Guarding the Guardian
Author's Note: New chapter for you all to enjoy. Please let me know what you think of it.
Chapter Four: Scavenging
Sanji caught the green head before it could collide with the ground and further scramble Zoro's already clearly damaged brain.
He grimaced and laid the unconscious man down gently before standing and surveying their new temporary home in the light of day. He wasn't sure how long the others would take to find the way back to them, or if their crew would even be the first ones to find them. This wasn't a big enough island for the log pose to point out so navigating back would be a challenge, even for his beautiful Nami-swan.
'That's if the storm didn't blow them off course...and they manage to guess where we are...and if they even realize we survived...' His mind supplied the grim truths despite his best effort to remain optimistic.
"First rule of being shipwrecked: always stay positive that this could be the day you get rescued." He reminded himself with a sigh as he stretched out his muscles.
"Second rule: take inventory first thing." He muttered, remembering the first thing the old geezer ever taught him; the concept of rationing food.
Shaking off the painful memories of hunger and endless days staring at the empty sea; the blonde brushed the sand from his salt hardened clothes as best he could, and then began carefully exploring the small island. He was pleased to find the scrubby bushes were covered with tiny purple berries. The cook recognized them from one of his ingredient books, though he had never actually eaten them before. He tasted one and grimaced at the sour juice but at least they were edible.
Spirits slightly higher, Sanji then turned his attention to the islands three trees. He found a few coconuts scattered on the ground, obviously blown free in the storm, and he could see several more still high among the leafy palm branches. That was a relief since the island had no other visible source of fresh water that he could find. Drinking seawater was a recipe for madness and death. Satisfied that they at least wouldn't starve anytime soon, he gathered driftwood and debris that had washed ashore since the storm and built a crude pile, to be used as a signal fire if they spotted a ship.
The cook picked a handful of the sour berries and scavenged two coconuts from the ground. Depositing them beneath one of the trees, he wandered back to his still sleeping crewmate. 'If you want to call that sleeping. I say he's out cold.' Something Chopper had said about concussions and sleep not being a safe combination drifted through Sanji's head and he nudged the swordsman's knee with the toe of his shoe.
"Wake up." He ordered. He wasn't overly shocked when Zoro didn't respond; even when he was healthy he could sleep through anything when the mood struck him to do so. "Marimo, get up and eat something before I kick you off my beach." He nudged a bit harder to illustrate the threat.
Zoro grunted as he became aware of the world again and stirred slowly. He had trouble getting his eye to focus properly and for a moment he could have sworn there were two annoying love cooks wavering before him. The idea was too much to bear and Zoro scrunched his eye closed again.
"Hey." The blonde snapped irritably. "Get up idiot. The tide will be coming in soon and I don't feel like explaining to Luffy how you drowned AFTER we made it to an island."
Zoro weighed the pros and cons of ignoring the annoying voice for a little longer, but quickly decided it wasn't worth it. He still took his sweet time stretching out the kinks in his arms and legs before he deigned to reattempt opening his eye and sitting up. It was the principle of the thing; he didn't take orders from the blasted cook.
The swordsman sat up slowly, using all the willpower he possessed to keep from throwing up as his head swam alarmingly and his stomach roiled in response.
He cracked his eye open and glared up at the curly-browed chef, who was watching him like a hawk.
"What?" He growled, hating how his voice came out sounding more like a rasp.
"Food." The blonde replied sharply. "And you need to move away from the ocean before it mistakes you for a piece of seaweed and reclaims you."
Zoro glared but didn't have the breath to argue. His chest felt funny, like it was beneath one of his larger training weights. It made it hard to catch his breath and left him wanting to cough almost constantly.
So instead of arguing himself into a coughing fit, the stubborn swordsman pushed himself to his feet. He swayed there for a few moments like a blade of grass in the breeze before toppling forward like a felled tree.
Strong hands caught his shoulders before he could hit the ground.
"Idiot." The cook grumbled as he shifted his grip to sling one of the half-conscious first mate's arms over his narrow shoulders.
Sanji dragged Zoro off the beach, towards the patch of grass under the tree he had chosen to leave the food near.
"Mm'fine." The swordsman huffed as he regained some of his motor skills and managed to take some of his weight off Sanji's shoulders; though the fact that he didn't make further effort to disentangle himself from the cook's grip was a telling sign about his actual state.
"Sure, and I'm a boxer." The blonde dropped his barely protesting cargo at the foot of the coconut palm; gentler than he would usually have been with the thickheaded moron but clearly things weren't business as usual. Something was seriously not right with the swordsman.
To keep from dwelling on the disturbing lack of fight from his nakama, Sanji busied himself with preparing the food he'd found.
Zoro settled himself against the tree with carefully controlled movements. If the cook hadn't known the stoic idiot so well, he might actually have believed the guy was doing better.
Preparing their food was a matter of carefully cracking open the coconuts on a rock and smashing some of the sour berries up with the coconut juice and pulp. Not up to his usual standards but it was the best anyone could do with the limited supplies on hand.
"Food, Marimo." He announced simply as he sat down beside the swordsman and held out the makeshift coconut shell bowl of purplish-black paste.
Zoro opened his eye blearily and Sanji was a little alarmed at how long it took the other man to focus his gaze on the proffered meal. Finally, the green haired swordsman reached out and took the bowl without a word, sending up more red flags in the chef's mind.
'I would've thought he'd at least have something to say about the quality of the food. Even I know this stuff isn't exactly appealing.'
Zoro began to eat his serving of goop placidly, his eye drifting shut again. To anyone who didn't know him, he might have appeared simply relaxed or at worst tired. However, Sanji could see the tension in his crewmate's shoulders as he fought to breathe evenly, probably trying to avoid another coughing fit. The cook could also hear a disturbing rattle with each careful inhalation. That had gotten worse since the morning and Sanji might not be a doctor but he knew that sound did not bode well. From this angle he could also see the gash on the idiot's stupidly hard head, and even through that ridiculous green excuse for hair it looked nasty. A bit of bone showed through the blood encrusted mossy strands. That couldn't be good...
'Stop it.' The blonde ordered himself. 'There's no point in worrying about him. That skull might as well be made of iron and he's way too stubborn to let a little cold get him down. He'll be fine.' Satisfied with his logic, Sanji focused on eating his own lunch, grimacing at the taste and pondering what he would add to improve it if he had access to his kitchen. 'Honey...chunks of cake maybe...a bit of cream...'
His thoughts were interrupted as the body beside him was wracked by a sharp cough. His gaze immediately darted to the swordsman, expecting another fit, but Zoro seemed to have mastered the impulse to clear his lungs any further. 'Either that or he's holding his breath...' The blonde thought, his eyes narrowing as he watched the green haired man struggle to control his traitorous body.
Finally, the tense muscles relaxed marginally and the tightly clenched eye opened.
Zoro glared as he spotted Sanji watching him. "What?" He growled crankily.
Sanji shrugged it off. "Just waiting to see if you were going to need me to hold your hair again, Marimo." He quipped with false lightness.
Zoro didn't immediately rise to the bait; honestly he wasn't sure he had the breath to properly insult the love cook. His head was actually feeling a bit better as long as he didn't move it, but the weight on his chest was beginning to concern him. He couldn't take a full breath and there was a wetness when he coughed that couldn't be a good thing.
'Probably just residue from the water I inhaled.' He decided before addressing the blonde who was still surreptitiously looking at him in thinly veiled concern.
"Shutup." He replied intelligently before closing his eyes.
Sleep would make him feel better. It worked on stab wounds, so it would work for this too.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Zoro's remedy for everything: sleep. Hehehe. Next Chapter: Zoro's usual cure doesn't seem to be working and there's no ship in sight. What can they do?