Just to make everything I write clear in this chapter:
Bottom trawls: cone shaped fishing nets that are pulled over the seafloor by a boat.
Groundfish: just all different types of fish that live on the ocean floor/close to the ocean floor. Stingrays for example are groundfish, but there's also normal looking fish that are called groundfish.
Crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp, ... almost all sea animals with hard shells.
Marco - On the Moby
The 4th division had asked if fishing was possible. The stocks weren't low enough to be a worry yet, but due to bad weather it would take around a week to two weeks longer before the boat would dock again, so getting some extra reserves while possible was never bad.
After having a brief meeting with navigation and Thatch, it was decided the best way to go about fishing would be with the bottom trawls. While not often used because of the sheer deepness the New World's oceans were, at the place they were in now, the ocean floor was high enough and the environment seemed to have good conditions to host ground fish and crustaceans.
Thus, Marco went around gathering the ones knowing most about how to use the bottom trawls, not just anyone could do it. It wasn't easy knowing when exactly you could haul them back up and how to throw them out safely so they didn't tangle. Having found a handful of experienced men, he ordered the 2nd division to get help out as manpower.
Once the first nets were thrown out, Marco knew the men could work further on their own and he went back to his room to do some paperwork. -Damn paperwork never seems the end. Every time he left his room, the next time he appeared it always seemed to have multiplied, and never had anyone brought him extra... yea right.....-
With a sigh he sat at his desk and started checking report after report. Don't get him wrong, Marco loves his position and fulfils his duties with the utmost concentration and love for his brothers. But still, the amount of paperwork, extra paperwork thanks to some pompadour's and pom pom's pranks, was sometimes insane even to Marco's liking. A man can complain every now and then, right?
----------
After hours of working on his paperwork, he was finally starting on his last stack, wasn't this a blessing... But of course, before he could put his pen down, he heard a commotion on deck and went to check.
Getting closer and closer to the outside he heard yelling, recognising someone from navigation and someone from their carpenters who was helping with the trawls.
"We need to haul them in!"
"No! It's too early, it won't be done and it will be a hassle, for nothing!"
"I don't care, it needs to get up here, NOW!"
"THEN WHY DO-"
"Wow, wow, wow, calm down, what's all the yelling about-yoi?"
"HE NEEDS T-" - "HE ISN'T LIS-"
"STOP! It's no use to keep yelling and will only slow things down, so how about we all talk at a normal volume now so I can understand and please, one at a time."
Falling silent both recruits look to Marco in shame.
Sighing Marco turned to the one from navigation "so, I heard you saying the trawls need to come up, why?"
Clearing his throat, the recruit answered while pointing to starboard "those clouds over there in the distance, they are getting darker and denser the more time passes and it's looking like a storm is coming. Having the trawls out could make the Moby unstable in general, but it could also catch onto underwater currents created by the storm, making it even harder to stay in control of the ship.
"Alright, thanks-yoi." turning to the carpenter "and you, why don't you want to take in the trawls."
"Placing the trawls and getting them out isn't easy and takes a long time. Plus, they aren't filled yet, so getting them up now will waste all the effort and time of getting them into the sea."
Nodding along "yes-yoi, I get that. But do you really want to risk everyone's life on the ship just for some fish?"
"No, of course not commander, but those clouds are still so far away, by the time they even get close we can have another full trawl up instead of this empty one."
"They can be here any second!"
Marco holds up his hand to stop the other from continuing.
"Sorry commander."
"Start hoisting the trawls up, you should know just as much as me how unpredictable the weather can be and those clouds could turn into a storm far quicker than you can imagine. And even if it is a false alarm, it is better to be on the safe side of things even if it means double work, then to risk everyone's life for something that was preventable."
The carpenter looked down in shame "Okay commander, I'm sorry". Before he could turn away Marco places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about this too much okay, you both had your reasons and wanted the best for the crew-yoi. And it's all cleared up now." The carpenter nodded and went to give the order to the others to fish up the trawls.
Turning to the one from navigation ones again, "I know you didn't mean for it to start a fight, but we both know preparation time for an incoming storm is crucial-yoi. What just happened lost us precious minutes. If something like this happens again, don't try and fight them on your own, go get a commander and tell them the situation immediately, they'll take control. Afterwards, once the danger has passed, the person who stood up to you will be talked to together to see why."
"Alright, I will, thank you commander."
Walking up to the railing Marco jumped on and turned towards the deck "ATTENTION! A possible storm is forming on starboard, I want everyone to start preparations, look if everything is secured and tie down everything that's not, take what you can't secure inside and spread the word to be careful. Those on duty to furl the sails, stay alert and nearby, as soon as it's seen that the storm is getting here, they need to be rolled up. Is that clear?"
Getting affirmative calls throughout the deck, Marco jumped back down and went up to Pops to try and get him inside. The old man never wanted to go inside during a storm, saying it was a pirate's life to be in a storm. -Old man can be in a storm inside too, even made him a big window in the galley so he can look at his storm, stubborn old man will catch a cold staying in every storm with not even a real shirt on. Tch, doesn't even close his coat either.-
"Pops"
"..."
"Pops"
"..."
"Pops, I know you can hear me, don't ignore me-yoi."
"I am not going inside"
Pinching the bridge of his nose while sighing, -I haven't even said anything yet and the old goat is already fighting me- "Really Pops, are you at least going to close your jacket if you are going to stay outside?"
"This coat doesn't close, son"
"Then why does it have buttons?"
"...."
"Pops"
"No"
"Fine, I'll just inform the nurses that you'll need a new appointment-yoi" Marco answered sighing
"Wait- no, that's not necessary"
"Are you going to close your coat then?"
"..............no"
Turning around to leave Marco says "You're giving me grey hairs you know that-yoi, but do as you wish, captain."
Whitebeard grumbled under his breath "Maybe they'll grow on the sides of your head, only helping you."
Turning around, tick mark already forming, "Pops................ I heard you, don't test m-"
"INCOMMING"
Whipping around and running towards a close-by member of navigation, Marco noticed the sky having turned way darker than it was seconds ago.
"What's the situation-yoi?"
"The Cloud mass suddenly starting expanding at an exponential rate, and the temperatures are dropping rapidly, at this rate we'll be hit by a huge storm in less than 5 minutes!"
Marco's eyes opened up a little more -Less then 5 min, sh*t-. Quickly transforming into his hybrid form he flew up so everyone could hear and see him.
"STORM INCOMMING IN T-MINUS 5 MIN. RAISE THE SAILS, SECURE EVERYTHING, SOMEONE GO GET NAMUR ON STAND-BY. BE PREPARED FOR A BIG ONE EVERYONE!"
After having yelled the orders, Marco went over to the mast and rang the alarm bell. This would ensure that everyone on the inside would also know that they are going to get hit and that they are prepared, without needing someone to manually go around and warning everyone. They don't have the time for that anymore and there could be a big chance that someone is missed and not everyone is notified if they send someone now.
Someone came running up to Marco, "Commander! What do we do about the trawls?! They are only halfway up, we can never get them up in time, but leaving them down could weight us down."
"Leave them, it's too dangerous to stay that close to the railing to hoist them up. Losen the ropes so they can freely move and don't hold us down. We'll compensate for the rest."
"Alright!"
"EVERYONE, THE TRAWLS WILL STAY OUT AT STARBOARD. BE PREPARED FOR MORE PULL TOWARDS THAT SIDE!"
"Ay!"
------
The storm turned out to be a heavy one and went on for a fairly long time. Nothing unusual for the New World, they are used to this, but it was always exhausting.
Finally able to breathe again, Marco looks around to check the status of the crew.
Most of his brothers are all slummed on the ground, understandable after that storm, but no one seems to be hurt more than a few scratches. Flying up and checking the sides of the ship, nothing seems to be too damaged either, or well nothing their carpenters can't fix.
It did look like they lost most of the trawls, seeing some broken cords. A pity, but it couldn't be helped.
"Yoi, those still able to walk straight, try and take the last trawl in so we don't lose it too."
With some grumbles a few stood up and made their way to the connection points of the trawls.
---------
"Aw damn, this is heavy!" - "Aaaaah it's impossible!"
Looking towards the sound Marco saw some members sitting down and hanging on the ropes that connect the trawl to the ship. "What's wrong yoi?"
"It's impossible commander! This thing is too heavy, we can't even get it up an inch!"
Raising an eyebrow Marco inspected the connection point. -It doesn't seem to be stuck up here, maybe it's stuck at the sea floor. Namur could check and ...-
"It's filled with stones."
Turning to the voice, it was one of the guys with some experience with trawls, he was looking over the railing.
"Thanks to the storm, a currently probably formed that made rocks and debris get loose and tossed into the net. It doesn't seem to be fully stuck to the ocean floor."
"Alright-yoi, thank you. - OI POPS, COME GIVE A HAND WILL YA"
Getting up from his chair Whitebeard made his way over to them, once close he grabbed the rope and pulled hard.
As if it was nothing the rope starting rising out of the water and with it the trawl at the end, indeed filled with all kinds of debris. Dumping it on the ship Pops laughs "Gurararara, look at me Marco, now what would you have done if I wasn't outside huh?"
"... Thanks pops, you're still getting that check-up."
"Stupid bird"
"What did you s- aah who cares-yoi" Turning to the others Marco gave the order to clean up the trawl and search through the debris and see if there's any fish caught or not.
Thinking everything is finally over, he started making his way towards the galley for a well-deserved cup of coffee. But well, he wouldn't be called the first division commander of the Whitebeard pirates if he could just enjoy one moment of peace after a storm now could he? Before he was even halfway to the galley door, someone screamed behind him. -By Neptune, just one cup of coffee before the next disaster, is that too much to ask?-
"What's wrong?" Marco asked with a sigh while turning to the direction of the sound.
Once turned Marco was faced with a recruit deadly pale, switching from looking between Marco and the debris. "There- there, there's someone in here!"
"There's what?" fastening his pace Marco made his way to the man.
"Where-yoi?"
The recruit shakenly pointed a little to his left and Marco took in a breath at the scene. Sticking out of the debris was a hand, a hand very much connected to a human looking torso that was bleeding far too much and too quickly for his liking.
"Get Bay, get a stretcher, get the nurses!" Marco yelled while making his way over to start getting the debris out of the way and save whoever was underneath. If it was someone that had fallen overboard, the chance is small that the person is still alive, but there was also a chance that Pops placed the trawl at a ..... wrong spot ... though he doubted that had happened, Pops would never hurt anyone. But no matter what, how it happened, or who was buried, they sure as will put in the effort to save them.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Marco saw Bay and her team coming onto the deck. He was however more focused on getting the guy from underneath the rubble, hopefully without jostling him or making more debris fall onto him and worsening the injuries. His torse was already fully free and Marco was relieved to see that whoever it was, the person was still breathing, although very faintly.
He started working on the person's lower body, freeing his legs.... or ......... the place where there were supposed to be legs... Marco was slightly stumped because those were certainly not legs. Instead, greeting Marco's eyes were bright orange scales.
"... a merman"
IT'S DONE HAHHAAHHAA, MERMAN STORY! Sorry for the long wait, but since it's finally done, let the posting begin!
Pom Pom is Haruta, for those that thought it was two jokes about just Thatch. Those fluffy puffed-up sleeves of Haruta make me think pom poms.
Disclaimer: I do not know how fishing with trawls work, at all, never even seen them in real life before. So forgive me if I said some weird stuff involving them. (Always allowed to educate me in the comments)
Update schedule:
I'll be posting twice a week: Friday and Tuesday
There are 9 chapters in total, already fully written, only need to do a spell check before posting.
Why twice a week? Because I don't think the events happening are worthy of whole weeks wait for them + WHO LIKES WAITING!?
Why don't I post everything in one go if I have it finished? Because I am a sucker for comments on individual chapters and I want to know what people think of them.... (+ I don't like spellchecking and will postpone it untill the day I said I would post it haha)
It was becoming confusing for myself to have every cover be a birdy Marco,
so I did my best to try and make a cover for this story! Some may say this is a spoiler.... but I know you all already know who the merman will be even if I didn't tag it. Don't try and fool me. So, Tadaaaa!
Huh, what did you say? Where's the.... arms? Head???
Never heard of those things.