here's Zoro! hope you enjoy the new chapter

chapter 10 enter zoro-pirate hunter

log entry day 3

We've been sailing for three solid days without an end in sight. Searching for this Naval base is proving to be quite difficult. This Zoro is Captain Luffy's next crew member and he's not letting up. Ichi-nee is our source of level-headedness as she has not risen from her seat near the bow. Captain Luffy has taken residence on the figure-head and is enjoying himself too much...

Lookout Edwedd

Zelda is currently looking to the horizon for the Naval base, to no avail. However Coby has the heading figured out.

"A demonic beast, huh?" Luffy asks Coby. Wanting to know more about the swordsmen.

"Roronoa Zoro is his real name...But they call him "Zoro the pirate hunter". Coby answers him "He's like a bloodthirsty hound...roaming the seas, hunting men for the bounties on their heads! They say he's a demon in human form."

Link stares at Coby hearing his declaration. He'll be the judge of first appearances.

"Luffy, he's a pirate hunter! Pirate hunters don't mix well with pirates!" Coby tries to make Luffy see reason.

"I haven't decided whether I'll invite him to join my crew or not." Luffy sends back, scooting around to face him on the figure-head. "If he's a good guy, then I'll-"

"HE'S IN PRISON BECAUSE HE'S NOT A GOOD GUY!" Coby yells at him frustrated.

"How do you know these rumors are true? Do these people actually see these occurrences in person or is it just bull-crapping around the flunkies?" Link asks Coby looking him in the eyes.

Coby sweats at his gaze and drops his head.

"We'll wait until Captain has had a chance to talk with him before you poison the meeting." Link declares

"MEAT! WHERE!" Luffy scrambles and falls into the water, Zelda catches him before he can sink like the anchor he is.

"We're finally here! We made it to the Naval base town." Luffy yells excited as the ship anchors. Paying the toll-man,
Zelda catches up with her crew.

"-Now lets eat!" Her Captain's word is law.

After the fiasco in the restaurant, Zelda can only guess that the marine captain is a crook. When they find this Zoro,
she hopes they'll take him and leave. Walking up to the base gates, she wonders. Why are they so tall?!

"It looks so big up close! Go on in, Coby" Luffy moves him a little. Coby dug his heels into the dirt, preventing him from falling forward.

"B-but I haven't mentally prepared myself yet...And those people sure were scared when they heard the captain's name..."
Coby whimpered twiddling his thumbs. Luffy suddenly tries to climb over a wall bordering a courtyard. Zelda pushes his feet up so he can lean over the other side.

"Thanks Ichii."

"It's no problem Captain." Zelda replies back.

"Luffy! What are you doing!?" Coby asks in shock.

"Bit slow on the uptake Coby?" Allistar asks only to be thumped on the head by Alcid.

"I wonder if I can see...the demonic beast from here." Luffy responds, using his hand as a sun blind. He drops down and ran down the wall to a better vantage point.

"Alcid can I request something?" Zelda asks the retainer. He stops and turns, ignoring the two in front of him bickering.

"Yes, my Queen?" He whispers back.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would be my quarter-master." She asked him sincerly.

"It would be an honor your Highness." He bows and rejoins the group in the courtyard. Zelda's brothers snickering at Coby's knee-knocking.

"Shh." A girl shushes us and climbs over the short wall. A package in her hands. She walks up to the stake.

"Whadda you want?" The swordsmen asks her. "Get lost! Do you want to be killed!?" He yells at her.

"I made these rice balls for you! I thought you might need some food!" She lifts the package up to him. "It's the first time I've ever made rice balls. I hope you like them."

"I'm...not hungry! Now beat it and take that stuff with you!" He yells at her in an attempt to get her to leave.

"B-but..." She tries to speak.

"I DON'T WANT IT! NOW GET OUTTA HERE! OR I'LL STOMP YOU TO DEATH!" He yells again.

"Roronoa Zoro! You shouldn't pick on little girls." A boy with a ridiculous haircut, looked like a mushroom in their opinion, walked into the courtyard with two marines on either side. "I'll tell my father on you!"

"Where does he think he can speak like that to anyone?!" Damyin questions in anger.

"Who's that weirdo?" Luffy asks Coby.

"He must be some high-ranking naval officer. Now that little girl will be safe." Coby answers with releif.

"I don't think she'll be safe, Coby..." Zelda said. Said boy turns his head "He's a snake, the worst kind. They prey on the weak and feeble. The kind that bleed you dry of everything you hold dear." She finished just as he stole the girl's rice balls and threw them on the ground.

"How evil...that little girl worked so hard to make those rice balls." Coby says in sympathy.

"WHY! I WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE THEM!" She cries on the ground. The snake turns his nose up at her.

"Oh, stop that crying! That's why I hate kids!" He points his finger in her face and bends a bit. "It's your own fault!
Can't you read this sign?" He motions to the sign that suddenly appeared. "It says:anyone aiding this prisoner shall be found guilty of the crimes he has committed-Captain Morgan. I'm sure you've heard how scary my father can be. If you were an adult, you could be put to death."

This guy just enjoyed the sound of his own voice didn't he? Shortly after the altercation the little girl flew over the wall, Captain caught her.

"Are you okay!? What a bad man...!" Coby tried to console her. Zelda walked next to Luffy towards Zoro, turning and slicing the sign in two, daring it to come back up.

"You still here? Hey pointy ear, better not let Helmeppo's father catch you." Zoro warned her. Zelda just stood back and let Luffy do the talking.

"I'm looking for good men to join my pirate crew." He started off with. Zoro shifted around and spoke.

"Pirate crew? You think I'd lower myself to that level? No thanks!" He spat.

"But becoming a pirate's my dream! What's wrong with it!?" Luffy whined back

"You think if you untie me...I'm gonna join your pirate crew?" Zoro asked him.

"I haven't decided if I'll ask you yet...you've got a pretty bad reputation, you know." Luffy cheeked him. Zelda cracked a smile at his little jab.

"Bad reputation, huh? Well, anyway, I don't go for that kind of deal. I'VE got my own plans for the future." Zoro resisted again. Stubborn bounty hunter. "I don't need your help. I can get out of here on my own. All I have to do is last for a month here, then I'm a free man! Captain Morgan's idiot son promised me." Zoro said with a matter of fact tone.

"All I've got to do is survive here for one month. Then I'll be free to pursue my dream!" He yelled at us.

"Hmm...I see. I don't think I could last one week without food." Luffy blatantly answered. Zoro and I snorted.

"Me and you are different. I've got more will power. So go look for a crew elsewhere..." Zoro said with finality. Luffy and Zelda were leaving as she heard Zoro mumble something. Turning Zelda went back to him.

"Pick that up for me." He motioned to the rice balls. Zelda picked them up and dropped them into his open mouth. He choked and coughed, then swallowed.

"Tell the kid it was delicious and I ate it all." Zoro cried. Luffy had started walking back to Coby as Zelda stayed behind for a minute.

"You now being free shouldn't be a crime. And you shouldn't feel like you'll lower yourself for that." Zelda spoke after a minute of silence. "As for your dream, good luck." She gave him a thumbs up and left.

"Thanks pointy." Zoro chuckled as she left.

Back at the little girls house, we learned how Zoro was tied to that stake in the courtyard.

'Zelda was right, he is a snake' Luffy thought while she was telling her story. 'She was happy when Ichii told her Zoro ate all of her rice balls.'

"That's why Zoro is in prison...Because he hurt that guy's dog to save you?" Luffy asks. She nodded and said yes.

"That makes sense! Zoro's really scary, but he only goes after people with a price on their heads. And he wouldn't get thrown into prison for that!" Coby explained pushing his glasses up.

"Captain Morgan and his son are the bad ones! They put people to death for no reason at all! Everyone's afraid of them."
She told them.

Zelda sat down and hugged her letting the girl cry on her shoulder. Suddenly there was a commotion in the street as Helmeppo walked down the street with marinions. All of the towns people bowed down as he walked by talking about being jailed like Zoro...And his execution in three days.

"But...you made a promise to him!?" Luffy is starting to get angry.

"That promise was just a joke! He's just a stupid beast for believing it!" Helmeppo made a face and laughed.

Luffy and Zelda both decked him, Coby pulling them back as he hit the ground. Edwedd holding Luffy's straw hat.

"LUFFY, ICHIGO! STOP! CALM DOWN! YOU WANT TO MAKE AN ENEMY OF THE NAVY, DO YOU!?" He screamed as luffy's arm stretched back to normal.

"Coby, I've made my decision! I'm going to ask Zoro to join my crew!" Luffy tells them

please review!