บท 19: 00019. Sailing the high seas.
After a quick explanation on the different parts of the ship, how things worked and how to sail. Garp assigned each boy a task and had the boys untie the ship from the dock before he pulled up the anchor with his hands as he said, "Lower the sails and head south!"
Sabo, who was at the helm, turned the rudder after the ship cleared the dock and said, "Yes grandpa."
The rest of the boys were pulling on ropes to set the sails properly, but were having issues. So Garp moved next to Luffy, took the rope and said, "Look at how the wind is pushing currently. When it's like that, pull the sail like this and tie it off over here."
As he finished the wind fully caught the sail and the little ship lurched forward under the added pressure. Garp then moved towards Marcus as he said, "That's passable for a beginner, but it's better to do it like this."
Garp reset Marcus's rope and tied it off with a different knot before he did the same for Ace's rope. Then he helped them tie off the secondary sail, which gave them even more speed. After about an hour of traveling, Ace switched with Sabo and took over the helm. As they traveled Garp would constantly point out different things on the ship to do and watch out for, and would rotate the boys to different jobs.
The only issue that came up was when Luffy was put incharge of the helm. In less than ten minutes Garp had to help Luffy correct the ship more than once. Then five minutes later Luffy was found on the bow of the ship enjoying the view. After being forced to take the helm again, he disappeared and was found in the galley a few minutes later. After that Luffy was banned from taking the helm of the ship.
For dinner the first night Garp dived into the sea while the ship was moving at full speed and found a massive fish before he caught up to the ship and jumped back onto the deck. He gutted and cooked the fish for everyone, before he took over the helm and sent the boys to bed for the night. Within a few hours of going to sleep all the boys were woken up by being thrown out of their hammocks. It took them a minute to get outside, but what greeted them was enormous swirling storm clouds on the horizon and a colossal wave heading right for them.
Before the boys could react they heard Garp's loud laughter over a crack of thunder before Garp said, "Get ready boys, we're heading into a hurricane!"
Marcus reacted first as he said, "Gramps! We need to turn away, this boat can't handle a hurricane!"
Garp waved off Marcus's concern as he asked, "How will you learn to sail properly if you don't face a little danger? Now brace for impact!"
The boys barely held onto the ship as the wave crashed into their vessel, almost pulling them into the water. A second later Garp yelled over the increasing noise of the storm as he said, "Ace, come grab the helm and tie off to it. Sabo, help Luffy and Marcus tie off to the mast and then raise the sails. Make sure the sails are properly secured before we reach the edge of the storm or it can rip our mast apart!"
The boys quickly moved to tie off to the ship before raising the sails as Ace took the helm. Garp stood next to Ace and gave advice as a heavy rain started to fall on the ship and the other boys finished tying off the sails.
As they entered into the outer edge of the hurricane, the waves became larger and the wind easily pushed the boys around, while the rain increased. Within the crazy downpour everyone was soaked within a minute of entering the storm. Even with the overwhelming sound of the wind, rain, waves and thunder, there was one sound that was constantly heard by the boys.
"Bwahahahahaha!"
Over an unknown amount of time, the boys spent most of it being tossed around and miserable. Only Ace had it a little easier as he was constantly holding onto the wheel and steering the ship while he listened to Garps commands. The other boys mostly stayed near the mast and held on for dear life while making sure the rigging stayed tight. Garp was the most relaxed as he would laugh and walk around the ship with no issue.
As Garp walked around the ship he would help the boys with any issues and even caught them a few times from slamming into something. Over the sound of the storm Garp said to the boys, "Remember boys, this is what life is truly about!"
Marcus turned to look at Garp, to ask what he ment and found the man eating a packet of crackers as he stood near the front of the ship. As the relentless rain soaked them all, Marcus yelled out over the sound of the hurricane as he asked, "Why the hell are you eating crackers right now?!?"
Garp stuffed another cracker in his mouth before he said in all seriousness, "It's my snack time."
That was it for Marcus as something snapped inside his mind. Garp had broken him. From that moment on he never planned to question his new reality again. If someone did something completely incomprehensible again, he wouldn't question it anymore. This was just how his life was now…
Time passed as the boys desperately clung to the ship and tried to follow Garp's orders. They were completely soaked to the bone, physically exhausted and bruised all over from slamming into parts of the ship. But no matter what happened to them, they stayed on the deck of the ship.
After what felt like a lifetime, the weather calmed and it went eerily quiet as the ship stopped rocking. As all the boys slumped down to the deck, they started to laugh with all their hearts and Garp joined them. As they laughed Marcus looked up and marveled at the almost perfect circle of storm clouds and the clear starry sky above them before he said, "It's beautiful."
Garp nodded as he said, "That it is."
Garp glanced at everyone before he said, "Remember to cherish moments like these boys. This is what happens when pushing yourself past your limits. To face someone or something stronger than yourself and come out on top. This is what living life is truly about."
Garp cast a glance over all the boys before he said, "I'm proud that none of you passed out or fell off the ship."
Garp then looked at Sabo as he said, "We're not out of this yet though. Sabo, trade with Ace. I want you to handle the next half."
Luffy looked up at Garp in shock as he asked, "We're going back in?"
Garp pointed to the starry sky and the circle of clouds and calm sea around them as he said, "We're currently in the eye of the storm. We still have to cross to the other side."
As Sabo and Ace switched places Marcus stood back up and double checked all the tied off rigging. Ace and Luffy joined him after a few moments and within a few minutes they were done and Garp said, "Relax till we get close to the edge of the storm. I am gonna check the hull for damage real fast."
Garp disappeared into the bottom of the ship for a little while before he came back on the deck and tossed each boy a snack. As the boys enjoyed themselves, Garp double checked everything on the ship as they creeped closer to the edge of the storm.
Just before they entered the rough sea's again Garp said, "Hold on tight and if we're lucky. We'll clear this thing by morning."
Hours passed as the boys worked on the ship to clear the other half of the hurricane. As they came out of the storm clouds, the sun could be seen cresting the eastern horizon and shining its warm orange and pink light over the water. Even though the boys were exhausted, they still lowered and set the sails to move away from the hurricane.
After they cleared to calmer waters Garp let the boys take a quick shower and change clothes before they ate breakfast together. Then he had Marcus take over the helm of the ship while he went to check the ship for damage with the other boys.
Below deck they found some damage to the hull of the ship and a small leak, so Garp taught the other boys how to fix it. An hour passed quickly as the others were below deck working on the hull, while Marcus caught sight of something in the distance. It took another ten minutes before he realized it was a ship and it seemed to be heading towards them.
"Grandpa, I see a ship in the distance."
A moment later Garp asked from below deck, "Can you tell what kinda ship it is?"
"No, it's too far away. But it looks like it's heading towards us."
"That's fine, just keep course. We're almost done down here."
Marcus watched the ship for a while before Garp and the others came up on the deck. Garp glanced towards the ship before he said, "Hopefully it's a pirate ship."
Luffy picked his nose as he asked, "Why do you want it to be pirates?"
Garp smiled as he said, "So you boys can get some training in."
Ace and Sabo shared a look before then ran below deck to grab their training weapons. Luffy followed suit right after as Garp glanced at Marcus and said, "You can go grab your sword, I'll take over the helm."
Marcus shook his head as he said, "I don't wanna fight with my sword."
Garp moved next to Marcus and took the helm as he asked, "Why not?"
Marcus glanced at the approaching ship as he said, "I don't want to accidentally cut off someone's arm or possibly kill them."
"You're too soft."
"Uh?" Marcus looked up at Garp as he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"It means you're still thinking like a kid. You need to think like an adult." Garp said as he shook his head.
Marcus gave Garp a flat look as he said "I'm only five."
"You might be five, but you don't act like you're five." Garp pointed towards Luffy who was excitedly talking with Ace and Sabo as he jumped up and down on the balls of his feet.
"That's what a normal five year old acts like. You don't act anything like that."
Marcus glanced at the other boys before he said in a flat tone of voice, "He's excited to possibly fight someone, that's not normal for a kid."
Garp shrugged as he said, "I was like that when I was a kid."
"And you aren't anywhere close to normal." Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm perfectly normal!"
Marcus glanced up at Garp as he said, "You show up once a year, forcing us to do crazy, almost borderline impossible tasks and think that makes you normal?"
"I do it to make you strong. You'll never get anywhere in life, if you're not strong." Garp said with a huff at the end.
"That still doesn't make it normal."
Garp patted Marcus's head as he said, "And this is why I said you're not a kid. A normal kid wouldn't talk like this with an adult. You always act more like an adult than a kid."
Marcus glanced back up at Garp as he said, "This is just how I am, I can't help it."
Garp nodded in agreement before he said, "There's nothing wrong with that. But your mindset needs to change. You and the others haven't realized it yet…"
Garp narrowed his eyes as he looked at the approaching ship and said, "I'm not training you boys so you can fight or intentionally hurt other people.
Garp glanced down at Marcus as he said, "I'm training you to defend yourself and the people you care about, in a world full of monstrous people. To be able to fight someone like that, you have to be able to become a monster yourself."
Marcus glanced back up at Garp as he asked, "Is that what made you want to become so strong?"
Garp smiled down at Marcus as he said, "I'm just an idiot who likes to fight."
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Pewpewcachoo
Pewpewcachoo Hey everyone, thanks for reading the story so far. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that after this chapter, I only have 6-7 more completed chapters to post before I am caught up. Currently working on the other two chapters as I post this. If everything goes smoothly I might make it ten+ chapters before I run out.
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