The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 25

Zoro did not even grunt at the effort of lifting the man onto his shoulder. While I tried to convince myself that it was only because Usopp was so weak, I could not help but admit that the swordsman's strength was incredible.

We soon caught up with Usopp and I slowed my pace to walk with the pirates on either side of me. I had forced the blush in my cheeks down and replaced it with an indifferent frown. The sniper kept whining, claiming he could have handled it without our intervention, but Zoro only scoffed at him with short and dismissive comments.

A set of footsteps, that I recognized as Vivi's, crunched through the snow as she ran to catch up with us. One of the men behind us seemed to recall something and shouted up at us, "Hey, wait! Hold up! There's an easier way up to the castle!" I turned to the man's voice, tilting my ear toward him, "Instead of walking, take the ropeway!"

A second man seemed surprised by him, "Ropeway? Impossible. There hasn't been one connecting to Wapol's castle for a while."

The first man urgently pressed again, "Someone's obviously reconnected one because I just saw it! There was a rope leading from the castle to a big white tree on the outskirts of Gyasta."

"Gyasta, huh?" Usopp pondered out loud.

Vivi spoke urgently, "That's the name of the town where Dr. Kureha was headed to, remember?"

Zoro only huffed, "Whatever, let's just take it and get up there. We're wasting time," His boots crunched in the snow as he started to walk forward again.

I scowled and yelled at him, along with Vivi and Usopp, "You don't even know where Gyasta is!" The swordsman froze and clicked his tongue in annoyance but did not argue.

A villager stepped forward, "We can take my sled! It's not far from here!" We followed him to his home and loaded Dalton onto the bench of his sleigh as the man tied his goats to the front of the vehicle. The four of us climbed in with the injured man as the villager took up the reins and had us whisked away toward the base of the ropeway. The wind whipped my hair around as the cold air bit at my ears and nose.

Usopp cried out over the moan of the wind, "How long until we get to the ropeway?"

The man's voice carried over his shoulder, "Not long; ten minutes at most! I'll try to push my team as fast as I can! Hyah!" The reins cracked again and one of the goats bayed in response as we picked up speed.

Curiosity got the better of me and I leaned forward to shout, "So what exactly is a ropeway, anyway?"

"Well, it's basically what it sounds like!" He answered, "A rope is tied to the top of the mountain and led down to somewhere a few miles away from the base at a low angle! We attach a passenger car to the rope and use it to carry people up the mountain without having to climb up three miles of sheer rock!"

I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what that meant, "So we'll be hanging from a rope in the air miles above the ground in a small box?"

"Yes, ma'am," He grunted as we took a turn, "We've been using these ropeways to transport people and supplies to the castle for years!"

I sat back in my seat and swallowed hard. Zoro, who sat on my left, seemed to notice and leaned down to speak in my ear over the rush of the wind, "What's the matter? You look pale."

I shook my head and turned so he would hear me, but the others would not, "I'm fine. It's just... My sensory vision only allows me to see so far. At best, I can see twenty-five feet away, so I don't... I don't like heights."

He grunted in understanding, "If you get too far up, you can't see how far the ground is beneath your feet, huh? I can see how that could be unnerving."