.: Well I wanted to update a few days ago but the site was completely unavailable to me lol. I'm kind of mad that it took me so long to write 4,000 words, but I was stuck and I needed to figure it out. Now that I'll be taking a step back from battles, I think I can post more often. Relationship drama and development has always been my strong suit. I'm ready to start the next phase of this backstory because of that. Also, I'll be posting this backstory as a separate entity soon just so people can have easy access to it instead of having to dig through this story. You can be on the lookout for it if you'd like, but it won't be much different than what you have already read. The only difference will be I'll include an original prologue and epilogue. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 48:

The Wolf Woman: Fate

There were deadened, muffled sounds surrounding her. They were not significant enough to be acknowledged at first. When her eyes finally opened, half of her sight was blocked by grass. All kinds of movement went from blurry to clear as her focus shifted. Marines were passing by as they ran in terror, and others were trying to hold their ground by pulling the triggers of their rifles. What truly caught her attention was seeing one of them get picked up by an abnormally large hand and disappear.

Rodencia immediately got up. The sounds were now clear and so loud that her ears hurt. Her mind was reeling in a panic as savages towered over them all and trampled all who opposed them. A Marine bumped into her shoulder while running away. One of the savages took the club in their grasp and swung it low to the ground. She watched bodies flying in the air like they were pests. Her nerves were overwhelmed by the screaming and cries for help.

A fierce stomp made the ground quake and a wind emit. Her flinch caused her to look at one of the giants fighting a savage who had unnaturally grown to his magnitude. They were impeding the battlefield. Unlucky casualties were flattened underneath their feet. Something about seeing it happen had her suddenly swivel her head for her comrades. One moment, she was sprinting back to them, the next, she was regaining consciousness. What had happened to her? What had happened to them? Most importantly, how were the savages driving them back so severely?

After seeing Kiyaya sprout faster than a mushroom, she knew it had something to do with that woman. Back at the battle at the camp, she had some kind of being emerge from her shadow. Rodencia had not seen it since that night, but she was positive that was the culprit. She was also one of the prisoners who escaped when Kiyaya went AWOL. That was enough to confirm that she was around. They had no clue what that devil fruit power was, but it was a force to be reckoned with.

One of the oversized warriors noticed her standing still among the chaos. Short gray fur covered her body instead of flesh, and that naked pink tail touched the ground. He decided to approach her. She did not seem as intimidating now that she was smaller.

She knew she was now a target, and she knew he thought of her as weaker now. Yes, he could trample her like the others, but she was not helpless. Her electro pulsed in her hands. She was about to be the wasp to the lesser-mink.

A Marine with a rhinoceros devil fruit charged past her before she could move. He gouged his sharp horn into the warrior's ankle, causing pain for the first time. The warrior yelped and tried to kick him away, but he was using enough force to topple him. "Ms. Rodencia! Are you okay?" the Marine asked with some worry.

She relaxed, dispelling the electricity. "Yeah. Where are the others?"

"Holding their own." He abandoned the warrior and galloped towards her. "I'll take you to them."

Without skipping a beat, she hopped on his back and unsheathed her sword. "Thanks. I'll protect you."

He sped off deeper into the fray where more of the warriors were fighting. Just like Kiyaya, they felt gunshots and stab wounds, but none of it stung unless there was a high quantity. The Marines strong-willed enough to stay in the battle did everything they could to bring down a warrior. Very few had devil fruit powers, but when they did, they did not hesitate to use them. One warrior batted away a Marine flying around with a bird Zoan type. Another failed to contain a Logia type since it was immune to physical attacks.

A group of Marines yelled as they held two ends of a series of ropes. They purposely got caught right in the path of a savage, catching her ankles and starting to run in circles to restrict movement. The warrior could not resist the thickness that the ropes created, falling into an empty pocket. The method worked, but not enough supplies were available to make it feasible.

Weaving through the traffic without getting stopped or interrupted was not easy, but they still found the minks. They were collectively attacking a warrior, overwhelming him. The size difference meant they could move faster, and their use of Haki made it look like they could fly. The truth was they used Armament Haki to suddenly step, causing enough air pressure to form under their soles for an instant. It was enough to propel them a few feet until gravity worked against them again.

Only one using electro abilities against the warrior was pointless (it would not even register as a static shock to him), but all of them at the same time was enough to hurt. The warrior visibly stiffened from the electro pulses locking up his muscles. The Marine carrying Rodencia took the plunge to topple him. When the minks landed on the ground, they were happy to see their leader alive and well.

"This whole plan has gone to Hell," Roxanne summarized.

Behind them, a lot more Marines were retreating than fighting back. Oversized savages were escorting them on their way, trampling them if they were not fast enough. The ground also continued to quake as the giants struggled against the opponents sharing their size advantage.

"Where's the Commander?" Spinach questioned Rodencia.

"I don't know, and I don't really care right now," she replied honestly, dismounting from the rhino. "We gotta kill this at the source."

"What source?"

She pointed over at Cherokee brawling. She recognized her instantly. "That bloody lesser-mink. Remember the phantom that suddenly appeared and disappeared at the camp? Or when nobody could hold a sword for no reason? She wields some kind of Paramecia devil fruit."

"Well, that would explain some things," Vencent commented. "Any idea how it might work?"

She thought for a moment. Although the extent of her abilities was a mystery to her, there had to be some kind of weakness that could be exploited.

Back at the battle of the camp, two weird things happened. Everyone dropped their swords, and then they were attacked by an invisible savage. She remembered how he abruptly manifested in the middle of them. His arm was bloodied thanks to her claws. Underneath the marks looked like a tattoo – black inked words in some different language.

The warrior they took down began to recover from the fall, feeling a little bit of pain but not enough to keep him from fighting more. Rodencia turned toward him, seeing a similar tattoo peek from under his leg warmer. All the dots connected for her.

She quickly leapt and raked her claws down the tattoo to deface it. When blood started to ooze, the savage sized down to his natural one. "That's how we do it!" she declared, incapacitating him with electricity swiftly. "They have some kind of weird tattoo on them. Check them and ruin it. Be fast about it."

They all nodded once and dispersed to tend to it. Finding targets was not an issue. Rodencia looked up at Cherokee as she wrestled with a giant. Taking her down would end this battle, but there was so much going on that attempting to find her tattoo now would get her crushed and killed. At the same time, she was distracted and would not notice her pawns disappearing.

As for Kiyaya, there was no stopping her. Her tattoo was hidden underneath her fur. It was the last thought the wolf mink had, though. She was focused on how she would win this duel. She had to strike his helmet while he could strike any part of her. The massive sword sliced over her arms, chest, and stomach, but she barely flinched let alone bled. She punched the side of his head just to see how durable it was. The feeling of the thick iron against her bare knuckles was quite unpleasant to say the least.

She yowled in pain and hopped back while shaking her hand. For the first time since he met her, the giant saw a normal young woman. He paused for a moment before it hit him that he should not feel bad for her whatsoever. The wound on his face still stung. He went for another swing, expecting for something to give while her attention was snatched. Her other hand lifted casually to catch the blow. Her arm slightly shook from the force being exhibited against it. "That hurt," she moaned.

She practically ignored his attack and was still concerned about the pain she inflicted on herself. His head tilted in confusion as he continued to strain against her resistance.

Then she pressed her lips to her knuckles to try suckling the pressure from them, only to kiss and clock him a second time in the same exact place. This time, she used a coating of Haki. It was like using brass knuckles. No pain resonated. The helmet cracked and dented, sending a whole shockwave through the giant's skull. Upon her fist sliding away, his body tumbled and rolled ungracefully.

The intensity of the punch surprised Kiyaya when it was all said and done. She did not expect the giant to suddenly become a ragdoll. Was she truly that strong?

He sat up slightly dazed. A headache was bound to hurt him later today from that alone. When he felt the side of his head, all he felt was the damage done to his helmet. The skin of his scalp also opened, so he was bleeding more.

"When I said I wanted to break your helmet, I meant that I wanted to completely shatter it," she clarified as he collected his lucidity.

He gazed up at her as the sun at her back made her anterior darker. When she lifted her foot, she moved his shield over himself to block her. The wood violently splintered as she nearly broke clean through it. When it stayed in one piece, he thrust it upward to knock her back. She stumbled but did not fall for once. The giant stood up just to readjust his helmet so he could see properly before continuing the duel.

"Gonna kick a man while he's down? What's the honor in that?" he ridiculed.

"My bad. Maybe direct that anger in better hits…if you-teia can."

He narrowed his eyes as he recognized the tactic of getting a rise out of him to make his attacks sloppier. It would not work on him. He kept a cool head as he went for more.

Meanwhile, the minks were trying to take down as many savages as possible while they were continuing to drive away the Marines. Some did not expect to be challenged by them, and their tattoos were defaced. Others batted them away. Gomer was swatted like a fly. He was sent crashing into the prairie. Stew was grabbed and squeezed in a grip, making him cry out. Luckily, Barb was close enough to fight off the savage and rescue him. Carlos was kicked and took out Marines from the sheer force exerted on his body.

Monika rushed to his aid, but he was already getting back up as the unfortunate victims were not ones to recover as easily. "This is taking too long," he grumbled.

They both looked around to see that the savages were covering more ground than they were in record time. "What more can we do?" Monika questioned with a hint of hopelessness.

He stood up and pulled her arm for her to follow. "You-gara think they're stupid enough to leave the mountains unguarded?"

"I would hope not!"

"I don't see the harm in checking just in case."

She understood what he was doing now, so she matched his pace to be let go of. They both jumped above the traffic coming toward them and used Haki to step on the air. The savages were almost all behind them with only a couple stragglers basically cleaning up their mess remaining where the battle started. Kiyaya and the two giant savages were too busy to notice them. It was perfect to make the move.

Fish, Fangle, Stew, Vencent, and Rodencia noticed them. It looked like the monkey mink and llama mink were abandoning the battle together, but once they noticed they were heading for the mountains, the motive clicked. They knew each other well enough to know when a change of plans was happening.

Carlos and Monika looked around them to see they were joined. Hopefully, the others could catch up, but they were not going to wait for them. Their group flew under the radar and made it to the clear area. Feet hit the ground. Sprinting ensued. Do it fast. Do it orderly. Take the mountains and overcome any adversity that may be waiting for them.

Seeing them approach made Lakota sick to his stomach. The mercenaries were stronger than all of the Lun'aecho could hope to be. Before he could think of a plan, the warriors around him began to communicate with each other fast and start to organize something. Children were gathered and taken back to safe places to hide. Some ran off to find what bison they could gather nearby. A pair of warriors helped Lakota to his feet so they could carry him to where the children were.

The wounded were either as bad as he was or not able to use a limb to its full extent. Cherokee did not want to risk worsening their conditions with a curse that would simply take the pain away but not fix the problem. She also did not want to risk any of the children's wellbeing by affecting their development through rapidly aging them or increasing their sizes. The pregnant women were also left alone to protect the unborn from potential side effects.

Lakota watched as trees were climbed and two bison were mounted. A prepubescent child was handed a spear for the first time in his life. A new mother passed her crying newborn to its sibling and told her to run as far away as she could. It gutted him to see it all. No, this could not happen. It was a disaster waiting to happen. The generation supposed to revive the Lun'aecho Tribe's lineage from a bottleneck was about to be sacrificed. He could not watch it happen while his legs were useless.

He started to breathe rapidly in a panic. The minks were going to cross the threshold any second. The trap waiting for them was doomed to fail. He had to think of something and think of it now.

"Kiyaya!" he called instinctively. "Kiyaya! Please!"

The fur on the back of her neck prickled from the faint sound. Her inhalation paused in her trachea. Who was that? The giant did not hear it. For a moment, she questioned if she was hearing things.

"Kiyaya!" Lakota called again.

Her eyes dilated and she gasped.

The transpondance curse on his back still connected to the one on her. It was easy to hear her because of how big she was, but the opposite was hard. Plus, it was placed where Cherokee and the other warrior were previously hiding under her fur. She had forgotten! And she did not know the communication was two-way.

"What wrong, Lakota?" she asked with worry.

"Help us! The minks are coming!"

"WHAT?!" She whipped her attention toward the mountains, unable to see anything out of the ordinary. That only frightened her more.

The giant she fought tried to strike her, but she blocked him again. "Cherokee!" she called. "Please go!"

The Chieftain jerked her head as she released the giant's busted arm. She saw Kiyaya pointing to the mountains with a look in her eyes that she was not comfortable with. Without questioning it, she ran.

Kiyaya knew she had to end this. The other warrior was about to do the same with his giant opponent. She deflected the sword one more time, staring the giant in the eye. She was not smiling anymore. "Keep talking to me, Lakota," she told him.

There was no response. The curse had actually faded away because it was ruined from his side. Communication between them was cut off.

"Lakota, please, say something."

The silence formed a lump in her throat. She barely knew him, yet the thought of never seeing his face again upset her. The Mink Tribe was not full of callous killers. Would they really slaughter the weakest of the Lun'aecho for the sake of a contract? There were babies in those mountains! Kiyaya saw them and young children, too! She could not let them die. She could not live on with that grief in her heart.

Anguished, she yelled and threw herself at the giant. Wrapping her arms around him completely caught him off guard. With all the strength she could muster, she lifted the giant off the ground and propelled him over her head. Her spine bent as she drove his cranium into the ground so hard that the tectonic plates unearthed from underneath him. The helmet broke. The prairie welcomed an artificial crater the same circumference as his head.

Kiyaya kicked off the ground to flip over him and ended up back on her feet. The giant was knocked out cold from her unforgiving maneuver. "Lun'aecho warriors need to fall back!" she commanded.

Some of their heads swiveled, so she went to follow Cherokee.

Mogul scraped his fingernails across a tattoo he found. The warrior immediately shrunk. Before he could react, he was detained. The baboon mink was about to move on to the next one, but he noticed how they were no longer pursuing the Marines. A full retreat was on the rise for both sides of the conflict. The remaining giant shouted as he was bested by a dirty trick. He came falling to the ground like a meteor falling down to the planet. The Lun'aecho warriors climbed over him to head to the mountains, including the giant one.

When the rest of the minks noticed, they grouped together. A couple of them were battered, but otherwise okay.

"What's happening?" Barb inquired. "Why would they stop when they had the upper hand?"

"Has anyone seen Fish or Rodencia?" Spinach piped up.

"They wouldn't have gone off too far," Roxanne argued.

Gomer looked back at how there were no more Marines around them. It was just them left, surrounded by the dead and wounded. With an exasperated grunt, he passed them all to follow the warriors.

"Gomer?" Mogul voiced.

"They went without us," he revealed. The savages were called away for a reason. Maybe their friends had done it.

It was clear that the bear mink was not going to wait for them. The remaining minks chased after the savages with the impression that they would have to fight their way into the domain that the others possibly walked straight into.

Cherokee dispelled the curse on herself when she reached the forest. The first thing she noticed was how deserted it was. It was eerily quiet. She knew something was wrong as soon as she got there. Her people would not disappear like this.

She walked in deeper as the ground trembled with Kiyaya's approach. The witchdoctor manifested and walked in the opposite direction to meet her. The Chieftain was truly entering this alone.

There was evidence of an altercation happening. Arrows were pierced in trees and the soil. Parts of the ground were scuffed with disruptions in the grass or uprooted plants. And she noticed blood.

Her senses spiked the deeper she went. Individuals started to come out of the woodwork. She found herself surrounded by minks, all ones she had seen once before. They practically escorted her to one of many places where anyone could go to take refuge from a bad storm. It was an entrance to a cave. The rat mink stood in front of it with a monkey mink close by. Up in the trees, a ferret mink and cat mink were perched to surveillance the area.

Rodencia turned toward her. In her arms was a cradled infant. A knife was hovering above it. Seeing it made Cherokee take a single step forward out of sheer vehemence. The monkey mink immediately grabbed his sword holster to unsheathe, so she paused.

"It's over," Rodenia told her. "We're taking these mountains."

Her jaw clenched tight, but then the sound of a robin chirped that sounded like a real one, but it was really from a human. The missing members of the tribe were tucked away in the cave. They were trapped but alive. She relaxed a little bit. "And then what?"

"Surrender and we can negotiate something. Nobody has to die if you-teia cooperate."

Cherokee scoffed. That was rich coming from a mercenary. They had no clue how many times the outsiders had said similar phrases just to go back on their word. "So you threaten the safety of those who cannot protect themselves. I shouldn't expect anything less."

"Don't make this harder than it has to be."

"Ah. At least you're aware of the threat you're making. Targeting our youngest generation? That will haunt you for the rest of your days."

She did not dare glance down, even when it started to weep from being uncomfortable.

Vencent pulled out a pair of Sea-Prism handcuffs. Cherokee knew her time was up once those touched her. The tiny line that stemmed from her shadow told her that work had already been done. She was cutting it close.

But she succeeded. The proof was seeing the canopy above them open up with a canine muzzle. The minks in the trees jerked their heads right before they were blasted to the ground. With everyone's attention on Cherokee, they failed to notice the wolf mink miraculously floating above the scene. Another curse had been added to her, one that made her weight lighter than the air itself. Now it was gone, and Kiyaya was making a grand arrival.

Cherokee launched herself at Rodencia, wrestling the baby from her grasp without hurting it. At the same time, Kiyaya ripped apart the area as her gigantic hand snatched the minks. They were stunned to be lifted away. "You-teia should be ashamed of yourselves!" she reprimanded, walking out of the forest and leaving gaping footprints in her wake. "Go back to Zou if you know what's good for you-teia. I won't let you get that close ever again."

They squirmed under her fingers. With a powerful swing, she threw them all in the Marines' dust. The force was so tenacious that nobody could fight against the wind resistance. All of their bodies just careened into the ground, leaving streaks of dirt to scar the prairie. The Lun'aecho warriors beneath her cheered and whooped in victory. Their home was expelled of trespassers. It would be a mistake to return after a disastrous outcome like that one. All that loss just for them to have gained nothing from it.

Rodencia slumped forward, feeling her Armament Haki fade away. Without it, she would have died on impact. All she saw was Kiyaya standing just short of the mountain next to her. She was completely indomitable with that woman's powers helping her. Just to drive the message further, she joined the victory cheers by roaring loud enough for the whole island to hear her. She would protect this place for the rest of her life if she had to.

Cherokee cradled the baby and soothed it while reaching inside the cave for a hand. The occupants were pulled out one by one. Its mother gratefully took her child back with tears in her eyes. The curses on the other warriors were relinquished and they started showing up, too. A head count was conducted. Healers started to dress injuries. For a moment, Cherokee was relieved. Then she realized someone was missing.

Her eyes darted around. Where was he? Who had him? Was he hiding somewhere else? She squeezed into the narrow opening and dropped in. "Kota?"

"Over here," he answered from the darkness.

She smiled brightly and navigated through the darkness to him. He was simply sitting because someone settled him there, and then was accidentally forgotten. But she was here to fetch him. As long as she was alive, he would not be an afterthought. They embraced each other tightly. Her hug alone told him that everything was okay. Kiyaya got the message. They made it in time. They could sleep peacefully tonight.

A sudden wave of fatigue washed over her. The curses on her body were smeared from everything that had transpired. Her stomach now felt shriveled, and her brain was foggy. It was not an ideal time, but she knew there was no fighting it. Before she fainted, she pressed her lips against his and tried to utter her last thoughts before it was too late.

I love you.