Summary: FICWAR! A storm. A reef. A deserted island. Two half-drowned captains and two unlucky first mates. Now what? A ZoroxTashigi fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters, places or things mentioned herein (within reason), they belong to our beloved Oda-sensei. I am borrowing them, with much love, for a little side venture of my own creation.
What is FicWar?FicWar is something like a challenge fic, except that it's a private challenge. I and my friend "angelicyokai" sit down together, usually over food late at night, and discuss fanfiction plot bunnies for various anime and manga. We pick one that we both like, and then the FicWar begins. We both take off writing in our separate directions for wherever we want to go with our fics! Same plot, different authors... different stories. Which one do YOU like better, hers or mine?
One Piece: Tatsumaki
The wind was picking up quite a bit, but as the air was warm and it was only late afternoon, the gusts didn't bother Zoro overmuch. Sprawled out on the deck, not quite asleep, he could hear Nami cursing the unpredictable and unstable weather patterns of the Grand Line once again. Apparently the brewing storm was pushing them quite a bit off course, and all her shouted commands at Chopper, who was manning the rudder, we for naught.
He shifted slightly in irritation as some sea spray managed to reach the part of the deck where he was laying, dampening his clothes and ruining his chances for a continued nap marathon. Cracking his eyes open, he was slightly surprised to see just how dark the sky had gotten. He didn't make any motions other than that for the moment however, because if he showed signs of consciousness the navigator would put him to work immediately. At the moment, they were currently threading a careful course quite close to a small island surrounded in some apparently dangerous reefs, and those underwater landmarks forced them much closer to shore than Nami enjoyed, adding to her irritation.
As it turned out, there wasn't much point in lying flat out on the deck much longer anyway. He was getting soaked, and the waves were getting quite rough as well. Finally, he dragged himself to his feet, scooping up his swords and attaching them at his waist before he moved a little father toward the center of the ship. Yawning and stretching, he glanced out towards the horizon, attempting to judge from the height of the sun how much time was left until dinner.
Thoughts of food were brought to an abrupt end as Zoro's keen eyes detected two points of interest, or rather alarm. First of all, the dark sky was making a change to deep black storm clouds lit with lightning flashes, building with their Grand-Line-normal startling speed. There was no way the navigator's equally keen eyes hadn't spotted those as well, so he'd be quite busy in a few moments.
The second point was on a bit of a smaller scale, but just as worrisome. Below the growing thunderheads, riding before them almost as if it were summoning them at its back, was a Marine battleship with a very familiar aura that was closing in fast.
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The largest wave yet, quite a monster for being as close to shore as they were, appeared practically out of nowhere. There was no real time to react; everyone would just have to hold on and ride it out. This would also be a hell of a time for anyone to get washed overboard, since there was little chance of getting back to the ship in these conditions. The main concern there being, of course, the Devil's Fruit users aboard.
Chopper was still safely indoors, fighting with the rudder to control the ship, as futile as that might be. There was no way Nico Robin would be stupid enough to get washed overboard, no matter the situation. That left the one person who was the most deserving of concern in the first place…
Luffy was on the figurehead. As usual, but this time while throwing taunts, or his version of them, at the Marine crew from his 'special seat'. Completely oblivious, naturally, to the massive wall of water bearing down on him on his precarious perch. Growling to himself, Zoro sprinted across the deck, hoping to grab an arm, a leg, something so that the idiot captain would at least be easy to retrieve.
Not quite quick enough, it seemed. The wave slammed down on him, sending the swordsman skidding across the boards of the ship, scrambling to hold on to something until the torrent ceased.
As soon as the water began retreating, Zoro lifted his head and noticed the empty spot on the figurehead. A quick glance around, catching the various expressions of shock and dismay from his crewmates, revealed that it had played out just as expected. That being the case, there was no time to waste. As soon as he was back on his feet, Zoro bolted to the railing… and dove straight over.
"That idiot… he's going to owe be big for this one!"
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Surprisingly, things weren't much better on the Marine ship at that same moment. This was unusual because Marines were well trained and experienced seamen, usually with solid heads on their shoulders. They dealt with storms like this before breakfast, and then sat down and had their tea.
A 'man overboard' call was therefore quite rare among their people. Much worse that it had somehow been their Captain who went over. Rather distracted as he was with the infuriating pirates just off his bow, Captain Smoker had apparently not managed to find time to time himself down at all.
And in this case, with him being a Devils' Fruit user as well… it was a disaster. But no one could accuse his first mate of being anything but absolutely loyal, as well as one of the best swimmers on the ship. Tashigi leapt into the dark waters without a moment's hesitation.
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It seemed like hours had passed. Maybe they had, there was no way of telling. Storm clouds still blackened the sky, though the winds and waves were starting to abate somewhat. This was definitely most appreciated, since getting to shore had been difficult enough and Zoro really didn't need to fight against a rip tide for those last few yards.
Panting heavily, he dragged himself onto the sand, hauling the comatose body of his captain along as well. It had taken him several minutes to locate the errant Rubberman in the furious ocean, so Luffy had been unconscious by the time Zoro had managed to pull him back to the surface. He was still breathing and whatnot, so Zoro wasn't overly concerned, but the long trip to shore probably hadn't done him any good either.
The tree line looked rather windswept and the worse for wear, but at least it would provide some shelter from the still falling rain. Resolutely, Zoro struggled to his feet and, dragging Luffy behind him, headed for this dubious shelter. Maybe he could find something better along the way as well. It wasn't like he'd be here long at any rate, as soon as the weather let up the rest of the crew would come in to retrieve them poste haste.
He made the trees with no problem, but once there he found a suspicious lack of progress happening. He'd meant to head inland, to get farther away from the storm swept coast, but ended up paralleling the beach somehow. His own lack of directional sense was kicking into high gear today it seemed, since if it was at the point that he was consciously noting it but apparently unable to do anything about it, then it was quite bad indeed. He calmed himself with the thought that this obviously wasn't a very large island anyway, so it didn't matter where he set up camp. The others would be able to find him in no time anyway.
And as a matter of fact, this little detour may have been for the best anyway. A line of cliffs were appearing out of the rain's mist, and such places were well known for having caves and such thing in them. Much better than camping out under a tree or whatever, particularly with the rain still pouring down as it was.
As the dark rocks drew closer, Zoro inspected them for a promising gap. One quickly presented itself, and with a visible target in line the green haired swordsman made good time to the sheltered spot. As it turned out, the cave he'd discovered was rather small, but quite dry and protected from the elements. He dropped Luffy off to one side and took a moment to shake some water off his drenched form.
He inspected his surroundings for a moment. The cave was deeper than it looked, and appeared to connect with a whole system stretching farther back into the rock. Well, at least they'd have the option of moving farther back if the weather somehow managed to get even worse. That being said, Zoro had no intention of going exploring on his own, since the odds were excellent that he'd never find his way back to this particular entrance.
Dropping down onto a nearby rock, he sighed in irritation. "All right idiot captain, hurry up and wake up."
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Tashigi had also found her way ashore, though her trip had actually managed to be more perilous that Zoro's. This was almost entirely due to the fact that her commanding officer, also unconscious for reasons quite similar to those that had put Luffy out of action, was rather larger than the Gomu-Gomu Devil's Fruit user. It was just damned lucky that Tashigi was quite possibly the best swimmer on her vessel, which was saying something for a warship filled with professional Marines. And she'd caught a convenient inshore current, which helped quite a bit as well.
Also fortunately for her, she'd managed to wash up near a conveniently sheltering looking cliff face…
She shortly found the energy to drag herself – and her commander – the short distance to the sheer rock. Even more conveniently, there was a safe looking cave extending back into the rock as well.
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The rain finally let up just after dawn, though high winds still buffeted the island, making the trees sway and causing some interesting howling noises as it forced its way around and through the rocks on the cliff face. It was that rather irritating background that roused Zoro so early in the day – he'd much rather have spent a good bit more time unconscious, especially after all the trouble he'd gone through the night before.
But, so long as he was actually up, he figured he might as well seek out a little breakfast, and perhaps look around to see if the rest of the crew had made landfall in search of them yet.
Stepping out of his sheltered cave, Zoro found the morning sky nearly as dark as the night that had proceeded it. Apparently the storm hadn't completely blown over yet, and there would be a good chance of the downpour starting up again at a moment's notice. He wasn't the cat burglar navigator by a long shot, but even he could discern that much from the prevailing conditions.
Nevertheless, food had to be sought out. First and most importantly, Zoro himself was starving after the fiasco of the night before. Secondly, whenever Luffy awoke his first demand would undoubtedly be for meat. This was easy to predict, since that was the way the straw-hatted captain started every morning, but Zoro decided to preempt dealing with a meat-less Luffy first thing in the morning if he could at all help it. After all, this whole 'stranded on an island' thing was Luffy's fault, so Zoro wasn't too kindly disposed towards him at the moment anyway.
The green haired first mate set out with that purpose and determination in mind, but nearly an hour later and he had to admit that meat, in any shape or form, was turning out to be surprisingly difficult to find on this island. Perhaps all the meat bearing animals, with their heightened senses and animal-like common sense, had sought out shelter from the storm, and were thus not available for eating?
At any rate, Zoro had been roaming around the wind swept isle for nearly an hour, with no luck in procuring breakfast of any sort. He currently found himself beside what appeared to normally be a small creek, but which was currently running quite high due to the storm rains. At the very least there ought to be fish in such a place, so Zoro set about following the water in hopes of finding a relatively calm area where fishing wouldn't be too much of a hassle.
He spotted a likely looking pool, deep enough and calm enough to harbor tasty fish through this bad weather. After locating a sheltered place under a small tree to store his swords and stripping off his shirt to keep it relatively dry, he waded into the murky creek and started his new hunt. This continued for a few minutes, a routine he was well familiar with after years of providing his own food. He even started out strong, catching a nearly foot long silver fish within the first five minutes.
Zoro was momentarily distracted from his pursuit of the fish by the sound of a fallen branch snapping, the sound of something coming closer. His head snapped up, eyes focusing on the patch of brush that the sound had emanated from. The rest of his body was perfectly still, though tensed for instantaneous movement, as he detected more sounds of approach.
All those preparations were for naught, however, as his body froze in shock, betraying him, as the thing he least expected managed to stumble out of the underbrush, muttering to herself and brushing leaves off her clothes.
It was that damned female Marine, and he was half naked in the middle of the stream, impossible to miss.
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End Ch. 1