This is a birthday-fic to one of my greatest Online-friends Mari, also known as Marhi here on . Happy birthday, Mari, hope that you will like this fic, like all you other readers as well ^o^.

Luffy: Ungh ungh! Happy Birthday Mariii!! Is there any more cake left?

Zoro: Oi!

Sanji: -kicks Luffy in the head- Control your food-lust, will you? Baka! –Swirls over to Mari- Do not worry, my precious treasure, I will bake you a cake that's even worthy for Gods!

Luffy: And everyone is invited! YEAH!! LET'S HAVE A BIRTHDAYPARTY!

Zoro: Heh! You'll get something to do, kuso-cook!

Sanji: Shut it, moss-head!

Me: Oh! And let's not forget a really big thanks to Jessie-chan (Cloud-Ima) for Beta-reading this fic.

Luffy: Thankiii J.J!! –huge smile as he jumps up on Zoro's back-

Zoro: Oi, you!

Me: 'J.J'??

Luffy: Yup! Ne, J.J?

Me: -sigh-

Sanji: -noodle-dance- Jessie-chwan is such a wonderful angel among all angels! –heart in his eye-

Cloud-Ima: Maaah~... I'm only doing my job as an applied beta-reader. No thankies needed, Luffy~ I hope you like this story as well, Mari, it seems Crystal has been working hard on it. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas~!

Zoro: Hm. Pernille does not own One Piece nor its characters –mumble- thank god she doesn't, I already feel sorry for those she does 'own' –mumble-

Me: HEY! I heard that pretty well! –mumble grumble-

Zoro: Anyway, it all belongs to Oda-sensei.

Luffy: ENJOY EVERYONE!!

Me: Mari, you gave me a birthday-fic: 'I'm Alive'. A delayed one, but here I give you:

Stay Alive!

It won't help you if you wait for me.

I'm a slave to the dark.

I know I'm no saint, you see.

The dawn is when it starts.

Feel the shadows of my oblivion hoping mercy would show her face on the road to your own perdition in the coal-blackened rain.

-Tasja (My Winter Storm) Sunset

1. Chapter

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Captured

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Blood! It smells like blood and rotten meat here… The worst part is; I don't remember how we ever ended up here!

The screams of the seagulls indicated that they were nearing an island. Men were busy on the huge deck, getting everything ready by the time they reached the land. But it was all those men and those two teenagers would be satisfied never to know anything about. Someone high above the deck in the crow's nest was shouting about a ship that was nearing them, one of their 'customers'. "Pull them all out onto the deck, now!" another man called and orders were done. Zoro woke up to someone twisting a key in the door into his 'room'. He felt a heavy burden to his right, a warm burden. Luffy leaned up against him and slept like a baby, head on his shoulder, hands trying to reach up to his shoulder.

"Oi! You two, out now!" the man with the keys called to them. The swordsman sent the man a death glare that could have scared the devil himself away. The key keeper did a little jump and with a yelp, he hurried behind the door as the green haired teen suddenly sat up with such force that he feared that the demon would jump up and rip the head off of him. The first mate of the Straw-Hat Pirates grumbled at him and then turned his attention to his sleeping captain. He nudged him, trying to wake him up. Luffy slowly opened his eyes and, of course, the first word he spoke out was that he was hungry. Well damn… he had been hungry himself for days now.

They went up onto the deck together with the rest of the 'guests', everyone placed neatly in a long line, side by side. "Tell me Luffy, just one more time," the elder teen spoke in a low voice to him. The raven-haired boy looked curiously up at him as he saw a throbbing vein was starting to form on his temple.

"Ne, what is it Zoro?" he asked innocently as he tilted his head, a grin starting to form on his lips.

Zoro took a deep breath before he chose to continue. He had to control the itch to choke his captain right there on the spot. The handcuffs that were chained to his legs was the only thing that kept him from doing so. The other prisoners who were standing in the same line as them were slowly pulling away from the dark aura that the swordsman was sending out. "How… the… BLOODY HELL DID WE EVER END UP ON A SLAVESHIP?!"

"Shishishishi! Yeah, that's a really good question..."

"AND YOU ARE NOT FUCKING ANSWERING IT, BAKA!!"

"Oi! You there!" One of the slave traders came over to them. "Shut your fucking ass, you bloody pirate or I'll shut it for you!"

Zoro glared at him with a murderous look. The man was double his size, but that had never stopped him in attacking someone… if only he didn't have these handcuffs on. He smirked. "Te, you just try it, Baby-boy!" There was a short glimpse in the dark haired man's eyes, and before anyone knew it, the green haired teen was hanging from his colossal hand, slowly being choked.

"Oi! Big ass! Let go of Zoro!!" The raven teen roared at him as he pulled on his chains to get free, but without any luck. Instead, he got weak, and the more he struggled against it, the more his knees started to feel like jelly underneath him.

The slave trader didn't listen to his assaults, but kept on staring into those dark green eyes. They stared murderously back at him, even though his air was slowly running out. He squeezed harder around the teen's neck, so much that he knew that he couldn't breathe. "If there hadn't been any customers today, kid," he almost whispered to him in a deep tone. "I would assure you that I would show you what will happen to big mouthed shit-heads like you!"

Zoro forced a smile forth. "Heh! Too scared… to do it, hnng, now? Uurg!" His hands itched to go up and move that damned hand away from his throat… he couldn't breathe and his lungs already started to hurt like hell. The man smiled in satisfaction at him as he saw the teen struggle to move his hands up to his throat without any luck. His face was slowly turning to a sick colour of blue due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs. But the man's smile didn't last for long; two black boots were kicked right in his stomach. The impact of the kick made him release his grip around the swordsman's throat and stumble a few steps backward.

Luffy knelt down beside his friend as the green haired teen landed hard on his back on the wooden deck and gasped for air. "You okay, Zoro?" he asked nervously. Said teen nodded with a smile.

"Never been better, captain!" he said sarcastically.

Luffy gave him one of his biggest smiles. "That's good! Shishishishi!" …though he knew the true story. He kept his smile on his façade, as his mind screamed of desperation… desperation to kick everyone's asses and get himself and Zoro far away from here… back to the Thousand Sunny, back to all the others. He hoped that they were all okay and that they soon would be on their way… Before he ever got sold as a slave and then ripped away from his first mate. To be honest, he never knew how they ever ended up here in the first place; suddenly, one morning he woke up in a cell with Zoro attacking one of the guards, who had to give him a sedative before he would kill any more of them. Slowly, the injection worked on him, and when he finally fell to the floor, those bastards jumped at him, kicked him, beat him, and gave him those huge handcuffs that were chained to his legs, so he couldn't move them properly… that was the time that the slave traders found out that normal handcuffs didn't work on the raven haired teen. He furiously jumped at them and took three of them down. Then this big ass shit-head came and managed to get those weird handcuffs on him. They looked like the kind that the marines used, but they weren't out powering him at once, only when he tried to get them off again.

Luffy was ripped back to reality as one big hand grabbed him around his head, pulled him up, and tried to crush his skull. Without his power, he could no longer fight against the pain like he used to be able to do. All in all, he was as 'weak' as a normal person who hadn't eaten one of the Devil Fruits, so the pressures around his skull hurt like hell. The man smirked at him. "Now, now… looks like the sea stones do a really good job, won't you say so, rubber boy? It definitely dried that fucking smile off your face!"

"Let the hell go of him!" Zoro roared from underneath him, getting ready to jump up to attack him, but a gun was shoved right up in his face.

"You just lay still, pirate!" the man with the gun literally spat out as he poked him. Big mistake! Poking him was like pouring petrol on the flames. The swordsman grabbed the gun and swung him over his head, using his legs as well, with such speed that the man only registered it as he hit and lied on the other side of the deck, staring up in the sky… with no gun in his hand. "What the fuck?!"

Zoro rolled over and pointed the gun at the tall man who was holding his captain in his grasp. "Let... the hell... go of him!" he said in a dangerous tone.

The man released him a little, but laughed at him. "Or else what, kiddo?" A click-sound was heard right behind the teen's head. "You'll just end up getting your own head blown up!"

"Are these the new ones that you were speaking of, Mr. Clayhall?" A rusty voice spoke behind Zoro. He looked up at the man from the corner of his eye, but as he did, the man turned his rifle around and slammed the hilt down in his head. Everything turned dark and he dropped the gun. 'Well, damn it!' he thought as he fell unconscious to the ground.

"ZORO?!" Luffy screamed, but his first mate just lied still on the ground, not moving one single muscle. Then his dark glare turned towards the man who did it. "You –aargh!" Clayhall squeezed harder, so much that Luffy was sure that he heard his skull let out a crack! The man chuckled a little and then threw him back down on the deck, right beside his first mate.

"It's a pleasure to have you onboard, Ouron Dhaltaar. I didn't see you coming. And yes, these are those maggots I was speaking of," he said to the man named Ouron and kicked the raven-haired boy so he rolled a few feet away from them. "Looks like your captain has some kind of an interest in these two wild beasts."

Ouron smirked. "Indeed he has." His grey eyes locked with Luffy's as he spoke again. "Captain Kuro has been looking forward to meeting them again." If looks could kill, this Ouron-man surely would have been dead by now by just staring down at the teen on the deck. Kuro… it was that damn fucking idiot that tried to kill Usopp and the village he lived in back when he met him for the first time. "Now, let me have a better look on them. We do not want to buy the cat in the sack, now do we?" Clayhall grabbed Luffy's black hair and pulled him roughly up to his feet. As soon as he did stand by himself, Ouron grabbed his jaw immediately and forced his mouth open so he could inspect his mouth, his face, and his eyes properly. Then he smirked once again. "Indeed you are this Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw-hat gang. Or should I say former captain?"

Luffy spat at him in the face. "You can go tell Kuro that he can fuck off!" That earned him such a sharp slap on his left ear that it caused him to hear a ringing tone echoing inside of his head a long time after.

"And he still has a sharp tongue… We will have a lot of fun with you, you filthy little dog!" He looked away from the raven teen and down at the still unconscious swordsman on the ground. "And this should be the earlier Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro you say?" he asked as he kicked him. Zoro's hand suddenly flew up and grabbed his foot, squeezing it so hard that he almost broke it, and he glared up at him. So… it was this Kuro-shit who had send him? A sudden impact of a kick made him release his hold and he was at once being pulled up on his legs. The man was inspecting him the same way he had done to Luffy, when he looked into the swordsman's mouth he almost had lost a finger or two. "Yes, indeed they are still wild, especially this one," the shit-head said, and was fucking smiling at him. "Perfect! I'll take the both of them. But they might both need a collar, just in case, so they can learn some respect!"

Luffy glared daggers in the back of the man's head as he listened to them when they started to discuss prices on them. Damn it! They were about to be sold like they were some kind of a thing in a market. He looked up at his first mate that now was standing next to him again, and as their eyes met, he dropped his gaze and stared down at the ground. It was entirely his fault, he knew that it was. He felt a nudge to his side and looked up at Zoro again, who was smiling at him. "Don't worry, captain," he whispered to him so it only was the two of them who could hear it. "We've stood in deeper shit than this! We'll handle this as well."

The raven-haired boy smiled a little, but then dropped it again. "I'm sorry, Zoro," he whispered back and turned his gaze away from him. "It's all my fault…" Zoro studied him closely with a worried look on his face.

"You know, it always is when we stand in shit," he gave him a little push as he said it, earning a pouting Luffy.

"Not true!" he said in a childish voice. "Last time it was your fault!"

"Aaaand? When was that?" he said sceptically.

Luffy thought a long time over that. "Uhm… don't really remember…"

"You just made it up on your own, shit-head!" he said in irritation as he gave the laughing teen a harder push with his shoulder that almost made him fall… but at least he was smiling again.

"Move your fucking ass, you filthy dog! Move it, I said!" The raven-haired boy suddenly stopped laughing and looked the way the yells came from. Other slave traders came out on the deck at the same time with another prisoner who honestly looked like shit. They pushed at him roughly so he fell, and kicked him for not moving fast enough. "MOVE YOUR ASS I SAID TO YOU!!" The man on the ground moaned as he turned over on his back and gasped for air.

Zoro looked the same way as his captain and raised an eyebrow by the sight of the treatment of that man. But it wasn't only the treatment of this prisoner that caught his attention; it was more how he looked so… familiar. He looked like someone who normally was walking in neat clothes that was now was ripped and full with dried blood. His pale skin was blue and green with bruises and open wounds; his blonde hair was red with blood and dirt. When the blonde prisoner turned his head in his direction he almost felt his heart stop beating. No fucking hell that this could be true! "S-Sanji…?" He looked down at Luffy, who almost was as pale as a sheet by now. His hands started to shake, not due to the shock, but because of the sight of the rough treatment of his chef. They pulled him back up on his legs and shoved him forward so he was stumbling. There were no mistakes. "SANJI!!" he called again, this time loud enough so everyone turned their attention towards him.

"Oi! Luffy!" Zoro called but was abruptly cut off as someone grabbed him in his shirt and in no time locked a collar around his throat so he almost got choked by it. But the raven-haired captain never saw nor heard him or those threats of beating that came from the slave traders, but just kept on running. His mind was only fixed on one person right now.

The blonde stopped up and turned his face to look in the direction where he heard a familiar voice coming from. His visible eye widened when he saw the running kid. "L-Luffy…?" he said in disbelief, his voice rough and dry due to not getting any liquid down his throat for a long time. This couldn't be true… or was he finally starting to go crazy?

"Sanji, it is you!" the raven-haired captain laughed as he came up to him. "How are you doing? Where are the others?" He looked behind him, like he was expecting the rest of his crew to suddenly jump out of nowhere and get them far away from this ship. But Sanji never answered and just kept on staring at him. Was he? Was it really… true? Could this really be true? Then… he wasn't alone anymore! He felt an inner glow once again, a glow that got stronger for each second he stared at his captain and their first mate. They were alive! Therefore he had to stay alive as well… now he had something to fight for again! As one of the slave traders reached out for his hair to pull him away, he grabbed the man's hand and swung him over the head.

"What took you so long, captain?" the blonde said with a smirk as the sound of the man crashing into someone else pulled the attention from the rest of the slave traders on the deck. "Did the moss-head make you get lost?" Luffy's laugh made his heart jump of joy, Zoro's protest in the distant made him warm and confident once again. He jumped down on his hands and kicked another guard away that had come too close to them; a third guard got a foot planted right in his guts. Luffy took part as well and kicked them all down. Seven or eight people had been taken down, and warning shouts had been thrown after them, the chef jumped on his feet so he was standing on his legs once again. As he leaned too much weight on his one leg, he almost screamed in pain, and dizziness immediately took over him. He stumbled a little until he got control over himself again. But it didn't go unnoticed by his captain.

Luffy stared down at his left leg, not showing what he was thinking to anyone at all. The leg was twisted on a inhumanly way, the shredded pants showed clearly all the blood and bruises the leg was covered in, like someone had stomped on it with heavy metal boots. "Who did this?" he asked slowly, not moving his eyes away from the broken leg. How the chef still could move around as much as he did was still a wonder for him. The chef didn't answer at once, but when the young captain didn't get any answers, he simply asked him the same question again, but in a deeper and demanding tone. In the end the blonde sighed and nudged his head in the direction of the man who did it stood. No wonder that the leg looked like the way it did, the idiot who had done it was twice as high as the both of them together, and to point it all out, he was really fat! He would be lucky if there were any more bones left in that leg that were more than two inches long. Luffy turned around to face him, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands as hard as he could. He slowly started to walk towards him. Each step was heavier than the other… each step promising the man a painful death for what he had done. Sanji called for him not to do it, others yelled warnings at him, pointing their guns at him. He moved faster and started to run towards the man; why the hell should he stand on the other side of the ship?! "You, fat-ass!" he called. The man's eyes locked with the raven's dangerous dark eyes. "What the hell have you done to Sanji's leg?!" The man laughed, he fucking laughed at him!

"The kitty was a bit too wild when we caught it," he laughed "so I just had to tame it a little. But looks like the kitty has turned into a wild tiger again," he pulled a gun out and pointed it at the chef in the distance, "something that we have to do something against!"

Luffy jumped up in rage and connected his foot with the man's jaw, but before he ever could pull it back again, the giant fat-ass turned his gun and pointed it against his foot, and pulled the trigger. The raven-haired boy never knew how it would feel to have a bullet pierce through his body… now he knew. A scream ripped out of his throat and spread out over the deck as the bullet pierced through his foot, splintering the bones in his ankle. He landed hard on the deck, grabbing for his ankle, but the manacles hindered him in doing so. He felt the sickening feeling flowing through his whole body as he struggled to get his hands free from the stupid things around them and as he tried to stand up on his feet again. Dizziness was slowly overtaking him, but the hated glow in his eyes never faded away as he stared up at the man, who dared to point the gun at him again.

Zoro looked at the whole scene with horror. Never before had he seen a bullet go through his captain's body before, which meant that he was in big danger as long as he had those sea stones manacles on. He wanted to run over to him, kicking the fuck-head's ass so much that he never would be able to sit on it ever again. But as he tried to take one single step in their direction, the collar around his throat started to tighten. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't move his hands up to rip it away. But that never stopped him from moving forward.

"So, not even being hindered in breathing will stop you?" Ouron said, almost satisfied. "Then, what about this?" he turned the button back down to zero on the little remote control in his hand, allowing the young swordsman to breathe again, but then turned another button slowly. Zoro wondered at first what the meaning of that button was, until he felt small prickles everywhere inside of his body starting from his throat. Ouron turned the button on almost the highest level, letting the electricity run through the teen's body, making him scream. He fell down on his knees, clenching his teeth together. The electric attack had taken him by surprise. Another scream ripped out from his throat as another bolt of electricity ran through his entire system. His heart pounded faster, his vision turned white and he couldn't control his breathing properly and almost choked as well. Along with the ringing tone in his ears, the laugh of Ouron sounded like an echo through his mind. Then it all stopped and he gasped for air immediately. His vision was a little blurred, but he at least could make out the lines of who was standing where. He could just barely see where his nakama's were; something blonde and black to his left and a black, red spot some few metres in front of him. "You like this, Roronoa?" the tall man asked. He could more sense the smirk in his words than see it on the fuck-head's face.

Zoro chuckled. "Even Enel's attacks are stronger than the shit you can come up with." Mumbles from his left indicated that the ero-cook was yelling something at him, what it was, he couldn't make out, and everything was slurred around him, even his mind. Then another 'lightning' hit him, stronger than before. A scream was trapped in his throat, his heart beating faster than before, his blood starting to boil inside his body, almost choking on it as it found its way up through his throat, red liquid starting to pour out through his mouth. Something inside of him must have collapsed, what, he couldn't tell, but it all hurt like hell. Everything hurt! His nerves where uncontrollable, pulling the 'strings' to move his fingers and other limps as it desired.

"Was that more to your taste?" Ouron said in irritation and turned it almost up on the highest level. The teen's hands moved up towards the collar, wanting to rip it off, wanting to breathe. Blood was being clogged up, his dark eyes slowly turning to a lighter colour, slowly he was being blinded. Then he turned the button down to zero again and the former pirate hunter collapsed on the ground, wheezing as he breathed for air. Coughing blood up, a red pool formed underneath him. The sound of pain was like music in the tormentor's ears. "I think we will get much fun out of you, my dearest Roronoa Zoro! And you…" He turned around to face the blonde teen nearing him at a high speed as did some flips, landing on both hands to moving it to one foot, avoiding in using the broken one. The strong foot aimed towards his head, but he avoided it in time, and instead grabbed the broken foot and twisted it more around his leg. Sanji let out a scream of pain before a sickening feeling went through his leg and all throughout his body. His vision turned white and if the prick-head hadn't held his foot, he would have collapsed onto the deck at once.

"And this should be the infamous pirate-crew with the highest bounties? They're nothing but a group of weaklings!" He literarily spat in disgust and disappointment and pulled the chef up as high as possible so he could see him at a new angle. Sanji turned his head away as the man kept staring at him, constantly kept staring at his face. "But Kuro wants them so he gets them. But this one," he said with a smirk. "I think I'll keep for myself. How much does he cost?"

"M'sorry, Mr. Ouron," Clayhall chuckled, like he had enjoyed the whole performance before him "but this one isn't for sale, it's an order from Snake, he has been waiting on him for a long time, since the Animal Kingdom or something like that, but he's on his way by now, when we finally got him."

The tall man mumbled something that wasn't understood but then said, "Has he paid for this one yet?"

"Don't fucking talk about me like I'm some freaking thing in a store!" The blonde roared, irritated, but the only answer he got was another twist on his foot. He clenched his teeth together and stretched his arms down; he could just barely touch the ground and ease the pain a little in his leg. 'God! I can't stay like this much longer,' he thought and swallowed hard. 'My head is already starting to spin like hell!'

Clayhall smirked; he knew all to well where this conversation was going. "No, he hasn't paid anything yet."

Ouron gave him a little bag of money with a thin smile crossing his face and the taller man took it greedily. "Then I'll take him. This should be enough for the all three of them. Hm?" He looked down at his feet as he felt something grab around it and tighten. Zoro stared up at him with dark eyes from the ground, tightening his grip even more.

"Let. The hell. Go. Of. Him!" he threatened through a mouthful of blood.

"Let the hell go of me, you freaking maggot!" Ouron said as he stomped his other foot hard down on his head, but no matter how many times he did so, the swordsman never let go of his ankle, but just kept on tightening his grip.

"NOOOOO!" A threatening roar suddenly sounded over the whole deck. Ouron stopped stomping and looked annoyed up at the raven teen that ran towards him, limping a little. "LEAVE MY NAKAMA THE HELL ALONE!" Said nakama looked up to face their captain through blurred eyes. Sanji's head kept spinning so much that he soon couldn't take it anymore. Zoro felt the whole ground spinning around him, though he was lying completely still. He shook his head a little and looked up again. As his sight got clearer his whole body froze. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the fat man from before lifting the revolver and aiming at his unknowing captain who only had an eye for one single person.

"LUFFY NO!" he yelled at the top of his full lungs.

"STAY BACK, LUFFY!" the blonde teen yelled as well. Zoro looked up to see the freak-head above him holding a rifle as well, before he pulled the trigger and two shots echoed over the deck. Everything went still; it was like all sounds disappeared… all noises died. His head turned automatically towards the 'scene' in front of him. The pace of his heart increased, then suddenly stopped. 'No…!'

Luffy stumbled a little back and forth, fighting to stand properly, but with a broken ankle as well, it was difficult. It hurt. It hurt to be shot… everything hurt inside of him. A taste of metal overwhelmed him and soon enough, blood was running out from his mouth and from the two places on his chest where he had been shot. The bullets had hit him from behind and from his front, both bullets piercing right through his body. He stumbled towards his two crewmembers, never forgetting what he wanted in the first place. For every step he took, a sickening feeling shot up from his ankle, and he would grit his teeth and push away the feeling of dizziness that was slowly overtaking him. "Z…Zoro…!" he panted "Sa… Sanji…!" he collapsed down on his knees just a few feet away from them 'Shit! My legs can't carry me any further…!' a wheezing sound left his throat for every time he took a breath. His nakama, whom was watching him with terror in their eyes, never dared to even breathe. Luffy closed his eyes and put on his famous huge smile on his face. "M'sorry for being so foolish again!" Then, dizziness overtook him and before the unconsciousness could put its grasp on him, he felt his head hitting the floor. "…m'sorry…"

"LUUFFYYY!!"

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So, this was the first chapter of four. They will soon come… and remember!! There is a reason that I'm rating this story so high ^^.

Take care everyone, and don't forget to review! Pretty please…?

Luffy: -jumps up in joy- REVIEW!!

Zoro: -mumble- yeah, or else we'll get a hell with her the whole month!

Me: -sweatdrops- he he^o^;