Heyo everyone. I guess I just sort of.. fell apart over the last few weeks and felt like nothing brought me joy anymore. Which is the flimsy excuse I will provide for my inactivity. But hey, I'm back, and writing again. I'm planning to make an mihawk x zoro fanfic soon as well, but if you aren't into that continue reading this.I chose Rayleigh and zoro for this chapter, simply cause I have no motivation. Apologies. And as always, kudos and criticisms are greatly appreciated and keep me going
O is for oath...
Every promise is often broken. Be it intentionally, or through a series of unprecedented events.
A promise, however solemn, is usually broken.
Rayleigh remembers everything in painstaking detail. Everything; from the first time they ever met; carefree, seemingly unrelated in the grand scheme of things, to the last few moments that his captain was on this earth.
Crystal clear. Painfully clear.
A promise of being together on their journey, as captain and first mate, though unspoken, was broken irrevocably.
"I won't die, partner"
Rayleigh knew that was a lie. Roger was never really good at lying. Despite that, he grabbed desperately onto that steadfast belief, that his captain simply couldn't die. Roger wasn't one to simply bend over and die. He, they, had survived through countless other hopeless situations, what is one more to the list?
It was a bit selfish really, to hold onto the thought that one could be immortal, undying. A childish wish.
One that is often broken.
He swore that he would find the next ray of hope to carry the torch forward. So that's what he did. For 22 long, gruesome years he waited. Captain's orders are orders that one would rather die than refuse to carry out.
He half expected no one to turn up. A bitter request in his heart, a rather selfish one, but he dismissed the thought as soon as it sprung up. The will of the D will always burn irritatingly bright. Even when extinguished.
He had to admit, his curiosity regarding the young successor was piqued when shanks mentioned his sudden loss of an arm relating to a bet placed upon the next generation. The prophecy of joyboy held to it's merit after all.
The boy was everything roger embodied and more, the same burning determination, recklessness and courage that mirrored his long gone captain.
"Why do you want to be the pirate king?"
A really trivial question to ask in hindsight, but Rayleigh needs to be sure. Even if the boy was a splitting image of roger, what if he wasnt the one they spent 22 years waiting for? What if he was power hungry in the same way shiki and rocks were? What if he misjudged the kid's chatacter amd placed the wrong bet? What if there was no one to carry the torch forward? What if-
"Isn't it obvious? The pirate king is the one with the most freedom on the sea!"
Ahh. He hadn't expected them to be so similar. So similar that it almost hurt. Even after 22 years, it always hurt.
He made an oath. An oath to protect what roget believed in. And as the vice captain, it was upto him to make sure that it gets fulfilled.
...
He sits with the green haired man, the vice captain of the strawhats, the Rayleigh to Luffy's roger, after 2 years, and exchanges a silent oath.
An oath to make sure that their journey has a happier end.
For he is a vice captain first and foremost.
And even if oaths are often broken, he wants to live to see the ending that they weren't able to achieve.
Well. I procrastinated a lott on this chapter, mainly because i couldn't grasp the pacing. And well, i still couldn't, but hey, atleast i got one out! I'm planning to upload regularly, but don't hold me to it!Also, reviews are literally what keeps me going so please leave one.