Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter XXIII: The Man Who Never Stops Dancing

Salty Whitley and his sea dogs were becoming a menace on the Grand Line. Numerous reports ranging from houses covered in toilet paper, marine ships getting egged, and graffiti on towns spread across the sea, as well as a large hit to the salt industry. Their jolly roger had begun to gather infamy, giving islands time to prepare for the young captain.

At the moment, Whitley was staring off the railing of his ship, just letting the breeze brush over him. There was a certain comfort to it, washing over him with its gentle warmth. As he was now, he could not be any happier. He had a crew that supported him, he was free from his father, and the world was filled with just so much. Even the gentle lapping of the waves against his ship gave him joy.

Footsteps behind him signaled that someone had walked onto the deck. "Captain, we'll be arriving at the next island soon. Is there anything you wish to do there?" Cavendish interrupted his musings.

Whitley mulled over the question. The biggest issue he had run into as of late was finding things to do. An uphill battle it may be, nothing could rival the Schnee wit. Then a thought entered his head. Yes, they would find the nearest high ranking marine and set up some contraption to tar and feather them! That would do nicely.

"We need to find a strong marine, Cavendish, but nothing more than we can handle. I think we're going to have some fun."

Whitley's crew had begun to gather around. One of them, a burly man with a scar over a pale eye, called out, "Are we gonna teach those bastards a lesson, Cap'n?"

Standing straighter with his hands clasped behind his back, Whitley told his crew, "Soon, we will be humiliating a marine! Soon enough, they will recognize the force of our tomfoolery!"

***

Dandi-Island was a peaceful place. The quiet island hosted flowers the size of trees, and it was in season that the dandelion trees were letting their seeds be carried by the wind. Now that the bulk of their training for the day was over, Weiss found herself sitting by one and watching the tufts dance along the breeze. The soothing nature of the island gave her respite from the stressful life of constant traveling, training, and fighting. For how long would they need to do this?

Even huntsmen and huntresses had homes to go back to after every mission, right? Not that it mattered since this was a special case to begin with. She had to endure, for the sake of her friends and comrades.

She watched Yang who was still training after they had been dismissed. The blonde girl was running through the motions of some boxing technique. She had been this way ever since they left Beacon, but while seeing Yang push herself so far worried Weiss, she couldn't find any reason to stop her. Yang wasn't hurting herself, and Weiss was also prone to searching for perfection herself.

Pyrrha appeared on the road, approaching Weiss before sitting down next to her. "We've got a report that they disappeared," Pyrrha told her. Weiss could only stare up at the sky and sigh. Of course it would be like them to vanish into thin air. "Vice admiral Ozpin is searching eye witness reports in the area to see if anything comes up. So far, there hasn't been an island that's seen anything. Either they're lying, or the Straw Hats are still sailing."

"That should be impossible," Weiss commented. "They can't navigate without using their log pose, and that should take them island to island."

Pyrrha let out a short breath. "You're right, but how many times have they done something 'impossible' so far?"

"I suppose that—" The calm of Dandi-Island was promptly interrupted. Yelling came from the shore, alerting the three present members of team PWNY. Yang was the first to action, already headed down the path toward the noise. Weiss and Pyrrha didn't hesitate to follow, catching up in little time.