1
I woke up to the warmth of a fire.
I tried to sit up while my senses took in my surroundings, tried to push myself off the ground, but a bolt of pain shot through my body, and every part of me was aching. By now I was used to this, the constant pain, but right now all I could manage to do was lean against the wall.
I looked around. I was in a dark, cold cave, but it was a welcome shelter from the blizzard raging outside. Beyond the strong winds, I could still hear the muffled din of a battleground. The fire in front of me didn't show any signs of letting up, though. My clothes were wet but at least I wasn't shaking anymore.
Wait... There was a blanket on me.
But who-?
The thought had barely formed in my head when a dark figure appeared at the mouth of the cave.
For the first time in a long time, I felt fear- a fear of the unknown. But I'd gone through a lot of terrible experiences, been part of a pirate crew even, and after years in the face of death, it was easy for me to set my fear aside and put myself on guard.
The figure approached, completely cloaked and face covered with a scarf and goggles. He stepped up to the fire, looking down at me. I waited for him to make the first move, my body tensed with pain and anticipation.
"So, you're awake."
The man's voice was low, but there was something… off about it.
"You must be wondering how you got here.…"
He turned his head to look back outside, as though checking to see if he'd been followed, then suddenly crouched down and leant back to sit himself on the ground in a tripod position.
"Haha, I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore."
It was a woman's voice.
That was… unexpected.
She slid back her hood, put the goggles on her forehead and tore off the scarf. She had a regular, indistinct face with small features, and straight black hair just past the shoulders. But when she grinned at me, all her teeth showed, like a kid about to receive a present, and her thin eyes wrinkled up so that they almost disappeared from sight.
"Sorry for tricking you, but I've always wanted to try out my guy's imitation voice on somebody and see if it was convincing."
When I didn't answer, she started to chuckle nervously and pointed behind her with her thumb.
"W-What a blizzard huh? I'm not all that used to cold weather, so I had to cover up. A-Anyway, are you doing okay?"
"Who are you?" My voice sounded unnatural, the echo bouncing around the cave, but I didn't hesitate.
She looked taken aback. "You don't mess around, do you? Dang."
She scratched her head with another emerging smile.
"It's common courtesy to say your name first when you ask for someone else's, especially if that person saved your life, y'know."
She looked at me expectantly but I stayed quiet. If I told her my name and she was a marine, or worse, one of Doflamingo's subordinates, I'd be in big trouble. If I'd learned one thing from life, it was to never let your guard down.
She frowned. The sound of whistling blizzard winds and faint faraway shouts filled the silence.
"Claviger Shingle." She said suddenly. She reached out, suddenly took my hand, and shook it. "Nice to meet you." Her expression, however, said otherwise. Her brows were knit, and she kept looking at me.
"You're running away from that battle back down the mountain aren't you?"
That was, again, unexpected.
She shrugged. "A kid like you walking around in a terrible storm like this, by yourself, in the middle of the night, without proper clothing to protect yourself and there's a tiny war going on nearby? C'mon. You're lucky to be alive."
"…You're not a marine or a pirate, are you?"
"Well... I have a crew, but they're not here right now." She twiddled her hands absentmindedly with a faraway smile. "I kind of separated from them. Right now I'm more of a wanderer, really. Going wherever the winds take me, so to speak." She gave a knowing grin and wink, as though she'd just made a funny joke.
"And don't worry." She added hopefully. "I'm not in league with any of the people back in that ghost town where the fighting is going on, if you'll believe me."
She stretched her limbs. "As soon as I saw the fighting from a cliff, I knew I had to avoid getting caught in it, so I kept walking away from the gunshots and shouting and before long I found you near death on the ground."
She grew quiet, evidently waiting for my response.
"… My name is Law. Trafalgar Law."
She smiled, almost wistfully. "Nice to meet ya, Law."
"Why did you save me?"
Again, she looked surprised. "You're really asking? Gosh… I mean, you obviously needed help. There's a blizzard out there and I found you nearly buried. You were gonna die. Wouldn't this be the normal thing to do?"
Maybe it was because I'd been living with the wrong people too long, but I didn't consider that something normal at all.
"Oh hey!" Her exclamation rang out loudly through the cave. She reached into her cloak, pulling out two small rabbits. "I figured you might be hungry so I caught these for you. I'll cook them now."
She set them down and went off to a corner of the cave, where from a hidden niche in the wall, she pulled out a black backpack, and rushed back with it in her arms.
I watched silently, and then a bit incredulously, as she fumbled a bit with her bag, as though she were nervous, and finally pulled out a switchblade and a frying pan.
She skinned the rabbit, sliced off the meat, and then cooked them on the pan. I noticed that the blood had already been drained. She kept hold of the handle and propped her arm up on her knee as it cooked.
"By the way," she said suddenly, breaking the silence, "What's with the white patches on your skin? Is that a condition?" She looked at me curiously.
I stiffened. In my mind flashed images of all the dead people in piles on the streets, covered in these same white blotches. Visions of the countless doctors, nurses and hospitals that refused to come near me and hurled curses my way when they saw me, when they found out what I had.
"…Yes. I have Amber Lead Syndrome."
She cocked her head to the side. "Ohhh. Sounds really interesting. If you don't mind, can you tell me about it?"
I had expected her to scream and run, so I was speechless for a while. News about Amber Lead and the outbreak of war between Flevance and its neighboring countries spread like wildfire and reached every end of the ocean thanks to the world government. Even though it happened a few years ago, people still usually recognized the name. So….
"You've… never heard of it?"
"Nope." She shook her head slowly as she swirled the contents of the pan around. "I don't really update myself with what's going on around the world so much.
Why? Should I be worried?"
"…."
"It's not contagious, is it?" She tilted her head skeptically, eyeing me from top to bottom.
"No, it's not." I replied, more strongly than I intended.
"Well then, there's no problem." She smiled, her eyes closed like she was sleepy.
"… You believe me?"
"Well… yeah." She cracked an eyelid open. "I mean, should I have a reason not to?"
"I could be lying."
She rubbed her chin while looking around the cave. "Hmm… True… But if it really is contagious, I'd probably have it by now, since I carried you here. And if that's the case, there's nothing I can do about it anymore, is there? Don't you agree?"
I was too surprised to answer her, before she suddenly snapped her fingers, her expression brightening, and pointed at me. "Unless of course," she said with a look of revelation, "it's passed through droplets!… Is it?"
"… No. It's hereditary."
"Well then see?" She raised her free hand in a shrug. "No problem."
The more time I spent around this strange lady, the harder it was for me to read her motives. Was she really as innocent as she made herself out to be? She seemed childish, and harmless, but that could all just be a cover. I was sure she must be hiding something.
She had medical knowledge. That was for sure. She used the word 'droplet' for a mode of disease transmission, and while it wasn't exactly high-end medical terminology, normal civilians wouldn't be using the word to describe sneezing and coughing in a regular conversation.
It could have just been a coincidence, but given my circumstances, it was too much of a coincidence….
"Hmm, this is probably about done…" Her face scrunched up as she inspected the pieces of smoking meat on the pan and sniffed. She shrugged and seemed content with the outcome and slid the contents on a plate that came from her bag.
"I'm sorry but I can't guarantee it'll be any good."
She put the plate on my lap and handed me a fork.
I held the utensil with some effort. It felt more like a dumbbell than a fork.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Her brows knit with worry.
I didn't answer her as I slowly maneuvered my slightly shaking arm and carefully placed the hot food in my mouth and started chewing.
It was only after I swallowed my first bite that I realized how hungry I was, and I started wolfing down the rest, forgetting how heavy my arm was to raise up to my face.
"How is it?" She asked hopefully.
"The meat is overcooked on one side… and undercooked on the other." I answered in between mouthfuls, watching how she'd react.
"I see.…" She pouted sadly and fished a flask out of her bag. "You should wash it down with some water. I'm sorry."
For the life of me, I couldn't understand why she was apologizing. She sat and watched me eat, bowing her head a little and looking defeated. Did she really feel guilty for the food tasting bad? I couldn't think of any other reason, but that was just ridiculous.
It didn't take me long to finish the meat and I used both my hands to steady the flask on my lips and drink the water.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?"
"… I don't remember."
"Heh, well hopefully you've gotten some of your strength back now."
I wasn't hungry anymore, at least. But my strength? Ever since the Amber Lead Syndrome had started manifesting symptoms, my body had been getting weaker and weaker. It was a miracle I made it so far walking through the mountain. I wasn't this weak before, but it was likely from the fatigue and strain I put on myself trying to get away. Or, it might've been because my condition was getting worse, and by my calculations, I only had less than a month to live.
It could've been both those things.
"Law."
I looked at her and she was standing up, no longer smiling. Her eyes were hard and her mouth a dark arching line. I had almost believed that she couldn't make a serious face. I was wrong.
"The fighting has stopped. They're scouring the mountain."
It was true. As I perked my ears, I realized there was a lack of chaos in the air. She looked behind her, as though they might be right outside.
"Now it's my turn to ask you." She stared at me gravely, then set a knee down in front of me so we could see almost eye to eye.
"You are running away from the marines and the pirates." She stated carefully and clearly. "And you're obviously a very smart kid, and very careful, but what have you done to want to avoid them?"
I couldn't trust her. It's not that I didn't want to. If anything, I didn't know how to trust anyone anymore. The only person I trusted had just died several miles from here trying to save me.
"Law. I know at this moment it's very hard for you to trust anyone, but you must trust me, even if it's just for now."
"Why should I?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. She was suspicious, and strange. If I told her my real circumstances, even she might be able to sell me out to the highest bidder.
"You don't have much of a choice, do you?" Her eyes were full of steel, gaze steady. "You can barely move by yourself right now and whoever's won the battle will be here soon."
As if on cue, I heard the crunch of snow beneath footsteps, the blizzard masking the approaching men. They were nowhere near us yet, but they were getting closer. It was only a matter of time.
"Okay, you know what? Fine. You can tell me later." She said this in an exasperated flurry, clumsily shoving all her things back in her bag, taking out a jacket and slinging the bag in front of her. She put the mask, goggles and hood back on. You'd never had known what kind of person she really was with that get up on. Then she placed the jacket on me, wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, and knelt down facing away from me.
"Hop on."
"You're kidding." This lady, as a rough estimate, was about the same height as me, 5 feet. There's no way she could carry me and her bag past a few meters at best.
"Kid, don't argue. Just do it. Please."
As she had said, I had no choice. I couldn't be caught. I would do everything in my power not to get caught. That would be like spitting on Cora-san's grave. Right now I didn't have the power to get away on my own. If escaping meant having to trust this lady, I would.
I reached out and wrapped my arms weakly around her neck, and she hooked her arms under my legs and stood up.
I braced myself for a fall, but not only was she lifting me without staggering, it looked like it was no effort at all. I was too amazed to speak.
"Here." She tapped a flashlight on my hand. "It'll be dark out there, so I need you to help me out and be my eyes."
After I took it and turned it on, she did something incredible.
She blew on the fire, and her breath turned into a powerful gust that extinguished the flames and scattered the charred pieces of wood across the cave floor. The cave was engulfed in darkness, except for the solitary beam of light I was holding.
"What was-"
"I'll explain later." She answered shortly. "Hold on, kid."
Well, one thing that I was certain of now was this: She was no ordinary lady.
I tightened my grip.
She started walking forward, as though to test the weight, up until the mouth of the cave where she stopped.
She looked up at the raging wind and snow.
"Will you be okay?" she asked me.
I looked up as well. "Yes."
She nodded and then took the first step outside.