Chapter Text
The ringing in his ears is deafening. Disorienting.
That’s about the only thing Zoro feels just then.
Disorientated.
The biting stench of smoke mingles with that of rain. It is so cold, and he doesn’t understand why. Parts of the building’s side have been destroyed, leaving behind holes that originated from the fighting that is currently going on outside. That allows the storm to seep in, but even so, it shouldn’t be this damn cold. It makes no sense. It is summer on the Red Line, but he feels so numb, as if he had been outside in a winter’s storm without sufficient clothing for hours.
There is hardly any sensation left in his fingers or toes, and he wonders whether it’s something Jemaah did. Another punishment he just forgot about. The pool, maybe? He tends to do that a lot these days. Forget things.
Bodies are around him—a crowd that pushes against him, dragging him along. An energized desperation thickens the air that makes it dense, like it feels during a particularly strong storm.
Zoro is pushed and shoved down a corridor he has walked through so many times over the last few years that he has lost count. Its usual pristine condition was lost to the attack and desperate slaves trying to get away from the lower levels, which seem to have been compromised and destroyed first.
It’s cold, Zoro thinks again as he glances over to the southern wall. He is about to pass another missing part. It is opening up to a seemingly black, cold maw.
The outside world.
The mere view only adds to the disorientation clinging to him.
They keep pushing. The other slaves. When Zoro glances around, his numb mind can make out crazed desperation on many of their faces. Many of them have become familiar over the years. They aren't friendly; they aren’t allowed to, but he knows them. They don’t pay him any mind.
There is a throbbing in his right ankle. It doesn’t hurt, but he absentmindedly categorizes it as an injury. He can’t recall where he got it from. He didn’t have it earlier, when he was still in Jemaah’s room, did he? Maybe the reason for the injury is the same as why he feels so cold?
Maybe it is the missing wall, Zoro thinks, his head throbbing slightly behind his temples. A storm cools down the air, doesn’t it? It has been a long time since he saw one this bad. Even longer since he felt the rain on his skin, the strong winds push inside the hallway. It makes the ground they are moving on wet and slippery, and if they weren’t so packed together, Zoro is certain he would have lost his footing by now. He feels unsteady, a little dizzy.
From a punishment? Did he get punished? It’s so difficult to think.
One thing Zoro knows for certain, though, is that Jemaah will be furious with him. He isn’t supposed to be here. He is supposed to be in the man’s room, in the man’s bed. Why is he here, then? Why does he feel so confused? Did he somehow upset that madman again? The thought causes a cold, tight knot to form at the base of his stomach.
“What is your name?” she demands with eyes as red as blood.
Another bout of dizziness overcomes him, and he briefly isn’t sure where he is. It’s too crowded. It makes breathing even more difficult.
A cool gush of wind pushes against them from the darkness of the outside world. It carries the smell of the storm, and something else. Thick, nearly tangible, and Zoro grits his teeth as it causes a sharp pain to flare up in his chest.
Salt. The smell of the sea.
Of freedom.
Luffy, Zoro thinks, grunting when someone digs their elbow into his side. Guys.
Home.
The darkness is replaced by a blinding light—a lightning bolt flashing across the sky, visible through the broken wall. It looks like a tree, Zoro thinks, watching it with a growing sense of daze, one put on its head. Another one follows, along with a deep rumble loud enough that it leaves his ears ringing even more than was the case so far. They are pretty high up. Thunder tends to be unusually loud here. Kazumi is always frightened by it-
Kazumi? Zoro’s eye grows wide, and it feels like someone splashed icy water in his face.
“Kazumi,” he mutters, trying to look around. Where is she? Was she with him before?
Another lightening strikes, close this time, so much so that the impact causes a sharp crack to deafen everything else.
What is that? Zoro stares at the black maw next to them. What did he just see in the split second the outside world was illuminated? Something was there, something huge, in the sky. Did it move?
The air around him changes, and the other slaves suddenly start to push more aggressively, trying to get past him. Past each other and away. They are scared. Zoro can sense it. Even with the Moonpins buried deep in his flesh, he can sense their fear and desperation. You don’t need Haki to do so.
He stumbles when someone aggressively pushes against him and drops onto his knees. He is nearly shoved onto the ground by the agitated slaves behind him, trying to get past him. Something stops him, though, and prevents him from being trampled to death.
That would be a stupid way to die, Zoro thinks, though he can hardly hear his own thoughts with how intense the throbbing inside his head has gotten. He starts to feel sick. Even so, he can sense something past the sickness. Someone is in front of him, pushing against his chest. It’s someone small, and when he looks down, he meets Kazumi’s wide, scared eyes.
I need to get us out of here. That thought becomes the only clear, tangible thing in his mind. Zoro reaches for her. “Kazu-“
Something grabs him, something massive, and suddenly he is pulled away. Out into the cold darkness. It happens with such force and speed that he is left out of breath, unable to tell up from down.
He believes he can hear someone scream his name, but the ringing is too loud. And the rain pelting down on him is icy, making the feeling of disorientation even worse as he is dragged through the air.
Kazu, Zoro thinks with a mind-numbing sense of panic, but his body doesn’t listen to him as he tries to move his head so he can look back. What-
Another lightning bolt brightens the surrounding sky. And this time his eyes are spared from the worst of it, since the massive figure of whatever took him obscures most of it.
A dragon, Zoro thinks, eyes widening. A massive, pink dragon.
Momo?
Thunder follows, intense enough that it vibrates in his bones. And the sensation doesn’t let off, though he notices that it isn’t constant. It starts and tempers out, again and again, a noticeable rhythm to it.
Like drums.
Like back in Wano-
Zoro digs the fingers of his left hand into one of the scaly toes of the huge, clawed foot holding him. It feels like his chest is about to explode as tears mingle with the rain covering his cheeks.
Luffy!
It must be-
Something happens, something hits Momo, and Zoro is harshly jerked to one side. The movement is sharp enough that it causes his head to snap hard against his right shoulder, leaving a pain behind in his neck.
Then, just a moment later, the clawed foot opens around him, and suddenly he is falling.
No. An intense sense of desperation chokes Zoro, followed by a mixture of anger and frustration.
So close. Luffy is right there; he is sure of it. He can feel him!
Please, Zoro begs silently. Please, I just want to-
His back hits the surface of the roaring sea, and the world slips away.