Lost In Translation
One of the most vital but tedious elements of learning a new language is that pronunciation is always necessary.
"Can you hand me a piece of turtle (kame)?" Still barely functioning at the early hours of the morning, the lethargic student missed her mentor's abrupt look of amusement.
Trying his hardest not to upset his student, Nobunaga stifled his laughter. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" He asked.
"Can you hand me a piece of turtle?" She repeated with a slight tilt to her head.
"Niji, it's paper (kami). Paper," The esteemed trainer enunciated.
Baffled, Niji scoffed. "What did I say?"
"You asked if I had a butchered reptile back here," Nobunaga chortled.
Embarrassed about her mistake, Niji carried herself for the duration of that morning with an air of shredded humility.
Nobunaga, for all his merits and credentials, recognized that such a diminutive mistake was partially due to her intonation.
Something as simple as developing the slightest accent can easily misinterpret any word. For example, kame (turtle) and kami (paper) sound vastly similar to english speaking ears and virtually almost indistinguishable unless otherwise educated upon.
Hitherto, 'kami' could be used for a variable of meanings entirely depending on the calligraphist number of strokes. Written in Kanji, 神 (kami) could imply God or spirit. If it's referencing hair it's written as 髪 (kami) and predominantly paper 紙 (kami). This also doesn't factor in the plethora of different dialects (i.e. Kyoto, Tokyo, and so forth).
Naturally, it's understandable why such an enigma of writing styles could overwhelm his pupil. Obtaining a secondary language, excruciatingly foreign to one's own, is no small feat. Nevertheless, Niji's progress was subsequently below satisfactory.
Yet with her painfully patient instructor and determination for success and praise, Niji showed much promise.
After all, teaching wasn't seldom a one-way street.
As the blistering heat of the afternoon pressed forward, Oda decided they were long overdue for a break. As the instructor stood, casting a singular pair of eyes on him, the mood of the room changed drastically.
"Walk," he said simply. Whilst it came across as a command Niji gleefully followed.
Their meandering through the belly of the facility was- in short -their most cherished ritual. It was true that the duo rarely spent any quality time with one another without the interference of education constantly separating them daily (in spite of the fact that they were sardined in the same room).
As they exited the classroom and began their gradual walk they were met with a multitude of curious glances that were directed at them. Scarcely of which held any significant importance and the rest who equaled only the lowest of the food chain.
Few found the distinguishable alterations in appearance to be humorous. Nobunaga was practically twice the height of Niji and nearly ancient in broad comparison to his youthful sidekick. Additionally, others they were also geared to the rarity of seeing them out in public.
The superiority of the group, however, felt inclined to the absurdity of having someone as reputable as Nobunaga with something as… undomesticated as Niji.
Neither of them, then again, was even remotely phased by the off-putting distaste from their colleagues as they navigated the never-ending stretch of corridors.
They stopped abruptly in front of a massive door. Similar to the majority of the Facility, it was a phantasm of locks and intricate bolts that screamed a brutal reminder of a bitter reality.
The convoluted design eventually migrated towards the center to the final pièce de résistance: an enlarged circle with a latch that ran diagonally across. The tinier locks made bits of its smile and a pair of shady sunglasses. Her mentor had briefly mentioned that the engineers who crafted the mechanism built it after a well-known pirates' Jolly Roger. Though Niji didn't quite catch his name.
Despite its complexity, a simple notion sent the entire machine awry. As the door groaned from years of usage and decay, it's gradual opening let brilliant hues of light inside. A prolonged moment skirted by as it opened to the Great Expanse. A portion of Luggnag that was cut off from the towering factory that everyone generally called the 'Facility'. Though it's constant ominous presence was much more prison-like. The Great Expanse was a sealed off portion of the beach with a looming wall a hundred feet from the shoreline.
No escape, it mimicked.
Today, as any other day, was a blatant gray. Luggnagg, was known for it's bleak and dry weather so it wasn't a surprise that its dull skies seem to expand into the oblivious horizon.
The morning's mist had dissipated but lower temperatures left droplets of dew pooling on the bench where Oda slowly descended. Like the door, he had aged. His body wasn't as spry as it used to be from his tender youth. Nobunaga let an alleviating sigh as his bottom finally made contact with the seat. The prehistoric teacher leaned back and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. Oda in the meantime enjoyed the soft gusts of salty wind, the crash of the foamy waves against the rocks, and the adage cry of the seagulls as they transported newspapers across the New World. These small instances were timeless, even if he wasn't.
As Niji sat in the sand and carved into the tan landscape Oda scanned through his mail. While the background scenery was enough cacophony to not agitate the Trainer, Niji remained visibly bothered by the silence and her peers.
"Do they annoy teacher?" Broken but audible, Oda understood not only the fragmented sentence but her gentle naive awareness of those around her.
"My child, why would a crane loose sleep over the opinions of frogs?" The Instructor scolded. After a moment, he sourly added. "I suppose long ago it had bothered me to an extent. Though not for the reason you might think."
Niji tilted her head, her universal sign for him to elaborate.
Defeated he sat down his mail and took off his glasses before roughly pinching the bridge of his nose. "ī ko, it's exceedingly important that you understand their intentions towards you. Some wish to lock you away-cage you even- and study you as if you were an artifact. Others opt to keep you on a pedestal as an augmentation of wonder. Many-" he said turning to look at the Facility. "Well, we won't talk about them."
"How you view me?"
"As a poor creature."
Niji never learned how to swim but stood knee-deep in the waters soaking her jumpsuit in the salty-sea as Oda stood but ten feet away. His polished shoes moist from the low tide as he re-read a letter for the umpteenth time. Barely able to contain his excitement he explained, "ī ko, I have a very old friend coming. He's going to visit our little portion of paradise."
The sarcasm is heavy with this one, Niji thought as she picked through various rocks.
Nobunaga gushed as he showed the enclosed signature, "Can you say Trafalgar Law?"
Disclaimer: I do not obviously own One Piece, however a nod of recognition to Eiichiro Oda. Without his creative prowess, none of us would devote our void of time to these stories.
Word Count: 1,250
Published: May 9, 2017
Chapter Theme: Movie Titles