As the Going Merry continued sailing, Ben came up with the cannonballs stored in the hold.

"Okay, we're going to have to keep well-stocked on these. No telling what threats we're going to run into as we travel the Grand Line."

Draco nodded. "Usopp, how about helping make sure the cannons are properly calibrated?"

Usopp saluted. "You got it!"

As Usopp got to work, the others were busy chatting amongst themselves.

"I heard someone managed to turn in El Drago for his bounty."

"Wasn't that guy only worth 10 million Berris?" Nami asked as she sunned herself on the deck. "He can't have been that tough."

"His Devil Fruit wasn't much to write home about either," Bamia added. "All he used it for was to create energy beams by shouting."

"Heard that he was killed as well. Then again, bounties can be cashed in alive or dead." Kuina shrugged.

"And we may in fact know who did it." Draco said as he observed the water. "Our hooded friend that dragged Kuro."

This set everyone on alarm; they still saw screaming and sobbing Kuro in their dreams.

"You seem familiar with him, friend Draco." Penny mused.

"When you grow up as a pirate, you will see him at some point." The boy mused. "Everywhere and nowhere, relentless yet sometimes kind. Never expected but always close by."

"What I don't get is why he's wolf." Luffy admitted. "I mean, if it was skeleton wolf sure, but…cool as they are, wolves aren't the first thing I envision when I think of death."

"I see sharks." Nami said coldy in response to that.

"Well…" Draco began.

"He's a Devil fruit user, ain't he?" Ben mused, getting a nod as Draco explained:

"His name is Grimm D. Reaper and...well, he's been around since Roger's time. He ate the Dog-Dog Fruit: Model Garm, a Mythical Zoan that allows him to transform into the mythical hellhound of Norse mythology who guards Helheim. He was also a former member of Rocks D. Xebec's crew before breaking off and sailing with Whitebeard for a time before going independent."

"….Who?" Ussop, Kaya, Penny, Zoro and Kuina asked.

"…Oh, right!" Draco chuckled as he slapped his forehead. "I always forgot the coverups. Okay, long story short: He lead a crew consisting of all the emperors aside from Shanks, Shiki the Golden Lion, Silver Axe, Captain John and others… and was the Pirate King's greatest enemy."

That descript[tion conjured up the image of a cackling man with spiky hair directing Whitebeard and several others into battle; an awesome yet horrifying concept.

"Whoa...he's like...SUPER OLD!" Usopp gawked, lightening the darkened mood.

"A guy like that would definitely fit in as a Yonko." Sonson shuddered.

"Well, from what legends I've heard, the Devil Fruit he ate came with a duty...a duty to bring those who cheated death to the underworld where they belong."

"And Kuro was one of those targets..." Kaya muttered to herself, holding Kirby close.

As Draco was telling his tale, Penny couldn't help but notice Zoro just napping on the roof of the cabin without a care in the world.

"I do wonder what Friend Zoro dreams about."

"Pretty much how he got his dream in the first place," Kuina explained. "Since Draco got to tell a story, I should probably do so as well."

"In the meantime, we need a safe target to practice with," Ben said as he turned to Nami. "Any pointers?"

"There's a reef just to the south of here that makes for great target practice."

"We can listen to Kuina in the meantime," Kaya said as she, Kirby, Sonson, and Penny listened intently to what the swordswoman had to say.

-OP-

"It was a long time ago, back in my home village. Zoro was just a hot-headed kid who came to my family's dojo to challenge my father."

"I'm here to face your strongest fighter!" Young Zoro declared.

Koshiro laughed. "Well know, it's not often these days when someone decides to become a dojo breaker."

"Don't take me so lightly, I'm unrivaled in the next village over!" Zoro boasted. "So how about fighting me? If I win, I get your dojo!"

"Oh? And what if you lose?" Koshiro asked.

Zoro had to think about that for a minute, then came up with an idea.

"If I lose, I'll become a student here! Sound fair?"

Koshiro nodded in agreement. "I'd say that's a fair trade indeed. Kuina!"

"Yes, Father?" The younger Kuina asked as she approached.

"What's the big deal?!" Zoro asked. "I thought you were going to fight me!"

"I thought it would be more fitting if you fought the dojo's strongest member," Koshiro explained. "Kuina here may be a girl, but she's stronger than any of the adults in the dojo, including myself."

Zoro looked the girl over. Contrary to what some people would say, he wasn't stupid. He knew that the master of a dojo would never claim someone was better than them lightly.

"Fine, I accept!"

He was offered his choice of shinai and wound up picking about a dozen, with several held between his teeth.

"Okay! Bring it!"

Some of the students thought Zoro was weird for wielding swords using his head. In fact, he wound up dropping all but one with each respectable bow.

"Begin!"

Kuina struck fast, taking down Zoro in only two moves. But he proved stubborn, standing up while picking up two of the fallen shinai.

"So you've already studied the Two-Sword Style," Kuina noted.

"Actually, this is the first time I've held a bamboo sword," Zoro admitted.

"So this is your first battle?" Koshiro asked.

Zoro ignored that. He was determined to get stronger, stronger than anybody else. The boy was as stubborn as a bull and refused to lose. He charged at Kuina, only for her to smack him right on his face with her shinai. The other students winced, wondering why Zoro never bothered to dodge. Sure enough, Zoro had been knocked out with that last attack, ending the match.

"He's like a charging boar. He's ten years too young to be using the Two-Sword Style." Kuina noted.

"What did you say?!" Zoro snapped, already springing back to his feet.

"If you need a reminder, we can fight another match."

Zoro scoffed. "No. I already lost."

"You accept defeat gracefully," Koshiro noted. "So then, as agreed you will become a student here."

"You bet I will!" Zoro said. "And I'm going to train hard so I never lose again!"

"You can train all you want, but you'll never defeat me," Kuina said.

"And that was the day Zoro began training at our family dojo. He took on their hardest regiments, slowly growing in strength and skill. He ended each day tired but satisfied with his progress. It wasn't long before he was outperforming most of the other students. Eventually, he reached a level of skill where he could defeat the adults of the dojo with ease. However, no matter what level he reached, I was always able to beat him."

"You're still as weak as ever, Zoro. For a boy, you're real pathetic." Kuina said.

"Is she serious?! Zoro's not weak at all! He's one of the strongest students here!" One of the students whispered to their friend.

"Kuina just has higher standards."

Kuina smirked. "Even with two swords, a weakling is still a weakling. Losers should stop their pathetic howling."

As she walked out of the dojo, Zoro got up and dusted himself off, unbothered by her words. he simply took that as the need to become even stronger.

"You're growing stronger, Zoro, yet you still can't seem to match Kuina," Koshiro noted.

"This isn't fair, Sensei!" One of the students said. "She's just getting special training because she's your daughter, right?!"

"No, that's not the case at all. What you must understand is that Kuina is still training at the same rate as Zoro." Koshiro assured.

"Honestly, a part of me had to admire just how stubborn Zoro was. But on that day, we ended up coming to an understanding with each other."

Zoro just grumbled in frustration as he was busy washing his face.

"What's the point of becoming the strongest man in the world if you're not the strongest period?!" He complained before coming to a decision. "I'll fight her again tonight."

Later that evening, Zoro found Kuina as she sat on a bench outside the dojo.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I could say the same to you. It's late, you know."

"I came to challenge you again. Our 2001st fight. And also our last." Zoro declared. "But this time, we'll use real swords."

Kuina was surprised at Zoro's challenge. She knew both of them were at a level where they could handle real swords, but there was a very serious risk involved.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It may very well result in this being our last fight for real."

Zoro said nothing, and Kuina noted the determination in his eyes.

"Alright then. I accept."

"Zoro definitely put up the best fight yet, but I had my prized sword, Wado Ichimonji. Despite that, Zoro never let up once, even after I had beaten him."

"You're not the only one getting frustrated," Kuina said when she saw the frustrated look on Zoro's face after beating him once again. "When girls grow up, they get weaker than men. It won't be long before you catch up to me."

"That sounds like bullshit," Zoro said as he sat up. "Who told you that?"

"It's the truth. Father told me I can't be the world's greatest swordsman so long as I kept that mentality like it's something you can overcome." Kuina replied, then kicking the ground angrily and slashing the air. "He doesn't understand! And it's just so frustrating! Zoro, as a boy you can easily become the world's greatest swordsman. But... That's a dream I want as well."

She held her hand up to her chest, causing Zoro to blush when she pushed up her bosom.

"But already my breasts are starting to grow out, so it's starting to throw off my balance. If only I was born a man!"

"Don't go whining like that after you beat me! A true sword master overcomes anything. That's what Sensei taught us." Zoro snapped after getting over his embarrassment. "Well, what I want is to overcome you. But I can't do that if you can't overcome your own self-consciousness! It would feel too cheap! Saying you lost to me just because you're a girl is a weakling's excuse, and you are not a weakling!"

Kuina was stunned to hear Zoro say that but he wasn't done talking just yet.

"You have to promise me that someday one of us will be the world's greatest swordsman! We'll make it a competition between the two of us!"

Kuina just smiled. "Good grief... Where does a weakling like you get the confidence to lecture me?"

"That was the day Zoro and I made our promise to each other. We both put even more effort into our training and Zoro even invented his Three-Sword Style to give him an edge. But then, one day, while I was looking for a sharpening stone for Wado Ichimonji, I slipped and fell. I would have broken my neck and died right then and there had one of the students not caught me...but I still broke my hand pretty badly that I needed months to recover."

Zoro just sat by her side the whole time, only leaving to go to the washroom. Kuina smiled at this, grateful for him being there.

"After I managed to get better, we continued training our hardest...though my father did make it a bad habit to keep a close eye on me after that near-death experience."

And then, one day…It finally happened: Zoro managed to finally pull off his first victory.

"Well, I'll be darned. Great work, Zoro." Kuina smirked.

"One doesn't make up for all the times you kicked my butt." Zoro cut her off.

"Then, one day, things really changed. I had ended up skipping breakfast and I was hungry. I found a weird fruit and didn't think twice about eating it. The taste was awful and only then did I realize it was a Devil Fruit I ate..."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Both Kuina and Zoro had screamed as the girl suddenly grew red, firey feather and found herself awkwardly levitating as her arms flapped, making her drop her swords, which were caught by her now clawed feet.

"What in the…KUINA!" Koshiro called out, racing to his daughter in worry. The sight of her father made Kuina;s feathers burst into flames…but soon she was back to normal.

"W-what was that?" The two asked.

"Must have been a Devil fruit." Koshiro mused.

"A what now?" Zoro asked.

"A fruit that once eaten, grants the user a unique power at the cost of never being able to swim again." The swordsmaster sighed, looking at his daughter. "Kuina, it seems you ate a Mythical bird fruit of some kind…And just when you were finally getting close to reaching your full potential…"

"Close to reaching…are you daft, sensei?" Zoro shrugged as he left to practice. "She was strong enough already, now she's even better. All that means is me training harder to surpass her. And sensei? Cut her some slack."

After that, Zoro perfected his Three-Sword Style. He even started beating me in battles more and more until he finally managed to match the number of wins I had over him. Even then, we continued battling, both of us claiming victories over the other. Eventually, when we were both old enough, we set out to fulfill our shared dream."

-OP-

Kuina sighed as she finished her story and saw the tears in Kaya's eyes, the girl having been moved by the story.

"You two care so much for each other!"

Suddenly, the cannon went off, startling everyone and also waking up Zoro from his nap, much to his frustration.

"No need to panic, mates! Just testing the cannons!" Ben said. "Never know when you might need him ready!"

Usopp proved as be as skilled with heavy weaponry as he was with a slingshot, easily blasting the large stone reef with the first shot.

"Looks like the cannons are properly calibrated!" Draco noted.

"Well, we'll still need a more dedicated gunner going forward. Cannons aren't really my specialty." Usopp admitted.

"You know, now that we have a big kitchen to work with, we should also consider finding a cook for our crew." Luffy pointed out.

"I'd also recommend a boatswain at some point. Especially since we're starting to form a more complete crew." Bamia added.

"And if we're really gonna get crew members from every place we visit like Ben wants, I feel like we're gonna need more than one ship," Sonson concluded.

"Well, we do have four captains, so four ships seems like a fair set, don't you think?" Nami suggested.

"Come out, you damn pirates!"

The group noticed that they had been boarded by a man wearing sunglasses and brandishing a sword. On his face was tattooed the kanji for "sea". He lunged but Kaya transformed into her Hybrid Form and grabbed him in a firm hold.

"No roughhousing!"

"How many are there?" Zoro asked.

"Just one looks like," Kuina noted.

"What did one lousy thug think he had a chance trying to take on this crew?" Sonson pondered.

"Me and my buddy have taken the heads of many pirates. I'm not about to let my partner get killed by some nameless pirate scum!" The man snapped.

He broke free from Kaya's grip and tried to strike with his sword, but Ben easily caught the blade with a spine sword he created.

"Lads, let's not be pointing fingers here. Where did you even come from to make such accusations?"

Zoro and Kuina then realized something, recognizing the man as Ben held him off.

"Johnny, is that you?"

The man, Johnny, faltered when he saw the swordsman duo there.

"Big Bro?! And Big Sis?! What are you two doing on a pirate ship?!"

"It's a long story." Zoro sighed.

"Where's Yosaku? Isn't he usually with you?" Kuina asked.

Sonson tilted her head. "You guys know him?"

"We were partners with him back in our bounty hunter days," Zoro explained.

Johnny showed the crew a small boat hooked to the Merry. On it was another man wearing headgear with a bandaged gut wound.

"Yosaku!" Kuina gasped. "What happened to him?!"

"He got sick," Johnny explained as Yosaku was hauled onto the deck. "He was all full of life until a few days ago. Then he started getting pale and kept fainting. I have no idea what's causing it. His teeth fell out and his old wound opened up and started bleeding. I brought him to a rocky island to rest..."

"And it happened to be the one we were using for target practice," Usopp realized.

"I don't know what to tell you, but we didn't see anyone when we were aiming at the island. You were probably on the other side from where our ship was." Bamia said. "This was just bad luck."

"Geez, show a little compassion, why don'tcha?!" Johnny said.

"Don't mind my sis. She may not sound like it, but she's as worried as we are." Luffy said, slinging an arm over Bamia's shoulder.

"I think I know what's wrong with him. He's suffering from scurvy." Kaya noted. "I've read about it from the books in my mansion. It's a pretty common affliction for seagoers."

"I-Is it fatal?!" Johnny asked worriedly.

"It can be if not treated immediately, but luckily finding treatment is easy if you plan ahead." Draco said.

"Nami, we need one of the fruit juices! One of the orange ones should be best! And bring a funnel as well!" Kaya ordered.

"Got it!"

Nami came out with the juice and funnel, making it easier to pour into Yosaku's mouth. Penny also moved over and waved her hands over Yosaku's stomach wound, green sparkling dust sprinkling onto it and stitching the damage up slowly but surely.

"My Nature Fairy magic also comes with healing properties." The android explained. "But he'll need to recover the rest on his own."

"If you're going to spend your time at sea it's common sense to bring along a source of ascorbic acid, or Vitamin C as it's more commonly called," Draco noted. "Fresh fruit or fruit juices are best for this, as well as the means to store them. A Vitamin C deficiency can leave a person susceptible to scurvy."

Nami nodded. "Yeah, it was a big problem in the past, because food couldn't keep well on long sea journeys. So storing fruits and vegetables wasn't feasible. Luckily these days refrigeration technology has vastly improved."

"That reminds me, at some point, we're going to need to find a doctor for our crew," Luffy said.

Kaya nodded. "I have some medical expertise but I don't exactly have the right skills for serious ailments."

After a few seconds of ingesting the orange juice, Yosaku sat up. Then he and Johnny proceeded to dance around in glee like nothing had ever been wrong.

"There's no way you should be recovering so quickly!" Nami called out.

The duo finally stopped and turned to the crew.

"Forgive us for not introducing ourselves," Johnny said. "As you've heard, my name is Johnny..."

"And I'm Yosaku," Yosaku added.

"And the two of us are a bounty hunter duo!"

Zoro chuckled. "Kuina and I honestly never thought we'd run into you out here."

"Same here, When did you two decide to turn pirate?" Johnny asked.

"When the son of a corrupt Marine captain decided to have us executed for defending innocent people from his dangerous pet. And that's the short version." Kuina said. "And Yosaku, you still need time to rest and recover. A single dose of orange juice is not going to make your scurvy go away in an instant."

-OP-

That night, Usopp looked in on Yosaku sleeping off a fainting spell in the crew quarters.

"You know, I think it's a godsend that you guys started your journey with an effective quartermaster. Careful distribution of resources is important on a long ocean voyage." Usopp said.

"Bamia always was smart with what she had." Luffy smiled proudly at his sister. "She's always been the brains."

"But having the right resources is only half the solution. We still need the right crew members to distribute those resources." Bamia pointed out.

"Yes, we need the bare essentials, like a cook, a doctor, a shipwright, a gunner, maybe a cabin boy and/or girl..." Ben counted off on his fingers.

"Actually, there's a restaurant nearby where you might be able to find a cook for your crew." Johnny pointed out. "Thing is, it's close to the border between the Blue Seas and the Grand Line. And Big Bro, Big Sis, there are rumors that the hawk-eyed man you've been looking for is in that area."

Zoro and Kuina's eyes widened in shock, realizing who Johnny was talking about while Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Curious... Why would he be out here in the weakest waters? The man lives for a challenge."

"Like I said, it's only a rumor, but I say with no exaggeration that the restaurant I'm thinking of has the best cooks in the entire world, bar none." Johnny pointed out.
"It's just to the north-northeast of our current position."

"Sounds like we need to check it out!" Luffy grinned. "Nami, bring our heading north-northeast!"

"Aye aye!"

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, looking forward to getting some good food.

Knightmare Lord A/N:

We get to see how Kuina got her Devil Fruit and how she survived in the past and we also got Johnny and Yosaku tagging along as well! We also get some Lore Drop on our Death figure and now we're making our way to the Baratie!

What say you, Mrotrax?!

Mrotax A/N: HEEEERE COMES SANJI! And he won't be alone!