Between A Rock And a Hard Place

[SnowDog]

The view from his raft wasn’t exactly what many would consider to be the best, but from what the blue haired half-blood could see, it was good enough as gold for him; Land! It had been only a couple of days worth of sailing since he had left his home, and without much direction it was hard to tell where exactly he had even ended up at. Paddling closer towards the distant shore, Goji spotted another boat sailing by to his left- err his port that was! That was it, yeah. The larger ship was near galleon sized and compared to his tiny raft it was like placing a Chihuahua next to a St. Bernard. Goji looked up to marvel at the vessel and managed to lock eyes with some of the passerby’s, their regal attire offputting compared to the old clothes Goji had managed to throw together before leaving. He smiled wide and gave the upity citizens a friendly wave only to be met with cold glances down their noses, refusing to properly acknowledge a denizen of the lower class.

As he approached shore, the monkey boi waited until the raft completely wedged itself into the sandbar far enough island that he didn’t have to wade through the water to properly beach it. Setting foot on the beach, Goji let out a massive yawn and stretched out his upper body, a massive relief rushing through him as he finally managed to get a chance to move around a bit.

“Land ho!” He cheered with his owns held out wide, “Hehehe! Wonder if this place has anywhere good to eat at.” He glances around the beach unbeknownst to him that this island along the archipelago was one of the lesser inhabited ones. He began to walk along the edge of the beach scanning the tree line looking for anything that remotely looked like civilization. There wasn’t much that he could see but a strange obelisk ahead stood out to him, in fact it looked like there were two! The half blooded, wannabe pirate approached the two statues before him. He pressed his hand against the first one to his left and marveled at the cold feel of this slab of stone before him. Turning to his right he tried to feel the more clay looking statue only to be greeted by a warmer sensation in his hands. This was some weird clay he began to think as he pressed idly at it. It wasn’t leaving an imprint or anything on it! For a moment it almost felt like skin!

“So weird...”

[SnowDog]

Goji paused his prodding for a moment when a booming voice echoed out above him. He gazed up slowly to lock eyes with the individual he was unknowingly poking against, conforming that the skin-like feeling of what he interpreted to be clay was in fact, actually skin! Only it began to make Goji wonder with even more questions because he had never seen a man, let alone any other person stand as tall as this guy here! He was ginormous!

“WHOA! Sorry, didn’t know you were- well you!” The half-blood exclaimed, jumping back a quick step, astonished by the size of the individual before him. He took a moment to let the giant man’s words sink in. A marine? Goji didn’t think himself to look like a marine which only set to confuse him for a moment. His precious conversations with Mister Mars began to reflect in the back of his mind, he knew he had to not reveal everything all at once.

“Me? No no, I’m not a marine at all! Came here on my own accord!” He puffed out his chest and immediately shifted into his hybrid form, standing far taller now in his half gorilla form he stared back at the giant with a furrowed yet inquisitive brow. “Why, are you some kind of marine?!”

[SnowDog]

Goji recoiled slightly as the giant pushed him a bit back a bit with his large index finger. Man those giant muscles just weren’t for show, he was packing some serious power there! He straightened himself back out and once again puffed out his chest, utilizing the massive bulk of his zoan’s hybrid form to appear larger.

“Hans? Gifted Hands?” He responded quizzically rubbing at his chin, “Nope! Can’t say I’ve heard of ya! But glad to know you’re not a marine yourself!” The half blood returned to his more “human” form and extended his hand out for a proper introduction. “My name’s Goji! I’m from a couple islands over actually and sailed here looking to form up my crew. I’m gonna be a pirate you see!” He smiled at Hans truthfully and happy feeling the relief that the giant man wasn’t gonna try and arrest him of the spot. “Oh and sorry about before! When I rowed up on your island here I guess I mistook you for a statue or something!”

Placing his hands on his hips, the simian boy glanced around to examine Hans’s home island a bit more. “Nice place you got here. Anyone else around or do you live here all on your own?”

[SnowDog]

Goji felt the ground better his feet begin to rumble slightly before he was propelled upwards rapidly. Glee etched across his face completely washing over the briefest moment of surprise he had felt. Once the pillar had halted, Goji took a seat with his legs dangling over the edge while Hans finished describing the nearby area.

"Whoa! You're trying to be a pirate too?!" The half-blood inquired, his ears having perked a bit when the giant made mention of also being a captain. Well, crews can't have two captains so Goji held back his sales pitch to Hans. "When you say soon, does that mean you already have a crew? *GASP!* Do you have a ship?!"

[SnowDog]

Goji was rather surprised Hans here didn't have himself a ship or crew despite proclaiming to be a pirate captain. Well, Goji didn't have either as well, but he at least procured a dingy and left home to make his mark on the world. Despite the lack of a ship, what was keeping him here? Why not try and build a raft and just... leave?

While he was listening to Hans talk, the half-blood couldn't even tell that the giant sculptor had been chipping away at the marble he was currently sitting on top of. After a boisterous laugh, Hans then commented on how the piece looked with piqued Goji's curiosity. Goji quickly shifted into his full gorilla form in order to utilize the increased muscle mass it provided, allowing himself to propel from the statue with greater ease rather than just simply leaping down. While in midair, Goji shifted back to his human form before landing on Han's shoulder. Once he gathered his footing, he spun around to marvel at Han's handiwork.

"WHOOOAAAAAH! Is that ME?!" He enthusiastically inquired, gawking at the (quite literal) chiseled features on the stone before him. "Now I see why they say you've got gifted hands, this is incredible!" Goji had a hard time looking away from the statue, there was a weird feeling of pride building in his chest as he stared at the heroic pose before him. "You're a terrific artist, Hans. Why not build yourself a ship and go show other people your hard work?"