Trinket of Syzygy | One Piece fanfic

008.

Chapter 8: The City of Protection

After leaving Volley Island, the three all seated themselves with slight discomfort on a paddle boat. "Chrysanthemum here we go!" "Are you sure you want to land there immediately?" "Huh?! But we need to get to Esmeralda!" Rogue sighed again with visible denotations of Quince underutilising his brain. "You're best baiting her. Esmeralda is by no means weak. Diana is quite frankly an idiot so a few punches is all you need for meatheads like her, but Esmeralda is quite tactical. Hence why we need to be more strategic when push comes to shove." Quince chuckled "Good thing I recruited you! You seem tactical enough! Having a smart vice captain works well for me!" Rogue was becoming even more irritated "You still are the one leading this crew! Try to have a bit more intellect!" Ruby then interrupted the two, in the midst of paddling. "If you want to use the baiting tactic, I'd say Stagna City is your best bet. Besides, the mayor there fell victim to Esmeralda and you two could likely save her." She beckoned Quince over to take her place, as she carefully shuffled her way to a rather heavy crate that contained all of their leftovers from the bar they last visited. "She must be quite oblivious then?" Rogue questioned in a curious, yet solemn manner. "Rogue, not everyone in life, is devoted to murdering people to make pocket money. Sometimes, there's a need for negotiation. Well- perhaps for Esmeralda's case, manipulation would be the more apt term." Out of annoyance and slight admission, Rogue quickly motioned his head sidewards "I needed to do what I can to survive, so give me a break. But if saving her means that we can move on from this, then that is at least slightly relieving." Amid their venture, the tides began running high, whilst the wind became mildly turbulent. Ruby signaled to the other two, "Brace yourselves! Something's about to hit!" Slowly, the boat closed its distance with what seemed to be an enormous bulwark. "Woah! Is that a whale?!" Quince exclaimed out loud. "No, I think it's some sort of wall.. An overarching one.." Ruby followed. "Overarching? What the hell does that mean?" Quince scratched his head, ultimately flummoxed by Ruby's choice of words. "It means-" Her sentence was cut midway, the moment a protracted sigh pierced through the conversation's barrier. From a distant corner, Rogue rose up and pointed at the apparent wall that was obstructing their path. "That over there is an iceberg. So unless you morons have a death wish, I suggest you quit paddling this damn instant." Quince immediately intervened. "An iceberg..? Can't we just break our way through without having to stop on our tracks? What do you say, Ruby?" The young lad slightly tilted his neck to gaze down at the now seated girl. She seemed to be in deep thought, whilst scanning the barricade.

"Well, Rogue's right about one thing; I'll give him that." Brazenly, Ruby slapped Quince's grip off of the paddle before deftly seizing them altogether. "Hey! I was using those!" Quince violently brandished his arm to reach onto the paddles. "Tch." Vexed, Ruby moved her body aside and held down Quince's arm. Afterwards, the boat was put at rest, its bow barely touching the obstructive wall. "I don't know if it's your inability to pick up on social cues, or that head of yours is just as hazy as you look; but right now, we need to be more serious this time. If you really wanna become a successful pirate - especially a captain mind you, the most basic necessity you can achieve is alertness, so long as you don't have a navigator guiding you to wherever you wanna go." Ruby abruptly tossed the paddles over to Rogue, who was slightly taken by surprise. Luckily, he contrived to catch them on time. Quince's shoulders hunched down, matching the downward tilt of his head. It was obvious he felt embarrassed. Ruby exhaled a rough sigh and gently placed her palm against the wall's surface. "It's just what I initially thought." Rogue raised an eyebrow, curious to ascertain what the cherry haired girl discovered. "Is it an iceberg or not?" Ruby began uttering, "Structurally speaking, yes. It does take the shape of an iceberg. But look." Ruby knocked three times against the daunting wall. "It's far less hollow and more rough. My speculation is that it's composed of a special mineral, though I can't seem to pinpoint what it is, exactly. Oddly enough, it even has a similar morphology of a diamond but as Quince insinuated earlier, it doesn't seem all that impregnable." The red-haired lady pulled out her scythe and gestured the other two to back down. Quince, still flustered, remained still; while Rogue did as instructed. For a while, he thought to himself. "What is this tramp up to, this time?" It didn't take long for Ruby to swing her scythe across the stout mineral. To Rogue's surprise, her single attack left quite a dent. "I didn't know you were this strong. Maybe I should've given you more credit when it was still due." He remarked with a snicker. "Oh, it's nothing. I knew of how durable it is from the very getgo - well approximately. But I never would have known that it would be this.. delicate." The second he heard Ruby's sentence, Quince stood up, now invigorated as usual.