FLEE

Thick clouds of smoke hazed the rooftop of the pub, providing cover for Zoro and Nami to huddle close to the cage. The swordsman kept his eyes vigilant for any signs of pirates within the haze. Still, they sounded too preoccupied by the cannonball going off to notice them.

"Myra, you think this is a good time to go?" Zoro asked.

"Better time than any." Artemyra nodded sharply and looked up at Nami. "Nami, are you coming with us?"

Zoro crinkled his brows and looked to the young girl Artemyra was talking to. "Who is she anyways?"

Luffy answered with a snicker. "She's our new navigator!" he said with a wide, boyish grin.

"You're a real idiot, aren't you?" Nami snarled at him like a banshee. "You're still on about that? If you've got time to say things like that then how about thinking of a way to get out of the cage!"

"Forget that for now. We'll worry about that once we're away," Zoro interjected.

Artemyra frowned and looked over at him. He was clearly in pain, but that smirk on his face held a great deal of confidence. "What do you mean by that?" she asked hesitantly, afraid of what he might do.

"Just stay in the cage and watch." Zoro moved over to the corner of the cage and grabbed the bars. With great strain and blood starting to gush from his wound, he began to pick the cage up and sling it over his shoulder. All the while, Artemyra and Luffy were inside.

Artemyra paled the moment she saw the blood dripping down the side of his leg. She knew this cage was exceptionally heavy, and she could see how much he was struggling just to hold it upright. "What are you trying to do?!" she shouted fretfully. "Zoro, stop! Please stop!"

"You're guts are gonna pop out if you keep on with this!" Luffy interjected.

"If they pop out, then let them!" Zoro barked out as veins popped up on his forehead. His muscles quivered as he held the cage over his shoulder. "Myra, you always did things your way… Now it's my chance to do things my way! So just shut up and sit back!" he said through gritted teeth.

Zoro took his first heavy step with the cage and slammed his foot against the ground. He walked with a strong focus across the rooftop until they reached the neighboring one. He couldn't get far as the smoke screen began to disperse, but he got a reasonable distance away to set the cage down and lie low to scope out the pirates. They could hear Buggy and his crew getting rambunctious again and probably noticed that they were all gone.

Artemyra grabbed the bars and pressed her face against them, trying to get a look at the situation. "Zoro…we're in a pretty bad situation right now," she said wearily.

Zoro nodded in agreement as he grew pale by the minute. "I know...but what's been started must be finished, I suppose."

Even though Zoro looked pale and close to passing out, he wouldn't admit it. Regardless though, thanks to his stubbornness, he managed to drag the cage down the streets, far away enough to elude the pirates for the time being. They weren't totally out of the woods yet, but it gave them the time to rest and think of a plan.

"We're now quite far away from the pub, but this cage is really starting to annoy me!" Zoro barked while dragging the cage.

Artemyra nodded. "You've done a magnificent job at getting us away, but we won't be getting anywhere else with the cage hindering us."

At that moment, the final drop of strength left Zoro's body. He let go of the cage and collapsed face-first into the ground. "That's it….I don't have enough blood. I can't walk any longer." He muttered into the ground and reached around back to Artemyra's weapon. He detached the weapon on his back and handed it over to Artemyra. "Take it. I'm sure you can get out of the cage with that, yeah?"

Artemyra didn't even answer him and snatched up the weapon. She drew her blade swiftly and, in a blink of an eye, severed all of the bars surrounding them. The top part of the cage slowly slid off and tumbled to the ground, finally freeing Luffy and Artemyra from their imprisonment.

"Absolutely," Artemyra said before skillfully sheathing her blade in a swift motion.

"Free at last!" Luffy shouted and stretched his arms and legs out. He hopped out of the cage and began to do laps around the streets.

Artemyra stepped out of the cage too, and reattached her sword to her back. She glanced down at Zoro but saw that he was lying next to an elderly white dog. Zoro must've just noticed it too, and quickly sat up.

"Where the hell did this dog come from?" he exclaimed and backed up a little.

With a curious look on her face, Artemyra crouched down in front of the dog and looked it over. None of them noticed it right away because they were all focused on getting away from the pirates. Even Artemyra was oblivious to its presence.

"Little dear looks a little worse for wear." She went to pet the dog but thought against it while wearing a cold and hard gauntlet. Artemyra slid off her glove and laid her hand on the dog's head, which earned no reaction from the creature. Choosing to remain completely still and steadfast. "How long has it been out here?"

After Luffy finished with his frolicking through the streets. He walked over to Artemyra and crouched in front of the dog. "Is it really a dog? Myra, it ain't moving at all."

The knightess shook her head. "No, it's a real dog," she confirmed after petting him and feeling his warm but rough fur.

"Then is it dead?" Without warning, Luffy lifted his hand and poked the dog's eyes with two fingers. That immediately earned a reaction from the animal, and it leaped onto Luffy's face to bite him. "Oww! You stupid dog! Myra, help!" Luffy cried out pitifully while trying to wrangle the mad dog off him.

"You idiot! Are you even trying to take this situation seriously!" Zoro shouted, then promptly fell back against the ground after using up the last of his energy.

With little effort, Artemyra pulled the dog off Luffy and held it tight in her arms. It barked wildly but quickly stopped once she laid him back down where they found him. He gave Artemyra a knowing look before giving an appreciated bark and nod. He didn't move after that and went back silently and diligently standing guard.

Artemyra laughed a little. "I think it thanked me." She looked back to her group and sighed at the state they were all in. Luffy was beaten up by a dog, and Zoro looked like he was moments away from going into deep hibernation. "Good grief. What has become of our group," she muttered, and with nothing left to do, she decided to sit down with them.

"What the hell? You guys are already out of the cage?" Nami's voice spoke up from behind them.

Artemyra turned her head around and saw Nami approaching. "Nami? Where did you go? You just suddenly disappeared when we were trying to escape."

Nami huffed. "Well…I was gonna repay my debit to you and your stupid captain for saving my life back there," she said and held up a key between her fingers. She then tossed it to the knight for her to catch. "But it looks like you guys don't need it."

Artemyra looked down at the key, then back to Nami. "Nami, did you steal the key for the cage?" she asked wide-eyed.

Nami scoffed. "Yeah, but it looks like you guys didn't need my help. Well whatever." She was going to turn away when Artemyra stood up fast to stop her.

"No, no. Nami…even if we got out of the cage on our own. You still went out of your way to help us. That itself is an admirable thing to do," she said sincerely while holding the young girl's hands tightly.

Nami immediately felt her face start to flush with embarrassment. She quickly yanked her hands away and turned her head. "I don't want praise from a pirate. Because of that I couldn't steal any of their treasure." She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff but looked back to Artemyra when she heard her soft giggling. "What are you laughing at?"

To try and remain polite, the knight tried to hide her smile by covering it with her hand. "Oh, nothing. I'm sure you'll get a second chance to steal their treasure. After all, you're obviously a very skilled thief."

Nami was quite taken aback by her comment and started to feel a little embarrassed all over again. She swiftly turned her head away but couldn't ignore the budding feeling of pride in her chest. "Well…obviously I will."

"Oi! You guys! What are you guys doing in the street?!" shouted an angry voice.

Everyone turned their heads up and saw an elderly man standing a couple feet away from them, seemingly coming out of nowhere. He had on what Artemyra could guess was ill-fitted leather armor that looked patched together. Along with a homemade spear in his hand.

"Who are you?" Zoro asked while cranking his head to get a look.

The strangely dressed man began to address himself as he approached. "I'm the village's leader, or in other words…the chief!"