Chapter 25

Grandline, Paradise, little Garden

Slowly Azuls little ship sailed down a small river that seemed to reach deep into the islands core, so he had decided to follow it. Soon he came across the first dinosaur which made him grin like a loon in response.

"Now this is more like what I expected from the grandline hahahaha!" Azul, satisfied with his choice of route after a rather boring first island, said while taking in everything in his surroundings. Jungle, as far as the eyes could see. Now and then a dinosaur would roar in the distance and a volcano would erupt which made said dinosaur yelp in response.

Soon Azul, after tying his small ship to some rocks on the shore, perceived the familiar sounds of metal meeting metal and, curiousity awakened, decided to check it out.

Walking through the jungle proved to be a rather tedious task but Azul persisted and after killing some unfortunate t-rex that crossed his path, which he took with him for lunch, Azul finally saw what caused the sounds of metal hitting metal. Two giants, clothed in armor and cloaks with one carrying a sword and shield while the other carried an axe and shield instead. And what a mighty sight they made! Swinging their weapons at each other they battle for supremacy, seemingly until only one remained. Captivated by the raw skill displayed Azul decided to keep quiet and simply observe. After all it was rude to interrupt a warriors conversation. And so the battle raged on until a nearby vulcano erupted, seemingly signifying the end of their duel. Brought out of his mind, Azul walked up to the laughing giants and spoke while slightly bowing his head: "Greetings fellow warriors. It was an honor to spectate such a mighty duel. May I know your names? I am called Azul."

"Bwahahahaha, such dignity in one so young but there is no reason to bow, though it honors us that you do! We are the captains of the giant pirates, Brogy is my name, and this is my friend Dorry. Well met young warrior!" The one with the long beard, carrying a sword, now know as Brogy spoke while inclining his head himself, as tradition demands when two warriors meet. Following his friends example Dorry, the one with the rather bushy beard and axe, did the same and asked:

"What brings you to this god forsaken island young warrior Azul?" with an ever present grin on his gigantic face.

"This island was the next one after leaving from the first island after entering the grandline a few days ago. Say, would you like to join me for lunch? I came across an interesting specimen on my journey through the jungle, though I would ask you to cook since I kind of suck a.s.s at it hahaha" Azul spoke, slightly laughing at his own misfortune.

"What do you say Brogy? You up for some good ol' dinosaur meat? Bwahahaha" Dorry spoke while smacking his friend on the should with a resounding clap.

"Sounds good to me Dorry. It is settled than, let us dine like kings! Bwahahaha" Brogy spoke while walking over to the fire place nearby that served as his den, besides which Azul threw the dinosaurs corpse, sitting down while taking some beer out of his bag he had slung over his shoulder.

"Say, how about a spar later? I would love to learn from you." Azul requested of the lazily reclined Dorry that was drinking from a giants cup himself.

"Apologies young Azul but we need every ounce of energy for our duel, otherwise we would bring shame to our honor as captains!" Dorry spoke with an apologetic look on his face, to which Azul responded:

"Surely you can take a break from your duel for one day, no? Or is your reason so important that it demands you fight each day for how long exactly?" with an inquiring gaze directed at Dorry who looked over to Brogy who just nodded, seemingly a signal of some kind.

"Let me tell you our story then since it will help put into perspective why we fight, though part of the story has been lost to even us bwahahaha" Dorry spoke while adding his characteristic laughter at the end.

"It all began with something, which we don't remember, a 100 years ago. This something was some kind of contest, but by the life of me I don't remember anymore what it was... Anyways, said contest was declared a draw and as is tradition on Elbaf, the home of the giants, to decide a winner we started our duel. And ever since then we have been duelling on this island bwahahaha" Dorry explained to Azul who devoloped a mighty sweatdrop at him mentioning not even remembering what the reason for their duel was in the first place.

"Bloody hell, a hundred years of continuous battle... damnit I wanna fight you, argh!" Azul yelled in frustration which earned him roaring laughter from the two giants. Soon they started feasting and exchanging stories over food and drinks until late into the night, fully enjoying the company of each other.

The next day Brogy and Dorry, as soon as the vulcano erupted, stood up again and once more clashed for hours on end. Azul meanwhile was watching them duel, deep in his thoughts.

'A hundred years of continuous battle against the same opponent, again and again each day. They must know each other like the back of their hands. But how come one couldn't beat the other over all this time? Surely they would've figured out by now how the other giant would respond and be able to form some kind of answer to that... But why did that not happen? As far as I can tell they are masters at the use of haki, so why couldn't they read and counter the opponents moves after all this time? Or did they maybe... Yes, that could be it. But how would you even go about doing that? Masking your intentions like a veil surrounding your soul so your opponent is unable to guess where you will strike next... Hmmm... Maybe if they didn't know themselfs where to strike until the strike hit? But that would mean they would fight purely by instinct! Bloody hell! Could I do this? I doubt it but maybe I can incorporate this mindset into my martial arts to learn it over time... but how to go about that... unpredictable, unpredictable, unpredictable.... how about using a stance that is made purely for defense for offense? That could help. Lets try that!' And so Azul did just that.

Moving away a few hundred meters from the fighting giants Azul began to go back to the basics his master had taught him and went through them in slow motion while trying to change the intentions he would use for the different stances on the spur of a moment. He practised and practised until the sun began to slowly set. Soon it would be the end of their duel so Azul began to track back to their makeshift camp, by which time something registered in his periphery. Someone was messing with their consumables. With a frown on his face Azul walked over to their camp and spotted a man and a woman, standing before the giants beer reserves. With a deepening frown Azul walked up to them being able to clearly feel and see the taint in their intentions meaning they were up to something sinister.

"Mind telling me what you are doing there?" Azul spoke to the duo who stiffened in response and slowly turned around to come face to face with Azuls towering form that had a blank look on his face, though his eyes spoke differently. They were burning....