Zoro x Robin: The Stuff of Legends

Chapter 9

I don't own One Piece or it's characters :)

Robin's POV

Back in the boat when i was sharing my thoughts with him i could sense his presence, i knew that he was there. Zoro was there, i can't explain how i knew, but he just was, there was a disturbance in the calm air, a flash of green from the corner of my eye, a voice in my head.

At first i thought it was my own subconscious, berating me for being a fool not looking through the second window. And then his voice warned me about my captor's attack. And that's when it slowly sank in that no, it wasn't my own subconscious. He was with us, in spirit, watching over us! The entire time! 

I was terrified the dwarfs would leave him behind when they wanted to take me. When the short men touched him a rage boiled up inside my chest. The cuts on my hand flared, but it only added to my sudden rush of passion, to not damage his body further. What had his body endured until now? All the damage he took during his fights in Thriller bark plus all the damage and suffering of Luffy, A raging cyclone, falling overboard, hung upside down from a pole, tumbling down a steep decline and punctured with poisoned thorns! It was a dead body, it can't heal itself. True, it won't bleed or bruise, but imagine the physical pain Zoro would return to.

And yet, despite my rage, i couldn't help but internally laugh at the dwarfs assumption that he was under a sleeping spell. Of course i had seen Unicorns, Dwarfs, Minotaurs, Vampires and all kinds of different creatures. So i have no doubt that spells such as that exist here. Still what the dwarf said "true Love's kiss." it sounded similar to the legend i had memorized now,"Woman reviving the man in the waters of the river Chai." The term "Reviving" could be interpreted different ways, but the meaning was still the same principal. And as we walked into town of Loren, i couldn't help but compare the dwarf's term and our own, noting the similarities between them.

"The right side of the white oak." Said Orin and the great stone door slid open to admit us. I bloomed eyes from the back of my head, discreetly so that no one would notice. I searched frantically for that shimmer against a backdrop of hard grey stone, a flash of that secondary color that indicated Zoro's spirit, and there was none. It had completely vanished, invisible even to my eye, which had grown accustomed to picking out the right symbols of indication.

"Keep your head down." Said Orin as a warning. "The ceiling is too low for humans to stand straight."

I did as he suggested, and crouched low to the dwarves height. As soon as the door rolled shut, my extra eye vanished and i was plunged into darkness. I could faintly hear the scuffing of the dwarves as they moved around, obviously used to the dim lighting. They conversed with another voice in some foreign language i didn't understand, even with my seemingly unlimited knowledge. I wished heavily that i could generate light, but unfortunately, i could not. I hoped i wouldn't die of claustrophobia before i was able to bring Zoro to the highest temple.

Suddenly, a lantern flared up, lighting the room enough so that i could at least see the dim outlines of my captors. The flame danced in it's cage, casting shadows all throughout the corners of the room. Doing a quick head count, i realized one more dwarf had joined us. He handed a second lantern to Orin, who proceeded to light it and give it to Dori, who took up the back of our procession. As more light flooded the room, i saw something inscribed on the back of the boulder that was the entrance to this hideout, it was an intricate circle with foreign letters wrapped around them, like some sort of enchantment.

"What is that?" I risked asking, nodding my head in the direction of the circle.

Ilfred looked to where i was gesturing. "That's a ward." he said proudly, "It keeps away the ghouls and other undesirables, y'see we don't want anybody finding out about this place." That being said, he prodded me forward and our group continued into the darkness, walking down a steep set of stairs and into the musty smell of the underground. As we walked, my back felt suddenly cold, like a warmth that had been there had vanished, and now i felt like death itself was crawling up my skin. If i couldn't feel Zoro's presence any longer, then that circle had to be the cause of it. "Keeps away the ghouls" Ilfred had said. Ghouls by definition were evil spirits or phantoms, robbing graves and feeding on dead flesh. Which now that i think about it, would be very bad in my situation.