Mid-way, I think...
Title: The Adventures of young Roronoa Zoro (Part 3)
Theme: Rebel
Claim: Zoro
Words: 1534
Rating: PG
Warnings: Unsubstantiated theories about Zoro's past. You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 first.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
Zoro's fists clenched as he watched the figures in the camp below toil under the threat of the whip. The very fact that they were slaves for the World Government was disturbing enough, but the thought that some of them might actually be his people made his blood boil. And the knowledge that it was all his fault made the path ahead clear.
He laid a hand on his katana and backed away from the edge of the cliff, stiffening when he sensed a presence behind him. He glanced backwards and found himself face-to-face with the head of a bear. He blinked.
It took only a moment for him to realise that it was only a piece of headgear, but one moment of surprise was enough advantage for two high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army. They emerged triumphant from the short but fierce scuffle, and carried off their captive to see their leader.
.
"Dragon. We caught this man skulking around the camp," Bear-head said, tossing Zoro unceremoniously onto the ground in front of the leader of the Revolutionary Army, arms and legs tightly pinioned to prevent him from escaping. And looking at his two best men, Dragon could understand why - they looked decidedly worse for wear after their efforts at subduing the man.
"Roronoa Zoro," Bear-head reported. "Eighteen years old. Self-styled 'Pirate Hunter'..."
"I've never called myself that," Zoro immediately objected.
"Fine. Bounty hunter and swordsman, practitioner of the Santoryuu style. His swords." Bear-head handed them over to Dragon, who glanced at them briefly and placed them on the table next to him.
"Give those back!" Zoro protested.
"Usually travels around with two bounty hunters named Johnny and Yosaku," Bear-head continued reporting in his bland voice, ignoring Zoro's demand. "Did you travel here with them?"
"No, I'm alone," Zoro replied sullenly.
"Why is that?" Dragon asked.
"What I'm here to do has nothing to do with them." Zoro tried desperately to wriggle out of his bonds, but he soon realised that these Revolutionaries knew how to tie a knot. Either he would need a blade to slice through the ropes, or the ropes would slice through him.
"What you're here to do? Are you here to take my head, perhaps?" Dragon asked, an ominous smile on his lips.
"No," Zoro snapped. "Yes," he changed his mind a moment later.
Dragon merely raised an eyebrow. "I should have thought than an exiled prince would have learned to lie with a straight face, to have survived all these years on the run."
There was a moment of silence as Zoro's eyes widened in horror. "How the hell did you..."
"We do keep our eyes and ears open, Roronoa Zoro," Dragon replied to Zoro's unfinished question. "And that green hair is distinctive."
"You're even better-informed than the Marines," Zoro muttered with a grudging respect.
"Tell me, why does a man with a grudge against the World Government turn bounty hunter?"
"Needed the money to survive," Zoro shrugged. "Besides, some crimes are crimes no matter who's in charge."
"Fair enough."
"And someone told me once, becoming World's Greatest Swordsman was hard enough without the World Government on my tail. That was before I found out..." His fists clenched as he remembered his shock at finally finding his way home after all those years, only to find it ruined and empty.
"Which is why you decided to come here, invade the camp and free the slaves. In other words, to get in the way of our mission." Dragon eyed Zoro for a moment, then offered, "Unless you wish to join in our attack. You look like a decent enough fighter."
"I've always fought my battles alone," Zoro muttered rebelliously.
"It's dangerous to ask this man to join you, Dragon," Bear-head interjected. "Remember, this is the man who, when Baroque Works invited him to join their ranks, demanded to be head of the organisation and killed the recruiter when he refused."
"Ah, but he is hardly in any position to make demands at the moment, are you, Roronoa? So, what do you say? Will you join our cause?"
"What if I say no?"
"You do want this sword back, don't you?" Dragon asked, a mocking smile on his face as he picked up the white-hilted sword and held it out to Zoro.
"You're the devil himself!" Zoro exclaimed through clenched teeth.
Dragon laughed, his chuckle ominous, sending shivers up every spine, but then his tattooed face turned serious. "This isn't the only place where your former subjects are being held. Even if you manage to free the people here, there are other slave camps scattered across East Blue and the rest of the world. Would you dedicate your life to freeing them?"
Zoro hesitated, his eyes automatically moving to the white katana in Dragon's hands, the sword that had once been Kuina's. Then he tore his glance away and nodded. "I must. It's my fault they became slaves in the first place. If I hadn't been so selfish all those years ago, this'd never have happened."
Dragon looked at Zoro thoughtfully, and his stare seemed to pierce through to the very depths of Zoro's soul. "That is hard to say," he said finally. "If you had returned, your kingdom may have been in even more trouble for being complicit in the murder of a Tenryuubito."
"What more trouble could they be in than now?" Zoro asked bitterly. "The World Government sacked the country and enslaved our people."
"Better enslaved than dead," Dragon pointed out. "This way, they still have a chance of being freed."
"Then I must be the one to free them," Zoro said, his voice determined.
"No," Dragon said. "Not you." He drew the white katana and cut the bonds binding Zoro's wrists and ankles together.
"What...why not?" Zoro stuttered, his face a picture of confusion as he rose to his feet, massaging the blood back into his limbs.
"Men should be free to pursue their dreams," Dragon replied, resheathing the sword and holding it out to Zoro. "Go, and fulfill the promise you made on this katana."
"But my people!"
"Leave the slaves to us. We will free them on your behalf." When Zoro opened his mouth to protest, Dragon explained, "I am sure your people would not want to see you enslaved yourself to the task of freeing them."
"Then what about you?"
"This is our lives' work. Our dream. It is no slavery."
Zoro looked between Wado Ichimonji and Dragon for a moment. It was odd how he felt as if he was on the verge of collapse, when he should be feeling the exact opposite, now that such a great responsibility had been lifted from his shoulders. He could feel his entire body relaxing, freed of a tension he hadn't even known was there, and as he drew a ragged breath, he realised that a gentle breeze was blowing, carrying the scent of the sea.
He took the katana and bowed his thanks. "From this day forth, my swords are at your service," he vowed.
If Dragon thought to make a comment on Zoro's having finally learned how to bow after all these years, he did not show it. Instead he said, "I thought you might offer. I already have a mission in mind for you, if you will accept it. Come."
Zoro looked curiously at Dragon, but the man had already turned away, staring contemplatively into the distance. He beckoned to Zoro to join him, and they talked for a long while afterwards, with the easterly wind blowing in their faces.
.
"I know it's none of my business, Dragon, but are you sure you can trust him to actually do whatever you asked him to do?"
Dragon glanced sideways at his most trusted lieutenant, and back at the boat carrying the young swordsman against the wind towards the east. "Yes."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he hasn't changed since he was a boy."
"You knew him back then?"
"Ask Kilnore or any of the others who were there from the beginning," Dragon replied as he waved a hand and a tailwind began to blow, carrying Zoro's boat all the faster.
The man wearing the bear-head nodded. Then he looked at Zoro's boat and noted, "It looks like he's...changing direction, Dragon."
Dragon raised an eyebrow, watching as Zoro turned his boat back towards the labour camp, apparently labouring himself under the delusion that "into the wind" meant east. He gave an inward sigh, raised his hand again and returned the wind to normal. If the ex-prince insisted on fighting the winds all the way there, so be it. Dragon couldn't extend his power all the way to Fuschia, but hopefully Zoro would find his way there eventually, before his son turned seventeen.
As history records, Roronoa Zoro made it only as far as Shelltown. And that was the start of a whole new set of adventures.
.....
I don't really believe Dragon sent Zoro to help Luffy, but I've always been amused by the thought that when Zoro had once met Dragon and, when he called Luffy the son of the devil, meant it. Hence this fic! That's the end of the Zoro past (yay) but I do have one more Zoro-as-prince fic left to go...
Theme: Rebel
Claim: Zoro
Words: 1534
Rating: PG
Warnings: Unsubstantiated theories about Zoro's past. You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 first.
Disclaimers: I don't own One Piece.
Zoro's fists clenched as he watched the figures in the camp below toil under the threat of the whip. The very fact that they were slaves for the World Government was disturbing enough, but the thought that some of them might actually be his people made his blood boil. And the knowledge that it was all his fault made the path ahead clear.
He laid a hand on his katana and backed away from the edge of the cliff, stiffening when he sensed a presence behind him. He glanced backwards and found himself face-to-face with the head of a bear. He blinked.
It took only a moment for him to realise that it was only a piece of headgear, but one moment of surprise was enough advantage for two high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army. They emerged triumphant from the short but fierce scuffle, and carried off their captive to see their leader.
.
"Dragon. We caught this man skulking around the camp," Bear-head said, tossing Zoro unceremoniously onto the ground in front of the leader of the Revolutionary Army, arms and legs tightly pinioned to prevent him from escaping. And looking at his two best men, Dragon could understand why - they looked decidedly worse for wear after their efforts at subduing the man.
"Roronoa Zoro," Bear-head reported. "Eighteen years old. Self-styled 'Pirate Hunter'..."
"I've never called myself that," Zoro immediately objected.
"Fine. Bounty hunter and swordsman, practitioner of the Santoryuu style. His swords." Bear-head handed them over to Dragon, who glanced at them briefly and placed them on the table next to him.
"Give those back!" Zoro protested.
"Usually travels around with two bounty hunters named Johnny and Yosaku," Bear-head continued reporting in his bland voice, ignoring Zoro's demand. "Did you travel here with them?"
"No, I'm alone," Zoro replied sullenly.
"Why is that?" Dragon asked.
"What I'm here to do has nothing to do with them." Zoro tried desperately to wriggle out of his bonds, but he soon realised that these Revolutionaries knew how to tie a knot. Either he would need a blade to slice through the ropes, or the ropes would slice through him.
"What you're here to do? Are you here to take my head, perhaps?" Dragon asked, an ominous smile on his lips.
"No," Zoro snapped. "Yes," he changed his mind a moment later.
Dragon merely raised an eyebrow. "I should have thought than an exiled prince would have learned to lie with a straight face, to have survived all these years on the run."
There was a moment of silence as Zoro's eyes widened in horror. "How the hell did you..."
"We do keep our eyes and ears open, Roronoa Zoro," Dragon replied to Zoro's unfinished question. "And that green hair is distinctive."
"You're even better-informed than the Marines," Zoro muttered with a grudging respect.
"Tell me, why does a man with a grudge against the World Government turn bounty hunter?"
"Needed the money to survive," Zoro shrugged. "Besides, some crimes are crimes no matter who's in charge."
"Fair enough."
"And someone told me once, becoming World's Greatest Swordsman was hard enough without the World Government on my tail. That was before I found out..." His fists clenched as he remembered his shock at finally finding his way home after all those years, only to find it ruined and empty.
"Which is why you decided to come here, invade the camp and free the slaves. In other words, to get in the way of our mission." Dragon eyed Zoro for a moment, then offered, "Unless you wish to join in our attack. You look like a decent enough fighter."
"I've always fought my battles alone," Zoro muttered rebelliously.
"It's dangerous to ask this man to join you, Dragon," Bear-head interjected. "Remember, this is the man who, when Baroque Works invited him to join their ranks, demanded to be head of the organisation and killed the recruiter when he refused."
"Ah, but he is hardly in any position to make demands at the moment, are you, Roronoa? So, what do you say? Will you join our cause?"
"What if I say no?"
"You do want this sword back, don't you?" Dragon asked, a mocking smile on his face as he picked up the white-hilted sword and held it out to Zoro.
"You're the devil himself!" Zoro exclaimed through clenched teeth.
Dragon laughed, his chuckle ominous, sending shivers up every spine, but then his tattooed face turned serious. "This isn't the only place where your former subjects are being held. Even if you manage to free the people here, there are other slave camps scattered across East Blue and the rest of the world. Would you dedicate your life to freeing them?"
Zoro hesitated, his eyes automatically moving to the white katana in Dragon's hands, the sword that had once been Kuina's. Then he tore his glance away and nodded. "I must. It's my fault they became slaves in the first place. If I hadn't been so selfish all those years ago, this'd never have happened."
Dragon looked at Zoro thoughtfully, and his stare seemed to pierce through to the very depths of Zoro's soul. "That is hard to say," he said finally. "If you had returned, your kingdom may have been in even more trouble for being complicit in the murder of a Tenryuubito."
"What more trouble could they be in than now?" Zoro asked bitterly. "The World Government sacked the country and enslaved our people."
"Better enslaved than dead," Dragon pointed out. "This way, they still have a chance of being freed."
"Then I must be the one to free them," Zoro said, his voice determined.
"No," Dragon said. "Not you." He drew the white katana and cut the bonds binding Zoro's wrists and ankles together.
"What...why not?" Zoro stuttered, his face a picture of confusion as he rose to his feet, massaging the blood back into his limbs.
"Men should be free to pursue their dreams," Dragon replied, resheathing the sword and holding it out to Zoro. "Go, and fulfill the promise you made on this katana."
"But my people!"
"Leave the slaves to us. We will free them on your behalf." When Zoro opened his mouth to protest, Dragon explained, "I am sure your people would not want to see you enslaved yourself to the task of freeing them."
"Then what about you?"
"This is our lives' work. Our dream. It is no slavery."
Zoro looked between Wado Ichimonji and Dragon for a moment. It was odd how he felt as if he was on the verge of collapse, when he should be feeling the exact opposite, now that such a great responsibility had been lifted from his shoulders. He could feel his entire body relaxing, freed of a tension he hadn't even known was there, and as he drew a ragged breath, he realised that a gentle breeze was blowing, carrying the scent of the sea.
He took the katana and bowed his thanks. "From this day forth, my swords are at your service," he vowed.
If Dragon thought to make a comment on Zoro's having finally learned how to bow after all these years, he did not show it. Instead he said, "I thought you might offer. I already have a mission in mind for you, if you will accept it. Come."
Zoro looked curiously at Dragon, but the man had already turned away, staring contemplatively into the distance. He beckoned to Zoro to join him, and they talked for a long while afterwards, with the easterly wind blowing in their faces.
.
"I know it's none of my business, Dragon, but are you sure you can trust him to actually do whatever you asked him to do?"
Dragon glanced sideways at his most trusted lieutenant, and back at the boat carrying the young swordsman against the wind towards the east. "Yes."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because he hasn't changed since he was a boy."
"You knew him back then?"
"Ask Kilnore or any of the others who were there from the beginning," Dragon replied as he waved a hand and a tailwind began to blow, carrying Zoro's boat all the faster.
The man wearing the bear-head nodded. Then he looked at Zoro's boat and noted, "It looks like he's...changing direction, Dragon."
Dragon raised an eyebrow, watching as Zoro turned his boat back towards the labour camp, apparently labouring himself under the delusion that "into the wind" meant east. He gave an inward sigh, raised his hand again and returned the wind to normal. If the ex-prince insisted on fighting the winds all the way there, so be it. Dragon couldn't extend his power all the way to Fuschia, but hopefully Zoro would find his way there eventually, before his son turned seventeen.
As history records, Roronoa Zoro made it only as far as Shelltown. And that was the start of a whole new set of adventures.
.....
I don't really believe Dragon sent Zoro to help Luffy, but I've always been amused by the thought that when Zoro had once met Dragon and, when he called Luffy the son of the devil, meant it. Hence this fic! That's the end of the Zoro past (yay) but I do have one more Zoro-as-prince fic left to go...