Author's Note: Okay guys, I'm not gonna lie. It's been, like, a million years since I last updated and I really really want to finish this one! So even though my brain is moving slowly, I promise I'll start updating whenever I get a spark of ideas. I already kind of know the plot but nothing is totally set in stone. My mind's just hormonal that way.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am completely up-to-date on both the Japanese anime and manga of One Piece. I know about everything that happened with Ace and all that stuff so I'm gonna warn you now that this story isn't going to be exactly following the manga's recent series of events. I know this would definitely never happen in the actual series but that's what makes it a fanfiction, right? Even though I don't know a lot about some of the newest characters, I'm still making one of them the main bad guy so sorry if it seems a little out of character. Also, I know the way Nieve talks is weird but the point is that she's kind of a moron (at least that's what Zoro thinks) and she switches between talking normal and talking in third person.

Thanks for reading and sticking with it! I know this sounds like a freaking weird idea but hey, that's just how I roll. Reviews are HIGHLY appreciated (those and seeing Zoro half-naked—just sayin') and ideas are very welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece (That's probably a good thing. There'd be way to much romance X3)

*Inspiration for this chapter is courtesy of Heaven Help Us by My Chemical Romance and Super Mario World (Rock Version). Don't ask.

-Jacob-emmettluvr


Chapter Three: Ticket

It took about five minutes for Zoro to find his voice. It took about ten for him to put his swords down.

All he could think about was what Nieve had told him. She was a dragon. He was her master. He was almost positive the only reason he wasn't totally freaking out was because he'd dealt with things weirder than this while sailing the Grand Line. Why does this always happen to me? He thought hopelessly.

Things like this never happened to anyone else in the crew. Even if it did, Luffy would probably ask Nieve an extremely stupid question, like if she could poop or something; Nami wouldn't want anything to do with her; Sanji would instantly start flirting with her; Usopp, Brook, and Chopper would be terrified; Robin would probably want to know her entire life story; and Franky, well, he wasn't sure what Franky would do. He'd probably strike a weird pose and say, "That's one SUPA power you have, on-ii chan!"

Zoro was thinking so hard (I know, shocking) that he didn't notice Nieve was inspecting one of his swords in her hands.

"Say, Zoro-sama, these swords are beautiful. Can I have one?" She asked wondrously, inspecting a sheathed Wado.

"When did you steal that!" he shouted and snatched it back. He growled at her and she stared innocently back.

"Please Zoro-sama? Just one?" Zoro touched each sword's hilt.

"No. These are cursed swords, not toys. You probably wouldn't be able to control them and eventually die. These swords need a master who is strong and ready to battle at anytime—not some baka who goes around telling people they're a dragon." Zoro said, narrowing his eyes at the tan-skinned girl. Unoffended, she smiled cheerily back.

"Oh Nieve doesn't lie. Not all the time. Nieve really is a dragon and you really are my master. It'd be against Nieve's morals if she didn't pledge herself to the one who saved her. I'm your slave until I feel I've repaid my debt to you—or until one of us is dead."

Anyone who knew Zoro knew that he was not a pervert. He wasn't like that Ero-cook. But the word "slave" got him thinking. He wasn't totally sure how he felt about all this. He'd always been a loner and even when he'd joined the Mugiwaras (Luffy's one-man crew actually) he'd always preferred to do things on his own. Still, he could picture the outrage on that Curly-Brow's face perfectly when he finds out that Zoro had a slave and not him.

"Then if what you're saying is true, than how did you come to be trapped on this island like I am? Surely you wouldn't want to call a place like this home?" Zoro inquired.

"Well, Nieve is terrible with directions—especially on the ocean—and Nieve accidently ended up on this island. A group of pirates docked their ship around the same time and they captured Nieve and took her as their prisoner. I'd only been on the island for about three minutes." Comical tears were streaming out of Nieve's eyes and Zoro sweat dropped. How could someone get caught so quickly?

"They were here to bury their treasure, since it was common knowledge that this island was no longer inhabited—at least that's what they had said—and they forced me to guard their treasure until they came back. They threatened to kill me and throw me in the ocean—Nieve is very terrified of water—and so I had no choice but to do as they said. They told me they would always have someone watching me, to make sure I didn't leave the island, and then they left—after hitting poor Nieve on the head and knocking me unconscious." At the memory, Nieve winced and rubbed the top of her head.

"Where did the pirates go?" Zoro asked, a crude slide-show of the events she was explaining appearing in his head.

"They said they were headed for somewhere called the New World. They called themselves the Blonde-Beard Pirates…or was it the Yellow-Haired Pirates…?" Nieve looked thoughtful. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Nieve, I've never heard of anybody called the Yellow-Beard Pirates but I can assure you there is no one watching you. I'm sure that's just something they made-up to scare you and keep you from leaving the island. You could leave at any time." Zoro said.

Nieve's entire body and expression seemed to lighten up. "REALLY? HOW CLEVER!"

An idea reached Zoro's moss-covered head and he wondered if he could use the treasure to get off the island. He wasn't interested in getting all of the booty for himself but he was sure it would come in handy if he ever actually did get off of this stupid island. He highly doubted those pirates would be coming back from the New World, if they even survived it. He'd heard enough horror stories to know that it wasn't like taking a vacation on a deserted island with palm trees and all that junk.

"Nieve, do you know where the treasure is?" he asked. A cheerful expression appeared on Nieve's face and she raised a finger to her cheek.

"Nope! Nieve has a selective memory and I like to forget bad things!" Nieve laughed shamelessly, scratching her head.

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Zoro snapped, positive she was just messing with him. "Then how come you remembered everything else?"

Nieve blinked in surprise and pounded her fist in her palm. "Ah, you're right! Nieve should forget all of that."

"THAT'S NOT SOMETHING SOMEONE EASILY FORGETS! And make up your mind! Do you speak in third person or not?" Zoro demanded.

Nieve sniffed. "I speak however I want."

"Moron…" Already this girl was trying his patience. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand being on this island. He rubbed his temple, as if that would somehow make him feel better. Okay, so Nieve was a dragon. So what? Luffy was a Rubberman, Robin could sprout body parts everywhere, Chopper was a talking reindeer, Brook was talking skeleton, and Franky wore Speedos all the time. He could deal with this. No problem.

"Look, my goal is to get off this island and meet up with my crew. I don't have a boat and I don't know how to build one so I can't leave this place on my own. If you help me, I'll call us even and we can go our separate ways once we find my crew, understand? So will you help me?"

Nieve stared calculatingly at him. Her amber eyes examined his green hair, his dark eyes, his bandaged wounds, and the three swords that hung on his sash. She looked strangely calm, almost serious.

"Is your crew strong?" She asked him unexpectedly. Zoro's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"They're the strongest people I know."

Nieve smiled. "I will help you, even though you're a pirate. Follow me."

Nieve stood up and ran out of the hut. Zoro jogged after her and was blinded by a sudden light. He blinked furiously, trying to see, and he let out a loud gasp of surprise. He had been only seconds away from blindly running out of the hut and over the edge of the cliff. He might have actually gone over if he hadn't stopped just in time. The hut, which looked more like a pile of rocks on the outside, sat right next to a raging river. Merely feet from the mouth of the hut was a giant dead tree and a huge drop-off. Zoro stared over the cliff. A waterfall roared literally right next to him, pooling hundreds of feet below and connecting with another river.

Despite the majestic rainbow the waterfall was emitting, Zoro noticed the rest of the forest around them was extremely gloomy and eerie, filled with a light dusting of mist. He thought of Water 7 when he looked at the rainbow and then Thriller Bark when he gazed upon the spooky forest.

"If you could take a vacation…where would you like to go…?"

He clenched his fists. He definitely had to get out of here.

"Zoro-sama! Do you remember what Nieve told you? About me being a dragon?" Nieve called from the tree above him. A vein appeared in his head. Again, with the third person switch. Could this girl be any weirder? He looked up and saw Nieve was sitting calmly on one of the tree's thicker branches that hung precariously over the edge of the cliff. Directly below the brown girl, hundreds of feet below, was the raging river that connected to the waterfall.

"Yeah, I remember. Although I'm still having a hard time believing it." Zoro grumbled, not really caring if she heard the last part.

"We can leave whenever you want, but before we do that, Nieve needs to charge up for the long and scary trip over the ocean." When she was met with a blank stare she stated in a voice like she was talking to a kindergartener, "NIEVE NEEDS TO EAT."

"I KNEW THAT!" Zoro snapped.

Nieve suddenly jumped down and for a split second Zoro tensed, certain she was going to fall into the ravine below. At the last second she grabbed the tree branch and swung herself back to solid ground. She landed literally inches in front of Zoro. She smiled prettily at him and he automatically took a step back. Zoro couldn't deny it. In spite of himself, he had to agree that Nieve wasn't simply average or ugly to look at. The way her side bangs (A/N: As I explained in the last chapter, they do NOT hang over her forehead) hugged her face and how long her brown hair was made her seem extremely pretty and the fiery red yukata (kimono) she was wearing showed off her thin arms and legs, since it was cut short on both the arms and bottom. What he liked was that she wasn't so ridiculously skinny that it was almost unnatural. He wasn't trying to be perverted or anything (That was Swirly-Brow's job) but maybe having her for a "slave" wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Alright, when was the last time you ate?" Zoro asked.

"Two days ago!" Nieve announced sheepishly and Zoro almost fell over.

"You see, I'm a terrible hunter and I don't really know how to cook so I eat whatever I can find."

Zoro shook his head in disbelief. He might as well have been traveling with a female Luffy, except Luffy was actually smart enough to get his own food. This girl was just hopeless.

Just as Zoro was about to go and attempt to find his only ticket off of this island some food, he heard a horrifically familiar chant.

Negative. Negative. Negative. Negative.

Zoro's eyes widened to their fullest and before he even had the chance to move, one of the odd looking ghosts swept past him, just barely missing him, and disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Suddenly very tense, Zoro stood in front of Nieve and reached for his swords. He was shocked to find they weren't there.

"What the?"

"Hororororororo!"

Zoro's head snapped up and none other than the Ghost Princess herself stood triumphantly near the top of one of the surrounding trees. She was surrounded by her ghosts, now clenching all three of Zoro's swords. She could barely contain her arrogant smile and it pissed Zoro off to no end.

"Oi! Give those back!" He demanded. She simply just laughed that weird laugh of hers.

"Horororororo! I finally found you! Don't think I'm going to let you get away from me so easily when you still have a debt to pay!" She said loudly.

"Debt? What the hell are you talking about?" Zoro said.

"Well who do you think found you out in the middle of the beach? I don't care how strong you are, no one can sleep walk well enough to just march right into my castle on their own and redo their own bandages. BAKA!" She stuck her tongue out at him and about five veins appeared in the back of Zoro's head.

"Grrr, damn witch! You'll pay for taking my swords!"

"What are you going to do? Depress me to death? Bore me perhaps? I'm sorry but the last time I checked, you didn't stand a chance against my Negative Ghosts!"

Zoro gritted his teeth at the memory. He hated to admit it but she was right, he didn't stand a chance. Only Usopp was immune to her powers, for some odd reason. Nieve just simply stared up at the Ghost Princess in wonder and after a moment, Perona noticed the tan-skinned girl standing next to the swordsman.

"Ooh? I didn't know there was anyone else on the island. I see you got yourself a new girlfriend, Marmio, after that dramatic rescue where you broke my window." Perona growled. He knew he shouldn't have cared about what Perona said but for some reason, probably because he thought Nieve was kind of attractive, he blushed deeply and practically shouted,

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Perona just laughed at him. "Hororororo! Anywho, I may be willing to make an exchange with you in order to give you your swords back. Meet me back at the castle if you're interested otherwise don't you dare even think of bothering me for no reason."

Zoro's eyes instantly narrowed. "What kind of exchange?"

Perona didn't hesitate. "You become my slave and do whatever I tell you to do until someone comes and rescues me from this island. Then, maybe I'll consider giving you your swords back."

Zoro's answer was predictable. "LIKE HELL I'D BE YOUR SLAVE!"

A negative ghost suddenly flew towards them and Zoro immediately tensed, certain it was headed for him, but it simply passed him and went for Nieve instead. He initially thought it was going to go through her but it simply slipped past her like the other one had done to him earlier. Nieve, who had practically become frozen solid when the ghost had passed her, let out a large sigh of relief before suddenly sucking her breath. She felt all over her yukata for something that was obviously missing and she gasped in surprise at the ghost.

"Hey! Give me back my sword! Niji!" Nieve demanded as the ghost flew towards Perona and dropped the sword in her hands. Zoro was shocked and surprised that he hadn't noticed Nieve even had a sword. Usually he was intensely aware of things, especially when it came to someone having a weapon, but he hadn't even registered the fact that she might have been armed. He was really losing it.

Now Perona was holding four swords. The sword that belonged to Nieve, at first glance, looked positively awful. Although he couldn't see the blade, the hilt was covered in torn rags and was covered in what almost looked like a thin layer of dust. Dirt and mud caked the outside and Zoro almost didn't want to see what the blade looked like. He imagined an extremely rusted and old sword, kind of what his sword had looked like when it had been turned into dust when he was fighting that one Marine (he didn't hassle himself with remember that guy's name) at Enies Lobby. And Niji was supposed to mean rainbow.

"Niji!" Nieve cried, tears comically flowing down her cheeks. Zoro held her back.

"Don't try to go after it. Those ghosts have the power to take anyone down with just one touch." He warned while she hung pathetically on his muscular arm, still crying.

Perona smirked. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you Marmio?"

Zoro simply glared up at her in annoyance. Perona suddenly started floating off of the tree branch and she and her Negative Ghosts floated up into the air, her smug expression never changing.

"If you are serious about getting your swords back, then you know where to find me. It's not like you really have a choice. You can't be the world's greatest swordsman if you don't even know how to take care of your own swords!"

He knew she was just taunting him and they watched as she disappeared over the tall line of intimidating trees. Nieve jumped away from him and looked at him with the utmost urgency.

"Zoro-sama we have to get Niji back! He'll never forgive me if I lost him! Please, Zoro-sama!"

He didn't need to hear Nieve's whining to make up his mind. He'd already made up his mind as soon as Perona had given him an ultimatum. No way in hell was he ever going to become her slave. Somehow, he was going to get his swords back. Maybe if he tricked her or something…

"Don't worry, I'll get our swords back, find you something to eat, and then we can leave this island without anything holding us back. First things first, let's head back to the castle." Zoro said confidently. He started walking in the opposite direction, towards the East, but he was surprised to see Nieve wasn't following him. He turned to see she was walking in the opposite direction, towards the West.

"Nieve you baka, what are you doing?" He demanded. She turned and looked at him innocently.

"I'm going to the castle! Where are you going?"

"The castle is this way!" Zoro said. Nieve stared uncomprehendingly (whoa big word) at him.

"Really? I thought it was this way." She said.

They stood in silence, staring at each other for a couple moments, when suddenly a flock of crows lifted off from a group of nearby trees and took off into the sky. They both watched the birds and as soon as the flock cleared the trees, one of the castle's taller towers appeared over the treeline.

"Ooh there's the castle!" Nieve pointed out obviously. A swear drop appeared on the side of Zoro's head. It turns out neither of them had a good sense of direction (not that Zoro would ever admit that out loud). The castle turned out to be towards the North.

How would Zoro ever find the crew if neither him nor his ticket out of here knew where the hell they were going?

Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this? Zoro thought and proceeded as calmly as possible to walk in the direction of the North with Nieve hot on his heels.


Yay I'm finally updating! I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get some reviews! Next time you get to find out what Nieve's devil fruit power is and no, it's not her being a dragon. And Nieve and Zoro finally get off the island, although it won't be easy!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Jacob-emmettluvr :D