Heart Pirates Week: Day 1: Jean Bart: Scars

The wooden deck of the Polar Tang wasn't that practical. Even submersibles needed some protection under the Red Line, and Silvers Rayleigh's coating lasted into the New World but a few pale gouges still scarred the grain.

Jean Bart hadn't been free for long when Law ordered them all to Marineford in the heat and heart of the Summit War, so when the crackle of ice converged on the Polar Tang as they fled the navy, rocking the whole of the submerging vessel, his weight and will at the front of the sub added extra mass to the extreme dive he attempted.

Helmsmen were usually the last on board and the lowest ranked and he acted without orders but acted with a captain and survivor's intuition. Straw Hat Luffy and Shichibukai Jinbei's surgeries proceeded above him, and the crew later filled him in on how steady Law was on his feet, in all situations, but especially against the twists and turns of the sub. They were not nimble vessels and Bepo had no balance at all. Strange, for a martial arts master.

Jean Bart loosened his grip on the steering wheel and the crew rested for a nano-second before some type of lightning replaced ice, cutting up the deck, even under water, and the Hearts prayed that the tinkle of glass was drinkware or light shades cracking because there were very few places it was safe to take on water at that depth. Law, scalpel in hand, eyes on his patient, ordered Jean Bart to increase speed and stay on course, thus validating the ex-captain's decision and exonerating him of all blame.

Heart Pirates Week: Day 2: Shachi: Submarine

The diving planes needed to be vertical on the conning tower when they broke through ice in the deep of the deepest North Blue. The Heart Pirates didn't have to do it often, but every now and then they liked to check that the Polar Tang was in good working order, and even in the most barren and isolated of places there were also a few outposts.

If they were in a pinch, supplies could be picked up if they'd signalled ahead, and they managed urgent repairs. Surface and airborne vessels also had a harder job detecting the sub when it moved through pack ice.

Orcas knew their way around ice too. Hungry, they grouped around seals or walruses resting on floes. Thick as the ice was, safe as the smaller sea mammals thought they were, the pods nattered, coordinated, divided and swam under the floes, causing a sub-surface wave that cracked the ice like static disrupting radio frequencies.

Sturdy ice. Not as dense as the weaker layers the Polar Tang detected and broke through, but sturdy nonetheless. The fear—a tethered dog barking furiously; a seal knowing there was nowhere to flee but the ocean—the fear as the great dolphins eyeballed them.

Even barely exposed, they crowded their prey, ten times, twenty times its height.

The Orcas pushed the floe, depleted in size, their quarry on top, into deeper, wider waters. And then swam under it again, quick and strong as a flash, causing the type of wave that tumbled their dinner into the water.

Submarines and shachi. Killing machines.

AN: I'm giving the Tang an older version of marine submarine, apparently, which used to have fairwater planes (diving planes) that could be vertical or horizontal, depending on use (I don't really know what I'm talking about. Haha). AND, the US navy term is fairwater planes for the diving planes, and fairwater maybe should be used rather than conning tower! BUT, Law isn't US military and neither am I, and this is just a quickish few paragraphs about predators breaking up the ice.
shachi is also deliberately lower case, cos' I'm using it to indicate the animal here.

Heart Pirates Week: Day 3: Penguin: Snow

Snow blanketed Swallow Island nine months of the year. Shachi and Penguin took good care of the few thicker jackets and pants they had, especially after the death of their parents.

Even though the chill nuzzled their ankles, and wear ate at their scarves and coats, and their shaking fingers fumbled with laces knotted in all the wrong places, Shachi's aunt and uncle replaced their wards' clothing once in an exceptionally very cold blue moon, and they had to work for it.

If Shachi and Penguin had succeeded in knocking out Bepo, they might've gone a step further. The Mink had enough fur to keep them both warm.

When the Polar Tang surfaced near a winter island, the puckered line of reattached muscle, sinew, bone and skin along Penguin's upper arm ached. A blessing of ruptured choices. Law had given him his life and more when no-one else had cared. The coldest of climates grew the warmest of hearts.

Day 4: Ikkaku: Repair

Ikkaku's brain was in goddamn need of repair. Brain cells. Did she have any left? Synapses misfiring on all four poorly aligned cylinders, she groaned and ran a hand across her face, then tried to block out the sun streaming into the room. She tapped the bedside table for her headband and instead landed on something soft. And human. And breathing.

If only her head didn't hurt so much, she'd lift it and see who was next to her and why morning light lit the sub. Had she crawled under the tarpaulin on the deck again, mistaking it for her blue bed cover?

"Water," the body, yes, body, next to her said.

"Hmmm?"

"Water." The body faced away from her, but remained close. "Other side of the bed. Put some water there for you."

Ah.

"Had a good time, right?" A hand reached back and waved lazily. "Last night."

Ikkaku guessed she had. It'd been quite the challenge.

She fumbled for the water, hand tapping around the other side of the bed. Ikkaku was no slouch, but she'd have to up her game if she was ever to match Nami, shot to shot.

Day 5: Clione: Touch

What can I say? it was touch and go, y'know? That Straw Hat had an ice cube's chance in hell of surviving stuck out like dog's balls. We can breathe underwater—the Hearts—most of us. Not Captain. But all part fish, sea critter, snow beast, y'know, water's like our second skin, our filter.

Some can only hold breath for as long as it takes to catch a wading insect, but others go deep. Ikkaku's got crazy long range. Maybe why she told me not to state the fuckin' obvious so many times. Geez. What a pain.

Don't get me wrong, nuh-uh. Was real pleased that Ikkaku-pod was right but someone's gotta tell it how it is. One of them guys with one of them fruits tumbles that deep…Oof. You ain't seeing 'em again. But Mugiwara pulled through.

Captain's right. Straw Hat's crew has gotta be chugging some kinda miracle juice.

Day 6: Uni: Home

As at home with a polearm as a pair of knives, Uni was grateful they'd made it to Onigashima in enough time to see the Whitebeard 16th Division commander, Izou, in battle.

Twirling and dancing, guns a-blazin', taking down one asshole pirate after the other, his combat was poetic

Uni was also at ease with a weapon in either hand, and they weren't just for show. Place a knife in either palm and one blade or the other would meet its target if he wanted it to.

Izou's ties with Wano were a mystery, but it'd been an honour to fight beside him twice, even if it was from the sidelines the first time. One of the samurai they'd transported to Onigashima was his sister. She survived.

Monkey D. Luffy had gone to Marineford to save his brother, a sworn sibling of the Whitebeard crew. Whitebeard's crew descended to free him. Portgas D. Ace. The eldest always clearing a path for the youngest. The Polar Tang on standby to ensure their safe journey.

Day 7: Bepo: Lost

Nothing could beat Bepo's sorrow at losing his chonmage. Sure, sure, Kin'emon had dressed them in kimono, and the Hearts—bored but dextrous with all kinds of sharps—pintucked and personalised the hell out of them.

And they'd had enough in the coffers to purchase older kimono and clothes, and repurposed the material to match the design Kin'emon's magic had spun (carefully folded, now, in the tansu the Hearts kept in a room with a controlled atmosphere).

But, no matter how Bepo tried, he couldn't grow his hair out long enough to tie up securely into a ronin topknot. He didn't really have hair in that way. (He'd tried to grow it all through their time in Wano).

Just outside of Winner Island, apparently a disease, some kind of bug, grew out Bepo's hair (and boobs), and for a second there on the Polar Tang he held hope that he'd be able to tie his hair back into the fierce topknot that struck fear in the hearts of his enemies on Wano.

Captain, spoilsport as always, changed himself back from a similar curvy form with a strong will and use of haki (somehow spreading antibodies that left them all the same as it ever was). Not to worry, Bepo had his Wano bounty poster, and there were more important things to worry about, like the guy at three o'clock aiming a gun at Captain.

Day 8: Hakugan: Broken

Hakugan's family flew in from the deep north, more than a few islands across, along with the rest of the flock to spend winter in the warmer North Blue temperatures. There were only a few places in the North Blue warmer than the deepest north in winter, although not by much, but at least the geese could crack the ice on the water if they needed to forage, and it didn't always freeze over.

Young snow geese stayed with their parents for a year or two, and some days in the region were sunny, and it was fun for Hakugan to swim with his family in the lakes and along the rivers. Fun to pick at the harvested and unplanted rice fields for insects and grubs when the snow was light on the ground.

Others were hungry too though, and a splash in the water one day caused the flock to rise into the sky and cracks hollowed the air, leaving Hakugan's ears ringing with pain, and one, two, four, six of their members plummeted to the ground, red spreading across their feathers. His mother fell, but into the water. She paddled away.

They nested in a protected area, hunters should be nowhere near. Later he found her sheltered in an inlet, away from the eyes of park-goers and other wildlife. One wing flapped and she hopped across the water to Hakugan. She couldn't lift the other. The bullet had clipped the wing, and the fall had broken its bones.

Before he joined the Hearts, Hakugan visited her every season. Unable to take to the skies, she waited for the flock's return year in, year out.

A/N: The English Wikipedia page on Snow geese is a bit misleading, and not necessarily that informative above the distribution of Snow geese (Hakugan).

This is in translation, but from the Japanese Wikipedia:
Hakugan is one of these type:

A. c. hyperboreus snow geese
It breeds in northern Canada, Alaska , Wrangel Island , and eastern Siberia , and migrates southward to western North America to overwinter in the winter. They fly to Japan on rare occasions to spend the winter (winter birds).

I didn't realise that over-wintering in Japan was so rare. I used to see them often and it was always a delight to witness the flock arriving from their long journey.

PS: I also read that the helmsman is traditionally a job held by the newest addition to a submarine crew, at least in the U.S. navy. Jean Bart had the position before (and probably still holds it), but I wonder if Hakugan joined after him.

Day 9: Law: Smile

Sumire. 菫。Violet or Viola. A common weed useful for colour, garnish, flavouring and seasoning.

Aconite, Aconitum, Monkshood, Wolfsbane—same flower, different names—carried the traditional characters for violet too. One edible, one not.

Aconite, one of the three most poisonous plants in the north and nearby regions.

Spear tips and arrow heads were dipped into Aconite's poison for hunting across the lands. Sumire was not quite a SMILE, but close enough when Doflamingo, Caesar and Kaidou were involved—inverting the helpful and hopeful into the harmful.

Doflamingo smiled while he caused others to grin and bear it. Perhaps cruelty was nature. Volcanoes bubbled with sulphur and toxic gases, skin dappled white. Unlike striped hornets, poison didn't always let itself be known.

A/N: Playing a bit here. Violet or Viola (and some variants of) in Japan are usually depicted in the katakana: スミレ (su-mi-re), and that katakana can kinda be read in Romaji as (su-mi-le) [because /l/ and/r/ are interchangeable, which can kinda be read as smile, although not pronounced. There is a yakitori shop called スミレ and which also carries the name Smile. Anyhoo, sumire also has a kanji: 菫 and this same kanji is sometimes used for the very poisonous aconite (Monkshead, Wolfsbane) 菫. Hence, I'm drawing a long bow.

Final A/N:
The Heart Pirates Week ran from April 6-14 on tumblr, before major current canon events.