Chapter Text
He was six when he was sent away from his home island. The volcano that was spewing thick noxious smoke into the air for generations had finally erupted with a mighty roar, the magma that had been stored beneath the land fighting to escape, cracking the ground and releasing hot streams of air. It was hard to remember much of his childhood besides a few moments with the old man that had seemed to take care of him. He remembered very little, but he remembered the old man’s eyes- all six of them- blazing a hot white when the lava caught up to the slow sour man.
He had watched with wide eyes and pursed lips as the man used the last of his strength to push the boat that they were supposed to use to escape together off. He had watched as the man looked up to the heavens and screamed before the lava washed over him. Very few had escaped. He remembered seeing a woman who he believed had a fish stand in a boat, one of her horns was missing and one of her four arms had seemingly been burned off.
Thinking back, She was likely to have died. Even with their species' incredible resilience, Zoro knew that a missing arm was fatal in the situation. Maybe she had gotten lucky, though. Maybe a ship had come upon her and saved her.
Yeah right.
It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time (If you can consider 2 weeks short, thank fuck for resilience) for Zoro’s small boat to run aground, in fact, he had been asleep when it did. He only woke up to a bear cub that had licked one of his heads, the curious animal cocking its head when Zoro rose from his slumber. The cub was bigger than him but seemed friendly enough.
He felt no regret when he killed the cub with nothing but his claws and devoured it. He remembered that the cub had tried to fight back, its claws doing nothing but giving him scratches that would easily heal over when he ate it.
As he stared at the ground from his place at the wooden cross that he had been tied to in the middle of the marine yard, he thought about how good it had tasted. But he was a man of honor, and he would not go back on his word.
Kazan island was once a beautiful island a few hundred years back. It wasn’t the biggest, nor was it the smallest island in the grand line, but it was big enough for its people and they liked it that way. One day, a traveler voyaged to Kazan island and found themself the center of attention. The people of Kazan did not like foreigners. The people of Kazan had overthrown their cruel rulers who were not one of them and had grown spiteful and angry at travelers. Despite the good deeds the traveler performed for the old and young, the people of Kazan continued to demean and belittle them, throwing rocks and making it difficult for them to do much of anything.
One day, the traveler grew ill. They hobbled around, asking anyone and everyone for help. For medicine. But no one was willing to repay the kindness the traveler had given to them. Instead, they used the weakened state of the traveler to kick them to the ground and beat them as they couldn't escape.
When they had finished beating them within an inch of their life, the traveler raised a hand to the large mountain that sat in the middle of the island and spoke, “You took my kindness for granted and called me the monster, you fight against someone who has not once raised a fist in animosity. Who are the real monsters? For it is not me. You are the real monsters,”.
Their voice shook as they spoke and it was clear they had no time for a much more complicated explanation. Their eyes shut and they drew their last breath. They released their final puff of air.
The mountain that had watched the island for generations shook. It crackled. And just as suddenly as the mountain had stopped its groaning for a moment, an explosion at the top released a large plume of black smoke. The smog filled the sky within days, and the people missed the sun that had once bathed them. Two months later, one of the women of the village gave birth. She fainted upon the sight of her child, which had two small horns adorning its head.
The next person to give birth gave birth to a child with purple skin, the next a child with clawed hands and feet, the next with an alligator's head. Children began being born with extreme deformities, while all those who had refused the traveler's help and had treated him coldly began to die off, the toxic air choking their lungs and filling their mouths with soot.
When there were only those left affected permanently by the volcano, a new hierarchy began to form. Tales from the past were still prominent, and those with fewer features than others became revered. Those with little features could only have children with others with little features, in hopes that one day a child would be born with no features. Of course, this meant that lower-class citizens were not allowed to do so. Many lower-class citizens proclaimed that love was the correct way to find someone to have a child with, although those with an extreme amount of features were still ostracized.
This was no longer a problem when the volcano erupted hundreds of years later. The island was covered with lava and its people became buried beneath it.
Zoro endured another round of abuse from the marine captain’s son, spitting at the ground where he had stood seconds before and watched the bastard walk away laughing with the few marines that he always had following him around. He had about a week left, and then he could go. The wood was of poor quality, which was to be expected, but that didn’t change that it was annoying.
He woke from a short nap an hour or two later to two kids that had stationed themselves over the wall he was forced to constantly look at. One had obnoxious pink hair and the other had the goofiest smile in the world. The one with pink hair was rambling about how likely Zoro was to kill them if the one with the dumb smile was to untie him. Which he couldn’t let happen. Annoying.
“Hey, you guys,”. He finally acknowledged the two, scowling. He lifted his head slightly, glaring at them. “Get lost!”
The pink-haired kid (which Zoro found to be the more logical of the two. Just go away!) nervously spoke to the other, although their attention was suddenly stolen by a ladder being put up right next to them- and the girl that was being frightened by the bastard son’s dog those three weeks before appeared. She had a resolute and confident expression on her face, climbing down the rope she had thrown down and running up to Zoro. The pink one at the wall freaked out, claiming Zoro was going to kill her, waving his arms around frantically and asking the dumb smiling one to help her.
Zoro looked down at her. “What?” He asked.
The girl relaxed her grip on whatever she was holding. “You must be hungry! I made you some onigiri!” She exclaimed, motioning her head down at the bundle of food.
Zoro gave her a disinterested and indifferent look. “Do you wanna get killed, pipsqueak? Scram!”
She pouted before beginning to unwrap the onigiri. “You haven’t eaten anything this whole time!” She told him. And yes, Zoro knew that. He was the one who hadn’t eaten. Not only that, but he had gone much longer without food. It was part of the training he had started after the two weeks he had spent on the boat. Going without eating would be inevitable in parts of his life.
She presented the onigiri to him, the balls of rice situated on a peach-colored cloth that she held proudly. “So here! It’s my first time making them, but I worked really hard on them!” She smiled. For a moment he almost gave in and accepted the food, but he furrowed his eyebrows and refused again.
“I ain’t hungry! Now get the hell out of here, you’re an eyesore!”
“But…”
“I don’t want ‘em! Don’t make me kick your ass!” He threatened, snarling at her.
And of course, as was par with his luck, the marine captain’s son had decided this was the perfect time to come through the gates.
“So rude!” the blonde commented, smirking as he and his two marines walked towards them. Zoro glared back at him, itching for a chance to break the bastard's nose. Just one more week and he would do just that.
“You seem surprisingly well, Roronoa Zoro!” He laughed, pinching the folds of his pink collar between two fingers.
A few moments later and he was right next to Zoro, peering down at the girl's onigiri.
“Oh, those look tasty!” He grabbed one from the peach cloth, taking a bite of it despite the girl's protests. His eyes widened and he quickly spits out the food. “These are way too sweet! They're full of sugar! He yelled, raising a fist at the girl that could be no older than ten. “You’re supposed to use salt in onigiri!”
She bit her lip before attempting to explain herself. “But I thought they might taste better sweet…” She sniffled.
The son grabbed the last onigiri, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it. “Take this! And this! And this!”
The girl brought her hands to her face, begging him to stop destroying her hard work.
Finally, the bastard had stopped, the onigiri mushed into the ground and covered with dirt while the girl hovered over it with tears in her eyes. “I-I worked so hard on ‘em…” She sniffed, wiping away her tears with clenched fists.
The son rolled his eyes, pulling a piece of paper out from his pockets and holding it out in front of her. “Did you not see this?” He then cleared his throat and began to recite the paper. “Those who help criminals will be executed! Marine Captain Morgan!” He grinned.
The bastard then looked at one of the marines that followed him around. “You. Throw this kid out,”.
“Sir?”
“I said throw her over the wall! Or can you not understand me?! Don’t make me tell my dad!” He threatened.
“Y-Yes, sir! Right away!”
The marine clenched his eyes before approaching the girl, crouching down and grabbing her. He whispered something to her, likely something about the easiest way to not get as injured based on his reluctance to follow the orders. He then picked her up, carrying her to the wall and tossing her over.
Zoro clenched his teeth. “Damn you,”. He cursed at the son. Which he then remembered was named Helmepo. Dumb name for a dumb guy.
Helmepo laughed, “You sure are convicted to staying alive!”
“Yeah, I will live the full month!” Zoro agreed, still glaring at the back of his head.
“Well, good luck with that!” Helmepo laughed again before walking off, his marines following him.
“Ten days left, asshole!” Zoro told him, biting back further profanities.
“Yeah! Assuming you’ll live that long!” Helmepo bit back, guffawing as he left.
Zoro finally let his head hang again, taking a breath. He heard the sounds of steps approaching him and looked up. It was the dumb smiling kid.
“I hear you're a bad guy,”. The kid stated.
“You’re seriously still here?” Zoro groaned, ignoring the kid’s statement.
“Being stuck out here for all to see…” The kid continued. “Are you really strong at all?!” He asked, cocking his head.
Zoro’s eye twitched. “Mind your damn business!”
The kid approached him again, getting closer. “If it were me, I’d probably starve to death in three days!”
“Well then, I got more spirit than you do,”. Zoro growled. “I will live through this…I swear it!” He grinned.
“What a strange person,” the strawhat kid muttered before turning with a smile and beginning to walk back to the wall.
“Wait,”. Zoro requested.
The kid turned back to look at him. Zoro looked down at the onigiri on the ground. “Can you pick that up for me?” He asked.
Luffy gawked. “You’re gonna eat this?” He asked, but complied, scooping up the ruined food. “It’s mostly mud ball by now…” the kid muttered.
“Just shut up and give it here!” Zoro huffed. There was no way in hell he was going to let food go to waste, even if it was mostly mud like the strawhat kid had said. Zoro ate the muddied rice, coughing at the foul taste of it. Sugar and mud did not mix.
“Told you so,”. The kid crossed his arms, smiling.
“It was good,”. Zoro lied. “Tell her it was good,”.
The kid looked at him, his smile becoming more sincere. “Ok!”
He remembered when he first met Kuina. He was seven when met her and was in the middle of trying to meditate while sitting next to a waterfall. There was an old legend he remembered hearing about constantly back on Kazan, one where if you focused enough, you could look normal. You could look more human. He didn’t give a shit about aesthetically looking more human. But Meditating was a good way to focus on both his newfound interest in swordsmanship and the slight interest to see if the legend was true.
“Hey!”
Zoro looked up, his three heads all honing in on the sight of a girl his age with hands on her hips.
“That’s my spot!” She scowled, pointing at Zoro. “You’re sitting on my spot!”
Zoro froze for a moment. Why was she not saying anything about how he looked? He didn’t get it. He looked down at his hands- there was only one pair. And they looked human. But he could still hear and see from his heads- he could still feel the rock under him with his extra hands. So the legend was true, that was helpful.
“Hello! Move!” She interrupted his thoughts, stomping toward him.
“I don’t see your name on it,”. Zoro scoffed, looking away from her and crossing his arms.
The girl climbed onto the rock, glaring at him before leaning over the side and pointing at something. Zoro followed suit, looking at the clumsily carved letters of a name on the rock.
“Yes, it is! Kuina! It’s right there!” She huffed, sitting back up.
“Well, I don’t care. I want to meditate and this rock is big enough for two anyway,”. Kuina glared at him again before sitting down next to him. “Fine! But I’m not happy about it!” She growled.
They both settled into silence.
There was the crunching of shoes. Zoro suddenly looked up, knocked out of his reminiscing to see the dumb smiling kid. “You again? You sure have a lot of free time,”. He huffed.
“I’ll untie you, so join my crew when I do!” The kid ordered. He didn’t even ask- what the fuck was this kid’s deal?
“Say what?” Zoro asked.
“I’m looking for people to join my pirate crew,”. The kid specified.
Zoro stared at him. “Forget it! Me, stooping to a criminal’s level?! Screw that!”
“What’s wrong with being a pirate?” The strawhat kid asked, putting his hands on his hips.
“Pirates are despicable! As if I’d ever wanna be one!”
“Oh, come on! You’re already known as an evil bounty hunter!”
“People can say whatever they want, but I ain’t done anything I regret,”. He grinned. “I will live through this and accomplish what I want!”
“Ah. Yeah, but I decided you’re gonna join me!”
“Quit deciding on your own!” Zoro hissed.
“I hear you use swords?” The kid questions, ignoring Zoro’s chastising.
“Yeah, but that bastard son took my stuff…” Zoro muttered, glaring at the marine base.
“I’ll get it back for you!” Strawhat kid shrugs.
“What?!”
“So if you want your sword, join my crew!” The kid barters.
“You’re getting on my nerves right now!” Zoro shouts, eye twitching.
The kid laughs before running off.
“There’s no way he plans on getting in there by himself,”. Zoro mutters to himself, watching the strawhat kid run towards the large buildings. He then realized the kid was running in the wrong direction.
“Hey dumbass, you’re running in the wrong direction!” Zoro yells. Zoro sighs, looking down.
“Gum-Gum rocket!” The kid shouts. Zoro looks up and there are two long arms stretched out, the kid flinging himself with arms made of rubber towards the base. He had a fucking devil fruit?!
“W-Who the hell is that guy?!” Zoro wondered out loud to himself.
A few minutes later who Zoro had hoped was the smarter of the two appeared. It was the kid with pink hair, nervously attempting to untie the tight ropes from around Zoro’s arms.
“Please escape Mr. Zoro!” He whispered as if he was afraid that saying anything any louder would end in his doom.
“You’ll be killed for doing that, ya’know!” Zoro protested.
“I can’t stand to watch the marines like this anymore. I want to be an honorable marine!”
“Stop! I can’t escape! I only got ten days until-”
“You’re going to be executed tomorrow!”
“What?”
“Helmepo never once intended to honor your agreement! So Luffy got angry and punched him!”
Zoro assumed that Luffy must be the strawhat kid. He ground his teeth in anger. That dishonorable bastard Helmepo would get what was coming to him.
“He did?” Zoro muttered.
“The marines are after Luffy, now. I won’t ask you to be a pirate, but please! Help Luffy!”
Zoro was considering in his head just tearing apart the ropes with his other arms which had up until this point been crossed across his chest and back. The honorable part of him still wanted to stay the last ten days, however, despite Helmepo’s treachery.
“Luffy is the only one who can save you,” The kid continued, “And also, I think you’re the only one who can save Luffy, now,” The kid admitted. Zoro looked towards the marine base, frowning at them.
Zoro looked over towards the marines that had suddenly appeared. “End of the line!” One shouted. Zoro could see the marine captain standing tall above them all, ax hand resting on his shoulder.
“For the crimes of treachery against me, I’ll now execute you two where you stand!” The gruff man spoke, snarling.
The pink-haired kid yelled in terror, stopping his untying of the ropes out of fear. He had started to cry as the marines cocked their guns. Zoro’s face was set in one of utter hatred, silver eyes locked onto the face of Captain Morgan.
“This is some interesting stuff you guys’ve pulled! Were you two and that strawhat kid planning a coup or something?”
“I’ve always fought alone. Unlike arrogant bastards like you who use soldiers like cronies!” Zoro roared the deep scowl that seemed to always be sketched into his features only deepening.
“Roronoa Zoro…” Captain Morgan began, “Don’t you dare underestimate me! You may be strong, but before my authority, you’re as good as scum!”
The captain pointed and Zoro and the pink-haired kid. “Aim!” He ordered.
Zoro looked down the barrel of one of the guns pointed at him. ‘I can’t afford to die here!’ Zoro protested in his mind, the feral look in his eyes growing hungry.
“Fire!” Captain Morgan shouted. Bullets shot out of their resting spots, rushing towards the two when the strawhat kid was suddenly there, arms spread out wide and catching the bullets intended for Zoro and the pink-haired kid.
“What the hell are you-?!” Zoro began.
“Luffy!” The pink-haired kid cried.
“Strawhat?!” Captain Morgan shouted.
The bullets stretched into Luffy’s skin, momentum slowing down the farther they went. The marines stood in befuddlement.
Luffy had the gall to laugh before spreading his arms out again, the bullets zipping away from his body with newfound speed. “That doesn’t work!” Luffy yelled, grinning like the madman that he was. “I told you I was strong!” He laughed.
“Who the hell are you?!” Zoro asked, shock evident.
Luffy looked over his shoulder to look at Zoro. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy! The man who’s going to become King of the Pirates!” He gave Zoro a thumbs up.
“W-what?! King of the Pirates- do you even know what that means?!”
“King of the Pirates is King of the Pirates! Are there any other meanings?” He asked, frowning.
Zoro stared at him. He just couldn’t fucking wrap his head around this kid.
“Oh yeah!” Luffy grabbed Zoro’s swords from where they were on his back. “I found your sword! Which is yours? I couldn’t tell so I brought three of ‘em,”. Luffy shrugged.
“All three are mine. I use Santoryou,”. Zoro explained, looking at his swords.
Luffy accepted the answer. “Ok! You’re going to be a government-defying villain with me now, kay? Would you rather be killed by the marines?” Luffy asked, smile growing wide.
Zoro grinned in return. “You the devil’s kid? Ah. doesn’t matter. I’ll be your pirate!”
“Sweet! So you’ll join my crew?! Okay! This is fantastic! Alright!” Luffy cheered, dancing around with Zoro’s swords.
“Yeah yeah- Now untie these fucking ropes already!”
Zoro watched in shock as Luffy just began tugging on the ropes instead of trying to untie them. His left head watched as the marines began to run towards them with swords at the ready, yelling as they approached. Luffy muttered something about how the knots were getting tighter. Luffy and the kid turned their heads to see the marines. Seizing the moment, one of Zoro’s extra arms materialized, grabbing one of his swords and cutting himself loose at breakneck speeds before it disappeared again. He grabbed the rest and shot out at the marines, cutting them down.
“Move and you’re dead,”. Zoro threatened the rest of them.
Zoro looked at Luffy. “I’ll be a pirate now that I’ll be a criminal officially in the eyes of the marines. But I’ll tell you this right now. Get in the way of my dream, and you have to be the one responsible for it. I will be the World’s Greatest Swordsman, and if you make me give that up, I will forever despise you!”
Luffy didn’t seem to register the last part, instead of saying, “The World’s Greatest Swordsman? That's so cool! As future King of the Pirates, I should have no less but the best on my crew!”
“You talk big, kid. At this point, whether it’s as a criminal or whatever else, I will spread my name through the entire world and into the heavens!” Zoro spoke around Wado, grinning against the tough handle.
The fight wasn’t much of a fight. It was more of a way for Zoro to stretch his muscles after being stationary for so long. The pink-haired kid- Coby- was taken hostage by Helmepo at one point, But Luffy had that covered while Zoro finished off Captain Morgan.
“Zoro,”. Luffy looked over at the swordsman, who in turn looked at him. “My pleasure,”. He said. After a moment of thought, Zoro tacked on, “Captain,”. Luffy’s chest puffed out with pride.
The two looked over at the marines who were staring at their beaten captain. The marines threw their weapons and caps into the air, whoops of joy and celebration threw interspersed with cries of ‘we’re free!’ and ‘freedom!’.
“Looks like they didn’t like their captain much,” Zoro commented, sheathing his swords. The familiar weight was comforting and he could feel Wado humming against him.
Finally, his adrenaline was beginning to wane and his hunger was finally gripping him. He collapsed onto his back, staring at the sky with that ever-persistent scowl.
“Ah! Zoro what’s wrong?! Did you get injured?!” Coby fretted, bringing his hands to his face.
Zoro sighed, shaking his head. “I’m hungry,”. He grumbled.
About ten minutes later and they were all situated in the kitchen that the girl- Rika- and her mom owned. Zoro had eaten his fill, three weeks of no food was rough, and he had had it worst, but it was still painful. And he had had a feeling that if he had been out there for even three more days he may lose his focus and release his heads and arms.
“Huh? You’re done already?” Luffy asked, taking another bite of his food.
“How the hell do you have a bigger appetite than me right now?” Zoro asked. He already had to eat a lot, it took a lot of energy for him to function thanks to multiple limbs and heads. It was bizarre to watch the skinny captain eat so much.
Luffy just shrugs, shoveling more food into his mouth. Zoro rolls his eyes. “So how many others have you recruited beside me?” He asks, leaning against the back of the chair. Luffy looks at him with a confused expression.
Zoro motions with his arms. “How many other crewmembers are on your crew? You said you've been looking for members,”. Zoro elaborates further.
Luffy swallows his food. “Oh! Just You!”
“Excuse me?” Zoro leans forward. “It’s just us two?!”
Luffy makes a noise of agreement while putting another bite of food into his mouth.
“At least tell me we have a ship!”
Luffy nods, pointing out the window towards the docks. Zoro gets up, looking out. He only sees one boat, and it’s maybe big enough to fit three people at most.
“Holy shit I can not believe I agreed to this,”. Zoro groans to himself.
His captain laughs in between the next bite of food, finding Zoro’s misery hilarious.