[fic] On Fate (One Piece, gen)
Jun. 25th, 2012 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drcalvinTitle: On Fate
Author/Artist:
Character/Pairing: Zoro, Usopp
Rating/Warnings: Gen, PG, no warnings
Fandom: One Piece
Theme: #51 Above - for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
64damn_prompts
Summary: Zoro explains the logic behind his navigational choices
One of the reasons that Roronoa Zoro would, loudly and possibly violently, oppose any negatively voiced opinions regarding his sense of direction – or lack thereof – was that he knew perfectly well that he always ended up where he needed to go. And while Zoro wasn't quite sure of the fancy terminology, he knew that if 1 (sword) + 2 (swords) = 3 (Santōryū), and (1) was his usual way of getting around (walking in the direction his gut told him to go) and (2) was ending up where he needed to be (preferably a nice little fight where he might, on the really good days, have an near-death epiphany and improve his sword skills) then obviously this equaled (3): Fate was guiding him.
The only reason he hadn't bothered to explain this to all his shipmates was that Luffy was too bad at maths, while the cook seemed too ignorant of destiny to truly grasp his explanation. Nami had no problems whatsoever with maths and was slowly being converted to the concept of Fate with prolonged exposure to their captain. However, since she could only count money, Zoro feared for what such an explanation would mean to his plans of living his life as a free pirate, instead of as a debt-shackled servant to a sea-witch.
He had actually told Usopp once, when the boy asked him why in heaven's name he thought that north was up anyway.
"I didn't know that I would have to be captured by the Marines and hang at a post for nine days to get here, now did I?"
Usopp seemed inclined to interrupt, but Zoro shushed him. It was rare that he was in a story-telling mood, and even when he was, he preferred to get to the point quickly. "I had to get captured though, or I couldn't ever have become the Greatest Swordsman. Because if there is a Pirate King, he needs to have the Greatest at his side. Because a king with the second or third greatest as his man wouldn't be the true King, and if the Greatest was not on the King's side, he couldn't let anyone call himself King of the Seas unchallenged. And once they met up, one of them wouldn't be anything at all. Do you follow?"
"Well, okay, that makes halfway sense. But what does being tied up..."
"I wasn't planning on following the Pirate King, because I thought the Pirate King was already dead. And I had to think that too, because if I had already known about Luffy when I decided to become the Greatest, everyone else would also have known about him. And then they would have killed him before I could be by his side and make sure that didn't happen. But because I didn't know that Luffy was waiting for me so that we could reach the top together, I couldn't simply go meet up with him when he started his journey, because I didn't know where to find him. Or that I needed to find him at all. So, you see, that's why I had to go to the village where the idiot son was, so that he could capture me. Then I could wait there for Luffy to catch up and now we can fulfill our destinies together."
"Aaaand that's why you think North is up? I'm sorry, but what?"
Zoro tapped the map Usopp had brought to illustrate his question. "Where is this?"
"North Blue."
"And where is it?"
"It's... oh, but come on, Zoro! Just because it's on the top of the map doesn't mean it's on the – you can't treat the world like it's flat Zoro, that's not how it works!"
He drew Their sword and held it up, catching the sun with the tip. He hoped she was listening, because even if he hadn't come all the way yet, they were already making echoes.
"It's the top of the world. It's up. It's the direction of the Heavens, and even if I end up in hell on the way, I'll make sure my name echoes that far. I'm always going upwards, Usopp. It's just that sometimes, fate has to slow me down a bit, or lead me on a longer road, so that I find everything I need to reach the top."
Usopp looked caught between exasperation and amazement. "And that's why Sanji had to go find you on that island yesterday, when it took you three hours to get back to the ship? An island, I must point out, which you could pretty much spit across."
Shrugging, Zoro sheathed his sword. "Sometimes, fate is a bit slow, I admit. But think about it,. How easy can it be to work fast when you're forced to use tools like idiot sons, even more idiotic ax-handed fathers and clowns that split their own hands and feet off?"
"...what?"
Author/Artist:
Character/Pairing: Zoro, Usopp
Rating/Warnings: Gen, PG, no warnings
Fandom: One Piece
Theme: #51 Above - for
64damn_promptsSummary: Zoro explains the logic behind his navigational choices
One of the reasons that Roronoa Zoro would, loudly and possibly violently, oppose any negatively voiced opinions regarding his sense of direction – or lack thereof – was that he knew perfectly well that he always ended up where he needed to go. And while Zoro wasn't quite sure of the fancy terminology, he knew that if 1 (sword) + 2 (swords) = 3 (Santōryū), and (1) was his usual way of getting around (walking in the direction his gut told him to go) and (2) was ending up where he needed to be (preferably a nice little fight where he might, on the really good days, have an near-death epiphany and improve his sword skills) then obviously this equaled (3): Fate was guiding him.
The only reason he hadn't bothered to explain this to all his shipmates was that Luffy was too bad at maths, while the cook seemed too ignorant of destiny to truly grasp his explanation. Nami had no problems whatsoever with maths and was slowly being converted to the concept of Fate with prolonged exposure to their captain. However, since she could only count money, Zoro feared for what such an explanation would mean to his plans of living his life as a free pirate, instead of as a debt-shackled servant to a sea-witch.
He had actually told Usopp once, when the boy asked him why in heaven's name he thought that north was up anyway.
"I didn't know that I would have to be captured by the Marines and hang at a post for nine days to get here, now did I?"
Usopp seemed inclined to interrupt, but Zoro shushed him. It was rare that he was in a story-telling mood, and even when he was, he preferred to get to the point quickly. "I had to get captured though, or I couldn't ever have become the Greatest Swordsman. Because if there is a Pirate King, he needs to have the Greatest at his side. Because a king with the second or third greatest as his man wouldn't be the true King, and if the Greatest was not on the King's side, he couldn't let anyone call himself King of the Seas unchallenged. And once they met up, one of them wouldn't be anything at all. Do you follow?"
"Well, okay, that makes halfway sense. But what does being tied up..."
"I wasn't planning on following the Pirate King, because I thought the Pirate King was already dead. And I had to think that too, because if I had already known about Luffy when I decided to become the Greatest, everyone else would also have known about him. And then they would have killed him before I could be by his side and make sure that didn't happen. But because I didn't know that Luffy was waiting for me so that we could reach the top together, I couldn't simply go meet up with him when he started his journey, because I didn't know where to find him. Or that I needed to find him at all. So, you see, that's why I had to go to the village where the idiot son was, so that he could capture me. Then I could wait there for Luffy to catch up and now we can fulfill our destinies together."
"Aaaand that's why you think North is up? I'm sorry, but what?"
Zoro tapped the map Usopp had brought to illustrate his question. "Where is this?"
"North Blue."
"And where is it?"
"It's... oh, but come on, Zoro! Just because it's on the top of the map doesn't mean it's on the – you can't treat the world like it's flat Zoro, that's not how it works!"
He drew Their sword and held it up, catching the sun with the tip. He hoped she was listening, because even if he hadn't come all the way yet, they were already making echoes.
"It's the top of the world. It's up. It's the direction of the Heavens, and even if I end up in hell on the way, I'll make sure my name echoes that far. I'm always going upwards, Usopp. It's just that sometimes, fate has to slow me down a bit, or lead me on a longer road, so that I find everything I need to reach the top."
Usopp looked caught between exasperation and amazement. "And that's why Sanji had to go find you on that island yesterday, when it took you three hours to get back to the ship? An island, I must point out, which you could pretty much spit across."
Shrugging, Zoro sheathed his sword. "Sometimes, fate is a bit slow, I admit. But think about it,. How easy can it be to work fast when you're forced to use tools like idiot sons, even more idiotic ax-handed fathers and clowns that split their own hands and feet off?"
"...what?"
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-06-25 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-25 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-01 04:19 am (UTC)(I am so in love with Zoro's brain. Like.)
We can't even argue with what he says because even when he's wrong he's so right I can barely stand it. Okay. Going to go finish beta reading... something. ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 09:11 am (UTC)Thanks - for all of it ;)