I didn't realize this chapter's title was a Christmas song until I heard it on the radio the other day. "Over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house we go…" complete mind fart. But I'm not Christian so cut me some slack. The radios betray me every October through December (yes, October is there for a reason -_-) and I don't listen during that time of year. But it fit the chapter content so that's what it's called.
Did everyone have a good holiday season? Get lots of presents? Get fat? Come up with a New Year's resolution? Mine is to update these things faster and not overload my brain with everything else. Wish me luck. XD
WARNING: I drop the F-bomb at the very end. Sorry bout that, the other two cuss words didn't do his situation justice. I don't like the word, but nothing else fit. XD
Review Corner:
Igreg01 – It logs me out randomly, too… it's kind of weird but I suppose you get used to it. I haven't decided how far out to take his memory, but he won't lose it all this chapter, I can guarantee. Oh trust me, the marines will be worth waiting for. I have something planned that will blow your socks off, and if you imagine it as if it were a real anime episode, you'll die of epicness. XD, and thanks for your continued support!
gracling42 – I love that In Time movie. My dad doesn't, he thinks the end could've been better, but I love that concept, that the amount of time you have to live is forever on your arm… and I actually watched it the other day and unknowingly incorporated it. XD Aw, man, I did forget Tashigi, didn't I? I'll put her in again later. I hate OOC characters, and that's why I do my best. I hate text-speak, so I'm known as the Grammar Nazi amongst my friends. Thanks for the review and enjoy this next chapter swarming with ZoRo.
Rasaxe – I couldn't remember what the official term was for tying game upside down on a stick by their legs, so I just improvised. I think the timer adds to the tension, you know? Now that you have a fixed time, you have to work even harder to make sure you're under that time limit.
NinjaSheik – You'll find out next chapter I think what she wanted to say. It'll be pure fluff, I'll let you in on that. Now that I think about it, they are kind of American names. But since I'm Amuricun, those are the kinds of things that come to my head first. But then, "Luffy" isn't exactly Japanese. And I did watch the English dub on the official, and I'm convulsing from withdrawal symptoms. I'm not sure how to feel about Franky's VA… Seitz isn't Kazuki Yao, but still pretty super. I can't wait until the "SUPAH" dance.
armaani – Yes, Zuko. Couldn't resist. First time I saw that guy in the Book of Fire I fangirled for an entire week, plus some. And yes, that's why. And honestly it's there because I needed a time frame for myself, too. I couldn't drag this thing out forever, could I? And I'm almost done with your chapter, a few more days or so.
Nami Swannn – It's an unintentional "In Time" reference. CHOPPER! I knew I'd forgotten someone. How about… Cheddar? As in cheddar cheese?
Gummiebear – For some reason it won't let me type your username. ?_? Cocaine for the eyes and red bull for the brain. Haven't heard that one before. XD Thanks for your new addiction, and please enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter 7 – Over the River and Through the Woods
"A wound that would make an ordinary man unconscious… I won't lose to it.
A wound that would kill an ordinary person… I won't lose to it!
To face one who is extraordinary, Hawk Eyes…
I can't allow myself to be ordinary!"
Roronoa Zoro
It wasn't my fault we got lost. And it was most definitely not my fault when Robin accidently dropped her end of the stick after twisting her ankle on a root, and Blondie erupted into all hearts and healing, leaving my body to roll down a particularly steep decline, which led Namizou to go catch it, losing her footing and rolling down the hill, resulting in Sangino's flight down the slope after her, unknowingly dragging Robin after him. It all went downhill from there, so to speak.
"Ow, ow, ow," Namizou moaned, rubbing her ass as if that would make it better. I couldn't help but smirk as I casually treaded after the tumbling nakama, using the comic relief in the tense situation to drive back the next wave of amnesia I could feel building up in the back of my head. I hadn't had one in the past thirty minutes or so, but I still kept up my guard.
"Nami-san," Sangino panted. "Robin-chan. Are you alright?"
Robin nodded, holding a hand to her head. "I think so. Where is Zoro-san?"
My body was soon located. It had fallen into a thicket, my bandages now riddled with thorns and digging into my skin. Faintly, the numbers on my arm displayed 7:34:30. Robin brushed aside the tacks and gently pulled my heavy body from its embrace, disregarding the small trails of blood sliding across her skin. She plucked each individual thorn from its place in my skin, setting them in a smile pile by her knee. Sangino and Namiko didn't object, but mostly just bounced on the balls of their heels like they had to keep going or they would explode.
Robin finally finished her task, straightening. "Alright. I didn't want to cause Zoro-san any trouble when he returned to the physical world."
"That's understandable," said Namiko, turning her face to the wind. It rustled through the treetops like a sweet melody, smelling of mint and other delectable spices. Sai seemed perfectly at home with the scent. Robin cracked a small smile before the wind suddenly died and her grin was replaced by a curious line.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Listen."
The three went quiet, listening to the sounds of the forest. A bird twittered above our heads, and I followed the colorful bird as it moved from branch to branch. A wind rustled again, this time bringing the stench of sweat and mud, but also with the sweet sense of purity. A pebble began to shake next to my foot as the ground suddenly rumbled beneath our feet.
As if to accompany the raging ground, the wave of blackness in my subconscious overcame my mind, and those people from my past flashed before my eyes again… Me cutting down a huge group of people for what appeared to be no reason, the boy in the red vest attacking me and yelling loudly, a woman with long blue hair and a weird duck, a burning ship with a black-haired woman sitting on the rail of our ship. Pulling into the next island to see a huge tiger keel over dead… going off to hunt dinosaurs… In the blink of an eye, Little Garden was my earliest memory, making Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek as I slowly turned to wax. That wasn't the best day to have first memories of.
"What is this!?" Nancy cried, struggling to maintain her balance.
"Something is coming!" Sai confirmed, squinting through the trees to where a distant drumming could be heard. "And fast."
"What should we do, Sanji-san?" Robin asked, putting a hand on my body's shoulder, ready for instant action.
"Wait," the blonde commanded. "Lets see what it is."
We did as instructed, and sat motionless for a minute. Finally, through the underbrush sprung a pure white stallion, so ivory he practically seemed to glow. The horse's eyes were wide, his hooves pounding the ground as he galloped toward us. I didn't see anything special about it, but Nancy and Robin seemed starstruck, following the creature as it barreled toward us. Following it through the woods came twenty more identical horses, all gleaming white and practically glowing.
"Nami-san, Robin-chan!" Sanjino yelled. "You'll be trampled!" When neither of the girls moved, he took the iniative and wrapped an arm around Nami's waist, pulling her off to the side with him and leaping out of the way of the storming herd. Robin slowly blinked back into her senses, wrapping her arms around my body and pulling it off to the other side.
"Could it really be…?" she whispered. I didn't see what was so special about the horses as they drew closer, but I had to know what mesmerized the women so much that they were rendered immobile. I moved out of the way of the herd as they began to gallop past our hiding spot and overshadowed Robin, looking through her eyes and mind.
I was probably hallucinating, but within the few seconds of stampeding animals I was able to see, I could have sworn every single one had a single solitary horn protruding from the center of their foreheads, the tip shining with an individual star. Amazing, Robin's mind was alive with a million different thoughts. Unicorns, complete with the lion's tail and feathered feet! Simply incredible. If wonders like this exist on Myth Island, what else awaits us further in our journey?
A unicorn? I scoffed, leaving Robin's body for my own gaseous state. Like hell. Those things don't exist.
Robin continued to watch the retreating horses, her eyes wide in shock, awe, and amazement. A light shone in her eyes similar to when she had discovered more ancient ruins or something. It was a nice look that I liked; it suited her, much more than that faraway look she sometimes got like she was bathing in memories she didn't want.
The sentimental moment was interrupted, however, when I suddenly sensed the same presence I had back when our river transport had beached. That feeling that we were being watched, that tingle that runs up your spine and you just can't shake it off. I whipped around, my fists balled, eyes roving through the trees to spot the stalker.
There! A man was peeking around the edge of a trunk, his eyes fixed on Robin's back as she leaned over for a last look at the so-called unicorns. He seemed to come to some kind of conclusion and looked back over his shoulder, gesturing to someone behind him. A moment, and four tiny little men emerged silent as a shadow from their hiding place, each armed with a knife and a coil of rope.
With a moan, I made a dive for Robin, throwing my thoughts into her mind. Turn around now, Robin. Unless you want to possibly die, do it now!
Zoro.
Do it now, woman! Damn, are all females this complicated?
Robin turned, but by the time she had, the men had surrounded her in a semi-circle, all knives pointed directly at her, an inch from her face. Her pupils shrank and she didn't move a muscle.
"It's a female," said one of the men, dressed in a black undershirt and black tunic, a belt of silver across his waist. A black travelling cloak was slung over his shoulders, ending at his ankles where donned were leather boots. His long brown beard was pulled into three separate ponytails, adorned with white ribbons. His dark eyes were shaded, giving him a very eerie appearance. "Human?"
"She's a bit pale; Aluk?" said the man next to the first, this one in a long navy blue tunic and gold belt. His cloak was dirt-brown, with an accompanying grey shawl wrapped across his brown hair and short beard. He, too, wore leather boots, which he promptly stomped into the ground. "Bit rare to see a female Aluk."
"She's definitely human, Irogan," said the third, this one slightly older as indicated by his grey beard. This one was glad in a deep maroon, with a belt adorned with various devices that could either be used in war or mining. A tasseled broadsword was belted to his hip. Across his shoulders was a regal-looking cape threaded with silver. "She doesn't smell like an Aluk."
"But looks at this ones," said the fourth, this one shorter than the others. He wore a deep green tunic with a silver belt. Across his shoulders was what looked like a wolf's pelt, held in place by a black strap running over his shoulder and across his chest. His golden-blonde beard was carefully braided down the front of his chest and his hair held back on his head with pins. He was currently poking at my body with a brown deerskin boot. "Hes has to be deads; no one stucks wis those kinds of thorns survives for very longs."
Robin's eyes shrank even more, and I felt a twinge in my own heart. Yes, I was dead, but Robin wasn't, and she had pulled me from the thicket and taken careful measures to extract the thorns from me. Oh shit.
"Whats should wes dos with hers, Orin?" said the fourth, addressing the third and who I assumed to be the leader of the group.
"We'll see about the other three with the second group in a minute," said Orin, not removing his blade from where it was aimed at Robin's heaving chest. "Humans don't sell well these days, but I suppose it depends."
I let out a hiss. Slave traders. We've been ambushed by mini slave traders. I didn't understand why Robin just dealt with these guys with her Devil Fruit powers. She could take them out with a flick of her wrist if she wanted to, so why not? She shifted a bit for a better position where she knelt, and I immediately saw the reason. The puncture wounds from where she had been stabbed by thorns were oozing a sickly yellow pus, and her hands were shaking slightly, but it appeared she didn't have any control over them. Her breathing had increased rapidly.
"Who are you?" she asked, trying to maintain a steady composure.
"We don't have to tell you anything," said Irogan sharply, thrusting his sword closer between Robin's eyes.
"Silence," Orin interrupted. "We may be cruel, but we're not evil." His gaze shifted back to his captive. "We are the Dwarven Traders, Droi, Irogan, Orin, and Ilfred, selling fresh slaves to the wealthier mongrels living in the Four Temples at the top of those towers. For some reason, the slaves only last a week or two." His eyes moved to Robin's bleeding and oozing hands. "We'll have to fix that before the market tomorrow."
"What do we do with the body?" Said the third dwarf, digging the heel of his boot into my body's cheek. "Looks dead to me."
"Don't touch him!" Robin screeched, drawing all attention to her. She had pulled herself into proper sitting position, her eyes blazing. "Don't you dare."
Droi and Ilfred exchanged glances. "He can't be dead if she's makin' this much of fuss," said Droi.
"Coulds it bes a witch's spells?" asked Ilfred. "We's picked up someones likes that befores. Stoles her from other dwarves, y'see, but some other humans gots to her first. Is hates 'True Love's Kiss'."
Orin stroked his beard. "It's possible. Angela has been pretty active this past year…" He nodded. "Alright. We'll take the body with us." He gestured toward Robin, who still looked tense and rigid, her eyes locked on Droi, who slowly removed his foot under her fierce gaze. "Tie her up."
Ten minutes showed Robin with her hands tied behind her neck and two more ropes around her legs to prevent escape. She stood higher than the four men, who only reached her waist in height. My body had been detached from its stick and laid on a makeshift stretcher fashioned from a large leaf and two metal poles one of the dwarfs had in his satchel. How they fit beats me.
"Robin-chan!" came Sanjino's voice from where he and Namiko had taken shelter from the stampede. "Are you okay?"
I resisted the urge to stomp over to him and give him a good thinking-to. It had been at least fifteen minutes since the horses left, why the hell hadn't he done anything? Our dwarves turned toward his yell, curiously looking over the ridge toward the voice. I took the initiative and climbed up to get a good look, all rage and fire, when I saw his and Nancy's situation.
Similar to us, the two were surrounded by a group of six dwarves, all dressed completely different than ours. Nancy was completely gagged and bound, lying on a tiny wooden cart pulled by a Shetland pony. Sangino had been put against a tree, two knives sticking nauseatingly from his boot, no doubt going through his foot and into the ground below. His call had to have been given permission by his dwarven group's leader, a man with long black hair and a close-cropped beard. Dressed in black chain mail and tunic and armed with a black-bladed sword, he looked positively fierce, even without the bow and arrow aimed directly at Sangino's chest.
"Yes, Sanji-san," Robin answered. "I've met some new friends. I'll be going with them for a while."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Gark!" Orin yelled, drawing his sword and joining me to where he could see the other group of dwarves. "This was our catch!"
The bowman looked up at Orin, a smirk evident on his face. "How many times do I have to remind you that you're not the only slave-trading group there is?" he growled. "We saw 'em first, they're ours."
Orin's eyes roved over Sangino's predicament. "You're too brutal, Gark," he muttered. "I'm assuming you'll fetch a good price for those."
"Sure do," said Gark. "The female is what humans call ripe for the picking." His lackeys chuckled at their leader's joked. "The man is strong; hard labor. And what'd you get? A half-dead one and an all-dead one!" The dwarves laughed again.
"Watch your tongue," Orin snapped, turning to rejoin his kin. "We'll se you at the square then, yes."
"With your pitiful catch?" Gark snorted. "Doubt it."
Sangino's whimpers of pain faded as Orin and I returned to our group. "We'll be off to Loren," said the dwarf, sheathing his sword.
"Hai," said the others, and with that, Robin and I were escorted from our place and into the forest, led by a curious but not all horrible group of slave drivers. Damn, had I my real body I could deal with these assholes in mere seconds. But then again, had I my body, we wouldn't be here in the first place. Unicorns, dwarves. What next, werewolves and vampires?
Before long, our tiny group came the bank of a river, a bridge stretching across the rapids and letting off to where a town could be seen through the trees. Tiny huts with thatched roofs, two-story buildings with flowerpots hanging on the windowsill, and advertising taverns or shops. As we marched through the town, which was normal sized as a human, different… creatures… emerged from the shops and what I assumed to be houses.
One woman walking past us held up an umbrella to shield herself from the sun, her skin deathly pale and her eyes glowing red. As we passed, she did not acknowledge us, but continued on her way toward a tavern entrance where several similar people stood waiting and smiling happily. A glowing bug flitted in front of my face, and I instinctively raised a hand to swat at it when I remembered that I was intangible. At closer glance, it wasn't a bug at all, but rather a tiny person with wings growing from her back, dressed in a leaf by means of clothing. Wings beating a million times a second, she waved to Irogan cheerfully, who waved back, and sped off, a trail of stars in her wake. Fairy?
From a nearby tanner's store exited an extremely tall man, completely bare-chested and covered in coarse black hairs. Where his legs should have been began a horse's chest and body, the two parts grafted smoothly together. He laid his new tanned skins across his back and stared at us as we walked past, his black eyes wary. Centaur? Across the street, two tiny children left a toy store laden with different gifts, waved off by a short man in a green and red suit and black belted shoes, with pointy ears on either side of his hat. Elf?
I shook my head. Is that what Sai had meant when he said the stuff of legends? When he ran back to us all grins and hearts, exclaiming to have seen the town where resided inhuman creatures? He hadn't meant just legends like Gold Roger or the City of Gold (been there, done that. I still remembered it). He meant creatures which actually didn't exist. The apparent unicorns, dwarfs, centaurs, fairies, vampires, elves. Holy shit, I was going insane. I just couldn't comprehend the existence of these people. It was simply unacceptable!
The dwarfs finally pulled off the main road and made their way through an alley between two pawn shops. Down a steep flight of stairs, two lefts and a right, through a sewer and finally coming to a door built into a stone slab. Orin stepped forward and rapped the hilt of his sword against the stone four times in rapid succession.
"The Witch's Omen burns where?" Came a voice through the rock.
"The right side of the white oak," Orin replied, and stepped back as the door was pushed open to allowing our group entry.
Whatever lay beyond the door was unseen, the dark suffocating all the light from the room. Irogan and Ilfred entered first with my body suspended between them. A few moments later, the soft fwhump of body hitting stone could be heard and the silent words spoken between the dwarves and another creature inside. Orin ushered Robin and Droi inside, following and shoving the door closed behind him.
I remained outside, unsure whether to follow them. I paced back and forth for a minute before I felt a twinge in my gut. Robin was in there alone. Not technically since my physical form was there, but she was alone mentally, no one to talk to but herself, surrounded by slave drivers and who the hell knows what else. Besides, I may be dead, but I wasn't losing my hunger for adventure, and I most certainly was not going to run away from a bunch of men hardly taller than my belly button.
Damn. I took a running start to phase through the rock, running at top speed. I had grown used to the rush of colors on either side of my vision as my intangible body moved through the solids, how easily I reformed on the other side. So I wasn't expecting to suddenly crash into a hard rock, my face literally flattened against the stone, my chest blooming with a new bruise.
I peeled myself off the huge boulder, rubbing my nose as my eyes widened in disbelief. I hadn't been able to phase through. Robin was on the other side, all alone, and I couldn't enter. I tried again for good measure, running even harder at the entrance, resulting only in a huge mass of bruised skin rising from the center of my forehead similar to as if Nancy had hit me.
I put a hand against the stone, staring forward as if I could somehow project myself into the room, but still to no avail. I was stuck. And as I pouted and kicked the huge stone, another wave of nausea rose up behind my mind, and the images had already begun rolling across my vision.
This was the bad that bad thinks is bad. Oh fuck.
6:57:21
The rumor about Unicorns is that they can only be seen by women, so that explains why Zoro was initially unable to see them. Don't know if any of you knew that, so if you didn't, know you do. :D Do you like this idea now? Of dwarvish slavers and other mythical creatures? Come on, it is Myth Island. Don't be a Zuko – I mean, Zoro – and not believe anything.
Sorry about dropping the F-bomb again. Heh.
So I leave you with this chapter as a belated Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Kwanahanamas gift, I wish thee a Happy New Year, and don't forget to review!
Coming Up: Chapter 7 – Broken and Shattered