The Dragon King

Cat Burglar Nami

I don't own anything but my oc enjoy.

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3rd Person POV

The crew of the future Pirate King slowly meandered along in their tiny boat. They had run out of food yesterday evening, which meant three full crates lasted less than 48 hours.

The boat barely had enough room for the four, given three were full grown adults and one was a nearly 9-foot-tall demon/oni princess. Zoro still didn't really understand what she was, but figured it didn't matter much. His new Captains trusted her fully, so why shouldn't he. That title would take some getting used to, Zoro was not the type to serve anyone. Luckily, Yamato turned into human size form as she laid on top of Kai.

The journey had started simple. Their first day on the open ocean, the three began told stories of their pasts. Luffy, Kai and Yamato talked about where they grew up and the years they spent together. They joked about their fights, the monsters they ate, and even how they started their little counting contest to see who was the strongest. Their last fight took nearly 2 whole days, with Kai barely coming out on top.

Zoro told them about his training and travels so far. How he left his village in search of one man, and got couldn't find his way home, so he began collecting bounties for money. He had even found himself a couple stray followers, though he hadn't seen them in some time.

He had also explained that he wanted to be the greatest swordsman ever since he was a child, and that fully solidified after meeting his childhood friend Kuina. She was his first rival, and at the dojo he trained at, she was the only one who could best him in single combat. Even full-grown adults had stood no match for his revered 2-sword style, and yet any time he faced her, day or night, he could not win. So he kept training, and grew stronger and stronger. And yet he lost again and again, until the record was 2000-0. Anger had flared in the boy, and in a fit of rage, he challenged his longtime rival to a duel with real blades.

And she defeated him, marking it 2001 times. Afterwards, she had revealed to him her own plight, that she wouldn't be stronger than him forever, simply because she was a girl. Yamato grew angry at this, just as a young Zoro did, but Kai calmed her down. Zoro explained that after they had spoken, they had formed a pact that one of them would be the greatest swordsman in the world. Yet tragically, she died the next day in an unexplained incident. But her death resonated with him, reminding him that even the toughest people he knew could die. Luffy, Kaiand Yamato both picked up on his meaning, and silently vowed to be more careful around stairs.

Yamato and Kai gave him the shortened, yet still important, story of thier childhood pre-East Blue. Who Yamato's father was, what he had done to them and Wano, and how they ended up being picked up by a marine ship in the middle of the ocean, led by Luffy's marine grandpa. Zoro was now even more at a loss to just how lucky and powerful they were or could be. He realized that he had better train harder, refusing to be less than the second strongest on this crew. Maybe when they had some space he'd challenge them to a spar to see their current gap in strength.

Strangely, for whatever reason, even though they were now a full-blown crew and would probably say everything about themselves, no one brought up Ace. Or that Luffy's grandpa was Garp. Or that the former Strongest Women in the world was Kai's mother. Maybe they forgot.

Scene Change

The second day was a little more of the same, but after some time they kinda just floated, making small talk about whatever came up. Weather, thoughts on their journey and the future, how they trained in their spare time. They were all becoming much more comfortable together as a team. During this time, Zoro started to really pick up on the other three's dynamic. They may have argued all the time, but they seemed to always know what the other was thinking, to a degree. And Kai and Yamato always seemed to gravitate to each other, even when asleep. Zoro noted this during his first watch alone, but decided this wasn't important. Their relationship in his head could be best summed up that they were like siblings with Kai and Yamato's being different. Probably due to their near ten years of history together.