Hey, this is my second fanfiction, not as good as my first in my opinion (I didn't have anyone who was going to beta it). I have written the whole story (I will not be one of the authors who posts a bunch of chapters and then stops) but I will not submit it all at one time. I'm almost positive I will not be changing anything about the story from review suggestions, though I don't mind them. I just won't be using them. And it is mainly just Zoro and Luffy. Enjoy~
Another vampire story, but very different than my other in many ways.
One Piece and it's characters don't belong to me, and if it did, I'd make sure the anime actually had good animation.
Chapter 1: A Brother to Care For
A three year old vampire with black hair, barefoot and dirty, staggered down the deserted, erie road in his pajamas, with a thumb in his mouth. In the dark he walked, past all the blood and carnage caused by the humans, his friends and loved ones mutilated beyond recognition, but not yet burned since it hadn't even been half a day since their deaths. Luffy had been saved by his mother and hidden in the laundry shoot as the violent mob attacked their quaint village, home to kind vampires who had hurt no one. When the screaming stopped, he was able to push the lid up and tumble out of the chute onto the wooden floors, slippery with fresh blood.
Usually Luffy would like the smell of blood.
He didn't know why yet, he was so young, but he knew it smelled good and like home, but this blood didn't smell good, it was horrible and rancid. Vampire blood was not the most enjoyable blood in the world, but it was better than werewolf blood. Vampires and werewolves generally didn't get along well, that was known very well, but both were equally feared and despised by humans; this prejudice made them an easy target for false allegations . A human could get away with murder if he said all the right things to make people blame an islander.
Luffy toddled down the street, crying like the child he was- not knowing his family was dead, but being scared and alone. He didn't know where he was supposed to go, so he followed the dirt road; hopefully leading to somewhere much safer and less bloody than here, leaving small bloody footprints as he walked.
Elsewhere, an eight year old werewolf pup with green fur ran down the path into the woods. He was followed by the human mob that had gone around the island, massacring anyone and anything non-human.
The world had once been full of mythical and magical creatures, but the disease of mankind was steadily erasing them out of fear and contempt. Sure, "monsters"- as non-humans were dubbed- could be scary, but humans were the most terrifying of all. This island was one of the last homes for the mythical creatures. However it was no longer a refuge, as the humans began their mission to exterminate the four races of creatures living on it. They were all being exterminated equally, the water folk and fairies were peaceful and couldn't fight as well, being brought down easily, while the vampires and werewolves, peaceful or not, put up a fight, causing many casualties for the human side.
The green pup, Zoro, was lucky enough to be trained in how to control his shifting, so he ran as fast as his four legs could take him, to somewhere other than what remained of his home, bathed in flames.
Once Luffy was far enough away to not be able to smell the blood anymore, he sat down against a tree and hid his head in his hat, the last thing his father had given him before he'd gone to defend his wife and child. Luffy tried to quiet his sobs- he didn't want anything finding him on this road. He didn't expect the mob of humans to come back, but he was still scared by the silence accompanying the deserted road.
His uncle Roger had been telling his family the other day after dinner that there had been attacks on the fairy and waterfolk villages and towns, and that the werewolf areas on the island would most likely be attacked soon. He was sure that the vampires would follow after the werewolves and that everyone should run. Some people who heard the story believed that the vampires could defend themselves, but against all the weapons and the sheer might of the humans, why did they even consider staying? The vampires should have deserted their homes and fled, but most didn't, and those that did flee were either caught on their way out, or hunted down and killed. The humans were very efficient.
The vampire waited. He didn't know for what, but the day was starting soon and he was too young to understand why it would be disastrous for him to be caught in the sunlight. His parents had protected him from the sunlight for his whole short life. He had never been close to even seeing the sun, let alone walk under it.
While he sat, he watched the large ball of light rise and the sky turn a light blue. He wanted to walk out of the shade of the trees and look at the fluffy clouds, but as he stepped forward, his bare foot was caught in the light and he wailed in pain and fear. Why did his foot burn? He looked down and saw a raw, bubbly burn oozing fluid on his toes and top of the foot. He screamed and ran from the light that was following him too fast! He tripped and fell down a slope and landed in a pile of dead leaves. He continued to cry and scream as he ran deeper into the woods, getting small cuts on rocks and sticks, small streams of blood dripping down his legs and mixing with the blood of his family on his small feet.
Soon he couldn't see any of the sky and sunlight, but the burn was still pretty serious. So Luffy sat in the copse of two large trees and waited. He was becoming awfully familiar with waiting for what, he didn't know. He didn't know how to survive on his own, so what was he supposed to do?
Zoro was fleeing from his town and into the woods, trying to outrun the fire blazing through the land and get away from the humans. He ran until his paws began to bleed, and then finally turned back into a human boy with green hair and put on the clothes he had tied to his back on his way out.
He had run miles and miles from his decimated home. His hands were hurt but overall he wasn't very tired. He was barefoot and had no shoes, but at least he was protected from the sun and kept warm when it was cold with a shirt and pair of shorts. He limped with lightly bleeding feet and went through the forest and heard a child-like wail in pain.
Part of him thought "not my problem, I need to think for myself," but the other part was hoping beyond hope that it was another pup from his town. That someone -anyone- else got away. He'd only seen and smelled dead bodies since he fled. He had run past another razed village, hearing nothing, meaning the residents there were most likely in the same shape of his own home.
When he came to the source of the pitiful crying, he saw a blotchy red faced little boy sitting in between two trees with his knees pulled up to his chest. His foot was badly burned and it took a moment for Zoro to see the little boy's slightly sharp fangs when he was screaming in pain. So the kid was a vampire. Zoro wondered if this little kid was in the same situation as him. Zoro felt bad for him. He had blood on his bare feet, not from an injury but from walking through it. Zoro kneeled down next to him.
Zoro looked pitifully at the him and, showing rare emotion, he hugged the the little boy who was wailing louder and getting tears and snot on Zoro's already dirty shirt. He really wanted the boy to stop crying; it was dangerous to attract attention anywhere on this island at the moment.
Once he stopped crying, Zoro asked his name.
"Lu- Luffy," he hiccuped. Zoro smiled at him and introduced himself as well.
"Zoro-nii?" Luffy asked, slurring his words like any toddler would.
"Just Zoro is fine, Luffy," he said, picking up the kid and walking through the forest. Luffy was extremely small and so he was easy to carry. He couldn't have been older than three. Zoro swerved around the spots of sunlight coming through the canopy of leaves above them. He didn't know where they were supposed to go, or how to get anywhere with a child who couldn't go out into the sunlight.
"Luffy, we need to get you some thicker clothes," Zoro said after the two traveled together for awhile. It was proving to be difficult to get anywhere other than the deep, dark parts of the forest without the chance of endangering the little boy. Luffy asked why he needed new clothes. He was fine in his comfy pjs right? Zoro calmly explained to him that the sun is bad for vampires, so he needs better protection from it and assured him he could wear his pajamas under some more layers of protection. He didn't say that the sun can kill him, but told him it could hurt him very badly.
Zoro wasn't normally this understanding, and dare say it loving with anyone, but Luffy could be the last being on this whole island who wasn't out to kill him, and he wanted them to stay together. Neither could live without the other now. They were in this together. To Zoro, being alone was much scarier than being with a noisy attention-attractor.
Zoro and Luffy arrived at the edge of the forest in the evening, waiting for the sun to go down. Both were exhausted, but Zoro had to stay alert, and warning Luffy ahead of time, he shifted into wolf form, around the size of a regular wolf, not yet massive like the adult werewolves. He had Luffy hold onto his pants while he wore Zoro's dirty shirt over his red pjs. He was pleased that Luffy did what Zoro asked with no objection. The kid seemed like he could be smarter than he looked, sucking his thumb cutely.
Zoro looked around for any threats and sniffed the air. He had told Luffy to climb onto him once he laid down and carried him around the abandoned and wrecked town. Humans had spread their disease of hate and violence everywhere they went.
Luffy was petting Zoro's course green fur as Zoro scouted the town. Luffy sucked his thumb quite a bit, which was cute but also a little nerve wracking. They touched human weapons and debris when they climbed over something or touching everything in the forest. It would be bad if Luffy got sick. Zoro didn't know what he was doing, but it seemed to be going okay so far. He knew caring for him would be difficult. However, if Luffy got sick, he'd have no clue what to do, plus he didn't know vampire anatomy at all. He didn't even know how to feed Luffy, which was becoming a problem because Zoro could hear Luffy's stomach rumbling. Luffy didn't make any impression of being hungry but he barely spoke in the first place. Zoro didn't know if he was not talking because he didn't want to, or was just too young to be able to carry out conversations.
After a while of Zoro and Luffy traveling around town, Zoro trying his best to stay out of the areas reeking of dead bodies, they found a destroyed shop of some sort. Zoro set Luffy down and changed back, pulling his shirt up over Luffy's head and getting dressed. They were lucky to find this place not looted, but then again people running from death usually don't stop to steal backpacks and candy bars.
Luffy attached one of his hands to Zoro's shirt, the other's thumb still in his mouth as they explored the shop. Luffy's burned foot was all healed except for a slight pink spot, and it had only been less than a day. Zoro picked up some shirts for himself and a pair of shorts. He found some of the same stuff in smaller sizes for Luffy and a raincoat that went to Luffy's ankles if he got one of the larger sizes. Good, he thought, this should help Luffy out if they were ever caught in the day time. He was also mindful about Luffy's hands, so he got two small mittens.
He found both of them some cheap shoes and stuffed all of what they weren't wearing into one of two backpacks, both to big for little Luffy, so one would be carried on each of Zoro's shoulders. He was lucky werewolves were strong, even as children.
The other backpack was full of first aid supplies and water, which he wasn't sure if Luffy needed. They found a lot of rotten fruit and some candy, showing that this town had most likely had fairy residents, who loved sweet food but weren't very good with fresh food. Usually only a few residents grew fruits and vegetables, selling it to those who couldn't.
Luffy was given some candy because that's all Zoro could think of to feed him at the moment. Zoro was even able to find an umbrella which would also help Luffy with the sunlight. He was also able to find a pink teddy bear for Luffy, who was overjoyed to have something to hold onto.
They left the shop, satisfied and tired, but they needed to stay awake. The best plan to Zoro was to travel at night and sleep during the day. It was good for Luffy and also for the element of stealth. Zoro had great senses, so he didn't need the assistance of an abundance of light to travel, unlike humans, the whole islands' enemy. He honestly didn't know about Luffy's senses. He was a vampire, who was supposed to have great smell and eyesight also, but he was so young. He couldn't even talk properly yet.
Luffy was exhausted, even though vampires were usually more alert at night, but he hadn't slept in a while. Luffy yawned, holding his new teddy bear between his chest and arm crossed in front of him while he sucked his thumb. The silence was bothering him, but he couldn't exactly start a conversation, so he started to hum. Zoro wanted to shush him because to be truthful he was terrified of running into anybody and wanted them to be very quiet, but the silence was bothering him also.
For a long time, to him, everywhere was full of noise, of screaming and cruel laughter. Zoro reached over to Luffy and held his free hand, making Luffy smile and swing their joined hands back and forth as he hummed. Zoro didn't recognize what he was humming, not sure if it was even a song or just a random tune the little vampire was making up.
Once the sun was close to coming up, the sky turning a lighter blue, Zoro took of one of the backpacks and pulled out Luffy's new big raincoat. He gently put it on him, telling him kindly to raise his arms, and they walked into the woods. Most of the big island was made of forest after all, with some mountainous areas.
They found a tree with a hollow trunk and settled themselves in there, Zoro putting a bunch of fallen branches over the entrance in an attempt to hide themselves. Luffy fell asleep quickly, snuggled into Zoro's side with his new bear hugged to his chest. It took a little while for Zoro to fall asleep. He kept hearing things like branches swaying, or birds, or animals running in the underbrush near their tree. Once he finally did fall asleep, he was plagued with nightmares about he and his father running through the streets of their town, fleeing from the humans, trailing blood from open wounds.
Zoro suddenly was awoken from his nightmare to a crying Luffy. It seemed Luffy had been having a nightmare also. He started to wail, fat tears falling down his face. Zoro didn't really know what to do. He never had a sibling (even he was surprised about how well things were going so far), and he himself rarely cried, so he had no experience of how to comfort someone who was upset.
He shushed the little vampire and rubbed his back. Luffy's wails turn into soft sobs and eventually hiccups. Zoro gently guided his hand back up to his mouth so he could suck his thumb again, something that seemed to calm him. Zoro put his arm back around Luffy's shoulder and pulled him close. He was somewhat proud of himself for calming the kid down and putting him back to sleep. Zoro fell back to sleep without anymore nightmares, snuggled with the small child.
When Zoro woke up, it was late evening, although it was still too bright for Luffy to go outside their shelter. Zoro reached into one of the backpacks with his free arm, trying to move as little as he could without waking the kid, and took out a chocolate bar, the only type of food the two had. As he ate quietly, he heard Luffy's stomach rumble again, causing him to make a mumble the word "hungry." Zoro was pleased to hear him speak, even if it was just one jumbled word.
He waited until it was dark enough that the sun wouldn't hurt Luffy, but Luffy woke up before Zoro could. Zoro moved away the branches in front of their tree-cave and led Luffy out, pulling their backpacks out after them. Luffy still looked sleepy, rubbing his eyes with a fist while his other hand automatically went to his mouth.
Zoro handed him his bear and they began to walk. Zoro had no destination in mind, but he didn't feel safe staying in one place for too long. He had become paranoid of every little noise and the thought of making any was scary. It was hard to not make noise when Luffy kept mumbling slurred, inaudible words that Zoro couldn't make out. They both jolted and froze when a deer came darting out in front of them. Zoro looked to Luffy to see if he had gotten scared, hoping he wouldn't cry and saw him lick his lips. When he voiced his hunger, it wasn't the word itself. It was a garbled "hurny." Zoro understood that Luffy must drink animal blood, since only rich vampires were able to buy humans as blood-slaves. That might be a reason for the humans to come, but the same could be said to them when they stole and sold creatures from the island as well. Neither was in the right.
Zoro told Luffy to wait right there, vowing to do this quickly so the kid wouldn't wander off, and ran after the deer in wolf form after taking his clothes quickly, catching up easily and killing it. He managed to drag its dead carcass back to where Luffy was waiting. As soon as the boy smelled the blood, he ran over clumsily and started to drink. Zoro tried not to get grossed out by how messy Luffy was with his meal.
By the end of his meal, his coat and shorts were soaked with the deer's blood and his face was smeared with the liquid. Zoro wondered how his family kept any of his clothes clean, but that didn't matter out here. There was no reason they had to look clean all the time since there was no one that needed to be impressed, though the sight made Zoro a little uncomfortable. Then Zoro realized how dirty they both were; they needed a bath.
Luffy wiped his mouth with his arm, spreading more blood on his raincoat sleeve and walking back over to Zoro. Zoro couldn't stop Luffy before he picked up his teddy, now smeared with blood also. Well, as long as Luffy didn't mind, Zoro didn't care. It only bothered him that Luffy himself looked like the got stabbed or coughed up blood.
Zoro sniffed the air and focussed on his sense of hearing until he heard some sort of water. He gently took Luffy's hand and walked towards the sound of water. Luffy was obviously used to being cleaned after a meal, since he pulled off his coat and started to walk into the stream somewhat enthusiastically. Zoro had to stop him before he jumped in since it was too deep for him. But feeling the water, Zoro knew it would be too cold for Luffy to go in completely, since winter was coming. Hopefully they would find warmer clothes before then, since the shop they raided didn't have a wide variety of clothing.
Zoro shushed Luffy's whining about not getting a bath as he wiped the blood off him with a soaked shirt. Zoro didn't understand why he was enjoying taking care of Luffy so much. He usually would have not been so kind and gentle with anybody, let alone a toddler. Maybe it was because he felt useful, or maybe he just missed company or was looking for a new family, since they were both obviously orphans. Zoro had a brother now. He wasn't alone and he'd make sure Luffy never would be either.
So chapter 1 is pretty long in my opinion. The story has over 15,000 words, so don't worry about it being short. Long stories are best in my opinion. Read and review please! I will try and post new chapters on Sundays and Thursdays. Only a few chapters, so no one has to wait for the whole story for long.