.II.
Roronoa Zoro would never admit to his oversights, except begrudgingly, in certain rare situations. This was, of course, absolutely not one of those situations, but nine days in to his month-long sentence and he's starting to think that maybe, possibly, he was a bit hasty in submitting to this whole deal thing. Not that anyone would hear it from him, least of all that weasel-y little Helmeppo. But with yet another hot, cloudless day to look forward to on top of several other hot, cloudless days, with no food and barely any water, sun's rays beating down on his head, arms stretched painfully back, weight unevenly distributed on his shoulders, the occasional beatings on top of it all—
Well, he's starting to feel a bit stretched thin, is all. He does, of course, still have just enough energy to make it through the other twenty-one days remaining without a problem, but— no, no buts. He has the will; therefore the way is no problem. But…. if someone conveniently felt the need to hop the fence and let him go, or, at least get him a glass of water, he sure as hell wouldn't complain about it right now.
The little girl who'd started this whole thing doesn't count. He's especially annoyed right now because she'd just climbed over the fence to try feeding him, only to get tossed right back over by Helmeppo and his guard, and damn if he doesn't want her making things worse for herself by doing something stupid like sticking her neck out for him. She's just a kid, who doesn't need to get caught up again in all this.
Anyway, he's thinking about maybe bribing something really extravagant, like a whole bounty, to the next person who sticks their head over the wall to check if he's still breathing (maybe one of the marines, they might be desperate enough) when suddenly he's aware of the fact that someone has actually stuck their head over the wall, and is openly staring, seemingly unconcerned that the action alone could get them executed.
"What?" he says, grimacing from the bone-dry rasp that's been his voice for a few days.
"You're the demon bounty hunter, huh?" the guy says, and he's grinning. There's frantic sounds beyond the fence, forced whispering as someone tries to tug him out of sight.
"Yeah, and?"
"Nothing. You just don't look like much."
…Okay, screw this guy.
"You're not that memorable yourself," he snaps, but the guy's grin just gets wider and Zoro is Annoyed now. "Look, beat it. They'll do worse than throw you over the fence if they catch you."
"Nah, they couldn't," the other says as he shakes his head. Who the hell does this guy think he is? It takes some squinting to focus properly (things have been kind of wavy recently,) but it's enough to make out the pale-skinned, black haired kid as he keeps staring in a way that's getting a bit creepy now. A hat or something hangs on his back by a cord; more to his interest though, there's a sword hilt poking over his shoulder.
"You ever considered being a pirate?" the apparent pirate says suddenly.
"Wha— why the hell would I?"
"Why not?"
"I catch pirates. For money," Zoro says in disbelief, but the intruder is undaunted.
"Nobody's perfect!" he says cheerfully, "I'm looking for good guys to join my crew. What do you think? If I untie you would you say yes?"
"You think— if you just untie me—" he sputters as he tries wrapping his head around that one; it's a bit much for his fuzzy thoughts to comprehend right now and Zoro almost laughs from the absurdity of it. "Look," he says, "Look— that's not my kind of deal. Go find someone else to join your crew. I've got my own plans, and they don't include throwing them away to be a pirate of all things."
The pirate shrugs.
"If you say so. It's just, lasting a whole month like that sure sounds rough for a normal person."
"Yeah, well, I'm not a normal person. One month? No sweat. That idiot Helmeppo promised. I hold up my end of the bargain, he holds up his, and that's all there is to it. Now scram."
He doesn't immediately scram, but finally he nods, drops down behind the wall. Zoro breathes a sigh of relief, chokes on it as the guy pops back up.
"Rika's fine by the way! We caught her." Oh. "And I'll be back later. Just think about it, will you?"
"Not gonna happen," Zoro mutters irritably, but then he's finally alone, it's finally quiet, and he commits himself to another grueling day in the parade ground, just one more check mark on the calendar towards freedom.
.
.
The guy comes back. This time he bypasses the wall entirely and walks brazenly up to the post he's tied up on. Zoro's about to be annoyed, but the words die on his tongue as he gets a good look at the guy and unlike the carefree attitude from before, this time he is angry.
"Where'd they take your swords?" says the pirate— outwardly nothing has changed, but there's genuine rage bubbling up in those words alone, and up close like this it's easier to see the guy's eyes and how they've narrowed— they're a weird yellow, and more intense than anything he's seen before.
"…the idiot son took 'em," he says warily, and the pirate immediately starts charging towards the marine base proper, the straw hat on his back bouncing on the cord tied around his neck. "Hey! Hey! Stop! What are you, stupid? That's a fortress!"
The pirate spins around momentarily, and his answering grin is anything but carefree.
"Be right back," he says— as he leaps fence again and disappears from sight.
Even though Zoro can't see anything from his position, he definitely still hears as the guy loudly challenges Captain Morgan to a duel. The marines that come out in response are equal parts shocked and appalled; they start spouting things along the lines of proper channels and propriety and Marine protocol and how Captain Morgan is currently indisposed anyway until the swordsman gets impatient and says "Fine, if he won't come to me then I'll just go to him," and after the protest of the marines die away it's suspiciously quiet.
Did he… did he invade the marine base? No… even for a pirate he couldn't be that stupid…
Then giant chunks of stone start falling from the top of the fortress. The edges are shorn as clean as a hot knife through butter. Followed by a whole lot of yelling. Then there's some kid standing in front of him trying to untie him and honestly what the hell is going on here—
…execution?
"But… that idiot son said—" Zoro says numbly, even as the kid, Colby, clumsily fumbles with the knots holding him back.
"No! Helmeppo lied!" says Colby through his fear, "They were gonna execute you three days from now. Luffy got real mad and it was really scary, and he said… he said he'd make things right!"
Luffy? That's the pirate's name? "He did? But… why?"
"Because… I don't know, I still don't know how he thinks, but what I do know is that he's gonna do it or die trying. And I also know that this marine base is rotten and-and you're imprisoned unfairly!" The resolve gathers on his face, and the ropes binding one of Zoro's arms falls away as he continues, "I'm not saying you should become a pirate or anything, but Luffy's really strong so if you work together then maybe you can help each other escape—"
Whatever else Colby means to say is lost as part of the wall surrounding the parade ground explodes in a shower of brick and mortar revealing Luffy, laughing his head off, pursued by what looks like half the marines on base and an apoplectic Captain Axe-Hand Morgan. Luckily they don't seem to notice their escaping prisoner, but Luffy does. In one smooth motion he plants a foot firmly against the ground and spins—"Hey Zoro, catch!"— using the momentumto throw the three katana he'd awkwardly bundled under one arm towards their proper owner. In the same motion he brings the now free hand up to grasp what he'd had in his other— the hilt of a longsword, its silvered edge flashing in the bright sunlight.
It's one of those slo-mo moments that stays with Zoro for a long, long time. The first thoughts that cross his mind are how he's going to kick this guy's ass for throwing his treasured blades so casually; then, panic as the collective marines raise their muskets on captain's order and fire, a deadly hail of lead that normally would pepper holes in an unfortunate victim. Luffy doesn't even hesitate, though, just raises his sword and—
Does nothing, to the untrained eye, just makes a broad, almost lazy stroke as bullets whizz through the air and embed themselves literally anywhere else. Zoro does not have an untrained eye. Somehow this pirate had just altered the path of the bullets before they even reached him in a display of beautifully subtle bladework beyond anything he's seen before, enough to weave his way through and emerge completely unharmed. To the marines it looks almost like magic; eyes bulge, doubt sets in as their weapons waver and some of the collective nerve gives way.
Captain Morgan is a little more collected. Enough to order them all to drop their guns and just draw their sabers because it's only one swordsman, what could he possibly do against a whole crowd of trained marines? Hurry up and kill this insurgent who dared move against him, the great Captain Morgan, and still absolutely no one has noticed that Roronoa Zoro is one arm free, and has just caught his swords.
Everything after that?
Easy.
.
.
Again, Roronoa Zoro would never admit to his oversights, but, well, going nine days without food or water was actually pretty tough, and he does let slip as much. Luffy laughs over his own plate, but at least Rika and her mother are more than happy to cook enough to bring him back to a much better physical state.
"Sooo, did you give it any thought?" Luffy says through a mouthful of food.
"What?"
"Join my pirate crew!" Oh, for— not this again.
"My answer's the same, moron," Zoro says, "Sorry, I don't have any plans on becoming a pirate." The other only hums, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side.
"Hmm… even though you crossed blades with the marines and all? They outlaw people for that." He's a little too innocent in the delivery. Zoro scowls, because he'd been trying not to think about it too much. "You might as well join my crew and get it over with…"
"Okay, fine, I might be an outlaw," he says irritably, "But that doesn't mean I drop everything and become a pirate. I have goals. Goals that don't include piracy."
"Aw, you sure? What are your goals anyway?"
He only hesitates for a second. This guy's a swordsman too, so he should understand, shouldn't he? "I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman," Zoro says simply, "And that's why I don't have time to go and be a pirate, of all things."
Luffy springs up and slams his hands against the table in a clatter of plates and cutlery. He's gaping for some reason, mouth a perfect 'o.'
"You want to be the world's greatest swordsman?" he exclaims; suddenly he's near vibrating with some kind of energy. "Then you have to join my crew!"
"…What's that have to do with anything?" Zoro asks, fighting back the urge to edge away as Luffy… starts laughing, collapsing back in his seat.
"Well, it's just—it's just, you think you're up to beating 'Hawkeye' Mihawk?"
…That comes as a bit of a surprise, hearing the name of his self-sworn rival casually dropped into conversation like this.
"You know him?" Zoro says a little wearily; Luffy stifles back another round of laughter as he nods.
"Do I— yeah. Yeah! I do. Of course," he says. Something clicks. Comprehension of a sort dawns.
"…You know him," he repeats with different intonation, suspicious, because that can't be it. No way. Luffy looks off to the side and… whistles?
"Maaaybe," he says, and now it's Zoro's time to slam his fists into the table. His mouth is dry, and not from dehydration. His hands have started trembling, but not from nerves, rather the effort keeping him back from making Luffy tell him everything he knows about That Man that he's not sharing—
"Quit messing around! You know Hawkeye? You know him? Do you know how to find him?"
"I don't know how to find him, but—" Luffy's eyes are almost sparkling, "—if you join my crew, then maaaybe we'll run into him. So about that pirate thing…"
It can't be that easy, Zoro thinks. All his life searching the east blue, searching for any info on the whereabouts of the man said to be the greatest swordsman in the world, how to find him, how to challenge him… and this guy, this pirate, suddenly appears in front of him claiming to know him? Some pirate he's never even heard of before, who can't even keep a straight face about it, who just assumes Zoro will join his crew at the drop of a hat based on his word alone?
…a pirate with enough skill to slice up solid stone statues with a sword alone, who faced a volley of bullets and parried them aside like they were nothing, who had gotten his swords back on his behalf even when it meant storming a marine base, and didn't seem to want anything in return— holding his swords hostage is something he'd expect a pirate would do, but Luffy hadn't brought up the topic even once—
A chance was a chance. There was a chance Luffy was lying through his teeth. But there was equally a chance that he wasn't. Damn it all. Damn him.
"Dammit," Zoro swears again, out loud this time, because somewhere along the way his mind had made itself up without him, and by Luffy's feral grin, by the look of smug triumph in his weird eyes, he absolutely knew it.
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I uhhh like third person limited in present tense.
Just establishing some of the back and forth I'm planning on ie going between the present storyline so to speak and then with past stuff.
And thank you for the response! I'm glad other people are as down for this concept as I am lol. (I absolutely can't wait for Shanks too.)