Author's Note: I know, it's a short chapter. The thing is, this story's coming to a close, and I thought I'd try and stretch it out if I could… So I guess that this is a bit like an interlude. But whatever it is, I can honestly say that I had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter, even though you readers may not find it that interesting.

Replies to reviews:

Raifiel: I'll go back and see if I can find that mistake. About Luffy doubting—even when Luffy was young, I don't think he's ever doubted himself. He's always done what he does to the fullest. Even when he ate the Gomu Gomu Fruit, he ate it confidently, screamed a bit when he found out what it did, and then was perfectly cheerful again. But yeah, he was a whiner. I noticed that I forgot to answer a question you asked in your last review: Ace isn't intangible—his body can turn into fire at will. So, if taken by surprise, like in Alabasta, he is perfectly solid. If not, the attacker will only hit fire, which you can't really hit. As for chapters, no, I don't have them lying around. I wait until I have the required number of reviews, then write the chapter and post it. It usually doesn't take that long—all that takes time is thinking what the chapter'll be about, and I do that while I wait for the reviews.

vic: Thanks! Here's the update!

babe300: I'm not quite sure what's going to happen to Luffy's hat… No, there won't be any pairings—if you look at my profile, I have an entire paragraph dedicated to One Piece pairings and my beliefs on them (the shortened version. If you want more in detail, tell me and I can email it to you). Not to say that I don't read One Piece stories with pairings. I do, I just don't think that there are enough without pairings that are believable. Ice cream? (grins) That was random. But I'd like ice cream right now… Maybe mint chocolate chip, I like that kind… (drools)

B-chan77: I didn't quite intend that to happen… A reviewer suggested that Shanks appear, and that idea just kind of popped into my head…

purple-lilas: That'll be the next chapter…

Chibified Youkai 101: Thank you! And you don't have to wait that long, I already got five reviews…

Revenge of the Clown

Chapter 8: The Red Hair Pirates

Shanks was a very logical man. He had logic, and could use it in any situation.

That did not, however, mean that he always acted on the logic. He had impulses and whims as well as the logic, and at times he followed the impulses and whims rather than the logic.

This was one of those times. Logic said that he should head further down the Grand Line where he would meet White Beard, with whom he wanted to speak. Impulse, however, said that he should go the other way—back the way they had come.

So, despite clear logic and an entire ship of crewmembers that said otherwise, he decided to head backwards up the Grand Line. Everyday at sea, the men complained and protested, but Shanks never had a doubt. He felt that there was some reason that he should be going the way that they were going—despite the fact that they had no particular indicator to follow.

So they spent many days at sea, the other men becoming more and more restless as less and less people could even guess where the ship was any more. Shanks, however, did not care. Many of his higher-ranking men shook their heads in exasperation, but Shanks did not even appear to notice.

"Shanks…"

After a week of tossing about on the ocean with absolutely no idea of where they were or which way to go apart from Shanks' apparent impulses, the first mate made up his mind to speak with the captain.

Hearing his name called, Shanks turned, grinning when he saw the man climbing to meet him on the observation deck. Being the captain, Shanks could have let himself out of doing observation duty, but he stuck with it. This was one of his many characteristics which inspired his men's loyalty and faith in their captain. Shanks did jobs with his men. He did not simply sit around and order, apart from the occasional exception, and was very approachable. He did not act above the other men on the ship.

"Something the matter, Ben?" Shanks asked, seeing the serious expression on the other man's face.

Ben did not answer. He sat himself beside the captain and looked out at the sea for a while. Shanks looked at him expectantly for some time, then looked back at the sea.

"What are you following, captain?" Ben finally asked. Shanks looked at his first mate with an amused expression.

"It took you a week to ask me that question? I thought that someone would have asked me before now." Ben smiled and shrugged.

"You have so many whims that we don't question them at first anymore. We'd waste quite a bit of time if we kept doing that. If they continue for a while, then we start getting curious." Shanks raised an eyebrow.

"I see that you people have been talking behind my back. So this 'for a while' translates to 'for a week'?" Ben laughed.

"It's no agreement, captain—at least not a spoken one. It's just something that everyone picks up after being around you for a while."

Shanks grinned and turned back to the ocean.

"Impulse."

Ben stared.

"Excuse me?"

"You asked me what I was following. I'm following impulse."

"And here I thought you were trying to avoid answering my question."

"I never avoid questions." Ben raised an eyebrow and stared steadily at the red-haired man beside him. "Well, not ones that I can answer. You should know that."

"And I'm supposed to know whether or not it's a question that you can answer before I ask you?"

Shanks glared at Ben before turning back to the ocean once more. "I never said that."

"No," Ben agreed as he lit a cigar, "you implied it."

"So, why did you want to know?"

"Pardon?"

"Why did you want to know what I was following? I thought you'd already know." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Of course I know that you're following impulse. Every single man on this ship knows that. I meant, to where are your impulses leading us this time?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"They're your impulses, and you're leading us."

"Well-"

Suddenly stopping, Shanks stared out at the ocean, his eyes narrowing. Then he abruptly stood, leaning over the side of the observation deck.

"Put the helm to thirty degrees starboard!" he shouted. He caught a few annoyed looks shot his way from men who thought he couldn't see them, and pretended not to notice. After making sure that his men had done exactly as he had ordered, he sat back down beside Ben.

"Like I said, where I we headed?"

"I just told you, I don't know!"

"No, you asked me how you were supposed to know."

"To most people, that means 'I don't know'."

"Those people are naïve. Anyone can twist your words to their own liking using phrases like that. It really is quite annoying when people take those phrases literally, you know."

"And you're not doing that now?"

"See, you're doing it again."

"Ben…" Ben shrugged.

"You started it!"

"I did not."

"Yes you did!"

"I refuse to participate in such a childish banter."

"You started it!"

To anyone who didn't know the long-haired first mate, it would look as if Ben was annoyed and wishing to be as far away from the captain as possible. Anyone who did know Ben, however, could easily see that the man was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Really, where are you heading?" As Ben asked the question, the serious expression returned to his face.

"I really don't know."

Ben smiled wryly and shook his head, leaning back with his arms crossed.

"Just as long as you don't bring us into some storm, whirlpool, or any other sort of disaster."

The two sat in companionable silence for a while, gazing out to the sea.

"We don't banter that much any more," Shanks murmured quietly. "Today's banter was the first since we started heading for wherever it is that we're going."

"Our group's much larger now, captain," Ben said with a smile. "I doubt that even half of us would fit in one of those village bars that we used to go to anymore. We have to show more responsibility."

"I know that. I was just commenting. And you don't call me Shanks anymore either. It's always 'captain' nowadays."

"Really? I never noticed."

"You don't have to be sarcastic. I was just commenting."

"I know."

"They always have consequences." Ben stared at his captain.

"Shanks, if you keep changing the topic at this rate without even telling me what topic you're changing to, I'll be off this deck quite soon."

"I was just commenting."

"Yes, I could tell. I just don't have any idea what in the world you were commenting on."

"My whims, of course."

"There's no 'of course' about it! We were talking about a completely different topic!"

"But this is the topic we started on, and the one that you came up here to talk about."

"That doesn't mean that I can just pinpoint the topic that you decided to jump to without a doubt."

"So you could do it, but you would doubt yourself."

"Yes, because what you just said is, in other words, known as guessing."

"No, because guessing could be wrong. What you just said is that you would be right, but you would doubt it."

"No one said a single thing about being right until you did."

"You said 'pinpoint the topic'. That implies that you're right."

"What are they?"

"You mean you don't remember any at all?"

Ben sighed.

"I remember, I just thought that I could catch you off guard and give you a little dose of your own medicine." Shanks smirked before replying.

"I have a quicker mind than you do." Ben raised an eyebrow at him

"Really? I doubt that."

"I just proved it. When I change the topic unexpectedly, you can't keep up. When you change the topic unexpectedly, I can." Ben opened his mouth to reply, but Shanks added more before his first mate could speak. "And don't change the topic now—that wouldn't count, because it would be expected." Ben sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you just know me too well."

"That I do. And you should know me just as well as I know you."

"I do—you just have a more unpredictable personality."

"Do you trust my whims?" Ben shrugged.

"They always seem come out well, but they also always seem to have consequences."

"The worst consequence," added Ben with a sharp look at Shanks, "being the loss of your arm." Shanks frowned at Ben.

"Really, Ben—if I'd gone with everyone else into the mountains, Luffy would be dead. If I hadn't followed that whim, I don't think I ever could have forgiven myself."

"None of us ever could have. That was the closest the kid ever came to dying."

Shanks gave a chuckle.

"Not anymore. With a bounty like his, I suspect that he's had a number of close brushes with death." Ben smiled.

"That's true."

Their eyes were back on the sea, and this time the silence lasted for a long time.

They watched waves rise wildly as the ship disturbed the waters, then slap against the ship's edge, scattering into white foam before even hitting the ship, it seemed. They watched the waters surrounding the ship, with small, calm waves dancing serenely about. They would look when the occasional fish or dolphin jump from the ocean's water, plunging back in momentarily. They looked at the horizon, an almost undetectable line between the deep blue water and the clear blue sky.

"When do you think we'll see him?" Ben asked the question in a whisper, almost as if he didn't intend Shanks to hear. The captain answered anyway.

"At the rate that he's going, I should think quite soon." Ben smiled.

"Do you think he will pass us?" He looked to his captain as he asked the question, and was surprised to see a wide grin spreading on the man's face.

"We'll see."

Ben grinned as he turned back to the ocean. Despite his captain's cryptic answer, he was sure that his captain felt, as he did, that before long Luffy would have passed them, just as he had said he would do as a small, determined, seven year old child.

The two men went back to looking at the ocean. They did not talk after that, but simply watched their surroundings.

Days passed, and every crewmember was becoming increasingly annoyed with the captain. The exceptions were perhaps only Ben, who was growing increasingly amused, and Shanks, who seemed to be oblivious to everything.

But on the day exactly two weeks after Shanks and Ben had their conversation on the observation deck, something happened.

"Land! Captain, there is land up ahead!" The shout came from the man on the observation deck. Everyone at least paused what they were doing to look up, if only briefly, and some rushed to the edge of the ship to get a better look.

"Can you tell what island it is?" The shout to the man on the observation deck came from Lucky Roo. The man hesitated for a few minutes before replying.

"I think…yes, I'm quite sure…I think that it must be White Island."

At this, many turned to stare at the captain.

"Why did you bring us here, captain?" one man asked. "Some of White Beard's men stay here, but never White Beard himself, much less anyone else important…"

Shanks shrugged in reply, a grin appearing on his face.

"We'll soon find out, won't we?"