Compared to King's speed, Queen was practically a lumbering oaf. As such, it took him several moments to finally reach the beach that King had just returned from.
There was no struggle that he could see beneath the gentle waves that lapped against the rocks and sand, even with his cybernetically enhanced vision. Nor did he see any unmoving humanoid shapes that he might reach out toward.
What he did see was where his targets landed after he shot them down, and the short trail that led into the water. He grimaced in realization that the two young women had thrown themselves into the water, rather than it being himself who put them there. He also didn't appreciate King's shifting of the blame.
What he failed to take notice of, focused as he was on the water right in front of him, was the ship sailing over the horizon in the distance. Had he paid it any mind, he might have realized it wasn't one belonging to the Beast pirates.
By the time they did have their own ships scouring the water with Waiters ready to dive in, Cabernet and Yamato were long gone.
King and Queen glanced at each other nervously.
"Not it." "Not it!" Queen was just a half second too slow. "Damn it! I don't wanna be the one to tell him! He's been drinking again!"
"Too bad. You know the rules, and so do I," King admonished.
Queen grumbled under his breath. Maybe he could trick Jack into delivering the bad news instead?
…
The wind that Cabernet caught didn't lead her straight for the main island of Wano, but that was for the best. An unfamiliar ship in these waters would draw far too much attention. Besides, she wanted to get as much of a head start against any would be pursuers as possible.
"You did say that you were a 'ship girl' before, but it is very strange to see with my own eyes…" Yamato had long since recovered from his brief dip in the water. "I presume you ate one of those strange fruits, and gained the ability to become a ship?"
"No!" Cabernet's wooden frame groaned in a way that seemed oddly cheerful. "It was the other way around! I'm a ship that has gained the ability to turn into a person!"
The metaphorical gears inside Yamato's skull ground to a halt as he tried and failed to make sense of that.
"Uh… that's very… interesting," Yamato managed to speak after an awkward silence.
"It certainly has been for me!" Cabernet replied. "Cherry told me that I'm 'unusually willful', even compared to other zoan type objects. She reckons that it's because of klabautermann; that is, the spirit that forms within a ship that is well cared for."
"So, ships are alive?" Yamato asked. "Even without a devil fruit, I mean."
"Apparently so! It can't just be because I have a human model zoan fruit, because my good buddy Merry is the same way and she's a ship sheep!" Cabernet almost cheered. "Isn't that just the neatest thing!"
"It is, very much so," Yamato agreed, making a mental note to be extra respectful towards ships in the future, just in case.
After a brief silence, Cabernet asked, "Would you go up to my crow's nest and have a look around? I can't see as well in this form as I can my human form."
"Sure thing" Yamato agreed, climbing up to the top of the central mast.
Casting his gaze around in a circle, Yamato paid special attention not to just the water, but the sky as well. It wouldn't do to have King sneaking up on them from above because he hadn't thought to look up.
"It's all clear up here!" Yamato shouted back down.
"I can hear you just fine, Yamato," Cabernet spooked him as the boards beneath his feet groaned in response.
"Oh… right," Yamato flushed slightly from the embarrassment. It was hard to wrap your head around the ship you were sailing on being a person.
"I'm going to start veering towards the coast. It'll be easier to disappear on land than on the water," Cabernet said. "That's where we'll find Cherry, too. She'll be able to take your shackles off without them blowing up in your face."
"That'd be nice," Yamato sighed, rattling the chains attached to his arms. "I've been wearing them since I was a kid."
"Why would Kaido chain his own kid up in the dark place, anyways?" Cabernet asked in a somewhat hesitant tone.
"He did have his reasons, though they were hardly just," Yamato explained. "I was there the day that Oden was murdered, the rightful ruler of Wano. I was so inspired by his honor, his integrity, his loyalty; and so disgusted that my father had none of those things. The less said about that wretch, Orochi, the better."
Cabernet was quiet, letting Yamato gather his thoughts.
"It is there that I made a decision that would change the course of my life. I chose to inherit Oden's will, to follow in the footsteps of his final act!" Yamato's voice carried more than a note of determination.
He slumped his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. "I may have gotten a little carried away at first, though. It's embarrassing to admit, but for a while I was convinced that I /was Oden. Then I met Ace and he set me straight; and warned me if Whitebeard ever heard me calling myself Oden, then he'd rip me a new one for disrespecting a treasured friend."
Yamato chuckled at the memory and at his foolish younger self.
"I don't know Ace that well, but he seemed like a good guy," Cabernet commented.
"Oh! You've met him?!" Yamato became excited.
"Yeah, he's my captain's brother!" Cabernet tried to nod, but realized she didn't currently have a head.
Yamato gasped. "Is your captain…?"
"Monkey D. Luffy! Future king of the pirates!" Cabernet announced.
"No way!" Yamato was delighted. "Is he here now? Ace just would /not shut up about him, so I want to see if all the bragging is accurate. Dahaha!"
"Well, Cherry's here now, so he should be here too- OH! Look over there!" Cabernet cried out.
Yamato didn't know which way was 'over there', but a bit of looking around and squinting had something catch his eye. "Is that a ship?"
"That's the Thousand Sunny! Luffy is almost certain to be here if the ship is here!" Cabernet reasoned.
"... Is that one alive too?" Yamato asked.
"Not yet!" Cabernet spoke as if it was only a matter of time. "Maybe the Sunny will be a dragon by the time we leave Wano?"
"A dragon? Kaido's the one with the dragon fruit, though?" Yamato asked.
"..." Cabernet didn't answer.
"Oh! I get it!" Yamato slapped his fist down into his other hand.
"Let's go over and check out the Thousand Sunny. Maybe somebody's guarding it and I can introduce you!" Cabernet jerked as she abruptly changed direction.
Yamato looked forward to it. If Ace's kid brother was here, and Cabernet's less than subtle insinuation was to be believed, then Kaido's reign of terror over Wano was soon to come to an end.