A/N: GUYS! I know I've left it ages again, but I have a genuine excuse this time. I, er, kinda dropped my tv on my laptop and smashed the screen. My tv is one of those old bricky super-freaking-heavy ones and my screen is completely totalled. At the moment my laptop is plugged into a separate computer monitor but that took ages to set up because of some cable or another that my brother had to order for me, so I apologise profusely. Shoutouts to my reviewers for the last chapter Grey-Skye-eyes, Kaoru likes One Piece, Deadly In Pink and LuffyGirl! I know I haven't replied, but as I said I've been computerless, so I'd like to thank you for your support. It's greatley appreciated! Also a shoutout to you, the person reading this right now! even if you don't drop me a review, you're still boosting my stats and boosting my mood! Thank you everybody! Anyway, please forgive me for the wait and the long authors note, but I present to you Chapter three! *insert fanfare here*
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of it's characters (no matter how much I may wish it), they all belong to Oda-sama.
Chapter 4: A Survival Game.
It was on this particular island that two bedraggled figures washed up on the beach as if they were nothing more than drift wood.
Neither of them moved and neither of them made a sound as the sea lapped at their feet, and an eerie silence fell upon the island as the animals all fell quiet. The only sound that could be heard was a sudden, loud crashing from somewhere inland.
Luffy groaned as he slowly woke up, and opened his eyes just a crack. The sliver of sunlight that penetrated his darkness was blindingly bright, but he was glad it was there. If he could see the sun, that meant he hadn't drowned and that his dream of becoming the pirate king was still alive.
His entire body ached and he still felt exhausted, but the warm sand below him was soothing. He could hear the murmurs of the surf, and a wide variety of animal calls. After a short while of just lying down and not moving, Luffy decided he should see where Zoro was. He slowly sat up and opened his eyes fully, blinking as they adjusted to the light. When he could see properly again, he took a look around. The first thing he saw was the lush green forest looming up over him like a leafy army of giants, and the bright plants and animals hiding within. He took a look around the perfect white beach he was sat on, and was confused to see a length of rope a few feet away from him. A few feet further on from that, and a little farther from the reach of the time was a mess of footprints leading away into the forest. Even with his normally simplistic mind being clouded over with grogginess, Luffy could guess that Zoro was the one who had been lying there, and that meant that both of them were alive and well. Luffy smiled weakly, his heart flooding with relief and considered what to do next. He had no idea where Zoro had gone, or when he had gone, and he had no idea where he was either. He worked out from the suns positioning that it was probably around midday, and he was starting to feel hungry; really hungry. Clutching athis stomach, Luffy stood up on shaky legs and started to explore the island.
Of course, at this point, the logical decision would have been to sit tight and wait for Zoro to return, that is if the green haired swordsman didn't get lost along the way, but then again when have Luffy's decisions ever been logical?
With his mind full of images of mouth watering roast, grilled and fried meat, and a goofy grin on his face, Luffy staggered off down the white sandy beach.
The warm sand beneath Luffy's feet tickled, and warmed his toes as he walked. There was a pleasant cool breeze which made the searing heat of the summer sun feel less intense; were he still on the ship he would have claimed it was perfect weather for fishing and a barbeque cooked by Sanji. Sweet smells would fill the air, wafting out of the kitchen through the open door and laughter would be heard all around the ship as Usopp recounted one of his many brave adventures. Thinking about what he would have been doing made Luffy's heart flood with sorrow, so he stopped. He had no way of telling what his crew would be doing right now, so he roughly shoved all such thoughts to the back of his mind where they couldn't disturb him.
As he walked, he clasped his hands behind his head and let it loll back so that he was looking up at the crisp blue sky. A few velvety white clouds scudded along across the cerulean backdrop, pushed along by the wind like water running down a pane of glass. The sun was a bright yellow colour, the prettiest shade of yellow Luffy had ever seen by far. Although it hurt his eyes to look directly at the sun, Luffy still tried anyway. He stopped trying after a few attempts, by which time most of his sight was clouded over with fuzzy purple and green blobs that drifted across his vision.
As well as the ever present salty smell of the ocean, a mixture of sweet, fresh and earthy smells were mixing together in the air; a result of numerous different species of flowers, mosses and trees, as well as the moist earth. Luffy inhaled deeply, enjoying the delectable feast that was being served up for his nose by the island.
Looking towards the source of all the different aromas, Luffy scrutinised the forest. Whereas before he only cast it a fleeting glance, he was really looking in detail now. The tall green trees were about fifty feet high each, and broad, glossy leaves sprouted from thick branches coated in dark bark around a third of the way up the trunk. Scattered around the bottoms of the trees like children clinging to their parent's legs were small shrubs and bushes, each decorated with delicate little blooms in pale colours. In small clearings a little further past the tree line were swathes of wild flowers carpeting the floor, only blooming in the patches of warm sunlight. Numerous logs and dead branches lay scattered around the forest floor, lying in the same place they originally fell in, covered in different types and shades of soft moss.
Luffy jumped back in surprise when a small furry animal ran out from behind a tree and back into the shade. It had russet coloured fur and a white face, and its body was long and thin. Now that he thought about it, Luffy could see animals all over the forest floor and up in the canopy too. Small fury creatures, much like the russet coloured weasel, small felines with green fur, winged insects with markings that made it look like they had faces on their wings and birds with feathers all colours of the rainbow and indescribable calls. The birds sounded as though they had one thousand voices all rolled into one, as well as the sound of an entire army's footsteps.
Luffy was stood staring in wonder at the forest, is mouth agape and his eyes wide, for a good fifteen minutes or so, amazed by all the exotic life he found within the thicket. He was so engrossed in his new environment that he didn't notice when a certain green haired swordsman strolled right up behind him, a bundle of wood under one tanned, muscular arm.
"Hey, Luffy?" He asked nonchalantly. Luffy snapped out of his day dream and stumbled forwards in surprise, his fists up in a guard position and his chocolaty eyes wide. Zoro quirked an eyebrow at him and seeing that it was only his first mate, Luffy dropped down to the floor, tired by his sudden rush of movement. Zoro sighed and sat down next to his captain after dropping his bundle of wood to the floor. He looked at Luffy for a moment or two, concern written all over his face before resting his elbow on Luffy's shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact, Luffy looked up at his friend and locked his gaze.
"You alright, Luffy?" Zoro asked, his eyes giving nothing away. Luffy flashed him a weak grin and fell back on the sand, clasping his hands behind his head and his straw hat knocked behind him on the sand. He sighed. "I'm still really tired; I was in the water too long. I feel better though, but I'm starving!" He exclaimed, theatrically gripping his flat stomach. Zoro smirked and flopped back on the sand next to his dark haired friend. "Well if you're hungry I suppose you can't be too bad." He said with a light chuckle. Luffy closed his eyes, smiling. "So where did you go then?" he asked. "Well you were still out cold, and I figured you wouldn't be waking up for a while so I went to find some wood to build a fire with, and see if I could find us something to eat." Luffy's ears perked up at the mention of food.
"And did you?" Luffy asked, referring to the food. Zoro sweat dropped.
"Ah, no, I kind of got lost before I could find anything. I just spent the last two hours finding my way back." Zoro said, having the decency to look embarrassed. Luffy frowned, his stomach rumbling loudly.
"Oh Zoro!" They remained quiet for a moment longer until Luffy spoke again. "So are you alright Zoro? What happened last night?" While he spoke, Zoro noticed how Luffy's eyes darkened and his voice grew ever so slightly quieter. He sighed again and looked out to sea.
"I'm good; you're probably worse off than me to be honest. After we fell overboard last night I kept us afloat. I think you passed out at some point, and I eventually passed out as well. I actually thought we were going to die too, you know?" Luffy remained silent. "Anyway, before I lost it all I tied us together to make sure we wouldn't be separated but I must have blacked out close to this island because when I woke up, here we were. Alive." Zoro glanced over at Luffy, taking in his tanned face, the scar under his right eye, his black hair… He had no idea what he would do if he had let Luffy die on his watch. Even the thought of it made his heart twist into knots with guilt, rage, grief…
"Yep, alive." Luffy said, turning his face to look Zoro in the eye, a big smile cracking his face in half. Zoro smiled back at him after a moment, glad that he didn't have to worry about all the what if's.
Luffy kicked his legs in the air, and pushed himself back up into a seating position. He turned and looked back at Zoro, who was still lying on the warm sand. "So then Zoro, what do we do now?" He asked, his voice reflecting the gravity of their situation. Zoro frowned. Not only did he not like it when his captain's bubbly cheerfulness vanished, but he also didn't like how most of the decisions always ended up being made by him. Honestly, Luffy was the captain; this kind of thing was his decision. "On second thoughts," Zoro thought, "Maybe its best if I take this choice. God knows what Luffy would decide!"
Sitting up so that he was face to face with his so called captain again, Zoro thought hard for a moment or two. He gazed out at the sea, wondering where on earth their crew would be, and if they would be able to find them considering the conditions when they fell overboard. He looked over to the forest as well, trying to work out if there would be any resources available to them in there.
Luffy's frown deepened with each extra minute Zoro stayed silent gazing about him. He wanted to get up, and go explore the rest of the island! He wanted to climb the trees and swing through the branches; he wanted to chase the bigger animals and cook them; he wanted to build a den under the canopy; he wanted to play! And yet here Zoro was, sitting in silence and thinking. Just as Luffy was about to jump on Zoro and demand he explore with him, Zoro snapped his head back to look at Luffy. Luffy shrank back with an innocent look on his face, inspecting the sand around him as though it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen. "Does he know what I was planning?" Luffy thought, eyeing Zoro suspiciously. Thankfully Zoro seemed oblivious as to the injury he had just avoided, because he started explaining what their plan would be.
"Okay, so we don't know where the others are; how far away from us they are, if the ship's okay, that kind of thing. Knowing them though, they're fine and will probably come and look for us soon. Until then though, I think the best plan of action would be for us to just sit tight and wait for them to find us." He said, with a nod. Luffy gawked at him, and flopped back down on the sand. "But that sounds boring!" He whined, rolling around on the sand as he did so. Zoro groaned and face palmed.
"Okay then, how about we… Call it a survival game?" Zoro asked, not sure if this would be enough to satisfy his childish captain. Luffy shot up like a bullet, a massive grin on his face. "A GAME?!" He asked excitedly, bobbing up and down a bit.
"Evidently it is enough…" Zoro thought. "Yeah, we have to collect fire wood, food, find shelter that kind of thing until the crew finds us." He said, making it up as he went along really. "If we manage to survive until then, then we win!"
Luffy was staring at him with a determined expression on his face. "There's no way we'd lose Zoro! We're the best team ever! Let's GO!" And with that shout, he jumped up and started running towards the forest, waving his arms in the air. After a few metres though, he stumbled and fell to the ground with a surprised 'oof'. Zoro sighed and, after picking up Luffy's straw hat, walked over to his black haired friend and helped him up. Then the two delved into the forest, Luffy's arms over Zoro's shoulders and small grins on each of their weary faces.
So? Did you like it? Did you think it was okay? I hope so :) Please feel free to drop me a review, and if you want to follow/favorite then go ahead! If I'm taking ages to update again drop me a PM to kick me up the backside, chapter 5 is already written and I just need to start on chapter six now. Anyway thank you for your support, King Pingu, OUT!