Chapter 10: Venturing into the Ship's Graveyard

The cold front Berke had mentioned hadn't quite hit yet, though the dark clouds on the horizon showed it was rolling in fast. After a quick discussion we ended up leaving early that morning instead of waiting till the afternoon so we could escape before the actual storm hit and kept us in the bay.

Having my own ship and actually sailing it was vastly different than I expected. Sure I knew how to be a sailor and the various duties that needed to be performed, but before I'd always followed another's orders and direction. And my fellow sailors? Well- at least Shanks knew how to run the riggings and basic navigation. The first day out was a rough one: not only were we dealing with a storm front following behind us, I had inexperienced sailors and was inexperienced myself in dealing with storms or directing people. Phil was no help at all despite having gone through half of the Grandline. He had been with a large crew; large enough he didn't deal with running or sailing a ship and instead helped the doctor, kept watch, or fought. He was on watch duty today as I taught Mihawk and Boulra about the riggings and showed them the different ropes, what certain orders meant, which ropes to use to help climb, how to tie certain knots, and how to swing the large triangular sails about to catch the wind. Shanks was on the wheel since he and I were the only ones who knew how to navigate and I felt Mihawk and Boulra would take directions better from me as I was older than them. Shanks was having fun pretending to be captain and doing a fine job of it… I could see a gleam in his eyes as he stood at the wheel. Considering how well he was at calling out orders and keeping the ship in line he'd make a good captain one day. I was mentally writing down when he would call out orders and what caused him to do so.

At least we were sailing away from the storm instead of into it; if it had been coming up from the south I would have waited in the dock till it passed; no way was I going to try sailing into a storm with so few experienced hands! At night we finally weighed anchor and I heard much complaining from Phil about his old bones.

"So what exactly are our plans for the Ship's Graveyard?" I asked as I leaned back in my chair and looked around the table.

"Currents are probably going to be tricky in that area." Phil started off. "I would suggest we go in slowly and on a day where there isn't a storm nearby." His tone was wry; he had not enjoyed being in the crow's nest when the storm front had almost caught up to us before moving off westwards. "As for what we might find… Shallow areas, wrecked ships, rocks hidden beneath the waves, and hopefully a siren!"

"How much treasure is lying lost on the ocean floor in that area?" Boulra mused out loud. "We could try diving for some of it if the waters are safe enough and not too deep."

"We're going to go all the way in! Find that siren and take pictures! I wonder if they can be talked to at all..." Shanks mused out loud.

"I doubt fishfolk would flee if a siren was benign. It will come to a fight. Question is if it will fight like a sea monster or a person." Mihawk had been the easiest to deal with today; his sharp eyes watched everything and he only had to be told something once. I had expected some difficulty from him but he'd taken this trip as a learning trip and done his best to learn everything I knew on how to sail.

"You don't know that! She could be friendly! Potentially at least…" Shanks sulked slightly at the automatic assumption that the siren would be evil. I got the feeling Shanks liked to make friends with everything; a nice habit but a bit naive.

"Every legend has a grain of truth in it." Phil warned Shanks. "And Mihawk has a good point: how will it fight?"

"Probably with its voice to first do whatever it is siren voices do- then flip the boat over and drag us off one by one." I gave my opinion and grinned. "I can fight rather well in the water… what about the rest of you?"

"My blade can cut through water just as well as air." Mihawk's voice was very confident and I could see Shanks want to say something but swallow it when Phil elbowed him.

"Fast enough to hit something that doesn't feel the weight of the ocean and moves as fast inside and out of it?" I asked curiously.

"Of course." Hmmm… was this his pride speaking or truth? I shrugged; we'd find out one way or another. I wouldn't doubt too much since I haven't seen him in action yet and he did have a bounty over 20 million right now. They should all be glad I'm not greedy otherwise I'd turn the three of them in and be filthy rich, I mused to myself as I headed outside to stand watch for a few hours while the others pulled out some cards for a few hands before they headed off to sleep.

The Redline loomed in the distance all the second day; it grew from a dark shadow along the horizon to sharp spires stretching as far as the eye could see north and southwards. The jagged spines looked like a long sea king was curled about the world, their craggy slopes covered in inhospitable barren stones with small patches of bright green breaking up the monotonous grey brown. In places you could see oddly colorful bands of rocks exposed for several miles before they twisted and darkened back into the same grey brown as the rest of the mountains. The sounds of sea birds were loud and plentiful, while men did not dwell upon the sharp cliff sides and jagged slopes of the Red line, animals apparently did. I was tempted to climb those mountains, see the world from the top of the spines, see above the clouds. Perhaps it would be an adventure for another time, after I'd journeyed the Grandline.

Optional Quest: Conquer the Redline

Climb the tallest peak of the Redline

+1000 XP upon reaching the tallest peak

A task for another day indeed.

Today was our third day out and the storm had drifted closer to us once more.

"Keep an eye out for those currents the sailors warned us about." I called out from my perch on the main mast to Mihawk who was perched on the bow. The day was overcast; dark clouds piling up against the mountains. We were close enough that we were sailing into the downdrafts coming off them but far enough that the sea wasn't too stormy. Our target was the small collection of broken islands right next to the Redline, looking puny in comparison. The towering heights were even more impressive up close, especially considering we couldn't even see the peaks because of the clouds! "We'll lay anchor outside so the Lark doesn't get smashed into the rocks and take a longboat in." I looked at the clouds, they didn't look too threatening but the ocean was fickle.

A worrying few hours later sailing over the choppy waves we finally reached the first of the islets. The crash of the waves upon the cliff faces looming above us was loud and mixed with the susurrations of the wind. Would the siren even show herself to us this day? With the wind and waves acting up and so soon after she'd claimed a ship already if the rumors were true?

I closed my eyes and listened to the wind and waves before tuning my ears to a different sound; that of the sounds of treasure humming beneath us. The chiming of silver and humming of gemstones whispered in my ears, telling me treasure did indeed lie beneath the waves. Some sounds were broken, cut off, twisted. Were they the sounds of treasure that had become too broken or rusted or were rotting away or simply too far away? I wondered what it might repersent as I felt Boulra approach.

"What are you listening too?" Boulra asked curiously. I smiled but kept my eyes closed and focused on the sounds, trying to focus on a strange tone that was slightly different.

"The wind." It was something else, some sound I hadn't heard before, a faintly ominous hum in the distance coming from deeper in the islets. Almost the same metallic sound as Gōrudenkorāru, the meito sword I had in my cabin, but it was different, harsher, oily almost which was odd. Was there a named blade somewhere in this area?

Boulra rolled his eyes at my words. "Everyone's finished preparing if you're done communing with nature."

I turned around to see all of them in swim trunks; their colors bright and happy against the grey day. Phil even had a picnic basket!

"Umm…I take it you are all very excited despite the clouds overhead?" I was wearing simple clothing, a tank top and shorts that I wouldn't mind getting soaked in while diving. Apparently they had all decided it today's adventure deserved beach wear. Phil was wearing dark grey and blue striped trunks while Shanks was wearing trunks with bright red and orange hibiscus flowers on it. Boulra's trunks were a plain green. Mihawk's were black with crimson racing stripes and a single large stylized red rose on one side. Despite their lack of actual clothing, they all had a weapon attached with a belt. Boulra had his camera hanging from his neck and had left his blade behind in favor for a brace of pistols. I had to admit they made a very attractive meat wall: less scars and tattoos than you'd think pirates would have! This sailing business came with some lovely pecks… I mean perks!

"But of course! We're diving for treasure and sirens today!" Phil laughed and Shanks shook his head and tut-tutted at me.

"Really Jasmine. You're attire is just too serious for a fun day like today!" The wind blew at that moment and I could almost smell rain. "Swim suits or nothing! Easier to swim without clothes dragging you down."

Mihawk looked vaguely amused by it all, he had already moved and was standing in the longboat ready to be lowered. Despite his air of being above everything except fights, he was apparently being corrupted by Shanks.

"Well... alright. I'll go get changed." I chuckled and shook my head as I went to go change my clothes again. I wasn't going to be fighting any siren in just a bikini though! I doubled up on the bikini tops, blue polka dots under solid black to ensure enough support and then I went and raided the boys cabin for some trunks to go over the bikini bottom. There was one with simple blue and grey swirls sitting out in the open so that's the one I picked. I slung a belt across my shoulders with a loop for my staff, a dagger, and some empty pouches attached.

"Isn't that Boulra's?" Mihawk noticed as I came out, his epitaph was well earned.

"I refuse to fight in what's basically underwear. I need something like pants on." I defended my choice as I joined them in the longboat and Phil and Shanks began rowing us out.

"I don't mind if she's in my pants." Boulra quipped from where he was perched before yelping when my foot smacked his shin.

"Hush you!"

I kept my eyes peeled for rocks and ships beneath us. Despite the cloudy skies, the waters were clear and I could clearly see the wrecks below us rotting away. The entire area had tall stone spires that forced ships to take different path ways, wind and wave carved into sharp twisted shapes. The waters were choppy but manageable; our pathway avoided the larger areas that the Lark would have gone through and I spotted several whirlpools and sharp rocks hidden beneath the waves that would have sunk a ship with a deeper hull. Eventually I could hear the sound of treasure beneath us clearly, and not some small time amount either! We were about halfway to the next islet at this point in time and in a relatively quiet patch. Below us was a large ship that was less rotten than the rest, tattered sails gently shifting in the ocean currents looking almost like it could be sailing below the waves.

"I'm going to investigate that wreck." I told them and pulled on my googles before reaching for one of the sacks we'd brought with us to carry stolen goods. Phil and Shanks nodded and pulled the longboat near a spire and tied it off.

"We'll moor here for a bit then and go diving. I'll keep watch for now if you lot want to all go diving." Phil said.

"Sounds good to me!" Shanks dove off the side, almost capsizing the rest of us. Phil and Boulra cussed him out as I used his momentum to roll over the side with a laugh.

I straightened out and swam quickly towards the wreck. The sound of the waves became muffled and the treasure more vivid, ringing against the steady heartbeat of the waves beating upon the nearby islands. The wreck was an old triple mast Clipper. The large holes in the underside told of how it'd been sunk by the deadly rocks in the area. I couldn't see the glint of treasure at all, but that was fine; its song lead me further in. I could see Boulra and Shanks off to one side: Boulra had his camera out and was taking pictures while Shanks was posing. Small shoals of fish fled as I approached, quick flashes of bright color against the dark water. The sounds of treasure shifted as I swam, the chiming of what I think was silver, or a metal of some sort, separated into many different softer sounds all off to the side. The hum of what I think was gemstones stayed in one spot; within the ship while the metallic treasure appeared to be outside it. Because the hum came from one spot, I focused on that first.

The walls within the ship remained, though large gouges and rounded dents marred the wood. They looked almost like something long and snake like had fought within the corridors. As I swam about I noticed something odd; a lack of bodies. At first I didn't make too much notice but then I began searching for them. This was a large ship; there would have been dozens of sailors! Where were they all? The common room was filled with broken dishware, tables split in two and piece of benches everywhere but there were no bodies. All I found that indicated people had been here were the marks of weapons upon the walls and a single torn hat. So either everyone had escaped or something had eaten every last one of them including the bones. Not a happy thought!

It was eerie swimming through the sunken ship. Without the chiming of the treasure it would have been utterly silent with only the distant beat of the waves. The halls were dark with only some dim muted light filtering in from cracks in the ship's sides. Add in the lack of bodies and I couldn't help but feel that the monster was still here… silently slipping behind my, hunting its newest prey…

The feeling got worse the further in I swam. The lower deck was the same; busted doors, half broken chests lying open and empty, and no bodies. The only bones I found in the entire ship were a few small ones down in the brig next to a large gaping hole that had quite a few scratch marks on all sides. It looked almost like something had broken through and dragged people out through here.

I used the hole to escape and return to the surface for some fresh air before diving back to return to finding treasure. We'd have to check the nearby islets to see if the sailors had gone there to survive until help came if they'd made it out alive at all.

I saw that Boulra and Shanks were heading back up with a small bag from which some of the metallic chiming I'd been hearing was coming from. They'd gone outside the ship to raid apparently. Mihawk I saw nothing of but I figured he'd be fine. If anything he'd probably go find some octopus or shark to fight.

This time I focused on reaching the humming sounds rather than get distracted looking for bodies. It was behind the one door that wasn't broken open; perhaps because it was metallic and the attacker couldn't be bothered to open it? The metal was weakened by the constant exposure to water. It hadn't been here long enough to truly rust but it was still weak enough I could break it open even without my staff. A few tugs here and there then some heavy kicks and the door gave way. Have I mentioned how much I love my water affinity? I would've had to get one of the boys in here to help me otherwise! Inside was a small room that was not untouched. The small port window was broken and small fish and sea plants had taken over. As I entered several fish fled out the tiny port hole. Here I found my first whole body; a rotting corpse lying slouched over against the wall with a gun lying in its hand. The person it'd belonged to was small, maybe five feet tall, and missing part of their left leg. It was obvious how he had died; his head was half blown up, he'd killed himself rather than drown or be eaten. I offered up a quick prayer for his soul before turning to the rest of the room.

This room was small and mostly undisturbed. In one corner was a hammock that gently floated in the water, the rest of the room was taken up with a large desk with several chests beneath it. On the desk lay several tools and a large broken magnifying glass on a stand. Small files and chisels lay in disarray next to it. A single rack of 7 vials lay on its side as well; five of the vials were broken but two remained. From these came an interesting sound; it wasn't the deep thrum of booze but a lighter whisper. What were they to cause Loot senses to go off? I pocketed those and knelt to open up the small chests beneath the desk to investigate the humming that I thought to mean gems.

My eyes widened as I saw what lay inside them; large uncut gemstones! Most were the size of my palm while some were the size of my hand! I quickly filled my sack, stopping to stare in awe at the beauty of some of them. There were four different types, one of which I was unsure of. The others were jade, amber, and amethyst. Most of what I found was the different one; dark burnt umber fading to a lighter orange at the base where it connected to some white crystalline rock.

I swam back to the surface, spotting the three boys all in the rocks at the end of the ship acting excited about something.

"Found anything interesting?" Phil asked as I swam over.

"Yup!" I handed him the heavy sack. "That's pretty much the only thing good from inside the ship. Also, there's a lack of dead bodies. So if there is a siren in these waters she's well fed… or the sailors escaped."

"From your tone I take it you think they didn't?"

"Signs of fighting all over the place but no bodies? I don't think many got away." I hauled myself back into the long boat. "The lack of survivors leaving this place to tell stories of sirens makes me think that most have not escaped since she came here." I dried myself off a bit and watched Phil hum happily as he looked over my stones. "The boys find anything?"

"Scattered silver and some stone carvings on the sea floor. Mihawk spotted something interesting though so the other two followed him. I think the siren is a recent visitor to these parts. When I left my home years ago this area was dangerous but people died due to storms and currents and sharks, not sirens."

I leaned back and thought on his words before remembering the vials.

"Know what these are? I found them in the same area as the gems; a small locked room with a metal door." Phil looked over and shook his head.

"Could be stale water for all I know!"

The others surfaced at this time with wide grins on their faces.

"The siren took that ship out!" Shanks gleefully hollered as he swam closer. "There was a second large hole on one side where she must have impacted or something cause there was an impression of a long scaly body to one side and these huge claw marks! Also scales!"

"Was it mermaid like or sea serpent like?" I asked as I took offered Boulra a hand up into the boat.

"Sea serpent like." Boulra had an amused smirk on his face. "If it was the siren she's got a long serpent like tail rather than fish like a mermaid. Could have been just a large sea serpent though, not a siren."

"Either way, it was large." Mihawk and Shanks caused the boat to almost sink as they both heaved themselves up at the same time. "We might find more traces further in." It looked like we were done in this location, the sign of the sea serpent or siren made me want to find it first before it ambushed us.

"It is a siren." Shanks muttered balefully as Phil and I took the oars and began rowing us towards the next islet.

As Boulra tried to reason with Shanks I kept an eye on where we were approaching. It was oddly shaped; one side jagged and a low incline while the other cut off quickly into a cliff with odd protrusions. I frowned before tilting my head to the side to try and make sense of what I was seeing. Then I nudged Mihawk with my foot.

"Mihawk, when you look at that island… does the cliff side look like it has buildings on it?"

"… It looks like buildings but they appear to be on their sides." He said after a short while, eerie eyes staring without blinking.

"So like the entire islet has been tilted on its side?"

"Indeed." Odd. What could have caused an island to become tilted? Unless… I looked around. Strange stone spires everywhere, broken islets with wild currents all over the place, and buildings on their side.

"Think that maybe these were all one island that broke apart?" I mused out loud. "Though what exactly caused the land so close to the mountains to break and tilt like that?"

"Perhaps it fell from the Red Line?" Mihawk responded. I nodded, that made sense. Phil rowed us right beneath one of the sideways buildings. Shanks and Boulra's eyes were almost glowing; they apparently thought that scaling sideways buildings over an ocean sounded like a nice adventure. I would have agreed… if it hadn't looked half destroyed and about to fall off with the next breeze.

In the end it took me and Phil letting Shanks, the smallest, climb up and jump off our shoulders to get someone inside the hole before he tossed a rope and braced for the next lightest, Boulra, to climb up before Mihawk and myself could get in. Phil again elected to stay in the boat. Inside was covered in moss and worn by the wind and waves; not much was left other than some crumbled rotten wood and dirt in the corners.

"Now all we need is some mist and ominous music and this would make the perfect spooky scene!" Shanks whispered excitedly as he snuck to the sideways archway and peeked beyond before crouching to step through.

"First a beach party in the rain and hunting sirens and now you want haunted buildings? Swimming through an empty ship knowing some monster killed the crew wasn't spooky enough for you?" I whispered back as I had to bend almost in half to make it through the wide but narrow opening. "If we return to find Phil gone with nothing but some blood left behind I am blaming you."

"I wasn't going for that sort of spooky… but this does seem like a good place for a murder mystery." Shanks threw a grin over his shoulder as he scrambled up the wall through a window.

I shook my head and looked over to see Boulra and Mihawk peeking through some ruined archways and windows before moving to follow us.

"I'd rather this be an ancient ruin filled with forgotten treasure and knowledge. Besides it's too empty with too few blood stains for it to be a murder site." Boulra remarked as I followed Shanks out the window and noticed he was climbing upwards towards one of the more complete buildings. I noticed that the ceiling- what used to be a wall- had some worn markings in it. It might have once been carvings but nothing was left behind now except vague indents.

We had to make some very sketchy jumps from one wall to another over open air or other ruined buildings, my landing almost made the wall collapse one time and Shanks had to quickly haul me further up as the stones crumbled and fell, dull thuds and eventually a splash telling me their fate. After that, we all jumped at different locations to try and keep from collapsing more walls. Every window and door was investigated but the same scene appeared before us: empty stone rooms with wind and water worn carved decorations. Eventually we made our way to the largest of the surviving buildings; this one was in much the same condition though the wall-now-ceiling had apparently been better protected or the materials used better at surviving.

"Wonder who used to the live here." Shanks said as he scampered up a surviving pillar to get a better look at the top of the wall-once-ceiling. I saw the painted remnants of strange animals stalking about a stylized scene of woods and mountains. Where Shanks was standing was a carved city with tall strange buildings unlike any I'd ever seen before. The mountains drew my eyes; I'd never heard of an island large enough to have several of them… most of the time is was just hills or a single volcano. Had the land used to look different back then? Suddenly the distant hum of treasure change as a once distant sound suddenly increased in volume as I heard Boulra exclaim:

"Found something!" Fascinating: treasure hidden sounded softer and I had almost overlooked it due to the constant hum of scattered coins on the sea floor.

Shanks and I carefully made our way towards where Mihawk and Boulra were peeling off a stone façade to show what was once a cellar door. When they managed to unseal the door we were met with the smell of dead air; this door hadn't been opened in decades if not centuries and the room was apparently air tight.

"Let's wait for that to uhh… air out." Boulra said as he leaned away, nose wrinkling at the scent. Inside we could see the first signs that this had once been occupied, though everything was scattered about and most of it was broken. I could spot many broken crates and their scattered contents lying about. Most of which were remains of mummified food and broken barrels of what might have once been drink.

+10 exp for the party discovering hidden rooms.

After a bit we entered and began to pick through the wreckage. It was a cellar containing supplies for the most part, but Boulra did find an undamaged though aged tapestry depicting a very feral and scaled creature that was a mix of mermaid and serpent staring out menacingly from a rather intricate underwater scene with a border of waves and ships. The inks had faded but it was still beautiful.. also mildly terrifying.

"Think that's what a siren looks like?" Shanks asked quietly as we all stared at it. "That's not a friendly pretty looking lady like some legends say."

"What legends have you heard?" Boulra chuckled. "Mermaids are the pretty ones. I always heard that Sirens had the voice of an angel but were monsters in body and mind."

"I've heard both types. Also one where it's a monsters body with a beautiful maiden's face that eats people after she's sung them into stupidity." I said as we rolled it up and Boulra used one of his belts to tie it to his back. The legend I mentioned was similar to the woven vision before us: a long lean serpentine body with a vaguely pretty face but a bit too long and with some terrifying teeth and sharp eyes-nice hair though.

"We shall have to see for ourselves if indeed there is a siren here." Mihawk stated as he looked round. "I believe there won't be anything else of interest here… perhaps we should return to Phil and investigate deeper? I doubt a siren would have a den so close to the ocean. Beasts like to hide deeper in their territory."

I nodded in agreement. "She might even be hiding in one of the fallen ships. Otherwise a cave under the water is where I bet we could find a den of a siren or sea serpent."

Heading back was a bit more awkward as Boulra was off balanced by the tapestry he had said he could get repaired or at least have recreated. After a few mishaps and broken walls we managed to make it back. Boulra used the rope to lower his tapestry into the boat as the rest of us took an easier path and simply jumped into the water.

Phil looked with interest at the rolled up tapestry and smiled slightly. "So you found something still here?"

"Empty buildings except one that had some pretty interesting pictures painted on its ceiling that hadn't faded. That one had a cellar." I responded as I nodded at the roll taking up the bottom of the boat. "That tapestry has what might be a siren on it otherwise everything else was destroyed or food long rotten."

"Pretty interesting. I've been looking at some of those spires… They aren't natural stone. In fact I bet most of them are fossilized trees or pillars from this settlement. Just covered in salt and worn away by the wind." I looked at the nearest one… it continued a very long way down.

"That's… a big tree?"

"Mm. I dove a bit and found the base had been covered in barnacles and sea flora that pretty much coated it and have kept its shape despite the wood rotting away. It looked like the top of a pine tree."

"Huh… So… really large pines?" I looked over at the mountain range. If it came from there… pines liked cold lands and the higher up you go the colder it got. "I think Mihawk's idea that this island is from the Red Line just got a whole lot more feasible." Mihawk smirked in response as he and Boulra took the oars and began to sail us deeper into the Graveyard.

As we went deeper in the clouds began to lighten up a bit, the darkest part bunching up against the mountains and hiding the tops from our view as they moved up and over the Red Line. We bypassed several other islets, none of them had ruins like the last one so we didn't try to explore them.

At noon we noticed a boat listing in the water next to an islet. Phil and Boulra decided to beach our small longboat while I and the others went to investigate the boat. It was a small single mast fat bottomed boat. The kind that fisherman usually used near the coasts; sea worthy but not something you wanted to travel in for long periods of time. Wandering over it we could find no trace of blood, fighting, or damage: a perfectly sea worthy boat just… floating here? Before I could try to think more on why it was here the thoughts simply… floated away and my muscles relaxed. Nothing was wrong. It was just a boat. Just a… calm day…

A gentle sound mixed with the wind, soothing and quiet I had barely noticed it as I'd wandered about the deck with Mihawk and Shanks. A sweet sound almost like a soft lullaby. What a lovely sound, so soothing, so beautiful. . .

AN: uhhh.. sorry it's been a year? Part procrastination, part new job, but mostly writers block have kept this story from advancing. All those people who kept following while I sat in hiding made me super guilty that this was not being updated so.. finally the twin forced me to sit and type so here you are! Next chapter is actually written just need to proofread it.

Not posting stats since they haven't really changed from last chapter.

edit: new cover art is Jasmine by Victoria Pimentel

edit 2: why do they keep getting rid of my indentations? Hopefully its fixed.