Hey there^^
They are there finally. Finally, they reach the Grandline. Now I wonder how many chapters I need until they reach the New World~ Time will tell. And there will be some new Crew members during the journey through Paradise. Guesses up who will join, who will not join ;) I may have my notes but I can still change it until I have written it in my little scribbling pad^^ I hope you enjoy this one^^ And just a thing, I do know I tend to ramble with the review responds but there is one, I would really like you to read. It's the one to hiareportsyou. It deals with spelling, grammar mistakes and so on. I just feel like I should really give this explanation to all of you. If you have no problem with how I write then you can skip it :x.
buterflypuss: Thank you ^^ It's always nice to hear that the chapter was good^^
SakuraKoi: Mh~ can I guess I did surprise you with Ain and Bartolomeo? Then I'm happy that the surprise was a sucess^^
hiareportsyou: I might have answered you with a pm. But then I thought it would be a good idea to answer in the review responds again. Just in case, that there are others who wondered or I don't know.
English is not my mother language as I have said in the prologue. My mother language is German and in German the quotation marks are „". Since I didn't know how to change the correction language in Word when I started to write 'A different journey' the quotation marks were the German ones. I only found out later as you see now the correct quotation marks. And I was too lazy to change it in the prologue as it doesn't change the context or influence the reading in other ways (just my opinion).
The second point, Grammarly. I do use it, well the free version. It corrects many mistakes but for some reason, it does lag or I don't know how to describe it in one word. But often it shows me that everything is fine. Even when I then copy the chapter from the Word-doc to the FF-doc. There may only be little differences because of American English and British English, but no heavy mistakes. Only sometimes months later when I'm already to chapters ahead Grammarly shows me mistakes in previous chapters, which is a bit annoying and I do tend to ignore those or just click correct very fast to be able to go on with the chapter I'm writing at the moment. So I don't really remember what kind of mistake it was.
All in all, I know that there are still mistakes left in the story because of the 100+ advanced mistakes, which are only shown in the premium version. But since no one points them out, I don't think they are much of a bother. And I do appreciate corrections if you can do it in a nice way or to describe it better with a favourite saying of mine "It's not what you say, but how you say it.". So just point them out in a nice way and the best way to help me correct them is quoting the whole sentences and maybe also leave the comment with the corrections at the specific chapter. So Thank you for attention.
yukino76: Thank you^^ Yes, the surprise was a success. That makes me happy. Oh~ trouble will be there. How can it not be there? Luffy is the best trouble magnet in the world xD but there will be more to Ain and Bartolomeo. Maybe a bit more backstory for Ain as she has met Luffy, Ace, and Law during the time they stayed with Garp and she was still a marine. But I don't know, yet^^ It's still too early in this story to decide that.
~Chapter 10 – Enter Paradise~
"Everyone stay alert. The passage up is very slim. So one wrong move will kill us", Law said loudly when the shadow of the Red Line towered above them.
"Didn't you say that you travelled a bit on the Grandline with your grandpa?", Zoro asked Ace quietly. The logia user nodded. "Shouldn't he then be less worried?"
"No, this is the first time we entering the Grandline that way. With grandpa, we went directly through the Calm Belt. But it was Luffy's wish to take the long way to the New World because he didn't want to use any shortcuts on our journey", Ace explained quietly.
"Stop your chitchat and prepare yourself!"
Ain's voice had a more dominant effect than Law's. It was really easy to see that Ain had worked for the marine and was used to order people despite their gender around.
"Aye, Ain-chan~", Sanji chirped with heart eyes and pranced to his position.
Ace wanted to facepalm. He would be surprised if Ain kicked or hit Sanji again because she wasn't the type of girl you should try to flirt with non-stop.
"Ace, remember we need to dock at Twin Cape to wait until the Log Pose stays still for a few minutes", Law said as he appeared next to him. The black-haired Alpha nodded.
"Can't we just use an Eternal Pose?", Zoro asked suddenly.
A small smile appeared on Law's face and Ace knew what the answer will be.
"That would be a shortcut if we would use them directly. Something Luffy would want. The Eternal Poses are for islands on which the Log Pose needs longer than a month to set."
"Uh~ the water is going up. That looks really cool." Luffy's chattering could be heard even if his younger brother was in the crow's nest.
"That is the entrance. Everyone on their position", Law shouted.
Luffy was having fun in the crow's nest. He had one hand on his hat to stop it from flying away with his other hand he had grabbed the railing.
The wind of freedom was blowing in his face and also a bit through his hair. The whole ride in Reverse Mountain felt like a rollercoaster but better.
A bright grin appeared on his face while Shippy now went the waterway down. Soon they would reach the Grandline. Soon he would be a pirate captain on the Grandline.
Then he suddenly felt it. A presence straight ahead.
"There is something right in front of us", he shouted down, before he narrowed his eyes trying to see what the obstacle was.
The presence didn't feel bad. No more like it would be neutral or friendly towards them.
The wind blew some cruse words from beneath him up.
Then he could hear Law loud and clear.
"ROOM. Shambles."
Their ship wasn't on the way towards the presence any longer but right next to it.
The presences itself came from a giant whale which had his front covered in scars. It looked strong. Strong enough to destroy their ship with ease.
Luffy jumped down from the crow's nest and stepped next to his brother.
"So this whale is the reason why the Marine most likely developed the technology to travel through the Calm Belt", Law reasoned.
But Ain shook her head. "I heard that there is an obstacle for around fifty years around here. But the documents of their research noted that they started more than fifty years ago to search for ways to travel safely through the Calm Belt. It would be easier to help their bases in the Blues if they can travel through it", she explained.
"Ne, Nii-chan, do you think we could get a bit closer?", Luffy asked. He had lost his interest in listening to Ain and Law.
"What if the whale attack us when we get to close?", Bepo sounded a bit in a panic.
"Roast it." "Punch it." "Kick it." "Slice it." "Block it."
Three hits could be heard and one Luffy could feel.
"Ow, that hurt, Torao." "Oi, why didn't you hit Bartolomeo?", Ace asked. His brother sounded a bit insulted.
"Because his idea was actually not stupid. That is our best chance to get away without our ship getting damaged", Law said annoyed.
Luffy turned his head back to the whale. He studied it carefully.
"Oi, whale. If you hurt Shippy, I'll beat you", Luffy said and raised his fist. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Law was getting closer to him again. Probably to catch him to stop him from doing something stupid in the other's eyes.
But it was Ain who stopped it.
"How is the Logue Pose? If it is still moving too much we should dock. I don't think the whale will attack us as long as we don't provoke it."
"It's still not safe to follow it. It oscillates around 90 degrees", Bepo said. "So docking will be the best way. But we should still be ready as there are seven routes for the first half of the Grandline. If we don't set sail quick enough once the needle is calm, we can wait again until it is set for another route", Ain decided.
"There is someone over there on the island close to the lighthouse. I think it is a woman", Zoro suddenly said.
In the next moment, Sanji was next to the swordsman and nearly jumping overboard.
"What a beautiful angel. Did it hurt when you fall from the sky?"
"He is in pervert mode again, that ero-cook", Zoro mumbled. "What did you say, marimo?" Their biggering started again and it was ended by Law.
"Be quiet and behave yourself."
Luffy now took his chance to study the woman. She had light blonde hair and wore a long coat which hid her body.
"She does look nice and she also feels nice", he then chirped up innocently.
"Well, I guess I'll leave the ship first. Because you can be idiots in front of a woman and easily be tricked by one", Ain said with a critical look at everyone.
"Hey, that was one time, Ain. Law was only fourteen and I was twelve when that happened. This was eight years ago. We did grow up since then", Ace complained.
Sanji seemed to only agree with Ain because she was female. Zoro looked a slightly insulted look on his face and Bartolomeo was quiet.
"Well, when you go to her… can I call my friends to tell them what is going on?", the light green-haired one asked.
"Are you going to tell them that you quit being a mob-boss and joined my crew?", Luffy asked.
Bartolomeo's eyes widened. It did seem that his question had surprised the older one. Then tears were cascading over the man's face. "You really want me to join your crew? I would be happy. Because sailing was always something I wanted to do." The words were a bit hard to understand, but the context was clear.
"Do you have a dream? Sanji wants to find the All Blue, Zoro wants to be the best swordsman in the world, Nii-chan wants to make a name on his own, Bepo wants to see Zou again and then have fun with us on our journey and Torao wants to be…"
"I want to be a great doctor and finish a good friend's job."
A good friend's job? Who could Law mean? But Luffy didn't think about it much.
"And I will become the pirate king", the youngest one on the ship then declared confidently.
"I… I don't have a goal, yet. But I will find one. Even if it just then be the goal to aid you guys to your goals", Bartolomeo said still sniffling.
Luffy chuckled. "That sounds also nice."
She was a bit surprised to see a ship that quick after she had landed here. Crocus-san had been right about people coming by to enter the Grandline. One of the five blue sea parts, well six. Crocus-san had told her that the Grandline is divided into two halves.
But she got even more surprised with this crew when one of them called her an angel and asked if the fall had hurt.
How could he know about her falling through the white sea?
She gently bit her lips and looked over her clothes. The coat did hide wings perfectly. They shouldn't be able to guess about her not being from here.
Also, Crocus-san told her to be careful because not all people are nice.
There are some bad persons in the blues who would capture her and sell her to some vicious dragons.
An uneasy feeling rose inside of her when a blue-haired woman left the ship and came directly at her.
"I'm sorry if Sanji scared you with his flirting. He has a bad habit of trying to flirt with every woman he meets."
The blue-haired one sounded honest. Also, it did calm her nerves a bit as she wasn't detected as a person from Skypiea, yet.
But she shouldn't let her guard down. Not until Crocus-san was back from taking care of Laboon.
"He doesn't scare me… I'm just surprised", she lied carefully.
Well, it was not directly a lie. She wasn't scared of this Sanji trying to flirt with her, she was scared that these are bad people.
"That's nice to hear. Then I'm sorry that we surprised you. We don't intend to stay long. We just want to wait until our Logue Pose has set. Do you know how long it takes until it is calm? And also how long it takes until it is trying to pick up another route?", the other woman asked.
So they didn't want to stay long. That would be good for her.
But on the other hand, Crocus-san hadn't told her how long the Pose needed to set. So maybe they would stay longer than they intended.
"Uhm… I don't know. But Crocus-san does. He should be back soon from taking care of Laboon. Because he hit himself again…"
"Laboon? You mean the big whale has a name and is hurting himself?"
With a shriek, she jumped backwards.
A boy with black hair and a straw hat was now standing next to the blue-haired woman.
"Luffy, what are you doing here? I thought you would wait on the ship with the others and not scare the nice woman", the woman scolded him. But the boy looked uninterested and even poked his nose.
"It got boring on Shippy. Zoro and Sanji are arguing again and Torao became mad because of that. And I wanted to see the island. How stupid would it be to not really look around the islands? It wouldn't be an adventure. And I want to have lots of adventures during the journey to become the pirate king. Also, Chouchou wanted to walk around, too", the boy Luffy said and became more cheerfully at the end.
Pirate king? These people were pirates? Were they like the pirates her father told her about? The ones who visited Skypiea more than twenty years ago.
Curiosity rose in her. Her father had said that Kami himself had met them back then and had also accepted them.
She was interrupted in her thoughts by something wet touching her legs. She was surprised to see a white dog sniffing at her.
"No, Chouchou, don't do this", the blue-haired woman said and wanted to pull the dog away. But it didn't matter to her.
She kneeled down slightly and petted his head. It was comforting to do this. She realised now how much she missed her own pet. She hoped that her father took good care of it.
"Don't worry, Ain. Chouchou is clever. He wouldn't do that if she wasn't nice. So it's fine", the boy said with a grin, before coming a little closer to her. "I'm Luffy and that's Ain. And you are?"
She looked to the dog again before she lifted her head to look at the Luffy and Ain.
"I'm Conis."
A shorter one at the start of the Grandline. To be true, I wanted to go on until they left. But then I thought I will split it there, because well maybe the next chapter will come earlier. Also now since the crew is expanding I'll try to give everyone a bit of screen time. I'll just mainly stay with Luffy's, Ace's or Law's PoV most likely. Don't know for sure. I can already change that tomorrow so don't point your fingers at me when I'll use other PoVs more.
There is another thing I thought about. Since I mostly write everything for the chapter on paper first, I can be a little slow because I don't want to write the stuff down in my word document when it is only one sentence. So I thought of maybe, just maybe writing some little 'filler' chapters in between. This can be a bit about Luffy's, Ace's and Law's time with Garp or so on. This 'filler' chapters will all be CANON for this story and will only deal about stuff I won't write about later. I'm a bit open want you would like to read.
The chapters I would publish in this story because I don't like making a new story for it. But they will be named like that ~Filler 1 - Chaptername~.
Just your opinion about that. I promise I won't upload two filler chapters in a row when there isn't a good reason (like me being very uncreative and I had these already finished before I enter this state).
It may shorten the time between the chapter uploads a bit ;)
See you until the next chapter.