Between Fangs and Claws

'Best friends are supposed to tell each other everything, right? That's what Luffy believes, at least. Though since he had only known Zoro for a couple months, he couldn't really blame him for not telling Luffy that he was a vampire. So he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty when he found out for not telling said vampire that he was a werewolf. Luffy knew it was better that way, with neither of them knowing the other's secret. Especially when your families are mortal enemies.' ZoLu, AU.

A/N: Hey! DeathlyFlames here! This was the spawn of a need for a OP supernatural AU. Though it will not reach the realm of awesomeness where TreeStar is the ultimate goddess and Pamplemoose is up and coming into the ranks, but I'm trying. Don't kill me because my other stories lacked that certain spark, but give me a chance to learn and redeem myself! Anyway, happy reading!

Chapter 1 – Irony

Luffy grinned mischievously as he pulled out his halloween costume from the bag. It was perfect. As Luffy started putting his costume on, he could remember why he had chosen a vampire in the first place.

"You should fear vampires, Luffy. Fear them and hate them."

"But why Grandpa? I haven't actually met one and I don't see any reason to not like them."

Garp sighed.

"Listen, boy, you don't ever want to meet a vampire. They're vicious, blood-sucking monsters who are only out to drain you of ever drop of blood in your body! Why do you think we won't let you loose in the city at night or let you out on a full moon?"

"Because werewolves will kill humans if we change?"

"No, Luffy! Because there is a family of vampires in that city and I wouldn't ever want you to meet one."

Luffy giggled. He loved how ironic it was that he was going to that Halloween party dressed as his mortal enemy. Luffy looked at himself in the full-length mirror. He had on a white ruffly shirt (he couldn't understand why a blood-sucking creature would wear a white shirt) and a soft, tight-fitting crimson vest as well as long black pants and shiny black shoes. Then he had on a long, silky black cloak that was red underneath and he grabbed his plastic vampire fangs from his bedside table and put them in. Luffy grinned widely, showing off the cheap white teeth as he turned from side to side, making his cloak swish around his calves. Then, to make sure he looked ferocious and evil, Luffy hissed at his reflection. When that wasn't scary enough he growled and snapped, his werewolf qualities showing through the halloween facade. He decided he was scary enough for humans and turned to start out the door when his dad came in.

Shanks walked in the door and sat down on Luffy's bed and the boy came to sit beside him. Waiting for Shanks to speak, he looked down at the floor and started swinging his feet back and forth. Shanks wasn't his real dad, though. His parents were killed by vampires is what his real grandfather, Garp, always said. But that didn't matter to Luffy, since his parents had died when he was really young, Shanks and his wife, Makino were just like his parents.

"Luffy." Shanks said. Luffy stopped swinging and looked up at Shanks.

"Luffy, I want you to be careful tonight. You know you're lucky Garp is gone so you can go to this party. But you have to make sure that if anything goes wrong, or if you start you start to feel like you're going to go on a rampage you need to come straight back, you hear me?" Luffy nodded. "Good. Though I doubt there should be any problems. The full moon isn't for three days, but you may still be a little edgy. It was never a problem around here, of course, but around humans you need to be extra careful. And be sure to keep our secret. And if the vampires come out, it would be best for you to retreat, ok? Vampires can be dangerous and they hate us as much as we hate them." Luffy nodded again and looked back at the floor, swinging his legs again.

"Shanks?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are we enemies with the vampires?"

Shanks looked sadly at his adopted son.

"That's the way its always been Luffy. Something happened between vampires and werewolves hundreds of years ago and now we're just born with the hate."

Luffy didn't look like he liked that answer very much. Born with the hate? He looked up at his clock. 10:25 flashed back at him and he jumped up.

"'K Shanks! You worry too much! I'll be fine. I'm going now!" Luffy ran out of his bedroom waving at Shanks as he left. He maneuvered his way through the halls of the mansion passing by many of his family. He waved as he darted through. Finally he reached the front of the mansion and Luffy opened the large, ornate wooden doors.

He stepped out into the cool air and breathed deeply. He loved being outside where he could move around. He especially loved the feel of moonlight on his skin near it's peak of its cycle. He wished he could leave the house and run when he changed, but Shanks made sure he never left the house for a whole week before his transformation. Luff pouted as he thought about it, but cheered up instantly when he thought about the party. Luffy grinned, knowing his vampire fangs would be oh-so scary and skipped down the path that led to the road that he would have to follow to get to the city. He soon realized that skipping was in no way scary and evil and vampire-like and moved quickly and silently and stealthily which, in the real world instead of Luffy's imagination, meant he was making as much noise as possible including giggling whenever he thought he was being super frightening.

Luffy's family's mansion sat on top of a hill on the outskirts of Grand Line City. It only took him about ten minutes to 'sneak' his way down to the pavement roads. Luffy looked around. The Halloween party was supposed to be an anyone invited all-out party held in the middle of the city with lights and music and dancing and food. Luffy started drooling at the thought of food and ran screaming to what he thought was the middle of the city, scaring everyone who happened to be around at the time. But Luffy was not deterred. Meat! He needed meat! Luffy galloped to the sound of music that was thumping to a beat because that HAD to be where the meat was! He reached the throng of people dancing and scanned his surroundings. Everyone was in a giant lump in the middle of the designated 'dance floor' and there were christmas lights strung all over the buildings. There was also a few people hanging out on the sides and people talking in small groups and there were people selling food and there was strobe lights and... Luffy rewound his thoughts for a moment. MEAT! He ran over to a vendor who almost jumped out of his skin when the vampire came up demanding meat. Luffy handed over the money and he got his food and munched happily as he looked for a place to eat his third dinner for that evening before going out and dancing a little. He found a guy leaning against a wall and decided to go talk to him. He had bright green hair and was wearing kind of fuzzy brown ears, a fuzzy brown tail, brown fuzzy gloves on that had no fingers and he was wearing a white shirt and black pants and a green haramaki. Three swords were hanging threateningly from his waist. Luffy stomped up to him.

**

Zoro hated Halloween. Stupid human holiday. He had dressed up (though he could admit he wasn't really into his costume) and he had come out from his nice comfy house to come to this stupid party because he was hungry. And his sister had thrown him out so he could get some dinner because she hated dealing with her brother when he was hungry. Zoro sighed and stared into the wriggling crowd of possible meals, looking for someone that caught his appetite. What he didn't expect was some annoying brat walking up to him, trying to get him to talk and insulting him all while shoving meat down his throat. Well it's too bad he didn't expect it, because that's exactly what happened.

Munch. Munch. "Watcha doin?" Munch. Munch.

Zoro didn't answer and refused to look at him. Maybe if he left him alone he'd leave.

Munch. "What are you supposed to be?" Munch. Munch.

Zoro's eye twitched. He knew that if this kid didn't shut the hell up he would end up hurting him just to silence his annoying voice.

Munch. Munch. Munch. "I like you. You're green. You wanna be my friend?"

Zoro twitched and turned to the hopeful kid before smirking. How ironic.

"Hey kid, you like vampires or something?" Munch.

"Well I don't have a problem with them but Shanks says, Shanks is my dad, well not my real dad, but you see my parents... well anyway Shanks and Gramps says that I shouldn't like vampires so I thought it would be funny-" Zoro thought he would kill the kid if he didn't shut him up. Then Zoro's senses realized something. It was a faint smell, and it was almost completely covered in human and meat. It was the signature smell of something he had hated for no reason yet every reason in the world... Something that hurt him in more than one way. He could remember the night clearly...

Zoro didn't like wandering the alleyways at night. Even if he was with Kuina, he still didn't feel comfortable waltzing around in the human realm. He had only been out to eat once before and he had gotten lost. And he could've sworn he had heard growls around every corner.

Now he reached over to grip Kuina's hand, but pulled back as he realized what he was doing. He might only be eight, but he was a man now. He couldn't be a baby anymore if he was going to be in the human city. He glanced up at his sister, hoping she hadn't noticed his moment of weakness. Kuina wasn't phased, she just kept walking forward, so Zoro let it go. It was good she hadn't paid him any mind. Zoro hated showing her weakness. She wasn't the kind of girl who was weak even though she was only eleven, so she had taken up the job of training and raising Zoro since their parents had been killed.

Zoro sighed and stared straight ahead, searching through the grimy brick back-streets, determined to find his meal before Kuina. But that was seemingly difficult this night because they had yet to find one stray human wandering around. Zoro frowned. Where were all the humans? He turned a corner and then another before realizing he had lost his sister. Again.

Damn, he thought as he backtracked, trying to find Kuina. But in doing so, he managed to get even more lost. Zoro looked up at the full moon and it gave him little comfort. It was so cold and uncaring. The moon couldn't help him find Kuina. And the full moon was supposed to mean... He trailed off as he heard a growl. He turned towards the sound and gasped, backing up until he found himself against a wall, staring into a hypnotizing pair of yellow eyes. He ran to his left, hoping he could make a break for it, but his only other path out was suddenly blocked and Zoro moved back to his wall. The growling was louder, and Zoro could have sworn he felt the sound mix with his own instinctual fear and stab straight into his gut like a sliver knife. He racked his brain for possibilities, but he knew it was hopeless. He hadn't grown his fangs in enough to do any damage and he had left his sword at home. The only thing he could hope for was-

"Zoro!"

He heard Kuina calling him and for a moment he felt the relief wash over him. He was safe. At least, that was what he thought before he saw a third and a fourth pair of eyes join the first two. He couldn't breathe, and it took all of his energy to turn to the direction his sister had been calling from; up and shout to her.

"NO! Kuina! There's too many-" But it was too late. She had leapt from the roof of the building by the time Zoro muttered her name. She landed nimbly on the pavement and snarled at the eyes in the darkness. The moved a bit closer and Zoro wanted to be dreaming. They couldn't be real could they?

"A werewolf." He said out loud accidentally. It startled him out of his sleep-like stupor and apparently it scared the kid too. He watched the kid start choking and he scoured his brain for a quick excuse for speaking.

"What about a werewolf?" The kid looked nervous, Zoro observed. He wondered if the kid could smell him. But Zoro doubted it. He didn't look like he knew. Zoro said the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm a werewolf. You asked what I was dressed as." Well, it wasn't a lie. Zoro, being forced from his home, grabbed the first costume he could find in a human shop. It happened to be a werewolf. Kind of. It didn't matter to him as long as he blended in. He watched the kid smile at him.

**

"You don't look like a werewolf." Luffy laughed. The mystery guy looked pissed.

"I am so! Besides, how do you know what a werewolf looks like? Have you ever seen one?" Luffy stopped laughing and looked very seriously at the guy.

"Well have you ever seen one? How do you know what a werewolf looks like?" The guy grinned.

"Guess not. You got a name, kid?"

Munch. Munch. Munch. Munch. "Luffy." The guy smirked again and was about to speak, but he looked off past the crowd to where a slender girl with fair blue hair was walking towards them. She looked to Luffy like she was in a trance of some sort. Her eyes were sort of glazed over and she had a slight blush on her cheeks. But Luffy shrugged it off as too much dancing and alcohol. The girl walked up to the werewolf guy and just kind of swayed near him before smiling and falling onto his broad chest. Luffy knew it was time to bow out when the guy turned to him, the girl now being held bridal style in his arms.

"Sorry. I guess its time for me to take my girlfriend home." He gestured to the blue-haired woman who was now seeming even more drunk and was playing with his short green hair and fake ears. Luffy nodded and started back to the meat counter before something hit him. He spun back to where the guy should have been.

"Hey what's you na-." But Luffy was cut off. The guy was gone.

**

Zoro was about to get pissed by this chick who was playing with his hair. No one touches his hair. He especially didn't like her touching him because he had lied to Luffy; he had never seen her in his life until now. He had to admit, the girl showing up was very convenient. He didn't expect her to be so taken by his Stare that she would fall drunkenly into his arms. It gave him a good excuse to ditch the wolf so he could take care of his dinner in peace. It had been painful to meet another wolf since the incident, but this one was human and a kid at that. It made his life easier. But not much. There was something about this kid... Like if he had been a vampire, Zoro might have tried to be his friend. Zoro sighed and resolved to think about the wolves later. For now, he had to take care of more pressing needs.

Zoro set the girl on her feet in the alley he had brought her to and she shook her head, the effects of the Stare wearing off. Zoro watched as the girl blinked a couple times before looking around, confused. She glanced back and forth, not even noticing Zoro standing right in front of her. Zoro smirked again and grabbed her chin gently between his fingers. The girl stiffened and, as Zoro turned her head to face him, she tried to scream. He silenced her by covering her mouth and pushing her against the alley wall. He tilted her neck to one side and he could feel her scream muffled by his hand. But as soon as Zoro's fangs pushed their way through her skin, she stopped screaming and she hung her head. Zoro could hear her breath coming out in pants and he could feel the quick pulse of her heart through her blood. He sighed through his nose as he drank this girl's blood. It was sweet like candy, like she had had a good healthy life. She tasted happy and Zoro envied her. Envied her happiness and her good life. He hated the taste of joy and of good fortune.

He released the girl and watched her slide gently down the wall, her fang marks already disappearing. He spat next to her on the ground, some of her blood following in the saliva. Zoro shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the alleyway to search for a more depressed victim. He craved the heady, dark flavor of hatred and despair. He spat again on the ground, trying to get the taste of happiness from his mouth.

Zoro had never cared much for sweets.