Disclaimer: One Piece and its characters do not belong to me.
Animal Instinct
written by: Leiyoi
A ficticious story inspired by Zoro's quirks.
Nami watched the boys poke and prod at the green haired swordsman sleeping on the deck of the ship. The orange haired woman heard the door of the kitchen open and she watched the blonde haired cook walk over to the boys angrily. Sanji kicked Zoro awake and the swordsman sat up angrily, hands flying to his swords. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper danced around, watching the fight ensue. She raised an eyebrow at the scene. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the boys to be poking at Zoro. Nor was it uncommon for Sanji to pick a fight with the green haired swordsman. But…these things were happening too often now… She shook her head and was about to turn away when she heard a gentle voice next to her start to speak.
"What are you observing, navigator-san?"
"Oh, Robin!" Nami turned around in surprise and smiled sheepishly. "Well, I was just watching the boys. It's kind of weird."
"Hm?"
The orange haired girl waved her hands around in the air. "Oh, I'm just confusing myself. It's probably nothing."
Robin quirked her head in interest. "Can you tell me?"
Nami shrugged. "Sure, I've just noticed that the boys seem to be hanging around Zoro a lot lately. And Sanji seems to be fighting with Zoro more, too…I just found it kind of weird. That's all. It's probably nothing."
Robin chuckled and watched the green haired man standing below yell at the boys around him irritably. "That's interesting, navigator-san. I noticed that, too."
"W-What?! So I'm right?" Nami blinked in shock. "But why are they all drawn to Zoro all of a sudden? Isn't that a little…odd?"
The dark haired woman smiled mysteriously. "Not really. Think about swordsman-san. Do you notice that animals seem to be always drawn to him somehow?"
"A-animals…?" The orange haired girl blinked again.
"Yes, in Skypiea I happened to look up when I saw a large south bird carrying swordsman-san in its beak."
"What?! That happened?" Nami stepped backwards in surprise.
"From what I've heard from you all, it must have occurred while you were being chased or stuck in the snake's stomach." Robin smiled. The orange haired girl crossed her arms over her chest.
"But that's only once…"
"Actually, remember when the ship fell from the sky before we went to Skypiea?"
"How could I forget?" Nami rubbed her temples as memories of the large battered ship falling over them surfaced in her mind. "What about it?"
"Well, they brought up an octopus."
"An octopus…?" The orange haired woman furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "No…I don't remember…"
"Cook-san cooked the octopus and I asked him where it had come from." The dark haired woman stared back down at Zoro who was now trying to fend off the kicks Sanji was throwing at him. Nami followed her gaze to the swordsman and then she turned to stare at Robin in confusion.
"So?"
"The octopus had attached itself onto Zoro's barrel when we let them down to salvage the ship."
"That's just coincidence, isn't it?!" Nami gestured to the green haired man in shock. "I mean…I'm supposed to believe that Zoro attracts animals to himself?!"
"Perhaps." Robin nodded and then gazed at the navigator. "Doctor-san seems to really like him. Usually when there's danger, he latches onto swordsman-san…" She trailed off, turning her attention back on the deck below. Nami also turned to watch the boys on deck. The fight seemed to have finally died down when Luffy had tried to join in. Chopper was giggling into his hooves and the orange haired girl found Usopp sneaking around the blue nosed reindeer. Suddenly, the long nosed boy sprang out, scaring Chopper out of his fur. And then…
Nami watched in surprise and horror as the reindeer ran to hide behind Zoro. She turned to stare at Robin in awe. "It's true…"
"I have further evidence…" The dark haired woman said in a mysterious tone. Nami gulped, not sure if she wanted to hear anymore. Robin smiled at the orange haired girl. "Are you convinced?"
"Maybe…" Nami smiled nervously back at Robin. "But what does this have to do with the boys?"
"Well, from all the towns that we've been in, we can say that usually Zoro repels town people. The humans. And let's say that humans and animals are in different categories. So, humans aren't animals."
The orange haired girl nodded in understanding.
"Okay, so Zoro doesn't attract humans to him. Rather, he scares most of them away and instead attracts animals…" Nami started to understand what the dark haired woman was trying to say and she smirked.
"Now, look at them. Do you think they're human?" Robin asked the orange haired girl. Nami grinned and stared at Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper. She shook her head.
"Nope. Although Usopp is probably more human than the rest of them..." She smiled at her nakama and added as an afterthought. "But being able to stay alive with those people must mean that Usopp is inhuman in a way, too…" Nami trailed off and stared at the dark haired woman with a raised eyebrow. A wry smile started to grace her lips. "So…you're saying that they're being attracted to Zoro because they're not human?"
"Yes." Robin smiled, happy to have made her point clear to the young navigator.
"But…since we've been with them for so long—and no offense, Robin, but you're not exactly human either—so…why aren't we attracted to Zoro as well?"
Robin stared at the girl in interest, thinking about the answer to the question. "Either we ignore our feelings or…"
"Or…?" Nami stared at the woman curiously. Robin chuckled and smiled at the orange haired girl.
"Or swordsman-san repels females as well as humans." The archaeologist chuckled again and walked off with a bemused smile on her face. Nami stood there, dumbstruck. Then, she laughed and stared at the males standing on deck, creating havoc. The orange haired girl smirked as she watched Zoro scowl at his friends.
"Well," Nami stepped back and stretched her arms out comfortably. "At least when we have a food shortage, we know who to use as bait now!"
END.
And now, I'm imagining Zoro tied up tightly by rope, like Carue, and dangling over the side of the ship while octopus and fish are trying to reach for him...! Heh heh.