Price

Characters: Shachi, Law, Penguin, Bepo, Heart Pirates, Kuzan. Rating: T. Warnings: None

There were many perks to their captain being a Shichibukai. The frozen bounties were one although, with so few members of the crew with a price on their heads at all thanks to their preference to work in the shadows where Doflamingo's strings didn't reach (the lack of Marine presence was just an added bonus), it largely made no difference to their lives. Civilians still fled at the sight of their grinning Jolly Roger, and other pirates still wanted them dead. Unlike most of the Shichibukai, Law had not laid claim to an island as a base, and the Polar Tang was still undeniably home.

Another perk was access to information. While he in no way had full clearance, Law could get at some files unavailable to the general public (and certainly unavailable to pirates). That was how the crew came to learn of the existence of Punk Hazard, and Law quickly put together the puzzle to realise that it was a keystone to Doflamingo's influence. Clearly, they needed to get there to investigate the links properly, but therein lay an issue. While Law had clearance to learn of the island's existence, there was absolutely nothing about where the island was located.

Asking anyone in the Marines would have been stupid. Neither Marines or pirates were permitted onto the poisoned, half frozen and half molten island, and an inquiry in the wrong place could have disastrous consequences. The kindest would likely be an expulsion from the Shichibukai, but with Akainu in charge, the kindest option was rarely the one taken. A trip to Impel Down was not high on their list of things to do.

There was one man that might be convinced to tell them. Aokiji, now known solely as Kuzan, was no longer bound by any code of conduct the Marines were, and indeed if the rumours were to be true had affiliated himself with a pirate (and not just any pirate, but the new Yonkou). It was a long shot, but it was also their only avenue and Law – they – needed the information. Tracking the man had been no easy feat. After his defeat and defection from the Marines he had obviously gained an impressive bounty of his own and like any sensible individual with a high bounty (a rare group of people, all things considered) had chosen to lie low.

However, months of determination had paid off, and they had finally caught up with the man. In a gesture of peace, Law had declared that he would go to speak to the man alone, leaving his anxious crew to wait on board the Tang, praying that Kuzan wasn't interested in a confrontation and would give the knowledge away without much of a fuss.

"I don't like this," Shachi said, not for the first, or even fifth time since Law had firmly ordered them to stay put and disembarked with only Kikoku for company as he went to find the elusive man on the island. Reports implied that he'd be found on the beachy coast, so of course Law had chosen to dock the Tang on the opposite side of the island. He'd been gone half an hour by that point, and tempers were wearing thin.

"None of us like it," Penguin snapped, vigorously cleaning his spear and cursing as his hand slipped, earning itself a shallow gash from the bladed edge. "Stop whining."

"Captain will be fine," Bepo said firmly, his pinned back ears and excessive fidgeting betraying his own reservations. Shachi pushed himself off of the railing he'd been slouching over, his momentum first leading him to fall heavily into a sitting position on the deck, and then toppling him over backwards to stare at the sky forlornly.

"That's not what my gut says," the ginger grumbled, earning himself a vicious whack with the butt of Penguin's spear.

"Shut. Up," the older growled. Whatever retort Shachi started was drowned out by a pained howl from inside the submarine, and the crew's heads all turned simultaneously as Clione burst out of the door, from where he'd been on communications duty, waiting by their den den mushi in case Law made contact.

His frantic countenance prompted everyone to start speaking at the same time, demanding answers and overlapping everyone else's voices until there was nothing but a single cacophony of sound.

"Enough!" Jean Bart rumbled, his voice carrying clearly over the noise. His tone expected total obedience and received it, a throw back to his days as a captain himself. "Clione, talk."

Clione didn't say a word, instead mutely holding up a burning piece of paper. No-one needed to be told what it was as shock descended over the crew, freezing them all in place.

Shachi was the first to speak, shattering the stillness as he hefted his katana onto his shoulder, letting the sheath clatter to the deck.

"What are we waiting for?" he demanded, words clipped short. "Let's go."

With a war cry, he launched himself off of the Tang, landing on the ground lightly before sprinting for the beach. The others followed him, their booted feet thumping against the ground and producing a quiet rumble. Getting closer, Shachi's observation haki confirmed their captain's location, and that his companion was indeed the former Marine Admiral.

"It's nothing personal," Kuzan's unmistakable laid-back voice drawled as they entered earshot. "Although your escape from my Ice Age at Marineford was a nuisance. But I'm afraid I have no interest in aiding you in your search." Law made no reply, and as they crossed the final ridge between them and their captain, it was clear to see why.

Law resembled an ice sculpture far more than he did a living breathing human. His limbs were frozen in place, left hand extended in the familiar position he used when summoning a Room and right preparing to draw Kikoku from her sheath while his legs were secured to the sandy beach below. His chest rose and fell heavily, not yet encased in ice, and only the lower part of his face was frozen, rendering him unable to talk but still conscious as his golden eyes bored into Kuzan with thinly veiled frustration. No fear, because Trafalgar Law never showed fear, even as the former admiral gestured with a hand, ice streaming towards the Shichibukai to complete the job.

Jean Bart got there first, planting his body firmly between the attack and his captain, unflinching as the ice collided with his back and the impact forced blood from his lips, crimson drops landing on Law's hat. The shorter man's eyes widened, and the previously-absent fear blossomed at the sight of his crew charging Kuzan, only for another wave of the man's hand to freeze half of them in their tracks. Barring Penguin and Bepo, who had diverted towards their captain's side and therefore fell under the protection of Jean Bart's bulk, only those of the crew with awakened observation haki managed to avoid their feet being frozen to the ground.

Shachi's katana swung out as the ginger landed from his evasive manoeuvre, slashing straight through the ice man. Unsurprisingly, it passed straight through him, the ginger's armament haki too weak to negate the logia powers. It worked to catch Kuzan's attention, however, and those of the crew still able to move crowded around their captain as Penguin and Bepo carefully detached him from the ground.

"Retreat!" Shachi ordered, briefly disappearing as ice crashed over where he'd been standing before reappearing next to it. The command was repeated by Penguin as the crew hesitated, seeing their captain now safe in Bepo's arms but Shachi now the target of the former admiral's attacks instead as he dodged, ducked and rolled away from ice, occasionally managing to bring his sword up in time to make another ineffectual slash.

A third rumble of the word from Jean Bart, who managed to shift himself with a gargantuan effort – none of the attacks that had hit him had been tailored for him, so where a smaller, weaker man may have been subdued he was only hindered – got them moving, picking up those of their nakama who couldn't move and bolting for the Tang.

"You're not going too?" Kuzan asked Shachi as the others fled. The ginger grinned humourlessly, slipping sideways in the blink of an eye and slashing apart the ice as it hurtled towards him.

"If I go too, who's going to stop you following?" he asked, panting lightly. His stamina was hardly poor, but the constant high-speed evasion was tiring, and despite himself he couldn't stop the trickle of cold sweat down his back.

This was not a fight he could win. He'd known it before he'd jumped in. If Law had been neutralised so quickly, then it was only a matter of time he succumbed to either exhaustion or the ice – or both – and became little more than melting icy rubble on the beach. To save his nakama, his captain, it was a price he'd gladly pay. That didn't make the prospect any less terrifying.

"Your observation haki is impressive," Kuzan commented as Shachi once again evaded, although he felt himself already slowing down; the ice had barely missed him that time. The ginger's only response was a pained chuckle, sorely regretting his incompetence with armament haki, before he pressed in for another attack. In the back of his mind he wondered why Kuzan hadn't just slammed him with a large-scale attack he couldn't dodge before going after his retreating nakama, but the thought only lasted a split second. He couldn't afford any distractions if he wanted to buy as much time as he could.

Every second he bought them they used to get further and further away, hobbling along as best they could. With ice cubes for feet, more than half of the crew needed supporting by their nakama. Jean Bart, his back frozen with icy tendrils reaching down his legs and up his neck, needed three people to help keep him upright, even as he charged along with the rest of them. In Bepo's arms, Law's eyes had slipped closed as tears slowly gathered in the corners before starting to trickle down his face. He wasn't the only one; Penguin's cap was pulled low over his face and his mouth was set in a stony line as he stumbled along, despite being uninjured, and the general air hanging over the crew was a solemn one.

They made it back to the Tang without further incident, Kuzan yet to follow them. How well that boded for Shachi was questionable, but the crew forced it from their minds for the moment. Many of them, and especially their captain, needed defrosting and so they made their way en mass to the bathroom where Law was given pride of place directly under a lukewarm shower. Jean Bart stood by him awkwardly, unable to sit until the ice retreated, so that the water caught his back on the way down. The other afflicted members of the crew situated themselves as near as possible, crammed together in the too-small area.

Those who had escaped the ice gathered on the deck in a nervous huddle, continuously glancing back at the direction they'd come as they debated what to do next.

They should set sail. It was a miracle Kuzan hadn't pursued them yet, and there was a very likely possibility that he was freezing the sea so they couldn't leave the island, but setting sail meant admitting they'd lost Shachi. Penguin's hat was in his hands, wrung so tightly it was a wonder the stitches weren't breaking, as he stared at the horizon, unblinking.

"Penguin?" Ikkaku asked, because he was the most senior member of the crew active. He dashed glistening tears from his eyes with his sleeve, only for them to return almost instantly. They had to set sail. He knew that. He knew that if they didn't, they'd lose more than just Shachi. But it was Shachi, his best friend, his brother, and he slowly sank to his knees, quivering as he clutched his hat to his chest.

"I'm sorry," he gulped, the tears beginning to fall freely. "I-I can't."

A large paw landed on his shoulder, Bepo tugging him against his side.

"Why do we have to leave him?" the mink asked. "Let's go."

Penguin looked up at him, eyes wet.

"But-" he started, torn between his responsibility to the crew, to get them all out alive, and the childish belief that somehow Shachi was okay, because he had to be, never mind that he'd been facing down a former admiral that had taken down their captain in seconds. Shachi had to be okay, because he was all had Penguin had left, and it felt so cruel to think that when several of his nakama were surrounding him.

"Go get him," Uni said, clapping Penguin on the back hard enough that he rocked forwards. "We'll get the Tang ready to leave." Bepo slipped his paws underneath his arms and hauled him to his feet before dragging him off of the ship, and back the way they'd come.

"You should stay with the ship," Penguin protested when he found his voice past the lump in his throat. "I… I should do this myself." The mink shook his head as they ran.

"You're not doing this by yourself," he said firmly, and secretly Penguin was grateful, selfishly so. The mink should be helping to get the ship ready to go. As the navigator, they couldn't set sail without him. The log poses in the New World weren't as simple to use as in Paradise. But they were probably running towards a corpse, and Penguin didn't think he had the strength to face that alone.

The silence that persisted, beyond their own frantic breathing, as they headed for the final ridge once again, did nothing to dispel his fears. The added uncertainty of Kuzan's location forced him to slow and look around, Bepo doing the same beside him.

"He's gone," the mink said after a moment, puzzled. Penguin didn't ask after Shachi and Bepo didn't volunteer the information as they picked up their pace again, cresting the ridge to see what was in store for them.

Shachi was still in one piece. Sadly, that was where the good news ended. Penguin slipped in his haste to reach him, sliding down the slight incline to the beach on his backside before clumsily floundering to his feet and stumbling over himself as he approached the beautiful ice statue that was once his best friend.

The ginger's face held a triumphant expression, that cocky grin Penguin knew all too well, and he wondered how much of it had been an act to throw off Kuzan, and how much of it had been pride at holding out however long he had. The rest of his body held no hesitation, frozen in a headlong charge with his katana slashing through the air. If it was just a copy of him, it would have been perfect. As it was…

"Shachi," Penguin said, his voice cracking as he laid a gentle hand on his cheek. There was no warmth at all under his palm. If he didn't know this was Kuzan's power, the ability to turn flesh to ice, he would never have thought it was a real body. "Shachi." The tears came back, Penguin once again falling to his knees. His hand dragged down, from cheek to neck to shoulder to chest.

"Penguin!" Bepo said, and it sounded urgent, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Shachi. "Penguin, look." A paw thrust a piece of paper in front of his face, and he blinked a few times to readjust his focus.

It was a map. A crudely drawn map clearly scribbled as an afterthought, depicting several islands. Penguin knew the names of one or two. Raijin Island. That was that lightning fuelled one that had tried to fry the Tang. And then, another name.

Punk Hazard.

This… this was what they'd come for. This was why Law had met with Kuzan in the first place. Anger surged through Penguin. If Kuzan was willing to give them the information, why didn't he do it earlier, before he turned Shachi into a fleeting work of art? Why did they have to lose Shachi to gain it?

"Why..?" he asked, his voice thick with grief. "Why would he do this? Wasn't he a Marine? Why did he have to ki-" He couldn't say the word, and flinched when Bepo tapped his shoulder insistently.

"Look at the bottom," the mink said, and Penguin didn't want to, didn't know what else they'd had to sacrifice Shachi for to get out of the former admiral. But he did, because Bepo sounded almost keen, which sounded so wrong in their current situation.

Ice Time does not kill immediately. If you found him in time he can be defrosted. He's an interesting one.

Penguin stared at the words, uncomprehending their meaning for several long seconds, before it struck and he leapt back to his feet, reaching for Shachi. If there was a chance, any chance at all…

Like he had done with Law, Bepo picked him up, cradling him in his arms as if the ice could shatter at any time – and maybe it could – before the two of them set a fast but steady pace back to the Tang. The crew on deck, multiplied from when they'd left as some of those with only minor freezing had seemingly finished defrosting in the shower, made noises of fear and sadness as they got on board, Bepo careful not to jostle his burden at all. They made a beeline for the bathroom, pushing everyone except Law further from the centre so Shachi could rest there.

They were going to be totally out of water by the time their last nakama defrosted, but it was a small price to pay. Most of the crew had graduated to massaging their feet, the ice all but gone, leaving just Jean Bart, Law, and now Shachi, under the running water.

"Shachi," Law said quietly, the same break in his voice that Penguin had had. "You idiot. You total, utter, idiot." He didn't move anything except his head, which rested on Shachi's frozen shoulder lightly.

"Kuzan's gone," Penguin reported, seeing that his captain was at least in a condition to respond, even if he was still mostly immobile. Law sighed.

"I see," he said. "I'm sorry, this didn't work." Penguin shook his head.

"It worked," he said, and Law's eyes snapped to him. "Kuzan left a map to Punk Hazard behind." It was still stowed in his pocket, but he didn't dare bring it out in such a humid room. The price had almost been too high.

He refused to consider the idea that they'd been too late to save Shachi.

The tension seemed to drain from Law as he slumped under the running water. Bepo slipped in to support him, beginning to rub at the thawed limbs gently.

"We did it," their captain breathed, sounding torn between regret and excitement. From the way his eyes flickered to Shachi again, the source of regret wasn't hard to identify.

Penguin left the room only long enough to place the precious map safely with Bepo's other things, before returning to the bathroom to wait out Shachi's fate. Law had just finished defrosting when the colour returned to Shachi's cheeks, and Penguin lunged for him, almost knocking his captain over in the process, to feel for a pulse.

He cried when he found one.

100 chapters. Originally I never even thought this would reach 10. Thank you so much for all your support so far, and I still have ideas and half-written things so this isn't the end just yet! This chapter's length is a celebration of sorts, they'll go back to their regular 500-2000 words again from tomorrow.

Someone mentioned that I've never had Shachi or Penguin saving Law in a fight, and when I thought about it I realised that if something like that did happen it would end up rather like Thriller Bark, because they're weaker than Law so if someone can take him down, they can take them down too. Aokiji seemed like he would be a fun target, especially as we know he can let people go if he feels like it, and he's also no longer a Marine at this point.

Finally, for those that may have noticed, yes Shachi was using a version of Soru to dodge. It's not a mastered version, like CP9, or even like Sanji's, but there are several characters in One Piece that do seem to use something like Soru, and as I suspect it requires a decent grasp of observation haki to pull off properly (Kuro, for example, while capable of reaching the speeds, can't see where he's going, while a known observation haki user - Sanji - has no issues with that), it fits in well with the Shachi I'm writing.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari