"Ok, it can't be helped. This'll have to do." Zoro sighed in frustration as he set Tashigi down against a mossy rock in the small clearing he'd found. It was a moss-covered area with a small creek running through it. The swordsman briefly glanced around the area for intruders, then cleared a spot next to the rock and set to work on starting a fire. Almost immediately after it was lit, a velociraptor came charging into the clearing. Zoro snapped around to face it and just as he sliced it through, three more came charging in from behind him. The swordsman spun again and sent them flying in pieces with a flash from his blade just as seven more came charging in from multiple corners.

"These-!"

Zoro spun a full circle and sliced them all apart with another flash but no sooner did they hit the ground when a Tyrannosaurus burst through the trees at him. Screeching noises sounded from behind him just as he sent the monster's head flying and he turned to see a larger group of raptors lunging into the clearing towards where Tashigi lay. At the same time more flew at him from behind along with two more sizeable creatures who quaked the earth with their sudden assault.

"YOU..." Zoro growled, a wild look of rage taking over his face as more dinosaurs bolted into the clearing, "RELENTLESS BASTARDS!"

The air momentarily became hazy as a dark, transparent, horned figure sprouted into the air above Zoro, then flew at and through the dinosaurs rushing Tashigi. They shrieked in terror and immediately fell over dead, their eyes rolled back into their heads. Zoro turned his glare to the dinosaurs charging him and the demon bolted across the clearing through them, sending them crashing to the ground. Zoro glared around the clearing and the demon began circling it, passing through and felling the remaining invaders and then proceeding to fly along the clearing's perimeter. Thuds rapidly sounded in every direction as entering creatures passed through the demon and skidded to the ground, lifeless, each plunging into the moss of the clearing no sooner than it had entered.

"Come and sleep forever." the swordsman ordered with a cold, mad stare.

He huffed and for a moment watched his illusionary demon fly in circles around the perimeter of the clearing, a hazy, evil smile on its transparent face.

"With this I can finally get some sleep..."

He proceeded to lie back against a large clump of moss near the flames and promptly closed his eyes. A number of minutes passed before a sound called Zoro's attention. He glanced over at where Tashigi lay by the fire. She was panting and shivering. He approached and knelt down next to her, then tentatively put his hand to her forehead.

"She...! She's hot as hell!" he exclaimed, "Was she fighting those dinosaurs with this fever?"

He cringed and for a moment looked down at her, at a loss for what to do.

"Sh-Shit." he remarked as he realized what he could do. Hastily lifting her up, he sat down with her against his chest and leaned against the mossy rock.

"Shit." he cursed again.


It was late into the night when Tashigi stirred.

"Uh..." she breathed as she moved her head slightly against Zoro's chest.

"Hnn?" Zoro mumbled, tiredly opening his eyes and glancing down. Tashigi drearily opened her lids just a bit and stared at Zoro's shirt for a few seconds before slowly tilting her head back and looking up at him.

"Er-!" Zoro breathed with an indecisive grimace. It took a moment before she showed any recognition, then her eyes widened slightly.

"...Roro..." was all she could say before the breath left her and she gave a pant. She maintained her dreary look but kept her eyes on his.

"You-!" Zoro began, then paused. "...I don't know why you're here-but...You lost a lot of blood. Don't move. Go back to sleep."

Her face showed another tweak of recognition and a heavy breath left her before she exhaustedly closed her eyes again and passed out.

"Shit." Zoro muttered his new favorite utterance once more before jerking his head back and closing his eyes.


Tashigi awoke to the sight of a blue sky encroached on by leafy treetops.

"This is..." she began to mutter before snapping awake and wrenching herself to a sitting position. "KUH-!"

The marine clasped her ribs in pain as she fell back down.

"With those wounds I doubt you'll be moving around for a while."

Tashigi quickly turned her neck from its place on the ground to find the source of the voice and saw-

"Roronoa Zoro!"

The swordsman sat cross legged against a rock a few feet away, two swords propped up next to him. He'd impaled a slab of meat with his other sword and was cooking it over a fire.

"Wha-! Why are you here!?"

"I'll be asking the questions." Zoro declared. "Why are you here? Did you come with that marine, Smoker, to attack our crew? Were you planning some sort of trap?"

"S-So the Straw Hat crew is on this island!" Tashigi exclaimed, trying again to sit up. "I have to inform Smoker-san-KUH!"

She again collapsed onto her back, clenching her teeth from the pain of her wounds and shaking.

"You'll really do better not to move." Zoro advised her, turning his sword to cook the underside of the dinosaur meat. "What. So you didn't know we were here after all, and this is a coincidence, huh? I'd like to know which twisted god planned this."

The swordsman sighed and Tashigi turned her neck to give him an analyzing stare for a moment.

"How did I get here?" she asked. "And why are you in this jungle?"

"I was just going for a walk when your shouts disturbed me." the swordsman proclaimed.

"Going for a walk!" Tashigi exclaimed. "In the middle of this jungle! How can you tell such an obvious lie! It's clear that you're lost as well!"

Zoro grimaced involuntarily in embarassment.

"Anyway- it seemed like you got done in pretty well by those dinosaurs so I decided to save your life on a whim. You're lucky you caught me on a good day."

Tashigi took the information in with a bit of shock, continuing to watch Zoro for a moment, then said, "I see. So you saved my life. In that case you have my thanks. I'll overlook you this time, but I don't intend to be indebted to a pirate."

Tashigi clenched her jaw and with great effort and pain, hoisted herself up onto her knees, shivering.

"I-I'll be h-heading back to my b-base now...!" she declared through clenched teeth. "Th-This has not ch-changed the f-fact that you're a p-pirate...! Th-The next t-time we meet, I will have to c-capture you...!"

"Oh? Well that's fine but can you get back like that, I wonder?"

Tashigi shot him a stern stare, then began forcing herself onto her feet. Blood began to soak through her shirt.

"Keh! Ugh...!" she growled as she continued to force her way up onto wobbling legs. She immediately fell back down. "UGH!"

She lay on the ground panting for a few seconds then began trying to force her way up again. More blood soaked through her shirt.

"If you keep trying that, you'll really die." Zoro informed her.

"Hah...! Hah...!" Tashigi gasped, clutching her ribs. She lifted her shirt up a bit and forced her neck up just enough to look at her injuries. Ripped strips of cloth were wrapped around them, soaked in red. She glanced at Zoro and saw that his clothes were ripped in various locations.

"D-Did you...p-put these on m-me?" she breathed.

"Well, I gave you some basic treatment to stop the blood." Zoro replied, taking the now-cooked slab of meat off his sword and tossing it next to her. "Here."

Tashigi panted a few more times then said, "I d-don't need a p-pirate's charity. Once I've r-rested I'll be leaving. Y-You can go. P-Please leave me here...!"

"You're saying you want to die here?" Zoro questioned, standing up and hacking the leg off a nearby dinosaur corpse, stabbing it, and sitting back down to hold it over the flames.

"O-Of course I don't w-want to die...!" she exclaimed. "B-But I'm already used t-to this j-jungle...! I-I'm n-not too w-weak to defend myself w-while I rest...!"

"I guess the blood loss has affected your head, huh?" Zoro sighed. "Well, whether or not that's true, this isn't a matter of just a few dinosaurs anymore. I can leave, but if I do, nothing will stop those things from swarming in here."

Zoro pointed his thumb at the transparent figure flying around the clearing. Tashigi's eyes widened when she noticed it.

"Th-That is...!?"

"The only thing keeping those creatures out. I guess you haven't noticed yet. Do you hear those sounds?"

Tashigi looked at Zoro in confusion for a second, then stifled her breathing to listen. She suddenly noticed numerous rustling and growling noises coming from all around.

"W-Wha-!?" she gasped. "Th-They're all around us...! H-How many...!?"

"I'd say hundreds...no, maybe thousands. They've been coming in since last night. More are coming still. They might have been drawn in by the fire, or it could be that they're here for revenge, but..."

He breathed out a long sigh.

"Either way, they seem intent on not letting us leave without a fight."

"Th-That's...!" Tashigi gasped, looking around in alarm.

"So again, you're free to leave whenever you want, but...I wonder how many steps you'll be able to make it into that jungle?"

Tashigi frowned and lay shivering in contemplation for a moment.

"C-Can you...f-fight through them...?" she eventually asked.

Zoro flipped his meat over the fire and yawned boredly, scratching his head.

"Well, if it was just me I could leave, though it'll be a hassle, but once I start fighting them, that'll disappear," he said, pointing again at the flying illusion, "and I don't see there being much of a way for me to fight through that many while protecting an injured woman. Particularly one who can't even stand up."

Tashigi let out a heavy breath in concern, then fell silent.

"...So it seems you understand the situation now." Zoro remarked, pulling his meat out of the fire and taking a bite out of it. His mouth full, he pointed at the slab of meat sitting next to her. "Are you going to eat that?"


The two of them stayed silent for the rest of the day. When night came, Zoro began picking up more branches from around the clearing and adding them to the fire. As the night got colder, Tashigi's shivering increased and she wrapped her arms across her chest, clenching her teeth in discomfort.

"That fire isn't enough to keep you warm, is it?" Zoro stated with a long sigh. "Since it can't be helped, this one time I'll allow it. You can rest against my chest."

Tashigi glowered at Zoro as she shivered.

"I-I'm f-fine, th-thank you!"

Zoro made an exasperated sigh.

"That pride of yours is just fine, but at this rate you know you'll probably be dead by morning, right?"

Tashigi clenched her fists and creased her brow into a mixed expression of anger and distress.

"I-I have no i-intention of being h-handled by a p-pirate!"

"Oh?" Zoro questioned, raising an eyebrow. "That's some impressive resolve. You're saying you'd rather die?"

"D-Death would be b-better."

Zoro was silent for a moment.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped." he sighed in frustration, roughly scratching his head as he stood up and moved towards her.

"Wha-!?" Tashigi exclaimed, "What are you-!?"

Zoro sat down behind the immobile swordswoman, and lifted her up by her back.

"Wha-!? Wha-!?" she exclaimed as Zoro propped her up, back against his chest, and leaned back against the mossy rock.

"P-Please t-take your hands o-off of m-me!" she shouted, struggling to wrench herself free. "UGH!"

Her face twinged with pain from the movement and she collapsed against him, squeezing her eyes shut as she shivered uncontrollably.

"He-Hey!" Zoro exclaimed, placing his hands on her shoulders automatically. "Will you calm down!? It's not like I'm going to do anything bad! There's not really a choice, you know!?"

"U-Ugh..." she voiced, momentarily unable to speak from the pain. Eyes squeezed shut, she couldn't help but press into him more as she shivered.

After a few seconds of panting, she announced, "H-Humiliating."

A look of self-doubt sprang up on Zoro's face for a moment before he creased his brow and a vein popped up in his forehead.

"If you're talking about complaints, I'd rather not have to be saving a weak, lost woman right now either!"

"Wha-!" Tashigi exclaimed, glaring up at him, "W-What is that supposed to mean!? I d-did not ask f-for your help! And are y-you not lost as well!?"

"-and of all people, for it to be you-! That face...!"

"Y-You!" Tashigi exclaimed furiously. "Y-You're still saying that ch-childish thing...! Are you a ch-child!?"

"What was that...!?" Zoro barked angrily, squinting his eyes as he glared embarassedly down at her head.

"Being t-trapped by a p-pirate...As a m-marine...and as a s-swordsman...! Th-this shame is just...!"

Tashigi suddenly broke down panting.

"Ah...!" she let out a whimper. "Th-this is just..."

"He-Hey...!" Zoro said, gripping her shoulder. "Hold it together!"

Her breathing slowed as quickly as it had intensified and she felt silent.

"What..." Zoro muttered, jerkingly running a hand through his hair. "She fell asleep...What a prideful person...!"

A few minutes went by and Zoro stared at the fire in agitation.

"I...I can't sleep...!"