Why did the Death God Courtesan go on vacation in a pirate world?

[shinigamidayuu]

Who: Tsukuyo & anyone around Empieza.
Where: Isla Empieza, town and harbor.
When: Now-ish.
What: Looking for a crew to join, or a ship of her own if she finds none. Also going about town just looking around, inspecting the fountain, getting some supplies, etc. Open to just about anything!
Warnings: None as yet; will update as needed. Violence possible if you provoke her in a bad way, but it's pretty unlikely.
Style: Not picky! Prose, brackets; past tense, present tense - I'll match you.
Status: open~

Tsukuyo had experienced quite a few things in her relatively young life, but this was a new one. However, there was little point in wondering about what exactly had happened and how it had happened just yet. Like the other new arrivals - and if that strange journal had served no other purpose, at least it had taught her there were others like her - she'd been given instructions on what to do, and how to get out of this situation.

Fine. As annoyed as Tsukuyo was deep down, there was no point in moping when there was work to be done. If finding those ruby shard was what she had to do, she would do it. Revenge on whoever had taken her here could follow - perhaps upon delivery.

It was a rather peaceful town, she had to admit - especially for one that supported kidnapping on such a large scale. Looking around, she couldn't help but feel a certain curiosity about the place and its inhabitants, in spite of her predicament. But Tsukuyo had her own town, her own place to protect. This wasn't it. While she wasn't too worried about Yoshiwara just yet (she'd trained the Hyakka well; surely they could handle things on their own for a while...), she had no intention of staying here any longer than necessary.

After a quick inspection of the town, starting at the fountain, she continued her seemingly leisurely stroll in the direction of the harbor, smoking her kiseru on the way. She wasn't about to make any rash decisions, but it couldn't hurt to at least look at the ships in port and consider her options, could it?

Comments

[ironicprince]

Dirk had had surprisingly good luck when it came to getting people to agree to be his crew. Well. Good could certainly be debatable, considering the types he kept picking up. It was complicated and honestly he's been mildly concerned on just how all of them will get along when it's all said and done. He'd gotten only a little sleep in the past couple of days, but that didn't bother him at all. Despite renting a room in the in, it was only used to put the few basic supplies he's already gathered. Left there with Sawtooth instead of in his sylladex so the bot could have them if anyone came to the Inn looking for his room.

Despite knowing that he had members of his crew that asked, or in a certain someone's case demanded to check out ships with him, it never hurts to just browse through and debate the pros and cons of different models and their varying amenities.

There's nothing really eye catching about Dirk himself, aside from his strange sunglasses, just the fact of a sixteen year old boy floating in the air to get a better look at the ships. He notices Tsukuyo approach, but doesn't make it too obvious other than a glance in her direction to see just what the chick's up to.

[shinigamidayuu]

A floating young man. Nope, that's not strange at all.

All right, maybe it's just a little strange. Tsukuyo thought she had a pretty good idea of her situation, but she hasn't quite realized the diversity of the imported population yet. The first thing she does - as anyone who is Tsukuyo would - is to check for wires, because while actual floating should be impossible, there are plenty of ways to make it seem like you're floating... and invisible threads is one she's intimately familiar with.

No threads that she can find. Odd.

Exhaling smoke, she looks up at the floating young man, keeping some distance. No big deal; she's just here, smoking, hanging out. Not curious in the least.

[ironicprince]

Dirk is far too paranoid not to notice eyes on him, even if he hadn't been keeping tabs on the woman in the meantime. He lets it go on for a few more lingering moments as he finishes a few calculations on his shades, comparing the ship sizes and speeds, before turning his full attention toward her. He wanders a little closer, but doesn't land just yet. Nothing wrong with hovering a few feet of the ground, especially when he knows it's got someone's interest.

"Yo."

[shinigamidayuu]

It's hard not to attract attention by floating in the air, which is part of why Tsukuyo isn't trying to hide the fact that she's watching too much. If you're out in public, you're going to be seen - and strange methods of transportation can only make you more noticeable.

So when the young man approaches her, she doesn't pretend like she hasn't seen him; instead, she acts like it's the most natural thing in the world for him to talk to her, like she's been expecting it all along.

"Hey." Equally casual greeting before she takes another drag of her kiseru, eyes coming to rest on the young man, observant but not scrutinizing. She exhales the smoke calmly before giving in; there are enough things she has to think about, since arriving here, and this is one that she can simply come out and ask. If she doesn't get an answer, she hasn't lost anything. "Fine... How do you do it?"

[ironicprince]

She appears to be the calm type, somewhat different than those he's met so far, so he's not at all surprised by how casual she is with the greeting. He'd even been anticipating the question she puts forth, why else would anyone bother staring at him? He'd avoided showing any of his abilities if possible, but it was better to get a higher viewpoint of the ships, saved time in having to look over each of them one by one to get a good look at them.

"Bullshit shenanigans is the best explanation I can give you. It's just something I can do." He's not good with small talk, still getting used to it really, but he is good with getting to points and asking questions in turn. "Here to buy a ship or are you just checking them out?"

[shinigamidayuu]

Just something I can do doesn't feel like much of an explanation, but if he can't or won't explain any further, Tsukuyo doesn't have any choice but to accept that. As long as he doesn't get violent, it's none of her business what he does and what he's capable of, anyway.

"Something like that." She takes a moment to look at the ships rather than him, as if confessing to the truth of that statement - nevermind that she kept it as vague as possible, half because there's no need to share information without a reason - something like an safety measure - and half because she's a private person by nature anyway. "How about you?"

[ironicprince]

The reasoning is too complex for him to go into, not right now. There's no point in explaining himself to anyone who comes by after all, it would waste too much time. He lands on his feet not too far from her, arms folded over his chest as his gaze turns back to the ships as well.

"Scoping them out. My crew's going to need one that suits us, however I'm still uncertain on a solid number and we can't make a decision until we know how many we'll have to run the ship. So, for now, I'm doing stat checks and seeing which would be the fastest and most well suited. That way when we're ready to buy one, we won't be here all fucking day trying to decide since we'll already have all the information we need."

[shinigamidayuu]

"Good plan." But then, he's old enough that she doesn't consider him a child anymore - he isn't one, by her standards - so it's not exactly a surprise that he has an idea of what he's doing.

The rest of what he's saying is rather more interesting.

"So you're putting together a crew, huh?" She keeps the question light; no more than a polite interest, here. While tempted, she's not ready to commit to anything just yet. He's old enough that she considers him grown-up, but he's still younger than her. He can fly, yes, but she doesn't know his other skills, presuming he has any.

But all of that can follow. One step at a time.

[ironicprince]

"That's right." With more success than he'd been expecting, given his people skills are less than developed. But for what he lacks in conversational skills, he feels that he more than makes up for in ability. He was able to impress Rider after all, and hopefully Itachi too. He's still really hoping on that one, it would be so awesome to sail with him in his crew.

"I've recruited five others so far, as well as another who said he'd give it some thought. But it's only been a couple days, I'm not ready to give up yet. It seems like there's a decent amount of people who show up at the same time, may as fucking well gather together what I can so we've got the best possible start."

[shinigamidayuu]

"All new arrivals, is it?" The question is thoughtful, more than questioning. A crew of newbies is not ideal - but then, it's not like she's any better, herself. While she has plenty of fighting skills, her knowledge of sailing is non-existent. And at least with a new crew, there are no old alliances to get in the way of things. Presuming they get the ship on its way at all...

Another puff from her kiseru, and Tsukuyo gives in a little. "I admit, I'm new here too." In case the outfit etc. didn't make that painfully obvious. "It seems we're not given a lot of time to find our way here, before we have to head out." She could try to sail a ship by herself, but... that wouldn't get her very far.

Well, she may as well ask and see. Focusing on the ships again, she avoids eye contact; this is all awkward enough without her feeling like she's asking for favors. "If you're still looking for more crewmembers... I'd consider joining, if you'll have me. I don't know anything about sailing, but when it comes to a fight, I don't often lose."

[ironicprince]

He hadn't been expecting it seeing as how this woman looked like she had an idea of what she was doing around here, but it's certainly not a bad thing either. They could always use the extra hands on board, nothing wrong with that. Especially good fighters, they had at least two that they needed to make up for.

"One of them is an experienced sailor and privateer and most of us are fighters, so despite being new arrivals we'll know exactly what we're doing." The break of attention elsewhere tells him he's not the only one awkward with situations like this, so that's another bonus. If it can even be called that. He doesn't even pretend to think it over, that would be such a douche move.

"So if you want, you're welcome to join us. It'll be a few days before we set sail while we gather supplies." And the vast majority of the crew are women, but this one seems more calm than some of the others. Hopefully she doesn't mind the more eccentric types. "Name's Captain Dirk Strider, would be Cap'n Di-Stri if my crew knew how to be cool." But they don't, so he's mostly given up on that title for now. Never hurts to try.

[shinigamidayuu]

Her eyes narrow a little, thoughtful. As long as they have one experienced sailor, that will get them far. Battles at sea should be avoided if possible, but with a good number of fighters (and at least one person who can fly), they'll be far from hopeless. The odds of those ruby shards floating around in the middle of the ocean are next to nothing, anyway; they're bound to be on land, aren't they? Well then, they'll stand a good chance.

"If it's Di-Stri you want to be called, I don't see the problem." Probably either that or captain, and not both at the same time... but she could do that much for him, in return for him taking her on. Still, she avoids making a big deal of it, quite deliberately. No favors on either side, here. They just both happen to be getting what they want; they don't owe the other a thing. "And in that case, I'll join your crew..." She tries not to sigh before the adds: "Captain."

It's nothing personal, but taking a few steps down the hierarchy... will take some adjustment.