Chapter: The monster

A week on the high seas and the first camp fever set in on the "M. S. Schrotthaufen". Joe had secretly named their boat that, but he would do the devil and tell Bunny about it. However, he had to vent his pent-up frustration somehow before he developed a stomach ulcer. This "just go for it" tactic wasn't really his thing and one thing particularly bothered him.
"Um, ... Bunny, since we still don't have a usable map ... how do we actually know that we are on the right course? Maybe we have been driving in the completely wrong direction the whole time. Couldn't he began hesitantly to formulate his complaint.
"Don't worry about it. We don't have a map, but at least we have a compass. I think it's easy to get along with.", Bunny replied and proudly patted the navigation device, which she always used in the village as a little girl Had gone treasure hunt.She had never found a really valuable treasure, but it had always brought her home safely.
"Oh yes? And in which direction are we going?" Asked Joe, not very convinced.
"Well, that's really easy! Rivers Mountain is exactly in the middle of the four oceans. We are here in East Blue. So in order to reach the gate to the Grand Line, we logically have to go west. We have to go to this course kept us from the beginning and that's why we will reach our goal sooner or later. ", Bunny explained to him in an instructive tone. She seemed to be so sure of her cause and Buster looked as if he would blindly trust his mistress / captain, but Joe simply could not and would not be satisfied with this explanation.
"Sooner or later? Those are great prospects! Who knows if we are still alive at this rather imprecise point in time ... So far we have been really lucky, but there are still difficult times ahead of us and I would like to be prepared for that .But our great captain is not interested in such trivialities! Just with one direction in our head without an exact route we will never get to Rivers Mountain, don't you get that? ", he sighed, but that was more of a rhetorical question because he had known Bunny long enough to know how she thought about it.
"Can't you even stop complaining? If you think I'm such a hopeless case, you shouldn't have come with me in the first place! You can put your stupid teachings anywhere else! I should just expose you to the next island. Then you can you can see where you're going without me !! ", Bunny hissed at him with crossed arms. Then she turned away from him and stared angrily out to sea. The problem was, Bunny wasn't all that sure about her adventure. She had to admit that her planning had a few gaps and slowly the responsibility grew over her head.Trapped in her own insecurity, she just couldn't bear to be made aware of her mistakes by Joe over and over again, and so every time jumped out of her skin and yelled at him for no reason. But she was the captain and was not allowed to show any weakness in front of her team. Who would follow such an insecure failure?
"Yeah, sure, just don't pay any attention to me. Then the problem will surely solve itself. And the suspension could be difficult considering the fact that we will NEVER get to the next island !!", Joe yelled beside himself and Accidentally stepped on Buster's tail. This howled in pain and lunged at him yapping. By now they had got used to the constant swaying of the boat, but this tussle seemed to be the last straw. As if to make a silent protest, the boat suddenly tipped over and the squabbling crew went overboard.
Joe reappeared with a snort and shook the seawater from his ears.He looked around, but apart from him there was no one to be seen. Where were the others? His heart seemed to skip for a moment. Bunny had devil powers and that meant she couldn't swim! In a flash he dived back down and searched the seabed in a panic. The water was deep and dark. He felt the cold constrict his lungs. Suddenly he saw something white flashing beneath him. He swam deeper down and recognized Buster, who was desperately trying to drag Bunny back to the surface of the water. But even if Bunny was certainly not a heavyweight, the burden was too great for a little hybrid like him. Bunny's eyes were closed and her mouth was open. The fear made Joe's body tense up even more, but he tried to swim faster. When he finally reached them, he grabbed Bunny under the arms and started pulling her back upstairs together with Buster. He was slowly running out of air. He felt the pressure on his ears and little lights began to flicker back and forth in front of his eyes like colorful butterflies.After a little eternity he came up to the surface, panting and spitting out salt water.
Joe later didn't know how he had managed to turn the boat around and heave Bunny on board, but in the end they were all dripping and shaking in the nutshell. Bunny's body lay there as if all life had already left him. Buster licked her face, whimpering pathetically. Joe felt completely helpless and abandoned. What should he do? He had to do something !! He couldn't let her die! If it wasn't too late ...
He had heard of first aid and oral resuscitation many times in school and on television, but he didn't really know exactly how to use these practices. But he had to try! He held Bunny's nose with trembling fingers. Then he leaned over her and closed her mouth with his lips, which were already slightly blue from the cold water. Carefully he let his breath flow into her mouth and saw her chest rise.She must have swallowed a lot of water. How was he going to get that out of her? He put both hands on the area above her left chest and began what he thought was a heart rhythm massage. There was a rustling in his head. He couldn't feel her heart. Again he tried mouth-to-mouth breathing. Normally Joe was very shy about girls and if he had watched what he was doing here he would probably have turned bright red, but at the moment he just felt the fear.
"Bunny, damn it, open your eyes! I'll never complain again. I promise !!", he shouted and tears ran down his cheeks. Buster was howling like a castle dog now and Joe's body was shaking under his sobs. He hugged the little dog and buried his face in his wet fur. Bunny was a pain in the ass and never listened to his well-intentioned advice, but without it he was lost out here.He also lost the best friend he ever had.
A choking sound made him start up. Bunny had rolled onto her side and was now spitting tons of water onto the bottom of the boat.
"You're alive!", Joe shouted in a croaking voice and leaned jerkily over to her, causing new fluctuations again. He stopped immediately. He didn't want to go through something like that again!
Bunny still kept her eyes closed. After her stomach had got rid of the remaining water, she reached out her trembling hand, and Buster immediately snuggled up to her.
"Are you all right, my little one?" She whispered in his ear, exhausted. In response, she received a nudge from his wet dog nose.
"Well, I was more worried about you than about the dog ..." Joe spoke up.
Bunny finally opened her eyes and looked at him. Her look was tired and sad, so very different from what Joe knew from her.
"I'm so cold.", she managed from behind chattering teeth.
Joe could understand her feeling very well. He didn't feel comfortable in his wet clothes either. It was a nice summer day and the sun was shining from the sky, but nevertheless the water was bitterly cold and now a cold wind was blowing across the sea. Joe looked around searching. Of course, their blankets hadn't survived the capsizing. And the rest of their inventory was now probably scattered somewhere on the ocean floor. And not long ago he had said it couldn't get any worse ... But he couldn't start complaining now. It was much more important now to take care of his resuscitated captain. Carefully and paying attention to his every move, he slid over to Bunny.
"Unfortunately I can't offer you warming tea, but if you want, we can warm each other. Even if I don't know whether that will help with wet things ...".he suggested, making Bunny sit up with a groan.
"You want to cuddle with me?", She asked and looked at him skeptically with knitted eyebrows.
Joe's face instantly turned the color of a freshly painted fire engine.
"A ... Well, that's not how it was meant at all! I ... I just wanted ...", he stammered, embarrassed, and raised his hands defensively. Had she noticed anything from the oral ventilation? ...
"Well, as long as you don't start fondling me.", Bunny grinned mischievously and despite the extremely embarrassing situation Joe was glad to see that she seemed to be the same again.
"Come here, Buster. You are sure to be cold too.", Bunny said, hugging her dog and then snuggled up to Joe, who still had a slight red tinge around his nose.
"Then you are probably the hero of the day today. You fearlessly saved your captain from the wet clutches of the sea. Hey, and next time I don't wake up again and you're about to starve, I'll even allow you to nibble on me.""she giggled, poking him in the ribs.
"That's not funny at all. I've never been so scared in my whole life!" Joe snarled angrily and pushed Bunny away from him. Only now did he see the tears in her eyes.
"I know ... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you always have to worry about me so much. I'm sorry that I'm such a stubborn man. I'm sorry that I'm such a bloody bad guy I'm the captain. I'm sorry that I got you involved in this. I just don't know what to do anymore! ", Bunny whimpered, hanging her head. Her shoulders trembled. Again Joe didn't know how to deal with this situation. Otherwise it had always been Bunny who had rebuilt him if he ever had doubts or a bad mood, but now they somehow seemed to have switched roles and he wanted to help her. So he overcame his shyness one more time that day and carefully pulled Bunny close to him."Hey, crying doesn't get us anywhere either. And the situation isn't that bad. If