I really should stop staying up late... Alright, so I write more when my head is about to slam down onto my keyboard, but still... Anyway, here's another little thing I just wrote...
Eto... hai, hai... I'm working on the next The Seventh Guest chapter. It's going to be a long one, so be patient, my darlings. It's already close to twenty pages, and I haven't even finished or started working on it for real yet... But enough about that, enjoy this short little story while you wait.
Disclaimer can be found in chapter one.
Sunset, sunrise
By KuroKame
He had never seen a sunset before. At least he couldn't remember seeing one in what seemed to be a whole lifetime. The way the setting sun appeared to set the whole sky on fire in its final, grand exit was strangely soothing in a way he never would have thought possible.
A growling voice caught his attention, and he turned his eyes very reluctantly away from the sunset to look at his captain, who was sitting at the bow of the small boat, but he wasn't quite listening to what was being said.
They had left their entire crew behind on that island. None of them had the guts to return to the Grand Line and face the dangers there, despite the enormous reward that waited for them at the other end.
He didn't know where they were headed at the moment. The captain hadn't told him any specific destination, except for the future voyage to the Grand Line, so he was just aiming for the nearest horizon while waiting for the sun to set or an island to appear.
Another fit of coughing shook his body, and he let go of the rudder to cover his mouth with his hands. Once it had passed, and he glanced down at the blood covering the palms of his hands, he could feel his captain looking at him.
He wasn't sure if the reason to why the captain hadn't told him where to go was because he just hadn't decided that yet, or because he simply was waiting. Waiting for the poison to take effect and for his last loyal crewmember to die.
Even if that was true, it didn't really matter. He had sworn to be loyal until death when he joined the clan, and he would keep that promise to the moment he drew his last breath. Therefore, he sat by the rudder, steering the boat towards an unknown destination while fighting the poison that was eating its way through his body.
The sunset dyed the ocean in a fiery orange hue as it touched the west horizon, finally succumbing to the flow of time while sinking towards the death of another day. But the small boat didn't slow down its pace where it aimlessly cruised across the Eastern Blue.
Soon, dawn would break, and with it, a new day would be born from the ashes of the previous. As he looked at his now sleeping captain at the prow of the boat, Gin simply hoped that he would be there to see it. He didn't think he had ever really seen a sunrise either.