Chapter Text
Heart Pirates Week: Day 1: Jean Bart: Scars
The wooden deck of the Polar Tang wasn't that practical. Even submersibles needed some protection under the Red Line, and Silvers Rayleigh's coating lasted into the New World but a few pale gouges still scarred the grain.
Jean Bart hadn't been free for long when Law ordered them all to Marineford in the heat and heart of the Summit War, so when the crackle of ice converged on the Polar Tang as they fled the navy, rocking the whole of the submerging vessel, his weight and will at the front of the sub added extra mass to the extreme dive he attempted.
Helmsmen were usually the last on board and the lowest ranked and he acted without orders but acted with a captain and survivor's intuition. Straw Hat Luffy and Shichibukai Jinbei's surgeries proceeded above him, and the crew later filled him in on how steady Law was on his feet, in all situations, but especially against the twists and turns of the sub. They were not nimble vessels and Bepo had no balance at all. Strange, for a martial arts master.
Jean Bart loosened his grip on the steering wheel and the crew rested for a nano-second before some type of lightning replaced ice, cutting up the deck, even under water, and the Hearts prayed that the tinkle of glass was drinkware or light shades cracking because there were very few places it was safe to take on water at that depth. Law, scalpel in hand, eyes on his patient, ordered Jean Bart to increase speed and stay on course, thus validating the ex-captain's decision and exonerating him of all blame.