It was early one morning, and Skull made his way to the barracks where all the men were sleeping still.
"Rise and shine, my fellow pirates!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "Another day is upon us, and it's gorgeous! We will start this day with a song."
Sadly everyone was still fast asleep, but that didn't stop Skull.
"Now let me see, what shall be this week's power tone?" he said, thinking hard. "Ah, yes. The Black Handkerchief of Happiness… don't be afraid to sing along, everyone!"
He then began playing his violin rather loudly and started to sing.
It's a white handkerchief
Careful now, knees on the ground!
Run away!
It woke everyone, much to their annoyance, and they did everything they could to stay asleep, even covering their faces with their pillows.
Precious white handkerchief!
You cannot escape your fate! It is far too late! The octopus won't wait!
"Cut it out, Skull; it's too damn early for that!"
"We're awake! We're awake! Just please stop!"
Even there he waits!
Precious white handkerchief!
Run away!
Find the black handkerchief of happiness
"Have mercy, man, please!"
Captain Yorky was already are and was currently on the deck brushing his teeth. He laundered that he saw Skull stepping onto the deck.
"Hey, Brook!" he called out. "You think you can do a ballot that version of Bink's Brew?"
"Of course, Captain's choice coming up!"
He then began playing Bink's Brew on his violin, and Yorky brushed his teeth in rhythm to the music.
However, unbeknownst to them, Skull's music was also attracting said creature beneath the waves. The creature then began to chirp, and Skull immediately stopped. Everyone had gathered around the side of the ship and was looking down at the sea.
Skull and Yorky looked at one another, wondering what was making that noise. Skull made his way to the side of the ship, and in his astonishment, he saw a baby whale chirping at them; in fact, it was the same one they encountered a few days ago.
"It's the whale!" Skull announced.
"The same one from yesterday."
"You're still with us? You should be out there looking for your pond!"
The whale chirped at them in the most adorable fashion.
"Ah, he's so cute," said every single one of the pirates.
They continued sailing throughout the day, and the baby whale followed them.
"Hey, how do you think is going to follow us?"
"I don't know; his poor mum is got to be worried about him."
"Hey, have some food Laboon!" said one of the pirates tossing the baby whale some food.
"Laboon, huh? Since when did you get the big boy and a name?"
Everyone laughed, but Laboon just kept following them non-stop.
One day they encountered an enemy pirate ship.
"Enemy attack!"
The enemy pirates then began boarding the ship, and the Rumbar Pirates immediately engaged. Two of them were suddenly flung off the ship from an explosion and landed in the ocean.
"Are you two all right?" Skull called out.
Both pirates managed to get to the surface, but one of them clearly was badly injured as he was supported by the other.
"You've got to hurry up and help us back on board! His leg is hurt pretty bad!"
Skull quickly turned to Yorky. "Captain Yorky, two men overboard!"
Yorky, unfortunately, was rather preoccupied with fending off an enemy. "Then throw them a raft. We're kind of busy saving the ship."
"I suppose that's the best I can do since I can't swim," said Skull.
He then heard Laboon's chirping, and when he looked over the side, he saw that he was lifting both pirates out of the water.
"Oh, Laboob, you saved us!"
"Hey, we're okay, guys!"
"Good job, boy!" Skull yelled.
Laboon chirped happily.
One night, Laboon began chirping alongside the ship wanting his friends to play music for him.
Skull, who was on night watch, put his fingers to his lips and hashed him to be quiet.
"Shhh! You have to be quiet, Laboon. You're going to wake everybody up," he said. "Just be patient and wait for the morning. We'll sing you a song then."
Laboon chirped happily, looking forward to the next day.
The next morning true to Skull's word, the pirates brought out their instruments and prepared to sing.
"All right, everybody, time to sing!" Yorky yelled. "You know the tone!"
They all cheered and excited as they began to sing and dance, much to Laboon's delight.
Winter then came, and Laboon continued to chirp happily.
"Laboon, aren't you freezing out there?" Skull asked.
Laboon just chirped, clearly not affected by the cold.
The Rumbar Pirates then found a treasure chest, much to their excitement.
"We found the treasure!" Skull yelled cheerfully. "Look at that chest, Laboon!"
"We're going to live like kings tonight!"
Laboon, who was near the beach, chirped happily, sharing their excitement and joy.
One day they got a little too close to the Calm Belt, and a large Sea King emerged from the water.
"Hey, we've got is sea king out there!"
Laboon swam away from the sea king, which was following him.
"Come on, men, let's protect Laboon!" Yorky yelled.
The pirates cheered with agreement and immediately fired their cannons upon the sea king.
"Nobody messes with our buddy and gets away with it!"
They all cheered triumphally when the sea king fell, and Laboon happily jumped out of the water.
Yorky smiled at Skull and raised his thumb, and Skull to the same thing to him.
"Laboon, my friend!" Skull yelled, dashing to the side and looking down at the whale. "Are you okay?"
Laboon chirped happily.
"Oh, thank goodness. You had a so worried!"
Then they landed on a rocky island, and Laboon looked at the pirates looking rather sad.
"I'm sorry little buddy, we're landlocked today, so be a good boy and wait here," said Skull.
Laboon chirped, informing him that he understood.
"You are a good boy, aren't you?" Skull smiled as he stroked the baby whale.
"He's really grown quite attached to you, hasn't the Skull?" said Yorky.
"You got that right."
Skull laughed. "That's because he loves music so much."
"He certainly seems like your music better than any of ours," Yorky agreed.
"You think so?" Skull smiled.
They were close to Reverse Mountain, and Yorky pulled Skull aside to discuss what to do with Laboon.
"So, do you think you can do something?" Yorky asked.
Skull and the rest of the Pirates just sat there in silence; none of them liked what Yorky was asking them to do.
"With all try talking to him, but it's just no good," said Yorky. "I'm afraid he won't listen to us. Do you understand? There's simply no way we can keep on protecting him like this from where we're going."
They then all heard Laboon chirping.
"The fact is he still a child," Yorky continued. "We can't take him with us to the Grand Line."
With a very heavy heart, Skull agreed, and they lowered him down towards Laboon, who was rather happy to see him.
"I need you to listen to me, Laboon," said Skull.
Laboon then began chirping, wanting him to sing to him.
"No, we'll sing later, all right. We really need to talk first. Look, there's no denying that you and I are friends, but you are still a whale."
Laboon chirped angrily.
"The Grand Line is too dangerous for a young child like you! It might be different if you are fully grown, but there are enormous beasts in the sea more savage than anything in the West Blue! Laboon, please believe me…"
Laboon then splashed with a large amount of seawater, soaking him from head to toe.
The pirates then pulled Skull back, and he should's head at them.
"I tried, but he refuses to listen to me," he told Yorky.
Yorky sighed. "Maybe we should just sing then. You know the song, I mean?"
"That might make it worse," said Skull.
Alas, they had no other option, and they all performed a song of silence. Laboon swam next to the boat, wondering why none of them was playing music or singing, but no matter how many times he chirped, no one answered him.
All the pirates were still on the deck, but they were hiding from Laboon; they had hoped that by not singing, Laboon would think that they had abandoned him, forcing him to swim away. Skull found this plan rather hard sent went to Yorky, hoping he would reconsider.
"Captain," he said.
"I know it's tough, but we have to ignore him no matter what," he said. "So don't look back until he swims away. Remember that we are doing this for his own good."
Laboon chirped as loud music or tried to get their attention, but they still refused to acknowledge the baby whale. They just kept on sailing and found a gust of wind that would pull them further away from Laboon.
Laboon kept on following them all throughout the evening, and still, no matter how loudly he chirped, there was no sign of light from the ship. They just kept pulling away further and further away until he was just a single dot in the distance.
Skull looked out towards Laboon with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry."
Within about a week, they soon reached the Twin Capes, the entrance to Reverse Mountain and the Grand Line. Unfortunately, a rather powerful storm made power difficult to sail.
"This way is going to capsize us! What now?!"
"The helm, it's not working!" Skull yelled.
"Forget about the helm!" Yorky yelled at the top of his voice. "We can make it! We're almost there. We just got to get through this storm, and we will be at the mouth of the Grand Line!"
A powerful wave struck the ship, nearly capsizing.
"Captain!" the pirate on the crow's nest yelled. "A lighthouse! Look right over there!"
Sure, enough ahead of them, they could see a lighthouse shining a light through the dark storm.
"See, men, what did I tell you? That is the entrance to the Grand Line!" said Yorky.
Every single one of the Pirates looked up excitedly.
"We really made it."
"Yeah!"
"At long last, we made it!" said Skull.
"Any sign of Laboon, men?" Yorky asked.
"No, sir! I don't think anyone has caught sight of him for a week now!"
"I know it was a cruel thing to do, but it was for his own good," Yorky told Skull. "Let's just hope he will be able to unite with his family someday."
Skull still felt very guilty about how they abandoned Laboon, even though it was their only choice.
"This is it, men!" Yorky cried out. "Is everybody ready to do this?"
"Aye, aye!" the men cheered. "We were born ready!"
"Then let's go! Onward to conquer the world's greatest sea!"
"Yeah!"
They then took the route from Reverse Mountain, a tricky feat due to this storm. Regardless they were able to ride up the peak, and once they reached the top began riding the current back down and entering the Grand Line.
The ship had been badly damaged due to the storm and riding the current, but it could still anchor off near the shore to the entrance. Once there, then came face-to-face with the lighthouse keeper Crocus.
"I am the lighthouse keeper here; the name is Crocus," he said. "I'm impressed you guys got over Reverse Mountain alive. Welcome to the Pirates Graveyard."
"Hey, give us a break, old man," said Yorky. "We're not dead yet, are we?"
Everyone laughed.
"I am Yorky Dukeson, captain of the Rumbar pirates. You might have heard of our exploits in the West Blue; we earned ourselves quite the reputation around those parts. Sorry to drop in on you like this, but I ship took a hell of a beating."
"You can drop anchor here for as long as you need, but you've got to pay me for the space with food and booze," said Crocus.
Yorky laughed. "Is that how it is? You extort from pirates, huh? Fine by me, you should celebrate with us, because we're going to have one hell of a party tonight! Aren't we boys?"
All of them immediately cheered except Skull, who was still upset that they had to abandon Laboon.
"So, is that whale that followed you guys down some kind of pet or something?" Crocus asked.
Everyone immediately gave him blank looks instead, and then they heard a familiar chirping behind them. They quickly spun around into absolute amazement. They saw Laboon.
"Laboon?!" they cried in astonishment.
"He followed us!" Skull cried out in excitement."I can't believe you stuck with us the whole way! How did—?"
He was so excited that he lost his footing and slipped into the ocean, causing everyone to panic as they knew he couldn't swim.
"Skull fell in!" they cried.
Luckily, Laboon was able to pull out of the water.
"Laboon, thank you, buddy. I'm so glad! So glad!" said Skull when he noticed the small scars on his head. "These scars… Laboon, look what you've done to yourself. It was too reckless to follow us through that storm."
Laboon didn't seem to care and continued to chirp happily.
"All right, Skull, I think it's about time to play the song!" Yorky announced.
"You really like that song, huh, Captain."
"You're damn right! It's the pirate's anthem." He then leaned down and looked down at Laboon. "Hey, Laboon, you like it too, don't you, boy?"
Laboon chirped happily.
Once Skull was back on short, he immediately pulled out his violin and began to play Binks' Brew, and the entire crew began to sing.
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho,
Gather up all of the crew!
Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' brew.
Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide.
O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.
Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by.
Laboon, who had been bandaged up by the pirates, chirped happily as they sang. Crocus, too, was enjoying the song as he drank some mead.
"Hey, Crocus, have any requests you would like to hear?" Skull asked as he continued to play.
"You really can play anything, can't you, Skull?" said Crocus.
Skull laughed. "All right, pirates, sing it loud!"
Cross the gold and silver seas, a salty spray puts us at ease,
Day and night, to our delight, the voyage never ends.
They had spent quite a number of days preparing the ship before they could set sail again, which gave Skull another chance to convince Laboon not to follow them deeper into the Grand Line.
"I hope you can understand, but you can't follow us this time," said Skull gently. "The Grand Line is too treacherous for you. You're too small to handle the dangers ahead; we don't want anything to happen to you. I would take you along if I could, but we have no idea what kind of threats we might encounter.
If something were to happen to you, if we carelessly decided to bring you with us, we would be able to live with ourselves. We would do everything we could to protect you, even if it would cause us to meet our own demise. We would die headfirst to help you."
Skull then clenched his fist in frustration. "You have to understand, please. I don't want to bid farewell either, of course not. By not having you with us, it would be hard for me to, but even so… even so…"
"No one said this was for good," said a voice behind him.
Skull turned around and saw Yorky standing behind him. "What do you mean?"
"Why don't you stay put and wait for us here a while longer, Laboon," Yorky suggested. "Our plan is to sail our ship straight across this sea and straight back to where we started. Right back to you, Laboon. Once we sailed through the Grand Line, our ship would have made a circle around the entire world, and that means we'll be crossing the Red Line just like we are now. We'll come back to this Cape as fast as we can. You just wait and see; it will only be maybe two or three years, tops. You can wait that long. You'll see all of us again."
Laboon chirped happily, thinking of the prospect.
"Do you mean a captain?" Skull beamed.
"So what do you think, Skull?" Yorky smiled.
"Yes! I don't care what happens along the way; nothing will stop us from returning!" Skull vowed. "And by the time we make it back here, you will have grown big and strong enough to travel along with us!"
Once the ship was repaired a few days later, they set out to see you leaving Laboon in the care of Crocus.
"Laboon!" Yorky cried out. "This will be the last time we say goodbye! I promise that we're coming back! We're your friends; nothing will ever change that."
Laboon chirped happily as they waved goodbye to him.
"I am so glad that you understand!" Skull cried. "Until we meet again! You take care!"
"Hey, Laboon, don't go swimming off now!" Yorky yelled. "Once we travel the world, we're coming right back here. Just wait for us!"
They then disappeared off into the distance, saying goodbye to their young friend with the promise of seeing him again.
Unfortunately, three years later, the entire crew had been decimated when they travelled through the Florian Triangle, and the only one to survive was Skull due to the power of his Devil Fruit.