As the Merry sailed on through the fog and Usopp lay twitching on the ground, I sighed, content that there was no scared talk now. Finally, the low-hanging cloud started thinning and we could see the figures on the shore more clearly.
"Eh?" Lucy frowned as she noticed them. "What's that out there?"
Sanji squinted. "People! There's definitely people on the shore!"
I rolled my eyes. "We can see that."
"Everyone, on your guard," Nami ordered cautiously.
Usopp stood up and readied his green slingshot, his knees shaking like a fat girl's bum on a treadmill. "Ah, shit..." he cried. "Looks like I'll have to brace myself for the worst. Be you monsters or whatever... COME ON OUT!"
I regarded him distastefully. "Arthur Schopenhauer has got nothing on you, bro."
"Who's Arthur Schopenhauer?"
"My home town's greatest pessimist."
"Oh."
A low noise started up, then suddenly grew in volume to a drone, and then turned into a full scale crowd of shouts. The fog lifted, finally, and we were able to see that a whole village of people had been waiting for us on the shore in front of a town, and our jaws dropped. They looked... they...
"They're happy...?" I gasped, a probably-comical look of disbelief on my face. (Think Ichigo Kurosaki and you'll know what I mean.)
"It's like they're glad to see pirates," Usopp remarked, eye twitching. "What's wrong with these people!?"
"Welcome to the Grand Line!" the villagers cheered. They were all dressed in something different from the others, and it was mostly bright, summery colors that made me feel like I was staring at a rainbow. I didn't spot a single emo in the whole group. As I watched, they waved colorful flags and threw streamers all over the place. Some people even played happy tunes on various instruments. I raised an eyebrow. One of the villagers strangely resembled Tatsuki from Bleach. "Welcome to our town, the town of celebration—Whiskey Peak!"
Lucy broke out in a rubbery grin. "Town of celebration, eh? Sounds like my kinda place!"
Sanji was flabbergasted. "What the hell's going on?"
"Beats me," I replied in a small voice, the irony of the situation momentarily driving all other coherent thoughts away from me.
"WELCOME! Long live the heroes of the sea! Banzai!"
Sanji suddenly face-faulted and his eyes turned to hearts. "Oh! There's so many cute girls!"
I regarded him distastefully and tapped Zoro. "Look at that! It's the legendary ero-cook in its natural habitat!"
The swordsman snorted in amusement.
Apparently, Usopp had already adjusted to our current situation, because he was leaning over the railing of the Merry and blowing kisses to the shore, quipping, "Well, whaddya know? Pirates really are heroes to everyone, aren't they?"
"They're not," I deadpanned.
"Oi!" Lucy called to the crowd.
Nami was busy picking her jaw off of the floor. "These people must be insane!" she muttered.
Because it seemed fairly safe enough, we decided to dock at the harbor in town and we all got off. I had that momentary sense of dizziness I always did whenever we stepped onto land (I was still getting used to landlubber's feet), but it passed as a large man in a navy suit stepped forward. He had huge, blonde, curly hair and he looked like a cross-dresser. He carried something like a tuba or a saxophone or whatever. I'd never been a very musically talented person (singing not included) and I had a hard time distinguishing one instrument from another. Hey, I can't do everything right, ya know!
"Welco—" he began, but suddenly froze and pounded his chest. "Mah ~ Mah ~ Maaaah! Ahem. Welcome! My name is Igarappoi."
I tilted my head. "If your name irritates you, then just get a new one." (Igarappoi means irritating.)
The old man blinked. "What? Ah, no, Igarappoi's my name, not how I feel about it. Anyway, I am the mayor of this small town."
Lucy stepped forward with a simple look on her face. "Ah. I'm Lucy. Nice to meet ya." She pointed and sounded amused. "Ossan, your hair is way too curly."
"This is the town of spirit brewing and lively music," Igarappoi continued, smiling, "Whiskey Peak! We take pride in our hospitality. We have an entire ocean of spirits for your enjoyment. Would you care to join us in celebration and share stories of your adventures? We would be—" he coughed. "Mah ~ Mah ~ Maaaah! Ahem. We would be delighted to hear them."
My jaw dropped. "Spirits? You mean you guys are ghostbusters!? Cool!"
Zoro bopped me over the head with his sword. "Idiot. He meant booze."
"Oh." I blushed in embarrassment, rubbing my head.
Lucy, Sanji, and Usopp completely ignored the two of us and danced around excitedly. "You bet we would! OUR PLEASURE!"
Nami raised her eyebrow. "Oi, don't you guys think this is a bit strange?" The guys (and girl) in question completely ignored her, making her sigh in exasperation. "They're the Three Stooges!" She held up the Log Pose and pointed to it. "Say, Igarappoi, how long will it take for the Log to adapt to this island?"
The mayor raised his eyebrow and waved his hand dismissively. "Log? Let's not talk about such formal things. Take a well deserved rest from your travels, please!" He walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look at him weirdly. "Now, everyone! Prepare for a celebration! A song for our adventurous guests!"
The rest of that day was pretty damn awesome. I couldn't remember anything about the Whiskey Peak Arc at that time, though it was hovering vaguely in the back of my mind, but I didn't let that bother me. Maybe that was stupid, but hey! They were throwing a free party in our favor, without us having to do anything! After a long week of running from Marines, climbing mountains, and getting eaten by whales. I deserved a fiesta, sister!
The villagers of Whiskey Peak sure knew how to throw a party. There was a band playing a heroic tune, an eating and a drinking contest, and pretty much everything else you could imagine. Sanji was surrounded by a small harem of girls, Zoro and Nami were downing cup after cup of booze and literally wasting the competition, Lucy was eating so much that she knocked the cooks unconscious, and Usopp and I were recounting our adventures to the villagers.
Usopp was in the middle of his own exaggeration. "And then I said, 'Even if you are Sea Kings, you ain't gonna lay a finger on my nakama!'"
"Oi!" I called over to him, grinning cheerfully. "I was the one who pulled that zebra reject's nose hair and made him sneeze us out of there!"
"Well, that may be true," he admitted, "but when we entered the Calm Belt, even I was shivering... shivering with excitement , that is!"
"Captain Usopp-san and fellow pirate Yuril-chan!" the men gasped, looking at us with star filled eyes. "You two are so awesome! Can we have your autograph!?"
I smirked. "Don't mind if I do!" I pulled out a pen from nowhere and signed my name on some paper, then handed it to them. Usopp did the same, grinning and laughing like a maniac.
Over near the band, Igarappoi chuckled. "Well, this certainly is—Mah ~ Mah ~ Maaaah! Ahem. This certainly is a wonderful night! There's nothing better to see than everyone enjoying themselves."
Finally, close to two hours later, the party was finally winding down. I checked my iPod and realized with surprise that it was way past midnight!
Zoro had passed out a few tankards of beer ago, and Nami slammed her mug on the table and promptly fell over, having won the Kanpai Contest. Lucy was finally collapsing from overeating, her belly so full that her shirt was just barely hanging off her. Seeing this, my face flushed deep red and I passed out with a small nosebleed. Oi, can you blame me? Her huge fun bags were almost totally unsheathed for all the world to enjoy!
And so it was that I missed out on fighting the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak.