a spider's bite

"But when she was scared, she was a child again, and she was more afraid of being a child than anything else in her life."
—Tamsyn Muir, Harrow the Ninth

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THE CROWD scattered quickly, the villagers suitably frightened. They did, too, though Tala and Luffy had to be all but dragged away.

"We can't just let them do this," Tala hissed as Bayani hauled her away by the collar, his other hand tightly gripping his cane. Abal wrapped her talons around Tala's shirt, helping him pull.

"I wanna fight him!" Luffy called with a pout. "He's a spider guy! Lemme fight him!"

"It's not our fight," Zoro told him lowly, watching as Tala glared at her brother. "Not yet, at least."

That subdued Luffy, who turned to look at the siblings with a hum. "Yeah. Not yet."

"Don't be stupid," Bayani was saying, leveling his sister with a harsh look. His grip on her shirt tightened. "If you charged in like that, they could've killed you."

"So we should just let them take Dagatao?" Tala demanded, eyes wide with a wild look Zoro knew well. "We should give up? Just like that?"

With a sudden burst of movement, Bayani slapped her across the face. "Stop it!" He yelled before taking a deep breath, schooling his expression. "That isn't what I'm saying. What I am saying is that you can't just rush out like that unarmed. We can follow them quietly, find out more information, and go from there."

Tala fell silent, breathing shakily before she nodded. "Okay. Sorry."

His face softened almost immediately, and he ran a thumb along a scar that sliced through her eyebrow. "Don't be," Bayani replied, pulling her into a tight hug and burying his face into her hair. Zoro almost wondered if he should look away from such a tender moment before they pulled apart, and Bayani whistled sharply.

Abal stood at attention with a questioning chirp, letting Tala's shirt fall from her talons.

"Find where they went, then lead us there."

With a piercing cry, the osprey spread her wings and took off into the sky, quickly gone from sight.

"Has this ever happened before?" Nami asked, her eyes locked on the abandoned festival tables. "Pirates trying to take over the island, I mean."

Bayani sighed. "It's not common. Most understand that Dagatao is neutral ground, but it's not unheard of for a pirate crew or a group of bandits to get greedy."

"The last time it happened, we were just kids," Tala added, face hard. "It was an upstart crew no one had even heard of, but our parents took care of them."

Vivi blinked, tilting her head. "Where are your parents?"

Zoro winced. That question seldom had a good answer.

"They passed a long time ago," Bayani said, swallowing as he touched Tala's shoulder. "Our mother went diving during a storm, and her mooring post snapped. Our father went in after her, and neither of them made it."

Clapping a hand over her mouth, Vivi stared aghast. "Oh, my! I'm so sorry—"

"It's alright," Tala interjected, offering a half smile. "Like Bayani said, it was years ago. Amihan was kind enough to look after us in our parents' stead. That's why we're gonna get her back." Pausing, she crossed her arms and squinted. "And Marilag, I guess."

"So are we gonna go kick their asses, or what?" Luffy asked, squinting. Zoro still had a hand on his collar, this time keeping him from the food that lay abandoned on the decorated tables.

(Usopp said something about suddenly coming down with the deadly Can't-Fight-Pirates-Disease. Everyone ignored him.)

"We have to wait for Abal to return," Bayani replied. "We won't know—"

There was a screech, and the bird in question dove down to land on his shoulder, settling with a chirp to dig her beak into her wing feathers. He blinked.

"Oh. Well. Okay, yeah, let's go find them." He clapped a hand on Tala's arm before looking back at the Straw Hat crew. "Look, you all are a good bunch, but you don't have to come with us. I can set you up with some food, and you can set sail outta here. We can handle it."

Chopper, who had been sticking close to Bayani the whole time, scowled immediately.

Luffy sucked in a breath, but Zoro clapped a hand over his mouth. "It's not your decision right now," he muttered, nodding toward Vivi. Luffy huffed and crossed his arms but begrudgingly stayed quiet.

"You may be able to handle it," Vivi said quietly, her face solemn, "but I know what it's like for your home to be taken over. I-I can't just leave like that."

Before either sibling could respond, Luffy pumped a fist in the air. Zoro watched with the same bemused fondness he had come to associate with almost everything his captain did. "Yeah! Let's kick some ass!"

Tala stared at Luffy before looking at Zoro, who shrugged.

"You get used to it. He grows on you."

She blinked. "Like a fungus, maybe," she muttered, but she didn't protest.

He watched her go with a smirk. Luffy got them every time.

ꕀ

They stopped by their house first, which was further from the rest. Most of the buildings seemed near the center of the town, where the ground was lined with cobblestones, but their home was just outside of that. Any pathway that had been there was long covered by grass, weeds, and sand.

Inside, Luffy busied himself with food but grew distracted as he watched Tala grab the spear she had earlier.

"D'you fight with that?"

She hummed. "Sometimes." With a click, the base of the spear separated, and she took two handheld sticks before stuffing the rest of the pieces in her drawstring bag. "I've trained best to fight with these, though." She waved the two sticks back and forth before attaching them to her belt.

"Huh." Luffy crossed his arms. "You really should join my crew."

Tala rolled her eyes. "Look, even if I wanted to, I've got responsibilities here that I can't just leave. Besides, why do you even want me to join that badly? You don't even know me."

He shrugged. "You catch fish, and you can swim good." If he wanted to think of better reasons, he probably could, but those were enough for him. He got Chopper to join just because he could get really big; the fact that he was a doctor was just a bonus. Did he need better reasons? Oh, wait—

"Plus, you're pretty cool," he added with a grin.

Blinking, Tala spluttered before walking off.

Luffy thought nothing of it, just laughing as he trailed behind her.

ꕀ

Abal led the group to the other side of the island, near the shipyard, where they could see the Spider Pirate's ship moored on a post usually reserved for Dagataoan boats (the fishing boat that had been tied there was tossed carelessly to the side, broken into splinters on the rocky beach. It was a small thing compared to everything else they'd done, but it stoked the growing blaze of anger in Tala's chest).

The unwelcome pirates were gathered on the shore, but notably, it appeared as though Amihan and Marilag were not in any danger. They weren't tied up, were no longer in the grip of the Spider—instead, the two stood among the pirates, conversing easily.

Tala half-considered running out in a charge then and there, but Bayani caught her by the collar once more, motioning for everyone to hide behind a nearby home.

"You're sure this'll work?" They heard Tarantula ask, his tone that of bored indifference.

A familiar voice snorted nasally. "It'd better."

Tala froze, her stomach falling and something ice cold settling in its place. What?

"Quiet girl," Amihan scolded her granddaughter. "Of course, this will work. I didn't spend the last six years planning it for nothing. You have the money?"

"Right here."

There was a heavy thump as something landed in the sand, and Tala risked a look, ignoring Bayani's hissed warning as she leaned around the edge of the stone wall.

Tarantula was leaning in front of Amihan and Marilag, grinning, a large sack--money, probably--on the rocky shore between them. His long coat was draped over his shoulders, showing off his extra arms.

"Surprised you're wantin' to part with this place," One crew member piped up with a whistle. "Nice as hell here."

Amihan sniffed disdainfully, and Tala's lungs tightened, her breath catching in her throat. "For pirates like you, maybe. I, for one, can't wait to leave this floating slab of sand behind."

Something deep in Tala snapped with so much force she could almost hear it. Faster than Bayani could react, Tala darted forward, ignoring the hushed warnings behind her.

"How dare you?!"

The words left her lips of their own accord, like her heart had leaped from her chest to speak for itself. She had no plan or idea of what to do next, but the rage over the apparent betrayal refused to be quiet. Chest heaving, Tala stood before the pirates, the village's leader, and her granddaughter with clenched fists, having not even bothered to unhook her eskrima sticks from her belt.

"Tala," Amihan said, as though she was scolding a child for making a mess. "You should be gathering your things. It isn't safe here anymore, child."

"How could you?" Tala asked instead, ignoring her suggestion (that sounded like more of a command, really) entirely, eyes wide. "Are you—you're selling Dagatao?"

She sighed. "Tala, my dear—"

She clenched her jaw so tightly it hurt.

How dare she—

"—you can't seriously think we would stay on this island forever."

Tala relaxed and clenched her fists again, blunt fingernails biting into her palms. It was the only thing to keep them from shaking. "And if I did?"

"Then you're a bigger fool than I thought you were."

Tarantula was unimpressed. "Sorry, who is this brat?"

"Just a nobody," Marilag sneered at the same time Amihan said—

"The diver girl I mentioned."

"Ooh," Tarantula leered, hands on his hips as he leaned down to meet Tala's glare, her face reflected in his sunglasses. "This's the one, huh? Bit of a pipsqueak if you ask me." He gave her a grin that she returned by baring her teeth.

"You can't take our home," she said, forcing her voice to stay even as she stared up at him, her body braced for a fight.

Tarantula shrugged. "Well, I paid for it, fair and square, so. Seems like I can, actually."

She clenched her jaw. "And it wasn't hers to sell!" She yelled back, pointing accusingly at Amihan, who watched on like she had seen more exciting things on the bottom of her shoe.

"Don't worry about it too much, kid," he laughed. "Hey, look. This lady says you're good at what you do, so I'll make a deal with ya. You wanna stay that badly, you can join my crew." One of his arms reached out to ruffle her hair, laughing uproariously when she jerked back.

Incredulous, Tala opened her mouth to tell the guy just where he could stick his invitation when another voice spoke up.

"No way! Tala's joining my crew! Get your own fish-girl!"

She whipped around, too shocked to even try and act offended, and Luffy had also jumped into the clearing with a surprisingly angry scowl. His crewmates whispered harsh warnings to get back here, but their captain ignored them.

Gathering her bearings, Tala turned back to Tarantula, snorting. "Like hell, I'm joining the assholes who wanna kick my people out of their village."

Tarantula shrugged. "Shit. I mean, I tried." He grinned, holding out a hand, all five fingers pinched together toward her. "Time to die, then, kiddo. Spider Shot: Bristle Bolt!"

A thick bolt shot out from his pinched fingers, embedding itself in Tala's stomach before she had time to move.

She made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a gasp, hands flying to the wound as she staggered back as pain made her vision swim.

"Spider Web: Total Net!"

A web shot out from his hand next, but before it could trap her, hands grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. She glanced back just in time to see Luffy's arms stretching inhumanly far before they snapped back, yanking Tala back with them. "I told you! Tala's joining my crew!" He snapped, looking genuinely angry for the first time since she met him.

Marilag, who had remained silent the entire exchange, scoffed. "You still want her? I mean, look at her." She motioned at Tala, laughing as she watched her grip the bolt where it met her skin with both hands.

"It truly is a shame," Amihan said with a cold sigh. "You were one of the best, but you had to be nosy. Just like your parents."

Pausing, Tala raised her head, still gripping the bolt tightly. "What?"

Amihan sighed again like she was a misbehaving pet. "I've been planning this for just over six years now. Your parents caught wind and tried to talk me out of it." She inspected her nails. "It's such a shame that no one remembered to pass along Batari's storm warning."

Tala fell limp in Luffy's hold, and Chopper took the opportunity to pull her down, muttering admonishments about recklessness as he began to address the bolt.

"What are you trying to say?" Bayani asked instead, limping into view with his cane. Abal sat on his shoulder as she screeched.

"Bayani," Amihan said with a faint hint of surprise. "I would have thought you would be the more levelheaded of the two of you."

Tala tried to listen further, but she gasped as Chopper pulled the bolt from her stomach in a quick, fluid motion, immediately pressing gauze and wrapping it tightly around her stomach. She blinked the stars from her eyes and grit her teeth, breathing slowly and deeply through the white-hot pain.

"If your parents had just stayed out of my way," Amihan was saying, her voice filled with venom, "then they wouldn't have gotten themselves killed! They were trying to stop the inevitable. Dagatao won't stay like this forever; best to hop the sinking ship while you can."

"That's a stupid reason."

Amihan gawked at Luffy, who was staring at her blankly as he held Tala down. "Pardon me?"

He shrugged. "It's a stupid reason. The island's not even sinking!"

"Yes, well," she huffed, irritation beginning to bleed into her words. "Can you imagine being stuck on this drifting rock your whole life? The Baniaga family line was royalty before we split from Tampallaw! Now look at me. I'm nothing. Once I'm done with this Hinasil-forsaken place, I'll have real power, real control, again."

Above her, Tala watched Bayani tilt his head. "You're despicable," he said softly.

Amihan snorted, and suddenly, Tala could see the resemblance between her and her granddaughter. The older woman simply hid her greed well. "And the Dimayuga family isn't even worth the sand beneath my feet."

Tarantula cleared his throat, bringing attention back to him and his crew, clearly growing antsy behind him. "Listen, this is great and all, but I'd really love to finalize this here. Bitsy, what's the time?"

One of the larger crew members pulled out a pocket watch. "Been about an hour, Captain."

"Perfect," he said with a predatory grin. "Time to go see who stuck around."

Tala blanched. "But you said five hours!"

Tarantula rolled his eyes. "I know what I said. I'm a pirate! You think I try to make things fair?"

Imploringly, she looked back at Amihan and Marliag. "You'll let them kill our people? Children, even?"

"I told you," Amihan shrugged. "I was meant to be royalty. My granddaughter," she shot Marilag a look, "as well, though she certainly has room for improvement."

He paused, grinning, when he saw the reddening bandages under her crop top. "Ooh, how's the poison feel?"

Frowning, she ran a tattooed hand over the bandages. "Poison?" She grunted as her fingers, even with their feather-light touch, skirted over the wound.

Tarantula hummed, running a hand through spiked hair. "I ate a tarantula Devil Fruit. My bolts are poisonous; soon you'll be dying a slow, painful death."

Next to her, Chopper scoffed. "I've got the antidote for tarantula poison! Don't listen to him, Tala; you'll be just fine. Their venom is more like a bee sting, anyway."

The pirate captain blanched, and he glared down at Chopper, eyebrows furrowed behind the pit viper sunglasses he refused to take off. "Well," he said, recovering quickly, holding his palm out again. "You'll have a hard time helping the brat if you're dead! Spider Shot--"

An unnaturally long arm shot out, grabbing Tarantula's wrist and shoving it to the side. His bolt shot into the sand, utterly harmless. Tala whipped her head back and saw it was Luffy's arm stretched impossibly far, just as he had pulled her back earlier. His other hand let her go to pull Chopper behind him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Marilag demanded, stomping her foot like a petulant child. "This isn't your concern, pirate!" Pausing, she eyed his arm as it snapped back into place. "What even are you?"

Luffy looked more serious than Tala had ever seen them. "I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit," he replied, tilting his head to the side as his arm snapped back from where it had held Tarantula's wrist. "And I told you, Tala's joining our crew. But he also attacked Chopper, who's in my crew." He looked down at Tala. "I know this's your fight, but I can't let that go."

The rest of his crew, though they didn't speak up, clearly echoed their captain's sentiment, all ready for a fight behind him.

She shrugged. "'s long as you know that I can't, either."

At that, Luffy's lips stretched into a wide, determined grin. "Yeah." He reached out a hand, and when she grabbed it firmly, he pulled her to her feet. "Let's kick their asses."

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WC: 3k
Status: Edited

Here's chapter two! I'm honestly having a lot of fun with this, but I can't wait to start in with the canon story, too! Also, apologies to any live action-only viewers! I meant to say so in the beginning, but this starts, like, halfway through the Alabasta arc, which should be season 2. There haven't been any real spoilers yet, but be cautious about spoilers after this chapter!

Let me know what y'all think, and the next chapter will be out soon! Come yell at me on Tumblr if you'd like at wavyfloralwrites !

Also, just a little bit of shameless promotion, but I've recently published a One Piece applyfic called Ship in a Bottle! If you think you'd be interested, applications should be open until October 7th, so go check it out!