CH 13: The Crew Expands!
Kanjiro's point of view:
Of all the bad luck! He'd had finally found a crew that wasn't a bunch of scumbags and they had to be captured by the marines already! Before they even left West Blue! The tall broad shouldered man tugged at one of his braids with a deep sigh as he considered the floating debris out in the bay and the young boy at his side. What to do now? His chance to get to the Grandline with honorable pirates had literally just sunk and he was left with a bunch of food he couldn't really sell for enough money to buy a boat. Plus he had a wet behind the ears kid on the run from his family to look after… He couldn't just leave the boy to fend for himself! The little tyke would go and do something stupid to try and prove himself and probably die.
The sudden feeling of eyes upon him pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced about and saw where the feeling was coming from: a small two mast schooner that wasn't the fastest nor the strongest but a decent ship. Not too many people on it either. In fact he could only see the one: a lean shifty looking fellow with a calculating look about him. He was soon joined by a taller woman, dark, broad shouldered with a head of bushy curls. Based on how she was dressed the lass was not a criminal; too clean looking, too open a face. The sly looking one that was a criminal or he'd shave his beard! Was the girl the same and just had an honest face to fool people with?
"Kanjiro, what're we going to do?" The blue haired boy next to him asked hesitantly as he looked up at the much taller man.
"Mm. Not too sure." Kanjiro noticed the two strangers seemed to be talking about them if he read the gestures right. "We can try to bust the crew out of prison but we'd have no ship to escape on. That's if we could even find where they are being kept. I know the prison ship is picking up people on the other side of the island at Palan city soon so we'd have to somehow free them today if it was possible. But there are only two of us so…" He sighed. Much as he would like to free the crew it wasn't like he was attached to them. He'd joined mere months ago and had only been accepted due to his skill with a blade and in the kitchen. Mostly for his cooking skills if he was going to be honest with himself. Much as he wanted to be the best with a blade, Kanjiro knew he was actually better with his fists. Not that he was going to let that stop him! He just needed more practice… "Try not to look too lost kid. We might not be so outta luck." The ginger saw the strangers head off their boat and start to approach them. "Depends on what those two want."
The teenager tried to sneakily glance where Kanjiro was looking but failed. "One of em looks … untrustworthy."
"That he does." Kanjiro smirked briefly before turning to face the approaching duo. "But he's not the leader… At least his body language says so. The lass is and she's got a lot more honest face than him. We'll just have to see if they're honest or thieves." The irony of worrying about thieves was not lost to him, considering that both he and the boy had joined a pirate ship. But he'd been around enough pirates to tell that there were many types who sailed under a jolly roger and not all were bad.
Jasmine's POV
As we approached I could tell that the tall ginger had certainly noticed Boulra and my conversation aboard the ship. Up close the teenager looked even more awkward and out of place: clothes too clean and new, the bright vivid colors declaring that he hadn't worked under the sun for too long. His hair was far too fluffy and clean: the sides of his head buzzed to leave a silky looking curly semi Mohawk falling to one side. He obviously had a lot of time to tend to his looks. Nervous body posture hidden beneath false confidence telling me he hadn't seen too much combat either. Folks who've fought often enough had this air about them, like they knew what they were doing. Like the big guy next to him! He was built like a brick wall with scars and an aura of don't-mess-with-me. One might be a keeper and the boy could always be trained!
"Afternoon." I greeted them as we got close enough. "Would you two be looking for a berth by any chance?"
"We might." The gingers voice was deep with no sign of aggression or arrogance which was a plus. "Depends on who's hiring and where they're going."
"Well. I'd be hiring. The names Jasmine. This here's Boulra." I introduced my quartermaster with a grin. "As for where we are going, eventually the Grandline. I've got a few stops down south before we leave West Blue. Mostly to find a crew and get used to them before I leave the safe zone."
"Kanjiro. This here is Kaito. You traveling for a reason?"
"Mostly to explore, I want to taste the different brews from around the world, go on adventures… eventually settle down and build a tavern ship when I'm old and brew and sell drinks from all across the world."
Boulra chuckled from next to me. At my questioning look he smirked; "Every time you say that I keep thinking it sounds like you are going to drink your way around the world."
"Hmm… It does doesn't it…" I thought for a moment before shrugging it away. "Well it's true enough." I looked back at the interested look on the big fellow's face. "We aren't pirates and I do not intend on becoming one. If I do run into people who can't accept that we are simply adventurers, I can always say I am a bounty hunter."
"Wait, you're a bounty hunter?" The little blue haired boy gave me a suspicious look.
"Well... not really? We got attacked while on the Casanova by a group of pirates and my companions kinda ducked out of the rewards since it turned out they all had bounties… so I got the acclaim of being the one to take down the pirates and now I am apparently a bounty hunter."
"She doesn't exactly keep up with the bounties though, so long as she doesn't get attacked she doesn't really care about the bounties." Boulra chimed in lazily
"So.. you don't mind that he's Bloody Brawler Kanjiro?" Kaito asked with narrowed eyes. Any response by us was cut off by the disgusted growl from Kanjiro.
"Brawler! I'm a bleeding swordsman not a brawler! See the large ass sword? Blind ass marines!"
"Least it… sounds cool?" I was shocked into silence for a while at his vehemence at his title. It was apparently an issue with him. I could understand actually; he was eternally stuck with a title he didn't like. But then why'd he get the bounty in the first place?
"Could be worse. Like Red Haired Shanks. Poor Shanks." Boulra chuckled softly. I got the feeling he'd never let Shanks live down his inglorious epitaph.
"So why the title of brawler if you're a swordsman?" I asked to interrupt Kanjiro's murderous grumbles.
"I may have got into one too many bar fights with marines. Bounty ain't much to be honest, only reason I've actually got it is cause I won my blade from a Marine Lieutenant. He was a sore loser and claimed I stole it instead of won it in a fair fight." Oh good! I had been worried that his title meant he was a murderer or something. But this was a political bounty! And since he was a swordsman that meant a fighter! Which I needed!
"So if it's not too much it'd be safe to have him on board in the Grandline… right Boulra?" I turned towards him. "You mentioned that the smaller bounties tend to only be distributed locally?"
"So long as we don't piss off the marines and give them an excuse yeah. Gotta be careful while in West Blue and make sure he isn't recognized when we pass through Port Town to Reverse Mountain but otherwise yah."
"I don't have a problem with the bounty then. What other skills do you have?" I turned back to the large broad shouldered pirate.
"Chef. I grew up helping my mum in her tavern and learned to cook." Kanjiro's hand landed on Kaito's head, "The kid here is just starting out. He knows how to run the riggings though and I've been teaching him what I can about the kitchen and sailing but my style of fighting requires more strength and size than he's got on him."
"I can fight!" Kaito pushed the hand off his hair and fluffed it back into placed. "Might not be as strong as you but I'm still good in a scrap! What about you?"
Chef, fighter, and sailor! Jackpot! Kid had a brain it seemed, asking what we did.
"Well, I'm the Captain, navigator and musician I guess if I have to list it all. Also the brewer. "
"Quartermaster I believe Jasmine called me." Boulra smirked at the swordsman's raised eyebrow. "I know where to get items for better prices and can keep her from being cheated. Captain's trusting."
"I like to give people a chance is all. Nothing wrong with that." I dryly responded before giving my offer to the two stranded pirates.
"So how about a trial run? You come with us down to Sealsburg then up to Dragon's Spine for the festival and if it doesn't work out I can pay you for your help and we part ways. Normally I would split any treasure found equally among the group but I'm not sure what I'll find in Sealsburg so I'll offer 10,000 beri at the end for each of you if this doesn't work out." I had that amount in my bank but I was going to need some more bounties to pay for supplies and stuff. That and 10,000 was a large amount for someone who hadn't been bounty hunting. I would have thought 10 grand was a lot until just recently! It ought to hold them over long enough to find another ship or job.
"Hmm." Kanjiro looked down at Kaito who gave a hesitant nod. "I'm aiming to become the greatest swordsman in the world so I'll be looking for fights. I'll do my best not to challenge marines but if they're a swordsman…" He shrugged as if to say 'what can you do?'
"If you're only looking for strong fighters I don't have a problem. My issue with pirates is that they often attack those who don't fight back." I certainly didn't mind him testing himself; it might get around that he was strong and deter people from attacking… or would attract people like Mihawk… hmmm….
"Agreed." Kanjiro gave a wide grin. "Took me forever to find the Flying Blade pirates. Those guys had a sword fetish but were honorable enough that I didn't mind sailing with them."
"They were the blade pirates! Ha!" I poked Boulra in the side.
"Flying Blade pirates… not just Blade pirates." He responded with an aggravated look. Seeing Kaito's confused look he explained. "We were sailing in when the marines were cleaning up the fight and saw the flag. Jasmine was wondering if all pirates were themed and suggested they were the Blade pirates."
Kanjiiro gave a loud booming laugh before agreeing. "Lots of pirates go for a theme. I used to hear groups drunkenly discussing what they'd be called and what sort of theme they wanted some days back in my mum's bar. Right- since we're crew now I guess we ought to load up the supplies I got. Hope you like meat cause that's what's in there."
"Hopefully more than just meat?" I hesitated a bit. Not that I disliked meat but…. Variety people!
"Some fruits and a few barrels of flour. The old crew really only needed some fresh supplies. I can go shopping for more… might need to in fact." He suddenly frowned and looked out to the bay. "My spice kit and cooking supplies just got kidnapped by marines… as did all our clothes and stuff…. Hmmmm."
"We can replace those. Let's get this situated and I'll give you a tour of the Lady Lark then we can go shopping some more." I looked over at Boulra. "Think we should find some more sailors?"
"I'll go looking to see if there's more that meets your requirement and see if there's a doctor while you give the grand tour."
With that we split ways and I helped Kanjiro and Kaito haul the supplies to the lower deck's storage. While there I showed off my baby; the brewery really impressed Kanjiro.
"You were rather serious about the grand tour of alcohol weren't you?" He said as he eyed the recently cleaned and bought gear.
"Yup, and I'll be trying to recreate the good stuff if I can. There's an island we need to hit in the Grandline called Sake Summit. It's apparently a mecha for brewers if my teacher was right. He grew up there so he ought to be right. Since you came with supplies I can probably spare the funds to pick up some brewing materials…. Must add that to the list!"
Kanjiro chuckled at my enthusiasm. "I think I can remember some of the drinks my mum used to make... I helped her out enough I ought to be able to figure it out."
"Oh! That'd be awesome if you could! I really only have 5 recipes right now. Two of which I've never made but have tasted and have some ideas on how to change them for the better."
Kaito really liked the bathroom: kid was really concerned about being clean! I told him that since our water purifier was rather old there'd be time limits on baths or showers but they were still happy with that. Apparently the technology onboard my ship was a bit advanced for this area! Maybe it was more common in the Grandline? The engine room confused them since they were both used to ships that sailed only by wind or by rowing. I told them that we wouldn't be using it unless we hit a calm patch or needed to go against the wind. It was for dire cases where we were running out of supplies and needed to get to land ASAP.
The kitchen area was nicely sized and Kanjiro immediately took inventory and began writing up lists. Lists of supplies he needed immediately, lists of things he wanted to get eventually, lists of how to improve or replace my kitchen supplies. He liked lists apparently.
That afternoon I spent a lot of money on my new crew; Kanjiro took advantage of the fact it wasn't his money to purchase some of the more expensive supplies… but since I would be eating the food made by them I wasn't objecting! Since we were headed far south and to an island in the coldest parts of West Blue, I made sure to pick up thicker clothing for all four of us. I ended up finding the Bank of Jones while they were looking over some weapons and quietly withdrew some cash to pay for it all since I'd used most of what I had on me.
While shopping I chatted with the two to try and get a feel for who they were. Kanjiro really was a brawler; for all he wanted to be a swordsman I could tell he really liked punching things, jumped into combat at the drop of a hat, drank way too much, and lacked the calm and watchfully aura of Mihawk or even Shanks. Kanjiro just gave off this aura of a tavern fighter. Kaito was a kid trying to leave West Blue to have an adventure and escape becoming a marine like his family wanted. Sweet kid really, but naive and a little too used to luxury. But he was willing to try and already knew how to sail so he wouldn't be much of a burden at all!
By the end of the afternoon, I felt like I'd gotten to know them a bit, assuaged Kanjiro's worry about the shifty looking Boulra and bought everything on my list. Boulra hadn't as good luck unfortunately. The marines had been busy in this area so while there were quite a few pirates in situations like Kanjiro and Kaito but none were ones Boulra would trust on my ship. No doctors either sadly; those were all in the capital with the nobles.
That night Kanjiro cooked a feast, and Boulra fleeced us all in cards. Since he won I told him he could do the dishes while I took first watch and escaped before he could wriggle out of it.
The next morning I realized something: it'd been a month since I entered this world. Or rather a month since I became Jasmine and began my journey. A lot had happened in one month; I'd made friends, fought a lot, grew, and already found and fought a legend. Not bad for one month!
And now I had the beginnings of a crew; a chef and swordsman as Shanks had insisted I would need. Now I needed a shipwright and doctor and I'd be set!
After I finished my morning stretches and kicked Kaito out of the shower so I could bathe we set sail.
South to Sealsburg!
It took us a day or two to get a routine down. Boulra and Kaito would run the riggings for the most part while I navigated and manned the wheel and Kanjiro cooked. Sometimes I or Kanjiro would swap with Boulra during high winds to make the most of favorable winds. In the evenings Boulra and I kept up our spars, on the second day out Kanjiro joined in.
After changing into a comfortable sparing outfit I grabbed my old staff and new naginata and headed out of my cabin. Kanjiro was finishing his clean up and looked up when I exited my cabin and entered the kitchen area.
"Going to do some training?"
"Yup! I've only used a bo staff before but figured I'd need something a bit more lethal if I want to survive the Grandline." I hefted the heavier naginata. "It's going to take a bit to adjust my styles to fit it but that's what crew are for right?"
"Heh. You went bounty hunting with a bo staff?"
"I'm not one for needlessly killing. With a staff I have a good chance at knocking them out instead of killing. But against the siren… I really should have had a blade."
Kanjiro shook his head as he pulled off his apron and hung it up, his braids clacking against each other at the sharp movement. "If I hadn't seen the pictures I wouldn't believe it; a siren! Here's hoping we run into more like that!" He chuckled and went to grab a large great sword. It wasn't the red and silver blade he'd won from that marine but was still a solid piece of metal. "I'll join you. This one's rather dull so it shouldn't be too lethal." He chuckled and I eyed it nervously. A brief appraisal made me even more wary:
Dulled Steel Great Sword: Dulled through long intense use, it's no longer great at cutting but can still break bones easily. 50 bludgeoning damage per hit.
My new naginata only dealt 35! And my belltone sword dealt the same damage as a dulled great sword! Just how much worse would it be if he sharpened it and added in style damages? This was going to hurt! 10 hits and I'd be out! Oh well; the XP would be worth it! And it might tell me what level he was at. One of these days I'd find out how to figure out someone else's stat sheet… I have a feeling it'd be Observation Haki that let me do that.
"Hey Boulra! Get ready for some broken bones!" I called out to the lean man who was currently showing Kaito some stances for his bo staff and blade. "You want to fight Kanjiro first or shall I?"
"Ladies first." He flashed a wry grin my way. "Kinda in the middle of some lessons here."
"Of course." I sighed and looked between each of my weapons. "Stabby or no stabby then?"
"No stabby." Kanjiro said as he loomed behind me. "You said you hadn't really gotten used to it so keep to the weapon you like the most right now." He hefted his five foot long blade in one hand and gave a rather feral grin. "Against a fighter like me you should focus on dodging. I can tell you now that I specialize in heavy hitting and breaking weapons."
"Hmm… That's true." I eyed the blade and handed my naginata off to Boulra to hold. "We'll go for five minutes or until one of us surrenders."
"What no bravado?" Boulra asked as he corrected Kaito's stance. "You had no problem taking Phil on."
"Phil wasn't wielding some big ass chunk of metal that could lop a limb off!" I took a stance as Kanjiro nodded in approval. "Besides, I get the feeling this will end up being a test of endurance for me and entertainment for Kanjiro."
The ginger laughed as he slid his right foot forward and crouched, sword held low with the tip pointed slightly upward. "If you go into a fight knowing you'll lose you don't have a chance!"
"I'm just being realistic." In past fights I'd always had terrain to use to my advantage except for Rotgut. The rest I had taken out with surprise and speed. I crouched, left foot forward and staff held in one hand to my right parallel with the ground. "Ready?"
"Ready." His voice dropped several octaves and that feral grin stretched a little bit.
For a few seconds we eyed each other before both moving forward at once. I held my staff ready for a wide swing as he simply lunged and stabbed the blade forward. Dodging to the right, I used my spin to add some extra weight into the swing. Kanjiro's arm flexed and blocked most of the hit as my staff bounced off. It honestly felt like I'd hit a stone wall! There was no give what so ever in his muscles!
"Mm. You hit a bit harder than expected." Kanjiro commented as he spun quickly, the steel blade slicing through the air in an impressive arc. Ducking down I tried to lunge under his reach and smash my staff into his extended knee but he was far nimbler than his heavy muscles suggested and he'd already spun and reset his footing. His blade completed its sweep and he swung it up then down in an impressive arc as I rolled sideways to dodge the powerful downward slash. Kanjiro's swings kept up, wide and strong and offering openings that he closed up instantly as I tried to take advantage of them. I couldn't tell if they were a fake or real and had to go for the ones I saw on the off chance I'd get a hit in. I did manage to get several lighter stabs in but he was unphased. I could see where the naginata would be useful; those stabs could have been lethal with it!
I overextended on one of my lunges in an attempt to get a crouch shot in (if there was one hit to make him flinch that would be it right?) when he took a step backwards and swung his blade down at my unprotected back with both hands. I did a clumsy dive to the side and rolled further to escape the follow up kick.
"Shit! My ship!" I winced when I saw the great sword lodged into the deck. I sprung out of my roll to take advantage of the momentary opening only for him to release his grip and turn to catch my swing in midair.
Kanjiro laughed as he caught my staff and flung it sideways. I too released my grip so I wouldn't be tossed aside and the staff skittered away. I landed in a crouch and tried for a leg sweep. His stance was insanely solid and he merely grunted as my kick connected with his knee. I had to dodge his barrage of punches. I recognized instantly these were not the blows of a martial artists but that of a brawler. Powerful but lacking the weight of the blade, these I could block. I was grateful for the few spars against Phil; they'd given me a bit of experience with fighting larger men with reach and muscle over me. Instead of a solid defense, I focused on redirecting his blows. Each time I still took damage though and I could practically feel the bruises forming! Blocking without a weapon merely reduced the amount taken rather than canceling it entirely.
I kept low to the ground, attacking his legs mostly, trying to weaken his footing and wear him out. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to where my staff had landed… while he had. As I stepped backward to dodge my foot landed directly on it and slid right out from under me.
I cursed as my balance left and I staggered backwards. Kanjiro took the opening, a strong left punch sliding under my blocking arms and impacting directly into my stomach. I almost puked then (why did we fight after dinner?) but managed to hold it back as his other fist came at me. That one I managed to partially block as I deliberately fell backwards on to the ground to escape the barrage of punches coming my way once again. The fist still hit me though: this time crashing into my elbow. The explosion of pain told me something was wrong with that arm.
"One second." I wheezed. My hand going to the elbow he'd hit. Please don't be broken! Kanjiro stopped instantly when he heard that. As this was a spar, I didn't want to continue even if I could… especially not if it made it worse!
"Not broken is it?" He asked curiously. As he watched me carefully prod the slightly swollen joint, I could spot that Kaito wasn't doing his katas and was instead watching the fight alongside Boulra.
"No. But I think that's it for me. I could fight on but…" I shook my head. "Not sure which is worse, you armed or unarmed!" I gave a laugh and gently tried to move the arm. The pain increased instantly when I moved it: yup, he'd done something to my arm.
Spar vs Kanjiro Loss
+30 exp
Wound received: Dislocated left elbow- 1 month to heal. Damage reduced by half when using this arm.
30 exp meant he was a higher level if I recalled right. Looks like he definitely was strong! Good thing he'd lost the blade during the fight.
Welp. Looks like my sleeping beauty feat would come in handy once more: hopefully that one month would be less! If it'd been broken I probably could have healed it faster with my bonesetter skill but did I actually want a broken elbow? Nope.
"Kanjiro, hold my arm for a second. I'm going to have to put it back into position."
"Dislocated?"
"Yeah… It'll take a while but it'll heal." I braced myself for the pain that I was about to inflict upon myself and took a deep breath. One quick extremely painful jerk and the bones ground back into place. "Probably need to splint it to remind myself not to use it too much." I sighed before looking up at Kanjiro. "Thanks for the spar! Next time I'm using my naginata!"
His hand patted my shoulder and he grinned. "I wouldn't have let go of my sword if you'd used that! Some of your strikes would have been more effective with it."
"Your turn Boulra!" I called out and he sighed.
"Right… This is going to hurt!" He muttered but grabbed both his staff and cutlass. "Same rules? Five minutes max or till a forfeit?" He asked Kanjiro who nodded as he went to pull out his great sword. Kaito came over with a small box in his hands to sit next to me.
"Here: I went to get it. Kanjiro's not one for holding back so… thought you might need it." It was one of the first aid kits I'd stashed about the ship.
"Thanks Kaito. Help me wrap it will you?" I put it in a small splint, enough to keep me from overextending or bending the elbow too much but not enough to stop me from using it if I needed too. If it got worse I'd put it in a sling but until then I wanted to keep some use of the arm. We watched as Boulra and Kanjiro started their spar; it was a lot more bloody than mine! Boulra started with the staff to get a feel for how Kanjiro fought but swapped to his cutlass after a minute when he felt confident enough to dodge Kanjiro's deceptively fast swings.
"Did you see a lot of sparring on your old ship?" I asked Kaito while we watched.
"Not really." He answered. "They were all very hardcore about fighting. All or nothing you know?" We both winced as Boulra barely blocked a side swing from the great sword that knocked him backwards several feet. At this point Kanjiro was bleeding from several gashes on his ribs while Boulra looked to be favoring his left arm.
"Kanjiro did his best to teach me some stuff but he had a lot of work to do in the kitchens keeping a large crew fed. I mostly helped him or ran riggings."
"What weapons do you know how to use?"
"Single handed blades, I prefer cutlasses or rapiers. I can shoot a pistol and rifle. I also know some martial arts and staff work." Boulra danced backwards and shook his head with a laugh as Kanjiro almost bisected him. Kanjiro seemed to be faster -or at least more vicious- as he got more wounds.
At four minutes Boulra was backed into the mast and forfeited. Kanjiro struck a victorious pose for a second before laughing and slinging an arm about the battered Boulra as they came over to us.
"Not bad! Not bad!" Kanjiro's freckled face was flushed and his eyes seemed to be glittering. The fights had gotten him quite excited and he was enjoying himself. "Going to need to work on your stances! My strength almost broke through your blocks several times!"
"With a sharped blade I'd have lost faster… I get the feeling you use that chuck of metal in spars deliberately right?" Boulra said as he slouched down next to me. Kanjiro looked amused and nodded.
"Yup. You can heal from broken bones but not from being cut in two! Come Kaito! Let's work on some of your exercises!" Kaito bounced up eagerly and took ahold of the gigantic blade that was almost as tall as him and started doing lifts with it. I could see his skinny arms trembling from here!
Boulra and I looked at each other and exchanged weary grins. "He's going to be a good addition to the crew." I said.
"Agreed. Also a good sparring partner. I'll have to start up my strength training again." Boulra sighed. It was not his favorite thing to do apparently.
"I'm going to try to increase my speed." I stood and stretched a bit. "Since I'll have to take it easy on the arm for a few weeks I can focus on my legs." Went off to the side to get started; I knew I'd be facing men like Kanjiro a lot on the Grandline so this time in the West Blue would be beneficial for all of us to train and get used to fighting different styles.
I ended up using a sling for my arm after all. Even with the bandages, I kept trying to use the arm so I bit the bullet and simply stopped using it. I did notice that my wound was healing faster the more I slept, much like the unknown status there was a bar next to it that was empty. Unlike the status, this one filled with green the more I slept: obviously it was tracking how healed the wound was.
I was very put out by this: how was I supposed to get stronger if I was out of combat training due to wounds? On the other hand it was realistic so I can't complain too much I guess. I didn't stay out of all the spars though: I insisted on being allowed to sparing a bit. It'd be training for when I got wounded and could only use one hand! There was one day where we all used no hands or our off hand and sparred each other like that. Training for when we were captured and tied up Kanjiro claimed. It was sweet of him to try and make it an equal footing for me so I could spar with them. Even with a handicap Kaito couldn't beat me but he was much younger than I was! To be honest, I was glad of that. If I couldn't beat a teenager with one arm tied behind my back I probably wasn't ready for the Grandline. The first duel with both our arms tied I won against Kanjiro and Boulra but then proceeded to loos once the larger man got used to the off balance feeling and used his greater weight to kick me down. I managed to avoid that fate with Boulra by being a bit faster and keeping out of his reach until I wore the clock down. Kaito commented it looked like a bunch of tall chickens fighting, the way we kept running around!
But for the most part I focused on navigating and sailing. I couldn't use my erhu with only one arm, but I could sing to make the time pass when we weren't rushing about adjusting sails to a changing wind. I had fun channeling some spirit into my voice as I sang some of my more stirring songs, getting used to my skill Inspire Dreams. It felt odd at first, like the power was tickling my throat while I sang but eventually that went away. I usually did this while the others were sparring, singing battle songs and the like much to their amusement.
Finally the air turned colder, signaling our approach of one of the coldest islands in West Blue. Each morning we woke up to a fog, delaying our trip until the sun and wind lessened enough for us to travel. Eventually the ocean got cold enough that icebergs began to appear, getting larger the closer we got to Sealsburg. As the waters became treacherous to sail through, a tall gleaming white spire loomed upon the horizon: we'd arrived at Sealsburg.
[Jasmine, Kanjiro, Kaito Bios have been uploaded]
Notes: Sleeping beauty reduces the time needed to heal by ¼ when you get a full night's rest. So instead of the 4 weeks (28 days) needed to heal completely Jasmine will be fine in 21 days (7 days is ¼ of 28) She also does gain +1 Speed from her diligent leg training as well as +20 stamina. For those of you who track those things lol
I went back and reuploaded Ch 12 after some edits and formatting corrections. I reread my last chapter to prepare for this one and found lots of issues and found out that Fanfic had done weird things to its format. Ah well... Least it's correct now.
Thanks again for all who read, faved, followed, or reviewed!
For xmas I commissioned R-no71 from DA to draw Jasmine! She is the lovely cover art now.
(tried to make the formating a bit more spacy... why won't it let me indent my stupid conversations? Word docs looks a lot nicer than this *sighs*)