As I said in the last chapter:
I CREDIT THE NAME 'ROROTAN' TO THE WANDERING SWORDSMAN. Just to make it clear :D cause I don't want the credit for it.
Ya know, I was reading over some of my old chapters, and I must say, my earlier chapters are much worse than my newer ones. I think I've improved! :D yay for me! But that still means that my older chapters suck, cause these chapters are also...meh ; n ;
Happy-chan: well, it's still too soon for everyone to be reunited. But i have a plan! muahaha~
Jamian: don't you worry! I am writing more, as you can see. lol and I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm gonna write. somewhere between 3 and 10. not that that really specifies anything. hooray for roundabout answers. :3
-PD
Breakfast was served and enjoyed. Nothing out of the ordinary, pretty much expected. Everyone went back outside and looked out towards the horizon, only to see that the ship was much closer than it had been before. This was most likely because it had turned around and was heading back towards them. Was this a problem? Most likely.
"Oiii! Everyone! The ship's changed course! It's headed for us!" Usopp called from the look out.
"What? That doesn't make sense! Why would a single Marine ship turn around to take us on?" Nami shielded her eyes from the late morning sun and looked out over the horizon. "It must be a trap. Well, we should be fine. The storm from yesterday didn't completely wear itself out so it's gonna be back in about 4 hours. Which'll put us at an advantage when we're fighting these Marines." She smiled, confident that her navigational skills would be able to get them out of this mess with out a scratch. Plus, they'd be able to find Zoro at the same time. Things were looking up for everyone, and the heavy atmosphere was almost completely lifted. There was still the faint glow of worry surrounding everyone, but they were all positive it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. "Alright everyone! We should wind up coming head to head with those guys the same time the storm is at its worst. We need to make a plan to rescue Z...Neko-chan from the enemy without getting ourselves captured."
"I vote the monster trio goes!" Usopp responded automatically.
Nami gave him an incredulous look. "Zoro isn't here. That's impossible."
"If that moron were here we wouldn't have this problem." Sanji commented as he lit up a cigarette. Everyone quietly agreed. What Sanji had said was true, but probably not in the way that he had meant. "Nami-san, if you don't mind, I have an idea."
"Go ahead, Sanji-kun. We're all ears."
"Aye aye sir~" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes. "Alright. The rescue team will consist of myself, Robin-chan, and Chopper."
"No! I want to go too!" Luffy pouted. "I want to help rescue Floofy!"
"We need someone strong to help defend the ship, plus we don't need someone as loud, impulsive, and reckless going about trying to be sneaky."
Luffy's pout didn't disappear, especially after being so openly insulted, but he accepted his role nonetheless.
"Robin and Chopper, you're coming with me because I need you, Chopper, to sniff out where Neko-Marimo is. You can do that right?"
Chopper nodded, pumped up and ready to prove that he could be incredibly useful with this rescue mission. "Un! I can do it, Sanji!"
"Yeah, I'm counting on you."
"Th-that doesn't make me happy at all bastard~" Chopper pulled his hat down over his eyes as he squealed to himself.
"Robin-chan, you are excellent at surveillance~ you're incredibly vital to this plan~" He gushed.
"I will do what I can, Cook-san."
"Nami-san, before we board their ship, we'll need an estimate of how much time we have so we can still make our getaway with the cover of the storm. Usopp, you keep a watch out and take people out long distance. Marimo, you—" Sanji's, and everyone else's as well, eyes opened wide for a moment before they fell back down to half mast. Sanji smiled sadly. "'Old habits die hard' as the saying goes." There was a moment of awkward silence before Sanji spoke again. "Well, until then, we wait."
No one even dared voice the possibility that Zoro was on that ship, or that he had even survived the storm. It was an unspoken understanding that to bring up such a ridiculous idea was taboo among Nakama. Of course Zoro was on that ship, and he was definitely alive and well.
o()o()o
Zoro was beached on Tashigi's desk. His stomach was killing him and he didn't understand why. He hadn't eaten much more than the usual...or maybe he'd eaten extra of those tasty dishes with the fried, green tomatoes and garlic. Or was it onions? But he'd only had a few! Much less than he usually ate.
'It'll pass.' Zoro assured himself. His belly thought otherwise and ripped his insides apart with an unhappy gurgle. 'Dammit, I said it'd pass! Listen to me!' He scolded his stomach. It tensed and twisted itself into knots. 'Owww...' It wasn't really pain Zoro was feeling – yet, anyways – but it was more of an intense cramping, and this was a totally different type of discomfort than what he was used to. "Mreeewww..." He needed Chopper; that little guy would know exactly what to do. Though, comparatively, Chopper was quite large to him at the moment.
"Are you alright, Neko-san?" Tashigi gently pet his head, trying to comfort her aching pet. "What's the matter?"
'My stomach hurts...' "Meee..." How he missed being able to talk.
"Aww, you'll feel better soon. You're probably not used to human food."
'No, I'm used to better human food.' Zoro thought bitterly. Sure, it'd been good, but Sanji's was still the best. Not that that even had to be said, it was like a fact of life. Just like no one had to be told that the sky was blue or that fire was hot and ice was cold. But...Zoro couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something more to it than that. 'Maybe if I just sleep it off it'll get better...' He could feel that Tashigi was still staring at him and tried his damnedest to ignore it. He was doing a pretty good job, until she started moving and readjusting him. 'What the hell is she doing?'
After much deliberation, Tashigi finally felt she had her answer. "Yes! I sure that you've gotten bigger again, Rorotan! It's like I can see you growing." Zoro didn't even bother to open his eyes. This woman would leave him alone eventually, and he really didn't feel like looking at her face at the moment. "Yes! You've definitely gotten bigger. You're already about 2 inches longer than you were this morning! Hmm...I don't think that's normal...I bet Smoker Taisa will know what's happening!"
Zoro was picked up from his spot far too roughly considering the state he was in. Many people would consider Tashigi's clumsiness an incredibly cute characteristic. But from the perspective of a victim to her clumsiness, it wasn't exactly a turn on.
"Smoker Taisa!" She tripped, almost falling on the floor but catching herself at the last moment. Zoro was positive that something had exploded inside of him. "I think there's something wrong with Rorotan! He's gotten really big really fast!"
Smoker shuffled his paper so he could look at Tashigi over the massive pages, his face in that constant, uninterested stare. "Oh?"
"Yes sir! Please look at this." She placed Zoro down on the table and held him on his feet, as he was in no condition to be standing on his own. The pressure to his stomach hurt like crazy, but all he could do was meow and try to scratch and bite his way out of a hopeless situation.
"Hm. He does seem bigger. Leave him here."
"But Smoker Tai—"
"Don't you have a training session that you need to attend to, Tashigi?"
"Ah! That's right! I'd forgotten! Th-Then I leave him in your care." She placed Zoro on his side as gently as she could, bowed to Smoker, and with that, the woman was gone.
Smoker stared at Zoro's seemingly lifeless body for a moment or two. "Uh...are you alright, Roronoa?"
'Shove it.' "Mra."
"You must be going back to normal soon if you're already starting to grow."
'Hm?' Zoro pushed himself up into a sitting position. His back legs were splayed and his bum rested flat on the desk. 'What do you mean?'
Smoker ruffled his newspaper, pretending that he was wholly absorbed in it. "Well, you didn't expect the change back to be instantaneous did you?"
'Yeah, actually, I did. Tell me what you know, bastard.' Zoro expressed this as best he could.
"Hmm...well, when people like you have first eaten one of those fake devils' fruits it's potent enough to create an almost instantaneous transformation." Smoker never looked up from his paper as he explained, but he made sure that his face was in clear view for dramatic effect. "But after its been in your system for several weeks, it gradually starts to work its way out of your body. So, as your body slowly rids itself of the fruit, you slowly turn back. Was that simple enough for you, 'Rorotan'?" He smirked, keeping his eyes trained on the line graph that showed this months' rise in real estate value. His smirk fell when he didn't hear an annoyed meow from the cat that was lying on his desk as if dead...he wasn't really dead...right?
"Oi, Roronoa." No response. "Oi, you alright? Dammit, I don't want a dead kitten on my hands. Tashigi will give me hell." He watched for the steady rise and fall of the small body. When he finally was able to see the expansion and contraction that was required for any living being, he sighed, letting a huge waft of smoke curl out from between his lips. He couldn't resist reaching out and petting the soft green head. He'd wanted to do this since first setting eyes on Zoro's new form, for teasing purposes of course, but he hadn't been allowed to due to the kitten's naturally rebellious attitude. However, not it was different from all those other times. This time he was more concerned than curious. He knew Zoro was getting bigger, so he must've been having some growing pains, but this would've been much too extreme for your average growing pains.
"What's going on with you?" Smoker got up and walked around to the other side of his desk and looked at Zoro for a moment longer. He was almost the size of a small, but full-grown, cat. That was definitely more than 2 inches of growth. However, Zoro still looked like a kitten. Odd. He picked Zoro up and placed him inside of his coat, where he knew he'd be warm. It was a little awkward for such am animal, but Smoker's coat was big, and with that they left the office, just as Tashigi had done minutes ago.
The second he stepped out into the refreshingly cool breeze, he was saluted and bombarded with concerns and questions.
"...huh?"
"Smoker Taisa! We're approaching the pirates we encountered!"
"Wonderful."
Author's Note
Hooooolyyyyyyy craaaaaaap! We've made it to the 10th chapter! Yay! :D and I'd say we're at least half way done, if not more so. SO! I'll see you in chapter 11!
And yes. It is short, but ya know what? I'm really stressed out right now. AND EVEN THOUGH I'M SHITTING BRICKS AND CRYING RIVERS I'm giving ya'll a chapter so shut up and be happy!
-PD
A stressed PD is a moddy, pissy, bitchy PD. Best to avoid contact at all cost unless through reviews. Those will be gratefully accepted.
+PSW
(P.S. I FOUND THE CUTEST PICTURE OF WHAT I THINK ZORO WOULD LOOK LIKE! http:/www .innocentenglish. com/cute-animals/cute-baby-kittens-puppies-img/sleeping-kitten-with-stuffed-toy-img82. jpg JUST DELETE THE SPACES. Hehe, it even looks kinda green :3)