Lest Ye Become The Monster

by GamerDame

Monsters & demons are an unfortunate danger in this world. They prey on the scared & defenseless. But Abel is neither. A self-proclaimed monster hunter, she seeks to understand the enemy to equip others to save themselves. But she may have to leave the East Blue to achieve this. Where will she find a crew crazy enough to carry her on her fool's errand? Slow burn OCXZoro

81. Beneath the Mountain

First order of business for the new year was getting this chapter out, & I've already completed that resolution. Starting the year off strong! This one was a bit of a struggle, for both personal and creative reasons. If you follow my Tumblr you know work has finally started picking up for me, which is good for my mental wellbeing but slows down the writing process. Plus, I ended up redoing a lot of this chapter to get it where I wanted to be. So thanks to everyone for their patience & continued to support, and to my betas for the quick turnaround on editing. And here's the the continuing crazy saga.

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Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I only own my original additions. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

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Warnings: Violence

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"Nami-san!" Sanji's voice echoed through the dark cavern, the flame from his lighter flickering from his breath, causing the light to dance across the rock barrier blocking the outside world. "Nami-san, if you can hear me, please grace us with your angelic voice!"

Even in this situation, Abel couldn't resist rolling her eyes, unseen in the dark, before focusing on the problem at hand. Talk about a one-in-a-million shot, she thought, crossing her arms as she stared down the rock slide. Actually, given their luck, it shouldn't surprise Abel that things ended up like this. Didn't this exact same thing happen the last time they went cave crawling? And this time, they were trapped with potentially a mob of angry trolls without the benefit of light. Sanji's useful but ultimately dinky lighter just wasn't going to cut it

We just can't catch a break today.

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"I don't know how I let you talk me into this."

Abel didn't even bother looking back at the unhappy navigator. "By appealing to your ego," she answered. Nami might be more world-jaded than the rest of them, but she wasn't as hard to manipulate as she liked to think. All one needed was the promise of treasure or a navigational challenge, and the woman couldn't resist.

In truth, though, Abel hadn't just been blowing smoke when she told Nami they needed her to come. If they were about to delve into some underground tunnels, they'd need someone to help keep them from getting lost. The last time they were in a tunnel, they ended up having to collapse the city above on a pack of swarming werewolves. Abel sincerely hoped this was not a repeat performance. While she wasn't entirely convinced all the trolls were bloodthirsty, anyone would feel threatened by intruders invading into their home. Maybe we should've had Bullseye whip up some fish jam, Abel mused, only half joking. She wasn't above bribery.

Most of the crew had volunteered to come along to the caves, despite Abel's insistence that a smaller team would be stealthier and less threatening. But she didn't argue too much, because their reasoning that it was better to have more people in case things went belly up was fair. In the end, Usopp, Chopper and Robin stayed behind with Solomon and the rest of Claudine's team to help pack everything up. Abel reasoned either they made contact with friendly trolls who might invite them to stay, or they made contact with not-so-friendly trolls and had to get the hell out of Dodge. Either way, there would be no need for their camp. Plus, Chopper wanted to study the troll's stone body more, not to mention still being a bit overprotective of Robin. Personally, Abel thought Robin was simply humoring him, as a bite to the arm was nothing compared to things she endured in the past.

Back to the current conversation, Nami could only huff at Abel's barb. "Then you'd all better be sure to protect me!"

"If you can't get away from a giant troll, it's your own fault," Zoro shot back.

This, of course, inevitably led to Sanji shouting, "Marimo jerk!" His kick narrowly missed Zoro's head, sending him careening into the stream they now traveled beside. Popping up from the surprisingly deep trench, Sanji cried, "Fear not, Nami-san! I'll always protect you!"

Rather than give the cook any further encouragement, Nami merely observed, "The stream's still too deep to cross."

Ordinarily, a quick swim wouldn't be a problem. Heck, they'd done it earlier today. However, things were more complicated now that Franky carted the generator on his back. He'd rigged up a backpack to carry it around, with the lamp extending up over his head, making him look like some mad scientist. As the engine ran on cola, they didn't want to risk getting water in what might end up being their last line of defense. A little rain wouldn't hurt, but immersing it in water would flood the engine. And while Luffy had offered to shoot himself onto the other side and pull it over, the others weren't exactly trusting of him not to break it. Besides, according to Nami, there was a bridge-like structure on the map slightly north of their location. And if that just so happened to take them in a different direction from where all the trolls had been thus far, all the better.

As they followed the stream north in relative silence, Luffy asked Abel, "Why do you think that one troll was so angry?"

"There could be any number of reasons for something to be hostile," she replied. "It could be territorial, or starving, or sick-"

"Or evil," Caine added.

"That too," Abel mildly agreed. "However, if someone had paid attention during their studies, they would know that two is not a good sample size. You can't make inferences about a population as a whole on just two outlier data points, especially when they contradict each other." Had both the trolls been aggressive, Abel would feel more comfortable saying all trolls were aggressive. But the evidence was unclear.

"Isn't it better to err on the side of caution?" Caine asked.

"Caution, yes," Abel agreed. "But caution only extends to being alert in hazardous situations. Shooting someone immediately upon sight on the chance they might be evil isn't caution; It's paranoia. I'm not prepared to say all trolls are evil because one time one attacked me, any more than I'd say all cats are evil because one scratched. The human brain excels at connecting patterns, but sometimes we jump to conclusion based on one extraordinary experience." Still walking, the hunter turned her head toward her sister. "It's that faulty pattern recognition that might lead one to erringly conclude all people of a chosen profession are bloodthirsty murderers."

As the two sisters stared each other down, Abel was quite aware of the awkward silence around them. Had she not been trying to make a point, she would've laughed at how even Zoro seemed to subtly edge away, as if fearing a fight was about to break out. They might find it hard to believe, however, that the sisters had never come down to fisticuffs... at least not with each other. That's why Abel knew that, as much as she deliberately pushed Caine's buttons to drive her point home, the worst her sister would do was glare at her. Like she was doing now.

With forced enthusiasm, Nami exclaimed, "Oh! There's the bridge!" Abel held Caine's gaze for slightly longer before turning to face forward.

"If you hear someone asking, 'Who's trip-trapping on my bridge?' - don't ask questions, just run," Abel warned.

"Why?"

"'Cause trolls like to live under bridges. Haven't you ever read The Three Billy Goats Gruff?" Abel shook her head. "I would ask what kind of depraved childhood you had, but I've met your grandpa. And he doesn't strike me as the sort to read bedtime stories."

Rather than looked upset, Luffy laughed. "That's so true! We usually just ate and fought until we passed out!"

"I wouldn't brag about that," Sanji drawled.

When Nami'd said the map showed a place to cross, Abel had been expecting some natural passage, like a fallen tree or a bend in the bank. She did not expect a legitimate bridge. Or rather, "You mean what used to be a bridge," Zoro said as they stood on the shore.

The old bridge looked to have originally been made of the stone from the stream it spanned, a single arch that had stretched from one side to the other with a gentle slope. What was left looked very primitive, help together by pressure and some old type of concrete. Given that moss grew along its walkway like a carpet suggested it had been around for a very long time. It was a shame that the far side of the bridge lay in pieces, a mere stub of stone jutting out from the ground. This left their side hanging rather precariously over the flowing water.

Cautiously, Abel stepped onto the bridge proper, ready to jump back at a moment's notice in case her weight caused what was left of the arch to collapse. But primitive it might have been, the bridge held fast, allowing Abel to climb to the edge. Before she did, however, she turned and warned, "If I suddenly disappear, come after me." The scene was oddly similar. At least this bridge had an obvious purpose, unlike the staircase. Taking a quick peek under the bridge, Abel reported, "We're troll-free."

Standing on the bank, Sir Oliver tutted to himself as he observed the damage. "This looks recent." The stone still showed jagged damage where they'd broken, meaning enough time hadn't passed for the stones to wear down.

"How recent?" Nami asked.

"Months, perhaps," Sir Oliver answered. "Certainly before we came."

"I wonder what happened," Claudine murmured.

Standing up again, Abel answered, "Sabotage. Someone didn't want anyone using this bridge." The breaks were too clean for it to have been the result of structural failure or some natural disaster.

Had Usopp been with them, he'd probably suggest going back now. But this was hardly an insurmountable obstacle for the pirates. Judging the distance, Abel took a few steps back before leaping over the gap. Her footing when she landed on the far side wasn't exactly ten-points, but she made it. "Easy enough."

Sir Oliver, Luffy, Zoro and Franky hopped over without trouble. Sanji, ever the "gentleman", offered, "I'd be more than happy to ferry you over to safety, Nami-san!" The redhead merely huffed and crossed the gap as easily as a deer. She'd jumped across rooftops during a typhoon- this was nothing.

But Sanji didn't have time to pout, as Claudine hesitantly muttered, "Um..."

Quickly seizing the opportunity, Sanji happily hoisted the scientist up into his arm. To his credit, while he looked distressingly excited for the chance, Sanji was ever the gentleman and kept his hands where they were supposed to be. Crossing the gap, Sanji carefully deposited Claudine on the bank as if she were made of porcelain. Hugging her papers close to her chest, the bashful woman muttered a thanks.

Caine was the last to jump across, as her armor made her heavier than the rest. If the bridge was going to collapse under their weight, best to save the heaviest to last. And it was a good thing they did so, because no sooner than she jumped, the remaining portion of the bridge crumbled under the stress. The cacophony of stones crashing into the stream below was like a cannon shattering the stillness of the forest, and even Abel found her muscles instinctively tensing. As the chaos drifted away, everyone waited tensely, expecting an angry troll to pop out of the forest any second now. But aside from their own racing hearts, they heard nothing. "Guess we'll have to find another way back," Sanji drawled as everyone relaxed.

Leaving that for later, the group continued following the river north. Once they reached the start of the mountain base, they'd turn east until they reached the cave again. So far, other than the bridge collapsing (which Nami made a note of on the map) everything had been going smoothly.

It was Dogmeat who first noticed their interloper. Sniffing as they went, as dogs were want to do, Abel realized they were leaving him behind as he'd stopped to stare at something on the opposite side of the river. Unsure if she needed to be concerned, or if he was merely having the attention span of a dog, Abel called, "What is it, boy?" This caught everyone else's attention, and they paused along the path.

Dogmeat's attention remained squarely on the forest opposite them, tail and ears erect. His upper lip quivered, as if he couldn't quite decide if he needed to snarl, giving the clear impression of unease. It wasn't long before they heard it: heavy breathing and rustling. Those who'd been part of the Track Team immediately tensed, recognizing the sounds, drawing their appropriate weaponry.

In an uncanny repetition of what'd happened before, a troll staggered through the forest, brushing the trees aside. Once again, it (he?) differed dramatically from the previous specimens, almost appearing like a cross between the two. It was closer in size and general body type to Boris, except with even stubbier legs and a rounder torso. But like the one that chased them down it had a bulbous nose and dark fur covered its body. Its fur was denser than that one, leaving only its face, hands and feet exposed. It gave the impression of a monkey, or perhaps a big rat. This one, unlike the others, didn't seem to wear any clothes; though with all the fur it wasn't really necessary.

Abel's eyes narrowed at the abundant drool dripping from its mouth as it snuffled around, sounding like it had a bad case of the cold. Even in the dark, the drool appeared thicker than normal- not that Abel was an expert on the viscosity of troll saliva. But spit didn't exactly have a wide variability.

The troll didn't seem to notice them at first, turning to head north. But as it swung its head to glare toward the river, it couldn't avoid noticing them. Everyone felt their hair stand on end as they waited tensely for its response. It gave a breathy hiss, staggering in their direction. And that was the best word for it: stagger. Totter. It wasn't just due to its stubby, wide gait, either, nor did it look inebriated (which could unbelievably happen in the wild). When a person's drunk, they lose coordination in a... loose kind of way. But this troll's movements looked stiff. Almost seizure-like in appearance. Abel's eyes narrowed, her suspicions mounting. Even if she'd never seen another troll, she would not think this was normal behavior.

"Abel!" Nami hissed as the hunter stepped closer, nearing the riverbank. The troll gave a throaty hiss and ran at Abel, earning a yell from a few of the more timid members behind her. The guys, of course, were ready to attack, and Franky reached for the generator choke just in case.

The fear was uncalled for, however, as the troll never even made it to river. In the midst of its uncoordinated gallop, something distracted it, causing it to stop short. Making a gargling sound, the troll stared into the river, backing away... almost fearfully. Seeing such a large, fearsome beast acting afraid of water like an angry cat was quite strange, by any account. Abel noticed the way its throat convulsed as it glared toward them, drool intensifying. Its head moved unnaturally around, seeking a way to get at them without touching the accursed water. As if remembering something, the troll staggered off to the south, glancing back at them every few feet, until it was out of sight.

"Did that seem odd to any of you?" Abel asked at length after the troll disappeared.

"You mean besides everything?" Nami quipped. "Let's get out of here before it comes back." No one had any real objections, surprisingly not even Abel. But it wasn't like she couldn't talk and walk at the same time.

As they moved north, keeping an eye on their tail, Caine asked, "Still convinced they're not dangerous?"

"I never suggested they weren't dangerous," Abel retorted. "But to answer your real question, no, I'm not convinced that what we've witnessed is normal troll behavior." She heard her sister sigh heavily under her helmet. "The first troll we saw was certainly not hydrophobic. Very few creatures show that level of aversion to water, not even felines, when after prey. Perhaps it is a subspecies trait of these... forest trolls, and Boris is a mountain troll?" Abel's voice trailed off as she spoke, mostly talking to herself to organize her thoughts that to garner a response from anyone.

"Is it possible the bergtroll are more advanced and civilized than the skogtroll due to the necessity of literally carving out a living versus living off the land? The two that attacked us certainly had more in common phenotypically and behaviorally with each other than with Boris. Based on that reasoning, we can conjecture that the more hostile environment would lead to more primitive drives... But why would a creature living in the mountain be more adept in water than a creature living in the forest? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Leaving Abel to her musings, Sanji wondered aloud, "I wonder if that thing remembered about the bridge back there."

"I'm kinda glad we destroyed it, now," Nami admitted. There was no way what little was left of the bridge could support that beast. "Maybe it'll fall in the water.

"Maybe that's why it was destroyed in the first place," Abel spoke more clearly now. "If they are so hostile, and hydrophobic, it stands to reason that a more intelligent group would cut off their means of reaching them."

There was a pause. "Huh?" Luffy asked intelligently.

"She means the mountain trolls might've deliberately broke the bridge to keep the forest trolls out," Zoro helpfully summarized. Abel would've patted him on the back if she'd been close enough.

Luffy's eyes lit up in understanding. "You mean the guys in the cave might be nice!"

"Nicer," Sanji corrected. "They still might not like us showing up on their doorstep."

"We should be prepared for either scenario," Abel agreed. "But it's at least a better working hypothesis than 'some of them are just crazy and evil.' All behavior has some motivating factor."

Abel's hope in her hypothesis became more tenuous when, upon traveling a little farther north, they came across another specimen. Unlike the last, this one was far more pitiable. She could only assume the strange ailment that tormented the first affected this poor retch in greater degree. The troll lay on the ground, body splayed as if he'd recently fallen. His bulky arms stretched behind him, holding his back off the ground. Despite the vocal protests of her companions, Abel moved closer, mindful to stay out of reach. Something about the troll's gasping breath told her she would only be in danger if he grabbed her; yet he could only summon the energy for one try.

This troll, unlike the previous, matched Boris in physical stature. His skin grey, his body hairless. Air wheezed painfully through his stub nose, and crooked teeth snarled at Abel. When he shifted his weight to one arm, Abel had to jump back, earning defensive motions from the men. However, Abel didn't flee from fear of being caught so much as fear of being crushed, as the troll's supporting arm collapsed under his unsteady weight. Dust poofed into the air as his front slammed into the rocky ground.

Hovering just out of reach, Abel could only stare at the once fearsome creature, who returned her pity with semi-coherent anger. Again with the drool, Abel thought, more concerned by the rivers of liquid escaping the edges of the troll's mouth. Even Caine, for all her hostility, couldn't help but pity the creature. Leaving the beast to its fate, the group silently continued on.

All the while, Abel couldn't shake the feeling that the troll's behavior seemed familiar. Something about it stuck in her mind and refused to let go. While the troll matching Boris was evidence against her hypothesis of the differences in temperament being due to species traits, she wasn't prepared to call any of it "normal." That troll didn't look normal, even with her limited knowledge of the race. It brought to mind images from back home, when someone's cow or horse would just lay down to die. Is madness an end-of-life phenomena? Abel wondered, but kept her thoughts to herself. For better or worse, they'd have their answers once they entered the heart of the troll's society.

They reached the base of the mountains with no further incidents, though the previous encounters had definitely made them wary. Even Abel, ever allowing for optimism, was careful to temper her expectations. Fifty-fifty evidence? The results were still in the air. Seventy-five/twenty-five? Not so much.

Because of that, Abel couldn't blame anyone for hesitating when the cave came into sight. "Is that it?" Luffy asked, equal measures excited and cautious.

Shuddering at the prospect of being trapped in a cave with crazy monsters again, Nami rubbed her arms. "Let's hurry and get this over with."

"You make it sound like we're headed for the gallows," Abel quipped, her natural inclinations to cut through intense moods.

"We might be!" Nami insisted back.

"I'll protect you, Nami-san!" Sanji crooned, hovering just over the redhead's shoulder.

"Idiot," Zoro grumbled, following along behind.

For once, Luffy wasn't the first to go barreling inside. Probably because Zoro had a strong grip on his shirt. Abel couldn't help grinning as the boy tried to run ahead of them, only for his feet to flail ineffectually in the air. "Don't even think about it, Luffy," Zoro warned.

"Aw!" Luffy whined.

"It's so dark inside..." Nami murmured, peering cautiously in.

"It's a cave," Franky pointed out, earning a glare from the woman. "Should I light it up?" His hand hovered over the rope.

"I don't think we should be indiscriminately stoning people," Abel commented.

Claudine was quick to agree. "Yes! We need to observe them before we can render a judgment."

Abel honestly couldn't help herself. "You can't squeeze blood from a stone." This earned her a groan. "Oh, it wasn't that bad."

Despite Abel making a joke of it, the others appeared more... concerned. "That wasn't us," Zoro said, turning his back on the cave.

Gazing back in the direction of the river, the pirates and their companions once again fell silent. Then, faintly, they heard a sound. A deep, low groan. They might've mistaken it for the wind, had the air not been so still. "It... sounds far away," Claudine commented, sounding unsure of herself.

"Then we should be okay, right?" Nami asked hopefully.

A resounding negative on that one came, not from any of the people, but by something massive sailing through the sky at them. Claudine and Nami screamed as a boulder crashed into the ground, far enough away to not be a threat but way too close for comfort. More boulders followed, flying from the forest from unseen assailants. "Look out!" Luffy warned, quickly running out of the way of a huge slab of stone.

The more aggressive members of their outing finally flew into defense mode, their own monstrous strength allowing them to deal with the boulders relatively easily. Be it fist, sword or foot, they met the attack head-on, shattering the boulders that strayed too close. But even then, they weren't entirely safe, as the debris from the rocks crashing into the ground was still enough to injure anyone who didn't keep their wits about them. Abel found herself dodging out of the way of several larger-than-head-sized rocks.

Growing fed up by this display of cowardice, Luffy shouted angrily, "Show yourself!" But the only response was more rocks.

Noticing that more than a few of the boulders went way off target, Abel questioned, "Are they even aiming at us?" If one could equate giant rocks with "spray and pray" this was probably it. It really felt random. More than a few of the boulders crashed harmlessly into the mountainside. Even the Marines' aim wasn't this bad.

Perhaps it was due to having backed herself up to the mountain to stay out of the fray, but Abel's head whipped around when she heard a scream behind her. "Nami-san!?" Sanji shouted, Abel not the only one to have heard it. Ever one to leap toward his maiden's defense, Sanji blindly charged into the dark cave alone. But in his blind haste, he failed to notice that one of the stray boulders crashed into the mountain directly above the cave opening. The massive piece of earth was enough to create a chain reaction, sending even more rocks tumbling down the cliffside... and directly into the cook's path.

Reacting out of sheer instinct, Abel dived at the blond, who was only now realizing his impending disaster. Fueled by adrenaline, Abel threw her entire body against Sanji's back, hoping she had enough momentum to knock them both out of the rockslide's path.

Everything became a noisy, confusing blur of dust, darkness, pain and flailing limbs. Abel's hands immediately came up to cover her head, despite how useless such a defense would've been against an avalanche. Her shoulders and hips impacted painfully with the jagged ground, and she was fairly certain an unsecured limb hit her in the stomach, winding her further. Eventually, her body stopped rolling and her ears stopped ringing. As the cold, stifling silence reigned, Abel did a quick body-check. Nothing felt broken, and aside from some possible bruising from the fall, she didn't hurt. Coughing as the rocky dust irritated her throat, Abel finally raised her head.

Near complete darkness surrounded her, as the only source of "light" must surely now be blocked by tons of debris. A few stray rocks skittered across the stone floor, echoing absurdly loudly in the silence, and in the distance Abel heard the faint trickle of water. The warmth of the outside lingered still, but on her side closer to the depths, Abel felt a chill. Slowly allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark, the hunter turned her head toward the sound of panting. Reaching out, Abel's hand landed on a mess of what should be blond hair. "Anything missing, Bullseye?" she asked.

When Sanji placed his hand atop hers, Abel wasn't sure if he meant to comfort her or himself. "No..." he panting, voice still tumultuous from chaos. "I'm all here... I think."

Humming in acknowledgement, Abel carefully stood. "Sort that out while I attempt to assess our situation." Holding her arms out in front of her, Abel carefully moved in the direction she estimated the collapsed entrance to be in. She couldn't help thinking that this felt far too similar to her time trapped with the leviathan at the bottom of Enies Lobby. Blind, vulnerable, and shaken... but hopefully this time nothing was lurking in the dark to eat her.

When her hands met with rough rock, Abel did her best to see with her hands. Some of the smaller rocks her hands hit fell easily from the pile, but more were wedged too solidly in place thanks to the weight pressing down on them. Abel heard a metallic flick, and suddenly a warm glow illuminated the cavern. Glancing back as footsteps came up behind her, Abel saw Sanji'd gotten out his trusty lighter. Its puny flame at least revealed their immediate area, and its cheerful orange light cave a bit of comfort and warmth. Turning back to the cave-in, Abel now saw that digging their way out would be nigh impossible. Well, not impossible, but severely time prohibitive. "I don't think we're getting out this way," Abel assessed.

Sanji gasped, causing the flame to flicker violently as an awful thought came to him. "What if Nami-san was-!?" He couldn't even finish the thought, eyes darting around frantically as he held his lighter high. "Nami-san! Nami-san, if you can hear me, say something!?" Only his own echo answered back, causing the cook to turn unhealthily pale, even in the flame light. "Don't tell me she got... crushed..."

Abel admitted the idea sent a tinge of worry through her mind until she rationalized, "She wasn't in sight of the entrance when the avalanche began, so it's unlikely."

Abel wasn't sure if her words actually helped him, or if Sanji simply chose to believe her versus the alternative. "Then she must be further within. Something else made her scream like that."

A rumbling from the impromptu wall behind them caused Abel to turn her head back. She frowned as the cave-in shifted uneasily before the entire cave started to shake. Both pirates gasped and ran for cover as even more of the ceiling began to fall, only stopping when the rumbling ceased and the rocks returned to stillness. Panting as they gaped at the even thicker barrier to the outside, Sanji couldn't help snarling, "Those idiots! I bet Luffy tried to punch his way in. Too hard-headed to realize hitting an unstable cliff will just make things worse."

"That does tend to be our overarching M.O.," Abel mused, eyeing the ceiling suspiciously. "Throw your head against a brick wall enough times and see what breaks first."

Frowning as he stared into the darkness just on the edge of their little haven, Sanji wondered, "Do you think there's a way out?"

"Assuming this is at least connected to the troll's home, it's likely. All good cavern systems need more than one exit."

A glint against the rocks caught Sanji's attention in the flickering light. Approaching, he knelt to get a better look. Sanji's eye lit up with hope, and he pulled the item up, revealing it to be a golden bracelet. "This is Nami-san's!" The simple gold bangle had taken up permanent residence on their navigator's wrist, always contrasting with the simple wooden log pose. "She must've gone further in!" Placing the bracelet in his breast pocket, Sanji felt his heart swell with determination. "Don't worry, Nami-san! I'm coming!"

Shaking her head as Sanji charged headlong into the cave, taking the light with him, Abel lingered long enough to shout at the rubble, "If you guys can hear me, we're going to find another way out! Try to go further around the mountain and look for another opening! And don't get eaten!"

---

Outside, Luffy huffed at the immovable mountain. "All right! One more time!" he said to himself, rearing his arms back for another attack. Fortunately for everyone involved, Franky and Sir Oliver caught Luffy's wrists before he could do any more damage, causing the boy to fall flat on his face when he tried to yank his arms forward. "Hey!" he protested.

"Easy there, old chap," Sir Oliver chastised. "Without an excavator, all your flailing's gonna do is bring more rubble down."

"But they-" Luffy began.

"They'll be fine for now," Zoro interrupted, glancing toward the forest. The rain of boulders had stopped for the moment. The swordsman wondered if it was the doing of that sick troll, the other one, or something else altogether. Turn back around, he continued, "Abel and the idiot cook wouldn't get crushed by some stones."

"Sure," Franky agreed, having seen firsthand how tough they both were. "But now they're trapped inside with potentially crazy, sick trolls without the light." If those things were as tough as the others suggested, they were going to have a hard time if push came to shove.

Uncaring about the discussion, Dogmeat whined at the base of the rubble. He didn't like being unexpectedly separated from his master, especially when she didn't tell him. Gazing around at the dirt stubbornly keeping them separated, for once Dogmeat cursed his missing leg. If he had it, he'd be able to dig his way through. He couldn't do that with just the one. But he refused to just sit there. So, mentally preparing himself, Dogmeat dug his teeth into one of the closest rocks and began to pull.

The rock was stubborn at first, with all the other rocks around it causing them to stick like concrete, but his persistence eventually paid off when the stone wiggled free. Unfortunately, upon pulling the stone out of place, more fell in to fill the new hole, causing some of the loser stones to slide down onto Dogmeat. Shrugging the debris off, Dogmeat continued to pull the rocks out one by one.

Having thus far said nothing, Caine watched the dogged (Abel would've liked that one) determination of the strange creature. Theoretically, removing the stones one by one would work... eventually. Forcing their way in wasn't an option, thanks to the instability of the rockslide. Terse expression hidden behind her helmet, Caine retrieved her greatsword, having had it out to deal with the previous assault. The dog didn't bother looking up from his tedious work as the woman noisily approached.

Picking a spot, Caine jammed her sword's blade into the rockslide, sliding it between the rocks about a third of its length in. When she let go, the sheer weight of the debris held her sword in place. From there, Caine leaned her weight on the handle, rocking her body to wiggle the stuck sword. With some effort on her part, the sword eventually acted like a lever, causing some of the rocks to dislodge as Caine pushed down. As they rolled from their wedged places, Caine abandoned her sword in favor of moving them out of their way.

Luffy's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. "Oh! Good idea!" He hurried over to help drag the larger of the loose stones out of the way. Tossing one as big as a cat out of the way, he laughed, "This is easier!"

The others watched as the three slowly worked to move the rockslide away piece by piece. "I'm afraid that might take too long," Sir Oliver observed. "Most caves have more than open entrance, especially if people are living in it. It would be more expedient to search for this secondary entrance." Even miners always made sure they had more than one way to get in for just an occasion as this.

"Then you guys go find that, and we'll stay here and tear this wall down," Luffy suggested. "And whoever gets there first, gets there first."

Seeing the uncertain faces of the two newcomers, Zoro scratched the back of his head. "Just leave 'em here." When Luffy got something in his mind, it was hard to dissuade him. Especially without Nami or Abel here. They could usually get through. "Where would this other entrance be?"

Scratching his chin, Sir Oliver suggested, "If your friend was correct about the bridges being deliberately destroyed, then it stands to reason an emergency exit would be in the opposite direction of enemy territory."

"That way, then?" Claudine asked, pointing opposite the river.

"That would be my guess," Sir Oliver replied.

"So, we won't be going toward whatever was throwing those rocks?" Claudine nervously asked.

Sir Oliver snorted. "I should hope not."

"Will you be alright, Luffy?" Claudine asked, nervous about leaving friends behind after what she'd seen.

Grinning as he waited for Caine to dislodge some more rocks, their captain brazenly replied, "Sure! And if you do find another cave, you can come back and tell us." With that, the party split up once again.

---

"Nam-"

Abel cut Sanji off from another yell by slapping a hand over his mouth. Startled, the blond stared wide-eyed at the hunter, who barely resisted rolling her eyes. Instead, she settled for noiselessly shushing him by placing a finger to her lips. Slowly removing her hand from his face, as if she expected him to begin shouting the moment he was free, Abel murmured, "If Red hasn't answered your bellowing by now, it means she can't, for one reason of another. In which case, it's at best useless, and at worst detrimental to our situation. There's only one way she could have gone, so let us just continue." The cavern, thus far, had been a straight shot. No side exits, no other direction their navigator could have gone regardless of whether she chose to go this way or not.

Sanji's brow creased in concern. "But what if a troll got her?" he worried, gnawing nervously at his cigarette.

"Then we'd have seen blood," Abel simply reasoned, enjoying Sanji's paling more than was polite.

With that stellar vote of confidence, the duo had little choice but to press on. They could only go forward, and hope to come across their wayward redhead - or at least signs of her - along the way. For all his admittedly obnoxious worrying, Sanji at least knew how to bolster his courage in the face of potential danger. Especially when a woman was involved. Abel simply chose not to linger on the notion that if it had been one of the guys missing, he wouldn't be nearly so concerned. Okay, maybe that was a little unfair. Sanji wouldn't be not concerned, but just express it in a more irritated, "can't believe I've got to save your sorry butt" way. It didn't faze her too much anymore, mostly by choice.

Perhaps it was the tense accompanying silence, combined with mental distraction, that drew out old memories.

---

Abel couldn't recall the last time she'd run so fast. Perhaps back when she'd been trying to save Caine, but she hadn't had to run nearly as far. But adrenaline was a miracle drug, and spurred her on as she bolted through the forest, down the mountain and back toward the town. She honestly couldn't say how she managed to know exactly where to find Evrett, considering he wasn't in the same place she'd left him. It was probably more to the fact that she'd just been running around town until she came across him.

To say the man looked baffled when Abel practically collapsed on him was an understatement. Almost barreling into him to stop herself, Abel clutched at the collar of his arm, leaning on him for support as muscle fatigue began to set in now that she'd stopped. Had she not been too busy panting for breath, she would've laughed at how awkwardly he stood; arms out to the side, wanting to comfort yet unsure about touching an old... friend?... who was now obviously a woman. Sensing the questions coming, Abel held up a finger, wordlessly indicating she needed a second to catch her breath. That fact alone was enough to concern the man, who'd rarely seen Abel worked up over anything.

"Snake," she eventually managed to pant out.

"What?"

Swallowing, Abel continued, "A snake. It was huge. Up on the mountain." Still clinging for support, Abel's free hand waved widely to indicate its size. "I'm talking sea king level. Big enough it could've eaten me had it not gotten distracted. Easily big enough to break down a wooden fence and scarf down a flock of sheep."

Part of Evrett wanted to ask if she was being serious, but the glare she shot his way, creepily reading his mind, caused him to hold his tongue. Abel might be eccentric, but she didn't make up wild stories. No matter how far-fetched something might sound, if Abel was serious, she at least believed what she was saying. "You think it's a sea king?" he asked instead, trying to wrap his head around it.

"No idea," Abel admitted, finally letting go as her breath returned. Sea monsters weren't unheard of in the East Blue, though rare, and tended to stay in one area. But sea kings were usually exclusive to the Grand Line, or at least the Calm Belt. Leagues away from Labyrinthe. "It could've come up during one of the moor's floods and got stuck. A sea snake can live on land as well as in the water. But how it came to be isn't as important as dealing with it before it turns its attention to us."

"A man-eater?" Evrett questioned, going into his serious guard mode.

Glancing anxious toward the mountain, Abel silently wondered where the creature was now. "You know how the hunters have been complaining about the lack of big game recently? What if that's the cause? And now it's leaving it natural environment in search of food. Humans might not be its first choice, but I doubt it's picky enough not to eat one if it's handy. Bears don't eat people either, but will attack if they're forced into contact." It sadly happened all the time. Animals wandering into man's domain in search of dwindling food, and conflict occurring as both sides fought back.

Seeing the reasoning, Evrett turned to pick up his equipment as he asked, "Where about was it?"

"On the shale side, about half a mile from the ruins."

"All right. I'll take a platoon of guard to check it out." Evrett pointed a finger at Abel. "You. Stay. Here." If Evrett had been smart, he would've questioned why Abel didn't protest.

The small group of guards scattered around the mountainside where Abel'd reported her findings. "What are we looking for, exactly?" one of the men asked.

"Anything out of the ordinary," Evrett replied. While he believed Abel saw what she said, he knew not everyone was quite as magnanimous. He knew if Abel said she saw a sea king-sized snake, then she saw a sea king-sized snake. But if anyone else heard Abel saw a "giant snake" they'd be thinking boa constrictor, and then asking why the guards needed to be involved. And that was a generous assumption. But that was the luxury of truly knowing someone, he supposed.

"Hey!" someone called out, kneeling beside something in the shale. "I found some blood!" That definitely counted as out of the ordinary, and the guards huddled around. It wasn't a huge amount, but there was definitely blood scattered amongst the shale. And given that usually no one came up here, that was unusual.

One of the guards, a bit taller than the rest, pointed out, "Should we be standing here? It kinda looks like a sinkhole." The stones around the blood splatter had this strange vortex-like pattern, as if the ground had sunk in beneath it.

A strange sound briefly dragged Evrett's attention away from the scene, causing him to glance over his shoulder. Some of the shale bounced along the ground, tinkling pleasantly as they fell. But why were they falling? Evrett drew his eyes back when one of the guards began digging at the sunken-in ground, hoping to uncover the cause. "Did the sheep get sucked in?" one of the bystanders asked as the guard noisily shoved rocks aside. Sinkholes weren't common on the island, but it wasn't impossible. It happened to some of the homes back in the old town.

A startled cry went out among the men as the ground gave a little heave in response. Like something was trying to poke through. The men drew their weapons, unsure what it might be. And even Evrett, as mentally prepared as he thought he was, didn't know what to expect. The bulge lowered a bit. Rather than backing away, however, it seemed the source was just gathering its strength, because the next second the ground exploded. Screams, the clattering of rocks, and an angry hiss filled the air.

Evrett could scarce believe his eyes. For all her vagueness, Abel's description of the snake was pretty spot on. He'd call it a lost sea king himself. The angry beast towered over them all, tongue flickering out as it glared down at them. Gripping his sword like a lifeline, Evrett steeled his courage. "Don't just stand there, men!" he barked.

Galvanized by the cry, a few of the men charged at the beast, bellowing a battle cry to well up their strength. Their courage just as quickly began to fail, however, when their swords bounced off its scales. The snake seemed to snort at their pathetic flailings, rearing its massive body back to slam down on a man not quick enough to get away. He cried out as a mountain of snake landed its full weight upon him. The only reason he didn't break his spine was because the shale offered somewhat of a cushion, distributing the force of the attack

A few of the guards decided to run for it. They'd only been expecting to deal with the odd drunkard. Monsters were out of the question. The snake didn't give chase, instead content to pull itself off the man and lower its massive maw, clearly intent on swallowing him whole. But Evrett would not allow that to go unchallenged. His trainees may lack courage, but he did not. With the snake distracted by its victim, it didn't notice Evrett charging in. Aiming for its head, he brought his broadsword down. The blow struck the snake across the bridge of its skull. Again, the scales deflected any damage, but the force was enough to knock it off course, its long fangs embedding in the ground and not the man's stomach.

Hissing angrily, the snake craned its neck toward Evrett as he put himself valiantly between the snake and the guard. He held his sword out before him, a strong deterrent. Or so he thought. Because as he stared the snake down, Evrett began to feel himself disconnecting from his body. That's the only way he could describe it; it felt like his body was no longer his. It no longer listened to his commands. He felt a heaviness in his limbs he couldn't explain, yet his arms never sagged. He felt like a statue, almost. Sweat began to bead along his neck as the snake hissed in his face, clearly pleased with whatever it had done. He tried to move, seeing the attack coming, but he couldn't.

Fortunately, not everyone had abandoned him, and two guards used the opening to attack the snake's underbelly, hoping it would be more penetrable than its scales. It wasn't, but the distraction loosened its hold upon Evrett. Feeling returned to his limbs, causing them to almost fail him and collapse to the ground with the sudden weight.

Shaken from the near-death experience, Evrett could only watch in a stupor as the snake turned on the closest man. This time there was no one to stop it from biting the guard. His cry echoed across the battlefield as the long fang caught him in the leg. The snake didn't bite all the way down, content to pierce the flesh and muscle before pulling back. The guard collapsed in a heap, clutching his bleeding leg.

While this happened, a hand grabbed Evrett from behind, clamping down on his mouth while yanking him backward. A startled exclamation got stuck in his throat as someone hauled him behind a bit of mountain. Pulled down behind a chunk of rock, Evrett barely had time to process that the guard he'd been defending was also there. Temporarily forgetting his questions, Evrett knelt to check on the man. He had a persistent pained grimace, and his armor had been removed, crushed beyond the point of usefulness. No doubt some bruising and broken ribs lay beneath his shirt.

Movement yanked his attention back to the situation at hand, and Evrett couldn't help a shout of outrage as Abel darted from their hiding spot. The woman ran toward the snake and injured man, something clutched in both hands. Obviously hearing the commotion, the snake turned away from its prey.

Abel didn't look at the snake, her gaze instead on the writhing man, always keeping the snake's body in her periphery. As it hissed, rearing back, rather than running away Abel flung herself into its line of attack. As she did, her arms flew out. Evrett couldn't see what had been in her left hand, as from her right she tossed what he could only equate to amped-up fireworks. Numerous small, but bright and noisy explosions danced around the snake, obstructing Evrett's view of what was happening. All he saw through the bright lights was the flailing, disoriented snake.

While Evrett questioned how effective firecrackers would be against a monster whose hide couldn't be attacked by swords, something remarkable happened: the snake turned and ran away! For reasons that escaped his confused mind, the snake actually fled, slithering up the mountain before plowing into the shale. Gobsmacked, Evrett watched in awe as the snake disappeared as quickly as it came.

It took the guard a second to remember to breathe, until the haggard breathing of the injured man beside him sunk in. Snapping his focus away from where the snake had just been, Evrett saw, not two people in the ground, but a mound covered by what he recognized as a fire blanket. As everything remained silent, the blanket rustled, eventually pushed back as Abel sat up. As the blanket fell away, she kept the injured man pinned beneath her, also watching where the snake had gone. Evrett realized she must've covered them both with the blanket to protect them from the fireworks scant seconds before they went off. But how did she know that would work?

Evrett almost asked as much, until Abel sharply held a hand out toward him, a clear indication to remain silent. For once, the man complied without question, watching the mountainside along with her. Was the snake actually gone? It could be in hiding.

Apparently thinking along the same lines, Abel grabbed a large stone from the ground and chucked it as far as she could. It shattered loudly against the ground, jarring in the silence. When nothing but the fading echoes of the sound returned, Abel concluded that the snake was gone- for the moment. Feeling safe enough, Abel focused her attention on the man beneath her. Shuffling off him, she turned her attention to his leg. Evrett took this as an all-clear and, after placing a reassuring hand on his comrade's shoulder, ran over to the woman.

Evrett didn't like the look on Abel's face as she examined the puncture. It was subtle. The woman had a mean poker face when it came to keeping her feelings known to patients, but he knew her well enough to recognize the serious light in her eyes and the thin line of her lips. Pulling out some gauze from the kit she always seemed to carry, Abel began packing the hole to stop the bleeding. The poor guard ground his teeth as Abel prodded the tender wound. Without looking up, Abel said to him, "We need to get them to my father."

Evrett couldn't argue with that, but, "What about the snake?"

"It's gone to lick its wounds. We should do the same."

Many questions plagued Evrett's mind, but he could acknowledge that now wasn't the time. Following Abel's lead, he returned to his fallen comrade. After a moment's consideration on how best to ferry someone with potentially broken ribs, he settled for helping the man onto his back. His own armor probably wasn't too comfortable against the man's wounded torso, but it would have to do for now. Evrett would do his best not to further aggravate his condition. With his cargo secured, Evrett rejoined the others in time to watch Abel lend a shoulder to her charge, keeping pressure off his injured leg.

With their wounded charges slowing them down, it took some time to reach the outskirts of the town. It was particularly hard going for the wounded leg man, as even with him leaning against Abel, pain wracked his every movement. This greatly concerned the guard captain, as a simple puncture shouldn't cause this much pain. Abel's visage was unhelpfully neutral as she patiently aided the man, almost taking on his entire body weight. Yet again, he recognized the solemn composure of contemplation.

Evrett felt his ire rise when, upon nearing the town, they discovered a small gathering of worried townsfolk milling around the guards that'd abandoned them. He was none too happy when they expressed relieved concern upon spotting them. "Oh, now you care?" his asked, tone biting. Had he not been carrying someone, he'd have batted them all around the ears. "Just you wait. Once I see to our wounded brothers, you'll be getting extra duties to toughen you up." They at least had the good grace to look ashamed of themselves.

If they'd thought things had been chaotic this morning, it was nothing compared to now that the news of not only the destruction but now guards fleeing for their lives and several grievously injured had gotten around town. If it hadn't been thanks to the clinic's well-trained nurses literally bullying their way in, doling out threats of castor oil to the rubberneckers with too much free time on their hands, they might never have gotten to the clinic. The townsfolk might be nosy, but they weren't stupid enough to step foot inside the clinic when the doctor was at work. And the old orderly had no trouble doubling as a bouncer. Speaking of doctor, Josiah had looked none too happy about seeing his daughter involved in this dangerous affair, but neither did he seem surprised. He merely cast Abel a fatherly look of disapproval before meting out orders, focusing his attention on the leg wound.

Perhaps that's why Evrett felt justified in dragging Abel into the closest unoccupied room and demanding, "I thought I told you to stay put."

Abel raised an eyebrow, finding it amusing that he'd dragged them into the morgue - thankfully empty at the moment. She feared it might not be for long. Fangs like that meant poison. "I am not a guard, and thus the orders of the guard captain mean little to me," she merely retorted.

He had a good mind to tell her off, if he thought she had any hope of feeling remorse. But she didn't. She rarely did. It was quite infuriating sometimes. Instead, he went back to one of his lingering questions. "That thing you did earlier... how did you know it would work?"

"I didn't," Abel admitted. "Know, that is. I hypothesized it might... hoped it would." Upon noticing the captain's consternation, she elaborated, "I don't know what that thing is, but the most logical guess is it's some species of snake. I surmised that, regardless of size, it still operates like any snake. Based on its physical characteristics and penchant for traveling under the shale, I suspected that it hunts via three means: chemical scents, body heat, and seismic vibrations. I then asked myself, based on that assumption, how do you block those senses? The fireworks were the quickest solution I could think up. They're loud, creature plenty of vibrations, produce heat, are chemically pungent, and generally unpleasant to have blown up in your face. When I saw how ineffectual direct attacks were, I thought the best thing was to scare it away. Any animal, when fighting becomes too costly, will flee."

Evrett felt he should be mad at Abel putting herself at risk, but honestly, he was too busy gaping. "You came up with all that in the time it took to get to your house?"

In a rare display of bashfulness, Abel blushed as she found the wall interesting. She gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I wasn't certain it would work, like I said." Evrett noticed her shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and only then realized her hands had been stuffed in her pockets. Was she hiding her own nerves, surprised herself she survived that gambit?

"So you have no idea what it is?"

More comfortable talking about this subject, Abel answered, "I have some guesses I need to cross-reference but..." She met Evrett's eyes then, peering seriously. "You felt it, right? When you looked into its eyes?" The shudder was all the answer she needed. Nodding, she continued, "I've heard it said that a snake's unblinking gaze can freeze its prey in fright, but I don't think it's the same thing. The fear didn't come until after I realized I couldn't move. That's... something else. At the very least, it'll narrow my search."

"What should we do in the meantime?" Evrett asked. No one was safe with a monster like that around.

Sucking in a bracing breath, Abel replied, "I think we're safe for now. It won't be too keen on making direct contact for a while. And most snakes go into a sort of hibernation after eating a big meal, like, say, a flock of sheep. I think it only attacked us this time because we came to it. Free food, and all that."

Evrett crossed his arms, pondering. "Keep everyone inside the town."

"At least away from the mountain."

---

"Abel-dono, do you hear that?" Sanji's question drew Abel from her reverie. Focusing on the present, she paused and listened. "Voices." Sanji was indeed correct. In the distance, aided by the echoes of the cavern, Abel heard two distinct voices. One sounded rough and masculine, the other equally rough but slightly more feminine. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but based on their tone, it sounded like an argument. Or at least the feminine voice was arguing with the masculine, with the masculine sound a bit defensive.

"That doesn't sound like Nami-san's dulcet voice," Sanji pointed out, whispering.

"But it is the most encouraging thing we've heard yet," Abel replied. So far everything on this island had been more interested in trying to eat them than engage in conversation.

Equal parts hopeful yet cautious, the duo continued forward, the voices growing as they went. The closer they drew, the more the conversation sounded like an argument. "Idjit!" the female voice snapped.

"No, no!" the male voice responded, sounding almost apologetic and placating. Why did it make Abel think of a couple bickering?

From a bend in the cave, light trickled through, causing the pirates the pause. Testing, Sanji flicked his lighter closed, dousing them in darkness. Yet the light continued to exude from around the corner. A lantern, perhaps? They crept closer, until they could peer around the corner. No need to rush needlessly into danger- "Nami-san!"

Abel sighed as Sanji threw all caution to the wind, running around into the open. So much for that, she thought. Not that she could exactly blame the man, given what they'd discovered around the corner. The light had indeed come from a lantern... being carried by one of a pair of trolls. The very same troll with Nami tossed over its shoulder, seemingly unconscious.

Abel was prepared for any number of reactions when the trolls noticed Sanji charging over. But what she didn't expect was for the troll not holding the lantern or their friend to complain, "Great. 'Nother humie." Its voice was the feminine one they'd been hearing.

"Put Nami-san down, you fiend!" Sanji demanded, fully prepared to take on both trolls himself if he had to. "What have you done to her!?"

"No, no!" the first troll repeated his previous placation. "Boris no do bad! Boris no hurt humie woyman! She fall, rock conk on head. I take 'way from angry jotunn. Here no be safe." As much as the troll's squished up face could manage it, he looked confounded. "Boris do good, but missus just yell."

"Idjit!" Boris' missus (Abel assumed) scoffed. "Bring stinky, thin boned humie wench home." In the light of the lantern, the missus' skin was slightly more a shade of purple to Boris' blue. She stood slightly taller than Boris, though that might've been due to her posture being less stooped. Other than that, their features were identical. The missus wore what appeared to be old sails as a tunic, and she had white face paint - war paint or make-up? Abel leaned more toward the latter, as she also wore what Abel assumed was meant to be "jewelry." Around her neck hung a necklace of deer antlers, and looped around each pointy ear was a rope with thin bits of bone at the end.

Hoping to make some sense out of the conversation, and as there was no need to stay hidden, Abel asked once she got alongside Sanji, "So a rock fell and hit Red's head, knocking her out, and you were trying to take her somewhere safe?"

Boris' beady eyes lit up. "Yes!" he exclaimed, happy that someone wasn't attacking him. "Boris not hurt pretty redhead. See?" As carefully as he could, Boris lowered Nami one-handed off his shoulder and laid her on the ground, allowing the pirates to examine her.

Abel mentally scoffed as Sanji stood guard while she checked Nami's condition. A cursory exam revealed some support of Boris' claim; aside from a trickle of blood down the side of Nami's head, she didn't appear injured. Not wanting to physically rough up someone potentially recovering from a concussion, Abel instead pulled out her handy-dandy kit and retrieved some smelling salts. As she was doing so, Boris continued to defend himself from both his missus and Sanji. "Boris never hurt pretty humie. Smell nice... like fruit steal from batses." Abel assumed he meant how Nami always smelled like her tangerines. Sadly, it did little in this case to assuage Sanji's ire.

"You pervert!" Sanji landed a kick to Boris' head, but just like all the other times they'd fought trolls, it did nothing.

"Stupid tiny humie man," the missus chastised gruffly. "Troll heads hard as rock." She rapped a knuckle against her own skull to illustrate her point. "Stamp on feetses." Suspicious, yet wanting to punish the other troll, Sanji complied and stamped hard on Boris' clothed foot. This, unlike all the other attacks, pulled a cry from the troll as he fell over while attempting to hold his now throbbing foot. This apparently pleased the missus greatly, as she laughed at his pain. "Serves right, stupid old buck." Or at least Abel thought she called him an old "buck" and not something else. Their enunciation wasn't the best.

Shaking her head at their antics, any fear of being attacked completely allayed, Abel waved the pungent salts beneath Nami's nose. The effect was almost instantaneous, with the redhead flinching and jerking her head away from the unpleasant smell. This further resulted in a groan of pain from their navigator, as her brain didn't exactly appreciate the sudden movement. "Nami-san!" Sanji cried in joy, forgetting about punishing the troll.

It took a second, but finally Nami's eyes fluttered open. "Abel? Sanji?" Good, her eyes were focusing. "What happened?"

"You're suffering from a mild head laceration and temporary loss of consciousness due to a falling rock striking you."

Bringing a hand up to where her head ached, Nami winced. "Yeah... that sounds about right. Where's everyone else?"

"The entrance collapsed," Sanji explained, gallantly helping her sit up. "We had to find you first. Now we can look for a way out."

Finally realizing they weren't alone, Nami's eyes widened, and a scream rose from her throat upon seeing their two lumbering visitors. In the acoustical amphitheater that is caves, the sound made even the humans wince. "Noisy humie wench!" the missus said with a scowl.

"It's all right, Nami-san," Sanji attempted to reassure her. "They're not hostile... I think."

"You think?" she spit back, baffled.

Finding that to be as good a segue as any, Abel stood and asked the million berri question that had been on her mind all day. "Why are you so different from all the other trolls we've encountered?"

This question seemed to perplex the two trolls. Or at least they looked perplexed by the tilting of their heads. Their expressions didn't change much. "Other trolls?" Boris repeated.

"Yeah, the ones that tried to eat us," Sanji elaborated.

A pained grimace crossed both their faces then. "Ah... humie means sick trolls."

"Sick?"

Boris nodded solemnly. "Many trollses sick. Start biting and attacking. Exiled them, the king has. Very sad time for trollses."

"Very dangerous," the missus added. "Not safe to go out, even for food catching. Broke bridges to keep sick trolls away, but now sick trolls trapped here." Remembering something, the missus made a lumbering turn. "Need tell king 'bout closed tunnel."

"Missus wise," Boris agreed, before waving at the humans. "You come, too. Be safe in troll village."

When Abel unquestioningly followed, Nami and Sanji both shouted at her in dismay. "Abel!"

"We have to go this way to get out, at the very least," she answered without glancing back. "There is another way out, correct?"

"Yes," Boris replied, holding the lantern out. "'Nother path from village. You see. King very smart." With little choice in the matter, unless they wanted to wander around in the dark, the other two pirates ran to catch up.

It didn't surprise nor bother Abel that her two companions kept their distance from their trolly guides, using her as a buffer. It almost made her laugh, bring to mind when they met Broggy on Little Garden. She couldn't blame them for their caution. Perhaps it was simply because Abel wanted to believe they weren't just scary monsters, like the giants, that she went along so easily. She'd like to think she had a pretty good instinct on when something wanted to kill her. And to be frankly honest, subterfuge seemed a bit beyond these trolls' capacity. Not to say it was a bad thing. In a world of people pretending to be things they weren't, it was nice to have simple, straightforward people. Like Luffy. Perhaps people who are more prone to secrecy expect it in others, she wondered.

Refusing to linger further on the topic, Abel instead focused on her main concern. "Tell me about this sickness."

Boris, his missus walking a bit further ahead of them to be away from the "stinky humies," grunted. "Sad time for trollses. Many sick get. Many angry get. Run go, before hurt families. Others, king make run go."

"How long ago did it start?"

Boris scratched his head. "Time hard tell. Seems long… years, but not." Abel assumed it was hard to keep track of time without the sun. "Ask king. King smartest troll. Why he king!"

Behind them, Sanji snorted. "Luffy'll be disappointed he missed out on meeting the troll king."

Sensing that Boris had said as much as he knew on the subject, Abel changed topics. "How do you know we're humans, Boris?" It seemed like such a simple question, but Abel was curious about how much contact these people had with the outside world. Surely it couldn't be common to see humans.

"Humies come before," Boris answered. "Most scream when see Boris. Run go." Boris peered down at Abel then. "But you no run go. Humie see trollses before?"

"Only in books," she answered. "Never in person before now."

"You talk sick trollses about. But you no scream, run go."

Seeing no point in not being upfront, Abel admitted, "I saw you before, singing about fish jam."

The troll's already round eyes grew even larger somehow. "Boris thought know smell! New smell! But Boris no time search. Dangerous out cave."

"I thought maybe not all trolls were dangerous," the hunter concluded.

Boris nodded. "Trollses like humies. Not all bad. Some humies trade for pretty rocks. Some scream and shoot at Boris."

"Pretty rocks?" Nami asked, perking up. "You mean treasure!?"

"The way Nami-san's eyes light up can brighten up any cave!" Sanji swooned.

"Yes, trollses many pretty rocks have," Boris answered, unknowingly fueling Nami's fire. "Find in stone. Shiny." If possible, Nami's eyes glittered even more brightly.

"One thing at a time, Red," Abel warned, before they could get ahead of themselves.

"Ah! Village up head!" Boris told them, speeding up his pace.

There was a light, quite literally, at the end of the tunnel. While the pirates couldn't quite make out the full breadth of this "village," there was undeniably civilization hidden deep within this pile of earth. The spyhole at the end of the cavern was practically radiant compared to the dark, dank tunnel they traveled through. The glow looked very inviting, despite the potential danger they headed toward. Candlelight, based on its pulsing quality. Abel briefly wondered why trolls would even bother with light, but figured that just because sunlight was dangerous to them, that didn't mean they wanted to live their entire existence in pitch black.

Abel caught a glimpse of homes carved into stone spires before the tunnel opened up completely as it reached its end, causing the humans to pause and stare. A massive cavern stretched out before them, bustling with such life that it came as a shock when compared to the desolate exterior. While the cavern itself was probably natural, the trolls that inhabited it had veritably carved out a home for themselves. What had probably once been solid stones of stalagmites and other looming rock formations had been hollowed out to create unique houses, or chipped away to make paths. Wood had been harvested from outside to create bridges, walkways and buttresses to support the variously-shaped beings traversing the tiered city, weaving between the stalactites to preserve both the integrity and natural splendor of the mountain. Lanterns hung all about the place, sparkling off the water that fell from a large hole in the ceiling, creating a lake beneath the city. For all its technological simplicity, there was an undeniable beauty to the marriage of nature and man.

Even her two less mechanically-inclined companions couldn't help but gawk in amazement. Of course, that might have been more from the sheer throng of trolls inhabiting the city. Trolls of various shapes and sizes went about their daily lives without a care in the world. Most matched Boris in appearance, but there were many others. Some larger and hairy, like the one they saw across the river, others small and almost human-like in appearance save for a few odd details, like a tail and drooping ears. They carried on their daily tasks like any human would. Some sat against the rocks plying their trades, converting salvaged material into things they could use. Some talked animated with fellow trolls, like old men avoiding their equally old wives. There even appeared to be a market area, with fish and various fruits in stalls for troll-kind to peruse.

"Wow…" Nami couldn't help breathing. "To think this city was here the whole time…"

Abel wanted to use her camera, but worried the flash might upset the citizens. Instead, her hands acted on their own, frantically sketching without her even looking at the paper. She needed to burn this into her mind. All the stories she'd heard were of trolls living among the trees, or in old caves, or even under bridges. Such depictions almost felt disrespectful now.

"Come go," Boris insisted, waving them down the smoothed stone path down into the city proper. "Take to king. Big house at back." In the distance, one of the cavern walls appeared to have been repurposed into a large structure, with many windows/doors carved out.

Abel's eagerness to follow did little to soothe Sanji and Nami, but seeing so many trolls acting "normally" and unaggressive toward each other helped ease their fears a little.

To say that the humans attracted attention would've been an understatement. Initially, Boris and his missus drew attention, leading credence to Boris' story about them no longer making frequent journeys outside the mountain. But then, once the other trolls realized they had visitors, the pirates found themselves with a little entourage. Every troll they passed immediately paused what they were doing to stare, some even following under some false pretense of mingling around. The seemingly younger trolls, by which Abel meant smaller, more human-sized ones, made no such pretenses. They peered curiously through the crowds, drawing close to them. Pint-sized children even pointed and whispered, or laughed at the funny-looking people. Yet for all their concerns, the trolls were merely curious. Not aggressive or fearful. The humans were simply enigmas. Strange visitors. It probably helped that Boris led them, puffing his chest out and standing as tall as he could to look very official in all this attention.

"It's getting a bit crowded, isn't it," Sanji commented.

While Sanji meant it to refer to their crowd, Boris took it more literally. "Many trollses move in from forest. Mountain keep safe."

Up and around they wound through the city. Abel really wanted to cross one of the higher, free-suspended bridges to get a better look, but the main path led straight to the King's "palace." And that wasn't meant to besmirch. While the stone-hewn building didn't resemble any sort of fancy abode they'd ever seen, it did look quite imposing and official. This was mostly due to its towering size, the unwavering permanence of it being built into the very bones of the mountain, and the faded tapestries that hung from the archways. It felt like the structure had existed in this state for ever, back when men themselves lived in caves to hide from fearsome predators. The tapestries must've been repurposed from old wrecks, or perhaps traded with the few humans who weren't afraid of the trolls, as they looked patched together. Some of the designs seemed painted on, faded or rubbed off with wear.

The main archway had intricate carvings around the frame of random shapes and symbols. Perhaps it was the troll language? Though that was probably doubtful, given that they all spoke the human tongue. No, the artist likely merely found the shapes aesthetically pleasing. As they gathered in the courtyard, a few children came running out, giggling and pointing at the humans. Behind them, a human-like troll emerged. Based on his long robe that still retained a deep blue hue, and the simple crown upon his head, the pirates could only assume this was the Troll King.

He stood at roughly the same height as Nami, with a portly stomach. The crown couldn't hide his long, graying hair, though his face showed little obvious wrinkles that couldn't equally been attributed to worry. His bushy eyebrows only exacerbated this woeful visage that didn't quite match with his comically bulbous nose and long, droopy ears. Behind him, a long, thin tail with a tuft of gray fur bobbed around, raising the hem of his robe enough for them to catch a glimpse of stone clogs on his feet. This initially seemed impractical and uncomfortable to Abel, but if she considered that all trolls might have the same tender feet as Boris it made more sense. Apparently the king truly was the smartest troll.

Dour, dark eyes gazed upon them as he approached in measured steps. He reminded Abel a bit of Gan Fall, or the Shandorian chief. He had learned to be quick to listen and slow to speak. Briefly, the king shifted his attention to Boris. "How was the southern tunnel?" he asked, his grandfatherly voice capable of putting almost anyone at peace.

"Fall in," Boris answered dutifully. "Jotunn throw many rocks." Abel's ears perked at the term, but said nothing.

"I see… good work." Boris preened a bit at being acknowledged, much like a child being praised by a treasured parent. "Welcome, strangers," he greeted officially for the first time, forcing some cheer into his voice. "It's been a long time since any humans have graced our island, or at least these old halls. I wish the circumstances of our meeting were more fortunate. Please, follow me. No doubt you're weary from the outside trials." Turning, the king glanced at Boris briefly. "You can return to your duties now." Slightly stunned by the eloquent, genteel speech, the pirates followed the king unquestioningly, any misgivings almost immediately allayed

The inside of the palace was much like its exterior. Although simple and relatively unadorned, if one looked closer they could see the painstaking time and attention that must've been spent creating this structure. The walls were smooth and even, as if they'd been created by weather rather than tools. They had a glossy shine, accentuating the colorful stone striations. Ahead of them, the king's stone clogs clacked loudly against the floor. "Tell me, please, what brought you to our island?" he questioned, glancing back at them for a second.

"Our log pose," Abel answered, noting the king's clawed fingers clutched demure behind his back. "It was the next stop on our course through the Florian Triangle. However, when we heard there might be trolls living here, we decided that warranted further investigation."

"So, you were interested in finding trolls? For what purpose?" Abel didn't miss the tenuous tone.

"To see if you existed," she answered easily, as it was the basic truth. "And what you might be like. That, and I believe our captain was quite eager to meet the Troll King."

"I see..." the king replied, a mild touch of amusement in his voice. "A shame, then, that you came to us in such a harrowing time."

"At the risk of sounding unforgivably rude, I'm at least glad that the rabid aggression we've encountered isn't the troll's natural state," Abel admitted.

The king tilted his head back, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Some of us can be territorial, but you're correct. This terrible disease robs us of our senses. I'm sure Boris told you how those you might have encountered outside are exiles, but what he might not have mentioned was that many of them chose to leave. When their symptoms began, knowing what was in store for them, they chose to live- and die- alone so they wouldn't harm their families. But even those sacrifices haven't been enough to quell the disease, as it still continues to show up among even those who've never left the cave."

"It's communicable, then?" Nami asked, piping in. She frowned. "Is it such a good idea, then, to have so many people in close proximity?"

"It has put many on edge," the king agreed. "But I couldn't in good conscious turn people away from my very doorstep. At first we thought it was only passed on by being bitten by someone infected, but even after isolating all known cases, the disease continues to persist. Many have simply accepted the risk. We trolls are not meant to live isolated from one another." He glanced back. "I'm certain you've seen what it does to our minds." The others couldn't argue with that, having seen the terrible rage.

"Even knowing this, it's still the uncontrolled aggression that makes those infected most dangerous. All trolls have tremendous strength. We exist peacefully together because we trust our families to control themselves. That is the most insidious part of this plague-"

"Abel!" Nami's cry interrupted the king, as both she and Sanji stumbled into their hunter, who'd stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.

Abel cut off any further complaints they might have had when she all but demanded, "Is there anything else you can tell me about this disease?"

"Abel-dono?" Sanji queried, surprised by the sudden seriousness of her tone.

Confused by the human's sudden intensity, the king turned as he answered, "We're not medically inclined, but one of our medicine women has been observing a victim. They're a very old troll, so the risk of them hurting someone else was small. They agreed to be observed for the course of the disease in hopes it might save others."

"I request permission to meet with these people."

"I thought we were trying to find a way out of here, Abel," Nami pointed out.

Everything came to a screeching halt when Abel declared, "I suspect I know what this disease is."

"You do!?" Even the king's dour expression morphed to surprise, and perhaps a hint of tentative hope.

Perhaps that's why Abel prefaced, "I don't want to say more until I can confirm my suspicions, but we all have a vested interest in eradicating this disease."

Nami frowned, perplexed. "We do?" Sure, she understood wanting to help, especially if Abel truly did know what this was. It was better for everyone's safety.

Yet when Abel turned to her, Nami knew she was missing something. "Have you already forgotten? Handy was bitten."

It took a second for them to connect the dots, but when they did, a horrified gasp spilled from her companions. "Robin-chan was bitten!" Sanji screamed. "Does that mean-"

"If it's what I'm thinking, we still have time," Abel interrupted before they could panic. "But either way, we're racing against the clock." She honestly had no idea how contagious diseases might affect someone who came in contact with said disease via Devil Fruit powers, but it wasn't a chance she was willing to take. After all, Robin's real body had been injured by the bite.

Although confused, the king quickly led them to an isolated wing of the palace. The normal bustle of activity that went on inside an important building eased away until only their own footsteps surrounded them. A heavily reinforced door told Abel everything she needed to know about the state of this isolation room.

The woman that greeted them was very much what Abel would've expected of an old medicine troll-woman. Somewhere between the human-like king and the more alien trolls, the medicine woman leaned heavily on a gnarled walking stick, her back stooped with age. Though even if she'd been completely upright, she'd probably only come up to Abel's chest. She was almost as wide as she was tall, with a rounded face, bulbous nose, and pointy ears sticking out from beneath long, stringy gray hair. A heavy shawl sat upon her back, and a long fuzzy tail dragged along the ground behind her as she waddled over to greet the king.

Yet it was the man strapped to the bed that dominated Abel's attention. Ignoring whatever conversation the king was having with the medicine woman, Abel stepped around them and closer to the bed. That eerie feeling of familiarity she'd felt before upon observing the troll laying on the ground returned manifold. And now she knew exactly where the familiarity came from. She'd seen this before... not in person, but in an old film.

Back when she was younger, a military doctor had come to Labyrinthe as part of an education tour. At least back then, it hadn't been uncommon for the government to send doctors to educate the locals on various illnesses. This one had been part of a vaccination campaign. As part of it, he'd shown them an old, grainy film reel highlighting the progression of one particular disease. Abel had such a strong sense of deja vu now, staring at this old, dying troll that it almost made her nauseous. Or perhaps it was the knowledge of what he'd suffered up to this point.

"It's so awful..." Nami whispered as she came beside Abel.

One would have to be incredibly cold-hearted not to take pity on someone in such a state. The old troll, similar in appearance to Boris but far smaller, lay strapped to a bed with heavy restraints on his arms and legs. While these had at one point been to assure he couldn't harm anyone, now they seemed more to stop his convulsions from getting worse. Periodically his upper torso would stiffen, as if in the midst of a mild seizure. But it was his face that was the most heartbreaking. Abel highly doubted he was aware of much at the moment, despite his eyes darted randomly back and forth, almost unblinking. His jaw worked tirelessly, pushing out thick, frothy saliva. The only reason he didn't choke on it was thanks to the pillows propping his head up at an angle.

The old medicine woman waddled over, some loose leaves of paper in her hands. Before she could even begin, however, Abel started, "Symptoms presented approximately one month after receiving a bite wound. Initial presenting symptoms were general and nondescript. Fatigue, malaise, fever... perhaps a cough, nausea, vomiting, headache and vertigo. As it progressed, he began displaying agitation, restlessness, confusion, paranoia, hallucinations, insomnia. Based on the restraints, I'd estimate he also began to have convulsions, perhaps unable to move his neck, a strong aversion to water, unable to eat or swallow in general." Stepping closer despite the warnings, Abel waved her hand over the troll's face. He made no reaction, not even his pupils changing shape. "He's now in the delirium stage. I'd estimate that within a few days, if that, he'll lapse into a coma entirely and shortly after, inevitably expire." Abel's hypothesis had been correct, but it brought her little joy at the moment.

She turned back to the group, gaze questioning to the medicine woman. An expression somewhere between awe and apprehension of her old face, the woman wordlessly nodded. Everything Abel had said was correct. "Then you know what this is?" the king asked, daring to hope.

"It's as I expected. Lyssavirus, perhaps better known more colloquially as rabies."

"Rabies!?" both her human companions gasped, shocked to hear that something considered so distant and rare could cause all this.

"The excessive drooling, combined with the aggression, tipped me off. Not a lot of diseases read like that. But when you said it was transmitted solely through biting, I knew." Judging that the trolls weren't quite as familiar with it, Abel elaborated, "Rabies has five stages following infection. Once bitten, the virus remains within the muscle of the infection site to replicate, which can take anywhere from four days to two years, though generally lasts about a month. I won't get too technical, but from there the virus attaches to the nervous system to reach the brain. During this prodromal stage we see the generic reactions to an infection that are usually misdiagnosed as a cold or flu. As the virus spreads through the rest of the host's body and the brain begins to swell, we reach the acute neurologic stage, where people became actively dangerous. In eight-percent of cases it manifests as 'furious rabies', which is what we've seen here. The remaining twenty-percent manifest as 'dumb rabies' where paralysis is the primary feature. Paralysis and coma follow, after which point most people die from respiratory arrest." All this information might be unnecessary, but Abel always found that knowing the mechanisms behind scary things helped remove some of the fear. Most fear came from ignorance.

As a heavy silence lingers over Abel's explanation, Nami hesitantly asked, "What about the..." She made a vague motion toward the troll's face.

"The drooling?" Abel clarified. "It's the insidious behavior of the virus. After reaching the brain, it migrates to the salivary glands to be transmitted to the next host. That's why people with the furious type of rabies exhibit hydrophobia. Just the sight of it causes the throat muscles to constrict painfully. Swallowing would mean less saliva, which means less likelihood of being transmitted."

Sanji made a face. "I never knew viruses were so evil." Abel hummed in agreement. Thoughtless killing machines that have evolved solely to continue existing? Talk about a real monster.

Trying to wrap his head around this, the king asked, "You said death always follows... does that mean there's no cure?"

Sighing, Abel answered honestly, "There is no cure, per se. Once symptoms manifest, the prognosis is almost always death. I've only ever heard of fourteen cases in history where a person with active rabies survived, even with medical care. However," Abel was quick to emphasize. "There is both a vaccine and post-exposure treatment protocol that is one-hundred percent effective at preventing people from ever having rabies. Not everyone who gets bitten gets the virus, and often simple wound care is enough to flush the virus from the system. Anyone who suspects they might have been exposed is recommended to get the vaccine immediately so the body can build up immunity and fight the virus off before it ever manifest symptoms."

The king frowned, head still spinning. "Then what you're saying is-"

"Your highness, I can't save the ones who already have rabies, but we can prevent anyone from ever getting it again."

The king's eyes widened further. "You can truly do that? Make my people immune to this disease?"

Tilting her head back, staring at the ceiling, Abel replied, "Not me, exactly. But our ship's doctor is second to none. It's not as complicated a process as it sounds. A vaccine is merely a dead copy of a virus that the body can safely build up antibodies to… or you can take antibodies directly from the blood of someone who's already received the vaccine. In the case of suspected exposure, both methods are recommended to double-tap the problem, so to speak." Gazing back down at the immobilized troll, she murmured thoughtfully, "There's no shortage of access to the virus, but it will take time to synthesize." You didn't need a lot of the virus, but enough to trigger a reaction from the body.

"Wouldn't antibodies be faster?" Nami asked, concerned for their friend who might already have the virus multiplying in her body.

"But those are from people who've already had the vaccine, right?" Sanji pointed out, not to contradict of course, but to make sure he understood correctly. "So there's no one to get it from."

"Me."

The others looked up at the seemingly random comment. "What?"

Quirking her lips, Abel asked, "With my battered immune system, do you really think my father would miss out on the insurance?" She patted her shoulder. "If a vaccine exists, I've probably had it." Growing more seriously, Abel continued, "But even if you bled me dry, I doubt there'd be enough antibodies to vaccinate everyone. I don't even know if human immunoglobulin would work with non-human species. My assumption is it should, as trolls are close enough to catch rabies in the first place. Plus, I don't believe the vaccine they give to animals is any different than to humans. But…" Abel trailed off, again staring at the troll on the bed.

"But?" her comrades prompted.

"But with a big enough source of the virus, what can safely be extracted from me ought to speed up Doc's job considerably."

Nami couldn't help cringing a little. "You mean if we draw enough blood from one of the big trolls who actively have rabies?" Abel simply nodded, understanding Nami's distaste. Not only was it an unpleasant thing to consider, but extremely dangerous. Still, it was the most efficient way to get the "cure" to everyone in a timely manner.

It would be easier to say it wasn't their problem. Give Robin some of her antibodies, and just leave the trolls to their fates. What she failed to mention about the virus, because it would only lead to undue distress, was that unlike most diseases where people tend to fade out at some point, victims of rabies were completely aware throughout. Even if they weren't entirely lucid enough to express it, they were quite aware of what's happening to their bodies. The pain, convulsions, paranoia, aggression… it was like being trapped inside your own body while something else controlled it. And that, more than any monster, was something Abel feared.

How could she not feel empathy for this poor troll before her? She may never have taken an oath, but she wasn't without compassion. Perhaps she was too much of a bleeding heart (literally, in this case), but Abel could not willingly turn her back when someone needed aid that was entirely within her ability to provide. Too many people in the world said things weren't their problem, then bellyache when the problem comes home to roost and no one helps them.

The king seemed to want to say something, but never got the chance, as suddenly the ground began to shake. Sanji clutched at Nami's arm as the woman nearly fell over during the violent tremors, and Abel covered her head as a bit of the ceiling crumpled down. It felt as if the entire mountain were about to collapse upon them. When the quaking finally died down, Sanji barked, "What the hell was that!?"

---

Outside, Caine had removed her helmet to keep from overheating. As much as she enjoyed the protection, armor wasn't exactly the most air-conditioned choice of clothing. And the leather gloves weren't the best at wiping sweat from her brow. All the more reason she kept her hair super-short.

A sudden rumble warned the group to step back before more rocks rolled from the mountain, shifting to re-cover the headway they'd been making. As the dent they'd made disappeared behind another layer of stubborn stone, Caine couldn't help letting her frustration get the better of it. "Dammit!" she cursed, stabbing her greatsword angrily into the ground, splitting it.

"Stupid rocks," Luffy agreed, huffing at their hard work undone. Unlike Caine, however, Luffy wasn't so easily deterred, and without further fuss went back to digging through the rocks. "It's okay," he reassured Caine. "Well get through eventually."

Panting from a combination of agitation and fatigue, Caine watched as the boy resumed their work, undaunted by the setback. While on some level she admired his tenacity, she couldn't help letting the irritation that had been building up over the past days come out. "Don't you care that your friends are trapped inside?" she demanded.

"Of course," Luffy answered easily, never ceasing, Dogmeat dutifully beside him. If Abel had been there, she would've commented on how Luffy's dogged determination resembled a brain-dead animal. "That's why I'm digging. That's the fastest way to find them."

With nothing to say on that matter, Caine gazed toward the horizon. "I wonder if Oliver found another way in…" she thought aloud.

"Zoro's pretty good at getting lost, so probably not," Luffy said, the irony escaping him. "Nami'll probably get the others out before we find a way in."

Something about the offhand comment irked the swordswoman. "Then why are we digging!?"

"Because it looked like you needed to do something to save Abel, even though she doesn't need your saving." That left Caine speechless. Smiling over his shoulder at Caine's gobsmacked expression, Luffy continued, "I've got a brother, too, and we used to get in fights all the time. Even though deep down we were just looking out for each other. I know sometimes it's hard to say, so you have to find something to do."

Caine's mind reeling, trying to comprehend what the boy'd just said. Rubbing her hand against her face, Caine murmured, "She shouldn't be here." Whether she meant here specifically, or here as on a pirate ship, was anyone's guess.

"But she wants to be here."

"I don't want her to be here," Caine clarified.

"She didn't want you to leave on your own, either, but she let you." Peering out from between her fingers, Caine almost convinced herself she wasn't talking to the same goofy kid. "She's good at that, y'know? Always knowing what people need, even if it hurts her. I bet she knew you were going to leave even before you did."

Thinking about it, Caine agreed with a snort, "Probably." Maybe that's why Abel always seemed to have it in for Solomon from the beginning.

Grinning widely, Luffy continued, "She believed you'd be okay on your own- and you were!"

"You're saying I don't believe in my own sister."

Luffy pursed his lips, tilting his head thoughtfully. "I think it was more she didn't believe in herself." Luffy remembered how, after slaying the basilisk, Abel'd commented something to the extent of knowing now that her way of handling monsters would work. Smiling again, he said, "But now she does."

Unable to find something to say in response, Caine gazed up at the mountain keeping them separated. Was that it? Did Abel not believe in herself back then? Did she… think she'd be in the way?

Any further pondering would have to wait, however, as suddenly it felt like the entire island began to shake. Caine clung to her sword, still embedded in the ground, while Dogmeat and Luffy had to move away from the rockslide before more rocks fell on them. "What the hell's going on!?" Caine complained.

"Earthquake?" Luffy asked, having a hard time staying on his feet. Even Dogmeat, low to the ground, struggled to keep his footing.

Gradually, the earth stopped its shaking. Slowly loosening her death grip, fearing the start of another tremor as soon as she did, Caine scowled at the mountain. At least the shaking hadn't caused any more rocks to fall over the entrance. Unfortunately, excavation became the last thing on their minds when, in the distance they heard a familiar droning roar. "It the thing from before!" Luffy gasped, eyes darting to the sky, watching for another boulder shower.

Yanking her sword from the ground, Caine noted, "No… it's a lot closer this time."

---

"How big is this damned mountain?" Zoro gripped as he followed along with Sir Oliver and Claudine. They'd been going around… and around… and around the base of this mountain looking for another way in for what felt like ages. By this point the forest had completely disappeared, leaving a wide expanse of rocky terrain. They had to be on the back side of the island by now. And yet despite the view, they hadn't found an opening. Was there really only the one?

Sir Oliver propped his elbow on his gun, aged eyes narrowing as he scanned the horizon. "It appears to be a lost cause," he concluded. "Perhaps there is only one way in and out of this blasted rock." Satisfied with his own assessment, he shouldered his gun again, turning to face the others. "We should head back and help your lads clear that cave-in. Many hands, and all that."

Rubbing her hands anxiously, Claudine worried, "I hope they're all right."

Zoro gave a little snort. "Knowing Abel, she's shaking hands with the troll king and already writing a book about their culture." For someone who called themselves a "monster hunter", she seemed awfully keen on chatting with them.

The group was just turning around to retrace their steps, when an eerily familiar sound droned through the air. Had they not known better, they might've mistaken it for a foghorn. But no, this was a very different type of warning. The rocks scattered around them began to jump and jostle, bouncing at even intervals against the ground as something rhythmically pounded against the earth. Senses on high alert, Zoro slowly slid himself between the explorers and the thing marching toward them. A strong sense of deja vu overcame him, his mind immediately jumping back to last night when the troll that chased down Luffy's group had paid them a visit. What else on this island could shake the ground as such but a troll? Only- This one feels a lot bigger, Zoro thought, both his swords at the ready.

While Zoro was ready to face anything, troll or otherwise, even he wasn't quite prepared for the sight that slowly emerged from the horizon. It was a troll, naturally, except, "It's huge!" Franky gasped, astounded by the enormity of the beast strolling through the mountainside.

Even someone who'd encountered giants, dragons, and any number of oversized beasts, Zoro was almost as surprised as the others. While the troll before them wasn't as large as Broggy and Dorry, and certainly no comparison to the leviathan, it was still dangerously huge. Zoro recalled Abel commenting in the past how big creatures could be dangerous simply due to their size, regardless of their hostility, and that was certainly the case here. Even Robin or Franky, the tallest among the crew, might only be as tall as its pinky. The humans would look like miniature action figures in comparison. That brought to mind unpleasant images of being stepped on. How in the world had they not seen it before? The troll should be visible from the sky! Zoro could only guess that, due to its massive size, it preferred to live away from the forest, if only to avoid constantly stubbing its toes.

As for the rest of its appearance, the troll looked to be a mix between the three-headed troll and Boris. Clearly humanoid, but with droopy skin on its face. Its nose wasn't quite as large, but not flat like Boris'. It's skin matched Boris, however, while it had some scraggly hair like the forest troll, including a wiry beard. Zoro wasn't sure if the hairy loincloth was just convenient body hair or if it had fashioned it from some animal. Zoro was more inclined to believe the former, as he had a hard time imagining what animal might be large enough to skin such a garment from.

Behind him, Claudine whimpered as the troll paused in its stroll, turning its head to scan the area. With its droopy eyebrows, it was hard to say if it could see them. But when it started sniffing the air, they knew they were about to be in trouble. Sure enough, its head snapped in their direction, lips drawn back in a grimace. Everyone tensed, waiting for it to charge like the others.

The troll did no such thing, however. Instead, showing far more restraint than any of the others, it knelt and grabbed a literal chunk of the mountain. "Get back!" Zoro barked, realizing this was the culprit from the previous rock shower.

The troll hurled the massive stone at them, causing Claudine to scream as Sir Oliver dragged her away and Zoro ran to meet it. Leaping, Wado and Kitetsu easily diced the stone to bits like it was one of Sanji's tomatoes. Franky used his cannon-powered arm to break the bits into smaller pieces, where they crashed harmlessly, if noisily, to the ground. Surely the entire island heard it.

Landing unscathed, Zoro glanced behind him. Sir Oliver had managed to keep Claudine safely out of the rocks' paths, but she was too shaken to do much more than follow his pull. "Yo, get outta here!" Franky ordered, knowing that this was no place for the timid researcher, regardless of her resolve. She had no combat training. And even Sir Oliver, with his blunderbuss, probably wouldn't do much.

"Get back to the ship! And tell Luffy if you see him!" It wasn't that Zoro didn't think he could handle things, but their captain would be upset if he knew he missed this.

"Right!" Sir Oliver replied, already urging Claudine away.

With that taken care of, Zoro could fully focus on the massive problem in front of him.

---

"That can only be Jotunn," the king answered, pensively staring at the ceiling as the bone chandelier ceased it rattling. "He, more than anything else, is the reason why we rarely allow others outside of the mountain."

"Boris said that name before," Sanji noted. "Is he the asshole who threw those boulders and caused the cave-in?"

Frowning, the king answered, "Most likely. His strength is immense, easily the greatest among all of us. In the past, he was known as Jotunn the Mountain Thrower. I don't think I need to elaborate on why."

"I suppose it's too much to hope the name is merely a coincidence," Abel drawled.

"I'm afraid not."

Confused, Nami asked, "What do you mean?" Mountain Thrower seemed pretty self-explanatory.

As if sensing her thoughts, Abel replied, "Not that. Jotunn essentially means giant."

What Abel meant slowly began to dawn on them. "You mean a giant troll," Sanji concluded. "Even more giant than what we've been dealing with."

"And probably the reason we're stuck in here in the first place," Abel said, nodding.

"Jotunn has always been too big to live inside the mountain," the king informed them.

"Is he infected?" Nami asked.

"Given how he's recently begun attacking the mountain, I'd say so," the king said, visage obviously upset about the threats from all sides to his people. "He's always been aggressive, but never toward other trolls."

"Shit," Sanji suddenly cursed as a thought occurred to him. "Lady Claudine and the others are all outside. I bet anything this giant's attacking them again like he did us before." Scowling, Sanji glared at nothing. "Those idiots better keep her and Robin-chan safe."

A thought began to form in Abel's mind as she idly listened to them discussing the giant troll. Maybe...

"King!"

Abel's thoughts were put on hold as a larger mountain troll came hobbling in. Barely able to fit through the door, he settled for sticking his head through. "The bridge!"

Forced to follow the king as he left them behind to see what the problem was with the bridge, the pirates raced down the rattling corridors hot on his literal tail. For such a short being wearing a robe and stone clogs, he certainly knew how to move. The bridge in question that caused such a commotion was one of the hanging rope bridges they'd noticed before, hanging between the towering stone pillars and connecting around the back of the settlement. Or at least, it had been. Now, likely due to the tremors, a stalactite had collapsed upon part of the suspended portion, completely severing the bridge, leaving the end dangling forlornly.

The scene was pure pandemonium. Trolls ran around, either helping collect those who'd fallen or otherwise been injured by falling rocks, or trying to remove the stalactites from where they'd crushed stalls. It seemed the smaller trolls, like the king, didn't have the same physical defense as the larger trolls. Or perhaps even tough hide and hard heads were no match for giant stones falling at terminal velocity.

Several trolls in livery bellowed their messages to the king. How he made sense of them all was anyone's guess, as trolls didn't have exemplary grammar at the best of times. Abel picked up pieces of damage reports. Some homes and shops destroyed. Bridges broken. A water wheel got smashed. It wasn't until their old chum Boris galloped over that anything sounded relevant to them. "Kingsy, humie!" he gasped, breath wheezing through his snub nose. "Ter'ble news. Collapsed the other cave has."

Nami frowned. "Why is that terrible news?"

If it were possible for such a wide-eyed beast, Boris gaped at them. "No see? Other cave! No way out 'til trollses clear. E'rebody trapped, including humie."

"You mean we're stuck down here while a giant killer troll is trying to tear the mountain down around us!?" Nami shrieked, the panic around them feeding into her fears.

"I'm afraid so," the king replied, having caught the conversation. He pointed at the broken bridge. "That bridge led to the secondary tunnels. If it were only that destroyed, we might find another way up to the caves. But if the tunnels themselves have collapsed, it'll take time to dig them out."

"You see," Boris added less than helpfully. "Trollses good diggers. Have way open for humies in hours."

Scowling around his cigarette, Sanji argued, "I doubt we have that long." All around them, the mountain groaned and rattled distressingly. It made the pirates think a little too much of when they collapsed the mines to trap the werewolves... except now they were the trapped prey.

"What about that?" Abel asked, pointing toward where the water filling the cavern river flowed from the ceiling. "Isn't that in the direction of the headwaters for the river we crossed outside?"

Brow creasing in concentration, Nami thought about it. If she estimated the twists and turns of the caves then, "It should be... but is it even big enough for us to get out?" Just because a hole was big enough for water to get through, that didn't mean it was big enough for a human.

"That's no trickle," Abel pointed out. "If we can get up there, I think it's worth a shot. We can always back out if we reach an impasse."

Nami agreed it might work, but, "Wouldn't it be better for us to wait?" she asked. "Luffy and the others can deal with the troll outside, right? It's not like we're going to starve or suffocate down here. And the trolls can eventually dig us out."

"In any other circumstance, I would agree," Abel admitted. "But this Big Jo... If he is actively rabid, as we suspect, and we can get a big enough sample from him, we would have a huge jumpstart on making the vaccine. Otherwise we'll have to track down other carriers in the wild, and who knows how many there are or if we can get enough of a sample. Don't forget we're on a ticking clock, not only for our own sake."

"Can you get a message to the ship?" Sanji asked, understanding Abel's urgency. He didn't want anything to happen to Robin.

Abel shook her head. "They're not answering. Either something has happened, or they're simply too far to hear the ring. I have no doubt Boss and the others will eventually deal with Big Jo, but by then it may be too late, either because he'll have bled out and the virus dies along with him, or because he's turned to stone. And need I remind you, you can't wring blood from a stone."

Her companions weighed Abel's words. While neither were exactly happy about the thought of climbing through a dead-end tunnel, they knew Abel didn't suggest extreme measures unless she felt it was the best option- using the term "best" loosely. Not good, by any means, but better than the alternatives. "I don't want to leave Robin-chan's fate to those idiots," Sanji finally relented.

"I don't like it," Nami felt the need to tell them, yet based on how she set her shoulders, she was willing to go along with them.

Getting as high as she could, Abel pulled out an arrow shaft and attached one end to a rope the trolls helpfully provided before screwing a special broadhead onto the other end. As she lined up the shot, Sanji let out a whistle. "That is, uh... one heck of an arrow, Abel-dono."

Making face, Nami added, "It looks like a psychotic Christmas tree."

Abel couldn't help grinning at the observation. "I'm afraid it's merely called a mechanical broadhead, but I like your title better."

Nami's vivid description was actually quite apt. The metal broadhead did look a bit like a tree, or perhaps like someone had stuck two ninja stars inside an arrow head. A single shaft ending in a very deadly point with four sharpened arrowheads protruding at opposite sides. What made it look so terrifying, however, was that two of the blades pointed toward the tip while two were backwards, the blades on the broad sides. The arrow was specifically made to rend and tear as it hit the mark. It was meant to go deep and never come out. And given she was about to shoot it into solid stone and climb it, that's what they needed.

Abel aimed a bit into the cavern, which was helpfully at an angle to them so that they should theoretically be able to just climb in. Letting the arrow fly, the other two had to step back to avoid being smacked by the rope as it flailed into the air. Her aim true, the arrow embedded itself along the stream. Replacing her bow, Abel grabbed the dangling rope and jumped, testing her weight and checking that it would hold them. "Seems secure enough," she assessed before turning back. "Up you get, Red."

Nami made a displeased face. "Why do I have to go first?"

"For one, you're the smallest and lightest of us," Abel reasoned, not batting an eyelash. "We should go lightest to heaviest to limit the strain on the line. I'll go after you, then Bullseye. Plus, if we do fall, Bullseye has as better chance of stopping us than any other way 'round."

"Your confidence humbles me, Abel-dono!"

"And secondly, do you really want Bullseye directly behind you when you're in a skirt?"

Ignoring Sanji's crushed visage, Nami huffed, but sucked it up. Shaking out her arms, Nami jumped up and grabbed the line, clamping her body to it. Shimmying her way up, she complained, "Have I mentioned I hate climbing ropes over water?"

"At least there aren't any sky sharks this time," Abel called coyly, before adding, "At least I don't think so." She checked below, but didn't see anything moving in the water. If anything, there might be some fish, or newts. She'd never heard of sharks living in caves.

"Shut up, Abel!"

As Abel was chuckling, the king approached, his face adopting the standard worried expression. "Be careful," he warned. "I truly don't know where that cave leads. But watch out for Ahool."

"Ahool?" the remaining pirates repeated.

The king nodded. "She's a giant albino bat. I supposed one could say she's the queen bat on this island."

"Bats don't usually eat people, do they?" Sanji asked.

"Neither do trolls, but you see where we are," the king retorted.

As his words sunk in, Abel's eyes widened, her lips parting as she had an epiphany. "Abel-dono?" the cook asked, concerned her the hunter's slack-jawed expression.

Before Abel could say anything, Nami called from above, "Okay! Hurry up!" Without a word of explanation, Abel began her own ascent into the unknown.

With time of the essence, Abel wasted none climbing the rope. A straight vertical ascent with nothing to rest her body weight against was definitely a major workout, even for the archer, and by the time Abel pulled herself into the cavern proper her poor recovering lungs were panting. Coughing a few times, Abel shimmied further up the tunnel, the unspoken signal for Sanji to begin.

The two women crouched in the low tunnel as they waited, leaning back against the smooth stone walls. Abel briefly worried about the cook, not only because upper body strength wasn't his forte, but also because of his hands. However, Sanji displayed no difficulties making the climb, even if he did show extra care when grabbing at the old, rough rope. Abel could only surmise that, while Sanji didn't fight with his hands directly, he did spend a lot of time doing handstands and other acrobatics, so they probably weren't overly delicate. Abel couldn't help squinting one eye shut as she pondered if she'd ever held Sanji's hands in any capacity, but if she had it had been so brief, she'd made no note of their structure.

Sanji let out a sigh as he pulled himself up. Glancing back, he couldn't help commenting, "That's one hell of a fall." Even if they did land in water, it would definitely hurt. After instructing Sanji to pull the rope up, just in case they needed it for later, the trio began to make their way up the tunnel.

At first, their journey was awkward but not overly difficult. They had to hunch over, and even then their heads occasionally hit the ceiling. They walked splayed-legged with hands grabbing along the walls to keep their balance both against the swift current sweeping passed their knees and to maintain purchase on the worn-smooth stone floor. It made Abel feel like a spider skittering along the surface. And eventually they were in pitch-black, the glow from the trolls' lanterns only able to reach so far. As her eyes adjusted, Abel could faintly make out Nami ahead of her, her light skin aiding in her visibility a few meters ahead. The same could be said for Sanji, with his blond hair and pale skin, not to mention to faint ember from his cigarette.

The worst of it was when the mountain would shake as Jotunn continued whatever assault he had going on. It never failed to pull a panicked noise from Nami, and even Abel felt her nerves fray. As if being in a tiny tunnel wasn't bad enough, fearing the tunnel might collapse in on them was even worse. The only saving grace was that it felt like the vibrations were getting less and less, meaning they must be moving away from the fighting.

A sharp cry yanked Abel's attention forward. Instinct and sound more than anything else told her that Nami had slipped and fallen into the steam... and with the way she and Sanji were standing, she was going to slip right between their legs and out into the cavern below! Reacting on a split-second impulse, Abel threw her weight to one side, jamming her knee and shoulder into the stone, adrenaline preventing her from feeling it at the moment while her hands blindly lashed out toward the water. The instant her fingers felt something that didn't feel like water, they clasped, her other hand reaching down as well.

With a death-grip on Nami's clothes, it took Abel a second to realize she was holding their navigator underwater. Leaning back, putting as much weight on her legs as she could, Abel hauled the redhead up. The sharp, panicked gasp told her when Nami's face was out of the water. The hand that'd been holding onto the hem of Nami's skirt came around to the woman's front, wrapping supportively around her chest to pull her against Abel's front. Nami's hands flew out, one grasping the wall, the other clinging to Abel's arm as she panted. Coughing, Nami sputtered, "I hate this island!"

Pulse calming with her friend safe again, Abel winced at her knee digging into the rock. She was also aware of the hand clutching the waistband of her pants. "Nami-san, are you all right!?" Sanji asked hurriedly, moving closer behind Abel. Said woman shivered in her grip, and even Abel couldn't say if it was just due to the cold water or fright.

Coming back to her senses, Nami reached down to straighten out the hem of her skirt. In her haste to grab anything, Abel had gotten the bottom of her skirt and hoisted it up past what even Nami would've considered decent. If her aim had been any more off, she'd have grabbed Nami panties. Fortunately, in the dark, no one could see her embarrassment. If it had been one of the guys, Nami would've laid into them, but it was Abel, so her mortification was limited. Besides, it seemed even the hunter hadn't noticed, or she would've made a joke.

Taking deep breaths, Nami explained, "I slipped when the tunnel narrowed out. We'll have to crawl from here."

While her knees didn't appreciate the terrain, Abel was at least grateful that it gave her back a break. The tunnel not only narrowed, leaving them crawling through almost chest-high water, but the angle lowered slightly, slowing the current they had to slog through. Abel was suddenly grateful she didn't suffer from claustrophobia... not technically, at any rate. She wasn't afraid of small spaces, but she'd be lying if she said she liked being in them. But so long as she could move and it wasn't pressing on her chest, she could deal. The cold water was bracing, at least.

"Aah!" Nami screamed, and suddenly she was gone, followed by a loud splash.

"Nami-san!" Sanji shouted.

Fortunately, rather than Abel having to catch her, they heard another splash followed by Nami spitting and sputtering, no doubt getting water out of her mouth and nose she'd accidentally inhaled during the sudden fall. "I'm okay," she reassured. "I think I fell into some kind of… pool. It's a lot deeper than the tunnel."

Cautiously, Abel felt her way forward. It didn't take long before her hands came across a drop. Being unable to see it in the dark, Nami'd crawled right in. Less dramatically, the other two followed suit, sliding into the pool.

As Nami'd assessed, the cavern opened up into a pool. Or perhaps a reservoir. It was deep enough they could stand in it with the water up to their chests. Based on the sound of running water behind them, the reservoir was high enough to steadily feed water into the tunnels below.

Feeling around in the dark, Sanji concluded, "Looks like a dead-end."

Frowning, Nami argued, "It can't be. There has to be water coming in from somewhere for it to keep feeding into the tunnel."

It took a lot of groping around blindly before Abel's foot caught on something. Kicking around with the toe of her boot, Abel felt empty space. "Here," she called, shifting to stand over the hole. Taking a deep breath, she ducked under the water. In the dark, she couldn't see anything, and it brought back unpleasant memories of being trapped in the cavern with the leviathan. But Abel pushed those memories aside and felt around. Estimating the perimeter of the hole with her hands, Abel concluded that it should be big enough for them to squeeze through one at the time.

When she reported as much upon resurface, she practically felt Nami's glare. "You go first this time." Fair enough, Abel supposed. Their navigator had been getting the short end of the stick so far. And it was her idea.

"See you on the other side," she said cheerily with a salute, even if they couldn't see it.

The rocks below her shifted as Abel used her hands to pull her body through the hole, and she was careful not to kick anything loose. She did not want to get trapped alone in this mountain. Luckily, the pool on the other size was very spacious, and as soon as she felt she was all the way through the gap, Abel stood.

Immediately upon breaking the surface, Abel's senses were overwhelmed. Not by light, as the cave was as dark as the rest, but by sound and smell. Perhaps it was due to the deep breath she took as she surfaced, but Abel instantly regretted it, coughing as the pungent aroma assaulted her, her hand flying to cover her nose. While she'd never encountered this particular… bouquet, feces smelt the same the world over. Combined with the constant chittering assaulting her ears, it made the hunter feel a bit lightheaded. "Chittering" was the best term to describe the cacophony echoing around her head, reverberating off the stone walls. Like that of a flock of small, vocal birds… or rats. Except rats didn't usually live in caves. A fact Abel felt distinctly grateful for as she watched the ceiling writhe above her.

In quick succession, Sanji and Nami popped beside her, their reactions mimicking her own. "Ugh!" Nami complained. "What is that smell?"

"Guano," Abel replied easily.

"What?" Nami asked, her brain taking a second to process. "You mean…" A cry fell from her lips as she saw what had Abel's attention. "Bats!"

"Jeez," Sanji murmured, not afraid like Nami, but equally disturbed. A furry blanket moved in the darkness above them. Nami's scream had startled a few, and they fluttered overhead, causing the navigator to cover her head in fright. "It sounds like millions."

"Unlikely, but colonies do tend to be quite large," Abel whispered, not wishing to agitate the bat army above her.

As Nami shivered in disgust, Sanji looked on the bright side. "But this is good, right? If the bats can fly in, then there's a place to fly out." Meaning they were finally near an exit. Yet when all he got was an uncommitted hum from the hunter, his enthusiasm dampened. "Abel-dono?"

"No, you're correct," Abel said mildly, obviously distracted by other thoughts. "But more importantly, I think we've found the source of the rabies epidemic."

This revelation, and the certainty with which Abel spoke it, distracted Nami from her disgust. "The source?"

Again, Abel hummed, knowing they wouldn't see her nod. "While among humans bites from infected canines are the most common spread of the disease, in most cases the chain always begins with a bat biting something. It's not too much of a stretch to hypothesize that a bat might bite a troll trying to gather fruits, or perhaps intentionally… I can't tell what species of bats these are. Or, y'know, a colony of bats defecating and urinating into the trolls' water supply."

Sanji made a face. "Yeah… I doubt they do much water filtration or purification."

"Wait…" Nami interrupted, holding her arms close. "Does that mean we just swam through rabies infected water?"

"Potentially." Nami barely suppressed a squeal, and even Sanji grew pale enough for Abel to see. "As I said, transmission is solely intravenous. Even if you ate an infected animal, you wouldn't contract rabies. So, unless either of you have an open wound, you'll be fine. If you think about it, most of the water we encountered is probably used by the local wildlife to-"

"No more!" Nami shouted.

Of course, screaming inside a bat-filled chamber was probably not the best idea. If they thought the bats were loud before, it was nothing compared to when they were stirred up. The sounds of hundreds of tiny flapping wings joined the chittering chorus. Feeling unseen objects swooping just overhead was very unsettling, and caused the pirates to duck down into the water as the bats made their startled exit.

Sticking their heads up just enough to not drown, in hopes that the bats wouldn't fly so close to the water, the trio tried to see which direction the bats were going. Surely they had to be leaving the cave. "Sanji, your light," Nami ordered.

Abel had no idea what type of zippo lighter the cook used, but she had to give credit to the case maker because despite being submerged in water for who-knows-how-long, the wick flicked to life easily. The cavern was actually quite a bit larger than they'd suspected, with a high ceiling. The stream they were in cut a path through the rocks, leaving a bit of dry land off to the side. This land looked covered in what to the untrained eye might think was soil, but Abel knew it was guano.

Something hit Abel in the back of the head, pulling a startled cry from the normally unflinching hunter. Perhaps it was because every girl was warned at some point about bats getting tangled up in their hair. Beside her, Nami screamed as a bat fell in the water, splashing them. Abel caught a glimpse of its squashed, pudge-nosed face before it slapped its fleshy wings against the water, pantomiming the butterfly stroke until it got enough lift to get in the air again. "Desmodontinae," Abel said, identifying the species at last. Sensing the confused stares, she clarified, "Vampire bats." Now it was almost confirmed these little guys were the cause of the plague. "They must've fed off some of the trolls in their sleep, thus spreading the disease despite the king's efforts." Self-conscious, Abel ran a hand down the back of her head, but with her hair wet she'd never know if she was bleeding. She was willing to chalk this one up to an accident, as dive-bombing and assaulting animals was not the vampire bat's MO.

"They're going that way," Sanji said, as they all watched the bats fly in one singular direction. It didn't make sense for them to fly further into the cave when scared, so that had to be the way out.

As they followed along the stream, the sounds of the bats grew less and less as they poured out of the cave and into the… come to think of it, what time was it? It had to be mid-afternoon by this point. The dark and chaos was starting to eat away at Abel's internal clocks. Abel was just shaking her head to refocus her thoughts when she heard something behind them. Pausing, Abel looked back, even though it was a pointless act. Passed the sphere of Sanji's lighter, she could see exactly jack. But she did hear something. Something like… big wings beating through the still air, loud enough to be distinguishable from the rest of the noise.

Before she had a chance to ask, or even the others to notice she'd stopped, a call echoed from the belly of the mountain. "Ahooooo!"

Sanji nearly dropped his lighter in surprise, almost burning his hands as he attempted to catch it. "Shit!" he cursed.

"What was that!?" Nami cried.

"Off hand, I'd say Ahool," Abel replied, far more calm, eyes straining to see through the dark.

"Bats don't prey on people, right?" Sanji asked.

"Ordinarily, no. But I'm not certain that rule applies to giant ones, possibly of the vampire subfamily."

Through the dim, a figure emerged, its ethereal white skin standing out sharply. "Ahoooo!" Ahool was rightly referred to as the queen bat, as her size dwarfed even the flying foxes. She was closer in size to a horse than a bat, with a wingspan to match. With each powerful, confident swipe, her leathery wings grazed the cavern walls. Her face matched that of the vampire bats, with big ears and the signature pointy "leaf-nose". And when her mouth opened, large, sharp teeth.

"Get down!" Sanji yelled, yanking both women into the water as Ahool made a dive at them. When they resurfaced, they saw the giant bat continuing on, disappearing out of what seemed to be the mouth of the tunnel.

Wasting no time, they hurried out through the tunnel, emerging into the fresh air of the outside. Never had fog and cloudy skies been so welcoming. All eyes directed to the sky, Nami asked, "Do you think it'll come back?"

"Contrary to their name, vampire bats don't suck the blood from humans," Abel explained, eyes scanning through the fog. "They use their tiny teeth to make a cut in their prey, usually when they're asleep, and lap up the blood droplets. Most of the time the animal doesn't even notice. But with a bat that size…" Abel wasn't sure the normal rules applied. A "small cut" from that might take a limb off.

"There!" Nami shouted, pointing at the sky. "It's coming back!" Indeed, Ahool was making a wide circle in the sky, her white fur vibrantly visible against the dark sky.

"We need to get back to the ship," Sanji urged. "Quick, into the trees!" Hopefully a bat that size wouldn't be able to get them inside the dense forest.

---

While all this was going on, the others were having their own problems. As the sounds of chaos continued, Luffy and Caine abandoned their digging, leaving Dogmeat who refused to be moved from his task. Rushing in the direction of the obvious fighting, it didn't take long before they crossed paths with Claudine and Sir Oliver. Glasses completely lost in the panic, Claudine practically collided with Luffy, clutching urgently at his vest. "Mr. Luffy!" she gasped, so out of breath she could hardly speak. "Mr. Zoro… troll… rocks…"

"What she's trying to say is that those rocks from before were from a giant troll, who's now tussling with your swordsman friend," Sir Oliver interrupted.

Waving toward Sir Oliver, Claudine managed, "Yes. That."

"Did you find another way inside the mountain?" Caine asked, less concerned about the pirates than her sister's whereabouts.

"Didn't have time I'm afraid, old sport," Sir Oliver replied. "We were just on our way back with the giant brute showed up." Only his years of experience with fearsome beasts allowed him to remain so calm and clear in a crisis.

Luffy nodded. "Gotcha. I guess you guys should head back for the ship and let the others know."

"Right-o," Sir Oliver agreed, steadily dislodging Claudine from Luffy's front. "We'll mount up a defensive perimeter. I'm rightly worried all this hoopla may have keyed other unfriendly sorts to our location."

Leaving them to handle it, Luffy began running again. But not without shouting back, "Usopp can set up the lights!"

At chaos central, Zoro was, understandably, having a hard time with the jotunn. The beast was dangerous from pretty much every angle. If they were too far away, the troll would hurl chunks of the mountain at them, forcing Zoro and Franky to shatter them into smaller rocks if they didn't want to get crushed. But even getting in close, as Zoro needed to do, was dicey. If he wasn't quick, this thing could squash or smash him into jelly. And he definitely did not want to get picked up by this behemoth. Because of this, Zoro imagined the troll as one giant obstacle, and tried to use his strongest, sharpest techniques, rather than starting small. As Franky uselessly pelted the beast with some bullets that must've been like gnat bites, Zoro crossed his sheathes before him, kneeling. "Nitoryu Iai..." Tuning out the chaos and other emotions, Zoro centered himself, focusing on his soon-to-be target. His eyes snapped open. "Rashomon!"

In a flash, Zoro lashed out, ending up on the opposite side of the troll, bright lines racing across its torso. As he landed, Zoro spun around to see the damage. Even with its massive size, the force of Zoro's attack sent it reeling, staggering back. "Now, Franky!" Zoro shouted, seeing the opportunity.

"You got it!" Aiming for its face, Franky yanked on the cord for the generator, and it flickered to life. The bright white light landed on the troll's face, and it flinched and growled in distress, hands coming up to shield its face. It even batted at the air a few times, as if to brush the light away. Yet while it did all that, the one thing it wasn't doing was turning to stone. The light absolutely hurt it, but it wasn't slowing it down.

In its panic to make the pain stop, the troll flailed its mitts, punching blindly at the ground. Franky managed to jump out of the way in time, but this did pull the light off the troll. As it shook its body, Zoro saw there were patches of stone-like growths now dotting its brows and chest. Then the light had worked, it just wasn't strong enough to manage the instant calcification like the other. Probably thanks to its sheer size. If I can keep it busy long enough, this might work, Zoro told himself. He tossed a scowl toward his blades. That attack did little more than dull my blades, he mentally grumbled. Troll hide was no joke, apparently, and harder than steel. So how was he supposed to-

"Zoro! Franky!"

Zoro's head snapped up to see two figures running toward him. "Luffy!" Not waiting around, Zoro barked, "We gotta keep this thing busy until the light works on it!" With the extra help, they should be able to handle it now.

---

Back at the ships, everything had been packed up and ready to go, save the lights, which they were leaving up as a precaution until the very end. Solomon was down on the deck, keeping an eye on the sailors. After what happened earlier, they were very eager to get out of here. But they at least understood they'd be getting no pay if they abandoned the team, so they were staying put under protest... for now. Hence why Solomon was watching them. The sailors seemed content to stay so long as they didn't have to confront the trolls directly, which suited the remaining pirates just fine. Antsy men were unpredictable.

Of course, the commotion hadn't escaped their notice, and the Straw Hats who'd stayed behind could only watch the forest and speculate. "I hope everyone's all right," Chopper worried, part of him wishing he'd gone with them. Sometimes not knowing was worse than knowing.

Smiling peacefully, nursing her wounded arm, Robin said reassuringly, "I'm sure they're fine. If they weren't putting up a fight, the mountain would be quiet by now."

"That's not reassuring!" Chopper squeaked, earning a chuckle from the woman.

Putting on a brave face, Usopp chimed in, "We're fine as long as we stay in the lights." Not for a second had he allowed the lights to go down. It looked like morning on the sun. "And if the others needed us, they'd have come running back by now."

Usopp would've gone into some long tirade about his brave exploits in the past, had at that very moment, they very thing he just said happened. "Chopper!" Nami cried, racing out of the forest toward them.

"Oh no!" Usopp squealed, fearing the worst.

On her feet, Robin asked seriously, "What happened?" Both Nami and Sanji stopped just short of them, bending over to catch their breaths. Clearly they'd been in a mad sprint to reach them, which could only mean something had gone wrong. Well, they assumed that already from the noise, but it must've been even more serious than they'd thought.

"Where's everyone else?" Usopp asked, worried.

Standing a bit taller, Sanji explained in a rush, "We got separated, but that doesn't matter right now. Listen, Chopper. Abel-dono thinks the trolls have rabies."

The little deer's eyes shot wide. "Oh no!"

Confused about why they seemed so worried, Usopp asked, "What's that?"

"It's a disease that affects the host's brain, sending them into a blind rage," Chopper explained, shivering. They never had a rabies outbreak back in Drum, as it was too cold for most of the carrier animals to live there, but he'd read plenty about it. "Then Abel was right, and there was something wrong with the trolls that attacked us. That's why they were drooling so much, because the disease compels the host to spread it by..." Chopper trailed off. If it were possible for something with fur to turn pale, Chopper managed it just then as dread crept into his heart.

Finishing for him, Robin said, "To spread the disease by biting."

An ominous silence filled the air as everyone stared at Robin's bandaged arm. But before they could get too far in their despair, Nami cut in. "Abel said we can cure it."

"Cure it?" Chopper repeated, frowning. "You can't cure rabies..." He gasped, realizing what Abel must have meant. "But you can if stop the infection from becoming full-blown rabies! Post-exposure prophylaxis! Of course! Anyone suspected of having contact with an animal with the disease is given the vaccine to stop it from replicating!"

Both confused and worried, Usopp asked, "So Robin'll be okay?"

"Yes!" Chopper said eagerly. "If I can create the vaccine!" She hadn't shown symptoms yet, so there was still time.

"Can you make the vaccine?" Usopp asked.

Chopper began to run the process over in his mind. "If I had a sample of the virus, I could isolate it and let it die, essentially."

"That's why we came back," Sanji explained, feeling a bit more relieved. Not that he doubted Abel, but hearing Chopper say he could make the vaccine took an immense weight off his chest. Pointing his thumb back toward the mountain, he said, "That noise you're hearing? It's a giant infected troll. Abel-dono thinks if we can get a large enough blood sample, we can make enough of the vaccine quickly for Robin-chan and the trolls. But we have to hurry. If the others kill it before we can get the blood, we're screwed."

As Chopper began to run through his mind what they'd need, Sanji attempted to assure Robin of her safety. "Don't worry, Robin-chan. We'll get this taken care of in no time. And Abel-dono said you might not even have the virus, since Chopper treated the wound earlier."

For someone who'd just heard they might have a deadly disease, Robin remained as calm and collected as always. She simply smiled at Sanji before commenting, rather morbidly, "That's comforting. I'd hate to think everyone declared war on the world just for me to die here."

"Where is Abel, by the way?" Usopp questioned. "Did she stay with the trolls?"

Nami glanced nervously into the forest. "When we were getting out of the cave, we got chased by a giant vampire bat. Abel stayed behind to take care of it while we got her message back to the ship."

"There are giant vampire bats here, too!?"

Lighting a dry cigarette to calm his nerves, Sanji admitted, "I knew this place would be dangerous, but I never thought it would be due to a microscopic bug." Giant monsters he could handle. He didn't like problems he couldn't kick in the face.

A heavy rustling from the woods immediately grabbed everyone's attention, and they turned in defense, expecting any manner of troll or other beast to spring into the light. A cry fell from both Nami, Chopper and Usopp as something darted into the sky before crashing loudly to the ground, bumping and skidding across the rocky earth. For a moment, they were simply trying to get away from the white form flailing wildly, too many limbs seeming to go in too many directions. It was only when they put some distance between them and it that they realized who and what had made such an entrance. "Abel!"

Said hunter barely acknowledged them, too busy wrestling with Ahool. She seemed to have ahold of its mouth, perhaps holding it closed, while she used her legs to practically keep a full-bodied chokehold around its neck. Ahool snorted worse than an angry bull, trying to get its legs or wings underneath her to make use of her superior body weight to throw the hunter off. But either due to Abel's strategic torque or pure panic in the blinding light, all Ahool could do was thrash and flail, almost like a fish out of water.

Tossing her body up over the back of Ahool's head, Abel leaned into one of the leather bat ears with a whistle in her mouth. The others heard a faint sound as Abel blew into it, but otherwise it was silent. Or at least silent to them, as the whistle sent Ahool into another flailing, whimpering fit, craning her neck away from the apparently unpleasant noise. Wrapping her free hand around the bat's neck, Abel demanded, "If you calm down and stop trying to bite people, I'll have them turn the lights off." She had no idea of the bat even understood what she said, but Ahool snorted and snuffed, still trying to wriggle out from underneath her. As the bat continue to move, the others realized the thing Abel was holding was her corset, now used as a makeshift muzzle, wrapping around the bat's jaw and head to keep it shut. How she managed that, they didn't know.

"Doc, talk to her," Abel ordered, shifting her grip as Ahool turned her head to get away from the light. "Tell her that her kin have a disease that, if left untreated, will kill their food source and they'll all starve." Ahool's ears twitched rapidly, but that might just have been from her trying to see what was going on around her. With her mouth closed, she wasn't able to use echolocation and thus was, literally, blind as a bat.

Chopper's ears perked as he realized what Abel was talking about. "You want to vaccinate all the bats, too?"

"That's the only guaranteed way to prevent another outbreak."

Nodding sternly as he now completely understood (and appreciated) what Abel was trying to do, Chopper trotting over. "Turn off the lights," he ordered. "They're upsetting her."

"That's kinda the point..." Usopp mumbled, hesitant to turn off the one thing keeping this beast under their control. Still, he did as Chopper requested.

Almost immediately, Ahool began to calm. Her body continued to heave as her breathing remained escalated due to her distress over her situation, but at least she wasn't flailing around. Placing a hoof on the beast's furry neck, Chopper explained, "I'm sorry if my friends scared you." Off to the side, Nami murmured something about her being scared. "But your family's sick, and we need to give them all medicine so they won't pass the sickness on to anyone else." Abel loosened her grip just enough for Ahool to turn her head toward Chopper. Pink eyes peered out from white fur, her nose twitching as she smelled the warm bodies around her.

"If she can help, we can get enough of the cure to eradicate the virus for troll and bat-kind alike," Abel added. "Otherwise... well, the king might not be so willing to cohabitate when he learns why all his people are getting sick." It wasn't a threat, not really. But people would kill anything that was a danger to them. "Or if all the trolls get sick and die, what will she have to feed on?" A bat this size couldn't live off anything but large creatures... like the big trolls. In fact, Abel was willing to wager that Ahool was the reason Big Jo contracted the virus.

It sounded like Ahool made a noise, but it was stifled by the muzzle. Looking up at Abel, Chopper said, "I can't understand her with that thing over her mouth."

Cautiously willing to show some good faith on her side, Abel slid off Ahool's neck, one hand still firmly tangled in the ties of her corset. As Ahool rose, Abel was quick to remind her, "I still have the whistle." Balancing the tiny metal device between her lips, just in case, Abel removed the binds.

Ahool vigorously shook her head, and some of the others jumped back. Finally able to get her spindly arms beneath her, Ahool pushed herself up on all fours. It was strange to see such a large creature supported by such thin limbs, but normal vampire bats could also stand on all fours and run along the ground. They were one of the few bat species who could. Raising her big head, Ahool started making chittering sounds, finally able to sense the people around her. Ever optimistic, Chopper asked, "Will you help us?" Craning her neck down to him, she chirped, the noise far different from the battle cry from before. Chopper's face lit up. "You will!?"

Satisfied that things were going well, for the moment, Abel was folding up her corset when Nami asked, "Just how is a giant bat supposed to help?"

Cheekily, Abel replied, "Who better to aid in drawing blood than a vampire?"

---

Back with the battle, things were not going so well. While the pirates had thus far avoided being squashed to a pulp beneath the troll's feet, neither were they making much headway against it. "Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy threw a barrage of punches at the beast, his rubbery limbs giving him the reach he needed to hit its face. However, his punches appeared to do little against it, harmlessly bouncing off the troll's chest. It's just like those CP9 jerks! Luffy thought angrily, recalling their techniques to make their bodies like stone.

It might not have hurt him, but Jotunn clearly didn't appreciate being hit, and made his displeasure known by snagging one of Luffy's arms before it could fully retract. Even though he was made of rubber and thus squishing didn't really hurt him, Luffy still winced at the troll's mighty grip. He placed his free hand on his shoulder, struggling to retrieve his arm. "Let go, you jerk!" Luffy shouted.

Rather than let go, of course, the troll instead yanked on Luffy's arm, pulling the boy off his feet and swinging him out of the way. As he did, Luffy crashed into Franky, knocking them both over. Although landing on the jagged rocks certainly hurt, it was the sound of something breaking that sent a shock of cold down their spines. Not bone… but glass. As Franky scrambled up, bits of glass clattered to the earth from above his head. Quickly taking his pack off, Franky scowled. "Not good," he reported. "The bulb broke." The UV bulb they'd been using, the only thing that seemed to have any impact on the troll, had shattered.

"It won't work at all?" Luffy asked. Only the outer casing had been busted along the top. The rest of the bulb, including the filament, appeared intact.

Uncertain, Franky yanked the generator cord. The filament issued a bright flash of light, earning a groan from Jotunn, before fading just as quickly. A trail of smoke wafted up from the burnt-out filament. "Crap," Franky said.

"Pay attention!" Zoro warned, slashing at the troll's hand as it reached for the duo while they were distracted. Tiny slivers appeared in the troll's palm, the equivalent of a papercut, but it was enough to send his hand retreating.

Pressing the advantage, Caine leapt from the troll's face. If attacking his torso or extremities didn't work, she'd go for the face. Holding her greatsword aloft, Caine used her body's momentum to slash downward, hoping to catch it across the eyes. Caine didn't know if she missed, or if the skin on its face was just that tough, but all she managed to do was cut some of his beard.

Before she had time to regroup, the troll snatched Caine out of the air, wrapping its giant mitt around her in a repeat of the last time she'd fought a troll. Only this time, the troll was big enough that she had no room to move at all, her body completely encased in its fingers. Caine gasped as it squeezed her body. Her already dented armor threatened to give out entirely, pressing painfully into her skin, as if the troll were merely crushing a beverage can. Even worse, her sword had been caught as well, causing its long blade to dig along her torso and neck. Caine had to twist her head away just to keep the blade from slicing something vital in her neck. Though, given the pressure on her body, that might've been a kinder fate. Pain encased Caine's body as easily as the giant's hand, everything beginning to hurt from the pressure. As the swordswoman's body got squeezed, her face turning red as blood got pushed upward, she coughed up some blood, not a good sign for the state of her internal organs. "Caine!" they shouted on the ground.

Struggling to retain consciousness against the pain, Caine managed to crack one eye open as she felt herself moving. The troll's face came closer as he drew her up, opening his massive maw, intent on either swallowing her whole or biting her head off. Caine struggled as best she could, but all she managed was aggravating her wounds, causing her armor to cut deeper into her.

A flash of white darted across her vision. Rather than being the sweet release of death, however, this flash must've been something very tangible, as it drew a reaction from the troll. As Jotunn yanked Caine away, she was able to see that the flash was some large, white creature flogging the giant's face, screeching loudly. As he raised his hands to defend his face reflexively, Jotunn dropped Caine. While the immediate release of the pressure pulled a deep breath from her, it was just as easily stolen away when something grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her across the sky.

She'd been expecting to land harshly against the rocks, earning her even more pain, but was surprised when something slightly softer caught her. "Gotcha!" Franky declared.

As Luffy's hand retracted from where it'd grabbed her, Franky carefully laid the woman on the ground. Despite his best efforts, Caine winced at the movement, mostly as it aggravated her wounds. Her armor was too tight now, warped beyond usefulness and preventing her from breathing properly. Her ribs protested the movement, but Caine still tried to reach around for the clasps to get the thing off. She pushed aside Franky's offer to help, his large hands unable to fit in the narrow spaces.

"Our family must be particularly tasty," a familiar voice called.

"Abel! Nami!" Luffy called in joyous greeting. "You escaped the mountain!"

"What the hell is that?" Zoro added.

Craning her neck around, Caine discovered that the white flash from before had been, "A giant albino bat," as Abel explained while sliding off the back of said beast as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Sliding off faster than Abel had, Nami hurried over to Caine. She meant to push the pirate away, but Nami's hands already had the clasps undone before she could protest. As the mangled breastplate was pulled off, Caine let out a sigh of relief, despite it hurting her ribs. Now she could breathe properly, without metal cutting into her sides. She'd be having some major bruising… assuming they all survived this. Sol's gonna give me hell, she thought, already dreading the lecture from her husband.

"What happened to cook-bro?" Franky asked.

"He should be on his way," Abel answered, expression imperceptible as she eyed her sister's battered form. "I didn't want to overload the ride." It wasn't like she knew how much weight a giant bat could carry.

Speaking of giant bats, this one must've gotten a good whiff of Caine's injuries, because it stuck its nose closer to her, sniffing the air. Caine was about to vocally protest when she saw a tongue coming out to lick the blood away, when the bat suddenly jerked its head to the side, screeching in pain. Before she could ask what was going on, Abel put herself between the two, pointing damningly at the beast while a whistle dangled from her lips. Caine could feel her sister's scowl, even with her back to her. "I warned you," Abel said sternly. Perhaps it was the blood loss, but watching her sister scold a giant vampire bat as if it were their old puppy was very surreal. "I may have said no biting, but I meant no ingesting blood period. I'm not about to let you lick and potentially infect someone."

Coming more to her senses, Caine managed to croak, "Infect?"

Waggling her finger a few more times, leaving the bat thoroughly chastised, Abel glanced toward the troll. Perhaps the most recent scare had put him off fighting, as he appeared disinterested in them, turning his back on them. They had to act quickly… not that they could lose something that big. "All right, everyone listen up. I'm only going to explain what's about to go down once."

"Firstly, I was correct. The trolls attacking us are an outlier, and after consulting with the king have concluded that they're being plagued with rabies, which they've contracted from being bitten by either bats or each other." Sensing the question coming, Abel swiftly explained, "Rabies is a deadly disease that makes the infected attack others to spread the disease by biting. And you will recall one of our own as been bitten."

"Robin!" Luffy gasped. "Then-"

"We're going to make the vaccine," Abel interrupted. "Which is one-hundred percent effective so long as the person hasn't begun showing symptoms. And with Big Jo's drafted help, we'll make enough for us, the trolls and the bats. We can wipe it out on this island, so no one else has to die."

Finally turning to face everyone, Abel cut to the chase. "Here's what we're going to do." She pulled out a massive syringe that Chopper had given her. Why he had one so large, she didn't know, but wasn't about to argue with providence. "I believe the bats can penetrate the trolls' hide, as that's how they contracted the disease in the first place. I'm going to fly with Ahool here, have her bite Big Jo, then draw his blood from that wound. In the meantime, I need you all to keep him distracted so he doesn't swat me like a mosquito." She turned to Nami. "Red, start creating a thundercloud. The lightning should help control him, but mostly it's to bolster your own powers. You'll need to create a wind gust strong enough to clear the fog for the sun to get through." Holding her tenko bo, Nami nodded solemnly. It was sad that they'd have to kill the troll in the end, but after seeing what awaited him should they allow the disease to run its course, she agreed that this was the kinder fate.

Abel cast an assessing eye over the others. "Is everyone clear on the plan?"

"Roger!" they all agreed.

All but one. "Wait," Caine called, struggling to sit up. "So your big idea is to draw blood from this thing then turn it to stone with the sun?"

"Yes," Abel simply replied.

"That's crazy!"

"But it will work." Abel smiled at Caine's dumbfounded expression. "Just sit there and try not to get smashed," she said teasingly, turning away. "All right, Ahool. Time to earn your kin's survival."

Confident in what she was about to do, and in her crew's ability to play their parts, Abel leapt atop Ahool's back and took to the skies. As she left, Luffy, Zoro and Franky ran to intercept the beast, to make themselves a nuisance. Nami stayed near Caine, twirling her heat and cool rods, building a dark cloud in the already dark sky.

Flying atop a bat was a new experience for Abel, one of just many for the hunter since becoming a pirate. The thought would never have occurred to her had, in her fight with Ahool earlier, the bat hadn't managed to lift them both off the ground. Instructing Nami and Sanji to make for the ship, Abel made herself a target, baiting the bat while staying close to cover so she could never actually get her. It wasn't even until, during a dodge, that she felt the cold of her dog whistle that Abel even considered using the high-pitched frequency to manipulate or confuse Ahool. Standing in the open, daring Ahool to attack, Abel had let her get close before blowing into the whistle. Her thought was that since bats navigate through returning soundwaves, it might be possible to overload their senses with a similar frequency. Even with that hypothesis, though, she hadn't expected Ahool to completely careen out of the way, as if Abel were a much larger obstacle to avoid. From there, it had simply been a matter of baiting her into a snare made from her own corset and being dragged into the sky.

In any other circumstance, Abel would've loved to explore bat flight more. Their entire bodies moved in relationship to their wings, not just some static up-and-down. The dexterity of the spindly limbs was quite remarkable. For all the awkwardness of riding a bat, there was never a point when Abel felt unsecured.

Falling into habit, Ahool stealthily flew at Jotunn's back, flipping vertical to land on his loincloth. Abel had to hold tightly to the rope she'd fashioned as a harness to avoid falling off. Ahool's clawed wings and feet easily held to the hairy fabric. Using her front teeth, so sharp they could slice through any flesh unnoticed, Ahool bit into Jotunn. Abel watched tensely for any sign the troll had noticed them, but he gave none. It might've helped that the others were doing a fantastic job of annoying the troll, spread out around his feet so he didn't seem to know which one to attack.

Seeing blood welling from the thin slice, further motivated by the bat's saliva specifically meant to prevent clotting, Abel shimmied off Ahool's back and climbed closer. Digging her legs into the fur, Abel pulled Chopper's syringe off her back. Checking that the plunger was all the way in, Abel took a deep breath before sliding the tip into the cut. Because the needlepoint was still thicker than the thin cut, it took some wiggling. But once the tip was in, Abel steeled herself before pressing the needle in hard. Passed the protection of the troll's hide, the interior layers of skin were nowhere near as hard, causing the needle to piercing deep.

Of course this caused pain for the troll, if the bellow was anything to go by. Whether he was aware anyone was back there, or just responding to a painful feeling, Jotunn began to shake his back, trying to throw Abel off. Holding the syringe in place between her body and hand, Abel clung to the loincloth. As one of his massive hands reached around, Abel thought she might have to defend herself.

However, that was unnecessary, as surprise help came her way. Abel actually heard him before she saw him, his barking sounding over the hill. Clued in to their location from the frequent uses of the dog whistle, Dogmeat had abandoned his digging, having to change directions multiple times when Abel did, but finally found them. And seeing a giant troll trying to grab his master, he rushed in, undaunted by the size of the beast, barking and snarling. While the difference in size was ridiculous, Dogmeat's persistent yapping and biting got the better of Jotunn. Especially when he bit at his feet, which were nowhere near as resilient as the rest of him. Jotunn even gave a little hop at the pain, which Abel didn't entirely appreciate.

"Good work, boy!" Luffy cheered. "Zoro! Go for his feet!"

Zoro never would've considered it before, but tried it, his swords actually piercing the troll's skin and sticking into his foot like a needle.

With Jotunn thoroughly distracted, and one foot tucked into the hem of his loincloth for stability, Abel focused on her side of the fight. Slowly, she drew the plunger back. Never had she been so happy to see blood welling in. Abel went slowly to keep the suction up, so as to fill the syringe with as much blood as possible. Ounce by ounce, the syringe began to fill, only Jotunn's erratic movements giving her pause. Abel wondered if Ahool had known here to hit a vein, because it kept a good, steady flow in.

By the time she was done, Abel had to have a good five liters of infected blood. Capping it off (again, where did Chopper get such supplies?), Abel untangled herself from the fur and shimmied back to where Ahool waited dutifully, not bothered in the least by the shaking. As they took off, Ahool darting away from the troll, the others spread out, waiting to see the next move.

Nami nodded to herself, satisfied with the storm cloud she'd built. Adding a bit of electricity, it crackled with unstable energy, just ready to unleash it. "Nami-san! Caine-chan! Thank goodness you're both okay!" Caine, previously being fascinated with Nami's weapon's abilities, winced as she turned to face the blond running up to them.

Sanji almost came up short when he saw the size of the giant troll. "Woah!"

"Succinct as always, Bullseye," Abel called as Ahool landed beside them.

"Abel-dono!" Sanji greeted.

Ignoring him, Abel instead focused on the sky. "Is everything ready?" she asked their weather witch.

"Whenever you are," Nami answered, already switching out her Clima-tact to the proper arrangement.

Nodding, Abel unexpectedly reached out for Sanji's pants. Yanking his ever-present pocket watch out, Abel checked the time. "Not quite five o'clock," she read. She then shoved her hand and watch back into Sanji's pocket before he had a chance to react. As the man struggled with how he should react (Abel had put her hand in his pocket) Abel turned away and asked, "Where would that put the sun?"

Calculating their current position on the island, the island's general position and the sun's estimated level at that time of day, Nami pointed to their left. "There," she concluded. Just over the troll's left shoulder.

Abel held the syringe out to Sanji. "Hold this."

He made a face at holding such a large amount of infected blood, but would never turn down a woman's request. "Be careful," he warned.

"Yeah, right," Abel scoffed. As Nami prepared to climb back onto Ahool's back, Abel walked around in front, unfolding her scarf. "We're about to fly into the sun," she warned. "Let me put this on you." She motioned that she wanted to tie the scarf around Ahool's eyes. Ahool didn't look too pleased, but understood enough to allow Abel to do as she wished. Either that, or she just didn't want to get the whistle again.

With the bat protected from the sun, Abel and Nami climbed on. Abel turned Ahool in the general direction they wanted to go, and the bat launched them into the sky.

Flying through a turbulent thundercloud was not a comfortable experience, but to the bat's credit she wasn't hampered by the strong winds. Electricity crackled around them, causing their hair to stand on end, but Ahool expertly navigated around the bolts. When a strong gust hit them, Ahool's flexible wings and body easily readjusted to prevent it from being more than a brief scare. Abel winced as Nami clung to her back, the Clima-tact wedged painfully between her shoulder blades as the woman pressed close to avoid falling off the back.

After a few near misses with some lightning, they broke through the clouds and fog. Rising above the clouds, seeing the sun again was like waking from some bad dream. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Ahool hovered in the sky, waiting on her human passengers. They were, however, a bit distracted by the beauty. "I'd almost forgotten what the sun feels like," Nami admitted, feeling the sun on her skin again like a physical ache she'd never been aware of.

Refocusing on what was important right now, Abel pointed at the rumbling cloud beneath them. "It's your show, Red. Time to let the light shine in."

"Leave it to me!" Holding her weapon aloft, Nami took aim. "The weather forecast calls for strong winds. Cyclone Tempo!"

On the ground, Caine could only watch in impotent frustration as the pirates ran around, trying to keep the giant troll in place. She begrudgingly admitted that they could work well together when they wanted to. Although they weren't making much headway in damaging the troll. Caine turned her gaze to the sky, wondering where her sister had gone. Blowing away the fog to use the sun… that sounded ridiculous. No one could impact the weather that much.

"Oni Giri!"

A cheer from the pirate captain drew Caine's eyes back to the fight. It looked like Zoro had attacked the troll's foot, slicing into the sole when it had been attempting to stamp on him. The troll bellowed in pain, raising its injured foot up to hold it. Of course, this completely threw the troll's weight off-balance, and he was soon falling backwards. "Look out!" Luffy yelled in warning as the others scattered. The shockwave from the troll's body slam shook even where Caine and Sanji stood.

"Super work!" Franky cheered from somewhere out of view.

If I had three swords… Zoro mentally grumbled, not completely satisfied with his work.

Above them, the storm rumbled ominously. Raising her gaze, Caine felt worried as a brief flash of light flickered within the clouds. Lightning seemed to race along the edge of the storm, and a few seconds later the clouds… bulged. Caine couldn't tell if they were rapidly expanding or something inside was pushing them out. Either way, it looked incredibly dangerous.

After a few more heaves, the clouds burst open with an audible pop. The winds that poured out were strong enough to knock everyone off their feet, and even pushed Jotunn back into the ground. It was only thanks to the added weight of some of her armor that Caine didn't go any further than she did. Those who were lighter, like Luffy and the dog, were literally blown away, forced to grab onto whatever they could get their hands or jaws on, respectively. Raising a hand against the torrent, Caine could scarcely believe her eyes. There, where the storm clouds had been, was now nothing. A literal hole in the sky. An almost perfect circle cutout in the fog. What kind of power is that? Caine asked herself.

But more importantly, for the moment at least, was what that lack of fog allowed. For the first time in probably the island's history, sunlight finally graced the earth, pouring in through this narrow tunnel. The effect of the fog around it created an almost spotlight effect, narrowing the rays into their area alone. It was almost beautiful, how the light danced along the wisps of fog. But more importantly, this spotlight landed almost squarely on the troll.

Caine had no idea if Jotunn had ever seen the sun before, or if it was some type of inherited knowledge - the troll collective unconscious or zeitgeist. Whatever the reason, the troll knew to be afraid of this light. He roared, raising his hands to shield himself. Unlike their attempts with the little dinky lightbulb, the sun was still far more powerful than anything man could cook up. Soon, calcification began to appear along the troll's hands and other exposed parts, racing out in all directions. The troll didn't really even have a chance to struggle against his fate, as within a few breaths he'd been entirely petrified. Just another chunk of the mountain.

---

"Basilisk."

"Beg pardon?" Evrett asked. Abel had just marched into his quarters in the barracks, slammed a book on the table and said a foreign word.

"It's a basilisk," Abel repeated, motioning to the open page.

"What's a basilisk?"

Leaning back to give Evrett room to read, Abel recited from the page, "Known also as the King of Serpents. This snake - which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years - is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a snake. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death." She waved at the book. "Thus recorded Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historie. The petrifying gaze cued me in this direction."

Figuring there was no point reading the page as Abel'd just told him what it said, Evrett leaned back. "What else does old man Pliny have to say?"

"Not much useful for our purposes." Taking the book back, Abel reported, "It's often confused for a cockatrice due to both have petrifying gazes. But a cockatrice is born from a snake's egg hatched by a chicken, looks like a giant chicken with a snake's tail, and breathes poison." Abel hummed as she flipped through for anything useful. "Oh, apparently the feathered fringe means it's male. That's good at least. We don't have to worry baby basilisk."

"Anything actually useful toward killing it?"

Abel skimmed the page. There wasn't a lot, truthfully. "It's allergic to griffin tears," she commented, and even she was aware of how unhelpful that was. When Evrett scoffed, she added, "It's also afraid of mongoose, and the only creature immune to its gaze is a phoenix, as they are essentially immortal."

"Great. I'll send out an order for griffin tears and a mongoose."

"Sarcasm? You must be stressed," Abel commented. Usually Evrett was too uptight for sarcasm - producing or comprehending.

"We've got people banging down our door yelling at us to kill this thing," Evrett reported, gesturing wildly. "It's pandemonium!"

"How do you think I feel?" Abel retorted, not the least bit affected by Evrett's outburst. She understood his frustration perfectly. "We live closer to that thing than anyone."

Abel's level stare, even in the midst of chaos, helped Evrett reign in his annoyance. "Where did such a thing even come from?" A chicken's egg being hatched by a snake? Even if he believed that for one second - which was a tall order - something didn't grow to be that large without years and years.

Staring blankly at the pages, Abel suggested, "Perhaps it's always been." When Evrett snapped his head toward her, she elaborated, "Think about it. There was some messed up stuff going on up there once upon a time. Who's to say what effect that had on the region?" She met the guard's gaze then. "And we both know there have been other very old, very evil things lurking on this island."

Evrett couldn't deny the truth in Abel's words. Perhaps bad things were drawn to this place. Like Abel's ancestors, though for less humanitarian purposes. They did still get the odd troublemaker or cultist looking to tap into the dark history there. Evrett felt a chill run down his spine as he stared up at the mountains. How many times had he been up there, oblivious to the danger lurking beneath? "I don't even know where to start…" he sighed, rubbing his face. He needed a shave.

The guard jumped when Abel snapped the book shut loudly. "For now, we treat it like a snake, just with unique properties. The first step should be ensuring the townsfolk safety."

He raised a brow. "Yeah? Any suggestions?"

Pondering, Abel said, "I'm thinking we should build underground bunkers. Stone and metal walls for the people to hide in if that thing shows up."

That wasn't a bad idea, but, "Doesn't it burrow?"

"I don't know if you've noticed this, Evrett, but snakes aren't exactly equipped to dig." Abel couldn't help chuckling at the man's deadpan stare. "Snakes will use tunnels dug by other animals, certainly. But if you're referring to its escape, I believe that's merely because shale is easy to move through."

Scratching his head as he mulled this over, Evrett admitted, "That's not a bad idea. It'll keep the civilians out of the way when fighting breaks out, and get them to stop harassing us." The more he thought about it, the more he agreed that Abel's plan sounded like an excellent starting point for what he felt was going to be a long campaign.

---

Walking around what had once must've been a giant, majestic troll, Abel couldn't help feeling a bit of sadness. Not regret, just sad. She wished she didn't have to kill the troll, but she couldn't just let it go around destroying and infecting others. She didn't feel angry toward him, either. Not toward any of the trolls. They were simply pawns to the disease. But it was better this way, even if they didn't know it. There was only pain left to come for them. Perhaps she was simply trying to salve her own conscious, but Abel liked to think that if they knew this would protect their kin, and even offer salvation, they'd accept it. Most people, if they couldn't be saved, at least wanted to save their families.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Dominie. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. We will ensure that, through your sacrifice, others may live.

Abel had initially thought to destroy the calcified remains, but decided better now. There was no risk of contamination, and perhaps the trolls would like to honor those they lost during this plague.

Among the rocks, Abel spied a familiar blade, easily spotted as the sunlight began to fade, the fog rolling back in to take the place of that lost.

Caine remained on her little knoll, silently watching on as the pirates enjoyed the sunlight before it faded. Seeing such a large foe felled was not a new sight to the hunter. But rarely had she never been involved in such an endeavor. Sting to her pride it may be, but Caine knew she didn't offer much aid in this fight other than getting in the way. And she honestly couldn't say whether it was the knowledge that she'd been bested by pirates, or her own sister, that stung more.

Loud scratching drew her attention from the battlefield to see said sister dragging her greatsword over. She gave Abel a dry stare, not exactly appreciating her dragging the blade along the rocky ground, but managed to hold her tongue. Pausing beside her, Abel stabbed the blade into the earth, as she often did, and leaned on it. Caine awkwardly turned to look back out over the field, wincing as the jerky motion aggravated her wounds.

An uncomfortable silence stretched between the sisters. Finally, unable to take the awkwardness any longer, Caine forced out, "I'm sorry."

With the massive sword between them, Caine couldn't see her sister's expression. Not that she had the courage to look, anyway. "What precisely are you apologizing for?" Abel asked at length.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

Caine couldn't see it, but Abel gave a droll smile. "Meaning you still hold your words to be correct, you simply wish they didn't hurt my feelings." Caine opened her mouth, starting to say something as her temper rose, but couldn't find the right words. Holding a hand to her side, she settled back to the ground, stewing.

Walking a few paces ahead, coming out from the barrier of the sword, Abel gazed out over the field. "I try not to make a habit of saying things I don't mean, even at my most emotional, and I stand by what I said before. I am glad you left." She let the statement linger in the air for a moment, sinking in, before continuing, "Neither of us would be the people we are today if you hadn't. You wouldn't be traveling the world with the love of your life, probably the only man in the world with the courage to stare down your hellion temper, slaying monsters. And I… I wouldn't have met the most important people in the world to me."

Abel felt herself tearing up at the sentimentality, but straightened her stance. "And I wouldn't be here, right now. Facing down monsters the likes of which I would have never dreamed I was capable of standing against. Triumphing against. I've stood against obstacles, man and nature alike. I've helped save the lives of hundreds who would never hear of my deeds. I've stood at the precipice of war, and helped turned the tide of battles far greater than myself. I've seen ancient beasts that are only ever glimpsed once in a generation. Set foot on lands even angels feared to tread. Stood as a bastion against the world when all its evil machinations turned against one woman. I've lost-" Abel swallowed. "I've lost things that can never be replaced, but gained things that nobody- no man, nor beast, nor demon, nor death itself- can ever take from me. And I'm sure you have similar tales…" Abel gave a little grin over her shoulder, even if it meant Caine could see some of her tears. "Though probably not as dramatic." Caine gave a warbling smile in response, unable to remain unaffected by her twin's emotions.

Turning back to smile through watery vision as Nami kept Luffy away from the syringe, Abel continued, "None of this would be possible if I'd held you down. I could not have grasped their proffered hand…" Abel raised a clenched fist in front of her, before swinging an opening palm back toward Caine. "... if I'd never let go of yours. Never, for a moment, have I stopped believing that letting you go wasn't what we both needed. And I didn't like it. It was not my preference to take this journey without you, but it was the correct thing." While Abel might have meant her words to hurt, to make Caine feel what she felt by her lack of trust, that didn't take away their truth.

Never as good with words in the heat of the moment, Caine said, "I wonder if all twins have to go through this. So much of our childhoods it was us against the world. But growing apart is the way of things, I guess. I missed you a lot, y'know? There were so many things we saw that I thought, 'Man, Abel would've loved to see that. I wish I could tell her.' But I thought you had given up… at least on me. We didn't even have one argument. I was a little disappointed."

"Nothing to argue about," Abel retorted. "The path seemed clear. And for the record, you're the only one who ever argued. I merely stated the facts and left it at that, unlike an old dog with a bone."

Shaking her head at the barb, Caine said, "You always were bad about letting me do whatever daft thought came to mind."

"Was it daft?"

Without hesitation, Caine replied, "No. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Abel smiled. "Then we are in accord. Once upon a time I couldn't imagine my life without you. Now?" She smiled at the others drawing near, chatting about something probably completely off-topic. "I can't imagine my life without them."

"You always did keep strange company." Abel laughed, unable to deny the truth.

As she shuffled through the broken armor, Abel couldn't help noticing, "I see you still have that bracelet."

Caine's left hand came up to her right, the old, worn rosary now visible from under her armor. "A crazy girl once used it to save my soul. Figured it might come in handy to protect what the armor couldn't."

Abel said nothing as she found what she was looking for: the leathers that Caine had used to hold her sword in place. Sliding the still intact fasteners over her shoulders, Abel tossed a cheeky grin as she hoisted Caine's sword over her back, sliding it into place. Allowing herself a bit of preening over her sister's stunned stare, Abel stood before her. "It's my hypothesis that the root of our problem is that we are stuck thinking of each other as children." She held her hand out. "Perhaps it's time we got to know each other as women."

And while she was left-handed, sliding her right into Abel's felt like old times.

To Be Concluded...