Horo Horo Samurai
Chapter 5: Truly a Princess Part 1
Another eye scorching morning had arrived at Kuraigana Island, thankfully layered with enough risen mist to filter the light into a brightened dimness that soothed the swordsman's early day chores. The supply bag the castle's current mistress made for him was found nailed to his shirt again when he awoke this morning, this time in a different spot. Eventually it would have to be replaced if this kept up any longer. It didn't matter for now, he felt a warm sense of self satisfaction with what he managed to collect today and he couldn't help but grin a little about it.
Typically the morning breakfasts he ate with Perona had mostly been done at his bed side where all the discussions revolved mostly around how well he was healing and what she needed to do next. They avoided asking about what led them both to the island since the first time made it all clear via yelling so now with his wounds nearly recovered he pondered what they would discuss as she came into his room that morning with the tray of food.
"I found a cookbook!" she joyfully yelled out, holding it up into the air like a freshly won trophy. As they ate she flipped through the pages, those magnified eyes of hers skimming up and down each page. Zoro found himself not eating for an entire minute just watching them move, the focus in her expression was memorizing. Now that he no longer was forced on his back he could sit relaxingly against the way, hit by the window's light behind him. "With this I can finally turn all the crap we eat into something good."
"We're eating that same crap right now." he added, raising a spoonful of oozing, gray liquids.
The excitement in her voice motivated him to find new ingredients, like the fresh fruit and forest flowers piled into his bag today. Giving her a little happiness on this miserable island seemed like the right thing to do though he sorta liked the dreary atmosphere of it, not enough to call it home but the days were nice with every bit of light that could come into it. He wouldn't mind eating food designated for humans either but could easily settle on just having Perona eating properly. Zoro continued, walking past the gate and into the front room of the castle. "I'm back!" he yelled out, hand beside his mouth. There wasn't a response. Rather he felt an urgency lingering in the air and tightened his grip on the bag.
"Help!!" Perona screamed out from down the dark hallway. Zoro instantly braced himself at the sound of running feet coming towards him and instinctively reached for the swords no longer at his side.
"Crap, she took my swords. I forgot about that!" He would have to find without arms.
"Help! It's an emergency!" Zoro was about to head towards the direction of her voice until she appeared from the darkness, a wheeled dinner cart in her hands. She ran past him and so he followed her, having to strained his leg muscles just to keep up with her.
"What's wrong?" he asked, still trailing behind her. "Is there someone else in the castle?"
"No, you idiot! Look at the cart!"
He had to kick up his speed but managed a glimpse of what was lying on top. "Isn't that your doll?" he asked.
"Yes! I was tossing Batsy into the air and catching him when he caught onto a chandelier and was brutally sliced by the edges! He's in critical condition!"
"What the shit?! This is about your doll?!" he managed to hold back on calling it stupid, remembering what it must have meant to her and decided to restrain his tongue. "I thought you were in trouble!"
"My friend is dying! Of course I'm in trouble! Hurry up and follow me to the Doll Infirmary!"
"To the what?!"
Zoro lessened his speed considerably as they quickly arrived at the room, a burning sensation was crawling up from his ankles to his calves. Patting his legs, he checked for blood quickly-thankfully nothing-as Perona opened the door to the Doll Infirmary, it even had an embroidery sign hanging from it. This was when the swordsman discovered the horrors of a spoiled girl, spotting the other doors next to the infirmary that said Perona's Stuff and Fluff Room and Perona's Elegant and Lovely Fashion and Doll Factory. He began to question if she truly did spiral into some sort of madness. Once the flames stopped in his body he walked into the room to see the doll laid out on a bed, surrounded by thin veils that hung from the top of the bed and blanketed as if it were truly a real person, head on pillow and all. Perona sat at the side, eyes gleaming with worry as she carefully began sewing a temporary patch of discolored and stained cloth where Batsy was cut. There was cotton all over the place.
"Poor Batsy, please be alright." Clearly the rotted cloth wasn't enough to save him.
Zoro watched silently, any comment he made would be useless as Perona went from panicky to worried and working. For now he tried to make sense of the situation, telling himself that girls cried over their dolls, some of them, at least a significant portion right? But only the image that popped up consisted of little children boohooing to their parents who would pay some suspicious, grown man who-at one point in his life-decided to be a doll doctor. He decided to just be open minded about this, the girl at the bed right now was on the verge of tears so the least he could decipher was that she was unhappy. Really, that's all that matter to him. "Is your friend going to be okay?" he asked.
She stopped stitching the doll temporarily and placed her hands on her lap. "Hopefully, though I have a lot of blankets and cloth, their texture doesn't exactly match the rest of his body so I'll have to find something around the castle that'll work." she explained quite professionally, returning to her work.
"I'm sure you'll be able to get something suitable."
"Poor Batsy..." she moaned.
"What if I fix lunch today?" To give her one less thing to worry about.
"You cook?" She had asked it with a childish brightness blended in with a low toned voice. He was expecting an insult but guessed she must have been too depressed to verbally smack around his intelligence and ability.
"Well, with that cookbook I'm sure it's easy to manage. Just need to read it and follow the instructions."
"Needed to do that for my map too but you still got lost," was what Perona would have usually said, however she gave off a little smile of gratitude. He was beginning to wish he paid more attention to what Sanji did in the kitchen now or else some crappy cooking could just add to the down mood already set in Perona, who tucked Batsy in and rubbed it before getting up and following him out of the infirmary."A good tasting lunch would really help me out right now while Batsy recovers."
"Yeah...." A weak smile came across his face. "Holy shit, I better do good."
"What crappy food." Perona said, staring at her food minutes later at the kitchen's lunch table as Zoro presented it to her. It was the typical grass pasta with leaf biscuits she had made before but slimier and slightly burnt, a sight only a blind amateur could have done on purpose. Was he trying to kill her and end her misery once and for all? "I feel worst just looking at this! Was this even in the cookbook?" The spoiled rottenness inside her refused to die, even at an abandoned castle on a ruined island though anyone would-maybe even should-react to such a disgusting meal.
"Sorry about that. But I made something better with an actual recipe so finish that first."
"What kind of reward could you possibly have made for your master when this looks so bad?"
"Just trust me," Zoro said, already at his plate across the table, a fork full of a worst-off meal. He usually didn't keep secrets and surprises like this but felt more anticipative and playful with Perona's childishness running wild. That same source of childishness was giving a pouty, cheeked face back at him with absolute disapproval and distrust, telling him he was a retard without having to say a single word. He ignored it, secretly enjoying those cut eyes stabbing him and positive what he prepared would take that glare off to hell soon.
At first Perona could hardly stand the horrid, rotting smell of the meal so she kept her nostrils shut between two fingers and bit down on the fork. Then she had to wash it down with water as soon as she was done but seeing Zoro finish his food first pressured her into eating quicker and getting the reward at the end. "There! Finished!" she grunted, pushing the plate towards him with both hands as she gasped for fresh air to filter out the stinging taste on her tongue. He grinned and rose from his seat, pulling out a few dishes he hid on the counter. "Here," he said.
Perona had covered her eyes to make it a real surprise. Once she heard the plates and bowls tap the table she moved her hands away like a stage curtain. All that came out of her mouth was a loud gasp.
"Mango salsa! Fruit Salad!" She glanced over to the dish on the side. "A bowl of blackberries? Where did all of this come from?"
"I got some more fruits from the forest and found some vegetables."
"Why aren't you lost and half dead then?" She asked scornfully, did he somehow cheat at nature's laws?
"Well I recorded what I explored this time! Just be quiet and enjoy it." He grabbed a cup from the counter and realized he just sounded like Perona. That was an idea he needed to push to the back of his mind for later. For now the sound of her clapping her hands and actually giving thanks for the food told him he did good as he walked over to his seat and took a sip of the orange liquid he made.
"Hey, what's that?"
"This? It's some sort of fruit beer made with grass I found in the book. It tastes a bit weird but it's pretty good," Zoro explained. He stared into it as if to reanalyze exactly what he was drinking again and took another sip.
"Hey, you can't drink that while you're recovering."
"It's Pirate Medicine," Zoro playfully said, overjoyed to finally have a taste of anything relevant to alcohol. This time he took a bigger, piggish serving from the cup. "I feel better already."
Perona raised a brow in disgust. "Aren't you underage?"
"I'm also a pirate."
Perona decided to end it at that, he was beginning to seem like the person who just did whatever he want, which-as she began chewing the soft leaves and fruit slices of her salad-included the occasional good deed. Some leaves were crunchy and hard, some of the fruit was cut into overly sized portions and overall the arrangement was horrendous but she appreciated the effort and loved the taste melting into her mouth, releiving her mouth from the dryness of the bitter foods she has had to survive off of.
Zoro's efforts to make her happy even seemed to keep her mind off Batsy's critical status, at least temporarily.
When the two were done, he collected the dishes only to have Perona offer to do them in his place. She planned to clean out the refrigerator as well so they could begin storing in more vegetables and fruit, even water to prevent less trips every morning. She didn't even ask what Zoro planned to do now, there was plenty of work but he hadn't been assigned anything. By the time she remembered this he was already gone. "With all this kindness I'm beginning to think he might like me," she said, teasing him from a distance. "Well, let's start with the fridge so we can start acting like civilized people again."
She opened the metal food coffin to see nothing but the color gray, a heated blast she only recognized from corpses shooting into her face. Holding her breath and biting her lip, she placed a cloth over her trembling hand and shoved it in the graveyard of food and decay, feeling something rather heavy crawl along the top of her hand. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!!! This is definitely a job for that moss head!" Perona than glanced at the leftover fruits. "But I can't just waste those." And it didn't take long for a curious solution to pop into her head.
Zoro sat on a rock outside the castle, in front of the laid out gate, and meditated peacefully, his shirt folded neatly next to his boots. Compromising by lying in bed didn't accomplish the clear thinking he had hoped to obtain through the process. As he closed his eyes the gentle sounds of his surroundings enveloped him as his focus took on a life of its own, pinpointing birds as they cawed and bushes as they rustled in the wind. This was sight through the mind and ears, an ability he used often in battle.
He only needed a few minutes like this to himself, already considering the fact that Perona may or may not call him any second with more work to do. Some gentle exercising was a hopeful possibility but there was no point in it if it would be interrupted.
When he was done meditating, he stretched and decided a few sets of push ups and crunches wouldn't hurt and began counting each repetition as he did it. "This is good," he told himself. "In another day or two I can trying asking her for a break after meals and start up my regime again."
After a hundred or so of each, he called it quits for today. In reality, this was only suited for a warm up but that was considering he would be in good condition and in possession of his weights set. Half an hour had passed and it seemed strange he didn't receive an order yet. "Maybe something happened. I better go check on her."
Entering the castle, he pulled out the map and went down the path that led to the kitchen. Embarrassingly enough, not using it guarantee his getting lost in the palace, which he blamed on his regaining the ability to walk just yesterday. It took about a minute of walking down the dark halls until he noticed the light reaching out from underneath the kitchen doorway, beyond it came the sound of laughter. "Horo horo horo horo!!!"
"What's going on in there?" he said, feeling almost insulted that someone was having a good time and not explaining why. The laughter repeated itself, this time louder than the first set.
"Horo horo horo horo horo!!!" Then a rough, dry cough. Insanity was beginning to seem like the only reasonable explanation for Perona's behavior anymore. Zoro stepped into the kitchen and quickly took a step back.
"Perona?" he called out. It was the first time he said her name and it felt rather odd. Fortunately the scene before him was bone chilling enough to overlap it and suck away his attention. The ghost princess was now rolling around on the table, one arm hugging her knees and the other with a cup in her hand. She'd then stretch out, roll around, laughing and kicking up her legs, saying half a joke and then laughing at it.
"Horo horo horo!!! Knock, knock! Who's there? Horo horo horo!!"
"Are you okay woman?"
"Shut up slave!"
"Demoted to slave?!" The sudden job change was shocking indeed! Or was this her true goal? He ignored it once he smelled something unusual in the air, a scent he recognized but couldn't quite identify. Zoro looked at Perona's cup and reached for it. She put up a fight, claiming it was her princess juice and started screaming out words she consider naughty like "hamper pamper" and "round hound".
"What sort of life have you lived?" Zoro asked, resorting to pressing his thumb against her wrist in just the right spot to make her fingers release the cup's handle. He caught it and put his nose directly over the drink. "This is that fruit beer I drank earlier! How did you get this?"
"I'm a princess!" she fussed, getting onto her knees. He watched her balance carefully, knowing there was a good chance she was so drunk that the table must have felt like the floor. If she fell back she could seriously get herself hurt. She pointed at the cookbook on the counter and pouted. "Princesses love wine! They love it! And they drink it! Because they love it!"
"Stop shouting! Besides, this isn't wine. It's just some cheap alcohol." He recalled seeing a few people drink these sort of beverages at casual parties and bars, acting fancy and sophisticated once they had a taste. It could be considered psuedo-wine more than anything else. "So you're drunk huh?"
"I don't pay you to think dumbass." She began swaying more wildly than before, first to the sides and then all around. Zoro rushed to the table and when she suddenly dropped to the left, he reached out and held her back and that pink head of hair. Her eyes were relaxed and tired, rolling around and eventually locking onto him, staring warmly at him, sending a hot flash across his face. A little smile climbed up her cheeks as a rose red blended into her face. "Dummy...give me lollipops."
"What the hell? Listen," he started, reviewing all the first time drinkers he had been with over his life. "You're probably feeling a little woozy right now, want me to take you to bed or something?"
"You're so nice. Thank you." And with only a subtle invitation to slumber she had fallen quickly to sleep. Zoro dragged the rest of her off the table and into his arms, her legs dangling in the air. She was lighter than he had expected but surprisingly warm, quite warm in fact. It was addicting enough to make him pull her in closer. She snoozed away, almost as elegantly as she declared herself to be with her pale, long neck hanging out and a angelic serenity in those tired eyes.
"Heh, it's nice when you're quiet like this," Zoro said, kicking the kitchen door open and walking through it, but it was good to hear her talk as well. The two complimented her well.
"BATSY!!!" she screeched. "BATSY'S GOING TO DIE!!!" It sounded like murder, it was the only thing he could think of to make sense out of this all. Did something stab her with an invisible knife or something?
"Holy shit!!!!" Zoro yelled out, completely trembling in utter shock and fear at the sudden outburst. His knees nearly gave in and Perona climbed out of his grip, wobbling to and fro, holding onto the wall as she attempted to head somewhere for something and no knowledge of how to do it. "What's wrong with you?! You scared the crap out of me!"
"Batsy..." Perona whimpered, wiping her eyes. She slid down the wall and landed on her knees. "I want Batsy to live...I love him so much. He's my best friend."
"That's really sad."
Shut up or I'll beat you up you stupid stupid! I'm not going to sleep until we can save Batsy! It's pointless for me to sleep."
"It is huh? Well, what do you want me to do then?" Having her drink alcohol felt more and more like a magic shot that injected people with some sort of mental disorder. To say the least, she was a fierce drunk with all her obsessions blooming into explosions.
"You better help! I'll send you right back to the moss factory so horses can eat you."
"Yeah, so what do you need me to do?"
"We need cloth. Poor Batsy needs....he needs....the right kind of cloth." Perona said, interrupted by her own hiccups. The booze truly was having its way with her senses and for now all Zoro could do was make her happy until she fell asleep and began recovering. He asked where he could find some and was told there was material all around the castle in bedrooms, old clothes and storages with the potentially right kind of fabric. With a nod, he pulled out the map and headed down the hallway, the ghost princess following after with pleads for him to wait.
So began their descent into the chaos of the castle structure. Perona's inability to walk, frequently tripping and recovering from every misstep with what appeared to be horrible dancing and swirling, became clearer and clearer with each incident, there must have been a magical wind that pushed only her around. Zoro kept a watchful guard over her movements but when she was about to fall head first into the ground, Zoro picked her up and returned her to her feet, already deciding on a solution.
"Here, just use my arm as support alright? You're starting to give me a headache."
"Fine..." Perona grunted. From what he could tell she seemed angry about it but as they continued walking a peaceful, closed mouth sigh came out from her. Zoro couldn't help letting one out as well, finding the experience quite enjoyable. His right hand began to hover over her head with the motive of wanting to pet her but decided to retreat back to his side. "It's like a stroll through the park," she said. "You're going to be a gentleman today. Slavery is for tomorrow. I'll be the lady."
"Yeah, a typical relationship huh?" he muttered.
"Look! The first level!" Perona said, pointing to the first room they came up to. The two went in and searched the closets, dressers, beds and window curtains for anything that seemed suitable. Perona would bend down and examine the clothes on the skeletons and judge what was right. According to her the entire room had nothing suiting Batsy. "We need another room. Bring it here."
"How out of your mind are you? We'll walk to the next room," though he actually could rip a room out of a building and drop it off somewhere else but he didn't reveal that, it would have been bragging. He doubt the strength to do so was in him right now anyway so they continued their journey, searching dozens of rooms, many feeling like repeats of others. It wasn't until they found a room with an assortment of dirty old clothes covered in plastic. Judging from the abundance of mirrors and a desk full of measuring tape, needles and fabric, the previous owners of this castle had a tailor.
Perona went searching on her own, falling and knocking over a rack of clothes before lifting herself up and running to the next rack. Zoro kept close by in the doorway, watching her as she investigated each inch of clothing. "Got one!" she yelled out victoriously. "Let's bring it to the Doll Infirmary!"
"Okay," Zoro said, walking out of the room. "Let's go."
When he noticed Perona wasn't next to him he turned around and saw her staring back at him, arms stretched out with hands grabbing and letting go of the air like a baby wanted to be picked up. In actuality, that's what she wanted. "Carry me," she pleaded.
"Walk by yourself!"
"But I want to be carried like a princess!"
"I'm beginning to doubt you're drunk because this wouldn't surprise me if you asked me that while you were sober!" Zoro fussed.
"I-I'm sorry...." Perona loudly yelped. Her eyes began drowning in teary water and snot ran down her nose. "I just wanted a free ride. Can't I be greedy? I'm sorry."
Zoro groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, I'll carry you." He walked over to her and reached out his arms but as he bent over she jumped onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Whatever, let's go."
He walked out of the room and pulled out the map so he could find his way to the Doll Infirmary, Perona was in charge of holding the shirt she would be using to patch up Batsy. Even with such a small task he continued to check up on her just to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep and allowed to slip out of her fingers. She nuzzled her head against his and rested his chin on his shoulder. "Having fun?" he asked.
"Yeah...you're the best horse ever."
"Glad you think so."
"I won't send you off to the glue factory after all."
"I thought it was the moss factory."
She was too busy enjoying herself to defend herself so he let her be and began embracing the moment as well, feeling glad he could help out. In a few minutes they were at the Doll Infirmary and Perona stepped off his back, running to Batsy's side. "Batsy! Have they've been mistreating you?"
"Aren't you his doctor?" Zoro asked. "Anyway, patch him up."
"Yeah, let me get my sewing set from the other room."
"Sewing set?" Perona quickly ran out and went into the other room, carrying a suitcase and dropping it on the bed when she returned. Opening it, she revealed an array of needles, strings and sharp objects just waiting to stab an innocent drunk who couldn't tell the difference from left and cold. Zoro ran up to her and grabbed the suitcase.
"Maybe it'll be better if I fix him up."
"You don't know how to sew. Give it back jerk!" She began pounding his chest.
"You're too drunk to handle...these kinds of things. Just tell me if I'm doing it wrong." Perona stuck out her tongue and stood up from the seat, letting him take over. Zoro recalled all the times when Nami or Usopp fixed clothes or when Chopper stitched him up after a battle. He began getting to work, letting Perona at least cut the fabric with a pair of safety scissors. He poked the needle into Batsy and Perona covered her eyes, presumingly to avoid seeing the gory "surgery"he was performing on her friend.
"Shit." The needle had pricked the tip of his finger and was going to several times before he was finished. Messing up a few times by shifting the fabric into the wrong spot, he had to restart and often Perona would jab her finger wherever he had made a mistake, risking a prick on her own finger. Often this caused Zoro to miss his target and stab Batsy somewhere else.
"You're a butcher!" Perona cried out.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Half an hour later he was finished and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "There, Batsy is fully recovered."
"Batsy!! You're...you're safe!!" Perona hugged him tightly and started to cry again. "Thank you Zoro, thank you so much!"
"Uh...yeah, you're welcome." That was the first time she called him by his name, it was rather nice hearing it from her. "So, can you go to bed now?"
"Yeah, I can go to..." Her head dropped and she began breathing gently, falling asleep at the drop of a hat. Zoro picked the girl up and carried her in his arms once again, walking up the tower to her bedroom.
"You truly are a princess," he said, smiling warmly as he stepped over to her rather standard bed. There weren't any veils or fluffy pillows, giant dolls or toys laid out all along the room. "Well, as much of a princess as you can be." Slowly and carefully, he placed her onto the mattress and covered her with the blanket, definitely much softer than his own. Below her arm he placed down Batsy, looking at the cloth he stitched into it. This time the swordsman decided to pet her head as she squeezed her repaired doll and rolled on her side. There was still much to do, he would have to prepare dinner just in case she woke up later and this would be the perfect chance for him to search for his swords.
Against his will though this decision he made would only further trouble him and his stay on Kuraigana Island. Perona was a princess but was she ready for a knight? It's time she decided.
AN: You know, after I've watched over 400 episodes of One Piece, seen all the movies, read the chapters, wish I could play the games and continuously visit the wiki. I can definitely say this series will be a big hit one day. Not just in Japan either. It might even get dubbed one day! Won't that be grand?