Sunlight radiated on the small summer-island that seemed to float like a haze of smoke on the Grand Line's deceptive waters. Heat reflected off the scorched white sand making the air shimmer in a fevered dance. Waves rolled lazily over the shore of the island quietly, barely stirred by a non-existent wind. The ocean water crawled over a still form that lay just within their reach.
Remaining motionless and prone on the ground until a wave finally reached to caress his face the green-haired man sputtered awake only to groan in pain. 'Shit' the man thought and cracked his eyes open slowly only to shut them again due to the blinding white sun the rested directly overhead. Carefully he opened his eyes again, revealing the burning discs glazed in pain with the pupils mere pinpricks, his eyebrows drawn together in growing discomfort.
'God dammit it's hot' the first words to reach his mind that was not a curse word, kind of. His black boots and pants absorbed even more of the absolutely stifling sunlight. The young man looked up to see a few pathetic palm trees that rested upon the white sand, dotted with surprisingly lush grass here and there. His vision was still fuzzy, but he saw the shadow those sparse trees cast and that's what caught his eye, for they promised shade from this ungodly son that smirked overhead.
Intending to stand up and walk over to the shade the swordsman began to push himself up from the sand and only to stop suddenly with a gasp of pain. That gasp quickly turned into a scream as a wave, stronger than before, managed to drench him anew revealing his wounds to him again with the sting of salt on his upper left thigh, upper back, left forearm and shoulder. His ribs ached along with a pounding in his skull that could only be a headache accompanied with broken or cracked ribs.
The swordsman froze in shock, his wounds roaring. Pain and memories surged forth out of the haze to remind him how he gotten washed up on that damned island in the first place.
~ X ~
It had been evening, the sun starting to set. The Going Merry sailed on the deceptively calm waters of the Grand Line. Luffy and his crew had been eager to leave the previous island as it had been filled to the brim with angry fishmen. As luck would have it their navigators log post had set to the next island in a matter of minutes. Nami wasted no time in screeching at the men that had been fighting off the fishmen on the beach to return back to the Merry.
Zoro held off the last of the fishmen. His captain, Luffy, jumped along with Sanji, that shitty ero-cook, on deck. "ZOROOO! Hurry up we need to go", shouted Nami who pointed behind Zoro at the approaching army of fresh fishmen, "Now before the rest of them catch up!" He saw the navigator quickly disappear from the side of the boat, shouting at the other to set the sails.
Three swords glimmered along with the three golden earing set in his left ear. He quickly finished off the puffer fish looking fishman in front of him, turning around to dash back to the ship. As the swordsman leapt onto the deck, much to his and his crewmates shock, his left leg crumpled under him and he landed in an undignified heap on the ship, a series of curses streaming from his lips.
"ZOOROOOOOO!" screamed Luffy as he rushed over to his first mates side. The rest of the crews hurried footsteps could be heard and felt by the swordsman as he writhed on the ship in agony. His face, clenched in pain and a grimace, looked down to inspect his leg. "Holy shit...There's a freaken' spike in my leg", Zoro muttered out, his breath shaking out of his body with each exhale. He stared down at the light blue, foot-long spike that had impaled his left thigh that he hadn't noticed till he jumped aboard the ship.
Zoro shuddered violently at the sight, both in disgust and pain. 'Damned puffer-fish-guy must've gotten me when I was jumping on deck' he thought.
Chopper quickly came up to his green-haired shipmates side and screamed to no one in particular as he ran around in panicked circles" OH MY GOD WE NEED A DOCTOR!PLEASE! SOMEBODY QUICK SAVE HIM!" Snot and tears ran down the reindeers face. He skidded to a halt when he sensed all of the straw hat pirate's crew eyes on him.
Robin, her steel blue eyes fixed the reindeer with a stare that brought the tiny doctor to his senses, then spoke her voice calm and collected despite the situation, naturally "Chopper you ARE the doctor. Now, if you would be so kind doctor, stop panicking, it wastes energy best used elsewhere. The swordsman's life could be in danger. I have my suspicions that the 'spike' in his leg is from our blow-fish-man and it could become toxic", she finished, smiling despite the looks of shock and horror that had plastered on the other straw hat pirates faces.
"R-right", stammered Chopper as his eyes settled back on Zoro, who had pushed his back against the railing with his injured leg bent up and the other lay out in front of him. Red smears on the wooden planks glistened in the dying light.
Chopper's doctrine training took over and he began to give the crew instructions. "First I need to remove that spike and quickly bind the wound before Zoro loses too much blood. That spike is the only thing keeping him alive right now because it is preventing him from bleeding out. Yet he will die if we don't remove it; it has pierced a major femoral artery and we need to take it out now in case it IS poisoned and causes further damage to the leg muscles. So Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, can you please hold him down? The Sciatic nerve in the thigh will cause this to hurt a lot."
Luffy took on a serious and intense expression that was uncommon for the normally laid back, and somewhat childish captain. He gripped Zoro's right shoulder, giving his first mate a nod. Zoro frowned but nodded back. His captain was a complete and utter moron at times, but he still trusted him.
Sanji merely grinned at the opportunity to inflict pain on his annoying green-haired rival. This grin didn't go unnoticed however and the swordsman shot him a death glare, scowling with a growl that rumbled deep in his throat. Sanji made unconcerned noise as he in turn grabbed Zoro's left shoulder.
Usopp had latched himself on to both of Zoro's boot covered ankles, squeezing them together in a death-grip-hug. "P-please don't kill me for this. And try not to kick me until after the spike is out." Both of the swordsman's eyebrows arched towards his hairline as he stared at the little man on his ankles in surprise. 'Usually long-nose doesn't have the courage for something like this and would be complaining or coming up with some fake disease' he thought to himself and he turned his attention back to Chopper.
"I'll use my Heavy Point to do this as quick as possible", Chopper said as the reindeer took on his more muscular armed form. "Alright, hold him down tightly or his struggles could further tear his wound", Chopper said as while graspin the spike; the thick end of the thin cone shaped object sticking out towards the sky, protruded right through the middle swordsman's thigh. When Zoro let out a pained grunt the doctor determined one quick jerk upwards should do it. 'Better to do it without letting him know or he will tense up his muscles. It may be the crueler of the options, but it will prevent major damage in the long run.'
All of the straw hats tensed as Chopper suddenly yanked the spike up and out of the swordsman's leg with no further warning. A sickening sucking sound had accompanied the spikes departure from the pirate's left thigh. Blood sprayed from the wound and onto the doctor and pirates that hung grimly onto the now tense green-haired man.
Zoro's scream ripped itself from his lungs, deep and resonating. It boomed out across the ship and ocean only to be choked back has the man gritted his teeth together and bit his lower lip so that the scream died out as a low crewmates struggled with the green-haired man's body when it arched viciously off the deck. Usopp's panic filled screech shrilled up to Zoro's ears and he felt that scrawny man desperately cling on to his thrashing legs. Sanji muttered 'shit' through clenched teeth while Luffy and him continue to hold down Zoro's shoulders.
"Hang in there Zoro", Luffy said to his shipmate glancing at him with worry. "Next time I see those fishmen they are DEAD!" Twin jets of steam rushed out of his nostrils that emphasized the captain's obvious anger. 'How could stupid fishmen bring down HIS swordsman? He was going to be the best swordsman after all' thought Luffy and he looked back at Chopper.
Nami looked over at the four men and reindeer with a frown and upturned brows on her face. "Zoro…" she said softly to herself. She knew it wasn't very often that three-sword idiot got hurt so bad, and it worried her. Robin came up to stand beside her, crossing her arms on her chest and staring at her male crew mates with concern that was very unusual for her usual passive expression. 'I hope our samurai will be all right, he isn't looking so good and I've never seen him in such state'.
Zoro's weak exhales wheezed out of his chest in sharp whistles. The swordsman went limp against the railing; his normally tan face went pale after the wave of pain finished rolling through him. His head lolled back and slightly to the side. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead and his exposed chest revealing a scar that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip that could be seen through the open short sleeved white cotton shirt he always wore. The button-up shirt was now splattered with blood, but he was beyond giving a shit about anything at this point .He had not intended to scream that loud being used to pain and all, but god dammit that had hurt like hell.
Chopper dragged a fur covered forearm across his face to wipe off sweat and blood. He gave a sigh of relief before picking up bandages to bind the still blood spurting wound. "Now then, let's get this wrapped", Chopper said with more enthusiasm in his voice now that the hard part was over. He had managed to get a couple of bands of bandage wrapped around the thigh when he heard Zoro gasp, looking behind the reindeer.
The doctor turned around slowly only to scream in sheer horror at sight stretched out before him.
At least ten fishmen had jumped on the Going Merry from the ocean, they had pursued the straw hat pirates as the fled from their island, determined not to let their prey escape. Luffy and Sanji rose to their feet instantly getting in a defensive position in front of Zoro.
On the edge of roaring, Luffy growled out,"I'm going to kick your ass for hurting my friend!"
Sanji lit his cigarette and placed it on his lips, his curly eyebrows drawing in distaste as he starred at the fishmen. "Hmm… I wonder if fishmen make good sushi, or maybe a nice seafood gumbo", the chef said whilst puffing out thick streams of smoke from his nose.
The fishmen growled their irritation at this, clearly offended at having an inferior human even consider them as food.
"You s-shit heads are gonna 'pay for shooting me in the leg with your pansy ass spike. I should have just saved myself the trouble and killed every single one of you on your stupid island." Zoro had stood up at some point and drawn his white hilted sword from its sheath. A sadistic grin split across his face as the fishmen stiffened. "At least then you would have died at your home with the rest of you shitty fishmen."
The fish men gaped at the injured man's words and Chopper tried to usher the injured crewmate back down but he was completely ignored. One look at the swordsman's suddenly shaded face and colds eyes that gleamed from the shadow and you could tell they were filled with cold murderous light of a quality equal to any demon.
All of the fishmen flinched as the last of ferrous inlaid words reached them, the cold hand of fear grasped their cores and they now felt certain doom radiating from the green-haired man .The nearest one, an octopus like fishman had whimpered in fear, ink pooled around his webbed feet. Thunder crackled in the sky, the weather of the Grand Line was feeling just as harsh and unforgiving as the green-haired swordsman at that moment.
When the fishmen still didn't move to attack Zoro finally said "Don't worry I'm not going to kill you."
All of crew members heads whipped around to stare at Zoro in disbelief; their mouths hanged open in shock. "EHHH?" they all voiced. Everyone knew the swordsman never hesitated to kill or fight; it was actually the green-haired man's preference even if it was the more difficult option. The swordsman wasn't done speaking yet and he finished speaking his plans for the unfortunate fishmen with monstrous killing intent dripping in his voice.
"I'm going to destroy you."
He rushed forward quick as the lightning that illuminated him and that arced across the sky, giving Zoro the appearance of a creature straight from your darkest nightmare. Dashing forward with all three swords drawn now, the swords seemed to glow unnaturally from the electricity branching over the sky. The fishmen screamed in unified terror as the blood-splattered swordsman fell upon them, cutting down several with ease before the other fishmen raised their own weapons in defense. The rest of the straw hat pirates quickly joined their injured shipmate and together beat the terrified fishmen into the deck.
Sanji let out another puff of smoke, hands in pockets, appraising the damage around him. Blood pooled on the deck in various places and He saw Luffy crowing out their victory jubilantly. Robin and Nami were unhurt andtalking to Chopper in hushed tones while Usopp shakily got up from where he had been hiding. No one, excluding Zoro, seemed hurt from their fishy encounter. Sanji slapped himself at the stupid pun joke he had thought up in his head and turned to look at the injured man in concern, despite himself trying not to care about that green-haired mosshead.
Zoro looked up at the sound of Sanji hitting himself and mumbled around his sword that was still in his mouth as he began putting the others in his hands back in his sheaths that rested against his right hip," Oi…shitty cook what's the matter? "Zoro's eyebrows raised questioningly while the swords clinked back in their sheaths.
Sanji never got the chance to answer, his spiraled brows shot up in alarm. His cigarette fell to the deck forgotten in slow motion. Horror riveted both his stomach and expression. 'Look out!' was all he had time to call out.
Hand raised to pull out the sword from his mouth, Zoro froze and frowned at the look on the cooks face, not registering the look of warning on it before it was too late.
A swordfish like nose pierced the un-expecting swordsman from behind, tearing through Zoro's left shoulder and at just the right angle to pierce through the forearm that had been reaching up towards the sword that was still in the man's mouth. Zoro gave a strangled gasp, somehow keeping his grip on the sword even though he felt himself pulled backwards.
The swordfish-fishman had leapt from the water silently on his un-expecting target, hanging back while waiting for his fellow fishmen to kill the inferior humans. Enraged by his brother's defeat by the hands of those filthy humans he had surged through the water to impale that green-haired man on his serrated nose.
Zoro's eyes widened at shock at the swordfish thing that had managed to sprout from his body and impale his chest and forearm. He barely registered the pain. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. His friends opened their mouths, dark holes that tried to form words, apparently screaming something, but he could no longer hear them.
Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Robin, Usopp, and even Sanji. All of his friends names screamed in his head as he felt himself being pulled back over the ships railing and into the dark ocean that churned with the onset of the storm.
Thunder and lightning boomed among the dark and swirling mountains of cloud that blocked the entire sky. The heavens above the ship churned with a cold gusting wind that threated to rip the sails and the crewmembers off the ship. A swift current that surged under the waves quickly dragged the two bodies out to sea, with the legendary speed found only in the Grand Line.
~ X ~
Zoro felt the pain set in like some vengeful god planting his boot on the straw hat pirate's prone body that lay splayed out in the white sand, now red stains forming around him. Not that he cared to believe in such gods, especially if it ended up like this.
Suddenly he became aware of a burning sensation on his back along with a tingling sensation in his leg, so he craned his neck around to take a look. His shirt had been ripped in the back, he swore he could see teeth marks in his flesh, and the exposed skin suspiciously looked like it was beginning to get sun burnt by this stupid heat.
'That stupid ass fish must've bit me!' he oh so cleverly reasoned to himself, becoming even more agitated with the whole situation.
Zoro's gaze traveled further down and he realized with slight panic the bandage that had been covering the wound in his leg that had prevented him from bleeding out was gone. Now that he was conscience once more the blood had begun to soak the white sand around him with a distinct wine color. He hastily removed his black bandanna stilled tied on his bicep. Zoro tied it around his left thigh the best that he could with his only remaining good arm. The injured left forearm and shoulder throbbed painfully and didn't seem to want to respond at the moment.
Zoro grumbled in discomfort as he finished binding his leg and looked for his swords. Somehow, by some god crazed miracle the swordsman thought, all of his swords were seated in their hilts on his right hip. A sigh of relief escaped him only to be interrupted by another incoming wave. 'Oh shit, the tide is coming in' thought the swordsman. 'Stupid god really is screwing with me right now! He even had me impaled by not one, but two stupid boob fishes of fishmen.'
'I need to get under those palm trees' he thought, looking towards inland. Before the sun cooked him alive or he was swept back out to sea. He scowled in consideration for a moment, wondering how he was going to get there with bruised rips, courtesy of the fishman grabbing him from behind and pulling him overboard. Also there was his bum leg and arm. An idea flashed across his eyes and he skillfully pulled his while hilted sword from its sheath to stab in point first in the ground above his head, the movements caused his ribs to ache and did nothing for his growing headache.
Slowly he dragged himself across the white sand, gritting his teeth and letting out a snarl, leaving a blood streaked path in his wake. He gasped for breath and looked up to see how far off the trees were from him now. "Shit", he growled aloud, his voice rasped in his dry throat and he coughed up a few drops of blood that went unnoticed. He pulled his sword out of the ground and dragged it back up to repeat the process, pushing with his one good leg and pulling with his one good arm. His gasps of pain quickly turned into screams that tore at his already sore throat as he continued up the beach.
Breath heaved in and out of his trembling chest agonizingly, and he could feel tears gathering in the corners of his eyes despite himself. Why was he currently in his own hell on earth? No friends to help him, all alone. What was he doing here? Why was he here? Was he really going to die in such a pathetic, meaningless, sad way, all alone, and…without fulfilling his dream, his promise?
Zoro's breath hitched in his chest. No, he could never allow himself to break that promise he had shared so many years ago with his once best and dear friend. He would keep that promise even if he had to pull himself out of death or hell itself. Defeat here was not an option.
Rage curled itself up in his belly, growing as it coiled up on itself over and over again and lent strength to the devastated body that lay on the sand. "THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO DIE HERE!" Zoro's shout rang with clarity through the humid air, carried out to sea further and longer due to the heat, making it sound all the more louder when it echoed along the oceans nearly smooth surface.
He let out another roar, savagely dragging himself inland now, his right leg digging into the sand in renewed desperation .Zoro screamed as his bodies muscles stretched and strained to drag him over the burning sand, his wounds filling with the grit. His torso ached with each and every movement, the ribs in the man's chest groaning their protest. The white cotton shirt on his back tore all the way at the man struggles, revealing a back that was now red with effort and sunburn.
No sweat was there, whatever small offer of coolness that it could offer, licked away by the sun and sand. It was painful just to keep breathing. Every fiber of this man's being screeching at him to stop this torturous strain.
His favorite green haramaki had been dragged off at some point, but he paid it no mind even as the sand rubbed against his belly making it raw and soon bleed. The white granules of sand tore relentlessly at his flesh like miniature diamonds. Still he kept crawling onward, the pain turning his vision into a red haze. His sight no longer swam just from the mirages refracting off the hot earth. But he couldn't stop. He had to survive. He must live for the sake of his friend, for her.
Sunlight continued to beat its rays down on him like a slaver with a whip. Zoro's screams only continued to crescendo in his effort to pull his body against the sand. A red trail contrasted starkly against the white ground and seemed to stalk him. Death loomed at his doorstep yet he snubbed it. They followed the swordsman across the sand and didn't stop until; finally his upper body suddenly was engulfed by shadow. He let his body crumple to the ground, utterly exhausted. Air crackled out of blood filled lungs in a strangled sob. The tears he had been holding back fell freely down his face and he murmured softly "Kuina…we made it" before he felt himself slip away into darkness.
~ X ~
Green-flames wiggled in the air, despite the lack of wind, on the wicks of two cream colored candles. They illuminated the dark surface of a distinctively coffin shaped object that glided across the darkening waves of the Grand Line. It was odd since the cross like mast still had its pitch colored sails rolled up, yet the small craft still continued to move forward.
Shadows shifted on the single chair that sat directly in the middle of the strange vessel. A grunt was uttered as a book was adjusted on the darkly cladded man's lap to better catch the suns light. One pallid hand was revealed as he plucked off his wide brimmed hat to fan his equally pale and short bearded face. Feathers from the plume in the hat waved in the stagnant air as he placed it back on his spikey raven colored hair.
Golden eyes continued to roam the book of Sea War Tactics of 1507 for a moment before he promptly snapped the book shut and returned his bored stare out to the blue expanse of ocean. He hated to read as he traveled on his coffin ship anyway, and much preferred to read the morning paper in his own home. 'Ughhhhhhhh…I just want to get home', he moaned inwardly, though it did not show on his frowning features, 'Stupid heat.'
An annoyed huff came from the man as he crossed his wine colored and flower printed sleeved arms against the toned pale chest that was revealed from the black opened jacket he wore. Gold, in the form of a crucifix, gleamed in the strong sunlight from his muscular chest.
'Why is it so goddamned hot' he thought as his ever-present-frown deepened into a scowl. He of course knew it was a summer island, given his impressive intellect and wide knowledge, but he still didn't enjoy the heat bearing down on his darkly cloaked body and ship. A dark eyebrow twitched over his now narrowed eyes, scanning the surrounding ocean for the island.
Suddenly a low keening sound reached his sharp ears and his head whipped towards the source, a tiny black mass just visible on the horizon. 'What was that…'he thought and went completely still, trying to catch the sound once more. Several moments had passed and just as he was about to move it came again, louder this time and with a distinctive grate in its tone. Something tightened in his stomach as he realized it was the sound of a scream, even from this far he could tell thanks to years of experience at having been spent on the sea.
Almost unconsciously he turned the ships course towards the island without giving it much thought. Surely a scream wasn't that much of an uncommon occurrence on the treacherous Grand Line, and he normally didn't give his time to deal with others. Not that he was lazy or anything, he just didn't see the point in meddling in the affairs of humanity.
Still something had unsettled and continued to unsettle him as the screams continued at regular intervals growing in volume not due to him drawing closer. He couldn't help himself wondering what the hell was going on as he could only distinguish one voice screaming. Years of experience lent to his conclusion that it was not from a fight that the regular and increasing screams radiating from the island. This new found knowledge only added to his growing curiosity.
As the coffin ship drew closer the golden eyed man could make out its white sand and bits of lush grass poking up here and there. He noted the screams had stopped sometime recently and his gaze drifted over a few palm trees the wavered in the heat. Something gleamed in the shadow of a palm tree; it must be something metallic the man reasoned.
Amber eyes snapped back to the white shore as he felt the hull of his vessel scrape against the sand to a shuddering halt. Black boots crunched down on the gravely surface and the man they belonged to stared back up to find the source of the light he had seen earlier.
The sun had sunken down closer to the horizon so it no longer beamed off whatever object it had reflected on. White sand made gritty whispers under the steps of the swordsman, a cross shaped sword on his back casting amber images of the setting sun on its ebony surface. Heading towards the palm tree's where he had last seen that glint of light, he paused. The man stood there unmoving, not even breathing, the palm trees, acting as grave witnesses, loomed overhead.
Blood, the harsh iron-rust smell hit his nose and filled his vision. Leading away from ocean and up the shore opposite of where he had landed a trail of scarlet and disturbed white sand. A bloody bunched up piece of torn cloth, the remainders of an article of clothing that probably had used to be white, and an equally bloody green haramaki littered the ground. 'Green haramaki?' The man tried to remember where he had seen it before. 'Seems familiar somehow… Wait, maybe it's…'
Thin slit-like holes had been stabbed into the formerly white sand to lead up to the prone figure. One arm was stretched forward, its hand still gripping a white hilted katana that was buried in the sand just above the unconscious man's green haired head. Three golden earrings dangled and gleamed from the man's ear in the suns dying light.
His honey colored eyes drifted back down and he noticed a muscular back that was red and sunburnt and riddled with what looked like bite marks from some large beast. Large dark bruises could also be seen encompassing the other man's ribcage that still moved slightly. 'Ah so the young fool is still breathing', he thought dryly.
Then he saw two gaping holes that continued to bleed slowly in the man's left forearm and shoulder, both wounds being about the same size, the forearm's being slightly smaller. Looking further down he saw three sheaths on the man's right hip, two with hilts in place with the last one being empty.
"Roronoa Zoro…" intoned the older man as he knelt beside the injured young pirate. He noticed an especially large amount of blood had saturated the sand near the boy's lower body. 'Just how much blood can one man loose' he snorted to himself. A black bandanna that had been tied sloppily around the teenager's left thigh, covered in black pants, acquired the sharp eyes attention.
Lifting the tightly, if not haphazardly, tied bandanna up from the leg he could see a bloody cavity bleeding profusely, obviously a major artery had been ruptured, through another hole in the pants leg. He gritted his teeth at the sight and knew that if not treated immediately, along with the other wounds, the other man would die.
The golden eyed swordsman mentally argued with himself for a moment as he considered helping the green-haired man before him. It was not like his usual self the go out of his way like this in the first place.
"IDIOT", he growled out. Golden eyes, which seemed to coruscate from the shadow underneath the brim of his hat, scowled down fiercely at the body before him. Suddenly he decided in that short instant that he wouldn't let his younger rival simply die on the sand. After all, the older swordsman reasoned to himself, it would be a much better death to die from him, the world's greatest swordsman.
With a huff the older swordsman got to his feet and quickly stooped to pick up the green haramaki off the ground. Using the cross necklace that concealed his dagger, in moments he had the haramaki shredded into green strips. He knelt back down by young man and cut away the bottom half of the already punctured black pants leg to reveal the gaping hole in the left thigh. Not stopping to pause he threw away the cut off cloth, damp with blood, over his shoulder.
His hands moved rapidly as he wrapped the green strips over the wound. Real bandages would have to wait till he returned home and they were available. Once the improvised wrappings were in place over the thigh he began to bind the left shoulder and forearm.
Glancing at his hastily done work and he adjusted the binding here and there until he was satisfied. Unknowingly held breath escaped his lips in a sigh and flipped the unconscious man on his back gently. He frowned noticing a small gash on the straw hat pirate's forehead just underneath the hairline. It had bled down into the younger man eyes trailing all the way down to his jaw along with something else.
He continued to stare at the slightly clear tracks running adjacent to the red ones down the dirt, sand, and salt covered face. Ah…they had been tears. Unchecked emotion pulled the corners of the older man's face further down. 'Why' the simple thought raced through his mind as his brows furrowed downwards in a troubled expression.
Lower lip now caught between his teeth, he looked back up at the green-haired man's frowning yet solemn face. He noted that sea water must have had dried in that green hair leaving its salt behind. It gave the young man's hair the appearance of frosted grass on a chilled morning. He removed his black coat and gently bundled it around the younger swordsman. The air had begun to grow colder with the fast approaching night.
With another sigh, the raven-haired man placed one arm behind the injured pirate's head and the other behind both of the others knees. He stood up bearing the slight yet muscular youth in his arms with surprising ease. He held the limp body held against his bare chest, its head lolling back to rest against it as well. "You are not as heavy as you look Roronoa", he mused while turning to walk back towards his ship, his booted feet gently whisked quietly over the sand despite his hurried pace.
'Oh yes, the young man's sword', he remembered and turned back. He sat Zoro on his knee so he could kneel down to yank the white hilted sword out of the sand and deftly return it to the sheath on the unconscious man's hip. As he stood back up carrying the boy bridal style he could've sword he felt the body give out a sigh and relax further into his arms and against his chest.
'Maybe he just senses that he is with all three of his swords once more', he thought absent mindedly as he returned to his ship. While he took his first step back onto his coffin like vessel he then reasoned the only way to safely travel with his injured guest was to hold him on his lap. And so he sat on the lone chair with his bundled burden and set the ship on course to return back to his home.
Something hot and slightly wet had settled against his chest and he looked down to see the younger man's forehead pressed lightly against him. Golden eyes swept over the figure and he began to wonder why this boy was out here all alone, no straw hat pirate crew, and injured in such a strange a terrible manner. And why did it make him so upset?
Sympathy and worry had crept itself into the raven-haired man's chest, leaving an unwanted twinge in his heart so he set his bright eyes to look up from the body and return to stare out at the horizon. Stars had begun to appear, dotting the landscapes sanguine sky. He looked over and noticed the sun had sunk so that only half of it showed against the blackened ocean.
Green light bathed the coffin ship and the two figures in an eerie glow as the sky continued to darken. One pale tip of a crescent moon loomed from the inky black. The small vessel sped forward silently; two molten golden discs glowed in the night and looked forward, set in a determined, if not angry, face.
Authors Note:
Okay…I went back for the second time and changed some things. Looking back at my first chapter I had just not been satisfied. But now that I have gone back again (at 2am- 4am in the morning) I am slightly more at peace. There still may be mistakes but I am still my only editor :c.
Also I forgot to say: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters.
*Sciatic nerve- largest (and longest) nerve in the body and it also happens to be in your leg :)