This is the part where it gets interesting. The dreaded Fire Swamp; no one ever returns! Muahahahahahahahaha! Anyway, please enjoy and review!

Chapter 9 – The Fire Swamp

Zoro and Robin raced along the ravine floor. The air around them grew hotter with every step, and Robin found it hard to breathe. Her damp hair was sticking to her forehead as she prespired, and her steps became slower and sluggish as a snail. Only the thought of Zoro suddenly alive, here with her hand in his soft grip, she could do anything, and Robin forced herself to continue.

Ahead loomed the dark forest known as the Fire Swamp, where those who went in never came out. Rumors were spread through the land about its contents; tales of giant monkeys and ROUSes, though the creatures' exact appearances were unknown. Still, only the first line of trees was visible, and the rest of the woods were shrouded in darkness.

A horse's neigh echoed through the valley, and Zoro skidded to a stop, Robin panting beside him. They looked up and could see a cavalry of ten cantering across the top of the hill high above them. "Ha!" Zoro yelled. "Your pig-fiancé is too late!" He turned, a maniacal grin curling his face as he stared before them. "A few more steps and we'll be safe inside the Fire Swamp."

He began running again, and Robin hiked up her skirt and followed. "We'll never survive!" she panted.

"Nonsense. You're just saying that because no one ever has."

The first step into the thick forest was nearly impossible for Robin. Zoro quite literally had to drag her inside with the point of either dying with him in the forest or forever wed to that tyrant. The first step became easier.

The trees' thick black trunks stretched easily ten men across, reaching up high above the two lovers' heads. Their branches intertwined with one another and blocked out the sun so only a few rays could penetrate the dark canopy. Rope-like vines draped from branch to branch, Spanish moss hanging from the wet surface and sliding eerily over Robin's head as she ducked under them. The ground squished beneath her feet, and with every step a putrid scent wafted to her nostrils. The air was silent and dead around them, and the only noise Robin could hear was the pounding of blood in her ears and the occasional howl of some animal.

"It's not that bad."

Robin stared dumbfounded at Zoro, who was staring around him with genuine interest. He caught her gaze and stared back innocently. It appeared to take him a moment before he finally realized the meaning behind her skeptical eyes.

"Well, I'm not saying I want to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually pretty nice."

A groaning sound echoed around them, followed by something crashing to the ground. Zoro winked at her and gave a warm smile, continuing to walk. Robin gripped onto him, fingers unrelenting from the cloth of his shirt. They continued forward for several paces, when suddenly several thumping sounds met her ears, like someone was jumping up and down rapidly on an air compressor, and a pillar of flame suddenly spurted from the ground at Robin's foot.

She let out a bloodcurdling shriek as the hem of her gown caught fire. She kicked at the flame and it refused to quench, only growing larger as it consumed most of her gown. Zoro practically pushed her onto a log and began beating the flames out with his hands, rubbing the singed cloth until every flame had been smothered.

Robin panted, staring at his shiny pink hands. He masked them quickly and helped her to her feet, smiling. "Well that was an adventure. You're not hurt, are you?"

Robin swallowed hard. "No. You?"

Zoro shook his head, though Robin could tell he was lying. "Are you ready?"

Robin stared down at her red gown, not even considerable as a gown any longer; it hung in tatters around her legs. She leaned over and gripped the still warm cloth and began to pull, ripping the red fabric around until her once floor-length dress now only reached the middle of her thigh. She dropped the useless remains to the ground. "Yes, I'm ready."

Zoro shrugged. "Well, I will say one thing. The Fire Swamp certainly does keep you on your toes."

The couple continued for what seemed like hours to Robin. The vines had grown meddlesome, and in annoyance, Zoro had taken out his black blade, the one he told her was called 'Shusui' and began hacking away at the stringy plants. Soon the blade was covered in a thin film of plant slime and dew, about which Zoro seemed unhappy.

Finally, Robin struck up the courage to ask, "So how did you survive? The Dread Pirate Mihawk, I mean."

Zoro stopped, lowering his sword and looking back at her. "It's a funny story, really. Do you want the long version or the condensed one?"

"Whichever. I just want to know."

"This will all soon be a happy memory," Zoro began, continuing forward as he hacked away. "Because Mihawk's ship Revenge is anchored at the far end. And I, as you know, am Mihawk."

"But how is that possible?" Robin queried, ducking under a tree limb. "Mihawk has been pirating the seas for twenty years, and you only left me five years ago."

"I myself am often surprised at life's little quirks," Zoro chuckled, holding out a quick hand for Robin to stop, and she did just as a Flame Spout suddenly erupted. When it had died, he began again. "See, what I told you before about saying 'please' was true. It intrigued Mihawk, as did my description of you. Finally, Mihawk decided something. He said, 'Alright, Zoro. I've never had a valet; you can try it for tonight. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.'" Robin inhaled sharply. "But he didn't, obviously. Still, three years he said that. 'Good night, Zoro. Good work, sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.' It was a fine time for me. I was learning to fence, fight, anything anyone would teach me. Mihawk and I eventually became friends." Zoro stopped again. "And then it happened."

"What?" Robin prodded curiously. "Go on."

"Well, Mihawk had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. So he took me to his cabin, and told me his secret," Zoro continued. "'I am not the Dread Pirate Mihawk,' he said. 'My name is Raleigh. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Mihawk, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Mihawk, either. He name was Shanks. The real Mihawk has been retired for fifteen years living like a king in Mariejois."

"Mariejois?" Robin repeated, moving a vine from Zoro's way.

"Thank you," he nodded. "Then he explained that the name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Zoro. So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely new crew, and he stayed aboard for a while as first mate, all the time calling me Mihawk. Once the crew believed our scheme, he left the ship and I've been Mihawk ever since." Zoro stopped again, turning to stare into Robin's mesmerized eyes. "Except now that we're together, I shall retire and hand the name over to someone else. Does that make sense?"

Robin nodded her head, not trusting her voice. Zoro's tale seemed so far-fetched, it was nearly impossible to believe. However, she detected no sign of false conduct, no slips of the tongue to suggest his untrustworthy story. But no matter how one looked at it, the only thing that mattered was that by some miracle, Zoro was alive, and that was good enough for her.

She walked forward again, and the ground suddenly gave way beneath her. With a cry, she suddenly disappeared into the ground, the white sand sliding up over her body and closing above her head. She dared not breathe for inhaling the sand, and her eyes remained closed. The earth was closing in on all sides, and Robin felt as if a giant hand was squeezing the very life from her body, but she could do nothing. Now, after all this waiting, she would die just after her reuniting. Fate did not seem to care for her.

Something wrapped around her chest firmly, maneuvering her immobile body to something more firm. She gripped onto the object, immediately recognizing his warm back. He shifted, pulling upward on something. She buried her face into his back to keep from screaming; her lungs were bursting inside her chest from lack of oxygen, and Robin could only last a few more seconds.

Suddenly, the weight was lifted from around her as she and Zoro broke the surface of the quicksand, gasping and coughing. They hung suspended half in and half out of the deadly sand, Zoro with his hands wrapped around a thick vine attached to a tree branch high above. After regaining some breath, he began pulling again and dumped Robin onto the more firm forest floor, pulling himself up beside her.

The sticky sand was plastered all around their skin, and it burned whenever it was rubbed, but that did not stop Robin from pulling Zoro into a hug, her chest heaving as she still struggled to regain lost air. He rubbed her back, and it felt good. His pace slowed a bit, but it was nothing Robin concerned herself with.

Robin was beginning to doubt that she and Zoro could survive the Fire Swamp. What with the flame spouts and quick sands and the infamous R.O.U.S.s yet to be revealed, this was all a bit too much for Robin. "We'll never succeed," she whispered, releasing a few tears. "We may as well die here."

"No, no." Zoro pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders as they stood. "We've already succeeded. I mean, what are the terrors of the Fire Swamp? One, the flame spurt. No problem. There's a popping sound before each one, we can avoid that. Two, the lightning quicksand, but you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that as well."

Trust Zoro to always add a bit of humor to the situation; but poking at her near-death experience was a bit irksome. Still, he was leaving out one crucial detail. "Zoro, what about the R.O.U.S.s?"

"Rabbits of Unusual Size?" Zoro smirked confidently. "I don't think they exist."

A brown blur suddenly sped past Robin's vision, and Zoro disappeared from her side as it crashed into him. Both collapsed to the ground, Zoro pinned beneath a massive ball of fur that was an R.O.U.S. The creature was huge and bear-like, with two giant ears twitching on its head. Two massive paws gripped both of Zoro's shoulders, claws digging into the skin and causing him to cry out as he kicked at the creature's stomach in vain. It snarled, revealing its pointed white teeth.

Robin could only stumble back as she watched him desperately try and keep the creature's teeth away from him. It was nearly impossible for him to move, and Zoro wasn't having much luck. With a growl, it overpowered his halved strength and sank its teeth into his already pierced shoulders. He yelled, pulling at its mouth.

Robin couldn't bear it any more. Without thinking, she gripped a large thick twig from the ground and gripped it tightly in both hands. Before courage failed her, she swung and cracked the stick against the R.O.U.S's back. It stopped and released Zoro's shoulder, staring at her with red eyes gleaming and teeth dripping with blood.

It lost interest in Zoro and stepped off the wounded man, pacing forward to glare at the woman. She forced herself to stay strong, keep the creature's attention until Zoro could draw his swords. To her, the creature mostly resembled a bear, which was to be expected. Rumors told of the R.O.U.S species to be rabbits the size of bears, but with all the agility of the smaller animal.

She raised her stick as it growled, beginning to swipe at her with claws extended. It suddenly howled, and Robin was relieved to see Zoro pulling one of his blades from the huge rabbit's backside. He held two of his swords in either hand, but he was wounded. His burns from quenching her dress plus the teeth and claw marks on both shoulders. She could see him using every ounce of his willpower to not cry out in pain.

The creature rambled toward him, and he lashed out with his sword. It jumped out of the way, leaping behind the swordsman too fast for him to see. Robin only had to blink and the creature had once again pinned Zoro to the ground, both swords thrown from his reach. He gripped the sides of its head and pulled it over him so it landed upside down across. It retaliated, once again leaping for him.

The two rolled along the ground, each delivering severe blows. Finally, through the crackling of leaves and wounded cries of both wrestlers, Robin detected the distinct popping sound that was the signal of a flame spurt. Zoro seemed to hear it as well, because he began rolling again to the right. A fountain of flame suddenly shot from the ground as the R.O.U.S. was forced atop it.

Zoro released the oversized rabbit and scrambled away as it screamed in pain, its fur lit on fire. It writhed on the ground, desperately trying to pat out the flames. Zoro drew his remaining sword and thrust it into the creature's chest, ending its life.

He stared at its lifeless form for a moment before turning to face Robin. A fire within his eyes slowly burned, a fire that kindled the lust of murder that lay dormant within every man. As she watched, the fire died, and Zoro's eyes once again returned to the soft dark green she had come to love so very much. Her eyes roved over his torn sleeves, bloody shoulders and shiny pink hands. Tears began pricking her eyes.

"No, stop that," he muttered, going over to retrieve his other two swords. "Don't cry. I'm not dead, and we're nearly out of here. That's the time to cry. Okay?"

Robin ignored him and cried silent tears, which he promptly wiped away with a gentle thumb. He leaned down and kissed away her remaining fear and sorrow until she felt none at all, only a sense of liberty and peace.

~X~X~X~

Leaves crunched gently under their feet as the eerie trees of the Fire Swamp began to thin and light finally penetrated the dark canopy. The leaves grew orange and yellow and many different a color, and the air grew cooler as the fires of the swamp were left behind. Birds chirped to each other merrily from tree to tree, flitting about one another as they sped off.

Zoro and Robin emerged into a light autumn setting, the air crisp and devoid of sulfuric gasses. The lethal swamp was only a memory now, and Robin felt an overwhelming joy in her heart to have survived its horrors.

"We did it," she breathed.

"Was that so bad?" Zoro joked, pulling her closer.

"No, a walk in the park," she teased back, and began to raise her face to his.

Suddenly, footsteps that were not their own suddenly broke the resounding silence, and several horses suddenly surrounded the couple, each with a rider in shining armor upon their backs, bearing the crest of the Enies Army. The men raised their spears and arrows positioned directly at them, and Zoro reached for his sword.

"Surrender!" A voice yelled, and Robin looked up to be met with the cold eyes of Prince Lucci atop his black stallion. His gaze found hers, and she shrank behind Zoro's back. Count Jabra trotted up beside him, and grinned manaically.

"You want to surrender to me?" said he. "Very well, I accept."

"I give you full marks for bravery," Lucci retorted. "Don't make yourself a fool."

"But how will you capture us?" Zoro continued. "We know the secrets of the Fire Swamp. We could live there quite happily for some time, so whenever you feel like dying, feel free to visit."

A tiny vein popped at Lucci's temple. "I'll tell you once again, surrender!"

"It won't happen."

"For the last time…"

"Death first!"

Lucci stopped, his expression intrigued. "Very well. I shall tell the world, should they ask, and you begged for death at my hand and I, the merciful Prince Lucci of Enies, obliged. To arms."

The soldiers raised their crossbows. Zoro's stance remained undaunted, staring confidently at the irked prince. Robin stared around her anxiously, one hand gripping Zoro's arm tightly.

"Fi – "

"Sir! Please, stop!"

Everyone turned to see one of the shoulders drop his weapon. With shaking hands, he reached up and undid his helmet, pulling it from his head to reveal striking blonde hair falling over his left eye and a curiously shaped eyebrow over his right. He watched the prince warily, his Adam's apple rising and falling rapidly with every gulp.

"Sanji?" Robin whispered.

"What's that punk doing here?" Zoro muttered softly.

"Didn't I tell you not to come?" Lucci asked, calm fury in his tone.

The young blonde dismounted his chestnut. "Yes, sir. But I had to come, sir. I had to find the princess for myself."

"And why was that?"

Sanji joined Zoro and Robin in the center of the soldier ring, his hands outstretched as if to protect them. "If you had issued the order to fire, the princess would have been shot as well."

Lucci pulled his lips into a half-grimace.

"Do you promise not to hurt them?" Sanji continued.

"What was that?" Lucci growled.

"What was that?" Zoro echoed, confused.

Robin caught on to the younger man's ploy. "If we surrender," she said, stepping forward. "And I return with you, will you promise not to hurt this man?"

"I could care less what happens to this jerk," Sanji muttered so only she and Zoro could hear. Zoro growled something at Sanji in return, but Robin was too focused on Lucci's reply to pay any attention.

"May I live a thousand years and never hunt again," was the solemn reply, the prince's right hand raised in vow.

"He is a sailor on the pirate ship Revenge. Promise to return him to his ship."

"I swear it will be done." Lucci glared at Sanji. "Bring her to me."

Sanji hesitated for only a brief moment before gently taking Robin's arm and leading her towards Lucci's stallion. The prince leaned over toward Count Jabra and whispered something in his ear, and the Count nodded. Robin mounted Lucci's steed and positioned herself behind him. The prince pulled the horse's head and began trotting in the opposite direction, and she looked over her shoulder at Zoro's shrinking form.

~X~X~X~

Zoro watched as the prince's horse disappeared behind a tiny copse of trees, followed by half the tiny army that surrounded them. The pirate was angry; having been just reunited with his woman, only to be ripped apart from her once again, the bond between them severed by a man with a pigeon on his shoulder.

He and the blonde stood shoulder to shoulder as the man in the yellow vest trotted up to them, grinning an evil grin. "Soldier," he said, addressing Sanji. "You are to help me escort this man to his ship."

"We are men of action," Zoro interrupted, grinning knowingly. "Lies do not become us."

"Well spoken sir," the man smiled widely. "Your destination is not a pirate ship but the Pit of Despair, where no man has ever returned completely sane."

Zoro ignored the man, instead focusing on the man's curiously pointed teeth. The pirate grinned wider, an action noticed by the man, who questioned Zoro's humored grin. "You have pointed teeth, a trait belonging to werewolves," said he. "Someone is looking for you."

The man did not take kindly to this. In one fluid motion, he drew his sword and bashed the hilt against Zoro's skull. A sharp pain erupted in his head, and Zoro collapsed to the forest floor, unconscious.

Did anyone recognize the R.O.U.S as the giant man-eating bunnies from Drum Kingdom only brown? That's what they are, because I couldn't think of any other vicious over-sized creatures in the One Piece world. Anyway, I hope I did okay with that. We'll see.

Anyway, please review, and the next chapter will be released soon!

Next time:
Robin and Zoro have survived the infamous fire swamp, only to be separated once again by Prince Lucci and his guard. While Robin returns to the palace, Zoro is sent to the Pit of Despair, where no man has returned sane. What goes on inside, and what is the Machine? Coming up: Chapter 10 – The Pit of Despair