Zoro looked around at the island he was on.
This is...Mihawk's island...
Zoro ran his hand though his green hair and paused for a second to listen to his surroundings.
His other hand went straight for Wado Ichimonji, his old friend's sword.
That's...strange...
Zoro noticed nothing and let his hands relax, the one that he ran through his hair, dropped to his side, but the one on the katana's handle didn't move.
His mind reeled with thoughts and his head started to hurt.
What's going on?
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, his knees gave out beneath him and he fell to the ground, clutching his head, trying to fight the pain that had taken over his brain.
"You're going to be the greatest swordsman in the world remember? You're name will be carried to the heavens! You have to get stronger if you want to be the best!"
"I...I need to...to get stronger." Zoro mumbled as his hands still clutched his aching temples.
"What are you? You little pansy! Fight through the pain!"
Zoro's eyes shot open wide and his hands dropped to the ground and he slowly pushed himself up.
"Fight through the pain." He said through gritted teeth.
"You're going to get stronger...for Luffy. If he wants to become the king of the pirates then you better shape up Zoro! He won't get very far if his first mate gets brought to his knees by a small headache?!"
Zoro straightened his back and he smirked while looking around the island again.
Time to go find Mihawk...
Zoro was making his way towards Mihawk's castle and on his way there, he ran into baboons...lots of baboons.
The pain that he felt earlier, had faded to a dull ache but Zoro just pushed it to the back of his mind.
No need to worry about pain...I need to get stronger...for him...for...her...
139 baboons, lay unconscious in front of Mihawk's castle, thanks to Zoro's doing.
At this very moment, Zoro's forehead touched the ground as he bowed to Mihawk.
"Train me as a swordsman!" Zoro shouted.
He never noticed how much all those cuts hurt until now.
"Fight through it."
"I'm disappointed in you, Roronoa!" Mihawk said as he turned his head away from the bowing Zoro.
"Are you asking your enemy for instruction? Shame on you."
Zoro still bowed, his mind focusing on pushing the pain aside.
"Get out of here. I have no time for a boring man. I think I was overestimating you." Mihawk said as he grabbed a bottle of wine to fill his glass.
Zoro breathed deeply, in and out, listening to Mihawk's words but focusing on the pain that was now subsiding to a slight sting.
"What are you doing? That's just embarrassing." Mihawk said as he poured the wine into his glass.
"I wanna get stronger!" Zoro shouted, the anger evident in his voice.
"You were beaten by the baboons and you couldn't get to the sea, so you came back here. I have nothing to teach to someone like that." Mihawk said.
Blood dripped from a wound caused by the baboons.
Drip...drip...
Mihawk tilted his glass to drink some of his wine.
"I beat the baboons." Zoro said and Mihawk looked at the green haired swordsman.
He beat them?
Mihawk thought as he looked at Zoro.
"You're the only one left to beat here! But I'm not so stupid as to think that I'm good enough to beat you!" Zoro strained out as the pain came back twice as bad as before.
"I don't understand. You still see me as an enemy. Then why are you bowing to me and asking for my guidance?" Mihawk asked, confused as to why Zoro is doing this.
"What's the purpose?" He finished.
Zoro looked up at Mihawk, he showed determination.
"I wanna beat you!"
Mihawk scowled and then burst into laughter.
"You're asking me to train a swordsman who wants to kill me? You're weird. And what you're asking is nonsense. Even so, what you're doing is still embarrassing. Seems like you found something more important than your ambition." Mihawk said and Zoro gritted his teeth.
Images of Robin flashed through his mind for a split second.
"Oi, ghost girl, treat him." Mihawk ordered.
"Don't tell me what to do!" She retaliated as she gripped her umbrella in anger.
"The training will began when you have recovered." Mihawk said to Zoro, completely ignoring the pink haired ghost.
"Everybody keeps demanding so much of me! Come on, move it now!" The pink haired ghost girl complained as she pushed Zoro along to go and tend to his wounds.
Mihawk drank some more of his wine and sighed.
What a clumsy fool. When a man like you swallows his pride, it's always for someone else.
Perona sat cross legged on a stool near the bed that Zoro was on, a newspaper in hand.
The news paper was flipped open to a picture of the infamous Monkey D. Luffy.
"3D is crossed out and 2Y is written?" Perona wondered aloud, referring to Luffy's tattoo on his arm.
"We made a promise to meet again at a certain place 3 days later." Zoro explained as he looked at the small squared paper in his hands.
"But...we couldn't make it." He winced at the thought.
"So '3D' means 3 days!" Perona exclaimed.
"But...3D is crossed out and 2Y..." She carried off, confusion overtaking her.
"2 years." Zoro said.
"2 years!"
"The meeting will be 2 years later instead of 3 days later." Zoro nodded.
"And everything else was done just to get all the publicity. This is a message exclusively to us. Luffy made a decision. Even if we rush now, we're not good enough to get far in the New World. We have to stop once and get stronger. And meet again no matter what!" Zoro exclaimed as he pieced everything together.
His grip tightened on the paper with 'Rayleigh' written on it.
I'll get stronger for you Luffy...and you too Robin...I'll get stronger for you too...
Zoro walked out of the huge wooden doors after Mihawk, Perona shouting at him about rest.
Zoro looked over at Mihawk and then in front of him again.
His mind flooded with the memory of when Luffy jumped in front of the bullets that time Zoro was meant to be executed.
Luffy barely knew him and he jumped in front of dozens of bullets for him.
Then he remembered when Zoro told Luffy that he would never be defeated.
He also remembered that time in the crows nest, when he was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and Robin was reading her book.
He remembered the peaceful silence that would surround them whenever they didn't feel like talking.
Zoro unsheathed his swords.
"There isn't enough time for everything anyway. So let's do it."
He said as he got into his 3 sword style position.
Mihawk chuckled.
"You said you beat the baboons. They acquired their swordsmanship by copying humans. There are ranks among them and there is a master. He is the leader that rules all the baboons on this island." Mihawk explained as a huge baboon came stomping up.
The sword on the baboon's back caught Zoro's attention.
"That sword is..." He trailed off, trying to figure out where he seen it before.
"He mastered it by copying what I do. He's different from the baboons that you fought." Mihawk smirked.
"Sounds like fun." Zoro said as he walked toward the big baboon.
I'm gonna get much, much stronger!
Zoro and the baboon charged and they swung their swords.
Their swords made a loud clink! noise as they hit together.
Shock went through Zoro as his body moved with his swords.
He landed on the ground and the baboon made eye contact with the human swordsman.
It was as if Zoro could tell what move the baboon would make next and he charged, as did the baboon.
After what seemed to be hours, the sun began to drift into the sea and the sky became dark.
The baboon struck Zoro and Zoro fell to the ground with a thud and his swords fell from hands, but he still held onto Wado Ichimonji.
This baboon is quite strong...but I won't let that stop me! I'm gonna beat it and become stronger! Much, much stronger!
Zoro pushed himself up and took his sword out of his mouth to spit out some blood.
"He's going to get hurt even more! He should be resting!" Perona complained and Mihawk shook his head.
"This is a very entertaining sight. Enjoy it."
Zoro was hit with the sword and he went flying.
Blood flowed from his mouth and the pain was unbearable.
"Get up! Fight through the pain! Become stronger!"
Zoro pushed the pain aside and stood, Wado Ichinomji held tightly in his bandaged hand.
He noticed his other two swords behind the baboon king and quickly, he ran towards them, slicing at the baboon on his way by.
He snatched up his swords as the baboon let out a low grumbling sound that Zoro noted was a pained growl.
He noticed blood pouring from the cut on the baboon and he watched as it grew angrier.
This is my chance...to beat this thing...
Zoro ran towards the baboon and jumped, slicing it, one after another, non-stop.
Zoro fell to the ground panting.
That should have done him in...
As the dust settled, Zoro stood tall with a smirk on his face, the baboon lay unconscious and bleeding from multiple cuts a few feet away.
"Your eye!" Perona shouted as she pointed at the bleeding cut on the swordsman's face.
"Eh?" Zoro said as he moved his hand up to touch the numb area.
I didn't even notice...
"Can you see out of it?" Perona asked as she moved closer to Zoro.
"You did okay...you need more practice." Mihawk said and Zoro glared at him.
"Don't look at me like that. You are the one who asked me for guidance." Mihawk said as he turned around.
"Look at all this blood! You probably ripped something." Perona said as she examined the bloody swordsman.
"Let's go eat. You'll get rest and then we'll do the real training." Mihawk said as he walked towards his castle.
"Yes, I need to treat your wounds as well. I don't know how you can take all those hits." Perona shook her head, gripping her umbrella tightly as she thought of herself being in Zoro's shoes.
"I'll just sleep it off." Zoro shrugged as he followed Mihawk to the dining room.
"Sleep it off?! That's crazy!?" Perona cried as her eyes widened.
"Just go and get food, he's obviously fine." Mihawk said and Perona glared at him.
"Why do you always order me around? You know..." Perona continued to complain but it was ignored.
I'm getting stronger...I'll be the greatest swordsman...I swear...My name will reach the heavens...I swear it...I'll do it for you...Robin...for you