Treasure Hunters
Author Notes: Hello my candies! This week's chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, but it's okay because the last few were a little long.
In addition, the scenes are going to start switching around a little more to cover the separated Straw Hats. I hope everyone is able to keep up, but if you think I should adjust things, please let me know!
I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. If I did, then there would be no Ivankov and Boa Hancock would be a lesbian.
Chapter 10: This Isn't a Pirate Ship
When Franky dropped anchor near the site of the wreck in the early morning mist, his heart sank to look on it. There was almost nothing left of the ship that had blocked their path before, just a few chunks of siding and the mast bobbing in the rocky seas. The Mini-Merry was there, with only a few dents and one thin crack down the starboard side. Franky took up a pair of binoculars, as Sanji strode onto the deck. "You look like hell," Franky remarked, before starting to survey the wreckage. Sanji's hair was uncombed, his stubble unshaven, and his clothes disheveled.
"I didn't sleep at all last night," Sanji muttered, and began to take a look over things himself. "Goddamn mess."
"Yeah. Brook's going to make a run for the Merry," Franky replied. Sanji nodded, and leaned against the railing. He heard footsteps behind him, and suddenly saw the long-legged skeleton soaring through the air over him. Brook dashed over the water towards the Mini-Merry, his low density keeping him aloft, and as Brook landed in the cockpit, he waved back towards the main deck. Franky gave him the "OK" sign. He revved the engine and sailed into the midst of the destruction.
"Zoro!" Brook called eagerly. "Where are you?"
"Brook?" Brook looked up when he heard a response. "Follow my voice. I'm under… something. I can't tell." Brook drove the Mini-Merry forward towards a fairly large chunk of hull. He could hear Zoro's voice coming through a hole in it. He lifted it off, and there lay Zoro, flat on his back on a wide strip of metal. Zoro was breathing slowly, his shirt shredded and umber with his dried blood, and he managed a toothy grin. "Good to see you."
"As it is you," Brook replied evenly. He picked up the Den-Den Mushi sitting beside him. "Chopper! I've found Zoro! What shall I do with him?"
"Transfer him onto the Merry very carefully!" Chopper squeaked, and Zoro could hear that he was crying. "Be very careful with him, I'm afraid he might have broken something important!"
"I'll be okay, really. I could use some sleep though." Zoro cracked a sliver of a smirk, but his gaze didn't shift.
"Try not to shift his back at all!" Chopper added. "If he's messed up his vertebrae, then jiggling them around could paralyze him permanently!"
"I'll keep him as straight as a bone," Brook replied, chattering his jaw nervously. He picked up the whole platform and carefully balanced it on the back of the Mini-Merry.
"Thanks, man," Zoro managed weakly. "I feel like shit."
"You look worse," Brook replied very seriously.
Brook carefully sailed into the Soldier Dock and turned off the engine before they even got into the port. Chopper, in Heavy Point, watched the Mini-Merry carefully to ensure there was no movement below him, before carefully picking the platform Zoro was on up and carrying it very evenly up the stairs to the infirmary.
"Where does it hurt?"
"My chest, upper thighs, and my head. Especially the back of my head. I think… I lay flat too long." Zoro was forcing a wide-eyed smirk. Chopper glanced down at him for a brief pitying second.
"Your eyes are red and bloodshot. Did you get seawater in them?"
"Yeah, sure." Zoro grinned a little wider. "Let's say I got water in them." He choked under his breath, and Chopper looked at him again. Seawater seemed to be leaking from his lower eyelids and streaming down his cheeks. Chopper's lower lip wiggled, and he looked away as Zoro babbled on. "I couldn't help them. I watched it happen. I can't imagine anything worse…"
"Fourth verse! The eastern islands are… rainy!
Pitter-pitter-patter-patter, and their heads are getting wetter,
And they're all idiots!"
Gilly raised her mournful voice high as she rowed on through the thick fog. She was damp with the humidity, tired already, and looking for something, anything, that signified other people. Robin was still laid out in a dead faint, motionless but for her shallow breaths. She had stopped bleeding, though her hair was matted. Gilea didn't know what she could possibly do further. She was thirsty and hungry, her arms were tired, and very, very lonely. She whistled into the air, and jumped as she heard a response- the horn of a conch shell. She whistled again, and the shell blew back.
"Ahoy!" She called aloud, cupping her hands to make a loudspeaker. "Ahoy! Ahoy! Ess-oh-ess! Is there anybody there?" Her voice echoed off into the steamy fog, seemingly vanishing in the noise of the water, and she sighed and slouched. "All alone."
"Ahoy there, little miss." Gilly jumped and turned to see a small ship, maybe only four times the size of her tiny raft, emerging from the fog. It was shaped like a coffin, with a single seat and a black sail, and there was a lone man with hawk's eyes gazing down at her from the edge of the ship. "A swordsman?" He looked at her bamboo sword, and frowned. "No, a mere child. Can I help you with anything?" Gilly gaped at him. She remembered this from her father's stories.
"I'm gonna be a swordsman when I'm bigger… Are you Mister Mihawk?"
"I generally do not go by Mister, but, yes," Mihawk conceded, putting down his conch shell and resting his chin in his hands as he leaned off the side of the boat.
"You're a Shi-shi-bu-guy."
"Shichibukai." Mihawk didn't smile when he corrected her. "I am, yes. And you are?"
"Gilea." She stuck one thumb in her mouth and offered him her other hand. He shook it gingerly and retreated to a small chest at the stern.
"Let me see." Mihawk flipped through a large portfolio of posters, and finally selected one. "This Gilea?" He showed her the poster, and she nodded. He looked past her. "And that would be?"
"My Auntie Robin. She's hurt bad, Mister Mihawk. But you're a Shi-shi-bu-guy, which means you do not like pirates." She chewed her thumb nervously. "So, are you going to kill me or turn me in to the Marines?"
"Why would I?" He put her poster down.
"I got a bounty. You know that. That's my poster. Is that why you were looking for me?"
"I was not looking for you. No, I only sought you because I was bored and heard a voice much like your father's." He stretched his arms out, still lazily staring down at her. "I was surprised to instead find a young girl…"
"Then you will kill me because I am a swordsman… Daddy says that swordsmen will duel me if he is not there, because I am a swordsman, even though I do not have a sword, and I am very small." She looked at her inwards-turned feet, shaking like a leaf.
"Tsk." Mihawk scoffed quietly as he studied the shivering girl. "Small? You wish to be a swordsman when you are larger, you say. Young lady, you seem knowledgeable of my reputation, so take a look at this." He held up the cross on his neck and unsheathed the blade. Gilly looked up and tilted her head. "This sword is no bigger than you are. Do you know what I did to your father with it?"
"You messed him up good!" Gilly responded as she rubbed her sore arms, and Mihawk nodded to confirm it.
"Indeed I did. All you lack is experience, not size. It is the spirit behind the blade that matters most. Now, come." He held a hand down to her. Her jaw fell.
"What are you going to do?"
"I am going to take you onto my boat."
"Are you going to kill me now?" Gilly whimpered.
"To duel an inexperienced, unarmed child? Out of the question. Most unsportsmanlike. An utterly meaningless victory. Boring, too." He grabbed her hand and easily lifted her onto his boat. "No, we shan't duel. You shall come with me."
"Auntie Robin!" Gilly whimpered, pointing back at Robin on the bobbing raft. "Auntie Robin is hurt very bad, Mister Mihawk, I'm afraid she'll die!"
"I am not a doctor," Mihawk replied curtly. "But I will take her too. It would be most unbecoming of a gentleman to leave a lady in the lurch." Mihawk leaved over and shifted the raft to the starboard side so he could reach Robin's body, and carefully lifted her onto his boat. He lay her in the shade and covered her with part of a spare sail. "There, now. I will take you somewhere where you can be found by the appropriate individuals." Mihawk pulled anchor, and the raft began to drift on a quick current. Gilly watched the tiny raft and makeshift oar vanish into the fog, and turned back to Mihawk.
"Thank you, Mister Mihawk. I am indebted to you." Gilly bowed at the waist.
"Did your father teach you that?" Mihawk cracked a smirk.
"No, Auntie Nami did. She said I should show good manners to anyone who can whup me." At this, Mihawk tossed his head back and laughed, and Gilly giggled nervously.
"A most wise piece of advice! How sagely you are for a toddler." He rested his hand on her head, seemingly observing her face. "Watch the waters, stay by the steering mechanism. If there is a rock, say something, but I have never had trouble on this path before."
"Gotcha," Gilly agreed, though she did not know what a mechanism was.
"I will craft a sword to befit a swordsman of your size. Call it my gift to the New Era." He walked to his chest and started digging through sets of swords which he'd seized from the men he'd defeated. Gilly sat on the ground, occasionally peering around to watch him. He had defeated a lot of men. He finally selected a fairly thin katana with a short handle. He tested the weight thoughtfully, and laid it down. He pulled his large blade and sliced the sword about one-third of the way down from the tip. Gilly gasped at the sparks that sprung from the steel cutting steel, but Mihawk was unfazed. He then took a whetstone and sharpened the edges, polishing the new point very carefully. Finally, he set it over one of the green candles on the corner of his raft, sharpening it over the flame. Gilly couldn't help but gape as he seemed uninjured when his hand flew through the flame.
Robin stirred and awoke at the shockwave when Mihawk sliced the sword, but froze when she saw Mihawk through her blurry vision. She held very still and tried to analyze her situation. She could feel her head throbbing with pain, though it was healing, she didn't know where she was, and she saw Gilea watching Mihawk from the middle of the deck. She closed her eyes as she felt a jolt of fear, and she felt Mihawk's eyes rest on her. What, she wondered, would he do to the little swordsman? What would he do to her?
"Young Gilea, this is your new weapon." He handed her the refinished sword, and she took it in her hands.
"It's amazing, Mister Mihawk! Thank you very much!" She bowed again, and Mihawk smiled evenly.
"The question is, what will you offer in exchange for my gift?"
"I guess you have done me a lot of favors for no good reason. I don't have anything, though." Gilly hung her head. "I have my clothes. Would you like my clothes?"
"I would not let you run naked," Mihawk refused. "And what would I do with them?"
"The only other thing I have is my own sword," she mumbled. "But I bought it for me with my own pocket money! I know that this sword might be better because it's real and it's not broken… but my spirit is in this sword!" She showed him her cracked bamboo sword. "You said it was spirit, right? I know this will never hurt anyone, but this is my spirit."
"I understand. Keep your swords, young Santoryu." Mihawk chuckled and shook his head. "I will request instead a photograph of you and a mark."
"Is that all? Okay. I agree!" Gilly nodded. Mihawk nodded, and took an old camera from his keepsake chest. He set it on his chair, and turned back to her as she strapped her new katana right next to her bamboo katana.
"Do not expect such courtesy next time we meet, Roronoa Gilea. It will be several years, but next we chance meet, I expect you will be more sporting." He frowned, thinking for a moment. "Let me see. I suppose that you may be ready to stand before me in…" He paused, turning away from her, but suddenly turned around with his dagger in hand. Gilly pulled her new sword and blocked. She staggered under the force of his blow, but she lasted two full seconds before tumbling to the ground. Mihawk sheathed his dagger and considered this carefully, as Gilea shivered and looked at her bruising knees as she stood back up. "Twelve…? No. Seven years, you are blessed with your father's quick recovery, and you have an instinct for it. If you continue at this rate, you will be on par with an average swordsman in seven years, and thus, if we met, I would be inclined to duel you. In twelve years, you will be on par with your father as he was when he challenged me."
"Then Mr. Mihawk, I hope we meet in thirteen years," Gilly said very earnestly. Mihawk simply chuckled.
"Of course, it would do poorly for my reputation were I to leave you completely unscathed. Young Roronoa, remove your shirt."
Robin nearly jumped from her false sleep at this request, but she managed to stay still. She opened her eye the tiniest sliver, just enough to see what Mihawk was doing. She had gotten tangled in her shirt in trying to take it off, and Mihawk finally helped her, exposing her skinny torso. Mihawk pulled his dagger again, and dug the tip in just above her heart. It was not deep enough to cause permanent damage, but it would leave a scar. Mihawk carefully carved a cross. Gilly bit her thumb to keep her silence, and when Mihawk finished, he tipped her chin up to force her to meet his eyes.
"You resist your tears. You are a child. An infant. You are allowed to cry."
"Daddy never cries!" Gilly retorted tearfully.
"I have seen him cry, child, I'm certain that he still does. He will today." Mihawk pulled needle and clean thread and began to stitch Gilly's wound shut. "This wound is for him, not you. He will feel your injury, and he will weep, for I am certain he shall be gone of you for some time yet. If a man does not long for his child, then his heart has surely been carved out already." Mihawk finished, and put Gilly's shirt back on her. She sat down on the edge of the raft and smeared away her tears. Mihawk picked up his camera and took a photograph of her as she held back her tears, and looked at the result. He wrote something on the back, and whistled. A falcon landed on his chair, and he tied the photograph to its leg and sent it off again. "We will reach our destination soon, young lady. Give yourself rest."
Robin could only wonder what he was doing.
Chopper had wrapped Zoro's entire torso in a cast. His back was not broken, but he had broken several ribs. Sanji hung over him as he awoke, staring down at his face coldly. "You were crying in your sleep."
"I was not," he muttered.
"Don't even bother trying to sit up. It's not a heavy cast, but you're not going to be able to bend your abdomen in it. Chopper said it'll take a few days for your ribs to reset. Of course, it takes a normal person's ribs a good three weeks, but you're a freak."
"Yeah. Look, we really need to keep moving. We need to find Luffy."
"Nami," Sanji muttered. "We need our navigator. She's the expert, and we won't get anywhere without her expertise."
"Luffy is our captain. He makes all decisions. Saying otherwise is… mutiny." Zoro glowered.
"Luffy would want us to find Nami!" Sanji snapped. "We won't get goddamn anywhere without her!"
"Luffy would want us to find everybody!" Zoro shot back. Shouting made his chest hurt, he was forced to drop his voice. "You're just saying that because you're a skirt-chasing pervert!"
"How dare you pretend to understand me?" Sanji hissed, swinging his leg back. "You have no manners, you-"
"STOP IT!" Chopper roared, and heavy-point-Chopper sent Sanji out into the hallway with a good thwack. "Sanji, Zoro needs to recover before you two start fighting again!"
"Fine!" Sanji snapped. "I'm going to talk to Franky. We need to keep moving. We need to find Nami!"
"LUFFY!" Zoro roared, and then groaned in pain. Chopper whined and shut the door to end the confrontation. "This isn't a pirate ship," he panted. "This is a rescue boat. We need to find them all…"
End Notes: Next chapter will be up next week!
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