.: I don't know about you all, but I was ready for some more intense action. I gave the Wild Westerners some cool devil fruit powers, after all. I need to use them more. I usually suck at writing battle sequences, too, so this is going to be a challenge, but a good one. It needed strong emotions, gripping action, and lots of interwoven events. I hope I manage to put all of that together in these next couple of chapters. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 40:

No Man's Land

To ensure nobody was attacked by the natives, Tonto made sure to mark them all as welcomed visitors. A particular handkerchief was tied in plain sight to their saddles. It was very possible they would run across them as they traveled, so it was a safety precaution to keep them from spurring more trouble. In the meantime, another faction was on their way to take care of the fallen. That way, Chopper could start making his way to the canyon, too.

Rip's group had it easy compared to the others. After descending the mountain, they made it to the valley and the river. Now they just had to follow it downstream. Hopefully, they were far away enough from the trouble to avoid it altogether. But if anyone tried to attack and take one of the women, Rip was fully prepared to tussle. He bit his toothpick with sunglasses concealing how he was on high alert. It would really help if he could feel manifestations in the forest like the natives could, but he would use what intuition he had.

The women in line behind his big brown cow were not very worried since they were armed. Robin's hands could take down adversaries from a distance as long as she could see the targets, Aurilee could shoot arrows at anything that moved, and Nami could manipulate the atmosphere to summon a storm if she needed to. Jen had a revolver, but she was not planning on using it unless it was a last resort. She was too busy snuggling her man to care.

Usopp glowered the whole time. If he had to pull out his slingshot, Jen would make it harder for him. She was holding onto him too tight and giving him no personal space. Why was this a dream of Sanji's? It was more annoying than anything, and nothing about her attraction made sense either. She used to be a Marine, and he was a pirate. They were on opposing sides.

The truth was that Jen did not care about labels. She enlisted with the Marines as a teenager for no reason other than to see more of the world. They came to the ranch for their horses and got her interested. The ranch was big, but there was much more to explore. She never wanted to make a career out of it, but she would go back if the ranch went out of business, which was not going to happen. Thanks to the Navy, she visited all four Blues, skipped around the Grand Line, and even got a taste of the other side of the Red Line. The world was amazing.

Something Jen did not expect to be impacted by, however, was the people she encountered. They were all various in race, appearance, personality, and culture. She was quite friendly with everyone, but that was where she and the World Government did not meet eye to eye. That was how she learned what prejudice was. People had their own sense of what the world should be like, whether it was good for everyone or just for themselves. Pirates wanted freedom most of all. She admired that. Not all of them were heartless plunderers and murderers. A lot of them were like Usopp.

After her required years in the service were finished, she opted out of re-upping. It was fun. She would never complain about that chapter of her life. But she was uninterested in being a sheep. The closest she would get to being truly free like a pirate was working as a ranch hand in the lawless nation of Lone Star Island. She lacked sea legs despite living in ship cabins and not getting seasick anymore. Pirates were a different breed of tough she could never live up to. So, she settled for being a little unhinged as she worked in a lifestyle she was content with. And look where it got her! She was going on an adventure with a true pirate who she fancied.

But it did not matter how much she hugged him. There was no reciprocation to be had. Every attempt she could think of was met with the same disinterest. Only a small percentage of the male species could resist a woman's temptation. She was colored impressed by his persistence. In spite of that, she still had one last trick up her sleeve. It was her last hurrah. If it did no good, then she would finally throw in the towel. She just wanted to make sure the answer was a solid no.

Her hands slipped farther until they rested on top of his. Usopp felt the ick crawl up his veins, thinking she was about to do something else. Instead, she grabbed the reins and pulled back hard so the cow could halt. "What are you doing now?" he griped with annoyance.

She leaned into his ear until she bumped the brim of his ten-gallon hat. "Ya wunna go skinnay-dippin'?" she purred.

The proposal dumbfounded him. He was starting to believe that she really was a moron. This was not the time to be screwing around. They were on a time crunch and were trying to keep a low profile. But all logic was thrown right out the window. Jen jumped off the cow and tossed him her MARINE hat. "Skinny-dipping," he repeated without any hint of amusement.

Her gray vest flew off and she started hopping around while pulling off her boots. "So ya do know wut I sed!"

"No– We have to get to the Wendigo Canyon!" he reminded her as she started jogging down to the river.

The others glanced over their shoulders to see what the commotion was all about. All they saw was Jen's boots flying in the air and her going topless as she ran. "Cannon ain't goin' noware!" she insisted. "C'mon, baybee! Let's git nayked!"

Rip immediately rounded his cow back to start barking at her. "Jen! Git yer ass back here!"

"Yeehaw!" she called out without looking back, disappearing into the brush.

"Quit bein' a dumbass!"

Usopp's eyes could have gotten stuck in the back of his head from how far they were rolling. This was completely stupid. It may have been done to get a reaction out of him, but he refused to give her one.

"What'd you do this time, Usopp?" Nami jabbed.

"Nothing! I did nothing!" he disputed heatedly.

Rip refrained from following his friend. It would waste time they did not have. His patience wearing thin, he trotted back onto the path they were taking and took back his place in the lead. "Leave her," he said, not stopping.

The lack of discernment surprised them all, but they continued following him. "You sure, Rip?" Aurilee asked. "That's kind of harsh, even for you."

"It's a test," he disclosed. "She can either catch up or swim. I don't care how she does it."

That was the end of the discussion. It was clear that there was no room for funny business. They would show up at the rendezvous point, and Jen had the choice to be there or not.

What was good about having Tonto lead the way was he knew the best path to take. The trees were far enough apart to prevent horses from straying like they were before. This was technically a training ground they were using. After new warriors successfully tamed a bison, they rode this path to master being a jockey. It had patches of smooth riding mixed in patches of rough terrain. But racing the path under a certain time was only part of the test. The flora housed red targets randomly. Some hung from ropes while others were nailed in place. Warriors had to shoot all the targets if they wanted to take on proper duties.

There were a few more similar training grounds throughout the mountains so that access was easy for the various factions. It was just their luck one was nearby for them. Bessie the longhorn could travel without risk of getting snagged, which was a big improvement for Garrett.

Regardless of the situation, two members of the group stayed at the rear just to make sure no stragglers got loose from Ware's roundup. They were silent as they rode side by side. When Sanji joined them, Sam did not question it. Still, he got the feeling that the pirate was not here to make friends. The tension between them was so evident that it could get cut with a knife.

While Sam kept his gaze ahead, Sanji caught many side eyes toward the native. This was the third day they had been in each other's presence, yet he knew next to nothing about him. All he had been doing so far was observe and notice things. Now when he looked at him, he could not help but place Aurilee with him. The butt of his lit cigarette crumpled more between his gritted teeth. It hurt him to reject Aurilee's invitation to share a bison ride with her, but this might be the only time he could catch Sam away from her, so he felt like he had to.

He joined this group to figure things out. There were questions he wanted answers to, and understandings he wanted established. All of it was for his sweet, beautiful Aurilee. She deserved nothing but peace. He refused to let Sam disrupt that peace for his own personal gain. He would protect her at all costs, whether it be physical or emotional.

"We need to talk," he muttered out of the blue.

Sam glanced at him briefly. He kind of wondered when this would be brought up. The cook did not strike him as someone who came for the horses' sake. Regardless, they slowed enough for the drive to carry on without them. Sanji dismounted his cow and reignited his cigarette since this was going to cause his blood pressure to spike. As Sam also dismounted, he went ahead with the question that was bugging him the most. "What's your deal with Aurilee?"

He was completely unphased by it. Aurilee's relationship with the pirate was a mystery, although it was obvious they were close.

"You got her looking like you and living like you. It's almost like you want her to stay."

"I've done neither of those things," Sam refuted plainly. "Those were her decisions alone."

"But you planted those ideas in her head."

"I simply shared our way of life with her. She has never been coerced to comply. I can only assume you're bringing this up because you're guilty of it."

The accusation of hypocrisy got him starting to burn underneath his skin. "We've taken care of her. That's all."

The curt response slightly amused him, but he did not outwardly show it. Taking care of her was all he wanted to do as well. It became clearer that the only reason Sanji had a problem with him doing it was that it made him insecure. Before they came here, it was just him pursuing her. Now he felt like he was competing. Fortunately, this was common among the Lun'aecho looking for spouses. Sam was anything but intimidated. "She's told me," he admitted. "She speaks highly of you all."

"Then why try to warp her goal? We're here to get her home. This place isn't it."

"No, but her kind is here. Is it really that wrong for her to feel like she belongs somewhere?"

"It is when you're trying to keep her for yourself."

He could not help but smirk and suppress a laugh. That sentence could be taken two different ways. To him, it came across as him revealing his true feelings about her. "If she was truly your woman, I would still treat her the same as I do now."

The notion that Aurilee was his woman screamed at the cook. He could not help but approach Sam to show how serious this was to him. "She's not property."

"I never said she was." The space between them was nonexistent as Sanji went face to face with him. The difference was while Sam remained composed, Sanji showed nothing but exasperation in his face. The overwhelming stench of his smoking habit filled his nostrils. "But it appears we're both smitten with her. Tell me. Do you really want to return her to the place she calls home?"

"More than anything."

"You say that, but I doubt it would be easy for you to let her go. So, how does that make you any different from me?"

"I want what's best for her. Your intentions are selfish. That's the difference."

"It's not selfish when she reciprocates. Maybe I have something she wants."

"Yeah? Like what?"

He did not answer right away. "Companionship would be my guess."

Sanji laughed at how delusional he sounded. "What kind of companionship could you give her that I can't?"

His lack of self-awareness tickled him. It was like he was so determined to obstruct him from interacting with Aurilee that he was forgetting one crucial factor. "The eternal kind."

Hearing it made Sanji's arrogance falter. For the first time, he looked unsure, but he tried pushing it aside to get angrier. "So you are trying to keep her here."

"No. She can go wherever she wants. And if she wants me to be there with her, then I will go, too."

Suddenly, that was when the dots connected for Sanji. He was destined to part ways from Aurilee once all this was over, but Sam was not under the same constraints. The only thing that would prevent him from being with Aurilee was if she rejected him. Three days was certainly not enough time for her to put complete trust in someone she was still getting to know. He could only hope that she lacked trust because of her trauma of being betrayed by people, especially when understanding the weight that came with marriage.

Sanji's hand involuntarily grabbed his coat to pull him. His pupils were dilated. There was no way this guy wanted to take her hand in marriage out of the goodwill of his heart. Something else had to be going on. Aurilee and her kids did not need to walk into a trap. He saved her from a life of abuse; he refused to put her right back in another with children involved.

The warrior did not try to free himself from the hold. He just upheld the eye contact. The intimidation tactic would not work on him. In fact, this made him sympathize with the pirate. He must have realized the chance of him losing the woman he had developed feelings for. But Aurilee was not a trophy to win. She was a person who needed to be cherished. Most of all, she needed to be cherished by someone she chose for herself and her children. Sam hoped he was a leading candidate for that, but if she thought differently, then he would respect that.

"You'd leave everything behind for her? What's in it for you? Aurilee isn't some helpless prey for you to trap," Sanji tensely interrogated further.

Sam finally pushed him away. "Don't ever accuse me of wanting to hurt her again," he threatened with disgust backing it. "I know what it means to protect someone, and I want to protect her."

"What's in it for you?" he repeated. "That's a big sacrifice to make for someone you only met three days ago."

"If Aurilee accepts me, then we would both get the family we dreamed of."

Sanji quieted as he remained robust in his standpoint.

"I lost my wife and the hope of children in an instant. These mountains are suffocating without her. But Aurilee has what I'm missing. She pretends that she'll be fine without a husband, but I know it scares her to death. She wants that security for her children. Doesn't she deserve to have it after what she's been through?"

He waited a moment longer before blowing a plume and sticking fingers in his jean pocket. Knowing that he was right irked him. Aurilee deserved a good life. She wanted nothing more than to provide her little ones with a much better upbringing than she had. One thing that would help was having a lifelong companion who would go through it all with her, someone who kept that beautiful smile on her face every day. Realizing that he was merely a placeholder for that someone sent a pang of sorrow through his chest.

"Is that a question you cannot answer immediately?" Sam pressed.

"Of course she deserves it!" he frustratingly replied. "It's just–"

"You want to be that for her deep down."

For the first time, Sanji looked away. He was struggling to find the correct words that would shape what was on his mind.

"It's okay to say it out loud, Sanji."

"How could I not want her?" he finally spoke, looking back at him. "I'm the one who offed her rapist. I go rescue her when she's in danger. She's opened up to me about things you would never imagine. And I've watched her heal and grow and learn what goes into healthy relationships. I know what makes her Aurilee, and she's so worth it. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!"

Sam smiled and nodded once. He knew their bond was strong, but now he saw why. Sanji helped her find the light at the end of the tunnel. "If she never found her way home, I say she would choose you."

Something about what he said got his emotions in a twist. Maybe, underneath the surface, that was his hope all along. He wanted her to be happy…She seemed to be happiest when she was with him. It was easy getting to know each other and be around each other. If it was simply impossible to bring her home, she might be okay with staying on the Going Merry surrounded by friends. He would do everything he could to be a man she needed and wanted. Like he told her before, he wanted to be a man worthy of her love.

His anger was quickly turning into distress. He realized that he was going to lose a lady who cared about him. He did not want to lose her to another man. Was that selfish of him? It originally saddened him to think they would drop her off and potentially not see her again, but for some reason, this hurt worse. He was simply not good enough for her. That was a feeling he had locked away and internalized deep in his childhood. Memories that he had repressed started bubbling back to the surface, and they mixed with what his life currently consisted of.

Being with Aurilee almost felt like she was constantly caring for his inner child. Every time she held his hand, the child in him received physical touch from his bedridden mother again. He cherished those waning memories since the only thing he could vividly remember was how happy he was. His mother was always elated when he visited. She was the only family member who was.

Just like Aurilee. Sanji was her favorite Straw Hat Pirate. She might have even considered him her best friend. Their chemistry was outmatched. He could tell because she brimmed with that same elation under containment. If all bets were off, she may have expressed it openly. He would get more than smiles and laughter. A wild future flashed by his eyes that he did not think was possible before. Always waking up to her and raising three kids. Committing to each other and building a life that extended past the days of pirating.

That was impossible to achieve if she chose Sam. Instead of snuggling his inner child, she would instead shove him back into a cage he had escaped from. And she would walk away with the Lun'aecho warrior until they were too far away to see anymore…all while his hands gripped the bars and his tormented cries fell on deaf ears, wondering why he was never good enough for people. Unable to meet certain expectations, so he was discarded like trash. Out of sight, out of mind.

He turned his back to Sam to keep him from seeing the tears. The brim of his hat was grabbed and pulled lower as his face contorted. He felt so helpless and lost and confused. Aurilee must have had feelings for him like he did for her. There was no other explanation for why she longed for his attention. He was allowed to hold her hand, hold her close, hug her…Getting to feel the babies kick was also a privilege he had. But if she accepted Sam's proposal, all that would end. Their relationship would never be the same. The last thing he wanted was to take a step back because why would he just move on as if it was easy to find a girl to love? If it was, he would not be grieving over the unknown.

But I love her. Why should I have to let her go? he agonized internally.

Tonto had basically given them a general area to check for the illusive gang. Until the other faction of his tribe joined them, they were on their own in the search. That did not fetter their resolve. Luffy sat atop Billy's humped back with a hand hovering over his eyebrows. It was obvious these bad guys were hiding good, so he was on the lookout for any sign of life. Zoro rode the cow directly behind them with Butler and Oakley at his flanks. Everyone was ready to be jumped, so weapons were prepared to be drawn at any time.

So far, everything appeared ordinary. The sound of hooves clopping against the grass, birds calling, and insects zinging were the only sounds they picked up on. Occasionally, a squirrel would rustle through leafy branches, or a woodpecker would drum loudly. Then Luffy decided to add to the noise. "Hey bison guy. When Rip dies, will his grave say R.I.P. Rip or just R.I.P.?"

The out of the blue question caused Billy to have a lapse in his concentration. This was not the time for stupid questions like that, but he had also never thought about it. He found himself wanting to laugh but having to hold back. "I don't know. You'd have to ask him."

Zoro could hear Oakley wheeze a little bit at his back left. She could not believe Luffy asked that. It was so dumb, yet she was trying really hard not to laugh. "How did he end up as yer captain, sword guy?" she questioned him. "Was it a raffle?"

"Luffy's an idiot, but he's not stupid," Zoro clarified. "Sometimes."

"Oh yeah. We got wun just like that. Ain't that right, Butler?"

The quiet Wild Westerner still did not utter a word, but he nodded in agreement. Jen did enough talking to make up for his lack of interest. But the tradeoff was he was more aware of things going on around them. Like right now, he was listening but had his head on a swivel. It was very subtle, but he noticed the haze. The mountains were tall enough and had enough moisture to accumulate fog. The only problem with that logic was that fog accumulated in the mornings when temperatures were rising slowly, and no sun was present to disperse it. This was the middle of the day, and there was no sign of fog anywhere when they all admired the mountains' beauty from the glade.

Without alerting anybody, Butler started forming a big glass dome around their group. They could keep moving as the fog was kept at bay. That did not stop them all from noticing his powers at work, though. The protective barrier successfully revealed how the haze was worsening while the inside of their dome was clear. "Tonto said he couldn't sense them," Billy reiterated. "I think I can see why."

Luffy held a hand against the crown of his straw hat. Crocodile's Sand Sand Fruit was the first thing he thought about when he saw how the haze was thickening. But this was like a white film that slowly shrouded their path and swallowed them up. Maybe Smoker's Plume Plume Fruit could do the same thing.

"This doesn't seem…natural," Oakley pointed out, her voice having a minor echo from the glass.

"A devil fruit," Luffy replied. "I fought a couple guys who could do this."

"What is it?"

"Water vapor," Zoro answered. The idea that there was a water-based devil fruit kind of made him curious. This was the perfect environment for it since rain was a normal occurrence. "I guess since freshwater doesn't affect devil fruit users, it makes sense."

On the surface, it did not seem like such a bad deal. But the more Billy thought about what the potential such a devil fruit had made him nervous. Humans were made up of water, and they were inhaling vapor particles. Walking to their instant deaths was not something that needed to happen. Treading lightly was all they could do for now.

Butler's arm transitioned from flesh to hardened glass as he single-handedly upheld their protection. Their pace slowed as all their visibility was overcome. Only the ghostly trees were able to penetrate through. In one of those trees, Billy saw something in the corner of his eye. He had to do a double take. There was something furry, and it was much bigger than a squirrel.

He immediately stopped, which caused everyone else to buckle. But when he properly looked into the tree, he failed to see it. "What's wrong?" Luffy asked.

"I thought I saw sumthin'," Billy answered.

Zoro noticed leaves shifting that could have been mistaken for a breeze, but he swore something jumped down behind the trunk so it could not be seen clearly. Then, out of nowhere, a big apricot mountain lion suddenly charged the glass and tried to break in by slashing its big paws. All they heard was a thud and saw an angry feline face.

"There you are," Billy said with surprise. "Big kitty."

Butler expanded the glass suddenly to shove it back, which caused it to stumble but did not help its irritability. In fact, it was irritable enough to stand on its hind legs and transform into a human-beast. That was when they noticed it was wearing clothes that looked suspiciously like a cowboy. The first confirmed devil fruit user was upon them.

Zoro dismounted his cow, prompting Luffy to also dismount Billy. "Are we going with a strategy or winging it?"

The mountain lion man charged again and tried to at least scratch the glass to test its strength.

"I don't wanna fight another cat! We already did that!" Luffy complained as his healed back itched with recollection of the jaguar on the jungle island.

"Let's not go out there blindly," Billy recommended as it pounced up to climb up the side of the dome. "He's probably got friends, and not the furry kind."

They all looked directly above them as it tried to use a single claw to punch a hole. All Butler had to do was thicken the glass to make it impossible. The big cat growled and looked out into the fog to say something. That was when the bullets started spraying and damaging the surface in front of them. The once clear barrier now looked like a bunch of cobwebs. Again, Butler thickened the glass to prevent it from shattering completely.

"Definitely has friends," Zoro agreed.

"We can't see anything and they're very much armed," Oakley evaluated. "So, either we stay put until they run out of ammo or use the fog to our advantage."

"No," Billy immediately shut down. "If it's a devil fruit user, the fog will be our demise."

Zoro looked down at where the dome met the ground. Since no fog had gotten inside, it meant that Butler really sealed them in. "How much air do we have to spare?"

Everyone shifted their attention to the ground like he had. There was grass under their boots, but it was not enough to turn their carbon dioxide back into oxygen. They were on borrowed time.

"Alright. Here's the plan," Billy said. "Oakley can get above the fog. Try to find where they're at."

She nodded and looked at Butler, who turned the glass into a liquified state so she could fly straight through. The mountain lion jumped from the sudden eruption, but she was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Let's get moving," Billy said.

Luffy and Zoro went along as they started walking toward where the gunfire was coming from. They could shoot the glass all they wanted to, but they could never get through. Butler kept his powers active and regenerating. They approached the gang without fear. If this was the best they could do, then this was going to be a walk in the park.

The mountain lion realized what they were trying to do and pounced off to warn the others what was coming their way. But someone was a step ahead of him. The fog outside of the glass started to swirl. Luffy kept his poker face intact as a ghostly face formed just long enough to get a good look at who they were dealing with. It was rare to be completely out of reach of targets. Even when he tried coming in from the bottom, he found it to be sealed.

Butler suddenly knew how to defeat the fog guy. It was just a matter of keeping his fog to himself somehow. They needed to dispel it enough to be able to fight. Before he could voice the logistics, Zoro offered an idea. "I can get the fog away from us when we have to get out of here."

"You?" Billy questioned. "You can't cut up fog, sun."

"No, I get it," Luffy responded with a grin. "You're gonna use that tornado move, aren't you?"

"It's the most practical thing I can think of," Zoro divulged.

Billy chuckled. "I cain't wait tuh sea thiis."

The fog remained just as thick as ever, but they noticed obstacles begin to appear before them. They were definitely people. It was the guns in their hands that gave it away. They stopped shooting for a moment when they realized their efforts were futile.

"Your move, Butler," Billy permitted.

Without saying a word in reply, Butler suddenly formed spikes on the outer surface of the dome and ejected them. It was such a callous attack, but well deserved. The ones at the forefront got the worst of it. Blood splattered when the spikes impaled their flesh. The ones behind them reacted with shock. While they were distracted, Butler reabsorbed the dome, exposing their group to the fog.

Zoro knew it was his turn. He quickly clenched Kuina's sword between his teeth and held the two others behind his neck. This might be his only chance at being a swordsman on this island, so he was going to make it worthwhile. The technique required ample room. Its name was Tatsumaki. He performed the important footwork that he had practiced for many years, sending him spiraling. But the strength driving his intentional movements was what made it powerful. Everyone could hear the wind he created sliding against the blades. By the time he was stopped with knees bent and back twisted, the fog was being gathered and sent upwards toward the sky.

The devil fruit user was shocked as he got sucked up in the vortex. His gang was once again exposed to the daylight penetrating the forest. They all felt the user's presence lift away. "Thanks, Zoro," Luffy said. "Now they all get this!" The rest of the gang were suddenly met with his Gatling as he mercilessly threw punches hard enough to stretch his arms. The next layer of gang members received the blows and were sent pummeling backwards. Luffy's yelling was full of resentment as he stayed determined to hit them all.

Above them all, Oakley was constantly adjusting her landing target so she could continuously fly parallel to the ground. She watched the fog shrink and come barreling toward her, so she quickly avoided it. Her initial reaction was relief because it had to mean the men found a way to get to the real fight. She made a descent that could seamlessly shoot through the trees. But when she executed it, she found unfamiliar people instead of her group. It confused her and made her feel lost, but regardless, she adjusted her positioning by going feetfirst instead of headfirst. They collided into someone's back with so much force that he was guaranteed to have severe whiplash and a concussion to go with it.

Witnesses were quick to pull out their guns angrily, but Oakley was faster. She brandished her rifle and focused her devil fruit abilities into the bullets waiting to be shot. Calling her a bigshot was an understatement. Everybody fell after seconds while she stayed standing. Instead of feeling accomplished, she felt nervous. Cowboy gangs were not large groups, and she took down more than five by herself. To make it worse, her own group was not in the vicinity. There was going to be an ambush.

With the rifle still in hand, she quickly kicked off again in search of them. "Billy!" she called out, not caring if she was giving away her location.