When his eyes crawled open, the world was blurred pain and comforting darkness. His breath was blocked, and his chest was tight, as if a great weight had settled onto him. He thought he was suffocating and blindfolded until he turned over, and soft morning light greeted him.

The sunlight was mellow and warm, but it pierced through his eyes and shot up straight to his brain in an agonizing beam. His eyes clenched shut, as if to block out the pain, but it was too late. The skeletal claws of sleep were slipping away, and he was forced once more to face his own wilting inadequacy.

"Gah, god dammit…" He groaned out weakly and forced his protesting body to sit up. The bed underneath him squeaked and shifted under his weight. The morning light illuminated his room, and the glint of an empty glass bottle on the floor drew his aching eyes. Then another, and another.

"What a Marine you are, Jeffords," He grunted to himself. As an officer, he had his own room on the base, but it was a sparse, dusty space. Forcing himself to stand up, Jeffords walked to a wooden basin and washed his face. The lukewarm water washed away the sleep on both his face and mind. He sighed into a towel and looked to the bottles.

"Good going, Jeffords. Real good," He shook his head, a deep feeling of shame welling up within himself. He bent down to pick up the empty bottles, and nearly dropped them when a loud knock echoed out from his door. In the light of the morning, dust filtered through.

"Jeffords, sir? Are you awake?"

"I am!" He shouted out, and he realised that he had overslept. He was lucky that his subordinate didn't open the door, or he would've seen Jeffords glum and dark expression.

"The Ensign wants to meet with you. As soon as possible, sir."

"I'll be right there," He tried to assert authority into his tone, but whether he succeeded or not remained a mystery to him. At the moment, all he felt was shame and regret.

Should I go and apologize? I didn't mean to just run off like that, but-

"It's fine. I still haven't decided on what to do with the Devil Fruit yet."

The words caused his knuckles to turn white as he gripped the bottle's neck tighter. His mind flashed with the jubilant face of his beloved, praising Casair's generosity and skill to give her something he never could himself.

And now he has a Devil Fruit. An honest to god Devil Fruit, and he just found it! By chance! By pure, stupid luck! It was right there, right by me, and I let it slip by! If I had it, I could give Raku all she deserves! I wouldn't have to settle for shit! Maybe I can convince him to hand it over for the bounty or just give it to me. Casair doesn't know what it's like, after all. To be poor, to only have a handful of berri to your name. If I could only talk to him, maybe he would split it with me and Pete. After all, we saved him, right? It's only fair.

Jeffords donned his uniform with a mechanical and slow movement. He turned his attention to the window and there, he saw his reflection. As if burnt, he snapped his gaze away and sucked in a deep, rattling breath before leaving his room.

I just need to talk to him. Yeah, that's all. He just needs to understand.

"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey~"

"Mmmmm…" It was the sweet smell of food that stirred me rather than the words. I lifted up my head from the bar counter to find miss Raku placing a plate down in front of me. The two cooked eggs with round, orange yolks were sprinkled with salt and pepper. Slightly crispy around the edges, they were like two big eyes. Just below them was crispy, cooked bacon tilted at an angle and two fat sausages which were a delectable brown colour.

"Oh. Thank you, but I can't pay."

"Pish-posh, I'm not just going let you sit there and starve. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all!"

"But wasn't our deal only for lunch and dinner?"

"Wolfy-"

"Wolfe. With an E."

"Wolfy is cuter."

"Wolfe is cooler."

"Wolfy, a word of advice," Miss Raku leaned on the counter and smiled at me, "When a girl cooks you food, as a man, you have a moral obligation to eat it! Especially if you ever fall in love!"

"Really…?" I decided to grab a knife and fork, digging into the meal. It was a waste to just let it go cold, and food should never go to waste. I started with the sausages and cut them into thick and meaty slices, using them to break the yolk of the eggs and dipping them in.

"Mhm, it's the number one rule!"

"What if it's bad?" I lifted the yolk covered sausage to my mouth, and the burst of flavour in my mouth made me swallow. I've never had a sausage before now, but it was nice. Pure meat, but bursting with flavour with every bite.

"Then be gentle, but honest. Girls have resilient hearts, we can handle a bit of bluntness," Hmmm, that was true. Riku was an annoying crybaby, but she still managed to muster up enough courage to do something. I chewed a mouthful of sausage before I swallowed, and I realised it was familiar. Slightly tough and chewy, with a grainy texture to it.

"Is this a bear sasuage?"

"Yep! I thought you'd recognize it, considering how you and Pete ate four whole roasts between yourselves! Honestly, I'd thought you two would explode by the end of it. And you still asked for desserts!"

"You make good food. Why wouldn't we want more of it? That bread pudding was amazing," Miss Raku giggled softly, and her hand ruffled the top of my head. When she was done, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and went back to eating.

"You'll be a real ladykiller one day if you keep up that attitude of yours, Wolfy. Women appreciate it when you're honest to them, and don't forget that, okay?"

A ladykiller? I guessed that was true. If I became a Marine and I fought against a lady pirate, I would have to kill her. And do girls really like it, if I'm honest? I was honest with Riku and she cried a bunch. Though, I guess she did give me the Devil Fruit and hugged me at the end, so maybe it was true?

"Honestly, I wish Jeff was more like you," She sighed and rested her chin in her hand, staring past me and at the door, "I love him, but he has this habit of getting trapped in his own world. He didn't come home last night either, so he must've slept at the base. I can't even remember the last time that happened."

I slowed down my eating at the mention of Jeffords. All at once, I remembered the texture and feel of his voice, how it churned and writhed with cold dampness and bubbling heat, all directed at me. In front of me, miss Raku's voice was a mellow hum of concern, buffeted by a warmth that reached down into my bones.

Was that love? It was nice. It was the nicest thing I'd ever felt. Does Jeffords even know that she loves him this much?

Miss Raku saw me staring, and smiled, but her voice didn't change, "Ah, look at me moping while you're trying to enjoy your breakfast. When you're finished, just leave your plate and get down to the docks. Pete's already down there waiting for you, Wolfy."

He was? Then I better hurry up and get going. I was worried about Jeffords, but there was nothing I could do right now. When I come back, I'll say sorry for whatever it was that I did and hopefully I could make it up to him.

He helped saved my life, after all.

After I had finished my breakfast, I made my way to the docks. I had never really seen the ocean up close before, though I had seen it at a distance before. I never really took notice of it because I busy with a bunch of other stuff.

But now that I took the time, something about that great, grand blue sea shook something in me. For as far as my eye could see, endless blue stretched on for miles and miles. The waves rocked against the sandy shore of Rockshi, and it reminded me of grabbing hands. Clawing and dragging and relentless.

What was under that serene blue abyss? What sort of things lived there? What kind of dangers lurked, just out of sight?

I felt small, for some reason. Small and weak. Suddenly, the idea of not being able to swim made my skin erupt in tiny, cold bumps. Despite that, I still forced myself to walk towards it.

I was going to be a Marine. One day, I would have to sail across the seas. I can't keep getting scared by these things forever. Otherwise, how will my treasure ever be known?

"Hey, lad! Over here!" The sound of Pete's yell broke me out of my thoughts, and I was thrust back into the world. I blinked, and my eyes trailed across the various fishing boats and dinghies settled on the docks until I found Pete.

He was standing by a bigger ship, but not by much. Unlike the others, it held a small cabin and had two large, triangular sails. I walked up to him, still looking at the boat which swayed gently on the ocean. A thick rope was coiled tightly around a strong piece of protruding wood and a part of the boat.

"Well, don't be shy! Come aboard, lad! Let me give ye a quick rundown on wot's wot, and we can set sail," Pete offered his hand to me, and I took it. Covered in rough calluses, but warm and gentle even as he pulled me on the boat.

As soon as I stood on the boat, I instantly felt the difference between sea and land beneath my feet. I planted the tip of my sword's scabbard on the wooden floor of the boat to steady myself when Pete let go.

"Gegege, don't worry, laddie. We'll find yer sea legs yet! Take a second or two, while I cast us off."

"Can I help?" I asked Pete, and his smile grew.

"How about ye try yer hand at the rope? See if ya can't untie us from the post. I'll walk ye through it."

"Alright," I nodded and I followed Pete to the side of the boat, up to the fore a bit. There, the road was tied to a dock post and I knelt down with Pete at the tied up post.

"See, the trick is to keep it tight, but simple. All ye need to do is just find the magic spot, and it'll come undone, lickty-spit like."

I nodded, and I placed down my sword so I could do this properly. I fiddled around with the rope for a bit, pulling and tugging here and there. It was old and worn, moist to the touch and stinking of salty seawater. Despite that, it was still thick and strong. I wondered if I could just break it, but that was probably not the right thing to do.

"Have you seen Jeffords?" I found a slightly loose part of the knot, and I slowly pulled it. That part of the rope started to come undone, and I moved onto the next.

"Nah, not since last night," Pete sighed, shaking his head, "'Eard that he didn't sleep at Raku's like usual, either. I tried to corner 'im, but the Ensign stole 'im away on a mission."

"A mission? Is everything alright?" I had finally managed to undo the knot, and I pulled the rope on board. Pete showed me where to store it in a bundle, and he flashed me an easy grin.

"Aye, all's well, lad. Every so often, a patrol gets sent out. Ain't nothin' fer ye to worry about. Bet by the time Jeffords gets back, he'll get over wot's got under his skin."

I hoped so. I still wanted to apologise to him, but there was no point worrying about it now. Today was the first day I was going to go out at sea. I needed to be focused and wary.

"Right, a little bit o' knowledge fer ya, lad," Pete directed my attention to the sails, buffeted by the wind, "Those there be called the mainsail and the headsail, also known as a jib."

"Why a jib?"

"Not a bleedin' clue," Pete answered bluntly with a wry grin, "But these beauts are gonna be wot's taking us forward. I already went and set them up, so the only thin' keepin' us still is the anchor. Anythin' ye want to do before we leave, ye better do it now, because I ain't gonna turn around midway."

"No. I'm all good," I almost had to force the words out. If I was given another chance to not go, I might have taken it.

We'll come back. We'll return.

Pete's hand slapping my shoulder brushed my worries aside, followed by a low chuckle, "How about ya go to the cabin, lad? I left somethin' there ye might like."

I frowned slightly, but I did as he said. The cabin itself was small, with two hammocks strung up along the sides of the room. There was a pillow and a blanket for both, but one of them had a stack of thick books by it. I blinked as I read the title of the first book.

Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Volume 3.

"Is it like this all the time?"

"Depends on the waters ye sail, laddie," Pete was laying across the boat's deck, hands behind his head and his eyes staring up at the clouds, "East Blue has got steady waters, 'specially compared to North or South. But always remember lad, the ocean is a fickle lady. There ain't no thin' known as a safe sea."

"But fer right now," Pete stretched his thick arms and I heard his bones pop over the salty wind, "We got a good breeze, clear skies and calm waters. Enjoy these moments while ye can, lad. Ye won't get many like 'em on fiercer seas."

"What are the other seas like? Have you sailed in them before?" My question followed me turning the page of the Encyclopedia. It was a thick, worn book with frayed and yellowed edges, but it was one of the best I'd read so far. For such mythical, magical fruits, there sure were a lot of them.

"Well… A couple. Been a Marine fer a long time, after all," Pete's voice drifted on the wind, and I frowned at his tone, "But that'll just bore ya to tears, lad. How's the book treatin' ya?"

"It's good. I'm learning a lot, but I haven't found the one we have yet."

"Aye, that be the first thing I tried as well, but it ain't in that one. Trust me lad, if I knew wot it was, I would tell ye," That was disappointing to hear, but not surprising.

"What type do you think it is then? According to this book, there's at least three?"

"Aye; Zoan, Paramecia and Logia. As fer what type… That be a rough one, laddie. Those fruits are usually a pretty good indicator of wot ye get. Like that one, right there," Pete's finger landed on the open book, and he pointed to a fruit with two floppy ear-like appendages. It had a brownish colour, with swirls dotting its surface.

"The Dog-Dog Fruit? Is it because of the ears?"

"Spot on, laddie. Fruits usually have some somethin' to show wot they are. 'Course, like everythin' else about 'em, it ain't a hard and fast rule. But it can help."

"... My Devil Fruit looks like a pair of sharp fangs. Could it be a Zoan?" I asked Pete who let out a low hum.

"See, that's wot I thought, but it got me thinkin'. There ain't no part of a Fruit that don't mean somethin' to it. If it was just fangs, then sure. But ye know what else it got?"

A tingle went up from the base of my spine to the top as I thought back to the Devil Fruit. Its grinning, sharp-toothed maw of white fangs and the blue, jagged streaks running across it.

"The blue streaks?"

"Aye, them. In the end, lad, the only way yer gonna know for sure is if ya eat it," Pete told me with a shrug. He was right, obviously, but I was still undecided. I didn't want to eat it just because I was curious, but it was pretty compelling. I wouldn't get any weaker, but if it can't help me in the way I want it, then what was the point?

"If ye were gonna eat it, what'd ya hope it be?"

"Like, what type?"

"Yep."

"... Huh. I didn't think about that," I tilted my head back and joined Pete in watching the sky. There was something about the sky that I enjoyed more than the sea, something about it that made me feel warm and protected.

What kind of Fruit would I like, if I had to eat one? I hadn't really thought about it. I was too caught up in what to do with it than give it any thought. What kept me from just eating it was that I didn't want the powers I gained to overshadow my treasure.

Logia didn't interest me. The idea of being invincible was boring, and pain was good. Pain let me know when I was hurt, that I was still alive. It might be fun for tricks or whatever, but in the end, I didn't much care for it.

Paramecia were too varied to really think about. It could be anything to being able to stitch things together or turn anything I cut into food. That last one really interested me, but apparently the food tasted bad.

What a shame. So that only left one.

"Zoan. If I do eat it, I want it to be a Zoan fruit where I can fly," I told Pete, and he shifted his head to look at me, a single raised brow.

"Really now? Colour me surprised, lad. Most would like Logias."

"They seem boring," I shrugged and Pete barked out a laugh, "How can you enjoy a fight if you can't get hit?"

"Gegege, too right, lad. Too right."

"What about you, Pete? If you had to eat a Devil Fruit, what would you like?"

"Did ye see the one about where ya can cut stuff, and it makes food?"

"I did!" I snapped up, and quickly flicked back through the pages until I found it. It was like a fallen log of meat, dripping with thick sauce, and covered in sugar. The Cook-Cook Fruit, it was called.

"That'd be the one fer me. Aye, it says the food tastes bad, but that ain't nothin' a good cook couldn't fix."

"And think of how useful it could be in places where people don't have a lot of food. The book says the food this Fruit makes is still nutritious after all."

"Aye, that'd be good. I've always enjoyed Devil Fruits like that more than what can make the bigger bang, ya know? The strongest guy I knew ain't ever touched a Fruit, so not like ye really need it to be strong."

"Really? Who is he? Is he a Marine?" I asked Pete, and I saw his lips curl into a fond smile. But there was something behind it, as if he was somewhere else.

"Aye. He was," Pete said quietly, and my heart tightened in my chest. All the way out here, the voices were the quietest they'd ever been. The fishes were many, but they were even weaker than the animals in the forest. Once or twice, something big would work its way underneath us, but they quickly passed whenever they got near for whatever reason.

It made the silence of Pete's voice all the more noticeable. And I realised that I never really knew how Pete felt about anything at all.

But I would have to be blind to not see how sad he was now.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad," I told him, but Pete's hand landed on the top of my head and ruffled my hair. Why do people keep doing this to me?

"Gegege, yer alright, lad. It happened a long time ago," Pete sighed, and his eyes were far and away, "His name was Jaguar. Jaguar D. Saul. Believe or not, he was a big lad. Bigger than me."

"D? He had the same initial as me? Were we related?" And come to think of it, didn't Pete said something about Gold Roger?

Pete cracked a wry smile for some reason, "Nah, nothin' like that. That comes up time to time. No idea what it means, and neither did ol' Saul."

"Oh, okay. So what was he like? If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all, lad. Not at all," Pete sighed wistfully and warmly, "Well, we both enlisted 'round the same time, and we… we were thick as thieves, we were. All of us. We fought together, drank together, trained together. Cried and laugh, and god, could he laugh! I'd never forget his weird laugh, o' the face he'd make. The ol' bastard looked like he was dyin' every time."

And then Pete did… Something with his face. Scrunched his eyes shut, widened his smile until he showed his teeth and veins throbbed on his temple. Then he made a noise like a dying whale, which I believed was to be a laugh?

"You look constipated."

"Gegegegegege!" Pete suddenly burst out laughing, his voice echoing and carried by the breeze, "That's what I bloody said! God, it was always a riot when he broke out laughin'. Lifted our spirits, it did."

"He sounds nice. I wish I could've met him," I told Pete quietly, and his smile settled on his face.

"Aye. He was a good Marine. One o' the best. But let me tell ye somethin, Wolfe. Something ye should really consider if ya serious about enlistin'," Pete sat up, and there was a weight to the air now. Not suffocating, but for the first time, the man in front of me lost all softness to his round, fat face. His expression wasn't cold, but it was hard and blank like stone, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stiffen.

"Being part o' the Navy… Being a Marine… It means doin' the right thin'. No matter wot happens to ya. And the right thin' can be the hardest thin' to do in the world sometimes. No matter wot happens, no one makes yer choices fer ya. When the chips are down, when the dust and ash settles, yer responsible fer wot's left. Everythin' ya do is yers. No two ways 'bout it. Do ye understand me?"

My mind flashed back to Riku and the tigers at that moment. How I saved her, not once but twice. How I went into the jungle, how it felt to have the tiger's fangs break against my skin and in return, I bashed its skull in until it stopped moving. How the other one tried to run away, and I cut it down with barely a thought.

And then I nodded, "I understand, Pete. I promise."

He looked at me for a long, drawn out second, and the surrounding air lightened. He gave me a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes, and patted me on the shoulder.

"I know ya do, Wolfe. I know ya do."

"Is that," I swallowed thickly, but Pete nodded for me to carry on, "Is that how your friend passed?"

"Aye. It was," And Pete said nothing more. I didn't think there was nothing more to really say. Or, if there was, he was finished for now. Pete went back to resting, and I went back to reading, the silence between us turning back into comfortable stillness.

For the first time since we set sail, I found my fear of the sea slowly ebbing. Now, it didn't seem so scary, deep and dark. It still was, but that fact didn't bother me any more. I was too absorbed into my reading to take notice, and I felt safe near Pete.

Maybe us coming out here wasn't just for a reward. Maybe Pete wanted to tell me something. And whatever it was, I would face the great, grand blue all alone if I had to.

"Yep," Pete pops the p as he looks through a telescope, "That be a pirate ship alright."

"What do we do?" I kept my eye on the ship behind us, and I didn't quite know what to feel. As a Marine, pirates would be my enemy. From what I was told, they were criminals that roamed the seas, pillaging and hurting people weaker than them.

It was hard to imagine that because the ship behind us wasn't threatening at all. Its masts held the pirate flag of a straw hat jolly roger with round edges and its figurehead was that of a sheep. Or was it a ram? It was one of those things.

"Well… Ye know wot? How about ye tell me, lad?" Pete passed me the telescope, and crossed his arms, "What do ye think we should do?"

"Me? But you're the Marine here," I told him, trying to pass back the telescope, but he wouldn't have it.

"Aye, but I'm on leave. I ain't on the job, so right now? I'm a civvie, like ya, Wolfe."

"Okay, but why me? You're more experienced than me with this stuff."

"Ye gotta learn, lad," Pete told me, flat but not harsh, "Even if ye don't become a Marine, ye gotta learn how to deal with stuff like this."

I frowned a bit, but he was right. Wasn't it better that I learn now how to deal with pirates before I become a Marine? With that in mind, I put the telescope to my eye and looked at the pirate ship behind us. From this far away, I couldn't hear even a whisper of their voices, so this was all I had to go on.

My vision through the telescope was filled by the wide, toothy grin of their jolly roger. I turned my attention to the deck to see someone staring back at me with their own telescope. It was a young woman with orange hair with her own telescope looking back at us.

She didn't look too strong, so killing her would be easy. There were some others around her; someone around my age in a straw hat and a red jacket sitting on the figurehead with a grin to match the jolly roger and a man with the longest nose I'd ever seen by the looks of it.

The one in the straw hat looked towards us and he energetically waved his hand. I decided to return the favour and waved back at him.

"Lad, why are ye waving?"

"The one in the straw hat waved, so I waved back."

"They're pirates, Wolfe."

"It just seemed polite."

"Fer the love of…"

I closed the telescope, and tilted my head to the sky in thought. They had cannons on the ship, but they weren't firing at us. Was it because they didn't see the point, or because they couldn't? I didn't know, but I needed to know something.

"Are they going to catch up with us?" I looked up at Pete, and he let out a low hum.

"Likely," He eventually said, "Our sloop ain't no slouch, but it's old. That be a caravel, and spankin' new by the look of it. If they don't turn off, we'll be crossin' paths."

"Alright, well…" What do we do? Do we just wait for them to catch up and see what happens? I didn't see anything else we could do. I didn't much enjoy it either, but it wasn't like I could cut them down from here.

"What about if we decide to change course?"

"Aye, we could do that, but it'll put a few days on our journey, depending. Our supplies won't last more than a week extra, at most? And it ain't like it'll be hard to follow us if they give chase. Closest bit o' land would be…" Pete unfurled the map

Hmmm, that was true. Pete was navigating us, but I looked at the map he brought. We were somewhere called the Sambas Region and

"We'll wait and see what happens. If they go a different way, then that's that. If they try to attack us, I'll kill them. But we can't do anything right now."

Yeah. That was a good plan. I nodded to myself, and Pete's brow shot up his face for some reason. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he shook his head.

"Remind me to have a chat with ya when we're comin' back. But I'm with ya that we can't do much now. Should thank our lucky stars they ain't flingin' cannonballs at us yet. Damn it all, I wanted to 'ave a look at the newest bounties, but I plum well forgot."

"Bounties? But I thought you didn't want to work?"

"It ain't about work, lad, just good practice to keep a list o' the bad eggs and wot they look like," Pete squinted at the ship that was quickly gaining on us as the wind picked up, "Don't recognize them lot, though. Probably a rookie crew."

"Do you think they're weak then?"

"There be a world of difference between weak and inexperienced, lad," Pete patted my shoulder, and sat back down, "Let's just wait and see wot happens."

"Alright," And what else was there, really? Pete and I went back to doing nothing. Well, I say nothing, but I carried on reading. I had finished the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and moved onto another book, one about swords. It was similar to the other one I read, but it had more on the wielders and their history.

It was also this book that clarified something for me. A Metio is essentially any weapon that has made a name for itself, whether it was made by a famous blacksmith or used by a powerful fighter, but a Graded Blade was a Metio that had a particularly high quality to it, meaning it was sharper, lighter or whatever.

So, my treasure would become a Metio if I used it a lot, but it might not become a Grade Blade no matter what if it was poorly made. Which made a bit of sense, I guess. It was essentially another way to elevate a blade beyond simply being used by a famous person.

Another difference was that, while there was no real limit to Metio weapons, there was a hard limit to Graded Blades:

Twelve Supreme Grades. Twenty-One Great Grades. Fifty Skilful Grades. Beyond that, it was just weapons that had gone ungraded, but had earned a name for themselves.

It made me think about my sword. My treasure, and the note I had found in it.

Who was Yorkshire? Why did my name come up as if it was two different people in that note? Why did I even have this blade, and why did I feel so strongly about it?

Was it even mine? Or was I a dirty thief before I lost my memories?

I didn't know. What I did know was that no books I'd read up to this point held my sword. It was no longer to compare it to others, but to find answers. If my sword was in a book, I could learn so much about it.

I could learn its name. Every Metio, no matter what, had a name that meant something. From the Supreme to the Skilful to the ungraded, each one had a name.

But not mine. It didn't exist in the books, so it didn't have a name. Or maybe it did have a name, and I didn't know it any more. Maybe I never knew it in the first place.

I didn't know which one was worse. I wanted-

"Hey! What'cha doing?"

The cheerful voice broke me out of my thoughts, and a smattering of voices battered me. But none of them are thirsting for blood or eager for battle. I tilted my head up to see a straw hat replacing the sun, which made making out any features rather difficult. I blinked up at the person, and I saw the white of their teeth curled up in a massive grin.

"I'm reading," I told them.

"Eh? But isn't that boring?"

"Sometimes," I admitted, "But there's nothing else to do."

"What about fishing?"

"We forgot to bring any rods with us."

"That was pretty dumb of you."

"Mhm, true. All we've been eating is boring stuff," I nodded slowly, and looked back at the straw hat. The sun passed and I saw that it was the person I had waved at. He had a scar under his right eye, but he didn't seem dangerous to me. He didn't seem like a pirate who would pillage and murder because they can.

Another person looked over the ship's railing, and it was the man with the longest nose I'd ever seen in my entire life. I couldn't really take my eyes off of it. If I grabbed it, would it bend? Was there a bone in it? Was he even human? Was he-?

"-And you should consider yourselves fortunate that you have encountered I, the Great Usopp, and leader of eight thousand men and vanquisher of mighty foes-!"

Oh, he was talking.

Long-nose had struck a pose with his foot on the railing with a smug and proud smile on his face. But beneath it all, I heard the slight tremble and shaky nature of his voice.

He reminded me of Jeffords.

There were also not eight thousand voices. There were seven. Did he mean seven? Did he forget how many crew members he had? Was he suffering some sort of head injury?

"H-Hey. Aren't you going to say something?" The long-nose asked me, and I blinked slowly up at him.

"Oh. Sorry. Your nose is distracting me," I told him, and his smug expression fell into dejected shock, "Are you guys pirates?"

"Yep! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" The one in the straw hat's smile grew wider, somehow. I blinked up at him slowly again, and I nodded.

"Oh, good luck then. That means you're after the Two Piece, right?"

"Eh?" Straw hat tilted his head at me, "No, the One Piece!"

"Is it the One Piece?"

"Is it-? Of course it's the One Piece!" Long-nose shouted and no longer striking a pose, "How can you not know what it is?!"

"I know what it is. It's that dead guy's leftovers, right?" Why was he shouting? What did I say wrong? I looked at Pete for help, and I saw that he was sleeping. Well, he seemed to be sleeping to me. His voice was still as silent as ever.

"Shishishi! You're funny!" Straw hat laughed, catching my attention, "Hey, wanna join my crew?"

"Luffy, you can't just invite some random strangers," A sharp voice of a lady spoke up, and her inner voice was unnaturally tepid. The orange haired woman from before came to the railing, and smacked Straw Hat up by the head. Strangely enough, that just made him laugh more.

"Shishishi! But that's what I did with you guys!"

The lady rolled her eyes before they landed on me. She smiled, and her voice stirred slightly, "Sorry for these two idiots and if we frightened you. Despite being pirates, they're not going to hurt you."

"I know. I can tell. Why not though?" The lady gave me a confused look, her smile dropping, "Pirates hurt people, don't they? If you are all pirates, shouldn't you be trying to take our stuff and kill us?"

"Not all pirates," Straw Hat spoke up with a firmness that caught me off guard and his grin wiped away, "Being a pirate means more than just that."

"Really? Like what?" I asked him. Come to think of it, I never really thought about how pirates saw themselves as. Pete even suggested to me that I could become a pirate, didn't he?

"It means being free! And going on an adventure! It means chasing after your dreams!"

"A-And being a brave warrior of the sea!" Long-nose spoke up with a stutter, though his voice became stronger for a flash. The orange haired lady shook her head, but her voice twisted and churned thickly.

"I see," I said slowly, closing my book as I lost all interest in it for now, "That sounds nice. I wish you luck then."

"Shishishi, thanks! So do you wanna join?"

"No, thank you. I want to be a Marine instead of a pirate," I told him, and Straw Hat blinked at me. His eyes meant mine, and a wide grin split his face in two.

"Oh, okay then!"

"You gave up just that easily?!" The orange haired lady suddenly shouted at Straw Hat, "I'd thought that you of all people would try harder to convince him."

"Eh? Are you dumb? You can't be a Marine and a pirate at the same time!" Straw Hat earned another smack from the woman, but it didn't seem to hurt him.

"Anyway," The lady sighed, and her eyes flicked over to Pete, "Is your friend okay? He hasn't made a single noise this entire time."

"Pete's fine. He just likes napping," And to demonstrate this point, I chucked my book at his belly. It was almost mesmerizing in how it shifted and moved like a bowlful of jelly, and he only gave a mild, sleepy grunt.

"Woah…! Do that again!"

The orange haired lady shook her head with a tired expression, "You two don't seem lost, but there's no land around here. Are you guys also heading for the Baratie?"

Oh. Well, I wasn't going to tell them, but I guessed it didn't matter much. Their voices were a mix, but none of them was full of blood thirst or deception. At least not right now.

"We are. Same for you?" I asked, but by this point, the pirate's ship was starting to overtake us. In a couple of more minutes, they would be ahead.

"Oh, the-?"

I leapt up from my sitting position and my foot impacted against the edge of our boat. Pushing down hard, the boat rocked, and I came up to the railing of the pirate's ship, hooking my arm and sword over the wood and placing my other hand around Long-nose's mouth.

"Mmhhhhhh, H'm gomma kimm meeeeeeeeeeee!" He screamed into my hand, flailing and writhing between my grip. I opened my mouth to tell him, no, I wasn't going to kill him. I just wanted him to stop talking.

But I never got that far as something came rocketing towards my face. I tilted my head back to avoid a sudden punch from Straw Hat. I removed my hand from Long-nose's face, making him fall on his behind, and vaulted over the railing to avoid another punch to my head. Arching through the air, I landed on the ship's deck as best as I could.

At least, I thought I would.

"H-Hey-!" The lady shouted out, just as my body crashed into a bunch of ropes tied to the ship's mast. In an instant, I was entangled, and my entire world was upside down, which the sea and the sky switching places. I tried moving, but the ropes got tighter and tighter. Eventually, I stopped and turned my attention to the three pirates before me.

They stared at me. I stared at them. Long-nose was scrambling to stand up, sweating dripping down his shaken face and his voice a turbulent storm, but he still aimed a slingshot at me.

"What the hell? Why did you attack us?!" The lady shouted at me, and her tepid voice swirled powerfully.

"I wasn't going to hurt him," I told them, and Straw Hat frowned a bit at me, "But Pete said the Baratie was a surprise for me. I just didn't want him to ruin it, that's all."

"Y-You grabbed my face!"

I shifted a bit, trying to loosen the ropes trapping me, but it was no use. I felt like if I wanted to, I could simply tear my way out, but I didn't want to damage their ship. They were pirates, but that didn't give me the right to break their stuff.

"Well, how else was I going to stop you from talking?"

"Couldn't you have just said something?!"

… Yeah, I could've, come to think about it.

"Shishishi! Man, you're really dumb, huh?" Straw Hat laughed at me, but I had to admit, this was poorly thought out on my part. I would've shrugged, but the ropes stopped me.

"If you knew what the One Piece was, would you still chase after it?" I asked Straw Hat, and he shook his head.

"No way! Where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly. It ruins the mystery if you already know, doesn't it?"

"Yeah!"

"Hey, Nami. Is it me or are these two strangely on the same wavelength…?"

The orange lady sighed, rubbing her forehead with her hand, "Just help me get him down. We need to-"

And then my vision tilted again. The blue sea snatched away as my entire lurched, and I was forced to stare up at the sky. Below me, I heard a bunch of yelling and the crashing of forceful waves against the hull of the ship. Just as quickly as it happened, the pirate ship righted itself, and I saw that the three pirates were holding onto the mast's base for safety.

"E-E-E-Everyone stay calm! S-S-S-S-STAY CALM!"

"You're the one panicking!" The lady snapped at Long-nose, sending feverish glances to the sides of the ship, "What the hell was that?! Did a Sea King bump us or something?"

"A-A-A SEA KING?!"

"Woooooooo, food! Meat!" Straw Hat was the first to go over to the railing and scan the sea, but I already knew there wasn't anything like a Sea King around here. I would've felt it. Was it a big wave that hit the ship? But the sea was calm, and had been for ages. What happened to move this ship like that?

"Hey. What the hell is going on? What's with all the noise?" A new voice spoke up, rough and sharp. I turned my head to see a light green-haired man climb out of the hatch in the ship, just below me. He must've felt my presence as his head snapped up to meet me.

"Hello," I greeted him. I would've nodded, but the blood rushing to my head was making it heart.

"Huh? Who are you?" He grunted out a question, but before I could answer, a fiery flare from the lady's inner voice caught my attention.

"Hey! Isn't that your ship?" My head snapped towards her, and she had ascended up to the second floor of the ship. In an instant, the ropes binding me snapped, and I fell to the ground.

"Woah, wait-!" The green man's eyes snapped wide, but there wasn't a lot I could do. Something cracked as my head collided with his face. His voice flared with a burst of white-hot pain

"Gah! My nose, you little-!"

"Sorry!" But I didn't have time to listen. I shot to my feet and jumped up the stairs as fast as my feet could carry me. I slammed into the railing to see Pete's sloop barely a dot on the horizon. There was noise around me, but it was distant and indistinct.

Pete was all alone out there, sleeping. If he woke up, and realised I wasn't there… If he got attacked by pirates that did wish his harm…

If he died out there, it would be my fault. It would be all my fault.

I felt someone grabbing me, but none of them were strong enough to stop me as I leapt over the railing and plummeted down into the great, grand blue. I watched as the sea rose up to meet me, and the water swallowed me.

The salty seawater stung my eyes like a thousand tiny needles. The weight of my sword dragged me under the waves which filled my mouth and flowed down my throat. I thrashed myself forward, but I might as well have been swiping as air.

None of that mattered, though. I kept going forward, even as my vision darkened. Even when the ocean dragged me under, and I saw the abyss beneath me, I kept moving.

The last thing I remember seeing was a hand stretching to inhuman lengths to rescue me from the great, grand blue.

Pete's eye cracked open to see the pirate ship with the straw hat jolly roger slowly paddle along the sea. When it was out of view, and only then, did he rise up to his feet and cracked his back with a content groan.

"Sorry, Wolfe. But fate gave me a chance and I took it," The Marine mumbled to himself. He stretched his right arm, and rotated his shoulder as if to work out kinks and dents.

"Ye need to learn, lad," Pete's words were wrapped up by the wind, as if they could carry his apologies to his ward, "That the world ain't so black and white as ye would like it to be."

With a deep sigh, the Marine closed his eyes and the world around him became dull and lifeless. Soon, the smell of the salty air, the stench of brine and the noise of sea life faded away. They were replaced by the smell of smoke, the stench of death and the noise of crackling wood and screams.

Ash covered him. Fires licked at every part of his exposed body. The screaming of cannonballs flying through the air was impacted by the ear-bleeding impacts as they struck the island indiscriminately.

He tripped on something, and he saw a pair of young, lifeless eyes stare back at him while the rest of the corpse burned in hellfire. He forced himself up, the white coat on his shoulders weighing as much as the world itself. It had been stained with soot, blood and dirt, but the proclamation of 'JUSTICE' defiantly refused to be hid as if to consider the death of an island a small price to pay.

He stood up. He had to. He didn't have a choice. Stumbling forwards, he found what he was looking for. In a place consumed by fire and iron and ashes, by the base of the fallen great tree, he found them.

His two friends. One dead, frozen in ice that refused to melt in the hungry flames surrounding them.

And the other, a murderer. A single word tore itself out of him, laden with blood, fury and despair. A single word that came out so forcefully that, for a moment, the crackling of the flames and the death of an entire people were drowned out.

"KUZAN!"

"A good Marine, huh?" Pete said to himself, laying back down and watching the sky above with a blank expression, his lips stretched thin and his hands curled into white-knuckled fists.

"The best kind o' Marine are the ones that don't sign up, lad. And by whatever god's listenin', I swear to make sure yer one o' them."

Hello hello, a new day and a new chapter. This one out not as soon as I'd like it, but that was mostly IRL and some minor writer's block getting in the way. For this chapter, I was really divided on where to take it.

I had the original idea of it just being Pete and Wolfe mostly talking, getting to the Baratie, some minor stuff with Don Krieg, but the more I actually got to the point, the more I realised that it didn't fit what I wanted. I thought about the scenes I wanted and needed for the story, and the way I was going originally didn't really *fit* as well as I thought.

Then I had an idea about doing this way. It worked better, but not perfect. It had its own slew of issues, mainly that I didn't want to stick with the main canon characters for so much, but I didn't see any other way. I waffled a bit on the issue, which slowed down writing, but I eventually decided on this way. It'll let me have the scenes I want, with a believable progression of cause and effect, rather than trying to force the issue.

Moving on from that, because I feel like some people might get confused, no, Wolfe does not already have a Devil Fruit. He's an idiot who jumped into the sea and tried to swim while still holding onto his sword, who has also never swam before in his life (as far as he's aware). He's just a shit swimmer.

Imagine if that was a twist, and then I have him eat the very obvious Devil Fruit only for him to blow up or something because he isn't Blackbeard. Or maybe I'm lying, and there's a plot twist further in? Who knows, it's all a big mystery.

Other than that, and besides the writer's block (indecisison?), I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Finally being able expand on Pete's backstory, and his character was a bit of carthetic experience for me. I enjoy having a bit of mystery with my characters, but that also means having to hold myself back at times.

I also managed to plant the seeds for future, other stuff. I don't wish to linger too long in this arc, but neither do I want to rush it. And I also don't want to bloat the word counter too much with my yapping, so I'll say thanks for reading this chapter and see you guys next time.