Anamnesis

Characters: Law, Baby 5, Buffalo, Doflamingo. Rating: T. Warnings: Blood, Pre-Hearts

The leaves rustled, and Law glared up at them. Some animal was up there, no doubt completely uncaring about the boy hiding in the foliage that made up the base of the tree, but if it kept rustling, it'd draw attention.

Law wasn't ready to be found, even if the trail of blood would lead right to him if the gangsters looked in the right place. Baby 5 had done her best to cover it up, even as Buffalo did his best to cover him up after Law had point blank refused to let the other boy carry him back. It would be smarter and far more efficient for him to stay hidden while Buffalo raised havoc the other side of the forest and Baby 5 ran for help.

It was stupid. The gangsters were idiots, clearly, but unfortunately being idiots meant it hadn't occurred to them that attacking a trio of kids was a bad idea. Maybe they didn't know who they were. Who their captain was.

Law was mad he hadn't been able to destroy them himself, had taken a bullet to the thigh in what was rather a dangerous place, knocking him down from the fight. It stung that he'd need one of the adults to finish his fight, because he might only be twelve but his life was nearly over and he couldn't spend it hiding behind the adults if he wanted to make the world burn before he died. He still wasn't strong enough, but he was running out of time.

Running out of time fast. He didn't have anything to treat his wound with, his pack abandoned in the fight, complete with its medical supplies, but he knew the puddle of red was getting larger and his thinking wasn't quite as crisp as it should be. He was going to die when he was thirteen, but the hole in his leg was making it more and more likely by the moment that he was going to die when he was twelve, instead.

It needed sutures, maybe even cauterisation, although that would bring its own set of problems, but all he had were blood-soaked hands, pressing down as much as the pain would let him - sharp pain, not the ever-present pressure of the lead in his skin - and the knowledge that Baby 5 was running for help.

Law wasn't afraid of dying. Death was a constant companion now, looming closer every day, and he had accepted that. However, he hadn't watched the world burn, yet. Hadn't made the world pay for what it did to his sister, his parents, his home. Right now, death was not an option. Right now, he had to live.

His fingers were slippery and red and white swam in his vision, the tan he'd picked up since joining the Donquixote Family lost beneath blood and lead. His head was heavy, lolling down even as he tried to hold it still. There was a lot of red. Even the white was being overcome, no longer the prime candidate for his murderer, and Law bit down on the inside of his cheek. Copper flooded his mouth.

He had to stay awake. Couldn't pass out, had to wait until the Family arrived and tore apart the gangsters and brought medical supplies so he could patch himself up.

He had to… stay… awake…

"Law!"

Awareness nudged at him, the black fog he didn't recall arriving fading back into a mist. Feathers, large and obnoxious and pink, and a man many times his size crouched in front of him.

Light glanced off of something. Doffy's fingers were moving, dancing through the sky in a way that meant he was using his strings. The light highlighted them, too - thin, gossamer strands with tiny red beads and smears of crimson.

Someone was crying. Two someones, and Law didn't need cognitive awareness to know it was Baby 5 and Buffalo. Trebol's nasally voice was there, too, but Law wasn't listening to what he had to say. Wasn't listening to anything as the realisation he wasn't dying today set in and the haze turned back to fog.

Large hands grabbed him, the ground disappeared, and the fog turned into inky, inky nothing.

So I wasn't entirely certain if this belonged in this fic, because it's pre-Hearts with Law still a member of the Donquixote Family, but it is still Law-centric, and it's not the only pre-Hearts in the collection (although the other stuff is admittedly still based on Swallow Island). Anamnesis is a recollection of a previous existence, and also in medical terms an account of a patient's medical history. This came from the tumblr prompt "blood loss and forest".

Thanks for reading!
Tsari