The horizon was quiet that day.
No cannons.No chaos.Just calm winds and slow waves carrying a small ship and four determined souls across the Grand Line's untamed edge.
Vihaan sat on the edge of the deck, his legs swinging lazily over the side. His fingers dipped in a small bucket of seawater. Every few minutes, his jaw clenched as that telltale weakness crept up his forearm—but still, he didn't pull away.
Not this time.
Four Days Earlier…
It was Zoro who spotted it first: a silhouette breaking the glimmering sea like a wooden island.
"A ship," he muttered, hand over his brow.
The others rushed to the front. Sure enough, there it was—a mid-sized schooner, grounded on a narrow sandbank of a small, nameless island. The sails were tattered, but the body was sturdy. The nameplate had long since been chipped away by salt and time.
Luffy grinned like a child in a candy store. "That ship's ours now!"
Nami crossed her arms. "We don't even know if it floats."
Vihaan chuckled, adjusting his coat. "It will after we fix it."
And so, they docked. The island was nothing but trees and rocks, but the ship… the ship was promising. Three rooms, a supply hold, even a crow's nest. Not a Going Merry… but a good enough prelude.
The crew spent a full day scrubbing, patching, and reforging the hull. By sunset, their new ship bobbed confidently against the tide, freshly named:
The Mirror Star.
Present – Aboard the Mirror Star
The Mirror Star became more than a vessel. It became a dojo, a field, a sanctuary.
And in that quiet month at sea, Vihaan pushed his limits further than ever before.
Vihaan's Training: Mastering the Mirror
Each morning, he stood on the upper deck, shirtless and focused, working his core to the brink. His Mirror-Mirror Fruit allowed him to reflect force—but not if his body couldn't handle the recoil. He had learned that after trying to bounce Luffy's punch in the previous sparring session. It had nearly flung him off the ship.
So, he trained.Planks for minutes on end.Hundreds of sit-ups.Side twists and boat poses until his stomach burned.
By week two, he began balancing on one leg with his hand dipped in seawater. The weakness still pulsed… but it was fainter now.
The turning point came when he created a small mirror disk in his palm—his Devil Fruit's signature move—and held it underwater for five seconds without it shattering.
"Progress," he muttered with a smirk.
He also began experimenting: he could create thin, translucent mirror shields now—good enough to reflect basic projectiles or even obscure his position by refracting light.
Luffy called it "ninja magic."
Vihaan just called it "strategy."
Luffy's Progress: The Rubber Surge
Luffy was no less relentless.
Every day, he found new ways to test his elasticity—stretching his arms from mast to stern, using the ropes like resistance bands. If Zoro or Vihaan ever needed a lift, Luffy simply slingshotted himself across the ship with a whoop and a wide grin.
His record? Arm stretch from stern to a tree on the island—over 150 meters before snapping back and knocking over a coconut tree.
"Ow," he laughed as the coconut bonked his head.
By the end of four weeks, Luffy's arm-stretching limit had increased nearly threefold. He began practicing new attack names too.
"Gomu Gomu no… Whiplash?"
"Nope," said Vihaan.
"Gomu Gomu no… Banana Throw?"
"Absolutely not."
Zoro groaned from a hammock. "Why do all your moves sound like fruit?"
Zoro's Training: The Flexible Beast
Zoro spent his time differently. He was already strong. But now… he was becoming agile.
On Vihaan's advice, he began stretching exercises, daily yoga poses at dawn with Vihaan guiding his form.
"Touch your toes."
"I'm touching your face."
"Then maybe stop pointing the sword at me."
He focused on flexibility drills that allowed him to transition between stances smoother. Katanas needed strength—but also flow.
And it worked.
By the third week, his transitions became faster. He no longer had to brute force his moves—he could dance with them.
One night, he even caught Vihaan's mirror blast mid-movement and deflected it with a spin.
"Nice," Vihaan smirked.
Zoro just grunted. "Don't expect a compliment back."
Nami's Contribution: The Map Weaver
Not all training was physical.
Nami, surrounded by scrolls, compasses, and ink-stained fingers, created three detailed sea charts from scratch. She mapped every cloud pattern, every island cluster, and every tide shift.
"We'll never get lost again," she declared.
Luffy held the map upside down. "Are we in the South West?"
"No, we're right here!" she snapped, stabbing a dot near the middle.
"I don't see us…"
Vihaan shook his head, hiding a chuckle. "Keep making maps, Nami. You're saving us more than you know."
She smiled quietly at that.
Night – The Crew Gathered
The fourth week was ending.
They sat around a fire lit on deck, a rare moment of peace. The sky overhead was painted in a cascade of stars.
Luffy leaned back against the mast, arms stretched up like noodles.
Zoro lay flat on the floor, arms behind his head.
Nami cleaned her compass while humming.
Vihaan sat cross-legged with his mirror in hand, the surface pulsing slightly with soft light.
"You think we'll face strong enemies again soon?" Luffy asked.
"We will," Vihaan replied. "And they won't wait for us to be ready."
"Good," Zoro muttered. "I'm tired of stretching."
"I'm not," Nami said with a smirk. "This peace is rare."
Vihaan smiled. "All the more reason to make ourselves stronger now."
He glanced at the sea. The mirror in his hand reflected the moonlight.
For a second… he thought he saw a face in it.
A flash of a man with a mustache, grinning wildly in a red captain's coat.
Roger?
He blinked—and it was gone.