Haomzen, a tiny spring island nestled in the middle of the West Blue. Population: 20,000. Three villages- 2 situated on the shore, 1 inland. A single marine base, and an elected govnor. Main trade: fishing and textiles (lots of pastures and cliffs).
Tashigi's home since she was 6 years old.
5 WEEKS AGO, the marine captain stared in horror at the newspaper headline.
"200 DEAD FROM MYSTERY OUTBREAK AT HAOMZEN"
The article had limited information- Number of deaths. All within a week. Symptoms inconsistent. No respecter of age. A quote from Govnor Flannigan begging for doctors to donate their medical expertise to looking for a cure.
Then nothing.
No more public news stories, not a single marine report when she searched for updates- even from the island's base. And no rumor of action.
Like her home didn't exist.
No one cared.
Except G5. The men did their best to cheer her up, and Smoker demanded action on the situation anytime he interacted with someone from HQ. Still nothing got filed- all the West Blue forces distracted by the Falcon Wars in their ocean. Until...
1 week later, Tashigi received a personal letter from Govnor Flannigan- delivered by a snipe. There was a sealed sample of the disease, and the letter's written contents were disturbing: the death count was now 500, the marines and world government were ignoring the island's calls for help, and a suspicious doctor was potentially running experiments on victims.
The Govnor also rambled something about Tashigi's grandmother, but the marine captain tended to ignore stories about the 'legendary' former Admiral.
Instead, Tashigi sent the disease sample to Vegapunk and Smoker's request for an assembly with the West Blue's highest ranked officials was granted. The letter finally prompted action. Investigation revealed the island's marine base had not filed a report in 3 weeks. Ships set sail with emergency medical and food supplies. Requests for background info on the suspicious doctor- Dr. Poinen- were submitted. Then 3 days later Vegapunk's report came back.
Incurable.
Progress froze. A blockade was set up to enforce quarantine. Supply ships re routed to the Falcon wars- why risk exposure to a people destined to suffer and die anyway? The request for Dr. Poinen's background was denied.
Tashigi refused the results. She sailed to Vegapunk's labs herself, confronted the world's greatest scientist. She was met by an overwhelmed and overworked man, who gave her a single sympathetic look before continuing past her in the hallway.
"bigger things are at stake with my main projects. Every life is important and normally I try to give equal attention to the little battles but, I'm sorry. This one isn't worth the fight."
He was already at the corner before Tashigi could yell after him, "HOW CAN YOU KNOW THAT WITH JUST 3 DAYS?!"
When the scientist turned back, the captain could see it in his eyes. a sad warning.
"I can't, fully. But 3 days is enough to understand a situation. and to confirm that even if I could find a cure, everyone on that island would be long dead before I could complete it."
She knew something was incomplete about his excuse. She also knew he told the truth- he could not save her home in time. So she sailed back to HQ.
Filed for the disease sample to be sent to other researchers.
Denied.
Proposed plans to drop supplies with zero chance of exposure.
Denied.
YOU ARE READING
The Greatest (Zoro x Tashigi)
RomanceHe grins. "Hey Pirate." I glare back, cheeks red and a thousand emotions swirling at the title forced on me. "What did you do to that poor man's Hydrangeas?" There are no such thing as "good" pirates- Tashigi firmly believes this. She also will do a...
