A/N: And we're back :)
Chapter 6: Sailing and Sparring
Reverse Mountain was a sight to see.
Or at least Harry thought it would be, through the fog. The sky was dark despite the fact that the sun rose two hours ago, and it looked like a storm was perpetually brewing in the area. The wizard wondered if it would start pouring before they get there. He hoped not as it was difficult to make exciting memories when the atmosphere was all dreary. He had nothing against rain – it was stereotypically nostalgic of the United Kingdom after all – but colors were just duller and details blurred in the rain which even a pensieve had difficulties clearing up.
"Well, Addagator?" Shanks called out. "Will it rain today?"
Navigator Addams scribbled a few equations as he crudely measured the clouds' movement and the rocking of the ship. "It'll start thundering in about an hour, Captain," he concluded.
"Awesome!"
Harry raised his eyebrows in interest. "Do you like the rain?"
"Of course!" Shanks replied with a grin. "There's nothing quite as dramatic as a storm when approaching Reverse Mountain. Sometimes I wish I had a Visual Den Den Mushi to record it all, with the lightening flashing and the thunder booming, rain falling so thick you can barely tell where the sky ends and the sea begins."
"How incredibly poetic, Shanks. Did you hit your head earlier?" Harry teased.
Shanks scowled and stuck out his tongue in reply.
"Well, it's not that rain wouldn't be welcome, I suppose," Harry concluded, "since I'm pretty sure you're the type that would look incredibly sexy when soaking wet. By the way," Harry continued, ignoring Shanks' gaping expression, "what are these Den Den Mushi things I keep hearing about?"
Shanks continued to gape, but now for a different reason.
"Kami-sama above, is that home island of yours a cave or something? You must have lived under a rock to have never seen a Den Den Mushi."
"Well," Harry started, "does a castle built of ancient stone count?"
"Really?" Shanks asked excitedly. "That's so cool! You have to take me there one day!"
"Shanks, the Den Den Mushi?" Harry prompted with an amused expression. Really, the pirate captain could be such an adorable child sometimes.
"Oh, right." Shanks dug into the inside of his shirt and pulled out a polka-dotted snail shell, about half the size of his palm. Looking closer, Harry saw that the snail was still in the shell, as well as sporting a disturbingly humanoid face.
"Er, what's it for, then?" Harry asked.
"Uh, well, lots of things, I guess," Shanks explained, a little lost as to where to begin. "This is a Baby Den Den Mushi, so its range is pretty short, but I can call other people with a Den Den Mushi on it. Visual Den Den Mushi transfer images onto a screen and I think the marines have the technology to record that stuff now. The White Den Den Mushi mentioned yesterday is one that calls others like this Baby, but they're really rare and valuable because they disrupt attempts at wire-tapping by other Den Den Mushi. Your Wrackspurt still worked, though, so that's kind of awesome," Shanks grinned.
"Is it," Harry paused, wondering how to phrase his question, "alive?"
"Of course," Shanks replied. "How could it talk if it was dead?"
"Talk?" Harry asked, slightly alarmed by the concept of a snail talking.
"Yeah, when we call others, the Den Den Mushi delivers the message by speaking it. How else?"
Harry shook his head. It was, in a disturbing way, similar to the use of patronuses by the Order during the war, only less secure and apparently more common. This had potential for exploitation, actually. It seemed that the white snails were trusted for secure transmission, and people had a tendency to spill important information under the belief of security. If Harry could just bug a few of them belonging to high-ranking officials, who knows what kind of secrets he could discover?
A drop of water fell on the Baby Den Den Mushi, which emitted a squeak before retreating into his shell.
"Rain!" Shanks yelled, shaking Harry's thoughts away from his plotting, "and we're close. Come watch, Harry. There's nothing quite like a pirate's first look at the entrance into the Grand Line!"
In the distance, the silhouette of a large wall loomed over the ship as the clouds gathered threateningly. Somehow, this little ship was supposed to travel over it.
The world is divided into four quadrants named after the four cardinal directions, Addams had explained, with the Red Line – a large mountain range – circling the globe vertically, and the Grand Line – the fifth ocean – circling the globe horizontally. Right now, we're in South Blue and in order to get into the Grand Line, we could either sail directly north into it, or travel up Reverse Mountain.
The ship was sailing faster though there was little change in wind speed. In fact, the sails had been taken in completely and the masts were bare. Looking over the railing, Harry could see that the ocean itself was rushing forwards, pulling the ship along with it towards a yet unknown destination, shrouded by fog. A small light, probably from a lighthouse, was struggling to do its job and direct the way to Reverse Mountain.
While normally it seems a better idea to just sail north rather than bother going in a circle and climbing a mountain in a ship, most people choose the latter. The reason for this is that the Grand Line is bordered on both sides by strips of sea known as the Calm Belts. As the name implies, there are no currents, either wind or sea. If this isn't bothersome enough, the Calm Belt is home to all manner of Sea Kings who could swallow us whole like a grain of rice.
A channel of water cutting into the mountain became visible. It looked like a log flume ride except the water was traveling up. The entrance was marked with a series of rectangular arches and Harry barely had time to wonder who put them there when the rushing currents dragged the ship faster and faster until they practically flew up the waterway.
"Well done, men!" Shanks yelled out, "Straight through the center!"
The top of the mountain grew closer and closer, but the water, if anything, sped up faster and faster. The ship shot up past the end of the channel, hovering in the air for whole seconds as momentum and gravity battled out with a flash of lightening. The rumble of thunder washed over the crew as gravity won and the ship was sent downwards, building up speed again.
The Grand Line is a sea of mysteries. To residents of the four Blues, it is known as the Pirate's Graveyard because as many as half the hopeful outlaws die trying to get in and another half die before even reaching their first island. The Grand Line is home to giants, fishmen and mermaids, carnivorous plants, and rogue Sea Kings. It is in the Grand Line where Devil Fruit that grant supernatural powers grow, where slavery and cannibalism are still practiced ways of 'civilized' life, and where the greatest treasure in the world – One Piece – is hidden.
The fog was clearing up though the clouds continued to rumble above. The pirates cheered as they rode with the waterfall, the wide expanse of ocean opening before their eyes.
"The Grand Line," Harry whispered aloud to himself. What wonders would he see there?
"Doctor Crocus!"
"Again?" grumbled the greeted man. He was a stocky man of late middle age with white streaks in his hair and a beard that resembled a crescent moon curved downwards. The most unique thing about his appearance, however, were the large petals that semi-circled his head.
"You know the way, Shanks. Let's go."
Harry gazed around him with interest. Just minutes ago, the ship was falling towards an open sea when a large, black mass rose from the waters and promptly swallowed them whole. The inside of the whale looked like the depictions common in children's bibles, though a quarter of the whale's stomach was painted sky blue and a large light hung from the top like an artificial sun.
Doctor Crocus climbed aboard from his island boat and directed them to the large exit. A few hundred feet through winding rivers and a couple of valves turned to open and close metal doors, the ship sailed smoothly from the whale out into the sea.
"Thanks, Doctor Crocus!" Shanks yelled back at the man who stayed in the whale.
"Bah. Get out of here, you whippersnapper. And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me doctor? It's been years since I sailed as part of Roger's crew," Crocus scowled, turning the valve to close the door again.
"Dahaha! Best years of my life, Doctor! So long!"
The door slid shut and the pirates prepared the ship for sailing again.
"What a strange whale," Harry commented.
"His name is Laboon – been here as long as I remember. He keeps growing, awesomely enough."
"BUOOOHH!" The whale call echoed through the air.
"You too!" Shanks yelled back.
"You ready, Captain?" Beckman asked.
Shanks nodded. Navigator Addams came by and dropped off two Eternal Poses for the First Mate. 'Bird Island' and 'Bloom Island' were etched into the wooden stand of the orb. The suspended compass arrows of both were pointed in the same direction.
"Theoretically," Addams explained, "we should cut through Bloom Island if we go to Bird Island directly through here – the shortest path between two points is a straight line and Bloom Island is on that line. If the two poses don't point in the same direction then we're off that line and losing time which I'm sure the captain would not appreciate," he concluded nonchalantly, clearly having no personal interest in how soon the ship reaches its destination.
"Hey Captain," called out Doctor Freddy, approaching the small group. "Do you mind if we dock for a few hours at Bloom? I need to pick up some aconite flowers."
Harry looked over with interest at this request. "What other flowers are there on Bloom Island?"
"Uhh," Freddy thought aloud, "there's a bunch of wild flowers like poppies and dandelions. I think someone once planted roses, and deeper in you get things like aconite, billed leaves, bloodroot, goose grass, pinfans, and clover. Actually, if we do dock, I'll have to let George know. I think he'd like a chance to collect some honey."
And Harry would most certainly like a chance to collect some potions ingredients.
Harry became a bit of a pack rat back home during the Second War against Voldemort. After the siege of Hogwarts where Voldemort was made mortal through the destruction of his horcruxes – Harry included – the Dark Lord escaped with his Death Eaters and the war was extended an extra two years. Inspired by Hermione's beaded handbag, Harry asked if it was possible to have a similar extension charm put onto the pockets of their clothes. A Hogwarts house-elf, who was helping with the after-battle clean up, overheard and practically begged for the job.
Hermione was understandably upset at giving the enslaved creatures more work when the school was a mess but eventually agreed when Harry managed to convince the house-elf to accept payment of a galleon for each elf who worked on the clothes as well as letting Harry cover the bill for any material expenses. Imagine the trio's surprise when the magical being returned less than a week later with full wardrobes of basilisk hide harvested years ago from the Chamber of Secrets, each robe with three pockets spelled to hold near-infinite objects without any noticeable increase in weight or bulk.
Hermione wouldn't shut up about the impossibility of the magic involved for a month. Ron just thought it was wicked and promptly used one for his Chocolate Frog card collection and another to store all the food Molly cooked up and put under preservation charms as a send off before the trio was on the run again. As for Harry, well, he saw no reason not to keep anything he thought was interesting, from little pieces of amber he found washed up on beaches to a souvenir Eiffel Tower figurine bought when visiting Fleur's family in France.
Potions ingredients, however, were practically useless on the run and ridiculously simple to buy otherwise, so Harry never hoarded much of them but the rarest, preferring to keep the finished products on hand instead. Just as he had plans to create a broom for flying purposes now that he was stranded in a world without such modes of transportation, Harry hoped he'd be able to remedy his dearth of ingredients at some of the islands with diverse plant growth.
"Well we gained nearly a day with the wind that brought us to Reverse Mountain, so I suppose it'd be fine so stop by," Shanks decided. "Although I don't know if the marines also took advantage of the same wind – "
"They didn't," Harry informed, having listened in on the bug last night. "They plan to sail over by this afternoon."
"Cool," Shanks grinned, before turning back to Freddy. "Then you tell George, and make sure to let Bombay know he should start bring up the empty water barrels."
"Will do Captain," Freddy replied, and walked off.
"Great, then," Harry announced, scanning the deck at the crew, "I'm off. Hopefully Roller will be up for a fight."
Roller, perhaps anticipating this event, met Harry halfway across the open deck and promptly removed his shirt. Harry fixed his robes into a tank top and trousers again before turning to look at the four pirates not on duty lounging around against the railing.
"Would you mind if instead of sparring, we play a game of keep-away?" Harry asked Roller, who shrugged and stated a simple 'Sure.' "In that case," Harry continued, "would any of you like to join in?" the wizard called out to the others. Three looked up with interest and rose to their feet.
"The name's Alvin," one pirate wearing a Jolly Roger beanie hat that resembled an acorn introduced himself before turning back. "Not coming, Lucky Roo?" he asked the remaining pirate, the man with an enormous stomach Harry observed fighting the marines two days ago. He was leaning against the railing, munching on a large rack of meat. Lucky Roo merely smiled and continued eating.
"My name's Skit. I probably won't be much of a challenge," said another, a short pirate with a small tattoo of a crab silhouette on his right arm. "I usually fight with pistols, not hand to hand combat."
"Do you have blanks?" Harry asked slipping his glasses off and placing them into a pocket.
"More than I know what to do with," the pirate snorted, "but they're not exactly safe at close range."
Harry grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets and slouching casually. "That's not a problem. Please use your guns, and if any of you use blades, I'd appreciate if you use those as well."
There was skeptical grumbling but blanks were loaded, a katana was drawn – though its user clearly intended to use the back of the blade – and a wooden staff retrieved by Alvin. Four pirates of varying weapons circled the wizard who stepped lightly, circling slowly in place to keep an eye on them. Roller was the first to attack, having already a pretty good idea of Harry's skill in dodging. He lunged forward and swept a leg across the floor.
Harry leapt over the leg, tumbling across the floor as Alvin swung his staff where Harry's head was. Skit took advantage of the approach in his direction and shot some blanks as the wizard lifted back onto his feet. A few quick sidesteps took Harry out of the imagined bullets' trajectory, but the force and heat of the first few shots irritated his eyes from even a foot away and Harry made a mental note to dodge the next series with a bit more distance.
Harry weaved backwards and dodged Roller's punch and Alvin's stab towards the midriff as Skit reloaded his pistol. The swordsman then made himself known to Harry with a series of diagonal slashes. The katana ruffled black locks but left the wizard otherwise unscathed as he sidestepped the first few and ducked the last so that he came back up behind Roller and effectively halted the swordsman's attack.
With the katana no longer swinging, Roller and Alvin felt safe again to attack their target, the brawler stringing together a set of punches and kicks as Harry led him around in a merry circle. The occasional back-flip was enough to dodge Alvin's staff whenever he dared to break into Roller's attack and the swordsman was at a loss as to how to attack without the space that was usually available when he was the lone attacker. Skit kept his pistol up, but true to the spirit of the game, chose not to fire randomly in case he 'hit' one of his 'allies.'
Finally, the timing of one of Roller's sweeping kicks coincided with Alvin's stab towards Harry chest. Unable to simply leap or dodge them both, the wizard could only fall backwards where Skit was waiting and quickly fired his blanks. Remembering the danger of taking even a blank from close range, Harry overcompensated when he sidestepped the pistol, stepping into the range of both katana and staff, ending up with one threatening his throat while the other rested at his lower back.
"Damn," Harry chuckled, "that was what, eighty seconds?"
"Ninety-two," Roller replied. "Next time you should attack back."
"I guess I should," Harry smirked, finally removing his hands from his trouser pockets, one coming up with a dagger to knock away the blade at his throat while a foot kicked backwards to push away staff. With the edge of his hand, the wizard chopped the swordsman's windpipe before spinning to face the stunned staff wielder.
Before Harry could continue, Roller attacked again, having recovered from the surprise the fastest and put the wizard on the defensive. When Harry managed to escape the offensive attacks by hooking Roller's knee and triggering a small stumble, he was once more surrounded by a circle of four pirates.
Harry grinned, hands juggling blunted knives.
"Come."
A/N: Fictional fight scenes are so fun :)
Rasberry Jo: Thanks for the review! I couldn't reply, because you don't allow PMs, but I'm glad you liked the outtakes. Not to worry, though, as Shanks interaction will continue to grow from here on out.
Thanks again to my beta, Indifferent Nobody.
A question for my readers - just now, when Laboon called out to Shanks and Shanks replied "You too!", what do you think Laboon was saying?
101dalmatians reviews! 8/20/11