It seemed like the Grand Line had conspired to make the day that the Straw Hats had a lot of ground to cover as uncomfortably hot as possible. While the speed of the white horse created a blissful breeze Usopp couldn't help but wonder how Chopper was coping.
Chopper was struggling. While he'd been busy worrying about making sure he had enough of Zoro's medication he'd forgotten to pack extra water for himself to stop him getting so dehydrated. In circumstances like these Zoro usually ended up carrying him…this time was different, Zoro couldn't afford to tire himself more than was absolutely necessary so, Chopper was determined to stay quiet.
Luffy and Zoro were up front setting the pace, for once Luffy was taking things seriously. The captain head barely spoken since leaving the ship. Robin and Brook followed closely behind but soon began to notice the Doctor struggling to keep up.
"I think Chopper is struggling Luffy." Robin said catching up to the captain. Zoro turned back to see the Doctor with his head down breathing heavily trying to keep up, "It's the heat. I'll carry him for a bit." he jogged to the tired Doctor, "C'mon it's too hot for you to be running." he went to pick the little reindeer up, but Chopper dodged.
"No, I'm ok, you need your strength." Zoro chuckled good naturedly.
"Really it's no trouble and you know it." much to Zoro's frustration the reindeer dodged again turning back to brain point so he was less of a target. "Chopper, you'll collapse…" the Doctor showed no sign of giving in. Robin watched in amusement as Zoro's face first contorted into a mask of thought, then he seemed to have a penny-drop-moment. He crouched to the ground holding his head in both hands and groaning.
As soon as Chopper heard the swordsman groan he stopped dead. Warily he looked at Zoro. When the swordsman stayed still the Doctor walked over, "Zoro… are you ok?" No reply. He walked closer. "Do you need the medicine?" Still no reply. He stood right next to the first mate and began to rummage through his pack. Before Chopper even had chance to open his pack properly Zoro scooped him up and deposited him forcefully on his shoulders, running to catch up to Luffy.
"Zoro!" Chopper dumped his pack on top of the swordsman's head to fasten it, "That wasn't fair." he pouted.
"We can't have you collapsing Doctor-san, who would look after Zoro if you were ill?" Robin asked.
For a second the reindeer thought about it and sighed in resignation, settling himself more comfortably on the broad shoulders he was often carried on.
The group ran on in silence for another hour. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky.
"Time for a break." Luffy said pulling a joint of meat from his pocket. The group knew he must have been thinking about something the whole time they were running not to have eaten the meat earlier on. It had to be a record fro Luffy.
They took refuge in the shade of a large tree on the top of the next hill.
"How far now?" Brook asked as he stretched his legs out in front of him.
"Another two to three hours if we keep this pace going. We'll get there before midnight even if we take another hours break after this one."
Robin was thoughtful, "We can't have you arrive too much before midnight… the Brotherhood would know you'd set off earlier than they instructed, we can't risk that."
Zoro was considered it for a moment, "You go ahead and meet up with the others, Chopper and I will follow at a slower pace. That way I can save some energy and he won't pass out from the heat." the two of them looked at the Doctor as he relished the shade. After Robin quickly talked it over with Brook, Luffy and Chopper it was agreed that they would split up.
Chopper and Zoro waved goodbye to the rest of the group after an hour. Yawning Zoro leant back against the tree.
"You should sleep, I'll wake you up when it's time to leave." Zoro thought that was a damn good idea and settled down for a nap, you never know could be my last…
Yoru sauntered over to the rack of blades and withdrew a long, thin, slightly curved blade. He walked back to Sanji who was being held by Goran. "I wonder how long you can last before you scream for your crew…" he held the tip of the blade at Sanji's throat. The cook just stared into Yoru's eyes, his glare was full of hate and loathing for the bastard. The blade was moved down to Sanji's collar and quickly flicked downwards causing his shirt to fall open exposing his pale, toned chest. Yoru was impressed that the cook hadn't flinched… most people began to shake when he held the blade to their throats. "Alter." he said bluntly to Goran.
Sanji was relieved of his jacket and shirt and tie then deposited roughly on the polished stone alter. It was cold on his skin, but that was nothing compared to the cold dread settling itself in the pit of his stomach. He struggled and flailed as they tried to shackle him, unfortunately it seemed that they had figured out allowing him to get a kick off was a dangerous thing and they restrained his legs first. Now immobilized Sanji once again resorted to glaring at his tormentors.
"How long do you think he'll last before he passes out?" Yoru asked.
"I'll give him six." Goran said after considering the question.
"Will you go first?" he held the knife out to his partner.
"Certainly!" he took the knife and studied Sanji. After a moment he moved the knife the tip hovering above Sanji's shoulder. He let the tip touch skin. When Sanji refused to flinch Goran pressed down slightly, the sharp point digging into the flesh but not yet piercing it. He watched the cooks eyes closely, most of the people they'd had on this alter tried to seem "brave" until the "fun" began but you could see the fear in their eyes, it was intoxicating. The only thing Goran saw in the cooks visible eye was hate… this was going to be interesting. He pressed harder with the blade, the tip sinking slowly into the unmarked flesh beneath. Blood welled up slowly, still the cooks eyes were defiant. The blade sank in an inch, when Goran saw no reaction he dragged the blade out roughly…still nothing.
Sanji could see the two of them watching his reactions closely. If they wanted him to scream or freak out, he was damned if he would. He was doing nothing for their satisfaction, he gritted his teeth in determination as the knife was handed to Yoru.
Yoru chose to run the knife from mid-way up Sanji's ribcage down to his hip leaving a long but relatively shallow cut down the cooks side. Again, Sanji showed no sign of acknowledging what they were doing to him. He could feel the blood slowly running down his shoulder and side, but, the wounds were not serious. Yoru smirked and handed the knife over once again.
Goran paused, "Pass me the knife second from the right, top shelf please, this one doesn't seem to be to the boys…liking." Sanji focused on the ceiling, there was no way he was looking to see what the knife looked like, that would show anxiety. Goran made a show of taking the blade from Yoru and passing it above Sanji's face. This blade was serrated and shorter than the last one.
Goran pressed it to the Sanji's skin just under the collar bone. The cook felt the blade bite as the pressure increased, he tensed instinctively, Goran smirked and dragged the blade across the bottom of the blonde's collar bone, Sanji felt each serrated tooth as it tore into his skin, he deliberately breathed slowly keeping his eyes glued to the ceiling, like he would when Chopper had to sew him up occasionally. In his head he tried to imagine being on the Thousand Sunny listening to one of Chopper's lectures about being more careful.
The two depraved members of the Brotherhood kept taking turns in their sick game. Sanji continued his stoic endurance and this was beginning to get to Yoru. They had already inflicted nine wounds without so much as a whimper. They had used four different blades, the one they were currently using was more like an ice pick. Goran was currently twisting it in the deep wound he'd inflicted at Sanji's hip. The cook was beginning to feel sick, he was slowly becoming covered in his own blood at the amusement of his tormentors. He had to clench his teeth tightly as Yoru pushed a finger into the new wound Goran had made, his body giving him away as it instinctively tried to move away from the source of pain straining at the shackles.
Yoru chuckled, "I think we should up the ante a little, we seem to be getting a reaction now." he dug his finger in more. This time Sanji went visibly pale, the sensation was making the cook extremely sick, he had broken out in a cold sweat and his head was beginning to swim. "Care to take another guess at how long before he passes out?"
"…thirteen, if he lasts that I'll be surprised."
Although Sanji was beginning to feel groggy due to blood loss he still refused to make a sound. By wound fourteen he'd well and truly pissed Goran off for not passing out when he'd predicted. Yoru tutted, "You realise by not giving in your making things worse for yourself don't you? Goran gets more… sadistic when people prove him wrong. Go on…" he drawled, "Just one little scream?" Sanji spat in his face,
"Fuck. You."
Yoru snorted with laughter, "Fine. Goran you can play as rough as you want…I'll just watch."
Much to Sanji's dismay Goran smiled, put down the knife he was holding and rolled up his sleeves. He looked down at the cooks torso covered in cuts and chose a wound, as Yoru had done previously he pressed a finger into the wound making waves of nausea wash over Sanji, he could hear the rush of his own blood in his ears. Quite suddenly the pain and the sound of his own pulse stopped. For a minute he felt like he was suspended in nothingness. Then pain exploded through him from the wound Goran was pressing. Fire travelled through his veins, his muscles clenched of their own accord as the blood curse took hold. A spine chilling, throat tearing scream came from the cook as he could no longer suppress it, he felt like his brain was about to short circuit.
Zoro jerked awake in a cold sweat, his head throbbing.
"Zoro are you ok?" Chopper asked looking at the first mate anxiously.
The swordsman shook his head, " Headache… bad dream… I think." Was it a bad dream? I'm sure I heard Sanji scream… Zoro shook his head again. He decided it was falling asleep thinking of the cook and worrying about what he was going through that had cause the bad dream.
"Here, have some of this." Chopper passed him a vial of the medicine. "You should go back to sleep, I'll wake you when we need to leave."
Zoro lay down again and closed his eyes. It sounded so much like Sanji….
Brook, Luffy and Robin were making good progress. Although they had slowed the pace a little, they should arrive with plenty of time to help Usopp, Franky and Nami place the explosives.
"What is that ahead?" Brook asked noticing a glint at the top of the hill ahead.
Robin conjured an eye on the tree at the top of the hill. There was a small group of spear wielding Brotherhood, their spears catching and reflecting the late afternoon sun. they were eating and talking amongst themselves. "Brotherhood, a small group of low rank." she reported.
"What are they doing?" Brook asked as Luffy ran past him towards the hill.
"Patience," Robin said firmly as a hand appeared to grab Luffy by the leg tripping him, "and I'll find out." the archaeologist added an ear to the tree.
"When he comes through here you know what to do right?"
"Yeah use those idiots to slow him down, tire him out but, don't kill him." the scruffy man gestured towards a tightly gathered group to the right of him. None of them were eating or speaking… or moving for that matter.
The first speaker shuddered, "They still give me the creeps… No matter how many times I see Yoru and Goran do it… I just can't get used to 'em." the three men sat with him nodded and murmured in agreement.
"Did we really need to bring so many? Surely it makes those two weak if they lose too many of those things." said one man.
"What exactly are they? I've never seen them before." Said another.
"Oh, I forgot you're still new… you've met Yoru and Goran?" the man nodded so the current speaker continued, "They've found a way of… manipulating… people to their will." he paused and looked at the outcast party. "They replace the persons blood with a percentage of their own, this allows them to cause so much pain it sends the person one of two ways - dribbling vegetable, or completely insane. Those it sends insane are tortured into a state of submission and used as attack dogs, even human shields or sources of blood in some cases, if they don't obey Yoru and Goran only have to exert a tiny amount of energy to reduce them to a blubbering wreck… It's no way to live but, the last person to point that out is sat over there."
"Shit… Yoru and Goran are some of the oldest members aren't they?" the new member asked.
"Yeah, so they've had plenty of time to find new ways of using the cures… just never end up on their wrong side. You could almost feel sorry for the cocky, blonde bastard they're playing with today… Hey what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" the speaker shouted as the new member stood up and began to walk towards the outcasts.
"I wanna take a look, that's all." he moved a step closer.
"Don't! Why do you think we travelled separately and sat over here? They are under instruction to maul anything that approaches them. The only reason we had to come along was to dispose of them if they get carried away with Roronoa."
The young man had edged another step, this apparently classed as an approach to the nearest outcast, it's head slowly turning in the new member's direction, it's dead eyes fixing on his back. The rest of the group backed away from the young man who stood there with a cocky grin on his face, back to the outcasts.
"Come on they can't be that dangerous if they aren't in their right minds." he laughed.
"Kid you need to back up, them being out of their minds is what makes them so dangerous, they cant tell friend or foe."
The outcast was now on its feet, the rest of them slowly turning their attention in the same direction and slowly following suit.
"Kid move!"
The young man laughed, "Come on guys it…" a hand clamped down on his shoulder cutting his sentence short. The mans eyes widened as he saw the outcast's feral grin. They descended on him as a pack using their nails, fists, feet and teeth. The other three members of the brotherhood turning their backs on the bloodshed. A single pathetic scream escaped the young man just before he had his throat chewed open by the frenzied pack of outcasts. It was a complete bloodbath.
Robin made the eye and ear disappear, slightly shaken by seeing the devouring of one member of the Brotherhood by such animal like beings. She turned to the musician and captain and reported what she'd seen and heard. "We should avoid them… if we miss getting rid of just one and they somehow manage to get a message back to their brethren I think Sanji and the children will be in serious danger, not only that, we stand a good chance of being injured, which, we cannot afford."
"If we leave them Zoro will run right into them." Brook pointed out.
"We'll wait here for Zoro and Chopper, then we'll fight." Luffy said spoiling for a fight.
It was clear to Robin and Brook that even though avoiding the enemy would be the safest option it would also cost them more time and energy than was necessary. If they waited for Zoro and Chopper, pre-warned them and attacked together, they would break through quickly hopefully with minimal cost to themselves. The three of them sat down keeping themselves as hidden as possible in the long grass.
Zoro was running again, he barely noticed Chopper talking sat on his shoulders. His mind was too busy trying to make sense of the screams he'd heard. He was positive it had been Sanji's voice, it was so clear he'd woken expecting to be beside him, the scream had been that real.
Frustrated he shook his head, he needed to have a clear and focused mind by the time he made it to the Temple of the Brotherhood. He focused on the problem he had to solve one way or another… how to sense the breath of the statue without being too close to deaths door, he had to get Sanji and everyone else out of there once the statue was destroyed.
Warily he watched as the sun began to sink on the horizon, You'd better be alive Ero-Cook.
Sanji's throat burned as another scream was forced from him. There was no stopping it now, he'd never experienced pain like it. Goran and Yoru were laughing at him. His pain and humiliation seemed to be a turn on for them. The more he screamed the more they groped each other.
"Sick. Fucks." he coughed as he tasted the familiar coppery taste of his own blood. Goran laughed and wiped the blood from Sanji's chin watching as the bloodied finger disappeared behind Yoru's willing lips.
Nami, Franky and Usopp had made it. They were now, under Usopp's instruction assembling the explosive devices he'd masterminded. Nami's weather sense was telling her to expect a storm soon… and not the atmospheric kind. She felt uneasy as she peered over at the imposing building in the clearing a few meters away. Although they were well hidden in the dense forest she could have sworn she someone was watching them…