Chapter Text
Zoro lies on the deck of the Going Merry, hands tucked behind his head, and stares up at the clouds that drift across the sky. The ship rocks beneath him, the action rather soothing. His single sword rests beside his hip, scratched from his fight against Arlong’s Pirates, and he longs for a trip to a store that sells swords so he can get replacements for his two other swords, damaged beyond repair. After all, how can he do his Three Sword Style with just one sword?
Fatigue takes him over, partly from a shoddy night’s sleep (thanks to Luffy and Usopp kicking him in his sleep) but mainly from recovering from his injuries, which, according to Nami, need to heal fully before he can start training again. He would have argued, but nobody sensible argues with Nami. He wants to sleep – he needs to sleep – but there is one slight problem.
“Shut up, Luffy!” he yells.
Luffy won’t shut up. His ever hyperactive captain won’t stop rambling about everything that happened to them in Cocoyashi Village, the main topic of his babbling being how glad he is to have Nami back. Of course, when Zoro first heard him say all of that, he smiled (and Usopp giggled when Nami blushed), but that was several hours ago. Is Luffy incapable of shutting up, or what?
Across the deck, Luffy looks up. He’s sat on the railing near Usopp and Nami, swinging his legs.
“Huh?” Luffy says, jumping down and wandering over. “What’s up, Zoro?”
He rolls his eyes. “Did you not hear what I said?”
Luffy shrugs his shoulders. “I heard yelling. But you yell a lot, so…”
Usopp laughs and Nami nudges him.
“Anyway,” Zoro says. “Can you shut it for a few minutes? I’m trying to sleep.”
“Oh, okay,” Luffy says.
He manages to keep the noise down for a few minutes, giving Zoro plenty of time to drift off into well-needed sleep.
---
Not too far away from where the Going Merry drifts, another ship bobs in the calm water. A much smaller vessel that has clearly seen better days, the ship flies a pirate flag, and three men huddle around something on the deck.
“So, you both know what we need to do?” the first pirate says.
The second pirate rolls his eyes. “Of course we fucking do, boss. We’ve been talking nonstop for weeks about this.”
Without speaking, the first pirate delivers a hard smack to the back of his head, sending him stumbling.
The third pirate goes to laugh, but stops himself, not wanting to be hit. “Yeah, we both know.”
“Good,” their leader says, smirking. “You better not mess this up. We need this. We need our revenge.”
---
When Usopp turns his head to look out to sea, his eyes focus on something. A ship, a bit smaller than their own and bearing signs of recent damage, sails in their direction.
“Hey, guys, there’s a ship coming our way,” he says, squinting to get a better look. “Oh, it’s a pirate ship.”
“Cool,” Luffy says, grinning. “I love seeing other pirates.”
“You do remember how many of our enemies are also pirates?” Sanji mutters, but he doesn’t get a response.
Usopp leans against the railings, studying the ship. “I think they’re heading straight for us.”
“Have you made any more enemies, Luffy?” Nami asks.
“Hey!” Luffy cries, puffing his cheeks out. “Not everyone I meet becomes my enemy.”
“It’s still gotta be a good fifty percent, though,” Zoro mumbles, yawning. “Will they want a fight, or just pass us? Wanna take a bet, anyone?”
Sanji grins, exhaling a plume of smoke. “Yeah, I want some of that action. I bet you five hundred berries they’re pissed off with Luffy and want a fight.”
Zoro smirks back, holding out his hand and giving Sanji a firm handshake. “Deal.”
“You guys are so mean!” Luffy says, pouting.
Nami chuckles weakly, joining Usopp at the railings and studying the approaching ship. “If they’re not here to fight, I wonder what they want.”
“I dunno,” Usopp says, shrugging his shoulders. “I just hope they leave us alone. There’s been too much fighting recently.”
Nami’s hand goes to her upper arm, skin still sensitive under her touch. “You’re right there.”
The ship draws closer still, and soon everyone on board finds themselves watching, curious as to the intentions of the pirates.
When the ship gets close enough that the Straw Hats can see three people stood on the deck, the ship makes a sharp turn to port.
“Huh?” Luffy says, watching the ship turn so the side of it faces the Merry. “What are they doing?”
Usopp’s eyes focus on the canon mounted to the ship, and his stomach flips. “Oh crap.”
“They’re going to fire at us!” Nami says.
“Shit,” Sanji mutters. “Luffy, do your thing!”
“I thought I was the captain around here,” Luffy says, but he jumps onto the railing, preparing to catch the cannon ball with his Devil Fruit powers and send it flying back towards the other ship.
However, Luffy doesn’t get a chance to use this skill. Despite the canon being pointed straight at the Going Merry, none of the men on deck move to light it. Both groups of pirates stare at each other, the Straw Hats puzzled and the strangers smirking.
“What do you want!?” Luffy calls, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his already loud voice even noisier.
They get no reply. The men clearly heard Luffy (Zoro recons everyone in the fucking East Blue heard him), but they don’t react.
At least, until one of the men reaches into his bag and pulls out a slingshot.
“Hey, he’s got one too!” Usopp cries, his fascination of slingshots overriding his fear in that moment.
This slingshot is not exactly like Usopp’s, however; it is much larger, clearly capable of firing much larger ammunition. But it’s a weapon nonetheless.
“What the hell are they up to?” Sanji mutters, putting out his cigarette but putting an unlit one straight in his mouth.
Nobody takes their eyes from the slingshot, waiting for the man to make a move. After several minutes, the standoff is still going, and most of the Straw Hats find themselves bored rather than worried.
“Well, this is a letdown,” Luffy says, yawning. “Let’s get moving.”
But the moment Luffy takes a step towards the ship’s wheel, the pirate pulls a white ball from his bag, loads it into his slingshot, and fires.
“What the fuck?!” Sanji yells.
The ball lands on the deck near Nami’s feet and, after a single second, it explodes. Thick, white gas pours from it, covering the deck of the ship in fumes. Nami inhales and her lungs burn, an agonising cough escaping her throat. All she can see is the gas, her chest burning and her vision flickering.
Nami passes out before she hits the deck, totally unresponsive.
“Nami!” Luffy cries, rushing straight towards her. Just as with Nami, a lungful of the smoke is enough to knock Luffy out, sending him crashing to the deck.
“Seriously, what is this stuff?” Usopp says, covering his mouth with both hands.
“Poison gas, you idiot,” Zoro says, taking a step backwards. “Probably knock us out for a few hours so they can rob us.”
“Or fucking kill us,” Sanji mutters.
The three of the look at each other and the encroaching cloud of gas, trying to think of a plan so they don’t get knocked out and the whole ship left defenceless.
But the gas proves much more potent than they had expected, and the cloud envelops them before they have a chance to do anything. They fight the urge to breathe, but first Usopp, then Sanji and finally Zoro each give in, inhaling before they suffocate themselves. And, just as they feared, the gas burns their lungs and makes them horribly drowsy…
Zoro’s eyes drift shut and he falls to the deck, smacking his head against the wood, before giving in to unconsciousness.
---
Luffy awakes slowly, and lets out a groan when pain shoots through his head. He forces himself to sit up, his limbs weak and heavy, and he blinks, trying to get his vision back into focus.
“Luffy! I’m so glad you’re awake!” Nami cries.
She kneels beside him, a nasty bruise forming on her chin. When he looks at her, she pulls him into a hug.
“Nami… what happened?” he mumbles, still half asleep.
“Don’t you remember the gas?” she says, and his memories come back.
He remembers everything up until the moment he passed out from the gas. But how long ago was that? And are the others okay?
The others!
“Nami, where are Zoro and Usopp and Sanji!?” he cries, grabbing her shoulders and shaking a bit too hard.
“Stop doing that.”
“Sorry.”
Nami lets out a shaky breath. “Look, Usopp and Sanji are over there. They haven’t woken up yet. But—“
He cuts Nami off before she can finish, hurtling across the deck on wobbly legs. He finds Sanji and Usopp sprawled on the deck, both still unconscious.
He spins back around, a brief bout of vertigo making him stumble, and stares at Nami. “Where’s Zoro?!”
“I was about to say that,” Nami says, walking over and putting her hand on his arm. “Look, Luffy, try not to freak out…”
“What happened?! Where is he?!” Luffy cries, well aware he’s freaking out but how can you not freak out when someone starts a sentence like that? “Nami!”
She sighs, looking out to sea, where that pirate ship is nowhere to be found.
“Luffy, he’s… gone.”
Something twists deep in his stomach, his heart pounding so fast he feels like his ribcage might explode. “What?! What do you mean?! Nami! I don’t understand…”
Nami pulls him into a hug, rubbing his back. “I mean what I said. When I woke up, he wasn’t here. He’s not anywhere on the ship. He’s gone.”
“What…? But… Zoro…”
Where is he?
What happened to him?
“Nami,” he says, fighting back the tears that sting his eyes. “We have to find him.”
---
When Zoro awakes, his sense of smell is the first to appear. A disgusting, unfamiliar scent of damp wafts up his nose, and he would grimace if he remembered how to move. This doesn’t smell like the Merry. Just where is he?
His other senses return gradually, but he doesn’t open his heavy eyelids, leaving him without his vision. Cold, damp stone presses against his legs and back, and metal cuffs clasp each of his wrists and ankles.
Finally, Zoro manages to open his eyes, and his groggy mind focuses. Yes, this is nothing like the Merry.
He sits in the corner of a small, dingy room, dark except for a bit of light that shines through a tiny window. The walls and floor are all made of damp stone, a rotten wooden door a few feet away from him. Just as he thought, thick metal cuffs encircle his wrists and ankles, tight enough to make his skin ache. Chains lead off of the cuffs and are connected to metal loops sticking out of the walls. In this position, he could stand up and walk a few steps before being restricted further by the lax chains.
But he can’t move, his limbs heavy and aching like he ran a marathon. His head throbs, his eyes ache, and his lungs burn in a way that makes him feel like he is getting sick.
And then the memories come back. Memories of the gas.
Just what happened to him after he passed out? And where are the others? Are they safe? What is going on?
Even though he would rather curl up in a ball and sleep, Zoro has to find a way out of here. First, he needs to see who the fuck his captors are. He suspects the pirates who gassed them, but he can’t be certain.
“Hey! Is anybody there!?” he yells, his voice coming out croakier than he would have liked. “Show yourselves!”
For several long, long seconds, all Zoro can hear are drips of water hitting the puddles on the ground and his own heartbeat in his ears. But, finally, footsteps echo somewhere outside his cell. The footsteps grow louder, and a key creaks in the rusty lock. And then the door swings open, and they stand there.
The three pirates who gassed his crew stand there, staring down at Zoro with disturbing smirks on their faces.
“Well, look who’s awake,” the first captor says, walking towards Zoro.
“Piss off,” Zoro mutters.
“Ooh, he’s a feisty one,” the second captor says, giving Zoro a hard kick in the chest.
Zoro doesn’t give the guy the pleasure of wincing, simply glaring at him as yet more pain flares through his burning chest.
“What the fuck do you want from me?” he says, trying to catch his breath.
Without answering him, the second and third men nod at the first (clearly the leader) and walk to the other corners of the room. Wheels are set into the floor, chains wrapped around them – the same chains fastened to Zoro’s cuffs.
“Winch him up, men,” the leader says, grinning.
To Zoro’s confusion, the pair begin to turn the wheels, creating a horrific squeaking sound, and the slack on the chains lessens. Eventually, it goes taut, and pressure builds up in Zoro’s arms. They keep pulling the chains, pain flaring up Zoro’s arms until his elbows and shoulders seem about to dislocate, and he grits his jaw to keep from groaning.
The leader walks over, and laughs. “Unless you want your arms ripped off, stand up. Now.”
Even though his limbs still won’t coordinate well, Zoro has no choice. As his shoulders stretch in ways he never knew were possible, his shoes scuffle again the damp ground, trying to get a footing. Finally, the pain becomes too much when a ligament starts to tear in his shoulder, and Zoro hisses. As the pirates laugh, he manages to get his feet flat and pushes up, lifting his body off of the ground.
Straightening his weak, aching body, Zoro finds the pain in his arms reducing, until his shoulders no longer threaten to dislocate. His legs wobble beneath him, but he can’t sit down without ripping his arms out of their sockets.
“Excellent job,” the leader says, watching Zoro pant for breath.
Zoro glares at them. “So, are you fucking bastards gonna tell me why I’m here, or—”
In a swift movement, the leader pulls a small knife from his pocket and plunges the blade into Zoro’s thigh. Despite his best efforts, he lets out a cry of pain, so overwhelmed with agony he doesn’t know how else to react.
The captor laughs and pulls out the blade, creating another groan and sending blood oozing from the thin but deep gash in Zoro’s leg.
“That’s what you get for disrespecting me,” the leader says, and he leans close to Zoro, holding the bloody knife. “But if you really wanna know…
“This, Roronoa Zoro, is revenge for what you did to our brother.”