Concealed

Characters: Law, Heart Pirates. Rating: K. Warnings: None

The question first crossed Law's mind when the Minks revealed their boat storage high on the elephant's back. In hindsight, he should have considered it when they finally arrived at Zou, the Thousand Sunny bobbing alone in the elephant's wake, but his mind had been preoccupied with escaping the insanity of Bartolemeo's ship, wondering how they were supposed to climb the leg (the resulting answer did nothing at all to help him keep his grip on what sanity he had left after such brain cell murdering company) and most importantly of all, the precise whereabouts of his crew.

Where was the Polar Tang?

Obviously she had been well-hidden, as he'd seen no signs of her wreckage in the wake of destruction left by Jack, but when she turned out to not be stored with the rest of the boats on Zou he grew puzzled. His crew would, of course, never have left her somewhere vulnerable, not with the existence of the frequent downpours courtesy of Zunisha washing its back, but a bright yellow submarine of her size should have stood out clearly amongst the natural colours of the foliage.

Maddeningly, he found no chance to quietly ask any of his crew before Zoro-ya bluntly demanded to know where the ship they'd be travelling to Wano on was, the swordsman clearly having reached the same conclusion as Law that it hadn't been in the boat sheds. How he knew that despite not knowing what the Tang looked like wasn't entirely clear, but as none of the Mink ships, understandably, bore a jolly roger of any sort, let alone the one that decorated most of Law's wardrobe, it was likely he'd based the correct assumption on that fact.

Still, it left Law in the awkward situation of being unable to answer where, exactly, his own ship was, despite the question being aimed very definitely at him.

"We hid her!" Bepo, bless the Mink, piped up in an immediate response, saving Law from having to verbally admit he hadn't found out yet. "…Sorry…" Law glowered at the Straw Hat for upsetting his navigator before sending a meaningful glance towards the rest of his crew. It didn't go unnoticed by Nico Robin, of course, judging by her smile, but at least the woman had the grace not to comment.

Penguin and Shachi, who were still far too quiet for Law's liking, their forced rowdiness during the feast notwithstanding (to a stranger it may have seemed genuine, especially with Penguin dancing along with his arm firmly around Nose-ya's shoulders, but Law was far from a stranger and knew a front when he saw one), took the lead and headed straight back to the heart of the island.

The whale-tree loomed above them as imposingly as the first time, but unlike their previous visit the parade did not climb up the tail to a small hidden door but rather went to where the front reared up from the ground, not far from the now-decimated Guardians' settlement. A swipe of a well hidden lever in the form of what looked like a sapling and a rumbling sound emitted from the huge tree itself as a section slid away to reveal a large cavern.

Law hadn't realised there had been a fake section of the trunk, and from the impressed whistle of the cyborg behind him, he hadn't been the only one.

Then again, the whistle could have been for a very different reason, as the movement of the fake bark had revealed the Polar Tang in all her glory, held in suspension by a complex arrangement of tree trunks to keep her hull from damage. Not, he mused, that she would be damaged so easily, but the care was good to see.

"That's a suuuuuuuuper beauty!" Robo-ya whispered, almost reverently. Law struggled to force back the grin the words brought. The Polar Tang was one of his treasures (alongside his hat, Kikoku, and his crew), and to hear her complimented always warmed his heart.

"Get her out," he ordered instead. "We need to stock up provisions and then be on our way." His crew leapt to obey, manipulating the logs in a practised manner to begin rolling her out. It was a long way to what passed as docks on Zunisha's back, and even with the remains of the Straw Hats and the Minks joining in the journey took well over an hour.

"Isn't this a submarine?" Nose-ya squawked as they finally stopped, many of the labourers flopping to the ground in exhaustion. Law let himself grin.

"Her name is the Polar Tang," he introduced, his crew gathering around him and the submarine as he did so. "She'll get us to Wano."

"How come you'll introduce her but not us?" his crew demanded in sync, totally ruining whatever atmosphere the Polar Tang's presence had brought.

Law ignored them.

Where is the Polar Tang? We didn't see her tied to one of Zunisha's legs (thankfully, considering Jack's attacks), nor was she in the boathouse, and there's only so many places you can hide a big bright yellow submarine in the forest - and she must be hidden, otherwise Jack's rampaging would have found and destroyed her, and I refuse to consider that possibility. If there's one hidden room in the Whale Tree, surely there can be one more, and it's also close to where the Heart Pirates were staying... That's my logic anyway.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari