Hello!! Welcome to a new story!! I have always loved the concept of Werewolves and their myths, so I really think I'm gonna enjoy writing this. But more importantly, I really hope you readers enjoy this story, and please let me know if you do by liking and commenting! And without further ado, here is the first chapter of my new story. Enjoy!!
ZOSAN
Sanji was startled awake by the sound of shuffling footsteps at his feet. He sleepily lifted his head up to see a large human figure slowly walking past the foot of his hammock, clearly trying to make as little sound as physically possible.
After spending three months on the Straw Hat crew, not counting the two years they were separated from one another, Sanji had gotten used to his crew mates getting up in the middle of the night to either use the restroom or steal food from the fridge, thankfully Sanji had remembered to set the traps that night before he went to sleep. Even though this was the case, Sanji already knew who it was before he even lifted his head to check.
It was 12 o'clock on a Tuesday night, the usual time that Roronoa Zoro got up and stayed up for the rest of the night.
It was strange at first to Sanji, seeing a pattern of time and day that Zoro would get up to do God knows what, but he got used to it after a while.
Zoro did not only do this on Tuesday nights, he also got up at the same time on Thursday and Saturday nights, but he made sure to be quiet as to not wake the other men in the room, even though that never seemed to work to Sanjis disappointment.
But that was not what bothered Sanji, it was the thought of not knowing what he did when he was awake.
Other crew mates who had also noticed the pattern tried to ask this question to the swordsman. The brute would either not answer their question or answer it, but continuously change this answer every time someone else asked him. It was as if Zoro did not want anyone to know about what he did when he was awake at 1 o'clock in the frickn' morning! Why did that bastard have to be so difficult?
Sanji would always brush off Zoros nightly patterns and try not to think about it too much in order to actually get some sleep. But then that night changed everything.
ZOSAN
Sanji sleepily watched as Zoro left the mens quarters through the door and listened as his footsteps became fainter as he walked further away. Sanji let out a low sigh before snuggling back under his covers. He really wished Zoro could learn to not step on every single squeaky floorboard in the room, it would make Sanjis life a whole lot easier.
A few minutes passed and Sanji still had not fallen back asleep. He cursed Zoro in at least three different languages in a hushed tone before deciding to get up and go get some water.
Sanji quietly slipped out of his hammock and tiptoed his way to the door. He slowly opened it and carefully walked out to the main deck.
The cool air ruffled his clothes and hair, making his blond locks sway over his vision. Sanji tentatively pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, worried that the wind would blow out his lighter flame.
Just as Sanji placed the filter into his mouth he heard a noise from above him. The cook froze and turned around. The noise came again, and Sanji knew it was coming from the ships helm.
Slowly Sanji walked over to the staircase and walked up, making sure to make as little sound as possible. Sanji already guessed that it was possibly Zoro, but he had to be sure he was right and that it was not an intruder.
Sanji made it to the top step and ducked down low so he would not be seen if it was an intruder. He tensed his legs just in case he would be in for a fight, Zoro or not, he was ready.
What Sanji was not ready for however was who, or rather what, the threat actually was.
Directly in front of him at the helm of the ship was not Zoro, but the biggest dog he had ever seen, at least Sanji thought it was a dog. It sat with its back to the cook, looking out over the side of the Thousand Sunny, it's long fur ruffling in the wind.
Due to how far away the dog was and how dark it was outside, there was no way to tell if it was really a dog. Perhaps it was a wolf, but even then, Sanji could tell that it was still much larger then any wolf he had ever seen.
The cook had no idea what to do in that moment. He just stayed as still as he possibly could, not even letting himself breath in fear of the large animal noticing him.
He had no idea how such a huge creature had gotten onto the ship unnoticed in the first place. It could have come from the last island they had been to, but that was two days ago. That meant that the dog had been on the ship without being noticed for two whole days. Sanji was slightly concerned with the crews awareness skills.
Sanji watched the dog cautiously. Its head rested on the railing of the helm and it seemed pretty relaxed, meaning that it did not know that Sanji was near it.
The cook then decided that he could not just stay there or risk being caught by going back down the stairs. Perhaps if he snuck up on it he could catch it and see what he would do with it later. Maybe it was worth cooking. With how big the animal was he was sure that the entire crew would be eating for days.
As slowly and carefully as his body would go, Sanji moved up the last step and towards the animal.
He had no idea what it would do if it spotted him. Most animals had a fight or flight instinct, Sanji just hopped it was the latter.
The cook had made it halfway to the dog/wolfs position without it knowing he was there. Feeling confident that he could catch the creature, Sanji quickened his pace; still making sure to watch out for the squeaky floorboards.
After walking a few more feet, Sanji readied his leg to kick the creature directly in the head, knocking it out, but that was his fatal mistake.
As soon as he lifted his foot, his weight was shifted to his other leg, making the floorboards beneath him shift down more under the extra weight and make a loud and long squeal that seemed to echo off of nothing.
Sanji cringed at the sound, praying to whatever God existed that the dog did not hear. Sadly that God did not give a damn about Sanjis pleas since immediately after the sound cut off, the dog whipped around in less than a millisecond.
Sanji caught a flash of gold for a split second before he was slammed onto his back by the large animal, knocking all of the air out of his lungs. Sanji struggled to take in air as the large dog launched itself off of Sanji and ran to the other side of the deck.
The cook laid on his back for a second, trying his best to get himself to breath again before pushing himself up to his knees.
He had learned in that moment that the creature that had trampled him was defiantly a dog of some sort, even though its paws were possibly twice the size of his head. Sanji predicted that the flash of yellow was most likely its eyes. Bright and glowing yellow in the nights darkness.
Sanji hoisted himself to his feet, his legs shaking slightly, but otherwise he was able to stand again. He quickly checked himself over for injuries and found nothing.
Sanji lifted his head to look around the darkened ship, but found no sign of the giant dog anywhere. It was huge, how could it be able to escape so easily?
Sanji began walking around, listening closely for any strange sounds, though the only sounds that he could hear were the calm lapping of waves against the side of the ship and the fluttering of the ships sails above his head.
Sanji then saw a large mass dart behind the outside of the galley on the other side of the ship. Quickly, Sanji ran down the steps to the grassy deck below and made his way to another set of stairs leading to the stern.
Sanji slowed his pace to climb the steps carefully and cautiously. Trying his best to make as little noise as possible.
He heard more noises coming from behind the galley and knew that it must be there. Sanji tensed his leg again for a second try.
He saw movement as soon as he reached the last step and knew he had to initiate before the dog spotted him.
As fast as lightning, Sanji ran forward and, using the ground for momentum, propelled himself into the air whilst lifting his right leg upwards.
He had jumped at least twelve feet into the air. Bringing the heel of his foot down upon the dogs head was his main goal, incapacitating it and allowing the cook to put it somewhere secure.
Sanji was inches away from the dogs head as he heard a yell that most definitely did not come from a dog.
At the last moment his shin struck something, but it was not a head, rather the forearm of a person.
"O-Oi! What the fuck are you doing shitty cook!??" Sanji knew immediately after the person spoke that they were no dog, rather a certain someone the cook was really hoping he would not have to run into that night.
"Damn you shitty Marimo! You just had to get in the way!" Sanji's cursed as his legs hit the ground after Zoro lowered his arm. The two men glaring at each other with eyes full of furry.
"What do you mean 'get in the way'? I was just standing hear until you tried to kill me for no reason!!" Zoro shouted, Sanji quickly shushed the idiot. He really did not want the others waking up, especially the girls. They needed their beauty sleep.
Zoro scoffed and crossed his arms, glaring at Sanji with his single steel grey eye.
"Why don't you tell me why the hell you're out here in the first place. Was it just to attack me? Cause that's, low even for you." Zoro grunted. Sanji rolled his eyes at the swordsman.
"I should really be the one to ask you that." Sanji said bitterly. "You always come out here at 12 o'clock at night on the dot for reasons that no one knows." Zoro shifted uncomfortably, just like he always did whenever someone asked him about his nightly disappearances.
"The hell does that matter to you shitty cook?" Zoro mumbled. "Whatever I do is my business, not yours. So mind your own asshole." Sanji fumed at that.
"You should know by now that we have no secrets on this ship. I'm sure that if Luffy figures out about this he will not hesitate to kick your damn ass Marimo." Zoro averted his gaze. Obviously feeling slightly bad for keeping a secret from his Captain. He sighed.
"Whatever. If he wants to kick my ass then I'll let him, but my business is still my business. I'm sure if you knew you would understand." Zoro barely whispered the last part. Sanji knew then that he was entering dangerous waters. He had to tread cautiously otherwise he would be putting himself between a rock and a very angry Marimo.
"Zoro...whatever secrets you have just know that...they're safe with us. We are your friends, your family. You can trust us." Zoro turned to face Sanji with a look of pure surprise on his face. Sanji flushed in embarrassment at his own words, but had no voice to retort so he simply cleared his throat and looked away. The air was suddenly filled with awkward tension. The cook really just wanted to leave.
"Yeah, you're right." Zoro said calmly. "But that means that you have to tell me what you're doing out here cook." Sanji looked at Zoro in shock. The bastards lips curled into a slight smirk.
"W-What!?" Sanji yelled. "How is that fair!?" You haven't even told me why you're out here!" Zoro rolled his eyes.
"At least I'm not harming anyone." Sanji's face fell.
"Oh...right." He mumbled. "I was not trying to go for you I swear. I was trying to get this giant dog and you happened to be in the way." Zoro raised a brow.
"A...giant dog?" His voice had a patronizing tone to it, making Sanji wish that he had not missed that damn Marimos head.
"I know I sound crazy," Sanji began, trying to keep his anger at bay, "but I really saw a huge dog over on the helm." He gestured to the helm of the ship. "I tried to get if but it saw me and ran away behind he-." Sanji paused. "Wait, it ran back here, does that mean you saw it." Sanji pointed an accusatory finger at Zoro. The swordsman rolled his eyes.
"Please. If there was a giant dog running around on deck I'm sure I would know." He then dropped his arms to his sides and began walking past Sanji.
"You should really stop smoking. I think the nicotine's starting to mess with your brain." Sanji whipped around to retort, but Zoro had already walked down the steps and onto the grassy deck below. Sanji sighed. Realizing that Zoro was done talking and wanted to be alone. The cook decided to just go get some sleep before he had to cook in the morning.
He walked down the steps and over to the men's quarters door. He paused and looked up at Zoro who was climbing up to the crows nest.
He knew in that moment that whatever Zoro was hiding was really getting on his nerves. But the damn Marimo had had this secret ever since he first joined the crew, so Zoro was right, it really should not be Sanjis business. But for some strange reason the cook felt somewhat...distant from Zoro because of it. Just because they fought did not mean that they hated each other. In fact, Sanji had never felt closer to a person on the crew.
Sanji let out another sigh and walked into the men's quarters and crawled back into his hammock. Perhaps Zoro was right. Perhaps he had just imagined the dog there for some reason. Sanji knew that Zoros big secret had gotten on his nerves, but he had no idea that it had drove him to insanity.
Sanji exhaled and closed his eyes, even though he knew that he would not be getting any sleep that night.
I really hope that you guys are enjoying this story so far. I have so many plans for this story and I'm really hoping that you guys will enjoy them! Thank you again for reading this and let me know if like it! Peace out!