[Episode] A strange old new world

Once again, Will's expression was far from impressed as he stared at the kid, without even a hint of a smile.
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. I am not someone who believes in fairy tales and boogeymen, as a man of science. Devil Fruits have been researched for ages – though many mysteries still exist, but they are well based on scientific research, no matter how fantastical they may sound. Keep in mind I am currently in the presence of someone who is healing faster than any human should," he spoke, his tone as serious as ever. Surely, if this all was a joke, the doctor would have lost it already, right? It didn't seem like he was joking, so he at least seemed to believe what he was saying completely.
"I am actually quite surprised that you haven't yet figured your powers out, if you indeed have eaten one. That is the one thing that is keeping me from fully believing it. A harrowing experience like that would get just about anyone's adrenaline pumping, which definitely is an excellent way of… Pulling out something unexpected. And to think that you managed to stay afloat all this time…"

The kid didn't know about that yet, of course. They'd get to it eventually, if it became an important topic. How lucky was that? Shipwreck sounded like one of the worst things to experience for someone who had eaten a Devil Fruit.

Will stirred and looked over his shoulder where the kid pointed, asking for clothes. He kept looking in that direction for a moment, before turning back.
"They're sopping wet."

"I take you have never stood guard outside in the rain then. A little water never hurt people." Yugo replied, clearly not fond of being almost naked in front of a stranger if he could help it. Thus, he hopped up on his feet, stretched around and walked over the pile. He picked up his boots, the trousers, the fishnet and the leather brace. Walking over to the nearest place in the room where he could dispose of excess water, he started by squeezing his tabi boots dry, the rubber soles squeaking slightly under the strain. Once he felt they were dry enough, he proceeded to clean the rest as best he could.

"I don't really know how to figure my powers out, if I even have them." He stated. "How do you figure out something you have little idea how it works? Hmm...actually..."

Yugo stopped what he was doing, threw an arm out and flailed a bit. "Superpower, Go! Activate! Power up! Transformation?" He punctuated, feeling more and more stupid as he went. Nothing happened. Yugo looked at the doctor with a hint of suspicion, he wondered if he was being fooled. Once the pants where squeezed, Yugo quickly hopped in them, wore the fishnet and the leather breatplate. He quickly stuffed his feet into his tabi, wiggled his toes until he felt comfortable and took a few steps to test if they still held water. Outside of some squeaking as he moved, nothing too bad. While the stuff was humid, they'd dry pretty soon.

"I guess we shall find out the hard way. You say I heal fast. Grab a needle or a scalpel. A small incision should do." He told the doctor. "Actually, it's best I do it. Doctor have that oath I believe that forbids any harm."

WC:3400

Will just stared at the kid in disbelief as he got up and sauntered up to the pile of wet rags on the floor – though he did move out of the way slightly. Even he was too dumbfounded to stop him.
"Are you… Did you hit your head worse than I thought, or have you always been like this?" He finally managed to muster out, exasperated. That could be one explanation for the kid's actions, for sure. What if he had managed to hit his head and the bruises had just healed, but the damage inside hadn't? They had no idea how his healing powers really were working.

But he couldn't argue with the facts. The kid clearly was able to walk around like nothing was wrong, despite how awful his feet had looked when the doctor had pried the shoes off him. He even seemed to have the energy to play around as he put on a pitiful show, trying to get his powers to activate. Will just shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. This was going to be a long day…

"I'm not going to cut you up for no reason, no. You shouldn't, either, until we understand all this better. But take those clothes off. Not only are they wet and liable to cause further damage," he started, as he got up on his feet. Will didn't allow the kid a moment long enough to argue back, already expecting it.
"They stink to high heavens. If you really are feeling as well as you claim, you can do the laundry today and they should be dry for tonight. I'll get you something else."

The doctor wasn't going to want to deal with the stench. Sure, he had smelled worse, but it was better for the kid to hopefully feel at least some shame so he would actually do as he said for once. Will clearly was in no hurry as he walked with a relaxed pace to the adjourning room where he had been staying temporarily. He was taller than the kid, and most of his clothes were loose on him due to his own build, but they'd fit. Some loose pants and a dark, tighter turtleneck would do, but the shoes… They probably wouldn't be the right size. He was just going to have to borrow the old doctor's sandals…

Will returned fast enough, throwing a towel at the kid. Now that he had worn damp clothes, he surely needed another drying. The dry clothes had been folded and were placed on a chair nearby, and the sandals on the floor.
"Here. You can borrow them for a while. If you think you can eat, this would be a good time to do so. Might help with you regaining your strength."

Yugo stared at the man the same way he looked at the pampered lords when they whined about stupid things. Seawater smelled salty at best and the shinobi had been much dirtier. Try staying in the mud for a couple hours still and unmoving so that your hiding spot wouldn't be signaled to possible targets. Or the doctor clearly did not stand guard after hours in awful weather because it was your duty to do so in order to protect the man you serve from harm. He caught the towel with his right hand, before settling it down on a stool. "Wet clothes are of little concern to me, they will dry in the sun while I figure out what to do next and where to go. I am a Shinobi from Hoshima island and part of the Shirogane clan, I have had to bear far worse burdens than just some damp clothes for a day."

He moved back to the pile of things that had been salvaged. While he was against wasting time in the clinic, he would listen to the man when it came to food. Thankfully, there was a satchel with some gold and silver in there that was used for some transactions on his old ship. He would have loved using those to buy food, but it was clear he had to bequeath them to the doctor for the help. Thus, he would have to hunt something to eat, find some berries or other fruit out there on the island and find a place where he could get a fire going for the night. He'd rather spend the night in the wilderness than roam the streets of the village he did not know nor trust.

"I don't plan on staying here any longer than I already have, so you can stop worrying about smelling salt. As I have said, I do not want any more debts and I am absolutely, positively feeling fine. You may keep that satchel there, it has gold and silver pieces which I am sure hold value in this land even though coin around here is something else. It should suffice as settlement for saving my life. Feel free to keep anything else you may recover from the vessel, it was never mine to begin and I shall not lay claim to it even if the circumstances turned it into treasure. I already had to appropriate this-" He reached down towards the box and picked up the leftover fruit. Disgusting as it was it was still food. "-That's quite enough for me. I am grateful to you for saving my life, Will-sama, but I must go now. I need to find a way back to Hoshima." It also didn't helpt that the doctor spoke about fruit and powers and then refused to test his theory or give him the means to do so. The young shinobi was a man of resolve and right now he was dead set in finding out if he really had powers or not, what they were, how to control them and then how to get on the first ship back to the Line.

"That would be all then, yes? Yes. Actually, if you'd do me one last favour, I'd ask you point me at the nearest library. There must be something about these fruits in there if we go by your words. If I can't test if I have these... Akuma no Mi powers then I shall find out another way."

WC: 3984

Will raised an eyebrow. Yep. The kid was bonkers.
"If you're going to argue against a medical professional and do not accept any care, I have done what can be done. I can't cure a rotten personality or a softened mind. Deal with the consequences on your own, I am washing my hands of this," the doctor huffed and started to pull out the sheets from the bed that had just been in use. They had been prepared for a patient, dry and clean, and now they had done their job. It had to be made again for the next patient… And these old ones would have to be washed. Great. Will let out a sigh.
"And take all that trash with you. I am going to have to mop the floor – again. But you're not going to find what you seek in a library, or everyone here would already know. No good a library would do for you in that state, anyway. No one would allow something that susceptible to water anywhere near you."

Yugo slammed his arm into the wall. "Then get to the point!" He exclaimed. The shinobi was irritated. The guy clearly knew something but wasn't telling the whole deal it felt like. He knew about these devil fruit things and seemed to be pretty knowledgable about where to find or not find info about them. It was clear he knew the subject but for some reason he was going maybe maybe maybe instead of telling things like they were. "I am stranded, in the middle of nowhere-" Yugo spoke through gritted teeth, clenching his fist "-with nothing to my name and a stranger telling me I ate something that gives me superpowers or might kill me or something else but refuses to help produce any tangible results." It was clear that as much as he was trying to put on a brave face, there was a hint of panic in the young man's body language. He clearly never dealt with a situation like this and was just trying to do the first thing that came to mind, good or bad. Perhaps he was indeed going crazy at the moment, but it was hard to calm down when you suddenly realized you were the only survivor of a complete disaster and now were absolutely alone without anyone to really ask for help, cut off from home family and friends. He certainly was going through a mental breakdown but was way too stubborn to admit it.

He waved the half eaten fruit around. "First you act scared about this thing, then you say it may or may not be one of those super fruit, then you say I have healing powers but refuse to help me test if I have them, then what am I supposed t-" Yugo cut off his rant, his eyes had trailed to the arm he had slammed into the clinic's wall. "o find...out..." the rest of his sentence died in his throat as no words could describe what he was seeing.

From his elbow downwards, his pinkish skin had turned into a shiny silvery color. The rest of the arm and the hand looked liquid, but firm enough to hold shape. The wall was slightly cracked, but there was no pain. His body had istinctly turned his arm into the substance in order to absorb the shock and protect itself from blunt trauma. A few drops dripped from Yugo's fingers on the ground, where the silvery liquid splatted and pooled into perfect, almost round beads.

Yugo was frozen there in shock, unable to process what happened. Unable to explain what he was feeling. Should he be feeling pain? Should he be able to feel the wall if his arm wasn't made of human anymore? He was paralyzed there, staring at his mutated limb.

WC: 4450

Will had his back turned to the kid and just tried to ignore that stupid part of his brain called conscience. Let the kid go and get himself killed, he had already done everything. He couldn't help someone who didn't want to be helped. He told that to himself over and over as he quickly got the sheets off and started folding them.

But he turned around once the kid slammed his arm against the wall. The various shelves and cabinets shook a little, and the many glass jars and bottles they supported gently clinked against each other as they moved about from the force. Will stared at the kid – a scared, lost kid with nothing, not even a brave face anymore. He did realize that his hand had gravitated towards his hip, his fingers resting on the pommel of his knife. A bit silly, now that he looked at who had caused his body to react as if he was in danger. He let his hand fall back down.

Though his eyes eventually fell from the kid's face, lower, until… They settled on the arm. Hardly anything resembling a human arm, honestly, other than the shape. It had a metallic sheen to it, a liquid-like quality as it rippled and dripped down onto the floor. Will took a step back. He had his worries, of course, but the kid seemed to finally have shut down from the shock of it all.
"…Relax. Breathe," the doctor offered, some words of advice with a surprisingly reassuring tone coming from his gruff face. That certainly answered that. It indeed had been a Devil Fruit, that much was now sure.
"Just as easily as you were able to make it happen, you can also make it go away. It is not… Permanently stuck like that."

Yugo's brain only took some of the words the doctor said, he was fixated on his arm, breathing rapidly...clearly hyperventilating moments later. He trembled-no-shivered, his mind confused as to what to do. That was his arm but also wasn't his arm. He was sweating profusely. That was fine no that was wrong. His arm was mercury he was mercury no he was human yes a mercury human no humans aren't mercury yes no arm lost arm no yEs No YES NO ARM NO ARM PAIN PAIN COMING LOTS OF PAIN.

PANIC.

He started waving, flailing the arm around as if he was trying to shake off the silver stuff from his skin before it burned his skin off. More mercury was flung around as Yugo grew more and more panicked about the fact, which didn't help either. Due to his motions part of his hand dripped off and fell to the ground with a splat.

That was the last straw for the young man's brain to finally short circuit and decide to nope the fuck out. Yugo's voice cracked mid-scram of terror seing his hand melt and fall off, his eyes rolling up in his orbits as the kid slumped down on the floor like a wet sack of potatoes, again, his mind much happier to hit the emergency stop button before the supposed pain of losing a hand hit it.

Fainting did kind of fix the problem... as Yugo's body regenerated the lost metal and limb, which turned back a healthy pinkish color the moment the shinobi's devil fruit abilities were turned off...but that unfortunately left Will the only person there to be able to tend to Yugo's sorry state: wet and lost.

There was an attempt made, but it wasn't good enough. The kid had started to freak out and was steadily snowballing out of control, sweating profusely.
"Hey. Kid. Listen–" Will tried to snap him out of it and bring him back to reality, but it was no use. The breaking point had been reached, and now that dripping arm had started to begun flailing in the air wildly, sending droplets of shiny, metallic liquid all across the room. Now Will had certainly broken enough thermometers during his life to know exactly what they were dealing with the moment he saw the first drips turn into little beads on the floor – and he reacted fast, backing up into the other room to find a place where he could shield himself before he had his eyes filled with mercury! Before he closed the door, he did manage to witness the kid's arming basically melting off, creating an even bigger pool of mercury on the floor!

Though that was also when the noises on the other side of the door seemed to stop, and Will could finally crack it open and peer through. There the kid was, slumped on the floor, not seeming to be conscious anymore. Luckily, he had stopped dripping mercury all over the place, though the spills that had already happened were there – and it was a lot. A thermometer was nothing compared to this. How much had flied off somewhere he couldn't even see? The clinic was going to be a mess until they could properly clean it…

Will stepped outside, carefully. He kept an eye on the floor to make sure he didn't step on anything he shouldn't have.
"Oi, kid. You alive there?" He called out, but there was no answer. He didn't think the kid himself was in any danger – at the very least he hoped that a man who could produce mercury would not be susceptible to it, as that would be a horror story of its own. Still, he was going to have to get over to the kid and make sure he was alright. Will gritted his teeth as he made his way to grab some gloves just in case, and a sacrificial notebook he could use to gently try to move the masses along the floor, gathering them into larger pools away from the kid and out of the way.

Finally, Will was able to kneel down beside the kid, removing his gloves before giving him a quick examination. He definitely was out cold, that was easy enough to see. His fingers, surprisingly warm, wrapped around the kids jaw as he gently moved his head into a better position, occasionally tapping him on the cheek as he called out.
"Can you hear me?" The doctor asked, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder to give him a gentle shake. …There was no way for him to really carry the kid out on his own…

This time it took Yugo considerably less in order to wake back up. Mostly because where his brain expected to feel incredible pain, there was nothing. Eyelids fluttering open, Yugo managed to realize where he were and realize his arm was fine. Had he been hallucinating and seizing? Not really. His mind now had a clear understanding of his powers, as if the weirdness that happened had been internalized and was now considered normal. He could manipulate mercury and become mercury. He was still human, yes, just a mercury human to be correct.

The young shinobi groaned and pushed hiself in a sitting position. He saw the doctor there still by his side and the mess he had made. His expression darkened considerably as the reality of the situation finally truly settled in, leading to a nice wave of depression kicking him in the balls. He slumped there, pathetic and broken, unsure of what to do or say. At that very moment, Doctor Will was the only one there who could offer any kind of support. "...I..." he stated, looking up at the older man. "...help." was all he was able to plead before his eyes slumped back to the ground again.

If anything, he seemed much more cooperative this time around.

The kid was alive. Of course he was – but he also decided to open his eyes. Their eyes met, and though the kid probably was in better physical condition than he had been when first brought here, mentally… He clearly wasn't doing so well. That… Wasn't exactly Will's area of expertise, though in this case, he did actually know pretty well how the kid was feeling. And once he was actually asked for help by this previously very uncooperative patient… It was all over for him.

He let out a sigh.

"This place isn't safe anymore. Might be for you, but definitely isn't for me. I'm going to have to move you," he spoke, hoping that more words would help keep the kid grounded in this world,
"I can't really carry you out. You either have to walk out – I can offer you a shoulder to lean against – or I will have to drag you. That is up to whether or not you feel like you can get up," the doctor continued, offering his plan. That indeed was up to the kid, but even if it meant he had to risk his back, Will would be getting him out – the faster, the better.

And now that he had been forced to get up close and personal, feeling the wetness of his patient's clothes against him… He still couldn't believe how the kid had called the smell of his clothes a little salty, still. It was closer to the smell of wet seaweed baking on the shore in the sun, fish and who knew what those other aromatic, muddy whiffs were. None pleasant, however.

Luckily, the sun was still up. It would still be some time before it would get dark – though Will most definitely was not going to be sleeping outside once it came down to it. Wistfully, he looked towards the clinic. That wasn't going to be an option for them now, not before the dealt with all the mercury inside. He was just going to have to write off everything in there as already being contaminated, due to how wildly the kid had been trashing… Well, he had managed to close the door to the room he had been staying in. There might still be something he could go and grab to make the next hours slightly more pleasant.

"Stay here. I'll go back and see what I can get. Warm clothes for you, definitely. Some food, hopefully," Will spoke, telling the kid his plans – and hoping he was listening. They both could definitely use something to eat, and… As his gaze drifted towards the town down below and the long, winding path they had to take to get there, he really wasn't feeling like trying to get the kid all the way there until he was feeling a bit better. But as long as they managed to get something warm to eat, it would be enough for now, right?

Better be. Will got his breathing out of the way while he was outside and then stepped back in, trying not to breathe too much while also avoiding the puddle of mercury. He had to grab some clothes – different ones from the ones he had left in the room that had a mercury spillage accident, maybe a blanket for the kid, some matches to start a fire… And of course, some pots and such to actually cook in. They could get water from the well, but the food… Well, that situation wasn't looking for great. Will rarely cooked, so not only was there barely anything to choose from, it was all dried to maximize the shelf life. Oats it was, then. That would need some flavor, though. Finally a use for some of the dehydrated stock they had bought…

Will reappeared from the clinic quickly, with a various assortment of stuff he was carrying. He closed the door behind him and was finally able to get some proper breathing done, as he rushed back to the kid and plopped down another pair of dry clothes in front of him.
"Please. Change," the doctor was practically begging at this point, as he removed his own vest as well, which had gotten rather damp after transporting the kid outdoors,
"Better to have you dry so you don't develop anything once the temperatures start to drop more. After that… Well. We should start a fire."

Yugo was able to pull himself together somewhat, at least enough for the medic to not have to worry about dragging him anywhere. He didn't speak much else. He wasn't in a talkative mood. He just limited himself to follow the instructions relaid to him by the medic. He would slowly strip of his wet garments and wear whatever the guy was offering. Then he followed him to wherever he was being led to. Thankfully, it looked like there would not be too many people around.

"So..." Yugo spoke after a whike in contemplation of the fire. "How do you cure this?"

Will had one less thing to worry about now that he had gotten his patient to follow his instructions. He didn't want to go very far from the clinic yet – this was where they had the best source of water, after all, and he didn't want to push the kid to walk very far just yet. Staying near the well would do them just fine. Meant he could still see if anyone was walking up the path to the clinic so he could warn them of the mercury spill. When it came to starting a fire… Well, they definitely wouldn't be able to build a very strong one with the twigs that had fallen from the trees, but maybe that would be enough. The doctor spent some time gathering them around the area before he returned to the kid and placed his collection of nice sticks on the ground in front of them.

The kid of course followed up with a tough question. Will glanced at him, but stayed quiet for a while. A moment that might have felt painfully long as his gaze returned to the ground, where he took a seat. Maybe he was just thinking about the fire – this wasn't the best place to build one, of course, but many years of walking had worn a dirt path that made for a much better surface than the grasses and other plants around them. It would just have to do.

"You don't," the doctor finally replied as he started to layer the sticks into a formation he felt would suit them the best. He was no outdoorsman, but he had had to start fires in his time.
"No known cure. Not exactly considered a disease, either. It is just something you have to learn to live with – and in your case, that is very, very important. If what you create truly is quicksilver with all of its properties… That is highly toxic. I believe you yourself should be safe. Never heard of anyone who got killed by their own powers, but everyone around you, everything around you is at risk if you aren't careful and can't keep it contained. Before you worry about anything else, that is what you need to focus on."

Will scratched a match to ignite it and did his best to let the fire spread onto the smallest, driest sticks. Maybe they could get some warm food after this, if the fire took…
"There are some other things to keep in mind, as well."