Hi again! I'm back for chapter 3 already! It's amazing how much you can write when your internet decides to crash suddenly :D
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Chapter 3 – Introductions (pt 1)
Time seemed to slow as Zoro hung in the police yard. The sun bore down on his tired body, the heat only adding to his fatigue. His muscles screamed protest as they tried to move, but his arms and shoulders held his heavy weight upright. No food or drink had passed his lips since he left the plantation, and that Bastard Helmeppo thought it hilarious to beat his already bruised body.
Not for the first time, Zoro felt helpless - bound and humiliated such as he is left him defenceless against everything. All this anguish weighed heavy on his mind, as well as the big question - was how long until his was taken back into slavery. Though it seemed like he had been there for eternity, it had been 3 days, and Zoro was wondering how much more he could take. Little did the green haired captive realise, that today would be more different than he could imagine.
As he walked down the street, the cheerful boy looked nowhere near out of place as he rushed up to stalls, proclaiming how amazing they were (The best thing ever,apparently), before running off to shout that the beetle on the floor was the coolest thing he'd ever seen.
In reality, the boy was very different to the residents of Rouge Town's city limits, but as he grinned and straightened up, pushing his straw hat down on his head, no one would have realised that this boy was the son and second heir to one of Rouge's greatest politicians, Shanks Redhair.
Passers by smiled and waved at the happy boy as he sped off towards the local police station. He whooped in delight as he neared, running through the main entrance with a cry so out of place in the peaceful station.
"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!" The shout seemed to echo throughout the whole building, and the entire force stopped and stared at the boy, as if they feared for his mental wellbeing.
"Um, excuse me? Can we help you son?" A kind officer who was sitting at the front desk addressed the boy as he took off his straw hat, revealing a mess of black hair, a scar underneath his eye and a grin so wide you feared it would split his face in two.
"Hi! I'm here to see Coby. Where is he?" The boy began twisting around, as if expecting the person of his calls to suddenly appear from hiding. The officer at reception continued to look at the boy with bemusement before answering.
"You mean the new private yes? Coby isn't here today; he left for some training just outside town. If you call back in a few day's he'll have returned." The officer gave a look of sympathy at the boy, whose face fell as if he had been told his friend had suddenly and painfully passed.
"NOT HERE! Aie, and I came all this way!" The boy's sadness was momentary, as the grin quickly returned "Oh well, thanks Mister!" He bounded back out of the station, about to return home.
But fate was watching, and chose this moment to play its hand and change people's lives.
High pitched laughter assaulted the boy's ears, and he turned to the source to see a funny looking man laughing at…a pole. Poles aren't that funny. The boy crept nearer into the yard to have a look at this hilarious pole.
The laughing man was funny looking; the boy wasn't too fond of him. But he was leaving, good! As he disappeared into the station, the boy turned his attention back to the yard and mystery pole, but was confronted by the cold, dark gaze that would freeze a human to the bone.
Zoro was in no mood to be gawked at, so he stared at this strange new kid as fiercely as he could (he was aware that his current situation made him look at bit less threatening, but he still had to do his best). The kid seemed not to notice the anger and violence promised in his stare, and instead approached Zoro curiously.
"Why are you hanging like that? It must hurt your arms." The boy nodded wisely, as if he had just solved a difficult equation. Zoro merely looked at him, slack jawed. Was this kid serious? He looked at joke, with the denim shorts, red vest, and what was with that hat?
"I'm here cause its fun kid" Zoro made sure that every word was uttered dripping with sarcasm. The kid didn't seem to notice.
"Doesn't look that fun to me… Sugoi! Your hair is cool! So green!" Zoro blinked, trying to cope with the sudden change of pace and compliment about his hair. Not many people did that.
"Um, thanks" Zoro wished he had a more intelligent answer, but his brain was having difficulty keeping up with him. The kid wasn't bothered, he just kept grinning like a lunatic.
"My name's Monkey D Luffy, what's yours? Your clothes are all dirty and bloody, you should change. Where are you from?" The kid, Luffy, fired out the questions like an inquisitive five year old on too much sugar. Zoro humoured him
"Roronoa Zoro. I have nothing else to change into, and I come from South Blue"
"SUGOI! You're from the South? Sanji told me that everyone from the South is dirty and un, un…un evolved! That was it! But, you seem okay to me. Well, you are dirty so I guess Sanji was right and I don't know what the other words mean but you look fun! Is everyone in the South as cool as you? Do they all have cool hair?" Zoro growled. His already sore head was beginning to pound trying to keep up with Luffy's rapid speech.
"Quiet kid, okay? You really think I'm fun?" The thought of someone liking him was foreign to Zoro-it had been a long time since someone hadn't tried to avoid or hurt him. But this kid acted like he was the best thing since sliced bread.
"Of course! What's it like there? Why are you here now?" Zoro rested his head back against the pole and gave a deep sigh.
"I can't really remember what it's like kid; I haven't been there in a long time. You see…" Zoro's explanation was stopped as the funny looking man Helmeppo entered the yard again
"You, kid! Get away from him! He's dangerous you know!" Luffy cocked his head to one side.
"Dangerous? But Zoro's so nice!" Helmeppo paused, amazed at this boy. The kid stood, smiling at Helmeppo, and patted the prisoner's arm like he were a well behaving pet (to which Zoro animalistically growled and helplessly tried to push the kid off). The cheek to the kid to defy him, Helmeppo!
"He is the Demon Roronoa from the South! Stories say he escaped from Kuro's plantation, 300 miles away. He's being kept under guard while we wait for his master Sir Crocodile to arrive." Zoro scowled as the irritating bastard told Luffy his story. He glanced at the scrawny kid, who looked at Zoro with wide eyes, full of honesty.
"Well, I'm sure he didn't leave unless there was a good reason. He seems like a good person." Helmeppo almost fainted at the child's simple answer.
"He disobeyed his owner, almost killed several armed guards, and you say he's a good person! He's scum, just a bit of property! When Crocodile gets his hands on him I'd be surprised if he lived through the punishment he'll receive. Just what he deserves." The policeman's son spat the words towards Zoro like he was sewage.
Luffy's face darkened and he stepped up in front of his tied up friend.
"Don't talk about him that way! All people are equal! That's what Shanks' taught me! Let him go!" Zoro watched Luffy in amazement; no one has ever defended him, not since her. Helmeppo on the other hand, blanched, legs quivering.
"Sha…Shanks? How do you know Shanks redhair?"
"Huh? He's my father" Luffy answered with the light air as if he were discussing the weather. "Now you untie Zoro so he can be free." Luffy turned to face his new friend. "I bet you're hungry, ne Zoro? I know I am." As if to validate Luffy's answer, his stomach gave a loud rumble. He began fumbling with the ropes on Zoro's stomach, which confused the man completely
"O, oi, what are you doing?" Luffy laughed
"Freeing you, baka! You can come see my house and eat! Or are you really having fun here?"
"But what about that guy, he'll only arrest you too!" Zoro glanced up at Helmeppo, but was stunned to see he hadn't moved, and was instead looking quite sick.
"Me? Nah, it he did Shanks would get him, he'll let me be" Luffy turned his head to face the stunned Helmeppo "Won't you, funny man?" He jumped at the address, putting on the politest manner.
"Oh! Of course, sir, whatever you want. The man is free, y,you take him!" With that Helmeppo ran into the station, preparing to face his undoubtedly angry father. But he could never go against the kid, if he wanted to rise up the ranks of the wealthy, you don't cross the most popular family in the country.
The final rope was untied from Zoro's arms; he fell to the ground as Luffy cheered
"Yosh! Now you're untied, we can go eat!" He noticed the lump of dirt and green on the floor "Oi, Zoro, why are you down there?" Slowly, Zoro dragged himself back onto his feet.
"I was just tired kid, I mean Luffy" Zoro paused, looking tired, beaten and massively uncomfortable "Why did you do that?"
"Do what? Luffy began to lead Zoro out onto the street, towards the other side of the City
"Why'd you save me? You could've just left me there to go to Crocodile"
"Eeh? But then youd've been hurt! No one deserves that! This way you can play with me!" Luffy jumped in the air as the cheered for his new friend. Zoro stopped, swaying slightly. No one had ever been so kind to him. Zoro owed this kid his life. Zoro wanted to thank the kid, but he was a man, and his pride didn't allow it. 'Stupid pride' he thought to himself 'that's what got you into trouble all the time anyway'. But no matter what his conscience told him, Zoro simply caught up with the kid, and did the next best thing his pride allowed him to. He just asked politely as he could.
"So, where are we going?"
A few hours later, Zoro and Luffy walked through a very posh looking neighbourhood. Zoro was used to most of the big houses – they were similar in size and design to Kuro's, but there were so many! He yawned as the past few day's events threatened to overpower him. But Luffy stopped and cried out
"Here Zoro! This is where I live!"
The house was modest in size compared to its neighbours, a large manicured garden stretched out in front and around the property. As they walked inside, Zoro noticed the tasteful but pricey décor, and expensive looking artwork. Luffy slipped off his sandals and shouted
"Ace!! I'm home! Zoro's here too, come say hi!" Nothing followed the call but silence, so Luffy shrugged
"Ace must be out, c'mon Zoro lets eat!" He ran through some doors into a big kitchen, with marble counters and a huge fridge/freezer. Zoro gaped at the amount of food as Luffy pulled most of the fridge's contents onto the table
"Looks good, ne Zoro? You look like you haven't eaten in days!"
Zoro didn't have the heart to tell the kid he hadn't, so he listened to his stomach and began devouring some chicken. Luffy was hoovering up most of the food on the table in such a manner that if Zoro weren't starving, he'd feel sick.
In a few minutes, the table was cleared and Luffy and Zoro relaxed in their chairs. Zoro let out a large yawn, and Luffy chuckled.
"You're tired? But you were just resting against that pole!" Zoro looked comically furious
"Baka! I'd just escaped! I haven't slept properly in days!" Luffy's laugh rang around the room, and Zoro suddenly felt warm inside. It would be days before he realised that was the warmth that came from happiness.
"I'll show you to one of the guest rooms, you can sleep there."
The pair headed up stairs, and Zoro glanced at a corridor full of doors before Luffy showed him into a bedroom that was bigger than the whole house he had shared with Johnny and Yosaku. A queen sized bed was sat in the middle of the wall, and a huge window was bordered by two mahogany wardrobes. The room was a light yellow, and had a calming effect on the tired slave.
"I'll see you in the morning Zoro, goodnight!" Luffy called out as he walked into his own room across the hall.
Zoro slunk into the room, as if afraid that touching anything would make this all unreal, and he'd be locked up at Crocodiles. But as he lay on the bed, one thought managed to filter into his head before he fell asleep instantly:
'I could get used to this'
--
Yay! Luffy is here! I'm worried about how I made him, he hasn't done much yet but Luffy is such a crazy character, its difficult to make him Luffy-like. I hope I succeeded a little bit in making him as cheerful, friendly and righteous as he is. Please review and tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks for Reading - Pamplemoose