead into the wood and sighed. "Takato, you bastard, always following my directions to the letter." He said with a few tears forming in his eyes. He looked out to where the marine ship had previously been only now it was nowhere to be seen. It seems as though they had retreated. Hideo had no clue what Takato had done, but he was proud. Grabbing something nearby, he began their slow paddle to the shores of Rushville.

x-x-x-x

Hideo stumbled through the doors of an abandoned bar in town. Takato was hanging over one shoulder and Haze the other. As they made it through he placed each of them down before falling down to the dusty floors and struggling for breath. He was soaking wet and by this point his arms felt as if they were going to fall off. He rolled over so that he was now staring at the ceiling.

This island being a Wild Western themed island these old bars were pretty common. After finally having a bit of time to catch his breath Hideo rose to his feet and looked to Takato and Haze. They were fine, both of them still breathing and doing well, they just needed rest. Of course they still had no idea if the Ursa guy was still on the island.

x-x-x-x

As Procne began to align the cannon for what she hoped to be the final shot she could see several objects moving her way. "What?" She muttered before two of the arrows managed to connect and exploded knocking her back and against the wall of the lower cabin. There was an eerie silence before the redheaded woman let out an enraged growl that seemed to even shake the waters below their ship.

She rose back to her feet, her uniform now destroyed and singed around her right shoulder area and chest. Takato's last minute efforts seemed to have little effect on the marine as she returned to her position. "You damn pirates wanna play! Let's play damnit!" She fired the next shot and hit her mark.

Procne grinned sadistically as she rose from the cannon and looked to Giselle who was down there with her now. "You saw that? I blew those pirates to kingdom come!"

Giselle didn't say a word; she simply pointed one of her large gloved hands above them. "There's a situation on deck Procne." She quickly ran up on deck to see their mast burning down. Charlotte was throwing buckets of water on it to attempt to dowse the flames but that was having no effect.

"Where the hell is Rin?" She roared at her subordinates.

"Right here, Procne-san." The pink haired marine elegantly rose from the water, though her upper half of her body was still the same, everything below that was now a flashy display of pink scales on a fish tail body. A mermaid. As she returned to the deck the tail then split back into two legs, her pants still covering her body. "It seems the pirate is swimming his way back to shore. I think there's only one of them. Should I go after him?"

"No, take care of this fire first, then we'll give chase." Procne commanded as she looked out into the distance, she could catch a small glimpse of Hideo paddling his way to shore.

Rin seemed to understand and pulled out her weapon, a full seven foot long naginata. "Rip Tide!" She called while jumping back into the water. Once she did so she gave the weapon a powerful swing through the currents and sent a powerful surge of water at the mast. Perhaps to powerful as the entire thing fell upon collision.

"Damnit Rin, I said put out the fire! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Sorry, guess I don't know my own strength." The mermaid said shyly while climbing back on the ship. "At least the fire's out though Procne-san."

The angry woman slammed her hand into her forehead. "Fine, we'll bring the ship into the port and then chase them down. Seeing as how we no longer have a mast we'll have to use our secret weapon." At the sound of this everyone else besides Procne seemed to groan. "Get below deck and get moving! Karkade pedal!"

In one of the lower rooms of the ship every member of Karkade except Procne climbed onto their bicycle seat and began pedaling away. Small paddles below their ship began to rotate and they slowly made their way back to the island.

"Come on! You can pedal faster than that you useless bunch of brats!"

x-x-x-x

Haze slowly began to open her eyes as she saw Hideo looking outside the doors of the barn. "What's going on?"

"Shh!" He responded as he poked his head back in. "Marine are checking houses, they're on their way here," he whispered to her as he took up his coat and threw it on.

"Don't tell me you're going to fight them." Just from his appearance at the moment it was obvious that Hideo had seen better days. Haze attempted to stand to her feet but winced in pain and fell back down.

"Seems like you broke something. Just sit here and rest, I'll throw them off our trail." He reached into his coat and began to feel around for what was useable and to see what he actually had on him at the moment. "If I don't come back in a few hours I want you two to find a ship and get out of here." Hideo prepared to walk out the door.

"Stop!" She suddenly called across the room. "Let me help you, there's no reason for you to go out there alone."

"Sure there is," Hideo responded and gave his usual childish grin. "That's what a captain does. That's more than enough reason for me to go out there."

Hideo stepped outside and that was the last Haze saw of him. From outside she could hear several explosions and screams. Then gunshots, the sounds of windows shattering, then silence. Walking past one of the windows she saw the face of an angry red haired marine.

"Looks like we have another one for the transport ship tonight." In handcuffs and being held by a few marine soldiers behind her was none other than Hideo.


Well, hope you guys liked that chapter. I think it moved the plot for this next arc along nicely as well as managed to show a bit more on the characters' of Hideo and Takato. I tried to get some of Haze in there at the end, but I guess I'll save some more of that for the next chapter.

Also, if you look at my profile you'll see I have a link to my Deviantart page now. I did a few attempts at drawing the characters in this story so you can go ahead and have a look if you want. Please know that my skills are more in writing than drawing so they're not that great :p