Through Darkness

With Zoro and the Monkeys

Quick note. In the last chapter I mentioned the log would be set by 6 or 7 pm and at that time it was 11 pm or something. So when I wrote about Sanji, Nami, Vivi, and Usopp, that was a few hours after they separated.

3rd POV

After going their separate ways, Luffy and Zoro wandered around for a while before accidentally separating from each other.

Right now, Zoro stumbles through the dark and dense forest, and mumbles to himself, "That idiot...he got lost, didn't he? What a moron."

He takes another step, but trips on a root jutting out of the ground. Before he can go far, however, he catches himself quickly. An irk mark appears on his forehead. "Stupid root...I can't see a damn thing..."

A few more minutes of walking and he smacks straight into a tree. A huge bump appears on his head, rivalling the result of Nami's punches. He cradles his injured head. "Dammit! I hate this stupid island! How the hell am I supposed to see anything?" He growls. "No wonder Mei doesn't like this place."

From above he hears a rustling noise coming from the tree. Zoro looks up. A huge figure looms over him and he tenses, grabbing the hilt of his Wado Ichimonji.

A second later a tiny, innocent-looking monkey jumps down from the tree and lands in front of him. Zoro relaxes and glares. "Tch." The monkey tilts its head. "What're you looking at?"

The monkey grins (??) and shows off his fangs and sharp teeth.

Zoro immediately tenses again, remembering Mei's warning.

Just watch out for the monkeys in the trees. If they bite, it hurts.

"Ah, shit."

~*~

Author POV

A few ferocious monkeys and a lot of bleeding bite marks later, Zoro trudges through the 'damn forest filled with stupid, dumbass monkeys with weird glowing eyes and grinning faces that are cowards who ran away before I could kill them.'

"I swear, if anyone mentions this even once I will slice them in two..." Zoro growls under his breath.

Let's just say...there was a lot of running on Zoro's part and a lot of chasing on the monkeys part.

Heh. I think the monkeys had fun harassing the future Worlds Greatest Swordsman.

Mei should've mentioned how sharp their teeth are and that they can rival a skeletons agility and reindeers speed.

​​​​​​​ ~*~​​​​​​​

3rd POV

​​​​​​​AZoro continues on, albeit grudgingly. "This place is a hellhole."

He pushes his way through some bushes and as soon as he got through...he got knocked out.

~A minute before~

Mei's POV

I swung my legs off the edge of one of the lower branches on the oak tree, humming a song I'd long since forgotten.

I pause, thinking I'd heard a rustle of leaves.

I shrug and continue swinging my legs, but I hear the sound again.

I stand up on the branch and look towards a bush that was moving, so I get into a position to tackle whatever came through. For all I know, it could be one of those damn monkeys. A big one by the sounds of it.

As soon as I see something about to emerge, I jump and tackle. There's a flash of green and thump on the ground.

I stand up and dust my one gloved hand and non-gloved hand, looking towards the thing?...I tackled.

I blink.

And rub my eyes.

Am...am I hallucinating?

I blink once more and...

"HOLY SHIT, ARE YOU OK MOSS HEAD?!"

I rush over to him and see he's bleeding. A lot.

"AH, SHIT SHIT SHIT! ARE YOU DEAD?! Fuck, I killed him..."

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Dammit....poor guy. He got killed by a girl...that's a big hit to his ego."

Zoro groans and rolls onto his stomach. "What the hell..."

"Oh. Your not dead."

Zoro stands up and rubs his head. "Why do you sound so disappointed?! And what the hell tackled me?"

I laugh awkwardly. "Um...a monkey...? Yeah. Yeah, a monkey!"

Zoro raises an eyebrow. "You sound like you're trying to convince yourself."

I walk up to the base of the oak tree. "Nah. It was definitely a monkey. A really big one."

Zoro glares at the ground and I finally notice the bite marks all over him. "Those stupid monkeys. I'll slice em' in two!"

I stifle a laugh and I cough to cover it up. "Erm. Wanna...wanna race? To...to the top branch of this oak tree, I mean."

Zoro narrows his eyes. "Ok...fine. You're gonna lose-" He cuts himself off. "O-Oi! Cheater!"

I had already started climbing.

Zoro scrambles up after me.

I grin. "Yo, Green head! You said I'd lose?"

He scowls. "You cheater!"

He's a few metres behind me.

3 more metres until I reach the branch

2...

1...

I grab the branch and pull myself up.

Zoro follows 5.67 seconds later.

I smirk. "So much for beating me, eh?"

He breathes heavily. "I....am...so gonna...kill you."

I roll my eyes. "As if."

After catching his breath he looks up at me seriously. "I almost forgot to ask...What's with the bounty? I mean, 52,000,000 beri? How the hell did you get that?"

I don't hesitate in kicking him off the tree branch.

For the next couple seconds I hear cursing. A lot of cursing.

Mostly him cursing me out.

I shrug. "Oopsy. Didn't see you there, Grassy. Sorry 'bout that."