The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 47: The Fight Isn't Over

Nami and I ran alongside each other with Kaori on my back. The further into the city we got, the louder the sounds of battle roared around us. The air was clogged with dust and sand, getting thicker the further we went.

The copper-haired woman started to cough, "What the hell is up with this dust cloud?! It's so thick! I can barely see in front of us!"

"This must be Crocodile's work," I scowled, "I don't know how he did it. Maybe it's part of his devil fruit."

Kaori suddenly leaned forward against my back. Her arm extended over my shoulder as she pointed into the dust cloud, "Look out!"

No sooner had she warned me, than a rebel soldier came charging at us through the haze. He roared as he attempted to blindly attack us, "Die, royal!"

Nami shrieked as I acted quickly to counter him. I shifted my right arm behind my back to support all of the blind woman's weight while I used my left hand to draw Yubashiri out of its sheath. I did not want to kill the man needlessly, so I drove the hilt of my blade into his gut, pummeling him to the ground.

The cowardly navigator turned to me with a grateful smile and a thumbs up, "Way to go, Zoro!"

I turned to look over my shoulder at the white-haired woman with an appreciative nod, "Thanks for the heads up. You okay?"

"Yeah, let's keep going," She answered firmly. I noticed her wince and frowned in concern, but did not press her about it.

We pushed forward, Nami staying closer to my side now so that she did not get blindsided by one of the manic soldiers. Kaori continued to give us warnings to avoid or block attacks. At one point she even warned me of an oncoming stray bullet, allowing me to deflect it with my blade.

I cast another glance over my shoulder at the blind woman with my brow furrowed in suspicion, "Something seems different about her abilities. She couldn't sense small objects before, but now she's spotting bullets mid-air. Then earlier, she was able to find my swords buried in all the rubble from my fight with Mr. 1. I'll have to ask her about it later, right now I've got to focus on this rebellion."

"Hey, look up ahead!" Nami called out to me. She pointed toward a set of figures standing together in the dust, "I think I see Vivi and the others!" Her voice suddenly grew enraged, "And there's Usopp!"

The pirate woman reached into the waistband of her skirt and pulled out three blue metal rods before sprinting toward the long-nosed man. She threw one of the rods up before connecting it to the other two to make one long pole. With a furious shriek, she slammed the metal rod into the back of Usopp's head. The sniper immediately crashed to the ground with a pained yelp.

The others turned on us, prepared to fight before recognizing who we were. Everyone looked battle-worn and injured. Chopper and Vivi seemed relieved to see us. Sanji grinned when he spotted Nami while Usopp cast a confused glance up at the navigator. I was a little surprised to see Luffy standing with his arms stretched up toward the palace, ready to slingshot himself up. Standing behind Vivi with a protective air around him was a pale man with purple war paint in streaks down his face wearing a white hood and long tunic, no doubt a high-ranking official in the royal army.

Nami's voice was indignant and furious, "Usopp, who asked you to create some useless prop for parties?!" Sanji swooned in joy and threw his hands up into the air as the furious navigator began berating the sniper as he whined back at her.

I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I saw everyone was still lively despite their injured appearances. That feeling was quickly replaced with panic when I felt Kaori start to go limp against my back as her forehead dropped to rest on my shoulder. I whipped my head around to try and look at her while keeping my voice from sounding too worried, "Kaori?"