Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters; Eiichiro Oda does. I own Erika, though ;).
Chapter 9
The Well
Zoro was as acquainted with blood nearly as long as he was acquainted with Wado Ichimonji. Longer, really. He knelt down to inspect the blood on the plant more closely. "Pretty recent. Less than an hour, maybe?" He stood up, staring hard at the ground further away. There were a few other splashes of red, but it wasn't much. "There's more up ahead. Looks like a trail, all right."
He glanced at Tashigi. She just stood there, staring at the ground, her eyes appearing ready to jump out of her sockets. Her body was stiff and rigid, and for a moment Zoro wondered if she was squeamish at the sight of blood. He immediately crushed that thought; she was a swordsman and a Marine; there was no way she would still be either if she was uncomfortable with seeing blood.
His rebuttal against such an idea was further proven when he noticed Tashigi's mouth forming a hard line. She wasn't scared or anything; she was angry.
Finally, she spoke.
"They're- they're just kids."
There was a pause the length of a second, then she inhaled sharply and turned to look at Zoro. "Wait, do you think it's one of the monkeys-"
"I doubt it." Bending down to look at the trail of blood again, he found what he was looking for. "Look. Shoeprints. Small ones." He pointed. In the forest, with so much leaf litter, it was hard to track, but there were a few patches of bare earth in which there small, child-size shoe prints, showing up near the splatters of blood.
Tashigi's mouth hardened even more. She pulled out her sword and dashed forward. "They're just kids!" She stopped after only a few feet of Zoro, then turned to the right. Only a foot or so in that direct, she turned again, then seemed to be adjusting herself to walking speed as she twisted and turned, staring at the ground.
"What's wrong? Are you lost?" Zoro called, following her.
She shot him a nasty glare, but spread out her hands. "The blood and footprints… they keep changing direction. It looks like the monkeys caught up to them quickly." While Zoro glanced at the ground, Tashigi turned once more and stopped, horror rippling through her face. Silently she picked up a bloody knife.
When Zoro turned and saw her holding the bloody knife, he felt Kitetsu tremble a little- the blood was fresher than the trail of blood from before. He glowered at the sword, still vibrating at his side, and gripped it tightly. "Shut up, you. Behave!"
"This… this knife," Tashigi said. She'd seemed shocked at the discovery at first, but now seemed to be carefully looking at it. "This is a Marine-issued knife. All of us carry one."
Zoro got closer, tightening his grip on Kitetsu, which seemed to be shaking with even more excitement the closer he got to the knife. Getting a closer look, he added, "There's hair on it. I think that's monkey hair."
"You mean-?"
"Yeah." Zoro tossed her a devilish smirk that sent chills down her spine. "Looks like one of the kids managed to cut one of them." He glanced again at the knife, and added, "Probably threw the knife at the monkey and it struck the monkey deep enough to stick. The monkey was probably stuck here trying to get the knife out…" he glanced around, and noticed a faint trail of blood, leading away from the scene. "…while the kids got away." He smirked again. "Damn, now I'm starting to like these kids."
"There's another blood trail here," Tashigi pointed out. Zoro glanced over, Kitetsu giving another violent shudder as he laid his eyes on a fresher, heavier trail of blood. There was a small puddle of blood near it.
He nodded. "The monkey's. Seems he went in a different direction." He started to follow the earlier trail. Tashigi quickly got ahead of him, probably to make sure he didn't veer off course again. She seemed to be so focused on keeping track of the trail, though, that Zoro decided to extend his observation haki, staying alert for any monkeys nearby.
"Gah-!" Tashigi emitted a noise that sounded like something between a cry and a squeak just as she tripped and fell on hard on her face, her arms going wide and keeping her sword out of the way.
Zoro moved sharply in response, but relaxed slightly when he realized there wasn't any danger. He groaned when he saw Tashigi sprawled out on the ground. "You tripped again?!"
"Not over nothing!" Tashigi protested, yanking one of her feet up and scooting forward a little before turning around. She pointed. "I think there's some sort of string there…"
There was a flash of light, and Zoro squatted to get a closer look. "String? Looks like…fishing line…" He looked from side to side, noting more string wrapped around the trees on either side. "A tripwire."
"Is that more of it over there?" Tashigi asked, pointing with one hand as she adjusted her glasses. Zoro looked up to see a multitude of flashes of light, which he realized were glancing off more transparent strings. The longer he looked, the more he realized that the string was all tangled all around several surrounding trees into one giant, tangled web.
When he and Tashigi came closer, they noticed some bunches of line were really tangled and cut.
"Looks like some monkeys got caught in the web and had to cut themselves free," Tashigi noted.
Zoro was grinning now. This sort of stunt reminded him of Usopp. He could just imagine him running around like the coward he was, bawling and screaming, while he set up the trap. Maybe he ought to mention this to him when the crew got back together.
Tashigi broke into his thoughts, saying, "Where does this end? I wonder if the kids were still heading in a straight line after they made this."
Zoro glanced around. "Over there," he said, pointing. A black fishing pole dangled from the web, straight across from them, on what appeared to be the other side of the web.
"Great. Let's start cutting through," Tashigi said, now standing and holding her sword out in front of her. Just as she stepped forward to make a downward slash, a hand with a sword shot in front of her. She looked up to see Zoro, who now had all three swords out, with one in his mouth.
"Stand back," he ordered, his voice muffled by the sword in his mouth- the Wado Ichimonji, Tashigi noted indigently- "I'll take care of this."
Tashigi began to protest in anger and annoyance, but Zoro ignored her. "Santoryu" he began, and in the next few seconds, all Tashigi saw was a blur of swords and Zoro. Before she knew it, Zoro was next to the tree with the fishing pole dangling from it, his swords crossed against his chest.
"Demon Crow Hunt," he finished. All the string suddenly snapped into bits and pieces that fell the ground. Tashigi held her sword in front of her, checking to see if the way was clear, the way someone would hold a stick out in front of them to swipe away any spider's web in their path. She felt no resistance.
"The trail picks up again here," Zoro said, sheathing his swords and running off. Tashigi hurried to catch up with him before he could veer away from the blood trail for some weird reason.
The trail continued on for about two hundred feet when suddenly it stopped- Zoro nearly kept going in the same direction but Tashigi stopped him- and took a sharp turn to the right. The question for why floating in her mind, Tashigi glanced up.
"Look!" she said, tugging on Zoro's shirt and getting his attention. "Do you think they were heading for that?" she pointed.
Following Tashigi's indicating finger, Zoro saw…a circular pile of stones.
"A pile of rocks?"
"I think it's a well. There's a wooden roof on the ground next to it," Tashigi said, looking through her binoculars. She handed them to Zoro.
Peering through them, Zoro could see what she meant- there was a wooden roof structure on the ground next to the pile of stones, which, through the binoculars, were carefully built into a circle. There were also some jagged pieces of wood on the ground next to the well, which must have belonged to the pieces of wood extending from the little roof on the ground. It looked like the roof had been torn out of place.
"A well would indicate that there was a house or something nearby," Tashigi pointed out. "That's probably why they went in that direction."
"The blood trail does lead in that direction," Zoro agreed, and they ran towards the well. Both sent out their observation haki, trying to get a sense for the kids nearby.
They couldn't sense them, but they did sense-
"Danger!" Zoro shouted as he moved slightly to Tashigi's right and, lightning-fast, unsheathed his sword and sliced the air in one fluid motion. Three broken arrows, all cut cleanly in half, fell to the ground. Tashigi held her sword out in front of her, every sense of her body alert as she tried to take stock of the situation. Beside her, Zoro bellowed as he released a 36-pound cannon as tree about a hundred feet away from him, felling the tree and the monkey in it. The monkey was knocked out by the fall.
Noticing the collateral damage, Tashigi yelled, "You idiot! If you keep releasing attacks like that, you'll destroy the surrounding area and we'll lose track of the trail!"
"You follow the trail, then, I'll take care of the monkeys!" Zoro shouted, blocking a flying knife.
"Are you kidding me? There's five more of them!"
Zoro gave another devilish grin, once again sending chills down Tashigi's spine. "Five?" he echoed, taking his bandana off his bicep and tying it around his head. "That's nothing. Just follow the trail!"
"But-"
"Do it, copycat woman!"
The well was still two hundred meters away. Tashigi sprinted towards it with all her might, dodging when another monkey tried to attack, this one armed with a sword. She tried to keep running away, but spun around to block another attack when her haki warned her. Before she could make another move, though, the monkey was suddenly blown off its feet and fell several meters away. Tashigi turned angrily to Zoro, yelling, "I had him!"
"I said I would take care of the monkeys! Now, hurry up!"
Tashigi wanted to argue some more, but Zoro seemed too preoccupied, so she continued towards the well. Once she got there, she looked around, trying to see if there was a house hidden somewhere. For a moment, her eyes fell on the ground.
"Roronoa!" she called. "The blood trail ends at the well!"
"Eeeeeh?"
Tashigi ignored his response. There wasn't much blood left in the trail, but when she looked carefully, she noticed some drops of blood on the lip of the well.
"Blood? Don't tell me they…" she muttered, looking down into the well. "Hello…" she called, but her voice faltered as she made a new discovery.
Stone blocks jutted out from the well's walls, providing enough space for a firm foothold. Tashigi stood up fully, taking in the well's diameter. It was wide enough that an adult could fit in with plenty of room, but it was too small for the monkeys.
Could they have climbed down there? She wondered to herself, trying to see the bottom. Staring hard with her glasses, all she could see at the bottom was blackness. She couldn't sense anything with her haki, either.
"You think they're down there?" a voice said to her left.
Tashigi jumped, then turned to glare at Zoro, who had rejoined her, all of his swords sheathed. "What are you doing here?"
"I beat all the monkeys, so what else am I supposed to do?" Zoro demanded. Tashigi looked up and around; sure enough, six monkeys were all sprawled out on the ground, possibly dead or unconscious. "Anyway," Zoro continued, "do you think they're down there?"
"I'm not sure," Tashigi admitted slowly. "There's blood on the well, and the kids could have used those stone blocks to climb down. I can't sense them or see anything at the bottom. The well is too narrow for the monkeys to follow." She was silent for a moment, thinking, before saying, "I'm going to report to Erika-sensei and Smoker-san. I'll let them know what we've found." She sheathed her sword, took out her baby den-den mushi and pressed the button. "Erika-sensei, Smoker-san, this is Tashigi."
"You found something?" the den-den mushi said in Erika's voice.
"Yes. Roronoa and I found the boat on the beach and we discovered a blood trail."
"Baka!" the den-den mushi snapped suddenly in Smoker's voice. Tashigi nearly jumped. "You should have reported to us then!"
"S-sorry! My apologies, Smoker-san!" Tashigi said, flustered. She went on to explain their discoveries while Zoro stood alert, hands on his swords, on watch for any other monkeys.
"Do you know where you are?" Erika asked when Tashigi finished.
"Ummm…" Tashigi lifted her head and looked around her. "Well, we're in the forest by the well…" Embarrassed, she realized that she didn't know where she and Zoro were. And she was supposed to be the one who kept them from getting lost!
"I know that," Smoker interrupted, irritation in his tone. "See, this is what I mean by-."
His voice was cut off by sudden, loud shriek from the den-den mushi. Tashigi was so surprised that she accidentally dropped the den-den mushi into the well. Crying out, she lurched forward to grab it, but another hand got it first.
"Got it," Zoro gasped, hanging tightly onto the snail. His entire torso was hanging over the well's wall. Before Tashigi could thank him, there was suddenly another shriek from behind, Tashigi bolted upright and turned, hand on her sword. One of the defeated monkeys had come to, appearing very pissed off, and was screeching as it ran towards Tashigi, holding a giant hammer over its shoulder. Tashigi dodged just as the monkey took as swing at her, and the hammer ended up crashing into the well instead, breaking some of the rocks and the force knocking Zoro into the well. "What the-!"
"Roronoa!" Tashigi shouted after him automatically. She quickly turned to the monkey and before it could lift the hammer again, Tashigi sliced the hammer's head off the handle and quickly executed a Kiri Shigure, slicing it across the chest. The monkey, already injured, collapsed.
Sheathing her sword, Tashigi turned back to the well. "Roronoa?" she called. All she heard was a grunt. Her eyes darted to the stone blocks that jutted out from the wall. They were still intact. She hoisted herself over the well's lip and took a handhold and foot hold on the blocks. "I'm coming!" she called, and started to climb down as fast as possible.
As she neared the bottom, she could see the outline of Zoro's body. She had expected to see him upside down with his shoulders and head on the ground and his torso and legs against the wall, but instead he was right-side up and sitting cross-legged on the ground. He was groaning and rubbing his head.
"Are you all right?" Tashigi asked when she reached the bottom.
"Eh?" Zoro looked up and seemed surprised to see her. "Fine," he answered through gritted teeth. "I just bumped my head, that's all." He started to unsheathe his swords to check them after his fall.
"Just bumped your head?!" Tashigi exclaimed. "After a fall like that, you must have broken your neck! You must've gotten a concussion at least!" She held up three fingers in front of him. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Zoro glared at her. "There's no need to check me, copycat woman, I'm fine," he growled.
"Don't be like that! I'm trying to see if you're all right! Are you this inconsiderate to every person who tries to help you?" Tashigi snapped.
Zoro didn't answer; he just handed her the baby den-den mushi and looked away. Tashigi was temporarily silenced as she accepted it, checking it over. The poor den-den mushi seemed unharmed, though it did seem shaken, but the comm. button was busted. Although she was relieved that the den-den mushi was ok, Tashigi still grumbled a little over the fact that she couldn't contact Erika or Smoker.
"Oi," Zoro interrupted, pointing in the direction of his gaze. Tashigi turned her head in the direction of his finger and words failed her.
By the faint light provided from above, she could see a small, circular door, seemingly carved out of the well's wall and with a ring for a handle. It was close to the bottom of the well and it was big enough for a child to pass through standing up. It was slightly ajar.
For a moment, no one said anything. Finally, Tashigi muttered "the kids" under her breath, tucking the den-den mushi into her pocket while standing up, stepping over to the door and yanking it open. She couldn't see much inside, but there appeared to be a stone floor and walls.
Bending down, she stepped through the opening. She could barely see further than a few feet in front of her, but the dim light revealed a large stone passageway.
"Hello?" she called. Her voice echoed over the gray walls. She took a few cautious steps forward. "Anybody here?" She continued to make her way inside.
"Shouldn't you light a torch or something?" Zoro's deep voice intoned, echoing in the passageway. Tashigi whirled around to see that Zoro had also climbed though the doorway and was looking up at the walls.
She scowled. "Oh, no! You stay where you are!" she ordered, walking further into the tunnel. "I'll go looking for- kyaaaaaa!"
She suddenly tripped over something and fell forward, and continued to stumble towards the ground, and abruptly disappeared. Zoro stood frozen as he heard sounds of a body thumping and bumping on stone, along with the clanging of metal and a few grunts and yelps from Tashigi. He nearly moved forward to see what had happened when-
SNAP!
The sound cracked the air like a gunshot, causing Zoro to stare, wide-eyed into the darkness, as a loud roar filled his eyes and a sick feeling emerged in his stomach.
Author's note: Hi guys, sorry I took so long to update again. I had one hell of the end of the semester. I'm on winter break now, and I'll try to finish it before I go back to school. Sorry if the writing doesn't seem as good. Please tell me if you have any suggestions to make it better.
Please read and review! ;)
