Chester D. Arnold
"The D might stand for Dumbass"
The Pirates life is supposed to be one full of thrills, excitement and glamour. Another adventure every day, another bar, another drink, and another girl in your bed. The pirates life is supposed to be interesting, the thing of fables and legends. A pirates life is supposed to be the thing people will speak off for hundreds of years.
A pirates life is supposed to be epic.
That's what Chester always believed, and that's why he, a trained seaman First Class in the Marines, left his post, becme a deserter and took to the seas to find his own place in the world, one where the only orders he had to follow was his own. The only laws was the laws of the sea. That every man had to carve their own place in history. And he was ready to carve. Bottle in his hand, a sword on his hip and a heart full of zeal and courage, he was ready for just about anything.
Except a tropical storm that tore his ship into smitherins, and sent him - a man who cannot swim, into the sea, the underwater currents taking him and tossing him about, only a twist of fate saved him from drowning, one wrong wave would have meant the death of Chester, instead, he was washed up on the shore of an unknown island in the North Blue. The sun was hitting his face as he was coming too, failing to breath due to the water in his lungs, something - like a rock, fell from the sky, hitting him in the chest, hard enough that he coughed up water, then he proceded to vomit the rest of the water.. And alcohol out of his system. Turning around, to where the rock that had landed on his chest was, it wasn't a rock at all, but some sort of shelled vegetation. A fruit, maybe.
".. I've eaten enough strange fruits in my days.." The young pirate said, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his arm. his watch was crushed, his jacket was torn, the entirery of the left sleeve was missing, his shoes had both gotten spoiled away, and so had all of his supplies. Crawling onto his feet, on this seemingly desolate Island, he walked the shore, finding what looked like wood. A glimmer of hope came to the man, as he huried towards it, thirsty as a man who had been in a desert for a hundred days.
Arriving at the wooden plank, he found it to be a crate. A crate! From his ship, perhabs. He tore it open, and inside he found a bottle. A Bottle! He grabbed it up, and uncorked it, downing the contents. It wasn't water - it was something better.
Rum.
His eyes were closed as he chugged the bottle, only to hear a short cough as he finished the bottle. "Ehm.. Wooow." The tiny voice said, it was a little girl, a third as tall as the man, she had long, braided red hair, and emerald eyes, her skin was dark, like the bark of an oak. "I've never seen someone drink like that.." She said, equal part amazement, equal part disbelief.
"Comes with a lot of practice, kid." Chester said, wiping his mouth again, pouting as he turned the bottle upside down again, despite chugging the entire thing, he didn't seem affected at all. "So.. Where am I, and who are you?" He asked, curiously. The girl shrugged. "I'm Lino, and this is Melonberry island!"
"Hi, Lino, I'm Chester. Melonberry Island? In the North blue? What a silly name." He said, with a chuckle. The girl pouted a little at his would-be insult. "Hey! It's not silly! It's named after the most delicious thing in the whole world!" Lino yelled and Chester raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?" He said, thinking to himself that it should be called 'Dressora Rum"- Island.
"And what's that?"
"Melonberries, you dingus!" He girl shouted at him and Chester nodded. "Well, yeah, but what's that?" He asked, again and the girl's pout turned into a curious smile. "Oh. It's a fruit, they grow on these trees!" She said, pointing upwards at the palms. "But watch out, they are heavy, if they fall on you, it will hurt. My brother broke his arm when one landed on him when he was a kid!" She explained, in that way only kids could.
"Uh-Huh." He mentioned, picking up one of these 'Melonberries' It was a stupid name, he thought. "I.. How do you eat this?" He asked, nibbling on the shell, it wasn't tasting very well. The girl giggled. "You're silly." she said, handing him an odd tool, kind of the mix between a knife and a spoon.
"A Knoon?" he asked and the girl giggled even more, shaking her head. "It's a Melonberry Spork! Cut the shell open and eat the meat inside, but just a little bit, it's serious stuff!" she warned, and Chester oblidged, cutting a triangular hole in the fruit, he took a spoon-full, putting it into his mouth.
As he did, his pupils dilated and a grin came onto his face. This fruit was a mix between sweet and savory, it was watering, yet full of flavor. A treat you'd only find on the deepest corners of the Grandline, and it was growing
here in the north blue?!
"Dude! This is awesome!" Chester yelled with a glee as the girl nodded. "Sure is! Follow me to town, and I'll show you all the pasteries and drinks we make out of it!"
At the thought of drinks, Chesters eyes lit up with joy.
What if they had booze made out of this stuff? This place would be paradise then.
