A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer to finish. I left for the weekend and forgot to bring my laptop with me (who does that?). This one turned out to be more of a filler chapter anyway. Hope you still enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece (please try to contain your shock)
Warnings: Language.
Zoro forced his way through the door of the men's sleeping quarters and stalked out onto the lawn of the Sunny, growling continuously under his breath as he did so.
"That stupid, rubber-brained idiot! If he so much as thinks about- Argh! I'm gonna be in a shit-load of trouble!"
The angry swordsman's early morning rant was cut short as he spotted a bright patch of red cloth in the middle of the Sunny's grassy deck. He gave another snarl as he immediately recognized it as the moronic captain in question's shirt-vest.
Luffy was currently sitting cross-legged on the deck with his back to Zoro, looking down and giggling quietly.
Zoro turned on his heel and walked in the direction of his captain's amused snorts and snickers, still fuming. "Where is he?" he shouted angrily. "Luffy, I told you not to eat-!"
Zoro stopped short as Luffy turned the top half of his body at an unnatural angle, revealing the baby Mastinia bouncing on the grass in front of his feet and chasing a long thread of blue yarn, the other end of which was being held between two rubbery fingers.
"Oh, hey Zoro," Luffy grinned up at the scowling swordsman. "Come look at what your pet can do. It's so funny!"
"Not mine," Zoro corrected automatically. He then grudgingly moved closer to watch as Luffy tugged quickly on the yarn and the furry pest flipped itself several feet up into the air to try to catch it. As it descended toward the deck again the Mastinia spread itself out mid-fall, its tiny body flattening oddly, and drifted down to the grass like a feather.
"The hell?" Zoro frowned, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What was that?"
"Maybe this guy is made of rubber, too," Luffy suggested with another chortle. He yanked on the yarn again and the Mastinia repeated the action.
"Eh, I doubt it, Luffy," Zoro looked on for another moment before bending down with a sigh and scooping the small animal from the Sunny's manicured lawn. It squeaked at him in a way that Zoro could only interpret as 'happy' and twisted its head around to look up at him. "Come on," Zoro told the both of them. "You two can play later. Let's get to the kitchen before the shit cook starts chucking pans at us again."
Luffy looked put off for a moment as his new friend was snatched away from him but brightened immediately at the mention of the kitchen, which no doubt promised breakfast. "Okay!" he agreed and leapt to his feet to bounce away, the baby Mastinia completely forgotten from one instant to the next.
Zoro shook his head once in exasperated resignation and followed his energetic captain while the furry little mutant continued to make pleased chirping sounds in his direction.
Zoro ignored it.
An hour later Zoro and the rat were waiting for Robin, Franky, Sanji and Luffy to join them on the shore of the forested island. Robin was coming along for her source of information and Sanji because Robin would be there. Franky insisted on going as well, claiming boredom as an excuse. Luffy would be accompanying them because, well, it was Luffy, and there was simply no way the captain was going to miss out on what could be an 'island adventure'.
Zoro folded his arms and sighed in frustration. He was okay with Robin's company and he could tolerate the cyborg quite well. Luffy was (understandably) a bit worrying for the swordsman but he had plenty of experience in dealing with the stretchy idiot. But why did he have to put up with the shit cook, too? Wasn't one nuisance enough for this trip?
Zoro gave another huff of irritation and the Mastinia squeaked at him in question from where it perched comfortably on his shoulder. The thing had started out back inside the haramaki, but as it spotted the forests of its home it had crawled up Zoro's shirt to settle beside his earrings, chirping happily once again. Not in the mood to fight with it, Zoro had simply allowed the tiny beast to stay where it was. For now.
"'S fine," he rumbled back at the Mastinia, thoroughly disturbed by how well he could understand the little monster, even without the use of actual words. "But they'd better get their asses down here fast. I want to get this over with."
The group didn't have much time for their little excursion anyway, as Nami had told them to return to the ship in no more than two hours, as that was when the log pose was due to set itself for the next course. If Zoro had to guess, the course would take them to the island directly after this one, then the one after that, and so one until they were free of the string of heavily wooded islands.
Zoro frowned as he remembered Chopper happily pointing out that this route would give them even more opportunity to find a colony for the Mastinia. He hoped their goal would be accomplished on this island, as he didn't know how much more teasing and unwanted clinging (from the crew and rodent respectfully) he could take without going insane.
After another minute Robin and Franky moved into view on the Sunny's deck, the archeologist sitting comfortably on the cyborg's arm as he leaped over the railing to land on the beach. Franky lowered Robin to the ground in an unusually careful manner and turned to watch Luffy and Sanji land beside them.
"Alright!" Luffy said loudly with one hand on his hat. "Let's go find some food!"
"For the Mastinia," Sanji finished pointedly. He looked to Robin for approval on correcting their idiot captain, his eyes gooey and sparkling.
"Yes," Robin nodded calmly. She walked over to where Zoro stood a few feet away and raised a hand to pet the baby's furry little head. "And to find others like him, if we can."
"The sooner, the better," Zoro agreed as he leaned his head away from the bushy tail now tickling his ear. "Let's go."
"Yeah!" Luffy punched the air and ran ahead of the group as they started toward the forest. "Lets go eat the Mastinia!"
"Find the Mastinia!" Zoro and Sanji both snapped at him.
"Jeez, Luffy," the cook continued. "You literally just ate. Bottomless pit."
Luffy paused on the trail to look back at Sanji over his shoulder. "But I'm hungry," he explained.
"Then you'd better hurry and find the colonies," Sanji told him firmly.
This seemed to give the captain a new resolve as he ran ahead even faster than before. "Alright!"
"Is this even gonna work?" Zoro wondered out loud. "What if we can't find them?" He had been trying very hard not to think about that possibility.
"Then it looks like you'll have a super pet after all, Sword Bro," Franky grinned at him knowingly, as if this was what the swordsman had been secretly wishing for all along.
"That is not-! Arg!" Zoro shook his head in frustration, making his earrings clank together and scaring the fur ball right back into his haramaki.
"I'm sure we'll be able to find them, Swordsman," Robin said, moving to place herself between the two men as they walked along the path.
"Don't know about that," Sanji mumbled from the back of the group. "With the shitty swordsman leading us back to where he found it, we could be here all damn week and never see any sign of a colony."
"You wanna get cut?" Zoro snarled over his shoulder.
Sanji shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "I'm just telling it the way it is, idiot moss head. You couldn't find your way out of an empty room, and this forest isn't exactly laid out in grids."
"I do have an idea," Robin cut in before a fight could erupt in the middle of the path, "as to where they might be. We can check that area first, then continue if necessary."
They all agreed it was probably their best bet, and Franky and Zoro moved back to let Robin lead the way.
"Eh," Franky started a few minutes later. "Where's Straw Hat?"
"No idea," Sanji dismissed the question immediately.
"Who knows?" Zoro shrugged.
"He'll be fine," Robin agreed.
They had only taken a few more steps when they heard Luffy's loud shout through the dense crop of trees from somewhere up ahead of them. This was followed by a resounding crash and what sounded suspiciously like falling rocks.
"Or maybe not," Robin amended. She turned to look at Zoro and Sanji but they had already taken off in the direction of the uproar.
The Mastinia squealed when the swordsman began sprinting down the path and ducked its head inside the haramaki.
"It's fine," Zoro frowned at it. "Just stay in there."
"If you don't stop talking to that thing," Sanji said from beside him, "I'm going to start to actually worry about you, shitty swordsman."
"Stuff it, love cook," Zoro scowled. "It's not your business. Just keep your trap shut and help me find Luffy."
"Don't wander off, then," Sanji retorted. "One lost idiot is all I have the patience for today."
"I do not get lost!" Zoro snarled.
"You'd get lost on the damn deck half the time if someone wasn't babysitting you, moss-for-brains!" the blonde man sneered back.
Zoro put one hand on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji and bared his teeth. "You wanna fight it out, curly brow?" he shouted.
"If you think you can beat me, cave monster!" Sanji skidded to a halt on the dirt path, sending a dust cloud into the air around them.
Zoro stopped as well and pulled his sword free of its hilt. He faced Sanji as the cook raised his right leg, preparing for the first attack.
"Uh…hey, guys?"
"WHAT!" Both men whipped around at the interruption and froze in surprise, mouths open and argument completely forgotten. Their reactions weren't all that unwarranted, given the sight that met them when they turned to look down the path.
"What the hell?" Zoro gaped.
"Luffy!" Sanji was equally flabbergasted. "What happened?"
Their captain was standing casually in the middle of the path, and looked for all the world as if the fact that his face and left arm were swelling and growing blue bubbles from his skin didn't concern him all that much.
"Eh…well, you see," Luffy started, his voice coming out strained and slurred. "There was this snake thing, and I just wanted to play with it but it bit me and I think it might be poisonous cause I can't really breath anymore-"
"IDIOT!" Zoro and Sanji both shouted before simultaneously darting forward and grabbing Luffy wherever they could reach to pull him down the path.
"We have to get him back to Chopper," Sanji said unnecessarily. "Dammit, Luffy! Can't you stay out of trouble for five minutes!" He had apparently forgotten that both he and Zoro had been causing trouble (with very little outside help) not thirty seconds before.
A sudden though occurred to the swordsman as they dragged Luffy back to the Sunny, the captain's rubbery legs flapping out behind him like bizarre wind socks. If they wasted their precious time taking care of Luffy, they would miss their opportunity to scan this island and would have to take the Mastinia with them to the next one. Which meant more time he would be forced to endure the rodent.
Zoro growled under his breath and tightened his grip on his moronic captain's shirt. As soon as Luffy was saved by their doctor, Zoro was going to kill him.