Steel Village and Purple Heart Pirates Take on Fishman Island

A few weeks had passed since the Steel Village had boarded the ship for Fishman Island. Before departing Rose Island the crew had obtain a few new members. Among the crew three of the four that had joined were on the ship sailing towards the mystical island under the sea. Fishman Island was a strange place, light, air, and a fish like species of human or rather a human like species of fish all occupied it, despite the unbearable living conditions.

The water was dark, and deep, no light from the sun was able to reach this deep. Various fish could be seen swimming by as they were caught in the lights that came from the ship Fish that Iken had never seen nor dreamed could exist were all swimming by. Some of the fish looked to be monsters rather than fish in the first place. There was an eerie feeling being under this much water with things that looked like monsters from ones nightmares. With no sunlight to warm the ship, the overall temperature was rather low. On the windows of the ship frost had formed the previous night. However it was gone by the morning, or at least what Iken assumed was morning.

Iken sat on the top deck with a small light near him that illuminated his immediate area. With a book in hand, Iken sat there reading he had been doing so for the last hour or so. Iken's gaze wondered from the book everyone in a while. There were much more interesting things to look at on and outside the ship than the words of a book. This fact made Iken's progress in the book painfully slow. "Eh, I'll just read this later." Iken said putting the book down. A loud noise came from the other side of the deck, with the minimal light Iken could vaguely make out it's overall form. However despite the lack of information, Iken was confident it was Benjamin.

[Benjamin]

The large giant laid on the deck of the ship snoring. He was in his wolf form, he found the fur was much better at keeping him warm than his regular clothes. With the constant darkness the giant felt like sleeping all the time. It would take something rather large to happen to actually wake the sleeping giant. "Zzz.zzZZZzz....zzzzzZZZzzz...." came from the sleeping giant wolf.

While Iken was staring at the fish around and while Benjamin was lying at the deck, Maletrix Steller, the commander of the fishman division was also on the ship. As the ship sailed through the dark waters, the fishman was wondering many things that took place on Fishman Island, many years ago... Apparently, the fishman was thinking of the moment he got kidnapped by a bunch of pirates and was sold as a slave... At that time, he understood the difference between humans and fishmen. Humans were acting as if fishmen were animals and were completely arrogant. Only a few of them understood that fishmen had feelings... One of those people that Maletrix knew was the person who freed him from slavery and the second one was none other than his commander... Iken Namikaze.

With a completely new outfit, Maletrix walked towards Iken. When he reached him, he bowed to his captain whose face could not be seen because Maletrix came from behind. As soon as he bowed, he talked with a serious voice and spoke his words. He said "Iken-sama, sorry for interrupting you... Before we arrive, I want to tell you something...". Then, he sighed and took a deep breath as what he was going to say could make him look slightly pathetic in the eyes of his captain. However, he decided to say it. He said "I... I want to thank you. I want to thank you for bringing me here. It was my dream to come at this place after so long.". Afterwards, he got up and he started walking towards his room in order to rest before the final arrival at his home place... He wanted to be refreshed when he would arrive at Fishman Island.

The morning was cold, Naomi stared out of the window in her room, she hadn't been able to sleep at all that night, nor the ones before, she hadn't had a good sleep in weeks, due to the temperature, Naomi couldn't sleep. Naomi was really sensitive to the low and high temperatures which made her unable to sleep at all when it was really hot or really cold, and in this case, the ship was really cold.

Naomi couldn't see what was outside the ship, she knew it was water, since they were on the ship, she knew the ship was moving, but the details, were unknown to her, not like Naomi really wanted to know them though, she believe in Iken, her captain, and also in everyone in the crew, even if she didn't know them personally.

Naomi was wrapped up in blankets, she didn't want to feel the cold, but it was inevitable, her head, which wasn't covered with the blankets, received the cold, the piercing cold, that made her shiver, even if it only came in contact with her head, not even her arms were in touch with the cold, just her head, and it still made her unable to sleep. Covering her head with blankets wasn't a good idea either because that would made her too hot and suffocate, which would come back to having her head out of the blanket, and make her have cold.

No matter what solution Naomi thought of, she found a defect and it would always end up with her being unable to sleep, she tried to think about things to do, besides laying on her bed and trying to sleep, which was obviously failing and making her extremely bored.

She thought about reading, but with such absence of light, she would end up going blind, for forcing her sight. She thought about going to visit Thor, but she thought that most probably he was sleeping, due to the absence of light, she didn't know exactly what time it was, but she assumed that it was the early morning. She thought about going to the kitchen and prepare something for herself, but Naomi wasn't good at cooking, or at least not good at handling everything quietly, so she would end up doing so much noise that it would wake up everyone in the ship, and that was something Naomi didn't want to do.

Naomi ended up deciding that she would stand up and change to something that would warm her more, because going out with shorts and a tight t-shirt, which was short sleeved, didn't seem like the best option out there, it seemed like a fool decision and Naomi wasn't a fool, or dumb, or anything like that, Naomi was smart.. although she liked being childish as well, but not in this case where it would risk her health. So she went to her bag and searched for some things, she found a pair of black jeans and a pullover that said "Lucky Star" in the middle, the pullover was black and had the letters in white, which was really nice. She changed and thought about what to do next.

She thought and decided that she was going to go out and walk around the ship, even though there was no light, she knew that eventually she wouldn't trip and that would make her get more used to the place, the ship, so she would be able to even attack in the ship, which was dimly lighter, and that would be better. She wanted to show that she indeed was worthy of being in Steel Village, besides that would take her out of her boredom for a while, it would get her entertained with tripping with stuff and everything. (In Naomi's mind tripping and everything would totally not make noise and stuff.. yeah)

She opened her door and started wandering around the ship, tripping from time to time with chairs and tables.. and sometimes even with walls, but she didn't make much sound because every time she bumped with something and it was going to fall she used her powers to make it stay in place, which was something really good about her powers in situations like this.

Thor woke up groggily from his sleep, half buried in his covers. He was tired, and it was pretty early in the morning to be awake, for him at least. He slowly adjusted to being awake, and laid in his bed for about five minutes, until he could actually move. He then yawned heavily and forced himself out of bed. He jumped back a little as his feet hit the cold floor. He then decided to deal with it and got up. He stumbled around his room, not being able to fully see out of his eyes, and being disoriented and tired. He sighed and grabbed a towel off of his floor and walked towards the bathroom. He then walked over to the sink and pour cold water on his hands, then splashed it on his face. He sighed, he was now awake enough to actually comprehend things. He then took a shower, and was now completely awake.

He dried off and walked back into his room and opened his closet. He then grabbed cargo pants, a white tee shirt and a black hooded jacket, and put them on. He then opened the door to his room and stepped into the hallway. He felt his feet touch the floor and face palmed, he forgot his shoes. He walked back into the room and put on a pair of black skate style shoes and walked into the hallway. He then began walking to the kitchen. He then realized something; he didn't know where the kitchen was! He hadn't been on this ship for long periods of time before, so he hadn't gotten used to it. He sighed, walking down flights and flights of steps, opening every door that didn't look like a bedroom. He finally found the kitchen and walked in.

"Woah!" he said silently looking at the kitchen

It was a huge kitchen, probably the biggest Thor had ever seen. Restaurant kitchens would cower before this one. Drawers of utensils, spices, pots, pans, silverware and food lined the whole kitchen, which must have been 30 yards in length. A stove on the back way easily had enough room to cook 50 things at once, and the oven below it could fit Thor inside it if he was planking, four times! Thor gawked at the kitchen. Zed would love this.. he thought. Thor sighed and stopped, suddenly missing his old friend. He then snapped back to reality, and remembered what he wanted. He pulled out some coffee beans, a mug and began boiling some water. He then sighed, and explored the kitchen, getting aquatinted with where everything was stored. Suddenly the whistle of the kettle sounded through the kitchen and Thor walked over to the burner, took of off the kettle and made his coffee, and also made another one for anyone who might want some.

Thor then, sipping on his coffee, exited the kitchen. He began to walk up to deck when he saw Naomi in front of his crash into a wall. A little surprised, he jumped back, as a reflex. A little coffee spilled on his arm.

"Ah, shit" he whispered to himself, his arm burning. He then looked over at Naomi and walked over to her, and handed her the other mug of coffee "Hey, this might help"

Sleeping as he floated along in the water Walden was lying on his back floating on the surface of the water thanks to the star on his back. Walden loved the calm quietness, he was off dreaming and having a lazy day as he'd spent the last 3 days working hard on trying to discover what it was that let him regenerate.

He was enjoying the serine environment until it was ruined as he was hit by a large ship. Walden felt the suction pad on the star on his back stick to the ship, he wasn't best pleased as he was stuck near the front of the ship, he was leading the way on the front of this ship and getting blinded by all the water which kept splashing in his face.

"HEY! HEY! HEY!" called out Walden he hoped someone aboard the ship could hear him but wasn't sure, he began banging on the ship as hard as he could at the same time whilst shouted trying not to let the splashing water stop him from shouting.

Vergil was sat cross legged on a lilly pad near some frog spawn playing one of his composed songs and singing along to it, he was also snacking on the frog spawn every now and then when he felt hungry. Vergil was bobbing his head slowly as he played and sang, he could hear a few mermaids telling him he as good and he smiled at them then winked, the mermaids all smiled then swam on by. Vergil loved getting attention from the women but they didn't want to get too close as he was a cannibal.

Vergil then looked down at the mermaids who we're resting on a near by lilly pad and stood up flicking another frog spawn into his mouth and he began serenading the mermaids as frog spawn were crushed between his teeth. The mermaids then looked at him disgusted and swam away, Vergil stopped playing and singing then called out, "I'm a piranha, what do you expect me to eat?"

He shrugged his shoulders then sat back down and played some more music, he hated the fact that him being a cannibal caused women to hate him but there was nothing he could do. He was what he was and Vergil wasn't going to change any time soon.

Vergil began strumming his guitar and singing along to it happily, he ignored the fact that a few beautiful mermaids had just rejected him and just enjoyed singing his song Cannibal Buffet.

Muso walked around the ship and sniffed around to see if any enemy was near or traps.
He checked the kitchens, the rooms, the armory... EVERYTHING.
All was clear so he went to Ikens room and fell asleep near Iken's bed.

[Kurohime]
Sleeping....

Amphirite Nereid (known to all whom she considered her friends- which was practically everyone-as "Ami") was already up since the early hours of the morning. The bubbly little mermaid musician was ecstatic about the idea of getting to return to her home island once more and even just being back under the water filled her to the brim boundless glee and energy.
The little parrotfish mermaid, gave her indigo fins another delicate beat, swimming along in the water beside the ship, her long black hair streaming out behind her.

Ami passed Benjamin, sleeping on deck and giggled at his giant furry sleeping form. "Good morning, Mr Wolf," she whispered as she passed by. "Sweet dreams."
Unlike her crew-mates, Ami was used to being many leagues under the sea and as such, was used to the lack of light.
She also passed her division captain- Maletrix and Steel's overall captain- Iken standing on deck. Ami smiled and waved to them too but decided not to interupt what appeared to be an important conversation.

She began to sing to herself lightly, twisting and almost dancing along to her own little melody in the water. Her voice seemed to pass through the water as easily as she did.
"Do you hear me? I'm talking to you. Across the water, across the deep, blue ocean, under the open tides. Oh my, yeah baby, I'm trying.
Boy, I hear you, in my dreams- I hear your whisper across the sea..."

"HEY! HEY! HEY!"
Ami blinked, ceasing to sing as she looked around for the source of the shouting and banging. She suddenly noticed what appeared to be a man, stuck to the hull of the ship.
She swam a little closer and saw that it was a starfish fishman...and he looked pretty distressed.
Ami swam up beside him, smiling good naturedly.
She'd promised Iken that she'd be careful around strange men (as she needed to learn that not everyone had good intentions when interacting with her) and even though she'd had unpleasant, uncomfortable experiences with fishmen when she'd travelled to Arlong Park- she saw no reason to group all fishfolk together and hate them all.
After all, Monty and Maletrix were both perfect gentlemen when they she was with them.

"Hi there!" she beamed to the fishman. "My name's Amphirite! But everyone calls me Ami! You look like you need some help, Mr Starfish!" And with that, Ami grabbed a hold of his arm and tugged him until the suction cup popped off the ship's hull. "There! All better! What's your name?"

Walden saw a parrotfish mermaid before him she seemed reluctant to pull him off the front of the ship but when she did he felt better. "Walden looked at Ami and said to her in a dozey sounding voice, "Thanks for that, Ami, I'm Walden and I was sleeping till that ship ran into me. So where did you come from?"

Walden looked at the mermaid and smiled at her, he then said to her, "Are you going to fishman island too? I was heading that way but I fell asleep along the way and well that's pretty much it really. I thought I fancied a holiday so I went on one on the way back, well yeah I just told you about that." Walden smiled at her.

Sangjo whispered binks sake as he steered the helm of the ship. Using the currents in the ocean, Sango sailed the ship toward fishman island. Usually people used sea kings to navigate throughout the strong currents of the ocean. This was his dream to finally see a world of mermaids. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest. Ami's voice was so heavenly that it kept him awake throughout the whole trip "Such a sweet voice has enchanted my heart as a sieren bellows to hearts of sailors to their deaths. Such beauty that brightens such light upon me face that the sun is merely but a glare. Such a creature that I love why can't you be mine? Did I just say that out aloud? I hope that Ami didn't hear that. Crap nobody knew I was talking about her. " Sangjo noticed that the ship was slowly steering of course. He quickly corrected the course before anyone noticed.

The teenage mermaid giggled, swimming along beside him. "Cool! I was born on Fishman Island...and then I left home to travel the seas...and then I became a pirate and did some interesting stuff with my new friends...and then I went home for a while...and then I went back to the pirates...and now me and my crewmates are going back to my home-island now! So that's why I'm here."
Ami gestured up to the ship and then looked back to Walden. "It's nice to meet you! Would you like to come aboard to meet my friends? I'm sure Captain Iken and Captain Maletrix wouldn't mind...they're both really nice, noble men..." She looked up at the ship and beamed, spotting Sangjo. "And that's Sangjo at the helm! He's a musician like me- only he's waaay better than me- and he's also one of my new friends!"

Ami waved up at Sangjo from the water, smiling widely and calling up at him. "Hiya Sangjo! Look!"

Walden smiled at Ami and said to her, "Yeah sure I'd love to join you aboard the ship. I'm sure I'll um, hit it off with your friends." Walden looked up to see Sangjo and waved to him. "So thats the guy who steered this ship into me then?" Walden asked, he wasn't angry just a little annoyed, he wanted to let him know but not shout at him. Walden then said to Ami, "Cool I like listening to music what instrument do you play?"

Ami grinned wider, looking even more gleeful. "Oh, that's great that you like music. I play the harp and I sing. Sangjo's going to teach me more instruments though...here, come up and meet the Captains...I'm sure they'll be very sorry that the ship hit into you and wouldn't mind you riding with us to Fishman Island...I'm sure Sangjo is very sorry too. He's a really sweet guy..."
The little mermaid continued to gush as she scaled the side of the ship and slipped back on to the upper deck, gesturing for Walden to follow her.

Walden climbed aboard the ship and following behind Ami and could feel water dripping from her body onto hi face and simply dipped his head. As he reached the deck he looked around and smiled, he liked the look of the ship and walked over to Sangjo and said to him, "Hi, I'm Walden if you heard some banging a few minutes ago thats because you ran into me a few minutes ago, I was taking a nap and you, um well yeah ran over me, don't worry about it, just...watch were your going." Walden smiled at him then walked back over to Ami and said, "So who else is there, I should meet then?"

As the crew went about their routine business, waking or sleeping or stumbling about the dark ship, Nocht continued about his business, sealed away in the pirate ship's startlingly well-equipped laboratory. In just the few days since he'd been effectively shanghai'd into joining the Steel Village - not that he'd minded, since it had been his intent to join anyway - the scientist had gotten more productive research done than he had in the three months prior.

"The stability is remarkable," mused Nocht, observing his subject. "Wouldn't you agree?"

His experiment, to whom the doctor currently spoke, didn't answer. It regarded him with a baleful stare, it's empty black eyes and despairing frown frozen in place. Whether the thing was as sad as it appeared, unfeeling, or even somehow happy, it could give no sign. The Creeper simply hopped up and down in place. Nocht nodded, scribbling something in his notebook.

"You were born thirty-two minutes ago," the young researcher told his creation. "The life expectancy of my Creepers has never extended past ten minutes before. What a remarkable little thing you are."

Smiling brightly, Nocht regarded his creation with fatherly affection and pride. It was living, breathing proof that he was getting closer and closer to unlocking the secrets of genesis. Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Carbon. From these four elements alone, some day he would craft a fully functional, self-sustaining, breeding lifeform. The green, mottled, misshapen beast before him was the first step.

"I think I'll give you a name," Nocht informed the little green guy, who hopped up and down even faster. He took this to mean that the cute little fellow agreed. "How do you like the sound of Steve?"

"Ssssssssss," the Creeper replied.

"No, Steve, not Ssssssss. You've got a lot to learn, S-" Nocht's words cut off mid-sentence, his face falling.

The pirate biochemist only had a moment to react. Following a protocol he'd drilled himself in countless times throughout his experiments, Nocht shot to his feet and kicked the bizarrely adorable little artificial lifeform into an open metal chamber he'd constructed from spare parts. With flawless, split-second timing, he slammed the lid shut. A moment later, the vault shook violently, a muffled exploding noise. Nocht slumped back into his chair, facepalming.

"Thirty-three minutes, fourteen seconds," he drawled out, scribbling the numbers in his book.

Eyes a tiny bit watery, Nocht glanced up to the top of the page where the experiment name "CRP-12,034" was written in his own atrocious handwriting. With a single, swift stroke of his pen, the disheartened researcher crossed out the designation. Above it, in a loving, fluid hand, he wrote the name "Steve." After a moment's thought, he went down to the bottom of the page and similarly replaced the word "Time of Deterioration" with "R.I.P."

After sulking to himself for a few moments, Nocht decided that it was time to give the lab a break. He'd been so excited by his pristine new working conditions that he hadn't taken a single break since he'd gotten about. It occurred to the scientist that there were a lot of people out there on this ship; it seemed to him that going out and meeting them all would give him a good opportunity to take his mind off the loss of his dear Steve.

Cracking the door open, Nocht found that it was very dark outside. It was cold, too, so much so that his breath froze before his face in the air. Iken's statement about their destination, Fishman Island, came back to him for a moment. The doctor reasoned they must be in that deep, frigid, lightless place between the ocean's surface and the artificial light provided by the fiberoptic tree that brought the sun down to shine on that island so far beneath the waves.

Nocht stood a while in the hallway of the below-decks, giving his eyes some time to adjust. When enough of the basic outlines and features of his surroundings became visible that he felt confident that he could walk without tripping and breaking his nose, the doctor made his way above deck. Before he'd even stepped out onto it, he could hear some others conversing.

"Well, if it isn't my dear shipmates," Nocht stated cheerily, approaching the talkative duo. He could vaguely recognize one as the hyperactive mermaid he'd met on the day of his arrival, but couldn't remember her name. It had something to do with Nephritis, he thought, but couldn't be sure. Of the other Nocht had no recollection.

"The lovely miss...fish scales...and mister...ahh, big teeth! How are we doing this lovely dark cold day? Wonderful out here, isn't it? What with all the dark and the cold. It's like being locked in a freezer, only without as many snacks. Oh, and you're both wet. May want to dry off, you know. I can't really advise, as a medical professional, standing around wet in subzero environments. Is he alright?"

As usual, Nocht's conversation came in quick, fluid bursts. His words drifted along with his attention, from one thought or subject to the next. As he'd been speaking, his miss-matched eyes had been wandering about the dark, gloomy deck. In their searching, he'd spotted a larger man - whom he also didn't recognize immediately - who'd just stumbled to keep from running into somebody and made an exclamation of pain.

"Are you alright?" asked Nocht, scooting over to the large man. Not too far from him, there was another of his many anonymous crewman, or crewwoman, as the case may be. She seemed to have just suffered a spill herself, toppling over something down onto the deck.

"How about you? You alright, too? Is everyone alright? You know what, in stead, just tell me if you're injured or sick or hungover. I'll assume you're alright otherwise. Save some time that way, you know?"

Suddenly, the doctor found himself recognizing the man who's statement of shock had caught his attention. He was another of those that had introduced himself back some days ago. Once more, the name slipped his mind.

"Ah, Odin! Just the man I wanted to see. Don't suppose you've got a minute free, do you?" Nocht laughed nervously, clapping his hands together and then rubbing them vigorously for warmth.

"I was hoping I might get to meet more of the fine residents of this equally fine craft on this similarly equally fine morning," Nocht rambled. "Might help if somebody gave me the introductions, you know?"

Monty walked inside the ship, exploring everything he could of the ship. Of course he didnt go into the private sleeping rooms, but he explored the kitchens, the storage rooms, the halls, etc. As he did so, he thought of what fishman island looked like. Although he was a fishman, he had only been in fishman island until he was 9 years old, and for some reason he couldnt remember anything of his childhood more than the death of his parents by the hands of the Celestial Dragons. This probably was because he had locked up the thoughts from good momnts with his parents deep in his mind, blocked away.

Then he got to the deck of the ship, the underwater was wonderful. The giant sea monsters, snakes ane other very dangerous things outside just boosted his adrenaline. He saw his captain Iken and his division commander taking, and after a while he decided to ask something to his captain. Monty approachd Iken and spoke.

"Mornin' Captain Iken-sama. I was wondering... How long, aproximatelly, are we going to takr to get to fishman island? And... Do you mind if I go and swim outside the coating?"-Monty asked both this questions, he was very excited because of the fact they were going to his natal land.-"This will be awesome."

Monty smiled at Iken.

Sitting on his bum, Iken could hear the sounds of the crew slowly emerging from their slumber. They reminded Iken of bears coming out for the first time since entering hibernation. This notion made Iken chuckle a bit, he was really bored at this point. However Iken's remembrance was short lived for he was interrupted by one of his nakama.

Iken wished he could sleep, however he didn't want anything to happen to the crew when they slept. So during the night Iken stayed up and watched the sea. Then during the time everyone was up and about, Iken tended to disappear. He was retreat into his room; no one seemed to notice his absence since they would see him in the morning up before anyone else.

"Ah, hey there Maletrix....and it's no problem. I wasn't doing anything important, just keeping watch over the ship." Iken said before listening to Maletrix's next words. "Thank me for taking you to Fishman Island?" asked Iken surprised by the man’s words. "There isn't any need to thank me my friend; you're not the only one with the goal of going to that beautiful place. Plus I have business with a friend, so it works all around." said Iken with a large smile. "Anyway I hope all of my nakama with us have a splendid time at Fishman Island, I've heard it's an amazing island." Iken told Maletrix.

As soon as Maletrix came, he was gone. Maletrix wasn't a man to express his emotions openly like he had. It meant a lot to Iken that Maletrix trusted him enough to open up to him like Maletrix had. Iken was happy that he was able to get through to him like he, apparently had. Even moments after it happened, the reality of the situation seemed like a happy dream. "I'm glad he can find a good reason to keep going." Iken mumbled to himself.

All of the sudden the sound of crashing and bumping came from down below. He could only assume it was someone that was rather clumsy, this however didn't really narrow it down all that much. The next of Iken's sense to be tested was his sense of smell; a strong bitter smell came from the kitchen. With Iken's nose this smelled pretty terrible; he knew it to be only one thing. From all his experiences, Iken knew it to be coffee. Iken hated the smell of it with a passion, even though his other super smell companions didn't seem to mind all that much.

Unfortunately super hearing wasn't in Iken's repertoire of abilities. So no matter how loudly Walden scream or how hard he pounded on the ship, Iken would have never heard him. The ship was huge, and someone hearing something or someone from the bottom of the ship wouldn't be possible. Well at least not possible without some enhanced hearing ability or a way to amplify the sound. The entire time Walden was suctioned to the ship, Iken wasn't able to hear him. That was too bad since Iken would have gladly saved the man from the underbelly of the ship if he had a chance.

To Iken, life was a precious thing, and unless someone he cared for or his was in danger, he would never take one knowingly. Iken learned this when his entire village was wiped out by a combination of marines and his very own family. The tough lessens Iken learned as he grew up formed him into the man we see today.

However, something Iken could hear was Ami's song. She was a very talented woman in Iken's opinion. She could easily out sing the sirens of old, that Iken had heard of through legends and various books. Even under the sea and from a great distance away, Ami's voiced could be heard. She seemed to have some natural talent to project her voice out underwater. Iken figured if anyone could do it, it would be a mermaid. Transfixed by the song, Iken just sat in his chair and listened from start to stop. As he listened he followed the silhouette of the mermaid with his eyes.

Deciding that he had enough sitting around, Iken got up. Walking over to the helm to see how Sangjo was, Iken overhead Sangjo talking to him. He was whispering what sounded like a song, until he seen Ami. Sangjo then began blabbering about her beauty and that he loved her. "Hehehe" laughed Iken under his breath. Iken couldn't help but laugh at the man at this point. "Oh, it's that serious? You're in love?" Iken asked. Leaning up against the doorway with his arms crossed made Iken's smug smile look even smugger.

Before Sangjo could respond, Iken noticed someone near Ami. It was another fishman, one that Iken didn't recognize. "Who is that?" Iken asked Sangjo. Iken wasn't all that worried, the new arrival didn't seem violent or in any hurry to do them all off. It was most likely a hitchhiker Ami had picked up on the way, offering them a ride in exchange for being her friend. Well that's what Iken thought anyway, he wasn't exactly 100 percent sure on that.

Iken watched as the fishman approached Sangjo, claiming Sangjo had run him over with the ship. Walden didn't seem to notice Iken standing around the corner. It must have been because everything was just so dark at that point. The man didn't seem overly upset about being run over, so Iken wasn't worried about him causing any trouble. Actually for someone who had just been hit with a large ship he was not only pretty calm, but he didn't seem to be damaged all that much either. Eh, he must have just been lucky or something, was the thought that ran through Iken's mind.

The next appearance was a loud and boisterous one. Nocht, which Iken hadn't seen in a few days, came out from his lair. The man had made the lab; his own, the only thing Iken knew of were the strange sounds coming from the said area. Iken didn't really care what Nocht did down there as long as the ship was still standing and everyone was accounted for.

Nocht greeted crew member after crew member loudly as he made his way to the deck. If anyone was asleep before they weren't now. He greeted everyone from the newcomer and Ami, to Thor and Naomi. The doctor did his usual rambling conversation which almost always drifted to something else once his attention shifted. Nocht reminded Iken of an island in the Calm Belt he had once heard off. The name of the island escaped him, but what happened on the island didn't. It was more or less a death trap with monsters; however this wasn't the reminder Iken was thinking of. The continuously changing seasons that it went through was. From what Iken was told, the island changed seasons once a week or something like that. It had been a long time since Iken heard the stories, so his version may have been a little off.

Once again Iken was snapped out of his daydreaming by one of the members of his fishman division. Only this time it was none other than Monty Finbreak himself. Iken didn't have time to react before Monty had spoken to him. The Balloon-Fishman asked Iken two different questions in rapid succession. A little taken back by the almost ambush style of Monty's questions, Iken had to pause and think. "Well I'm not sure how long it'll take. Now more than a few hours." answered Iken. The second question, to Iken seemed rather silly. "You're not a child; you don't need to ask me for permission my friend. We are all equals in a time of peace." said Iken showing a smile. "Yeah I hope this is awesome for all of us." said Iken happily.

Sangjo immediately apologized "I'm sorry mate didn't mean to run you over. I was just distracted.....how about a drink on me? It can be a apology gift as well as way saying welcome to the crew. You really must forgive me I haven't steered a ship in some time now." Then Sangjo noticed yet another crewmate had he never met formally(Nocht). Despite being vice captain, Sangjo really had no idea what was going on with the crew. Why did iken trust him with a high rank Sangjo will never know. "Hey new guy I believe we never met formally. My name is Sangjo bass. Always a pleasure to meet new recruits. You are new aren't you?" Sangjo let out his burnt arm toward nocht to shake.


Sangjo then kept quiet when iken questioned his feelings about Ami "I have no idea what you are talking about. Must have been waves you heard iken"

When Sangjo offered Walden a drink as an apology he smiled, he didn't mind getting hit but a drink would be nice he thought, but when he said it could be a welcome to the crew drink too he shook his head then turned back to him and, "Since when am I joining the crew? I never said or have been offered the chance to join."

Walden then noticed man looking at him who looked like he could command an army, Walden smiled then made his way over to him and said, "Hi, I'm Walden and I hear your going to fishman island, its a really nice place. I'm sure you guys will love it and you are?"

Under the waves of the ocean where it is dark and cold a noble sumo wrestler was laughing at the situation he was in. "HAHAHAHA! Where in the world would you find a sumo wrestler in a diving suit with weights strapped to him sinking in the middle of the ocean holding his breath because his tank ran out of air! HAHAHA and to top it off he can only doggie paddle!" Hiro thought to himself as he tried to keep his laughter in while holding his breath.

Hiro should have never trusted those guys. Hiro was Beating everyone to a pulp on a nearby island looking for a good match when some guys approached him and said there was a seaking out here that would eat him alive. He accepted the challenge obviously.

"They tricked me the bastards they cut the rope and left me to die!" Hiro got red in the face as this thought crossed his mind. He does not want to die because he could want hold his breath long enough. He wanted to die by a worthy opponents hand. "Ive been doggie paddling for half an hour now and still nothing. Not even a little seaking too give me a lift back."

Hiro's eyes then lit up. In the distance he saw a shadow of a Giant something. "Here my chance! Tense Doggie paddle!." Hiro tensed the muscles in his body and kicked with all his might. He bent his arms like his mother showed him in the lake when he was young."Prepare to become my ticket out of here sea king!"

As he approached he noticed a giant bubble like substance was in front of him. "Wait that's not a sea-". Before he could stop himself he entered the bubble and fell onto a deck of a ship. The impact smashed the helmet he was wearing. He got up and ripped off his diving suit with his bare hands revealing his muscular arms, legs and beautifully round pot belly. He Opened his mouth and Sucked in the air around him. The air felt refreshing as it filled up all the space in his lungs. "Air!" He shouted as he breathed out.

He suddenly realized he was not the only person on the ship. He looked around and saw a few strong looking guys talking too a starfish and a mermaid.

He could not hold his excitement. "Hey! You guys look strong! Want to be my eternal rivals in combat!"

Monty smiled and at the same time was VERY embarassed because of Iken's words... he really wasnt a child anymore... ut he didn't want to cause any problem to the crew. So Monty said bye to Iken in a low monotonic voice and walked away, then he saw the surrounding water, the light from the ship illuminated the surroundings, so it would be a good idea to stay close to the ship while swimming. Monty ran and jumped over the edge of the ship, diving out of the coating and feeling the fresh sea water in his skin. The feeling of clean, deep sea water was refreshing for him, and his speed and strenght were much greater here in water. He started swimming, surrounding the ship, he observed with attention the deep sea creatures, it had been a long time since the last time he was so deep in the sea, and he couldnt even remember when it was the last time.

After swimming for a while and performing some attacks to the water, that pushed shockwaves through the water and made water shots that were directed nowhere in special, but being careful not to shoot them to the coating or the sea monsters, Monty decided to go into the ship again, and for being so much time in the water, he had lost the sense of direction and where he was, so when he entered the coating of the ship, which he entered looking at the water instead of the ship, he turned around and saw that he had entered by the "ceiling" of the bubble. Monty's eyes widened and he started screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" -Monty screamed as he fell, he saw the ship's hard floor below him and closed his eyes. He gave thanks to god that he had extra strenght for being a fishman. -POOM- Monty hit the floor with his side and he stayed laying down there, moaning a little with pain. -"Oouuuchhh..."

Naomi hadn't noticed the wall until she crashed against it, she felt her nose squish against it and also her boobs, not like she would like everyone to see that, because that would be really.. but really embarrassing. Falling on her butt, Naomi looked around, she heard a voice and looked up, finding Thor with his hand extended, a mug of coffee on his hand, she smiled and stood up, taking the mug. She hadn't expected someone to be up at this time in the morning, specially Thor, for some reason Naomi thought about Thor as someone who would wake up late in the morning, like at 11 am or something, she hadn't expected him to be up at this time and specially with this cold, and without the proper light, and also in the kitchen.

"Thank you Thor" she said before drinking a little of the coffee inside it, it obviously warmed Naomi inside, the coffee was really good and was recently made which made her smile inside while drinking, in the cold weather what else was perfect than a mug of coffee, warm, hot coffee, it was specially Naomi's favorite since she was really really really sensitive to the extreme temperatures, so something that made her body temperature hotter, in the cold weather, or more cold in the hot weather, made her happy, really happy. She also liked eating ice cream when it was hot, but since it was cold, obviously, the perfect thing to eat/drink was coffee.

She walked a little and sat on one of the kitchen's chair, which was randomly placed around the kitchen. She continued to drink her coffee without caring to make a conversation with Thor, because she was really cold and right now only drinking the coffee he gave her would make her feel better. Also, Naomi didn't feel like talking because of the cold, it made her be kind of anti-social which was really weird of Naomi, and also the little sleep she had all these two weeks didn't make it better. She felt like crap, and that was only the beginning, she could barely stay with the eyes opened, her head hurt, everything was hurting for her, but she would not talk about it with someone, she was just too sensitive to the cold.

Her throat ached, so the coffee, which was the first warm drink she had since some days ago, refreshed her throat, this made it easier for her to talk, it hurt before, to just manage some words out of the mouth, but now it would be better and easier, and less painful, which was something that Naomi didn't like, she didn't like feeling pain, but then again who did? Except masochists of course, they do like feeling pain, but that doesn't matter right now. Naomi stood up and went to Thor, since she didn't want to talk, since it clearly still hurt doing so, she had talked when saying thanks. So once she was near Thor she glomped him, and grinned childishly like always, she felt way better and it was all thanks to him, Naomi though still felt like crap and didn't want to talk or do much activity at the moment, but her mood had certainly gone up.

Ami giggled, blissfully unaware of anything that Sangjo had said about her as she waved to her fellow musician.
She twirled her tail around a little, giving it a stretch against the timbers of the deck and adjusting her seashell top as she spoke. "Oh, who else is there? Well, there's Iken-sama, Maletrix-sama, Thor, Naomi, Myra, Kangae, Monty...oh! And that's Dr Nocht! Hiya Dr Nocht. I'm fine! How are you?"
Ami looked up at the newest recruit with a warm smile. "My name is Ami," she reminded him, casually tilting her head. "Have you created any more of those cool creeper thingies, as of late?"

Ami blinked and then looked to Walden with a happy squeak. "Ah! You should join the crew! At least until we get to Fishman Island! Riding on a ship is so much less tiring than swimming..."
As she spoke she started to play with her waist-length raven hair, winding coils of it around her finger and letting each new wet ringlet slowly straighten out again.

Ami let out a high pitched shriek when Monty suddenly fell through the bubble and on to the deck, immediately scooting over to see if her crewmate were ok. "Oh no! Monty, are you alright?" She gently stroked his back, rather sympathetic. "That happened to me this morning. Though I didn't hit the deck quite as hard. Good grouper-fish, that bubble is lethal..."
Ami looked back over at Nocht. "Maybe the expert should take a look at him."

Suddenly a sumo burst through the wall of the air-bubble and on to the deck of the ship. This time, the little mermaid let out a truly ethereal, almost-operatic falsetto scream, not knowing what to make of the situation at all.
"KYAAA!~"
She watched Hiro for a moment or two, her big violet eyes blinking innocently and curiously. Eventually, Ami sidled forward, looking up at him and holding out her hand to shake his. "Eternal rivals? Can't we be friends instead? I'm Amphirite. But you can call me "Ami"...what's your name?"

Once again, the rather naive creature of the sea had decided to adopt the "make friends first, ask questions later" policy.

Walden smiled at each of the crew mates Ami pointed out to him and liked the thought of joining the crew but didn't want to show it as it was up to the captain whoever that was. He saw Ami run over to A guy who seemed to be called Monty and he said "I can help, I'm a doctor and a scientist."

When he heard a loud thud he turned to see a sumo wrestler and realised he liked Ami as she seemed excitable and childish. Walden helped Monty sit up and asked him "Are you feeling ok?" Walden saw the Monty looked ok and didn't want to disrupt the norm on the crew so he stood back and let the norm resume.

Walden walked over to Sanjgo and asked him, "So what instrument do you play? I heard you were a musician from Ami and that your teaching her to play music. I love listening to music especially when I work so I'd love to hear you guys play some music sometime." Walden then smiled looking at Ami and Sanjgo. Walden looked on ahead to see where they were then asked Sangjo, "Who is your captain, cause I'd like to ask him a question, Ami seems to want me to join the crew and to be honest I think I would like to, although I feel it would probably be a topic best discussed with your captain whoever that is."

Alphonse Woke-up with loudness circulating his ear, hearing two separate thuds as they banged on the floor. His mood became worse as he heard a loud shriek echoing in his ear, it sounded like the mermaid that they recruited.. Alphonse decided to stand up and check what the fuss what about with anger in his eyes, almost burning fire from them as he Broke open his door to find a Sumo wrestler on the ship, and a hurt Nakama. The Sumo wrestler was approached by the mermaid, whom asked to be friends with him. Alphonse walked up to the sumo man, and stopped shortly behind the mermaid that had joined.

Alphonse didn't have his coat on since he left it with Sarahs body, in the current darkness his shards were glowing only thanks to the short amount of light surrounding them. The shards were scattered around his body, making them glow as if he had small bits of light scattered across his body. He crossed his arms and glared at the Sumo man that interrupted his Nap, if he was here for a violent reason Alphonse would be the one to Defend the crew.

Monty saw that Marissa came to see if he was alright, in his mind Monty was cursing for how stupid he was, but he showed a smile combined with the feeling of pain to Marissa. She always was a very good friend to everyone, sometimes too innocent, but nice overall. Monty liked her very much as a friend, and he was lucky to have her in the fishman division, since he enjoyed her music a lot. he laughed a bit at Marissa's comment.

"Indeed, it is a danger for people that enjoy swimming in the deep sea, like fishmen, mermen and mermaids." -then Monty saw another fishman, a starfishman to be precise, walking towards him, saying that he could help cause he was a doctor. -"Oh, no thanks doc. i think I am alright."

He took his hand to stand up with his helped, his back ached like hell, but he decided not to make a show greater than the one he had just made. Then Marissa and the new guy went to speak with Doctor Nocht. Monty stood up and saw that Alphonse had walked out and was standing in the deck, looking at the Sumo fighter that had just fallen into the ship, just like Monty, but without suffering severe achings like him. Then Monty decided to go and talk with Alphonse... he had not had the opportunity to give him his condolences for Sarah's death... but he didn't know if it was a good idea to touch the topic.

"Good Morning Alphonse." -Monty said as he approached him.-"How are you today?"

He said with a small smile in the face.