Ink's Notes:
EEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY- what do you mean it's been like four months?! Son of a-
Chapter Forty-Two
As the Phoenix approached the shores to the Land of Water, its crew found that the shore they were approaching was surprisingly barren of incoming ships – every ship aside from theirs had navigated away from the coast that they were approaching and found another place to dock, despite that the area they were sailing towards would be the best place to dock to get them on shore. The fact that so many ships were going out of their way to dock there was strange in and of itself, but when Aisa spoke up and mentioned that she was hearing a voice underwater, the entire crew got themselves ready to fight what they believed would be a sea king.
The waters parted with nothing more than a small splash and a "isn't that too small to be a sea king?" comment from Tashigi, and some sort of brown otter-like creature wearing what appeared to be a green hooded vest of some sort emerged from the waves, landing on its hind fin on the shores before them.
"Kupo!" the creature called up, striking a battle pose upwards at the ship.
"…Yoi?" Marco managed to respond after a moment, staring down at the animal with a dumbfounded expression that he was sure everyone else had at that exact moment.
"A kung-fu dugong!" Vivi exclaimed, leaning over the railing in shock. The dugong began making various movements while giving off various cries, finishing by crossing its arms in a prideful stance.
"…It says that if we want to dock here, we have to beat it in a fight. If we don't want to take its challenge, we should just go dock somewhere else," Jugo translated. "Also, it called us wimps," he added, looking over at Vivi. "You seem to know what that thing is. Is this normal?"
Vivi nodded sadly. "They're quite strong, and their code of honor states that they have to become the follower of anyone who manages to beat them."
"Works for me, yoi," Marco vaulted over the railing and landed on the shores across from the dugong. "It'll follow us when I beat it, which makes our lives easier."
"Be careful, Marco!" Vivi called from the ship's railing. "Kung-fu dugongs are very strong!"
No sooner than she'd said the words had Marco beaten the small creature, causing it to stare up at him with stars in its eyes from admiration. "You were saying?" Sakura asked Vivi.
"…I suppose if Luffy-San didn't have much difficulty beating them, Marco would be able to do it with ease…" she muttered in response.
The crew disembarked the ship, Sakura treating the few wounds that the dugong had, and gathered around to sit on the shoreline and discuss their next step. Before they could, though, the dugong hopped over to Vivi and began chattering excitedly at her, which Jugo helpfully translated as 'You're one of my old master's students, aren't you?'
Vivi blinked a few times in response before she realized what was happening. "Oh- This kung-fu dugong must be one of the ones that Luffy-San tamed when we were in Alabasta," she explained, patting the creature on the head. "They helped us out quite a bit during that whole ordeal."
"Y'know," Karin spoke up, "They might make good coastal defenders," she suggested, and with those few words, she and Vivi had begun discussing Alabasta's defenses.
"…Right, ignoring that," Paulie deadpanned, "We should head into town before we make tracks for Konoha," he stated. "While we have enough supplies to get us across the sea safely, we shouldn't chance making the journey without replenishing supplies. You never know when we'll run out due to unforeseen circumstances, like someone eating all the food when no one's looking, and it's better to be overstocked than under stocked when you're traveling across the sea."
"Yeah," Bepo put in, "And the more time we spend here, the more time the guys in Konoha have to find us a way home," he offered with a smile. "So if we head into the… um…" he looked over at Jugo.
"Kirigakure," Jugo informed him.
"…That. If we head into that, then we can give them more time to find out how to send us home," Bepo concluded.
"…We still need to figure out how to get us through with you as well," Sakura frowned. "I mean… I don't think it'll be too big a deal to send Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo with you guys, since they're Missing-Nin and most people would… well…" she fidgeted.
"Want us gone?" Suigetsu flatly provided.
"…Yeah," Sakura frowned, clearly not happy about having to say such a thing about her friends. "They'd be more than happy to see you guys go, but me…"
Marco pat her on the head with a smile. "Don't worry, yoi. I've figured that out already. So you've decided to join the Whitebeard Pirates, huh?"
Sakura smiled at him. "Yes, I have."
Perona and Carue quickly covered Tashigi's mouth before she could make any attempts at protesting to this development, and she eventually stopped trying to yell about the whole ordeal. She frowned, huffed, and crossed her arms.
"Um, Tashigi?" Aisa asked her, looking up at her as she held her hands in her lap. "Why do you hate pirates so much?"
Tashigi grimaced. "Pirates are the scum of the seas. They do nothing but hurt others, and destroy peoples' homes and steal their belongings and kill people and-" she cut herself off and looked at the ground. "And working for the Marines, I see all sorts of people getting hurt because of Pirates, and I see how many people suffer, and it's painful to watch."
"But… not all pirates are like that," Aisa frowned. "My home was saved by pirates."
Tashigi bit her lip and nodded. "…Pirates like that are… they're the exception. It's… hard for me to admit when I see pirates hurting people all the time, but…" She brought her hands to her knees. "The Marines… they hurt people, too," she softly said. Carue quacked and put a wing on her back to comfort her. "And I want to help everyone, and keep everyone safe, but I can't do that when neither side is completely in the right… I'm a Marine because they're right most of the time, but the things that I've seen Marines do, it's… it makes my resolve waver."
"Hey," Marco spoke up. "You should stay a Marine, yoi." Tashigi's head snapped up in confusion, and he elaborated. "If someone like you stays in the Marines, and teaches other people what you've come to realize, then more people would be safe, because the focus would be on the actual threats, instead of the people who aren't hurting anyone, whether they're a Pirate, a Marine, or something else entirely, yoi."
Tashigi blinked a few times, then smiled with newfound resolve. "Understood, though I don't like taking orders from a pirate."
"Well, you're taking orders from your temporary captain, yoi," Marco smirked as he got to his feet. "Now then. How about we head to Kirigakure?"
Sorry for the massive delay! I've honestly just had major writer's block this whole time. But I was just on a plane for like seven hours and had nothing else to do so I buckled down to get some writing done. See you next time! -Ink