Summary: Our favorite green-haired swordsman is stranded on a remote island with the ghost princess, Perona. When everyone hears of Luffy's brave yet utterly stupid plan to free Ace, the crew plans to regroup. But how's Zoro supposed to escape, after being so badly wounded by Kuma? And who's this mysterious Nieve? What does she have to do with anything?

Author's Note: Okay, okay, I know what your all thinking. WHY AM I NOT WORKING ON MY OTHER FANFIC THE LOST GIRL? Well, people, the answer to that question is that I'm having a bit of a writer's block, although its sort of going away piece by piece and I know I haven't updated in awhile so I'm hoping writing another fanfiction will inspire me to write another chapter! So, without further ado, I present to you my first One Piece fanfic (*squeals happily* I love that show!)

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did Luffy and

Nami would so would Zoro and Robin. Oh, and Chopper would rule the world XD

The Mugiwara Pirates and the Dragon Empress

Chapter One: Separated

Roranora Zoro was in deep trouble. Not only was he unable to move, bound by bandages, but the enemy next to him, armed and dangerous, with his weapons. Beside him, Perona watched as the swordsman struggled to get up, but couldn't. She was the great Ghost Princess and she made sure the Negatives hid the swords well away from their master's piercing eyes. When he had finally noticed her watching him in distain, he'd tensed up and glared at her with everything he had. She glared right back.

"Hey where are my swords?"

"Safely locked away."

"Give them to me."

"And get chopped in half? I'm not as stupid you look." She smirked and he snorted. This guy is one of the Mugiara Pirates. That fearsome Sogeking had been a part of that crew. I'm lucky I only ran into this swordsman. He must be the Sogeking's underling. She thought, although she was doubtful. The man lying before her had beaten that legendary Samurai on the first try, unlike that annoying Humming Brook. That same man was now bed-ridden and wounded to a point that it seemed as if he was surely dead. What had he done to get beat up so bad, let alone get beat up at all? But she knew what had happened. She'd known it from the moment she found his bloodied and beaten body in the large paw-shaped crater on the beach.

"So, what did you do to get on Bartholemew Kuma's bad side?" Perona asked, feigning interest. She unconsciously leaned a little closer. His face had become hard and he looked at Perona with a new fire in his eyes.

"Nothing." He growled.

"Uh-huh. Is that so? Then where's your little crew of headaches?" She smirked, knowing she had him cornered. Zoro's expression didn't change. He held her gaze and regarded her seriously.

"I left them." Her eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"That's none of your business." They spent another minute glaring at each other. Zoro shifted
anxiously on the bed. He had to get off of this island he knew nothing about. He had to find out if everyone was alright. He pictured all of them on the ship, laughing and shouting "Kanpai!" Zoro may have been a loner from the start, but they were his nakama and they were in trouble. He also had to make sure Luffy didn't get himself caught by the marines. The last thing the Mugiwaras needed was for their enemies to know what had become of them. Not the whole truth, anyway.

"Give me my swords and I'll tell you a piece of the truth." He finally proposed, grudgingly. The Ghost Princess smirked in satisfaction, pleased with his answer, and ordered her Negative ghosts to fetch the three swords. Although she was taking a big risk, she was far more interested in the agendas of the Mugiwaras. On the other hand, she could always strike him with one of her special ghosts. After all, he wasn't like the Sogeking. She shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly the ghosts reappeared and dropped the swords on Zoro's lap. He immediately felt secure knowing they were safely back with him. He turned his attention Perona and nodded stiffly at her. She regarded him with a cold stare.

"Talk." She commanded. He huffed in annoyance.

"Well, it all started when we arrived at the Sabody Archipelago—" He immediately cut off for his story was interrupted by a scream. It was soft, as if it was coming from far away, but he could hear it clearly. He and Perona jumped up (well she did) and he immediately looked to the window. Without thinking he punched through the stained glass, shaddering the window all together. He vaguely heard Perona snap behind him, "Hey don't break my windows!"

He leaned out of it, momentarily blinded by the bright afternoon sun. He looked down, mildly surprised to see he was at least five stories high, in one of the castle's taller towers, and then looked up. He could see a black dot, vaguely the shape of a human, high in the sky. He was quite aware of his ears ringing.

The dot was gradually getting bigger and he could now see the outline of a person falling from the sky. From the sky, huh? That's odd. Zoro thought. Now he knew what the ringing in his ears was. He could hear the person perfectly now.

"HEEEELP MEEEE!"

Acting out on instinct, Zoro pounced out the window, his swords swinging on his hip. An instant later a girl around fifteen or sixteen appeared, bridal style in his arms. Her brown hair was frizzed and she looked greatly ruffled. She looked up at him with beautiful amber eyes etched with fear and relief.

"Arigatou. I'm forever in your debt. What's your name? I'm Nieve, but you can just call me Eve. Oooh, are you a swordsman? You must be really strong then! Look, I know you look a little preoccupied at the moment but the fact that we're dangling from a window seems a bit questionable to me. Have you ever done something like this before?" she said, although Zoro barely caught what she was saying.

"I…it's…Zoro!" he gasped.

Zoro had managed to grab onto the ledge just under the window he had broken through. His body strained against the added weight and he knew his wounds were reopening. Peron's head poked through the window and she gasped at the two down below.

"Marmio!"

"Who the hell are you calling a marmio, ero-cook?!" Zoro snapped automatically but was slightly disappointed to see not Sanji but Perona extending her hand towards him. Meanwhile, Nieve had noticed the blood welling up from Zoro's wounds and realized that seeing blood was not a good thing. She looked thoughtfully up at Zoro as he struggled to keep them both from falling. She then realized that it was also wrong to let her savior stay in such pain. She had to stop the pain, she concluded to herself. So she straightened her hand, putting all of her fingers together, and said,

"This is for your own good, Zoro-sama." Zoro looked down at her in surprise. Did she call me Zoro-sama?

"My name is not Zoro-sama it's just Z—" He was about to finish when she jabbed him in the side, right where one of his bigger wounds had started to reopen, and the pain was so sudden and great that he let go of the ledge. The last thing he thought (quite dryly I might add) as they were falling was: How am I going to find the others now?

And then he blacked out.

SOOO THAT'S THE FIRST CHAPTER! Tell me what you think, but try not to be too mean. I'll update as soon as I get some reviews.

Jacob-emmettluvr