one piece - a new journey IC

Alex stood on the top of the forward sail, from one hand extended a thin cord of steel anchored into the main mast, he was up there like every other day looking out over the ocean at the rising sun and looking out for land. It had been nearly a full week since they had left the last island, their journey was slow at first but with the others joining the crew on the last few islands they had managed to pick up speed and power, and now they were headed towards the grand line; but first was the island of hopes and dreams, the last island in the north blue before the grand line, the island of Alvion.

Alex looked out over the bright see, his mechanical eyes refocusing to compensate for the light, and there it was a speck of land on the horizon; Alex smiled behind his mask before calling out to the others still sleeping on the ship, “LAND HO!!!”. Alex pulled in the cable tether holding him to the mast before sliding down its length, landing softly on the deck like a cat, he moved over to the rear deck and took hold of the wheel turning the rudder slightly to adjust the ships heading towards the island.

Alex stayed at the helm until some of the others came up on deck, once they started coming up he said “there t is people… the island of dreams… the carnival island at the end of the north blue, Alvion” he said “now… how about we get to work and get ready to bring the ship into the harbour”

Mambo was humming a song to himself, dancing around the kitchen happily. "Alas, it's the boom bassa boom festival~ Maps of art with large X marks~" He sang, not actually preparing any dishes at the moment.
The kitchen was his usual place, if people wanted to see him, they'd go there. Although you might walk in on one of his little dances and get freaked out, it didn't matter to him. It was all in good fun! It wasn't until he heard Alex above deck that he actually decided it was time to step out of the kitchen.

"LAND HO!!!" Alex had shouted, instantly getting the cook's attention. He was awfully loud, but they were pirates~! So that was perfectly fine! He cheerfully pushed the kitchen door open and made his way to the stairs, surprisingly enough he seemed to be the first one on the move... Or did everyone go above deck already without him?! He ran up the stairs, taking in the air and looking out at the island ahead, Alvion. "Wonderful day to go and have more exciting adventures~!" He cheered, putting a hand onto his hip as he walked around the deck. Nope. The others were taking their sweet time. But that was okay! Mambo wasn't in a hurry! He could sail out here for days on end and still be as excited as he was right now! "Good morning, Alex~!" He sang happily, waving at his mechanical comrade with a huge grin.

With a wide grin on her face Reina stood at the wheel of a pirate ship as the deck laid with several unconscious sailors were spread out motionless among the deck. At her feet were several bags filled with treasure she raided from them and those still conscious were helping her man the sails and bring this ship into harbor, being at sea for to long will tire a soul out. Her arm stretched out and pointed to the rather large island that was coming into view, "there's where I be heading, set sail for Alvion," as she turned the wheel of the ship to head straight to it. She pulled one of her guns from it's holster and had it pointed behind her, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," one crew member decided it would be smart to try a stealth attack, but now who is the one with the gun to there head huh? She pointed her gun downward and shot at his feet to scare him, "you don't want to end up full of holes like your captain now do you?" She turned to him with a playful smirk and a wink as he went back to the position she assigned him.

Soon they were docked in the Alvion harbor and as she stepped off the ship she turned and bowed to them with a tip of her hat, "thanks for the ride boys," she grinned slinging her haul over her shoulder. She looked to the remaining crew members and quickly pulled out one gun, "boo!" She laughed as they all ducked down and were afraid of her, "bye boys," she set her gun back in it's holster and blew them a kiss before she went walking down the dock. "Should be a bar around here somewhere," as she went through town and her eyes scanned for a place to settle for a while. She smiled when her eyes spotted one, "ah here we go," and walked through the swinging double doors and took her place at the bar with her loot at her feet. "Any beer's fine," she told the bartender setting some coins out for him as he went looking for some for her. She let out a sigh as a slight chuckle escaped past her lips, "why do you think it's wise stealing my stuff," again quick with the draw her gun shot down a pirate after her loot and turned to the lot of them with a grin, "any you other bilge rats want to take my loot?" They all just turned back to what they were doing as she placed her gun back in her holster and the thief pirate lied there dead on the floor, "thanks," raising her glass to the bartender and took a sip.

"We're here already?" Light said to Alex as she emerged from her cabin, carrying a 4 ft small pole. In one fluid motion she flipped the pole upirght, jumped on top of it, gained her balance, and looked at the island from her little perch. It wasn't anything special she noticed. Much like the other islands she was to there were sailors managing the ports, pirates causing trouble, and probably a few marines somewhere trying to capture said pirates. Since this island was very close to the entrance of the Grand Line, she had hoped it would have something interesting going on, but from the looks of things there wasn't much but the usual bustle of people living their lives. After looking at the island for a few minutes, Light began to practice her crane kick, spinning on top of the small pole like a top with one leg extended fully outwards, the pole didn't wobble a bit as she spun.

"Oh, hey Mambo. Didn't see you there." Light said as she noticed him thanks to her spinning. "What do you think of the island we're approaching? Looks boring but then looks can be deceiving." she said with a wink, flipping onto her hand mid spin without losing momentum.

"I wonder when Captain Dragon is going to come on out and say hello. I would think he would be the first one out here, instead of us 3. Anyway, I've got the sails when we're ready to land." Light said to the others as she moved from using her hand to one of her fingers to spin, turning the finger black by changing its carbon content to the strength of steel thanks to her Terra Terra (Earth Earth) fruit.

Lex stepped out onto the main deck, squinting in the bright sunlight having at last emerging from his cabin that he had spent the past few hours inside studying a recently acquired map. "Morning everyone, or is it afternoon? Who cares at least we're finally going back on land, I can't wait to get a nice hot meal." His eyes soon adjusted and he realised Mambo was stood in front of him. "No offence Mambo your stuff is pretty good it's just that three days eating leftovers of a chicken stew isn't quite as a good as a good hog roast..." Suddenly Lex's stomach began to rumble. "Great, now I've made myself hungry." He sighed to himself before moving towards the front of the boat to get a good look at the island for himself.

From his position at the bow of the boat he turned to look over his shoulder at the other crew members spread about the deck. "So anybody here know anything about this place? You know like weather there's a heavy marine presence? Pirates welcome? I don't want us to go sailing into a trap."

Mambo smiled when the most beautiful girl of the crew came up on deck. Of course, she was the only one, but he was pretty certain no one else was going to top her, besides, she was his friend! He couldn't ever ask for better. It was really fun to watch her spin around! "I think anywhere can be fun if we set our minds to it and stick together~!" He said happily, watching Light spin around... And around, and around with a huge grin on his face. "Ooo! Maybe we'll find somebody new for the crew~ Wouldn't that be exciting?!" He asked, bouncing about excitedly. More crew means more friends! Although he wasn't sure if everyone on the ship liked him, but certainly whoever they brought would... Right? He patted the small sack of seasonings he kept on his person, his dishes would never tastes the same without them, they were the same ones his mother would use when he was a child... Enough about that, there's fun to be had! He thought to himself, still watching Light. Man, she was talented.

"Sooo~" He started, twirling around happily. "What's the first thing we should do when we get there?" He asked, putting his arms behind his back. He had plenty of ideas, but most people didn't care for his, even though he'd say what they were either way. "Maybe we can find treasure! Or find someplace really fun! Or we can play chase with the navy! I always loved to play tag!" He said, laughing quietly. He figured the others already knew what they were going to do, he'd end up following after one of them. Being alone wasn't any fun at all, and besides, why would he want to be alone when he could be with friends? Anyone would do that, he thought, as he heard Lex talk about being hungry, and wanted a good hot meal once they got to the island. "That's okay~! If you just ate my food, that wouldn't be fair to other cooks and chefs across the sea!" He said somewhat joyfully, although he thought his meals stayed pretty good overtime, maybe he'd just have to work harder... At least Lex said the food was good, that made him happy.

Alex stayed focused on the steering of the ship, his fine tuned senses causing him to adjust the heading slightly with a shift in the winds direction, then the others started to come up on the deck. First it was their cook mambo, in the silence of his mind Alex thought about their eccentric dancing cook before calling down in response “it’s a morning all right… we’ll see how good it is after arriving at Alvion… I heard that the pirates that have been landing there the last few years have all been caught by some weird marine” he said more to himself then mambo. Next up on deck was light who immediately began doing tricks on her pole, Alex though about the woman’s airy head but pushed those thoughts aside, “it may not look like much… but it’s the door to the grand line, home to the arena of dreams and the festival of the stars” he replied to Light “the captain went to bed with the rest of you… I had the watch, like always” he finished. Soon they were joined by lex their navigator and he wanted to know more about the island, “as I said, the arena of dreams is a fighting school which holds gladiator style matches every other day, normally its to first blood but death matches and team matches have been done before… and the festival of the stars is a month long celebration held here each year”

Alex waited a second after mentioning the captain before issuing some orders, “well… are just going to stand there or are you actually going to help?” he asked the two on the deck “Mambo, you go to the port side and sore up the rigging, it was rough last night and the harbours not somewhere we want to lose our sails... Light you head up top and prepare to furl the sails… we’ll need to cut the sails as we enter the port” he said and waited for the two to head off to their tasks.

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Amilia (marine station, Alvion)

It was a quiet day that morning, the base ran itself most of the time everyone knew their posts and what their jobs were, but today something felt off to Amilia; as usual she sat behind her desk reading the reports about activity in the area, over the last year more pirates had appeared following the death of the legendary whitebeard. Amilia put the paper down and started to search her desk for a blank piece of paper, finding one in a low draw she started scribbling down some instructions about doing a search on the docks for the marine instructor, after she had finished writing Amilia pulled out a strange ball shaped pieces of wood covered in hundreds of lines; “wake up jill” she said to the ball as she pushed a small part of her soul into the wood bringing it to life, the wood began to move and unfold into the shape of a bird that looked at amilia. She held out the paper to the wooden bird and said “find the sergeant and give him this” she instructed, the little bird tweeted, picked up the paper and took flight out the open window behind amilia.

Having sent the instructions out amilia began to grow restless and wanted to take a stroll, she smiled to herself and said “I think I’ll go grab a drink” before standing and leaving; as she passed she reached out a hand to touch the head of a doll leaning against the wall, “time to go jack” she said bringing the doll to life. After exiting the room, followed by her living doll, amilia walked through the base with all the marines saluting her as she passed; it was a slow walk through the base as she was constantly stopped and asked for details or instructions, but eventually she made it out onto the streets.

Having left the marine base amilia headed down the main street towards the harbour and the drinking halls there, she didn’t have any real idea of why she wanted to drink there but it was her place of choice. As she walked several citizens of the city came up to her asking for donations or help, one young looking fellow approached with some news; a pirate ship had docked earlier in the harbour, amilia smiled and sped up her walk. After a couple of minutes she found herself facing down the ship, its crew half dead but still willing to fight, amilia smiled “I’ll give you one chance… surrender or prepare to die” she called out to them from the docks; the only response she got was laughter.

Amilia turned to jack and clicked her fingers, jack the doll reach over his back and draw out a silver and gold bow and handed it to amilia, she loved that bow its fell and weight just right and the tension on the string perfect; amilia drew out a single arrow from her quiver and notched it, drawing the string back she aimed at the ship. “that was your only warning… her I come” she called “jack… forwards, tactic alpha 9” and with that the doll launched into the air heading in a high arc to land on the ships deck in its hands was 2 swords, amiliaon the other hand aimed her bow at one of the unlucky men stationed on the rigging and loosed the shot; the arrow flew true and grazed the man before sticking into the cross bar, amilia could be heard saying “slave arrow”. The man grabbed his side before a blank look filled his eyes, the next thing anyone knew was the man jumping down on the deck and him attacking his fellow crew, he could be heard saying “for my master, for my master” amilia shouldered her bow and walked to the gangplank and boarded the ship; “now… where is your captain?” she asked the crew, one pointed at a corpse laying on the floor, amilia looked at the corpse and frowned the wounds were not inflicted by her or the doll. She turned to two crewmen who were sweating and had a swords to his throats, she touched their chests “slave soul” she said “now… why don’t you and your friend bring the rest to the base and hand yourselves in… try not to kill too many of them” she said before turning and leaving the ship followed by jack.

"Right, I've got it." Light said, hopping off her training pole. She ran up the mast to get to the crows nest, leaving little indents as she went due to her pointed feet. And if someone inspected the mast closely, the could see lots of these little 1cm indents along the mast where Light ran up it before. From the crows nest she walked out onto the supports for the sails and reeled in each rope one at a time as she passed by them. When she was finished, she hopped down from the crows nest, attempting to land on her pole. While she did manage to land on it, she looked at it with frustration.

"Still landing with two legs instead of one. Gotta work on that." She said to herself, grabbing the pole while flipping off of it, and walking back to her cabin to grab out another training device. Moments later she came back carrying a large heavy wooden training dummy with rods coming out of it. She set it down where she had put her training pole, and began to spar with the dummy, making sure to strike the dummy without letting her body touch the wooden rods.

"Well if this place has a fighting club, I guess I'd best practice my sparring instead. I'm pretty good on balance." she said, attempting more complex punches and kicks as she sparred with the dummy.

Crimson was in his cabin sleeping. He usually went to bed along with the rest of the crew and awoke when Alex gave a signal. Either a call for land or some other call which with his loud voice would awaken the young captain. "Land Ho!" Crimson heard Alex shout. He sat up and got out of his bed and yawned stretching. "Alright." He said to himself as he got dressed. Other crew members seemed to be gathering on deck. First was Mambo. The ever eccentric cook. He was the second to join the crew if Crimson remembered right. Alex was the first of course. Light came in third and last, but most certainly not least was Lex. He chuckled a bit as he listened to Mambo's excited voice. "As happy and full of energy as ever." He said to himself.

The next voice he heard was Light. "She called me Dragon as usual." He commented calmly as he finished getting dressed. It wasn't like it was problem. After all, great men like Gol D. Roger had there names changed ever so slightly. "Gold Roger... I'll probably be called Crimson Dragon. Which is funny since as a dragon I'm green." He said to himself laughing a bit again.

Rather than exit his quarters Crimson stood leaning against the door waiting for see what else he heard. Next came Lex. The crews young Navigator. As anyone would he was asking about the island. If it was pirate friendly, if there were marines, events and such along with a bit of commentary about wanting a hot meal and calling Mambo's food good. That was a bit of an understatement. At least it was to Crimson. Soon Alex began to give orders and at that point it was about time to go out before his first mate came to get him. "Alright everyone!" He called as he pushed his door open and walked out.

"We've got some serious business to attend to when we hit land." He said calmly. "First things first. We need to stock up! Food, medical supplies, whatever we may need." He said aloud. Even if it did seem boring it was necessary. Especially if they were going to the Grand Line. "Mambo. If you need any help shopping you know I'm always up for it. Lex if you think you'll need any map or anything that'll be fine too." He added as he turned his attention to their navigator. "Light... Well... You and Alex can accompany whoever or we can move as a group. Although travelling as a group may be a bit risky." He said laughing a bit. "Oh and if you run into any marines... Let me know so I can join in on the fun." His attitude towards the marines was fairly childish. He never killed them, but he was good for fighting them. Unless he needed to get serious. Then... Things got a little crazy. "Oh and before we leave I'm hoping to enjoy a bit of the carnival and maybe the Arena of Dreams." He said smiling. "Any objections or suggestions to what we need to do?" He added.

Mambo do a quick, goofy salute before going off to do the duty Alex had rested on his shoulders, as he did, he could hear Captain Crimson, he finally decided to join up on the deck. He pouted as he heard he'd have to go shopping, that was so dull and BORING. "Aw..." He whined, it was something that had to be done, but it was certainly not Mambo's favorite passtime. Once he heard about the Arena of Dreams, he became slightly worried. He knew most everyone on the ship was a good fighter aside from him, three of them having powers, but he didn't want anyone to get hurt. Why was fighting necessary? He shook his head, sighing.

"If you plan on going in that Arena, be careful!" He said in a more serious tone, they're safety was more important than anything, even if he had to be a little more serious. Although the carnival sounded really fun! It sounded a lot safer! "Maybe we should skip out on the fighting and go to the carnival instead?" He asked innocently, finishing up his duties and looking at Crimson. His pout remained, because he already knew the answer to his question. But... That was alright! Because... They wouldn't get themselves hurt, he'd surely have nothing to worry about! He'd just have to go find something else to do, maybe find a bar. he didn't drink, but the places were usually full of fun people! But... Of course he had to do shopping. He started pacing about, thinking about food. He could probably save a bit, giving he could fish and they could eat that way. But fish all the time would get old, and he might not have time to fish later... There was just no way out of it, and it was depressing.