The crew of the Thousand Sunny stepped off the ship and into the harbor upon arriving at their most recent destination, Liberty Island. For once, Nami was relaxed. No one had to fear the navy in this particular port; it had long been abandoned to the likes of various gangs, crime syndicates, and general thugs and delinquents. An arbiter had taken over governing the city; but the local government was more of a novelty than anything functional. City officials were merely celebrities that enjoyed throwing their titles around. The Straw Hats could even dock in the harbor without fear. One would think that no one would want to stay in such a den of anarchy; but the shopping was fantastic and the night life incredible. There was not a single Straw Hat that wasn't excited about landing here.
Luffy was long gone in a frantic search for food before the crew could agree on when and where to meet up, or even on how long they would spend on this island. Nami only shook her head after him, confirming with the rest of the crew that they would return to the ship at dusk; then she and Robin left to head to the shopping district. Chopper and Sanji took off to the market to hunt for ingredients for medicine and cooking. Franky, Usopp, and Zoro headed towards the industrial part of town; Franky and Usopp searching for gadgets and mechanics that they could either use on the ship or were interesting even without a use, and Zoro in search of a worthy blacksmith to provide some long overdue maintenance to his beloved swords. He kept them well cleaned, but the blades could use some sharpening, and he wanted the hilts inspected for durability.
"Why are the industrial areas of town always the seediest?" he muttered to himself, passing by dark alleys and barred up windows. Shady characters hovered in doorways along the road, eyeing him curiously as he walked by. It appeared they were sizing him up for a good mugging, but the three swords at his side and the mere presence he held seemed to be enough to keep them at bay. Ahead of him he saw thick black smoke exiting out the top of a rundown shack, indicating a blacksmith nearby. Now, to see if this particular smith would meet his standards.
Zoro looked up at the sign swaying creakily that read Paul's Metalworking in faded letters. Not the creative type, he smirked to himself upon entering the small building. It was dark inside, and no one appeared to be around, at least not in the front of the building. It was much deeper than it seemed at first glance; in the front room weapons of all sorts were hung on the walls, piled in chests around the room, and stacked into barrels. Zoro pulled a sword out of a barrel to check the quality; it was a well-made sword, if a bit plain. He swung it a few times; it was well balanced, and upon closer look, he discovered the blade was even and very sharp. Perhaps this place would work, if he could find the smith who forged this sword. He looked around; polearms lined one wall, the scythes and glaives each had the equal quality of the sword he first looked at. Yes, this place would do well.
"Can I help you?" a timid voice asked from the doorway behind the counter.
Zoro's eyes landed on a young woman who was covered in soot almost from head to toe. She wore a smudged white button up shirt and skirt, and over that had on a thick leather apron and matching gloves that were equally dirty. Her hair was pulled back and covered with a bandanna; Zoro couldn't discern the color of hair or bandanna for the dirt and the dim light. "I'm looking for the blacksmith who made the weapons out here. I have three swords that need maintenance."
"Well, my master is out at the moment," she said meekly, lowering her eyes to the ground. Zoro noticed the armbands clasped around her wrists; she wasn't restrained to the place but they clearly indicated that she was someone's property. Zoro contemplated this for a moment; in such a city as this human trafficking certainly wasn't beyond imagination, he just hadn't considered it before. "But I can help you, I made most of the blades out here," she said, a small smile crossing her face with pride at her work.
Zoro was taken aback; she had a slight frame and was so mild, he had difficulty believing that she could handle such a craft as blacksmithing or the customers that it tended to attract. "When will your master be back?" he asked.
The girl looked crestfallen but answered his question. "He left to get supplies about an hour ago and most likely won't return for a few more hours," she paused before continuing, "I honestly can help you, I know I don't look like much, but if you want I'll prove my work to you. Then you won't have to wait."
Zoro considered this. What the hell, why not? "All right, prove that you can smith this well."
Her eyes lit up once again and she gestured for him to follow her into the back of the building. They entered a poorly ventilated and hot workshop, but she eagerly headed to the forge where a great sword was heating. He worried for a minute as she pulled the heavy weapon from the fire, sure that she would drop it or at the very least have difficulty maneuvering it to the anvil, but she lifted it easily and laid it down. He looked at the metal glowing orange; this sword had several cracks in it and the blades were dull and saw-toothed from wear. She grabbed a large hammer and began to pound the blade with a strength that defied her small frame, and with accuracy and precision that amazed even the great swordsman. After a while she stopped to inspect the blade, then picked it up once again and cooled it in a water bath. "Take a look," she said, holding the sword straight up in front of her, smiling and pleased with her own work.
Zoro approached and studied the blade; indeed, the repair easily the same caliber as the weapons in the front of the shop, if not better. He focused his gaze on her face; when she noticed that he was looking at her and not the sword she blushed and shrunk backwards. His face was familiar to her, but she couldn't quite figure out why in the dim light of the workshop. "If you want, you certainly can wait for my master to return, if my work isn't satisfactory," she said sheepishly, frantically avoiding eye contact.
"No, your work is excellent," he said quickly. "I apologize, I hope I didn't insult you earlier. You just don't look like much of a smith is all. What's your name?"
She looked quite surprised that he would care about such a thing. "I-Iris," she answered hesitantly. He smiled at her, then handed her his prized possessions.
"I hope you don't mind, but I'll be staying while you work on those," he said. "Nothing personal, but this town's pretty rough."
She smiled knowingly. "Yeah, you could say that," she said, drawing the Wado Ichimonji from its sheath first. "Sharpening and cleaning?"
"Yeah. Could you take a look at the hilts as well? They've seen a lot of action, I want to make sure everything's still tight and balanced."
She nodded and picked up a rough file to smooth out the Wado's edge first. He watched carefully as she inspected the construction of the hilt, guard, and pommel. She took delicate care to clean out dried blood even he had missed around the grip and the guard, then repeated the same process with the Shusui and the Kitetsu. Zoro was unsure how long it took as he was engrossed in watching her work. He could tell from the first moment he saw her that she was passionate about weaponry; her conscientiousness in the care of his swords only confirmed how much she loved her work. "There, how do they look to you?" she asked, face glowing with joy from practicing her craft.
He looked closely at each blade in turn; it really was some of the finest work he'd even seen. "Yes, this is great. Thank you," he smiled warmly at her. She averted her eyes once again, but her smile was wide and radiant. She appreciated his praise, but still couldn't quite place his face in her memory. She wasn't able to get a good look at him in the workshop; it was so dusty and poorly lit. He was paying for her work in the front of the shop when the door slammed open.
"Iris!" a greasy, stout man hollered as he entered carrying a large bundle of leather and wood. "Oh, hello! Has my Iris been assisting you properly?" he grinned toothily at Zoro, then turned and glared at her.
"Yes, her work was just fine, in fact we were just wrapping up business," he cut in, not liking at all the way the man, whom he could only surmise was Paul, looked at Iris. Her face was downcast now; her master now finished taking care of payment for her work and she began to retreat back towards the workshop.
"Iris, you slug! There's metal out front that needs to be cleaned and stored! Get to it!" he barked at her. She cringed at his voice but turned and headed quickly out the front door. Zoro could see her carrying large bars of various metals around to the back of the building. "Anything else I can help you with today, good sir?" the man oozed congenially.
"Thank you, but that's all I need today," Zoro answered, then nodded his head and quickly left. The man was a sleaze and Zoro found himself irritated that someone of his type had such a kind young woman in his possession. He thought briefly on the possibility of being able to do something for her. His stomach rumbled; it was late in the afternoon and he hurried back to the main harbor to find his crew members and get some dinner. Iris watched him as he left; it had been such a nice afternoon. Her only joy in life was her work; everything else was awful. Paul ordered her around, abused her, and sold her for her company. The green-haired swordsman had been so kind to her, and he was passionate about his swords, and he appreciated and respected her work. Such a bright but brief ray of sunshine in her otherwise dismal world only served to make everything else that much darker. I didn't even ask him his name, she thought miserably, tears blurring her vision as she sorted and stored the various materials Paul had brought back from the market.
"Iris," Paul called out to her, "Come in here for a bit," he threw a sleazy smile in her direction. Her stomach turned, why couldn't he have taken just a little more time at the market so she could have just gone to her second 'job' instead of having to spend time with this disgusting creature? She gritted her teeth and fought her worsening tears back as she strode in behind him. "You've got a little time before you head downtown for the evening. Seems like you worked hard this afternoon, why don't I help you relax for a little bit?" he chuckled sinisterly to himself as he slid an arm around her shoulder. She closed her eyes, imagining that she was somewhere else, anywhere. And with someone else. But not just anyone else today; her memory immediately called up the green-haired swordsman with matching green eyes and a killer smile from that afternoon.
