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31_days2010-09-03 04:03 pm
sazuki-reda.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-09-03 04:03 pm
[Sept 3] [One Piece] In Nightmares
Title: In Nightmares
Day/Theme: Sept 3 - "the sleep of reason produces monsters"
Series: One Piece
Character/Pairing: Zoro, Luffy, Kuina - ZoLu/LuZo
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Character-death. (sort of? - don't throw tomatoes until you read it all, please ;P)
~!~
In Nightmares
~!~
Zoro looked around at the growing crowd, feeling like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. He sat up against a wall, a normal position for him to sleep, though he didn't remember choosing a place so odd - a dark, dank alleyway that barely existed between two close buildings. Everything seemed to be all right, though, except... his hand went to his side, his waist, anywhere they could have been but nothing was there. His swords were missing.
Wado...
He thought of the white sword first, the one that meant the most to him. Then he thought of the reason why: her. Kuina I've lost your sword...
Those thoughts put him into a panic, and he sat up immediately, spinning around on his feet, looking for any sign of the thief. All earlier curiosity at his strange position left him as he searched for his swords; how could he fulfill their promise without his swords, without her sword.
After a moment of worthless glancing around, deciding that whoever had taken them was long gone, he placed his hand against the stone wall, intending to take a minute to think over the problem. His current predicament wasn't just a problem losing his weapons; he also had no idea where he was or why.
But yet another, probably more pressing, problem hit him as soon as his hand touched that wall. Instead of holding his weight, allowing him to lean, his hand kept right on moving, going through the stone. Unable to catch his footing because he had not been expecting such a thing to happen, Zoro ended up completely falling through the wall, sliding his way into a vacant room, sprawling across the tile floor of a kitchen.
Blinking, he slowly stood up, holding his hand out, staring at it as if it had suddenly sprouted a look-a-like to Sanji's swirly eyebrow or something worse. Shaking his head, he glanced to the table sitting nearby, noticing a newspaper was open and sitting there, begging him to read. With a frown, he moved, feeling his frown deepen when he read the headline:
"Pirate King Captured. Execution Set In Fuusha Village, His Hometown."
It didn't make any sense. Wasn't Gold Roger's hometown supposed to be Loguetown? Where was this Fuusha Village?
Reading on, he felt his eyes widen, felt his breath hitch.
"Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King, has been captured despite attempts of him and his crew to otherwise prevent it. Crew members known to be dead in the struggle include: Usopp, the marksman; Nico Robin, a death well overdue, and Roronoa Zoro, greatest swordsman and first mate to the Pirate King."
He felt his hands shaking as he lifted them again to stare, trying to figure out why he didn't look at all pale if he was supposed to be a ghost. Falling through the wall should have been his first clue. Reading it in a headline... And the others, too. He grimaced, clenching his hands into fists and then letting out his breath when he realized there was nothing more he could do.
Hopefully the rest of the crew was okay. And Luffy had yet to be executed. There was still hope.
A noise from outside caught his attention, and he moved to the front door of the house he had invaded - or was 'haunting' the correct term? Zoro reached for the door knob, but when his hand just went straight through he rolled his eyes at himself for forgetting. He was dead. A ghost. He could just walk through walls now; no reason to bother about door knobs or knocking.
After pushing through the door, he found himself floating in the back of a humongous crowd. At first, he had to wonder what all these people were here for. Then he saw the object of their attention, the person responsible for the hushed whispers crawling among the watching crowd.
Monkey D. Luffy: the Pirate King.
Luffy was being led through the streets - had Luffy's village always been so similar to Loguetown? From what he remembered, Luffy had grown up in a small populated area, not a city. Zoro stared with the rest of the crowd as the captured Pirate King was marched forward, to an execution platform not at all unlike the one in Loguetown. It was deathly quiet already, just a few murmurs here and there as the wind knocked back signs and kicked up dust.
Then Luffy stopped and looked over in Zoro's direction, and Zoro felt the urge to strike out when he saw the dried blood coating his captain's exposed face and neck, though Luffy still had that damn straw hat. Their eyes seemed to meet. Zoro stood there, watching, feeling his chest tighten as if he still had a heart that could beat fast. Luffy's eyes lit up when they met with Zoro's, and the Pirate King, no longer a boy, grinned wide just like his old self.
Their eye contact didn't last long. Luffy was a prisoner, and he was soon shoved forward, pushed ever onward to the execution platform. But Zoro felt oddly... maybe a little... relaxed, after seeing Luffy's grin. At least he knew his captain had yet to succumb to depression; at least he knew his captain was going to be prepared to die, was ready to face what fate had in store for him.
Zoro would have stayed in the back of the crowd, but as Luffy moved forward, he felt compelled to follow, like the string still connecting him to this world was being held by the no-longer-boy captain he had chosen to follow all those years ago. So, in his strange ghost-like state, he moved forward, weaving through the crowd. Walking through living creatures proved to be disorienting, so he quickly learned to refrain from doing such a thing.
"Zoro?"
The voice startled him. Standing at the base of the platform, looking up, he watched as the guards led Luffy up - though it did seem to feel more like Luffy was leading them. But then the feminine voice spoke and he turned his attention away from his captain.
To see her standing beside him. "Kuina," he murmured.
She smiled, her hands behind her back, leaning slightly forward on her toes, black raven hair cupping her face. He still felt like he should have more of a reaction. Everything just felt hazy, as if he was trapped between sleep and awake, unable to believe what was happening, unable to accept it. He had died protecting Luffy, but it had proved insufficient. That knowledge hurt, pricking at his pride.
"Have you ever wondered what will happen to you after you die?" Kuina questioned, standing close to him and yet not touching. Almost as if there was a bubble separating the two of them.
Zoro shrugged, turning back to the execution platform, crossing his incorporeal arms. They had Luffy kneeling like all prisoners, the seastone shackled at his hands and legs, keeping him from fighting back. But he was fighting back in his own way. His head was high. His back was straight. And he was still grinning, his eyes staring right toward Zoro, as if he could see him, as if he was saying 'Soon, I'll be there, too.'
Kuina spoke again, her voice sad. "Zoro, he won't be following you."
At first, the words entered and sat there without response. Zoro was too focused on Luffy. Too focused, wincing at the weapons shoving through Luffy's back, killing the Pirate King. Then he noticed that Luffy's ghost didn't appear anywhere near, and there seemed to be a strange light beaming at the spot of his captain's dead body.
He blinked, turned to Kuina, noticed that she had a similar beam of light. Looked at himself, feeling the fear start to cover him when he saw, or rather didn't see the beam anywhere near him. And Kuina was still standing at a strange distance - close, but separated.
Then her words finally registered. "What do you mean?" He heard himself whisper.
She frowned. "You're a demon. Luffy is a -"
Before she finished, he was consumed by darkness...
~!~
... And brought back to the light at the sound of Luffy's voice. "Oi, Zoro, wake up and play with me."
He snapped his eyes open, feeling wind brushing at the short edges of his hair. His hands brushed against the sheathes of his swords, and he was staring at a young Luffy - the Luffy that was the present, the real, the now. The boy was sitting in his lap, that familiar grin plastered on his face.
Zoro took several deep breathes before he could calm down. It was a dream. A nightmare. He laid his head back against the ship railing behind him. Shit but that was too realistic.
Luffy frowned, hat sitting oddly on his head, barely hanging off the side. "Was it a bad dream?"
Zoro stared back at his captain, floored again by Luffy's strange knack at hitting the truth, seeing the problem right away without even a word being spoken. "N-No..." he muttered. What was the point of telling Luffy his nightmare? Even if Luffy saw it as a possible future, he would refuse to believe such a thing could be Zoro's fate.
"Liar," Luffy pointed out right away, lips pouting. Zoro felt his eyebrow twitch, wondering how this boy could believe every story out of Usopp and yet catch one of his lies like it was obvious. "Was it a demon dream? Sanji says you have those a lot..."
Yet again, Zoro found himself unable to answer because of Luffy's accuracy. And he had to wonder how Sanji knew about his dreams. He didn't think he was prone to talk in his sleep, but what if he was? Who else would know? And what would he say?
At Luffy's worried expression, Zoro forced a smirk and leaned forward slightly, placing his forehead against his captain's, their eyes seeing nothing but each other. "Don't worry about it. It was just a dream."
Luffy laughed. "Well, I know that. But do you?"
Zoro frowned and sat back, his eyes looking up at the light coming from the sky. Thinking of how Luffy had gone somewhere he wasn't allowed to follow. Wondering if that really could happen. Curious to know how he would find a way around it, if it did.
Tearing him from his musings, Luffy leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, fingers poking at the back of his neck, scratching at the edge of green hair. "Zoro," Luffy whispered, pulling Zoro's head down to be even with his own. "I won't go where you can't follow."
As if to emphasize the statement, Luffy pressed their lips together, and Zoro let himself be soothed by the gesture, by the words. It felt like it was the truth. Even if what happened in his dream happened in the future, he knew one thing was certain. He could count on Luffy to refuse the rules no matter where they went. Because they would go together. Where ever 'there' ended up being in the end.
Day/Theme: Sept 3 - "the sleep of reason produces monsters"
Series: One Piece
Character/Pairing: Zoro, Luffy, Kuina - ZoLu/LuZo
Rating: PG-13
A/N: Character-death. (sort of? - don't throw tomatoes until you read it all, please ;P)
~!~
In Nightmares
~!~
Zoro looked around at the growing crowd, feeling like he had just woken up from a deep sleep. He sat up against a wall, a normal position for him to sleep, though he didn't remember choosing a place so odd - a dark, dank alleyway that barely existed between two close buildings. Everything seemed to be all right, though, except... his hand went to his side, his waist, anywhere they could have been but nothing was there. His swords were missing.
Wado...
He thought of the white sword first, the one that meant the most to him. Then he thought of the reason why: her. Kuina I've lost your sword...
Those thoughts put him into a panic, and he sat up immediately, spinning around on his feet, looking for any sign of the thief. All earlier curiosity at his strange position left him as he searched for his swords; how could he fulfill their promise without his swords, without her sword.
After a moment of worthless glancing around, deciding that whoever had taken them was long gone, he placed his hand against the stone wall, intending to take a minute to think over the problem. His current predicament wasn't just a problem losing his weapons; he also had no idea where he was or why.
But yet another, probably more pressing, problem hit him as soon as his hand touched that wall. Instead of holding his weight, allowing him to lean, his hand kept right on moving, going through the stone. Unable to catch his footing because he had not been expecting such a thing to happen, Zoro ended up completely falling through the wall, sliding his way into a vacant room, sprawling across the tile floor of a kitchen.
Blinking, he slowly stood up, holding his hand out, staring at it as if it had suddenly sprouted a look-a-like to Sanji's swirly eyebrow or something worse. Shaking his head, he glanced to the table sitting nearby, noticing a newspaper was open and sitting there, begging him to read. With a frown, he moved, feeling his frown deepen when he read the headline:
"Pirate King Captured. Execution Set In Fuusha Village, His Hometown."
It didn't make any sense. Wasn't Gold Roger's hometown supposed to be Loguetown? Where was this Fuusha Village?
Reading on, he felt his eyes widen, felt his breath hitch.
"Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King, has been captured despite attempts of him and his crew to otherwise prevent it. Crew members known to be dead in the struggle include: Usopp, the marksman; Nico Robin, a death well overdue, and Roronoa Zoro, greatest swordsman and first mate to the Pirate King."
He felt his hands shaking as he lifted them again to stare, trying to figure out why he didn't look at all pale if he was supposed to be a ghost. Falling through the wall should have been his first clue. Reading it in a headline... And the others, too. He grimaced, clenching his hands into fists and then letting out his breath when he realized there was nothing more he could do.
Hopefully the rest of the crew was okay. And Luffy had yet to be executed. There was still hope.
A noise from outside caught his attention, and he moved to the front door of the house he had invaded - or was 'haunting' the correct term? Zoro reached for the door knob, but when his hand just went straight through he rolled his eyes at himself for forgetting. He was dead. A ghost. He could just walk through walls now; no reason to bother about door knobs or knocking.
After pushing through the door, he found himself floating in the back of a humongous crowd. At first, he had to wonder what all these people were here for. Then he saw the object of their attention, the person responsible for the hushed whispers crawling among the watching crowd.
Monkey D. Luffy: the Pirate King.
Luffy was being led through the streets - had Luffy's village always been so similar to Loguetown? From what he remembered, Luffy had grown up in a small populated area, not a city. Zoro stared with the rest of the crowd as the captured Pirate King was marched forward, to an execution platform not at all unlike the one in Loguetown. It was deathly quiet already, just a few murmurs here and there as the wind knocked back signs and kicked up dust.
Then Luffy stopped and looked over in Zoro's direction, and Zoro felt the urge to strike out when he saw the dried blood coating his captain's exposed face and neck, though Luffy still had that damn straw hat. Their eyes seemed to meet. Zoro stood there, watching, feeling his chest tighten as if he still had a heart that could beat fast. Luffy's eyes lit up when they met with Zoro's, and the Pirate King, no longer a boy, grinned wide just like his old self.
Their eye contact didn't last long. Luffy was a prisoner, and he was soon shoved forward, pushed ever onward to the execution platform. But Zoro felt oddly... maybe a little... relaxed, after seeing Luffy's grin. At least he knew his captain had yet to succumb to depression; at least he knew his captain was going to be prepared to die, was ready to face what fate had in store for him.
Zoro would have stayed in the back of the crowd, but as Luffy moved forward, he felt compelled to follow, like the string still connecting him to this world was being held by the no-longer-boy captain he had chosen to follow all those years ago. So, in his strange ghost-like state, he moved forward, weaving through the crowd. Walking through living creatures proved to be disorienting, so he quickly learned to refrain from doing such a thing.
"Zoro?"
The voice startled him. Standing at the base of the platform, looking up, he watched as the guards led Luffy up - though it did seem to feel more like Luffy was leading them. But then the feminine voice spoke and he turned his attention away from his captain.
To see her standing beside him. "Kuina," he murmured.
She smiled, her hands behind her back, leaning slightly forward on her toes, black raven hair cupping her face. He still felt like he should have more of a reaction. Everything just felt hazy, as if he was trapped between sleep and awake, unable to believe what was happening, unable to accept it. He had died protecting Luffy, but it had proved insufficient. That knowledge hurt, pricking at his pride.
"Have you ever wondered what will happen to you after you die?" Kuina questioned, standing close to him and yet not touching. Almost as if there was a bubble separating the two of them.
Zoro shrugged, turning back to the execution platform, crossing his incorporeal arms. They had Luffy kneeling like all prisoners, the seastone shackled at his hands and legs, keeping him from fighting back. But he was fighting back in his own way. His head was high. His back was straight. And he was still grinning, his eyes staring right toward Zoro, as if he could see him, as if he was saying 'Soon, I'll be there, too.'
Kuina spoke again, her voice sad. "Zoro, he won't be following you."
At first, the words entered and sat there without response. Zoro was too focused on Luffy. Too focused, wincing at the weapons shoving through Luffy's back, killing the Pirate King. Then he noticed that Luffy's ghost didn't appear anywhere near, and there seemed to be a strange light beaming at the spot of his captain's dead body.
He blinked, turned to Kuina, noticed that she had a similar beam of light. Looked at himself, feeling the fear start to cover him when he saw, or rather didn't see the beam anywhere near him. And Kuina was still standing at a strange distance - close, but separated.
Then her words finally registered. "What do you mean?" He heard himself whisper.
She frowned. "You're a demon. Luffy is a -"
Before she finished, he was consumed by darkness...
~!~
... And brought back to the light at the sound of Luffy's voice. "Oi, Zoro, wake up and play with me."
He snapped his eyes open, feeling wind brushing at the short edges of his hair. His hands brushed against the sheathes of his swords, and he was staring at a young Luffy - the Luffy that was the present, the real, the now. The boy was sitting in his lap, that familiar grin plastered on his face.
Zoro took several deep breathes before he could calm down. It was a dream. A nightmare. He laid his head back against the ship railing behind him. Shit but that was too realistic.
Luffy frowned, hat sitting oddly on his head, barely hanging off the side. "Was it a bad dream?"
Zoro stared back at his captain, floored again by Luffy's strange knack at hitting the truth, seeing the problem right away without even a word being spoken. "N-No..." he muttered. What was the point of telling Luffy his nightmare? Even if Luffy saw it as a possible future, he would refuse to believe such a thing could be Zoro's fate.
"Liar," Luffy pointed out right away, lips pouting. Zoro felt his eyebrow twitch, wondering how this boy could believe every story out of Usopp and yet catch one of his lies like it was obvious. "Was it a demon dream? Sanji says you have those a lot..."
Yet again, Zoro found himself unable to answer because of Luffy's accuracy. And he had to wonder how Sanji knew about his dreams. He didn't think he was prone to talk in his sleep, but what if he was? Who else would know? And what would he say?
At Luffy's worried expression, Zoro forced a smirk and leaned forward slightly, placing his forehead against his captain's, their eyes seeing nothing but each other. "Don't worry about it. It was just a dream."
Luffy laughed. "Well, I know that. But do you?"
Zoro frowned and sat back, his eyes looking up at the light coming from the sky. Thinking of how Luffy had gone somewhere he wasn't allowed to follow. Wondering if that really could happen. Curious to know how he would find a way around it, if it did.
Tearing him from his musings, Luffy leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, fingers poking at the back of his neck, scratching at the edge of green hair. "Zoro," Luffy whispered, pulling Zoro's head down to be even with his own. "I won't go where you can't follow."
As if to emphasize the statement, Luffy pressed their lips together, and Zoro let himself be soothed by the gesture, by the words. It felt like it was the truth. Even if what happened in his dream happened in the future, he knew one thing was certain. He could count on Luffy to refuse the rules no matter where they went. Because they would go together. Where ever 'there' ended up being in the end.