Blessing

Characters: Polar Tang, Heart Pirates. Rating: K. Warnings: None

In every proper pirate crew, there was a hidden nakama. Even the crew themselves rarely knew the full depth of it – and if superstitions were to be believed, that was usually a good thing – although they did, of course, know there was something special there. If there was nothing special, she wouldn't exist.

She was lucky. Many never met the love and devotion she had – if she'd gone to her intended, then she probably would never have become what she was now – and when she saw others in that situation she pitied them. Never knowing pure love, never knowing the freedom it brought; to her, there was no worse fate.

Her nakama were crazy, coaxing her into situations anyone with any sanity would steer well clear of (outrunning ice and dodging light with the guidance of heavy yet gentle hands was something that would never be forgotten), but any damage she sustained was lovingly tended to. To date, she'd never had to repair herself (not that she would be able to do a good job of it, but she'd do everything she could because like her crew loved her, so she loved them with everything she had).

The crew had their own quirks, like how Bepo wouldn't let them stay underwater for too long, unable to withstand the heat, or how Law laughed the loudest when they were deepest. Shachi was a bundle of chaos, with Penguin acting as his brakes, but sometimes it was the other way around and no-one was sure how to act when Shachi was the more responsible of the two because that just never happened, except once in a blue moon when it did.

The others she learnt when they first boarded much later on, finally growing their family and adding to the love that sustained and bolstered her. By the time they entered the Grand Line, she was confident that should such an event ever come to pass, she would be able to take on enough of a corporeal form to communicate with them directly, thank them for their love and tell them just how much she loved them.

But for a being like her, such a conversation was a goodbye, and the Polar Tang had no intentions of bidding her crew farewell any time soon. The Grand Line was tough, and many ships succumbed to the cruel nature of the ocean, but she had been made to survive the worst things the world could throw at her, things her crew – her precious, precious, cargo – would never endure without her, and survive she would.

A pirate crew was nothing without a ship, and a ship was nothing without her crew. They gave her the love she fed on, and in return she loved and protected them. She couldn't reveal herself to them in her spiritual form, heralding doom to the very crew she would protect until her last bolts rusted and fell apart, but that didn't mean she couldn't sometimes extend her consciousness – if it could be called that – to wrap around a particularly desolate nakama and comfort them.

Whether they knew the loving presence they felt was their ship, or if they attributed it to any of the many other theories of ghosts and spirits (or even just their imagination), she didn't know, but it didn't matter.

A klabautermann was an ill omen if seen, but for as long as she remained unseen yet still so very there she was the blessing the crew bestowed upon themselves through love.

I've been planning to do a Polar Tang PoV for ages. I love the idea of a klabautermann and the fact that One Piece ships (if loved enough) canonically have their own sentience, although it feels bittersweet to me that they can't really interact with their crew without being an ill omen. As for my choice of pronoun for the Polar Tang, ships are traditionally considered to be female so I've followed that tradition here (interestingly, I consider the Sunny to be male for reasons I can't explain, but both the Merry and the Tang I consider female).

Thanks for reading!
Tsari