Injury

Characters: Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi. Rating: T. Warnings: injury

Over time, Law got used to Penguin and Shachi finding themselves in trouble. The two older boys collected scrapes like Law had begun collecting coins, and barely a day went by without one of the two ending up in the infirmary for treatment. Most of the time, it was nothing serious, some silly minor incident leading Law to prod them along as they laughed and joked. Sometimes, it was less light-hearted, bordering on downright terrifying as he was left to deal with an unconscious and bloody nakama.

No matter what happened, it was always one of the humans (sometimes Law himself), which made the first time it wasn't a major shock.

Bepo, for all that he was the youngest and the quietest, was the strongest. No matter what happened, he remained a steady presence, seemingly unshakable and untouchable by North Blue humans. His strength was both constant and reassuring, and at the end of the day, they could always curl up with him and feel perfectly safe and protected.

Bepo wasn't indestructible.

It was the first time they'd faced an opponent with haki. Despite Law's knowledge of it, haki wasn't overly common in North Blue – uncommon enough that for a long time the young Heart Pirates had never encountered it. Bepo's strength hadn't saved him from a jab, and he'd crumpled to the ground to the horror of his human nakama. When he hadn't got back up, they turned on the offensive, seeking vengeance as well as hurrying to finish the fight so that Law could treat Bepo.

The victory was hard won, but the three boys didn't stop to think about that as they crowded around the unmoving Bepo. His pure white fur was matted where the blood had reached it, a stark contrast they could have done without.

He'd grown, now taller than all of them and with the bulk to match. It took all three to manoeuvre him to safety, down into their infirmary where he took up too much of the bed, but no-one was laughing at the sight. Carefully cleaning away the blood – a task taken up by Penguin and Shachi while Law focused on the wounds themselves – was done in frigid silence.

The injury itself wasn't fatal, a simple strike to the wrong place slicing through all Bepo's natural defences to down him in an instant. There was no cause for concern, although the boys couldn't bring themselves to think that way as they took it in turns to take over the steering. It wasn't the same without Bepo telling them which way to go, but he needed rest, even after he finally woke.

"Sorry," he said, predictably, as if his injury had been his own fault and not some impossible to predict event. It took the combined efforts of Law and Penguin to keep him in the bed, firmly reminding the mink that they could navigate if it came down to it. Of course, they were nowhere near Bepo's own standards, but they were still in North Blue. Compasses still worked. "I'm sorry."

The mink himself was almost inconsolable about his injury, directly stemming from the knowledge that he was the strongest and that therefore he should always be supporting his nakama. He wouldn't settle until he had returned to his position as crew pillow; all three ended up clambering into the infirmary bed together, cramming in as best they could despite the small bed.

Law was used to Penguin and Shachi being injured, but Bepo was a different matter entirely. He was a difficult patient, and that was before he took into account how difficult bandaging fur was. He was their rock, and all four of them knew it. Realistically, none of them were invincible, but until the fur dyed red, it was so easy to forget that minks could bleed, too.

Someone mentioned Bepo being the one to get hurt for once, and how the others would react. Bepo doesn't make a good patient.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari