bluemikan | first harvest. video. saturday afternoon.

first harvest. video. saturday afternoon.

[ This seems like it's working now. Nojiko is already out of the New Feather dress, having managed to get directions to the Welcome Center, where she got a run-down of what was going on. That took most of the morning. The rest of the morning was spent finding her clothing, changing, and then sitting at a corner table in the bakery reading through the entirety of the new arrival guide.

She also had breakfast. A muffin. It was a blessedly normal muffin.

The breakfast was the only remotely normal part of the morning. Now that she feels educated (although...skeptical and still trying to hold all of this information in), it looks like it's time to attempt using the journal, as was suggested to her earlier. She's still at her little table in the bakery, the journal held open in front of her. ]

Hello. [ just getting that greeting out of the way, before plunging onward. ] So, I understand that this is a way of talking to people here. [ The guide explained that, and she's sort of been checking out the last two or three entries, just figuring out how it works. ] And I'm also given to understand that there are people here from many worlds?

I'm not asking for that explanation again. I'm just not sure how I'm meant to find anyone from my own world. [ ...Or if she wants to. It's not like being from her world automatically makes someone excellent company or someone she wants anything to do with. But. ] How do you know if you're from this world or that one? If there were a list of possibilities, I guess I might have a chance of picking home out.

So I suppose I'm really just asking to be found. [ Dry laughter. Well, she's taken care of everything else, so...of course, there might not be anyone else. That had been covered, too. ] If you know Cocoyasi Village or the Conomi Islands, I'd be grateful for a quick word. [ Presumably anyone familiar with geography from home would be from home, right?

A pause. Wow, she forgot something important, didn't she? ] My name is Nojiko, by the way. Thanks. [ Okay she'll just end that there, then, and see what's what. ]

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[ ...And fate smashes the chances to smithereens for fun. Huh. ]

Yes. I've never been, but we still get news from there. [ Not all the news, but hey. Small island towns make due, man. If she's asking about the Grand Line she either lives there or she's a pirate, hm? ] Is that where you're from?

No. Mor--...my former captain's ship sailed on the Florian Triangle, close to Sabaody. But for the past two years back home, I've lived on Kuraigana Island, if you're familiar with such a place.

[Really, she doesn't expect the woman to know about it - not many people do know about Mihawk's private island. He truly is a recluse when he wants and needs to be. Even she, the intel gatherer of Moria's crew, wasn't aware of the place until she met the Shichibukai.]

Ah, I'm afraid not. I've heard of Sabaody, though.

[ But the "captain" confirmed the bit about pirates. ] I don't suppose you're acquainted with the Straw Hats?

[Immediately, Perona tenses, and her lips purse into a thin line. Though her hands were in her lap and out of sight, they're now gripping one of the ruffly layers of her gown, knuckles white with the force of her grip. Fuck, she can't go a few damn days without someone bring them up, can she? Maybe it would have been better to stay in her own goddamn apartment.

After a long, painful, thick silence, she mumbles softly through her teeth--]

I know them.

[ ...Ah.

Well, not she's uncertain if she should admit her relation, given that reaction, but...well, she'd never shied away from admitting Nami was her sister before, even when she was a "witch". ]

The navigator is my younger sister.

Mm.

[That's the only note of affirmation that Perona heard that Nojiko will get. Were she in a better mood, she may have acually been surprised by that bit of information - though it won't be forgotten. Her duty was to get information, and that was a good bit of it, a piece to be stored away, surely.

She's quiet for a few minutes again, before she finally can't stand not speaking anymore and looks out the window, pulling her teddybear close to her side for a cuddle. Ugh, she does not want to talk about this...but she can't stop herself, either. Damnit.]

I lived with their swordsman for two years. ...I want to tend to his wounds during his training on the island. [A beat.] It was impossible for him to keep the blood in his body. That imbecile.

[ So that's how it is. Nojiko nods, not pushing. ]

That's in keeping with what I know of him. He fought Arlong when his chest was in tatters. I'm not sure why it was, but...

[His chest was in tatters? Perona's not sure of the reasoning herself, she can barely remember when she read about the Straw Hats and Arlong - they were nobodies then, and only just made a name for themselves after that. Rookies. Nothing to sneeze at. Yet...she has a good guess as to who may've been responsible. She's not stupid, and she's nosy, too. Of course she asked about the scar on Zoro's chest once while she was fixing him up over the two years.]

Mihawk. [She looks up, finally looking Nojiko in the eye.] Shichibukai Dracule "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk. ...The simpleton thought he could take on the world's greatest swordsman with his mediocre skills.

[ ...Of course he did. Nami, your crew really is something. ]

I don't think they know the meaning of the word "impossible".

Sometimes it'd be better if they did.

[Spoke a little too quickly, and with far too much honesty, which is why she clams up a second after. Why does she even care about a pigheaded ogre like Zoro anyway? They never did anything but argue...and it's not like he even remembered her to begin with.

Perona bites her lip, as that thought just grinds something sharp right in the pit of her stomach.]

...Ah. That might be so.

[ Well, in certain cases. But...she can't fault their methods from everything she does know about them. ]

It might make others worry less, at least.

Exactly.

[There's another stagnant pause as Perona debates ending the conversation there and heading for home - she's not hungry, and there's not much more she wants to say, especially about the Straw Hats - but instead she spares another glance at Nojiko and continues.]

What have you heard about them? The very last thing you can remember, if I may ask. [Gauging timelines this way, she can also tell you just how many stupid decisions those fools have made.]

[ Oh, she's going to be concerned about Nami, isn't she?

But Nojiko looks thoughtful, wondering how far back or forward she might be. ]

Ah...a bounty increase, for declaring war on the world government.

[Declaring war on--ah! Yes, that. Perona actually smiles when she remembers that - it was forever ago for her. Those idiots challenged such a strong power...and didn't fear it. They were perhaps the only ones, the only imbeciles foolhardy and crazy enough to even think of doing such a thing. Yet still...they came out on top. Again and again and again they manage to survive and triumph.]

Dumb luck... Mm, I remember that. It was far behind what I know. It was just before we...met, for the first time. It's been two years since that, for me.

Two years...Ah, I suppose I've missed a lot of news, then. [ But Nami must still be alive and well in two years. That's enough for her, really. ]

If you'd like to know, I have time...though you may not enjoy the things that you hear.

[The war, especially. Perona herself's not exactly fond of it, not is she of speaking about it. There's too much she doesn't know, too much glossed over by the World Government, too many secrets and lies...and deaths, of course. Perona's still not sure if Moria's dead, how he died, or even who killed him. And she's still not sure how she really wants to feel about that, if he is dead.]

[ ...Ah, that doesn't sound good at all. Still... ]

I'd like to hear it, if you're willing to tell me.

...Very well. [Sigh, she's got quite a story to tell, then. And even Perona's not quite sure about much of the details. Only a few things and what she gathered from newspapers and asking Zoro during the two years they were together.]

I'm not quite sure what happens after the incident with Eines Lobby, but they eventually...stumbled onto Mo--my former captain's ship. That was how we were...mmh, introduced. Afterwards, a circumstance occurred where I was forced to...leave the ship. [FUCK YOU, KUMA. FUCK YOU AND EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR.] The swordsman followed me, and I took care of him. From what I learned, the other Straw Hat pirates were also separated. The Rubber Boy must have learned about Fire Fist's execution at Marineford and foolishly tried to prevent it...by entering Impel Down on his own and ravaging the execution stand as well. He's never been a bright one.

From what the newspapers told, which may be a lie I cannot be sure, a great amount of pirates and marines - including the three Admirals as well as the Shichibukai - appeared at Marineford to watch the execution. ...They were preparing for war, and a war did indeed come. Whitebeard fought, and so did a great many pirates. Lives were lost, of course...

Both Fire Fist and Whitebeard himself were eliminated. [And others, definitely, though Perona doesn't care about whatever marines lost their lives.] The Rubber Boy survived, obviously...and gave a message to his crew. Two years. Grow stronger and meet again in two years at the border between the first half of the Grand Line and the New World.

I'm unsure of the whereabouts of the other crew members, but Zoro trained on Kuraigana, and I tended to his injuries when he received them. After the time was up, I brought him to Sabaody to rejoin his crew. That's all I know.

[ ...Holy shit that's a lot to take in give her a second. ]

...That's...a lot to happen in such a short time.

That's the Grand Line.

[Those waters always move at their swiftest, and many a thing happens in that sea. Perona's used to it - she spent over ten years on the Grand Line herself - so it never really bothers her anymore. That's just how it is. There's a very good reason it's been called the Devil's Sea.]

That's true. I suppose that never meant much until my little sister went there.

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first harvest. video. saturday afternoon.

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