Ash slid to a stop, and just laid there, completely exhausted. Day after day for the past two months, Mihawk had whipped her into shape, a shape that was in his words, "somewhat acceptable". He usually checked on her once or twice throughout the day unless he was away from the island, but otherwise it was up to her to complete the daily regimen. Once, she had skipped the final rep of push ups, and somehow he had looked at her the following morning and KNEW. How, she doubted she would ever know, but that was the last time she didn't follow his directions to the letter.

Today, however, she had finally lost her patience, after getting no answers to when she would start learning swordplay, and she had demanded to receive new training. Mihawk looked at her with narrowed eyes, then said, "you have five minutes." She gave a questioning expression, and he clarified. "Five minutes in which to simply touch me. If you are able to, we will start your weapon training."

She told herself it was a trap that he was laying for her, yet felt this was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. He stood there, with his arms crossed over his chest, counting aloud every ten seconds.

"Four minutes thirty seconds," he said, and she started to move forward. He side stepped every move she made, with the most minimal movements himself. She pumped myself up, and stepped up her game, but continued to fall short.

"Three minutes."

Ash continued to strike out at him, missing with a jab, and turning, struck out with her back foot- missed again. It was like he could anticipate my every move! she thought.

"One minute."

She systematically employed everything in her arsenal- rolls, cartwheels, leaps and even feinting to one side but attacking to the opposite. Nothing she did made any difference, and she was panting and sweating while he looked as if he wasn't even moving.

"Ten seconds."

Last ditch effort, she thought, and running forward, leaped into a flying tackle, determined to give it all.

He jumped. And she sailed right under him.

And so here she was, utterly exhausted and very humbled. He had defeated her without a single attack. Once she had her breath under control, she stood on shaky legs, bowed to him and asked, "back to training then, Master?" He smirked in reply, and continued where they had left off before, with Ash being much more attentive this time.

Mihawk was frustrated. In the beginning, Ashley proved to be adept at following directions, and he could see the progress she made the last few weeks as she became stronger and swifter under his tutelage. Since that day two months ago when he had demonstrated her speed in comparison to his own, she pushed herself even further. She was now able to avoid most of his general attacks, and was stronger than about half of the humandrills.

The frustrating thing however, she was unwilling to attack offensively. She was consistently on the defensive, and never utilizing openings given by her opponents. Her goal- being able to defend her family and keep them safe. No matter how he argued with her about it, her only response was that she needed only to defend, that she had no need to attack others.

It was maddening, and he was ready to simply end their training. If she was unwilling to listen to him, to follow his directions in all things, than he had no use for her. On the other hand, he refused to FAIL. He still had a trick or two up his sleeve, and he would use them.

She was surprised when he announced that she would be accompanying him off the island. He stated, that against the dangers that existed on the Grand Line, she would need to utilize all her skill, and he would show her that attacking offensively could mean the difference between safety or death for those she traveled with. She nodded, though he could tell that she was dubious. His training on keeping her emotions from showing was working however, as anyone else would have only seen her as agreeing with him.

He had her row the small boat, knowing it would be difficult, but she did so without complaint. He could have generated waves to push them along easily, but didn't. That would mean attacking the water… he smirked at the thought, and we can't have that.

If this didn't work, then his last effort would be to take her to Red-Hair. The stories of pirates he could tell may change her mind, but he doubted it. However, Beckman was a good resource for logic to convince her, and if all else failed, he would simply leave her with Red-Hair and return home alone.

After days of travel, he tried to broach the subject again, but found himself ready to tear his hair out.

"You cannot simply defend, there are instances where attacking will mean saving those you care about or travel with," he started again. "I will not teach you another thing until you explain this!" he snapped, his patience gone.

"I don't know if I can, Master" she said, looking at the oar in her hands. "I simply believe that I can beat others without causing harm, and by so doing, protect others. I don't want to kill anyone."

He paused, as he heard this for it was news to him. Not kill anyone? Was she naive? This was the Grand Line, and everyone here would kill her in an instant if needed, and others would kill her for fun.

"You are being foolish" he stated, finally seeing the problem for what it was. "Some may deserve the mercy you wish to show, however others will use that against you, and you will be defeated."

"Yes, Master" she said, returning to her rowing. He sneered at her back, knowing that she didn't agree with him, she simply wanted to end the argument. Which also meant, she would continue fighting her own way.

"I will be taking a nap, ensure that we stay on course" he said, before settling down, being tired from staying up on watch at night.

He felt like he had barely fallen asleep when he was jostled awake by the harsh rocking of his boat. He opened his eyes, ready to growl at Ashley, and saw that she was using all her energy, trying to keep the boat from capsizing. He looked out onto the ocean, and saw a massive fleet of pirate ships approaching them. There must have been at least thirty.

As the ships came nearer, he could see that they all flew the same jolly roger. "Pirates" he stated, looking at his trainee. She took the news well, simply waiting for his commands. The ships began to bear down on them, and he could hear the order from the flag ship to destroy them. He stood and pulled out his sword. Without turning he spoke to Ashley, "if I were to simply defend now, we would both die."

He could feel her eyes on him as he stepped forward and began to release attack after attack. He could hear her gasp as she saw the sheer devastation that his attacks did, watching as the ships were systematically sliced into pieces, one after the other.

She found it difficult to even count the amount of ships that he sunk. He did not need to be near them to attack them, his sword strikes so powerful that the shock waves did the damage that the sword itself would have done. She flinched as she heard the screaming of the people as they fell into the water, most not coming back up to the surface. When she couldn't take any more, she yelled.

"Stop! Please, stop it!" Her hand outstretched toward him. "This is uncalled for! Those poor people!"

He sheathed his sword and turned to her, staring until she raised her gaze to his. "No, not poor people. They are pirates. People who hurt others, who in the future could hurt your family." He willed her to understand what he was saying. "By attacking first, I am defending others who would have been overwhelmed and defeated."

"You don't know that for certain," she shot back, and he snarled.

"They thought we were easy prey, and came after us to destroy us!" he growled at her. She lowered her head again, seemingly cowed. It seemed he could not put in words a way to make her understand, but perhaps… he could show her.

"Shall we see then?" he asked. He pointed to the largest ship that was sailing away as quickly as it could manage. "I left their flag ship damaged, but still able to sail. Let's follow after them, and see what they do."

"For what purpose?" she asked.

"Understanding," he stated. "So that you will see the consequences of inaction."

She sat silently in thought, looking in his eyes for answers before saying, "Very well," and she picked up her oar. "I will not be able to catch them on my own," she said with a hint of a smile, trying to dispel the tense air between them.

He smirked back. "We will let them feel as if they escaped. We'll get a better idea of what their true intentions are." He sat back down, reclining so that he could go back to sleep. He sighed in content as Ashley started slowly moving the boat after the huge ship. Letting his frustrations out on the pirates had been rather therapeutic, and he felt as though he would sleep well now.