#like i drew this while watching the east blue saga i think

[peterofthedrakes]

i forgot i drew this but it NEEDS to be shared

[everthewip]

something I began and intend to continue, but @janec23 was interested and so here is a (lengthy) snippet 💕

My file for this was just called 'Nameless Slave' but I think I will be changing it to simply 'Saga' or 'Saga & Ylva'. Full snippet below cut.

Autumn leaves had covered the forest floor, keeping a soft cushion beneath the bare soles of her feet. It was a comfort she prayed would last. But, too soon the trees began to grow sparse, the blanket of leaves giving way to cold dirt and pebbles. Along the border of the woods was a rocky hillside that stretched wide in both directions. Rather than attempt to find a way around, she gritted her teeth and began the ascent over it.

Tough as her feet were they could not withstand the sharp edges of the rocks. Blood warmed the cold stone as they cut into her, but she did not stop or give in to the pain. The sooner she passed over the rocky terrain the better. 

On the other side lay a valley, surrounded on all edges by the forest. Tall, yellowed grass swayed in the afternoon wind as mountain peaks loomed to the near east. On the northern end of the valley rose a writhing snake of smoke, its source a low-burning campfire. A wagon was stationed near it, along with three figures sitting around the flames. Two horses grazed nearby. 

There was a scent in the air, of burning wood and fried meat. For a while she stood there, letting the blood of her feet seep into the grass, watching the distant figures. Her tongue watered at the scents, stirring the hunger rooted so deeply in her belly - in her bones. 

It hurt to move but she moved anyway. She expected nothing. If the strangers proved violent, they might kill her and end her suffering. If they were merciful they might toss her a bit of meat. Likely they would ignore her, but even that would be enough; if she could but feel the heat of their fire and inhale the scents of their meal, even from a distance, she would be satisfied. To her surprise, however, as she drew close enough to be noticed - first by the horses, who snorted warily, and then by the three strangers who turned to watch her - one of them stood up. 

Of the three she was the only woman, but as she rose the woman’s mere height brought her approach to a pause. She wasn’t close enough to hear what they said, but she could see the three speak. The two men rose as well, but they turned to the wagon to begin gathering their things. The woman turned and walked into the valley. 

She was taller than any average woman, though the men were equally taller than any average man. Broad shoulders set the frame of a sturdy and toned build, though most of it was hidden beneath layers of light leather. She had a strong jaw with a face more handsome than beautiful, and cold blue eyes that never once looked away from the barefoot girl. The hair on her head was coal black and braided, the long rope falling over her shoulder and past her breasts. Hints of tattoos marked what little skin was exposed on her arms and chest. 

The woman almost came close enough to touch, but stayed back a step or two to instead loom over the hungry runaway. Wood, smoke and sweat clung to her like a heady perfume that was both pleasant and not. She smelled like a man and glared down with the expectant authority of one. 

“What do they call you?” Her voice was deep but not hard, softened ever so slightly by the subtle hints of her womanhood. 

“I--” In contrast, the runaway’s voice was harsh and strained, the words catching in the dry crevices of her throat. The woman seemed to sense this. 

“Come,” she motioned for her to follow and without hesitation her command was obeyed. She led her back towards the campfire. It had yet to be doused and the warmth that wafted from it was just as pleasant as she had imagined. With a nod the woman gestured to a wooden crate and upon it the smaller woman sat. 

The two men had gone to retrieve the horses and when they were not looking the woman moved to the wagon and retrieved a small gourd. This she offered to the barefoot girl, who - upon hearing the water sloshing within - immediately opened the gourd and guzzled it down.

“Slowly,” the blue-eyed stranger warned, and so with great reluctance she lowered the gourd from her lips.

“Now, what are you called?”

“I don’t.. I don’t know.” The words came more easily, but her voice was still strained, still rough. She sounded nothing like herself. 

“You do not know,” the woman repeated firmly. “All things have a name. Did you forget yours?” 

She shook her head. Her hands trembled, sloshing about the water remaining in the gourd. She wanted to drink more, but beneath the woman’s cold eyes she remained still. For a moment neither spoke, but she knew a clearer response was expected. 

“No,” she continued, answering more properly. “They… Took them.” The words came out slow and broken, each of them causing her throat to sting. “Our names.” Hesitant, she lifted the gourd to take a small sip. 

“They took your names,” the woman repeated again. There was another crate pushed close to the fire, and upon this she sat - though even seated she loomed like the mountains at her back. Her eyes fell over the girl, taking in every tattered, thin, and weary detail. Beside them the men had returned and were hitching the horses to the wagon, passing quiet glances towards the fire. 

“You are a slave,” the woman stated, and the girl gave a weak nod. “What is a slave doing out here, alone?” 

“I ran.” In the early hours of the morning, before the sun had risen, when her owners were still lost to a drunken sleep. The overseer had been preoccupied with beating another slave and she had slipped away, quietly and with surprising ease. They had always been too afraid to run; she had eventually stopped caring, not even enough to live. 

Her own hazel eyes rose to meet the dark blue of the mountain woman’s, and she was surprised to see a smile at her thin lips. 

“A nameless slave running into the woods with no shoes, no food, and barely any clothes. You are foolish. Did they feed you, your owners?” 

Weakly, she nodded. 

“And they gave you water?”

Another nod. 

“Clothes, a place to sleep?”

Again, she confirmed her answer, now only with a single nod and a nervous sip of the water. Whatever reason the woman had for questioning her, she was certain the result would be the same. With the aid of horses it would be a swift journey back to the outpost, and once there she would face either a painful punishment or an even quicker death. 

“You had food, water, clothes, and a place to sleep,” the woman continued. “You were alive, even if that life was a harsh one. And yet you gave it up, ran into the woods where you could die. Why did you run?” 

Her hands still trembled, but she steeled herself to answer, to explain; that the food they were given was small, barely scraps, and a common punishment was to be given no food at all; that the water was dirty and they were allowed only so many drinks a day; that their clothes were thin and tattered, handed down from slave to slave, and they were only given shoes in the winter or when working in rocky terrain; that they all slept together, often outside, even in the cold. She prepared herself to say all of these things and more, but when her gaze lifted to meet the harsh hue of the woman’s, her voice caught in her throat. They were both silent for a while before she could answer, and when she did her words drew a sudden warmth to the stranger’s fair face. 

“I’d sooner die freely in the woods…” She had to pause and take another sip of water, just to soothe her throat. “... than as a slave.”

“A good answer,” the woman grinned. “You have claimed your freedom and we will not hold you from that.” She cast a sharp look to the men, both of whom had stopped to watch and listen, their gazes less approving than her own. Besides the two crates upon which the women sat, they had piled the rest of their belongings onto the wagon. “But we won’t leave you to die in the wild either. Fell, Hagen - make room.” 

As the men began to move crates and sacks around on the back of the wagon, the woman took the gourd of water from the newly freed slave and helped her stand. After sitting even for those short moments the bloody soles of her feet stung sharper than when they’d been cut over the rocks. She limped and with every step flinched and bit back the pain. The woman watched her and did not berate her for being too slow; when they reached the wagon she even helped her up onto the back. That alone was more kindness than she had ever known. 

The last two crates were piled on the wagon, the campfire was doused, and the two men - Fell and Hagen - took their place at the front of the wagon. The woman sat in the back with her, but until the horses were guided onto a dirt path she remained silent. 

“I am Ylva,” she said after a while. “And if you have no name, I will call you Saga, for I expect one day you will have many tales to share, beginning on the day you became free.”

[smallish-viking]

Hiccup the Third, King of the Wilderwest - a HTTYD book fanfic

A year after the war, Hiccup struggles with the pressures of kingship.

3000 ish words

Hiccup struggled to focus on the pages in front of him, eyes growing weary of letters, maps. Forcing himself to conjure solutions to problems as old and complicate as the Archipelago itself.

‘Hiccup?’

Camicazi peered around the door of the hut, flooding the room with the golden pink of dusk, her hair illuminated like a halo.

‘You spend so long in here we are beginning to forget what you look like.’

Hiccup looked at her, everything in him was aching to step out those doors and into the light of the evening, but his work tugged at the edges of his mind.

‘The Meathead land claims will be there in the morning. Come on, Hiccup’.

She was right, Hiccup thought. What use was a King who couldn’t think straight? He reached his aching, ink stained hands to his head and carefully lifted the crown and placed it on the table. Despite its weight, the crown fit him better than ever.

Camicazi grinned as he followed her out into the summer evening.

The golden light hit Hiccup like a physical blow. He stretched out his arms like a bird before flight, feeling the sea air flow between his fingers and blow back his hair. He breathed it in, almost desperately, and closed his eyes, relishing this feeling of weightlessness.

On the clifftop sat a small collection of huts, nicknamed ‘King’s Corner’, built flat and squat to survive coastal storms. Some were lined with books for reading or study. Others were used as meeting chambers where the Council of the Wilderwest gathered for discussion and meetings were held with representatives of the tribes. Hiccup had his back to them as he looked out to the sea. The last of the fishing boats were returning now, and their long shadows were etched into the dazzling blue and golden water. It was low tide and a few small figures could be seen setting out nets on the wet sand among the waders and gulls. Some dragons flew overhead with the cormorants, heading home to roost. There were other dragons, too, who scampered through tall grasses which were ablaze with the day’s final effort of sunlight.

Hiccup and Camicazi began to walk along the clifftop together. Wordlessly, Camicazi handed Hiccup his helmet. It was bashed and scratched thing, scarred by a lifetime of adventure. Unlike the Crown it was weightless as it sat upon his red hair. She reached up and adjusted it on Hiccup’s head, moving aside a lock of hair so the Dragon Mark was visible.

‘That’s better.’

‘Thank you, Camicazi,’ said Hiccup, his voice hoarse from hours of silence.

She flashed him a smile. ‘No problem’. Her eyes met his. There was a fierce warmth in her gaze, like a bonfire in winter, but, too soon, it was gone. She ran ahead of him and swiftly performed a few cartwheels on the grass.

‘So’, Hiccup ran up to her, ‘what have I missed?’.

‘Well,’ Camicazi breathed as she sprung upright again. ‘Tuffnut Junior won a friendly axe fight with Dogsbreath the Duhbrain.’

‘Uh huh’.

‘Gobber beat Baggybum in an arm wrestle. So Baggybum stole his trousers and they called it quits’.

‘Right.’

‘And my mother and your father had a bet on who could rustle the most sheep.’

‘And who won?’

‘My mother of course, she’s the undefeated champion! Better luck next time, Hiccup my boy!’

They had reached the tavern. The familiar sounds reached Hiccup from within, the ambient noise of scraping chairs and chinking glass, of dragon shrieks, laughter and fights about to break out. Camicazi went in first, peering around the corner as she did. She held the heavy oak door open for Hiccup and he stepped in. The shutters were open, so the dying light of the day cast golden beams over the Vikings eating and drinking at the tables and illuminated those who talked and swayed at the sides. Hiccup lingered at the back with Camicazi as he watched them.

Even though the tavern was bustling, Stoick looked up when the door opened, face lifting at the sight of his son. With a single motion of his head, he beckoned Hiccup and Camicazi to join them. Stoick the Vast sat among many of the old warriors of the tribes; Valhallarama of the White Arms and Chunky Thighs, Gobber the Belch, Big Boobied Bertha and several others. Hiccup slid down next to Stoick as Camicazi went to join her mother. The impressive stature of his father loomed beside him. Hiccup nestled into his shadow, a wave of comfort coming over him as he slipped into the role of his father’s son, a boy again.

‘How’s it going, Hiccup?’ said Stoick as he clapped Hiccup on the back.

Hiccup let out a heavy sigh. ‘Tiring’.

‘You’re doing a fine job son. A fine job.’

A large tankard of mead slid down the table and came to a stop by Hiccup’s hands, its contents spilling over onto the oak wood table. Gobber flashed a wink in his direction as Hiccup glanced upwards, and he raised the tankard in thanks. The drink was sickly and burned as Hiccup swallowed it but he welcomed the way that it warmed his insides.

Raising a little on the bench, Hiccup peered over the head of his father to scan the faces of those gathered in the tavern. He was looking for someone; a mop of curly chestnut hair, a pair of glasses beside a placid vegetarian dragon. He found him. Fishlegs was sitting in a secluded corner of the tavern, head bowed in conversation with Barbara the Barbarian. Old Wrinkly’s new allergy remedy must be working as Barbara's cat was prowling along his shoulders and, if anything, it looked like Fishlegs was enjoying it as he ran his long musicians fingers through its black fur.

Hiccup smiled to himself and slid back down into his seat. He was there for a while, basking in the conversation of the old warriors. They spoke of old battles won, and lands lost to fire and time. Some were old stories that Hiccup remembered being told when he was a child. They seemed strange to be spoken here, they belonged to a different age, Hiccup thought, the boy he was when he first heard them seemed so far from him now. He felt like an outsider among his company. Marked somehow. Their faces were all brandished with the Dragonmark, scarred and aged by war. They laughed together but there was a shadow of grief in their eyes; everyone had lost something to the dragon flames.

‘Excuse me, King –.’

Hiccup was pulled from his thoughts as a voice from behind him cut through the others. The bench squeaked as he wearily pushed back from the table and stood to face Baggybum.

‘I’ve been talking to Thuggery, fine lad, who says that the Meathead islands to the East that were destroyed last year need to be rebuilt so that they can move back there. I was thinking that we could take some supplies, wood and iron and such, over there on a few ships and help them out. The tricky thing is the lands lie just south of the Winter Wind of Woden -’

A sudden weight dropped in Hiccup’s stomach. A tangled memory arose that was too sharp to touch. He took in a long breath and stared intensely at his uncle, trying to prize himself away from the fogged window to the past. Baggybum had a scar that stretched over his left brow. Hiccup knew it. The Battle of Flashburn’s School of Sword Fighting, the first of many dreadful days.

‘– you see, and Mogadon wanted the village to be positioned on the West side of the island. That way the harbour will -’

The scar was little more than memory, a shallow wound compared to the tear in Baggybum’s heart, the absence where his son had been torn away, first by betrayal, healed, then broken again by flaming arrows and deep water. The hero that never was.

‘- four Hooligan ships should be enough, I think, but we might be able to borrow some Peaceable supplies along the way - ’

The eyes of Baggybum were the same as his son’s. The stormy blues that Hiccup grew up dreading the sight of, and the inevitable onslaught that soon followed. There it was again. The sudden assault of guilt, a raw wound reopened.

‘What do you think, Hiccup?’

He forced his mind to resurface, to the present, to the words of his beloved uncle. What was he saying? Hiccup felt sick.

‘I, um…’

Words clogged in his mouth.

Useless.

His thoughts weighed like rock.

Hiccup the Useless.

Stop it, please.

You aren’t the King that we wanted, but maybe you are the king that we need.

Snotlout appeared in Hiccup’s mind. Not ghostly, through the fog of memory and heartache, but clear, as if he was standing in front of him. Bruised and tear stained, the Black Star glistening on his chest.

‘Don’t you dare lose it. That Star is very important to me.’

There was a hand on his shoulder. Comforting, gentle. Hiccup obeyed its pressure without really thinking about it. Only as he walked blindly through the crowd did he realise that it was his Grandfather who was leading back outside.

The sharp sea wind collided with Hiccup’s body. The tavern doors swung shut. He walked back along the clifftop, followed Old Wrinkly until they came under the shelter of one of the few trees that were scattered among the heath.

‘It’s ok, Hiccup. Breathe. Just breathe.’

Hiccup hadn’t noticed his rugged shallow breaths. His shoulders tense and jaw set. Away from Old Wrinkly, he withdrew, throat and eyes stinging.

‘I – ’

He tried to speak, but the words got caught in his throat. Old Wrinkly reached out, his withered hands held Hiccup’s face, and when Hiccup met his gaze, he saw the pride that glimmered in his tired, bright eyes.

‘Oh Hiccup, my dear boy.’

They drew their arms around each other. It was not a gentle thing, that embrace, Hiccup held onto his grandfather as if he were the only stone structure in a violent storm.

‘This is the hard way,’ said Old Wrinkly after a while, ‘to become a King.’

They broke apart and his hands clasped Hiccup’s arms.

‘You’ve already done what the sagas will sing of. You’ve defeated a great enemy and saved the Barbaric Archipelago.’ Hiccup noticed that in the fading light, Old Wrinkly seemed to blend into the silvery wisps of cloud that blew towards the ocean. ‘Now comes the hard bit. Kings are remembered for the glory of battle, the might of the sword but great leaders, Hiccup, the leaders that are truly revered, are known for the love and devotion that their people show them and the better world that they work together to create.’

‘But that’s exactly it!’ replied Hiccup, ‘everyone is looking at me to be this perfect leader.’ He threw his arms into the air. ‘Not long ago I was Hiccup The Useless, the bottom in every class. Let’s face it I was a rubbish Viking, and now I expected to be this great King. Wherever I turn there are people there expecting me to do the perfect thing. To live up to their hopes.’ His arms came to rest on his head then he dragged them down over his face. ‘We all lost so much in that war, so much, and I’m expected to put it all back the way it was.’

‘The truth is, Hiccup,’ Old Wrinkly took out his pipe and begun to fill it. ‘The world will never be as it was. It grows and evolves like a living thing.’ He lit the pipe and drew in a long breath. ‘It’s your job to be like a father to it, to guide the world, to care for it, and set it off in the right direction.’ And then he smiled. ‘Just like training a dragon. You’ve ventured to the perilous Wild Dragon Cliff and you now have a wriggling and smoking basket under your bed, and the adventure has just begun.’

‘And maybe you can train a dragon better by talking to it then yelling at it,’ followed Hiccup, ‘yes, I remember.’ He laughed wearily. ‘Well, that’s certainly easier said than done. Sometimes yelling does seem to be the only language this lot understand.’

Old Wrinkly let out a smoke filled chuckle. ‘Yes, it has always been the way.’

They stayed there in silence for a while. Old Wrinkly smoked his pipe and Hiccup watched the dragons that scuttled and squabbled along the shoreline.

‘Hiccup!’ There was a shout from behind. Fishlegs and Camicazi were coming towards him, Camicazi struggling to keep up with Fishlegs’ long strides without breaking into a run.

‘That’s where you are!’

Old Wrinkly gave Hiccup a knowing look and patted him on the shoulder before turning and heading back towards the village. He raised his pipe in greeting to the others.

‘I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, Fishlegs.’

‘Yeah, see you then.’

‘What’s happening tomorrow?’ asked Camicazi.

‘Old Wrinkly has been teaching me how to be a healer.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I reckon it’s a pretty useful skill to have. It’s been days since I’ve seen you Hiccup

Before Hiccup could reply, Camicazi cut in, ‘that’s because you spend all your time with Barbara the Barbarian.’

Fishlegs blushed a deep crimson.

‘I really think she likes me you know.’

‘I think she does, too,’ said Hiccup. ‘But more importantly I know her father likes you as well, he seemed genuinely impressed with that letter you wrote to her.’

‘Really? How do you know?’

‘I was in a meeting with him last week and he mentioned it. He was saying how he wanted to get rid of the “old fashioned notion” of parents dictating their daughters marriages. He was certainly hairy, but not as scary as I previously thought.’

‘Wow’ Fishlegs swung his arm around Hiccup, then the other around Camicazi as he faced the sea wind. ‘Love. You just can’t beat it.’

Camicazi wriggled out from underneath him. ‘Fishlegs, have you been at Tuffnut Senior’s home brew?’

‘No,’ said Fishlegs indignantly, ‘well, maybe a little, but the point still stands.’

Hiccup laughed and put his arm around Fishlegs. ‘Are you alright, though, Hiccup?’ Fishlegs said as he searched his friend’s face.

‘Yeah, its just this King business.’ He sighed. ‘It really weighs me down sometimes.’ Hiccup was feeling a lot better after his chat with Old Wrinkly. Mad as he is, he is certainly good at giving advice.

‘Hmm... I know what you need.’ Said Camicazi. And then she cupped her hands to her mouth and called out, sharp and piercing. ‘SHADOW!!’

A few moments later, as if Thor himself had chiselled out a part of the sky, the enormous Deadly Shadow dragon burst through the air, turning visible just as they touched onto land. Hiccup and Fishlegs stumbled backwards, but Camicazi, defiant as ever, stood firmly as she stared with glee at the beautiful dragon.

‘Hello there, Shadow,’ said Fishlegs as Innocence went to nuzzle his shoulder. He put his cheek to the side of Innocence’s head and stroked down his neck, now the green of the heathland.

Hiccup’s awe of the Deadly Shadow had never faded, and as he walked around them a swelling of immense gratitude rose within him for this beautiful creature, and for the dragons who flew in flocks overhead, for Stormfly, Wodensfang, The Windwalker and little Toothless. Camicazi reached out her hand for him, he took it and hauled himself onto Shadow’s back.

‘Where to?’ asked Patience.

Hiccup smiled. ‘Upwards.’

Shadow extended their enormous wings, which turned a dusky grey in anticipation for the awaiting sky. Hiccup braced himself and with a jolt, Shadow was off. Up, up, up they soared, wind rushed through his hair and he spread out his arms, tilted up his head, and gazed at the clouds which neared ever closer. Camicazi whooped and punched the air and soon, she too was reaching upwards to catch the clouds above their heads. Fishlegs had his arms around the neck of Patience and was peering round him, looking towards the ground that was disappearing rapidly beneath them.

For how long they remained there, Hiccup could not tell. He forgot all else. His world narrowed to this friends who sat in front of him, the gentle beats of Shadow’s wings, the sea below and the sky above. The air was sweet as he breathed it in. Very sweet. Hang on, is that drinking chocolate? Hiccup spun to look behind him and there, gliding along in the slipstream behind the Deadly Shadow, was the Windwalker!

‘Hello Windwalker!’ Hiccup called, beaming.

The Windwalker loop the looped in excitement and glided to position himself as close as he could to the enormous, sky coloured dragon. With the ease from a childhood on dragon back, Hiccup slid from the Deadly Shadow and onto the back of the Windwalker. And off he flew. Hiccup looked behind him to the others, a shadow of grey was rising in the east as night was beginning to reclaim the earth. Camicazi had positioned herself on Shadow so she was lying on their back, gazing at the sky above and Fishlegs was talking to Arrogance, but Hiccup couldn’t make out the words. He waved to them and they smiled and waved back at him, before the Windwalker climbed further upwards.

There is a moment, when a dragon ascends and soars upwards. When the land falls away and the world stretches wide, nothing but sky and cloud and freedom. It was Hiccup’s favourite time, when anything could happen and nothing yet had. He sat on the back of the Windwalker, and the wild night opened its arms. Tomorrow can wait.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

  Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

  That's pretty good!

  Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

    How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

  It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

  So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

  Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes. 

  So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

  You didn’t know yet?

    I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

  You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

  "That must be all of them."

  It happens.

  So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

  Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

    Wait, what? Gahd.

  I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

  Yeah, those things have no give in them.

  Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that? 

  Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

  That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool. 

    Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

  It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro. 

  He just did it.

  I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk. 

  I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

  Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

  I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

  He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

    So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

  What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

  So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

  Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him. 

  So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

  I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling. 

    I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite One Piece character?

  Sanji

  Favorite One Piece villain?

  Enel

  Favorite One Piece moment?

  March to Arlong Park

  Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

  Luffy and Zoro

  Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

  Soba Mask’s debut

  If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

  Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

  Moment that made you cry the hardest?

  Sanji leaving the Baratie

  Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

  One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

  Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

  Favorite fight scene?

  Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

        Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery

[theshatteredrose]

Turquoise Lotus Father (Treasure Seekers Saga 2) - Chapter 5 - Etrian Odyssey 5 Fanfiction

AN: Sorry for the wait! Things have been quite hectic with the holiday season and, ya know, everything basically on fire. I’ve personally had a couple of bushfire emergency watch and acts. Not to mention that the smoke is making me feel constantly headachy and nauseous. Anyway, have a long chapter to make up for the wait. Hope you enjoy~

Ao3 | Wattpad | FFNet

Chapter 5:

There appeared to be more explorers inside the labyrinth now. As it was mid-morning, it made sense. But they seemed to be mainly focused within the first floor. Though the trek to the stairs to reach the second was short, Drayce didn’t see anyone else along the way.

However, as he stepped out onto the lush grass of the second floor, Drayce got that distinct feeling that they weren’t the only ones who had ventured here recently. It wasn’t anything alarming. They were venturing within a labyrinth, a place where guilds explored at will. So of course, there would be someone else milling about.

After recent events, however, Drayce just couldn’t help but be cautious. “Hm?”

“Again?” Blayke griped as he stood next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Rude,” Drayce chided lightly with a click of his tongue before he shook his head. “Anyway, I think there’s someone else on this floor.”

“I think you’re right,” Faelen said with a tone of nervousness. “Nashoba is sensing something as well.”

Drayce turned to face his teammate and found Faelen crouched down on the ground next to Nashoba, his arm over the back of the white wolf. Nashoba had his ears straight up, his eyes focused forward, and his tail down. His hackles weren’t raised, so he wasn’t in defensive mode. He was in cautious mode, though.

And he wasn’t the only one.

“…Probably just rookie explorers,” Blayke muttered, even as he subconsciously took a step closer to Caelem, whom of which also looked uneasy.

The only one of their party who wasn’t wearing an expression of nervousness was Zohar. He gazed at their surroundings with interest, his posture relaxed, the coffins that he wielded as weapons floating idly by his sides.

Perhaps they were just feeling nervous about entering a new floor. Zohar had ventured through these paths before. If he suddenly started to act defensively, then something was clearly out of line.

Even so…

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Drayce said with a smile. “But just in case; Cal, stay close to Blayke and I’ll take the lead, ok?”

Caelem nodded his head and took a step closer to Blayke as well. “Ok,” he said simply.

They fell into a somewhat comfortable silence after that. Drayce, as he said, took the lead with a hand on his cannon. Behind him was Blayke, and close to him was, of course, Caelem. Taking up the rear was Zohar with Faelen and Nashoba in front of him.

Though Drayce thought it might have been best for Zohar to take the front with him, since he had been to this floor before. But perhaps it was best that he took the last spot. He didn’t want to have either Faelen or Caelem there, and he knew that protective Blayke preferred to be near the front so that he could launch himself into battle as soon as possible.

As they silently move deeper into the labyrinth, Drayce thought he heard a sound. It was faint, but it didn’t seem to match their surroundings. Before he could ask if anyone else heart it, Caelem suddenly uttered a sound of surprise.

“D-did you hear that?” Caelem asked, similarity to when he did previously, which caused everyone to promptly turn to face him.

Next to him and grasping a hold of Nashoba’s collar, Faelen nodded his head. “I did this time,” he murmured as his ears twitched.

“I heard a faint sound,” Drayce replied.

“It was a startled yelp,” Caelem said firmly. “Followed by another…sound. A monster, I think.”

“Hmm,” Zohar murmured in thought. “Perhaps that rookie guild has encountered the FOE on this floor.”

Blayke arched an eyebrow. “FOE?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s just an abbreviation for Formido Oppognatura Exsequens,” Zohar explained. “Just something to call the monsters that are far larger and more powerful than those that are smaller than they are.”

Drayce wasn’t sure what those three, long fancy words Zohar just said, but it sounded dangerous.

“Great,” Blayke muttered bitterly.

If a guild had indeed come afoul of a FOE, then Drayce had to see if they’re alright and if they needed help. It might be a rookie guild, it might not be. It might be veterans fighting with the monster. He didn’t know.

And he didn’t like not knowing.

“Let’s go,” Drayce urged.

Blayke sighed as he reached for his sabre. “Needless to say.”

Nashoba seemed to understand what Drayce wished to do as he darted forward, leading them down a few winding paths. Drayce took the lead as per usual, while the others stayed close behind him. They reached and then passed through a set of doors, and immediately stopped dead in their tracks.

Near a pool of water stood two figures. One with green hair and obviously a pugilist. The other was a therian, though his class was less obviously. They, male in appearance, did carry a bag on their back, indicating that they were likely a gatherer. The pugilist stood before the other, the two huddled behind a boulder for safety.

They weren’t what drew his full attention, though. It was the large creature throwing a right fit between two streams of water. And it seemed to have its full attention on the two explorers.

It looked like a massively overgrown caterpillar of sorts. Blue and pink in colour with large, menacing pinchers on top of its head and two more near what Drayce could only assume was its mouth. Er, mouths? Two more black, and more likely than not venom covered pinchers were located near its rear.

It was…ah, much bigger than Drayce had anticipated. Far bigger than those Wild Dogs that was for sure!

It also looked far more ferocious. Trashing its head from side to side, pinchers snapping agitatedly. To say that it appeared pissed off was an understatement.

Drayce really didn’t want to fight the thing…

“Let me guess, that’s a FOE?” Blayke muttered, seemingly through gritted teeth.

“A toxipede to be exact,” Zohar answered dryly.

“Even better…”

Drayce had heard a few tales about those creatures called toxipedes. Like the name suggested, they were rather poisonous. The toxin was life-threatening if not taken care of immediately.

They didn’t have Fiorello with them today.

“Whatever it is, it’s furious,” Drayce said as he shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s clear that those two there aren’t trying to fight it.”

Hopefully, they didn’t have to either. Still, he had to do something.

Drayce straightened his posture and reached for his cannon. “Everyone stand back; I’ll use my Decoy Shields to distract it so we can slip behind it. Do not engage it unless absolutely necessary. Nashoba, stay with Faelen. Theo, a little help?”

The cartoonish white ghost that was Theodore immediately appeared next to Drayce’s head. “He’s ready,” Zohar replied.

“Good,” Drayce said as he let Theodore nuzzle against his shoulder rather affectionately. “Theo, help distract it while I get the decoys ready, ok?”

Theodore all but purred happily in response. A rather odd reaction from the wraith, but a welcomed one nonetheless. Ah, he probably just enjoyed the prospect of being useful.

“We’ll go north-east,” Zohar suddenly said to him. “Lead it south-west for now.”

Right.

“Let’s go.”

Though it went against his better judgement, Drayce dislodged his shield from his back and dropped it to stand next to him. He wouldn’t safely manoeuvre around the enormous creature while lugging a heavy shield with him. He’d have to rely on his Decoy shields for now.

Drayce trusted the others to get themselves out of danger, so he focused on what he needed to do. As Theodore boldly and fearlessly floated toward the toxipede, startling the creature with his appearance, Drayce took a moment to study the FOE further.

While he would do whatever was necessary to ensure that they didn’t have to fight the thing, he still made some mental notes to himself.

A back attack was unlikely to be too successful due to the two claws-like appendages on its rear. Though its large stature gave Drayce the impression that its sides were vulnerable. He didn’t want to agitate it any more than it was, but he needed a counter measure in case his Decoy Shields didn’t get its full attention.

Heading downwind from the FOE, Drayce managed to set up two Decoy Shields in front of the thick foliage. With the shields in place, he ducked away, out of sight before Theodore also abruptly disappeared from view. The Toxipede immediately honed in on the decoys, drawn there by the shields’ natural agitating effect towards monsters, and charged forward.

“You two, run!” Drayce ordered the two unknown but bewildered explorers.

They seemed stunned for a moment before the pugilist snared the therian by his wrist and immediately led him away.

He headed over to where he dropped his shield. As he picked it up, he heard and felt the destruction of his Decoy Shields. He winced and spun around to watch as the toxipede stood on the exact spot he had placed the decoys. It continued to thrash its head wildly, looking for more prey that knew was still out there.

However, it was somewhat of a distance away. Enough for Drayce and the others to slip behind it and to find somewhere safe.

Lugging his shield onto his back, Drayce quickly located north and headed in its direction. Not wanting to risk calling out to the others to find their location, Drayce was relieved when Theodore abruptly appeared again and silently led him to where Zohar could be seen.

“Is everyone all right?” Drayce immediately asked, slightly out of breath.

“All are accounted for,” Zohar said as he reached out and took Drayce by the upper arms and pulled him toward a small alcove where the others had taken shelter. “Including our two guests.”

“Thank goodness,” Drayce murmured, quickly surrounded by the rest of his guildmates.

“You all right?” Blayke immediately asked and Drayce nodded his head.

“Yeah. Man, that thing is pretty damn big, huh?”

“I’m just glad that we don’t have to fight the thing.”

So was he!

“But it looks like we’re going to have to use an Adriane Thread or continue forward,” Drayce mused aloud as he glanced over his shoulder, getting a glimpse of blue as he did so. “Getting around it a second time is not a sure thing. We’ll worry about that later, though.”

Drayce shrugged off his shield again and stood it near the entrance of their little hideaway. Some protection was better than none. As he did that, his gaze shifted to the two figures that had taken refuge along with them.

“Go ahead and see what that thing’s doing now, but don’t leave the area,” Drayce instructed the others as he slung his gun over his back. “I’ll check on those two.”

Blayke looked displeased by something and side-eyed the two cautiously. “You sure?”

He was simply acting that way because he didn’t know them, so Drayce wasn’t worried.

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Drayce said as he clapped a hand on Blayke’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’re just two explorers.”

Blayke didn’t look convinced. “Can’t be too careful.

“You’ll come to my rescue if anything happens~” Drayce teased, which earned him a roll of the eyes from Blayke.

Dropping his hand from Blayke’s shoulder, Drayce made his way over to the two still unknown explorers. They were talking to each other in hushed tones. Though, from their body language alone, it appeared that the pugilist was worried for their companion, while the therian appeared to be attempting to alleviate their concern.

“Hey, you two all right there?” Drayce called out in a friendly manner as he approached them.

The green haired pugilist immediately turned to look at him. “Whew, yeah, we’re good. That bastard came out of nowhere.”

The brown-haired therian nodded his head rapidly in agreement. “Yeah. Thanks for the help!”

“Yeah,” the pugilist replied before he folded his arms across his chest in a slightly indignant manner. “I mean, I probably could have taken it on by myself, you know. Just caught me by surprise.”

“Sure, Sal,” the therian answered with a rather fond expression on his face.

Drayce smiled at the two. They felt and appeared completely harmless. Glad that he was able to help the two out. “Well, the name’s Drayce.”

“The name’s Salim,” the pugilist replied and pointed to his companion. “And he’s Tokala.”

“Hi!” Tokala replied cheerfully.

“Despite the circumstances, it’s nice to meet ya,” Drayce said in earnest. “My guild’s name is Angelward. Are you a two-man guild?”

“Ah, yeah…” Salim said, hesitantly.

A light shimmer of red caught Drayce’s attention and he focused in on Tokala. Around his neck was a necklace that was on a silver chain. But it was the red crystalline pendant that caught his eye more than anything else. “Huh…That necklace?” he muttered unwittingly.

Tokala glanced over at him and his smile abruptly faded as he reached up to clasp his hand tightly around the red pendent. It in a matter of seconds, he shoved it back under the collar of his shirt. He kept his hand pressed against his chest, clutching it through the material.

He was suddenly very tense and cautious. Had that necklace gotten him into trouble before? Perhaps some unwanted attention at least. It was quite eye-catching. It wasn’t often that a lotus was depicted to be bright red. No, more of a ruby red.

Hmm…

“Sorry, your necklace reminds me of something,” Drayce said with what he hoped was a friendly, completely non-threatening smile. “That’s…a lotus, right?”

Tokala took a slight step back to stand closer to Salim and Salim himself seemed to respond with a protective step in front of him. Tokala continued to peer around him, however, to look at Drayce with a slight sense of curiosity in his eyes. “Yeah?”

“I don’t mean to pry,” Drayce continued to reassure. “It’s just quite beautiful. And it…reminds me of something I’ve seen before. Quite recently actually.”

Tokala seemed to perk up at that, though his hand seemed to tighten around the hidden pendant. “It does?”

Though Tokala looked curious, Salim’s frown unexpectedly deepened and he seemed to grow tense. He kept himself firmly planted in front of Tokala, who inauspiciously stayed hidden behind. Clearly Salim was protective of Tokala for a reason. There was a difference between being protective of someone in general, and being protective for a reason.

That pendant was in the shape of the lotus on that box they had only just discovered. Could they be that lucky? Or was it merely a coincidence? Or…something else? Either way, he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure that pendent was the same. Caelem would know, but he may get excited at the possibility and may unintentionally startle Tokala. And, clearly, he was skittish enough.

Drayce needed to try to defuse the tension somehow. And the best way was to show that he was an honest person.

“Well, you see, I’m an archaeologist,” Drayce explained with a smile. “Come from a longline of them. And I’ve seen that pendent shape somewhere else. A small treasure box, to be precise. One we can’t open.”

“Huh, is that so?” Salim replied as he folded his arms tightly across his chest, looking somewhat sceptical. Not fully though, so cautiously sceptical?

He wasn’t going to get anywhere with the way they were currently. They were in the middle of the labyrinth and Salim and Tokala were both hesitant. Drayce wasn’t going to demand to look at the necklace in order to prove his theory that it might somehow be connected to the wooden box back home. It might just be a coincidence. But it truly looked so similar to the small indentation.

Well, there was really only one thing to do.

“Listen, I’ll be honest; that necklace is very familiar to me, but I won’t demand to see it. You have your reasons of being cautious and I won’t push you. But, could I at least ask you to stop by my guildhouse? Even just for a visit? You’re new to Iorys, right?”

Salim and Tokala remained silent as the shared a look. They quickly looked back at him, both of them wearing quite quizzical expressions. As if they couldn’t fathom him somehow.

That was a look that Drayce was getting a lot these days. Sheesh!

“Your guildhouse?” Tokala finally asked.

Drayce smiled. “It’s known as the Crescentia. You can’t miss it. It’s a big old place near the market district and the path leading to the labyrinth. The name plaque is out front.”

“We’ll see,” Salim was the one to relent as he dropped his arms from his chest. He still looked tense, but less guarded now.

“Drayce!” Blayke suddenly called out to him. “That bastard has finally skittered away. We can get back to what we were doing.”

“Great!” Drayce said in response before he turned back to their two guests. “We’re just mapping this floor for now. What about you two?”

“Eeh, we’re just looking around,” Salim replied.

“Um, yep, just being nosy,” Tokala added with a friendly grin on his lips.

It was obvious, though, that they weren’t being fully honest. Drayce couldn’t believe that there was any maliciousness involved, though.

“Being nosy and picking fights with monsters, perhaps?” Blayke asked them, picking up on their previous dismissiveness.

“We didn’t do anything,” Salim replied adamantly as he glared at Blayke. “That bastard was all pissed off before we encountered it.”

“That’s right!” Tokala insisted, frowning as he jumped to Salim’s defence. “We just walked around a counter to find it already irritated. It was thrashing around as if looking for something. It then turned to face us before charging at us!”

Huh, already irritated? Maybe there was another guild ahead of them? Or maybe another monster had irritated it?

Or maybe…

Well, whatever the reason, that was certainly quite the introduction to a FOE. Were they all like that? Overly aggressive? And he though the Wild Dogs were bad!

“Strange,” Zohar mumbled from behind Drayce. “They are usually content on pacing their territory.”

Drayce glanced over at Zohar to find him with a slight crease on his brow. “Do you know much about it?”

“Only the essentials. I’ve encountered a few on my…travels,” Zohar admitted. “I’ve never encountered one this aggressive before.”

Hmm…Yeah, that was rather strange. And curious.

“Well, whatever happened, it’s over now,” Drayce said in a hopefully pacifying and comforting manner. “That toxipede, or whatever it was, had wandered off. We can get going now. You two can tag along, if you want. I can only assume there are more of those FOEs on this floor?”

He directed that question toward Zohar, turning his head to face the necromancer. He received a nod from Zohar, affirming his assumption.

“What do you think, Sal?” Tokala whispered to Salim.

“I’m more than enough to protect ya.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just…I’m curious. They seem really nice. And maybe you can show them how awesome you are when we eventually encounter more monsters.”

“Well, I am pretty awesome. Hah, alright. Only because you want to.”

“Thanks, Sal.”

Pretending to have not overheard their conversation, Drayce waited expectantly as the two turned away from each other and back to him. “Well?”

“Sure, we’d love to tag along,” Tokala answered cheerfully.

Drayce’s protective side was relieved and he smiled at the two. “Well then, why don’t I introduce everyone? This is Blayke, Caelem, Faelen, Nashoba, and Zohar. Guys, this is Salim and Tokala.”

“Hi!” Faelen happily chirped next to Drayce before he moved toward Tokala, likely drawn to his fellow therian. “Are you and Salim a guild?”

Tokala regarded Faelen with a sense of curiosity, but friendliness nevertheless. “We’re best friends. We grew up together from the same village.”

“Ah, I see. That’s cool.”

Drayce chuckled to himself as he left Faelen asking Tokala friendly, non-intrusive questions, and picked up his shield. “Well, let’s get back to exploring, then.”

Despite Blayke’s cautious nature, Salim and Tokala fell in easy with the others of their party. Faelen was the one doing most of the talking, mostly to Tokala who chatted back easily. Caelem walked quietly behind them, looking at Tokala with curiosity while Salim ensured that Tokala didn’t stray too far from him.

Zohar took the rear once more, gazing at everyone in front of him with a…peculiar expression. It caused Drayce to wonder if he was feeling left out. Or if he was pondering about something.

Drayce made the mental note to talk to him about it later. Whether he was fine with taking the last spot or not.

As they entered a clearing with pools of water and twisting, moss covered trees, a flash of blue caught their attention. And they all winced and braced themselves. Another one of those toxipedes could be seen at the southern end of the clearing. Pacing back and forth between pools of water.

Salim made a sound that was a mixture of disgust and agitation. “Uuuuugh, it’s that shitty centipede bastard again.”

“It doesn’t appear to be the same one,” Zohar pointed out.

“And it’s not immediately chasing us,” Faelen added from where he crouched next to a defensive Nashoba.

That was right. The thing must have noticed their presence. They hadn’t exactly been very quiet the last few minutes. The FOE was just simply pacing back and forth for some reason.

“Is this their normal behaviour, Zohar?” Drayce asked as he turned to give the necromancer his full attention.

Zohar stared at the FOE for a few seconds before he nodded his head and turned to look back at him. “Yes. They are surprisingly placid when it’s not breeding season.”

That answer was reassuring, but it also piqued Drayce’s interesting. How far had Zohar travelled into the labyrinth? And how much did he know about its inhabitants? Prior information was indeed very handy; he just couldn’t help but wonder if Zohar had travelled so far…alone.

That thought troubled him.

“Whether this is normal behaviour or not doesn’t matter,” Blayke suddenly mumbled. “It’s still in our way.”

Ah, good point. Just by looking at their surroundings, it appeared to be pacing on the path they need to move forward. Maybe he could use a decoy shield to distract it and they can slip behind it? But…would that leave the FOE irritated? Just like the last one?

“Couldn’t we, like, throw some food in the opposite direction and sneak around behind it?” Tokala suddenly suggested.

Drayce held his chin in thought. “Hmm. That could work. We don’t have any food on us, though.”

Tokala brightly and motioned to the bag on his back. “I do!”

Salim immediately whipped around to face him, indignant by something. “You’re not giving that bastard any of my food!”

Tokala laughed as he swung the bag from his back. “Relax, Sal,” he said as he reached into his bag. “I have some Moon Apples. Maybe I could throw one of those.”

“As long as it’s not any of my meat,” Salim muttered as he folded his arms somewhat childishly across his chest.

“Ah, a meat-man, huh?” Drayce chuckled.

“That’s all he eats,” Tokala answered. “I have to shove vegetables down his throat with a stick. Now, where did I-ah!” A triumphant look appeared on his face as he pulled out a moon apple and promptly handed it toward Salim. “Here’s one. You throw it, Sal, you have better aim than me.”

“Just don’t hit it,” Blayke warned.

“Where should I aim?” Salim asked as he stepped forward, readying himself for the throw.

“Aim to the right of it,” Drayce suggested. “So, it’ll have its back to us as we slip past.”

Salim nodded his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. He then hitched back his arm, paused for a second, before he threw his arm forward, sending the apple flying. His aim was pretty good, actually, the apple landing softly on the grass a foot or so away from the toxipede before bouncing across the ground.

The sound and the moment of the apple rolling immediately caught the attention of the FOE. It wheeled its head around in the direction of the apple and snapped its pincers a couple of times. It then seemed to locate the apple. Unexpectedly, it made a slight chirping sound. A happy-sounding sound. It then scurried over to the apple and lowered its enormous head.

With the FOE clearly distracted, Drayce motioned for the others to follow him. And keeping as quiet as they could, he led them around the toxipede, ensuring that he was between his guildmates and the monster at all times.

But, thankfully, they got around the toxipede without issue. And a few seconds later, the FOE went back to its pacing, seemingly unaware of them have ever being there.

“Well, that was certainly easier,” Drayce said and gave Tokala a pat on the shoulder as he walked past him to get to the front of the party once more. “Great job, Tokala.”

Tokala flushed lightly at the compliment and rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks. I just figured that everyone loves food, including monsters. Salim certainly does!”

“Damn straight I do!” Salim said, loud and proud.

Caelem tilted his head to the side questioningly. “You have a lot of food on you.”

“Oh, ah, I really enjoy cooking, especially over a campfire,” Tokala explained with a sheepish shrug of his shoulder. “And Sal eats whatever I cook. As long as it’s vastly meat, though!”

Blayke folded his arms across his chest, seemingly accepting that answer. “Well, knowing how to cook is a good skill to have.”

Drayce blinked when he realised that Blayke was staring potently at him from the corner of his eye. “Dude, why are you side-eying me?”

“I’m just thinking that you having the skill to actually eat something would be a good skill for you to have,” Blayke answered, with a noticeably accusatory tone in his voice.

Now, Drayce was just indignant. “I eat!”

“Only after someone reminds you to eat or shoves a plate of food right in front of your face.”

“Nooo, don’t you nag me. Ash is already on my case about that!”

Faelen laughed at the two of them, which prompted Tokala to turn to him with an amused and curious expression. “Oh, you have more guildmembers?”

“Yep! They’re at our guildhouse cleaning up the library,” Faelen explained.

Hmm, speaking of the others, they had better continue their own investigation for anything strange or unusual found on this floor.

“Let’s get back to trekking,” Drayce instructed. “We’re losing daylight.”

They quickly fell back into formation and fell into a comfortable silence.

As the leader once more, Drayce ensured that they kept a steady but cautious pace. Not only did he have to look out for danger in the forms of monsters, but he also had to keep the thought of bandits to the back of his mind. He also needed to carefully inspect their surroundings in case they find something either connected to the trinket box they discovered, or something that could lead them to another treasure.

“H-hey,” Caelem stuttered unexpectedly. “You ok?”

Concerned, Drayce turned to find out who Caelem was directing that question to and paused when his gaze landed on Tokala. Despite the light red flush to his cheeks, he also looked pale. Washed out. Dazed even, as he tiredly turned to regard Caelem.

“Hm. Huh? What?” he muttered.

Salim was immediately pressed against his side, his arm around his back and waist. “What? You have a headache?”

“Sorry!” Tokala squeaked before he sighed and touched his forehead with his hand. “I’m fine. I just felt tired all of a sudden.”

“Why don’t we all sit down for a while?” Drayce asked gently.

Tokala shook his head, though that didn’t seem like a good thing to do. He leaned heavily against Salim, even as he insisted, “I-I’m ok!”

Of course, he wasn’t convincing anyone. But…Drayce felt it would be best for them to continue moving. Just for a little bit longer. He just couldn’t help but feel that there was…something to their surroundings. He couldn’t quite explain why he felt that way. He just did.

A hand settling on his back pulled Drayce from his thoughts. He turned his head slightly to regard the one who had gained his attention and noted that it was Zohar.

“There’s a shaded area just ahead,” Zohar enlightened. “Let’s push forward just a little bit more.”

Drayce looked at him cursorily. Did Zohar also feel as if there was something unusual about their surroundings?

“Sure, sounds good,” Drayce said.

Salim continued to hold Tokala close to him as they returned to their trek. Slower, this time. But they kept a steady pace nonetheless. Zohar walked with Drayce this time, however, leading them to an area that was quiet and shaded. It looked safe enough for them to sit a while if need be.

Although, it was getting late.

As they turned a corner heading eastward, Drayce glanced over to Tokala, noting instantly that he didn’t appear as pale as he did previously.

“Hm? You’re looking better. Did your headache ease already?” Drayce questioned.

Tokala brushed aside his hair from his forehead. “I…yeah, I guess it did.”

Drayce turned to look down that path they had just passed.

That area? Strange.

…Well, he would have to file that peculiarity to the back of his mind for later. The sunlight was growing dim. “Hah, it’s getting late.”

“And no sign of those damn stairs,” Blayke muttered bitterly.

“We haven’t checked every nook and cranny yet,” Drayce tried to pacify. But he had to admit, he was curious. Where could a set of stairs hide? If it was hidden behind the foliage, surely someone would have found it by now?

A slight tug on his sleeve pulled him from his thoughts. “Drayce?”

Drayce immediately looked to his side, knowing that it was Faelen who wanted his attention. “Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Nashoba is acting defensively again,” Faelen explained as he released his hold on Drayce’s sleeve to gently run his fingers through Nashoba’s fur in an attempt to calm him.

“I see,” Drayce muttered. Now that Faelen mentioned it, Drayce did feel as though they were being watched.

It didn’t feel like that of those FOEs they had encountered, either.

“Let’s return home for now,” Drayce said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an Adriane Thread. He always kept at least three on him in case of emergency. “I’m still not overly comfortable with trekking around at night.”

Noting that it was indeed growing dark, Tokala turned his attention to his companion. “Sal?” he asked softly.

“I’m not comfortable with it either,” Salim instantly replied, his arm still firm around his waist. “You should return to town, too.”

“Not going without you.”

“As if I’d let you wander out of here on your own anyway.”

Tokala smiled fondly. “Right.”

Drayce regarded the two. “Do you guys have an Adriane Thread?”

Salim turned to look at him, confused. “What’s that?”

So, they weren’t official explorers.

“Take this,” Drayce insisted as he pushed his Adriane Thread in their direction. “It’ll take you straight back to town in a flash.”

“Wow, really?” Tokala uttered in awe as he reached out to take the thread from him.

But Drayce kept a firm hold on it and looked at the both of them firmly. “Yeah. Official explorers can buy them at the market.”

Tokala immediately retracted his hand and looked sheepish while Salim winced. “O-oh…”

Drayce sighed and opened his hand, letting the thread rest in his palm. “You can still use it. All I ask in return is that you visit the Crescentia. I don’t know why the two of you are in the labyrinth alone, but now that I know about the two of you, my protective instincts won’t let you wander about on your own. It’s too dangerous with five people, let alone two. Certainly not without the use of an Adriane Thread.”

Both Tokala and Salim just stared at him for a moment in complete silence. Gauging his sincerity, or perhaps baffled by his deal.

Finally, Faelen broke the silence by cheerfully stating, “You really should visit the Crescentia, Tokala. It’s amazing!”

Tokala glanced over at Faelen, his shoulders hunched slightly in apprehension. However, after a moment he managed a small smile and nodded. “…Sure,” he uttered as he retrieved the Adriane Thread from Drayce. “We’ll be sure to visit.”

“We’ll see you later, then,” Drayce said.

Tokala gripped the Adriane Thread in both his hands, and a second later a bright light enveloped both him and Salim. When the light faded, the spot where they once stood was completely empty.

“You sure it’s ok to let them know about the Crescentia?” Blayke asked.

Drayce wasn’t worried about those two knowing. “It’s fine. They’re not anything to be concerned about. They’re…searching for something. And I think we can help them.”

“I see,” Blayke said, still somewhat sceptical, but that was just his nature. He sighed and looked away as he muttered something under his breath. “Living up to your compassionate title, it seems.”

Drayce tilted his head to the side in question. “You say something?”

“Nah. Let’s go,” Blayke said as he reached into the pocket of his armour and pulled an Adriane Thread of his own. “I’m actually getting hungry.”

Now that he mentioned it, Drayce was, too. Ash was sure to have the kitchen fired up.

“Let’s get home then,” Drayce said simply as Blayke activated the Adriane Thread for them.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Greg Werner

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Greg Werner, the official One Piece columnist for Shueshia and Toei. For my chat with him, he chose the Arlong Park, in which Luffy and his crew take on Arlong and Nami officially joins Team Straw Hat.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Arlong Park arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: Sell me on Arlong Park, in one sentence. Let's say that I'd gotten to the end of the Baratie Arc, and I decided "You know what? I don't think this is for me." What would you say to convince me to keep going?

  Greg Werner: I don’t know if I could sell a bottle to a milkman, but I’ll give it a shot ... Can it be in the form of a question?

  Yes.

  Do you want to know Nami’s backstory? And that seems so facile, but you’re coming off Baratie with the knowledge that Nami has betrayed the crew, she has left the crew, and she has stolen the ship. But it seems like she’s not acting freely, and she mentions the name “Bellemere.” So if you’ve gone through One Piece and you’ve come to that point, that’s simple enough. 

    So, you have Luffy who wants to go get her, an injured Zoro, Usopp, who's gotta be in a weird state, and Sanji who finds her extremely attractive and cool. It's a fun dynamic.

  Zoro and Usopp are an interesting combination, they always are. Usopp always feels like Zoro’s little brother and Zoro kind of has to take a back seat due to injuries here. But I always find their interactions to be very sweet, and you get to see a kind side of Zoro, which is the antithesis of how he interacts with Sanji. And you’re getting hints of the rivalry between Zoro and Sanji here, one that ramps up to the hunting contest in Little Garden, at which point they cease to call each other by their names and just insult one another. And between Luffy and Sanji, you get these kindred spirits due to their dreams. Usopp and Zoro are a little more straight-faced about their dreams, but both Sanji and Luffy utter their dreams with these big smiles. So even though Oda has his pieces all over the map, it’s nice to see the freshness of all of them working together, which is something you won’t find in anything but the best shonen action series.

  When you meet Arlong, he's kind of a jerk. He doesn't seem very nice. But he's one of the first One Piece villains who seems like a complete character. He's mighty but underhanded and deceitful. What does his introduction do for One Piece?

  So I bought the first ten volumes for a co-worker because he’d seemed interested in it, and I said “There, you’ve got the first ten volumes. Now you have no excuse not to get into it.” And we’ve been talking about it recently, especially the little details, and we found something very interesting about Arlong. There’s one aspect of Arlong that is completely different from every villain up to this point and it’s how he treats his crew. Buggy starts off beating up one of his crew members. Part of Kuro’s plan is to kill his crew. Krieg only sees his crew as numbers and will gas them. Arlong, though, to members of his crew, he’s extraordinarily loyal. When he finds out that Zoro has beaten up his crew, Arlong is pissed. In some ways, he’s very similar to Luffy, but he’s despicable and terrifying and he’s one of my favorite villains. 

    That's a great point; Arlong is the first bad guy to have pride in his crew. Speaking of Arlong's crew, this is the first time we get the classic 1v1 where a Straw Hat member matches up against an antagonist crew member. When you first read this, because it's electric every time I watch it, how did you feel to watch it go full-on battle manga?

  Zoro’s a beast. Sanji’s a beast. But Usopp? Facing down this insurmountable force? How is he gonna do this? And I think that’s the moment that got me. The others are awesome, and I love them, and they’re great, funny battles. But with Usopp fighting Chew, it showed Oda’s ability to shine in a certain way. Like Toriyama and Dragon Ball, Oda’s been very influenced by Jackie Chan, because Jackie Chan fights are awesome, visually stunning fights, but they’re funny. And that’s what Oda strives for sometimes. When you combine the action with the gags, you get something very special. You’re not just excited, but you’re laughing, too. And I think Usopp’s battles represent the pinnacle of that. It clicked for me there and it became a page-turner. It feels like what a shonen action series should be. And I enjoy Oda’s different takes on it, but he does it so well here.

    I’m glad you bring up Toriyama and Dragon Ball because if you read any interview with any Shonen Jump author, they praise Toriyama. And it’s deserved. The man’s battle scenes and pacing have never been beaten and probably never will be. He’s the master. But one of the things I like about Oda is that he doesn’t try to copy them. Rather, he takes bits and pieces and spins it off into his own thing. Do you remember the Oda interview with Toriyama where he was like “I really liked Tao Pai Pai …”

  From Color Walk 1.

  And Toriyama was like “I ... drew that?” It’s the funniest thing in the world to me. 

  I think his exact words were “Now you’re getting into the minor characters.” And Oda’s like “MINOR CHARACTERS?”

  He nearly killed Goku! But I dig that kind of reverence and inspiration. So Nami’s backstory — it’s heart-wrenching. Bellemere’s awesome. Makes you wish she was still around in the series.

  Isn’t that perfect? That’s exactly what he goes for. 

  In the end, she refuses to say that she doesn’t have children, even after a bad spat with Nami. This flashback is one of my favorite ones. What did you get out of it and how did it take the story to another level? Because to match it, every flashback to come had to do some heavy lifting.

  Every detail in this flashback builds on itself. There’s no excess. And maybe outside of the Chopper backstory, I can’t think of another backstory that is so full of necessary information that weaves into a single narrative. Every event evokes an emotion in the reader and pushes the story forward. Bellemere has the fight with Nami, makes dinner to reconcile with her, a Fishman crew member sees the cooking smoke from her house, the Fishmen find her, she refuses to discount Nami as her family, and she’s killed. It all comes together so neatly in three chapters, I think. Oda sets a reeeeeally high bar for himself, but to be able to match that through nearly a hundred volumes of story takes a special kind of manga genius. It’s also the very first time I cried while reading manga. 

  Next, we run through basically a Greatist Hits collection of One Piece moments: Nami asks for help, Luffy gives Nami the hat, the march to Arlong Park, Luffy slugs Arlong, the fights happen, Luffy brings down the Gum Gum Battle Axe, Arlong’s spine gets turned into clam chowder, etc. So much of what we think about One Piece is distilled into the final chapters of Arlong Park. So do you have a favorite moment from this climax? I honestly can’t pick.

    I didn’t realize this when I first read it, and it took me several years to understand the importance of the giving of the hat. It’s one of only two times in the series that Oda uses five exclamation points in a row. The other one is when Luffy comes swooping in to save Vivi from Crocodile. Even the famous “dreams of mankind will never end” doesn’t get five. Luffy’s pissed and the best part about this is that he doesn’t have a single reason to be. He knows nothing about Nami’s history and actively refuses to listen to it. He takes a nap instead. He’s just ready to be a tool for her, so when she asks him to help her? YOU GOT IT. And then, the next thing he tells her, after the fight with Arlong, he tells her that she’s his crewmate. Nami has held this by herself for so long, she’s so strong, and she finally opens up to accept help from someone else. And it tells us that Luffy knows what kind of person you are, even if he doesn’t know that much about you. He might be dumb and reckless and strong, but there’s a spark there. He can read you. 

  One thing I like in the anime is that Nami is the first Straw Hat introduced in the story. She’s at the boat party that gets attacked by Alvida, and her showing up there and then being the main focus of Arlong Park bookends East Blue and kind of turns it into her saga. But as they leave this arc and head to Loguetown, what is new about One Piece? What's there that wasn't around before?

  That’s a good question.

  Because I hear many people say “Arlong Park is what made me a One Piece fan.”

  You get to see their daily routines onboard their full ship. You have the established East Blue crew in one location and we get a slice of life. In just a few scenes or panels, you finally get to watch the crew relax. You get a window on their lives and there’s a sense of completeness. It’s a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

    ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite character?

  Luffy, Franky, and Zoro.

  Favorite villain?

  Arlong.

  Favorite fight scene?

  Luffy vs Bellamy. It’s so satisfying.

  One Piece island that you’d want to live on?

  Skypiea.

  What Devil Fruit would you eat?

  Flower-Flower fruit that Nico Robin uses. I’d get so much work done.

  One Piece moment that made you cry the most?

  Bellemere’s death.

  One Piece moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  The defeat of Lucci. That was remarkable.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Aggretsuko and The Black Mage writer Daniel Barnes about his favorite One Piece arc: Marineford!!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery