Jiraya Island 1
"KORAAA!!" Marigold yelled out as she swung Jryphon at Zora's stationary figure. Zora had her eyes closed and tilted her body to the left, spun on her left foot, and hit Marigold's side with her sheathe. Marigold flew across the ship but stabilized herself with a ground roll.
"Tsk, that won't happen again!" Marigold exclaimed as she used a crude version of Soru and dashed across the ship towards Zora. When she finally got above Zora, she swung Jryphon once again but her attempt was futile as Zora caught the blade with two fingers.
"Try again." Zora said as she slammed Marigold onto the deck.
"KAH!" Marigold had the wind knocked out of her and rose to her feet in anger. She picked up Jryphon once again and swung her blade like a wild animal. Zora stopped every swing with her Haki-tipped finger and flicked Marigold into the cabin.
"You done yet? If I was a real enemy you would have died." Zora said with seriousness.
"Gain control of that anger and use it towards something productive. You still haven't moved me from this spot, all that swinging wasted your stamina, didn't it? Get up! You will try again until you can move me!" Zora said to Marigold sternly.
"B-But, I can't! I can't win! I should just give up..." Marigold said with a defeated tone.
"Give up!?" Zora yelled loud enough to cause a gust of wind.
"If you give up you will no longer be apart of this crew, I mean that." Zora said with 100% seriousness. Marigold was shocked at her words and began to shake. Marigold eventually rose to her feet and got into her stance once again.
"I won't lose! I won't give up! I will beat you Zora-nee!" Marigold said with determination as she ran towards Zora. Marigold swung Jryphon with more accuracy and control than before. Zora noticed Spiritual energy fluctuations coming off of Marigold. If one were to look closely at Marigold and Jryphon, they started to emit a violet aura.
"Let's step it up a notch!" Zora said as she deflected Marigold's swing and covered her body with weakly charged lightning, not enough to kill but enough to shock and stun. Marigold jumped back onto the rails and prepared for the worst. Zora stepped forward and immediately disappeared.
'Where did she go?' Marigold thought calmly. Marigold closed her eyes and tapped into the feeling she felt earlier.
'Focus, she can't be far. Focus.' Marigold told herself and felt something prick her brain. Marigold felt her mind expand and she could see without having her eyes opened.
'Is this Haki? Ask later, find Zora!' Marigold told herself and felt another prick.
'There!' Only Marigold opened her eyes and was met with a kick. Marigold was sent into the ocean with a confused look.
Zora got Marigold out of the water and patted her head.
"Good job! Now, ask me any questions you have." Zora said and Marigold asked the questions plaguing her mind.
"How did you disappear like that? Did I use Haki?" Marigold asked and Zora giggled a little before answering her.
"The technique Fisher taught you, Soru? I used that in combination with one of my moves Godspeed and it basically allows me to teleport. Although it isn't teleportation and is just very high-speed movement, if someone was proficient enough in Observation Haki they would predict me and sense me moving around, almost like what you did." Zora answered and Marigold had stars in her eyes.
"What do you call it then? I think you should name it Kai-Kai because that name is really cute!" Marigold gushed.
"Calm down hahaha, I already named it. It's called Sonic Step." Zora said and Marigold's expression fell before returning back to normal.
"Now to answer your second question. You did use Haki, a specific type called Observation Haki. I mentioned it earlier, it's basically a sixth sense. If you advance it enough, you could see in the future in very short bursts even I can only see around 1.5 seconds into the future." Zora said and Marigold nodded in understanding.
"That's such a short amount of time though, is it really that useful?" Marigold asked.
"1.5 seconds is enough time to change everything in a fight. If I can attempt to predict my opponent's next attack I will take 0.5 seconds." Zora said and Marigold understood.
"Another question!" Marigold said.
"Ask away milady." Zora said jokingly.
"Where is Masamune?" Marigold asked as she pointed to the empty scabbard.
"Oh! She's training your sisters. May they rest in peace." Zora said as she clasped her hands together in prayer.
"Why? Are they gonna be okay!?" Marigold asked with concern.
"I hope so. Masamune is a demon when she trains people, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started training under her." Zora said as she shivered slightly.
"It can't be that bad right? Right?" Marigold asked and Zora signaled her to come and follow her to the other side of the ship. What Marigold saw shocked her. Sandersonia and Hancock were swinging their weapons with weights that had 2T markings on them.
"Woah! Isn't that a bit much?!" Marigold asked and Zora shook her head.
"This is the fastest way to progress, through cruel, grueling conditions." Zora answered.
Marigold was speechless and went to go cook for the ship.
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[1 week later]
"I see the island!" Marigold said from the Crowsnest. Zora jumped onto the Crowsnest and looked into the distance. What she saw was a giant island full of gigantic trees and lots of vegetation. The island had a mountain range along with a giant sea king skeleton along the coast. The island also had one giant tree sticking out from the center. The tree had no leaves and looked dead and dry one thing the did tree did have was a giant blue orb floating in the middle.
Zora flipped off the Crowsnest and went to notify the crew of their arrival. Zora walked to the back half of the ship where Hancock and Sandersonia were training. Their weights increased to 8T within a week and they seemed to be sparring with the weights attached.
"Hey!! We made it to the island!!" Zora shouted over the loud clashing of weapons. Hancock and Sandersonia looked in her direction and nodded before going back to sparring. Zora then went to go find Fisher. She dived underwater and swam under the ship. Fisher training on the seafloor with 30T weights attached to his arms, legs, neck, and torso. Fisher was training his Fishman Karate along with his Haki. Every time he punched out a torpedo of compressed air would shoot out his fist.
Fisher looked up as Zora approached him.
"What's going on?" Fisher questioned.
"Just letting you know we made it to the island, we should be on the shore in around 45 minutes." Zora said and Fisher nodded as he continued his training. Zora resurfaced and held her hand out. Masamune came flying and she landed in Zora's hand and Zora tied her to her waist. Zora walked to the front of the boat and sat on the figurehead as the island got bigger.
"This island is huge! Makes me wonder of all the animals I could be eating! Maybe even training! I can't wait!" Zora exclaimed with excitement.
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[45 minutes later]
The crew hopped off the ship and made contact with the island's sandy beaches.
"Now, let's explore this forest!" Zora said as she was about to run into the forest before a hand held onto her shoulder.
"Wait a minute! You don't know what's in there Zora!" Hancock said with concern for her Captain.
"That's the point if exploring Hancock! To know about the unknown now let's go!" Zora said as she ran into the forest with Hancock on her shoulders. The crew followed after her with a heavy sigh.
"Oi, put me down!" Hancock flailed around and Zora put her down and continued running into the Forest.
"Hey, guys you think this forest has any food?" Zora asked but was met with silence.
"Guys?" She looked back and was alone. Zora was alone in the forest.
"Okay, the joke is-" Zora's eyes flashed red as she dodged an arrow coming for her head.
"Who goes there!" Zora asked and a brown-skinned man with a bumpy texture walked out of the forest. He had black hair with orange eyes and a horizontal pupil.
"Oh, so you're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?" Zora said as she pointed to the strange island inhabitant.
The native ignored her and dashed towards Zora. Once the native reached Zora's body he started to inflate and his eyes started to shine yellow.
"Shit! It's a bom-" Zora couldn't finish her sentence before the native exploded into pieces. Zora was thrown back but caught herself as she grabbed onto a tree.
"What the hell was that? People don't suddenly explode! And where is my crew?!" Zora asked herself these questions and she ventured deeper into the forest hoping to find the answers.
[TO BE CONTINUED]