Chapter 25
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 13– Boats and Bros.
Edited: 03/04/2023
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I lean left, then lean right, back up, jump around, roll to the side and then duck before getting back to my feet. The wolf that had leapt over me quickly skids to a stop and turns around to keep on coming from me, its claws inching forward to slice open my neck.
Again it tries to barrage me, but I dodge with an ease borne of familiarity, and then once again, it starts to run. I can tell that it wants to leap at me again, and so I run forth as well, and when it jumps, I slide on the ground, and I kick my leg up and kick it in its neck as it goes above me, dealing severe damage.
The wolf goes flying as I skid along the ground, coming to a stop, and I stay there, laying on the floor, breathing heavily and looking up at the sky as I try to catch my breath. I don't worry about the wolf that is out of my sight, Garp has been ordering me to fight all sorts of animals lately, and I have gained a wealth of experience, which is how I know that wolf is down for the count and won't be coming back at me.
"Tch, you are this tired just from that little bit of jumping around? And all you did was kick one lousy little dog?"Garp comments from the side where he is sitting, leaning back against a tree, from where he supervised my fight. This has been regularly happening since my first failed boat attempt. First, Garp would pick me up by the scruff of my neck, and then my vision blurred since we were moving too fast, and then we would be in another location entirely, usually in front of some sort of animal.
Sometimes it would be a pack, but Garp would just glare at them, and they would all be cowed, and then he would send the others away and keep just one, which he ordered to try to kill me. Otherwise, he would kill it, and it would come at me with lethal intent, and Garp would let me fend for myself. I am sure Garp would intervene if it actually came to me being in deathly peril, but thankfully it has never come to that.
Of course, I was surprised the first time it happened, but I quickly reacted and got to fend off the beast. Otherwise, I would get cut up, though thankfully started off with an animal that was not too dangerous for me. And from there, the fights slowly escalated as I worked on making the boat. The animals would get bigger and meaner each time. I even faced off against two animals at one point, but that was the max.
"Whatever, old man, just take me back to the beach so I can get back to working on the boat," I tell him, lifting myself up to rest my palms against the ground, still exhausted from fighting off the wolf. The wolf, which I now noticed, has scurried away after losing, just like all the other animals before it.
"Fine, let's go, shrimp." And then, before I could even do anything, I felt him grab me by the back of my shirt, and then we whooshed away, and all I saw was a blur of colours and a harsh wind in my ears as Garp took me back to the beach at an unbelievable speed. At first, this was very jarring for me, and my stomach was very unsettled. However, humans are the most adaptable beings in existence, and this hardly phased me anymore.
"Ugh," I grunt as I am thrown onto the sandy beach, Garp having chucked me as soon as we got here, but instead of making mention of it, I simply get back up to my feet and walk over to my workstation, where my next boat is in the process of being assembled. Well, not my next boat. I stopped counting after I had four failed attempts. It just got harder to do when I had to make it for me, Garp and George.
My first attempt at making a boat after Garp told me we were taking George with us was a big fail, and Garp knew it would be. Just remembering it makes me want to bury my head. The problem was obvious, after all.
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"Why aren't you getting in the boat, Garp-san?" I ask, resting next to my newly built boat. Not as sleek or nice looking as the first, but it is now wide enough to hold all three of us. But while George is already sitting in the boat waiting to depart, and I am behind it all ready to go, Garp is there sitting on the chair he had me build for him with all the scraps I had that I didn't need.
"Hm, oh. Well, after the first time, I don't really trust your building skills or your boats anymore, so I am going to stay here while you go test it out, and if it works, then I will get in with you, and we will go. Now shoo, your annoying me." Garp waves me away, trying to relax in the sun while reclining on his chair.
"Tch." I tut at his lackadaisical attitude as well as the fact he is ignoring me, and then I turn to my boat and pick up my book that I left inside and go place it safely down on the sand away from the shore. It is not that I don't have faith in my boat. Because I do, I made it with my own two hands, but it is just good sense to place any valuables away from the ship and test them first.
I am very happy about the first boat I made. I was too excited about it and climbed in and tested it, completely forgetting about my book that I left on land, so it thankfully did not become wet and get ruined like Garp's sack of crackers did. And I won't be risking it this time, and I will leave it here. I will have to come back to land after I test it out anyways to get Garp, so it isn't really a big deal.
"Hop out, George, and help me push this thing into the shallows. Then you can get back in," I tell the giant lazy silver-backed gorilla that has been sitting in the boat since I finished it and excitedly hopping about, waiting for us to set off. Seriously, George is way more excited about us going off on the ship than either Garp or I am. The gorilla has been watching me build the thing and has actually been helpful, assisting me in its making and doing some heavy lifting.
"Greh eh." George grunts, shaking his head back and forth, still excitedly rocking about in the boat, unable to contain himself. This sometimes helpful, mostly lazy gorilla is refusing to get off the ship, and I don't have the physical strength to force him off, and as I look at the only other person on the beach that will actually be capable of that, I realise I will get no help since Garp is much too busy enjoying himself in the sun.
"Fine, whatever. I am usually doing stuff by myself on this island anyway. why should this be any different." Resigning myself to my fate, I place my hands against the back of the boat and dig my feet down into the sand behind me, and then I begin to push. I am not strong enough to pick George up and take him off the boat, all without damaging the ship itself, but I am more than strong enough to push the boat into the water. What else has the training all been for?
But this gorilla sure isn't light. It is going to take quite a bit of dedication from me to have this done quickly. And so I scrunch my eyes up real tight and tense my whole body before pushing forwards, pushing with all of my might, and it really does suck a lot of energy out of me. George must have gotten quite fat after pretty much sitting around all day and eating fruits that I still peel for him.
I might have overestimated just how strong I am, or perhaps I underestimated just how heavy George is, but either way, I know that if I stop now, then I will find it harder to come back and try again, so I have to push it. So, scrunching my eyes closed even harder and gritting my teeth, I just face my head down and start to walk, pushing the boat very slowly but surely across the sand.
Step by agonising step, I make staunch moves forward, and I don't stop for anything. Finally, I quit focusing on everything else and completely blocked it out. I just concentrated on pushing this boat forward so that it could embark upon the oceans. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot-
"GREEHHHH!" George shrieks, and my head jolts up in surprise at his sudden scream, only to get a face full of gorilla in my face.
"Agh," I grunt as I am knocked on my ass as George barrels past me, and my entire body dips into the water, my head submerged underneath it. A shock runs through my body, and my brain gets a kick from the sudden ice-cold water washing over me. And I quickly bolt upright, and I start to brush my face trying to clear my eyes so that I can figure out what the hell just happened.
"What the... Where is my boat?" Once I have wiped my face clean and can adequately open my eyes, I look out at the open ocean in front of me, and my boat is nowhere to be seen. Looking out at the empty blue sea, I am befuddled when I cannot spot my boat anywhere. When a moment ago, I was just pushing it, and now I am sitting in water that comes up to my chest.