Thrice Prophesized - Zoro x Reader

Chapter 11: Twice Prophesized

A/N - Look. I know what I said like... 6 hours ago. But here we are. (and I still have D&D).

You found it difficult to be in the same space as Zoro unless there were other people around. Meals were fine, working together to deal with ship problems was fine, but when Nami sent the two of you to get provisions while you were waiting for the Luffy group to return you had dragged Chopper along with you. If you hadn't already known that Chopper had been born a reindeer you would've assumed he and Zoro to actually be brothers. The arrangement worked out well, Chopper talked to Zoro, Zoro talked to Chopper, and Chopper talked to you. Zoro wasn't one to prompt conversation, so you could use the communication skills you had as a knight.

You could talk to who you wanted, while including the person you didn't want to focus on. It was a court etiquette thing. You weren't well-versed at it, since knights were often only spoken to when they had achieved something worth notice from nobles, but you had ample enough practice. In this way you could talk to Chopper, include Zoro, and never actually talk to Zoro.

It was hard enough just to see him after that day.

He could've been a legendary knight on your world, just from his basic skills and force of will alone. It wouldn't have mattered what his aptitude in magic was, and if haki was any kind of true indicator he would've truly been a magic knight, and not just a knight who uses magic.

Five days came and went, and Luffy, Sanji, Brook and Franky returned from their trip. They had returned with baubles, treasures, stories and more clues about the One Piece. They had been through quite the ordeal, and were equal parts exhausted and banged up, so it was decided the ship would stay on the island for another day or two while everyone recovered. The ship needed to go back through the rough currents again, no matter how they left the island, so it was best to at least give everyone a breather first.

You had asked Nami if it was okay for the ship to return to the first port. It had been a few days and you were curious what had happened. The smaller fishing town you had been in the last few days had spoken about good news, but it was hard to parse from the locals if it was good news for the townsfolk, or good news for the crown. You had assumed for the former, since there was no army of Marines trolling the smaller town for recruits to crush a rebellion, but you wanted to be sure.

You put powder in your hair to the change the color, and let Robin and Nami pick out clothes for you and put on makeup. The only thing you wouldn't budge on was carrying your sword, but you did want to look as different as you could. Of the entire crew you were the one who had become the most recognizable in the small town, so the steps seemed necessary enough. Usually you pinned your hair back to keep it out of the way, but you left it down now as well.

"That's quite the transformation!" Chopper beams as you come out. "I wouldn't know it was you if you didn't smell right."

Animals and scents, okay that makes sense. "Aw, thank you Chopper."

"A proper gentlemen would recognize you." Sanji says, but you can see him looking away as he lights a cigarette.

"Then I hope I don't run into any while we're out." You laugh. "I don't want someone to recognize me."

"We'll be back shortly," Nami says as the three of you leave. "We can grab a couple more provisions while we're out, if it's safe to do so."

It didn't take long to realize the town was almost completely transformed in the last few days. There was more color in the people already, and a lot of people were wearing swords on their hips just like you. Which certainly helped you blend in. There was sound and chatter among the people and fliers were plastered in places all around town – there was to be a series of meetings to decide how the island was to be ruled going forward.