The Going Merry set about on its way. Pepperjack the shipwright went about doing an inspection of the damage, clicking his tongue with annoyance often and complained. "You guys are almost as rough on your ship as Foxy is on his..."
Old man Wacko began singing a song.
"When the course is laid and the anchor's weighed
A sailor's blood begins racing
With our hearts unbound and our flag unfurled
We're on our way and off to see the world!" He sang.
"I've never heard this one before, have any of you?" Usopp asked. The others shook their heads.
A little while later, Pepperjack came up from below deck with a complicated look.
"I have some bad news, Captain." He said.
The others could tell this wasn't a minor problem from his face and tone.
"What's wrong?" Luffy asked.
"The keel of the Going Merry has sustained heavy damage. I can do a patch job that will get us to Water 7, but it's inevitable that she's going to sink." Pepperjack explained grimly.
"T-that's not true, you're lying to us! I bet you're still loyal to Foxy, aren't you?!" Usopp shouted enraged.
"We've been traveling with the Going Merry all this time, we're going to fix her no matter what!" Luffy was adamant.
"You don't have to believe me. Water 7 has the best shipwrights in the world, so if anyone could fix a broken keel, it's them. Still I doubt even they can do it." Pepperjack stately plainly.
"Ah! Cherry, you could repair the Merry's keel with your devil fruit, couldn't you? Like you did with the barrel boat?" Nami asked.
Cherry looked at the other Straw Hats silently for a moment, seeing the desperation in their eyes. "I'm sure that I can."
Sighs of relief came from them all.
"However, you're all missing the big picture." Cherry stamped out their hope.
"What do you mean?" Usopp asked, clearly offended.
"The Going Merry is an old ship, and she was built for sailing the East Blue, the tamest of all the oceans. She just isn't cut out for sailing the Grand Line. If you insist on doing so, it will only be a matter of time before you send her to a watery grave." Cherry explained.
Cherry's words stabbed directly at their hearts. Even Usopp who was almost steaming with anger at the notion of leaving the Going Merry behind, could not refute her. After all, hadn't the Going Merry almost sunk after only coming this far? The journey would only get more treacherous the further they went.
"Merry doesn't want to hold you back. Or worse, drag you down to the bottom of the ocean alongside her." Cabernet said, running her hand along a railing.
"What would you know?!" Usopp lashed out.
"Just as Chopper can talk to animals, because at his core he is also an animal. Cabernet too, can talk to other ships, because she is also a ship at her core." Cherry said in a cold tone that told Usopp he should back off.
"I- I need to be alone for a while..." Usopp stalked off, not knowing what to do with the emotions he was feeling.
The other Straw Hats were silently somber, taking in this new revelation.
"I'll go with Pepperjack to do the repairs. This might be the end of Merry's adventure alongside you, but it won't be the end of her own travels." Cherry said, going with the burly middle aged man below deck.
As the Straw Hats went about their business in silence, old man Wacko did the only thing he knew to do. He got out his banjo.
"Why are there so many
Songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side?" He sang.
...
The next few days seemed to stretch into forever due to the sullen mood of the crew.
Ultimately, however, these people just didn't have it in them to stay depressed and were back to their boisterous nature.
Old man Wacko knew a wide variety of songs they had never heard before and strangely enough couldn't do any of the popular sea shanties.
Another few days passed by and they had come to terms with the fact that it was time to buy a new ship, even Usopp who had held out the longest had accepted it.
They ended up chasing a strange frog with hair doing a freestyle stroke towards a small island with a lighthouse atop it.
Cherry was the first to hear the machine moving swiftly towards the island, but did not realize the danger until it was too late to stop.
Instead the barreled forward, hitting something in the water and leaving the path of the passing sea train. The frog stopped on the track and was hit directly by the train.
"Damn it, we just fixed her up!" Pepperjack was annoyed and went below deck grumbling to himself.
"Granny, it's terrible! There are pirates!" A little girl in pigtails shouted towards a stumbling old woman.
"Oh no! Really, Chimney?!" The old woman shouted. "Er, what were you yelling about again?" *burp*
Sanji got some sobering food for the old woman who was obviously far too drunk. Though she insisted on drinking more while eating it.
"I'm Chimney, this is my cat Gonbe (actually a rabbit), and this is my Granny Kokoro!" Chimney introduced excitedly.
"What was that steam powered boat, Chimney?" Nami asked.
"That was the Puffing Tom, the world's first sea train! It runs along the rails their between islands!" She explained.
They talked about the sea train some more, it's destinations, as well as how the frog Yokojina was constantly damaging the train with his foolhardiness.
They told Granny Kokoro they were going to Water 7 for a new ship and hopefully a more permanent shipwright to join their crew. Pepperjack had expressed that he'd like to retire from his sailing days, after all, and where better to do it than the home of the Galley La Company?
"By the way, Kokoro, I have a question that might be a bit rude." Cherry said.
"Go ahead and ask, I'm as thick skinned as they come, N-gagaga!" Kokoro laughed.
"What's up with your body?" Cherry rubbed her chin with scholarly interest.
"What the hell, Cherry?! That's more than a 'bit' rude!" Nami said.
"No, not like that." Cherry assured she wasn't judging her. "I mean to say that you're clearly not a devil fruit user, but it seems like your body can transform in some manner?"
"So that's what you mean! You're quite the perceptive one aren't-cha?! N-gagaga!" Kokoro said. "You're right, I'm a mermaid you see. I can change my legs into my tail and vice versa."
Sanji had one of his dreams shattered into little pieces instantly.
"I see! You're the first mermaid I've met! I didn't know they could change their tails into legs." Cherry nodded with a friendly smile, quite satisfied with the rare find.
"Well, only older mermaids are able to do so. The younger mermaids have just their tails." Kokoro said, guzzling more rum.
"Since you're going to Water 7, and as thanks for the food and good company, I'll give you this map of Water 7 and my written recommendation. Just give the recommendation to Iceberg, he's an old drinking buddy of mine, so he'll get you sorted out! N-gagaga!" She handed over some papers.
"""Thanks for the help!""" The Straw Hats thanked her.
"Sure thing, let's go drinking some time! N-gagaga!" Kokoro and Chimney waved goodbye.
"Yeah, there's no way I'm going drinking with her. I get into enough trouble by myself when I'm drunk." Chery joked as they sailed away.
"Really? I didn't have you figured as a bad drunk." Robin said.
"Hehe, well the last time I got wasted, I woke up in a princess' bed and had spent every Beri to my name to have Cabernet built. So I guess it isn't all bad." Cherry said.
For some reason Robin felt that she couldn't let Cherry get drunk no matter what, though she couldn't quite pinpoint why.
Sanji recovered from his despair somewhat after hearing that. "...Nice..."
"We'll reach Water 7 soon, so I'll have a look at this map... Hm, I see. IT'S USELESS!" Nami shouted, throwing the crudely drawn map on the ground.
"You'll find your way well enough, Miss Navigator. It's your specialty." Robin assured her.