Zoro's POV:
I started to whistle around the jungle, in hopes of at least finding a floating straw hat somewhere nearby.
Luffy's a man of culture when it comes to these kind of things, so I was simply watching him from far away, but... Come to think of it, it's been awhile since I last saw him.
"Where... AM I?" My eyes landed on a tall palm tree that was loaded with juicy green coconuts.
Seeing how shiny and clean it appeared gave me a reminder about how dry my tongue was. So dry that it stuck to the roof of my mouth.
"I should try getting one down from there." Aiming at the palm tree, I started to climb it with one of my three swords being held tightly in my mouth.
"Oni... GIRI!" Slashing down a couple of them, a smile of satisfaction appeared on my face as I held two in my hands.
"Hehe, perfect. Now... Which way do I go..." My face flushed when I realized how much deeper into the jungle I had gotten into.
"Just my luck." Thinking I had screwed myself over again by getting lost further than before, a sign of hope saved me from imminent danger.
... So I thought.
While rushing towards a loud hissing, I found Luffy straddling a mass of snakes on the rocky pathway he was pushed against.
My eyes widened with glee at first when feeling a slight relief in finding him, however, I then remembered how egotistical he made himself sound with his overly confident voice.
Seeing him wrestling with a bunch of slithering snakes was almost entertaining to see right now.
Author's POV:
"I can see you've made yourself right at home, King of the Jungle." Zoro announced, walking towards Luffy.
"A- a little more! Gum-Gum no... GATTALING!!!" Despite sending a few of the snakes flying off of him, in the midst of stretching his arms out, a large Python latched itself around Luffy's neck and started to strangle him.
"GYACK!" As he was reeled in by the massive snake, his hands and legs were strained in its grip, leaving the boy bound and vulnerable as other snakes crawled up him.
"S...shit..." Passing out from lack of oxygen, Luffy awaited to be consumed by the hungry looking snakes that were surrounding him.
"SANTORYU OUGI!"
But thankfully, that wasn't his case. His body fell limp onto the ground while Zoro diced the snakes into tiny pieces, deskinning them along the way.
His body was fuming with adrenaline and fear for his Captain's safety.
Luffy breathed out, running towards his rescuer with a look of gratitude and joy drawn on his face.
Together, they teamed up and nearly freed the island of snakes, shedding their blood and skin everywhere.
"Thank you.. Whew! I was close to beating them, it's just- I slipped." Luffy's pout gave away the lie he was trying to hide.
Zoro knew that facial expression of his all too well, so he played along.
"Good job! Hey, have you always fought barefoot when your grandfather used to drop you into the jungle?" He showed Luffy a pair of familiar looking sandals, to which he chuckled nervously.
"O... Of course. I did that on purpose! It's a way of becoming manly." His eyes shined while he admitted a false fact to Zoro.
"Really, now? Guess you won't be wearing these anytime soon then." He teased, wiggling the pair of sandals in his hand.
"Nope." Luffy showed off his wide, gummy smile to the man, walking away.
"Follow me, I collected some wood earlier so we could-"
"You mean those?" Zoro pointed at a stack of broken sticks on the ground while Luffy rubbed his back laughing.
"I.. Must've crushed them with the fall." He admitted with an ongoing embarrassment that ceased to give his reddened cheeks a rest.
"Put these on, let's go find a place to settle in for the night before it gets dark." Zoro suggested, waiting for Luffy to follow him in order to not lose him again.
"Who says you're leading, eh??" He hummed.
"You think you could lead after nearly getting eaten alive by snakes?" Knowing that the older man was right made Luffy feel oppressed.
His stubborn and prideful behavior were overwhelming for Zoro, but he didn't give in, no matter how difficult it was to keep up with Luffy.
"If I let you take the lead, we'll end up getting killed by something even worse than a snake, Zoro! There's no way I'm going." He crossed his arms.
Zoro raised an eyebrow at the boy, making him seem attractive and agitated at the same time.
"Well, guess we'll spend the night here then." The sun burned down on the rocks Zoro had placed his clothed back against, pretending to be lying down in the most comfortable bed possible.
"Wh-what're you doing? Are you crazy?! The sun will melt you!"
"Hmm, I suppose I'll just die in my slee- OW okay okay, I'm up!" Getting dragged by his ear, Zoro pulled himself away from the Captain.
During their fight, a loud thunderbolt set one of the palm trees on fire, striking it down.
"Move move!" Luffy tried to escape the grip Zoro had on his hand, but given the danger they were in, he had no choice but to take off with the older man.
Right after the thunder struck, the burning sun vanished in between a swarm of dark grey and bluish clouds that unleashed a rainstorm beneath the Island.
"THERE! Gum-Gum no... SLINGSHOT!" Grabbing ahold of Zoro's waist, Luffy flung himself into the cave, watching the look of fear fade away on his first mate's face when he realized they were safe.
"Ahh, this seems pretty nice!!" Luffy giggled, earning a nod from the older man.
"We should be able to spend the night here safely."
"Yeah..." Seeing a visible look of discomfort of Luffy's face, Zoro asked him if he was alright.
"Yup!" His answer was unconvincing to the older man who could see the pain in his Captain's eyes.
"I knew he would get injured..."
~~~
