Naghi-Tan: :D
Penumbra: Sanji did/does have it bad from Law, but Kid's, ahem, affection is a little questionable too. It's a good thing he watched those Twilight movies; he's better prepared to handle his new feelings than Law is XD
HS: Ah, his attempts were just a little too strong for anyone to be comfortable with. D: That confrontation should be coming up soon.
Sarge1130: Ah, thanks for all your binge reading and comments! These guys lacked privacy between each other so of course they'd rib each other over any small thing. I can see Perona submitting to various websites fanart of her favorites XD Law is strong and mighty but now that he has something he actually fears because it's unknown to him, it's not something he can easily shake or hide. Kid is captain for a reason! (or was it only because of his first mate? I miss him, I can't wait to see more of Kid in OP) Law only knows cruelty and strength and he figures if it worked with him it'll work with Sanji; only it doesn't, and so he's out of wack with how to deal with his feelings with Sanji. The quartet grew up with each other but they were never put together to work with each other – so there will always be this sense of individuality to their actions. Law can say whatever he wants, but they won't follow him unless their own actions match up to what he said – they have to learn the hard way of their own actions. D: Thanks again for the comments!
Ariesdanger24: I'm excited about it XD This feels like totally new territory!
: : Fourteen
As night began winding in, most of the colonists began scurrying back to their homes. They looked at him first with fright, then dropped their gazes to recognize the fox leading the way. Law noticed the disdain upon seeing the animal. It deeply bothered him how their responses were so deliberate. He saw the way the fox's head hung, as if completely aware of the gazes turned down onto him but actively avoiding looking at anyone. It was old seeing an animal walk with a sense of shame, so Law kept reminding himself that this was an actual man with human emotions. When they reached Viola's house it was interesting to note the distance between the structure and the nearest neighbors, but he supposed it was her personality that caused tension with others.
The fox swept through a doggy door, and Law pushed the front door open just in time to see Rebecca greet Sanji cheerfully from the kitchen. When she saw him she scowled, dropping her empty pot onto the stove. Viola appeared from the back room with some freshly laundered sheets in hand, immediately tense upon seeing him.
Zoro snapped at him, "What did you do to me?"
Law looked over to his right to see him, Sanji's tail wagging cheerfully as he greeted his human companion. Because he couldn't swat him away or even move away from the fox's affection, Zoro sputtered. His limbs moved independently in effort but without the proper coordination, he was immediately covered with fox fur and a cold nose against his skin. Happy, the fox was then racing all over Zoro, exploring all his pieces and suddenly racing around the entire room with loud squawks and squeals. His tail moved rapidly with cheer, the volume of his voice near unbearable.
"Be lucky I didn't do away with you in the first place," Law told Zoro before movement caused him to look away quickly. He avoided a dish that Rebecca threw at him, the piece crashing into the wall.
"All of you should have been left where you were found," Rebecca hissed. "Been nothing but trouble since you've arrived here!"
"And where did you take him?" Viola demanded moments later, snatching Sanji up and holding him, petting him affectionately. She noticed the bandages. "What happened to him? Who are you to be doing this to both of them?"
"Fix it!" Zoro insisted, struggling to get his arms moving.
"Jesus," Law muttered, feeling physically slapped by their rapid-fire questions. "All that matters is that I'm here, now. I have a question of my own."
"Any answer you get from us will be something you won't like," Viola guaranteed.
"Why aren't you part of the other houses?"
She frowned, glancing at the two.
He formed a Room as he waited for an answer.
"That's none of your business," Viola said tightly, looking to Rebecca. Her niece was moving towards her, Law catching sight of the sword she'd carried that night leaning against the wall.
As he put Zoro back together, Sanji scrambled out of her arms to run around Zoro. With his head, torso and arm attached, Zoro examined his partner with concern, frowning at Law moments later.
"Both of us were shot at on our way back," Law told her. "What I do is self-defense."
"But - !"
"I want a quality of life where someone isn't telling me what to do or that I should accept an injustice as part of the scenery. You can choose to rebel in whatever way you're doing but it's not working, is it? Both of them are still regarded as scum for something they can't control."
"None of that don't bother us," Zoro told him.
"Because you're stupid and uneducated, and it's plain that neither of you know what's better for you," Law returned patiently. Zoro frowned at him pensively.
"What's in it for you?" Viola asked Law.
"I thought I'd already told you." Law finished putting on Zoro's head, then dissipated the Room while the wolf examined his attached limbs and body with relief. "If the colonists decided that these two were frightening, then they're going to look at us with similar terror. Yes we were created for war, but without a war, what the fuck are we supposed to do? Fitting in easily doesn't seem like an option now, does it?"
Viola considered this, watching as Zoro bent to pick up his companion. He was quiet, thinking about the words being exchanged.
"If you were bred for one thing and told one thing, I suppose it would be different," she said slowly. It was obvious she didn't want to agree to it but she found herself doing so anyway. "But on that note, knowing you're in a different environment, shouldn't that encourage you to at least try to fit in?"
"No," Law said simply.
Viola's face tightened at the lack of explanation. "A little understanding would be helpful!"
"This," he indicated the pair behind them, "is the first of our understanding if you consider our intentions on righting the wrongs. I'm sure that ginger idiot said the same thing."
Viola looked momentarily puzzled at 'ginger', but figured Law was speaking of Kid. "You use 'we' and 'our' – he uses 'I'."
Law's eyes narrowed slightly, a curl of his lips present. "It takes only a word to appease those looking for it as you do."
Viola frowned again. "I don't trust you."
"And you shouldn't." To the others he said, "Let's go."
"They're not going anywhere," Viola interrupted. "This is their home."
"Then get out."
"They take care of the place for us while we're gone," Zoro interrupted before the woman could speak. "They're invited. You're not. You go."
"I'm not going anywhere," Law said, crossing the room to the couch. He sat down as Sanji looked from him to the others with an anxious whine, ears lowered.
Zoro said, bent and snatched Sanji up to hold under one arm impatiently telling him to hush. Law switched Sanji out with one of the throw pillows, holding onto the fox tightly with both hands.
"Let him go!" Viola ordered sharply, indicating the distressed fox in Law's hands.
"He's going to have to change back if he wants me to," Law said.
Zoro's fists tightened. His swords were nowhere to be seen in the living room, and Rebecca hastily left the room. When she returned she had them bundled up in a blanket, tossing it to him. Law watched him unsheathe one, petting lightly on the trembling body underneath his hand. He told Zoro, "Fighting me will only put you on their side of things."
"None of us have nothing to do with your agenda," Zoro told him low. "We live how we want. If we keep sayin' ain't nothin' bothering us, then there ain't. You're making a muck of things."
"If you cared about them so much, why not properly educate them?" Law asked Viola flippantly. "Sorting through their hick speak is a little difficult for me."
"It's your personality that makes things difficult!" Viola hissed, marching towards him.
Before anything could happen, Rebecca grew alert to the sounds coming from outside. She hissed at them to be quiet, finger to her lips as she strained her ears to listen. Viola swept past Law to push the curtain aside, giving a low curse.
"It's Iceburg and his security team," she said, taking the chance to snatch Sanji from Law's grasp. Law let go because he needed both hands to communicate his thoughts and left the couch. Leaving them behind, he stalked outside to confront the man himself.
Iceburg looked upset as Law approached him from the yard's walkway. His security team lifted their guns in warning, the oxen snorting as they were held in place. Iceburg adjusted his suit firmly around himself then climbed out, a hand in the air to indicate lowering of weapons. The security team was armed with thicker body armor and with weapons that held longer magazines; nothing like what the guards at the gates were carrying.
"You've caused too much trouble, here," Iceburg said tightly, looking beyond him. "You, there. We've found the missing persons. Their deaths were ghastly."
Seeing that Iceburg was directing this beyond him, Law turned to see Zoro and Viola stepping out from the house, Rebecca standing with frustration inside the living room. Zoro wore a terse expression upon this declaration, Viola placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It wasn't his fault," Viola hissed. "If those men would have kept it in their pants - !"
Iceburg spoke sternly over her. "It doesn't matter what reason they were outside the walls, but killing senselessly of our valuable people - !"
"He didn't kill them, I did," Law interrupted. "Did they look victims of a mauling, or were they so mashed into concrete that all you needed was a jar to collect what remained of them?"
Iceburg looked distressed, his hands fluttering around his suit once more before he composed himself stoically. "If you are a person with power, wouldn't it make sense to detain them for acceptable justice? Everyone inside these walls has a particular task - !"
Law held out the locket.
"This makes four," he said evenly, Iceburg taking it with a confused frown. He studied the contents inside, then looked puzzled. He passed it to the nearest guard with a hasty request to have it identified. "Two of your assassins were taken care of."
"Whatever are you talking about?" Iceburg snapped. "'Assassins'? There is none of that here!"
Law's hand lifted at his side, just subtle enough to make a formation. It was instantly shoved down as Sanji inserted himself between them, pulling his shirt collar tight as his disheveled appearance suggested hasty dressing. The loose shirt he wore had some patches at the elbow, his jeans old and worn, and he hadn't bothered with shoes.
"Iceburg, I can second his story on the shooters," Sanji said hurriedly. "They was there. Been there at least two days."
"I would not appoint shooters for such an evil task!" Iceburg snapped in outrage. "The colonists here are valuable, and I'm already alerted to the strengths of these new visitors – why would I risk their lives to take yours?"
"You lies and excuses are pathetic," Law insisted, raising his hand and having Sanji impatiently forcing it to rest to his side as Law looked at him with warning. He was briefly distracted with the fox's human appearance – at the obvious wounds left behind over the past couple of days at his own hand.
"What is he doing?" Zoro muttered with some anxiety directed to his friend.
"People are afraid! They might act a little hasty, thinkin' they doin' some good, but it's fear that makes their thinkin' – " Sanji tried to say when Iceburg interrupted sharply with, "Then whose fault was it in the first place to cause this fear? Granted, I understand that people are afraid but I can't imagine them taking these risks! And who's to say that you remember anything after the full moon – isn't both of you with spotty memory afterward? I can't take your word!"
"But all them people come here already out of sorts – it takes time to settle in! They got some issues, don't most survivors?"
"Just let Iceburg make his decision," Zoro called out with irritation. "There's no point tryin' to talk him of the bigger picture when his mind's set!"
"That's right!" Iceburg lifted his voice to be heard. "We do accept survivors, most of them damaged by their travels from other territories! But none of them made the effort to attack colonists themselves! And you've already made most of the colonists upset with your demands and your unwillingness to fit in with the most basic tasks!"
"They just need time to change!" Sanji insisted. "Given a chance! Treated with anger all the time isn't helping - !"
Iceburg held a hand up, saying, "We've made accommodations for yourself and Roronoa – asking for more with this newer group will not settle with the colonists as a whole. They are afraid. They have a right to be. But having you speak for them won't hold any weight."
"How can you talk about the consideration of colonists as a whole when you completely disregard two of them?" Law asked.
"They are useful here because they contribute, however small," Iceburg interrupted. "Your group has not. Without contribution here to the colony how do you expect to live? Every colonist living here has a task, something to contribute to society as a whole and if you're not helping, then you're leeching!"
"You are unwilling to acknowledge and accept the problem I've exposed. I've come to the conclusion that there should be someone else more willing to work with my simple requests," Law said with irritation.
"Even if you should happen to replace me with 'someone else'," Iceburg said low, face reddening, "their needs would be for the colonists – not against. That is the colony's way of peace."
"Then no peace until wrongs are righted."
"Why is he so keen on defending us?" Zoro muttered to himself with trepidation.
"I understand what he's going for!" Viola said as she strode over to stand just off to the side of the pair glaring at each other. "I understand what he wants, and he's not going about it properly! Give it a little thought, Iceburg. Don't you think it a little odd that an outsider would come in and see the problem immediately?"
"Ah, Viola, I believe you and I already settled this," Iceburg said with irritation, turning to the side.
"Nothing was settled because you still speak up for those that commit the crime!" Viola snapped back at him.
"It was understood that they remove themselves from the colony every full moon, and will continue to do so if they want to continue living here!" Iceburg shouted impatiently.
"If this happened to a woman it'd be different, wouldn't it?" Viola shouted back.
"We can't compare colonists with superhumans! They're their own territory and, frankly, since neither of them complain, why is it up to someone else to do so on their behalf?"
Gritting his teeth, Law heard enough of Iceburg's refusal to listen. His hand lifted to create a Room when Sanji shoved it back down to his side, pushing him back a few steps. "No," he said firmly. "Attacking them is givin' weight to their fear."
"You idiot," Zoro mumbled impatiently of Sanji, his head shaking ever so slightly.
"He's already threatened the safety and peace of this colony, and there are upset family members left behind because of it!" Iceburg snapped back. "I'm going to make the decision to remove him from our walls. The others we'll have to deal with in a similar manner - "
"Doing this will make the other ones madder," Zoro spoke up, hands at his sides.
"Then shooting him now will settle the situation, and show them that we mean business. Perhaps it'll convince them that staying here isn't an option," Iceburg said, making the signal. Several of the armed guards hurried forward, Sanji looking horrified at what looked to be a public execution. Zoro looked to him, Viola reluctantly taking his arm to pull him back. Iceburg heard the calls of approval rising from the colonists watching them from a safe distance.
"Doing this will be your final undoing," Law said with some satisfaction, comfortable with the confrontation. This was something he'd trained for, the threat of weaponry in his direction prompting a stand.
"This is my decision," Iceburg said firmly. "I have to think for the entire colony, not just for a select few. If this is how peace is obtained, then this is how it shall go. I'm sorry."
"You can't do this!" Sanji shouted desperately, watching the guards surround them with their guns lifted.
"If you refuse to see it my way, then you're in the way, Sanji," Iceburg said solemnly, glancing at those posted around them with an expression of confirmation.
"Get away from there!' Zoro snapped at Sanji, who looked to him with agitation. "They made their choice!"
Sanji's face screwed up with distress. "I can't - !" he protested, eyes darting around them.
"You fool!" Zoro shouted at him, ripping his arm away from Viola.
"Shoot them both!" Iceburg barked as the tension rose sharply.
After one last glance at Zoro, Sanji was on his hands. In a sharp display of motion and quick balancing, he sent most of the gunmen flying, their weapons falling when force made it difficult for them to hold onto. Seeing him move Zoro gave an unhappy growl, clothes ripping noisily as his form expanded. The very sight of the creature that gave fright to the colonists caused those watching to run immediately, panicking into the dark streets. Iceburg quickly turned and fled as the oxen reacted with terror. Viola and Rebecca quickly ran into the house for their own safety. Those that weren't fast enough quickly fell prey under the weight of Zoro's attack, his claws shredding through their armor amidst their panicked screams. Law watched with fascination as the creature tore through human faces and rendered them pulp before moving onto another, capturing a fleeing body with sharp teeth and shaking it about like a rag doll.
It was like watching a dog attack viciously, violent and profane but glorious at the same time. It was no wonder that men feared the creature so intensely that they closed themselves up in the walls just to avoid him, but at the same time sickening how they were also willing to place themselves into such danger just to violate another.
Without regards to his own safety, Sanji quickly wrapped his arms around the beast's neck, clinging to him as the werewolf caught scent of its prey. He reached out and settled a hand against the black nose, feeling the hot heat of Zoro's breath against his palm. Agitation settled upon that massive body, the beast pacing lightly on heavy feet as its pupils shrunk, tail flicking with reaction. Law was very still, watching as Sanji tamed the creature with just his presence. The oxen that were driven mad with fear had overturned their wagon, dragging it along the dirt road for some distance.
Zoro lowered himself to sprint after them, caught by the sight and smell of the fleeing creatures but Sanji held tightly onto his neck with one arm and kept his palm against his nose. After a few tense moments Zoro changed back, Sanji hopping away from him once he felt the transformation. With his clothes shredded, Zoro looked over the fallen with almost blank expression – as if accepting what happened with nothing more than a pinch of regret.
Disturbed, Sanji looked off to where everyone had fled. Their guns lay in disarray around them, the sound of the oxen hollering with distress in the dark distance. The cries of panicked colonists were filling the air as men shouting orders rang over that. He lowered his head with heavy feeling, frowning tightly.
"Zoro," Viola said quietly, approaching them from the house. She held a blanket, carefully holding it out to him before he took it with a heavy exhale. She reached up to touch his shoulder, compassion plain on her features. She didn't say anything but her presence spoke volumes in the acceptance of the situation. There was a sense of resignation in all of them, palatable feelings that Law felt but couldn't truly identify. They won the small battle with might alone so he didn't understand why they didn't display any victorious emotion to a win.
"Why aren't you satisfied?" he finally asked, his voice startling them. "Now they can listen to reason."
Viola then whipped her head around to glare at him. She took a few steps forward and unleashed a hard kick to his back, causing him to snarl as he made to get away from her.
"You ruined this," she hissed hatefully at him. "Your bullishness caused them more trouble that can be fixed! Are you satisfied?"
"Maybe it was important for power to speak its place amongst the weak," he told her.
Glaring at him, she turned and strode away, to prod the pair to make their way into the house. Law continued to stand there in silence, mind buzzing with thoughts. He heard the crunch of gravel under heavy weight and looked over to see Kid peering out from one of the trees in the far left of the yard.
He snorted, which caused Law's scowl to grow weighty.
Stepping out from the trees, Kid observed the silence left behind. Behind him, Luffy and Perona tripped out from their position as well, pushing and shoving away from each other.
"Looks like talking didn't help," Kid said with a snicker. "Great negotiating skills you had going for you."
"Shut up."
"So, you got all of us kicked out before we even got to decide for ourselves what we were going to do."
"You'd already decided!"
"Yeah, but I was planning on a nice approach, not the one you took," Kid scoffed. "You were lecturing us on approaching this rationally but you got the entire colony drawing up arms and feeding them into a panic to cause a retaliation."
Huffing, Law turned away from him. Perona caught up to Kid, exhaling heavily with her hands on her knees.
She laughed noisily. "What an idiot! Hypocritical jerk! If you'd just hung back and let those guys talk, nothing would have happened. You ruined it for yourself!"
"Yeah," Kid added, furrowing his brow. "You're so deadset on getting your way, you argued your side like these people can be reasoned with!"
Law remembered Sanji forcing his hands down during the confrontation. He wondered how much Kid and the others had seen. Down the road he was aware of men growing bold enough to look in their direction. The shouts of the wolf being gone either prompted bravery or a panicked retreat by alerting others in the community to flee.
"So, we're doing this together?" Kid asked. "Is that it?"
'We', Law repeated mockingly in his own thoughts. But he said, "Unless we want to execute a very hostile takeover, but what is that going to do for us? The colonists will either die at our feet or run and die outside the walls instead. Knowing nothing of this environment or how to run things won't do a thing for us on our own."
"I knew all that!" Kid snapped irritably at him. "But because you couldn't reason with them like a smart person would, we all have to live with the consequences of your actions. What would Sengoku and your precious Cora have to say about you, now?"
With that he followed after the others, kicking the door down with a shout for Zoro to pay attention to him. Glaring at his back, Law felt regret. He felt let down and angry at himself for losing control of the situation – he should've just killed Iceburg right then and there without waiting to hear his excuses, but he didn't understand why he didn't follow that instinct.
Perona was humming to herself as she observed the bodies left behind. Walking up to one as her face shifted to reveal her mask, she reached down and touched the back of a man that was missing half of his head. His entire body twitched, limbs jerking as she re-animated him. She chuckled as the body continued to respond to her.
"My newest children," she purred cheerfully, reaching out and touching another.
Law didn't care what she did with these bodies. He wasn't in control of her actions but he had the thought that the others' response to whatever Iceburg threw at them was their own doing, and nothing to do with him.
Amidst the noise in the house with everyone voicing their opinions, Law could hear the colonists gearing themselves up to approach again. Down the road and near the foot bridge, those that had thought to arm themselves with weaponry and the guards' guns were slowly making their way over. He was distracted when Sanji left the house, approaching him bitterly. Perona was still focused on re-animating the bodies, ignoring them.
Law frowned at him. For a few moments he was caught by the feeling of warmth that shot through him at seeing Sanji's human form again. He was struck by how mesmerized he still felt looking upon that open expression, the way his hair glowed softly from the lights. It was such an unfamiliar reaction that his own thoughts on the matter briefly left him.
Sanji's breath sounded shaky and labored, wearing such a frustrated expression that it seemed he was battling his own reactions. He said, "My life wasn't worth the short end of yours. If you'd've just let things be – "
"Do you remember anything at all?" Law asked instead, hearing shouts build from near the footbridge.
"No, not after changing," Sanji mumbled. With what looked like shame, he added, "But your scent is all over mine. That's – "
"I told you I wouldn't like it if I'd seen you with other men. And I didn't, so you were removed."
"…You saw…? Look, because of that, it wasn't worth this. But I stepped in cuz I thought I could reason – it don't mean nothing now. But it's over for us. We won't be allowed here any longer. Causing more harm to the colony would only be senseless slaughter – "
"I'm not leaving until I'm adjusted to this world," Law said. "All I'd asked was a smaller alteration fitting to my decision. Whatever the others do is on their own."
"Look at them!" Perona cried, drawing their attention. In one moment, those she'd re-animated struggled to their feet, causing an expression of horror to Sanji's face as he watched the formerly dead arise. Their grunts and expulsions of hot air changed to short exchanges of chittering that seemed noisy in the cold air. Limbs twitched and shoulders jerked as heads shook unsteadily. "Aren't they beautiful? My cuddly babies are so eager to please their mama!"
She laughed loudly, skirts fluttering as she skipped around them, examining them with a beaming sense of pride.
Law reached out and forced Sanji's attention back to him as skipping turned to jumping jacks, the ghosts mimicking her with clumsy action.
"It's time you learn that only the strong determines power over others."
Sanji jerked his chin out of his grasp, glaring at him. "That's how you came to be, but isn't that what you're trying to escape? Power over you? Zoro and I ain't like you. We only wanted peace."
"Then peace is made in these ways! That's why you were rejected!"
"It's still wrong," Sanji mumbled uneasily as he watched as Perona pointed outwards, her ghosts suddenly stumbling into intense running.
"I'm going to be the one that ends this," she said with a smirk directed towards Law.
After some consideration, he tucked his hands into his pockets. "We still need them to survive, or do you expect to feed on the spoils that won't last long?"
"I can convince them better of what we want. It's not necessarily what you want, but what I want," Perona said haughtily. "I want a comfortable life without lifting a finger to do something unpleasant. If my negotiations don't settle well, then I doubt any of yours could, either."
"Listen up, fox!" she then said to Sanji, turning to look at him. There were new screams arising from near the footbridge, as her ghosts began attacking the living. Gunshots ran out, and the snarls and chatter of her ghosts began to overwhelm the shrieks of the newly dying. "We were made for war. We were taught that strength matters – the better weapons you have, the better edge in winning. If this is what it takes to make us comfortable, then I'll do what it takes to make it easier for me. But it benefits you, too. In the morning, they'll look at you with respect and not disgust."
Sanji didn't agree with her. He felt frozen from the inside out as the screams grew. The number of ghosts began to overwhelm those that had lingered for a retaliation strike. Law watched him; he didn't understand how someone could feel so much for others that were willing to turn their heads to the wrongs being done to him. It frustrated him that Sanji couldn't see Law's point of view. But he also thought that there was beauty in his defeat – the wilt of his shoulders, the trapped expression on his face. It gave Law a sense of satisfaction.
Maybe once he saw that life could be easier for him after this, maybe then he'd give Law approval.
: :
Kid watched Zoro stare pensively out of the window. He wasn't sure what the other man was thinking or feeling as he continued to clutch the blanket around himself but there was a sense of giddiness in Kid's chest that felt odd and uncomfortably new. He was sure it was because he respected the other man for his strength and power as the beast, and he marveled over how different each was from each other. Zoro was so tiny compared to the wolf form Kid battled, but at the same time Kid recognized the strength the man possessed as a man. There was something changed about the way he held himself when he was alone – without Sanji or Ussop nearby, he just seemed to radiate something different.
Luffy was attacking the kitchen supplies with a racket that was almost distracting; Rebecca and Viola had disappeared, and Kid didn't care about their whereabouts or intentions.
He took a step forward, the creak of the floor causing Zoro to look in his direction from the corner of his eye. Kid felt warned not to approach any closer, and he hated the feeling of hesitation right after that. Blustered, he said, "So you change at will, because it ain't a full moon anymore, huh? I did some research on your condition. For your sake, I don't think I'll be transforming any time soon."
Zoro didn't say anything, but his brow furrowed with some question. His shoulders tightened.
"You don't remember?" Kid asked with some insult. "We fought a bad-ass battle – you only won because all these muscles demanded more oxygen than I can give. I'm sure that'll change with some time once I get used to the place. Then maybe we can fight again, see whose more stronger."
"We won't," Zoro said stiffly. "If there is a battle, it's to the death."
"You tried killing me, but you couldn't, so…" Kid found himself twiddling his thumbs and quickly lowered them to his sides. "Look, it's impressive. You've got power and skill, why are you letting these people toss you around like this? It's stupid and weak."
"I live here."
"It's a crappy place to live! With your strength, it could be a different way of life! People actually fear you, you can use that to gain respect. Forget about that other guy, just focus on you, eh? You're the one they actually causes terror. I think that if you just focused on yourself you could life a pretty comfortable life."
"That's not the way I see it. That's not what I want. I don't want to live where people are afraid of me for something I am. If there were another way about it, I'd be ok."
"But it'd be easier!" Kid insisted. "Look, I think you're smarter than you actually are, and you can see reason. Look where shit's going right now. That guy out there thinks talking to people to change their minds about you two would work, and look where it went. No where. He's dumb. And your friend is useless when you think about it – "
He did not see where Zoro pulled a sword from but the tip of it was pressed hard against Kid's neck. When he involuntarily swallowed from the feel of it, his skin stung as it opened slightly.
"He does some stupid stuff, but he saved your life," Zoro said tersely. "So don't forget it. Without him, you'd still be in those con-taint-ment units."
Kid held up his hands to gesture that he got it. Zoro eased the blade slightly but not enough for Kid to pull away with it. He hoped Luffy wasn't paying attention to this, Luffy would never let him forget it.
"I'm no one's tool," Zoro added sharply, arm unwavering as he gave Kid a warning look. "My decisions are my own. But it ain't to say that I'm unwilling to listen to others."
"You were a former slave, right?" Kid asked cautiously. "Think of it as we were, too. They used us for shit. So we got common ground. Maybe our views are different from yours, but we're on the same side!"
"Are we really?" Zoro looked back out the window. Perona was long gone now, but Law was still talking to Sanji in a way that only made the hairs on the back of Zoro's neck rise. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Sanji but it appeared the fox had made his own decision based off these past few days. He didn't like it.
They were kids when they arrived here. Sanji was a fox when they met, and Zoro had thought he'd just found a very companionable animal friend while he wandered the wastelands on his own. So the attachment was formed during those days, and when Sanji finally revealed himself as human, Zoro couldn't find it in himself to reject his company. Especially when it was apparent that they shared some characteristics – they had a bond. Animal or human, it was there and it forced decisions opposite of what Zoro would have done if he were on his own.
They were products of experimentation themselves, so he understood the quartet's side of things. But he didn't fit into their methods, their thought. Things were changing and he didn't know how much, but it was apparent this life was over.