DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE, ONLY MY OC! :)

The next few days passed by quickly as the crew discussed strategy and how they were going to remain anonymous once they reached their destination.

"I think that once we get there we should do our purchasing first, and we might be able to learn some things about this bachelor guy." Sanji suggested as he puffed away on his cigarette.

"I agree, and if we talk to the shop owners and the locals we might find out more about the statue as well." Nami said.

Next to them Zoro was exercising his new freedom from bed rest, and had gone back to his usual weight lifting.

"Please be careful Zoro, I just released you from bed rest." Nina griped at him. Even though she had just joined days before, Nina was beginning to fall into place with the crew. Much to Sanji's happiness, she had traded in her cloak and dark clothes she was used to wearing for a t-shirt and shorts she borrowed from Nami, until she could go shopping for her own clothes. She was starting to love interacting with the crew and was happy to be part of a crew again, even if some of the members got on her bad side. The past couple of days Zoro had pestered her literally every hour wanting to get out of bed and back to his normal routine. This morning Nina had awoken with a blinding headache and Zoro's constant nagging was not helping. Now that she was the crew's fill in doctor, Nina felt like she was responsible for his health but her sanity was wearing thin and she eventually gave in to his demands of freedom.

Zoro stopped lifting and looked at her. He too had grown tired of Nina's constant nagging as he was forced to lay in bed all day while everyone else mulled about the ship. Now that they had a lead on the next island, he wanted to train and get back to full strength in order to help with whatever lay in wait for them at the next town. Even though Nina had just joined their crew, Zoro was already annoyed at having to deal with another demanding woman who thought she was better than him. Nami was already a pain in his ass and he did not want another thorn in his side, so he pestered Nina every chance he could.

"There was no way I was going to stay in bed as long as you had wanted me to. I could feel my strength weakening just lying there day after day. Stop butting into my affairs and worry about yourself." Zoro knew he should have stopped there after seeing Nina's shocked expression, but he kept going. "I think you need to relax and blow off some steam by helping lover boy in the kitchen or being a girl and lay out in the sun with Nami. Or better yet, maybe you need some bed rest for that hard head of yours."

Robin was the only one to giggle as Nina's face grew red in embarrassment. "You know what I will blow off some steam, but in a way I do best." Nina said. "I challenge you to a duel Roronoa Zoro, right here and right now!"

The crew stopped laughing and looked at Nina as if she had gone crazy. Zoro smirked, and then started laughing. "Even in my weaker state, there is no way you could beat me. I have been training all these years while you have been on that cursed island."

Nina's rage only grew at his words and she fisted her hands at her sides. "It is not like I just sat around and did nothing! I have more experience than you and I guarantee I will not lose to you." Fang barked in agreement with her.

Zoro dropped his weights onto the deck and came to stand in front of her, seeming to tower over her small frame. His labored breathing matched hers as he stared into her eyes before smirking. "You know what, I accept. But let's make it interesting. Let's do this duel tonight so we can see just how keen your skills are in the dark and cold."

Nina scoffed at him. "Deal and I hope you are ready to lose asshole." Huffing, Nina walked away and went below deck, Fang trailing after her.

Sanji glared at Zoro. "Good job making the beautiful woman angry shitty moss head." Zoro huffed and grumbled about the love cook under his breath. "Wait for me Nina-swan! I will make you a cup of tea!" Sanji said as he swooned after her.

The rest of the crew watched them leave, and then looked at Zoro in shock. "Now why did you go and make her mad?" Luffy asked. "She is just as scary as Nami when she is mad."

Angrily Nami punched Luffy in the face and stalked away as well.

Zoro started laughing, then grimaced and grabbed his sore side. "I wanted to see if she has a fire within her. I was getting annoyed of her self-righteousness and her constant nagging. She thinks she is above me, and I want to put her in her place."

Robin giggled and walked away, wondering if the heat she had seen in Nina's cheeks was from her anger toward the swordsman's words, or caused by something else.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Further out in the ocean, a small ship was drifting along edging closer and closer to the small town of Veritas. Aboard it the crew was poring over a couple maps, trying to decide which side of the island they should land on.

"I say we go to the nearest dock." Yosaku said.

Johnny looked at him and shook his head. "I say we go around the island and dock at the far side. We are less likely to be seen by the Navy on that side."

"That may be true, but we could risk being spotted on the long journey around the island." Usopp pointed out.

"I say we just dock on this side." Chopper stated.

Yosaku laughed. "Majority rules, we dock on this side."

Johnny shrugged his shoulders and sighed in defeat.

"So what exactly are we looking for at this island?" Usopp asked them. "Chopper and I do not know all the details to this story you gave us back at Mirror Island."

Johnny sat down and looked at him excitedly. "Well according to some rumors flying around the area, the Navy has a woman who is apparently a psychic living in one of their fortresses. All we have heard is that she can foresee the future, and can see snippets of a person's fate. Yosaku and I thought it would be beneficial to all of us if we could not only see parts of our future, but what else this woman might know. Hence why we found you guys and got some of you to tag along."

Chopper nodded and looked out over the calm sea. "I wonder how everyone else is doing though. I worry about them, especially Zoro and Luffy. I know Nina is a good person and that she has some medical knowledge, but they are down two members and who knows what the next island will have in store for them."

Usopp looked at the small doctor and smiled. "They will be alright. We have known them for a long time, and when we all fight together we are unbeatable!"

Chopper looked up at Usopp and smiled in relief. "You are right Usopp! Hopefully we can find this witch lady quickly and get back to our friends!"

Yosaku laughed at Chopper's enthusiasm. "She is not a witch Little Bro, she is a psychic. But you are right in saying that we need to handle these things quickly so we can return to Brother Luffy. As soon as we dock, we will go and try to find some information on this lady as well as any other valuable news. I do not think it will be easy getting information about this person, but we will manage."

All nodding in agreement, the small group prepared themselves for whatever was waiting for them at the small town of Veritas.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Below The King's deck Nina paced her room, fuming at Zoro's words.

"How dare he say that to me, after I saved his life!"

Storming over to her bed Nina took out her make shift yoga mat and returned to the deck, making her way to the back end of the ship where she could think in peace and be away from the others. Rolling out the mat Nina sat on it and began to meditate, trying to relax her nerves and release some of her anger.

After a few agonizing minutes Nina gave up, as her anger just continued to build. "He just infuriates me so much! What gives him the right to challenge my skills and degrade me?" she grumbled.

Pulling off her shoes, Nina tossed them to the side of the ship along with her mat. Nina stretched her limbs, shaking them around loosely and then began to shadow box, trying to release her anger and train at the same time. Going through a series of complex maneuvers and dodges, Nina began to feel a trail of sweat falling down her back as the sun climbed higher in the sky.

A little while later she grew tired and looked around; trying to get an idea from her environment. Looking up she saw that some of the sails had been tucked away and it gave her an idea. She climbed up one of the nearby masts, and walked halfway down one of the beams.

Sitting down she curled her legs over the beam and let her upper body fall below the beam, holding on with just her legs. Getting comfortable she gripped the beam tightly and began to do sit ups, counting her reps as she went.

Down below her, Sanji had come out from underneath the deck to throw dirty water from his cooking into the ocean. As he turned back around to head back in, he caught movement from above and looked up to see Nina exercising above him. Sanji watched her for a few minutes, admiring her strength and muscles as they flexed in time with her movements. "She may not be as soft bodied as Robin-swan and Nami-swan are, but damn she is still hot!" Smirking, Sanji headed back inside and proceeded to tell the rest of the crew where Nina was.

"She is just as crazy and stupid as Zoro is." Nami muttered into her tea cup.

Curiosity blooming, Luffy got up from the table and went outside to see Nina for himself. Looking up at her, Luffy smiled. "I really did pick a good crew mate. She has a lot of passion and fierceness in her." Above him Nina grew tired and proceeded to perform a back flip, grabbing onto the beam and starting to do pull ups. Shaking his head, Luffy walked to the front of the ship to check on where Zoro was.

Reaching the front deck he saw that Zoro was exercising still, lifting weights on the soles of his feet, his back and face glistening in the sunlight. "You must have really pissed her off." Luffy said.

Zoro stopped and looked at him curiously. "What are you talking about? Who did I piss off?"

Luffy pointed to the back deck. "Nina."

Zoro got back to his feet and wiped his face on a towel. "Why do you say that? Is she upset?"

Luffy smiled. "I don't know, but she is sweating up a storm down on the back deck."

Zoro smirked at his words. "Interesting." Placing his weights down and throwing his shirt back on, he followed Luffy to the back of the ship to check on Nina.

When they reached the back deck they looked up to see Nina doing hand stand push ups on the beam, her face a mask of concentration.

"Don't fall!" Zoro called up to her. "We wouldn't want you forfeiting our duel later due to an injury!"

Looking down at them in annoyance Nina grabbed onto the beam and swung down, somersaulting toward the deck. In shock, Zoro and Luffy stepped back as Nina landed on her feet in front of them. Smirking, Nina walked up to Zoro and looked up at him, breathing hard from the exertion she placed on her body. "Are you feeling threatened Pirate Hunter?"

Zoro just stared at her with his mouth agape. "I-I, uh, n-no!" he stuttered.

Picking up her shoes and mat, Nina walked back below deck as the boys looked after her in awe.

"She is awesome." Luffy said as he followed after her.

Zoro just blinked in wonder and then went back to his training, finding it hard to concentrate after what just happened. "What the fuck is wrong with me? Why does she get under my skin like that? None of the other girls challenge me the way she does!" Zoro continued training for a bit longer, and then retreated back below the ship to shower and rest up for the duel ahead of him.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Usopp and the others had finally docked their ship and began making their way down the winding trail towards the town.

"I do not think that we have to worry about any Navy here since the town is so small." Johnny noted. "But in any case, we should get our needed supplies and information quickly."

The others nodded in agreement. "I think that we may not have to worry either way anyway since none of us have bounties worth much." Yosaku stated.

Usopp and Chopper became crestfallen at his lack of sensitivity. "In a way I am happy to hear that, but it also kind of hurts my pride." Usopp noted sadly.

"Do not worry Usopp, after this mission I bet the Navy will place huge bounties on our heads!" Chopper said excitedly.

"I should already have a huge bounty on my head after I defeated a whole ship of Navy back in the day."

Chopper's eyes glistened in admiration. "Really? Tell me more!"

Usopp stuck his chest out and began telling Chopper all about what had occurred. By the time he finished the story they had made it to the town.

"Chopper, you and Usopp can go get any medicine and books you both may need, while Yosaku and I will be get our food." Johnny said.

Splitting off, Usopp and Chopper entered a book store and they perused the shelves, looking for any books that may interest them. "There is a whole section here about myths and legends!" Chopper said excitedly. "Do you think that Robin would like this book?"

Usopp turned away from his book on slingshots and nodded, a huge smile on his face. "I bet she would! I think we should get a book for each one of them for when we return!"

Chopper twirled with happiness and set to looking for books for each of their mates. He found a book of recipes for Sanji, a book on treasure for Nami and a medicine book for himself.

Usopp found a book all about building weapons for himself, as well as a book about swords for Zoro and one on rare animals for Luffy.

"What do you think Nina would like reading about?" Chopper asked Usopp as he scanned the shelves.

"Hm, good question Chopper. We do not know her that well yet. But she seems to like plants so let's get her one on herbs and plants!"

Chopper giggled in delight as Usopp lifted him up to the top shelf to grab the book. Taking the books to the counter, they paid and tried to strike up conversation with the owner nonchalantly.

"I see we have a pair of readers!" the clerk said happily as he rang up their purchase.

"Oh yes." Usopp said grinning. "We are fans of legends and people who can do extraordinary things!"

Chopper nodded excitedly. "We have heard so many awesome stories, especially ones about a psychic that can see the future!"

The clerk laughed and handed them their books. "You must be talking about the Navy's psychic. She used to live around here actually, but when the Navy found out her ability they hired her on as one of their staff, and now she is never seen outside their walls. She was a fantastic storyteller and was so kind to all of the people around here. We miss her, but we think that it is better for her to be protected by the Navy so that pirates do not hear of where she is and try to kidnap her for her powers."

Leaving the conversation at that so as to not raise suspicion, Usopp and Chopper waved in farewell and headed back to the ship, excited to share what they had found out to Johnny and Yosaku.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Back at The King night began to fall and Nina walked outside to the front deck, shivering as the wind and cold nipped at her.

The rest of the crew trailed behind her, curious as to how the duel would go down.

Reaching the front deck, Nina saw that Zoro was already there waiting for her.

Turning around, he looked at her and grinned. "You ready?"

Nina sniffed. "Yeah, ready to beat your ass."

Zoro laughed. "Sorry sweetheart, but that won't happen."

Taking two wooden swords from the chest next to him, he threw them at her. Catching them in her hands, Nina started swinging them around, adjusting to their size and weight. A surge of excitement ran through her body. "This will be an interesting fight. He will not be easy to beat, but I know I can outsmart him in the end."

The rest of the crew stood behind her, anticipation on their faces. Although none of them would admit, they all were secretly excited to not only see the extent of Nina's capabilities but some of them, namely a certain cook, was hoping to see Zoro fall on his ass.

Zoro also proceeded to take two from the chest and turned around to face her, his swords at the ready. "I will take it easy it on you and not use a third sword." he mocked.

Nina's temple twitched in annoyance at his words but she said nothing in return.

Grinning Zoro looked at the crew behind Nina. "Did anybody make any bets?"

Luffy looked at both of them and said: "Robin and I think that you will win, while Sanji and Nami think that Nina will win."

Nina smiled, her confidence soaring when she heard that the odds were tied up. "How about we make our own bet? If I win, you will admit that I am a better swordsman and that you are weaker than a girl."

Zoro scowled at her. "Fine. But if I win you will admit that you are weaker than I and you will have to spar with me whenever I ask."

Nina frowned at his words, but anticipation fluttered in her chest. "Deal."

Using the opportunity, Nina lunged at him with her swords, swinging at his head.

Parrying her blow, Zoro swung his other sword at her feet hoping to trip her up. Nimbly, Nina back flipped away from the attack and placed some space between the two of them. "Impatient are we?" Zoro asked snickering.

Lunging back at him, Nina swung her swords on either side of Zoro, hoping to trap him between the two, but he quickly blocked the attack with his own swords and pushed her back.

As the fight intensified, the crew just watched in amazement as Nina and Zoro expertly blocked and parried one another's attacks. "It's like they are the same person, in perfect synchronization with one another." Nami noticed.

Sweat began to pour off Nina and Zoro's bodies even in the cold air as they continued to duel fiercely. "I will not go easy on you." Zoro huffed.

"I do not expect you too." Nina said as she thrusted her sword at Zoro's face. Dodging the blade, Zoro crouched and kicked out his legs, clipping Nina's ankle and causing her to crash head first into the mast with a resounding crack.

Stunned, Nina dropped her swords and sank to the deck, a dazed look on her face. Taking the open opportunity Zoro lunged at her, swinging his sword at her side.

Just in the nick of time Nina sprang forward, grabbed her swords, and landed back on her feet. She turned around just in time to block another side swipe from Zoro.

"Quite a nimble little thing aren't you?" Zoro teased. "But that won't save you for long." Zoro rushed at her, intensifying his attacks, causing her to back up little by little as she tried to defend herself.

When her back hit the rail, Nina tried to side step but she tripped and slammed against the rail, the wind getting knocked out of her. Zoro followed and stepped behind her to deliver a crushing blow. Waiting until he was directly behind her, Nina pushed off the rail and swung her arm sideways, connecting with Zoro's injured side.

"Argh!" Zoro gasped, falling to his knees and grabbing his side.

Twisting away, Nina ran to the other side of the deck and raised her swords in defense.

The crew watched with bated breath, knowing that the fight would soon be over.

As he turned to face her, Zoro and Nina charged at each other. Stopping suddenly, Zoro side stepped from their path and as soon as Nina passed him he swung his sword at her legs, catching her knees and caused her body to land flat on her back. Kicking away her swords, Zoro swung his sword at her to finish the duel but Nina anticipated his move, and rolled away from him.

Gathering her feet under herself Nina lunged at Zoro, trying to knock the swords from his grasp, but he dodged her and she flew past him. As they both got to their feet, they stood looking at each other, panting heavily.

The crew just stared in awe, surprised at how close in skill the two were.

Keeping her eyes on Zoro, Nina bent down and picked up the swords that lay by her feet. Before she could attack him again a blinding white light eclipsed her vision, causing her to see double and she winced in pain. "I have to end this now." Nina realized.

Unsteady on her feet, Nina put all her remaining strength into one last attack; swinging her swords with all her might at Zoro. Using only one sword, Zoro parried both of hers, causing them to fly from her hands. Swinging himself around behind her, he took his sword and held it to her throat. "Game over." Zoro said.

The crew clapped behind them, and then came over to congratulate the both of them. "You are fantastic Nina!" Luffy said hugging her.

"Oh Nina-swan you are so graceful and beautiful with your sword play!" Sanji exclaimed as he swooned all over the deck.

"Yea, but I lost." she said sadly.

"You gave me a run for my money. You have had excellent training." Zoro said as he walked up to her.

Nina smiled and extended her hand to Zoro. "Good job. I admit defeat and that you are a better swordsman, for now."

Zoro smiled, shook her hand, and then embraced her in a hug. "I would be proud to have you stand beside me in any battle." Zoro whispered into her ear.

Smiling, Nina exited the group and went to pick up the swords, as the rest of the crew started to go back below deck, out of the cold.

"We shall celebrate with my famous carrot cake and hot tea!" Sanji announced.

Cheering Luffy raced below deck, Nami and Robin laughing as they followed the boys down below.

Walking over to her, Zoro helped pick up the swords and they placed them back in the chest. Going to stand, Nina's head swam and she swayed, grabbing onto Zoro's shoulder for support.

"Whoa are you okay?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah." Nina answered shakily. "I must have hit my head harder than I thought."

Taking her arm Zoro led her to the rail and had her sit down. "Sit tight. I will go get you some water."

Dashing away Zoro headed below deck, leaving Nina on the deck alone.

Reaching up to grasp her head, Nina's vision blurred and her eyesight slowly began to fade to black. "No! This can't be happening now!" Losing consciousness, Nina's limp body teetered over the edge of the ship, and then dropped toward the cold water below.

TO BE CONTINUED...

What will happen to Nina? Who is this Navy psychic? Stay tuned!

ANY AND ALL REVIEWS/COMMENTS/QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME! :)