Navigational Woes - (III)

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"Shit."

That was the only word going through Kerri's mind at the moment as he attempted to speed away from his pursuers, cutting through the water like a knife through butter. He had only popped his head up out of the water for a few seconds, but it had been enough for them to spot him. The wrong place at the wrong time he supposed, but before he had realised what was happening, the boat had loomed up behind him. It was his mistake to breach the surface of the ocean and now he was paying for it.

A net was dropped into the water, the merman nimbly dodging it with his superior underwater agility. Unfortunately, he dodged straight into the shot of a speargun, the pointed weapon piercing Kerri just below his shoulder.

Above the water, the culprits of the attack were gathered on the one side of their ship, staring down into the water as the red filtered through it's depths. One man, who's rather opulent looking hat did nothing to hide his lack of hygiene, slapped the man carrying the base of the speargun.
"You're not supposed to damage the merchandise, goddamn it!" He yelled, spittle flying from his mouth.

The second man shrunk backwards at these words, clinging to the speargun as if it were a lifeline. He was incredibly relieved when his captain turned around to motion to crew members further up the deck.
"Drop the seastone one!"

Back in the water, Kerri was attempting to pull the spear from his body. Before he could register it's descent through the water, the seastone net was upon him, tangling the young merman within it's mesh-like walls.



A short distance of the ocean away, a small ship was sailing through the cold morning breezes. Although the ship didn't have much of a crow's nest, one individual was hanging off the mast. For most, it would be a mystery how she got up there, but for those who were used to her personality - those who traveled on her ship - it would be a normal occurrence.

Holding on to the mast with one arm and balancing herself with her feet, Shiori shielded her eyes with her remaining arm, squinting at something in the distance. It looked like there was another ship over there. Perhaps it belonged to pirates? She could quite tell as it seemed that the sails had been taken down temporarily.

"Fair enough!" Hayes called back, almost finished with untying the knot. He looked behind him for a moment to see his captain fighting. It was a mesmerizing thing, all of the fluid movements that went into her attacks. But he couldn't focus on that right now, he had to save this merman who now had a name. "Kerrigan, huh? That's a pretty cool name."

A few more seconds went by and he completely undid the knot holding the merman hostage. Letting the net fall around him, he turned back around, his dagger at the ready. He was going to help Shiori fight no, or at least show her that he was finished.

'You're free now, Kerrigan. You can do what you want now. Run, hide, fight, it's up to you. If you want to run, I'm sure we'll be the perfect distractions to let you escape." Hayes said as he stood up. He looked down at Kerri, a small smile on his face. Then he dashed off to the fight going on to back up his captain.

At that moment, the rest of the crew arrived, jumping from their ship onto the enemy's, drawing their own weapons. They started attacking some of the sailors, causing even more commotion to cover for Kerri. Hayes, too, joined in, hopping on the back of a man trying to attack Shiori from behind. He pulled him away, steering him into attacking another man by mistake, who fell to the floor of the ship, knocked out. He hopped off of the sailor he was on, pushing him into his fallen ally, causing him to crash to the ground, his head making a thumping sound on the wooden deck.

"Watch your back, Captain!" The chef said with a smirk, facing away from Shiori to fight anyone who dared to come from behind. He spoke his next words to her just soft enough for only her to hear them over the noise. 'I freed Kerrigan, the merman they captured. No idea what he's gonna do next, though. I thought we'd make a pretty good distraction if he decided to run now."

"Uh... Thanks," replied the merman as the edges of the net were pulled apart and he could finally get free from within their tangled depths. Pulling the net from around him and shuffling awkwardly out from it, Kerri grabbed the net and tossed it overboard so these assholes wouldn't be able to use it again. He then paused, took a deep breath and then grabbed on to the spear impaled in his shoulder, finally ripping it out.

"Ugh," he groaned a little as he put a hand to the wound, pressuring it to try and stop it from bleeding too much. Kerri then shuffled over to the first net that they had tried capturing him with and heaved that overboard as well.

The merman moved over to the side of the ship, before turning to look back at Hayes and the tawny haired girl. He wanted to help, but with his injury and lack of skill, he would likely be more of a hindrance than a help to the two. He watched as Shiori blocked a sword with one of her knives, her legs occupied with clearing some space around her as Hayes approached.

Kerri was relieved as the second ship arrived, the remaining crew hopping over to aid Shiori and Hayes. He felt less bad leaving them to fight now that they had other allies. That said, he did have one last weapon up his sleeve.

Grabbing the spear from where he had pulled it from his wound, Kerri watched for one of the enemy pirates to be a clear shot and threw it back at them. It impaled one of them in the back, and as glorious karma would have it, it happened to be the exact same pirate who had shot him in the first place. Chuckling darkly, Kerri waved to the pirate as he turned to see where the spear had come from. The man almost seemed to growl before falling to his knees as a result of the injury. Kerri meanwhile, took this opportunity to pull himself overboard.

Cutting through the surface of the water like he was born to do, Kerri ignored his injury for the time being and swam straight downwards into the ocean's depths.


Back on the ship, Shiori nodded to Hayes and watched for the merman's actions. When he dived overboard, the tawny haired captain continued fighting for a few minutes to give him time to move onwards before she called out to the members of her crew.
"Alright! We got what we came her for. Time to bail!" she yelled out, her voice carrying across the deck of the ship so that all her crew members could hear. She waited for them all to begin their retreat, the remaining pirates looking slightly relieved that they wouldn't all be knocked out by some crazy girl and her crew.

Hayes caught glimpses here and there of what Kerri had been doing as he helped fight the pirates. He almost laughed when he saw the merman wave at the man he threw a spear at, but kept his composure. As he jumped into the water, he deflected a sword, using his enemy's weight to flip him onto his back. He bonked him in the head with the handle of his dagger, and followed the others as they all returned to the ship.

He flipped over someone trying to grab him, landing on the woman's back. Almost immediately, he jumped off of her body, pushing her into another pirate, and landing on his own ship in the process. He did a little pose, crossing his feet and putting his hands up in the air, his dagger glinting in the late morning light.

'So, does that performance get a 10 or what, Shiori?" He called back to his captain, his eyes filled with an almost child-like glee. He turned around to watch her, and luckily was able to notice the boot that had come flying his way. He moved out of the way quickly, the boot landing on the wooden floor of the small boat. 'Really? A shoe? That the best you got?"

He immediately regretted taunting them, as he found himself dodging spears, swords, daggers and other pointy sticks of death. But at least they were getting free weapons. He grabbed a dagger as it flew by his face, spinning and throwing it right back. It stuck into the stomach of one of the pirates, and the weapons suddenly decided they were done going on vacation to some other ship.

"And that, my enemies, if how you throw a dagger!" He called back, walking over to the galley of the ship, ready to go as soon as his captain join him.

After the rest of her crew members were back on their ship, the tawny haired captain hopped over to join them. Shiori chuckled at Hayes's comment, pretending to think about it for a moment, "Hmm... well... maybe a nine," she replied with a mischievous grin as she landed next to him.

Turning back to the hostile ship, she made a saluting motion before waving to them as they began to move away. As they began to throw numerous pointy weapons at their boat, Shiori nimbly dodged them, kicking one such spear away from where it would have impacted Hayes's leg. She watched him throw one of the daggers back, which promptly ended the unwanted volley.

"Hoo boy, I don't think they'll be throwing anything else over here after that," she chuckled. She should really feel bad for them and the injuries they'd sustained, but, well... they were kinda assholes. So she didn't fell bad at all.


Meanwhile, Kerri had finally reached the ocean floor, his species's adept swimming abilities making this trip more than a breeze for him. Of course, he had to be careful of his injury now, but a little swimming never hurt him before. Scanning along the sandy bottom he spent a few minutes searching before he actually found what he was looking for. With a small smile, he grasped the blue-hilted throwing knife and made his way back up to the surface.

Hovering near the surface of the water, Kerri could see the hulls of the two boats. He could tell immediately that the smaller one was the one that the individuals who had saved him had been sailing on. He'd recognise the barnacle covered hull of the slavers ship compared to the pristine hull of the others'.

Poking his head up above the water just so that his ear fins and eyes could be seen if anyone was looking, he watched the ship. He really wanted to give the knife back... it was the least he could do but he was worried. It wasn't just Hayes and the tawny haired girl on that ship after all. There were all those other people.

Kerri blew bubbles in the water, frustrated at himself. Maybe he could wait till it was dark and catch one of them without everyone else there.

"What, only a nine?" Hayes replied, his face wearing a fake frown. He then chuckled, opening the door to the galley. "I'll be in here making lunch if you need me."


Several hours pass, and after a delicious lunch and talking about plans for what to do next, Hayes found himself in the kitchen again, wearing his signature pink apron. On the stove were a couple pans, one frying some cut fish with potatoes and spices mixed in, and in the other, some tomatoes and eggplants were cooking in oil, creating a delectable scent to waft in the room.

Not needing to do much but watch at this point, he worked on finishing the desert, a homemade ice cream with coconut shavings to give it that distinct flavor. He started adding the final touches to make it look just a good as it tasted.

Shiori wandered into the kitchen, having smelled the food cooking. She took a seat at the small table within the room and watched Hayes cook for a few moments before taking out her journal. She sat for a little while and wrote in it, recapping the events of the day and including a few little doodles of various things including the merman they had rescued.

"We'll have to buy a ton of new ingredients when we get to Fairwell," she grinned, speaking up all of a sudden. She tapped her quill on the page she had been doodling on and looked over to Hayes, "That smells pretty good by the way. What're you cooking?"

Even thought here was no conversation during the preparation of the meal, it was nice having the company of Shiori there while he cooked. It was a welcome thing when she spoke up, too. He had gotten pretty bored with just watching fish sizzle.

"Yeah, we will. We need to get the ingredients for my favorite kind of cheesecake." Hayes replied, smiling as he turned around. He looked at his captain, wondering what was going to happen next on this adventure. "And I'm making a haddock and potato mix, with some fried eggplant and tomatoes as a side. For desert, coconut vanilla ice cream, homemade of course."

The chef took a wooden spoon, mixing up the fish and potatoes once more to let the flavors combine. He wafted the smell into his nose, and added a dash of chili powder. Enough to give it some more flavor, but not a huge kick. After stirring it around again, he left it be.

"Shouldn't be much longer, now." Hayes set the spoon down next the sink. He didn't think he would need it again until tomorrow. He pointed at Shiori's journal, a curious look on his face. "What are you writing in that, anyways? A story, perhaps?"

Shiori grinned as Hayes described the food he was making. He really did know what he was doing; she was pretty lucky to have a cook like him as a part of her crew. She knew pretty much nothing about cooking, but was a huge fan of spicy fish stew and couldn't help but try and recreate her mother's old recipe sometimes. She was still lacking the right fish for the stew though.

"Mmmmm, sounds tasty. Maybe you can help me try and find the right fish for my spicy fish stew," she smiled. Perhaps if she could find the words to describe what it tasted like Hayes might be able to help a little more with his own knowledge. Either that or a little trial and error.

Glancing back at her journal as the cook mentioned it, Shiori's eyes skimmed over the words she'd written in her mother tongue and smiled fondly. "Not a fictional story. I use this more like a journal, so I was just writing about the mer-dude on the ship," she chuckled. Shiori then flicked a few pages to the back of her journal. There really wasn't that much space left in it. "Looks like i'll have to get a new one soon though."

"If I could taste it, then there'd be no problem discerning what fish is in it. What have you tried before? And do you know all the other ingredients and procedures to making it? For all you know, if you weren't making it just right, then the correct fish could have been in front of you the entire time." The chef said, turning the heat on the stove tops down. He smelled the fire before the two pans, deciding just where to keep them. "There's a lot of factors that go into making even one simple dish just right."

Hayes turned off the stove top that had the frying vegetables, stirring them around once more to swirl the flavors together. He took a large plate and spilled the contents onto it, moving them around into a pattern. He took some basil leaves and sprinkled them on the vegetables.

"I see. You'll have to tell me all about your past adventures someday. And I'm sure we can find something in Fairwell when we get there." The young man turned around, the plate in his hands. He set it down in front of Shiori, a smile on his face. He grabbed a couple pieces off of it, taking a bite for himself. "Try one, I need a second opinion."

"Nah, I know what's in the rest of it. My mother used to make it. It's just the fish that's missing. I've tried so many species from all the blues, but it's just not right yet." She sighed, planting her face in her journal for a moment before looking back up again. Hayes may be an expert in most things cooking, but Shiori was pretty sure she knew almost everything to do with her mother's spicy fish stew. It wasn't urgent to try and find the right fish, it was just something she'd like to do.

Shiori chuckled as she accepted the food from Hayes, "I mean, some of them are pretty boring, but i'll definitely have to tell you about Dusky and Echo sometime. They're the ones who taught me how to be so badass," she grinned widely, before popping some of the food into her mouth.

Chewing and taking it slow so as to taste it properly, Shiori finished her bite and gave a thumbs up to Hayes, "Tastes good to me!"


Kerri meanwhile was hovering around the ship. He still hadn't plucked up the courage to talk to any of them and at this point he was considering just leaving the knife on the deck when no one was looking. It would surely get dark soon though and he'd be able to do something then.

"Well, then we'll just have to find that one fish. If you make a list of what you've tried,
and I can get a look at the other ingredients, I should be able to make some test dishes." Hayes said, turning back around to finish the fish and potatoes. "Still, a boring story is still a story, none-the-less! And I'd be happy hear about them! I wonder how great they are based on your skills."

He used his spoon to crush the potatoes and fish a tiny bit, letting the flavors spill into the oil bubbling around it all. He turned of the stove completely, putting all of the food into a large bowl to take it from. He put a different spoon into the dish, and grabbed a few plates, putting servings for everyone on them. He took the fried vegetables and added those to everyone's meal as well.

"And here it is." The chef set one of the plates down in front of his captain, and grabbed the others to put on the nearby table. He walked over to the door leading outside, stopping to turn back to Shiori. "I'll get everyone else in here. Dig in!"

"When we get to Fairwell i'll be sure to get everything we need to make it," she smiled, flipping the page of her journal to the next one and replacing her quill to the page to start bullet pointing things she needed to do. In this case, it was a brief list of ingredients to remind her what she needed to purchase.

"That is... if we manage get to Fairwell though and don't just sail straight past," she chuckled weakly, "I get the feeling we're just sailing in circles at the moment since none of us really know how to navigate properly. All we can really do is guess," she frowned, pausing for a moment before she spoke up again. "As for the stories though, maybe when we have a bigger crew i'll tell everyone and we can have one big story picnic or something!"
Shiori laughed at the idea. It sounded fun though, to just find somewhere nice, get a bunch of tasty food and drinks and share stories.

Folding her journal and quill away and tucking them in her jacket for the time being, Shiori's hand brushed against the remaining of her throwing knives. It was a shame that she had lost one, but she supposed that at least it had been for a good cause. Removing her hand from her jacket, she waited for the others to join them at the table before she heartily dug into the meal Hayes had prepared. Even though the other members of their crew were only temporary, they made for rowdy enough conversation over dinner and it was beginning to get dark by the time every broke to do their own thing.

Shiori collected all the plates together at one end of the small table and then got to her feet as the last but Hayes to leave the galley. "Alrighty. I'm gonna go and fish for an hour or so before I turn in for the night. We should probably have a proper meeting about our.... navigational difficulties, with the rest of the crew tomorrow," she reasoned. She was content to just sail until she found somewhere else, but the food stores on the boat wouldn't last forever and she was pretty sure her current passengers would appreciate finding land at some point too.


Kerrigan ducked his head back beneath the water as the other crew members arrived in the kitchen to eat their dinner. It was a lot louder in there now it wasn't just Hayes and the tawny haired girl. Nevertheless, the eavesdropping through the galley's open window had given him a little insight into the pair and he smiled softly to himself. These people didn't seem to be too bad after all, and he was grateful for them saving him.

The merman continued to follow the boat for a few more minutes until he was sure that the crew had likely settled in the galley. He then dove deep into the water before turning and swimming upwards. He gathered enough speed to leap out of the water and used his meager skills with the fishman arts to propel himself up and onto the boat's deck. He softened his fall with a little of the moisture left on his body, ensuring that he didn't create too much noise when he landed on the deck.

"Okay..." he breathed quietly, glancing warily towards the galley, "I'm actually on board." Now, where to leave this.

Kerri glanced at the throwing knife he held, opening his palm to look at the detailing in the hilt. It was a deep blue, with a silver engraving that looked like waves winding around the handle. It really would be a shame to lose such a beautifully crafted tool, even if it was used as a weapon. The care that had gone into keeping it pristine seemed to suggest that they had some value to the tawny haired girl, even if her expression upon losing this one hadn't. He smiled a little to himself. At least this would be helpful in some way.

Looking around the deck, there wasn't really anywhere convenient to leave it, but Kerri didn't want to just stab it into the wood of the boat and hope someone found it. He frowned, his eyes continuing to scan the boat. Spotting the a length of rope left near the boat's mask, Kerri had an idea.

"That's not a bad idea! I should be able to find everything alright if I know what to look for." Hayes said as he rung the bell just outside the door. He watched as everyone started filling into the room, taking their seats. "Yeah, that could be a problem. All I know about navigating is that a map is a thing to look at. And I'll look forward to it, the picnic, I mean!"

The chef had a grand time talking with the temporary crew. He would miss them after he and his captain left for the Grand Line, leaving behind everyone in Fairwell. But for now, he decided to enjoy himself. After finishing his food, he nodded towards Shiori as she left. He had dishes to clean before he could do anything else, but he told her he might join her if he finished early.

Shiori headed outside, grabbing one of their few, makeshift fishing rods from a small storage cupboard next to the galley. Rod in hand, she headed out onto the deck. She stood for a moment, free hand shielding her eyes as she looked out onto the ocean, watching the sun set over it's vast waters.

A short distance away, Kerri poked his head up above the water again. It seemed the crew had dispersed from the galley now, but the tawny haired girl - the captain of the boat, oddly - seemed to be watching the sunset. Luckily, the natural ripple of the ocean was enough to hide his presence from the gazes of those who weren't looking. She didn't seem to have found her knife yet though, so he kept watch for a little longer, just to make sure she got it.

Smiling at the sunset, Shiori lowered her hand and turned around to find their little bait and tackle box that the crew kept near the ship's mast. She crouched near the box, sifting through until she found the particular ones she was going to use this time around. Shutting the lid and standing up, Shiori found her gaze landing on something rather out of place. Blinking for a second, she reached out towards the knife that was tied to the mast.

Touching the knife's handle almost reverently for a brief moment, Shiori then turned around and looked back out at the ocean, her tawny brown hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

Kerri watched as the girl headed back towards the mast and found the knife she had lost. He breathed a small sigh of relief, glad that it had finally been returned. When Shiori turned and looked out at the ocean however, he reflexively hid beneath the surface, leaving behind a few ripples that were the only sign he had been there.

Shiori blinked again, sure that she had seen something move out there in the ocean. She quickly turned back to the mast, untying her knife before wandering over to the side of the ship.
"Thankyou!" she called out, yelling across the ocean with a large grin plastered across her face and waving the hand holding the knife as if to make it clear this is what she was thankful for.

Hearing her voice through the ocean as clear as any human could above it, Kerri couldn't help but smile at how cheerful the girl now sounded. He had definitely been right to fetch the knife for her. The merman couldn't resist the temptation to poke his head up above the surface again, just up to his nose. He saw her waving out towards the ocean and chuckled lightly.

Shiori noticed the head poking up from the ocean's surface and if possible, her grin grew even wider. Avoiding eye contact with him so as to not scare him away, she called out again, "You know if you have nowhere to go, you can come with us," she offered. Merfolk weren't normally heard of in the four blues, mostly considered legends. It was only within the Grand Line that they became known as a species that existed, and Shiori couldn't help but wonder if this particular merman had just gotten lost somehow. "We're headed to the Grand Line! Well," she added the her next words a little quieter, "...a little slowly because we're not great with maps." A pause, and she continued, "But we'll get there!"

Cleaning the leftover muck and grime off of the used plates and bowls took much less time than he expected. He guessed that the others must have eaten of what was given to them tonight than normal. He assumed it was because of the fighting that everyone went through. He would be lying if he denied he hadn't been more hungry than normal.

After putting the dishes onto a towel to dry, he took off his pink apron, hanging it up on the hook next to the counter. He washed his hands once more before grabbing his sheathed dagger. Strapping it to his hip, he made his way for the door, hearing muffled talking from outside. Not paying it any mind, he walked out, only to see that his captain was looking down into the ocean's waters as she spoke.

"Hey Shiori. I thought you were going to go fishing." Hayes announced his presence, taking a few strides to walk over to side with her. He looked over the side of the boat and noticed half of a head staring back up at them. He realized that it belonged to the merman they had saved earlier, Kerrigan. "Hmm? What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be halfway across the sea by now."