"To" is for "tough," Captain

[seadevil]

Who: Motochika, his motley crew, and anyone else who wants to come gawk
Where: Isla Empieza, the shipyard
When: October 16, evening
What: The captain's finally bought his boat and while he really would be content to just stare at it a while, he'd rather show it off to his crew.
Warnings: Excessive dumbassery?
Style: Anything goes, I'm using [brackets]
Status: Open!

[Motochika considers the majestic caravel he's spent all of his money and an undisclosed amount of money that he's borrowed and stolen (but never begged!) over the past week or so on with no small amount of pride. She isn't what he's accustomed to and she'll never hold a candle to his beautiful Fugaku, but she's a beautiful thing nevertheless. He's spent the day hard at work getting things just how he wants them and all in all he's quite pleased with how it's turned out. The only worry now is his crew.

He has barely enough to man this ship and he knows it and that's assuming they all show up. He's sure he can make up for the lack of manpower and experience himself, but he doesn't know quite what to expect when they actually make it out to sea. He heaves a heavy sigh and scratches at his head. This is all turning out to be a fine mess.

He's tried to let them all know to meet up at around this time, giving them the day to go about their business, but they don't seem the most reliable bunch. He misses his loyal crew back home, always hanging on his every word and calling out his name with worshipful zeal. He'll whip this crew into shape as best he can, but they don't really seem to be the devoted and hero worshipping type...]

MOTOCHIKA! MOTOCHIKA! [Pi-chan squawks out his name as he makes his way down from his perch on the ship to his usual spot on Motochika's shoulder. Motochika chuckles to himself and scratches the parrot under the chin.]

At least someone here looks up to me.

Comments

[celebrity_commentator]

I look up to you, Captain!

[Rise arrives carrying several heavy-looking bags. In an improvement over her normal self already, she's actually carrying them herself.]

Or anyway, I know when there's someone I need to learn from, at least.

[seadevil]

Thank you, lass. It does my heart good to hear someone say that. [It's not as effusive as he'd like, but it's a damn sight better than all the abuse he's been getting lately.]

So? Here's our ship. What do you think? [He goes back to looking up at the ship with a distant, dreamy look on his face. Even if she was a worn down tub, he'd still be overjoyed with a way off this forsaken rock, but she's far from worn down. The shipwrights in this place do excellent work.]

What shall we name her?

[celebrity_commentator]

Huh, I've never named a ship before.

[She pauses and puts a finger to her lips, looking up at the ship thoughtfully.]

I suppose "Marukyu" is out of the question...?

[seadevil]

Marukyu? [He frowns, trying to figure out how that would be written.] We can run it by the boys if they show up. I was considering "Katabami" myself, after my crest, seeing as I can't use it on the flag or the sails.

[He'd seen the Koumyou in port and the colors she was flying. As much as he hates to part with the symbol and see it altered in such a way, he knows it's well within the other Motochika's rights to use it as he pleases.]

Nanatsu Katabami! [Pi-chan croaks out what appears to be his opinion on the matter and flaps his wings for emphasis.]

[celebrity_commentator]

Huh? Oh, is it because of the other guy?

[She nods somberly, then gets more determined]

Well, you're the captain, so it's your decision. Er, also, full disclosure, Marukyu is just the name of my family's shop, but only like two people here would know that.

[seadevil]

[Motochika nods and looks thoughtful.] If it's a name tied to your family, then I'll leave it to you. You might want to set up shop yourself if being at sea doesn't suit you. Well, maybe I'll ask the others or maybe I won't. I'm not sure I want to know what sort of foolishness Gintoki will come up with.

That aside, lass, what on earth have you managed to scrounge up here? [His attention has turned to Rise's bags. He only hopes there's something useful in there.]

[celebrity_commentator]

Oh no, I'm not sitting around this place waiting to be rescued. I want to go home.

[She looks down at the bags she'd dropped a few tags ago and I'd forgotten about.]

Oh these? Mostly clothes. This place is sorely lacking in modern anything, but I figured if nothing else I needed a few outfits with pants. Can't go climbing all over a ship in my school uniform, right? And a dress or two, even if corsets aren't really my thing. Oh, and food, of course.

[She prods one of the sacks with her toe.]

I tried to stick to the basics, especially since they haven't invented refrigerators here yet. How did people eat eggs or milk back then, anyway?

[Just consider yourself lucky she was physically incapable of finding decent makeup or hair products, or you wouldn't even have the food.]

[parfaitsamurai]

[slowly makes his way to the boat carrying his... nothing, actually. except for his wooden sword, he got nothing with him and he had spent most of his money in the local brothel. or maybe it was a lady that kicked him in the head after he paid, Gintoki won't talk about that.

either way, he miserably misses his moped right about now. also, people who won't wake him up this early]

[imitating the parrot] Moechika, Moechika!

[seadevil]

[Motochika scowls and turns to look at the newcomer. If he had any money left to bet, he'd put it all on this being the man he recruited over the journal.]

Motochika, thank you very much. Is there some curse on this island that prevents people from using a man's proper name? [Pi-chan offers a helpful Motochika! possibly trying to cement his place as first mate on this ship of fools.] If the parrot can manage it, so can you lot.

[Pi-chan gives Gintoki a smug, superior look at that.]

[parfaitsamurai]

Now, now, Captain, what's a nickname between friends? [major hypocrite because he will be beating up the idiot calling him Kintoki later in the day.

he leans in, looking at the parrot - he doesn't like that smug look on him]

Ohh! Good to see you brought some emergency food!!

[seadevil]

[Pi-chan snaps at Gintoki's nose and flaps his wings in a huff. Motochika just laughs and pats the bird on the head. Poor fool walked right into that one.]

This would be Pi-chan and unless one of you lot shows some skill other than running off at the mouth, he's first mate of the ship. Count yourself lucky that he takes his payment in peanuts, otherwise he'd get a bigger share of our treasure than you.

[Pi-chan preens his feathers and gloats.]

[parfaitsamurai]

[Narrowly avoids getting his nose pinched, and boy are he and this bird gonna have issues in the future]

Noooo problem!! I'll make sure to take proper care of Pee-chan!!

[hm? does the name sound different? anyway-]

So, Boss, where are we heading out to first? Fighting pirates? Getting treasure? Finding some chocolate parfaits?

[seadevil]

I've made an arrangement with another crew to ship out together in search of treasure. I'll be spending some time working on upgrades to their ship, but I'll make sure they have someone to send over to babysit you so you don't sink my ship. There's nine of them to the five or six of us, mostly experienced sailors, so think of it as a learning experience.

[urnotafraid]

[he really didn't care about any of this. Sho pulled his trench tighter around him, the sun burning his eyes even with the protection of his sunglasses and the tangled mess of his braids clicking as he looked for the proper sign. he didn't care but he also wasn't keen on getting stabbed if he stayed in port. he had wished that his own personal mark would count for something, but these were pirates more than anything and while there were some honest understanding, there was little else between pirates and their land-locked brethren.

not that these people even understood what the mon meant.

so Sho made it to the ship, the sunlight sapping him of strength and speed and hurting his eyes but at least not setting him on fire.]

[seadevil]

[Motochika looks over and raises a hand in greeting to this new arrival. The coat and the tinted spectacles indicate that this is most likely the man he'd corresponded with over the journal. He shouldn't feel this pleased that he had actually shown up, but he's already learned that nothing is simple in this world, even things that really should be.]

Sho, I presume? Welcome to the Katabami.

[urnotafraid]

Yeah.

[the off-handed comment was accompanied by a shrug - who else would he be given the amount of layers he wrapped himself in? - before he eyed the boat. he maybe been on a couple in his life as a passenger and most of those had been ones without sails and having their own engines. this thing was definitely not something in his experience.]

[seadevil]

Man of few words, I see. Not a bad thing on this crew, so I appreciate your signing on . I'm Motochika, if you hadn't guessed. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

[As rough as he looks, he can be quite well-mannered if he wants to be, noble upbringing and all. He just doesn't care to most of the time.]

[urnotafraid]

Words don't mean anything.

[he might have thought something different when he was younger and full of the reckless fire that set him against larger, better prepared gangs with a laugh. but these days, well, a lot of that fire has been burned out of him, just like his humanity.

but the man deserves some respect given the requests Sho had made of him.]

Sorry. A lot on my mind and I find all of this ridiculous.

[seadevil]

It is all rather ridiculous, I agree. [Motochika puts his hands on his hips and heaves a sigh.] Being snatched up through space and time and dropped here, wherever this is, being told to go find some ruby so we can all go home...I can scarce believe any of it, yet here we are.

[He shakes his head.]

I think it's been a bit stranger for me than for most, though, so I've a sympathetic ear if you wish to make use of it. Though I suppose you aren't the type to.

[undeadparts]

[As promised, Zozo wandered on board the ship early in the evening, which was the time Motochika had told her to show up at. Since most of the island's inhabitants would be nice and cozy in their beds, none of them would be around to give her a hard time. No one to run away screaming, or attack her, or even call her a zombie. Which was a relief; she'd been called a zombie quite enough, thank you.

...not that you can blame them.

After walking on board the ship, she looked up at the flag to confirm that this WAS the right place, before looking around curiously. When she spots Motochika, she waves with her much larger hand.]

[seadevil]

Ah-- [You can't blame him for being a little startled. He's met a necromancer before, but old man Nanbu wasn't so...blue, or stitched together, or scantily clad. He tries to play it cool as best he can.]

You must be Zozo! Welcome aboard the Katabami!

[undeadparts]

[It's hard wearing normal clothing when your body parts fall off so easily.]

Yep.

[Lady of few words, this one. Zozo takes a few steps forward, casually looking around the ship. Her face was a bit hard to read, but she does seem interested in the ship.]

Katabami, huh? I've never been on a ship before. It's nice.

[seadevil]

[That boosts Motochika's ego a bit. He grins and watches her take in the majesty of his precious new ship.]

She is quite the beauty. What do you think? Going to throw your lot in with us?

[undeadparts]

[It takes a few seconds for her to respond, as she's still looking around.]

That depends. I...kinda need to bring along some special cargo.

[seadevil]

What sort of special cargo? [He's not making any guarantees, but he'll at least hear her out.]