Chapter 29

Darkest Blood


Quiet reigned over the dining room, everyone rather shaken by Krieg's threatening words. At least, almost everyone. Luffy drifted over to the table with his nakama and sat atop it, settling himself in Kim's abandoned chair and leaning forward to rumple Kim's hair comfortingly. He smiled kindly and Kim couldn't help but return it with a weak one of her own.

"Don't listen to him," the rubberman commanded, a fierce look in his eyes. "I'll kill him if he even tries to take you away. You're my nakama." He smiled again, pulling her in for a brief hug.

"I'm sorry, Sanji!" Gin groaned, huddled on the floor where Krieg had left him moments before. "I never thought that he... would do something like this!"

"It's not your fault, sailor." Zeff grunted, earning himself shocked looks from Gin and the rest of the chefs. "The cooks helped with bringing this on us, as well."

"Are you crazy?!" Patty bellowed. "Why are you siding with Sanji?!"

Patty's words once again sparked the rest of the workers into voicing their protest, the lot of them badmouthing Sanji for helping the enemy and accusing him of trying to sabotage Zeff.

"SHUT UP YOU FOOLS!" the Head Chef bellowed. "Have any of you been truly hungry before? Have you gone without food or water for days without any hope of survival? Have you any idea what agony that is?"

The chefs fell silent, staring at either Zeff or Sanji with confusion. "..."

"If you want to keep moaning, then just leave!" Zeff jabbed his finger at the back door, eyes narrowed warningly.

The chefs began to murmur again, taking up their arms in the form of giant cooking utensils as tall as they were.

Gin called them crazy, prompting Sanji to finally stand, lighting up a cigarette and kicking a table back on its feet.

"Gin," Sanji said slowly, settling on the table. "Listen. It's a cook's duty to feed those who come to them with hunger. But soon, I'll be facing men with full stomachs. I won't hold back against them. If they try to take over this ship... they're going to die and that goes for you too. Got it?"

"See?" Luffy exclaimed, leaning toward his crew with a large grin. "He's tough, right? I want him!"

"I like him too," Kim laughed, relaxing slightly. "When he joins, we'll have the best food in the world and someone besides me and Nami with some fashion sense."

"Who cares?!" Usopp raved, tugging on Luffy's arm insistently. "We've gotta get of here before Don Krieg comes back!"

"Relax," Zoro rolled his eyes, yanking Usopp back into his seat. "They're wounded and starving. There won't be much of a fight when they're like that."

Kim raised her eyebrow at him. "As I recall, you managed to kick ass when you were beaten and starved."

"And I wasn't at my best," the swordsman grunted, shifting Kim around so his legs didn't fall asleep beneath her. "I could've taken Morgan on if I had been."

"Oh, really?" Kim grinned, eyes sparkling.

"Really," Zoro smirked, leaning back and looking at her arrogantly.

"Well, maybe I'll get to see you next time you take on somebody at full power. Impress me, will ya'?"

"You mean I'm not right now?" he flexed his muscles jokingly and Kim delighted at the side of him they rarely saw. "Seems pretty impressive to me."

Kim laughed, poking him in the stomach. "Oh stop! I'm so impressed I might faint."

Luffy snorted at their interaction and leant forward on the table, eyeing the empty doorway thoughtfully. "Starving or not, you don't have to worry about them. Besides, I've got to fight Krieg sooner or later. Might as well do it now." The rubberman turned his eyes on the only Krieg pirate in the room. "By the way, Gin you said you didn't know anything about the Grandline, but you've been there! You must know something."

"I don't know anything anymore," Gin said, clutching at his head. "I can't tell my dreams from reality anymore. It's all jumbled up in my mind! That man... he appeared so suddenly! He was just one man! How could he destroy fifty ships by himself?!"

A cry of disbelief circled through the room.

"Fifty ships?!"

"One man!"

"Impossible!"

"Krieg's armada was destroyed by one man?!"

Gin shivered. "He showed up out of nowhere and before we knew it, our ships were sinking one after another! If it hadn't been for that storm, we'd have been sent to the bottom of the sea as well!" He gasped. "I don't know if any ships survived. It was so terrible... It was unreal! I don't want to remember that man. That man with such piercing, deadly eyes! Eyes like hers!"

Kim sputtered indignantly, frowning as, yet again, all eyes turned on her. She was tired of being the center of attention and she hadn't even said anything this time!

"Young lady," Zeff said, approaching them and tilting Kim's face up so he could look at her eyes. He frowned as she narrowed them at him. "Yes, I can see why he'd say that. You have eyes rather like him. Like Hawk-Eye." He let Kim go and she settled back against Zoro, glaring around the room. Gin refused to even look in her direction.

"Oh come on!" she cried disbelievingly. "Just because my eyes match Hawk-Eye's doesn't mean I'm going to be like him and wreck the ship! He got his name because of his eyes but his infamy is caused by his skills!"

"Hawk-Eye," Usopp said, brow furrowed in confusion. "Who's that?" Luffy shrugged and Zoro leant forward, picking Kim up and setting her on the table.

"Hawk-Eye... is the man I've been looking for. Johnny said he comes here."

There was a murmur of denial from the cooks, revealing that Johnny had mistaken a drunkard called Red-Eyes for the man Zoro was searching for.

The moss-haired swordsman growled angrily. Settling back into his chair with a huff, Zoro grumbled about stupid bounty hunters and their lies.

"So he beat a whole armada," Sanji shrugged, looking at Gin searchingly. "What'd you do to make him so angry?"

"I don't know! He just attacked!" Gin said desperately.

"Maybe you interrupted his nap." Zeff suggested, completely serious.

Gin seemed to think Zeff wasn't so serious and lashed out at him angrily. "It's not funny! HE MURDERED MY CREWMATES!"

Zeff scowled at him. "I wasn't joking. That's what kind of place the Grandline is. You get killed for even the smallest slight."

"Anything can happen there it seems," Zoro sighed.

Luffy whooped excitedly. "A place where anything can happen! I've got goose bumps just thinking about it!"

"At least think of the danger!" Usopp begged, looking like he agreed with Gin.

"Now I know where to go," Zoro said, leaning back in his chair and propping his legs up between Kim and Luffy. "The Grandline is where I'll find him."

Sanji looked at them from the corner of his eye, pulling a deep drag from his cigarette.

"You're fools." the blond said, blowing out a cloud of smoke as he spoke. "You'll get killed as soon as you get there."

"Maybe so, but don't insult us." Zoro said, looking over at the chef. "The day I decided to be the World's Greatest Swordsman was the day I stopped caring if I lived or died. Nobody can call me a fool but myself. I've got my reasons for heading to the Grandline."

"That place is my ticket home," Kim agreed, eyes ghosting over with the thought of her brothers.

"I've got reasons too!" Luffy chirped, steadfast in his resolve.

Even Usopp relaxed a fraction, crossing his arms across his chest firmly. "As a man, I must agree with Zoro."

Said swordsman clunked him on the side of the head fondly. "Sure, Usopp."

Sanji scoffed, looking like he wanted to protest further, but turned his head. "Tch, stupid."

Zeff eyed the StrawHats with respect and Gin finally turned to look at them in amazement.

Patty scowled, pushing his way through the crowd of cooks to get closer to Zeff and Sanji. He didn't seem to care as much about all the talk of the Grandline as he did about protecting the restaurant. "You idiots! You realize what kind of trouble we're in?! This ain't the time to be talking about sailing. Those sea-wolves outside are reviving themselves! Don Krieg's pirates are the most savage in the Eastern Blues. If ya' wanna dream, then do it later!"

Kim flushed slightly, but didn't move, staying seated with her nakama as a great roar sounded from outside the ship.

The Krieg pirates were on the move.

The men rushed the ship, running to the rail in preparation of leaping over to the Baratie or swinging over on ropes.

They never made it close.

There was a deafening cracking sound followed by a boom that made Kim cover her ears in pain. The Baratie shook around them and the room tilted violently, sending Kim and Luffy tumbling off the table. Kim grunted as she hit the floor and pushed herself up a moment later, struggling to get to her feet.

Outside, Krieg's ship had cracked in half, reminding Kim of the Titanic.

Luffy jumped to his feet, dragging her up by the arm and together, the group of StrawHat pirates raced for the doors. Behind them, the cooks scrambled to save their beloved restaurant, Zeff bellowing out orders as he assisted them.

"Nami, Johnny and Yosaku were still on the ship!" Zoro bellowed, skidding to a halt behind Kim, nearly knocking her over the railing. She latched onto the rail to stop her momentum and grabbed the back of Luffy's vest, pulling him back before he went overboard as well.

"Are we too late?!" Usopp shouted, scanning his eyes over the waters desperately.

"BROTHER!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted, swimming over to the restaurant. Kim swung herself over the railing, followed by Usopp and Zoro, clinging to the side of the ship as she helped pull in the bounty hunter pair.

"Johnny! Yosaku!" Zoro exclaimed in relief, dragging his friends aboard. "Are you okay?! Where's our ship? Where's Nami!?"

"Nami-aneki... sailed off with the ship and the treasure!"

"WHAT?!

Kim swore loudly, realizing too late that she'd left both her naginata and Jianyu on the Merry-go.

She kicked the wall of the Baratie once she was back over the railing, taking out her frustration in a, most likely, unhealthy manner. She turned to glare out at the sea, but her jaw dropped when she spotted a small raft floating up, an intimidating figure resting on top of it.

She moved away from the rest of her crew to get a better look, Zeff coming to stand beside her as he exited the restaurant.

One of the Krieg pirates let out a terrified wail as he spotted the man.

"IT'S HIM! THE DEVIL WHO SANK OUR SHIPS! HE'S COME TO KILL US ALL!"

Anyone who hadn't already spotted him, whipped around to watch as Hawk-Eye approached, draped over his raft as if he were a king. Kim blinked in astonishment as she realized Zoro occasionally did the same thing. It was odd how much her swordsman reflected the manners of this one.

"That's him?" Patty said disbelievingly, raising his eyebrows. "He doesn't look like he coulda' sank a whole armada by himself!"

"He looks human enough," one of the other chefs admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can't see a weapon..."

"His weapon is on his back," Zeff said solemnly. The chefs exclaimed in shock, wondering how just a sword could do so much damage. "Hawk-Eye is a master of swords. He is the Greatest Swordsman in the World!"

Kim watched with wide eyes as a hysterical Krieg pirate fired his pistol at Hawk-Eye, the bullets deflected almost lazily with a flick of the giant black sword on Hawk-Eye's back.

"Shooting at him is useless," Zoro said flatly, and Kim squeaked in surprise when she saw him standing on the wreckage of Krieg's ship. She never saw him move, too entranced by the master swordsman to notice.

"Luffy!" she cried, rushing back over to stand with her captain. His eyes were locked on his first mate, but he managed to reach out and grasp Kim's hand comfortingly.

Everyone watched as Zoro and Hawk-Eyes spoke, the younger man eventually challenging the elder to a fight. Mihawk looked bored, as if he got this sort of challenge every day, but accepted and stepped onto the wreckage gracefully. When he pulled out a small dagger and called Zoro pitifully weak, the green haired man took offense, settling into a hostile attack and rushing at the master.

When the Oni-Giri attack was blocked, Johnny and Yosaku shrieked in disbelief. Kim herself was stunned. She had seen Zoro use that move before and both times, the attack had felled his opponents. To see it blocked with just the tip of a dagger was terrifying.

Zoro roared and attacked again only to be thrown back like a child. Hawk-Eye called Zoro weak again, igniting Johnny and Yosaku to lunge for the man in anger.

Luffy dropped Kim's hand and snatched the pair up by the backs of their necks, forcing their heads down onto the railing, preventing them from going after Hawk-Eye. "Control yourselves! This is Zoro's fight!"

Zoro jumped back to his feet again, rushing at Hawk-Eye with his Tiger Hunt attack.

There was a sickening squelch as Hawk-Eye drove his dagger into Zoro's chest.

Kim screamed, her sharp voice ringing out alongside the boys' cries of horror. Zoro grunted, frozen on Hawk-Eye's blade. Blood dripped to the wreckage beneath their feet. Still, Zoro refused to move and Kim felt her eyes sting with unshed tears as he began to give his reasoning for not retreating.

"I can't... If I... retreat even one step... My vow, my ambition... everything - and everyone - I care about will be worth nothing. All my dreams will be lost forever."

"That is what defeat is," Hawk-Eyes acknowledged.

"Heh, I can't retreat." Zoro grunted around the Wado.

"Even if it means death?"

"I prefer death to defeat." Zoro grunted, a snarling grin spreading around the sword's hilt.

Hawk-Eye tipped his head to the side, considering Zoro, and pulled his blade out from Zoro's chest. "Speak your name."

"Roronoa Zoro."

"I'll remember it," Hawk-Eye promised, pulling his sword from its sheath. "It's been a while since I met one with such bravery. I shall honor the swordsman's code and send you to your death with the finest blade in the world."

Kim gasped at the sight of the long, black blade and her hands went to her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

Zoro began moving even as Hawk-Eye drew back to swing, the younger swordsman arranging his swords into a sort of spiral pattern.

Kim lunged for the railing, leaning over it. "ZORO!"

"THREE-SWORD STYLE SECRET TECHNIQUE! THREE THOUSAND WORLDS!" he bellowed, flying past Mihawk.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then two of Zoro's swords shattered and he sheathed the Wado silently, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. He turned to Hawk-Eye with a melancholy smile, stating that wounds to the back were a swordsman's shame. Hawk-Eyes grinned as he slashed through Zoro's chest, sending the StrawHat pirate falling to the sea in a cloud of blood.

Kim leapt in after him without hesitation, using the railing to propel herself through the air so she could get to Zoro faster. Johnny and Yosaku followed her.

She reached him first, wrapping her arms around his chest and trying to pull him to the surface. When the bounty hunter pair caught up, they shoved her away and drug their friend to the surface, Kim following after them.

"Zoro!" she gasped, cradling the swordsman's head against her chest.

"Brother! Brother, speak to us!"

"Zoro!" Luffy cried, watching as more blood spurted from the swordsman's mouth.

There was a horrible roaring sound in Kim's ears, muting out all other sounds. She moved numbly as she aided Johnny and Yosaku in handing Zoro up to Usopp once the sniper sailed the bounty hunter pair's boat over. She leapt onto the boat with some help from Johnny and fell to her knees beside Zoro, taking the first aid kit from Usopp and ripping off a line off a strip of gauze to clean Zoro's wounds with. The swordsman cried out in his unconscious state, but Kim didn't let up. She hurriedly cleaned his wounds to the best of her ability and snatched up a blanket from the inside of the boat, pressing the cloth to Zoro's wounds in order to staunch the bleeding.

"Shit shitshitshit shit!" Kim babbled, watching as Zoro's blood stained her hands. "Fucking hell. Okay, um gotta stop this. Shit! Usopp, hand me that – Should I go ahead and stitch this? Dammit! He's bleeding again! Get me that blanket again. Hold this here and put pressure on it – he'll bleed out if we don't stop this. Fuck!"

Kim froze when Zoro began shifting beneath her palms, fingers fumbling for his sword. His chest heaved under her hands as he unsheathed the Wado, holding it up high.

"Lu-Luffy? Can you hear me?" he gasped.

"I hear you!"

"Were you worried? If I fail... To become the world's greatest swordsman... You'll be disappointed, right?" He choked, blood spurting from his lips. "NEVER AGAIN! I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!

From now until the day I beat him and become the world's greatest swordsman... I will never... LOSE AGAIN! Any problems with that... King of the Pirates!?"

Luffy grinned and Kim's shoulders sagged as she half-laughed, half-sobbed in relief.

"None at all!" Luffy assured and Kim turned back to fixing Zoro's shredded body. She didn't want to start stitching him up until they were out of rough waters and her hands were steadier.

She threw herself over Zoro, struggling to hold him in place as a giant wave rocked the ship, a result of Dracule 'Hawk-Eye' Mihawk's final attack on Krieg.

"Usopp! Kim! Set sail!" Luffy shouted.

"AYE AYE!" Usopp shouted back to him and Kim made a noise of distracted acknowledgement as she rushed around Zoro, getting the swordsman's blood all over her. She felt like a survivor from a horror movie.

Once they were a good distance away from the Baratie, she enlisted the boys' help in holding Zoro down while she and Usopp clumsily stitched him back up.

Kim hated playing doctor.


A/N: I'm so tired. I just finished my AP English Exam. It's exhausting. Anyways, anyone remember when I mentioned My life in one piece? If you haven't read that, I suggest reading it sometime before chapter 31 (by the way, chapter 30's just a filler and I may have it posted tomorrow or Monday). Just a suggestion.

SBS!

Thanks for Favoriting and Alerting: Arianne00, Ray-nee-chan, xXxEmeraldBlueXxX, and KrystalRose18!

OrionRedde: Well, fluff or Blizzards can do that to you. But they're still great to have around (now I want to go to Dairy Queen...)!

camierose: Yikes is right! Krieg is crazy!

Arianne00: Thanks!

Daisylovesu: Thanks! He's making his way up the poll. Sanji's still in fourth though.

Firetrail: Pffffft! XD Don't let Kim hear you say that, she'll get mad! (But yeah, she does have a big mouth!)

Molly Grace 16: I never really planned for her to stick around the Baratie for long. She needed to get to Cocoyashi Village a little early for... well, you'll see.

10th Squad 3rd Seat: That he is!

wolfscry248: Thanks for pointing those out! You're amazing:)

Shiningheart of ThunderClan: Oh my god, Kim would be the sassiest prisoner ever!

"You call this a prison? Looks more like your mom to me. Trashy."

"Pffft, how am I supposed to know which way to go? I'm fabulous but even I can't lead a band of idiots around the Grandline."

"You know, you're kind of flamboyant with all that gold and diamonds. I can't decide if you're a wannabe pimp or just gay."

And then Krieg would either kill her or himself from frustrationXD.

Ah! Momma!Luffy is hilarious. Can you imagine him having kids and then doing what you pictured?! XD

shanagi95: Oooh, nice idea! I don't know if she'll overcome her fear of gunshots exactly, but maybe she'll be able to deal with it over time.

thakidisbac: Glad you liked it! Kim has plenty of love to go around for her nakama:).

Omicron the IceQueen: I miss youD:! A lot's happened since we last talked and I haven't had the chance to catch you on chat to talk to you! I'm glad you're not mad that I stopped coming to you for editing. I felt like you gave me enough strength to stand on my own and I want to thank you so much for it!

When it comes to editing, I'm not so great but if you see something you want to point out, please do! I'm trying to improve as much as I can before I go off to college next year. When I catch you on chat, maybe we can finally get a chance to talk!

Wrecker Radioactive: Dawww, you're making me blush! Thank you!

skipbeataddict: Thanks! I've always thought that about Zoro and Sanji so I'm glad it makes sense.

Somekne (Guest): When I was picking Kim's name out, I was going through the K names and this one caught my eye. The site said the name meant "alchemy" but I didn't know it meant "chemistry" too! That's cool! Ace it is! Hmm, I haven't thought about that. I might have to wait for a while until I find out more about Vegapunk but that's a great idea!