We were walking down a quiet path in a prairie, with Chopper leading the way. Our pace, complementing our surroundings, had slowed down considerably. This was unnatural for him, but I didn't mind. Although we'd been walking in silence since this morning, only now in this utter quietude did I realize how silent we'd been for so long. The path seemed endless, with him walking in front of me.
It wasn't the first time, I was left with all the time in the world to gaze at his broad back. I was seeing him as a wholly different person now. Even the snake tattoos that ran across his arms presented a completely different picture to me. Chopper usually wore half sleeved shirts, I'd noticed his clothes having ripped sleeves, even in winter. He simply preferred it that way, perhaps to display those tattoos so proudly. He had a snake swirling round each of his muscular arms all the way up to his neck where it opened its mouth as if to swallow him whole. Still, the tattoos weren't imposing and at first you wouldn't have noticed what they were. I had seen them up close so I knew what they were. But now, I was realizing that what I'd been mistaking for snakes all along were dragons. I dare not put my theory through to him, I knew he wouldn't have anything but a vague answer to that.
I thought back on this morning when we had gone hunting for breakfast. We played it safe and went for a quick and easy catch. The process of the crackling fire cooking the dry meat is perhaps the most painful waiting in the world. It was then that I remembered what I should have said to him last night.
"I meant to tell you something before", I broke the silence after a while, "It kept slipping my mind."
He looked at me attentively, for a short while before turning his gaze back to the fiery embers.
"Earlier...with Azag, you said that all demons wanted one thing", I remembered back on his words, "You said that Nasty...the demon who gave it's blood to me was only looking to plant its seed, so it can have a human body one day, right?"
He nodded slightly. I paused for a while.
"Well, I don't think that's really true. And even if it is, in this case, I couldn't care less."
He looked up at me, I was really serious. Try as I might, I couldn't see Nasty II as the evil fiend he was supposed to be.
"I wasn't looking to judge you or that demon o' yours, kid", he replied.
"No, I'm saying", I returned his gaze, "If a time should come when the seed grows...when I'm not me, then I want you to kill me. I'm giving my life to you, Chopper-san."
I never imagined I'd be saying the same thing as Prophet. I suppose it was in this moment that I perfectly understood him.
Chopper kept staring at me emptily, in complete silence. He knew where I was coming from, and I'm sure he understood it too.
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"Goes without saying", he replied in a low voice.
That was the last time we had talked today. I felt reassured to have confided my life to someone. I couldn't have known then, how futile it would turn out to be. Back then, all I knew was that Chopper would be the one to take my life when the time came. There is no better feeling than choosing the way you die.
"Oi", Chopper looked over his shoulder, as we walked down that lonely path. I was pulled out of my thoughts.
There was a fork in the road.
"This leads you know where", he pointed left to the road to Valhalla, "And this one takes you to a nicer place. You gettin' what I mean?"
Indeed, I understood him perfectly. I nodded. He then blankly stared at me, apparently leaving me with the final decision. It was quite obvious that there wasn't much of a choice to be made here.
"Lets go to this nicer place", I replied almost mechanically.
"If you say so."
He then lead the way towards a thicket.
Apparently, we were going to pay a visit to Lady's old friend. Chopper said he was her best friend, I found that a childish statement but he especially emphasized that no one was as best to her than this guy. It was surprising to me that that role wasn't Chopper's. Lady had a letter for him but since he had no permanent dwelling, it had to be delivered in person. Chopper said that in fact, the man ought to have a proper address, just that Lady didn't remember it. Indeed, there has seldom been anyone more directionally challenged than her.
This friend of hers lived in the outskirts of some really well developed town. It didn't take us long to get there. I found the town rather festive, taverns in every corner. It was almost unimaginable how people actually got anything done around there. But I could see the place was prosperous. Chopper told me the town had the best glass industry in all of Mercae. It was a surprisingly small town, called Montreuil-sur-Mer or Jade town for the simpletons.
Chopper made a point of showing me around the whole place before we started towards the outskirts. I say outskirts, but there wasn't such a place to speak of. What this really entailed was that we were heading to the last house in the town. I saw some ramparts as we headed towards the exit. In one such place, on one high lonely rampart, we found a singular hut.
"Ah, that's gotta be it!", Chopper smirked triumphantly.
"Are you sure it isn't a witch's hut?"
"How else can you tell he's 'her' friend?", he had a point there, as he specifically emphasized 'her'.
It looked decent from our distance but as we got closer to it, I began to think it was a remnant of a witch's dwelling. I was sure we wouldn't find a soul in there. Half of the place was coming down, there was in fact, no more than one room in that hut that was accessible. I wasn't sure if it was smart to head into that place but where Chopper went, I did. And he seemed pretty confident.
He knocked at the door, expecting no answer nor awaiting one. There was a knob, broken, there was a handle, broken and if there was a hatch somewhere in there, I was sure it'd have been broken too. I was right on the mark, we just strode in after that.
Inside was dark, dusty and the smell of smoke settled in nicely in my lungs rather eagerly.
"Hey!", before we could have been sure if someone was even in there, Chopper called out.
It was then that I heard the rattle of bottles as someone moved up to greet us. I noticed, my eyes having settled to the dark now, a tall figure rising from his resting position in a rather uncomfortable looking sofa. The towering man was almost unreal, far from anything human I'd seen before.
Soon, his deep, rather grave voice broke to greet us.
"Howdy, folks! Care fer some bug juice?"