INNATE INSTINCTS [zoro x male!reader]

III. SYMPATHY FOR THE DRAGON

(Y/N) and Zoro were sharing a bottle of booze as they listened to Luffy's story behind his straw hat, and his Devil Fruit.

"Zoro, how'd you get into bounty hunting?" Luffy asked.

"Well, I never really called myself a bounty hunter. I was in search of someone, and couldn't find my way home, so I had to turn criminals in for money. 'Gotta survive somehow." the swordsman explained. 

"So, you're just lost?" (Y/N) commented, rewarding him with a fist to the head.

The two had asked (Y/N) about his third eye, and his unique bounty, but he shrugged it off and promised to tell the story another day. 

"Now we need to recruit the rest of our members!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, "First, a musician!"

"First," (Y/N) corrected, "a navigator."

The other two men tilted their heads in unison. (Y/N) sighed.

"We'll die on the sea so fast if we don't have a proper navigator. I get distracted too easily, and you two have no sense of direction!"

He gave a pointed, specific look to Zoro.

"Good point, (Y/N)!" Luffy cheered.

The rubber boy suddenly slumped down into the dinghy though, with a pained expression on his face. 

"Luffy! You okay?!" (Y/N) exclaimed, running (a very short distance) over to him. 

"Hungry." was his one-word response.

"Dumbass! I thought you were dying!"

His ears did a subtle twitch. 

"There's a bird up there." (Y/N) announced.

"I'm gonna catch it!"

Before anyone could stop him, Luffy extended his rubbery arms up to the bird and launched himself upwards. The bird, however, grabbed the captain in its' beak and began flying off. 

"Luffy! You dumbass!" Zoro yelled, grabbing the oars and preparing to row.

(Y/N) held out a hand to stop him.

"I have a better idea," he announced, "But you have to promise not to freak out."

"Wha-? Okay." Zoro nodded. (Y/N) released a deep breath. It's been far too long since he'd let loose. The last time was when an unexpected wave hit him at the beach.

Seconds later, a towering dragon faced Zoro.

It was about the size of a galleon, probably big enough to decimate an entire town with a sweep of its tail. Its' (f/c) scales shimmered in the sunlight. The dragon was holding onto clouds made of flame to keep itself suspended over the water.

"What the fuck?!" Zoro exclaimed. The dragon rolled its' eyes. So much for that promise.

(Y/N) lowered his head, giving Zoro a better look at his antler-like horns, and the (h/c) tufts running down the dragon's spine.

(Y/N) nodded his snout, indicating Zoro to get on. He did so, walking up and sitting crisscrossed between his horns.

"You've got explaining to do, (Y/N)."

(Y/N) let out a snort, and propelled himself forward by kicking the flame clouds beneath him. He leaped from cloud to cloud, generating a new one under his frontmost talon with every jump. He felt Zoro tug on his mane in order to hang on. Moments later, they were just behind the bird with Luffy.

"Bird! Watch out, you're gonna get eaten!" He heard Luffy yell. Dumbass.

The bird dropped Luffy, but much to (Y/N) and Zoro's relief, it was over a town.

(Y/N) took one final leap and launched him and Zoro towards the island's edge. He was sure everyone on the island had seen his form by now, but they might as well go to a secluded location for him to shift back.

He shifted into a three-eyed human during the landing, and he and Zoro landed harshly on the sand. (Y/N) was on his back, and Zoro was on top of him, somehow pinning his wrists above his head.

The swordsman had an angered expression, probably now perceiving (Y/N) as a threat.

"We don't have time for this," (Y/N) grunted, "Luffy could be in-"

"No. We're talking about this here and now. Did you eat a Devil Fruit? Why the hell didn't you tell us? Did you not think that we had a right to know? As your fellow crew members? Not even me?! We spent a month tied up together, and you didn't trust me enough to-" Zoro began to rant, still on top of (Y/N).

"Zoro," he almost whispered, "Let me explain..."

"It makes me wonder what else you're not telling us! Are you a marine? Is that why they want you alive?!"

Fuck this. (Y/N) sat up and straight up kissed Zoro. Not a passionate one, just a quick peck, but it shocked Zoro enough for him to scramble backward in shock. 

"Knew that would work. Now, let me talk." (Y/N) commanded. He failed to notice the blush tinging Zoro's cheeks.

"I've eaten a Devil Fruit, but not in the way you're thinking." he started, "I ate the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Daisan Me. It allows me to transform into a three-eyed human."

The pieces slowly clicked together in Zoro's head.

"So, you're normal form is..."

"Yes, a dragon. Apparently, there is a zoan fruit that allows its users to turn into my species, but it's been eaten by a powerful pirate that the Marines have no hope of killing. Their top scientist tried to make an artificial copy, but that didn't work either. The next best thing was to make a dragon turn into a human."

A scowl formed on (Y/N)'s features.

"So, they captured me just days after I was born. They wanted to raise me as a human soldier- so they took me before I could learn anything from my family, about who I was. A Marine I was close with told me that I was less than a week old when they fed me the fruit."

"I ate it so young, and I was forced to spend so much time in my 'human' form, that most could mistake me as being born a human. When I was first revealed to those who weren't in the know about the secret experiment, most had thought the scientist had finally perfected an artificial Devil Fruit."

"I'll spare you details, but it was hell there. They needed a soldier that could withstand pain, torture, and listen to every order and carry out things with no remorse or emotion. Thankfully, a Marine with high authority helped me escape. I was around eight."

Guilt was eating at Zoro's insides. He shouldn't have gotten mad, he realized.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you were a bounty hunter. I will never, ever, return to the Marines- not even by force. I'd rather die. But no bounty hunter will kill me, because the government wants me back so badly. They can't make another me- a member of my kind is only born every hundred years, and there's no guarantee they'd found another one young like they found me." (Y/N) sighed, "Once I learned to trust you, and even consider you my friend, I thought it was too late to tell you. I feared you'd react like this."

"Fuck, (Y/N)" Zoro said, stunned. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." (Y/N) gave a closed eye smile. "You couldn't have known."

"No, I shouldn't have reacted like that." He sighed, "I am genuinely so sorry. I also consider you my friend, (Y/N). A good one."

The dragon wiped a tear from his third eye, and Zoro pulled him into a comforting embrace.

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"At least Luffy will find it cool as hell."