They… they stayed behind to buy me time." Ferrey's voice trembled as he recalled the night of the ambush. "I was the one carrying the Bone-Eroding Knife and the Sakura Swordsmanship scroll. The others my junior brothers they knew the pirates would chase me first. So they… volunteered to hold them off."
He paused, eyes distant. "All of them were killed. I still remember… the youngest of us. He grabbed one of the pirate swordsmen by the leg and held on, even as the blade came down on his neck. He knew he wouldn't survive, but he refused to let that man take one more step toward me. His head rolled across the ground… but his eyes stayed wide open. He died protecting me."
"Alas… may they rest in peace." Passat's tone was heavy. "These tools the blade and the scroll they belong to you. I can't keep what was bought at such a price." He gently placed the Bone-Eroding Knife and the weathered Sakura scroll beside Ferrey. Despite how well the techniques suited him despite the power he'd wielded in battle Passat couldn't bring himself to keep something that carried so much bloodshed and grief.
Ferrey coughed, his breath shallow. "No… you keep them." His voice rasped as he leaned back. "I don't have much time left. The black miasma from that pirate captain… it's still inside me. You saw the ghostly smoke it left behind. It's not just poison, it's a cursed remnant of his Devil Fruit. I won't survive it. But when you wielded the knife yesterday it responded to you. Like it had finally found its master."
Passat frowned. "No. These are yours. You fought to protect them. I'm not going to claim them just because fate tossed you my way. And don't talk like you're going to die there has to be a way to treat you." He stood and placed the blade and scroll back beside Ferrey's bed. "I'll search every mountain, every island nearby if I have to. We'll find a cure."
Ferrey tried to sit up but immediately doubled over, a wet cough racking his body. A splash of purple-black blood hit his hand, the same cursed taint from before. He quickly wiped it away before Passat could notice.
"By the way," Passat said as he knelt beside him, unaware of the blood, "I just realized I never even asked your name."
"Ferrey," the injured swordsman replied, swallowing hard. "My name is Ferrey."
"Alright, Ferrey. Get some rest," Passat said, placing a hand gently on his shoulder before turning to leave. "I'm going to help Linnana outside."
In the days that followed, Passat and Linnana worked tirelessly to repair the damage to their home. Ferrey's condition slowly stabilized though the curse lingered. Passat searched the nearby mountains, foraging rare herbs and natural antidotes. With Linnana's healing vines and Passat's effort, Ferrey's wounds began to close.
In time, something else blossomed too Passat and Linnana's bond grew stronger. Their shared hardships had forged something deeper, and the love between them eventually bore fruit: the birth of Passat's son, a quiet moment of joy in the aftermath of chaos.
"Passat," Ferrey called one afternoon, his voice breaking the stillness of the recovering home.
"What's up?" Passat answered, stepping in from the training yard where he'd been practicing the advanced forms of Sakura Swordsmanship. His movements had become fluid, sharp like falling petals that sliced the wind. If the pirate leader from before returned now, even ten years stronger, Passat would defeat him without hesitation.
Ferrey looked serious. "I've been thinking about something… something important." He shifted slightly, eyes focused. "I believe I've made a decision."
Passat tilted his head. "What kind of decision?" He could tell from Ferrey's tone this wasn't something minor.
"I'm leaving."
Ferrey's voice was calm, but resolute. He had been thinking about this for a long time. Staying here was never a permanent solution. He needed to leave travel beyond these woods, seek new experiences, learn other powerful techniques, and someday return to find what was left of his dojo, or rebuild it from the ashes.
"Leaving? Why?" Passat frowned. "Isn't it peaceful here?" He was clearly worried. Ferrey's body wasn't what it used to be. The remnants of the cursed purple-black smoke still lingered inside him, and Passat feared that without constant treatment, Ferrey might not last long out there. The curse, likely a residual effect of a forbidden Devil Fruit, was steadily eating away at his life force.
"I don't belong here," Ferrey replied, gazing toward the distant horizon beyond the window. "Maybe out there somewhere I can find someone who knows how to purge this curse from my body." He clenched his fists. "Even if I die trying, at least I'll be fighting for something."
Passat looked at him, troubled. "But… you know your body. Without the herbs I gather daily, your strength might fade before you even reach the next village."
"It's alright," Ferrey said, his eyes unwavering. "You have to believe in me, Passat."
There was something in Ferrey's gaze a determination that Passat couldn't deny. He'd seen it before, in the eyes of warriors ready to throw themselves into battle during the Grand Line campaigns, or in stories of samurai from Wano who chose death over surrender.
"…Fine," Passat relented after a long silence. "You can leave the day after tomorrow. Linnana and I will prepare supplies for you."
"Thank you." Ferrey bowed his head slightly, a quiet smile crossing his lips.
That night…
While the stars shimmered above the quiet forest, Passat and Linnana lay sleeping. The house was peaceful, save for the soft rustle of wind outside. Inside, Ferrey rose silently from his bed. He moved slowly, careful not to stir the others. From beneath his mattress, he pulled out the travel bag he had packed days before just in case Passat had refused to let him go.
Creak…
He quietly opened the door to Passat and Linnana's room. The two slept soundly, unaware. Ferrey tiptoed in and gently laid the Bone-Eroding Knife and the Sakura Swordsmanship scroll at the foot of Passat's bed.
"Passat… Linnana…" he whispered. "Thank you for everything. You saved me, sheltered me, treated me like family." He paused and looked at Linnana's hand resting over her belly. "I hope your child grows up in peace, far away from blood and blades."
Ferrey stood there for a moment longer, eyes filled with quiet warmth and sorrow. Then he turned, stepped silently across the floorboards, and slipped out the door into the cool night.
Moments later, after the door closed behind him, Passat opened his eyes.
"…So you really left without saying goodbye."
He sighed and sat up. "Didn't even want to make it harder on us, huh?"
But Passat wasn't surprised. A few days earlier, he had discovered Ferrey's packed bag tucked beneath the bed and had already guessed what was coming. Quietly, without saying a word, he'd slipped fresh bundles of healing herbs into the pack—his way of preparing Ferrey for the road ahead.
Though Ferrey had gone, Passat felt the weight of friendship heavy in his chest. After all they'd been through, after standing shoulder to shoulder against pirates and fate itself, they were more than allies.
"…Take care of yourself out there, Ferrey. We'll meet again somewhere."
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