Sorry for the late update! I know it's been a year, but I'm still in college and I've gotten a full time job, so it's sometimes difficult to find the time and motivation to write.
That being said, none of my fics are abandoned, and I plan on getting around to updating them all eventually, but it'll be a hot minute.
Smoker had never spent time with the Straw Hats like this. Just. Occupying their space while they tended to their business. He couldn't shake the feeling of being a definite outsider while the crew prepared to enter Reverse Mountain.
Which was surprising in a way it shouldn't have been.
Sure, the Straw Hats were pirates and not immune to the necessities of life on the sea, but they had always seemed so... careless (carefree?)... that it now appeared surreal to watch them behave like an almost disciplined crew. Logically Smoker knew they must, but at the same time it remained one of the strangest sights he had ever seen in all his years.
Roronoa- Zoro, he reminded himself- 'woke' from his nap shortly after Smoker's conversation with Nami. He didn't comment on what he had most certainly overheard, and Smoker wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not. Instead, Zoro had approached him with ease, hands linked behind his neck in arrogant languish. "If you're going to be here a while, I suppose someone needs to show you around."
Smoker snorted at the offer even as he stood. The Going Merry wasn't that big of a ship. In fact, even for a caravel it was quite small. He doubted anyone could get lost on this thing. Privately, he felt his legs tremble and doubted he could last very long on his feet. "I'm more interested in that soup Black Leg had out, and he's already pointed out where I need to be to get some." Smoker retorted around his cigar, adjusting his grip on his jitte.
Roronoa- Zoro- frowned. "Black Leg? You mean the shit cook?"
Smoker chomped down on his cigar and cursed himself. This was the past, they didn't even have bounties yet except for Straw Hat. "Who the hell else would I be talking about?" Smoker scathed, hoping the tone would distract Zoro.
Zoro bristled. "Whatever." He said, brushing past Smoker and barely refraining from overbalancing the ex-marine. "Don't come crying to me when the rooms move on you."
The comment was strange enough that it threw Smoker for a second. 'When the rooms move'...? That didn't make any fucking sense. What the hell?
It seemed that even the more sensible members of the Straw Hat crew were complete madmen.
With a great mental effort Smoker forced himself to let the oddness rest. These were, he reminded himself, people who willingly chose to follow Straw Hat. That alone should have been enough to warn him the ship's crew would likely be nearly as odd as their captain. And he'd drive himself as mad as they were if he tried to make sense out of it.
Smoker limped over to the door the cook had left through, the one that presumably led to the mess. The door creaked loudly as he pushed it open, and he heard the voices inside cut off as their owners stared at him as he stood in the doorway.
The Straw Hat crew was gathered around the dining table, looking at the map Nami brought out. Black Leg quietly walked to coldbox and took out a bowl of soup, which he gently set down at an empty spot at the table. Smoker sat down and accepted the offer gratefully.
Smoker sipped the broth slowly as the Straw Hats visibly wrestled with including him in their conversation. Or rather, the crew struggled. The captain didn't.
"Smokey!" The captain cheered, "Tell Nami it's a mystery mountain." He whined.
Smoker cocked an eyebrow, eyeing the Straw Hats dubiously. The captain bounced on his toes while the rest of the crew seemed resigned to his antics.
"It's not a mystery." Smoker said. The Straw Hat's reactions were instantaneous.
Nami let out a out "Hah!" grinning at Straw Hat smugly, who in turn was now pouting at Smoker. Black Leg smiled around a cigarette.
Longnose lunged forward at Smoker eagerly, both hands flat on the table as he leaned into Smoker's personal space. "So I'm right! The phenomenon is clearly caused by the great Sea King migration!" Longnose crowed.
Smoker stared at him. "What the fuck?"
Nami glared at Longnose and hit him over the head. "It's obviously not that, moron!" She scolded. "The Merry can go up Reverse Mountain because of how strong the currents are- not because of Sea Kings! We've been over this!"
Smoker wasn't too keen on watching a fight break out over who was the biggest idiot on the crew. "She's right." he interrupted. "Ocean currents that hit the Red Line have nowhere to go but up." He shrugged. "Not that it really matters if you aren't a navigator."
Impossibly, Straw Hat took this to mean that Smoker agreed with him. "See Nami," Straw Hat said, "it's a mystery." He nodded to himself.
Nami's jaw dropped. "That's not what he said at all!" She said incredulously. "Now quit fooling around and get ready, we're almost there, see?" She said, pointing to where a storm was brewing outside the window. "We'll hit the entrance as long as we keep moving into that storm."
Smoker grimaced. Entering the Grand Line was never fun this way. Privately, he felt it would be safer to risk the Sea Kings in the Calm Belt, given the success rate of ships making past the gates, but without seastone covering the keel that wasn't feasible.
The room went dark, caught in the looming shadow of the Red Line.
Longnose squeaked, his whole body trembling with fright at the sudden change.
Then, like a dam bursting, the whole crew rushed outside to gaze at the Red Line cutting through the waves of the storm. Smoker remained in his seat at the table, though he turned to watch the Straw Hats' expressions at seeing their first glimpse of the Grand Line- visible through the open door.
Their eyes were filled with awe- Nami and Longnose even looked afraid. For a moment Smoker was taken aback by how young the crew looked- how young they are- and he was again struck by how different things were. These Straw Hats had never been to the Grand Line. They never trashed Enies Lobby or Impel Down. The War of the Best had never happened. Straw Hat never punched a Tenryuubito, or challenged the Yonko, or declared war on the government.
Right now they were… innocent? No, he considered, as Straw Hat directed his crew around the ship, tying lines and securing sails, not innocent, not quite, but perhaps not quite guilty either.
Nami burst through the open door and pointed at Smoker. "Hey! If you're coming with us then make yourself useful- grab the wheel and follow my directions!" She demanded, not even waiting to see if Smoker acknowledged her before leaving the room.
Smoker stood to follow her out when the Merry suddenly pitched to the side. He grabbed onto the table to stay upright as the ship thrashed against the waves. The room illuminated with a crack of thunder as the sky opened up and poured down on the tiny ship.
It was peculiar for such a strong storm to appear so suddenly.
They must be close.
Smoker stumbled outside and made his way up slick stairs to the wheel, where Nami was waiting with a spyglass in hand. "We should be almost on the canal entrance. Keep her steady." Nami ordered without looking away from the mountain before her.
The heavy fog that surrounded the mountain dispersed the closer they got, and the entrance to the Grand Line opened up in front of them.
Smoker gripped the wheel tightly, fighting the waves to keep the course steady. But it was futile fighting nature and he felt the ship being steadily pushed off-course by the buffeting winds and waves despite his best effort.
"Hey! Didn't I say to keep it steady?" She shouted at him hysterically.
Smoker didn't speak, pushing his whole weight now into turning the wheel. He struggled against the might of the storm even as his strength waned.
"It's getting off route now! Turn right! Right!" Straw Hat yelled.
The Going Merry was almost upon the gate, and it was clear that they weren't going to make it.
Nami's arm flung out and clutched at Smoker's forearm, nails digging painfully into his skin as Nami tensed in fear. Smoker grit his teeth to keep from snapping at her.
Smoker couldn't help the flinch when he heard the familiar "Gomu-gomu no…" and watched as Straw Hat shielded the Merry with his own body, following a cheerful declaration of "Balloon!", bouncing the Merry back on course and away from the walls of the canal.
Next to him Nami sagged with relief. "We're safe!" She cried, tears welling in her eyes. But before Smoker could tell her that the Grand Line was never safe there was a commotion on the lower deck.
The deflated Straw Hat was plummeting back towards the sea, the first mate shouting for Straw Hat to take his hand, the other clutching the hat itself. Zoro and Straw Hat connected with a grunt, and Zoro flung Straw Hat onto the deck, prompting a cheer from the rest of the crew as they celebrated successfully entering the Grand Line. He clamped the hat back on his captain's head. Smoker wasn't able to stop the upturned twitch of his mouth when he saw Black Leg and Longnose dancing a jig as Straw Hat cheered them on. The lot of them acted like children, honestly. It was embarrassing.
The ship lurched, and the Merry rested at the top of Reverse Mountain. For a split second the crew quieted, and Smoker and the Straw Hats stood in awe at the peak, looking out into the expanse of ocean and cloud, at this point so high up that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.
Then the Merry tipped forward and plummeted down towards the exit. Straw Hat let out a raucous "Ya-hoo!" and clambered onto the figurehead, one arm wrapped around the neck, the other holding his signature hat firmly on his head. "There it is! The Grand Line!" He shouted in glee, the excitement so infectious that even Smoker could feel it buzzing under his skin.
They whizzed down the mountain, wind roaring in their ears.
"Did you hear that?" Zoro suddenly shouted.
"It's just the wind. I expect the atmosphere to be much different here-" Nami explained, but was cut off by Zoro shaking his head.
"That's not the wind." He shouted gravely.
That's when Smoker finally heard it for himself, a low haunting cry that echoed eerily off the rocks around them.
"Uh, Nami-swan?" Black Leg shouted down from the mast, "Is there supposed to be another mountain in front of us?" He asked shakily.
Nami jolted. "What!? That's impossible!" She pulled out her eyeglass, fumbling slightly in her haste and put it up to get a look at what Black Leg was seeing. "What is that thing?"
The air shook as another wail tore through the sky.
The clouds around them thinned as the Merry rapidly approached sea-level. Ahead a black wall loomed in front of them, blocking off the exit, leaving no room to go around.
"It's a giant whale!" Straw Hat exclaimed in glee, leaning over the figurehead.
What the hell.
"Uh, guys, I don't think we're slowing down!" Longnose cried. Indeed, the Going Merry showed no sign of stopping as it barreled down Reverse Mountain and toward the massive animal.
Around him the Straw Hat crew panicked. Black Leg and Longnose frantically tried to turn the rudder to no effect. Smoker clenched his teeth. Perhaps one of his logia moves would work?
For the Blues sake, he was a marine admiral, he should be able to do more than just stand there!
They were too close. He was too weak. There were just seconds until impact.
The Going Merry shuddered under the force of cannon fire.
Smoker gaped as a lone cannonball sailed through the sky to slam itself into the whale.
The Going Merry creaked dangerously as it struggled against the pressure and slowed. And, rather than slamming into the whale and shattering into a thousand pieces, it gently hit the whale. Many of the crew were sent tumbling to the floor, but the only casualty was the figurehead, which buckled from the impact and snapped off.
Smoker sighed. That could have been a lot worse. He could practically feel his hair turning white from stress because of the insanity that followed the Straw Hats, and he had only been with them for a few days!
An outraged cry drew his attention away from the near disaster, and he turned to see Straw Hat, face twisted in anger, emerge from below deck. His eyes were glued to the broken figurehead lying on the ship. His head snapped up to glare at the whale. "You broke my special seat!" He accused.
The world went quiet. The only sound was the gentle rush of water against the sides of the ship.
"Maybe it didn't hear us," Nami said shakily as she got up, "we should try to go around." On cue, behind her Black Leg and Longnose began turning the Merry aside, and they slowly drifted past the giant whale. The crew held its breath and even Smoker felt himself tense as they passed the eye.
But Straw Hat was still trembling in rage. His eyes locked onto the whale's looming eye and snapped back his fist to let fly a powerful punch right into it.
A deafening keen tore through the air as the whale thrashed, nearly capsizing the caravel. It opened its gaping maw to let loose another horrid moan; the suction pulled the Going Merry towards it. Helplessly, the Straw Hats tried to steer the ship away from the mouth, but there was nothing the small ship could do against the force of the water being swallowed by the whale.
Smoker's spirit surged. He had not survived countless wars, countless battles, he had not defied the very laws of nature to travel back in time just to end up as whale snack. He would not die here, not when he had just started.
He fell apart, and his flesh collapsed into smoke. The Merry rocked with each wave, spinning between the row of teeth, barely avoiding shattering against them. Smoker slipped between them, billowing up to the surface and solidifying.
Behind him Smoker could hear the sound of creaking rubber and a snap as Straw Hat landed beside him on top of the whale.
"Hey that's my crew you're eating whale!" Straw Hat shouted. "Let them go!"
Was this it? The end of the Straw Hat pirates, before they could even get to the first island in the Grand Line? Did his presence change so much?
Straw Hat's fists smacked the whale uselessly.
Smoker got angry. How dare Straw Hat get so upset? He was the one who risked his crew's safety for no reason, and now they were dead. Eaten by a whale. It was Straw Hat's fault.
This had been a bad idea. Allying with pirates never lead to good things. Pirates were selfish, reckless beasts with no control and cared about nothing but themselves and their own power. How had he ever thought this would be anything other than a disaster?
Smoker clenched his fist. He had half a mind to drag Straw Hat off the whale's back and let him fall to sea and drown like his crew. It would only be fitting. Besides, it would get rid of one pirate nuisance, and he was already through Reverse Mountain- he could find someone else to carry him. He could find new, better allies.
"You moron," he snarled, "you selfish, witless bastard. You killed your crew. For what? A fight you didn't need to pick? You should have just done what you were would have been safe if it wasn't for you!" He glared at Straw Hat, who had stopped pounding at the whale and was turned to Smoker in shock.
"What?" Straw Hat breathed, quieter than Smoker had ever seen him. '
Smoker could hardly see he was so angry. "This is your fault. They trusted you and you led them to their deaths!" He squeezed his eyes shut, overcome with emotion as he turned away. He couldn't look at Straw Hat right now.
Smoker's eyes felt wet. Were those tears? How long had it been since he cried?
Behind him was silence. Good. Maybe now Straw Hat would stop seeing everything as a game.
"Nah, I think they're okay." Straw Hat said simply. Smoker looked at him in disbelief. "My crew's strong, they wouldn't let themselves die here!" He grinned.
"That doesn't mean anything." Smoker groused.
Straw Hat laughed. "You're kinda funny aren't cha?"
Smoker stared. "Shouldn't you be trying to find a way to get your crew back?"
Straw Hat blinked. "Oh. Yeah." He sucked in a deep breath, rubber body inflating slightly. "Fight me whale!" He shouted, voice ringing out around them and startling some gulls flying overhead.
Smoker groaned- that wasn't what he meant at all!- and was almost unsurprised when the massive whale they were standing on rumbled and began to dive.
Smoker and Straw Hat scrambled on the whale's back, trying not to lose their balance and succumb to the weakness all devil fruit users share. Smoker's boot slipped and lost its purchase on the rubbery skin. He slid, scrabbling to stay on when his fingers closed around a small protrusion from the whale's otherwise smooth skin. Reflexively he latched on.
Smoker looked at what he had grabbed on to.
It was a door. There was a door. On a whale. (In a whale?)
Why the fuck did the Grand Line have to be so goddam weird all the time.
Whatever.
Smoker swung up and braced himself between the metal of the door and the flesh of the whale. His actions had not gone unnoticed by Straw Hat. "Ooh Smokey what's that?" The boy called out, springing towards Smoker.
Smoker grit his teeth. "The Grand Line's nonsense." He griped as he turned the spokes that served as the handle.
Straw Hat frowned. "It looks like a door to me." He said bluntly.
Smoker ignored him as the door popped open. He also ignored Straw Hat's cheer as he eyed the rising ocean. "Just get in," he grumbled.
Straw Hat laughed, "Yoish!" And clutched his hat as he ducked inside.
Smoker had a new strategy in mind: ignore everything Straw Hat does that doesn't directly involve him, and maybe he will retain some of his sanity that way.
He followed Straw Hat into the whale and firmly shut the door behind him.