Chapter Six | Uprooted

"Arlong is connected to another Warlord," Quinn deadpanned, cursing her luck.

"Yeah. Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea."

"Will he come after us if we take out this Arlong guy?"

"Take out?" Yosaku gasped, slapping his hand over his mouth. His head twisted left and right, as if Jinbe or Arlong would burst out of the ocean next to them. "Are you crazy? No, we're not taking him out. That guy has a twenty million bounty! Twenty million! That's more than Krieg!"

"Well, I wanted to test this pistol out on something and thought he'd make a great target. Unless you were just bullshitting me about the things he's done?"

"No, every word o'that was true, which is why he's bad news! The worst news! A goddamn nightmare!"

Sucking in a deep breath, Yosaku's chest bulged before exhaling, and he shivered at the thought of Arlong alone. "You done?"

"You got a death wish, lady."

"Hey, Usopp!"

"Yeah?"

"Luffy shows up and finds out this Arlong guy is a right cunt. What do you think he'd do?"

The frown that pulled at Usopp's brow was quickly replaced by a wail of absolute despair. "He'd fight him."

"I've known the guy all of a week and I'd agree with you on that. Anyways, I cracked the code on this beauty-" she patted her pistol, which was swiftly becoming a codependent comfort. "-and I think it could blow a hole in the guy's chest about three feet wide, give or take. Fishman or not, whatever that is, this'd almost do a basilisk in and I don't think Arlong could take out one of those."

"A basilisk?"

"Big snake," Quinn said, holding her hands out for good measure. "Killed one when I was twelve."

"Uh… how big?"

She hummed. "Sixty-odd feet? Its head was about as big as I am."

"How are you alive?" Usopp whined, throwing his head back in horror. "And why do you act like it's all so… normal?"

"Oh, it's not normal. My life has just been insane from front to back. I sort of got used to it after a while."

"Weren't you ever, you know, scared?"

"Of course I was. Seven years of it, and I was terrified every bloody day."

"Then how did you do it? How did you become brave?" There was something wishful in his words, as if he was asking her to reveal the secret to life itself.

She looked at Usopp, trying to get a proper idea of the guy. He was younger than her by a few years, but as far as Quinn could tell that didn't matter much here. People weren't terribly concerned about what constituted a responsible age to set out to sea. He wasn't all that brave, otherwise he wouldn't be asking her that question. Nor was he strong, but… wasn't that the norm? Usopp was just another bloke, one with a dead-eye and a keen hand when it came to tinkering mind you – but he'd managed to wander into the welcoming arms of the Straw Hat crew, a gaggle of superpowered maniacs with a penchant for leaping before they looked, judging by every story they'd told her.

He reminded her of Ron. Clever, handy beyond imagining, able to think circles around anyone and everyone, but he was hampered by an inferiority complex a mile wide that was only made worse by constantly comparing his accomplishments to those of his crew.

"Usopp… what do you think bravery is?"

"It's being fierce!" he declared, punching the sky. "A fearless adventurer who's always ready to see what's over the horizon. Someone who doesn't hesitate to defend a friend, or cut down a villainous foe!" Just as quickly as his excitement had come, it disappeared, and he wilted in the span of a second. "Someone… not like me."

"Usopp. I just told you that I was scared, all the damn time. So were my friends, but that didn't stop us. Bravery isn't being fearless, because if you can't feel fear you're just going to get yourself killed." She tapped her chin, Usopp not seeming to listen, or at least believe in her words. "Fear is good. Fear is safe. When I get scared the whole world shrinks to a pinprick."

Quinn made a circle with her fingers, closing it until only a shred of sunlight peeked through. "I can see further, sharper. I can react like that-" she snapped her fingers, startling Usopp. "I can sprint faster, I can dodge an attack I didn't see coming but instead felt. I can take out a fleeing mark with a spell that should never have struck them, because when I'm scared it feels like even though my heart'll leap out of my chest, I can do fucking anything."

Letting out a slow, impassioned sigh, Quinn offered Usopp a faint smile. "No such thing as bravery without fear. You can't have one without the other."

He, in turn, was looking at her as if she truly had revealed the meaning of life. Usopp's eyes sparked with something she hadn't seen in them in the three weeks she had known him. Ambition.

Usopp was a talker. Not a doer. He'd spun stories almost every moment of every day, each one more grandiose and fantastical than the last. But even as he painted a vivid picture of giants and seafaring heroes of old, Quinn could tell that even he didn't put faith in the words he spoke. But now, he was looking at his own hands as if they could move mountains, the faint tremble that had run through them over the last day – knowing they'd make landfall at Cocoyashi soon – was now tempered by something far more resolute than simple fear.

He had wanted to be brave. Now Usopp looked as though he was ready to try and be brave.

"You get what I mean?"

"Yeah," he muttered, not dragging his gaze away from his hands. "I think I do."

"Good lad."

"Hey! You're not that much older than me."

"Still. Good lad."

"Screw you."

Quinn grinned. "He's got stones, this one! Y'see, Usopp? You were still piss scared of me this morning, which I won't fault you for, I was fucking horrific – but look at you now!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Didn't even flinch!"

With a quirked eyebrow Usopp glanced off to the side, fist pressed to his chin. "I did, didn't I?" His eyes widened and he shot to his feet. "Holy shit, I did!" Usopp whooped, punching the air again. "I… holy shit. Uh- I'm-"

"Don't you dare apologise."

"Nope! Not apologising!" He locked his arms into an x, shaking his head. "Because I, Captain Usopp, am a brave warrior of the sea!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Johnny interjected, smirking at Usopp.

"Oi!"

"Kidding! Kidding! Just pullin' your leg."

"Oi!"

"What!?"

"Land ho!"

Squinting, Quinn tried to look ahead to no avail. Christ, Usopp had a set of eyes on him. "You sure?"

"Yeah. You guys can't see it?" He frowned, but then puffed his chest out proudly. "Of course it's I that can see land before any of you mere mortals! For I, the Great Captain-"

"Okay Usopp, enough of that. I believe you, and so do Johnny and Yosaku, right guys?"

"Aye!"

"Excellent." She patted the pistol at her side, still trying to catch a glimpse of land. "We should lay low when we get there. We'll set up camp well away from wherever Arlong is situated but close enough to any villages to know when Luffy and Zoro get here. Have the two of you ever been to these islands?" she asked, finger bouncing between Johnny and Yosaku.

"No ma'am," they replied in unison.

"Do you know anything about them apart from them being Arlong's base of operations? Topography, location of any villages or settlements?"

"There should be a mountain on the western end of the main island, and one directly opposite to the east. Arlong Park is supposed to be nestled between the two, looking over Cocoyashi Village. Gosa Village is to the Southwest, and the safest place to make landfall."

Looking over the two bounty-hunters, Quinn eyed them in a new light. "You two ex-marines or something?"

"Aye ma'am. Left a few months out after basic training. We've been pals since."

"What made you leave?"

"We were forced out. Dishonourable discharge," Johnny spat, while Yosaku just scowled. "Too much corruption, even in the East Blue."

"More I hear about these Marines the more I hate them," she groused, more to herself than to any of her companions. "Sorry to go all Captain on the two of you, bad habit of mine."

"You're not an ex-marine?"

"I was an… Auror back where I come from. We were responsible for tracking down and apprehending terrorists, war criminals, the worst of the worst."

"Cool," all three of them exclaimed, which made Quinn scowl.

"No. Not cool. Trust me. Half the people I worked with were absolute bastards."

"Aw." Johnny crossed his arms. "At least you're cool."

"I try."

-::-

They moored in a cove, just barely inland and about a kilometre or two away from Gosa Village.

No one had to worry about being spotted, seeing as the Village had literally been turned on its head.

Quinn walked through the empty streets with fury in her gut, simmering just below the surface as she surveyed the crumbling houses. Each and every one of them rested on their roof, the shingles splayed out in mockery of a blooming flower. There were still blood-stains spattering their walls, globs of the stuff congealed and mixed with the sandy streets, painting it in shades of rusted brown.

"Arlong did this?" she asked, tight lipped. It took everything in her not to march towards the pirate's compound and open fire on the bastard and his crew. "And for what?"

"What the-?"

Whirling around, pistol drawn, she stopped to see a young boy standing over Usopp, his foot extended. "Did you trip him? Usopp, did you let him trip you?"

"Shut up!" the boy howled, glaring at them at brandishing a knife. "Running around with a damn fishman! Your people did this! Your people killed my father!"

"Hey kid, put that knife down before someone gets hurt. There's no fishmen here."

"Yeah there is! This guy!" The kid pointed at Usopp, who lifted his head and groaned in pain, his nose bruised. "Look at that nose! He's a fishman, a lamprey or something!"

"He's not a fishman, kid. He's just got a big nose."

"What?"

The boy kneeled and tilted his head, squinting at Usopp's face. His eyes widened, a blush crept across his face, and in a heartbeat he was apologising, dropping his knife and helping Usopp off the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I thought you were with Arlong!"

"Damn this nose of mine," Usopp grumbled, waving the boy off. "It's fine. I'm the Great Captain-"

Johnny poked Usopp in the ribs, cutting his catch-phrase short as the sniper let out a sharp giggle. "Stop! I'm ticklish!"

"Kid, what's your name?"

He turned to Quinn. "Chabo."

"Arlong did all this? He killed your dad?"

Chabo's face crumpled into something ugly, something that no child should wear. In the way his brow crunched into a frown, his lips drawn into a tight scowl, every inch of him with painted in contempt. "He destroyed the village and killed my father because we couldn't pay tribute."

"Protection money."

"Protection from Arlong, yeah." Chabo spat on the ground and stamped his feet. "He's a monster, same with that redhead witch of his."

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Redhead? She looks a lot like you actually. Are you another one of her sisters or something?"

Quinn and Usopp locked eyes, and he nodded at her. "We came here looking for her. Are you saying Nami is a part of Arlong's crew?"

"Yeah, whatever her name is. She's a part of his crew. She's been a part of it for ten years." Pointing at his cheek, upon which Quinn noticed a nasty bruise was beginning to form, Chabo smiled. "She did this to me when I went to kill Arlong"

"Is that why you had a knife?"

"How else would I kill him?"

"Chabo… I think in a messed up, roundabout way, she saved your life."

"Bullshit."

"What'd she do to you, exactly? Stop you from picking a fight with a guy who can do this?" she asked, gesturing at the carnage around them. "She smacked you around?"

Head hanging, Chabo kicked his feet as he muttered something under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"And she gave me a bunch of money."

"She saved your life."

"Damn straight, she did," a woman growled. "Chabo!"

Sighing, Quinn looked to the source of the new voice to see a blue-haired, tattooed woman glaring at the boy. "And you are?"

"Nojiko, someone who's been trying to find Chabo and get him back to his mother, who is very, very worried about him."

"Mum?"

"She's been laying low at my place, worrying herself sick over you. And you lot," she added, surveying the motley little group Quinn had found herself with. "You can come too, and explain to me how you know my sister."

-::-

The tangerine grove they had been led to, resting on the outskirts of Cocoyashi Village, was perfectly and utterly serene if not for the thin column of smoke that rose between the distant hills. They were far away enough from Arlong Park to not be in any danger of being discovered, but even that razor thin trail of gray was enough to leave Quinn on edge. It was an hour's walk, maybe two away from the grove, but she'd always get a sinking feeling in her gut by being close to a mark.

And she'd decided for herself that Arlong was her mark after seeing the few farmers they'd passed on their way to Nojiko's home. The way their backs were hunched from work and fear, the distrust in their eyes and how deeply the scars that caused it ran. These people weren't living, they weren't surviving, they were barely existing and Quinn doubted they'd find that captured even a sliver of their sorrows.

"C'mon, all of you, sit down," Nojiko said, pulling out a chair for herself and tossing a basket of tangerines onto her rickety dining room table. "And tell me why you're looking for Nami."

Happy to sit down after the long walk, Quinn planted herself in one of the chairs and picked up a tangerine, peeling it with her thumbs. "I'm just along for the ride, but after that walk and seeing Gosa…" She popped some of the tangerine in her mouth, and hummed at how perfect the fruit tasted. Just the right mix of sweet and tangy, and it made her suddenly crave marmalade on toast. "I think I'm ready to kill the bastard."

"Quinn," Usopp groaned, planting his forehead on the table.

"Be brave, Usopp."

"Brave. Be brave."

"You're going to kill him?" Nojiko interjected. "Are you insane?"

"She is."

"It'll either be me or Luffy who does that guy in." Quinn shrugged at the abject despair directed her way by Usopp. "We had this conversation already. C'mon, you think Luffy isn't going to pick a fight with that guy the instant he gets here?"

"Who the hell are you people?"

"Quinn D. Potter," she said, then pointed at Usopp.

"Usopp."

"Johnny."

"Yosaku."

"Feel like I'm at community service."

Johnny snorted, grabbing a tangerine for himself. All Nojiko did was shake her head, sighing deeply. "If you're not here because you have a grudge against Nami, then what did you come here for?"

"To save her, most likely. Luffy was worried about Nami by the sound of things."

"And who is Luffy?"

"That guy's Captain." She pointed at Usopp again.

"You a pirate or something?"

"Their idea of what it means to be a pirate is… loose."

"Loose."

"Usopp?"

"It's all about being free, right?" He lifted his head off the table, and out of the corner of her eye Quinn could see his fingers drumming nervously across his thigh. "Being able to go on adventures. To go out and see the world, meet new people, eat great food… being a pirate is freedom."

Nojiko, for her part, looked only a little mystified. She glanced between Usopp and Quinn, frowning, before she sighed again, this time more weary than the last. "I get what you mean," she uttered, pinching her brow. "So… Nami ran into you and your crew?"

"She traveled with us for a while. Luffy asked her at least three times a day if she'd be his navigator. He really likes her."

"And what, he's come here to make Nami join your crew?"

Something shifted in Nojiko. Perhaps it was the way she held herself, perhaps it was some minutiae in her body language that Quinn wouldn't notice if she looked for it, but something instinctive in her recognized it all the same. Nojiko was ready to fight them, and if the way her eyes had flicked to the rifle over the kitchen door, she had a plan in mind for how to do it.

"Luffy's not like that! He wouldn't make anyone do anything. But… whatever he felt, I feel it too, looking at everyone here…" Usopp trailed off, unsure. "Nami's in danger, isn't she?"

"Everyone here is in danger. We have been for a decade."

Quinn leaned forward, propping her chin on clasped fingers, her elbows digging into the tabletop. "Then let us help."

"You can help by leaving, fast, before someone from Arlong's crew comes down here to collect tribute and notices you morons hanging around. God, I never should have invited you people here."

"Tribute. Chabo mentioned that. How much does Arlong extort from you, and how often?"

"Get out of my house."

Putting her hands up in surrender, Quinn stepped away from the table and jerked her head towards the door. "Let's do as the lady says. We've overstayed our welcome."

"But Quinn-"

"You can't help people who don't want help themselves. Or…" She chewed the inside of her cheek, looking down at Nojiko over her nose. "...People who already have a way to help themselves in mind."

Nojiko's eyes flashed and she stood, reaching for the rifle when Quinn grabbed her by the wrist. "Don't. We don't wish you any harm. We'll leave, if that's truly what you want. But if you want help, if you need help… all you have to do is ask." She let go, taking one step back. Nojiko kept glancing between her and the rifle, probably wondering whether or not she could move fast enough to take them all out. "I don't know what you're planning. I couldn't care less. What I do care about is seeing something done about the monster that has you and everyone else on this island terrified." Quinn leaned towards Nojiko, whispering into her ear. "I've seen places like this before. I've lived it. Don't let the burden lie on your shoulders alone." Retreating, Quinn smiled, gentle and knowing. "Trust me. From someone who knows what it's like to hold your people's lives in your hands to another… there's nothing wrong with asking for help."

Finally, Quinn nodded at the boys. "Let's go."

They stood, walking out the door without a second glance, but Quinn lingered at the exit and peered over her shoulder at Nojiko. "We're going to camp just outside the border of your grove, off the road you took us in on. You know where to find us if you need help."

With that she left, joining the trio and shivering as she stepped into the sun, the warmth a welcome balm that swept over her from head to toe. "Alrighty. Time to get out of here."

"We're not helping?"

"Not if they don't ask for it. She's got a plan, or Nami has a plan. Something is going on here, and we're not going to interfere in it."

"Alright… but if Luffy says we are-"

"He's your Captain. Not mine. If Luffy tells you to help I'm not going to stop you."

"Alright. That's… that's good," Usopp faltered, casting a wary glance at the house. "I just wish we could do more."

"We probably will. Nothing ever goes as planned, and something tells me that whatever they have cooked up is going to blow up in their faces." Rolling her shoulders, Quinn clicked her tongue and began walking west. "C'mon guys! We gotta' set up camp and keep an eye out for Luffy."

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Not my fault you're slow!"

Johnny poked Usopp in the side, pulling a giggle out of him. "Asshole!"

"You heard her! Let's go!"

Tension broken, the three of them ran ahead of her, sprinting towards the little clearing she'd pointed out earlier. Quinn laughed quietly, jogging behind them.

Whatever happened here, she'd be ready to step in if needed. After all, wasn't it her goal in life to help people who couldn't help themselves?