deathsdoctor

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002

[Blissfully unaware of Admirals stalking the village in search of him, Trafalgar Law is taking a few hours away from nosing around the village and through the journals... though it’s still open – he likes to listen to the background noise from the book. Today he must attend to some of life’s tedious domestic necessities. Mainly cleaning the apartment, cooking dinner, and sitting down on the couch to alter some new shirts and sweaters to accommodate his wings.

Boring, but it’s not going to get done by itself.

Sword maintenance comes next on the list, and that’s when the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise as he sights down the blade looking for imperfections and fractures. It’s a loud day for the journals, what with the floods of new arrivals (and no voices of crew yet), but he’s got the uneasy feeling the fun’s about to visit him in turn. 8| ]

… it’s really going crazy out there…

[… a really uneasy feeling.]

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['Not safe' for Katara translates into 'raids' and a shadow that is familiarity with fear, and far too much intimacy with helplessness in danger for someone her age crosses her face.]

Is it not safe all the time?

[... he's sorry to learn that, young one. Your childhood should be safe. But. That's not usually the case, is it?]

No. It's not. Most of the time it can be very dangerous. This is a magical place, things shift around all the time and there can be dangers where you don't expect them. And some of the people here? Are very good. But, Katara. There are some that are very bad, and you don't want to run into them.

[Bringing her the journal]

Here... the book I spoke of. All you have to do is open and speak into it.

[Katara listens to this and - it's a lot of information, and it's scary and so she holds on to the good parts he offers her but it's not quite enough to keep her from wibbling because...

...because this isn't home.

She takes the book from him, but she doesn't open it - Katara looks at him instead. If all those bad people are out there, is it really safe to open the book and talk to them? And after a pause, she decides - if it wasn't safe, he wouldn't have told her to do it.

So Katara opens the book.]

Um... hello? My name's Katara. And I somehow got here by accident. If there's anyone else here from home - I'm here too. [Because - if it's anyone from home they'll know to come find her, and if it's someone she needs to be strong for then they'll know that she's here for them too.]

[Katara looks back up at him. Good enough?]

[Law nods. Very, very good.]

Now we wait and see.

[A quick, fleeting smile flashes across her face at his approval.] Okay!

[And then Katara fixes her attention completely on the book. Come on, somebody. Anybody. She speaks up while still staring at the journal.] How will I know if it worked?

[Peering at the journal, rustling his wings as he watches] They'll speak back, addressing you.

It might take some time. The village has many new arrivals. Now that they know that you're looking, they've got to make sure that they've found the people in question

Oh. [She says it without looking up at him, staring at the journal and waiting in that way that only children have of time that goes so much more slowly which means the longed-for-change could happen at any moment.

Please.... please.]

[Sensing that you're getting impatient, here... which is not good. No telling when you might think running off is a better option than staying put.]

While we wait, do you want to hear a story? Something I was told in my village when I was a little boy.

[She blinks up at him, away from the magic book. There's something in the back of her mind that informs her, quite clearly, that he is trying to distract her from waiting on the book. And there's something else that tells her she's being rude.

Her eyes cut to the door again - but she doesn't really need anymore evidence that this place was what he said. She's never seen furniture like this before, or clothes like he was wearing, and she didn't think he'd been the one who brought her here 'cause he hadn't known she was here until she came out from behind the sitting-thing. All the same, her grip on the book unconsciously tightens to the point where she is white-knuckled.]

Okay. [And she clasps the book to herself before turning and walking over to the sitting-thing and hoisting herself up on it, hoping that she's doing it right. This way, he can be comfortable!] Come sit next to me?

[And she settles the journal on her lap, still holding on to it tightly, but she gives him a little smile.]

[You're frightened of him, aren't you? It slices in a way he never thought it would, cuts shallow but stinging, but it's a good pain as well. Reassuring.

You are not little Miss Nami in those woods. You can sense danger, though he is of no danger to you (or was to her). You will be safer here because of it, though you are still oh so vulnerable.]

Okay. [And he gets up and sits next to her, slouching back slightly as he makes himself comfortable.]

This takes place a long time ago, and in a land now far, far away. Once there was an old, wise woman who lived alone on the ice...

[She is scared. She's scared because she's alone, because she's not where she's supposed to be, because she doesn't know anyone, because her father's not here and her brother's not here and magic book or no she doesn't understand any of this and she just really, really wants to go home.

But of you, in particular? 'Scared' isn't really the right word. She's trusting you enough to listen to you, but... but. She doesn't know you. You are not home.

She's instantly intrigued by the beginning of the story.]

Were they in the South Pole?

[Humming in thought] I'm from the northern polar regions of my world, but the elders never said which pole it took place at. So yes, it could very well be at the South Pole.

Now, this woman lived in a cave next to the frozen sea. The cave was carved out of a glacier and she lived deep inside. In this cave, there was a magical pool of sea water from the waters passing underneath. It acted like a mirror and in it one could see the paths your life could take.

For this wise old woman, was no ordinary woman. Not only was it said that her wisdom could drown the ocean, and she was as ageless as the ice itself, she did something that was nearly unheard of among the people who lived on the ice. She wove. But not just anything. The old woman, wrapped in her pelts, wove the tapestry of life, with magical threads. No one was sure what these magical threads were made of, except that whatever they were, life altered at their introduction.

Naturally, of course, there were people who sought out this woman for her advice and knowledge. And one day, a girl decided to make this dangerous journey as well. For her family and her people faced a seeming hopeless calamity and she refused to let it be. No, she would see what was in store for her and hers... and what, if anything, could be done...

[Katara listens with wide eyes. There's something about the way that he's telling the story that makes it seem as though she's right there. She can almost feel the cool air of home while he's speaking.]

Did she make it there all right? Crossing the ice all by yourself is very dangerous.

She did, though, you're right. The journey was very perilous and very lonely. Her only company was her sled animals. She faced blizzards, and had to navigate the thin ice by herself. She had only what she brought - dried fish and blubber and preserved berries from the summer tundra brush - so she faced hunger as well. She hunted as she could. Sometimes, as it does, it became unforgivably cold, and she had to stop and set up shelter when it did.

Those cold nights, she curled up in the pelts she brought, and among her animals and remembered why she had come so far from home. And that was enough to get her through.

You must remember, she was very brave and strong. And she had a goal and purpose, and she would not be swayed. And so one night, while the moon was full and bright, she arrived at the glacier. It glittered like jewels in the dark, and after looking for a while, she spotted the cave, illuminated by one single moonbeam.

After all that searching, she had found it.

[Katara leans towards him as he speaks, her grip on the journal loosening slightly.

The moon is extremely significant in Water Tribe lore, and it only makes sense that the moon would light the way to the wise woman's home.]

I'm glad! Was the wise woman at home? What happened? Was she able to help her people?

[Because, no, Katara hasn't lost sight of that most important part.]

I'm getting to that, Katara. But yes, the wise old woman was at home.

[He smiles quietly]

So the girl climbed the glacier to the mouth of the cave, and then slowly, carefully made her way down to the woman. It felt like entering another world to her, like one of spirits. As she descended, she was met not with darkness, but patches of glowing phosphorescent light from surrounding plankton and shadows of giant fish and other creatures as they moved in the waters below. [Because of course there are giant fish and Sea Kings in these waters - it wouldn't be One Piece without them.]

And there she was, by the pool and her loom, wrapped in her furs. There were no oil lamps in her cave, but it was bright enough to see. The light was coming from the threads and the unfinished tapestry behind her. It was like someone had captured starlight, and moonbeams, and the lights that danced in the polar sky, and set them in cloth. A beautiful, awe inspiring, and terrifying light all at once.

And the old wise woman herself? She was as ancient as they said, white hair plaited with shell beads, and pearls, and bits of sea glass. She looked incredibly frail, wrapped in her pelts, until you looked in her eyes. And in her eyes, Katara? Was the knowledge of the ages, tempered by wisdom and the grief and tears of decisions past, and the strength to persevere. The girl felt if she made a single gesture, the ocean would stand aside for her.

And the old woman was watching her quietly. Finally she spoke to the girl.

"Why have you come all this way to find me?"

[There is something about the way that he says her name that makes her feel safe. Maybe it's because someone knows her in this place which is so far from home. Or maybe it's because of how kind he's been to her. Or maybe it carries the undertone of his promise, solid and firm. Regardless of what it is, there is something about the set of her shoulders that eases after he says her name, something that lifts, slightly, in the corner of her eyes.

Her face softens as she listens intently, transported to another world similar and so foreign to her own. Her eyes light up at the description of the wise woman. It sounds very much like someone that she would want to know, like someone that she would want to seek out to help her people. Katara is somehow confident that this woman will be able to help, just like the girl in the story. And she has a little smile on her face, because she's sure that this is going to be good.]

"Please tell me what's to come," asked the girl, "What path will save my people? I've come all this way, surely you must know how it can be done."

The old woman considered this quietly, her eyes unfathomable. For Katara, when you see the ages as this woman has, and know the consequences of seeing your life spelled out for you, beginning to end, the request takes on a perilous tone. Not many can handle such a revelation.

She has turned many away for this reason... but...

But the girl was brave, her need great, and her sacrifices something that would move even the cold and dead hearts of the creatures that lurked in the deep. And this was not for her. So the wise woman would show her the paths her life could take by her hand. And in doing so, devise a test of her own. For everything has a price and its burden. Such is life. And could the girl handle it?

"Come, I will show you the two paths I could weave."

The girl puzzled briefly over what 'I' meant, but she was already being lead over to the pool, where two images were forming.

One of a Princess.

The other of a Sea Witch.

[Katara's eyes take on an enchanted gleam. Both options sound pretty good to this young girl. There's a part of her - of course there is - which has always dreamed of being a princess. And a Sea Witch? That sounds scary, but powerful and the other girl needed power to take care of her people. Katara could understand that. She could understand that very well.]

And she could help her people with either one?

Yes, Katara. She could. But are either of them wise choices in the end? Remember, there is a test.

[Now Law's focus turns inward just a bit... he knows well how this part of the tale goes...]

The girl first gazed at the Princess. For who wouldn't like to be a princess like in the tales of old? And at first, all looked to be good. The village was safe and prosperious. She was loved and taken care of. There was a Prince to cater to her every whim, and save her people. She wouldn't have to do anything.

And then. Then she looked deeper and saw that all was not what it seemed. She saw the price of it, Katara.

To be the Princess was to set aside herself, Katara. The girl who set out on the ice would never sit by while others needed help and let others do the sacrificing for her. The Princesses of the old tales were the ones who need the rescuing, and are not the rescuers. She saw a woman who was passive and had her decisions taken away from her, even though however well meaningly, and had no agency of her own. Dangerous, when you have no choice - for her and others. She saw this, and realized despite the outward trappings of comfort and care and safety, that in the end it was an empty life.

To live, you must hold true to yourself, or you'll be consumed by regret. She saw this, and shook her head, and turned to the next image...

[That's not how the story is supposed to go - if a princess can't still go out and do things, then what good is she? A sacrifice could be made to save her people, and Katara can understand that too... but somehow... somehow this wasn't the kind of sacrifice which felt right.

She shifts a little closer to him on the couch; the journal, still opened on her lap, still held with both hands, shifts a little to the side.]

What happened?

She saw the Sea Witch. The Sea Witch, beautiful and terrible in her power.

While the Princess was passive, the Sea Witch certainly wasn't. A fey creature, she answered to no one. She was strong and her word respected. She cared for her village and struck down any threat to her people. They were safe. And she was herself.

But. Again. There is always a price, Katara.

The Sea Witch was feared and misunderstood by everyone, including her people. She suffered terrible loneliness as a result and was forever seperate from them. For people fear what they do not know and cannot understand. While the Princess was loved, the Sea Witch came to crave the simple touch of human kindness, yet none was given to her. She would have to do terrible things for their safety.

The girl first thought that, yes, this was horrible, but it was a sacrifice she could bear for the greater good of her people. Then she looked deeper yet.

For her people to fear their protector wasn't right. To live in fear wasn't right. A people struck by fear were in much danger as from any calamity striking from the outside. For fear sickens the heart and twists, and breeds hatred and strife eventually. It gets in the mind, and festers and rots. And eventually, Katara? Her people wouldn't be her people anymore. And she would not let that be.

She shook her head. No.

[...that's a lot for a little girl to take in, and it takes a moment for that all to sink in. For the girl to be completely alone... that was scary and made her feel a little sick inside. Because - that wasn't the way it was supposed to go either. If you were finally, finally strong enough to save the people you loved, they shouldn't be scared of you - even if you had to do hard things.

And it was that fear - that the people should not have to live in fear - which made Katara agree with the girl's decision. That wouldn't be saving them at all.]

So what was she going to do?

She looked long moments at the waters, trying to come to grips with what she had seen. Surely these weren't the only ways? It couldn't be. To be a Princess or a Witch... was that what was only in store for her?

And then, something occured to her, something that the wise woman had emphasized. 'I'. But what had she meant by 'I'?

So the girl turns to the wise old woman. The air felt very heavy. There was a test, Katara, and here it comes in full force. She looks at the wise old woman, and begins to realize, that maybe, just maybe, there's been a third choice here all along.

Edited 2010-12-24 05:08 (UTC)

[And Katara reaches out, one hand actually leaving the journal, to loosely clasp on to his sleeve and tug it. Dramatic pauses are no fair.]

What happened?

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