Chapter 17: To Sabaody
"What the actual fuck is this!?" Skyler shouted in an attempt for her voice to be heard from within the storm they found themselves in.
The sky had gone dark suddenly, heavy grey clouds covering the vast expanse of blue. The ocean had accompanied that mood but in a more destructive manner, the currents becoming more agitated, waves beating against the ship in loud crashes. What had left the woman completely baffled were the wave currents that had spiralled upward into large pillars around the ship and started to come crashing down all around it.
"It's a snake current!" Wire shouted back as he came from the mast that held the sails tight so they wouldn't tear. "Captain!" He called out looking at the higher level of the ship's deck, towards the red-haired man.
"We push through! We're not fucking cowards and we are going to the New world!" He had a large grin on his face, his confidence beaming.
"Kidd! Marines on our tail!" Killer said to his captain that was standing next to him by the helm of the ship. Kidd snapped his tongue as he looked behind their ship, spotting four navy ships following them into the chaos of the sea.
The ships were approaching fast but one of them was swallowed by one of the pillars of water that had formed, remnants of the ship floating on the hostile waves. Skyler was afraid for her life, she had never seen anything as destructive as this, especially columns of water that raised several feet in the air.
The marine ships were able to catch up with the crew's vessel and immediately, approached the ship and started an invasion in the middle of that storm. Soldiers poured onto the deck, shouts being heard from every direction and Skyler had to push her immediate fear of the ocean to the back of her mind. Her life was at stake, be it by the sea or by the marines, either one could take it from her and she was not ready for either.
She readied her gauntlets that Killer had given her and went on a defensive stance, only attacking those that attacked her or any pirate that was nearby her, protecting them. She felt she was moving smoothly in between the marines, flowing between them and knocking them out effectively. She did however get hit here and there, pushing her off balance but all the training she had been doing with Killer had been helping her. Even Wire and Heat had been assisting her with it, helping improve mainly reflexes and reactivity to movement.
She was lost in the rhythm of combat but she didn't notice one marine that had sneaked up behind her and was coming down on her with his sabre. Skyler did see, however, a ball of metal being hurled her way that made her duck, practically gluing herself to the floor. The ball hit the marine that was behind her.
Looking up she saw Kidd with the largest shit eating grin she'd ever seen, knowing for sure that she would not hear the end of it because he had to come and save her.
That grin was not long lived, as he immediately looked up above them and saw one of the pillars of water to form and starting its course downward to their own ship. Kidd immediately shouted orders, the men moving at a fast pace, throwing marines overboard, partially opening the sails of the ship so they could catch wind and moving the vessel forward at fast speeds. What worried Skyler was that the ship was headed straight to a whirlpool that was being formed ahead of them.
"Kidd! Turn the ship! Whirlpool ahead!" She shouted out to them, still dodging whatever marines remained on the ship. He started to laugh maniacally and she for sure thought he had lost his mind completely. She ran up to where he was, trying her best to keep her balance from the waves that were still crashing, pushing the ship every other way. "What!?"
"I recommend you hold on tight." He spoke to her, the smile still wide on his face. He placed his hand on the rails that were in front of the helm, trapping her between him and the wooden structure. "Everyone hold on tight!" He shouted at his men, everyone moving automatically, like a well-coordinated orchestra, grabbing onto whatever structure they could. The remained navy soldiers tried to scurry to hold onto something but they were sliding off the ship.
"Kidd we're going to be swallowed into the whirlpool!" She shouted, her back against his chest and, despite feeling his warmth, she was shaking with dread.
"You're questioning my decision?" He raised a non-existent eyebrow at her and leaned down to her ear, his breath warming her skin. "We're going up, idiot."
The ship was already above the whirlpool but instead of being sucked in, it started to go upward, the water creating a dome before shooting upward into one of the snake currents. The ship was launched up and forward by the momentum, sending it flying over an extensive wall of red coloured stone.
Skyler dug her nails into the wood of the rail frame, her body shaking from the adrenaline. The dark clouds were rapidly left behind them, giving way to clear blue skies and a calm, soothing sea below them. Her green eyes grew wide at the image of such beauty and stillness but it quickly was glossed over when she thought of what would come next.
"How do we land?" She asked, looking up at Kidd but only saw sheer glee shinning in his eyes that were fixated on what was ahead of them. He looked genuinely excited, enthusiastic for the next chapter in this journey of his.
"We just let gravity do that for us." Killer answered by the helm, making her look at him instead.
"Seriously!?" She shrieked as gravity indeed did its job as Killer had said. She closed her eyes hard, crouching to the ground, her back going in between Kidd's legs.
They crashed down onto the sea, water slapping around them before the ship stilled on the calm waters. Skyler only opened her eyes when she heard the men cheering, glad they had survived that insane event. She didn't get up from her crouching position, not trusting her legs to be able to hold her up after all that had happened. Adrenaline was leaving her body little by little, leaving her in a shaking mess. She rested her forehead against the railing of the ship, trying to even her breath when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.
"You're alive, no need to be like that." Kidd spoke from above her and even though his words were dismissive, the squeeze on her shoulder told her otherwise.
"I just was not… expecting anything like that?" She breathed out between nervous chuckles. "That was absolutely insane…" She sat down on the floor, in between Kidd's legs and hugged her knees, laughing nervously.
"You're comfortable there?" She could hear his smirk on his lips when he spoke but she didn't move from her place. Instead, she smacked his inner thigh with some force, earning herself a grunt of surprise from the man and he stepped away a bit. She had hit him a bit too close to his groin and he swore he almost saw his life flash before his eyes.
Skyler clapped her hands together and jumped up onto her feet, feeling a surge of energy and shouting out in joy, trying to let it all out, as well as an attempt to mask her embarrassment from almost hitting Eustass on his family jewels.
The men were cheering with her as well, having fun with her outburst and she turned to Killer, eyes glimmering with absolute glee.
"I've never felt so fucking alive!" She was shaking all over, her hands grabbing his arms. "I never want that to be repeated but fucking hell that was cool!"
"I think she's feeling better…" Killer commented, trying to suppress his own laughter at the face of slight terror coming from his captain. "You on the other hand seem to need some help. You good, captain?" He was grinning under his mask when he saw the glare he received from his captain.
"Sorry, sorry…" She remorsefully said towards Eustass, holder her hands together in a mock prayer for forgiveness, although smiling through it. She immediately shook her hands violently and shook her head side to side to compose herself. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she was able to take in the beauty of the still ocean ahead of them, deep blue waters that perfectly reflected the clear sky above them. "So, it's shaboy island we're headed?" She asked and got a suppressed chuckle from Killer.
"Sabaody, you idiot." Eustass corrected her, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is the log pose still pointing towards Fish-man Island?" Killer nodded positively at the question, raising the item in question that had its needle pointed down.
"Wait… is it Sabaody or Fish-man? I'm confused now… And why the hell is the needle pointing down?" She approached Killer's log pose, holding it in her hands, confused at the direction that it was pointing towards. "Like… under the ocean? We have to go underwater?" She hesitantly looked at Eustass, confused about what was coming next.
"Sabaody is the last stop before entering the New World." Killer explained patiently. "We need to get there to prepare the ship to traverse Fish-man Island."
"Like… Above the sea level… right?" She gave panicked glances at both men. "You know that this ship isn't a submarine, right?"
"Hence the name: ship." Kidd highlighted, giving her attitude but a grin was on his lips, eager for whatever comment she'd pull out of that dome of hers.
"Yeah, good to know that you can put two and two together." Skyler smiled at him and patted his arm tenderly. "I'm so proud that you can figure out such simple things." She stepped away when she received a growled out "Ah!?" from the captain, laughing. "Still, the question remains, how the fuck do we get this" she gestured vaguely at the vessel "under water?"
"At Sabaody we'll have that taken care of." Killer replied, leaving the helm so that some other member of the crew could take over. He said a few words for him and then and then the whole crew started moving as one, prepping the ship to move to their next destination. With that Killer, nodded at both of them and headed down to the lower level of the deck, to assist the rest of the crew with sails.
"Is there no other way to go to this New World?"
"There is but it's practically a no-go to people like us." Kidd highlighted, a sombre tone in his words. "It's through Mary Geoise but if we go through there might as well sign a death sentence." He snapped his tongue. "Those world nobles are assholes and I'd much prefer to avoid them than put a larger target at our backs for now."
"For now…"
Skyler repeated the words, anxiety nagging at the back of her mind. Eustass grinned and placed an arm around her shoulders, puller her close to his chest.
"What? I'm sure you can hold up your own." He was encouraging her which was new. He didn't know where it had come from but he had been noticing that she tends to pull out this other side of him that he thought had been long gone. His usually cocky grin transformed to an earnest smile, his copper gaze falling upon her green eyes. "Plus, we've got your back now."
"My, my… Kidd are you turning soft on me?" She smirked up at him, challenging his kindness that he had shown to her but that she felt so grateful for. She stood on the tip of her toes in an attempt to invite him to a kiss.
"Don't push your luck, you siren." He leaned down, the grin back on his face and kissed her fiercely, earning himself a low moan from the woman.
From afar, Killer couldn't help but take a few glances at the two. He was happy for both of them and especially for his captain. They've been friends since forever, adventuring and getting themselves in trouble, always the two and them. He'd always support him when they formed the gangs that ruled those towns in South Blue. What he hadn't done was step down from their attraction to Victoria Shiruton and they had almost like a rivalry over her attention. This time he had stepped away but yet he felt a tug at his chest that threatened only to increase and cause him more pain and discomfort.
Killer didn't want to step away from Skyler, even if he had to return to that rivalry he had before with Kidd towards Victoria. Yet, he had not yet grasped the full dimension of what he felt towards her, choosing to step down for now.
The blond man tried to disguise a sigh he let out by adjusting his gauntlets at his wrists. These actions didn't go unnoticed by his captain who knew him for very long. After he broke the kiss with Skyler, his eyes followed his first mate.
He'd have to have a long discussion with him soon.
A/N:
I'm choosing to take it easy and take my time with each chapter, but I am feeling good with what I've been writing so far and feel motivated to keep on creating
This chapter took me a bit longer especially because I have to try and figure out what routes the Kid Pirates took to reach the new world so I've been checking back on episodes from One Piece from around the Sabaody arc so I can have some markers as to what to expect. The description of the snake currents is the same as what was given in the anime, starting at around episode 385 if I'm not mistaken.
Once we reach Sabaody, I'll be following the dialogue from the anime and rhythm of the episodes while trying my best to incorporate Skyler into the story.
But, one thing at a time.
