[fic] Sunlight Drag Me Home [One Piece, NC-17] 1/2
Sunlight Drag Me Home
Author: drcalvin (drcalvin[squiggle]rocketmail.com)
Summary: After Fishman Island, what if the White Stream released the Strawhats somewhere else? Mysterious island, aphrodisiacs and the problem of uncontrolled desires in powerful pirates. Porn with plot and a dash of angst, basically.
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Luffy/Zoro
Warning/Content notes: Dub-con and sex-pollen. Highlight to see detailed/spoilery warnings: If you have a problem with dub-con, please read carefully. There's a (non-titillating) scene with attempted male-on-female sexual assault in the first chapter. Part two has consensual male/male sex, though one participant is under the influence of an aphrodisiac. It should be possible to skip to part two and only read the smutty bits ;).
Rating: NC-17 / Mature
Spoilers: Splits off from canon at chapter 654, but doesn't contain any major spoilers for Fishman Island arc.
Note: "Cantharidin" is the name of a substance derived from a blister beetle. It is also known as Spanish Fly, historically used as both aphrodisiac and poison.
Thanks to loveandallthat for excellent beta!
It was a rough ride, but Franky's masterpiece came out victorious once more. When their fishing-line finally snapped and the deep-sea "anchor" fell away, the Thousand Sunny was violently catapulted out of the White Stream. For a few moments, Nami feared they had come to the untimely end of their journey.
Instead, the Strawhat Pirates wash up in a sea so still, she begins to suspect that they’ve landed in the Calm Belt until the lookout spots a small island.
It is tiny, nothing but a dull, dust-colored collection of hills with a few scattered palm trees. Nami can't find it on any sea-chart, but it looks harmless enough. Not even Usopp seems too worried when the luck of the draw picks Sanji, Zoro and Franky to accompany the captain on the first tour of the unknown island.
Franky and Sanji return in short order, carrying casks of fresh spring water. They also report that Luffy has taken off after a herd of large, flightless birds, Zoro hot on his heels.
"No sign of inhabitants or predators, though," Sanji says, looking down at the smooth sand with a pleased smile. "If you start building up a fire, we can have a beach barbeque once mosshead and the captain get back."
Brook, Chopper and Usopp have just begun the "Yay-Party!" dance when they all hear a loud puff, as if a giant had lost his breath.
All senses on alert, Sanji whirls around to where his crew mates are staring, and sees a tree-high plume of light-colored... smoke? Sand? He can't make out what it is, but considering that they're in the New World, on a seemingly pleasant island which just happens to be completely abandoned, he's willing to bet it's dangerous as hell.
"We're on a Giant Island Whale!" Usopp hollers, still too caught up in the new adventure to actually feel fear.
"Yohoho, that would be quite exciting!"
"Maybe it's a factory?" Franky hazards, his height giving him a better view. "Looks a bit like steam exhaust, see how it keeps pumping out more clouds?"
"Hey..." Nami begins, making Sanji perk up with eagerness for the words of wisdom from his darling. "Which direction did Luffy and Zoro go off?"
Sanji's eyes follow the path back to the spring and then turns slowly, reluctantly - in the same direction, it turns out, as where the dusty plume is slowly dissipating. Well, shit, there go his plans to seduce the mellorines with a barbeque under serene starlight.
"Shitty mosshead probably fell into a sand dune," he grumbles, but takes off at a quick jog anyway.
"Hold on to the party stuff," Franky yells at the rest of the crew, "me and cook-bro will have this fixed in no time!"
Beyond the empty beach, the land rises into a series of gently sloping hills with only scattered palm trees and low bushes covering them. Nothing should be large enough to hide wild beasts or giant factories.
Still... Sanji slows down as an odd, yeasty scent reaches his nostrils. There's something here, all right, and the strangest thing is that he's almost certain he recognizes it. His mind spins through the yeasts and fungi he's encountered over the years. It's not quite the delicate scent of Polka-Dot Chantarelles, slightly too sharp for Seamorels. However, he is certain that there is an entry for this scent somewhere deep in his mental cookbook.
At that moment a loudly squawking flock of animals come barreling around the corner, spreading dust and feathers all around.
"Yahahaa!" They're followed by an unmistakable hunting call. The slavering beast known as 'Strawhat Luffy about to get fresh meat', is out in full force, and both Sanji and Franky move into battle stance.
"MY MEEEAAAT!" Luffy howls as the pack of birds begin to break apart, most of the animals moving away from Franky's looming presence.
One cola-powered fist later, two birds are down for the count. While Luffy throws himself at one of the stragglers, Sanji prepares to fell one last escapee, images of freshly grilled bird with mandarin stuffing already dancing in his mind.
The moment his foot connects to the animal, however, a cloud of dust rises from its side. His sensitive nose notices an almost burned tone beneath the fungal scent before his mouth is blanketed with a strong astringency, nearly enough to mask all finer nuances... but not quite enough to fool a Baratie-trained cook. Sanji's memory book flips a page, to the far back where failed recipes and bad ideas are exiled. This entry, however, contains something much worse than attempts at flambéed sea-weed.
Sanji's eyes widen as he realizes from where he recognizes this particular combination of fungus, tannins and that last, most dangerous hint: a shadow of a roaring fire having passed by, leaving a most dangerous spark behind.
His moment of shock gives the bird enough time to squawk in distress and attempt to flap away on stumpy wings. Sanji, busy trying to cover his mouth and nose, is happy to let the animal escape as far as it'll be able to run, but unfortunately his captain has other plans.
"Sanji! You're letting the meat get away!"
"No, Luffy! Watch-"
Then there's a (smoky, dusty, bad bad BAD!) tangle of rubber limbs, wings and clawed feet. Sanji is torn between trying to save himself and warn his captain. Pragmatism wins out in the end, because Luffy's already covered in the damned stuff! Quickly, he backs away, coughing and spitting out as much dust as possible.
"Franky! Luffy!" he manages between coughs. "Get away from the birds! That's Canthari Cap dust! It's poison!"
Despite her worry that something monstrous will come storming out of the hills any moment now, Nami is too curious about the odd smoke phenomenon to remain on the ship. She isn't always the most adventurous of the crew, but the sight of that slowly dispersing cloud gnaws at her curiosity until she can't stand it any longer. After all, the ship is prepped and ready for a quick getaway. Robin and the others waiting onboard, knows to begin pulling the anchor the moment a warning sign comes from the island. She has time for one little peek.
Besides, the small size of the island and the complete lack of human tracks both strongly hints that it is a natural phenomenon. And if it is, as she suspects, some form of dust geyser, or even an extremely odd localized sandstorm, it might be something not even the Weatherians have seen before!
She's reached the second hill and prepares to send off her 'all clear' signal, a tiny rainbow called out from the Clima-Tact, when something grabs her ankle. Before Nami has time to even yell out, she's yanked off her feet and lands painfully on her back among the bushes growing in the shadow of the hills.
"Ouch, what the he- eh, Zoro?"
It is none other than the Sunny's own swordsman who pulled her down. His face is covered in thick dust, but his eye looks almost feverishly bright. Nami shakes off a slight moment of unease upon noticing how intently his gaze is locked on the hand holding her ankle in an iron grip.
"Hey," she whispers. "What's going on? Snipers?"
He makes a - Nami knows people don't growl, that deep rumble was just some weird worried mutter. Nevertheless, she finds herself lifting her Clima-Tact to a guard position, almost absentmindedly twisting the settings into battle mode.
That, a potentially threatening move, is what finally gets Zoro to drag his stare off her foot (and what's so damn fascinating anyway?) though he doesn't release her. When their gazes meet, she recoils. His eye is bloodshot, open far too wide with a ring of white visible all around the dark iris.
There is an odd scent coming off him too, neither pine trees nor smoke, but close enough to make Nami remember the winter islands she's visited. Zoro isn't wintery though. His hand is like a hot band around her ankle and there are so many signs of wrongness that Nami doesn't even know where to begin comprehending them all.
His grip is steadily tightening. She grits her teeth against the pain, taking refuge in feeling the hair on her arms rise as her weapon charges the air around them.
"What the hell are you doing?" she hisses. "Lemme go!"
"She's angry," Zoro mumbles, a disturbing little smirk blooming on his face, "Always fights when she's angry." His other hand comes to rest on her leg, slowly sliding upwards and her skin crawls at the sensation.
There's something damn disturbing about the entire situation, but Nami still can't bring herself to really be afraid. This is Zoro! She's seen him level armies, knows he can cleave a ship in half and yet she's never for a moment feared all that murderous strength turned on the crew. She can't wrap her mind around it now either. Instead, she falls back to something easier, more familiar: getting majorly pissed off at him.
Zoro is apparently really out of it, because he hardly reacts to her Clima-Tact when it bounces off his head with a solid 'clonk'. If anything, that freaky smile grows and her stomach flips when he licks his lips.
"Let me go if you value your life," Nami growls. No reaction, so she raps him again, this time at his wandering hand, which has reached her knee. "HEY! Let me go, you perv!"
Then he's on top of her, his heavily muscled body flattening her against scratchy bushes. Her breath sticks in her throat; Zoro hands are grabbing at her shoulders, his breath heavy in her ear and - oh shit - something that is absolutely, unmistakably an erection pressing against her hip.
Her thoughts stutter against each other, because this is simply not possible, on a whole different level from talking reindeers or flying islands; they are amazingly impossible. This is too unreal to be comprehended.
Zoro doesn't seem inclined to do much more than grip her too tight and breathe disturbingly heavily into her ear, which fits Nami excellently. A few quick twists of the Clima-Tact (though she barely needs it, tense enough to set off sparks on her own) creates a tiny, but highly concentrated, lightning storm between them.
The discharge makes Zoro jerk back, finally releasing her, but now Nami is officially Worried. Nobody who just got zapped by lightning has any business looking so pleased about it. And his eyes are still freaky and he's sitting on her leg and...
There is a little voice inside of her. It tells Nami that she must, under no circumstances whatsoever, consider the power difference between them and give in to panic. She'd rather sink the ship than fear that kind of violation from a crew mate.
So she is not afraid. Because nothing will happen. That is the end of it.
"Roronoa Zoro," she says, in her sternest Navigator voice, "what do you think you are doing?"
"So pale. Does it bruise easily?"
This time she's fast enough with the staff to keep his hand off her leg. "Don't jerk me around, Zoro! What's turned your head?"
The question doesn't even seem to register this time and so Nami does something she's never in her life imagined.
She swings her staff around, sorely tempted to aim for his head with all her strength, but knowing that such a move might misfire spectacularly. Instead, with a hair-raising clatter, her staff collides with the handles of Zoro's swords.
It's barely a proper hit; the moment they begin to rattle, a large hand clamps down on them and Zoro glares at her.
Seriously, Nami could cheer. Because that's a proper Zoro-glare; that's his 'damn greedy wench, what do you want now?' look and she knows it through dust and drugs. Nowhere in it can she sense his previous hunger.
"Get the fuck off me," Nami whispers, surprised at her own tone, dripping poison like it hasn't since she stood next to Arlong and enforced his will. But now it flows through her again, that icy anger that drowns out all fear. She stares him down with disdainful confidence; trying to fuck around with her, is he?
"Na. Mi? Nami!" He releases her, falls back on his ass and she absently notices how his sweat is leaving deep tracks in the coating of dust. Did he pick up some freaky illness?
Zoro almost seems to choke on something, before clenching his eye shut. With shaking hands, that nevertheless move without hesitation, he unties the knot of his sash and holds the swords out towards her.
"Take 'em," Zoro orders, looking away from her. "And get off the island!"
"What are you-"
"I DON'T KNOW!" The volume of it is shocking enough on its own, but seeing Zoro's face twist with either pain or rage, makes her stomach turn into knots.
"There was this, thing, like soft rubber. Just exploded all over me and Luffy. Those damn birds!"
His entire body is shaking wildly now. Zoro drops the swords, treating them like mere sticks instead of the dreams they embody, and pushes himself backwards, away from her.
"Too hot," he says, though she must to strain to hear him, "couldn't even see Nami for the fire."
Fear and loyalty are at war in her, but when Nami reaches out and is allowed to collect the three katana unmolested, she forces herself to speak. "Uh, hey, don't you think you should come back to the ship? Let Chopper have a look?"
His fingers dig into the sandy ground as if he's trying to anchor himself in the very earth itself, and she almost thinks he's sobbing. Then he lifts his head, still resolutely avoiding meeting her eyes, and she sees the wide battle-crazy grin that she knows so well spread on his face.
"Nami," he grits out, "I want. To break you. Open. Hear you scream, feel -" He is turning towards her, voice dissolving into a rumbling growl. Though she is trying to move, to rise, run, it is like swimming in syrup and all her thoughts are scattering.
Maybe she said something. Maybe he heard Wadou Ichimonji cry out when Nami clenched the swords close, the cool sheats a rock against the sea of horror about two drown them. Whatever it is, he freezes for a heartbeat.
Then he plunges his left hand between his own legs and, judging from the color draining from his face, Zoro's just gone and done something painful and self-sacrificial again.
She is quite grateful, which is why she makes sure to hang on to all three swords while making off at a speed that would impress even a swimming mermaid. Behind her, Zoro's whistling breath echoes far too loudly among the silent dunes.
That didn't happen, she tells herself, and if it did Chopper will take care of it all and she wasn't - Zoro wouldn't -
"Whoa, Nami!"
She screams, nearly dropping her bundle. Usopp screams too, they're both screaming and for a moment everything is wonderfully familiar, their everyday silly antics. Then, from behind her, there is a sound like the bellow of a hurt bull and Nami doesn't even think, just hefts swords higher and runs.
Usopp's trusty old coward-instincts must have kicked in, because he is keeping up with her as they reach the beach. She splashes carelessly into the water and tugs on the Mini-Merry until it rocks loose from the sand, thoughts beyond her, knowing only one truth: Get off the island.
Maybe Usopp is speaking to her, she doesn't know; she can't think of anything except reaching the ship and the doctor. Yes, they need a doctor. Now. Her shirt is soaked through with cold sweat when they bump into the Thousand Sunny and maybe she's trembling. She only realizes later that she snarled at Usopp when he tried to give her a hand up.
"Are you all right?"
Oh good lord, Sanji! She'll have to excuse herself later, but if he starts up with that Nami-swan crap, she'll kick his teeth in (if he's lucky; she might aim lower too, instinctively).
Luckily for them both, he doesn't play around today. Once Sanji sees that she's noticed him, he backs off, hands held palm up. There is a deep frown on his face, though he seems to make an effort to smile, appear gentle and harmless.
"You found Zoro."
The heavy sureness of his words makes Nami instantly suspicious.
"You know! What's wrong with him?"
Sanji nods and wipes his sweaty brow.
"It's complicated, but... Please, go downstairs. Chopper can explain."
"Where are you going?" Usopp asks, appearing over the side.
She hates the part of her that feels it necessary to throw him too a suspicious glance. But he seems completely normal, only winded after their rushed escape. Wincing, Nami also notices that he's brought Zoro's swords; she must have forgotten them in the landing boat.
"Gotta, heh," Sanji trails off and waves a hand - why is he so sweaty, it's hardly that hot - Zoro was also... No!
"Franky's helping me set something up. Tie up," he winces slightly, "a few loose ends. See you later."
Usopp can hardly believe his ears when Chopper explains the situation. It's a, God of liars preserve him, magic mushroom. Although apparently magic in this instance means "turns everyone into a crazy horn-dog until they've ahemhem'd enough times". The process apparently has something mysterious to do with hormones and ripening of spores, language that mostly goes over Usopp's head as he tries not to snicker at the thought of a giant (magic) sex-mushroom.
Franky, whom Chopper has deemed lacking enough fleshy bits in his breathing organs to be affected, fares worse at that. He has been biting back a grin throughout the entire story and once Chopper finishes, loses it completely. His laughter shakes the dinner table and Usopp feels himself cracking up too, though at least half of it is nerves, because... His gaze slides down the table, to where Nami is sitting between Robin and Chopper. Her face is pale and her stance battle-tense.
"Shut up, you shitty cyborg!" Sanji plants a sharp elbow in Franky's side.
The cook is wearing heavy manacles around his arms and legs, making his limbs look distressingly thin. Together with the loose sickbay clothes Chopper insisted he wear and Franky's solid bulk next to him, Sanji looks almost like a kid. A sick kid, because he's flushed and sweating, fiddling incessantly with a pillow picked up from the sleeping quarters.
"It's not a joke, okay? I thought I'd lose my mind on the way back to the Sunny! And I only got a mouthful from that shitty bird. That algae-infested idiot has been drenched in this goddamn stuff!"
"Heehe, yeah, sorry, Sanji-bro. It's just, it's so.... Ahem, anyway, we've got a super antidote, right?" Franky says, tipping an imaginary hat in Chopper's direction. "Our smart little doc-bro fixed both Sanji and Nami before anything happened!"
"Do you wish to attempt to disinfect a maddened swordsman, without breathing in any of the spores covering him, and make him swallow three mouthfuls of medicine?" Robin asks, fingers tapping out a light beat on the table. She hasn't said much. She hasn't left Nami's side either, not since the younger woman appeared on the ship, wild-eyed and furious.
"No, see, that's the problem!" Chopper's entire body is drooping from misery. He turns worried eyes at Nami and pats her hand with his hoof, eliciting a small smile from her. "According to what Nami said, it's too late. Zoro was deeply affected from the beginning. By now, he is probably completely in the grip of the toxin."
"So? We just give him more of your super-medicine!"
"Once the toxin has worked fully into the victim, the amount of antidote needed increases exponentially. We simply don't have enough on hand! And I've only treated someone exposed to Canthari extract before, since the mushroom itself only grows in the New World."
Usopp glances at Sanji, who despite his heavy perspiration refuses to move the pillow from his lap. "Is that why you're not, uh, completely well yet?"
"Yes. The antidote can suppress the mental effects if administered early enough but there are several bodily reactions that can only be diminished, not completely eliminated. Especially the fever and physical arousal will remain for several hours," Chopper says, too far into Doctor-mode to care about human sensibilities. "That is also why I must keep dosing Sanji and Nami for at least another three hours."
"Our Mr. Zoro has a strong constitution," Brook says. "Can we not simply wait it out?"
Sanji shakes his head, taking over the story.
"I've seen this before. Was this real piece of shit customer, back on the Baratie. He'd brought Canthari Cap-extract to make sure he could..." His mouth twists in disgust. "Well, that shitty asshole poured it into his date's drink! And his own too, think he wanted to 'keep up'. Feh. But he'd miscalculated the amount."
He reaches for a cigarette, remembers too late that Chopper has forbidden them and gnaws on his finger in annoyance.
"What happened?" The tone is neutral, but the words are almost the first ones their captain has uttered since Chopper collected them for a crisis meeting. Usopp sits up a bit straighter.
Luffy, protected again due to his new immunity against poisons; Luffy whom they all feared wouldn't understand what was going on, has been surprisingly level-headed about the whole issue ever since they got back on the ship.
Sanji shrugs. "He went nuts, completely crazy. The young lady was affected too, but she'd drunk less. We packed them both into the cool storage until a doctor came. Zeff recognized the symptoms, see. The doc managed to save her, but that bastard got what he deserved. His heart gave out while the doctor was treating him. Trust me, it's a real shitty way to die. Anyway, that girl? The doctor cooked up a cauldron full of antidote for her and used every last drop."
"But if we tried that? Locked him into the cool room," Brook begins, only to be interrupted by Chopper.
"No! That's just the opposite of what we should do. Remember, the spores are toxic only as a side-effect, what they really attempt is to, uhm, spread. If the body they're in gets put in an environment which affects their growth negatively, such as a low-temperature area, they will release more and more toxic chemicals."
"Huh." Sanji looks thoughtful for a moment, then waves it off. "Well, the lady survived, who cares about the shithead?"
"Is there anything we can do so that the spores do not feel threatened, then, and affect the body chemistry minimally?" Robin asks. "If I understand correctly, trying to delay the most critical effects while our doctor makes more of the antidote is the only option we have."
Hemming and hawing a bit, Chopper finally manages to spit out the truth.
Not, Usopp reflects, that it was that hard to figure out, given that they'd already been informed that Canthari Cap tincture is an expensive and dangerous aphrodisiac.
Once nature has taken its course, the spores go inert and leave the body through normal bodily excretions (Ey, cook-bro, are you leaking shrooms at me? Franky, you idiot, you're immune! Still, ewww!), optimally allowing the affected being to return to its regular existence.
Awkward silence settles over the table, broken only by Sanji's occasional fidgeting. Just when Usopp is about to ask if they can't perhaps try to lock Zoro into the bathroom, with lots of hot steam and maybe some cooking oil, Luffy thumps his fist on the table and stands up.
"Yosh! Robin, can you look after my hat?"
"Where are you going, captain?"
"To help Zoro," Luffy says as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "Brook, you or Franky come with medicine when it's finished."
"What! Luffy!" Chopper's voice rises and almost breaks in his agitation. "Luffy, you don't understand what Zoro might be like! He can't control himself right now!"
"Aa." He fires off one of those patented Luffy-grins. "Good thing I'm rubber, huh? And that Wadou and the others are waiting here on the Sunny!"
"Oh, for crying out-" Nami seems to snap awake, glaring at the captain. "Do you even know what you're suggesting? Zoro's not," her voice catches, but she visibly steels herself and carries on. "The guy's not right in the head, okay?"
This seems to disturb Chopper greatly, and he flutters around her helplessly. "Oh, Nami. Ah, I don't know, it's the influence of the Canthari, but of course we need to..."
"Chopper? Sorry, but, please, shut up." Nami closes her eyes and seems to focus on something deep inside. Even Luffy is still, tilting his head encouragingly in her direction. "Look. It was creepy as hell, all of it. But I knew when Zoro wasn't... quite there. Okay?"
"Yeah, 'cause you're smart enough to recognize all of us!"
"Yep, I guess I am. But Luffy, there at the end. That was Zoro. That's why he let me go, I know that." She looks down at her hands, opening and closing them twice, before pinning Luffy with a glare. "What he said... He scared me more when he was himself, than when he was acting like some dumb animal. Okay, Luffy? Do you get me? He's my comrade and I'll face a firing-squad for the idiot, but Zoro isn't right in the head and I think..." She finally relents and takes Choppers supporting hoof in her own hand, squeezing it slightly. "I think he'll try to hurt you if you go out there."
"Gramps said I had my head screwed on backwards a couple of times. Dadan and Ace too," Luffy points out, still smiling gently. "Haha, and Rayleigh too! But he said the Pirate King was allowed to be a bit nuts so that's all right."
"Luffy..."
"I still speak to my crew, moonlit nights when I have the watch," Brooks interjects gently. "It always gladdens my heart when they reply."
"But you wouldn't try to-" Nami breaks off, just shaking her head.
"Zoro won't hurt you," Luffy says. He's not smiling any more, but his voice is filled with the conviction that has pulled them all together, and the crew grows still. "He won't. If anything tries, a mushroom or Zoro or anything else, I'll stop it."
He reaches over half the table to lay a hand on her shoulder and everybody politely looks elsewhere when Nami's eyes go suspiciously shiny.
"Nobody is allowed to hurt my comrades. But Nami? This, I mean, us." It's a clumsy wave, but they can all sense that it means him, their near-indestructible captain who carries so many dreams on his shoulders. "We'll be okay."
"Yes, I remember," Nami says, frustrating creeping into her voice, "you're rubber. Sometimes that's not enough!"
"Naaah, I know." Luffy giggles as if he's just escaped from they galley with a big juice steak. "It's just, it's Zoro, you know?"
"I do, that's just it! You're both too insanely strong, I remember Whiskey Peak, when you two idiots-"
Her mouth opens wide in surprise and she stares at Luffy, whose smile has gone blindingly brilliant at the mention of that long-ago island. "No way. No way!"
Though he's trying to hide it behind his hands, Luffy is clearly giggling now. It makes Usopp fleetingly wonder exactly what their captain learned on the Amazon Island, because this? Was not something he would have imagined in his wildest tales.
Apparently, neither did the rest of the crew.
"You're shitting me," Sanji says, his voice wavering between amusement and shock.
"When did you even," Usopp begins, "I mean, where -"
"Don't answer that!" Sanji wails and almost smacks Usopp with the cuffs when he tries to shake him. "Because if he says my kitchen I'll have to, to bleach this entire thing and I can't right now and please not in my kitchen!!"
"Ah, Sanji, I don't think he means that they actually have..."
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Oh god, Chopper please tell me that this medicine causes hallucinations!"
Luffy's only reply is more giggling, but he does accept Chopper's hastily collected emergency pack.
Strangely enough, while they watch Luffy slingshot himself back to the island, Usopp gets the feeling that Nami, despite everything, is the one least surprised by the this revelation.
[Continued in part 2.]
Author: drcalvin (drcalvin[squiggle]rocketmail.com)
Summary: After Fishman Island, what if the White Stream released the Strawhats somewhere else? Mysterious island, aphrodisiacs and the problem of uncontrolled desires in powerful pirates. Porn with plot and a dash of angst, basically.
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Luffy/Zoro
Warning/Content notes: Dub-con and sex-pollen. Highlight to see detailed/spoilery warnings: If you have a problem with dub-con, please read carefully. There's a (non-titillating) scene with attempted male-on-female sexual assault in the first chapter. Part two has consensual male/male sex, though one participant is under the influence of an aphrodisiac. It should be possible to skip to part two and only read the smutty bits ;).
Rating: NC-17 / Mature
Spoilers: Splits off from canon at chapter 654, but doesn't contain any major spoilers for Fishman Island arc.
Note: "Cantharidin" is the name of a substance derived from a blister beetle. It is also known as Spanish Fly, historically used as both aphrodisiac and poison.
Thanks to loveandallthat for excellent beta!
It was a rough ride, but Franky's masterpiece came out victorious once more. When their fishing-line finally snapped and the deep-sea "anchor" fell away, the Thousand Sunny was violently catapulted out of the White Stream. For a few moments, Nami feared they had come to the untimely end of their journey.
Instead, the Strawhat Pirates wash up in a sea so still, she begins to suspect that they’ve landed in the Calm Belt until the lookout spots a small island.
It is tiny, nothing but a dull, dust-colored collection of hills with a few scattered palm trees. Nami can't find it on any sea-chart, but it looks harmless enough. Not even Usopp seems too worried when the luck of the draw picks Sanji, Zoro and Franky to accompany the captain on the first tour of the unknown island.
Franky and Sanji return in short order, carrying casks of fresh spring water. They also report that Luffy has taken off after a herd of large, flightless birds, Zoro hot on his heels.
"No sign of inhabitants or predators, though," Sanji says, looking down at the smooth sand with a pleased smile. "If you start building up a fire, we can have a beach barbeque once mosshead and the captain get back."
Brook, Chopper and Usopp have just begun the "Yay-Party!" dance when they all hear a loud puff, as if a giant had lost his breath.
All senses on alert, Sanji whirls around to where his crew mates are staring, and sees a tree-high plume of light-colored... smoke? Sand? He can't make out what it is, but considering that they're in the New World, on a seemingly pleasant island which just happens to be completely abandoned, he's willing to bet it's dangerous as hell.
"We're on a Giant Island Whale!" Usopp hollers, still too caught up in the new adventure to actually feel fear.
"Yohoho, that would be quite exciting!"
"Maybe it's a factory?" Franky hazards, his height giving him a better view. "Looks a bit like steam exhaust, see how it keeps pumping out more clouds?"
"Hey..." Nami begins, making Sanji perk up with eagerness for the words of wisdom from his darling. "Which direction did Luffy and Zoro go off?"
Sanji's eyes follow the path back to the spring and then turns slowly, reluctantly - in the same direction, it turns out, as where the dusty plume is slowly dissipating. Well, shit, there go his plans to seduce the mellorines with a barbeque under serene starlight.
"Shitty mosshead probably fell into a sand dune," he grumbles, but takes off at a quick jog anyway.
"Hold on to the party stuff," Franky yells at the rest of the crew, "me and cook-bro will have this fixed in no time!"
Beyond the empty beach, the land rises into a series of gently sloping hills with only scattered palm trees and low bushes covering them. Nothing should be large enough to hide wild beasts or giant factories.
Still... Sanji slows down as an odd, yeasty scent reaches his nostrils. There's something here, all right, and the strangest thing is that he's almost certain he recognizes it. His mind spins through the yeasts and fungi he's encountered over the years. It's not quite the delicate scent of Polka-Dot Chantarelles, slightly too sharp for Seamorels. However, he is certain that there is an entry for this scent somewhere deep in his mental cookbook.
At that moment a loudly squawking flock of animals come barreling around the corner, spreading dust and feathers all around.
"Yahahaa!" They're followed by an unmistakable hunting call. The slavering beast known as 'Strawhat Luffy about to get fresh meat', is out in full force, and both Sanji and Franky move into battle stance.
"MY MEEEAAAT!" Luffy howls as the pack of birds begin to break apart, most of the animals moving away from Franky's looming presence.
One cola-powered fist later, two birds are down for the count. While Luffy throws himself at one of the stragglers, Sanji prepares to fell one last escapee, images of freshly grilled bird with mandarin stuffing already dancing in his mind.
The moment his foot connects to the animal, however, a cloud of dust rises from its side. His sensitive nose notices an almost burned tone beneath the fungal scent before his mouth is blanketed with a strong astringency, nearly enough to mask all finer nuances... but not quite enough to fool a Baratie-trained cook. Sanji's memory book flips a page, to the far back where failed recipes and bad ideas are exiled. This entry, however, contains something much worse than attempts at flambéed sea-weed.
Sanji's eyes widen as he realizes from where he recognizes this particular combination of fungus, tannins and that last, most dangerous hint: a shadow of a roaring fire having passed by, leaving a most dangerous spark behind.
His moment of shock gives the bird enough time to squawk in distress and attempt to flap away on stumpy wings. Sanji, busy trying to cover his mouth and nose, is happy to let the animal escape as far as it'll be able to run, but unfortunately his captain has other plans.
"Sanji! You're letting the meat get away!"
"No, Luffy! Watch-"
Then there's a (smoky, dusty, bad bad BAD!) tangle of rubber limbs, wings and clawed feet. Sanji is torn between trying to save himself and warn his captain. Pragmatism wins out in the end, because Luffy's already covered in the damned stuff! Quickly, he backs away, coughing and spitting out as much dust as possible.
"Franky! Luffy!" he manages between coughs. "Get away from the birds! That's Canthari Cap dust! It's poison!"
Despite her worry that something monstrous will come storming out of the hills any moment now, Nami is too curious about the odd smoke phenomenon to remain on the ship. She isn't always the most adventurous of the crew, but the sight of that slowly dispersing cloud gnaws at her curiosity until she can't stand it any longer. After all, the ship is prepped and ready for a quick getaway. Robin and the others waiting onboard, knows to begin pulling the anchor the moment a warning sign comes from the island. She has time for one little peek.
Besides, the small size of the island and the complete lack of human tracks both strongly hints that it is a natural phenomenon. And if it is, as she suspects, some form of dust geyser, or even an extremely odd localized sandstorm, it might be something not even the Weatherians have seen before!
She's reached the second hill and prepares to send off her 'all clear' signal, a tiny rainbow called out from the Clima-Tact, when something grabs her ankle. Before Nami has time to even yell out, she's yanked off her feet and lands painfully on her back among the bushes growing in the shadow of the hills.
"Ouch, what the he- eh, Zoro?"
It is none other than the Sunny's own swordsman who pulled her down. His face is covered in thick dust, but his eye looks almost feverishly bright. Nami shakes off a slight moment of unease upon noticing how intently his gaze is locked on the hand holding her ankle in an iron grip.
"Hey," she whispers. "What's going on? Snipers?"
He makes a - Nami knows people don't growl, that deep rumble was just some weird worried mutter. Nevertheless, she finds herself lifting her Clima-Tact to a guard position, almost absentmindedly twisting the settings into battle mode.
That, a potentially threatening move, is what finally gets Zoro to drag his stare off her foot (and what's so damn fascinating anyway?) though he doesn't release her. When their gazes meet, she recoils. His eye is bloodshot, open far too wide with a ring of white visible all around the dark iris.
There is an odd scent coming off him too, neither pine trees nor smoke, but close enough to make Nami remember the winter islands she's visited. Zoro isn't wintery though. His hand is like a hot band around her ankle and there are so many signs of wrongness that Nami doesn't even know where to begin comprehending them all.
His grip is steadily tightening. She grits her teeth against the pain, taking refuge in feeling the hair on her arms rise as her weapon charges the air around them.
"What the hell are you doing?" she hisses. "Lemme go!"
"She's angry," Zoro mumbles, a disturbing little smirk blooming on his face, "Always fights when she's angry." His other hand comes to rest on her leg, slowly sliding upwards and her skin crawls at the sensation.
There's something damn disturbing about the entire situation, but Nami still can't bring herself to really be afraid. This is Zoro! She's seen him level armies, knows he can cleave a ship in half and yet she's never for a moment feared all that murderous strength turned on the crew. She can't wrap her mind around it now either. Instead, she falls back to something easier, more familiar: getting majorly pissed off at him.
Zoro is apparently really out of it, because he hardly reacts to her Clima-Tact when it bounces off his head with a solid 'clonk'. If anything, that freaky smile grows and her stomach flips when he licks his lips.
"Let me go if you value your life," Nami growls. No reaction, so she raps him again, this time at his wandering hand, which has reached her knee. "HEY! Let me go, you perv!"
Then he's on top of her, his heavily muscled body flattening her against scratchy bushes. Her breath sticks in her throat; Zoro hands are grabbing at her shoulders, his breath heavy in her ear and - oh shit - something that is absolutely, unmistakably an erection pressing against her hip.
Her thoughts stutter against each other, because this is simply not possible, on a whole different level from talking reindeers or flying islands; they are amazingly impossible. This is too unreal to be comprehended.
Zoro doesn't seem inclined to do much more than grip her too tight and breathe disturbingly heavily into her ear, which fits Nami excellently. A few quick twists of the Clima-Tact (though she barely needs it, tense enough to set off sparks on her own) creates a tiny, but highly concentrated, lightning storm between them.
The discharge makes Zoro jerk back, finally releasing her, but now Nami is officially Worried. Nobody who just got zapped by lightning has any business looking so pleased about it. And his eyes are still freaky and he's sitting on her leg and...
There is a little voice inside of her. It tells Nami that she must, under no circumstances whatsoever, consider the power difference between them and give in to panic. She'd rather sink the ship than fear that kind of violation from a crew mate.
So she is not afraid. Because nothing will happen. That is the end of it.
"Roronoa Zoro," she says, in her sternest Navigator voice, "what do you think you are doing?"
"So pale. Does it bruise easily?"
This time she's fast enough with the staff to keep his hand off her leg. "Don't jerk me around, Zoro! What's turned your head?"
The question doesn't even seem to register this time and so Nami does something she's never in her life imagined.
She swings her staff around, sorely tempted to aim for his head with all her strength, but knowing that such a move might misfire spectacularly. Instead, with a hair-raising clatter, her staff collides with the handles of Zoro's swords.
It's barely a proper hit; the moment they begin to rattle, a large hand clamps down on them and Zoro glares at her.
Seriously, Nami could cheer. Because that's a proper Zoro-glare; that's his 'damn greedy wench, what do you want now?' look and she knows it through dust and drugs. Nowhere in it can she sense his previous hunger.
"Get the fuck off me," Nami whispers, surprised at her own tone, dripping poison like it hasn't since she stood next to Arlong and enforced his will. But now it flows through her again, that icy anger that drowns out all fear. She stares him down with disdainful confidence; trying to fuck around with her, is he?
"Na. Mi? Nami!" He releases her, falls back on his ass and she absently notices how his sweat is leaving deep tracks in the coating of dust. Did he pick up some freaky illness?
Zoro almost seems to choke on something, before clenching his eye shut. With shaking hands, that nevertheless move without hesitation, he unties the knot of his sash and holds the swords out towards her.
"Take 'em," Zoro orders, looking away from her. "And get off the island!"
"What are you-"
"I DON'T KNOW!" The volume of it is shocking enough on its own, but seeing Zoro's face twist with either pain or rage, makes her stomach turn into knots.
"There was this, thing, like soft rubber. Just exploded all over me and Luffy. Those damn birds!"
His entire body is shaking wildly now. Zoro drops the swords, treating them like mere sticks instead of the dreams they embody, and pushes himself backwards, away from her.
"Too hot," he says, though she must to strain to hear him, "couldn't even see Nami for the fire."
Fear and loyalty are at war in her, but when Nami reaches out and is allowed to collect the three katana unmolested, she forces herself to speak. "Uh, hey, don't you think you should come back to the ship? Let Chopper have a look?"
His fingers dig into the sandy ground as if he's trying to anchor himself in the very earth itself, and she almost thinks he's sobbing. Then he lifts his head, still resolutely avoiding meeting her eyes, and she sees the wide battle-crazy grin that she knows so well spread on his face.
"Nami," he grits out, "I want. To break you. Open. Hear you scream, feel -" He is turning towards her, voice dissolving into a rumbling growl. Though she is trying to move, to rise, run, it is like swimming in syrup and all her thoughts are scattering.
Maybe she said something. Maybe he heard Wadou Ichimonji cry out when Nami clenched the swords close, the cool sheats a rock against the sea of horror about two drown them. Whatever it is, he freezes for a heartbeat.
Then he plunges his left hand between his own legs and, judging from the color draining from his face, Zoro's just gone and done something painful and self-sacrificial again.
She is quite grateful, which is why she makes sure to hang on to all three swords while making off at a speed that would impress even a swimming mermaid. Behind her, Zoro's whistling breath echoes far too loudly among the silent dunes.
That didn't happen, she tells herself, and if it did Chopper will take care of it all and she wasn't - Zoro wouldn't -
"Whoa, Nami!"
She screams, nearly dropping her bundle. Usopp screams too, they're both screaming and for a moment everything is wonderfully familiar, their everyday silly antics. Then, from behind her, there is a sound like the bellow of a hurt bull and Nami doesn't even think, just hefts swords higher and runs.
Usopp's trusty old coward-instincts must have kicked in, because he is keeping up with her as they reach the beach. She splashes carelessly into the water and tugs on the Mini-Merry until it rocks loose from the sand, thoughts beyond her, knowing only one truth: Get off the island.
Maybe Usopp is speaking to her, she doesn't know; she can't think of anything except reaching the ship and the doctor. Yes, they need a doctor. Now. Her shirt is soaked through with cold sweat when they bump into the Thousand Sunny and maybe she's trembling. She only realizes later that she snarled at Usopp when he tried to give her a hand up.
"Are you all right?"
Oh good lord, Sanji! She'll have to excuse herself later, but if he starts up with that Nami-swan crap, she'll kick his teeth in (if he's lucky; she might aim lower too, instinctively).
Luckily for them both, he doesn't play around today. Once Sanji sees that she's noticed him, he backs off, hands held palm up. There is a deep frown on his face, though he seems to make an effort to smile, appear gentle and harmless.
"You found Zoro."
The heavy sureness of his words makes Nami instantly suspicious.
"You know! What's wrong with him?"
Sanji nods and wipes his sweaty brow.
"It's complicated, but... Please, go downstairs. Chopper can explain."
"Where are you going?" Usopp asks, appearing over the side.
She hates the part of her that feels it necessary to throw him too a suspicious glance. But he seems completely normal, only winded after their rushed escape. Wincing, Nami also notices that he's brought Zoro's swords; she must have forgotten them in the landing boat.
"Gotta, heh," Sanji trails off and waves a hand - why is he so sweaty, it's hardly that hot - Zoro was also... No!
"Franky's helping me set something up. Tie up," he winces slightly, "a few loose ends. See you later."
Usopp can hardly believe his ears when Chopper explains the situation. It's a, God of liars preserve him, magic mushroom. Although apparently magic in this instance means "turns everyone into a crazy horn-dog until they've ahemhem'd enough times". The process apparently has something mysterious to do with hormones and ripening of spores, language that mostly goes over Usopp's head as he tries not to snicker at the thought of a giant (magic) sex-mushroom.
Franky, whom Chopper has deemed lacking enough fleshy bits in his breathing organs to be affected, fares worse at that. He has been biting back a grin throughout the entire story and once Chopper finishes, loses it completely. His laughter shakes the dinner table and Usopp feels himself cracking up too, though at least half of it is nerves, because... His gaze slides down the table, to where Nami is sitting between Robin and Chopper. Her face is pale and her stance battle-tense.
"Shut up, you shitty cyborg!" Sanji plants a sharp elbow in Franky's side.
The cook is wearing heavy manacles around his arms and legs, making his limbs look distressingly thin. Together with the loose sickbay clothes Chopper insisted he wear and Franky's solid bulk next to him, Sanji looks almost like a kid. A sick kid, because he's flushed and sweating, fiddling incessantly with a pillow picked up from the sleeping quarters.
"It's not a joke, okay? I thought I'd lose my mind on the way back to the Sunny! And I only got a mouthful from that shitty bird. That algae-infested idiot has been drenched in this goddamn stuff!"
"Heehe, yeah, sorry, Sanji-bro. It's just, it's so.... Ahem, anyway, we've got a super antidote, right?" Franky says, tipping an imaginary hat in Chopper's direction. "Our smart little doc-bro fixed both Sanji and Nami before anything happened!"
"Do you wish to attempt to disinfect a maddened swordsman, without breathing in any of the spores covering him, and make him swallow three mouthfuls of medicine?" Robin asks, fingers tapping out a light beat on the table. She hasn't said much. She hasn't left Nami's side either, not since the younger woman appeared on the ship, wild-eyed and furious.
"No, see, that's the problem!" Chopper's entire body is drooping from misery. He turns worried eyes at Nami and pats her hand with his hoof, eliciting a small smile from her. "According to what Nami said, it's too late. Zoro was deeply affected from the beginning. By now, he is probably completely in the grip of the toxin."
"So? We just give him more of your super-medicine!"
"Once the toxin has worked fully into the victim, the amount of antidote needed increases exponentially. We simply don't have enough on hand! And I've only treated someone exposed to Canthari extract before, since the mushroom itself only grows in the New World."
Usopp glances at Sanji, who despite his heavy perspiration refuses to move the pillow from his lap. "Is that why you're not, uh, completely well yet?"
"Yes. The antidote can suppress the mental effects if administered early enough but there are several bodily reactions that can only be diminished, not completely eliminated. Especially the fever and physical arousal will remain for several hours," Chopper says, too far into Doctor-mode to care about human sensibilities. "That is also why I must keep dosing Sanji and Nami for at least another three hours."
"Our Mr. Zoro has a strong constitution," Brook says. "Can we not simply wait it out?"
Sanji shakes his head, taking over the story.
"I've seen this before. Was this real piece of shit customer, back on the Baratie. He'd brought Canthari Cap-extract to make sure he could..." His mouth twists in disgust. "Well, that shitty asshole poured it into his date's drink! And his own too, think he wanted to 'keep up'. Feh. But he'd miscalculated the amount."
He reaches for a cigarette, remembers too late that Chopper has forbidden them and gnaws on his finger in annoyance.
"What happened?" The tone is neutral, but the words are almost the first ones their captain has uttered since Chopper collected them for a crisis meeting. Usopp sits up a bit straighter.
Luffy, protected again due to his new immunity against poisons; Luffy whom they all feared wouldn't understand what was going on, has been surprisingly level-headed about the whole issue ever since they got back on the ship.
Sanji shrugs. "He went nuts, completely crazy. The young lady was affected too, but she'd drunk less. We packed them both into the cool storage until a doctor came. Zeff recognized the symptoms, see. The doc managed to save her, but that bastard got what he deserved. His heart gave out while the doctor was treating him. Trust me, it's a real shitty way to die. Anyway, that girl? The doctor cooked up a cauldron full of antidote for her and used every last drop."
"But if we tried that? Locked him into the cool room," Brook begins, only to be interrupted by Chopper.
"No! That's just the opposite of what we should do. Remember, the spores are toxic only as a side-effect, what they really attempt is to, uhm, spread. If the body they're in gets put in an environment which affects their growth negatively, such as a low-temperature area, they will release more and more toxic chemicals."
"Huh." Sanji looks thoughtful for a moment, then waves it off. "Well, the lady survived, who cares about the shithead?"
"Is there anything we can do so that the spores do not feel threatened, then, and affect the body chemistry minimally?" Robin asks. "If I understand correctly, trying to delay the most critical effects while our doctor makes more of the antidote is the only option we have."
Hemming and hawing a bit, Chopper finally manages to spit out the truth.
Not, Usopp reflects, that it was that hard to figure out, given that they'd already been informed that Canthari Cap tincture is an expensive and dangerous aphrodisiac.
Once nature has taken its course, the spores go inert and leave the body through normal bodily excretions (Ey, cook-bro, are you leaking shrooms at me? Franky, you idiot, you're immune! Still, ewww!), optimally allowing the affected being to return to its regular existence.
Awkward silence settles over the table, broken only by Sanji's occasional fidgeting. Just when Usopp is about to ask if they can't perhaps try to lock Zoro into the bathroom, with lots of hot steam and maybe some cooking oil, Luffy thumps his fist on the table and stands up.
"Yosh! Robin, can you look after my hat?"
"Where are you going, captain?"
"To help Zoro," Luffy says as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "Brook, you or Franky come with medicine when it's finished."
"What! Luffy!" Chopper's voice rises and almost breaks in his agitation. "Luffy, you don't understand what Zoro might be like! He can't control himself right now!"
"Aa." He fires off one of those patented Luffy-grins. "Good thing I'm rubber, huh? And that Wadou and the others are waiting here on the Sunny!"
"Oh, for crying out-" Nami seems to snap awake, glaring at the captain. "Do you even know what you're suggesting? Zoro's not," her voice catches, but she visibly steels herself and carries on. "The guy's not right in the head, okay?"
This seems to disturb Chopper greatly, and he flutters around her helplessly. "Oh, Nami. Ah, I don't know, it's the influence of the Canthari, but of course we need to..."
"Chopper? Sorry, but, please, shut up." Nami closes her eyes and seems to focus on something deep inside. Even Luffy is still, tilting his head encouragingly in her direction. "Look. It was creepy as hell, all of it. But I knew when Zoro wasn't... quite there. Okay?"
"Yeah, 'cause you're smart enough to recognize all of us!"
"Yep, I guess I am. But Luffy, there at the end. That was Zoro. That's why he let me go, I know that." She looks down at her hands, opening and closing them twice, before pinning Luffy with a glare. "What he said... He scared me more when he was himself, than when he was acting like some dumb animal. Okay, Luffy? Do you get me? He's my comrade and I'll face a firing-squad for the idiot, but Zoro isn't right in the head and I think..." She finally relents and takes Choppers supporting hoof in her own hand, squeezing it slightly. "I think he'll try to hurt you if you go out there."
"Gramps said I had my head screwed on backwards a couple of times. Dadan and Ace too," Luffy points out, still smiling gently. "Haha, and Rayleigh too! But he said the Pirate King was allowed to be a bit nuts so that's all right."
"Luffy..."
"I still speak to my crew, moonlit nights when I have the watch," Brooks interjects gently. "It always gladdens my heart when they reply."
"But you wouldn't try to-" Nami breaks off, just shaking her head.
"Zoro won't hurt you," Luffy says. He's not smiling any more, but his voice is filled with the conviction that has pulled them all together, and the crew grows still. "He won't. If anything tries, a mushroom or Zoro or anything else, I'll stop it."
He reaches over half the table to lay a hand on her shoulder and everybody politely looks elsewhere when Nami's eyes go suspiciously shiny.
"Nobody is allowed to hurt my comrades. But Nami? This, I mean, us." It's a clumsy wave, but they can all sense that it means him, their near-indestructible captain who carries so many dreams on his shoulders. "We'll be okay."
"Yes, I remember," Nami says, frustrating creeping into her voice, "you're rubber. Sometimes that's not enough!"
"Naaah, I know." Luffy giggles as if he's just escaped from they galley with a big juice steak. "It's just, it's Zoro, you know?"
"I do, that's just it! You're both too insanely strong, I remember Whiskey Peak, when you two idiots-"
Her mouth opens wide in surprise and she stares at Luffy, whose smile has gone blindingly brilliant at the mention of that long-ago island. "No way. No way!"
Though he's trying to hide it behind his hands, Luffy is clearly giggling now. It makes Usopp fleetingly wonder exactly what their captain learned on the Amazon Island, because this? Was not something he would have imagined in his wildest tales.
Apparently, neither did the rest of the crew.
"You're shitting me," Sanji says, his voice wavering between amusement and shock.
"When did you even," Usopp begins, "I mean, where -"
"Don't answer that!" Sanji wails and almost smacks Usopp with the cuffs when he tries to shake him. "Because if he says my kitchen I'll have to, to bleach this entire thing and I can't right now and please not in my kitchen!!"
"Ah, Sanji, I don't think he means that they actually have..."
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Oh god, Chopper please tell me that this medicine causes hallucinations!"
Luffy's only reply is more giggling, but he does accept Chopper's hastily collected emergency pack.
Strangely enough, while they watch Luffy slingshot himself back to the island, Usopp gets the feeling that Nami, despite everything, is the one least surprised by the this revelation.
[Continued in part 2.]