high_seas | PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

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PIRATES vs. NAVY BATTLE LOG

December 9th finds some new arrivals to this world, the same curious phenomenon that's been occurring for the past few months.

This time, however, the Navy is prepared -- or so they think.

They've got troops stationed around the island, and ships on the water to stop any arrogant, foolhardy pirates and would-be sailors from trying to make port.

So hit them with all you've got, but they're not going down easily...

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Zoro peered him through his good eye for a good long minute or two, completely silent, ignoring the sounds of battle getting closer. It took that long to sink in. And then, he grinned widely, enjoying the thought way too much. Sanji was younger than him. And weaker, the way he saw it. What was it he used to call him, back then?

"How does it feel to be Pirate A, again?" He stood back and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, finally really seeing it for himself. Yep, this was Sanji as he was two years ago, before their training. Poor thing. "Looks like I'm going to have my hands full protecting the crew, now."

...Oh, that. There. The big shit-eating grin. That was going to be a serious pain in the ass. Normally he would've given Zoro a shoe to the face right about now, but. Well. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but there was no denying what he already knew anyway -- Zoro had a solid two year's worth of hard training more to him than Sanji did. He wasn't sure where that left him, and now wasn't the time to find out.

It was a fact that had him grinding his teeth together, probably loud enough to be heard, and his hands clenched into fists.

"I'm no more Pirate A than you are, you shitty swordsman! No one here even knows you exist! And hell if the crew needs your protection, we've been fine without you. So take your fancy suit and fuck off back to Dress-whatever, we're—"

His blustering cut off abruptly, and he blinked at Zoro.

"...Wait, what the hell are you wearing?"

"Keep your pants on, I didn't raid your locker or anything," Zoro replied with a lazy wave of his hand. "It was part of a disguise."

He felt his face, double-checking that he had actually gotten rid of Kin'emon's stupid moustache. That meant at the moment, he looked pretty much exactly as Sanji would on any given day. Whoops. "But if this isn't Dressrosa, then I don't need the disguise anyway. What's going on, who are these fancy-ass troops attacking people?"

"...A disguise," Sanji repeated faintly. He lifted a hand to his face, gesturing at his own left eye. "And is that part of it, or did you manage to stab yourself in the eye at some point?"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned to look down the street to where some Marines seem to be gathering. They'd have to take care of them soon.

"Those guys are this world's Navy. Just more of the same shit, really. They're attacking because they think we're pirates." ...Well. "I mean, they think everyone who ends up here is a pirate. It's—hell, it's a long story. Fight first, talk later."

Zoro completely ignored the question about his eye - if he wasn't telling anyone in the present, he sure as hell wasn't telling anyone from the past. He followed Sanji's gaze to see the Navy gathering, seemingly stalking them, and set a hand almost lazily on Wadou Ichimonji's hilt. "That's a strategy I can approve of," he murmured. "The ones I tossed around by the fountain weren't enough to whet my appetite."

Without waiting for his crewmate, he turned and charged the pack of Navy soldiers, pulling two swords free as he went. They didn't look strong enough to need all three.

"Nah, doubt any of 'em will. They're pretty useless."

Sanji didn't immediately follow when Zoro charged off. Part of him wanted to see what he could do now -- though it wasn't likely he'd get a chance to show anything off, not against these guys. Still, the differences were there. This Zoro was far beyond the one Sanji was used to.

Which was both impressive and annoying.

He took a final drag of his cigarette, then dropped what was left on the ground and crushed it out with the heel of his shoe. Then he was pushing off and diving into the gathered soldiers, as well, feet flying.

The soldiers really weren't a challenge at all, Zoro blew through them with ease. He could sense Sanji behind him, and paid him absolutely no attention at all as they unconsciously cleared the street in tandem. He sent the remnants flying with a well-timed Tatsumaki and then breathed a huff, sliding the swords home. "Idiots," he complained. "You're not ready to face pirates."

"Told ya," Sanji said, with a final kick that sent someone crashing into a wall. He dusted himself off and straightened his tie before eyeing Zoro again. "What do you want to know, and what don't you give a shit about?"

Zoro didn't really want to take orders or information from the cook, at all, but after the weird things he said, he figured he had no choice. "Where's Luffy, and if this isn't Dressrosa, then where the hell is it. That's all I care about right now."

Sanji shrugged.

"You know Luffy. Look for the biggest debris cloud, that's probably where he's causing trouble. As for this place...I don't know if the world has a name, but this island is Isla Empieza. Like I said, it ain't the Grand Line anymore. We're somewhere else entirely."

He looked away down a sloping path, shading his eyes. The ocean was just barely visible from here.

"We've got a new ship called the Million Merrily."

Zoro absorbed this with nothing more than a twitch of his eyebrow. Somewhere else. That was still going to take time to really sink in, it just wasn't possible. He decided to focus on things he could grasp, like ships, their captain, and their foes.

"Million Merrily," he repeated, testing the name. "Is she a good ship?"

"She's no Sunny, but that's a given since Franky ain't here. And it's too soon to tell if she's got the same spirit Merry had, but...yeah. She's good." He smirked a little. "We're still breaking her in."

Zoro nodded slowly. That sounded good enough, at least for now. "Guess I'll see for myself. Let's find Luffy."

He promptly turned to just stride off, up the street in the direction the Navy had come from, and most likely the wrong direction.

...Yeah. Sanji watched him go, in no hurry to stop him. But after a few seconds of letting him blithely walk on, he called out.

"Oi, dumbass! Town center's this way." He jutted a thumb over his shoulder at another road. "Guess you didn't manage to find a less shitty sense of direction in those two years, huh, Marimo?"

Zoro almost ignored him, but then that age-old insult got his attention, and he stopped short, bristling. "I'm not taking orders from you, Pirate A!" he shot back. Nevertheless, he did return and shoved past Sanji to follow the road he indicated.

Sanji just grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, catching up before Zoro got too far. Hell if he was going to follow the other man around.

"Don't bitch at me. If you want to wander off and be useless, you just go right on ahead. Ain't nothing we're not already used to."

"Shut up, I'm not the one who wanders off!" Zoro complained, firmly believing it. "You're terrible at giving directions anyway, I don't know why I would even think of following you anywhere, asshole."

"You're following me now, ya idiot~" Sanji said, using a singsong kind of tone. Then his grin faded a little and he shot Zoro a glance out of the corner of his eye. "So...where'd you end up after that whole Kuma thing, anyway?"

And do you know where Sanji went? Because no one else seemed to, or else they didn't want to tell him.

"I'm walking near you," Zoro corrected. "The fact that we're going in the same direction has nothing to do with it."

He walked in silence for a bit. No, he didn't know where Sanji ended up, because he refused to tell anyone (outside of screaming about Hell), but then, Zoro was not of a mind to share his own story, either. "Doesn't matter," he grunted. "We all spent two years where we were, building ourselves up, so that when we met up again, we were ready. That's what counts."

Sanji rolled his eyes.

"Che, boring."

But if he wasn't going to talk about it, Sanji certainly wasn't going to push it. He took a sharp left down another path suddenly, not checking to see if Zoro noticed. Walking near each other, huh? That kinda shit only applied if both of them knew where they were going.

"Bite me."

Zoro did not notice at all. Maybe it was his blind spot, maybe it was just his stupid lack of direction, but he kept right on walking straight. It took him a bit to realize he longer heard the cook's hard-soled shoes beside him, or smelled the lingering tang of cigarettes. Well, damn.

Speaking of cigarettes, Sanji took the time to light one up. And then he gave it another minute more, just for the hell of it, before stepping back out onto the road they'd just been on and looking for Zoro's stupid green head. Once he spotted him, he whistled.

Zoro took a few more steps and then stopped, bristling at the idea that he needed to be whistled for like a dog. Because, really, he did, even if he didn't realize it. "Where the hell did you go?" he yelled back down the road at Sanji. "Don't get lost!"

"I went the right way!" Sanji yelled right back, grinning again. "Don't know where the hell you're going, but you do, right? That's why you don't gotta follow me!"

"Fine, then!" Zoro bellowed. "Get lost, see if I care! I'm going to find Luffy!"

Just follow the noise of the heaviest action, right? Luffy's bound to be wherever the most damage is.

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serving_love - 2013-12-15 07:54 (UTC) - Expand

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yourotherleft - 2013-12-15 18:05 (UTC) - Expand

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