A/N: I may sound like a broken record, but I appreciate every review you guys give me. I should be honest though; this story was never intended to be more than 3 chapters, 4 at most. In my head, it was solely going to focus on Zoro and Robin, starting with them inside the tomb, having a fight at the center, and then getting out (basically why there was no back story to how they got there). The main purpose behind the story was to practice writing 'in character' stories while going beyond what would normally be canon and also to work on my abilities on writing fights. Now that we're on chapter 4 already and I haven't even got to the fight I was planning, Burichifan brings up a good point that I haven't been using the rest of the crew really even though they're directly involved (which wasn't intended at first). While I would love to adapt the story to fit in the rest of the crew, the truth is the plot is too shallow to allow it without their addition coming across as forced and out of place. That's not to say they won't be appearing anymore, it certainly isn't the case, just that until I finish this story we're just going to stick with Zoro and Robin. Sorry if that's disappointing, but I really want to wrap this story up nicely so I can focus on the arc (which is coming along very well, I really think you guys will enjoy it).
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Without hesitation, Zoro threw his body into Robin and knocked her to the ground. Protecting her body with his own, Zoro turned his head around to see what the trap had sprung. Sure enough, a cylindrical chunk of stone swung by harmlessly across the room. Confused at how "deadly" the latest trap was, Zoro couldn't help but wonder if there was something else headed their way. Continuing to cover Robin, Zoro furiously scanned the area for any other possible threats, he found none. It was at the apex of the swordsman's confusion that he heard a loud thumping noise, followed by a snap and then finally another thud and something hit the ground. The enormous space became enveloped in darkness, leaving only the swordsman and the archeologist illuminated by the dropped torch's light, and the slim ray of light coming from the roof of the room.
Looking down at his companion, Zoro finally came to the realization of the way he had pinned her down, though she didn't seem nearly half as bothered as he was about it. "Thanks, Kenshi-san. I think the danger has passed, you can get up now if you'd like."
Zoro quickly threw himself to the side and stood up, taking the torch in his hand again. Zoro started brushing off dirt from his pants while Robin stood up and observed the situation. "It appears that the diamond eye was knocked off of its resting area by that pillar, which would explain the sudden lack of light."
Zoro, satisfied with the condition of his pants, looked back to Robin. "Yeah, you're right, I also heard the chain the pillar was attached to snap, that's what the following noises were after the diamond was knocked off. Something is odd about that trap, even if the pillar had swung back this way a second time, there wouldn't have been any real threat posed by it. You would think that there would be something more… dangerous right by the diamond."
Robin nodded her head in agreement, pondering the same mystery as the swordsman. "Although… it did take away almost all of the light from this room, perhaps there is more to this trap than at first glance. We should proceed with extreme caution."
Not needing to be told that twice, Zoro began waving his torch around to see if there were any more devious mechanisms lying around. "It's too bad the last torches we saw were back at that hole, we should have brought more than one with us."
Sill not completely satisfied with his search but worried about what may yet come, Zoro decided that it would be a waste of time to look any longer and began walking to the altar with Robin behind him following closely. It was when they completely entered the vast chamber, leaving the hallway behind, that something else began to move.
Deciding that being lax was no longer a safe option; Zoro placed the torch sideways in his mouth with the flame as far away as he could get it to his right and proceeded to draw two of his swords, Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri. Robin felt incredulous at his decision to place the torch in his mouth. "Kenshi-san, let me hold the torch, you're going to burn yourself that way."
Even though Robin was right as Zoro could feel small burns starting to form, he refused to hand over the torch. "You need both of your arms to concentrate, Robin. There's something coming and it's going to take both of our strength to get out of here alive. Visibility is a problem, but if we stay together, it's something we can overcome. If I hold the torch, it makes it easier for you to react to the situation which is going to be a hell of a lot more useful than I would be. First thing is first, we need to restore light to this room." Still wanting to take the torch from Zoro but understanding his point, Robin responded affirmatively and stayed close to the swordsman, prepared to act at a moment's notice.
Slowly but steadily heading to the altar to locate the missing diamond, the two grave robbers grew tenser with each step they took. Looking to their left, the pair saw the swinging pillar that had broken laying on the ground, the chain still attached to it. Making it to the staircase, the two companions finally started ascending the staircase and as they made it halfway up, a large, unknown creature leapt from behind the altar towards the two.
Preservation of himself and his companion overcoming his senses, Zoro reacted with pure instinct. Turning to the side, Zoro raised both of his arms to his right side with his right hand behind his head. With a deep breath, the words "Nitoryu, 76 Pound Cannon!" subconsciously and loudly came from his lips as Zoro focused all of his strength into slicing at the air. Pulling both blades powerfully to his left across his body, Zoro created two gales of energy that swirled around each other as they barreled towards their target.
Already moving towards the duo in midair, the unidentified creature had no chance to avoid the oncoming attacks. The two gales of energy met with full force at the creature's center and shredded it to pieces. Zoro squatted down and shielded his face with his hands so that the blood from the assailant wouldn't get into his eyes or anywhere else important. Oddly enough, instead of feeling the familiar sensation of warm liquid covering him, the swordsman found himself being pelted with gravel and other small chunks of rubble.
Sheathing his swords, Zoro took the torch from his mouth and retreated down the staircase to inspect his recent attacker. Looking at the head, the first things Zoro noticed were the cracks and pieces of the face missing; whatever had attacked them was made of stone and looked mostly like a ceremonial statue. Putting the obvious question aside, Zoro continued his examination. The statue's face had canine features; a snout stuck out from the face and a long pair of pointy ears accompanied it. The face was mostly black; however there was golden lining around the lifeless, inanimate eyes of the statue and along the edges of the ears. Proceeding to inspect the rest of the body, Zoro was unable to notice any other features from the creature aside from its arms. Anything below the neck was mostly unintelligible since the attack severed the body and lower half had landed elsewhere.
Looking at the arms, Zoro saw similar traits to the head in that most of it was black stone with various golden linings decorating them, most notably a golden armlet and bracelet. Examining the hands, Zoro was startled to discover the extremely sharp looking, claw-like fingers that had been coated with dried layers of blood. Had they met his or Robin's body as was their intention, Zoro had no doubt that it would have done some serious damage.
Still uncertain on certain aspects of the creature, Zoro could think only to look at Robin for answers. Almost as if she knew what he was expecting, Robin stopped examining the body as well and looked at Zoro. "As I'm sure you've already gathered, this creature was made of stone, however impossible that sounds. Also just as crazy, I believe this to be a ceremonial statue that was commonly buried with rulers of certain civilizations. What I don't know is how it's able to move. Speaking of civilizations, though, does this statue look familiar to you?" Robin appeared to look expectant of Zoro.
Looking at the statue again, Zoro suddenly realized what he hadn't before. "The painting! This thing is the same as those creatures from that painting we saw earlier in the tomb."
"Yes, you're right. These are the same creatures that were on the painting we discovered earlier. There is one thing that bothers me, however." Robin turned back to the statue and began to rub her chin with her hand. "There was only one of these that attacked us, but on the mural they were larger in number…"
"Which means there are likely more of these damn things running around…" Zoro finished Robin's thought. "Shit, I hope the others are ok, who knows what else is in this forsaken place. Anyways, first things first, we need light, let's go." Zoro began his ascent up the staircase again and Robin followed him suit.
"Oh Kenshi-san, look at your cheek, it's burned!" Robin called out suddenly as the two were near the top. It was then Zoro felt the pain in his right cheek. Rubbing it tenderly, Zoro decided that it wasn't too bad and if it was anything worse Chopper would take care of it. "Here, let me take a look at it," Robin continued.
Stopping suddenly with a grunt, Zoro looked back nervously to the raven haired archeologist and saw she wore a concerned look on her face. Not one to deny a worried nakama, Zoro silently agreed by turning around and presenting his burnt cheek. Robin walked up and looked closely at Zoro's cheek, rubbing it softly with her hands to check for blisters or other skin damage; there was none.
"That's good; it appears to only be a first degree burn at worst, you should be more careful with that torch next time, Kenshi-san." Robin removed her hand and as Zoro looked back at Robin she responded with a smile. Zoro was startled when the smile Robin had just had disappeared with another look of concern. "Wait, your other side is red, too. Don't tell me you managed to burn both sides of your faces with that torch, Kenshi-san! Let me take another look."
As Robin reached up to inspect the side of his face that Zoro knew wasn't burnt, he decided he'd had enough and wanted to completely avoid the archeologist discovering the truth.
"It's fine, really." Turning around quickly and walking up the staircase again, Zoro managed to successfully prevent Robin from finding out that he had been blushing. He couldn't be seen as weak, especially not to her.
Finally reaching the top of the staircase, it became apparent that it wasn't just a single, wide staircase that led to the top, but rather a large circular staircase that surrounded the altar. Looking down the other side, Zoro saw that the large diamond was almost to the bottom. "Oi, Robin, there's the diamond. See if you can get it up here so we can get some light back to this room."
"Ok, just a moment." Robin crossed her arms and began to concentrate. "Treinta Fleur," Robin called out and arms started sprouting on each stair heading towards the diamond. Finally, the last arm grabbed the hulking diamond and began to relay it up the staircase towards the two. When it reached the top, Robin picked it up and placed it back on the receptacle under the light after examining it slightly.
Brilliant light filled the room again and both companions had to squint their eyes at the sudden explosion of radiance. Looking back towards where they came, Zoro nearly dropped the torch down the staircase at what he saw. There, at the edge of the room by the only exit, stood four more of the menacing guardian statues, all of them poised to attack.
Ending note: Ok so the focus on fighting was a little lost on this chapter, but at least I had some, right? Besides, this cliffhanger came to my mind and it was wayyyy too tempting to resist using it. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, however, that there will be plenty of fighting next chapter, so hopefully that will turn out well. I'm much happier with how this chapter turned out in comparison to the last one, so I still think the story can end strongly which is good since I was a little worried that it was too shallow to pull off. Anyways, I've basically decided on everything I want to do on the arc I've been mentioning, so there probably won't be any polls. The only stuff left for me to do is finish making the storyline/series of events, the new characters/villains, and their powers (I know the abilities, just need to come up with fighting styles, strengths, and weaknesses). So, you know, basically all of the hard stuff. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and who knows, maybe I'll fit in an extra update this Wednesday to make up for the lack of action in this one (not a promise, but I'll try).