high_seas | Giant Spiders Oh My

Entry tags:

Giant Spiders Oh My

Who: the current Hazmats
Where: sailing to Manahana-lia Island, then on the island
When: August 27 through September 5th
What: sailing as fast as they can to rescue Cynthia, and the rescue thereof. They'll try to save time by jumping through Empieza but...
Warnings: spiders. Violence, talk of death, Gan Ning's mouth
Style: whatever you want, don't mind the setup
Status: closed to Hazmat crew

The minute the scream came though his journal, Gan Ning was moving. There was no time to waste fiddling around, they had to set sail to find Cynthia before it was too late. He tore through any maps and information they had on the ship, looking for anything that suggested spiders. Her clue, the spider-webs, meant that was all he had to go on. Fortunately, other pirates around the docks totally knew which island that was, and aside from impressing on him the "don't go there" part of the legend, told him where to find it.

It did seem odd that no matter where they were, if they set sail for Isla Empieza, they'd make it there in a day or so instead of weeks. Gan Ning relied on that, even though he didn't do more than skim through the harbor before setting a new course for Manahana-lia in the far west of the land. Hopefully weather wouldn't be against them. They had a long way to go and didn't have Wan there to guide the winds in their favor.

Spiders, the other pirates said. There'd be large spiders and his crew would be killed. Nope, Xingba would not let anyone die if he could help it. But that meant they'd have to fight. Roxas needed to heal so he could guard the ship, but everyone else, well...

Let's hope they make it on time.

[ooc: info on the island is here - make and date your own sailing threads but we'll hit the island about the 3rd or 4th and there'll be a fight log for that]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It isn't that he's sore with Lea so much as he's sulking about the situation. He does move over and take a seat, resting his good arm down and propping his chin on it.]

Yeah, I think so. He said..uh...[He just needs to focus. It's got to be in there.] Ummm...at least a month! That was it. And he said I should see another doctor before I just take it off to make sure everything is okay.

A month, huh? Damn, no wonder you're already itchin' to take it off. [boy does he sympathize] I'll remember that. We'll find a nice place, someone trusty on Empieza or somethin', and take care of that in a month.

I think he was worried, like you said because I had a hard time holding my keyblade. I can hold things okay but if you move my shoulder near the wound I drop them. Something about damage...I don't know. He said it should get better, it just needs to heal.

The Heartless never shot me you know.

[He's taken damage in the past but it was never anything a quick cure spell or a few nights' rest wouldn't fix.]

Better safe than sorry, then. [with a nod, because he knows all too well. A fighter who can't hold a weapon...]

New to the whole firearm thing, too? Yeah, before Orochi's world I'd never seen one either. Apparently they weren't invented till hundreds of years after my time. It ain't like bein' shot with an arrow, that's for sure.

[He nods thoughtfully.]

I can't think of anyone who uses guns like these Navy people do. No one I know anyway. Everyone had different weapons in the Organization. Like Demyx's sitar or Lea's chakrams. Let me think. Riku had a keyblade. But he wasn't a member but for some reason he had a coat didn't he? I should have asked him about that...

[Now he's just mostly thinking out loud.]

Mmm, yeah, I can't think of anything like these guns I've ever seen.

Mm. So maybe they didn't quite make it to your world. If ya ask me, nothin' beats the feel of a blade in your hand - the impact against your enemy, the way you gotta be in close enough to see his face and the light in his eyes when you cut across him...

[shakes himself alert before he can drift off into happy battle memories]

...I mean. Hand to hand is just more fun. Yanno?

I guess so. It's easier anyway. I have a hard time with magic, it's not the same. That's why my spells are so basic. It's easier just to worry about the keyblades. I didn't always have two though, that's pretty new.

[But he certainly knows how to use them. Another mystery, he can't help but note.]

Man, don't I know it! I'm with ya, kiddo, let's just hit things with our blades and worry about magic later.

[there's a pot of tea on the table, which is probably lukewarm by now but beggars can't be choosers. He refills his cup and slides an empty one toward Roxas if he wants some]

Guess ya got time to practice the magic, though.

[He grins and nods a bit, moving to pour himself a cup.]

Yeah, I guess so. It's kind of weird to do without having missions to use it on but I'll figure something out.

[He hums a moment, maybe Gan Ning could tell him something.]

How did you learn to sword fight?

Me? Well, I didn't have any kinda teacher if that's what ya mean.

[he glances at River Master, currently resting against the wall]

Most of it was learnin' by doin'. I set out on my own when I was younger'n you, could hold a knife and a bow and that was it. Picked up the sword when I was about fourteen, and after watchin' other bandits I picked up their moves, and then made up a few of my own.

'S not like a lot of youngsters who signed on to the military with one or lord or another, and got basic training. I'm all self-taught.

I don't know what I mean.

[He seems to think about this. None of the vague snippets of Sora's life did he ever see anyone else teaching him to fight. It was a huge mystery.]

You just watched people? That's pretty good...I remember, you're strong.

I guess I thought maybe you did have a teacher or something. But maybe people just learn by doing too. I think about that sometimes.

Oh yeah, there's lotsa ways to learn to fight. I've seen a lot of 'em comin' through the Wu camps, now that I'm in that army, and some of 'em don't even realize that there's more than just swords, spears, and bows. My lord's wife fights with a big fan, and my pal Ling Tong fights with nunchuku like Michelangelo did.

[Roxas gives him a puzzled look and tilts his head a little. The name is lost on him.]

I think about it because I don't know how I learned how to use them. I just know. It's even more confusing because I have two keyblades and Sora only has one.

So you're sayin' you should know exactly what he knows, and ya don't? Huh.

Any idea who taught him?

No idea. I don't really know much about Sora. It's kind of really complicated and all mixed up in my head.

All I really know of him are things I dream sometimes. Some dreams are longer and some are so short I barely see anything at all. They never feel like my dreams though.

[Which they are, or they're supposed to be. Or his memories or something.]

He was here and he said something really nice to me but that's all I got to talk to him about.

[shakes his head, because it's all still crazy]

Guess you gotta muddle through on your own, then.

Yeah I guess. I don't know. A lot of things get all mixed up in my head.

[It's the easiest way to explain it.]

I think the dreams are supposed to be my memories from before I was me. It doesn't feel right though, so I don't know.

Sora told me he didn't want me to disappear that I should be myself. It was...really nice of him.

I don't think anyone wants you to disappear, kid. Fate or not, that's not something anyone would just want.

[Roxas looks up and gives his head a bit of a pitiful shake.]

That's not true. Lots of people want me to disappear. Just not Lea.

[Lea had done some things, gone to many lengths so far to get Roxas back and Roxas knew it to be true.]

Naminé, Riku, DiZ...Organization XIII...everyone wants me gone somehow or another, although I'm not sure the Organization wants me to disappear so much as die but...

[He knows everything important about his fate. He remembers the most painful facts.]

Okay, well, lemme clarify. Anybody who isn't your enemy doesn't want you to disappear. Or isn't happy about it. It's like I was tellin' ya about Sun Ce. I don't want him to die, but he already died so...I don't like it, but it'll have to be.

[He considers that.]

I guess...I guess Naminé is my enemy, isn't she?

[He hadn't thought of it like that. The girl seemed nice, she seemed like she meant well even though she had told him some very hurtful things.]

Maybe you're right. I know, well I think, my other friends don't want me to disappear either.

That, I can't tell ya. All I know is...well, I don't know a lot, really. I'm not as smart as I look, sometimes. But I don't like the idea of ya disappearin' either. It gives me a cold feeling.

A cold feeling? What kind of feeling is that?

[He leans forward, curious.]

I've never heard of something like that. Is it bad?

Nah, nah, it's just like...

[protip, Roxas, don't take feelings advice from a guy who isn't good with any feeling that isn't anger or amusement]

Kinda helpless. Like what am I gonna do against fate? In my line of work, death is inevitable - either your enemy dies or you do. But that's a decision you make in the moment, in the heat of battle. It's not somethin' you can see comin' for a long time and have to think about.

[Look at what he normally has to work with.]

Helpless, huh?

[He seems to think about that. He doesn't feel that, he doesn't think. Not yet anyway, however the way he's been lately it's hard to say if he will in the future or not.]

I don't know if knowing is better. I think if Naminé hadn't told me...well I'm not sure. What if I didn't go where she wanted me to?

[Manipulated, it's happened a lot.]

Actually, why did I go to the mansion? I was...I was after...[His brow furrows as he thinks about it. So many things were hazy and confusing about that day. Week. Whatever the time frame was.]

Sora. I wanted to see Sora. That's what they want me to do though.

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