Zapdos

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones actually was surprised when Siobhan paid for her food. He expected to have to negotiate payment for her food. And when his captain left, he took her advice did as well. He was going to do that anyway, but that added an incentive to do so. The doctor had already paid, so it wasn’t like there was anything he needed to do.

When they were far enough away from the tavern, Jones asked “where would you like to go?” They were now in the center of town, so they could see different stores in different directions. The doctor knew what he needed to buy, but he didn’t know what Siobhan wanted.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

“Thanks anyway,” Jones said to the old woman before listening to Siobhan. He was a little disappointed, but it would've been kind of surprising if the first person he asked had the information he was looking for.

“It’s okay, it was worth a shot,” the doctor said as he finished his rum. “I suppose I could buy some medical supplies. Know any good places to shop around here?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

“Ma’am, I appreciate your concern, but the decision isn’t mine to make. I’m just the doctor. My captain is the type of person who doesn’t change her mind easily, so it’s easier to go along with whatever she wants to do, however crazy it may be,” Jones politely said with a smile, raising his glass and having another drink of his rum.

“Now you said her father was kicked out of town? Do you know where he went?” Jones had to imagine that Taimi would be near where her father was, or if not, someone who knew where she went would be.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones could tell that the old woman was suspicious of him. That meant that there was some information worth getting, but since this island paid Blackwell’s “tax,” there was a possibility that the woman was connected to the Marquis somehow. The doctor would have to be careful as he could, although he wasn’t going to lie about it. It’s not like he expected Siobhan to be subtle, so the reverse probably applied as well.

“Oh, I was just asking for my captain since she’s busy inhaling food right now,” Jones said with a smile. “She wants her to be the shipwright in her crew, you see. As you can probably tell, the person who is probably your best customer all year isn’t the most conventional person,” the doctor said with a purposeful pause to glance at the pile of plates, “but she has her goals. So I just try to help out when I can,” Jones concluded. He then took another drink of his rum in case things went poorly. No sense in being wasteful, after all.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones smiled when he got his drink, saying “thank you.” He took a sip, savoring the flavor of the rum. It reminded him of home. One drink was usually all he needed, and besides, the doctor wanted to stay alert in case it was needed. He wasn’t sure what his captain was thinking about besides food, so he wanted to be alert in case she wasn’t.

As he looked around while sipping his rum, Jones saw Eadgar joining a rough group of pirates playing Poker. Gambling was never a good way to make money, Jones thought. Then again the swordsman’s record for rational thinking was rather low, so this wasn’t anything new, really.

-----

Siobhan seemed to be okay for now, so when the old lady came back with his captain’s food, he asked her “excuse me ma’am, would you know anything about someone named Taimi Taitale?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones watched with amusement as Eadgar threw a hissy fit about the makeshift bonnet, then was surprised when the swordsman complemented him. That was a first.

He was more concerned when Siobhan stated she didn’t have any money to pay for food...and then proceeded to make a huge scene. This wasn’t some small place in West Blue; the doctor was certain that people here have tried and failed at running out on their bill before, so this could potentially be bad. Maybe they could sell the fishing trawler or some of the leftover supplies from their trip to Coverie to pay for his captain’s food.

Sitting next to Siobhan to hopefully defuse any bad situations that came up, Jones asked the bartender “ma’am, could I get a glass of East Blue rum please?” He set out enough Beli to pay for it, plus a little tip. Hopefully this would calm the woman down a bit. While the doctor would be happy to pay his own way, he would not bankrupt himself feeding his captain.

That was not a precedent he wanted to start.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones smiled at his captain’s response, then grinned when he saw Eadgar’s new headgear. He didn’t really feel like talking to the guy, but at least he looked more like how he acted now. “Sounds good to me, Siobhan,” the doctor said, “I’m sure we can find some place good.” He then looked around, trying to find a tavern. Maybe one with a lot of people in it as well; the more people that were there, the more likely it would be that someone would have a lead on Taimi.

Jones then saw a busy tavern near the center of town, the Cathymnia Central Tavern. Very appropriate name. He then pointed to it, asking “how about that one?”

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

It had been a slower voyage than the last one. The addition of the swordsman had made the trip less pleasant than it needed to be, but Jones had kept to himself more after his first interaction with Eadgar to try and minimize any annoyances. At least it had been a productive week; the doctor had learned about and made more poisons than the one dose he had made during the conflict with Bluewell.

In any case, Jones was happy to be on land. It was one step closer to finding who he hoped was a more reasonable crewmate and it was nice to be someplace new. The doctor didn’t really know where to go to find Taimi, so he would just follow his captain’s lead for now.

“I’m sure you must be hungry, Siobhan, but you don’t need to eat the buildings. I’m sure they have plenty of food in the taverns as well,” Jones joked as he walked with his captain to whichever place they were going to.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones was now seriously angry. Did this guy really just say that people with medical knowledge have no value in combat? The doctor had gotten used to Eadgar’s general ignorance, but that was just insulting on a new level. Jones knew that even if he wasn’t a fighter, he had saved lives on the battlefield.

Galen knew that Siobhan was sincere and he still thought that she would become the Pirate King, but this was starting to remind him of the other pirate crews he had been with. Cooperation that only happened based on what the captain said and a lack of comradery in general. The doctor knew that no place was perfect and that Blackwell needed to be taken down, but he was wondering if he had made a mistake in joining this crew in the first place. Jones would just wait and see what happened up until the end of Blackwell, then make his choice.

He didn’t say any of this though. Jones just took a deep breath and politely said “thank you, captain. Maybe later.” He then went to a different part of the small ship, took out the book he had been reading earlier, and continued from where he had left off.

One Piece: The Blackfin Chronicles

Jones did not understand what was so impractical about teamwork and planning. He really wondered if Eadgar had taken too many hits to the head with his sword or something. “It’s not about looking at a piece of paper in the heat of battle, it’s about using teamwork to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I can’t fight very well, but Siobhan can. I know more about medicine than she does, and so on. I don’t care as much about the paper as much as knowing what she can do for the sake of working together.”

He did understand his captain’s point about fate though, even if he didn’t necessarily believe in fate himself. What Jones knew he believed in, however, was Siobhan’s gut. Even though the swordsman seemed a little dumb right now, the woman had managed to successfully defeat both Redwell and Bluewell.

The doctor nodded at Siobhan. “Right. That’s why I’m here,” Jones said with a smile.