Horo Horo Samurai

Chapter 2: Crossing Girl's Boundaries

Zoro began to feel his muscles loosen and his body sink into relaxing serenity after a surprisingly pleasant sleep in his temporary home. The aches shook strongly with any attempt at movement but at least he now had the option of moving and he had to thank the hostess of this abandoned castle for the decent treatment and supply of meals. He was surprised she continued to nurse him from breakfast to what would now be almost lunchtime right now, which made him question how serious she was about her servitude proposal. Every bit of help he received, however, was countered with trouble from the same source. The next time he would eat was quickly becoming as vague as the thoughts that the talkative girl sitting beside him actually had a switch somewhere to shut her up.

It was an odd idea but the smooth paleness of her skin and the straightness of her fashion gave her the image of a well crafted doll.

"I'm tired of eating such disgusting food. It's not even fit for a monkey!" Perona fussed in the wooden chair-she constantly moved her legs about since there was no comfy cushion, mistaking the swordsman's curious gaze at her for attentiveness towards her merciless onslaught of complaints. "Whoever lived on this island didn't have a clue on what was tasty or not. It's no wonder everybody died off."

Zoro's eyes continued to skim down from those black circular eyes down her jogging lips and quickly fell at her hands where she held a brown doll wrapped in her slender fingers. From what he could tell it was made of a dry cloth with black buttons for eyes and the pencil shavings for ears. Its wings looked heavy as they leaned into gravity's effects. He couldn't help but think Perona's voice suffered under the same law of nature and rained down on his ears. "I wish I knew the architect for this castle, who builds such a stupid maze? I can't even find my way back half the time. I've been reduced to drawing a bad map out of crayons I found and-"

"Did you make that with your own hands?" Zoro asked.

"Huh?"

"That doll you're holding." Anything to stop her whining, his curiosity started small but grew fruitfully as an escape from this rant session. Perona fell silent, looking at the bat toy in her hand. He was asking her about the doll right? To say the least, it was the last thing she expected to talk about with this muscle headed carrot.

"Well...when I used to live at Thriller Bark my room was filled with so many cute dolls that I could fill this room with them all. There were so many toys and I even had a toymaker penguin in the other room who was really, really cute! He had a santa's hat and had a belt full of small tools he used. And-" A grave error had been made! Perona was only getting more excited. He soon discovered that he merely ran from one obsession to another. "I had a bear one that looked like Bearsy when I was young then Doctor Hogback made the real life Bearsy but his voice was so rough and nasty. I end up telling him to be quiet."

Zoro felt his mind slowly dying away. "All this woman does is talk." He didn't wish to be rude to his nurse and managed a few minutes of responding and listening to her description of everything she owned. He could at least appreciate her attachment to what she owned, much like he what he possessed with every sword he brought into battle that belonged to him. "So did you make that doll yourself? The bat?"

"Oh…yeah! I haven't named it yet but it's cute right?" She grabbed it with both hands and pushed it before his face.

"Not really," he grunted. She sucked her teeth and looked off to the side.

"How ignorant! I couldn't expect an idiot like you to understand this doll's adorability."

"That's a word?"

"What kind of idiot are you?! Do you even read books?" Perona pulled down her bottom eyelid, hung out her tongue and moved her pupils upwards until they couldn't move any further. "Durr…whut's dat? Sum sorta phood?"

"I don't speak like that at all! Even your spelling is messed up!"

"The denial of an idiot."

"You can put together a doll like that but mummify me on your bed like this? Whose the real idiot?!"

Perona snorted and rose from her seat. "Mighty ungrateful aren't we? Well, I know what a certain bed ridden monster like you is going to have for lunch. Leaf brownies."

"No…" Zoro's throat instantly tightened, almost as if to purposely choke him to death to avoid this meal. The taste from earlier that morning still stabbed at his tongue, it made him question his existence with how absolutely revolting the meal was. There were moments in his life where he did all he could to survive, nothing short of eating dirty rice balls and, most recently, slurping soup and tea off the floor. These leaf brownies were different however. "Don't feed me that shit! Why do you even call it leaf brownies? There's no leaves, those have to be undiscovered weeds. And where would you get chocolate from?! That has to be dirt!"

"Horo horo horo horo horo!" Perona had already left the room, undoubtedly off to prepare that hellish dish of hers.

"I have to escape," Zoro told himself, finding a new motivation to empower him. "This woman is planning to kill me." Trying again to lift himself from the covers, he felt the familiar, scorching sting needling into every muscle. He resisted letting out a yell and fell back down on the mattress. He had to endure, it was the only way to survive these trials. Minutes later the princess of ghosts returned to the room with a rather dirty silver pan stuffed with his punishment for arguing.

"Horo horo horo horo horo! You sure do like to complain. I may not be a world class chef but you'll get used to my cooking."

"What's in these?" he asked. Above all else, he at least wanted to know what was going into his body.

"Who knows?" she said.

"What the hell?! What do you me-" A spoon was jammed into his mouth. He fought back at first, trying to shake his head or spit it back out but the chef kept the silverware in his mouth, threatening to push it further if he continue to squirm like a hooked fish. "Once I get these bandages off I'll get you for this."

"Maybe I should roll you down the stairs to ensure my safety," she replied.

"…"

"Horo horo horo! I see you understand. Here, I'll fix you some nice tea to battle the brownies."

"So you know they taste bad huh?" She had already left the room by the time he asked. It was pointless to argue about it anymore, he would have to eat the putrid excuse for a meal whether he liked it or not and it would only take a few more days for him to regain his strength anyway. What bugged him now was the condition of his friends. Were they sent flying as well? Or did they die at the hands of Kizaru, Sentoumaru and Kuma? He was the first to be finished off, perhaps a curse-to do nothing but fear what might have happened to his comrades. A mental replay of everything on Shaboady Archipelago rolled through his mind, the terror in everyone's eyes as they ran for their lives. The stress boiled through his veins but he refused to ignore the memories, maybe just for the sake of organizing his thoughts and truly realizing it all happened.

"Usopp." That panicked voice that called out to him was long gone. The sniper did the best he could to carry Zoro around in the midst of an escape. Right now, the swordsman wondered if such a generous task is what possibly doomed his friend. Brooke fought as hard as he could, risking his life only days after joining the crew. "Brooke" What haunted him most were the orders given by the Straw Hats' captain. Run away! We can't win!

"Luffy, Robin, Nami…everyone. Damn it." His voice cracked. He raised a stiff arm into the air, tightening his fist until it bled and then slammed it into the bed. "Damn it!"

"What's wrong with you?" Perona nagged, carrying in another tray, this one sorted with a pot of tea and two cracked cups. Zoro was a bit deep in his anger to respond normally so he didn't respond at all. Perona's silent stare still pressed against him. She refused to sit and just stood there with the tray. He had to say something, she was getting suspicious.

"My hand is bleeding a bit," he said. "Sorry about the noise."

"Is that all? I thought you were a tough man." said Perona as she sat down in the chair and placed the tray on the ground next to her shoes.

Zoro let that slide, he found it oddly settling to sit with her in such a calm. Now to not stir the clouds and make a storm. Perona pitched in as well, choosing to keep the fact that she heard everything from behind the door a secret. To mention it again would be cruel and unless he was an enemy she hardly ever participated in cruel games. "Thirsty?"

"Yeah."

She tipped the cup against his lips and slowly let it pour into his mouth. "Alright, time for more brownies."

"..."

"Ah, silence. That's a nice trick you learned swordsman." Perona playfully said. Zoro let out a little chuckle. Too much would strain his throat. "You're finally starting to make decent company. Can't wait until you start working for me. So, how did you end up here anyway?" she asked as she wiped his mouth dry.

"I was sent here flying by a warlord."

"Bartholomew Kuma?" She folded the napkin and put down on the tray. It was time to shove more leaf brownies down his neck.

"Yeah...that guy."

"He was the one who brought me here before you. Why did he send someone like you to a place like this?" She jammed a spoonful of, what Zoro was now starting to believe really was dirt, into him before allowing him to answer. After a few hard chews and another helping of the anti-delicious meal he cleared his throat.

"We caused a riot on Shaboady Archipelago, beat up a Celestial Dragon or three."

"Or three?! You deserve to be punished! You couldn't have not known not to mess with those guys."

"Heh." A long, satisfied grin stretched across Zoro's face. "A couple of our friends were in trouble."

"Unfair. You freaks bring nothing but disaster wherever you go! I did nothing and you guys attracted that stupid bear paw freak to Thriller Bark! Then I get sent to this dump for no reason at all!"

"Nothing I can do about that." Zoro said. He was being honest and hoping Perona was mature enough to accept the truth. It's not like they planned to lure in some warlord while they were busting up another one somewhere else. Well, whether or not she was mature may still be debatable but at this moment she surely was not.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You bastards ruined my life! You're the reason I'm stuck here!"

"Oi, oi. If your retarded captain hadn't stolen so many shadows we would have never needed to tear up the place. We probably would have never met Kuma in the first place."

"It wouldn't matter! You Straw Hats just destroy and destroy and destroy! Wherever you go you destroy more and more and you brought that carnage to my home! Now I'm never going to get off this island and return to Moria!"

Perona spun out of her chair, knocking it to the floor. The tea pot cracked beneath it as she headed for the door. "Why would I even want a moron like you as a servant? I hope you die in here!" The door slammed loudly, kicking up dust from the hinges. The switch clicked. He was locked in. Zoro sighed, the storm had came anyway. The tray of brownies survived the crash along with tea cup she fed him with, all he needed to do was reach for it. Inching his back closer and closer to the edge of the bed, he smiled when his arm slipped off and his hand fell onto the floor.

Now it was up to his hand to retrieve the food. It jumped about the cold, tiled surface until he felt a rather soft ball press against the tips of his fingers. Like one of claw games, he gripped it with only the those tips and groaned as he lifted it up. It was that little bat doll Perona carried around with her. He rested his elbow on the bed and spun the bat around with his fingers, feeling the stitching, the rough skin and thin yet heavy wings getting caught between his joints.

It wasn't cute, it might never be cute to him but he could tell it was special. Perhaps it was his attachment to the craft of a sword, that eye for detail few could pick up on. Some swords carried hate, some a passion for fighting, and others a lust for blood. This doll, this doll carried desperation and comfort. In his hand was something he could just feel was treasure. Might as well have been a gold coin, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Perona hovered about the castle at high speed, not caring where she went or what she saw. It was just an anger stroll with whispers and curses as the wind. "I wonder if I should drop that stupid samurai into the ocean and let him drown. Maybe he'll learn some respect."

She didn't know why she kept turning her head at every doorway and empty room, this was the east corridors, already marked on her map. No one new would appear and jump out with excitement. The food wouldn't get any better. Nothing would change. "I have no choice. Without that idiot I'll lose my mind. I better go feed him the rest of lunch before he ends up on the floor again and makes another mess."

Turning back midair, she started to glide back to the room. It was a minute later when she opened the door to discover another horrifying sight. "What're you doing with my friend?!" she cried out.

Zoro was still examining her doll. "Your friend?"

"I thought I could make peace with you but those hands of yours are oozing blood all over my doll!"

Zoro turned the doll around and saw his own blood streaked across the wings and torso, then noticed his hand leaking out the red liquid. "Shit, sorry about that."

"There is no sorry! There is only punishment! Negative Hollow!"

"W-wait!" The ghost flew from her hand and into through his chest. Whatever anger and fear remained on his face had now melted into absolute misery and regret. "What's the point of even trying to defend myself. I have no excuse, even my blood is too filthy for this world. Please, if my skin isn't too dirty, by all means shave it off and make a new doll. I won't scream, no one would care anyway."

"Horo horo horo horo horo!"

Is every chapter going to end this way?!