Makin' Waves (Rei+Invite)

[Joyce Swift]

Afternoon sun was hiding behind fluffy clouds and wind was making waves, but the open sea was still calm and quiet. Somewhere in the East Blue, not too far from Gecko Islands, good ears could’ve picked up a jolly if bit out of tune song riding the salty wind.

"~Cross the gold and silver waves
Changin' into water sprays!
Sailing out on our journey,
To the ends of the sea!~"

Good eyes could’ve spotted the source. A small girl with tanned skin and wild, red hair was sitting in a little catboat, fishing and singing without a care in the world. Despite the wind, she was wearing nothing more than a white T-shirt and black bike shorts. On her back she had a green backpack and in her hands an obviously self-made fishing rod, both of which seemed bit too big for someone so small. Her boat was equally modest. It only had a single mast with white sail and a simple rudder, but no oars or even an anchor. All in all, this wasn’t much of a combination for crossing even calm seas.

It was bit ironic that a daughter of a famous shipwright would settle for such boat, but Joyce Swift was good at ignoring minute details. She had found this ship abandoned and fixed it herself, so of course she would forgive the little flaws. However, there was one thing she couldn’t ignore: her growling stomach. As it let out another quiet wail, the hungry girl stopped her singing and rubbed it, as if it would help. "Quiet, you. I’m fishing as hard as I can, gotcha." True enough, she had been sitting there for three hours now, but so far she hadn’t had any luck. Not even a nibble...

Joyce had arrived to Gecko Island on a marine ship four days ago and visited a place called Syrup Village. She had seen a big, pretty mansion and met an amazing storyteller there, though the names escaped her at the moment because of the gnawing hunger. Her last warm meal had been yesterday and she had used her last bits of bread as bait. This was pretty much her only option left right now, but she had confidence in her fishing skills. It was easy, just sitting and waiting. Besides, she only needed to catch one really big fish and she could sell it to buy meals for few days. If only those fishes would just show up already.

Joyce had never been very careful with her wishes...

Suddenly, the water started bubbling and stirring. Something big moved just underneath the surface. The girl tilted her head curiously and stared at the dark shape. Slowly, a Sea King easily the size of an average ship lifted its head from the depths. It resembled a dark blue eel with sharp fins and the mouth of a shark. Joyce’s eyes widened and she fell backwards from sheer surprise. "Oooh..." The surprise passed quickly as the energetic girl found her smile again and formed an opinion. "That’s gotta be the second bii~iggest fish I’ve ever seen, gotcha!" Despite the incredible size difference, she wasn’t scared or even worried. It was just a fish after all. Size didn’t matter.

Now, the Sea King noticed the boat and brought its head closer, covering the small boat with its shadow. Joyce’s lips curled into a cat-like smile and she giggled as a mischievous idea popped in her head. "I wonder if you want to play, gotcha?" She dropped her backpack for a moment and dug out a small, red orb along with a lighter. Picking the backpack again, she stood up to stare the massive fish straight into its green eyes. Her smile turned into a toothy grin as she lit the fuse. She wanted to see if a giant fish was as easily scared as small ones. What could possibly go wrong?

Taking aim, the girl yelled playfully- "Fee~etch!" -and chucked the cherry bomb at the huge fish. It missed by a fair margin and exploded in a large shower of golden sparks high in the air. Such a bright flash was visible miles away and would’ve easily startled most creatures. However, the monster fish responded by simply diving underwater... straight through Joyce’s catboat. In an instant, the tiny boat was torn into countless pieces and the small girl was launched away on a big wave. Flailing desperately, she managed to grab what used to be the rear of the boat before sinking beneath the surface. For several seconds, the sea was white with foam and whirlpools.

As the waves calmed down a bit, a red, absolutely soaked flock of hair popped up. Joyce coughed and gasped for air while trying to pull herself on the rear. The piece of wood was only barely holding her afloat and she could feel her heavy backpack dragging her down. To make matters worse, the Sea King reared its head again and slowly opened its massive jaws, getting ready for a snack. Even the reckless girl finally understood how bad the situation was for her. She squeezed her last piece of safety even tighter and her lower lip started trembling. "Stop it... This is not funny anymore..." Unfortunately, the pleading, frightened mutter wasn’t going to help.

The sea monster surged forward once more.

[REI SATSUKI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #111111; width:325px; padding:15px; border-left: 10px solid E6E6E6; vertical-align:top;] Rei had spent most of the morning in the infirmary and looking over several of the maps that they had wrangled from the Marines. The Captain's initial plans were to head for the Grand Line, but it seemed fate had other ideas. A storm had blown up throwing them in what she could only discern was the East Blue according to the maps. However, without having seen any land or islands over the past few days, locating where they were precisely proved to be a far more perplexing mystery. "CAPTAIN!" One of the crew cried out, before bursting into the infirmary with a panicked look. Glancing up over the edges of her glasses, she wore than capable of noting how pale the young man looked having apparently run down the stairs. "What it is it?" She questioned coldly, returning the maps to the desk and removing the glasses as she stood up. "T-They spotted something off the side of the ship." Rin's expression sober, before stepping past the young man and started a steady pace towards the top of the deck. "They said it looked like fireworks, Captain." He continued to explain as she pushed through the door and stepped out into the sunlight on the top deck, her long pink hair fluttering a bit in the breeze as her boots made their way across the deck. "Marines? Distress flare? We're not near enough to islands that would be shooting stuff off randomly. None that are on the maps, anyway." The Captain reasoned aloud as one the crew passed her the telescope and glancing off to where he was pointing, managed to spot not a boat of a pirate or trade ship. No, what reared up out of the ocean was a Sea King and his focus was on what looked like the remnants of a boat and to her shock a person, who was clinging to the pieces of wood for dear life. "Crap!" The Captain cursed, tossing the viewing scope back to one of the crew as her foot hit the railing and she went over the side of the ship in the blur. "Glacial Freeze!" Rei rolled across the thick layer of ice as she landed on what had formerly been the top of the ocean. Racing across the ice it took her only a few seconds to break the distance between her and the massive beast and extending her hand to catch hold of it. Damn, this was gonna be close! "Winter Prison!" From the ocean a white mist began to rise at the rapid cooling of the water as ice poured out over the creature, snaking around it until it was encased completely in several feet of rock hard glacial ice. Looking up at her handiwork, the monster almost seemed to have been frozen in the final moments as though time itself had stopped, but Rei wasn't really in the mood to take any chance. Drawing the Guan Dao in a single sweep, the sculpture was severed into two half, the upper portion that had been out of the water slipping off to the side before sliding into the water. "Well, guess that solves the question of what we're having for dinner tonight." Rei spoke in something of an after thought as she walking along the shelf of ice to where she could get a better look at the mess of red hair that had been clinging to the boat. With any luck, maybe the person hadn't managed to drown just yet. "Oi! You okay over there?" The Captain questioned curiously, resting the large crescent blade of the Guan Dao onto her shoulder as though it we nothing more than a paddle or wooden weapon.

[atrb=style, padding:10px; width:115px; background-color: #000000;][atrb=valign,top] [style=background-color: #111111; background-attachment: scrolling; height:100px; width:100px; padding:5px; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC;][/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]WORDS[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]613[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]TAGGED[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]Joyce & Invite[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]NOTES[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]Finally! *passes out*[/style]

[Joyce Swift]

It all happened so quickly that for a moment Joyce thought she was dreaming. A pink-haired person appeared from nowhere and suddenly the monster fish turned into ice. The person turned out to be a brave lady with a really big blade. With one smooth move, she sliced the massive fish in two. Joyce was mesmerized to say the least. However, her hand slipping snapped her back to reality and she climbed up again, but noticed something different about her safety piece. It wasn’t moving at all even though she struggled on top of it. She glanced to the sides and noticed the boat piece wasn’t sinking anymore because it was stuck in the ice as well.

Eager to get out of the water, Joyce scampered onto the cold, hard platform and immediately collapsed on her side because of the heavy backpack. Squirming free from it, she pushed herself on her knees and trembled visibly. The cold surface was sending shivers from her hands all the way to her spine. Steadily dripping water was forming a tiny puddle under her hands. She stared at it silently, lost in thought. It was all slowly sinking in. This wasn’t a dream. That person had really frozen both the sea and single-handedly killed the monster fish that almost ate her. If she hadn’t shown up, the fish would be having a shipwright sandwich right now...

Upon hearing the question, the little girl carefully lifted her gaze up, towards the person who had saved her. "That... was..." For a moment, it sounded like she was searching for right words. Then, her amber eyes started sparkling with excitement and her mouth twisted into widest smile she could muster. Suddenly, she bounced up and threw her hands into air. "So coo~ol!" The spunky girl had never been one to dwell in scary things or stay silent for long. So much unbelievable stuff had just happened and it was making her hyper. She simply couldn’t give the strong stranger a chance to say anything else just yet. Instead, she was going to share her honest view what happened.

Taking a deep breath, the girl started waving her hands excitedly. "That big meanie was all like rawr! And I was like blub blub blub..." She grabbed her tiny nose and pretended to sink before bouncing back up. "But then you jumped in all Free~eze! And the fishy went brrrrr!" After enduring another visible shiver, a pretended one this time, she pointed at the large blade and waved her hands some more. "And... andandand then you swung your weapon shasheeeng! And now the fishy is a-dead. Blerk." She ended the dramatic reenactment by grabbing her throat and falling down with eyes rolled back and face in exaggerated grimace.

With the strange little act over, the energetic girl’s wide smile returned. She stretched her arms and legs towards the sky, seemingly ignoring how cold the surface beneath her back was actually. "It was so aa~awesome, you should’ve seen it, gotcha." What had been a life or death situation just a moment ago was now only another wild experience she would write in a postcard later. After a brief moment of pondering, she got up and scratched her wet hair thoughtfully. "Ah, but I guess you did see it because you were in it, gotcha." She crossed her arms and nodded firmly, confident that her words were a true nugget of wisdom.

Now that she had gotten most of the excitement out of her system, the savior’s initial question finally registered in her scrambled mind. "Hey, wait a tick... My name is not Kay." Of course, she had no idea how wrong she had understood the question and she wasn’t going to give the pink-haired woman a chance to clarify either. She wagged her finger playfully while correcting the stranger. "It’s Joyce! J-o-y-c-e!" Placing her hands on her hips, she puffed her chest and declared it once more with the pride everyone in her family shared. "I am Joyce Swift, gotcha!" It would’ve been an awesome introduction in Joyce’s opinion, but unfortunately a certain hungry beast had to interrupt it...

Just then, Joyce’s empty stomach let out a pitiful, gurgling wail, completely ruining the moment. Her eyes widened immediately and usual blush got brighter. She directed her embarrassed stare down and tugged her shirt nervously. All the excitement had made her even hungrier, but she wouldn’t admit that, at least not out loud. She was a big girl now and could totally take care of herself. Attempting to keep the conversation going, the girl laced her fingers behind her back and continued with the usual, courteous question. "So, um, what’s your name, Miss Ice Lady?" She lifted her curious gaze towards the cool lady and a happy smile spread across her lips. This person seemed nice.

[REI SATSUKI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #111111; width:325px; padding:15px; border-left: 10px solid E6E6E6; vertical-align:top;] Rei remained silent, waiting for the young woman to answer and when she did, the Captain managed to get an earful. She didn't say much initially and only seemed to watched with some mild amusement as she prattled on about the event that had happened only moments before with great excitement and enthusiasm. Not that the Captain was ever one to rain on the parade of most people, especially not when they were praising her exploits. Besides, it gave the ship some time to catch up to them and to eventually pull alongside the icy pathway as the girl, whose name she soon learned was actually Joyce Swift. It was her stomach though, that soon managed to interrupt the situation, earning a small laugh as she attempted to inquire on the identity of the woman that stood before her. "I'm Rei, Rei Satsuki, Captain of the Black Moon Pirates. It's nice to meet you, though I'm sorry it couldn't have been under better circumstances." The Captain spoke with a cheerful smile. Then again, from her general appearance, the title of pirate seemed almost to menacing for someone with a lax demeanor. Of course, Rei wasn't in the habit for dressing like most pirates either, with a white tank-top worn beneath a dark coat and pair of blue jeans, along with a pair of boots. The only thing remotely pirate was the emblem on the shirt, which matched the Jolly Roger that was on the flag being flown by the ship. Meanwhile, a few of the pirates managed to drop a rope ladder down and slide down onto the platform of ice along with their Captain to survey the extent of the damage. "What do you want us to do with meat, Captain?" One of the men questioned, adjusting the brim of his hat as he glanced over at the young woman curiously. "Store as much of the stuff as we can. What we don't eat before we reach the next port, we can always sell. You know how the nobility is always wanting to try the next big dish. Maybe we can we swindle them by telling them it's exotic or something." Rei suggested. Sure, it wasn't the most honest method, but one had to take every opportunity presented to them on the sea if they wanted to survive. The crewman quickly nodded and the few men that had joined them on the ice quickly went to work on lassoing the frozen chunks of meat and hoisting them up onto the deck, where they could be carried down to the kitchen. Once the crew had gone to work, Rei's attention returned to the young woman as she pushed her hands into her pocket and turned to make her way back onto the ship, giving a small wave in motion for Joyce to follow. "Since that Sea King managed to destroy your boat, we can drop you off on the next island if you want. In the meantime, I can treat your injuries if your hurt and the cook can whip you up something to eat." Rei offered calmly, not bothering to see if she followed. Wasn't like there were many other places she could go, unless she wanted to swim there, so the wisest option was clearly to accept the Captain's kindness, even if she was a pirate.

[atrb=style, padding:10px; width:115px; background-color: #000000;][atrb=valign,top] [style=background-color: #111111; background-attachment: scrolling; height:100px; width:100px; padding:5px; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC;][/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]WORDS[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]555[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]TAGGED[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]Joyce & Invite[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]NOTES[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]None[/style]

[Joyce Swift]

Joyce smiled broadly when the woman introduced herself. "Nice to meet cha, Rei, gotcha!" Hearing that she was a pirate didn’t get the small girl to even flinch. She had made a new friend and only that mattered for her. If anything, the fact that Rei was a captain was one of the coolest things ever for the energetic girl. "Oo~oh... Papa always says pirate captains have to be incredibly strong because they are responsible for their whole crew, gotcha." She made the tiny nugget of wisdom sound more important than it actually was. Well... For her it was really important.

The little shipwright tilted her head curiously when a ship pulled alongside them. Amazed by how the men obeyed Rei's every command, Joyce looked up to Rei and her eyes twinkled with open admiration. "Wow... You must be really strong..." Out of nowhere, however, she tossed in a mischievous comment with an added smirk. "But my Papa could totally kick your ass, gotcha." The random fact, if you could even call it that, was followed by a firm nod. As far as she was concerned, her father would always be the strongest man in the world. Reality was, of course, bit different.

While the pirates hoisted up the meat, Joyce imitated them by picking up her dripping wet backpack and hurried after Rei. She almost slipped and fell three times in the process, but it did nothing to deter her happiness. The offer to get any injuries treated was only met with a head shake and a big smile. "No worries. I’m not hurt, gotcha." Aside from having scraped knees and being soaking wet, she was perfectly fine. When Rei got aboard, Joyce stopped and tilted her head again. She wanted to weigh her options and admire the ship for a moment, but her stomach quickly decided for her.

As another pitiful wail rose from her gut, the hastily girl climbed after the pirate captain. It was a small miracle she managed to climb up with her large backpack. Once she got onto the deck, she practically collapsed and had to squeeze herself out from beneath the backpack before sitting up. Her little body was trembling from the effort, but she tried her best to ignore it. "I would like to sail with you... and eat something if it’s not too much trouble..." She was almost too embarrassed to say the last part out loud, but her hunger was finally stronger than her confidence. It was an unpleasant fact that she wasn’t going to get her next meal alone.

Suddenly, another unpleasant realization crossed her mind and the flock of wet hair cast a dark shadow over her eyes. For the first time, a noticeable frown appeared on her face. "I don’t have any money to pay for it though..." The mutter was careful, filled with sudden wariness. Even though she hadn’t been adventuring for very long, she already had learned people were focused on money and didn’t like poor adventurers. So many friendly people had suddenly turned so mean when they learned she didn’t have any money. Apparently favor for favor wasn’t good enough anymore. She gave her new friend, Rei, a worried glance. Would this nice person become mean as well?

Back at Water 7, Marines had always told her that pirates were bad people after all...

[REI SATSUKI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #111111; width:325px; padding:15px; border-left: 10px solid E6E6E6; vertical-align:top;] Rei maintain her usual calm demeanor, but seemed content to know that the girl wasn't bothered by the idea that they were a bunch of pirates. The Captain had learned first hand that not every person or every island shared Joyce's view, even if most of the time their intention was simply to purchase supplies in a town and leave. Of course, despite her rather troubled past, the Captain very rarely condone stealing, provided the crew didn't need them as a means for survival, since most civilians had to make a living, too. After all, they were pirates, not savages. Not that one would have known that from reading the newspaper articles about them, but that was less a matter of intention as the Captain's notorious habit for attracting chaos, no matter how discreet she attempted to be. Even with the Captain's strictness to the rules on the ship, most of the crew never seemed to mind them much. Rei had always dealt fairly with the crew and her willingness to put her own life on the line to protect them had been demonstrated countless times over the years, resulting in the deep loyalty most of them had. It was why, despite their obvious curiosity, they were careful to give the kid some space as the Captain headed back to the ship. "Strong? Heh, that's an understatement for someone who fights Sea Kings for the heck of it." One of the crew chimed in with a proud grin. She couldn't help chuckle though, at the kid's mentions of her father. Then again, it wasn't all that long ago that Rei had boasted the same thing about her own father. Although, she'd never known much of the man, but it didn't stop from her dreaming about her mother's stories of how brave and strong he was. It was simply another part of growing up, one that Rei had no intention of raining on for the kid. "He sounds like fun. Maybe I can meet him one day." Rei remarked with a good-natured smile. Joyce soon answer that she was injured, which earned a quick glance from the Captain to double check. She was soaking wet, but it was nothing a few towels, a change of clothes, and a few small bandages wouldn't fix. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be serious or life threatening, so made her way onto the top deck. It took the younger girl some time to drag herself and her backup along, but Rei was actually rather impressed she even managed to haul it up at all. As she collapsed and agreed to sail with them, the smile returned to the Captain's face. "Oi, lunch should be done soon, go tell the cook to make sure we have plenty for an extra person." Rei ordered in a lazy tone, motioning to one of the young men that was standing a few feet away. The pirate nodded in understanding, before leaving two others that were sitting atop some barrels and looking on with interest as the red-head suddenly seemed to remember something. Rei's blue eyes quickly dropped back to the girl in surprise as she confessed that she didn't have any money to pay them for helping. The idea must have been amusing, because even the two pirates watching let out a snort in amusing as their Captain suddenly broke out into a laugh. "This isn't an ocean liner. We don't charge people to travel. After all, it wasn't like you asked for my help. I was the one that spotted the Sea King and raced out there on a whim, so there's no point in feeling any obligation to thank us. We're just pirates, after all." The Captain explained calmly, though as usual she had a certain knack for downplaying her own actions. Of course, Rei had never been fond of the idea of being labeled a hero, something the crew had noted over the years, despite her habit for doing things that at times many wouldn't for the sake of even those she didn't know. It might have been a whim, but it was strange habit for a pirate. "Captain's got a point." One of the men sitting on the barrel added seriously, adjusting the brim of his hat which tended to shadow his eyes. "Besides, it's an old sailing tradition that anyone found lost at sea by a passing ship should be taken on board and delivered to the nearest port. It's something of a custom, or at least, it is in North Blue." He explained, though since the majority of the crew were from the North Blue, couldn't really say much about traditions elsewhere in the world. "Yeah, we wouldn't be able to call ourselves men if we charged a woman for something like that, especially if she doesn't have anything to begin with. Not like your some fish we can just throw back. Plus, the Captain would probably have use cleaning the ship from bow to stern if we tried." The younger man next the other added with a smile, before realizing that Rei was now standing next to him. Reaching up, she quickly yanked the cap down over his eyes making it difficult for him to see and to continue talking. The Captain flashed a smirk, before turning to lean back on the wall next to him, the playful act appearing more similar to something an older sibling did in retaliation for the snipe than anything serious.

[atrb=style, padding:10px; width:115px; background-color: #000000;][atrb=valign,top] [style=background-color: #111111; background-attachment: scrolling; height:100px; width:100px; padding:5px; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC;][/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]WORDS[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]907[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]TAGGED[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]Joyce & Invite[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]NOTES[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]None[/style]

[Joyce Swift]

Joyce visibly perked up when Rei didn’t get mean at all, but actually started laughing. She wasn’t bothered by this kind of reaction at all. In fact, the small girl started giggling as well. Laughter was contagious and Joyce was glad Rei was so easygoing. It was so much better than getting yelled at... After the biggest fit of giggles passed, she gathered some seriousness in her tone. "Still..." The child’s mouth opened into the most thankful smile that fit on her small features. "Thaa~ank you! You are the nicest pirates I have ever met, gotcha!" She tried her best to convey just how much she appreciated it, because the pirates couldn’t even imagine how much this meant for her.

Being able to continue her adventure, with full stomach no less, was the greatest favor ever.

And that line of thought made her poor gut squeak again. Luckily, the distraction from her noisy hunger wasn’t far away. Joyce watched curiously as Rei approached the talking man. Her mouth twisted into a cat-like smile in anticipation. When the cap got pulled down, another gleeful giggle rose from the redhead. It brought her family into mind and how she had pulled that same maneuver on her brothers who were fond of hats. She was going to need a big post card this time, so she could tell them everything about her new friend and her crew. Thinking about it made a twinge of homesickness tug her heart. If only there had been someone like them to play with...

Looking around the deck, Joyce scratched her cheek thoughtfully. There were so many new and interesting things she didn’t quite know what to focus on. However, there was one theme she noticed right away. Everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves. No one looked mean. "Hmm... You all seem soo~o nice... I wonder why Marines call you such bad things, gotcha..." It really wasn’t a question she expected to be answered. She was simply thinking out loud at this point. The concept of propaganda wasn’t something an honest child, like Joyce, understood. She had always been taught that if she didn’t have something nice and truthful to say, then it was better to not say anything at all.

However, the short girl forgot that topic as quickly as she had brought it up because a new thing had caught her attention. She bounced up from her sitting position and started slowly wandering around the deck. Her clothes were still dripping and getting salty water all over the place, but the redhead was getting too excited to notice. After a moment of looking around, she turned to Rei, simply beaming with admiration. "You’ve got a really good ship, Rei, gotcha." For a shipwright, seeing the vessel of a person told more than words. However, 'good ship' wasn’t saying much to an average person, so she actually intended to elaborate her point.

Joyce turned her eyes towards the mighty sails, though they weren’t exactly what interested her. "Sturdy masts..." Suddenly, she pressed her ear against the deck and slapped it few times. "Well-kept deck..." Getting up, the small shipwright then hurried to the side of the ship. She hopped onto the railing and leaned out so far that she almost slipped overboard before a kind soul was quick enough to pull her back onto the deck. However, the careless girl didn’t seem to notice and just continued her rambling. "And smooth hull..." Hurrying back to the captain, she barely stopped in time before crashing into her. Pure excitement was simply radiating from the girl.

Standing on tiptoes, the girl reached towards the sky and gave two thumbs up. "Yup! Papa would approve!" Though the pirates probably didn’t realize it, 'Papa' Swift’s approval wasn’t anything easy to get, as Joyce explained in her own way. "This ship could easily sail the Grand Line, gotcha!" As soon as she had said that, yet another realization entered her scrambled mind. "Ooh, I almost forgot!" She had no idea where this ship was actually headed. For a moment, she quietly debated whether she should ask or keep it as a surprise, but then her curiosity got better of her. "Where are we sailing, Rei?" Amber eyes focused on the captain and the girl tilted her head.

Naturally, she was hoping it was some place she had never heard of before. Those were always the most exciting places for the little adventurer.

[REI SATSUKI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #111111; width:325px; padding:15px; border-left: 10px solid E6E6E6; vertical-align:top;] Obviously, being nice was not the quality many people accused a pirate of being, so Joyce's admission quickly earned a faint flush as the Captain who quickly shifted her glance to the side sheepishly. "Yeah, well...It was just a whim, so don't go spreading that around or anything." She explained in a steady tone, earning a look from the two crew members next to her, who immediately had to stifle their amusement at their Captain's surprising shyness. It was rare to see her so humble about a matter. Then again, Rei was somewhat notorious for living up to that label of 'witch', despite how untrue it actually was. Most of the crew knew she had a good side, but as usual, Rei seemed content to keep that little secret from the world. The two men, of course, quickly beamed proudly though at the compliment, never one to turn down praise. Although, it was the question of why the Marines viewed them so badly that the older of the two saw fit to clarify the matter more thoroughly. "Oh, that's obvious. That's cause-" He began to explain, but was suddenly silenced when Rei cleared her throat in protest. The act caused them both look over at her curiously. Rei shook her head in order not to say anything. Their reason for piracy was not something that many people understood, let alone someone who was still very much a kid. Besides, if Joyce happened to repeat any of what they told her, either accidentally or unwittingly to others, then there was a good chance that the Marines could get wind of the matter. It wasn't unheard of for civilians with connections to pirates or even who tolerated pirates, to be brought under suspicion. They could be charged with crimes, imprisoned, or even executed in some cases. She was just a kid and the Captain had a policy not to involve civilians, not if they could avoid it. The less Joyce knew about them, the better off she was. Fortunately, the young girl had a very short attention span and was soon inspecting the ship. Although, the admission was no surprise to Rei, who flashed a proud smile as Joyce went over the check list. "That's good to hear, considering that's where were going. Well, where we plan to go pretty soon. At the moment, we're actually headed for Logue Town. Our plan is to make one final resupply there before entering the Grand Line. It seems sort of fitting, all things considered." Rei explained with a faint smirk, though few would have pegged the Captain as being the sentimenal sort. Then again, they had been blown off course and ended up in the East Blue. It seemed the hand of fate considering Rei's own ambitions and plans to become the next Pirate King. It was where the great age of piracy had begun and any pirate would have been a fool to turn down a chance to see it. The island was famous, though according to rumor, it had become even more formidable as one of the Yonkou was rumored to have claimed it as her territory. At the very least, it was one of the few places that the crew wouldn't have to worry about the Marines for a bit. The could certainly use a chance to relax, since the Captain's streak for finding trouble meant most vacations tended to be cut somewhat shorter than prefered.

[atrb=style, padding:10px; width:115px; background-color: #000000;][atrb=valign,top] [style=background-color: #111111; background-attachment: scrolling; height:100px; width:100px; padding:5px; border: 1px solid #CCCCCC;][/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]WORDS[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]572[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]TAGGED[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]Joyce & Invite[/style] [style= border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; text-transform: lowercase;]NOTES[/style][style= text-align:right; background-color: #111111; padding-right:2px;]None[/style]

[Joyce Swift]

Hearing about the destination got Joyce excited again. She had no idea where such place was and that suited her perfectly. "Yaa~ay! Sounds good for me!" Thought to be completely honest, she had no idea what the captain meant by fitting. "So, ummm... Why is it so fitting, gotcha? Is it an island of fitting clothes or something?" Naturally, her imagination gave her a bit different view on things. However, that didn’t distract her from listening. This time she actually remained silent and paid attention to the answer before nodding in understanding. Either Rei’s cool demeanor was rubbing off on her, or the fatigue was kicking in, but the energetic child was finally calming down.

Having nothing better to do, Joyce walked over to the side of the ship. With most of the excitement out of her system, she was able to move around without accidentally tossing herself overboard. She leaned onto the railing, intently staring at the islands visible in the horizon. After a moment, she figured out they were Gecko Islands, a place she had already visited. With that realization, the little girl lost her interest and her eyes shifted towards the sky. "I want to see the whoo~ole world, gotcha." It started simply as another thought muttered out loud. However, this time she actually noticed it and stopped before saying anything else.

Talking about her dream always got adults laughing and not in the good way...

Joyce gave Rei a thoughtful glance. Should she continue? Would she be mocked again for her 'impossible' dream? It didn’t take long for her to reach a decision. Since these people were so nice and the little girl disliked silence, she figured she might as well keep talking. "My dream is to travel around the world and visit every island." She turned bit more serious as she started elaborating her dream. "I want to go to an island with cactuses as big as mountains... See the Marine Island of Justice... And visit a place called Fishman Island." Her voice gathered unflinching courage with each word, showing just how very serious she was about it.

Stepping away from the railing, she lifted her eyes and hand towards the white clouds. "Someday... I’ll even go to the sky." She could actually see the clouds between her fingers taking exotic shapes of animals and islands, though most of it was just her imagination. "And when I’ve seen all the possible places... I’ll be smart enough to become the world’s greatest inventor." She squeezed her hand into a firm fist. "That... is my dream, gotcha!" With that yell, she crossed her arms and stared at the pirates confidently, silently daring them to laugh at her. She no longer cared what they thought. It was her dream and she fully believed it was possible.

After a moment of remaining silent and listening to the reactions of the pirates, Joyce turned to the captain. Curious amber eyes focused on the wise blue ones and the girl smiled. "What is your dream, Rei?" As far as the girl was concerned, everyone had dreams and those dreams were always worth sharing with friends.