Justice and Piracy (a Zoro love story)

Justice and Piracy (a Zoro love story) : Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen,
"Hunters."

I started to run down the docks toward where the Thousand Sunny was harboured. My breath left me in an even rhythm and the hollow deck thundered with every stride I took. Luffy's vest was unbuttoned and hung over my shoulders like a light jacket, my bandaged arm felt fine now and my bag swung against my back. Before long I heard shouting, and the skull and crossbones of our ship came into sight amongst the sails of her neighbours.

"Yuki!" I heard Luffy call my name and I stopped to pivot around, searching for him.

He came running down the street towards me with his open palms waving me down, a wide smile on his face, still half naked. An angry mob was chasing after him brandishing swords and firearms, they didn't appear to be marines or townsfolk. I grimaced, unmoving upon the boards and he scooped me up, looping his arms in mine and forcing me to run beside him.

"You got away?!" He yelled into my ears. He reached over me to grab his hat. I shrugged out of his shirt.

"What did you do?! I-" I looked around him before finishing, "Where's Zoro?!"

"Zoro?!" He quickly flipped around and then turned back with a shocked expression, buttoning up his vest.

"You lost him?!" I accused, "Why're we running?!"

I skidded to a halt, body shattering into glass and twin blades forming at my fingertips. I threw myself into their volley, the sun made me a bright and furious arc of light and the front line of men fell around me. Bullets flickered past and each one caught upon my body made a spiderweb of cracks like white veins over my torso. They would not pass through me as they had my flesh and blood.

Luffy's fists broke through the next line, and I dodged through their ranks, glass barely visible as I sprinted fast and low. I turned when I reached the last of the men and together, Luffy from one side, I from the other, tore the mob apart. His leg was a long rubbery whip against their backs and my glass spread like ice from underneath them and struck up from the ground, sharp pikes upon the floor.

"Luffy!" I threw him my duffle bag and prayed he would not loose it, "Get the Sunny out of here, I'll grab Zoro!"

I saw her mast bobbing in the water and hoped the rest of the crew were already aboard. I jumped for the rooftops before I heard his answer, my broken imperfections already healed, there was whistle of wind against my chest as I flew overheard. The adrenaline had me elated.

I searched amongst the people's bright red and yellow clothing for a green cut of hair. Supposedly the fool would stick close to the coast. I leapt from building to building and reflected the sun around me, faces in the crowds turned toward me as my blinding light splashed over them. One of the faces I recognised.

"Yuki!" He called to me, I was relieved to see Zoro. I turned back to my usual self.

He joined me upon the building and he checked me over quickly, before I managed to speak another word he leaned forward to touch my face. His fingers brushed my cheek, cradling me gently and his thumb pressed against my bottom lip. It stung.

"Ow!" I jumped back from the sudden unexpected jolt. His thumb was red with blood as it pulled away.

"Your lip's split." His concern was clear and my face brightened suddenly. Though this clearly was not the time.

"Where are you going?! You're going in the complete opposite direction!" My voice sounded strained.

His returning expression was crude and filled with avoidance, as if he could not say his reasons. Perhaps he had none. Was he just that clueless? Probably.

"C'mon," I pressed him forward and we dropped down onto the beach, the sand was paper white and stretched as far as the eye could see.

I ran for the ocean with Zoro by my side and we leapt onto a glassy ship as if the move had been polished with practice. This vessel was the same as my first, it was natural for me to shape my glass this way, he tucked his hands around my waist and the sails caught in the wind.

I took my ship toward the harbour and we sped over the calm waters, it wasn't long before we saw the Thousand Sunny and she was surrounded on the open sea. The colours of bounty hunters flew high and proudly upon her attacker's flags and I realised then that the captain's high price had attracted more than the marine soldiers.

I would sink them before they reached her hull. With blood hot in my veins and the nostalgia of my past brimming over I let myself transform in a glittering array of sparks. I shattered over the water and came together like an angry swarm. My head and torso were an alive mass of glass that looked deadly, sharp slices that would lacerate upon impact. My body somewhat depicted, the glass circled where my form once was.

I flew over the water and reached out to touch those ships that threatened me. My body became solid momentarily, a brief flicker as I cut down the first ship with only a motion of my arm. Again I shot overboard like a tidal wave of pieces and into the second. Men leapt away from my glittery array and I collected myself again before sending them under. I was a graceful dancer in the sky, I turned and twisted, and around me a galaxy of stars, the crystalline pieces bright and fantastic.

The noise of smashing wood and colliding water filled the air, and in my wake was a path of destruction. Each time my body scattered and reformed another ship would shudder and collapse, folding in on itself like a toppled house of cards. Cannons fired and they aimed toward their own ships in an attempt to hinder me, but I smashed and reassembled, a dark grin across my face.

I felt the split of my lip draw blood. The hunters had become the hunted.