Chapter 9 - Dawn Island Pt. III–Updraft and Downdraft

Admiral "Akainu" Sakazuki stood on the bow of his ship facing the harbor of Goa Kingdom. Currently the fleet was all in place around Dawn Island and they were just awaiting his command. His taciturn grimace was unmoved as he observed the proceedings. As he watched he received the status report from one of his men.

"Saint Jalmack's ship has successfully departed and is outside of range. As far as we know, his holiness is recovering well from the attack. All vice-admirals are awaiting your orders. The Goan royal family and their entourage are waiting for their escort off the island before the bombardment."

Hmph, of course they were. Even though it was their negligence that led to the Celestial Dragon being attacked in the first place. Not that he actually cared all that much about that, other than of course the fact that an attack on the World Nobles meant an attack at the heart of the World Government and thus an attack on the order of the world. This would lead to chaos, and he of course couldn't allow such things to stand.

Movement came to his left as a shadowy figure appeared on his ship, dressed in black. The CP9 agent tipped the edge of his bowler hat to him. "I've tracked the boy as far as I could before I was called back. He went further into the jungles surrounding the city, out towards the outer villages."

"It amazes me that such a young target could somehow escape the World Government's finest agents, leading to such a very large mess." Akainu didn't hide the scathing tone in his voice.

The Cipher Pol agent didn't react to the dig, instead only replying, "The boy's strength was unfortunately severely underestimated. It is extremely rare to find someone with such strong Supreme King haki at such a young age and out here in the East Blue of all places."

The admiral conceded the point. This was true, this island…this sea…for some odd reason, out of all the places in the world, the East Blue seemed to subtly give birth to some of the biggest monsters…

Anyhow, this particular monster was going to be nipped in the bud now before it grew into a bigger problem. "It's no matter. I've already sent Marines to secure all major populated areas. No one will be allowed to escape justice."

He dismissed Guernica with a wave of his hand, "You may go, I'm sure your master is probably calling."

The dig once again just slid off the CP9 agent's back. They were both "dogs" of the military who both had to come when called. They just happened to be in different departments.

"I'll be on my way, but I did want to inform you of a bit of news that I picked up while working my way through the recently 'cleaned' city outskirts. It seems that the city leaders failed to inform us that in the last few days, there have been sightings of several members of the World Government's most persistent enemy."

Akainu felt his smoldering rage begin to reignite at this new intel. The largest thorn in the World Government's side that continually escaped judgment…

"The Revolutionary Army…" he growled, waves of heat beginning to waft off of him.

Guernica nodded, "Not only did no one inform Cipher Pol or anyone in St. Jalmack's entourage that the Revolutionaries had been seen in Goa only a few days ago, but it was also not just any Revolutionaries. From the witnesses I've questioned, not one, not two, but all three of the Revolutionary Army's pillars were here on Dawn Island all at the same time."

Magma began to seep from the admiral's curled fist. "Dragon…of course!"

He knew it! It was all becoming clear. It had that bastard's fingerprints all over it. It made perfect sense. Of course that incendiary had chosen his own home island to spread his poison. And probably not without a conveniently neglectful eye from one Monkey D. Garp to hide his actions. This island was most likely a hotbed for rebellion.

"How was his presence never reported?" he growled angrily.

Guernica shrugged, "I don't have enough men to do a full investigation, but I've had even a couple witnesses that revealed unconfirmed sightings of the rebels in the vicinity as recently as 12 hours ago. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that the boy and his associates are connected."

The Red Dog's jaw clenched tightly, "Of course…those bastards wouldn't think twice about dragging in child soldiers into their 'righteous cause'."

One could not underestimate anyone, no matter the age. The demon child, Nico Robin was proof of that.

He had been rather unimpressed with the original circumstances that he had been called out here. However, now that he could see that there was much more to all of this than simply a child's wild haki attack against a World Noble…who knew how far the roots of treachery grew here? "We'll wipe out the entirety of this island, to the very core. Not one trace shall survive."

Guernica nodded absently, while glancing at the doomed isle briefly. That was the point of a buster call after all.

"Of course remember, if any Revolutionaries can be found, it would be prudent to try and capture them alive for interrogation, including of course the boy. I've given your men a full description. I must go, but I trust you're more than capable of handling this."

Akainu waved the man away just as the Cipher Pol agent vanished from sight. It was just as well. He'd done his job. He could have done better of course, but he couldn't blame the man too much as he was only one agent whose job has been as a bodyguard, and not to handle a concentrated strike by terrorist forces. He would indeed handle it from here on in. He'd do as ordered and make sure the job was completed thoroughly.

A communications tech came up to him and saluted, "Sir! The royal family is calling once again. They want to know when their transport will arrive?"

His eyes narrowed, "Ignore them."

The soldier looked at him confused, "Sir?"

He growled, "They allowed insurrectionist activities to happen right under their noses and they expect not to face the consequences? We have no idea how far the corruption might go. Leave them to their fate. Tell the front guard to make sure all the gates of the city are locked, not one person is to escape its vicinity. Send a command to all vice-admirals that the operation is to begin in—"

"Sir! Sir! Admiral Akainu!" Another officer came up to him carrying a portable transponder. "The team sent to the east of the capital city claims to have found the assailant, sir!"

Well, that was opportune. He wasn't as adamant as Cipher Pol about taking prisoners. In his opinion, let all the traitors burn along with all their well-laid plans. However, he understood the value in keeping some of them alive in order to wring whatever intel there was from out of them, catching even more of their co-conspirators and foiling even more of their plots.

With that in mind, he took up the receiver, "You have the boy in custody?"

The voice called back, "We've found the brat sir that matches the description of the suspect. He was with two other boys that we assume are the mentioned accomplices. Found 'em hiding out in the jungles between the capital and the nearby seaside village. We're currently attempting to take them into custody, though they are resisting arrest."

The sound of fighting, gunshots ringing out, and adolescent yelling voices could be heard in the background as the Marine reported in.

The admiral nodded, "Use whatever means necessary to subdue them. Make use of whatever amount of force you see fit, though attempt to take them alive. We know at least one of them has advanced haki training so assume they all do. Do NOT underestimate them."

"Yes sir, we're closing in on them. One of them does seem to possess devil fruit powers, but we were prepared and able to take him down using seastone bullets. The others have yet to show any particular abilities, but we aren't taking any chances. They should be—"

Sudden shouts and yelling erupted out of the transponder interrupting the officer's hurried report.

'Get ya bloody hands off them, ya Marine goons!'

'Who the hell do ya think you are?!'

'They're coming from the North!'

'Dadan!'

'Don't lose sight of the targets!'

'Ya messin' with the Curly Dadan gang now! Yer in our territory! Get lost!'

"We're authorized to use deadly force! Shoot them all down!'

'You marine shits! You wanna make an enemy of Garp the Fist? These are his grandsons you're messing with!'

'You're under arrest by the authority of the World Government! Don't move!'

'Get 'em!'

The cacophony of chaos and battle became even louder as the sounds of an ambush made its way through the receiver, until eventually the entire call was suddenly cut off and a dull tone rang out ominously.

BEEP….BEEP….

Everyone stood still as they watched in tense expectation to see what the admiral's response would be, awaiting his next command.

However, the Red Dog's mind wasn't on the suddenly terminated call, nor even the imminent peril of the marines that had been caught in an ambush. Of everything that was heard over the call, there were only a few words that stood out and mattered.

Enemy…

Garp…

Grandson…

Grandsons….?!

Everyone backed up as magma began to spill over onto the deck of the ship. Akainu marched enraged towards the helm. "Tell all the vice admirals to call back their ground troops, everyone except for the sector in which that call came from. Have Vice-Admiral Doberman report to this position and take over this sector. I will go over there myself. Give orders that all forces are to begin their attack at exactly 18:00."

Everyone scrambled, a few men were already checking their watches. It was 17:45. Not much time.

But Akainu was already on the move.

Everything was clicking into place. Few people knew that Garp had a son. Even that loose cannon knew to be ashamed of such an utter disgrace as Dragon had turned out to be. His failure as a parent had given way to one of the most evil men the world had ever known, but Garp as always, had to outdo himself.

It seems Dragon had knocked up some wench, not once, but multiple times, and now had his own wretched spawn. And rather than drowning them upon first opportunity, that sentimental old fool had secreted them away on this island and hidden the little hellions, letting them grow into the obvious problems they had now become.

And of course, who else would the terrorist leader use in his plans, than his own children?

Their capture and/or elimination was now paramount and so, he would handle it himself.

In the Jungles of Mt. Corvo

Ace cursed as he stumbled for the third time. The sounds of battle had dimmed to silence behind him but he didn't stop moving.

A towering rage and a furious seething boiled within him. Once again he found himself running. Once again he had to turn tail, to turn his back to his enemy. He hated it. He. HATED. It.

However, the crazy hag had had a point.

But damn her.

Damnher!

Several minutes earlier….

"I'm not running away."

"Shut up, brat! You're not gonna be able to hold off trained soldiers with just ya fists and a broken pipe!"

"I don't care."

The orange-haired woman grabbed Ace's face sharply even as she hunched down behind a tree while the remnants of the bandits who hadn't already been wounded or worse, were providing cover. She roughly turned his face away from the fight and to the two others who were splayed on the ground panting in pain behind him.

He barely felt the pain of the harsh grip, the agony of beholding his wounded little brothers' forms was so much worse. Both of them were still conscious, but Sabo had his eyes squeezed closed as his side had ripped open and he was bleeding once again. He was breathing hard, and while he had tried his best to fight, he could only do so much while already having been so badly wounded.

And even then, he had been able to drag out Luffy—Luffy!—who had been shot in the arm. Shot like some damn animal!

The gunshot had done something to the kid's devil fruit powers and he was no longer nearly as stretchy as he usually was. Rather the bullet had lodged itself into Luffy's arm, likely fracturing it. The scream that had come from the straw-hatted boy was one that would haunt Ace's nightmares. The seven-year-old was currently lying on the ground next to Sabo, clutching at the wound weakly as blood continued to sluggishly drip down his limp limb. He was really pale, his face covered in tears that were constantly slipping from hazy brown eyes.

Dadan let the miserable image sink in. "You see that twerp? Those two are going to dieunless you save them. Are you their older brother or not? Or was that all just a bunch of empty talk?"

Sabo gasped out, "I…I'm not dying…like this. Just give…give me…a-a chance to catch my…my breath. I…I can still…fight…"

Ace gritted his teeth and forced back the wetness that was threatening to breach his eyelids. "Shut up! There's no way you can fight. Not when it looks like your guts are about to fall out."

He looked up viciously at the bandit leader, "Fine. But once I get them to safety, I'll come back here. You're still injured too."

Dadan ground her cigarette between her teeth, sneering before throwing the boy towards the other two. "Please, like I need help from you. This is all your fault as it is, you and your demon blood. Who do ya think they're after, after that display this morning in the capital?!"

The 10 year-old felt himself involuntarily flinch at the harsh words. He knew Dadan had talked about him behind his back, but this was the first time she had ever said such to his face. He didn't know why, but it didn't seem to hurt any less.

The big woman waved him away disdainfully before turning back to where her men were dying, clutching her ax. "Get out of here. I did my best for you, ya ungrateful little rat. And look where it's gotten me? I don't need any more help from you. You've done enough. Get those two other brats and take them to our cave hideaway where we keep all our hidden loot. Hopefully that will be enough to keep ya alive until that bastard Garp comes and gets ya."

Ace jumped up, his hands balled into fists. "If you think I'm about to leave you to fight all by yourself—"

He wasn't ready for her right hook to the face which sent him flat on his back. Dadan looked down at him in disgust, like some crap stain on her shoe. He again inwardly flinched. Despite all the times she had yelled at him and gotten mad at him and growled at him before, he didn't think she'd ever looked at him as dismissively as she did at this moment.

"Get out of here! As I said! Ya've done enough! This is all your fault. My boys are dying because of you! I should have never taken a little guttersnipe like you in. I let that old windbag Garp bully me into it."

She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close so that he could see the naked loathing and revulsion in her eyes and feel every sneering word that she spit from out her mouth. "The hellspawn of the most famous demon king in all the world...your mother should have strangled you at birth. Or better yet, perhaps the little whore should have just kept her legs closed."

Snap.

You could talk crap about him and you could say whatever you wanted about his trash old man, but no one talked about his mother. NO ONE.

"RAHHHH!"

Something snapped in the ten-year-old boy and he roared, launching himself at the big woman, but she had expected it and batted away his rage-filled move with ease. With a powerful kick, she launched him headlong into a nearby tree.

Even as he was sent flying, the sound of a small growl could be heard coming from little Luffy who was attempting to try and stand. His voice still reflected his wounds, but the anger was also quite obvious. "Take it…take it back! Stop it…Dadan! Don't…don't talk about A-Ace like…like that!"

Sabo reached over and took hold of his little brother and waved him away, shushing him. He struggled to his feet, all the while clutching his side. "Leave it, Lu…it's not worth it. She wants us gone…so let's go."

Luffy looked up at him in angry confusion, "But Sabo! She said—"

"Leave it, Luffy." he groaned sharply, "We know the truth…we don't…don't need her. We never did…"

Ace struggled to stand up, his eyes narrowing with pain, rage, and hurt. He wiped at the blood coming out the side of his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes flashing molten silver. But before he could go back to fighting the big fat orange witch, Sabo limped in front of him, pulling Lu along by the hand.

He looked horrible, pale and in a bad way, but he stood against his twin in the most resolute stance he could manage. "Let's go, Ace. They're coming after us…gasp…we have to get out of here. We have to get Luffy out of here."

"I'm okay…" Lu tried to retort, but the blond once again shushed him.

Sabo appealed directly to his twin, "Look at me, Ace."

The raven was literally panting with rage, anguish and betrayal breaking through the cracks. He looked at the woman with vehemence, and she stared back just as venomously even as the sounds of fighting came closer.

"Ace!"

His pleading imploration broke through to his brother, who finally glanced over at him. He communicated eye to eye the gravity of the situation. "Let. It. Go. Ace. We need to get out of here!"

Ace growled fiercely, and while he didn't want to leave the matter of his mother's honor unsettled, seeing his siblings hurt and in danger once again gave him no choice. He looked up at the carrot-colored bitch, communicating silently, making sure she understood that he would never forgive her after this.

He may not have liked her much, but he had put just a bit of trust in her over the years. He should have known better.

He grabbed Luffy's uninjured arm and pulled the boy up onto his back, making sure Lu could hold on before striding violently away.

"Let's go, 'Bo. Try to keep up."

He never looked back, never gave the woman who had been a part of his life for ten years a second glance. Luffy turned to look back once, sadness and disappointment in his eyes before turning around and leaning his head comfortingly against that of his heated big brother.

Sabo held himself together as he began to stumble after them. Twilight was waning into the evening as he also glanced back over his shoulder. However, the look in his eyes wasn't the same as his brethren. Instead he met Dadan's gaze with a somber, foreboding, and knowing look.

Stopping for a moment, he fully faced her. Slowly moving his limb from where it had been clutching his wound, he held up his bloodstained hand to her. His thumb and forefinger closed to form a circle, his other three widening out and straight. To many who were not versed in Dawn Island culture, they would think it simply the universal symbol for things being a-okay. But for Dawn Islanders, the gesture, when used this way, meant something quite different.

The blond's arm moved straight in a single solemn arc, his hand moving as the early morning sun would as it rises over the horizon. For those of this isle, this was both a salute and a ceremonious farewell. It wasn't used often, but when it was, it was to usually give the receiver a final goodbye.

Dadan's face fell, her face crumpled at the realization that one of her boys had indeed seen through her. Shoring up her resolve even as the tears came, she returned his gesture, giving a last parting sendoff to him as well.

When it was done, both turned away—Dadan back to her fighting men and Sabo to catch up to his siblings—neither looking back again.

Both also did so, knowing that it would be the last time they would ever see each other again.

Present time…

Ace continued to struggle through the forest, trying to make his way higher into the mountain. Normally this would be no problem for him if he wasn't also supporting both his brothers' near dead weight and if he wasn't so entirely pissed off.

But now that it was just the three of them alone, his priorities shifted and he tried to simply think on the task at hand. He had to get everything that the ginger harpy had said out of his head. He needed to just think about what had to be done right now.

Sabo had only lasted for a couple of minutes walking before he fell out. Ace wasn't about to leave him and despite the strain on his weary body, He'd hugged his twin to his side and pulled him along.

Lu had offered to walk and let Bo have his place riding piggyback, and while the idea had merit, both the pale lethargic look on their youngest and the fact that Sabo wheezed out a solid rejection to the idea, had him simply continue on as best he could.

Bo tried his best to walk with him when he could, but he knew they couldn't last much longer like this.

"H-How much farther…Ace?" The boy whispered by his side.

Ace stopped for a moment, allowing himself to rest against a tree. It also gave him a clear question to consider. How much farther was it?

Where were they going again?

Sabo groaned, "Please...tell me you haven't just been...dragging us randomly through the forest...this whole time, Ace."

His gray eyes snapped over to him, "Hey! It's really hard to think right now, and you're in no position to complain!"

He ignored him, "We...need shelter...and a place to hide out from the Marines... How far...is the bandits' cave from here?"

The elder raven snarled, "I'm not bout to use anything that that bitc—"

"Then you have sentenced us to death." Sabo interrupted him in as plain and harsh a manner as he could think of.

"Decide, Ace...huff, huff...Is it going to be your pride...or us? As you said, we're...in no shape to fight right now...and they are going to come after us."

The silence that followed was thick. Luffy for once, didn't comment and instead looked between his brothers to see what would be decided. Ultimately the choice was Ace's since he was the one carrying them both, but he did really want to rest. His arm was on fire and he was so tired and hungry.

They had missed lunch, and dinner, and Dadan had been so mean! And he just wanted to rest!

Eventually the eldest gave in to reason and he growled in acceptance at the ultimatum of the situation. "Fine. But only for now. So which way is it?"

Sabo rolled his eyes in exasperation before looking around the area and trying to triangulate their location in his head. After a few moments he smiled in relief, "We're...not far. It's about a half a kilometer northeast...of here."

"Alright, then let's get there already." Ace began moving again, walking in the direction the blond had pointed out.

After a couple minutes of walking Luffy asked, "Hey, you think they have food there?"

"They stashed some supplies up there with their loot, so maybe…" Ace was hungry himself though he had long ago ignored the pangs of his stomach.

Luffy nodded, knowing that meant "wait and see" and he didn't want to bother Ace too much while he was busy. So instead he directed his next question to Sabo.

"Neh, Bo? You think Dadan and the bandits will be okay?" He was angry at what Dadan said to Ace, but he was still worried about them all the same!

The atmosphere soured and Ace nearly stumbled as the anger came back to the forefront once again, "Who the hell cares? Let them fend for themselves."

Sabo, though, didn't respond right away. However Lu noticed a sadness had come over his face. "I don't know Luffy. I just don't know…"

Curly Dadan yelled out a battle cry as she swung her ax. The advancing marines learned to stay out of the range of her blade, but even then, she was still able to take out her share of stragglers.

Blood ran down her face, and from several cuts and gunshots wounds all over her body. She forced the pain away though. None of it was worse than the horrible pain she was already feeling as she looked around at her men, all of them on the ground either dead or dying.

How dare they? How dare they!

Why was this happening?!

She was breathing heavily but still standing strong as she faced off against the Marine officers. They stood a bit away, keeping their weapons trained on her but they had stopped shooting for the moment.

She yelled out at them enraged, "COME AT ME, YA BASTARDS!"

They unfortunately didn't take the bait, instead choosing to remain in position. What the hell were they waiting for? She knew she was a pretty big open target, and she had lost all of her backup forces. Why weren't they punching her full of holes? Not that she was complaining, but—

Suddenly, out of nowhere a wave of heavy dry heat blasted through the air, immediately causing the surroundings to shimmer! Following the wave, faster than her eyes could track, a long slender projectile sliced through the air, crashing into her with heavy concussive force!

Knocked completely on her back, sending all the air out of her, the punch of the hit shocked her at first, but after the shock dulled away that…the agony began.

Intense heat radiated from the spot on her shoulder, spreading and burning and melting cloth and flesh and bone. She couldn't hold herself back from screaming in excruciating pain. What…was…happening….? What hit her?

Footsteps advanced towards her, before stopping near her head. A hand reached down towards the molten javelin that was currently pinning her to the ground. She looked up wincingly at the stern, unyielding face of a Marine, and not just any Marine, but this one was the biggest, toughest one she'd seen yet. And from the coat he wore, he was definitely the highest ranked of all the ones she had seen so far.

One of the other officers came up to him and saluted. "Admiral Akainu, all resistance has been neutralized except for this criminal. The three alleged assailants however, were able to escape while these lowlifes provided a distraction. Apologies sir, we shall pursue them right away!"

Her eyes widened in shock. Admiral?

The supposed admiral raised his hand, effectively silencing the subordinate. His attention was on the lawbreaker on the ground in front of him. His hand was still on the javelin, though he didn't do anything more…yet.

He spoke to her in a low no-nonsense rumble. "Tell me where Dragon's sons are, and you might get out of this with your life."

Of all the things he could have said, that was one of the last things Dadan had expected.

"Dragon?….but how did you…."

She thought for sure it was Ace who they were after, but it was Luffy?

And "sons"?

Though to be honest it didn't really matter in the end…

The man's eyes narrowed, "Indeed. That traitor, Garp, was a fool to try and hide them here. They have already begun to follow their sire's treacherous footsteps. Your defense of them has already made you an enemy of the World Government. Redeem yourself and you may live despite what's to come."

"Those boys have done nothing but be boys!" She retorted.

He raised an eyebrow. "They were branded criminals simply by the poisonous blood that runs in their veins. But beyond that, they are already guilty of the capital crime of attacking a World Noble. That alone is punishable by death."

She would have argued that that had been Ace and not Luffy's doing, but the man seemed to be under some false assumptions and she didn't see any reason to correct him.

"It was the Noble that threatened to kill them first! They were just defending themselves from that self-righteous murderer!"

Without warning, he kicked her hard in one of her injuries, causing her to yell out in pain. "You speak treason, woman. Watch your tongue."

She winced in anguish, but tried to keep herself as steady as possible as she arched her head up to spit in his face. "Go to hell ya government dog. I'm only telling the 're crazy as a loon if you think I'll ever betray those boys!"

The man didn't respond to the saliva landing on his uniform. Rather, instead he simply straightened up before increasing his grip, pushing down on the heated skewer.

"Gaahhh…!" Dadan gritted her teeth, biting through her lip as her body split and sizzled.

However, the man wasn't done. She watched in shock as his hand began to glow red, before turning into magma!

Out of the magma, another of the javelins formed. She watched with widened horrified eyes as he walked purposefully around her body to her right leg. He looked coldly at her without a trace of sympathy. "Last chance, outlaw."

She clenched her teeth in defiance. "Do your worst, admiral."

He tilted his head slightly before a small chilling smile came to his face. "Don't worry."

Akainu flipped the javelin with his hand into the attacking position, "I intend to."

"Hold on just a little longer, I can see it up ahead."

The entrance of the cave was hidden in the side of a mountain, a bit behind some shrubbery. He let Sabo slide down to the ground in a groan before placing Luffy next to him. He came to the door to the vault chamber. He tried his best to pull it open, but as expected, it was locked.

Wasting no time, he kicked hard at the door, using his shoulder to try and break it down. "Come on, come on!"

After slamming it four times, the wood finally cracked and the door came down.

And unbeknownst to them, not a moment too soon.

BOOM!

BAM!

FWOOOM!

The sound of several explosions sounded at the same time, cutting through the night air. The ground shook beneath their feet and the boys looked around the shuddering forest in alarm.

"What's happening?!" Luffy yelled out in fear.

Using a spurt of adrenaline, Sabo got to his feet and tried to keep his balance. "That's cannon-fire! It has to be the Navy! Let's get out of here!"

B-BOOM!

Ace jumped over, yelling to be heard over the concussing ear-splitting noise that only Naval cannons can accomplish. "Come on!"

The air began to become hazy with debris and smoke. And the explosions absolutely did not stop. Ace pulled Sabo and Luffy after him into the bandit's cave hideout. "Hurry!"

BAM!

BAM!

BOOM!

The three boys raced to find shelter in the mountain, holding their hands to their ears against the deafening sound.

Sabo had already passed the threshold of the cavern when it suddenly hit him how much the situation had actually changed. "Ace! We can't stay here! If they keep firing at the mountain—"

C-CRACK!

But it was too late, the shifting of the land in response to the inundation of gunfire caused a landslide. Rocks and boulders toppled and rolled down the side of Mt. Corvo, crashing and destroying nearly everything in their way.

THUD!

FLUMP!

BAM!

Along the way, they also happened to pile up, cutting off the entrance of the cavern, trapping the three brothers inside.

And still the bombardment continued on…

Several Minutes Later, Shimotsuki Village

The Wind Granma slipped into the small port of a tiny village under the cover of night.

Dragon watched as Ivankov and Kuma began directing the refugees from Goa to different emergency triage centers set up in the village. They had done some first aid on the ship, but they had needed a much bigger space to work and tend to the wounded. They had also needed fresh supplies for their trip back to Baltigo. The leader of Shimotsuki Village was sympathetic to their cause and had been an ally to the Revolutionary Eastern Army for the last few years, so it had been an ideal place to recuperate for a time.

He left them to it as he began to plan their next move. Their forces were currently stretched thin and he needed to delineate and divert resources—both human and otherwise—to rebellion efforts in Vira, Toomi, Liy—

"Oh God! They're doing it again! But why? Why?!"

Distracted from his thoughts, Dragon walked over to see what the sudden fuss was about. Several Goan refugees were gathered together looking over the cliff side, pointing out to the sea, and conversing with one another in both tones of horror and concern.

Jumping up to the Granma's figurehead, Dragon looked over to the sea to discover what it was that had stolen their attention and caused them to become unsettled.

A gasp almost fell from his lips as he felt his mouth dry like cotton and it was becoming harder to swallow.

Turns out he didn't have to look far, as in the dark of night, the orange glow around the far island to the north of them stood out quite clearly on the water. Accompanying the glow was a huge haze, obscured in the inky blackness, but the fact that one could still very much see it, spoke to how immense the amount was. And that it was increasing…

Smoke and flame.

"A fire? But how? Why?!" Ivankov's horrified voice spoke up from below him. He joined him on the ship's deck.

Kuma spoke up from next to him, "Could the Gray Terminal conflagration have reignited?"

Dragon's eyes narrowed, "Unlikely…"

They would have put out any fires quickly, especially since the Celestial Dragon had arrived today. And on top of that…was it his imagination, or could he just barely hear the sound of cannon fire in the distance?

Whispers from ten years ago were beginning to replay in his head.

He spoke in hushed tones, the very idea of what just might be happening in front of him, being too terrifying for words. A cold chill slowly taking hold of his heart…

"It's too big…the entire island is ablaze…"

A/N:

Hey! Sorry for being away for a while! 😅

The holidays took a lot out of me, but we're back!

So yeah, things have just gone from bad to worse. Dawn Island is being Buster Called, our 3 boys are on the run, and Dragon fears for his son's life!

I've been enjoying the Dragon stuff we've been getting in the manga lately, despite all the recent ridiculous memes, and this chapter went very well with it.

I hope the Dadan part wasn't too harsh. I personally don't care for her as many others do, but she did what she felt she had to do. And now she's standing up to Akainu. Though, I'm sad to say, it won't be for long.

Let me know your opinion and I'm happy to read all your comments!