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rainsometimesChapter 3. Intermission
-In which there is an intermission.
Link to Chapter 1.
And to chapter 2.
Or see the whole fic so far at ff.net
“…hey?”
“Huh? Where did the street go? Where did he go?”
“We’re back where we started!”
And so the three of them were, sitting on top of the high stone wall right where the green-haired man with three swords had first appeared.
“What the hell just happened?” said U-bird.
“He didn’t wanna talk to us anymore!” said L-bird indignantly. “Stupid guy!”
N-bird frowned. “Yeah, it’s like he’s…banished us, somehow,” she muttered. “He’s shut us out of his mind, so he won’t listen, and we can’t even come near him anymore.”
“Stupid guy! Why did he have to go and do that for? HEY, STUPID SWORDS-GUY! TRY THAT AGAIN AND I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!”
“Oi, he can’t hear you, L-bird…All right, Miss I-Have-All-The-Answers, if we’re just part of that guy’s dream, then how come we’re still here?”
N-bird gave U-bird a flat look. “What do you mean?” she said.
“Well, if he’s not around to hear us and see us, shouldn’t we just, like, disappear into thin air or something? Or get turned into something else, not being ourselves anymore?!”
“Bleah!” said L-bird. “I’m not letting anyone turn me into anything else! And not you guys either! We’re fine the way we are!”
“Yeah, sure, but N-bird seems to think we don’t have a choice,” said U-bird. “So how come we’re still here, all three of us, talking and hearing and seeing each other?”
“Maybe we’re the ones dreaming this!” said L-bird, grinning widely.
“I... I don’t know!” N-bird hopped a few steps along the stone wall, looking agitated. “But maybe... maybe it’s just a part of Mr Swordsman that’s blocking us out? Maybe there’s another part of him that is still listening to us, only we can’t see it!”
“In-invisible?” U-bird looked around, twitching nervously, feathers on edge. “That’s kinda creepy…”
“That kinda... sounds cool,” said L-bird, face screwed up in thought. “But when you think about it, it’s no fun if you can’t see someone! Unless they’re talking and stuff.” He cast an impatient look around him, as if demanding the hypothetical invisible presence to say something.
N-bird shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “But, well, sometimes there’s a bit of someone’s mind that’s kind of cut off from the rest of it, doing its own thing. It happens, I’ve heard.”
U-bird shot her a sharp look at this, but N-bird just kept looking at the houses across the street with a thoughtful, faraway expression. A hot wind passed by, rattling the whole of the dry apple-tree right next to them.
“I wish R-bird was here,” she mumbled. “She could probably make some more sense out of it.”
“Yeah, she’d be better than you at that,” agreed U-bird, “and it would be more in character for her, too. Ow! Stop that!”
“Hey, at least I’m trying to think!” said N-bird angrily. “Someone has to! Make up your own explanation if you don’t like it, instead of blaming me!” She paused, flying up to a branch of the apple tree where she picked experimentally at a small apple. It was much too hard to eat.
She sighed. “But I guess R-bird can’t come here,” she mumbled. “Mr. Swordsman hasn’t bothered dreaming her here, so she doesn’t really exist…”
“Huuuhh?!” said L-bird incredulously. “How could R-bird not exist?” His voice took on a teasing tone, as he flapped his wings erratically, crossed his eyes and put his tongue out: “You’re going craaaazyy, N-bird! Craaazy!”
“You’re the crazy one!” squawked N-bird indignantly, but stayed in the mottled shade of the foliage instead of trying to chase L-bird around in the hot sun. She confined herself to throwing the too-hard apple at his head.
“Hm?” L-bird bent down at the same moment and looked eagerly at some spot on the ground; he didn’t even notice the fruit swooshing by over his head. “Hey, is that food?” He hurtled down to the ground at full speed, and soon flew back up holding two big worms in his beak.
“Anyway,” said U-bird, flying up to a tree-branch above N-bird’s, “I don’t think we really are in his dream at all! Okay, I guess we probably did fly out of his head, it kinda makes sense, but this place... this town, I don’t think it’s a dream, really! And anyway, do you really think he has the imagination for all of this? Nah, it’s somewhere else!”
N-bird rolled her eyes. “Like saying that clears anything up. Next you’re gonna claim we’re actually in his heart.”
“No... wait! I’ll think of something!” insisted U-bird. “Something that sounds good!”
“What good is that, if it doesn’t make sense?” muttered N-bird. She moved further into the shade of the branches. The afternoon sun seemed to have grown even stronger, and she was starting to feel just a little drowsy.
“Okay! I know!” croaked L-bird, having finished the worms. “I’ve figured it out!”
“Huh? What?” The other two turned their heads, looking at him in surprise.
“Yep!” L-bird nodded emphatically. “We’re gonna go find that guy he’s here to fight! The one he can’t get to ‘cause he keeps getting lost, and he doesn’t even know who it is! Then that stupid Swords-guy is gonna have to talk to us again, and not be boring and invisible and stuff! And it’s gonna be a great fight to watch, and then he’ll win, and then he can go back to his crew like he’s supposed to! All right?”
N-bird and U-bird paused for a while and looked at each other. They looked over at L-bird again in silence.
Then they both nodded.
“All right! Let’s do that!” U-bird pointed beak and one wing at the sky and fluttered his wings dramatically.
“Yeah, all right!” squawked N-bird. “We ought to have a better shot of finding him than Mr. Swordsman does! But don’t fly too far, L-bird…Hey! L-bird!!” She set off hurriedly after the small black bird with ruffled feathers, who was already a tiny speck in the air by now.
“Oi, L-bird, wait up! You’re gonna get lost too!” shouted U-bird, also flying off as fast as he could in that direction.
The three small birds flew higher and higher over the roofs in the city. Far behind them and below, something small, soft and round fell down from the wall by the orchard and started to roll as it hit the street. Strangely enough, it swerved around corners, and didn’t stop when the street curved uphill.
But no-one was there to see and wonder about it. So perhaps it wasn’t really there at all.
(To Be Continued)
-In which there is an intermission.
Link to Chapter 1.
And to chapter 2.
Or see the whole fic so far at ff.net
“…hey?”
“Huh? Where did the street go? Where did he go?”
“We’re back where we started!”
And so the three of them were, sitting on top of the high stone wall right where the green-haired man with three swords had first appeared.
“What the hell just happened?” said U-bird.
“He didn’t wanna talk to us anymore!” said L-bird indignantly. “Stupid guy!”
N-bird frowned. “Yeah, it’s like he’s…banished us, somehow,” she muttered. “He’s shut us out of his mind, so he won’t listen, and we can’t even come near him anymore.”
“Stupid guy! Why did he have to go and do that for? HEY, STUPID SWORDS-GUY! TRY THAT AGAIN AND I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!”
“Oi, he can’t hear you, L-bird…All right, Miss I-Have-All-The-Answers, if we’re just part of that guy’s dream, then how come we’re still here?”
N-bird gave U-bird a flat look. “What do you mean?” she said.
“Well, if he’s not around to hear us and see us, shouldn’t we just, like, disappear into thin air or something? Or get turned into something else, not being ourselves anymore?!”
“Bleah!” said L-bird. “I’m not letting anyone turn me into anything else! And not you guys either! We’re fine the way we are!”
“Yeah, sure, but N-bird seems to think we don’t have a choice,” said U-bird. “So how come we’re still here, all three of us, talking and hearing and seeing each other?”
“Maybe we’re the ones dreaming this!” said L-bird, grinning widely.
“I... I don’t know!” N-bird hopped a few steps along the stone wall, looking agitated. “But maybe... maybe it’s just a part of Mr Swordsman that’s blocking us out? Maybe there’s another part of him that is still listening to us, only we can’t see it!”
“In-invisible?” U-bird looked around, twitching nervously, feathers on edge. “That’s kinda creepy…”
“That kinda... sounds cool,” said L-bird, face screwed up in thought. “But when you think about it, it’s no fun if you can’t see someone! Unless they’re talking and stuff.” He cast an impatient look around him, as if demanding the hypothetical invisible presence to say something.
N-bird shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “But, well, sometimes there’s a bit of someone’s mind that’s kind of cut off from the rest of it, doing its own thing. It happens, I’ve heard.”
U-bird shot her a sharp look at this, but N-bird just kept looking at the houses across the street with a thoughtful, faraway expression. A hot wind passed by, rattling the whole of the dry apple-tree right next to them.
“I wish R-bird was here,” she mumbled. “She could probably make some more sense out of it.”
“Yeah, she’d be better than you at that,” agreed U-bird, “and it would be more in character for her, too. Ow! Stop that!”
“Hey, at least I’m trying to think!” said N-bird angrily. “Someone has to! Make up your own explanation if you don’t like it, instead of blaming me!” She paused, flying up to a branch of the apple tree where she picked experimentally at a small apple. It was much too hard to eat.
She sighed. “But I guess R-bird can’t come here,” she mumbled. “Mr. Swordsman hasn’t bothered dreaming her here, so she doesn’t really exist…”
“Huuuhh?!” said L-bird incredulously. “How could R-bird not exist?” His voice took on a teasing tone, as he flapped his wings erratically, crossed his eyes and put his tongue out: “You’re going craaaazyy, N-bird! Craaazy!”
“You’re the crazy one!” squawked N-bird indignantly, but stayed in the mottled shade of the foliage instead of trying to chase L-bird around in the hot sun. She confined herself to throwing the too-hard apple at his head.
“Hm?” L-bird bent down at the same moment and looked eagerly at some spot on the ground; he didn’t even notice the fruit swooshing by over his head. “Hey, is that food?” He hurtled down to the ground at full speed, and soon flew back up holding two big worms in his beak.
“Anyway,” said U-bird, flying up to a tree-branch above N-bird’s, “I don’t think we really are in his dream at all! Okay, I guess we probably did fly out of his head, it kinda makes sense, but this place... this town, I don’t think it’s a dream, really! And anyway, do you really think he has the imagination for all of this? Nah, it’s somewhere else!”
N-bird rolled her eyes. “Like saying that clears anything up. Next you’re gonna claim we’re actually in his heart.”
“No... wait! I’ll think of something!” insisted U-bird. “Something that sounds good!”
“What good is that, if it doesn’t make sense?” muttered N-bird. She moved further into the shade of the branches. The afternoon sun seemed to have grown even stronger, and she was starting to feel just a little drowsy.
“Okay! I know!” croaked L-bird, having finished the worms. “I’ve figured it out!”
“Huh? What?” The other two turned their heads, looking at him in surprise.
“Yep!” L-bird nodded emphatically. “We’re gonna go find that guy he’s here to fight! The one he can’t get to ‘cause he keeps getting lost, and he doesn’t even know who it is! Then that stupid Swords-guy is gonna have to talk to us again, and not be boring and invisible and stuff! And it’s gonna be a great fight to watch, and then he’ll win, and then he can go back to his crew like he’s supposed to! All right?”
N-bird and U-bird paused for a while and looked at each other. They looked over at L-bird again in silence.
Then they both nodded.
“All right! Let’s do that!” U-bird pointed beak and one wing at the sky and fluttered his wings dramatically.
“Yeah, all right!” squawked N-bird. “We ought to have a better shot of finding him than Mr. Swordsman does! But don’t fly too far, L-bird…Hey! L-bird!!” She set off hurriedly after the small black bird with ruffled feathers, who was already a tiny speck in the air by now.
“Oi, L-bird, wait up! You’re gonna get lost too!” shouted U-bird, also flying off as fast as he could in that direction.
The three small birds flew higher and higher over the roofs in the city. Far behind them and below, something small, soft and round fell down from the wall by the orchard and started to roll as it hit the street. Strangely enough, it swerved around corners, and didn’t stop when the street curved uphill.
But no-one was there to see and wonder about it. So perhaps it wasn’t really there at all.
(To Be Continued)
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-31 02:16 pm (UTC)Luffy-bird is just... <3 Threatening ass-kicking and this: He cast an impatient look around him, as if demanding the hypothetical invisible presence to say something. Oh, man, I can see it.
The last made me go "hmmmm." :D
Why in the nine hells did you think this wasn't good? You so crazy!! This is not only good, it's the kinda one you reread a bunch because of all the great individual bits.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-01 10:22 am (UTC)Well, I didn't think it was bad per se, I just wasn't sure you'd like it! Also being prepared for possibly tough criticism is never bad.