AN: Yay, new chapter. I sort of wish that writing didn't suck up so much time but what are ya gonna do? Make a pathetic chapter? Not if I can help it. But I will say I could be putting more effort compared to the stories that I've seen.

Anyways, here you are.

Chapter 10 – Resting

Zoro and Hatame clashed in the center of the stage, their power being pushed together made the ground around them slightly shake. They backed up from each other and slowly circled around while having their sights locked on the other. Both could tell from the clash that there was more to be had in the battle.

"I expected you to be far weaker than this Roronora" said Hatame

Zoro swung his sword and created a burst of wind toward his opponent, which Hatame dodged by jumping to the side. Zoro ran to the spot where he moved to, and a fury of clashes followed as Zoro tried to gain the offensive. All Hatame could do was either block or flee the barrage of attacks Zoro pushed onto him. Just when he couldn't defend any more, Zoro jumped back and smirked with his blades to his sides.

"And I expected more of a challenge"

Zoro knew though that he had only gotten the edge for the moment, and so did Hatame.

But that still didn't stop his opponent from losing his cool "Come here, I'll show a challenge!" yelled Hatame as he tried to attack once more.

(POV Shift)

Robin was still sitting on the floor under the stairs as the unknown girl stood before her with her back turned. She wasn't afraid of the situation she was in, for if she wanted to have Robin discovered, she could have easily alerted whatever guards that were near by. But instead, the girl wanted to know about Zoro. 'So you're the one who probably put up these posters…' thought Robin as she stood. The girl turned and stood facing Robin with a plain but expecting face, wanting to know the response of Robin. She didn't want to talk in the position she was in, but decided to comply as she walked around toward the stairs that went up.

"He's doing fine. Right now he should be finishing up the white blades" the look of excitement rose on the girls face, and she ran next to Robin.

"Oh so you both are here? Is the rest of the Straw hats here then?" asked the girl

Robin didn't show any change of her demeanor, but smirked inwardly to how the little girl reacted. If Robin could feed her all the information she wanted until she got to Uma Flond, then getting to the top would be easy. The girl was probably a resident of the sword. And if she was seen next to her, it wouldn't be seen as intrusion, but as if the girl had invited Robin in. Before she gave out more info however, she needed to confirm the authority of this girl.

"Can you tell me your name first?" asked Robin

The girl immediately told her "Catala Flond, and forget my first question. What's Zoro's favorite food? Does he have any sleeping habits? What does he do on the ship, like any hobbies?" Catala couldn't and wouldn't stop herself as the two began walking up the stairs. Robin tried to answer all the questions that were blurted, but some she had to skip to keep up with the newer ones. Once they both reached the top of the stairs, the next floor, she saw two men suited in armor that indicated they guarded the sword. When they saw her, they frowned. When they noticed the girl beside Robin, they returned to their postures and let them continue. Robin resumed her responses and was glad that the daughter of Uma held authority here.

'Won't be long now I suppose'

(POV shift)

Both warriors of blades were exhausted and their arms felt like they could give out at any moment. They had both unconsciously agreed to only use attacks that didn't affect the battlefield, thus the entire match they were wearing each other down by the minute. To Zoro, it was like training. He always pushed himself to the absolute limit while trying to achieve higher levels of skill and power, so the feeling of nearly passing out felt familiar.

But to Hatame, it was different. He hadn't been forced to use this much effort in a battle in a long time. The feeling of near defeat was creeping up the back of his mind and he shook his head. His optimal condition may have been lost due to the battle, but he would always keep the pride that he had. Since the beginning days of his swordsmanship, he felt fated to become powerful through the ways of blades. So he pursued his dream to be the best at sword fighting and he was naturally a gifted fighter. Instinct was his main foothold and he usually never needed a strong motivation or a lot of effort to win a battle. Zoro however, always had to put all he had in a fight, and now he stood without fear before his opponent.

"You're not going to win here, or ever again Roronora! I swear I'll defeat you and become the greatest swordsman there ever was! I swear it before your death!" Hatame yelled so loud, it sounded like he wasn't yelling to the crowds, or even Zoro. The one he was trying to convince was himself.

Zoro's eyes flinched to his announcement and glared to Hatame. He drew his swords back into their slots with out letting his sights leave Hatame. The blade in his mouth was still being clenched by his teeth. He lifted his fists up and had them tightened as if he were about to fight with only his hands and feet.

The stance was out of its environment and this was confusing to the leader of the white blades. "What now? Have you given up your blades and refuse to use them?" asked Hatame

The Straw Hat pirate ran toward his opponent without a word, as if it was to be expected to use this type of tactic.

"You'll be sorry that you've abandoned your three style battling" said Hatame as Zoro reached him. Zoro took the sword from his mouth and held it with both hands and began assaulting Hatame with his blade, matching his opponent with blows that had him step back slowly. Hatame was having trouble keeping up with Zoro, the attitude that the swordsmen had was different than before, with him always glaring and movements that allowed him to attack furiously and quickly.

"The hell?" Zoro was now able to keep up with Hatame with only one sword, with skill that was focused and direct, it was definitely because of something that he had said.

"What? You can't stand the thought of the title falling to me? I'll prove it to you now that such a name should and will only belong to-"

"You talk so much its incredible" said Zoro as he swung and knocked away Hatame's weapons.

"I just thought that you were becoming annoying… so…" said Zoro as he stabbed his blade into his unarmed opponent.

"I got serious" he said glaring into his eyes.

Without moving the rest of his body, Zoro used his right arm to pull out the sword from Hatame as if he had accidentally threw his sword and was retrieving it from a stone wall.

His opponent stuttered, trying to comprehend the situation, the pain in his chest, and began to slowly slump. Before he fell, Zoro broke his fall with his right leg by raising it to the side.

He stared at Hatame, and let him drop gently. His intent wasn't to kill, it was to win. As a plus, he might get information.

"Uma Flond… How powerful is she?" asked Zoro

Hatame was wheezing on the ground, his face turned away from the man who was more powerful and conceded victory. "You want to fight her? Ha- Hugh!" He felt a jolt of pain from laughing and decided to control himself from then on.

"She, She is rivaled to Mihawk! There's no way a swordsman… such as yourself… could match her power!" he declared. Zoro looked up to the giant sword, his sight slightly blurred by the bright sun. "So do I go up there to fight her?" Zoro asked.

"It's been so long that she has had to come down and fight… A fighter who could beat the white blades… she is probably resting right now"

Zoro sighed, so he would have to go and ask for the blade of Haro.

He turned to the entrance of the arena and began walking. Hatame heard his steps move and he looked up in shock. "Hey! What are you doing? You couldn't be serious about fighting her right?"

Zoro didn't stop to face him; he only continued to walk.

"Of course I was kidding. I need to be in top condition if I'm going to fight someone like her. First I'll grab something to eat, THEN I'll go up there and challenge her" he said

(POV Shift)

"And what type of people is he interested in? Does he really fight like a demon?" Asked Katala.

Robin raised her hand to stop her, they were being blocked. Before them was the top floor of the giant sword. There was no more stairs to go up and before them was two very fortified doors that were guarded by a single soldier. This one had full body armor, covering his entire body so that you couldn't identify their age, race, or anything about them. The color of the armor was red, bright red. They had a helmet that had had only a line of glass so that they could see, and the glass was tinted black.

"Zoro usually isn't interested in other people unless they are Hawkeye Mihawk, or someone honorable. And he fights like a demon when he puts on a bandanna that makes his eyes far more intimidating"

Robin began walking toward the doors when Katala placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You aren't supposed to go there" she said it with such a monotone voice it was more than enough to show that all giddiness about Zoro had left her conscious.

Robin sighed; she hadn't really wanted to fight right at the entrance of Uma Flond, but what choice was left. She took hold of Katala's hand that rested on her, and with speed twisted her arm so that she faced her and called forth her powers to pin her down. Katala wasn't going to go down that quickly though, she immediately tightened her grip on Robin and pulled herself forward to knee her in the gut. Robin was left with no air, and some of the arms dispersed. She began to summon more when Katala swiftly swung her leg up and attempted a kick. An arm blocked the hit and this time Katala jumped forward with only one leg and threw a left slug. It hit home, but because of it, she was about to be encased with arms. Before that Katala grabbed on to Robin so that she was in close range, but trapped. Robin was just about to use her signature move clutch when Katala slammed her head into Robin's disorienting her from the action. The arms held on, but again, Katala pulled her head back and struck Robin with her forehead. The second time Robin had an instant of blurry vision, but she regained focus and grabbed onto Katala with her own arms instead of summoning up new ones.

"Clutch!" announced Robin as the sickening sound of a cracking neck bursted in the room. Katala's eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground with a thud as the arms disappeared. Robin took in a breath. Katala was not someone who was helpless, that was clear now.

She looked ahead to the guard who stood before the doors. 'Zoro would probably be heading up here now. I need to speed up this process… but this opponent doesn't have any weak points. I'll have to only aim at the joint points and hope for the bes-' Robin was struck in the back of the head such extreme force, it hurt so bad and now it was three times that her head had been knocked on so forcefully. She dropped to the ground and looked behind her.

Katala jumped forward and placed her hands on Robin's head and twisted her arms.

"Clutch!" she announced just as Robin had.

Robin couldn't form any thoughts as she dropped to the ground and fell unconscious. Katala smirked as she looked at Robin. "I knew about your Devil fruit powers, but you didn't know about my Wake-Wake powers. It helps a lot whenever I am about to lose since I can just jump right back up! But I have to use it before I fall asleep or else nothing happens, and also it hurts a lot if I force it too many times…" she slowly stopped her rant about how special she was and looked around. She was alone again. She sighed, nobody in this dammed palace ever talked to her, it was infuriating. And today not only did someone come in and talk, it was someone who knew a lot about that super cool pirate Roronora Zoro! She so badly wanted to meet him, but how would she find him. There was no doubt in her mind that Zoro defeated that band of White blades, but now there was no telling where he was!

She looked back to Robin, and an idea formed in her mind "Okay Miss Nico, time for you to play bait!" she said as she picked up the Straw Hat pirate and ran back down the stairs.

The only thing left before the doors was the red armored soldier that stood post. They had witnessed the whole thing, and yet, didn't move a muscle the entire time.

'Katala had it under wraps the whole time… I'm glad I didn't have to interfere and get yelled at for assisting her' they thought

AN: Thank you guest who posted "Updaaaaate!"

Even thought I have no clue as to who you are, it gave me a will to finish up this chapter that I had been working on for a while now. I really needed that, thank you.

And now I should go over the future of this thing. I know that this is a story, and it needs attention from me otherwise it won't finish. But… I'm starting to stray away from the ZoroxRobin pairing and am beginning to lean for another one.

I promise you that I will finish this fanfic, but please know that the reason why I'm not all "Go!" for the story anymore is because it just doesn't have as much value as it did to me back then. So all the reviews help, and who knows? Maybe I'll get some passion for this pairing again if you guys show that I'm doing a good job displaying their relationship.