yourhatred | eleven crows (朱) action/voice

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eleven crows (朱) action/voice - forward dated to morning

[Itachi is at the edge of the forest today, dressed warmly, with a small bag of birdseed in one hand. There aren't many birds around, given the weather, but there are a couple strays. There's also a couple squirrels, of course, who seem just as determined to get at what he's throwing out. The trees keep the animals mostly protected against the light snowfall, while the ninja has a dusting of flakes in his hair.

He speaks to the journal only after a while.]

...Where do the birds go, I wonder? Once the air chills. Can they get beyond the barrier to places we cannot?

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[And isn't that what Luceti is? Time. People describe this place as hell, and it full well is some days. But there is joy and laughter and kindness... and this is no hell. No.

This is the cruelest sort of purgatory. Because there is hope at the end of it all.]

They're amazing. ... certainly not what I was expecting when I first heard of them.

... and yes... they do. Makes you think.

Yes, it does. And you have to wonder what connection they have to our captors and benefactors... and if they speak to them as well.

[He bends down, seeds still in one hand, and holds it out until one of the more bolder of the birds alights on one of his fingers in order to get at them.]

[The smile turns as the bird alights. A little softer. A little bittersweet. He looks to the sky briefly, blinks through the flakes.

Turns that over in his mind...]

... if they do, I imagine they would have a lot to say. Like the spirits here, they're privy to most everything...

To us. To them.

[He stands again, and the bird remains on his hand. He can tell from the weight and shape of the claws that it's not the sort he usually works with, but it matters little.]

I wonder if they have a preference.

... that's a good question. [He scatters more seed and watches the birds darts in again.]

A good one indeed.

I'm sure the answer might not be easy to come by.

[The bird hops a bit further into Itachi's hand, searching for any seeds it might have missed. In another instant, the ninja's fingers have closed around it, though gently. It struggles but fails to free itself.]

Perhaps they can be tagged.

Answers like those never are.

[The distressed cheeps are like gunshots against the still air. The other birds scatter and flap away to safety, and Law turns ever so slightly to look fully at the ninja and his caged bird.]

Possibly, if the trace is small enough. What would you plan to use?

[That's a very distressed bird there, sir. What do you plan to do?]

[Unfortunately, Itachi doesn't have anything on him at the moment that would do well for tagging, nor is he in possession of the full scope of his abilities in this place. An application of his chakra calms the bird some and keeps it from squirming, though it is still obviously frightened.

He'd need more than just the one bird if he wanted to tag them anyway. It was something to think about.]

Conventional means may be possible, and if they are removed by the Malnosso we'd know, but then they'd also realize we were trying to keep track of them.

...Then again, there may be very little about us they don't know already.

[Mmm. Law didn't think he did. Something changes in the air, something is added, and he notes how the bird quiets, though he can still feel fear radiating outward from that fragile and trembling form and brushing his senses.

It doesn't feel good. It rarely does.]

That is true. There is also the matter of gathering the materials in the first place, as well as tagging a suitable number for a study... but...

... but, the villagers tend to be very free with the secrets they share over the journals already, and the Malnosso seem to have the power of mad godlings. They might have more reliable methods of gathering information, other than listening to the gossip from our feathered friends. So, yes, it's quite probable that if they don't know everything of importance about us, they know most. The type of gifts the Malnosso were giving out
at that statue support it. Some seemed incredibly personal.

[That bird is still terrorized, Itachi. It can taste the potential of where this can go, as can Law. What will you do, sir?]

But we know so very little in the end... nothing to draw any conclusions on...

[Will you let it go?]

[The bird was never in any danger. Itachi is calm, generally unreadable, but there is no quiet madness there.

He opens his hand, careful not to damage any of the wing feathers. The bird flops a bit in his palm, having to take a moment to right itself, before flying off. His hand remains where it is a minute longer before he brushes it off on his pant leg.]

It's unfortunate. I'm used to being better able to gather intel.

[No quiet madness, Itachi? Not here, no, but here we speak again of potential... like sometimes how you can sense storms brewing over the polar waters, and know, without seeing, without any sort of visible sign, that something is there in the air.

And that is when you are watchful, if you are a wise sailor. For there might be nothing there. Often times there's not. But sometimes comes the ice, and the gales, and the monstrous waves.

Law is calm, unruffled, and yes... watchful. Quietly so, as the bird flies off to the sky and out of sight.]

As am I.

[Looking down.]

... but answers will come in time. As long as one is patient enough to perservere.

One can hope. Patience, at least, is something I have.

[Itachi might be blind, but he knows when careful eyes are on him. He turns his head in Law's direction, his irises turning red as the Sharingan takes over.

Getting a decent look at the other man isn't the main reason for this, though it's a bonus. The moment his eyes are met, the illusion will fall into place. It's a harmless genjutsu, but it's meant to trick the mind and the senses. Nothing will have visibly changed, but Itachi will leave. In his place, a duplicate remains with the same look and feel. The conversation can continue as normal, and he will be fully aware of it.

How often has he done this? In this instance, as opposed to others, he plans no attack.]

I don't believe we've yet exchanged names. I am Uchiha Itachi.

No, we haven't.

[Something has changed. He can not tell what, but something has changed, and Law notes this, and notes he cannot feel that edge of threat in the air. Familar as he is with Devil Fruit powers, and tipped off by the man's suddenly red eyes (he noted their colour earlier and the way they did not respond to light - pupils never dilating - a blind man's eyes)... he knows something has changed here.

But what?

He could stretch out with his own abilities... get a feel for the space around him and what's in it... but doesn't. He meets this with the same level of watchful caution he gained when you first trapped that bird.

Didn't he tell you he loved animals?]

Trafalgar Law.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Law-san. [He nods once, politely.]

Perhaps you've run across my brother.

[But he doubts it. The likeness would be obvious, but Sasuke doesn't go out of his way to speak with anyone he doesn't have to.]

Likewise, Mister Uchiha. [Equally polite. He hears the cheep of birds. Some have returned.]

No. I'm afraid I haven't.

That's not unexpected. He's not very social.

...It's odd, the people they choose to bring here.

Mmm... no pattern to their selection. I know. But...

[Glancing to the side.]

... I oftentimes wonder if that is the point, given some of the experiments they run here. That they want a random sampling of worlds and peoples for their tests.

You might think that, and yet... some of their choices seem rather centralized.

[He's not willing to believe that it's only by chance that the ninja who've arrived, save for himself, have all been from the same generation - the same group of rookies, no less. He might not not have been a direct part of that group, but it isn't as though he has no ties to it.]

It's rare to have someone arrive and not recognize others that appear from the same world.

[Centralized.

The Strawhat crew. Blackbeard. Those two marines that seem to be connected to Mister Strawhat in ways he does not yet comprend. Himself. All with ties going to one person.

He's noticed. Yes, Itachi, he's noticed.

But the village has such striking diversity as well, and that he notices too, and as a doctor considers. When you run studies, Itachi, experiments, do you know the criteria a careful research scientist would consider?

There is something that might account for both diversity and centralization. Do you see it yet?]

Mmm. Very true as well. Why do you think that is?

[The thoughtfulness hangs heavy here, even more so than careful watchfulness.

Law considers the criteria a careful research scientist would have. But given recent events... now he examines the problem through the eyes of a general.]

Edited 2010-12-29 22:22 (UTC)

[How much does he keep to himself and how much does he share? Is there anything he might have formulated at this point that someone, this man even, might have put together before him? There were those who'd already been there for years.

Today, perhaps, he'd be a little more open.]

Maybe they just enjoy collecting catalysts.

That could be.

[Catalysts and the people who surround them.

So very true...

Law looks with general's eyes and considers...]

Or at least people who have significantly impacted their world's history at chaotic times, for good or ill. There seems to be many here. And there is a war going on outside.

It could be many things. I suppose it boils down to what perspective you wish to view it from. That of research science or a more militaristic angle.

Or perhaps both. Though, the one calling the shots would be the one who decided who was brought here.

[If the two forces worked in tandem, which is sometimes the case with science and the military, but not always.

If they were needed as a fighting force, that called into question why some were chosen for the draft and not others. If they weren't all necessary for fighting, one might think the research department was calling everything, but that couldn't be assumed either.]

Do you often ponder such things with the occasional stranger?

Often? No...

The subject doesn't usually come up with the occasional stranger.

Hmn. I suppose not.

Perhaps we're both just in talkative moods today.

We might.

[Shrug] Or we've just found the right stranger to talk to.

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yourhatred.livejournal.com - 2010-12-31 04:05 (UTC) - Expand

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