Pacifista

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

Falling through there, Lina cried out as she fell to the water. Why did I run so fast!?

Crashing into the water, Lina floundered as she tried to find her ocean legs. Looking down, she saw the shadow that was Chester, completely helpless in the ocean's currents. Lina swam down, looping her arms under his, before kicking against his density. As her lungs started to burn, she reached the anchor chain, using the loops to pull herself up, finding Chester even easier to lift as he surfaced, as if his body was held down by weights while underwater.

Lina hacked out a bit of water. "Guess that's the Devil Fruit..." Keeping Chester's head above water, she pulled him up a few more rungs, grumbling, "C'mon Chester, help...me...you're too heavy!" As she started to get him more than halfway out of the water, she took a moment to elbow him in the stomach, making him cough up some swallowed water.

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

"Good question," Hamel said, answering Sancho with a thoughtful hand on his chin as he leaned away from one of Cormac's strikes. As he charged up for another blow, Hamel outstretched a hand, Cormac stopping in surprise.

"Hmmm, you're kinda dumb, aren't you?"

"Hah!?" Cormac growled.

"Even if you beat me...I mean, that's impossible, but let's just pretend. You couldn't beat Samehana and Sancho, right?"

"W-why not?"

"See, you're all worried. No confidence...it's kinda disappointing, really." As Cormac was too stunned to reply, Hamel tossed and arm over the larger man's shoulder, insisting, "It'd be better to run and wait for backup, right? Then give us a real good fight! Or try. Mostly I just don't want to be standing around doing nothing why my guys beat up your guys."

"...Your guys?"

"Shhh, they don't know yet." Hamel said, before raising his fist and delving it into Cormac's gut. As the cook doubled over, Hamel started away, saying, "Sound like a plan then?"

Turning his head back, a large, metal flail shot at him, striking him across the face. Hamel fell back, rolling to a stop a bit closer to Sancho and Samehana. Letting out a cough, he muttered, "Ow." Looks like they had company...

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

Ceiling bursting apart, the black forms caught in the mess faded as they were scattered about, leaving more black bits. The mass was silenced, Lina dropped to the ground as she was freed.

It didn't last.

"...Leave." More forms started to sprout around the broken area. Some came up from under Chester, taking him off the ground. "Leave! Leave!" The heads chanted.

Like a wave, the arms flowed, growing as they carried Chester out the door, pushing up, then down, forcing him to fall in their pace, even up the stair case. Lina made to follow, tailing the mass just as it was fading in Chester's wake. She called, "Stop damaging the ship! You're just making it mad!"

"Leave! Leave!" the chanting continued, heads forming on the walls of the hall. As Lina ran, she got a closer look at the black bits that remained when the hands faded, they appeared to be...petals?

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

Lina's jaw dropped. "How can you act normal at a time like this!?"

...Or, well, normalish.

As Lina yelled, the hands seemed to not mind the bottle as much as they started to grab Chester by the shirt, as if to pull him along. Reaching down, Lina hopped up, sword flashing, chopping through a few of the arms, which left behind black flecks that seemed to fade into the air. The faces moaned, but the hands did not reform.

Swiping again, cutting the rest of the hands that were on Chester, Lina grinned. "They aren't that bad at all!" Pulling her hand down, she thrust up, stabbing one of the faces square in its forehead. This time the black flecks were joined by specks of wood, Lina's blade stuck in the ceiling.

The black mass writhed, more arms sprouting as they started to form on the walls. "IT HUUUURTS."

Lina screamed as they grabbed at her sword, which she couldn't remove from the wood.

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

Hurtling through the air, the old, broken compass impacted a wall, shattering into shards of glass and metal, but not before leaving a gash in the wall.

Grimacing, Lina growled, "Chester!" As he looked around for his drink, she frowned, "You probably lost it being an idiot." She giggled, maybe you swallowed the whole bottle because you were scared!"

"It hurts..."

"Well, swallowing a bottle..." Lina stopped.

"Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts..." Something whined. Slowly, Lina looked up.

The wood of the cabin wall had been overtaken by convulsing, shadowy masses of movement. Grimy looking hands clawed at the air, more of them forming to reach the walls, where they began to scratch aimlessly. One of them was holding Chester's bottle. Spots without hands were taken up by small, round faces, twisted into pained expressions.

"It hurts!" they cried. Lina paled.

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

Lina frowned, watching Chester's weirdness blankly. "That wasn't me! You did hear it, you..."

"THERE'S A SPIDER ON YOUR FOOT!"

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

"CHESTER!" Lina hissed, snatching him from the hall and dragging him back. As she pulled him back into the storage room, she pointed at a spot on the wall void of anything except for some of the mess underneath it.

"There! It was... a face!" Frowning, she stooped down, putting her sun hat back on, before growling, "You could at least pretend to be concerned for me."

_{"It...hurts..."}

Lina let out a slight squeak of fright, a shiver running down her back. "Wh-what was that noise again?"

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

Barreling down on Sancho, Cormac's cleaver chopped through the air, but before it found a cushion of wool, a long leafy blade slipped in near the hilt, stopping it dead.

Stem sprouting from his wrist and snapping off as he continued to hold off the cleaver, Hamel began, "4th Division?" Free hand scratching his cheek, he wondered, "What about the other three?" A smile of recognition coming to his face, he said, "Unless they're coming."

Cormac grunted, eyes locked onto his stuck cleaver, before he growled, "They're beyond you! The rest of the Doom Pirates are sailing the Grand Line!"

Hamel sighed, "Aw, bummer. You're the toughest one here?" His hand reached down to scratch his rear.

Cormac blinked, "Huh? I said you'd get tanned, didn't I?"

"Huh? Sancho'll tan you, yeah, I guess."

Confusion being overwritten by a flash of red, Cormac growled, "I'm more than enough First Mate for you!" Lifting his knife, he cut sideways but Hamel ducked underneath before springing upwards once the knife sailed overhead. Flipping, he shot a kick out to Cormac's chin, staggering him backwards before landing on his back, rolling away, barreling into Sancho, tripping as the two stumbled into a heap.

"Haha. Whoops."

"You..." Cormac hissed, his men readying an assault.

Sancho trying to get up from on top of him, Hamel laid there, a blank look on his face as he wondered, "Why are pirates here if they're supposed to be protected?"

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

Whoops

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

Clapping his hand on Kuhn's shoulder, a few bandages around the light burns, Macario said, "Alright let's go then. No offense but it is my ship."

Order of things decided, the two went to the smaller boat, taking down the rope and sailing off as the Breeze had its anchor lowered.

Gasping out, Lina exclaimed, "Ah!" Bolting from the room, she went back up to the deck, going up to the next level, where three potted plants were lashed to the railing by the steering wheel. One of them had somehow fallen, dirt spilled out, but the Melonberry sapling was still undamaged. Lina called, "I've got to clean this up, but when I'm done I'll make something to eat!"

As she headed into the storeroom, her happy musings on what to cook were dashed when she saw their hard earned supplies strewn about. "Augh, we need to rethink this..." Stooping down, letting the hem of her light blue sun dress brush the ground, she began to clean up. Face hardening, she looked up, calling, "Chester! Get down here and help me!"

_"It...ts.."

"What!?"

_{"It...hurts..."}

"I can't..."

Moments later, the calm ocean winds were pierced by a shrill cry of fright, echoing throughout the Hinnon Breeze.