Entrance

Characters: Heart Pirates, Crocus, Laboon. Rating: K. Warnings: None

The Grand Line appeared to have no intent of curbing its punches, greeting them with ridiculousness the moment the Polar Tang entered its waters. They had thought themselves prepared for Paradise's surprises – temperamental weather and vicious sea kings – but the Island Whale ramming the Red Line as if it thought it could break through very nearly ended their journey then and there.

The Island Whale, however, paled in comparison to its companion, a bizarre old man with entirely too much fondness for prolonged pauses at entirely unnecessary points in his sentences. By the time they finally left the small cape, Penguin and Shachi needed to be physically restrained from attempting to strange him.

Despite his less than ideal personality quirks, the Heart Pirates ended up spending far longer at the cape than initially planned, due to one small fact. The old man – Crocus, or so he'd introduced himself – had been the doctor of the Roger Pirates. It gained him limited fanfare, to his fascination, due to the crew's lack of enamour with the Pirate King; indeed, the most fanfare stemmed from Law himself, which was entirely down to the complex surgeries the man was performing on the Island Whale (Laboon, according to introductions). Hungry for knowledge, Law trailed behind the man as he went inside the whale.

Penguin and Shachi had attempted to follow him, only to be admonished and firmly ordered to stay. Law was well aware of their homicidal tendencies towards the irritating old man, and observing him at work would be far easier without the pair of them interrupting every minute. Unwilling to let their captain go with an unknown man inside the body of a whale, Uni and Ikkaku had instead been selected as the chaperones.

Bepo, meanwhile, had settled himself firmly on the cape itself, poking at the Log Pose with an unamused paw as it spun lazily, trying to find a magnetic signal to latch onto. His mutterings at how much of a waste of time and money the stupid thing was went unacknowledged by the crew, no-one wanting to bring the mink's rants down on their heads by drawing attention to themselves.

When not tormenting the Log Pose, he would sit and listen to Laboon's wails, the only member of the crew not finding himself driven mad by the constant cries. He refused to share what the Island Whale was saying, but once or twice had been found clinging to the whale's head as if trying to comfort the thing. It was a good thing he was a competent swimmer, as he always ended up shaken off into the water, although he was quick to assure his irate nakama that Laboon hadn't meant it.

After the Log Pose had sent, most of the crew clamoured to leave, tired of having to constantly check the Tang's mooring line every half hour to make sure Laboon's wave-churning lunges hadn't begun to worm her loose.

Law, in as much of a fanboy mode as they were ever likely to see their captain, simply told them to be patient before disappearing back to talk doctor-things with Crocus. It reached the point where Penguin and Shachi could be heard plotting to shackle their captain and throw him on the Tang so they could just leave already.

Whether or not they would have followed through with it was never revealed as Law did, eventually, decide he'd lingered in one place for long enough and gave the order to set sail to a chorus of delighted cheers.

Bepo was the only one not so pleased, as Law told him to follow the direction the Log Pose was pointing, even though Bepo felt it was a stupid direction and they'd be better off going that way instead.

All it took was a stern Bepo, and the mink caved with an apology that was more habitual than genuine, as evidenced by the subsequent grumbling. It was also the longest Law ever went without a mink-pillow, as Bepo remained unusually scarce whenever their captain was looking to take a rest for the next two days.

Okay but you can't tell me Law wouldn't have been interested in Crocus' history as a doctor, and the unusual treatments he was giving Laboon.

And Bepo can rebel too, in his own way! Obviously, this is set before Mistake (chapter 99), so the reality of why a Log Pose is vital even with a mink for a navigator hasn't sunk in yet.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari