So guys, you're lucky that I had a practice exam, which left me behind sulking so much, that I refused to continue studying for today.
Because of this I had the time tonight to review this chapter for the last time, before uploading it (now) ;-)

You're welcome ;-P and I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you for your comments!

Sharry

P.S.: Next chapter will probably come out next weekend, because I travel to my family it might come out friday before I leave or on sunday^^

Chapter 3

-Sanji-

With a sigh he slumped down on the couch; the sun had risen only minutes ago and none of them had been able to go to bed and catch some sleep.

Dinner had gotten late while the former pirate had talked, placing an Eternal Pose in the middle of the table and explaining them that the rarity hunters had two bases, one of them at a tiny island named Mystoria, where Zoro was probably held captured until Muchinushi would come and pick him up.

An attentive listener would have noticed probably that the old man had chosen his words rather carefully. Rayleigh hadn't said one word more than necessary, had dodged plain and subtle questions with ease. Whatever he knew about Zoro's past, he had made sure to not let even the tiniest hint slip.

One or two times the Dark King had mentioned that he wasn't happy about them accompanying him on saving Zoro, but he hadn't tried to argue them out of it again.

For hours they had struggled to come up with a plan, calculating risks and chances.

The base they were aiming for wasn't Enis Lobby, certainly no Impel Down, and according to Rayleigh those Korekutas weren't much of fighters either. Few people would dare to attack world aristocrats. Yet none of them were taking this lightly, well at least Robin, Franky, Nami, and Sanji weren't taking it lightly. The other half of the crew, well, at least they had listened to most of the plan.

Especially the former pirate was reason enough for the four of them to stay cautious. Everything Rayleigh had said made it sound like getting Zoro out was actually a piece of cake.

So why the hell was Gol D. Roger's former vice captain so tense?

He hadn't been drinking almost anything and whenever he hadn't been the center of attention he had been staring thoughtfully out of the window. Sanji had shared several looks about that with the archaeologist; she as well had noticed this worrisome behavior of the former pirate.

At some point Nami had sent everybody to bed, including the dark king, but Sanji had enjoyed way too much coffee and nicotine to fall asleep.

By now the kitchen was shining like the day they had moved onto the Sunny. Now there was nothing left to do for Sanji, still he couldn't relax, his thoughts unable to calm down.

Something about this whole story smelled fishy. Zoro, fearless and bloodthirsty former pirate hunter, played obedient little soldier because of some lady with a list.

Rayleigh, one of the world's most dangerous and strongest pirates alive, seemed to be worried because of a guy named Muchinushi. Then all this secretiveness about Zoro's past, what was that about so suddenly?

All honestly Sanji had never given much thought about Zoro's past. He knew that the other one had grown up in a dojo in the East Blue, but that was about it. Nowhere within this peaceful line fitted the Devil's Right Hand or the world noble's rarity hunters.

Sighing deeply, he lit up another cigarette, he had stopped counting somewhere around washing dishes. He tried to picture young, innocent, little pirate hunter Zoro trying to catch the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh and running into the Korekutas. The idea of teenager Marimo, not even capable of growing a beard yet, trying to hunt down one of the most dangerous pirates alive just to get his bounty made Sanji giggle slightly and he decided to accept that picture as Zoro's past until he would hear the real truth.

"What's so funny?"

Surprised he looked up. Robin was just entering the room.

"Good morning, my lovely Robin. Didn't you want to catch a few minutes of sleep?"

"Well, I assume I made the same mistake you did," she replied with a soft smile and walked over to him, "too much coffee cause restiveness, am I right?"

She sat down on one of the chairs at the table, leaning her shoulder against the back of it.

Instead of answering, Sanji took another draw from his cigarette.

"You're worried." It wasn't a question; she knew him too well. Robin was too smart to miss such details.

"Just like you are." He gave her half a smile. "You noticed it as well, right?"

Robin tilted her head slightly. „What exactly? The way Rayleigh talks about Muchinushi or the way he pronounces Zoro's name?"

"I actually thought about the way he behaves when he thinks nobody's watching."

"Oh, good catch."

None of them were smiling anymore.

"I doubt our little rescue will be as easy as it sounds right now," she admitted after a second, "otherwise Rayleigh wouldn't try to keep us out of it."

Sanji nodded, caught in thoughts. "Do you think one of the others noted it as well."

All he got as an answer was a subtle laughter.

"What are you keeping from us, Sanji?" Her sudden question startled him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Oh please." She laughed again, like she was flirting with a stranger at a bar and not having a serious conversation. "You were just as careful in choosing your words as Rayleigh."

"Touché."

He couldn't hinder a smile but avoided her gaze.

"It's because of Zoro," he mumbled stubbornly.

"Of course it is."

Now he looked up to meet her smile.

"You should have been there, I have never seen him like that." He shook his head. "When this Korekuta mentioned her father..." He didn't continue but lowered his eyes again.

Robin stood up and Sanji could feel her eyes upon him.

"What do you know about this Muchinushi-guy?" He asked the silence.

"What I know worries me deeply."

Sanji got up as well.

"Why?"

She took a deep breath.

"Korekuta Muchinushi is a powerful world noble and his knowledge about rarities is truly unique."

Now they met each other's eyes again.

"But he's a man acting behind the curtain. His daughter leads the active duty. I cannot grasp while his name alone is enough to faze Rayleigh as well as our swordsman. He's a scientist, a scholar, but surely no true opponent in a fight."

"Doesn't sound too worrisome if you ask me."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"And that's exactly the reason, why it worries me even more." Shaking her head, she walked towards the door. "We should rest a little bit. I have this looming feeling, that our rescue mission might awaken countless surprises."

Sanji followed her to the door. "Not like that's something unusual for us."

She smiled softly, but her eyes stayed cold. She had already opened the door but didn't leave.

"Robin?" He asked after she stood there for several seconds, she was only an arm-length away from him, but her eyes looked far away, like she saw something in the distance.

"I knew it," she mumbled at somebody that wasn't him, "I knew something like that would happen."

"You knew Zoro would jump into that rotten deal with Korekuta?"

The archaeologist bit her lip, before turning towards him but still not looking at him.

"Did you notice it?"

"Notice what?"

"Zoro? How different he behaved."

Sanji tilted his head.

"You mean when those hunters showed up? No clue, maybe..."

"No." In one swift movement Robin turned away again. "Even before. At first, I thought it was because we had been separated for so long. Zoro isn't somebody who trusts easily. I thought he would just need a few days."

Confused Sanji watched her, unable to follow her thoughts. It wasn't like he had paid any attention to it, but it didn't seem to him like the Marimo had changed much during the last two years. Sure, some different clothes, new haircut, but still as moody, still as tight-lipped.

"Well… I..."

"He detached himself." Robin wasn't talking to him. "Something must have happened during those last two years and because of that he can't trust us anymore."

It felt wrong to listen to her like she spoke of her most private thoughts.

"No, no. Rayleigh said it was part of his past. It has to be something, that happened even before Zoro met Luffy."

Shaking her head, she finally opened the door.

"But how did Rayleigh come to know Zoro? What is he not telling us?"

Mumbling under her breath she left the confused cook behind.

The lack of sleep must have made her talkative, because Sanji was damn sure she wouldn't have told him otherwise. Still he couldn't deny that he thought similar.

He wished Rayleigh wouldn't keep his mouth shut about that oh so mystic part of Zoro's past, maybe then they were able to prepare, but he wouldn't talk, acting even more suspicious. By now Sanji agreed with Robin that the Dark King hadn't met Zoro just two years ago at the Sabaody Archipelago.

No, this wasn't about something that had happened during those last two years, this here was way bigger.

How the hell did Rayleigh know Zoro?

"A world broken apart, nations rising, empires falling. The time of change has come. The year is 1467 and two brave heroes facing the dangers of a dark..."

"Could you please just shut up?"

"Oh, don't be so moody. This is fun."

"Stumbling through some jungle in soaking wet clothes sounds fun to you?"

He smacked a branch away, which paid back by slapping the back of his head.

"Sure. Can't you feel it? The warm air, the mighty trees. We're like two adventurers searching for a lost treasure. Close your eyes and feel the energy around you."

The other one grinned at him over his shoulder and almost ran into a trunk.

"All I can feel are those damn mosquito bites and the damp heat."

Finally, the other one looked less excited.

"Oh, come on, you're killing the mood. It's such a great day and you're tearing it apart."

"Me?! I'm tearing it apart?" He tried to head up to the other one but slipped on the muddy ground and almost met it with his face. "You're the idiot that tore apart my boat! Offshore kicking a hole into the bow! We have nothing but what we're wearing! You know how difficult it was to get that boat?!"

"Didn't you steal it?" The other one grumbled.

"Yeah, and that was some tough work! For nothing! We're in the middle of nowhere on a goddamn island? How the hell do you want to get away from here? Wanna build a raft?"

"Don't know how to do that. What about you?"

"Of course I don't. Why do you think did I steal the last freaking boat?"

"I thought it was because of your kleptomaniac traits."

"I'm more surprised you even know what that means."

In silence they marched on. It was really warm and sweltering. Pirates like them weren't meant to fight their ways through a jungle.

"At least we didn't drown", the other one mumbled sulking.

He didn't answer. Yeah, at least they hadn't drowned. But he knew that asshole walking next to him for less than two weeks and up until now he had lost all his savings to booze, had engaged in four bar fights and had been chased by the Marine, twice. Yeah, at least his life wasn't as boring as before.

And now he had lost his boat.

"Why didn't I let ya drown?"

"Because we're friends." The other one grinned at him widely and entangled himself in a liana. "Furthermore, I'm your captain." With those words the other one tumbled to the ground.

With a sigh he pulled his captain back on his feet before fetching the dusty straw hat from the ground.

"Where is your damn fate when we need it? Now would be a good moment."

"Oh, my dear Rayleigh." The other one threw an arm around his shoulder. "You can't order something like that to happen. What's supposed to be will be. Trust me."

He rolled his eyes and walked on, carefully not to fall again.

"The ground is so damn muddy." That was Rayleigh's final note on this conversation.

Their marsh should go on like this for roughly an hour. At some point it suddenly went downhill again, which led to both men meeting the mud down at their feet several more times with arms, hands, and faces.

Eventually the jungle lit up and - to Rayleigh's relief - he spotted a bigger village not too far away.

"We should find something to eat there," his comrade said.

"We should find a boat there," he agreed.

"Do you want to steal one?"

"Well, I certainly don't want to stay here."

Slowly, they were getting closer and closer.

"We could buy one," the black-haired one suggested.

"My few coins, you haven't wasted yet on drinking, are at the bottom of the sea."

The other one wriggled through his trouser pockets, pulling out a few crumpled and popped up bills.

The blond snorted mockingly. "With those few Berrys we might just be able to pay the bathhouse."

The man next to him pulled a snub. "And how are we supposed to get something to eat?"

Now he couldn't prevent a smile. "Oh, don't worry my friend, that's why you got me."

A short time later, both men came freshly washed and significantly more relaxed from the local bathhouse, which was just known for its hot salt baths.

Smelling of papaya and coconut, they strolled down the main road that ran right along the coast. The older one closely surveyed the small ships they passed while the younger one inspected the shops on the other side of the road. Passing other folks, the blond took one or another wallet with him, of course without being noticed.

Eventually, they found a small place where they could both eat something and stock up supplies. The little tavern may not have looked particularly welcoming, but it seemed cheap and that was what mattered.

After ordering, the two men sat down at a table close to door and window to quickly blow off in case of an emergency. Few others were already present during the early afternoon, and those few smelled of alcohol and cigarettes while somehow still managing to cling onto their chairs at the bar.

The strangers near the door were pursued with wary eyes.

The food was far from excellent, but it served its purpose. The two quietly chatted, evaluating which boat was suitable for their onward journey. At the same time, Rayleigh counted the money that had come together so far. It was by no means enough to pay for all the necessities they would need.

He was already considering whether it would make sense to get in here the upcoming night as well to steal what they needed, the till at least had looked pretty full. He didn't necessarily like to swipe stuff, but he was a pirate and he needed the money.

His counterpart tackled the whole thing a little bit looser and didn't brood too much about the future while clearly enjoying his food.

They were almost done when the door behind them was thrown open and suddenly it became freezing cold in the room.

Rayleigh turned around on the bench, staring towards the entrance like everybody else, except - of course - for the young man with the straw hat, who did not seem to notice the change of mood.

The man who came in radiated an aura that impressed even the blond. He stopped in the door frame and stared down each of them without even having to look at them.

Then he strode into the room, towards the counter.

Except for his charisma, nothing seemed special about the stranger. He wore shredded clothes like any other homeless and otherwise he was as dirty as any other lump. His hair was so full of dirt that it was impossible to guess the actual hair color between all that brown and green.

As he stood at the counter, everybody else swallowed in sync before quickly averting their glances from him, only Rayleigh kept his gaze on the stranger's back. This guy didn't mean anything good.

"What can I do for ya?" The one-eyed man sounded serene behind the counter, yet everyone knew his fingers were fishing for his rifle under the old wood.

"Ethanol."

A cold shiver ran down the pirate's neck. That word alone was threat enough.

"Oh sorry, boy. Don't got something like that. This is a tavern, no hospital. Wanna get a drink instead?"

There was less and less air in the room.

"Absinthe."

"Um, well I'm short on that one, sorry."

"So, what do you have then?"

Slowly, no one dared to breathe anymore.

"Depends on what you want?"

"Alcohol."

„Yeah good, what kind of one?"

„Strong one."

The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead.

„I'd have 80% straw rum there. Would that work?"

The stranger just nodded.

„Warm or cold?"

„As a bottle."

Rayleigh peeled his eyes from the stranger, only to notice that his counterpart was the only one within the whole room who apparently failed to heed the newcomer.

A few seconds later, the old man put a dusty bottle on the counter. The stranger popped two crumpled bills next to it, took the bottle and left.

Just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, he paused. For a moment, he stared directly at Roger, who didn't even seem to notice.

Rayleigh on the other hand had the uneasy urge of having to stand between them. This dead look with which the other one stared at his captain did not please him at all.

Suddenly the stranger looked at Rayleigh. His lifeless eyes seemed to eat into his soul, all the light seemed to be sucked out of him.

Then the stranger turned to the door and disappeared.

Slowly, the remaining people began to quietly talk and gossip about what just had happened, but Rayleigh was struggling for breath. Although the stranger had seemed barely older than him, he appeared to be a man who had already seen too much.

Gratefully, he concluded that he would probably never encounter this man again.

"I made up my mind." His counterpart suddenly got up. "Let's go, Rayleigh."

"Where to go?" He also stood up and put the necessary money on the table.

"Following the guy from a second ago."

"What? Why?"

The black-haired one grinned at him.

"Well, because he's going to be our new crewmember!"

Words were powerless, just didn't get through that skull of stubbornness. Even after a minute-long discussion, Roger didn't let Rayleigh's reasons dissuade him from finding the stranger. Rayleigh ran next to him and talked and talked, but Roger had made up his mind.

For whatever reason, he wanted to add the stranger to his crew.

But the blond had not given up all hope just yet. First of all, the stranger would have to agree to Roger's offer and to do so they had to find him in the first place and it certainly didn't seem to be as simple as that.

Sunset was about to pass, and the mysterious stranger was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, Roger. Listen to me." He grabbed the other by the arm. "Once it's dark, we have to pursue our plan. We can't spend all night trying to find some alcoholic."

They still had no money, no supplies, and no boat yet, but that didn't matter to the other. He wanted to find this guy, no matter what. By now they had reached the end of the village, in front of them was little more than the wilderness, which became a deep jungle within a few steps.

"There are people," the younger one muttered and the next moment he walked towards the woods, leaving Rayleigh behind with no choice but to follow him.

After a short pace, he could also see the flickering light of a fire in the shadows and hear loud voices.

"We should kill him."

"Are you nuts?! This certainly brings us some cash. Heard that the World Government used to offer great deals of money for those who catch the likes of him alive."

Carefully, the two pirates sneaked through the woods and listened to the obviously drunk men, who had set up a campfire in the middle of the jungle. Due to the wet ground they probably didn't seem worried that they might start a wildfire.

"There he is." Roger nodded to his left and Rayleigh followed his gaze.

Apart from the fire, almost hidden from the shadows of the trees, the stranger was chained to an ancient, mighty trunk. The chains almost shimmered in the light of the flames like they were made of bronze.

Yet that wasn't what took the pirate's breath away.

Slowly they scurried through the branches and across roots, closer to the prisoner.

Now Rayleigh was sure. In the beginning, he had thought it had to be an optical illusion, but now he could see clearly that the stranger was no longer the same person he had encountered during the afternoon in the tavern. He still wore the same torn clothes and was still just as dirty, yet otherwise he had little in common with the man from before.

The first thing the pirate noted was the eye-catching tattoo, which crawled over the entire left half of the face in ornate lines and patterns until they were buried by the hairline. The black contours interweaved with each other some places and spread apart elsewhere, gliding down the left half of the neck before disappearing under the worn top.

The other half of the stranger looked the same as before.

Or almost as before; while approaching, Rayleigh realized that even that was not true. Yes, the odd tattoo seemed to cover only the left half of his body, but that wasn't the only change.

Suddenly the prisoner stared directly at Rayleigh. His eyes were just as lifeless as before, just as icy, but they weren't the same as before. Earlier that day a man had looked at Rayleigh, now Rayleigh was not sure what was looking at him. Maybe it was just due to the flickering shadows, but the pirate believed to see narrowed oval pupils like the eyes of a cat. The iris filled out the complete eye or was it just because of the flames that Rayleigh couldn't see any white?

He briefly closed his eyes and stared again. The stranger still looked at him with the inhuman eyes of a predator.

"Okay," Roger muttered, hitting his fists against each other, "let's get him, shall we?"

"Wait," Rayleigh hissed in his comrade's ear. "Let's wait until the others are asleep. If we cause a stir now, we won't be able to snitch a boat and be trapped on this island."

Grumbling quietly the other agreed with him, but Rayleigh had a very different reason why he didn't want to act just yet. He needed time to figure out what to do.

Roger wouldn't leave before that stranger had joined his crew, but Rayleigh had a subtle idea who the prisoner could be, and if his intuition was correct, they had more to worry about than whether the stranger would refuse Roger, their lives could be at stake here.

However, it was rather unlikely. How should a few drunk idiots be able to catch a monster from the fairy tales?

But Rayleigh couldn't be sure and as long as he didn't know how dangerous the stranger was, he could only do one thing: Lie.

After something that felt like an eternity, the last drunkard had finally fallen asleep, unaware of the pirates watching them.

Now Rayleigh could not stop his captain, who just walked out of their hiding spot and strolled towards the prisoner. Although the stranger was chained against a tree a little bit apart from the camp, they were not far enough away to be able to chat without any problems, but the black-haired spoke quite unbothered by that worry.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Rayleigh rushed after him, but the stranger did not react, only looked at them coolly.

"Not much of a talker, right?" Roger asked chatty.

"So," he sighed sustained, "then I just get started, okay?"

The stranger stayed quiet.

"I have a suggestion for you: I free you and in return you join my pirate crew, okay?"

Silence.

„Uhm, could you at least give me a sign if you understand me? Otherwise, I just consider your silence as an agreement:"

The prisoner snorted scornfully, but his thin lips did not even move.

"Why would I do that?" His deep voice sounded like the growl of an animal, like the rumbling of a dragon, like a single force of nature.

Roger shrugged his shoulders. "I think it was fate that we meet."

"Wait a minute," Rayleigh interjected, "you say that to everyone you want to recruit?"

His captain grinned mischievously. "If it's true."

"No."

Surprised, both pirates turned towards the stranger.

"No?"

"No."

"Did he just refuse?"

"I think so."

"For real?" Roger took a step forward. "Are you stupid or what? Those guys talked about killing you and we could just untie you. Why would you reject?"

The stranger slightly tilted his head, like a pit of calm nothingness.

"And pledge loyalty to a person like you? Why should I bow to you when I can die in freedom?"

"In freedom?" The blond repeated cynically.

"It's easy." The black-haired, on the other hand, was heating up. "Because I'll be going big. I tell ya; I was not born into this world to disappear just as unknown. I want to achieve something; I want to make a difference. I will travel the whole world, ascend to heaven, sink down into the ocean, until I find what I am looking for, until the world knows my name."
Euphorically, Roger had spread both arms and raised his voice. Rayleigh behind him just rolled his eyes and surveyed the sleeping drunkards by the dying fire. This was not the first theatrical speech he had heard from his captain.

"Of course, you can die here, if that's what you want. But let's be blunt, who wants to die like that? You don't look like a guy who just gives up. You're a fighter, a warrior, unbending, undefeatable. Come with me." He reached out a hand after the stranger. "You're also looking for something, aren't ya? You have these hungry eyes; I can see it. There's something you want, that's why you can't die just yet. Let's seek it together. Let the world shout our names."

"You seem to have great confidence in yourself, are you a fool or a dreamer?" The stranger tilted his head to the other side.

"A dreamer!" Deep persuasion resonated in each syllable. "Listen to me, my friend, my name is Gol…"

"Gold!" Hurriedly, Rayleigh jumped in between. "His name's Gold and I'm Silver. We are on a quest. We're searching for what has been lost."

He could see his captain grinning at him, obviously naive enough to believe that Rayleigh was now supporting him and not in the least guessing what he was really doing.

"You seem to be on your own." Rayleigh continued. "There are only a few of us left. Dreamers, I mean."

Roger just grinned wider.

"So, are you a dreamer, too?"

But the stranger remained serious, observing them wary, as if he were deliberating about their words.

"At least I'm not a fool," he finally said.

"Then we have the same goal," Roger decided with a smile. "Come with me, become my crewmember."

In the background, the first sleepers were stirring.

"Fine," the stranger said coolly. "I'm going to follow you."

"Nice. Open his chains."

Rayleigh stepped forward and started cracking up the lock. Looking more closely, he noted that the chains were indeed made of bronze, an extremely rare choice for chains, but not uncommon in this part of the world, as the floors here were rich of metals of all kinds.

As the chains fell off, he could see that they had burned deep into the stranger's skin as if they had been red-hot or covered in acid, but the stranger did not even flinch.

"Tell me," the black-haired mumbled as they hurried through the jungle, "what's your name by the way?"

"Bronze."

Rayleigh couldn't prevent a quiet laugh, either that was a bad joke or a coincidence that was hardly meant to be possible. Headshaking he grinned, at the end it didn't matter, did it?

"Well Bronze, have you ever stolen a boat?"

Suddenly Rayleigh lost the muddy ground under his feet, hard hitting the solid floor.

He tore his eyes open.

He was no longer in the jungle; it wasn't night anymore. Bright light poured into the room through an open door. Slightly confused, he looked around.

He was on the Thousand Sunny, the ship of straw hat pirates and had taken a nap on the sofa in the men's cabin. Now he lay on the wooden floor and his head was throbbing.

Head shaking, he got up and rubbed through his face with both hands.

"Fate," he mused. "Whatever that means, hmm?"