"Ah, ah Anchor. You agreed that you wouldn't strain yourself if we let you out of the infirmary." Shanks warned, clasping Luffy's neck.
"But Zoro's here!" Luffy whined, straining to the railing.
"And you will see him as soon as our ship is docked." Luffy pouted but let Shanks pass him off to a hovering Ace who hoisted him onto his back. The crew bustled around, working to bring the ship through the dangerous waters of Kuraigana.
Finally they were able to disembark and Shanks wandered up to Mihawk who was waiting impatiently. "Hey! Sword dude! Where's Zoro?" Luffy said excitedly.
Mihawk sighed and gestured down the path. "He's supposed to be in bed but I'm certain he has ignored that and is heading this way."
Luffy cheered and Ace grunted at Luffy's continuous kicks to go but obligingly moved down the path ahead of the others. "ZORO!"
Ace groaned. "Luffy, please stop yelling in my ear."
"Shishishi. Turn here." Luffy said grabbing a tree as they passed and whipping them off the path.
"What the hell Luffy. Why can't we stay on the clear path?" Ace grumbled as he climbed over a fallen tree.
"Silly Ace. Zoro won't be on the path." A laughing Luffy said as he pointed another direction.
It was 10 minutes later when Ace stopped. "Luffy this is crazy. We're supposed to be taking it easy not getting lost in the woods. Shanks is going to kill me."
Thats when they heard the sound of swords clashing. Luffy cheered. "Yay Zoro! Lets go!"
"Absolutely not! We aren't going to a fight. You are recovering." Ace snapped.
Luffy looked at his brother and then towards the sounds of fighting. He grinned widely and shot his arms off into the distance.
"Luffy don't you darrrrrreee" Ace yelled as they went shooting through the woods. The boys landed in a clearing full of giant - "Are those monkeys?"
"Awesome." Luffy shouted.
"Luffy!" Zoro grinned from where he was battling back 4 of the humandrills. He knocked down 2 only to have another 4 rush in. Luffy tried to jump in but Ace quickly held tight to his arms before tying them in a knot around his torso. Ace then shot several humandrills with his fire pistols. Zoro laughed as he sliced back more when one of them landed a solid punch in his side. There was a couple seconds before Zoro coughed up some blood and faltered back under the crowd of humandrills.
Ace swore but Zoro was being swarmed and he couldn't risk shooting his fire near the other pirate and there was no way he was bringing his baby brother into the mess. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Came the furious scream from his back and Ace faltered and watched in shock as all the humandrills collapsed. "Ace?" Asked Luffy confused but Ace could only gape at the scene. "Ace… I don't feel good."
That jolted Ace out of his shock and he quickly loosed Luffy's arms and sat him down beside him. "What's wrong Lu? Is it your sutures?"
"Tired. Weak." Luffy said yawning and struggling to stay upright.
A beaten Zoro limped his way over and stood over his captain shakily holding Shusui as he glared at their fallen foes. He spat and grinned bloodily, watching his captain out of the side of his eye. "Thats a cool trick Captain."
"Shishi… Zoro! Missed you." Luffy slurred.
Zoro went to reply when they heard a thundering crash as something big burst through the woods. He instantly braced and stood over his downed captain with a glare, only relaxing when a frenzied Shanks burst into the clearing with Benn and Mihawk on his heels.
"Anchor!" Shanks yelled, seeing his kid collapsed on the ground. He brushed past the green haired boy and gathered his kid in his arms. "Are you hurt? What were you doing out here?"
"I'm ok dad… hon-"
"What the hell were you thinking letting him come out here! This island is dangerous." Shanks snapped at Ace who was standing quietly beside them.
"I- I- I didn't know. We were just- I didn't mean to. I'm sorry!" Ace spluttered desperately.
"Dad! You're being mean." Luffy said, pulling his hair to redirect Shanks back to him. "Not his fault. I made him come, and he carried me and wouldn't let me help Zoro."
Shanks stared at his kid and then closed his eye and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry Ace. I know that you were doing everything you could to keep him safe. I don't blame you. I just panicked finding Luffy on the ground surrounded by monsters… again. But I shouldn't take it out on you."
Benn was watching Shanks, ready to intervene but relaxed when his captain calmed himself down. "We felt the wave of conquerors from the ship… was that you Ace?"
Ace shook his head. "It was Lu. Zoro got knocked down and I wouldn't let Luffy fight. He just yelled and they all collapsed."
"Luffy?" He made eye contact with Shanks, concerned. "That was a strong burst of haki, Anchor. Have you ever done that before?"
"Whats hawk ye? Can I eat it? I want some… Pa, I'm hungry." Luffy said pulling the finger from his nose and wiping it on Shanks' cloak.
Mihawk meanwhile was studying the downed humandrills and the woozy swordsman who was now leaning heavily on a tree. "Roronoa, I thought I told you to stay in bed. You are in no condition to be roaming the island."
Zoro sneered, pushing himself upright for a moment before falling back again. "You aren't in charge of me."
Mihawk scoffed. "Forgive me for trying to ensure you live long enough to be reunited with your captain, child. This island is not a joke and you are lucky that the humandrills did not cause irreparable harm."
"I'm not a child. And I'm not going to be taken down by some monkeys."
"Of course not. That's why you are unable to stand up without assistance."
Zoro growled and raised his sword again. "I can still fight."
"I do not fight invalids. Put it down before you collapse." Mihawk drawled, waiting a moment before stepping forward and disarming the exhausted brat. He swept the struggling kid over his shoulder and ignored the protests as he lead the way back to the castle. Benn wrapping an arm around the still sniffling Ace.
Luffy buried his head in Shanks neck. "You're mad at me." He said softly.
Shanks sighed. "I'm not mad kid but I am disappointed. You told me that you would behave and then you ran off again."
"Didn't run off… got carried off. So I listened. And I wanted to find Zoro."
"Walking a thin line there kid. You were meant to go directly to the castle and relax and you know it." Shanks said raising a brow. Luffy nodded sadly. "Right well you are going to be checked over by Hongo and you have to tell him what you did."
Luffy whimpered. "He's gonna be mad."
Shanks laughed. "Yeah but just cause he cares about you. Now Hawky… you were saying that there was a female here too?"
"Yes apparently my home is a halfway point for wayward children. Thrilling isn't it."
Zoro propped his head up. "Luffy it's the ghost girl."
Luffy stared at his friend in horror. "But she's the worst!"
"I've told Perona that she can't use her powers til you've healed sufficiently." Mihawk said calmly.
"Yeah but she's trying to play nurse and she's crazy." Zoro grumbled.
"Well maybe being covered in bandages will stop you from running around like an idiot." Mihawk stated, as they entered the castle and he directed Shanks to the room he'd given to Zoro. Benn going ahead to find Hongo and the rest of the crew. They settled both boys in the bed when Hongo burst in muttering under his breath and pulling out his med kit.
Hongo did a thorough check of the boys, lecturing them on stupid choices the whole time before admitting that Luffy was same as before and just tired from the use of his haki. Zoro however was once again wrapped in bandages and both were ordered to stay in bed. Luffy laughed but obligingly draped himself over his best friend for a nap.
Mihawk gestured for his friend to follow him out but Shanks sighed. "How am I supposed to leave this kid's side. Every time I'm out of sight the brat is running off."
"Come on Red Hair. We'll set up a baby sitter rotation but Hongo has it under control for now. We need to talk and I could definitely use a drink."