you and yours.

desperate measures. [ roronoa zoro ]

"oi, zoro."

"yeah?"

"can i ask you something?"

a grunt in response.

"do you know where the fuck we are?"

you can see his lips purse and brows knit from the corner of your eyes before he gives you a curt nod. "yeah... yeah i do. why do you ask?"

"there's a forest over there. we docked on the pier."

he stops walking beside you, a hand on his chin, the other on his hips as he thinks. despite how utterly annoyed you are right now, you can mentally admit he does look cute, all confused. he turns to you, green hair swooshing against a low branch that makes you stifle a giggle.

"no, i'm sure we're going the right way. didn't we pass through a forest on our way into the village?"

you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose in annoyance. why did you bother to let him lead? looking up to meet his black eyes, a chill runs down his body from the rage radiating off your smaller form.

"zoro. the navy is currently after us again . we don't have time to be fucking around and prancing around this island like lost puppies." you spit, stepping closer and closer to him with each syllable. "from now on, i'm taking the lead and i don't want to hear a singular word from your airhead ass. got it?"

you're so close, your finger jabbed in the center of his broad chest, breath fanning over his chin. he didn't know you could be so assertive-- he was well aware you could handle yourself and you had quite the explosive personality yourself, but it had never been directed at him. zoro's beet red, heat climbing up the collar of his shirt as he gulps, nodding. "sounds good."

you sigh, backing up from him, head dropping forward in exhaustion before you turn on your heel, beginning to fade into the thick brush of leaves. "c'mon, we're going back the way we came."

zoro follows behind like a lost puppy, a scowl on his face. he's not one to like being ordered around, and he's not exactly sure how to feel about you doing the ordering. you usually worked in a pair-- a good pair at that: gunslinger and swordsman, practically unstoppable-- but for you to be taking charge of the situation was new to him. he definitely didn't like it, but it wasn't that he hated it, per se.

it's getting dark, the sun being pulled into the horizon over the cluster of woods, a hard light of orange and pink array casted on the two of you. you've been storming ahead nonstop, zoro trudging lazily behind you, making sure you're constantly in his sight. he couldn't care less if he got lost, but if you got lost he'd beat himself up for eternity.

you suddenly freeze, a grunt pushed from his lungs as his chest collides with your back. his hands find your hips to steady himself, mouth opening to ask what the matter was before your hand clamped over his mouth, hindering all speech. he raises his eyebrows in confusion, but all you do is press a finger to your lips before raising it to your ear.

it's silent, but not for long, the cracking of branches and mumblings of hushed voices bounce off the bark, the glow of a lantern peaking out in the distance. it couldn't be the rest of your crew, there were far too many footsteps and voices, it had to be the navy. running would be ideal, but you don't know where you are and you'd end up leading them to the ship. attacking them head on is the only option.

slowly, you reach for the pistol snug against your thigh, the heavy weight comfortable in your hands. you release the magazine to check for ammo, only to find it empty. panicked, you fish into your pockets for bullets but you come up empty.

"fuck," you grumble, weary eyes looking up at the nearing light and party.

zoro's watching you with concern, his hand nearing his own weaponry. "do you want me to handle them?" he grumbles. he knows he shouldn't ask that, you don't like having other's protect you even if it's him.

"roronoa zoro!"

fuck . "gimme two of those."

zoro's brows knit. "huh? these?!"

your hand is open, eyes locked on the army of men storming towards them. they haven't seemed to notice you yet, which is good. "give me your fucking swords, ro."
he scoffs. "no! i can deal with it-- hey!"

you've already unsheathed two of them, the chill of the metal and the generous weight coming easy as you slip into the woods away from him. great , he thinks, already pulling out the lone sword. you ran off with two of his swords and the navy's running at him full speed. at least you left the ichimonji.

zoro raises the weapon, preparing to attack until crewmates start to fall like dominoes behind them, the muffled cries and moans of pain. he's confused and so is the rest of the crew, but the glint of purple steel catches his gaze and his mouth falls open.

you're cutting these men down with ease, blood pouring from open wounds as you weave between their bodies. sword fighting seems to come easy to you like you've been practicing for as long as he has. he can't seem to peel his eyes away as you appear in the sea of people and blood, slashing the chest of one more on your way back to him. casually, you hand the swords back to him as you continue walking ahead.

"thanks for the loan." you chirp.

zoro somehow snaps out of his shock and jogs up to you, slowly pushing the weapons back into their sheaths. he has so many things to say but no words come out, the noise filled with the crunching of leaves below your shoes.

"where... where did you learn that?"

you shrug. "learned a bit when i was a kid," you flash him a devilish smirk, one that makes his body tense. "most of it's from watching you, though."

zoro's eyes widen but his face relaxes into a frown, cheeks pink. "don't fucking pull that shit ever again. you know damn well not to touch the swords."

you laugh, straight from your gut. your hand wraps around his bicep as you lift up, pressing a gentle kiss to his jaw. "promise i won't."

he huffs in response, though his hand movies yours from his bicep to intertwine your fingers, hanging loosely in between your bodies. "though," he mutters, "if you ever want to spar with me, i won't be completely opposed to it."

you stifle a snort with the back of your hand. "okay, sounds good, baby." you pull his arm, moving ahead of him. "that's for later, though. we still need to find our way back."

zoro only grunts in response, tightening his grip on your hand a tad more. you look back at him, confused, thought he only smiles. "just promise me you show me more of your skills when we get back."

you laugh, squeezing his hand in response. "promise."