A/n Unfortunately, I don't own One Piece. I only own my OCs.
Regular text - Story
Italicized text - Thoughts
Chapter 8 - Zoro
6:15 pm
I was lost in the goddamn woods. Sanji is never going to let this go. The tower I had set myself toward kept shifting, and I'd had to backtrack at least seven times. The growing darkness had set my nerves on edge, and the castle had seemed like it would never get any closer. Suddenly the ground beneath my feet gave way from lush foliage to rocky ash. The sudden shift threw even my steady pace off balance, and I stumbled to a stop at the sudden change in scenery. The bright red-blue flowers and rich greenery I had followed toward the tower had given way to a scorched landscape. The ferms, flowers, and trees were covered in thick soot nearly a mile in diameter. As I crunched through the thick layer on the ground, a cough forced its way out as I accidentally inhaled the ashes, and I quickly pulled my shirt up over my nose to keep any more out.
As I neared the building itself, I noticed that the scorching went right up alongside the building staining the white brick a dirty grey about ten feet up. Placing my hand on the wall to make sure it wouldn't move, I began walking toward what I hoped was the front. The walk was mostly uninterrupted except for the burnt skeleton of a tree tucked close to the wall. I squeezed through the sooty branches, snagging my clothes briefly, and on the other side, I came to a broken cobblestone path leading toward the gate. Up close the gate was a gaudy, wrought iron monstrosity with screaming faces worked into the metalwork. I pulled Wado out of her sheath. Finally, a chance to put those steel cutting skills to the test. Pulling her back into a hardy swing, I was distracted momentarily by a piercing screech. Looking at the gate, I noticed it open, about a foot wide. The wind must have knocked it. Wasn't it even locked?
Keeping Wado out, I pressed on the gate and swung it open the rest of the way. The ground inside the wall wasn't much better than outside, only instead of burned foliage, they were overgrown. Weeds almost a foot high strangled roses and lilies and lavender, stunting them and keeping them from reaching the light—the moonlight cast statues and stonework into dark, twisted versions of themselves. No guards either, the people who live here are either incredibly irresponsible, or something is severely not right.
Anxiety about the wrongness was tangling with my fury over Nami missing. I needed to find her, and to do that, I needed to find the rest of my crew. With that at the forefront of my mind, I began to take cautious steps toward the castle door: every cricket chirp, every howl of the wind through barren trees, setting my teeth further on edge. The wooden castle door was covered in nicks and thick gouges like someone had tried to break it down. Given what Robin said about this island, it wouldn't surprise me if someone had. There was another unlocked door, another loud but unanswered screech, and I was inside.
The air was moist and heavy; every breath felt forced as if water was floating through the air. Directly in front of me was a set of rough-hewn steps. Right? Well, if I want to find the tower, I should go up.
20 minutes later
The hall I was in was covered in black painted walls and plush dark grey carpet. Torches on either side of me gave off low light at uneven intervals. How I left the main corridor, I will never know. I turned several times to try and get my bearings, but this dank hall was windowless, and the carpet muffled every step of my thick-soled boots. Frustrated, I slammed my fists against the wall and tried to contain my anger before I sliced a hole through the entire castle. My sense of direction had never been my strong suit, and I'd rolled with that. It had never bothered me, and I always ended up where I needed to be. But now? Nami had been taken, and Sanji and Robin were who knows where. I needed to get out of here!
Centering myself with a few meditative breaths, I turned to my left and looked the way I thought I had come. I can't even see the goddamn door I came out of. Nowhere to go but forward, I kept Wado at the ready. About thirty paces down the hall, an enormous door came into view. Easily fifteen feet high, it was embellished with a golden flower, the shape similar to the red-blue ones I had followed here. Whorls and swirls of gold and bronze spread across the surface, and in the fading light of the torches, they appeared to writhe and twist. As I drew closer, I noticed that it was reinforced with a heavy bar and several vertical locks at the bottom. I could see two metal boxes on either side, each with two lights at the top. The lights were green, and I was hoping with everything that that meant, whatever boobytrap was on this door was deactivated.
Deciding that whatever was on the other side of this door couldn't be worse than wandering the same hall repeatedly, I raised Wado over my shoulder and exhaled a deep breath. Swinging down, Wado sliced through the steel bar and locks like butter. The door swung open with a horrendous groan, and intense blackness and a gust of frigid air greeted me. Stepping carefully into the room, I tried to make sense of the surrounding darkness. Two steps in, and a clumsy shuffle to my left alerted me to a presence other than my own. The air shifted, and I ducked my head right as a heavy goblet went sailing over me, grazing my hair.
"The fuck!" The darkness ate up my exclamation without so much as an echo. Who the fuck throws a cup? The goblet clattered loudly against the outside wall before settling against the plush carpet. A small amount of red liquid had managed to cling to the side now leaked out, leaving a slight stain where it rested. Turning quickly, my sword out in front of me, I prepared for a fight: God, about time. I can work off some of this aggression.
From the darkness came, "I don't know who you are, but you must be new. Guards are not allowed in here."
The voice was feminine, delicate even. But I could hear the tinge of fear, and I'd bet double the amount of Berries that I owe Nami that the cup was the only weapon she had. Keeping my voice very even so as not to frighten her more, I said, "I'm not a guard; I broke in here." I could hear Sanji's voice saying: Great job, idiot. Is that supposed to make her feel less scared? A criminal breaking into her room?
But I did hear a soft gasp; it almost seemed tinged with relief. "Your not a guard." A quick shuffle of feet and a wisp of a girl stepped into the light from the door. She had cornflower blue hair tied back into braids to her waist. Her green-hazel eyes were rimmed red, possibly from crying, and were impossibly wide as she looked at me. She moved a little closer, and she probably only came up to my shoulder. She was wearing a brown dress that was too short and thin for the room's icy air, and she was barefoot.
She took a deep breath and seemed to be choosing her following words very carefully as she studied me. "Are you..." she takes a slow breath, "Do you know a girl named Nami?" My eyes immediately narrowed, and my whole body tensed. Suddenly the fact that this was a frightened woman did not matter to me. Unlike Sanji, I didn't discriminate against enemies of the fairer sex. I had Wado to her neck in two short strides, pressing hard enough to indent her skin. I must have looked feral as I got right in her face and said in a snarling voice, "How do you know Nami? Is she here?" My eye briefly darted around the room. Now that my eyes had adjusted, I could see many beds set against walls, all occupied by girls in various states of consciousness. But from what I could see, none of them were Nami. I know my eyes must look crazed, but when I looked back at the girl, I noticed that she did not appear frightened. She even smiled softly at me.
"She's not here. Guards came and took her and Lavender away about thirty minutes ago."
"Took her where?" I hissed out between clenched teeth.
"To King Pin. He always picks a girl around this time of the night."
Ice spread up my spine at her words. I knew before I asked, but I needed to hear her say it.
"Takes them for what?"
Her eyes grew sadder, and she looked away from me, her lips pursing before she spoke, "We are his harem. What do you think he took them for?"
Rage swept through me. How dare they? How dare they take Nami, any woman, and force them into something like this? I didn't need to be Sanji to feel the rage at the injustice these women had faced. I pulled Wado from her neck, mildly surprised I hadn't cut her in my anger. I sighed and rubbed my hand through my already mussed green hair.
"Look, I'm sorry if I scared ya. Names' Zoro. What's yours?"
She eyes me carefully, "I'm Wendi. And you didn't scare me. I've seen far scarier things in the last eleven years than a man scared for his crewmate." That left me at a loss for words, so we stood in silence while I thought about what to do next. I need to find Nami and the others, but I can not, no will not, leave these girls here.
I wish Sanji were here, or Robin, or any other member of my crew. Someone better at social situations. "How many girls are here?"
Without hesitation, Wendi said, "Twenty-three. Twenty-five, counting Nami and Lavender."
Nami being included set my teeth on edge. "Are they drugged?"
"No. Just drunk. It makes it easier to deal with what happens if you get picked."
Her nonchalance felt like a stab in the heart. As if it was a normal thing to drink yourself into a stupor to avoid unwanted advances. "Wake them. I'm getting you all out of here. Now."
Wendi looked suddenly startled. It was clear that it hadn't even crossed her mind that escape was now an option. "But... but the trap door." She looked toward where I had walked in, and understanding passed her face at seeing the bright green glow of the lights. "It's deactivated," then much louder, "It's deactivated!" She was suddenly aflutter with activity. Moving from bed to bed, rousing girls, and pulling clothes onto ones to out of it do it themselves. A girl with purple hair and a swollen jaw came to stand next to me. She and another girl with long dirty blonde hair supported a softly crying girl between them.
Purple let out a disgruntled sound at the sight of me, "Huh, guess Nami wasn't just blowing hot air after all." She looked at me with pure malice, "We told her you all were just gonna leave her." I gripped my sword tighter and glared down at her. Her friend moved them back a step away from me.
"Hush Jezz, it doesn't matter as long as we can get outta here." Looking back at me, she attempted to put a little sultry into her tone and said, "Thanks a lot, sir. I'm Tara. If there is anything I can do to repay you, you only have to ask."
I took another step back from her. She must think I'm either desperate or stupid. "Just help get the rest of the girls out of here. That's all I want." Confusion fluttered across her face as if she didn't understand my words, like not wanting something from her was a foreign concept, but she did help her friend pull the crying girl to the door.
Once everyone was up and at the door's threshold, Wendi came to my side, totting another silent girl beside her.
"I know a way to the gate from here. Did you see any guards while you were on your way up?"
I shook my head, "No, I didn't see anyone. It's almost like they've been cleared out. Are you sure you can get out? Safely?"
She nodded emphatically. "I know the secret tunnels from before the war. Ones even King Pin hasn't found." I watched her herd the still, very groggy girls down the hall. She stopped at a blank wall and pressed her hand to a rough stone about five feet up. A passageway opened with a puff of dust. She had the girls pile in and then walked back to me, her braids swinging with every step. Pointing to the right, she said, "Go down that hall. You will come to a stairwell. At the top is a door to the throne room. On a girl's first night, he likes to be in there. Nami should be in there."
I looked down the hall. Determined not to let the walls change. "Thank you. Get to the beach. There should be a ship with a lambs head mast, The Going Merry. That's my crew's ship. You should be safe there till we can get rid of this King Pin bastard. If someone is on the ship, tell them Zoro sent you."
She nodded. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes, and a smile split her face in two. She grabbed my free hand, "Thank you so much. You have no idea what you have done for us." She squeezed my hand tightly before she turned and ran toward the passage. She stopped at the entrance and seemed a little uncertain, hesitant for the first time. I watched her take a deep, shuddery breath and shake herself before she turned to smile one last time at me before stepping into the passage and letting the door seal shut behind her.
Once she was gone, I re-drew Wado and placed my other hand on the wall. This was just too important to chance them moving. The walk was short, the stairs were precisely where she said they'd be, and the old door with its little window opened to a small alcove. It opened silently, and the carpet muffled all sound as I crept forward. I could hear my heart in my ears. The room outside the nook seemed dead silent, not a step, not a word. Maybe Wendi was wrong? Perhaps they have gone somewhere else. Shit! I'll never find her on my own. Panic was starting to creep in—sweat beading and running down my neck as I breathed faster. I need someone, anyone, Sanji.
Before I could focus on that last thought, a deep voice boomed into the silence, "My lovely Lavender, look, Gunther has brought my Sugarplum in to see you. It's not polite to not introduce yourself." Lavender, that's who Wendi said was missing. If she's in there, then Nami must be somewhere close. I moved to grab my bandana and touched only bare skin. I thought of the branches that had grabbed at me outside the gate and suppressed a frustrated grunt realizing it must have come undone. Whatever a lesser problem for another time. I pressed Wado into my mouth and drew the other two. I took a deep breath in and out as I prepared to storm the throne room.
A/n Working on the next two chapters now. Thanks for reading! -CL