Second chapter of Zoro-centric fic
Jan. 31st, 2008 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainsometimesTitle: A Quiet Walk In The Noonday Heat, Chapter 2
Spoilers: Set after Enies Lobby; will also contain eventual spoilers for early Thriller Bark
Characters: Zoro, and SORT OF some crewmates but not actually
Continues from Chapter One
Chapter 2. In which a clue is found, and patience is lost.
He walked through narrow alleys – perfect for an ambush, as so much of this labyrinthine place was – and entered a tiny, dusty courtyard, where a decrepit wooden bench sat in the shadow of a big gnarled oak, and a stone fountain let out a tiny trickle of water. There was a huge crack running from one end of the fountain to another, and the water slowed to a complete stop just as Zoro and the birds passed by.
There should have been old folks sitting there, he thought, resting their legs in the shade, exchanging gossip and complaining about young people these days. It was exactly that kind of place. But the little courtyard was just as deserted as everything else.
For a moment he thought he could hear the sound of someone strumming a guitar. He tensed, straining his hearing to the limit, then slowly turned around and scrutinised the houses around him. As before, no sign of a movement, and the music had already stopped.
Well, it wasn’t as if he had really expected his cyborg crewmate to suddenly step out from the nearest alley, guitar held high. After all, if Franky were here, he would most likely be a bird as well – Zoro pictured some kind of loud, half-mechanical parrot or cockatoo – and birds could hardly play the guitar.
As he left the courtyard, something small and shiny rolled out from a passageway right in front of his path, just a few meters away.
”What – ?” he said, stopping. The birds made curious noises. (They still perched on his head and shoulders for the most part.) Zoro glanced down the passageway – it was empty too, no surprises there – and then back to the small object on the ground. It was hard to make out; it shone and glittered so much, and it wouldn’t keep still but kept bouncing and spinning around, either light enough to follow the merest whims of the faint breeze or somehow moving under its own power.
More than anything else, it looked like some kind of Clue. But what use was that, if you couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be in the first place?
The birds were all a-twitter, fluttering about and shrieking in a confused, excited way.
“What is that?”
“Is it a log pose?”
“A caltrop?”
“An Atlas beetle?”
“Way too small for that…”
“…A mystery beetle!?”
“Wait, I see it now! It’s a jewel! Woohoo! Quick, pick it up, Mr. Swordsman!”
“Hey, easy with the claws there, orangey,” grumbled Zoro. “Anyway, it’s a key.” Now that he’d said it, he had to wonder why he hadn’t seen it from the start. It was most definitely a small, white and sparkling key, although why it kept hopping around like that was more than he knew.
The birds blinked and looked at one another, and then down at the shiny object again. Then they mumbled things like “Yeah, okay, it might be at that,” and “I guess. But a jewel would have been better,” and “Wow, a beetle that turns into a key!”
“Hey, aren’t you gonna pick it up?” prodded L-bird, hopping impatiently.
“If you don’t want it, I can take it,” offered N-bird sweetly.
Zoro gave her an extremely dry look. She blinked innocently and put her head to one side with a melodious chirp, like some kind of pet budgie. He suddenly felt damn glad he at least wasn’t owing this version any money.
Then he muttered “Yeah, yeah, I will,” to L-bird. Staring intently at the glittering, sparkly thing, he quickly bent down and scooped it up in one neat movement.
The small white key felt dry and strangely cold against his palm. He’d thought for a moment that it might be made out of bone, but bone shouldn’t be so cold in this dusty heat. Enamel didn’t seem right either. Maybe it was ivory? Though more likely some alloy he didn’t even know of. Lying still in his hand, the key didn’t sparkle as much as when it bounced in the sunny dust of the streets, but there was still a definite gleam to it.
However, it could hardly match the sparkles in the three sets of bird-eyes that were watching it avidly.
“What’s it gonna open? What’s it gonna open?” burbled L-bird excitedly, flying down to Zoro’s hand briefly to take a closer look.
“Ooh, I bet it’s gonna lead to a room full of treasure!” squealed N-bird. “Or, wait, maybe it opens up a treasure chest!”
“Sooo cool-looking!” said U-bird. “I wonder how it could move like that before. Think it opens any of the doors around here?”
Zoro glanced a second time around his rather boring surroundings and shook his head definitely.
“Hey Swords-guy, do you know where it leads, then?” asked L-bird.
Zoro shrugged. “No, but I’ll know it when I see it,” he said. He put the key in his pocket and trudged onwards, ignoring the disappointed sighs of the birds.
Shortly after that he heard a loud clanging sound right behind him. Zoro spun around, one sword already drawn, only to see a big lizard scuttle away up a brick wall. It had evidently tore down some of the vine covering most of the wall, then lost its grip and fallen down right on top of a pile of junk, causing that too to tumble down noisily. The lizard hastily vanished on the other side of the wall, but Zoro didn’t pay it any heed. He was staring at what he was holding.
He didn’t understand how it was that his hand had sought out the handle of Yubashiri, nor why he had drawn what should have been only its hilt and broken base. Only it wasn’t. It was the entire blade made whole again, looking as hard and sharp as ever. There wasn’t the slightest crack in it, not the merest hint of rust.
N-bird peered up at him curiously. “Something wrong, Mr Swordsman?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Zoro, voice slightly hoarse. He cleared his throat and went on, hesitantly, “This thing should be broken. I saw it break. It was touched by a devil fruit user and shattered instantly into pieces. There’s no way it could be whole again like this.” His voice sounded strange to his ears, almost like it came from someone else.
“Well, are you sure it’s the same one? Maybe you’ve picked up another sword somewhere looking similar,” suggested N-bird.
“No, it’s definitely the Yubashiri,” muttered Zoro, feeling a bit dizzy. “And if you think I wouldn’t remember something like that, you’re crazy.”
“It’s grown back by itself,” stated L-bird. “That’s one great sword you’ve got. Are your other swords as cool as that?”
Zoro kept staring at the blade, shaking his head. “So is this really a dream, then?” he mumbled. But then he turned to N-bird: “You know, come to think of it, I’ve had quite a few dreams like this recently, dreams where this sword wasn’t broken again. And you know what? I wasn’t surprised in any of them. I just thought, ‘oh, I thought it was broken, but I guess I was mistaken, that’s great, then’.
N-bird shrugged. “So?”
“So this isn’t really a dream, because I’m not thinking that way,” concluded Zoro. “It’s just weird stuff happening, that’s all. Some kind of strange hypnosis maybe.” He shrugged.
“Hey!” squawked L-bird. “The sword’s getting all cracked and rusty again!” Zoro glanced down, and it was true. The rust and cracks were spreading – much slower than they had when it broke, but a lot faster than they normally would in real life. Soon the sword would shatter again.
“It’s probably ‘cause you won’t believe that it’s whole now,” said U-bird urgently. “I think you should just keep thinking and saying to yourself that it’s actually fine now, back to normal. And then it will heal up again, and you’ll be able to use it the next time you fight. That’s good, isn’t it?”
Zoro shook his head heavily. “That’s not the way things work,” he mumbled.
“You shouldn’t just give up like that – “
“No,” said Zoro definitely. “I saw it break. When something is gone, you have to realise it. It won’t come back. Things don’t work like that.” But he sheathed Yubashiri even so. He didn’t think he’d particularly enjoy having to watch it break a second time.
“How can you tell?” argued U-bird. “It may not be how things work back where you come from, but it might be how they work around here, in this town. It’s weird enough, after all...”
Zoro frowned, one eyebrow twitching, part of him wanting to exclaim quite forcefully that it was true all over. The truth was the truth no matter where you were. But he pushed the urge away and only shook his head once more. Then he started walking again.
“So why are you walking around with the pieces of a broken sword?” the orange bird asked after a few silent seconds.
Zoro shrugged. “Because I haven’t found a worthy blade to replace it yet.”
N-bird looked confused. “That still doesn’t explain why…”
“Maybe you’re going to find one here!” L-bird interrupted. “Maybe that’s where the key is leading! Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Ooh, that actually sounds plausible,” said N-bird in an interested tone. “The sword could be inside a treasure chamber that the key leads to… that could work…”
The clock struck three times. It was a quarter to the hour.
*
The sun kept broiling, the winds kept passing by now and then without cooling anybody down, blowing sand in your eyes and leaves around your feet. The birds kept chattering, he kept walking, the streets kept being empty and the unknown other swordsman who must be around there somewhere kept not materialising in the least.
It was all wrong.
It was all wrong, he could feel it more and more, and it irked him that the birds apparently couldn’t sense it at all. Everyone else did, obviously – that was why they stayed out of sight. His unknown opponent did – that was why he wouldn’t step forward. But the birds just kept flying around him blithely, ignoring the afternoon heat and not understanding a thing.
The black birds had been singing some silly song of L-bird’s about islands in the north and the south, and now L-bird was fooling around with some bits of red paprika he’d found in the gutter. He’d had U-bird tie it to his head and chin so he could make a ‘chicken impression’, complete with cackling and waddling. U-bird sounded like he was about to die with laughter. N-bird was either rolling her eyes at the black birds and telling them to hurry up for God’s sake, or peeking into various shop windows they were passing (but Zoro did catch her humming the tune to L-bird’s song under her breath). And all of them kept bothering him about the sparkling key, pointing out various doors and gates they were passing and asking him if he shouldn’t try unlocking them.
“I told you, I’ll know the right lock when I see it!” he said as patiently as he could manage. “Now stop distracting me. There’s a place I need to find.”
“What place is that?” asked U-bird curiously.
“It’s where you’re going to fight someone, isn’t it?” said L-bird eagerly. “Whoever it is. That guy who isn’t Hawkeye.”
Zoro nodded curtly.
“Well, what kind of place is it?” asked N-bird. “We might have an idea of where it is, you never know.”
“I don’t know, exactly,” admitted Zoro. “But I figure it’s in some big open place in the city centre.”
“That’s where you’ve been trying to go all this time?” said N-bird, sounding amazed. “Wow, you should have told us so before! I was honestly beginning to think you were on some kind of huge sightseeing tour here.”
“Well, it’s not like you offered to help me before,” said Zoro shortly, feeling rather annoyed. L-bird and U-bird were snickering in the background.
“Well, you didn’t tell us, so how could we?” retorted N-bird.
“Well, you didn’t ask!” he pointed out. Though perhaps they had, at that. But only back in the beginning when he wasn’t replying to them.
“The centre, huh?” said U-bird. “That’s easy! I know that!”
“Oh?” said Zoro and N-bird simultaneously, giving him identical sceptical looks.
“Sure! See, this town is built around seven city walls, with the centre inside the innermost one. But watch out! There are big burly warriors armed to the teeth guarding the gates of each wall, aided by fearsome eagles. They’ll ask to see a pantomime to let you through, and unless you do a real good one or distract them with some pie, you’re in for it! Once I hadn’t memorised anything and had to fight my way in through a whole pack of them, not that it was any trouble of course…”
Zoro glanced at the orange bird. “So are you gonna help out, or not?”
“Well, I haven’t actually seen a map of this town or seen any open place like that yet,” admitted the N-bird, making Zoro snort and roll his eyes. “But you crossed a wide avenue just now, a block from here,” she continued, “and I think there’s a better chance of that one leading right than if you keep walking this narrow side-street.”
“You think?” Zoro shrugged. “Well, can’t hurt to try it, I guess,” he said, turning around.
“Hey, wait, you’ve only turned right! Turn all the way around! No, that’s too far! To the left!”
The black birds giggled and Zoro scowled, trying his best to follow her confusing instructions despite feeling hot and tired.
“I did turn left,” he protested.
“That was right,” sighed N-bird. Then she flew off his shoulder to hover in front of him. “Okay, follow me then. Here, down this road. No, here!”
Eventually Zoro did find himself looking down a wide, tree-lined street, and he had to admit it looked like it might lead somewhere important. He noted that the trees all seemed tired and withering in the heat, their leaves dry and grey. It was eerily quiet.
All wrong.
The orange bird settled on Zoro’s left shoulder again. “Well, then, Mr. Swordsman,” she proclaimed, too loudly for his taste, “now that I know where you want to go, I can easily fly up to some fine vantage point and pick out the quickest route for you! Lucky for you, eh?”
“Yay!” said L-bird, hopping up and down on the nearest tree branch. “I’ll help out, too! Did you know that if you find a cool spot, that means it’s more to the north? ‘Cause it’s colder in the north, of course!”
“Would you try thinking for once?” muttered Zoro under his breath. How stupid. North was upwards, everyone knew that.
“Uh, I think you should leave this to me, L-bird,” said N-bird. “Anyway…”
“Just remember,” said U-bird cheerfully, “if you should come across one of them gate guards you only have to say you’ve been sent by the gallant and powerful U-bird, and they’ll be sure to quail in their boots and let you in quickly. As long as you don’t stare at their ears, of course.”
“Why, what’s wrong with their ears?” asked L-bird.
“They look like coleslaw, and they’re very sensitive about it…”
“Anyway,” continued N-bird brightly, “I’m not doing it for free. If you’ll find a treasure at the end of it, you’ll have to give me a cut of, oh, let’s say fifty-five percent. That’s only reasonable, right?”
A hot desert wind shook down some of the dry grey leaves from the tree next to Zoro. The clock struck four times and then, with a different chime, once. So it was one o’clock now.
He still felt rather hot and tired, more than he should be from just walking around. But it wasn’t as if he cared about money, and the offer didn’t actually sound that bad to him. He should just nod and say yes. Or say nothing, for the orange bird obviously assumed he’d agree.
But instead he found himself growling,
“Hey, you. Could you turn the greed down a notch? It’s getting old.”
N-bird gasped sharply. The black birds froze and stared at him.
“Wh-what?” squawked N-bird, sounding both baffled and shocked. Then outrage took over: “Excuse me– ?! I’m trying to help you, you bozo!”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” snapped Zoro, “you happen to be a tiny tropical bird right now! What the hell is a small bird going to do with gold and jewellery?”
“Man’s got a point, you know,” chirped U-bird. N-bird opened her beak angrily and would no doubt have told him to shut the hell up, but she didn’t get a chance to.
“And you!!” Zoro damn near shouted, as he spun around and pointed straight at U-bird. “Always with your bullshit! I’m sick and tired of you always spinning bullshit!”
“Wah! Scary!” yelped U-bird, leaping behind L-bird to try and hide there, which looked rather odd as they were pretty much the same size. He peeked out from there with some of that same shocked bafflement about him. L-bird flapped his wings protectively and looked up at Zoro indignantly.
“Hey, hey! That’s not fair!” he shouted. “We don’t know anymore than your thoughts do! Don’t blame us for them!”
Zoro drew in breath between his teeth, confused and angry. “What – ?”
N-bird hopped over to the black birds on the tree branch. “He’s right, you know,” she said calmly, her eyes only slightly narrowed. “To tell you the truth, we only flew out from your head about an hour or so ago. Except for what we’ve seen of this town since then, the only things we know come directly from your mind.”
“What? That’s – crazy –!”
“Well, it’s true, so there!” said L-bird, nodding repeatedly and sticking out his tongue at him.
Zoro glared at L-bird. “Don’t be so – so predictable!” he hissed. “You – All of you – ”
“Scary!” squawked U-bird again, still hiding behind L-bird.
N-bird looked concerned. “Why are you so upset all of a sudden?” She put her head to one side and looked up at the swordsman.
“SHUT UP!” yelled Zoro, not knowing how it had come to this point and quite unable to stop himself. “ALL OF YOU IDIOTS! JUST SHUT UP!”
He put a hand to his forehead, feeling dazed though he heard himself muttering in a low tone, not quite aware of what he was saying:
“Stupid little immature morons always needing bloody looking after... running around fumbling things up, all the damned time...” his voice sank down to barely audible, “I don’t... I’m sick of it...”
Why do they always need me so much? he thought suddenly. Aren’t they just fooling themselves?
How can I make sure they will always need me?
How can I ever break free and walk my own path again?
And why was he suddenly shouting and having crazy thoughts like this, it wasn’t like him at all – it was this stupid town or the lunatic birds or something, making him into something he wasn’t, some kind of unbalanced whiner – it wasn’t right…
He thought they were still there, just staying mercifully quiet for the nonce. He thought they would soon start chattering again, annoying and know-it-all and seemingly helpful but actually just hanging out with him because they happened to feel like it for the moment. Trying to lead him to some stupid so-called insight – probably just bullshit, too – as if that were the job of imaginary talking birds who wouldn’t even take responsibility for their own impersonations.
He was so sure they were still there.
When he finally looked over his shoulder and realised he was alone he didn’t know for how long it had been so. His senses ought to have been sharp enough to pick up the faint beating of departing wings. Maybe they hadn’t flown away, but simply vanished, as silent as he’d asked them to be.
Maybe what he felt was relief.
*
To Be Continued in Chapter 3
Spoilers: Set after Enies Lobby; will also contain eventual spoilers for early Thriller Bark
Characters: Zoro, and SORT OF some crewmates but not actually
Continues from Chapter One
Chapter 2. In which a clue is found, and patience is lost.
He walked through narrow alleys – perfect for an ambush, as so much of this labyrinthine place was – and entered a tiny, dusty courtyard, where a decrepit wooden bench sat in the shadow of a big gnarled oak, and a stone fountain let out a tiny trickle of water. There was a huge crack running from one end of the fountain to another, and the water slowed to a complete stop just as Zoro and the birds passed by.
There should have been old folks sitting there, he thought, resting their legs in the shade, exchanging gossip and complaining about young people these days. It was exactly that kind of place. But the little courtyard was just as deserted as everything else.
For a moment he thought he could hear the sound of someone strumming a guitar. He tensed, straining his hearing to the limit, then slowly turned around and scrutinised the houses around him. As before, no sign of a movement, and the music had already stopped.
Well, it wasn’t as if he had really expected his cyborg crewmate to suddenly step out from the nearest alley, guitar held high. After all, if Franky were here, he would most likely be a bird as well – Zoro pictured some kind of loud, half-mechanical parrot or cockatoo – and birds could hardly play the guitar.
As he left the courtyard, something small and shiny rolled out from a passageway right in front of his path, just a few meters away.
”What – ?” he said, stopping. The birds made curious noises. (They still perched on his head and shoulders for the most part.) Zoro glanced down the passageway – it was empty too, no surprises there – and then back to the small object on the ground. It was hard to make out; it shone and glittered so much, and it wouldn’t keep still but kept bouncing and spinning around, either light enough to follow the merest whims of the faint breeze or somehow moving under its own power.
More than anything else, it looked like some kind of Clue. But what use was that, if you couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be in the first place?
The birds were all a-twitter, fluttering about and shrieking in a confused, excited way.
“What is that?”
“Is it a log pose?”
“A caltrop?”
“An Atlas beetle?”
“Way too small for that…”
“…A mystery beetle!?”
“Wait, I see it now! It’s a jewel! Woohoo! Quick, pick it up, Mr. Swordsman!”
“Hey, easy with the claws there, orangey,” grumbled Zoro. “Anyway, it’s a key.” Now that he’d said it, he had to wonder why he hadn’t seen it from the start. It was most definitely a small, white and sparkling key, although why it kept hopping around like that was more than he knew.
The birds blinked and looked at one another, and then down at the shiny object again. Then they mumbled things like “Yeah, okay, it might be at that,” and “I guess. But a jewel would have been better,” and “Wow, a beetle that turns into a key!”
“Hey, aren’t you gonna pick it up?” prodded L-bird, hopping impatiently.
“If you don’t want it, I can take it,” offered N-bird sweetly.
Zoro gave her an extremely dry look. She blinked innocently and put her head to one side with a melodious chirp, like some kind of pet budgie. He suddenly felt damn glad he at least wasn’t owing this version any money.
Then he muttered “Yeah, yeah, I will,” to L-bird. Staring intently at the glittering, sparkly thing, he quickly bent down and scooped it up in one neat movement.
The small white key felt dry and strangely cold against his palm. He’d thought for a moment that it might be made out of bone, but bone shouldn’t be so cold in this dusty heat. Enamel didn’t seem right either. Maybe it was ivory? Though more likely some alloy he didn’t even know of. Lying still in his hand, the key didn’t sparkle as much as when it bounced in the sunny dust of the streets, but there was still a definite gleam to it.
However, it could hardly match the sparkles in the three sets of bird-eyes that were watching it avidly.
“What’s it gonna open? What’s it gonna open?” burbled L-bird excitedly, flying down to Zoro’s hand briefly to take a closer look.
“Ooh, I bet it’s gonna lead to a room full of treasure!” squealed N-bird. “Or, wait, maybe it opens up a treasure chest!”
“Sooo cool-looking!” said U-bird. “I wonder how it could move like that before. Think it opens any of the doors around here?”
Zoro glanced a second time around his rather boring surroundings and shook his head definitely.
“Hey Swords-guy, do you know where it leads, then?” asked L-bird.
Zoro shrugged. “No, but I’ll know it when I see it,” he said. He put the key in his pocket and trudged onwards, ignoring the disappointed sighs of the birds.
Shortly after that he heard a loud clanging sound right behind him. Zoro spun around, one sword already drawn, only to see a big lizard scuttle away up a brick wall. It had evidently tore down some of the vine covering most of the wall, then lost its grip and fallen down right on top of a pile of junk, causing that too to tumble down noisily. The lizard hastily vanished on the other side of the wall, but Zoro didn’t pay it any heed. He was staring at what he was holding.
He didn’t understand how it was that his hand had sought out the handle of Yubashiri, nor why he had drawn what should have been only its hilt and broken base. Only it wasn’t. It was the entire blade made whole again, looking as hard and sharp as ever. There wasn’t the slightest crack in it, not the merest hint of rust.
N-bird peered up at him curiously. “Something wrong, Mr Swordsman?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Zoro, voice slightly hoarse. He cleared his throat and went on, hesitantly, “This thing should be broken. I saw it break. It was touched by a devil fruit user and shattered instantly into pieces. There’s no way it could be whole again like this.” His voice sounded strange to his ears, almost like it came from someone else.
“Well, are you sure it’s the same one? Maybe you’ve picked up another sword somewhere looking similar,” suggested N-bird.
“No, it’s definitely the Yubashiri,” muttered Zoro, feeling a bit dizzy. “And if you think I wouldn’t remember something like that, you’re crazy.”
“It’s grown back by itself,” stated L-bird. “That’s one great sword you’ve got. Are your other swords as cool as that?”
Zoro kept staring at the blade, shaking his head. “So is this really a dream, then?” he mumbled. But then he turned to N-bird: “You know, come to think of it, I’ve had quite a few dreams like this recently, dreams where this sword wasn’t broken again. And you know what? I wasn’t surprised in any of them. I just thought, ‘oh, I thought it was broken, but I guess I was mistaken, that’s great, then’.
N-bird shrugged. “So?”
“So this isn’t really a dream, because I’m not thinking that way,” concluded Zoro. “It’s just weird stuff happening, that’s all. Some kind of strange hypnosis maybe.” He shrugged.
“Hey!” squawked L-bird. “The sword’s getting all cracked and rusty again!” Zoro glanced down, and it was true. The rust and cracks were spreading – much slower than they had when it broke, but a lot faster than they normally would in real life. Soon the sword would shatter again.
“It’s probably ‘cause you won’t believe that it’s whole now,” said U-bird urgently. “I think you should just keep thinking and saying to yourself that it’s actually fine now, back to normal. And then it will heal up again, and you’ll be able to use it the next time you fight. That’s good, isn’t it?”
Zoro shook his head heavily. “That’s not the way things work,” he mumbled.
“You shouldn’t just give up like that – “
“No,” said Zoro definitely. “I saw it break. When something is gone, you have to realise it. It won’t come back. Things don’t work like that.” But he sheathed Yubashiri even so. He didn’t think he’d particularly enjoy having to watch it break a second time.
“How can you tell?” argued U-bird. “It may not be how things work back where you come from, but it might be how they work around here, in this town. It’s weird enough, after all...”
Zoro frowned, one eyebrow twitching, part of him wanting to exclaim quite forcefully that it was true all over. The truth was the truth no matter where you were. But he pushed the urge away and only shook his head once more. Then he started walking again.
“So why are you walking around with the pieces of a broken sword?” the orange bird asked after a few silent seconds.
Zoro shrugged. “Because I haven’t found a worthy blade to replace it yet.”
N-bird looked confused. “That still doesn’t explain why…”
“Maybe you’re going to find one here!” L-bird interrupted. “Maybe that’s where the key is leading! Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Ooh, that actually sounds plausible,” said N-bird in an interested tone. “The sword could be inside a treasure chamber that the key leads to… that could work…”
The clock struck three times. It was a quarter to the hour.
*
The sun kept broiling, the winds kept passing by now and then without cooling anybody down, blowing sand in your eyes and leaves around your feet. The birds kept chattering, he kept walking, the streets kept being empty and the unknown other swordsman who must be around there somewhere kept not materialising in the least.
It was all wrong.
It was all wrong, he could feel it more and more, and it irked him that the birds apparently couldn’t sense it at all. Everyone else did, obviously – that was why they stayed out of sight. His unknown opponent did – that was why he wouldn’t step forward. But the birds just kept flying around him blithely, ignoring the afternoon heat and not understanding a thing.
The black birds had been singing some silly song of L-bird’s about islands in the north and the south, and now L-bird was fooling around with some bits of red paprika he’d found in the gutter. He’d had U-bird tie it to his head and chin so he could make a ‘chicken impression’, complete with cackling and waddling. U-bird sounded like he was about to die with laughter. N-bird was either rolling her eyes at the black birds and telling them to hurry up for God’s sake, or peeking into various shop windows they were passing (but Zoro did catch her humming the tune to L-bird’s song under her breath). And all of them kept bothering him about the sparkling key, pointing out various doors and gates they were passing and asking him if he shouldn’t try unlocking them.
“I told you, I’ll know the right lock when I see it!” he said as patiently as he could manage. “Now stop distracting me. There’s a place I need to find.”
“What place is that?” asked U-bird curiously.
“It’s where you’re going to fight someone, isn’t it?” said L-bird eagerly. “Whoever it is. That guy who isn’t Hawkeye.”
Zoro nodded curtly.
“Well, what kind of place is it?” asked N-bird. “We might have an idea of where it is, you never know.”
“I don’t know, exactly,” admitted Zoro. “But I figure it’s in some big open place in the city centre.”
“That’s where you’ve been trying to go all this time?” said N-bird, sounding amazed. “Wow, you should have told us so before! I was honestly beginning to think you were on some kind of huge sightseeing tour here.”
“Well, it’s not like you offered to help me before,” said Zoro shortly, feeling rather annoyed. L-bird and U-bird were snickering in the background.
“Well, you didn’t tell us, so how could we?” retorted N-bird.
“Well, you didn’t ask!” he pointed out. Though perhaps they had, at that. But only back in the beginning when he wasn’t replying to them.
“The centre, huh?” said U-bird. “That’s easy! I know that!”
“Oh?” said Zoro and N-bird simultaneously, giving him identical sceptical looks.
“Sure! See, this town is built around seven city walls, with the centre inside the innermost one. But watch out! There are big burly warriors armed to the teeth guarding the gates of each wall, aided by fearsome eagles. They’ll ask to see a pantomime to let you through, and unless you do a real good one or distract them with some pie, you’re in for it! Once I hadn’t memorised anything and had to fight my way in through a whole pack of them, not that it was any trouble of course…”
Zoro glanced at the orange bird. “So are you gonna help out, or not?”
“Well, I haven’t actually seen a map of this town or seen any open place like that yet,” admitted the N-bird, making Zoro snort and roll his eyes. “But you crossed a wide avenue just now, a block from here,” she continued, “and I think there’s a better chance of that one leading right than if you keep walking this narrow side-street.”
“You think?” Zoro shrugged. “Well, can’t hurt to try it, I guess,” he said, turning around.
“Hey, wait, you’ve only turned right! Turn all the way around! No, that’s too far! To the left!”
The black birds giggled and Zoro scowled, trying his best to follow her confusing instructions despite feeling hot and tired.
“I did turn left,” he protested.
“That was right,” sighed N-bird. Then she flew off his shoulder to hover in front of him. “Okay, follow me then. Here, down this road. No, here!”
Eventually Zoro did find himself looking down a wide, tree-lined street, and he had to admit it looked like it might lead somewhere important. He noted that the trees all seemed tired and withering in the heat, their leaves dry and grey. It was eerily quiet.
All wrong.
The orange bird settled on Zoro’s left shoulder again. “Well, then, Mr. Swordsman,” she proclaimed, too loudly for his taste, “now that I know where you want to go, I can easily fly up to some fine vantage point and pick out the quickest route for you! Lucky for you, eh?”
“Yay!” said L-bird, hopping up and down on the nearest tree branch. “I’ll help out, too! Did you know that if you find a cool spot, that means it’s more to the north? ‘Cause it’s colder in the north, of course!”
“Would you try thinking for once?” muttered Zoro under his breath. How stupid. North was upwards, everyone knew that.
“Uh, I think you should leave this to me, L-bird,” said N-bird. “Anyway…”
“Just remember,” said U-bird cheerfully, “if you should come across one of them gate guards you only have to say you’ve been sent by the gallant and powerful U-bird, and they’ll be sure to quail in their boots and let you in quickly. As long as you don’t stare at their ears, of course.”
“Why, what’s wrong with their ears?” asked L-bird.
“They look like coleslaw, and they’re very sensitive about it…”
“Anyway,” continued N-bird brightly, “I’m not doing it for free. If you’ll find a treasure at the end of it, you’ll have to give me a cut of, oh, let’s say fifty-five percent. That’s only reasonable, right?”
A hot desert wind shook down some of the dry grey leaves from the tree next to Zoro. The clock struck four times and then, with a different chime, once. So it was one o’clock now.
He still felt rather hot and tired, more than he should be from just walking around. But it wasn’t as if he cared about money, and the offer didn’t actually sound that bad to him. He should just nod and say yes. Or say nothing, for the orange bird obviously assumed he’d agree.
But instead he found himself growling,
“Hey, you. Could you turn the greed down a notch? It’s getting old.”
N-bird gasped sharply. The black birds froze and stared at him.
“Wh-what?” squawked N-bird, sounding both baffled and shocked. Then outrage took over: “Excuse me– ?! I’m trying to help you, you bozo!”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” snapped Zoro, “you happen to be a tiny tropical bird right now! What the hell is a small bird going to do with gold and jewellery?”
“Man’s got a point, you know,” chirped U-bird. N-bird opened her beak angrily and would no doubt have told him to shut the hell up, but she didn’t get a chance to.
“And you!!” Zoro damn near shouted, as he spun around and pointed straight at U-bird. “Always with your bullshit! I’m sick and tired of you always spinning bullshit!”
“Wah! Scary!” yelped U-bird, leaping behind L-bird to try and hide there, which looked rather odd as they were pretty much the same size. He peeked out from there with some of that same shocked bafflement about him. L-bird flapped his wings protectively and looked up at Zoro indignantly.
“Hey, hey! That’s not fair!” he shouted. “We don’t know anymore than your thoughts do! Don’t blame us for them!”
Zoro drew in breath between his teeth, confused and angry. “What – ?”
N-bird hopped over to the black birds on the tree branch. “He’s right, you know,” she said calmly, her eyes only slightly narrowed. “To tell you the truth, we only flew out from your head about an hour or so ago. Except for what we’ve seen of this town since then, the only things we know come directly from your mind.”
“What? That’s – crazy –!”
“Well, it’s true, so there!” said L-bird, nodding repeatedly and sticking out his tongue at him.
Zoro glared at L-bird. “Don’t be so – so predictable!” he hissed. “You – All of you – ”
“Scary!” squawked U-bird again, still hiding behind L-bird.
N-bird looked concerned. “Why are you so upset all of a sudden?” She put her head to one side and looked up at the swordsman.
“SHUT UP!” yelled Zoro, not knowing how it had come to this point and quite unable to stop himself. “ALL OF YOU IDIOTS! JUST SHUT UP!”
He put a hand to his forehead, feeling dazed though he heard himself muttering in a low tone, not quite aware of what he was saying:
“Stupid little immature morons always needing bloody looking after... running around fumbling things up, all the damned time...” his voice sank down to barely audible, “I don’t... I’m sick of it...”
Why do they always need me so much? he thought suddenly. Aren’t they just fooling themselves?
How can I make sure they will always need me?
How can I ever break free and walk my own path again?
And why was he suddenly shouting and having crazy thoughts like this, it wasn’t like him at all – it was this stupid town or the lunatic birds or something, making him into something he wasn’t, some kind of unbalanced whiner – it wasn’t right…
He thought they were still there, just staying mercifully quiet for the nonce. He thought they would soon start chattering again, annoying and know-it-all and seemingly helpful but actually just hanging out with him because they happened to feel like it for the moment. Trying to lead him to some stupid so-called insight – probably just bullshit, too – as if that were the job of imaginary talking birds who wouldn’t even take responsibility for their own impersonations.
He was so sure they were still there.
When he finally looked over his shoulder and realised he was alone he didn’t know for how long it had been so. His senses ought to have been sharp enough to pick up the faint beating of departing wings. Maybe they hadn’t flown away, but simply vanished, as silent as he’d asked them to be.
Maybe what he felt was relief.
*
To Be Continued in Chapter 3
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 02:10 pm (UTC)Still loving this. <3 “…A mystery beetle!?” <---- ::dies:: XDD That really never gets old...
Crits:
Your ellipses!
You use "gnarly" near the beginning which is more a 60s-70s hippy expression than what you intended. Try "gnarled" instead :P
And you have "nonce" in here too, which sorta made me smile 'cause it reminded me of it being in the Franky one at first and making have to go look it up.
“Stupid little immature morons always needing bloody looking after…running around fumbling things up, all the bloody time…”
The use of "bloody" twice there is giving me UK vibes.
a glazed look on his face
Zoro can't see his own expression, so he'd kinda have to feel it.
Onward...
no subject
Date: 2008-09-01 10:17 am (UTC)Arrgh... why can't certain English words mean what they sound like they mean, dagnabbit?! (shakes fist at language) Thanks! Corrected now. Also corrected ellipses, and exchanged one of the "bloody"s even though I don't mind UK vibes. ;) Staying with the "nonce" for the nonce.
a glazed look on his face
Zoro can't see his own expression, so he'd kinda have to feel it.
Uh... that was me moving into omniscient perspective briefly. Yeah. In a totally planned manner and not at all as a result of an inadvertent oversight. Uh-huh.
...No, but seriously. Is there any way to convey this bit while still keeping in Zoro's POV? Maybe I should just take it out?
Getting your comments on this is so great! *feels psyched*
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Date: 2008-09-01 12:14 pm (UTC)Glazed look... hmm... do you think it would work if you basically just used a mental equivalent, like "in the wake of his outburst, he felt a little stunned, though he could hear himself still speaking." Since right after he's still muttering kind of on automatic you can emphasize that he kina surprised himself with his yelling and is now a little detached from the rest of his brain for a second. Know what I mean?
no subject
Date: 2008-09-01 01:50 pm (UTC)