NOVEL WEB Chapter 36: Where to Next!
"Eh? Who are you? Where am I?" Ah, the quirk begins. Kále had forgotten being freed from his cell, he had forgotten getting on the ship and he had forgotten all about Kirk and Jeanne. He remembered Leroy, of course, the man who he was indebted to. "Oh man, I'm bleeding..."
"You idiot! Just stand still!" Kirk reprimanded. Káles memory coming back. That head injury all those years ago, didn't do his short term memory any good. But- Lucky for him. And the Crew, not only did he remember important things, but the unimportant things came back to him. Eventually.
"Shishishi..." Leroy snickered as the Navigator bandaged as best he could the Firstmate.
"We've got to find a Doctor..." He complained.
"And a Chef! Not to complain that Jeannes cooking is bad but- It'd be nice to have a person dedicated to that. One who wants to be the Best Chef in the World!" He held his hand up as he laid on the deck.
"A Chef? Doubt they'd ever be anything to be feared of."
"Hey! The cooks one of the most important members of the crew! They're usually one of the Closest people to the captain. Hearing all their complaints, and hardships! And without them, the crew couldn't survive! Filling our bellies with food to keep us going! A literal pillar of the crew! They'd be just as important as you!"
"Well. I am hungry. I haven't eaten in like...3 weeks?" He sat up and tore his bandages off.
"You Bastard don't tear those off!" Kirk shouted
"They make it hard to move." Kále said plainly
"Well I don't care!" He said pushing him back down, being 3 inches taller than the 5'11 Kále.
Kále rolled his eyes. "Whatever- Mom"
"Shut it." Kirk rubbed the small triangle shaped patches of hair across his chin as he looked his injuries over again. Deciding how to bandage him better.
Half an hour passed and the group was in the Galley, Leroy circling his finger across the wood of the table as an audible rumble filled the air
"Augh! What's for dinner!"
"I'm making a beef stew." Jeanne said as she peeled the potato skin, sitting in front of Leroy, tossing the scraps to a pot at one side, while the peeled vegetables went in the other.
With a pout, Leroy kicked his feet onto the table. "Leroy, get you feet down." Kirk said as he read the news paper.
"No."
"Hah. Okay." Kirk said, after giving a long blink.
"You know, there's restaurant I've heard about from some people on my Home Island. This fancy seafaring restaurant called the Rose Arbor. It's supposedly really fancy, but also, like really cheap!"
"I got a decent little chunk from counting cards at blackjack while we were on Mirror Ball so we can probably get a good bit of groceries at our next island." Jeanne added as Leroy Talked.
"Groceries would be good. I don't mind sea food but I like variety."
"You know, Before I ate a Devil Fruit I used to dive for mussels. God I miss being able to swim." She hung her head for a second. "Anyway, do you know where this Rose Arbor is?"
"I actually Have no idea where it is. It's a ship that floats around or something." Leroy shrugged.
"Well, from what I've heard. It usually sticks to the southern section of The East." Kirk stood up and pulled his map of the East Blue from his satchel, spreading it across the table. Leroy and Jeanne peeking forward to watch.
"If we're about here." He tapped to a general area on the map. "The Rose Arbor is typically about...Here, from what I've heard." He traced his finger down, close to a labeled section of sea called 'Board Sea'
"Its about, 72-ish hours from us. We should be there by then" Kirk gazed to his Captain.
Leroy nodded, curling his lips as he did, only for something to catch his eye.
"What's that?" Leroy said tapping another part of the map. This one labeled 'Calm Belt'
"The Calm Belt? You know about the Grand Line, but not the Calm belt?" Kirk cocked a brow.
"Yep." He said giving an enthusiastic nod
"Alright, well. Best to give you all a refresher on it." The Fishman looked to The other three, one of which was currently asleep.
"This is the Calm Belt. Theres four sections of it that wrap around the Entire would. Each blue has its own Calm Belt. Its a section of ocean thats free of any currents and astrological activity. Meaning, no wind or waves. Its caused by the currents of water from the Grand Line and the Ocean besides it. It's all infested with dangerous creatures called Sea Kings."
"Sea Kings?" Leroy question, tilting his head to the side. He was a book worm when he was younger, reading on all sorts of stories and science, and history. But stuff on Navigation was very bare minimum
How ever, The Sea was Kirks expertise. "Giant, multi-Kilometer long monsters that roam the oceans. The Calm Belt is their Breeding ground. Bulls breeding with in heat Mares."
"Oh shit..." Jeanne said having stopped peeling. Her two crewmates looked to her as sweat visibly slicked her forehead, bits of steaming coming of her, hands shaking. "You better promise me we never go into the Calm Belt Leroy!" She demanded.
She was, visibly afraid. Just the thought of it! Giant monsters, lurking beneath the dark blue. No currents or wind in the sails...Only for their teeth to bare and shoot up! Swallowing them hole!
"Gah!" She suddenly tense and shook her head harshly trying to knock the thoughts from her head "Nuh uh, nope nada. No!"
"Hahah! It's alright Jeanne, I wasn't wanting to go anyway! I'm sure Kirky here will be able to keep us on course!" He tried to reassure the Markswoman
"Yeah, but- Still. That's horrifying to think about. Keep going Kirk. Anything else will be better than...That."
"Alright. Okay. Next, The Grand Line. The Grand Line is a strip of ocean that circles the entire globe. Filled with bigger islands, and bigger pirates. It's a pretty well known fact, the further in you go. The Harder it gets. The Only People that travel that deep, are either native to those islands, or strong enough to have come all that way in spite of all the challenges. Attempting to reach its end."
"Though, it should be noted that. Theres tons of people that are just normal people in the Grand Line. Typically only sailing around neighboring Islands or taking well known routes."
"Other than that...We'll have to find out on the way there" He gave a small sigh.
"Just how do we get into the Grand Line?" Jeanne asked.
"I know that one!" Leroy shot his hand up.
"We'll have to go to here!" He pointed at a large Red landmass. "Reverse Mountain, a Huge Mountain on the Red Line that has currents that are forced up and spill into the Grand Line!"
The Red Line, the Single continent that split the entire world into two. Huge, red. And incredibly tall.
"I think with that, we're set." Kirk said, rolling up the Map. "72 Hours from now, we'll be in The Board Sea, and hopefully come across the Rose Arbor!"