I Prefer A See You Later

[meatthefuture]

Who: The Strawhats
Where: Sailing Log, Legends of the Hidden Island 05/02-05/03, Sakura Drift 05/05-?
When: 04/26th-?
What: Sailing around, doing typical Strawhat type things
Warnings: None
Status: Semi-open. If you're around feel free to drop in


Date yer threads!

Comments

[serving_love]

[They've known this was the plan for awhile now, and after watching one of his ties get shredded by the little beasts, Sanji knows it's what's best for them. So he's not too down about it, he's had time to mentally prepare himself. They'll definitely be able to fend for themselves on their home island, so he's not worried about them not getting enough food, either.

He exhales a cloud of cigarette smoke as he follows after the other two.]

Wouldn't surprise me if they did. There's probably some kinda cat population on this island since they came from here.

[yourotherleft]

Yeah. [to both of them] I mean, they had to have been born from something here, right? Dunno what happened to their momma cat, she might have put them in that chest to protect them and then...

[okay not thinking about the cat mom getting eaten. Maybe she abandoned them? But that's just as sad.]

They probably have relatives. They can meet some friends and find mates and have families of their own.

[he shouldn't be leading the way since he doesn't know where he's going, but all Zoro wants to do is find one of the ruins. That way they have shelter at least. The pink kitty moves ahead of them as soon as they enter the trees, slinking low to the ground and already in hunting mode. There's lots of chirping birds around, even Blue is curious and excited.]

[meatthefuture]

[Luffy lets out a puff of breath and picks up a stick to play with, not satisfied with it at all. Sometimes you just can't be. But he just has to remind himself they'll be happier here and that they won't be alone.]

We should come back and visit them when we can. [Somehow he can't just let them go right now. Maybe because he was tired of letting things go]

[serving_love]

[Sanji has no idea where they're going either, he only remembers getting flung into one of the ruins by Luffy. Vaguely. It was a long time ago. He's just sort of keeping an eye on the pink cat and making sure Zoro doesn't veer off the path like a moron.]

We can visit, but we should probably wait awhile before doing that. Don't want 'em to think we're coming back for them or something. They gotta realize this is their new home.

[yourotherleft]

Mm. Yeah, the cook's right. I'd be fine with visiting, in a few months. See how big they get.

[is successfully herded. It doesn't matter which ruin this path goes to, as long as it's something. Anything. Sure enough, through the trees he can see stone walls, that'll do.

When they reach the crumbling ruin, Zoro stops and takes Blue down off his shoulder, setting him on the ground. This is the hard part, getting them to stay without following the three humans back to the ship. He knows Luffy has successfully talked to animals before, there was the dog and the bull and...

So if the other two want to get their last pets in, they should do it now, while he crouches down to talk to Blue.]

What do you think? Does this smell familiar? Smells like home?

[Blue is sniffing everything, and scuffing his paws in the dirt. Holding his attention in order to talk directly to him is going to be hard.]

[meatthefuture]

[he doesn't like the idea of a few months. But that makes sense. Anyway the cats look like they belong here. He doesn't stick around for pets, though. Instead he goes to perch in a nearby tree, sitting cross-legged on a branch. He's a little distant but not really far away or anything. It's just...he doesn't want to ruin their reunion with home. They belonged here. They would be fine. Luffy had different places to be and things to do. People to protect and ghosts to punch]

[serving_love]

[Watches Luffy for a moment, but there's nothing that's going to make this immediately easier. It is what it is, and they'll adjust to the loss of the cats in time. What's important is that Blue and his sister feel at home here.

He walks up next to Zoro, then crouches down beside him and reaches out to scratch Blue behind the ears. Not that he's paying attention really -- he does arch into Sanji's touch for a moment, but then he's back to sniffing at the surroundings.

Sanji can't help but smile a little at the sight of it. He gives him a final scratch, then stands and decides to leave Zoro to it, finding a nearby tree to lean against instead. The pink one is off in the bushes already, exploring as much as she can. Sanji watches her, one ear turned to catch Zoro's conversation with Blue.]

[yourotherleft]

[he gives Sanji a quick, appreciative glance as he backs away, and then gets the hard part over with. Tapping Blue on his nose, Zoro finally gets a moment with the cat.]

Hey. Yeah, you, I'm talking to you. Look...I don't know if you can understand this but we gotta let you guys stay here. This is your home. I know you probably wanna stay with us, but. It's better this way.

[strangely, the cat seems to be listening, eyes focused on him. Those big bug-eyes, it's like they're staring into his soul.]

You gotta take care of your sister. She doesn't like people, so if any strange people show up here to loot the ruins or something, who knows what they might do to you. Even if they try to be nice, she might not understand. I don't want you two getting hurt, so you gotta be her big brother, okay? [he puts a hand on Blue's velvety, hairless head and rubs him a little roughly] Go find your family, they're out there somewhere. Find yourself a nice girl-cat and make some kittens. There's lots to hunt and eat here, you won't get cold like you did on the ship in the winter.

[there's a pause, and Zoro's lips twitch like he's holding something back.] This is your home. Don't try to follow us back to the ship, you gotta stay here. Got me? We'll come visit if we can, but we're not gonna take you away again. Be good. Okay?

[he really doesn't think this is going to work and he's going to have to do something drastic to chase the cats into the jungle, but to Zoro's surprise, Blue keeps eye contact the whole time, and then lets out one certain-sounding meow. He turns away from Zoro and looks for his sister, and when she comes peeking out of the bushes to see what's going on, he personally chases her back into the undergrowth. For a moment they both disappear, but then Blue peeks back through that same gap. He looks at each of them, but holds Zoro's eye last and then disappears on his own.

Zoro waits until he's sure they're not coming back, and then straightens up rather swiftly, turning his back on where he last saw the cats. His crewmates might recognize the look on his face, the strain on him to keep himself calm.]

Let's go.