It didn't take long for Ceres to figure out what was going on, when Octavius kept coming up with orders she had to pass to the rest of the crew. He was probably testing her or something. Or trying to make her life hard. But he was greatly underestimating her. Even before she had eaten the devil fruit she could already have been counted as a top sailor. Having been on two previous ships, a marine and a pirate one, she had plenty of experience to deal with these kinds of things. And, determined to show her capabilities, she relayed all orders without problems. Though she was smart enough to not go at full volume any more, instead keeping it to a level where the ones closest to her could hear, and adding that everyone was to relay orders to the ones further away. Everything had gone smoothly, the ship soon sailing out of the harbour at half speed, and going full speed in East-North East direction once they hit the open ocean. Ceres felt confident about her abilities to direct a ship's crew. It wasn't really that different from directing the staff in a kitchen. The tasks were just different. But she knew full well that this crew was currently only here because of the captain. First impressions were important when you didn't have a name, and her appearance made that one quite hard. Though then again, maybe it was reasoning like that that once again got her into a situation where she was part of someone else's crew. Life had always been funny like that. Now that it was easy sailing for a bit Ceres decided to tease Octavius once again. It was funny how easy it was to get to him, so it was hard to resist. So the next time he came to give her another order or something similar she had something to ask. "Captain, question. Are you sure this is okay? You've spent close to a year in prison, then during our escape I was the one steering the ship. And now once again, when you have your own ship to command, you tell me to do so for you. If you want I can just take over as captain, you know~"

Octavius had to say, he was impressed when Ceres quickly figured out his game and changed the rules to suit her better. He couldn't exactly override her at this point, so he said nothing. His first mate had a decent handle on the ship, it seemed, though he got the impression that such a handle might disappear if he was no longer at the helm. Of course, that idea hadn't occurred to the woman. Or if it had, she didn't seem to care. Her next suggestion was certainly a wild one. They'd been sailing for a bit, and once things were looking fairly steady, Ceres had the balls to suggest that she could take over as captain. Captain Cuttlam would have none of that. "That sounds like mutiny..." he whispered, ever-so-gently racking the slide on his shotgun. "Putting down a mutiny could be fun right about now... I've always wondered if water can drown..." he seemed entirely serious, almost eager. A strange look took over his eyes as well, almost like there was something else inside of him, something with a love of battle that bordered on the insane. "Go ahead, Ceres. Take over as captain, I dare you..." he invited, wheeling slowly on the woman. He looked perfectly relaxed. But anyone with any sense would see the coiled springs inside his muscles. He was fully prepared to spring into action at any second. The warlord was pretty sure that his companion just liked getting on his nerves. As much as he appreciated her luck, he was getting awfully tired of her treading all over his buttons. Of course, short of giving up his ego, there was little in the way of options as far as levelling things out went. He was used to being the greatest, but it looked to him like he'd been long-forgotten, and time it was taking for him to get back on top was maddening. His mind was tearing itself apart with his desire to be the king again. And of course, he was more than happy to drag anyone and everyone down with him, just for the chance to get another taste of being the very best. Thoughts of failure were even more destructive, and the pirate would not have been surprised if he was crazier now, than he had ever been while actually ruling the seas. He wanted desperately to hurt someone, to break something, to have some effect on this psychotically uncaring world. It would seem that Ceres had triggered some unwarranted explosion within the monster that was their captain. He was very much looking forward to encountering the Powder Keg...

Ceres smirked at her captain's reply. Her old self would have been scared, but as she was now he had no way to hurt her, or even grab her if she didn't allow him. That being said, being splattered into a million tiny droplets would be a pain too. "Heh, learn to take a joke. I decided to be on someone else's crew on my own so I know my position perfectly well. However, if you want to unload that shotgun at me, go ahead. It can't hit me. Heck, if you have any pent up rage swing away if that makes you feel better. Just don't double-cross me. I'll keep my end of the deal if you do too." They had shaken hands on it, after all. Something that was apparently oh so important to the man. The first hour was uneventful, but then finally at least something happened. The man in the crow's nest called down to the captain, pointing to the ship's left side. "Cap'n, ship ahoy! Small cargo ship! 'Bout a mile!" Several of the crew members looked into the direction, and then turned to their captain. They were all feeling a little excited. This was the first chance to truly start making a name for themselves, in their minds. If they raided the ship and didn't kill all of the crew rumours were sure to quickly spread that the Shotgun Preacher had returned. Though Octavius would have to be the one making such decisions. "Go on or get 'em, captain?"

Octavius remained silent, ignoring the first mate's threats. He didn't need to be reminded of their deal. He was holding up his end just fine, so far. He wondered if that was going to change. He couldn't say he was a fan of Ceres' sense of humour, but he had put up with worse, for less. She just liked getting to him. He knew it. That didn't make it any easier to ignore her jabs, though. Maybe she would get blown up when the Powder Keg exploded. Maybe. He didn't hold out hope, though. Instead, he focused on his own goals. He was going to be the best. Ceres be damned, he was going to be the king of pirates once more, if it killed him. He knew it would eventually, but that was fine, he would go out on top. But having an idea was a far cry from actually doing something, so when someone spotted a cargo ship far closer than they should have let it get, he decided he would see what luck had to say about him today. "Turn, full speed ahead. Pull the cannons in, and prepare to ram them head-on." he said to Ceres. Feeling particularly unmerciful, the warlord was hoping the slaughter of a few innocent people would help level him out. In a worst case scenario, he supposed he wouldn't have to worry about his mental stability. "Who wants to live forever, anyway, right?" he asked the air, heading to the bow of the ship. His shotgun was loaded, and they made a perfect pair, he and his scattergat. "I'm thinking we leave one lifeboat, with one person in it. But only if they get the lifeboat out, before we back our ship out of the hole." he said casually to the nearest crewman as he approached the bow. "What do you say?" he asked with a sick grin. It would be a bit of a task, pulling their ship back out of the hole, but certainly not impossible, and not a task that should take terribly long, either, with the right motivation. He supposed it depended on how the other crew reacted...

"We're ramming it huh?" Ceres mused with a slight grin. "Feels like a bit of a waste to damage this ship already, but ah well." The crew was quick to agree as well. They had the Shotgun Preacher with demon powers, an Albatross with magic water powers, and the master swordsman Ace on their side after all. Not to mention all the booze they could drink the evening before, and their ship was a bit larger than the other one. How could they not have high morale? So with a unanimous cheer the crew all got to work on fastening the cannons, turning the ship, and preparing to ram the other ship. AS they got closer, everyone could soon see it with the naked eye. A small trade cog. They were usually used to transport spices, fish, or cloth. And rarely gunpowder, cannon balls, or weapons. Though this one didn't look like a ship from the navy. So the latter two were unlikely. "Say captain." Ceres spoke as they were quickly approaching the Cog. "Having me steer the ship is great and all, but I'm a cook. And I thought you always steered your own ships. Or were the rumours wrong?" Not that she had planned to do anything different. She would also have let her first mate take care of steering. Would probably be a funny sight, thinking about it. The captain that's cooking for the crew and the first mate steering the ship.

Octavius was eager now, brimming with bloodlust. He didn't care what happened to either ship, he just want to kill some people. It would make him feel better about the way his life was going. He wasn't aware of exactly what he was getting into until it was visible from the bow, but at that point, it would have been too late, had his decision been ridiculous. As it was, unless the other ship met them head-on it was surely doomed. It was only mostly doomed if it managed to meet the pirates bow-first. Either way, no one would be leaving the ship alive unless they got the life boats well away before the carnage started. Luckily for the enterprising cowards aboard the freighter, they were already deploying their escape vessels. Of course, his first mate saw fit to interrupt his fantasizing with questions about him steering his own ship. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Go... fuck, yourself?" he asked in response, not sure what she wanted out of him. He was trying to de-stress at the moment, he didn't have time to be bothered with things like steering. "Are you asking a pertinent question, or just filling the air around my ears with sound to distract me?" he asked as a follow-up to his first inquiry. "I'm clearly trying to work on my stress-management skills right now. Steering is only going to get me riled up. You won't like me when I'm riled up." he sneered and then he started climbing up to the very furthest point forward on his ship. He hung onto a rope with one hand, and aimed his shotgun with the other. The ships were approaching one another rapidly now, with the merchant vessel now trying to turn and shield the life boats from the piratical onslaught. Such an act was noble, but those remaining behind were going to die horribly, despite their good intentions. Hopefully they believed in some higher plane of existence where the noble of heart could go to upon death, for otherwise their fate would be one most terrible...

"Oh god, I'm so sorry that I'm not an expert on how you think." She spoke, the tone dripping with sarcasm. "Or did you expect me to be some mindless drone, just doing as she was ordered without thinking for herself?" She smirked, shaking her head a little. But she left it at that, leaving the captain to his stress relieving. At least it was clear now that he was making her steer because he was actually busy with other things, not because he was just trying to get to her. "Brace for impact!" Ceres shouted just before their ship crashed into the other. She herself let go of the wheel for a moment, grabbing onto it's stand instead. As an impact like this could send you flying forwards if you braced yourself half-heartedly. And it wasn't as if any course corrections would still make a difference by now. First came a loud bang, together with the ship going from around 40 knots to 10 in less than half a second. Following that, the creaking and breaking started. At first both sides gave way, the Albatross having several planks and beams at the front broken or damaged. But then the other ship's hull tore open, giving way for the Albatross. Immediately one of the sailors aboard the smaller ship fell off during the impact. The other seven that hadn't fled in the row boat were still standing though. "All yours cap'n!" Ceres shouted as she regained her composure, deciding to sit this one out. It wasn't like Octavius needed her help with a ship so small after all.

Octavius laughed as his first mate shouted about bracing for impact. He was very prepared for the crush of two ships rocketing into one another, and the captain was barely phased as the two vessels collided. He stepped nimbly from one ship to the next, scattergun in hand, and a sickening grin splitting his face. The Duchess Gambit smashed viciously into the merchant freighter. First, the poor mermaid that the warlord had shared drinks with was crushed between the two sea-faring craft, but once she was smashed to splinters and matchsticks, the merchant's hull followed suit, giving in easily to the larger ship as it shoved its way through the doomed ship as unceremoniously as possible. By the time the words that Cere's bellowed had reached his ears, they were being drowned out by shotgun fire as Captain Cuttlam did his thing. His opponents had begun to scatter as soon as they could move safely, without risk of being tossed overboard. Their companion who had not listened to such advice was now in the drink, and would likely remain there for the remainder of his life. For the rest of them, there was an angry pirate to fight. He fired once and watched a man collapse, his chest torn up by lead shot. He fired again, and watched another man's arm bones turned to powder as he tried to escape the assault. His dive only resulted in a slower death for the poor bastard. The next man in line survived for a precious few seconds more, as the third round in Octavius' shotgun refused to fire. He racked the slide and chambered another shell. This one fired nicely, and the spread of shot took out a running man at the knees. The four healthy sailors that remained were scrambling for defences, and one of them appeared to be successful. Unfortunately for the freighter's crew, success was measured on a scale, and on this scale, even success meant failure in the face of the pirate lord with a host of insecurities. When one of the sailors produced what appeared to be a brace of single-shot pistols strapped to a rail and fired the whole volley with the pull of a string, their assailant reacted faster than any of them could have imagined. His left arm exploded, showering everyone nearby, including the shooter, in gore. However they quickly realized this was not a result of the shots being fired at the captain, mostly because the triggers were still being pulled at this point. His shotgun had disappeared when his arm exploded, but in the same instant, a massive canine head, attached to a seemingly endless neck had replaced the original appendage that protruded from his arm. It curled around in front of the pistols and soaked up the gunshots as if they were not potentially lethal wounds. From there, the monstrous protuberance whipped around, back toward the shooter. Continuing to grow, it bit the man in half without effort. When its maw reopened, however, the sailors that dared to look would not see any normal mouth. Instead, Octavius' arm protruded from what should have been a cavernous, slavering pit of terror and death. Clutched in the hand on the end of that arm, was a shotgun, and he pulled the trigger as easily as if he'd been holding it properly. Another life was extinguished violently, blood soaking everything nearby. At this point, Captain Cuttlam began to chuckle. He whipped his canine "arm" about and knocked any remaining sailors he could see into the drink, before his laughter erupted in full force. He was truly a psychotic sight to see. Even as his fellow pirates joined him on the deck of the fallen ship, he laughed, doing little to retain command. "Loot the place. Take what you can, let the rest drown." he ordered in a brief instant of sanity, before he returned to his blood-soaked chuckles. His monstrous arm returned to its place inside him, and he set to reloading his shotgun as he headed for the deck of his own ship, wondering how long it would last. Not long if he treated it like this, but he supposed it would be luck to get out of a fight with the Powder Keg with anything intact. "Hold on, my love. You'll rest soon enough." he promised the ship beneath him as he headed for the helm. Even in a best case scenario, the Duchess Gambit wasn't going to survive their destination...

Ceres started working on getting the ship dislodged again, moving to the front of the deck. There, just as she did when they escaped from the marines, let her water go into the ocean to control it. With enough water beneath the two ships and in between them, the ship would dislodge itself soon enough. The captain seemed to be having a lot of fun, so she hoped he would feel a little better once he returned. Slaughtering random people was just so...wasteful. The ship started moving just as everyone was climbing aboard again. Perfect timing, in Ceres' mind. This was probably the fastest raid she had ever seen or heard about. As it hadn't taken them more than 5 minutes in total. And before the sailors of the other ship had properly realized what happened, the Albatross was already on it's way again. "Back on our way I take it?" The woman asked as Octavius came back to the back of the ship. Though she was already steering into the right direction again. And the sailors were all quick to head back to their posts as well. It had probably already occurred to them that slacking off under Octavius' command, with an Albatross as his first mate, would not be tolerated.

Octavius grinned as the ship started moving once more. The timing was almost perfect. They would work on that. As it was, he figured they were still going well. The survivors would head back to port and let everyone know that there was another pirate in town, and that this one meant business. The memory of a man with a furry daemon for an arm would surely terrify all involved, and maybe some would remember who the real king of pirates was. He was smiling at the thought when Ceres approached. His expression faded at the sight of her, but he didn't seem terribly upset. She just wanted to confirm that they were to continue on their way. "Aye, back on our way." he agreed, doing a circuit of the deck to see what they had pulled off the ship. Mostly supplies, it seemed. Most of the men who'd been sailors and not pirates didn't seem to agree with the idea of looting anything and everything. The pirates in the crew had been quick, however, and he thought he noted pockets hanging slightly heavier, which made him smile. He just hoped that this bunch would be tough enough to survive a few moments against their target. Rather than worry about anything, though the warlord focused on relaxing, which largely involved staying away from his first mate so she couldn't stress him out with her strange inclination toward pushing his buttons. It turned out that staying calm was a lot harder than he thought, though. The waiting was starting to get to him, and he hadn't even been waiting very long since their last exciting event. He then realized he'd never had this problem before. When he'd been the king, the waiting was fine. Every second he wasn't busy, was a second spent revelling in the power that came with being the best. Now he was stuck here waiting. He supposed he was on the path to his previous position, but it wasn't good enough. He wanted to be back there already. Instead he was stuck on a useless ship with his crew scattered to the wind. No one even knew his name...

After a while Ceres decided to have a seat herself. She kept her back against the wheel so it wouldn't turn on it's own, as she wasn't sure if this ship could lock it's rudder's position though. There was someone in the crow's nest to keep a lookout, so she'd hear it if something was up. And it was unlikely for them to encounter another ship any time soon. If you wanted to cross the entire north blue, as their part of the sea had come to be known, it would take at least a week. So she wondered where exactly the captain planned on going. And she wondered what kind of ship this Powder Keg was. Though asking Octavius wasn't an option at the moment, most likely. She annoyed him just by being there. It was quite obvious with how he acted when he came back on the ship. But that didn't matter to her. "As long as I can keep on sailing, and aren't treated like some token mascot, I'll be fine." Ceres thought to herself as she looked up at the sky. Good weather for now, with a strong wind. Almost as if she gods themselves wanted to spur them on. The day went by uneventfully. And then evening fell. The sea had become more rough, but nothing Ceres couldn't handle. Still no sight of land, of course. Most of the crew was playing a game on deck. But it would soon be time for dinner. Quite a few people to cook for, but she had the experience to do that too. So she grabbed the nearest sailor she could find and put him behind the wheel. "Keep it going straight. I doubt any of you can cook so I'm making the food." She spoke as she walked away. The sailor didn't even have time to protest. Ceres headed to the kitchen, opening the locks on her cabinets and started to collect what she needed. Cooking for so many with such poor equipment meant a simple meal. So potatoes, pork basted with rum, carrots and gravy seemed like a good way to go. It would be easy to make such a meal in quantity, so she'd have more time to focus on quality. She had her pride as a cook after all. (I figured Octavius might be in the captain's cabin at that time or something.)

Octavius found himself in his cabin at some point. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten there, but assumed some combination of the mind-destroying boredom and the rage building inside him was to blame. With that in mind, he decided, based on the amount of light filtering into his window, that now was probably a good time to see about dinner. Having given up, he supposed he could try whatever Ceres managed to cook up for the rest of the crew. In a worst case scenario, he supposed he would die. Not exactly the death he was looking for, but he supposed beggars couldn't be choosers. So, with a sigh, a shrug, and a cursory look around his room, he headed for the helm, figuring he would take over for his first mate while she cooked. Upon arrival, however, he discovered that the woman had already departed, and he chuckled. "Get out of the way." he said. His voice was quiet, almost soft. The violence it carried was still ominous however, and the sailor moved with some motivation as the captain took the wheel once more. He supposed it was a good thing that the woman was already cooking, since that would mean they got to eat sooner. He didn't like the way she had just waltzed off to get to it, though. He had told her to do this job, so the fact that she just passed it off was not exactly promising. At the same time, it was his own fault. The warlord sighed again, and wondered what he was going to do about all this. Finding his first target would make things a lot easier. With another man loyal to him on board, he'd be more comfortable. On top of that, he'd be another step closer to his goal. The next step was likely going to be harder than even surviving the Grand Line, but he supposed it would have to get done some way. He wasn't going anywhere serious without Luther and Griggs at his back. Again, Captain Cuttlam had to push such ambitions away, focusing on the task at hand before his mind tore itself apart. Out of boredom, he started steering the ship back and forth idly, sending them one way, and then another, without any clear purpose. He got a couple of strange looks from the crew down below, but they didn't question it. He gave that up after several unnecessary turns, and then waved over one of the more piratical members of his crew. "Go find me what flags we've got on board." he ordered. "I want to see what our options are. We're going to need more than idle wanderings to get to the Powder Keg..." he ordered quietly. The man headed off immediately, and that left the captain to wait patiently, wondering if they had anything entertaining that could really draw in some exciting opponents... ((bad guys show up after dinner? maybe the powder keg?))