We Are! 🏴‍☠️ closed

[holdmyhat]

Who: Luffy holdmyhat and Zoro marimo
What: catch-all for these two ding dongs
When: throughout May
Where: The Late Chanson, the forest, back alleys

Content Warnings: naked guys

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[marimo]

The underbrush crunches beneath Zoro's scuffed boots as they venture deeper into the woods. The women, thankfully, didn't question where they'd pilfered their clothes from. Then again, they didn't press them about where they were going, either. Probably for the best.

Sheathed at the side of his smaller body, Kitetsu Sandai's volatile temperament simmers just beneath the surface, radiating the same tension as an agitated animal pacing back and forth in its cage.

What a problem child, Zoro muses to himself with some measure of both exasperation and pride. If Wado Ichimonji is like a winding river confidently cascading toward its destination, and Shusui is as reliable and unquestioning as the ground beneath his feet, then Kitetsu burns like a flame that fluctuates between calm flickers and raging infernos. It's simply its nature. And it's Zoro's responsibility to discipline it without crushing that mischievous personality that makes Kitetsu, Kitetsu.

But as long as Zoro's swords stay confident in his own fighting spirit, then the rest will work itself out — whether he's trudging through the grass in the body of a 10-year-old, or temporarily shuffling around as a 100-year-old. He's sure of that.

His captain's meandering song, meanwhile, should be more grating than it is. But more than anything, Zoro's quietly glad he gets to hear Luffy say anything at all these days.

"We camping out here tonight?" he asks nonchalantly in the wake of the trail of Luffy's dragging stick, like Zoro wasn't just pondering the cursed sword strapped to his side, and its potential to maul him like a beast. "We could scout out a place for some shelter and a bonfire."

[holdmyhat]

"Uh huh! We'll build a fort," he calls back. Then his hand suddenly points to a spot on the horizon (there is no horizon in this densely clotted forest of fog and blood-dripping trees) where they can lay claim.

"There!" Luffy shouts with all the confidence and authority of a Captain on land. For all they know it's a marsh of quicksand. But that's not going to stop him.

[marimo]

Luffy's declaration wrings a small snort from Zoro. "I said scout, not point at the first dark place you see."

There's no ire in his words, though. In fact, Zoro dutifully moves toward Luffy's intended destination...if that place actually required taking a hard right, anyway. Because that's exactly the (wrong) direction Zoro's headed.

[holdmyhat]

It's the same thing in Luffy's book. Without a second thought, or a second glance, he steps in time with Zoro... only in the opposite direction. The correct direction. He's all of several feet when he notices that Zoro is no long right behind him.

"Z... Zoro?" He spins his rubber body 360 degrees and finds that he's... rather alone in the fog. Wherever he wandered off, he can't be seen through the thick mist covering the path.

"Hey!" Luffy calls out with a hand cupping his mouth. "Zoroo~!"

[marimo]

"Yeah?" Zoro's voice cuts through the dense haze. Judging by the volume, he can't have strayed too far. Yet.

"What is it? You found something better?"

[holdmyhat]

"Ah." That was easy enough. He narrows in on the distance of the call and throws an arm back to build up momentum.

"Rubber leash!" His arm stretches through the thick fog in search of its target. But all he finds is empty mist and the bark of a tree.

"Hey! Say it again!" Luffy calls out, like a strange game of Marco Polo.

[marimo]

"Say what?" Zoro barks back in that higher-pitched voice that still surprises his ears, a faint of edge of irritation bleeding into his tone.

[holdmyhat]

"Yeah, keep saying that!" He shoots his arm out again in the direction of Zoro's childish voice. It stretches far into the empty mist until it hits his target—well, a target. No, more like the target hits him. Luffy's hand radiates pain as it's slammed between a large toothy maw.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

[marimo]

The pained pitch of his scream jolts Zoro into action, much like a misstep by a creature triggers a concealed bear trap. “Luffy!!”

Luffy's outstretched arm, and the pure shock emitting from it, paints a picture with few strokes, but it's enough for Zoro to quickly deduce what's happening. He leaps onto the arm, dashing down the most direct path towards whatever's got his captain. Despite Zoro's small stature, the weight of his swords leaves no room for excuses.

Course set, he doesn’t linger on the makeshift rubber rope-bridge. Instead, the wind sings past his ears as he kicks forward, his left hand already reaching to unsheathe Wado Ichimonji, preparing to confront whatever lies ahead in the mist.

[holdmyhat]

"Ahhhowowowow!" Something about a hidden enemy shrouded in creepy mist makes this so much worse! He remains where he stands, bare feet digging into the dirt below his feet in order to give Zoro a stable walkway forward.

What Zoro sees at the end of the line is a massive creature, crouched on all fours with a wide mouth slammed shut over his Captain's rubber hand. It has one big watery eye that narrows when Zoro comes into view from amidst the fog. Its dark leathery throat expands with a deafening croak, warning the little morsel to stay away.

[marimo]

Fat chance. His captain isn't a snack, and now it's time for the frog to cough up.

"Two-sword style!" Wado in one hand, Shusui in the other, Zoro cuts identical arcs through the mists — which generates two bursts of air-based projectiles that go hurtling toward the frog's throat. "Flash!"