
Chapter 21: A Town That Welcomes Pirates? Setting Foot On Whiskey Peak!
Recap:
"Yes, since we don't have our weapons anymore, we'll go back to our office and start all over." Miss Wednesday says. "Yes we shall then!" Mr. 9 replies. Miss Wednesday looks over to you, watching you giggle as you hugged the large whale. She smirks, already cooking up a plan inside her head.
"And, ask for permission, to engage in Operation: Kidnap Water Bearer Y/n!" she declares. Mr. 9 starts frantically digging in the pockets of his jacket, looking for something. He starts to panic, as he can't seem to find it. Miss Wednesday notices. "What's the matter?"
Mr. 9 starts to cry comical tears, smiling nervously. "It's gone........." he cries. "What?!"
On the deck, Mist notices a strange compass, that was sphere shaped, with a purple band around it. He frowns, and goes to look at it. "Is this what they call a 'Log pose'?" he mutters. Luffy walks onto the deck, with you behind him. The two of you look in surprise, seeing the little trinket. Meanwhile, Usopp has finished reattaching the mast to the ship, with Zoro sleeping next to him. Sanji was going to cook the large Elephant Bluefin Tuna he won.
"Hm? What's that?" he says, pointing to it. You are about to ask the same thing, when you hear Nami let out a loud scream. You and Luffy turn in her direction. Laboon gets a little frightened as he dives underwater. "What's going on? Quiet down." he whines.
Sanji pops up to where Nami is by the light house, carrying four large plates with different dishes made with the Elephant Bluefin Tuna. He danced around with hearts in his eyes and two plates in his hands and one on his head, followed by one balance on his leg.
"What's wrong Nami-swaaaan~? If it's food you're worried about, it's ready!~" he says happily.
Usopp climbs the ladder up to where Nami and Sanji were now, followed by you and Luffy. "Th-the compass is broken! It doesn't point in any direction!" she screams. The five of you look over at the compass, seeing the needle was just spinning nonstop in all directions.
"It's spinning!" Usopp says in shock. You tilt your head in confusion. "Why's it doing that?" Luffy's mouth makes an 'O' shape. "Whoa, that's cool!"
"Looks like you guys came here with no knowledge. For heaven's sake, did you come here to die?" Crocus groans. Nami turns to him, confused. "What?"
Luffy notices the food that Sanji had brought up to the table by the lighthouse. "Ooh! Food!" Sanji sighs, knowing that he was gonna pester him to eat if he didn't say he could in advance. "Eat in your case!" he says, then focusing his attention on Crocus. "I thought I told you, common sense is useless in this sea. It's not that the compass is broken." he begins.
"Hm? Then could it be the magnet fields are-" Nami mutters. "That's right." he nods. "The islands in the Grand Line contain lots of magnetic materials. Because of that, they are causing abnormality throughout the Grand Line. Furthermore, the winds and the currents don't have a constancy."
Upon hearing the last part, you panic a little bit. "The currents?! Does that mean I can't control them?"
"No, you can still control them. They'll just be harder to control. I wouldn't rely on your power so much. And you," He turns to Nami. "If you're a navigator, you know how scary that is."
Nami nods in agreement. "It's true that if we don't have a way of knowing our direction, it's hopeless." You admit, you were a little panicked. The only way you were able to make it up Reverse Mountain is because you moved the ship with the currents. And that was a challenge.
Meanwhile, Luffy was munching away on the Elephant Bluefin dishes Sanji made. Your stomach growls from the amazing smell. You wanted to reach over and grab a piece, but you knew this was important. "Yummy!" Luffy yells with his mouth full.
'I better pay attention to Crocus. If I can't control the currents like I used to, I'm gonna have to start fighting using a sword or another weapon, more than the Mizu Mizu fruit.........'
"This is bad! Are we going to be okay?!" Usopp yells, holding his head worriedly. "This isn't bad! It's yummy!" Luffy yells randomly. "Don't eat it all......." you mutter in his direction. "Will you guys all be quiet?!" Nami snaps, fed up with the extra noise.
"The nose of the Elephant Bluefin Tuna tastes good!"
"You need a log pose to travel around the Grand Line." Crocus says, ignoring Luffy. "Log pose? I've never heard of it." Nami says, tilting her head in confusion. "It's a special compass that can record magnetism."
Mist's eyes widen. He pops up from underwater, holding the trinket and you use the water around him to raise him up at level with Crocus. "Is it sphere shaped? Like this?" Crocus nods.
Crocus nods. "That's it. Without the log pose, it's impossible to travel in the Grand Line." Nami looks at the log pose, then smiles kindly to Crocus. "I see......But hold on a second." Nami turns to Mist, "How did you find it?" she asks. Mist shrugs, letting Nami take it from his snout. "Maybe those weirdos dropped it?"
"So this is the log pose. There's no dial face." she observes. "It's known that the magnetism of islands in the Grand Line follow a certain rule. That is, by recording the magnetism of the two islands pulling against each other, you can find the route to the next island. Since you can't even figure out it's location in the sea the magnetism record of the log pose is the only thing you can depend on." Crocus explains.
"There are seven routes coming from Reverse Mountain, right?"
Everyone turns to Mist, who was still next to you. "How do you know that Mist?" you ask. "When I was travelling with my pod, I remember we would follow different pirate ships for protection. We would try to guide the ship to a more safe route, and tag along with them." he says. "You mean we can chose from the seven?" you ask, turning to Crocus.
"Yeah. You have some pretty smart animal companions you know. But yes, you're correct. It doesn't matter what route you take though, because they will eventually come together, leading to one island, Raftel. It is the last point on the Grand Line, confirmed by the King of Pirates himself." he answers.
"Raftel......." you mutter. "Then, is the One Piece there?!" Usopp says, somewhat excited. "Who knows?" he shrugs. "That's the theory, but no one has been able to reach there." "We'll know once we get there. Well, now that I'm done eating, shall we get ready?" Luffy says.
You go to grab a piece of the food, listening to Luffy. "What do you mea- AAAAAAHHH!!!!!" until you see that every single piece of the Elephant Bluefin Tuna was gone. Not even the bones were left. You collapse on your knees, crying comical tears as your stomach's growling becomes louder.
"I wanted some too.........." you sob. Sanji looks down at the plates panicked. "Did you eat all of this by yourself?!?!?"
"Even the bones are gone!" Usopp says, showing off the empty plate. Nami scowls and ignores the small fight going on. "Log pose, huh? We're gonna have to take good care of this."
Nami had the log pose on her left wrist. "This is key for our journey." Meanwhile Sanji is pissed at Luffy. "You damn rubber man! I wanted Nami-swan and Y/n-chan to......to EAT MORE!!!"
Sanji kicks Luffy in the gut. Luffy goes flying, whizzing right past Nami. Except, as he goes by, the log pose shatters, just leaving the band strapped to Nami's wrist. Luffy bounces a few times on the ground, before getting up. Sanji comes over to Luffy, ready to beat him up.
Nami has a lifeless smile on her face, her eyes went completely dead. You gulp, backing away from Luffy and Sanji. "Wait for it....." you shakily whisper.
"Sanji-kun.....Luffy..."
The two turn in surprise. "BOTH OF YOU GO COOL YOUR HEADS OFF!!!"You watch as Luffy and Sanji go flying. If his was any other time, you would've already helped them, but Nami was pretty pissed.
Laboon surfaces and plops Sanji and Luffy down back on to the ship. You also notice Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 with them. "What're these two weirdos doing here?" you say.
"We......have a favor to ask." Mr. 9 begins. The two get on their hands and knees in front of you, begging and pleading.
"Oh great Water Bearer! Please take us to Whiskey Peak!!" they say in unison. You sweatdrop, staring at them. They were actually bowing to you. "Ummm, first of all, I'm not the captain of the ship. Second, that is a weird name. I've never heard of it." you chuckle nervously, looking to Nami for help.
"It's where we live......... ma'am." Mr. 9 says. Seeing your silent plea for help, Nami couldn't help but smirk. "What happened to your own ship?"
"It's busted." Miss Wednesday admits sadly. Nami loves seeing she has the upper hand. She kneels down next to the two. "Isn't it too much to ask, Mr. 9, after trying to kill Laboon?"
Usopp tilts his head at the two. "So, what are you guys?" Mr. 9 gestures to his crown. "I'm a king." he lies. Nami smacks him on the head, followed by tugging hard on his cheek. "Liar."
Miss Wednesday looks down. "We can't say!" "But we want to go back to the town!" Mr. 9 adds. 'These guys sound pretty shady.......' you think to yourself. "We just can't tell you anything about us!"
"You've just made yourselves even more shady!" you argue. Miss Wednesday claps her hands together, begging. Again. "Please, we're begging you! We will definitely return the favor!" Crocus looks down at them, arms crossed. "Don't do it. No matter what they say, they're dishonest people." Nami chuckles nervously. "By the way, we don't have a log pose, we broke it. Do you still wanna ride with us?" she shows off the broken log pose.
Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday immediately shoot up, pissed. "What?! You broke it?! That's mine y'know!!" Mr. 9 yells. "How dare you act stuck up just because we're humble! You can't even go anywhere yourselves!" Miss Wednesday snaps.
"Come to think of it, we do have that log pose from Crocus-san." Nami winks.Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday snake back down to their knees, now at your mercy again. Nami sticks out their tongues playfully.
"We beg you people of such character.........." they mutter. 'I wonder what Luffy thinks about the whole situation.....Should I ask-'
"You can ride with us." Luffy says, interrupting your thoughts. You sweatdrop. 'Never mind......'
"What?" The two of them sit up, staring at Luffy in shock. "Did you say Whiskey Peak? Let's go there." "WHAT?!?" Usopp screams. "Are you serious?! We're troubling ourselves to take these shady people?!" Usopp protests. "What's the problem? Don't worry about small things." Luffy replies.
"But you can only chose your route, here, your starting point." Crocus reminds him. "If we don't like it, we can go around one more time," Luffy says. You facepalm. "It's not that easy......" you mutter. "Now, let's get going."
Luffy walks over to Laboon. "I've made a promise with the whale. Let's get ready to set sail." He stretches his arms a bit. Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 stare in awe. "Just who are you?" Miss Wednesday asks. "Me?" Luffy asks, turning around to face them. "The man who'll be King of Pirates." he says.
The two weirdos look at each other, then put their right hand up to their face, with their fingers making a fist, but their pinky sticking out. 'What a stupid pirate......' they think to themselves. Mist eyes the two, suspicious.
Soon enough, the sun was setting. Everyone was on the Going Merry, saying their last farewells to Crocus and Laboon. "The log must've been stored by now. You should be okay." Crocus says. "Is it pointing in the same direction as the map?"
Nami nods. She had changed her shirt to a light pink and black tank top, that had the word "MODE" written on it. She also had the log pose from Crocus on her right wrist. "Yep. It's pointing at Whiskey Peak." she says. Luffy waves to Crocus. "See ya flower pops!" You wave to him as well. "Thank you for the log pose!"
He chuckles, waving back. "Have a safe trip." he says. Luffy looks up at Laboon, who looks sad to see them go. "Well, I'm off now whale." You look at Laboon, smiling at the proud Straw Hat jolly roger that was painted on him. "Full speed ahead!" you shout. "To Whiskey Peak!" Luffy finishes. And so, the Going Merry sails away.
The following day, you were pretty excited. It had started snowing outside. And now, here you were, outside, wearing a thin, but very warm Luffy and you were making a snow man. Finally you put a thick stick on his face for the nose.
"Alright! It's done!" you declare. "Ooh! This is the man that fell from the sky, Mr. Snow Barrel!" Luffy was referring to the barrel on his head. You notice that Luffy was wearing his normal red vest and shorts. You are about to say something, but your attention is drawn to Usopp's sculpture.
"Look at my soulful artwork! I call it; the Snow Queen!" The sculpture had a woman made of snow sitting on a chair, and Usopp was right, it was beautiful. "Wow! That's amazing Usopp!" Luffy and you scream in unison. "Okay then, Snow Barrel Punch!"
Luffy punches the stick for Mr. Snow Barrel's hand. It goes flying into Usopp's Snow Queen's head, so the figure becomes headless. It takes Usopp a few moments to register it, before he gets mad and kicks Mr. Snow Barrel's head off. "What the hell are you doing?!" Usopp yells. "AAHH!! MR. SNOW BARREL!" the two of you scream.
It turns into an all out war. Luffy and you start gathering snow balls, firing them at Usopp. But then he creates a large snow ball trying to crush you with it. Then Luffy picks it up, threatening to crush Usopp with it. Finally, you've had enough. You lift the water from the sea, concentrating so that it's boiling, and throw it on the two. They scream from the scalding water, but it melts the snow, which was your goal. "Y/N! THAT BURNS!!!" Luffy screams, running around in circles.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?!" Usopp yells, jumping in the snow to cool his skin off. You tilt your head. "Oh, was that too hot?" you say, giggling.
Meanwhile, Sanji was on the deck shoveling snow. He has hearts in his eyes as he calls to Nami. "Nami-swan! How much snow shoveling of love would you like me to do?" Sanji also had a black winter coat on, and Nami was inside the cabin, wearing a green winter coat, along with a yellow and red plaid scarf, and red earmuffs. "Until it stops snowing Sanji-kun!" she calls back. Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday were inside the cabin, sitting at the table, each have a thin red blanket.
"Doesn't this ship have a heater?" Mr. 9 whines. "I'm cold." Miss Wednesday snaps.
"You aren't guests!" she yells. "Go shovel some snow!" Nami yells.
Suddenly there is a flash of lightning. "Lightning?! What's going on with this weather?!" Nami looks out the window in surprise. "It was just sunny a few days ago. Now there's snow and lightning. The seasons, as well as the weather are random. Just like Crocus said."
Mr. 9 smirks. "The Grand Line is like this." "You really came here with no knowledge. You know, it's been a while since you were steering. Is that alright?" Miss Wednesday asks with a smug look on her face.
Meanwhile, Luffy had wrapped one of his arms around your waist, and the other had your hands above your head to prevent you from escaping from your fate. "No! Let go Luffy!" you struggle against his grip. Usopp shook his head. "Hold her there Luffy!" he winds his arm back to throw a snow ball at you. But before he can, a loud scream is heard. Nami. "What's the matter Nami?!" Luffy yells. Nami runs out onto the deck. "Turn the ship 180 degrees! Hurry!"
"What?! Why are we going back Nami?!" You ask in confusion. "The ship has turned around and is going in the opposite direction! I looked away from the log pose for one second....... The waves were calm earlier too......." Miss Wednesday giggles, amused. "Are you really a navigator?"
Nami bares her teeth at her. "In this sea, you can't trust the winds, sky, waves, clouds, anything. The only thing that doesn't change is the direction of that log pose. You understand?" Before any more could be said, Nami kicks them out the cabin. "Shut up! Don't tell me what to do in those cozy blankets and go help!"
"Wow, this sea is fascinating....." you mutter. Nami runs out to the deck again. "Brace the yard! Sanji-kun! Take the helm!" Nami starts yelling around orders, as everyone is lively running around the ship. "I'm counting on you guys!" she yells to Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9.
"Nami!" you yell. "The wind changed!"
"No way!" she gasps as the wind becomes stronger. "It's the first spring gale!" Miss Wednesday says. Meanwhile, Zoro was peacefully sleeping on the deck, with a bit of snow on his arms and head. "Don't just sleep there!" Usopp yells at Zoro. It was then you realized Luffy was still holding onto you.
You wriggle out of his grip, and rush over to the deck. "Mist!" You yell. "See if Whiskey Peak is ahead!" Mist pops his head up and nods. "Leave it to me!" You throw off your winter coat, "Nami! What should I do?!"
"Try to control the currents so the ship doesn't lose course!" Miss Wednesday laughs. "You can't do that!" You glare at her. "Watch me." You hold your arms out, feeling for the currents. It felt like chains latched onto your arms, and you were forced to sway them. That was what it was like controlling the currents.
Suddenly it gets foggy. "Nami-swan! It's now foggy!" Sanji yells in a panic. "What's with this sea?!" Nami screams. Usopp notices an iceberg ahead. "We're gonna crash! Y/n! Turn the ship! Hurry!" Usopp screams. The waves start to pick up, making it harder for you to control.
"Come on....Come on!" You jerk your arms to the left, as the ship successfully dodges the iceberg, narrowly missing it. You sigh with relief. Nami comes down and hugs you tightly. "Oh Y/n!!! Thank god!!!" Usopp gets on his knees, bowing. "Hail Water Bearer!" he yells. You sweat drop.
"Umm, thanks?" Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 watch in shock. "So that's why Mr. 0 wants her......" they whisper.
The winds start to pick up again, and this time it's way stronger. Luffy has to pull down on his hat just to keep it from flying away. "Furl the sails! The wind's too strong!" Nami yells. She tries to furl the sails, but there's a loud ripping sound as it starts to break.
"Crap! The sail's going to be torn!" Usopp yells. "Forget about things up here! Water's leaking at the bottom of the ship!" Miss Wednesday yells. In a scramble Usopp heads down there to fix it. You focus on trying to calm the waves so the ship isn't overturned. Nami, and Sanji frantically try to furl the sails.
The next day, Zoro woke up, yawning and stretching his arms a bit. The weather was nice out. "That felt good..." he mutters. He gets up, walking around the deck. He finds you, Usopp, Sanji, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday laying on the deck.
"Hey guys. No matter how nice the weather is, you shouldn't be so lazy." Behind him, Nami was hanging off the railing."We'd better be on the right track." he says. 'Why you.......' The straw hat members growl mentally. It's then Zoro realizes the two weirdos. "Hey, why're you guys on this ship?"
"You're slow!" Mr. 9 yells. "We're going to their town right now. It's called Whiskey Peak." Luffy says. He was the only one on the ship besides Zoro still standing of course.
"You mean we're taking them back? We don't owe them anything." Luffy claps his sandals together. "Right, we don't." Zoro looks down at the two. "Well, not like it matters to me." Zoro kneels down, glaring at the two. "Your faces say you're thinking bad thoughts. What were your names again?" the two reel back, as they were sweating nervously. Zoro was pretty intimidating. "I-I'm Mr. 9" he stutters. "I'm Miss Wednesday." Zoro smirks. "Right......Something has been bothering me since I first heard your names....... I feel like I've heard them somewhere......"
Zoro is going to interrogate them more, until Nami smacks him on the back of his head. Her whole body seems to surge with a new anger, as she is surrounded by a red aura. "How dare you sleep comfortably all this time...... You kept sleeping no matter how many times we tried to wake you up....." Zoro had his own little aura, as he turned to Nami. "Huh?" he growled.
There were a few 'bang!' sounds, and when it was over, Zoro was clutching his head in pain, that had three large lumps now. "Don't let your guard down everyone! We don't know what else might happen!" Nami yells. "I was finally able to realize the danger of this sea. I was able to understand the reason it's called the Grand Line. There's no doubt about it, since my navigation skills don't work at all." She declares proudly. "So blunt......" Usopp mutters.
Nami smiles, "We'll be fine!" she says. "Things'll work out for sure! In fact.....Look! Our first journey is over!" Everyone gathers over to see Nami pointing at a strange island, that looks like it has hills of large cactus plants. "It's an island!" Luffy exclaims. "So this is Whiskey Peak.." Sanji says.
You squint your eyes at its' weird shape. "It sure looks funky......" you giggle. Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday crouch onto the railing. "Well, then, we'll be leaving now." Mr. 9 says. "Thank you for taking us home, honeys!" Miss Wednesday says. "Bye baby!" they say in unison as they jump off the railing.
You watch as they swim to the island. "Oh, if they're gonna swim......" you push the water behind them, surging them forward to the island. Their screams are muffled as they hit the sand.
"You jerk!" Mr. 9 screams. "Sorry!" you wave back to them. "Who on earth were they?" Usopp asks.
"Who cares?! We're landing!" Luffy says. The Going Merry heads for a small river they could park next to.
"W-What if they're monsters or something?!" Usopp says shakily. "Could be. After all, this is the Grand Line," Sanji says calmly. "We can just leave the island if there are monsters!" Luffy says.
Nami shake her head. "We can't. The magnetism of this island needs to store in the log pose. We can't go to the next island without it. Meaning, some islands could take a few hours, while others can take a few days."
Usopp's eyes widen. "T-T-Then if there is a monster we want to escape from right away, it's possible we have to stay here for days until the log is stored?!"
"That's right." Luffy smiles. "Well, we can figure it out when it happens. Let's go already!" Zoro walks over. "Luffy's right. Let's go."
"I'll protect Nami-swan and Y/n-chan no matter what happens." Sanji says.
Usopp holds his throat, using a scratchy voice. "H-hey wait a sec everyone.... My chronic illness disease is......My "do not go to the island" disease is-"
"Hey, Y/n." you look back and see it's Mist. You walk over to the dolphin. "Yeah?"
"I'm heading out now." he smiles sadly. "It was good to see you though..." you let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, don't worry. I won't ask you to come back here again." you give the dolphin a small pat on the head. "Don't worry about me. I have these guys" you say, gesturing to the crew.
Mist nods. "Yeah.....Make sure to tell them everything." You bit your lip slightly at this, knowing it was bound to be brought up at some point. "When...the time is right." you say, and with that Mist departs, as you wave goodbye to your underwater companion, before joining the rest of the crew.
The deeper the Going Merry goes into the island, it starts to get foggy. You can barely see the silhouettes of people. "People are up ahead!" you tell Nami. "Everyone, be prepared." she says quietly.
Usopp pulls out his green sling shot, and puts on his goggles from Rogue Town. Zoro has his hands at his katanas. You pull out your dagger, having it at your side and ready. But when you reach past the fog, you hear the sound of:
"Cheering?" You say in confusion. All of the people of the island are gathered, waving at the ship and cheering. "Welcome to the Grand Line!" one man shouts. "Welcome to our town, Whiskey Peak!" Usopp looks in confusion.
"We're being, welcomed?"
To Be Continued...............
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