A Shiny Talk Between Friends [Leonard/Hikaru]

[Blushing z0ro]

It had now been a week since the captain had awoken from his small coma. There had been a few interesting events in the past week but nothing particularly ground-breaking, the crew were each doing there own thing. Kusatta was in the kitchen trying to make something edible, Hiroto was checking on Leo and Kusatta's injuries regularly and cleaning her weapons in her off time, Hikaru was steering the ship most of the time and Brandon; well he was doing his penguin things. Leonard spent his free time trying to know his crew a bit more, he wanted to exercise as well but Hiroto would not let him, so for now under the North Blue's chilly afternoon sunlight  sitting at the front of the ship slightly isolated from the rest of the crew; the swordsman polished his weapon.

This sword had seen quite a lot in the past weeks, it was practically a comrade to Leo, almost as much as the other members of the his crew. It was not a Meitou and was not of any special quality, but it was the sword his grandfather gave him the day before the young man left on his adventure. It had been with him from the start, longer than even Kusatta. Quietly polishing the blade, making the sunlight reflect on it, making it seemingly glow. There was beauty to a well cared sword, it was something Leo had always appreciated. Even beyond the aesthetic aspects of a sword, it was a warrior's tool, his only tool in fact. It was not something that he could  afford to have break in the middle of a fight, so he had to take good care of it. After all, Leonard was a normal human, yet the seas were full of things not so normal. Even amongst his crew there were Devil Fruits users.

The captain stopped his polishing as he got lost in thoughts. Devil Fruits, those that ate one gained superhuman abilities. These fruits were little more than a legend to many but his grandfather had told him that they were practically common place in the Grand Line, sometime making even the weakest of beings a formidable foe, with ones ability to swim the only price to pay for that power. This always intrigued Leonard, why can't a Devil Fruit user swim? It was however unlikely that he'll ever find out. That did not stop him from reading up on Devil Fruits before he left on his journey and from his reading he knew he had only encountered two of the three types of fruits. Brandon had eaten the most common type, a Paramecia giving the user some form of special ability. Kusatta, and now Hikaru, had eaten Zoans giving them the power to turn into an animal or an hybrid form. The only fruit Leonard had yet to see was a the elusive Logia, he really did not know much about those, only that they were the "Elemental" fruits giving the users power over a natural aspect of the world. At least that's how he understood it from his reading. Thinking about all these people with extraordinary powers made the young man think. How would he fight people like that as a normal man.

The sound of a creaking floorboard, snapped the swordsman out of his pondering. Someone had approached him. Turning around, Leonard saw the smoking sniper, Hikaru walking up to him. "Can I help you with something?" Asked the captain to his crew member.

[HikaruShin]

As Leonard was on his journey to recovery, Hikaru had little to do besides steer the ship; keep a look out; make sure that the ship was doing okay, since it was damaged; eat and sleep, obviously. Things were simple, plain and actually quite boring. He had no choice in the matter though, so he followed through and did what he was supposed to do. Before he met the group, he had been working on the harbor in Nuevo Romano, so that he could learn about the steam technology. Now he couldn’t possibly think of returning there, he had to seek another destination. His reason for setting to see wasn’t exactly to just learn about ships and new inventions, he had another dream. He wanted to join a pirate crew and become the greatest sniper to ever sail the seas.

Whether it was luck or destiny, he had now met this pirate group and had to work with them. That wasn’t only because they needed his help, he also needed them in order to escape from the island. Finally after having the conversation with the captain, he was now part of the crew. However, he didn’t knew much about the captain or the crew. They too didn’t know much about him. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist but since he had decided to become part of the crew, it was only fitting to talk to the captain.

Just for the sake of getting to know the captain better and trying to know the new abilities that he had attained, he decided to talk to Leonard. As his presence was noticed he appeared from the back of Leonard and moved to his front, facing him he leaned against the railing of the ship. ”You saw what happened, I want to know about these devil fruits and their abilities. Until now, I had only heard rumors and now suddenly I find out that I’ve eaten one somehow. Would you mind sharing with me what you know about them?”. This was useful information for Hikaru but he was mostly using it as a way to converse with Leonard, so that he could get to know him better.

His true aim was to get into his comfort zone, after that maybe he would reveal to Leonard about his dark history. From where had he come from and how he had spent his life so war and also what he aspired for as he became a pirate. In his opinion it was only fitting that the captain knew about his crew mates, only then can a bond really be established the two. However, trusting someone was still a difficult task for the suited individual. Maybe after this conversation he would become light hearted enough to talk to Leonard a bit more openly, maybe he could ask Leonard about his past and origins. Right now his intention was simple, get some knowledge about devil fruits and try and develop a mutual understanding with the crew’s captain.

[Blushing z0ro]

Devil fruits eh? How fitting he'd come to ask now, as Leonard was thinking about them. It's almost like someone or something was making these coincidences on purpose! Not putting his sword down the captain went back to his polishing and began to talk. "Truth is I don't know that much about them either. Most of what I know is what I read in a few books and what my Grandfather told me from his travels on the Grand Line." Leo was now holding his nodachi vertically in front of him and was carefully placing some sharpening powder on it by tapping it on with what looks like a large cotton bud. "Basically there are three types of Devil Fruits, the first and most common is called Paramecia, which would be the type that Brandon must have eaten. These are the fruits that gave some form of inhuman power that don't fit in the other two categories. When you hear of someone who cant stretch there limbs, become invisible or fold themselves like paper; these would be Paramecias"

Gently continuing his sword maintenance the swordsman began to feel a cold breeze blowing from the north, causing him to shiver slightly as he looked over his sword to check he did not miss a spot. "The second type, and the one that probably interest you the most, is the one you and Kusatta ate. Zoan. As the name implies the powers of these fruits permit the users to turn into an animal or a hybrid form between human and animals. Like with other fruits, once you become aware of the powers you should instinctively be able to use them, although from what I saw control isn't something that comes easy. You need to practice to be able to do it right. In fact you may want to ask Kusatta about that since he has more experience."

Satisfied with his work on his blade, Leo sheathed it, tidied up after himself and walked up to his new friend. Keeping his sheathed blade in hand the captain placed it carefully on the side of the railing so that it wouldn't fall into the sea. Standing next to Hikaru, Leonard folded his arms over the railing and looked at the horizon. And beautiful sight of the clear blue northern sea against the sky of the same hue aside from the spot of white provided by the occasional cloud. "The third type... well I don't really know much about it to be honest. Supposedly it is the rarest and most powerful of the all Devil Fruit types. Logia. Fruits that give the power of nature, what that means exactly I have no idea really. I couldn't find any real information in books and all my grandfather said was that if I ever encountered an enemy who had eaten a Logia fruit at my level of the time," the swordsman stopped for a second, swallowed as he considered the implication of what he was about to say and continued "I would need to run for my life and pray that whoever the enemy is doesn't give chase."

It was truly a frightening thought, an enemy he had no way to win against. Back in Nuevo Romano, the swordsman had gotten a taste of fighting someone so strong any hope of victory disappeared, but even Marcus Rhodes had been a man, his power was something Leonard could understand, but Devil Fruits power were not like that, they defied the laws of nature and human understanding. That simple fact made them all the more scary to him. "What can human really do against monsters?"

[HikaruShin]

Hikaru attentively listened to Leonard’s explanation, the captain really was a modest person. He said that he didn’t knew much but from what Hikaru heard it was quite a lot, at least a lot more than what he knew. The information would most certainly prove useful. Now that he knew what kind of devil fruit he had eaten, all what was needed to do was to get a hang of it. ”Based on this information, what happened last time must be the full form. So I must also be capable of a hybrid form. A zoan devil fruit eater is able to do it by pure instinct so all I need to do is focus”[/b][/color]. That solved one riddle in his mind, he didn’t want to try it right away and there was no reason to rush it anyways.

The interesting part was that there were types of these devil fruits. What he had heard while he sailed along with bounty hunters was that there were such fruits that gave people inhuman powers. Well sure, that wasn’t a lie either but that wasn’t exactly useful information. Paramecia, zoan and the most overwhelming of devil fruits: the logia. He noticed the change in Leonard’s tone as he mentioned the devil fruit, it must be as frightening as his expression depicted it. Thinking about himself, Hikaru realized right at that instant that he too would have no chance against someone like that. He didn’t even knew much about his own fruit, let alone face someone with a rare fruit’s abilities. ”you haven’t read much about them and it is considered rare, so I’m assuming that the chances of us running into a logia user are pretty low. Even so..” he paused for a moment, he wasn’t one to give motivational remarks. ”.. only humans can take down monsters. Or at least that’s what I believe”.

Hikaru turned away when he said those words, that was his way of saying that if the time came; one way or the other; they will find a way to stand up to monsters. That was because he trusted the members of this pirate group. It was his belief that if he gave it his all, everyone else will too. Just like what happened in the harbor of Nuevo Romano.

After that Hikaru was silent for a moment, thinking of whether he should or shouldn’t talk about what he came here to say. Finally coming to the conclusion that he should, he broke the silence. ”Now that I know about my devil fruit, I think I’ll be able to get used to it more. I’ll also talk to Kusatta for more information. It’s really amazing that your grandfather sailed the grand line. Was he a pirate too? I’d like to know more about him” People who had sailed the grand line were indeed rare, so Hikaru thought it’d be better to question Leonard about him.

He was still feeling a bit uneasy so for now he decided to talk about Leonard first. Getting to know him might make him more at ease. After knowing the history of his captain, he may deem it necessary to reveal his own.

[Blushing z0ro]

Leonard closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the cold sea air. In his mind he could still perfectly sea the stern face of Zatoshi, his grandfather, the long yet well kept beard and hair of pure white that were once of a black as deep a Leo's or his mother. The young pirate did not resemble his mother or grandfather very much, other than the hair and eye colors he looked exactly as his father did, or at least that's what his mother told him and from what he had gathered from pictures it was true. Opening his eyes again, the captain moved his gaze from the horizon onto Hikaru and began to speak again. "No, my grandfather wasn't a pirate. He, and later my mother, were born in a country far onto the Grand Line. In his youth he was a great swordsman, so much so that he felt he lacked challenge in his homeland, which supposedly renowned for their sword-masters, so he left. He then spent years traveling up and down the Grand Line in search of worthy opponents and fame, and if his stories are to be believed, he found both. Not that there is any easy way to find out if that's true as this happened even before Gold Roger sailed the Grand Line."

A sigh escaped, Leonard's mouth as his eyes began to drift towards the sky. There was no doubt that his grandfather was a great warrior. Not once had Leo even been able to land a hit on the old man, unless he was going easy on the young swordsman. Which happened extremely rarely. However were all the stories of his fame and power in his younger days all true? That was an everlasting doubt in  the young man's mind, not that it really mattered, but he if the occasion to ever find out presented it self he would like to know. "Anyway, after many years of traveling my grandfather came back to his homeland and was well received by his family who had heard news of his feats of arms over the years. He even got married and had a child, my mom, but then something happened, which I don't know the details of, which made him leave again, with my mother in tow. Years later my mother met my father in the West Blue country of Toroa. They all settled there and I lived there all my life until the day I left on my journey."

Looking at Hikaru again, Leo couldn't help but let a small laugh escape. "Sorry if that dragged on a bit, you probably didn't want to know about my entire family history." The captain tilted his neck left and right, making it crack a bit, his muscle were getting stiff from the lack of exercise. "What about you? Any interesting family stories, feuds? I'll even take stories about folding penguins... wait... that's us now, not some old story." A feeble attempt at humor to ease the air a bit more. Leonard was not the most observant of people but it was obvious Hikaru wanted to talk about something. So perhaps cracking a few jokes would help him open up some more. At least that's what the Captain hoped.

[HikaruShin]

Hikaru nodded as he heard the story of most likely a former legend that sailed the grand line. ”I’m sure those stories about your grandfather have some truth to them if not all.” Now he knew what kind of family his captain belonged to. The urge to seek competition and the will to grow stronger, maybe Leonard inherited it as well. The way Leonard had told the story of his grandfather, Hikaru couldn’t help but notice that he idealized him in more than one way. That would most certainly be a good feeling, knowing your origins; having a family; having someone to idealize. He couldn’t help but be reminded of his origin, the grim memories of his past began to make their way back into his mind.

”It didn’t drag on that long, I wouldn’t mind hearing more about your family. I can only imagine that’s how families are..”. Lost in his thoughts, he decided to reveal his story. His eyes were now blankly staring at the sea, his face bowed downwards. Slowly he began to feel a certain chilly feelings. He could still feel the cold breeze of that island, a land with no mercy and certainly no place for a child to grow up: Tequila wolf. ”yes, I can only imagine how a family would be”. Most likely Leonard would notice that last part, but he was about to tell him anyways, so it didn’t matter.

Leonard’s attempt at a joke was indeed sweet of him but Hikaru couldn’t bring himself to laugh at it. He couldn’t even smile, now that he had begun to recollect his past. Not that he would smile under normal circumstances either, he was an expressionless man after all. ”I don’t have any family stories, actually I don’t’ know if I have a family either. Besides one kind gentleman, who took me in despite my origin and raised me. You see, I was born and raised.. as a slave. I hail from the island Tequilla wolf, in the east blue. ”. It had been 9 long years since then but even now he still had nightmares about that place. He didn’t notice but his body was shaking when he finally verbalized the name of the island. Tightening his grip on the railing he tried to calm himself down.

It took him a moment till he finally calmed down, the memories were still brutal on him. ”Sorry, the memories are still too harsh on me.”, finally he returned to his usual self. He had decided that never again would he reveal this part of his past to anyone but the current situation demanded it. It wasn’t something he could discuss casually. At the age of 12 he had fired his first shot and had injured a jailer that was responsible for keeping an eye on him. The escape was the cruelest of his memories. When he escaped, other children and women that were also chained like himself escaped along with him. Considering that he was the only survivor, it only takes to put two and two together to figure out what happened to the others.

[Blushing z0ro]

Slavery... that truly was a horrifying thing. That revelation rendered Leonard speechless for a minute. The swordsman only understood too well the feeling of powerlessness, the frustration of having something unfair done to you but no way to right the wrongs. "That's truly a horrid way to grow up. I can't imagine what you must have gone through. And if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. Whatever you've done in the past, that's all it is; the past." The wind began to get stronger as the captain turned to look Hikaru straight in the eyes.  It was not compassion showing in Leo's dark and powerful eyes, it was determination, strength and authority.

"All the things that you must have suffered, the horrors you must have seen, they are not a burden that you must silently bear on your own. All these things are what made you. Life broke you down to your core before you could even walk, but you picked up the pieces and became all the stronger for it. Don't reject the pain of your past Hikaru. Embrace it, let all the pain, fear and rage be the fire that forges you into someone greater; into something greater. You're part of a group know, don't try to keep your feelings trapped inside. A crew share their hopes and dreams as well as their pain and fears, and it is my duty as a captain to shoulder it all for you guys; to make sure your realize your dreams."

Silence followed, Leonard had said what he wanted. Now it was up to Hikaru to either heed the advice or ignore it. Only the sound of the wind int sails gave proof of movement as the world seemed to stand still around the two pirates. This was becoming more than just a simple discussion between friends, this was a true moment of sharing between two comrades. The swordsman had been dreaming of the future of the Shining Pirates ever since he created them, it became clear to him that to ensure that future would come to pass he would have to help his crew through their hardships as well as lead them and Leo was determined to do so. He would lead through example and compassion. "The crew is more than just a group of friends. We're a family Hikaru and families  help each other out, even with the worst of problems."

[HikaruShin]

”Yeah, maybe that’s enough. That’s all I need to tell him, maybe later I’ll tell him the rest. There’s no need to tell him the rest..”, he wasn’t one to leave things incomplete like this. However, this was one special circumstance; it was painful; horrifying and sad at the same time. He raised his head, looked at the sky above, ”I wonder how things are now, over there”. He couldn’t help it, the flow of memories was just too fluent and powerful. Even though he didn’t want to but he decided that he would tell Leonard the rest of his story; it was the right thing to do.

”The past is what made me who I am today, you’re right about that. All the more reason I should tell you about it. That pain, I have never once rejected it, I have learned to be at peace with. No matter what I do, I can’t erase who I am and I can’t change what happened to me. However, I can make sure that the same doesn’t happen to anyone else. It’s true that I faced the cold depths of hell; actually I was born and raised in it. However, I would never have been able to stand on my feet by myself.” He lowered his head and now his gaze was fixated at Leonard, his demeanor was calm and he was more like his usual self now. ”So at the age of 12, I fired my first shot ; injuring the jailer that was responsible of keeping me and a few others chained. After that we escaped but I was the only lucky one…”.

The flashback suddenly hit him, he was crying all the way. As he was young he had run faster than the others, they had managed to acquire a few row boats and planned to sail away in it. The others that were slow ended up shot in their feet thus falling and getting recaptured. Those who managed to sail away like himself, cannons were fired at them. The sea was painted red that day with the blood of those escapees. One young woman was rowing his boat and she continued to row while all Hikaru did was cry, he was only 12 at the time. After managing to take the boat away quite a distance, that kind woman fell on the floor of the tiny boat. Her skin was cold, her body motionless, she was already wounded badly and had died from excessive loss of blood. Even now, he could feel her cold skin, though she didn’t have much blood in her when she held his hand it was warm. With a faint smile and the last few words she had given away his life to save the life of a child whose name she did not know. Her last words were as beautiful as herself: “Live”.

”After that I kept moving from island to island, shunned at by others as I had no parents, no identification, nothing. Some even figured out who I really was. That too wasn’t easy but it wasn’t as difficult as living in that hell. Despite knowing who I was, one kind old inventor took me in. He was someone people would normally consider as a mad genius. I’d concur but he was far too kind and wise to be called as such. That man raised me as his own son, he loved me, taught me and encouraged me. It was from him that I learned to love inventing things and it was with him that I began going to docks learning about being a shipwright.” The horrible memories from a moment ago were now replaced by pleasant ones, the time that he had spent with that old man. It really was a blissful feeling.

”I lived with him for 6 more years after which he died and I was taken in by bounty hunters. I wanted to learn to defend myself and at the time those seemed to be the right kind of group to go around with. From them I learned to shoot a gun, discovered my knack for sniping and continued polishing my skills as a shipwright on their ship. Though, I really didn’t like their kind. So until a week ago, I was working to learn about steam technology. And that’s my story.” Once again Hikaru turned his face away and looked at the calm, quite and beautiful sea, it’s vastness kept reminding him that he was free. Free to live his life, free to breathe, free to do whatever he wanted to, that feeling was indeed beautiful. ”I’m glad that I chose to be part of a family instead of some meaningless pirate crew.” said Hikaru as a gentle smirk came on his face. It was one of those rare moments where he couldn’t help but smile.

[Blushing z0ro]

What a depressing way to grow up, all alone save for a few who all left him or died. This made Leonard think of how lucky he had been growing up. Despite the death of his father, there has always been people there for him, his mother, his grandfather, his childhood friends and all the nice people who saw him and grow up. For a moment the captain was lost in memories; four kids running around the streets of Toroa pretending to be the strongest warriors in the world, sometimes playing Gold Roger and Whitebeard against Garp the Hero and Sengoku the Buddha, sometimes dreaming of their future selves who would protect the innocent and always stay together. However the world doesn't quite work that way and the children went their separate ways. Yet the swordsman couldn't help but wonder what became of his old friends, maybe he would even meet them on his journey. Not that they'd be very happy about his line of work.

It was hard to respond to Hikaru's story, not because the story hadn't touched Leo in some way, but because deep down it did not matter to him what hand the past had dealt his friends. "The truth is Hikaru, it doesn't matter what happened to you in the past. It made you who you are and you accepted that fact, that's all there is to it. Whatever any of us might have done, I don't care. All that matters is that we're here together, in the present and that we make our mark on the future. That our name will be spoken like those of Gold Roger and Whitebeard, names that will shine throughout the years to come. That is why I called us the Shining Pirates." This was all spoken from the heart, not some poor attempt at making the gunner feel better. A name that will shine and live on in the minds of future generations, these were the words the young pirate had used when he joined up with Kusatta and Brandon, the hopes and dreams that make him name the budding band of pirates. It was but a few weeks ago; yet it felt as if it had been years.

"Anyway, let's see if there is some food lying around." said Leonard as he begin to walk away from the ledge, not forgetting his sword. After all if a crew is a family, the ship is their home. The place where they can rest, eat and be merry. Yeah, life was good for the Shining Pirates and the captain hopped this would go on for as long as possible.

[HikaruShin]

The captain’s words were indeed reassuring, Hikaru felt all warm and welcomed inside. His origins and his past were grim and indeed he was a runaway slave, most likely with a cursed destiny. However, that didn’t matter to the crew or the captain. This was indeed a place where he could picture his entire life, these people made this feel like home. Those were feelings that he hadn’t felt for a very long time, not since the old kind inventor had died. ”What matters is what I do from now on. Yeah, this is indeed the crew that I’ve been honing my skills for. Leonard is the captain that I wouldn’t mind following for the rest of my life”.

”Thank you for those kind and reassuring words, captain. Gold Roger, Whitebeard, those are some big names. I don’t know about them, but for all its worth, you’ve got me. ” If he was going to be part of this crew then he would give it his all. As a sniper, a shipwright and an inventor he would pour all the knowledge gained so far for this crew. He didn’t intend to forget his dream either, it was always his ambition to become known as the greatest sniper to ever sail the seas. ”When it comes to ambitions, mine aren’t that subtle either. I aim to become the greatest sniper and I want my name to shine along with my crew members”.

Being the greatest sniper was one thing but he had also attained a very interesting new power. A zoan devil fruit that gave him the ability to turn into an ant, either a hybrid or in a full form. So far, he accidentally turned into the full form but now gaining some knowledge from Leonard, he thought it’d be best to try it out. As Leonard headed to get some food, he decided to stay back and try it out. ”I’ll catch up with you later.” So, all I need is focus, right? “. He closed his eyes and just like the brain controls one’s limbs, he thought it would be something similar. Slowly his body began to change, his face began to alter and grow mandibles and an antenna. His back grew and two extra pair of legs grew out of them, hairs grew all over his body, turning him into the hybrid form of the bullet ant. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands, they sure were different and so were the extra pair of legs. He could see his entire body, just not his face and it really did feel strange. Those mandibles he could see the edges of those as well, opening them and closing them as they made their distinctive sound. However, he still wanted to see how he looked. Bending over the railing he grabbed it with his hands and attempted to look at his reflection. As soon as he saw his reflection, the altered body got off balance resulting in him going overboard.

A loud splash sound generated as a result of him landing face first in the cold water. Though, something was off: he couldn’t move. His brain was working and he could see clearly but his body just wouldn’t respond, he wanted to move his arms and legs so that he could swim but neither would move. It was like he had turned into a stone, slowly drowning. ”why wouldn’t my body listen to me? Is this because of the devil fruit?” The only thing that had changed so far was the fact that he had now eaten a devil fruit so that made perfect sense to him. Even though he was drowning, he wasn’t worried because he knew that the sound of the splash would be audible enough for someone in the ship to hear it. Most likely, Leonard would hear it since he was the closest one on the ship. Even though he was drowning, he wasn’t afraid. For the first time in his life, he was depending on others and was content with it.

[Blushing z0ro]

As Leo walked away a splashing sound made itself heard. The captain turned around and saw Hikaru was nowhere to be seen anymore. Quickly understanding what had happened and expression of shock drew itself of Leonard's face. The sniper had fallen into the sea and as a Devil Fruit user he would be unable to swim. Rushing to the edge of the ship the swordsman jumped over the railing and dove into the cold North Blue waters by straightening his body and putting his hands first to pierce the water more easily.

The temperature difference was brutal, even though the North Blue was never much hotter than what most would call a mild spring, it's waters were always cold. One just had to dive down a few meters and the water temperature would be below freezing. The true danger in of the Northern Sea was never drowning but the cold getting to you. It was hard to see through the cold salt water but if he did not find Hikaru fast it would be too late. Scanning the waters looking for some signs of his crew-mate Leo feared that the gunner might have fully turned into an ant which would make finding him impossible, however the splashing sound that he made by going overboard indicated otherwise.. hopefully.

After a few more second of bone chilling descent into the dark waters Leo spotted Hikaru who had half turned into an ant. Moving his limbs faster to catch up with his friend the captain began to feel a burning sensation in his lung as they screamed for oxygen. The contrast between his burning insides and his numbingly cold outside made every movement difficult but Leonard managed to reach and grab the hybrid ant-man. Once he was firmly in his grasp the captain used all the strength he had left to swim back up; his body feeling heavier with every move, but as he got closer to surface the pressure let up making the ascent easier.

As the two burst out the water Leo took a deep breath of air to ease the pain his lungs. After struggling to get himself and Hikaru back up on the deck. Lying in his back and staring at the sky while breathing heavily the captain felt it was necessary to had something to his little lesson about Devil Fruits. "Oh by the way... *heavy breathing* ... you can't swim anymore..."

SPOILER: Click to show

Still struggling to get back in the game. Sorry for the delay and crappy post.

[HikaruShin]

Like a stone his body continued to fall into the dark blue sea. He struggled to breathe and to move, despite being in the hybrid form it was all in vain. There was no doubt in his mind now, it was because of the devil fruit. So this was the trade off that came along with such kind of strange abilities. The sea’s wrath would incur upon those who ate the devil fruit and hence they would be cursed for their entire lives. Being a shipwright, losing the ability to swim was indeed a thing to worry about but he could make do without it. It would take him some time to get used to it, but he’ll find a way. Thinking about time, it was about time that Leonard would come to his rescue. His body was growing numb and the cold water was being merciless. Another splash into the water soothed his troubling mind, Leonard had jumped in and it wouldn’t be long now until he would surface again.

After staring into the dark, helpless for quite a while, the friendly face he was expecting, appeared. His height and thus his weight was more than usual so it wasn’t likely easier for the captain to drag him out. Despite that, he still made it and finally Hikaru was back on the deck of the ship. Gasping for air, shivering while he was at it, ”Yeah… I uhh.. figured”. Slowly his body returned to normal human form. ”Note to self: never try transforming at the edge of the ship”, most certainly the drowning would remain an everlasting memory. Getting the cold out of his muscles wouldn’t be so easy, the air that blew as the ship moved didn’t help either. Lying for a few minutes he decided he had enough of that, so he stood up and headed for the inside of the ship. ”Let’s go inside the kitchen, this cold is brutal” said Hikaru, stopping as he did and looked at his captain.

Once the two would go in and find some warm blankets to raise their body temperatures. Hikaru sat down in front of Leonard, ”We have found ourselves a good ship, it will need a bit of remodeling but I think it will do for our journeys ahead”. He had asked for something warm to be prepared for the two and now he sipped through his cup, after giving a similar cup to Leonard. ”Being an inventor, I’ll need a laboratory to be built, would you mind if I reserved such a place for myself in this ship?” he asked politely. His beloved cigarettes had been drenched in water and were now useless, he needed a new batch. Actually, he needed a lot more things if they were going to remodel the ship. Most likely, they would need to stay at an island for more than a week or so, if they needed the entire ship remodeled. Of course, he alone wouldn’t be able to do all the work, he’d still need a hand in doing so.

”What is our next destination? The ship has been sailing aimlessly as you recovered, now that you have, we need to know where we’re headed. I think we should stock up properly before we set out for a longer journey, I’m not sure the stock we have right now would suffice”, he voiced his concerns as he stared at Leonard’s face.

[Blushing z0ro]

Blankly staring at the sky Leonard was still breathing heavily, his body shivering from the cold water. "A lab?" The captain pondered the suggestion for a moment. "Sure. Go nuts." He answered nonchalantly. If Hikaru having a lab could help the crew in their adventure there was no reason to refuse. "Just try not to blow up the ship with some sort of crazy experiment." Explosion on ships while at sea were never a good thing, even if the water wasn't as cold the one in North Blue.

With a strained grunt Leo lifted himself back up on his feet, as Hikaru inquired about the merry group's destination. "I'm not really sure to be honest. Brandon started pointing in some directions so I made that our heading. The little guy seems to have a better sense of where we're going than I do." He said raising his shoulders, seemingly not realizing, or caring, about the fact he left the navigation of the ship to a penguin. "Hey, if it's Brandon guiding us we're at least pretty sure that we'll head for fish if not for land." The captain added jokingly. Knowing that statement would make anyone a bit disturbed, if not downright questioning Le Clerc's sanity, he felt compelled to clarify things. "I do know our general heading. If we hit land within the next few days I'll know Brandon can actually guide us. If not I'll adjust our course. It's not like we lack provisions on board." Casually adding with a cool smile.

Thinking of provisions made Leo thought of food, and then of his stomach. "I could really use some hot food right about now. There should be some leftovers in the back of the kitchen. I'm sure Kusatta won't mind if get something small...-ish." The look on his may have a betrayed a certain lack of confidence in that statement, as the Shining Pirate's Dino-Chef could be a tad overprotective of his kitchen and food stores.

Starting to walk towards the kitchen, Leonard grabbed his blade he had put away and started to make his way across the deck, the wooden boards creaking under his heavy footsteps, cold sea water dropping off of him, each leaving a tiny wet spot on the wood upon impact with the deck. Stopping in his tracks the pirate captain seemed to look onto the horizon, deep thoughts going through his mind, a great sense of purpose in his eyes, and then; ...he sneezed. The explosion of air coming out of his nose and mouth creating a loud sound while projecting out irritating particles from the young man's respiratory system. "I hope I didn't catch a cold." Turning towards Hikaru again. "Hurry up inside or you'll get sick." He said a large line of snot  hanging off his nostril. This maybe wasn't the sight of a great captain in the making and even less that of one of the most wanted man in the North Blue, but it'll have to do for the time being.