Robin meets a surprise visitor. Enjoy!

Hey Everybody, it's Spring Break for me, and that means that I can update more times this week (Yayyyyyy!) So expect another update on Wednesday, and maybe on Friday instead of Saturday as well (not quite sure on that one).

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, I would be busy drawing instead of writing Fanfictions

10: A Revolutionary Meeting

The large cedar grandfather clock ticked endlessly in the corner, its pendulum bobbing back and forth to a certain rhythm, never missing a beat. The clock read that it was 2:38 P.M., and sitting in a chair by a desk waiting was Nico Robin. Each clock tick just added to the tension, as she sat and waited for the Captain to come back in.

After the Straw Hat's attack by Bartholomew Kuma, Robin was sent to the island of Tequila Wolf, where she was forcefully bound into slavery to help build a bridge that is 700 years old and still not completed. When asked why they were building it, the slaver told her it was none of her business and that she should only concern herself with building it.

But 700 years…

Fortunately, none of the slavers knew about her devil fruit power, and since they only bounded her with regular handcuffs instead of seastone cuffs, she was able to user the power of the Flower-Flower Fruit to aid her escape.

She used it first to get the keys from the guards. The guards in which the keys were stolen from obviously noticed the arm sprouting by them, but a few placed hands and a cracked spine took care of them rather nicely.

She was able to free her hands, but now she was on high alert from the guards. She was forced into hiding as they looked for her night and day, saying how she was a devil fruit user and is a threat to the peace to the island, or something like that (Robin wasn't really listening).

Then, three hard days and nights of hiding, stealing food, and finding shelter. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure what she was going to do after she escaped, just that she needed to escape. Unfortunately for her, there were no boats on Tequila Wolf, and the bridge she was issued to build wasn't completed yet.

So she went for the next best thing, guerilla warfare. She freed other slaves, fought against guards, and tried her best to spread chaos around. Regrettably, most of the slaves she tried to free have been slaves for a long time, and their spirits had been broken already; she found no fighters among them.

The slavers and guards were also well organized as well. This posed a serious threat to Robin as she had to choose her moves strategically, lest she get spotted and taken down by a hundred or so guards.

This cat-and-mouse game continued for the better part of three days, and, on the beginning of the fourth day, hope came to them in the form of a revolutionary army. They were led by a man known as Commander Splint, a lanky looking soldier wearing a gray bucket hat with white vertical stripes with strands of his pale blonde hair falling down just above his eyes and a somewhat youthful face with stubble growing out of his chin. He dressed somewhat outlandishly (as most Revolutionaries did), but he always wore a pair of black gloves at all times.

He stated he was affiliated with Dragon

(Monkey D.)

the Revolutionary, and that this island was just the newest step in the Revolutionaries plan to overthrow the World Government. While this may have been good news some other time, Robin only cared that she had been rescued. No more sneaking around and living day to day, she had officially been rescued, and her first chance to leave the East Blue and get back to her friends at Sabaody Archipelago.

Unfortunately, she was brought in by Splint for some questioning first.

The time was now 2:41 P.M.

Commander Splint finally opened the door, and shut it almost immediately. Taking up a seat across the desk from Robin's, he leaned back and put his feet up on the table. He pulled out a cigarette, and after an attempt to offer Robin one (which she refused), he lit it and took a quick drag.

"I'm sure you understand our concerns, Miss?"

"Robin."

That name sounded vaguely familiar in Splint's mind, but he quickly pushed it out. "Right, Miss Robin. I'm sure you understand our concerns and the…circumstances in which we found you."

"I've already told you I wasn't with them," she stated.

Taking a long puff, Splint bluntly replied, "We can never be so sure. I mean, these fuckers have been using slavery on this island for near 700 years now. 700 years, do you know the significance of that number?"

Robin remained silent.

"700 years ago was when the Void Century ended, and the World Government was just formed," Splint explained. "Do you know what this means Miss Robin? It means that the World Government has been building this bridge since its creation. Now I dunno why progress was so god damn slow on their part, maybe a lack of slaves or something, but one thing is for certain; this bridge means a helluva lot to the World Government—why else would they build it for so long?—and that is reason enough for us to stop its production."

Several seconds of silence passed as the grandfather clock ticked on in the corner.

Finishing off his cigarette, Splint put it out right on the table and locked eyes with Robin. "Not gonna give us any information then are ya?"

Robin continued to be silent.

Sighing and scratching the back of his head, Splint stood up. "Look, I got no problem with you takin' out, or even killin' some of the guards, those men got it coming to them ten times over already. The problem is that you haven't given us any information about anything, and I'm afraid we just can't trust you."

"I don't know anything about why they're building that bridge, if that's what you're asking," Robin simply replied. "All I can tell you is that I was a prisoner and was able to escape."
Splint took his cigarette packet out and started to take one out.

"And how, pray tell, did you manage to do that?"

Before he could get the cigarette fully out, two arms sprouted on his chest. One took the cigarette out and put it his mouth, while the other took his lighter and lit it for him. He stared at Robin with a shocked expression, before he simply smiled, looking down.

"A devil fruit user, eh? Well, that would explain it. They didn't get many of those up here and didn't bother using seastone cuffs."

"So does that mean I'm free to go now?"

"Not quite," he said. "Just one more thing; would you mind telling me how you got here in the first place?"

That was the question Robin was afraid of. She doubted anyone would believe her if she said a man who at the Paw-Paw Fruit was able to send her flying here in three days. What else could she do, though? She was this close to finally be on her way off of this island and getting back to her friends. Sighing, she knew she would have to tell him.

It was 2:44 P.M.

"Well, I was sent here against my will by the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma; you've probably heard of him. Anyways, he separated me and my crew and I eventually landed here. They took me in, and the rest, as you know, is history."

Something about that struck Splint odd, as he pondered for a second. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "You're not Nico Robin, are you? Part of the Straw Hat Crew?"

She nodded solemnly.

Splint burst out laughing. He laughed so much that his cigarette fell out of his mouth. "Shit!" he said through his bouts of laugher. "You're one of the reasons Dragon sent us to this fuckin' island."

"What was that?!"

Splint's laughter settled down as he sat back down. "I don't have all of the details, but apparently Dragon's been sendin' search teams out on you and your whole crew. When the order came in that we were supposed to invade this island, Dragon told me that a secondary mission was to look for this Nico Robin character. I forgot about it until you mentioned getting scattered from your crew."

"Dragon's been watching us?" asked a confused Robin. "What for?"

"Hell if I know," Splint said, lighting another cigarette. "It's only been rumors really, but a lot of other leaders of our revolutionary groups have been given similar orders to find members of the Straw Hat Crew. The reason? That's somethin' you'll have to ask the big man yourself."

He stood back up and walked towards the door. Beckoning Robin, he said, "Follow me, I need to show you somethin'."

Robin obliged as she slowly stood up and followed him out into the island. All around she saw groups of freed slaves, most of which were incredibly overjoyed to finally be freed from what must have been years of slavery. Most of the revolutionaries were celebrating their newest victory with drinks and food and music and good cheer.

Splint walked over to the recently set-up communication line and took the speaker. In a laidback tone he said, "Hey Boss, I got the girl you said I need to keep an eye on; Nico Robin, repeat, I found Nico Robin. As I recall you wanted me to get in contact with you as soon as I found her, right?"

On the other side of the speaker, a voice came in. "Good job Commander Splint. I knew I could trust on you for such an important task. I shall be over there in a few. Over."

"Roger that, Splint over and out."

He hung up the transmitter and threw away his current cigarette. "That was the boss now," he said, smiling as he turned back to her. "He'll be here in a second to greet ya. Better get prepared."

"That was Dragon?" Nico questioned. "How can he get here in a 'second'? I thought your base was in the New World; it's impossible for someone in the New World to get to the East Blue in a matter of—"

Splint pointed behind Robin and snickered, "Impossible isn't anything for our boss."

Nico Robin turned around and saw Dragon there, right behind her. She was nearly awestruck, as a small sound escaped her lips and she backed away, nearly stumbling on her own two feet. Meanwhile, Splint snickered at her expense.

Dragon held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Dragon the Revolutionary, a.k.a. the World's Most Wanted Man and father of your Captain, but you already knew that didn't you? It is a pleasure to meet you Nico Robin."

Dragon was certainly an imposing figure. Standing at a respective six-two, his wild black hair was swept back, showing all of his face. He always had some kind of sinister smile on his face (it was the kind of sinister where you're glad that he's on your side, because that kind of smile let you know he had a plan) set along with his mature face and deep-set eyes. He was wearing a green cloak covering his body, but by far the most noticeable thing was his set of tribal tattoos on the left side of his face. Despite knowing exactly who he was, Robin couldn't help but feel like she was looking into the eyes of a strange, a dangerous man who could gut her at any second.

Stopping herself from trembling, she held out her hand and shook. "N-Nice to meet you."

Dragon kept his smile as he said, "Sorry to bother you like this, but I have a very important message I need you to relay to your Captain; it is very urgent, and you're probably the only one I can trust with remembering it."

"First things first," she said, feeling a little bolder. "How did you know where all of us have been and where we are now?"

Dragon took a few steps forward and calmly replied, "I've been keeping tabs on your crew since your Captain left Roguetown. Call it being a hopeful father, but I felt that Luffy was gonna be big. And I must say he has exceeded my expectations, reaching 300 million berries in such a short amount of time. Anyways, once you and your crew got separated by Kuma, I sent out my best birds with den-den mushi's attached to them in order to find out where you went. It really wasn't that hard."

Robin just stood there, taking in all of the information she just learned; it was 2:56 P.M.

"As I was saying," Dragon continued, "you're the one I trust the most to deliver this information. The rest of your crew is…well, let's just say they are a little absent-minded."

"What message are you talking about?"

Dragon grinned a little wider. "Just tell him as soon as you see him, that there's a grave threat coming, and that he needs to be very patient with it, yet not let it go unpunished either. He should enter the New World, but he needs to do it with caution, especially when he enters a certain island. Patience and planning are key, especially while there."

"What do you mean 'grave threat'?" she asked, a little puzzled.

Dragon ruffled his hair and simply stated, "You'll find out soon enough." After a few brief seconds of silence, he finally said, "Commander Splint here will be happy to take you back to Sabaody Archipelago. The Grand Line's not far from here and we have an eternal pose there, so it shouldn't take that long."

Turning around, he raised his hand to say goodbye and said, "Until next we meet Nico Robin."

"Wait!" Robin yelled. "You've never been interested in or helped us or your son before, so why are you starting now?!"

"A cold wind and massive storm are approaching, and I want my son and his crew to be in top shape and together when that happens," was all he responded with.

"What do you mean by—"

By he had disappeared, leaving Robin in a state of complete and utter confusion.

The grandfather clock chimed three times to signify that it was three o'clock P.M.

Mysterious...to say the least.

Expect Update on Wednesday!

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