justicereigns | Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

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Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

[As Smoker moves through the village of Luceti, checking old haunts, and getting his things, he catches himself up in his usual way of stalking the journal before heading to the barracks.]

[As he wanders, he sings quietly in a deep voice.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Thus, it calls us towards the way we must take.
Thus, it leads us towards a just world.
Enveloping pain and suffering,
greatly and kindly wrapping them up.

[It's ironic actually. Aokiji, no Kuzan, (how many times must he remind himself of that?) loathed that song. A marine's dirge.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Even if I were to disappear,
The omniscent ocean leads the way.

[Was Justice really like that? So omnipotent that even after Smoker died, people would fight on for her? For a just world, by traveling to the end of the world to fight for justice. Smoker usually believed he had to do it because if he didn't, who else would? But these days, it seemed more and more like marines weren't the ones fighting for that just world after all. What was Kuzan? What was Doflamingo? Tch.]

♫I must not fear, because you are here.
I must not be timid, because my comrades wait for me.
We must advance towards the blue horizon.

[And so Smoker carried on, but he no longer fought just for justice. He also did it for his friends. For the G-5 marines, who without Smoker, really had no one. For the kids who were going to grow up viewing pirates as heroes. For those like Kuzan who fought to protect him and save the world with justice even when Justice seemed to fail.]

[Smoker falls into old habits like riding a bike. Even if he doesn't have his Billower Bike here. He has something better. He has friends. Still, he doesn't check up on them first, he goes through old motions with his jitte, old routines, and ignores his own whistles of pain from air sucked quickly through teeth. Yes, Law had done a good job of patching him up back in their world, but then he got beaten an inch from death by Doflamingo. Fucking shichibukai, Smoker was so done with the lot of them. Done with the brass, done with politics -- no. He wasn't. Not yet. He wouldn't fall yet. Because it wasn't just for the ideal of justice that he kept fighting. The ideal of true justice bound him together, bound him to his friends, but those people needed him and he wouldn't fail them. Kuzan was so much smarter than he let on, but did he know how deep the course of corruption ran? It seemed that every time Smoker found one rabbit hole, the warren turned out bigger than an entire island worth.]

[Sometime when it's all over, he walks around at night, singing again and looking at houses.] [That's when he makes the journal post in voice.]

I'm back. Ikki, get your ass back to the village if you left. [An irritable huff.] And I need to see a doctor. [He can't bring himself to say please. Can't bring himself to mention Law by name either.] Whoever's available, it's important. [He probably shouldn't have been exercising in this condition, but whatever. He goes at his own pace.]

For New Feathers, I'm Smoker. [A marine. Vice Admiral of G-5, it means nothing to no one, except a few, and to G-5, he's their last savior. Traitors everywhere.] I intend to pick up teaching basic self-defense, kickboxing, and jitte outside the barracks, daily. If you haven't been told yet, there are Drafts rather frequently and the Malnosso have no qualms about taking noncombatants.

And to anyone a little more battle-hardened... [Where does he even begin? "Hey have you ever had one day where everything you ever knew about right and wrong were turned inside out, only that day then sort of became the story of your life? Oh and my best friend is currently a badass hobo who saved my life from a good guy traitor. Not really sure how to take that...."]

I just had a very long day that lasted about twenty years of my life. I need a drink. [And a friend. A pair of ears. Someone to talk to him and tell him he wasn't going nuts. Or maybe just tell him the truth... whatever that was at this point.] That's meant to be an invitation. Open to anyone. For one night only, that includes pirates.

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[that song stirs something melancholy in her. She knows it, of course. It's difficult not to. And she's always had a secret fondness for it even if 'justice' is not a concept which she has fond memories towards. Above all...

she is somewhat glad to hear Smoker's voice. He is a marine, true. But he is familiar and moreso than Law is. Besides, if he needs an ear or five, she's certainly the best candidate to lend them]

Very well. Where shall we meet?

[He has to think first. He's still in a bit of pain and needs to get treated. But fuck that. Smoker's a rebel. And by rebel, we mean teenager idiot at heart.]

Barracks or you can pick someplace you feel comfortable. [Because honestly, whatever. Intellectually, yes, Smoker is well aware of the dangers of meeting along with Nico Robin anywhere, but he still remembers her laugh about them all being trapped together, still remembers how she fought to save him and his men even when they were idiots, even when they were pathetic, even when they worse to her than she was to them.]

[Yeah, he needs a huge drink.]

You're being accommodating. [she wondered why] Did you miss me that much? How sweet.

What can I say? I'm usually surrounded by idiots, and you're slightly less idiotic than the rest. [Is that even a compliment?]

Is that so? [she isn't sure if he means here or there. Though it's been too long since she's been home to remember any significant movements Smoker has made. If they are even still relavant now]

I think I'll take that as a compliment, then, Smoker-chan. Shall we meet at Seventh Heaven?

Fine by me.

I'll grab a table and rum. What do you drink?

I'll get my own, I think. Meet you there.

[it's not that she doesn't trust Smoker. At least she trusts him enough not to stoop so low--especially when there is nowhere to take her. But may as well keep in the habit]

[That actually gets a grin from him. It's nice to be feared a little. Or at least distrusted by pirates. Sorry, but it's gotten to ridiculous levels for him lately in the "last twenty-four hours" and/or two years, and frankly, he'll take what he can get.]

[True to his word, he grabs a rum and a seat in the corner, one conveniently looking out on the bar to ease Robin's relative paranoia, and while it's secluded enough that Smoker doesn't have to deal with bright lights, it's still too visible for him to do something like murder her and get away with it.]

[Not that he could do that even in absolute secrecy; but it's meant to be a friendly gesture.]

[... No, seriously. It's not his fault he has fucked up friendships. Except that it is.]

[after a while, it might feel like a finger is tickling the back of your ear. Yet there is no Robin in sight. Hmm]

[A jump and he attempts to punch that hand into the wall reflexively. Sorry Robin, but he just got trashed by Doflamingo, do you really think you're the most paranoid of you two?]

[it bursts into petals and there is a longer wait before Robin appears, holding a nondescript drink of her own]

My, you're jumpy.

[He drums his fingers on the table, thinking fast.]

[Everything he knew was wrong.]

[All of it, it seemed.]

[Vegapunk wasn't the cause of the Vegapunk Incident, Vergo was a traitor working for Doflamingo all along, Doflamingo was Joker and Smoker had promised yet another pirate to keep his god damn secrets.]

[He takes a huge drink of that rum.]

You're not the most threatening pirate I've had to deal with in the last thirty hours or so. [Sort of an explanation. As best he can manage.]

Oh? [now she's intrigued. She sits opposite him and idly stirs her drink with her straw]

Were you home then? [though her voice is light enough, there is a fleeting expression that betrays something deeper before it leaves]

[He catches something but he doesn't know what. Hurt? Hn. Probably misses her crew. Either way his expression softens slightly.]

[He can't really empathize. It was better for him in Luceti than at home.]

[He grunts.]

Do you want to know the future?

[it's easy to feel that way if yours is the worldview being changed. Still does she want to know the future? It won't matter. These are not memories she'll carry with her-- but information--to know what's going on--to see some change outside of Luceti's existence... Some change that matters...]

Please.

I uncovered the identity of Joker, the underground criminal leader. [A snort.] No, I had it uncovered by someone else in front of me, while I couldn't do anything about it. [He leans his head against the wall.] I yelled at Tashigi once for being upset about that sort of thing. [And this time she was the one who held him together, who kept pushing him forward. Well, he always knew she would be one day, that was why he knew she was strong. But he got it better now. It hurt. Walking forward just meant you could keep getting stronger, but it didn't stop hurting.]

[It's probably strange to tell this to Robin of all people, the one who'd broken Tashigi that first time, but Smoker's a little too messed up right now to even think over that particular oddity just yet.] I found out my supposed "equal", the other man commanding G5, someone I actually respected, [Smoker has a short list of people he respects, and he chews over the word, practically spitting it.] someone the local civilians, and even the idiot men of G-5, borderline criminals that they are, someone all of them liked, someone all of them trusted even when the marines are so corrupt that even I barely trust most marines these days; Vice Admiral Vergo was working for Joker all along.

[His eyes narrow. He's been called monster so many times by his own hometown that he pretty much takes it as a compliment. He was never jealous of Tashigi's skills with smoothing over the civilians, but he wished he'd listened to her instincts better. He couldn't have changed anything by asking Tashigi personally instead of reading his modified newspapers, but it still grated on him.]

[He folds his arms irritably.] He changed my newspapers. [Snorts. Was it pride, as Law suggested, that pissed him off about not noticing Vergo's true nature right under his nose, or was it something else? No. It was also jaded disgust. Smoker didn't consider himself fragile enough to crack from such a thing, but it pissed him off because it hurt his men, hurt Tashigi, and he wanted to protect them better.]

He'd been helping in a mass kidnapping operation. Joker and Caesar were experimenting on children to find a solution to expand on creating giantism in children to turn them into super soldiers. Your crew's doctor, the reindeer, was treating them. Helped cure some of my own men from a poison too.

Then to top it off, Joker kicked my ass, and would have killed me had Kuzan not came to rescue my sorry ass. Aside from the fact that I will always have mixed feelings about that man -- [A grunt.] I'm sure you understand. [Puffs on his cigars.] I still don't know how much of the government is truly ignorant to Joker's plot. For all I know he's just acting on someone else's orders. Or maybe he's pulling their strings.

Tsk.

[Smoker is verbose. Moreso than she thought. And he's too straightforward to purposefully mislead her --more to the point, why would he? There was nothing she could do with a truth or a lie here. She sips her drink and thinks about what he sad. There are so many connections with ends she can't see. A puzzle with too many pieces of context missing...for now. And the presence of Aokiji startles her. A thrill of something that is not quite fear--or fear mixed in with something else that she can't identify. But it makes sense that he would rescue his protege.

She is glad to hear of her crew, though. Chopper. And she wants to hear about them all. What they were doing. What they were like. How they had changed. But how could Smoker know? And who knew how much he had even seen]

I suppose even the strongest justice can be deceived, ne? [anyone could be, really. The more you trust, the easier it is for someone to betray you. But it's rather like risking your life for a dream. You trust what is important for the sake of happiness. Your own and others]

Will you turn pirate now?

[He's startled for a second, the question too ridiculous to consider. The closest he'd come was when Aokiji lost. When he knew Akainu was going to be the fleet admiral and justice was going to be "absolute." But he hadn't given up then, because G-5 needed him. For all his bluster that it was closest to where Straw Hat would show up, it was also full of rowdy wild punks like him who needed someone like him who'd been through it all. That was why he stayed. Someone had to show them that not all justice could be absolute. True Justice was different. And Smoker would never give up fighting for True Justice.]

[He snorts dismissively, both eyes closed for a bit.] Of course not.

[He fixes her with a stern look.] What would that solve?

Are the lives of the poor bettered when a nobleman steps down and gives up his riches for nothing?

[An arm fold.]

I'll find a way to make the marines bring down Joker. I can't find the corruption from the outside, Nico Robin.

I'm surprised you'd even suggest it. [He thought you were smart, okay?]

I was teasing.

[Though she can't help but be impressed by his loyalty. It isn't blind at all and incredibly brave to try and fix the justice from within. She's never liked Marines in general for all she can appreciate what they do for those who are actually terrorized by pirates and Smoker seems to be the most genuine among them.

And yet...]

What would you change if you were in command? Anything?

Everything. [A grumpy huff, but he's pretty serious.] The way the politics operates, the concept that killing pirates is more important than saving lives, the way promotions are given. [A snort.] Don't expect such a pipe-dream to happen anytime soon, Nico Robin.

A pipe dream is often unattainable. [much like finding the One Piece. Though she wondered if what he said was his true goal after all. Wasn't he more concerned with capturing Luffy? It was difficult to discern just what he wanted in the end and perhaps he didn't know himself.]

Will the White Hunter ever stop hunting and sit behind a desk, I wonder?

Not if I have any say in it. [Irritable twitch.] Even Kuzan hated that enough to take off whenever he could get away with it.

[And then something of a joking glint.] Besides, the lack of paperwork is my favorite part of being here.

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Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

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