Instincts [Roronoa Zoro x Reader]

Chapter 2

You have had enough with these damn pirates. Your lack of obvious lethal weapons and small figure made you an easy target for angry and drunken pirates.

It wasn't your fault they were easy to steal from and you had to make fun of them by tauntingly showing the money you had stolen. It wasn't like you always did that. These pirates were just assholes.

And they were surprisingly quick, being able to catch up to you despite you being a good distance away from them. You had your Observation Haki to thank for even being able to sense them coming, else you'd have just casually walked away rather than ran.

Well, you probably didn't need to run, seeing as here you were, with the pirates that caught up to you now on the ground.

However, you had sensed another aura enter the fray, or at least about to, during your fight. The aura had much stronger Haki than those three pirates, and the silhouette showed three scabbards at his side.

You stood atop the last pirate, waiting to see what the stronger man would do. You couldn't get a read on him; there was no specific emotion in him. No malice, no anger, not even curiosity for who you were or what your mask hid. Perhaps... he was that sort of person?

He took a step, and you attacked, quarterstaff held tightly in your hands. Despite your speed and unexpectedness, he was able to draw his blade and block it.

"You part of their crew?" you asked, stepping back in a defensive stance. "Their leader, perhaps? You kinds of people just throw your minions in and run away when they're spent, huh?"

You couldn't tell what his expression was, but your Haki told you that he was finding this thrilling.

"I was just passing by," the man said.

You expected to sense that he was lying based on past experiences, but there wasn't any deception coming from him. You wanted to attack again, but he surprised you instead.

You had sensed one of the three previous pirates move. Perhaps you hadn't knocked him out completely, or he got back up quickly, but you saw his aura with your Haki and he had thrown his sword at you like a spear. Despite his dazed state, his attack was going to be on target.

I'm going to get hit.

You instinctively threw your arms in front of you to block the midair weapon with your staff.

You heard a clang as a breeze passed you, and noticed the swordsman's aura had an outstretched arm, sword crossed in front of you to block the thrown sword.

The previous pirate's aura fled the scene, panicked and scared shitless of you and the man.

"I could've handled that," you grunted, lowering your arms just a bit, seeing as the man was no threat at the moment.

"I'm sure," he replied. You could hear a smirk on his voice, then remembered something. Three swords....

"You're Roronoa Zoro," you said simply, lowering your weapon. You smiled to yourself, though he couldn't see it under your mask. You started to follow him as he walked. "Going to be the world's greatest swordsman?"

He paused, his aura's silhouette turning to you. "Yeah. Heard of me?"

"More than the usual person," you said. He shrugged it off, continuing.

"You seem pretty strong for someone with that kind of weapon," he commented. You could tell that he was interested in that fight despite not looking back at you. "A quarterstaff is a strange choice. How's it not scratched from the sword fight?"

"It's made of Adam wood and some seastone."

"Those are some expensive materials for just some stick."

"Yeah, well, it's a special stick." You left it at that, twirling the staff around your arm as you followed him.

Being blind, you would sometimes have trouble making your way around buildings and furniture. What you see through your Haki was only the silhouettes of auras, and everything else was black. This meant that even a small cleave in the ground can trip you sometimes. Following someone's auras usually helped you avoid being that clumsy. You had a different technique, but it still needed getting used to.

Though, as you followed Zoro, you could tell that he was very lost. As expected.

"You're lost," you pointed out.

"I am not lost," he angrily shot back.

"Looking for the Strawhats?"

"Yeah."

You smirked under your mask. "Need help?"

"How would you know where they are?"

"I've got my ways. Need help?" you repeated.

"No!"

"Suit yourself."

You stopped and waited as his aura disappeared into darkness. You were in a less populated part of the island's town, so there were faint auras around, far away. You took a deep breath and concentrated, searching for a specific aura. If Zoro was here, the meat lover would be here as well.

You sensed a familiar enthusiastic energy radiating not far from where you were, honing in it. It was the direct opposite direction that Zoro went.

You laughed lightly to yourself, then headed to the source of that wild aura.