One Piece - Prompt #16: Burn
Title: Ignite the Fire
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Brook, mentions of Yorki, Laboon, and other members of the Rumbar Pirates
Prompt: Table #3, Prompt #16 (Burn)
Word Count: 1264
Rating: PG
Summary: This is a perfect prayer in a desperate hour.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Ignite the Fire
Brook had returned from the dead, but his wrecked crew had not.
He knew it would be like this. That is his curse for eating the Devil Fruit, after all.
Still, the sight terrifies him.
So much dry blood resting on their skulls with no intentions on ever leaving. So many swords with traces of poison piercing through their bodies, threatening to come for him once more, ending the fight for good. So many bodies begging to be rescued and to be allowed to rest in peace.
Brook stands, and just stares blankly. He could cry, but he does not-- because their goal was to just keep singing when things got tough. He could fall asleep and pretend that this is all a dream, but he does not-- because he has been lost in darkness for over a year now, and it does not want him back.
He just knows that he cannot bring them back to life, cannot touch their hearts and make them start again.
But he can grant their final wishes.
*
Brook starts by deciding to leave their bodies strewn across their ship. He apologizes that they will have to stay like this a little longer, but he wants everything to be perfect-- or as close as he can get to it.
He moves to the kitchen and the dining room first. Chairs bent and no longer useful to anyone, swords embedded in the tables and standing upright as if they want to prove their victory. Barrels once full of booze are empty, he finds out.
He takes the swords from where they are, curses the blood that they had taken away, curses the poison that ate his friend's bodies from the inside out, throws them overboard, hopes that they never return again.
As a swordsman, he should feel disgraceful.
But he does not.
*
Next, he moves to the piano. Besides the dust that has collected over the year, it remains untouched.
After he gets rid of the dust ever so slowly, he sits, runs his skeletal fingers over the black and white keys and accidentally presses down on one. The sound sounds so unfamiliar to him, yet it is peaceful, beautiful, and he plays a song for all of his fallen comrades.
Usually, they would sing with him. Usually, they would tons of instruments to make music that could touch even the coldest of hearts. Usually, they would have dance contests to see who could come up with the most creative dance for the song being played.
But they are not here. They cannot sing, cannot play, cannot dance.
And it is just not the same, so Brook stands, leaves, and moves on.
*
He continues to go through every part of the ship, trying to fulfill what he thinks would be his nakama's last wishes. He removes all of the bloodstains that were created so long ago as if the incident never happened. He removes all of the weapons that had taken so many innocent and joyful lives, and he has to resist the urge to take his own new life as well, has to know that he needs to keep on living to fulfill a promise made, a promise that needs to be kept. And he knows that the poison is most likely no longer effective, but he prays that there is none left to try to ruin what little is left of their memories.
And then he is done, and it is time to say good-bye.
*
It is common for pirates to set their ships on fire with their fallen leaders and crew members. It is common for pirates to watch and let their ship burn on land, as it is unable to make any final movements on the sea.
If there were matches on the ship to light it on fire, it would be a miracle, Brook thinks, because then they could all go in peace, guaranteed to never be disturbed again-- but there are none and the ship is too broken to move and find anything to create the flames that will send them off, so he deals with what he has.
He pulls coffins out of the storage, coffins that he once thought he would never, ever have to use. He places them in a room surrounded by pictures and memories, no reminders of war and combat.
And one by one, he gathers his crewmate's bodies and their skulls, arms and legs that had been separated from their rightful owners. And one by one, he places them into the coffins together until all of them are filled and closed and sealed with a kiss and a tear.
*
Final words are in order, he believes.
He had had an entire year to think of them, but now that this is reality and this is happening and this is really, really, happening, he is completely frozen, completely speechless.
"I wish I could give every single one of you your own coffin to rest in, because you all deserve it, but I can't," Brook says to begin with. His voice cracks. Waves hit the side of the ship gently, and everything sways back and forth, back and forth. All is calm and serene, and he is glad, and he finds the courage to continue on.
"It's a shame," he says, "that our former captain Yorki had to leave the way he did, but it was a great honor to take his place as captain and keep sailing through the Grand Line with you guys. We did so much together! We fought the Marines and won, had bounties placed on our heads and became known throughout the world! We sang and danced and made so many people smile, reassuring them that sadness was not needed when they saw us, reassuring them that not all pirates could cause harm! And Laboon... It's a shame that you guys won't be able to see him again, but I promise that I'll find him and let him know that we intended to return to him and that we sang up until the very moment that we died! He'll be proud when he hears this. I hope... No, I know he's still waiting. He's probably really big now. And I can tell him about what we've seen in the world. And I'll tell him that I want to see more in the world, and that I want to see it with him in honor of the Rumbar Pirates! Oh, but I don't have eyes to see anymore, so I'm not sure what we'll do! Yohohoho!"
His laughter echoes throughout the room, throughout the entire ship.
Then there is agonizing silence, because no one is laughing with him.
*
He sits while facing the coffins and he does the only thing he can do without anything to ignite this wrecked and this once wonderful place. He puts his bony hands together, puts them to his head and he speaks.
"I can't do this all on my own, so please... Please lay them down in fields of flame and heather and take them safely to Heaven!" he cries to a God that he has never had a need to talk to before now.
He hopes that it is perfect prayer in a desperate hour, hopes that it is answered with all that he is. And he knows that he has done all that he can do, so he stands and leaves and goes to figure out how he is going to start living this new and lonely life of his without the ones that he loves the most.
Fandom: One Piece
Characters: Brook, mentions of Yorki, Laboon, and other members of the Rumbar Pirates
Prompt: Table #3, Prompt #16 (Burn)
Word Count: 1264
Rating: PG
Summary: This is a perfect prayer in a desperate hour.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Ignite the Fire
Brook had returned from the dead, but his wrecked crew had not.
He knew it would be like this. That is his curse for eating the Devil Fruit, after all.
Still, the sight terrifies him.
So much dry blood resting on their skulls with no intentions on ever leaving. So many swords with traces of poison piercing through their bodies, threatening to come for him once more, ending the fight for good. So many bodies begging to be rescued and to be allowed to rest in peace.
Brook stands, and just stares blankly. He could cry, but he does not-- because their goal was to just keep singing when things got tough. He could fall asleep and pretend that this is all a dream, but he does not-- because he has been lost in darkness for over a year now, and it does not want him back.
He just knows that he cannot bring them back to life, cannot touch their hearts and make them start again.
But he can grant their final wishes.
*
Brook starts by deciding to leave their bodies strewn across their ship. He apologizes that they will have to stay like this a little longer, but he wants everything to be perfect-- or as close as he can get to it.
He moves to the kitchen and the dining room first. Chairs bent and no longer useful to anyone, swords embedded in the tables and standing upright as if they want to prove their victory. Barrels once full of booze are empty, he finds out.
He takes the swords from where they are, curses the blood that they had taken away, curses the poison that ate his friend's bodies from the inside out, throws them overboard, hopes that they never return again.
As a swordsman, he should feel disgraceful.
But he does not.
*
Next, he moves to the piano. Besides the dust that has collected over the year, it remains untouched.
After he gets rid of the dust ever so slowly, he sits, runs his skeletal fingers over the black and white keys and accidentally presses down on one. The sound sounds so unfamiliar to him, yet it is peaceful, beautiful, and he plays a song for all of his fallen comrades.
Usually, they would sing with him. Usually, they would tons of instruments to make music that could touch even the coldest of hearts. Usually, they would have dance contests to see who could come up with the most creative dance for the song being played.
But they are not here. They cannot sing, cannot play, cannot dance.
And it is just not the same, so Brook stands, leaves, and moves on.
*
He continues to go through every part of the ship, trying to fulfill what he thinks would be his nakama's last wishes. He removes all of the bloodstains that were created so long ago as if the incident never happened. He removes all of the weapons that had taken so many innocent and joyful lives, and he has to resist the urge to take his own new life as well, has to know that he needs to keep on living to fulfill a promise made, a promise that needs to be kept. And he knows that the poison is most likely no longer effective, but he prays that there is none left to try to ruin what little is left of their memories.
And then he is done, and it is time to say good-bye.
*
It is common for pirates to set their ships on fire with their fallen leaders and crew members. It is common for pirates to watch and let their ship burn on land, as it is unable to make any final movements on the sea.
If there were matches on the ship to light it on fire, it would be a miracle, Brook thinks, because then they could all go in peace, guaranteed to never be disturbed again-- but there are none and the ship is too broken to move and find anything to create the flames that will send them off, so he deals with what he has.
He pulls coffins out of the storage, coffins that he once thought he would never, ever have to use. He places them in a room surrounded by pictures and memories, no reminders of war and combat.
And one by one, he gathers his crewmate's bodies and their skulls, arms and legs that had been separated from their rightful owners. And one by one, he places them into the coffins together until all of them are filled and closed and sealed with a kiss and a tear.
*
Final words are in order, he believes.
He had had an entire year to think of them, but now that this is reality and this is happening and this is really, really, happening, he is completely frozen, completely speechless.
"I wish I could give every single one of you your own coffin to rest in, because you all deserve it, but I can't," Brook says to begin with. His voice cracks. Waves hit the side of the ship gently, and everything sways back and forth, back and forth. All is calm and serene, and he is glad, and he finds the courage to continue on.
"It's a shame," he says, "that our former captain Yorki had to leave the way he did, but it was a great honor to take his place as captain and keep sailing through the Grand Line with you guys. We did so much together! We fought the Marines and won, had bounties placed on our heads and became known throughout the world! We sang and danced and made so many people smile, reassuring them that sadness was not needed when they saw us, reassuring them that not all pirates could cause harm! And Laboon... It's a shame that you guys won't be able to see him again, but I promise that I'll find him and let him know that we intended to return to him and that we sang up until the very moment that we died! He'll be proud when he hears this. I hope... No, I know he's still waiting. He's probably really big now. And I can tell him about what we've seen in the world. And I'll tell him that I want to see more in the world, and that I want to see it with him in honor of the Rumbar Pirates! Oh, but I don't have eyes to see anymore, so I'm not sure what we'll do! Yohohoho!"
His laughter echoes throughout the room, throughout the entire ship.
Then there is agonizing silence, because no one is laughing with him.
*
He sits while facing the coffins and he does the only thing he can do without anything to ignite this wrecked and this once wonderful place. He puts his bony hands together, puts them to his head and he speaks.
"I can't do this all on my own, so please... Please lay them down in fields of flame and heather and take them safely to Heaven!" he cries to a God that he has never had a need to talk to before now.
He hopes that it is perfect prayer in a desperate hour, hopes that it is answered with all that he is. And he knows that he has done all that he can do, so he stands and leaves and goes to figure out how he is going to start living this new and lonely life of his without the ones that he loves the most.