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| - A short story by lvdoomien I started another one. The last one became full and I had to keep writing for you. It’s becoming harder and harder to write these but it’s all I have now. I don’t even practice my Stance anymore. I’m afraid I’ve forgotten it. I’m afraid I’ve forgotten a lot. I haven’t forgotten you. I never will. Nothing important happened today. I miss your smile. Today I remembered that I’ve forgotten to date my entries. That probably won’t change. I don’t write that much anymore anyway. I hope you don’t mind. I’m sorry I haven’t been writing to you every day like I used to. I just don’t want to write the same thing I did the day before. I caught one more fish than I usually do. Hurrah. Nothing happened today. I didn’t have enough wood stocked up to make a proper fire today. I thought of burning the journals again but I just burned a chair instead. I don’t need it. I don’t need anything really. I haven’t written you in a few days but I just want you to know that nothing happened. It’s been so long since I’ve left this tundra. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be warm without a fire. I thought I saw a News Coo fly overhead today. I knew it wasn’t because it didn’t drop a paper for me. Then again, maybe people think nobody lives here. I haven’t seen people in a long time. I miss your voice. I saw smoke on top of a plateau near the shore. I know it was smoke. I never expected anyone to find me here. They have to be looking for me. The law doesn’t forget about pirates. I have to stay away from them. What if they come to me? They must see my smoke too. I remember the last thing you said to me was when it’s my time we’ll be together again. Is that time soon? I think if I just sit here and sharpen my blade any more it’ll break. I can’t keep waiting for somebody to kick down my door. The smoke is still there. They must be on their way by now. I’m going to stop them before they reach me. Maybe if I bring some of my stocked up wood and coats with me I can bribe them to leave me alone. Or maybe they’re not here for me. I can still gift the stuff to them. I hope if I go there they kill me and I can hold you again. I hope so. Je t’aime, masque blanc. It wasn’t my time, it was someone else’s. After a few days I got within earshot of the plateau and I heard yelling at the top. I don’t know what really happened up there but when the fighting stop a boy plummeted into the snow. When I got to where he landed he was unconscious and from the silence I assumed the victor, or victors, of the fight had already left. I should’ve left him there. I don’t need a stranger leeching off of my livelihood. But you would bring him back anyway, wouldn’t you? That’s why I brought him back on the cart I was pulling. He’s badly injured, he has a handful of bullet wounds and whoever beat his face in Really did not like him. I’ll see if he wakes up in the morning so I can tell him to leave. Sitting there watching the cuts on his face bleed a little bit hit something in me. I did a little bit of wound tending Levia showed me a long time ago but I don’t know what to do about the bullet wounds. I’ll think of something. He’s a marine. Or, at least he was. He hasn’t woken up yet so I checked his pockets and his pack for anything I could keep. I found dog tags and a marine outfit in his pack along with some other goods. I’m sure Ensign Leon H. Ells wouldn’t mind if I kept his food and water. He doesn’t deserve it really. Strapped to his back this whole time was a basic katana, not that used. I don't think he used it before I found him. I refuse to believe he knows how to really use it either. I might take it and use some of its parts to repair one of my blades. He doesn’t deserve this either. Neither do I. It’s been a few days and he still hasn’t woken up. I opened his mouth and tried getting him to drink, which worked somewhat. I’m trying to remember if Levia told us anything else about tending to wounds in case there’s something I’m missing. The cuts and bruises on his face are as good as they’re gonna get but the bullet wounds are still bleeding. He’s probably already gone and I just don’t know it yet. It didn’t occur to me yesterday that I hadn’t thought of Levia or rest of the crew in a long time. I wonder if Arnold ever proposed to Valencia like he kept joking he would. What did we miss out on together? He woke up. Sort of. When I woke up today I remembered that open wounds like the ones the kid have need to be cauterized. I heated up a spoon in the fireplace and as soon as I touched it to the kid’s wound he woke up, screamed at the top of his lungs for about three seconds, and passed back out. He didn’t wake up when I cauterized the second wound so at least he’s been tended too. Now to see if he actually wakes up. The kid had eaten a large amount of my reserved food and tried leaving the tundra. He was too weak to get five feet from the front door however. I almost laughed. I dragged him back in from the snow and set him in front of the fire so he could warm up. It took me until then to realize he was conscious that whole time and he asked me who I was. I didn’t tell him. I cooked enough food for two people and he silently helped himself. Later he asked if I wanted my bed back but I told him to stay in it. He needs it. He asked me this morning how to leave the island and I told him he can’t leave the island. He can barely stand, so I don’t know where he think he’s going. He even tried arguing with me about it but I wouldn’t have it. I had to explain to him that because he’s not leaving he’s going to have to live here, and therefore he’s gonna have to start bringing in food. He looked at me like I was killing him. I have a feeling this kid hasn’t had to fend for himself before. The kid told me that he used to be in the Marines, but we knew that. He also said his father was his superior officer, which we didn’t know. I asked him if the people he was with went AWOL like he did. He told me they had resigned, so I pressed him a little about why and he just said it’s complicated and that I wouldn’t understand. Typical. Then again, we used to be just like him though, huh. I didn’t bother asking him about anything else. I had to show him how to fish. He caught on easily and complained just as much. He’s been living here for a week. I think I’ve already figured how what kind of person he is too. He’s calculative, for one, and he thinks a lot about what he says. He also thinks he knows everything and he seems like a pretty cold-blooded kid. I blame his Curse for that. I’m gonna have to get him off of his high horse. He’s been trying to figure me out too. As far as he’s concerned though I’m just an old hermit. That’s what he should think. Speaking of thinking, I’ve been thinking too. I’ve been writing to you more ever since that kid showed up. I think he woke me up. We traveled to the pines today and he learned how to gather firewood. It’s easier to do this with a second person, so it’s good he hasn’t decided to try and leave again. I asked him about his katana when we were coming back. He said he was trained by some marine officer and he sounded confident about himself. I told him to get his blade from inside and try to strike me. He couldn’t, of course, but after I knocked his katana out of his hand his legs curled up and he literally sprung at me. And on that day, he was flat out cold in the snow for the second time in his life. To be a real swordsman you can’t pull tricks like that on a fellow swordsman. I’ll teach him that. I think I’ll be able to teach him plenty. When we were making lunch he asked me why I always wore your mask. Then it occurred to me that ever since you died I haven’t gone a day without wearing it. I told him I’d explain it later and that today he was going to start learning how to really use swords. He was a little more than offended but got over himself when he remembered losing so easily the day before. Then again, it was barely a fair fight. Two swords are better than one. I’m not going to start him with his second blade however, if you’re going to learn a Cardinal Stance you have to at least know the basics of swordplay. His training is going fine. He’s learning how to properly hold a blade, as well as a proper stance and how to properly carry a blade. I had to make a new strap for his sheath, since wearing it on his back wore it out a long time ago. This training of his is a process but it’s giving me something to do. He’s learned not to use his powers on me anymore too. Thankfully since my power is only triggered by injury I don’t have to worry about doing the same. Yet. During dinner earlier he told me that the people that almost killed him were his friends, specifically his girlfriend and his best friend. They both betrayed him but he didn’t want to say anything else. When he said that it finally occurred to me how terrible this kid actually feels about all this. I could just see it. He’s good at hiding it, but I saw it. On the way back home from catching dinner we saw somebody following us. Leon said it was a marine cameraman and that we had to go before he got a shot at our faces. It looks like they’re getting close to catching up to me. Maybe. His training is going well. We’ve moved onto basic swordplay since he’s almost mastered the basics. Eventually he’ll be able to start with his second katana. And Zamakura said I’d die before I had a chance to pass down my Cardinal Stance, too. Leon told me that he finally remembered where he first saw your mask. Apparently what happened to our crews was such a big deal that they teach it in history classes now. He also told me that our bounties skyrocketed since the marines really want to arrest the remnants of our crews. He knows a lot about us. It took him until today to realize who I was but he knows my name. He also knows that most of us are dead. He said the only people from your old crew they’re sure of being alive are those two gunners Danny and Arson Field. You remember them better than me. Apparently my captain’s still alive too, living in seclusion with Arnold and Levia. Arnold never got to propose to Valencia, she was killed by this kid’s dad after our crews fell apart. They deserved better. Didn’t we all deserve better? While we were gathering firewood we found a body. Another wanderer trying to find a hidden treasure or something like that. Well, now me and Leon found some coats to keep us warm. He was a little put off by taking this guys clothing but you know I’m accustomed to it. I gave his his second sword today. Now it’s back to learning how to holding and positioning and stances for him. We’ve been working on that for a week now. He’s getting the hang of it. My new jacket from yesterday had a big hole in the back that neither of us noticed, so I caught a cold again. I’ve been staying in, just trying to stay warm and flipping through some of my old journals. It’s odd how little there’s written in them compared to this journal. Leon’s been training by himself outside, practicing using both swords with that ability of his. He’s almost moving as fast as you did sometimes. Speaking of him, he’s warming up to me. He’s still calculative, but over time he’s become more comfortable here. The past few days I’ve stayed indoors while Leon practiced. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering and I’m realizing that I feel fine now. I think it’s him. Even though we’re both just a couple of sad swordsmen it’s better than being alone. I still miss you. I got over that cold , and as a surprise gift Leon attacked me as soon as I stepped outside. He lasted longer than I expected him to. He’ll be a master at this soon and that’ll be one thing I won’t have to worry about. When Leon and I were practicing his strikes he tripped and knicked his hand on some ice. I told him it’s not that bad and he just glared at me and told me that I didn’t know what bad really meant. I have a feeling that phrase set something off in his head. We didn’t talk for the rest of the day. This morning Leon apologized for his outburst and explained that his former best friend used to say that phrase often. Apparently Leon caught the two of them sneaking out of a storage shed together so he “went hollow”. I’m assuming he’s talking about the Curse. After that the two of them resigned while he was recovering and he followed after them. Surprisingly, he followed them because he didn’t want his girlfriend to be together with “that kind of manipulative prick”. When I found him he finally caught up to them. It didn’t go well for him. It was hard to empathize with him, but I tried. It’s been too long since I had to actually to support a friend. I have a friend now. Our swordfights are actually becoming interesting. He’s almost got the hang of this Cardinal Stance. Almost. A few more weeks of training and he should be on par with me. I can’t help but feel competitive when I say that. It’s almost funny. He asked me again about your mask. I had to tell him this time. Telling him everything made me realize how strange our relationship was. What kind of guy goes to jail to meet women? You said that when they first locked me up. You said a lot of things to me back then, when we were locked up in some cells next to each other for so long. We were supposed to die together. Hanging next to each other for the whole world to see. I still can’t believe that man lied to us. That he took you so long before he was supposed to take me. When I finished telling him everything he sat there for a moment, like how he does when he’s thinking, and he just hugged me. I couldn’t stop crying. I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to bury you after I got away. I’m so sorry. I miss you so much. I get it now. I’m not running away from the marines or from any nemeses, I’m running away from you. I’ve basically stranded myself in this God-forsaken tundra for over 60 years now because I didn’t have to face what happened. I miss you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. When I woke up today I didn’t put your mask on. I didn’t feel like I needed to. You don’t mind that, right? Leon told me I looked old. I forgot how old I really was. We were out fishing and we saw another marine spying on us. He wasn’t a cameraman taking pictures for a bounty poster. He was a marine soldier. The rest of them must be nearby. How did I miss their fires? I don’t know if they’re here for me or for Leon but they can’t take either. He’s the closest thing I’ve had to Anything in a long time and the last thing I need is some marine coming to take his son back or something. He’s got it. When we were sparring he cut me on my forearm and that was when I knew he’s got it. There are now at least two people in the world that know how to use the Blue Dragon Cardinal Stance. Hopefully it’ll help when our guests arrive. They’ll be here by tomorrow. We were able to get close enough to get a good look at them and Leon said it’s not his dad’s company. Apparently we’re both being hunted by “the Lighting Saif”, a marine officer that might as well be a bounty hunter. The lighting abilities explain how they’ve all been able to stay warm without putting off smoke. This is gonna be my time. I’m going to die facing that man and I know it. And for the first time in so long I don’t want to die anymore. I want to live now. I have a student, a friend, a family member, a companion, and a nuisance all rolled into one. But I’m going to see you again. I know this is going to be the last night I spend writing to you because tomorrow I’ll see you again. I’ve done everything I can to prepare. I can’t regret wasting so much of my life in hiding anymore. All I can do is remember my time as a Sargasso pirate, remember my time passing down my Cardinal Stance to my student, and remember our time together. I won’t die alone. It’s my time, Mimi. I’ll see you soon. Je t’aime, masque blanc. Je t’aime.
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