New friends, new catastrophes

[seadevil]

Who: The crew of the Katabami
Where: At sea, Manila Island
When: After departing Isla Empieza after the battle and covering events until the end of the month
What: Catch-all log
Warnings: Foul language, excessive dumb
Style: Any
Status: Closed to crew

Itinerary
- Meet and greet for new crew
- MANLY STORIES
- Visiting Manila so our more studious crew can get their research on and your esteemed captain can piss the moths off
- THIS COLD CURSE THING

EDIT: The turkey is now officially named Lord Buffalo Toritaro Stuffington, "Twitchy" for short. Feel free to make use of this.

Comments

[thatsmycue]

Who needs a radar when you have someone who can be a master of the skies?

[He says this confidently as he gently urges Togetaro to land on the ship's deck. He hops off of the Pokemon's back, patting his head gently as he does so]

Aline? What're you thinkin'? This is a Pokemon, they're perfectly native to my home world.

[thatsmycue]

[As someone who comes from a world where turkeys don't exist. . . you can bet Gold is staring at Lord Buffalo "Twitchy" Toritaro Stuffington while Zozo takes care of him]

What's wrong with its neck? It's looks funny.

[Ah, the refreshing delight of blunt and rude teenagers]

[thatsmycue]

[It's way too cold. But that's what fire Pokemon were for, right? And that would be why Gold has his Typhlosion out of his pokeball today. The Pokemon's back is dancing with warm, soothing flames, but even as the trainer huddles as close to them as he can get without burning himself, it. . . doesn't seem to be doing the trick]

Someone turn on the heat, it's freezing.

[rebellions]

Suit yourself.

[Which is to say that no, he doesn't care, and yes, he'll probably keep calling it a mascot anyway. Why the hell not call things what they are?

... Though he has to admit this one's cuter better than the others he's seen so far.]

At least it's less freaky than that goddamn plant.

[Let's be real here, what he's trying to say is "more cuddly".]

[undeadparts]

[Eye. Twitch.

Zoz could stand being stared at. That was no big deal. But being called a zombie for the umpteenth time? Nope, not happening. She grabs Staffy and slams the door to her fridge shut, taking a few steps towards Ragna. Making proper expressions might be difficult for the necromancer, but you'd have to be an idiot to not see her anger.]

I am not a zombie! Why does everyone think that?

[seadevil]

A veritable feast appeared on deck last month, followed by that turkey, but that was harmless. The month before...[He shudders, and not just from the cold.] For more than a week, the sun didn't rise and all was choked with fog. Then, in that fog we began to see the shambling cursed ghosts of sailors long passed. My ship was spared their curse, but I've heard tell of others who found themselves changed into a monstrous form until the sun rose again.

[He shakes his head.]

It seems every month there's a new bit of madness for us to deal with.

[seadevil]

I'd say go belowdecks, but I don't want that beast of yours setting anything aflame.

[That doesn't stop him from trying to find a spot to stand where he can take advantage of the fire, too.]

How does it manage that, anyway? It shouldn't be possible, but I've seen so many impossible things lately that I can't really say I'm surprised by this one.

[harbouredheart]

[Xun Yu's eyes widen as she listens to and absorbs his information. She's one of those people who is always thinking, always examining, and there is plenty to consider in what Motochika's said.]

That is [she hesitates] certainly disconcerting. Though in line with our forced arrival, I suppose. How does one counter such extraordinary power?

[It seems like an insurmountable task. Yet Xun Yu doesn't linger more than a moment on the thought, practical woman that she is: there are more concrete issues for her to fret over right now.]

I can't see how crew morale will endure if this cold lasts as long.

[seadevil]

We're a tough bunch, so I've no doubt we'll pull through. If we don't all freeze first, that is. I've been doing what I can to try to warm things up a bit belowdecks, but I can't do anything against magic. We'll just have to solider on and hope this only lasts the week. We should make port in Manila before long, so there's that as well. If nothing else, we may be able to find something at the library.

[He shrugs. He'll probably be leaving that bit of it to Cross and Xun Yu and maybe Zozo if she decides she wants to do a bit of reading.]

[harbouredheart]

[Xun Yu dips her head in acknowledgement. She hopes that Manila's library will be worth their time, but there's no promise of quality until they actually see its contents for themselves so she is reserving opinion.]

Which methods of warming up have you confirmed are ineffective, Captain? We should learn from our efforts, at least to preserve our energy.

[She stills the exertions of her hands in defeat.]

[wavemotiongunner]

[He'd been thinking of Pluto when he said that. He realizes how strange what he just said must sound.]

Well the last ocean I saw was all frozen over with ice. It didn't really resemble the ocean from when I was young. The oceans on my world were all dried up and the whole planet is facing extinction. We're on a mission to acquire the means to restore the planet.
[He's not sure that makes anymore sense. It's the best he can do.]

[wavemotiongunner]

[While the Yamato was impressive ship the odds had been stacked against her.]

I learned under Captain Okita that often it's not overwhelming firepower that wins the battle it's inventive tactics.
[Inventive is putting it kindly as he remembers their past battles. The Captain was incredibly bold in the heat of battle. His new Captain's personality was the opposite of Okita's. It's going to be a challenge working an old fashioned ship and keeping up with this man.]

[seadevil]

All of them. The heater is useless, Gold's beasts are useless, extra clothes are useless...I've seen some write in the book saying that sharing someone else's body heat seems to work, at least for a while, but...well...

[It's not that he's at all opposed to the idea in general, but bringing it up to the crew is another story.]

[seadevil]

The ideal would be to have both firepower and tactics on your side, but in my experience people tend to see the firepower and make it so you never need to use the tactics. It's when they get a big head and think they can overcome you that you have to get tricksy on them.

[He doesn't have a lair full of deathtraps back home just for fun. Well, it's mostly for fun...]

[rebellions]

[Feeling that his legs can support his weight again, Ragna finally stands up, glaring angrily at Zozo. He's definitely not in the mood to be lectured by some undead lady who got lost on her way to the coffin.]

Geez, no clue. [It shouldn't be a surprise at this point that his voice is dripping with sarcasm.] Maybe it's 'cause you look like you jumped straight outta D-class zombie apocalypse movie?

[Way to be a gentleman, Rags.]

[harbouredheart]

[A reprieve...?] Could it be true? [Her gaze brightens at the prospect and she grows more animated. Just the idea of a measure of warmth is tantalising.]

If sharing body heat really does work, surely no one would choose to wallow in this misery...!

[Honestly, Xun Yu has no idea if it affects Zozo in the same way or even the first place, but for the living-bodied it takes an exceptional fool to prefer freezing to death, as far as she's concerned.]

[harbouredheart]

[Her puzzlement shifts into concern. She understands to a degree and empathises, though her homeland's situation was not quite as dire as extinction.]

My sympathies. I cannot imagine how difficult your burden is... it must be beyond frustrating to be trapped here when you carry such a vital task on your shoulders.

[seadevil]

I've known him but a short time, but I think I could name one for you.

[His name begins with "Ragna" and ends with "the Bloodedge."]

As for the rest of us, I suppose it's just our pride keeping us from it. I know it's not a demand I'd feel right making as captain.

[In other words, he being stubborn about it.]

[harbouredheart]

[It's less pride than embarrassment that makes Xun Yu hesitate -- she's a woman, and where she comes from that complicates matters. Though she tries, she's never been entirely successful at separating that part of herself.]

There may not be a need for you to make any demand.

I could mention the solution to the others. You are the tallest and broadest man aboard and everyone has made a connection with you, otherwise they wouldn't be on your ship. That makes you an obvious choice to approach.

[While she's fairly small, her own advantage is that she's an ordinary woman, and therefore not particularly threatening to anyone's bravado.]

Though it's pointless if the rumour is an empty one...

[She lowers her eyes, averting her gaze as she makes a decision. Someone must make the first request or no one will overcome their pride, and the theory at least needs to be tested. A touch of awkward shyness enters her demeanour; she lifts her frozen hands between them.]

Captain, will you please condescend to warm my hands?

[A trace of her embarrassment carries in her beseeching words. She cannot quite contain it all.]

[undeadparts]

[Surprisingly enough, his comment actually...calms her down. He said she looks like a zombie, sure, but that bit about a movie has got her confused. Where she's from they don't exist, so she has no idea what one actually is.

And she's kinda curious.]

...what's a movie?

[undeadparts]

[Right now she's just sitting on a barrel with a loaf of bread in her hand. Staffy's leaning against the pen, since she'll need both hands to rip off pieces of bread for the bird.

And then Gold walks in and asks his question. She stops what she's doing, turns around, and just looks at him confused. Because really...how do you even answer that...?]

There's nothing wrong with it.

[thatsmycue]

Sintaro isn't freaky. If ya keep sayin' that, next time she uses Flash I won't warn you beforehand.

[It wasn't as though warning in advance had done much good last time, though]

[thatsmycue]

Who, Explotaro? He wouldn't set anythin' on fire unless I asked him to.

[Gold sounds confident when he says that, too]

And he's a Pokemon! He's a fire-type, so producin' flames is natural for him.

[Of course, Gold was still trying to get used to the fact that most people here weren't familiar with Pokemon, so the thought that Motochika probably didn't know what he was talking about didn't cross his mind]

[thatsmycue]

But it's all lumpy. Look!

[He steps forward, leaning over to gesture at the skin around Lord Stuffington's neck]

And dangly, too. What kinda creature is this?

[wavemotiongunner]

[Air superiority was important but as far as he knew they had one flying creature. By the look of it, the thing didn't look like it could carry much.]

Well on my last ship we saved the pilots and fuel for defense on my last ship. And then there's when there's bad condition for flying by sight. People need to rest. Then there's the chance you'd be spotted and end up leading them right to us.

So you call the creatures on your world pokemon or is it just this one species? There wasn't anything like it on my world.

[ Even before the planet bombing is left unsaid. He reaches out a hand to it. Waiting to see if it would let him touch it. Strange name he wonders why they're called that.]

Well at least it's not a giant bug we stopped to gather supplies on a planet and a feral one tried to eat my scouting party. From the murals we found the native people used to ride them.