(Au! One Piece X Undead! Reader) Not Quite Dead

Or Foe..?

"Ere er you haking mee..?" You burned holes into Katakuri's back as he led you through the soundless wasteland.

The grasslands were motionless save for the two of you, the only thing to witness your journey were the rising stars gathering up every speck of light lost by the sunset.

Your fellow ghoul warbled nonsensically as if trying to root through his own thoughts, "dunno yet.. I just thoke up a thew days ago.. ev'rythin's still kinda fuzzzy"

A few days? He was already walking and talking to a certain point, certainly a lot more progress than you've ever made in a few days.

As the silence fluttered between the two of you, small echoes would travel on the winds, not enough to actually discern what they once were, but enough to catch the afterglow of their peaks, like the smoke trails of a dying flame.

Sometimes you caught the groans of scavengers, other times it was the phantom of gunfire- whether it was from the remnants of the massacre you've left behind or somewhere far ahead of you, only the passing breeze knew.

Despite the chill of nightfall burning your skin, you could still feel your body running hot in the presence of such a formidable threat- nearly to the point where you might lose your nerve and panic.

Maybe, if it was in any other situation, you wouldn't think twice of running off on your own to make it back to your crew- there was no way Katakuri rescued you just out of the goodwill in his undead heart.

However, the hollow throbbing of your wrists made you hesitate every time the thought crossed your mind.

Your hands felt numb, two great weights against the thinned out wrists with gigantic holes in them, with every accidental swing of your arms, it felt like they'd snag against something and rip off with a disturbing ease.

Being in a state such as this, you were vulnerable, if you had to fight for your life against some rabid zombie or trigger happy survivor like this- you'd probably still win, but the result would not be pleasant at all.

Most likely you'd be having to permanently sacrifice an arm just to make another day..

And even before all of that, Katakuri would be able to hunt you down in a snap, he was already difficult to wrangle in before, but with his new undead strength and you handicapped like this, the victor would be obvious.

For now, all you could do was stick with him until you were fully functional again, he hasn't done you any harm yet, and if push came to shove, he'd probably defend you for the good of whatever intentions he held.

"Ryyy.. dit yuu saveh me?"

For the first time in your aimless march, Katakuri paused and turned to face you, eyes bright with contemplation.

"I.... wanded to.. cod'nt stop thiking ov you when I awooke"

You blinked hesitantly at the unexpected answer, and a moment later, stepped a bit closer into the space of your companion.

"Ishh.. that ahll..?"

The Charlotte leveled you a challenging glare, rumbling defensively as if he was mocked, "do I need hore ov a reazon?"

Lowering your head back to the seemingly endless field, you shook your head gently, angling yourself in the best way that avoided the forming drool from dribbling down your chin, "n'oh.."

Katakuri continued to watch you and you allowed it as it brought in a well needed break.

The moment he snapped you free of your chains, the two of you have been in constant movement, be it from pushing through hordes of zombies, eluding the people of Doflamingo's nuthouse, and gaining distance from the calamity, until now you couldn't even let the change settle in.