AN: Something to mention is that this fanfic won't be a very long one, definitely less than twenty chapters. I'm aiming for shorter fanfics than what I've been writing until now.
One month later, the Arlong Pirates had returned to the Grand Line.
Arlong stood on top of a mast and surveyed his current ship. It was a merchant ship with three masts and spacious holds to carry plenty of cargo. On the other hand, it wasn't nearly as well-armed as the one they had before.
A Marine ship might be essential for crossing the Calm Belt, with its lack of wind and its Sea Kings… but it draws too much attention otherwise.
Arlong's crew were scattered around the ship. Some were scrubbing the decks or patching up minor damage from a recent storm. One, Kuroobi, was at the helm of the ship and keeping it on course. The rest were below decks, either sleeping or gambling.
For several more minutes, Arlong remained on top of the mast, enjoying the feeling of the sea breeze on his skin. It was something he couldn't have experienced while staying on dry land.
And the sight from up here… the endless blue horizon. Even with all my years out on the seas, there's still so much I haven't seen.
Once he was satisfied, Arlong stepped off the mast, fell over twenty metres and landed on the deck. He went down a hatch and then made his way to the ship's kitchen.
"Herring and kelp are so great together~ Eating them makes you nice and… and… uh, what rhymes with together…?"
Working in the kitchen was Hatchan. His six flexible arms allowed him to simultaneously chop a fish into fillets, stir the contents of a pot and sprinkle seasoning onto an almost-complete dish. Without any assistance, he could prepare meals for all of the sixty-five members of the Arlong Pirates.
"Smells delicious, Hatchan," Arlong said. He looked around, noticing that the variety of ingredients was slightly less than before. "But are we starting to run low on food?"
"Um, a bit, Captain," Hatchan replied, never stopping his cooking. "We should still be good for a few more days, but after that…"
"Then we might as well restock now," Arlong said.
Arlong left the kitchen and gathered up several of his crew. They picked up nets and jumped off from the side of the ship.
Ahh… nothing beats the feel of the sea on your skin, flowing through your gills… This is something those land-dwellers can never experience…
Arlong and his crew swam around for a while, their webbed feet propelling them through the water at high speed.
Visibility was often poor in water, and even the eyes of fish-men weren't that good at seeing through it. They thus had to rely on other senses. Fish-men with the traits of literal fish could sense minute vibrations from moving objects, even at a distance—it was like a hybrid between the senses of hearing and touch. Those based on sharks, such as Arlong, could also sense the tiny fields of electricity given off by animals.
Eventually, the group of fish-men felt the vibrations that could only be produced by a school of fish, hundreds upon hundreds of tailfins beating at once. They followed these vibrations to find a school of sauries.
Not as tasty as tuna or marlin, but they'll fill our bellies all the same.
Without needing any communication, the group of fish-men surrounded the saury school. Each individual saury panicked and moved away from the nearest fish-man, causing the school to shrink into a tightly packed ball. Then Arlong and his crew thrust their palms forward with enough force to generate shockwaves of water, stunning or killing many sauries. Finally, they filled up their nets with their catch.
A good number of sauries—probably about a third of the original school—escaped the ball and swam off. Arlong and his crew let them go, since it was important to always leave some to continue the population.
They continued swimming around for some time but only found more small fish. Still, they packed their nets with herring and jacks and mackerel.
"Ah… I wish there was mako around…" muttered Shioyaki, a pink-skinned salmon fish-man with wavy brown hair. "It tastes so good no matter how you prepare it."
"Mako's got nothing on sailfish," insisted Take, a blue-skinned carp fish-man. "Now that's the real king of seafood."
"It doesn't look like we're catching either mako or sailfish today," Arlong said, before his crewmates could get into an argument. "We've caught enough for a week, at least, so it's time to head back."
Fish-men could swim faster than any ship. However, it was still tiring to do so for long distances or when carrying heavy burdens, so ships were still very much useful for their race. It was similar to how humans used wagons for long-distance travel on land.
Arlong and his crew swam back to the ship and climbed up its side to reach the main deck. They emptied out the contents of their nets, covering part of the deck with fish.
"Alright, men, time for the rest of you to earn your keep," Arlong commanded.
About two dozen fish-men hurried to begin processing the fish: scraping off the scales, cutting them open to remove the guts, drying or salting most of the fish for preservation, in some cases removing the bones and chopping up the fish into fillets.
And unlike many humans, they didn't just throw away the scales, guts and bones as waste. Fish-men—and merfolk as well—had learned many ways of using these materials: for food, clothing, cosmetics, construction, medicine…. even sometimes in warfare, as many kinds of fish contained deadly poisons.
Eventually, Hatchan called out to announce that lunch was ready.
Meals were when the whole crew gathered together, eating and drinking on the main deck since there wasn't enough space elsewhere in the ship. It was the time when everyone could laugh together, tell stories about the past, and get into fights over stupid things.
It was this kind of scenery that Arlong had to protect. He'd failed once before, but he couldn't allow himself to fail again.
-ooo-
After lunch, Arlong walked around the ship to check on his men, then retired to his cabin.
The captain's cabin was comfortably furnished with a large bed, a table, chairs, and a sea chest with many bottles of alcohol. It was fitting for the wealthy merchant that Arlong had taken this ship from, the merchant who was now nothing but detritus on the bottom of the sea.
Arlong sat down and examined a map spread out on the table. It was probably considered decent by human standards, showing many of the islands in the Paradise half of the Grand Line. But there was still uncertainty about the exact positions of those islands, something mentioned on the map in the form of handwritten notes. That was only natural with the many dangers, both natural and otherwise, that filled the Grand Line.
Even with this map, one would also need a Log Pose or Eternal Pose to sail anywhere. Fortunately, there were eight different Eternal Poses also on the table, another demonstration of the merchant's wealth. Each one pointed to a different island… though Fish-Man Island was not among them.
Did you see no profit in trading with 'mere fish'? Arlong thought bitterly. Well, that's better for us as well. Humans like you shouldn't stain our waters with your presence.
Thinking about it rationally, there were plenty of reasons why a merchant wouldn't include Fish-Man Island on their trade route. To begin with, it lay ten kilometres beneath the surface of the ocean. Ships needed expensive coating to even travel to the island, and the trip itself was fraught with danger. But Arlong didn't care for any of that.
Once we get near the island, we won't need any of this, or even the ship… we'll be able to just dive down, and follow undersea landmarks to home.
Home…
It was almost an unfamiliar concept now. Arlong hadn't seen the place in fifteen years, which was plenty of time for things to change. Even the layout of the buildings would probably be different. And the people… many of them would have moved elsewhere or even died, leaving few who would even remember some orphans from the Fish-Man District.
While reminiscing about the past, Arlong heard a knock on the door.
"Captain Arlong? Can I talk to you?"
"Yes, come in, Hatchan," Arlong said, standing up.
The octopus fish-man opened the door, stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. He didn't have any of his jolliness from earlier in the day.
"What's the matter?" Arlong asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.
Hatchan wrung three pairs of hands nervously. "Nyoo… it's something I heard at lunch. A few of the others were talking about… after we're done in Fish-Man Island… going out to conquer an island again."
"Oh, that part's still not certain," Arlong said reassuringly. "And we have plenty of time to think on it until then."
"Yes, but…" Hatchan said. "It's more, I'm not sure about the whole idea. I mean, it's not what Fisher Tiger would have wanted—"
Arlong slammed his fists on the table, cracking it. Hatchan flinched in surprise.
"Brother… Tiger…"
Arlong slowly took his hands away from the table. His heart raced with a turbulent mix of emotions.
"Brother Tiger was… an amazing man," Arlong said between gritted teeth. "But in this, he was… wrong. We fish-men can only have two relationships with humans: either we allow them to take from us, or we keep them in line with fear."
Hatchan trembled. "B-But Koala wasn't…"
"IT'S BECAUSE OF THAT GIRL THAT BROTHER TIGER DIED!" Arlong shouted. "It's because her family betrayed him to the Marines! That just proves we can never trust humans!"
"I… I'm sorry…" Hatchan said. "You're right, I shouldn't have said that…"
Arlong took a few deep breaths and covered his eyes with one hand. "No, I… I shouldn't have yelled at you, Hatchan. It's only natural you're having doubts. Just… maybe keep those to yourself until we reach Fish-Man Island, then you should feel better."
"Nyoo… okay, Captain…"
Hatchan walked out of the cabin dejectedly. Arlong watched him leave and then closed his eyes.
He was always one of the softer ones in the Sun Pirates… Maybe it would have been better for him if he'd gone with Jinbe instead…
Just thinking about that old whale shark made Arlong furious. He gripped the edge of the table, damaging it even further.
Damn you, Jinbe! If you hadn't become a pawn of the humans, you could have kept the Sun Pirates going! You could have kept showing the humans that we're to be feared! Why would you give it all up!?
Of course, Arlong knew why. One of Jinbe's conditions for becoming a Warlord of the Sea was to have the World Government pardon Arlong, releasing him from Impel Down.
I didn't need your generosity! I just needed you not to betray Brother Tiger's will by… by…
The edge of the table crumbled into sawdust. Arlong relaxed his hands and tried breathing deeply again. There was no point in damaging his property, even if it once belonged to a human.
And… that girl…
Arlong hadn't heard anything about Koala from the moment they'd parted ways on Foolshout Island. Still, he knew she certainly looked down on her saviours now,.
"I'll tell everyone in the village! Lots of fish-men are good people!"… Of course she wasn't telling the truth. From the start, she was only acting friendly so we'd send her home. By now, she must've turned out the same as any other human.
Arlong shook his head. There was no point in obsessing over the past.
AN: I made up the size of the Arlong Pirates, since their number of members doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere in canon.