The Will of D. reamers

It was well past dinner and everyone had separated to do their own thing. Marcus decided to do his normal sword practice routine and hopped over the back wall of the dojo. There was a spot he found back there earlier today that would be perfect for his type of solo practice. As for why he wouldn't just train in the main courtyard of the dojo that was designed for it? Other kids were still there training and he didn't want to be bothered by anyone else.

Marcus quickly settled into a stance when he arrived at the spot and started to move through each stance he knew. He first went through the ones he made himself, then moved onto the ones Bogard showed him before he switched to the ones his sword taught him. It didn't take long to move through each one as his constant practice and natural talent allowed him to effortlessly link them together.

Marcus lost himself in a deadly dance of slashes as he pretended he was sparring with Shanks. Sure it wasn't as good as a real spar, but Shanks movements were burned into Marcus's mind from how many times they fought and it helped him improve his form.

As Marcus raised his sword to block an imaginary slash he heard Kuina's raised voice as she said, "I will not!"

Marcus paused his practice as he moved closer to the dojo's back wall as Koushirou said, "Kuina you have to be realistic. A woman just isn't meant to fight. You should give up your pursuit of the sword."

"But I can beat everyone who trains at the dojo and even the adults who come to challenge you!" Kuina said with a raised voice.

"You only beat those men because they were amateurs at best. Any man with proper skill could easily overpower you."

"That just means I'm inexperienced and need to practice more." Kuina said.

Koushirou let out a sigh before he said, "Kuina, experience will only take you so far. When you get older most men will be able to overpower you in a fight."

"You don't know that!" Kuina said before it sounded like she stormed off.

"Kuina…" Koushirou let out another sigh before he said to himself, "I should have never taught her how to use a sword..."

Marcus shook his head to himself before he went back to training again. When Marcus started to get tired he sheathed his sword and hopped back over the dojo's wall to head to his room. When he was back inside the compound he heard someone still training so he decided to go check who it was. He found Kuina who looked exhausted in front of a training dummy as she practiced with her bokken. Slash after slash she chained together into one almost fluid continuous motion as she attacked over and over again.

Marcus watched her for only a moment before he said, "You should go to sleep."

"I need to practice." Kuina said in a tired tone of voice.

"No, you need proper rest. Especially because you used a training harness today, otherwise you'll injure your body from over training."

Kuina stopped her next attack and turned to Marcus as she said, "You trained after dinner."

Marucs nodded before he said, "I've also used the harness for years now and my body is used to it. You started today and it will take your body time to adjust to it properly. It took me almost a month before I could train like I do now and even then, I don't do it every day."

Kuina was about to say something when her body gave out and she started to fall backwards. Marcus used soru to move next to her and catch her before she hit the ground. Marcus let out a sigh as he held Kuina in a princess carry before he carried her towards the main building. When he got there he found Koushirou seated at a chabudai as he drank tea and read a book. Koushirou noticed Kuina in Marcus's arms and raised an eyebrow before he asked, "Did she challenge you to a duel?"

"Passed out from over training."

"Oh… Her room is the third door on the right side of the hallway." Koushirou said before he turned back to his book.

Marcus carried Kuina to her room before he laid her down on her futon. He didn't bother to cover her with a blanket since she was still dressed, but he made sure she had a pillow before he left the room. As he walked back out into the main entryway, Koushirou asked, "You must agree with me, right?"

Marcus glanced towards Koushirou as he asked, "Agree with you on what exactly?"

"Kuina should give up the sword." Koushirou said as he turned to look at Marcus.

"Why? Because she isn't a man?"

Koushirou nodded before he said, "She has talent but she was unfortunately born the wrong sex. Once she is older she won't be able to keep up with other swordsmen in physical strength."

"If physical strength is so important, why haven't giants taken over the world? Or why are fishmen looked down on when they are ten times stronger than humans?" Marcus said with a shrug before he walked out of the building.

Koushirou watched him leave before he let out a sigh and returned to reading his book. Marcus returned to his room for the night and inside he found everyone already asleep with Luffy spread out over his futon. Marcus shook his head as he thought, 'Not again.'

Marcus stripped off his top layer of clothes before he moved to his futon and kicked Luffy off of it. Luffy flipped back over onto his own futon without waking up but his new piston caused him to start snoring.

Marcus kicked Luffy again to make him roll over onto his back and stop snoring before he laid down onto his futon. A few minutes after he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep a hand smacked him on his face which woke him up. He glanced towards Luffy who had rolled back over closer to him and his hand that was currently resting on his face. Marcus moved Luffy's whole arm away from him before he attempted to fall asleep again.

Not even a few minutes later Luffy's hand smacked Marcus in the face again so Marcus sat up and pushed Luffy away before he stood up. He picked up his futon and moved it across the room from Luffy before he placed it back down and laid down on it. Within a few minutes Marcus was fast asleep and didn't wake up until morning.

At breakfast Zoro and Kuina joined the boys for breakfast again and it looked like the other students learned to eat quickly much to Luffy's dismay. He still attempted to duel a few of them for their breakfast, but after yesterday morning no one took the challenge.

After breakfast the boys along with Zoro and Kuina headed out to train again. After morning training and lunch, Zoro approached Marcus as he said, "Fight me!"

Marcus pointed towards Luffy as he said, "You still haven't beat my minion yet."

"I wanna fight with swords."

Marcus pointed at the swords on Zoro's waist as he said, "Then use your swords and go fight someone."

Zoro pulled out both of his training swords and pointed them at Marcus as he said, "I wanna fight someone who uses a sword!"

"Oh… You should have said that in the first place." Marcus said as he started to stretch his arms a little bit.

Zoro smiled as he thought Marcus was actually going to fight him before Marcus said, "Hey, Kuina!"

Kuina, who was seated not far away from Marcus, glanced over as she asked, "Yes?"

Marcus pointed at Zoro as he said, "Take care of my light weight."

"Light weight?" Zoro asked as Kuina also looked over with interest about what Marcus ment.

Marcus laid back on the grass with his hands behind his head as he said, "Yeah. You are like some light weights to me, something I might use for a warm up at best."

Zoro frowned as he said, "Don't look down on me! I'll be able to beat you and your brother one day!"

"Maybe… But it definitely isn't today, so go spar with Kuina." Marcus said as he closed his eyes and relaxed under the sunny afternoon sky.

Zoro was about to argue back but Kuina stood up as she said, "Come on Zoro, let's spar and see if you have improved at all since yesterday."

Zoro quickly forgot about Marcus as he turned to start dueling with Kuina. Marcus quickly fell asleep in the grass as everyone else was training. Luffy was off to one side as he practiced with his devil fruit powers. While Ace and Sabo sparred with each other as Zoro and Kuina did the same.

It was about an hour later when Marcus was woken up by the sound of a den den mushi ringing.

Pururu pururu pururu

Marcus groggily sat up and looked around as he tried to figure out what was going on. As the ringtone went off again Marcus realized someone was trying to call him.

Pururu pururu pururu

Marcus lazy reached into his shirt pocket before he pulled out his den den mushi to see a very familiar yet different face on the sail.

Pururu pururu pururu gacha

"You little brats! Just who do you think you are, leaving the island!?!" A very angry Garp practically yelled from the other side of the den den mushi.

"Thanks for calling Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, is this for pickup or delivery?" Marcus asked with the deepest voice he could muster.

"Uh? Did I dial the wrong number?"

"Did you want to place an order sir?" Marcus asked as everyone else who was close by turned to look at him.

"No, I was trying to reach my ungrateful grandkids."

"Alright sir, I wish you the best of luck in reaching them." Marcus said before he hung up the den den mushi.

"He's gonna be pissed when he calls back." Ace said with a slight smirk.

Marcus stood up and stretched as he said, "Did you hear him? He's already pissed off."

Luffy who was the farthest away walked closer as he asked, "Was that grandpa?"

"Yeah. He's probably looking for us."

"Should we run? He's probably gonna beat us up when he finds us." Luffy said as he unconsciously rubbed the spot on his head where Garp liked to punch him.

Marcus shrugged as he said, "I didn't tell him where we are, so we'll be fine."

"Why are you hiding from your grandpa?" Kuina asked.

"We aren't really hiding, but our goal was to explore East Blue and fight pirates while he was away… But now that he is back we will have to be careful for a little while until he goes back to the grandline." Marcus said.

Pururu pururu pururu pururu gacha.

"City morgue, you stab 'em, we slab 'em. How may I assist you today."

"Uh? Did I dial the number wrong again, one… Six, three… Eight, two, one… Yeah that's what I dialed from the paper…"

The den den mushi's face contorted as Garp snarled, "Marcus!!! You little brat! I know this is your den den mushi number, I just double checked with your dad."

"Oh no! What do we do?!? He knows it's us!" Luffy said in a panic.

Marcus face palmed himself as Garp said, "Of course I know it's you brats! Why else would I call this number? Where the hell did you go? You're supposed to stay on Dawn Island, not roam around East Blue!"

"Marcus took us out on an adventure, we are training in Shimots…" Ace forcefully covered Luffy's mouth but it was already too late as Garp said, "Shimots? Hey, is there a place in East Blue called Shimots?"

Marcus hung up the den den mushi and pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, "Alright, we need to leave. The sooner the better."

Zoro frowned as he asked, "You're gonna leave?"

"Why are you running from your grandpa?"

"Besides the fact he is gonna beat us black and blue whenever he catches us?" Marcus asked.

Kuina nodded before Marcus smiled as he said, "Because it will make sailing around East Blue more fun."

Ace smirked as he said, "He's right. Trying to run from grandpa will make this whole thing a lot more fun."

"But we haven't even dueled yet!" Zoro said as he pointed one of his swords at Marcus.

Marcus pulled out his training sword before he said, "Fine. I'll duel you once, right now. But afterwards we need to get to our ship and get out of here."