[Fic] One Piece, oneshot
Date Written/Published: August 19, 2008 [status completed]
Title: Personalized Getaway
Category: One Piece (anime)
Character(s): Luffy, you the reader
Rating: T/PG
Includes: Second-person perspective. Mild language, concerns of blood, maybe some mental instability, and an obvious influence by "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.
cross-posted from fanfiction.net for collecting purposes
“Hang in there,” you say.
“I’ll get you out,” you tell him.
You know that technically your voice isn’t reaching him. Or maybe it is; it’s just that your voice isn’t strong enough to keep going until it gets to him.
Damn, of all the times to be weak.
You steady his fatally uncoordinated body over your back. He really is a lot heavier than he looks, but you can’t whine about his structure weighing you down because it really was a matter of life and death at the moment. It’s either he dies or you both die, and you really don’t want to know what one or the other would be like. Not for a million beris.
You make sure that his legs are tucked securely around your waist and hips so he won’t slide off. It’s awkward, but it’ll do.
And now you take his arms and pull them on either side to bring his upper body closer to your back. Can’t have him flailing around backwards while you’re running for your-no-both of your lives like a crazy bitch runs for her money (Not like Nami, sometimes). As soon as his chest touches your back, he stirs subconsciously. You can feel his mouth drop open slackly against your shoulder and for a moment you wait to hear him speak. No words. Just a pained, “Nnnh” and he probably passed out again. You try to get a response anyway.
You ask him gently if he’s okay.
His breathing sounds erratic, going wild. Maybe he was trying to will himself to talk? What could possibly be so important that he would overstrain himself to say something?
Well that was the kind of person he was, you suppose.
“Luffy…?”
A cough. A really bad cough. Erupting from his mouth was a series of violent congestions that was scaring the color out of your skin. The last cough was the most problematic of all, because it seemed like he was trying to get something out of his throat, like a chewing bone he choked on for dinner. But it wasn’t a chewing bone and it definitely didn’t look like any meal Sanji made - or would ever make.
It was a lot of blood.
Your eyes widen so much that they look like they’re about to pop out of your skull (Oh Brook, no skull jokes right now). You are trying to comprehend the fact that your entire shoulder is enveloping in dark, dark red. Like his vest, but uglier. His head drops against the back of your shoulder blade again. He’s probably too numb to feel his own lukewarm fluids. And you wanna squirm really badly from just seeing bits of his blood splash from the impact his face made with your skin again.
Really badly.
In cases like this, your initial reaction would most likely be, “Luffy what the hell. That’s just sick, keep your mouth closed next time!” but you know better than to disrespect your captain who just went through maybe four or five kinds of hell to save you and everyone else. You don’t think that way as his subordinate.
You continue your getaway, ignoring the dripping blood and saliva flying off your body as your ragged steps help shake it off. The blood begins to cool from the brisk air around you. But honestly, the chill is nothing compared to the deep, cold feeling pitting in your chest. You need to get outside of this building. You’ve been running, running, running, and you still haven’t seen any bit of the salvation you want so much right now.
Where the hell is everybody!?
At the moment, running is the only thing you know how to do. If you stopped to focus, you might be able to hear swords clashing (Zoro? Please?), and battle cries that sound half-strangled, half-overwhelmed. Sometimes you can hear the sounds of cannon balls colliding with the walls growing louder behind you. The explosions are trailing you, as if every corner you turn, every doorway you pass, you are literally slipping away from the worst fate possible.
You’re biting your lip so hard that it causes a wound you received earlier that day to bleed again. Check to see if Luffy is still on you, oh, okay, good he’s still there. It would be a pain in the ass if he disappears from your grasp. He has to live-he can’t die here. Neither can you. Or else your dreams will die along with your bodies.
Now tell yourself: So just keep running from Death’s greedy hands. You’re greedy too, you’re a pirate for crying out loud now! (Death the pirate, eh?)
Save Luffy. Save Luffy like he saved you before. Save Luffy.
Don’t you take him away you selfish Bastard. Keep your cruel, nasty fingers away from him.
It is foreign feeling that someone he fought to save is now saving him. Both of you have fought well, but you’re still fighting. You’re fighting a completely different foe now. It’s taking over you, but you can’t succumb to it. You can later, when you get back to the ship and have Chopper fix him up, and you can just pull a Zoro and lay around on Sunny.
Oh gosh that sounds even better than heaven right about now. But not right now. You need to save your captain. You’re the only one who can. He brought you on his ship as a nakama. So you better show him exactly why he did.
And you’re finally outside!
You’re plunged into sudden fresh air (if you think thick smoke, gas, dust and soot is totally healthy, you should have entered this kind of lifestyle a long time ago!). However, it’s as dark and dangerous outside as it is inside - despite the fact that you remember entering the building in broad daylight and you shouldn’t have been inside for more than an hour.
Okay. Now all you have to do is find everyone, run and dodge your way back to Thousand Sunny and get Franky to Coup de Burst all of your butts out of here.
“Straw Hat Luffy has been sighted!” an intercom shouts (Oh you’re still new! They’ll get to know you eventually). “Fire towards their direction! Shoot them down! I REPEAT: SHOOT THEM DOWN!!”
Dammit what are you standing around for!? RUN!
And you almost thought you safely escaped from Death.
Now you’re running again but that’s good because at least that means you’re able to keep up with all the other members of the crew. Hopefully you’re fast enough that the bullets flying towards you and Luffy don’t touch either of you.
All of this smoke is really hard to peer through. Your eyes are watering but that’s not stopping you-oh! Usopp!
“You okay!?” he asks worriedly.
You shout your response at him like it’s impossible to hear through all the deafening explosions.
“We’ve gotta find everyone else!” He says without looking at you, trying to block off the other shooters with his own sniping skills. He stops suddenly, and turns, “Let’s go!”
Both of you are on the move. The only thing visible to you is the sharpshooter’s silhouette (Man his nose is long!) and the pavement under your feet. Not for long you reunite with the rest of the crew. They all look just as crappy as you do. And just as bloody, but you’re the bloodiest by a bit. They all start asking questions - mainly concerning over the young man resting on you and if you’re okay (must be because you’re the new one and they’re not that familiar with your stamina yet).
You’re all escaping now, and you’re not stopping to look back or continue fighting. You’re done with your opponents - none of these small fries are worth bruising over.
Thousand Sunny appears among the smoke. There’s no way anyone could miss that huge sunflower-lion-whatchamacallit! When you get back, you along with everyone else, will get the hell out of here. Then you’re gonna pass out on that grassy deck while Chopper patches everyone up; when you wake up you’re gonna get around to exploring the ship more because you still haven’t seen every room yet. And then you’re gonna eat dinner with the crew and report to Luffy everything he missed while he was leaking body fluids all over you (you’ll forgive him, of course). And you’re going to-
Bang.
talk about-
Bang.
the most recent-
Bang.
great escape-
“You bastards! That’s our new nakama you’re shooting at!!”
(That's your blood now)
later.
Later. You’re going to have to get your congratulations on your first pirate getaway later. Because you’re going to be lying down on that grassy deck for quite a while.