As they sailed closer to it, they spotted the old man getting off of the raft he used inside of Laboon. He glanced at them, but said nothing. Instead he stared intensely at them as he walked over to a alwn chair under a parasol near the lighthouse. It was only after Crocus sat and looked comfortable that he spoke, "HM! It's unusual to see a ship not waving a pirate flag come this way."
Peter looked up at the top of their main mast where they were still sailing with a white flag. Honestly... he had NO idea what to do as a pirate flag or what to call themselves. He wanted to do something with Alchemy, but felt that would be a terrible idea and bring way too much heat from the Marines. They might be fairly strong, but they weren't 'defeat all comers' strong, yet.
After looking at the blank flag he turned back to Crocus, "That's because we're not pirates. Well, not yet!"
"Not yet?"
Peter nodded, "We ran into a corrupt Marine that wanted to kill me an my first mate then sell the rest of my crew as slaves. Naturally, we objected. Violently. I expect there will be bounties issued before much longer. Then we'll become pirates. Until then, we're just a group of explorers looking to tackle the greatest ocean in the world!"
Crocus gave a hard grunt, "I guess even after all these years the Marines haven't changed." He studied Peter over the rims of his glasses, "You're the captain? A bit young compared to the others, ain't ya?"
Peter laughed, "I might not be the oldest or the strongest, but I'm the captain regardless!"
Crocus actually looked curious, "Not the strongest?" His gaze moved to Alex which was fair enough, Alex did look the part a bit better than Peter, "Him then?"
Both Peter and Alex shook their heads in reply. Peter then looked directly at Mera standing by the wheel, "Her."
Crocus turned to look at the beautiful red head and hummed, "I see. Why aren't you the captain then lass?"
Rather than look offended like some ardent supporters might, Mera grinned, "Because the captain is the captain. I'm just the navigator."
Crocus let out an amused snort at that, "Whatever, none of my business anyway. But, just to be sure, you youngin's did bring a Log Pose, right?"
Peter nodded, "Six, in fact."
"Oh? Smart. Be careful though. Having multiple log poses could get you lost just as easily as having only one." He shruged and lifted up his newspaper to read it, "You poses should set in a couple hours. Good luck."
Peter waved as their ship got underway, "See ya, old man!"
They sailed a short distance from Crocus and watched the Log Poses. As Crocus said, just a few hours of waiting and the poses were set. Four of them pointed in the same direction while two pointed in other directions. Peter looked at Mera and smirked, "Pick a course and let's go!"
Mera looked at the Log Poses and picked on of the contrary ones. When she saw Peter looking at her questioningly she explained, "If four are pointing to the same island then it's probably the most common one that people go to. I want to take the road less traveled!"
Peter grinned widely and gave her a thumbs up, "I approve!"
The only island that Peter honestly cared about reaching was Arabasta, what route they took to get there didn't matter at all to him!
Peter, Momo, Vivienne, Valeria, Ai, and Erina all lay on the deck of the ship groaning. Peter had underestimated the Grand Line, severely. He knew to expect random crazy weather, but seeing it played for laughs in an anime and experiencing it in person were vastly different. No one had gotten any sleep for the last three days!
He couldn't even remember how many times they'd had to lift and lower the sails over that time. Mera, still standing by the wheel, looked haggard and ready to drop as well. She had comported herself well and guided them through the insane weather with precise instructions. She'd been amazing.
Now though, the weather was calming down and seemed to be stabilizing, which meant they were closing in on an island. Given the temperature, he figured they were approaching either a fall or spring island. It didn't seem hot enough to be a summer island. He could be wrong, of course, but he didn't think he was.
"Land ho!" Alex shouted from the crows nest.
Unfairly, he was the only one who didn't look like hell. Unlike Zoro, he didn't sleep through everything and had been working beside them the whole time. It was completely unfair. Peter could only put it down to the version of the super soldier formula that had bonded to Alex's genetic code. There were so many versions of Erskine's formula it wasn't even funny. Hell, in some continuities even Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk was because of the formula.
As they neared the island, Peter called out, "Drop anchor!" Seeing some curious looks, he explained, "I'm too tired to deal with whatever island we're at. I want some rest. On top of that, we need to make some decisions such as, what should our pirate name be? What should our pirate flag look like? I know we don't plan to act much like pirates, but it's only a matter of time until we're declared as such so we might as well embrace it!"
Everyone agreed and the anchor was dropped bringing the ship to a halt a few leagues from the island. Someone there could probably see us if they looked with a spyglass. With the ship stopped and the weather stable, everyone went to take a nap except Alex. Since he looked so put together still, Peter left him as the lookout, just in case.