Subterfuge

Zoro had to admit he was impressed by the disguise Fox had come up with: in a brown wig that barely brushed her shoulders, rectangular, rimless sunglasses tinted grey and wide-brimmed straw hat shading her features she was almost unrecognisable despite not having changed her clothing at all other than adding a yellow, long-sleeved jacket and matching sandals. Luffy didn't recognise her at all at first, but when Fox informed him she was in disguise he instantly invited her to join their crew as 'master of disguise'. Zoro noticed that Fox didn't actually say no, but she didn't say yes either. Instead she thanked Luffy for the offer then latched onto Zoro's arm, smiled winsomely up at him and asked if he would be willing to carry her purchases back to the ship for her, offering to buy him anything he fancied in return. Zoro saw the dumbass chef wilt in misery at not having been asked and smirked.

"Anything? You'd just let him go for broke like that?" Nami complained.

Fox just shrugged. "Money's useless if you can't spend it. Besides, he needs new swords anyway, so."

"You'd just buy them for me?" Zoro asked, not sure how he felt about that.

"You can pay me back if you'd prefer," Fox said agreeably, "but, meh, how to put it…" she paused, tapping her fingers on his arm. "You're a three sword swordsman. It doesn't feel right to have you walking around with just one if it can possibly be helped. Sorry if I can't articulate it better than that."

Zoro grunted. Fox truly was a swordsman's daughter to have picked up on that, but he wanted the swords to be his. "I'll pay you back," he decided. "What do you want to buy?"

Fox beamed at him. "Fabric, thread, yarn, paper, pens and ink, some potted herbs for the kitchen, books, a proper log book and knives."

Zoro blinked at the list. "Knives?" he noted mildly.

"I'm running low on sharps," Fox admitted candidly, "and the ones I have on me are no good for sparring."

Brightening at the prospect of having someone to practice with, even if it wasn't with swords, Zoro let himself be led off into town. Fox had certainly been here before, moving with purpose through the bustling streets. Since she clearly knew what she wanted, it probably wouldn't take her very long to find it.

Zoro had guessed correctly both that Fox was familiar with Loguetown and that she would not take long to find what she was after; in only slightly more than half an hour he was helping her stow her purchases back on the Going Merry. She had bought an interesting selection of knives and a lot of materials for blade maintenance, as well as a whole lot of other combat tools including caltrops. He had also gotten to see the blades she had claimed were 'no good for sparring' which she had produced from her sleeves for the smith to look over; It turned out they were made from Kairoseki and worth as much as a good sword. Zoro wondered when and where she had retrieved them as she certainly hadn't had them on her back on Orange Island yesterday morning. Kairoseki blades seemed rather risky for a Devil Fruit User to be handling, but he could understand why she had them considering how common Devil Fruit was supposed to be on the Grand Line.

Possibly she had retrieved them from the ship she claimed was 'around', though he'd certainly never seen a hint of it.

Fox' shopping completed they set out for a sword shop, Zoro letting his crewmate take the lead. They hadn't gotten very far when the swordsman heard a commotion. Gently hauling Fox to a halt he turned towards the noise in time to see a burly pair of pirates targeting a lone woman armed with a sword. The woman won the confrontation quite handily, but as soon as it was over she tripped over her own feet and fell on her face right in front of them. Zoro crouched to retrieve the woman's glasses and was fulminated with the embarrassed fighter's resemblance to his late friend, Kuina. Only Fox' hand on his shoulder prevented him from either saying something stupid or running away; instead he let the disguised woman take over the conversation and steer him back towards their destination.

Thankfully Fox did not comment on his sudden dumbness and quietly led him towards a large arms shop they had passed earlier when looking for knives, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder before letting him take the lead and walk into the store.

Fox did not participate at all in the conversation that took place in the sword shop other than to radiate extreme disapproval when the owner tried to con Zoro out of the blade he had been given by Kuina's father, though the man was foiled by the bespectacled Kuina look-alike from earlier. Instead she buried her face in his right shoulder, wrapped her left arm around his waist and generally acted like she had no interest in blades at all, though the swordsman could tell she was paying attention the conversation. It had been Fox back on the Merry who advised him to start by looking at the cheapest blades available and then work his way up; that way he would definitely get the best the shop had to offer.

It proved sound advice as he found a high quality cursed blade lurking amongst the cheap swords, a blade called Sandai Kitetsu. Gently slipping out of Fox's grip Zoro ignored the panic of the shop owner and the girl with the glasses, tossed the sword in the air and held out one arm, closing his eyes. If he lost his arm, he would take it as a sign that he would never amount to much of a swordsman anyway. The glimpse he had caught of Fox's face as he closed his eyes reassured him that she would not step in save to prevent him from bleeding to death, her cool serenity as indifferent as death itself.

The sword fell, the blunt edge of the katana briefly caressing his arm before the blade plunged hilt-deep into the floor.

"I'll take it!" Zoro said fiercely, retrieving the Sandai Kitetsu from the floor. "Hey, you," he added to the strange girl as Fox stepped closer and squeezed his shoulder in acknowledgement of his good fortune, "pick out one more sword for me." It proved unnecessary however as the shop owner staggered off to retrieve the best sword in the store and insisted Zoro accept both it and the Sandai Kitetsu free of charge. Recognising that to refuse would be disrespectful, Zoro accepted gracefully and left the store, right arm wrapped around Fox' waist. He felt much better now he was properly armed again.

"How much money did you have anyway?" he murmured in his crewmate's ear.

"Enough to buy both those swords at full price and still have enough left for another high-quality weapon," Fox replied quietly, sounding deeply amused. "You must certainly be destined to be a great swordsman for Fate to take such lengths to provide you with worthy blades."

Zoro chuckled, tightening his grip on his companion as they wandered around the town taking in the sights. The future looked very bright indeed right now.

After wandering around for a while Zoro noticed that the crowds were thinning out. Shortly after that they bumped into Nami, Sanji and Usopp in the town square, though he couldn't see Luffy anywhere.

"Look up," Fox muttered, her voice taking on a hard yet faintly lyrical cadence that echoed her father's. Zoro did so.

"Why the hell is he on the execution stand!" the swordsman bellowed. Fox tapped his shoulder.

"I'll head back to the Merry," she whispered in his ear. "Don't let our captain lose his head."

Zoro nodded, feeling her slip away behind him. Considering her real identity and her frankly ridiculous bounty, he'd much rather Fox did not take part in the coming fight. They didn't need the Marines spotting her on top of everything else.

The Revolutionary Dragon watched Dracule Mihawk's daughter leap lightly from rooftop to rooftop, letting the wind carry her across the wider gaps between buildings. She would be just fine; his son was fortunate to find such an accomplished woman for his crew.

Though he did wonder how long the swordsman Roronoa Zoro would survive once Hawk-Eyes leant his precious daughter had set her sights on the former pirate hunter…