Careful. Careful.
He licks his lips and, even if he'd noticed, he would have been unable to keep his tongue from sticking out in concentration. It'd taken a while to figure out what boards creaked and where, and then even more time to get used to them, but he'd eventually gotten it down. Now, all he had to do was stay low, stay focused; like a tiger on the prowl. He was crouched, hands pulled down to keep his balance, and his target- his victim!- didn't even glance his way as he kept them inside his gaze. Good. He inched a bit forward, eyes narrowed into slits-
Closer. Closer.
-he let his weight fall back, feet prepared to push off the ground and launch himself to-!
"I sure hope you're not doing what I think you're doing."
He flops down on her bed. Groaning. Head face down into the pillows and blankets that were tossed to the side of her, "Mnff-mff-hnnff~!" He whined, muffled into the mess of bedding. "Quihhhhnnff-!"
"Kehaha! What's up with you? You've been happy ever since we left Loguetown, complete mood switch." She can't help but point it out, even if she could make a pretty damn good guess as to why, and she doesn't expect an answer confirming that guess anyways. Ace twitches, turning to shoot her a cheeky grin, face still half buried in her bed sheets and blankets. "C'mon, Ace." She huffed. "You're going to knock the books free from down below if you keep sitting like that."
He just pushed himself up even more onto her bed. Flopping like a starfish onto everything and almost fully covering the majority of it with his body now. Well, all of him except his boots but at least it wasn't his knees tucked down below anymore, where they would've been shoved into the shelves of books beneath and been crushing them up, she's sure. Quinn scoots over, trying to make more room for him, even if it has her nearing the edge and close to falling off, pajamas smooshing up and twisting around her limbs.
They'd decided to weigh the anchor for the night. Reverse Mountain had taken longer to locate than she'd expected for a giant mountain but the sight of it had just been on the horizon before the sun had started to drift beneath the sea. The mountainous cape was a couple hours from Loguetown and she didn't know about the others but she sure as shit didn't want to have their first jump into the Grand Line be in the middle of the night, it would already be hard enough navigating the canal by the day.
Problem was, though, it wasn't quite late enough that anyone wanted to go to sleep yet.
Especially not Ace.
"What's up?"
"Nothin'."
It came out sounding more like 'muffin' but she got the idea, she was pretty sure some of the blanket got in his mouth anyways, and it was clear that he was very irritated that 'muffin' was happening.
"Mn-hm. So, you're bored."
He spat out the blanket.
"Yep."
"And so you're bothering me. While I'm working. A not-bored person."
"...Yes."
She sighs but it doesn't stop her from shooting him a tiredly, amused glance. The large black sheet that she held in her lap, contrasted by the white thread and silver needle that she tugged through and then back again and then once more, was her work in question. Embroidery, once again, something to keep her hands and mind busy so she could keep her thoughts from wandering out of control in the quiet.
And, well, it helped that this particular piece was a request from the Captain himself and who was she to refuse him?
Ace leaned over in eager interest. "How's it coming along? You said you were almost done, yeah?"
It'd been weeks since he'd asked her, so she understood his impatience a little, even if he had little clue as to how long a project this big should have taken her. (Oh, if it wasn't for the fact that it was one of her only options of something to do while on the ship it would've taken her months and months of endless hours. Now, though? Only a couple weeks of smashed together hours and hours and a concentrated focus born of having nothing else happening in her life.) She'd started some time after the Twin Isle, thankful that her injured arm wasn't her dominant hand and that she could still manage something like this, and he'd shown off his hat's newest flames as an example for what he wanted. Looking starry eyed and positively beaming at her.
"Close. Should have it done before we set sail tomorrow morning." She pauses, then grimaces. "No promises though. I'm just going over the tiniest of details right now, fixing up mistakes, but it's finicky and… I don't really know how long it's going to take until I'm satisfied with it." It was one thing to make something that others enjoyed, it was another to make something that would also please her- she held herself to an incredibly high standard when it came to her work.
"Cool."
And, so bored he was, that Ace found himself just snuggling closer into the blankets and staring at her from the corner of his eye. Gaze objectively lazy as they roamed over Quinn and drank in the sight of her.
Her brows were furrowed downwards in a look of total concentration, almost glaring at the fabric in her hands. And her hair was done up in a messy bun that was bound to leave tangles, still wet from a recent shower, and was pressed up flat against her forehead, dripping droplets of water down and all the way to the tip of her nose. There was an extra needle in the corner of her mouth, hanging easily from the edge of her lip, attached with a piece of bright yellow thread to another section of the black sheet that covered her legs almost entirely. Every now and then, she would pause, flip to look at the underneath, and then switch between the colors she was using in some way that he was sure made sense to only her because it was almost mind-boggling watching the way she worked and he couldn't begin to guess as to why she made the decisions she did with it. Given the slight glint of frustration beginning to show on her face though and based on the hunch of her shoulders he thinks Quinn is the perfectionist type. Constantly double-checking and then triple-checking something he couldn't see, which was fine, it just made her all the better; working at a slow and methodical pace that only seemed to grow slower as she looks back and seems to just stare before making a decision for a singular stitch, taking almost a minute on each and it's awesome watching- her able to do something he had no hope of grasping because he was sure it would only have him even more bored out of his mind.
But Ace was too busy to really think about that. Too busy dragging his gaze from her cast that she was still forced to wear, though she'd said the instructions had said she could take it off soon and replace it with a simple brace instead, and instead lets his eyes travel back up to the scrunch of her face. From the crease of her forehead, to the odd dots on her earlobes where she'd clearly once had them pierced and then let them heal back over, and the scars that marred her bottom lip from all her biting on it. The more he stared, the more he saw.
Ace's eyes lingered, drawn to a detail he knew he hadn't seen yet, on the back of her neck, towards the base and a little to the side. A place where her hair normally fell to cover and, without really thinking, he blurts, "You have a scar on the back of your neck."
"Do I?" She murmurs absentmindedly, not really listening, and it takes a solid second for the information to compute with her brain and, when it does, it has her pausing. "Wait-" Her brows furrow and she whips her head to stare down at him, needle flicking awkwardly between her lips. "No, I don't. What?"
"You do."
If anything, that seems to confuse her more. "...No?" Her hand, the one that had been working, lets go of it's needle and reaches upwards to search for the scar. "Where?"
He grunts, pushing himself up onto his elbows and reaches to pull her hand to the jagged, slightly discolored patch of skin that looks… odd. He couldn't honestly say whether it was from a knife, shrapnel, or anything else like that. It was a bursting jagged mark, one that seemed to explode almost outward and it was clearly a couple of months old at the very least. There was a faltering moment as Quinn's fingers twitched and searched for what he was talking about before her fingers slide along it's outer edge, finally noticing the differences in texture-
If Ace hadn't been actively watching her as closely as he already was, he wouldn't have noticed it.
Quinn pales. It's a sudden whitening of her cheeks that seems to suck any and every semblance of color from her. Her hand grips the area and grinds into where it marred her skin, pupils contracting before her lips fall open with a soft, but heartfelt: "...oh."
"What's it from?" He asks. Quinn seems more than a little shell shocked by its discovery. "...Quinn?"
She bites her bottom lip, breaking open some of the fresher scabs and he winces. He doesn't know how she could stand the pain of doing that. She shakes her head, as if getting rid of her own thoughts, and shakily- his gaze twitches at the sight of her fingers shaking, as if from cold prickling needling itself into her skin before she let the appendage fall back to the needle she'd dropped. "Nothing important." His gut instinct is to say that it's a lie. The more intuitive part of his brain, though, realizes that it isn't. It's clearly something that she doesn't think is important but something tells him that he would find it very, very important. "I just- I just didn't realize that it had left a scar."
Ace stares.
Waits for any sort of clarification but there's none so he says nothing. Lets the subject drop and lull away into nothing. And he flops back down, removing his eyes from her almost forcibly. It's a good decision, really, because it's what has her relaxing minutely, trying to go back to her embroidery with a distracted fervor but oh- Her luck is terrible, because, this time, she doesn't find anything that needs to be fixed or added to. It was as if she had finished everything just in time for her to want to do more and she- she knows better to overwork it.
She startles when a foot launches out and kicks Ace for his efforts. "Hey-!"
"What did you do?"
Kat, fresh from his own shower, and absolutely drenched with water from head to toe, was looking more than a little suspicious as he stared down at Ace. Lips pursed and hands on his hips and towel, wrapped around his hair, falling into his face and completely detracting any sense of intimidation he was going for.
Ace raises his hands, rolling onto his back. "Nothing!" Kat's eyes narrow.. "Seriously- nothing, nothing."
Quinn smirks and teary, she lies: "Oh, he told me all sorts of horrible, horrible things."
And Kat huffs, knowing when he was being messed with.
Ace gapes. "Hey, what is this?" Kat still jabs him with his foot for good measure. "Aa! I'm the Captain- hey - mutiny! Mutiny! Spice, save me."
Spice doesn't even glance up from his writing. "Uh-huh. Sure. Fishcakes, tomorrow? Yeah I can do that." Clearly not listening to any of them either.
Kat blushes. "I'm j-just making sure th-that you're not causing Quinn any trouble!"
"Why would I be causing her any trouble?!"
Quinn giggles.
Ace sputters and then grumbles, wrapping the blankets around himself. "Like she needs anyone to protect her."
"The confidence in me is sweet, Ace-"
"-if unfounded." Spice adds in. As if coming out of his "slumber" just to roast her. Ah, with him around, at least she'd never have to worry about getting a big head. And she's quick to nod along with a 'yeah' under her breath that has both Ace and Kat sharing an unimpressed glance, brows raised and disbelief evident to only each other.
Quinn doesn't notice Spice's displeased frown either. As if irritated by her agreement.
"But shouldn't you all be heading to bed by now? You want an early start to tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, but I'm not ti~red!"
There's something that's gotten them all excited- and it's obvious what it is. The pent up energy only seems to grow with how close they are to Reverse Mountain and the Grand Line's entrance and the "next big adventure" and she can see it hidden on all their faces, a quiet thrum that's jittery and one that's she's sure is somewhere on her own face too. It would be enough to have anyone struggling to sleep, after all, and the night presses on and it's no surprise that none of them move to shut off the lantern-like light fixtures that keep out the darkness.
Spice is busy working on… well, Quinn wants to guess that it's the cook book he mentioned on wanting to compile but she's pretty sure that he hasn't found anything really… new to add to it so she's not sure about that either. She just knows that involves a ton of writing and that she can't hardly read a word of it because he's still using the godforsaken yellow pen.
(She's eighty percent sure he's a masochist based off of that fact alone.)
Kat, meanwhile, once he's done huffing at Ace, drops into his hammock and soon looks to be the closest to sleep out of all of them. He's watching the Log Pose on his wrist, eyes firmly caught on the shaky needle but anyone watching could see the way his head bobbed and his eyes seemed to grow heavy with every passing second and each blink was a struggle to force his eyes back open.
And Ace-
Ace is still flopped down right next to Quinn. Sure, he's on his back now, and his hat twirls on his finger, unable to sleep even if he wanted to. Which is both a mix of his excitement and symptoms of his narcolepsy being a bitch. His eyes burn and he blinks, blowing a raspberry at the ceiling. He feels wide awake, like he'd chugged a gallon of Quinn's disgusting coffee, because he can't wait for morning to come and the minutes only seem to grow longer and longer.
It was just… They were so, so close.
To where their journey could finally, actually, begin because, making it to the Grand Line… that was just the starting point of the real adventure. They were headed to the summit of the world and he'd hardly taken even the first steps forwards towards it.
There's a snap of thread being broken and the sound draws Ace back to looking at Quinn, eyes only catching sight of the scar for a second before he pulls it away, as she tosses the black fabric over them both and lifts it so that he can see the painted image on the front and the thread and patterns she'd woven over the bright colors. "I know you said you wanted it almost entirely embroidered but that would've made it both too heavy and too busy. So, I simplified, added more intricate designs that I've already made sure will look cool from both far away and close up." She bit her lip as, so taken aback by what she'd done, he didn't notice the sudden bout of nervousness from her; almost tentative. "What… What do you think?"
"This…"
He honestly doesn't know what to say.
And his voice noticeably softens as he takes it all in. Unable to help himself from running his hands over the threads, the thick lines and patterns of color that fall in intricate and complicated designs of- Ace grins, excitement palpable by this point. Damned if he was going to be getting any sleep tonight.
"This is… amazing, Quinn. You're absolutely amazing!" He chortles. "It's incredible!"
Screw what he asked her for, this was better than he ever could've imagined!
She smiles. Pulling it back to her lap before gently folding it so she could pack it away in the storage beneath her bed. Ace is still so starry-eyed that he doesn't catch a glimpse of the pink on her cheeks, the embarrassed flush only getting warmer and warmer as he grins sillily at nothing in particular. She bites her lip, though not in a way to draw blood this time, and dips her head in the smallest of nods. "Thank you…"
"And your timing is perfect!" He all but chirps. "We'll be ready to go as a proper crew now!"
"I'll have to add a cover to the back of it still. To hide all the ties and thread showing through on the back, but I can do that in the morning. And, I mean, I have to treat it overnight but otherwise…"
"It's finally done!"
"More or less."
Nothing seems to be able to put a damper on Ace's lifting mood. After Loguetown, he hadn't expected for the day to be getting any better, but hey- it's good to be wrong sometimes.
"Care to share with the class?"
"It's a surprise!" Ace is quick to brush Spice off. He goes so far as to throw a finger over his lips even, but the secretive image is shattered a bit by the wide, cheeky grin spread across his face. "You'll see tomorrow."
Spice snorts.
There's quiet for… maybe ten minutes. And that's a kind estimate where Quinn takes the chance to close her eyes and take a break.
She's abruptly startled out of the rest and nearly bites her own tongue off when Ace jabs her in the side, "Oy, Quinn… I'm bored." He whines.
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"I don't know. Something?"
"Something."
But… she supposes he was such a pathetic, pouting sight of nothing to do that she could think for a few seconds. "Alright." She sighs, long and reluctant, "I can do something. Come on."
He blinks. As if surprised that he'd actually managed to get anything out of her and just watches as she jumps off the bed, sliding her pajamas into the proper place- it was just lightning bolt patterned pants and a loose t-shirt with her sleeves still underneath, though he's not sure how those counted as pajamas and it was kind of ridiculous the almost religious zeal she took to wearing them-
He'd noticed a couple peoples gazes get drawn to them, grimaces and recognition lighting up their face before morphing into pity and- Ace wasn't stupid. He knew something was up with her and the sleeves, even if he couldn't figure it out for the life of him. But he didn't even know where to begin with asking, or even if he should, and was simply waiting for the day Quinn said something herself or she finally took them off.
"-Are you coming?" Quinn offered him her hand, shaking it at his face impatiently. "Or are you just going to make me stand here?"
"Sorry, yeah."
He let's her pull him up and is surprised when her grip only shifts and she doesn't let go, pulling him along and out the door, onto the deck.
And he-
"Dance?"
It's hard to keep the bit of humor out of his voice.
"It's something to do, isn't it?"
He looks dubious. "But… there's no music."
"Sure isn't. But, I mean, it's not like we're workin' on choreography or anything." She tugs him to a place in front of her and they're almost perfectly centered on the deck. "'Sides, you looked like you were having fun last time."
She chews on her lip, then adds, a tad quieter: "You can say no though."
And Ace can't help but wonder if that's actually true because he can just imagine her face swelling in a mix of embarrassment for even suggesting it and disappointment that he hadn't been interested, if he did say no. It was quite the odd sight to imagine and he can't help a soft laugh bubbling up that has her ears bursting into red- He supposes it doesn't really matter. It's late, he's too energetic, and he hasn't got any better ideas and… Well, Quinn is looking up at him with such earnest eyes that he just has to say yes.
"I still don't really know how to dance," it wasn't like it was something he'd ever practiced or ever really done before, he somehow doubted that Luffy had even the coordination to spin his partner without sending them into the stratosphere so that was a massive 'no' there, "other than what you showed me, I mean, but that's…"
"That's more suited for parties."
Quinn hums. It's a tune without any real direction and is quick to peter off into nothing almost as soon as it starts. "You can probably… throw a bit of that in anywhere, so long as you slow the steps." She shrugs. "How about slow-dancing?"
He jerks a bit.
And it's Quinn's turn to watch in wonder as it has his ears burning bright red and how it starts to creep into a flush on his cheeks. Oh, she just realizes how it sounds to him, who probably knows slow-dancing as only a form of intimacy, and she can see how suddenly uncomfortable he is by the possibility- strange, then, that he doesn't step away. "I- uh. That's not really-? Um, no. That's…"
"It's not nearly as salacious as it sounds." From the blank look on his face, she's guessing he doesn't know what that word means exactly. "By slow-dancing I meant more along the lines of ballroom dancing."
"Oh. Oh! That's- Okay then," that, at least, has his expression clearing and Quinn is fascinated by the sight of the red washing away from his face, as if it had never been there in the first place, "but, ballroom?" He, once again, sounds dubious. It's quick to turn cheeky. "Isn't that something a noble would do?"
"I could punch you too. That's always an option."
"No, you can't! I'm fire, remember?"
Yes, that she remembers.
It's rather hard to forget. Even taking his hand like this, she makes sure to keep her hold on him light, to keep from provoking a flame. Unbeknownst to her, the feather-like hold only serves to have him shivering.
"Still… kinda weird to dance without music. Oh, I know. You could sing!"
"Hard pass."
Nobody needed to be subjected to that particular cat's wail this evening, she's sure.
Ace pouts. "But-"
"Just listen to the waves." She offers up instead. "Let them be our music."
And, just because that sounds weird to even her own ears, she hastens to add: "Or some poetic shit like that." And suffers from Ace's laugh at her expense once again.
Still.
He let's her take his hand.
Leading.
"Is dancing going to become our… thing now?" He can't help but muse. "Somehow I don't think anyone else is planning on offering me it anytime soon."
Quinn shrugs. "It can be. Would you like it to be? Our thing?"
It takes him a moment to answer. And then a moment for her to realize that it's because he's shy. It's a shade of him that's… odd, she dimly realizes, just for the fact that it's so unlike his usual hype and bravado.
She smiles.
"I'll have you know that while calling me a dancer is a very… loose definition of the world. But, if you're my dance partner-" Because parties, Just Dance, DDR, and whatever time she spent listening to music all by her lonesome with the freedom of no one to see her were a far cry from being an actual dancer. And, even now, her motions with Ace were awkward and unpracticed and it was only a mix of both their concentration and intent keeping them from tripping over each other. "-I think territorial would apply."
It's enough to shock a laugh.
"That's fine! Like I said, I don't imagine there's a lot of people looking to me for dancing of all things. Hell, even I wouldn't…"
"Hm. Why's that?"
"Huh?"
"Why's that? You're surprisingly coordinated and you're aware and conscientious enough to not make a fool of yourself by kicking me in the shins."
Tonight seems to be a night of pauses and Quinn thanks the heavens that none of them are necessarily awkward, which they very well could have been- especially considering how close the dancing had gotten them, and how Ace fumbled with one hand on her hip and the other on her hand in an equally cumbersome grasp.
"You know how I grew up in a forest, right?" He raises a brow. "Who was I gonna learn from? The tigers? The danpa's?"
"...danpa?" She shakes her head. "Guess you have me there though."
"Besides…" He added on, looking away, "If younger-me saw me dancing with someone, he'd-" He doesn't finish but Quinn, snorting, knows enough about men and silly little boys with their heads so filled with pride and rules that she knows exactly where he had been going with it.
And, oh- Ace is still so prideful, so puffed up and tense, even as she urges his feet to step alongside hers as they lazily accomplish a circular motion across the deck, that she's honestly surprised that he hadn't already run away. Scared off by just the attempt.
It might have more to do with the fact that…
His honest enjoyment in dancing with her had overridden his embarrassment.
(It helped that Quinn didn't look at him with any judgement in her eyes. Too encapsulated in her own thoughts to really think of his own in regards to it.)
She pulls out of his grasp and let's him perform a slow spin, leaning back and tugging him into another couple steps that are more intuitive than the result of any of her muttered-teachings and quiet ministrations. "There's no shame in liking something new. Like dancing." The blush is expected and she has to laugh as smoke starts to rise from his hair. "But… If you're really so embarrassed," oh, she's practically sparkling with mirth, "I can promise not to tell anyone. It'll be our little secret." Does her voice drop an octave into a teasing lilt? Yes, yes it does.
But Ace doesn't seem as tense now and, as the minutes pass, she can see the wakefulness starting to ease from his bones.
"...They're cute, aren't they?"
Spice mutters lowly. To the sleepy but attentive Kat who peaks around the doorway to catch a glimpse of their Captain and First Mate. He doesn't try to hide himself, not really- He'd already caught Quinn's gaze flickering to his, the silent order for 'don't say anything' obvious in it- and, instead, is lazily leaning against the wall next to the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. If he tilted his head back, turned his eyes, then, at just the right angle, he would be able to catch a glimpse without either of them knowing. Kat is on his knees, stealing glances, and looking not even a little conspicuous.
Kat smiles, cheeks straining as his teeth click with the force of the grin, "They are." He whispers, looking so delighted that it's hard to gauge his thoughts.
So Spice nods.
He never knew that a pirate crew could be so peaceful.
-0-
Reverse Mountain.
"Got everything?"
"Yep. Quinn, anything to add, resident-Grand Line informant?"
"...I don't remember much. And this might not even be accurate but I'm pretty sure that the reason ships have such problems with riding the currents up Reverse Mountain is partly due to the almost ninety-degree turn we have to make to get in the canal."
"You couldn't have mentioned that sooner?!"
"Look. I forgot that there even was an entrance to the Grand Line, okay? At least I'm telling you before it's relevant."
"How do you forget that there's an entrance-?!"
It really is a monolithic key-piece sitting upon the Red Line and whatever argument beginning to brew stutters to a halt and Quinn has to take a step back- it's as if her breath has been knocked from her lungs because-
Wow. Just… Wow.
That's one of the most amazing sights she'd ever beheld.
Sheer, cliff-face that stretched far and up into the clouds above, shifting in shades of russet red and rocky stone face. There's an eerie… uncanny valley sort of feel, she has to admit. An echoing silence that falls like a hush and-
It's just her.
But Quinn suddenly feels so very out of place. Like she doesn't belong. Like she shouldn't be here. And it's a disquieting urge that has her stumbling back and wanting to run away, but a curious glance from Spice has her stilling.
She feels a little sick and pale.
"It's the Red Line…!"
"The world really is beautiful, huh?"
And it is beautiful. Disgustingly giant and all-consuming and something like this-? Like the Red Line? It couldn't exist in her world, it's too… perfect, pristine, and massive. Unblemished, sheer face that seems more like someone pulled a wire through clay to cut it than anything natural.
It just reminds her how out of depth she really is.
Quinn squashes it down, ignores it.
She still has to wonder if the Red Line is natural though, and not man-made. With this world… who even knew the answer for certain?
"Quinn! Is it finished?!"
The reprieve from Ace- who is beaming so widely that it hurts her cheeks just looking at him- is enough to have her snapping back into herself and she smirks, nodding. "I said it would be."
"Yeah, but then you said a whole bunch of confusing stuff too!"
She rolls her eyes.
She's surprised that her hands don't shake as she unravels the black sheet she'd been working on previously, up until the morning actually- she hadn't gotten much, if any, sleep last night after Ace had konked out sometime during their dancing- and spins it around for all to see.
The gasp that Katsura let's out has her preening.
"Our… own flag!"
The sheet was old. Painted and hand-drawn, that much was obvious, and Quinn- when first presented it by Ace- had immediately likened it to its original. And then- then he had asked her to embroider it.
"From here on out… this is our Jolly Roger!"
It was a complicated design of flames and patterns. White thread on white paint in a vaguely Dia De Los Muertos-styled pattern that brightened the skull and made it a daunting image, highlighted by yellow. The flames were stylized with swirls and diamonds and there were all sorts of references to a standard deck of cards- symbols of hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs throughout, and she had made sure to keep all of the design composed within the Spade itself. All in all, it made it seem like the background was on fire and flames were cracking through the skull imagery.
It vaguely reminded her of Alice in Wonderland and, well, Quinn supposed that was accurate when compared to her situation.
"We'll have to add it to the sails but…"
"Makes the whole piracy thing official, doesn't it?"
It's a bit panicking.
She can feel blood rush to her face and adrenaline having her heart going crazy- she's pretty sure she's having an anxiety attack in all honesty because she feels cold and clammy and a feeling of dread mixes with her trepidation and her excitement- Quinn takes a deep breath, feels it stutter. But that's fine.
A shaky grin spreads across her face.
"No turning back now."
Not when she's looking out over her crew- and it's her crew, make no mistake because it's no one else's, oh, sure, Ace is the Captain but he's hers just as much as Kat and, now, Spice is- at Kat's tentative smiles, Ace's wide ones, and Spice's triumphant smirks. There really isn't any going back now because Quinn… doesn't think she's going to be able to let any of this go.
Her eyes slide over to the beaming Ace-
"It's still dark enough that I can still see the lighthouse operating!"
"Follow it- to the summit!"
-only Spice notices the hard determination that passes over Quinn's face.
...
...
There isn't much time to think once they reach the canal.
The problem with translating an anime to real life- especially an anime of all things, which are already slowed down to fill more time- is because the world moves much faster than anything that would've been animated. And it goes to shit just as fast. If not faster.
"Hard to starboard!"
It's also where, apparently, Katsura flourishes.
"Get the sail down- there's a backdraft and we have to catch it if we're going to make this current!"
The angle of the entrance. It's even sharper than Quinn had remembered, it's almost as if they have to turn the whole ship back around and, with the currents shoving them and pushing them along like they were, it should be impossible. They're too pointed forward- there's not enough room for error- and they just keep getting forced forward, towards the rocky mountain face of Reverse Mountain-
Quite honestly, she's not even sure it takes even a second.
"We're gonna hit the rocks!"
The ship lurches to a stop.
It's abrupt, unnatural, and it keeps them anchored in place- even as ferocious waves slam into the back of the ship and threaten to flip them over completely, head over heels. It doesn't offer any pause or reprieve- not with them scrambling around the deck and trying to reorient themselves. So it takes that time, of grabbing ropes and whipping the wheel to the side, to realize that Kat remains nearly frozen in his place at the side of the ship, clawed hands grabbing at the air.
"Kat…?"
The realization of what he was doing hits heavy.
"No way!"
"You stopped the ship?!"
They can see almost every muscle in his back and arms flexing, the obvious strain and difficulty of moving the ocean itself and it's currents while they're fighting against him- there's sweat on his brow and he falters, falling to one knee but doesn't let up, not even for a second. Sweat and salt water dripping down his face, his teeth grit, the near deafening sound of rushing water close to drowning out his struggling words, "I… can't hold it for long but we- we were about to hit and-"
They grimace.
"We need to turn. Now!"
There's a scary creaking.
And they're back in motion.
Still, they are only three people and the course correction is harder than imaginable.
"We're not turning fast enough!"
They aren't.
There's only a slow inch, inching, as they begin to turn but it's both not enough and growing to be more of a struggle by the second just to maintain it. Maybe if their ship was made for sharp turns like this- or, at the very least, was allowed to make them better- maybe then they would've been able to pull it off but, unfortunately, that just wasn't the case.
Kat snarls, arms straining and face scrunched and- "I can't keep hold of the currents much longer! Not like this-!"
Quinn grits her teeth, holding the ropes of the sail, trying to keep it in place- trying to get them to turn- but, even with both Ace and Spice helping, there doesn't seem to be any give in the currents-
Katsura falters.
There's a dangerous creak of something in the ship's bow about to cave.
"Captain, hold this!"
Ace doesn't need to be told twice.
Spice hands off the ropes he'd been keeping in place. And Quinn is nearly ripped off her feet in the half-second it takes to pass them off. Ace himself, well, with the added amount to what he's already holding, now forced to keep a grip on two completely different sets of ropes, one twisted around each arm, is left scrambling on the wet dank and trying to gain back his footing. Quinn doesn't even have the time to glance their way, wheezing as her arm aches- oh, it may be close to fully healed beneath the cast but it's still so very, very weak- and is forced to wrap her legs around the railing of the ship to keep herself from losing her footing or, even worse, losing her grip.
So no one manages to see what Spice is up to.
Only able to listen to the sound of him disappearing into the galley, the door slamming shut behind him because of the sudden gales of wind that scream up the mountainside.
None of them get to see his mind at work as he pulls one of the hammocks down, tossing blankets and pillows to the floor and nearly tripping over the books that'd been knocked out of their nooks, as he knots the two ends together. It creates a sort of makeshift net and he whips around, looking for a spare rope and-
"SPICE! I CAN'T HOLD IT!"
-the galley door slams back open and he comes storming out, his sword piercing through one of the holes on the netting as he weaves the spare rope he'd discovered in just the nick of time throughout the net and ties it to the swords guard. Leaving a long piece free for him to hold onto.
"Spice!"
"I'm on it-!"
He grounds his teeth together, gripping his sword.
Ace blinks and is surprised to find that his torso had been completely bisected without any warning. "...Spice? Why did you-?"
"You were in the way. Sorry."
He doesn't sound sorry.
Ace follows the sight of the rope wrapped around Spice's forearm as his torso reconstructs itself- it's an odd feeling, a little ticklish and itchy, it's also incredibly hot but, of course, it doesn't burn- and catches sight of the thrown blade. It'd been tossed, though maybe spun was a more apt description, set spinning through Ace and was now cleaved into the mountain wall. So deep that only a sliver of its silver blade was left to be seen.
It was connected to Spice by the spare length of rope and the hammock- the net- that the sword had been shoved through helps to maintain that straining piece, keeping it from snapping in two as it's pulled taunt and Spice braces himself on the mast of the ship.
Ace stares, trying to figure out why...
"Kat- let go!"
"What?!"
"Let. Go!"
The order has them all whipping up to gape at Spice in horror but he just meets their gazes head on. And Ace- Ace only takes a brief second to take in the look before understanding dawns on him and he's whipping around to shout at Kat as well. "Listen to him, do it!" It's a wonder watching the hesitation on Katsura's face between the strain and the muscles flexing on his arm and…
"Okay, okay, okay-" He doesn't sound like he's okay with it at all, not even remotely. "-trusting you on this!"
Kat let's go.
And Spice-
Pulls.
Muscles bulging and face red with consternation as Kat gasps, collapsed and breathless and trying to recover, as Spice forcibly rips them into the right direction- sword screeching as it threatens to be pulled free from the rocks, the weight of the ship enough to start breaking the mountain-side itself, but- he manages it-
They turn.
"Holy shit, Spice!"
"Spice is the MVP…!"
The current up Reverse Mountain finally grabs them, ripping Spice's sword from the wall in the same motion- the net had been close to breaking to pieces- and then it comes flying back.
Quinn shrieks and drops to the deck, just barely keeping herself from being beheaded.
Spice, nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just used an inhuman amount of strength to forcibly move an entire ship in a different direction, simply catches the sword by its hilt and sheaths it.
"...'kay, I don't think people are allowed to be that cool."
There's not enough time to cheer in triumph and pat him on the back or even, really, be impressed by Spice's display of power and quick thinking, because the ship lurches forward, and they're off.
Like a bullet, rising with the current, straight up to the very top of Reverse Mountain.
...
...
Ace feels like his heart has stopped in his chest.
It's a stalled, lingering moment where their ship hangs above the clouds and he can see it-
The grandness, why it got its name, the wide expanse of ocean blue that lays before them, glittery and uncharted waters that catch the light of the morning sun and gleam like an untouched treasure. He can't see any islands, can't see even a speck, but he imagines that he could, imagines that he's there already and-
And-
And Ace looks to his crew, still stuck in that moment frozen in time. From Spice's wide eyes and hand still in the motion of sheathing his sword, to Kat's dropped jaw and hands clutching at the railing, and to Quinn's hair fluttering behind her as, for once, it doesn't fall on her face and he can see her expression clearly. The slight widening of her eyes and the slightly opened mouth stare.
Ace beams at all three of them.
They're not a big crew- but, for now, they're more than enough.
He clutches at his bicep. At the crossed out S, of Sabo's Jolly Roger, and feels that wide grin strain his cheeks. "Can you see me… Sabo? We're here."
There's no answer of course. He didn't expect one.
The moment ends with deafening, booming winds that feel like a whistling vortex, and they're slamming back into the sea. Sucked downward on the other side of the mountain and gaining speed as rocks rush by them and they finally- finally!- make it into the Pirate's Graveyard- to Paradise- to the Grand Line!
...Of course, that's when something decides to come up from beneath them.
"Is that a whale?!"
.
.
.
Spades: *surprised pikachu face* did you just… turn an entire ship around in the middle of a super current with your bare hands?
Spice: what? like it's hard?
The embroidered flag was actually a commenter suggestion that I couldn't stop thinking about! So thanks to AO3 user DarknessEvernight13 cause kfdsjdksjf I couldn't get it out of my head once you suggested it! Yayy! They have a Jolly Roger now! And we're officially out of the East Blue, it only took 18 chapters and so, so many words!
I also have JDLKAJFL news! Someone made me fanart! They don't have all of it posted but AO3 user Deathbequick has it up on their art-fic and it was so nice and so amazing and im still screaming over it - it made me so happy! 333 it's the first fanart anyone's ever made me!
There's also more art up on my tumblr for Quinn and the next island that the crew is going to be visiting. It will be posted on the AO3 version of this fic in the coming chapters.
Also, Reviews help me write more so please leave some! It also helps me stay motivated and to get chapters out sooner and sooner!
