Pacifista

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

"Oh, there's an idea. Try it Chester."

Knocking another cannonball down, Macario growled, "I'm not jumping in after you."

However, the hail of gunfire seemed to cease. Noticing, Lina said, "Hey, they're leaving!" Wiping her forehead, she said, "That's a relief."

Going back down to the main deck, Macario following, he said, "If we switch the sails back, we should be fine. Or I guess we could take my ship for runs to the island if we anchor properly, though we'll want someone to keep watch."

However, there were some more pressing concerns. The four went down to the lower deck to evaluate the damages. The cannonball pierced through the deck and detonated below, tearing a hole into the men's bedroom. One of the hammocks was now across the floor, one end tied to the remaining wall.

"Looks like someone's going to have to make a trip..."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Watching the opponent fly off, Lina clicked her tongue. "It sounded like he was avenging Melonberry." Throwing a short shadow punch at the air, she said, "Now I can't wait to give those guys a beating."

Letting out a sigh, she said, "But let's forget about them: we dealt with a bunch of them already and there's a festival so lets get going!"

In due time.

---

The next few days, as the festival began, the Grog Crusaders were ready. Wit htier funding, they were not only able to keep their ship supplied and maintained, but a few other projects went underway as well unfortunately...

---

The sun beamed over the bustling Great Horn Archipelago. As midday arrived the Four Color Festival continued to swell with festivities. Cheers resounded, great food and booze were consumed, explosions rang out...

Macario's fist punched out, waves of air striking down an incoming cannonball.

Above the crew under attack, the sails billowed black, emblazoned with a skull, a bottle neck hanging in its teeth and a keg painted behind it.

"I didn't put them up!" Lina insisted.

"But how didn't we notice!?" Macario growled, grabbing the helm again. With every cannonball hitting the water, he turned back to his small boat, worry clear on his face.

Looking through a spyglass, Lina took note of the different emblems on the flags of the pursuing ships: one was clearly the local Antler Kingdom, but the other was of a helmet emblazoned on a shield with a rapier: it was no Four Seasons country she recognized.

A whistling from above signaled a cannonball, but as Macario looked, there were in fact several. As they began to get picked off, one slipped through, crashing into the main deck near the bow. Lina grimaced.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Kobicha's eyes were a bit wide as she looked over to Lina and Kuhn. Lina said, "We're not working with you guys anymore."

Kobicha waved, "I'll be honest: I don't want anything to do with you guys." Turning off, she began to drag her men off, most of them going along.

Lina reached out and grabbed Kuhn's sleeve, insisting, "No."

As the situation finally petered out, Macario suggested, "Alright: I need some shoes, first aid, and some real food. Let's hit the town."

A bustle of cloak rushed from the Verdant Company forces. Lina turned to see someone rushing at her. She went for her sword but he leaped above, green cloak falling off revealing blue rags wrapped over most of his body, knife in hand leading as he fell towards Chester.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Macario leaned forwards, head lowering to meet Chester's.

"I...are you..."

Face covered by hands, Macario stooped down, squatting in a cocktail of emotions. Lina could only blink in wonder at the full context she was missing.

After a moment, Macario stood back up, before reaching for his wallet, saying, "Fuck it. I'll pay. Here you go."

Chad took the offered coin, before beginning, "Well, this was over one beer, and Chester drank-"

"He joined up with you."

"Aha! But you didn't! So you owe me another 500 for what you drank."

Macario nodded, raising a finger, before clenching his hand into a fist, holding it so tight the veins could be seen.

"HERE'S WHAT I THINK ABOUT MY FUCKING DEBT!"

Macario's fist struck so hard it seemed to catch flame. "Li!" Chadwick was struck, being blasted back, pulling a good number of Crimson Company members with him, many of the others going to quench the flame.

With one hand, Macario regained his coin, dropped from the impact. In the other...

"Hwah! Ah! Ah! Why did I do that!?" Macario cried, eyes bulging at his burning hand. He tried fanning it out before ducking back down, quenching it with dirt.

As that bit calmed down, Kobicha had a bit of sweat on her forehead as she pointed at Chester, muttering, "Wait...Azure Company Chester? Who ended up on Kesrizu Chester?"

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Golden Fleece Chronicles

Hamel bit his tongue as the encroaching napkin cleaned of his face. He accepted it. He didn't like it, but he accepted it. He knew better than to earn Samehana's bad side. As she stated her intent, Hamel mumbled, "Laaater," before returning to his meal of, bread gravy-like soup (though it may have been soup-like gravy, Hamel didn't question it).

As Sancho arrived, Hamel was quickly finishing up. As he cleaned up a bit, wiping his face and picking at his teeth, Sancho asked about Samehana as he failed to finish his food.

Hamel answered, "Eh, I figured. Something about protection?" Licking a bit of soup crumb off his lips, he said, "Samehana went for a walk so I'll bet she'll run into something." Nostrils flaring as he caught the soup, he asked, "You gonna finish that?"

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

"Reinforce!"

Lina took a breath. She'd been hesitant earlier, but if this conflict was going to escalate, Lina was going to be on the side of the little guys.

As another group went to the side of Kuhn and his men, Lina stopped her charge as she caught Kuhn's hesitance. Lina couldn't help but stop either.

"Chester!? What are you doing here?"

The red and greens each slowed down, intrigued at the unfolding events.

"What are you doing with the Verdant Company?"

Lina stared. "The..."

"Verdant Company."

"You mean...reds... Crimson Company?"

"All mafia assholes."

"...I quit."

Each of them stepping forwards, Kobicha and Chadwick each asked, "What's going on here?"

"I'm done."

Macario shrugged, "Eh, my heart was never in it in the first place."

Chad turned to Chester, "This is all your fault, man! Own up!"

Taking a breath, Macario moved his arms a bit, his redical shit practically exploding off of him, his purple dress shirt returning. "Hey, Chester, tell you what: I'll take full responsibility for your debt. It's the least I could do since I've been hitching a ride."

Lina raised an eyebrow. After a moment, she turned to Kuhn, grumbling, "And what about you?"

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Golden Fleece Chronicles

"Alright, captain's orders!" Sandal clad feet scampered away from the wreckage, a few eyes turning after briefly in a moment of bewilderment.

Long blue pants ending at his ankles, a shaggy green coat over his short sleeved white shirt, his medium length light green hair tussled, Hamelin Foley's wide grin turned to a frown as he realized one sad fact. "...This place is boring."

Trekking across the dirt paths, getting further and further away from the action, though it seemed to have quieted back down for now. Hamel giggled: no way it was going to be that easy.

Head swiveling as he scanned for a way to get supplies, it looked like they were going to be out of luck. But the mood on the island was so dour he was starting to get depressed.

---

"Eh? Even if it is Lefacti Island..."

"How much worse can it be than here?"

"We're being protected from them!"

"Then where? At this...do you mind?"

Munching on a roll, Hamel tilted his head slightly as he leaned back in his chair, the couple conversing nearby having turned to look at them.

Swallowing, Hamel insisted, "Oh, no." As he took another bite, he refused to move his position, head hanging not too far from their table. After a moment, he waved, "Keep going."

The tow looked back at each other, before he looked back at Hamel, wondering, "Are you...listening?"

Hamel shrugged, "Well I was hoping I'd hear something important, you know? Something I'd need to know later." As he explained, his pinky found its way into his nose, his others still holding on to his food.

The two blinked it a stark, utter bafflement, before taking their cleaned plates and leaving to another table in the nearly empty open air restaurant. Kicking his seat back up and returning to his plate, Hamel cried, "Rude!" Several breadcrumbs scattered from his mouth to the patched table cloth.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

As Kuhn returned, gains in hand, Maron giggled, "Ehehe, they're getting what's coming to them!"

A bit further back, Lina was starting to find things a little strange...

---

Some time later, the Crimson Company had found themselves partied out. Their booze was dry, and the conflict with the Verdan Company was less than a day way.

Macario, who'd taken a quick map, was roused by a certain boss. As he woke to see Chadwick, he grumbled, "What!?"

"Um, dude, about your bro..."

Rubbing his eye, Macario asked, "He dead?"

"Well, it's just...the dude drank my stash in all of ten minutes! I mean, it was kinda...but-"

"So?"

"That was an hour ago man! What's he gonna do?"

Macario grumbled, "I met him, like a few days ago. If he hears about any more booze though who knows."

"Guys!" came a sudden yell from the fringes of the restless reds. "Blancson just got back! He said the Verdant Company took our booze!"

Macario wished he were wealthy enough to own a camera: Chadwick's face was something special, priceless: a memory now impossible to share, for the implacable agony of so many factors Macario could never truly grasp: from the wrath of Chester to the soon to be shattered inter-company honor of not holding oneself to pre-planned encounters; such an agony that had his jaw dropped, his eyes bulging, and a dribble running from his nose in perhaps the most uncool, unredical manner ever.

"Heh," Macario chortled.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Drinking only lightly, Macario sighed. It was his luck that the festival hadn't really started yet, wasn't it?

As the Crimson Company guys were starting to quiet down, whispers of discomfort flew along. Macario heard that apparently they were getting a bit dry, but the guys making a run for drinks hadn't come back yet. Thinking about Chester's affinity for the sauce, Macario chortled as he leaned back to watch.

---

"Chad's just a drunk," Maron giggled. "Which is exactly what we're going to fix."

Lina nodded, the word 'drunk' somehow passing through her ears without the raise of an eyebrow. Instead she kept along as they got closer and closer to the town, still busying itself with preparations. Maron kept her eyes peeled, commenting, "If we're lucky..."

"Aha!" She cried. Pointing a finger, she noted a cart with a few men around it, loaded to the brim with kegs and crates of booze. "Those are definitely some of the guys who wrecked our stuff! How unlucky for them~" Maron's giggle turned into a sinister cackle. Lina began to grow worried, having some second thoughts.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Taking his drink, Macario easily resisted the urge to take a sip, instead saying, "You know, I was really hoping to take a look at the whole Four Color Festival thing. How long is this gonna take?"

---

Lina grimaced. "Really?"

Her words were drowned out as Kobicha giggled. "At my service? Why aren't you forward. I haven't even said what I would want your help with." Folding her arms in front of her, she asked, "If you're just here to enjoy the festivities, I wouldn't want to impose..."

Looking around at the carnage, more and more eyes starting to catch on to them, Lina held up her fists, "I can't enjoy anything knowing about this!"

Kobicha sighed. "They cause trouble every year, but this time they've gone too far. We can finally get back at them, and right where it hurts." Nodding, she added, "And they won't know we have help. Maron?" As the girl from before sat back up casually, Kobicha said, "You know Chad: he'll be wanting to restock his supplies..."

Smile whipping onto her face, she bounced up, raising and arm in salute. "Roger!" As she began to head off, she said, "Come with me!"