Just Gotta Keep Sailin The Quartz

[allendsmeat]

Who: Straw Hat Pirates, possible Bloody Roses Pirates
Where: Sailing log from 7/7- 7/10, Isla de Quarzo Rosa 7/10-7/12
What: The first leg of the race
Warnings: The usual
Status: Semi-open to the Bloody Roses.



Pls date your threads.

Bloody Roses, how close we're sailing is up to you guys though probably not enough to just casually swing over without some ability. However, feel free to come encounter us at any time on the island!

Straw Hats, enjoy the veggie rain! Also remember our NPC pirates are Mama's Bone Boys who will attack us intermittently throughout the journey and send spies on board. Let's save the major boss battles til the finale, though, shall we? But otherwise, have fun!

Comments

[yourotherleft]

...well. Yeah. I need to stay in top form.

[even if he hasn't faced a real challege, Malihini notwithstanding]

[letteropener]

Why is that? For the sake of your own pride?

[yourotherleft]

[his hand unconsciously moves to caress the hilt of Wadou Ichimonji, near at hand]

For my goal.

[letteropener]

And that is...?

[yourotherleft]

To be the world's greatest swordsman.

[he glances her way with a bit of a smile]

I'm not there yet.

[letteropener]

Oh? Who could be superior to you?

{Celestia's surprise and doubt are genuine. She can't imagine anyone's skills surpassing Zoro's.]

[yourotherleft]

There's a few. I'm sure I've never even heard of or met the real challenges yet. They say the New World is hell compared to any other sea, so just surviving it will require greater strength.

[letteropener]

I find that very hard to believe. What could anypony do with swords that you cannot already do?

[yourotherleft]

[he looks at her again, and then away, up at the night sky]

A lot, I'm sure. It isn't always technique, either. Speed, strength, stamina, armament...

It isn't until I've faced every challenge that I can even think of calling myself great. You're only undefeated until you face defeat.

[letteropener]

It is a very, very large universe, you know. [How can he dream of facing everything possible as a challenge in it?]

[yourotherleft]

Mm. It's a big dream. I wouldn't settle for less.

[don't ask, Celestia. It just is.]

[letteropener]

And does that include all challenges, or simply challenges of swordsmanship?

[yourotherleft]

Well. It wouldn't do to run into an enemy who can actually kick my ass without swords and let them just defeat me. So I guess, all of them, yeah.

[letteropener]

Oh, only enemies are challenges, then? [If that's true, it explains a great deal, but how can he call himself the best with such strong friends around?]

[yourotherleft]

Well yeah. I wouldn't fight a crewmate. I could kill them.

[and he would rather die than do so]

[letteropener]

That's an interesting line of thought. So a friend might be superior to you and able to defeat you, but that wouldn't stop you from calling yourself the greatest if you defeated all the other challenges?

[Trying to work this out in her head!]

[yourotherleft]

Don't get me wrong - I don't want to be just the strongest person in the world. I want to be the greatest swordsman. And the only other swordsman in the crew is Brook.

[it's difficult to say out loud, but he's pretty sure he's stronger than Brook. The skeleton's techniques are pretty awesome but without muscle and sinew, can he even get "stronger?"]

[letteropener]

That I understand. But you did just say you couldn't call yourself the greatest if an enemy without swords could defeat you. So it is all right if a friend could potentially defeat you?

[yourotherleft]

[headscratch] It's not that complicated. I mean, at the time where I came from, Luffy's probably stronger than me, but we're not gonna fight each other so it doesn't matter. He's the captain, he has to be stronger than me or I'd have to be captain.

[letteropener]

I thought Luffy was the captain because his intensity caught up other people's desires in his own and forged a crew from them.

[yourotherleft]

....not exactly, but that does happen, doesn't it?

[letteropener]

Perhaps I should be captain, then, if it's all a matter of strength. [Now she's really teasing, because she has no desire to be captain. Her drive and goal are for guiding a nation to peace and prosperity, not a ship to wealth and glory. But to be fair, she had come about two inches from killing Luffy while her thinking was warped.]

[yourotherleft]

You'd have to fight Luffy for that. And me. And I don't wanna see that.

[his tone is light, but he means it. Nobody wants to see crew come to blows. It's not pretty. It's not fun.]

[letteropener]

[Celestia chuckles, warm and low and amused.] So it isn't only strength, but permission as well. In the end, Luffy is the captain because he is the captain?

[yourotherleft]

Yeah, yeah. Now you got it.