Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. All copyrights and trademarks go to their respective owners.
"We build as only children know to build
We made a way where there's a will
No slowing down or standing still
Innocent and reckless"
"How did we get so old and never notice
How did we gain the world and lose the moment
Rise and fall, the tide surrounds us
And drowns us all"
-Hands Like Houses
"Still Water" from Dissonants
"Mira, you should be with Luffy and Sanji," Vivi said, still staring in the direction that Luffy and Sanji had headed, a still very ill Nami on Luffy's back.
The day after the fight with Wapol, we had lucked out and found an island. Unfortunately, that's where our luck seemingly ran out. The people of the island weren't particularly fond of pirates, putting it mildly. They had met us at the mouth of the river that we sailed into with their weapons drawn, demanding that we leave. The situation quickly became hostile, but Vivi ever so prudent, neutralized the situation. The people of the island allowed us to land.
That led to strike of bad luck number two. The island had no doctors. Well that wasn't true. There was one doctor, who Dalton, the apparent leader around this place, and the rest of the people called a witch. The nickname did little to inspire confidence. If that wasn't bad enough. The witchy doctor lived in a castle on top of the highest peak in the land.
This had no effect on Luffy or Nami. Despite her current condition and common sense saying that it was entirely too dangerous, Nami insisted that she head up the mountain, so that we could get Vivi back to Alabasta as quick as possible, which of course our reckless captain had no issue with. Sanji decided he was going too, not trusting Luffy to get there without harming Nami in some way.
"They'll be fine," I assured Vivi. "Sanji won't let anything happen to Nami, and Luffy won't let anything happen to either of them. They don't need me."
"Still… You shouldn't be worried about me."
I was in the village with Vivi and Usopp, and Dalton. Sani had started going on an on about how he had everything under control and would ensure that Nami got the treatment she needed, and that neither Vivi nor myself should subject ourselves to the harsh environment. Luffy nodded in agreement, saying, "It'll be fine."
I was inclined to agree with him. With Sanji to make sure he didn't do anything stupid, they'd be fine.
Zoro and Carue were back on the Merry keeping watch.
"I'm not," I said. "No point in wasting energy, when they have it under control." I looked towards the spot next to Dalton. "Do you mind?"
"No, go ahead," he said.
I tightened my cloak around myself and plopped down onto the ground, leaning back against the brick of Dalton's house. I decided that if we were going to sit here, I might as well make the best of it and try sense working on that sense of mine some more.
It would've been easier, if I wasn't dealing with people like Luffy and Zoro. The average person's aura wasn't strong enough for me to detect it. Usually, only the supernatural was on my radar. Spirits, curses, demons, beings like my father, myself and my siblings, devil fruit users too. Back home, there were so many that it damn near drove me insane. It was a constant buzzing in my head that just never went away. Cal had told me that if I trained, I would eventually be able to handle it. I had thought that was a crock, and instead of training, I did everything in my power to block it out, which looking back at it was stupid.
Cal was right. She was right most of the time, though I'd never tell her that. Here I was doing exactly what she had told me, wishing that I had listened sooner, so that Zoro, Kitetsu and Luffy wouldn't be such a problem.
I sighed. There was no point in thinking about what I should have done. I had to focus on what I should do going forward. The first step was familiarizing myself with Kitetsu and Luffy, so that they no longer overwhelmed me. Kitetsu, while far more unpleasant in nature, was the easiest one to familiarize myself with, no where near as strong as the blinding light that was Luffy. Zoro's energy was much weaker. It wasn't strong enough to overwhelm me, but it was easily over powered by Kitetsu and Luffy. If I could withstand Kitetsu and Luffy, then it was likely that everything else, would be much easier to deal with, save for extreme numbers. There was no way to work on that without throwing myself into a crowd of devil fruit users or cursed objects, so that was going to have to wait. Until then though, I could work on my accuracy and the speed with which I could locate people and things.
"We did once have some here on this island. Some doctors. However, all of them left some time ago for certain reasons. They were very good at what they did, when they were still here. We were even well known for the advanced medicine that was practiced here on this island," Dalton said.
I was gonna have to split my attention between Kitetsu and listening to Dalton, an additional challenge. I wasn't always going to be able to completely concentrate, so it was helpful.
"So what went wrong?" Vivi asked.
I opened my mind up and was surprised, when I almost immediately noticed the devil fruit near me. With some distance between me, Luffy and Kitetsu, I could actually notice devil fruits, seeing as they weren't being drowned out by that damn blade or my damn captain. I gave Dalton a once over, looking for some obvious change that may have occurred from eating the fruit, but found none. There was no indication as to what the fruit was or what power he had as a result.
"A few months ago, we suffered a vicious attack, and our country was destroyed by pirates."
I perked up, my attention switching from Dalton's devil fruit to his words.
Vivi and Usopp gasped.
"No wonder you gave us the reception you did," I said.
"Yes. After the attack, the word pirate still terrifies everyone around here. Sorry for the way that we treated you. Their group was small as well, only five people. The captain called himself Blackbeard. Their power was so incredible that they destroyed our entire country faster than you would believe."
"And there were only five of them fighting?" Vivi questioned. "That's impossible."
"It's possible. I've met single men, who could bring entire nations to their knees."
"What?!" Usopp cried, looking at me alarmed.
"Not the norm," I tried to pacify him. I kept it to myself that I suspected Luffy was one of those people.
"What's more, there are some here, who actually believe it was good for the country," Dalton added.
"What could possibly be good about that happening?" Vivi asked.
"That's crazy!" Usopp exclaimed. "Who would say something horrible like that anyway?"
Dalton gave the pair a small smile. "Thank you. I agree, but they have their reasons. The king, who ruled here before the attack was a horrible man. His rule was despised by all of the citizens. Our country used to be known as Drum Kingdom, and our king's name was Wapol."
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," I muttered.
"Yes, remember him. I know that man," Vivi said, some type of realization dawning upon her.
"Not Wapol."
"What's that? You mean you know who Wapol is?"
"On our way in," I explained. "He attacked us. He was looking for a log pose or an eternal pose to bring him here."
"Yes, there's no question about it now. I remember it clearly. I'm sure I met him at a monarch meeting that my father took me to. I was still very young then, but I remember it to this day."
"A monarch meeting? Who are you?"
Vivi was flustered, trying to recover after her slip up.
"Doesn't matter," I cut in. "We met Wapol, and he's trying to return to this land."
"I don't understand what's going on here. He said he was a pirate. He didn't say anything about being a king," Usopp said.
"He's just calling himself a pirate as some kind of disguise. In truth Wapol's only wondering the seas, trying desperately to return to this island," Dalton explained.
"So then Wapol and the people who are on his ship with him were kicked off the island, because they were no match for the pirates? Is that what happened?"
Vivi was getting more and more worked up, desperately trying to rationalize the situation.
"That's not it. No. When it happened, when we were attacked, Wapol's army didn't even try to fight! In fact, the second he learned how strong the pirates were, Wapol grabbed his cronies and ran like a coward! He was the first to abandon the country and flee out to sea! After that, the country felt utter despair. We were left behind by our king."
"What kind of king would abandon his country?! A king abandon his people? Just the thought of that makes me absolutely sick."
"Vivi," Usopp said, his tone quiet, encouraging her to calm down.
"You're exactly right," Dalton agreed. "The one good thing that came out of it was the end to Wapol's tyrannical rule. The people, who were left on this island, have come together now. We're trying to create a new country, so what we fear most right now is the return of Wapol and his followers, the return of his rule. We can't afford for him to come back now. With the country so unstable, it would be the end of us. We want to build ourselves a new peaceful nation on this island."
I nodded. It was a nice thought, but peace wasn't easily achieved. "I'm sure you will, but you'd be wise to remember that the road to peace is often paved with adversity and conflict."
We lapsed into silence for a moment, everyone absorbing the new information. I rested my head back and closed my eyes, deciding to seek out Kitetsu once more. It took me longer than I would've liked, but I did eventually lock on to the demon sword. I hadn't expected it to move, since Zoro was on the Merry, but I was happy with my ability to find it. I wasn't struggling against it as much as before either, which was a bonus.
"The snow's really picking up," Usopp noted.
"Tell me something. Who are you guys?" Dalton asked.
"Why do you ask that?"
"You're a group of only seven people, traveling the Grand Line on a ship without a doctor. It seems incredibly reckless."
"In case you forgot, we're pirates. That's the reason you pointed all those guns at us remember? Now we may be a small group true, but with a brave warrior-"
"Incredibly reckless appears to be our captain's M.O.," I said, cutting Usopp off. "We were hoping to recruit a doctor here on this island."
"We weren't expecting the doctor here to be a witch living in a castle," Usopp said.
"Well she's all we have. You guys certainly seem to be different than the pirates we're used to."
I smiled. "Good."
"Hello Dalton. I was looking for you," a large woman said, walking over to our little group.
"What can I do for you?" Dalton asked, standing up.
"I head the newcomers were looking for Dr. Kureha."
"Yes, but the sick woman's friends have already taken her up the mountain," Dalton explained.
"Well that's too bad, because I heard that the doctor's in Cocoa Weed right now."
It took the four of us a second to process what the woman had said, before the others all reacted at once.
"SHE'S WHERE?!" they yelled.
"You mean Nami and the others have already passed her?" Usopp asked.
I sighed. "Damn it." I stood up. "We have to get that witch to the castle and fast."
"Your friends, we could call them back-"
"No," Usopp said, shaking his head. "Sanji and Luffy are freakishly strong. There's no way that we can catch up to them. We just have to find that witch and make sure she goes to the castle."
Vivi nodded in agreement.
"Very well. Follow me. We'll take the sled."
The sled was hooked up to two large rams. Dalton took up the front seat, while Usopp, Vivi and I sat in the back. We hauled ass to the next village, where hopefully the doctor still was.
"I'm sorry. This is my mistake. I was aware that the doctor had come to town from the mountain in the last few days, but I assumed she had left and wouldn't be back for quite some time."
"Don't worry about it," Usopp assured him. "This isn't your fault. The problem here is how abnormally strong Luffy and Sanji are. Even if we go up the mountain after them, there's no way that we would catch up to them. If we are able to find the witch in this Cocoa Weed place, we just have to tell her to get back up the mountain as quickly as she can."
"You're right. That's true. We have no other choice."
"Forgive us. Forgive this land for having no other doctors."
"Don't' say that. This isn't something that you have to be apologizing for, Dalton."
"She's right about that."
I shared Vivi and Usopp's sentiments.
"Let's hurry," Dalton said.
"Dalton, you haven't told us, who you are yet. It doesn't seem like you're an ordinary villager. You have a certain way of speaking that makes me think of a military officer." I could tell that Usopp had been sitting on this train of thought for a while, probably since we had met Dalton.
"Plus, most civilians don't have devil fruit powers," I added, deciding that we might as well try to get as much information as possible.
"What?" Usopp and Vivi asked shocked, looking at me.
"You're correct. Both of you. I did serve this country, under our former tyrant, Wapol. I became the captain of this country's security guard long ago, during the time that Wapol's father ruled here. However, the time came, when the king died and then his rule was handed down to his son Wapol. When that happened, this country changed. Wapol exiled all the doctors, but kept the twenty best as his personal physicians. Anyone, who needed treatment had to beg him for it. If they disobeyed him, or spoke ill of him, they were denied."
I had heard tales of similar behavior time and time again. No longer did it shock me. At the same time, I wasn't numb to it. I was angry at this man. I was disgusted by his behavior. It just didn't hit me as hard as Usopp, and nowhere nearly as hard as it hit Vivi.
"So from then on anyone who got sick had no choice, but to throw themselves at Wapol's mercy and hope that the 20 MDs would treat them," Usopp summarized.
"Yes. And pay the excessive medical fees."
"So basically, Wapol was ruling the country by taking the citizens lives and holding them hostage. That's not ruling. What sort of king would do that? That's tyranny."
I put a hand on Vivi's shoulder, and gently squeezed, bringing her back down. I knew that this was hard for her to hear. Vivi cared so much about her people. She had risked her life to protect her people, and then to hear that someone else gave up on his without a fight. It was an insult to all rulers.
She slumped, the anger and fight draining from her. I gave her a reassuring smile, and slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug.
It was silent after that, but that silence didn't last long. At the speed we were traveling, Cocoa Weed came upon us quick. We headed to a restaurant at the center of the village. According to Dalton, it was the busiest place in town, the only real place that people gathered. If we were going to find out where the witch was, it was our best bet.
I was a bit concerned about the place, considering that the door had seemingly been ripped off it's hinges, an older man repairing it.
"Dalton," the man greeted.
Dalton nodded in acknowledgement.
The inside was chilly, not surprising given the lack of a door. The people were separated into two main groups, one set around the bar, the other around a couch, where a little boy was laying, legs bandaged up. Some were scattered about at the tables.
"Dalton," the man at the center of the bar greeted, surprised. "What brings you here?"
"We hear that Dr. Kureha was in the village. We were hoping that someone knew, where she was. It's urgent."
"You're a bit too late I'm afraid. She was just here, but she's left."
"Wait? What are you telling us? You mean the witch left this town just here a few minutes ago? Oh you gotta be kidding me! This is ridiculous!"
"She left after she made my sickness all better," the little boy said.
"If you're looking for the doctor, she already left."
'We got that already, bud,' I thought.
"We have to find her. Can you tell us, where she was heading, when she left here?"
"I think I know," a man sitting at one of the tables spoke up. "I heard from somebody else that she was heading to Gyasta."
"Gyasta?"
"Which is where?" I asked, not liking Dalton's tone.
"If we were going to Gyasta from Big Horn, we would go in the opposite direction we took to get here."
"You mean we already passed her?"
"Of course," I grumbled. This was starting to get annoying. We didn't have time for this nonsense.
"Ice skating is very popular there," Dalton said.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Usopp yelled.
"Relax," I instructed him.
"We need to get going to that town," Vivi said. "At this point, we don't really have any time to lose."
"Yeah, you're right," Usopp conceded, settling down.
"Dalton!"
All eyes turned towards the door, where a man came stumbling in. He was beat to hell, body bloodied and bruised. He was struggling to remain upright, using the doorframe to support himself. He was clearly exhausted, gasping for breath. "I found you at last."
"Yes, Garth, but I thought you were standing watch today."
Apparently, the man's injuries weren't enough for Dalton to realize that something must've gone wrong.
Garth finally collapsed. Dalton caught him just before he hit the floor. "What's the matter? I can tell you've been badly injured. Tell me what went wrong."
"Every watchman, except for me, they've all been killed, Dalton."
"WHAT?!"
"This thing- This submarine sail boat, it came out of nowhere and it attacked us."
"Oh no," I groaned.
"They killed every one of the watchmen. We couldn't stop them."
"Who are they? Please? I don't understand. Please explain this."
"PLEASE DALTON YOU HAVE TO HELP US! We aren't strong enough to fight them, you have to do something."
"What's wrong?" Usopp asked.
"It was them?" Dalton asked, putting the pieces together.
"It was Wapol, Wapol and his men. They came back."
The crowd erupted into worried whispers.
Dalton, rose to his full height and ran off.
"Shit!" I swore, starting after him.
"Mira!" Vivi cried.
"Take the sled!" I yelled at Usopp and Vivi. "Find the witch! Zoro's by himself on the ship with half sawed off legs. There's too many for him to take on by himself without the Merry taking any hits. I don't care how strong he is!"
"Dalton!" I yelled after him.
"You can't stop me! I have to do this!" he said, getting on the back of someone's horse.
"I'm not trying to. You're doing what you have to, to protect your own, just like I have to. I'm going with you. I need to get back to the ship."
Dalton, grabbed my hand and hoisted me up on the back of the horse and snapped the reins.
The ride was silent for the most part, until Dalton spoke. "Your name is Mira, correct?"
"It is."
"Mira, tell me how did you know I had a devil fruit?"
"It's a long story, but in short I can sense them. I'm rusty though. Only recently have I started training that skill again. If Luffy or Zoro had been around, I might never have noticed it."
He seemed to mull that over for a moment.
"Here." He handed me the reigns. "There's a fork in the path up ahead. Go left. Protect your ship."
I didn't question it. A second later his body began to shift, growing and twisting. It took a few seconds before I could recognize what it was he was shifting into, but once I did, it was undeniable. The ox ox fruit, model: bison.
He hopped off of the horse and galloped away.
"Good luck!" I yelled after him.
Author's Note:
Hey. I suck. I know, but not gonna lie I'm going through some shit. My grandfather's sick. I'm trying to sort out my last semester of college, which unfortunately, might not be my last semester. I'm trying to land an internship. Well more like I'm trying to convince an organization to create an internship position for me, because I'm an idiot, who couldn't just take the easy way out. And a lot of other stuff that I don't really mean to dump on you, but I'm tired and upset, and you guys are currently the most captive audience I have at the moment, so I don't want you to think that I just suck at updating. There's a reason. Though I do tend to suck at updating, when there isn't. Sorry about that. Not the point. This is update 1 of 3, so be on the look out for the other two shortly.
Review Replies:
kylC: thanks for the chapter! also yeah fuck my overdue assignments this is important
This is where I'm supposed to tell you to work hard and get good grades, but honestly that drives me to ignore my responsibilities and read/write more than if I had left it alone, so instead I'm gonna say that I'm glad you find my fic to be suitable procrastination material.
Gerbilfriend: Now Im even more curious, why must you torture me this way. Mira is slowly becoming everyone's mother and I feel bad for her, sh's are a lot of work.
It's what I do. Not really. I'm really bad at keeping secrets, but I also hate exposition dumps, so I try to reveal things a little bit at a time and through conversations, so that we don't have to have paragraphs of a leads to b and then to c. That being said, we're probably going to have a large exposition dump right after Drum Island, because I'm impatient.
Mira's totally becoming the crew mom, but it's a role that she's used to.