Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 6: Early Reunion

AN:

One of the more fun chapters to write. Not much else to say other than that.

Hope you like it.

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Chapter 6: Early Reunion

A faint scream startled Luffy from his dreams of meat. So faint, that in his grogginess, he wasn't even sure he'd heard it. He tried to listen for the noise again but it didn't come. He looked around the clearing and couldn't help but feel that something was missing. Thinking back to before he fell asleep, it hit him, the orange-haired girl wasn't there anymore.

His eyes widened.

Things were slowly starting to connect in the boy's brain now that he was more awake. Luffy swam to where he had laid out his clothes and quickly put them on. The scream he'd heard must have been the orange-haired girl. He wasn't sure but he had a feeling and he always trusted his instincts. He needed to go find where the cave was. He was sure that's where the girl had gone. Even though she'd said she wouldn't! That peeping liar!

Finishing dressing, the slightly incensed boy quickly made his way back into the forest to go find White and the pups. He would have immediately started looking for the orangette but the scream had only awoken him. At the time, he wasn't aware enough to know where it had come from. So, because White knew where the cave was, he was going to get her to take him there. Simple as that. Luffy pushed his legs as fast as possible and the trees began to blur by his eyes as he unthinkingly dodged his way through the numerous trunks. The only thing on his mind was his destination.

White and her pack were soon in Luffy's line of sight and he pushed himself even faster until he came skidding into the clearing. "White!", he breathed out, hands on his knees, "I need you to take me to the cave, NOW!". Almost as if the wolf could sense the boy's urgency, she darted her way into the forest. The straw-hatted teen followed her retreating form, immediately breaking into a sprint again, White's pups doing the same. The black-haired boy and the younger wolves caught up to the she-wolf quickly and the group ran together as what they were, a pack.

Zoro glanced around the little spring and sighed in contentment. He'd been lucky enough to find it before night had fallen. He would have had to sleep out in the open air otherwise. Now, he had a nice hot spring to lay back and get some shut-eye in.

The young man sat in a small pool of water that stopped just below his peck muscles. Steam rose from the liquid like a smoking volcano, a testament to its heat. Trees stood in a circle around the area, making it mostly enclosed and relatively private. Zoro liked that. The actual pool itself would only fit three or four people at most and he thought it was weird that the pool looked more like a crater than a hot spring after looking under the water.

Saul had told him to go into the forest and cut down one of the trees, saying he needed some of the wood for a job. So, like any good worker, he had. Apparently, the man had 'forgotten' to tell Zoro it was impossible. He'd tried everything. Every move he had. Well... every move he had that used one sword. None of it even left a scratch. He still didn't quite understand it. He'd gone further into the forest to see if all the trees were impossible to cut and... Well... He got lost. Now that he thought back on it more, it made a lot of sense why Saul couldn't stop laughing when he gave him the job.

Zoro had given up when night began to fall, resigning himself to trying again tomorrow, and left the area to find a nice place to get some shut-eye. Little did he know, his feet would bring him to the little slice of paradise he was currently in.

The green-haired teenager scowled to himself. Even with the lucky find of the spring, he was still pissed at Saul for giving him the stupid job in the first place. He laid his head back on the edge of the pool and closed his eyes. He could think about how he was going to get back at the man later. Right now, he needed sleep, and sleep he was going to get.