Trial for Treasures, Part Two
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
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"I...hate...this place...already,"
"I've been hating it ever since we saw the bone bags,"
Devon grunted as he pulled himself on the rope that was hooked to something on the outer area of the pit they were in. After untangling themselves from the mass of bodies, the group of adventurers thought of a way out of the pit that saved them from the boulder. To their surprise, but also their relief, Carmen had a rope and a grappling hook hidden on her person. So, with a good toss and a short test, they began climbing the rope.
When they were all free of the pit, Carmen unhooked her grappling rope from a large crevice in the floor and tucked it away into her jacket.
"Why didn't you use that before?" Niri asked, glaring at Carmen a little, "We could've swung out of the boulder's way!"
Carmen shook her head, "No, we couldn't have, Niri. Trust me, the best we could've done was swing a little forward, swing back, hit the boulder and still get crushed,"
Niri muttered something under her breath and turned away, taking a seat on the cold, stone floor. DJ looked to the other side of the pit, to the direction from whence they came.
"I gotta tell you, I didn't see that coming...the giant boulder thing,"
"Yeah, and I'm guessing those bodies back there didn't see it coming until it steamrolled over them," Carmen muttered under her breath as she picked up one of their torches they were able to save, "Alright, kiddies...if we're gonna find this thing and get out alive, we have to be careful," she shot a light glare at DJ, "All of us,"
"Damn right!" Niri rose to her feet and grabbed DJ by his neck, "DJ, if you ever do that again, I"ll strangle you myself!" she hissed as she began strangling the poor musician.
Kirsty looked at Devon, "Should we stop her?"
He shook his head, "Naw, let 'em finish...if we're lucky, we'll lose an idiot,"
"Devon!"
"What?"
-----
After prying Niri's hands off DJ's throat, the group made their way further into the mountain. They kept their eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary, so no one would accidentally set off another trap. Things went smooth for awhile, nothing came out at them and no one set anything off, so the group's morale was pretty good...until they came into a small room with beams of light shooting from every wall.
Carmen looked around, "I got a bad feeling about this,"
"Gee, is that the master thief sense you have?"
The thief's eyebrow twitched, Ignore her...ignore her, she doesn't know what she's doing...
"So...," Kirsty looked the room, then at her friends, "What do we do?"
As if on cue, Pingu separated himself from the group and began to walk out into the room.
"Pingu!" Niri started to go after him, but Carmen caught her, "Hey!"
The thief shook her head, "We need a tester,"
Pingu slowly walked along the floor, eyes darting from side to side, Nothing coming out to kill me yet...still, can't let my guard down!
Everyone watched anxiously as Pingu walked along the floor of the room. They were expecting something to happen, but nothing happened and Pingu was soon all the way on the other side of the room.
"Huh," DJ put his hands on his hips, smiling, "I guess that's that then. Let's keep going, everyone!"
There's something not right here... Carmen thought as DJ stepped into the room, Someone had to have gotten past the boulder before us, so there should be more booby traps. So, where- her eyes widened when she saw DJ pass into a beam of light, "MACLEOD! GET DOWN!"
Without a second thought, DJ hit the floor just as a metal spear shot out of the nearest wall and pierced the same beam of light he had just passed through. DJ looked back just in time to see the spear retract back into the wall.
"Holy shit...!"
"Macleod, don't move!" Carmen yelled to him, "Not yet!"
DJ nodded slowly and became still, "Don't worry, I ain't going anywhere,"
Carmen sighed, "That was close. I'm just glad I was able to realize it before he got skewered,"
Niri glared at her, "You couldn't figure that out before he went out there?" she shrieked.
"Be glad I figured I figured it out at all!" Carmen shot back.
Kirsty came between them, "Alright, alright, calm down you two! Look, we're not gonna get anywhere just by standing around arguing,"
"Or laying down!" DJ threw in from his spot on the floor.
"Macleod, you're a dead man, dead men don't talk!" Devon yelled at him, "So shaddup!"
"I ain't dead yet, Demon!"
"ENOUGH!" Kirsty screamed, her voice bouncing off the walls.
Everyone became silent.
Kirsty rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Alright. We've established the fact that this room," she pointed to the room in front of them, "...is booby-trapped with metal spears that come out when you step into a light beam, apparently, and obviously we need to get across before we can continue. However, we can't go pass through the light or else we get impaled by a hidden spear. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Besides leaving Macleod out there?" Devon cracked, earning a punch to the stomach from the doctor.
"I have an idea," Niri said loudly as Devon doubled over, coughing.
-A short time later...-
"Easy, now...easy,"
"This is going too slow,"
"You wanna go slow and live, or fast and die, kid?"
"Shut up, Isabela. Your fault that DJ almost got killed,"
"Don't step into the light!"
"I know, Kirsty, I know!"
One by one, the pirates and the master thief slowly made their way across the room. It was Niri's idea that they go separately so they wouldn't set more than one trap off by accident. It was also her idea that they go as slow as possible when moving under or above the beams of light so the spears wouldn't shoot out and kill them. Sora didn't have that problem; he just kept his tail low to the floor and trotted across the room to join Pingu.
"Macleod, how are you doing?" Devon asked as he slid across the floor on his belly, barely missing a beam that passed over him, "Still with us?"
DJ, who was still laying on the floor, gave a thumbs up, "Just fine and dandy, Demon King. I'm laying here, enjoying the thought of being impaled if I move wrong...HOW DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!"
Ignoring the yells of her nakama, Niri looked at Carmen as the two of them made their way across the room.
"Carmen?"
"Yeah, Niri?"
"How did you know my father?"
Carmen paused momentarily and looked at her for a few seconds before continuing her trek, "He and I were very close, years ago,"
Niri stopped, "Very...close?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, it was nothing major. He and I were in the Marine Academy together years back,"
"The Academy?" Niri frowned, "You were a Marine?"
Carmen nodded as she paused, "Yeah. Your father and I had training together, as well as strategy lessons and chores. We were kinda infamous back then,"
"Why?"
"Well, for one thing, he was very good at target practice and I was very good at infiltration stuff. You know, picking locks, sneaking in, getting information...that kind of thing," Carmen chuckled a little bit, "We got into a lot of trouble at times, though. You wouldn't believe how many times we saved each other's asses whenever we got into too deep,"
"How'd you become a thief?"
Carmen grinned, "That's an interesting story, actually. A year or so after you were born, I got bored with the Marine life,"
"Bored?"
"Yeah...don't get me wrong, it was a decent life in the Marines, but I didn't have many challenges, especially with my skills. So, I left the Marines and became a thief. I tell you, it was one of the best choices I ever made, Niri! The thrill of getting through tight-knit security traps, eluding the law...it was fantastic! The thief life had the challenge I wanted, so I stayed a thief,"
"My father must've been mad at you for that,"
"He was, at first, but he knew that once I made up my mind, there was no changing it. I owed him big time, but I was unable to repay it before he died,"
"Owed him?"
"He saved my life. I got caught and he was there watching over me while they were waiting for the rest of the Marines to show up. I thought for sure that he would turn me in, but he told me to run. I was surprised, but I took the chance. But, before I could leave, I thought about his career and what would happen if they found out he helped me escape. I didn't want my old friend to get into trouble, so I knocked him out and ran,"
The two thieves looked at each other, completely ignoring their surroundings and their companions for a moment.
Carmen closed her eyes, "When he died, my heart broke when I realized that I couldn't pay him back for that thing he did for me. But, I saw an opportunity a couple of years ago when I heard his daughter was imprisoned for murder. I knew that no child of his could commit murder, so I thought if I helped you out, my debt would be repaid, but I got sidetracked many times and before I knew it, you were free and on the run,"
"Carmen...,"
"Hey, are you guys coming or what?"
Snapping out of their conversation, Niri and Carmen turned to see that everyone was already all the way across to the other side of the room...except DJ who was still laying on the floor.
"DJ," Niri's eyebrow twitched, "What are you still doing there?"
"Carmen told me not to move...,"
"YOU DON'T NEED PERMISSION TO MOVE!" everyone screamed at him, "GET UP ALREADY!"
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After the room with the spears, the group came to yet another room. This one was much larger than the last one, and luckily it had no beams of light shooting from the walls. It did however, look odd. The floor was made entirely out of tiles and on the far side of the room, was a large, metal door.
"We're almost there, I can feel it in my gut," DJ whispered before looking down at his stomach, "...or is that hunger?"
Devon rolled his eyes, Idiot.
"Anyone wanna take a bet on whether or not this room is rigged with booby traps?" Kirsty muttered sarcastically.
"There is a definite possibility," Carmen bent down and picked up a nearby rock, "Let's test it out, eh?". She threw the rock up and down a few times before tossing it into the room. Everyone watched as the rock hit the floor and skipped a few times before coming to a stop.
Nothing happened.
Not one thing.
Devon clicked his tongue, "So...who's going first?"
Everyone looked down at Pingu. The penguin noticed them looking at him and backed away.
'Oh no! No way!' he waved his flippers around, 'I was the test dummy last time!'
"Anyone have any idea what he's saying?" Carmen asked, pointing to the honking bird.
"Trust us, it's best not to ask what he's saying," Kirsty and Devon said together as they shook their heads.
"I'll go," Niri volunteered as she took a deep breath, "We can't stay here all day debating who goes first, otherwise we'd never get anywhere,"
She exhaled loudly and started to move forward, but she stopped when Carmen brushed past her and stepped onto the tiled floor. The red-clad thief tapped the floor, the sound of her boot echoing in the room.
"Seems pretty sturdy, so it's no pressure plate. Let's see if my luck holds out, hm?"
-----
Axe and Herman waited on in the now empty streets of Kinmo, just outside the weapons store. When they and the recently freed merfolk and Fishpeople came into the area, the citizens panicked and rushed inside their houses, locking the doors behind them.
After being freed, all the capable denizens of the deep decided it was time to go and pay the lord of the island a little visit. The little visit, in their minds, was to storm their estate and kill the bastards who kept them locked up. Herman tried to keep them from resorting to such violence with talking, but the best he could do was getting them to promise not to attack those who were unarmed.
Though blood will be spilled, Herman was somewhat glad he got his message across. Now, he and Axe were waiting while the able-bodied non-humans armed themselves. The ones too young, too old, or too heavily wounded were staying just outside the town limits, out of danger.
Axe looked up at the direction where the palace was supposed to be, "Well, Herman...this will be quite a sight, eh?"
"Yeah, it will, Cap'n...yes, it will,"
-----
Okay, that was stupid of me...damn, what is wrong with me today?
Carmen looked down to the pit of spikes that lay below her. She was currently hanging onto one of the tiles of the floor, hanging for her life. She had walked around the room a few minutes before, taking things as easy as possible until one of the tiles she was standing on broke away. She was startled, but thinking quickly, she was able to save herself from being impaled in the pit below.
"Carmen!" Niri's voice called out to her, "Are you okay?"
The thief grunted and pulled herself up onto the tile, "I'm fine...don't worry about me, I'm used to this sort of thing!"
But, what I'm not used to is getting caught off guard like that. With that and the failure to see the last trap...something must be wrong with me.
"What do we do now?" Devon asked from the other side of the room.
Carmen looked at the group of kids and shrugged slightly, "We just have to be careful, I guess. Seems like that only some of the floor here doesn't break away, so it looks like we just have to move on the ones that don't break away,"
"Any idea which ones do that?"
The thief shook her head, "None at the moment...you kids got anything?"
Niri looked around at the room, then at the older thief, then began chewing on her thumbnail.
The tiles weren't affected when she threw the stone, only when she stepped on them. So, in order to find out what tiles are false and what are good, we'd have to step on the tiles to try them out, but if we fail, we'd fall and die in that pit. Hmmm... she looked at her friends, "DJ, you're needed,"
"Oh great, Macleod's gonna help!" Devon threw his arms in the air, "And he's been so useful so far!"
Kirsty slapped him upside the head, "Hush!"
"Ow, what the hell-?"
She slapped him again, "Hush, I said!"
Devon rubbed his head, "That hurts, ya know,"
"DJ," Niri took her friend by the shoulders and looked right at him, "You need to run all around the room for us,"
"What?" DJ blinked a few times, "Wait, why?"
"That's a good question," Kirsty added.
Niri sighed, "The tiles break away when someone steps on them, meaning that's it's very dangerous for us to try and find a right path,"
"Then why-?"
"But!" Niri held up a finger, "With your Devil Fruit ability, you should be able to run around and find the right and wrong tiles without falling into the pit. DJ, you're the only one who can do this...please,"
DJ looked at her, his friends, Carmen, then at the door on the other side and nodded.
"You got it, Niri-chan! I'll do it,"
The plan makes sense... Devon looked at the room again, ...and Macleod is actually gonna be useful here. Didn't see that coming.
"Carmen!" Niri waved to her fellow thief, "DJ's gonna find all the bad tiles! Just hold your ground there, alright?"
The other thief gave a thumbs-up.
"Ready when you are, Niri," DJ said, stretching his legs, "Just give the word,"
"GO FOR IT!"
Like a gunshot, DJ sped into the room and raced around, the false tiles breaking away behind him.
Devon couldn't help but grin as DJ cleared the room, "Move, move, move! Go Macleod!"
Kirsty and Niri stared at him, "Did you just cheer for DJ?"
"I know...I think I'm sick or something,"
After a short period of time, DJ rejoined his friends, a big and proud grin on his face, "Good enough for ya?"
Devon looked behind him to see that every single false tile had broken away, while the safe tiles made a path from their end of the room to the other end of the room. He patted DJ lightly on the shoulder and started walking on the path, "Not bad, Macleod...you're actually useful for something!"
"Great job, DJ!" Niri kissed him lightly on the cheek, "You were a big help!"
DJ's grin widened, "Anything for you ladies!"
Carmen shook her head as Devon approached her, "Is he always-?"
"Yeah, he is. Just do what I do and ignore him...,"
After a careful trip along the path of tiles, the group now stood in front of the large metal door on the other side of the room. Carmen gently pushed the door open and a loud creaking sound echoed around them as she did so. When she opened it up all the way, she and the others looked into what lay in front of them.
"Whoa...,"
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Kilnorc: Well, what to say about this chapter? I had a long time figuring this stuff out and I knew I couldn't fit every trap into the treasure hunting thing for some reason. I do have one more trap in mind, one that a friend of mine suggested, so I'm gonna use that and get to the good part. YES, the spears and light thing was Indiana again, and another friend thought it'd be a good trap, so I put that in there.
On the next chapter of Bloodline...
DJ: We found it! No one got killed either!
Carmen: Shit! Thought I was fast enough...I'm getting too old for this shit.
Niri: It's beautiful...
DJ: Why does it reject me?
Trials for Treasure, Part Three
Devon: There's something here...