"I can't believe you. I turn around for just a moment and you disappear!" Kuina said as she pulled Zoro along by the ear.
"I didn't disappear, I was trying to catch up to everyone."
"I found you walking back towards the dojo!" Kuina said as she tugged on his ear a little harder.
Kuina let out a little huff before she said, "Hopefully we didn't miss them because I had to find you a couple of times."
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Zoro said before he winced a little when Kuina pulled his ear again.
"I hope so, but we should still hurry."
"If you let go of my ear I would be able to run properly." Zoro said with a hint of indignation.
"And let you get lost again? I don't think so."
It was about half an hour later when Zoro and Kuina arrived in the village and headed directly for the dock. At the dock they found Marcus and the others loading some supplies they bought from the villagers. While the village was still recovering and normally wouldn't sell anything at this time. The boys had helped them out and even let them use the boat while they were visiting the island. Sure it was only for a couple of days, but the village was grateful and sold the boys some supplies.
Kuina and Zoro reached the dock right as they finished loading the last batch of goods and were in the process of saying goodbye to the elder they met when they first arrived. The elder Kazu shook hands with Marcus as he said, "I wish you boys a safe journey and hope you visit again sometime."
"Thank you and if we get the chance, we'll definitely be back."
Kazu noticed Kuina and Zoro as they approached and said, "Kuina, Zoro, what are you two doing here?"
"We're going…"
Kuina covered Zoro's mouth before she said, "We came to wish Marcus and his brothers a safe trip and give them a small gift before they leave the island."
Kazu smiled at that before he said, "Oh, well I'll let you kids say goodbye then. Make sure you stop by my house before you go back to the dojo, I have something for your father."
Kuina nodded as she said, "Yes, elder Kazu."
As Kazu left the dock Kuina released Zoro from her grip before she said, "You idiot, you almost told him our plan."
"What plan?" Marcus asked even though he already had an idea of what it might be.
Kuina and Zoro shared a quick glance before they asked together, "Can we join you in sailing around East Blue?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, "And why exactly do you want to do that?"
"Because I still want to spar with you and I need to beat up Luffy." Zoro said before Kuina added, "I wanna get stronger and the only person on the island currently stronger than me is my father and he never trains me seriously. All of you are stronger than me and I want your help in getting stronger."
Marcus glanced at both of them for a moment and noticed they both brought a pack, their training swords along with their real swords. Kuina had her sword, Wado Ichimonji, strapped to her waist while Zoro only had two plain looking black sheathed swords. Marcus thought about it for a few moments before he asked, "Have either of you ever sailed before?"
Both of them shook their heads so Marcus asked, "What skills do you have besides knowing how to use a sword?"
"I can fish, but I rarely catch anything." Zoro said before Kuina smacked the back of his head and said, "That's because you always fall asleep and lose your fishing rod."
As Zoro rubbed the back of his head, Kuina said, "I can cook. I'm not the best at it, but I've helped out in the kitchen a bunch and picked up a few things."
Marcus nodded as he said, "That's fine. We will teach you both how to sail and Kuina will be in charge of the kitchen… Just try to keep Luffy out of it when it's not meal time otherwise he will eat everything he can get his hands on."
"I'll try my best, but I'm pretty sure he can beat me in a fight."
Marcus smirked as he said, "Just yell for help and someone will come beat up Luffy for you."
Marcus led Kuina and Zoro onto the ship where the others were before he said, "Listen up, Kuina and Zoro asked to join us on our journey around East Blue. Zoro said he can help fish and Kuina said she can cook."
Marcus glanced at his brothers before he asked, "Do any of you have any objections to them joining us?"
"No, not really."
"Having someone who can cook will be helpful." Sabo said.
"Yosh! More members for my pirate crew!" Luffy said as he threw both arms into the air.
Marcus slammed his fist into Luffy's head which knocked him into the deck before he said, "You're not the captain and we aren't a pirate crew!"
"You have a captain?" Kuina asked before Ace and Sabo pointed to Marcus.
Marcus shrugged as he said, "I'm just the leader for now, since it was my idea to sail around East Blue."
Marcus showed Kuina to the kitchen and a bedroom that connected to it she could use before he led Zoro to another bedroom. Once they dropped their stuff off, Marcus and the others gave them a crash course about how the ship worked before Marcus said, "Alright, let's cast off!"
"Zoro, help Luffy with the anchor. Kuina, help Ace and Sabo with the mooring lines." Marcus said as he headed to the helm.
After the anchor was pulled and the mooring lines released, Marcus said, "Lower the aft sail until we clear the docks, then drop and set the mainsail!"
As they started to clear the dock Marcus turned to port slightly before the main sail was lowered down. From there they set course towards the Calm Belt and adjusted the sails to get top speed. Once everything was set and the sails were properly trimmed, everyone approached Marcus before Ace asked, "Where are we headed this time?"
"The Calm Belt for about a day or so and then we will change course and head to another island."
Luffy picked his nose as he asked, "Why don't we just go to the island instead?"
Ace put Luffy in a head lock and started to give him a noogie as he said, "Because we don't want grandpa to find us, you idiot!"
Luffy squirmed as he tried to break free and with a 'POP' his rubber head slipped out of Ace's grip. A moment later Luffy threw back his arm and said, "I'm not an idiot, you stupid jerk face!"
Luffy's arm whipped forward and caught Ace off guard which knocked him to the ground before he jumped up and said, "That's it you little cry baby! I am gonna beat you black and blue!"
Luffy pulled down one eyelid and stuck out his tongue before he took off running. As Ace chased after him, Kuina glanced at them before she asked, "Shouldn't we stop them?"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "Naw, that's pretty normal for them."
Sabo nodded in agreement before he said, "Yeah, that happens at least once a week."
As they watched Ace chase Luffy around the ship, Zoro asked, "How do you guys train while on the ship?"
Marcus handed the helm over to Sabo as he said, "Go grab your training harness and I'll show you."
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as the ship sailed towards the Calm Belt and Marcus helped Zoro and Kuina train till it was dinner time. After dinner Marcus took over the helm as everyone else hung out on the deck and played cards. For the night shift Sabo took over again and in the morning Ace took his shift. After dinner the next day Marcus finally changed the ship's course to the island he wanted to visit and made sure to inform Sabo when he came to take over for his shift.
Over the next couple days, Kuina picked up on how to hold a steady course and was slotted into the helm rotation. Zoro had some of the same issues as Luffy at keeping the ship on course, so Marcus decided against putting him on the helm rotation. Besides with three people they had it handled just fine and the fourth person just made everything a little easier.
Since they headed out towards the Calm Belt for over a day, the part of the sea they passed through was totally empty of other ships. There were no islands in the area so no shipping lanes passed through it and most people avoided it unless they were trying to save time. As they sailed through the area, Marcus was the first person to notice a tiny black dot on the horizon.
It was off to their port side and after five minutes Marcus used his spyglass to get a better look at whatever it was. It was still a fair distance from them, but Marcus was able to tell it was a ship and kind of headed towards them. He studied it for a little while before he said, "Ship off of the port bow."
Instantly everyone on the deck stopped training and glanced in that direction. After a few moments Luffy said, "I can't see anything yet, let me borrow your spyglass."
Marcus stared daggers at Luffy as he asked, "And let you break another one?"
"That wasn't my fault!" Luffy protested with a pout.
"You dropped it from the crows nest trying to juggle it!"
"Oh… Well how was I supposed to know it would break like that?" Luffy asked as he absently scratched the back of his head with a goofy smile on his face.
"Because I yelled at you for breaking the one before that for the same reason!" Marcus snapped back at Luffy.
Luffy rubbed his chin in thought before he said, "But I wasn't in the crows nest that time."
Ace smacked the back of Luffy's head as he said, "You were still trying to juggle the spyglass, idiot!"
Something seemed to click in Luffy's eyes before he slammed his fist into his palm and said, "Ohhhh… So that's what you meant."
"Of course that's what he meant!" Ace said as he punched Luffy in the head again.
"Don't throw him overboard, he's just a selfish idiot… And your brother." Marcus mumbled to himself before he turned his focus back towards the approaching ship.
Marcus kept a steady course but continued to observe the ship before he noticed another black dot on the horizon behind it. He pulled out his spyglass again to get a better look at both this time. The first ship was a little clearer this time and didn't wave a black flag, while the ship behind it was too far to see any details.
After he put his spyglass away, Marcus said, "There's another ship following behind the first one."
Ace glanced into the distance as he said, "Maybe it's a convoy headed for Shimotsuki."
"Maybe, but something feels off…" Marcus said as he watched the two dots.
Marcus held course for another five minutes or so before everyone heard the muffled sound of a cannon blast off in the distance. Marcus whipped out his spyglass and focused on the two dots in the distance and was able to make out the second ship this time. The first ship was definitely a merchant ship, while the second one Marcus confirmed was a pirate ship.
He still couldn't make out the details, but the one thing he could see was the black flag raised over the main mast. Marcus put away his spyglass and turned the ship to port slightly as he said, "The second ship is a pirate ship, everyone get ready for battle."
"We're really gonna fight pirates?" Kuina asked as she looked at the dots in the distance.
Luffy excitedly laughed before he ran towards his quarters as he said, "Finally!"
"It's about time." Ace said as he headed to his room to get his weapon followed by Sabo.
Kuina looked back to see if Marcus was just like his brothers who were excited about the coming battle. Marcus had no outward reaction that she could tell and if anything seemed calm about the whole situation. Kuina glanced at the dots one more time before she headed to her own room to get ready.
Since Marcus was on helm duty, he didn't really need to get ready, but Sabo did bring him his sword. Over the next fifteen minutes or so they heard cannon blast after cannon blast. But each time Marcus checked the shots missed the merchant ship. It wasn't perfect and they had taken a couple hits, but whoever was at the helm of that merchant ship was one hell of a helmsman.
At that point in time Marcus was able to get a better look at both ships. The merchant ship was smaller than the pirate ship and just slightly bigger than the boys ship. The pirate ship was a larger three mast ship that at one point was a cargo huller, but now it was in disrepair and run by pirates.
As Marcus studied the two ships, he noticed whoever was in the merchant ship's crow nest was waving flags trying to warn them off. Marcus smirked to himself before he said, "Everyone get into position and trim the sails with our new course. I want the best speed possible!"
Everyone scrambled to their position around the ship and started to work the lines to quickly adjust the sails. Once they were set, Marcus said, "Stay in position and be ready to furl the sails on my command!"
Time seemed to tick by slowly as the three ships slowly converged on each other. Marcus and the others watched as the merchant ship gracefully dodged cannon blasts from the larger vessel and Marcus was honestly surprised they kept trying to hit the other vessel. As they approached closer the merchant ship's crew kept trying to wave off Marcus and the others, but the only response they received back was Luffy happily waving back at them in return.
When they finally reached a point where the other ship could yell at them, Marcus and the others heard someone from the merchant ship yell out, "What are you doing? Do you have some kind of death wish?"
Marcus waved back towards the other ship as he said, "Don't worry about us, you guys just get out of here and we will collect their bounty!"
The other crew seemed to freeze for a moment as they stared at Marcus and the others before a cannonball slammed into the water between the ships. They quickly went back to work and didn't attempt to stop Marcus and the others again. As for the pirate ship, it changed its sight at Marcus's ship since they were headed straight towards them now.
Marcus turned the ship slightly so they would come alongside the pirate ship instead of directly ramming into it. And whoever was at the helm of the pirate ship seemed to have the same idea as they adjusted their own course slightly. They also stopped firing their single bow mounted cannon. After a few minutes as the ships got closer together Marcus said, "Furl the sails!"
In less than a minute the sails were fully collapsed and the ship was only carried forward by its momentum as it crept closer to the pirate ship. The crew of the pirate ship also furled their sails as they got closer and Marcus said, "Prepare for combat."
A few moments later grappling hooks flew out from the pirate ship and latched on to the ship. As the two ships were pulled closer together by the pirates, Marcus let go of the helm and stared up towards the deck of the pirate ship while he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword.
As the two hulls smacked together a voice on the other ship said, "Make sure you don't damage the ship boys! We'll use this one to finally catch those crafty bastards."