ATTITUDE ๏ RORONOA ZORO

STRUGGLE

Zoro's blood splatter across the floors of Baratie's entrance. Your hand had left Nami's as you started to run at Zoro.
He fell backwards, blood spooling from his chest.

"Zoro!" You screamed as you ran to his side. "No, no..no..."

There was a deep cut into his chest, as he struggled to breath. You quickly grabbed your shirt's sleeves as you started to rip them. Luffy was quick to follow to your side, as he bent down in front of Zoro, unsure of what to do.

"Keep breathing, don't stop." You said, finally ripping off your sleeve as you put it on Zoro's wounds, keeping pressure. You were not doctor nor medical professional, but you've seen a fair share of wounds to know what to do.

"Monkey D. Luffy." Mihawk drew the attention from Luffy. "What is your goal?"

"I'm going to become King of the Pirates."
"King of the Pirates, hey? That's a much more treacherous path than defeating me."

Their conversation dragged on, but you didn't care enough to listen. Zoro was bleeding out, and the blooding wasn't stopping. It was just going through your sleeve, staining it a dark red.

"Roronoa Zoro, it's too soon for you to die." Mihawk stated, as if he did not admit a finishing blow on the man. "Grow strong and come find me. I'll be waiting."

Mihawk turned and just walked away. Nami and Usopp ran over, now seeing they didn't face a strike from Mihawk's sword.

"He's losing so much blood..." Usopp fun and upbeat tone was now sad, which didn't make the situation any better.

"He's going to be okay." Luffy was more delusion than you, but hope was something you needed right now. "Hey Zoro, can you hear me? He said it's too soon for you to die!"

"Luffy." Zoro could still speak. "If I fail to become the world's greatest swordsman... you'll be disappointed. Right?"

"You could never fail me." Luffy denied it all with a comforting smile on his face.

"Never. Again. From now!...until I beat him..." Zoro painfully moved his arm and grabbed his sword, raising it in the air. "To become the greatest swordsman, I'll never lose again!"

A light started to fade from his eye and he dropped his sword to the ground, his eyes closing. You pressed the sleeve harder into his chest, shaking him slightly.

"Zoro?" You shook him. "Zoro, open your eyes!"

"ZORO!?" Luffy screamed, but to no avail.

"...get him back on the ship." You looked up at the crew. "Quickly, come on!"

You grabbed his arms, right under his shoulder, as Luffy and Usopp lifted his middle and Nami lifted his legs. It was a quick movement as you all rushed to get him into the ship.

"Get him to the kitchen!" You said, leading your way in there as you kicked open a door.

As soon as you made it inside, you started to grab what you could find. Towels, and water. You drenched the towels in water before rushing over to him and placing a towel on him, soaking up the blood, but keeping him hydrated.

Luffy was just standing there, unsure of what to do, so he just tried to wake Zoro up. You unbuttoned his shirt, pulling back the fabric, and the cut was way worse than you thought. Nami was opposite you, and you glanced at her, both of you sharing the same look.

"Luffy?" You yelled at him, but he didn't answer.  "Luffy?...Luffy!" That got his attention. "Luffy, we need a doctor, go to Baratie to find one! Quick."

"Right..." Straw hat looked at Zoro lying on the table. "We need a doctor..."

And Luffy ran to go yet one. You applied pressure to his wound until Luffy came back with a doctor, however, instead of a doctor, Luffy brought back the head chef and owner of Baratie.

"Are you kidding?" Nami scoffed. "He needs a doctor!"

"Do you wanna save your swordsman friend or not?" He grumbled as he went up to your side, looking at Zoro's wounds.
Your waiter, Sanji followed in after him with a strap of knifes, a bottle of whiskey and a fish.

You stepped back, letting them do their work, but you didn't go far at all. The chef chopped the fish up, getting the skin and drinking the whiskey. Once he was done, he got a needle and started to close the wounds.

"This is the old seaman's trick." The chef said.

"Fish skin helps staunch the wound and heal the skin twice as fast." You mumble, as the chef glances over at you, along with everyone else.

"Is he going to be okay?" Usopp asks, peering over at the green haired man.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you, he's lost a lot of blood." The chefs tell the truth. "It might be too late for him."

"It's not too late." Luffy jumps in quicky.

"He's got one foot in each world right now, caught between life and death... You have to find a way to keep him tethered to our world. Talk to him. Tell him stories, sing him shanties for all I care...He may not reply, but at least he knows his crew is still with him."

You stared at Zoro as he lain in the bed. His breathing was slow, but at least he was breathing. You sighed and leaned forward, rubbing the side of your face to rid the headache that was brewing.

"You're such an idiot." You shook your head and you rested your arms on your legs. "I mean, you really went for the chance that you had, and...you're...dying."

Nothing..

"I'm not even sure what to say to you right now, but words keep on coming out my mouth." You hand your head as you rub your eyes. "I don't even know if you can hear me, so I may as well be talking to myself."

You waited a few minutes, every passing second you expected to hear some kind of annoyed grunt or even the littlest of responses, but nothing came from him.

"Asshole..." You mumbled, getting up off your ass and walking around a bit. "If you even heard the chef, I just want you to know, there is no way in hell I'm singing you a sea shanty... But, braid-moustache did say to tell you stories, so..."

You sighed as you turned back to him. There was a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead. You grabbed a towel nearby and wiped it off before you sat down and took off your gloves.

"You asked me once where I got my scars from..." You used your other hand to run along the scarred hand. "And I told you that I was a slave, and while that is true, it's...not how I got these scars."

You spoke slowly, and with a tone of unsureness. You've told few people about this before, and every time they tried to either turn you in for Berry or kill you. So saying it once again, to an unconscious person who collects bounty's for a living made you a tad bit hesitant.

"Truth is, I don't really remember when I got them...but I can remember how...and..." You stared off into the blue of the ocean from the window nearby. "I'm a slave for the entity of the world... And I still am a slave until I kill the man who...who made my whole life a laboring business for his own gains."

You turned back to Zoro, his body unmoved and he almost seemed dead.
"Which, I think...it apart of the reason why I need you to live -why I cared so much. You have your entire life ahead and there is no one holding you from it expect from your yourself, and if you are going to dive head first into every thing you want to do with little reasoning and little planning, there is a very slim chance you'll be able to accomplish your tasks."

"So, live your life. Train to be the world's greatest swordsman, work harder every day until you can say with confidence that you'll worked hard enough." You stood over him, as if he would wake in that moment. "Because you're free. You weren't ordered around every day of your life, being hit, whipped or threatened with death. You were learning to achieve your dream."

"So if you die, by sheer recklessness and stubbornness to attack your dream with such haste, then I will forever hate you for who you are. So live, train and then... be who you want to be."

You waited a moment longer. Nothing came from Zoro, but you felt there had to be some kind of altercation so you could at least think he understood you. So you grabbed his hand, carefully not to stretch his limb too much and cause damage to his chest and you shook his head before playing it back where it was once before.