Eyes of a Hawk: Zoro x Reader

Chapter 5: Reduced to Nothing but Ash

Eyes of a Hawk had won the double update through votes alone. Although I'd like to point out that somebody had pointed out that this book was still in it's early stages compared to Crimson Chivalry and deserves this double update.

The moon was whole, shimmering with a ghostly blue that illuminated the background of black. All day, the inhabitants of an island had been gathering from miles around to one town that was considered the capital of all things whole. One man however, he had eyes of gold that could kill upon first glance, he tread from the gathering towards the shoreline of the island small in size.

A man with hair as red as velvet stood upon the deck of his vessel overlooking the town as his ship slowed to set anchor within a moment's notice. He saw the man with golden eyes, he knew those eyes were none other than his rival's Dracule Mihawk. The man of red grinned in his presence, "what's up with the urgency Hawkeye?" Shanks stepped off his boat not so soon after docking, his long known rival had been waiting there for him. All this time, Shanks had thought their rivaling friendship were extremely one sided, but this just proved Mihawk returned said friendship.

Mihawk glanced at Shanks, just to turn his entire body away. "We'll talk about it on the way," Shanks heard pain laced within his voice of authority. Something was on his mind, Shanks knew it. It was something that was affecting him for the worst, and Shanks had a feeling he was about to get drawn into a mess against his liking.

"Where are we going then?" Shank hummed, trying to remain calm despite his concern.

"My home," Mihawk bluntly replied, not once looking back.

"That's a first," Shanks had chuckled. "What's up with the hospitality?"

"I have a daughter..." Mihawk began, Shanks never thought he'd heard such a claim come from Mihawk. "My wife passed away very recently. I need to talk matters out with you... In which I'm grateful you went out of your way to be here," Mihawk gladly explained with difficulty on his end all the while keeping much needed key information out of the question to keep his rival from becoming turned down right out of the gate.

Shanks smirked, "you need help raising the kid... Don't you?"

"Keep comments such as that to a minimum... This is serious," Mihawk snapped.

"Fine," Shanks eased up finally taking his previous words into mind. "What's wrong Hawkeyes? Are you just not fit to be a father or do you need extra hands with the passing of your wife?" Shanks threw out every possibility that came to mind. "In which, I'm sorry for your loss. I've never met the gal so I can't feel all that sorry."

"I appreciate your concern," Mihawk hummed, continuing to lead Shanks to his domain. "I've decided on a whim, I entrust (Y/n) to you."

"Whoa that was sudden," Shanks' eyes widened.

"I hope you understand. My wife... Her mother... She was brutally murdered and I fear the safety of my own daughter," Mihawk took hold of the reigns and plunged forward. "This town... It was a town with no crime and everyone was quite hospitable. My wife wanted a safe home for (Y/n) for she had grown up here before we got together. What we knew settling down is that a vast majority of the population were devoted to their gods..." The Warlord had paused. "The practice of the inhabitants apparently shuns the abilities my wife and daughter poses. This resulted in the passing of my wife."

"She lived here and never knew her kind was forbidden?" Shanks took great interest in this fact.

"Their practices look down upon devil fruit users, in which they aren't, but the townsmen don't understand," Mihawk huffed with a slight growl. "That should've been our hint to leave."