Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

The Swordsman has a Name!

Raya's P.O.V.

I hit the water hard, feeling like I'm slamming into the rocky shore of Maya. The breath is driven from my lungs forcefully and I sink fast.

Despite the distracting pain exploding in my shoulder at the moment, I try to move my arms and legs, to kick to the surface. But my body feels unnaturally heavy, my limbs useless. My head is foggy and I feel weak, weaker than I've ever felt in my life. I didn't feel this awful when I lost my parents...

What's going on? I can swim perfectly fine! I've never had trouble before, even when I was small and the tide could have easily taken me away from the island. I-I've never been like this in the water before... Never...

I can't breathe...

I'm losing consciousness...

Damn Marines...

Zoro's P.O.V.

She went over the side...

I jump to my feet and lean out over the ship, trying to spot Raya. Ripples spread across the water where, their origin being where she fell in. But I can't see her. Can she swim?

"Zoro!"

I jerk my head around to see my captain, who's smiling like a fool. "Marines are gone!" he announces proudly, folding his arms across his chest. I look past him; sure enough, the Marine ship is sinking fast. Guess he sent a few of their cannonballs back at them.

I don't reply to him. Instead, I unhook my swords from my waist and place them on the deck. "What're you doin' Zoro?" Luffy asks, jogging over to me. "Raya fell in," I say, hopping up onto the side of the ship. "WHAT?!?!?" Luffy shouts, making me wince. "Shut up!" I yell back at him. "You've got to get her, Zoro!" Luffy pleads, shaking me violently. I shove him off. "Yeah yeah, I know," I mutter, jumping into the calm waters.

I can barely see underwater, but I spot a flash of white; Raya's bandana. She's still sinking, her eyes closed, her mouth open. Oh crap. She'll die if I don't get her back up there fast. I kick my legs strongly, swimming down to her. I wrap one arm around her waist and swim as fast as I can back to the surface.

"Raya!" Nami shouts, apparently just spotting us. Luffy, I guess having been on lookout for us, immediately stretches out his arms, grabs onto me, and hauls the both of us back onto the ship, a hell of a lot gentler than he would have if it was just me.

I lay Raya down on the deck as everyone crowds around her. "What happened?" Usopp asks, as Nami begins to give the smallish girl CPR. Luffy offered to do it, but Nami only shot him a glare, probably thinking he'd only hurt Raya somehow.

"She pushed me out of the way of a stray cannonball, and got hit in the shoulder," I say, sitting back and stretching out my legs. Usopp looks anxiously back at Raya, whose shoulder is bleeding badly. There's a puddle of red around her that's slowly growing larger.

"NAMI!" Luffy says, bending over the still not breathing Raya. "Dooooo something!"

"I'm trying, Luffy!" she shouts back, but I can tell she isn't angry with him. She's angry with herself.

"Oh, this is bad, this is bad!" Usopp exclaims, pacing on deck. "She can't die! She just got here!"

Suddenly, Raya stirs, turning her head and coughing up about a gallon of seawater onto the deck, retching like there's no tomorrow. "Oh man," she croaks. "That tastes foul."

"RAYA!" Luffy tries to hug her but Nami punches his head and knocks him away. "She's still injured, you idiot!" she shouts, before smiling down at Raya like some kind of angel. Ha! Nami, an angel? Not a chance in hell.

"We'll have you better in no time, Raya," she promises, running to her room to get her medical supplies that we picked up in the last town. "Stop the bleeding, morons!" she shouts over her shoulder.

The first thing Luffy does is grab the sash around Usopp's waist and press it to Raya's shoulder. She hisses in pain and he recoils, looking panicked. I sigh, grabbing the sash from him. "It's gonna hurt," I say to Raya. "Can't do anything about that." She nods, turning his head away and gritting her teeth. I hold the sash tightly against her shoulder, and I feel slightly bad because of the pain it's causing her. But if she wants to live, she's gonna have to take it.

After a while, the bleeding's almost stopped, and I relieve some of the pressure from Raya's shoulder. She sighs in relief, blinking up at me. "Sorry... I had to... shove you onto your ass... Swordsman," she pants, giving me the ghost of a smile. I turn my head slightly, so I don't have to look her in the eye. "Don't ever do that again," I mutter. I'm grateful to her, really I am. But she didn't have to do what she did. I could've done something if she'd said something to me.

"Yeah," she agrees. "Next time... I'll just... let you get shot in the back." Her smile, though faint, doesn't waver. She seems delirious from blood loss; who would be smiling just after getting hit by a cannonball?!

"Oh, and, since you're the one... who's soaking wet... thank you... for saving me, Swordsman."

I roll my eyes; she still doesn't know my name. "My name is Roronoa Zoro," I tell her, and her cloudy pink eyes widen, before fluttering closed. "Really thought... it wasn't you..." she says softly, her voice drifting off as she goes limp.

"NAMI!!! HURRY!"

Luffy is so loud.

All. The. Time.

"Coming!" she calls back, dashing onto the deck and skidding to a halt in front of Raya. I remove my hands from her shoulder and Nami begins working on her wound, frowning serverely.

"Is she going to be alright, Nami?" Usopp asks, peeking at Raya's unconscious form over her shoulder. Nami wraps up Raya's shoulder and says, "I think so. She lost a lot of blood, though. She's going to need rest. Meaning, that the three of you, under no circumstances, can disturb her. Got it?"

Luffy nods like an obedient child and Usopp salutes Nami. "You have my word, Nami!" he says, though his voice is quavering. He's worried about our newest crew member.

"Zoro?" Nami questions, glaring at me. I shrug. "Yeah, sure," I say. "I'll keep quiet."

She nods and looks back down at Raya. "One of you can carry her below deck, so she can rest," she says. "Well, one of you besides Usopp, since he has no strength."

"Hey!"

"I"LL DO IT!"

Luffy picks Raya up, cradling her in his arms. "Sorry I couldn't protect you," he says softly, frowning sadly at the pink-eyed girl. Then he slowly makes his way down below, where we all sleep.

Nami sighs and gathers up her things, heading for her seperate room. Usopp shoots her an annoyed look, then sighs himself and climbs the stairs that lead to the upper part of the deck.

I stand, stretch, and walk over to where I dropped my swords. They haven't been moved an inch; good, now I don't have to kill anyone. I pick up my swords, but notice one of them isn't mine.

It's Raya's.

She must have dropped it when she went overboard.

After dealing with my own swords, I gingerly hold hers in my hands. I grip the hilt and slowly pull it partly out of its carefully crafted sheath. It's a beautiful blade, almost as magnificent as Kuina's katana. Raya said it was her father's, but she never mentioned if she's able to use it. The way she holds it though, it makes me think she can use it, if only a little. She clearly understands the amount of respect a person needs to give their katana.

If she isn't great with this sword, I think I'd be willing to train her.

You know, if she wakes up.