Fishmen Island III

When the crew met up again, Shinobu had arrived alone. She glanced at Akane and the rest with her usual smile, turning her eye to the one other new crew member who had arrived as well.

Soren stood besides Ban, trying to avoid the eye of Shinobu. Humming in glee, Shinobu continued to sneak up on him, while the latter tried his hardest to stay away from her. He clearly was a bit frightened of her.

"Enough fooling around. Let's see what the yonko looks like. I heard a lot of stories of him from my brother. All good though, not one of them being as bad as some rumours say. So why not find out ourselves?"

Smirking in a way only a fox can, Akane hurried towards the spot Lafitte had said Whitebeard was at. It was in one of the open plaza's on fishmen island, wide enough to host more than a few thousand people.

Sitting in the square was the group of the Whitebeard pirates Lafitte had spoken about. As Akane didn't want to meet face to face but just observe, the group kept their distance and watched from the roof tops.

Sitting in the middle surrounded by his crew was the towering man known as Edward Newgate, aka Whitebeard. The man was a towering 21'10 feet, which was really big for one considered from the human race. He had the trademark white mustache, that pointed upwards at both ends.

The man was all muscle, but well proportioned. On some places she could see a few scars, making her wonder who could even manage to scratch such a powerful man.

Sitting besides Whitebeard was the king of fishmen island himself, Neptune.

Both of the men were sharing drinks, laughing boisterously about the tales they were sharing.

"It looks really fun!"

Akane muttered, her eyes shining at the good mood they had going.

"Reminds me of the Sins~ They are a boisterous bunch as well~"

Ban added, his playful smirk in full display as he lay stretched out on the rooftop. He wasn't even looking at the banquet anymore, though he was humming along with the song the Whitebeard pirates were singing.

"You never spoke of them. Any noteworthy people amongst them?"

Akane asked, making the other crew members look at Ban as well.

"Hmm, let's see... There is my captain, Meliodas, a really strong man that managed to give me this scar you see here, even with my regeneration. He is known as the dragon's sin of Wrath. Which is kinda funny as he rarely gets mad~"

Ban chuckled, scratching his head and smiling goofily at the memory. Ah, how much he wanted to fight the captain again.

"Then there is the Serpent's sin of Envy, the giantess Diane. She is a tough lady who is smitten with the captain. She really is a piece of work when she gets mad~"

Ban spoke as if he had experienced it before. Which he most likely had.

"Then there is the grizzly's sin of sloth, the king of the fairies. We just call him King. He is also the brother of Elaine, making my relationship with him as bit... well... annoying, is that the good word? Testy? Complicated. Let's keep it at that.

Added to that there is the Lion's sin of pride Escanor, who is meek during the night and as arrogant and prideful as a lion during the day. He has a crush on Merlin.

Speaking of Merlin, she is also one of our group, the boar's sin of gluttony. She is a magician. A really strong one at that. Like, the kind that could wipe out a city with a snap of her fingers. Poof, it's gone, just like that.

Lastly there is Gowther, the goat's sin of lust. He is an odd one. I never get what he truly thinks or why he does things.

That was all, but I'll think of some other things to talk about later. What about you Shinobu-chan? Any worth mentioning people in your life?"

Having spoken enough, Ban cast the conversation ball towards Shinobu.

"Ara~? Are you curious? Too bad, as I don't really want to speak about that yet, so why don't we cast the ball towards Lafitte?"

Lafitte furiously shook his head, not even planning to speak about his past. It was best not to talk about it at all.

"Ara, too many dark parts in it? Too many embarassing actions? You can tell us Lafitte, there is nothing to be ashamed about~"

Shaking his head once more, Lafitte moved a bit further away from Shinobu.

"Maa, maa, calm down. The party seems to get a bit more lively down below."

Having brought the attention back towards the plaza, the group enjoyed the sight as the song Bink's sake was loudly sung. Even if they weren't that close by, it would even be heard in the mermaids cove.

"I wonder if all the new crew members will stay? They are back home after all."

Akane muttered, humming gently along with the tune.

"Mero-chan isn't planning on going with us. One of her friends talked it out with her and reasoned it was better to first increase her strength. If she still wanted to go after a few years, then she could go."

Shinobu said, not even the slightest bit disappointed about it.

The boys however sighed in relief. One Shinobu was more than enough.

"And the others?"

"I'm staying captain. No need to worry about that."

Soren added. Having spoken his piece, Soren once again diverted his attention to the feast. He could spot a few minks among Whitebeards crew, though they weren't as strong as the commanders in Whitebeards group.

"Asher and Duke seem to be hesitating. They apparently have a few siblings living in the fishmen district that need to be taken care of. And according to hearsay, the fishmen district isn't the best place to raise kids."

Lafitte mentioned, having already followed the two brothers after they had arrived.

"I see. Nothing to do about it. It doesn't really matter if they want to join or not. It is their choice."

Taking a note from Ban's book, Akane lay down on the roof as well, trying to relax as much as they could. They had a few day to relax left before they were going to head out again. And that in the New world. There had to be more than a few things that needed to get done, such as aquiring the new log pose.

"Enjoying yourselves-yoi?"

A strange voice interrupted their thoughts.