Bepo yawned, it had been a week since they had left the small island where the family reunion had been held. Their visit to Dawn Island had been nice, and Makino and Dadan had seen them off with a party. They'd been given presents of food and clothes, and they'd left after promising to write or call. They'd seen two other islands in that time, the last one having been two days ago. Bepo knew that the next one would be coming up soon, and after that there wouldn't be another island for about two weeks. They had plans to stock up at the next island. Bepo yawned again, it was so warm.

He frowned, and pulled out a caffeine pill that Law had given him. Law was finally sleeping so Bepo needed to stay awake. He popped the pill in his mouth and chewed. Energy returned to him, and he was wide awake. He looked up at the sail where just yesterday Law had finally painted their symbol. Bepo thought that it was sweet that Law was naming the pirate group after his father. His captain was unexpectedly sappy.

Bepo grinned, and locked the wheel. He'd clean while there was some down time. The island they were headed towards was still about an hour or two away. Bepo was excited to see it. The island had a large population of swordsmen, and women. He thought that it would do Law good to practice against a sword style that was completely different from that of the Marine's.

With that happy thought in mind he set to sweeping. It didn't take him as long as he thought it would though, so he quickly moved onto scrubbing the deck, and then to dusting the interior. When he was finished with that, he set about organizing the Charts Room. After he was finished with that he took the helm back. He could see the island, and figured that Law would punish him if he let their ship be destroyed because of his need to occupy his hands.

He set about slowing the ship down, and dropped anchor. He raised the sails and tied them off. They didn't have a flag yet so with the sails rolled, no one could tell that it was a pirate ship. That would work to their advantage while they were still so close to where they had left Law's family. He finished docking the ship and then paused. He knew that Law needed his sleep, but they were here, and Bepo really wanted Law to see the island, and its people.

He needn't have worried, because less than a minute after docking, Law emerged from the bowels of the ship. The seventeen year old yawned and stretched, then propped his nodachi on his shoulder, and moved over to Bepo. "Let's go get what we need." He said.

Bepo nodded, "Aye, aye captain." He said. Law jumped off of the ship, and landed on the dock, and Bepo followed closely behind.

Law found himself fascinated by the people walking around. Most of them had swords, even the children carried around bamboo swords. It was nice not to receive strange looks because of his nodachi. The two friends walked for a while, looking around, and figuring out where to buy what they needed. Suddenly a loud cry rang out. Law found himself moving towards it without thinking. His doctor senses were tingling.

Bepo followed him confused, his captain was leading them away from the vendors, and towards what looked like a group of dojos. Law stopped before a smaller one, and removed his shoes before entering. Bepo followed his lead. The inside was plain. It had wooden floors, and walls, and the doors were paper. On the far wall hung wooden planks containing names. On the ground in the middle of a group of people there was a green haired boy. Two wooden practice swords lay beside him, and a laceration on his forehead was bleeding profusely. Law pushed through the crowd, and Bepo did the same. Rather, he tried to do the same, but when the students saw a bear, they all moved back pretty quickly leaving only an older man with long black hair and glasses to stand beside the downed boy, and a small black haired girl who looked up at Bepo with wonder.

Law looked at the green-haired kid, he looked to be a year older than Luffy, and then he handed his nodachi to Bepo. "Hold onto this really quick Bepo." Law said.

"Aye, captain." Bepo said, and took a step back from Law. Law was in doctor mode, and wouldn't want him to get in his way over something so small as the head wound the boy had. Law pushed his sleeves back, and the boy looked at his tattoos. The instructor also looked at the tattoos, but didn't say anything, as Bepo handed Law the medical kit he always carried around. Law pulled out a sterile clothe, and removed the blood from around the head wound, then applied a styptic to stem the flow of blood so that the gauze he applied wouldn't be bled through right away. Then he wrapped a bandage around the kid's forehead to keep the gauze in place. Finally he taped it off, and set about checking the kid for a concussion.

"Room." He said. The green haired kid didn't even blink when the blue sphere enveloped him. Law read the scan, and nodded. "You will be fine. You don't have a concussion, and the wound isn't very deep. Lacerations to the head tend to bleed a lot, that is all." He said, then stood up, and Bepo knelt to close the medical kit. Law had blood on his hands, and that wasn't very sterile. After the kit was returned to Bepo's hiding place for it, the instructor had one of the kids go and fetch water so Law could clean his hands.

The green haired kid stood up. Law was impressed, the kid didn't show any indication of the pain he had to be feeling, instead his intense eyes settled on Law, "Your sword is cursed." He said.

Law looked at the kid, his face carefully blank, "I know." He said as he washed his hands, and then took back his nodachi.

"So why do you wield it? Don't cursed swords turn on their wielders?" he asked, his face obviously said that he thought Law had a few screws loose.

Law smirked, "My nodachi accepts me because I want the same thing it wants." He said as though it was obvious. "How did you know that my nodachi is cursed?" he asked. He didn't exactly carry around a sign that said, 'CURSED SWORD HERE!' or anything.

"I can feel it." The kid said.

Law's eyes widened a bit, and he exchanged glances with the kid's teacher, "What's your name?" Law asked.

"Zoro, and I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman." He said. Law grinned at the kid, and turned to leave.

He stopped and looked back over his shoulder, "I believe that you can do it. You remind me of my little brother. You both have a determination that can't be taught." He said, then started to walk out again. He felt a hand ascending towards his shoulder, so he dodged, and turned around, his sheathed sword blocking the hand off him.

Behind him stood Zoro's teacher, "I would like a match against you before you leave this island. There is something, also, that I wish to speak to you about." He said. Law's eyes locked with the other man's, and finally he nodded.

"Bepo and I are going supply shopping, come find us in about an hour at our ship, and then we will follow you to your preferred area." He said, then he turned and swept out, Bepo following closely behind.

Bepo was really happy for his captain. It had been his goal for him to view a different swords style anyways. He could barely stop himself from humming as they went shopping.