Lale clung to the ship's railing, her knuckles white, her stomach churning violently with every rise and fall of the waves. The stolen Marine vessel cut through the ocean, but the rhythmic swaying only deepened her misery. She had faced down monkeys, bears, and Ace's terrible life choices—but this might finally break her.
Ace, balanced effortlessly on the mast, grinned down at her. "You look like you're about to die."
She shot him a glare that could have melted steel. "I feel like I'm about to die."
"Seasickness? Really? You're a pirate now—you've gotta get used to it!"
"I never agreed to be a pirate," she muttered, pressing her forehead against the cool wood. "I agreed to not die alone on an island. There's a difference."
Ace laughed, leaping down beside her. "Same thing, really."
Before she could retort, a loud thud echoed from below deck.
Both froze.
Ace tilted his head. "...Did you hear that?"
Lale's Sharingan flickered to life, scanning the shadows. "Either we have a stowaway, or this ship is haunted."
The answer came in the form of a towering Marine emerging from the darkness, his uniform rumpled, his face twisted in fury. "You brats are dead."
Lale groaned. "We forgot to check the ship for Marines?!"
Ace lit a fireball in his palm, grinning. "Oops?"
The Marine lunged. Ace dodged, flames licking at his fingertips. Lale, still queasy, stumbled—right into a stack of crates marked HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE.
The world erupted in fire and noise.
Cold water shocked Lale back to consciousness. She gasped, flailing as the ocean swallowed her whole before she kicked to the surface, coughing up seawater. The ship was gone—reduced to floating debris—and Ace was laughing like a madman as he treaded water beside her.
"That," she seethed, "was the stupidest thing you've ever done."
Ace wiped tears from his eyes. "That Marine's face—!"
A dark shadow passed beneath them.
Lale went still.
Ace followed her gaze.
A very large fin broke the surface.
Lale's voice was eerily calm. "Ace."
"Yeah?"
"Swim."
They bolted, the shark's jaws snapping inches behind them. Lale's muscles burned, her breath ragged, but Ace—Ace—was laughing.
"This is fun!"
"I hate you!"
Just as the shark's teeth grazed her heel, a wooden oar smacked it square on the nose.
Lale looked up, blinking saltwater from her eyes. A grizzled old fisherman scowled down at them from a tiny rowboat.
"Kids these days," he muttered. "No respect for the sea."
They washed ashore on an island that smelled of sulfur and bad decisions. Lale collapsed face-first into the sand, groaning. "I'm never moving again."
Ace shook himself off like a dog, sending water flying everywhere. "C'mon, Lale! Adventure awaits!"
She lifted a hand, middle finger extended.
He laughed, grabbing her wrist and hauling her up. "Look on the bright side—we didn't die!"
"Yet," she grumbled.
The trees rustled. A shadow moved.
Lale's Sharingan spun to life. "Ace."
"Yeah?"
"We're being watched."
A figure stepped into the light—a girl with wild pink hair, a too-wide grin, and a very familiar straw hat dangling from her belt.
"Well, well," the girl drawled. "What've we got here?"
Ace's eyes lit up. "Pirates."
Lale groaned. "Oh hell no."
TO BE CONTINUED...