Horo-Horo Samurai

Chapter 1: Strangeness on Kuraigana

"Huh?" he grunted. Eyes still adjusting to the unusually dim room, he quickly attempted to scan his surroundings. What struck him first were the beams of sunlight leaning out of two towering windows to the wall on the left. His body felt like it was rubbing against a bed of cloth; he then remembered his current condition-bandaged all over on atop a stranger's bed. Suddenly the room became crystal clear, the dusty books on the dressers against the walls, the circular table off in the distance and every corner curtained with spider webs. "Where is that woman?" Zoro muttered, finding a great effort needed just to turn his head. Kuma had sent him flying for days, the last image he could remember before blacking out was of that girl looking at him in horror.

"You're up?" sounded the door. The voice was quite high and peppy, like a bubble suddenly popping. The swordsmen turned towards the door to his right and saw the gothic Lolita teenager standing in the doorway with those uncannily round, black eyes. "What's wrong with your face?" Unfortunately she'd have to forgive that blood thirsty stare painted on his face. Even after three days of fighting his body was still beyond standard repair. In her hands was a tray topped with tea and a bowl of-what he assumed was-soup.

It was as she walked towards him he noticed the chair next to the bed. Perona took a seat and lightly stirred the soup with a rusty spoon. She glanced at the green haired man, seeing if he had noticed the nearly fossilized silverware she was offering to him. He did but he didn't complain. He did however begin to growl. "What the…"

He was attempting to lift himself up, like a mummy coming to life for the very first time. Perona watched with awe at first until she noticed blood beginning to soak the bandages around his chest. The funny thing was that they were layered. She gripped onto the tray and sent a foot into his ribs. "Sit down!"

"Holy shit!" he squeezed out from his throat, his only desire in the world being to hold his chest couldn't be satisfied, the bandages around his arms might as well have been handcuffs.

"You can't move around like an idiot! There's blood coming from your chest."

"So you kick in me in my damn chest, you bitch…"

"You should be grateful for my assistance!"

He fell silent, still pointing his monstrous stare at her, quivering a bit from the pain. Zoro returned his back to the bed. He couldn't argue with that, the honorable thing was to accept her help even if she brought slight annoyances along with it. "Wait…" he said, now lightly gasping for breath. "Why are you helping me anyway? You were with Gecko Moria warlord right?"

"And now I'm not. Kuma sent me here without any servants. You can reward my wonderful treatment with your eternal servitude and loyalty."

"Screw that shit!"

"Horo horo horo horo!" she laughed. Perona rose from the seat and left the tray in her place. Heading for the door, she reached for the doorknob and told him, "I guess you can feed yourself then. Horo horo horo!"

Gritting his teeth, Zoro watched her until she vanished behind the wood. His focus quickly shifted to where his swords might be but remembered she had hidden them away. If there was at least something sharp he could hold it in his mouth and angle it to cut the bandages off but the room was bare. Since this new dwelling was a castle he guessed all the weapons were in the armory, probably the same location of his swords, now collecting dust. "Alright, I'll just have to bend over the right way and get the soup. I'll slurp it up or something." Getting healthy and meeting up with everyone else was his top priority. After all, if a man as wounded as he could land on an island no worst for the wear he was positive his crewmates were already on their way.

Perona took the chance to explore more of the ruined kingdom she was condemned to, pulling out her hand drawn map. She estimated she only covered a third of the castle so far and a tenth of the destroyed town outside. Her ghosts trailed after as she stepped over each blackened brick and past every vacant chamber covered in dust, webs, bones or all three. "This place is so ridiculously huge…" Today she could travel down the west wing and hopefully find something to cuddle with or play with. Down one hall she poked her head into each door, finding the tools closet, the training room, and a rather expansive royal kitchen.

"Where's all the toys? Where's all the cute maids and cute butlers ready to serve me? Where's warm bagels for breakfast and delicious sandwiches for lunch?!" She kicked down the kitchen door and stepped over the skeletons hanging about. At first a spark lit up in her, hoping one of the skeletons could come to life and be her servant. She waited with open arms and an open mouth. Nothing began to animate with a song and dance or a request for preferred dishes. "This is stupid!" she yelled out, kicking skulls of their boney necks and dishes from the floor. "What happened to this dump?! Forget it; I'm going back to my room."

Leaving the west wing, she past the entrance of the castle and climbed up the stairs. Another hall or two attached to a staircase and she found her way to her private bedroom atop one of the four towers. Before she opened the door she looked down the lightless staircase, walked down it until she reached the door and stepped into the hallway. The room across from her was where Zoro stayed. "I wonder how he's doing in there without anyone to help him? Probably starved to death."

Creaking the door slightly, she peeked into an utterly disgusting scene. Zoro's stiff body laid across the tiled floor, the swordsman in a blended pool of soup and tea on the floor, desperately slurping and licking up whatever his mouth could reach. "You're completely revolting! How can you eat food off the floor like that?!"

Zoro grunted, not caring to even look back at her. "I need food," he said, continuing with his savage last resort. Perona wiped the horror off her face and knelt down next to him, sliding her arms under his chest and putting a hand on his back. She gritted her teeth as she lifted back onto the bed, realizing she'd need to clean up his drenched bandages as well once she laid out his body. He was heavy and from what she recalled and feel in her hands and squeezing fingers, it was pure muscle. It surprised her, even amazed her a little. Soon those bandages seemed more like a seal on a demon more than medicinal treatment.

Once he was down on the bed, a pillow behind his head, she picked up the broken bowl and cup and left the room. "You Straw Hats are nothing but barbarians."

She went up to her room in the tower and got a cleaner set of dishes, filling it up with soup from cans she found in one of the bedrooms and tea she managed to make from the bitter leaves off the trees outside. Returning to the Zoro's room, she returned by his side-stepping through the puddle of spilled liquids on her way-and sat in the chair. Like before she stirred the soup. Perona filled the spoon to the rim and carefully guided it into her patient's mouth. "So, now that I'm feeding you perhaps we should consider an extension on how long you'll be serving me."

"How can you extend eternity?! I'm not serving you."

"Use your imagination. Don't tell me your head's full of muscle too."

"You're crazy."

"And you're not very cute. It actually makes me miss old Bearsy."

Perona continued feeding him, tipping the cup of tea onto his lips when he needed a drink. He finished rather quickly; she figured he'd be a lot more hungry since he flew through the air for so long. She knew she was after landing on this island; she was practically on the verge of death despite use of her ghostly powers. Perona got up and set the tray on the dresser, bringing out a napkin to wipe his mouth. He wouldn't keep up a piggish appearance in her presence; he dare not do so in HER presence. "Maybe I can dress you up until you recover? I saw some nice hats on a few corpses in some of the rooms."

"Grave robbery?"

"Got a problem with it?"

"I suppose not as long as it's men's clothes. When I heal I'm leaving."

"Forgetting our servitude agreement already? How ungrateful!"

"I didn't agree to anything!" He began coughing roughly. It was enough to send blood squirting out of his mouth. Perona retrieved the napkin from her pocket and cleaned his mouth off.

"What if that blood got on my skirt?"

"Sorry," he said, realizing the true state of his condition. There was a good chance if he strained himself anymore he would die. Even yelling was becoming too much. For now all he had was Perona. He wouldn't mind repaying her in any other way excluding servitude. "Thanks," he said suddenly.

"That's more like it! I have a lot of plans for you when you can move again."

"Sorry, I plan to return to my comrades when I recover. Will you still nurse me back to health knowing that?"

"How cocky for an wounded man! Negative Hollow!"

"Shit!" A ghost emerged from her hand and flew through his chest. The depression was sinking in. "Why did you even bother to save me? You should have left me to rot on the ground…even those useless bones are more useful than me."

"Horo horo horo horo horo horo!!"

The beginning of a beautiful relationship.