The Dog

Somehow, Chopper managed to drag me out of that place. There were ample supplies for dressing in that town. We took shelter in one of the vacant houses and treated our injuries. Chopper had lost his arm and every time I looked at it, I was in pain. He, having exhausted himself, went to sleep soon after. I foraged for some food and managed to find plenty of it. I thought it would be better if we had a nice meal before leaving and maybe even pack something for the road. It had begun to rain outside. When Chopper woke up, we had a hot meal which tasted heavenly. It is indeed true that hunger is the best spice.

"Are we leaving, Chopper-san?", I asked him over the meal.

"Yes"

"But what about...Azag? He's still at large. We haven't-"

"Lady said we have to kill Fennerick. She never spoke about Azag. So we're done."

"But even so, isn't it too careless?!"

"I'm returning you to Lady tomorrow. Don't make me repeat myself."

I truly felt like a baggage that he just wanted to get rid of.

We set out next morning. I hadn't uttered a word since last night and neither had he. The tension between us only seemed to bother me. Chopper was as composed as always. I noticed we were headed to the King's forest, the place where I had first encountered Wolfe. I was glad we were taking that route because I wanted to explore that place a little. I realized chances were thin, I would get that sort of time, but maybe we could take a break.

I also wanted to see how the forest was after Wolfe was gone. I don't know what happened to the rest of the Beasts.

For the longest time, we travelled in silence. I lagged behind Chopper as usual, only looking at his back which didn't seemed that broad now. He wasn't in a good shape. He wouldn't stop to rest at all but I didn't ask him to do so either. For now, I thought it would be best if I left him to own devices.

Soon we were in the forest. I noticed Chopper's pace slowed down considerably.

"Seraph", he stopped and finally spoke, "Let's eat."

"Y-yes!"

We ate in silence once again and when we were done, Chopper leaned against a tree and relaxed himself, calmly looking at the forest.

"Chopper-san?", I finally inquired.

"There's a place I wanna see before we leave", he muttered before getting up.

I nodded slightly and when he began to walk, followed him.

I hadn't realized how vast this forest really was. But when I thought about it, it was still just the King's front yard. I thought maybe I'd even get to see the palace, or whatever was left of it anyway.

Chopper seemed to know his way very well. He led us through tricky thickets and paths and got us to a calmer, clearer patch in the forest.

We kept on walking as time seemed to have stopped. Everything seemed to be at a standstill except for the two of us. Before I knew it, we were there.

The sun was throwing it's warm comforting rays through the spaces of the leaves. The birds chirped and sang and not a single other voice broke their songs. In the middle of the clearing, stood a single tombstone. It had evidently been there too long but it stood tall. I couldn't read what was written on it, if anything, as it was veiled by time and seasons themselves.

Chopper stood facing the tombstone and then sat down in front of it, holding his knees with his only arm, like a child. He buried his head in his knees and stayed still right there.

He truly looked like a little kid, missing his mother or perhaps crying for a toy. I was dazed as I switched between him and the tombstone.

For so long, we stayed like that before a breeze rustled the leaves and disrupted the silence. Chopper didn't seem to move. He just sat there, conversing without words in the presence of that tombstone. I didn't dare bother him until he got up himself. He took our canteen and poured it over the stone, cleaning some of the dirt.

"Corsen"

That was all it read.

Chopper had on a poker face as if everything was closed shut inside him. Once the canteen was empty. he picked up his small luggage and we started again.

"Do you want to see the palace? Only from a distance though", he asked.

"I'd like to."

And thus we walked a little further, out of the clearing, back to the thicket and towards the ruins of the palace. Despite the destruction it had endured, I found the building impressive. It seemed impregnable, even now. It was massive, made of white bricks that were now stained by the ruthlessness of time.

"It's like the story books", I uttered, "Like Victorians."

"Those stories are just fiction. That thing used to be real. Now it's just food for more story books. It's a lot grander from within but I don't think we'd be going any further", Chopper replied before prompting me to get moving.

"Ah, Chopper-san, I forgot to give this back to you", I remembered after a while that his black blade had stayed with me.

"You can keep it", he answered carelessly.

"Eh?! Are you sure?"

"It's not much use to me without my arm anyway. Ebony, the one you have, can cut through anything. It is the sharpest blade you'll find. If used right, you can even cut through space and time but I doubt that would happen anymore. Ivory, the one I have, shatters anything it so much as touches and within mere seconds too. Actually, these blades were just ordinary pieces of metal. It was the power I had in my arms. My right arm was Ebony, left one was Ivory. But I transferred those powers within these blades. Still, these blades aren't nearly as strong as my arms were but that's still the better choice. Now, with my right arm gone, Ebony might still weaken a bit but it'd still be an upgrade by your standards."

As disparaging as that sounded, it was indeed true.

"Why did you decide to transfer your powers to these blades, Chopper-san?"

"Who knows? But too great a power can be...boring. The only time I used my arms to their full potential...when Ebony cut through space and when Ivory deleted existence...was when I fought Lady."

That was a surprise. Lady might be just an old hag now but I guess she had something under her sleeve in her prime too.

"Did you win?", I asked almost instinctively.

"Are you kidding?", Chopper gave me a disgusted look and started ahead again.

And then I began to imagine what had led to the two of them fighting. And what had led towards Chopper becoming a Valkyrie. And then I realized that the rest of the group were on point about Chopper being Lady's 'dog'. Thinking back on our past few days, that made perfect sense. I dare not put it to anyone. I'm positively scared of Chopper.