Do I know what I'm doing with this? No. I have not an effing clue.
Unbeta'd, unreviewed, raw as it comes.
He recognizes it as soon as it floats past - mangled, broken, macabrely decorated with a splatter of blood, the droplets still clinging tenaciously despite the ravaging seas that the item has inexplicably survived. Indeed, as small and nigh-invisible as it is - wallowing defiantly in the ravenous waves - each of the nine pirates in the vicinity seems to be spellbound by the way the few remaining shards of glass in the twisted lens refracted the sunlight, casting dots of colors over the vast oceans of the New World.
Zoro feels his stomach curl into a bitter, hard knot - as if the female marine captain in front of him has just punched him in the solar plexus despite his swords and superior reach currently holding her at bay. The ruined pair of glasses swirls past the interlocked ships and the phantom senses of his useless left eye follow it futile.
Kitetsu sings harshly in his ears while Wadou wails brokenly and Shuusui mourns lowly. His mortal enemy - Tashigi, yes he has remembered her name - flinches ever so slightly as the melody of the swords winds through the air. At any other time, he may have been impressed by her demeanor but his rage and worry and distress are seething into a borderline volcanic explosion of violence.
"You couldn't leave well enough alone," the Straw-hat first mate growls, his remaining eye scrunching into a narrow, devilishly crimson slit. "He was -"
"A pirate. His end was predetermined," Tashigi states plainly, even though her shoulders speak of disgusted resignation. She, at least, had not approved. It cheers him not at all.
"No!" Zoro snarls, his voice growing deeper as his emotions boil closer to the surface. The spaces between his shoulders and neck writhe in an unnatural manner. "I was going to say that he was a swordsman. Did he at least die at the end of a blade?"
The damnable marine captain chooses not to answer. She frees her sword from his lock and increases the distance between them before dropping into a defensive crouch.
Zoro grunts as he changes his stance and focus, dropping his hands to his side as he closes his eye and shakes away unshed tears.
"You fool," he hisses though clenched teeth. "I'm the least of your worries."
Her dark, troubled eyes slide upwards to glance at the battle between her commanding officer and Zoro's captain, high overhead. Though she cannot see them, not really, she can feel the dark, murderous, oppressive aura descending over the area. Around and behind her, the demeanor of the Straw-hats changes drastically, roiling with worry and contempt and a deep, simmering rage. They are now truly serious about the fight - no longer do their eyes speak of running away at the first chance.
For the first time in many years, Tashigi fears for her commanding officer. Coby's warnings to them - to the admirals, to the Gorusei themselves - ring loudly in her ears, but Zoro's swords screech as he begins a relentless attack, effectively drowning out the memory as she begins a desperate fight for her life.
It is Marineford again. Once more the marines unnecessarily face demons of their superiors' making.
As Zoro and Tashigi clash repeatedly below, Luffy and Smoker disengage briefly to pant harshly, each rasping breath echoing loudly as they plummet towards the deck of the G5 ship still grinding along Sunny's broadside.
"He wasn't bothering you," Luffy comments dully, eyes trained on the broken spectacles as they are engulfed by the wake of the two ships. He pulls himself upright, snapping elastic bones and muscles until he is standing side-face, his arms dangling from his side, finally out of Gear Third. He appears oblivious to the searing heat of Sanji's leg passing less than two inches from his nose as the cook deflects and melts an oncoming barrage of cannon-balls before bouncing high into the air to rain the molten metal down on the G5 marines.
"He was a goddamn pirate, just like you. Justice doesn't stop looking for you just because you stop sailing in a crew!" Smoker grumbles out around his cigars as his bare chest coalesces out of the billowing smokescreen he has become. He absentmindedly shifts to grab his sea stone-tipped jutte, only to feel its stark absence. A large shadow is cast above him, and he frowns as he observes a large, carnivorous plant munching on his favorite weapon like an infant teething ring.
The leader of G5 hides his surprise as Luffy fails to take the opening. He would have expected such a sneak attack from any other pirate. He has no reason to believe that Luffy has the sort of honor to give up such a chance unless he feels the same strain as the G5 commanding officer.
'Tired, probably. He's been fighting near constantly since they reunited, so I hear.'
The thought brings Smoker's own fatigue to the forefront of his mind; it is all he can do to keep his shoulders and back straight as his age and years in service suddenly weigh down on him. He's been feeling discontent welling up in his soul since Aokiji gave control over to Akainu and it is pressing the breath out of his lungs faster than he can take in air.
Most heavy, however, is the depths of Straw-hat's eyes – black as the night sky, deep as King Neptune's realm. They seem to suck the life and color out of the world around them, make the atrocities that his crew is committing against the G5 soldiers feel like a bad, far-off dream. It is hard to pay attention to anything else, even as hail and lightning bombard his ship, even as gigantic limbs snap masts and hooves crush bodies, even as unholy ice creeps across the deck, the cold crystals reflecting the blinding light of lasers...
"Shit!" Smoker howls, shaking his head to clear the fog but it is too late. King's haki has already gone through his mind, although what is missing, he cannot yet say. Tashigi, hearing his frustrated yell, leaps away from Roronoa to take his back. Color and noise and pain swiftly return to his smoke-wreathed form, even as he marvels at the wonder the young sea before him has performed.
"Sir, what is it? Are you injured-?"
Luffy blinks and slips his hat back on his head. He looks at Smoker again and nods crisply, determination burning across his face.
"Oy, everyone! We're leaving!"
Some of the crew splutter in confusion, even as their attacks halt and they obediently pull back to his side. Smoker can't watch it all happen as the enormous plant disappears suddenly, leaving his jutte to drop almost directly on his head.
"Sir, look out!" Tashigi cries, even as a rubber whip collects the weapon at the point furthest from the sea stone tip, only to toss it across the vessels and into the sea. Smoker barely glances as the splash rises high in the air – he dares not let himself be caught unawares again.
"This isn't why he let himself get caught," Luffy explains to the marine, answering some unknown, unvoiced question that both crews bit back. "He'd probably come back and kill me if I wasted it here, you see. Him and Ace, too. So I'm out. Catch you later!"
With a hop and a leap, Luffy and his entire crew are back on the Thousand Sunny and the paddle wheels are whirring as sails are raised and lines cleared. Smoker yells automatically, nautical senses developed over long, salt-sprayed years kicking in to free his ship before it can be ground into powder by the escaping Adam-wood vessel.
"Oy, Smokey!"
The Vice-Admiral looks back, teeth bared and body ready for a sneak attack, but Luffy is still on board his own ship, quickly receding as the G5 ship totters and wallows now that it is no longer supported by the Thousand Sunny's impenetrable weight.
The shattered spectacles drip salt-water down one rubbery fist, but it cannot compare to the quantity spewing from his eyes.
"Tell Coby and H- h- that friend of his thanks! Old man Rayleigh really needed to have someone listen to all his stories before he died!"
"How the hell do you know..." Smoker begins, but a sudden burst of haki consumes him, leaving he and Tashigi stunned for at least half a minute while the crew froths insanely before passing out.
[~~~]
By the time he and his first mate come back to their senses, they find themselves too busy trying to limp their rapidly sinking ship and comatose crew-mates to the nearest shore to dwell on what has happened. For many years, they will not openly speak about the loss of faith in their commanders and their own purposes that allowed one man's will to override them, even if only for a few seconds.
[~~~]
Smoker now sits impatiently outside the Fleet Admiral's door, his newly fashioned jutte resting on his knees while Tashigi nervously polishes her glasses once more.
"Admiral Sakazuki will see you now," a whimpering desk jockey mumbles as he rises from behind the safety of his oversized bureau. He takes great pains to avoid the G5 leader, choosing instead to talk to the sword-mistress.
"If you will come this way pl-" he begins, but is swiftly silenced as Smoker quite literally brushes him off and yanks open the large doors.
"Tashigi, with me, dammit!" Smoker snaps, eager to get as far away from land as possible and back into the hands of the sea with nothing but open sky overhead. HE already knows that this man, Akainu, will not be condescendingly handing down some bogus promotion to cover up piratical activities.
"Ah, Smoker, back from the New Line. Recently recuperated from a battle with Straw-hat Luffy and his crew that miraculously resulted in absolutely no pirate casualties and the loss of one naval vessel."
Smoker stops and stands at attention about halfway into the office, just as Akainu stops speaking and turns his immense chair around to face his visitors. For a few moments, he privately acknowledges how good it is to know that Tashigi has matched him stride for stride, a mere half-pace behind and to the right of him.
The moments stretch on in silence as Akainu takes care of other business, obviously letting them stew for a while. Neither of them fidget.
"So," the fleet admiral sighs as he signs away another battalion's life. "You do not even want to bluster excuses to me?"
"No, sir!" Smoker replies clearly, Tashigi's voice echoing his own.
"Oh?" Sakazuki purrs, and here he leans forward over his desk, hands clasped in a deceptively peaceful manner. "Not even something like this mess happened because I chose to get rid of that blistering annoyance, Rayleigh, not two weeks before you met Garp's grand-son?"
"No, sir!" Smoker replies clearly again, Tashigi's voice still echoing his own. "There is no excuse for our failure other than poor execution!"
Sakazuki's false cheer does not lessen the feeling of his eyes boring into either officer before him, but they do not flinch. The weight of his gaze is a mere tickle as compared to the full onslaught of a certain pirate's will. Eventually, the fleet admiral leans back in his seat to regard them with more thought and malice.
"You constantly just happen to have run-ins with those Straw-hats - often times while you have the superior numbers - and yet you constantly fail to bring even one of them in, or at the very least execute them on the spot for piracy." Sakazuki muses aloud, eyes narrowed in contemplation. "With a record like that, someone might believe that you are double-agents of sorts."
Neither Smoker nor Tashigi respond. To dignify such an accusation is beneath their standards. Their silence, however, carries a distinct air of angry, righteous denial. It is a stark change from the blubbering, crying wastrels that he has disposed of so far. All in all, Sakazuki is pleased with their demeanor, but they are dangerous failures - far too popular with their underlings, too liberal in their applications of justice, too noble in their everyday living and far too merciful. It would not do to either get rid of them or allow them to advance further, so he decides to 'reward' them. The fleet admiral turns his chair away from them as he proclaims his sentence.
"Your pathetic attempts as a G5 leader are hereby punished: you are to be stripped of command and busted back down to captain; your second-in-command is busted straight back down to grunt. Now get to hell out of my office, you wastes of marine training. Be thankful I haven't had you arrested on suspicion of treason. My secretary will let you know when and where you've been reassigned."
"Yes, sir!"
[~~~]
"Coby was right, sir."
Smoker doesn't need to hear Tashigi say it out loud to know that it is true, but he finds it somewhat of a relief to have the words out in the open, on the breeze. He doesn't do much else but grunt in response before slamming home his gin.
They're in some grimy hole-in-the-wall in Loguetown, officially "on leave" as the demotions are filed and recognized. The owner of the establishment - a tall woman of shady origins and even more questionable practices - is idly reading the newspaper behind the bar, somehow fading into the background even though she wears a shockingly pink shirt and a blindingly spotted pants.
Smoker finds that he cannot remember how they got here, but Tashigi is wavering on her barstool, eyes blinking owlishly now that she's removed her glasses. She's also talking to the wall instead of him, but no matter.
"He was right! We never should have touched Rayleigh once he'd been in hiding for so long. I mean, he didn't even show up at the War - and that was all about his captain's son! He was never even spotted at Gol D. Rogers execution!"
"'S not true, that," Smoker growls as he re-lights fresh cigars. The bar owner apparently has an impressive selection of the best tobacco on the Line - for a price. Smoker figures that he might as well enjoy some of it before his pay is slashed.
"He was definitely there," he continues after he pulls on his smokes. "I remember that he stood out to me, in that massive crowd. He had this weird-"
And here Smoker fumbles for words, struggling to explain the indescribable attractiveness of the Pirate King's first mate. Finding himself at a complete loss, he turns hard eyes on the bartender.
"Dammit, Shakky, you should know what I'm talking about!"
The owner's left eyebrow slowly rises over the newspaper, but she does nothing otherwise. Tashigi is slow to understand what is going on, but when it finally sinks in, she falls off of her seat completely.
"C-c-captain! That woman-"
"Stand down, Tashigi," Smoker mumbles as he refills his glass and uses a stream of smoke to help her back on her feet. "We're on disciplinary leave, remember? We don't even have the authority to arrest Blackbeard even if he walked in here and surrendered to us."
Once back on her seat and pointed in the right direction, Tashigi remains confused enough to immediately find her glasses and put them on.
"But sir, we could report her to the local authorities-"
"No need, lieutenant," a youthful voice calls from the doorway. Smoker's ears perk up and he turns to face one of the World Government's youngest Vice-Admirals. His first mate carefully shuts back the louvered swing doors before joining the youngster's side.
Coby and Helmeppo seat themselves on the stools as Tashigi bounces up to full attention. Smoker's salute is far more relaxed towards his former colleague.
"You two know that you have a mandatory service charge of 300%, don't you? It's on top of the 150% markup for marines," Shakky purrs in a deceptively soft voice. She still hasn't looked up from her paper but it trembles ever so slightly.
"That's okay, ma'am," Coby says in a soft, regretful voice. He nods towards the former G5 duo and draws his wallet from his back pocket. "We'll even take care of their tabs as well."
There is silence for a good five minutes, punctuated only by the sounds of Shakky neatly folding her paper. She is stately as she rises to her feet, statuesque as she towers over the counter and her four patrons, her face stony as slate and her smile sharp as swords.
"Well then, lady and gentlemen, what can I get for you?"
[~~~]
The Straw-hats have, one by one, congregated in the room above the kitchen and infirmary. It is not some planned meeting called by their grieving captain, but an organic extension of their reunion, a desperate yearning to be near each other when the Line throws another horror at them. Luffy himself is sprawled over one of the couches, the back of his hat almost crushed against Zoro's legs as the swordsman meditates. Chopper bounces disconsolately on his rubber stomach and his stretchy feet drape over Nami's lap while she pores over a small atlas. Sanji and Usopp's hair tickle his ribs as they played cards on the ground while Brook and Robin help screw in a loose bolt on Franky's shoulder. They are all battered, bruised and bandaged - not an unusual state of being these days as they creep closer to their goal, but this time there is no underlying mirth or victorious partying.
They have been this way for over a week now, since the last battle with G5. The atmosphere is stilted, cloying, made all the worse by the Line's decision to smother all wind under a deep, gray blanket of heat and humidity. Nami is willing to work her touch on the weather but Luffy never gives the order - he merely hems and hahs before going back to eating or scratching or lazing.
Of course, it is Usopp who voices the thoughts of the others - the least of them in physical strength and prowess is still the most human and the most in tune with the feelings that no-one else is brave enough to reveal.
"Luffy, why'd we back down?" the sniper asks quietly, his voice sounding defeated even though he's currently beating Sanji's hand. His hair is out of its customary pony tail and the question leads Nami to brief run her hand through it in a calming gesture - for her sake or his is another question that cannot be answered at this time.
The captain hems and shrugs. By now, Usopp and the others know that the gesture does not mean "I don't know" so much as it means "I don't know how to explain my ultra-simple logic in ways your more complicated minds can take."
"I know," the sniper sighs, frustration and ill-concealed grief causing his voice to crack, because really, he does understand his captain, "Smoker and G5 didn't do a thing to Rayleigh and you say your friend Coby at least got his last words but... Ah dammit, I wish we could send the marines a message to just fuck with us directly and stop playing around with the people who just happen to help us!"
"Rayleigh didn't exactly just 'happen' to help us, y'know," Sanji grumbles as he lights a fresh cigarette. His eyes are gritty and he's leaning badly, obviously still suffering from exhaustion. "He trained our captain for two years. That's pretty actively helping the enemy in most people's books."
"Yeah, but they didn't do anything to Mihawk for training Zoro, now did they?" Usopp continues, flopping onto his back and closing his eyes as tears threaten to well up.
"Yeah, they did," Zoro mutters, his single eye slowly opening. "They punished him. Sensei just won't tell me what they did."
Robin sweeps her icy stare over to the swordsman, noticing that he doesn't flinch from it, but he's hardly comfortable - vestiges of his youthfulness that manifest themselves in the slightest twitching of his jaws and his fingers.
"He hasn't contacted you since he sent you to the archipelago, Mr. Swordsman?"
Zoro does not answer immediately, because he is translating Robin's question which, as usual, means more than what it seems to be on the surface. His eye narrows in his signature glare as he wrestles words into something approximating his feelings.
"He has to be alive or else we can't finish our duel and my dream..."
Really, no more than that needs to be said. It is not an avenue that they wish to pursue, so they are silent for a while. The card game resumes, Brook reaches for an oil can while Robin finds a book and seats herself next to Nami.
Chopper feels the strain in the air as his fur rises up on the nape of neck
"Luffy, is something wrong with your haki?" the reindeer asks as he fiddles with his hat, striving to change the topic. "You used it twice, but it didn't knock Smoker or his crew out the first time."
Luffy laughs, rising from the couch and bouncing Chopper on to his shoulders. His hat is cocked over his eyes as he stumbles around the room.
"I read Ol' Smokey's mind is what I did!" he crows to his giggling passenger. "It's this mysterious trick I picked up when...when I was... when I was staring at Rayleigh one night..."
As Luffy's voice begins to hitch and fat tears well up in the corner of his eyes, the crew becomes crestfallen again, despite their intrigue regarding his newest technique. Sanji tries not to think of a certain shitty old geezer he knows while Zoro purposefully ignores memories of Mihawk's castle. Robin pensively considers Saul's sacrifice and Chopper starts pouting for Doctoress Kureha. Nami sighs as she wondered how the old men in Weatheria are faring and Usopp curses quietly as he tries not to think about Heracles alone in the Forest of Gluttony. So many have helped them along the way and it is hard to believe that they will all escape the World Government's indiscriminate wrath.
"Enough," Brook states simply, wielding his guitar with a flourish now that Battle Franky 37 is well-lubricated. "There's no time to behave like this. Guilt and regret are just as likely to kill us as the entire navy!"
"Yeah, robo. We ain't got far to go before we reach there, so how about a little celebration," Franky suggests after he closes himself up. "Come outside with me, lemme show you something, robo."
[~~~]
Smoker is very, very drunk and he knows it; he is limp on his stool, his head resting on the counter of the bar while the smoke from his cigars and his own form mingle into an interminable cloud of burning particulates. Tashigi wisely gave up her drinking and switched to tap water, one of the few things Shakky didn't charge extra on. He's exceedingly thankful for that, as he's pretty sure that he will never be able to pay Coby back for this binge if Tashigi decides to let loose.
Coby, too, is pretty drunk, a high, red blush permanently staining his nose and cheeks - at least until he got the booze out of his system. Helmeppo is surprisingly good at holding his liquor, or else he's been sipping the same damn drink all night. At any rate, the man is able to hold Coby up as the Vice-Admiral sways dangerously in his seat while telling Shakky all bout his first encounter with Luffy.
As if physically feeling Smoker's eyes on him, Helmeppo turns around and answers one of the many unspoken questions.
"Garp parties - you either get happy fast or hold booze like a fish holds water."
Well, really, that is all the explanation needed. Shakky rolls her eyes and mutters something rather unsavory about Garp while collecting Helmeppo's glass.
"Like hell am I throwing good rum into bottomless pits like you two. Zoro is bad enough."
For some reason, the marines in the bar find this statement hilariously true. They roar with laughter, especially when Coby admits that Zoro's first stop after being freed from Helmeppo's dad was a bar.
Tashigi's still laughing her throat raw after the others die down, her voice scratchy and shrill and a little hysterical as she tells the tale of how she and Smoker encounter Luffy and the crew in Loguetown. The shrillness only dies down when she speaks of her encounter with Zoro in the sword shop. There's grudging respect underlying her anger and disbelief, and Smoker can see that Helmeppo's gaze is far too knowing.
"Hey, you should join my crew," Coby whispers, leaning farther out of his seat than is strictly necessary to do the job. He begins to tilt rather precipitously, but Smoker manages to catch him in his lap. Helmeppo hides a smirk and goes back to listening to Tashigi.
"Oy, brat, what for? Pity on me for being demoted?" Smoker grouses as Coby decides to make himself comfortable. "Fuck n-"
"I want you to join because you know Luffy. You've been chasing him longer than I have, really. You should have a chance to be there when I arrest him."
Smoker takes a sip of his last drink - a cold beer straight from the keg - and studiously ignores the Vice-admiral who has started to drool on his pants.
"Oh, and Tashigi will finally get to show Zoro that she really is better with a sword." Coby continues, his voice slurring ridiculously as the alcohol and sleep get the better of his smaller frame. "Just, you know, it's gonna be a small crew - Akainu won't give me anything to work with 'cept a leaky boat - and I think you guys would be perfect for it seeing as how you know the Straw-hats as well as I do. You don't want that?"
Smoker contemplates a scuff mark on his rather aged, standard-issue boots, pulling his pickled brains together as best as he can. By the time he's formulated his answer, Coby has already started snoring softly without him noticing.
"What I want is real justice," Smoker mumbles before sipping his beer and sighing. "Which probably means that you're gonna have to find space for two more in this leaky tub of yours... Hey, wake to hell up and listen when you're recruiting people!"
Helmeppo and Tashigi giggle conspiratorially as Smoker fumes and Coby, now rolling around on the floor, rubs the new bump on the back of his head. Shakky smiles to herself - secretively, sadly - as she watches the beginning of the end, again.
"A new dawn over a young sea, eh?" she whispers, pretending that it's not Rayleigh's rough, ghostly chuckle that she hears in her ears.
[~~~]
"What the hell is it?" Sanji asks as Usopp, Chopper and Luffy circle around the oversized fire-cracker out on the lawn with stars in their eyes.
"A rocket design I've wanted to work on, robo-"
"Enough with the 'robo' talk. Please," Robin stresses, her face radiating annoyance without so much as a raised eyebrow.
"Well I built this as a test model first - can't exactly carry anyone up yet, but I think a guy like Rayleigh deserves fireworks," Franky explains, shrugging his massive shoulders once. He pops open the tip of one robotic finger to reveal a small laser gun. As the beam is prepared, he turns to the rest of the crew.
"Stand back folks, since this is totally experimental and such. Don't want anyone gettin' hurt- oy, Luffy, what the hell are you doing?"
It's already too late though. Luffy, with Chopper on his shoulders and Usopp under one arm, has already hopped onto the rocket, wrapping his free arm around it like a lasso. In the process of leaping onto the oversized sparkler, he's knocked Franky's hand down to the fuse, which is now lit and rapidly decreasing.
"Blast off!" Luffy yells, while Chopper cheers and Usopp just plain screams bloody murder.
"Shit, hit the deck!" Nami shrieks as the rocket flares explosively into life, moving from zero to too-fucking-fast in the blink of an eye; Robin has already created a pair of giant hands to pluck the ladies to safety. Her cry nearly comes too late for Brook and Sanji, who narrowly escape sudden baldness by leaping up to Zoro's gym in the crow's nest. The swordsman is already there, having wisely sized up the item on the lawn as incipient trouble and finding it a good reason to go train and drink sake, not necessarily in that order. He manages to smirk at his comrades and toast the launch at the same time.
"Yahoo!" Luffy screeches as Chopper and Usopp wail loudly, the sounds distorted by the rushing air and the murderous force of gravity. "This is so much fun~!"
"Ah, wait a sec?" Usopp yelps as the ride swiftly decelerates. "Why are we slowing down?"
"Better yet, why are we dropping?" Chopper yells as the rocket fuselage begins to break up. Luffy and his friends are soon left with nothing but air beneath them as the nose cone continues without them.
Then all words are lost as the cone erupts into a frenzy of colored light, morphing into a picture of Rayleigh. Silence reigns for a noticeable length of time as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper begin their descent, until the Straw-hat Captain finally finds the words that mean everything to his crew and himself.
"I'm going to be the next Pirate King!" he howls in a haki-enhanced, booming voice as the wind begins to claw at his plummeting form. "I'm going to live my dream, and a lot of it'll be thanks to you, Rayleigh!"
"Thank you!" his crew yells in turn to the twinkling visage overhead, and then it's a flurry of activity as Usopp's massive sargasso kelp sprout up to catch the rocket riders, who are further cushioned by Chopper's defensive form, causing fur to fly everywhere when they land. The kelp is so huge and entangling that Zoro and Sanji are forced to clean it up with a tornado of blades and fire. The flaming kelp creates huge swathes of blinding smoke that Robin's gigantic hands are forced to fan away as Nami calls down a thunderstorm to out the conflagration. Franky unleashes his lawn mower form to further mulch the enormous kelp clippings that somehow failed to be charred or torn to shreds. After masses of potential seaweed salad are finally packed away, Luffy asks Brook for 'that song' which he gladly plays while hooked up to the Sunny's newly-installed amplifier, leaving the crew to sing along, swill grog, tell stories of their time apart and laugh and laugh and laugh.
To this day, sailors on the Line swear that you can hear laughter echoing in the air, punctuated by the booming voice of a giant. They say that the seaweed sometimes runs viciously thick, tangling anchors and hulls. They say that fur and hail will rain from sudden thunderstorms, if a tornado full of smoke and fire doesn't rip everything to shreds.
Marines in particular call the spot Monsters' Wailing, but pirates - only the very best or the very worst, mind you - have historically called that area Rayleigh's Legacy.
And really, no-one who knows the truth can find it in their heart to say that Rayleigh deserved a better tribute.
[~~~]
Cocking his head to one side, Coby thinks he can hear Luffy yelling into the breeze, announcing his imminent rise to the position of Pirate King. Chuckling as he watches his crew - new and old - grow restless in their sleep for a few moments, he gives a drunken, mocking salute in the general direction of the Calm Belt and the Grand Line beyond it.
Then he prays that his hangover will end sometime within the next few days.
[~~~]