"Captain, our food supplies are running low.", Jack, the young cook, reported to it's captain.
The Heart Pirates hadn't gotten to the next island for a few weeks now. Law had noticed the medical supplies running low and his mechanics reported a shortage of replacement parts. Now their food was running low as well. "How long will it last?", he asked the cook. "Continuing with meals being the standard size, I'd say about a week. Two weeks if we start rationing it.", he said after thinking about it briefly.
Despite his young age, the cook had a lot of experience traveling around. Caring for himself all that time, he had become quite good at cooking. Getting used to cooking for so many people took some time, but being on the submarine for two years now, assessing how long the supplies would last, was an easy task.
"We won't need to ration then.", the captain said, a hint of relief entering his voice. Both knew, with rationed food, the crew's strength and moral would lack.
Finished with the report, Jack made it's way back to the kitchen, preparing dinner.
Law leaned into his chair, sighing a sigh of relief, after Jack closed the door behind him. He had feared the food supplies to run low sooner. Leaving the medical book he was reading on his desk, he stood up and made his way to the bridge. Bepo and Jean Bart were inside, navigating the submarine. "How long until we reach clover island?", he asked. His calculation, based on Bepo's last report, concluded they would reach the island in about three days. Having reassured the cook, he needed to update his information.
Bepo reaffirmed the captain's calculation. Upon hearing that, Law took the receiver of the radio and spoke to the crew: "We'll arrive at clover island in three days. Make your preparations. Don't forget to make a list of things we need to resupply on."
"Anything else noteworthy?", Jean Bart and Bepo shook their heads in response. With no further need to stay here, Law went out the bridge again. He'd already started making a list of medicine they needed to get, but was interrupted by another of his head mechanic's stupid ideas going wrong.
Penguin had made a list with replacement parts running low in advance as well. Searching through the room he shared with Shachi, he just couldn't find it. "Where the hell did I put it?", he feared having to do everything all over again, as Shachi came inside. "What are you looking for?", he asked.
"The list I made.", without looking at him, he wouldn't let Shachi interrupt his search. "What list?", his friend asked in a confused tone. Upon hearing this, Penguin looked up with a look on his face that said "You serious?"
"Didn't you hear the captain's order over the radio? I made a list in advance. I just don't remember where I put it.", he explained. "Oh...", Shachi gave quietly, making Penguin suspicious. "What did you do?", he asked, expecting nothig good.
"I think I dropped that list.", he said, not wanting to reveal the whole story.
"So where is it? Where did you drop it?", Penguin pressed the matter. Making that list was quite the effort, as the replacement parts where stored in different parts of the submarine. One'd need to walk around the whole ship to get an overview of everything.
"In the ocean.", Shachi finally answered. "What?", confused, Penguin gave his friend a look to continue. They had not surfaced since he wrote that list, so how did he drop it into the ocean? Unless...
"I dropped it into the toilet.", he admitted. Penguin did not try to contain his anger. He didn't even want to know how that happened.
"Idiot!", he gave Shachi a slap on the head, "Now we need to start from the beginning!"
"We? It was your task since you lost rock, paper, scissors! I'm not doing it.", Shachi claimed. But Penguin would not do everything himself again after Shachi was the one to throw away his work. They continued arguing while Penguing pulled Shachi with him to start anew.
Law had noticed the crew becoming livlier with the next island in sight. He welcomed the changing atmosphere. About a week ago, the atmosphere became a little gloomy with nothing but the ocean in sight. Slowly but surely, it had taken it's toll on him too. He couldn't just ignore the mood of his crew after all. But now, they finally got to see something new again.
Assembling the crew on the mess deck, he split them up in groups. While he considered their preferences to buy or steal things, he did not care which of the two options his crew chose. As long as they were able to resupply everything they needed, they were free to do what they liked. The only policy he had was to not kill or injure the citizens unnecessarily, as that would only put them in the spotlight.
He himself went with Bepo to collect the medical supplies and look for any new books he was interested in. Like he always did. Upon stepping out of the submarine, he took in the view unfolding itself in front of him. The island was actually four islands connected in the middle. Just like a four-leaf clover. That much he knew from the map. Now he could see a rather big city surrounded by a thick forest. Another thing he remembered, was that the people born on this island were said to be very lucky. Knowing they'd find everything they needed, he was aware of any marines that might guard the city.
"Captain, do you think there might be a female bear on this island?", Bepo's usual question cut through Law's thoughts.
"The city is quite big and the forest thick. Why not?", he answered truthfully. His first mate was one of the few individuals he tried being honest with.
Mary crawled around the harbor. Her father was supposed to watch her, but he was buisy sorting the fishes he had caught. Since she was bored, Mary went off in search for a new adventure for the day. A big yellow metal fish caught her ever so curious eye. With everyone at the harbor being busy with their own problems and duties, the little toddler went to the submarine unnoticed. Standing a little unsteady in front of the yellow metal ship, she fell on her behind while looking up. The big fish looked so friendly with it's smiling face, she thought. Wanting to inspect it closer, she toddled towards it, but stopped, as there was a giant cliff between her and the fish. It looked scary.
Looking for a way around the cliff, she noticed a big guy with a panda head. What a cool guy! She saw him crossing the cliff by walking across a bridge she hadn't noticed before. Toddling after him, she let out a giggle in joy of this adventure.
This bridge was harder to climb than Mary had expected. It was so steep and there were bumps on it everywhere. The railing was too high for her, so she decided to crawl. She didn't want to fall off into the scary cliff and miss this adventure. Having finally reached the top, she stood up again. The wooden ground was easier to walk on. Excitement rushed through her body, making her walk around the entrance leading inside the yellow fish. The view from above here was great!
Wearing his panda mask, Jack carried the new food supplies into the storage behind the kitchen. He coudn't see the toddler, as she was behind the entrance at the back of the upper deck.
Mary declared staying unnoticed to her mission of the day. She waited behind the entrance until Panda Guy went inside again, carrying another box. Carefully, she looked inside the big fish. What would a metal fish look like on the inside? She thought it strange that this guy walked in and out of it, but what he could do, she could do as well. She slowly toddled inside the fish. Then a scary thought struck her. What if this was the fish's mouth? Her mother had warned her of any interesting lights underwater. She said, that some fish tried attracting other fish or bad girls with that light to eat them. Was this panda guy just the light of this giant yellow fish? But it smiled so friendly. And Mary was no bad girl.
Deciding she was safe, she continued into the fish. But she heard steps from the inside. Panda Guy was returning! In a hurry, she tried hiding in a room next to her. As lucky as she was, the door stood open. But she couldn't rise her foot high enough and stumbled over the step in the doorframe. Her knees hurt badly. But Mary couldn't be found out now. She gritted her teeth, putting on a very determined expression not to cry. With wet eyes, she crawled further inside the room before Panda Guy could see her.
Mary wiped the tears out of her eyes. How long did Panda Guy need to return to the fish? As young as she was, she didn't know much about patience. To shorten her time of wait, she looked around the room. What she found were strange things stored in a shelve. There were strangely formed pipes and sharp, pointy things. Then it struck her. If she just walked through the mouth of the fish, those must be it's spare teeth! She had no idea what those pipes were, but she didn't care. Mary had the once in a lifetime chance to steel one of the fish's teeth. No, it wasn't steeling. Steeling was bad and Mary was not a bad girl. Bad girls were eaten by fishes with lamps. She'd borrow the tooth. Right, before leaving the fish, she would return it.
Slowly, very slowly, she took one spare tooth. After achieving that, she held the trophy in her small hands. The tooth was big and heavy. She had to use both hands to hold it. Mary wasn't sure wether she really wanted to take it with her anymore, as it would probably get in the way. But it took some courage to take it. No, she wouldn't just put it back again. Where was the point in taking it then in the first place? Taking the tooth with her, she walked out the door, this time paying attention to the step in the doorframe. Mary had forgotten about Panda Guy, as she continued toddling further into the fish.
Having their bags full of their purchases, some of them were stolen but who cared, Penguin and Shachi made their way back to the submarine. Knowing their captain didn't like them to bring random stuff onto the submarine, they were determined to not get talked into buying anything this time. They had found everything they needed. Looking straight ahead, as if wearing blinkers, they succesfully reached the submarine.
"We didn't bring anything strange onto the ship.", Penguin claimed proudly upon entering. Shachi agreed with the same proud expression, though he added, that none of the things they bought were really strange. Maybe the lionbear claw, that was supposed to give erotic dreams, but everything else was completely reasonable. Like the mixer they had stolen for Jack to use in the kitchen. They had hoped getting an extra portion of food for that. That this stupid thing wouldn't work properly and just splattered the food everywhere definitely wasn't their fault.
"Okay, you store the things in your bag and I store the things in my bag. Then we'll meet at the mess deck.", Shachi decided. Penguin agreed, walking off in another direction.
After they met at the mess deck, they were just about to leave as they heard a sound from the storage behind the kitchen. Hesitantly, they went to inspect.
Mary explored the insides of the fish with curiosity. She was surprised to see eveything to be so hard. She thought all fishes were all squishy inside. Accompanying her father sometimes, she had seen some already. Though she didn't like seeing their insides. It smelled bad and the squishy texture did not feel nice at all. So she was glad this fish was different. Another thing she noticed, was that this fish made very strange noises. It sounded almost like her father's ship, but unlike roaring like the ship, the fish made a purring sound. After walking around a while, her belly suddenly grumbled in hunger. Yes, she now noticed she was hungry. As luck always stayed by her side, the next room she found looked like a dining room. It was full of tables and chairs.
She couldn't see on top of the tables, though. In hopes of finding something to eat, she tried climbing a chair, but the tooth she borrowed from the fish was in the way. Leaving it on the ground, Mary finally climbed the chair, just to see the table being empty. She looked around, but there wasn't a thing on any of the tables. She thought it weird. There was always something to eat on the table at home. And there was always something interesting on the tables on her father's ship. A table was not supposed to be empty.
Disappointed, she climbed back down the chair, grabbed her trophy and made her way to the next door. She recognized it to be a place similar to the place her mom made food at home. She called it a kitchen, if Mary remembered correctly. But there didn't seem to be any food here as well. The next door was closed, but she had a feeling what she was looking for lay behind it. Mary just couldn't reach the door knob, no matter how far she stretched. That place above her, though, from there she could reach the door knob!
Thus, Mary climbed on the counter by first climbing a stool. From the counter, she opened the door and looked inside. There was a lot of food inside! She climbed down again, which was a lot harder than climbing up, and toddled inside the room full of food. Being inside, she couldn't decide what to eat. But not being able to reach everything made her decision easier. After looking through the room, she found some apples. Mary loved apples.
Noticing the door to the storage behind the kitchen being open, Penguin and Shachi hesitated to step inside. If anyone saw them, especially Jack, they were probably accused of trying to steel some food. "But we can't just ignore this.", Shachi argued. Penguin agreed, so they opened the door fully and switched on the lights.
They stood there not believing their eyes, as they saw a little girl sitting there, eating an apple. The girl froze after noticing, she had been found. Instantly, her face reddened and tears began streaming down her face.
"Why is she crying?!", Shachi asked his friend in a panic. "It's because you're looking too scary!", Penguin blamed him. They were both pirates, but never did they want to make a little girl cry. The girl sobbed hard. Penguin wanted to walk towards the girl to calm her down, but Shachi stopped him. "Be careful, she has one of our knifes.", he told him.
But Penguin was not afraid of a little girl, even if she had a knife. He approached her carefully, crouching down as he got closer. The girl continued crying, wiping her tears in vain. As Penguin sat in front of her, he tried taking the knife, but the girl grabbed it before he could reach it and held it close to her. Not really knowing what to do, he just sat there.
"I saw parents making weird faces to get their babies to stop crying!", Shachi remembered from behind Penguin. Thinking it was worth a try, he pulled a grimace. The girl actually stopped crying for a split second, but continued nevertheless. Shachi hurried to Penguin's side and supported him in making weird faces. After a few tries, the girl finally stopped crying. Her sobs now replaced by laughter. The relieved mechanics didn't stop at that with the grimcaes, as they now understood parents doing that. It was actually fun.
But now that they had made the girl stop crying, they had no idea what to do with her. "We should take her to captain.", Penguin suggested.
"Idiot, he would think we brought her with us on board.", Shachi protested.
"So we'll just tell him. We found her on board already.", but Shachi was still not convinced.
"And you think he'll believe that?"
"Then what do you suggest doing with her?", Penguin asked, realizing Shachi had a point. But his friend had no idea either. They couldn't just throw her outstide, could they?
With a resignated sigh, they decided to take her to the captain.
Mary held her tooth trophy tightly to her chest after Penguin Guy tried taking it away from her. How was she supposed to return it to the fish when she didn't have it anymore? Besides, it was her trophy. No one would just take it away from her.
After Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy stopped with their funny faces, they discussed what to do with her.
"Hey, girl, what's your name?", Penguin Guy asked. But Mary shook her head. She was taught not to talk to strangers. Especially not with suspicous men like the two sitting in front of her.
"Then, why don't you give me that knife you have?", Sunglasses Guy pointed towards the borrowed tooth. Knife? Mary shook her head again. It was her tooth. Well, it belonged to the giant fish acutally, but for the time being, it was hers.
The men discussed again what to do. This was getting boring. Mary stood up, her tooth still held tightly to her chest, and toddled towards the door. "Hey, don't just walk away on us!", Sunglasses Guy said. But Mary had to continue her adventure.
She looked behind her after she went out the door. The two men were still behind her. Mary tried walking faster, but with her little legs, she wasn't able to escape her followers. This was getting scary. Why wouldn't they leave her alone? She was trying to explore the fish unnoticed! Why wouldn't they understand this? Trying to get away from the mechanics, her legs could not keep up and Mary fell to the ground. Her knees hurt again. Why wasn't this fish squishy like every other fish as well? Falling over wouldn't hurt like that.
Penguin and Shachi hurried in front of the little girl to help her up. In a worry she might have hurt herself with the knife in her hands, they squated down, but looking up suddenly, she put on a very determined expression. They tried containing a laughter, but the girls expression was just too funny. Shachi turned around a second before Penguin did. They calmed down after a brief moment, but when they turned back around, the girl still had the same determined expression after getting up.
As they couldn't contain it any longer, the head mechanics burst out laughing. They laughed so hard, they soon lay on the ground, holding their stomachs.
Their little intruder however, took that opportunity to escape.
Not noticing her running away, Shachi and Penguin calmed down at some point. After getting up again, they now noticed the girl gone.
"Shit! Where did she go?!", the mechanics looked around. Luckily, they could see her just turning the corner further down the corridor.
"Hey, in that direction is the engine room.", Penguin noticed. In fear the girl might hurt herself or damage something, they ran after her.
Mary had just turned the corner, when she saw another open door. Upon entering the room, she noticed a strange thing inside. It seemed to be the source of all the purring sounds she had heard. She closed the distance between her and the machine. This was so interesting! Her father never allowed her to inspect the source of the roaring sounds his ship made. It's too dangerous, he said. But Mary couldn't figure out how this big metal box was supposed to be dangerous. Sure, it did look a bit scary, but it didn't move around. And unlike the ship, this thing did not roar loudly, but made more of a purring sound. Thinking about the difference, she concluded that this fish must be happy, purring like it did. Whereas her father's ship must be angry all the time, raoring like it did. She felt sad for her father's ship. Once she got back, she would make the ship purr, like the fish did.
Mary then wondered about the multitude of pipes leading towards the purring metal box, before finally figuring it out. She had found the fish's heart! Though it did seem strange to her, that it was not beating like her own heart did. But everything inside this fish was different, so she'd accept this too. Feeling like she had achieved the goal of her adventure, she was very proud of herself. She must have reached the center of this big fish.
Suddenly, she heard the two men behind her again. Why were they still following her? This was her adventure! They should look for their own, she thought. In an effort to escape Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy, Mary crawled underneath the big fish's heart. The tooth made it a bit difficult, but she couldn't leave it behind.
Penguin and Shachi entered the engine room. The girl in question turned around and after seeing them, crawled underneath the engine of the ship.
"No, don't crawl underneath that. It's dangerous.", Shachi claimed. He tried catching her foot, but her small body easily crawled forward. "Shit."
"Idiot, don't curse with a little kid around.", Penguin scolded Shachi.
"You just cursed too, idiot.", Shachi argued. They were about to get caught up in another argument, as they suddenly heard the sound of hot air escaping one of the pipes.
In surprise, they searched for the source of it. They found it behind the engine. "How did that just broke?", Penguin wondered.
Shachi facepalmed. "The girl had a knife with her. Damn it."
One of them had to crawl underneath the engine to determine which pipe was apparently cut open. But crawling underneath it was not pleasant for a grown man. It was hot and tight. Deciding the unlucky one with rock, paper, scissors, Shachi lost. He crouched down with a sigh, while Penguin looked if he could spot the little girl. He just hoped she hadn't hurt herself with the knife or the hot steam.
"Hey little girl, can you hear me? Where are you?", Penguin tried calling her. No answer.
"Did you really expect her to answer you? She wouldn't talk to us before too.", Shachi called from under the engine in an exerted voice.
"Can you see her anywhere?", he asked, ignoring the comment.
"No. I need to fix the cut before I can look for her. She cut open the pipe supplying the bath with hot heat.", Shachi claimed. Both men knew, now was about the time Ikkaku was taking her shower. She'd kill them if they didn't fix it soon. Thankfully, it was rather easy fixing it, since it was a clean cut.
Shachi looked around underneath the engine in search of the little girl. He found her hiding behind a bunch of pipes, looking at him with big eyes.
"Hey there little girl,", he began in a friendly tone, "won't you come out and play with us? We're not angry at you for you damaging the engine.", he tried talking to her.
"Surely you did not do it on purpose, right?", Penguin addded. The girl nodded to that, as Shachi reported.
"You can keep the knife as well, just come out.", Shachi tried convincing the girl further. "For now. She can keep the knife for now.", he told his friend after hearing his protest.
Finally, the girl moved out of her hiding place. Relieved, Shachi smiled at her and held out a hand. "It must be difficult crawling around with that knife in your hands. I will hold onto it until you get out then give it back to you. What do you think?", but the girl just shook her head and held tightly onto it.
"But you don't want to accidentally damage the engine again, do you? I promise to give it back.", he tried one more time. Still pondering whether he would really return it to her, he tried putting on a serious tone when he promised to give it back. Luckily, the girl seemed to believe his words and gave the knife to him. Relieved to finally get out from under the engine, he pushed his way back. The girl easily crawling after him.
Penguin patted his friend's shoulder, appreciating his achievement. After the girl got out, she promptly held out her hands, expecting the knife back. Shachi hesitated a moment before giving it back. "Why did you return it to her?", Penguin asked, not understanding Shachi's actions. "Well, I promised.", Shachi shrugged.
Mary was satisfied having her borrowed tooth back. She was afraid of the two men beng angry at her for damaging the fish's heart, but they weren't angry, just as Sunglasses Guy said. Giggling with joy to have found someone to play with, she toddled out the hot room.
Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy followed behind her, asking her to wait. She wasn't bothered by them anymore. Rather, this was actually fun.
The two mechanics started having fun with her as well. As they still needed to take her to the captain, they also realized it was easier to make her go to his room of her own free will. They attmepted catching her a few times, without acutally trying to, so she would take the corner they wanted her to. Mary ran around, squeeling in laughter. This was so much fun!
Once they were near the captain's quarters, Shachi went to actually catch her. Mary was still laughing. Starting the next game, she began swinging around her trophy. Shachi dodged the knife skillfully, while pressing his friend to finally knock at the captain's door. Penguin shook his head to snap out of it. He had watched the two in awe, glad not being the one to dodge the knife.
Law had heard strange noises for some time. They almost sounded like a child playing, but that wasn't possible. The noise grew louder before he suddenly heard a knock at his door. Penguin asked him to see what they had found through the door.
His head mechanics were easily talked into buying things, thus bringing strange things onboard. While he hoped they wouldn't bring anything too strange, a tiny part of him was curious as to what they had found this time. Though he did notice the lack of excitement in his voice.
He opened the door, but could not contain his confusion as he actually saw a little girl, laughing and squeeling, swinging a knife around on Shachis arm. His mechanic dodged the knife skillfully, but Law wasn't sure how long he was still able to do that. Recovering from his shock, he pinched the bridge of his nose while ordering Penguin to explain.
"Well, we found her in the storage behind the kitchen. We weren't there to get some food, we just heard a sound and saw the door open, I promise!", he explained.
"She wouldn't talk to us, so we decided to bring her to you, captain.", Shachi added.
"Obviously, she was taught not to speak with strangers.", Law commented. Though he had no idea what made them think she would talk to him, as he was sure little kids would think he looked scary. The girl on Shachi's arm stopped swinging the knife around after his comment and looked at him with big eyes. Her light brown hair was braided together. Though some strains were loose, Law guessed from playing around. He had no idea what the child thought, looking at him with her big green eyes. That was why he didn't like children, they could be so hard to read.
The girl suddenly started to smile at him. "Captain, I think she likes you.", Shachi claimed with a grin. Law just frowned upon this remark, glaring at his mechanic. Those two were damn lucky he somewhat considered them his friends, knowing them for so long.
"Just put her down somewhere at the harbor. She'll find her way home.", he ended the conversation and closed the door. He definitely did not want a child onboard his submarine. They were too much trouble.
Looking at each other, the two engineers weren't that happy about their order. It's not like they wanted to keep the girl, but just putting her down somewhere at the harbor? What if some pedophile were to find her? On their way outside the submarine, the girl started flailing around. "Sorry, girl, but the captain's orders are absolute. We won't just leave you on your own though.", Shachi tried calming her down. But as they went out the ship's entrance, the girl started crying.
"What is it now?", Penguin asked. Shachi shrugged, not knowing what to do. "Maybe she doesn't want to be carried around any longer. Put her down.", Penguin suggested.
"What if she runs inside again?", Shachi worried they had to catch her again. He didn't want to force her to come with them, as he grew to like her for some reason.
"If she runs inside we'll just catch her again. She's not that hard to catch.", Penguin said. He just wanted the girl to stop crying. People started looking at them suspiciously already.
Reluctantly, Shachi let her down.
As she was put down, Mary stopped crying instantly and tried to get inside the yellow fish again. She was fine with going home. She had a fun day and now she was starting to get tired. But she still had the spare tooth. She did not want to be a bad girl and she promised to return it before going home. But before she could toddle inside again, she was caught by Penguin Guy. "You can't go back again.", he said. Mary started crying again. She realized, they wouldn't understand her. She needed to tell them, but Mommy forbid her to talk to strangers. Pondering her options, she decided that Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy were strangers, but real real nice strangers.
"I need to return the tooth before going home.", she finally said.
"Eh?", "Tooth?", they said, confused. "I only borrowed the tooth from the big yellow fish. I did not steel it because I am not a bad girl.", Mary explained and was released. She toddled to the big fish's mouth and turned to the room she had taken the tooth out of. Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy followed her, smiling all the while.
Before putting back the tooth, Mary asked the two men for the fish's name. "Polar Tang.", they claimed proudly in a synchronized voice, as though they had trained it. Polar Tang, what a weird name, Mary thought. But alright, the big yellow fish was different in so many ways, she supposed that a strange name was quite fitting.
"Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow your spare tooth, Polar Tang.", Mary said, while putting it back. She explored Polar Tang the whole day, it was no stranger any more. Thus, it was fine to talk to.
"May we get you home now?", Shachi asked the girl. She nodded, yawning. He lifted her up and carried her from the submarine. It did not take the mechanics long to find someone who knew the girl, but her exhaustion still beat them to it. As he carried her to her father's ship, she was fast asleep.
"Thank you for bringing her back. I expect you found her on your ship?", the man said. Shachi and Penguin nodded. "It's a bad habit of her. She always wanders off exploring nearby ships. I fear the day she wanders onto a pirate's ship.", the man continued in a worried voice. Shachi handed over the sleeping girl and the two left.
"He should take better care of her. Wasn't he just waiting on his ship for her to get back?", Shachi was a tad angry at the man.
"You think we should have told him, that the day he feared actually was today?", Penguin asked. Shachi shrugged.
# This actually is a lot longer than I had it intended to be. But the logport needs another day to set for the next island and I already have an idea for the next day. It's going to be even better. It's so much fun to write Mary's perspective!
ns 15.158.61.16da2
