One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Cherry blinked her eyes open as the smell of cooking food roused her from her slumber.

Sitting up she looked around the room and took in her surroundings. Hiyori was at the fire poking into the cooking pot with a spoon, Zoro looked like he was barely keeping himself awake but also trying his hardest not to look that way, and Toko was peeling apples with far too much energy given the early hour.

"Oh, you're awake Cherry. I didn't want to wake you, so I took it upon myself to use the ingredients you left out for breakfast," Hiyori said with a smile. "I'm very glad that I didn't have the infamous 'hangover' this morning!"

"Uh oh," Cherry said.

"Huh? Did I do something wrong?" Hiyori asked, checking over her work to make sure she didn't accidentally produce inedible slop.

"No, it's not that," Cherry assured. "It's this."

Cherry held up her hands. Hiyori, Zoro, and Toko all looked at them and tilted their heads in lack of understanding.

"They're… red?" Hiyori spoke tentatively. "It looks like paint, not blood."

"I don't remember how they got this way," Cherry said.

"Uh oh," Zoro spoke with a growing grimace. "You better still have my swords."

"Let me check," Cherry dug around in her pockets, Zoro growing increasingly agitated with each passing second.

"Aha!" Cherry pulled out Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu. "That's good. That's also bad."

Zoro got up and snatched them from her. "It's good for me. I don't care what it is for you."

"Am I missing something…?" Hiyori looked like she wasn't sure if she should be concerned or not.

"Hopefully not," Cherry answered. "Some other people might be missing things, though."

Cherry returned to digging around in her pockets. Fortunately, they weren't quite limited to three dimensional space, so she had access to more than just what lay on top.

"Hm?" Cherry found something odd and pulled it out.

*Gasp!* *clatter*

Hiyori's eyes went wide with a storm of emotion dancing across her face. That was only natural since Cherry pulled what appeared to be the large severed head of a very strange snake with buck teeth instead of fangs.

"O-Orochi?!" Hiyori hissed.

"Um…" Cherry wasn't expecting that. "Are you sure?"

"I have had the misfortune of seeing Orochi's monstrous form on a few occasions," Hiyori's voice carried steel now. "That is one of his extra seven heads, which are bright green. The primary one is darker."

"Damn, you got black out drunk and chopped off the Shogun's head. That's crazy, even for you," Zoro commented in the same way he might comment on a bad spell of weather.

"I think I only got one, though. A shame," Cherry said after digging around a little more in her pockets. "That doesn't explain the red paint, though. Which is rather concerning."

"How is red paint more concerning than a severed head?" Hiyori asked in utter bewilderment.

"Because-" Cherry began.

*slam* The door was flung open.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't realize this house was occupied." Brook peeked inside rather sheepishly. "Zoro, Cherry! I wasn't expecting to meet you here!"

Hiyori and Toko looked like they just about had heart attacks. That was understandable when you weren't accustomed to walking, talking skeletons with no sense of other peoples' privacy.

"..." Brook paused at the sight of the severed Orochi head. "That explains some things."

"Hm, I would imagine so, if you've been anywhere near the capital since last night. I doubted things would stay quiet after… whatever happened for me to have this," Cherry rubbed her chin in thought.

"Indeed! There was a massive jailbreak, with Law's crew members and our other allies in Wano being freed from their imprisonment! Not only that, but the Shogun was apparently attacked by a laughing demon!" Brook relayed, his empty eye sockets never leaving Cherry. "It's a shame, though. That infamous thief called Ushimitsu Kozo who gave all that he stole to the poor folk was captured in the early hours of the morning, just before dawn. Had he been caught earlier, then he might have been freed as well."

"No!" Hiyori covered her mouth with a hand. "He couldn't have been caught!

"I'm afraid so. It turns out he was some fellow named Yasu…-something," Brook said.

Cherry's eyebrows shot up. What were the odds that this was Yasuie? She didn't actually know what name he went by publically. Would he still have Yasu in his alias?

She glanced at Toko and saw the horror on the girl's face, causing her heart to clench.

"Well, I've already made a mess because I can't hold my liquor. I might as well finish the job," Cherry said, standing up.

"You're going to kill Orochi?" Zoro asked.

"No, fool," Cherry snapped without any heat in her tone. "I'm going to save this thief before they kill him or worse."

And hopefully it wasn't Yasuie. Toko has been through enough without fearing for her father's life on top of it all.

"I'm going!" Toko shouted, leaping to her feet.

Cherry frowned. She was certain she could keep Toko safe, but that was still an extra burden to keep track of that she didn't need. On the other hand, leaving her safety to someone else, even someone she trusted, wasn't what she agreed to with Yasuie.

"Ugh, fine," Cherry scooped her up. "You better behave yourself, though. Your safety is my foremost concern, and I will abandon anyone and everyone else to die to make sure of that. Understand?"

Toko nodded firmly, barely stopping herself from breaking out in tears. "Mm! I'll listen!"

"Good," Cherry said and gave a final wave goodbye to the other three. "I'm heading out."

…

Yasuie felt somewhat bitter.

He'd been caught, but that hadn't been the end of the world. Not for him. His death could have served a grander purpose; sparing the lives of his allies who had been imprisoned for bearing the mark of the crescent moon on their bodies. His one life to save many others, a deal that few ever have a chance to make.

That was out the window now, though. Somebody else went and busted all those allies out of the holding cells. He was happy for it, of course, but it made his own end feel so… hollow.

"Get up!" the door to his cell was yanked open and he was swiftly dragged to his feet.

"Is it time already?" Yasuie asked, the false smile never leaving his face despite his inner turmoil.

The guards didn't answer. Their actions spoke louder than words, anyhow, as they hoisted him up onto a tall cross where he was tied to await his death.

Apparently Orochi himself intended to do the deed. What an honor.

People were already here to gawk at him, even with the actual execution not happening for a while yet. He could hear them muttering amongst themselves, but not the words they spoke. He wondered if any of them had anything good to say or if they mocked him even when they could not be overheard.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose," Yasuie spoke to himself.

His allies were safe. His daughter was safe.

What more could a man ask for, in the end?