Gate of Paradise [Lloyd & Kayla]

[Sam]

Sneaking on board an unsuspecting pirate crew’s ship was easier than he’d thought. Lloyd disliked stowing away, it made him feel like a rat, a creature that wasn’t noble or impressive. A creature with an awful connotation that everyone hated. It was a downgrade from the creature he himself was often compared to. A weasel. Between the barrels in the lower levels of the ship took the young man back to his upbringing. Back when he had to live in abandoned fox dens for years to survive his frigid homeland. Back when he had to scavenge from villagers to eat. A frown spread across his lips. At least the weather here was temperate and soon he’d leave all of this behind. This was a farewell to the East Blue, his birthplace, a place that had become more problematic than it was worth.

Feeling his legs getting stiff from crouching the eight-foot man stood up and sneakily slinked through the lower levels of the ship. After all, he wanted to see Reverse Mountain with his very eyes. To see the Red Line, a place he’d always heard legends of but never seen with his very eyes. Putting on his hat tightly he snuck onto the deck seemingly just in time as the Captain was gathering everyone around herself and conveniently all members of the crew were dapper gentlemen equally as well dressed as Lloyd.

“Ohohoho!”

The Captain laughed, a hand curled to her mouth as she pulled out a Bounty Poster to present it to her crew. The massive mountains of the Red Line serve as the background for her antics. Lloyd’s eyes were drawn to them. More than they were to the forty something year old woman with a laced sun hat and a victorian styled dress. It was truthfully more breathtaking than he’d expected. The sheer size of the peaks dwarfed even the largest of Sea Beasts he had witnessed in his short life.

“I have gathered you all here today gentlemen to announce that we the Picnic-Time Pirates will be heading to the Grand Line! I have had my debut! With my 18 million beri bounty in the East Blue already and have simply grown bored of what this pond has to offer.”

She huffed at the last part puffing her cheeks, in seeming annoyance. The crew cheered on at the announcement. By this point Lloyd’s eyes focused on the woman and her poster. He audiably hummed to himself, ‘Picnic-Princess’ Lady Quinlin with an 18 million bounty. That was relatively impressive. Although Lloyd couldn’t remember hearing about her. That was the problem with rookies like this. They didn’t last long enough to leave an impression. They either got captured by Marines soon after or left for the Grand Line.

“Anywho! Let's get ready! Everyone to their positions!”

Immediately the crew scrambled about to get the mast and sails at the ready as they headed straight toward a mountain of rushing water. Lloyd pretended to be doing something as the crew absentmindedly went about their tasks. It seemed no one had even noticed his presence. At least not yet… though Lloyd wasn’t looking to wait for that to happen. As soon as they’d rise through Reverse Mountain he’d go back into hiding.

Only a few moments later and the small caravel was making its way up the stream. Most of the crew was ready at this point. Everyone either in position or bracing themselves for the ride of their lives. Chilling air began to blow on them as the ship slurped up stream like a straw. Its deck began to rock violently as its sides crashed against the walls of red rocks that enveloped them. Tension was high, Lloyd himself was feeling mildly nervous despite not showing it. Then it happened, they hit their peak… the bright sun shined on them nearly blinding their vision… and then…

FWOOOOOOOOOSH

The climax of their rise! They fell down the stream! The ship shook more than ever! Lloyd held on for his dear life! His gut felt a sudden surge as adrenaline coursed through his very veins and he was certain every soul on board felt the same. It was similar to those log rides you could find in carnivals… but… much more intense than that even. They weren’t even at the best part yet…

SPLASH!!!

There it was… the ship crashed into the waves with a resounding splash. There they were… in the Grand Line… Paradise as it were. Around them were twin capes with a lighthouse on one side… and seemingly nothing but tranquil seas for miles

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Lloyd | Mint #aef395 | (Post Count: 1)

[Slueshy]

The ship came over the way most of them do.  Once she'd seen one of them, she'd seen all of them.  There were only really two things that happened to them anyway, either they cleared it, or the ship fell to pieces with little fanfare.  This ship in particular was one of the former, coming to rest in the new waters.  That's when she decided to drop in.  Kayla had been in the area for some time now, having hopped across several boats, getting closer and closer to reverse mountain until she'd finally just come to the mountain itself, she didn't ever hear much about the mountain, no one really stayed there it seemed.  Which was fair because it was ultimately quite boring, though it also made sense, pirates tended to frequent this spot a lot so who would really want to stick around?

That was the entire thought process as to why Kayla was currently landing on the mast of the ship that had just come through, as a Luna Moth she wasn't the most unnoticeable bug, but coming in while everyone was occupied, landing up on a high out of sight spot where no one would pay much attention to her, and even if they did see her most people just assumed they had picked up a stray bug on whatever island they'd been to.  It was a bonus that most people found her bug self to be somewhat lovely to look at, with her pale green wings, most were happy to just let her be, only a few people had ever attempted to kill her, and she usually avoided them with ease.  After all, no one expected a random bug to be actively dodging them with genuine skill as opposed to just barely missing her through random shifts of the air around the apparatus they were using to kill her.  

Though her choice to venture further into the Grand Line was laced with caution, ultimately she wasn't even all that interested in going there and it just happened to be how she felt in the moment, having just fluttered her way here without any real rhyme or reason, more than likely she'd find a ship heading out of this place at some point, almost assuredly a navy vessel, she'd seem them cross the calm belt and had considered hitching a ride on them, the fact that she'd be stuck on the ship until they left the calm belt, with no real way of leaving herself, and that they'd be going into the grand line, well that was all a bit too much to consider.  Catching a ride out of the Grand Line boded more favorably to her.  

Normally she didn't pay much attention to the crew of the ship she placed herself on unless they were actively noticing her, though the sounds she were hearing from this ship as she came in made it seem like quite a lively vessel to be sure.  Kayla had known it was a pirate vessel given the flag, but pirates didn't bother her much.  She usually preferred their ships, Navy vessels were often cleaned by the crew, usually just to keep them busy, which made her more likely to be noticed by them.  Pirates almost never even noticed her, let alone cared when they did.