Despite their lack of captain and swordsman -- and not to mention their lack of helm -- the ship and its inhabitants managed to pull through the violent tempest safe and sound. They had been lucky, Nami had said, that the storm had disappeared as quickly as it did. However, she did let on to feeling a little unease that such a dangerous thing had come and gone so quickly, leaving very little warning for when such an event could occur again.

Usopp simply stuck to what had become his motto: "Well, we have seen stranger things…right?"

But the storm, in its abrupt leave of absence, was out of sight and out of mind for the time being. After they had spent a bit of the evening trying to make repairs to their damaged sails, their minds turned to something of a little more concern -- Luffy and Zoro.

Nami stirred her pasta with her fork as they all ate a late supper, her eyebrows furrowed and her chin resting in the palm of her hand. "Well, serves Luffy right for getting himself overboard like that after breaking the helm." The others ate in silence, fully aware that she didn't mean it. Chopper sniffed as he sipped his juice, however, before speaking.

"I'm so worried…"

Nami, Usopp and Sanji gave each other momentary glances.

"Hey, now, don't be worried!" exclaimed Usopp suddenly, making the reindeer jump. "I mean, this is Zoro and Luffy we're talking about, remember?"

"That's right," Nami stated fervently, giving Chopper a reassuring smile. "Luffy's got Zoro looking after him, and we all know that Zoro is…ah…"

"Too stubborn to do anything else," Sanji finished helpfully, although his face held a look of mild contempt.

Nami smiled, giving the chef an amused glance before focusing her attention back onto Chopper. "That's exactly it."

"They're both strong," reassured Usopp. "Real strong. They can endure a lot. I'll bet you anything Zoro could swim to the nearest island with Luffy, and still have strength to run a marathon!" The slightest smile appeared on their doctor's face, prompting Usopp to continue. "It's true. Once, he ran all the way around the world!"

Chopper's mouth gaped open. "Really?!"

Usopp nodded sagely. "Really." There was a brief pause. "And we all know what a crazy guy Luffy is, so when you put the two of them together, you know everything will turn out okay…somehow."

"Even if it's sheer luck," muttered Sanji under his breath. Nami scowled, and elbowed him in the side. The chef smiled at her immediately. "Sorry, Nami-san."

Chopper gazed thoughtfully at the swordsman's shoes that now rested on the kitchen floor, still a little damp from the storm from that very afternoon. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." He smiled at them all. "I shouldn't be worried." After finishing up his own pasta, he hopped onto the floor from his seat. "Well, I'm really tired. Good night, everyone." And with that, he picked up the shoes and began to head for the men's quarters.

"Tony-kun, why are you taking Zoro's shoes?" Nami inquired, genuinely curious.

Chopper stopped and looked back at the orange haired woman, an immense smile on his face. "I'm putting them by where he sleeps. He'll be looking for them when he gets back!"

Nami smiled. "That's kind of you, Tony-kun."

"Gh-" He visibly twitched. "D-don't tell me that -- it doesn't make me happy at all!" He hastily made his way out of the room, but he gave an obvious, joyful skip before disappearing entirely from the kitchen.

"He certainly looks happy," commented Sanji. Usopp laughed merrily, placing another bite of food into his own mouth. Nami, on the other hand, remained silent, as she went about stirring the pasta on her plate again. Although she retained a soft smile, she couldn't help but wonder if they had actually been trying to put their own minds at ease.

***

He rested there, beginning to break out of the dark abyss that held him. Faintly, he could hear the soft roaring of the ocean waves. Vaguely, he could feel water lapping against his feet, a chilled, grainy bed beneath him. He was cold and tired, but he could barely feel something warm beside him. There was something else clenched between his teeth -- something that tasted of salt water and straw. It was peaceful, however, and he was tempted to remain how he was for the time being.

But, suddenly, his eyes shot open, though the rest of his body didn't move a single inch. The first thing they focused on was the straw hat protruding from his own mouth. Of course. He had bit onto it so it wouldn't get lost in the vast sea. A tinge of pride entered his head at the fact that he'd kept a hold of it this entire time, even if his jaw was a little sore because of it.

The second thing he became fully aware of was the figure held against him with his left arm. He knew right away what it was, and was pleased to hear Monkey D. Luffy's slow, easy breathing. Roronoa Zoro felt the hat fall from his own mouth, allowing it to land beside the boy's head, before gently releasing his hold on him and sitting up.

After casting a long look around, he deduced that they were on the shore of a beach. The sand had an orange tint to it, due to dawn's early light. The sky itself was a mixture of pink, blue and a hint of gray, and it reflected itself into the ocean before him.

Dawn, he thought to himself. I must've been here at least all night.

But where were the others? His eyes scanned the open sea, only to find no sign or sight of any kind of ship. He frowned, slightly troubled for a moment, but merely decided that there was nothing to be done about it now. They would just have to make due until they were found.

He wondered if there were any people on the island, and then he doubted if it really mattered. People were no good if they were more concerned about their own well being.

"AHHHH!" Zoro whirled around suddenly, one of his hands instinctively moving to his swords. It promptly fell back to his side, however, at the words, "MY HAT! WHERE IS IT?!"

Zoro gave a slightly irritated sigh. "It's right beside you!"

"MY HA--oh." The now sitting up, fully awake rubber pirate beside him abruptly picked up the hat and placed it upon his head. He grinned at the green haired swordsman. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," he answered simply, looking back out at the surprisingly calm ocean water.

"Hooo," he heard Luffy say. "I'm glad we're not in that water anymore! I thought we were gonna die!"

Zoro lightly grinned. "You're just lucky I jumped in to save you."

"Chopper would've tried to save me."

"And then someone would've had to save you both."

"Oh, yeah…" Luffy smiled suddenly, falling onto his back and staring up at the sky. "Heehee! At least we're on the island now!"

"Yeah, but we don't have any way to get off," Zoro pointed out to him, inwardly satisfied that his captain was his usual, talkative self. Luffy shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

"That's all right. We'll get off eventually." The first mate didn't answer for a moment, leaving an easy silence. There was no reason to get worked up over anything at this point; they both knew that.

After a few minutes had drifted by, however, Luffy bolted up without warning. "Let's go explore!"

Zoro snorted, looking over at him. "Explore? Why?"

"To see if the creatures are funny shapes!" Luffy enthusiastically answered, as if it were obvious. "Plus, if there're animals," he continued, his mouth seeming to water, "there should be meat."

Meat -- the swordsman had almost forgotten. They would certainly need to hunt for food at some point. That didn't bother him, however -- he'd been able to bring back more meat than Sanji knew what to do with before. This time was no different. They would just have to cook it themselves, that was all. Which, as far as Zoro was concerned, was perfectly fine by him. He never entirely trusted the Love Cook with his food anyway.

"C'mon, Zoro. Let's go!"

The green haired man simply fell onto his back, his arms casually folded over his chest as his eyes closed. "No, I think I'd rather sleep for now. We can look later."

"But I wanna go now," Luffy urged.

"Then go without me," he patiently answered.

His captain frowned slightly, lips puckering out in a pout. "But I want you to go with me."

"Forget it. The answer's no."

Luffy's lips split into a massive smile. "Say yes then."

"No!"

"Yes." Luffy wiggled his toes playfully as he spoke.

Exasperated, Zoro turned onto his side. "No!"

"Ye-e-es!"

"NO!"

"No!" countered Luffy, a mischief smile on his face.

"YES!--I mean NO!--I mean--" Zoro sputtered, a confused scowl coming across his features. But it was too late. Luffy grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him up to a sit.

"You said yes!" The boy looked absolutely thrilled, his mouth stretching into an even wider smile, his eyes practically glowing.

"Only because you tricked me!" growled Zoro, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Nuh-uh!" Luffy happily stuck his tongue out at the older fellow before laughing. "You said yes, and yes means yes!"

"But I didn't mean--" but he stopped when he realized that this whole head splitting conversation wasn't even worth it. He knew Luffy wouldn't force him to go with him, but it would take a lot of harassing before he finally decided to go by himself. So, Zoro, being rather irked by the situation, stood up from the ground, lightly brushing the sand from his pants. "All right, fine. I'll go. But then you have to let me sleep, okay?"

Luffy nodded energetically, beaming. "Okay!"

And off they went, walking side by side as they deserted the empty shore. Luffy chose to go into a heavily wooded area that was behind them, which was laden with all sorts of trees, grasses and shrubbery. As large mountain rose up from within and could be easily seen in the distance. He indicated the choice of direction by pointing and shouting, "Let's go into there!" Zoro merely shrugged in response.

They forged their own path, disregarding the gradually increasing darkness as they began to make their way deeper into the forest. Luffy's mouth gaped open at all of the colorful flowers he'd never seen before, as he commented on the towering trees around them, while Zoro silently ambled beside him, his eyes alert for any sign of danger. Eventually, the rubber pirate's chatter died down, and he was reduced to contentedly searching around for something new to talk about.

While the place wasn't entirely all that different from any other islands he'd been to, there was still something that seemed unsettling to Zoro. For the life of him, however, he couldn't put his finger on it. He stopped walking for a moment, and his gaze roamed around from tree to tree, from branch to branch. But there was nothing that looked amiss.

"Oi. Zoro." The green haired man looked over as soon as his name was called, only to see Luffy standing a couple of yards away from him. "Aren't you coming?"

He grunted in response, and proceeded onward. Luffy grinned and happily strolled along, not the least bit bothered by the weeds and stones that blocked his path.

Most of their "exploration" was actually rather uneventful, as far as explorations go. They did find a spring not too far from shore, however, which answered Zoro's unasked question of where their water supply would come from. Luffy didn't seem to be too excited by the find, but he was pleased to hear that they wouldn't have to thirst to death. ("Oh, that's a good thing!")

After a point, Zoro decided he wanted to go back. Luffy, on the other hand, insisted that they at least keep going until they reach the large mountain that was at the center of the island. His first mate agreed, and they pressed on. It wasn't long after when they reached a rather large clearing, consisting of nothing but grass and weeds, which appeared to surround the base of the mountain.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed, before running up to the steeply sloping base and looking heaven ward, as if attempting to survey it for climbing. He stopped suddenly, however, and sharply looked to his left, something having caught his eye. "Oh, look, a cave!" He swiftly made his way over to the massive hole in the side of the slope, smoothly jumping over small boulders that obscured his path. Zoro calmly followed after him, but he couldn't help but notice that the entrance looked too big and too new to have been formed by nature.

In fact, it looked as if something or someone had put it there.

"Oi, Luffy!" he called after him, in an attempt to get him to slow down. "Wait up!"

The dark haired fellow stopped and turned toward him. "You're so slow, Zoro."

"I'm just making sure there's nothing else that can help us. You almost completely ignored that spring back there."


"Spring? What spr--oh, yeah!"

Zoro sighed, a light feeling of amusement creeping through him, and he couldn't help but smile just a little.

It wasn't long at all before the two of them entered the cave, side by side, Zoro's eyes narrowed and alert, Luffy's wide with wonder. The cave itself didn't appear to be all that deep, which seemed to disappoint Luffy. But what was of interest to Zoro was the extremely large pile of what seemed to be wood placed towards the end of the cave. He stepped right up to it, looking it over, before crouching down to search through it with his bare hands.

Sure enough, it was mainly wood -- man made boards, actually, that were broken beyond repair. He also found a dented kettle, a broken compass, as well as other things that were molded or damaged beyond recognition. His eyes narrowed, and the unsettled feeling returned.

After brushing his hands off, he finally stood up and noticed that Luffy had been rather quiet. Turning around, he saw the back of him, as his captain was preoccupied with looking at something else. Zoro stepped up beside him, about to inquire what could possibly be so interesting, until the sight before him made the words die in his throat. He grimaced instead.

Rather than a pile of wood and other materials, this was a small pile of human skeletons, the flesh of which having apparently rotted off long ago.

"I wonder why they died," spoke Luffy suddenly, apparently not at all unnerved by this new discovery.

"Who knows?" answered Zoro, a frown still lingering on his face. "Starvation, disease, injuries. It could've been any of those."

"Maybe they were eaten!" Luffy suggested with a swift nod.

"Stupid, if they had been eaten then these skeletons wouldn't be intact like--"

"By the way, I haven't seen any animals yet," Luffy interrupted Zoro, looking around as if one would pop out of either pile. "Have you?"

Once Zoro actually thought about it, he hadn't seen any animals. No birds, nor creatures of any kind, save maybe some bugs. And even then, he wasn't entirely sure about those anymore, either.

The two exchanged meaningful looks.

"AHH! Where will we find meat?!"

"Is that all you think about?!"

A rather lengthy silence followed, before he was given an answer. "I don't know."

"You're impossible."

Luffy grinned at this, looking over at the green haired man suddenly. "Not too impossible for you."

Zoro folded his arms, his eyebrows furrowed seriously. "We'll see about that, I guess."

Luffy suddenly threw back his head and laughed out loud, his merry voice echoing and bouncing across the cave walls. Zoro blinked for a moment, but it wasn't long before he, too, began to laugh.

After a few moments of this, the two took two wiping the mirth from their eyes, Luffy still giving a hardy chuckle every now and then.

"Let's go back to the shore," said Zoro finally, traces of an easy smile still on his face. "Maybe a ship will pass by."

"Hey, maybe! And then we can find something to eat!"

"Heh. Maybe."

And with that, the two departed back onto the clearing, their minds trouble-free for the time being. After all, they had just arrived. There was no sense in borrowing trouble.

Faintly, however, the swordsman felt a pair of eyes looking upon them, but the only thing he could see when he turned around was the blank, collective stare of the cold, silent skeletons that rested within their grave.

He tried to shrug it off, as he continued on his way, but he still made a silent note to keep his guard up anyway.

After all, they had just arrived.

--end chapter 2--

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