Well whaddya know? I actually got time from studying twenty four-seven (!) to write. One night off. Stupid school. (throws a random ham at the teachers) The random ham is for you Clarobell. XP

Chapter 2

Zolo pushed Luffy back behind the wall, his hand straying to the hilt of his sword as he did so. Battalions of armed civilians made their way past, makeshift armour clattering as they moved towards the palace. It wasn't going to be easy to get in there. Two men stopped just in front of the opening that Zolo was peeking out of.

"Any luck?" the first asked.

"Nope. Can't find the runt anywhere. His brother escaped before. Jumped on a horse and bolted out of her yelling that he would return or something." the second replied. Luffy stiffened under his hand, chest muscles contracting in shock.

"Trace." he whispered. Johnny slapped a hand over the boy's mouth as the first of the two men looked around.

"Did you hear that?" the first asked. The second shook his head.

"GET MOVING YOU DIRTY SCRAGS!" a voice yelled. The two men jumped and then bolted as a large, musclebound man walked up. Luffy's eyes darkened.

"Mountain bandit." he whispered, voice muffled by Johnny's hand. Luffy started forward but Zolo slammed the boy back against the wall. He turned to the prince with a harsh looked in his eyes.

"Stay." he mouthed. The Mountain Bandit walked past, muttering vague curses. Luffy glared up at Zolo and pushed the swordsman away from him.

"I could have taken him!" he cried causing the two soldiers, Johnny and Yosaku to try and desperately hush the now very annoyed prince.

"Of course you could, but you must be quiet or else they'll find us." Johnny whispered.

"Yes, please listen to him your highness."

"Shutup." Zolo hissed causing the three to start and shut up immediately. Zolo grabbed the front of Luffy's shirt and hauled him around, all pretence of being obedient, gone.

"Listen here your highness. I was assigned to look after you, and whether you like it or not, I have to keep you safe. So shut up and listen to what I say or I'll kill you myself." he hissed nastily. Luffy wasn't phased and then he smiled.

"Deal." he replied and then Zolo, a little shocked, let him down. Luffy peeked out from behind the wall.

"We need to get across the road." he said. Zolo peeked out from behind him and nodded.

"We need a distraction." he muttered.

"We'll do it." Johnny and Yosaku said at the same time. Zolo turned.

"Are you guys sure?" he asked. The two nodded. Luffy smiled and turned to face them as well.

"Run towards the end of the street. There's a house there. A woman named Makino lives there. Say Luffy sent you. She'll look after you." the prince explained hurriedly. Johnny and Yoksaku bowed, hands over their hearts before running out into the open. There was a yell and then the clattering of armour died away. Zolo looked back out and saw their way was clear.

"Let's go." he said and grabbing Luffy's shoulder, he rushed out and they crossed the wide road without much event. The palace now lay before them, but a high fence surrounded it. Civilian guards stood by the open gates and Zolo growled in annoyance.

"What's your problem?" Luffy asked as he pulled the dagger from his belt and then pried out two bars and slid through the fence easily. Zolo couldn't help but smile as he followed and Luffy set the bars back in place.

"We need to enter through the back entrance."

"You mean the servant's entrance." Zolo supplied. Luffy frowned.

"I don't like thinking of my friends as servants. They play with me all the time." he replied. Zolo tilted his head and then followed as Luffy skittered across the courtyard and was at the door in seconds. He opened it quietly and peeked in.

"All clear." he replied before walking in.

"Prince Luffy." a soft voice said. Luffy looked around and saw a little girl kneeling under the table, her black hair covered in dust. Luffy kneeled down by her.

"What is it?" he asked. The girl twitched, looking around scaredly.

"They're here. They killed the king and queen. You have to leave… I brought this." she whispered and held out a rather beaten up old straw hat. Luffy grinned.

"My treasure." he said and then reaching and arm out, he gave the little girl a hug. "Come with us. We have to go to King Shanks, he'll help." The girl shook her head, ponytails falling across her face haphazardly.

"I can't. Mum is upstairs and I'm not going to leave her by herself. You go, rescue yourself." and then the girl looked determinedly at Zolo. "You. Bodyguard. Take care of him. He's more special than you know." she hissed, almost as if Zolo had threatened to leave Luffy here to die. Zolo nodded and then looked up as there was a clunk on the stairs.

"Go Luffy." she whispered. Luffy smiled and then nodded.

"Goodbye. I'll come back soon and save you." he replied and then ran back out the door.

"HEY! There he is! Shoot men! Shoot!" a voice yelled. Luffy and Zolo spun around, tensing momentarily and then bolting in the opposite direction as arrows rained around them.

"A cliff!" Luffy yelled and ran towards it.

"Are you nuts!" Zolo returned, narrowly avoiding an arrow that landed just in front of him. Luffy laughed.

"Probably. But, just so you know, I can't swim!" and then he jumped, grabbing Zolo's arm as he did and dragging the swordsman with him.

The water dragged him down, pulling at his heavy guard clothes and the prince… the prince! Where was the prince! Zolo searched frantically, his hand flailing in an attempt to find the boy's hand. He spotted the boy sinking at an alarming rate towards the bottom of the lake. He must have hit the water the wrong way. Zolo kicked out, swimming as fast as he could towards the boy.

Finally, his hand closed around cloth and he pulled up. His head broke the surface, eyes stinging and face feeling as though it had just been slapped by the sting of cold air. Zolo pulled Luffy up beside him, wrapping his arm around the unconscious prince's waist as he swam towards the nearest bank. As he looked back up at the cliff, he could see tiny faces peering over the edge. He was tempted to wave at them sarcastically, but, that would mean arrows would fly down and then he would probably end up getting them both killed.

Crawling onto the warm, sunny bank, he pulled Luffy up and noticed… he wasn't breathing.

"Shit." he said intelligently. He found a pulse and then, leaning over the boy, he slapped the side of Luffy's face.

"Come on kid… come on." he muttered and then growled. "Idiotic idea." and he began to perform CPR, trying to wake the prince. Finally, feeling Luffy's chest heave under his hands, Zolo jumped back as Luffy leaned over and coughed up all the water he had swallowed. He shivered and gasped, his body shaking involuntarily in the cold. Zolo quickly pulled off his guard's jacket, and laid it over the shivering boy.

"Come on. We can't stay here." Zolo muttered, his hands shaking slightly with relief as he scooped Luffy into his arms.

"Told ya, I couldn't swim." Luffy muttered. Zolo sniggered.

"Right." and then he hurried into the cover of the trees, Luffy giving an occasional shiver as they went. It was dark and gloomy inside the forest, but there wasn't much Zolo could do about that. Stumbling through a short barrier of bracken, he came into a sunny clearing.

"Perfect." he said and then walked to the centre of it and lay Luffy on the ground. "Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?" he asked concernedly. Luffy shook his head.

"No… just cold." the prince replied. Zolo nodded.

"Just stay in the sun for a bit and we can dry." and the swordsman flopped beside the prince, tired after an… interesting morning to say the least. He pulled his swords off his waist and pulled each of them out individually and lay them in the sun so they would dry. Underneath his guards jacket, he was wearing a light, white shirt and a green sash.

"Zolo…" Luffy's voice said, quiet and very different from his voice that morning. "Thanks for saving me." and then silence. Zolo smiled.

"You're welcome." he replied softly.

You know, this was actually not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. It turned out better than I expected. Cool huh? Poor Luffy. -pouts-