New Friend

Cherry was about to leave when she felt a blast of conqueror's haki wash over her. The Beast pirates who had tried to follow Kaido's orders and take him away were knocked out.

Kaido turned to look back curiously. After confirming that Luffy didn't suddenly wake up, he said, "Take those weaklings to the mines too. That'll toughen 'em up."

"Luffy… that's so fucking cool," Cherry sighed. "Using conqueror's haki after getting knocked out? Amazing."

She supposed that it wasn't called conqueror's haki for no reason. She wondered if she could do that too if she was still capable of being knocked out. It's too bad that she couldn't find out, since she'd stay conscious even if her brain literally melted out of her ears. Oh well.

Cherry pranced away as new Beast pirates were able to heft Luffy away. Instead, she changed her focus to Law who had a little run in with Hawkins.

Law managed to get away from Hawkins, but Cherry wondered why he needed to get away at all. Hawkins shouldn't be a threat to anyone right now.

"Hey," Cherry said.

Law nearly jumped out of his own skin before realizing who it was that found him. "Oh, it's you. Should you be saving your captain right about now?"

"Luffy can handle the consequences of his own actions. If he asks for my help, then I'll help him, but not before then," Cherry said. "So what happened to you? Hawkins shouldn't have been that much trouble for you, especially right now."

"I would agree normally, even if he was in his best condition. Unfortunately, one of his men shot me with a sea stone nail," Law gave her a studying look. "Did you do something to Hawkins?"

"Why? What happened?" Cherry's eyes lit up in curiosity and delight.

"He tried to use that straw sword of his; but instead of extending itself, it turned into a bale of hay," Law said.

"Pfft! That's hilarious!" Cherry laughed. "I wish I could have seen the look on his face! Actually…"

Cherry grabbed Law's head with both hands. After an awkward moment, she let go and laughed even louder. "That's just too good! He really said 'What is this? I'm not a farmer!' HAhehehehe!"

"Did you just look into my brain and see my memories?" Law asked, slightly disturbed.

"Yes, but only a little bit. I promise," Cherry admitted like it was no big deal. "The older and more important stuff is deeper down and you would have felt it if I went that far."

That didn't exactly make Law feel better about it, but he seemed to accept that his privacy hadn't been violated too badly.

"Do you want me to spruce you up a bit before I wander off to cause trouble elsewhere?" Cherry asked.

"... Okay…" Law agreed.

Cherry gave him a wisp of vital energy to boost his natural recovery and went on her way.

"Where to first?" Cherry asked nobody in particular.

It was a silly question to ask herself, she realized. There was only one place she wanted to be right now. Or rather, only one person she wanted to be with.

"Where would Robin go?" Cherry wondered. "The Flower Capital, maybe? It's a good place to apply her skills. Not to mention the best place to find historical records, ignoring the recent past I suppose. I doubt the current Shogun has anything good to say about Oden, after all."

Cherry nodded, her mind made up, and started heading in the vague direction she knew the capital of Wano to be.

…

Chains rattled in a dark room.

The door opened and light poured through, causing the figure inside the shield their eyes. It wasn't meal time yet, so they wondered what was going on. The light was not normal, either. It was usually dark in the hall outside this room.

"Yamato," a familiar voice. One of Kaido's minions, King. "I brought someone to keep you company. She's just as stubborn as you are, so I'm sure you'll get along nicely."

King tossed a smaller figure into the room, who collided with the floor without resistance or movement. King shut the door and Yamato heard the many locks being engaged once again.

Yamato studied the newcomer. She wore the same kind of chains that Yamato himself wore, but her appearance made Yamato doubt her.

Black wings on her back, silver hair loosely hanging from his head, and her upper back and shoulders burning with ever present flames. She was shorter than Yamato, but taller than the average man for sure.

The woman's head popped up suddenly, causing Yamato to yelp and scurry behind one of the support beams in the oversized crawl space that was his prison.

"Is he gone?" the woman asked.

"..." Yamato didn't answer for a moment. "I think so?"

"Great!" the woman flapped her gorgeous black wings once, launching herself up in the air a ways and landing on her feet. She frowned at the chains binding her wrists and started pulling on them.

"Don't!" Yamato rushed forward and grabbed the woman's hands to stop her. "If you break them, they'll explode!"

The woman tilted her head cutely. "So?"

"You want to keep your hands, don't you?!" Yamato exclaimed.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," the woman shrugged. "Cherry can grow them back for me even if that does happen, which I don't think it will."

"Cherry?" Yamato asked. What kind of crazy woman did King throw in here with her? "Nevermind that! I'd rather not have your blood all over my prison!"

"Oh…" the woman paused. "Okay."

Yamato felt it was safe to let go now, so he did. After a few moments, he heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that the woman wasn't going to try it again. Still, what kind of crazy did you have to be to care more about dirtying someone else's floor with your blood than blowing up your hands?!

"What's your name?" Yamato asked, now that the crisis was averted.

"Cabernet!" Cabernet smiled brightly. "Like the wine!"

"I don't think I've ever had wine called that before," Yamato admitted. Perhaps he would have, if he could travel the world like he longed to do.

"Oh!" Cabernet suddenly started to grow. The metal cuffs around her wrist started to dig into her flesh until they started to creak like… wood.

Cabernet stood before Yamato, now much taller than he was, and entirely made of wood. She opened up a little compartment in her chest and pulled out a barrel and a couple of cups.

"Let's have some! I don't normally drink, but now's as good a time as any I guess!" Cabernet shrank back down and started fiddling with a tap in the barrel.

Yamato's eyes glittered in the dim light of Cabernet's flames. When was the last time he had any alcohol? His eighth birthday party?

Soon the room was filled with the two's laughter and the barrel was close to emptied.

"Cherry was right! She told me that the barrel would come in handy one day, and it made me a new friend!" Cabernet savored what was likely her last cup. Her head was a little light and fuzzy, she guessed that she just didn't have the same tolerance that Cherry did.

"You keep talking about this Cherry lady. Who is she?" Yamato asked.

"Huh?" Cabernet put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "It's a bit weird. She had me built, then she brought me to life. So she's kind of my mom? She treats me like a baby sister, though."

"I wish I had a mom…" Yamato confessed, looking a bit down. "All I've got is a rotten excuse for a father, the bastard."

"I'll kick his ass! Just tell me who and where!" Cabernet declared, rolling up the sleeves of her kimono and showing off her muscular arms.

Yamato smiled and shook his head. "You can't. He's Kaido, and in Wano he is practically invincible…"

"Right!" Cabernet stood up and grabbed as the manacles around her wrists.

"Wait, don't!" Yamato stumbled when he tried to stand to stop her.

"Oh, right! They'll explode! Hahahaha!" Cabernet giggled. "I forgot!"

"You're a real handful…" Yamato wiped the sweat from his brow. "Why did King bring you here, anyways?"

"Hm? Oh, he wanted me to join Kaido's crew or whatever, since I'm like him; but I'm not like him! I'm an anther- anthroopy- I'm a ship girl!" Cabernet couldn't quite pronounce anthropomorphic with her drunk tongue. "I told him I was just a bird lady, but he didn't believe me! I didn't ask to be loony, so he can't tell me what to do!"

"Uhuh," Yamato nodded like she understood all of that. "Well, it looks like he didn't take no for an answer."

"No, he did not. Creep," Cabernet plopped herself back down and tried to get more wine from the empty barrel.

Yamato had a feeling that he could trust this strange woman, and it wasn't just the wine.