Dead Man Walking [D]

Subject: Dead Man Walking [D] Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:02 pm

The prince of pain found himself wading in the cool waters at the base of the monolithic waterfall before him. His eyes wired shut as his mouth laid agape. He could feel the cooling sensations of liquid on his skin and he knew that he was going to miss this sensation, miss this feeling of near-drowning. This particular area of the Waterfalls basin was shallow, shallow enough that the man couldn't drown despite the fact that he could feel all the strength from his body being sapped away. Though most of his body was anchored to the bottom of the shallow pool, his face stayed above the water, allowing him to breath. He had not told anyone where he had ran off too, but considering that in his normal life this was the place he spent the most of his time, it wouldn't take too hard of a guess for people to assume this is where he came to hide. To never feel the cold of the water again would be enough to swallow the man up like a monstrous entity from the bottom of the sea. But he wasn't any normal kind of man. He existed as a man who had seen death, he knew now that the cold of the water was nowhere near as icy as the infinite pools of the frozen sea. Of the sea of death. It was during his death that he realized that he wasn't exactly the kind of person whom lacked an understanding of his abilities. To the contrary of many, he had an understanding of his fruit that seemed to come to him naturally. He had always had an affinity for the cold and that he had always had an affinity for this kind of life. The violent one at the very least. Something about him allowed for rage to be the simplest emotion to fully showcase. The fact that he grew a reputation of beating people up with a rickety ole shovel he carried around was neat as well.

He would raise his head above the water if he could, but his body was practically paralyzed. Unless someone pulled him up out of the water, this was were he was going to remain. In his mind, he saw the faces of his many enemies that he had made on this island. How small and insignificant they happened to be at this point in his life. He wondered how good their heads would be decorating spikes, because through death they'd learn how finite and small they happened to be. This world was massive, excessively so. To worry only about the events that occurred on this island was minimal thinking. One needed a purpose in this world, something that was going to drive them forward. For a man such as Cobalt it was simple. Extremely simple. All he needed to do was find that thrill that came ingrained into one's soul. That exhilaration that came from near death experiences and understanding new things about the world as a whole. He wondered how much experience he would gain outside of this island in which he had sharpened himself over all these years of his life. Like a blade finally forged into it's perfected form, he could feel himself being stronger now than he ever was in life. His eyes would open, and he would speak to the entity that as nearest to him. Though he didn't have any haki to know that someone was near, he heard them coming considering the area was nothing but ripe and lush green, moistened grass had a crunch to it after-all, and the fallen leaves only added to the majesty of the location. "Looks like you found me. Mind fishing me out of here? I had to take some time to myself." His sentiment was true after-all. He wanted time for self reflection. He was finally at peace.

sucré @ gs

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It was a typical night on the island and, like any other day, Samantha had gone to scout the location for the night. Unlike most people, she had become a sort of street rat, living out in the streets after some altercations with her Father. It was only due to some unknown entity working behind the scenes that she had found refuge within her trio of friends. Yet, having arrived at camp, she would notice something odd. Having no clue what was wrong, she would walk aimlessly around. It would be then that she would come to the realization that someone had gone missing -Cobalt. Panicked, she grabbed her jacket and her pack before racing off to find her closest friend. High and low, she would search before drooping with exhaustion of the night. Where would he have gone? It didn’t take long for her to figure out the one place she had not looked at -the waterfalls. Her sleepiness soon vanished, replaced by irritation, as she proceeded towards the road that led her to the secret place. During the way, worry would soon cloud her mind. What if he something had happened? What if he had gotten into some trouble that he couldn’t hand? Samantha bit her lip and began to jog even faster. It was only imperative that she found him and soon. When she would near the place, a voice would call out to her. “Looks like you found me.” Changing her route, she would place her jacket on the brush and make her way towards where the voice had originated from.

The sight would be more than enough to wash away her worries and become overcome with anger and frustration. “Mind fishing me out of here?" Samantha's eyes narrowed dangerously at his carefree demeanor. Obviously, he hadn’t seen her for she could only assume he would have said something different. After all, she was more of the punisher of the crew. Then again, it was no wonder she hadn't been able to find him. He had been stuck in a pool several meters from where they had set camp. It made sense... somewhat, as Cobalt had eaten one of the forbidden fruits, but, like anyone else who had a special power, she knew of its drawbacks and insisted he kept himself safe. After all, the users of these fruits would lose all ability of movement and function when submerged in water. Something that Cobalt had blatantly and obviously ignored. He would finish talking, adding a bit of an explanation and causing Samantha to stop in her tracks uncomfortable. “I had to take some time to myself.” His words would repeat within her mind as she cast her eyes downward and shifted her weight. Not that she could blame him, though, as this was the place they two would often go to unwind and relax. Especially seeing as he had been though a lot in order to get to the point they were today. Her sad eyes would then quickly change as she began to notice that he, indeed, could not move an inch. Coming back to her senses, she clenched her fist.

The fiery woman would proceed to glare daggers at his back before finally sighing as she shook her head in defeat. This guy… this was going to be the death of her. She just knew it. “Idiot...” She muttered under her breath as she neared him. Whether he knew it or not he seemed to have made it a habit of getting into trouble whenever he could. This always put her on edge every time he disappeared, but there was nothing she could really do. After all, he almost always managed to slip on by from her careful watch. All she could hope was that she wouldn’t lose him. Not again. Another resigned sigh, she stepped even closer, but, the moment her feet touched the cool waters of the pool her heart would freeze and a look of terror would make its appearance upon her face. For, having been preoccupied with worry for her best friend, she had neglected to overlook a small and miniscule detail: that Cobalt was surrounded in water. A brief moment of paralyzation would consume her, before she flung herself back and a loud, high-pitched “EEK!” would escape her lips. She would then fall back with a loud thud as she landed onto the soft grass behind her. Without a thought and her mind frozen, Samantha would scurry a few inches away from the pool and stare in terror. For, if there was something that truly frightened the girl, it was large bodies of water. There was no real reason why she held the fear as she had never told, but she remembered and it wasn’t something she would easily forget.

The moment would soon pass and the stress of her muscles would relax. She would close her eyes, her breathing slowing, and her heart rate would begin to normalize. It would only take a moment to realize that, once again, she was not alone but, rather, on a mission. Dammit. She would glance back up from her position towards Cobalt, cheeks burning with embarrassment. It was obvious he hadn't seen the spectacle as he was still frozen within the water, but she knew he knew what had undergone just seconds prior. If anything, he would now know that it was her and not Kosovo that had found him. She would look away briefly before clearing her throat. Once she had regained her strength, she would near the edge and simply sit as his back faced her. Her eyes would simply gaze up at the waterfall and she would smile a sad, lonely smile. They had often gone to this particular place to just hang out many times before, but, now, she could sense that it held a different type air around it. It was no longer a clubroom for a couple of innocent kids to play and hide, but, rather, it had grown up along with them. Her silvery-blue eyes would gaze back at Cobalt. Propping her head on the palm of her hand, she would simply stare as her head wandered as to what had become of them all. She knew things had been hard on him, but, perhaps he would be willing to talk to her about it? Still, she never pried, respecting his decisions and, thus, leaving her asking for answers all the more.

The time would simply pass and, unfortunately, Cobalt would remain in the water while Samantha continued to think. It was not only just to pass time, but, in a way she needed the moment to think. In a way, she could count it as punishment, too. After a while, she would yawn and stretch out her arm upwards to keep her awake. “Shall I bring you a stick?” It would then take her a second to realize that even if she could find one, he would not be able to drag himself out. “Um.. Forget I mentioned that…” She would look around or something, anything so she could avoid the water. It was to no avail. “Too bad Kosovo isn’t near here…” she mumbled as she looked skeptically at the pool. Timidly, she would lightly touch the water with her foot. She would take a deep breath, close her eyes in silent prayer, before she slowly made her way into the pool. It was way deeper than she had originally thunk it to be and she fought the urge to run. Samantha made her way closer to Cobalt, stretching her arm as far as she could to reach him. “I can’t believe you,” the pyromaniac muttered at him accusingly. “I was worried about you, tch.” She clicked her tongue as she draped his heavy arm around her shoulders and, very carefully, made her way back to the shore. Of all the things she had to do for him, wading into a large body of water was not one of them. Yet, it was in times like these she was lucky to not have eaten one of the forbidden fruits.

Having reached the shore, she sat him down on the grass while making her way to the brush. She then grabbed a few dry twigs, wrapped them together with makeshift cord,, and took out her lighter to create a small fire. If anything, she wished for him to warm up after having been submerged in water for quite a while. She still didn’t understand the full extent of the fruit, but she hoped she could at least help in this way. After all, this was what she could only claim to be good at. With that in mind, Samantha worked to build up the smoke, soon arriving at her desired conclusion (fire) before looking up to where he was. If he had moved or if he had remained still, she did not care. In the end, she only wanted to see him safe. Still, she said nothing as she, instead, stood up and picked up a jacket she had left behind. Draping it over his shoulders, she resumed plopped down next to him and looked at the waterfall. “You okay?” There were no words of accusation nor was there any of her usually, petty remarks. Instead, she allowed herself to fall back and look up at the sky. Yet, it wasn’t the sky that had preoccupied her mind, but the thought of death -Cobalt’s death. It had been by some miracle that he had regained his life. She wasn’t sure how she and Kosovo had done to bring their comrade back to life, but they had done it. That had left her feeling somewhat responsible for the trio as she didn’t want the same to occur once more. Although, now more than ever, she could feel herself becoming a burden, She could only hope it wasn’t the case.

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As Alexander continued to read and write into two separate books, he noticed Samatha had ran off in a hurry. As he got up to look around the camp, and noticed that Cobalt was also missing. "Hm. I guess the two of them went for a walk. I'd better leave them be then." He proceeded to return to his tent, focusing on his 'work' and probably his life's passion. He was heavily reading the research upon this era's firearms and their particular motion of fire. As he continued to analyze and take notes, after a little time, he noticed Samantha run back through the campsite slightly worried. At this point, Alexander grabbed his suit coat and proceeded to follow Samantha to assure nothing was wrong.

As he followed her, Alexander kept his distance as to not intruded upon anything that might happen. When she had found Cobalt, Alex stayed with the shadows of the trees, watching the two as they conversed. He had not always been with them, but had been long enough to call them friends, maybe even family. As the conversation went on, he was even more assured to wait it out till they were finished. "I should just let them talk. I can just stay here till she needs me to pull Cobalt out, though it will be a pain in my neck to pull out a person in his situation. I just hope you two just hurry with this so I can go back to studying." He muttered in a inaudible tone, as he placed himself upon a nearby tree within the dark, yet lit, night sky.

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