章 245: Bridge to Green Bit
Law was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't known what to expect from Cabernet given the way he had seen her goof around with the more foolish members of the Straw Hats in the last day, but she was proving to be far more capable at subtlety than a large portion of her crewmates.
Cabernet currently looked like a large hunch-backed old man with her black suit and white beard and matching white hair. The hunch was naturally her wings wrapped up as they would otherwise be an instant giveaway. Her skin also had to be covered as thoroughly as possible to hide the wood grain pattern on her reddish brown skin.
Law had only accepted her presence at first because she was a very good back up plan if they needed to escape. Cherry had assured him of both her speed and her durability, and that it would take nothing less than someone at the level of an admiral to truly threaten her.
"Why didn't you get a fake beard too, Robin?" Cabernet asked quietly whilst sitting uncomfortably in a chair a bit too small for her at the cafe they were eating outside of.
"Cherry wouldn't think that I'm pretty any more." Robin responded and sipped her tea.
"That's terrible. I think you'd look cute with a beard." Cabernet spoke honestly.
Usopp snickered and caught a kick with his shin from Robin beneath the table.
"I've got a bad feeling. These people are way too calm considering their king abdicated this morning." Law said nervously.
"Almost like the newspaper article was falsified and they were told it was false." Robin said.
Law hated that he had to admit that the most unlikely of scenarios had gotten much more plausible. 'How in the world would Doflalmingo pull off something like that?'
Their waiter stopped by their table to ask if they needed anything, so Law directly asked "The newspaper said Doflamingo stepped down, but everyone seems very calm, why is that?"
"Oh, you know. Life must go on even under such circumstances." The waiter said, before beating a somewhat hasty retreat.
Law narrowed his eyes, it was too suspicious.
"What should we do?" Usopp asked, catching the gist of what was happening.
"We can't be absolutely certain that Doflamingo hasn't held up his end of the bargain, but we need to go into this on the assumption we've been tricked. Damn it…" Law sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples to alleviate the growing headache.
Caesar darted back and forth between them awkwardly, feeling very trepidatious. Would Law kill him if he thought Doflamingo would get him without anything in return? Was there anything he could do about it if that was the case? He didn't like the conclusion he came to for either of those questions. He knew what he would do in the same circumstances.
"In any case, it's almost time for the exchange. So we'll just have to cross that bridge after we've crossed THAT bridge." Law pointed to a half ruined bridge crossing the stretch of sea between Dressrosa and the smaller island of Green Bit.
"What the hell did that kind of damage to such a sturdy bridge? Sea kings?" Usopp asked, a quake in his voice.
"No, it's the fighting fish of Dressrosa. Though they're aggressive enough to prey upon sea kings who come into their territory. No matter how outmatched they may be individually, they'll get by with numbers." Law explained and beckoned them to follow. "I need you to keep them away so I can conserve my strength. My abilities will be necessary if things go wrong."
Nothing happened at first as they stepped onto the bridge and made their way across to Green Bit. This didn't ease the sense of anticipation but rather amplified it. The fighting fish seemed to have a good sense of timing to ensure that intruders wouldn't be able to get away.
*KRRRUNK*
The metal beams of the bridge were bent deeply inward as a giant horned fish with fierce, crazed eyes and pitch black scales tried to charge straight at them.
""AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Usopp and Caesar screamed like little girls.
*BAP*
Cabernet didn't flinch at all however and directly punched the fighting fish in the nose, sending it flying a short distance back into the water. Law once again felt that cabernet was a fine addition to his particular team.
This did not dissuade the other fighting fish from attacking, however. If anything, they were only getting more excited.
The group started to run as fast as they could to get across the bridge to safety on the other side.
"Remind me again why Cabernet could just fly us to the other side?" Usopp complained.
"Too conspicuous." Law said simply.
"And causing a ruckus like this ISN'T conspicuous?!" Usopp bemoaned.
"I'll admit they're a little more aggressive than I had anticipated." Law said, trying to keep his breaths even to conserve his stamina as much as possible.
"Relax Usopp. They're kind of cute, don't you think?" Robin said, her breathing not at all labored by the running. She casually created oversized limbs to swat away the fighting fish before they could reach the bridge.
"These savage beasts, cute?! SKULL EXPLODING GAS! What, do they remind you of Cherry or something?!" Usopp said, shooting a poisonous cloud into a fighting fish's open maw.
"Oh, that's what they remind me of. Thanks, Usopp." Cabernet said cheerfully, whilst tearing a horn off of a fighting fish and stabbing it into its brain through its eye.
They reached a segment of the bridge that had been completely destroyed and a particularly large and mean looking fighting fish dove at them. Before any of them could make a move against it, a massive net wrapped around it and several large iron spears pierced into its side. The fish was getting dragged away with high pitched voices started to speak from the other side of the gap.
"Good catch! This one'll last a while, don't you think?" One voice said.
"Yes, perfect to give us strength on this momentous day!" Another spoke.
They couldn't see the people who were speaking, so Robin used her own Life Sense which was admittedly not as strong as Cherry's but would do for this purpose. She sensed tiny figures in the position where she would expect the people dragging the fish to be and no one else nearby.
"Are they dwarves perhaps?" Robin thought out loud, thinking back to the stories she had read in her childhood.
"Dwarves?" Usopp asked her.
"Small people that are very strong, though I've never heard or read any significant evidence of their existence in the real world." Robin explained.
"HEY, LITTLE PEOPLE! CAN WE BE FRIENDS!" Cabernet called out very loudly.
"Ah! Humans have noticed us! Run away!" A tiny voice exclaimed.
"But the human asked if we wanted to be friends. Maybe they're friendly?" Another replied.
"That's true… Are you bad humans?!" A tiny voice called out, the fighting fish noticeably no longer being dragged back towards Green Bit.
Law stopped Cabernet from immediately shouting back to them, seriously reconsidering whether Cabernet was a boon or a bane on this mission. "Just let them leave, we've got enough on our plate right now."
"We're good humans!" Robin shouted across the gap.
Law looked at her with disbelief.
"I can't pass up a chance to learn about a previously unknown peoples' history." Robin explained with an amused smile.
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