The next morning, Ring has finished Aden's new weapon. He used Aden's daggers, both pairs, to forge a sword, that now lay on the table in front of them along with it's sheath.
It was a kopis style sword, featuring a dragon head at the end of the handle. The blade was dark silver and glimmered blue when the light hit it just right. The sheath was solid wood, painted dark grey.
"It's beautiful." Aden admitted.
"Aye. 'Tis one of my bes' pieces, ah dare say." Ring said, wiping his hands on his pants.
"One ting ah should say...Da weapons ah make are different." Ring spoke seriously.
"Different how?" Aden asked after a short pause.
"Well..yah see, a sword develops a spirit when is bein' used. 'Tis the user's own spirit tha' shapes the sword' spirit. Mah swords a'ready have'em." Ring explained.
"How is that possible?" Aden asked, already sensing a simple presence within the sword through his haki.
"Well. Callin'em spirits ain't really accurate. 'tis a curse really. If yer will ain't stronger than da sword's, yer gonna pay da price." Ring scratched his head in what seemed to be a sheepish gesture.
"Cursed? I heard of cursed swords, but never about them being made that way. How?" Aden was still confused, but not really worried as he simply grabbed the blade. He felt it trying to affect him, but the attempt withdrew almost instantly as if burned. That in turn only confused him more.
"...Ah knew ah picked righ', captain. An to answer ya, i's mah Devil Fruit. Curse-Curse fruit. Ah can make cursed objects, basically." Ring told Aden after seeing him pick up the new sword without issue.
"So that's what it is... It tried to do something, but gave up. Was that the curse? What would happen to me if it took hold?" Aden aske out of curiosity as he focused on his new sword. He seemed to have reached an understanding with the curse on the blade.
"Well...Ye'd be dead. Tis the one ah use e'rytime ah forge a new one. Test who be worthy and destroy the weapon of dey ain't, see." Ring explained further.
"I see... So... What else can you do, my new crewmate?" Aden asked, sheathing his new blade, deciding he would name it later.
"Klakaka! Now we're talkin'."
.
"Where the hell is he!? It's been a full day!" Buggy was getting rather upset at his captain not returning.
"What is your issue anyway? We have to stay here for a week for the Pose to set, afterall. Let him wander about. He's strong. If he was in trouble, we would have heard it by now." Nojiko reasoned as she tended to the plant pots she brought yesterday. She decided to grow some useful plants, like herbs and maybe a fruit tree or two.
"I agree with miss navigator. Stressing will do nothing. If you are this anxious, go look for him. Or train." Robin said from beneath her sunhat, a book in hand and a tea set with fresh tea on the small table next to her.
They all wore light clothing fit for summer weather. Buggy wore a Hawaii style shirt and shorts, Nojiko war a crop-to shirt with tight sweatshorts, and Robin had on a sunhat, purple tanktop with DOCTOR written in white over her chest, and sand colored baggy pants.
"You know what? You're right. Imma go find him." Buggy decided, hopped off the ship and walked away.
"...They will cause trouble, right?" Nojiko asked as ifnalready knowing the answer.
"Most likely, yes. But they may surprise us." Robin said, only for her to smirk and Nojiko to laugh out loud.
.
Surprisingly, after Buggy left, no trouble came. He simply found Aden after hours of searching, was told about their new crewmber, to which he had a mixed reaction and they all returned to the ship.
The next six days passed peacfully and altough some marines, that were on this island to rest or resupply, were giving them nasty looks, the neutral zone that was Rose Island held them back from acting. But Aden was certain they would try something the moment they left the island.
Aden has spent his days getting used to his sword, which he simply named 'Storm Hunt'.
Let nobody say he is creative at naming stuff.
What happened during the week, was that on their second day on the island, Robin finally shared her past with him, when she asked him to talk to her alone. She told him about her past, Ohara, how she was trained in the art of assassination by a man who simply called himself 'Hush' and about her ability to read Poneglyphs. Everything she was, she revealed to him.
To her surprise he took it rather well. He was confused at some parts, like what exactly was a Poneglyph, but other than that he reacted well to this new information.
He then shared his own past, of how he grew up with his brothers, how he met Shanks, about his obsession with understanding his powers and why they seem to grow without training, as well as his worries. What neither of them talked about however, was their growing attachment to each other. But that was a topic that could wait.
Later on, she shared some of her past with the others, but not as in-depth. She made sure Ring was not present for that conversation, and asked the others to not tell him. She would share on her own time. To which they wholeheartedly agreed. Ring was a newcomer afterall.
Before they knew it, a week has passed, and they were ready to set sail.
"So, captain? Which way?" Nojiko asked as they gathered around the Pose on her wrist.
"I say we.go for the calmest one. Why seek trouble? Nice and easy road ahead, right?" Buggy immediately chimed, ignoring Aden's glare at not letting him speak.
"Ah vote fer da violent'un. If we be lookin' fer safety, we'd nevah become stronger, aye?" Ring put his own vote in.
"Whatever captain says is fine. He is the captain." Robin voted calmly, standing suspiciously close to Aden. Nobody commentes on it or they did not notice.
"I agree with Ring om this one. If we don't put ourselves in danger, we will stagnate and die. So make sure you are ready. Let's set out. I sense the marines gathering..they won't just let us leave." Aden commanded and right away the others got to work.
Sure enough, the moment they left, they were followed by three navy ships.
"We are being followed." Nojiko informed.
"Ah may've took care of dat." Ring said simply.
"What do you...?" before Aden could ask what he meant, two of the three ships were covered in flames as the sound of explosions traveled to them.
"What did you do?" Aden ask with an amused smirk, while others just looked at Ring in what could only be described as genuine surprise.
"I put some pebbles on those ships. Cursed ones. They exploded after traveling a set distance." Ring explained with a smirk, tossing a small pebble up and down, enjoying their even more shocked faces.
"Your voice... You changed the way you speak?" Buggy asked confused.
"I had a feeling that was an act. Hiding from the government, were you?" Aden said with a knowing tone.
"Got it in one, captain. Nobody would suspect a 'dum' soundin' bla'smith from a ole shop." Ring explained, switching to his fake voice for the second half of his statement.
"Why?" Aden asked.
"How about you try that new sword on that ship first and i'll tell ya later." Ring suggested.
"Remember, captain. The blade conducts whatever you push through it. Damn tough. Those daggers of yours were made of a special metal as i told you. We shall see how it performs." Ring informed as he observed carefully.
Aden knew that, as he felt his daggers respond to his power before. As he stepped forward at the back of the Vanguard, facing the marine ship, he drew Storm Hunt, and instantly felt the spirit in the blade stir. The spirit developed after Aden spent hours pouring his Haki into it in small bursts, turning the original curse in the blade into a true weapon's soul. Although a young one.
He channeled some cold air around the blade and instantly felt it respond. The blade turned white with cold mist flowing off of it. Aden then took a vertical swing at the ship, using his power to release a frost wave energy.
As the wave traveled, it left a line of ice on the water surface, and not only did it cut the ship in half as it hit, it also instantly froze it in place. The two halves barely having time to seperate.
"Nice. Much easier to do. Less tiring, too." Aden said as he saw the sword return to normal, and sheathed it after it did.
"What did i say? Ahm good ain' ah?" Ring said half jokingly, as they left Rose Island behind.
(Another one fiinished. I hope i did a decent work. I took some liberties with the world so let me know what you think. I read through it, but i may have missed some errors, so just please let me know if you spot any. As alw#ys i hope you enjoyed and i will see you next time)