Storyteller's Tales
A boy runs up the hill with his short, thin legs straining as he pants out hot breaths. He almost falls but catches himself before it happens, and he sniffs once as he drags his forearm back and forth under his nose to get rid of the snot coming out of his nostrils; he feels how long his nose is, and it comforts but also saddens him as he reminds himself, I have my Mama's nose!
He stumbles to the edge of the cliff and lets himself sag to the floor. His knees hit some pebbles painfully but he ignores it as he sees the horizon of glittering blue. Looking at the sea, he is filled with a lot of fear but a small part of him, the tiny part of his heart that hasn't died, flutters in his chest, impatient to see the day where he will go on adventures. He imagines, in a way only a child can, how he will walk in the footsteps of his father and conquer the seas bravely.
"There was once a man, a brave captain, feared and loved by both enemies and friends, named Captain Usopp," he tells himself quietly as he sits on the pebbles and leans his chin against his folded arms atop his knees. "He had eight thousand loyal followers, all devoted to him to the very end..."
And the boy continues to spin tales of endless possibilities and then some, until the sun finally sets and tints the sky in orange; still, even as night arrives and the blue turns into inky black, he does not leave and continues to speak (hope, believe) of a bright future only he sees.
It is only in the early hours of the morning, in the early beginnings of dawn, when the boy finally stand up and runs back to the village. He hollers and screams at the top of his lungs, enrages village people and gets rotten fruits and flower pots thrown at his head, but he only laughs as he runs through the streets.
And only then, when the sun is high in the sky, does he return to an empty house that had once been a home.
.–.–.–.–.–.–.
Usopp steps to the left almost absent-mindedly as a seed whizzes past the spot where his head had been. He trots onwards while he ignores the sea king rampaging somewhere to his right a few miles away before he reaches the edge of the forest. Usopp glances around, out of paranoia more than anything else, before he scuttles up the tree smoothly, reaching the crown of the branches and plops himself on the highest branch that holds his weight.
He leans back as much as he can while he watches the foam-tipped waves. Looking at the limitless horizon, he almost feels like a boy again, only with much more impatience and some sadness or nostalgia, he isn't entirely sure. But there is no regret and there is no fear, only the gentle reassurance of the knowledge that he has nakama, and that is all the difference.
He doesn't imagine and he doesn't dream, but he remembers and it brings equal measure of love and pain. He closes his eyes, almost hears his nakama's laughter as it carries with the wind, and grins to himself before he opens his eyes.
"There lives a brave man, known as the bravest and strongest man of the whole world, with the title of Pirate King," he starts softly, gently, as he carefully nurtures the story that will be told in centuries to come after he's enthralled his audience with it in hundreds of bars all over the world. "Named Monkey D. Luffy."
He does not stop even as he feels the island shift, only tightens his grip on the branch and continues smoothly without any hesitation. He stares through the slits of the plant's leaves as they part again, soft sunlight streaking onto his face as he feels his heart ache.
He wants to go back to the place he calls home.
.–.–.–.–.–.–.
Usopp stops suddenly and stares, deep into the horizon of sparkling white and shimmering sapphire. His soul hums happily, a beat that thrums through his body and deep into his bones until it reaches the singing strings of his heart.
"Usopp~~!" Luffy whines at him and Usopp can't quite keep the grin off his face. "And then? What happens to the boy then?"
He grins at his captain and at Chopper before he clears his throat. "The boy grows into handsome young man, he trains and works hard until he's strong and respected. He gives up his dream of becoming a captain," he sees Luffy's frown and continues hastily before he can interrupt. "And instead becomes a nakama to the best captain he could ever ask for."
And as his two nakama laugh, he remembers days when he was a child: naïve and innocent. He remembers the loneliness and the house that wasn't home. Remembers the stories and the days only staring out at the sea while he imagined his future.
He thinks that this is so much better than anything he could ever imagine.
.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.
Author Note:
Another Usopp chapter...is it obvious that I love doing character development/analysis with him?
I'm sorry that I haven't updates in so long. I'm not allowed currently and me even being able to write this is amazing, it didn't (or did, depending on how you look at it) help that I had a writer's block. Momentarily, I won't be able to fulfil any requests for any of my stories but I will remember them, don't worry. You'll get your chapter some time!
Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter.
Thank you for reading and please review!