Storm

Characters: Shachi, Law, Penguin, Bepo. Rating: K. Warnings: None

Shachi mistook the first flash for a trick of the light. There was no reason for a bright light to suddenly appear in the corner of his eye, so he figured he was probably imagining things. It wouldn't be the first time. The second was less easily dismissed, but it wasn't until the third that he realised maybe something was up – either with his eyes, or something really was flashing away on the horizon.

"Uh, Law?" he called, looking away and blinking furiously. Even through his shades the light was blindingly bright after he'd looked straight at it, and his eyes had begun to water in complaint. "Lots of flashy things on the horizon. Is that something to worry about?"

The younger teen looked up from where he'd been napping on Bepo – Shachi knew if he said that, Law would deny it and claim he'd been researching, but he hadn't turned a page in well over an hour.

"That's just lightning," he said, sounding unconcerned. "That's a storm over there."

The word storm did little to reassure Shachi. With a name to go with the phenomenon, it was vaguely familiar, but storms never boded well for anyone. Storms usually meant avalanches, and while he didn't think that would be happening in the open sea, he did then expect there to be some annoying side effect. He wasn't used to storms flashing like Bepo's electro, though.

Penguin cuffed him around the head and he turned to glower at him, rubbing at the abused spot.

"What was that for?" he complained, and Penguin rolled his eyes.

"If you didn't always sleep through every single one, you'd know what a thunderstorm is," he pointed out, and Shachi paused, thinking. "They normally hit Swallow Island at night, and you snore right on through."

"Huh," Shachi responded noncommittally. "Wait…" The memory of charred and destroyed boats in the harbour one morning sprung to mind. That had been a lot of work to repair. "Not the same things that wrecked all the boats?"

"Yup, those things," Penguin nodded, before what he'd said registered and he froze. "Uh… Law…" Their captain had evidently been listening to their conversation, because he was already halfway up the mast, tugging at the sail. "Law get down from there!" the oldest shouted, only to be given a middle finger.

"Don't tell me what to do!" the teenager shouted back, and Penguin and Shachi shared a single look before lunging for the mast themselves. Law was not allowed up the mast. It was an old rule, established as soon as they realised he couldn't swim. If he fell, the only thing waiting for him would be a watery grave.

Consequently, he wasn't as sure footed as them, and they quickly caught up.

"What are you doing up here?" Penguin demanded, grabbing hold of the back of his top firmly.

"Furling the sail," Law replied, as if he wasn't a single misstep away from drowning. "Let go of me."

"I'll let go if you go back down," Penguin told him. "Shachi and I will deal with the sail."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Law repeated, and Shachi huffed, scampering past him to deal with the sail. Law's stubbornness was a nightmare; the only thing that would get him down would be if the sails were furled. Shachi hoped that meant they were about to dive. With those flashes – now occasionally visible as powerful bolts – heading their way, he thought he'd feel much safer under the water than on it.

Especially as their boat was made of metal.

Below him, he noticed Penguin finally lose his patience and pry Law away from the mast and over his shoulder. The smaller boy was visibly annoyed, but clearly knew better than to wriggle when Penguin was the only thing between him and a dunking.

"The agreement was, you do not climb the mast," Penguin was scolding as he descended, a surly captain over his shoulder. "You want that sail furled, you get me or Shachi to do it, remember?"

"I am perfectly capable of climbing a mast," Law retorted. If it wasn't for the approaching thunderstorm, Shachi would have been content to sit and watch the argument from the safety of the mast, but the sail needed furling and clearly he was doing it by himself now, which made the task needlessly complicated.

Still, he persevered, and landed back on the deck slightly more heavily than usual to interrupt the argument that was still going on. Bepo appeared to have made himself scarce, the smart mink.

"Sail furled and mast ready for diving," he reported loudly, overriding whatever Law was spitting out – he seemed rather like an affronted cat, Shachi observed idly. "Can we dive now, Captain? That's storm's getting closer."

Law's glare focused on him for a moment, before realising that Shachi hadn't been undermining his authority, but would very much like to be safely several hundred feet down before the lightning reached them, please.

"Get inside," their captain ordered, and Shachi was only too glad to obey, hurrying to the control room where Bepo was ready to send the Tang into a dive. "Bepo, take us down."

The sirens were a comforting sound as the Tang warned for imminent sealing of the doors, and Shachi wandered over to the window to watch as the waves rose until they were lapping at the glass.

Peace and quiet, however, was apparently too much to ask for, as Penguin and Law resumed their argument now they were safe from the lightning. Bepo looked like he wanted to flee, so with a theatrical sigh, Shachi wandered over to them.

"You're giving me a headache," he complained, interjecting himself between them. "The lights were bad enough, I don't need you adding to it."

He hadn't expected it to work as effectively as it did, striking the pair of them silent instantly as their argument died. Success!

The unexpected downside was when both grabbed his arms and all but dragged him to the infirmary, apparently taking the budding headache very seriously.

Well, he wasn't going to complain at the painkillers.

"Hey, Law," he muttered, trying to keep out of Penguin's hearing. Whether he was successful or Penguin was just being nice and pretending he couldn't hear, he didn't know. His captain made an interested noise. "You know Penguin was just worried, right?"

"I don't need anyone worrying over me," the younger boy retorted, but it lacked the bite of the earlier argument, as if even he didn't quite believe it.

Well, believe it or not, Penguin was always going to be a worrier, and Shachi couldn't deny his own budding protective streak for the kid.

Storms are more common at the equator, and less so at the poles, so with my headcanon of Swallow Island being one of the more northern islands in the world, it follows that storms wouldn't be a frequent occurrence. And while Luffy and the other Straw Hats might dart all around the masts of the Sunny, it seems a little silly to me to put Devil Fruit users somewhere it's so easy to fall into the water from.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari