Title: The Wastelands
Pairing: ZoSan/SanZo
Summary: A series of drabbles in a post-apocolyptic AU in which a guy and his reindeer end up getting more than they bargained for when they pick up a certain blonde.
Warnings: Yaoi, foul language, slavery and discrimination (in later chapters).
AN: Ugh, this felt like a genuine effort to write but it had to be written or else the story wasn't going to get anywhere. I'm sorry it took a while but I rewrote this so many times just looking for the right way to word it :/ But now it's completely off to a kickstart and I can finally write longer, more fighting and more actual romance chapters. Sanji and Zoro's relationship will be a slowly developed one and there probably won't be any realisation of love until about 3/4 of the way through so please bear with me here :L
Either way, I hope you like this chapter and I wonder if any of you managed to guess who Sanji's Master was (he's finally mentioned in this, guys!).
Next chapter will be more Sanji, Zoro and Chopper and some definite awesome fighting. It should be up next week (but I'm terrible at updating). If it's not up it's most likely because I forgot I wrote it and didn't upload it so please feel free to leave me a polite (or angry) reminder ^-^
Please enjoy and review!
Zoro winced as he licked his bottom lip, his tounge pressing into the cut and making it burn fiercely. He didn't even know what he had done wrong exactly but he had to admit, he was impressed by Sanji's punch. For such a skinny guy he really did have a well executed swing.
Speaking of the blonde, Zoro looked across to the other man. Sanji was sat at least twenty metres away from him with his knees drawn up, face hidden by his fringe and his neck burrowed into the short sleeveless coat Zoro had given him. His bare feet were pressed into the ground, toes curled up and gripping at the thin layer of dust, reminding the green haired man that he really needed to find some shoes for the blonde to wear.
Chopper nudged him, snatching Zoro out of his thoughts, and snuffled at his mouth with a concerned grunt at the sight of blood. Zoro moved his head away, "I'm alright, Sanji didn't mean it..." He said, brushing the whole incident off with a shrug of the shoulders before frowning, "I think..."
Chopper made a funny noise, almost like a growl though reindeers weren't supposed to, and narrowed his eyes, sending a dirty look in Sanji's direction.
Zoro re-ran the previous events over in his mind, the events that had led up to Sanji's fist meeting his mouth, and paused as he remembered the feeling of the two rigid scars against his fingertips. Unconsciously, he rubbed his thumb over the pads of the two fingers he had touched it with and thought of how the blonde's face had twisted, how his body went stiff and the big blue eyes turned wild. Zoro swallowed thickly; that was what triggered the punch, that's what he did wrong.
But what were they? They couldn't have been just scars or else there would have been no problem with a brief piece of contact. No. They were significant scars, they symbolised something. And judging from Sanji's response, they didn't stand for something good. Guilt ebbed in Zoro's stomach; how could he have been such an idiot? Sanji was an escaped slave with no idea where he was or who to trust and Zoro- some stranger who just happened to pick him up- was poking in to his private life? "No wonder he fucking punched me," The green haired man murmured, a frown furrowing his brow. He looked up at Chopper, whom was still giving Sanji the darkest look a reindeer could possibly offer a person, and reached up, flicking his blue nose, "Hey, stop that- I deserved it."
Chopper snorted, wrinkling his nose, and gave Zoro a sceptical look. Zoro cocked an eyebrow at him and ran a hand up his snout to grip the base of his left antler, which was bigger than Zoro's entire arm, under the metal ring and pull the deer in closer so they were at eye level.
"Remember when I found you?" Zoro asked and immediately Chopper's eyes widened, gazing at his friend with huge brown orbs. The deer grunted softly, "You were really scared of me, weren't you? You attacked me..." Chopper looked down in shame at that part and Zoro used his free hand to rub his crown soothingly, "But I deserved it- I scared you something stupid and that was the only way you could react. I cornered you and you panicked. So don't you see, Chopper?"
Chopper whined, no, no he did not see what his friend was getting at. Zoro offered him a warm smile, "Sanji is like you were back then. He's scared and lonely and I cornered him whrn I asked him about those scars so he panicked, just like you did! Don't you see?"
The large reindeer nodded in response and Zoro hummed thoughtfully, "He needs to be shown that I'm not scary... We can do that can't we?"
Chopper snickered and pushed his head against Zoro's chest and neck, almost knocking the man off balance. The green haired man huffed with a smile and tickled the back of his ears, making the deer whine in contentment before he pulled away to look at the blonde.
The other man was still drawn in on himself, showing no signs of having overheard their discussion, with the sunlight directly hitting his back in a way that Zoro knew from experience would be uncomfortably hot but Sanji didn't seem to care. There was something unsettling about the way the blonde man just sat there, gathered up, as thin as Chopper's antlers and completely numb to his surroundings. It wasn't right and a sense of nervousness writhed in Zoro's stomach. If Zoro was going to have to get through to Sanji it was going to be hard work and he knew it. He let go of Chopper and let his fingers grace along Wado, her white case glinting in the light, and he nodded to himself. He would have to build up a level of trust with Sanji, just like he had all those years ago with Chopper. It would take time, he knew, but if you wanted something badly then you had to work to earn it and Zoro wanted more than anything right now for Sanji to be his friend.
"So you've found him?"
"No not yet, sir. But we believe we're on the right track."
"How so?"
The young Slavemaster swallowed tightly, a bead of sweat formed on his temple and slowly crawled down his face. Fear trembled through him as he faced the row of scuffed windows. Dirty sunlight made shafts of murky yellow on the cracked tile floor and dust danced in the patches of light. To his right was the man who'd addressed him. He had his back facing the Slavemaster and was leant against the window frame. He was tall, unnaturally so and held an aura of danger and importance that shrouded him tighter than the feathered jacket that he wore. He turned to face the young man and the lenses of his glasses flashed eerily, "How so?" He repeated once more, his lips pulled in a serious line, "Tell me."
"We have someone tracking him. He's the best in the business, I made sure of it. He said to leave it all to him and he'd have Twenty Eight back quicker than you'd believe."
The taller man smirked and rubbed his fingertips over the rings on his left hand, "And who is this 'Best In The Business' man?"
"He... He didn't give a name sir. He said to tell you that The Hyena has got it all under control."
The man paused in fondling the rings and chuckled, "Fufufu~ 'The Hyena', eh? It's nice to hear from him again, I was beginning to think he'd died... Well you may tell dear Bellamy-kun that I give him my regards and that I demand he finds my little runaway soon- we don't want Twenty Eight to actually get back to his hometown now."
"Yes sir," The Slavemaster replied and turned on his heel to leave.
"Oh, and find Two for me. I have a little... issue... that I need to be resolved and send word to Sixteen his medical skills will be required afterwards."
"Yes, sir," The Slavemaster opened the door and the other man smirked behind him.
"And please, address me by my title from now on."
The younger looked back at the tall man who was now admiring both sets of rings on his hands and nodded curtly,
"Of course, Joker-san."
AN: Why are they so determined to capture just one slave? What will happen when Bellamy finds them? You'll have to wait to find out! ;)
Please review- I'd like to know how many of you guessed Joker would be Sanji's Master ;)
