Ryunosuke Jr.'s Legacy

Wayland the 9th, an older bulldog mink with a stout and heavily muscular build, was much more skeptical of Cherry's claims of being a skilled blacksmith than the rest of the minks who were at least open to the idea.

Still, he could at least humor her. Though, if she tried any funny business or messed around in HIS smithy, then she'd be kicked out if it was the last thing he did. The blacksmith was one of the few buildings largely untouched by the week-long conflict with Jack and his forces thanks to the valiant sacrifices made by his fellow countrymen to protect it, and he'd be damned if he let them go to waste.

He unlocked the heavy, reinforced door and opened it for the dainty young woman to step inside. He just couldn't accept her claim when she had a body like that. There was muscle there, but not near enough for the physical requirements that smithing demanded of its craftsmen. Her hands bore no calluses to suggest she'd even worked a forge for a single day in her life, let alone obtain the skill necessary to claim mastery over the art.

Even Wayland didn't dare call himself a master, despite his decades of experience making and maintaining the weapons of the proud warriors of the mink tribe. Others would refute that, say that he was being far too humble. He knew better. His ancestor, the first Wayland for whom he was named after, was a true master who made a blade with few equals in the world; though it was sadly lost to their people.

Now that sword could be anywhere in the world outside. Many have ventured out into the world, either partly or entirely with the intention to search for it. Wayland just hoped that wherever it was, it was at least in the hands of a true warrior; not some pretty boy obsessed with fame or something.

"The workmanship is familiar. It reminds me of Durandal, Cavendish's blade." Cherry casually mentioned the name of that very sword.

Wayland's eyes bulged. Before he knew it, his hands were on her shoulders and he asked in a frenzy, "You know where Durandal is?!"

Cherry didn't seem to mind his rudeness or the invasion of her personal space. "Yeah, a guy I met back in Dressrosa has it. He's a bit of a pretty boy who's obsessed with his own fame."

Wayland released her, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he started frothing at the mouth. He fell backwards and hit the ground with a thump, having fainted from his worst fears coming to pass.

…

"What the hell are we going to do?!" Nami frantically whispered, huddled together with Jinbe, Brook, Franky, and Chopper. "We can't let Kin'emon, Momo, or Kanjuro come here! When the minks find out they're samurai, they'll freak out!"

"Indeed, they went through so much pain when they were just falsely accused of harboring a samurai. Having one, let alone three, show up right now when those wounds are still fresh…" Brook trailed off at the end, they could all imagine the visceral reaction the minks might have.

"These people don't seem unreasonable. Perhaps we should simply tell them the truth, before they find out on their own?" Jinbe suggested.

"Or we could warn the samurai to stay away and not tell them at all." Franky countered. "No need to cause a fuss where a fuss isn't inevitable."

"Should we really lie to them… They've been so nice to us…" Chopper was reasonably hesitant about that idea.

"Then, we can just have Kin'emon-san disguise the three of them, and just not mention that they're samurai. Being tight-lipped isn't lying… though, I don't have any lips to keep tight! Yohohoho!"

"Shut up you idiot! Don't draw attention to us! We look suspicious enough all huddled together like this!" Nami reprimanded him.

"It won't be us who tells them, though. They're probably still climbing the elephant on that cute dragon with the spindly legs, so it'll have to be Cabernet who goes." Franky pointed out.

"Right, if we're in agreement, let's tell Cabernet to… Where did Cabernet go?" Nami noticed the winged woman was no longer in sight.

They asked one of the minks where Cabernet went and he said, "Your winged friend said she was going to get your other friends so they can join the feast. The more, the merrier, right?"

The color drained from their faces, even Brook somehow. Fortunately, the minks had too little experience with humans to know what that means.

The minks tilted their heads in adorable confusion as the Straw Hats huddled together again.

"What do we do?! None of us are fast enough to catch up to Cabernet…" Nami despaired.

"We'll just have to intercept them before they get here. Knowing Luffy, he should get over excited at the idea of stuffing his stomach and run here on foot." Franky said.

"Which one of us should go? If we all leave, the minks will be curious," Brook pointed out.

"Chopper should go. That nose of yours will serve you better in the forest than eyes and ears will alone. Not to mention how quick you are when you want to be." Nami decided.

Chopper wasn't really sure if they shouldn't just come clean like Jinbe said, but he supposed Nami knew social complexities better than he did, at least. They made a quick excuse for his absence (going to pick up some things from their ship) and he ran into the trees.

…

Ryunosuke Jr. was as determined as his 'father' before him was to climb up the side of this grand elephant of enormous scale. He was even making better time than his predecessor. After he was informed of how that predecessor perished in the line of duty, that put a pep in his step.

Robin had taken a few minutes after they got washed back down to change clothes. That was hardly unusual after she got drenched in sea water mixed with dirt and who knows what filth that got washed off the back of the elephant.

What they didn't expect was for her to come out dressed in a tasteful black outfit with a mourning veil, like she was going to a funeral or something.

"I'll never forget you, Ryunosuke…" Robin had said.

Ryunosuke Jr. was very similar to the first Ryunosuke, but those similarities only seemed to deepen Robin's grief. He reminded her of all the happy memories she had with the first Ryunosuke, now turned bitter from loss.

The men wisely chose not to comment.

Even though they were already halfway up the side of the elephant now, Luffy was getting pretty antsy just waiting to reach the top. The 'death' of the first Ryunosuke had all but destroyed his willingness to patiently wait for the poorly drawn dragon to complete his mission, which only served to highlight the impermanence and unreality of Kanjuro's drawings.

Cabernet's flame became visible over the edge of the top and quickly leveled off with them, spooking Ryunosuke Jr. almost to the point of letting go.

"Hey guys, the minks are having a feast in our honor. If you're done riding the dragon, do you want to come back with me?" Cabernet asked.

She had hardly gotten past the word "feast" when Luffy leapt from the dragon's back and latched himself to her waist. Seeing Luffy so quickly abandon Ryunosuke Jr., the others didn't feel so awkward about doing so either.

Cabernet transformed into her ship form and allowed them to board, leaving a distraught Ryunosuke Jr. feeling like a failure who could never live up to his father's name. He melted away, becoming nothing more than a smudge upon the ass of a giant elephant, forgotten.