~

Luffy woke up much later or so he thought because when his senses kicked in, his head had started aching, the kind of ache that happens from sleeping too much. He wondered if Zoro got any headaches since he slept a lot. Luffy kicked the blankets aside noticing he slept with one but there were two now, Law was nowhere so maybe it was his blanket. He got out of bed and put his strawhat back on his head, wiping his eyes and making his way outside towards the kitchen. He was hungry. When Luffy neared the kitchen, he heard some voices from the lobby.

"When did you have to go meet Luffy again? Aren't you sort of late?" Luffy heard the lady Ikkaku ask and changed his destination to the lobby.

"Penguin I swear I will take your eyes out." That was Torao.

"Good morning~" Luffy sung still sleepy and head aching. He took the nearest seat and it was by Musta. He leaned his head against the guy. Everyone went quiet.

"It's afternoon." Law answered sighing. He then noticed that all his friends had gone silent. Law mentally counted to three and the questions started pouring in.

"What is this?!" Penguin screeched. "When did this happen?!"

"Oh boi oh boi! Captain when did Luffy get here?" Clione asked.

"Was he staying in your quarters?" Ikkaku asked, hiding her grin.

"He looks awfully tired, what were you both up to?" Musta raised an eyebrow.

"He got here last night." Jean Bart provided. "He said he wanted to see Captain."

Law rubbed his temples, a headache forming but before he could say anything, Luffy did. "Shut uppppp my head is aching!"

"Oh." Musta voiced after he observed Luffy's face closely. "Guys let's leave this matter alone." He told everyone with a straight face. "Up for breakfast Luffy?"

"Always!" The teenager was up in a second, following the mustache guy to the kitchen.

"So?" Penguin pushed and Law groaned.

"That's his business," was all Law said and went back to his room. Now that Luffy was up and having breakfast, he would want to go out soon so Law started changing into outdoor clothes.

"Toraooo! Let's gooo!!" Luffy declared barging in Law's quarters, slamming the door on the metal wall and Law shuddered from the noise.

"Where are we going?" Law asked folding the blankets neatly, his back to Luffy.

"Exploring near the mountains! I heard there are caves!" Luffy sat down on the bed and swung his legs, his gaze fixed on the older. He looked better than yesterday night. Law wondered why he was so relieved about that.

"The weather can take a turn for the worse either today or tomorrow, I don't think exploring anything but the town is a wise move."

"Boooo!! Torao where's your sense of romance? It's an adventure!" Law sighed.

"Fine." Law grabbed a small bag and filled it with two flashlights, water, a few ropes, his satellite phone, his emergency kit and extra batteries. Law also discreetly put a gun in the bag. There was no way of knowing what they might encounter.

"You pack like a mom nishishi." Luffy snickered.

"What do you know about packing like a mom?" Law gave him a weird look.

And since when do moms pack guns!

"Sabo packs for me because I always forget to pack anything but the snacks. Sabo acts like our mom sometimes." The boy laughed and fell back on the bed, accidentally making a mess of the blankets Law just folded and put aside.

"Ok let's go." Law said zipping the bag and moving before Luffy started making more of a mess.

"Yahoo!" Luffy jumped off the bed and Law grabbed his hat, coat and bag on the way out from the room, locking it after him. They both went to the lobby to inform the others.

"Keep an eye out for the blizzard. I've packed my satellite phone with me so ring me if anything happens." Law told his friends and left with Luffy before they could make any weird remarks.

When they were out of the sub and on solid ground, Luffy mostly led the way, Law let him because it was the younger's idea to 'explore' but Law himself was keeping track of where they had passed through, snow was a tricky terrain when something went wrong and by the intensity of Law's gut feeling, something would definitely go wrong.

"Torao you look like your stomach hurts and you might throw up." Luffy had turned around to see if Law was following because he was so quiet but he saw Law looking uncomfortable and that he would throw up at any given moment.

"I'm fine." Luffy looked at Law for a moment before shrugging and continuing his walk.

"If you don't wanna tell, that's ok." There was something oddly mature and unsettling about the way Luffy spoke those words that left Law rooted to his spot for a few seconds.

"How are you even walking in those shoes?" Law commented falling into pace with Luffy.

"One foot in front of the other, that's how walking works. Silly Torao." Luffy laughed and Law's eyes twitched. "Ohh!! There's the mountains!!" Luffy ran ahead and Law struggled to follow.

They both went around the rocky, snowy mountains in search of cave entrances. Law frankly did not want to enter any caves, not because he was afraid, he did not like stepping into places without knowing about them. Fate had other plans and it was Law that found the cave and instead of keeping his mouth shut, he told Luffy.

"Mugiwara-ya, this way." Law called and Luffy turned, running to him.

"Let's go in!!"

"Wait a second." Law grabbed the hood of Luffy's coat and pulled to stop the younger. "You don't even know what might be in there, there could be Lapins or Hiking Bears-"

"Well we won't know unless we go in." Law face-palmed himself.

"I can feel my life span reducing." The older mumbled under his breath but got the flashlights out and handed one to Luffy. "Do not go off on your own and if we get attacked by a wild animal I'm leaving you in there and saving myself."

"You won't." Luffy grinned cheekily and went ahead in the dark cave. Law shook his head and followed.

They shone the light where the path led, it was all brownish and rocky, nothing surprising considering it was a cave in a mountain. Law didn't know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't a boring cave. Thinking of, Law mentally questioned himself on his train of thought, when had he even gotten excited about the cave that he was now disappointed?

"There's hardly anything here, let's go back." Law suggested, stopping.

"Nah, there might be something ahead." Luffy shone the torch in Law's face and got his hand smacked away.

"Let's not. I have a bad feeling about this." The older confessed, his instinct alarms were practically blaring in his head, making it ache now.

"We've been heading up all this while, there might be something there!" Luffy insisted.

"How do you know we have been heading up?"

"Look at how we are standing." Law saw the younger point to his legs and they were indeed standing slightly bent, like they had been walking upwards. It was a weird feeling that Law felt in his chest when he realized Luffy was right and that his brain was picking on these sort of things. It was kind of amazing. Law was impressed.

"Point taken."

"So, move ahead?" There wasn't much room for an argument when Luffy started leading the way again and Law reluctantly followed. Visibility was getting a little distorted. They were sometimes passing narrow halls, sometimes spacious clearings but they were certainly going upwards still. Law thought it might lead to outside the mountain.

"Water break." Law stopped and handed a bottle to Luffy. Even if it was cold, there was still perspiration and they had been walking for a good two hours now. They both drank in silence and started moving again after Law put the bottles back in his bag pack.

"Thanks by the way." Luffy said suddenly when they were walking.

"What for?"

"For coming with me! The last time I was in Drum, I didn't get to explore."

"Yeah you were busy uprooting tyranny." Law rolled his eyes. "And your friends needed medical treatment."

"Yeah. Adventures are always fun when there is someone to share them with nishishi." Luffy grinned.

"I hardly make a fun partner."

"That's not how I see you though." Law was about to ask Luffy to elaborate on that statement but the younger's seemed to want to avoid that. "Minami no shima waaa attake~" Luffy started singing and Law swore he hadn't heard someone sound so bad in his entire life.

"Please don't."

"Painappuru puru, atama poka poka~" Luffy grinned but kept singing.

"I will bury you here." Law warned.

"Aho bakkaaaaa~ Nyahahahahahaha!!"

"Please don't sing anymore." Law sighed.

"Come on Torao! Have some fun!" Law grumbled something incoherent and wasn't watchful of where they were heading. "Careful!" Luffy pushed Law back and Law realized they had arrived at the edge of their walk. It was quite a deep fall. The path ended there.

"Ok we've explored. Let's go back." Law said after having shone his light downwards and not seeing the bottom. This was definitely a dead end.

"No! Let's go down!" Luffy jumped but Law turned his back.

"That's too dangerous. We're lucky we haven't encountered any wild animals. I agreed with you this far but I will not be going down." The only answer Law received was some rocks getting kicked down the edge and quiet. No protests. Law started walking. "Didn't think you would agree this easily."

Quiet.

Law turned around to see if Luffy was pouting but he found no Luffy. The pathway was relatively narrow all the way towards the edge so Luffy couldn't be hiding.

Oh no.

Law speed-walked back to the edge and shone his light down again. He really couldn't even see the bottom. Did Luffy actually go down? Then Law remembered he heard rocks getting kicked down. So those weren't rocks but something did get kicked down. Amidst his thoughts, Law noticed the edge was shorter than when he was standing there.

Luffy had fallen.

Oh noooo.

"Mugiwara-ya!" Law called. His voice echoed and his breath got caught in his throat. There was no answer. "Mugiwara-ya! Answer!!"

There was still no answer for a long while and Law had already prepared himself for the worst. This must have been what his gut was telling him about. Why did no one ever listen to him?!

"Ouch..." Law heard a faint cry and tried again.

"Mugiwara-ya!"

"Torao?" Oh thank fuck there was an answer.

"Are you ok?"

"My leg hurts!"

"This is what your dumb ass gets for being unrelenting!" Law called just to get the frustration out of his system.

"There's nothing here!" Luffy called back, sounding bored and disappointing. "I'll come back up!"

"Ok!" And the conversation stopped happening. Law considered the drop a little too deep that he couldn't even hear Luffy if he wasn't shouting.

"Nope! My leg hurts! Can't move it without hurting!"

"Ok just stay put, it's probably a sprain or a broken bone, both of which should not be moved! Just stay there and I will come get you! I will throw a rope down, let me know when you start seeing it!"

"Gotcha!!"

Law pulled his bag pack off and got the ropes out and attached the ends of two ropes together, throwing it off the edge to measure the depth.

"See it yet?!"

"Nope!" Law added a third one then threw it again. "Seeing it!!" Law immediately found a strong, solid protrusion and tied the rope to it. "Torao hurry up, I'm hungry!!" Law rolled his eyes.

"Coming down!!"

While Law took slow and steady steps down the rope, Luffy spread his legs in front of him and rested his back against the smooth rocks. He had moved a little in hopes of seeing something new. There really wasn't anything down there, just some mushrooms and a little suspicious puddle of water.

In his hunger, Luffy moved and grabbed the few mushrooms, sniffed them, shrugged when they seemed alright, and stuffed them in his mouth without a second thought.

"That tasted weird." Luffy observed and sighed, he was hungry. What was taking Torao so long?!

Law stopped by securing his feet on the wall and grabbed the rope righter with one hand, shining his flashlight below with the other. He had been descending steadily for twenty minutes and the end still wasn't in sight. He wondered if Luffy was actually really alright except his leg because this was a really deep fall.

It was some twenty more minutes later that Law jumped the rest of the fall and landed perfectly, letting go of the rope. He waited a minute to catch his breath then scouted the area with his light.

"Mugiwara-ya!" Law called and waited for a shout back to guide him in the right direction. A minute passed. No response. "Fuck." Law advanced forward and away from the rocky wall, thinking if Luffy had moved, he would definitely have gone in that direction and he was right when he spotted the younger sitting against the rocks. "Answer me when I call dammit." Law scolded.

"Torao?" Luffy asked raising his head to meet the flashlight in his eyes. He squinted then hung his head.

"Let's see what's wrong with your leg first." Law bent and sat down, placing his things aside and getting his first aid bag out. He moved Luffy's coat out of the way and was first greeted by scraped knees. "Which of your legs hurt?" The older asked but poked and prodded both the legs and when Luffy winced and moved away, Law found out it was the left one. He checked for broken bones and sighed in relief when there were none. "Sprain. Easy." The doctor got the bandages out and firmly tied them around Luffy's left ankle. "Don't move it if you can help it, your ankle's sprained. It's an easy recovery."

Luffy didn't respond to anything Law said or even winced or show pain when the other was tying the bandages around his ankle and Law found it a little concerning, thinking that Luffy might also have hit his head somewhere. He moved to check for any head injuries, his hands pressing and gliding.

"Are we gonna die down here?" Luffy asked in a small voice when Law didn't find any bleeding from the skull and had moved to check the rest of the body to make sure Luffy was ok for moving but the question from the boy caught him off guard.

"What? No. The rope's still attached, I will get you up there-"

"I don't wanna die down here- I haven't even told my brothers where I was going today-" Luffy's voice started getting thick from all the tears falling down his face.

"Nobody's dying-" Law tried explaining and abandoned his search for more damages and grabbed Luffy's face, shining his small torch in his eyes to check if there was trauma. His pupils were blown wide. He looked drugged.

"-I just made up with Usopp and now I'm gonna die down here- there won't even be anything to bury- nobody would know where I died- my grave would be empty-"

"You're not dying. Get a grip, what happened?" Law asked to try and see if Luffy answered why he was being so scary and hopeless. He was talking fast and was overall delirious, his neck not supporting his head. When Luffy didn't answer, Law took his face in both his hands and steadied his line of vision. "Look at me, and tell me, what's wrong?" Luffy didn't answer, just kept mumbling under his breath. Law remembered him saying something about being hungry. "Did you eat something down here?" The older looked around and found only a puddle of water and some weeds growing out of the ground. "Answer me, did you eat something?"

There was only a slight nod and Luffy's eyes moved towards where he had plucked the mushrooms from and where there was only weeds now. His brain was shutting down, he couldn't think clearly, he knew what Torao was asking but his body wasn't responding.

"What did you eat?" Law asked, already tired of the situation. "Open your mouth, let me check." He let go of Luffy to get a cotton swab sampler and when he tried to hold him steady again, Luffy fought his hands off, pushing at Law's arms and shoulders to get away from him. "Stop." Law tried his best to be nice about the situation but the more time that passed without him knowing what Luffy had ingested, the worse his situation would become. "Alright that's it."

Law brought his knee up to hold Luffy's torso in place and used one of his arms to hold both of Luffy's arms aside. He grabbed Luffy's chin and pushed his mouth on the other's, using force to go past his teeth and used his tongue to try and gather a sense of the taste of the thing Luffy had eaten.

Luffy's body was fighting but his brain was silent, oddly enough liking the invasion. As soon and abruptly as it had happened, it had ended, with Law spitting whatever he tasted on the side and rinsing his mouth with waste to rid himself of the entire sample.

"Leave it to you to ingest poisonous mushrooms!" Law spat and got the remaining rope out of his bag. By the delirium Luffy was displaying and how his skin had started getting clammy and cold, Law assumed the poison was spreading fairly quickly. He was using the task at hand so he won't panic. He didn't know what to do. Of all the poisonous mushrooms Luffy could have eaten, it had to be amiudake! There was no cure for it! None!

Law's breathing laboured and he tried controlling himself because if he fell into panic then Luffy was definitely dead. He still had to get him up and get him to the Tang, maybe he could think of something to do to save Luffy's life till then.

Get it together Law! You are a doctor, you can't let your situation get worse!

Law took deep breaths and calmed himself down. He closed his bag and hung it on his chest. "Mugiwara-ya, I am going to get you on my back and tie this rope around us so you don't fall, ok?"

"Uhnnnhhhggg..." Luffy whined and his eyelids fluttered, eyes unfocused. He was in pain. He was definitely in too much pain. Law sat down in front of Luffy and had the younger fall forward on Law's back, he quickly tied the rope and secured Luffy's arms around his own neck and stood up.

"Just hold on as long as you can. I'll get us out of here, I promise, you're going to be ok." Law focused on getting up. He pulled at the rope a few times then took a deep breath and began climbing it slowly, his feet providing as much stability as Law could afford with Luffy going more and more limp by the minute, his speech getting more morbid and hopeless with time.

"Save yourself Torao, leave me here." Luffy spoke close to Law's ear, resting his head further inwards.

"Shut up asshole, I'm already half-way up. If you wanted to die, you should've spoken sooner!" And with that Law's panic was back. "You just had to eat the incurable poison! Why couldn't you control your impulses better!! I swear if you die on me I will bring you back and murder you myself!"

Luffy coughed and then it was silent. Law's hands holding the rope shook whenever he let go to grab it again and his eyes had started watering at the edges, he didn't know why this was affecting him like this and so much at that but he knew he didn't want to lose the ball on dimming sunshine tied on his back.

As soon as Law saw the edge, he pushed himself on the flat ground faster than he thought he was capable of. He began to run through the path they both had come and rummaged through his bag to get the satellite phone. He pushed the sub's button and waited for someone to pick up, his breathing coming out in short gasps. He hated running.

"Law-"

"Peng, get Ikkaku the bike and have her track me through this phone!" Law shouted, not waiting for any affirmations from the receiving end. "Get the dialysis machines prepped, get F type blood and other fluids ready for transfusion. Get the CT, MRI and X-Ray machines out of the storage! Put everything in the med bay!"

"Oh boi what happened?" Penguin asked, panic settling in himself as well, nudging Ikkaku to get the bike they had on the sub. It was one of the same bikes Law and the three friends had on Swallow Island.

"Mugiwara-ya ate amiudake. He doesn't look too good." Law answered and kept running, his lungs burning.

"Oh shit. Ikkaku is already on her way, I've sent the tracking screen with her." Law ended the call and didn't stop running for one second until he was out of the cursed cave. He stopped for a while to curse when he saw the winds picking up. Just their luck!

"Captain!" Law heard Ikkaku call and ran to meet her halfway, stopping when the bike was in front of him. If Ikkaku noticed Law being on the verge of a mental breakdown, she didn't say anything. They both quickly undid the rope tying Luffy to Law and got on the bike, securing Luffy between the both of them. Ikkaku drove fast and efficiently back to the sub. By the time they reached back, Law couldn't tell how much time had passed but Luffy going unconscious was definitely not good.

Penguin and Clione were waiting outside with a gurney and they quickly put Luffy on it, wheeling him to the medbay. Law used the time Luffy was being wheeled to calm himself down and to think of possible ways to either delay the poison spread or eradicate most of it.

This is going to be a tough one.

~