Chapter Eight | The Spark
A light touch on the shoulder woke Quinn from her nap and she squinted, bleary eyed at the shadowed silhouette of Zoro looming over her. Blinking the sleep from her eyes she gave the surrounding area a cursory scan, trying to see if she could spot any enemies about. Content with the unassuming view of the tangerine grove, she directed her attention back to Zoro. "Wake me up for any particular reason?" she drawled, rubbing away the tears that arose when she yawned.
"You slept like the dead," he muttered in reply, sounding vaguely impressed. "That, and some marines docked about an hour ago."
"Shit. How long was I out?"
"Three hours or so. Don't worry, Loverboy made sure to defend you while you slept."
"Are the marines mobile?"
"They went to Arlong Park."
"They what?" That woke Quinn up. She threw herself to her feet, turning to where she saw that trail of smoke the other day and glared, as if she could spot the marines over the treeline. "Did they look combat ready?"
"Looked like a bunch of rat bastards, and that's not an exaggeration." Tapping his fingers against one of his sword's pommels, Zoro scowled. "Guy literally looked like a rat. Villagers didn't seem too fond of him either."
"You think they're working with Arlong?"
"It would explain why he's managed to terrorize Cocoyashi and every other nearby village for ten damn years."
"Fuck." Quinn's lips twisted into a scowl that matched that of the swordsman next to her. "I knew whatever Nami had cooked up wouldn't work."
"You think she's up to something?"
"I've seen dozens of people like her in my line of work. Desperate, and doing their damn best to make it look like they know what they're doing. Her and her sister, probably the rest of the damn village-" she added, waving her hand in the general direction of Cocoyashi. "-they're all in on whatever it is she has planned."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Saw the same goddamn look in the mirror every day after my fourth year at school." She grimaced. "I'd know it anywhere."
"What are you, a noble or something?"
"What?"
"Went to school," Zoro said, as if that explained anything.
"It was just normal where I grew up."
"Weird island. It in the East Blue? Because I've never heard of a place like that."
"No. South Blue," she bullshitted, not even knowing if that was a real place.
"It gets real cold down thataways, right?"
"Frigid." Quinn jerked her head towards the distant palm trees. "This is a treat."
Puffing out his lips, Zoro looked away. She couldn't tell whether he believed her or not, and the curiosity got the better of her. Legilimency was a skill she was glad to have cultivated, particularly in her line of work, and a brief glance over Zoro's mind let her know that he was keeping a close eye on her.
Just as she went to pull away from his mind, a thought flitted through it. South Blue my ass, he mused. Too far for anyone from a 'remote island' to know so little about the world. Would spend too long traveling here to have that excuse.
No shit. She'd only been here for a month and change, half of which she'd spent locked in a damn brig. Not that she was about to say that out loud. If Gin had looked like a scoundrel (who she was a bloody idiot for talking to, the insane shock of landing in another world notwithstanding) then Zoro looked truly, properly dangerous. Three swords, one of which he held in his goddamn mouth, as if that wouldn't shatter anyone's teeth. Not to mention he somehow looked relatively unbothered barely a week out from having his ribs opened up by a man who could cut warships in half.
Quinn had absolutely zero intention of making an enemy of the man. Besides, she liked the rest of the maniacs he called crew and if they liked him, then he must not be a hard-ass every waking hour of the day. A wisecracking hard-ass, but a hard-ass nonetheless.
"Ah, look at that."
"Hm?"
"Marines are here."
Turning to where Zoro was looking, Quinn frowned at the small squadron of marines marching down the road in their direction. At the head of the group walked a man who, as Zoro said, looked exactly like a rat – or a mouse, to be specific. He had honest to god whiskers sprouting from his upper lip and the hood he wore over his marine issue cap had two little ears sprouting from the top.
"Born looking like that you might as well go the whole hog, yeah?"
Zoro snorted, his poorly hidden smile making Quinn sprout one of her own.
"It looks like they're headed straight for Nojiko's place."
"Looks like," Zoro echoed, the both of them watching as the marines took a sharp turn towards the cottage. "Nami's still there."
"Shit. I'm going to follow these guys and make sure they don't hurt her or Nojiko."
She almost flinched at how intensely Zoro's gaze burned, the intent behind it suddenly spiking. He held her eyes like that for a moment before a proper grin worked its way across his face, a loud, hearty laugh following in its wake. "Sounds like a plan to me. I could use a workout anyways."
"I'm not spilling any blood unless I can help it. Don't go in there guns blazing." She bit her lip, waving for Zoro to follow her. "We'll keep an eye on them and step in if we need to."
"Tch. That's not fun."
"Anyone ever tell you that you're crazy?"
"Crazy? Who?" He made a show of looking around the grove before pointing at himself. "Me?"
"Oh, stuff it." Quinn laughed, pushing him lightly. "Once we get close, follow my lead."
The only reply she got out of him was a grunt, which was good enough in Quinn's books. Seemed the time for joking was over. She began a swift walk through the grove, taking long strides towards Nojiko's home. Through the trees she could catch an occasional glimpse of the white uniforms the marines wore, giving her a good idea of their relative position in relation to the cottage. If she kept her pace, she'd get there about a minute before them.
Years of practice and procedure kept her focus locked to those flashes of white she could see out of the corner of her eye, all without letting her gaze stray from the path. Her hand brushed against the handle of her pistol, thumb sweeping across the curved walnut. It rested heavy at her left, the holster bumping against her thigh with every step. The weight was comforting in its own, small way. Not the barely there sensation of a wand latched to her wrist, but instead something with far more substance, something that she knew could be used as a bludgeon should she need it, two pounds of wood and steel crashing against someone's skull.
It was deadly quiet besides the distant sound of marching soldiers and that of her own two feet. The complete absence of noise that she would normally expect, that of birds chirping and the wind whistling, forced her shoulders into something high and rigid. That was when she realized she couldn't hear Zoro, the usual clacking of his sheaths as they knocked against each other or his muttered complaints. Quinn whirled around to see… the distant figure of Zoro walking in the exact opposite direction.
Did he betray her too?
No, that would be idiotic. If he wanted to kill her or screw her over he could have done it without having the marines do it for him. So why in the hell was he- stunned, Quinn watched as Zoro looked up at the faraway speck of a bird, turning well away from the direction he had been headed and changing course as if he hadn't just spun ninety degrees.
It was idiotic. He was idiotic. Christ, the man had gotten lost walking in a straight line.
Sighing, Quinn realized she'd better hoof it before the marines got ahead of her. How he managed to survive this ocean for so long when he apparently can't tell up from down, I'll never understand, she thought, moving across the sandy road at a swift pace. Bloody moron.
Swinging off the road so she could maneuver between the trees, Quinn picked up the pace and broke into a jog. With Zoro gone, the notion that something was going to go terribly wrong had grown from an itch to an insistent prodding at her mind. However much the marine leader physically looked the part of a rat, it was the air about him that spelled trouble. Not in his whiskers, not in his stupid cap, but in the vague hint of a smile she had spotted even from a distance. It was the same smarmy little smirk she'd seen on Draco right when he was about to pull one over on her and knew he would get away with it back at Hogwarts.
Thank god I took that nap, she mused, plenty glad to not be winded while on a mission. And it felt like a mission, one she'd been thrown into with fuck-all for intel and a gaggle of murderous bastards all raring to spill her blood. The thought alone made her grin. She'd always excelled under pressure.
Soon enough the sight of Nojiko's cottage came into sight and Quinn bolted for the door, smashing her fist against it twice. "Nojiko, it's Quinn," she announced, ignoring the sound of a rifle cocking from inside. "You've got about two dozen marines on their way over here and they don't look friendly."
"What?"
The door swung open and Quinn was pulled inside by the scruff of her shirt. She had less than a second to catch a glimpse of Nami as she lurched, wide eyed, towards the back door and sprinted out of it towards a large tree in the backyard. "You said there's marines on their way?" Nojiko hissed, still holding Quinn by the collar. "Did you see a man who looked like-"
"A rat? Yeah. He's leading the lot of them."
"Shit. Shit. Okay, I need to go out and hold them off. They can't get Nami's gold."
Mind racing, Quinn looked out the still open door where under the shade of the tree, Nami had begun hacking at the earth with a shovel, a frenetic air about her. Gold. Whatever their plan was, it needed gold to be seen to completion. A lot of it, if Nami had buried it like a storybook pirate. Gold to what though? Nami stole, she needed that money like she needed air, and with the tribute constantly levied against the surrounding villages – an obscene tribute at that – she either wanted two things with it.
For one, she could provide money to those who couldn't afford the tribute. But that was temporary, it wouldn't free them from the iron grip Arlong had over the island.
So that left option two – buy the land back from Arlong – which was a stupid, stupid idea, and- "You two are idiots. All of you are idiots," Quinn growled, disarming Nojiko in a flash and pushing her against the wall, one arm held behind her back. "Did you make a deal with a pirate? Please tell me your plan isn't what I think it is."
"Get your hands off of me!"
"Get to your bloody sister. Help her dig up that gold and move it, quickly. I'll stall them." Hauling Nojiko away from the wall, Quinn pushed her towards the back door and held the rifle out, waving it around when Nojiko didn't take it. "Grab the bloody gun and go. Help her."
"This isn't your fight!"
"Fuck you, it's not my fight. You think I'm just going to stand here and watch those knobheads steal from you? Are you insane?"
"Why? Why are you doing this?"
"Because I can, now move!"
Swinging the door open, Quinn marched onto the porch and looked down the road, the marines only a minute or so away and closing fast. She squared her shoulders and went to meet them halfway, hoping she'd give the sisters enough time to grab their loot and shove off. It wouldn't stop things from going south, but it would slow it down enough for them to move out and regroup.
She tried her best to look non-threatening as she closed the gap, plastering a look of hope and mild desperation on her face. "Marines!" she shouted once within earshot, waving at them. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"
"Are you a resident of this island, madam?" the leader simpered, his eyes darting towards Nojiko's cottage nervously. "Because if not I'm afraid I have urgent business to attend to with the owner of this grove."
"This grove?" she repeated, channeling a bit of Lavender's sass into her voice – a purposeful airheadedness mixed with confusion. "The owner seems nice enough. Sold me some tangerines for cheap, but- there's pirates on this island, sir! A whole crew!"
"Madam. I must insist that you get out of my way," he challenged, casting a glance towards the marine nearest him. "You are actively impeding an investigation."
"Into the pirates?"
"Yes. Now move, or I'll be forced to arrest you."
The marine next to the rat adjusted the rifle propped against his shoulder, letting the barrel fall into his other hand. He made a show of brushing his finger along the stock above the trigger and jerked his head to the side. "The Captain said move, so move, lady."
A few marines shuffled nervously behind him, and the Captain raised one eyebrow when she didn't immediately move out of the way. The man who threatened her cocked the hammer of his rifle, teeth bared. "We won't ask again."
Quinn put her hands up and stepped aside, her face blank as the Captain smiled at her and beckoned his men forward. The marine who threatened her spat on the ground as he passed, sneering all the while. "You better make yourself scarce," he growled. "Or we'll make damn sure you regret it."
She didn't react apart from a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Bark, bark," Quinn whispered, the rage she felt at such brazen corruption boiling deep in her belly, yet completely absent from her words.
"You say something?"
She just grinned, eyes flicking left and right, quickly spotting a close-bound knot of trees she could use for cover. "Is every marine as brazenly corrupt as you lot?"
"Excuse me?"
"Corrupt. You know, ignoring a pirate crew that's terrorized these islands for years? Do they pay well? They must, judging by that ring on your finger." She pointed at the marine that had threatened her, a gaudy chunk of gold and diamond swallowing his ring finger. "Money can't buy good taste, it seems."
"Nezumi, should I take this one in?"
"Charges of piracy should do nicely. She has a certain… air about her."
"That's it. Put your pistol on the ground and put your hands behind your back. We don't want anyone getting hurt today, now do we?" The man said, glaring at her. A few of the marines burned holes in the back of their superior's head, but still they said nothing, didn't move for their weapons or try anything, anything at all to stop the brazen corruption right in front of them.
All the fury that had been simmering since the attack at the Baratie boiled over. Quinn could feel it burning in her throat, flecks of it begging to spat in the face of this Captain Nezumi like embers still hot from the furnace. Her heart thudded in her chest, a single pump driving the adrenaline that roared like flames through her arms, her legs, her throat – the heat of it tantalizing and more than eager to make itself known.
"Who here is tired of listening to this rat cunt speak? Eh?" She raised her hand, looking over the now shocked marines. "Because I am. Is this what you signed up for? Huh? Any of you? Because I'd start walking if I was you."
Nezumi turned on her with a snarl, pushing the threatening marine towards Quinn. "Brie, Put that bitch in irons already!"
"Leave. Now."
"Hands up!"
Whipping the pistol out of the holster, Quinn channeled her magic into it and fired off a shot in Brie's direction. He stumbled as he tried to raise his rifle, his shoulders lagging from half-forgotten reflexes. Brie only had a moment to realize his fate, the bullet striking his chest dead-centre. It hollowed through him, opening a fiery chasm in his ribs and erupting out the other side, whistling past the cluster of marines frozen behind him. It hurtled on, a trail of sparking embers in its wake that glittered, bright with her anger, before it collided with a tree. The tree exploded in a shower of charred splinters, and before Brie's corpse could fall Quinn fired a second shot through the cauterized cavern of his chest, a ferocious wind following hot on its heels that suffocated the flames before they could spread.
Judging by the look of horror on Nezumi's face, unabashed fear in his eyes, her tinkering had paid off wonderfully.
"Leave this village," she growled, unable to contain her anger any longer. "From here on out, it no longer belongs to Arlong. Do you understand?"
"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" Nezumi shrieked, cowering behind one of his men. "Kill her! And Gruyere, Monterey, get the hundred million!"
Half a dozen rifles were raised in her direction but Quinn had already taken off in a sprint when they fired, branches and tangerines exploding behind her. She hoped that Nami and Nojiko had managed to drag their treasure away from where it had been buried as she ran for the village, the distance between her and the pursuing marines rapidly growing. Confused by that realization, her eyes flicked to the side to see the trees all but a blur, the rate at which she was running far faster than she ever would have back home.
This place really was doing something to her body.
A problem for later, she told herself. Jumping over a root and breaking through the tree line. Her feet skidded across the sandy road and she turned to the right, then left, her heart thudding at the sight of the Straw Hats relaxing in the distance, Zoro included.
The prick.
Quinn bolted down the road, Sanji standing up and waving the instant he noticed her. "Quinn, my dear!" he shouted, spreading his arms wide. "So glad to see you!"
She ignored his open arms, kicking up dust as she ground to a stop and ducked behind the stool Zoro was sitting on, an umbrella offering him a small amount of shade. "Everything alright?" he drawled lazily, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "You look like you've been running."
"Of course I've been fucking running! You're the one who can't walk in a straight line!"
He made a small noise of complaint, pointing at the gun in her hand. "What was that about not spilling blood?"
"You're an ass."
"Did you kill the rat?"
"His lackey."
Tsking, Zoro turned to look down the road. "You lost 'em at least."
"Marines are here?" Luffy asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Where?"
"Down at Nojiko's… Nami's house. They're on Arlong's payroll," she explained, huffing as she sat down just out of view. "They went down there to steal her gold."
Slowly, a scowl tugged at Luffy's mouth, and he tipped his hat down just enough to shade his eyes. Arms crossed, he stood silent for a few moments before calmly walking in the direction of the cottage. "I'll be back in a bit," he said, putting a hand up in salute. "Wait for me here."
With that he left, hands stuffed in his pockets and something harsh in his stride. Quinn pushed herself up to go after him when Zoro placed a calm hand on her shoulder, watching his captain walk away. "Don't worry about him. He'll be fine."
"Because he's a rubber man?"
"Because he's an idiot whose punch is like cannon fire."
Looking around, Quinn realized none of them looked even remotely concerned. Usopp instead focused on his tinkering, pouring gunpowder into a little ball. Sanji smoked, as he always did, offering Quinn a cigarette that she took with a small nod of thanks. Zoro simply closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the scabbard of one of his swords, the end propped up against the stool.
"Where've Johnny and Yosaku gone?"
"They're stopping the villagers from raiding Arlong Park."
She hummed, glancing in the direction of the base. "Will they be-?"
"They'll be safe. Relax."
So Quinn sighed and sat in the shade, enjoying the brief silence she knew marked a coming battle. She could see it in all of the Straw Hats, how their breathing was calm yet measured. The set of their jaws, the steel in their eyes.
Arlong would fall today. She could almost hear it whispered on the wind.
It reminded her of the tense quiet before the Triwizard's final task. The family, friends, and students from all three schools holding back their rapturous applause for the briefest of moments, hardly enough space to fit a breath, before the next participant was announced and pushed headlong into the yawning darkness of the maze.
Breathing in smoke, she held it in her lungs for a heartbeat before exhaling, letting the burn distract her from the coming fight, from the existential crisis that was finding her place in this new, strange land choked by oceans that stretched as far as the eye could see and well beyond. A world that, for all its insanity, seemed more similar to her own than not, in all the worst ways possible.
All four of them waited, basking in that silence long after Quinn's cigarette had been reduced to ash. The sun had drifted westward, barely past that invisible crest in the sky that marked midday. Still, the heat of it was constant, unyielding, as if it were reminding her of its eternal presence.
Even here, the sun shone.
When her heart had stilled and her pistol had grown cold at her side, Luffy appeared, his fists clenched and his hat missing. He didn't falter in his step, his gaze locked to the trail of smoke she knew hung behind them. In the distance Quinn could see Nami, bloodied gauze wrapped around her shoulder and Luffy's hat atop her head.
"Let's go," he ordered, an immediate chorus of 'Aye!'s ringing out from the rest of the crew, Quinn remaining silent. She stood with them, sucking down the sea air as they turned to Arlong Park and began to march.
Up the hill they went, driving headlong towards the mountains. Quinn's pistol was held steady in her left hand, palms dry and her nerves alight. At their backs burned the sun, casting their faces in deep shadow. Beside her, Luffy cracked his knuckles, teeth bared in righteous anger.
A growl fell from lips she thought could only be held up in a smile, and were Luffy's skin not rubber his mouth would be marked muscle deep by the nigh permanent grin that tugged at his cheeks. "They made Nami cry," he uttered, ice in every word. "We're going to make them pay."
"Aye!" came another chorus of furious shouts, her own voice joining them.
Over the hill they went, a broad river rushing at their right whose currents hurtled south, the rapids peaked with white foam that raged in sync with their own determination. To their left terraces stood, the green crests of rice poking out over the mossy edge of each plot, wavering in the slight wind that carved its way down the mountain top.
It was at the peak that she finally laid eyes on Arlong Park, a great wall standing between them. That wall clung to the mountains on its left, gray brick capped with clay shingles pressed flush against a cliff, sheer and smooth as if carved out of the mountain by hand. It ran on and on, jutting out onto a broad lake that was cradled between the two mountains, stretching far into the distance. On that lake rested the Merry, her figurehead grinning at them.
To the gate they marched, pushing through the crowd of villagers that stood before it, pitchforks and spades in hand. They fell silent at the sight of the five of them, shuffling out of the way with bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks, a desperate pallor hanging over them as only it could with those who had been long ago broken by hardship. The villager with the pinwheel cap met them at the head of the crowd, and it was then that Quinn noticed the thin, poorly stitched scars that criss-crossed over his face.
"This isn't your fight," he growled, and in his eyes Quinn saw a man ready to die, rather than suffer another day.
Luffy grabbed him by the shoulder. "Move."
He exhaled harshly, but stepped aside all the same, revealing the slumped figures of Johnny and Yosaku, their backs pressed against the gate. Luffy helped them to their feet, before ushering them out of the way. His fist stretched dozens of feet, pausing for a fraction of a second before it was launched into the gate, an ear-splitting crack marking its destruction, the wood smashing into pieces and sent flying in every direction.
Dust was kicked up from the road a moment later, billowing towards Arlong Park. Luffy stepped into it, the sound of his knuckles being cracked a second time the only that could be heard over the stunned silence and clatter of still falling wood. Soon, the cloud broke, revealing a theme park market shadowed over by a massive pagoda, the emblem of the Arlong Pirates emblazoned across its face.
"Arlong!" Luffy roared, his leg whipping out to knock over a group of fishmen who had gathered their senses enough to charge him, swords raised. Each and every one of them looked different, unique in a way humans were not. More arms than she could count covered in suckers, fins jutting from another's elbows, even one whose lips jutted out, puckered in a perpetual kiss – but it was the blue-skinned fishman that stood nine feet tall, glaring at them from over his jagged nose that caught her attention.
A sun was tattooed across his chest in crimson, his crew's mark along his forearm. But the smile, all sharp teeth and fury, was what told Quinn that this man was Arlong.
"Humans," he tutted, his voice deep and choked with gravel. "What are you? Another group of bounty hunters who've come to claim the price on my head?"
Luffy responded with a punch, launching Arlong to the other side of the park, his crew gaping at them. "I've come to kick your ass!" he barked, one hand gripping his bicep as his fist came sailing back.
That punch must have been the starting gun, because in a moment everyone exploded into action, Quinn summoning a cutlass from one of the fallen fishmen and snatching it out of the air. She strode into battle with a gun in one hand and a sword in the other, eager to carve her pound of flesh from the bastards who had subjugated this village and her sisters for ten long years.