dragoscilvio requested Zoro being hunted/attacked by an exorcist. Enjoy!

Non-humans: WW Zoro

"Thanks for staying out here with me," Zoro said as he sat on the stairs with Brook.

Brook chuckled. "Oh, it's not a big deal, Zoro-san. I enjoy sleep, but these bones don't really need it . . . and besides, I still owe you for getting my shadow back."

Zoro placed a hand on Shusui. "That debt's already been repaid in full."

Brook would have smiled if he could. He straightened up and stretched (for some unknown reason, as he had no muscles to stretch). "I feel like some tea," he commented. "Zoro-san, would you like any?"

"Sure," Zoro said appreciatively, his tail wagging slightly at the thought of a hot drink. "Mind spiking it a bit?"

Brook chuckled. "Of course." He went into the kitchen, humming to himself. The door shut behind him.

Just a minute later, someone leapt up onto the ship from the pier below. Zoro hurriedly stuffed his tail into his pants and readied his swords.

It was a young man, perhaps the same age as Zoro. He had short black hair and wore an outfit much like Usopp's exorcist gear from Thriller Bark.

"Who are you?" Zoro demanded.

The stranger smirked. "Your downfall."

Zoro growled. "We'll see about that. What do you want?"

"Saw you walking around town today," the stranger explained, still smirking. "Couldn't help notice those yellow eyes . . . and something moving in your pants."

Zoro stiffened. "What about it?"

The stranger bowed mockingly. "Exorcist here, with the job of ridding this world of evil creatures such as vampires, demons—and your kind!"

Zoro snarled now, drawing two swords. "Bring it on."

The stranger seized something out of his pocket, stepped towards Zoro, and blew the stuff in his palm towards the werewolf.

Zoro inadvertently inhaled the particles. It got into his nose and mouth and the strong scent nearly overpowered him. He coughed, suddenly feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

"What . . . ?" he managed to get out, coughing to try to clear the stuff from his throat.

"Detoxified wolf's bane," the exorcist explained. "The scent makes your kind woozy—and a good thing, too, because otherwise you might have won!"

Zoro clumsily drew his swords and tried to run at the stranger, but his gait was slow and awkward, and he fell to the deck, dropping his weapons.

"Perfect," the exorcist whispered to himself, grinning. He drew out a silver dagger and swung it towards Zoro's heart—

—but by some miracle, Zoro managed to roll out of the way, and so the dagger sliced into his arm instead.

Fiery pain erupted where the dagger struck. Zoro was ashamed to find that he screamed out loud and clutched at his wounded arm. The veins turned dark from the point of entry as Zoro arched his back in pain.

"Zoro-san!?" Brook exclaimed, running out of the kitchen, leaving the boiling water. "Are you—who are you!?"

The exorcist looked up at Brook, momentarily distracted from his murder attempt. "Another one to exorcise?" he muttered to himself. "This whole ship is infested!"

"I beg your pardon!?" Brook exclaimed indignantly. He looked at Zoro and his expression hardened (or it would have if that were possible). "What did you do to Zoro-san?"

Without waiting for an answer, Brook ran into the men's room and yelled, "Emergency, everyone! Zoro-san's under attack!"

The men quickly rose from bed, awoken by the shout. "What's wrong?" Luffy asked sleepily.

"Zoro-san's hurt," Brook said. "He needs help!"

"Zoro?" Luffy demanded, suddenly wide awake. He and the others leapt out of bed and ran outside. The girls came out of their room, roused by the yells.

"Zoro!" Usopp cried. Their swordsman was still on the ground, writhing in pain and clutching his darkened arm and occasionally making strangled noises of agony.

"Who the hell are you?" Sanji snarled.

The exorcist smiled. "Don't worry. You must have been terrified, having such a terrible beast on board your ship! But he will die tonight, so you need not fear any longer!"

He drew out his silver dagger and prepared to plunge it into Zoro's heart.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

"Firebird Star!"

"Humming Strike!"

"Dos Fleurs!"

The exorcist was simultaneously punched, burnt, cut, and had his arm broken by Luffy's, Usopp's, Brook's, and Robin's attacks. He yelled out in pain and stumbled backwards, falling over the railing and landing on the pier. Luffy jumped down after him with an order to Chopper to get Zoro to the infirmary.

"It doesn't matter who or what he is!" Luffy yelled at the exorcist. "He's our friend, and we're not gonna let you hurt him! Don't come near our crew again!"

The exorcist coughed and crawled away silently. Luffy coldly watched him go and then quickly re-boarded.

He and the crew went to the sick bay, where Chopper was tending to Zoro. He injected a sedative and the swordsman's screams finally relented. His body continued to shake, covered with light perspiration. The area where the dagger had plunged into was still an ugly dark color, like an unfortunate bruise.

"What happened?" Franky asked. Everyone turned to Brook.

The skeleton shrugged helplessly. "I went inside to make some tea for the both of us. I heard a commotion and came back out . . . and Zoro-san was like this."

"He was stabbed," Chopper said, examining the darkened area concernedly. "But it's weird that he'd react like this . . ."

"That knife was silver," Nami remembered. "It burns him when he touches it, right? So . . ."

"So it's probably worse when it's inside," Usopp whispered, looking sickened.

Chopper looked like he was going to cry. "I—I'm not sure how to treat this!"

"Calm down," Sanji advised. "Think about what you can do. Look at his symptoms."

Chopper pulled himself together. "Right . . ." he examined Zoro quickly. "He's . . . he seems to be running a fever . . . he's in great pain . . . I think this is akin to being poisoned. His body might be able to fight it off if I can find some kind of counteraction. Thank god it didn't pierce his heart . . ."

"Zoro's gonna be okay, right?" Usopp asked, worriedly looking at the trembling swordsman.

"Of course he'll be okay," Luffy said confidently. "He's really tough, and we've got the best doctor ever!"

Chopper briefly went into one of his dances before becoming serious. "Okay, now get out of my office! He needs rest and I need to treat him!"

The rest reluctantly retreated.

Zoro finally woke up the afternoon of the next day. He felt hot, trembling, and the powerful scent of the wolf's bane was still in his mouth.

"Water," he croaked, sitting up and immediately receiving a splitting headache. Someone brought over a glass of water, tissues, and a bucket; Zoro managed to clear out his throat and blew his nose. Gradually his head cleared and he looked at Chopper.

"Chopper?" he mumbled. He winced and felt his still-throbbing arm. "Damn . . ."

"How are you feeling?" Chopper asked, clearing away the stuff on the bed.

"Arm hurts like hell," Zoro muttered, wincing.

"What happened?"

Zoro slowly recounted the events of the previous night.

"I see," Chopper said at last. "I need to keep an eye on you so I can document the effects of silver." His face became stern. "That means no training for a few days at most."

Zoro groaned. "Come on, I can train with the other arm just fine . . ."

He tried to get up from the bed but a sudden wave of nausea hit him and he sat back down hard.

"Don't make me knock you out," Chopper said, folding his arms.

Zoro sighed and rolled over. His head was still pounding and his arm throbbed.

The door flew open and Luffy and Usopp came tumbling in, tripping over each other.

"Is Zoro—? Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed, seeing that his friend was conscious.

"Hey," Zoro muttered in greeting.

"Are you okay?" Usopp demanded.

"I'll be fine," Zoro mumbled.

"He needs rest! You two stay out!" Chopper ordered.

"Guys?"

Luffy and Usopp, just about to leave, turned back to Zoro.

". . . Thanks."

They grinned.