The Jade Dragon
The straw hats were on their way to the island called Zou and were being their usual rowdy selves, bar the odd two that were either sleeping soundly against the ship mast or had their nose buried in a book, when one of Bartelomeo's straw hat fan club members shouted down from the crow's nest.
"Land! I see land!" he stumbled, reaching as far as he could over the side without falling onto the deck below. Immediately the crew came to life and the previously dozing swordsman became alert and sharpened, grasping the hilt of his Shusui instinctively as he picked himself up off the deck and made his way over to the side of the ship. There was an island, a small one, but an island nonetheless.
"What should we do Luffy?" he questioned his impulsive, rubber captain.
"Let's go!" he yelled, grinning and launching himself up to the crow's nest with his elongated arms, much to the delight and confusion and many other emotions of the fan club crew member.
"Yes captain" Zoro grinned. Why had he even bothered to ask? He knew the adventurous rubber man would find a new island irresistible.
"Fufufufufu" chuckled Nico Robin. "Well if those are the captain's order's, I suppose we better be on our way then" she hummed in a calm voice that managed to send Bartolomeo's crew into a cheer and the man himself to strike a determined pose.
"Anything for Luffy-senpai!" he squealed faithfully and set about with the rest of his crew, rowing towards the minor island as fast as their arms could take them.
They came to a stop as shallow as the ship would allow and dropped boat and anchor for exploration. Luffy launched himself into the little rowboat, no concern about the deadly sea water that could sap his energy in a heartbeat and held onto his straw hat whilst pointing to the shore.
"Come on Zoro, come on!" He screeched impatiently before grabbing the swordsman and whipping him into the small boat. Zoro yelled and landed face down on the wooden planks, a red angry mark imprinted across his face.
"Luffy!" he shouted. "You can't just grab people like that, especially your own crew members!" He huffed, steam practically coming out of his ears.
"Sorry Zoro!" laughed Luffy. "But look its sooo cooooool!" stars sparkled in his captain's eyes like a child seeing a robot for the first time and Zoro internally groaned at his captain's childishness.
"Luffy, could you help me down too?" Robin questioned.
"Sure, Robin!" beamed the devil fruit user as he wrapped his arms around her waist before lowering her down onto the rowboat gently.
"How come you didn't smack her onto the boat too?!" Zoro glared. Robin chuckled while luffy let out his famous "shishishishishishi" laugh.
"Usopp, Franky, do you want to explore the island?" Robin asked the two.
"No! I-I'll stay h-here!" Usopp trembled, still in shock at coming to terms with the world government having him on their hit list.
"Ow! I'll stay here RRRRRRobin!" Franky answered in his typical sing-song-style of speech as he struck a pose and stretched.
"Law-san?" she tilted her head.
"…Alright, hold on" he grumbled, traipsing over to side of the ship. However, he too was grabbed by a pair of rubber limbs and flung onto the boat, causing him to scowl at the over energetic straw hat captain.
"Yosh! New island! Let's gooooo!" he chirped and began rowing at an alarming speed, while Zoro and Law both sweat dropped and Robin smiled happily.
Blessing their lucky stars that their captain hadn't thrown them onto the sands with his enthusiasm to explore, the straw hats and Law climbed out of the dingy and glanced around inquisitively. Once they had reached the shore the island appeared to be not that small after all; there were palm trees swaying softly in the breeze and a seemingly thick jungle further inland.
"Luffy, I'm going to go exploring in this direction with Law-san. Do you want to come along?" Robin asked the obviously impatient rubber man.
"Nooo, I'm going this wayyy! Shishishishi!" he laughed mischievously at whatever had caught his eye and stretched his arms towards two palm trees as a slingshot. "Gum-Gum rocket!" he bellowed and went shooting through the air like a missile. Well that was that sorted then.
"Swordsman-san?" she waved.
"Nah, I'll go this way" Zoro jerked his thumb in the direction he had decided to investigate.
"Fufufu. Are you sure you want to go alone? Won't you get lost?" Robin chuckled behind her palm. Zoro blushed.
"I know where I'm going!" he protested, marching away as quickly as he could, turning an even darker shade of red as he heard Robin laughing in the distance. "Who's getting lost? Damn architect, I'll show her…Lost my ass" mumbling insults, he stomped irritably through the undergrowth until he came to a small plain; it was filled with natural hot springs. "What's this?" he cocked his eyebrow. "How can I be lost if I've found something?" smirking triumphantly he strode over to the natural baths and noticed a sign in a strange language he didn't understand. "Oh well" he shrugged, and stripping down, he placed his clothes and swords on the grass by the pool side before stepping cautiously into a pool that seemed much larger than the others.
After submerging the last strand of green hair on his head into the soothing, warm water, he suddenly came to the conclusion that the spring felt a bit tight, as if he were sitting in a puddle. Opening one eye, he gazed around and gasped in shock to see his swords and clothes had shrunk to mere needles and dolls clothes in his hand…No, what was that? That wasn't a hand. It was some kind of green, scaly claw.
A string of curses leapt from Zoro's mouth as he fumbled around like a new-born, lashing around with his newly acquired tail and having an all-round panic. What the hell was this?! Was this some kind of nightmare?! Right! Right…That had to be it. He was still sleeping on Bartalomeo's ship by the mast; Luffy was probably stuffing his face with their cooking right now as Usopp and Franky discussed mechanics and new items for the Sunny and Robin and Law talked about recent historical discoveries. He just had to close his eyes and give himself a pinch and he'd be back at the ship and away from this weird dream in no time.
Raising his…Claw he squeezed his shoulder and felt…Surprisingly no pain whatsoever. Well he did have scales so maybe this wasn't going to work. He reached down and pinched Wado Ichimonji between his talons; an odd sensation since the swordsman was used to having the sword clenched between his teeth in combat. Pricking under one of his scales, he let out an angry yelp that came out as an ungodly roar and triggered immense flapping wing beats as hundreds of startled birds sprang out of their nests. The rest of the pirates also heard this and many shook like falling autumn leaves as they clung to each other in fear. A certain captain however was only intrigued.
"Wooooah! What was that?!" He exclaimed as he pressed the side of his hand to his forehead in a searching motion. "Robiiiiiiin! Zorooooo! Laaaaaw!" howled Luffy as he started trekking through the dense jungle, eagerly awaiting a confrontation with whatever had created such a colossal battle cry.
"Luffy!" called Robin, running towards him with Law at her side. "What was that sound?" she asked her captain, scanning the area with her curious, cyan eyes.
"Let's find out!" he declared, wrapping one rubber arm around both Law and Robin as his legs began to retract, sending them flying upon launch.
Roronoa Zoro was presently sulking in his gigantic, reptilian form, wondering hopelessly how he was going to get out of his current predicament. What would the crew say? How was he going to fit on the Sunny or Bartlelomeo's ship? How would he pay for the extensive sum of beli needed to keep up with his new body's alcohol requirements? He despaired at the thought of not having enough booze, slumping his shoulders even lower in misery.
Out of nowhere he heard the distinctive voice of his captain as he saw three small shapes come throttling towards him at break-neck speed. There was a loud crash as they landed, Robin caught safely in a large hand of her Flower-Flower devil fruit powers.
"Gehhhh?! A lizard!" boomed Luffy, laughing hysterically.
"Luffy, that's a dragon" murmured Nico Robin calmly as Law sweat dropped.
"So cool!" he giggled, an impish glow in his eyes. Zoro could feel dread and a slight panic settling upon him. What was he planning to do? Luffy sprung onto Zoro's armoured muzzle and grinned broadly at him. "Dragoooon!" he yelled, causing the swordsman/dragon to frown in annoyance.
"Get off me Luffy!" He yelled, attempting to swat the minute captain from his face.
"Woah! Why does it sound like Zoro?!" Luffy pondered, hopping to the ground effortlessly.
"Swordsman-san…?" Robin asked quizzically.
"Zoroooo! I'll save you Zoro!" the straw hat captain vowed.
"I haven't been eaten you idiot!" Zoro fumed, smoke rising from his nostrils. "It's me, Zoro!" and with that he lashed his tail threateningly like a cat about to pounce. He crossed his scaled arms and pouted at the three pirates stood before him. Robin peered closely at the gigantic reptile and nodded as she acknowledged the similarities between their first mate and said beast.
"He does have a scar over his left eye…And he is green…" she mumbled to herself.
"Oi, how am I supposed to pay for my booze now?!" he whined, genuine emotion in his voice. Robin chuckled.
"That's definitely our Swordsman-san" smiled Robin.
"Zoroooo! You're a dragon! How?!" shouted Luffy.
"How am I supposed to know that?! I was taking a bath in one of these hot springs when I turned into this!" he cried, wishing to know how as well.
"Zoro…" Robin coaxed "Did you read this sign before getting into the hot spring?" crossing her arms, Nico Robin studied the wooden sign in front of the large hot spring and then gradually her eyes made their way to the other signs also.
"No. How was I meant to read that anyway? What kind of language is that?" Zoro defended himself.
"It's Chinese, Swordsman-san" she observed. "Cursed spring of drowned dragon…" there was a collective silence before they all sweat dropped and shrieked in union.