By AstroKender
Warnings:Swearing, Blood, violence, sexual innuendo and angst
Notes: This is one of my favorite chapters. For all of you waiting for Uragi to get his, you won't have to wait much longer, I promise.
Feedback: there is an annoying button at the bottom of the screen that, like Uragi, is just begging to be punched.
Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Eichiro Oda, 4kids and various other affiliates. I don't own em, I don't make money off em, I just play with them.
Chapter 16
"Stay here." Vivi ordered as she began wading to shore.
Sanji's shoes brushed the bay's sandy bottom briefly before an oncoming wave forced him to dog paddle in order to keep his head afloat. The blonde's eyes tracked the Alabasta princess worriedly. A hundred misgivings floated through his head at the mere idea of letting a woman be the first to run… err…swim headlong into a battlefield.
To the cook's astonishment, the sound of gunfire stopped. Peering through a waterlogged curtain of hair, Sanji was astonished to see their attackers slowly lining up on the beach, a strange expression collectively overtaking their faces. Overcome with curiosity, Sanji's gaze switched back to his blue-haired companion. What he saw made him accidentally swallow a whole mouthful of ocean.
Seawater never looked so good as it caused the thin material of Vivi's clothes to cling to her lithe body. The young woman stood firmly in the sand as waves crested just above her knees. Light tan capris molded to her legs like paint, showing off the faint lines that traced down just below the small of her back.
A thong!
Sanji could have sworn he must have gotten shot and died, with this vision of loveliness before him. Like a mermaid rising from the sea…. Sanji's heart and a few other choice body parts—throbbed painfully, proving that he was indeed very much alive. The princess's small T-shirt hugged her back transparently, showing not one hint of bra strap. Which meant the fellows on shore were getting a much better view than the cook.
Bastards.
Vivi's voice filtered into Sanji's ears like a sweet siren's sound as the blue-haired girl called out to their attackers.
"Please, help us!" the princess managed to put just the right amount of desperation in her plea. "My sister and I managed to jump ship while you were attacking. Don't let those evil pirates capture us again!"
"Sister?" Sanji repeated incredulously, suddenly snapping out of his fantasy-induced daze. On some lower level the blonde was beginning to think he had been insulted.
"You're not pirates?" One man on shore called out hesitantly.
"We're not! Please, will you help us?" Vivi did her best to make certain parts of her body stick out in what she thought might be a helplessly seductive pose. Judging from the happy smiles spreading across the men's faces, she had hit the jackpot.
Nami was right; men were dogs….
"Please save me and my sister!" The princess again implored.
The mob's self-imposed spokesperson shuffled forward a couple of steps, before squinting in Sanji's direction.
"It looks like your sister has a goatee." He exclaimed warily.
Vivi let out a frustrated sigh, her face going sour. 'So much for plan A'. Slipping her hands into her pockets, the princess withdrew two teardrop-shaped knives bound by separate lengths of wire. Whirling her weapons around with deadly velocity, she let one of her peacock blades fly unerringly towards the crowd.
Taking her cue, Sanji leapt from the water with a grace much like that of a dolphin; easily clearing the distance to shore. The blonde landed with a spinning kick that easily took down two potential attackers. A third man stumbled backwards fearfully, his face white as he pointed at the cook.
"Your sister's a guy!" he called out mindlessly to Vivi, who was busy fighting off a handful of men with razor-sharp efficiency.
Sanji's heel dropped down on the man's head, effectively rendering him unconscious. "I have a hormone problem." He told the slumped form with a smirk.
The fight was over in minutes. Vivi had been right about their attackers being only an unskilled bunch of villagers. Soon Sanji was dusting the sand off his pants as he turned towards Vivi as she took down the last of their foes.
"You okay, little sister?"
Vivi flicked a strand of hair back into place with a grin. "Of course, big sister!" she saluted with a wink. Heaving a tired sigh, the blue-haired girl tried to catch her breath as she gazed down at her fallen foes. "I hope we didn't hurt them too badly."
"Heh." Sanji snorted. "Seeing you waltz out of the ocean like that probably caused them a lot more damage." The blonde arched an elaborately curled eyebrow. "Where did you learn such a tactic, anyway? Such methods are hardly befitting royalty, Princess."
Vivi had the decency to blush. "I've ah—kind of been taking some pointers from Nami."
Sanji's grin widened as he shook his head in amusement. "Thank you, teacher!" he murmured to himself.
"We ought to hurry." Vivi told him, her expression turning serious. "We still have to find Mr. Bushido, do we not?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave here alive." An unfamiliar voice intoned. "I am under orders from Mr. Uragi to destroy the Straw Hat Pirates and, if possible, commandeer their ship."
Sanji watched a large man emerge from the shadows behind the cannons. "It looks like we're going to be experiencing a little delay, Miss Vivi." Sanji murmured as he gently pushed the blue-haired princess behind his back protectively.
"I had received a report that your ship had already set sail off this island. I assume now that the report was false." Thick fingers ran absently through a head of closely shorn hair. On his the knuckles sat a band of steel dotted with spikes. These fearsome looking weapons matched the ones on the man's elbows, knees, and feet. Two glittering eyes peered out from bushy eyebrows, watching Sanji's movements like a hawk.
This obviously was no country bumpkin.
Grabbing at a tiny metal cylinder hanging from his neck, the man raised the item to his lips. A high-pitched whistle echoed across the beachundoubtedly calling to attention any man that had heard it. Sanji cursed silently as he realized his instincts had been right. Things weren't going to be simple.
"Mr. Sanji…" Vivi clutched as the cook's shirtsleeve.
"Go." He muttered back to her. "You've got to find some way to warn the others. It's not going to be safe for them to anchor here."
"What about Mr. Bushido?"
The Sanji's face hardened as he sized up his new opponent. 'Damn it. Zoro, you pain in the ass.'
"I guess we have to rely on Luffy for now." The blonde stated fatalistically.
'You better not die, idiot'
VVOOOVV
The lanterns illuminating the interior of the warehouse burned low and were slowly replaced by the ever-lightening gray pouring through the buildings clouded windows. The nighttime insects were quieting, wary of the persistent cries of the hungry Cormorants as they began to search for their breakfast. Tiny dust motes floated through the air inside the wooden storehouse, creating a soft atmosphere that contrasted the harsh reality occurring below.
Arms hanging from above, bound to his own weapons, Zoro's skin seemed to be dyed red with blood. The swordsman's chin rested against his chest, hiding his face from view. Zoro hung, defeated. Even his notorious strength had fled under his captor's relentless and torturous assault.
Uragi had stopped his painful ministrations and now sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the green-haired man. His shirtfront sat unbuttoned beneath his cumbersome looking jacket as he lounged in a picture of relaxed repose. A silver flask dangled between his fingers as the thin man regarded his prey with calculating eyes.
"I'm not always so ruthless, you must understand." Uragi spoke softly, as if confiding his sins. "I'm afraid you made me fly quite off the handle earlier." He took a quick swig of whatever liquor filled his flask.
Zoro was silent and unmoving; only the thick rope entwining his wrists held him upright.
"Would you like to know why I am so angry with you?" Uragi sighed and another gulp of alcohol flowed down into his stomach before he answered his own rhetorical question. "No, I don't suppose you would."
"I thought my prayers had come true when I saw you stride into that bar two days ago. Finally, a way off this island, and a potential comrade to help push me from a common criminal back to the high ranks of society."
Uragi was silent for a moment before he decided to continue. "I don't know how you got your friends to abandon you here but, now here we both are. How old do you think I will be by the time the next ship docks here?" the bounty hunter gave a small disparaging laugh. "I really should let you live just so you would know how I have suffered. As they say, misery loves company."
Uragi's eyes narrowed as he noted that his captive hadn't so much as twitched. Crawling forward, the dark-haired man stuck one long claw beneath Zoro's chin, raising his head slightly. Zoro's dull eyes stared back at him sightlessly.
"Look at you," he whispered. "You're already dead."
Still willing to hope, Uragi carefully trickled the remains of his potent flask of alcohol over the swordsman's raw and wounded flesh. Not one muscle twitched in reaction to the burning liquid. After a moment's careful observation, Uragi let out a disappointed sigh.
"Bloody damn." Uragi let the swordsman's head drop in disgust. "That wasn't even the least bit satisfying." He muttered as he wearily pushed himself to his feet.
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket Punch!"
Uragi never even had the chance to react as two enormous fists plowed into his jaw with all the force of a cannon blast. The bounty hunter was thrown across the open space of the warehouse and smacked heavily into the opposite wall. Uragi slipped slowly to the floor, momentarily stunned.
"Leave him the hell alone!" The echo of an angry voice snarled across the distance.
"S-st-traw Hat?" Uragi mumbled through broken teeth as the man struggled to focus his suddenly blurry vision. "H-how on earth…?"
Luffy's eyes never left his quarry as he strode forward, his eyes shadowed under a strip of black cloth. The pirate captain halted his steps right in front of his first mate, in the space that the bounty hunter had just previously occupied. Still watching Uragi like a hawk, Luffy spoke.
"Get up, Zoro."
The swordsman did not respond.
"Zoro."
Again, nothing.
"Get up, you bastard." Luffy commanded harshly and, taking a page from Sanji's book, his foot swept out with neck snapping force. The elongated limb collided with the pile of crates nearest to the Zoro, sending them flying outward into the air. Gone with the boxes collapse was the support they gave one end of Zoro's katanas. The swords tumbled to the ground with a clatter, muffled only by the rope that encircled the sheaths, and their owner followed suit and toppling face first into the floor.
"Come on, hurry up!" Luffy's arms crossed, and his fingers drummed an impatient beat.
"…Lu…"
"…ffy…" a faint voice whispered over the wooden floorboards, barely audible and alarmingly weak sounding.
The rubber-boy hadn't even spared his friend a glance. Luffy's stare was reserved for the enemy, who was slowly struggling to his knees. But his words were for Zoro and Zoro alone.
"Are you going to let this guy beat you like this?" the rubber-boy asked his partner.
"You are thinking wishfully, Straw Hat." Uragi called out as he painstakingly regained his feet. Blood trickled slowly down the bounty hunter's chin. "He's finished."
This time Luffy did look at Zoro, a deep frown etching his animate face. "Get up!" he hissed. "I didn't think I had such a weakling in my crew."
"…leave…" Zoro's voice rasped out faintly, making his captain's eyes narrow.
"Get the hell up, damn you!" Luffy screamed furiously as his body positively shook with unleashed anger. "Loser! If you'd give up this easy, you're not even fit to be my mate! You promised to be the greatest!"
"You obviously expect a miracle to happen." Uragi shook his head as he irritably brushed the dust from his clothes. Snarling, Luffy shot a murderous glare at the man. The bounty hunter quickly dissolved as the rubber-boy sent a second punch flying his way.
Satisfied the enemy had at least temporarily backed down; Luffy looked down at his first mate. Luffy's eyes bored into the swordsman's back, focusing unconsciously on a raw and blistering patch of skin shaped in the form of an 'X'. The mark reminded Luffy somehow of a pirate's flaglike the crossbones of their own Jolly Roger.
"Zoro!" Luffy's voice was low and clear and filled with a commanding presence that only rarely made itself known. "Get up now! That's an order from your captain!"
Zoro's body twitched almost involuntarily. The green-haired head lifted off the floor the merest of fractions. But Luffy wasn't satisfied.
"I said…GET…UP!" The rubber-boy reached his hand down and got a firm grip on those green locks and forcefully pulled the swordsman to his knees.
Two coal black eyes glared back at him, murder flashing in their depths. "I'll kill you…." Zoro snarled up at his captain. A callous-covered hand grabbed Luffy's wrist harshly as broken pieces of rope fluttered to the floor.
Luffy's firm gaze melted into a heart wrenching expression of absolute relief but was quickly hidden, broke by a carefree grin. "No problem." The dark-haired boy replied cheerfully as he carefully helped pull his comrade fully to his feet. "You can do it as soon as we win this fight."
Zoro leaned heavily against his captain, his head swimming dizzily and the rest of his body moving as if weighted down with lead. Fire coursed up the swordsman's body with every blessed, every cursed, life-giving breath. Too weak to move just yet, Zoro found himself resting his forehead against the top of Luffy's cloth-covered head.
"Damn you…" he cursed his savior breathlessly.
"You're welcome." The arm supporting him gave his waist a gentle squeeze that still managed to hurt, though Zoro would die before he'd admit it.
"Roronoa! I can't believe it! How in blue blazes are you managing to stand?" Uragi spoke wonderingly, suddenly reforming a mere two meters from where the pirates stood.
"Back off, Greasy!" Luffy snarled threateningly, his arms tightening protectively around his burden.
"Keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong, Luffy." Zoro rasped out angrily.
The straw-hat captain ignored Zoro's warning tone in favor of concentrating on the thin layer of blood that coated his arms where he held his first mate upright. It had been stupid of them to think that Uragi's poison was the only danger Zoro faced. The dark-haired boy bit his lip anxiously as stared up into Zoro's clouded eyes, trying to gauge the swordsman's ability to hold onto consciousness.
Honing in on the unspoken worry, the swordsman irritably nudged Luffy away.
"You gonna be all right?" Luffy asked in only half-concealed concern as he carefully slipped his arms away. Zoro wobbled slightly, but stayed on his feet.
"What kind of question is that to ask right now?" the swordsman demanded. Placing the palm of his hand on Luffy's middle, he pushed past his captain and stumbled forward. Luffy stared down at the dark transfer of blood onto his red vest with wide eyes.
'This ain't good.' The rubber-boy thought worriedly. On the outside he merely gave Zoro a nod and confident smirk.
"Then lets hurry up and kick this guy's ass so we can leave." He said nonchalantly, and Zoro grunted his affirmative.
"Truly amazing!" Uragi's hands clasped together like he had discovered some buried treasure. "To think there is anyone who exists with your kind of constitution. I new you were different from the moment I saw you. Amazing. Absolutely amazing!" He repeated in awe.
"Amazing?" Zoro growled.
Clenching his fists, the green-haired man fought the urge to lunge at the bounty hunter, in favor of staying upright. A rising tide of nausea made Zoro choke back the need to vomit as his stomach churned restlessly. But he refused to show any more weakness to this man.
"You poison me, threaten my friends, beat me to hell and back just because I wouldn't kill them, and you call me amazing?" Zoro shook his head incredulously. "You, Uragi, are the one who takes the cake."
"Well, I've been thinking, " Uragi rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish motion that was totally incongruent with his personality. "Perhaps we should move past all that, and try a new approach. Throw in the olive branch, so to speak."
"What?" Zoro's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Beside him, Luffy frowned.
Uragi paced back and forth, making sure to keep enough distance from the pirates to prevent provoking an attack. "I have something you want… two somethings in fact. And, in turn, you have something I desire."
Uragi stopped and turned back towards the two, his eyes suddenly as blue as the ocean at midday. Reaching into his coat, the bounty hunter pulled out a small vial filled with a sparkling liquid. In his other hand he held out the white katana, Wadou. Titling his head slightly, Uragi quirked up one dark eyebrow.
"Well, what say you? I would be willing to trade your sword and the antidote in exchange for safe passage to the next island, or until any such time that I could procure a ship. No, strings, no hidden agendas, and I swear upon my own life that I would not attack you at any time during the voyage."
Zoro was silent, his expression dark.
"Come on, Roronoa." Uragi wheedled. "It is not too late to be cured of my poison. Surely you don't really want to die here. Unless you take the antidote your body will last a few more minutes, at most. Your iron constitution won't be enough to save you from that."
"Forget it." The swordsman shook his head. "It ain't worth it."
"What?" Uragi brows drew together in confusion. "How can you say your life isn't worth a measly ship passage?"
"Because…" Zoro slid down to one knee and, with hands that seemed to shake with palsy, took up his two katanas. It took him a moment to struggle to his feet but, once he did, his eyes latched on to Uragi with a newly kindled fierceness.
"Because," the pirate repeated, his face white from the strain of just staying upright. Sword tips wobbled threateningly at the bounty hunter, held aloft by arms nearly drained of strength. "Then I would have to go through the rest of my days knowing that I left you alive."
"Zoro." Luffy murmured softly, couching the name in unspoken admiration and pride.
Uragi's face seemed to transform in front of them as his eyes darkened to green and his pupils elongated into slits. A tight-lipped, cruel smile spread over Uragi's face as the antidote disappeared somewhere in the deep recesses of his oversized jacket. Zoro's katana was belted back onto the dark-haired man's belt with short, jerky motions before Uragi's hands slipped into his jacket once more.
"Well," he sighed. "It's your loss, really."
With no other warning, Uragi drew two one-shot pistols. The bounty hunter's own special blade-tipped bullets fired into Luffy's chest at nearly point blank range. The future Pirate King's body jerked involuntarily as the bullets pierced his body. The dark-haired boy fell backwards without a word.
For Zoro, the whole world seemed to stop.
VVOOOVV