The Swordsman and the Blacksmith (Roronoa Zoro x Reader)

Chapter 2: Join my crew!

Nothing could have prepared Roronoa Zoro for what he was about to witness. He wasn't sure what he'd imagined when he'd heard about the blacksmith woman. Maybe something along the lines of tall and muscular. Someone a little gruff in attitude, rough at the edges. Someone a little older, stern, dedicated to their craft. Someone a little like that old man from his childhood. Well, anything but the woman who was standing before him he guessed.

Here was the witch, so many had warned him about the night before. Small in stature, chubby cheeked and hammering steel with the intensity of a demon. A scowl adorned the otherwise soft features of her face, plump lips muttering something inaudible through the sounds of the forge. What shocked Zoro was not the disparity of his imagination to the reality before him but the sheer display of power present before him.

Dark spirals buzzing with red filaments flowed around the woman in an eerie spectacle. The air was thick, hard to breathe in, and it wasn't because of the heat of the fires. It felt as though the weight of gravity had doubled and yet, the hair of the blacksmith seemed to float in some kind of wind, flowing in an unnatural underwater-like movement. The woman's gaze didn't shift from her work, not registering their presence. The block of steel she was working was the same familiar black as Shusui. It was clearly infused with haki. But everything he knew told him that should be impossible. What in the hells was he seeing? His breath hitched in awe for a second. This display of power... it looked right out of a fairy tale illustration. The control she exerted. It was beautiful. Luffy was just as speechless as he was, beads of sweat forming under the rim of his straw hat.

Zoro took a step forward, standing next to his captain. The air crackled, the tyranny of the aura surrounding the woman doubling in intensity as proximity increased. He suddenly had a hard time regulating his breaths, sweat forming on his brow. Deep down he knew this was haki. He knew this wasn't some mythical demonstration of power. But rationality had no place in his mind right now. A witch. Magic. It was the only way he could describe the manifestation of raw power this woman was conjuring.

"I'll wait outside," Robin said blood slowly draining from her face. Zoro grunted, unable to peel his eyes of from the woman.

"Is that? Is that conqueror's haki? Armament haki? I can't tell." Luffy pondered in amazement. Zoro wondered the same, the questions he'd had multiplying.

The blacksmith's relentless hammering continued, still oblivious to their presence. Each strike reverberated through the air with the intensity of a war drum. Thumps carrying hypnotizing waves of raw energy that hummed right through their bodies. Luffy, ever the curious fool, took a step closer, his eyes wide with wonder. Despite the oppressive aura emanating from the woman's presence, he couldn't contain his fascination with the incredible mastery of haki presented before him. The pirate captain reached out a hand, drawn to the block of steel being forged before him. Every cell in Zoro was telling him that this situation was dangerous. He quickly grabbed his captain's collar dragging him back.

"Oi! Luff-" Zoro started.

"Hey! Witch!" Luffy cut him off, unable to restrain his excitement. "What kind of haki are you using? It's amazing!"

Her strike halted midair, hammer dropping with a loud clang to the floor. The clear surprise on her features didn't last long, her previous scowl returning with a vengeance.

"Huh?" She shouted. "Witch?" her tone was almost indignant. Crackling red followed her eyes, leaving a faint line in the air as her gaze settled on them. Zoro couldn't help the flinch in his shoulders at the pure look of rage directed to him. Abrasive had been an understatement. This woman was clearly insane. The red and black energy intensified, seemingly matching the intensity of the woman's anger. "The fuck did you just call me?" She shrieked, taking a step forward.