“Row faster! We are done for if we get caught out in the water,” I whispered.
We exited the boat and started the journey toward the island, under the unwatchful eyes of the other ships patrol. Before we got off, I decided to just round up some gunpowder barrels from near the cannons. They probably have gunpowder on the island but with their ships so close they might have left it. It can’t hurt to have a little precaution. We are making good progress and we’re almost to the island, but I can’t help but be wary of the possible unknowns. Of course this devil fruit will help me, but I still don’t know for sure the full extent of the Crow pirates power. What if they catch us before we can escape? What if they have a devil fruit user too? What if they can use haki? I’m calm in most situations, I can’t help it, I'm a laid back guy, but that doesn’t mean I should go in blind. That mistake is the reason I’m here in the first place. I need to play it a little smarter in this life.
“James, how far do you think we are from the island?”
“If I had to guess I would say if we row faster we will be there in no time”
“Not all of us ate super fruits,” he grumbled.
We picked up speed and soon we were a dozen or so meters away from the island.
“It’s shallow, we can jump out now.” Pedro jumped out with a splash and started pulling the boat.
“I can’t get in the water because of my fruit. You’re going to need to pull us to shore. I’ll help out with the paddle though.”
We got close enough to the shore that the boat started to graze up against the ground floor. I jumped out and I felt cold all over. My body shivered with each step and I walked like a drunk man before collapsing to my knees and kissing the sand.
“Ptooey!” I spit the sand out my mouth and ignored Pedro’s snickers in the background. We had rowed to a piece of beach quite a distance away from the lights of campfires and torches we had seen up the beach. The island was tiny compared to what I’ve seen in my past life. The island was not a circle but instead a long strip of sand that slightly curved inward toward the ships at one end. The strip of land had large palm trees and wild foliage growing in the center of it. It sounded quiet except the distant shouts we heard from the pirate base. I doubted anything ever lived on an island of this size, and if they did, the pirates must have sprouted up in their place.
“It sounds like they’re celebrating,” Pedro said.
“They might be. They just brought all those goods from Brookhaven.”
“I bet they’re happy about all the money they’ve been stealing from us.”
“Don’t worry we’ll be getting it back. Come on, let's drag the boat and barrels through the woods to hide it.”
We struggled a bit pulling the boat till I just turned into a werewolf, and pulled it out of the water to carry it into the woods. I placed the barrels behind it, and grabbed some foliage to cover it all up.
“Alright come on we don’t have all night. Let’s be quick.”
I stared up at the moonlight and focused on my hand till we had our own flashlight to guide us. We made our way down the narrow strip of land in the woods so they wouldn’t see the light. We navigated the tiny woods as silent as possible, narrowly dodging branches and thorns. The pirates' merry singing and drunk shouts grew louder until we started to make out the beginnings of a raging bonfire. I turned back into a human, extinguishing my light, while I scooted forward to the edge of the clearing.
The camp was set up in a circle with the bonfire in the middle surrounded by stacked up logs. Trees were cleared around the camp, and a random assortment of huts and tents made up the camp. Around 3 huts sat on the left side away from the beach, with tents pegged down wherever they could fit. One hut larger than the other two, sat at the back of them. The pirates are singing and dancing around the bonfire, unaware of us slinking in the shadows.
“How many do you think there are?”
“I don’t know how many are in their tents. If I had to guess it’s maybe 100 or so altogether based on the ship sizes,” I replied.
“Let’s sneak in the tents or the huts while most of them are distracted around the bonfire.” Pedro’s eyes flashed for a moment and he pulled out the dagger he bought, raring to go.
“We don’t know who Captain Crow is or where the money is. If we just bust in, it’s a chance someone hears and then we have to fight them all off at once. I think I know how we can solve both problems.”
“How?”
“We need to find someone weak and lure them over here so we can interrogate them. If they walk over to us, then we can handle them over here in the shadows, without drawing attention to ourselves.”
“How can we do that?”
“You’ve thrown rocks before right,” I said with a smile.
We gathered up a bunch of small rocks into a pile and searched for our targets. Most of the pirates were too focused on the bonfire in the center but some stragglers still stood apart.
“How about those guys over there?” Pedro pointed to two young kids who looked a couple years older than us. They acted as servants carrying trays to and from all the pirates, which earned them nothing but jeers and insults from the older pirates.
“Perfect when they come back over with drinks I’m going to need you to act as a distraction. Don’t go out too far into the light, just toss some rocks and run into the forest, and hopefully they’ll chase you.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Then we move to plan B.”
We waited for the perfect moment as the two older kids traversed the camp, bringing whatever the pirates asked for. After a couple minutes they finally walked toward our end and Pedro stealthily crept out, rocks in hand. He kept low to the ground hiding behind whatever bushes and discarded logs were around. The pair drew closer to the tents near us at the edge of the forest, and Pedro stood up and started to hurl rocks in their direction.
“What the hell, what's a kid doing here!” The two covered their faces from the rock barrage, but once Pedro had their attention he darted back in my direction. They looked up at him running away and started chasing him. I activated my devil fruit as Pedro made it into the forest. He rushed past the tree line and the older kids followed right after him. I jumped out and grabbed them, covering their mouths with my hands, I picked them up and fled deeper in the forest where Pedro ran to.
“I’m going to uncover your mouths but if you scream, I’ll kill you on the spot.”
I uncovered their mouths and they both gasped for air, their coughing and sputtering anything but quiet. I made sure to listen in to make sure nobody noticed their disappearance.
“W-who are you,” the teen on the right managed to get out.
“The two of us are here to do a job, and both of you will be helping us.”
“What can we do?”
“We need you to tell us where the money is and where captain crow is and in exchange we let you guys go free.”
“I’ll never give up Captain Crow, pirates have a code. If you must kill someone it should be me. I don’t want to see my little brother get hurt,” the one on the right responded.
“Huh, little brother. You are the little brother. I was clearly born five minutes before you,” the one on the left said.
“Jiro, don't you remember you were too weak in mom’s belly, so I came first to loosen it up for you.”
“No you must have lost your mind when this giant talking dog picked us up. I’m not Jiro, you are Jiro and I’m Ichiro.”
“I’m ichiro you idiot.”
The two teens started arguing, so I clamped my hands back down on their mouths. I made my hands glow with the moonlight, and looked at their faces clearly to see a set of identical twins. They both had curly black hair with brown eyes, and white skin that was well tanned due to the tropical weather. The same nose and ears, everything painted them as perfect copies of one another. They looked to be about thirteen but from a distance their height made them seem older.
“Ichiro or Jiro, I don’t care who you are, I just need you to do what I ask and do it quietly. Do you guys understand?” They nodded their heads and I uncovered their mouths once more.
“I’m sorry about that. Jiro just gets scared easily. We will help out with Crow, but only if we get part of whatever you guys are taking. We have been wanting to leave this crew for a while. They treat us like chore boys when I’m clearly a top pirate in the west blue.”
The other twin, like clockwork, couldn’t stop himself and an argument over who was the best pirate in west blue broke out between them. I just sighed and clamped their mouths shut once more. Tonight is going to be a long night.
