Chapter Text
It ended as it begun.
Robin clawed her way to feet, swaying helplessly in the slight breeze that rolled through the dense forest.
Her breaths were shallow and desperate, the smell of burnt flesh clogging the back of her throat, her stomach lurching as both past and present haunted her.
Looked around for signs of life she slowly stumbled forward through the trees, the uneven floor becoming a harder trial with every step.
This island had lived up to its name - Laughtale. In the days they had spent traversing the cursed land they had seen it all. Nothing here made sense, what was up could turn down, a storm could turn to a ravaging sun or a flurry of snow at a moment's notice. A walk through the dense forest could turn to a hike up the steepest mountains, or a slog through the dryest dessert.
Strawhat Robin wasn't the archologist for nothing, diligently she had worked to uncover the truths of this land useing her knowledge to slowly edge her way back to her captain.
Her ribs shook at every move she made, brokenly threating to make each moment her last. Through the pain she brokenly made her way forward, barely glancing around at the chaos that surrounded her, Robin forced herself to focus on the journey forward even as she edged past the bodies scattered, most undisguisable between friend or foe in their utter destruction. She could see traces of ice and lava as it glistened, both equally as deadly as the other.
She closed her eyes tightly willing for the destruction to disappear.
War never ended well, and this one had begun in her name.
Stumbling towards the center of the island spurned on only by blind hope and desperation, Robin continued her lonely journey, for the first time since it begun there was only silence. Desperate she prayed to any gods that were able to listen, maybe all was not lost, perhaps she could see one of her dear Nakama reach their dream before she gave into the darkness that had begun to edge its way across her vision.
Sheer will drove her forward as she clambered over traps and treacherous pathways, determined to make it back to the reason she had come this far, to the one who had finally brought her dream to reality, she needed to see him succeed, it would all be worth it, if he made it to his crown. In her head she saw the ever-present grin on her captain's face as he accepted his legacy, she could almost see the future laid out ahead, how her captain would avenge them all and bring a brighter future.
Her dream ended as reality came crashing down as she finally made it to her Captain,a version of Luffy that sent shivers down her spine in her final moments.
Her Captain lay helpless, brokenly hunched over the treasure he had sought, but as Robin watched she realized he had lost the will, he was broken.
Her desperate words were unable to form as she took in the sight of the once 'Noble' Red Haired Shanks stood over what remained of her Captain.
Gripping the last embers of strength Robin clutched her arms for the last time, her last sight as she fell was the tell-tale sheen of black covering Shanks neck as her hands failed to gain purchase.
“Release” the faint whisper fled uselessly from her mouth falling with her last breath, as she collapsed to the cold stone.