After many, many moons, I have returned to fanfiction as my sole source of solace. As you can see, this is slash. Its very slash people, so if you were looking for more Zoro/Tashigi, you'll either have to hang on a bit, or go look up the glorious fiction that Flamemajic has submitted. I have about 10 chapters of this already done, so updates will actually occur.
Slash Slash Slash Slash SLASH!!!!!! Don't read it if you don't like it, flames will be used as air conditioning as the fires of hell have nothing compared to Arizona.
I make no money off this drivel.
It was entirely that damn blonde bastard's fault, Zoro thought to himself as he trudged through the humid, dark jungle and searched for a path back to the mugiwara crew's ship.
The crew had landed on a random island shaped somewhat like a camel, at least according to Luffy. Since they had begun running low on provisions by the third day of their recent voyage, Sanji had decided that any place would be fine to restock. At this point the crew never questioned that they would have to stock nearly two months of provisions for every two weeks of travel. Yelling at Luffy never worked. It seemed the Captain couldn't help himself and it was possible that his ravenous appetitive was merely a side effect of his devil-fruit ability. Zoro had finally snapped at Sanji to simply buy a year's worth of food, since it would never spoil with their Captain around, only to be leveled with the especially hateful glare that the cook reserved only for him.
"I stock the ship's hold from floor to ceiling at every port, you stupid marimo, so either find a bigger ship for us to sail, or shut your trap." With that caustic comment the cook disregarded his presence and wandered back into the kitchen.
Since that point Zoro hadn't bothered to speak with him. In fact, he attempted to spend as little time as possible in the idiot's company as possible. He got the feeling their continuing tension was putting a strain on the other members of the crew, but didn't care enough to attempt to remedy the problem. This was mostly because the only remedy he could see would involve pitching the sarcastic cook over a railing and sailing away at full speed.
With a sigh, Zoro pulled out one of his blades and began hacking at the thick press of foliage. Had the swordsman attempted civility with the cook, though he doubted it would be reciprocated, this little side trip through the jungle might have been avoided altogether. Nami, inspired no doubt by their stubborn sullenness, had decided that the he and the blond should be in charge of collecting all the ship's needed supplies themselves. Though she claimed that this was because both Usopp and Luffy seemed to be sick, the boys' obviously fake coughing and the glimmer of fear in their eyes were marks that they had been threatened into feigning illness by the terror inspiring navigator.
He would never abandon Luffy. He had sworn to help the Captain obtain his dream of finding Once Piece, as Luffy would do anything, he knew, to help him in his dream of being the greatest swordsman on earth, including not interfering while Zoro nearly died fighting against Mihawk and others. It was a strange bond that Zoro and his Captain shared. They understood each other without needing to verbalize, and while others, mostly Nami might call the straw hat captain an idiot, Zoro thought Luffy may well be the most perceptive person he had ever met. He did greatly regret at times that their crew had branched out beyond the two of them. He liked most of those he traveled with. Though Nami was a miserly harpy, they crew needed someone like her to keep them all in line. The others, Chopper and Usopp, he considered to be true friends, and their quirks could be easily overlooked. Zoro tried to completely overlook Robin for the moment, as he couldn't decide what to make of her, or if he should really trust her.
That just left the cook, and damn but he wished they could just leave the cook. He was half considering being reasonable during this forced outing, but just a few minutes in Sanji's presence had made him walk boldly on his own into the jungle.
Now he was lost, and had been for at least a few hours. Enough time had passed for afternoon to give way to night, and while he swore that the island had looked rather small when they sailed up to it, he couldn't find his way back for the life of him. He was also fairly sure that in most areas of the world, 'jungle' and 'hot' were synonymous, but some trick of the Grand Line had made this tropic stiflingly hot and humid by day, then clammily cold and humid at night. Even more worrisome than being lost and cold, was the growing suspicion that this 'uninhabited' island had other guests on it besides the Mugiwara. A few footprints were the first clue, and the beer bottles he had seen about 15 minutes ago made him worry for the safety of the crew. At least he worried for about 30 seconds until he realized that Luffy was likely still aboard the ship, so while he may have to put up with new or temporary crew mates depending on his captain's mood, there was no chance that their ship would be taken.
He continued to push through the brush; grumbling about the crew, the island, that damn cook, the jungle, being lost, being cold, and that damn COOK, when he thought he caught a whiff of acrid smoke.
It was about damn time, he thought, finally he could get back to the crew, get some dinner and call it a night. If the stupid cook were back on the ship then there would at least be something decent to eat, and if the blonde had gotten lost on the island, then Zoro had something to call him on the next time the bastard began his tirade of insults. Honestly how could one person be such an asshole all the...was that a scream?
Ch1 end--- (More to follow)