Hello everybody,

here is a little scene that didn't make it into the final cut of the second part, but I enjoyed very much writing it and I hope you will like it as well.

Until next time ;-)

Of wolves and bears

During the 2nd part, at the beginning of the two-year training on Kuraigana

-Zoro-

"A suit! Seriously? Kanan is wasting our training time for something like this?"

"Roronoa."

"Don't Roronoa me! Two whole days! And for what? For a suit I'll never wear anyways because..."

"Enough," Mihawk interrupted, obviously exasperated, not that Zoro was any less annoyed. "We both had appointments on Sasaki and Sadao both yesterday and today, so we would not have left earlier either way."

Zoro groaned annoyed at the rationality of the Shichibukai, but he could not stop him.

"Besides, I want to vehemently disagree with you. Even if we do not know yet whether such a situation might occur, it is never a mistake to have a tailored suit ready to wear just in case."

Zoro looked doubtfully at the other, who sat cross-legged on his throne and read the newspaper.

"I'm a pirate," he stated, "when the hell would I need a tailored suit?"

Now those bright eyes looked down on Zoro over the edge of the newspaper, and rarely had the other stared at him so condescendingly, but after a few hard heartbeats, Mihawk sighed regretfully and lowered his gaze back to the newspaper.

Rolling his eyes, Zoro turned to the sea, deliberately ignoring the other. He knew Mihawk just wanted Zoro to keep asking so he could once again complain about his taste in fashion, but Zoro wouldn't do him that favor. If Zoro was honest, his teacher was no better than Kanan or Perona, when it came to clothes, and perhaps he should consider himself lucky that Mihawk had not yet insisted on dressing Zoro himself. But he probably shouldn't think that too loudly, not that he ended up giving this guy some stupid thoughts. The Shichibukai could be annoying, and it was bad enough that he thought he had to lecture Zoro one way or another, but at least in this one thing he could shut up and leave Zoro alone.

"Uptight snob," he growled softly after a few quiet minutes being annoyed with the other and crossed his arms.

"Roronoa!", came the admonition almost at the same time.

"What? Not like I'm..."

"Go below deck!"

Surprised, Zoro glanced up. Mihawk did not look down at him, but at the sea, slowly got up, and folded the newspaper. His whole posture had changed, and Zoro noted his tone; something was wrong, and it apparently had nothing to do with his comment.

"What? What is...?"

"Below deck! Hurry up!" The Shichibukai pushed back his throne. "Make sure that you cannot be perceived, even if you have to transform yourself in case of doubt."

Zoro felt his tension, not sure why, but knew he shouldn't discuss this time.

"Okay." He jumped up and was about to climb down the hatch, when Mihawk grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Hey! What the...?"

Woosh!

He couldn't even stumble back, hadn't even seen it in time, had never ever been able to react fast enough.

Mihawk had pulled him back, but with his free hand he held something that had rushed towards them almost like a bullet, faster than Zoro had been able to see. But it wasn't until a second glance that Zoro realized what had been shoot at them. It was an axe, a huge battle axe similar in size to Yoru, and its dark voice shook across the sea like a giant's cry of attack.

"What the...?" Zoro stared at the battle axe that the other had so naturally caught. Where the hell had this weapon come from? And who or what had thrown it?

"Oh, this is going to be a pain in my neck," Mihawk complained so casually unnerved before reaching out and throwing the axe away, turning to Zoro the next second. The tension of before had passed, but he seemed everything else than relaxed. "I want you to stay behind me and move as little as possible, understood?"

Confused, he stared at the other.

"I... I'm not supposed to go below deck anymore?"

"No," Mihawk sighed before turning back to the sea, "it is too late for that now. We have already been noticed."

"What? What are you talking about...?"

"Hawk Eyes!"

From the direction in which Mihawk had just thrown the axe, a deafening scream came and the next moment Mihawk pushed Zoro behind him with one hand, coated his other forearm and blocked the axe with his bare hand.

"There you are!"

The coffin boat rocked so violently that it almost brought Zoro to his knees. Then he looked up and had to swallow.

Barely four feet in front of them, a beast squatted on the low balustrade of the coffin boat, the huge battle axe thrown over its shoulder, holding the handle casually in a hand that looked almost like a paw. Wild hair was more or less tamed in a variety of shaggy braids and even in this crooked posture this beast was almost as tall as Zoro.

"Manata," said Mihawk, coldly, "what do you want?"

"Isn't that obvious?" replied the beast, addressed by Mihawk with Manata. "Fight me, Hawk Eyes!"

"I repeat my words from our last meeting," Mihawk replied, still with that coldness that Zoro only knew whenever the Shichibukai spoke of his father or of Homura, "but I have no interest in fighting you. So please do us both the favor and go your way."

"Nah," she grinned broadly, showing yellowed teeth that looked more like a predator, "my people will need some time until they catch up with me and I want some fun, so fight with me."

She pointed with her free hand behind her, where in the distance the shadow of a ship loomed on the horizon.

Cold sweat slid down Zoro's back. Had she just jumped that far? Moreover, had she thrown her weapon at him so accurately from that distance? Holy shit, who was this woman acting more like a wild beast?

"No," the Shichibukai refused.

"Oh come on," she growled, hitting her thighs with her free hand, causing the boat to shake. "You are strong, I am strong, let's fight!"

"I have told you before that I will not satisfy your cravings. I am a swordsman and no matter how strong you may be, you with your clumsy battle axe will not be able to banish my boredom, so I will not waste my time with you." Mihawk's devastating verdict echoed coldly over the sea, without him seeming in the least impressed by the aura of the stranger. "What are you doing here, Manata? You have not been this close to the Red Line for twenty years. I thought I had my peace from you."

"There was a war," she grumbled, as if this was little more than rumors. "I've heard old Newgate is no more, killed by one of his own brats."

"As always, you are ill-informed," Mihawk sighed with an arrogance that seemed all too familiar to Zoro. "This war was weeks ago. You will not find anyone in these waters, especially not Marshall D. Teach."

She showed her wild grin again.

"Were you there, Hawk Eyes? Did you fight?"

"As a Shichibukai, my presence was expected, but I would not call it a fight; it was soberingly boring."

She laughed out loud and hit her thigh several times, causing the boat to rock again.

"You're some funny brat and you still talk like some prickly bastard."

"I am of noble blood, it may be noted by my choice of words," he replied exactly as Zoro would have expected.

"But you're a pirate." Suddenly, she straightened up, brought the boat into a slight tilt. "And pirates don't talk, they fight."

Mihawk sighed again in this way, which Zoro knew too well from their lengthy training sessions on the Bosushoku Haki.

"Manata, I will not spend my time with you..."

"Yikes, what are you? A puppy?"

Now upright, she towered over Mihawk by several feet and looked down at Zoro almost in surprise. She had to be taller than Brook — and at least five times the width of the skeleton — skin and leather stretched over heavy muscles. Who the hell was this woman? She had to be damn strong if she could afford to talk to Mihawk like that without him immediately hissing threats at her. At the same time, Zoro was sure he had never heard of a giant axe fighter at such a level.

"More of a stray, do not pay attention to him."

But she already leaned forward, stretched out a hand, and made a strange noise, as if she wanted to attract Zoro like a frightened kitten.

"What's that supposed to be?" Confused, he stared at her. Although she had leaned forward, she still towered over him, and if she thought her posture made her look less threatening, she was terribly mistaken, but like this Zoro could see her axe.

"Oh, it's cute," she whispered almost deliberately, as if she didn't want to scare Zoro away. Did she really think he was afraid of her? "Yours, Hawk Eyes?"

"No, as I said, he is just a..."

"Then I want it!"

"Stop!"

The rough fingers of the stranger were less than a hand's length away from Zoro's face, reaching out to him. The hand with which she had just wanted to lure him. She stared at him almost madly.

Now Zoro understood why he shouldn't move. He simply wasn't able to see her movements fast enough, let alone react.

Mihawk had stopped her, his fingers not even close to clasp around her wide wrist, while he looked at her calmly. But Zoro also knew this look, the suppressed anger.

"You are on my territory, Manata, behave accordingly."

Obviously unaware of any guilt, she looked down at Mihawk.

"But if it's not yours..." She shrugged her shoulders. "It smells of blood and battle; I want it. Unfortunately, my last puppy didn't make it."

"Spare me with your stories and leave. There is nothing for you to get here, neither a fight nor a puppy. Go and look for Teach, that is why you are here in the first place, right? To find out whether the man who was able to kill Newgate is as strong as the stories say."

A vein of anger pulsed on Mihawk's temple as the stranger simply ignored him and continued to stare at Zoro.

"But I want the puppy." Then she stared at Mihawk with a big grin. "And if you don't want me to take the puppy, you'll have to stop me by force!"

"Hn!" Zoro took a deep breath as Yoru fended off the battle axe just a hand's breadth in front of his nose. He wasn't used to doing nothing, but at the same time he knew he had to do just that. His mere presence meant a disadvantage for Mihawk.

Then he saw Mihawk's gaze and for a moment he almost forgot about the woman with the battle axe. Then the blink of an eye was over and Mihawk pushed back the axe.

"Enough!" And this time he didn't even try to hide his anger. "Your games do not amuse me, Manata. I will not fight you just because you dare to threaten me in my own territory."

Not in the least intimidated, she tilted her head slightly to the side.

"And how are you going to stop me, young wolf?" She leaned forward. "You were already brazen as a puppy, but now your arrogance is getting annoying. Stop being so stubborn and finally fight me."

"No, what you desire, you will not find here," Mihawk objected. "The puppy is taboo, understood? And if you want to fight, find like-minded people, but my answer from twenty years ago is still the same: no interest!"

"You're some little, bold..."

"I will fight you."

"What?" With unanimous confusion, the other two looked at him, then Mihawk's expression darkened as the stranger laughed loudly.

"Oh, you cute little puppy. But you are far too weak. I'd smash you like a raw egg."

"Maybe, today I'm still too weak. But you want to fight him because he's the best swordsman, don't you? Because he's strong?"

She nodded lightly.

"Well, I'm a swordsman too," Zoro continued, putting one hand on his weapons, "and I want to defeat him, which means I have to become stronger than him. Wouldn't I be a much more interesting opponent for you than the former best swordsman in the world? And I don't care how and what my opponent fights with, as long as the fight is exciting."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mihawk rolling his eyes, but he didn't really care. He was absolutely serious about what he said.

"Besides, he's been rejecting you for over twenty years, hasn't he? What difference would two years more or less make? Wait until I defeat him, and then I will gladly fight you."

He was used to being hauntingly examined by Mihawk, was used to his sharp eyes, and yet, her gaze was anything but unimpressive.

"Tell me, Hawk Eyes, is this puppy tired of life or just plain stupid?" she asked coolly.

"He is still quite young and impetuous. And as you know, strays usually have bad manners," he replied slickly, "but even the most boisterous puppy eventually grows up, and I intend to prevent him from dying before then by his frivolous nature."

She muttered in agreement, then threw her axe over her shoulder again.

"Well, by all means, agreed, little puppy. You defeat Hawk Eyes and then we will fight, and don't you dare try to avoid me."

"Why should I?" Zoro grinned. "I like strong opponents and I love fighting."

Suddenly, she grinned too.

"Old blood," she whispered, "the good old blood."

Then she turned around.

"Fine, then I'll look for someone to kill some time with. See you then, Hawk Eyes, Puppy."

And the next moment she jumped off board with such force that the small bow of the coffin boat drew some water.

Zoro watched her land on the ship, which was not as far away anymore, and loud roars wafted over to them when her people greeted her.

"What the...? Who the hell was that?" murmured Zoro, rubbing sweat from his forehead and watching the ship, which now seemed to be on a new course.

"Manata, the bear," came it coolly from the Shichibukai, who put his sword back and then stood next to Zoro with his arms crossed as the coffin boat continued its course for Kuraigana. "War has truly started a new era, if it could awaken her from her hibernation. Did not think I would ever meet her again on the open sea."

Then he shook his head and turned around with a sigh.

"Anyway. Did I not tell you to hold back? Your interference was foolish and unnecessary, and Manata does not forget." With his usual, annoying elegance, he settled on his throne.

"You told me not to move; I didn't," Zoro corrected him with a grin. "And I hope she doesn't forget, after all, she seems really strong."

Mihawk rolled his eyes and pulled out his newspaper.

"She is strong," he confirmed. "She comes from the same generation as Whitebeard but lives a rather secluded life in the high mountains of the North Blue. It is never a good sign when she gets close to the Red Line. We are probably facing even more turbulent times than I expected."

With a grunt, Zoro dropped to the floor.

"Why didn't you just fight her? Then I wouldn't have had to interfere at all. I thought, you like strong opponents, and she seemed like she could easily keep up with you."

"Oh, maybe she even can," the Shichibukai surprisingly confirmed, since he usually never acknowledged others, "but she is not a swordswoman, and her crude fighting style is an imposition I will not waste my time with." Ah, there was the condescension that Zoro had almost missed. "It was foolish of you, Roronoa. Her fights can take days to weeks."

"Sounds good," Zoro replied with an undisguised yawn. "And what else should I have done? You didn't want to fight her, and she wanted to use me to blackmail you."

"Oh, you are taking yourself too seriously, little puppy. You certainly were not her first leverage, and yet she could never convince me to fight her. She is not good at negotiating and quickly loses patience, so you just have to wait and bear her, until she loses it. But well, complaining about the past is of little use. I got rid of her and you will be allowed to deal with her in the future. So there is something good about the day, at least for me."

Zoro just rolled his eyes but said nothing. In silence they continued their journey. Mihawk read his newspaper and Zoro looked at his fingers; they hadn't even flinched when Manata had attacked him. He hadn't seen Mihawk draw his sword, nor could he even begin to grasp the power of her attacks. He really had a long way to get to this level.

"I could barely see the movements," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, "didn't even see the axe until you caught it." Then he noticed something. "Why did you throw the axe back and not just drop it into the sea?"

Mihawk made a derogatory sound. "Who knows when this woman last bathed, and even dry, she smelled awfully."

Sometimes Zoro could not follow the logic of his teacher at all. He did not understand why Mihawk was so opposed to fighting her, while not avoiding the confrontation. He and his strategy games were annoying and exhausting, and Zoro never really understood them. Neither when it came to this Manata, nor when it came to Lady Loreen.

"Hey, something just came to my mind," he remarked. "She saw me, and you said I should keep it secret for as long as possible that I survived. Won't that be a problem now?"

He looked up as Mihawk laughed out loud and then gave him a rarely honest smile.

"You do not have to worry about that, Roronoa. She is only interested in the events of the world to the extent that she can identify possible opponents, and she has probably never heard your name nor seen your face. And even if, as long as you are not one of the strongest, you have the relevance of an ant for her." Then he turned his attention back to the newspaper. "But once you are one of the strongest, she will keep coming back to you until you fight her. Awfully keen and so annoying. If she would at least kill her opponents, but no, plays with them like a mouse in a trap. And somehow no one manages to get rid of her for good. Rumor has it that her neck was once halfway cut through and even that did not bring her down. What a strenuous woman."

"Sounds almost like a Duke," Zoro murmured thoughtfully. "But I probably think so just because of the axe."

"Duke?" asked Mihawk, surprised.

"Yes, you know, Exus Duke, legendary swordsman from the North Blue, was thrown out of his guild because he always cruelly mutilated his enemies without giving them the finishing stroke. They broke his swords, and he took the axe of a lumberjack and slaughtered everyone from the guild, and no one could kill him. Traveled around afterwards, but never fought again with a sword, only with an axe. Must have been somewhat 200 years ago, but you must have heard of him."

"Of course I am familiar with the name Exus Duke," Mihawk remarked, still with that surprise in his voice. "And you are right, he was actually Manata's great-grandfather. But I am surprised that you know this name. Your education is anything but sophisticated."

Zoro wasn't sure whether the other wanted to offend him - he didn't even sound like it while condemning Zoro's education - so he just shrugged his shoulders yawning and leaned against the low balustrade.

"Of course, I know his name," he said. "I know the names of all the great swordfighters."

"Oh, is that so?" Now Mihawk obviously sounded curious. "I did not expect that."

"What? I want to be the best, so I should know who the best were and how they fought."

"Absolutely, an actually quite clever approach." Well, that somehow sounded almost like an insult. But then Mihawk slid down from his throne to the ground in front of Zoro and looked at him with wide eyes. Zoro knew this gesture and did not like it at all. This was usually followed by an intensive conversation or an urgent question. "Then show me your knowledge, Roronoa? Who comes to mind when I mention the great metal war of 80 years ago?"

His question surprised Zoro and he felt his cheeks warm up.

"The third age of swordfighters," he whispered, not knowing why the other was talking about this war, and what this question was all about. It had been the last war in which an impressive number of different swordfighters had fought and died. Each teacher used this anecdote as a lesson and warning that students should choose their opponents wisely.

"And? Who do you think was the best at that time?"

Zoro laughed. He had not expected this, but just another lecture.

"You want me to choose just one? That's impossible!"

"True, there are many impressive warriors to choose from." The other nodded in understanding. "We could talk over and evaluate the different options. I would be very interested in your opinion, and we have some few more hours until we reach Kuraigana."

Zoro looked at him still slightly confused. Since his time in the dojo, he had never been with another person who had looked at him with such enthusiasm just because they talked about swordfighters. And even then, most people had been more interested in the famous names, more in their deeds, less in their fighting styles.

Slowly he nodded, "Okay, let's do it. I choose the first name. Siegma, the iron claw."