Chapter 4: Lost Tiger, Wingless Bird

"Kuina wins!" Koshiro called out as the green haired boy hit the dirt for what seemed like the hundredth time. The swords master shook his head, pushing his glasses up on his face. His students groaned and cursed at the defeat of their comrade in their neverending war. He turned his gaze away from the boys gathering around Zoro to his daughter. She coldly stared at her defeated opponent before walking away.

"Damn it! I lost again!" Zoro cried, "Even with two swords, I couldn't beat her!" Kuina stopped and looked back at him, a smug smirk on her face.

"How pitiful. And they keep saying you're the strongest in the dojo, but you can't even beat me, a girl, with two swords in 2000 matches. How weak can you be?"

The other boys rose to Zoro's defense, shouting and cursing at Kuina while she walked off. She didn't care about what they had to say about her. She didn't care about winning some stupid match against that mosshaired idiot. It's not like it mattered anyway. Soon enough, she'd start losing and her dreams would fade away. All because of what she was.

"It's impossible, Kuina." Koshiro said it so simply, as if he wasn't destroying his daughter's biggest dream. "A woman can't become the world's best swordsman. Once you start to mature, you'll start falling behind in strength. It's simply nature, there's nothing you can do about it."

Kuina was shaking. Maybe from anger. Maybe from sadness. Maybe a mixture of both. Either way, she felt like she wanted to explode, to scream at her father and tell him he was wrong about everything. She had trained so hard for years to be as good as she was, aiming to be the best in the world, but according to him, all of that was meaningless because of nature.

"Kuina? Kuina, are you listening to me?" Kuina looked at her father, glaring at him. He looked so gentle, not a hint of malicious intent. Just the same kind man she had always known. How could he be so kind and so cold at the same time? Kuina grunted before standing up and stomping out of the dojo, picking up her treasured sword as she went.

She went where she usually did whenever she was angry: the tree over her mother's grave. She couldn't remember when her mother died, but it definetly been when she was young. All Kuina remembered was her voice, soft and musical as a bluebird's song, singing her to sleep. Now all that remained of her were a few photos and a wooden cross driven into the ground under the shade of a willow tree. It was a comforting place for her to be. She didn't know what her mother was really like or what she would've said to her, but that made it easier. Now, she could just imagine that her mother would've comforted her, telling her she could reach her dream.

Kuina sat before the cross, sword laid across her knees. A gentle wind rustled the weeping branches of the willow tree. Kuina stroked the pure white sheath of her treasure blade, Wado Ichimonji. The Road to Harmony. This blade had been in her family for generations, passed down from father to son for decades, and yet, it looked as if it could've been made a day before. The blade was flawless and the edge capable of slashing the wings off a butterfly in the air. She had only been allowed to wield the ancient blade for about a year now, given to her on her tenth birthday as was tradition. Her father seemed to have had no qualms about passing it on to her then. So what had changed? Had she done something wrong in his eyes?

'I don't understand…'

She still didn't understand why her father's opinion had changed and she didn't care. She'd prove him wrong when she defeated Dracule Mihawk and became the world's strongest swordsman. Swordswoman. Whatever. Either way, she'd do it.

A fire ignited in her chest, Kuina took Wado from her room ad went to the willow tree to train. For hours, she worked on her strength, doing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and lifting large logs. Just as her muscles began to burn and beg for the punishment to stop, she started practicing with Wado, practicing one strike for half an hour before moving on to the next. The sun was her timer, slowly drifting towards the horizon before sinking below the sea into a black, starry sleep.

Her body glowed in the silver moonlight, chest heaving as she finally sat down to rest. All was silent save the winds, the waves, and the lullaby of the nightingale. Kuina always liked listening to birdsongs. They were simple and seemed to follow no real pattern, just one that made sense to the birds. They sang freely and flew wherever they wished with no restraint. She wished she could be like that, then she could fly away and soar towards her dream with nothing to hold her back. But she wasn't a bird. She had no wings to fly, so she would have to crawl and fight for what she wanted. Against other people and nature itself.

"Kuina!" the sudden call interrupted the birdsong and caught Kuina's attention. It was Zoro, still in his black gi, carrying two swords in either hand for his signature style. Though, these were no wooden practice blades. These were true steel blades with wickedly sharp edges. 'Where in the world did he pull those from?'

"What do you want, pipsqueak?" Kuina had nothing against Zoro. He was a bit of an annoying brat, but she couldn't deny that he had determination. It takes guts to get back up after getting beaten 2000 times in a row without landing a single hit. "Come to lose, again?"

"Yes! Wait, I-I mean no!" Zoro pointed his swords at Kuina, moonlight running down the edge of the blade. "I want a real duel this time! You versus me with real blades. I'll show you my real skills as a swordsman!" Zoro dropped into his wide stance with both blades coming up from his hips.

Kuina scoffed. It wasn't mockingly, it was out of amazement. Zoro really was impressive and reminded her of herself in a way. That steel in his eyes was the same kind she saw in the mirror in the morning. That made it even more annoying. He had everything she had and then some. He had a chance. Nature was on his side. And that pissed her off.

"Alright mosshead," Kuina drew Wado Ichimonji,"You wanna show me your skills, then get ready!" Kuina dashed across the distance between them in a matter of seconds, catching Zoro off guard. He was barely able to block her first blow and was sent head over heels by the kick she slammed into his stomach. He looked up and almost screamed as she brought the blade down at his forehead. He closed his eyes, prepared to meet his end that never came.

"Don't cry, ya big baby." Zoro opened his eyes. Kuina had already resheathed Wado and held her hand out to him. The moon shone behind her, sending a halo of silver light around the young swordswoman. "Are you gonna keep staring at me or what?" Zoro jumped up, pulling himself to his feet all on his own. He had some pride to maintain. Kuina rolled her eyes and sighed, "That makes it 2001 wins for me now. Most people would've given up by now."

Hearing that number made Zoro's blood boil and the nonchalant way she dismissed it made him want to explode. "I'm not giving up, not ever! I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman someday! So watch out cause I'm coming for you and I'm going to beat you one day!"

"Yeah, you will."

"Wh-what?" Zoro wasn't expecting that response at all. Kuina's eye hid behind her bangs. Zoror's accusing finger wilted and drooped towards the ground. She turned away from him. Wado hung loosely in her hand.

"It doesn't matter how hard I work. I train everyday for hours and hours, but it doesn't mean anything. Eventually, I'm gonna grow into a woman, and I'll be weak, just like Papa says," her shoulders were shaking, "A girl can't be the number one swordsman!" She turned around, tears hanging over the edge of her eyes. She gave him a smile. "But you can be the best….I wish...I wish I could be a guy like you…."

It was like rain. The rolled over the edge and fell to the ground, bending the grass before slipping off and soaking into the dirt. She tried to hold them back, but saying it out loud, admitting it to someone else, it was all coming down in an uncontrollable torrent.

"Why….Why the hell would you say something like that?!" Zoro's scream pulled her from the storm. "That's stupid! You're saying that I'm only gonna beat you cause you're a girl?! You're saying that I practiced hard to beat you for nothing?! All I want to do is beat you!" Fire burned in his eyes while his voice became hoarse from screaming. "Promise me! Promise me that one day one of us will be the world's greatest swordsman! That's when I'll beat you! So swear on it, swear on your sword that we'll both try to be the greatest."

She laughed. It was quiet for a moment and the silence was broken by her laugh. She couldn't help it. It wasn't mocking laughter. It was an uncontrollable bubbling happiness inside of her. Never in her life had anyone openly supported her dream. Never in her life had she met someone like Roronoa Zoro.

"Hey, why're you laughing at me? Come on, promise me, will ya?" He grumbled and pouted. That only made Kuina laugh more. He looked adorable. It was a minute before she finally calmed down enough to answer him properly.

"Sure," she held out Wado's hilt, "I promise that when I become the world's greatest swordsman, I'll fight you."

Zoro steamed, crossing his hilts with her's, "Oi! Don't get too cocky, got it! The world's greatest swordsman is gonna be me!" Kuina chuckled and nodded.

"Over my dead body."

And so their rivalry went into full swing. It was strange at first for the rest of the dojo, seeing the two them actively compete against one another, which was near constantly.

The two of them were always trying to outdo each other with Kuina succeeding 99.9% of the time. Everything became a challenge between the two of them. Eating, sleeping, drinking, swimming, push ups, weights, climbing, running, basic directional skills (Kuina still couldn't believe he got lost going to the bathroom ten feet away), and most importantly, sword fighting.

And even as they fought and argued often, they got closer and closer as time went on. They supported each other and lifted one another with their rivalry, pushing themselves to new heights. Even Koshiro had a hard time keeping up with the two of them. They had long surpassed him in terms of skill and only had each other as rival. And that wouldn't have preferred it any other way.

"I'm sorry, Kuina. Zoro's dead."

It came out of nowhere like the flash of lightning. It struck her to her core and burned her from the inside out. It didn't make sense. She understood what her father was telling her, but the words….they couldn't be true. That couldn't have happened.

"We found him this morning in the basement of the dojo. It seems he went down there last night to sharpen his swords and slipped down the stairs. He hit his head on a step and died on impact."

This was a lie. He couldn't be dead. Not like that. He had promised her they would fight. How? How? Why did he go down there? How could he have fallen? It didn't make sense. How could he just die like that?! He was Zoro. He was her rival, her best friend, the only person to ever believe in her dream. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't be.

The rain almost felt insulting. The sky was an angry grey with fat raindrops pouring down onto the funeral. The path was lined with people from the dojo and the village all dressed in black. Koshiro walked at the head of the procession, the same emotionless look on his face as he led his students. Zoro's body laid on the palanquin, dressed up in his uniform with his swords crossed over his chest.

Kuina followed silently behind the procession. She was numb. She wasn't sad or hurt or grieving. If she felt anything, it was jealously towards the clouds. They could weep and moan and relieve the pain they felt. There was nothing she could do to relieve her's. Zor This was the day that she learned she hated rain.

"Kuina, it's time for dinner"

Koshiro said, but received no answer from the girl. Perhaps she hadn't heard him as she slashed through training dummy after training dummy, moving in a blur between them and leaving them in pieces. She had been like this for months now, training non-stop since Zoro had died. Koshiro's daughter had always been a hardworking person, pushing herself to her limits daily. But now, she and gone even further beyond that. It was almost inhuman.

Koshiro shook his head and walked away. He still didn't believe Kuina could become the world's greatest swordsman. The gap in power was just too vast. He knew from personal experience. But he couldn't stop her. All he could do was watch and hope she stayed alive.

Fyr3FLyt3: And there's the flashback. Amazing how much work you can get done when you're sick and feel like you're dying. Besides my imminent death, I'm pretty glad with how this chapter turned out despite how long it took me to write it. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my lazy butt in gear and write more. The more I write, the better I'll get at it hopefully and the more you'll enjoy it, hopefully. If you've got any comments, questions, or critiques, please PM me or leave a review. Until Next Time, Bye!