Strange New World
Strange New World
Started by Silk
~~Having once burned,
the sun forever suspect,
lest it pain again.~~
Silk put down her calligraphy brush when she heard the bell over the door chime. It was Perfume, and she looked upset about something. "What's wrong?" Silk asked, concerned, as she stood and walked over to the other girl.
Perfume tossed her shopping bags into the corner with disgust. She was more than just upset, she was humiliated, furious and on the edge of tears.
It took her a few moments to compose herself, tears were leaking out of her eyes by that point. "I just had an encounter with the Psycho-Flower girl at the mall. She was still upset about losing the swimsuit contest."
As Perfume began to tell her tale the story faded into a flash back.
Perfume was window shopping in the Nerima mall, she hadn't bought anything yet but was enjoying browsing. She had been very happy ever since she won the Swimsuit contest.
As she went into the crowded food court to get something to eat, she didn't notice Kodachi Kunou shadowing her.
Kodachi was never one to take losing lying down. If she couldn't win she'd make the winner regret winning. She still had not quite figured out why the amazon kept the right side of her face covered, but it was a weakness she intended to exploit.
Looking about she found just what she was looking for. One of the old fans above the food court that hadn't been used since they installed air conditioning.
She looked back and noticed Perfume standing among a large group of young girls. Apparently, trying to decide what to eat. Kodachi snorted when she realized that even in a crowd of girls the Amazon's beauty stuck out.
Using her ribbon she climbed atop the overhead fan adjusted the fan to blow right on Perfume and the turning it up on high.
The quick gust of air blew Perfume's hair back exposing her shameful scar to all the young girls present.
"I'll always win in the end, Perfume-San, Wakarimasu-ka?!" She laughed insanely as Perfume struggled to cover her face and exit the mall quickly as possible.
Perfume took off for home, upset and really wanting to kill the flower girl for her actions.
End Flashback
She finished her tale, still upset about the entire incident. "I can't believe I let her get me like that Silk-Chan. I can never go back to that mall."
"Why not?" Silk asked, holding her arms in front of her in silent appeal, "It's not the end of the world, Perfume."
Perfume was still upset and gave Silk a confused look. "It may not be, but I was humiliated. You don't know what it's like to live with a mark of shame like that!"
Silk gave Perfume a startled look. "I don't?" her brows knit in confusion, then she nodded, "Ah, I see. I couldn't possibly have any inkling of that, could I? I never had a scar on my face to make people hate me, did I?" she looked at Perfume again, staring directly into her eyes, gaze never wavering. "Ne, Perfume?"
Perfume hung her head in shame. She let her anger get the better of her and she took some of it out on her best friend. "I'm sorry, Silk, I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to sound that way."
She paused as she ran her finger across the scar on her face. "My appearance was one of the few things that I could pride myself on. the only thing I was better at than Shampoo. She ruined it because of Cologne. It's more a mark of shame to me than anything."
"The only thing?" Silk's voice was questioning. "So, you're saying that looks and fighting skill is all there is that matters, since those are the only areas where Shampoo outstrips you. You're saying that personality, kindness, intelligence, education, talent for languages, historical knowledge, and adaptivity are worth nothing. Or _is_ that what you're saying?"
Silk knew what she was doing was somewhat cruel, twisting Perfume's words, but she was trying to lead her friends thoughts in a non-self-destructive direction. Having new thoughts, getting out of a vicious circle of thoughts is often initially more painful then the current thoughts, but the reward was, Silk felt, worth the initial lurch. ‘Tis better to have a little whiplash then ride the car over the edge of a cliff.
Perfume was upset enough but Silk's words were beginning to hurt even more. She had geared herself to competing with Shampoo for so long that she didn't think about other talents.
"In The Village, Fighting Ability and Appearance are all that matters. I was ostracized for my scholarly ways." She hesitated before continuing, she was crying softly now. "I Always thought they were necessary for a good Matriarch, but now I don't even have that goal anymore.'
Silk saw the tears in Perfume's eye, and wrapped her arms around the other girl's shoulder's in a hug. "I'm sorry, Perfume, but you're not in the village anymore." Silk's voice was soft, "I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry that you don't seem to like it here, but this is where you are now, and all the pretending in the world won't make Nerima into the village. And that's good, Perfume. You were wasted on the village." Silk held the pink haired girl at arms' length, looking right into her eyes, "You're so much more than the village would ever have allowed you to be."
Perfume sniffled slightly and then gave Silk a weak smile. "You don't need to be sorry, Silk. I like it here, I actually have a place that I feel at home, and friends who care about me. " Perfume took one of Silk's hands, and squeezed gently. "I guess I'm just a little homesick, and tired of Kodachi. As you said this is Nerima, not the village, so killing her is out of the question."
She smiled a little more at Silk. "I'll be alright, thank you Silk Chan."
Silk's face was not graced by a smile, however. "This isn't about Kodachi, Perfume, or even about your scar." Silk backed up a few feet and sat on the counter, feet hanging down, "I see such great things in you, such potential and talent and skill... but you don't see it. I know that you're always your own worst judge, but you seem to be taking it to extremes."
Perfume blushed under Silk's compliments, but she also looked Very confused. "I don't understand, Silk-Chan. I am what I am, a mediocre amazon warrior. One who is very much lost and confused in this new country." She hug her head down slightly. "I'm used to it though, I've always been the square peg."
"Well, a square peg in the village should fit quite nicely into the square peg of this country. You'll find that Japan is much more suited for people who like to think than the village ever was." Silk smiled, "And what you call a mediocre Amazon warrior I call a skilled historian and scholar. Wake up Perfume, you're not in the village anymore. you don't have to try to fit their ideal anymore."
Perfume bit her lower lip while she thought about Silk's words. True she was a great scholar, but dropping amazon habits was just so very difficult. There was merit in what she was hearing, but she had no idea how to 'Wake up'.
"It is difficult Silk-Chan, I spent my life training for the post of Tribal Enforcer and perhaps one day, the Matriarch. I don't know how to change the way I think. I do want to fit in and do well here, now."
"'I spent my life'... You make it sound like you have a limited budget for experiences and you've spent it all. You're 16, 17 maybe? the same as me. Our path is far from decided. I've lived three completely different lives, working on my fourth. You don't lose anything, you just keep adding. That's what makes for a truly great leader like you want to be, Perfume, the variety of experiences and lessons learned from each." Silk smiled, she finally seemed to be cracking the shell Perfume held up as an emotional shield, "I wish you would not think of this place as the end of an ambition, as the end of the life you've always known, but as a opportunity, a place to start on a new adventure."
"A new adventure?" Perfume inquired as she sat on the counter next to Silk. "I'm always willing to learn something new. What do you have in mind, Silk-Chan."
Silk sweatdropped. "Don't expect me to tell you what you need to do, Perfume. It's YOUR life. But I think that you could try taking some college classes. You could make new friends and learn something to take you beyond this shop. The Curses and Cures won't be here forever. I'll probably sell it when I leave for Med. school, and I can't really take you and Scarf with me when I go."
Perfume frowned slightly, she didn't like the idea of not being around Silk anymore. That was still a ways in the future however.
"College? I could study history.. More than I would ever learn back home. " she smiled when she thought that she could spend more time with her best friend. "Will you help me, Silk-Chan?"
"Do you think I'd be making the suggestion if I wasn't willing to help you, Perfume?" Silk smiled. She opened her school notebook and pulled out a scrap of paper. "I asked my Chinese history professor if he'd be willing to sponsor you for classes in history, that you could probably provide him with the most accurate version of the history of the amazons and that area."
Perfume couldn't help but smile. Silk was just too good of a friend to her. "You had this planned didn't you Silk-Chan?" She winked at her friend. "Okay, I'll do it."
Silk smiled, "I rather thought you might, which is why I asked him about it." she looked at the clock. 5:30. Closing time. "Perfume, will you come walk with me?" she asked.
Perfume paused for a second, Silk didn't usually take walks with her. She was delighted to be asked. "Um, Sure Silk-Chan." Perfume set her Naginata against the wall and replaced it with her curved sword.
"It doesn't attract as much attention as the Naginata."
Silk sweatdropped, but let it go. "Where do you want to go?" she said as she locked the door behind them, looking out to face the sinking sun.
Perfume enjoyed the sunset for a bit, before answering Silk. "Wherever our feet take us. That's the best way to take a walk."
And so they started walking through the pink tinged streets of Nerima, talking of insignificant things. When they came to the park where Perfume had once been attacked by thugs when she first came to Nerima, Silk paused for a long moment. It was also the place where Silk, Scarf and Perfume had picnicked the week before. "Take this place. what memories does it bring back?"
"Hmm, well it depends upon when you ask me." Perfume responded with a wry grin. "This is the place I first met Alexander Funryu, my first friend in Nerima. This is where I had a pleasant picnic with my favorite amazon friends. This is also where I met my Favorite gang to beat up on."
She paused for a moment when she remembered the gang. "Unfortunately, It was the one time in my life that I had to be rescued by a man. It was very embarrassing, but at least I won't have to face that one back home."
"There's another Amazon prejudice you can abandon if you choose. I've found that men are no better and no worse then women, just different. And no two people are the same." Silk walked over to the sandbox and scooped up a handful of sand. "Just like this. No two grains are the same, yet none are any better then the rest." she left the tiny rocks flow through her fingers, blown gently by the wind. "And they scatter on the wind, just like people, just like thoughts. Each different, but the same." the healer looked at her friend, "Do you understand?"
Perfume's expression did not change, It was difficult to undo a lifetime of mental conditioning. "I think so, Silk-Chan, Your saying that everyone is different in their own special ways, but the same over all."
She paused for a moment as she remembered something someone had accused her of before. "Silk-Chan, are the amazons really that backwards?"
"The same as in none having more or less worth than another." Silk ran her fingers through the sand a few more times, then sat at the edge of the box, considering Perfume's question. "Compared to the modern world, yes Perfume, the Amazons are very backward. They hold to old laws of survival for no reason other then the fact that's how they've always done it. They remain sexist, isolationist, autocratic in a world that is trying to progress beyond those things. They repress people's minds out of fear that they will leave, or change things. They fear change, Perfume, and change is the only constant." the pain in Silk's eyes was veiled, but visible for one who knew what to look for, as she went on, "They repress everything that is different, everything that falls outside of their ideal. You know that as well as I do. I was alien, you were a scholar in a nest of vipers. In the civilized world being different isn't reasonable ground for a beating. In Joketsuzoku, it was more then enough reason."
Perfume was silent for a long moment, there was alot of sense in what Silk was talking about. The more she thought about it, the more she remembered the younger amazon being picked on and beaten in the village.
She remembered wanting to stop it, but she was too weak at the time. Having started late on her training, she was no match for Shampoo and the others.
"Your completely right Silk Chan." She put on hand on her friends shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. " The Amazons will die out eventually if the do not change with the times. Of course that should be little concern for us outcasts, we cannot return."
She paused for a few seconds to gather her thoughts. " Will you teach me how to understand this modern world?"
"As you wish." Silk smiled, then led Perfume down several streets and through a park until they reached a bridge over a river that ran parallel to a major road. On the other side of the road were office buildings. She stopped at the top of the bridge. "Look. this is the modern world. A place between tranquility," she motioned at the park and the river "and chaos." she pointed at the bustling city, the vehicles and people streaming through its labyrinthine streets. "The heart of the world is change. Everything is changing. In perpetual motion. Yet the world is still, solid, resolute. the pieces that make it up are constantly being rearranged, but their nature is not changed in the restructuring." the healer stopped for a moment, considering. "Like a river. the water is never the same moment to moment, but it remains. A permanent fixture." she groped for words, a simple phrase. "The modern world is a Paradox we're all striving to understand."
Perfume was silent as she watched the city from her vantage point. She had never looked at the chaos below from this angle before. The glittering lights from the city were reflected in the lens of her glasses.
"There's so much going on down there, How do you take it all in?"
"A little bit at a time." Silk answered. "When I first arrived in Hong Kong I was much like you are. Confused, wondering how anyone could ever keep up with the rat race. I met some people who taught me the ropes, but even after four years I wasn't completely adjusted to it. I probably never will be, and neither will you. But you can learn to appreciate it's beauty. We were raised in the mountains, yet we can appreciate a sunset over the ocean. Out native tongue is Mandarin, but we can express ourselves in Japanese. You learn how to be yourself within whatever environment you happen to be in. I even wrote a haiku this morning. How Japanese is that? but I wrote it in Chinese. We remain ourselves."
Perfume was still enjoying her view of the city as she listened to Silk. she remembered how beautiful the sunset had looked from the ship she arrived in Japan on. Just on her trip to this little island, she had seen beauty all about her. Maybe now it was time to become something more than an amazon, something more than her grandmother, mother and even cologne could ever be.
She would be true to herself, a warrior/scholar who lived by her own code of honor, but was completely in-Tune with her environment.
"I will adjust someday, Silk-Chan. For now I will follow the fates and my heart."
"That's all anyone can ever ask of you, Perfume-Chan." Silk said, using the affectionate suffix for a change. "That's all anyone can ever ask." She leaned over the rail of the bridge, staring at the perfect reflection of the setting sun in the still water. "Please, listen." she paused, then said;
"A sunset stillness
All assume perfect repose
waiting for the dawn."
-finished-