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

[harbouredheart]

It was the right choice for a raid.

[A marked pause hangs in the air before Xun Yu speaks again, hesitant but committed to voicing her thoughts.]

Captain. [She sighs.] This is barely sufficient. Please understand that what I say next is not... [her words briefly falter] ...not meant as a proposition [and the atmosphere's already at twice as uncomfortable] but as an entirely practical request.

[There's no concealing her embarrassment now, but it's too late to retreat, so Xun Yu presses on. Whether any of her dignity can survive remains to be seen, but to be properly warm again... it's a sacrifice she's willing to risk.]

Can you... hold me?

[seadevil]

A--ah, w-well, that is to say...I'm not--

[Well, she did say it was purely a practical request and it's not like he's not freezing to death, but...

Ah, hang it all.

He lets go of her hands and pulls her into an awkward sort of hug.]

This should do...

[harbouredheart]

[The stiffness in the way that she holds herself slowly eases as warmth sinks back into her bones; his awkward hug is perfect, under the circumstances. Still, she cannot help but feel a pang of guilt for putting him on the spot.]

Forgive me for flustering you, Captain.

[seadevil]

Don't worry yourself over it. We'll all have a laugh about this later when we aren't freezing our-- well...freezing.

[He'd not hesitate to say exactly what he was thinking if it was, say, Sayaka, but he doesn't think Xun Yu will appreciate commentary on his freezing ass.]

If that day ever comes...

[harbouredheart]

I sincerely hope so.

[It's easier to endure, just knowing that a reprieve exists within reach. Motochika has been more gracious towards her than she perhaps expected -- it leaves her wondering.]

...How long have you been called the Sea Devil of the West?

[seadevil]

[The real question there is "How long have other people been calling you that?" He's been calling himself by that name for as long as he's had the idea in his head to be a pirate. It took a little longer for it to catch on with everyone else...]

For as long as I've been sailing. Those who looked upon my sails learned quite quickly what sort of man they were up against. It wasn't so long after that that my name and reputation spread throughout the land. Why do you ask?

[harbouredheart]

To learn more about you, Captain.

[Understanding makes it easier to serve effectively. Right now she knows only a little of him -- it doesn't hurt to make the most of his presence while they're in this position.]

[seadevil]

Ah...is that so?

[She's just so damn earnest about everything. He appreciates it, certainly, but he'd appreciate it more with the proper distance between them.]

I suppose I could answer a few more questions.

[While studiously inspecting the sails.]

[harbouredheart]

[Just a litle more warmth, and then she'll retreat.]

When did you start sailing? [She asks.] Why piracy?

[seadevil]

Shikoku's not so large an island, so it's only reasonable for a man with ambition in his heart and adventure in his soul to turn to the sea. One day I just decided that there wasn't enough for me on land and that was it. As for piracy...well, I can't help but want to take the treasure I find! What point is there in going forth if there's nothing to bring back to show for it?

[His idea of piracy isn't exactly what anyone in this world considers it to be. There's no terrorizing the weak or disrupting trade, only challenging powerful opponents and cleaning out their coffers when he wins. Really, Motochika's ideas of most things are a bit different...]

[harbouredheart]

[Xun Yu certainly knows the benefits and drawbacks of serving ambitious men. It's a trait that she's always admired in Cao Cao, even through the whole awful mess revolving around the Imperial Seal. But boundless freedom, chasing adventure, a desire to possess for the sake of possessing -- those she struggles to understand. To her own detriment, she fears.]

Was there nothing that bound you to land? Did you have anything to lose?

[seadevil]

Nothing to bind me to the land, but much to lose, I'm afraid. Were I a bit wiser of a man, I might have known that before much of it was lost to me.

[It's difficult to speak of it still. The loss of his men, his own foolishness that allowed him to be turned against his most trusted friend, the emptiness behind the eyes of the man who had orchestrated it all...all of it is still painful to recall.]

But that's neither here nor there. Nothing can be done for it until I return.

[harbouredheart]

[Xun Yu isn't sure how to respond to personal regret so clearly off-limits; without details it's impossible to navigate, and she's too polite to press.

When she speaks it is with care.]

No one is infallible, Captain.

[seadevil]

You're right of course, but no man wishes to hear that, let alone have it proven to him.

[He shakes his head.]

Enough of this talk. The temperature is low enough already, no need to lower our spirits as well.

[harbouredheart]

Yes, Captain.

[He is right, of course. After a moment she sighs.]

If Himiko were here, perhaps her power would have been enough to break this curse. [...] Now that I think on it, you must be countrymen.

[seadevil]

Himiko...? I'm not sure I've heard the name before.

[Either not that important a historical figure or one he'd learned about and since forgotten. Either was quite possible.]

Himiko...hm. It sounds like she should be, at least...

[harbouredheart]

Are Ieyasu and Kodai also from your country?

[The syllables of their names fit to her ears.]

We name it Wō in our records.

[seadevil]

Ieyasu is for certain. I've known the lad since he was half that size. Still not quite sure when the other half happened... [That will befuddle him for the rest of his days.] As for Kodai, I'm not quite as certain. The name fits, but when we met he was speaking of Iscawhatsit and Gamsomething, so I'm a bit in the dark as to his actual background.

[He hasn't really had the time to ask. Kodai has been making himself quite busy since joining the crew and he's not about to tell him to stop to chat.]

[harbouredheart]

[It doesn't particularly matter, of course -- there's no real relevance it will bring to the present, other than perhaps small pieces of shared culture for her to observe. Not that she's done yet.]

You've known Ieyasu since childhood? Or... since his childhood?

[Well, she's too polite to ask his age, but not above parsing. It may well be that Ieyasu can tell her more of Motochika too, depending.]

[seadevil]

Since his, or so I thought. Either I've missed a few years somehow, or he grew damn fast. When I said "half that size," I was speaking literally.

[Really, he's not that old. He's fairly certain he hasn't passed into his third decade yet, but Ieyasu makes him doubt that.]

[harbouredheart]

Literally? [Xun Yu echoes in surprise. It's difficult to imagine -- the equivalent in her mind would be waking up one day to find that Xiahou Ba had suddenly become the spitting image of his late father.] First encountering the change in him must have been quite a shock.

[If thought of it brings a hint of laughter into her expression, well, no one will see.]

[seadevil]

[Motochika, however, laughs out loud.]

It was, without a doubt! I wouldn't have recognized him at all if he hadn't been so excited to see me! His manner has changed very little, but his size...

[He shakes his head. It still baffles him, but it fills him with a strange sort of pride nonetheless to see that Ieyasu has grown up to be such an admirable man.]

Hopefully he's finished and we won't wake one morning and find him bigger than the boat.

[harbouredheart]

[Xun Yu lets her laughter loose at that. It's the silliest thing she's heard in a while.]

I think the risk of that is very small, Captain.

[After being so cold and miserable, it's undeniably good to be thoroughly warm and laughing. It has been a long time since she was anything other than completely serious.]

The Navy would no longer be a concern, but feeding him would be terribly costly...

[seadevil]

[Ah, he got her to laugh! He wasn't quite sure if that was possible. She gets a big smile in return for that.]

Hell, if he's that big, he can just catch his own dinner from the ocean. We'll just have to convince him he doesn't have to share it with the rest of us.

[harbouredheart]

Is that a tendency of his? [She's still collecting each tidbit shared, even as she plays along, a trace of her laughter lingering in her voice.] It would be a test of ingenuity to cover all of the impracticalities.