deathsdoctor: (Annoyed | Do NOT want)
deathsdoctor ([personal profile] deathsdoctor) wrote2010-11-08 12:18 am

001

[It is cold. It is so freaking damn cold out up this mountain, even by the standards of a North Blue native…]



[To backtrack a little, sometime between last night and the early morn, some vague ill defined time when the journals were quiet and most were asleep, Trafalgar Law awoke. In a copse of trees, at the bottom of a gorge surrounded by towering cliffs of rock, and completely naked except for a ridiculously thin pair of white cotton pants.

And wings. Small but sleek raven black wings ending with yellow tips. That twitched painfully with every inhalation and exhalation of salt free air.

He can feel them. It’s wrong, on so many levels. He’s been kidnapped, this is obvious (the how escapes him for now, the near impossibility of this act staggering), he’s probably been drugged (no matter how he tries, he can’t clear the fog obscuring his senses), but the mutilation…

Revenge? No. Not a job like this. This is surgery beyond the skill of any he knows are practicing on the Line. He doubts even Vegapunk can knit flesh and bone, nerve and muscle fibre quite like this, and the rumours of what he can do are...

Enough.

Law extends the wings slowly, testing, ignoring the flames flaring. Flex, flare – such fine muscle control, so quickly, so naturally, should be impossible as well. It takes the brain years to refine coordination like this. He delicately prods the base of the wings. There aren’t even scars.

Who did this?

No matter. Not now. The payment for these services rendered would be the same.

Blood.

Head spinning, senses muffled, back a mass of seething fire, Law finds the curious book first. Then his boots and socks next, and only those. Gee, thanks bastards. You mean for him to walk, but where? His frown only grows more pronounced as he finds the pages of the book blank. And wouldn’t you know, he hits upon that rare moment of utter silence. The book is just that, an empty book. He closes it before there is a chance for anyone to make a noise or appear on its pages.

He discovers the rocks after that. They look like flint and they brightly spark when he strikes them. Excellent. The temperature is dropping as the night wears on and he has to do something fast before anything more severe than mild hypothermia sets in. Now there is a solution.

And faced with the choice of losing a still potentially valuable source of answers and getting through the night alive, and without facing the additional ironic joy of losing limbs through frostbite, when he had gained extra already…

… paper makes excellent kindling.]



[Daylight finds Law making his way through the mountains, bookless, armed with a torch (for warmth now – the best he can do) and the rocks tucked securely in his pockets. It’s still cold, but with light the temperature has risen to a point where it’s just irritable and painful in turns to someone of the shounen persuasion.

He’s so grateful for the boots now.

The pirate knows now he’s been drugged. Not because the fog’s still there, because it is. But because he has a guide. If voices in your head constitute a guide.

It doesn’t really talk. Not through words. More like impressions – like the feel of the wind in the sails on a warm summery day – that make their point clear anyway. But it’s chatty and friendly and somehow steering him around the greatest of dangers in these difficult mountain heights. And for a voice in his head, it’s not half bad. It’s certainly helpful.

It – or he – the voice insists on being called he – his name is Kipinn. Law thinks anyway. He chatters back. It’s all he can do besides keep moving and hope to find civilization. And wonder what has happened to his crew, if this is what happened to him.

The day’s so breezy. He waves his hand like Kipinn suggests (suggests, not demands, they had established that early on) and the breeze feels slightly stronger.

These are insane drugs.]



[Nightfall, and the threat of anything more than mild hypothermia returns. He’s almost made it out of the mountains – he can see trees in the darkening gloom and lights pooling beyond that but he won’t go any further tonight. Law knows that the hypothermia promotes poor decision making. And the dark hides dangers better faced in the light.

He’s already bearing the marks of his trip through the mountains, you see.

Time brings him to a cave. It looks to have belonged to a bear. It might still belong to a bear. It certainly will be interesting to find out either way. It’s a cozy thing, for a cave, and one crackling fire makes it even cosier.

And then…

And then he sees it.

That book. In perfectly pristine condition. Lying upon a stone shelf like someone had followed Law in and placed it there. It’s exactly the same book he burned to stave off the cold.

Maybe it’s not drugs. But it’s definitely someone fucking with him. He grabs the book without a second thought and NOW he hears the voices as it falls open.]




[Which brings us back to this: It is cold. It is so freaking damn cold out up on this here mountain, even by the standards of a North Blue native, even with a fire, and the window displaying the feed from the journal occasionally seems to be shivering. There is light flickering in the background, visible as the journal’s pages are flipped, but a face doesn’t come into view, just yet. Whoever’s on the other end is trying to make sense of all this, and right now ‘sense’ means sitting down and listening to you talk on this crazy den den book. Finally though, he’s had enough…]

[VOICE:]


Luceti? …is that what this place is called? But where exactly is it? I’ve never heard of any place like this before.

[It’s mildly said, but… answers. He wants answers. You can hear it vibrating in the inflection of his tone.

Can you really blame him?]

((OOC: Putting this up tonight. Will answer tags tomorrow evening after work.))
markofthebrave: (Arms Crossed | Lecture)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
[...and he might even get a chance to ask them, if she hadn't just been so seriously pinged.]

The Grand Line?
markofthebrave: (Suspicious Katara Is Suspicious)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
I've got friends here who sail there! [There's some caution here, but mostly warm enthusiasm. She knows that Luffy and the others have been missing members of their crew.]

What's your name?
markofthebrave: (Oh Gosh Here We Go)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
[That's... not a name she recognizes. So he's not part of their crew. But he does know them?]

His last name is Monkey?

[Huh.]
markofthebrave: (Stop Being So Stupid!)

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[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, she can't help it:]

Well, the last time I saw him he was wearing a gorilla suit...
markofthebrave: (Oh? | That's Interesting | Curiouser and)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
Are you a friend of his?
markofthebrave: (Hug | I'll Always Be Right Here | Aang)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, she respects the fact that he was honest with her about it, and has no flags of warning raised.] I see.

Well, I guess you figured it out by now - he and a lot of his crew are here. And I bet when you're here, you'll be after the same prize too - a way back home. At least that's something we can all work towards.

[Subtle as a brick, huh?]
markofthebrave: (Paint Can't Hide This)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
[And with this reassurance that her friends are not in danger, Katara is all politeness with a dash or two with her patented brand of genuine concern.]

Oh, sorry! I'm Katara. It's nice to meet you, Trafalgar - even if we'd both rather not be here at all.

Has anyone showed you the guide yet?
Edited 2010-11-09 07:14 (UTC)
markofthebrave: (Arms Crossed | Lecture)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-09 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I'm sorry - I should have asked. [Two apologies in so close together - what is this? These other worlds with their confusing 'Calling someone by their first name means you feel close to them' cultures. She hadn't thought Nami and Sanji's world was like that, but maybe that was only where they were from?] Do you mind? I know you said it was nice but I don't want to be rude.
markofthebrave: (Suspicious Katara Is Suspicious)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-10 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, it is a bit much. And also weird-sounding. But so are half the names she hears here. Like "Michael."]

Then you can just call me Katara.

[...of course, she was probably going to insist on this anyway, but... fair's fair.]
markofthebrave: (Wringing Out Hair | Do Not Like)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-10 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Warmly:] Good.

[And now - about those questions. But first she peers a little bit more closely into the journal window.] They dropped you off pretty far away from the village, huh. Do you have directions?
Edited 2010-11-10 06:24 (UTC)
markofthebrave: (Not Sure This Is a Good Idea)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-11 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
All right, good. At least you weren't dropped off in the snow...

[The girl from the South Pole takes cold and hypothermia very seriously, and does not approve.]
markofthebrave: (Woah)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-11 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
[...

D:

Oh that is just NOT RIGHT!]


Did they give you shoes, at least? They dropped me off in the middle of the snow barefoot.
markofthebrave: (Arms Crossed | Lecture)

[personal profile] markofthebrave 2010-11-11 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
I was in the middle of the forest... I was lucky, though, I ran into someone who loaned me his cloak. He got to go home a while ago.

[Peering a bit closer into the book.] You're sure you're all right? Did you clean out those cuts?

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