.: I've been watching One Piece through again but with a friend this time. We're currently in Water Seven, and I asked him what he's liked about Smoker, Jonathan, and Aokiji compared to other Marines. He said he liked how their characters weren't one track-minded; they actually looked at the bigger picture in situations. I couldn't help but agree with him. The reason I asked was because I wanted to make a likeable Marine in this story, and I came up with Roarke. He's such a goober and I love him. He's got this wholesome yet chaotic energy to him despite being a leader, and I cannot wait until he peaks in this arc. He's coincidentally on the same island as Aurilee for a reason, so I might as well have him screw around on a ranch until his time comes ;) :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 39:

Star In the Dust

Besides the few that were up for overnight guard duty, the rest of the battleship was fast asleep in their bunkrooms. It was two hours before dawn, but that was apparently when the ranch's day started. Roarke was wide awake. Soon, his Marines would be, too. He visited the empty kitchen to grab a pan and something else that was metal. Using that, he started visiting bunkrooms and clanging them together to get everyone up and moving.

"Up and at 'em, you buncha knuckleheads!" he repeated.

Eyes shot open and some sat up too fast just to hit their heads against the bunk above them. They all instinctively jumped out of their beds wearing sleepwear to stand saluting their commander as he walked through their aisles.

"We are Marines!" he continued, trying to sound authoritative but sounding ridiculous instead. "We fight for justice! We fight to make the world a better place! That means helping those in need! Well, that ranch out there needs our help this week. You will get your hands dirty. You will lift heavy objects. You will learn to ride cowback and get to know every inch of this land between now and Saturday. And if you do a good enough job, I just might let you eat."

Some of them started to sweat from apprehension. This was very unlike Roarke. He always made sure his soldiers were taken care of. Now he was taking away meal privileges?

He noticed how uncomfortable they were getting by the change in personality and decided to drop the mask with a laugh. "That was a joke. Everyone gets to eat. You should see the looks on your faces."

Many of them visibly relaxed.

"But in all seriousness, we're gonna leave that ranch in better shape than we found it in. It'll be fun. Please put your best foot forward. Be willing to be humbled and appreciate what citizens of the world do to help our forces function. You got ten minutes to get dressed and lined up on the dock."

He did this for every bunkroom except the one full of his female soldiers. He refused to enter until he knew they were decent just to avoid an awkward encounter. But once all bunkrooms were emptied and everyone was lined up on the dock, they headed to the barn. The cowboys saw them marching over. Some of them could not believe they were actually coming to help out. Every Marine that had ever set foot on their ranch was pretty stuck up, wanting to get the horses and leave as soon as possible. Roarke was unbothered by the bad smells and how the moist ground stained the bottoms of his pant legs. His Marines were a different story, but they would get over it eventually.

The commander stopped the march and addressed the cowboys. A couple of them were sitting on barrels, but the rest were standing with fingers in pockets or holding tools. "My men are your men today," he informed them. "Where do we start?"

After a moment of silence, the cowboys looked at each other. "You can help us get animal feed to the houses," one of them decided.

That made sense. There were a lot of houses around the land that were far apart from each other. "Then let's get some cows saddled and wagons loaded," he settled. There were not enough for everyone, but they could spare a few.

Roarke sent a number of his men to learn how to saddle while others were assigned other tasks such as cleaning stalls and gathering wood to make repairs for things. He threw his white coat off to reveal the black sleeveless shirt he was wearing underneath. It revealed how toned his arms were and how solid his core was. He worked in a group to flip bags of feed over his shoulder and stack them in the wagons, which were starting to have cows fastened to them for hauling.

Once that was done, they were given lanterns and instructions on where to leave the bags so that the families could find them when they woke up. That was when Roarke took over. He knew where a few of the houses were thanks to the ride he took yesterday. The day was in full swing when his group departed from the grounds. It would be fully daylight by the time they returned for even more work.

Maneuvering through the prairie with a hundred horses was pretty easy. Doing the same through a forest was a much harder task. The Wild Westerners had to constantly push horses back into the group after trees, bushes, and other obstacles caused them to divert. Ware's Stampede Stampede Fruit would lose them and be unable to regain them in the roundup without outside help. It was slowing them down. At this rate, they would have to add a day to their trip.

To prevent that from happening, all hands were on deck. Tonto stayed at the front with Ware and Garrett to keep things moving in the right direction, but everyone else was pitching in. Cowboys, pirates, and natives worked together. They never let a horse go too far; they always flanked them to guide them back with the bunch. The Lun'aecho warriors darted around with enlivened battle cries as they worked. It was like they were making a game out of this kind of work.

While Chopper sat on the back half of Amella, he constantly told the horses to stay with the group. A lot of them whinnied back at him, and he talked in circles. Aurilee just helped him out as best she could by keeping up and doing her part in the effort.

Luffy rode with Robin to tag team. Her hands helped steer loose horses back toward the drive, and he stretched to gently pushed them sideways. But it happened every few seconds while he was busy navigating the cow, so he was getting annoyed at every one that did it. "Stay with the group, stupid horse!" he scolded.

Butler kept a glass wall poised next to him. He looked like he was carrying a shield like a knight would. Instead of protecting himself with it, he used it to guide horses back by pressing it against them.

"I know how the other cowboys feel back at the ranch," Oakley commented toward Rip as she passed him up to catch up with another loose one.

"This is the ole fashioned way, Darlin'," he replied. Granted, they did not go through forests like this with the other drives. The Wild Westerners had easier lives because of the devil fruit powers, specifically Ware's. Other drives had more disorganized groups of horses and the cowboys simply had to make sure they all moved in the same general direction in order to get to a destination.

Nami poked the side of a horse with her Clima-tact while Sanji steered the cow. Sometimes he would stick a foot out to assist, but she had it under control for the most part. She could not help but notice he was quieter than usual. He had seemed tense all day. Not even the cigarette hanging out from his mouth was helping. As much as she did not want to stir him up, she also wanted to make sure he was okay. "How are you doing up there, Sanji?" she asked a little reluctantly.

He immediately looked back at her with elation that she was paying attention to him. "I'm perfectly fine, Nami Swan," he responded with a genuine smile. "Are you wanting to switch?"

"No, I'm good. Just checking on you."

"Aw. You're so kind."

She shrugged to herself as she poked another horse. Maybe she was just overthinking things, and he was concentrating was all.

Zoro held his own foot out as he sat with both legs hanging off the side of his and Usopp's cow. He was being subjected to an endless amount of chatter from Jen as she rode in front of them. She was multitasking by telling Usopp stories from her Marine days while pushing horses back to the side.

"But wile I wuz gall'pin' away, I realized my cap'in had bien shot," she recalled passionately.

"Uh-huh," Usopp replied, jaded from her incessant attempts at attention from him.

"I turned 'round so faast! I didn't eevan care thaat I wuz gettin' shot at."

"Uh-huh."

"I just grabbed him an' rode 'way as faast I cud."

"Uh-huh."

"And thaat's how I got my name! He looked may en the eye and sed 'Yer a catastrophe, Jen.' But I know he only sed that 'cuz I didn't git shot!"

"Uh-huh."

Zoro contained some laughter. "Come on, Usopp," he prompted in a low enough voice so she could not hear. "At least act a little interested in what she has to say."

"She's been talking nonstop for over two hours!" the sniper reminded him with an exasperated hushed tone over his shoulder.

"Congratulations. You've managed to one-up the lovesick cook by having a girl like you."

"He can have her," he deflected. This was no award he wanted to receive.

Zoro could sense that there was no convincing his crewmate that this was a positive thing. That could only mean he had to aid in changing things up without causing a fuss. "Maybe bore her to death and then she'll back off."

The suggestion got Usopp to smirk when he realized it was actually a good idea. Jen was quite fixated on him, but it was more like an idea of him more so than the real him. He could simply reveal that he was not who she thought he was. That would dispel her delusions really quick since he would be taking power out of them. So, he started chatting up a storm not long after, which engaged her immediately. Little did she know it was the beginning of the end!

Billy's big wet nose sniffed the air. While entering the mountains, he was trying to see if he could get an idea of what Tonto was trying to head for. They had climbed the side of a mountain to come around the other side. The trip today felt long due to not having a clear view of their objective.

But that was about to change.

The ringleader of the cowboys galloped ahead to pass everyone. He found warm sunlight to stand in. There was a break in the forest. It was like a glade.

"Whatcha got there, Billy?" Garrett asked.

"A view for the ages," he replied, standing up on his hind legs while transforming into his human-beast form.

The rest of them caught up with a slower pace until everything stopped. Everyone knew something was up when horses suddenly behaved. Sam's bison trotted by Aurilee. His hand brushed her arm with an attempt to hold her hand, but she failed to read the gesture as it was happening and let the contact break. Regardless, she had Amella follow to see what was going on.

As they filed into the glade, many mesmerized gasps were shared. Billy described it so perfectly. They were so far up the mountain that they had a seamless outlook on their surroundings. Below them was a valley with a river flowing down the valley. The trees were all deciduous of various green shades with little glades in them like the one they were standing in. The end of valley abruptly turned to desert with exposed rock-faced mountains and orange sediment. A magnificent canyon formed thanks to the river. They were gawking at the brilliance of Lone Star Island.

Garrett could not help but pat Tonto's shoulder. This was exactly what they had fought to reclaim for his people. It was such a gem that needed utmost maintenance and protection. It was their home; for possibly many centuries, these mountains cradled the Lun'aecho like a mother would her child. The perfection of it was having a rich environment that provided fortification and nourishment. They could admire the scenic view, but not a living soul could be detected within.

"That is quite possibly the most beautiful sight I've seen," Robin shared as she lifted her sunglasses for a moment.

"You can say that again," Nami replied. What amazed her the most was that this was only a fraction of the mountain range. It still towered over them all with nothing but lush green covering every inch of the terrain.

"Who wants to do the honors?" one of the warriors queried.

Everyone looked to him to see he had brandished a horn that was harvested from a bison and decorated with old engravings. It had been hollowed so it can amplify sound.

"What's it for?" Usopp asked.

"We've entered the ravine. It's routine to announce we're safe for everyone."

Sam mentioned at some point during their travels that the tribe was one people, but they lived in a distributed fashion. Tonto, as the chieftain, had to make rounds to tend to each faction. If one was in need, he would provide aid. When he was not doing that, he was on the outskirts trying to defend their home from outsiders. Despite all that effort, however, stragglers still managed to get in.

He leaned closer to Aurilee to convince her to do it. But she kept quiet because she knew there was a much better candidate.

"I'll do it!" Luffy enthusiastically volunteered.

Some of the Straw Hats snickered because this was actually perfect. They watched as he accepted the horn and drew in an inhuman volume of oxygen into his lungs. His body started to balloon. Once he was tired of it, he held the mouthpiece and blew all the air out to deflate.

The ravine bore the resounding tune and carried it proudly for any and all ears. There was a moment of uncanny silence. Every bird, insect, and other living creatures seemed to have paused. But then a distant horn sounded in response. And then another did. All the way across the mountain range and even into the desert, the Lun'aecho people acknowledged that they received the message. The Wild Westerners and Straw Hats marveled at the event since it added to the beauty and experience of this land.

One of the native women knelt to press her palm to the ground and waited a moment. "Chieftain," she said with some unease.

"Yes," Tonto confirmed as he turned away from everyone. "I noticed, too."

"Noticed what?" Rip asked.

"Someone didn't respond," Sam realized. He extended a hand toward Chopper and slid him onto his shoulder to sit. They were going to need his medical skills if their worst fears were true.

Half of the group stayed with Ware to defend the horses if necessary while the others joined the Lun'aecho to investigate. Garrett kept Tonto's pace while they all traversed down the beaten path into the forest. Usopp tried keeping up with Luffy as he followed with just as much trepidation. Billy, Jen, and Rip picked up the rear in the foot chase. They were moving with haste, and since they were able to sense the presence of human existence, it could only be interpreted as something bad.

Eventually, everyone halted. It was obvious that they stumbled across the remains of human activity. There was a campfire with ten tents scattered about. The faintest whiff of ash revealed that at least one person was here recently. But it was completely empty. Nobody revealed themselves or attacked to defend the encampment. Chopper hopped off Sam's shoulder and started tracking the scents in the area. The Lun'aecho carried a woody scent, but the ones he was picking up were more like sweat and dirt. And they were growing stale. Whoever was staying here, they were gone within the last couple hours.

One of the warriors pulled something out of his pocket and proceeded to sprinkle powder around the area. It was disappointing that these finds were common enough to have a routine in place to mark them as found. Tonto turned to Luffy and Usopp since they were in the dark about what the discovery could have meant. "The different factions of our tribe track these groups of intruders and push them out of the mountains. We try not to kill, but there are still encounters that break out. This encampment being abandoned either means they were driven away successfully or they're scouting for a new place to move to."

"And since one group didn't respond, it could mean they were defeated," Usopp deduced.

The chieftain nodded once, his feathery headdress quivering with it. "If they needed assistance, they would have signaled with a different horn. But we heard nothing. That is also a bad sign."

"If you can't drive them out, then I will," Luffy offered selflessly.

"That won't be necessary," Tonto assured him. Whatever was going on, they would figure it out themselves.

Sam shaped his hands a certain way against his mouth to mimic certain bird chirps. If the uncommunicative warriors needed to simply keep cover but were fine, they could translate that via code. The lack of response got him muttering to himself.

Billy joined Chopper in tracking scents in his bison form. Snorts and grunts were heard until he lifted his head abruptly. "Blood," he stated with a grumble in his voice. When he took off in the direction of the scent, the warriors whooped and were quick to follow. They all practically plunged down the side of a steep hill. Trying to run would only cause them to fall and get hurt, so they slid down with the side of their legs cushioning them.

The bottom came with a jolt, and they all popped up after sticking the landing. At first, it looked like a completely normal area. But then they noticed the false ground. The warriors quickly tossed the grassy flaps used for reconnaissance away to reveal the carnage. The female warrior let out a distressed wail.

Chopper felt his blood run cold as he jumped into action. The bodies were unmoving and had visible wounds. Gunshots were the culprit. He checked for pulses to find they were too late for a couple of them. The others had their clothes opened and treatment administered. Orders were given on how to proceed.

Tonto looked around to see if he could locate the ones responsible for this. They could not have gotten far. It was one thing to defeat his warriors in a conflict, but it was different to take the time to hide them like this. They were trying to conceal their whereabouts. For some reason, they were eluding his abilities.

"We could split up," Garrett suggested to him. "Part of us take the horses to the canyon, part of us find the bastards."

"They'll want the horses when they know about them," he replied.

"And probably the ladies, too," Billy pointed out.

Hearing that made Rip glance at Jen, who stood with her thumbs in her pockets and not yapping for once. Even she knew this was starting to look like an unpleasant situation.

Luffy just stood behind Chopper and the natives who were helping him. A scowl with brows furrowed and a prominent vein bulging in his forehead showed how deeply he was fuming. The Lun'aecho were so hospitable and were helping his friend when they could have simply sent them away instead. Seeing the lengths other outsiders would go just to force themselves in their home was enraging. They did not deserve this.

He turned away from the scene to approach Tonto. "Tell me where they're at."

"Hold on, Luffy," Usopp tried deferring.

"No." He gave Usopp a serious look that told him this was not up for discussion. "They're helping us. We're helping them back."

Something about how visceral he was being made Jen grin. "Thaat's wut I'm tawlkin' 'bout," she garbled excitedly, spitting in the grass.

"For once, I don't know where they're at," Tonto admitted. "They're either not moving right now, or they don't have a plan."

"Alright. Then what's are plan?" Garrett pressed. He hated to see what had happened. Whatever they were about to do, they needed to do it immediately.

Billy cleared his throat. Usually, he would be the one to come up with something, but there was another leader rising to the occasion on their ranch. He was destined to take it over eventually, so it was getting time to take a step back for him. "Rip, can you figure it out how ta…do this without all us gettin' trampled?" he questioned.

"Best I can come up with, Sir, is fuck it," Rip answered honestly. "Let's get to the canyon as fast as we can and just chase some sons of bitches down a mountain."

Usopp pulled his lips closer together and tried to suppress his urge to face palm. Why was he hearing a Luffy plan come out of someone else's mouth?

"Fuck it…" Billy repeated with a hint of disbelief. He then looked at Luffy since he had a crew to protect, too. "That's your plan, too? 'Fuck it'?"

"I don't care what we do as long as I get to kick some ass," Luffy professed.

"It'll be uh shitshow no matter wut we do," Jen reasoned.

Garrett internally weighed the options. He hated to admit it, but this could get ugly regardless of the plan. Their drive was so huge that they would be an easy target for any gang to pounce on. "May as well do it fast," he concurred. "Less time for things to go wrong."

Sam stayed next to Chopper as he helped his fellow warriors, but he looked over his shoulder at them. His father never mentioned getting another faction of their tribe involved, but it would probably happen anyway.

Billy sighed slightly to himself. It was somehow a unanimous decision to handle this without a sound plan. He was getting too old for this. "Yer logic is so flawed, Sun, it…Hell, it almost makes since." He then chuckled and started heading back to the steep hill they descended. After transforming back into a bison, he looked back at them all as they kept standing there. "Alright. Fuck it."

He tipped his head back to down a gulp of water. It was getting pretty warm outside with the morning slipping by. Other than not knowing what else went on in a cowboy's daily life other than chores and work, Roarke at least hoped they would have lunch soon. He wiped his bottom lip dry and then tossed the sealed jug to a Marine riding behind him to share a drink. Their wagons were full of heavy bags of animal feed when they started before dawn. Now they had other cargo that were not expecting on their way back.

The women traded their livestock for the feed. Now they were bringing pigs and chickens back to the ranch. There were also many cartons of eggs, jugs of milk, loaves of bread, pasteurized butter, and blocks of cheese. One wagon almost overflowed with fruits and vegetables. Now that Roarke thought about it, this all might be their future lunch. There was so much that it was possible it would feed all of his men. This would definitely put a dent in his next paycheck.

When they pulled up to the barn with the goods, the ranch owner was there waiting for them while everyone else continued working. "Having fun yet, Commander?" his gritty voice asked.

"Only because it's different from the work I usually do," he played along. "What do we do with the food?"

"I'll take it to the house. I have people who'll sort through it. What we don't need, we'll sell it to the nearby towns." He then came up to his black-and-white cow and basically told him to get off and find something else to do. When they started pulling away, he looked around to see what his men were up to.

The first thing he noticed was how clean the area looked compared to yesterday. Debris had been cleared, and now a handful of them were repainting the barn and bunkhouse. A lot of his men were actually nowhere to be seen. They apparently went out with a group of cowboys to tend to a herd of horses. The rest of them were surrounding a pen, so he joined to see what was keeping their attention.

There was a white horse with brown flecks inside with a cowboy holding a lasso. It was agitated and wanted to be left alone. Whenever the cowboy went to wrangle it, its ears tucked back, and it threatened to turn around to kick. The female Marine next to him got him caught up. "It's wild. They're trying to tame it."

The cowboy whipped the ground whenever the horse turned its back to him, causing it to run around the pen. It would eventually slow down and stop, causing the cowboy to also stop when they made eye contact with each other. To influence it to view him as a nonthreat, he would take individual steps to see if the horse would also step without turning away from him. The pivoting caused them both to drift closer to each other. A hand was extended to be sniffed.

Distrust reinstated itself at that moment. The horse tried biting him. Luckily, his reflexes were faster, and he pulled back before contact could be made. The horse whinnied and galloped around the pen again.

Roarke had to admit that even though gaining a wild animal's trust took a lot of effort, the cowboy was not being rough. It was a process that he had been trained in and was not perverting it to give the Marines a show. That was commendable.

He walked around until he found more cowboys and joined them. "Don't cowboys host rodeos?" he asked while slacking his arms over the rail.

A couple of them looked at each other. He heard of rodeos? Maybe their way of life was not so isolated on the island as they thought. "We don't, but others do," one of them answered.

"I'm surprised you've heard about them," another commented.

"I don't know much," Roarke confessed. "I just know bull riding is something."

They laughed. "We got a couple bulls. Wanna try one out?"

He jerked his head in his direction. That was easier to convince them than he thought, and he was not even trying to. He was merely curious about what it exactly entailed. But it was like he spoke the magic words because suddenly his biceps were grabbed, and he was almost lifted off the ground to be dragged away. "Uh, wait–"

"We gotta git you dressed for the occasion!" the cowboy holding his left arm proclaimed.

Some of his Marines watched him leave against his will, but nobody came to his rescue. They knew he would be fine. Plus, they kind of thought he deserved a taste of his own medicine.

Plan "Fuck It" ended up being four groups doing whatever so long they all got to the canyon by the end of the day. The group wanting to engage with the gang consisted of Billy, Luffy, Zoro, Oakley, and Butler. They would continue around the mountain until they found them and take care of business since it was personal now. To get the horses to the canyon safely, Tonto wanted to lead Ware down a path that would be easy to navigate. Garrett and Sam would go with them. Just to save them the trouble, Rip, Usopp, Nami, Robin, Aurilee, and Jen would follow the river at the bottom of the ravine so they had a straight shot to the canyon. Rip was a little familiar with Lun'aecho territory, so he could lead the group without issues. The last group was considered the medic team. Chopper stayed with the warriors to keep treating the victims until another faction arrived to take over. He would follow the scents to find his way to the canyon alone.

As everyone figured out riding arrangements for this, Sanji stood with hands in his pockets. He had yet to join a group. The most obvious choices were Billy's group or Rip's group. He could either help fight or defend. It was hard to decide for some reason.

Aurilee wanted to help guide him in the right direction, so she pulled up next to him. Her hand extended toward him as an invitation to hop on with her. He looked up to see she was smiling. Her group was full of women. Of course he would want to join them. When he took her hand, she was prepared to help pull him up, but he did not move. Instead, he pecked her knuckles and let her go. "Be safe. I'll see you on the other side," he told her.

Hearing it shocked her. She was so confident that he would join her. He even said he would yesterday!

"Where you go, I'll go, Aurilee my love," he had said with endearment.

Confused, she watched him mount on the tan cow they rented and start to follow the horses as they started going down the mountain. A pang of despair hit her. Why would he lie to her like that?

As he rode away, Usopp turned around to see the tan cow had vanished out of thin air. He was planning on using it. When he realized it had been taken, he quickly tried to claim the brown cow instead, but Zoro was already pulling himself up. And he was not waiting around either. Billy's group departed to find the gang.

Oh no no no no no no, Usopp mentally panicked.

"Usopp!" Jen called as Rip started leading the way down to the river.

"Oh god please no," he muttered, scared to look.

She came up behind him on her cow close enough for him to feel its hot breath against the back of his neck. "C'mon. Git up heer awn Momma's laap."

He groaned but knew he could not escape this. Nami was already riding with Robin, and Aurilee was following the group. His decent mood suddenly sapped away, but Jen was thrilled when he climbed up to sit in front of her. The cow was all his. She did not care one bit as long as she could wrap her arms around him. Feeling it annoyed him greatly, but he did not bother complaining as he picked up the rear. The day was about to be a long one. He could just feel it.

Word got around fast that Roarke was about to ride an angry bull. There was nothing quite more entertaining than watching their respected superior be utterly humiliated for shits and giggles. All the Marines stopped what they were doing to gather around a different pen. A narrow confine that was locked shut had the beast inside. As it snorted and shuddered against the walls, it just got more and more angry.

The cowboys brought Roarke out of the barn with a protective black vest on that would prevent serious injury when he got thrown off. They also gifted him a pair of chaps and boots to help out a bit. There was no way he was not getting bucked off, so the best course of action was cushioning the fall as best they could. Plus, they would get in trouble if he got hurt doing something that took many months training to do.

He was nearly pushed into the narrow confine, but they got him sitting on the bull and instructed him how to hold onto the harness properly. He was allowed to let go of it at any time. Before they released it, he exhaled and flipped his hat backwards. His men were enjoying this too much already, and he had not started yet! Lots of snickering that tried translating that this was karma for making them work this week instead of taking it easy.

The gate was unlatched, and the bull immediately fought to get him off. He had paddled dinghies through choppy waters before, but this was a far rougher experience. Both ends jumped, but the back end did it higher. Everyone watching bellowed with cheers and laughter as their mighty commander was slung forward and backward repeatedly in the middle of spinning in circles. His body would lift only to crash back down. And he tried to keep his core straight, but it was a challenge.

There was so much adrenaline in those five seconds that he managed to stay on. But the moment came when he was thrust back and he collided at an odd angle, and then the bull spun him off. Roarke flipped and hit the ground upside down. The other cowboys jumped between them to prevent its hooves from stomping him. When Roarke failed to scramble away, he was grabbed and pulled away. Impressed by the first ever attempt, the Marines clapped. Karma was served.

But then everyone noticed how Roarke still had not moved since he fell. He was on his side in the dirt. That was when the convulsions started.

Suddenly nobody cared about the danger of the bull. The Marines who had been with Roarke the longest knew exactly what was happening. They jumped the railing to come tend to him. The fall must have triggered one of his epileptic seizures. Orders to retrieve the ship's doctor were called as the cowboys were pushed aside so they could stabilize his uncontrollable movements. Although seeing a seizure after they had been dormant for many weeks was frightening, nobody was panicking. It was a simple task of waiting it out until it was done.

When Roarke came to, he had to gather his bearings after his eyes rolled back where they should be. There were a lot of people around him urging him to breathe. And he had slobbered. He knew he had experienced this before, but remembering for what exactly did not come to him.

One of his female subordinates pushed his hat off and brushed a hand through his hair to comfort him. "Hang tight, Commander," she calmly told him. "You had another one."

That was when he remembered why this felt familiar to him. As far as he knew, he had been having seizures since he was born. Medication helped, but it did not always work. Sometimes they just happened. This time, there was a catalyst. That would be the first and last time he rode a bull.

They helped him sit up after a minute. "You good, Commander?" one of them asked. "You scared us there for a second."

There was a lingering tingle in his extremities, but he was otherwise fine. "I'll survive," he answered with a little bit of embarrassment as he wiped his lip. "I swear I took a pill this morning."

"I don't think a pill is much of a match for landing on your head."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"What in the hell is going on here?" the ranch owner suddenly nagged. All he saw was one of his bulls being escorted away and the commander sat on the ground. It was obvious something had happened, or else nobody would be hanging around with tension in the air.

"Nothing!" Roarke quickly rescinded. It was simply an accident. There was no need for anyone to get in trouble. If it was not riding a bull, it would have been something else that eventually got him to seize.

"Yeah. I'm not buying it," he replied in a snarky manner. "Did you go bull riding?"

He slightly averted his eyes because he felt bad about lying. "No…"

The ranch owner entered the pen to stand in front of Roarke, who had no plans on getting up. "So nothing happened."

"Yep. I just like laying on the ground."

He rolled his eyes. "Says the idiot sitting in horse shit."

Roarke's eyes widened and he was standing up in the blink of an eye. If it was true, he was not sure if he should grit his teeth and bare it for the rest of the day or use it as an excuse to leave the premises for a few minutes so that the doctor could check him. "Oh really? I didn't even notice," he tried recovering like a bumbling teenager in front of his disappointed father.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Since the exchange was going nowhere, he decided to leave it alone. It was not his job to babysit Marines.

The cowboys looked at each other with confused relief. They had been spared the wrath of the old man. Roarke was almost too nice for his own good. Although they now knew they had to tone down their shenanigans. Maybe he was not cut out to be a rodeo star, but he was still tough enough to be a true cowboy. One of them slapped that hat back on his cranium. Lesson learned.