Chapter 5: Chapter Five | She's (Almost) Lost ControlChapter TextAll Quinn could hear was the ringing in her ears, the way the gunshot and the crack of her wand echoed over and over. The vision of it was seared into her retina, that familiar branch of holly and phoenix feather exploding into a cloud of slivers that drifted westward, carried by a sudden gust of wind. That icy chill swept across her, arms trembling with fury, her finger clenched, slick with sweat, around the trigger of a still smoking gun.
It took her a moment to realize someone was shaking her by the arm, and slowly, with a distant gaze, Quinn tilted her head to see Sanji wearing an expression of horror and concern.
"I'll kill him," someone said, their words dripping with poison as black as tar. "I'll kill him!"
"Quinn, you're going to get yourself hurt."
"I'll kill him. I'll turn the fucker inside out."
"Quinn, please."
"You hear me, Gin!? You're going to die here! All for your lying bastard of a captain!" The same voice rang out across the waters, hoarse with rage. It was then that Quinn realized it was her own. "I'll show you why Death Eaters won't speak my name! I'll drag you broken and bloodied to Azkaban myself!"
Spit flew from her lips, every drop of it tasting of the purest venom. A decades worth of anger that had been bottled and hidden, tucked away in the deepest recesses of her mind now bled forth, crackling with magic. She flexed her legs, ready to run headlong towards Gin and drag him screaming to the depths with her bare hands when Luffy appeared before her, worry etched into his every pore.
Gently, as if he feared she might break, Luffy took her by the hand and ran his thumb across her knuckles. "Quinn."
"Luffy, get out of my way."
"Quinn."
She blinked, Luffy's voice barely carving through the blood-red fog that had swept through her lightning quick, a flash-flood of rage unfettered by the laws that Quinn adhered to with a vigilance born not of respect but necessity. "Luffy?"
"Zeff wants to talk with you."
"What?"
"He's waiting for you inside. Usopp? Johnny? Yosaku?"
"Yeah?"
"Help her."
An arm looped through hers and she was dragged, stumbling into the Baratie. The whole while her gaze never left Gin's, and the man was paler than death, soaked from head to toe in his crewmate's blood. Quinn blinked, and he was gone, the inside of the restaurant in his place. Another blink, and Quinn was sitting, and she looked down to see an arm still laced through hers. She followed it up to see who it was attached to, Usopp, pale and sweating as he talked with Zeff.
"No, no." Quinn stumbled out of her chair, jerking backwards and breaking free of Usopp's grip. "I have to kill that son of a bitch, I have to- hey! Let go of me!" she shouted, Johnny's iron grip replacing Usopp's, Yosaku taking her by the other arm. Together, they held her in a vice
"Let it go, sis. Your head ain't on right, anyone could sneak up on you right now."
"He's right," Zeff said, marching up to her with a stern look. "You wade into that battle the way you are now, you're going to die."
"You don't understand, that wasn't- that wasn't just a stick, that was-"
"Your treasure?" Usopp asked, a sense of familiarity in his eyes. "You're acting how Luffy would if his hat got destroyed."
"You're comparing my wand to a hat? A fucking hat?"
Usopp glared at her. "That hat means everything to him."
Swallowing, Quinn returned his glare before eventually relenting, her head bobbing in a slow nod. "It's what lets me use my magic. My wand, it's- it's all I have- had left of home," she admitted quietly, doing her damndest to fight back the shame that painted her cheeks in red.
"Witch."
"Zeff?"
"These three fools were just telling me that they're going to track down that twin of yours."
"My what?" Slowly, her brain churned, mired by confusion and the still raw pain of losing her wand, all that remained of it being a stub of jagged wood and a handful of splinters that jutted out of the thin flesh that clung to her knuckles. "Nami?"
"That was the little thief's name?"
Usopp nodded. "Yeah, that's her."
"Well, consider yourself on leave, Witch. I want you to tag along with these three and make sure they don't go and get themselves killed by a fishman with a grudge."
"No. I'm staying and I'm fighting."
"Not a chance. I'm not letting you hang around here so you can sneak out the back and get your head blown off by a stray bullet. That Straw Hat kid and that shitty eggplant of mine will take care of Krieg without too much fuss."
"There's no way I'm leaving when-"
Quinn snarled through the hand that clenched at her mouth, Zeff looking down at her with annoyance. "I'll knock you out if I have to, got it? You three, get her out of here and grab one of the sloops moored out back. You know where you're headed?"
"Cocoyashi Village," Yosaku hissed. "Where Ar- Ar- Arlong's base is."
"Better get moving then! Go, go!" he shouted, shooing them towards the kitchen.
I'll kill that damned chef too.
Teeth gritted, Quinn snarled and cursed at the two bounty hunters, all to no avail, their gaze cast stubbornly forward and their hold unbreakable no matter how much she thrashed nor swore at them. Usopp cast a fearful glance at her from over his shoulder, muttering something under his breath about terrifying women, which made Quinn thrash all the more.
The sound of battle echoed in her ears as she was dragged to a small ship, Johnny letting go of her arm only for it to be instantly held by his partner. Both Usopp and Johnny quickly untangled the ropes from the tiny pier that stuck out of the back of the Baratie, Usopp giving Quinn one last, apologetic shrug before he planted his boot against the pier and pushed. He shivered at the sound of gunfire and held his hands up to his ears, accidentally hitting himself in the jaw with the berthing rope. Blinking, Usopp paused as he looked down at the rope, over to Quinn, and then back again. Finally, he turned his gaze to Quinn with fearful resignation in his eyes, an apology already bursting from his lips as he shuffled towards her.
"Don't you dare." She interrupted, and bared her teeth at Usopp like a wild animal. "If you're even thinking of tying me up I'll show you what we did to pirates back in England. Have you heard of a gibbet, Usopp?"
"Alright! Uh-" He did his best to ignore her, smiling through the fear. "So- Johnny and Yosaku can't hold onto you forever so, uh, we're going to have to use this until we're away from the Baratie so you don't- um… you know- uh, swim away?"
"I hope that nose you've got works like a goddamn snorkel because I'm going to drown you when I'm free."
"Okay! That's uh- that's not terrifying at all, so- Johnny? Johnny can you- I think you'd be perfect for this. The Great Captain Usopp needs to chart a course, after all!" With that Usopp threw the rope at Johnny who scrambled to snatch it out of the air, wrestling with it and shaking all the way over to Quinn, and as he grew closer she could tell how scared he was of her by his pinprick pupils and the quiver of his breath.
Quinn's heart clenched and she sagged in Yosaku's grip. "I'm not… I'm not going to try and fight," she promised, watching the Baratie grow smaller as they drifted away. "I'm just- I promise, I'm not going to go back." A weary huff flew from her and with it all the fight she had left. "I'm sorry."
"You're uh- you're sorry?"
"I am. I shouldn't have- I'm sorry I threatened you. I'm sorry I scared you. That wasn't… you did absolutely nothing to deserve it." She looked Usopp in the eye, trying to convey to him how truly sorry she was. Quinn genuinely felt awful, and while she still shook from the adrenaline that trickled through her veins, moving at a steady crawl, it no longer came from a source of anger but instead, shame. "If it'll make all of you feel safer you can tie me up and throw me in the corner. I'm not going to fight."
The three of them shared a look, or, it felt as though they did. Quinn couldn't exactly get a look at Yosaku from where she was but he shifted a bit when Johnny's gaze swung their way. A silence slowly built until Johnny decided for them, dropping the rope on the deck and waving his hand. "I believe her."
No questions asked, Yosaku let her go, and Quinn slowly – so as not to spook them – rubbed the blood back into her arms for the second time today. She shivered, grimacing at the chill of the ocean wind as they drew further away from the Baratie, no longer shielded by its high walls and the heat that always radiated from the kitchen. "So we're chasing after Nami?" she asked, leaning against the outcropping of the bunk.
"Yup. Lil' bro Luffy and the rest of the crew are going to meet us on the Conomi Islands."
"I can't imagine I'm going to be of much use to any of you in a fight, what with… well- fuck."
Quinn stared at the splintered remains of her wand that she still held tight to with a white-knuckled fist. Her knuckles creaked as she let go of the jagged stick, because that was really all it was at this point. A fancy stick. Her lip jutted out as she picked the splinters from her hand, flicking them onto the deck with foggy eyes.
It hurt worse than the first time she lost it.
Could Quinn even find or make a new wand here? She knew nothing about wandlore, how Ollivander and his compatriots around the world managed to take a branch and whittle it into something both beautiful and dangerous, concealing within it the heart of some majestic beast she'd only ever heard of in storybooks.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Johnny squatting in front of her, his head tilted in confusion. "Not much use in a fight? You blew that guy up back there."
"So?"
"So? So? Get a load of her, Yosaku. She doesn't even realize how scary she is."
"Zeff said she came from a remote island. Don't know much about the world."
"You mean-?"
"Probably don't even realize what she did."
Quinn frowned at the both of them. "Mind filling me in?"
"Johnny's had that pistol of his for what, a year now? Barely ever uses the damn thing, but he got it a while back. Know what it doesn't do when he shoots it?"
"...Blow people up?"
Yosaku snapped both of his fingers at her. "Righto! Musta' been your Devil Fruit or somethin' because I ain't ever seen anything like it. That guy just went bwah-" he threw his arms out, gurgling. "-Blood everywhere. It was crazy."
Looking away, in no particular direction, Quinn's brow furrowed. She tried to recall what happened when she pulled the trigger, what she felt and saw as that bullet flew, obliterating the man next to Gin. Past the fury, past the anger that had been boiling inside her since she first laid eyes on the Veil, Quinn could remember the feeling of pure, glorious magic coursing through her arm and into the bullet that had ended that man's life.
Her gaze trailed down to her left hand, fingers splayed open as if they'd catch the secret she was after like netting. "I somehow… how?"
That shouldn't have been, couldn't have been possible. At least, not back home. But- but, with how incredibly, hilariously dense the magic was in this world, it should be possible. Was that what Mihawk did? Forcing some kind of magic into his blades and when swung, unleashing it on those unlucky enough to draw his ire?
"Do you mind if I take a look at that pistol?"
Johnny didn't hesitate, unlooping it from his belt and handing it over to her. "Reloaded it after you dropped the damn thing, try firing it at the water a little ways away and let's see if you've still got it."
"Guys, are you sure that's a good idea?"
"What? She said she ain't gonna' fight us so she ain't, right?"
"I promised you I wouldn't. I don't walk back on my promises."
"See? She's alright, just was ragin' mad earlier. Big bro Zoro gets like that sometimes, so it's no sweat."
Usopp paled at that statement, muttering under his breath about terrifying swordsmen, but it eased the tension nonetheless. All Quinn did was wince. She definitely deserved his suspicion, and she hoped that however long this voyage took she'd managed to earn back his respect (and the childlike way with which he watched her work her magic, eyes alight like hers had been when Hagrid had waved his umbrella through the air, sparks trailing from the top in glittering red).
"Alright." She turned the pistol over, getting used to the heft of iron and walnut – or whatever passed for walnut over here. Quinn pointed it at the sea, well away from the sloop. She breathed deeply and tried her best to drum up that sensation of magic bursting from her fingertips, coursing into the pistol and suffusing the powder and bullet nestled within. It must have been five minutes she'd spent standing there in silence before she felt a prickle in her palm and, between one heartbeat and the next, pulled the trigger.
There was a snap, followed by a cacophonous crack as the hammer slammed true and sparked the powder, the bullet exploding from the end of the pistol in a flash of light and smoke. The pistol kicked in her hand, and the bullet fizzed as it flew further than it ever should have, whistling through the air with frost crackling in its wake. Quinn blinked just as it struck the surface of the water, stalagmites of jagged blue erupting from the sea and spreading across the surface, a handful miniature floes peeking from the waves like breaching icebergs before being carried away.
"Huh," she whispered, finally dragging her eyes away from the icy explosion to look at the pistol as if it would have changed when she wasn't looking at it. "I thought it'd be lightning again but… I have an idea."
"That was awesome!" Johnny shouted, hands pressed to the side of his head.
"That gives you an idea?" Yosaku added.
"I can… can I keep this?"
"I barely use the damn thing, and either way, how could I say no after seeing that! Woah!"
"Do any of you have a screwdriver and a chisel, or a knife?"
"I got all those in my bag," Usopp said quietly. "What… what are you going to do with them?"
"I'm thinking… and this is all theoretical, but what I'm thinking is, I can inscribe some runes on the barrel and grip so that I can easily channel my magic into it. It took way too damn long just mustering up the power to do it unassisted, but- and it's a big but, I might be able to do it a lot easier with runes."
"Runes?"
"It's a- it's a way to use my magic. Runes are like… they're like symbols that each mean a different thing. Put them together in the right way, and you can make wards, traps, things like that."
"What happens if you put them together the wrong way?"
"Nothing pretty," she said, wincing. A new recruit fresh out of training had ignored her order to leave a door alone until she could take a look at it. Instead, he tried to create his own counter-ward for the damned thing on the spot. Quinn only realized he'd ignored her order when she heard a dull pop and felt one of his ribs plunge into her thigh.
"Are you sure you want to do it in the middle of the ocean?"
"I'm a dab hand at runes, and what I have in mind shouldn't be an issue. An array to help funnel and direct my magic, as well as a conjuration scheme to make ammo and powder whenever I pull the trigger… it'll take me a couple of days but it won't be volatile."
"Can… if you build a slingshot for me or something will it work? Or is this a Devil Fruit only thing?"
"I'm sorry but I don't think it'd work for you," Quinn said, the lie staining her teeth.
She'd told Gin too much and he'd destroyed her wand, now here she was scrambling in an effort to even the playing field. People were strong here, far stronger than anyone would be back home. Even Dumbledore, for all his might, would have been killed in an instant by Mihawk. Because how could you contend with someone who could carve a mountain in two? And if someone had that insane level of strength, how fast would they be? You can't hit something you can't see, and no matter Dumbledore's immense knowledge he never would have been able to even spot someone like Mihawk if he didn't want to be seen.
The most terrifying thought Quinn had was that Mihawk had to overcome someone to become known as the world's greatest. What kind of monsters were out there in this vast blue sea?
Quinn didn't know these people. She didn't trust these people. Giving them access to a magic that they might be unaware they even possessed could not just spell her own death, but the death of countless others.
So lie if she must. Deceive anyone and everyone, and so long as she didn't give away magic to someone who would use it to turn this world on its head, she'd have succeeded.
Usopp, for his part, looked only mildly disappointed, shrugging his shoulders as if to say what did I expect. He wobbled his head a bit in thought, then tossed a swiss army knife (or whatever the hell it was called here) as well as a small chisel over to Quinn. She caught them, nodding at him in thanks before looking at the pistol with a glimmer in her eyes.
-::-
Quinn learned quite quickly that this world was predominantly ocean. Not in the same way as earth, with vast expanses separating the continents, but instead small strings of islands dotted here and there. There were archipelagos, spots of barren rock or sand straight out of a picture book, or the rare few islands that were like that of Japan or New Zealand, countries stretched out across a long strip of mountainous terrain.
They'd stopped at a tiny spit of land to resupply about a week into their journey, and when Quinn asked Johnny how long they had left he'd rambled something that amounted to another week, give or take a few days. This world was… immense. It was hard to tell how large it was exactly, but she'd hazard a guess at it being twice as large as earth, which was a frightening thought. How in the hell was she standing? Shouldn't the gravity have sent her to her knees?
To put it simply, nothing here made any goddamn sense and she was starting to get to the point where she no longer felt like asking any questions at all.
In better news, the pistol had come along nicely. She'd spent the first few days of the journey planning the runes she'd need and the last few deciding their placement. Whilst she was better at dismantling runic arrays than putting them together, you couldn't know one without knowing the other. The only issue she'd run into was the matter of inscribing them into the metal with a simple chisel, whereas she'd normally use her wand. Since that wasn't an option, and she wouldn't be doing this if she did have a wand, Quinn was forced to improvise with something much less precise.
Humming, she shaded her eyes, keeping watch of the sloop while the other three grabbed food. The only thing she really had to be thankful for were the few wandless spells she'd picked up over the years, that being a few basic conjurations as well as the summoning charm.
Water was a necessity, and her being able to cast a wandless aguamenti had gone a long way towards getting her… not into, but closer to Usopp's good books. He'd mentioned off-handedly the other day that they were getting low on rations, water especially, to which she'd conjured a glass and filled it, handing it to him without a word. It was a movement built from habit, something she'd have done lounging about the house with Ginny, who was the laziest person Quinn knew when she'd gotten cozy. She'd rather ask Quinn for a glass of water than haul herself off the sofa and get one herself, and she had the annoying habit of leaving her wand in hard to reach places around the house.
So Quinn hadn't thought, she'd just done it the instant she heard Usopp say he was thirsty. It wasn't until she realized how quiet the ship had gotten did Quinn look up to see the expressions of awe being directed her way. Water was life, after all, and it had been a very long time since she didn't have easy access to it in almost every situation. It wasn't until… well, here where that hadn't been the case.
"Oi, Quinn!"
"Yeah?" she asked, not looking away from the breathtaking view of the ocean, thin white peaks rolling across the sandy shores. She'd never seen a beach with water this clear. Not in person. Quinn snorted, realizing that in a fashion, she was traveling in the way that Robards had recommended and that she'd never had the chance to experience before.
She'd recognized Johnny's voice anyways. What could she say? He was annoying on the first encounter, but the guy was growing on her.
"Found some good booze for cheap! We can have a party soon!"
"A party?"
"Well, Luffy and big bro Zoro should have trashed Krieg by now. We'll just have to wait for them to catch up to us!"
"I hope they took out Gin for me, otherwise I'm going to be pissed off."
"I'm sure Sanji did him in for ya'. He seemed pretty angry about the whole thing as well."
"Did he now?"
"Yup. You were out of it, but he said something about the restaurant and Zeff, but the look in his eyes…" Johnny shuddered next to her. "All of you guys are scary. You, Zoro, and Sanji. Buncha' monsters," he joked, jabbing her shoulder with the bottle he'd picked up.
Quinn huffed, taking a look at a bottle of… sake?
"They grow rice on this island?"
"I mean, I guess?"
It didn't look like they had the space for it, but Quinn just shrugged rather than question it, handing the bottle back to him. "We've got another week of this, yeah?"
"Yup. Then… then we can look for Nami."
"Got any plans after that?"
"Bounty huntin' I guess. Same as always."
"Not interested in joining the Straw Hats?"
"Nah." He waved the idea away. "Don't wanna' be a pirate, and I never wanna' go to the Grand Line. I mean, you saw that Mihawk guy." Johnny shuddered at the memory. "I say you and Zoro are scary, but he's really scary."
"Should've seen him cut an entire fleet down."
"Nope! No thanks! Know what?"
"What?"
"You can help me haul all this shit onto the sloop just for puttin' that nightmare in my head."
Sighing good naturedly, Quinn grabbed the sack of food he'd bought and made for the ship. She had a pistol to enchant and it was calling her name.
Chapter 6: Chapter Six | UprootedChapter Text"Arlong is connected to another Warlord," Quinn deadpanned, cursing her luck.
"Yeah. Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea."
"Will he come after us if we take out this Arlong guy?"
"Take out?" Yosaku gasped, slapping his hand over his mouth. His head twisted left and right, as if Jinbe or Arlong would burst out of the ocean next to them. "Are you crazy? No, we're not taking him out. That guy has a twenty million bounty! Twenty million! That's more than Krieg!"
"Well, I wanted to test this pistol out on something and thought he'd make a great target. Unless you were just bullshitting me about the things he's done?"
"No, every word o'that was true, which is why he's bad news! The worst news! A goddamn nightmare!"
Sucking in a deep breath, Yosaku's chest bulged before exhaling, and he shivered at the thought of Arlong alone. "You done?"
"You got a death wish, lady."
"Hey, Usopp!"
"Yeah?"
"Luffy shows up and finds out this Arlong guy is a right cunt. What do you think he'd do?"
The frown that pulled at Usopp's brow was quickly replaced by a wail of absolute despair. "He'd fight him."
"I've known the guy all of a week and I'd agree with you on that. Anyways, I cracked the code on this beauty-" she patted her pistol, which was swiftly becoming a codependent comfort. "-and I think it could blow a hole in the guy's chest about three feet wide, give or take. Fishman or not, whatever that is, this'd almost do a basilisk in and I don't think Arlong could take out one of those."
"A basilisk?"
"Big snake," Quinn said, holding her hands out for good measure. "Killed one when I was twelve."
"Uh… how big?"
She hummed. "Sixty-odd feet? Its head was about as big as I am."
"How are you alive?" Usopp whined, throwing his head back in horror. "And why do you act like it's all so… normal?"
"Oh, it's not normal. My life has just been insane from front to back. I sort of got used to it after a while."
"Weren't you ever, you know, scared?"
"Of course I was. Seven years of it, and I was terrified every bloody day."
"Then how did you do it? How did you become brave?" There was something wishful in his words, as if he was asking her to reveal the secret to life itself.
She looked at Usopp, trying to get a proper idea of the guy. He was younger than her by a few years, but as far as Quinn could tell that didn't matter much here. People weren't terribly concerned about what constituted a responsible age to set out to sea. He wasn't all that brave, otherwise he wouldn't be asking her that question. Nor was he strong, but… wasn't that the norm? Usopp was just another bloke, one with a dead-eye and a keen hand when it came to tinkering mind you – but he'd managed to wander into the welcoming arms of the Straw Hat crew, a gaggle of superpowered maniacs with a penchant for leaping before they looked, judging by every story they'd told her.
He reminded her of Ron. Clever, handy beyond imagining, able to think circles around anyone and everyone, but he was hampered by an inferiority complex a mile wide that was only made worse by constantly comparing his accomplishments to those of his crew.
"Usopp… what do you think bravery is?"
"It's being fierce!" he declared, punching the sky. "A fearless adventurer who's always ready to see what's over the horizon. Someone who doesn't hesitate to defend a friend, or cut down a villainous foe!" Just as quickly as his excitement had come, it disappeared, and he wilted in the span of a second. "Someone… not like me."
"Usopp. I just told you that I was scared, all the damn time. So were my friends, but that didn't stop us. Bravery isn't being fearless, because if you can't feel fear you're just going to get yourself killed." She tapped her chin, Usopp not seeming to listen, or at least believe in her words. "Fear is good. Fear is safe. When I get scared the whole world shrinks to a pinprick."
Quinn made a circle with her fingers, closing it until only a shred of sunlight peeked through. "I can see further, sharper. I can react like that-" she snapped her fingers, startling Usopp. "I can sprint faster, I can dodge an attack I didn't see coming but instead felt. I can take out a fleeing mark with a spell that should never have struck them, because when I'm scared it feels like even though my heart'll leap out of my chest, I can do fucking anything."
Letting out a slow, impassioned sigh, Quinn offered Usopp a faint smile. "No such thing as bravery without fear. You can't have one without the other."
He, in turn, was looking at her as if she truly had revealed the meaning of life. Usopp's eyes sparked with something she hadn't seen in them in the three weeks she had known him. Ambition.
Usopp was a talker. Not a doer. He'd spun stories almost every moment of every day, each one more grandiose and fantastical than the last. But even as he painted a vivid picture of giants and seafaring heroes of old, Quinn could tell that even he didn't put faith in the words he spoke. But now, he was looking at his own hands as if they could move mountains, the faint tremble that had run through them over the last day – knowing they'd make landfall at Cocoyashi soon – was now tempered by something far more resolute than simple fear.
He had wanted to be brave. Now Usopp looked as though he was ready to try and be brave.
"You get what I mean?"
"Yeah," he muttered, not dragging his gaze away from his hands. "I think I do."
"Good lad."
"Hey! You're not that much older than me."
"Still. Good lad."
"Screw you."
Quinn grinned. "He's got stones, this one! Y'see, Usopp? You were still piss scared of me this morning, which I won't fault you for, I was fucking horrific – but look at you now!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "Didn't even flinch!"
With a quirked eyebrow Usopp glanced off to the side, fist pressed to his chin. "I did, didn't I?" His eyes widened and he shot to his feet. "Holy shit, I did!" Usopp whooped, punching the air again. "I… holy shit. Uh- I'm-"
"Don't you dare apologise."
"Nope! Not apologising!" He locked his arms into an x, shaking his head. "Because I, Captain Usopp, am a brave warrior of the sea!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Johnny interjected, smirking at Usopp.
"Oi!"
"Kidding! Kidding! Just pullin' your leg."
"Oi!"
"What!?"
"Land ho!"
Squinting, Quinn tried to look ahead to no avail. Christ, Usopp had a set of eyes on him. "You sure?"
"Yeah. You guys can't see it?" He frowned, but then puffed his chest out proudly. "Of course it's I that can see land before any of you mere mortals! For I, the Great Captain-"
"Okay Usopp, enough of that. I believe you, and so do Johnny and Yosaku, right guys?"
"Aye!"
"Excellent." She patted the pistol at her side, still trying to catch a glimpse of land. "We should lay low when we get there. We'll set up camp well away from wherever Arlong is situated but close enough to any villages to know when Luffy and Zoro get here. Have the two of you ever been to these islands?" she asked, finger bouncing between Johnny and Yosaku.
"No ma'am," they replied in unison.
"Do you know anything about them apart from them being Arlong's base of operations? Topography, location of any villages or settlements?"
"There should be a mountain on the western end of the main island, and one directly opposite to the east. Arlong Park is supposed to be nestled between the two, looking over Cocoyashi Village. Gosa Village is to the Southwest, and the safest place to make landfall."
Looking over the two bounty-hunters, Quinn eyed them in a new light. "You two ex-marines or something?"
"Aye ma'am. Left a few months out after basic training. We've been pals since."
"What made you leave?"
"We were forced out. Dishonourable discharge," Johnny spat, while Yosaku just scowled. "Too much corruption, even in the East Blue."
"More I hear about these Marines the more I hate them," she groused, more to herself than to any of her companions. "Sorry to go all Captain on the two of you, bad habit of mine."
"You're not an ex-marine?"
"I was an… Auror back where I come from. We were responsible for tracking down and apprehending terrorists, war criminals, the worst of the worst."
"Cool," all three of them exclaimed, which made Quinn scowl.
"No. Not cool. Trust me. Half the people I worked with were absolute bastards."
"Aw." Johnny crossed his arms. "At least you're cool."
"I try."
-::-
They moored in a cove, just barely inland and about a kilometre or two away from Gosa Village.
No one had to worry about being spotted, seeing as the Village had literally been turned on its head.
Quinn walked through the empty streets with fury in her gut, simmering just below the surface as she surveyed the crumbling houses. Each and every one of them rested on their roof, the shingles splayed out in mockery of a blooming flower. There were still blood-stains spattering their walls, globs of the stuff congealed and mixed with the sandy streets, painting it in shades of rusted brown.
"Arlong did this?" she asked, tight lipped. It took everything in her not to march towards the pirate's compound and open fire on the bastard and his crew. "And for what?"
"What the-?"
Whirling around, pistol drawn, she stopped to see a young boy standing over Usopp, his foot extended. "Did you trip him? Usopp, did you let him trip you?"
"Shut up!" the boy howled, glaring at them at brandishing a knife. "Running around with a damn fishman! Your people did this! Your people killed my father!"
"Hey kid, put that knife down before someone gets hurt. There's no fishmen here."
"Yeah there is! This guy!" The kid pointed at Usopp, who lifted his head and groaned in pain, his nose bruised. "Look at that nose! He's a fishman, a lamprey or something!"
"He's not a fishman, kid. He's just got a big nose."
"What?"
The boy kneeled and tilted his head, squinting at Usopp's face. His eyes widened, a blush crept across his face, and in a heartbeat he was apologising, dropping his knife and helping Usopp off the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I thought you were with Arlong!"
"Damn this nose of mine," Usopp grumbled, waving the boy off. "It's fine. I'm the Great Captain-"
Johnny poked Usopp in the ribs, cutting his catch-phrase short as the sniper let out a sharp giggle. "Stop! I'm ticklish!"
"Kid, what's your name?"
He turned to Quinn. "Chabo."
"Arlong did all this? He killed your dad?"
Chabo's face crumpled into something ugly, something that no child should wear. In the way his brow crunched into a frown, his lips drawn into a tight scowl, every inch of him with painted in contempt. "He destroyed the village and killed my father because we couldn't pay tribute."
"Protection money."
"Protection from Arlong, yeah." Chabo spat on the ground and stamped his feet. "He's a monster, same with that redhead witch of his."
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Redhead? She looks a lot like you actually. Are you another one of her sisters or something?"
Quinn and Usopp locked eyes, and he nodded at her. "We came here looking for her. Are you saying Nami is a part of Arlong's crew?"
"Yeah, whatever her name is. She's a part of his crew. She's been a part of it for ten years." Pointing at his cheek, upon which Quinn noticed a nasty bruise was beginning to form, Chabo smiled. "She did this to me when I went to kill Arlong"
"Is that why you had a knife?"
"How else would I kill him?"
"Chabo… I think in a messed up, roundabout way, she saved your life."
"Bullshit."
"What'd she do to you, exactly? Stop you from picking a fight with a guy who can do this?" she asked, gesturing at the carnage around them. "She smacked you around?"
Head hanging, Chabo kicked his feet as he muttered something under his breath.
"Excuse me?"
"And she gave me a bunch of money."
"She saved your life."
"Damn straight, she did," a woman growled. "Chabo!"
Sighing, Quinn looked to the source of the new voice to see a blue-haired, tattooed woman glaring at the boy. "And you are?"
"Nojiko, someone who's been trying to find Chabo and get him back to his mother, who is very, very worried about him."
"Mum?"
"She's been laying low at my place, worrying herself sick over you. And you lot," she added, surveying the motley little group Quinn had found herself with. "You can come too, and explain to me how you know my sister."
-::-
The tangerine grove they had been led to, resting on the outskirts of Cocoyashi Village, was perfectly and utterly serene if not for the thin column of smoke that rose between the distant hills. They were far away enough from Arlong Park to not be in any danger of being discovered, but even that razor thin trail of gray was enough to leave Quinn on edge. It was an hour's walk, maybe two away from the grove, but she'd always get a sinking feeling in her gut by being close to a mark.
And she'd decided for herself that Arlong was her mark after seeing the few farmers they'd passed on their way to Nojiko's home. The way their backs were hunched from work and fear, the distrust in their eyes and how deeply the scars that caused it ran. These people weren't living, they weren't surviving, they were barely existing and Quinn doubted they'd find that captured even a sliver of their sorrows.
"C'mon, all of you, sit down," Nojiko said, pulling out a chair for herself and tossing a basket of tangerines onto her rickety dining room table. "And tell me why you're looking for Nami."
Happy to sit down after the long walk, Quinn planted herself in one of the chairs and picked up a tangerine, peeling it with her thumbs. "I'm just along for the ride, but after that walk and seeing Gosa…" She popped some of the tangerine in her mouth, and hummed at how perfect the fruit tasted. Just the right mix of sweet and tangy, and it made her suddenly crave marmalade on toast. "I think I'm ready to kill the bastard."
"Quinn," Usopp groaned, planting his forehead on the table.
"Be brave, Usopp."
"Brave. Be brave."
"You're going to kill him?" Nojiko interjected. "Are you insane?"
"She is."
"It'll either be me or Luffy who does that guy in." Quinn shrugged at the abject despair directed her way by Usopp. "We had this conversation already. C'mon, you think Luffy isn't going to pick a fight with that guy the instant he gets here?"
"Who the hell are you people?"
"Quinn D. Potter," she said, then pointed at Usopp.
"Usopp."
"Johnny."
"Yosaku."
"Feel like I'm at community service."
Johnny snorted, grabbing a tangerine for himself. All Nojiko did was shake her head, sighing deeply. "If you're not here because you have a grudge against Nami, then what did you come here for?"
"To save her, most likely. Luffy was worried about Nami by the sound of things."
"And who is Luffy?"
"That guy's Captain." She pointed at Usopp again.
"You a pirate or something?"
"Their idea of what it means to be a pirate is… loose."
"Loose."
"Usopp?"
"It's all about being free, right?" He lifted his head off the table, and out of the corner of her eye Quinn could see his fingers drumming nervously across his thigh. "Being able to go on adventures. To go out and see the world, meet new people, eat great food… being a pirate is freedom."
Nojiko, for her part, looked only a little mystified. She glanced between Usopp and Quinn, frowning, before she sighed again, this time more weary than the last. "I get what you mean," she uttered, pinching her brow. "So… Nami ran into you and your crew?"
"She traveled with us for a while. Luffy asked her at least three times a day if she'd be his navigator. He really likes her."
"And what, he's come here to make Nami join your crew?"
Something shifted in Nojiko. Perhaps it was the way she held herself, perhaps it was some minutiae in her body language that Quinn wouldn't notice if she looked for it, but something instinctive in her recognized it all the same. Nojiko was ready to fight them, and if the way her eyes had flicked to the rifle over the kitchen door, she had a plan in mind for how to do it.
"Luffy's not like that! He wouldn't make anyone do anything. But… whatever he felt, I feel it too, looking at everyone here…" Usopp trailed off, unsure. "Nami's in danger, isn't she?"
"Everyone here is in danger. We have been for a decade."
Quinn leaned forward, propping her chin on clasped fingers, her elbows digging into the tabletop. "Then let us help."
"You can help by leaving, fast, before someone from Arlong's crew comes down here to collect tribute and notices you morons hanging around. God, I never should have invited you people here."
"Tribute. Chabo mentioned that. How much does Arlong extort from you, and how often?"
"Get out of my house."
Putting her hands up in surrender, Quinn stepped away from the table and jerked her head towards the door. "Let's do as the lady says. We've overstayed our welcome."
"But Quinn-"
"You can't help people who don't want help themselves. Or…" She chewed the inside of her cheek, looking down at Nojiko over her nose. "...People who already have a way to help themselves in mind."
Nojiko's eyes flashed and she stood, reaching for the rifle when Quinn grabbed her by the wrist. "Don't. We don't wish you any harm. We'll leave, if that's truly what you want. But if you want help, if you need help… all you have to do is ask." She let go, taking one step back. Nojiko kept glancing between her and the rifle, probably wondering whether or not she could move fast enough to take them all out. "I don't know what you're planning. I couldn't care less. What I do care about is seeing something done about the monster that has you and everyone else on this island terrified." Quinn leaned towards Nojiko, whispering into her ear. "I've seen places like this before. I've lived it. Don't let the burden lie on your shoulders alone." Retreating, Quinn smiled, gentle and knowing. "Trust me. From someone who knows what it's like to hold your people's lives in your hands to another… there's nothing wrong with asking for help."
Finally, Quinn nodded at the boys. "Let's go."
They stood, walking out the door without a second glance, but Quinn lingered at the exit and peered over her shoulder at Nojiko. "We're going to camp just outside the border of your grove, off the road you took us in on. You know where to find us if you need help."
With that she left, joining the trio and shivering as she stepped into the sun, the warmth a welcome balm that swept over her from head to toe. "Alrighty. Time to get out of here."
"We're not helping?"
"Not if they don't ask for it. She's got a plan, or Nami has a plan. Something is going on here, and we're not going to interfere in it."
"Alright… but if Luffy says we are-"
"He's your Captain. Not mine. If Luffy tells you to help I'm not going to stop you."
"Alright. That's… that's good," Usopp faltered, casting a wary glance at the house. "I just wish we could do more."
"We probably will. Nothing ever goes as planned, and something tells me that whatever they have cooked up is going to blow up in their faces." Rolling her shoulders, Quinn clicked her tongue and began walking west. "C'mon guys! We gotta' set up camp and keep an eye out for Luffy."
"Hey! Wait up!"
"Not my fault you're slow!"
Johnny poked Usopp in the side, pulling a giggle out of him. "Asshole!"
"You heard her! Let's go!"
Tension broken, the three of them ran ahead of her, sprinting towards the little clearing she'd pointed out earlier. Quinn laughed quietly, jogging behind them.
Whatever happened here, she'd be ready to step in if needed. After all, wasn't it her goal in life to help people who couldn't help themselves?
Chapter 7: Chapter Seven | Ruminations and ReunificationChapter TextIt was raining heavily, the hills near Beddgelert slick with mud. A perpetual fog hung over the village, and between that and the wet it was almost empty apart from the scant few who lived there.
Quinn had set out on Saturday morning, and it was only through the grace of magic that she remained relatively dry and unbothered. That didn't stop the chill from constantly wearing at the warming charms she'd covered herself in, nor did it do anything to stop the eerie whistle of wind that carved its way through the valley the village was nestled in, built in that shambling, mismatched sprawl that every out of the way hamlet was between here and the Shetland Islands.
An anonymous informant had personally reached out to her to announce a sighting of Scabior, of whom there had been scattered reports all throughout Wales. He'd somehow survived that fall from the Clocktower Bridge and after two years of being presumed dead, he'd gotten cocky. Scabior could have apparrated to the continent and legged it from there, disappearing to god knows where to live a life of calm obscurity well away from anyone who would recognize him. But he stayed, yet no one seemed keen to catch the man who'd led dozens, if not hundreds of muggleborn and their families to the camps.
Someone high up must have been suppressing his capture. It was the only thing that made sense.
Out of habit, Quinn shielded her eyes from the rain. It took her a second to realize what she was doing and she huffed at herself, not daring to be any louder. Her glasses were enchanted from top to bottom and back again, damn near indestructible, weather proof, scuff proof, and whatever other bullshit she could etch along the sides once she'd run out of ideas. After years of losing her glasses in situations where she very much needed them, Quinn had finally modified them to suit her needs somewhere around… it must have been a year ago now.
Silent, she crept up the hillside, keeping a watchful eye the whole while. There were plenty of nooks and valleys along these hills, and all she needed to do to find Scabior was sniff out the shoddy wards he had to be hiding under. On her flight over she'd felt a pulse of magic roughly north-east of where she now stood, and hopefully that narrowed things down enough to flush out the rat and whoever else was hiding with him.
Her wand made lazy circles as she sidled ever upward, listening for every crack of a twig and squelch of muddied leaves the wildlife would make as they scampered by. It was past those innocuous scratches and squeaks that she finally heard the dull thump of firewood being cloven in two. Up, to the right, past two trees that formed a natural doorway and through which she could feel the faintest hum of magic.
There he was. Now she'd found the bastard.
Quinn took the long way around, up the hill and around the outside, so she could get a look at the clearing they were hidden in from above. As she did, she pulled at the threads that made up the – as she had expected – ramshackle collection of wards that blanketed the hideout. One by one, she tugged at those strings and began to unravel them, feeling the way the wards began to give out.
She held them at the tip of her wand and bent them to her will, her constant attention the only thing preventing them from falling entirely. Her magic steadied, she peeked her head over a mossy boulder and set sight on the camp.
A cabin had been made from felled wood, magically fused together to form something that looked like it would be well suited to the old American frontier, shaded beneath pine trees and resting near a wide lake. Smoke trickled from a small chimney jutting out of the back of the cabin, but what caught her eyes were the two figures huddled out front around a chopping block, an axe stacking and cutting wood of its own accord.
Scabior and… one of his old snatcher companions. There must have been more inside, what with the smell of sizzling meat in the air.
But Scabior, snatchers in general, weren't fighters. They went for ambushes, shock and awe, and were quick to retreat and call in a proper Death Eater should they be incapable of capturing their target. That was why when Quinn twisted her wand, letting the wards she had taken hold of collapse, she directed them inward, straight at Scabior.
He and his friend had only a moment to react when Scabior collapsed, screaming as every ounce of poorly put together magic carved at his insides. The door swung wide a second later, some grubby man Quinn didn't recognize lunging out into the wet with a shout on his lips.
She stunned him, but never noticed the fourth man point his wand from around the back of the cabin and fire a cutting curse at her. Quinn swore loudly when it carved through her shoulder, blood mixing with the rain that dripped down her arm.
"It's Potter!" the man roared, stepping out from cover and firing another curse her way that she narrowly ducked beneath. "Kill her!"
Scabior stood, neon green bursting from his wand and impacting the boulder she slid behind, the stone exploding in a cloud of dust and shrapnel. Without hesitation she shot off a quick barrage of curses she'd long ago committed to muscle memory, the intricate dance of her wand executed with the utmost finesse. Red, blue, yellow, every colour of the rainbow showered upon the clearing with all the ferocity of an artillery barrage. The flash of a conflagration ballooned out from the cabin; the noise of it alone was enough to drown out the screams of the men below, their clothes instantly set ablaze and their hearing all but gone.
Quinn sprinted from the dust, sliding down the hill and picking off the first man she saw with a stunner, another spell leaping from her wand before he had struck the ground that cleared away the fire that had cloaked him.
There was a stinging in her ear as a spell cut through the fog, and Quinn turned to the source, a bone-breaker already careening towards the caster. She saw Scabior's face look out from the cloven mist, two waves of it billowing outwards. His bloodshot eyes were thrown open in surprise, and as the curse struck him in the temple she watched in slow motion as his skull collapsed around the impact. It fell inward, concave, a bruised sinkhole that sent shrapnel bouncing around inside his head only for it to rocket back out from where it came. It looked like a small bomb had gone off, the spray painting the tree next to him in crimson and peppering it with chunks of bone for good measure.
Panting, Quinn ignored the macabre sight and set to work on trussing up the men who were with Scabior, levitating them one on top of the other. Scabior went last, underneath the lot, well after she'd conjured a body bag and stuffed him inside it.
Taking a deep breath, she readied them for transport. Another breath, 'calm,' she told herself, before firing off a patronus and watching as it trotted towards the Ministry and Robards, relaying to him what she'd done.
-::-
"Quinn, hey- Quinn, wake up. Nojiko's walking over here."
"Hmm? What?" she snorted as she sat up, blinking rapidly. "Nojiko?"
"Yeah, she's on her way over."
Scrambling to her feet, Quinn squinted at the hazy figure approaching them, the only sign it was Nojiko she could spy through her bleary eyes that of a shock of blue hair. "Either something happened, or Luffy's here."
"Wanna' bet it's both?"
"Usopp, that's a fool's bet."
"Worth a shot."
"Nojiko!" she called, waving at the woman. "What's going on?"
"Is your friend a maniac in a straw hat?" she shouted back, to which Usopp and Quinn shared a look.
"Told you it was a fool's bet," she said. "Yeah! That's him."
"He's going around the village asking about Nami. Arlong is going to send someone down there if he hears about it. You better drag him out of there before he brings every fishman on the island down on our heads."
"Fuck. Okay, let's move. Johnny, Yosaku, you stay here with Nojiko and make sure she's safe. Usopp and I are going to grab the Straw Hats and drag them over here."
"Aye aye!"
Rolling her eyes, Quinn took off in a sprint, Usopp following close behind. He might not have had the brawn of his crewmates, but damn that guy could run. The two of them took the shortest path to Cocoyashi, feet pounding against the sand and their breaths coming short and quick as they closed the distance. Within minutes they spotted the treeline that marked the end of the grove and the start of the village, Quinn pointing to the right and jerking her head in that direction for good measure. "You head that way," she barked, already starting to peel off in the opposite direction. "I'll work my way down to the shoreline, you start from the south. I'll whistle if I find them, you do the same. If one of us whistles, we go straight back to the grove. Got it?"
"Got it!" Usopp called, kicking up dust as he leaned into the turn, disappearing into the treeline with a sudden burst of speed.
Christ, he really can run.
Ducking under brush and over root, Quinn leapt with long strides through the brush. She listened all the way, trying to see if she could pick out the voice of Luffy or Zoro over the dull chatter of the village, the sound of voices growing louder as she approached. She skidded to a stop as she broke through the trees, startling some poor man with a whirligig on his cap. "Sorry!" she blurted, putting her hands up plaintively. "Nojiko sent me over here-"
"Nojiko?"
"-to find a guy in a Straw Hat running around bothering people? Could you point me in his direction?"
"That kid? Yeah, he's off that way," the man said, still frowning as he pointed towards the coast.
Quinn clicked her tongue twice and shot him a thumbs up, taking off in the direction he pointed. "Cheers!" she called over her shoulder, hand cupped around her mouth. "You're a lifesaver!"
"Who are you!?" was the man's reply, but Quinn was already well out of sight, dodging left and right through the sparse crowds that blocked her path along the narrow village road. A few people shouted at her, outraged, but all Quinn did was shrug apologetically and keep moving. It was hardly a minute before she saw a familiar flash of tan and red, bolting towards it. "Oi, Luffy!"
The boy leapt, head spinning unnaturally as he got a look at her. A smile almost tore his face in two, and Quinn let out a startled yelp when his arms stretched out to take hold of her shoulders and yank her towards him. She sailed through the air, popping two fingers in her mouth and whistling loudly while she was reeled in.
She slammed into Luffy, the boy howling with laughter as Quinn bowled over him and landed flat on her ass, his back pressed to hers. A brief flash of shock flitted through her mind at yet another example of how insane this world was. She ignored it, crawling to her feet with a small grunt of pain (because goddamn, that hurt). A small wave in Zoro's direction, a double-take in Sanji's, and Quinn was grabbing Luffy by the arm. "We've got a camp west of here, Usopp is waiting for all of you."
"But Nami-"
"He'll explain everything at the camp. Sanji, back me up here."
"Listen to her, Captain."
"Fine," Luffy whined, letting Quinn drag him away from the village.
They moved quickly until they'd made it to the trees, the pace of their march slowing as soon as they were out of sight of the village and on their way to the grove. "You joined up with these lunatics?" she asked Sanji, surprised at him.
"I decided a change of pace would suit me."
"Bullshit."
Sanji just smirked around his cigarette, which Quinn's gaze latched onto with hunger. "Bum a smoke? The village we stopped at to resupply had run out and I haven't stepped into Cocoyashi since we got here."
"Sure thing," he said, taking one out of the little case he kept in his breast pocket and flicking it over to her. Quinn nodded at him in thanks and sparked it with a snap of her fingers, gulping down the smoke and nearly stumbling at the headrush.
"Damn," she muttered, shaking her head. "It's been a while since I felt one of those."
"Rush?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." Quinn clapped her hands and turned around as she walked, facing the group. "How'd things go at the Baratie?"
"I kicked Krieg's ass!" Luffy cheered, punching the air. "He tried to shoot some poison gas at us and didn't even warn his crew! Half of them almost died," he added with a glower, genuinely angry that the man would betray his people like that.
"And Gin?"
Blowing a smoke ring, Sanji flicked his gaze to the sky. "His arms won't ever heal properly. Not after I was through with him. That traitorous bastard won't ever fire a gun again."
Zoro glanced at the cook, poorly hidden approval in his eyes. "He had it coming after what he pulled on you."
"Yeah?"
"Of course!" Luffy all but shouted, although his voice grew quiet as he went on, a monotone anger behind his every word. "He destroyed your treasure. Sanji messed him up real bad because of that."
Slowing her pace a bit, Quinn sidled up next to Sanji and clapped him on the back. "Thanks."
"Anything for you, my dear. Although, I thought you should know…"
"What?"
"Gin said he would return to the Grand Line. He said he'd make it up to you, somehow."
She nearly stopped in her tracks. "What?"
"He seemed regretful."
"Regret won't stop me from taking his head if we ever meet again," she growled.
"Ah. What a terrifying beauty you are."
"Pervert cook."
"The hell you say to me, mosshead?"
"Jesus. What is it with you two?"
"Him," they both growled, pointing at eachother.
Luffy just laughed, throwing his arms around their shoulders and dragging them down so he could mash their faces against his. "You guys are funny!"
"Bunch of maniacs, you lot."
"Anyways! Where's Nami?"
"That's… a long story. But we did find her sister. That's where we're headed right now."
Sanji lit up hearing that. "Nami has a sister? Oh, she must be a beauty!"
"I'd say so, but I have a bit of a thing for tattooed women."
With that said, Sanji looked as though he might faint.
"How long ago did you guys get here anyways? Just make landfall, or what?"
"Oh we crashed," Luffy said. "We found a cool sea cow and I grabbed its horns and it brought us here!"
"You crashed?"
"We were too fast," he stated, completely matter-of-fact. He then giggled, planting his hands on his hips and grinning. "It was fun though!"
"That sounds conspicuous."
"Conspicky-what?"
"People would've noticed. Arlong might have noticed."
"Eh. I'll beat him up if he tries anything." Luffy blinked a few times. "Who's that again?"
Sighing, Quinn looked to Zoro, who shrugged at her. "Don't even try explaining. He'll figure it out eventually."
"Figure what out? Oh! Hey, look!" Jumping excitedly, Luffy pointed ahead at a familiar flash of red hair wandering through the tangerine grove. "Nami!"
Nami whirled around, a flash of surprise glancing across her features before it was swiftly wiped away, replaced with a cultivated expression of contempt. Quinn had to hand it to her, it looked convincing, but Nami's acting didn't hold a candle to Lavender, who had arrived at Hogwarts knowing how to cry on demand and had only become more of a terror as the years went by.
God, she missed Lavender.
Before her thoughts could take a turn for the worse, Quinn fell back a few steps and watched as Luffy ran up to Nami, jabbering excitedly about how glad he was to see her safe and sound.
"Why did you come here, Luffy? Are you that dumb?" Nami hissed, voice growing louder with every step. She brandished a bo-staff in one hand, pointing it at Luffy in a vaguely threatening manner, if not for the complete lack of a reaction from the boy.
What Quinn did notice was a tattoo on Nami's shoulder. An ornamental swirl, reminiscent of the tides, capped off with the jagged visage of a saw-nosed shark. It must have been the mark of the Arlong Pirates. Hell, that was the only thing it could have been. Unless there just so happened to be a competing crew of fishmen on the island, and Quinn wouldn't hedge her bets on that being the case.
"What? Whaddya' mean? You're our crewmate! We came to get you!"
"You believing your own idiocy would be funny if it weren't so damn sad."
"Told you she was a shithead," Zoro grumbled out of the corner of his mouth.
Sneering, Sanji leaned into Zoro's face. "How dare you disparage a young, beautiful woman like that!"
"Shut it, Sanji," Quinn hissed, pulling him away from the swordsman. "Infantilizing, remember? Besides, are you even hearing her?"
"Ha!" Barking out a cruel laugh, Nami smirked at them. "You can't even go a minute without fighting each other. Pirates? Don't make me laugh. You want to go kill each other, be my guest, but make sure to take your sorry asses off my island."
Humming and hawing, Luffy stretched. "That's a pretty mean thing to say to your friends, Nami."
"Friends? I only pretended to be your friend so I could rob you idiots." She spat on the ground in front of him. "Get out of my sight."
"Eh."
Waving his hand up and down, Luffy then put his arms behind his head and flopped onto the dirt, shading his eyes with his hat. "Night, then."
"What!?"
"I don't wanna' leave the island. And all your talking is making me sleepy, so I think I'll nap."
Scoffing, Nami turned away. "It's your funeral. Idiots," she fumed, and with that she left, stomping in the direction of her sister's house.
They watched her leave, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Usopp poke his head out from behind a tangerine tree and frown at Nami's back. Quinn whistled quietly and waved him over, thinking all the while.
Something was definitely going on here.
She could reach into Nami's mind and prise the answer from it herself, but… a part of her was curious. Quinn wanted to see what she and her sister were planning, the regular way, and whether or not it would pan out. It must have been years in the making, judging by the age of her tattoo and the speed with which she fell into the cold persona she'd so obviously crafted for herself. It fit on her like a shoe on the wrong foot, a clumsy disuse to it that she was trying to wrestle under control. A muscle not often flexed, or one on the verge of atrophy.
"Told you," Zoro repeated, letting out a tired sigh. "Think I might join Luffy for that nap. Sounds damn good right about now."
"Sand is warm," came Luffy's mumble. "But it's kinda itchy."
"Was that… was that Nami?" Usopp asked as he came closer, casting a glance to the mirage-warped silhouette of the Straw Hats once Navigator. "She seemed so sca-ah!" A surprised squeak echoed in his throat as Luffy's arm shot out, wrapping around Usopp's midriff and dragging him down next to the boy, who turned to him and beamed.
"Usopp!"
"Luffy! Let me go- you jerk!"
All Luffy did was laugh, giving Usopp a big hug before letting him go. "Everyone's here now!"
While watching them, Quinn gave Sanji a sidelong glance. He was still glaring at Zoro, but his attention was partway held between the swordsman and Nami's blurry figure. She tapped him on the shoulder, jerking her head to the side. "Lemme' talk to you for a mo'."
"Hm? Of course, Quinn. Anything for you."
"About that."
"Ah. Um- of course?"
Sighing, Quinn dragged Sanji over to the shade of one of the nearby tangerine trees and pointed at Zoro, one eyebrow quirked. "Were you about to fight him because he insulted Nami? Especially after what she said?"
"Well, I-"
"Yes or no. Spit it out."
"Perhaps?"
"A yes, then." Clicking her tongue and pacing, hands on her hips, Quinn scuffed her heels on the grass. "Say Nami becomes an enemy of yours. Say I do, or any other woman for that matter. It's going to happen eventually, unless you lot are a walking, talking anomaly. You going to kick Zoro or Luffy in the mouth for defending your crew? Because, lemme' tell you something, Sanji. Anyone worth their salt would have your head in an instant if they knew your one weakness was women of all things. Your head, and the rest of 'em," she added, pointing at the three sitting in the middle of the road, Luffy and Usopp aglow as they caught up on each other's adventures.
Sanji, meanwhile, stammered uselessly. It was obvious to her that he was torn between mustering up a retort and battling against his constant, implacable need to treat any and all women as deities.
"You're getting into a dangerous profession as far as I can tell. Gotta' get used to the idea that you'll have to kick a lady in the face to make sure you and your friends make it out safely."
"But, I couldn't-"
"Hesitation equals death, Sanji. It's the first thing I learned in my line of work. Not to mention, I'd be damn furious if I was fighting someone and they refused to fight back because I'm a woman." She nudged him with her fist. "Chin up. And don't go fighting your fuckin' friends because they refuse to mince words."
"I… understand." Looking both thoughtful and ashamed, Sanji gave her a weak smile. "Shall we head back?"
"Go on ahead. I'm gonna enjoy the shade and figure out what I'm doing once you guys are done with this island and… I think that's Johnny and Yosaku heading over." She pointed down the road, two figures walking their way. "Nojiko must've told them to get lost."
Quinn just tutted, propping herself up against the tree before sliding to the ground, resting her head against the bark. "Might take a nap myself. It's a nice day for it."
It was true, a nap would be perfect right about now, so she closed her eyes and trusted that, should something happen, at least Sanji would be the first to let her know.