...

I'm alive... I think...

Uh... yeah... what has it been, 3 months almost?

Oh boy... So yeah, I'd like to apologize, sort of, to all you faithful readers out there... because I have legitimately not had ANY TIME THESE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS! And yes, I know that sounds like 'a load of BS', but I'm being completely honest with you. There was really nothing I could do about it, and I know I shouldn't be complaining with all of you waiting patiently (thanks I appreciate it), but I have been working my butt off. It was pretty brutal.

Along the way I obviously got distant from this story, which normally happens when you don't have time to continue it for 3 months, but incase any of you were worrying, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS I WILL NEVER DISCONTINUE THIS STORY! EVEN IF IT TAKES ME 20 YEARS!

Okay, I'm sure none of us would want me to work on this story for 20 years, but still, these past couple of months have been like a one time thing which means I probably won't pause the story for that long again.

And for the record, I've basically been chipping away at this chapter randomly over the past months (whenever I had more than 30 minutes of free time), so if you find that it's rather choppy and sporadic, I'm sorry... I hope it isn't too bad though.

Well without further delay, I present to you my long-lost chapter of Away From Home. It's kind of a boring chapter, but most beginning chapters of stories are somewhat boring compared to the rest.

Away From Home

Chapter 3


...

"L-Luffy… can you hear me…? I'm sorry for disappointing you… I-I know that you need nothing less than the greatest swordsman in the world… I've let you down… p-please forgive me… I solemnly swear… from this moment forward… that I will never lose again…! Until the day comes… when I defeat him and take his title… I will never… never be defeated! …IS THAT OKAY… KING OF THE PIRATES…!?"


...

Nami was frozen. She was knelt down next to the lifeless body of the Straw Hat's swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. The slow tides continuously made their way up to a few feet away from them in a periodic motion as the calm breeze whistled through the silent air. Nami was having an incredibly difficult time keeping her composure as her chest tightened and her body went numb. She swallowed hoarsely and blinked her few tears away as she looked over him, examining his current state.

"Z-Zoro… hey, wake up…" she pleaded as she gently shook him, hoping he would just wake up from an idiotic nap.

However, fate was not kind.

"Hey…! Z-Zoro… come on! Get up…!" she began shaking him roughly for a few seconds until she stopped herself, "His heart beat!"

She had gotten too worked up that she completely forgot the one sign that would tell her if he was alive, his heart beat. She nervously lowered her ear to his chest, knowing that it all came down to a simple beating sound. Her heart began to beat from the fear of losing her crewmate and it became increasingly hard to hear the other things around her. Slowly, she took a deep breath and focused on her hearing ability, ready to determine the state of the swordsman.

Thump… Thump… … Thump… … … Thump…

"H-He's alive!" she panted after hearing the irregular beating noise of Zoro's heart. It was extremely faint and uneven, which was probably very bad and she wasn't a doctor, but he was alive.

For the moment.

"…What am I supposed to do? Ummm… Gah! I have no idea! Damn it! Chopper where are you!?" she yelled in a combination of panic and frustration. She looked up into the sky and slowly closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Okay, calm down… I need to think… His wounds are deep and they need to be treated, but I don't know about his heart beat," she cursed at herself for not being able to think.

"He's too heavy for me to move, and his sporadic heart beat tells me that I don't have time to treat his wounds. Preventing his heart from stopping is the most important thing!" she spoke to herself, quickly analyzing the situation and her options.

"Come on! THINK! DAMN IT! He could die any second now!" Nami stared down at his body, searching for any type of idea in her extremely foggy mind. She couldn't think clearly to begin with and now her crew mate was slowly dying right next to her. Suddenly, an idea hatched into her head and she went with it, since it was the only thing she could think of.

"Robin! I bet she'll know how to handle this!" she looked out along the shore in the direction she came, seeing nothing but the island itself. "But damn it, she's so far away," her eyes turned to the green-haired swordsman, examining his condition once again.

She knew Robin was smart and had some experience and knowledge in the medical field. It obviously wasn't close to Chopper's intellect, but Robin wasn't a doctor, she was an archeologist. Either way, she probably knew more than Nami did, and any help would be worth it at a desperate time like this.

"I've got to try! Hopefully she hasn't gone too far… she's the only hope we have for saving Zoro," she told herself as looked back at Zoro once more before sprinting down the shore the way she came, yelling the archeologist's name frantically.


The sand was beginning to heat up as the sun was now directly over the island. Robin had taken her investigation of the island relatively slow, yet she could already tell she was becoming tired and slightly dehydrated. She had found nothing during her trip across the shore and her short time in the forest. As she walked to the edge of the forest, she leaned against a tree to study her surroundings once again, while positioning herself out of the sun's blazing rays.

"…I wonder how miss navigator's doing," she spoke aloud and looked down to examine herself. Her feet had become sore from her purple shoes, which weren't ideal for walking on sand and through a jungle. The jeans that she had been wearing were ripped around her right knee and her left shin, and her light, ivy patterned v-neck shirt had a hole in it by her stomach.

A few clouds were beginning to roll in past the sun, but the rising temperature continued to show no signs of slowing down. Robin was never a huge fan of excruciatingly hot climate, but neither were most people, and she just needed to concentrate on conserving her energy. Getting too hot out here was a bad thing, but she still needed to protect herself from the sun. After walking for almost an hour or so, Robin decided to head back to their meeting place to check with Nami's results… if she even had any. She was rather disappointed that she didn't find anything but staying together with Nami was the most important thing to focus on at a time like this. Losing each other would be like losing their way to survival.

Settling on heading back, Robin turned and walked back the way she came, following the exact trail she took to get here. The sun had been slightly extinguished from the white clouds above and the sand cooled down considerably, much to Robin's liking. Now she could actually walk without cringing in pain each time she took a step. She gracefully studied her surroundings which began to all look the same even to her… and that wasn't a good thing. Nevertheless, the archeologist did not lose sight of her trail back to the reef, which she could now see.

Upon arriving in the vicinity of the location, Robin noticed Nami had not returned, but did not think much of it. "She's probably heading back now. I doubt anything has happened to her-"

Her self-communication was cut off as a ruffling sound came from the trees not too far from where she was standing. Cautiously, she peered over to the strange disturbance in the forest only to make out a faint brownish object moving slowly between the leaves. Seeing as though this was her best trace of anything all day, Robin slowly walked towards the object to get a better look. All she could see was the color brown shaking almost nervously amid the foliage. It seemed rather large, considering the place she saw the color was a couple feet off the ground, so she wasn't going to take her chances. 'Perhaps it's a monkey' she thought to herself, secretly wishing it was wearing a straw hat and had the letter D for a middle initial. Moving did not seem to be part of the thing's plan, so Robin decided to take matters into her own hands… literally.

Crossing her hands over her chest in the shape of an x, the raven haired archeologist focused on pulling the 'creature' out of the forest to identify it, but was suddenly interrupted by a certain navigator.

"ROBIN! I FOUND YOU! QUICK! YOU HAVE TO COME WITH ME! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!"

Robin broke her concentration from the object in the forest and blinked confusingly at her orange-haired crew mate who was running across the shore to her. Robin gazed back to the forest only to see that the thing had left, much to her disappointment. She quickly put that aside and focused on her troubled crew mate who was now a few feet away from her, gasping for air from running all this way.

"Gah… Robin… quick… you need to… come with me… now…!" Nami sputtered, placing her hands on her knees and looking down to gain her breath.

"I heard you before Nami-san, what's wrong? Did something happen?" the archeologist questioned.

"Yeah… but we've gotta hurry Robin… I'll explain it to you when we get there… though I doubt you'll even need an explanation… come on!" she yelled as she grabbed Robin's hand and started running off to the direction she came.

"Nami-san… where are we going?" Robin was very startled by the navigator's sudden panicked expression, but she knew something was going on so decided to follow. "Are we… almost there?"

"Yeah… it should be right… up here…" She said between breaths, "There!"

Robin squinted looking straight ahead to where Nami was pointing and saw something lying on the shore. The only thing she could make out from it was a small patch of green.


?

I couldn't stop shaking. I checked through the leaves to see if the 'thing' was still there and I was relieved to see it nowhere nearby. So there were other people on this island? Well I wasn't even sure if it was a person… it could have been Bigfoot for all I know. It almost caught me but I think I was able to duck just in time. These stupid leaves are so noisy. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a clear glimpse of it since the risk of being found kept ringing through my head… or how scared I was (not that I'd ever admit it). Even if it was a person, judging by the fact that this is practically a deserted island, I wouldn't say they'd be friendly. They're probably crazy savages who boil people alive and leave their bones for the vultures…

O-Oh no…

But still, I have to keep my guard up even if they are normal civilized people because I need to get back to Luffy and the others. They could be other bloodthirsty pirates as well, and if I get caught it's all over. Or they could be terrifying monsters… What did I do to deserve this? Separated from my crew and left on an un-modernized island with other strange people or monsters or whatever the heck they were.

...

Okay. The crew is counting on me to return so I can't let them down. I'll avoid the other 'things' on the island and survive on my own until I can find a way to get off this island… if that's even possible. It's time the Brave Captain Usopp showed these island dwellers what happens when you mess with him…

gulp

I think my can't go on a deserted island or I'll die disease is kicking in…

...

"LUFFY! COME SAVE MEEEE!"


...

"W-What… on earth happened?"

Robin stared intently at the body before her with wide eyes, not believing what she was seeing. Zoro was lying in the sand in shambles, and didn't appear to be alive. She didn't take her crewmates being in pain very well and continued to stare worriedly at the swordsman below her. Her sudden panic became even worse as the realization of the situation hit her. 'Nami said that Zoro jumped in to save me… then if that was true, why is he like this and I'm fine…? It doesn't make any sense…'

"I have no idea. I was just walking until I saw something on the beach… and it turned out to be… him." Nami's voice pulled Robin out of her deep thinking and back to the reality of the situation.

"I don't know how he got like this… but he's alive! I checked before and he was breathing, although his heart beat was pretty uneven… I just had no clue what to do so I went to get you. I figured you'd know better than me at a time like this. I have absolutely no idea how to help him and I didn't want to make things worse, so I just left to get you," Nami explained with a worried look plastered to her face.

She looked back at Robin who was still staring intently at the swordsman. "So… so do you know what we should do Robin?" Robin looked up at her friend, thinking of an answer to her crucial question. She could tell this island and the crew's separation were already taking their toll on the orange-haired thief.

Robin knelt down next to Zoro, looking at his chest and examining the wounds he suffered sometime recently. Nami also walked closer to the green-haired man to get an idea of what Robin was looking at.

"Well these wounds are quite new, so he must have received them sometime during or after the storm," she told Nami as she continued to inspect the swordsman's scarred body. "I have no idea how he got these, especially this deep one here," Robin pondered while pointing to the large gash in the middle of his torso, "but we need to do something about them quickly."

"Okay Robin, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, but don't hesitate in giving me orders…" Nami declared. Standing around idly while one of her friends died was not on her to-do list for the day. Zoro put himself in danger to protect the crew countless of times, so Nami wasn't ready to let him die from some stupid unknown reason when the rest of the crew was gone, and she was sure Robin wasn't going to either. Plus, if they were going to make it off this island alive, they needed Zoro.

"Hmm… I suppose the only thing we can do now is try and treat his wounds…" the archeologist said, looking up to her crewmate. "I still don't know what's on this island, but we'll have to search for some type of herb to help him. For now, we'll just have to stop any future bleeding and let him deal with the rest."

"Right… If you need my help, just tell me what to do," the navigator reassured.

And with that, Robin stood up and began taking off her jeans.

"Uh… Robin…? W-What are you doing…?" asked Nami, utterly confused.

"We need to bandage him up and we don't have time to search for other supplies, so we need to make use of what we have. And it doesn't seem like you'll be much help in this situation," the historian stated, hinting towards the navigator's short skirt and thin shirt. Realizing what the other woman meant, Nami peered down to look at her insufficient amount of apparel.

"O-Oh… I see," she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck timidly.

The archeologist just smiled. "Don't worry about it Nami-san, but you should be careful not to expose too much of yourself to the sun. It could be extremely dangerous, especially out here. So I would either find something to cover up with or try and stay in the shade," she told the younger pirate while beginning to rip the bottom part of her magenta pants.

"You're right; once we fix up Zoro we can head into the forest and find a place to rest. But first we need to worry about reviving this idiot," Nami exclaimed, pointing to the first mate.

As Nami felt a wave of confidence and security wash over her for the first time since they had been separated, Robin had ripped the bottom half of her pants into individual strips. She laid the pile of strips on the sand as she put the remains of her jeans back on, only to find that they were turned into shorts, just reaching mid-thigh level.

"Hey… those look kinda good on you Robin…" commented Nami, apparently more interested in her friend's fashion style than her half dead nakama.

"…You think so? They're kind of short…" Robin mumbled while studying her figure.

"You're overreacting Robin. They look great and they go perfectly with your shirt. You should wear shorts more often."

"Hmm… maybe I should…"

"G-Gah… L-L-Lu…gah…"

"What was that Nami-san?"

"Hmm? I didn't say anything…"

"Oh… well then what was that-"

...

"Z-ZORO!"

"…Zoro-san!"

The two girls were soon interrupted from their fashion show by Zoro who, not known by the two, was very much still alive. The swordsman had somehow rolled over and got onto his hands and knees, hanging his head down towards the sand as he panted heavily.

Both Nami and Robin dashed to the struggling first mate's side and got down on each side of him to examine his condition.

"Zoro! You're alive! What happened!? Are you okay!? Come on, tell us!" the loud navigator interrogated.

"Now isn't the time to be asking him questions Nami-san," the historian reasoned.

Zoro continued to breathe heavily without looking up. "Are you alright Zoro-san? It's us, Nami and Robin. We need to look at your wounds and bandage them before they open up again. Can you lie back down on the sand?" the archeologist asked in a rather soothing tone, trying to communicate with the barely conscious swordsman.

"Uh… gah… L-Lu… guhhh… Lu… ffy…" Zoro breathed as he spat up blood continuously. Robin and Nami both looked extremely bothered to see one of their toughest nakama desperately calling their captain's name, especially in the horrible shape he was in. They both knew that if Zoro was fully conscious right now, he would never let them to see him in this condition.

"Z-Zoro just hang on! We're gonna fix you up so just hang on and don't give up!" yelled Nami anxiously, but her request fell on empty ears as the swordsman just spat up more blood and continued his jagged breathing.

"Nami-san hand me those bandages over there," Robin asked, pointing to the denim strips she had made just moments ago. Nami complied and quickly moved to the pile of makeshift bandages as Robin tried to steady Zoro, holding his shoulder to keep him from falling flat on his wounds.

"Ahhh… gahhh… uhhhh… d-da… mn…" the swordsman subconsciously swore, tightening all his muscles in pain and slouching towards the sand as Robin tried to hold him still.

"Here, Robin!" Nami quickly handed the bandages to Robin who slowly let go of the swordsman, hoping he could hold himself up for a few seconds.

"He looks terrible… Do you think he'll make it…?" questioned the thief worriedly.

"I'm not sure… He seems to be in terrible pain and I'm not even sure if he's fully conscious right now. The only thing we can do is apply these bandages and hope he can keep himself alive until we find some kind of treatment."

They both looked at their distressed nakama. Robin hated seeing any of her family in pain and as good as she was at hiding it, the archeologist was extremely distraught in seeing Zoro like this. They all came to her rescue at Enies Lobby, including Zoro who was still slightly suspicious of her, and they all put their lives on the line just to bring her back. Robin finally found a family to call her own and pledged, along with the rest of them, she would do everything in her power to help everyone fulfill their dreams together.

Nami, on the other hand, never hid any of her emotions, and although she always badgered Zoro about debt and being lazy and practically everything else, she cared deeply for the green haired man, much like every other member of her bizarre crew. She also knew that both her and Robin would never be able to live with themselves if Zoro died, and she didn't even want to think about how Luffy would react to something like that.

"Uhh… Lu… ffy… I-I'm… gah… s-so… rry…" Zoro panted as his body collapsed. Robin and Nami jolted to his sudden movements and were able to catch him in time, making sure he didn't smash against the sand and reopen his wounds.

"Hey! Zoro!? You alright!? Come on, get up!" yelled Nami, "Crap… I-Is he still alive Robin!?"

"Yes, his heart is still beating. I assume he lost consciousness again," Robin guessed, "We need to get these bandages on quickly and bring him into the shade. We now know that he is alive, so we'll just have to wait until he comes back again."

With that, the two women gently lowered Zoro's back onto the sand, careful not to harm him in any way. Robin inspected his torso for what was probably the tenth time that day and examined which wounds needed to be bandaged more heavily.

"I suppose we'll need to remove his shirt… or the remains of it anyway," Robin looked at the navigator who simply reflected the historian's action with an innocent look on her face.

Nami looked back down at the body of the first mate and back to Robin, "You're the doctor here Robin… so you lead and I'll follow."

Zoro had been wearing his signature white T-shirt and black pants that he wears ninety percent of the time aboard the Sunny. The entire front of it had turned red due to his injuries and there were rips wherever there were cuts, which was basically everywhere. Robin decided it would be easier if she just ripped the rest off of him and use it as extra bandages. Nami helped removed all the remaining cloth from his upper body and watched as Robin began wrapping her improvised bandages around his torso, while starting down near his waist.

"Hahhh…Now all we need to do is tuck these underneath him and around to tie them up," Robin told the navigator, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"Alright, so how do you want to do this? I lift, you tuck… or I tuck, you lift," asked the exhausted pirate, "You do know how heavy this brick is, don't you?"

"Hmm… Yeah… I think I could support him with some extra hands and then you can wrap them under, does that sound okay?" the raven-haired archeologist reasoned.

"Sure. Just make sure you don't hurt yourself…"

Robin flashed her trademark smile, "Don't worry, I won't. Just tell me when you've wrapped them all."

"Gotcha," Nami smiled as she prepared to wrap the strips around Zoro's body as quickly as possible. Robin crossed her arms across her chest, sprouting countless arms from the sand all around the swordsman's body, slowly lifting him into the air as Nami wrapped the bandages tightly around his back, tying them at the end.

"Alright, that's it… You can let go now Robin," Nami signaled. The arms gently lowered the green-haired man's heavy body back down to the sand, as each arm collapsed into beautiful pink cherry blossoms. Robin let her arms drop at her sides and let out a big sigh, glad that they had finished their work.

"Nice job Robin! Now we just need to bring him into the shade, which doesn't seem like it'll be easy…" Nami stated while admiring their work, "I guess we'll have to think of some plan so that we don't exhaust ourselves."

"I can take care of it Nami-san. I'll just need you to go ahead and find an area where we can settle," reassured the historian as she bloomed several feet from the bottom of Zoro, slowly 'walking' him towards the forest.

"Wow Robin, you really are the handiest person I know…" mused Nami, causing Robin to smile towards her, "I guess I'll go and try and find a spot in there, though I honestly have no idea what I'm looking for," Nami pouted, staring into the deep forest in the island's center.

"I'm sure any place will be fine Nami-san, as long as we know where it is. Once Zoro-san recovers, I believe things will get much easier and we can analyze our situation once more." Robin smiled at Nami, which seemed to cheer her up a bit as she made her way into the forest.

"Alright Robin, I'll clear a path for you and come back when I've found a good place to settle. If you need help just yell," Nami shouted, waving at the archeologist who was walking up the shore next to Zoro's moving body.

"Be careful Nami-san."

"I will. Same with you two," the navigator smirked, taking one last glance at her two nakama before delving into the forest.

Robin smiled as she watched her friend disappear into the forest until she could no longer see the orange-haired navigator. She transferred her line of vision to her unconscious companion next to her, feeling his peaceful nature spread to her. Sensing this burst of confidence, Robin looked up into the sky, thinking about all her other nakama and hoping they were alright. A reddish orange glow began to illuminate the island sky as the sun slowly set in the west. Robin's mind began to drift back across her life timeline, back to Saul, back to her mother, back to Ohara, and ending with Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, Brook, and the Thousand Sunny. She seemed to subconsciously skip all of the countless horrors and focus only on the joyful moments. With her senses returning to her, Robin realized she had a job to do and she couldn't let everyone down.

Feeling this new sense of assurance, the raven-haired archeologist lifted her head and set after the navigator with the first mate in tow.


We'll there we go, the third installment of Away From Home. I thank you all for waiting patiently for me to sort out my 'work overload' issues and promise I will try to continue a smooth pace with this story. Besides final exam week in the beginning of June, I should be able to update at least twice a month from now on. I'm not sure where this story will take me, but I hope for the best and appreciate everyone's continued support.

See ya next time! (Don't forget to review, include advice, positively criticize, yada yada yada...)