Ch. 4 – Falling

It was a long way down.

And dark. Very very dark.

Zoro drove Sandai Kitetsu into the wall, sending sparks flying as it slowed, but failed to stop, his descent. He grabbed the Princess by the left forearm as she fell past him, and her hand quickly wrapped around his wrist. This would have turned out to be a good setup, as by the light of the steadily sparking katana she started to bat falling debris away from the both of them with her long rapier. But a moment later he heard her pained gasp. Slowed just enough by her wounded right shoulder, she had timed a strike just a fraction of a second too late. She managed to slice the stone away from him, but took a nasty blow to the head, and her hand released his.

Several moments later his legs jarred unexpectedly into the cave floor. He quickly shot upright, despite aching knees, and retrieved his katana from the wall. Drawing a second sword from his sheath, he swiped at the boulders and rocks threatening to bury him. This went on for several minutes, throwing intermittent sparks at various levels of luminosity with each swipe. When he hit a particularly large boulder with a particularly hard double swipe, the resulting spark reflected off of something white in the corner of his vision. – the princess' cape. She looked like she was half buried.

He pushed his way toward her in time to prevent another particularly large boulder from landing on top of her. After that the rock fall slowed and came to a tenuous halt. When Zoro was relatively sure nothing else was hurtling through the dark toward them, he sheathed his swords and felt his way toward where the Princess lay still. Dragging her out from under a pile of split stone, he propped her upright against the cave wall.

Another sudden rumbling sent a shower of boulders down on top of them again. Zoro drew his swords and smirked as he realized that Luffy was probably trying to reach them and doing a lousy job of it. From the look of things, the captain would end up crushing them with rubble before he'd cleared the cave enough so that he could stretch down and pull them out of the pit. Eventually the rock fall slowed and came to a stop, with a few small pebbles plinking down on both their heads. Someone must have talked some sense into him. Or he'd buried himself and the crew, which was more likely.

In any case, Zoro knew he would have to meet up with them later. First he'd have to find a way out of this pit. Considering that the rubble had not completely buried them, it had to have fallen somewhere. Zoro had the idea that they were in a spacious cavern, which would mean that the rubble had spread out rather than completely piled up. It was hard to say, though, because he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

Before he could explore, he'd have to see to the Princess. Sheathing only one sword in case of more falling rubble, he reached out and touched her shoulder. "Oy," he said, shaking her. There was no response.

He was no Chopper, and even if he were, he couldn't really assess her situation without any light. He could hear her breathing, which was a good sign he guessed. Putting his sword into his mouth, he took her by both shoulders and shook harder. It seemed like the logical thing to do.

She flinched and drew suddenly. He was glad that he had his sword at the ready to parry the unexpected blow.

"Oye, watch it Hime," he chided through the sword in his teeth.

She was silent for a long moment as the initial clang of their swords continued to ring out through the stillness. He could hear her breath coming in hyperventilated gasps, and could feel the vibration of her sword through his. Her hands were clearly shaking.

"Z-Zoro-Kun? " she ventured at last. Her voice sounded tight.

"Yes, Ohime-Sama," he replied, making sure to respond to the sudden familiarity in her tone with formality. He hadn't forgotten that she had kind of just proposed marriage to him a few minutes ago. And while he respected her as a swordswoman, he certainly wasn't about to get chummy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Uh…" He went on a little more gently, "Are you…all right?"

She cleared her throat. "It's…dark," she observed unnecessarily and lowered her sword. He heard her sheath it clumsily. It was a good thing her sword couldn't hurt her. She obviously was something of a danger to herself at present. "What room are we in?"

"What room…?" he repeated, confused. "We're in a cave."

"Cave…?" Helena held her head. "What happened?"

"We fell," he replied, taking his sword out of his mouth and sheathing it. "Don't you remember?"

"The last thing I remember was you beating me," she answered gloomily, then groaned. Her head probably hurt. "Did you knock me unconscious? How long was I out?"

"A few minutes at most," he replied, "You were knocked unconscious when we fell."

"Fell…?" she asked again, "But how did we get back to the castle?"

"Castle?" Zoro decided she was a bit addled, and it wasn't worth pursuing. "Listen, we've fallen down a long way, and we're completely caved in. We're going to have to check the perimeter of the cave to see if we can find a way out. Can you walk?"

"Yes," she replied simply.

Giving her his hand, he helped her get to her feet. She was still shaking.

"You sure you're all right?"

"Fine," she replied defensively, but she was gripping his arm very, very tightly.

"Can you stand on your own?"

"Yes," she replied, not letting go.

"Good. We'll find the way out faster if we split up." He slipped his arm out of her grip, and much to his surprise she screamed:

"No!" The last part of the word was muffled, as though she had clapped a hand over her own mouth. Even so, the sound echoed throughout the large cavern. For a moment neither spoke as they listened with baited breath for a rockalanche to start up again.

Nothing happened, and Zoro waited for her to speak. When she didn't, he found himself chuckling. "Afraid of the dark, Ohime-Sama?"

He'd chuckled because it seemed ridiculous, considering how strong she was. When she didn't answer, however, he realized it was true. While he wasn't one to laugh at someone else's phobia, he didn't like to baby anyone either.

He took a step away from her. "You go look over there. There's nothing in here that can hurt – !" Before he could finish the sentence, he found himself falling face forward into a deep pool of still, and rather chillish, water.

Now he could guess where most of the rockslide had ended up, not that he had much a mind to think on it at present. It was disorienting to be underwater in the dark, but after the initial surprise, he stopped struggling and let himself float to the surface. He gasped for breath, his lungs already seizing up with the cold.

"You were saying, Zoro-kun?" the princess replied smugly from somewhere up above him in the dark. She struck her sword on the stone beneath her, sending sparks flying just enough that he could swim toward her.

He had fallen off of a five foot ledge, and it looked like there might be some trouble climbing out. Without further ado, the Princess removed her cape. She rolled it up to make it stronger, and lowered it over the side. But to do so she had to stop striking her sword against the stone. What confused him was that he could still see her outline in the dark. She noticed the sudden dim influx of light as well and looked up from her task, gazing just beyond him in the water. Her eyes narrowed, then widened suddenly in fear, and Zoro's hand went immediately to his swords.

He turned to follow her gaze, and sure enough something glowing was swimming toward him in the water. He didn't understand the Princess' fear however. The light looked like something relatively small, nothing to a sea-king.

"Zoro-Kun, get out of there!" she cried.

The light was kind of mesmerizing now that he looked at it. It was such a relief to be able to finally see in the dark. And the water wasn't as cold as he'd thought. He felt suddenly very tired, and remarkably comfortable. Hime was shouting something at him, but he couldn't really understand her. Why did she have to be so loud and annoying? He was trying to sleep.

His grip relaxed on his sword hilt. Why was the water suddenly rising up around him? Strange that such a little light could cause such a big wave. Then suddenly he couldn't see anything. Something rank smelling closed in around him, blocking most of the light with long, stalagmite-like teeth.

Zoro realized a little too late that he had just been swallowed. The inside of the creature's mouth was dimly lit by whatever light it had outside its body – only enough for him to see its strange, long tongue, which wrapped around him before his relaxed muscles had time to react. Arms thus pinned to his side, he started to kick in panic as the ropelike tongue dragged him downward.

He kicked his legs into the side of the creature's gargantuan throat, trying to make it gag. And while it started heaving, its slimy tongue tightened around him, squeezing the air clean out of him. But it didn't stop there. Zoro could feel his ribs straining, ready to crack beneath the influx in pressure. Clearly it intended to crush him before swallowing this time.

Of all the ways to go, this seemed like the stupidest. Images of Kuina suddenly popped into his head, or was his life flashing before his eyes? It didn't matter, he wasn't going out. Not like this. Mustering his strength, he tried to kick, but his legs had gone numb.

Wracking his air-starved brain for a solution, it took him a moment to realize that the tongue had suddenly loosened around him. The creature let out a roar, spitting Zoro out in the process. He flew through the air and smacked into the far cave wall before slumping down to the ground as he gasped for breath.

When he looked up, he caught sight of the creature that had nearly made a meal of him. It was a large, ghastly thing; something like a giant fish from the deep ocean, with huge, blind eyes, and large, gnarly teeth. A beach-ball sized orb dangled on its forehead like a lantern, which at present flew back and forth through the air as the creature thrashed violently.

It was no wonder that the creature was upset: the princess had driven her sword point down through its bulbous skull. She clung to the rapier hilt as the fish tried to throw her off its back. Its odd, thin tongue shot from its mouth and wrapped around her leg, but she quickly drew one of her other blades and sliced it through.

As it thrashed harder, Zoro stood and drew his swords, prepared to jump the Princess' rescue. He needn't have bothered. Catching one of her blades between her toes, she got hold of the lantern with her free hand and sliced it off with one powerful leg swipe. Withdrawing her rapier from the fish's head, she jumped to the safety of the shore.

The fish stopped flailing for a moment and stared at her in the darkness as though shocked that she had dared to cut off its lantern light. It withdrew into the water, retreating for all the world like a dog with its tail between its legs.

The Princess kicked the remains of the creature's tongue from her leg in disgust and turned to Zoro. Though the lantern had dimmed in her hands, it maintained a steady glow, and she made her way toward him easily by its eerie yellow-green light.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He nodded.

"That was a Lantern Chimera," she said, "I've heard about them but never seen one before. I guess we're lucky it found us," she indicated her newfound, bioluminescent lamp, which looked kind of pretty in a grisly way, glowing in its net of veins.

"That thing's not going to hypnotize anyone is it?" Zoro asked, approaching her.

"I think it lost its hypnotic power when I cut it off," she replied. "I don't know how long it's going to last, so we'd best get going."

Helena had the feeling that Zoro didn't like her much. The way he kept addressing her as "Ohime-Sama" was just one indication. Considering they were to be married, they were off to a pretty cold start. To be honest, she wasn't exactly delighted with the arrangement herself, but she had set herself up for this, and she was determined to make the best of it, so "Zoro-Kun" it was whether he liked it or not.

Besides, things could be worse. She had been worried that losing to the likes of Roronoa Zoro would leave her with a selfish, petty, tyrannical despot. Zoro's indifference to her was a good deal more tolerable than cruelty. For a pirate, he didn't seem that bad. In fact he didn't seem interested in her or her kingdom at all. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or insulted. – in any case, he'd accepted, hadn't he? Hadn't…he? Her memory had gone a bit hazy…

After the fishing incident they stopped to clean and dry their swords. Zoro's sheaths were soaked, so Helena ripped up her already tattered, but quality, cape to allow him to strap the swords to his back as the sheaths dried. His swords didn't look like the kind that could rust, but legendary or not they had to be treated with respect. She had said as much, and Zoro seemed impressed. Something about the way Sandai Kitetsu gleamed at her as he wiped the blade dry made her think it approved as well.

After taking care of their swords, they used what was left of the fabric to bind their wounds. She managed to bind her head on her own easily enough. Her shoulder was a different matter. Removing her epaulets, she unbuttoned her vest to reveal the bloodied shirt beneath and realized that she'd have a hard time binding the wound herself.

After she had torn off most of her sleeve and dabbed at the bleeding wound with a moistened scrap of fabric, Zoro came unbidden to her aide. She flushed, and looked away.

"It's not as bad as it could be," she babbled, trying to ignore his proximity to her. It didn't help that he had removed his shirt. He'd had to wring it dry of course, and had tied it around his waist. "I could have lost the use of my arm…"

"It came from a sharp blade," he replied. Sharp blades did less damage than dull ones, at least in a case like this.

"And an exceptionally sharp swordsman," she added, and then realized it sounded like flirting. Corny, bad flirting at that. Helena winced a little, both at her own idiocy and the fact that he had just tightened the bandage to stop the bleeding. "What I mean to say is…well, I'm impressed. You directed the blade to strike me just so, when you could have gone for a killing shot, or maimed me. Not many are that precise, especially juggling the blade like you did."

"I aim to be the world's best swordsman," he replied simply.

"So I've heard," she said. "Mihawk told me about you."

This caught his attention. She saw his eyes turn to what was now visible of her scar, which started just below her right ear. Normally she hid her scar. Apparently he liked to show his off – that was probably one of those fundamental differences between women and men, she thought. In this case, though, she obliged his curiosity and moved the fabric covering her collar aside just enough so that he could see that it ran from the right side of her neck down to just above her heart.

"A blow like that could have decapitated you," Zoro observed as she let the fabric of her torn shirt fall back into place. Since her wound was now sufficiently bound, she put on her vest and buttoned it, then re-fastened her cravat, covering her scar.

"I know," she replied, "Or stopped my heart. But then…" she hesitated a moment, then reached out and gently placed a few fingers on his own scar, "yours should have cut you wide open, snapped your sternum, disemboweled you…. Was he showing restraint, do you think? Or are we just made of tougher stuff?"

"Both I'd imagine," Zoro replied. There was a moment's pause, then he sighed and moved her hand away. "Come, Ohime-sama," he said. "We should keep moving."

He offered her his hand to help her get to her feet, but considering how he had obviously rejected her moments before, she stood on her own. Maybe cold indifference wasn't better than tyranny. If he didn't want her he should have said no.

She knew he was dying to know what Mihawk had said about him. Well, she wasn't going to start the conversation up again. Zoro spoke sooner than she expected, and he didn't have the decency to sound embarrassed or flustered at all.

"So, Mihawk turned you down, did he?"

She snorted. "Yes. Twice."

"You fought him twice?"

He sounded impressed, and she couldn't help but smile. "Mihawk was one of the reasons I realized I needed a fellow swordsman to help guard my kingdom."

They found a tunnel leading out of the large cavern in which they currently found themselves. As the conversation went on they started down it, walking side by side. Zoro carried the lantern while Helena tapped the ground ahead of them with Peleus, testing for hollow spots that might indicate thin shelf rock.

"I first met Mihawk about eight years ago. I was ten years old," she said, finding a pit before they both stepped in it. They edged around it as she continued. "Father took me with him to a meeting with some official of the world government, where they met with the Warlords…"

As she related the experience, she could see most of it clearly in her mind's eye. Clinging to a pair of small wooden swords hanging from her belt, she walked by her father's side, trying to look confident to make up for the lack of confidence she felt. They walked through long marble halls, their sandals clopping against white stone floors.

The world government building imitated the architecture of her own country. Tall pillars of heavy, white marble held up the domed ceiling, which had been painted to depict ships at sea, at war with each other on one end, at peace at the other. A large, circular window in the center of the ceiling let in natural sunlight. When they approached the end of the hallway, her father knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I want you to meet me on that balcony with Hector," he said, indicating an open door that led outside. "I'll be done in a half an hour or so. If you behave, I'll introduce you to everyone, alright?"

Helena nodded, and followed Hector out to the large balcony. From that vantage point she could see a wide expanse of the ocean, bluer than the sky. Without fear, she jumped up onto the balcony railing and gazed out with an excited squeal. Hector's arm turned into a wooden branch that scooped her away from the edge. It was a long fall down a cliff side onto sharp rocks below after all. Without missing a beat, Helena turned to him and drew her swords.

"En garde, General!" she cried.

He laughed. "Now Princess, your father said to behave yourself."

"Behave myself as what?" she asked. "Come on General," she poked his armor with her sword.

He laughed, and drew a pair of wooden swords of his own. "You know I'm not as good with a sword as Andromache." Hector had always preferred to use a spear.

They made a few passes, and Helena disarmed him. He wasn't going easy on her either. She got angry when he went easy.

"You're just like your mother," he said. She grinned back at him.

Just then a pair of men passed by in the hallway. "Wonder if ol' Hawk Eyes'll show up this time," one said. "I heard he took down an entire ship with one blow the other day."

"Remind me not to get on that guy's bad side," the other replied. "Well, when it comes down to that, remind me not to get on any of the Warlords' bad side."

They disappeared from sight, and Helena turned to Hector. "Hawk Eyes…" Helene said. "Hector, isn't he the Warlord who fights with swords?"

He nodded.

"He took down an entire ship with one blow?"

"It would appear so," he replied, "Though one never knows with such rumors."

"But Hector," she went on, "If he did that, he must have a devil fruit power."

"No, actually," Hector replied. "As far as I know, Hawk-Eye Mihawk does not have devil-fruit powers."

"I thought you said that no human without a devil fruit could match that kind of power," Helena said, looking at him accusingly. "But if a swordsman could do that…"

"Princess, if this is about your mother, she did everything she could to…" Hector started in that would-be soothing tone.

"But it wasn't enough!" she cried, tears coming to her eyes. "She was the strongest ever, but it wasn't enough. Because she was human, because she didn't have powers, because she was a woman and…"

"None of those sound like particularly good excuses," a voice said.

"I know!" Helena cried, then realized it wasn't Hector who had spoken. The General suddenly pushed her back, placing himself between her and a man who stood in the shadow of a nearby pillar. He had golden eyes that seemed to glow through the darkness. Helena wondered how she had missed him before, but he couldn't have come through the door. He must have been there since they stepped out onto the balcony.

A god among swordsmen, there was no mistaking the enormous cross on his back.

"Dracule Mihawk," she whispered. Forgetting to look brave, she dropped her two wooden swords and clung to the back of Hector's tunic.

"The young Princess Helena, I presume," he went on, stepping out of the shadows, "Daughter of Cygnus and Leda?"

Hector nodded, his hand lingering near his spear.

"No need to be defensive," Mihawk went on. "I have a great deal of respect for Leda and her kin. After all, I trained her."

Helena's eyes grew big as saucers. She came out a little from behind her guardian, though she didn't release his tunic. "You trained Mother?"

"Only for a short time," he said. "And a long time ago, before I obtained the status I have now. She would have agreed with you, Princess. She was always focused with her training, and never made excuses."

"Then how could she…"

"Your mother's death was beyond her control," Mihawk said quietly. Hector nodded and looked down at her. He seemed more at ease with the intruder now that the initial surprise had passed. He stepped aside, gently working her fingers out of his tunic so that she could face Mihawk with dignity, like a Princess should.

She felt the color rising in her face as anger took hold. "What!?" she cried. "You just said that being a woman is no excuse."

Mihawk sighed and shook his head. Helena gritted her teeth inside her mouth and bent to retrieve the wooden swords.

"Take it back!" she cried, lunging at him with both swords together.

Mihawk looked mildly surprised but easily caught both her wrists in one hand and side stepped the blow. His grip was strong enough that it forced her to drop the dull wooden blades.

"Princess Helena!" Hector chided, lunging forward to grab her, but he stopped short when Mihawk spoke.

"Leave her be," Mihawk barked, then turned his attention to Helena. "You think it wise to cross swords with the world's greatest swordmaster, little girl?"

But then he gasped. In the time it took for him to speak, Helena had picked up one of the swords with her toes and stuck him in the back.

At this point in the story, Zoro stopped her.

"You landed a hit on Mihawk?" he asked incredulously. "On his back? When you were ten?"

"Not exactly," she replied. "I…almost did. I thought I did, actually." She laughed at the ridiculousness of it. "For a moment I actually thought I'd touchéd Dracule Mihawk. But he'd already drawn that dagger of his. You know the one."

Zoro nodded.

"Wait, have we been here before?" Helena asked, looking around.

"We've been walking for a while, how could we be back in the same place?" Zoro asked.

She sheathed her sword and held out a hand to him. He obligingly handed over the lantern, and she used it to better inspect their surroundings.

"Look familiar?" she asked, holding the light up to a large rock pile, and a five foot drop into still water. A familiar, lanternless Cave Chimera looked at them glumly from the water, then retreated as soon as it noticed them noticing him.

"Don't blame me, I was following you," he said, raising his hands up defensively.

"And I was following you," she laughed. "Here," she handed back the lantern and scored an arrow into the wall with a few quick swipes of her sword. "I'll carve one of these every few meters or so. That way we can make sure we aren't going in circles."

"There's not much you can do if the cave is a circle," he pointed out. "Should we try carving our way out?"

"Tempting, but it's not a circle," she chuckled. "There's a fork up ahead. We'll take the left this time."

"There is?"

"You don't have a very good sense of direction, do you?" Helena observed. By the way he stiffened, she guessed she'd hit upon a nerve. It was tempting to press the issue, but then maybe she didn't have the right to tease him just yet.

"So what happened?" he asked as they continued onward and silence dragged between them. She was pleased to note his interest in her story.

"I hadn't landed a hit," she replied, "but my sword tip came close enough to touch the fabric of his coat. That's why he gasped." Smiling at the memory, she carved an arrow in the wall at the fork in their path. "He was so angry…"

Zoro had a hard time imagining Mihawk angry. Maybe the Princess was pulling his leg a bit. She didn't seem to be above bragging. And she was obviously delighted to have caught his interest. Typical woman.

He couldn't help his curiosity about her encounters with Mihawk, though; any information about the man was invaluable, even if it had been a bit hyperbolized. And something about her mother had piqued his curiosity as well. This debate about women as swordsmen had always troubled him, for obvious reasons. That Mihawk had an opinion on it was also of interest.

Perhaps Mihawk could lose his temper, he conceded. This was a long time ago, after all. The princess must have read his thoughts, because she said:

"This was when he was new to his title, I think," she said. "It was easier to raise his hackles a bit back then."

She went on with her tale, and he found he believed her despite himself. She told of how he had given her a beating without hardly touching her. She had fought back with all her might, but he easily dodged her moves. Most of the damage she received was damage she did to herself.

Zoro was amused to note that she retrieved Hector's swords as well, and fought with two in her hands and two clutched in her feet. She said it was the moment she discovered four sword style.

The first bout was over so quickly that Hector hardly had time to intervene. When Helena straightened up to go back for more, he'd apparently realized that Mihawk had no intention of killing her, and that this battle would help humble and teach her. Helena had thanked him for it later. Hector had kicked himself over it since.

"In the end, after letting me wear myself down, Mihawk took me down with the butt of his dagger," she said. "One blow to the back of my neck and I couldn't get back up. I had a headache for a month after that."

Zoro knew too well what she meant.

"I couldn't see straight, but from the ground I asked Mihawk to marry me," she said, chuckling a little at the thought. "As a kid I didn't know what it all meant, getting married. I just knew that whoever married me would be king, and that my kingdom needed someone strong to keep the pirates back at the times when I could not. Of course he refused. He laughed, actually, and I hated him for it. But he told me to keep working, to be strong like my mother, to surpass her…" she trailed off, lost in thought.

"Keep the pirates back?" Zoro asked after a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," she replied, striking another arrow into the wall with her dagger. "Ilium has had a problem with pirates for decades."

"Doesn't everyone on the grand line?"

"Ah, but Ilium is a particular target, you see…" she indicated her dagger, "It is here that we mine and manufacture sea prism stone. It's tricky to mine, and even trickier to refine. The art is only known here so far as I am aware."

"Pirates seek it out to use it against one another," Zoro observed.

"Naturally," she replied, "But, well, let's just say we've gotten particularly good at dealing with pirates. Our law permits officials to execute anyone flying a jolly roger on sight."

Zoro laughed from his gut at this. As if laws had anything to do with capturing pirates. The marines had similar laws, and yet somehow they hardly ever managed to capture anyone. He reminded her as much, but she did not share his mirth.

"Our capital is the chief manufacturer of sea prism stone," she replied dryly. "Do you think anyone with a devil fruit can so much as touch our soldiers?"

"But what of those who don't have devil fruit powers?" Zoro pointed out, hand resting lightly on the katana at his side.

"We fight fire with fire, of course," she said, fingering her own blade. "And when our strength isn't enough we rely on the protection of our gods." He looked at her incredulously, but she went on. "Trust me on this, we seldom have much trouble. Besides, we've found a form of execution that is completely unbiased. It can knock off those with devil fruits and those without them equally well."

"Oh, what is that?"

"Drowning," she replied casually, "In sea water."