I am so sorry. I meant to add the next chapter a lot sooner than this, but, well, life happened. Annnywhoo...I don't really have much else to say. This marks the actual beginning of the story, but right now, its really only Zoro and Perona. The others will make their appearances soon, I promise. Along with the ZoLu, but I still gotta build up to that...and everything else. Set the mood and whatnot. If there's anything in the fic that requires an explanation, it'll be on the bottom. Oh, and one more thing...like with all my other fics, there will be descriptions (you probably noticed that in the previous chapter). Please don't complain to me about them, 'kay? I like doing descriptions, its just a thing I do, so if you don't wanna read, don't. That simple. Now then, enjoy the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of One Piece's characters mentioned in this fic.

Warning: This is AU. Basically, all that remains are their names, faces, and a few personality traits, but other than that, the characters in this story are mostly OOC.

Re-uploaded: June 4, 2015

Fourteen Years Later

Roronoa Zoro had since grown up from the small boy who arrived in Ohara all that time ago and was now 21-years-old. He's 5'11" and had shortish, slightly slicked back and messy light leaf green hair, hunter green eyes—with a vertical scar running down his left one that kept it permanently shut, tan skin, a brawny, athletic body, a massive stitched scar stretching from his left shoulder to right hip, and stitched scars circling either ankle; dangling from his left ear were three identical gold teardrop earrings and he now owned three katanas—the white one (Wadō Ichimonji) he'd had since he was six and then two new ones he acquired during Hunting missions with Mihawk: a dark reddish-brown one (Kitetsu III) and a black one (Shusui).

Kumiko Perona had grown up as well and was now 20-years-old. She's 5'8½" and had butt-length bubblegum pink hair, usually kept at the back of her head in four spiral braids, with blunt bangs, big, round violet eyes, fair skin, and a slim, well-endowed, hourglass figure; lining her eyes was thick black eyeliner with mascara on her lashes, on her lips was red lipstick, on her fingernails was pink nail polish, around her left wrist was a pink wristwatch, and tattooed on her left bicep was a tiny pink bat.

"Ugh, I'm so bored," a slightly high-pitched voice complained from the passenger side of a maroon red 1970 Chevrolet C10 Pickup. "And why is it so hot in here?" She leaned her head back on the seat and fanned herself.

"It's not even that hot, Perona," her green-haired companion snapped back, rubbing his forehead exasperatedly. "And no one said you had to come with me."

"Who knows where you would've ended up if I let you go alone." Perona commented, ignoring the glare shot at her with practiced ease. "Why did you even go out in the first place, Zoro?" She rolled her head to the left to look at him. "We would've been fine on groceries for a little bit longer."

Zoro rolled his one functioning eye. "If you had been paying attention, you would've known that a huge storm is heading this way." He quickly looked at her. "We don't have the time to wait."

"I know a storm's coming this way." Perona said, rolling her head back over to look out the window. "I just don't get why we had to almost buy out the store because of it."

"I like to be prepared." Zoro answered with a shrug.

"You're just paranoid." Perona shot back.

Zoro's one hand clenched on the steering wheel in restraint before relaxing. "I just have a gut feeling we'll need all this, that's all."

"And we all know how reliable your "gut feelings" are." Perona said, though with less sarcasm than her usual statements. "Plus…"

"Plus what?" Zoro asked her, watching as her eyes lost focus before snapping his attention back to the road. He didn't want to get lost—he could do without being teased by Perona about how directionally challenged he was…again.

"Plus…the spirits are getting restless." Perona continued, blinking rapidly to bring her focus back. "Something's stirring something up and it's upsetting them."

Zoro nodded, keeping a look out for the posts that'd signal the beginning of their driveway. "Now that you mention it, Wadō has been acting stranger than usual too. Keeps smelling the air, though nothing's there, and running around in circles."

"Kumashi has been acting the same way." Perona rubbed her bare arms. "I don't like this, Zoro. Something feels off."

"Stop worrying." Zoro said, finally spotting the neon pink post and turning into the driveway. "Everything will be fine."

Perona humphed. "Of all the times for dad to go out of town."

"He has a job to do." Zoro said, continually following the neon pink posts down the driveway; once it was discovered just how bad Zoro was with directions and how often he'd get lost, Mihawk set up brightly-colored posts so Zoro would always know how to get home. "You know that."

Perona just shook her head and went silent.

The truck finally broke through the dense trees that lined the driveway and in front of them laid their two-story, Queen-Anne estate home, located at the edge of town. Zoro followed the driveway around back and pulled into the garage, cutting the engine off shortly after. He gathered his katanas that had been resting beside him before hopping out and going around to the bed, pulling back the tarp and grabbing the groceries to bring inside; Perona followed a second after, grabbing what bags Zoro didn't. As soon as Zoro passed by the laundry room and entered the kitchen, he heard a loud, happy bark come from the upstairs before the tip-tap of claws against wood was heard.

"Guess Wadō knows we're back." Perona said, plopping the groceries down on the island in the middle of the room.

"Well, someone has to greet us, since Kumashi can't be bothered to." Zoro teased with a smirk, to which Perona returned with a glare.

A second after they spoke did a white blob come barreling into the kitchen, heading straight to Zoro. Wadō was a Siberian Husky-looking dog the size of a small horse with pure white fur and bright blue eyes. Most would think a polar bear was barreling down at them when Wadō came running, but Zoro just planted his feet and took the weight as Wadō hopped onto her back paws to lay her front ones on Zoro's shoulders. She wagged her tail excitedly as her tongue lolled out of her mouth, watching Zoro with happiness.

"Hey, Wadō." Zoro said, scratching behind her ears. "Enjoy your nap?"

Wadō let out a happy bark, giving Zoro's face a quick lick, before plopping back down on the ground. See, to most people, they'd look at Wadō and only see a slightly larger-than-average Husky and not think twice on it. To Zoro, however, he saw Wadō for what she truly was—an old and powerful Hellhound. Zoro rescued her awhile back from fatal wounds and Wadō instantly took to him, and now she stayed with the family, acting as their pet and guard. It's almost the same story with Kumashi, though he's a Hellcat, and hangs more around Perona, though one can never know with the finicky cat.

"Takes after her master, that's for sure." Perona commented, already unpacking the groceries.

Zoro just gave her a glare before moving to help her out, grabbing the things Perona took out and putting them away in their appropriate places—the refrigerator, the cabinets, the pantry; the alcohol, of course, went in its own special place. With the two of them working quickly and efficiently, they got through the large amount of groceries Zoro bought within half-an-hour; Wadō sat by the back door the whole time, happily watching the two of them, and Kumashi had yet to make an appearance. Once they finished, Zoro went up to his room quickly to change into some dark green sweats and running shoes before heading back down, passing by Perona—who was now spread out on a long white sofa as she watched TV in the great room—and heading to the covered porch, where Wadō was waiting for him.

Every evening, when afternoon gave way to night, Zoro and Wadō would go on a jog through the forest backing their home. Hellhounds needed an unsurprising amount of exercise, and Zoro's just fine with that. It's a great thing to do for cardio, and, of course, he'd always follow it up with his own training regimen. Zoro always liked to keep at the top of his form, always aiming to improve and get better. He followed behind Wadō as they set out, easily swerving around the trees and jumping over obstacles as they went. Running like this always cleared Zoro's head and let him relax; he never had to worry about much when taking a run with Wadō.

Today, however, Zoro couldn't help but feel uneasy, like something was coming or going to happen. It was a feeling hanging in the air, and, like the upcoming storm, it was rapidly moving in. He tried to shake it off, but even Wadō kept looking around during their run, sniffing the air like she was trying to catch a scent that just wasn't there.

We're too distracted, Zoro thought to himself. We need to head back.

"Wadō." The Hellhound slowed to a stop and turned, looking up at Zoro. "Let's head back. I don't wanna be stuck out here when the storm hits."

Wadō tilted her head before nodding and trotting around Zoro before looking back, waiting for him. Zoro grumbled, a red tint dusting his cheeks—even Wadō knew how bad he was with directions. Rolling his eye, he followed behind her as they ran back to their house, reaching it within forty-five minutes. Lucky they did, too, for as soon as they entered the covered porch did the heaven's open and the rain start pouring down. Zoro looked behind him with a brow raised before shrugging.

"Guess we were lucky to miss that." Zoro commented to Wadō, who replied with a woof of agreement.

Zoro yawned as he walked further into the house, really tired for some reason, before looking around for Perona. Since he didn't see her, he's guessing she went upstairs to her room for the night. Shrugging, he popped back into the kitchen for a second to grab a bottled water before making his way upstairs as well, going to the lounge area they converted into a work-out/practice room. Setting down his water and shrugging off his sweat jacket and A-shirt, Zoro walked over to the weight sets to begin his normal exercise routine.

After doing his usual sets of three-thousand each (in all his usual and unusual ways), Zoro wandered over to the pull-up bar that they installed and started doing chin-ups—only using one arm at a time and with his ankles crossed and legs bent at the knee. After he finished, he automatically dropped to the ground to then do one-handed push-ups before flipping around to start with sit-ups. Once he got through his usual amount, he walked over to the bench and grabbed his three katanas, unsheathing them before securing Wadō Ichimonji in his mouth and keeping Shusui in his right hand and Kitetsu in his left. After letting out a steady breath, he started doing his kata, moving through them one after the other with no hesitation or flaws, his movements fluid and powerful.

An hour passed by, the only sound being the steady swishing of the three katanas slicing through the air, and Zoro was drenched in sweat before he finally let his arms drop to the sides—careful not to bang the blades on the floor—before reaching up with his right hand to grab Wadō Ichimonji from his mouth. He let out a breath as he walked over to the bench to return his blades to their scabbards, before gathering them up and heading to his bedroom.

Wadō had already made herself comfortable on her side of his large bed and lifted her head to watch as Zoro secured his katanas in the holders above his bed—easy grabbing distance—before making his way to his attached bathroom, shucking off the rest of his clothes as he went. He took a nice, long shower, just letting the stream of hot water roll over him once he finished cleaning himself, before getting out, letting loose a wide yawn as he went. Zoro grabbed his boxers and a pair of sleep pants before finally making his way to his bed. Giving one last loving pat to Wadō, he clicked off the lights and pulled up the covers, drifting off to sleep.

Zoro jolted awake when a particularly large clap of thunder reverberated through the still air and he sat up in his bed like a shock went through him. Looking around, trying to get his bearings, it was then he noticed that Wadō wasn't next to him. Blinking his eye, trying to rid it of the last traces of sleep, he glanced around again, but didn't see the Hellhound anywhere, though his door was now wide open. He slipped out of his bed, grabbing a sweatshirt from the end of his bed and pulling it on, before making his way to the door. Stepping out, he was slightly surprised to see Perona leaving her room as well, dressed similarly to him, and looking around.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked the girl, voice still slightly hoarse from sleep.

Perona visibly startled from his voice before realizing it was only him and let out a breath. "It's Kumashi. I woke up and he wasn't sleeping next to me." She twisted her hands nervously. "I looked through my room and can't find him anywhere."

"Wadō isn't in my room either." Zoro said, making his way into the hall. "Maybe—"

Bark! Bark! Hiss! Maow!

The two whipped their heads in the direction the sounds came from before looking at each other. Nodding, they ran down the stairs and headed in the direction of the covered porch, discovering the door that led to it was wide open and both Hellhound and Hellcat were sitting in front of the door that would lead them to the terrace. When they heard footsteps behind them, the two animals looked behind them to find their Humans approaching.

"Maow!" Kumashi sounded again, the large Toyger-looking cat pawing at the door before looking at Perona with wide amber eyes.

"What is going on with them?" Perona asked, dropping down to her knees to run a hand over Kumashi's smokey gray, black-striped fur.

"Wadō?" Zoro questioned, looking at the Hellhound. "What is it, girl?"

"Woof!" Wadō answered, staring at the back door with a concentrated look as Kumashi continued to paw at it.

"Do you think they need to go out?" Perona asked, looking up at her green-haired brother.

"In this weather?" Zoro asked dubiously, watching through the windows as sheets of rain continued falling down, occasionally lit up by flashes of lightning and followed by claps of thunder. "I thought they'd be smarter than that."

Both animals continued to paw at the door and bark/maow, sounding urgent and impatient.

"Fine." Zoro finally grumbled out, going quickly to the coat closet and grabbing two raincoats, throwing one to Perona as he shrugged his green one on before stepping into a pair of boots.

"Why do I have to come?" Perona complained, though pulled her own pink raincoat on and stepped into the rain boots Zoro kicked to her a second later.

"Kumashi's your problem." Zoro stated before finally opening the door.

As soon as it opened, both animals bursted out of the door, sprinting quickly before coming to an abrupt stop at the edge of the terrace and seemingly staring up at nothing. Both Humans pulled up their hoods before following the animals out, both instantly getting soaked to the bone the second they stepped outside. The animals, though, didn't seem to notice they were getting drenched as they continued to stare up at the sky, heads cocked.

"What are you two staring at?" Zoro asked, stopping next to Wadō before following her gaze. "The only thing there is…the…"

"Zoro." Perona breathed out, eyes wider than usual as she started up at the sky. "You see that too, right?"

"Yeah." Zoro answered, watching as what looked like a streak of different-colored lights zipped across the sky, reds and grays and maybe some gold and silver. It certainly wasn't a natural occurrence. But that wasn't the oddest thing about the sky—to Zoro, it looked almost like a rip was starting to appear in the center of those colors, but that couldn't be right.

"That can not be natural." Perona said, her voice both scared and amazed.

Zoro, though, could only focus on that crater, but before he could ask Perona if she could see it, however, the Hellhound and Hellcat both let out low, urgent sounds before taking off, heading straight into the forest. Zoro and Perona let out identical noises of shock and aggravation, trading disbelieving looks.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky before a shock of thunder sounded.

"What the hell!" Zoro finally shouted before taking off after the animals, Perona right on his tail. "What the fuck do they think they're doing?!"

"Don't lose sight of them!" was the only thing Perona yelled before going quiet, the only sounds being their ragged breaths and the rain still coming down in buckets.

The two of them dodged past tree branches and over shrubs, roots, and other ground obstacles as they tried their best to keep up with their extremely fast Hell-animals. Their only saving grace was that Wadō and Kumashi were in their normal forms, therefore greatly restricting their speeds—had they been in their full forms, Zoro and Perona would had never been able to keep up. The darkness blanketing the forest was made even worse by the rain pelting down, making the already low visibility even worse and a few times Perona had to pull Zoro back to the right path when he'd start to wander off in the wrong direction.

The two continued to run after the animals, blind and wet, for who knew how long, before they finally spotted Wadō and Kumashi coming to a stop up ahead. Zoro and Perona slowed down some, since the animals weren't moving, before finally catching up, breaking through the tree-line to come to a stop in front of what looked like a huge ravine.

The two Humans doubled over at the waist, hands on knees, trying to catch their breaths and get their hearts back to beating at an acceptable speed when the animals then let out more low sounds before crouching and jumping, heading right into the ravine. Zoro and Perona froze when they noticed the action, stupefied.

"Did they just…" Perona said, trailing off in disbelief.

Zoro let out a loud groan before shouting, "What the hell do they think they're doing?! I am so sick of this!" And with that, he jumped into the ravine as well, sliding down the side and barely missed tumbling down into the mud.

Once he made it to the bottom, he looked back when he heard a scream and saw Perona making her way down as well, eyes squeezed shut as she took the same route Zoro did. Rolling his eye, he moved to catch her before she ended up taking a mud bath.

Once her feet were on solid ground, she breathed out before looking up. "Thanks. Now, where did those two go?" She held her hand over her eyes, looking around, before grabbing Zoro's arm. "There!"

Then the two took off to where the animals were, Perona keeping a firm grip on Zoro so he wouldn't turn in the wrong direction, and pulled to a stop next to them. They then noticed that the animals were barely moving, staring at something on the ground that they couldn't see thanks to the dark sky and rain. It was when the next bolt of lightning flashed that they finally saw what it was that Wadō and Kumashi were staring so intently at.

"Oh my god." Perona gasped out shakily, her hand moving to cover her mouth in shock.

"What the…what the hell?!" Zoro exclaimed harshly, eye wide in confusion. "Who the fuck are these people?!"

Well, there we go. What did you think? Good? Bad? So-So? Let me know! Oh, and a few things: yes, Wadō and Kumashi are a Hellhound and Hellcat, respectively. They come from the Demon Realm, and like other Supernaturals, they have their full-on Hellhound/Hellcats forms and then the forms that resemble regular animals. Also, they have human intelligence, so they understand when Zoro/Perona talk to them, they just can't answer back. Later in the story, I'll explain why they're in the Human Realm and living with the two Humans. Oh, and when Zoro looks at them with his Sight, he can see the "flames" that come off of them. Ok, here are some descriptions ('cuz I like giving them!):

Wadō (female):
- Normal Dog Form: a Siberian Husky-looking dog; pure white fur; a dense cashmere-like undercoat and a longer, coarse top coat with short, straight guard hairs; bright blue eyes; a rounded light tan nose; a symmetrical, heavily furred tail that curves upward in a "sickle" shape when excited/interested and held low when relaxed; a lithe and slender build with a short torso, sloping back, and leanly muscled neck; large "snow shoe" feet with hair between the toes; a medium-sized head with a muzzle that's equal in length to the skull, a well-defined stop, and medium-sized, oval-shaped eyes; the teeth meet in a scissors bite; erect, triangular ears set high up on the head; the size of a small horse
- Hellhound Form: an immense and monstrous hellhound with pure white fur; deep, bright, and almost glowing sapphire blue eyes; slender and powerfully built with thick muscling, a deeply descending ribcage, sloping back, and coarse neck; head is large and heavy, with a wide forehead and very long, blunt snout; powerful, strong jaws with razor sharp teeth; sharp, black nails/claws; erect, triangular ears; has burning hot, bright fuchsia flames coming off the back and covering the tail

Kumashi (male):
- Normal Cat Form: a Toyger-looking cat; smokey gray fur with distinctive vertical black braided stripes along the body and encircling the neck, legs and tail; a short coat with fur longer at the temple jowl/ruff; bright amber eyes; a medium-sized, oval-shaped head with a dominant deep, skewed, cylindrical muzzle; small, round, thickly-furred ears with white "thumb marks" on the backs; a deep, long and muscular body with rounded contours; very long, thin tail with a blunt, rounded tip colored black and dense, short fur; medium, circular eyes with gentle hooding of the upper-inside and have black "mascara" markings and whited spectacles; mouth has black lipstick markings; about the size of a large dog
- Hellcat Form: an immense and monstrous hellcat (tiger-like) with smokey gray fur and distinctive vertical black stripes along the whole of the body; dense and heavy fur; glowing deep red eyes with circular pupils; slender and powerfully built with sleek muscling, powerful forelimbs, a large head, light pink nose that leads to semi-round upper-lips on the sides, and whiskers; a long, black-ringed tail; powerful, strong jaws with fairly stout teeth and long, curved canines; small, rounded ears with a prominent black spot on the backs; has burning, dark red flames coming off the back and covering the tail

Dracule Residence: A magnificent, finely wrought covered porch wraps around this impressive Victorian estate home. The two-story foyer provides a direct view past the staircase and into the great room with a large central fireplace. To the left of the foyer is a bookshelf-lined library and to the right is an octagonal-shaped dining room. The country kitchen boasts lots of workspace and a cooktop island. A pass-through connects this room with the bright, bumped-out morning room, also containing a corner desk. A butler's pantry, walk-in closet, and broom closet offer plenty of storage space. The master suite with stunning amenities: a huge bedroom that opens to the porch; a windowed sitting area; a see-through fireplace, and an amazing bathroom with enormous His and Hers closets and a whirlpool bath. Four uniquely designed bedrooms, three full baths, and a lounge with fireplace are located on the second floor.
- Features: Queen Anne-Style; Country Kitchen; Fireplace; Formal Dining Room; Formal Living Room/Parlor; Great/Gathering Room; Office/Study/Den/Library; Rear Porch; Split Bedrooms; Wraparound Porch; 5 Bedrooms; 4 Baths; 2 Half-Baths; 2 Stories; 3 Garage Bays

Zoro's Katanas:
- Wadō Ichimonji: a suguha (straight), slender, single-edged, 29" black blade with a silver edge; a pure white tsuka-ito (hilt-wrapping) with gray samegawa, a golden elliptical tsuba (hand-guard), and a golden kashira (pommel) (with a small U-shape in the center of both sides); the saya (scabbard) is painted white with a golden kojiri (end cap)
- Kitetsu III: a moderately curved, slender, single-edged, 29" black blade with a silver edge and a blue flame-patterned hamon (hardening line); the dark brown hilt is wrapped in reddish-brown leather rope with a golden clasp around its middle, a golden tsuba (hand-guard) shaped like a rounded cross pattée, and a golden kashira (pommel); the saya (scabbard) is deep red and has two golden clasps in short succession around its middle and a golden kojiri (end cap)
- Shusui: a moderately curved, slender, single-edged, Kanemoto-style, 29" black blade with a lighter black edge and a distinct dark red reverse-wave hamon (hardening line); a black silk tsuka-ito (hilt-wrapping) with pale purple samegawa, a golden tsuba (hand-guard) that has flower-like edges, and a golden kashira (pommel); the saya (scabbard) is black with dark red circles split in even thirds from the opening to the bottom, a sage green (with white dots) sageo (cord) wrapped around the upper-part, and a golden kojiri (end cap)

Mihawk's Sword:
- Kokutou Yoru: a 7', single-edged, black blade with a slight curve at the end and very strong sheen; a bandage-wrapped hilt with a golden cross-guard decorated by two sapphires and emeralds on the edges, four sapphires in the center, and a large sapphire over the pommel; resembles a large cross

Okay, another explanation: it's extremely hard to harm Supernatural Creatures (especially Demons/Fae), so only specially made weapons can hurt them, and the Hunters (usually) are the only ones known to own and employ these, as they're extremely rare. There are several types—projectile, blunt, and bladed being the most common; each weapon is referred to as "sacred", so the bladed weapons, for example, would be referred to as "sacred blades". There are also ones known as "cursed", which are weapons that were forged in the Demon Realm and brought over to the Human Realm. They actually do more damage than the "sacred" ones, but are extremely hard to maintain and handle; its said it takes a special person that the weapon itself has to choose. Other special weapons that can hurt the Supernatural are ones that are made in the Fae Realm (special properties to the metals) or blessed by very powerful magic (witches usually own these).

Zoro has two sacred blades (Wadō Ichimonji and Shusui) and one cursed blade (Kitetsu III). Obviously, Mihawk also has a sacred blade (Kokutou Yoru), though his is far more powerful than Zoro's (for obvious reasons).

As for Hunters, I'm kinda making it that they are born as Hunters; think of it like Buffy in Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, though there's more than one. Since they're tasked with hunting down the naughty supernatural, they're made stronger and tougher than normal Humans, their senses raised as well. So, to someone with Sight, they'd look different—not quite Human, but not quite Supernatural (like the previous chapter stated).