One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Lost ❯ Chapter 1

This is NOT what my katanas are meant for... Zoro thought to himself bitterly, as he slashed a path through the dense jungle undergrowth. Somewhere behind his back he could smell the sharp scent of cigarette smoke, and hear the constant excited shouts of his captain.

 

“Adven~ture, adven~ture!” Luffy sang joyously as he followed in Zoro's wake. They'd only landed on the jungle island a few hours ago, and already the captain had dragged his cook and first mate out into the wild for a bit of “adventure.” Nami, Chopper and Usopp had wisely opted to guard the boat in favor of whatever sort of adventure was likely to find its way to Sanji, Luffy and Zoro. “Oi, Sanji, let's find some meat!”

 

“Yeah…” The chef replied unenthusiastically as he took a drag on the cigarette that was as much a part of his body as his arm.

 

“Left! Left! Go left, Zoro!” Luffy said excitedly, slapping the swordsman on the shoulder for good measure. The jungle was so thick that no one was going anywhere without Zoro's swords to cut a path, and Luffy was starting to get impatient at the slow going.

 

“Alright!” Zoro snapped over his shoulder, still feeling a bit put out at the level of use his katanas had been lowered to. This was NOT the sort of thing future greatest-swordsman-in-the-worlds used their precious blades for.

 

“Oi, marimo,” Sanji droned from somewhere behind Zoro's back, “I think you're going in circles.”

 

“Shut up, love cook,” Zoro grumbled. “Let's see you cut us a path through this fucking jungle.”

 

“Move over,” Sanji responded promptly, with an elbow hard in the swordsman's ribs.

 

“What are you going to do,” Zoro snarled in annoyance, “Sauté the fucking vines?”

 

“What did you say??” The cook chomped down on the filter of his cigarette and glared hard at the swordsman. Zoro lowered his swords and rounded on the blond.

 

“I said shut your damn mouth, ero-cook. I can clear us a path through this jungle faster, AND bring back more food for the ship.”

 

“Is that a challenge?” Sanji asked in a low tone, his lips pulled back in a devious grin.

 

Zoro returned the grin. “It won't be for me, because I can beat you with my hands tied behind my back.”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Sanji turned to make his own way through the forest, and stopped. Things had become suddenly quiet, suddenly far too quiet. “Hey…” he said slowly, the menace gone from his voice.

 

Zoro finished the thought. “…where's Luffy?”

 

They looked at each other stupidly for a moment, each one again dumbfounded at the ease with which Luffy managed to get himself in trouble.

 

“Maybe he went back to the ship…” Sanji suggested without much conviction.

 

“Are you serious? This is [i]Luffy[/i] we're talking about,” Zoro replied, hacking angrily at a nearby vine for good measure.

 

“Shit.” With an air of resignation, Sanji leaned against the nearest tree and reached into his jacket to shuffle around for a cigarette and matches.

 

“You're gonna burn the fucking forest down,” Zoro said offhandedly as the cook tossed the match over his shoulder.

 

“Less fucking vines that way,” Sanji replied promptly.

 

Zoro grumbled something under his breath that sounded like it had something to do with asshole cooks and being lost in jungles. Sanji ignored him with a characteristic nonchalance, and the swordsman turned his back on the blond with a sneer.

 

“OOOI! LUUUFFY!” Zoro bellowed into the greenery. The call seemed to be swallowed by the density of the undergrowth. Zoro doubted if his voice would have traveled more than a dozen yards, and judging by the talent Luffy had for getting lost in record time, the captain was probably miles away by now. Zoro groaned. “Dammit, Luffy…” he grumbled.

 

“Okay then,” Sanji said, smoothing his palms over his eternally pristine black jacket, “Then we'll split up. We'll meet back at the ship in a few hours, we're bound to find him by then, and if we don't he'll probably wander back eventually.” The cook took a long drag on his cigarette, and turned to shove his way through the jungle.

 

“Wait!” Zoro took an anxious step toward the blond, and immediately seemed to regret it.

 

“Huh?” Sanji looked over his shoulder suspiciously. “You got a problem, marimo-head?”

 

Zoro glared. “I don't think that's… a good idea. Splitting up, I mean.”

 

Sanji's visible eye narrowed. “Oi…” he said slowly, “I protect beautiful ladies, ugly swordsmen can take care of thems--” he stopped mid-sentence as a realization seemed to dawn on him. And he grinned. “Oh… so it's true, then. I heard the rumors.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“The great pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro…”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“Has the shittiest sense of direction in all of North…”

 

“Shove it, love cook!”

 

“South…”

 

Zoro unsheathed his swords threateningly.

 

“East and West Blue!” Sanji finished with an amused grin. “You must really be hopeless, to ask me for help.”

 

“I never asked you for help, you curly-eyebrow bastard. I just don't think it's a good idea that we split up.”

 

“'Cause you'll get lost.” Sanji grinned.

 

“I'm gonna kill you someday….” Zoro grumbled. But he had no choice but to put up with the cook's company, and his teasing. To find Luffy… Zoro told himself. To find Luffy, he was about to go tramping around in some fucking jungle with the most annoying cook on the ocean. Oh, the sacrifices he made for his captain…