Sanji followed the path through the woods, the damp pine smell filling his lungs, the trees were dense hiding everything but the path from view.

He had been fortunate that a traveling merchant had allowed him to travel in his cart until the woods entrance. The merchant had warned him that the woods were full of bandits and that he should either avoid them or take a weapon with him. He had tried to give Sanji a sword as thanks for the meals he had cooked but he had refused on the grounds that he didn't fight with his hands.

This was nothing new to him, he was always under-estimated, he carried no weapons and wore dark breeches, a white ghillie shirt, dark leather boots and he owned a long black coat that was currently in his backpack. His father had trained him not only in the art of cooking but also how to beat any opponent using only his feet. He had even trained under another by the name of Iva, who was an incredible chef and fighter if not an exceptionally strange man but then Iva's whole kingdom had been strange.

The sky was starting to darken, so he searched for a clearing by heading into the woods a way, using the sound of water to guide him. Eventually he found a spot near the water as he had hoped, he left his backpack and began gathering wood for a fire. Thankfully he found enough dry wood even though it had been raining earlier that day. He returned to his makeshift camp and searched for rocks to build up a cooker with and was pleased when he found a nice long flat one to fry on. Once he'd built up the rocks round the fire and got it burning he placed the flat rock over the top to let it heat up.

As he was getting his food out of the front pouch of his backpack he heard someone enter the clearing. He looked up as a green haired stranger enter, his hair messy as though he never bothered to cut it or brush it and he wore some of the strangest clothes Sanji had ever seen. He wore a long dark green jacket thing over, black breeches and long black boots all of this was finished of with a red sash round his waist that appeared to be holding three swords in place. He looked like a pirate was the conclusion Sanji had came to, the scar that ran through and seemed to keep closed his left eye just finished the look.

'Hail' the green pirate greeted him 'I was looking to make camp and wondered if you'd share for the night'

Sanji thought about it the pirate looked dangerous but seemed friendly, he wasn't one to turn his back on people who needed help. He ran his eyes over the man again, he didn't look helpless. Though he appeared to have no supplies on him, he could share his food with him but it would barely make enough food for one never mind two.

'You can stay but I'm afraid I have little food' he could maybe hunt or fish during the night to increase his supplies for breakfast. His father had taught him how to set traps to catch small prey and fish.

The pirate looked thoughtful for a moment 'Would you prefer fish or deer?'

'Fish it's easier to prepare I guess'

He watched as the other man walked over to the river that he had set camp near untying the sash as he went, he placed the sash and the swords carefully on the ground away from the edge of the river. He then took the green coat off placing it next to the swords, he noticed that the pirate had no top but wore a thick green band round his stomach. The boots were kicked off to join the rest, Sanji was fascinated watching the muscled back moving that he got caught of guard when the other man pulled the green band and his trousers of together. His eyes traveled down with the band revealing that the highly muscled swordsman didn't seem to wear any undergarments. He felt his pulse quicken and he snapped his eyes shut, dammit was this some kind of test, he wouldn't cave again. He took a few deep breaths and opened his eyes, the swordsman was now facing him, he tried to focus on his face but was drawn to a monstrous scar running diagonally down his chest. He watched as he bent down and picked up his swords, after a short period of weighing up them up he chose the black one. As he reached waist deep in the water a large black bird landed on his shoulder, unfazed the swordsman closed his eyes.

Sanji watched slightly in awe as the swordsman used the blunt side of his sword to knock six fish onto the side of the river, without once opening his eyes. He skewered one last fish onto his blade before back onto land, once there he dropped the fish of his blade and watched as the bird landed on it and started tearing into it.

'Is that enough?' the swordsman asked him.

Sanji glanced round at the still naked man and worked hard to keep his eyes from travelling downwards.

'I don't know how much you eat but it should be more than enough' he thanked whatever god was out there watching him that the other man pulled his breeches back up. 'Is the bird yours?'

'Sort of my friend trained him to travel with me, the paths in the woods can move he scouts them for me' the guy said

Sanji paused he hadn't actually asked the guys name he had been so distracted by him going in the water, thinking of water it made him realise what his hair reminded him of it was a plant he had seen whilst travelling on a ship, the captain had kept some from his travels.

'Hey Marimo, I just realised I don't know your name'

A flash of confusion crossed his face 'What the hell is a marimo?

'It's basically a ball of moss that lives in the water, looks almost the same as your hair'

He shrugged 'Fine Curly my name's Zoro Roronoa'

Curly really, he fought the urge to hide his eyebrow he needed one eye uncovered to see and he had kind of had that coming.

'I'm Sanji Blackleg, I'm heading to Foosha castle, where are you headed'

Zoro had lifted his swords and the fish, placing them all near the fire whilst he sat down. He joined him and started preparing the fish to cook.

'I'm headed to Foosha as well, what business do you have at the castle' the Mossball began helping by gutting the fish before putting them next to him to finish.

'A beautiful Queen has sent me on a quest to kill the King of Foosha and if I manage to kill his demon guard dog as well then she has agreed to marry me' he could almost feel himself swooning at the idea of marrying such a beauty, then he could face his father again and hopefully make him proud.

'Queen Alvida by any chance?'

'Yes how did you know?'

'You're not the first to travel these woods on the exact same quest' Zoro finished with his last fish. 'None have succeeded yet'

'I have been warned of the monsters he keeps' Sanji paused 'You know you're the first not to mock me when I tell them my quest'

Zoro looked at him 'Let me guess they tell you to wear armour and to take a weapon' Sanji nodded 'You require neither I can tell from the way you carry yourself'

Sanji grinned 'Thanks' he had been mocked by most other fighters, it was nice to meet a fighter who seemed to respect him.

He dug around in his bag and found his supply of herbs and seasoned the fish, he wished he had more but traveling had left him with very little fresh food. He placed the fish on his stone cooker and sat next to the swordsman.

'You got anything to drink?' Zoro looked hopeful

'Just water I'm afraid' he could see the disappointment in the other man

'I can't wait to get to the town' the swordsman sighed

'How long is it to the castle from here?'

'If we break camp early you could be there by early evening'

Sanji felt the excitement growing, he couldn't wait to fight a strong opponent and to finally prove himself in this land. If he won and got married he would hopefully prove himself to his father to. He moved over to the fire to finish the fish.

'So you think you can beat this king and his guard?' Zoro lay back onto the grass staring at the darkening sky.

'Of course' Sanji grinned he wouldn't have accepted if he didn't think he could do it.

'What about the rest of them there's the devil fruit users, the inventors and the damned witch is scary in her own right.'

Sanji paused he hadn't thought this far ahead 'He has woman fight for him?' Men he could handle but he would never harm a woman.

'He doesn't make anyone do anything they fight because they want to'

'How do you know so much about them?' he was growing suspicious of the swordsman.

'Look everyone around here knows Luffy they love him, I'm guessing your from a different land if you know nothing of them' he caught an edge of amusement in his voice 'It's the first time I've had to explain this to one on this quest'

'I'm from a land across the sea, it's multiple islands that are one kingdom' he really missed home 'I hope to return at least for a visit soon. If everyone loves him so much why aren't you trying to stop me?'

The swordsman laughed 'Luffy doesn't need defended by anyone'

He heard a clicking noise then a croaky voice said 'More' he looked over to see the bird pecking Zoro's hand and motioning with its beak to the fish cooking 'More'

Zoro sat up and walked over to his coat the bird flew up and landed on his shoulder, he pulled out a pen, a bottle of ink and a small piece of paper. He sat down and quickly wrote something and attached it to it's leg using a thin piece of string.

'Go home, get Tony to give you more food' he gently stroked the bird's head 'I'll see you tomorrow' the bird made a cawing sound and motioned to the fish again.

Zoro stood up sighing and walked over to the fish and broke a piece of he blew on it and shook it a little before feeding it to the bird, who quickly ate it and flew off.

'That's a smart crow you have there' Sanji couldn't help be impressed

'He's a raven and a damn stubborn one at that' he sat down next to Sanji 'Is the fish ready yet?'

Sanji nodded and dug around for the metal plates in his bag, it made eating so much easier. He split most of the fish between the two he owned and handed one to the moss head, he received a raised eyebrow and a muttered thanks. The rest of the fish he left to cool for breakfast.

He settled down to eat his own, he knew he should be wary of this stranger but he felt at ease, he seemed the kind that was an honourable fighter not the kind that would stab you in your sleep. That was a gamble he would take he removed his bedroll that was tied to the side of his backpack and set it up. He watched his camp mate who was currently down at the river cleaning the plates, he finished up and came and handed them to Sanji, he packed them away and put the food into storage in his backpack. He set his bedroll up near the fire and watched as a fully dressed Marimo lay down next to the fire, muttered night and then almost instantly went to sleep.

Sanji settled down and pulled his blanket over himself, maybe he'd see if Zoro would travel further with him at least to the town. He refused to admit to himself that maybe he was attracted to him and just wanted to spend more time with him.