(Okay, so I've had to re-post this because it was kindly noted out I spelt Usopp's name wrong the whole way through! How shameful! Too busy focusing on the story to remember names. Sorry!)
Hi everyone! I know I've been out of the fic game for a while, laptop issues cauesd me to lose my work and left me uninspired. I've began writing this drabble after reading alot of Ussop win fics and it sprawled into a fully fledged ficlet for your pleasure!
I'd live to dedicate this to Santoryuu-Zoro, whose small words of encouragement were exactly what I needed to summon the courage to post this.
Disclaimer - I own nothing, especially nothing One Piece related
The Greatest Story Never Told
(aka. In which The Great Captain Usopp yet again saves the day.)
By Pamplemoose
They had been moored on the island for ten hours. Six more than they had originally intended.
And Zoro still wasn't back.
"Where the hell is that idiot? Surely even he can't get lost for this long? I told him we needed to leave after four hours!"
Nami seethed and shook her head, cursing the gods for her misfortune. It wasn't as if this was uncommon for the swordsman to be lost, but it remained infuriating and this coupled with the slight nervous feeling the navigator felt did not make for easy waiting. The island of Taliouck was not the largest, and while it seemed docile enough (there wasn't even a marine base!) it wasn't just her who returned from her few hours wandering with an uneasy feeling. The smiles of locals were a bit too broad, the lack of trouble a bit too, well, troubling.
The navigator bit her lip and frowned, gazing out over the valley they had hidden in to the town down below.
"Where is he? I even wrote him directions!"
"Naaa, don't worry Nami, it's Zoro! I'm sure he's okay!" Luffy chirped, finger in nose and unfazed by the loss of the swordsman. Knowing each other for so long, she assumed he was used to it.
"Idiot Marimo's probably just got lost trying to find the exit to whichever backwater tavern he found. Drunken asshole."
Sanji stood beside Nami, lighting a cigarette as he chastised the absent crewmate. The redhead smiled as she saw that this was Sanji's third cigarette in the same amount of minutes, a clear sign of concern. He was worried too.
They all were. Despite his regular directional deviations, Zoro always managed to make it back before they needed to leave. The log pose had set only an hour after they landed, and the ship was restocked and ready to go within Nami's allotted four hour schedule. While not impeding their process, the delay was infuriating and there was only a certain amount of time you can keep a hyperactive captain at bay. The impatient twiddling of a straw hat proved this time was running out.
After the Davy Back Fight and the incident with Aokiji, the whole crew were tighter than ever, all wanting to stay close for fear of losing one of their own. This was the first island they stopped at since then, and even while the crew were on edge, each felt there was something definitely wrong with the fact Zoro was still missing.
Robin was sat as usual, book open on her lap as ever but not a page had been turned in the past hour. Chopper sat next to her, a lot more visibly distressed with tears in his eyes and twitching every five minutes, almost restraining himself to avoid running off to search. Wandering nervously, Usopp was trying to console the doctor but even his usual lies were lacking in earnest, mainly dribbling off into quiet murmurs.
They had waited for Zoro for a few hours but the glares from locals showed their ship was no longer welcome at harbour, so they hid in the nearby cliffs. Luffy cheerfully claimed that Zoro would be able to find the ship anyway, because he would be lost no matter where he was trying to find so where he was meant to end up wouldn't make a difference. It frightened Nami how much her Captain's logic made sense.
Her hair flew around her face as the wind suddenly changed and Nami's head turned up to the sky, the frown on her face deepening.
"The wind's picking up" She half muttered. Sanji, Robin and Usopp turned to her, the sky darkening like an ominous reflection of crew's fears.
"Do you think the weather's changing, Navigator-san?" Robin also turned her attention to the sky, as if it were about to open to the heavens.
"A storm's coming. We can't stay near these cliffs much longer. Arg! That idiotic swordsman, when I get my hands on him I'll raise his debts so high…"
"But Nami, we can't leave without Zoro." Luffy helpfully interjected.
"We know that Luffy, but where we are now, we're too open to the bad weather. The winds would batter us straight into the rocks, we need to move Merry somewhere safer."
"Nami swan is sooooo smart!"
"I believe I read there was a smaller island just offshore on the other side of the island, we would be safe to shelter there?"
Nami and Robin ignored Sanji's proclamations and agreed the ship should be moved. As Usopp and Sanji made to lower the sails, the quiet, confused voice of their captain halted all movement.
"But what about Zoro?"
Nami sighed, hands on hips and looked over to the island.
"…We're gonna have to go and find him. We can't wait here any longer."
"But then what about moving the ship?"
With a shake of her head, Nami pointed at her captain.
"We'll just have to split up. Luffy, you Sanji and Usopp go on the island and look for the idiot. Robin, Chopper and I will move the ship to the over side of the island ready to shelter. We'll stay there for two hours so make sure you get back before then or we'll lose even more crewmembers."
"Haiii Nami swaaan!!"
"Wha…wait why do I have to go onshore? What if there are monsters or marines or Zoro's really pissed off or something?"
"Tough Usopp, Robin is better on ship because she can do more jobs at once, and we can't risk Chopper being lost in case anyone needs a doctor when you get back. I'm sure you'll be fine."
Usopp trembled. Why would I need a doctor upon returning?
"You remember that town right?! The looks we got, they ain't pirate friendly people! Its dangerous! My I-can't-go-near-scary-locals disease is acting up, see how pale I've gotten?!"
"All the more reason to find Zoro then!!"
Nami's teeth were bared, her voice echoing across the ship during a tense lapse of noise. The wind grew stronger, and with it so did everyone's concern. The could all tell something wasn't quite right, yet none could put their fingers on it.
"Just…find him quick. We'll see you on the other side."
With that, Luffy's limbs were around Usopp and Sanji, and the three catapulted towards the village and hopefully towards their friend.
--
Usopp had lost Luffy and Sanji almost as quickly as they had reached the village. Luffy, as usual, ran off in some random direction, drawing all attention to himself as he hollered for their missing crewmate. Sanji and he watched the suspicious eyes follow the captain as he ran off, and soon after Sanji trailed, muttering about making the 'shitty captain' watch his back.
And so Usopp was alone.
Who was going to watch his back?
With a squeak, and a nervous turn to see if anyone was watching (and relieved the coast was clear), the long nose slunk off in the hunt.
The town wasn't very large, and notably old-fashioned. In the centre of the town stood a town square, normally full of market stalls but now alarmingly empty save for a tall platform, and many men busy building something upon it. There was no obvious marine stronghold, but neither were there many pirates passing, which made Usopp believe there must be some reason for the lack of visitors.
After a good ten minutes of getting lost, searching and hiding, Usopp stumbled across a narrow street which backed onto another smaller courtyard, which served if nothing else as a place to hang washing, the sniper noted from the lines above his head. The area was empty as far as the eye could, not another person was in sight in or around the houses. Just broken down walls, moss and litter lined the area. The coast was clear.
As he crossed the courtyard the sniper's attention was drawn to an old building in the middle of the houses, with a portion of the lower half of the walls lined with bars. It reminded him of a Zoo, with half the room sheltered to give the animal some form of privacy.
And as he neared, Usopp noticed that pacing the cage like an agitated tiger was their missing crewmate.
The floor was sunken, so Zoro didn't notice Usopp standing above him. Instead he kept rapidly pacing the small length of the cell he was in. From his suspended position, Usopp could see the tense rigidity of the swordsman's shoulders, and how he was snarling at nothing while he moved restlessly.
This was very uncharacteristic behaviour.
"Um, Zoro?"
The head turned towards him so quickly Usopp almost heard something in the swordsman's neck break. Zoro blinked disbelievingly a few times before rushing to the bars, reaching up so he was nearer to the sniper's crouched form.
"Usopp? S'that you? What're you doing there?"
"What are you doing in there, idiot? How'd you get caught on an island with no enemies? We thought you got lost on the way back from the tavern or something."
"No tavern. Never got there, something else found me. Enemies everywhere, should be more careful…"
Zoro turned away from him, muttering quickly and quietly and scratching at his neck, and Usopp feared he had gone mad in his short absence.
"Zoro, what happened? You're acting crazy."
Zoro focused on the long nosed figure again, staring intently at his face. He shook his head and ran his hand through short, green hair before beginning again.
"I was on my way to a tavern after we docked, but I never got there. Someone got me with a dart or something. Next I knew I woke up in this place and have been stuck here ever since."
Zoro growled and gripped tightly at the bars at Usopp's feet.
"The bastards took my swords. And they keep giving me this, this stuff, to keep me quiet. But its making me nuts, I keep imagining things, feel so dirty, crawling inside…can't even fucking sleep."
The green haired man was pacing again, muttering incoherently at himself, or to the ones who caught him or to someone else, Usopp wasn't sure. But he knew enough about chemicals to deduce that Zoro was being drugged. The swordsman was known for being hard to handle at the best of time, and the fearsome appearance doesn't help. That, however, wasn't the key question.
"But Who did this Zoro?"
Zoro paused his pacing long enough to wave nonchalantly outside.
"Islanders. Whole fucking lot of 'em are bounty hunters."
Usopp froze, and even Zoro noticed that.
"I know, not too happy with pirates either for some reason. They aren't even gonna bother waiting for the marines to show, say they don't mind having less of the bounty if they can see me hang."
Zoro's barked out laugh made Usopp's stomach twist, from the lack of humour and the reality of the situation. His terrified gaze met the bloodshot, but clear one of Zoro's. Despite his doped-up state, Zoro clearly understood the situation he was in. Usopp cleared his through nervously.
"So, how do we get you out? Let me just go and get Luffy or Sanji and then-"
"No. There isn't time. Luffy's probably got his own people to run from and the bastards who first brought me here said it would only take until sunset to build some gallows."
"So what?"
"…Find my swords. I can't leave without them anyway. Then get back here and we can cut through the bars…they're pretty old."
"I have some exploding stars."
Zoro snorted in agreement as his head snapped around, darkly rimmed eyes narrowing as footsteps echoed in the hallway behind him.
"Good. Now go find my swords, they're in this building somewhere. Hurry, don't let them see you."
"Who see me?"
"Go!"
Zoro hissed before he resumed his pacing, growling in the back of his throat as the footsteps got louder. A clock struck Eight as Usopp hid across the courtyard, but used his goggles to watch his imprisoned nakama.
There were five of them, four men and a woman, and each looked like normal residents of the town. If it weren't for their superior sneers and the way they expertly held their weapons, Usopp would never have suspected them of being bounty hunters.
Two men trained their guns at the swordsman's head, causing the pacing to still and a dazed but wary glare to fix upon them.
When the cell opened, the other two men moved inside. They pinned a barely resisting Zoro to the floor far too easily, Usopp thought, as he knew normally it would take at least ten men to wrestle his friend down, and even then the swordsman would still struggle. As they held his shoulders to the floor Usopp figured whatever concoction it was, the drugs were messing with Zoro's head for him not to fight back.
The woman moved forward last, kneeling in front of the captive's head. Manicured nail gripped green locks as she push Zoro's head to the side, exposing his neck. From his hiding place Usopp could hear Zoro growl in warning and frustration at the vulnerable position, and moments later hiss unpleasantly when the woman pushed a needle into his bared jugular.
The needle withdrawn, the woman moved back and the men released Zoro's arms. They snickered as they left the cell.
"Heh, the great powerful pirate hunter can't handle a few sedatives. His reaction's getting worse."
"As long as he doesn't die from them in the meantime its fine. It's been a while since we saw someone hang, especially someone as famous as Roronoa Zoro."
"He should be okay, I've had to use a stronger mix of sedatives with that one, but with his constitution I imagine he could take about twelve or so doses before it does any permanent or fatal damage."
When the cell door locked, the laughter disappeared and his bile receded, Usopp rushed back towards the prison where the green haired nakama was still lying on the floor.
"Zoro, Zoro are you okay?"
Usopp could get no response from the man, only slurring mutters, growls and grunts as he tried to fight the haze, the Long-nose may as well not been there. It took a few too many minutes of calling him before Zoro's head lulled up to Usopp's location and he snarled in recognition.
"You just wait there Zoro, I'll be back with your swords in a sec."
Zoro managed to nod, understanding despite his inability to speak coherently, and Usopp ran.
--
