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Blood On the Water	By : KitsuneArasi Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 1709 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, and I don't make money writing about it.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
Summary: For his sister, Zoro has endured starvation and torture. A foul-mouthed chef shouldn't be a problem. Slight AU. Eventual Zoro x Sanji.

Author's Notes: Please forgive the gratuitously bad language. Not all pirates can be archaeologists. Also, to make up for it, I tried to vary their speech patterns a little. Spot the differences, boys and girls!

Blood On the Water

3. Idle Hands

Land.

Blessed land.

For the first time in what seemed rather like ages, Kuina looked out from the wooden cage of the Idle Hands' deck with something very near a full heart. It was hard to pay the glory of such nearby freedom much heed when the rest of your heart was withering in the dank.

Kuina's gaze drifted over the scenery beyond the dock, imagining the rooftops, the squares, the fountains and the dancing girls, the markets and the strange weaponry promised by her father's stories. She could almost feel the spice of foreign fruits on her tongue, but a sudden shout from above washed it with salt water.

Her skin crawled, a feeling she now associated with dank wood and rust, and she looked up, up, up...to the crow's nest. The delicate column of her neck excited a growling murmur from a crew mate, and she wrinkled her nose.

"Ho, Mr. Daniels! What news?" She called, receiving a deeper frown in response.

"Ya deaf, boy? I said th' capt'n wants ya!"

Joy of joys.

Kuina felt the brief, fanciful image of Land in her mind's eye dissolve into oily skin, grasping hands, and green-and-yellow rot-gaps where teeth once had been.

She slumped, just slightly, and turned to gain her appointed destination.

"I just didn't hear you..." She mumbled.

She screwed up her nerve.

If she was good, and asked nicely�if she played it right�maybe the captain would let her disembark, just for a while.

Just long enough to steal some fruit, to keep her brother healthy. If she hid it well enough, she was sure she could bring it back to him. He could take nutrients from that, and she wouldn't have to worry about the cook cutting off her hands.

He would get a little better, with time.

Maybe, if she were very lucky, she could filch some salve, at least for the nastier marks.

She had to try.

All of her life, Zoro had put himself through hell trying to take care of her. Now it was her turn.

Pay it forward, pay it back.

That was family.

"There ya are, lad. I've been lookin' for ya."

Kuina fought back a shudder, finally face to face with their 'noble' captain, a mid-sized, oily man with quick, sharp hands.

Like shark skin.

It hurt to be touched by that man, but she let him grasp her shoulder, all the same. She had to. Good lad didn't want to end up like his brother.

It couldn't have been that hard, on this rathole ship. I should know. I've paced the whole thing.

The hand tightened a bit, as he realized she wasn't going to offer any of the same weasel's pleasantries. Lad didn't like him. He'd taken part in her brother's punishment.

At least the boy was smart enough to keep his pretty little lips shut. ...Still, a shame.

Those lips...

A slimy grin, and on to fair pastures.

"Been lookin' for ya high an' low, an' now here ya are. See now, I've an errand for ya, boy."

"An errand, sir?" She canted her head a little, not even bothering to hope it involved leaving the ship without buttering the sick bastard up.

"Aye. I want y' to take these," He held up a length of what looked like leather, coiled loosely, "down to the bosun in the brig. See, boy, while I was lookin' about fer ya, I thought y'might have...found yer way down there."

Kuina tensed up, but schooled her expression carefully.

This could end very, very badly, and she wasn't about to implicate herself or her brother unless her little act of espionage was outright discovered.

The captain continued, "Had a little chat with big brother�such a tame thing he is, caught in a cage� an' he don't seem to be too comfortable, what with those wounds of his. Seems a bit of an insult t' injury, rubbin' all his skin off with them ropes, don't ya think, boy?"

"S-sir?"

"These are for his bindin's, boy. I've got a soft spot, y'might say, for you an' your brother."

Another squeeze on her shoulder, and he urged the restraints into her hands.

"Such a helpful lad, y' are. And such a valuable hand your brother is. He may be in the dregs, now, but once he's served his time, ya can be sure he'll be treated right proper."

"He is suffering..." Kuina answered, letting just a hint of her own bitterness color her voice. Sad, girl, not bitter, she told herself. A sad brother mourns injuries, a bitter one avenges them.

"Aye, but he'll live�and be stronger for it, I bet!"

Kuina would, too. She only hoped he'd be strong enough to get them both the hell off of this wretched ship.

"Yes�aye, sir."

"Well, what're ya waitin' for, boy?"

"I-oh, I�I wanted to ask, sir. It's my first voyage, this one, and I was wondering if maybe I could...go ashore. Maybe find a salve, just for some of...for some of my brother's cuts...? And to feel the ground, just for a while?"

The captain laughed, his rattling shoulders doing nothing to distract her from the thumb now rubbing her skin where his hand rested.

If she had her sword with her, this 'man' wouldn't be one anymore.

"Aye, lad, you can go ashore. Get your legs under ya for a bit. We all know the feelin'."

Kuina felt her heart lift once more, lifting her foot to take a step back, when the captain continued.

"But ya needn't bother with the medicine."

There was a burning pressure in her chest. What was the point?

What was the point?

There was no reason to go ashore, just to get off her damn 'sea legs'. She just wanted to do her best to make some of those horrid wounds go away, and to fight off those creeping threats of infection the cat had left on her brother's warm skin.

Another (I'm going to knock his damned teeth out) spot-toothed smile, "Like I said, I've a soft spot. I've got th' doc mixin' up a proper medicine for those nasty marks on yer brother."

"...Really, captain?" She couldn't help it. She hadn't thought the man would do such a thing, ulterior motives or no.

It almost made her want to like him.

Almost.

Then again, what in the world did the carpenter cum doctor know about mixing 'proper' medicine.

The skepticism must have shown, because the man let out another raspy, barking laugh and turned her by the shoulders before giving her a healthy push.

"Get goin', lad. Your brother's waitin'."

And he was.

After a quick visit to the bosun�a tall, broad, and bitter man, mercifully quiet on most days, dreadfully so on others�and a surreptitious kiss to her brother's cheek, and Kuina was land-bound.

She eased herself down the rope ladder slowly, approaching the firm wood of the dock, and sending up a dozen little prayers in her mind.

Until she felt a pair of great, meaty hands lift her by the waist and set her on the plank boards. She drew off quickly, turning around whip-quick.

Johnny Two-sides.

A crewman.

He didn't really have two sides, at least not that Kuina had marked, or if he did, they were equally nasty.

The man was worse than the captain, she thought, a hulking man, broad and tall, though not as towering as the bosun. It may have appeared that he had most of his teeth, if not all, but the horrid truth was that the vast majority weren't his. He'd taken them from the women and children he'd raped.

And then he'd tattooed a little heart on his arm for each and every one of them.

The symbol, in her mind, might never be romantic again.

She felt her stomach give a queasy little turn as Johnny smiled at her with all of those carefully-polished trophies. She was sure she felt him oozing through the fabric where he had touched her.

"Easy there, lad. You'll not wan'ta knock yerself down, aye?"

"...Aye." She answered out of obligation. Her eyes were already sweeping her environment, the world rocking a bit after her shift in equilibrium.

She turned, intent on leaving before Two-sides got any ideas.

"Pleasant day."

And she was gone.

Away and running, but unable to run away.

Johnny watched her go, his grin twisting just a bit more as a fellow crewman descended to the dock and followed his gaze, chuckling.

"Eyes on the prize, aye, John? Lad's got a set of legs, certain."

"I hope he kicks."

Below deck, the bosun grinned at his prized captive, holding up the new restraints and a candle, "Cap'n 'an I thought we get you a present, boy."

Zoro sneered, "Sorry. You're not my type."

His contempt never waivered, not even as he felt the grim realization�

Like wet leather at his throat.

A/N: I'll update as soon as I'm sure the next bit fits in. I hope you all like it.
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Blood On the Water