Serious : Red Heart Pirates [pt.2] : To the Grand Line and Onto Jellyfish Island

"I'll go pick up some supplies." said Van,

"Maybe see some of the sights.", he walked off, towards the marketplace.

"And if I happen to find some wanted posters, I'll just tear them off." he thought to himself

"I guess I'll just look around first. Maybe go find a bar or something..."
Work came first, after all. He turned to Nabie, but couldn't bring himself to look at her directly.
"Hey, maybe we can try some of that candied jellyfish later... I mean, if you want... And if you don't, that's cool, I mean..."
The thought of candied jellyfish made him shudder. The realisation of what he had just asked made him shudder inside even more.
But it was just for work, right?
Just to get some info on her. So it wasn't high treachury or anything. And it wasn't because he liked her. Just work.

Nabie laughed. "It's okay. Candied jellyfish doesn't sound too appealing, does it?" As she got closer to the village, she noticed that the ground was slippery. She asked a fisherman who just happened to be next to her about it.

"Ah, that's because we bring in so many jellyfish, the ground gets soaked in the remains," the man replied cheerfully. Nabie grimaced. That definately didn't sound appealing, but she decided to watch herself and try not to slip or something.

After nabie had left, Ajax stood there for a while, feeling confused. Now, had that been a yes or a no?
He couldn't even be mad at her, she had only told the truth.
Maybe he should follow her? No, maybe he should follow Van Slycer. He seemed like the bigger threat right now, a little spying wouldn't hurt.
After a while of standing and staring at nothing in particular, he chose option 3: Look for a place to report from.

There seemed to be only one motel in the whole town, logical, if one thought about how the primary business relied on catching and serving jellyfish...
Before he entered, Ajax took a short look on the bounty posters. Of course, his wasn't there. And as he didn't have any on him, he didn't pay it much thought.
He took a room for the day and locked the door from inside.
Only then did he take out his baby den den mushi which was always linked directly to the nearest marine post.
He took a minute just sitting there, looking at it, before he started his report.

Van picked up one of those candied jellyfish, much to his surprise, they didn't tast that bad. Ugh but the after taste.

He walked into a store and bought some supplies. On his way back to the ship, he got his hands on some dry jellyfish and started eating them. Chewy but somewhat bland and tasteless. Van was getting tired so he hurried back.

Did Slycer just actually eat those things?
Again, he shuddered. After his report, he had decided to go and buy some more cigarettes, one of which he was smoking.
He had just happened to see van Slycer, and had followed him a bit. Just a nice way to get his head clear after... everything.
After a while, he just casually walked up to him, as if he had just happened to be there.
"Soooo, what do you think about this whole thing?"

"If you ask me, these jellyfish foods either taste bad or tasteless." he said, eating another dried jellyfish,

"But they are kinda chewy." he added,

"So what have you been up to?"

"Oh, this and that... Buying new cigarettes, mostly. Man, can you believe they only have one store in this whole town that offers cigarettes?"
He shook his head and offered Slycer one of them.
Not that he wanted to be nice or anything. Good relations to his crew couldn't hurt, though. He still hated him.
"But what I really meant was: What do you think about this whole journey. Three people? To the grand line? Elite or not, that sounds a little risky, don't you think? And then there's the captain..."
He looked at Slycers reaction closely.

Van smirked, refusing thwe cigarette,

"This journey through the grand line seems really interesting. Besides, we're strong, we beat up a whole group of marines on our own. And if there is something or someone one of us can't beat, it's good to know that we can get help from our crew. And for the captain, I doubt she'd start a crew if she wasn't strong." He said, a yawn followed.

"Man, when I get back to the ship, I'm gonna take a nice nap." he said

He tended to do that often. Ajax made a mental note: Van Slycer either needed much sleep or was really laid back.
Now, back to the talk about the captain.
Wait.
"Haven't you gotten any sleep tonight?"
Had he been watching them? Maybe looked through his things? That could be dangerous.

"Yeah, I just like sleeping a lot. The more I sleep, the more energy I have." said Van,

He took a piece of fruit out of the bag and started eating.

"If I have more energy, I can become stronger." he thought to himself.

Okay, so he really did just need much sleep.
Ajax tension was gone with that answer.
"Hey..."
What was he doing? The question in his head wasn't important. So why did he want to ask it so badly?
And why, out of all people, did it have to be Van Slycer he asked?
".... Say, if I got into a situation that could cost me my life..."
He stopped himself before finishing the sentence, instead he blew the smoke of his cigarette out.
"...Forget about it. Do you know where our captain went?"

Van looked at Ajax, he knew what he was gonna ask,

"I haven't seen her since I left. She may be at a store, or a bar, or even a casino. After my nap, I'll take a look." he said

"Nevermind."
The question still burned in his mind, but there was no way in hell he'd ask him.
"I'll go and look for her. Have fun with your nap."
He turned away from him and waved goodbye over his shoulder before heading off to the towns square.

Van laughed,

"Some people can't ignore pride." He said.

When he got to the ship, he put away the supplies and walked on the deck. he found a comfortable spot, sat down, put his hat on his face and fell asleep.

"I wonder if the grand line is as dangerous as they say?"he thought

"See her anywhere?"
Ajax was holding Nabies bounty poster in one of his hands, a poor bystander with a split lip in the other. Hit first, ask questions later.
Plus, he really needed to clear his head, and what better way to do that then beat up bystanders?
"No! No, I swear! She never came by here!"
Frustrated, Ajax threw him into the dirt and turned away.
He lit himself a cigarette, his third one today. This habit was getting worse every minute...
What he wanted from Nabie, he didn't know yet. He just felt the deep desire to get to know her better. All for the sake of the mission!

Van was thinking, What would Ajax want with the captain? Was he an assasin? No, he would've tried something. And the fact that he'd might almost have asked if he'd be saved when in danger.

"I might wait a bit, but I would help him. Eventually. Perhaps." he thought.

But this was his sleep time, and he wouldn't let this bother him.

For a while, Ajax just stood there, smoking and sometimes snarling at the people who dared to look at him even a second to long.
What now?
He looked at the shore, then at the main part of the island.
Finally, he sat down on a bench. Thinking sure was heavy work sometimes, he'd need some time to figure out everything. About Van Slycer, Nabie, his sister and his job, and mostly, about this mission.
He took his sunglasses off. Who'd care about reading in his eyes here, anyway?
Then he leaned back and looked into the sky.
Who knew... Maybe Nabie'd come by here all by herself... Or maybe something else'd happen...
The sun made him sleepy...

Van had awoken from his nap. He was surprised to see he was still alone.

"Man, they're taking their sweet time. Should I look for them?" he asked himself.

He decided not to. He wasn't there parent. They could take care of themselves. But what would he do? He chose to check out the weapons he stole from the marines, see if they were worth something.

((Sorry!! I'm moving tomorrow so I've been pretty busy))

Nabie had been wandering around for a while and somehow ended up getting lost. "I was pretty sure the town was this way..." she mumbled under her breath and sighed. All she could see now were trees and rocks.

She walked around for a few more minutes, trying to followed the humidity or something. After a while, she gave up and decided to rest for a bit.

Van had looked over the weapons. Mostly guns, a few swords, nothing special. He put them away and walked back to the deck.

"They're sure taking their time." he thought to himself.

He grabbed a telescope and stood as a lookout. If anyone wanted to attack the ship, he'd fight them off.

Ajax yawned and got up.
He stretched his arms, feeling really tired, and put his sunglasses back on.
Where was that girl?
He looked around, and then decided to search the island for her.
And he'd go.... that way.
He lit another cigarette and slowly started walking outside the village.
After five minutes, he started kicking trees and shouting curses.
On reason for that was that said trees were hard. The other was that he had gotten lost.

Van was getting bored. he decided to sop waiting and go looking for the others.

"What a wste of time. They should've gotten maps."He thought to himself.

heard something in the distance. It sounded like cursing. It was probably nothing.

There were noises coming from her right. Nabie stood back up and headed toward the sound.

There was a large building she had never seen before. Well, it wasn't really a building... it was more like a machine. It was trying to drill its way into the ground. There were several men around the machine as if they were trying to protect it.

Still cursing, Ajax walked deeper into the wilderness.
He had decided to pick out a direction at random. Soon, he found himself staring at the back (or at least he guessed it was) of a weird looking thing.
Drilling? Was that something he should know of?
He had never been good with paperwork.
He walked towards one of the men, assuming that it was some sort of marine soldier. He wasn't wearing a uniform, granted, but neither was Ajax himself.
"Hey, what's going on here?"