I do not own anything from the one piece universe, I do own Scarlet Alexis though ^^ any critics welcome.
"Hmph pathetic" a woman muttered under her breath "To think they'd put such a bounty on that guy" she sheeted one of her two katana's and sighed "Twelve million, just what I needed" she grinned and picked up a large bag from the ground "On to the next target" but before she even took one step she heard something. It was the faint sound of someone walking trough a forest; leaves cracking and twigs breaking. "Crap! someone is coming" in a flash she stuffed her two katana's in the bag, only a small part of the hilts stuck out like that. "It is time to play the innocent redhead" she flung the bag over her right shoulder and walked towards the direction of the sound.
She took a deep breath to prepare for her 'damsel in distress' act. When she stepped through some trees she almost bumped into the person. She wasn't very tall so she had to look up to him, for a small moment she was surprised. It was a man; he was tall, broad and also scarred. From his skin she noticed he was outside a lot, he had a very nice and healthy tan. The feature that seemed to stand out the most was his short, moss green hair and the three katana's dangling from his waist "Three? What the..?"
"Oi?" the man grunted. "M-m-mister… there are bad people in this forest" her voice was trembling with fear. The green haired man took her up from top to bottom, surprised to run into a woman in these woods. She wasn't very tall; he guessed she was about 5.4 feet. She wore a knee length black coat which she kept open - so he could see the black skirt and red top she was wearing. Her hair was long and carried a warm dark red colour; it reminded him of a warm fire during a cold winter night. She looked at him with frightened, big brown eyes. "Bad people?" he asked confused. "I just saw a man who got killed" she whispered in shock. "Go" he replied sturdy. Barely able to hold in a chuckle she walked past him "That was easy"
The man saw blood smears on the place where she stood, he spun around towards the woman again "Wait!" he growled. He saw there was some blood on her lower leg and shoe, he also noticed the hilts of her katana's sticking out of the bag. He pulled out two of his katana's "So, you were standing next to the murder?" pointing out the blood he saw. The redhead nervously bit her lip "You had to notice huh?" she pulled out her katana's "No use in hiding these anymore" she turned around and entered a battle stance "Yup, I just murdered a pirate worth twelve million beli, what are you going to do about it?"
The man grinned "Nothing, he was my target, forget it" he sighed and sheeted his katana's again. At ease she also put away her katana's and finally gave herself some time to really look at him. "That guy is ridiculously handsome, three katana's? Where did I hear that again?"
All of the sudden she remembered "Green hair, three katana's, so this is the infamous Roronoa Zoro, pirate hunter?"
"And you must be… Scarlet Alexis? I've been hearing your name a lot lately. Part of The Crows right?" The Crow Pirates were a pirate crew that also worked as mercenaries to make some extra money. Alexis nodded "Yup, well it was very nice to meet you Mr Zoro" she made a mocking bow and walked away from him "I never imagined him to be so…" she shook her head, annoyed because he distracted her like that. "I just need a drink" she was a bit overwhelmed by him, apart from a few lovers she met on her trips, the only men she knew where her crewmates and they where disgusting and loud. After a while she noticed he was following her. She turned around "Why are you following me!?" Slightly amused Zoro pointed behind her "There's a village with the harbour, you know" he said matter-of-factly.
Alexis bit her lip, because he was right, and to make things worse she felt she was blushing. Ashamed she started walking towards the village, in a very fast pace. "Women" Zoro grunted.
He failed to mention her that he was following her indeed; he would have never found the way back to the village on his own. You could say that the pirate hunter's biggest weakness was his sense of direction.
After some shopping, Alexis arrived at the local bar and ordered a drink with some bread. A middle aged, slightly balding man was sitting at the bar. He looked like the kind of man who comes home drunk and gets a beating by his, probably overweighed, wife for it.
While waiting for her order he leaned in to her "ish it true what they shay about redheadsh?" he asked with a double tongue. The smell of cheap booze entered her nose which reminded her of her crewmates. She leaned into him closer, showing some of her cleavage, wet her lips and asked with a husky voice "And what do they say about redheads, hmm?" Like he got stung by a bee he jumped up from his bar stool, completely shocked by her response. He was trying to find his balance but the alcohol prevented that, he seemed to be confused which foot to use. He somehow got a hold of the bar and he stopped stumbling. Alexis grabbed her order from the bar and chuckled "how sad" the commotion entertained most of the guest. She turned her back on the scene and spotted a nice seat in the corner.
Her response and those of the guests fuelled the drunken man's anger "How dare you, bitch!" he picked up a bar stool meaning to hit Alexis in the back, but before she could even respond, someone got in between them. With a loud crack the stool crashed into the person and it broke into pieces. "Hitting a woman in the back with a bar stool?" he growled.
Alexis was stunned to see that Zoro took the beating, and even more stunned to see that the stool didn't faze him at all "What is he? A Monster?" Without hesitating Zoro grabbed the man and threw him out, he landed with his face on the streets "Good riddance" the bartender stated.
Completely flabbergasted Alexis stared at the scene "I didn't even notice he was here" annoyed she let het guard down like that, she dropped her order on the table she picked and sat down. It was a corner bench which was very comfy. She took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes as the liquor burned through her throat. The sound of a mug being slammed down on her table startled her. Zoro joined her on the corner bench. "What the fuck? He's sitting next to me" He had an annoyed expression on his face "You're welcome" he grunted.
That's the second time today she was ashamed because of him "I could've handled it perfectly myself, but if your ego craves for it so badly I'll thank you" she sneered at him. She hoped her sneer would annoy him enough to go away but he stayed and enjoyed his drink like they did this everyday. "For someone who just killed a twelve million Beli pirate, you let your guard down pretty quick" he noticed he hit a sore spot because she bit her lip. She knew she let her guard down and she was already bummed out by it, the last thing she needed was this guy pointing it out. She suppressed her anger by gulping down the rest of her drink. Deciding she would ignore him from now on she waved her cup at the bartender for a second round.
"That's some strong stuff you're drinking, I hope you at least can hold your liquor" he mocked her "If you're going to stay here much longer; I'm going to need a lot more drinks then this" her anger instantly made her forget the decision of ignoring him. "Geez, why does he make me so angry?" her anger turned into irritation and she took a bite of her bread. Zoro was almost intrigued by her. At first she seemed cold and even a bit dangerous but on the way to the village and at the tavern she completely changed. She jumped from emotion to emotion, and it seemed she didn't know how to deal with him. "She's the strangest and most troublesome woman I have ever met" the bottom of his second drink was in sight and he raised his hand for his third. Alexis did the same; she still had two hours to go before she could leave so she decided to make the best out of it.
Zoro however had no transport away from here so he had nothing better to do. He would probably try to hitch a ride on someone's ship later.
Alexis was glad he was the silent type, although the awkward silence was getting on her nerves."Why are you sitting here?" she finally asked "Just curious about the woman that stole my target" Alexis raised an eyebrow "and is your curiosity satiated?" she was still impressed by his looks, but the way he acted annoyed her to the bone. Zoro leaned back and grinned "Actually no, I find you highly amusing" he took the opportunity to take a good look at her and he did like what he saw. He might be a skilled and disciplined swordsman, but he is also a man. He met the occasional woman on his travels as a bounty hunter, but the last one has been a while.
The moment he called her amusing her anger flared again "I'm not trying to be amusing, or do you want to go outside and see how amusing I really am?" the words flew out of her mouth before she knew it. What was she thinking? The first time she saw him she knew she couldn't beat him. "Why am I threatening Roronoa Zoro?" she blamed the alcohol since drink number four was already on the table. Zoro expected such a response; he was deliberately trying to flare her anger. "Your temper sure fits your hair colour, are you sure about that threat?" she sighed and ruffled her hair "that would be suicide" was her honest answer. She wouldn't mind sparring with him some day though. "To bad, I would like some fun" drink number five entered the table; while Zoro seemed perfectly fine Alexis's mind already was a little clouded. "I'm not good at this. Good at what exactly? What game are we playing here?" relieved Alexis noticed it was about time to leave. After she stood up she threw some money on the table "Well, it was nice to meet Mr Zoro, I hope you have a pleasant evening" With those words she left the tavern, Zoro never heard so much sarcasm in someone's voice.