On the Tides of Time
Chapter 10: Jumping Ship!
It had been a half hour, and the mouth-watering smell of food prepared by Baratie's fighting cooks had drifted into the restaurant. The dining room of said restaurant was relatively empty, as I was the only one sitting at one of the tables. My eyes followed the occasional cook bursting through the closed doors, running back and forth from the damaged areas of the Baratie.
The broken doors had been repaired to an extent, but the cooks were very careful with opening and closing them. But, their version of 'careful' resulted in the doors being broken again, and eventually Patty and Carne came down and decided to leave the doors open until they could fix them properly. Thankfully the weather was warm and the cool wind was more than welcome as it blew through the restaurant. I'm sure the sentiment might change drastically if a storm makes itself known to the sea-faring restaurant before the doors are fixed, though.
Chuckling quietly to myself, I turned my attention back towards the map I had spread out on the table. It hadn't changed since I arrived; the names of islands still faded and some left unnamed, my destination still unknown. But instead of trying to chart my own course, I was no trying to figure out where Nami's course could've taken her. From what I heard from the cooks, the pirate ship and my own had passed them by on the other fin – heading towards the Conomi Islands, where I came from. While the direction which the cooks pointed to was a straight line towards the largest island, where Cocoyashi and Gosa village were located, the Straw Hat navigator could've easily changed course and headed to the smaller islands…
I sighed, my fingers rubbing circles into my temples as I tried to imagine the path Nami took. Where was she going? Was she going to change course? What if the straight line is just a distraction? Is she stopping somewhere along the way? Somewhere that she could hide the ship?
Another sigh escaped me as I took a sip from the glass of water Zeff had gotten me before he left. There wasn't enough information to make a decision at this point. The only thing we could do is wait for the others to return to Baratie to tell us where Nami was heading, but that was unlikely to happen. We could always sail for Cocoyashi and Gosa, but we could miss the others if they went through the smaller islands…
"Kai-something! My hat! My straw hat!" My eyes focused on the source of the ruckus. It wasn't hard to pick him out, barrelling down the stairs with reckless abandon and nearly bowling over a cook that was heading upstairs.
"At least get her name right, fool! You should always make an effort to remember a beautiful woman's name, anything less is unacceptable for a man!" Sanji was following Luffy at a languid pace, calling out to the pirate as he descended the first steps as Luffy raced towards me.
Lifting the hat in the air, I laughed quietly as his eyes lit up as soon as he spotted it. It was as if the hat meant more to him than any pile of gold that could be found in treasure chests. The moment Luffy reached me the hat was taken out of my hands and secured onto its rightful place as he grinned with happiness. There was so many stories and adventures the pirate before me had been on already, so much freedom and carefree gestures that would lead him to a great many more.
Briefly wondering at my chances of actually hearing these stories, I spoke, "It's Kailina, nice to meet you officially. And I thought I told you to be careful with your hat!"
"Sorry, sorry!"
With the grin he gave me, I could only assume that the second he feels like blasting off he would forget about his hat and my words of caution. But before I could say anything else, my hand found itself in the grasp of the dandy long-legs.
"Mademoiselle, might I just say that in the time spent away from you, you have somehow managed to become even more lovely~?"
Smiling politely, I stood up and took my hand from Sanji's feather-light grip.
"Guys, meal time!"
A bell rang out from upstairs, and I could see the feet of the cook who called out as he stood on the spiral staircase. He turned and headed back towards where the cooks were eating.
"Food! C'mon, Kaili!"
Getting dragged along by Luffy, I took the stairs two at a time to keep up with the pirate. Sanji was following me closely, and by the time we reached the door that led into the room where the cooks ate their food Sanji had gotten in front of us and opened the door. There were two long tables in the room, a third smaller one was off to the side and covered with food. All of the cooks seemed to be already eating, and there were no seats left for the three of us.
"Hey, where do we sit?"
"Where's our food?"
"Should I even be here? I'm not an employee, you know…"
None of the cooks seemed to acknowledge us, still focused on their food, and I thought they wouldn't answer until voices sounded from somewhere in the room.
"There're no chairs for you."
"Hehe… Sit on the floor and eat."
Luffy shrugged, and headed towards the food table. Sanji muttered under his breath and soon followed. I hovered by the door, still debating whether or not I should enter. They didn't say anything that would indicate I wasn't wanted, and they didn't even acknowledge my question…
Satisfied with my reasoning, I closed the door behind me and walked towards the two I came in with. Luffy was piling meat onto his plate, but after a scolding from Sanji he also added a few vegetables to his tray as well. The latter passed me a plate and I could feel him carefully scanning over my choices, offering a tip or two on how to get the most nutrients, 'even though you'll have to put up with inferior cooking.'. Luffy and I waited as Sanji skillfully filled his tray with a balance of the offered foods.
Luffy and I followed Sanji as he sat down near the door we entered from, letting out a breath as he did so. We both followed suit.
"Guess we can't help it…"
"Those guys are acting strange…" Luffy was looking towards the cooks as he spoke, and I would've been concerned over their behaviour if it wasn't Luffy who mentioned it. Sanji didn't seemed bothered by their actions, though.
"Strange is normal for them."
The quiet growl that my stomach let out indicated just how hungry I was, and I decided to shrug off the conversation and eat the delicious smelling food in front of me. The peace didn't last long.
"Hey, who prepared the soup?" The cook I had come to know as Patty after the battle stood up as he spoke, slamming his spoon onto the table as he did so.
Judging by the tone of his voice, I thought that he didn't like it. Having no soup of my own to taste – forgoing that option at the food table due to my dislike of soup – my brow furrowed as Sanji answered him enthusiastically.
"Oh, I did! Delicious, isn't it? It's an especially good batch."
"I can't eat damn nasty soup like this! What is this, pig feed!?"
The expression on Sanji's face changed drastically as Patty wiped his mouth and pretended to spit out the remaining taste of the soup. The sounds of people eating quieted except for that coming from Luffy and myself, both of us keenly watching the scene unfold as we filled our stomachs.
"Is human food not to your liking, crap-raccoon?" Sanji stood as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants.
"Hmph. It takes talent to make something this foul."
"I'd stake my reputation on that soup. You have an undiscerning palate."
Sanji started advancing towards Patty, and as the tension in the room grew my fingers reached behind me out of habit. Kikoeru was left downstairs, forgotten as Luffy dragged me along, and I tentatively called out to it. It responded warmly, and my hand returned to my lap.
"This is nasty!" Carne voiced his opinion on the soup, stopping Sanji in his tracks.
Throughout the room sounds of disgust coupled with spoons being slammed onto the table made themselves known, and I could see Sanji getting angrier as the show went on.
"What's gotten into you crap-apes!?"
The cooks all turned towards Sanji as he spoke.
"You're a phony sous chef after all…"
"You're a hack!"
"I'm sick of being bullied by you!"
The conversation which would've turned into a fight, had Sanji had his way, quieted instantly as chef Zeff spoke, "We're sea-faring cooks. Don't waste even a drop of soup."
After finishing his soup in silence, Zeff stood and shattered his bowl on the ground.
"What is this crap-awful sludge? If we serve muck like this to our customers, our restaurant will go out of business!"
"Don't be ridiculous, shitty geezer!" Sanji stormed up to Zeff, grabbing the man by his shirt, "How's your soup different from this one?! Well?!"
"My soup?" Zeff frowned, "Don't flatter yourself!"
Chef Zeff then punched Sanji in the head, causing ripples of surprise from the cooks.
"Chef… Punched him?"
"He didn't kick…"
But all of the cooks, now unable to hide their interest in the scene, went silent as soon as Zeff spoke to the sous chef on the ground before him.
"You'll never be able to cook like me, baby eggplant! I'm a man who has cooked on seas around the world. It'll be a billion years before you can give me a lecture on cooking, brat!
Sanji stood, but said nothing to the chef. He let out a curse and left the employee dining room, slamming the door shut behind him. I stared at the door for a few more seconds, briefly wondering if someone should follow him, but I quickly discarded that idea. If anyone was to go chasing after him, it wouldn't be me. Besides, he'll probably come back once he's cooled off.
"But this soup is really good!"
Luffy had gotten up and collected more soup from its container, drinking the soup in large gulps before filling his bowl again. The cooks, who had been staring out the window in order to catch a glimpse of Sanji as he ran, turned their attention to the pirate captain.
"We know that." Zeff spoke, and I immediately connected their display for the 'push' to get Sanji to leave, "Sanji's cooking skills are recognized by everyone here."
"We all know that Sanji's a great chef."
"Yeah, the soup is very well made."
"But man, does our sous chef have a temper!"
"He seriously snapped, huh? That was scary…"
The tension in the air was quickly replaced by the laughs that came from the cooks, and the comments didn't stop.
"That was a mean thing the chef made us do."
"I sweated through my jacket!"
"I was worried that he might figure it out because of Patty's bad acting."
"You're acting was horrible too, Carne!"
"Gimme more of that soup!"
The cooks all gathered around the soup bowl, and Luffy was slowly pushed out of the way. He walked back over to me and sat down again, watching the cooks with a small frown on his face.
Of course, the only thing that would upset this man would be food.
"If we don't do something like this, he won't listen!" Zeff joined us, returning to his seat only a few feet away from where we were sitting as he spoke, "Hey kid, you were saying that you wanted a cook for your ship, right?"
"Yeah, I want a cook before we head to the Grand Line."
"This isn't a favour that I'd like to ask of you or anything… But would you take that little brat with you to the Grand Line?" A smile spread across the man's face, "The Grand Line… is his dream."
"No way."
And once again, Luffy managed to surprise me. Of course he would say no to the employer of the cook he's wanted for his crew onto his ship, when asked to take him. Of course. Honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't see it coming before. Luffy truly had no give to him: it was either his way, or no way. He didn't let his life be dictated by another. He never did anything that he didn't want to do…
The type to go after what they want without thinking twice or looking back. They only looked straight ahead, eyes locked onto whatever destination their minds were set one and refusing to change course for anyone. These were the people who embodied freedom.
This was the kind of captain I wanted to follow.
"What?!"
"Why not, boy? Don't you need a cook for your ship? Isn't he good enough for you?" Zeff seemed to be just as confused as I was, unable to tell what Luffy was thinking.
"He's good enough all right, and I'd love to have him as our cook. But he said he wants to stay here and continue working as a cook. You can't decide for him, he has to do it."
Luffy's response made a smile spread itself across my face as I got up to get rid of my tray, as all the food on it had been eaten during the conversations. Not only was the man not willing to give up any of his own freedom, but also refused to ignore trampling over the freedom of others. It was clear why a strong man like Roronoa Zoro would choose Luffy to be his captain, as well as how he had amassed the crew he had with how little he thought things through. With what I'm seeing of Luffy's character, my desire to join in on his adventures seems to only be growing stronger and stronger.
When I left home, the thought of becoming a pirate had only buried itself on the fringes of my mind. Kura was a pirate much like Luffy, unwilling to yield to the desires of others. She was the one to open my mind to such a thought. Despite everything that my father had to say about pirates, I was becoming increasingly confident of throwing all his warnings away due to the straw hatted captain and his crew. My smile grew wider at the thought.
No, I don't think I'd mind if I sailed under Luffy's Jolly Roger.
"Well, fair enough. But who knows whether that crazy crap-brat will say it himself…"
"There's no way. He's an idiot through and through, after all!"
"I've never seen you say that to his face, Carne!"
"That's why the word 'stubborn' exists, Patty!"
"Hahaha! Let's get us a second round of soup before he comes back, then!"
Krash!
Whirling around to see what made the loud commotion, my eyes were met with Sanji lying under a man with a large fish attempting to eat him. The wall of the employee dining room had been broken through, and I idly wondered how often the Baratie cooks needed to repair their vessel.
"Sanji!"
"What is it? A Fishman?!"
"He came all the way from Fishman Island to eat our food?"
"It's a man and a panshark, moron!"
Listening to the cooks' banter, I agreed that the large white and black fish was a panda shark, home to East Blue waters around the Conomi Islands.
"Hey, Yosaku!" Luffy approached the man as Sanji moved himself out from under the man-panshark combination.
Moving closer to the newcomer at Luffy's words, I could see that the victim of the panshark was one of the men who stole my ship. The red headgear wearing man named Yosaku came to life at Luffy's voice, reaching towards him shakily.
"Brother… Luffy!"
"Why are you alone? Where're the others?" Luffy crouched beside Yosaku as he continued bombarding the man with questions before he could answer them, "What about Nami?!"
"And what about my ship?" Adding my own question to Luffy's, I walked over to the panshark and placed my foot in its mouth. Leaning down, I grabbed onto the rounded nose of the shark and pulled upwards. Forced to open its mouth and release Yosaku from its jaws, I then grabbed the collar of his green jacket and pulled his body out of the panshark. Its jaws slammed shut once I removed my foot and released its nose, and it angrily writhed about.
I left the cooks to deal with the shark as I turned my attention towards Yosaku, turning him around to face me. He had a thankful grin on his face, but it quickly dropped as soon as his eyes met my glare.
"S-sister?"
"You'll wish that panda shark ate you if my ship doesn't make it back to me in one piece, thief." I would've continued my threat had it not been imperative that we get information on Nami's direction.
Sighing, I dragged Yosaku over to the nearest chair and sat him down before asking one of the cooks to get the water-logged man a blanket, water, and some warm food. After the cook returned with the items, Yosaku hung his jacket to dry, wrapped himself in the towel, and began talking as he ate.
"We didn't catch up with her, but by the wake of sister Nami's ship we figured out roughly where she was going."
"One of the Conomi Islands, right?"
"Yeah. Sister Nami had let our ship go – mine and Johnny's – so I took it to head back and tell brother Luffy where to go. The panda shark jumped out of the water and got me, though…"
"So if you know where she's going, then we can go get our navigator back!"
"Well, Luffy… That's just it. If what we're thinking is right, she's heading for an unbelievable place!"
"What? The Conomi Islands are relatively peaceful compared to other places in the East Blue, where is she heading?"
"You haven't heard, sister?" Yosaku looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself and turned back to Luffy, "I'll tell you the details later! In any case, we need your help Big Bro Luffy! Come with me!"
"Okay! I don't really get it, but I got it. Let's go!" Luffy pointed his thumb towards me, "Kaili's coming with us to get her ship back." Luffy looked over to me, as if asking if what he said was right.
Nodding, I responded, "That's right." I then turned to Yosaku and introduced myself, "My name's Kailina. It's… well, it's not very nice to meet you, so… I hope we can work together to get my ship back."
With that said, Yosaku shed his blanket and put on his jacket and placed his silent sword on his back. Luffy stood up, and we started making our way out of the employee dining hall. After we had taken a few steps, we were stopped by Sanji's voice.
"Wait." I turned and saw Sanji leaning up against the wall, a new cigarette burning in his mouth, "I'll go. Take me with you."
Luffy looked surprised, and the same sentiment was shared with the fighting cooks.
"I might as well sail with you, seeing as we both have foolish dreams. Your journey to become King of the Pirates might just lead me to the 'All Blue'. So, you've got yourself a cook." He let out an exhale in Luffy's silence, smoke billowed from his cigarette, "Is that okay or not okay?"
"It's okay!" Luffy broke out into a huge grin, "Hooray!"
"This is great, brother Luffy!"
Yosaku and Luffy danced around happily at the addition to the Straw Hat crew, chants of 'hooray' and 'we've got a cook' came from the pair.
"So that's how it is, everyone. Sorry for causing you all sorts of trouble."
Sanji spoke to the cooks who watched in a stunned silence. They quickly snapped out of their daze and smirked at the dandy long-legs.
"Hmph. I was going to throw you out with my own hands."
"And now you go and decide to jump ship! Couldn't you have done that before you chased off a lot of our customers?"
"At least now we won't have to worry about our sous chef beating them up anymore!"
"Your acting is shitty, guys." The cooks immediately dropped their acts at Sanji's words, accusing one another with their looks before the pirate cook spoke again, "You fools weren't exactly whispering."
"You went that far to chase me off, crap-geezer?"
"Before you go, I'm gonna teach you to talk nice, Sanji!"
Patty angrily made his way towards Sanji, but was stopped by Zeff before he could reach the sous chef.
"Hmph! That's right, little brat! I've never liked kids to begin with, so not a day goes by where I don't regret letting a useless one live."
"Oh, yeah? Fine by me, crap-geezer. Enjoy the rest of your life."
Sanji then walked away, heading downstairs to presumably pack up his belongings for the journey. The cooks hauled Luffy away, speaking of giving us food for the journey. Some others led Yosaku away, talking of preparing Sanji's ship for travel. It wasn't long before the rest of the cooks filed out, leaving to prepare the dining room for incoming patrons. And then I was left with Zeff.
To be honest, I was a little confused. Despite the harsh conversation between chef Zeff and Sanji, everyone seemed to have high spirits. Even Sanji and Zeff seemed to be unfazed, and no angry outburst had erupted between them.
"That's just how we are, Kailina." My eyes shot up and met Zeff's, noticing that he was now standing in front of me.
"But… Wasn't that a little harsh for a goodbye?"
Zeff sighed and gestured for me to follow him as he turned and walked out of the dining room, I scurried along after him.
"It might've been, but that boy needs a good kick in the head to set him straight. He's as stubborn as a mule, that one. Even though he said he's leaving, I'm certain a small part of him is going to be holding back, chewing on that spear of his."
The sound of Zeff's makeshift peg leg rhythmically hit the wood as I followed him, listening intently to what the chef was saying.
"He's still just a little eggplant in that regard. Not willing to leave the place or people he grew up with for stupid reasons. Denying himself of his dream for that stupid belief that he owes me or this ship anything. He's a kind brat, Kailina."
We stopped at a door, and Zeff opened it and closed the door after me. Part of the wall was missing, the wood shredded from some sort of impact. There was a bed shoved into the corner across from the door, and a bookshelf hung over it. A desk was propped up against the wall, a map hung over it with the Baratie's location circled in red ink. It was a relatively simple cabin. Zeff walked over to the bed and hauled out a book, running his fingers down the spin before turning back around to me. But before he could change the subject, I spoke my mind.
"But sometimes it's best to just speak from the heart at times like these. Sanji's leaving, and going on a dangerous journey he might not come back from. Do you really want your goodbye to leave some things unsaid?"
Zeff paused, considering my words carefully. He seemed to have reached a conclusion and chuckled quietly before replying.
"You might be right, Kailina. I'll have to see what happens." He held out the book to me, "In the meantime, I wanted to ask if you were interested in taking this with you."
It was old, the russet cover of the book was ratty, and I could see the pages within were stained and stuck together after exposure to water. Gently, my hands removed the book from Zeff's, and the coarse fibers that still held the pages together rubbed against my skin. The faded text was still legible, reading 'The Log Book', and below it was the Jolly Roger Zeff's: what looked like a chicken or duck with wearing a chef hat, the crossbones were substituted with a crossed knife and fork.
"Is this that logbook Don Krieg was talking about?" Flipping the book over, I glanced up at him from my scrutiny of the book to wait for Zeff's response.
"Yeah. In that book, the year-long journey on the Grand Line is recorded. The struggles and adventures of my men and myself, all written down onto paper."
Looking down at the book again I ran my thumb across the pages, but I didn't move to crack open the cover and see what was written inside.
"Did you fill all the pages?" My question left me before I realised it.
It seemed like all the pages had been written on, the sheets of paper curved into the spine individually. It indicated that each page had at least been opened up and allowed to breathe, and as none of the pages looked to be straight and untouched, that was my conclusion. I guess the question I posed to 'Red Foot' Zeff was merely to confirm my own deduction.
"Mm. Each and every page of this logbook has been written on."
Pleased with his answer, I smiled and returned the important book to the owner of the Baratie. He answered my smile with a grin of his own, and ran his fingers down the back of the spine again.
"It's very kind of you to offer, but I think that book's been through enough already. Besides…" My smile grew wider and my body shivered with excitement, "I'm planning to fill more than one book with all the horizons I'm going to see."
He laughed, and I laughed too.
"I suppose so, Kailina. I'm planning to offer it to our chore boy as well, but I think you know his answer as well as I do at this point."
"I think so."
We spent a quiet minute thinking of the pirate, before our fond smiles faded and a light air surrounded us.
"I'm going to go get ready for our departure."
"Mm. That's a good idea."
Letting myself out of the man's room, I turned back as my hand grasped the door's handle. Zeff had sat down on his bed, looking at the logbook fondly as he let out a deep breath.
"Thanks for everything, chef Zeff."
While I had only known him for a few hours at most, the chef had grown on me. Thinking on it, a lot of people had grown on me in a short amount of time: Luffy, Sanji, Zeff… even the cooks didn't seem to be such a bad bunch. I didn't know Yosaku, Johnny, Usopp, or Zoro well enough at this point to make such claims with certainty, but from what I saw they weren't that bad either.
I took a moment to appreciate how many people my journey allowed me to meet, both good and bad.
Smiling once again, I turned the handle and left Zeff's room. As I made my way downstairs and grabbed Kikoeru off of the dining table I had placed it on, I couldn't help but wonder how the rest of my adventure would unfold. Kikoeru thrummed in my hand, the vibrations echoing into my core as I strapped the dual glaive onto my back with a practiced pace.
"I know, Kikoeru. We're in for quite the ride, aren't we?"
Chuckling quietly to myself, I made sure to check that I had everything I came with. The old map, the wanted poster of Acaste Caspian, the silver coin, and the bag of money Grist had given me could all be found on my body. Thinking about it, I pulled the small pouch of Berries from its hiding place in my boot. Pulling out enough to pay for the meal I had, I placed it on one of the tables. Tucking the pouch back into my boot, and shoving it down my leg to secure it further, I silently thanked Kura for teaching me to always carry the most important things on my body. The only thing that I had in my missing ship that I wanted back was the training staff stashed in the cabin.
"Hey, Kaili! Are you ready to leave?"
Brining myself out of my thoughts, I turned to see Luffy coming down the stairs. He was carrying a large sack, presumably carrying the meat that we were given. Based on how much the contents of the bag bulged against its container, I'm sure we were getting a lot more meat than what the cooks had originally intended on giving us. At least we won't starve…
"Yeah, let's head to the ship. I'm pretty sure Yosaku is waiting for us."
"Got it!"
Luffy and I made our way to the ship, and sure enough, Yosaku was waiting for us.
"Have you seen Sanji?" Yosaku immediately asked us as we stepped onto the nice-looking ship. It had a decent sized deck and cabin, and a large fridge and kitchen waited inside. Green paint striped the boat, and gave it a nicer look than the usual unpainted wood that most ships sailed with.
"I'm sure he'll show up after he's said his goodbyes to the restaurant." My words seemed to satisfy Yosaku for now, but he was still anxious to set sail.
Over the next few minutes, the cooks gathered on the hastily repaired fin, all wanting to say their goodbyes to Sanji before he left.
"Oh, there he is."
At the sound of Yosaku's voice I looked up from Kikoeru's blade, which I had been inspecting for any sort of damage or blunt edge. Sanji had appeared from Baratie, carrying a small bag over his shoulder and a briefcase in his hand. The cooks turned and stared at him as he made his way to the ship. He had only taken a few steps onto Baratie's fin when Patty and Carne attacked him from behind with large spoons.
"We've been saving this up for years!"
"Say your prayers, Sanji! You're about to face the result of our longstanding grudge!"
It was rather lackluster, as Sanji easily dodged the duo's attack and countered with his own strong kicks. They fell to the floor easily, probably bleeding onto the newly cleaned wood. Sanji continued walking towards the ship, staying silent as he passed by the cooks he had worked with for years. Soon enough, Sanji stood in front of the ship.
"Let's go."
"Aren't you going to say goodbye?" Luffy crossed his arms and tilted his head, confused by Sanji's departure.
"That's okay." Luffy said nothing else, and Sanji moved to board his vessel.
"Hey, Sanji!" Zeff's voice stopped Sanji in his tracks, the chef leaning on the railing as he called out from the top floor of the Baratie, "Keep your feet dry."
Sanji's visible eye welled up with tears, and soon the salty water ran down both of his cheeks.
"Chef Zeff!" As he shouted, he turned around and bowed to the man, his forehead pressing against the wood of the fighting deck, "All these years, I've lived under your shitty roof! You've done so many damn things for me over the years… I owe you my life! I'll never forget your kindness for the rest of my life!"
"You crap-head!" Patty and Carne seemed to have recovered from Sanji's kick, and were crying as well.
"I'll miss you, dammit!"
"I'll miss you, too!"
Their words seemed to have spread the heartfelt goodbye as the rest of the cooks began crying as well, calling out similar things.
"I'll miss you!"
"It's so sad!"
"We're all gonna miss you!"
"Sentimental fools!" Zeff's voice rang out above the others, although it seemed as if he wasn't faring any better, "Men should part without a word."
The moment lasted a little longer, but soon Sanji pulled himself together and boarded the ship, calling out one final goodbye to Baratie and her fighting cooks.
"Goodbye, you crap-bastards!"
"Let's go! Set sail!" Luffy grinned cheekily as he called out his order.
The sails were unfurled, and the ship was carried away from the restaurant by the waves and wind. The four of us waved at the Baratie until it faded from sight, all of us saddened to leave it behind. Soon enough, we stopped looking back and starting looking forwards.
Well, most of us were…
"Waaaaah!"
"How long are you gonna keep blubbering, Yosaku? Cheer up."
"BUD ID WAS ALL SO BOOVING!" Yosaku sniffed loudly, wiping at the tears that spilled endlessly from his eyes, "Such a beautiful leave-taking, brother cook!"
"Can you even see enough to steer this tub?"
Shaking my head at the conversation they were having, I decided to steer it in a more important direction: our destination. Both Luffy and Sanji seemed pretty carefree now that we had set sail, and I briefly wondered how Luffy could be so at ease when he had the highest chance of falling into the ocean's waters. He was sitting cross-legged on the bowsprit of the vessel, while Sanji and Yosaku were sitting on the deck with their backs pressed against the railing. I sat across from Luffy, my back leaning against the cabin's outer wall – with a lot of distance between me and the sides of the ship. Kikoeru was propped up against the cabin beside me.
"So, Yosaku, where exactly are you steering us to?"
"Ah! Sister Kailina, I'll tell you!" Yosaku seemed to perk up at my question, and quickly put a stop to his snivelling and waterworks, "Sister Nami is on a collision course with one scary guy! Someone who you shouldn't be taking so lightly, brothers!"
Both Sanji and Luffy shrugged off his warning, but managed to patiently listen anyway.
"You need to understand what we're walking into. There's a reason the Grand Line is called the pirate's graveyard! It's 'cause tree great powers rule over those waters." He paused, making sure that we were all listening, and almost seemed to expect that he was going to get cut off soon, "One of those powers are the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
"Who are they?"
"I'm glad you asked, sister Kailina. They're the seven pirate leaders who are recognised by the government."
"What? Why would the government recognize pirates?" Sanji asked the question before I could, and Yosaku continued.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea inhabit wild regions, and unlicensed pirates are easy targets for them. The government allows the Seven Warlords to raid the seas in return for a cut of their haul." Yosaku made a face, "Other pirates call them 'government dogs', but they're tough! The man who defeated brother Zoro, Hawk-Eye Mihawk, he's one of the Seven Warlords!"
"Wow! There are six more like him?! The Seven Warlords must be impressive!"
Luffy looked excited, clapping his feet together as his eyes widened at the news.
"Of course they're impressive. I doubt the government would sanction pirates who could get defeated easily. If that was the case, they'd just send someone out to do it. The government probably only recognises them just so that they take their side when problems arise."
"Mademoiselle, your reasoning never ceases to amaze~!"
"The problem is Jimbei, the leader of the Fishman Pirates! In exchange for becoming one of the Seven Warlords, Jimbei released a holy terror into the East Blue."
"Fishman, huh? Their island in the Grand Line is famous, right? I've heard there are beautiful mermaids there…" Sanji seemed to get lost in his own world as he spoke, and I wasn't entirely interested on seeing where his thoughts led him.
"Hmm… Like this?"
My attention turned to Luffy, who had somehow gotten hold of paper and a pen, drew a picture of a regular fish with four legs attached to the bottom of it. I felt bad for the fish…
"Hahaha! What an ugly fish!" Sanji laughed out as he looked at Luffy's drawing.
"Fine, we'll skip the history lesson. Right now, we're heading for Arlong Park! It's the base of operations for Arlong, sitting next to Cocoyashi village!" Yosaku said this as if he waited for a reaction… But as the three of us could only blink at his exclamation, he sighed and explained further, "Arlong's a Fishman. He used to be Jimbei's equal. Which means his strength is far superior to Don Krieg's, and this is his territory!"
"How do you know that Nami's heading that way, when you didn't even catch up with her?"
"Johnny and I figured it out, sister Kailina. Sister Nami's eyes were glued to Arlong's wanted poster since she saw it, there's no coincidence there! There's some connection between them."
It was reasonable enough, I suppose. Enough to follow the course we were on, at least.
"How 'bout this one?"
Luffy showed another drawing, this time the fish was standing upright. Legs replaced its tail, and it had an arm for both sides of its body. It looked somewhat better than the last picture…?
"That's just a standing version of your last fish. But what business could Nami have with that Fishman?" Sanji then got lost in his own head again, "Maybe she's really a mermaid! She's certainly lovely enough…"
Luffy scribbled on his drawing, and then showed it to us again. He had added eyelashes and hair to the Fishman, as well as writing 'Nami' above it. Somehow, I had a feeling it didn't look like Nami at all. Sanji agreed.
"I'll murder ya, she doesn't look like that!"
"Haven't you heard a word I've said?!" Yosaku angrily asked the men, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Sure, there's some mean Fishman. Got it."
"No, you don't get it! His strength is unimaginable!"
"Well, we'll find out when we get there."
"Yeah. Don't worry so much, Yosaku."
"What a waste of breath!"
Laughing at the banter between the three, I was sure that if Yosaku had longer hair, he'd be pulling it out right now. The carefree pirate captain and his cook seemed totally unfazed by the reality of the situation, and I could feel myself wanting to get swept away in Luffy's reckless abandon. But I didn't. Kura taught me better than that. At least some sort of planning and information gathering should happen during each voyage.
"Yosaku, how far does Arlong's territory extend?"
"Ah… He rules over about twenty towns since he came to the East Blue. Most, if not all, are in the Conomi Islands."
"Sanji! Food!"
"What? Luffy, you know we ate… not even a half hour ago, right?"
"But I'm hungry, Kaili!"
I sighed at Luffy, and Yosaku didn't seem to be doing much better.
"Okay, let's eat. It'll take some time to prepare the food, and it'll be a while until we get there anyway. What would you like?" Sanji rolled up his sleeves, his black jacket long discarded due to the warm weather and the strong sun shining down on the deck.
"Meat! On a bone!"
"Stir-fried bean sprouts!"
They both answered instantaneously. My shoulders sagged as I realized that creating anything that resembled a plan would end poorly on this ship.
"At least I have the pleasure of cooking for a beautiful lady like you, Mademoiselle~! What can I get for you?" Sanji reached for my hands again, but I replied before he could grab them.
"Uh, I'm not really hungry… But I would love something light with fruit in it, if it's not too much trouble!"
"It's no trouble at all, my lovely Mademoiselle~!"
He beamed brightly as he made his way into the kitchen, leaving Luffy, Yosaku, and I out on the deck. The sound of splashing drew my attention from the people on board and I looked out over the railing, seeing what I could without moving from my position. Lots of small, narrow, fish leaped out of the water around the boat. Their wing-like fins fluttering wildly before they dove back into the ocean. A whole school of the flying fish travelled with us and seagulls called out in the sky above.
"The weather's so great!"
My gaze turned to Luffy, who stretched out his arms as he spoke. I half expected his Devil Fruit power to kick in, but it seemed like he was only stretching out his muscles this time. Curious, I decided to find out what I could about his powers.
"Hey Luffy?"
"Hm? Yeah?"
"You ate a Devil Fruit, right?"
"Yeah. I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit."
"The Gum-Gum Fruit?"
"Yup!" He popped the 'p', "I'm a rubber man. I can stretch my body!"
To emphasise this, he pulled on his cheek, and the skin stretched until his arm was fully extended. He then let go of the skin, and it snapped back into place. Both stretching his body and having it snap back into place didn't seem to hurt him.
"I see…"
Luffy nodded enthusiastically before looking around wildly. He slid off of his perch and began running around the ship, peering out into the horizon from many different places.
"I wonder if the Grand Line's out this way?!"
"Or maybe it's this way?!"
"Or this way?!"
"That way?"
"This is so exciting!"
"Brother Luffy, you're not sailing for the Grand Line yet, so sit still!"
Luffy dejectedly listened to Yosaku, and returned to his perch. But another wide grin encompassed his face by the time he had settled down.
"Ahh… I can't wait to get Nami back and head for the Grand Line!"
"There's only five of you, and you're heading to the Grand Line already?" My question had Luffy grinning towards me as he replied.
"Yeah! I'll gather more crewmembers when we get to the Grand Line!" His smile widened, "After all, chef Zeff said it was paradise for some people."
"Paradise? Big Bro Luffy, I've told you: It's the pirate's graveyard!" Yosaku's comment brought my attention back to his explanation of the three powers that ruled over the Grand Line, and I decided to ask about them.
"Yosaku, who are the other two powers of the Grand Line?"
"Well, one of them is the Marine Headquarters: the main division of the Marine organization. The marines that you find in the branch organizations in the four blues are nothing compared to what you'll find on the Grand Line. Based on what I've heard, marines that come from the headquarters at Marineford are the 'super-elites'. Other marines just can't even begin to compare."
I nodded slowly, vaguely recalling the few times that Grist had brought up Marineford. Both Grist's and Yosaku's explanation provided the same information: the Navy Headquarters had plenty of powerful sailors in their ranks.
"And the other?"
"I don't really know too much about the Four Emperors, other than the title is reserved for the most notorious and most powerful pirate captains in the world. The strength of the captains alone is the stuff of legends, but they also have large elite crews, making close alliances with other pirate captains and trusting a select few of their members as commanders for their fleets! Not only that, but their influence also extend to land, many having territories that they give their protection to. They say that an alliance of two Emperors would-"
"Hey guys, look!"
We both turned to see Luffy with his legs wrapped around the bowsprit, his stomach flattened against the wood as his arms stretched out from the boat and tried to catch one of the jumping fish. As he called us over, one of the fish had been caught by his hand and wriggled frantically as it tried to escape.
"Good job, Big Bro Luffy! See if you can catch another!"
"Right!"
Unfortunately, Luffy let go of the fish he had caught in order to try and catch another one.
"Why did let that one go, brother Luffy?!"
"Because you wanted to see if I could catch another."
"I meant that you should keep that one and then catch another!"
"Oh. Then you should've said so!"
Shaking my head at their antics, I decided that the moment to ask Yosaku questions had passed. Letting the voices of Luffy and Yosaku drift into the background, I closed my eyes. I had gotten more than enough information about the Grand Line for now, probably more than I should at this point. The Emperors, Warlords, and Marine Headquarters seemed to have a delicate balance of power over the Grand Line. Obviously the Marines wouldn't recruit the Warlords without a good reason, and that reason was probably to combat the Emperors. Pirates fought pirates best, after all.
But there was still so much to learn about the Grand Line. In fact, the little information I had on that sea was terrifying. There were so many uncertainties, and even the information that Yosaku gave me could be nothing but speculation and rumour. If the Grand Line was such a place where anything could happen, it might've even changed drastically from the one that chef Zeff sailed on, or even Don Krieg! Different pirates, different marines… A different combination awaited all who sailed on those waters. If you got the wrong combination, if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time… Well, Don Krieg's first meeting with one of the Warlords meant the early end of his journey on the Grand Line.
At least my first meeting with a Warlord ended relatively well for me.
...
O
...
"Mademoiselle?"
My eyes shot open, and I found myself lying inside the cabin with Sanji peaking his head through the door. Sitting upright, I noticed that I had been placed on top of the small bed tucked into the corner of the cabin and I blearily questioned the cook, "Sanji?"
"You're a deep sleeper, Kailina~! Those idiots just couldn't stop themselves from making all kinds of noise, and you didn't even wake. I moved you inside so the sun wouldn't burn your lovely skin~!"
"Oh. Sorry for the trouble, Sanji. I didn't mean to fall asleep…"
"It's no trouble, Mademoiselle. I can't think of a thing I like doing more than helping a beautiful lady~" He paused for a second, stepping inside of the cabin as I pushed myself up from the bed.
"I cut and washed some fruit for you, it's on the counter there." He nodded towards the counter and I made my way towards it.
Slices of strawberries, bananas, and apples were arranged beautifully on a platter. Some of the fruit had started to turn brown with the exposure to the air, but I ate the slices happily anyway. Soon the plate was empty. Fruit had always been my favourite snack, and Grist had never objected to me eating fruit at any time of day.
"Mm~! It's very good, thanks Sanji!"
"Not a problem, Mademoiselle~!" Sanji grinned at me as he clasped his hands together, but he snapped out of it as he continued, "Oh, you should get ready. We're coming up on Arlong Park."
I paused in the middle of strapping Kikoeru to my back at his words, whipping around to face him.
"What?! From the Baratie to Arlong Park, the journey should take three hours at least! Are you saying that I slept that long?!"
"Hm… not really." Noticing the question I was about to ask, he continued, "We've had a little help. The hippo was making great time at the beginning, but it seems to have slowed down a little…"
Still confused as to what he was saying, he gestured for me to follow him out of the cabin. Eager to clear my confusion, I followed. The sun had started its journey downwards, and while it would still be bright out for a few more hours, the strength of the sun had started to diminish. There was a coolness in the air that hadn't been there before, but I shrugged that off as I continued to follow Sanji. The first thing I noticed as I stepped outside was that the sail had been raised and that the ship still seemed to be moving over the waters quickly. As Sanji led me around to the bow of the ship, I realised why.
There was a giant sea monster towing the vessel towards the rapidly approaching tower of Arlong Park. Its skin was dappled with white and green, and while Sanji referred to it as a hippo, it looked a lot more like some sort of sea cow to me.
"Moo…"
The creature called out, signalling its fatigue as it breathed heavily and started shaking.
"Don't give up yet, cow!"
Luffy encouraged it as Arlong Park got closer and closer, but the sea monster soon veered off to the left. I suspect the many bruises that tinted the skin of the cow's head had something to do with its change in course. While I didn't want to believe I had slept that long, I was almost relieved that I didn't have to bear witness to Luffy's first encounter with the animal.
"Hey! To the left! It's that building!"
"We're gonna crash into the shore!"
"Hurry and untie the ropes, then!"
"Oh? Kaili! You're awake!"
"Sister Kailina!"
"Now's not the time for-!"
Before I could convince them to work on solving the problem, it was already too late. The sea cow had slammed into the shore, and our little boat slid its way up and over the back of the monster. I braced myself against the railing of the ship, expecting the ship to jerk backwards as the rope that tied the vessel to the beast to pull us back towards the sea…
But after a few moments with no such thing happening, I peered out over the edge of the small boat. The rope had slipped itself off the horns of the sea cow as we flew over it, and we were now hurdling through the air with nothing to stop us.
"Yippee! It's almost like we're flying!"
"Brother Luffy, now's not the time!
"Well, it's more like 'jumping'."
"Which means that we're going to fall soon!" As soon as the words left my mouth, the hull of the ship collided with a green sea of foliage.
Branches snapped under the weight and momentum of the ship, and butterflies made their home in my stomach as I could feel my weightless body lifting away from the relative safety of the wooden deck. Although fear coursed through my body, the thought of what would happen when we hit the ground fluttered from my mind the second I saw Luffy's wide grin as he stood unflinchingly on the bowsprit. It seemed as if such a thing was expected to be an everyday occurrence, and he boldly decided to not steady himself against the ship.
"Yahooooo!"
This sure was one hell of a crew.
O
-Disclaimer-
As we are getting into the plot of the manga and anime...
I only own Kailina and my other fan-made characters. Unfortunately, I do not own any other One Piece characters, Oda-sensei does.
O Reviews O
Jag: Yeah, Luffy's good like that…
I'm glad to see that you enjoy Kaili questioning her abilities! Some may not agree with me, but if I found myself in an OC's position, coming across this pirate crew – ridiculous and amazing in every aspect… I don't think that I'd be very confident in my ability to support them as a crewmember! Well, I know Kaili feels the same way at the very least! She'll get more comfortable with the idea of being with the Straw Hats later, but for now the idea still terrifies, and excites her!
I'm looking forward to see her relationship grows with the other Straw Hats as well! I wonder what Nami's gonna think of her…. ;3
CaptainKicky: Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you enjoy it. I'm also glad that you enjoy Kaili's character! So far I see her as a character riddled with weaknesses – something that fanfics sometimes overlook. Luckily canon One Piece seems to understand that weaknesses aren't as terrifying as they seem to be (something that Kaili will end up struggling over). After all, once conquered they can sometimes be the kick-start for great strength!
Yeah… it seems my chapters have been getting increasingly longer…. Good to know you don't mind! X.x
Woot Woot! Double digit chapters AND made it to Arlong Park, sort of! What more could you want?
At least Kaili had a little power nap. She's going to need it for her next fight...
Next time on the ToT, a One Piece fanfic...
Nami's a real person, whaaaaat? I was starting to think she was imaginary...
Fishmen are mean...
What? A new challenger approaches?! A Fishman OC?!
KAILI'S NEXT FIGHT JUST MIGHT STING A LITTLE!
You'll have to tune in next chapter to find out... :3
Thanks to everyone who left a review, favourite, and follow! It's nice to know people are enjoying Kaili's adventures!
Thanks for reading, Fireflies!
-Love, Ember ;3