So I edited a few points within the story, mostly having to do with Leanne, so if you don't feel like rereading the chapters again, I'll give a basic run down here.
First: Leanne's first gun, the Jackal one, is now called a flintlock. I chose this one because I looked up what types of guns pirates would use and it said that flintlocks were it. Though that is only what the article said.
Next: If people found it weird that I used "small brunette" too much, well I fixed that, too. I stopped using it at the end of chapter three since it would be weird for Leanne to be called a marksman when she had no gun. Though, I'm still hesitant of using the work marksman because it's for men, and Leanne is clearly not a man, and markswoman just sounds weird in my opinion.
Third: When Leanne gets her new guns, I changed it to a Queen Anne pistol (and she only gets one rather then two), which is a type of flintlock. I don't know if its the best choice, I don't know much about guns, but it said that it was made for with the purpose for a faster reload, and Leanne needs a gun like that. But what really drew me to it was because it was also said to be very expensive to make, which I thought would work since the marines probably put a lot of money in good weapons, though I don't know if the Queen Anne is the best of the best of flintlocks.
Lastly: Sorry for the grammer errors. As a human, I miss then. As a writer, I'll fix them.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, but OCs are mine.
Chapter 6: Crew without a Captain.
The month on the small charting ship was a long one, a very long one.
Jacob and his former employees went into a panicked frenzy when they found out who Drake was. They looked at him with wide eyed terror and it seemed as if they were about to abandon ship, taking their chances against the harsh, icy waters of the North Blue rather then spending the rest of their time under the command of a former Marine gone pirate.
But for some reason, they all relaxed when they saw Leanne stand at Drake's side. Maybe they thought that since a deadly traitor of the government was with a small, weak looking woman, that he wasn't that bad and had a bit of a heart left. So, they slowly started to accept him as their new captain, since they didn't have anywhere to go anyway; a majority of them were considered criminals back at their home. They listened to Drake when he gave, orders, Jacob was having trouble stepping down from his boss status though. But on thing the former men of Sea Charts was they weren't thrilled when Leanne would order them.
They thought she was the first mate, and they didn't like being ordered around by a woman who was probably younger then them, and just a woman in general. But, Leanne was under the mind set that they would all take up chores on the ship for the time being since there were only eight of them and that was how it was like with the lower ranking Marines back in her old life. They each took a share of chores and if someone's not pulling their weight, tell them to. Simple.
But the former employees of Sea Charts would linger around before they went off to do what she asked, or grudgingly go off and work when they saw Drake nearby.
Leanne just thought they didn't want to do the chores, but Drake could see it wasn't like that, and that offended him since he was planning on making her his first mate, once they got a bigger crew of course.
"What are we going to do?" Jacob questioned his captain while they walked along the smoothly paved streets of the new city they docked at.
Drake looked over the short brick buildings to see the towering camouflaged walls: it was another Marine riddled island due to the fact that it was the last one before the Grand Line. He was planning on traveling there, but not in the little fishing boat Jacob called a ship that had seven men plus Leanne. This was his last chance to get more men and a better ship, and he was going to get what he needed, no matter what.
"We need to look for more men and a suitable ship for the Grand Line." Drake replied.
"Grand Line?" Jacob's eyebrow rose. "So you're one of those pirates that wants One Piece, too?"
"Yes." Drake admitted shortly.
"If that's your goal then finding a crew and better ship would be beneficial, but where do we even look first?" Jacob asked his captain with rising curiosity.
Drake smirked lightly towards his navigator. "The bar of course."
Jacob rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. Of course the bar, since that's where all the pirates love to hang out, along with bounty hunters. That was just the prefect place in the navigator's mind.
Jacob's nose scrunched up as he went walking through the open door of the seedy, dimly light bar as the stench of stale beer and strong whiskey stung his nose like a bee to his skin. But he was surprised at what he saw, and what he heard. Jacob was thinking we would see rowdy pirates with tavern whores on their laps, drinking ale by the gallons while singing drunk tunes until the rafters shook for dust to rain down. But instead, he saw a grim mood filtering into the air as a group of feathered hat pirates sulked over untouched beers.
"Captain?" Jacob leaned over, whispering to Drake. "What's with this?"
Drake just looked over the pirate crew with curious eyes until he saw the bartender at his post behind the counter housing all the liquors and alcohol. He strolled over to the bar, passing by all the tables filled with moping pirates and he slipped into the stool with Leanne taking the seat next to him and his small crew huddled close behind him like a protective shield. His elbows leaned against the hard table top of the bar, he looked over to the bartender.
The old man cleaning a clear glass looked nervously over at the pirate captain, feeling the stare boring into his eyes, unsure of why the man looked like he wanted to kill him. "Is there something you need, sir?" The bartender asked nervously while walking over hesitantly to the man sitting at his bar.
"Can you tell me about the crew that's here." Drake asked calmly.
The bartender started to fidget back and forth on his feet, feeling the pressure under the man's gaze; though his words were calm, the look in the man's eyes were giving a glare of death. Usually, he would put up a price for information of any sort, but something deep down in his gut told him that asking this man about money was a bad idea, a very bad one indeed. "They are the Feathered Doves Crew, well, they used to be that is."
"Used to?" Drake's brow rose slightly in interest.
The bartender nodded slowly. "The Marines caught their captain, hung him this morning and burnt their ship, too. Now the Marines are taking their sweet ole time with weeding out the rest of the crew, and I think you can see why." He looked over the depressed men with heads hung low of their pints of beer. "Looks like they aren't going anywhere anytime soon."
Drake glanced over his shoulder and saw the soulless men sitting at tables with clouds of darkness hovering above them, pouring out storms of sadness for the lost of their captain. He had to admit: he pitied them slightly. Losing an important person, one that they looked up to was a terrible thing to go through; he had been through it when he was with the Marines.
But, he was a pirate now and those days in the past were over. Pitying others was a bad habit to be drawn into. Plus, he could use this situation to his advantage. These men were now giving up on life while waiting for the marines to send them to their deaths, which was something he could change with a few choice words.
"What about the first mate?" He then asked
"The first mate?" The bartender repeated slowly, letting the words roll from his tongue in thought. "Ah!" his eyes brighten when the answer came to mind. "He's over there." He pointed to a man with short blonde hair that was covered by a large hat with an equally large feather attached to it. "That's Dublin Carter, former first mate of the Feathered Doves."
"I see." Drake said slowly, pushing away from the bar.
Leanne started to rise from her seat as well, but Drake placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Stay here." He told her shortly.
Leanne looked at him with confused eyes, but listened to him and flopped back down on the barstool.
Drake turned his gaze away from her and towards the ex-first mate of a disbanded crew.
The former crew didn't seem to take notice as he walked across the room, or they just didn't take the time to care as he made his way to the sulking ex-first mate, weaving his way passed tables filled with the dreary pirates. The ex-first mate sighed heavily, letting his shoulders rise and then fall dramatically as he rested his cheek in the palm on his hand. Then, he noticed the tall man with broad shoulders in a blood strained coat sit across from him at his empty table.
"Dublin Carter, correct?"
"Sadly." Carter replied with an empty stare in his green eyes.
"I heard what happen to your captain." Drake said calmly to him.
The ex-first mate's eyes flickered to a state of mournful pain at the mention of his dead captain, and another heavy sigh escaped passed his lips, letting his frown deepen.
"Are you just going to let the Marines do this to you?" Drake questioned with a bit of harsh tone in his voice.
Carter's depression snapped when the rough words were spoken, and he raised an eyebrow at Drake, with confusion and also in a mix of anger.
"Aren't you going to fight for your Captain?" Drake continued to press the questions upon the blonde and glared mildly. Drake knew that the Marines would just leave a body to hang in the gallows for days to show what would happen to other pirates, and he knew it would be longer on this island just because it was the island before the Grand Line.
Carter bit his lip, trying to hold his tongue as if he was torn with either listening to Drake or yelling at him, but then a small sigh calmed him down and he looked up at the pirate captain with a glare of hopefully revenge. "But how do we even do anything?" His words came out strong, easily hiding the cracks of emotion in his voice, but Drake could still feel the thickness laced in the ex-first mate's tone.
Drake looked him straight in the eyes, saying: "Follow me, and I'll help you avenge your fallen Captain."