Letters From You
~~oOo~~ Chapter 1: The start of a Journey ~~oOo~~
Dear Z
If you receive this I am most likely in grave danger or already dead, I pray the first.
It has been ages since we met but I do hope you still remember me. I don't know if you are willing to help me or not, it's your choice.
First of all, my name is S. Black, but I go by the name of Blackleg. I have for some time worked for a group of rebels, as a spy within our government. I have through this obtained knowledge about operations in order to sabotage them. My problem now is that I fear my cover has been compromised.
There should be some added items in this letter that will make sense later if you chose to go along with my plan, and possibly help me.
What you need to know is that you will have to get to Nagasaki, Japan where you will have to meet with L. aka: Mugiwara and his fiancé N. aka: Burglar Cat. Don't worry they can be trusted, and they are willing to help. To find them you will have to get to Yanohira, where you will find a graffiti wall with picture of a skull with a straw-hat. Press the eyes of the skull twice and someone will come and talk to you. When asked for the password, tell them I sent you here and explain the situation, also inform them that the password could not be disclosed in this letter, as you are probably full aware of why. You will now be asked a series of question, and do answer them truthfully, Mugiwara will know if you are lying. If your intentions are pure you will be allowed inside. Here Mugiwara will tell you more of their situation. There will be a second letter there for you, with more of the information surrounding the situation I will have found myself in.
Choose carefully what you decide on doing, you might end up with a lot more complicated life than you are currently having.
In advance, thank you.
Yours S.B.
~~oOoOo~~
Roronoa Zoro aka Pirate Hunter Z had just come back to his makeshift flat he had been occupying for the last six days to find a letter shoved under his door. Suspicious as one should be, he had examined the letter for anything to indicate a hidden threat. There had been none. It was addressed: In case of my disappearance deliver this to PHZ, León, Spain. How the person who had delivered the letter had known where to find him was a mystery. Firstly because he was no longer in Spain, but in France, having left León close to two weeks ago having been in Spain for about a month. And secondly, he never stayed anywhere over longer periods of time, and never over a week. Where he left little to no evidence he was ever there.
This meant that whoever had delivered the letter had to have tracked him down somehow, and that thought did not sit well with him. He prided himself on being stealthy, and good at covering his tracks, but also the fact that he was good at picking up hints of being followed. He hadn't this time, and that meant that this person had to be very skilled. Very skilled indeed.
Now about this letter, he couldn't recall ever having met this Blackleg, but the letter suggested that they knew each other long ago, and if that was the case it could as well be true. He had little to no memories of his past, and had lost contact with most of his associates during the years. He had few people left in his life, most of the people he knew had either been killed or suddenly disappeared. He had given up trying to find traces of them, and had instead devoted his life to hunting down one person. As was his reason for currently being here.
But what should he do now? This person was clearly in a situation that needed his help, and still he couldn't help questioning why this person had sent this to him. Why not this Mugiwara person or anyone else for that matter? And also how had Blackleg known he had been in León? No one was supposed to know about that. Could it be that he knew because of his connection to the Government, and so did the Government keep a track of him? He did not like this at all. It could all be a trap, but if it was and the Government had been keeping track of him, why hadn't they caught him yet?
But what if he had known this person, or if this was one of the people that had disappeared from his life all those years ago, should he not try to find him, and help him in any way possible? Well surely he had to do that. But he was so close to finding the man he had been hunting, he really didn't want to give up now. Then again he had already used 5 years of his life, what was another couple of weeks helping out this person. And he highly doubted that his life could get any worse at this point anyway, even though the person warned him it could complicate his life further.
As the letter had suggested there was a few items stored in the envelope; a key, two maps and a plane ticket from Frankfurt to Tokyo.
Zoro had to smile; this person had really taken his precautions despise everything else. The ticket was a free travel-pass which would get him through customs with his prized possessions, no questions asked. It was classified as VIP, so he would have no problem getting through security or any other problem-areas that could occur on his journey. He was a wanted man after all, and traveling wasn't easy no matter how stealthy you were. But with this he could travel to Tokyo without problems. The only problem was getting from Hendaye to Frankfurt within 2 days undetected.
It didn't take much consideration before he decided. He would go to Japan and he would lend his help to this person; he just hoped the guy wasn't already dead.
~~oOoOo~~
The trip to Frankfurt had not been easy to say the least. Even if he had travelled across Europe several times, and knew most routes around, he was still cautious of any sings indicating a patrol unit, or surveillance equipment. He often had to stop in his tracks, go back and find a new route all together, mostly in cases where he had spotted a patrol unit. He had learned a few tricks avoiding detection by the surveillance, but he was still trying to avoid them as much as possible. The trip would normally take him about 20 hours, if he drove non-stop, but he didn't risk doing that. The surveillance was equipped with a sensor that triggered if you were caught on more than five in a 12 hour period. He was thankful he knew some short cuts, and that he had a bike, as it usually made it easier to travel on side-roads, but he still had to take a break every 4th hour or so.
This however wasn't his only problem. He was still thinking of the person who had tracked him to Hundaye, and if it was possible he was still being followed. It made him on edge, and he had difficulty concentrating. He had nearly been spotted by patrols a couple of times because of it, but had managed to get onto another road just in time, or made a U-turn and headed back to find a new route.
Travelling across France had always been a peaceful journey for him; even after all the shit he had gone through during the last 5 years. But this time it was different, he could feel it, the scenery that should have been stunning, felt like an endless wasteland void of all colour and grace it should have had. It felt cold and rejecting, and he couldn't shake the feeling of something watching him just beyond his line of sight. It unnerved him, and he was debating turning around so that he could confront whatever was shadowing him. But he decided against it, time was of importance here, he needed to get to Frankfurt as fast as he could, and get to Japan. He could worry about everything on the plane, now he had to focus.
The border to Germany had also been slightly problematic; the border-control had been extra tight, though he didn't know why. So he had resolved to travel alongside it, and cross when he could. Not an easy task mind you, but he had eventually managed to get through a broken fence and into a forest on the German side, from there he followed a dirt road until he came to a side road. He would have driven further hadn't it been for the fact that it had already gone past midnight and he was in desperate need of some shut-eye.
He had resorted to travel into the forest again where he was sure to be safe, and had hid the bike under some bushes so it would not be spotted if anyone would wander through. He had then climbed up a tree and lied down on one of the thicker branches, it hadn't been particularly comfortable, but nothing he wasn't already used to.
He had woken up to the rustling of leaves close to his whereabouts, and had instantly been on guard; thankfully it had only been a deer, which he allowed to wander on before he decided that it was time to continue. The rest of the journey had been uneventful as the security in Germany had been nearly non-existent, which made him feel even more uneasy. Something just didn't add up about it all. Again he decided that he would leave his broodings to the plane trip.
The trip to the Airport in Frankfurt had only taken him just under 5 hours, a trip that should have taken little over 3, but he had needed to stop and get something to eat. He had been lucky though; having found a nice old couple of farmers who had gladly offered him some bread and cheese. He had wanted to repay them, but they had brushed it of saying that they had more than enough and that he shouldn't concern himself with such trivial matter. He had thanked them profoundly, and said that if he ever met them again he would find a way to repay them.
The rest of the journey had been easy, and as he had approached the airport he decided to get rid of his bike, and travel the last bit on foot. He was careful to cover his hair with his black bandana; his green hair was a trademark, but also a curse, as he was easily recognizable due to it. He stripped of his biker clothes and dressed in the black jeans, tank-top, leather jacket and converse he had packed in his duffel bag. He left his katanas in it and slung it over his shoulder before walking to the entrance. Before stepping onto the premise he put on his sunglasses, he hated wearing them like this, but had no choice really. Any little thing he could do to keep his identity secret the better.
Arriving at the check-in desk he had to admit he was nervous, this could go wrong on so many levels it wasn't even funny. He probably would have prayed had he believed in some sort of God, instead he resolved himself to chanting in his mind that it was fine, and that he had to play it cool. The woman behind the desk didn't even look at him as she asked in very poor English what she could help him with. He resolved to not talk, but handed her his ticket instead. He was unsure of the security there and if they had speech-recognition surveillance or not, so better safe than sorry he thought.
Once the woman saw the ticket he was sure she had been shocked, she had immediately stopped everything she was working with and issued him to come with her. Not sure what to do he had followed her; thinking he was going to get caught now. She could be dragging him to security, or a room where he would have to wait while she called the guards. He could only think of how much deep shit he was going to be in right now.
As it was she did lead him to a conference room where he was told to wait. Freaking out, he started to think of escape routes if everything should go to hell. He hadn't needed to worry it seemed, when she came back she was followed by a guy who introduced himself as Mr. Hardy, the man who would be his personal guard until his plane was due. He wanted to laugh, Blackleg had truly gone overboard with this, but man was he thankful for it now. He finally allowed himself to breathe a little easier, he had been slightly taken aback by this sudden change of event, but tried not to show it. He only nodded and smiled. He wanted to say thank you, but was too aware of the silent threat of surveillance hanging over his head to dare do it.
It was 7 hours until the next plane left for Japan, so he spent his time making mental note of all the information he had so far, and tried to come up with a strategy for every possible thing that could go wrong. He had no idea what was waiting for him in Japan, or what he had gotten himself into, but he was going to come as prepared as possible that's for sure.