Waking up to be greeted by a dead corpse in the face is a fun thing to do. 7/5 would recommend.
Seriously though, I nearly screamed but thought the better of it and didn't. My reasoning was this: One - I was apparently buried under a pile of bodies. Two - they all weren't alive in any way. Three - in my mind's eye, I could sense two beings walking around me. Like they were probably around the pile of bodies I was buried in.
They wouldn't react nicely if they found a live body in the midst of dead ones.
Still, I didn't feel comfortable surrounded by dead people. I was being crushed under some too. It's horrifying, yet extremely disgusting. Shit, I think some fluid just dripped on my back. I don't want to know what it is. I need to get out of here.
I waited till they left the area, then started trying to move my limbs. Using all my strength, I pushed aside the dead person next to me. I tried my best not to pay attention to any of them - as it was I wanted to retch out the entire contents of my stomach with the smell. The body I pushed landed not too far away with a plop, and I froze slightly instinctively. Luckily enough, the two beings that were around didn't seem to turn around or notice anything, so I proceeded to stick my head out of the pile, wincing at the blinding sun that greeted me. I had my eyes adjust to the sunlight, then looked around. The coast was clear.
I pushed myself out of the mess of limbs I was tangled in, wincing again as my side got slightly aggravated with the strength I used. Once I managed to pull myself out of the mess of bodies, I observed my surroundings again. There were piles and piles of bodies stacked up here and there, and men in jumpsuits and masks were dumping new ones into the growing piles from wheelbarrows. I mentally shuddered at the sight.
Was there an opening to all of this? I spotted some greenery at the corner of my eye - it turned out to be a forest. There should be good to run to. And hide in.
Thankful that I had a small body, I easily ducked and hid under some piles when I sensed someone nearby. It was odd how clear perceiving the men in my mind's eye had become, since I wasn't able to do so before. I shook the thought out of my head though. Escaping to safety comes first. Other things can be worried about at a later date.
I got nearer to the forest; surprisingly they were quite lax on security in the area, but then again the potential "escapees" are all well, dead. There was only one masked man standing there, but he was soon called away by another guy. He made his way over and they ended up talking.
"Can't believe all these bodies are gunna be burnt," one grunted, "What kinda furnace are we throwin' 'em into?"
I couldn't see the look on the other man's face, but the faint aura I saw around him coloured amused.
"We're just gonna burn this whole place up," he causally replies. The first man seemingly gaped at him.
"Ya serious?! Whadda 'bout the forest? Won't it burn down too?"
"Who cares, dude. It's not like this plot of land is owned by anyone. Plus the World Govt already cleared the people living 'round these parts, since it's near the border to the city."
I realized I spent a little too much time eavesdropping on their conversation, so I got myself ready for the sprint I had to do from this pile I was hiding in. Both men shifted their stances so they were looking in on the piles of bodies, and I took the opportunity and *ran*.
I ended up behind the nearest tree, and leant back on it heavily. Then I sunk to my feet, exhausted. The result of the day's events would've crept up to me, but I heard one of the men speak up again.
"Didja 'ear that?"
I froze.
"Your hearing's gone south you old coot. It must've been the wind."
"Tch. Could've sworn there was a rat runnin' 'bout."
At this, I relaxed slightly, but I knew I had to keep moving. According to the men, this forest would probably burn down as well, if they were going to set fire to the place. I had to find my way out of the forest and find somewhere safe to recuperate. Confirming my goals, I swayed to my feet unsteadily, and my calf muscles cried out in pain from the overuse. I simply ignored it, and started marching into the forest at a moderate pace.
Truth to be told, I was never surrounded by this much nature before. It was fascinating, and I would just stop to stare halfway at a bunch of blooming flowers nearby. Then I would shake my head and continue on my way. Later. I will be able to find more things like these if I made it out alive.
I didn't know where I was going, but my senses would tingle and tell me if there was a living being nearby. Thankfully none approached me, and I was left along for the most part. How long I walked, I did not know. The foliage of the trees had blocked out most of the sun, so I couldn't tell what time of the day it was. There were still specks of sunlight shining through stubbornly though, so i knew it wasn't dark yet.
Finally, I found a clearing and ran for it, the sunlight blinding my eyes yet again. Once I had adjusted my eyesight, I realized the sun was setting. Shoot. I had to get to somewhere else fast. I looked around the area - no roads, no street lamps or anything. It was just a clearing with long grass for miles. But then I spotted a fence in the corner of my eye, and followed where it was leading to. The sunlight was disappearing fast, and I knew that it would be pitch black once it disappears. There wasn't any much light pollution here.
I ran towards the fence, and realized that it was something like a grazing pen. Oh! Was there a barn nearby, then?
I spotted the red painted building and with the last bits of my strength, ran towards it. Strangely enough there wasn't any animals in the pens I ran past, but I paid it no need. The light was going, and it was going *fast*. Any chance of possible vision will be in the barn.
The doors were closed shut, but there wasn't a lock so I pulled it open. Inside there was hay. A lot of it. I hurriedly looked around for a light switch. There ought to be one around. But there wasn't. I supposed my luck ran out, so I sighed and closed the door behind me. There was still the barest of light peeking through the open windows of the barn, so I made use of it to find a pile of hay and crash in.
It was softer than I'd expected. Instantly my whole body relaxed, all the tension seeping out of me as I finally got some rest. My eyelids drooped close...
.
.
.
Before I knew it, I was woken up by a blazing light. I winced and opened my eyes and sat up slowly to see what the offending light was. Seems like the light from the outside has shone in. I swore that I couldn't have slept a whole night away just like that, so I staggered to my feet to check out the outside.
What I saw was a fire. One that lit up from the night sky; contrasted with it so badly that it became the only light source around for miles. And it came from the burning forest. Shoot. Was that them incinerating the bodies? Again, my stomach found its way to my mouth. I shoved the feeling back down again - I felt sticky and smelly, I didn't need to be so even more.
I backed slowly away from the window I'd looked out of, and flopped back into the pile of hay again. The fire seemed far away enough from where I was, so it wouldn't make it here yet. I had time to rest... And to reflect. Since my sudden awaking jangled my bones enough not to go back to sleep immediately, I begun thinking.
I had a bullet in my side and was bleeding out to death. How in the blazes(pun not intended) did I even recover from that? I gingerly touched the side; the supposed spot where a bullet hole once was. It was covered up - no hole for me to stick my finger in. I grimaced at the thought. 'Bad timing,' I scolded myself.
Either way, it seemed like it felt like it was done naturally, because the edges of the hole felt like a scar. What made this possible? I wrecked my head for an idea of any sort, then I remembered the last conversation I had before I, well, fainted.
Do you have the will to do it?
The will. To live.
Did whatever that saved me had something to do with this "will to live"? If that is the case, then...
I started to break down the words - they seemed literal, so I had to take them seriously. Whatever that spoke to me had considered my "will" as something powerful. What did "will" mean again? It was also known as a resolution, which meant that it was a firm decision in doing(or not doing) something. If I broke it down simply, it was what you feel enough strongly for to be able(or not) to enact it out. Feel... Like feelings, right?
Oh.
The devil fruit.
My powers.
I jerked slightly at the realization. Did my... Did my powers do this? It wasn't that hard to believe, but devil fruits did make the impossible, possible. If I was able to control my feelings; to be able to concentrate about wanting to, well, "live", my physical body would've done something about it.
To be able to recover this fast still made me question myself. Considering that if I could've done such a thing normally, I must've done something akin to awakening my devil fruit powers. I only knew of a few such people who awoke their powers, and the results all turned out different. There wasn't a consistency to what one could do with their awakened fruits, so it was hard to tell if I actually did it. If I did manage to do it, then the sensory thing I had could've been part of it?
I had so many unanswered questions, and no one could answer them for me at all. My thoughts ended up running in circles and I slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep again.
The next morning, I'd stumbled my way out of the barn, and managed to find the main housing unit lived in by the humans that owned this farm. The barn had no animals, which was strange, so I expected the same from the farmhouse I was slowly approaching. The fire from yesterday died out somewhere in the forest, thankfully. I didn't know where it stopped though, since the front bits of the forest I'd came out from still had trees.
I knocked the front door out of courtesy, but no one answered at all. I felt bad for breaking in, but my stomach was growling like mad and I needed food, stat. The door was locked, so I tried my hand at the low windows the house had. They could be opened. I slid myself between the gap I had opened there. As my muddied feet touched the floor, I looked around. I had entered the living room, and it looked like it had been abandoned quite some time ago. I walked over to the entrance of the house and checked – yep, no shoes were left there. Whoever lived in this house and this farm had abandoned it.
I felt safer like this, and continued to explore the place. The cupboards of the kitchen didn't have much food in them. Most of the food was canned, and I had to scrounge around to find a can opener. It didn't help that I wasn't a tall child, so I had to drag chairs here and there so that I could settle a meal for myself. There were plates and cups I found and dug out from the insides of the cupboards, and I managed to find an electric kettle. The tap worked, and not long later I had boiled water.
I washed the plates and the cup with the water though. There were some disposable plastic utensils I found so I set those aside. The water was boiled again, and I poured it out into the cup so that it'll cool down. I spooned the canned food out – checked for the expiry date already – into the plate I was using. Then I began eating my mish-mashed meal of beans and corn. It wasn't that appetizing, I know, but I was starving.
After my somewhat full meal, I went up to the upper levels of the house. There were bedrooms and bathrooms, and I looked at my dirty clothes and self. I definitely need something cleaner. Like in the kitchen, I scrounged around for clean clothes my size. Then I went into the bathroom to test the tap. Surprisingly the water still ran through it, and even though it didn't have a heating system, I took a shower. I scrapped off as much muck as I could while I was in there.
I towelled myself down with an appropriate cloth, then wore my clothes. The bedroom I ended up changing in had a full-length mirror, and I glanced at my reflection. A young boyish face greeted me, and it felt surreal to see how different I looked from before. Obviously, I was a male now – the fact didn't bother me too much, I just liked the fact that I will have an absence of the bits on my chest now. In the story of One Piece the ladies ended up with huge racks, and as it was I hated how they always got in the way in my previous life. The thought of freedom from them cheered me up a little.
I looked at my face. The beginnings of dark circles were forming under my gold irises, results of the nightmares that had haunted me for many nights ago. My brown hair was cropped short, but I'd swept most of my fringe to my left. I looked as dead as I felt. I tried a smile, but an image of Lami flew by my mind and I flinched. It didn't help that I looked like her; I am her twin, after all.
Lifting up the slightly oversized shirt I wore, I took a good look at my torso again. Not to look at the bullet scar, though. I wryly smiled at the sight – Patches of white were there, but they were somewhat faded. The results of Amber Lead poisoning. I didn't know how long I could live for, even if I could will myself to supress the symptoms and the poison itself. It pained me that despite getting out of the mess that was the White City massacre, I still had a timer ticking down on my life.
Thankfully there wasn't any visible patches of white on the skin that wasn't covered on me, so I supposed I could go around easily without being shunned. The disease was promoted as contagious anyway. Surviving would become much harder if anyone knew. Long sleeves and pants would hide most of my skin, so I specifically picked such clothing to wear. I found a pair of a child sized rain boots, so I swapped my grimy pair for them. It was slightly bigger than my size, but I didn't care. I was still growing anyway.
I turned out the pockets of the pants I wore before, emptying them. The box of cards I'd made an empathy link with fell out with the cover opened, and the only card left inside flew out. It landed on the ground, the card's back facing me. I bent down to pick it up to see what it was – the Joker card. Shit. Just looking at this made all of the memories from then come back again.
I didn't need this. I shoved the card into the pants pocket I currently wore. Then stomped on the box, grinding it into the ground, and kicked it aside. There wasn't a use to this anymore. The only reason why I'm keeping the card was because it was a reminder for me that this whole game of life was still all to play for. That's what I tell myself, anyway.
There wasn't much valuables left in the house, so I got some cans of food and stuffed them into a bag I found. In goes the can opener as well. And other suitable clothes. I dug around some more, and found an army knife. I wasted no time shoving it into my pocket; these things were useful. I was hiking my way to the nearest civilization, so I needed to be ready for anything. I cleared my mind of negative thoughts, and stood up straighter.
And off I went.
A/N: This was more of a filler chapter I guess? Pretty straightforward and answered some questions? I dunno. It's still a relevant chapter though.
As usual, thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews!
-Riki
