Hard-Hats Set Sail! The East Blue Awaits!

[Deleted]

The three manned vessel was gliding across the ocean as it basked in the glow of the early morning sun. The crew had settled in and gotten acquainted with their ship. With a calm sea and gentle breeze things seemed to be clear sailing. The stillness of the sea was quite remarkable; a truly peaceful day, the weather had been fortunate recently. The odd seagull could be heard squawking in the distance, the sound just audible over the gentle but constant lapping of the waves against the boats hull. The serene and peaceful morning was suddenly disturbed, as the sound of music began to echo out across the ocean.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Taro had been up watching the sun rise and was bursting with energy. Lifting Alisha he began to strum as he improvised a song;

"In a stolen boat we head out to sea,
With spirits high and bounties higher,
Three men, three dreams,
We’ll tear the world at the seams,
With a blaze more intense than fire.

Head for the horizon, destination unclear,
With the wind in our sail,
And hearts without fear,
We’ll tackle all adventure far and near,
So let the heavens themselves witness our tale!
Hey-ho!

A new chapter begins,
The book of piracy, rewritten!
Because a new crew has been born,
Yes a new crew has been born...
And the treasure we be gettin’,

Now we set sail... forever free!
Ahhh, Yoho!
It’s always gonna’ be, the pirate’s life for me!
Yes, Yoho! Yoho!
A pirate’s life for me..."

Playing a quick outro the musician couldn’t help but have mixed feelings.

“Bit corny...” he mumbled self critically. ‘However, I definitely do have a lot to sing about already... Pete was right, a life with adventures is a life full of songs...’

Assuming his playing had been enough of a wakeup call; Taro poured himself a cup of tea. He’d left a kettle out and three cups, so the others could make one too if they so desired. Waiting for the first official day as a crew, Taro anticipated a day where plans and decisions could be made, and the crew could get properly acquainted.

[Cirrus]

Darius looked out to sea. He had had a good night's sleep, and was now refreshed and ready to go out on a new adventure. The fresh morning air was sweet on his nose, and after giving a length yawn, Darius made his way over to the railing that ran along the deck. Surprisingly enough, the normally energetic Darius was still feeling rather sleepy. Muttering to himself about how he had stayed up too long last night and other things, Darius realised that the sweet sound known as music was coming from somewhere on the boat.

"I...didn't know someone was so...awesome..."

"In a stolen boat we head out to sea,
With spirits high and bounties higher,
Three men, three dreams,
We’ll tear the world at the seams,
With a blaze more intense than fire.

Head for the horizon, destination unclear,
With the wind in our sail,
And hearts without fear,
We’ll tackle all adventure far and near,
So let the heavens themselves witness our tale!
Hey-ho!

A new chapter begins,
The book of piracy, rewritten!
Because a new crew has been born,
Yes a new crew has been born...
And the treasure we be gettin’,

Now we set sail... forever free!
Ahhh, Yoho!
It’s always gonna’ be, the pirate’s life for me!
Yes, Yoho! Yoho!
A pirate’s life for me..."

As he was listening to the song Darius had managed to sneak up on the music's source. It was Taro. The guy seemed to be a musician, specifically one that played...a guitar?

Whatever that is...it's messed up. So ugly, but it's playin' some wicked tunes...

As Darius pondered the possibilities of what on earth the abomination that Taro held in his hands was, he realised that he was acting a little weird by just standing there. Deciding to get to know his nakama a little better, Darius asked a question.

"Hey bro...Torin's not up yet, huh?"

Venturing a question, Darius thought it best to probe a little about Taro's history. He knew next to nothing about the musician, other than of course the fact he played guitar.

"So what's up with you and the guitar, man?"

[Tori Tori Chopper]

[Open Seas, Open Minds. Good morning]

'The light! It buuurns!~'

Torin flailed in attempt to repel the light that slowly shone into his window and onto his face. with a minute of looking like a mad man he eventually fell off his bed into a crumpled heap on the floor. picking himself up and stretched his arms up to the sky, cracking his back, then his neck as he shoved on his helmet. And with a patting of it he kicked his door open, looking out into the endless blue.

'Graaarfarbleglarggarf!' He screamed to the heavens as he reached up high once more, only to moments later slouch, allowing his arms to flop to his sides, rubbing his half open eyes as they fell. He stumbled down the stairs, with a sniff and a mumble he grabbed his book from where he left it last night, shoving his finger in the small gap created by a pineapple juice bottle cap which was used as a bookmark. Grabbing another bottle from the small canister which he had left by one of the stairs he made his way to the front of the ship, and with a moment of standing he collapsed onto the floor, folding his legs and scratching his back as he gazed out.

'I hate mornings..' He looked down to his book, before proceeding to plant his face in contact with the open pages. 'Cant.. Read.. Words..' He eventually gave up on the 'directly in front of him' approach before dropping the book to the floor, a grin appearing on his face as his eyes began to adjust even if they were still only half open, as he began to read away silently, popping the bottle's cap off with his helmet as he took a mouthful before placing it beside him. He lifted his head slightly, taking his helmet from his eyes he turned to see Darius and Taro had already woken up. 'Taro.. Fox..' He gestured a nod though was lazy enough to simply move his helmet and not his head, as he looked back to his book.

He was feeling a lot better now that he had a moment to think about it over the sheer annoyance of this bright morning, he was never one for direct sun, though I guess that's what happens when you spend ninety percent of your life so far in holes. He took a piece of paper from his helmets mesh, giving it a close look before looking back to the small cloud gathering a few miles away. 'They look suspicious.. Stupid clouds..' He shoved the paper back in its place as he continued to read.. A very odd invention covered his right arm, as meters spun and blocks swung from left to right on a plotted line. He wasn't in the mood for explaining even if they did notice..

Did he mention he hated mornings?

[Deleted]

“So what’s up with you and the guitar, man?”

Taro was about to respond to the question when Torin seemed to have decided it was time to stumble above deck.

“Talking of the devil... I guess it’s best he was up anyway, if I’m going to tell my story, it’s not all that amazing, but it’s best you both here it...” he said pausing, whilst trying to think of a good place to start... ‘Oh of course... the start!’

“Well, I grew up in Water Seven, the shipwright island. I liked music always and would always watch the performers, locals and those that just came through. Eventually I decided to craft my own instrument...” he said indicating Alisha. “She’s called Alisha and she’s brilliant... no touching. Anyway, so I did all that... and a guy named Pete, crazy good musician, he decides to take me on. Well it seems I had a knack or something, because I got pretty good, technically brilliant, apparently. However, writing songs isn’t about technicality... it’s about beauty and inspiration. So on Pete’s advice... I headed out looking for some inspiration, some adventure.

Little did I realise the scope of the grandline, I travelled for two years, I got by, had some good times and some scary times, those two years toughened me up. I decided the best way to see the world, to experience life was to be a pirate, but... well joining a crew in the grandline wasn’t easy, they are usually established and skilled at that point. Alternatively, there massive crews, full of anonymous people, I wanted something more personal, so came looking for aspiring amateurs. Through fluke I found this guy, Torin. We caused a bit of trouble, I can’t help myself, things are a bit easier out here on the blues... oh yeah, I took a marine ship across the calm belt to get here... where was I? Oh yeah, so we cause a bit of trouble and make our get away, first stop we meet you and your probably pretty clued up from there. For some reason though, his bounty is much higher than mine... ridiculous. So that’s me, I aspire to be the world’s best musician and write the best songs ever heard. Someone else’s turn?” Taro paused to catch his breath, finishing with a question.

Taking a sip from his cup of tea, he looked to the others and waited for the responses.

[Cirrus]

As Taro rambled on about his life, Darius could only come up with one simple word.

"Huh."

And that was it, really. Taro seemed a nice guy, having some cool ambitions and all, but nothing really Darius was into. Acknowledging his history all the same, the designated swordsman guessed it was his turn to share the story. But before that were more pressing matters. How did Taro get tea? If there was tea there was juice... Fumbling around for a few seconds, Darius returned with a good mug of apple juice.

"Right, now that I'm ready..." he said, taking a sip. "It's my turn. Okay...I lived in Saint Reia for a few, until my village got burned down by raiders. In the rubble of my house I found this-" At this point Darius motioned to his striped jacket, from which his epithet was derived."-and I met this guy...called Haru. He's a marine now, or so I've heard, but basically he was too busy chasing after this random girl to save my family who were right next to him. A downer, I know, right? Anywho I became a street-dweller, stealin' what I could. Anything to get by really. Then me and my gang...we got into a lotta trouble. Barely survived the whole thing. I got these-" Darius paused again, so he could gesture towards the scars on his face."-from that. Afterwards I left the gang, gotta move on ya know? So I joined this dojo-type-thing and got good at fightin', like ya saw over in Fuschia. I left that to find my own style and stuff...and now I'm here. Oh! And I gotta devil fruit along the way."

After his long ordeal of sharing his history was over, Haru finished his apple juice. It was full of sugar - something that he needed to fuel his exploits. It made him alert, something that would no doubt come in handy when the crew became infamous. Looking at the other two blankly, Darius remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Torin...what's the dillio?"

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Uuuugh~'

Torin was being asked things as people talked about stuff. He placed his hand on his head as he covered more of his face with his helmet, mumbling away as he flicked through the huge book as if it was easy reading. Taking a glug from his drink every so often he listened subconsciously to the others story's, though was never one to pay attention to ones past. A person is made of what they have done, but is who they are right now. And Torin believed that you only need to know about then and there when you meet them, and move on from there. Back story's always pestered him, not only was it because they were usually dark and depressing as drunken marines yapped on about the deaths of their friends or the troubles they faced at sea. But mostly because Torin didn't have one, but none the less what he had predicted had come to pass, as he was indeed asked passively of his past nature.

'Uhm..' He pondered for a moment as he attempted to put in into a short ans sweet form like the other two, who was he kidding though? His entire story was small and simple anyway. He place the book by his side, and falling back he took off his helmet, placing it in front of him as he crossed his arms behind his head.. He was relaxing by the time he hit the floor. With a long drawn out sigh he looked up at the clouds, then to his wrist contraption as it chuttered away to itself in the clam environment. 'My past is all one big blur to be honest..' Was that really the best he could come up with? He didn't want to exclaim his heritage, he found it quite boring to be honest. 'Well.. Here it goes' He coughed to clear his throat. If they wanted to hear a story, they are going to get one.

'According to the Old man, my guardian for as long as I can remember. I was the son of the 'Dash Duo'' He spoke it as if he himself was not amused by the name which no doubt no one would have ever heard of. 'Apparently some old time pirate duo managed to scale the grand-line with ease, and take down entire pirate crews with them two alone due to their Devil fruit powers.. They would just swing around the line's complicated ocean as if it were a playground to them. Though from it they gained enough bounty to mark them dead if they ever stopped moving.. Thus the name..' He began to move his hands around quite enthusiastically, as if to try and spice up a story which he found boring.

'These guys were never captured. Though apparently vanished around the same time I was born, and according to the pirates who the marines captured, who had got me from some sort of trade.. I don't remember the details.. That it was apparently them who handed me over.' He seemed either doubtful or disappointed with his own story, it was hard to tell. 'So this old man takes me in because I became marine responsibility, and in Rouge town the marines have too much on their hands to have to deal with some kid.' He sat up from the thought of the man, his brows raised as he pulled a picture from his helmet, showing the two what looked like Torin as a kid, oddly wearing the same clothes and a helmet which was very large on him, accompanied by a man who despite his old appearance was huge, and had a flowing long white beard, his hand could have grabbed little Torin's entire face.

'That's the Old man, his name was too long and complicated.. so until I just called him Old man. He taught me everything he thought my parents would teach me, ad more. Though he couldn't stop the marines from using me as some sort of hired slave, digging down in the tunnels in search of whatever they could imagine was down there at the time, wherever 'there' may be. I've spent most of my life living in tunnels through week, month long expeditions to find treasure.' He lied back down as he looked up to the sky once more. 'I never had.. ' He opened his arms wide, as if attempting to hug the clouds. 'This.. I was either in the marine base or in a hole.. And I'll I could do to occupy my time was training and reading, they began sending me on solo digs once they realised I could survive down there easily by myself. And then I found it.'

He took a small shard from his satchel, what look like a solid gold chip covered in markings. 'I never knew what it was, all I know is that it bought my freedom the same time the Old man passed away. Had a whole service and everything, apparently the guy was a big shot a good seven ka'jillion years ago..' Torin chuckled at the number as he placed the shard back in his pouch, placing his hands on his sides he pushed himself back up, shoving his helmet back on his head as he took a stand, picking up his bottle with two fingers as he moved towards the back of the ship all in a fluent motion. 'And here I am after some.. mishaps.. I need a new book, advanced navigation becomes a bit of child's play when you start looking into celestial-internal methods..' Using it as an excuse to leave for a moment he went to go get a new book, learning this fast wasn't new to him. But he had been so caught up in this whole pirate thing he hadn't once thought about the old man until now.

A lot to think about..

[Deleted]

Taro sat attentively listening to both crew mates stories. They’d both had much more troubled lives than himself, and for a moment Taro wondered if that added to their strength. After a few moments of reflection, the musician opened his mouth;

“Well, that was awfully formal. Funny how such different lives and goals all arrived at the same destination. I can see why... it all comes down to power. Literal power, knowledge, wealth, fame and the power to do whatever you like... freedom, pirates can have it all. It’s a lucrative life style with only one major drawback, the marines. I’m going to wear my bounty as a badge of honour, the higher it is, the bigger an up yours it is to any of those bastards which would ruin the fun. With rules and laws and regulations, all different words for the same thing... restricting our freedoms.

Well not for us boys! Not for us...” Taro paused, realising he’d gone off on one and in quite a serious tone and decided to wrap up whatever he was trying to say. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want those things... but who doesn’t... fame and freedom, it’s all about fun. I think I may have an idea for another new song... but not right now.”

Dropping below deck, Taro headed to his quarters. He’d only settled in last night, but it was already a mess. Placing Alisha in the bed and putting the covers over her, to assure that any rough weather as unexpected as it may be, wouldn’t cause her to fall and be damaged. Giving the room a final glance, he grinned at his wanted poster that was proudly pinned on the wall, grabbed his bag and headed back on deck.

Taro had already found a favourite position on the ship, the birds nest. He just loved to stare out at the sea, especially on beautiful days like today. So the musician didn’t waste much time before scampering up the mast, teapot in hand. Pouring himself a second cup, he sipped it gently staring out over the ocean. Then he remembered, taking the flag from his bag, he tied it to the top of the mast. It was the official hard-hat flag, as Torin had specified, a skull with his helmet on. Secured Taro admired his handy work, as he lifted the tea cup off the ground and took another sip, “Aaaah."

Leaning over the side of the birds nest Taro addressed his crew mates;

“How’s it look?” he asked, as something else occurred to him. “I’m not painting the sail though... we need some colours and more paint for that... more importantly... where are we going?”

[Cirrus]

All stories concluded, Darius decided to go and get something to eat. He had already brushed his teeth and all of that stuff, so all that was left was to get some grub inside him. He made his way to below deck and found the area of the ship that looked like a kitchen. While thinking of all the apple based dishes he could create, Darius began to drool. Like a man possessed he ran to the fruit bowl and scooped up as many apples as he could. He dropped them on the table, and after a few seconds of haphazardly gathering them all into one pile again, began to chop them. After that was done he brought out a frying pan.

"This place is...surprisingly well equipped."

He muttered to himself. Frying the apples in their own juice, Darius was preparing one of his favourite meals: apples on toast. While the chopped apples were simmering the man with the epithet of "Stripe Jacket" found a loaf of bread. After slicing a piece, he put it in the grill for a few minutes. Returning to his apples, which were by now done, Darius turned off the gas and scooped the gooey, appley substance onto the bread, which was nicely toasting.

"Easy as pie."

He said, grinning. Ten minutes later the whole concoction was complete. Darius wolfed it down, and went above deck again. To his surprise Taro was climbing the crow's nest, and pinning something that looked like a jolly roger onto the mast. Darius breathed deeply, and wiped the crumbs off of his face. They were officially pirates.

“How’s it look? I’m not painting the sail though... we need some colours and more paint for that... more importantly... where are we going?”

"Awesome!"

Replied Darius. As for where they were going, he hadn't a clue. Looking to Torin for that answer, Darius repeated the question.

"Yeah, actually. Where the hell are we goin'?"

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'Where are we heading?'

Torin seemed to address the question subconsciously as he continued to read books lined in front of him, drawing on a large piece of paper as his head flicked from book to book, his hand jutting back and forth as he turned pages randomly. He lifted his helmet from his face as he tilted his ear to the sky, as if suddenly realising it had to be answered some time soon. He closed the books then stacked them into the corner by his pineapple beverages. Shoving the piece of paper between the books he took out another from the mesh of his helmet. He surprisingly had a lot lingering around in that helmet of his, the mesh was so reinforced and tight fitting it was perfect to hold any kind of small item if he didn't want to lose it.

He opened the paper to quickly make sure they were going in the right direction still to start with, quickly going back and forth about the ship tracking the direction and wind before sitting back down to examine the paper once more.. 'First off I want to grab some decent food. There's a moving restaurant the Old man used to talk about which sells some. I'll use the rest of our Beri's there or only most if I can help it..' He jabs away at things on the map as he continues. 'Orange town on Organ island should be our stop after that. We have to either get a better ship or I need a workplace to fix this one up. It would take a few days though if we are aiming for the Grand-line we are going to need a good crew and and better ship.' He scratched his head as he finished his paper scribblings. 'I presume that we are aiming for the grand-line, no?' He shoved the paper back in his helmet as he stretched his arms, moving to the side of the ship as he flopped over the side. 'And I have a feeling we 'aint exactly going to get there easily...' He sighed as he looked down into the water.

'Other than what I have planned in the grand line its basically up to you guys if you need to make any trips before we head to reverse mountain.' Torin spun around as he sat back beside his books and juice, pushing his helmet over his face as he lay on the deck with his arms behind his head.'

'You guys okay with that?'

[Deleted]

“Urgh... a restaurant. I want an adventure!” Taro moaned hanging upside down from the crows nest, his arms hanging limply toward the ground in an overly dramatic, disappointed pose.

“We would need a new boat for the grandline, we need a looooot of beri for that, I say... we... hunt for treasure... or catch another pirate with a bounty, or... hustle a casino... or... or...” he continued to moan, now waving back and forth upside down.
Unhooking his feet, the musician lazily flipped backwards through the air, landing equally as lazily on the deck. “We can get food anywhere... didn’t we just restock? Plus my bounty is still lower than yours... I liked the orange island idea, can’t we do the restaurant some other time... or never...”

Wobbling about the musician composed himself. “Well... either way, it’s your call, as the Captain. But in my opinion we aren’t ready for the grandline, it’d be a good idea to get a doctor or something first and toughen up, establish ourselves a bit more.”
Yet again Taro found himself to be rambling; he took a deep breath and flopped to the ground as he stared up at the sky. “You got any good ideas, Darius? Otherwise, I guess I don't mind... maybe the restaunt would have some musicians or something...", starting to trail off Taro continued, quietly "My only appetite is for fun..."

[Cirrus]

Everything the pair were saying was making sense. Of course Darius wanted to gather more nakama, but that would take time. Unfortunately, the man with the epithet of "Stripe Jacket" was not renowned for his patience. It was either adventure or sleep. Sighing to calm himself, Darius resumed listening.

“You got any good ideas, Darius? Otherwise, I guess I don't mind... maybe the restaunt would have some musicians or something..."

Darius furrowed his brow at the question. Going to a floating restaurant? Organ Island? Eh. Darius would have rather headed straight for the grand line, adventure head first and whatnot. Of course, the other two's plans made more sense, but to Darius it didn't matter. Knowing all of this was why he furrowed his brow. Did he really want to risk sounding like an idiot? Thinking his words over carefully, Darius replied.

"Well...it would all depend...on the...adventures we could have...on the island. Wasn't that restaurant...in a war or something with Don Krieg? We...could go there..."

An unsure answer, but an answer nonetheless. For matters of such importance it was lucky Taro and Torin were able to get any at all.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'You're suggestions are priceless..'

Torin chuckled to himself as one just wanted to make money, and the other just didn't really care... He sure knew how to pick 'em. 'Adventures cool but I don't think its going to be able to keep up if we randomly keep sailing around the east blue.' He took another bottle from the box beside the stairs as he knocked off the cap one more in a helmet-y fashion. 'And as happy as I am drinking pineapple juice day in, day out. I cant stand this plain meat and bread for solid food.' He shivered at the thought of it, why in the world did he choose mass amounts of meat and fruit, and not something fancy? He decided to put mistakes behind him as he quickly looked out into the distance to check the weather, before noticing something on the horizon. 'No way!'

Torin hopped from his seat as a bird began to approach from the sea-line as it was quick to land on the ship, patient and and blank in its glare the bird lifted its wing, looking down to the bag on its side then back to Torin. 'Yay~' Torin scuttled to the front of the ship as he stared back at the bird, slowly taking his paper and placing some beri into the pouch as the bird bit his nose as quickly escaped back into the air. 'Aaah! Bird attack!' Torin quickly fell to the ground, rolling around before hopping back to his feet and opening the newspaper as if he didn't act like an absolute idiot two second ago.

'I completely forget the newspaper works over seas as well.. How did they know where we were..' He slapped part of the newspaper with a smile. 'Ah! Two pirates escape the clutches of the marines in Rouge town once more... Once more?' He shrugged. pulling a couple of wanted posters from the back of the paper. 'Woo! More pictures of us!' He looked up to Taro who dangled from the birds nest with a sly look. 'I'm still worth more than you..' He giggled, as he rummaged through the wanted posters. 'They have a lot of posters here, gives us a heads up if we see any pirates and we want to know if we even stand a chance, eh?' He checked out the weather, the multiple headlines which he wasn't really paying much attention to though collected them subconsciously none the less.

He suddenly went back into 'plan mode' as he checked his map once more. 'Well I don't know about you guys but I want some edible food. And the amount of marines and pirates that must cycle through there from around the East, there has to be a lead to an adventure there... And nice food..' Taro did have a point though, at this rate by the time they have left the restaurant the money that came with the ship would be done to an all time zero. Hopefully they can find some way to make money before they leave.

And hopefully some giant sea creature will attack or a batch of pirates be at the restaurant or something. Taro's consistent swinging was becoming quite repetitive.

[Deleted]

Now doing what could only be referred to as secret sulking. Taro was in the crow’s nest staring blankly out over the ocean, daydreaming of distant adventures. Making regular trips to get snacks and refill the kettle he finally fetched Alisha. He experimentally played a few notes and various chords and kept pausing to scribble in his notebook. However, quickly losing interest, the musician soon reverted to starting mindlessly out over the ocean, but also sub-consciously playing various songs he’d long since memorised.

‘A floating restaurant... is that really a perceived need? Who’s going to be there? Rich voyagers, marines and perhaps pirates? I’m sure there’s a hidden opportunity here. I suppose there are three main possibilities, assuming each type of person is there, and then equally there are three different types of victim. Targeting the rich has the obvious benefit of money. Pirates are a long-shot, even if they are there, how do we know if they have anything of worth or bounties to hand in? That leaves finally, the marines. Targeting the marines has no immediate or obvious benefits, except perhaps a raised bounty and of course the satisfaction. I’m sure I’ll think of something...’

Taro’s demeanour suddenly changed, an air of enthusiasm encompassed him. “Hey guys! How much further until the bloody restaurant; lets speed things up eh? I’m bloody...” checking himself the musician continued. “Uhm, bloody... starving.”

Keenly awaiting sight of the floating restaurant, Taro began to scheme.

[Cirrus]

A newspaper arrived as the motley crew Torin had assembled floated ever closer to their next destination. The designated captain read extracts from it aloud, but on the whole Darius was uninterested in what it had to offer. He had yet to forge a name for himself, while here he was sitting with two wanted heads! He should have been out there, causing chaos for the marines and creeping ever closer to his dream of unmatchable fighting prowess. Sighing as he knew that wasn't happening any time soon, Darius nodded as he realised that they had come to a decision.

They were going to the Baratie.

A place filled with budding chefs and the 'higher' class, Darius was under no illusion that if he caused trouble here a whole world of hurt would be so close on his heels that even his devil fruit abilities would have trouble keeping him out of this one. Still, that was what he wanted wasn't it? To become famous the world over for his combat strength that would no doubt be required to fend off the hordes of marines he anticipated he would be fighting. Why couldn't he keep his thoughts in order?

“Hey guys! How much further until the bloody restaurant; lets speed things up eh? I’m bloody...Uhm, bloody... starving.”

To this, Darius had a straight forward solution. Smirking, he made this known to the other pair.

"I'll handle it. Just point this ship in the direction of that island, 'kay?"

After waiting for the others to comply, Darius got to work. Suspending himself over the guard rail of the boat, the man with the epithet of "Stripe Jacket" showed a little hint of ingenuity. Using the technique known as 'Zoom' Darius placed a glowing red arrow, like the ones that appeared on his hands in Fuschia Town, on the side of the boat. The effect of the arrow kicked in instantly, giving the boat a large boost in speed. It was however, a turbulent journey, and the reckless crashing through the heads of waves took their toll on the arrow, eventually washing it off until it was only momentum carrying the boat forward.

"Genius, ain't it?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Zoom [f] -- The user places an arrow on something, and, depending on the location of the arrow, may or may not step on it. The object/user is then propelled at high speeds in the direction the arrow is pointing. At its raw stage, the user cannot do anything while moving.

[Tori Tori Chopper]

'No-No-No! Wait a sec- Oh god dammit..'

Torin grabbed his helmet and grabbed onto the stairs as the boat was rocketed towards the restaurant direction. Torin couldn't help but sprint around and make sure his ship was okay as it slowly began to pick up off the sea higher and higher from each wave it smashed into. 'Aiee!~ Boats shouldn't fly!' Torin stated obviously in panic as he attempted to place weight as the boat almost tipped multiple times. Although only for a few moments which felt like a lifetime the boat finally came to a more acceptable speed, fast but not exactly flying off the oceans. Torin lay on the deck, his mouth wide open as his hand lay clutching his helmet. 'Gaah..' He sat up, shaking his head and wiping the shocked expression off his face.

'Would you mind not rocketing our boat into the air!?' He exclaimed as he cried over numerous spilled and cracked bottles. 'Such a waste..' He sniffed, looking out straight ahead with a smile to compliment his own navigational abilities, as a large multi-layered ship lay just on the visible sea-line. 'Well I guess it got the job done..' He adjusted his helmet, brushing off his shorts as he looked out, taking a book which had been flung across the deck and flipping through its pages. 'Yep, thats the place.' He nodded as he closed up the book, walking back inside he cleaned up the now messed up room.. Not that it wasn't already messed, he simply used it as an excuse. He placed away his books and moved back outside, taking place at the very front of the ship.

'So we go in, grab some food, ask around and see what's next for us? Right?' Torin lifted his helmet as it slowly tilted over his eyes, to the welcoming breeze of the once again steady moving ship, as the smell of food already scented the air even so far away from the ship itself. He couldn't help but feel safe as he approached it, even though they had only made one stop before this one the cautious aura of constant threat didn't loom here like any other place he had debated on going.

'That smells awwwsooome!~'

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With the newly found Hard-Hat crew understanding of each others long or dark pasts, the three set forth towards what they hope to be a new adventure simply waiting to be found. Moving forward as a crew rather than three individuals, they all knew the strength and ability they each possessed, and confidence in one another bloomed even when so much about them was still shadowed to one another. A bright future lay ahead in their next step of their journey. And to a place no-less which housed one of the most veteran pirates of all.

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