Wow! I'm so glad a bunch of you already like this! I'm even more excited than ever to post more chapters! I think I'm gonna enjoy the fluff between Zoro and my new OC a lot more than I anticipated! I CAN'T WAIT!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own One Piece series, only the OCs! One Piece is created by Eiichiro Oda and run by Toei Animation! Please support the official release!
What woke the girl up from her dreamless sleep was the small waves crashing against the boat she was on, making it rock back and forth rather roughly. While she was still wounded from the injuries her previous slave master dealt to her, she did get a good sleep.
She yawned and looked around in a drowsy state, trying to remember where she was before waking up. Blinking her eyes, the girl's sight grew clearer and clearer once she started regaining consciousness. The first thing she saw was...a young green-haired man with a stoic expression that changed to a look of surprise and concern. Why did he look so familiar?
"I saved you. You're abroad my boat," said the green-haired man. "Er...in case you forgot my name, it's Zoro. Roronoa Zoro."
The girl looked confused for a few moments as she tried to think where she'd heard that name before, but eventually, recognition dawned on her features. She tried to smile at him, though it was more of a pained smile as the bruises on her cheeks still looked fresh. She winched in pain from the pain of her injuries. If left unchecked, her wounds could worsen or trigger some kind of infection.
Although Zoro had many questions for the girl, he saw the pain on the girl's expression and figured it must have come from her wounds. He wanted to wait until the girl was awake before he could bandage and dress up her own wounds properly since he didn't think it was...appropriate to touch her while she was asleep.
Now that she was awake, they could work together to clean up and properly bandage her wounds. So, he leaned forward and gently prodded her shoulder. The girl looked a bit startled and started shaking, cowering as though...as though she was afraid that he would harm her.
Zoro immediately backed off, holding up his hands to show no harm. He didn't mean to startle, or rather scare the girl. He only wanted to get her attention. "It's alright...It's alright. I promise you, I'm not going to harm you. I just wanted your attention because I need your help. I...I was wondering if you could remove your clothes for me. Ack! And I really don't have any hidden intentions! I-I can't bandage you without you taking off your clothes, and I couldn't really take off your clothes while you were sleeping, so...so could you help me?"
The girl's cheeks were a rosy pink color, but she understood the situation and nodded. She turned towards Zoro and began removing her ragged clothing.
"GAH! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! TURN AROUND! TURN AROUND AND TAKE THEM OFF!"
Zoro's hasty and loud tone made the girl jump a bit but it also made her quickly turn around and remove her clothes as fast as she could. Zoro was about to look away when his eyes caught a glimpse of the truly horrific wounds on her back. He couldn't help but look back.
Whatever embarrassing feelings he had converted into feelings of horror, anger, and sorrow altogether for the poor girl.
If the bruises, scars, and other wounds on the girl's arms, legs, and neck were bad enough, then what was shielded behind her ragged clothing was much worse.
Vivid, red flesh stained her porcelain white skin much more in the torso area, especially on her back. Wild-looking, slash-like scars filled nearly the entirety of Luna's back, leaving barely even a hint of her porcelain white skin on the back area, painting a massive mess of pink and red scars, both old and new. Neck, arms, legs, especially the back...all covered in nasty scars, bruises, burnt marks, and other wounds.
Only her face remained clear of any wounds, aside from a few bruises that would heal, given time. But Zoro knew the type of pirates that imprisoned her. They tried avoiding her face because of her beauty, as though injuring the girl will only devalue her use as a slave. If Zoro thought pirates were cruel and disgusting, his views towards them only further went down the drain when he saw the true state the poor girl was in.
Gently, as though handling a fragile piece of glass, Zoro's fingers lightly touched one of the girl's scars on her back. As though feeling the warmth of his fingers, the girl flinched, beginning to tremble in fear. Hesitant to continue, yet wanting to comfort the girl, Zoro laid his hand on her shoulder, gently stroking it back and forth in a slow movement as not to startle her with any other unexpected movements.
"Shhh...It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. I would never harm a defenseless person like that. Would...would it be alright if I touched your back a bit?"
The girl turned her head to look at Zoro with an look of uncertainty. And yet, she agreed to Zoro's request and nodded before turning away.
Looking back at the girl's back, Zoro was as careful as possible when touching her scars. He thought that he pressed too hard, the scars might somehow reopen the wounds and leave even more of a bloody mess. Zoro was never really good when it came to gently handling things but now, he was being as careful as possible. He trailed his fingers down some of her scars, examining them before fury filled his face.
Some of the scars were old sword slash cuts.
As a fellow swordsman himself, Zoro had a sense of honor, a code that he followed through. Sure, the remaining scars on the girl may have been caused by something else, like a whip and such, which still doesn't help better her situation, but there was a sense of anger when he recognized that the girl suffered sword slashes, especially in the back. To him, a swordsman cutting someone on the back is considered dishonorable and shameful. And it's even moreso when the girl was couldn't even defend herself and suffered under the hands of whoever gave her such scars.
Perhaps the only fortunate thing is that the scars weren't inflicted too deeply but still enough to leave permanent marks. They've been treated with little to no medical treatment, so they were left alone as scars.
Seeing the girl like this made Zoro clench his fists angrily. He could see nothing but red as he thought nothing more than wanting to kill those cowardly pirates over again, at least for the girl's sake. But he took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he got angry right now. Besides, he already killed those pirates, so they'll never harm this poor girl ever again.
Zoro had a medical first-aid kit with him in cases of emergencies like this, though he hardly ever uses for himself since he's really bad at apply bandages to himself. A good nap and some sake usually is what fixes him up after some tough fights. But now, the girl needs the medical first-aid kit more than ever, more than him anyways.
Taking out a clean cloth, Zoro coated it with some fresh water from his own canteen before cleaning the girl's back, trying not to scrub really hard. Judging from the girl's pained reaction, Zoro then attempted to slow down and ease on his cleaning. When he finished, the cloth was coated in a mixture of pink and red, so he took out another clean cloth, drenched it with fresh water, and nudged her to take it.
"Here, could...could you clean your front? Where your wounds are?"
The girl nodded and took the wet cloth, proceeding to clean her front torso, arms, and legs while Zoro waited. When she finished, she handed the now-dirtied cloth back to Zoro. Zoro took it back and put it aside before reaching out and grabbing some medicinal cream from the first-aid kit. Zoro could never pronounce the long and complicated medicine names properly, but the medicinal cream had worked wonders on him whenever he got injured, but it was almost out. Still, using it on the girl was important.
Squeezing some of the cream out, Zoro rubbed it against her back until he was certain he got the wounds, scars, and bruises on her back and then handed the remainder of the medicinal cream to the girl so she could apply it on the front, assuring her that it was alright to use all of it and that she wouldn't get in trouble for it. It took a while, but the girl finished using all of the cream to apply onto herself.
For the finishing touches, it was time for Zoro to wrap bandages around her body. But, not wanting to touch certain parts of her, Zoro tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, so I'm going to bandage you up now, so could you help me? I-I can't do your front, so when I wrap around your back, could you handle the front?"
The girl understood what Zoro meant and nodded. With the girl's help, Zoro was able to successfully bandage the girl's torso, arms, and legs, making her resemble a mummy of sorts, leaving her face not bandaged. The girl already applied some of the cream onto the bruises on her face, so she assured Zoro that it was fine with a wave of her hand.
Zoro was no doctor, but this was the best medical aid he could provide for the girl until they reach a new island and get her to see a doctor. Speaking of doctors, Zoro realized that he needed to see one himself since he did get injured from his previous fight with the Blood Fangs. Well, the girl needed to see the doctor more than him, but who knows when the next time they reach the nearest island?
Watching as the girl, with her back still turned, putting on her bloodstained, ragged, and ripped clothing, Zoro knew that nothing could be done with such clothing and that she'll need new clothing as well. In fact, she'll need a lot of help once they arrive at a new island.
But Zoro himself felt as though he might not be the right person to fully help her get into a brand new life.
The girl turned around and faced Zoro. She bowed her head, presumably in gratitude for what he's done. A small smile formed on her bruised face and her body relaxed, feeling as though she could trust the green-haired stranger who went through all of the trouble to help her.
"Right...well, now that that's all settled, I hope you're doing alright," said Zoro. "So, who are you anyways? Can you tell me your name?"
The girl pointed to her throat and shook her head, clearly indicating that she can't speak for some reason. That left Zoro confused as he wondered what to do next. Come to think of it, he did have some pieces of paper with him that he barely used, just for quick notes and all.
He handed the girl the papers and a pen, asking her, "Can you at least write?"
The girl nodded and brought her knees close to her chest before beginning to write. In no time at all, she came up with a response. "I can't speak. I'm mute."
Suddenly, that made a lot more sense. Zoro had assumed something was wrong with her but the thought of her actually being mute didn't cross his mind. Well, she definitely needed the papers more than him. They seem to be the only way to communicate between the two of them.
"Okay, sorry. Can you tell me your name? Or, rather, can you write your name?"
The girl shook her head before realizing that Zoro might not understand what she meant. She scribbled down something and then flipped the paper over so he could read it.
"I'm sorry. I don't have a name. My previous Masters called me a bunch of names, though. Like Slave Girl, Slave, and a bunch of others that I don't really like talking about. You can call me Slave, though!"
Yeah, no, that wasn't going to cut it for Zoro. He was never going to call her by such a name. He shook his head at her, a disgusted and angry look that described just how horrified he was at calling her such a name. Still, he needed to call her something.
Placing a hand on his chin and rubbing it, Zoro tried to think of a name for the girl. He really wasn't the best when it came to naming people. He scratched his head, still trying to think of one when he noticed the girl had written something down for him.
"I'm sorry, I forgot your name, Master Green-Haired Swordsman, sir."
Zoro smirked a bit and chuckled a bit. Nobody's really called him by that before so what she said was a bit amusing. He looked at her and said, "It's fine. My name is Roronoa Zoro, but you can call me Zoro."
The girl seemed to have brightened up upon hearing his name and wrote something down. "Roronoa Zoro? I hope I spelled that right! It's nice to meet you, Master Zoro!"
Master? Zoro didn't know why she would call him that. "Y-Yeah, that's how my name is spelled. Good job. Um...Crap, I really don't know what to call you. I'm not calling you Slave or Slave Girl or whatever your previous master gave you. Gah...I dunno, lady!"
The girl perked up. "Lady? That sounds like a nice name!"
Zoro wasn't certain if calling her Lady was a good thing or not, but it would serve as a sort of...temporary name until he could figure something out. He would only call her Lady because she seemed happy about the name.
"Look, I...I don't know if naming you Lady is good, but it'll be a temporary name, alright? Until I can figure something out."
The girl nodded but it was clear that she was still happy being named Lady. The girl then remembered something before she scribbled something down on the papers. "Master Zoro? Where did my other Master and his pirate crewmates go?"
Zoro assumed that she was referring to the Blood Fangs and glanced back behind him where the huge bloody sack full of their heads remained. "...To somewhere where they're not coming back."
She realized what Zoro meant immediately. Dead. They were all dead. Come to think of it, Zoro does appear blood-stained, presumably from killing the previous crew she was with. She wasn't sad but neither was she happy they were gone. The best way to describe her feelings on the matter was...neutral. She held no hatred for them and yet, she wasn't happy that they died either.
"What does Master Zoro want me to do now?"
"What?"
Lady pointed to her message, repeating the same words again.
"Uh...well, first off, we should probably go find you a doctor. You need medical attention and rest. Lots and lots of rest. But I dunno where the nearest island is, so that might take a while. In the meantime, if it's alright with you, I'd like to ask some questions."
Lady nodded, agreeing to allow Zoro to ask her any question he desires of her. She didn't have anything to hold back and she would answer any question he asked of her, provided she knew the answer.
Zoro decided to start off his questions immediately. "Right, well, first off, you're a slave, right? Or rather, you used to. How did you end up with those pirates?"
Lady took a few minutes writing down on the papers that Zoro gave her, but when she finished, she handed them to Zoro, who read them over. "Well, my previous Master isn't really my first master. I don't know how long, maybe it's been years, but I've been exchanged from master to master who sold me. Either they sold me to another group or their group was killed and another group took me as their slave. They usually force me to go with them if I'm sold or they kill my previous masters."
A curious and surprised look formed on Lady's face before she wrote something else down. "Master Zoro won't treat me badly? But you're my new master. Aren't you supposed to be hitting me?"
Zoro was shocked and horrified that Lady would even suggest that, as though that was such a normal occurrence for her. "What? No, no! I'm not gonna hit you! And what do you mean by new master?"
"I mentioned before that sometimes, I get a new master whenever my old master is killed by another group. I thought you might be my new master because you killed my old master and his crew."
Zoro was going to put a stop to the whole Master-Slave situation right now. "Stop. First of all, I'm not into any of that slavery stuff. Second, I'm not your master. I'm not gonna treat you like your previous master., alright? I won't treat you like crap or hit you or anything. In fact, I can absolutely assure you that I will never treat you like those scum masters of yours has. What they did to you wasn't right at all. You're safe now. I can promise you that."
Admiration, and perhaps a spark of hope, filled Lady's eyes as she stared at Zoro. But, the light in her eyes faded away and she looked down with a dull, faded expression. It was as though she wanted to get her hopes up, but she didn't want to be let down either with her "new master."
Zoro could guess why she looked like that and rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe Lady was right in that she shouldn't get her hopes up. After all, he did plan on dropping her off the doctor's and being on his way after collecting his bounty reward. He didn't seem like he would want the babysitting duty of watching over the girl.
Zoro opened his mouth to ask more questions, but then closed it quickly and sighed. This whole thing was a mess. There were still plenty of mysteries about this girl but what he'd focus on was her recovery for the time being. He could ask her questions later. For now, though, he had other things to deal with.
Deciding to change the subject, Zoro turned to Lady. "So...do you want something to eat? Some food?"
Lady, not wanting to trouble Zoro any further, shook her head, but her stomach said otherwise. The moment the magic word, "food," came into mind, her stomach growled loud enough for the two of them to hear.
Lady's face redden as she hugged her stomach, as though trying to tell it to stop. She didn't remember the last time she ate. Was it a few days ago? Maybe even longer? One of her usual punishments was not to eat any food, that she didn't deserve it.
Sighing, Zoro fished his hand into his bag and took out some loaves of bread. "Here. It's not gourmet, but it's all I've got."
Although Lady was hungry, she tried to hand the bread back to Zoro. She shook her head frantically, trying to tell him that the food was all his and that Lady herself didn't need food despite her growling stomach.
Annoyed, Zoro took one of the loaves and shoved it into her mouth to eat it. Then, Lady's eyes sparkled and her expression lit up upon tasting the bread. She ate the bread quickly and soon gobbled down the second bread. She smiled at Zoro with bread crumbs scattered on her cheeks and lips, silently thanking him for the food. Zoro gave a small smile back, happy for the unspoken words of gratitude.
Lady still had some loaves of bread left; her stomach growling that her hunger was satisfied at all. Despite her hunger, Lady refused to eat anymore and tried giving the remaining bread back to Zoro.
Zoro shook his head and placed his hands over her own, whom still held the bread loaves. "No, you have them. You're more hungry than me."
Lady put down the bread and wrote something on the papers. "But what will you eat, Master? I can't have all of the bread to myself."
"It's fine. I prefer drinking some nice sake rather than eating." Having said that, Zoro took out a bottle of sake from his bag and gulped some of the contents. "Pah! Kinda wish that last ship had some sake."
Lady recalled that her previous crew, the Blood Fangs, were complaining about being so long out on sea that they ran out of alcohol. Of course, those weren't very pleasant memories because they sometimes beat her up because they needed something to vent their frustrations at.
Lady decided to hold onto the bread instead of eating them straight away just in case Zoro was hungry. She heard that people can survive without food so long as they had water, which is one of the reasons why Lady has survived thus far. That, and she sometimes received scraps of leftovers from the food that her previous masters threw at her or at least rotten food. Sure, they weren't much and were rather hazardous, but it was still food regardless.
Watching Zoro drink, Lady now realized that Zoro himself had injuries of his own, as evident of the bandages that he probably wrapped around himself and his blood-stained clothes, though whether they were his own blood or the blood of his foes, Lady couldn't tell. Being the kind-hearted soul she is, Lady desired to help Zoro and wrote something down.
"Master Zoro? May I heal your wounds?"
"Hah? What do you mean? I'm alright. Hurts a bit to move around, but I'll be alright with some sleep and some sake."
But Lady wouldn't have any of that. Crawling up to Zoro, Lady tilted her head a few times to check which areas on his body were injured. It seemed covered up by Zoro's clothing and bandages, so a full-body scan was in order. Zoro didn't seem willing to remove his clothing or bandages for her, since he claimed to be alright, which left Lady the next best thing to do.
Once she was close enough, Lady turned her head towards the sea water and raised a hand. To Zoro's shock, a portion of the water rose up, hovering above Lady's hand before she looked back at Zoro. Getting closer, Lady then applied the portion of the water she collected from the sea onto Zoro's torso, bypassing and drenching his shirt in order to gain access to his wounds. Closing her eyes and breathing in and out, Lady concentrated on her water powers onto Zoro, a silvery-blue glow appearing as a result as well as her hands glowing blue.
Lady grimaced in pain as strange tattoo markings suddenly appeared on her torso and arms. Still, she continued using her powers on Zoro, who was still puzzled as to what was happening. Then, Zoro felt the pain from his wounds fading away and his torso and arms getting wet from the water Lady had applied onto his body. This continued until Zoro felt no more pain from his body and he could move more freely, though he was a bit wet.
"What the...? I don't feel anymore pain!" said Zoro, who could now freely move his body with not even a speck of pain anywhere on his body. "Hey, what did you...?"
Zoro's question trailed off when he saw that the girl was breathing heavily; her expression wrecked with pain. The tattoo markings on her body had slowly began to vanish and the girl seemed to be feeling better once the tattoo markings were gone.
Scribbling down on the papers, Lady asked, "Are you okay now, Master Zoro?"
"Yeah, I feel fine now, but what did you do?"
"Well, I have the power to heal, Master Zoro. I can heal any wounds but I need water to heal wounds. People do tend to get wet in the areas I heal them with, though."
'Healing power, huh? That's a rare ability. I guess that's one reason why so many bastards want to use her,' Zoro thought. 'But...is she alright? She seemed to be in pain earlier.'
"Hey, why were you in pain just now? Does using your power hurt you or something? And what's with those weird markings that up and disappeared?"
"Well, that always happens whenever I heal someone, or an animal. I feel the other person's pain until they're fully healed. I think it's a curse or a side effect whenever I use my healing powers."
Zoro rubbed his chin curiously. "Hmm. What about your markings?"
"They usually appears in the spots where it hurts. Like, if your arm was hurt and I was healing you, the markings would appear on my arm and hurt me as well. If you had a cut on your hand, the markings would appear on my hand. Wounds that the other person has don't really appear on my body, though."
Zoro would like to think this was more of a curse than a side effect because the markings do indicate some form of a curse in a sense. Come to think of it... "Wait a minute, I just thought of something! If you could heal somebody, why couldn't you heal your own wounds?"
Lady shook her head. "Unfortunately, I can't do that. My healing powers won't work on myself. I can heal others, just not myself."
Damn, that was one idea off the charts. "Well, thanks for healing me, I guess. You didn't have to, but thanks. I did suffer some injuries during my last battle. But, I don't need anymore healing, alright?"
Lady nodded, rubbing her arms where the markings used to be. Seeing this, Zoro made a mental note not to ask her to heal anymore, or just as much as frequent if her previous masters have been forcing her to heal them all this time.
Lady felt a little nervous, unsure whether to fully trust Zoro or not. On one hand, she did truly wanted to trust someone, and she felt a lot safer around Zoro. He did save her from the Blood Fangs, freed her, bandaged her wounds, fed her, and has been nice to her ever since she woke up. She couldn't really explain it, but she just trusted Zoro and believed that he won't hurt her.
The two continued sailing for a few days and got to know each other a little more. Zoro was still worried about her health and Lady felt grateful about the fact he cared. She was still scared of her new situation, but she also felt safe with Zoro around, and that somehow calmed her fear a little. At least, enough to stop her from trembling every time she was scared. Zoro seemed to be a pretty chill but serious man. He was a very laidback person and was nice despite his rough exterior. It almost made her forget that he was a bounty hunter, or rather, a swordsman.
During the days sailing together, not once has Zoro mistreated her, but instead always treated her as gently as he could. He had many questions though, like what has she been through? How badly had her previous masters abused her? Did she have other scars and wounds he hadn't seen? How old was she? Was she okay right now? Where was she from? What was she planning to do after he took her to a doctor? All these questions ran through Zoro's mind.
To start with, Lady actually didn't know how old she was or where she came from. Either years of slavery had made her forget or she suffered some form of amnesia. Aside from the recent wounds she obtained, her scars, burn marks, and other past wounds from long time ago didn't seem to hurt anymore.
When Lady wrote everything that her former masters did to her, what they made her do, and much more that was far too descriptive and graphic to be lies, Zoro's vision had turned red from anger. If possible, he would have torn those masters apart limb by limb for all the horrible things they've done to this girl. Even though he just met the girl a few days ago, nobody deserved to suffer and experience what the girl had gone through.
Their conversations were limited through the papers that Zoro provided until he ran out. The food that originally belonged to Zoro was used sparingly since they didn't know how long they would be at sea for. During their time together, they would have short conversations, fish for more food, or even take naps.
Eventually, though, they would arrive at an island, where supposedly, their short-term relationship would come to an end...or would it?
Hiya, guys! Let me clarify a couple of things from this chapter!
So, one of my most favorite romantic couple troupes are Opposites Attract! Big, gruff, scary guy with soft, gentle, kind girl always has me fangirling like crazy! Hence Zoro x OC here!~
One of the main inspirations behind this fanfic also came from a video game visual novel that not many know as "Teaching Feeling," in which the main character takes care of a mistreated girl who used to be a slave, kinda like the plot of this story in a sense.
"Lady" is not going to be my OC's name or real name for that matter. It's only going to be a temporary name because I already chosen a name for her which will show up in later chapters. I just have a feeling that Zoro is just really bad at naming people.
Yes, Lady's water healing powers are inspired by Waterbending from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I plan on making Lady a bit of a healer but Lady actually had a lot of other powers, so just a heads up! And, to balance out the amount of powers she has, I put limits on them to make things fair as well, like Lady feeling pain from the wounds she's healing. The markings are inspired by Akame by Akame Ga Kill.
Oh, and by the way, Lady is mute, so all of her speeches are going to be said, or rather written, as, "Yes, I am going to be writing like this."
I believe that's it for now! Read and review!