CH - 9 [ what pirates do ] part -1

Halcen went down below deck to one of the rooms of the Black Tail they had cordoned off as their temporary "brig." Being that this ship was rather small, and wasn't originally meant to be a pirate ship, it didn't come with all the unnecessary amenities. This was something Halcen was going to have to take care of when they had the opportunity. If they were going to be pirates, they were going to need a decent room specifically for prisoners, not just a Gerry-rigged door to keep random Marines from getting out.

Halcen opened the door and walked in to see the two men he had tied up. The rope was a bit stiff, but it worked well enough to keep them from doing much. The two men sat tied, with nothing but hate in their eyes.

The one with a bit of a dark complexion had brown hair and dark green eyes. He had a hardened face, and a pronounced nose. He was well built, from years of hard work and physical abuse. Halcen could see why he was so strong.

The thinner one had pale yellow skin with short black hair and slitted blue eyes. His face was a bit more shallow than the others. He wasn't as strong physically, but Halcen supposed that was why he was a sniper.

Halcen sat down against the wall opposite the men. He stared them both in the eyes, and they glared back daggers. He could only feel their murderous intent as they made not a sound. Intense.

"So what I need to know is: where is Reluji going to head now? I mean, now that he failed the mission. Where would he go next? Is there somewhere he has to check in to debrief the mission?"

The taller one spoke up. "Why would we tell you anything?"

"Your Commodore abandoned you for failing to kill me. He said his job was to kill Grey, right? Well he failed to do that. So the way I see it, he's blaming you for the mission failing when he's the one at fault. Seems pretty hypocritical to me. We can get him back, if we can find him. And I need your help for that."

"If we help you take him down, we lose our chance to go back to the Marines."

"Come on, really? How exactly is that going to happen? He's going to brand you as failures or traitors or whatever works for his official story to keep himself in the clear."

"All we have to do is kill you and bring your body in."

"Really? Come on guys, you're not that stupid. How are you going to accomplish that? You couldn't do it when you had the help of a very highly ranked Marine officer. I mean, I know you guys are skilled, but you're in no position to even try anything like that. Plus, if you did, Grey would help me take you down this time. He's not somebody you want to get riled up. The old guy's got the mojo, if you know what I mean."

"So what do you suggest?" The small one asked.

"I just want a little cooperation. I mean, honestly I've got nothing but time. My next step can wait till we get this taken care off. I want to catch this motherfucker before he causes us anymore problems. And then I can drop you guys off somewhere, take you home, whatever. Do you have family?"

The thick one's face twitched.

"You do, don't you? I'm not threatening them, I promise. I know you guys think pirates are evil, scourge of the earth, yada yada. That's all brainwashing. I'm the only one here that's actually willing to help you. I got you off that island didn't I? Just… help me out. I'll take you to your family and then you'll never have to see me again, how about that?"

"If we help you out, and take out Reluji, we get branded as traitors anyway, and our families get targeted."

"Not if they don't know it was you who helped us. Plus, I could help you get your family to safety if that's the case. Your Marine pals will be none the wiser."

"That all sounds nice, but how are we supposed to trust you? You're a pirate. We can't take anything you say at face value."

Halcen shook his head, disappointed. "I'm honestly not the enemy here. I know you guys have got it in your head that I am, but hopefully you'll come to realize that I'm not. I never go out of my way to hurt innocent people. I'm all about freedom, adventure, helping each other out. That's what real pirates are. We just don't like the way the World Government puts restrictions on everything. I believe in the freedom of choices. For that, I'm seen as the enemy. Well, I'm not… I'm just a guy trying to make things better. But you know what? You don't believe me. That's fine. I've got to a ship to run. If you decide you want to help out, let me know." Halcen stood up and left the room, locking the door behind him when he was out.

Halcen went back up to the deck to gather the crew together. They were still hostile, but it was time to get to work. Halcen needed to make a plan, ASAP. To Valentina, he asked "Is there any way we can track this Marine ship, and catch up?"

"If we know what general direction they went, maybe."

Bailu interrupted. "But they've got a head start and a Navy ship. The Black Tail is a nice boat, but it's a lesser vessel when compared to a Navy ship. They'll have all kinds of equipment to keep them ahead of us. We'd never catch up."

"And if we did," Loyola interjected, "we only have two cannons, three fighters, and our ship is less than half their size. We'd be destroyed."

"So what are our options then?" Halcen asked, annoyed. "These guys aren't going to be any help. They're brainwashed Marines."

"I hate to say it," Grey said sadly, "But I think we have to let them go."

"The captives?"

"What? No… Well, yeah, I mean eventually. But I meant the Marine ship. We have no idea where they're going, we can't catch up with them, and we wouldn't win in a fight if we tried. It sounds like we're out of options."

Halcen sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I don't want to put anyone here in any unnecessary risk for this. So we'll let them go. We just need to make sure we put as much distance between us and that island as possible for when they do come back."

"So where do we head, Captain?" Valentina asked, sounding a smidge spiteful.

Halcen thought for a moment. "We have nothing to gain by pursuing the Marines. We stay our original course. We need to find Shanks. We'll head to Loguetown, as we planned. There, we can stock up and get some info. We'll have to deal with the Marines later."

Grey chimed in. "Are you sure we still want to go to Loguetown? It's a major Marine town. It'll be bad for us to get caught, especially with our new bounties."

"I think we'll be fine as long as we keep our heads down. We can be stealthy. Not everything has to end in cannon-fire. I know we're pirates, but we're also smart. Besides, Loguetown was the last major sighting of Shanks since he became Yonko. That means he's gotta be near. He had to have come from the New World on urgent business. We need to start somewhere; might as well be there."

"So reset course for Loguetown, Captain?" Valentina asked.

"To Loguetown," Halcen confirmed, nodding.