[RL/LJ entry: A Visit to Impel Down]
Shuraiya stood at the prow of the great Marine ship-- a blotch of yellow and black in a sea of white, he stood out like a sore thumb, stoic and proud. The rookie seamen walked on eggshells around him, terrified of the bounty hunter's reputation while the higher ranked officials simply ignored him.
He was silent and unmoving, not enjoying the trip in the least-- but he was required, by law and by contract, to accompany his prisoner to Impel Down. Only if he delivered the pirate directly to the sea prison, under the watchful eye of the World Government, would he receive his bounty-- 300,000 berris, the greatest sum Shuraiya had ever laid claim to.
He'd taken the assignment for a number of reasons; the first and foremost was always his lack of funds, another was to restore him the money he had spent on the repairs to his boat-- Shuraiya sighed, frightening a bird who had landed on the railing beside him. It was a heavy sort of sigh, but he dismissed the subdued longing that came with it-- there was no use, he had to forget about it. He no longer had business in Water 7, and Lucci hadn't contacted him in over a month; it was best to move on.
The whirling current pressed them ever on towards the hellish prison, and he remembered the other reason he took the job-- he was damned lonely. He'd gotten too attached to people from the community, and it stung when he couldn't see them or hear from them. He hated to admit that he missed them in the last few weeks, but-- he heaved another sigh, closing his eyes a moment.
Don't think about it, just don't. It had become his personal mantra lately, when year-old memories began to crop up and tug at his heartstrings. It had already been a year, and... here he was, in the exact place he had begun, even then. What was the point?
There was a jolt-- the ship had reached the gargantuan gates of Impel Down. He stared up at them in awe with the rest of the crew, impressed (as he had been both times before) and terrified by their sheer mass. They creaked open, revealing the Main Entrance of Impel Down: Great Gaol. Marine ships flanked the entrance, imposing and still in their grandeur; Shuraiya suppressed a shiver as they came to a stop at the docks, and immediately, the seamen scrambled to make ready the ship for port.
He waited until the commander of the ship, Captain... something or another, he couldn't be assed to remember-- approached and rumbled that he was to recover his charge from the brig. Shuraiya cracked a cold grin and tipped his hat, allowing the captain to lead him below-- anything to get away from the chilling sight of Great Gaol.
Shuraiya's prisoner (though he hated to call him his, no pirate belonged to him, only the money that hung over their heads) sat, dejected in his cell, with a pair of sea stone handcuffs clamped firmly around his wrists. He looked up at the sound of Shuraiya's heavy boots thumping on the wood floor, and grimaced at him, chapped lips forming just two words: "Fuck you."
"Not today, pirate," Shuraiya replied coldly, swinging open the iron-barred door that separated them and grabbed him by his dirty, bloodied collar-- he yanked the man to his feet, knowing one of them was broken, and shoved him forward. "Go. We're here. I'm not fucking carrying you, so get walking, you worthless shit."
He half pushed, half kicked the pirate back to the deck, purposely aggravating wounds he'd inflicted himself-- he took little pleasure in it, but it was better than thinking about being in his place. Shuraiya finally shoved his capture into the hands of the waiting militants waiting at the foot of the gangplank; he followed them through the giant wooden doors, toward the first security checkpoint.
He hardly paid any attention to the questions being asked of him nor to what he signed-- the hot, dank air made him feel sick to his stomach, and the screams of the prisoners from the floors below didn't help calm his nerves. Shuraiya knew damned well that if he didn't have the sanction of the World Government and the Marines both he would have ended up in here years ago-- he'd all but sold his soul to them in exchange for becoming their errand dog, to take care of the dirty work they'd rather not get their hands on. One false step, one wrong move-- he knew it would all be stripped from him in an instant, and it would be him being dragged down, down, down forever, never to see the light of day again.
The bounty hunter barely breathed until he was out, feeling weighed down by the heaviness of his pockets and the sickness in his heart.
[Locked to Jacky, Kratos; Hackable]
...I'm back.