Chapter Text
Luffy was barely conscious as he was roughly shoved into a small, dark prison cell. He’d only remained more or less standing after they entered Udon due to sheer willpower and stubbornness, refusing to appear weak in front of who knew how many imprisoned criminals, as well as Kaido’s underlings. His head felt as if it’d been split open and the word was spinning around him rapidly in a blur of colors and sounds. At this point, he wasn’t even able to tell, if there were other people around right now or not. The only good thing right now was that his new home was somewhat dark and quiet, at least for the time being.
Everything hurt, felt sore or protested in some other way, his body obviously having had enough for the time being.
Especially his back and legs were burning fiercely from being dragged all the way here over rough, stony ground, undoubtedly having caused an insane amount of road rash in the process. He just hoped there wasn’t too much gravel stuck in his skin from all that. Cleaning that out wouldn’t be pleasant at all.
The bandages he’d roughly been wrapped up in were not at all comfortable either and Luffy was sure, they hadn’t really been meant to do more then make sure, he didn’t bleed all over the guards anymore, vaguely remembering them complaining about it a while back. The off white fabric had a wholly unpleasant scent to it and looked like someone else might have used it at some point in the past already and had forgone cleaning it properly after.
Dirt and blood clung to him like a second skin and when he was thrown onto the cold hard ground into some dark hole deep inside the infamous prison mine, he felt absolutely disgusting. And really, this coming from him certainly meant something since he definitely wasn’t the most hygiene obsessed person on the grand line. With each movement, Luffy could feel his clothes and those revolting bandages sticking themselves to his skin unpleasantly. He felt itchy all over, partially from dried blood, partially from sand and small rocks that had gotten into his kimono on the way here.
When a rough voice suddenly called out to him, he needed a few seconds to sort through his memory in order to match a face to said person, who sounded too damn familiar, not to mention the time it took him to actually manage the coordination needed to actually respond.
“Gizzao?”
“So, it is you! Kaido get you too? Or did Trafalgar decide to screw you over?”
“...’m gonna kick Kaido’s ass…” Hearing the Yonko’s name was enough to get him thoroughly pissed off again to a point, where he was able to shove his current discomfort to the side for at least a little while.
Scoffing at that, Kidd didn’t seem to think of this as very likely. “Yeah right, with the way you look, you won’t be of much use for anything for quite a while.”
“Shows what you know. I could still take you out at any time!” This conversation didn’t really help the pain in his head, nor did sitting up, since after doing that in order to better argue with the rival Captain, Luffy distinctly felt like throwing up. His skull pounded even more fiercely, to a point where he didn’t even hear Kidd’s reply anymore.
Darkness crept into his vision gradually as he willed down bile. With the way those bandages had been tied over his face, throwing up definitely wouldn’t be pleasant at all. Luffy could feel his breathing getting more hurried and desperate as he did his best to regain at least some semblance of control over himself.
“… Oi, Strawhat? Hey, don’t ignore me!” A loud clang, like steel hitting steel echoed through the dark room, not making the situation more bearable at all.
With a groan, Luffy pressed his cuffed wrists against his head. This was unbearable! He longed for his friends, for their comfort and maybe one of Chopper’s painkillers, despite the fact that those really tasted horrible and never really did all that much for him anyways.
The thought of his comrades brought on a whole new kind of dread. Of course, he believed in their abilities and thinking back, he’d still been able to feel their presence after Kaido’s attack on Oden Castle, but still, this didn’t mean they were unharmed. For all he knew, they could be dead by now, or suffering greatly after being blown up like that.
He felt like screaming, or maybe punching something. He needed to get out of here, back to them, needed to make sure they were alright!
Another clang shot spikes of pain through his skull again, as a sharp ringing took over his hearing. The darkness that had been lingering at the edge of his vision now took over completely and just as he was about to push himself back onto his feet, ready to go and determined to ignore his rapidly declining physical condition, all strength left his muscles and he crashed painfully back onto the hard and cold ground, the distant voice of Kidd angrily barking at him being the last thing he heard, before it all became too much and he succumbed to unconsciousness.
As far as he could remember once he painstakingly opened his eyes again, he didn’t dream. He’d lost all sense of time now, unsure if only minutes, hours or even days had passed. He was still sore and aching all over and he didn’t even want to think about, what his head was still doing to him, but at least, the terrible dizziness had subsided enough for Luffy to be able to sit up again without either hurling, or falling over.
With a wince, he started peeling the layers of dirty bandages off himself, recalling his doctor mentioning that dirty bandages could be even more harmful, then leaving them off all together. And despite his lack of understanding on those matters, he was still with it enough to know that he really didn’t feel like dealing with infection and fever right about now. Especially the wounds around his scalp had gotten crusted with dried blood so badly, he felt as if he was ripping out half his hair with the soiled pieces of cotton. Through all that, the room remained silent. He had the feeling he’d been talking to someone at some point, but for some reason, his memory from after he’d charged Kaido was foggy at best and none existent at its worst.
This probably wasn’t particularly good.
Once freed of his bandages, he tiredly leaned against the closest wall. Even this little movement had drained him, reminding him brutally of the fact that he was currently bound by Seastone. Taking a look around, he noticed that his cell was almost completely bare. Thick iron bars made up the front and sides, while the back wall, he was currently leaning against, appeared to be solid rock. And as for the floor… He really didn’t think he wanted to know what made up the hard and dirty crust that had formed over the stone, that had probably once been visible a long time ago. Secretly, he was grateful for the long Kimono he wore. Like this, he wasn’t as exposed to this mess as if when he’d still be wearing his usual shorts and open vest.
Nami would probably be proud of him for thinking like that...
In one corner, a grimy bucket sat, smelling horrible even from a distance, not leaving any questions about, for what that thing was supposed to be used. That was it. Nothing else was in here, no bedding, no food or water, just dirt over stone and some fresh and dried blood, he’d probably lost himself over the duration of his stay so far.
The cells next to his didn’t look much different.
The only good thing he could find about this was the fact that he wasn’t chained to anything and could move more or less freely inside his current living space, though judging by a couple of slightly rusted metal hooks protruding from the wall and ceiling, this could very well change at any given moment.
Now then, he needed to take stock of himself, before deciding what to do next. His clothes, hat and shoes were still, where they belonged. The same thing couldn’t be said about his borrowed sword however, the richly decorated weapon missing completely. He’d definitely have to get it back before leaving this place, after all, the old man had seemed really upset with him for taking it.
Gently running his fingers over the worn straw of his most treasured possession, he wondered why no one had taken in away. This place didn’t seem like it would provide the prisoners even the smallest luxuries. Using a little more force, Luffy carefully brushed dust and dirt off his treasure, glad that he didn’t find any rips or tears that would need fixing.
The sudden screeching of hinges shortly followed by bright daylight flooding the room had him once again wince in pain and almost drop his treasure as tears clouded his vision involuntarily. Clutching his eyes shot, he prayed that whoever’d had the bright idea to open that door would be kind enough to quickly shut it again, otherwise, he feared his skull might explode. Luffy barely managed to bite back a desperate, pained noise, threatening to escape him right now.
“Now, look who’s awake again!” An unfamiliar voice, way too loud for his liking, sneered and Luffy could make out heavy footsteps approaching his cell and ultimately stopping right in front of him. “Listen here, scum, I’m only gonna explain the rules once, got it? Any attempts to break them will result in severe punishment, so you better be grateful and listen.”
After a moment, the Strawhat Captain realized that the guy, probably some sort of guard, was waiting for him to reply. So, nodding his head carefully, not trusting his voice right now, Luffy signaled that he was listening, while gritting his teeth, trying to keep a straight face. That guy was way to loud.
“First: You are expected to work. If you don’t you will not get food. This part of the prison is focusing on mining, so you’ll be hauling rocks with the other miserable rats, locked up in here as well. Tomorrow morning, you’ll be escorted out and put to work. Any resistance or refusal to do as you’re told will not be tolerated. Second: Any attack on a guard will not be taken lightly, same goes for trying to escape. Trust me, you’ll not want to know what we’ll be doing to you if you even so much as try. And third: Your life belongs to master Kaido and Shogun Orochi now, so you’d better give up on trying to oppose them. Any verbal or other action against them won’t be taken lightly either. Any questions so far?”
Not giving him even the time to actually think about it, the guard continued.
“We’ve been instructed to be extra cautious around you, so don’t test us. Master Kaido himself issued the order to make sure you’ll be no trouble. Someone will probably want to speak to you on his behalf shortly, so you’d better cooperate. And lastly, so you don’t die on us right away, You’ll be provided one millet dumpling and a cup of water for tonight. Consider this a welcome gift. Starting tomorrow, you’ll not be getting any kind of special treatment anymore.”
Leaving the aforementioned items close enough for Luffy to grab from inside his cell, the guard turned around, apparently done with his little talk.
As he reached the door, he turned back one more time. “Better rest up, rat. We’ll be having lots of fun with you.” The grin that man wore definitely didn’t put Luffy’s mind at ease with how sinister it looked.
With another loud screech and a bang, the door to the cluster of cells he currently was being held in was shut again forcefully, leaving him alone in almost complete darkness, the terrible sound of metal on metal once again echoing in his head painfully.
“...Bastard.” He really didn’t like that guard much. But still despite that, he was never one to turn down food. And honestly, he was getting really hungry right about now, despite his body not really being able to decide if it wanted food, or if it wanted to throw up. When was the last time he’d eaten anyways? Now that he thought about it, his last meal had probably been the more or less inedible meat he’d snatched from Zoro, who knew how long ago.
Still not fully trusting himself to stand, Luffy crawled to the spot, the guard had set down the meager portion of food earlier. Reaching through the bars, he first grasped something that definitely felt like some sort of mug, though it definitely had seen better days. The material was chipped and rough to the touch, making him briefly wonder it it was even remotely safe to drink from. His Nakama would probably have yelled at him for being this uncaring about his health, be he figured, he didn’t have much of a choice here. Water was water after all, right? And he’d survived more then a dirty and falling apart piece of tableware.
Greedily, he started chugging down what barely qualified as water. It was stale, small pieces of dirt were floating around in there as well and it left a weird, slightly slimy texture in his mouth after swallowing, not to mention the small amount of sand that was mixed in there as well. Forcing himself not to gag after swallowing, he reached out again and grabbed for, what the guard had generously described as a dumpling. Really, he knew that Sanji was an outstanding cook and he was maybe getting a bit spoiled by the blond’s culinary creations, but still, whatever this thing was, definitely didn’t even start to compare to the warm, soft meat filled dumplings, his friends had prepared for them a little while back.
He might as well have chewed on dirt. It was dry and tasted bland, aside from a slightly off flavor, definitely going into ‘moldy’ territory here. Seriously, anyone else would probably have gotten food poisoning from something this inedible. Also, it was small, not even half the size of his palm. How the hell was he supposed to last til tomorrow evening on a mouth full of dirty water and moldy crap like that?
It really didn’t help that his head wound was still making him nauseous as well.
Swallowing compulsively again and again, Luffy forced his body into accepting the food and keeping it, where it was supposed to be, the feeling of sand in between his teeth making the whole experience even more unpleasant then it already was.
Crawling into the corner furthest away from that disgusting bucket, he decided that he might as well try to rest for a bit. Sleep always made him feel better when he was sick or injured.
The dirty floor was just as uncomfortable as it looked. And even if he managed to get enough of a distance to the sorry excuse of a feces covered toilet bucket to not inhale the smell of stale piss constantly, the floor wasn’t much better. Blood and sweat as well as mold and other things, he couldn’t quite identify stung his nose badly, making it even harder to fall asleep again.
Curling up tightly in order to preserve warmth and breathing through his mouth to avoid the smell, Luffy finally managed to fall back into some sort of fitful sleep, his physical state enough to force him to rest, even if everything in him screamed to not relax in a place like this, to keep his guard up.
The next time that door opened, multiple pairs of feet could be heard, startling him awake again in an instant, shooting upright far more quickly then he probably should right now, at least judging from the white hot pain, shooting through his head, as well as most of his body. Through barely open eyes, Luffy could make out a group of guards who were ushering a hand full of exhausted looking prisoners back towards their cells.
Luffy hadn’t noticed anyone else besides Kidd before, but apparently, basically every cell in the area was inhabited. Mot of the men being locked up looked absolutely miserable, way to thin and clad in gray rags and torn up articles of clothing that might have been some sort of prison uniform at some point. They seemed tired and exhausted, obviously worn out from the work they were forced to do constantly, delicate, paper like skin and protruding bones… They looked like walking corpses.
With so many people in here, the air quickly grew stale and slightly damp and started reeking of sweat. People were groaning, talking, coughing, making use of their buckets or rummaging around in their cells, adding even more to the unpleasant atmosphere and level of noise.
Now, don’t get him wrong, Luffy loved sharing quarters with his Nakama, but this was just too much. Even he could definitely appreciate some privacy in certain situations.
“So, you still alive, or what?” The gravely voice of his rival came from right next to him, startling him out of his thoughts. Turning partially, he saw Kidd sitting next to him on the other side of the bars that separated their cells. “”Had a nice long nap?”
He didn’t really know what to say to that. It was obvious, the other man was being sarcastic. “What do you want, Gizzao?”
“Tch, no need to be this grumpy already. After all, you got a nice day off, didn’t you?”
“Hah?, What are you talking about?” Really, nothing about this had been nice in any sense of the word so far.
The other Captain had the nerve to laugh at him. “Really? You’re complaining already? Just wait until they have you out there working. You’ll be begging for some rest soon enough.”
Shaking his head, he couldn’t really understand, what Kidd was getting at. “I really don’t mind working. Sitting in here all day is boring anyways.”
“Don’t be stupid. Seriously, just by talking to you, I feel my brain cells rotting away. This isn’t a fun summer camp or something. They’ll make you work until you fall over and then some. And the food is absolute crap as well, not to mention this place…”
“Ne, Gizzao…” Now that the other man had stopped ranting, Luffy felt like he needed to at least get the answer to a question he’d wanted to ask ever since remembering the other man’s presence from last night. “Why are you even here?”
“None of your business.”
Well, that had been… kinda rude. “Hmm, fine.” And after a moment of contemplation… “I’m bored.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“Let’s play something.”
“No.”
“But-”
“Shut the fuck up already!”
“Fine… no need to get this mean though…” Seriously, the other Captain had no idea how to have fun.
“You really don’t get what kind of place this is, do you?” The man was now positively growling. “Seriously, how can you even sit there, looking like you are on some kind of vacation? People get send here to be worn down and broken until they submit to Kaido, or slowly die before reaching that point. Do you even understand the fucking mess you’re in right now?!”
A rough hand was now reaching through the bars, grabbing his arm roughly, without a doubt leaving bruises. “Idiots like you make me sick! I’ll get out of here eventually and don’t expect for a second that I’m gonna do anything to help you out or make an effort to take you with me!”
Before Luffy could say anything to that, Kidd ripped his hand away and got up, before relocating himself as far away from him as he could, glaring at him the whole time. “You’ll understand soon enough.”
After that, they fell silent, leaving Luffy to wonder what the hell might have happened to the other Captain to make him this hopeless. Of course, since he was in prison as well, it was obvious that he’d been getting into trouble too, but only from his defensiveness and the fact that he was short one arm, it was obvious the he’d been though quite a bit.
Slowly but surely, the level of noise around them died down as the other prisoners settled down for the night. It was still far from comfortable, but at least, sleep seemed a bit more manageable now. Curling back up on his selected sleeping spot, Luffy could feel exhaustion tugging at him again, despite the fact that he’d done not much besides sleeping the entire day already. Maybe, this was due to his injuries, maybe due to a lack of proper food… he really didn’t know. Chopper would probably have been able to explain this to him.
Somewhere in the dark, someone started crying. Choked off, hopeless sounds, not even sounding human anymore echoed off the walls, bringing the mood down even further.
This was the last thing he registered, before falling back asleep, trying to ignore his surroundings and nearly empty stomach.
The next morning came way to quickly.
With a loud bang, the door to their cell block was kicked open harshly again, letting in the faint light of dawn.
“Get the fuck up, you lazy pieces of trash, time to work!”
Easier said then done.
Groaning quietly, Luffy uncurled himself from his patch of dirt, absolutely not used to feeling this stiff and sore in the morning. Fucking seastone, really. He missed his devil fruit abilities dearly right about now. And he was even more hungry then yesterday.
“You have five minutes to get ready! Anyone lagging behind looses a hand!”
All over the place, Luffy could hear frantic scrambling around. Apparently, this threat was being taken seriously enough.
Now, more guards were entering the building, obviously getting ready to shepherd them all to their designated working spots.
“Your time is up! Everyone! Form a line and follow swiftly! No stalling!”
One by one, the cells were opened and people were either stumbling out themselves, or grabbed roughly and shoved in line. When it was Luffy’s turn, He very much preferred to step out himself, but sadly, the guard responsible for him had other plans.
A rough hand was harshly buried into his hair, preceding to drag him out of his cell roughly before he’d even had the chance to take more then two steps in the direction of the exit. He could feel fresh blood seeping down the back of his head again as the scabs from his injuries were forcefully ripped open again and a few strands of his hair were ripped out as well with how harshly he was being dragged around right now.
“Oi-” He didn’t get further, before something hard crashed into his face with a loud crack.
“Silence! I didn’t give you permission to speak!”
It took him a solid ten seconds before he understood that the guy just had hit him with some kind of baton. Now, blood was not only dripping from his head, but nose and mouth as well.
“Now get in line!”
Luffy could feel the side of his face swelling up as he was dragged further out of his cell, the additional hit to the head really not having done him any favors. Colors that had definitely no right to be there were clouding his vision as for a few seconds, he lost all orientation, that steely grip in his hair being the only thing guiding him to where he was apparently supposed to go.
Still swaying a little bit as he struggled to walk in a straight line with the other prisoners after he’d finally been let go, he stepped out of the dark place they’d been kept in for the first time ever since his arrival.
The place was massive.
The section he was currently in seemed as if it had been carved straight out of a whole mountain range. High, sand colored cliffs were surrounding the entire area, giving the impression of them being trapped at the bottom of a giant bowl. On the ground level, several more barred off areas, as well as steel doors were located, more prisoners being herded out into the open from each one. It was astonishing to see how many there really were. Even during his tour through Impel down, he hadn’t seen this many inmates.
He really couldn’t imagine that all these people had done something so terrible, it warranted them being send to a place like this.
One step after the other, they were herded further and further away from their cells, until after about fifteen minutes, they were called to a halt.
“That’s far enough! For today, your group is in charge of transport. You will pick up the rocks from the mining team and bring them all the way down to the harbor. For each five blocks you’ll load onto the ships, you’ll be awarded one meal ticket. Now, GET TO WORK!”
None of the prisoners looked exceptionally ecstatic about this, but started moving none the less. They got together in small groups, doing their best to move huge blocks of rock towards the general direction, the guard who’d just spoken had pointed in. It was quite obvious that none of them had the strength to do the work they’d been given at all. The only one who didn’t seem to have a problem with it was Kidd, who just glared fiercely, before loading a boulder onto his shoulders and then preceded to march towards the waiting ships, barely visible in the distance.
Luffy was sure, he’d be able to do it like this too, though some part of him couldn’t just abandon all those people to do this by themselves. Stepping over to the next group, he slipped in between a man, almost as skinny as Brook, and a small old guy with round glasses.
“Here, let me help you.” Without waiting for a reply, he focused on pushing the rock with all his strength. It was by no means light, but just from that he felt as if this was really something he could do. The prisoners all round him looked at him in surprise.
“Uhhm, Mr. Are you sure you’re doing fine? You are bleeding…” The small old man looked at him with worry on his face. “I really don’t mind the help, but please make sure you don’t overexert yourself. In this place, you really need to take care of yourself if you want to stay more or less healthy. ” He sounded kind and something told Luffy that he was a good person.
“Nah, I’m good!” Smiling as widely as his swollen face would allow, Luffy once again gave the boulder in front of them a firm push, moving it a couple more meters towards their destination. Doing this with his still seastone bound wrists was definitely exhausting, but whatever. It wasn’t like he had another option right now, so no need to waste energy by thinking about this. “I’m really hungry and that guy yesterday said I wouldn’t be getting any food if I didn’t do the work.”
“O-kay but… please let us know if you need anything. There might not be much, but during the day, we are allowed to have some water. It’s not the freshest, but so far, no one has died from it.”
“I see, thanks, old man!” And with that, they all got back to shoving rocks around. Until late morning, their group moved steadily and managed to actually move enough boulders for each of them to earn themselves one small slip of paper. The sun was beating down upon the prisoners mercilessly, the temperature rising steadily by he hour and soon, they were all drenched in sweat.
With their next boulder being shoved onto the closest ship, Luffy was starting to daydream about sticking his head into a barrel of nice, cool water, after maybe having some of Sanji’s cooking for lunch. Sadly, so far, he’d definitely need to wait for much, much longer until this could become a reality. Wiping sweat off his forehead, Luffy took a moment to stretch his back, until he heard a satisfying popping sound.
“Mr. Strawhat?” It was the small old man again. “I think we should take a short break and get something to drink. It’s really getting quite hot out here and you don’t look like you are feeling particularly well.” He really wasn’t wrong. By now, Luffy’s head had once again started feeling like someone was using it for target practice. “Just follow me. And don’t worry about the guards. As long as we don’t just sit around and slack off, they don’t mind us taking a short break from time to time.”
With that, the both of them as well as the rest of their group abandoned their current pet rock In favor of walking a couple of minutes to the edge of the mine, where something like a rudimentary well was dug into the ground.
One of the others grabbed an old, rusty bucket that had a chain attached to it and threw the thing down into the hole. When he pulled it up again, it was filled halfway with slightly murky water.
They silently passed the thing around and after everyone had taken a few mouths full, Luffy was certain, from the taste alone, that this had definitely been what he’d drank yesterday.
“Let’s take a short bathroom break before we go back.” The bald, lanky guy standing next to Luffy mentioned for him to follow. “Come on, new guy, I’ll show you where to go.”
Secretly, Luffy was really happy about this opportunity, hoping desperately, he wouldn’t be faced with another dirty bucket situation. So far, he’d managed to avoid using it, but he was really beginning to near the end of his endurance here. Especially without his rubber powers. Seriously, normal human bodies sucked.
To his great relief, the place his fellow inmate showed him was at least a bit more private. Of course, in caparison to any decent toilet or bathroom, this was still atrocious, but at this point, he would take what he could get.
Behind an old sheet, a couple of deep trenches were running through the ground, leading towards a pit. The smell was terrible. Flies were buzzing around the place in droves and he really didn’t want to think about, what he saw when he actually took a moment to curiously peek in there.
Deciding not to think about it too much, he did his best to get done quickly. This was more then just a little uncomfortable.
After finishing and quickly pulling his clothes back to where they belonged, he and his companion both silently marched back to the others, who were already back to showing boulders.
Luffy didn’t know for how long they’d been at it. His skin felt sunburned and his muscles ached. The sticky feeling of dried blood on his face was making the whole thing even more unpleasant. Over the duration of the afternoon, they’d taken only one more water break, thus managing to collect enough tickets so all of them could have two servings of food.
By now, hungry wasn’t even a term that applied anymore to how empty his stomach felt.
Just as they returned from stacking their last boulder onto a nearly full cargo ship, the sun had already vanished behind the high walls of their prison, leaving the place to rapidly cool down. For now, this felt amazing, but the young pirate was certain that once it was completely dark, the night would get freezing.
When a loud bell suddenly rung, relieved groans were heard from all over the place.
“Come on, lad. It’s time for dinner.” His entire group was now lining up in front of a small building, he hadn’t preciously noticed. Inside and around, guards were stationed, weapons at the ready, looking for all intends and purposes as if they’d be ready to strike down anyone, causing trouble. He watched as one by one, each prisoner handed in one or more tickets. It also didn’t escape him that a lot of people hadn’t gotten in line, only watching them from afar, looking absolutely miserable. Apparently, the guard who’d come to talk to him yesterday had been quite serious about the food being handed out in relation to the amount of work they did.
When it was finally his turn, Luffy was definitely and positively drooling at the through of finally being able to get a decent meal. But sadly, this place managed to disappoint yet again.
In exchange for his two tickets, he was presented with two small, round things. An unbelieving look in his eyes, he stared at the man handing out food, expecting this to be some kind of joke.
“Move it! You’re done. No more tickets, so no more food. Now, get out of the way, before we’ll make you!”
Were they serious about this? How the hell was anyone expected to survive on only a couple of those awful dumplings each day? No wonder all of the inmates looked this sick and worn out!
Irritation rose up inside him like an angry snake, retort already forming on his tongue. But just as he opened his mouth, a sudden, and unexpectedly sharp pain spreading all across his back was the next thing he felt, his ears barely registering the sharp crack, echoing through the air.
It came so sudden and wholly unexpected that he didn’t manage to suppress a surprised and pained shriek from escaping his lips. Before he could start to shift into a more defensive stance in order to protect himself, another blow was delivered harshly, bringing him to his knees. This one had been powerful enough to actually make his eyes water.
“NOW; GET OUT OF THE WAY OR ELSE!”
Something whizzed past his ear with terrifying speed, cracking into the ground right next to the hand he was currently using to keep himself upright. Only now did he realize that one of the guards had pulled a whip on him.
In one hand, Luffy still held those two small dumplings.
Of course, with the kind of life he lead, pain and injury weren’t unknown to him, but still this felt different and a small, primal part of him actually started feeling somewhat cautious. Carefully getting back up onto his feet, he decided to retreat for now.
Even though he’d had his Kimono to cushion at least some of the force behind those blows, his back still burned like fire. And instead of subsiding, it seemed as if his nerves were only now catching up to the fact that something was wrong. It got worse with each second, the struck areas feeling like they were on fire, his heartbeat making them throb uncomfortably.
Once ha was at a somewhat safe distance from those guards, he barely registered the fact that a few people were now crowding around him. Namely the guys he’d helped out earlier.
“Mr, are you okay? Here, let me take a look.” Small, rough hands gently started peeling the red fabric from his back, causing him to hiss in pain. “Sorry, sorry. Though I think you got lucky, Nothing’s bleeding at least. Though I do assume that you’ll have some pretty impressive welts to show for tomorrow.”
He really didn’t feel lucky at all.
“...sure… I-I’m okay.” Thankfully, none of them commented on his older injuries. He really didn’t feel like explaining how easily he’d lost to Kaido only days prior to this. He really did his best not to let his face betray how much it stung when his clothes were pulled back over his newest set of injuries. “Thank you.”
Before the conversation could continue further, they were called back in order to be marched back to their cells. And for once, Luffy didn’t feel the need to resist. He just wanted to get someplace quiet and sleep this particular injury off in peace.
Once back inside, he had barely enough time to carefully sit down, before Kidd was barking at him, obviously pissed off.
“So, WHAT THE CRAP was that?! Didn’t you hear a damn thing I told you yesterday? Seriously, how the fuck an absolute disaster like yourself has made it through the Grand line alive so far is beyond me!”
He didn’t feel the need to grace that with an answer.
“Oi, listen when I’m talking to you, moron! If you want to be stupid about it, then be my frikkin’ guest. Just don’t drag anyone else into your mess! If your little pea brain ruins my chances of getting out of this dump, you can bet your ass, I’m gonna kill you before the guards get another chance!”
His sleeping area was now even more uncomfortable then the previous night.
“…Gizzao, shut up, I’m trying to sleep…”
“Wha- Don’t fucking ignore me!”
He didn’t care for the other Captain’s ranting right about now, he was still hungry, the slightly squashed dumplings really having done nothing at all for his ever growing appetite. His back hurt, his head was pounding and it was starting to get really cold. Seriously, he had other things to worry about then Eustass fucking Kidd.
Before the aforementioned decided to leave him be, he gave one final piece of advice. “Whatever. Just don’t try making friends with everyone here. You’ll die sooner if you slow yourself down like earlier.”
The soft sound of that thick, red feather coat being put down on the floor signaled the end of the conversation.
He was kinda jealous about that thing. It looked way more comfortable then the dirty ground.
For some reason, Luffy didn’t manage to get any sleep tonight at all. No position he tried did anything for his throbbing back and all the small noises echoing around him were for some reason irritating him enough to have him wide awake.
It felt as if no time at all had passed, before once again, the door to their cell block was thrown open loudly. Though this time, it was still pitch black outside. This couldn’t be right. All around him, movement started up, the other prisoners definitely just as confused as him.
Multiple pairs of footsteps marched through the dark, figures only vaguely visible due to a small lantern, one of the guards held.
Luffy got even more uneasy when the entire group stopped right in front of his cell.
“Get up.”
He didn’t know that voice. And in the low light, it was impossible to make out any faces, but still, something about the guy sounded odd, almost inhuman. It reminded him of that weird lion guy he’d fought in Bakura.
Slowly, in order not to aggravate neither his injuries, nor the guards in front of him, he did as he’d been ordered to, despite every instinct he had telling him not to. Somewhere in the dark, he hear people mumbling and whispering to one another. They sounded absolutely terrified, making the entire situation even more ominous.
With a metallic click, his cell was unlocked and multiple men stepped inside. “Now, don’t move.”
Before he could reply, he was grabbed roughly and one of his wrists was feed from his shackles. Sadly, this didn’t mean his devil fruit powers were back since they made sure not to unlock the other one.
Now, both his arms were violently wrenched behind his back, causing him to hiss in pain as his shoulders protested strongly against this and the by now unpleasantly swollen welts from the whipping he’d received earlier felt like someone had just ripped them open.
While he was distracted, his hands were re-shackled behind his back, though this time, there was no length of chain allowing him much of any movement at all.
“Hey! What-” Before he could continue to protest, something hard was slammed into his stomach violently, stealing his breath and almost causing him to throw up his meager dinner. He’d also very much have liked to curl up into himself in order to alleviate some of the pain, but the guards still holding him made absolutely sure, this wasn’t possible.
“One more word out of you and I’ll have your tongue cut out!”
Something cold and heavy was tightly secured around his neck, putting enough pressure on his windpipe to be massively uncomfortable. The fact that he still was fighting for each breath didn’t help either.
It took him a few moments to realized that they had placed some sort of metal collar on him.
Someone was messing around with his hands again. Another metallic rattle and suddenly, his bound wrists were wrenched higher up his back, getting more and more painful with each centimeter. With one final click, the pressure on his throat increased, making him cough pathetically as a short chain was now tethering his wrists to the collar around his neck.
He really hoped they didn’t intend for him to work like this.
“Now, You’ll come with us.”
The guards still holding him didn’t waste any time to shove him out of his cell and back out into the mine. This time however, they didn’t go towards the mining area. Instead, he was dragged towards a brightly lit tower standing in a corner of the prison. Now, Luffy could also finally see, what was going on around him.
In total, there were six guards around him, following a seventh, who was definitely a lot taller then the average human. Before he could focus on anything else, another rough shove against his back had him almost cursing out loud. They’d managed to hit one of the injuries from this afternoon just now.
The inside of what he now understood was some sort of guard tower, looked far more nice that any other place inside Udon. The architecture was obviously traditional for Wano and everything looked well kept and expensive.
Sadly, he didn’t get to enjoy the change of scenery for long. A very sturdy looking metal door was opened, revealing a staircase leading downward. As soon as the entire group had passed through, it was closed again with an eerie squeal. Taking one careful step after the other, Luffy really tried not to stumble. He couldn’t imagine falling flat on his face on concrete steps to be a very pleasant experience while being chained up like he was right now and without his devil fruit, that would usually prevent serious injuries in situations like these.
The Strawhat pirate had no idea for how long they’d been walking downstairs, when they finally reached the end of those stairs, only knowing that by now, he was far under ground.
Their steps echoed off the walls around them, the entire area resembling a cave or mine shaft. Sparse lighting was making sure they knew where they were going. One plain steel door after the other had been worked into the walls on both sides, not hinting at what was hidden behind them at all.
The further they went, the more uneasy Luffy became.
This wasn’t right. Something was going on here and a little voice deep inside his head told him that whatever it was, he certainly wasn’t going to like it. His body told him to run, to fight and get out of this place before whatever those guards were up to was going to happen to him. His chances at a successful escape got smaller and smaller with each step he took.
As if they’d sensed his thoughts, with the first sign of his muscles stiffening up in preparation of one desperate attempt to flee, the guards got even more violent as their hands dug into his flesh harshly, closing around his arms like iron bands while the pressure on his back increased to a point where he would have been shoved forward, even if he’d suddenly stopped walking.
Someone laughed quietly behind him. “Getting nervous now, are we?” Around him, the other guards started laughing and sneering at him as well. “Don’t worry, where you’re going, you’ll have plenty of time to relax.”
“Quiet, all of you! We’re here.”
Now, for the first time since he’d been pulled from his cell, Luffy laid eyes on the huge man who’d led their group through Udon just now as the guy turned towards him. He looked a lot like those gladiators, he’d gotten to know on Dressrosa, the only difference here being the bright yellow elephant head growing from his stomach.
Luffy couldn’t help but stare at it. Seriously, Kaido’s people were wired.
However, when a large hand gripped the entirety of his head and slammed it into the nearest wall, his focus was broken.
Black dots were dancing through his vision and he could feel bile making it’s way up his throat this time for real. Sinking onto his knees, he barely managed to bend over, before retching violently. Due to his still constricted throat, the act of throwing up was even more horrifying then normally. While a thin stream of bile dribbled out of his mouth and tears stung his eyes, Luffy felt like he was about to suffocate.
Coughing wetly and spitting out another mouth full of sharp and bitter tasting stomach acid, he could feel himself shake pathetically.
“Urgh, what a disgusting piece of shit!”
Before he knew what was happening, multiple sharp cracks echoed through the narrow tunnel, accompanied by his hoarse screams as he was once again whipped mercilessly, though this time, they didn’t leave it at just two hits.
He couldn’t even curl up to protect himself. His chest, arms, legs, stomach and back were all mercilessly tormented and when they finally let up, he wasn’t quite sure if his clothes felt sticky from sweat or blood.
Luffy barely was able to react what the same meaty hand from earlier took a hold of his hair and dragged him back to his feet.
“Now listen here, Strawhat. Master Kaido may let you live, but as warden of Udon prison, it it up to me to decide how you’ll spend that time. And I don’t like people walking in here, challenging my guards and making others think they can get away with that too. Someone like you is way to dangerous to be allowed to simply walk around freely. So, I hope you enjoyed the sun yesterday since it was the last daylight you’ll ever see for the rest of your miserable little life.”
By now, Luffy was barely tracking anything that Elephant guy said.
“But don’t worry, we’ll come by to entertain you a bit from time to time, so you won’t get too bored…”
With that, Luffy could feel himself being roughly dragged over the rocky ground. Blinking his eyes open (He really couldn’t remember having closed them in the first place), the future pirate king laid eyes upon a dark hole in the wall. After a few seconds his tired brain caught up with the fact that this was actually some kind of room. Half of it was separated by thick, black bars, which was also, where they were heading right now.
“This is our most secure cell to keep unruly prisoners in. No one has ever been able to get out of here alive.” Luffy really wished the guards would stop talking soon, His head was feeling as if it was being crushed in between two boulders right now.
A door leading into the barred off area was opened by someone and he was swiftly pushed in there. Once he’d roughly reached the middle of his new cell, a sharp kick to the back of his knees brought him to the ground again, something he really didn’t appreciate at all.
“Now men, make sure to hold him nice and tight.” This time, all six guards did as the warden had ordered as said man himself walked forward with the keys to Luffy’s cuffs. First, to his great relief, the chain connecting his shackles to his collar was unlocked. Taking in a couple of beep breaths felt absolutely amazing and cleared at least some of the fog in his head.
However this relief was short lived as said chain was roughly pulled backwards and connected to, what Luffy could only guess was the rear wall. Next, his wrists were both un-cuffed swiftly, notifying him of the fact that this stupid collar was made of seastone as well. He hadn’t noticed up until now.
Next were his wrists, which were both chained up similarly to his collar, though not fastened to the back wall but to the ones to both his sides, leaving him kneeling on the hard and cold ground with both his arms outstretched as he was held upright by the chain connected to his neck, leaving him virtually motionless.
Were the really planning to leave him here like this? His shoulders were already beginning to ache, as were his knees, not to mention his numerous other injuries. He just wanted to lay down and sleep, curl up in a dark corner somewhere and pass out until he felt better, not this!
Now, one by one, the guards left his new cell, closely followed by the warden.
“Now, you won’t be any more trouble and behave yourself, right?” He didn’t even wait for Luffy to reply before turning around and leaving the room all together. With a loud clang, the cell was closed and locked. After that, no more words were spoken and when the windowless metal door to the room was slammed shut behind the last guard, Luffy was left alone, chained up in total darkness.