Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro-sensei. This is a non-profit fanfiction written by a fan, for the enjoyment of other fans.
Seek To Find: Opponent
His nerves were tingling with excitement as he stood at the end of the room, feet slightly apart for balance.
He could feel the danger on his skin, hear the pounding of heart - rate increased by the rush of adrenaline - in his ears, taste the enemy - the vampire - on his tongue.
Nothing ever made him feel as alive as hunting down a demon and slaying it.
The vampire opposite him shifted one foot slightly, as if readying himself for the fight, but apparently didn't intend to make the first move.
Never one to dawdle with such minor matters, the demon hunter bit firmly on the hilt of the sword between his teeth and leapt forward, ignoring the screams and cheers of the "audience".
Wind rushed past his ears as he advanced towards the vampire by the window.
The vampire evaded the first attack deftly. Zoro was glad. At least it meant that he wasn't fighting a complete weakling. There wasn't much thrill in defeating those.
Zoro turned without pause and dove in for a second attack with two blades. The vampire slid past him, dodging the attack easily.
As expected, Zoro thought as he spun around swiftly with his right foot as the pivot, driving the swords toward the vampire's heart.
Too slow.
He had barely formed the thought when something dark and long swung out, connecting with the flat of the two blades, effectively deflecting the attack.
Had he been a weaker man, the force would have thrown him to the ground. As it was, Zoro merely felt his swords swing to the side and quickly steadied his hold on them.
His eyes flicked back to the other. One leg was held vertically upright, shoe pointing skyward. The position of follow-through from the kick. The leg was slowly lowered to the ground.
Zoro narrowed his eyes.
Not bad, vampire.
Though aloud, all he said was:
"Is that the best you've got?"
The vampire inhaled a puff of cigarette and exhaling a languid stream of smoke, calmly said, "Not at all."
- - - - -
The vampire was a worthy opponent. If he defeated him, it would mean that he had become even stronger.
Wind cried in Zoro's ears, blood pounded in his head. He could hear nothing but the wind, his heartbeat and the breaths he had to draw in and out of his lungs.
Zoro didn't hear the yells--
"GO, Sanji!" Luffy cheered. His eyes darted left and right, following every movement.
"Let's GO, Luffy!" Usopp was back at his original plea, watching the fight through his fingers. Even if Sanji was a good vampire, he didn't want to get caught in the "crossfire" when THE demon hunter, Roronoa Zoro was around.
--nor did he hear the crash that resounded through the room when a box on the dining table was struck right off the table, the trays that were stacked to form the said box spilling their contents - gorgeous-looking, neatly-and-painstakingly-arranged food - onto the cold stone floor.
Then suddenly, there was silence. Even the yelling ceased. And that Zoro noticed. At least, he couldn't have missed the complete halt in motion on the part of the vampire.
Sanji stared at the pile of wasted food on the floor, a devastated expression crossing his features.
Normally, Zoro would simply go ahead with the kill if his prey should be distracted. But where Zoro had acknowledged the other as an opponent rather than just a prey, he wanted to win with the opponent fighting all the way to the end. Or else, it would be pointless.
And so Zoro waited.
He didn't have to wait long.
Sanji swiftly turned his head and baring his fangs, yelled at the top of his voice, "That was specially prepared for Nami-san, you shitty imbecile!"
For a fleeting moment, Zoro felt like a child who had done something wrong - guilty and apologetic. But as said, the moment was brief; after it had passed, Zoro was shaking his right hand and the sword in it angrily at Sanji, shouting equally loudly, "How was I to know that, bastard?"
The only reply he got was a vicious kick toward his head. Followed by another. And another. And another.
The cheering started once more. Though the plea to leave became a musing about how the vampire knew priestess Nami.
Zoro managed to avoid the strikes, but found himself merely defending rather than attacking. It wasn't as if the vampire hadn't taken the offensive at all earlier; but his attacks then were nothing compared to the series of swift, continuous kicks now (accompanied by various words articulated in some language Zoro couldn't and didn't want to bother to understand). Now, there was actually an oppressive force pushing down on him; each attack sent him closer into the corner. A grin spread on Zoro's face. This was the kind of fight that sent thrills down his spine.
Zoro gathered himself for a counter-attack, his eyes keenly watching for a weak point to attack. Everything was instinct. Zoro was never one to think too much during a fight. He left everything to his body's reflexes.
There.
Zoro raised his swords.
But before he could bring them down, one kick connected.
The sword between Zoro's teeth flew to the ground where it fell with protesting clangs.
Arms raised, Zoro was left wide open.
The series of kicks resulting sent Zoro crashing across the room.
Eyes widened.
Jaws dropped.
The ringing of shattering glass resonated as Zoro hurtled through a long window.
Sheets of rain fell around him. Their voice muffled all other sound. It was as if a wet cold blanket had enveloped him, drenching him from head to toe. The needles of water struck his face with no intention of ceasing, random yet seemingly with some kind of rhythm.
For one full second, Zoro felt a new sensation that he had never experienced before - powerless.
Then the second was over and Zoro's grin grew wider. He clenched the hilts of the swords in his hands more tightly and twisted his body in the air, into a position such as to minimise injury, as he braced himself for the impact.
A dark shadow flitted across his vision, almost blending into the dark skies behind him.
The shadow grew larger as it dove toward the ground faster than the velocity of free fall. A magnificent blur of black, red and blond.
Zoro narrowed his eyes as he recognised the shadow. As it drew closer, stretching an arm towards him, he opened his mouth.
"I don't need your help, bastard," Zoro barked.
"I don't want to help you either, shitty hunter. But the kids said you were some kind of hero," Sanji spat back.
The hand grabbed at Zoro's forearm.
Zoro swung out with his other arm.
Pale fingers brushed past wet skin, leaving a chilly trail colder than the rain.
Zoro heard the figure curse as he opened his arms, cloak billowing behind him, and glided out of view.
The ground was harder than Zoro would have liked it to be.
A single shockwave exploded through his body. The dark surroundings turned completely white for a passing moment.
Then the white began to fade. And Zoro gradually became aware of the excruciating pain, and once more, the ceaseless beating of the rain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the vampire rising from the crouch in which he had landed some distance away.
Zoro pushed himself to his knees, and then up on his feet, messily wiping off the blood streaming down the side of his face with the back of his hand. He swayed unsteadily.
Sanji had turned around and was staring at him incredulously.
Zoro smirked. He enjoyed it when his opponents took on that look.
Finding one hand empty, he raised it to the other hand. He was usually a three swords user. But there had been exceptions. And he was keen to find out if he remembered one of them.
He almost fell with the first step he took, and then he was off, almost flying towards the vampire.
The vampire kicked out, dodging his attacks and returning them.
But it wasn't enough. The song of the wind and the rain sang in his ears. Zoro lifted the sole remaining white sword with both hands.
Lion's Song.
The metal blade of the splendid sword plunged into the vampire's abdomen. There was no blood - vampires didn't have blood - and the only sign that there had been any effect was the widening of the vampire's visible eye as he collapsed onto the ground.
Zoro withdrew his blade, looking down at the limp body of the vampire sprawled on the floor. He wasn't dead - vampires disintegrate upon destruction - but he was definitely seriously injured, his eyes opened but glazed over.
Zoro grinned with the knowledge of the victory close at hand, the adrenaline, not quite finished, made him somewhat dizzy. He raised his hand and the sword in it, ready to stab it into the vampire's heart to claim his triumph.
Suddenly, the sword fell from his hand. His arm fell to his side. Zoro narrowed his eyes, but found that he couldn't summon the strength to raise his arm, like he hadn't been able to command his fingers to hold on to the sword. The sword landed silently on the wet grass beside the vampire. Perhaps the wave of giddiness hadn't been all due to the adrenaline.
"Oi!" A voice sounded above his head.
Zoro looked up to see a head stuck out of the window of a room on the second storey, directly above him. He couldn't say he wasn't surprised to see the furious look on the face of one of the two human children he had just saved.
"That's my friend who you've attacked. I'm not going to let you off," the boy declared fiercely, panting heavily from what must have been a sprint down the winding stairway.
Zoro felt an eyebrow twitching. "What?" He managed to utter.
"If you hurt Sanji, who's going to cook all that wonderful food for us?"
"Sanji?"
"Th-the vampire." A second head that appeared beside the first supplied.
"Look, it was a fair fight and he's a vampire," Zoro didn't usually have the patience to explain things to children, but there was a passion in the voice of this one that Zoro couldn't entirely ignore.
"You started the fight by upsetting Sanji's gift for Nami!" Luffy accused.
"What?" Zoro asked. His vision was beginning to get blurry once more and he couldn't quite focus on the youths.
"The packed meal." Usopp explained.
The image of the pile of trays and food on the floor flitted past Zoro's mind. And then everything went black.
Luffy and Usopp blinked at the body of the demon hunter who had suddenly collasped, waiting for further movement.
"Maybe he's like Ace," Usopp suggested.
"Did I hear my name?" A voice sounded from the entrance to the room.
"ACE!" Both boys exclaimed as they turned back and saw the newcomer. One in joy, one in shock.
"Hey kids. What were all those empty dishes on the table upstairs?" Ace asked as he walked into the room. "Have you guys been eating?" He continued suspiciously, a you're-gonna-get-it-if-this-was-what-it-seemed-to-be look in his eyes.
Usopp shook his head hard.
"Yup," Luffy said cheerfully. "A pity you missed it! It was great!"
Usopp banged his head on the wall by the window.
Ace walked up to the window and seemed about to land a fist on the top of Luffy's head when he caught sight of the still bodies outside the window.
"Whoa, what happened here?" He asked, then exclaimed after a second look at the one lying nearer to the window, "Demon Hunter Roronoa Zoro?"
"Yup!" Usopp spoke up loudly before Luffy could get a word in. "These people were, in actual fact, defeated by the great Captain-- Usopp!"
To be continued...
Date written: 23 November 2005
Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks to pitupaso for leaving a review for the previous chapter.
(And in case anyone feels so inclined for some reason: please do not include spoilers beyond the Skypiea arc in reviews. Thanks.)