It wasn't often that they the the Red Haired Pirates got caught in a storm this bad. The wind howled, blowing so hard it had already torn the fore topsail and part of the fore topmast as the massive waves rocked the ship back and forth, making it seem that the Red Force was nothing but a mere toy.

The whole wooden structure of her creaked under the heavy weather conditions, with Shanks believing she wouldn't be able to last any longer if the weather kept up like that. Worst of all, with the torrential rain already limiting their vision, the fog that crept towards them would not only make it worse, but could bring grave danger if they were not careful enough. The currents were strong enough to easily drive them towards shallow waters and rocks sticking out from the sea.

It was an all hands on deck situation. The crew was hoisting most of the sails up to slow them down as Beck and Roux worked hard to keep the jib in place since mere moments before the wind also damaged and bowsprit and they lost the flying jib due to that. "Keep her steady!" Shanks yelled to Building Snake, their navigator, as he rushed to the main deck to help with the sails, though was convinced the sea and wind drowned his voice.

They would need to make port. There was no way they could ride such a storm out in the middle of the open sea. He kept yelling orders, moving back and forth on deck to help where help was needed, Beck or Yasopp taking over where he couldn't. They were slowly approaching what seemed to be an uninhabited island, or at least an inhabited one without a port on the side they were approaching from.

"Drop the anchor and get the rowboats and emergency supplies ready. Go, go go!"

Shanks had finally made it to the captain's cabin, dripping wet and by that point freezing cold. "We're not able to keep her steady enough. We've already lost a few sails and the mast is damaged" he told Nami and moved to grab his coat to wrap around her. He was already wet to the bone, but at least he could make sure she would get less wet. "We'll take shelter on a nearby island. Looks uninhabited."

@taleofmuses

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his old friend and rival, no other than the greatest swordsman in the world, Dracule Mihawk. From their frequent duels that resonated all across the Grand Line to rare visits to almost non-existent ones. It was almost as if the hawk eyed swordsman completely lost interest to even seek him out, even if for old times sake.

Well, Red-Haired Shanks wasn't one to let that stand.

The Red Haired Pirates set course for Kuraigana Island. The crew craved some proper sailing and Shanks wanted to see his old friend, that way killing two birds with one stone.

The island, upon arrival, looked dreary, rather uninhabited save for the... monkeys in armor and wielding weapons. Shanks recollected Mihawk talking about his island having a natural defense system, which he assumed were those creatures.

Unwilling to fight his way through and possibly disrupting whatever Mihawk had going for him on the island, the red haired captain used Haki, effectively knocking out the Humandrills for just enough so he could walk past and make his way towards the derelict castle.

Hand reached for the door, the heavy wood causing the hinges of it to give out a rather eerie creak. Shanks could see Mihawk's appeal to live in such a place. It was remote, mysterious and slightly spooky.

"Hawkeyes!" He called out, his voice echoing through the stone entrance hall. No response. Shanks delved further, finding the place lived in. He was at the right place, he had to be. "Mihawk!"

@ghastlyhall0ws / plotted

"I had a flashback. It felt so real, like I was reliving the past."

It couldn't have been more than a few weeks since they left Conomi Island and the now leveled Arlong Park behind, Nami finally free of the terrors the fishman had put her through. Him and the crew did everything they could to make sure all remnants of that life would stay in the past, but neither Shanks or the crew could do much about memories coming back to her. Eight years of essentially slavery pretty much guaranteed that.

He was playing with Nami's hair as they both lay on the bed, a soft smile playing on his lips, fingers tucking the loose strand behind her ear.

"Hey, it's okay. He can't get to you anymore. You're safe here."

@taleofmuses

No matter how many times Luffy had managed to catch his attention with one or the other story of his adventures after Shanks and his crew left Windmill Village, Shanks' gaze would every so often travel back to the kid's navigator. While some would interpret his looks as inappropriate, the truth couldn't be further from it. In many ways, he felt as if he was staring at the image of his mother.

He didn't dare hope or get his hopes up too high, but the more he looked at the girl, the more familiar she looked. All those years he thought his baby sister to be dead, fallen victim to the great pirate raid on the island they lived on along with their parents while he was out sailing under Roger. He remembered the grief, the pain, the panic when he couldn't find her, and yet he was urged to move on, and so he did. Now, however, he had the chance, or so he hoped, to see whether his gut feeling was right or simply misleading him.

Shanks got up, promising Luffy to listen to more of his stories later, and it was enough for the kid to attach himself to Beck and the rest of the crew. He, in the meantime, made his way to the girl. "Mind if I join you?"

@taleofmuses

Thaddeus looked at Shanks for a moment and back at his mother, Kanrya, before speaking "Grandpa Shanks? Is Uncle Ben your sleeping buddy? Like how Papa was Mama or how Kitty is for Mama?". The Ship was silent as those around took in the questions, Kanrya blanched upon realizing what her son just asked while the rest of assembled pirates reacted, Thaddeus remained oblivious to why everyone reacted as they did to his simple question.

Nobody saw that question coming. The entirety of the ship fell completely silent after a plethora of rather interesting reactions.

Benn looked absolutely mortified, the lit cigarette in his mouth falling to the ground, Shanks promptly spitting out the sip of saké he had taken moments prior. Lucky Roux stopped eating, Hongo stared at the boy wide eyed before looking between the captain and his first mate, meanwhile Yasopp, Rockstar and Bonk were wheezing in the background, trying their best not to make a sound while dying from silent laughter. The rest either looked at Shanks, expecting an answer, or looked away, pretending that the sails and floorboards of the main deck were much more interesting than whatever just had happened.

Now Shanks in his day had a lot of sleeping buddies, as Thaddeus had called it, not that he needed to know that, now or ever for that matter, but Beck was most decidedly not one of them.

"I..." There weren't many things that had him reconsider his words several times before speaking. Hell, he never had such questions pop up when Luffy or Uta were Thaddeus' age, and the red hair was rather puzzled as to how to answer or even go about it.

"No. Uncle Benn's not my sleeping buddy. He's my best buddy. He'll always have my back, and I'll always have his, but we're nothing like your Mama and Papa. Or like Mama and--" Oh. There was that, too.

Grey eyes focused on Rya. "Who's Kitty?"

@ryathenaughtykitsune

@fellapart / continued

Shanks couldn't help but be a little startled by the smile, though couldn't help the chuckle either. No matter what Buggy did, he could always make him smile and laugh.

Pretending to give him a rather critical look, even tilting his head as if trying to see whether a better angle would do the trick, the red hair moved to sit next to his old friend, really close, maybe a bit closer than intended, but he wouldn't pull back either. The familiar closeness was comforting, a reminder that things were different, much nicer when they were kids.

He lifted his hand, tentatively reaching for Buggy's face. As calloused as his hand was, his touch was soft, the other's face cupped in it for a little bit, thumb moving to one corner of his lips, lifting it up just a little more before letting go and doing the same on the other side.

Shanks didn't stop there. He reached for the corners of Buggy's eyes, doing the very same. In the end, unable to help himself, he gave his nose a soft boop before pulling back and admiring what he did. Now that was a smile he remembered from when they were kids, the genuine smile he used to have.

"There. Much better."

@ryathenaughtykitsune It was hard to sneak up on Shanks, harder still to stay just out of sight of anyone in the crows nest while she followed his ship to the island where he would make camp. Harder yet was trekking across the island with a fussy toddler sucking on his pacifier furiously. She had reached Shanks camp keeping out of sight, the only one that knew she was there had been Benn who locked eyes and smiled before taking Thaddeus so she could make her 'attack'. She snuck up on the Yonko and pounced -- only to wind up eating dirt and Shanks sitting on her ass. "Aww! Come on I was close enough Old Man. Not fair with using Haki."

The rattling that came from the nearby bushes had everybody be on alert only for a few moments. With how efficient the Red Haired Pirates were in setting up camp, they were equally as efficient in making sure no threats were around. They'd deliberately chosen an island uninhabited for most part, simply because they wouldn't want to be a bother or alert the Marines to their presence, so the only real threat were wild animals - an easy meal if it really came to that.

Shanks remained seated by the fire, back turned to the surrounding trees and shrubbery, unbothered for most part, though still very much alert. The footsteps behind him didn't go unnoticed, not too loud to be one of his men, not too quiet for it to be somebody who wanted to kill him. He focused, Observation Haki allowing him to see what exactly would happen.

He really could have let her have her little moment of triumph, he really could have. But where would be the fun in that? Leg pulled against his chest and a slight adjustment in his seating position allowed for a quick dodge, a grin plastered on his face as sat down on Rya's bum to keep her in place for a little bit.

"What if you were an enemy? I'd be dead now," the red haired captain remarked as he scrambled to his feet and offered her his hand to help her up. "There's a lot you still need to learn, little fox."

He'd normally leave Beck handle whatever was happening up on deck, even when one of the crew up in the crow's nest announced a ship approaching theirs. Still, even Beck knew when to get Shanks, as was the case now. He poked his head inside the captain's cabin.

❝ You'll want to see this. ❞

Shanks, looking up from his desk, gave the older man a questioning look, to what Beck just motioned with his head towards the outside. A spyglass was handed to Red Hair as soon as he stepped out. There was a ship approaching. Not just any ship, either. Spyglass raised, the emblem on the sail and on the Jolly Roger all too familiar --- but how?

It was none other than Eustass Kid.

So the bugger somehow managed to survive their battle on Elbaf, even being thrown into the water. Shanks was well aware how this could very well end very ugly very fast for them. He didn't underestimate the threat Kid posed, far from it, in fact, though clearly he severely underestimated how stupid one could get. Sadly, you couldn't cure stupid, at least not in his experience.

The crew got into positions, specifically instructed to hold fire unless the Kid Pirates fired first. There'd be hell to pay then.

❝ Third time's the charm, isn't it? ❞ He mused as the ship came close enough he'd be within ear shot. ❝ What do you want, Kid? Came here for revenge? Or lose that other arm you have? ❞

@a-musing-mixologist ♥'d / for Kid

"Woman overboard!"

The whole crew moved to where Rockstar shouted from. Shanks looked over the railing, indeed seeing a young woman floating on the calm water not too far from the Red Force. Even though she didn't appear to be bleeding --- or had already bled out if the worst case scenario was to come --- they had to be careful. The one or the other occasional Sea King liked to traverse the waters and she could end up a meal for it.

"She might still be alive. Get a dinghy down, Hongo, you get ready to treat her."

The crew moved after the given orders, though with some hesitation. The girl, whoever she was, looked pretty dead to them. Nobody dared to contradict Shanks, though, so they got to work.

A little bit later the dinghy was pulled up and Beck stepped out of it with the girl in his arms. He promptly moved below deck with her to Hongo's medical bay, Shanks in tow, and while Beck left immediately, he stayed, watching as Hongo thoroughly examined her and treated her injuries.

"No bad injuries except for a pretty nasty head wound," Hongo informed him. "I've treated everything there was to treat. We just need to give her time now to come to."

@taleofmuses

@enjomo sent:

Ace picks up baby Shanks off the bar seat. " Nah, yer' too young ."

❝ Hey! ❞

Shanks immediately started to squirm, the sudden change catching him off guard and parting him from his well deserved ( nonalcoholic ) drink he was looking forward to all day.

❝ Oi, mister! Put me back on the seat! ❞ There were a few rather spectacular failed attempts at taking a swing at him and trying to kick him. ❝ Put me back! ❞

They'd been at it for a while now, playing poker, drinking and just spending some time together. While Shanks had yet to get to know Ace properly, the fact that he was Luffy's older brother was reason enough to treat the young man like family. Gambling and drinking seemed like a good way to go about that.

He struggled with cards. Playing with one hand was less than ideal, but he managed, somehow. He also somehow still managed to lose more rounds than he dared count. Was it just do to the fact that he was shit at poker or because it was easier to glance at his cards, he didn't know, or didn't particularly care. He had fun.

"All in," he said as he pushed the pile of Berry he had in front of him, confident that he would win this round. Maybe if he managed to distract Ace a little bit as well, he could tip the odds in his favour.

"Say, how come I only ever met Luffy and not you when we were in Foosha Village?"

@enjomo ♥'d

There were rare instances when Shanks went out of his way to talk to other Emperors. The usual gist of things was that they were doing their thing while he was doing his, namely looking after his territory and making sure that the people were happy. Whitebeard was an exception to that rule, and with how the tides were turning, the dawn of a new age nearing, it seemed like a good idea to play Kaidou a visit as well. He'd rather have the Emperors as allies rather than enemies when the time came to pick sides.

Shanks' forte was his charisma, he knew as much as used it to his advantage whenever possible. Another thing he believed in was that gifts tended to play into his hand.

This time it would be no different.

The Red Hair Pirates had made a trip to the West Blue prior to sailing towards Wano to get a hefty amount of saké. It was the best in the world in Shanks' opinion, and he wouldn't miss the opportunity to share the liquor of the sea he hailed from.

He'd lie if he claimed he didn't feel out of place. Wano was a country like no other, a whole different culture and architecture he'd love to learn more about had he not been there on pure business.

He was led in front of Kaidou, the massive bottle dragging behind him. "I appreciate you agreeing to this meeting."

@draconxs ♥'d

Marineford left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Ace, Whitebeard, his too late arrival to stop it all - so many dead. So many things had happened at once, even more things a bliss for him.

Shanks focused on what was important at the given moment, giving both Ace and Whitebeard a proper burial and commemorate them as the great pirates that they were. He couldn't even count how many were there - so many faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, united even if for a few moments.

And then there was Luffy. Word had it about injuries that were borderline fatal, which was reason enough for the red haired pirate captain to spend countless sleepless nights up on deck, wondering if he could have made a difference had they shown up on time, maybe even able to prevent it from happening altogether. Surely he'd hear by now if Luffy had succumbed to his injuries.

The worry for the boy had the Yonko have a change of heart. Beck was his eyes and ears, and it only took a few stops at various ports to have a semblance of an idea of what happened to Luffy. Rather than head back to their base island, the Red Hair Pirates sailed out to find the pirate surgeon who had very likely saved Luffy's life, for a very simple reason - to thank him.

As it turned out, tracking down a submarine wasn't exactly easy, and it took them several weeks before they finally made port at the same coastal town as the Heart Pirates.

Shanks moved down the gangway and headed towards where several crew members of the Heart Pirates were gathered by the submarine.

"I'd like to speak to your captain."

@sarcasticmercy ♥'d

"Buggy!"

The grin on Shanks' face couldn't have been bigger. They hadn't seen each other since Marineford, since he had pulled a prank on him for old time's sake.

Things had changed considerably ever since. Buggy, like Luffy, was a Yonko now, apparently the leader of the Cross Guild now should he go by the posters scattered all around, along with with Mihawk and Crocodile. The combination of those three alone had raised several questions, with hopefully his answer standing right in front of him.

As ill as Buggy may have thought of him, Shanks had always considered him a friend and their banter being just that, no matter how much Buggy took offense in it. That being said, he'd never miss a beat to have a few rounds of drinks with friends and catch up on. Luckily for him, he had his ways of persuading people to join him in a drink or two - or ten.

The red-haired pirate captain strolled on over, arm flung around Buggy's shoulders. "What brings you to these parts?"

@fellapart ♥'d

He knew better than traverse the territory of another Emperor, especially if said Emperor happened to be Kaido. Wano Country was very much forbidden territory, not because he was told so but because he set that boundary himself. Knowing the King of Beasts, Red Haired Shanks could only assume and imagine what would transpire if word reached Kaido. It was a risk he was unwilling to take. Emperor going against Emperor in the times they were in at that point could be fatal and fate changing as well.

Unfortunately for him and the rest of the Red Hair Pirates, they were running low on supplies, and the only and closest port they had was an island just outside Wano Country territory. Even though that was a risk itself, they really had no other choice.

Advising his crew to be careful and try to be as inconspicuous as possible, the red haired pirate captain made his way through the marketplace and into one of the bars. His plan not to stick out like a sore thumb hadn't really come to fruition as the rest of the patrons wore traditional Wano robes, though they didn't pay him much mind --- yet.

Grey eyes found somebody else that stuck out, and it didn't take him too much guessing who she owed her allegiance to.

❝ You don't happen to be part of the Beast Pirates, do you? ❞

The question was more whispered than spoken, the redhead still weary of unwanted attention.

@shinuchi-ulti ♥'d

[TREATS] The sender skillfully treats each injury, showcasing their competence in basic first aid.

*hands him a bottle of rum* "Here drink this, you've dislocated your shoulder. I'll have to reset it."

"Don't want you losing both of your arms."

(for Shanks)

Drinking the given rum would have been somewhat easier if he was able to move his arm up enough to bring the bottle to his lips. Alas, with one arm gone and the other now dislocated, he was rather incapacitated in the worst way possible. Not to mention, the shoulder, upon giving it a glance, looked pretty bad.

With Hongo nowhere around at the given time, there was only so much he could do, which, frankly, wasn't all that much but to give himself in Lola's trusting arms, hoping she would manage to fix his arm so it was at least somewhat useful.

"Can't really drink the rum now. After you move the shoulder back in it's place, well... it'll come in handy. Mind giving me something to bite down on?" The redhead didn't really fancy making too much noise and alerting their pursuers of their location.

@marriageproposallola / After-Action Patch-Up starters