Wow! Crazy story behind this chapter, I tell you!
See, I was pulling an all-nighter on coffee POWER, and I finished a little early. By early I mean two in the morning, with at least another hour of coffee POWER in my system. So I figured I'd work on this chapter a little, then go to bed.
… The flash drive with the half-completed chapter wasn't registering in the system. I was really, really upset and did what any sane person would do.
I turned on and off the computer, trying to get the flash drive to work for the next hour. Eventually the coffee POWER wore off, and I went to bed. I woke up the next morning and tried it again. And again. And again.
By now you should realize that I get very OCD when it comes to the computer not working properly.
So I was so upset, I went and turned on my other computer (the flash drive worked for that one, oddly enough), burned the entire flash drive to a CD, and brought the CD to this computer! I then typed up this chapter as my way of saying "TAKE THAT COMPUTER."
I was quite pleased with myself. :D
But thank you all for the lovely reviews! I swear I was blushing. x3 And guess what? One of the reviewers guessed correctly about Kuro! Congratz to bookishangel; you may not be surprised later, but I'm glad that I'm not too vague in my hinting! 8DDD
This is a somewhat short chapter, but I really need to work on my schoolwork right now. And it's a good place to end this, I think... But other than that I'm not sure when I can update again. Schoolwork's been hell lately.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Aladdin. Why must I continuously remind you? Stupid priorities... TT
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
" You are a worthless street rat! You were born a street rat, and you'll die a street rat! And only your fleas will mourn you!"
~Prince Achmed
Usopp didn't get much sleep last night.
Maybe it was from worry, maybe it was from the fact that he was traveling with royalty. It really hadn't bothered him with Luffy; but it could be that he was traveling with someone that actually acted like royalty.
It could also be the two guards that were traveling with her.
They had refused to sleep (although Usopp woke up early and found them snoring against each other) and didn't trust Usopp one bit. When he tied his horse alongside the camel they eyed him as though he were about to draw a weapon from the bag. When they gave him some food they watched him chew as though he were about to spit on Kaya, who was more than kind to the boy.
Now, as he helped them take down their tents (under Yosaku's watchful eye) he carefully strapped them to the camel and said thank you, but he'd better find his friends now. Kaya seemed surprised at this.
"Do you know where they are?" Usopp paused thoughtfully.
"... No. But I really don't want to intrude on you guys; you seem to be heading somewhere important." Kaya waved a hand.
"You can simply travel with us. We can see if we find your friends along the way; and if we get to a stop along where we're going, then we can leave you there instead. I couldn't possibly abandon you out here in the desert, where you might not find them at all!" Usopp warily watched Johnny and Yosaku's reaction to this, but they only watched him with narrowed eyes. He couldn't really tell with the masks how they felt about her offer. When Kaya followed his gaze she simply said
"We'd all be delighted to have you along. Isn't that right?"
They reluctantly nodded. So now they walked alongside Kaya's camel, with Usopp behind them on his horse. There was a long, awkward silence.
Not like Usopp could really stand the silence.
"So... where are you guys going, anyway?" Kaya turned and answered, much to the disapproval of the two guards.
"We're seeking refuge with the East Blue sultan. My father was..." Kaya trailed off with a sad look, making her seem a little more fragile than usual. Usopp decided to change the subject.
"You know, I once went to the East Blue palace. It's a beautiful place!" Kaya seemed unaffected, so he continued on. "I was there as a secret agent of the prince, Luffy D. Monkey! He and his brother had called me in to help rid the palace of an viking that had snuck into the grounds..." Kaya turned and stared at him incredulously.
"Vikings haven't been around for a few hundred years, Usopp." Usopp grinned.
"Which is why I was a secret agent! The whole thing was kept under tight wraps you know! The viking called himself 'Squishy the Terrible'!" Kaya's lips twitched in a small smile.
"Why would he call himself such a thing?"
"Because he would squish his victims to death with his fearsome weight! All of his victims were found with the same face; it was his calling card." With this Usopp puffed out his cheeks and pressed his forehead down to his eyes.
Kaya laughed out loud at the expression, much to the surprise of Johnny and Yosaku. They had been watching Usopp as well, and Usopp thought he saw a hint of a smile in their eyes. Usopp grinned at them.
"I bet you couldn't guess how I defeated him!" When they shook their heads, he held up an imaginary sword. "I simply poked his nose with the tip of a sword! It was a swollen thing, you see, and it caught my eye immediately! When I made a small cut on it, all of the air came rushing out of him in a great 'WHOOSH!'" Usopp flung his arms back. "His secret was only that he kept his mouth hanging open for fifteen years, and when he had trapped all the air in his body he stopped up the passageway with his nose! After I was done with him he was no more than 'Skinny the Coward', and he fled right back to his time a thousand years ago!" Usopp bowed as Kaya eventually recovered from her laughing, and Usopp thought he could see Johnny's shoulders shaking suspiciously. Kaya turned to Johnny worriedly.
"Johnny? Are you alright?" Johnny shook himself, but turned away.
"S-Sorry Miss Kaya... but..." A snort escaped him. "'Whoosh'!" Johnny turned back and mimicked Usopp's movements with the word. He burst into laughter along with Yosaku, who nearly fell to the ground.
"A-And that name! Squishy! HA!" Yosaku gasped out as the two collapsed on each other in their mirth. Kaya and Usopp soon laughed along with them, Usopp inwardly congratulating himself. Yosaku grinned back at Usopp.
"That's an amazing story! Where'd you hear that?" Usopp seemed almost offended.
"Why, I made that up myself! I'm an amazing storyteller, you see, and Luffy and the boys always love my stories!" There was a silence as they processed what Usopp had said. Johnny snorted.
"Luffy? As in the prince?" Usopp suddenly realized that if they had heard of Usopp the Vegetable Bandit, who had supposedly killed the prince, then they would immediately think him a criminal. Usopp waved his arms nervously.
"D-Did I say Luffy? I meant... Rufi! Yeah, Rufi! My... horse?" Usopp could have sworn the horse gave a incredulous snort at this. Kaya only smiled.
"Well, that's a nice name for a horse. My camel's name is Merri; he's been with my family since he was a calf." Usopp nodded, sighing inwardly in relief.
"That's a nice name for a camel. It reminds me of another story... If you want to hear it?" Johnny and Yosaku turned almost pleadingly to Kaya as she giggled.
"I'd love to." Usopp grinned as the two guards turned to Usopp enthusiastically.
"Well, it all started when I sailed the seas at five years old..."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Zoro had decided to take some form of pity on the panting prince the next morning. That is, he tied Luffy's arm to the saddle and allowed him to be dragged behind. Despite ending up with a mouthful of sand if he accidentally flipped over, Luffy was pretty happy with this.
So happy, that he decided to talk.
"Thanks for fixing my hat Nami! You did a really good job too!" Nami turned and eyed Luffy, who was laying on his back with the aforementioned hat on his chest. She only shrugged.
"You two did save my life back there. I forgot to thank you for that." Luffy grinned.
"Well, that's what nakama are for, after all!" Nami looked at Luffy curiously.
"That's right. You never mentioned what 'nakama' meant. Is it your group name?" Zoro was silent, wanting to see how Luffy explained what nakama meant. Luffy turned on his side thoughtfully, holding his hat to his head as he spoke.
"Nakama... Ah, what did Shanks tell me? Nakama..." Luffy flipped back on his back, scratching his extended arm absentmindedly. "Nakama means... like more than friends. Like family, but..." Nami eyed him suspiciously as he shrugged to the best of his abilities. "I guess it's like a really, really close family. There's something more, but I forgot it. So we're all a family, right?" He looked up at Nami, who had gone silent at the word 'family'. She looked away.
"Sure... Luffy. Family." Despite Nami's reaction, Zoro was fairly impressed with Luffy's explanation. It left much unsaid, but... he turned in his saddle and glanced back at Luffy, who grinned at him. Zoro only grumbled and turned forward.
"Damned kid." Luffy laughed.
"Shishishi~! You remind me of my nii-san! He's always mad at me too!" Zoro rolled his eyes and sarcastically wondered why. "But he's still pretty cool. Usopp told me that when he was arrested, Nii-san went and told him that he believed Usopp!" Nami blinked; she hadn't taken up Usopp or Luffy's claim on Usopp being a bandit, but...
"What was Usopp arrested for?" Luffy made a face.
"Someone was being really stupid, and they thought that Usopp killed me. I was kidnapped by a mystery ossan, and I promised Shanks that I would have a great adventure before I went back. So me and Zoro saved Usopp instead! Right Zoro?"
"Hn."
"Wait, wait, wait." Nami held up her hands. "Why didn't Shanks just tell the kingdom that you had left? And why are you leaving anyway?" Luffy shuddered.
"They were gonna send me to the Amazon Lily princess when I turned eighteen. And Shanks didn't tell anyone because it's a secret." Nami had heard of the Amazon Lily princess, and could only stare at Luffy in disbelief. No wonder her first attempts at tricking him hadn't worked, if he was afraid of the fabled princess that was supposed to be the most beautiful in the world. Then the fact that it had been a secret came to Nami's mind and she slapped her forehead.
"But you've told everyone we met. How is that a secret?" Luffy stared at her incomprehensibly.
"... I don't get it." Nami felt as though she had to climb down and pummel him. Zoro saved his life (unknowingly, of course) by pointing ahead.
"Isn't that Usopp?" Luffy wriggled his arm free from the saddle and stood.
"Hey! That's Usopp!" Luffy cupped his hands around his mouth. "USOOOOOOOOPP! WE FOUUUUUUUND YOUUUUUUUUU~!"
Usopp and the three gave a start and looked back, where Luffy was running up to them. Usopp gave a grin.
"Luffy!" Kaya blinked rapidly.
"Luffy?" Luffy blinked.
"... You're that one person... Um..." Luffy tried very, very hard to remember, much to Usopp's amusement. Usopp jumped off the horse and hugged Luffy.
"I'm so glad you found me! This is... Hey, how do you know her?" Kaya waved at Luffy.
"The East Blue and Syrup kingdoms have an alliance with each other. I went with my father once to negotiate some things. I met Luffy and Ace then." Luffy slammed a fist into his palm.
"That's right! You're that girl that liked the flowers! Shishishi, Shanks even gave you some from another country!" Kaya smiled slightly.
"It's good to see you again... but how do you know Usopp?" Luffy patted Usopp on the back.
"Usopp's my best friend! We're going on an adventure with him and two others!" Johnny and Yosaku blinked.
"Why is the prince of the East Blue out of the palace? And without a guard?" Just as Johnny said this, Zoro's horse came up. The look on his face was more than enough to send Johnny and Yosaku in front of Kaya protectively, but then Zoro hopped off his horse and grabbed Luffy. Zoro shook Luffy as Eyelashes came up behind Zoro.
"Dammit Luffy! Don't run off like that! It hurts like hell!"
"Sorry Zoro..." Zoro only dropped Luffy with a scowl. Nami blinked at the girl.
"Usopp? Who's this?" Kaya slid off the camel and bowed.
"Hello. My name is Kaya, princess of Syrup kingdom. Usopp mistook our fire last night for your own, and he's been traveling with us until our next stop. Luffy," she turned to Luffy who dusted himself off. "There's been a terrible thing at Syrup palace. My father..." Kaya's eyes teared up and she choked back a sob. Yosaku stepped forward.
"The palace was attacked. A lone man came and blocked off all exits, then slaughtered everyone in his path. We were only able to escape with the princess, and the sultan gave his life when he attempted to stop him. We never saw him ourselves, but..." Yosaku trailed off and Johnny picked up.
"The servants outside the palace described him as a man with glowing eyes, red as blood. They said he had ten claws and moved with the speed and silence of a tiger. Yet he moved through the shadows like some sort of phantom." Kaya wiped her face and turned to Luffy, who was silent as he took in this information.
"Luffy, can your grandfather give us refuge? We don't know if the man will come after us again, and..." Luffy grinned.
"Of course Gramps will! You won't have to worry about the mystery man with him or Shanks; Gramps has a really, really hard punch! (Luffy unconsciously rubbed the top of his head as he said this, much to the horror of the group) And Shanks is just as good a fighter as him; even better! He taught me and Ace everything we know about fighting!" Kaya smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Thank you Luffy. But why are you outside of the palace? You're still only seventeen..."
"Oh! I'm running away!" Johnny and Yosaku sputtered at this.
"Running away?" Johnny demanded. "What kind of prince runs away the year before he becomes sultan?"
"One who doesn't want to get married." Zoro put in. Yosaku stared at Luffy.
"But you have the choice of any princess of the country! East Blue is practically the capital of the country; I bet you've been begged to be married to princesses!" Luffy frowned.
"Yeah. But I don't like the ones that always ask. They're rude to other people, and they won't stop touching me!" Luffy shuddered, much to the disbelief of the group. Zoro shook his head sadly.
"Idiot." Johnny looked at Zoro oddly.
"So, who are you anyway? His guard?" Zoro scowled.
"No." Yosaku nodded solemnly.
"It's okay, brother. You can tell us. We're supposed to be secret guards of Miss Kaya, but we didn't hide it from you! Don't be ashamed to serve your country!"
"This isn't even my country!"
"Hey! That's taking the whole act a bit far..." Zoro slapped his forehead as Luffy laughed.
"No, Zoro's my friend! I found him in a mystery cave!" There was a bit of an awkward silence at this. Johnny coughed slightly.
"... Right. Why do you have three swords? Although they're really weird looking..." Zoro scowled.
"They're katana. I use all three." The two stared at him incredulously as Luffy nodded.
"Yeah! He's really good at it too! He cut up this one bandit into a bunch of little pieces! Course he put himself back together, but..." Luffy trailed off as Johnny and Yosaku regarded Zoro with an odd look in their eyes.
"Brother..." Yosaku started. Suddenly the two threw up their arms as their eyes widened.
"YOU'RE SO COOL!" The look on Zoro's face was akin to murderous rage as the two began an odd dance around him. They stopped and stared at him seriously in similar thinking poses, nodding to themselves.
"Such devotion!"
"And so stoic!"
"And such unique weapons!"
"And that hair!" A vein throbbed on Zoro's forehead as they continued with their comments. The rest of the group sweat dropped. Kaya giggled slightly.
"It seems as though they've found a new idol." Nami shook her head sadly.
"Only a man would consider that lunk for anything else. Remind you to tell you about the time he stabbed himself to prove he could bleed." Kaya stared at Nami in shock and then looked at the barely visible bandage around Zoro's side.
"Then that wound..." Nami nodded.
"All self inflicted. And then he decided to bleed all over the place until he passed out from blood loss. Told us that he didn't know blood was so important to the human body." Zoro looked up from where he was considering mauling his two worshipers and shrugged.
"No one ever told me."
"That's because it's such a well known fact!"
"I obviously didn't know."
"And what does that say about you?" Zoro scowled, much to Nami's amusement. She exchanged a glance with Kaya and they both giggled slightly. Johnny and Yosaku regarded the two before sadly shaking their heads.
"Women."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Kuro stood on top of the dune with a thoughtful look on his face, eying the seven travelers below.
Well, this certainly was interesting.
Kuro wasn't sure what Nami was doing with them, but he knew it bespoke ill intents for the travelers. The girl was almost as clever and devious as himself, leaving behind her victims without a shred of mercy. But even with this knowledge, the look on Nami's face as she and his target laughed at the odd swordsman set off a few warnings in Kuro's mind, and he narrowed his eyes.
She almost looked... happy. Kuro shook off the notion almost as quickly as it had come. Nami was simply a good actor, and the past eight years of treachery weren't going to change for this one odd group.
Instead Kuro thought carefully about his plan. Obviously, he was counting on the three targets to be easy picking. He could easily walk up to them and not be identified, as they had escaped the palace before obtaining his identity. With Nami there though...
Well, she could be trusted not to speak, at the very least. The swordsman put a frown on Kuro's face though. The one with green hair looked powerful, to say the least. Kuro knew he could take on the two dancing around him with one hand behind his back, but should it come down to a fight between him and the katana wielder... It would be most troublesome. Then there was only one plan of action.
Kuro turned to the horse at his side, who was watching him warily through the odd red protectors over his eyes. The horse backed up a bit at the look in his master's eyes, bobbing the odd growth on his chin as Kuro calmly stepped forward.
"My apologies, Django..." Kuro held up a hand and claws sprouted from his fingertips to two feet in length, glinting off the odd red light shining from behind his spectacles as he slowly advanced on the terrified horse.
"But I never really did need a horse."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Nami laughed with Kaya as Johnny and Yosaku declared yet again how amazing Zoro was, much to Zoro's ire. Nami could practically see his temper shorten, and knew while that his genie status would prevent him from completely killing them, there were many options available to a magical being that were just short of death.
Zoro certainly was the kind of person for that thing.
Nami could only wonder what Luffy saw in him. It was obvious that Zoro hated Luffy with every fiber of his being, and were he not bound by the lamp he would leave him far, far behind. But Luffy always insisted that Zoro was a close friend; family, even. Usopp, despite his initial terror of the genie, also seemed to share the same opinion.
Nami had never been so confused by a single person. Luffy came off as a simple child, never really learning beyond his palace life. But his actions spoke of a wisdom beyond his years sometimes, despite the absolute simplicity of his logic.
Nami watched as Luffy laughed at the look on Zoro's face and slapped him on the back, making Zoro growl at him. Luffy only grinned in reply, and Nami thought she could almost see Zoro's face twitch in a return smile before he scowled again and scratched his bandages. Nami reminded herself to change them soon before she caught herself. Why would she care about this ragtag group? She was planning to betray them, and at the very least make much profit off of the prince himself. It almost made Nami sad to think about; he really didn't seem to enjoy being a prince, and Nami realized that perhaps having it all didn't really make one happy...
"Nami?" Kaya asked softly. Nami shook herself from her thoughts and met the princesses' eyes, still brimming with hidden sadness. No, being royalty didn't make things right at all. If anything they were just as much prisoners as herself and the genie. Nami schooled her features into a friendly smile.
"Yes?" Kaya seemed troubled, but let it go.
"I was wondering... why does Zoro seem so... angry?" Nami blinked.
"He's always angry. Pissed at Luffy for being stupid, pissed at the world for moving in circles, pissed at his lamp for..." Nami trailed off. She didn't really want to share Zoro's genie status for some reason. Kaya seemed confused at the unfinished sentence but shook her head.
"No, I mean... He seems so upset with... himself? With something about himself? I don't mean to pry, but he almost seems as though he's lost something dear to him. It seems to have something to do with the white... katana? That he carries." Nami blinked at the insight before watching Zoro carefully. Indeed, he seemed to unconsciously fondly the hilt of the white sheathed katana when a far off look occurred on his face. Nothing obvious, but he almost seemed... sick.
And then Luffy would say something and it would go away as quickly as it came. Nami wondered if Luffy did it on purpose, or if he just coincidently managed to distract the genie right as he seemed to become almost depressed. Nami shook her head.
"I don't know. I only met the group recently. But none of us know anything about Zoro at all. If Luffy does, he doesn't bring it up. We don't know where he came from, why he's here, or why he's always with Luffy. Usopp said that before Luffy rescued him, he had found Zoro somewhere." Kaya blinked.
"Usopp needed to be rescued? From what?" Nami decided not to answer, as Usopp was watching her with a panicked look in his eye. She turned away.
"I... I don't know." Kaya seemed to accept this.
"That's fine. I'm sorry I'm so invading..." Nami shrugged.
"It's okay. You have a right to be curious. We're the weirdest people you've probably ever met!" Nami winked as Kaya giggled.
"I'm sorry but... not quite so much as Shanks. Luffy is almost a complete copy of Akagami Shanks though, it's quite interesting. And that's his hat, isn't it?" Luffy perked up at the mention of Shanks and bounded over to her with a grin on his face.
"Yeah! This hat is my promise to him! I promised that I was going to have a great adventure before I went home, and then I would become the sultan! Gramps did the same thing apparently. That's where he met Shanks." Luffy nodded to himself. "And then Shanks turned out to be a-"
"Help me..." The group jumped as a faint cry came from behind a dune. Luffy blinked.
"Who's there?"
"Please... help me..." Nami's eyes widened. That voice... Luffy bounded over to the dune before Nami could stop him, exclaiming in shock at what he found. He waved back.
"Usopp! There's someone hurt here! Help me grab him!" Usopp went over and jumped back at what he saw, before disappearing behind the dune with Luffy. Soon the two came back dragging a man with them, plopping him unceremoniously in the center of the group. Johnny and Yosaku were instantly on their guard in front of Kaya as Luffy rolled the man on his back.
Nami's breath hitched at the familiar looking spectacles over his eyes and the smoothed back hair as the man gave out a groan. He looked roughed up, but Nami instinctively knew that the only harm that had befallen the man was self inflicted for the pity effect; a technique she herself used quite often. Johnny and Yosaku's description suddenly fell into place in her mind and her eyes widened in horror as the man sat up with bleary eyes.
"Where... where am I?" Luffy grinned as Nami stepped back in realization from the princess, but she was too focused on the man to notice.
"My name's Luffy! Who are you, mister?" The man carefully adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand, a maneuver that Nami knew all too well. The man struggled to get to his knees and bowed before Luffy.
"My name... is Klahadore. I thank you for saving me." Nami stared at the princess with something akin to terror as she stood closer to Zoro unconsciously
Who would have thought she would have stumbled on Kuro's target?
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Kuro eyed Nami over the container of water the princess had provided, noting how she seemed to avoid the princess as she watched him. Kuro knew that Nami certainly caught on quickly. Nami had always had a healthy fear of Kuro, as did many of Arlong's men, especially considering what tonight was.
All of Arlong's men knew what a full moon would bring for Kuro. Kuro carefully gave back the container under the watchful eye of the princess' two guards. They were so paranoid (although with good reason) that it almost made Kuro laugh at how they seemed to believe that they could protect the princess.
"Klahadore..." Kuro's eyes raised at his pseudonym. The princess stood and nodded at him. "I believe we never introduced ourselves. My name is-"
"Miss!" One of the guards cried. The other nodded.
"We have been lenient with you so far, but this is where we draw the line! I don't trust him! At least for our sake!" The princess hesitated before nodding slightly. Kuro was amused; didn't they think that he already knew of who she was? At any rate, she continued.
"And these are my... friends. This is Johnny and Yosaku" The two guards raised their swords threateningly. "Usopp." Usopp gave a small wave as the name clicked in Kuro's brain. "Zoro." Zoro only glared at him suspiciously, much to Kuro's annoyance. He would certainly prove to be troublesome. "Nami." Nami stiffened as Kuro practically leered at her. "And..." Here she trailed off. The boy only grinned, showing all of his teeth.
"My name's Luffy D. Monkey, prince of East Blue!" Kuro was taken aback, eyes narrowed as the group around him sighed. So that was Nami's investment; ransom, most likely. What he was doing outside of the palace was curious, but...
"I've heard of you. You're supposed to be murdered." Kuro stated. The princess seemed confused as Luffy frowned.
"Why does everyone keep saying that? No one killed me!" Kuro slowly stood, eying Usopp. Usopp stiffened at the look in Kuro's eye.
"No, I believe that's a question for the young Usopp here. Leader of the Vegetable Bandits, correct?" Usopp flinched as the two guards stopped short in surprise.
"Brother Usopp? What's he saying?" Kuro sneered at Usopp.
"What? You didn't tell your little friends?" Kuro could see how the bandit's separation would benefit him, and continued. "You're the infamous bandit of East Blue; who supposedly kidnapped the prince right out of his home. You were arrested and supposed to be executed, but you escaped the morning of your sentence. Now I see exactly how it is; you've tricked the prince into believing that he was your friend, and you plan to take him for ransom or slit his throat in your sleep. I would expect nothing less from a filthy bandit-" Kuro was cut off as Usopp socked him in the jaw.
Kuro fell to the ground as the shouts sounded off around him, rubbing his face slightly. The hit was quite irritating, but he lay still as he listened. Luffy, surprisingly, was shouting at him.
"Don't you dare say that about my friend! I've known Usopp since before I ran away, and he would never do something like that to anyone, especially nakama! If you ever say anything like that, I'll kick your ass myself!" The princess and her guards were staring at Usopp incredulously. Usopp simply hung his head as she softly asked
"Usopp... Is this true?" Usopp shook his head.
"No! Luffy is my best friend! I would never do something like that!" Johnny stepped forward, eyes narrowed.
"But what about the bandit part?" Usopp flinched.
"That... That's true." Yosaku stepped forward threateningly as Usopp rushed to explain. "B-But I didn't want to become a bandit! I just didn't have any food, and I needed to live! I would never hurt anyone!" Kuro growled under his breath as he stood, dusting off his cloak.
"So that's it then. You're nothing but a filthy street rat." Usopp stepped back at the venom in Kuro's voice. "Doing anything to preserve your pathetic existence. I can tell immediately that you're simply living off of the prince's hospitality, and perhaps plan to do the same with the princess here as well-" Usopp jumped forward and raised his fist again, only to be stopped by
"S-Stop!" Usopp paused in surprise, turning back to see the princess standing with a furious look on her face.
"Usopp... you can't hurt people for such things. Klahadore doesn't know you, but... Why would you lie to me?" Kaya asked softly, small tears in the corner of her eyes. "Where you really only kind to us... for food?" Usopp dropped Kuro and held up his hands as he stepped forward.
"Of course not! I really liked hanging out with you guys! You're kind, and smart, and-" Johnny and Yosaku stepped forward with their swords, a hard look in their eyes.
"That's enough!" Johnny growled out. Yosaku nodded.
"I think it's best if we depart ways here. We'll take Klahadore with us." Zoro held Luffy back as he growled at Kuro.
"Damn bastard! Don't you dare talk to my friend like that! Usopp's-"
"It's okay, Luffy." Usopp said sadly, turning back to his horse. "I think it's best if we leave them alone." Kuro watched silently as Usopp mounted the horse, the green-haired swordsman doing the same with his own horse. The princess offered Kuro her camel, stating that he was still weak, no doubt. Kuro looked back and smirked at Nami, who only looked away.
Kuro shrugged as the group split in two, the princess and her escorts going with him one way and Luffy and his group going another way. Kuro's eyes gleamed slightly as he eyed the sun that was just beginning to set back towards the horizon. With the minor threats to his plan gone, Kuro could easily slaughter the three.
He would have blood tonight, and it would spill with the rise of the full moon. All according to plan.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
… Please don't kill me. D:
Other than that, this chapter was a little... dark. This whole fic is quite dark compared to early One Piece, if you think about it. But they don't call the times the 'Dark Ages' for nothing! :D
And you get something about Zoro's past (sort of) thanks to Kaya's brilliant observations! He does, in fact, have Wado Ichimonji! And he's a bit depressed... :x
Kuro is such an ass, don't you agree? But you will learn a bit more about Zoro during this arc, and the ever popular question of what he was cursed by, and how!
… Anyway, a big thanks to kouriel, P, -RoronoaToki-, bookishangel, Tamari, animeXIII, and cb for your amazing reviews! Did I mention that your beautimus compliments made me blush? ^3^
Oh, and I forgot to mention, Tamari, that I'm glad you approve of my profile! A ZoRo fan, eh? I actually do enjoy it sometimes, but I'm mostly a ZoNa fan! Although I also love LuNa and ZoTash... But Tashigi really pisses me off sometimes. I'm not sure why. And are you mad? Franky was practically made for Robin! ;DDD The fact that Robin... manhandled him only sealed the deal! You could see the sparks fly throughout the entire Enies Lobby arc~ xDDD
Please review, and I hope that you guys are getting a kick out of all of these twists and turns! I know most people, when writing AUs in different settings, really tend to stick to the same plot, but then the WOULD NEVER factors came into play. So now the whole 'one degree turn' factor has been set off, and this is slowly evolving into a whole other thing...
Until next time! :D
… But please don't kill me, really. D8
