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| - “WHALE!!!” “What?” D’Artagnan, the Majin First Mate of the Marimo Pirates, asked, running up to his captain, Dhahaka D. Knave, who was sitting on the figurehead of their ship, the Shooting Star, “what do you mean a whale?” “I mean, A WHALE!” Knave replied a tad huffily, “there was a whale there!” “Well,” Art said, scanning the horizon, “there isn’t one now.” “It went under!” Knave countered, showing with hand gestures the action of something diving below the water. “How did you get a good view of the other side of the mountain?” the Majin asked again, still straining his vision, “because I can’t see anything...” “No, no,” Knave shook his head, “it was on the top of the mountain, right there.” “It was what?!” “It was- Oh, there it is again!” D’Artagnan blanched as he saw, that, indeed, a large whale had arisen from the waters of Reverse Mountain, only in a few miles in front of them. It opened its mouth, letting out a loud “PUUOOO!!!” “Sid, Sid!” Art called, waving frantically at the giant beast, “get out here!!” “Hmm?” Sid Cheney, former Marine and their current navigator asked, running up on deck, “what’s wrong- OH SHIT!” For he too had spotted the whale. “Get us around this!” Art replied, waving his arms frantically. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?!” Sid snapped back, “it’s blocking up the waterway! We can’t go around it!” “Then stop the ship!” Art barked. “Fine, fine!” Sid barked, “go drop the anchor, do it!” “What’s going on?” Stormy asked, coming up on deck, the crew’s chef, the Shroomian Gopher walking beside her. Their crewmates responded by collectively pointing at the large whale in the distance, and their eyes widened quickly. “STOP THE SHIP, DAMMIT!” “THAT’S WHAT WE’RE TRYING TO DO!!” “That old dandelion ossan was really nice!” Knave reflected, as the Starry began moving down the other side of Reverse Mountain, heading towards the Grand Line, “helping us and all!” “Yeah, he was!” Stormy said happily, “I never knew that antibiotics could be created this way! Wish we could have stayed longer though... the stuff I could have learned... ” “And this Log Pose seems functional,” Sid said, lifting up the special compass that was now attached to his wrist via a small watchstrap, “guess he just helps most travellers who are heading into the Grand Line!” “That reminds me,” Art said, peeking over Sid’s shoulder at the device, “have you picked the route we’re going to take?” “Yep,” Sid said, lifting up a map of the first half of the Grand Line with his other hand, “we’ll be heading towards Pleasant Island.” “Oh, that sounds nice,” Stormy said, moving up beside them, “maybe we won’t get into a fight there for once.” “That’d be boring though,” Knave whined, appearing beside them as well, “I hope something exciting happens there...” “DON’T JINX US!” the crew cried, collectively slapping Knave across the face. “Ponchos!” Sid called, as truly massive amounts of rain toppled down from the sky onto the Shooting Star, “bring out a few more ponchos!” “Right, right!” Art replied, moving towards the supply shed, “just give me a second-” Right then, the rain stopped! Black clouds rolled in at alarmingly fast rates, and before any of the crew could even react, lighting shot out of them, a bolt landing merely inches from the ship! “No, wait! Get back to the wheel!” Sid cried, “we’ve got lightning!” “Got it, got it, got it!” Art gasped, abandoning the supply locker and running towards the wheel, seizing it. Sid began giving rapid-fire instructions, the Majin acting on them as fast as he possibly could, to avoid the lighting that threatened to set their ship alight with every strike! After at least fifteen minutes of this, however, the weather changed suddenly again, a light snow falling on the sea around them. “Ciaosusususu!” Knave laughed, scooping up a ball of snow and taking aim, “let’s see who I can get with this...” “Oi, Gopher!” Art groaned as he slumped into the kitchen, “get me some coffee, quickly. I haven’t been this tired in months!” “Gao!” Gopher replied, quickly grabbing a mug and filling it with hot water, reaching for a bag of coffee seeds.... “Ah...” Sid sighed, leaning on the railing of the Starry, “looks like we’re finally out of the worst of- Hm?” He looked up as a shadow fell upon the deck. His eyes widened as he grasped what was happening to them. A giant piece of hail was flying down towards them! “Art!” he cried, “to the wheel!” The first mate burst from the kitchen, coffee and mug flying into the air behind him, as he seized the wheel. The hail got closer, as Sid turned to Knave. “Knave!” he called, “give us a speed bost! Please!” “Got it!” Knave said, throwing the snowball to the side as he raced to the back of the ship, quickly firing off a massive blast of heat and kinetic energy, sending them flying across the sea, the hail nearly missing them. “Okay,” Sid recovered, “we should be out of-” He checked the Log Pose. “The hell?! Why are we fifteen miles off course?! Art, we need to adjust-” “Sid!” Art called back, “more lightning!” “What the hell is wrong with this place?!” Sid cried as he raced back to the helm. The Marimo Pirates lay on the deck of the Shooting Star, completely exhausted as the weather around them finally stabilized, panting heavily and attempting to regain some semblance of composure. “God...” Stormy gasped, “the rest of the Grand Line better not be like this...” “Well....” Sid panted back, “if what the dandelion geezer said was true *pant* then *pant* we should be a bit fine for now.... at least *pant* the weather won’t change *pant* that rapidly...” “That was so much fun...” Knave breathed out happily. “BASTARD!” the crew gasped, “SO YOU DID JINX US!” “Sorry, sorry,” Knave panted, pulling himself away from his murderous crew, “didn’t mean to....” “Hey,” Art asked, “how long till we get to Pleasant Island?” “Right about-” Sid began, as the ship bumped into the shore, “-now.” Pleasant Island was exactly as the name implied. It was a medium-sized island, covered in forest, with several small clearings that the numerous towns on the island were located. One of which was located directly next to the beach where the Marimos had landed, a nice path up to the town marked with two lines of bushes and smaller trees. “Well, this looks nice,” Art commented, leaping onto the sand. “Yeah, it does,” Sid agreed, landing beside him. “Ciaosususususu!” Knave laughed, dropping down next to those three, “this place looks pretty fun!” “PLEASE don’t destroy anything this time,” Stormy groaned, making a slightly more dignified landing. “Gao!” Gopher cried happily, landing beside them all. “Well, there’s the path right up there,” D’Artagnan said, pointing up at the bushes, “think we should just follow it?” “I don’t see why not,” Sid continued, taking initiative and starting to head up the path, “after all, this place seems pretty peaceful. I kinda doubt-” As his foot touched the sand where the bushes began, a figure leaped out of a nearby group of trees, a blade flying through the hair, a short war cry emerging from its lips. The navigator reacted quickly, throwing his arm up and tensing it, the limb taking on the qualities of iron. “Tekkai!” The blade struck Sid’s arm, causing sparks to fly off it due to the force of the collision. The figure’s momentum fading, it dropped to its feet, still keeping its blade at Sid’s arm, holding it in place. “What the hell?!” Sid gasped as he got a good look at the attacker’s face, “this can’t be!” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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