Happy 4th of July everyone! Yeah, America's celebrating her 234th (I believe my math is right) birthday! I hope everyone sees plenty of fireworks tonight. Enjoy the holiday! Man….I'll be leaving this Friday…But I don't want anyone out there to fret. I will make sure I update the day I come back! …Or maybe the day after…It really depends on what time I come back home.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece (Yeah, I couldn't come up with anything creative to say on the subject).
Caout slowly opened her eyes. She was somewhere dark. The faint sounds of crickets chirping in the distance told her that it was probably night time. Caout realized she was lying on something…soft. And very cool.
Oh…This is grass…Caout realized, smelling the familiar scent of the ground. But why am I lying on it? What happened…?
Another odor soon made its way to Caout's nose. Caout made a face at the smell…It was awful. Like rotting fish mixed with decaying corpses. Caout lifted her head slightly and saw cloth wrapped on several parts of her body. She brought her wrapped arm to her face and smelled the cloth on it.
"Ugh…" Caout grimaced, "Yeah, it's definitely from these wraps."
"It's medicine…"
Caout sat up slowly and saw Tide sitting a few feet away from her. She looked around and saw a faint glow coming from the other side of the clearing she was lying in. There was a small fire, burning up what looked like downed trees. Caout glanced around the small, dark clearing. Something was missing…
"Oh, where's that little pup?" Caout asked, "Hero, right?"
Tide was silent and motioned over to the other end of the clearing. Caout followed the girl's gaze and saw the pile of overturned dirt and the two sticks tied together to form a cross. Her eyes became downcast…
"I'm sorry," Caout whispered, "I knew how much you liked him…"
"Yeah…" Tide said, "Well, it's not like I haven't seen dead things before…"
Caout looked over at Tide and noticed something different about the girl.
"Hey, Nyshairyn…Where's your bow? And what happened to the bottom of your dress?"
It was true. The white bow that was wrapped around Tide's waist was now gone. Also, it looked like Tide had ripped off nearly half of the bottom of her dress.
"Where do you think I got the bandages from, Listerra?" Tide said.
Caout looked at her and Tide's bandages and saw that some were orange and some were white. Caout sniffed the pieces of cloth and the smell nearly made her throw up.
"They're medicinal herbs," Tide explained, "If one knows one's way around the forest, one can find anything. The smell will go away in a few days."
Caout wondered what on earth she needed medicine for when she suddenly recalled what happened. That was right…Those demons had attacked her and Tide…As Caout looked over her wounds she realized something important.
"Nyshairyn! You didn't replace these bandages, did you?"
Caout held up her hand, which was wrapped around the palm. Caout sighed in relief as Tide shook her head no.
"Those bandages looked clean so I didn't bother with them," Tide said, "Which reminds me…I bet you can take them off now. If they're that clean after these few days, I think the wounds have healed."
Caout quickly shook her head no. There was no way she was ever, ever going to take off the bandages on her hand. She couldn't, no matter what…
"By the way, what's Mizure?"
Caout's heart skipped a beat and her breathing nearly came to a halt. She snapped her head over to Tide, who was looking over at her casually.
"W-w-where did you h-h-h-hear that name?" Caout stuttered, trying to get her breath back.
"From you…After we finished fighting those demons, you started freaking out and yelling. Suddenly you said that you wouldn't go back to Mizure and then you fainted."
Caout put her head in her hands. She was such a freakin' idiot! What was she thinking, saying "Mizure" out loud? Caout hit her head several times, muttering insults at herself with each blow. Tide wasn't sure what to make of the situation.
"Listerra…" Tide began as soon as Caout had taken a pause from hitting her head, "Is Mizure the name of that place you keep mentioning in that weird way? You know, like whenever you say 'that place' or 'there'?"
Caout looked at Tide for several moments before finally nodding yes.
"You see," Caout said, "I really don't want to talk about that place. Mizure is a small island. Believe it or not, it's actually a Rootless Island…"
Tide was a little surprised by that. Rootless Islands were very, very, very rare. They were islands that didn't stay in one place. Of course, all land masses moved due to the plates on the planet's surface and all that science junk. But Rootless Islands weren't like that. They moved as though they were ships. They just sailed on the waters, going wherever the currents carried them. Part of the reason they are so rare is that many Rootless Islands were destroyed when they collided with other islands...It was apparently quite the sight if one happened to run across one of these Rootless Islands.
"I've been on Mizure for as long as I can remember…" Caout continued, looking at the ground, "Ever since I was a baby. The people there told me my parents left me there when I was a few months old but they didn't say why. I grew up on that island."
"Mizure is absolute hell!" Caout growled, clawing at the grass and dirt beneath her hands, "I escaped there a little over a week ago, much to my surprise. I was only able to make a good escape because that other island was so close by."
"And who is the 'he' that those demons were talking about?" Tide asked.
Caout furrowed her brows, not sure what Tide was talking about until she heard those voices in her head…
"Don't think you've won! You'll have to go back! He's on this island and he'll capture you! Then, you'll go back!"
Caout stared at the skies…So…That man was here on Garuka, huh? It would explain the presence of the demons.
"The 'he' they were talking about is a man named Reo," Caout explained with a heavy frown on her face, "That man, if you can even call him that, is horrible…I was hoping they wouldn't send him after me. But of course they would send one of their best men to retrieve their best tool…"
Tide raised an eyebrow at that. "Tool", she said? What could Caout possibly mean by that? But, based on the look on Caout's face, Tide knew she shouldn't ask anything more. It was obvious that the subject of Mizure was a hard topic for Caout to speak of.
Tide knew all too well the difficulty of speaking of a horrid past…
"…Listerra?" Tide called, waiting until Caout had looked at her, "I'm gonna tell you something else about me…Only because you told me something about you…Will you listen?"
Caout nodded slowly. She was game for learning anything knew about Tide, who was still such a mystery to her even though they had known each other for a few days now.
"Okay," Tide sighed, "Remember how I told you that while Elementists are hated by normal humans, I'm hated by Elementists as well? Well, it's not just me. It's rare for people like me to be born but there are a bunch of us in the world…We are all hated by both normal humans and our own people."
"I still think that's stupid," Caout said, "You're people should know better than to be prejudiced against others."
"I agree…But that's how things worked out. You see, among the Elementists, there are those who are born with an incredibly strong power. Too strong…A power that can go out of control because of the sun."
Caout tilted her head in confusion. Tide had just lost her.
"Oh, I should explain better…" Tide said when she noticed Caout's face, "You see, an Elementist's abilities come from nature. Elementists use the four elements of nature. But all of nature derives its power from the sun, which sustains life and basically is the reason that nature exists in the first place."
Caout nodded her head. She understood…more or less…
"Now," Tide continued, "While an Elementist uses the one or two elements he or she has been born with, the strength of that Elementist comes from his or her ability to pull the power of the sun from the elements. Once in a while, there are Elementists born who can't control that ability. They are called Carriers…"
"Carriers are easy to identify," Tide continued, "We are stronger and a little more violent than other Elementists. We have…issues…"
Tide stared at the sky. She saw the moon and the stars. Thank God it was night…Tide looked at the gold band on her arm, as did Caout. Tide pulled Caout nearer to the fire so that Tide could see what she was doing.
Caout watched as Tide pressed a few spots on her gold band. Caout thought the girl was just tapping random spots when she noticed that each spot Tide pressed glowed. After a minute, with a click, the gold band became a little bigger, loose enough for Tide to slide off her arm. What technology…
Once Tide had slid off the band, Caout could see that the spot on Tide's arm where the band had been was very pale, indicating that the area had received in extremely low amount of sunlight. But, what surprised Caout the most was what was on that area of nearly white skin. It was an intricate mark.
It was a black outline of a circle. Inside the circle was a black symbol that Caout could not recognize for the life of her. It seemed to be an ancient symbol of sorts. It looked sort of like an elaborate image of a fluere de lys. This incredibly beautiful mark had been hidden by that gold band.
"All Carriers are born with this mark on their arms," Tide explained as Caout admired the mark, "No one knows why...When an Elementist has this mark, it is said to be a day of great mourning and tragedy. This mark symbolizes that we do not have the ability to control our strength."
"It's so pretty!" Caout said, "Why do you have to keep it covered?"
"Like I said, Elementists' strength comes from the energy they draw from the sun. But a Carrier cannot control that ability well, which probably explains why I have trouble with my fire powers. And this mark is no help. If sunlight was to directly hit the mark of a Carrier, that Carrier would become nothing less than a beast…Don't ask me to explain further than that…"
Caout remained silent as Tide slipped on the gold band. With a click, it shrunk back to its regular size and covered the mark. Tide crossed her legs and looked Caout in the eyes. Caout waited patiently for whatever Tide was going to say next.
"For centuries, Elementists had used all kinds of materials to cover the marks of the Carriers. Around fifty years ago, an Elementist created these gold bands. They are impossible to get off unless you know the secret code. Now, any Carrier born is given this band from birth onward. The band is amazing in that it grows with the Carrier."
Tide let out a heavy sigh.
"While that band keeps your powers in check," Caout stated, "It also makes it obvious for people to identify you as a Carrier. And everyone, including Elementists, sees you as a monster because of something that was never your fault…You're looked down upon just for that…"
Tide's silence told Caout that she was right. Tide was surprised by Caout's actually logical conclusion. It was one of the very few smart things Tide had heard the girl say since she met her.
"I've been strong since I was little," Caout said, "I think it's because I might have a strong bloodline. Because of that strength, because I was born with powers I didn't ask for, those on Mizure thought I would be the perfect tool for their own uses…In the end, who are the real monsters? The ones who have monstrous abilities due to random circumstances or the ones who deemed it necessary to look down upon those who have these abilities?"
Tide looked over at Caout, who stared at the sky, a most serious expression on her face.
"Boy, Listerra," Tide sighed, "You are too philosophical for your age…"
"I guess…"
Tide stood up and stretched, telling Caout that she would get materials to build some structures for them to sleep in. Caout volunteered to come along, wanting to learn how to build some shelter as well.
"Hey, Nyshairyn?" Caout began as the duo collected wood, "What does 'philosophical' mean?"
Tide groaned and shook her head slowly, choosing not to answer. Maybe she was giving this rubber girl too much credit. But Tide had to admit…
It was kind of nice having someone who could understand…
I think it was nice to have a nice, relaxing talking chapter after last chapter. So we learn a tiny bit more about Caout's mysterious past. And we also learn more about the enigma that is Tide.
Read and review, pretty please with a cherry on top!