A Hawk's Eyes
The green haired boy fought with all of his strength, that was clear to see. Unfortunately for him, all of his strength wasn't enough. As I parried his attacks with my dagger I examined his swordplay. It wasn't bad, really. It was easy to see how he could have become the demon of east blue. The young challenger was definitely good enough for that. But after all, east blue is the weakest of the four blues. If he had been in any of the other blues, he would have merely been a good bounty hunter. And if he had managed to get to the Grand Line, he would have been just another fool taking on something too big to do alone.
But he had potential that shone through clear as day. The young swordsman put his all in to every single attack. From the look in his eyes, he knew that he was horribly mismatched as well. It looked like he could have told even if I had decided to use my sword and toyed with him. I could sense his natural battle instinct, but he was still no match for me. Even so, despite his currently pathetic skills, inside of his strikes I could see more potential than I had for a long time.
"What drives you?" I asked. "Why do you fight so hard when you cannot win? You're a weakling…" I saw him flinch at the last comment. I heard his friends calling out from the side, but neither of us paid heed. Instead of replying to my comment, he simply attempted to strike me again and I sent him flying sideways.
"Tora gari!" He called, flying at me with a slash more powerful than the previous ones. I lunged, a simple, fluid motion, sending the dagger straight into his chest. It was in a spot where nothing vital would be damaged too badly, but it was still a stab wound in the middle of his torso. Quite a few of my previous opponents would die from simply this.
But that green haired boy didn't scream. He made a noise, somewhere between a grunt and a whimper. And he refused to back away. I looked at him curiously. He had blood dripping from his mouth and chest but didn't move an inch. Is he dull? I wondered to myself. He didn't seem that way at the beginning, besides the fact that he challenged me in the first place.
"You want your guts cut out? Why don't you retreat?" I asked
"I can't," he said, eyes shadowed with his bandana. "If I retreat even one step… my vow, my ambition, everything I care about… will be shattered. And all my dreams will be lost forever."
"Yes." I replied, "That's defeat."
"Heh…so I can't retreat.
"Even if it means death?" I was surprised now. So few people that I had fought possessed this willpower. Even the pirates in the new world would rather run away then put their life on the line for their dreams.
"I prefer death to defeat."
"Boy, speak your name," I asked, the admiration I felt hidden from my voice.
"Roronoa Zoro," he proclaimed, lining up his swords in a strange pattern.
"I'll remember it," I promised, though I wasn't quite sure what I was doing making promises to young swordsmen who wanted to take my head.
"It's been a while since I've met one so brave. I will honor the swordsman's code, and send you to your death with this black blade—the finest in the world." It was sad to see young talent extinguished, but there was nothing else left to do. In a battle to the death, he died or I did. And since I wasn't planning on dying anytime soon, it would have to be him. "Die!" I yelled, lunging forward.
"Three sword style secret move!" he yelled. My eyes widened in surprise. His three blades were spinning in a circle, a completely unfamiliar move. But once I take my black blade out, nothing could get through. "Three thousand worlds!" he cried.
Two of his swords shattered on mine, and my blade struck him in the stomach as well. As I spun around I saw him doing something odd, a new action from a defeated opponent. He sheathed his remaining sword and spun around to face me, arms wide out.
"What are you…?" I asked him in confusion.
"Wounds on the back are a swordsman's shame," he said, blood running down his face, but still managing a grin.
"Magnificent." I said, and swung my sword across his chest. He fell backwards into the water. Don't be in a hurry to die, young warrior, I thought to him.
His bounty hunter friends dove in after him, but his captain flung himself over to where I was standing.
"The young swordsman's crewmate. You did well to let him fight his own battle to the end." I dodged to the side as he flew past, using some kind of devil fruit no doubt. I watched him extract his head from a chunk of wood and said to him, "Don't worry. I left him alive." I wasn't sure why I didn't kill him, but I did know one thing. Eventually, this man was going to become the world's greatest swordsman.
I saw the green haired-no, Zoro, get pulled onto a small boat and heard him gasp in air.
"My name is Dracule Mihawk! It's too soon for you to die. Discover yourself. See the world! And grow strong, Zoro! However long it may take, I shall await you at the top. Strive with your whole heart and mind to best this blade, fierce one! Strive to surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!" I wasn't sure why I said that, but it felt right. And the top was lonely, when you could cut down everyone that you meet without a thought. I was certain that I had just chosen my successor, if he could make it. And from what I saw in his eyes, I thought that he could. It might take a while, but eventually, he would meet me at the top.
I examined the scrawny kid with a familiar looking straw hat.
That he was the kid Shanks had talked about would be my guess. I didn't see what was so special about him, but then again, Shanks was a good judge of character. And if so, this was the kid who my greatest rival had sacrificed an arm for. I used to be completely baffled by why the great pirate Red Haired Shanks would maim himself for a puny kid.
Now I could kind of see why. This kid was Shank's successor and Rodger's too, if Red Hair was correct. And now I had chosen my own from his crew. Unfortunately for Zoro however, a swordsman's path was marked through pain and blood and tears. The scar would remind him of his goals, and it was where his dreams would reside, instead of a straw hat. The promise that I would be waiting for him at the top was embedded in the scar too. The opponent so far above him, almost unreachable, would be his goal. And within the scar I gave him his life as well, if he was strong enough to push past the pain and survive. But if he wasn't, he wouldn't be worthy to take my head.
"Lad, what's your goal?" I asked the kid with the straw hat.
"To be the king of pirates!" he proclaimed proudly.
I smirked at him. "You tread a perilous path. Even more perilous then trying to surpass me.
"I don't care!" he cried out defiantly, sticking his tongue out. "That's what I'm going to be!"
Suddenly, Zoro stuck his remaining sword into the air. "Lu-Luffy? Can you hear me?" he asked in a wavering voice.
"I hear you!" his captain called back.
"Were you worried? If I fail… to become the world's greatest swordsman…you'll be disappointed, right?" He started coughing blood and his friends tried to stop him from talking. He ignored them and continued. "Never again!" He cried out. "I will never lose again! From now until I beat him to become the greatest swordsman… I will never… lose again! Got a problem with that, king of pirates?"
I grinned. I knew that I had made the right choice.
"Heeheehee! Not at all!" the captain called back.
"They make a good team," I said to myself. "I hope to encounter you two again someday," I told the captain.
"Hey, Hawk-Eye! Didn't you come here for my head? For the head of Don Krieg, king of east blue?" I turned toward the man, a mouse to my cat that I played with for entertainment. He had brought it on himself after all. He was the one who woke me up and it was simply bad luck that I was bored when he found me.
"That was my intention." I told him. "But I've had enough fun for now, so I shall take a nap." I began to walk away.
"Don't go just yet, fancy pants! You've had your fun, but I've just been on the receiving end. Now it's my turn to have fun—Die!" the persistent pirate shouted and shot a round of missiles.
"You are indeed a slow learner. Farewell," I told him and swept my blade across the ship. I left in the following confusion. I had a lot to think about. But I was sure that my choice was the right one. I grinned to myself. I couldn't wait to see how he would turn out.
Hi to anyone who is actually reading this! I am alive, and will update Jailbreak sometime in the not too distant future. I am writing a bunch of one shots right now, and am currently wondering about the idea of the Straw Hat's successors, and how their dreams het passed down, so I decided to try a Mihawk and Zoro one, which is in kinda familiar territory. I'm going to put out another one that is similar featuring the whole crew in a different way, so watch out for that if you liked this. Also, I took all of the dialogue directly from the Funimation translated copies if anyone was wondering.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and as always, please review :)