Injured Spirit
Big, dark eyes slowly fluttered open at the first peak of sunlight over the horizon, alongside the birds outside who chirped away, excited to be back home after a long winter. Ace threw back his heavy quilts and sat up, resting his feet on the splintery, wooden floor. He meandered over to his makeshift bathroom and looked into the cracked mirror. Short, course hairs protruded at many an odd angle from the pointed chin, having been neglected for a week. He looked at his razor, but it was way too far-gone for him to even consider using. His stomach growled, but there was nothing in the cabin to eat. He had a bag of rather old, hopefully not rotten, walnuts he'd collected a while back; he supposed he'd make due with those for now. Ace slipped into his red, flannel shirt; pulled up his black pants with the suspenders; put on his heavy duty hiking boots, boots that were beginning to deteriorate; slipped on his plain, buckskin vest; and tugged his traditional lumberjack hat over his black waves of unruly hair. Last but not least, he grabbed his ever so trusty axe that was resting beside the door, waiting to get to work.
The sky was a mix between lilac and baby blue when Ace finally stepped out into the chilly morning air. It may have been the beginning of spring, but it was still cold, not to mention also rather damp in the morning. The leaves crushed and the twigs snapped under heavy feet as Ace weaved between the trees, making his way up the slight hill and away from his humble cabin. He looked up into the trees, whose leaves were still barely buds. He heard what he thought was the sound of cheerful laughter as the wind caught the branches, shaking them joyfully. The forest came alive as the wind blew through, tittering with glee as it played with the branches of the trees. Ace hated to admit it, but he had been a bit...uncomfortable, shall we say, when he'd heard the gentle echo of laughter way back when he'd first become a lumberjack. Now, it was his faithful companion that followed him whenever he went out to work. Though a part of him now wondered if the intense solitude hadn't just made him lose a part of his mind.
Soon after he broke open the last of his walnuts, he found that he had finally made it to the river. He popped the soft nut into his mouth before starting to undress, regretting that he had to bathe in the cold water while it was already so cold outside. Once completely in the nude, he dipped a toe in. Yup, still as icy as ever. He stepped back before taking the plunge, submerging his whole body in one go. Almost instantly, he felt the water warm up, as it always seemed to do when he finally got his whole body under the shimmery surface. He felt the water swirl almost unrealistically around his body, running over and between his legs, gently caressing his strong chest and arms, the cold of the water sending a tingling sensation through his nipples, pressing against his muscular ass, and gently nudging his impressive manhood. If Ace hadn't known any better, he'd assume that the water was molesting him.
After washing up properly, Ace climbed out and began to shake himself dry, having forgotten to bring his towel. The wind suddenly picked up, running through the forest and such an incredible speed Ace briefly wondered if there was a serious storm approaching. He grabbed his clothes and held on tight, not wanting to have to walk around the woods with a bare bum while searching for them. When he wind finally died down, Ace felt that his body was almost completely dry. He scrunched up his face in confusion. "What the hell is up with mother nature today?" Ace quickly got dressed and went off to find a tree that would be suitable for today's requirements.
Ace walked up alongside the riverbank, searching and searching until he finally found what he was looking for: a great, white oak tree, sitting only a few meters from the bank. This tree was absolutely massive; it fit the bill perfectly. He walked around it, his hand ghosting over the thick bark as he admired the tree. It was about three and a half feet in diameter and at least 200 feet in height. He noticed that it had a large, diagonal split in the bark from where it must have been struck by lightening, scarring the beautiful trunk. Even though it had imperfections, they only seemed 'skin deep' one could say. The resulting timber wouldn't have any defects. This was a prime specimen, though it would take the young lumberjack all morning to cut it down. He took up his axe, keeping his eyes trained on the spot where he'd make his first mark, and swung.
There was an incredible cry of agony that rang in Ace's ears. It had sounded like the voice of a torture victim was lying not three feet from his ear, screaming as his leg was mercilessly ripped off, or something equally morbid and horrifyingly painful. Ace looked around, but, of course, he saw no one. Had it all been in his head? The sound was so realistic, so heartfelt that he couldn't have imagined it. He decided to ignore it and swung again. There was a second cry of agony, but Ace held firm this time. There was absolutely no way that this tree was actually screaming out in pain. He dislodged the axe and prepared to swing a third time when another abnormally strong wind came down upon him. He was thrown off balance and tumbled backwards. Suddenly, storm clouds began to gather, as if out of nowhere. The river violently moved and splashed about, silently daring anyone to come close enough to the banks of the dangerous water. The wind continued its unrelenting assault, sending bits of debris flying about. The ground began to split open, and Ace swore that the world was coming to an end. Lightening hit a nearby tree, sending a painful shockwave of sound through Ace's body. He went down on all fours, unable to stand when the immensely powerful shock of lightening struck. Ace was astonished to see the tree that the lightning had struck burst into sudden flames, flames that spread unnaturally fast. What the hell was going on here?
"Calm yourselves, DOn't kill the man untill he has a chance to properly explain himself to us." The beautiful, yet ghostly sounding voice was that of a woman's, and it seemed to come from everywhere at once. Ace was more startled by the voice itself than by the actual words it spoke. However, immediately after the voice had spoken, everything died down. The wind became nothing more than a breeze. The storm clouds ceased in their raging, yet they lingered overhead, as if watching him. The river slowed down back to its usually lazy movements. The ground stopped splitting, and the fire died down, leaving nothing but smoldering branches. Ace's jaw was slack; his eyes bulged in disbelief. What the hell had just happened? He looked around, as if waiting to see something appear, and to his amazement, something did.
In the grass, about 10 feet away from where Ace had fallen, a shimmering spot of light appeared, and it was slowly growing in width. Suddenly, it began to rise, as if something was trying to push its way through. It continued to rise, higher and higher until it was about 6 feet tall. Suddenly, the column of light began to take shape, developing curves here, and angles there. When Ace squinted his eyes, he almost began to think that the light looked kind of like a woman. Suddenly, a brilliant flash temporarily blinded the stunned lumberjack, who had to briefly shield his eyes from the intense beacon of light. When the light dimmed and disappeared, Ace removed his arms. There, standing where the light had been, was a tall, dark haired woman with big cerulean eyes.
"Greetings, human. I am Mother Nature." Her voice was gentle, yet tinted with an edge of anger. Her voice was so resonant that Ace could feel it in ever bone of his body. He had never felt so small in his life.
"W-W-Wha...Wh-Who...? What?" Ace couldn't even blink as he stared at the woman who had suddenly appeared, stuttering like a fool.
"You have greatly upset my Nakama, due to your carelessness. They wish to extract revenge for their injured companion. I am here, for their sake, as well as for the sake of your life, to ask you why you would do such a thing." Her piercing blue eyes cut through Ace like the icy winds of a deadly winter storm. This woman was clearly very angry, but Ace still didn't understand why.
"Na...Nakama?"
"Would you care to make yourselves present, my dears? I'm sure this man would appreciate seeing the faces of those he's angered."
The violently strong wind picked up again, and seemed to settle in their general area. It swirled and swirled, increasing in intensity, until it became a visible little column and then it, too, became humanoid. The personified wind had shaggy black hair, big brown eyes, and a huge X shaped scar across his chest. To Ace, the scar almost looked like a compass. Perhaps it was symbolic of the four winds? "So you're the one who hurt my Nakama." Anger flashed within his deep brown eyes. "You won't be forgiven."
"You can say that again, Luindo-bro!" Lightening struck nearby, reigniting the burning tree and starling Ace halfway out of his skin. When the shaft was gone, a huge, muscular man stood there, disproportionately large forearms crossed, his electric blue hair swirling upwards. "This ain't so super, bro." He said, voice rolling like distant thunder, "Don't you think so, lil sis?" The fire that the lightning spirit had created with his bolt flickered and danced about until a woman leapt from the flames. The second her feet touched the ground, the fire in the tree vanished, leaving behind charred branches. As she walked, she left little patches of charred ground. Her skin was rosy and her hair was as red as the fire that covered her body.
"This is why I hate humans." She said, glaring, "Sanjikawa-kun, you agree with me, right?" Then, Ace heard the river begin to slosh about again. He turned his attention to the banks just as a huge wave rose up out of the water and crashed onto the bank. Instead of retreating back, as Ace had imagined, it stayed put. The water slowly began to recede, slowly revealing the face of an angered man.
"Shitty human," he growled angrily as the water continued to recede, "upsetting my darling, Namihi-san. Such ignorant, selfish creatures." Once it got to his lower half, Ace had noticed that there was yet to be any sort of element-related clothing. He prepared to look away for modesty's sake, but he saw shiny, silvery blue scales that eventually gave way to a beautiful tailfin, keeping the man decent. Not too far from where Ace was sitting, the ground split open, and a tan-skinned man with curly black hair crawled out of the ground, his long protuberance of a nose reminded Ace of a mole.
As the six spirits assembled in front of him, Ace began to feel incredibly small and helpless. It was considered a miracle to catch a glimpse of only one of these mythical beings, but Ace was sitting there on the ground being stared down by six of them, including the great Mother Nature herself. As Ace looked them over, not one of them appeared injured, as Mother Nature had accused; these spirits just looked incredibly pissed off. He mustered up the courage to pose his question. "You...said I...hurt one of them?" Ace hadn't even known these celestial beings could get hurt.
"Sanjikawa-san, could you please bring him out?" Mother Nature looked at the blonde and gave a small smile.
"But of course, my beautiful Mother Nature~! I shall bring him out immédiatement~!" Ace watched as the river spirit's fin split and became to thin, pale legs. Sanjikawa slowly got up onto his feet, clearly not too used to the sensation of walking, and went over to the giant oak tree he'd been about to cut down. Suddenly, it all made sense to Ace: there had been a spirit dwelling within the tree he'd been hacking away at before nature had interfered. As Ace scanned up the trunk, he noticed more horizontal scars that had probably been left by previous woodcutters. However, those men had all had the sense to leave it alone after they'd heard the first scream, unlike Ace, who had heartlessly planned to continue cutting even though he had heard the spirit's cries of agony. He felt like a complete asshole.
"Alright, baka plant," Sanjikawa knocked on the tree a few times, "let's bring you out of there." The river spirit placed his hands on the bark of the tree. Where his pale palms touched, the surrounding area began to glow. As he pulled away, something began to come out from the tree. The first thing to emerge was a broad, tan back, which was slowly followed by a green haired head. As soon as the face was completely exposed, the man began to speak. "I can get out of my own damn tree, perverted river!" Ace only just realized that he had been naked in this spirit's river not an hour ago. He remembered the way the water had run over him, and he suddenly felt rather violated. Especially because that had been going on for months.
"Mother Nature called us all out and, except for Light and Dark, you are the only one who didn't come when called." Sanjikawa scolded as he continued to pull the tree spirit from his home. All except for the grumpy man's legs were out of the tree.
"That's cause it hurts, dammit!"
Ace's head bowed with guilt. He couldn't even dare a glance at the tree spirit. When the spirits body was completely free, the river spirit lowered his Nakama until he was sitting on the ground. His ankles had deep cuts in them that were bleeding like crazy, preventing him from going anywhere any time soon.
"Oh my gosh! Zoromori!" The fire spirit hurried over, her feet leaving larger burn spots as her temper rose. "I can't believe he did this to you!
"Oi! Don't come any closer, Namihi! The last time you came too close you burnt a bunch of my branches down! I've only just started growing those back!" The tree spirit warned, appreciating her concern, but all the same. He'd rather not get burned again. He already had a scar over one eye, he didn't need to lose the other. Wood and fire never really mixed, in a way that was beneficial for the wood at least, and he wasn't about to have Sanji and Franthor conjure up a heavy downpour to put out his branches again. It was bad enough that he needed that perverted river and that thunder-dolt in order to stay alive, much less save him from being burnt alive.
The wind wrapped itself around the tree spirit's uninjured upper half. "I can kick his ass for you!" The wind glared daggers at Ace.
"I can handle it myself, Luindo." Was the cranky reply.
"Zoromori, are you okay? GAH! Your blood is seeping into my home!" The earth spirit exclaimed as he saw the blood start to seep into the soil.
"Well excuse me for having my legs cut into, Usoppri."
"That looks serious, bro...can you help him, Mother Nature?"
Mother Nature shook her head. "I'm sorry Franthor, but I can only create, I cannot restore."
Feeling incredibly rude that he had yet to get up and say anything to the deity he had harmed, Ace quickly went over to Zoromori and bowed down as low as he could. "I am so, terribly sorry that inflicted these wounds on you." He lifted his head for a moment to examine the damage he'd dealt. "Please allow me to make amends by tending to your wounds. It would be an honor to serve you." Ace finally looked into the reddish brown eye of the nature spirit. The second he looked into the one, functioning eye, Ace felt a shock run through his system. The tree spirit's eyes, which reminded him of fall leaves, sent hi heart reeling, pounding in his chest at an alarming pace. A hand flew to his chest, as if he could still his palpitating heart. His eyes scanned the beautiful, tan face, taking in the long, vertical scar, the pointed nose, and the curved lips. He wanted so badly to reach out and touch the man's face, to hold him close and kiss away the pain that he himself had inflicted. Was this what they called love at first sight? Well, it was certainly lust, anyhow.
Zoromori studied the man's face for a moment. Aside from noticing that his assailant was incredibly attractive for a human, he could also see that this man meant well, and that he would harm him no more. As he stared, he couldn't help but notice that there was something in Ace's eyes that made his cheeks want to flush, that made his heart want to beat a little bit faster. It was an odd sensation, and the spirit didn't know what to do with it. Zoromori decided that he could trust this man, but that didn't mean he'd go willingly. He was a tree spirit; he wouldn't bow so easily to some human. His arrogant pride wouldn't allow it. "Che. I don't need help from a human like you. I'll heal eventually." He looked away, unable to take Ace's stare any longer.
Ace's eyes traveled down to the deep scar that ran across the tree spirit's chest. The scar ran from the spirit's left shoulder all the way down to his right hip, ending right above the line of his leaf skirt. The wounds Ace had inflicted weren't as life threatening as that large one probably had been, but whether this guy was a spirit or human, he still needed help. It seemed that the others agreed with Ace as well, and they each took their turn trying to convince the moss-headed man to go with the kindly, if not rather stupid human.
"Come on, Zoromori, if Chiaroppa were here that'd be a different story, but he hasn't made it over the horizon just yet."
'Chiaroppa?' Ace pondered. He hadn't heard the name Chiaroppa yet. Which one was that? Coming over the horizon...Light perhaps? The sun?
Mother Nature smiled down at Zoromori. "Why don't you go with him? Allow him to make amends for the mistake he's made." Her eyes cracked open a smidgeon, revealing a threatening gaze that dared anyone to oppose it.
Swallowing nervously, Zoromori looked up at Ace, his face flushing slightly, and nodded gently, signaling that he'd had an instantaneous change of heart. More than eager to take care of the adorable tree spirit, Ace smiled and crawled in close so he could get a grip on Zoromori's body. He slipped his arms beneath the spirit's knees and across his back, just beneath the arms. He hoisted him up bridal style with some difficulty, but the position would lessen the blood flow to Zoromori's slit ankles, making the extra effort worthwhile in Ace's eyes. However convenient and beneficial the awkward carrying position was, it still elicited snickers from the other nature spirits, especially the blonde-haired river.
"Would you all just get lost already?" Zoromori snapped at his nakama, his cheeks turning maple leaf red. Usoppri was the only one who was intimidated by the man's shouting. He decided the safest place to be would be back inside his home. So he quickly dove underground, no longer in humanoid form but as a yellowish-brown mist.
"Take care lil bro! I'll be seeing you when you're healed! OW~" Franthor posed and clashed his two abnormally large forearms together. The second they connected, a bolt of lightening shot down, and the man was instantly gone.
"Hehehe~" Namihi chuckled, "I'll be seeing you later Zoromori, and I expect a detailed report of the human lifestyle when I return~" And with that, she dwindled down until her flame extinguished all together.
The river spirit began to retreat back into his home, but was halted when Mother Nature called out to him. "Sanjikawa-san, would you be so kind as to take care of Zoromori-san's home until he returns?"
"A day hasn't gone by that I haven't had to help keep that moss head's home alive." Zoro shouted something about not having a trace of moss on his bark, but he was ignored, only calming back down when he looked into Ace's smiling face. "Someone's gotta take care of him. But yes, Mother Nature, I promise you that I will take good care of his home. Me and Chiaroppa together." Sanjikawa smiled and bowed grandiosely to Mother Nature before he was swallowed up by one of his waves, disappearing back into his river without a trace.
"I suppose I better be heading out as well." Mother Nature looked back at Ace as she spoke, her voice becoming more echoic as she began to vanish. "Take care of him well. He's a very precious nakama."
"I will." Ace swore to the vanishing ball of light. "I swear on my life."
Now all that stood was the tan, black-haired wind boy. He looked at Ace and smiled challengingly, a swirl of wind begin to stir up. "If you hurt him, I'll kick your ass."
Ace smiled back at the wind spirit, meeting the challenging gaze. "I'm not gonna give you that chance."
Luindo let out a long, hearty laugh as his humanoid body began to unravel. Ace was happy to finally be able to see the face of the laugh that he'd hear every time the wind blew. Luindo vanished in a whirl of wild wind; the only thing remaining was the faint hint of laugher as the leaves rustled at the spirit's will.
"Well, I suppose I better get you back to my place." Ace said, chuckling nervously. Zoro just looked away, not liking that he was feeling so oddly embarrassed around this human.
Ace trudged for what felt like forever to his tired arms, but he eventually made it back to his humble cabin. "It's nothing much," he forewarned, "but it should be suitable for your temporary stay." Ace kicked the door open and carried Zoromori to the bed, laying him down gently. Ace felt a blush creep up his neck as he imagined the two of them to be newlyweds in their first home. "I'm—I'll be right back. I'm just—I have to fetch some water to, uh, to clean your wounds with."
"Alright." Zoro laid his head back, his eyes slipping closed. H figured he had enough time to get in a quick nap before the human returned.
Ace picked up the two buckets by the door and hurried out the door, wanting to return to the spirit as quickly as he could. He went down to the river and kneeled down to scoop some water. He halted, remembering who dwelled in that very river. Then again, it wasn't like this was the first time he'd drawn water from the river. Throwing all those useless worries out the window, Ace filled his buckets and began heading back to the cabin.
When he returned, the man was sound asleep, snoring loudly. Ace couldn't help but snicker to himself at the thought of the tree spirit 'sawing logs' even though it really was a rather bad joke. He shook the spirit awake. "Uhh, Zoro...Zoromori...er...san?" It felt kind of wrong to say the spirit's given name, but he didn't know what else to call him. "I've got the water to clean your wounds with." Zoromori blinked his eyes open, grunted, and sat up, sliding so that his feet hung off the bed. Ace picked up one of his shirts from the pile of his "cleaner than the clearly dirty" laundry, and ripped it apart into long strips, some to be used for cleaning while the others would be used to wrap the abused legs. He was about to dunk it into the bucket when a voice spoke to him.
"You'd better not be planning to wipe that Moron's blood with me."The water in the bucket shot up, and Ace, who was horribly startled, fell backwards. Sanjikawa stood proudly, and defiantly, inside of one of Ace's tin buckets. Not the classiest place to make an appearance, but all the same.
"What the hell are you doing here, Bakawa?" Zoro questioned from the bed.
"Making sure this guy over here doesn't do anything funny." He gave Ace a once over, crossing his arms in distrust, his left eye, the only visible eye, running up and down the human from his freckled face down to his sturdy boots. Ace didn't feel at all comfortable with the blonde looking at him, knowing that the spirit before him had caressed his naked body without the man knowing it until today.
"Get out of that bucket, perverted river, you look friggen lame as hell."
"Shut up! I can't abandon my home while I've still got yours to worry about! Sheesh...did those bark beetles finally start infesting your brain too?"
"I don't have bark beetles, you bastard! I'll kick your ass!"
"I'd like to see you try with those bloody legs of yours!"
"I don't mean to interrupt, but the stress is making his ankles bleed again. Did you really come because you were worried, Mr. River Spirit?" Ace was only willing to be humble for so long, but even if they were spirits, they were in his house. He wouldn't have them fighting and making his cute little spirit's condition any worse than it already was.
Sanjikawa got an odd expression on his face; a very conflicted one. "Of course I did. I'm worried about the idiot. And there's only so much I can do to protect his house until..." He looked down at Zoromori, leaving his sentence hanging, but Zoromori knew exactly what he was talking about.
"I know, I know, jeez." The injured spirit muttered, folding his arms. Ace didn't like the way they were talking. It made it sound like something bad was in the future.
"Well, you seem to be doing fine. It's a good thing you're a hardwood or those could have been a lot worse." Seeming to have run out of things to say, the river stood in the bucket awkwardly before bringing a webbed hand up to scratch behind one of the fins that took place of ears. "Er...well...I'll see ya later, baka marimo. And...uh...feel...feel better" Sanjikawa quickly began to descend back into the bucket, but stopped when he was almost gone and looked at Ace. "It's ok if you wash him with my water. Chiaroppa and I can help heel him." And with that final thought, Sanjikawa disappeared. The only thing that remained were a few ripples that bobbed across the surface.
"Che, asshole." Zoro muttered, annoyed, but Ace could see that he had appreciated the river's concern regardless. Quelling the feeling of nonsensical jealousy, Ace looked back at the bucket of water, unsure if the spirit was still in there or not. "Don't worry." Zoromori assured, "He's gone."
Ace briefly wondered how that was possible, but he decided to leave it alone, not wanting to bother with irrelevant and potentially confusing details. "Here," He said, extending a hand towards the spirit, "let me wash those up. We can put some ointment and bandages on those then." It was then that the morning clouds parted and the sun was finally able to shine into the cabin. It shone right on the bed, illuminating the tree spirit. Ace swore he saw little yellow, shimmering orbs of light dancing about the beam of light that shone through his window.
"Ah shit..." Zoro muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What?" Ace looked up at the spirit with concerned eyes. Had he done something wrong?
"No..." the tree spirit sighed, "you're about to meet someone new."
Suddenly, the beam of light that had been pleasantly trickling in through the window became blindingly bright. Ace had to look away, as the intensity burned his eyes. A moment later, everything dimmed again, though the room was still noticeably brighter.
"Zooorooomoooriiii~" A childish voice trilled sadly. Ace slowly withdrew his arms from across his eyes when he heard the tree spirit insist that someone (or something) remove itself from his person. When Ace looked up. There was a glowing creature futzing about the tree spirit, little orbs of light falling off of him every time he moved. The little...Ace wasn't sure what it was. It looked like...a faun maybe? Not what he had expected a light spirit to look like.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt? How did you get these wounds? I'll fix you up right away!" The glowing faun danced around Zoromori checking over every inch of his fellow spirit.
"Oi, oi, Chiaroppa, it's alright, I'm fine." Zoromori tried to reassure his companion, but it didn't seem to be doing any good, as the spirit continued to fuss. If anything, his attempts to calm his friend agitated him further.
"You're not fine! You're bleeding from serious lacerations on your ankles." The little...faun thing was clearly furious, but incredibly worried at the same time. Ace wasn't sure what to do. He especially didn't want the spirit to know that he was the one who had done it, and silently prayed that Zoromori wouldn't tell him. However, soon enough, the spirit's attention was on him.
"Yiii! A human!" The spirit jumped back and fell off the bed. Ace felt the threat level go down significantly. "Wh-Wh...H-How dare you capture one of my nakama! Wh-What do you want from us?" He demanded, peeking up over the edge of the bed. "I-I'm the great Sun God, Chiaroppa!"
Ace smiled at the little guy. 'You look more like a faun or a tanuki to me.' He thought. "It's an honor to meet you, Great Sun God-sama." Ace greeted politely, giving a gentle bow. Perhaps this would put the spirit at ease.
"Hehehe~" Chiaroppa hopped back up on the bed and began to glow more brightly, wiggling back and forth in some sort of odd dance. "You bastard~ You can just call me Light Spirit, or Chiaroppa~ stupid human~"
Ace smiled at the light spirit. He seemed pretty harmless. His smile turned down into a look of concern when he heard a gentle moan escape from the lips of the tree spirit. "H-Hey, Zoro, you alright?"
Zoromori gasped and moaned again, his cheeks flushing. "Yeah, I'm just...healing..." He moaned again. Ace blushed a deep red as Zoro continued to mutter those obscene sounding noises. The woodcutter tried to be discreet as he covered his crotch with his arms as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
He felt someone tug on his shirt and his attention was drawn back to the little light spirit. "You see, with my and Sanjikawa's help, Zoromori can heal." The light spirit explained, seeming to not take any notice of Ace's condition, figuring the human just didn't understand what was wrong with the nature spirit. "Because he's nature he needs us, water and light, to help him stay alive." Chopper sighed, "He doesn't like that he has to rely on us so much, though. B-But he gives so much to everyone that it's the least we can do! He's a very important Nakama."
Ace looked back at the spirit that was lying on his bed. "I see..." He reached a hand out and stroked the sweat dampened green hair, brushing it back off the forehead that glistened with a fine sheen of sweat that had come from the exertion of the nature spirit healing himself.
Zoromori opened his eyes and looked over at the human that was gently stroking his face and hair. Their eyes were locked on each others, staring at each other silently until Zoro murmured in a faint whisper. "You..." he panted, "what's your name?"
Ace smiled fondly at the spirit. "I'm Ace. Portgas D. Ace."
Chiaroppa watched as the spirit's face was trained on the human's as he slowly leaned in until their tentatively smiling lips weren't but a few inches from one another. "Well," the light spirit seemed to go mostly unnoticed as the atmosphere between the two grew more intimate, "you seem to be healing well, so I'll head out for now." Chiaroppa allowed himself to fade away and disappear, letting his Nakama and the kindly human have their moment.
Ace brought a hand to the spirit's face and gently ran a thumb across his cheek. "You know, even though I am a woodcutter...I've always thought that the forest was beautiful." Zoro blushed a deep red. "Especially when all the leaves turn different colors, like bright red, for example." Feeling brave, Ace leaned in and kissed the warm, red cheek. He pulled back and locked his dark eyes with the auburn ones of the spirit. As if pushed by an unseen hand, Ace leaned in and captured Zoro's lips in his own. The kiss ended much sooner that he would have liked, but he had to finish taking care of Zoro's ankles. He pulled back and went to fetch the rag, leaving a slightly dejected tree spirit lying on the bed, blushing as he felt his nether regions tingle with excitement.
Ace wrung out the rag and returned to where Zoromori had sat up, his legs dangling off the edge of the bed. Ace took one foot and wiped away the drying blood, relieved to see that the wounds were already nearly healed. He thanked the sun and river spirits in his head as he finished with the one ankle. As he started on the second leg, he heard Zoro give a gentle moan as he healed. Ace took care of this one more slowly, carefully watching Zoro's face as he cleaned off the wound. Feeling little spikes of arousal in his groin, Ace tossed the rag and gently laid a kiss on the hairless shin, smiling faintly when he saw the surprised, but not displeased, expression on Zoro's face. He sat up a little straighter and kissed a little higher on Zoro's leg, loving the blush that crept up onto the adorable face of the spirit. He kissed Zoro's knee, one of his hands running up the back of the leg, feeling the surprisingly smooth skin. He kissed the middle of Zoro's thigh, right below where the edges of the leaves fell. His hand, however, slid up Zoro's thigh up under the leaves, feeling the muscles twitch as his hand crept higher, stopping just before he reached the hip.
Ace stood up, keeping his one hand on Zoro's upper thigh while the other went up to cup the spirits face as he leaned forward to kiss him again. When he wasn't met with any resistance, he began rubbing their lips together, tongue slipping out shyly, taking a tentative taste. They were sweet, tasting faintly of the golden juice from a perfectly ripened, fall apple. Ace tilted his head to the right just a touch, meshing the lips beneath his with his own perfectly. Zoro began to move against Ace, darting his tongue out briefly, taking teasing little tastes of the woodcutter's moistened lips.
Ace suddenly felt like he didn't have enough air in his lungs and quickly breathed in through his nose, his heart speeding up every time he felt the spirit's tongue run across the crease of his lips. He parted his mouth a little wider and met Zoromori's tongue with his own, shyly at first, but the two tongues quickly got very well acquainted. Ace opened his eager mouth even wider, pressing more firmly against Zoro as he readjusted himself, crawling on top of the tree spirit, rolling his hips in time with his tongue as it explored the inside of the spirit's mouth.
Zoromori groaned and bucked his hips up. The friction he was getting from the lumberjack was deliciously arousing, and he couldn't resist letting out a long, low moan. He wanted more, more than just the frantic clashing of mouths and the needy grinding of hips. He looked down at Ace's shirt, not understanding the human contraption known as buttons. He tugged at the offending flannel shirt, trying to get the message across. Ace pulled back a moment and saw the desire that coated Zoromori's eyes and understood instantly what the spirit intended. He quickly shrugged off the suspenders and undid the buttons and shrugged off his shirt, showing off beautiful, white skin that was complimented with the perfectly sculpted, muscular abs and pecs that had been developed from half a years worth of woodcutting. Zoro admired the scarless expanse that was Ace's chest with his big, rough hands. Ace bent back over and bit at Zoro's collarbone, making the spirit's back arch and his legs bend ever so slightly. One of his calloused hands went down to undo the button on his pants and pulling them down enough to release his semi-hard cock. He ran his hand across the top of Zoro's leaf skirt and tried to find a fastener, but when he found none, he opted to simply rip it off.
With such a beautiful man in front of him, Zoromori didn't even notice that his minimal clothing had been ripped off his body, leaving him lying there completely exposed. His eyes couldn't be diverted from the impressive member that hung between the human's legs. He reached out and pulled on it gently, yet firmly, drawing out a long, erotic moan from the human that was leaning over him. Ace stood up and went around Zoro to crawl up onto the bed, sitting up against the headboard. Zoro turned and crawled over to where Ace sat, wanting to get his hands on the man before him. He ran his fingertips over Ace's chest, tickling across his hardened nipples, and down his stomach, going around Ace's groin to the waist of his pants instead, intending to pull them down, but a sudden feeling of shyness halted his fingers.
Ace guided Zoro's hand to his growing erection, groaning with pleasure as Zoro's fingers wrapped around it and began stroking. Zoro watched as Ace's face began to flush with arousal and felt his own prick stiffen up. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Ace's in a fervent kiss, their tongues dancing together as saliva trailed down their chins. Ace pulled away from the sloppy kiss, staring into Zoromori's lust filled bedroom eyes with his own. "Z...Zoro...mori..." He panted, "Can you...can you use your mouth?"
Zoro looked up at him with a slight bit of uneasiness, but the part of him that was horribly aroused and desired to please the human won over. He slowly leaned down and took the head between his lips, looking up at Ace for approval. Ace shook his head and used his hand to slowly encourage Zoro to take in more of him. He had to keep from bucking into Zoro's mouth, not wanting to choke the spirit that was eagerly sucking the tip of Ace's cock and bobbing his head while stroking the base with his hands. Ace hadn't received anything like this in such a long time that his endurance was barely existent. After only a few minutes of having Zoro's hot mouth wrapped around his dick, Ace was coming harder than he had in a long time. Zoro was surprised, to say the least, when he felt Ace's seed spill into his mouth. He let it spill from his mouth and run down his chin, dripping onto the sheets.
Ace brought his hand up and wiped the viscous substance off Zoro's chin and rubbed it between his fingers. "Your turn." He used the other hand to pull Zoro closer so he was kneeling above Ace's groin. Using his cum slicked fingers, Ace circled around the tight ring between Zoromori's muscular cheeks. He teased the hole by slipping just the tip of his middle finger inside, watching with perverted delight as the tree spirit squirmed, his face falling into a frown as his brow furrowed.
"Nnn...Don't tease me, human..." He groaned, rocking his hips back onto Ace's finger, wanting more of that feeling. Ace smiled and inserted another finger, cock twitching back to life as Zoro cried out. He spread his fingers as he began to scissor the tight opening, preparing it for what was to come. "Ahh, shit...Ace...nn!" Zoro would whimper every time Ace drew his fingers along the soft walls inside him, pressing just below where he'd figured Zoro's prostate was, wishing that Ace would just reach a little further and massage that spot inside of him. With every cry, Ace grew less and less patient, wanting to just hurry up and sheath himself in the tree spirit. Not even bothering to wait until he could comfortably fit 3 fingers inside, Ace withdrew, much to Zoro's displeasure. He wasn't fully hard yet, and his cock was still a little sensitive, but he was so driven by lust that he didn't care. He aligned himself with Zoro's twitching hole and slowly pushed inside. "Ahh ah...AHHH~!" Zoro cried out, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as Ace continued to press in. He hadn't expected it to be this painful. Then again, he hadn't been too sure what to expect. He'd never partaken in this human ritual before, but he'd seen others do it before and he'd gathered that it was an incredibly intimate display of affection. So he didn't understand why it hurt so much or why people would subject themselves to such discomfort.
"You okay?" Ace asked, his voice strained as Zoro's walls tightened around him.
"Nnn y-yes!" His response was rushed, forced. It was clear he was uncomfortable, but Ace couldn't control the further hardening of his cock. Zoro cried out again, louder this time, when he felt Ace growing inside of him.
Ace slowly began to rock his hips, the tightness almost as unbearable to him as the intruding member was to Zoro, but the shocks of pleasure that shot through his body enabled him to ignore the discomfort enough to push all the way inside. He cracked open an eye, not realizing that he had closed them, and looked up at Zoro's face. Zoro had his eyes squeezed tightly shut, tears slowly leaking out. One of his hands was gripping tightly onto Ace's bare shoulder while the other pulled at his own cock that was glistening with precum.
Ace wrapped his arms around Zoro's back and leaned forward, changing their position so Zoro was spread-eagled on his back with Ace looming over him, eyes glazed over with lust. He rolled his hips, trying to go as slowly as he could while the spirit beneath him adjusted to having his ass breached. It wasn't long before Ace was picking up his pace, forcing out whimpered little gasps from Zoro every time he thrust deep inside.
Zoromori didn't know what to do. He could feel an odd sensation in his nether regions, the like of which he had never experienced before. "A-Ac-ce. I-I'm go-gon-na—" Every thrust deep inside his ass acted like a hiccup; he couldn't help the stutter as he tried to express to Ace how he was feeling. He felt that a weird pressure was building and he didn't know what it was, but it felt like something was trying to come out.
"Already?" Ace grunted, slowing down a moment. Zoro felt the tingling sensation die down a fraction and took the moment to breathe. He was only partially aware that Ace was shifting his lower half, pulling he spirit's hips closer towards him and bending his legs further back. Ace pulled out so only the head was barely inside and thrust back in all the way to the hilt, hitting Zoro right on his prostate.
Zoro cried out louder than he had before. The intense amount of pleasure shocked his system to the point where he almost came. His cock gave an excited jump and more of the viscous fluid leaked from the tip. He was gasping for breath as Ace chuckled down at him.
"I guess I found it then. Did you like that? Did it feel good? Zoromori?" Zoro gave a few weak nods. His eyes were closed and his chest was heaving. Ace, taking pity on the no longer virginal nature spirit, leaned down and pressed their lips together, using his tongue to try and make this as pleasurable as he could for the man beneath him. He thrusted more slowly, rubbing gently against Zoro's prostate as he kissed him. However, this time, it was Zoro who encouraged Ace to pick up his pace, and the black-haired lumberjack did so without any hesitation. At some point, their kiss broke apart and they were just heatedly panting into each other's mouths as they felt their orgasms close in on them.
"Hah, hah, Ace! I-I'm...it's clo-close!" Ace moved down to one hard, pink nipple and took it between his lips, giving a firm suck and a gentle tug with his teeth. "It's...it's...ACE!" Zoro arched his back off of the bed, crying out as thick ropes of come spurted from his deep red member, splattering over his and Ace's chests.
Ace moved his hands down to Zoromori's hips, digging in his fingertips, and thrust, for the final time, deep into the tightening walls. He grunted before releasing deep inside Zoro, his hips twitching with the aftershocks of his amazingly intense orgasm. The pair remained still a moment, the two of them waiting to catch their breath and for that delicious afterglow to wear off. Ace eventually pulled out and flopped down on the bed next to the nature spirit. He wrapped an arm around the cum-smeared chest, pulling the warm body closer. He buried his nose into Zoromori's shoulder, inhaling his scent. He smelt like pine trees after a rain shower. Ace knew he would quickly get addicted to the delicious smell that was Zoromori.
o()o()o
Ace kept Zoromori with him for the remained of the day. He never went back out to cut wood and, instead, stayed inside, enjoying his limited time with the tree spirit. They had sex several more times through the day, but while they weren't having sex, they either simply enjoyed the silence, or talked about this and that. When the sun started going down, Ace lit up a fire to keep himself warm that night. He felt kind of bad burning the logs of wood with the tree spirit right there, but what else could he do? He looked over at Zoro sheepishly.
"It's ok." The tree spirit assured, "I understand that you humans need our resources to live. My presence isn't within every tree at every moment."
Ace sighed in relief and added kindling to the little flicker of a flame, giving it a gentle blow. "Well," he said, "I can't help but feel a little bad. I did just sleep with the tree spirit, didn't I? Plus," his tone of voice dropped into a more shameful tone, "I tried to cut down your home. I gave you those scars on your ankles." He placed smaller sticks onto the slowly growing flame, happy to see that the wood was catching. He placed the logs on and was happy to see the logs instantly catch. He held his hands out in front of the fire, warming them a moment.
Zoro didn't respond. It was true, he couldn't argue against that. But he felt it was pointless to over think matters of the past. "Well, it wasn't as bad as Namihi."
"Did you call me, Zoromori?" The upper half of a young woman suddenly shot out of the flame, startling Ace, making him fall onto his bare ass. Namihi looked down at the human and was clearly unsure of how to react. She was intrigued by the human's naked form, but she also realized that this was something one was not meant to see. She opted for not caring. She pulled herself out of the fireplace and touched a tentative toe onto the wooden floor, wincing when she saw the dark, burn mark she left. "Jeez, sometimes it really sucks to be a fire spirit. Hey, human, grab that log for me."
Ace, the modest man he was, had reached or his pants to slip into before placing a piece of firewood out on the floor for the spirit to stand on. Zoro, however, was less welcoming of the fire spirit. He knew the havoc she could wreak, and really didn't want her to bring a foul end to such a wondrous day. "What are you doing here, Namihi?"
Namihi stepped onto the wooden log, tottering a bit, but ultimately retaining her balance. "Well, Zoromori, Sanjikawa-kun had tried to reach you, but there wasn't anywhere he could appear from. He wanted to let you know that you have to return to your home." She leaned forward and pointed to emphasize the point she was about to make. "It's vital that you return home. Now, Zoromori."
Zoro clutched at the blanket that was covering his naked, seed covered body. His eyes cast downwards, not wanting to accept that his time with the human was coming to an end. "Alright. Tell that bakawa that I'm on my way." Ace looked back at Zoro with sadness clearly displayed within the depths of his eyes, but he'd gathered early on that he couldn't keep the spirit with him forever. Zoro looked at him with an equal amount of disdain, but said nothing further
Namihi observed the looks that that two exchanged and sighed. "I'll be right back." She turned around on the half-charred log and dove into the fire, leaving behind two very confused males. Ace leaned forward to look into the fire a moment and Namihi's head popped back out. "Don't you guys go anywhere!" And with that, she finally disappeared.
Ace looked back at Zoro again, sighing sadly before standing up and walking over to the bed. He flopped down and bounced a moment on the squeaky bed. Zoro leaned over him and cupped his freckled face, running the pad of his thumb across Ace's cheek, Ace reaching up to do the same, his finger gently tracing the scar over his left eye before traveling down to caress the tan cheeks. No words were exchanged, but they were preparing for a permanent goodbye. Zoro leaned down to place a gentle kiss on Ace's lips, but then, suddenly, the ground started shaking. Ace brought his arms around Zoro and held him tight, placing on hand atop that mossy green head while the other held him protectively. He didn't know what was going on, but he had a suspicion as to which group of individuals was responsible.
The shaking was over after a few minutes. When Ace deemed it safe, he let Zoro go and gently sat the two of them up. He looked out the window and discovered that the ground had clearly been disrupted by some incredible force. It was like a giant groundhog had tunneled, leaving what almost looked like a raised dirt road in its path. He looked over at Zoro to ask him what had happened when he saw that the nature spirit's expression was a mix between worry and annoyance.
"That idiot!" He quickly got off the bed, stumbling a bit because of his still slightly sore ankles, and, realizing his outfit was irreparable, waved a glowing green hand in front of his body and gave himself a new garb before throwing the door open. He was gonna give the bastard who had disrupted the trees a piece of his mind. His jaw dropped open when he saw what sat at the end of the dirt trail. His home, the big white oak tree, was sitting only about 15 feet from Ace's door. He ran over and placed his hands on the rough bark of his home. "Why's you do this, Usoppri?"
Ace hurried out the door and was just as surprised, actually, quite a bit more so, that Zoro was to see that the tree had magically relocated. He wasn't quite as surprised when a man popped up from the loose dirt behind the tree. His hair was dark and curly, tied back into a ponytail and he had a bit of hair on his chin. His long nose reminded Ace of some sort of mole, but he said nothing and just watched form the sidelines.
"Well..." The earth spirit said as he pulled himself completely out, dusting himself a bit, though Ace didn't really see the point in doing so. "I figured that, since you've gotten attached to this human that you should be able to be near him, even if you might not ever be able to see each other ever again." Ace and Zoro exchanged a disheartened look. "So, I brought your home over to his. Plus, Sanjikawa isn't too far from here so your roots can still reach him. And the sunlight is better in this little clearing than your old spot—"
"I liked my old spot." Zoro griped. He looked up at the branches of his tree and smiled, happy to see that the buds had grown since morning. He turned back to Usoppri and frowned again. "If my roots are in anyway damaged..."
"Zoro, I'm an expert! Even the ones that are thin like angel hair are completely intact. I would never do anything to damage your home. Sheesh, after all that hard work this is the thanks I get?" He scolded. He was reasonably offended by Zoro's comment.
"Well..." Zoro looked back at Ace then up at his tree and then back down at Usoppri. "Thanks, Usopp, I appreciate it."
"Haha, anything for you, Zoro! It's the least I can do for you. You help me out plenty." He smiled and clapped Zoromori on the shoulder. "Well, I better get back home. I've got some serious erosion I've got to take care of. Get better soon!" The earth spirit stepped back and turned into a brownish yellow, shapeless spirit before slipping into the ground.
The earth started shaking again as Usoppri put the ground back the way it was, making sure that Zoromori's tree was firmly planted and that any evidence of the move was removed. Once he regained his balance, Zoromori stood upright again and smiled at no one in particular as he stroked the bark of his tree. It was good to be home.
"You can go back now, you know." Zoro turned around to look at Ace, startled that he was being ushered off so soon. "I mean, if I could keep you here forever I would, but..."
Zoro walked over to Ace and embraced him. Ace quickly reciprocated the hug, encasing the spirit in a brutally tight hug. "Will I ever see you again?"
Zoro was silent a moment as he was held tightly to Ace's chest. He could feel the human shiver as the chill of night began to swirl about with a gentle wind. A very sad sounding wind. "I don't know."
"Oh." They stood there a few more minutes, swaying together in complete silence. Ace didn't want to let go, but eventually his grip loosened and Zoro stepped back. He ran a hand through that green hair and gently kissed Zoromori's sweet, apple flavored lips one more time before letting go all together. He watched with a great sadness tugging at his heart as Zoro stepped up to his tree and placed one glowing green hand up to the bark. He watched as tears threatened to fall as Zoro stepped back into that great white oak, as if he was nothing more than a ghost, and disappeared from sight.
As soon as Zoromori had disappeared from view, a roll of thunder sounded, shaking Ace's bones with the intensity of the thunderclap. Rain quickly began to pour down on the lonely lumberjack. 'Even the clouds are crying.' As he thought this, he imagined that blue-haired storm spirit sobbing over his situation and laughed, albeit somewhat scornfully, at the image of the big, muscular man crying for him. Ace turned around to go back inside, not wanting to be facing Zoro's tree as he cried. When he looked up at his door he saw a lanky skeleton standing near the entrance. He felt his heart start beating a million times faster than before and quickly grabbed at it. What was this? Was this the spirit of death come to collect his soul.
The skeleton opened his jaw and let out a hearty, cheerful laugh. "Good evening, Woodcutter-san!" It greeted politely, tipping its hat and twirling its cane. "I see you've just departed with Zoromori-san. I thought my heart was going to break as I watched you two say goodbye! Though I, myself, do not have a heart. Yohohoho!"
Ace felt a bit of calm start to seep back into his system when he realized that the spirit seemed to be rather friendly. "Who are you?" He asked, already figuring that this was yet another of the 9 spirits.
"Me? Ah! How rude! I forgot to introduce myself. I am the spirit of darkness and night!" He proclaimed as spookily as he could before going back to his normal jollity. "Or Brookeilun if you prefer. Or you could call me the "Soul King!" Yohohoho!" He gave a gentle bow as he tipped his hat again. "You were wondering whether you would get to see Zoromori-san ever again, weren't you?"
Ace nodded. "I would hate to live the rest of my life without ever seeing him again." He answered honestly.
"My boy," the spirit's voice was solemn and serious, "we nature spirits are incredibly rare to even catch a glimpse of, and you have seen and conversed with each and every one of us. The chances of this are extremely rare, you understand that? No one has ever seen us more than once in their lives." Ace's face was so despondent that it looked as if he had peered into the very face of Death. Brookeilun took pity on the poor human. "Do you love him?"
Ace answered quickly, though honestly. "I-I don't know yet, as I've only known him a day, but I could definitely come to love him some day."
Brookeilun sighed before leaning down and looking Ace directly in the eye, his empty sockets seeming to suck in Ace's very soul. "I've seen a lot things in my old age, for darkness has been around since the dawn of time, as has light. While there will always be days of darkness, the days of light are never far behind." The darkness spirit slowly faded away until he blended in to the surrounding shadows, leaving Ace alone to ponder the enigmatic answer.
Ace looked around at the darkened world that surrounded him. He walked over to Zoro's tree and placed his hands on the bark and leaned his forehead against the rough bark, smiling as a single tear rolled down his face. "We will definitely meet again, Zoro." He let go of the unresponsive tree and looked up at the budding branches before turning around and heading back inside, not even bothering to dry off before going to lie on his bed, inhaling the smell of pines after a rainstorm. 'One day,' he thought, 'we shall surely meet again.'
The End
Author's Note
I might come out with a second part. ^^; Though the next part may include "mpreg" even though there's no technical pregnancy.
Everyone's names come from varying languages. Sorry if my translations are bad. I blame the translator ("¬_¬)
Luffy (Luindo - Wind): "Uindo" is a Japanese translation meaning "wind" But..er...well...its like wind in English in Japanese ._. if that makes sense.
Zoro (Zoromori - Nature): Also Japanese. "Mori" = forest. And harpoon. And nursemaid. 83
Nami (Namihi - Fire): "Hi" means a lot of things apparently. But it shared the definition "fire/blaze" and "cost/expense" :D
Usopp (Usoppri - Earth): "Pri" is Breton, a language spoken in Brittany which is a region in France, if I'm not mistaken.
Sanji (Sanjikawa - Water): "Kawa" was one of the Japanese words for river.
Chopper (Chiaroppa – Light/Day): "Chiaro" is Italian for light
Robin (Mother Nature): well, she's just Mother Nature. She doesn't get an interesting name ^^;
Franky (Franthor – Storms/lightning): Franthor's name came from English. Er, well, sort of. Thor is a Norse god so err...yeah ._. *nothing more to say*
Brooke (Brookeilun – Darkness/Night): Ilun is Basque which is spoken in the Basque region in Northeastern Spain/Southwestern France, I do believe.
My darling O-chan helped me out greatly by coming up Chiaroppa and Brookilun for me ^^ Please believe me, lots of time went into finding these names . even then I changed them around soooo many times. FunFact: Zoro's name was "Zokusaki" (kusaki = plants/vegetation) up until the sex scene. Which I kinda like better, but with "Zoromori" I could shorten the name to "Zoro" instead of "Zoku" cause I felt like I was writing about someone else every time I had to write "Zoku" like I was writing about "Zuko" from avatar of something.
Well, I hope you like it my darling Uchiha-Iyusha~ I also hope we can do another trade sometime soon! Though knowing me it won't end up being very soon at all XD
-PD