One PIece Re-Read Volume 5 Drabbles
Nov. 3rd, 2017 03:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dethoratsTitle: Blueprints
Rating: G
Pairing: None/Gen
Word Count: 540
There is an instant, as Merry stands there on the bluff watching his creation grow smaller and smaller and listening to Miss Kaya say that it was hard to lie, where he thinks it’s all too much. Too much for him to shoulder, to be more than a servant once more. For three years Klahadore had overseen the running of the household, leaving Merry free to spend his time at his master’s side. He was a valet, yes, but also draftsman, advisor, and a friend. Merry had helped Kaya’s father expand their shipyard, develop new designs, implement and refine changes to existing ones, create fabulous interiors to meet the discerning or outlandishly opulent tastes of some of their clients. When the master and his wife had died, Merry had felt free to grieve because Klahadore was there to make sure the house was in order and Kaya was cared for. He’d lost so much and there was the business to maintain. It had taken him weeks before he could look at Kaya without seeing his master’s face within her own and flinching.
And yet, as he feels the pressure start to weigh him down, Merry remembers an anecdote he’d heard from the innkeeper. It was a truth a small tragedy with a strong heart at its core, and he could rely on it to help him now. Watching Miss Kaya as she drank in his words no longer sent a pang through his chest. He was proud of her and he could see Kaya for herself rather than just as his master’s child. The secondhand memory he recounted was one of Usopp as a child, at the time of a young boy’s greatest loss. It was the tale of the boy who cried ‘pirates!’ and the reason for his daily ritual. Kaya has tears in her eyes as he finishes describing how Usopp had waited years and years for a pirate ship and a father that never came. Merry can see, though, that she knows what he is trying to say. Usopp had told his lie, his story, to give himself something to live for…a sense of hope. The pirate’s son had done the same for her, trying to give her the same resiliency he’d had to build up in himself. Now Kaya would be without him and Merry was sure she could pay back her debt to Usopp by growing strong.
Merry isn’t a fabulist and he isn’t a butler confidant and above all he isn’t her father. But he can be what he’s always been, a helper and a friend to the family and a listening ear, a careful dispenser of advice. It’s not too much, not in light of what Usopp’s endured for this island and for his young mistress. That’s the story he tells himself as Kaya scrubs her face and stands up, walks over as the last glimmer of the Going Merry vanishes at the horizon. She smiles and gently adjusts the bandage she’d applied to his forehead. “I want to be a doctor.” There’s no quaver in her voice, just determination. Merry smiles, feels the weight he’d feared and already partially dispelled with his talk grow lighter still.
“I think that’s a wonderful goal, Miss Kaya, and a very worthy dream.”
Title: Crimson
Rating: G/PG for canon blood and violence
Pairing: None or the faintest smidge of Zosopp
Word Count: 526
Blood didn’t sting like sweat. Usopp, prone as a sack of potatoes thrown over Zoro’s shoulder but three times heavier and two times knobbier, murmured directions in the swordsman’s ear as sticky red liquid ran down his forehead and into his eyes. Dimly, almost as if from another dimension, he felt the pain thrumming through his body: the pounding in his broken head, the throbbing of his chest and stomach from the bastard butler’s kicks, the pulsing ache from the bullet wound on his arm from half a day ago. None of it mattered at the moment since Kaya and his crew were still in mortal danger. He only thought about the blood because it took so much effort to wipe it free and because he couldn’t afford to be blinded while trying to find them.
It wasn’t just his blood on his fingers as he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Zoro ran, faster now without Usopp as a burden, but not as fast as the sniper on a good day. His shirt was torn, ripped from his battle with the Meowban brothers, and openly bleeding again after Usopp had smacked him in his excitement and haste upon finding their quarry. Zoro’s sword was drawn and he aimed unerringly for his target now that he had found them in the woods. The hypnotist loomed over Kaya, the edge of the chakram glinting in the early morning light that filtered through the leaves. Wet fingers dug unerringly through his satchel, leaving reddish stains he wouldn’t notice for days. The explosive star nearly slipped out of his hand as Usopp loaded it into the cradle of his weapon.
Time crawled as Django swiped his weapon at Kaya’s tearful and defiant form. Zoro’s arm swung, the blade slicing through the air. It was enough to make the hypnotist pause, to get him to taunt the so-called Demon of East Blue. But Zoro only grinned as the sliced tree branch crashed behind him. Somehow Zoro had known. Usopp had FELT that he had known. It had been enough to steady his grip and calm his nerves, filter out the red haze of rage and leave behind clarity of purpose. In spite his fear and his pain and all the blood, there was nothing but pure skill and determination as he fired. A small explosion sounded at the impact on Django’s forehead, more than enough, and the weird pirate fell to the ground, unconscious.
Usopp wiped his hands on his overalls, smearing his clothes but leaving his fingers clean everywhere except under his nails. He could feel his injuries now, but still only faintly as his adrenaline kept his heart thundering in his chest. There was still one more important thing to do. The sniper got to his feet and wobbled over to Kaya and his crew, never noticing as Zoro wandered off. Finally, once he was sure they were alright, Usopp told them of his plan to keep the island safe...it would be his greatest lie of all.
Rating: G
Pairing: None/Gen
Word Count: 540
There is an instant, as Merry stands there on the bluff watching his creation grow smaller and smaller and listening to Miss Kaya say that it was hard to lie, where he thinks it’s all too much. Too much for him to shoulder, to be more than a servant once more. For three years Klahadore had overseen the running of the household, leaving Merry free to spend his time at his master’s side. He was a valet, yes, but also draftsman, advisor, and a friend. Merry had helped Kaya’s father expand their shipyard, develop new designs, implement and refine changes to existing ones, create fabulous interiors to meet the discerning or outlandishly opulent tastes of some of their clients. When the master and his wife had died, Merry had felt free to grieve because Klahadore was there to make sure the house was in order and Kaya was cared for. He’d lost so much and there was the business to maintain. It had taken him weeks before he could look at Kaya without seeing his master’s face within her own and flinching.
And yet, as he feels the pressure start to weigh him down, Merry remembers an anecdote he’d heard from the innkeeper. It was a truth a small tragedy with a strong heart at its core, and he could rely on it to help him now. Watching Miss Kaya as she drank in his words no longer sent a pang through his chest. He was proud of her and he could see Kaya for herself rather than just as his master’s child. The secondhand memory he recounted was one of Usopp as a child, at the time of a young boy’s greatest loss. It was the tale of the boy who cried ‘pirates!’ and the reason for his daily ritual. Kaya has tears in her eyes as he finishes describing how Usopp had waited years and years for a pirate ship and a father that never came. Merry can see, though, that she knows what he is trying to say. Usopp had told his lie, his story, to give himself something to live for…a sense of hope. The pirate’s son had done the same for her, trying to give her the same resiliency he’d had to build up in himself. Now Kaya would be without him and Merry was sure she could pay back her debt to Usopp by growing strong.
Merry isn’t a fabulist and he isn’t a butler confidant and above all he isn’t her father. But he can be what he’s always been, a helper and a friend to the family and a listening ear, a careful dispenser of advice. It’s not too much, not in light of what Usopp’s endured for this island and for his young mistress. That’s the story he tells himself as Kaya scrubs her face and stands up, walks over as the last glimmer of the Going Merry vanishes at the horizon. She smiles and gently adjusts the bandage she’d applied to his forehead. “I want to be a doctor.” There’s no quaver in her voice, just determination. Merry smiles, feels the weight he’d feared and already partially dispelled with his talk grow lighter still.
“I think that’s a wonderful goal, Miss Kaya, and a very worthy dream.”
Title: Crimson
Rating: G/PG for canon blood and violence
Pairing: None or the faintest smidge of Zosopp
Word Count: 526
Blood didn’t sting like sweat. Usopp, prone as a sack of potatoes thrown over Zoro’s shoulder but three times heavier and two times knobbier, murmured directions in the swordsman’s ear as sticky red liquid ran down his forehead and into his eyes. Dimly, almost as if from another dimension, he felt the pain thrumming through his body: the pounding in his broken head, the throbbing of his chest and stomach from the bastard butler’s kicks, the pulsing ache from the bullet wound on his arm from half a day ago. None of it mattered at the moment since Kaya and his crew were still in mortal danger. He only thought about the blood because it took so much effort to wipe it free and because he couldn’t afford to be blinded while trying to find them.
It wasn’t just his blood on his fingers as he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Zoro ran, faster now without Usopp as a burden, but not as fast as the sniper on a good day. His shirt was torn, ripped from his battle with the Meowban brothers, and openly bleeding again after Usopp had smacked him in his excitement and haste upon finding their quarry. Zoro’s sword was drawn and he aimed unerringly for his target now that he had found them in the woods. The hypnotist loomed over Kaya, the edge of the chakram glinting in the early morning light that filtered through the leaves. Wet fingers dug unerringly through his satchel, leaving reddish stains he wouldn’t notice for days. The explosive star nearly slipped out of his hand as Usopp loaded it into the cradle of his weapon.
Time crawled as Django swiped his weapon at Kaya’s tearful and defiant form. Zoro’s arm swung, the blade slicing through the air. It was enough to make the hypnotist pause, to get him to taunt the so-called Demon of East Blue. But Zoro only grinned as the sliced tree branch crashed behind him. Somehow Zoro had known. Usopp had FELT that he had known. It had been enough to steady his grip and calm his nerves, filter out the red haze of rage and leave behind clarity of purpose. In spite his fear and his pain and all the blood, there was nothing but pure skill and determination as he fired. A small explosion sounded at the impact on Django’s forehead, more than enough, and the weird pirate fell to the ground, unconscious.
Usopp wiped his hands on his overalls, smearing his clothes but leaving his fingers clean everywhere except under his nails. He could feel his injuries now, but still only faintly as his adrenaline kept his heart thundering in his chest. There was still one more important thing to do. The sniper got to his feet and wobbled over to Kaya and his crew, never noticing as Zoro wandered off. Finally, once he was sure they were alright, Usopp told them of his plan to keep the island safe...it would be his greatest lie of all.
