Mindshattered

Part two of a fanfiction by Velkyn Karma

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own, One Piece or any of its subsequent characters, plots or other ideas. That right belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. The only thing that belongs to me here is the concept for the story.

"Sleep,
Those little slices of Death.
How I loathe them."
~Edgar Allen Poe

Now that they knew the island was dangerous, Sanji and Nami-san were agreed that they had better leave as fast as possible. Anything that could imprison Zoro and put him in his current state was not something they wanted to sneak up on them, especially in this gloomy castle at night.

They needed to find their remaining nakama first, though. Usopp had likely not left the ship due to his cowardice. But Luffy and Brook were likely still exploring the other half of the castle, searching for Zoro and (in the case of Luffy) food or new nakama.

It was taking them too long to track their captain and musician down, though. The entire time, Nami-san kept jumping at the smallest of sounds and scrabbling close to Sanji for reassurance, before realizing what she was doing and pushing off against him. Under normal circumstances he would have loved every minute of it. Every second Nami-san was pressed up against his body was a good second, after all.

But now, though he kept himself from physically starting, he found his nerves were just as unstable as Nami-san's. Not to mention he was becoming increasingly worried about Zoro. The weight didn't bother him—not that there was much of it to begin with, anymore—but he could barely feel the man breathing against his back, and that made him nervous. Something at the back of his mind kept screaming that the longer they wasted time searching, the less of a chance Zoro had of surviving. The terrifying image of their swordsman dying on him (literally) and piggybacking a corpse back to the Sunny flitted across his mind more than once. Plus he stank; the rancid scents of the dungeon seemed to cling to their unconscious companion, and filled Sanji's nostrils foully.

Sanji was seriously debating returning to the Sunny before continuing the search, after a while. He was loath to leave Nami-san on her own in this castle, though, and she probably wouldn't leave until they'd found their two missing companions.

He was just considering the merits of going back to the Sunny with Nami-san anyway and having Usopp send up a flare when the missing pirates arrived, loudly as always. Luffy catapulted around the corner of one hallway, Brook yohoho-ing loudly in tow, and many long, loud banging noises followed as what sounded like hundreds of metallic objects clattered to the ground in a heap far down the hall. Sanji briefly contemplated what trouble his captain could possibly have gotten himself into this time, and then decided upon reflection that he really didn't want to know.

"Nami!" Luffy said delightedly, and trotted towards them with a small canvas sack over one shoulder and something else strapped to his back. "Look, look, look what I found!" And he shoved the bag towards her, opening it excitedly.

Sanji couldn't see it very well in the gloom, but something glittered in the torchlight, and he thought he could make out the yellow sheen of gold. The sack was small, but full and bulging, a fairly decent haul for an otherwise broken-down wreck of a castle.

"We found Zoro-san's haramaki and swords, too," Brook added, gesturing to the objects strapped to Luffy's back, which Sanji could now make out as the sheathes of three familiar katana and a thick green sash wrapped around them. "There was a room with hundreds of bounty posters a little ways back, and dozens of weapons. Some of them were of very good quality! And they seemed to be arranged by the posters on the walls, too. Zoro-san's belongings were underneath both copies of his poster."

"Yeah," Luffy said excitedly. "They had his old one and his new one. And I saw ours too next to his on the wall, and all three of mine were there," he added, proudly. "I told you Zoro was here!"

"Ah...Luffy..." Nami looked hesitant now, and she'd barely glanced at the bag of gold. Luffy seemed to catch on suddenly, and even Brook seemed stunned.

"Is something wrong, Nami-san? I thought you would be pleased with all the valuables we found!"

"Oh...no, you did a good job...it's just..."

"Luffy," Sanji said seriously, picking up as Nami-san trailed off, as she clearly unsure how to explain, "We already found Zoro. Now we need to get out of here, fast."

Luffy blinked in surprise. Nami-san raised her torch higher, illuminating Sanji and his burden even more. Zoro was still unconscious, but even so they'd tried to be careful with the light in case it disturbed him too much. That, combined with the dark jacket spread across his shoulders and the dirt and filth that coated his skin, made him rather difficult to spot in the castle's gloomy atmosphere.

But Luffy saw him now, and his widening eyes betrayed his shock. He seemed dumbstruck for the first time in history that Sanji could ever recall. But after a few moments he finally forced his voice to work and said slowly, "Zoro is...he's..."

"He's hurt bad," Sanji summarized quickly. "We found him in a dungeon. We can't afford to waste any more time here, Luffy. If we wait any longer to give him medical attention he might not last much longer. He might not make it through the night as it is." Sanji looked grim.

Luffy's expression was blank for a moment, still stunned, but then his eyes narrowed in fierce determination. "Who did this?" he growled. "Who did this to Zoro? I'll kill him for hurting my nakama!"

"We don't know, Luffy," Nami-san said this time, voice urgent. "We found him alone. Even if we did, we can't waste time trying to fight whoever did this. Zoro's really hurt, Luffy, and he's really sick too. We'll do what we can for him, but he needs a real doctor. We need to head back to the Archipelago so we can find Chopper as soon as possible!"

Luffy frowned, clearly caught between defending his nakama and assuring their health. In past situations it would have been a fair enough dilemma; Zoro was usually tough enough to bull through anything, and deal with the medical ramifications afterwards. But now their wasn't a choice, and they needed Luffy to understand that.

So Sanji said very slowly, and very clearly, "Luffy. Zoro deserves a crack at this guy, too, don't you think? We need to get him treated so he'll be strong enough to kick this guy's ass when we find him. And you and me can help." Putting on a casual scowl normally reserved for his spats with Zoro, though he wasn't really feeling it at the moment, he added, "I certainly owe the bastard who did this a good kick or two, I'm never going to get this stench out of my suit..."

It seemed to work. Luffy nodded in determination and slammed one fist into his other palm. "Right. Zoro needs a chance too. Okay! Let's go back and take care of Zoro!"

Nami-san gave Sanji a grateful look, and he nodded back to her with a weak smile he didn't really feel, either.

The going was slow from there. Sanji wanted to move with as much speed as he could muster once they got out of the castle proper—it was still over an hour's walk back to the Sunny, after all, and they didn't know how much strength Zoro had left in him for living. But much like the incident on Drum Island that now seemed like an age ago, Zoro couldn't take much of a beating in his present state, and running would probably do him more harm than good. So Sanji kept his pace steady and smooth and tried to ignore the stench of rot and filth in his nostrils and the terrifyingly light weight he was supporting. Tried to forget the fact that Zoro never once woke up despite their loud conversations and Luffy's rambunctious attempt to shake him awake once before anyone else could stop him.

Luffy was becoming a problem, and Sanji soon came to understand the captain wasn't quite to terms with just how bad off Zoro was. Which was, in a way, understandable. Zoro had always been the one member of the crew that could be relied on to get up after anything and everything. Zoro was virtually indestructible, and Luffy probably still saw him that way, especially since he hadn't seen the state they'd found Zoro in. Even now, Zoro still looked somewhat better off than he had in the dungeon; he was uncuffed, safely surrounded by his nakama, and his bony appearance was well hidden by the gloom and Sanji's jacket.

Nami-san seemed to recognize the risk as well, because she eventually 'suggested' that Luffy run ahead back to the Sunny with messages for Usopp. "Get a bath ready," she'd ordered. "A hot one. Find some of Zoro's clothes from his bunk, and tell Usopp to find whatever he can in Chopper's infirmary that can treat infections and cuts. Oh—and make sure he finds a razor and some scissors, too," she'd finished, glancing at Zoro's matted, much longer hair and the thick green stubble on his face and throat.

Luffy had been forced to recite the message twice to Nami-san before he was allowed to leave, but he did it without a mistake, which made Sanji realize that he understood the situation on some level at least. Then he was off, jogging through the black forest down the path to their ship with breathtaking speed. Sanji and the others continued with their slower pace, Sanji carrying their injured nakama while Brook or Nami-san occasionally checked his pulse or felt his forehead. Zoro never stirred at their touches, and that alarmed Sanji badly.

Everything was ready for them when they finally returned to the ship. Usopp had let the gangplank down so they wouldn't need to carry Zoro up the rope ladder, for which Sanji was grateful. The sniper wrung his hands nervously when Sanji stepped onto the deck, and trembled slightly when he saw Zoro's limp frame, but leapt into his explanations immediately.

"The bath's all ready," he said quickly. "It should be warm enough by now without burning. I got some towels and washcloths ready too, and I put some of his clothes in there. The infirmary was tricky though...but I think I found some disinfectants and I got all the bandages ready." He gulped as he stared at Zoro again, apparently not sure that it would be enough now.

"Good job, Usopp," Nami-san said, taking charge. She still looked a little pale, but she'd had enough time to get over her shock at least. "You should help Sanji in the bathroom. Zoro needs to be cleaned off so we can get to his wounds before we can treat them. Brook, if you'd keep an eye on Luffy?"

"Certainly," the skeleton said. His bony face couldn't frown, but Sanji could still hear the grave concern in his voice. He immediately trotted over to Luffy, who was watching his first mate with morbid curiosity, and offered to sing a few ditties for him at the captain's request. Luffy seemed to realize he was being side-tracked, and for one moment that rare, thoughtful look flitted across his face, but then he nodded and shuffled off to the opposite side of the ship with Brook.

"Good," Nami-san said. "I know he's worried, and he'd probably want to help, but there's nothing he can do here." She sighed, gave Zoro's broken body a helpless look, and then said, "Bring him to the infirmary when you're done. I'll try to have everything ready for him."

"Of course, Nami-san," Sanji agreed. "Though it may take a while..."

"Just be careful," she warned, not that Sanji really needed it. "Go slow enough that you don't make anything worse, but don't waste time either. I don't...I don't know how much time he even has..."

"Don't worry," Usopp said. His voice was shaking, but he nodded with a false look of bravado. "This is Zoro, after all. He'll pull through. He said he'd never die until he achieved his dream, and Zoro wouldn't break that promise..."

Sanji could easily have disagreed—Thriller Bark came immediately to mind—but it wasn't the time for that, not now. So instead he started off towards the bathroom, saying over his shoulder, "C'mon, Usopp. I'll definitely need your help with this..."

What followed was perhaps one of the most awkward moments of Sanji's life. Zoro was coated from head to toe in the disgusting remnants of the dungeon he'd been kept in, and as Nami-san deduced, that filth would need to be washed away before they could even attempt to tend to his wounds. But that included Zoro's clothing, which was so filthy the grime seemed to have been permanently ground in. They'd had to strip him down completely, and Sanji figured the tattered remains of his pants and shirt would need to be burned; there was just no saving those things at this point.

After that had been the awkward and rather difficult process of the washing itself. Zoro remained steadily unconscious throughout the whole procedure, for which Sanji was exceedingly grateful, though a small part of him worried over what that might mean for his health in the long term, if he didn't wake up for all this manhandling. But it also meant his body was uncooperative, and in the end Usopp spent most of his time holding Zoro's head above water while Sanji knelt at the side of the tub, cursed a blue streak under his breath, and did his best to scrub the layers of filth free from the swordsman's scarred skin. They ended up drawing the bath two more times before Zoro could officially be declared 'clean enough to treat;' the water turned black far too quickly for their tastes, interspersed with twists of flowing red as scars no longer held closed by crusted dirt broke free and bled. And Sanji hadn't even bothered to try and wash his marimo head. Instead he simply chopped the matted, tangled longer hair nearly down to the scalp with the scissors Usopp had found, and gave him a cursory swipe with a razor to deal with the thick stubble at his throat. It wasn't exactly even, but he highly doubted a good shave and a haircut was on the swordsman's priority list at the present moment. Zoro'd never been one to care about his looks anyway to begin with.

When they were finally done, Usopp and Sanji between them managed to dry him off as carefully as possible (the towels still came away stained red) and get the swordsman into a pair of boxers. Usopp had found a pair of pants and a shirt too, but Sanji decided to forego those for the present moment, as it would only make tending his injuries in the infirmary more difficult. Sanji carried their wounded, but now thankfully much cleaner and less rancid-smelling first mate into the infirmary, and Usopp followed with the clothes and a highly worried expression.

Nami-san was waiting, and gestured quickly for Sanji to set Zoro down on Chopper's examination table. She had laid a sheet out over it quickly to keep it clean and make it a little more comfortable, and as Sanji set him down she slipped a spare pillow behind the swordsman's head. The cot in the corner was made up as well, presumably for when they finished looking after his wounds.

"Usopp, I know you weren't on watch tonight, but do you think you could..." Nami-san began, as she started setting jars and bottles down on a small nearby desk.

"Don't worry about it, Nami," Usopp agreed earnestly, obviously glad to be of some use. "We've got it covered. Let me know if you need anything!" And he trotted out of the room, looking a little relieved to be away from the sight of their swordsman.

"I'm going to need your help, Sanji-kun," Nami-san said tiredly.

"Of course, Nami-san," Sanji said immediately, not that he'd had any intention of leaving to begin with. Without Chopper there, there wasn't much that they could do, but he and Nami-san probably had the next closest understanding of medical knowledge out of all of those currently on the ship. Nami-san was well read and seemed to understand a little of everything. And Sanji was equipped with some herbal lore—it came with the kitchen—and plenty of experience dealing with his own injuries on the Baratie. Not to mention personal experience with starvation.

He shuddered.

Their work lasted well into the night. They had found Zoro a few hours after nightfall, and it was nearly two in the morning before they finally finished tending him. He had a number of scars, both new and old—some they recognized from before Kuma's attack, and some were much fresher. Most of them had broken open with the bath water, but needed to be re-cleaned with careful attentiveness to each gash and cut, treated with antiseptics and some of Chopper's special salves, and bandaged. A few of the scars were infected, and they did the best they could with them in Chopper's absence. He was running a fever, possibly as a result of the infected injuries, but there was little they could do about that other than wet his forehead and throat down with cool cloths as they worked; there was no way they could get any fever medication into him in his unconscious state, and they didn't dare touch anything that required syringes. His arm, the one Nami-san had reported as 'wrong,' turned out to be dislocated (they thought). Nami-san seemed to remember reading about it before, and did her best to re-set it, though she worried over it constantly and rechecked it again and again to make sure she hadn't inadvertently injured their swordsman further.

Stunningly, Zoro had no broken bones, despite all his frantic thrashing and brittle appearance. Sanji was exceedingly grateful for that. If anything had been broken, they wouldn't have known how to treat it, and if it didn't kill him it would certainly have healed poorly. Even so, after stepping back hours later and staring in exhaustion at their handiwork, Sanji couldn't help but exchange grim looks with Nami-san across the table. There was still a high chance Zoro wouldn't make it through the night, not with all the stress his body had been put through today on top of his already poor condition. Sanji placed the swordsman on the infirmary's cot as Nami cleaned up the examination table, and both pulled up chairs nearby, unwilling to leave the swordsman unattended in case he needed them in the night.

Despite their worries, however, Zoro managed to pull through to the morning, proving that at least some of his fighting willpower had survived the ordeal. He remained steadily unconscious, however, even when Nami-san started giving loud orders to get the Thousand Sunny sailing as far from that depressing rock as they could. Nor did he wake at the familiar tossing of the waves, at the visits from the crew members currently present, or at Nami-san and Sanji's re-examination of his injuries that evening to check on their progress. The infections seemed a little better and his fever had dropped slightly, and while it wasn't exactly encouraging, Nami-san declared it progress.

"All we can do is tend to these injuries and wait. Zoro has to do the rest," she said, grim but determined. "In the meantime we can try to get back to the Sabaody Archipelago, and hopefully Chopper made it there since then."

Sanji agreed with her assessment, and mentally urged their swordsman to hang on for just a little longer. But even if he managed to survive the fever and the infections, there was still something else of vital importance that needed to happen, and Sanji could feel the anxious warnings over and over again at the back of his mind: Zoro needed to eat. His already starved body was at the brink, and if he didn't wake up soon and get some sort of nourishment into his system, however little, he likely wouldn't make the journey to the Archipelago at all.

And so, worried and determined, Sanji could only sit back and let the waiting game commence.

If you saw the Skull Joke you get a cookie :)

It's a short one. My apologies. I needed to do a little setting up for next chapter, which is much, much longer. :)

As usual, if you leave a review, please give it some substance! Compliment or con-crit, I enjoy them all as long as they're filling :)

~VelkynKarma