CH - 78

The sun was high and bright in the sky. The day had been long and boring, but it seemed to have only begun. The crew was getting restless. Thus was the life of a pirate. There was always so much time in between adventures, just sailing from place to place. It was a drag, but it was a necessity. This was remedied only by camaraderie. The members of the Chaos Pirates had taken to playing games and such.

Halcen walked out from the door below deck and heard a growl from above him. He looked up.

Fein jumped down from the railing from the upper deck and tackled Halcen to the ground. "Rematch, bitch!"

"Oh, so the only way you can win is by sneaking up on me, huh?"

"You're just mad cause I outsmarted you."

Halcen began laughing. "You? Outsmart me? You're just a dumb dog." Halcen kicked Fein off of him and popped back up onto his feet.

"Shit."

"Oh yeah."

Fein swiped at Halcen's ribs.

Halcen pulled back and just missed Fein's reach. Then he jumped back in and punched Fein in the face.

Fein took the hit and was forced back. He felt his jaw. "Alright, I'll give you that one."

"Give me?" Halcen laughed. "I'd like to see you take anything."

"You're gonna regret that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Fein took a second to look back to the bow of the boat. "What the fuck is that?" He stood upright and out of his stance.

Halcen looked behind him.

Fein charged.

Halcen dodged the attack and dropped Fein to the ground. "Did you really think I'd fall for that?"

Fein grumbled. "I guess not."

Halcen reached down his hand to help Fein up. "You done embarrassing yourself?"

Fein stood up by himself. "For now." He rubbed his head.

"Fair enough." Halcen looked over Fein. "Is this going to become a thing? Because if so, you're gonna need better tricks."

"Yeah well you know what they say about an old dog."

"They have shin splints?"

"What? No… They can't learn new tricks…"

"Why?"

"H-have you never heard that phrase?"

"No."

"What is wrong with you?"

Halcen shrugged. "Lots."

"Alright, alright." Fein changed the subject. "So what's the plan for today, Captain?" He said with a tone.

"Well other than teaching you a lesson on respecting your Captain, we should be getting to Architao today."

"Sweet."

Halcen looked down on the horizon. "And hopefully we'll pick up Shanks' trail there. I'm sure he's moved on by now. But we're going to find out where he headed. We'll ask around and find out everything we can. It's not a huge island. Someone will have information on him."

"Sounds good," Fein said, drinking some water out of a bottle.

"Doesn't your kind drink out of a bowl?"

"HA-HA-HA," Fein feigned laughter.

Halcen chuckled to himself. Then he looked off in the distance. "Wait… I think that's it."

"Hmmm?"

Halcen rushed off and climbed up the mast to the crow's nest with enthusiasm. He pulled out his telescope and began glazing over the horizon. And there it was. At first all he could see was forestry, but then he caught sight of smoke, lots of it. "What the-?" He looked down at his crew. "LAND HO!" he shouted.

"We've finally made it Captain?" Morkine asked.

"Dead ahead! Architao Island!" He went back to looking through his monocular. "Something's wrong," he said to himself. "I see smoke!" he shouted down

"Maybe a campfire?!" Kazuki said.

"Not this much!" Halcen couldn't see anything else beyond the smoke. He climbed down to gather the crew and lay out a plan. "There's definitely something wrong. So we're going to go in extremely cautiously. There's bound to be trouble."

As they pulled closer, the rest of them could see the smoke. It was a fairly large amount for such a small island. Something dreadful had happened here. But they had no idea what.

Grey felt a chill looking at the island. "It feels like Death."

Halcen looked to Grey. "Do you think something happened to Shanks?"

"I hope not."

"Let's get ready to make shore. Jory! Morkine! Get us up there!"

Jory and Morkine went about readying the Black Tail for its docking on the island. It wasn't a difficult job with a smaller ship as it was. "Where do we want to land, Captain?" Morkine asked.

"Well considering the smoke and the imminent threat that dictates, we ought to avoid any actual docks. Let's find a place we can shore up and weigh anchor around the south side."

"Yes, Captain." Morkine brought them around the southern center of the island and found a muddy area where they could easily come ashore on feet. They weighed anchor and everyone began to get ready for their departure.

Halcen had to make the call. "Jin, Morkine, Jory," I need you guys to stay here. If we run into trouble, we'll call for help. Let us find a safe place, make a plan, then I'll send Fein for you."

"Awe, man," Jory complained. "I always get left out of the good stuff."

"Be thankful, kid," Bo said. "It's not as glorious as it's cracked up to be."

"I seriously doubt that."

"I'm fine with staying back," Jin said. "I wouldn't be any help anyway."

"That's true," Fein said. "You're a better support than a fighter."

Jin rolled his eyes. "Just don't get yourselves killed out there."

"Let's go guys," Halcen said.