A/N: Sorry for the delay! I can't wait 'til summer vacation when I'll have more time to brainstorm and stuff.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Blue
That evening the Red-Hair pirates filled Partys' bar, ordering beer by the barrel and feasting on Makino's fine cooking. Slowly, the rowdy laughter and partying attracted a trickling of visitors from the village who were quickly charmed by the easy-going atmosphere.
Makino's smile and Luffy's obvious admiration of Shanks went a long way in gaining the village's acceptance of their presence. By the end of the night, nary a frown was seen on the faces of anyone leaving the bar except Mayor Wool Slap and Luffy, who was quite upset that Makino still insisted on sending him off for bed at the usual hour when there were pirates around. Already he had asked Shanks no less than three times if he could join their crew, only to be dismissed with loud guffaws at the idea of a six year old becoming a pirate.
Harry competed in no less than three drinking competitions, soundly defeated a dozen pirates to the cheers of the audience before the uncomfortable sensation of his blood burning cut into his alcohol-induced high and he waved off the cries of teasing insults as he stumbled out of the building into the night.
"Had enough already?"
Harry squinted a bit, seeing the vague outline of the Straw Hat ghost floating upside down in front of him. Blinking rapidly, he finally gave up and searched through his bottomless robe pocket for his glasses.
The ghost perked up at this and stepped down onto the ground.
"You wear glasses?"
"Mmhmm," Harry slurred. "Magic'sbit preocupi'd righ' now, 'tis," he explained, bobbing his head up and down.
The ghost cocked his head to the side in question.
"Preoccupied with what?"
"Burnin' alc'hol, 'course!" Harry walking down the road with an awkward gait, "'snot safe ta black out or pass out, y'know?"
"In that case," the ghost replied, floating after him, "isn't it also dangerous to be drunk in the first place?"
Harry frowned. "S'no fun ta never get drunk!" he declared, gesturing wildly. "I can act'vate it whenever, but it kicks in by 'tself when I drink enough I get 'mnesia."
The ghost frowned a bit, probably because Harry's speech was difficult to understand when he started chopping off syllables from words like amnesia but continued his questions.
"That's pretty neat. So, when you use magic to burn alcohol, you can't use it to fix your eyesight anymore?"
"Yep!" Harry agreed cheerily, "'Mione called it ritual magic, 'cause it's used for rituals. She was a smart one, yeah? Said people only gots so much of it, see? So when the poison burnin' ritual kicks in, it steals what I use to power the ritual for fixin' my sight."
Somehow, Harry winded his way back to the dock and found Spaz hanging in the same tree from earlier.
"Didn't feel like party'ng?" Harry asked.
Spaz startled before recognizing Harry. "Harry! You're drunk aren't you? You sure look like it, yes sirree. I was looking at the stars, they're really pretty you know, and this tree is a great climbing tree, I like it, and I, uh, wasn't hiding or anything, no sirree, just hanging around, you know, 'cause I, uh,"
Harry frowned. "Slow dow', Spaz, I can't think that fast righ' now."
Spaz's mouth snapped shut and Harry watched him squirm a bit before digging a bit through his pockets once more, this time for a rope.
"Do me a favor?" Harry asked, trying to tie the rope around his waist with fumbling fingers.
Spaz stared. "You're going swimming? Right now?"
"Wanna see if I can swim drunk," Harry explained, looking down satisfied with the messy double knot he managed before tossing the rope end to Spaz and walking down the wooden dock.
Spaz followed dazedly, holding the rope.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"I think I'm supposed to be the one asking that," Spaz pointed out.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "Guess so. Er, whatever," he shrugged, and jumped into the sea.
The first thing Harry noticed was the cold water's sobering effect.
The next thing Harry was pleased to notice was that his anti-water force field was maintaining itself just fine even though he was drunk and his ritual magic was being siphoned into burning the alcohol in his blood.
The following thing Harry realized was that, being drunk, he wasn't quite coordinated enough to swim properly. The subsequent thirty seconds were filled with annoyance teetering on the edge of panic as Harry wondered if he could cast a bubble-head charm safely while intoxicated when he was pulled up onto the dock by Spaz.
Harry lied back on the dock, his soaked clothing creating a puddle around him as he felt his blood continue to burn and stared up at the stars.
Just as he felt clarity begin to return, Harry heard Spaz speak up.
"Neh, Harry, that was really stupid."
Harry snorted. "Drunk people do lots of stupid things, Spaz. At least I didn't try jumping in alone."
Spaz didn't have anything to say to that and silence fell on the two for a moment until a breeze blew by.
"Anoh, aren't you cold, all soaked like that?"
Harry blinked a few times. He did feel a bit chilly now that Spaz mentioned it, but having a magic buffer preventing direct skin contact with the water seemed to go a long way in saving him from the worst of the effect.
Flicking his wand, a drying charm and cleaning charm instantly evaporated the water and vanished the salt.
"Cool," Spaz grinned, then lied back on the dock next to Harry.
Harry grinned, tucking his wand into his sleeve and his glasses into his pocket.
The two friends slept under the stars, content with the silence.
"Oooiii!"
Harry woke up with a start, wand in a hand and a spell in mind before he recognized Shanks' voice.
"Com'on you lazy duo! We're setting sail; the rest of the crew already ate breakfast at Partys'."
"What?" Spaz whined, "not fair! I want breakfast too!"
Harry chucked a fruit from his pocket at the back of Spaz's head, watching with amusement as his friend's hand came up instinctively to catch it. He'd've made a great seeker, Harry thought to himself and chuckled at the image of Spaz on a broom. Knowing Spaz, he'd love the experience.
"Where are we going?" Harry called out to Shanks.
"Pirating, of course! If we're lucky we'll pass by a luxury cruise or some cocky pirates or marines," Shanks grinned, as if anticipating a good workout. "'Course, I wouldn't mind dropping by some of the deserted islands hereabouts. Windmill Village doesn't have many resources for us to buy so we'll have to restock on food and lumber the old fashioned way." Shanks explained, walking off towards the many docked rowboats, leading his straggling crew who were suffering from varying degrees of hangover.
"Make sure to watch out for a sea king," Beckman warned the crew. "A rather territorial one has settled along this coast. It didn't attack us yesterday, but that could be for any number of reasons. Don't kill it if you don't have to, though, since it protects the village."
With nervous nods, the pirates returned to their ship.
Harry once more joined Spaz, Shanks, and Beckman in a boat.
"Neh," Spaz asked between bites of the pink fruit, "why do you think the sea king has been so quiet so far?"
"It might be that the only reason it was so territorial before was because it was mating season for that particular species. If the season is over, it's only natural it would stop attacking everything that comes into its territory," Beckman suggested.
"Or," Shanks offered with a grin, "it can smell Zeb and Frank from our ship. I'll bet it's a pretty small sea king, then, if it's scared off just by the scent of other sea kings."
"Or," Harry added, "it got lucky with some careless sailors yesterday and now he's sleeping to digest his latest meal."
An awkward silence fell amongst the four as Spaz stared wide-eyed and Shanks and Beckman suppressed their laughs.
"Er, sorry, that was a bit morbid, wasn't it?"
"Dahahaha," Shanks laughed, giving up on holding back his reaction. "It's as good a reason as any! As long as it doesn't decide to eat my crew." A dangerous gleam shined in Shanks' eyes as he concluded.
Harry shuddered. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for the sea king if it ever chose to try and attack one of the Red Hair Pirates. Perhaps the sea king was simply being smart, having instinctively sensed Shanks' strength, and was staying away for good reason.
"Captain! Marine ship abeam to starboard!"
"What can you see?" Shanks yelled back, striding across from the bow to starboard railing for a better look at where the lookout directed.
"I think they've spotted us Captain! The marines are running around on board!"
"That's strange," Shanks frowned, "I'm pretty sure there's still a standing order for the marines of the Blues to ignore documented Grand Line pirates. Is it possible they didn't recognize us?"
"One of the marines is yelling into a Denden mushi – I think he might be calling for reinforcements. Should we engage, Captain?"
Shanks shrugged. "What do you think, crew?"
A loud roar of approval rose from his men as they fingered their weapons, adjusting gloves and headwear as they licked their lips in anticipation.
"Then let's show these marines just what it means to be a Red Hair Pirate!"
Beckman approached Harry and Spaz. "You two had best get down below. If a marine from the photography branch shows up you might be misidentified as pirates and end up with bounties."
Nodding, Harry and Spaz retreated to the hold, making sure to stay out of the way of any pirates working the cannons. As the first cannon shot flew from the marine ship to land in the ocean a few meters from the ship, rocking the men onboard, Harry's vision flickered.
"Warrant Officer Blue!" screams a snail, no, a Denden mushi that this world uses as phones. "We've found Red-Hair!"
A satisfied grin. Blue eyes gleam with anticipating glee. The marine officer flings open his window and, glimpsing the battle within sight, kicks off out the window.
The vision dissipated, leaving Harry with a strong sense of foreboding.
Harry looked at Spaz whose expression was caught between boredom and apprehension.
"Hey, Spaz, er, how would you feel about watching the battle?"
Spaz perked up. "How?"
Harry grinned and, grabbing his wand, tapped his friend's head while casting a disillusionment charm, chuckling at Spaz's reaction to the cold trickle while casting the same charm on himself.
"Whoa! That's awesome, Harry, yes sirree, I can barely tell we're here, we're almost invisible and that's really neat!"
"Yep! Let's go!" Harry replied, grabbing hold of his friend's wrist and maneuvering them back up on deck.
The two scrambled out of the hold and were greeted by the sight of pirates carefully preparing the ship for when they'd be close enough to the marine ship it across planks. The air was tense with the Color of Observation and the ship rocked at random intervals when a cannonball landed too far away for Beckman to fend off but close enough for the waves it produced to slam into the ship.
Keeping a hold of Spaz since they were both disillusioned and thus extremely vulnerable to being lost, Harry scanned the horizon in search of the marine base he saw in his vision. He finally located a small island in the distance towards the North.
As he continued to stare, trying to guess how long they had before reinforcements arrived, Harry's eyes widened as a small speck appeared, growing steadily into a human shape.
"Harry, what's wrong?"
Harry startled at Spaz's voice. He quickly loosened his grip that had tightened unconsciously in his shock and rubbed his eyes.
Nope, still there, still approaching.
"Er, Spaz," Harry started, "look up at the sky a bit to the right of the ship's bow. What do you see?"
Spaz shifted to look in the direction Harry indicated and gasped. "Someone's coming!"
Closer and closer the human approached, gradually growing until one could see his marine uniform, his black hair streaming behind him and puffing around his face as he kicked himself forward off the air itself, and eventually his striking blue eyes.
Suddenly the air grew tenser and Shanks, who had been directing his crew, turned to look at the newcomer.
Within seconds, the flying marine landed on the marine ship, silencing the panicking marines who had never fought the likes of Shanks before and were failing quite miserably in the engagement.
"Warrant Officer Blue!" a single marine uttered, identifying their sole back-up.
Ignoring the panic and destruction, the marine officer locked gazes with Shanks.
"Red-hair. You have no idea how pleased I am with the idea of having a chance to face a Grand line pirate."
"Oh?" Shanks asked. "I thought the Marines of the four Blues weren't authorized to attack established Grand line pirates."
The man grinned. "Exactly. I normally would have to leave you alone, watch you pillage this sea while waiting for the Marineford to respond to my report of your presence. But you, you're in possession of marine property and I'm here to get it back. If that means I need to kill you first, well," the grin grew wider and teeth ground together, "so be it."
Kicking off the ship followed by three kicks at the air, Blue launched himself at Shanks' ship. As soon as he landed, he seemed to disappear from sight, only to reappear beside a pirate which he'd take out with a swift chop to the back of the head before disappearing again.
Five pirates were down in less than three seconds before Shanks drew his saber and lashed out at what seemed like empty air until Blue reappeared, stumbling and arm bleeding.
"Oho," Blue chuckled, "you have a good eye." Lifting a leg the marine kicked out, his moving limb nothing but a blur as a crescent shaped wave of distortion flew from the kick towards Shanks who deflected it off his saber with a clang.
As if encouraged by this, Blue kicked several times more at varying angles, releasing curved lines of different sizes flying at the pirate who deflected each one with practiced skill, his expression barely changing.
Finally there was a pause in the kicking. The leg came back down. Everyone watched with tense anticipation for what the marine officer would try next when suddenly a shout cut through the tense atmosphere.
"Johnny! Just what do you think you're doing, making me work while I'm on vacation?"
In a small rowboat powered by two marines with paddles stood a marine officer. The sun reflected off his graying blond hair framing a pale, effeminate face with the same striking blue eyes as the Warrant Officer.
The marines immediately dropped everything to line up along the railing of their ship.
"Salute!" The leading marine called out. Every marine raised their hands up to their foreheads and chorused,
"Vice Admiral Blue!"
A/N: So... yeah, I'm hoping for some nice action and stuff in the next chapter or two as well. Maybe a revelation or two.
Thanks everyone for your response about the other story. It seems a lot of you are interested so I think I'll go ahead with it, but as you can see, I'm having some procrastinating issues with this one already, so it will be at least a month before I post anything for the darker/slash version.
Thanks so much to my beta, PyromanianBlackWings !
Review replies:
loler: It's coming :)
less: Thanks :)
appleslvr: I'm working on it :)
jboat1: No problem. As for following canon, yeah, this story will. I think the lost arm holds a lot of symbolism and I don't want to mess with that. The other version though, heck, I'm not sure just how veered off it'll end up being.
Me: I'm glad you approve :) There will be no yaoi in this story other than the canon jokes about Okama. There may eventually be some hetero pairings (Harry/Robin), but not for awhile and nothing too serious.
365 reviews as of today, April 18, 2011
Thanks everyone!