audio/action Sad China is Sad

[gochuugoku]

[There's sounds of China playing his bamboo flute. No specific song, just a couple of notes. However, some of the notes begin to fail. There's a tremble in them until they come out as nothing more than a raspy sound. Unseen by others, China takes his flute away from his lips.]

I never got to tell her what I wanted I say.

[If anyone wants to run into him, he's sitting on a tree branch within Discedo's Horizon Park.]

Comments

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

[Stares at briefly wondering if he accidentally conveyed that he didn't understand that. Oh well, deadpan nod.]

Carpe diem then? Or are you intending to take it slow?

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Well, I'm certainly not going to rush into it, but I'm not going to allow him to put this off any longer than he already has either, aru. I plan on leaving him a message.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Hah... good luck to you China. Just don't take it too hard if it takes him a while to respond, eh?

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Such things don't upset me as they used to in the past, aru. There are worse things people can do.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Aye.... true enough. [Distracted into his own thoughts now.]

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

I just hope he comes to realize at some point that we are free here. That we don't have to be defensive against our own family.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

We'll see, eh.

[Guh, family members at odds with each other is just not something Marco handles well.] I hope so too. For his sake as well as yours.

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

He's always had too much pride, always lets it get in his way. Though, that seems to be a trend in our family. We are all very prideful and proud beings.

[He laughs dryly.] That's one piece of definite proof that we are all related.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Pride? In that case I can think of a lot of other people you might need to add.

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Such as?

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

I'd say it's a common thing with all countries, no offense. It's not a bad thing, if anything I suspect it has to do with your existence, eh? After all, citizens must take a great deal of pride in their nation for it to be strong.

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Of course they are. Our strength, our culture, our landmarks, the good parts of our history.

[He moves his ponytail off his shoulder and... Is that a faded red mark on his neck...? Obviously he has no idea that it's there, or still there, rather.]

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Aye, aye, nationalism is a powerful thing. [While he didn't understand nationalism personally, he does understand crew loyalty, extremely so, and he considers them pretty similar.]

Only the good is it?

[No worries, whatever hickeys or bite marks, Marco will politely pretend not to notice.]

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

[His face darkens slightly and he looks to the side.]

How would you feel if other countries kept reminding you of all the wrongs you did, or when you see it written in textbooks that every new generation reads?

[Well, good~ Except... He begins to rub at his right wrist and as he does the movement causes his sleeve to rise a bit. There seems to be a marking on the skin that goes all around the wrist as though... there was rope tied around it (?!).]

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

China, I'm a pirate. [Subtly watches the movements.]

The world does know the things I've done, good or bad. I've been an outlaw for so long just for my associations, for being adopted by a pirate, for having pirate brothers. My entire existence is banned, if they catch a single one of us they'd string us up for execution in public to show that they're strong and to make an example of us and try to trap the rest.

If you do something you regret, learn from it. And if you had no other choice or given all the same circumstances you'd do it again, then don't waste your time regretting it. What other people make of your actions doesn't matter as much as what you do with it.

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

If I had not learned from my past, then do you really think I would still be standing here?

A nation's continued existence is based on whether they can adapt, learn, not be conquered. There is no such thing as a fluke when it comes to us. Well, except for Prussia.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Aye, no sense regretting it then, eh?

Why Prussia?

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

His country was dissolved shortly after the Second World War. For a Nation, that means death, but he didn't die. It could be because people with Prussian blood still live today, aru. He lives with Germany.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Maybe they still feel a sense of loyalty to him then.

My own flag...

With Pops gone, calling us the Whitebeard pirates seems inaccurate. But that's how we all met. It's why we're brothers. Pops was our father, and even though he's dead, he's still our father.

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

All this talk about fatherhood, makes me wonder if my siblings and I had one.

[He looks up thoughtfully.]

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Well Japan has Amaterasu, so maybe it's someone like that?

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Amaterasu? The Japanese sun goddess? ...I suppose. My people have developed many stories about our country's origin, however, so I don't know which one to trace my true origin back to, aru.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

Maybe you all have a Dragon father, eh?

[Action]

[gochuugoku]

Maybe, and I've actually considered such a possibility. My people believe that all Chinese are descendants from the dragon. Perhaps the rest of Asia is too.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

[Spreads his hands with a shrug.] Could be.

In my world the tenryuubito all insist they're descendants of dragons, but it's... [Waves a hand.] It's a whole big deal about bloodlines. I actually quite hate them.