Hey guys, it's been a while.
Again, another chapter giving some insight into the characters (and I think that sometimes this just drags out and it's boring? Idk? Anyway, tell me about that so I know what's up because I obviously want you guys to like it.)
Sorry for the wait!
L & D
(Title credit to Stone Temple Pilots)
It's not that Jeanne didn't like her life on the Vyssini Zephyr, it was just that the crew was basically insane and probably should have been in a mental hospital, and not sailing the ocean in any capacity at all. She would say the she regretted forcing herself upon the crew, but Jeanne herself was actually not the most stable human being on the planet, and thus she found herself surprisingly at home on the small red ship. Her captain was eccentric and erratic in everything that she did, often hogging food and hiding clothes in strange places for reasons Jeanne couldn't fathom. The navigator was a tall woman, always on her toes, and looked like a vampire when she got out of bed in A morning. Jeanne attributed that particular phenomenon to her frighteningly blood red lips. The first mate was the only relatively normal one. Jeanne said "relatively" very lightly because he was just as crazy the rest of them.
Granted, granted, Jeanne wasn't exactly standard herself, so it was rather contrary to be judging her new crew mates. She laughed airily as Maigo frustratedly threw a punch at Anne, who took it square on the jaw, unfazed. Anne gave him a look, the look, and Jeanne laughed again from her perch.
"If you're gonna punch me make it worth my time."
"I'm trying." Maigo plopped down on the deck. "Do we really have to go to this Germa Kingdom place, I mean, Anne, let's be sensible about this. The Vinsmokes ain't exactly nice people."
"Who the hell cares about the Vinsmokes? Who even are they? I wanna see the medicine man that lives there. I hear he's the best—"
"You mean Mori-san?" Jeanne interjected
with a smile, her lips twitching fondly. The two turned their heads to look at her. Having their attention, she said, "Well, I've been to the Germa Kingdom, and the only man that has such a name there is Mori-san. He really is such a nice person, a darling really."
"See?" Anne huffed, spreading her arms out widely, and in a great flourishing of motion, she turned on her heels, facing towards the afternoon sun. "The medicine man is real, and we need a doctor. So, let's go."
Maigo groaned pitifully, "But, Anne, it's almost impossible to get into the Germa Kingdom without legalities; you know, papers and stuff. They'll shoot us down before we get anywhere near the dock with the eyesore ship we have."
"Vinsmoke Marshall is a hard man, I'll admit, but you forget that I can alter perception." Jeanne smiled wickedly, walking lightly towards them, conjuring up the faint image of the island the Germa Kingdom ruled. "We can do anything we like in the Germa Kingdom. They aren't all too concerned with a few foreigners out to get medical assistance." She paused, scratching her chin. The island mirage vanished in the glimmering of sunlight. "If I remember correctly, Marshall was always spewing nonsense about making the Germa Empire whole again, that there would be no one in the North Blue not under his reign. I don't think we have to worry about that though."
"And why the hell not? He sounds insane!" Maigo flapped his arms frantically, screwing up his face to convey his dismay.
"Because he doesn't have any resources, and he's barely clinging onto the Germa Kingdom. That man can't possibly build an empire. He's far too neurotic for that." Jeanne dismissed the idea flippantly, brushing her blond hair over her shoulder. "Anyways. Has our course been set for Germa?"
"It has." A voice chimed in, walking down the stairs that led to the ship's wheel. The sole helmsman swayed jauntily down to the main deck, grinning. "I'm rather excited. A barmaid only sees so much in her career."
Maigo turned his body from the ground to give her a skeptical glance, "I'm still not convinced you've only been a barmaid—you know how this thing works far too well."
"Yeah, yeah." Poppy rolled her eyes sarcastically, shaking her head. "Just shut up and listen to what I have to say." The tall woman walked up to Anne holding a bound map tucked under her arm. "Cap, we've set course to Germa, and it should be a fairly smooth ride there. The North Blue isn't terribly horrible to sail on, but the only hiccup maybe a storm or two. And—" She unfurled the map, and pointed to an island noted as Swallow Island. "We must stop and see this island. Apparently it's literally shaped like a swallow. How freaking cool is that?"
Anne's eyes sparkled. The two women whispered over the parchment frantically, occasionally squealing loudly and shrilly at that. Maigo visibly deflated and smacked his forehead with him palm. "We are never going to get to the Grandline, that's it. We're just gonna get lost in the North Blue and never get found, because half this crew are idiots."
"Maigo, shut up and look at this island—" Anne pointed at the map, slapping it for emphasis, and he rolled his eyes, not impressed. There was a moment of hesitant, where Maigo seemed like he almost wanted to argue, because he was the sensible one out of the three. Jeanne, however, knew with her limited week experience on the Vyssini Zephyr that he was bound to cave to the Captain's will.
"Oh what the hell. Not like I have a choice." Maigo rubbed his temples, sighed raggedly, and scrambled to his feet. "I'm taking a nap. You guys are too much to deal with today."
"Have a nice nap!" Jeanne called out pleasantly as he slammed the door leading to the ship's interior. "Well. That was eventful, wasn't it, Captain?"
Anne tilted her head confusedly and raised an eyebrow. "Jeanne, this is an average Tuesday."
The sky was a muted grey, and there was nothing fantastic or magical about it; it was not a crisp blue, nor did it have spell binding pearl wisps of clouds streaking across the sky. It was not roused into a fury; there was no dark, ominous black doom hanging overhead, nor threatening claps of thunder or breathtaking crackles of lightning. There was nothing consequential about the sky, about the calm sea, or anything really. It was a perfectly dull day, and one Jeanne could have been content with if it hadn't been interrupted to rudely by a filthy rabble of pirates.
She had obviously been on watch by herself. Anne was seeing to her captainly duties (whatever those were), Maigo was taking his nap, and Poppy was doing navigation calculations, or something along those lines. The point being that Jeanne, for all her wit and cunning, was not particularly strong in terms of brute force. They were at least half a league away. Which meant she didn't have to use force; a simple application of her Devil Fruit would suffice. She trotted up to the railing and her eyes flashed a hot, burning red before they returned to normal. Faint shouting bubbles across the distance between the two ships, and there was the vague sound of pandemonium. Jeanne settled herself against the crow's nest, tilting her head with a slight grin as the ship made a sudden twist, the rudder groaning so loudly that she could hear it perfectly. Screaming ensued.
She knew exactly what was going on. The captain of the ship was being fetched, yelled at, the navigator too naturally, and all the men would debate what just happened before reaching the conclusion that the sun had hit the water just right. The ship they had seen in the distances would just be a mirage.
The woman gazed upon her handiwork with satisfaction, laughing as the vessel sailed off into the distance.
"Oh dear, oh dear," she breathed in between fits of jovial noise, "the only thing that is funnier than that is ruffling people's feathers." Jeanne tapped the wood beneath her hands, humming to herself as the source of her amusement blurred into the waves.
The blonde stilled amongst the drone of the ocean, and her thoughts strayed.
The first notion to linger about was that of the medicine man.
Tasukeji Morinobu was a quiet soul, always had his head bowed, always flickering his eyes away from confrontation. Jeanne had grown up with Tasukeji, and it never failed to baffle her as to way he chose Germa as the place he wanted to settle down in. He was so terribly timid and Germa was so horribly unruly that Jeanne found herself questioning if he had been force to move more often than not. Memories of endless field of poppies and smiling yellow daffodils filled her mind, and Jeanne allowed herself to be swept away to a time and place much different than her reality.
There were quaint cottages and great, somnolent windmills, and meadows blessed with miles and miles of bright colors. Jeanne can distinctly remember fluttering curtains and woolen blankets and long nights filled only with the scent and sight of burning, fragrant cedar wood. Jeanne's mother had been the village healer, and she can recall standing on her tip-toes, craning her neck to steal on desperate look at the mortar and pestle and her mother frequently use. The specter of drying herbs perpetually cling to the fabric of her mother's dresses, and that was what Jeanne associated her mother with, always: drying herbs and freshly plucked flowers. There is always the memory of Morinobu in their drying room, standing closet to Jeanne and watching her mother work meticulously. The apothecary would slow her actions, and allow the children to watch. Jeanne supposed that was why Mori had wanted to become a doctor.
She wistfully sighed, gazing into the distance of the salty ocean brine, wind flowing through her hair. There was a serenity about the crow's nest that was separate from the rest of the ship. It was quiet, untouched, unheard from the rest of the sturdy wooden home she had laid claim to as her own. Jeanne took a deep breath, appreciating the moment-
"Um, if you need to go to the bathroom, you really don't have to stand watch, I mean, you could have just called me?"
The blonde whipped around, her face beat red and slightly mortified.
Jeanne took back everything she said. She regretted joining the crew. She wasn't to leave.
Her captain stood there, an eyebrow raised and poised for judgement, and in a whisper that was perhaps as loud as an elephant sprinting across a vast savannah, "You looked kinda constipated? Wait..." Anne snapped her fingers and thumped a fist into the palm of her hand. "I know people who make that face when they think too hard! (Or at all really). That must be it! Sorry, I'm just totally not used to people using their brains on this boat."
Jeanne wanted to leave immediately. If she didn't die of embarrassment first.
"Captain, can you not be more..." The blonde woman cringed as Anne absentmindedly fluffed her hair and multiple large breadcrumbs fell out of it, "...never mind."
"Wait, no. Not be more what?" Anne adjusted the huge shirt she had on at the moment (it was covered with food stains really) and all in all, she frankly looked like a savage girl who had never taken a bath in her life.
Which was strange, because the captain had been perfectly presentable just two hours before.
"What the hell happened to you? Captain, you're filthy." Jeanne deadpanned, giving up on any discussion about Anne's lack of social decorum.
"I thought you would never ask!" Anne chirped, clapping her hands together. The petite woman grabbed Jeanne by the hand and dragged her into the bowels of the ship. Jeanne didn't know exactly which room they were in, but it was clear to her that it was supposed to be something akin to a storage room. Except it was covered with paint.
Her captain puffed out her chest proudly as she stomped over to the sopping mess that was a singular piece of fabric pulled out to dry. "What do you think? It's our flag."
Jeanne tilted her head at the wild mess of color and licked her lips, "I think..." The woman hesitated, a grimace twisting her face heavily, "I think this looks like a two year old drew it. No offensive."
Anne froze, her smile falling away into the most devastated look Jeanne had ever seen grace human features. The captain blinked, her blanch face greatly contrasting to her dark hair, and her lips quivered into trembling, pained grin. "Oh dear. Not again. I've made a terrible mistake." Anne threw the back of her hand onto her forehead dramatically, reaching towards the sky with the other; "Oh, woe is my artistic talent!"
"Definitely." Jeanne noted affirmatively while Anne sighed.
"This was so much work. I'm so disappointed. I thought it looked like trash, but I wanted to be optimistic."
"Optimistic trash..." Jeanne muttered under her breath, "I think that summarizes this crew pretty well."
"Jeanne, if you hate us, why are you even here." Anne deadpanned listlessly, not a trace of emotion on her face. "You don't have to call us trash. We already know we're trash."
"Calm down, it was a joke."
"Ha ha." Anne said dully, with the eyes of a dead fish. "Ha ha. So funny."
"No need to be sarcastic."
"No need to crush all my hopes and dreams."
"I am seriously concerned for you if this flag encompassed all your hopes and dreams." Jeanne stole a glance at the frankly horrid flag once again. "It is honestly so bad."
"You can't even pretend to be nice?"
"No. It's horrid."
Anne sighed. "I'm going to take a nap and mourn over all that energy I just wasted."
"You go do that." Jeanne replied as she stepped over a puddle of red paint. "Captain, half of the colors on the floor aren't even on the flag."
"Jeanne, nobody needs your Debbie Downer attitude okay? Just leave me be so I can take my nap!"
"Anne? Anne? You can't just-don't faLL ASLEEP IN A PUDDLE OF PAINT THAT IS SO STUPID! GO TAKE A SHOWER."
Jeanne was really starting to regret her decision to join this crew.
After she had managed to get her captain to take a shower, Jeanne retreated to the solace of the women's barracks. She liked to think she had a fairly thick skin, but being along with Anne, without Maigo as a buffer, as simply fair too strenuous a task for her to handle. The blonde woman groaned loudly as it dawned upon her that she would have to make lunch soon.
"What do they even like to eat? I made roast beef and rice yesterday and they claimed it was the food of the gods. Roast beef and rice. It's that normal?" She paused, rolling over on her unsurprisingly uncomfortable top-bunk. "Maybe I should make mashed potatoes and baked chicken. Mmmm that sounds good, yes, yes, I have decided that shall be for lunch."
Jeanne motioned to get up, but the action fell short.
"Do I really want to get up and make lunch?" She asked herself profoundly. "There are so many better things to do than make lunch. Like never come out of here again. That sounds excellent. Speaking of, I thought captain said she was going to take a nap? Where is she? What the actual hell?"
She was suddenly struck with the terrifying realization that this was possibly going to be the full range of her life. Cooking for a black hole and constantly trying to escape her own leader's insanity. That did not sound fun to her. That actually sounds depressingly stressful.
"Jeanne? Are you alive?"
The blonde groaned as Poppy trotted into the room. The tall woman plopped herself down on Jeanne's bed, patting her head. "Don't worry. I was just like this when I first came aboard. The dynamic is hard to get used to (well just the Captain really) but other than that it's fine."
"I thought I knew what I was getting myself into," The blue eyed woman lamented, hugging her pillow to her chest.
Poppy snorted. "Oh honey, don't we all." The red lipped former barmaid stood, brushing off her dress. Poppy eyed the neophyte, as if considering, weighing her options. After a lengthy pause, she said, "You do realize she's being difficult on purpose, don't you?"
Jeanne snapped to attention, her mouth open, gawking without restraint.
"No."
"Yes."
"W-W-" Jeanne swallowed hard, "Why would she do that?"
"Well, to put it nicely, she want's to know you can deal with rough situations. To put it not so nicely, she wanted to make sure you're not a pussy who'll run away at the first sign of trouble."
"O...Kay?" She didn't get it. Maybe if she played along it would all go away. Jeanne really, really should have left the red ship alone. Honestly.
"She did it with me too. I think. At least that's what I think this is. I'm really hoping because sometimes it's too much."
"Isn't this considered hazing?" The blonde asked dazedly.
"Maybe." Poppy replied. "Not really sure yet. Maybe it's how she shows affection?"
"By being difficult?!"
"Sure. Why not?" The brown haired woman shrugged. "Stranger things exist."
Jeanne deadpanned. "Name one."
"Well." The tall woman pursed her lips, folding her arms contemplatively. "Maigo's face for one."
(Jeanne though it was hilarious. But she wasn't going to laugh. Her lips had twitched though. Damnit, Poppy was good.)
Poppy clapped her hands together all of a sudden and smiled widely: "Come on now. I need help watching for Swallow Island. And don't you also need to make lunch? This is no time for self-pity."
"Alright." Jeanne took a deep breath. She slowly got to her feet and sighed deeply. "I feel as though as soon as I step out that door all my energy will become non-existent."
Poppy laughed and nodded. "Captain does tend to have that effect. She's a vitality leech or something, I'm certain of if."
"I agree. It captures her nature perfectly."
"Yes, yes, I know. Also, she has this unreasonable desire to delve into the arts. Which I cannot fathom." Poppy shuddered, her face blanching.
"...Do I even want to know."
"No." The woman replied, a bit too quickly. "You really don't and God help you if you ever come to know why."
"All...right then." Jeanne walked out the ladies' barracks more confused than ever, but also, for some unfathomable reason, also more reassured in all her days on the Zephyr
Then she saw her Captain wrestling with a fish three times her size on the deck and Jeanne's eye immediately teared up.
"Why can't she be normal?" She whispered, mostly for herself.
Poppy heard, and Poppy most definitely laughed.
"That wouldn't be any fun! Hey, Captain what kind of fish is that?!"
"Don't know!" The black haired girl shouted in response, "It looks tasty though so does it matter?!"
Jeanne whimpered.
Okay so I think my new favorite thing is having a character who considers themselves to be cool, and that they're chill and all, but then have a mental breakdown as soon as they realize how insane everyone else is. Basically my premises with Jeanne. She thinks it's all fine until she actually spends time alone with Anne I just laugh honestly I love doing this. Anyway, sorry this took so long, this year as just been really, really rough for me school wise and I'm just so tired. Anyway! Summer's so close!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter,
L & D