The witch gone, they could return safely back to the ship and go below the waves, only hoping they could stay submerged until the log pose set and they could leave. Bepo kept a close eye on the device at his wrist for signs of change to signal they could go. For now they crowded the mess hall, filling up and taking in what all they had heard, a solemn looking Soul Reaper not touching his food. Partly because there were still so many questions to answer.

"Yo, are these crazy people we've been hearing about trying to enslave you." Penguin questioned, and Toshiro was rather surprised at the contempt a pirate held for the word.

"…That's one way to put it." He said, reaching a hand up to his neck. "One almost did…"

Understanding the hand gesture for what it was they all shared concerned looks.

"So you some kind of escaped noble or rare power they want?"

"The second would be more appropriate, I'm no noble. I grew up in the slums of the Soul Society and only got to where I did through a lot of work and sacrifice. The power she kept talking about, the one they want me for…while they have been looking into it for generations to control something, I learned about my being the key to doing so barely a month ago. So…she does have a point. Only they know what I can really do with that power." His teal eyes cast a harsh glare to the ocean out the window. "Doesn't mean I'm going to let THEM tell me how to use it, that's for damn sure."

"That's a good spirit to have." Jean Bart put in his word. It was the first Toshiro had really interacted with the man, the giant seeming to prefer keeping to himself. "I once was a slave, it takes its toll on you, forced into that position. The Captain got me out during the chaos of a big fight, I could never hope to repay him."

"At least mine came off quick…" Toshiro sighed. At least now he understood why they had a problem with it. Funny how the last pirates he fought made him think the worst of people, but these pirates…at least these pirates have the morals of a decent human being, stealing and killing could be sinned, but even there these people were not the type to do so to every person they met. They reasoned, bartered, acted like people unless the time came to be rough. He could respect that.

"Hang on, are those scratches?" Penguin pointed out as he brought the Nobody from his musing, noticing the off color lines on the boy's neck. "Did you- "

"I'd rather not talk about it." The cold response shut the pirate up quick. "All you need to know was my collar forced me to do things against my will that I was not going to allow."

They all got silent then, a tense silence as those words sunk in. Jean Bart especially felt empathetic. His enslavement was still years of humiliating torture, that bomb collar always a threat hanging overhead, but even he never thought of trying to do what Toshiro was suggesting. What did they try to make him do? Undead or not, and doubtless three or four times his own age, Jean Bart couldn't believe the boy had been pushed to that level. In fact, now that he DID know more about Toshiro and his military past, the stakes must have been very high indeed for such action.

The silence was broken, to their relief, by Daniel hurrying over with eager questions of his own.

"I wanna see your magic!" The youngest child demanded.

"Magic?" A few pirates questioned, baffled at Daniel's words.

"He shot lightning at it! And big glowing chains! And he put us in a big blue barrier to protect us!"

"Nonsense his power is ice." Someone tried to argue.

"Where I come from that doesn't necessarily mean that's all I'm capable of." Toshiro responded. "He's referring to my Kido. I suppose to others it would be called magic. It takes a lot of energy and focus and is impossible for just humans to do, but it has a wide variety of uses. The destruction forms alone have multiple attacks, from ice like my own, to lightning, even fire, as well as other skills. There's also binding types which range from barriers and bindings to even communication and warning. The last is healing kido."

"Healing magic?" Law was into the conversation now and everyone was listening quite intensely.

"I'm not a master at it, there's a squad dedicated to it far better than I am, but I can patch myself and others up when necessary to avoid death."

"Aren't you already dead?"

"Just because I'm a spirit doesn't mean I can't die, but my soul would return to the cycle of souls to be reborn, though I would never remember my old self, I'd be someone entirely new. So in a way, dying as a spirit ends the time of that soul to make way for a brand new one. It's…complicated, honestly."

"I'll say…"

"I wanna see the magic!" Daniel cut in once more, not about to have his request ignored.

"Most of them aren't really safe indoors." Toshiro responded as nicely as he could.

"How about the ones that are? I got a scratch running from the dinosaur, can the healing magic fix it?" The stubborn young child held his arm out. There was a Band-Aid on it, obviously Law had already seen to it, but the boy just took it off. It was indeed a small scratch, already scabbed up, so the little sticky bandage might have been to make him feel better. Law still gave a roll of his eyes, but there was no stopping Daniel.

Preferring a sigh as a surrender to the stubbornness, Toshiro turned himself to face the boy and put his hand over the tiny wound. As they all watched, a green glow enveloped his hand, smoothing over the little scrape, healing up the skin and removing the scab. It only took a minute or so and all that remained was an almost unnoticeable pale line from where the skin had been forced to heal quickly.

"Wow, that's impressive." Shachi gaped.

"You should see the Squad four healers at work." The Nobody wasn't sure he was comfortable with the praise for a skill he'd only learned the basics of to aid him in a fight. Yes, he'd made sure to be proficient at Kido, it was one of the skills that helped him jump straight to the top in a matter of years instead of the decades it took others, but he never counted himself among the masters when he still relied on sword skill more than 'magic'. When a Kido master drew their sword, it meant their opponent was fierce indeed to adapt to their Kido prowess and fight them on even ground. He could not compete with that.

"That won't work to cure you?" Law questioned curiously, again dragging the small figure from his memories.

"I can't exactly heal what's not there." Toshiro sighed in response.

"And you think you can, Captain?" Penguin turned to the stoic doctor.

"For now it's a theory, but the unique circumstances of a Nobody and Heartless along with my ability to manipulate such things as a heart makes it a possibility. But that's all it is at the moment."

"I doubt putting him back together is as easy as pulling out a heart though." One of the other pirates scratched their head.

"So far the most challenging operation has been that crazy Straw Hat almost getting fried, and he wasn't split in two."

"Straw Hat was indeed a tricky surgery, but not impossible, I wouldn't have risked going straight into the crazy war otherwise." Law responded

"What?" Toshiro tilted his head slightly, ignorant of the events being talk about. He remembered a Straw Hat being mentioned, a rival crew as of now allied together against the insanity in the New World, but this war and said Captain having to be saved by Law was new information to him.

"Basically a big name pirate was about to get publicly executed, and not only was he part of the infamous Whitebeard's crew, who never abandons anyone under him, he was Straw Hat's brother. Between the huge force under Whitebeard and a crazy collection of people Straw Hat broke out of the best prison in the world they started a war with the Marines to try and save Ace, the guy being executed." Penguin explained.

"Sadly it didn't work, and not only did Whitebeard get beat and had his powers stolen by that dirt bag Blackbeard like we mentioned a few weeks back, but Straw Hat got seriously charred by one of the Admirals with his lava power. Captain kept him alive but oh man that kid was never the same." Shachi finished.

"I can hardly blame him, going through all that to save a loved one and failing." Toshiro sighed. "Sounds like a friend I know, though. And if he's anything like that one, I'll bet he's never been stronger."

"Not to mention even more hard-headed." Law scoffed and a few of his men chuckled.

"Captain wanted to break the alliance some time ago once he got what he wanted from them, but Straw Hat refused and now we're just kinda stuck with them." Volpe whispered with a snicker to the Nobody.

"They're still useful, Straw Hat-ya has an uncanny luck to make it through anything." Law defended. "I plan to ride on that luck until the end and then fight him fair and square for the One Piece."

"But Papa, I thought you and Luffy were frie-" Dextra was cut off as Law quickly covered her mouth with his hand, a scowl on his face.

"I can barely call him an ally half the time he's beyond irritating and irrational." The surgeon huffed.

"Isn't that just cause he hijacked your plan on Dressrosa and made it come out even better?" Another man poked, testing their luck.

A seething glare and they all shut up, though not without some smirking and stifled laughter. Toshiro recognized the pirate's attitude, not about to sound like he had friends or show any attachment. He himself had done that too often, it was a long time before he felt comfortable with this companions to call them friends, and even with the mess he was in…he was more than grateful for them. His expression fell a bit as he remembered that he'd abandoned these so called friends out of his own fear. He wouldn't blame them if they no longer trusted him…

"So how powerful is this goth lady?" The trainer, Volpe, got his attention.

"Fairly powerful. Beside her ability to summon Heartless to her and command them, she has some powerful fire and other magic, and I heard she can turn into a dragon."

"Not the worst we've heard of, but the summoning part would be hard to deal with."

"She can also be fairly convincing, she's lured many into the darkness to become her Heartless and works with many a villain to consume the worlds in darkness."

"Okay yeah she sounds kinda bad, no one we know is so powerful to take down planets…"

"It's not her, to be fair, but her Heartless, and she's always a little ahead of the game. She was defeated once even…but somehow came back, so getting rid of her isn't all that easy."

The pirates were looking increasingly concerned about the issue as he continued.

"I won't let her lay harm to this vessel or anyone on it, she's got a silver tongue but she also knows she can't beat me right now, I'm sure she's adjusting to this place like I am and can't make any more big moves after that Heartless we saw, the most she has right now is talking." Toshiro promised to them all.

"Hope you're right, we've got plenty of problems already."

The conversation fizzled out after that, but the tension remained as they waited for the signal to move on. They surfaced periodically for fresh air, thankfully catching no other signs of boats, only the still smoking remains of the desert town. Toshiro was always watching when they breached, his small frame standing lightly atop the mast, trying to avoid looking at the ruined island, avoid thinking about how many lost their lives to feed the power of that monster he'd had to fight. As powerful as the people of this world were, normal human beings…they wouldn't have had a chance against Maleficent.

Finally, their anthromorphic navigator gave word that the log pose had changed and they had a new course. Relieved to be moving on after half a day of waiting and watching restlessly, the yellow submarine made to leave quickly. Since nothing could be salvaged after the Heartless spewed lava over the area, they had to find a new place quickly before their supplies ran out. They were no stranger to destroyed towns and villages, and definitely not to death, but seeing the obliterated town and knowing something…otherworldly had done that. Well, it set them all on edge seeing it. This wasn't a pirate raid, they could fight that, this was something much bigger than them. For once they felt bad for the people lost.

Even with the island now shrinking on the horizon behind them, that tension and worry didn't dissipate completely…and Toshiro could hardly blame them. They acted aloof enough about what he was, but he was no stranger to their behavior, how they began to avoid him, eye him warily, speak a lot more carefully than before. A few truly didn't seem to mind and were the same as always, alert around him but otherwise friendly, same as when they thought he was a child with wild powers. He still tried to keep to himself to avoid any bothersome interactions with them. They were essentially stuck with him now, but he wasn't surprised that they acted as if they wanted nothing more than him off their ship.

One of the few that weren't tip-toeing around him, however, decided he would push a little further about their guest. A curious Puffin found the small figure outside enjoying the wind as they sailed, balancing rather easily on the railing of the deck. Toshiro turned to look at the nurse briefly to show he knew he was there before turning back to the ocean in front of them. Law was as usual when surfaced laying against Bepo as the bear also enjoyed the air and held onto his maps, preferring to do his job outside for now while providing his Captain a pillow. The small twins were outside as well, tinkering with some new items with Shachi and Penguin, Daniel just watching curiously from the side. They would all be witness as Puffin's curiosity unfolded something preferably left unknown.

"So, uh, that witch lady mentioned someone that sounded really dangerous. Who's Aizen?" The young man questioned with an innocent tone. He simply wanted to know about this stranger that singlehandedly fooled an army of undead warriors.

A sharp chill tore through the air that sent a sudden shock through all those on deck, causing heads to turn towards the white-haired figure on the railing. Toshiro hadn't physically moved, but the air felt so suddenly cold they could FEEL that anger triggered by that name, shown in the pitch black frost running over the railing beneath the figure as well. Law recognized the feeling from when he'd asked about Aizen before, though since he'd never known the name at the time, had spoken of him distantly with Toshiro days back, it hadn't been so…harsh a reaction. Since Maleficent had spoken of him he'd correlated this Aizen to the man that had caused Toshiro so much pain before and watched warily as Puffin nervously waited for a response.

"Is-Is he going to come here too? It sounded like he was pretty strong, and she kept throwing his name at you, like you'd dealt with him before. Who is he?" The nurse tried again.

"Someone you better hope you never meet." The Nobody's tone was icy, harsh…very much a warning to stop now. "He's dangerous, clever…"

"Damn you sound like he stole your girl or something." Shachi couldn't help but snicker off to the side, trying to maybe lighten the mood for those near him. He only hoped it was just the kids and his friend who had heard him.

But Toshiro heard him too and did not appreciate the snark. Almost reflexively his hand swung back and ice raced across the deck, black spikes stopping moments before it reached the one who spoke. No harm was done, but Shachi couldn't say the same for his clothes, shaking on the ground as menacing icicles remained inches from his body. It had happened so fast, the engineer could only think of how he could have already been dead, his thoughts a mess as he tried to recollect himself enough to know he was indeed just fine.

"You better stop this now." Law scowled, on his feet and hand on his blade. Toshiro could forget the agreement if he was going to threaten his crew, dangerous Death God or not. He wasn't sure what would spark such a reaction but he sure as hell wasn't going to let it slide.

"Then never mention that name to me again." Toshiro's response was equally demanding, teal eyes turning back with a sharp glare, threatening pain to anyone who tried to ask him about Aizen again. "Of all the people that seem to be after me, you better hope it's not his face you see next, because if he was to escape, then no matter how much I want to tear him to pieces for what he's done there would be no hope for this world."

"Sh-shit, man, what DID he do?" Penguin asked, more out of fear from Toshiro's reaction than actual curiosity. "Shachi just made a joke…"

There was no response to this, just a scoff and then the small figure disappeared from sight. Where…they honestly weren't sure, as once the ice was removed and everyone returned inside to escape the sudden cold outside, they could not find him again. Dextra, ever helpful for her Papa, was all over the ship trying to catch him, but he was very good at avoiding her, until his presence became hidden altogether, just like when they'd first found him on the island. At least Law knew he was on the ship, so he had Dextra cease her search. They were submerged before the Nobody hid himself so completely, he couldn't go anywhere else now.

"He'll return when he's cleared his head, I'll confront him about what happened then." He told her when she argued. "Forget about Aizen for now, that's obviously not a topic he wants us to know about, all I care about is that he knows not to threaten my men like that again."

"Didn't you see the shadows, Papa?" The eagle girl questioned, less combative this time. When her Captain raised a brow she continued. "I think he remembered something really bad, the shadows came out for a moment after that, that's why the ice was black. When he's himself it's dark blue, remember?"

"Sharp eyes as ever, Dextra." Law looked impressed. "No, I didn't see that, was a little more worried about Shachi…"

"I was too…that was really scary, but I don't think he meant it. Aizen must have done something really horrible to him…like Doflamingo did to me, Papa."

Law frowned at the thought. Thinking of what Doflamingo had done to his little girl made HIM upset, if it was anything like that he could sympathize with Toshiro, but that didn't mean he'd let the Nobody off the hook for almost spearing one of his best engineers. What kind of Captain would he be if he let some mysterious guest get away with almost murdering one of his own crew, and a close friend at that… Toshiro may be powerful, but he had to understand who was boss on this ship, and that he couldn't just do as he pleased without consequences.

"He'll come back when he's ready, so let's leave him be for now." And that was the end of that.

It stayed that way until it was just about time for everyone to head to bed, things quieting down in the galley, card games finishing up, dishes being finished, yawns going around. The door opened, ignored at first until silence settled in, curious stares going around at the odd silence only to join in at who walked in.

Toshiro walked with purpose straight to Shachi, the engineer looking confused and a little nervous. The smaller figured refused to look up at first, before with a heavy sigh he bowed to the pirate, Shachi's brows rising up in surprise.

"I'm sorry for earlier today." Toshiro said to him. "It was…out of my control, but cannot be excused. Please forgive me."

At his own table looking over stock papers, Law watched approvingly. It would seem he didn't need to say anything to the Nobody…he still would, but good to see their guest wasn't so prideful as to act like he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Uh…yeah, I guess. I mean, I didn't die." Shachi finally replied, scratching at his head. "I guess I'm sorry too for pissing you off in the first place. Glad we're on the same side, yeah?" He laughed nervously.

Toshiro stood back up and gave a tiny little nod, glad to have that over with. He'd acted out of hand, he knew that, so even if the pirate had said something insensitive, he should have been better about controlling his powers. Hence, he knew an apology was necessary on his part.

"Let's just forgive and forget." Shachi held his hand out for a shake. Toshiro looked at his hand oddly. "What, never done a handshake before?"

"I've been to enough places I know what it is, it's just not usual where I'm from." The Ice Nobody shot back, taking his hand for a firm shake, then let go.

"What weird things do your people do?"

"Bow."

"Sounds lame." Penguin laughed.

"It's professional."

"So's a handshake if you do it right."

Toshiro just rolled his eyes and let it go, they were being rowdy men after all, no point arguing mannerisms with them. He'd done what he wanted to do and turned to leave once more, the galley filling back up with idle chatter. There were some jabs at his 'retreat' but he just shrugged back and left, and let him leave they did, some curious comrades asking the engineer what that was all about and laughing at the tale. Things seemed to be smoothed over now, Law could live with that.

SO yeah, from now on i'm hoping to do two updates a week until I catch up to what I have. I know one or two of you have requests, but once again I will remind you I have already written a LOT of this so there's not much that can or will change just because someone asks. I already have the course for this story planned out, so please tuck your hands and feet inside the vehicle and enjoy the ride.