'If you don't steer a ship yourself sailing long time sure is boring as fuck…' I thought while a small sigh escaped my lips while I was watching the clouds float by on the horizon, tinged in the orange light of the sinking sun.
I had been on board this ship for roughly two weeks now and I was about to lose my mind sooner or later if this continued.
All I ever did was eat, sleep, train with Rob under Catherine's unwavering observation, piss, shit, luckily without Catherine around this time, or try to learn some tricks from the marines that kept our ship on course.
After I had proven myself capable in the basics of sailing it didn't take long for some sailors to take me along whenever there was something to do, if only so they wouldn't have to do all the work on their own, those lazy ass-heads…not that I could really blame them though. The job of a sailor was a hard one, no doubt about that.
Still, even with all the things I had on my plate I missed experimenting with my devil fruit, which I had stopped so Catherine or other members of the World Government wouldn't know about my ace up my sleeve.
Slowly but surely the monotony of the day though was driving me up the walls. I needed some action or some kind of different scenery, asap if possible!
Letting out another sigh, I was about to start a second round of internal cursing when my ears perked up slightly at the sounds of shouting and heavy boots falling on wooden planks in an orderly fashion, a melody that every human being subconsciously links with trouble.
Standing up I left my place at the back of the ship and rushed over to the front to see if there was something of interest happening.
The closer I got with each step towards the middle of the huge marine ship the clearer the shouts from the marine located in the lookout on the main mast got.
"Island ahead! City under attack!" At first, I thought I had misheard the marine but a second later he repeated the same words and this was when I realised we were steering towards trouble, huge trouble!
'Of course, you had to jinx it you bloody idiot! No, you couldn't just enjoy the peace and quiet but had to have action! God damn it…' I couldn't help but curse internally while I was tense like a spring under a rock weighing a ton.
Halfway to the front of the ship Rob joined me, his face blank but his eyes betrayed the fear he was obviously feeling on the inside. A sentiment I couldn't blame him for as neither of us had ever participated in live combat to the death!
I had hoped I wouldn't have to participate in one such fight for quite a few more years but as luck would have it my hope had been denied.
Reaching the front of the ship Rob and I came to a standstill next to a few marines, who had tense expressions on their faces while their bodies were rigid as steel. Together with them we tried to look over at the slowly approaching island and it soon became apparent why the lookout had shouted about there being a fight on the island.
Under the diming light of the sinking sun the sight of a town, located at the coast of the island, burning like a torch in the evening greeted our eyes while the sounds of gunshots and steel impacting steel echoed faintly in the distance.
"Commander, ready the troops! In a few minutes we will be landing and I want this town secure of any pirates!" Catherine's voice echoed over the ships deck, ripping me out of my thoughts about the scene that played out in front of our eyes, approaching us with every second.
Glancing backwards I observed Catherine closely and I had been right about her being more than meets the eye it seems.
Having dropped her act of a warm and gentle woman, all that remained was a commander, or commander like persona, who had been through live combat before no doubt and knew how to issue orders to her subordinates in the face of a situation such as this.
Turning back around I began to think on how I would behave in the battle before us. Would I feel fear? Doubt myself when confronted with an enemy? Would I falter or make mistakes? I didn't know but I surely had the pre-battle-jitters I had always heard about in stories or seen in movies such as 'Privat James Ryan', something you cannot really explain but have to experience to fully understand it yourself.
And yet, despite being afraid on so many levels, something inside of me knew that, no matter what may happen in the upcoming battle, I could trust my body and mind to not hesitate. Hopefully that would be enough to let me wake up the next morning.
After all, who knew what would await me on that island? I most certainly had no idea but I would find out soon enough, that was for sure.