One Piece : Safety second

When the Whisker pirates got closer to the island they saw what seemed to be the harbor, which had ships lined up. The interesting thing was that they could see quite a few pirate ships lined up among them.

"Oh, looks like it's one of those islands."

Looking at Tom, who just stated that, Yuuki asked,

"Those islands?"

"Yeah, islands that are pretty open to pirates."

Seeing that his captain was looking pretty knowledgeable about Grand line, Yuuki continued to ask.

"Is that common?"

"Hmm, who knows."

"...."

Leaving Yuuki, who had gone silent, Tom walked away as they got closer to the island.

Furling their sails, the Whisker pirates weighed down their anchor in an open spot and got onto the dock where they met a pot bellied man who was chewing something, with a bored look on his face.

Looking at the ship they just got down from, the pot bellied man turned back to the Whisker pirates and started to talk.

"Welcome to Bedrock island. This is your first visit, yes?"

Seeing the blue haired pirate nod his head at his question, the man continued,

"It's 10,000 beri to dock your ship here."

"..We have to pay?"

"Yes."

Tom folded his arms and smirked when he heard that.

"What if we don't pay."

"Of course, we can't stop you from doing that."

"Heh, well then-"

"But, as long as you are on this island, we will chase you down and try to capture you."

Narrowing his eyes at the man who was openly threatening them, Tom asked.

"Do you think you can?"

"Who knows? But we can make sure that your stay here will not be pleasant."

As Tom was thinking about taking on the challenge, Jerry handed a note to the pot bellied man.

Pocketing the note after looking at it, the man said,

"We hope you have a pleasant stay."

Tom looked at Jerry as the man left and asked,

"Where'd you get that money from?"

"Oh, I've been saving for a while."

"Hoh."

Jerry immediately started sweating, knowing he had slipped up when suddenly he was grabbed.

"Cough it out!"

Picking up his vice captain and holding him upside down, Tom started shaking him. After a few moments, the ground below Jerry was littered with various candy.

"Will you let me go now, Tom-san? I'm feeling light headed."

"...."

"That 10,000 was the only amount I had."

Tom seemed to have believed Jerry as he put him down and walked towards where the pot bellied man had gone.

Jerry started picking up his candy as Tom left. After seeing that his captain had already gone some distance, Jerry flashed an evil smile.

'Do you really think I'll keep money in such an easy to find spot?'

Yuuki and Tyke could only deadpan at Jerry, who had started laughing while eating candy.

Soon, Tom came back and started walking away from the dock. Following behind him the Whisker pirates headed towards Rocky road, the only city on this island.

**********

(Sis, Dad's health has gotten worse. You should maybe come back.)

"...."

In an inn, a woman sat with a den-den mushi as she looked out the window.

(Did you hear what l just said?)

"I did."

(So?)

Letting out a big sigh, the woman said,

"Yeah, I'll try to get on a ship soon."

(Hmm, okay. It's fine. You can always go back out again.)

"..Yeah."

(Alright then, I'll see you at home.)

*Kachak*

Go back out again? Can she even do that? The only reason she was able to sneak out of the island was because of the dumb oaf that was in charge of the ship.

Will she even have an opportunity like that again, seeing as the oaf mostly stayed cooped up in the castle?

Shaking her head out of the thoughts, she decided to head back home first. She cannot just ignore her sick father after all, not in the dire state their island was in.

Getting up and pocketing the den-den mushi, she walked out of the room.

**********

Walking around the city, Jerry was sporting an excited smile, a sharp contrast to Tom, who was making a disgusted expression as he looked around.

"Oh man, it's just all stone isn't it?"

"What do you mean Tom-san? Stop being so picky! Buildings back home were also built with stone!"

Looking at Jerry, who would get excited at almost anything, Tom muttered while looking at all the stone around him.

"Maybe I should've just stayed back on the ship."

Rocky road, being the only city on Bedrock island was a city that was filled with stone buildings. The island itself looked like a massive piece of rock when looking from afar.

Having no cultivable land, there were no crops that could be produced. With no crops, there was no livestock. Now how would people live with no vegetables, fruits or even cattle?

"The smell is unbearable."

Tom had to cover his nose because of the fishy smell that permeated all around him. Jerry looked at him as he was doing that and said,

"Don't cats like fish normally?"

"Cats eat mice as well, just so you know."

"Hehe, I was just kidding."

Seeing Jerry play it off while scratching the back of his head, Tom snorted and started looking around again.

Tyke looked at Tom and Jerry who were bantering just as usual and asked,

"Hey, is it fine to just leave our ship there?"

"It's fine, the fatass said that he'll take care of our ship and our belongings on it."

As Tyke frowned thinking it sounded too good a deal, Yuuki voiced his thoughts.

"Sounds too good to be true."

"Yeah, not really. The guarantee only lasts for two days. It's daylight robbery!"

As Tyke and Yuuki nodded their heads, Tom looked ahead at Jerry, who had run forward and was waving towards them.

Walking towards him, Tom looked up at the building he was standing next to and saw that it was an tavern. Soon, he found himself seated at a table along with his crewmates.

Looking through the menu, all Tom could see was fish and said,

"Only fish? It's like they don't know of any other seafood."

Ignoring their complaining captain, the three Whisker pirates placed their order and were soon followed by Tom doing the same.

As they were waiting for their food to arrive, some drunkard came over and started talking to Tyke.

"Eh boss, you look so sober.. and young."

Frowning at the drunk man, Tyke questioned.

"What?"

"Eh, you also sound different. Wait, are you smaller too?"

"...."

Rubbing his eyes for a while, the drunkard soon said,

"Maybe I'm just too drunk. I shouldn't have drank so much."

Just as he said that, the drunk man scratched his head and stated he would meet him back at the base as he stumbled away to the outside, causing Tyke to frown.

Watching the drunkard walking away, Tom smirked.

"Eh 'boss', why do you look so sober? Drink more." (Tom)

"Nihihi, should I order some booze then? Of course, for Tyke-san." (Jerry)

"Don't even think about it." (Tom)

"Tsk." (Jerry)

"Don't worry too much." (Yuuki)

"Hmm." (Tyke)

"Puberty just hit you late, that's why you sound different." (Yuuki)

"...."

Tyke decided to ignore his crewmates and closed his eyes. Thinking of the way the man addressed him, Tyke fell into thought.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a woman. Her face covered by a hood and her entire body clad in a black tunic with only a blue belt that was a different color.

Nibbling on a fish stick, she was staring at Tyke.

'He looks just like him, but younger.'

As Tyke was lost in his thoughts, he felt someone staring at him and snapped his head towards the woman, causing her to jolt up in shock.

Seeing the woman lower her hood even more and try to conceal her face, Tyke got up and walked towards her.

"Why were you staring at me?"

Tom and the rest looked over to see what the deal was as the woman stuttered for a bit before answering,

"Y-you look very cute."

"...."

As Tyke started frowing at that remark, his crewmates rushed over and sat at the table.

"What part of him do you think is cute?"

Looking at the blue haired man who asked her, the woman started stuttering again as she answered,

"H-he has good hair.."

As soon as she said the three pirates at her table looked at their crewmate's short gray hair.

"Good going, Tyke." (Tom)

"Spring has come for Tyke-san, it seems. Are you gonna nut and bolt now?" (Jerry)

"Where the hell did you learn that?!" (Tom)

"I believe my hair is better but I'll let you have this one." (Yuuki)

As Yuuki was swishing his shoulder length hair back, Tyke had enough and slapped the table.

"State your reason properly this time."

Seeing that she couldn't possibly get away easily, the woman sighed before saying,

"You look just like someone I know."

"Who?"

Getting pressed for an answer, the woman said the name, which drew shock from Tyke and Yuuki.

**********

Elsewhere, the drunkard who talked to the Whisker pirates had just reached the place his group were staying at and walked in.

It was only after walking for a while after exiting the tavern did he get sober. As soon as he did, he realized that the person he saw was not his boss.

The thought of himself hallucinating in his drunken stupor entered his mind but he soon shrugged it off and decided to spin it off as a cool story to his boss.

Amid the jealous gazes of his comrades, no doubt due to him being able to go out and drink, as they hadn't had enough for a while, he reached his boss' room.

Opening the door, he was hit with a strong smell of alcohol which almost made him feel drunk again.

Shaking his head, he walked towards the hulking figure that was chugging down a keg.

"You won't believe what I just saw!"

"...."

Seeing as he had the attention of his boss, who put down the keg and was looking at him from above, the man continued.

"I saw someone that looked just like you, Spike!"