One Piece; The Great Pirate Era

Blood had no idea what was going on at this point. And he didn't have time to ask questions before he was being knocked over, his drink and food included.

"I swear, I can't have five minutes of peace with you!" Blood yelled irritably as he watched the rest of the crew shouting at Flint while some were trying to clean up the mess. "Stop playing and put the goat down!"

"Aw," Flint moaned sadly, as he rubbed his head against the goats, hugging him tightly, "But he's so cool!"

The goat bleated after Flint's remark.

"I don't care, stop torturing it," Blood said. He then got up and started to pick up the cup and plate Flint had also knocked over before sitting back down. "Now sit down." It wasn't a request, it was an order.

Listening to Hawkins, although reluctantly and annoyed, Flint released the goat who in return galloped away as fast as humanly---goatly possible. "Aw, alright..." He said with a frown, before standing up.

The feast, or dinner, as it was put, was still going on. His little scuffle and petting of the goat did not ruin too much of anything and most of the gypsies were still partying. Or whatever they called it, if this wasn't a party.

However Hawkins had rum soaked all over his clothes and beard, leaving red stains, and mushy food chunks over him. Staring at him confusingly, Flint pointed. "Woah, what happened to you? Did you get that drunk already?"

"No! You spilled it all over me while chasing the stupid goat!" Blood said, annoyed.

"We can give you a new set of clothes if you want," Captain Trouillefou, who had been watching the ordeal after hearing yelling, interjected.

"Yeah...no thanks..." Blood replied as he looked over what the rest of the crew was wearing.

"Oh is that what happened?" Flint asked curiously, "Huh, how about that..." He added, searching for the goat. However it was no where in sight now. Or at least near Flint or anywhere in his sight for that matter.

Once the captain interjected with a wardrobe change, Flint held his stomach, as he laughed. "Yeah, he'd rather wring and suck out the rum!"

Blood was so annoyed by this point that he didn't even say anything. However, it looked as though the veins in his forehead were about to explode.

"So let me ask you this," Blood finally said, trying to veer the conversation away from its current subject. "this Judge, what exactly did he do to chase you off your island? Like, what are we up against?"

Captain Trouillefou's once impish expression suddenly turned rather serious. He sat up in his chair and stared at the two hard.

"The Judge and I never liked one another. He did anything he could to persecute us. Raised our taxes, tried to throw us in jail, you know, that sort of thing," the Captain said, his tone suggesting that these things were just minor inconveniences. "But then he got his devil fruit power and completely wiped out our camps. And he burned one of our own at the stake."

The Captain was now speaking lowly as if he didn't want anyone around to overhear their conversation. He didn't really give Flint or Blood a moment to react before he started mischievously laughing. However, it was clear this laughter was not genuine.

"But don't worry, you'll be fine."

Flint hardly paid attention to any of the gypsy captain's words of advice or history lecture at all. If he retained any of it, it didn't pique his interest. He simply began to walk away, making his rounds across the buffet table. He took another drink and another fish.

Once the conversation had ended, he heard little of any of it, with a fish in his mouth. Taking a nice big bite, he yanked the rest of the fish stick out of his mouth, before gnawing it energetically. "Yeah see Hawkins, we'll be fine." He said as calmly, enthusiastically, and energetically as possible and usual. Without pause he then began to chug down his drink of crushed apple juice.

"Are you serious? Were you listening to anything that was just said?" Blood asked, hitting his hand on his forehead. "He didn't even tell us anything useful!"

"Hey, I was getting to that part!" the Captain replied irritably. "It's not my fault you have the patience of a goldfish. Or the attention span." The Captain looked over towards Flint at the last remark.

"I heard it, so what?" Flint said, his tone slightly more serious. "He can make fires or something." He replied, before grinning widely. "It'll take more then some guy who can flick matches to scare us away."

He then allowed a loud and long yawn to escape, as he stretched his arms as high as they could go. "I'm a little tired, think I'm going to see what's going on outside." He added, turning to the direction where the stairs were, before slowly heading that way.

"Just don't do anything stupid like fall overboard," Blood said as Flint was heading towards the stairs. "Because I'm not swimming after you again."

He then poured himself a new cup of wine and started to drink it.

"So, you wanna tell me anything useful about this Judge like I asked?" Blood asked before taking a sip.

"Sorry but I just don't think you're going to be useful enough for me to even bother," Captain Trouillefou replied. But his nature was playful, as if he had gained a new sense of confidence in the battle that was sure to come. And that confidence certainly wasn't coming from Blood.

"You've got to be kidding me," Blood said irritably.

The deck was quiet and peaceful as the boat sailed along the calm waves. There was faint laughter and music coming from below but it wasn't enough to disturb the tranquility of the what was happening above. A few crew members managed the deck though most were relaxed and at ease.

With the end of the fish sticking out of his mouth, Flint began to chew it thoroughly, as he ate the entire meal. With his fish gone, he only had his crushed apple juice, half full. Staring above at the night sky, cloudy as it was, there were still a few stars.

It was calm and the wind had a pleasant cool breeze to it, not too warm or cold. Not a voice stirred and the dinner party downstairs seemed much more lively, yet he didn't mind. He slowly walked towards the mast, before climbing it with both hands, and his mug between his teeth.

Once he reached the top, where the lookout post was, he stared at ever stretching night ocean, amazed at the sights. All his amazement for the sights he was seeing were all summed up in one excited and energetic gasp.

As the night continued, the Court of Miracles was slowly making its way closer to the Island of Bells. Eventually, the merriment from below faded away as a majority of the crew slept. Shifts continued into the night to give those above deck some rest and the ship sailed quietly through the night.

At some point during the early morning, long before the sun was ready to rise, a small spec of land came into view. As the ship came closer, the Island of Bells became more and more apparent. It was a small island with a large tower in the center, a bell tower. When the early morning approached, even from the ship could the bells be heard.

With the sun already risen, the crew was preparing a small boat to make the rest of the journey towards the island. Captain Trouillefou was already awake, watching over as the preparations were made while also keeping an eye on the island to see if any ships would come towards them.

As the midnight hours continued to slowly pass by, Flint found himself fast asleep and slumped in the outlook post of the mast. With an empty mug in hand, he stayed there for the remainder of the night, his back crouched and his legs sticking upright from such a cramped space.

When morning came though, he found himself groggily awakening, as the crew members down below became more active, concerning themselves less about their concealment. Even though the bells resonating from the land were feint, Flint heard them clearly, as he opened his sleepy eyes.

With a long yawn, he stretched his cramped limbs, before sitting upright, and rubbing his groggy eyes. With a moan, he squinted from the sunlight, before seeing the land in front of him. Amazed at what he was seeing, his weariness was over before it even began. His eyes widened, as he energetically sprung up and took in its glory. "Woah, this is amazing!" He exclaimed, and then looked down to see all the gypsies hard at preparation.

He wanted to exclaim his enthusiasm and the amazing land to someone, but they probably all saw it already. That was except for Hawkins. And in the corner of his eye, he spotted him. Moving his eyesight straight to him and quickly, he saw his crew member was passed out drunk, slumped, and with a few bottles on him. The area around him smelled of rum, and the slippery and oily fluid was also all over his beard.

That didn't stop Flint though, as he excitedly leapt off of the mast and down to the ship's floor. Immediately he rushed straight to Hawkins, before shaking him. "Hey hey! You got to see this!" He exclaimed, looking back to the approaching land a few times.

However he didn't get a reply from him, not an answer or action. Slightly more annoyed, but not quite, he shook him harder. "Come on, there's a an island, wake up Hawkins!" He added, slapping him across the cheeks a few times. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

At the first slap across his face, Blood started to wake up.

"Wha...?" Blood started to say but Flint kept slapping him. "Hey!" he added, waking up a bit more now. But Flint was still slapping him. "Knock it off!" Here, Blood pushed Flint away from him.

Blood took a moment to scratch his head and regain his senses. His head was pounding a little but not nearly as much as it had been the previous day.

"Now, what are you talkin' about?" Blood asked.

Being shoved backwards, Flint staggered, before falling on his rear-end. However not even this could dampen his spirits. As his crew member was finally fully awaken, he stood up happily, and pointed over to the front of the ship.

"Look!" He exclaimed, as the bells of the island rang and echoed ever as far as where they were. "It's our first island!"

Blood looked over and towards the stretch of sea where the island was.

"It's kind of small," Blood couldn't help but to say as he looked at it. Slowly, Blood got to his feet before walking closer towards where the small ship was being prepared as he went to get a better look.

As Hawkins less then expected, unlively, and pessimistic opinion had came to pass, Flint frowned once his crew-member's back was facing him. "Remind me why you're part of my crew again?" He replied, folding his arms grumpily.

"What?" Blood said, not understanding why Flint was so grumpy all of a sudden.

Captain Trouillefou then approached the two. His clothes weren't nearly as flamboyant as they had been the day prior and he had even taken the time to replace his shoes and hat. Instead, he was wearing a white tunic with a silver vest that also had a hood which, once put on, would hide his face. His pants were a standard black and instead of his purple jester shoes were tall brown ones. But his earring remained.

"We're ready to depart," he said.

"Depart?..." Flint said slightly confused, as he slowly pulled away his crossed arms. It was then he noticed the smaller boat, seemingly a fisherman's boat, which had supplies and some crew members on board. He realized this meant they were heading to the island, and as excited as he was to check it out as well, there was something amiss.

"What about breakfast?" He asked, as if it was a crime to go without one.

"You can eat on the way there," the captain said as he walked towards the small boat. "We can't afford to be this close to shore for very long." He then looked towards another man who was presumably his first mate and began giving him orders on what to do with the Court of Miracles.

"Well, you heard the man," Blood said as he walked towards the small boat. He climbed in without question and found a place to make himself comfortable. Sure enough, there was some food visibly present. But there was no alcohol to speak of. "Figures," Blood muttered.

Happily hopping into the boat, once Flint caught eye of the fresh fruit and bread, he landed in it with a thunderous thump, causing the entire boat to rock. Once on board, he grabbed two loaves of bread, and some fruit, which he switched eating from time to time.

From this tiny fisherman boat, Flint and the crew were even closer to the ocean and sparkling blue waters. It was amazing to see how clear and fresh the salt water appeared. Catching a glimpse of a few fish swimming by, the loaf of bread in his mouth unintentionally dropped out. "Ouh." He said in astonishment, leaning slightly over the boat to observe the aquatic life more.

Blood took some of the bread and fruit. He watched Flint as he leaned over the edge.

"Don't fall overboard," Blood warned before taking a bite out of the bread in his hand.

Captain Trouillefou then got into the boat with the rest. The crew working on the smaller boat were dressed in a similar fashion to their captain: wearing 'common' clothes that concealed their faces as best as possible. Immediately, the boat was off and gradually drifting away from the Court of Miracles.

It wasn't long until the boat was moving away from the ship. Slightly annoyed, because he was sightseeing with the local fish, able to be seen in the clear water, Flint reached his hands out into the water. However the boat was moving too far away and fast, and so they drifted away from them.

With the fish gone, he turned his attention to those in the boat. There he noticed the captain of the gypsies and his crew, who were all dressed so differently from before. "So why'd you take off your costumes?"

"So the Judge and his men won't recognize us obviously," the captain replied. "And those weren't costumes!" he added irritably.

"Looked like costumes to me," Blood remarked.

"Just shut up and eat your breakfast," Captain Trouillefou snapped.

The boat ride was not very long and before they knew it, the boat reached the harbor. The crew was quiet at this point, trying to do whatever possible to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. The Captain was the first to get out of the boat as he motioned towards the other two to join him. It was clear that the three would be continuing the journey on their own.