Twelve Red Lines

by Vikingr

I expected to die when I went into the water. Instead, I was rescued by a crew of people who I knew only as characters in a story. But what does it take to become worthy of being a Straw Hat? And why are so many little details not matching up to what I know?

8. Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem: Seize the day.

Special Disclaimer: The song in this chapter is, as far as I know, old enough to be in the public domain. It's a sea shanty that I've heard many versions of over the years, that was apparently written in 1886 or so; I've modified a line or two to fit the One Piece world. As for how I can get away with it without Jones calling me out on shenanigans… I learned this song after I started writing this fic. Hooray loopholes! . No, I'm not in an arms race against my own character. Why do you ask?

Gerbilfriend: Thank you. And yes, pet dragon. I was raised on Anne McCaffrey novels, so I couldn't help it.

Lightsbane1905: True enough about the sanity. Jones mostly calls herself crazy because she's used to people thinking that where she comes from; she'll get over it eventually. And believe it or not, I didn't intend Jones and Nami to be like Zoro and Sanji; it just happened. But I'm glad people like it.

Xipholynx: As always, thank you very much! ^_^ I hope you have many great weeks too.

kingoffire1: Thank you! And I won't be adapting all the movies and filler arcs, but I will be doing a lot of them.

The Keeper of Worlds: Thank you! I was a little worried at first that people would think having Ruatha around was overpowered or something, but since he's just a baby right now, I guess it's fine. And yes, Jones has Apis' snail number. May not use it often, but it exists.

Xomniac: Trying to one-up you, Senpai? You know I would never do that. If I wanted to challenge you, I'd do so somewhere I stood a chance, like a poetry competition. Although, for those closer to my own level who I might feel like challenging... Modern history shows that it's very difficult to win a battle without air superiority.

Guest: You're welcome. :)

CV12Hornet: I'm afraid you may be waiting a long time before seeing something like that. A speech of that sort isn't easy for me...

Dragondancer81: Thank you! And you need wait no longer.

Doodling Shadows: Ah. Yes, I see what you mean about some of Jones' early characterization. I was't trying to make her pitiable; I'm afraid I fell into the trap of trying to establish her character and background too quickly and without proper context, so a number of finer details were lost. It didn't help that I was both angry and down when I started writing the story either. You're right; it would've been stronger if I showed more of her paranoia— things like not being able to sit with her back to a door or open space, or the way she constantly fidgets and looks around as if expecting someone to jump her from behind, or the things she thinks will happen if she talks back to the authority figures she's so afraid of.

gamelover41592: As you wish.

Kibbits: Merci beaucoup! Mais, je ne suis pas une Québécoise; j'suis du nord-est de l'Ontario. Mon professeur préféré était du Québec, donc j'ai appris un peu Joual de lui. Désolé...

Eric didn't show up. I wasn't sure if I was glad or not. Would we ever face him again? Luffy had beaten him worse than in the anime, so maybe not… Regardless, I had to take Zoro's advice and stop thinking about it; if I worried about every little thing, I wouldn't have time to enjoy the fun things about this adventure. Plus, it would drive me crazy.

…Crazier.

So as we sailed for Reverse Mountain, I tried to practice with my Devil Fruit. Why hadn't it been working the way I thought it did? Surely by now I should've been able to do something with it. And… what was with the explosion yesterday? Did it have something to do with my fruit? It was almost like I'd been releasing stored energy from an impact dial when I blocked Eric. Had- had I been going about this all wrong? But… If it wasn't the Star Wars Force, what did… Physics. Tabarnak. I hadn't taken physics in six years. But I could probably remember enough of the concepts to be useful… Hopefully. I was pulled from my thoughts by Sanji calling everybody for lunch.

The smell of roast lamb welcomed me into the galley. Sanji was making sandwiches- deliciously warm, the gamey meat and sautéed vegetables squished between thick slices of whole grain bread he'd baked early in the morning. I'd been to restaurants where customers didn't eat as well as we did on this pirate ship. Hell, I'd worked at them. I slipped into my spot at the table as everyone else was arriving, leaning back against the wall as I bit into my sandwich. Warm sauce, too much for the bread to absorb, splashed out over my chin; I wiped it on the back of my hand, licking it up a moment later when my mouth was no longer full. Mustn't waste.

With Ruatha's presence, I was no longer safe from having my food stolen. Though Luffy still left my plate alone, the dragonet had no such limitations. And unlike my captain, I couldn't scare Ruatha off. The baby dragon didn't understand words yet. "Give that back! Sanji made you your own!"

Usopp burst out laughing as Ruatha snatched half of my sandwich. Sensing an ally, the hatchling dove under the sniper's chair with his ill-gotten gains. Unfortunately for the sniper, my little friend wasn't aware of how far I was willing to go to catch him. I dumped Usopp off his chair and scooped Ruatha up- unfortunately I was too late to save my food. "You naughty little ball of scales!"

"Cooruk!" Ruatha started licking my face.

"Jones!" Usopp whined, rubbing his bruised bottom. "What was that for?"

"My silly little slinky thought he could hide behind you. He needs to learn that nowhere's safe from me, no it's not." I rubbed my nose against the dragon's snout. Ruatha cooed and tried to lick my glasses.

A giant drop of sweat appeared on Usopp's temple and rolled down his neck. Wait… Not only were the glowing, morphing eyes a thing here, but sweatdrops too? What next- was Nami actually able to sprout shark teeth when she got angry?

"Are you always this weird around animals?" Usopp wanted to know. Ghin answered for me.

"Yeah, she is. You should've seen her with the sea cow on the way to Nami's village."

"It's not weird!" Sanji leapt to my aid with a fresh sandwich and a kick aimed at Ghin's head. I sat back down and made sure to guard this food more carefully than the last; the kick was blocked by tonfa that spun up out of nowhere.

Luffy pouted. "Why does Jones get more food when hers is gone, but I don't?"

"Yours wasn't stolen by a baby dragon, Shitty Rubber!" Sanji abandoned his assault on Ghin to boot our captain out the door. Johnny and Yosaku started laughing; Zoro rolled his eyes.

An annoyed shriek from Nami brought everyone to a standstill. "Will you all shut up?! I'm trying to think!"

I froze midway through a bite. "Sorry!"

"It's not your fault Jones, it's these stupid men! And this stupid map; there's something wrong with it." The navigator had a chart spread across the end of the table. It was getting stained at the edges; doing paperwork at the table really wasn't a bright idea aboard the Going Merry, as I had already learned.

"What's wrong?" How could one of Nami's maps be wrong this early in the journey? I slid over to check. As I suspected, there were no issues. "It looks right to me. What's the problem?"

Nami stared. "Jones… What do you mean, what's the problem? This map says we have to sail up a mountain. A mountain! That's impossible!"

Luffy's eyes shone like miniature stars as he bounced back into the galley. "Sail up a mountain? So cool! But how does that work?"

"It doesn't work! It's impossible!"

Zoro snorted. "More impossible than a captain made of rubber, or a madwoman from another world?"

"Yes! It defies the very laws of physics!"

"Sesehihihihihi!" I couldn't help myself. This was the world where physics went to die; why should anything here follow its laws? Aside from, apparently, my powers. Ruatha tried to take advantage of my distraction to steal my food again; I grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him away while I finished my sandwich.

"Why are you laughing?!" Nami aimed a punch at my head. With no hands free at the moment, I ducked. Seriously, how did the other members of the crew never think to block or dodge when they ticked off the navigator?

"Well… Not giving anything important away, let's just say that Reverse Mountain isn't just the entrance to the Grand Line; it's the first test to weed out those who can't deal with the sea where sanity goes to die."

Ghin nodded. "Just be thankful we only have one ship. You have no idea what a nightmare it was getting Krieg's armada up the channel; he lost two that got caught in the wrong current and slammed into the Red Line, and three more when they crashed into each other on the way up."

"Wait… You mean, it's true? We have to sail up a mountain?" Nami looked from Ghin to the map. He nodded.

"Some weird currents. It's hard to aim, but if you can get it right, we'll go straight up."

"If anyone can steer us up a mountain, it's Nami!" Sanji spun in place. "You're so beautiful when you have a problem to work on dear!"

"Oh, shut up." Nami leaned over her chart again, trying to trace the narrow canal and figure out how to get us through Reverse Mountain. "Jones! Get out there and keep watch; tell me when you see the mountain."

"Why me?"

"Because if we leave it to one of the men, they won't notice until it's too late."

"Hey!" Johnny and Yosaku yelped indignantly; Zoro and Ghin growled. Giggling, everyone's favourite captain rocked back and forth where he sat.

"Shishishishi! It's true! Zoro'd fall asleep, me'n Usopp'd forget, Johnny'n Yosaku'd get dis- dis- start doing other things… Ghin or Sanji might remember though."

Ruatha grumbled- it could've been indignation at being forgotten, but more likely he was still hungry. I patted the little guy's head. "You can't keep watch alone cause you can't talk. Come on though; you can help me."

The white dragonet leapt onto my shoulders, tail wrapping around my right arm and claws hooking into my shirt. Already it was his favourite way to ride. I wasn't looking forward to him trying it when he got larger though. I strode out onto the deck and leaned on the rail as I kept watch.

"Yes, you're cute." I scratched between Ruatha's stubby little horns. He responded by licking my hand. Eww, dragon slobber.

"Not that cute. Keep your spit to yourself." I flicked the dragonet on the nose; he whined. Note to self- invest in a squirt bottle for dragon training purposes. Although… Would water in the face bother a baby dragon at all? Was there something else that would work better? As many dragon stories as I'd read, none of them had ever covered training in any detail. Although I'd seen the movie for How to Train your Dragon, but I had no idea if anything it showed would work on Ruatha. And it hadn't been all that detailed anyway.

The wind picked up; a drizzle of rain started to come down. Dark cliffs rose on the horizon, barely visible. The Red Line. "Nami, we're almost there! I hope you have those currents figured out!"

"Just!" The navigator raced out on deck, most of our other crew mates behind her. Nami took note of our position and immediately began shouting orders. "Sanji, steer us five degrees to starboard! Johnny, Yosaku, furl the mainsail! Ghin, keep on the mizzenmast and wait for orders! Zoro, keep an eye on Luffy and Jones to make sure they don't fall off! Once we're caught by the current, we won't be able to go back and fish anyone out!"

Zoro's response to that order was to grumble and grab Luffy by the back of his shirt. The captain, who'd been in the process of climbing onto his special seat, pouted. "But I wanna see!"

"You can see fine from here. Jones! Where'd Usopp go?"

"How should I know?" Probably the cargo hold to find a barrel of rum. "I'm not omniscient, just well-informed."

That earned me an eye roll and a bop on the head from a rubber fist. "Jones…" Luffy whined, "Stop using big words!"

"Sorry Captain."

The sky grew darker as we closed on the Red Line, the cliffs blocking out what little light could get through the clouds. Even with only one sail open, the currents pulled the Going Merry like a toy behind a horse. Nami stood at the prow, shouting the occasional adjustment back as we approached a thin crack in the rocks. I stared up at the cliffs, great walls of basalt and granite that rose higher than the CN Tower. Although, as we got closer, the crack no longer looked so narrow- it was all a matter of perspective, after all. Krieg's galley was much larger than the Merry, and it had fit up the channel.

"We're gonna hit the side!" Johnny's panicked shout made me re-evaluate my thoughts. With a current moving this quickly, even a wide gap could be hard to hit. Of course, Luffy had this. I grabbed the captain's hand as he pulled free of Zoro and ran back towards the vulnerable section of the hull.

"Gum-Gum Balloon!" Rubber inflated between wood and stone. The Going Merry bounced into the channel proper with a great splash. My feet slipped on the deck as I tried to pull the captain back aboard. Zoro saw the stretched arm I was holding and grabbed on as well, adding his own power. Luffy crashed into us, knocking us down with a storm of giggles.

"Yes! We're in!"

"Alright Ghin, furl the mizzen sail now!" Nami yelled. "I don't know what the wind will be like when we get down!"

"Aye-aye Sailing Master."

Puddles formed on the deck; the rain was coming down harder as the mountain channel carried us higher into the clouds. Previously warm air grew cool and clammy. Ruatha squeaked and hid his head under his wings, trying to curl as much of his body as possible underneath my hat. This didn't work well for him; instead, it resulted in a runnel of water splashing off the brim and down the little dragon's tail. He whined in my ear.

Usopp appeared back on deck then, dragging a small barrel with him. The sniper settled his burden in the middle of the deck with a thud. "Hey everyone! I thought we might want a little something to celebrate entering the Grand Line!"

"Yeah!" Luffy bounced over, beaming. Sanji went to the galley to grab some mugs. The cook poured and handed out the drinks, snuffing out his cigarette in a puddle.

"You thought right, Shitty Longnose. That's what I had in mind when I bought this stuff- it's not your average rum."

Luffy leaned in and planted a foot on top of the empty barrel. "To be king of the pirates!" And one by one, the rest of the crew followed suit.

"To be the world's greatest swordsman!"

"To draw a map of the world!"

"To be a brave warrior of the sea!"

"To find the All Blue!"

"To see a man who's actually worthy take the throne!"

"To see the world and protect others!"

"To find my father and protect others!"

"To write a story that'll make people smile!"

"Screeeee!" Ruatha's cry cut the air. The rest of us all kicked the barrel at once; it shattered. A thrill of excitement ran up my spine. Nine people and a dragon, all sopping wet. We had hair running into our eyes, our clothing stuck to our bodies, and Usopp was shivering. Yet this was the start of a crew that would shake the world- and I got to be a part of it. A part of an adventure the likes of which would never have happened to me at home. And as terrifying as it was, I was happy. Excited. My heart raced as I thought of what lay ahead.

"TO THE GRAND LINE!"

Wooden mugs clanked together- what, you thought pirates used porcelain? Even Sanji's love of beautiful things and the kitchen wouldn't allow for impracticalities like that. The rum smelled like sanitizing solution- seventy percent alcohol or thereabouts, I'd guess. I wasn't much of a drinker, but this was a special moment. The taste of the rum made me gag and shiver as I swallowed it. Even when I did drink, I preferred sake or Bailey's.

Zoro chuckled. "Little strong for you, huh?"

"Just not fond of the taste of alcohol. Makes me think of cleaning the bathrooms at a couple of the places I used to work." I shivered again. "Seems like a waste too. As high an alcohol concentration as this has, there's so much else I could do with it."

The bosun raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Killing bacteria and fleas and things; simple explosives; extracting DNA for analysis; cleaning wounds. The usual things you use alcohol for." I shrugged.

"What's DNA?"

That question made me stop and stare. It took a few minutes for me to comprehend the question; as a biology student, I was used to everyone I met at least having a basic understanding of genetic material. DNA was introduced in elementary school where I'd grown up. I shook my head, reminding myself that this world didn't have anything like the school system I was used to. "DNA is… Lets call it a set of tiny blueprints. It's too small for you to see and contains all the information you need to make… you. Everyone's DNA is a little different. So, yours would have the plans for making green hair, while mine would have them for this sort of light brown/dark blonde colour. Among other things."

"Oh. So DNA is why Usopp has a big nose, Johnny's eyes are blue, or you're so short?" The swordsman grinned as he asked his question. Yes, he got it. Still… I scowled.

"You don't have to rub it in!"

I fiddled with my empty mug. Only a few minutes to figure out what to do about Laboon. Not that there was anything I could do to make the whale move, nor did I necessarily want to prevent the Going Merry from being swallowed. What I did want was to keep the figurehead from snapping off. The more damage I could prevent to the ship, the better. Although I didn't think I could save her, but still…

Usopp's shriek broke me out of my thoughts. "Nami! There's a mountain blocking the channel!"

"What? That's not on the charts! Are you sure it's a mountain and not a boulder that fell down?"

"Look at the size of it!"

Everyone ran to the bow. The black wall before us was still well ahead and below, but there was no way around. Dark flesh rose almost as high as the cliffs around us. Something vibrated low beneath the roar of the waves; Luffy covered his ears with a whine.

"Who's crying? Why're you so sad? Tell me where you are; we can help!"

Johnny and Yosaku looked at our captain like he was crazy. I bit my lip and vowed to figure out a way to train kenbunshoku and busoshoku haki soon, if Luffy was experiencing voices this early. Ghin shook his head.

"That's not a mountain or a boulder. It wasn't there last time I came down, but I saw it. A whale."

"Impossible!" Usopp waved at the approaching black wall. "Whales don't get that big. Tell him Jones! Tell Ghin he was just imagining things! You know what that thing is, right?"

"His name is Laboon," I offered. The sniper froze, stunned.

At least the rain was letting up.

"BWAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Laboon's call made me wish for earplugs, so loud and sad. Seriously, why hadn't I thought to buy any sort of hearing protection in Loguetown? Stupid… And I wasn't the only one. Everyone else covered their ears with their hands at the same moment I did, wincing in pain.

"We've gotta stop!" Luffy scrambled down to the gun deck. Seconds later, the Merry's gun fired with explosive retort. Since everything was already vibrating from Laboon's call, the echo of cannon fire didn't have nearly the same effect as usual.

The whale's response was… underwhelming. A great eye opened above the ship, but Laboon didn't even look interested in us. If the cannonball had hurt him, he didn't show it- there wasn't even any blood. Luffy came bounding back up on deck, drooping when he realized his plan hadn't made the whale move. Although at least the ship was moving a little slower.

Nami hit the captain over the head. "What was that for? Don't waste ammo- it's expensive!"

"Sorry! I thought it would hurt the whale or scare him, make him move!" Luffy pouted as he rubbed fresh bruises.

Ghin shook his head. "I could've told you that wouldn't work. Don Krieg tried to shoot the whale when he came down because he wanted its oil. Not only did it not notice, it sunk another of his ships by accident when it dove." The former Krieg pirate folded his arms and stared up at the immobile leviathan before us.

There was still a minute left. I ran to the bow of the ship. How to get an island whale to move? He'd barely felt a cannonball… Maybe if I could do something with forces… but how? I didn't know what had triggered the explosion yesterday. Well, if that was out, there was only one thing I could do. Hopefully the whale was willing to listen.

"LABOON! COULD YOU PLEASE MOVE? WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Nothing. Instead of moving, Laboon began to hum loudly, a sad, haunting tone. Tabarnak… Even if I was loud enough, I wasn't getting his attention. But I couldn't sing…

"SERIOUSLY, MOVE! WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF WE WERE THE RUMBAR PIRATES, HUH? JUST SIT THERE AND LET YORKIE AND BROOK AND THEM SMASH INTO YOU? YOU'D BREAK THEIR SHIP AND DROWN THEM! HOW WOULD THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAH!" Laboon's answer made my head ache. Assuming he even was answering, and not just crying some more.

Johnny looked at me with concern. "Big Sis… Are you drunk?"

"What? No." I waved him off. "Just because I don't drink often doesn't mean I have a low tolerance. Part Italian, part German; I know my limits, and they're as high as you'd expect from two cultures known for their wine and beer. Why do you ask?"

"You're trying to debate a whale… And he's winning."

"What the Hell? He is not!" I turned back to the whale. "TABARNAK! LABOON! MOVE YOUR GREAT BLUBBERY ARSE! IF YOU KILL US, WE CAN'T SAVE BROOK AND BRING HIM BACK!"

No effect. The Merry met that unforgiving wall of flesh with a mighty crunch, her figurehead snapping back and tumbling across the deck. Usopp caught the ram's head before it could go overboard. I slumped, defeated. If only I'd had more time, had come up with a plan… Why was it so much easier to save Ace than the ship?

Luffy's eyes blazed as he followed the figurehead's flight. "Why-? Ah! Special seat! You'll pay for that! Gum-Gum Pistol!" Rubber snapped out. Unlike the manga, Luffy caught Laboon's lower eyelid rather than the eye itself, so there wasn't as much damage to the whale. Still, unlike everything else we'd tried, at least Laboon noticed something had hit him.

"BWAH?" There was a tremendous splash as Laboon turned and opened his mouth. The Going Merry lurched as that movement created a current, sucking our small ship into the open maw. Peg-like teeth the size of theatre chairs gleamed with the water dripping down their sides.

That lurching motion sent me tumbling over the rail I was leaning on. Ruatha squawked and leapt off my shoulders, racing back aboard as I grabbed desperately at wet wood. Only one of my hands found anything- one of the spindles that supported the rail. The rest of my body slammed into the hull of the ship, knocking the wind out of me and wrenching my wrist. Luffy shouted above me as I released my grip and fell.

"Wah! Jones! Hang on!" It was a little late for that, Captain.

Luffy jumped over the side, one arm snapping down to wrap around my waist. His other soared up and back, missing the Merry's mast as she continued to lurch forwards. Instead he caught one of Laboon's dorsal ridges, yanking us up. Seconds later, I slammed into wet, warm, wrinkled skin. Island whales must be similar to sperm whales.

"Ow…" I coughed a few times to get my wind back.

Luffy ignored me, peering over the edge of Laboon's head with a scowl. "Oi! Don't eat our friends! Give them back!"

Laboon didn't notice the rubber boy's shouting- that, or didn't care. The whale swung his head slowly back and forth, looking for something. After a moment he let out a loud, disappointed call and turned around, swimming away from the Reverse Mountain. I groaned and rolled to my feet.

"He swallowed the Merry?" I asked, just to make sure. Luffy nodded.

"Yeah! We've gotta get them back! Let's fight the whale Jones!"

I blinked. Quite aside from the fact that Laboon was a friend, that was a horrible idea. Two people who couldn't swim trying to fight a giant of the sea, with no big guns and no ship to retreat to… Even I wouldn't bet on those odds, no matter how much faith I had in Luffy. Before I could tell my captain though, the surface we were standing on arched and rolled forwards. Laboon was diving.

"Tabarnak!" I grabbed my captain's hand and ran up the Laboon's tail, looking for the hatch I knew was there. The rubber boy clutched his hat with his free hand and beamed.

"Yay! Jones is getting more comfy with us!"

"Not the time, Captain." Finally! There it was! I opened the hatch and shoved Luffy in, climbing down behind. I barely managed to get it closed before Laboon finished submerging.

Inside, the smell of copper and iron was overpowering. Blood. Despite the metal plates that hid flesh and bone from view, the scent was unmistakeable. Well, at least it was better than what we would've smelled if we'd been stuck in Laboon's guts. I was amazed at the sheer size of the whale, that having all this inside wouldn't hurt him. These passages weren't exactly small; neither Luffy or I was very large, but there was room for us to walk side by side and plenty of space above our heads. Had Sabo been there I doubted he'd have had to duck either, even with his top hat.

Luffy looked around. "Wow. I didn't know whales looked like this inside."

"Most don't. Laboon's special."

"Okay." Luffy tapped at the walls of the passage. "So… If we use these, can we find everyone else and get them out?"

"Yeah, they're in his stomach. I just don't know which way we have to go to get there. Never saw a map."

The problem of which way to go was solved for us a second later as Laboon shifted, sending Luffy and I tumbling through what suddenly became a vertical shaft. Each time I bounced off the walls sent a burst of pain through whatever made contact. Luffy didn't have that problem, but his eyes were spinning and he looked like he was going to vomit. Then we landed in another passage perpendicular to the one we'd just fallen through. Luffy groaned as we got up.

"Eurgh… That wasn't fun at all. What's the whale doing?"

"Ramming his head into the Red Line, hoping that if he can break through, he'll find his friends on the other side." I rubbed my forearms. The motion caught Luffy's eye; he bit his lip.

"The whale's… like Jones? Hurting himself? Poor whale…" Patting the wall of the passage, the rubber boy smiled. "Hey whale! Don't do that, 'kay? If you give us our friends back and let us out, we'll be your friends too. Then you won't have to be alone anymore."

It was too bad Laboon couldn't hear him. The whale needed to hear something like that. As we continued on our way through the man-made passages, Luffy stroked the walls, as if he thought doing so would comfort the whale. My captain also stared curiously at me as we walked along. "Jones… What were you saying to the whale before he swallowed everyone?"

"Oh, that." I shook my head. "The whale's friends… The ones he's waiting for- they're a bunch of wandering singers and musicians who used to call themselves the Rumbar Pirates. I was hoping using some of their names would get his attention, make him move. It didn't work."

Cue the star eyes. I was actually slightly disturbed that not only was I getting used to them, but had started anticipating them. "The whale's friends are musicians? Cool! I wanna recruit them!"

I shook my head again. "I know Captain, I know… But remember what I said? Laboon thinks he has to break through the Red Line to see them again. Which means-?" I paused to give Luffy a chance to figure it out on his own.

His face fell. "We won't see them for ages and ages, will we?"

"Right. Sorry Captain." And sorry Brook. I'd come up with a way to get you out of the Triangle sooner if I could, but as far as I knew it wasn't possible. We wouldn't be in that part of the sea for several months at least.

The metal plating under our feet moved gently with Laboon's pulse; it was kind of creepy. Combined with the scent of blood, I was concerned that stepping too heavily or moving too quickly might hurt the whale. Although from the outside it didn't look like Laboon suffered… Maybe I was worrying too much? But I'd never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to Laboon… I kept my footsteps as light as I could, moving as if I was sneaking up on a deer. After a few minutes Luffy began to copy me, his hunting instincts showing through. What? He and his brothers wouldn't have been able to catch very much food if they couldn't sneak when they needed to, no matter how loud they were at most of the time.

With both of us walking softly and focused on looking for a way to the Merry, the passages were deathly silent. Well, except for the sound of Laboon's heartbeat. One very six seconds; ten beats per minute. Each one made the passages tremble. I wondered where we were in the great whale's body, but there were no landmarks to tell me how far my captain and I had come. No bones, no signs, nothing. Each throbbing heartbeat put me more on edge, until even the sound of Luffy breathing beside me made me want to throttle him. I felt watched- and not by you, dear readers.

There was someone else in the passages with us.

In hindsight, I should've known that. Vivi and Mr Nine had to be around somewhere in order to make their attempt at hunting Laboon. But that fact didn't really register with me until a soft puff of air behind me made my bandanna flutter, and I felt a thin arm wrapping around my neck in a choke hold. So naturally, Vivi and I didn't end up meeting on the best of terms- my first experience with her was her sneaking up and trying to strangle me from behind, and her first experience with me was… Look, I don't react well to being hugged unexpectedly.

As soon as I felt something brush against my bandanna I was spinning, my left elbow coming up and in to strike my attacker's solar plexus. Vivi coughed, her wind momentarily gone. I didn't let her get it back. Still spinning, I brought my other forearm up across her collarbones and pushed, swinging my right leg through the back of hers to take her down. As soon as the princess was on her back, I groped around my utility belt for the first thing that came to hand and hit her over the head with it. Hard. She lost consciousness with a hollow thunk.

Not far from me, Luffy cocked his head to the side in confusion. He was standing over an equally-unconscious Mr Nine. "Jones… Did you just knock her out with a toilet seat?"

What an odd thing to ask. But when I looked at my hand, it turned out that was exactly what I'd hit Vivi with- the marine toilet seat Johnny and Yosaku had given me. Why was I even still carrying that? Eh, didn't matter. I slipped the toilet seat back where I'd grabbed it from- across the base of my spine, like how Ghin carried his tonfa.

"Oops…"

Luffy nudged Mr Nine with his foot. "So… What do we do with these guys? Just leave 'em here or-?"

"No. If we leave them, they'll just get up and keep trying. They're hunting Laboon." Now, where were those bazookas? There they were- propped up against the wall not far away, where they wouldn't get in the way of a stealth kill, but could be retrieved quickly afterwards.

"Really?" Luffy glared. "But the poor whale's waiting for his friends!"

"Well, to be fair, they don't know that." I pulled some duct tape- or rather, the closest thing I'd been able to find in Loguetown's shops- out of my utility belt and used it to bind and gag the prisoners.

"That doesn't make it right!"

"I know. I'm not defending them or anything; just saying I understand."

"Oh. Okay."

We continued on our way, with Luffy carrying Vivi and Mr Nine while I lugged the bazookas around. I really hoped the safeties or whatever were on, if bazookas even have safeties- I don't know how a bazooka works, but I knew that having one fire or blow up or something on my back would be bad.

At some point, Vivi woke up and began glaring at me. This would've been a lot more intimidating if she wasn't hanging over Luffy's shoulder like a sack of potatoes with a strip of tape across her mouth- and also if I didn't know about her secret identity as a princess. I shrugged and snorted, looking away. As much as I wanted to apologize, I couldn't. Not only did my captain not know she was a good guy yet, but she'd tried to choke me. That's not good princess behaviour.

Even without the feeling of being watched, walking through Laboon's innards was still creepy. I was getting used to the smell at least. Or maybe that was my nose getting clogged. Hard to tell. And then came the door. Normally something like this wouldn't be a problem, but Luffy and I both had our hands kind of full. So we spent several minutes staring at the reinforced steel portal in front of us before my captain got the brilliant idea to try just kicking the thing down. It broke off its hinges with a terrific shrieking noise, followed by an immense plop as the fallen door landed in some liquid far below.

"Jones, I think we went the wrong way."

"What?" I suppose that was possible, seeing as I'd never seen a map, but it didn't seem likely. "Why?"

"That looks like sky, not whale, duh."

Peering over Luffy's shoulder, I did indeed see blue and clouds. But the clouds weren't moving, and the light was too yellow and diffuse to come from the sun. I shook my head. "Look down Captain."

He did. "Ah! The water's weird! And there's the Merry! Does this mean we're in the whale's belly? Why's there an island over there?"

"Yes, this is the whale's stomach. The water looks weird because it's stomach acid. And that island is actually a large raft built by the same man who did all these passages." Although unlike the corridors used for treating Laboon, I didn't understand the point of having a raft-island floating in the whale's stomach. I doubted there was much you could do from there as far as veterinary treatment. But maybe I was wrong.

"Ah! Okay! Hey guys!" Luffy beamed and bobbed his head, apparently trying to wave at the crew to get their attention. I think his loud voice did it more than any head bobbing. Seconds later came the shrill peal of Nami's response.

"Luffy! Jones! Who'd you- I don't even wanna know. Get your butts down here!"

I was tempted to ask what she wanted us to do with the rest of our bodies, but I didn't. It probably would've led to her punching me, and as much as I was getting used to dodging them, I wanted to give Nami's fists as little chance to impact my skull as possible. I needed every brain cell I had to figure out how my stupid powers were supposed to work. Although… If I'd exploded like an impact dial, it probably had something to do with Newton's three laws of motion. As good a place to start as any.

"Zoro! Catch!" Luffy broke me out of my thoughts by yelling for our bosun, seconds before chucking Vivi and Mr Nine at the Going Merry. I was too stunned to even try to stop him. Why would he even try something like that? My mouth fell open, a small noise of confusion making itself heard as I stared. Vivi tried to scream, but all that could be heard through the tape was muffled grunting.

"What the Hell?!" Zoro didn't so much catch the pair Luffy'd thrown as he had the bad fortune of standing right under them when they landed. Although I suppose everyone should've been thankful they hit the ship at all, given how bad the captain's aim was with his Rocket. Speaking of which… A rubber arm wrapped around me.

"Gum-Gum Rocket!" Air whooshed past my face, reeking of acid and bile. While Luffy bounced across the ship, I slammed into the stairs to the poop deck. As with a few impacts recently, it didn't hurt as much as it should've. This time I paid attention to that. Following the impact there was a feeling of… tension, for lack of a better term. It disappeared quickly, leaving a faint coil of… something curled in the pit of my stomach.

"Where were you idiots?" Nami swung at us. I ducked under her fist; Luffy took his blow with a pout.

"Ne, it's not my fault Nami! Jones got thrown off; I had to catch her! And then the whale dove so we went in its tail so we didn't drown!"

Ruatha came charging along the deck and leapt onto me as I stood, little claws digging into my shoulders and chest. Ow. He may have been small for a dragon, but he was still too big for that to be comfortable. A slimy tongue danced over my face as my partner squawked and cooed. Johnny and Yosaku nudged the prisoners with their feet and looked at me and Luffy.

"So… Who're these?"

"Secret agents who're trying to kill Laboon in order to feed their village of spies and bounty hunters." I finally managed to pry my dragon off my face, getting him up into his usual place on my shoulders. Stubborn little… Now I was covered in dragon spit again. Gross. Vivi's eyes lit up with shock and fear at my words.

A door creaked open somewhere above; Crocus emerged from the room he used to sedate Laboon. He frowned when he saw four new people on the Going Merry. "Where'd you kids come from? And why're those hunters from Whiskey Peak with you?"

"They snuck up on Jones'n me, so we caught them!" Luffy informed the flower-man gleefully. "Jones says they're tryna kill the whale, but that's too sad. He can't die while he's waiting for his friends!"

Crocus frowned and jumped back to his island raft, a feat of strength that hinted at his past as a member of the Roger Pirates. Acid splashed and slopped as the raft rocked. "How did you know that?" He snatched up a harpoon and slid into a fighting stance.

Luffy… You and your big mouth. I facepalmed. Ghin stepped in front of me, arms folded as he stared at Crocus. "Jones is our witch- she knows a lot of things people think she shouldn't. You got a problem with that?"

"A witch?" Crocus' scowl deepened. "What do you mean by that? What sort of things does she know?"

"Many things." I moved beside Ghin, staring at the deck. Crocus terrified me- but at the same time, this opportunity was just too perfect. The tonfa wielder unfolded his arms in order to grab and squeeze my hand, lending me extra courage. "Things that were… Things that are… Things that have yet to pass… And somethings that, gods willing, may never be."

Blue eyes narrowed in my direction, cautious and thoughtful. "Voice of All Things?" The flower-man's voice was barely a whisper. I shook my head.

"N-not me. Captain can hear it though, even if he doesn't know what it means yet."

That made Crocus' narrowed eyes widen. He glanced at Luffy; his whole face changed at the sight of the straw hat. Recognition. Confusion. Amusement. Crocus shifted from hostile to chuckling at the sight of the headgear, dropping his harpoon and straightening. "Well, well, well… Maybe we should talk about this more outside."

Oars came out of the sides of Crocus raft. He led us out through a set of locks in Laboon's side- better than using the digestive tract. Quite aside from the smell that would've existed inside a whale's guts, it would've taken long enough to get out that we could've lost our ship. An adult human's combined intestines are about seven and a half meters long; a sperm whale's come to a hundred and fifty meters, and a blue whale's come to two hundred and twenty. Given the size of Laboon, he could have guts a couple of kilometers long. And that's just the length… Imagine how hard those twisty things would be to navigate. Yes, I'm very glad we didn't have to leave that way.

I hadn't noticed how shallow my breathing was until the smell of bile and acid was overpowered by that of the sea, sunlight blinding me after the dim yellow light inside. Air! Sweet free air! My lungs felt like they were burning with the salty coolness. Glancing around at my crew mates showed similar reactions.

Crocus led us over to the cape lighthouse, where we moored the Going Merry alongside his island raft. We all made our way up to the top of the cape, where Crocus had a large picnic area outside. Sanji brought up the Elephant Bluefin tuna and began grilling it on the lighthouse barbeque. It smelled delicious. While our cook was working, the rest of us sat at the picnic table with Crocus; we brought Vivi and Mr Nine up as well, leaving them off to one side. The princess glared at all of us; her partner was still unconscious. That was expected- Luffy hits a lot harder than I do.

"So…" Crocus rested his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers under his chin. "Your captain can hear the Voice of All Things, and you have a witch who claims to know Laboon's story. And the little captain also has my old captain's hat. I take it you've met Shanks, then?"

"You know Shanks?" Luffy bounced in place, shaking the table. Zoro shook his head and placed a hand on the captain's shoulder, holding him down. "You were on Shanks' crew?"

The old man chuckled. "Not exactly. Shanks and I were on the same crew a long time ago, back when that brat was just a cabin boy. Captain Roger gave Shanks that hat not long after I joined up."

"Roger…?" Luffy was silent for a moment. Then his eyes turned into stars. "YOU MEAN YOU AND SHANKS WERE ON THE PIRATE KING'S CREW?!"

My ears rang from my captain's shout. The rest of our crew just stared, stunned. Well, it's not every day you meet someone from such a notorious group- despite the fact that our recent encounters with Dragon and Garp might have you believe otherwise. Crocus dug in his ear with a finger for a moment, probably to buy himself time while his hearing returned to normal.

"Yes. I was the doctor on Roger's great voyage." The flower-man sighed. "I sailed with them to try and find news of Laboon's crew that your witch mentioned. They'd come through a couple decades before."

"A couple decades before the voyage of the pirate king?" Zoro snorted. "They're dead then."

"Indeed- they'd died years before Captain Roger set out to sea. But Laboon refuses to believe me, and keeps ramming his head into the Red Line in the hopes that he'll find them on the other side." Crocus sighed. "And that's not even the worst part. Before death, they fled the Grand Line through one of the Calm Belts. They didn't even try to keep their promise."

I dug my fingernails into the picnic table and grit my teeth, indignation shooting up my spine. Even if I hadn't met Brook yet- even if he hadn't become real to me yet- he was part of this crew. And no one insulted this crew. Ruatha growled as he picked up on my emotions. I schooled my face to appear neutral as everyone turned to look at the dragonet, not wanting to give anything away. Or rather, I wanted to say something, but I wasn't comfortable with the idea of talking back to Crocus. And no, what I said to him a few minutes before didn't count. Luffy frowned. "Jones, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." The rubber boy stared at me, not believing the word. I sighed. "Never mind, Captain. Spoilers."

"Oh."

There were several minutes of awkward silence, punctuated only by the sizzling sounds of Sanji's cooking. Then Nami grew impatient and pulled a log pose from somewhere in her shirt, dangling it in front of me. It was different than the one she'd had in canon, sturdier. Glass even thicker than my glasses was encased in a mesh of fine wire, with another layer of mesh on the inside. The strap was thick, black leather. "So Jones… How do I use this? It can't be as simple as it just pointing to the next island."

Shrugging, I gestured towards the old lighthouse keeper. "Ask Crocus. I don't actually know how to use one, only that we need it. Which reminds me… Someone should search the prince and princess. They'll be less likely to try and escape if we take their log pose."

Nami stared at me for a moment, blinking slowly. Then her hand edged down towards her thigh, coming up a second later with a section of her staff that she brought towards my head. I barely got one of my sais up in time to block. "What was that for?"

"IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING ALREADY?!"

"I forgot!" Ducking under another strike from the navigator, I got up from my seat and went over to Vivi and Mr Nine. The princess glared at me, eyes wide, and shook her head as I approached. I shrugged at the gesture.

"Sorry. If it helps, this makes me uncomfortable too." Understatement. I hated touching people I didn't know. But it had to be done. I started with Mr Nine, because he was unconscious and that was slightly less awkward. Or at least, I thought it would be. As it turned out, having Vivi stare at me while I patted her partner down and searched through his clothes was very awkward. Mr Nine's green coat contained nothing of interest; the only thing he had on him at the moment was his crown, which Nami examined and then tossed aside with a snort of disgust.

"Coloured glass in a brass setting," she explained when I shot her a confused look. "It's worthless."

Vivi grunted and squirmed when I turned towards her. The disguised princess' wiggling was confusing and seemed counterintuitive at first- if she was worried about me doing inappropriate things, she should stay still so I didn't touch anything I wasn't supposed to by accident. It was only when I started feeling dizzy that I realized she was trying to use her swirly hypno-corset on me. I shook myself to clear my mind and poked her in the forehead.

"Stop that Princess. This'll be a lot less awkward for both of us if you just hold still. Otherwise I might be sick while searching you, and that won't be fun for anybody."

My words had their intended effect. Vivi froze, her eyes so wide that I swore she was going to hurt herself. Even with her sitting still, patting down a girl who was seven years younger than me- but much better endowed- was… Awful. I felt intrusive and unclean, especially once I realized that her log pose was concealed in her bra. Her short shorts didn't help either. I retrieved the log pose quickly and tossed it to Nami, rubbing my hands on my pants as I backed away from the Baroque Works agents.

"For future reference, I'm not doing that again."

"Why not?" Luffy cocked his head to one side. I rolled my eyes. Of course the captain wouldn't understand; he had no sense of personal space, let alone the more adult things that could be linked to it.

"Captain… She's seven years younger than me, very well endowed, and I basically just groped her." My face heated up as I gestured vaguely towards Vivi's chest. "That's about fifty shades of wrong."

"Really?" He still didn't get it.

"Yes. Vivi's even younger than you- someone my age doing something like that… I'm pretty sure it's illegal- definitely is where I come from. Even if I didn't mean it that way." I couldn't bring myself to address the situation head on, talking around it in circles. And then I froze, realizing what I'd said.

The disguised princess was looking at me with even more horror than before. She was sweating; her wide eyes had gone pale, and her whole body shook. Muffled squeaking noises forced their way out from behind her tape gag. Ruatha croaked in the ensuing silence. Ghin looked from me to our prisoners and back.

"So… Turquoise girl is important, is she?"

"Ehehe… Yeah… Oops…" Not that I was really bothered by having blurted out the princess' name in front of my crew- but the fact that Crocus was right there showing Nami how to use a log pose was troubling. The flower-man paused to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"So she really is a witch," he said, glancing at the look of sheer terror on Vivi's face.

Luffy came over and patted the princess on the shoulder. "Aw, don't feel bad. Jones knows almost everything."

"That's not what's bothering her." I shook my head at my captain. "She's worried that I'm working for her boss and I'll tell him who she really is. Which I never would," I informed Vivi as gently as I could. "Crocodile's an asshole; I'd never work for someone like that."

Thud. Vivi actually fainted, hearing me throw that out so casually. Oops. Oh well, she'd get over it. I twitched as I noticed everyone else staring at me. "What?"

Johnny and Yosaku fidgeted. "Big Sis… By Crocodile, you don't mean… Sir Crocodile of Alabasta? One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

"Crocodile of the Shichibukai, yes." I gestured towards the princess and her partner. "He runs Baroque Works, the organization those two belong to. It's a group of bounty hunters, thieves, assassins, and similar. Most members don't even know their partner's name, let alone Crocodile's; he prefers to go by Mr Zero."

"Huh." Zoro folded his arms. "I know those guys- they tried to recruit me once. I told 'em I wouldn't work for a man who wouldn't show his face."

"Sounds like a shitty bastard," Sanji huffed as he brought food to the table. Everyone dug in, the typical squabble starting as Luffy tried to snatch extra fish from other people's plates. And it was definitely fish worth fighting for. The Elephant Bluefin Tuna was tender and flaky, and the sauce Sanji had made for dipping it in was a delicious sweet-and-sour that I was honestly tempted to just eat on its own with a spoon. As it was, I was using my fork to rap Ruatha on the snout whenever he tried to sneak something off my plate, similar to what the others were doing to Luffy. Crocus chuckled as our captain got his hand stabbed by Ghin's knife.

"You kids remind me of my old crew. Your captain even looks a little like Roger did when he was young- but you're probably tired of hearing that."

"Not really." Usopp shook his head and dumped a packet of hot sauce onto his tuna to discourage thieving by our captain. "No one's ever said that before; we didn't even know the hat belonged to someone else before Shanks."

"He never told me," Luffy explained with his mouth full. Nami hit the rubber boy over the head for being rude; he didn't notice.

"Well, it's true." The old lighthouse keeper smiled. "Your little captain looks like mine, and your crew acts just like some of the best pirates I've ever known. I expect I'll be seeing great things from you kids someday."

Ghin huffed- probably offended at being included as one of the kids when he was the oldest by several years. Before he could say anything though, Laboon's voice cut the air. "BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

I clapped my hands over my ears on reflex. This left my food unguarded, giving Ruatha a chance to snatch my last piece of fish. My crew mates all had their hands over their ears as well- the whale's cry was loud. Yosaku looked down at the water, where Laboon was staring at the cliff as if preparing to ram it again.

"Is there a way to stop him? Poor Big Bro Laboon's gonna kill himself!"

Luffy jumped to his feet. I cringed, my chest aching at the damage that was about to come to the Merry, her mainmast ripped off to fight a whale. Only… The captain didn't run down to the ship. Instead he looked at me like he expected me to join him and do something. What? Since when had I given him the impression that I was in any way capable of fighting a whale? But when he spoke, it turned out that wasn't what he wanted at all.

"Jones… You said the whale's old friends were musicians, right? So he likes it when people sing?"

"Yeah…" I frowned, confused. Luffy grinned. But I wasn't Zoro; I couldn't read his mind. "Captain… What're you planning?"

"We've gotta be the whale's new friends- that mean's someone's gotta sing for him! That'll make him happy, so he'll stop hurting himself- right?" Luffy glanced at my forearms, his grin suddenly dying down. I couldn't answer, twinges of phantom pain running over my skin. It was never quite that simple… Although in canon, Laboon recovered fairly easily after Luffy's promise to return, so maybe…

I rubbed my arms as everyone else stared at our captain. Zoro nodded, as if that logic made perfect sense to him. Johnny raised his hand like a nervous elementary schooler answering a question. "Um… Big Bro, for that to work, don't we need someone who can sing? Yosaku and I, we're… pretty awful. Big Bro Zoro can vouch for us."

"It's true- they are. Me too. Still think it's a good plan though."

Usopp shook his head when Luffy looked at him. "Nu-uh. I may be awesome, but Kaya used to tell me my singing sounded like someone strangling a gull."

"Nami?" Luffy was getting desperate now, his eyes wide and his perpetual grin replaced by a pout. If Ace or Sabo had been here, they'd be down on the beach singing to Laboon already. The navigator smiled in a vaguely threatening way and tilted her head to the side.

"It'll cost you a thousand beri per song." Really? She'd even ask for money in a situation like this? Then again, this was Nami. If given the chance, she would've put Zoro so deep in debt his children would never be able to pay it off over a weapon purchase- despite knowing he was most effective with three swords. By her standards, a thousand beri per song was barely a charge at all.

"Jones?"

I shook my head. "Nope. If I do it, Laboon will bash his head against the mountain to try and escape."

"Sanji?"

"I only sing for women, Shitty Rubber."

Ghin shook his head and stood, sighing. "All of you- really? Have you never been to a fucking bar? You don't need to be able to sing well to have fun. I'll do it, Don Luffy."

The captain's eyes turned to stars. He jumped onto Ghin's shoulders, beaming. "Really? Yay! Ghin can sing! Does that mean you're a musician?"

"Hell no! I just know a few sea shanties is all, same as any sailor worth his salt." Ghin pried Luffy off of him and stomped down to the beach. The rest of us followed, curious. I wondered if he would do Bink's Sake, bringing it into the story far too early. It was the only One Piece sea shanty I knew; it would make sense for my writer to use it. So when the former Krieg pirate opened his mouth, I was shocked at the words that came out.

"Oh, ships will come and ships will go,

As long as the waves do roll;

Each sailor lad, likewise his dad,

Will love the flowing bowl.

Afloat or ashore, they do adore,

A lass that's plump and round

When the money's gone 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down.

Singing hi, laddie, ho, laddie,

Swing the capstan 'round,

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down."

It was a song about the rotating reception of sailors in the dockside bars, booted out when they ran out of money in favour of the lower but steadier revenue provided by local farmers and craftsmen. No, I'd never heard it before, but the lyrics were easy enough to follow- Jack was slang for a sailor, the flowing bowl was alcohol at a bar, and the rest… Easy. A simple rhythm, made for dancing and stomping on a hard wood floor. Not necessarily pirate music, but something that wouldn't be out of place on a ship or dock, fiddles twanging in the background.

"A sheath-knife and sou'wester

Are staunch old friends at night;

A glass o'grog, in rain or fog,

Will steer a sailor right.

From old Dressrosa to Alabasta,

We scatter beri round

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down.

Singing hi, laddie, ho, laddie,

Swing the capstan 'round,

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down."

For someone whose speaking voice was so rough and dark, Ghin had a decent singing voice. Certainly better than mine. Not that he'd ever make it on a stage the way Brook would, but… Laboon seemed to be enjoying it, at least. The whale was no longer facing the Red Line, instead staring at the shore with huge eyes. Waves lapped at the sand as Laboon bobbed back and forth in some whale version of dancing.

"Go take a cruise on a man o'war

To Elbaf or Totland;

In Wano there are maidens fair,

Who love a sailor man;

While Tom and Joe palaver oh,

And buy the girls a gown;

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down.

Singing hi, laddie, ho, laddie,

Swing the capstan 'round,

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down."

Ghin was enjoying himself too. Where his expression usually swung back and forth between a sardonic smirk and a small frown, now he was smiling like he meant it. The contrast was shocking. Over the time he'd been with us, the former Krieg pirate had changed a lot. Gone were the bags under his eyes and the appearance of greasy starvation; the Great Dane had become a wolf. Like when he took off his headband, his smile made Ghin look younger. Freer.

"When Jack's ashore, oh, then he steers,

To some old boarding house;

He's welcomed in with rum and gin,

And fed on pork and scouse;

He'll spend and lend, and ne'er offend,

'Til he's lying drunk on the ground

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down.

Singing hi, laddie, ho, laddie,

Swing the capstan 'round,

When the money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down."

At some point in the song, Luffy, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku had migrated up onto Laboon's head. They danced arm in arm as the whale bobbed back and forth, forming a sloppy kick line. Odd, since what they were doing wasn't anywhere near a can-can. But if it made them happy… And while they didn't know the whole song, the four seemed to enjoy belting out the chorus at the top of their lungs every time Ghin reached it. Luffy and Usopp were sharp, while the hunters were so flat it was painful. Zoro kept digging in his ear with a finger, as if hoping that would somehow get the four of them on key. It didn't work.

"When Jack is old and weather-beat,

Too weak to roust about;

They let him stop in some rum shop,

At eight bells, he's turned out;

He cries, he cries up to the skies,

I'll soon be homeward bound;

For my money's gone, 'tis the same old song,

Get up, Jack; John, sit down!"

"BWAOH! BWAOH!" Laboon slapped his tail up and down in a whale version of applause, nearly dislodging the dancers on his head. Luffy stretched and sprung them back to the beach with a giggle, holding his hat with one hand. The rubber boy grinned as he patted Ghin on the shoulder.

"That was great! The whale loved it! Thanks Ghin!"

"Any time, Don." The former Krieg pirate's smile morphed back into one of his usual smirks. He folded his arms and looked up at the whale as everyone waited with baited breath to see what would happen. Laboon stared down at us with his giant eyes, his mouth open in a toothy smile. I'd never seen a whale smile before, wasn't even sure how it was possible, but it was one of the most adorable things I'd ever seen. Sorry Ruatha, you just got demoted. Not that I expected my dragon to take long to reassert his position as cutest carnivore on the seas.

"Where'd you learn that song?" I edged over to Ghin, curious. He shrugged.

"Dockside bars. Where else? I picked up a lot of things while waiting around for some drunk to drop his guard so I could mug 'em. When I was a kid, there was a merchant ship that came through every summer from somewhere on the Grand Line; the quartermaster was fond of me and sang that song whenever he'd had too much gin." Ghin reached up and played with one of his earrings. "Old man taught me how to shoot and tie knots in exchange for protection from the other Red Dragonets."

"BWAH BAO!" Ghin stopped and sputtered as a slap of enormous flukes sent water splashing up over the beach. Our entire crew was soaked.

Luffy stretched out to pat Laboon's scarred face. "Saa… I know your old friends are gone, but we'll be your friends now, 'kay? So don't hurt yourself anymore; I don't like it when my friends hurt." There was a little bit of blood on his hand when he pulled back. Laboon crooned sadly.

The captain shook his head. "No, we can't stay. We've got a lot of stuff we've gotta do, so we need to sail around the world. I'm gonna be king of the pirates someday! But we'll come back and see you when we're done, 'kay? We can tell you stories about all the places we go."

"BOOOOOOOOOO…" Laboon's eyes drooped. Luffy bit his lip.

"I don't think so…" The rubber boy sighed, then perked up and looked at me. "Unless… Jones, can we bring him with us?"

"Eh?" I froze. What? There was… Actually no reason I could think of that we couldn't, except that it hadn't been done in canon. Laboon was large, capable of defending himself. Although there was Fishman Island… But I was pretty sure there were whales there so there must be a way for them to breathe, and if island whales were like sperm whales, he could go very deep for a long time. He wouldn't be able to participate in any adventures on shore though…

"No, I don't think it's a good idea Captain. Any time we make land, he'll be alone with the ship for however long it takes us to do what we're there for- which could be a few weeks sometimes. It wouldn't be fair to him."

"Aww… Too bad…" Luffy reached out to pat Laboon again. "Sorry whale… Hey, Usopp! Do you still have paint from when you did our flag?"

"Yeah, a little. Why?"

"Can you paint our Jolly Roger on his head?"

The gunner frowned, confused, even as he walked towards the Merry to get his paints. "Yeah… But why?"

"So we can find him again." Luffy looked Laboon in the eyes as he spoke. "Lots of whales look the same, so we need to know which one's our friend. Which means he can't bash his head on rocks anymore- if he does, he'll wipe our Jolly Roger off and we won't know it's him."

Usopp nodded and disappeared into the ship. A few minutes later he reappeared, carrying buckets of red, white, and gold paint; a large paintbrush stuck out of his pocket, while a small one was tucked behind his ear. The smell made my nose wrinkle- oil paints. But they were less likely to wash off than anything else. Laboon cringed as Usopp began painting our mark; the paint stung his open wounds. But the whale didn't pull away, even when Usopp paused to let him.

I moved closer to stroke Laboon while the gunner worked. Water swirled around my knees, sapping my strength- it made me feel like a noodle, like after sitting in a hot tub for too long. Just in front of my feet was a steep drop off, explaining how something as large as Laboon could come so close to shore. I patted the whale's fin, cooing at him too quietly for anyone else to hear.

"You're such a brave whale, yes you are. That paint must hurt so much… Such a good boy. And you know what? Crocus is wrong. Brook's still alive, and he didn't run; he's trapped right now, but we're gonna find him and bring him home. So next time you see us, you'll get to see him too. And Brook wouldn't want you to hurt yourself any more than Luffy does, eh? So you've gotta be a good boy."

"BWAH?" Laboon's questioning cry almost tossed Usopp off his face. The gunner glared down at me.

"What did you say to him?!"

"Spoilers!" I crowed. Laboon was warm and rubbery and firm, kind of like a boot with a pulse. The whale raised his flipper enough that I could hug it- not that I could get my arms all the way around, but I tried.

"Shra!" Ruatha chirped from my shoulder, voice full of indignation. The little dragon was jealous of the attention I was paying to the whale. He leaned forwards to try and snap at Laboon's flipper; I grabbed his jaws and held them closed before he could.

"No, Ruatha, we don't bite friends." I backed away from Laboon to keep my little ball of scales from trying anything again. Naughty… I should probably get training him sooner rather than later. Ruatha was already the size of a very large cat; if I waited too long, he could hurt someone.

Nami wandered back up to the picnic table as Usopp painted. She pulled a chart out of her shirt and unrolled it on the table- the map of Paradise she'd stolen from Buggy. Several minutes passed as the navigator examined the chart and the log pose; after a while, she huffed and tossed a rock at Luffy. The captain turned away from supervising Usopp, his head spinning around while his body stayed in place.

"Huh? What's up Nami?"

"There's a bunch of different ways we can go from here- come pick one so I know which magnetic field to log on the pose."

"Oh." Luffy jumped up, his body snapping around to face the same way as his head as he bounded towards the navigator. "Um…" The captain's face turned red as he stared at the map, unable to decide where he wanted to go. "They all look the same! How'm I supposed to know where the best adventure is?"

Tabarnak. Vivi and Mr Nine were both still out, unable to beg us to take them home. I was torn. Should I tell Luffy about Whiskey Peak, ask him to go that way? Plot-wise, yes, but it wasn't my place… I edged over to the captured agents and tried to nudge Mr Nine awake with my foot, but he didn't respond. Luffy must've hit him hard. I tried Vivi next. She twitched awake, sitting up with a glare. Crouching, I gripped the edge of her tape gag.

"Sit still. This is gonna sting a bit." I ripped the tape off before Vivi could answer. She flinched, her face turning red where the tape had been.

"What the fuck?" Kudos to her for keeping up her Baroque Works persona, despite knowing I knew who she was. "How the Hell do you know my name? Who are you? I demand you release me at once!"

"Careful Princess; your noble blood's showing."

Vivi froze and paled as I removed any doubt about what I knew about her. She continued to glare, panic filling her eyes. I sighed. In the ringing silence that followed, I realized that everyone was watching us, Usopp's painting complete. Zoro frowned.

"What're you doing Jones? Didn't you gag her for a reason?"

"Um… Not really? It was reflex when I tied her up." Clearly I'd watched too many spy movies over the last few years. "We actually need her to talk."

"I won't tell you anything!" Vivi made an awkward attempt to bite my hand. I pulled back, then poked her in the forehead.

"That won't work. You're nowhere near as fast as my- my cat. Besides, we're not interrogating you- I probably know more about Crocodile than you do anyway."

"What? How? Who are you? Why did you capture us?"

"In order: stuff, none of your business, we're the Straw Hat pirates, and you tried to strangle me from behind. Plus we couldn't let you kill Laboon."

"But- but our village needs the whale's meat! It'll feed us for at least a year!" I wasn't sure if Vivi was trying to play me, or if she just didn't know what else to say. Either way, I was amazed she'd lasted as long as she had as a spy. Although I suppose I did have an unfair advantage.

Zoro scowled. "Cut the crap. Jones knows your name- that means you're more than just a run-off-the-mill thief or bounty hunter."

"Oi! Moss Head! Don't talk to ladies that way!" Sanji jumped at the swordsman and booted him in the head. Zoro responded by growling and drawing his swords. The pair began to squabble, words occasionally rising over the clash and thump of steel and flesh.

"Quit flirting with the enemy, Shit Cook!"

"She might not be an enemy, stupid Moss Head!"

"Will you two shut up?" Ghin clubbed the bosun and the cook over their heads. Nami rubbed her temples and sighed.

"Thank you Ghin. Now Jones… Why did you take her gag off?"

"Eh? Um… I- I don't know if it counts as a spoiler or not, so I don't know if I should say?" Honestly, I was horribly confused. This wasn't going the way I'd expected at all. I shrank in on myself as everyone stared at me. Ruatha chirped and chewed on the brim of my hat.

"What the Hell?! Idiot!" Nami stomped over me, snapping her staff together as she came. I pulled mine out to block before she could crack me over the head. "Would it kill you to think things through for once?"

"Hey! I think lots of things through! This one's just hard- how was I supposed to say 'Hey guys, we need to pick Whiskey Peak because Vivi's a princess and we've gotta save her kingdom from Crocodile, plus we won't meet our doctor and archaeologist unless we take that route'?"

A cricket chirped in the ensuing silence. Vivi fainted again, falling over with a thump. Johnny cleared his throat. "Um… Maybe like that?"

Yosaku slapped his partner upside the head. "Smart ass…"

Nami pulled back. I eyed her cautiously, staff ready to block if she tried to come after me again. So focused was I on the navigator, I didn't notice the captain sneaking up behind me until a fist collided with the back of my head. Luffy's punch sent me flying across the cape; I tumbled to a stop upside down against the lighthouse.

Spinning, spinning, spinning… Such pretty dancing lights. I tried to catch them, but they were moving too fast. It took several minutes to notice people staring at me. Biting my lip, I rolled to my feet and stared at the ground. "Sorry…"

"Why're you sorry? I didn't even tell you why I punched you yet!"

"Does it matter? Either you're mad at me for spoilers, or for overstepping boundaries and telling you where we should go. Possibly both. No matter what it is, I should apologize."

"All wrong!" Wait, what? Luffy stared at me as if I was stupid. I cringed. "I'm mad cause you didn't speak up sooner! You know which way the adventures are- why didn't you say anything?"

"Um… Because you're the captain, so it's your decision where we go. And Nami's the sailing master, so she's in charge of figuring out how to get there. It wasn't my place to say anything. Besides, I'm not supposed to spoil things for you."

"It's not a spoiler if you only tell us where adventures are." Luffy nodded, pleased with his own logic. He probably just didn't want to have to think about things anymore. For someone who was portrayed as a brainless goof, the rubber boy was good at twisting things to get his way.

I sighed. What an awkward way to do this scene. My writer would've had a much easier time if she didn't have Luffy and I encounter the Baroque Works agents so early, or if we hadn't knocked them out, or if I hadn't gagged them, or if I could keep my big mouth shut. Oh well, too late now. And maybe she had a reason for some of those things. "If you say so, Captain. But yes, starting with Whiskey Peak is best as far as I know. The other ways might have adventures, but we'd miss at least two important crew mates, and there might be more competition. You're not the only rookie captain after the title of Pirate King, and since I didn't see any of them on the Whiskey Peak route in the story, I assume they must be on the other ones."

Luffy's eyes lit up, little glowing stars of determination. "And someday I'll kick all their asses!"

"Aye-aye Captain."

Nami huffed, fiddling with the log pose. "Alright, I'll set it for Whiskey Peak. It'll take a little while though, so I hope everyone has something to do."

The rest of the crew nodded. Vivi stared at us, confused. She was trembling so badly, I thought she might fly apart. Questions that she didn't quite know how to ask danced in her eyes. I didn't try to answer them. Instead, I pulled out my tape and strode back towards the princess. "Sorry, but if you wanna keep your cover for as long as possible, I have to gag you again."

"What? But you just removed- Mph!" Dark grey eyes glared up at me as I covered the princess' mouth with a fresh strip of tape.

"If your partner wakes up and sees that we're letting you talk or walk around or anything, he might get suspicious." I shrugged. "And maybe I'm still a little angry about the bit where you tried to strangle me. Cover or not, that was un-called-for and un-princess-like, and I'm pretty good at holding a grudge."

While I couldn't understand what Vivi tried to say in response, I could sort of guess from the tone. Probably something along the lines of "you bitch" or "fuck you." Or, if she was in a princess mood now instead of a Baroque Works one… Actually, I couldn't think what Vivi might say if she was being her usual polite self. She'd probably never gotten into this sort of situation as a princess for it to apply.

Well, there were a couple hours to kill now before we could set off. Usopp climbed aboard the Merry and headed for the hold, likely to get supplies to repair her figurehead; Johnny and Yosaku began fiddling with something, while Sanji cleaned up, Zoro dozed, and Luffy bugged Crocus into telling him stories about Gol D Roger. Despite it being too soon after dinner to spar comfortably, I grabbed Ghin. He raised his eyebrows as I drew him over to the picnic table. I sighed, patting Ruatha with one hand.

"Sorry. I left it too long. I said I'd teach you to read, but I haven't worked on your letters with you at all."

"It's fine. I've lasted this long without knowing; a little more won't hurt me. So… How do we start?" The former Krieg pirate's tone said that despite genuine interest, he was primarily humouring me.

"Well, I should probably make sure you know your alphabet first. Do you?" When Ghin shook his head, I bit my lip and pushed on. "Okay then… Um, one moment. How did my grandma do this?" It was hard to remember; I'd been so young… Eh, maybe I'd just go with the usual way. It was less fun, but I doubted my grandmother's method would mean anything here.

I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote each of the letters, capital and small, as I sang the alphabet song. Ghin stared, rubbing his ears. "Geeze Jones, you weren't kidding about not being able to sing."

"Sorry…"

"It's fine. Nobody can be good at everything. So…" Ghin recited the alphabet back to me, pointing at each letter in turn. I nodded.

"And the next step is… Um… Sorry, I don't teach much, and it's been a long time since I learned this." I ground my knuckles into my head as I tried to remember. "I think… I could read before I could write, so the next step is probably which sounds go with which letters."

"No rush." Ghin shook his head. "Take as much time as you need to figure it out. Like I said, I've gotten by this far without reading- a few more weeks won't kill me. You might though. Have you even started trying to figure out your Devil Fruit?"

"Maybe… I have some ideas. But how does that translate as me killing you?"

Smirking, Ghin poked me in the forehead the way I'd been doing to Vivi. "Because if you can't control it, you could lose control and hit your crew. Don Luffy's bad enough, with his thing for Rocketing people around and slamming them into stuff, and he's had his for… I dunno how long."

"Ten years." I removed Ruatha from my shoulders and placed him on the picnic table, putting my hat on his head. The dragonet chirped gleefully. "Is this you saying you're willing to help me play with this?"

"Depends what I have to do, but maybe."

"I need you to beat me up."

"What?" Ghin frowned. "How'll that help anything?"

"It just will. Trust me." I settled into a defensive stance. "And I know you won't like listening to this, but please don't hold back."

My sparring partner's frown deepened. "You're right- I don't like it. I don't want to hurt you. And even if the Force-Force Fruit protects you somehow, how'll I know when to stop?"

I winced as I thought back to the explosion when I was fighting Eric. The first step to figuring out how to control this was to know where the limit was, how much I could contain and control. "Don't worry, you'll know."

"If you're sure…" Ghin stared dubiously at me, but set himself in a fighting stance. There was a brief period of hesitation before he started hitting me. Shoulder, chest, stomach… Request to beat me up or no, Ghin was avoiding my head. He was also holding back, although he slowly increased power when he realized that I wasn't taking damage or being pushed back the way he expected.

It was a hard fight against my instincts not to block or dodge. Although… I'd been blocking Eric when I exploded, so that was probably alright. A hit like the one that had folded me over Ghin's arm at the Baratie slammed into me; I wheezed, but held my ground. Mild nausea was starting to coil in the pit of my stomach. I focused on the feeling, trying to estimate force build-up based on how hard and how often my partner was hitting me. It was hard. I couldn't remember enough of the math, so I had to rely on just feeling. Which would probably be more efficient in a fight anyways, once I got some experience.

Then the nausea peaked as Ghin slammed a fist into my stomach. A soundless explosion threw both of us backwards; my partner stumbled and fell on his ass, while I flew backwards over the edge of the cape. Tabarnak. Okay, most important thing to do- I needed to make sure I could direct the force I released into my opponent, rather than having most of it come back at me. Otherwise this fruit was just a hazard.

My back hit the bay first, a beautiful, painful flop. I got the wind knocked out of me and was unable to get it back as water poured into my mouth and nose. Reds faded out to blue and green, an uncomfortably familiar sight. Struggling, trying to swim, only made me tired. And then something wrinkly and warm rose beneath me. I broke the surface seconds later, immediately rolling over and hacking up water. Laboon. The whale must've seen me fall in and come to get me.

"Thanks. You're such a good boy Laboon. You used to do this for Brook, didn't you?"

"BWAH!"

The whale moved as close to shore as he could to let me off. I slid into the knee-deep water, patting his flipper on my way down. Zoro opened his eyes when I landed, arms folded and a thoughtful scowl on his face. "Are you sure we can't bring him? He's great at retrieving Devil Fruit users- it'd be safer for you and Luffy."

"Like I said earlier, it wouldn't be fair to Laboon." I shuddered and wrung out my shirt as I slogged to dry land. It took me all of thirty seconds to climb back up to where Ghin was sitting on the cape. Once more, I took a defensive stance. "Again."

"Seriously?" Ghin raised an eyebrow and tilted his head towards the bay. I nodded.

"Laboon's there to get me out, so it's as safe as it's gonna get. Or do you think I'd do better on the ship, where you or Zoro'd be jumping in to get me every time and we could be attacked without warning?"

"True." And so my sparring partner recommenced with my beating, while I focused on feeling and controlling the build-up of force. Somewhere in the world I'd come from, I could practically see Newton rolling in his grave.

X

"Alright guys, the pose is set!"

Nami's voice interrupted my attempt to shove force back into Ghin. I'd sort of gotten the hang of feeling it now- enough to know when I was about to explode, at least. Still fired myself backwards more often than not when I tried to discharge what I'd built up, but hey, I could do it at-will now, so it was still a lot of progress. As it was, the surprise of hearing Nami's voice jarred me enough that instead of discharging force through the hand I was punching Ghin with, I discharged through my feet. This sent me flying into the bay for probably the fiftieth time; Laboon fished me out before I even had time to inhale much water.

He'd been getting a lot of practice.

"Coming!" I ran up the cape one more time to retrieve Ruatha and my hat. My slimy, dragon spit covered hat that my dragonet had been using as a chew toy. Gross. I slapped the reptile on the rump, loudly rather than hard, startling him into dropping my headgear.

"No! Bad boy! Mommy's hat is not for eating!"

Ruatha's response was to coo and scramble up onto my shoulders, nuzzling his snout into my ponytail. Aww… I couldn't stay mad at that adorableness. Didn't mean he could get away with it though. I started coming up with a training plan for the naughty dragonet as I strode back down to the Merry.

Zoro dragged Vivi and Mr Nine aboard. "Hey Luffy, where'd you want these guys? In the hold, like usual?"

"Sure! That works!"

Vivi let out a muffled yelp, eyes wide. Luffy came over to pat her on the head. "Aw, don't worry! It's just so we don't blow your cover or something! I know you're a good person. And our cargo hold's really comfy- Jones sleeps there all the time!"

"Not while we have prisoners," I clarified, resigning myself to a couple of nights spent on deck. Again. This whole thing about taking prisoners and bounty hunting for extra cash was really cutting into my sleeping schedule.

My comment went ignored. Zoro took the Baroque Works agents below decks while the rest of us prepared to set sail. Usopp in the crow's nest, Johnny and Yosaku on the mainsail, Ghin on the mizzen- I was at the helm again, and hopefully Luffy would shout from his special seat if he saw any odd water or anything. Sanji was probably setting traps in the galley already against any unwanted snacking this coming night. Crocus stood on the shore below, arms folded as he smiled up at us. He looked… proud. Like an uncle who's barely involved in your life, but still loves you and shows up to your university graduation.

"You kids… Thanks. What you did for Laboon… I don't know how long it'll last, but at least he'll have some time to heal before he starts ramming the Red Line again."

"BO!" The whale huffed indignantly, shooting a spout up into the air. Luffy laughed, but whatever Laboon had said stayed between whale and captain. Crocus' expression hardened.

"That said… You better make sure you come back, hear? You promised him you would, and Laboon can't take any more broken promises. I don't care how long it takes or what you have to do…"

Luffy nodded, his face solemn. "Don't worry, we will. I'm gonna be king of the pirates, and then Nami's gotta draw a map of the world, so we need to go everywhere. And we'll bring lots of stories back too!"

"Plus a special surprise." Crocus raised an eyebrow at my words, but I didn't elaborate. Spoilers. I couldn't wait to see Laboon's reaction to Brook coming back though. Me telling the whale he was still alive was one thing, but living, breathing proof… Not that Brook was living or breathing. Skull jo- no. No making skull jokes until he was with us. Bad writer.

"Jones!" Nami called my name, interrupting my thoughts. "Turn us twelve degrees to starboard- there's a sandbar on our port side!"

"Aye-aye Sailing Master!" I sniffled as I tugged on the whipstaff, coughing into my sleeve. Tabarnak. All that dunking while working on my powers had given me a cold. Ruatha chirped worriedly; I patted him on the head.

"It's fine buddy. I'll be alright in a couple days; just need some juice and a little extra sleep."

The Going Merry pulled slowly away from the cape, as if she was nervous about what was coming next. I shared the ship's sentiment. As eager as I was to see some of the things that lay ahead, I was terrified as well. Terrified of screwing up, terrified that I'd get someone hurt or killed… But there was no turning back. I had to do the best I could, and hopefully Luffy's decision to invite me onto his crew wouldn't prove a mistake. If only I had as much faith in myself as he seemed to.

And then Laboon waved goodbye, and my anxiety was replaced with awe. As the Merry moved beyond the capes the great whale came up beside us, breaching like a playful humpback. The splash when he came down created a rain of salt water, as well as a wave that lifted us up like a toy and pushed us forwards. My last sight of the capes was a glimpse of massive flukes rising out of the sea, flipping and waving as Laboon wished us well.