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Chapter 2. Constant Shadows

xX Some Island in the West BlueXx

Running… Constantly searching for any clue while running for her life was all her life was reduced to. It was non-stop, she would stop someplace and after a few days to a couple weeks she would have to flee again. There wasn’t rhythm or reason to the madness that was her life, but she would not - could not – stop looking. Even if it eventually killed her, she wouldn’t quit searching for her dream. It was the least she could do. After all, they had sacrificed everything, down to their very lives, for her. So she couldn’t bring herself to quit the dream they all lived, and died, for.

The Void Century. The Blank History. The Rio Poneglyph. The one hundred years of history lost to current times that absolutely no one knows the contents of. A period of time that the World Government prohibits even speaking about, lest you find yourself utterly and mercilessly destroyed. A century immediately after which said government suddenly sprang into being. The same government that, upon learning that a certain island was researching that century, razed and burned the island and the people that were on it down beneath the waves.

The cannons that fired without mercy in the name of Absolute Justice. The terrified screams of the people that watched as family and friends got gunned down without hesitation. The acrid smell of everything on fire, from the books in the Tree of Knowledge, to the village, and even to the people themselves. The sheer brutality of the Buster Call, a merciless weapon of the World Government the rips apart anything and everything in its way. The pained smile that Saul had as he told her to run… run and never look back… to laugh through the tears… to live her life to the fullest…

Her eyes snapped open, a bright, crystal clear blue, instantly plagued by sadness and misery. The small body those eyes belonged to immediately quaking in terror as small gasps escaped her lungs. The girl, still in the midst of the nightmare, thrashed around trying to free herself from the covers that wrapped around her. A sob escaped her, tears streaking her cheeks, as she remembered the horrific scenes from her nightmare. The same, and only, nightmare she’s had for the last two years.

Robin slowly began taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself after that particular nightmare. She quickly untangled herself from the blanket that she wrapped herself in while asleep and stood up. Reaching out, blooming ears and eyes, Robin made sure she was alone in the small patch of forest she was in and went to the small stream she camped near. Quickly washing up, she took a few gulps of the cool water before finishing up and heading back to her miniscule campsite.

‘Outside again…’ she thought to herself listlessly, mentally preparing herself to the next few days without food. Robin knew she would have to find another village soon; going back to the one she was at a few days ago was tantamount to suicide with the bounty hunter trio that stalked her without end. She had thought she had gotten away from them at the previous island, but those three were relentless in their pursuit. They had caught up to her while she was in the process of stealing some food, and she had to use her powers to their fullest capabilities to escape them. In the end she ditched them but in the process lost a majority of the food she had.

Robin sighed deeply as she packed her meager belongings. Her semi-decent skills as a navigator told her that there were several other islands she could go to but physically getting there was usually the biggest problem. Taking a boat herself was hard, as there weren’t boats just lying around. Conning someone into taking her to a different island didn’t always work due to people recognizing her. Robin had gotten to the island she was on by bribing a fisherman with the last bit of money she had. She knew that getting on a pirate ship was risky business as well, due to the ship she had first got aboard on getting attacked and captured by Marines. Robin had fled, but not before hearing the crew members blame her for getting caught. She was only eight at the time; it hadn’t been long since Ohara, and she wasn’t accustomed to being constantly hounded by pretty much everyone. The circulation of her bounty poster made life extremely difficult for the now ten year old, but it wouldn’t stop her from achieving her goal.

Robin quickly finished packing and threaded her arms through the straps of the small backpack she had stumbled upon. Activating the Flower Flower fruit she ate when she was younger, Robin bloomed into existence a multitude of eyes and ears on the trees around her to make sure she wasn’t being followed. When she had first eaten the Devil Fruit, she thought it was a curse; bringing nothing but taunts, scorn and hatred at her. But now she realized how useful the Fruit actually was, especially on the run. The ability to bloom body parts anywhere around her was extremely handy, especially eavesdropping on people. Robin escaped more than a few ambushes set by Marines and bounty hunters alike, and if listening in on the conversations around her kept her out of harm’s way, then she would continue to do so.

Digging a peach out of her pack and biting into it, Robin made her way to the tiny village on the other side of the island. She hoped there would be a way off this island, as she didn’t want to spend any more time here than she already had. It was a while later when she heard it.

BANG!

Robin froze. ‘Someone found me!’ she thought, eyes wide with fear. Robin knew that the only people who knew she was on the island were the trio of bounty hunters and they for some reason targeted her specifically. She quickly glanced behind her and, not seeing anyone, quietly but swiftly ran for the small village she knew was on the other side of the forest. Blooming eyes on the tops of trees to look out for whoever it was, she nimbly jogged between the trees to her destination. Robin glanced to the right as she ran; noticing something moving and realized it was, once again, one of the hunters. ‘Darn! Darn, darn, darn! They caught up to me!’ she thought furiously, almost instantaneously darting behind one of the bigger trees in the vicinity. Robin concentrated on the eye she left one of the tree trunks and saw the hunter, flintlock pistol in hand, stomping through the woods and muttering under his breath. ‘Nicolai…’ she identified briefly, as he started shouting for his partners.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to get out from behind the tree without him seeing her, Robin bloomed several arms and scaled the trunk of the large tree she was hiding behind. Peeking through the branches and leaves, she saw that they were setting up camp about five feet away from her tree and realized she was stuck there for the foreseeable future. Robin sighed softly, wiggling a bit to get more comfortable on the tree branch she was perched on, hoping they wouldn’t look up and spot her. Robin broke out of her musings when she realized they were talking about her. She quickly bloomed an eye on the other side of the tree to watch them as they set up their camp.

“So, where d’you think that kid is?” One of the hunters asked.

“I don’t know...” One of the other two replied with a sigh. “She’s somewhere on the island though, I’ll tell ya that much. There aren’t any other ships except ours in this damned place, and we docked ours near that small village. There’s no place for her to go, we’ll find her.” The hunter said this with a grin, beginning to unpack and setup the tent. Robin perked up at this and grinned herself, mentally thanking the bounty hunters for providing her with a way off the island.

“Ahhh… Man, we’re gonna be rich when we do find her!” Nicolai exclaimed grinning, stretching back on the ground. “I honestly don’t know what I’m gonna spend my share on. But, woo man!”

“Nico get off the damn ground and help me with this, you useless bastard.” One of the bounty hunters Robin didn’t know growled. The only reason Robin knew Nicolai’s name was because the boss of the trio kept yelling at him to stop screwing around, in those exact words.

“Fine, fine.” Nico said with a groan, getting up and walking over to the other hunter. “Sheesh Vladdy, you’re having trouble? It’s only a tent; come on it’s not that hard.” He started laughing as the boss grew angrier.

“It’s Vladimir!” the now named boss shouted. “And if you have time to be making jokes and fantasizing about money you don’t even have yet, then you have time to help the rest of us!

“Nicolai, help him with the thing before he pops a blood vessel.” The last hunter interjected calmly.

Nicolai tisked, in mock disapproval. “You know, you shouldn’t get so angry Vlad, it’s not good for you. Just look at Boris; always calm, always stoic. You should take lessons, I mean seriously.” he said with the grin on his face widening.

“Just get over here already!” Vladimir snapped, muttering under his breath about useless layabouts plaguing his existence.

Boris smirked slightly from where he was sitting, stirring a stew over the fire, amused by the byplay between the other two hunters. Nicolai helped Vladimir set up the tent and by that time the food was ready. As the trio of bounty hunters sat down to eat, Robin felt her stomach contorting from the aroma of the stew they prepared. She as silently as possible shrugged her backpack off and pulled out some of the food she had left. Shifting slightly to get more comfortable on the branch and biting into the fruit, she went back to listening to the trio.

“So, how are we gonna find the kid, boss?” Nicolai asked, finishing up his stew and setting the bowl aside.

“Yeah, we only have a bit over 30,000 beli between the three of us left.” Boris stated. “We need to find her soon; we’re gonna run out of funds at this rate.”

“Or, we could forget her for now and take down a smaller bounty in the meantime.” Nicolai said with a grin. “We could always come back later.”

“We aren’t dropping this bounty, Nicolai!” Vladimir said harshly. “She doesn’t have anywhere left to run. So we find her, get her over to the Marines, and collect the biggest paycheck we’ve ever gotten. It would be monumentally stupid of us to drop this bounty when we’ve gotten so close, you understand?!” he glared at Nicolai, as if daring him to say anything contradictory.

“Ok, ok, chill.” Nicolai said, waving his arms in front of him, trying to calm Vladimir down. “No need to bite my head off about it.”

“We’ve been after her for over a week now.” Boris said with a sigh. “You’d think such a small girl would be easier to catch.”

“Yeah well, she doesn’t have a 79 million beli bounty for no reason.” Vladimir said darkly. “I do wonder what she did to warrant such a high bounty on a kid her age, though.”

“Wait what?! Don’t tell me you don’t know?!” Nicolai asked, sitting up in surprise. “Man, how have you not found out by now? The rumors about her are legendary!”

“I told you before; I don’t have time to listen to every stupid rumor people tell.” Vladimir said with a scowl. “I have more important things to do with my life.”

“What, like pout at everything?” Nicolai said grinning. “Yeah, real important Vladdy.”

“I don’t pout! And don’t call me that!” Vladimir yelled, clearly angered.

“Nico, the rumors?” Boris interrupted, cutting off the argument before it had a chance to grow.

“Hehe, you’re no fun Boris.” Nicolai said lightheartedly. “Anyway, the rumors, right. According to a Marine pal of mine, who heard it from a pal of his, the reason for the massive bounty was because she somehow sank six Marine battleships by herself. Now, no one knows how she managed to pull something like that off, but, according to rumor, she has one of the Devil Fruits. That’s the reason they call her the demon child.”

“No way.” Vladimir immediately shot out. “That’s impossible; the Devil Fruits are a myth.”

“Those Fruits are as real as you or I” Boris stated calmly. “I knew a guy who ate one, once.”

“Really? What kind was it?” Nicolai asked, excited. “There are three different types, if I remember correctly. One turns you into some kind of animal, one changes your body, and the last lets you control an element, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The guy I knew ate one that turned him into some kind of lizard I think. I was really young when I saw him last so I’m not too sure.” Boris said.

Vladimir looked at them both nonplussed. “Wait, so you knew the girl had one of these Fruits and didn’t say anything?” he asked. “Do you know how much harder it’s going to be to catch her now? Do we even know which one she has?”

“Chill, Vlad. We’ll catch her, don’t worry. Besides, there are three of us and only one of her so we have the advantage. We can spend the next day or two in this forest searching for her easily. So relax, ok?” Nicolai said smoothly, with a grin adorning his face once again.

Vladimir sighed, giving up. “Whatever, I’m tired of arguing with you. It’s getting late so you two should go to bed. I’m going to go take a leak.”

“Ooh! I’ll come with you!” Nicolai jumped up and dashed after him.

“Why the hell are you coming?! Vladimir asked annoyed. “I just told you that I’m going to take a leak so why the hell are you following me?!”

They steadily walked away from the campsite and their conversation got quieter until Robin couldn’t hear them anymore. The remaining member of the trio, Boris, sat quietly staring at the burning fire, and after a minute got up and packed their used dishes away after washing them. She watched as he tidied up after his partners, and went inside the tent to go to sleep.

Taking the chance she was given, Robin quickly shimmied down the tree and took off to the village she hasn’t visited yet. She left an ear on the tree to make sure she knew when the other two hunters would be back, just in case. Sighing heavily at how close a call she came to, she smiled at the amount of information they had unwittingly told her. Robin didn’t know what was better; the location of their ship, or that they were going to be in the forest for the next few days.

As she ran, Robin noticed the trees thinning out before the roofs of several buildings came into view. She stopped to catch her breath and bloomed eyes to make sure there was no one around in the village before walking out of the forest. Robin knew that since the bounty hunters had docked here, then they probably gave a copy of her bounty poster to the villagers. She knew that the more experienced bounty hunters did that, so it wasn’t a totally invalid concern. Robin quietly crept between the houses, keeping a sharp eye around, looking for the slightest bit of movement to give someone away. With the village silent as a tomb, she made her way to the spot where the trio left their ship.

Finding the ship, and listening to make sure that there wasn’t anyone on it, Robin bloomed hands and climbed aboard. Looking around the ship, she could tell that the trio had the ship for a while. It wasn’t that big, with a few personal effects lying about, but it was good enough to get her where she needed to go. The ship only had a few rooms on it, a kitchen with a semi-full fridge and a table, a bedroom with three hammocks and several lockers, a storage room with only a crate of cannonballs and several barrels all full of something in it, and the deck of the ship where the helm was. There was a single mast with a white sail and no flag, so she knew that this ship would be easier to sail than some of the others she had seen in the past.

Robin yawned massively, suddenly realizing just how exhausted she was. Between trudging through the forest all day and the drama with the bounty hunters, she knew she had to get some sleep. Robin took the time to quickly make herself something to eat before going to sleep in a pile of blankets she had found and bunched up in the storage room. She didn’t want the chance of the hunters coming back to the ship and finding her sleeping in their beds. This way, as her pile of blankets was behind the crate, she would be able to hide if they did come back. She curled up and fell asleep almost immediately.

xXxXxXx

The next morning came suddenly, Robin going from asleep to awake almost instantaneously. She sat up, and rubbed her shoulder, the muscle tensed from sleeping in a weird position. It was a testament to how tired she was last night when her usual nightmare was only the echo it was. Robin bloomed her usual eyes and ears, both on the ship and around, to verify that she was alone. Confirming that she was, she stepped out of the cabin of the ship and squinted in the bright, late-morning sunlight.

Morning ran into mid-day as Robin prepared the ship to set sail and finally set off. She had left a note for the bounty hunters, a bit of poetic justice in her mind after running herself ragged keeping away from them. A slight grin pulled at her lips at the thought of the trio’s faces when they get back to an empty shore and no ship. A little bit of karma, for all the suffering the Oharans went through for her. Giving her head a quick shake, to dispel the depressing thoughts clouding her mind, Robin ran through all she knew about the surrounding islands that she hasn’t visited yet. One was a small, deserted island almost no one went to due to the fierce wild animals that populated it. Two others were a bit bigger with small villages on both, but she didn’t really want to go to them because it would be harder to blend in. People tended to get suspicious of a lone girl no one knew wandering around their village. The last island, bigger than the last two combined, held a city and a huge forest where she could camp in if needed. Robin ultimately decided to head towards the city and try her luck there, knowing that she could always pose as an apprentice from a surrounding island if somebody starts asking questions.

Robin docked the ship and disembarked; her backpack on her shoulders and the library in mind as a destination. As she walked through the somewhat crowded streets, blooming several ears to listen to the conversations around her, she thought back to the stuff she found on the ship while at sea. The compass and map of the islands in this part of the West Blue went into her bag immediately, as well as a hooded sweater and a good amount of food. Robin also took all the money the trio of bounty hunters had on their ship, which wasn’t much but still better than nothing. Breaking out of her daze after nearly colliding into someone, she entered the library and started to study up on the history of the islands, as well as anything else that caught her interest.

Standing up as she finished the last of her books and stretching, Robin left the library and strolled through the city. It was evening at this point; and she had spent the entire day reading. She pulled the sweater on after it got colder and flipped up the hood to attract less attention to her. As she walked, a bit disgruntled at the fact the newest history books were over thirty years old, she spawned a few of her ears and listened in on the conversations of the people around her. A couple of women complaining about the prices of the food market, a small crowd of kids all younger than her running around playing, four fishermen comparing catches and bragging about the biggest they caught. Robin smiled briefly at the mundane topics before a new voice caught her attention.

“-and before you know it, there they were. I’m telling you, the head honchos would have never put up a base here if it wasn’t for that Roger guy. We’re lucky they’re here though, you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean honey, we are so lucky!”

“It’s all those damn pirates; it’s their entire damn fault! But now we have the Marine Base here and we’ll be safe.”

“I know, but aren’t they only-“

Robin froze, practically paralyzed. ‘Marines? Here? Nonononono…’ she thought, starting to shake in fear. Her hand reached up and grabbed her left shoulder, remembering her last encounter with the Marines. She was recognized by some rookie Marine grunt and he had called his Captain. The Captain sent out his whole unit and they had nearly caught her in the end. She managed to escape, but not before a lucky shot hit her in the shoulder. She had been fortunate that the round didn’t hit anything important and went completely through, otherwise the two weeks she spent recovering would’ve been a lot longer.

Robin shook herself out of her daze and sat on a bench in an out of the way corner of the small park she was in. She forced herself to think of a way off the island and not wallow in her fear and panic. Robin knew that staying here was now out of the question, if she did it was only a matter of time before she was caught by the Marines. Getting back to the ship was a priority, with the Marine presence nobody would give her a ride and pirates would be stupid to dock their ships in this town. She would have to stick to the outer streets to avoid running into anything dangerous, and the danger was compounded by the fact that she had no idea where in the city the Base even was. Nodding to herself, Robin made a decision and walked out of the park towards the place her ship was.

As she walked, Robin kept all eyes and ears peeled for the slightest indication of being recognized. Passing a restaurant and looking at the people eating, she made eye contact with a man who was eating with what looked to be his family. He glanced at her and she knew she was in trouble when he did a double take, eyes widening. Her eyes mirrored his and panic flooded her system when she noticed his young son wearing a Marine cap on his head. As his eyes narrowed, glaring at her, she started running full tilt, not caring anymore about drawing suspicion. Feet pounding on the road, she weaved through the crowds still populating the streets even at this time of day.

“Hey! There she is! Get her!”

‘Oh darn it!’ Robin thought, panicking. Whirling around and seeing the Marine soldiers running down the street carrying rifles, she bolted down the street and towards the nearest safe place she could find; the forest. As she ran, Robin reached out with her ability and tripped up a few of the Marines in the front. A quick glance behind her showed the soldiers lying in a pile, wiggling and trying to free themselves from the bodies of their fellow Marines. Running through the streets, hearing a multitude of different voices calling for her capture, Robin sprinted through one of the three gates into and out of the city, the guards not noticing who it was that ran by their post until it was too late.

Robin hadn’t realized it was raining until she felt the first few drops hit her head and arms. A drizzle became rain, which in turn became a downpour as Robin ran in the darkened forest, lit only by the moon’s glow. She could still hear the soldiers chasing her, several dozen feet pounding the now muddy ground of the forest floor. Robin knew it wouldn’t be long until they caught up to her and then her life would be over. Tears welling in her eyes, intermingling with the rain’s steady fall, running like her life depended on it, it was exactly then when Robin felt it.

KERSZZT-BOOOM!!!

A flash of green lightning, the smell of ozone in the air, and absolute silence. All it took was one moment, and Robin’s life changed forever. Not that she knew it.