Armed

Characters: Penguin, Law, Shachi, Bepo. Rating: K. Warnings: None

"You need weapons," Law said bluntly. Penguin looked at Shachi, who was pulling himself back to his feet after losing a spar against Bepo, and then at his captain. Law was stood in the doorway of the room they'd repurposed as a training room, arms crossed and looking decidedly unimpressed.

"We have knives," Shachi argued, reaching for the hidden sheath beneath the breast flap of his boiler suit. Penguin felt the solid press of his own in the same place. Law raised an eyebrow as if he thought Shachi was being ridiculous.

"Why do you two insist on hand to hand combat?" he asked. "You only took the knives because I made you." And you're both useless with them hung in the air, unsaid but very much felt. Penguin wore it because Law said so, but he hadn't drawn it since he'd almost killed Shachi with it, and he knew Shachi was of a similar frame of mind. He shrugged, and saw the ginger do the same. "You used a club on Swallow Island, Shachi," Law continued, and the other teen fidgeted uncomfortably.

The club – if it could be called that, more like a carved lump of wood more suited to hitting balls than heads – had been for intimidation purposes. It drove most of their would-be challengers away without a fight, and a solid swing took out several of those that still thought they had a chance. It hadn't really been a weapon, not like the short sword Law had procured and wielded as if it was a simple extension of his arm. When neither of them said anything, Law sighed.

"You need to be competent in several disciplines," he told them, striding towards them with purpose. Penguin could barely shift his weight before he was flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Law was still far too fast for him. "That knife of yours isn't for decoration," he heard his captain scold, before Shachi let out a muffled yelp and a thud signified his own acquaintance with the floor.

Penguin rolled onto his front before pushing himself up to his knees in time to see Bepo successfully defend himself from his own attack. He wanted to grouse that that was hardly fair when Bepo had seen it happen to both himself and Shachi and knew what was coming, but it was also the truth that the mink was far superior to the rest of them – Law included – at hand to hand combat.

"With your electro, you're fine," Law told him, to be caught in a pleased bear hug. "Oof!" Penguin finished his clamber to his feet and moved to stand besides Shachi, who was also back on his feet, rubbing the back of his head ruefully. "You two, on the other hand," their captain continued, not even bothering to try escaping from the mink's embrace. "We've got enough savings now. Next island, you're getting weapons."

Penguin hadn't known they had any savings at all, convinced that Law had spent every spare beri on their now impressive infirmary. Law looked at them expectantly, and they shrugged. There was no helping things when Law got an idea into his head, and honestly, getting a weapon or two probably wasn't a bad idea.

True to his word, the next island they landed on found Penguin and Shachi being herded into a weapons shop, where Law promptly began arguing with the owner over weapons. The two Swallow Island natives looked at each other and shrugged helplessly.

"So, we just pick the one we like?" Shachi asked, and both Law and the shop owner made scandalised noises before launching into a unified lecture on how weapons had to be suitable and blah blah blah. Penguin wasn't interested in swords – never had been, never would be – so being in a shop surrounded by the things wasn't as awesome as Law made it out to be.

Shachi seemed happier, then again Penguin had seen him playing around with Law's short sword a couple of times when he'd thought he was alone. While Law and the shop owner found something else to disagree about and returned to their argument, the ginger headed over to a katana with a red hilt and oval shaped tsuba. He gave it a few swings, almost knocking over a display stand in the process, before grinning.

"I'll take this one," he proclaimed, drawing Law's attention as the younger teen immediately began to fuss over the size and weight and length and-

Okay, that was all way over Penguin's head. Shachi was nodding along vigorously, half-comprehending what their captain was talking about, but Penguin was lost after the first sentence and returned his attention to the racks and racks of weapons in front of him. He figured he was supposed to pick up a sword, like Shachi had, but all he saw when he looked at them were big clunky knives.

"You're no swordsman," the shop owner said, appearing by his elbow and making him jump. Penguin glanced over at Law, who was still distracted by Shachi and the sword in his hand. "Not like your friend." He shrugged and sent the man an unimpressed look, which was ignored. Either the man was used to that sort of thing, or Penguin's hat had ruined the effect. It was probably a bit of both.

"What gave it away?" he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Swords aren't my only trade," the owner continued, as if he hadn't spoken. Oh yes, this man was definitely used to customers like Penguin and clearly stopped caring a long time ago. "You might find something more to your liking over there." He gestured to a shadowed alcove, out of sight of the front of the shop, and Penguin sent him a suspicious look before heading towards the area.

The man was right, swords weren't his only trade. The only thing he could say about all the weapons was that they were all bladed. Penguin didn't even know the names of most of them, from the beautifully elegant longstaffs with a curved blade to the circles of nothing but raw steel. All the fanciness was lost on him. Penguin had simple roots, and liked to keep things simple.

His hands closed around a mid-brown haft, the wood smooth under his fingers. There was a grip, two thirds of the way down, comprised of red twine, and a matching wrapping circled the top of the haft, where the long and razor-sharp double-edged blade met the wood. The weapon was far, far longer than he was tall, but it was well balanced and Penguin twirled it in his hands, ignoring the crash of several probably expensive items being knocked off of their displays. It reminded him of the branches he would pick up back on Swallow Island to show off with.

"Ah, the yagi," the shop owner said, seemingly unconcerned with the carnage Penguin had just unleashed in the corner of his shop. "A solid choice."

"Are you trying to compensate for something?" Penguin turned around to see Shachi's grinning face. The katana he'd selected earlier was resting against his shoulder, now in a matching sheath, and Law was reaching for a bag of beri with a resigned look on his face.

"You're not practising with that inside," his captain told him before he could compose a retort, then turning to the shop owner. "So how much?"

Either weapons were really expensive, or they were being charged for the breakages as well, but Law forked over the thousands of beris without complaint (leaving Penguin to once again wonder where the hell all the money had come from), before they walked out the door with their new weapons.

"Penguin," Law said as they headed back to the Tang – the pace was unusually brisk, and Penguin started to get a suspicion of how, exactly, they'd afforded the weapons so easily – and he made a noise of acknowledgement. "You do realise you'll have to teach yourself, I hope. The yagi is not a weapon I've learnt." Penguin shrugged and looked up at his new acquisition fondly.

"I think I'll manage, Captain," he said, before they heard an outraged yell from behind them and Law lost all pretence of walking, breaking into a sprint back towards their ship. Penguin and Shachi shared an amused look before following.

Yeah, they definitely hadn't had that much money in their savings.

The yagi is a Japanese spear, and from what little we've seen of Penguin's weapon, it's the type of pole weapon that seems to fit the best. I'm honestly a little disappointed it isn't a naginata, because I adore those, but the blade's the wrong shape.

Is Shachi's katana a named blade? Is it a ranked blade? Who knows. Maybe I'll poke into that some other time, or maybe Oda will tell us... I can live in hope.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari