Chapter Text
Robin was tired.
Being physically tired wasn't a novelty, she'd had to provide for herself while on the run for the last ten years; emotional tiredness was even more familiar due to the copious amounts of tears she had shed since then; she even remembered being mentally tired when she used to study too much in the Tree of Knowledge.
Since entering the Grand Line, she had only managed to get more tired everyday in all three ways.
It had been just shy of two months since Robin had met the crew that she had traversed Reverse Mountain with.
She had boarded their ship on the last island in West Blue before the Grand Line.
Bowler Hat Island was full of pirates and other criminals so the inhabitants were people who didn't ask many questions and Robin had been there for a month. It was more than she usually allowed herself to stay in one place but people barely noticed her existence.
Even the manager of the tavern where she worked as a waitress barely remembered her face. He paid her at the end of each day and, despite the pay being scarce, Robin managed to save some Berries everyday.
One night, she was working when she heard a man boasting that his navigator knew everything about Reverse Mountain and how to enter the Grand Line safely.
Robin knew that most of the Poneglyphs were, unfortunately, in that harsh sea so she was intrigued by his claim.
She kept working while keeping an eye on him.
Robin recognised him as the captain of the Murder Pirates, an unoriginal crew of pirates whose civilian casualties had boosted their bounties and their egos.
The two other men at his table were part of the crew and had bounties slightly over 5 million Berries with only the captain getting to 15 million Berries. The numbers meant that they were a threat for most civilians but to Robin their bounties mainly signified that they were enemies of the Marines and the World Government.
After a while, they were joined by a woman who immediately stared at Robin.
It was clear she had recognized her and Robin immediately started mentally planning her escape from the island.
The woman however quickly averted her eyes and started loudly talking to the pirates.
"Captain, we are ready to depart for the Grand Line. Wanna set sail now or tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow at midday. I want the crew to be well rested for the voyage. Let's have some fun tonight!"
He raised his tankard of ale and his men cheered with him.
The navigator beamed as well.
"Speaking of fun…
Waitress, I have to navigate into the Grand Line tomorrow, wanna help me relax by giving you the best night of your life?"
"Sorry, I'm working," Robin tried to get her to back off.
Mainly because the navigator had recognized her. The woman was less than ten years older than Robin and good looking enough that she didn't mind the flirting itself.
"Come on, gorgeous! I wanna feel your slender hands on me!"
The emphasis on "hands" was a confirmation that she had recognized Robin.
However it also clearly meant that she wanted her to know. She had a plan in mind and seemed to think Robin wanted to hear it.
"Again I must apologize but I have to work."
"And are you free to talk when your shift ends?" The woman pushed.
"Depends on who's offering," Robin replied with skepticism. She didn't know who the woman was, which was odd.
She remembered the face and bounty of the navigator of the Murder Pirates and it didn't match at all.
"I'm Ginger, the newly appointed navigator of the Murder Pirates!"
The woman pretended to boast but Robin received the message clearly: 'Newly appointed means she doesn't care for the crew. Most likely that she's a spy.
From one of the mafia families? A rival pirate crew? Marines? World Government? Revolutionaries?'
Instead of those more pressing questions she asked something that would sound safer.
"What happened to the previous navigator?"
"Captain killed him when he claimed that entering the Grand Line was impossible. So he recruited me since I know how to pass Reverse Mountain," Ginger said nonchalantly.
"And why do you want to go there?" Robin wanted to judge if she could trust Ginger or not.
"Because it's where I'll have more chances to kill that damn Tenryuubito."
The hate seemed sincere and Robin had wanted to get into the Grand Line for years, so she decided to take a chance. She smiled at Ginger and she started asking questions about the Grand Line when she passed near her table while working.
At the end of her shift, Ginger was still there with most of her crew so Robin sat next to her and started flirting back a little bit.
Eventually Ginger took her hand with a "Let's go to my cabin on the ship!"
All of her crewmates hollered and some of them made crude comments on the line of "Leave something for me!"
Robin gave some fake giggles to that but, if they tried something, she wouldn't guarantee their survival.
As soon as they got out, Robin led Ginger to the back of the tavern where they could talk more privately.
She crossed her arms and hands appeared on Ginger's body, ready to incapacitate her.
"What do you really want from me?" She went straight to the point.
Ginger watched the hands holding her with fascination.
"I want to see what those hands can do," she replied while winking.
Robin briefly tightened the hold on her throat as a warning.
As soon as she was able to speak, Ginger joked: "Let's leave the choking for later.
I've got friends waiting for me on the other side. I covered their escape while they were fleeing from a bunch of Marines.
They are waiting for me on the first island."
"Who are those friends? How can you be sure they are still there?" Robin glossed over the comment about choking.
"Me and a bunch of like minded people wanted to get in contact with the Revolutionary Army. They said they will wait for a week before moving," Ginger didn't seem to be concerned about being at Robin's mercy.
"And what does it have to do with me?"
"None of us would mind if you wanted to join us while we try to get to the RA but the main reason I wanted to talk with you is that your Devil Fruit would be amazing to help a ship through Reverse Mountain and into the Grand Line.
It's a narrow canal with strong currents going first up the mountain then down. Most ships crash into the hard rocks of the Red Line at the sides.
I can navigate through it but having your powers as an assurance would make it much safer."
The explanation was in line with what Robin knew but it didn't explain why Ginger thought she would accept.
"What's in it for me?"
"I know that the government lied when they issued your first bounty at the age of 8. I had a relative in Ohara so I know you are from there, the island the Government tried to erase.
Helping you would be a big fat "fuck you" to the World Government and I think you are looking for something in the Grand Line."
When Robin didn't reply, Ginger smiled and added, "I'll even give you my log pose to sweeten the deal."
"Say I accept, how will you explain my presence to them?" Robin was trying to be thorough. She was trying to find a reason to not trust the woman.
"I'll say I found out about your powers tonight and I thought they could be used also for navigating."
Robin was still wary of the woman's hidden motivations.
"And how do you plan to get away from the Murder Pirates without getting, you know, murdered?"
Ginger grinned. "The plan was to throw half of them out of the ship while crossing Reverse Mountain pretending it was an accident and then flee while they were recuperating. If you can help steer the boat I'll probably go for more than half."
"What if they find you and they retaliate?" Robin needled her.
"I can handle a bunch of chumps like them and I'm sure you can too," Ginger was sure of herself.
'Now I get it! I'll be the first suspect when people start dropping. She wants to use me as a scapegoat!' Robin thought to herself, glad to have solved that particular mystery.
Having understood what she was actually going to be used for, Robin finally conceded.
"Letting them make some jokes about how we used them tonight could be useful to divert attention.
Let's go to the ship so you can speak from experience."
With a wink, Robin let the hands disappear in a shower of petals and Ginger beamed before leading Robin to the map room on the ship.
When midday came, Robin pretended to wake up after the pirates had already set sail; she hadn't slept a minute.
She walked out of the room when they were already at the foot of the mountain.
"Ginger!" The captain bellowed, "We won't turn the ship to let your conquest back on the island!"
"Don't worry captain! We'll leave her on the first island. Her powers can be useful for navigating too."
Robin conjured a couple of hands near one of the ropes next to the captain and she used them to wave.
Half of the crew laughed and asked her to show them her powers privately, however, the first mate clearly recognized Robin by her Devil Fruit and he gained a glint of greed in his eyes.
"Now's not the time! We need all hands on deck. She'll show you later if you are nice enough!" Ginger said before starting to give out orders.
Robin immediately sprouted a bunch of hands on both sides of the entrance to Reverse Mountain but they were fortunately unneeded.
Between the speed, the wind, and the fact that they were somehow sailing up a mountain, the whole trip would have been exhilarating for anyone.
However, Robin's attention was briefly caught by the structures adorning the waterway that was taking them up Reverse Mountain. They were a series of flat arches made of stone that Robin would have loved to study.
Alas, she didn't have the time to enjoy it. She was focused on balancing the amount of hands she was sprouting to save some of her stamina while at the same time using them to push away the ship from the sides of Reverse Mountain and to help Ginger with the sails.
Like Ginger had already told her, she was starting to slowly push people off the ship. The crew was down to a dozen members when they reached the mountaintop.
As soon as the ship started going down, Robin started hearing deep sounds she couldn't recognise, then, when she saw something that at first she mistook for another mountain, she understood: an adult Island Whale was bellowing at the Red Line not too far from the end of the channel.
However, before she could marvel at the creature, gravity took hold of them and they started dropping faster towards the Grand Line and towards an edge of the mountain.
With incredible strain, Robin managed to create enough hands to prevent the ship from crashing into the mountain.
She was near the end of her energy but she knew that she would have to endure for a while more.
Exactly as she had predicted, the Murder Pirates discovered that Ginger was trying to push people off the ship. A fight broke out in the middle of their entry into the Grand Line and, before they could turn on her too, Robin took the opportunity that was presented to her to make her escape by jumping into a lifeboat.
She trusted Ginger as far as she could throw her but they had spent a good night together, so Robin decided to lend her a hand while escaping.
She used her powers to break both the rudder and the helm of their ship to prevent the Murder Pirates from following either herself or Ginger. She then threw the wheel at the vice captain while killing the captain with his own sword.
Somehow poetically, when she murdered their captain was the last time Robin saw the Murder Pirates.
She saw a ship that was probably waiting for Ginger but Robin didn't want to follow the other woman.
The lifeboat she had stolen from them wasn't made to survive long on the Grand Line, so she decided to hide in one of the nooks of the Twin Capes.
Ginger made no effort to find her and immediately jumped on the new ship that quickly took off its anchor, after finishing off the rest of the pirates.
It was what Robin wanted and they both knew it.
They had used each other to get where they wanted and Robin knew that the world only worked that way for her. However, in that moment she twitched as Saul's words resonated in her mind "Someday you'll find friends who will protect you! No one is born into this world completely alone!"
Robin shook her head to dispel the memory as she watched the ship disappear into the horizon.
She didn't have to wait long before another crew came into the Grand Line. This time it wasn't someone she recognized but she couldn't waste the opportunity so she hid in their ship as they were leaving the Twin Capes.
She quickly found out that they were a disorganized bunch of ragtags that had somehow ended up on the same ship sailing from the South Blue into the Grand Line.
They were technically following a captain but the man had little to no leadership skills.
They only discovered her on the second day of travel, not long after they had spotted land. They were too excited about it to really care about punishing her, so they decided to drop her off at the island.
Robin was glad she didn't have to fight. She didn't think they would have been a real threat for her but fighting them would catch unwanted attention.
There was a bustling port city and, apparently, authorities didn't care about pirates as long as they minded their own business.
Robin immediately left to look for some clues about the Poneglyphs. She was sure it wasn't going to be easy but hardships didn't discourage her from pursuing the Truth.
However, the island seemed to promise a good start when she found a public library. She had never found one of those in West Blue.
They were all under the rule of one mafia family or the other. One of the reasons why she had joined a couple of them.
However, the only historical books in the library seemed to be well known World Government approved propaganda.
She had barely started looking into the mythological section that could sometimes hide tales with a grain of truth in them, when she saw some Marines enter the building.
Hiding behind a bookshelf, she sprouted an ear to hear what they were going to say to the librarian.
"A dangerous individual has been spotted on this island. Report any sightings to the authorities."
They then proceeded to give a description of her, down to the clothes she was wearing.
It meant that either Ginger or someone on the other ship had tattled.
Probably the latter, since Ginger and her friends didn't know which island she had landed on.
Luckily the librarian had not seen her enter the building but Robin immediately looked for escape routes.
When the Marines exited the building and the librarian turned to some books on the other side of the room, Robin quickly made her escape.
She was never proud of stealing but she knew that sometimes it was her only choice, so, with the help of her Devil Fruit, she grabbed a set of clothing from a vendor outside before gunning for the port.
She jumped on the first fishing boat she could find and she immediately set sail following the Log Pose she had taken from Ginger.
Fortunately for her, the needle had needed only a couple of hours before finding the following island and it had finished adjusting to the magnetic field while she was in the library.
Some fishing equipment had been left on the ship, along with some cooking utensils and a barrel of fresh water, so Robin knew that she could survive for a while.
However, the theft was a massive trail, so the Marines quickly got the news and started following her.
From then, they started a game of cat and mouse that didn't leave much room for Robin to explore the islands she visited. She started hopping onto various ships and stealing small boats to get from island to island as quickly as possible.
The Marines were always on her tail but she only met them once when they started raining cannonballs onto the pirate ship she had been hidden in. Nobody had seen her, so she managed to get away unnoticed.
She didn't manage to get the name of who was in charge of following her but she did get their rank; it was a Vice Admiral that had just been promoted and wanted to catch her as their first major act in the new position.
However fresh their promotion was, Robin was too scared by remembering Kuzan's power to ever get close to a Vice Admiral. Fleeing was her best bet.
The Marines were always less than two days behind and, when an island required more time for the Log Pose to set, Robin barely slept to avoid them.
Nearly two months passed without getting any closer to her goals and Robin was getting desperate for a chance to sleep.
Her last exploit had been a big gambit that could have ended very badly. She had managed to steal an Eternal Pose from a crew of pirates with a total bounty twice hers.
She knew that the Marines had a lot of criteria for assigning prizes on people's heads (her own starting bounty had been an obvious extreme that showed their fear of information) but one of the major factors was the overall power of the person and their crew, so she hadn't felt confident enough to attack them.
Avoiding a frontal assault also had the advantage of leaving fewer traces. A wanted but still free crew wouldn't tell the Marines that they had lost an Eternal Pose.
However, stealing it hadn't been easy. Her Devil Fruit gave her a massive advantage with sleight of hand but entering a secure part of a guarded ship to get the Pose was widely different from snatching a couple of items on the go.
Robin had studied their behavior and watched their patrols attentively before attempting the theft.
She'd only had to subdue one guard on her way in and he hadn't even seen her, so they had no clue about her identity.
She didn't care about the island the Eternal Pose pointed to, so she jumped onto a fishing boat and started sailing.
Everyone knew that sailing in the Grand Line was dangerous even for experienced sailors, so Robin couldn't relax or sleep at all during the voyage.
The trip itself took less than a week and, during the whole time, she didn't spot any pursuers. She had managed to ration her water and food supply well enough to last until she set foot on the island.
Robin was so tired that, as soon as she arrived, the first thing she did was to find shelter to sleep.
She got lucky and found a cave that seemed to be a good enough protection against the weather.
After checking that it was empty with her fruit, she put down her cloak in an approximation of some bedding and she immediately started to sleep.
Robin had long since learned how to sleep with half an eye and an ear open, so she immediately woke up as soon as she heard someone walking nearby.
Judging by the sun and her own tiredness it was just a couple of hours later and not days later like her body had wished for her to sleep.
She packed her stuff and hid behind some rocks.
A voice approached the first person.
"Yo Hongo, are you done collecting herbs? Chief wants to get into East Blue as soon as possible."
"East Blue? Why?" The one who was closer, Hongo apparently, inquired.
"Dunno. Probably pissed someone off by stealing their booze and he now wants to lay low. Or he got a whiff of some Marines nearby and he's too hungover to face them."
Robin was tired and, if there actually were Marines nearby, it probably was the Vice Admiral.
'I'm not ready to sail through the Grand Line by myself yet,' she admitted to herself.
It wasn't a new realization; after two months of running for her life without a second to breathe, it had become quite evident.
Robin could see the appeal of laying low for a while and, if this crew actually had a way to get into East Blue, it would be a good way to get into the weakest Sea, where she could easily rest for a while.
"It can be anything, knowing him. A minute and I'll be done here."
Hongo was probably still gathering herbs while he replied.
Robin hadn't recognised either of the two men when she had sprouted an eye to spy on them. It was either because they were low ranking members or because the crew as a whole wasn't enough of a threat that Robin knew of them.
The allure of getting out of the mess that had been the Grand Line was strong.
'Resting in East Blue would be the best option to get the Marines off my trail.
If I wanted to get back into the Grand Line by myself, I would only need more training with my Devil Fruit and a peaceful Blue can give me the opportunity to stretch my powers.'
She decided to follow the two men to gather more information before making an actual choice. If they actually had a way to get out of the Grand Line she would hide inside their ship.
"How are we going to get into East Blue?" Robin heard the two men talking.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you weren't with us until recently. Don't worry about it; Chief will take care of the hard part while we take turns with the rows."
Robin couldn't believe her luck, they had immediately talked about it.
If push came to shove and she was found, she could even help with rowing; her Devil Fruit was amazingly helpful for navigating.
'If they are talking about rowing, they plan to go through the Calm Belt. Their Chief probably has a way to hide from the Sea Kings or to repel them. A Devil Fruit?'
She decided to take the risk.
Following them was easy. They were talking and walking at a regular pace without a care in the world.
Their ship was a standard galleon for a decently sized crew, which meant that Robin could find some hiding spots easily enough.
With the sails furled and from her vantage point, Robin couldn't see their jolly roger but she was pretty sure she wouldn't recognize it anyway, so she didn't bother looking for it.
There was an outcrop behind the ship that was exactly what Robin was looking for.
She managed to get aboard while nobody was looking and she quickly hid herself inside the gun deck between the last cannon and the wood of the ship.
Soon later, Robin felt the motions of a ship in movement and nobody even went into the gun deck for a long while.
Robin could hear anyone incoming but the cannon prevented her from seeing them (and from being seen).
When night fell, she realized that her supplies of food were almost running out, so she ate just enough to avoid feeling debilitated from hunger.
Robin fell asleep with half her brain active to be aware of incoming threats and she woke up in the morning to an apple rolling near her.
On a sailing ship, anything not tied down was very likely to move, so an apple rolling around wasn't too concerning and Robin decided to eat it.
When the second one rolled in around lunchtime, Robin thanked the fool that had left them out of a barrel.
However, when the third one came at sunset accompanied by a small loaf of bread and a small barrel of water, she immediately got on high alert.
Robin hadn't felt strange after the apples, so she didn't think anyone had wanted to poison her.
'Someone is actively feeding me. Why? I strongly doubt it's from the goodness of their heart.'
Despite having been somehow discovered and even if her hackles had been massively raised, Robin decided to keep eating what had been offered to her.
Again, the taste and the smell didn't seem to be weird or altered in any way.
In the following hours she didn't notice any ill effects on her stomach either.
When she fell asleep, Robin was still intrigued by her benefactor and she was still wary of their intentions but she was convinced that the apples and the bread hadn't been poisoned.
That didn't mean she wouldn't be suspicious of any further food and she still would sleep with an ear and an eye open but she still enjoyed the little reprieve she was having.
The following morning, however, things changed.
Robin woke up to the sound of a commanding voice.
"Roo! After feeding our little stowaway, tell them to get on the main deck. We are about to get into the Calm Belt and Chief wants to have everyone in his sights."
To say Robin was surprised was an understatement. 'Fuck. Does everyone know I'm here? It's at least three people: their Chief, this Roo, and the speaker.'
She didn't have too much time to think about it because someone was clearing their throat inside the deck.
"I am sure you heard that.
Hi, I'm Lucky Roo, cook of the Red Hair Pirates."
His introduction was cut short by Robin's sharp intake of breath.
Lucky Roo had yet to see her but he hadn't missed her surprised sound.
"Oh, you know of us but didn't know you were on our ship?"
Robin only knew about the major players in the Grand Line. There were too many minor pirate crews to keep track of all of them.
However, most people knew about the Red Hair Pirates and their captain with a bounty of nearly a billion Berries.
Now that she knew what she was dealing with, she remembered seeing a wanted poster for the man who was talking to her and his bounty hadn't been too far from his captain's.
Seeing as she wasn't replying, he resumed talking.
"We don't want to hurt you. That's why we'll have to go on the main deck.
I also got you some breakfast."
From the noise, Robin deduced the man had left a plate on the deck not too close to her before taking a couple of steps back.
"Why did you feed me?" She decided to ask, instead of a greeting, still without showing herself.
He didn't seem phased by the lack of an introduction.
"Mainly because I can't stand anybody starving around me.
Most half-decent chefs on the sea share this philosophy.
Also, Chief and Doc asked me to."
"How long have you known I was here? Does everybody know?"
Robin didn't understand what game they were playing at.
"Personally, I noticed you when you got inside.
I think only the Chief, Benn and us officers noticed you. Which probably will lead to some situational awareness training for the rest of the crew."
"What do you want with me?" Robin knew she was probably outmatched, so she wanted to prepare herself.
"Right now I want you to eat breakfast and then follow me to the main deck."
"Why?" She pushed.
"Breakfast because of the no starving philosophy. Following me out is for your safety. We are about to cross into the Calm Belt."
Robin had previously thought that a Devil Fruit would be the way they would manage to pass by the Sea Kings undetected but the Red Hair Pirates were famous for not having Fruit users on their crew.
"How?"
Lucky Roo didn't sound particularly phased by her questions.
"Chief will have to let loose a bit to do so. You and the rookies will probably faint, so we want to keep an eye on everyone to avoid people hurting themselves or falling off of the ship.
By the way, are you a hammer?"
'They don't know who I am! That's why they fed me and let me be.
Maybe they think I'll join their crew and they thought it was a decent recruiting method.'
"I ate a Devil Fruit, yes."
"Then hurry up and eat. You risk falling into the sea if we aren't careful."
Despite talking about crossing the Calm Belt and people falling off the ship, he still sounded cheerful. Robin hoped he had a similar sense of humor to hers.
She decided to show herself and to eat the offered food.
Lucky Roo looked exactly like in his poster, meat in his mouth and all.
He didn't react at all to her face, so Robin started eating.
"I don't get it. How does it work? Why would I faint?" She asked between the eggs and the bacon.
Lucky Roo made a sound of concentration before replying. "It's hard to explain if you haven't met that kind of power. It's like waves of pure willpower and, if you aren't strong enough, the feeling can be overwhelming.
Chief will point it at the Sea Kings but, if you aren't used to it, even being near him can make you faint."
That sounded both impossible and very useful.
"Is it a Devil Fruit? Or can you learn it?"
"Not a Devil Fruit but most people can't learn it either.
Only a handful of people are born with the ability to use this power. Time will tell if you are one of the lucky few."
Once she finished eating, he took her plate and her fork before gesturing for her to follow him.
They entered a kitchen and Lucky Roo put the dishes in a sink full of others.
"I don't know who's on dish washing duty today but it will probably have to wait until we are well into the Calm Belt."
They stepped out onto the main deck and they were immediately met with the captain's gaze.
Differently from Lucky Roo, Red Hair Shanks didn't look like his bounty poster. The hair and the scars were on point but he was wearing a straw hat and the look in his eyes was way more jovial than the fear inducing one in his photo.
He didn't look much older than her, especially with the relaxed smile sitting on his face.
"Hello Little Stowaway, name's Skanks. Has Roo filled you in on what's about to happen?" Even his speech and demeanor seemed to be cheerful and calm.
However, Robin knew better than to let her defenses down just because of a smile and some cheer.
"Yes but I didn't understand how that power works," she replied honestly.
He laughed good naturedly but, before he could start talking, Lucky Roo interrupted. "She's a hammer, Chief. Keep an eye on her."
His look didn't falter one bit and Robin wasn't sure it was a good or a bad thing.
'Either he already knew me and my powers or it doesn't change too much.'
"Alright, thanks for telling me, Roo.
Little Stowaway, most of the newbies will start the trip sitting down and/or with a rope to tie themselves to the railing.
You are welcome to do so as well but don't worry if you don't feel like it, we won't let you fall anyway."
He sounded both serious and relaxed at the same time, as if he was confident that things would go according to plan.
His confidence and the crew's made Robin accept that they had a way to actually do it.
Being tied with a rope wasn't something Robin ever wanted to be but, if the power actually was able to knock her out, she would rather be sitting down.
"I'll be sitting down then."
"Rest your back on something then," Lucky Roo warned her.
"EVERYONE, PREPARE TO ENTER THE CALM BELT! IT'S TIME!
GAB, BONK! FIRST ROUND WITH THE OARS!
BENN AND THE OFFICERS NOT ON THE OARS, ON HIGH ALERT!"
Red Hair Shanks bellowed orders and everyone dutily followed them.
Robin saw two tall men getting into the ship while most of the others sat down or tied themselves to the railing.
Lucky Roo and other five men stayed up to survey the crew (she noticed that the only one of the five without a massive bounty was Hongo, the guy she had followed to the ship) but the most intriguing thing was that it looked like a monkey was among the officers.
As soon as everyone was in position, Red Hair Shanks got on top of the figurehead, some sort of squared dragon, and started working his magic.
A wave of power washed over her and Robin was glad that she was already seated because she was sure her knees wouldn't have resisted.
"LEAVE"
The command reverberated inside Robin. She knew he hadn't even spoken the words out loud and that the order hadn't been given to her but still the compulsion to pass out or to get out of the ship was strong.
A handful of men got knocked out and some that were still standing fell on their asses.
One of the officers immediately went to check on the ones that had fallen but were still conscious, while Lucky Roo had picked up the knocked out ones. He took them inside and Robin guessed they had been put to rest inside some sort of infirmary.
Hongo immediately went to follow them and didn't come out, so Robin guessed he was the main medic of the crew.
After the first wave of power, Robin understood why Red Hair wanted to keep an eye on everyone. Even with all the warnings and while already seated, she was struggling to even move an arm, let alone be able to stand on a moving ship.
Judging by their looks, most of the crew was faring similarly to her.
After the Cook had taken people inside the ship, the oars started moving and pushing the ship further into the Calm Belt.
A minute later, when Robin had just started breathing normally again, a second wave of power and command washed over them.
Some more people got down to sit and only one other man fainted.
Benn Beckman, First Mate of the Red Hair Pirates, immediately picked him up and took him inside.
Robin herself was feeling weak after the bursts of energy but she was also fascinated by the type of power on display.
The third wave arrived two minutes later and Robin was even more ready to withstand it but it still felt like someone was pushing her into the railing.
The intervals between each wave were increasing and, by the time they were rolling every 10 minutes, Robin was sure that she could start moving without the immense feeling of dread being too overwhelming.
She got up and another one of the officers immediately started watching her. Yasopp the Chaser, Sniper of the crew, was studying her.
When the following wave hit her, she simply faltered a bit.
Red Hair himself noticed that she was trying to get up and, since the bursts were still getting less frequent, he decided to go and talk to her.
"How are you feeling Little Stowaway?"
The name was a bit patronizing coming from someone not even over 30 but Robin didn't feel like she could say anything about it after the immense display of power.
"Honestly both overwhelmed and fascinated, Red Hair Shanks."
"No need for the whole title, Little Stowaway. It's a mouthful. Just call me Shanks."
Before she could reply, they were joined by Benn Beckman.
"You aren't allowed to call her Little, she's basically your age, Chief," he teased before turning to her with a brief introduction, "I'm Benn Beckman.
If you don't want to call him Shanks, just call him Chief like we all do."
"Hey hey Benn, she's way younger than me! She still looks like a teenager!" His whining looked like a kid's, which didn't seem to help his argument.
"Yeah, and?" The First Mate rebutted with a grin.
"I don't get an ounce of respect here!" Red Hair continued to whine before stiffening, "hold on a sec, I'll be back!"
He called before jumping to the figurehead and preparing to release another wave.
"You seem to be able to resist well." Benn Beckman noted.
"I think my curiosity is helping somehow. Is it strenuous on him?"
Robin was watching Red Hair and it looked like he needed both preparation and a bit of downtime.
The end of the prep time arrived when Robin felt the burst and she steadied herself with the railing under the watchful eye of Benn Beckman.
"One wave like that would be nothing for him but he's pacing himself to last the whole time," he explained.
Robin knew that the Calm Belt was quite wide and that it would require a lot of stamina from the crew to row the whole ship, especially if only the officers could do it. She couldn't grasp the strain it would put on Red Hair but it seemed to be a whole lot.
"Why are you going into East Blue?"
They were putting a lot of effort into it. There was bound to be a real reason for it and Red Hair didn't seem one who would lay low instead of fighting head on.
Before Benn Beckman could reply, his captain got back into the conversation.
"Why are you going into East Blue?"
Robin heard the real question "Why did you hide in our ship?"
"I heard one of your men saying you wanted to lay low in East Blue and that's what I want to do right now too. I didn't know whose crew it was but it sounded like one of the few opportunities to get out of the Grand Line."
"You are probably right that it was your chance but normal people just ask."
Red Hair's tone was light, more akin to teasing rather than accusatory.
"I was fearing an aggressive negative reaction to asking," she replied honestly.
"Most crews react way worse to stowaways than to a question. Did you think you could take us?"
The hint of challenge was evident.
"I thought I could stall most crews long enough to flee."
"Good answer," Benn Beckman intervened, "but we aren't most crews. You wouldn't be able to escape from any of the officers even without the help of the rest of the crew."
"Even the monkey?" Robin couldn't help but ask.
Red Hair laughed. "Especially him. Monstar is second only to Yasopp when it comes to tracking and he's nearly impossible to notice. He was the one who brought you the food when you were awake."
"Why did you ask him to?" Robin needled.
"Because he's the most stealthy among us!
Oh wait, you meant why we didn't let you starve!" He added after her and Benn Beckman's flat looks.
"Because we aren't cruel," Red Hair continued, "we don't like freeloaders so you'll have to start working like the rest of the crew but Hongo, our doctor, had asked us to let you rest until we got to the Calm Belt.
Now you could do a trial run and be a temporary Red Hair Pirate and get a lift into East Blue or we can give you a lifeboat right now."
The second option was more or less equivalent to walking the plank but the first one was the best she could ask of them.
"Alright Red Hair. What are your orders?"