Betaed by amazing and ever-patient SuspiciousKiwi
√ -√v-√ -√v—
Sailing up the stream on Reverse Mountain was… something else. Alright.
…
Sailing it down the Mountain was even worse.
…
It all started innocently enough. They sailed through the slowly growing storm, safe in the knowledge that the Red Line will stop it and once they finally get up the Reverse Mountain they will be safe from it. The waves were rough, the winds were sharp and the rain was cutting but the sailing was doable. Difficult and hard on their muscles but doable.
And then they saw the Mountain up close.
It was enormous. Easily as tall as the Red Line itself, half of its body hidden in the clouds. Only the thin ribbon of the, flowing up it, current showing which part of the Red Line people were capable of crossing. Semi-safely.
As one the crew gulped and looked at each other with (mostly) nervous excitement.
"Arlong, you're manning the helm for it." Luffy yelled out. The weather and the currents were a bit too temperamental for her experience with a wheel. She has never sailed in that kind of situation. "Call it."
The Fishman raised his head from the compass, he was looking at and nodded decisively. They could tell each other whatever they wanted, but both of them knew that he would be the one to take the ship up this stream. And she knew that he spent the entire time they were running errands in the Logue Town plotting out their course to the Reverse Mountain and more importantly how to achieve the exact angle of entrance to sail up the mountain without wrecking on the various rocks. And still even with all that work they would still need to be able to correct the course if needed.
"Lu, you take the bow, worse come to worse, you'll need to push us from the walls so we won't crash." He called out with steel in his voice. "And we need a strong swimmer on anchor duty! We won't lose our Captain here!"
"I have it." Zoro answered in a carrying voice and steadily made his way to drag Luffy near their figurehead.
"Not an 'it'." Luffy muttered mutinously, glaring semi-seriously at her First Mate until he bowed his head in apology.
"We're sailing only on the mainmast sails, close the others!" Arlong called out, starting to maneuver the ship for the proper angle of approach. "Sanji and Kuro on one side, Gin and Usopp on the other! Make sure to use the same amount of power on both sides!" Obediently boys closed all of the sails, leaving just the bare minimum to be able to adjust their course in spite of the current.
Luffy watched them work in silence, worrying at her lips. They had only one chance to do it right.
"We have too much to achieve to die today" Zoro murmured close to her ears, when she turned to him, he was watching her steadily with his green eyes.
He was right. She couldn't become the next Pirate King without going into the Grand Line. Without dragging them all to their knees. And neither could he… They announced their ambitions, now they had to make the world bow and make it happen.
They had to go through the Mountain safely. There was not a possibility of it not happening. Not now.
So she smirked and slowly dragged her clawed fingers through the green hair.
"You're right. We didn't make them all kneel yet."
Her First Mate, hers! He smirked at her toothily as well.
"Alright you land rats!" Arlong yelled out, bringing all the attention to him. "We're on the way to the Reverse Mountain! Once we're up there… Once we're up there we will officially be in the Grand Line!" Yes, they will. "Keep the sail steady! And you at the front be ready to correct the course if we won't slot in smoothly! Say your prayers and steady your hands, for we won't join Davy Jones yet!"
"Into the Grand Line!" Luffy yelled out, seeing as the current was locking them in their approach.
"Into the Grand Line!" Yelled out the Strawhats, in a surprising display of coordination that hopefully will soon be as natural to them, as reaching for a weapon when attacked.
…
They sailed near the current slowly with Arlong making miniscule corrections when needed and then they all felt the way Hunter sped up after hitting the current and locking in.
"Close the sails!" Their temporary Helmsman yelled out the order and after seeing to its completion, he thundered "Get ready to correct if needed!"
"Aye!" Both Luffy and Zoro called out acknowledgements.
"Kuro, Gin come be ready to open the parachute once we'll be on the peak!" Arlong called out again. None of them wanted to hit the Sea on the Grand Line at full speed, after sailing down the mountain.
…
The Swift Hunter was carried by the current straight to the opening in the Mountain and the channel going up it. They all kept anxious eyes at the incoming wall of rocks and the angle the Hunter was locked in.
…
They sailed.
…
The wind was sharp and wild, doing its best to steal their ship from the currents unforgiving grasp.
…
They sailed.
…
The sky was heavy with rain clouds and split with every strike of the lightning.
…
They sailed.
…
The cold rain was falling heavily on their skin, wetting their clothes and weighting them down.
…
They sailed.
…
The Sea roiled under the Swift Hunter, its waves pushing and pulling at the ship, like the carrack was just a toy. Yet still they stayed at the course the current set in.
…
They sailed.
…
The Mountains' canal, the currents carried them to, grew more and more in their eyes.
…
They sailed.
…
"We're coming in too sharp!" Arlong yelled out, immediately ordering after "Lu! Smooth it out!"
…
"Grab my waist, hips whatever, and anchor me to the ship, Zoro" Luffy ordered sharply and threw herself towards and over the side of the bow that would touch the Mountain's wall, with the greenet jumping just after her and grabbing for her body.
…
Their bowsprit hit the rock wall and cracked, breaking and falling into unforgiving current.
…
There was a terrified scream and determined cursing from the back of the ship.
…
The current was pushing the ship at the same angle straight into a wall.
…
Luffy gathered as much of her resolve as she could and called upon her Haki.
…
Their figurehead was getting nearer and nearer the mountain wall.
…
Then, right as their panther would hit the rock, Luffy threw her hands out and pushed like she'd learned to do with air blades.
…
The Hunter changed the angle a bit but still was on the course to hit the wall with the side.
…
Luffy cursed under her breath and pushed again.
…
And again.
…
And again.
…
And with a creak the Swift Hunter righted herself and sailed up the stream.
…
They did it!
…
There was a victorious yell from those on the back of their ship.
…
They did it!
…
Zoro heaved and dragged Luffy back on the deck of their ship. Falling back to sit on the forecastle's deck with the Fruit User in his arms. Luffy's muscles trembled with exertion they shouldn't even feel, she happily cuddled into the very steady and very warm chest her First Mate offered. They did it! They were going up!
…
Sanji and Usopp ran towards them and dragged Luffy in a strong hug, before they all collapsed down, partially over still sitting there Zoro. They didn't bother to react to halfhearted growls in any way other than absentminded pat on the Swordsman arm.
They did it!
He could deal with their weight over his legs.
They looked peacefully at the slowly moving Mountain walls around them, as the ship slowly climbed the Mountain thanks to the current. In them, embedded were signs of past victims of Reverse scratches on the rock from many broken bowstrings and the many sides that crashed into that specific part of the wall, some long faded sails hanging from sharper rocks above them.
Heavy, dark clouds were hanging before them and the East Blue's water was left behind.
…
Later no one would be able to tell for how long they were just sitting there and looking at the incoming clouds before Arlong's voice brought them back out of the trance-like space they were in.
"Up and about layabouts! Once we'll get over the peak you'll need to slow us down, Lu. Get ready!"
"Aye!" She called out, still high on their success and slowly untangled herself from the knot the Strawhats around her made. Quick look behind told her that Arlong stood solidly behind the steering wheel, gripping it in his white knuckled grip. Kuro and Gin were both lounging near their part of makeshift releasing mechanism Luffy helped the Fishman create for the parachute.
Once they'll find a proper shipwright, she will insist on creating a proper chute for their ship. No matter what anyone will say. Various knock-up streams in Paradise and the New World will be worse than the Reverse Mountain and she really, really wanted to visit at least one of the Sky Islands in her life. And the Deep Sea Islands and… everything. She wants to see everything!
But to do that they have to land safely.
Luffy dragged her thoughts away from the future and focused on the Present. On the way they were slowly but surely sailing to the peak of the Reverse Mountain. And the fact that she really should brace at the front of the ship before the clouds will cover the way.
"Brace me again, Zoro?" She stood up slowly and offered a hand to the sitting next to her greenet.
"Sure, let's just secure you with ropes first." The swordsman answered and jerked his head to one of the mooring ropes prepared to help with docking.
Luffy couldn't stop herself.
"Want to tie me up that badly?" She teased, giving him the best try at bedroom eyes, she could do while still so giddy.
Huh… She didn't know it was humanly possible to get beet red so fast.
"Tha… Wha… No!" Zoro sputtered at her, just to squawk in outrage, (as much as her serious, deep voiced Swordsman could squawk that is,) when she lost it and burst into cackles. Next to them Usopp was in a similar state, while Sanji was leaning towards her with a heart in the visible eye. Her First Mate noticed it too if the sharp tug on the Cook's collar was any indication "Down!"
This time it was Sanji's turn to sputter at them.
…
They went through the cloud cover of the Reverse Mountain.
…
Luffy immediately sobered when the clouds' sharp wetness hit and assessed how much time they had until they'd reach the mountain top and start going down. One quick grimace later, she went straight to the top of the ship's bow and grabbed for the ropes.
Ropes which were quickly taken away from her by hands with a similar pattern of calluses to that of her own. She gave a fleeting, though grateful smile to her green haired Swordsman, when he started fashioning a harness to both keep her on board and help distribute the power of her pushes in a way that did not end up with her kept by her waist while half hanging outside of the ship.
Together with Sanji and Usopp they managed to finish, fasten on her and tie the harness down to different points of the ship, with just a few moments to spare until they reached the mountain top.
And up there… It was…
The view might not be any special in a usual sense - what with a heavy cloud cover around them, but still.
Four streams going up the mountain - behind every stream there was heavy, storm cloud cover with periodical lightning and thunder. And then that one stream down they had to somehow get into. With a clear sky ahead and a sea made of clouds below them their eyes…
It was the best thing she has ever seen.
"Lu! Slow us down!" Arlong's yell caused her to stop fawning over their surroundings. As ordered, Luffy focused and used Haki to push at the air before her, trusting that her harness and Zoro standing behind her would distribute the force of her push to the various ropes.
The Hunter slowed down a bit in the comparison to current which gave Arlong just enough time to do some really fancy steering and hurl them all down the stream to the Paradise and not into one of the rocksides. Or worse in the claws of other currents from the Blues.
…
And then they were locked into a current and were carried down. Luckily in a semi-straight line.
Right after the peak, Kuro and Gin opened the ship's parachute to slow them down on the descent. They sailed down the channel down the Mountain, with Luffy periodically sending pushes ahead of them to slow them down a bit more. Even if there should be a clear Sea at the bottom of the Mountain, crashing there with a great speed would be deadly for the Swift Hunter. And most definitely most of the crew. So control over their speed was a priority for them.
The channel down was as long as the one going up, just a bit less dramatic and a bit faster.
They moved through various layers of clouds, one after another, luckily with no storm clouds on this part of the Reverse Mountain. The Mountain itself with its reddish stones was slowly swallowing the view on both sides of the ship, but there was a moment when they cleared the last layer of clouds and before the canyon's walls were raised high enough for their view to be impeded.
Their eyes could look upon The Grand long swath of Paradise with its storms and patches of calm waters, with shadows of land on the horizon and long swathes of treacherous calm framing it. The canal going down was going in a straight line, with the walls going up and up and up…
And then there was a whale.
…
A fucking whale.
…
It was partially sunk blocking entire channel down and fucking guaranteeing the Swift Hunter would be destroyed if they'd crash into it.
At the first look Luffy thought it a rock, but a bit of luckily by then instinctual Observation informed her that it was a living being with at least one person much stronger than the animal inside it.
…
It was pure instinct.
She didn't want to crash her ship.
She didn't want to sail straight into the whale.
She refused…
And with her entire self, she pushed her hands out, her entire being screaming No-I-Refuse-Move.
There was a powerful gust of wind.
A small shockwave.
Swift Hunter grounding to a halt in the middle of the downward current.
And the whale being moved further into the Sea.
…
The last thing she felt before losing consciousness was the feeling of muscled arms hastily catching her form.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
There was something standing in front of her… a rabbit? Trembling from fright but with teeth bared towards the weaker part of their hideout… She was safe, her rabbit will protect them both.
…
Something dark and predatory slinked into their hideout, but she was not worried. That predator was protective, was part of their pack… It postured a bit with the rabbit and then the rabbit left the hideout, leaving her only with the predator. The… cat? Big kitty with her touched her and turned to stand before the entrance to her den. They even showed all its claws… Those claws promised they would protect her until she could do it herself. She trusted that.
…
Then a green wolf came into the den. It communicated with the big kitty standing above her and growled softly, when the kitty refused to leave. The wolf came to check at her and growled again, before leaving… Why did the wolf leave?
…
Wolfie was back! It brought a snake to the den though. A wise, old snake, who could either heal or damage, but a snake still. The kitty got tenser at the sight of the snake and she found herself agreeing. The snake shouldn't be near her then. Why would wolfie bring it to the den? She couldn't move! Wolfie came to sooth her… He petted her so nicely… And scratched at that point which always relaxed something tense in her. And she wanted… She wanted to relax for her wolf. But he brought the snake to her den! She didn't want the snake to touch her! She wasn't able to defend herself! Why wouldn't her wolf defend her?! She didn't understand!
…
There was no kitty or wolfie near her anymore. Rather, there was a shark… Big, blue shark that has protected and soothed her when she was little. She was safe with her shark.
…
Luffy came back to herself feeling the gentle sway of the waves under the ship. She opened one eye carefully and immediately closed it, when a lance of light hit her freshly opened eye. With the light came the immediate pain and a wave of nausea…
Great, she simply loved having a fucking migraine.
She let out a quiet groan and tried to cast her senses out and learn what exactly happened.
That was a mistake.
With a quiet whimper Luffy fell back into her pillows.
"At least don't try to move Little Lu." Gruff voice of her favorite Fishman stopped her from doing exactly that.
"Ar…?" She whimpered again, whatever happened… it hurt.
"Shhh… don't talk yet." Something clinked and then something cold was pressed to her lips. "Open up, little one." When she obediently did just that the cold thing was pushed into her mouth and after a moment where she didn't know what to do with it, it started to melt.
Ice…
She allowed herself one content sigh and started to suck at the offered ice chip. There was no need to worry, Arlong was with her and he didn't sound worried at all. Far from it, under the typical 'Luffy did something she shouldn't' aggravation, he sounded really relaxed.
Everything was going to be alright.
"Wha- appene-?" She slurred after hydrating her poor, dry throat. It didn't do much against a migraine and literally nothing against the critical lack of her senses, but… at least she could speak.
"What do you remember?" Arlong asked, putting his, much cooler than humans, hand at her forehead.
And wasn't that the question? What did she remember?
She was furious… Wasn't she? Why was she…?
Ah…
Dragon, right.
"We were in the Logue Town." She started quietly. "We put flowers under The Scaffold, run from that Logia Marine Captain in there. I met Dra… Monkey D Dragon." She refused to use just his given name. They were not that close, not with the danger that him giving her his surname, invited to her. "We sailed to the Reverse Mountain and up it." She had to right the ship's positioning with Haki, didn't she? "And… there was something blocking the canal downside I think?" There was a hazy recollection of a blocked canal and her pushing, but after that? "I tried to push it away I think"
"You did." Arlong agreed neutrally "Do you remember what it was?"
"A boulder, maybe?" She guessed, it was big and gray and on a crash course with the Swift Hunter.
"And how are your senses now?" The Fishman changed the hand covering her forehead and Luffy sighed contentedly at the blessed coolness before trying to find an answer for him. Was that a concussion check?
"I can touch the sheets I bought at Yukiryuu, the ones you were complaining that were too expensive." And oh how much was he complaining about her 'soft, human skin' and the equally 'soft, stupidly expensive sheets'. "Everything hurts me still." Even the most expensive sheets wouldn't help her at the moment "I can smell the salt in the air and the one clinging to yourself. Were you swimming?" At his neutral grunt she tried to shrug, winced from pain and continued with the check "I sense that we're swaying on the waves. But not as much as on the open Sea. Are we at Twin Capes? Or are we docked somewhere?" What followed was a moment of silence before Luffy gave up on trying to pump Arlong for any information. He will tell her everything later. "I can hear the cawing of gulls outside." She experimentally tried to open an eye again and this time other than bright, bright light, she could also see Arlong's blue face above her. She finished the check with a smirk "And I can see your scaly face right here"
"And your Observation?" Something in the question and the serious cast to his eyes stopped her cold. She eyed him cautiously and tried to once again cast out her senses…
And again…
And again…
Something from her growing panic had to show itself on her face for the hand on her forehead disappeared and soon felt cool lips kissing it.
Luffy let that feeling calm her down a bit and got a more thorough stock of her Observation.
"I can sense you if I really focus. But only on the surface and only because you're close" She finally admitted blinking out tears from her eyes. Crying won't change anything and it wasn't like she lost her senses completely.
She'll be fine.
Eventually.
"We're currently docked at the Twin Capes. You were out of it for 24 hours." Arlong murmured to her, raising up and sitting at the bed at the level of her hips. There was both a relief and a naked pride in his eyes. Once he made sure Luffy was focusing on him, he started telling her what exactly happened. "We've sailed up the Reverse Mountain, with just a bit of Haki-helped correction at the entrance and without damage to the Swift Hunter. Up there we changed the streams with a bit of help from your Haki to slow everything down and with only minimal panic. And when we were sailing down we saw an enormous whale blocking the canal. That was what you pushed away." As if unconsciously, he grabbed at her hand and put his fingers at her pulsepoint. "You fainted after pushing it away, very dramatically indeed." His attempt at joking fell flat thanks to him shamelessly keeping track of her pulse. It was… terrible that she worried him, but… It was nice that he was worried for her. Makino was always worried for her as well. "Luckily Zoro caught you before you hit your head and bundled you in bed." He did? Awww… "After we docked near Crocus' hut, there was some drama with a pair of people announcing themselves as whale hunters, who completely failed at even scratching that whale." He smirked in the way he always did when talking about any kind of incompetency, then he went serious again. "Kuro is for some reason utterly convinced those two are bounty hunters scouting the newbies. He thinks they come from one of the guilds." And the weighted look in his eye did not assure Luffy that their Strategist was wrong… Damn it all. "Before you ask, we have allowed Crocus to check up on you." He shrugged and Luffy had to admit it made sense… As much as she didn't want any stranger near her when vulnerable and wanted to make the best possible impression on the last King's crew, they did not have a proper doctor yet and she did black out. "He declared that if once awake you will be able to sense close to you, then you won't need to relearn how to use Observation Haki. Just rest. Zoro's got us until you'll get better."
And wasn't that a relief?
Resting was good…
She could rest…
They were at the start of Paradise.
It was still relatively safe for them to be moored for a bit longer.
She could rest…
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The next time she opened her eyes it was to a sight of head full of green hair poking above her bed and a sound of soft snores of her First Mate… She smiled softly at that and again took stock of herself. It… wasn't so bad all told. The pain, while it didn't disappear in full, was muted enough for her to function fully. The vision was without the problem and a few wiggles assured her that she had full control over her body again.
She didn't check on her Observation.
What she did do was attempt to raise herself on her elbows and noticed very disapproving green eyes looking at her, quickly losing any nap fog from them.
"Captain." Zoro welcomed her with relief but did not rise from the floor, au contraire, he looked like he was very comfortable on the fur at her floor.
"Zoro." She smiled warmly at him. She remembered Arlong saying that Zoro took care of the crew when she was unconscious. But… "How is the crew?" She was so panicked and then tired from her panicking she didn't even ask about the crew. Terrible, terrible…
"Everyone is fine. Usopp lost his balance for a moment up the Mountain and has a beautiful bruise on his thigh and Gin hit the railing when you pushed Laboon, the whale" he quickly clarified at her questioning look "and got a belt of bruises on his lower back, but otherwise the worst we've got was the short panic when you went down." There was no accusation in his voice, just a matter of fact reporting, still… Luffy grimaced at the reminder that she did go down at their first stop in the Paradise.
"Good." A lot of those who went through the Reverse Mountain lost some of the crew or damaged their ship… In comparison, Luffy was thankful they got just bruises no matter how miffed she was about the fainting. "What happened when I was out of it?"
Report… Report was important.
"We've docked at the Twin Cape Lighthouse and checked the ship. Swift Hunter didn't suffer any damage other than the bowsprit, though we lost a coil of rope someone didn't secure properly to the main mast. We've created and attached a new one, so we won't lose on sails. We've also managed to rescue our parachute, the fabric dried yesterday so right now it's properly secured to the ship again. Speaking about parachutes though, Kuro insists that should we want to go the route with Skypiea, we ought to have four parachutes tied symmetrically to the ship. Either as a cross or as a rectangle." Zoro smirked wryly, probably noting that even Kuro didn't really believe they'd be able to convince her to go using a differently-murderous route.
"Makes sense," this time it was Luffy's time to smirk, "it wouldn't be easy to have a parachute encompassing the entire ship, to use on the way down. Especially if we won't find another, safer way back to the Blue Sea." Zoro inclined his head at that, seemingly admitting defeat when it came to choosing the route out of the Twin Cape.
"Once we docked, we were witnesses to a short fight between people claiming to be whale hunters, while wearing what looked like real gold and a crown in case of one of them, and the only non-whale resident of the Twin Cape." Zoro's grimace told her everything he thought about that and she had to agree with him. Gold? Whale Hunters? Absolutely not. "Crocus won against the two easily, after which they tried to convince us that they were just hunting to feed their village. All the while they were trying to crawl onto the Swift Hunter."
"Oh?" Something cold slithered down her spine at that. "Did they?" Even without a protective glint in his eyes, she was absolutely sure that Zoro wouldn't allow any danger on the ship with her being weakened in any way… With any of the crew being weakened.
"Very insistently." He confirmed with something dark in the tilt of his head. Maybe those were shadows… Maybe something else. "You were safely tucked in by then, but if Kuro is right and those were bounty hunters, who were actually reading papers, then by your absence it was obvious you were…"
"Weakened. Yes. Thank you for keeping them away from me."
"Of course. You were never left alone, since our docking." The greenet waved her gratitude away and what could Luffy do? She could only smile charmed…
"Did we get anything else from those two?"
"They called themselves Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday and they claimed to come from Whiskey Peak. Whiskey Peak is the first island in the Skypiea route." This time his grumble about her preferred route was half hearted at best… Maybe the dinosaurs were winning him over?
"But they already made an effort to prepare a trap for us." She smiled winningly.
"That was a lousy attempt."
"Well yeah, all the more reason to spring it" This time she smirked, before her elbows finally gave up under her and she landed back on her pillow with a silent 'oof'.
"..."
"Oh come on… You know you want to measure our strength against someone semi-harmless, while still of Paradise-strength."
"..."
"You know you want to Zoro~" Luffy sing-songed with a smirk. She could almost see his breaking point.
"We'll see…" He narrowed eyes at her with suspicion, as if she had strength for any mischief, and shook his head. "Once we got rid of the supposed hunters, we talked with Crocus." Now, Luffy's attention was wrenched away from Skypiea and routes and anchored fully at her First Mate. "I introduced us as Strawhat Pirates and when he asked about the whale being pushed I admitted to it being done by you." He grimaced slightly. "Crocus insisted on checking up on you as a doctor, to which I had no grounds to object." Luffy grimaced and nodded at that. He couldn't, not in a neutral zone and not without bringing retribution from every single of his contacts. Of which Crocus had a lot. What was worse, most of those contacts were of the New World variety. "But I insisted that you'd want us to be in the best possible shape, so he should check up on the entire crew first. Once he went through us all, Kuro and I were in the room the entire time of the check up. I think he used Haki to do it, though. There were no tools on him then and he did not touch you."
"Makes sense. Crocus is considered one of the best doctors in the entire world. And he was a Pirate who fought in the Edo War."
"He was the one Buggy was talking about?"
"Yes. So he checked up on me, Arlong already passed on the diagnosis. What has happened since then?"
"Mostly we were out of the way and focusing on training." Some of Luffy's surprise at the decision to keep to themselves had to show itself, for Zoro smirked at her. "I do remember your recitation of various Roger Pirates whereabouts."
"So you did." She smiled helplessly.
"If you wish for us to go through Skypiea, we still have a few days before our Log Pose sets in that route." True, if she remembers the map correctly, the Log Pose sets for Whiskey Peak sets after a week at the Twin Cape. And that was only one of the reasons for the route to be so rarely taken by various rookies. "You should take your time to rest."
"Zoro?" Luffy looked at him closely. Keeping them all as safe as possible, was in character for him, from what she learned about him. But… He was not usually so insistent. "Is there something wrong with Crocus? Or is it just…?" She didn't finish the question. How could she? Was it the Grand Line? Was it Twin Cape? Was it the whale? Was it something else?
"You went down and no one could do anything to help you." He didn't look at her when talking about her fainting. His eyes didn't go higher than her mattress. "We couldn't keep you from fainting. The only reason we didn't crash and sink is the way you overextended your Haki to get the obstacle out of the way of the ship." He grimaced at that and Luffy had to echo the sentiment. Because that was an unfortunate truth. By the time they noticed that there was no way around the whale, it was already too late for Arlong to join her in pushing with Haki and no one else was trained enough to help at it yet. "And then once you went down, we couldn't help you either. The only thing we could do is make you comfortable and risk allowing a complete stranger to do what we couldn't." There was frustration plainly written all over her First Mate's face when he admitted their seeming deficiency and Luffy… wouldn't let him blame himself for her choices.
"What happened wasn't your fault, you know that?" She asked as softly as she could. And at the unconvinced set of his shoulders, continued just as soft. "What has happened was no one's fault. Except maybe for the whale." To be absolutely fair - what the hell was it even doing blocking the stream? "You all are progressing in Haki at respectable speed, but I didn't know I could modify the wind blades into pushes until it became absolutely needed." From how he tensed, she was sure that Zoro caught what was unsaid - that even if he'd start training to unlock Haki back at that island they met at, there was no saying that he could use wind blades or its modification. "So there was no way to keep me from going down. Once I fainted, you took care of me and the crew, dealt with potential danger, greeted our host and kept the crew from being underfoot with training." This time Luffy smiled at him and pushed that warmth into her voice. If her Swordsman was not going to raise his eyes to meet hers, he will learn that she didn't blame him in other ways. "You kept us all safe. You did everything I could have hoped you would back there where I offered the Sea to you."
"That… wasn't how I remember that island." The greenet retorted with wry almost-humor.
"Memory going out already?" She teased, happy to see the tenseness leave his shoulders. The topic is not forgotten and surely will come back again, but for now… "You sure, you didn't hit your head somewhere between landing in the Grand Line and now?"
"Wasn't me, that played at a highborn maiden in trouble, was it?" He immediately bites off, with a smirk sharp enough to cut.
"Played…? Are you saying I didn't convince you yet, that I am a noble, escaping from a… umm… let's say unwanted marriage?"
"Nope, you're an excellent liar, but you'd be a terrible con artist."
"Oh well… Even I can't be perfect…"
That was how they spent the rest of the time before her strength waned again and she fell asleep… Just joking and reminding each other that they were all safe for now.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The next time Luffy woke up, she was still very much smothered in her blankets, there was a tray with a broth portion and a green tea. There was also an absolute need to finally clean herself up.
Sanji's dark eye followed her way to the bathroom and soon enough back again into the room.
"Here" He swaddled her in Shanks' old cape and visibly wavered between moving towards her bed and the chest she was keeping most of her clothes. And he even didn't try to disguise a worry, that she could sense if focused, as a form of flirting, as he usually would…
And wasn't that an improvement? She could sense his worry. Not like 'he was twitching so she could tell he's worried'... No… She could sense it! Just as she could sense that the two of them were the only people on the ship, but that there was someone really strong outside of the Swift Hunter. Probably Crocus, if no one else docked and they were still here only with the one official resident of the Twin Cape.
"Could you take the blankets to air out?" She asked after watching his floundering for a minute… or two. At his relieved smile and a nod, Luffy had to wonder if his earlier hesitation was from not wanting to cross her boundaries or not wanting to cross the boundaries Zoro and others set for him.
She'll find out one day.
For now, his leaving gave enough time to get into comfortable, warm clothes and start eating the food left for her, before her Cook came back into the cabin.
Sanji took another chair and sat in silence. His uncovered eye boring into her.
"We were worried when you went down." He broke the silence just as Luffy finished eating the broth and with quick, still practiced hands exchanged the empty bowl for a mug of tea, with a quiet murmur "to settle everything down."
"I'm sorry that you were worried"
"But not for worrying us"
"No. I don't regret any of the actions I took for our safety."
"Fair enough." He sighed and narrowed his visible eye. "Will you teach me how to push like that?"
"Once you unlock Haki and learn to purposefully use Hardening. Of course I will."
"Good."
"..."
"Crocus didn't even bat an eye at the sight of Arlong…" He started leadingly at which Luffy could only smile.
"There are few reasons for that. The Grand Line natives, even those from the Paradise are used to many things 'weird' for us of the Blues. So a Fishman, a Giant, a Dwarf or a Mink… it doesn't really matter. And of course to go to the New World one has to go through the Fishman Island, so any of those who got to the New World wouldn't care. And Crocus was sailing in the New World. He has been sailing with Gol D Roger at the time when there were two Minks on the Oro Jackson. Oro's own creator was a Fishman."
"So further into the Grand Line…"
"We will see stranger things than a Fishman or two" Luffy laughed, unashamedly anticipating all the things that were awaiting them.
"Speaking about strange things…" Sanji started, then grimaced and took out a cigarette. For all that, after he threw her a look, he didn't light it, he still put it in his mouth and, for the lack of better word, chewed on it. "I told you about the Vinsmoke family, but… You should know that my departure from Germa Kingdom was not really sanctioned." He grimaced again and looked her straight in the eyes. Serious and worried. "Germa 66 will be dispatched as soon as there is confirmation of my whereabouts."
"I know they are dangerous." Luffy admitted with a sigh. Mihawk has educated her properly after all. And beating all the known dangers of the world into her head was his favorite part of her training. "But how worried should I be?"
"If they'd catch us as we are? Very."
"Well fuck" She has hoped for a few islands of grace before all of the dangers will fall on them. Especially with Marines still withholding her name from the public. She forgot that Marines were not the most dangerous faction for her little crew. There was a rumor that Vinsmokes had a Tenryuubito in their pocket. And while the established Pirates wanting her Hat as their claim to the Throne would wait for them in the New World, there would be those that would make a trip to Paradise for it.
"Quite." He agreed and without quite blinking, raised an eyebrow, as if asking 'and what are you going to do about that?'
And well… Few additional variables would not change the plan that terribly, would they? Now who needed to be informed about speeding the timeline?
"Warn Kuro about Germa 66 and tell him whatever you remember about their forces. And inform Arlong that we'll need to move to the next phase of the training sooner than we'd like." She decided quickly. She will inform Zoro that he had a few reign over terrorizing everyone to train, after she'll meet with Crocus. The need for training helped her to make one other important decision. After all if nothing else then Little Garden and that oh so mysterious bounty hunting organization will be both excellent methods of training.
"Sooner, that you'd like?" There was no accusation in the blonde's voice, but something in there made it sound… flat.
"We wanted you all to be more settled into yourselves before we'd throw you into the deep."
"But I've brought another complication."
"But you've informed me about a timeline for at least one of the complications." Luffy quickly corrected her Cook. There was absolutely no way she wouldn't do her very best to break through any attempt at raising walls from guilt. They all knew the danger and he had already warned her about the Germa 66 and the Vinsmoke Family. The only new information was the potential timeline. "We'll be fine Sanji. From what I remember Vinsmokes are mostly keeping to the North Blue." She really hoped she remembered that correctly, after all North Blue might be stronger than the East Blue, but there is a Blue and then there was the Grand Line.
"You think I'm a hysteric" This time his voice was full of accusation.
"I think that you don't know how much stronger you are now compared to who you were while you escaped." Luffy specified. Details were important after all. "I think that you don't know how much stronger you can get. Yes, there is no reason to be complacent and careless. But we should be no one's prey. And we won't be."
"Hmmm… Maybe."
"I'll ask Arlong to focus on you if it'll make you feel more secure about our chances."
"Thank you." He breathed with visible relief and bowed his head… Silly Sanji. Of course his psychological comfort was important. It always was.
She should probably decide if being reminded of the illusions would help him find his balance or if it would just disrupt the work he put into it.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
The next time she woke up they were still docked at the Twin Cape and Kuro was the one sitting in the room with her. He was sitting at her desk and writing something furiously on the sheet of paper.
"Good morning Captain." He greeted her with relish, without raising his head.
"Good morning, Kuro" She answered with her voice still sleep-rough. And then asked lightly. "Am I snoring or have you reached your Haki?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid." Their Strategist shook his head ruefully and turned to face her. "But you're not snoring either." He quickly attempted to calm her after the grievous accusation of snoring of all things. "You start purring when you're about to wake up. Don't ask me how"
Luffy… looked at him incredulously… She purred in her sleep? And no one bothered to tell her?
How could they?!
It was important information!
Mostly because it meant that faking sleep by her wouldn't ever work. But also because that was cute and cuteness could be as deadly a weapon as anything else if wielded correctly.
She did the only thing she could do with that information at the moment. She pouted.
"Purring… No, nevermind that. We do have more important issues to tackle." Ho boy, did they ever. "Sanji talked with you?"
"About the Vinsmoke's army? Yeah."
"And what do you think?"
"That we need a Grand Line doctor as soon as possible. That we need to train to higher levels. And that we need to recruit more strong fighters before we'll run into more of a serious danger." He grimaced when recounting all of the things they needed… And Luffy couldn't even blame him, could she? They did need all of that. As soon as possible. "Zoro told me you want to spring the trap."
"You said it yourself, we need a doctor. And Drum Kingdom is the best source of those."
"Skypiea route, then? With a Doctor from Drum, and… who else?"
"Doctor from Drum, Shipwright from Water 7, probably a warrior from Skypiea, attacks from air are really useful, and surprisingly little crews expect flying humans. I would also wish to get a real Navigator. Arlong did excellent as a Helmsman up the Mountain, and maps help us tremendously, but someone able to sense what the winds whisper would be incredibly useful."
"Good. That's a nice bare minimum. Anyone else we'd be able to recruit will just be a nice bonus."
"So sure we'd be able to recruit anyone else?"
"You recruited me, Captain. Of course I'm sure." They shared a slight smile. "How are you feeling?"
At the question Luffy finally got her bearings to cast her senses out. And she felt… everything.
She felt five different presences training close to the ship with varying amounts of determination and focus, she brushed teasingly her own presence against Arlong's and skimmed around others.
She felt the bright, bright presence of similar power to what she remembered from Thatch. She flared at it in greetings, with a promise to meet properly.
She felt the presence of… something alive, enormous but not really powerful. Probably that whale.
She felt the general life of a Sea near the shoreline. With fishes, crabs and other molluscs…
She felt the gulls flying near the shore, hungrily hunting for something to eat.
She felt bright dots creating a carpet of lights spread on the earth near them.
She was fine, yeah…
Better than fine.
"Just let me get ready and we can go out."
…
To her surprise she found she was not nervous about meeting Crocus. Yes, there was wariness about the old Doctor, his wiliness and strength, but she lacked the nervous determination she had, when going to 'meet' Buggy. After all, for all that he was a part of Roger's crew and one of the checkpoints, Shanks allowed her to walk… The worst thing he could do to her, if he didn't approve, was killing her. He could not strip her nomination and have her sailing in shame.
Oh, Crocus was still important and definitely had an ear of the Dark King… But so had Shanks. And so had Buggy. And those two were Roger's Apprentices. For all purposes his heirs. For some reason their opinion meant to her more than that of an old Doctor.
Even if Luffy would completely butcher their first impression and interaction as a whole… She will be alright. And so will be the rest of Strawhat Pirates.
Which is why she didn't bother to dress to impress. Nothing as elaborate as what she wore when they were going to the Scaffold. Just normal pants, a tank top, jacket, her gloves and The Hat. And a few, better hidden weapons. Going fully unarmed would be Stupid after all.
…
First moment after leaving her cabin was… painful. After spending who knows how many days in half shadowed room, seeing everything in full sunlight was terrible, though luckily not as terrible as to take her attention from Arlong's presence brushing along her own senses and the quick murmur Kuro made to lead her straight to the blanket with breakfast set on the land.
Her breakfast passed quickly. She couldn't even say what exactly she ate. Just that it was warm and filling.
With the powerful presence waiting patiently some way away, near the lighthouse. With the bigger but much less powerful one in the Sea near the shore. With Kuro sitting near her and pouring over various maps, Luffy didn't think they had and wasn't sure she wanted to know where he got them. With her observing the ongoing training - at the moment Zoro was the one blindfolded and the others surrounded him with sticks in their hands and occasionally whacked him with those. Luffy remembered that part of training and how much she hated it, but… it did help her get her Observation to the forefront of her subconsciousness to the point that when she needed that ability, it unlocked itself.
She had no doubt, Zoro would also make excellent progress.
Arlong was supervising the training after all.
…
And then came the time to face the music.
Luffy cleaned up after herself as much as she could and got up, with a bit of a waver to her steps, to greet their host.
She didn't need to look for him even, the lighthouse's door was open and his presence was waiting inside.
It took only a few moments to get to the lighthouse, on the way to which Luffy had finally seen that whale that caused it all and… it was truly an enormous animal with visibly thick scar tissue at the front of its head. And yet it wasn't even the scars that captured her attention when looking at the animal. It was that feeling of misery and yearning that the whale was feeling… well as much as an animal could feel. It was ebbing up and down in between moments of pure instinct to survive.
She felt a faint string of curiosity before she shook it away. The whale, while quite interesting, was not the target of her steps.
No, the man sitting in the main room of the lighthouse was.
Crocus was… built like a brick. Tall and stocky, where his hair grayed with age, his vividly pink shirt and the petal-like, purple-yellow things around his head, remedied the potential bored feeling of his form. He had wire glasses on his nose and wasn't even pretending to read the book he had opened in his lap. The measuring regard of the old Doctor was all on her.
She took those few last steps, to lean on the back of a chair set before the old man, in silence. Their eyes locked together. Measuring. Judging. Trying to decide if the other would explode in violence.
Finally the one that's hosting between them, broke the silence.
"Welcome to the Twin Cape Lighthouse, Strawhat Luffy." He nodded towards the chair and watched in silence as Luffy took the offered seat.
"Greetings Keeper of this Lighthouse." She greeted as warily as he did. Purposefully greeting the lighthouse keeper and not the Doctor of the Roger Pirates. After all that was how he avoided getting the scaffold of his own, when the rest of that crew was laying low in the various Seas. "Thank you for indulging my Crew's worry after our turbulent sailing down the Reverse Mountain." She smiled crookedly, they both knew exactly what turbulence she was talking about. Was she blaming him? Partially.
"... Traveling up and down The Mountain destroyed many crews over the years." He deflected after a moment, or two, of silence.
"I'm sure it did." She smiled graciously and only half-mockingly "Not many would be able to avoid all obstacles just coming into The Paradise." And she was being generous saying 'not many'. Almost all of the crews at the bare entrance of the Grand Line are Haki-less and most of those have no Devil Fruit crewmates. Just getting up and down the Mountain is hard and can destroy the ship. The whale randomly popping up to work as an additional obstacle is just overkill against the rookie and not so rookie crews.
"... Your crew acquitted themselves very well when you were indisposed. You must be very proud." He mentioned after yet another long pause. If that's how he always talks, then she's even more in awe of the Roger Pirates for not strangling their Doctor.
"I am." Luffy agreed sunnily. "They honor me and my Hat."
"... Yes, that hat, who made it for you?"
"Oh, one could call it a family heirloom… My father-figure gave me something he got from his father-figure." She explained readily, getting petty satisfaction from the stifled wince the Doctor made. And he ought to feel guilty. Roger, for all that he was a terrible parent-figure, put both of his apprentices into the position of his children. And yes, both Shanks and Buggy cut themselves cushy positions they could be content, if not happy, with. Both of them have crews they care about and that care about them… It's just none of those were achieved thanks to their old crewmates. Shanks was quiet on the topic and made sure to emphasize the meaning of nakama-ship to the little girl he met then. But Buggy had absolutely no qualms about describing every way that Roger Pirates failed him and his fellow apprentice when they were children. Starting with the Edo War, going through the lack of Fruit training and ending on the lack of any kind of protection or guidance right after The Execution. They were left all alone then.
And Buggy made sure to try to instill in her protective instincts in their short trip to exchange him for the bounty.
"... It seems very important to you."
"Well, it was given to me only after I decided on my Dream. It definitely mobilizes me to move forward." This time Luffy's smile was almost demure… If one would ignore the hint of teeth. For all that she would not show any weakness to someone she didn't… couldn't trust, there was no need to taunt the old warrior. But a quick reminder of what she wanted to achieve… What she had support and a blessing to try to achieve, definitely wouldn't hurt anyone.
"... Surprising Dream for one of your features." Crocus shaped every word carefully, watching her with visibly narrowed eyes.
"Features? I didn't peg you for someone to care how others look."
"... I didn't mean your look Monkey D Luffy." The Pirate… For Crocus seemingly decided to ignore all else that he was and it was definitely an experienced Pirate talking at the moment. One that sailed with The King to the Raftel. One that sailed on with The King who ruled it all. One that stood against Monkey D Garp time and time again.
Luffy felt her own eyes narrowing in focus. Did he know…? It would be pure naivete to think that he didn't.
Now… what to do about it?
She smiled a sickly sweet smile.
"One would think that with what happened in South Blue…" She started, correcting the way The Hat laid on her head, purposefully bringing attention to it. "What Roger Pirates allowed to happen to the South Blue." She corrected herself with another sickly sweet smile. South Blue since the massacre was a hotbed of revolutionaries and pirates alike… And all because of a rumor of Roger's kid and inability of Roger Pirates to extract and publicly protect that child. Or disprove the rumor entirely, of course. "One would think that deciding to attain strength to see to personal protection of oneself by a… person of interest would be absolutely understandable." She was somewhat curious how the old Pirate would take it. She might be wholly focused on the Monkey D Dragon and the threat of his enemies… especially since she was essentially in the Marines' grasp. But if a crew less honorable than Redhair or Whitebeard Pirates would find and recognize her… The only question would be - how much would it hurt before they'd kill her.
Crocus flinched at hearing that and didn't even try to disguise it. Luffy stifled the petty satisfaction at getting such visible reaction from stabbing him with a knife of consequences and likening herself in his eyes to Roger's child. She could almost see the cogs working in his head, so she leant back and checked with her Haki at the training progress, allowing him to decide on his next action in peace.
This time it was Gin in the middle of the circle made by their stick-wielding crewmates. From the frustration she could sense from him, he got whacked quite a few times already, but… But he was moving. And… It seemed that whenever Zoro was the one to hit him with his stick, Gin was changing the direction he was trying to duck. Changing it successfully. Oh, he still got whacked, but from what her Haki was telling her, those were mostly glancing blows. From the very pointed attention Luffy could sense from Arlong, the Fishman has also noticed that behavior… and came to a conclusion.
What was unfortunate was that whenever it was someone other than Zoro… Gin got whacked mercilessly. To her eye it looked like he focused wholly on Zoro as a threat and so whenever he was able to sense something through Observation it worked only on his focus' movements… Or it was just a fluke and he was as far from unlocking his Haki as the rest of the crew gathered in East Blue.
"... I do not believe you have what it takes to become the next King." Luffy wrenched her attention to Crocus when he opened his mouth… And stilled in fury. How dare that… "But you can make a decent Pirate." He added in a faux-reconciliatory voice.
"Oh?" She sent a fleeting thanks to whatever was up-there, that she was already after the whole hormone bullshit and had enough control over herself to not immediately set everything on fire in a tantrum… She managed to keep her reaction to outraged hiss, which brought a mean smirk to the old man in front of her.
"You are not Gol D Roger." The asshole pronounced slowly, as if speaking to a small child. "You don't have a goal other than the crown. You have no drive to become great. You have no crew, you could trust in. No Pirate in their own mind will allow the spawn of Monkey D Garp to become the successor of a man Garp brough to be murdered. I don't know how you convinced Shanks and the red-nosed brat to give you their blessings but it won't matter, will it? They will not come to bail you out when you'll crash and burn little Monkey."
Luffy saw red.
It was one thing to not believe in her after a few minutes of sending barbs at each other in the guise of polite talk… She acknowledged that as a possibility. The goal here was just to show herself a Pirate enough for the old coot to not try to take her life. The barb about her crew? She didn't care about it, the only thing she couldn't trust in her crew was to win against everything life would throw at them. And that was a big 'yet'. But that talk about Shanks and Buggy? That has honestly infuriated her.
Crocus has once called himself those two's nakama. With all the promises inherent in that word. All of the promises Shanks put into her head and later Mihawk, Marco and Thatch enforced. And there the old coot was, sitting in his precious lighthouse, taking care of a whale and talking like that about the only people who could be considered his precious Captain's heir.
Fuck him!
Fuck him very much…
Luffy forced herself to pause and calm herself, least she'd do something unfortunate and doom them all at the start of their journey.
"You're right." She said in an even tone, looking straight in the old Keeper's eyes and relishing in open suspicion in them. "I am not Gol D Roger." She felt no shame in that, both Shanks and Roger's journal sold her a very polished version of reality, but the long conversation with the blue haired Pirate cured her of glorifying Roger's choices. "Buggy asked me to be better to my crew than He ever was. And I will." If nothing else Luffy was sure that she would never purposefully take children to War. Never! She took another purposefully even breath and allowed herself a second to observe the suspicion changing into fury and almost immediately turning into chagrin. Then she stood from her seat and started to make her way to the door. There was nothing else to say between them. "Thank you for your hospitality, Lighthouse Keeper. We will leave your Lighthouses, once our Log Pose is set."
Was she petty? Yes.
Did she care? No.
√ -√v-√ -√v—
They spent most of the rest of the time before the Log set training, fishing and doing their best to make use of the safe environment to relax. Though some of Luffy's reaction after her meeting with their 'host' had to be readable for the rest of the crew, since right from the day, almost the moment she left that Lighthouse, all of the boys carried a readiness to them and never went anywhere alone. Luffy was more often than not joined by Kuro and his maps, though Gin also spent a lot of time training with her.
After many tries and tests, they confirmed that Gin had managed to unlock his Observation Haki, so while Arlong was focusing on getting that awakening out of the rest of them, or alternatively to keep Zoro from overextending himself, Luffy introduced Gin to new meditation exercises to widen his perception and to the sparring when both people could Observe the other. Not surprisingly the Boatswain was progressing better in the sparring department than in meditation, but… Luffy remembered cursing a storm when Mihawk demanded her to meditate until she'd be able to notice all animals in the clearing. So she kept her smiles to herself, when she declared that unlocked Observation will help Gin to learn hand to hand techniques and helped him train it. While mercilessly using every waver of Gin's focus to give him more bruises. Nothing that would keep him from further training or even climbing all over the railings, but still every bruise was visible enough to straight up stomp on that competitive spirit most of those taking to the Sea had.
Gin was making really good progress.
Good enough for Luffy to think about inviting Arlong to their spars to up the difficulty of keeping Gin's focus on Observing his opponents.
While days were spent on training and gathering supplies… Their evenings were spent together, around a campfire or in their small mess on the ship. Just… talking. About their hobbies, their families, their short-term goals…
One of those evenings, Kuro brought a stack of papers with him to the mess and right after the meal declared that he made them a plan.
"Our fainting scare definitely highlighted our need for a Doctor of our own." He started silkily. "Drum Kingdom is the place most famous for their Doctors, so that is the fixed point of our plan."
"Drum is a place that is known for something called 'journey track' among the apprentices." Arlong interjected with information that only he as their only Grand Line experienced member would have. "Those learning for that track more often than not end up on Marine or Pirate ships, though a lot of them decide to just wander over the Paradise and offer help that way."
Once they got acknowledging nods from the rest of the crew around the table, Kuro continued.
"With Drum as our main goal and the Eternal Pose there that our Captain stole for us, we can go one of the two routes." Here he took two sheets of papers with route descriptions. Luffy as she took a look at them, recognized most of the information shared the day their bounties came. "We can go through Whiskey Peak, where we already know there will be a trap. Little Garden with its dinosaurs, Alabasta with their marketplaces and later Skypiea being ten thousand meters above us, Water Seven with the best shipyards in the Grand Line, Florian Triangle and its spooky legends and Sabaody, where all the routes meet." He pointed to the route description, kept between Sanji, Gin and Usopp. What with Kuro writing the thing, Zoro and Luffy discussing everything before with their Strategist and Arlong being the one to know first-hand stories about some of those islands. "Incidentally this is also our Captain's preferred route." Luffy nodded at the looks thrown her way. "For our Log to set for the Whiskey Peak we'll need to wait another two days."
"If we'd choose the other route, we have Eternal Poses to Drum, Alabasta and Water Seven. So it would be possible to jump to the island and back to our route, though for some of the islands it will be tricky." Arlong cut in with additional information before Kuro could start with another route.
"The other route we could take… One where we have Labyrinth Island and its burning sun and supposed cannibals living there" Kuro started to describe the other available route in an absolutely even voice but… Luffy didn't remember anything about Labyrinth' people being cannibals, so from where… Nevermind, she took a look at the sympathetic grimace at Arlong's face and had all her questions answered. "Serengeti Island with its steel eating animals, Avalon Island with sea stone weapons and not pirate-friendly citizens, Arrancar Kingdom and its absolute monarchy and the bloody worship of their king. And what is the most dangerous, the ever changing currents on this route."
"Literally ever changing, the currents on this route are able to turn the ship around in the span of just a few minutes and many unwary travelers ended up dying from thirst on that route." Arlong added unhelpfully, before smirking "Luckily for us all, our Captain insisted on us having a water filtration system on the ship, so we'd sooner die from starvation if anything would go wrong."
"Cheerful" Usopp muttered when everyone else just grimaced at the thought of such death.
"Right?" Kuro grinned toothily at them all, seemingly not yet ready to fully stop in his quest to torment Usopp into a Pirate. "Any questions?"
"Yea," Gin drawled looking straight at Luffy "why are you showing us this if Captain already chose?"
"To make sure that no one will slack off in training, knowing exactly what we're sailing towards." Kuro's cheerful malice wrenched every gaze towards him, but before shouting could start, Luffy stood up.
"I want to make something absolutely clear. Yes, I have a favorite and I had it for a while, but…" Here she made sure to meet the gaze of everyone, one after another. "If most of you would decide, my decision about the route, the strategies, alliances or later who we ought to attack I will hear you out and we can negotiate. Yes, in a fight or wherever a snap decision is needed, there is a structure and we all ought to support it, but otherwise? Everyone's voice is important."
"Remembering that we all agreed to join a Pirate Crew and that is not a democracy, of course" Arlong rumbled at the heels of Luffy's words.
"While remembering that we're not a democracy" Luffy agreed and smiled at the rest of them. "Having that in mind everyone… Wanna spring a trap?" Luffy smirked devilishly, tapping at the sheet of paper with Whiskey Peak route… And getting eager smirks from the rest of the crew. Even Usopp seemed confident in himself.