Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro
"What?" Zoro spun around and looked at the floor. The two fifteen year olds were laying on the ground, covered in bloody slice marks and twitching. What in the…. He had practice swords! They were made of wood! They couldn't even cut a tomato! Zoro glanced down at the swords in his hands.
His heart stopped, and his body went weak. It seemed like any moment now his limbs were about to give up and collapse. Yet somehow the grip on his swords never failed.
His practice swords. They were real metal. As in real metal swords. Exactly like the ancient family sword Sensei had once let him hold. They were heavy, cold, polished, and deadly. Any hint of the previous wood was gone, like it had never existed. What… in… the... Zoro's teeth clamped on something hard, startling him out of his thoughts. The third sword! He'd forgotten about it! How could he do that?! It was a sword in his mouth! But it felt right, somehow. Familiar. Like he was use to having a freaking sword in his mouth.
But the swords weren't the only thing that changed.
Zoro himself had impossibly grown- around two feet in height if he had to guess -, and towered above everyone around him. The familiar white shirt and dark green pants uniform were replaced by a long green coat with no hood. It left Zoro's chest bare, showing off muscles that certainly hadn't been there five minutes earlier. Dark green pants clothed his muscular legs, tucked into the same color of boots. His left ear suddenly grew heavier.
Zoro had a little heart attack when he blinked in astonishment and his left eye refused to open. Panic bubbled into his chest and he jerked around to view himself in the dojo's mirrors. His breath left him as he caught sight of the short scar covering his eye. He freaked a little, at least on the inside. Zoro held a hand to his face, gingerly touching the scar. Where did that come from?! How did he get it?! Did he have any more? Quickly Zoro's eyes darted around his own body. A long scar peeked out on his chest caught his attention. Crap, he did have more. And that one looked nasty. It must have hurt like heck to get it.
Something jingled by his ear, startling him. Three gold earrings dangled from his left ear, accounting for the sudden weight. Stunned, Zoro's gaze slowly slid to Helmeppo. The young boy's eyes were wide, and he stared at Zoro in absolute shock and horror.
"Impossible." Zoro muttered, then his eye widen. His voice! It was so deep! He placed a trembling hand on his chest, staggered by the way it rumbled within him. This was just freaking crazy. How in the world does this even happen?!
At the sound of Zoro's deeper voice, Helmeppo let out a unmanly shriek and scuttled for the door.
"Wait!" Zoro called as the blond struggled with the door handle before flinging the door open and fled. Helmeppo couldn't just leave! The idiot was the most normal thing in here! 'Wait!"
"There's no point. He won't listen. He's scared out of his mind."
Zoro turned to stare at Luffy, his confusion evident in his single eye. Luffy laughed as he covered his eyes with his straw hat. "Shishishishish. What do you think Zoro?"
Zoro's jaw dropped. The Luffy kid had changed to! He was taller, and had a big scar on his chest as well. They had both done thing growing thing! Were they cursed?!
"What is happening?!" he groaned. Zoro dropped to the floor, carefully placed his three swords down, and grabbed his head with both hands. He wasn't sure what to think anymore.
Then suddenly, he was on a mountain, staring down at a small village. Zoro eyed a building near the edge of town, chewing on the leaf he'd stuck in his mouth. Images began flash through his head. Zoro had to hold his breath. It was like watching a movie in fast forward, but he knew already what was happening. And he knew it intimately well, like he'd actually lived through it. Everything from the arriving at the dojo, challenging Kuina, their vow to each other, to her death and earning her sword, the bounties he captured while traveling on his own, and meeting Luffy, fighting Morgan, Luffy's kidnapping by seagull, and the desperate boat chase after.
The last thing to flash through his mind was docking at an abandoned town with the Buggy the Clown bozos. The empty dock faded to white, and then a image of an orange haired girl popped into his vision for a couple of seconds. Questions burned in his mouth, never making it past his tongue. Who was she? What was her name? And why did Zoro have this unquenchable desire to seek her out? Then strangely, a citrus flavor overwhelmed his tongue.
"Mmm, tangerines." Luffy licked his lips, almost drooling from taste alone. Guess that means he saw the images to. Zoro stared at him, trying to separate the two Luffy's in his mind. Was this the Luffy kid, the weirdo who just appeared in his dojo that night, or was it Luffy, the pirate who Zoro swore his fealty to? It was too confusing. Zoro let out a long moan as he rubbed his abused head.
"Zoro!" Luffy hurried over, and crouched next to the swordsman. Was something wrong with his injury?! The kid had hit Zoro pretty hard.
Luffy's concern was waved aside as Zoro sat up straight. "What is going on?"
"Oh, about the pirate stuff?" Luffy sat down in front Zoro, crossing his legs and tilting his head.
"The pirate stuff, the weird images, and this whole," Zoro motioned at his own body. "...growing deal."
Luffy laughed. "That? I can't tell ya anything 'bout that. It's a mystery."
Zoro frowned. "Then I'm guessin' you can't tell me why they look so different from the bodies from the images?"
"Memories." Luffy corrected.
"Memories." Zoro tried out the word, surprised on how easy it slipped off his tongue. "Okay, so do you know why they're so different then? I mean, if they really were memories then the bodies should match up at least."
"Nope, no clue." Luffy shook his head.
So much for getting information. Zoro sighed. This was too strange. But it was too right. A part of his brain was complaining that Zoro probably should be freaking out more about this sudden development, yet the rest of his brain was completely comfortable with this new change.
He closed his eye, and let out a loud exhale. Then he opened it and stared directly into Luffy's eyes. "I really don't want to believe you. But I can't help it. It's impossible for me to not believe you. " Zoro said calmly. "Because it feels true. Not just true, but right. Normal. As normal as these three swords that are by my side."
Zoro glanced down, curious. Did his swords still feel the same? He picked up the white sword, Kuina's sword, and drew it from its sheath. The katana felt perfectly balanced in his hand, and a hint of excitement shot through Zoro. He twisted at his waist, wielding the sword out in front of him and away from Luffy. The sword felt so light, like it almost wasn't there. Without hesitation, Zoro slashed the air. He nearly died from the bliss. Kuina's sword cut just like from the memories, except better. Reverently, Zoro sheathed the katana.
He repeated the actions with the other two before he sighed and turned back to Luffy. "Do you truly believe this?"
Luffy nodded excitedly. He nearly bursted into a loud chatter, but somehow managed to forced his mouth shut, and the teen's cheeks expanded beyond normal capabilities as he kept the sound trapped.
Zoro smirked. Somehow that just seemed so Luffy. "Then I guess I have no choice but to uphold my vow. I'll join your crew once again, captain."
Luffy cheered, a beaming smile on his face. "I knew you would! Yosh, I have my first crew member back!"
The swordsman let the other celebrate for a second before he brought him back. "Okay, we got that part done. What now captain?" Zoro asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back to stare at the other teen.
"Well duh. We go find the girl."
"The girl?"
"Yeah. The girl at the end of the flashback. With the orange hair. She's important." Luffy explained, crossing his arms.
"I figured that she was. But how are we going to find her?"
"I don't know. But we need her."
Zoro sighed and leaned back. It wasn't worth the fight to figure it out. "Whatever you say Luffy. You're the captain."
Luffy smiled again, rubbing his hands together and giggling to himself. He was absolutely ecstatic. Every time Zoro called him captain it only added to his growing happiness. Finally, after ten years of the same dream over and over again, it finally happened. Luffy was a captain now.
Zoro abruptly stood, earrings jangling as he gathered his sword from the floor. "Let's go."
Luffy jumped up after him. The straw hat fell off Luffy's head, but a quick movement from Zoro stopped the hat from touching the ground. He silently handed the hat back to its owner.
"Oops." Luffy giggled as he jammed the hat back onto his head, still too happy to actually be upset. "Thanks Zoro."
Zoro nodded.
Luffy glanced at the unconscious bloody bodies of the two boys that laid a couple yards away. "Should we just leave them?"
Zoro shrugged. He honestly didn't give a crap about what happened to them. Both were far from innocent bystanders. "They won't bleed to death. They should be fine. Plus Sensei forgot to lock the storage room again and he has the keys, he should remember and come back soon."
"Okay."
The two pirated carefully trudged over the limp figures on the floor, making sure not to step in the blood puddles. Luffy reached the door first, pushing it open with his foot in a fit of childness. Zoro followed with a small huff. They sure were leaving a mess behind them. Sensei was certainly going to be surprised when he came back.
Couple feet outside Zoro paused. "Hold on a second." he turned around and stared at the building. It almost hurt to leave this place. It had been his home since he could remember, in both lives. This time around he didn't have Kuina as a rival, but it was still more of a home then the foster house. But he did it back then, he could do it here. Zoro gave the building a stiff bow, then he spun around. He hung his swords on his right side, wrapping the red sash around the sheaths. Luffy laughed, and Zoro half heartedly growled at him.
"Okay, let's go!" Luffy cheered.
Luffy and Zoro lifted a foot in sync, and they stumbled as their limbs suddenly became shorter.
"Huh!?" Kid Zoro skipped forward a couple steps as he regained his balance, wooden swords clanking against the cement with each jump. He was small again!
"We can't do it forever. Sad." Luffy said, fussing with his baseball cap for a moment.
Zoro examined his swords. They were wood again! Maybe they were only real metal when he was big. After all, Luffy's straw hat was a baseball cap before he grew. Zoro frowned and looked down at smaller self. He concentrated for a couple of seconds before growing. He looked at his hands, closely examining them. Hmm, there was something different about that transformation.
"How come we could control it this time?" Zoro asked as he looked down at Luffy "Turning back into a kid was out of our control, but we could control this time."
"Pirated!"
"Eh?"
"Let's call it pirated or pirating when we change. Cause we turn into pirates." Luffy demonstrated."And when we get little we can call it... it..." His face clouded as he thought.
"Shrinking?" Zoro suggested.
Luffy brightened "Yeah! Shrinking!"
Both of the teens shrank. Zoro examined his arms for a moment. This was still weird.
"So what now, Captain?" Zoro asked.
"Now we go look for tangerines."
"Tangerines? Why would we look for tangerines? I thought we were looking for the girl?"
Luffy shrugged. "They're special to her. If we find tangerines we find the girl."
Zoro closed his eyes and shook his head. Guess he'll have to roll with it. Luffy usually ended up right about this kind of stuff any... Wait. Did he really just think that?
Bang! Bang bang bang!
Their heads shot up. Eyes wandering around the dark scene, taking in every shadow of the town carefully as the two boys huddled closer together on the sidewalk.
"Gunshots." Zoro muttered darkly, a hand reaching for the wooden katana's hilts. "Of course. The Government gave a warning about a dangerous gang passing through. Hey Luffy, let's go somewhere we won't be found. Just until morning, and then we can look for the girl."
Luffy nodded. "Sweet. I think I have a place."
He skipped back towards the direction his home. This was going to be awesome! It was like some sort of sleep-over! It took Luffy about ten seconds before he realized Zoro wasn't behind him. In fact Zoro was running in the opposite direction.
"Oi, Zoro! Where are you going?!"
Zoro froze and his cheeks lit up. "Your directions were confusing." He yelled.
Luffy tilted his head, confused. "Really? They didn't seem confusing to me. I didn't even say anything I just walked."
"Shut up!"
Zoro fumed as he followed close behind Luffy. He had honestly thought he was going on the right direction. It wasn't Zoro's fault that the buildings and Luffy all decided to move on him. They had never done that before! It left a sour taste in his mouth, and the sour leaked into his presence. It only took one glare from Zoro to freeze that dog who chased Luffy earlier, which Luffy was quick to comment on.
By the time they finally reached their destination, neither boy was out of breath. Which was really amazing, considering the distance they had to travel. Zoro had been surprised when Luffy had lead him to the nicer part of town, and he definitely wasn't expecting to stop at an ivy-covered wall at the bottom of a straight road. Mansions covered the other sides of the road, and Zoro had to wonder if Luffy took them to the wrong side of town. He was even more surprised when Luffy hopped straight over it, and when Zoro followed he discovered that an abandoned mansion rested inside the grounds.
Luffy made a quick dash to an old rusty car, and Zoro followed close behind.
"What is this place?" Zoro asked. He stared at the empty house in amazement. How could anyone just leave a house that size? The thought boggled him.
Luffy shrugged. "Don't know. It's been like this forever."
Luffy forced the car door open and climbed inside first. He sat in the driver's seat, which forced Zoro climb over him so he could get to the passenger seat. Zoro plopped into the seat with a small glare. Luffy ignored him and sat back against the seat.
"I've been pretending this is my temporary pirate ship." Luffy said after a couple seconds of uncharacteristic silence. "You know, the one you're rowing in the memories."
"Huh. Does this thing move?" Zoro rubbed his hands on the seat, trying to feel the texture. The fabric came apart, leaving flakes all over his palms. Zoro sweat-dropped. It wasn't that hard to imagine this crappy car as the same dingy boat.
"Never tried." Luffy grinned.
"How come?"
"Cause the keys aren't in the hole." the other boy pointed out. Zoro leaned forward, and confirmed the absence of the keys in the ignition with his own eyes. Hm. Well, that was a problem wasn't it.
"Maybe they're inside the house? We can go and see."
Luffy looked up, sparkles in his eyes. "An adventure! A Explore-the-House-Adventure! Let's go!" Luffy kicked the door open and scrambled outside without hesitation.
A/N: Sorry for the weird format thing with this chapter. I get nervous looking at the chapters and I don't like to look at them once they've been posted. So thank you HiHelloIWeird, Push23, oOLinneyOo, and SwordOfTheGods for telling me because I never would have noticed. Thank you guys!