Porcelain Waters

White Bells

Law gasped and sat up in bed. His sheets and pillow were drenched in sweat, he could feel a few drops still sliding uncomfortably down his neck to be soaked up by his shirt.

"A...dream?" He mumbled and ran tattooed fingers up into messy raven. "I hardly ever dream. What was... that?"

It felt almost too real to be a dream, he could still remember the distinct scent of smoke on the wind, the sound of the sea lapping in his ears, the heat of the sun coming back over the horizon. But that was strange - so real and yet so many peculiarities. The truth was, Law remembered that boy; remembered that very interaction that had happened so long ago, although with less strangeness. Why was he suddenly dreaming of it now?

Rubbing the sleep further from his eyes, Law shifted uncomfortably in bed. It was hot. The dream was ebbing further from the front of his mind, but he could still smell the smoke and feel the heat of that sun on his prickling skin. He paused, brow furrowing under thin fingers.

No. The dream was over, long ended. Law sniffed again - the smell of smoke was still there, stronger now. Not quite stifling, but intense enough to have invaded a once-was peaceful sleep.

Law forcefully scrubbed the sleep riddling his brain from its surface and scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping on sheets and face planting in the process. The sounds of faint screams were registering in his head now, shrill and terrified. The heat was fully upon him, it made his skin itch and sweat, made his heart race with panic. The fires of Flevance rose to the surface of his thoughts and sank in fangs of fear with its arrival.

The Tang... Was the Polar Tang on fire?! Was his past to be repeated again, everything lost to raging fires and choking smoke?

"CAPTAIN!!" Bepo cried in panic, fluffy paw making to open the door to Law's room just as the boy inside whipped it open himself. "Captain! The town! It's on fire; those bandits attacked and set everything ablaze!"

"And the Tang?!" Law questioned, already having thrown on a thick hoodie and boots before grabbing Kikoku. Her chimes sounded in his head, fluttering and eager for what She knew was to come.

"It's okay! Edeth and I put out the fires around the dock so none of the fire would spread to the Tang. Uh I also moved the Tang further out from the pier, just in case the fire spread again." Bepo tapped white furred fingers together and bowed his head. "Sorry if I shouldn't have done that. We were in a rush; the flag got a little singed and-"

"You did fine." Law's eyes narrowed. That vaguely explained why neither Bepo nor Edeth came to wake him, but what of the rest of the crew? "Where are Shachi and Penguin?"

The panic had returned to Bepo's voice in full at this question. "Some of the bandits came looking for a fight. They were mad, shouting and threatening the Tang over feral monsters or...or something worse." The bear shook his head. "The fire was spreading and the bandits weren't giving Edeth or I a chance to stop it from reaching the Tang so...Shachi and Penguin lured them away with that boy. Uni was his name, right?"

Something worse? There was a bad feeling tumbling like a hot coal in the pit of Law's stomach. It was only just earlier today that Shachi had gone berserk - violent, broken glass teeth finding their place in another man's throat and having to be pried off by the only one Shachi trusted with all of his secrets. The bandits were out for blood, of course, but Shachi and Penguin...

'Have they recovered from whatever happened?' Law pondered and frowned. "Where did they go?"

"Further into the town." Bepo blinked in surprise as Law pushed past him. "Captain!?"

"Stay here and watch over the Tang!" Law commanded as he raced for the exit. Everything had gone to hell so suddenly and somehow the Hearts had found themselves stuck in the middle of it all. "Make sure none of the fire damages the Tang! If you need to pull her further out to sea, then do it!"