Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Maes Omake: Pepper spray sucks.

Yellowhammer said:
Tsukiakari did.

*-*-*-*
Juuchi: "Hey, been meaning to ask. When you got mace'd, why didn't you just dispel your avatar and reform it elsewhere? It's not like the pepper spray on your blade-self would have actually done anything."

Tsukiakari: "I did! It doesn't work when it's already inside your nose! It still burns just as much even you're not physical!"

Juuchi: "Ick. . . well, that's one thing I'm glad I never got to learn for myself."

*completely unamused sword-kohai*

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Saturday, 31st August 2013

For the second time in his life Dan found himself going to a naval base and he was once again wearing his suit while nervous. This time though the nerves were on someone else's behalf.

"You sure about this Mum?"

His mum twisted around slightly in the front passenger seat of the family car and smiled at him.

"I'm as sure as I've ever been of anything. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Dan just nodded.

The last week had been both busy and weird, so much so that he'd barely thought about the fact that he'd be back at college on Monday. After Awa Mari had left a few hours after dropping the bombshell about his mother his family had stayed up late into the night discussing it without really getting anywhere. The next morning they got a phone call from Hartlepool that lasted for over an hour and on Monday a naval officer and a woman who he recognised as HMS Mauritius arrived at their door. He'd sat on his mum's left side and his dad had sat on her left while Mauritius confirmed what Awa Mari had said and she and the naval officer had explained everything, including that it was entirely his mum's choice as to what she did about it. Of course, his mum being his mum there wasn't really that much of a choice. She'd always wanted to do her bit and now she had the opportunity to do so more than she had with her volunteering. They'd still told her to think about it and then they'd asked about her siblings since apparently being a ship was something that can strike more than once in the same family. His mum had told them that she had two brothers and that while she'd had an older sister, Pamela, she'd died of meningitis when she was eight.

After the officer and the shipgirl left Dan and his parents had talked it over, then his mum phoned her mum and her brothers to let them know. So of course they came around as soon as they could and there'd been more talking, before his mum reached the decision that everyone knew she would and announced that she was going to get awakened. His Uncle Dave made some bad joke about seafaring being in the family, his Uncle Keith had just nodded and given her a hug, and his gran had cried and hugged.

So on Tuesday morning his mum had phoned the naval base to let them know her decision. He'd finally got around to telling his friends on Wednesday and they'd taken it more or less in stride once the initial shock had worn off. Meanwhile his mum had gone to the naval base for a meeting and come back with the news that she was most likely the WWI Pathfinder-class scout cruiser HMS Patrol and that she was in the early stages of awakening on her own. The day after that he'd seen Awa Maru off at the airport, wishing her good luck and promising to let her know what happened.

Now he was sat in the car with his parents and gran while his uncles followed in Keith's car. Noticing that they were approaching the base's front gate he sat up straighter and took a deep breath. His mum patted him on the knee and then lightly squeezed his gran's hand.

"I'm going to be fine."

Half an hour, numerous introductions, a lot of words of thanks from various people, and a final check that yes, this was what his mum wanted to do later Dan found himself in the summoning chamber with his family, his mum standing on a rather flimsy looking wooden platform floating in the summoning pool with a nervous expression on her face.

The ceremony started and whatever the difference was between a summoning and an awakening Dan didn't notice it, he was too busy looking at his mother. As the ceremony progressed he felt something build up in the room as he had before. Then, as it reached its peak, he saw his mum's eyes widen before the platform under her feet broke apart and rigging appeared around her. After almost losing her balance on the surface of the water she recovered her footing and examined herself. Letting out a breathy laugh, she looked up at her stunned family, a wide smile on her face.

"Well? How do I look?"

Dan was the first to find his tongue.

"Awesome. You look awesome Mum."

A/N: Points if you spotted the foreshadowing.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

jgkitarel said:
And she wouldn't be the only one in her line of work, not to mention the fact that there are wizards and witches who went a more conventional and non-magical route in their lives/ Using other means and methods would appeal to them. That, and being tazed fucking hurts, no matter how tough you are.
Harry Leferts said:
Yeah, those are the most dangerous type of magical...​

*-*-*-*

"Oh great."

At the older witch's grumbling, Swordsman and Kisei glance at Mary with a raised eyebrow of inqury and confusion respectively.

"When you invited me along for lunch with the provisional heads up that you had a few things to do before hand, you didn't tell me that one of those things was visiting the portions of Hensou-Tomi Shrine that enforce a weapons ban."

A bemused smirk tugs at the corners of the older wizard's lips. "Let me guess? You're equipped for work?"

"Unfortunately, yes." The witch grimaces in annoyance. "I had a meeting with some rather unsavory types planned for tonight, tying up some loose ends in relation to the Jorogumo's lackeys from the Gashadokuro Incident. While it will in all likelihood be resolved peacefully, you know how I prefer to er on the side of caution and preparedness."

"Yes." Says Swordsman dryly. "Preparedness."

Mary shoots him an equally dry look in return. "Irregardless of how lacking in intelligence they or their previous master were, this was still a group who's leader was able to call upon a Gashadokuro, regardless of whether the rank and file had any control or involvement with it. There's a lot of unanswered questions being asked about that still."

"How often do you ever actually use anything more than your wand, a couple of knives, and some gadgets?"

"Just because I prefer subtlety, does not mean I should discount a response to the loud option."

Uncertainly, Kiesei looks between the two veteran MIB Agents, bringing the conversation back tot he immediate issue at hand. "Um... I get that there's a spiritual barrier on the meeting hall that stops any with weapons from entering, but is it really that much of an issue?"

Swordsman's response is to chuckle. "Trust me, just watch. This is going to be good."

Mary shoots him an irritated, dirty look for his amusement at her ill fortune, as they approach one of the side buildings of the shrine which doubles as the eastern entrance to magical Chiyoda ward. Seeing their approach, one of the shrine onmyouji charged with aiding the kannushi and mikos of the shrine with it's security and up keep, puts away his newspaper and pulls a trio of lock boxes out from under his table as he stands up.

"Please deposit all items and apparel you could consider weapons or items capable of effective harm, including wands and other focali, within the provided storage."

Uncertainly, Kisei glances at Mary and Swordsman, both of whom nod as they begin fishing through their clothes.

"You can trust them," says the wizard. "They're legit. At the very least, you can trust the wards of this place and the kami enshrined here to keep out anyone who doesn't comply, from this part of the shrine."

Seeing the two veterans going along with the request to disarm, Kisei decides there's nothing for it but to follow suit.

Wand. Knife. Back up knife that can double as a casting focali. Truncheon. Rope. Done.

Then she looks at her boss and blinks, as with a grin, Swordsman then finishes fishing around in the last of his pockets for items to put in his lock box.

Wand. Knife. Back up knife. An entrenching tool. A modern, muggle telescoping police baton. A taser. A can of pepper spray. Zip ties. A few rolls of various non-lethal ofuda. And finally, a deluminator disguised as a zippo lighter, which causes the onmyouji to shake his head and politely move to offer it back

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that one sir. Deluminators are fine, since they are generally defensive in nature."

Swordsman grins a cocky smile, that looks like it should belong on the face of a boastful young soldier in his twenties, rather than an aged old desk bird. "Actually, that is a weapon. It's just made too look like a deluminator that is already disguised as a lighter. It's a short ranged flamethrower, that can also serve as a single-use incendiary grenade in a pinch. Oh, and it still works like a normal zippo." Fishing around in his breast pocket, Swordsman then offers a pack of Lucky Strikes. "Smoke?"

Uncertainly, the onmyouji shakes his head, and very, very gently, places the faux-Zippo back into the box.

Equally perturbed by her boss' selection of custom additions to his daily duty equipment, Kisei frowns uncertainly at the other odd addition to his kit. "What's with the spade thing?"

Swordsman nods with grave seriousness. "Never underestimate the usefulness and applicability of an entrenching tool, towards solving or mitigating problems without the need for flashy magic or in plain sight." The wizard then grins, and pats the faded green piece of equipment fondly. "Mary and one of her old co-captains who were my superiors at the time, actually convinced me to barter this thing off a couple of nonmaj army guys, way back when I first got assigned to them. Best decision I ever made. I'd never have left 'Nam without it. At least, not without being in a box."

Blinking and looking at the wizard's prized improvised weapon (and it's surprisingly sharp edge and teeth) with a nervous new respect, a muted grumble of annoyance then makes Kisei turn to look at Mary curiously. Then the young witch double takes at the sight of the older veteran agent as she now takes her turn to disarm.

From her wrist holster, comes her Sakaki Wood and Dragon Tailbone and Scale wand. Leaning down, she then pulls an older and more beaten up Southern Live Oak and White River Monster spine wand from a spare holster at her ankle. A hand behind her back, next produces a Kabar knife covered in runes for lightning and power, along with a trio of throwing knives. Fishing around at her belt line proceeds to produce two more combat knives, two wooden stakes, a telescoping baton, a trio of glass vials containing solutions of quicksilver, Silver fulminate, and holy water, along with a bag of salt, zip-ties, handcuffs, a length of fishing line, a bag of clay, and a cattle-prod. The pockets at her pant's hips are then revealed to be secret holsters with contents that can vary on command, from which are procured four tasers, a tomahawk, various bundles of ofuda, a bunch of throwing knives, a Walther PPK, a World War II era M1911, and a Desert Eagle that looks like it should be chambered in .50 Action Express, but is obviously carrying some very 'custom' and non-standard material ammunition, judging by the differing colored metals in the tips of the rounds in the two magazines the witch procures.

"That's new," observes Swordsman idly, while Kisei feels her jaw begin to drop and match the onmyouji's. "What's with the Deagle?"

"Failed thought experiment I've been fiddling with since Blood Week," is Mary's reply. "It's still essentially a peashooter to them, but it at least makes a better 'rainy day' option to the old Model 29 I used to have."

"Aw, I liked that .44, it was hilarious. At least as long as you weren't on the other end."

"Unfortunately, Abyssals were on the other end, which is why I needed a replacement," counters Mary as she continues with her disarming, now fishing through the inside pockets of her robe and the equipment strapped to the chest of her dragonhide armor.

Quickly added to the lock box are two braces of throwing knives, a bandoleer of ammo for the pistols and tasers, three nomag flash-bangs, the same number in smoke grenades, two cans of pepper spray, a single canister of bear mace, three capsules of Stinging Weep Gas, two pairs of Molotov-cocktail style vessels full of Moon Dust and Dimeritium, a plethora of flasks containing Confusing Concoction, Draught of Living Death, Polyjuice, Veritaserum, along with all their counter potions, and a medikit. Switching her focus elsewhere, Mary next turns back to the wrist holster on the inside of her right forearm, revealing the backplate to double as a spring loaded shiv that can flick out between her fingers, before then kicking off her boots and adding them to the pile after revealing the hidden blades in the heels. Fishing behind her back, down the inside of her cloak's neck, the witch then produces a MACUSA Officer's Saber, a rapier made of silver, a rotary repeating crossbow, and a quiver of various colored arrows. Pausing for a moment and holding up a finger in askance for some patience, after much awkward shifting and difficulty, Mary then finally retrieves an unwieldy behemoth. Best described as a pair of double barreled shotguns stacked on top of each other and amalgamated to a super-sized magical howdah pistol, the result is a quad-barreled, break-open, elephant-gun sized monstrosity, it's surface alight with glowing runes and nordic symbols.

Unable to contain himself, the onmyouji blurts out the obvious question. "What on earth is that for?!? You could kill a house with that thing!"

"Gods." is Mary's terse reply. "Only minor ones admittedly. And dragons too I guess. I mostly save it for Class XXXXX Creatures and larger inferi made from more 'problematic' or magically resistant monsters, if I can get the drop on them. This isn't exactly something you can be particularly mobile or subtle with, or reload in a hurry."

Swordsman just gives a bemused snort. "I see you're still overcompensating for not completely aping Blazkowicz's old heirloom."

"Well, if I can't reverse engineer the original, why not?" The witch rolls her eyes. "I don't give you flack for being alive thanks to your entrenching tool. The lest you can do is respect my Næġling for the same reasons."

Pulling her arms inside her shirt for a few seconds, the other three watch as Mary shifts about awkwardly inside her robes for a brief moment. Then when her arms reemerge, the witch reaches a hand into her collar, under not just her robes, but her dragonhide armor as well. Turning away for a few moments, when the veteran agent turns back around, the two men present then awkwardly do their best to look away as Mary nonchalantly adds a bra to her pile of submitted armaments.

Baffled, Kisei looks at her, causing the witch to stare back pokerfaced. "Did you know that non-magical piano wire can look surprisingly similar to underwire to a metal detector?" Kisei isn't exactly sure what to say in response to that, even as Mary casually begins fiddling around with her belt buckle next, revealing it to be hiding a pair punch-knives as part of the design as well.

Before she can progress onto anything else, Swordsman finally throws up his hands in surrender. "Okay, how about you just wait outside?"

K9Thefirst1 said:
...This use of "sword" as a verb reminds me of something I saw, and it forces me to ask Lord K something about... Was it Umitsubasa? The World Traveling Muramasa: Did she ever meet a spirited lass in late 17th-early 18th century France named Julie d'Aubigny?​

Norimune was the world wandering mercenary. And while most of her travels around Europe were more towards the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars period, Julie's lifespan is not outside the time period for Norimune's wanderings.

Also, I like the idea of her just being a 'mundane badass'. Just somebody who really was that good, they could legit win a 1v3 fight, and then waltz back into the party like a baller.

Maybe she even beat Norimune, despite being a muggle?

Considering the Unrepentant Blade's big mouth and pride, and Julie's perchance for controversy and doing whatever she liked, I wouldn't put it past Norimune to be goaded into a fight with a handicap to bring her down to 'normal human level', or to try and win without magic.
-------------

"Alright then! I'll take that challenge! But if I win, then you have to say that I'm the better swordswoman, and not just because I'm also the blade."

"That's all?"

"That's all sweet cheeks. No money or goods, just your lips eating your words."

"Well then, if it's lips we want, then I have the perfect thing in mind then."

"Name it."

"How about a kiss?"

"Ha! You'd still have to win it first!"

*-*-*

Record the Recording said:
How many supernatural critters get bear spray in their faces?
Yellowhammer said:
Tsukiakari did.

Akutoku dodged a bullet when Norimune expended her stash of nasties on Kohai Sword.
Maes said:
Juuchi: "Hey, been meaning to ask. When you got mace'd, why didn't you just dispel your avatar and reform it elsewhere? It's not like the pepper spray on your blade-self would have actually done anything."

Tsukiakari: "I did! It doesn't work when it's already inside your nose! It still burns just as much even you're not physical!"

Juuchi: "Ick. . . well, that's one thing I'm glad I never got to learn for myself."

*completely unamused sword-kohai*​

Technically, there was more than just the mace in there, which was why Norimune targeted Tsukiakari's blade as well. There was also the magical tear gas, plus the Japanese ancient version of pepper-spray.

yukicrewger2 said:
Thought: "White Flag" by Daughtry as battle music.​

You know, there's also a Daughtry song called Battleships

 

[darthcourt10]

Dances in Shadows

Alright as promised here is an snippet featuring the worlds most evil kitchen knifes. It may not be the snippet you were expecting but its what was stuck in my head.

I shouldn't have to say this but just to be safe.
DO. NOT. USE. THIS. RECIPE. IT. WILL. MAKE. YOU. SICK.
You are human, not abyssal.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometime in the future.
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Steeling his shoulders Harry took a deep breath and centered himself. Everything had been going good. The venue was rented, the decorations were up, and the menus prepared. The second set of caterers however, had just canceled, leaving him to pick up the slack. Hoppou had run off to get him some help, but with the wedding starting in a few hours he knew everyone else had their own jobs to do. Setting down an old red leather cookbook he brushes his hand over its gold leaf title Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc. When he had found the old cookbook in his family's storage shed he had taken it mostly out of idle curiosity, It's pages filled with recipes calling for poisonous or dangerous to acquire ingredients. When Hagrid had asked him to prepare some dishes for the abyssal guests using Wanko's favorite ingredient ( Blue ringed octopus ) he had pulled the old cookbook out to find a suitable recipe.

Getting the ingredients had been easier than he expected. A quick letter to Hermione and a few days waiting resulted in a group of British submarines turning up at his door ingredients in hand. ( Although why Upholder was wearing a safari outfit, missing half her leg, carrying three different Instamatic cameras and grinning ear to ear? He didn't want to know. ) For the various non-abyssal guest's safety the food was going to be cooked a second kitchen with a different set of caterers, placed onto separate tables and serving trays and watched over by Regina. ( Who was armed with poison curing potions and Epipens in case someone was foolish enough to ignore the warnings. ) That second group of caterers while initially willing to cook the food, had backed out at the last minute citing insurance issues. Thus did Harry find himself alone in the kitchen with an absurd amount of food to cook, and precious little time to make it in.

Putting on gloves and bringing out the octopus he prepared to get started. But first he had to find that damn knife set again. When the Duckies had gotten it for him a few months ago he had been over the moon with how sharp and well balanced they were. No knife he had ever used compared to how cleanly they cut and chopped. The only problem was he had somehow developed a nasty habit of forgetting where he left them. Digging through the various kitchen essentials he had brought along he finally found them, resting between the cookbook and his phone. Furrowing his brow in confusion Harry gathered up the knifes and turned back to the octopus.

First he brings a pot of water to a roiling boil before gently dropping the whole of the octopuses inside and covering. Setting a timer for ten minutes he pulls out a dutch oven and prepares to start the next step when he hears a knock at the door. Pulling off his gloves he walks over and opens the door, to find no one is there. While looking up and down the hallway doesn't show anyone leaving he does find that whoever it was left him a basket of cookware. Lifting the assortment of cast-iron pans, ladles and such he places it onto the counter before putting on new gloves and resuming his work. Inside the dutch oven he begins to build a nest of Lemon grass, grated ginger and white snakeroot. With a ding the timer announces that the octopus is finished blanching. Pulling out the octopuses with tongs he sets them down on the chopping board before removing their heads and separating their limbs. one by one he lays them gently into the dutch-oven before pouring a measure of Sake infused with Rhubarb roots over top. Setting it into the oven Harry goes to wipe his brow with his sleeve when he hears the distinct sound of butter hitting a hot frying pan behind him.

Turning around he is greeted with the site of an empty kitchen, save for the various pots, pans, and utensils from the earlier basket set up around the kitchen being used to prepare the rest of the poisonous feast. With realization quickly dawning on him he spins around back to the oven and begins to ponder his newest problem.

'How do I finish cooking without looking at them?'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I figured that as the only tsukumogami Harry has really seen the avatar of is Rose, and everyone else seems to be following Juuchi's example of hiding their avatar when Harry is looking that Kansha suru nikuya ( yes i know only the Kansha part is accepted so far, cant blame me for trying ) would follow suit. I also found the idea of Kansha calling on old colleges for help and them following suit hilarious.

And yes. Octopuses is the correct pluar, not Octopi. I looked it up.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Cameron's mother was humming to herself as she was reading a book. At the moment, it was either really late at night, or really early. Which ever it really was though did not bother the woman at all. Mainly because she was deep in reading her newest acquisition.

That, however, came to an end as she heard the floors above creek.

Perking up, Cameron's mother looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown on her face. From long experience, she knew that the foot steps, slightly heavy, were neither Cameron's, his father's, or anyone else in the family. Which left only the two visitors to the home, Alaska and Atago.

Not that she minded the two shipgirls to be honest, Atago's personality always brightened the room when she entered, as did Alaska's. It also amused the woman approaching middle age that the "Large Cruiser" often convinced her son to nap in sunbeams, often with Atago with them.

Mainly, it amused her due to the expression that Cameron often had on his face whenever she caught him.

Granted, sometimes she did wonder about the three. Oh, she knew that Alaska and Cameron had claimed each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. Her showing up to his prom in a dress she had Atago and Cameron's mother help make certainly made sure that everyone knew that for a fact. Also, much to her silent and internal relief, Alaska did not try and convince her son to join the military. No, rather she wanted him to continue to work at the Toys R' Us he was at. Something that she was thankful for, as well as it was still around to provide her son with a job. After all, after Blood Week it seemed like the company was going bankrupt. Most people blamed the company who drained it of assets though.

But then, the employees of the local store got together and, with some help, bought the rights along with the owner of the franchise. Thus, it did not close much to their relief. And while China was no longer able to supply toys, Mexico was practically right next door and soon Central America took over that among other things. And a store in Texas was positioned in the right place with rationing to take care of that. Something that made Alaska happy as it granted her access to Hot Wheels and LEGO... when Atago's fairies were not stealing them.

In regards to her son and his relationship, or perhaps relationships, what made her wonder was something else. While Cameron and Alaska were undoubtedly in a relationship, Atago was also there alongside them. Not quite with them, but rather circling them like a moon around a planet. One that at times seemed to swing in quite close, though she denied anything calling her son "'Laska's Boyfriend". But it did make her wonder at times if there was something more there. And unlike some girls, Alaska never got jealous when Atago cuddled close with them in sunbeams, quite the opposite really.

As well, Cameron's mother had done some quite listening to the side. Yes, she was well into her forties at this time, but she was not computer illiterate either. There were some talk that shipgirls seemed to sometimes slot into multiple relationships where they shared someone. One article she read up on stated that it could be a carry over from when they were ships. After all, a ship might share crew and command staff with other ships, so to a shipgirl's psychology it might make sense as well, or not be something that would overly bother them. Like many things though, no one was sure. Shipgirl psychology, like their physiology, seemed outside the box as it were. Only the Natural Borns were something easily categorized and even then, they were a bit outside the norm.

That said, while she was somewhat uncomfortable with the idea, Cameron's mother decided to take a wait and see approach. It was not something that was for sure to be honest, just a suspicion. And if it happened... well, it seemed like all three might be happy. As long as that was true, she could be happy as well.

Not to mention that it would also give her more grandbabies, which was always a good thing to be honest. Lots of cute babies at that as well going by Atago and Alaska both. Also, Atago was a good seamstress and could design some wonderful dresses. Perhaps it could make her bridal shop able to be passed down and kept in the family... now there was an idea.

However, the continuing sound of footsteps caused her to break free of her thoughts of cute grandbabies and possible heirs for her store. Quietly, she made her way to the stairs and made her way up them. Upon reaching the top, Cameron's mother turned to the bathroom where there was a light and waited. Judging by the open door, it was Atago who had gone in as it was the guest room. With that done, she nodded and was about to go back downstairs to her book when the door opened to reveal Atago…

Atago, who looked like she was asleep as she walked.

On either one of her shoulders were a fairy that tugged on a strand of hair to make her walk in one direction, or another. Cameron's mother could admit that it was rather amusing to watch as they guided her around various objects. Eyebrow raised, her amusement grew as she realized that neither of the fairies spotted her on the darkened stairwell. Whether it was due to concentrating on what they were doing or what, she did not know.

It was then though that Atago reached the door to the guest room. Even in her almost asleep state, the Heavy Cruiser reached towards the doorknob as she swayed side to side. "Pan... paka... pan..."

Looking at his fellow fairy and nodding, one of them yanked on her hair. "Desu."

The shipgirl twisted and twirled in place. Wincing, for a brief moment Cameron's mother thought that she was going to fall down and hard. Before that could happen, the second fairy yanked on his strand of hair. "Desu desu desu."

Softly mumbling to herself, Atago continued walking down the room as the mother watched from the shadows. Now utterly sure that the Heavy Cruiser was either asleep, or just about, Cameron's mother watched as she was about to walk past Cameron's room. The first fairy then nodded and the second yanked his hair again, this time sending Atago towards the door. Just before bumping into the closed entryway, Atago paused and lifted her arm as she muttered to herself. "Don't remember closing the door..."

Just opening it, Atago stumbled in some with Cameron's mom humming to herself. 'Now isn't this interesting...' Eyebrow now meeting her hairline, she walked over to the door and peaked in to find the Japanese shipgirl pulling the covers back some and slipping in beside Cameron, opposite to Alaska who was sleeping with a smile on her face. 'Hmm...'

Cuddling up to the eighteen year old, Atago softly sighed. "Panpakapan..."

Her fairies though just spotted Cameron's mother who gave them a look. Then she smirked and pulled out a phone before taking a picture. "Now, don't be letting anything happen quite yet. I want to be a grandmother, but not this soon, ya hear?" When they nodded, she smiled and closed the door before going back down stairs with a chuckle.

Yes, no matter what happened, the next few years should be rather amusing. Odd, yes and even strange. In ways that she had never dreamed off when she was a little girl. The type of thing that would not look out of place in perhaps a comic book, or perhaps a movie. Strange times indeed.

But amusing.

Now though, she had more important matters. Such as how to get the most fluster and embarrassment from her son, his girlfriend, and perhaps possible girlfriend. Yes, times were good and amusing. Also, cute grandbabies were possible.

Life was good.

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Dear Dan-San,

As you asked before I left I'm letting you know that I've arrived safely. Yokohama is very different from how I remember it, it's hard to believe that it is the same city, but I don't think I'll have any problems living here. I've met several other kanmusu already and they've all made me feel welcome.

How are you? I hope that you are well.

Yours sincerely,

Awa Maru

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Hi, Awa Maru. Glad to hear that you're doing okay.

Everything's okay on my end, well, mostly. The ceremony is tomorrow so everyone's feeling a bit nervous. Ironically Mum seems to be the least worried about it.

~ Dan

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Dear Dan-San,

I'm sure that everything will be fine. Tell your mother that I wish her the best of luck.

Yours sincerely,

Awa Maru

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Just letting you know that everything went according to plan. After the better part of a century HMS Patrol is back on the water, well, sort of. Mum needs to get used to the whole being a ship thing first (and that is definitely a sentence I'd never have thought I'd write). Then there's her commissioning and her sea trials.

I'd be lying if I said that the whole situation isn't incredibly weird but it's not in a bad way. Mum's happy which is the important thing. In fact I don't think I've seen her this happy in years. Everyone else is just kind of going with the flow, which seems like the best way to deal with shipgirl stuff.

Hope everything is okay in Yokohama.

~ Dan

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Dear Dan-San,

I'm glad to hear that everything went well and that your mother is happy with the result.

Everything is going well here. I'm settling in and everyone has been nice. I don't know when my next voyage will be yet though. I hope it won't be too long, I've been on land for long enough as it is, but I'm a much older type of ship than the other cargo kanmusu and the various steel hulls so I'm not sure how much use I'll be.

Yours sincerely,

Awa Maru

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Hey, you're a great ship. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm sure they'll have something for you to do soon enough, it's probably just taking a while for things to be organised.

Everything is going okay here. The situation is still kind of weird (the fairies seem to be a major contributing factor to the weird) but we're getting used to it. Only problem is that someone at Sea Cadets has an uncle who works on the base so now everyone knows that my mum's a scout cruiser and some people have been a bit annoying about it. I'll spare you the details but lets just say that some very stupid comments have been made and some equally stupid questions have been asked.

Mum's starting to get the hang of things. She still needs to get a lot of practice but she's doing better than you'd expect given that she's only been a ship for a few days. She's hit it off with the other shipgirls and, as Vetch put it, is mumboating all of them, even the other cruisers and Misoa.

I'll keep you updated about everything as I find things out. Hope everything is going well in Yokohama.

~ Dan

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93: Alternate Route for Renata

Seraphim500 said:
Savato93 that seems interesting and now i want more i am eager to find out what happened with renita.
Harry Leferts said:
Same here.​

Ask, and ye shall receive. Here's something I threw together for the sake of today being Halloween. Do note that this isn't canon, though...

Hope you like it.

XXXXXXXXXX

You are a Re-class Battleship. A child of two races, conceived of the Deep itself in the name of destruction. The battlefield is your cradle and your grave.

You have Ascended.

Lay down your arms. Your war is over. You are done using force to justify your existence.

Why do you fight? Why do you forsake everything you treasure, and let yourself be consumed by violence and rage?

You are designed for one purpose: to wage war. You are perfect, a weapon unmatched by any other. But you are flawed, slowly but steadily crushed under the burden of the madness sewn into your very being. No matter how much you resist, your natural drive for conflict will eventually come to define you in entirety.

You must grasp peace.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [stop fighting].

Take up the knife. Cast away your hatred. Take your new shape.

XXXXXXXXXX

The collective grumbling of destroyers' fuel tanks was clearly audible over the rush of the ocean waves.

It had been well over a day since they last ate anything; for some reason they just couldn't figure out, these waters were all but devoid of life. It wasn't like the area was overfished, or the water polluted; as best anyone could tell, the fish were simply… gone. But to where?

"We've… we've been looking here for hours," one of the destroyers said quietly. "Don't you think we should find another place to—"

"Shut it, whelp!" Their flagship, a Ta-class, barked at her subordinate, who immediately jerked back. "If I hear any more complaints, ALL of you can say goodbye to your next meal!"

The lesser Abyssals whimpered quietly among each other, but spoke no further. With a huff, the battleship turned her attention back to the readings of her underlings' sonar… and grinned fiendishly. "Fucking finally!" Immediately, the Ta-class pointed her guns into the water and fired, disappearing in a massive plume of water. The destroyers watched quietly, waited several seconds for the waves to disperse, revealing their flagship unharmed. Not seconds later, something else rose to the surface in front of her—a small shark, killed by the blast pressure.

Reaching into her hold, the Ta-class produced a man-made knife, poached from some dumb fuck that tried to shank her at one point, and stabbed at the shark's flank, cutting away a sizable slab of meat for herself. She also stuck a hand into the exposed innards and ripped out the beast's liver, storing it away for later consumption. With her choice cuts claimed, the battleship dumped the rest of the corpse in an unceremonious pile before the destroyers. "First come, first serve, mongrels!"

Instantly, three of the four destroyers set upon the corpse, tearing away at it with glee. The last one however, smaller than the rest, was shoved aside by her kin. She tried to draw near, to just nibble at the tail of the shark, but the other destroyers pointing their guns at her with a growl scared her away. Dejected, the runt fell back, whimpering in pain and hunger. At the rate her kin were going, she would be lucky to get anything but scraps.

"Pathetic," the Ta-class growled, leering at the runt as she ripped off a small chunk of her own meat, tossing it at the destroyer. "If you didn't have the only working ASW equipment among these ingrates, I would have already left you for dead without a second thought. But if you don't start earning your keep real fucking quick, I WILL let you starve. Got it?"

"…yes, ma'am…" the runt answered in a small voice, as she began to nibble on her meal.

The battleship scoffed, turning back to her own food. As she prepared to take a bite, however, she detected something on the edge of her sensors… something extraordinarily powerful.

Her IFF pinged a Princess-class Abyssal.

Snarling, she stowed her meat away. "Get over here!" she barked at the destroyers, who quickly complied. "Listen up—there's a Princess coming our way. Now, if I can get on her good side, get her to recruit us, we'll be set; and more importantly, I'll have a chance to stop babysitting you little shits for good!" She held up a hand. "But… that won't happen if one of you does something fucking stupid and ruins it for us! I want to see each and every one of you giving this Princess the respect she deserves, so I can stop putting up with the lot of you. And if you don't?" She raised her other hand, brandishing her knife. "I'll kill you myself. Are we clear?"

"Yes…" the destroyers replied in unison.

Satisfied, the Ta-class set the knife away and gestured for the destroyers to follow her. It took them less than a minute to intercept the supposed Princess—she had already been moving their way, and quite quickly at that. As they got within sight of her, however, the entire group's eyes widened in surprise.

The 'Princess' was a Re-class.

She wore a pure black cloak in lieu of a poncho, and her silver hair flowed freely in the wind, almost as long as the Ta-class's own… but there was no mistaking that serpentine rigging, the monstrous second head trailing in the water behind her. Normal Re-classes were already a force to be reckoned with, but this one… the aura of pure, undiluted power she radiated felt almost physical.

But one small mind couldn't help but feel something was off about her.

"Greetings, Princess…" the Ta-class called with wide arms as she approached the Re-class, who came to a stop. Coming up in front of her, the battleship bowed low. "I couldn't help but notice you sailing by my humble little fleet… and I was hoping, perhaps, you may be recruiting?" Smirking, she gestured to herself. "You may or may not find some use for these other drones… but I assure you I am an extremely capable fighter who would make for a valuable asset in your flotilla…"

The Re-class was silent, simply staring down at something.

The Ta-class traced her gaze to the still blood-slicked knife at her hip. "Oh, you like this?" She asked, pulling out the knife and showing it to her. "Got it off some meatbag a while back. Fucker thought this puny thing would actually hurt me…" She sneered. "I made sure he spent his last moments regretting that misconception." The Re-class remained silent, continuing to stare at the knife. "You want to take a close look at it?" The battleship offered it to her. "Feel free, Princess."

Wordlessly, the Re-class accepted the blade from the newcomer. For several seconds she examined it, turning it over in her hands, as the Ta-class watched pridefully. "I won't lie, it's not too bad for cutting up flesh and bone, but it never stood a chance of even scratching my hull, let alone killing me…" she bragged.

The Re-class held up the knife, the blade pointing to its owner, inspecting it one more time. Finally, she looked away from the knife… looked to the Ta-class.

And slowly, almost gently, pushed the knife into her breast.

The Ta-class jerked as the blade effortlessly carved through her armor belt and ripped open her boilers, oily blood already beginning to soak through her shirt and trail down her bare midriff. She tried to retreat, to pull away from the impossible steel piercing her chest—but she stood rigid. She tried to retaliate, to call on her rigging to unleash her might against her enemy—but her Abyssal steel dissolved into nothingness. The wide-eyed battleship was silent, unable to find her voice, as her feet began to slip into the waves. She could only stare at her killer with confusion and fear, weakly gripping at the Re-class's body and clothing as she sank deeper into the water.

The Re-class simply gazed back down at her, her expression full of pity and guilt, as she tugged the blood-soaked knife free from her heart.

And she was gone.

The other Abyssals stared at the thing in the distance, speechless. Not a single shot was fired, a single distress call made. The Re-class had sunk their flagship… and she did nothing to fight back. There was a single thought, a single burning question, in the mind of every Abyssal present:

What are you?

And then shock turned to terror as the monster turned to face them.

The destroyers were simple beings, creatures that relied on their emotions and instincts more than logic and reasoning to dictate their actions. So it was that, when challenged by the thing that had killed their flagship effortlessly, that would surely kill them just as easily, they ignored the small part of them that screamed this was suicide—their fight-or-flight mechanism was currently jammed in the "fight" position, and they were determined to avenge their flagship. With hisses and growls, three of the destroyers charged towards the Re-class, firing wildly.

She was a big target, slow, all but stationary; an easy target. But as the first shells impacted her form… there was no fireball, no flash of light, no sound of steel hitting steel. There was no plume of water, no flicker of steel to indicate a ricochet. Not even the thunk of a dud shell smacking uselessly against her armor.

Every shell that touched her… simply vanished.

Undeterred by the display, the foremost of the three attackers closed within knife-fighting range, torpedoes at the ready… and froze. Came to an abrupt stop mere inches from the Re-class, who stared at her impassively. Slowly, her gaze drifted to the knife still in her hand, before she brought it up… and thrust the blade into the destroyer's eye. The creature couldn't even scream as the Re-class drifted forward, past the destroyer… all the while dragging the blade along her carapace, gutting her like a fish. Too late, the other two Abyssals realized their fatal mistake—they ground to a halt against their will as they turned away, tried to flee… letting the Re-class's tail calmly rise up and fire two salvos, erasing them both in a blaze of unholy fire.

Now, only one remained: a lone destroyer, malnourished and feeble. The destroyer was absolutely motionless as the Re-class drew near, immobilized in pure horror.

This was it, the destroyer thought. This was the end for her. It wasn't fair—her life was too short, too full of torment and suffering. She'd never been able to eat her fill of food, she'd never seen land, never had a chance to prove herself useful to someone. And now she was going to die, scared and alone, at the hands of this heinous abomination.

Patches of inky… nothingness, was the only way she could think to describe this absence of color, this shade of black infinitely darker than should be physically possible… riddled the Re-class's flesh, which was itself almost pure white in tone. Focusing on them felt like staring into nothing—yet that nothing was so vast, so absolute, the destroyer could never hope to comprehend it with her mortal mind. Her hands seemed to glow with an inner light, shining and shimmering in the destroyer's eyes; but there was no brightness, no warmth to this light. The destroyer felt as if spikes of ice were being driven into her brain, as she stared at these hands that didn't glow, so much as bleed the light, the color away from the world around them.

Everything about this Re-class screamed of something dark and twisted and so unspeakably wrong—

"Not like… the others…"

There was no Abyssal echo to her voice… and yet, the destroyer felt something infinitely more eldritch and mighty pressing down, threatening to crush her mind and spirit, as the Re-class spoke. This close, the destroyer could see the tendrils of blackness that crept inward from the edges of her face; the black sclera, the polluted yellow glow of her eyes. This… this thing was no Abyssal. Not anymore.

"Why… don't you… fight me…?"

She whimpered, cowering under the haunting gaze of this… not-Abyssal. "I-I… I d-don't wanna d-die…" she responded quietly, weakly. "I'll do a-anything you want… p-please don't hurt m-me…"

She was met with silence. Whether it was just quiet deliberation, or disinterest in replying to her plea, the destroyer didn't know—and was certain that it didn't matter. She closed her eyes, bracing for the inevitable…

"Have you… taken… a life?"

The destroyer paused, confused. Opening her eyes, she glanced upward at the monster towering over her… looking down at her with pity. "N-n-no… never…" she answered. "I'm too s-small… too weak… to d-do anything. I've never even… seen a human b-before…"

For several seconds the Re-class stared at her, her expression thoughtful. She blinked slowly. "…I see." To the destroyer's shock and confusion, the Re-class turned away, sailing towards the carcass her fleet had been feeding on just minutes prior. The destroyer silently watched, bewildered, as the Re-class took hold of the half-eaten corpse by its tail and wordlessly drifted back, dragging it before the destroyer. "Here."

The destroyer's gaze shifted back and forth between the meat in front of her and her would-be killer. "Huh…?"

"You were… starved. Abused by… your fleet. Your… family." The Re-class shook her head slowly. "You are… innocent. Do not… deserve that." She gestured to the carcass. "Go on… eat."

Slowly, hesitantly, the destroyer leaned forward, ripped a small chunk of flesh away from the shark and swallowed it. She waited several seconds, expecting something to happen… but nothing did. The Re-class showed no outward reaction as she took another bite, bigger than the last.

As the destroyer continued to feed, the Re-class drifted around the corpse, coming to a stop beside her. The destroyer couldn't help but shudder as the Re-class's claws came to rest against her hide, their touch so cold and dead and not right… and yet, there was no malice in their motion.

This Re-class truly meant her no harm.

"Th-thank you…" the destroyer managed to get out in between mouthfuls.

"They won't… hurt you… anymore…" The Re-class's expression was somber as she gently stroked the destroyer's flank. "You are free."

After a couple more minutes spent eating, the destroyer felt the hand on her flank pull away. She looked over in curiosity to see the Re-class turning away, her turbines revving up once more.

The destroyer's mind raced as she watched the Re-class begin to sail off. Yes, she was free, now… free from her flagship's abuse, from her kin's bullying and neglect… but she was alone. The only fleet, the only home she could really recall ever knowing, was gone—wiped off the face of the ocean by this Re-class. What was she supposed to do now?

Find another fleet? Who would take in a weakling like herself?

Just run away, live by herself on the open sea? Just because she didn't like her old company, didn't mean she wanted no company at all. She didn't want to be alone…

Eventually, she came to a decision.

"Wait!"

The Re-class paused, turning back to her with a questioning gaze.

"I… I'm grateful that you were nice to me… that you l-let me live…" the destroyer continued nervously, staring at the water, afraid to make eye contact. "But… you sank the rest of my fleet. It's not… safe out here, for a lonely destroyer. Especially not a runt… like me. So…" she slumped to her belly, a gesture of submission and silent pleading. "Can… can I follow you? Please? I'll do whatever you ask me to… I'll be good, I promise."

For what felt like an eternity the Re-class stared at her, judging her silently… before her expression finally softened. "Okay."

The destroyer felt a flutter of hope in her boilers. "…really? You mean it?" The Re-class simply nodded. Elated, the destroyer turned and began to tear at the carcass with renewed vigor, storing as much of the meat as she could for eating later.

With her provisions stored away, feeling full and happy for the first time in her life, the destroyer raced to catch up with her new flagship. She didn't know where the Re-class was going, or what her motives were… but whatever the case, she had shown her mercy… shown her kindness. If she could prove herself useful to the Re-class…

Maybe, just maybe… the Re-class would take care of her.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

"Okay, so is everything working out?"

Inside the plexiglass bubble, Maruyu shone a powerful light in the darkness as she sat in a chair. Slowly, she gave a nod even as a smile grew on her face before giving a thumbs up to Iku who was just outside in the water. "Hai! All the seals are checking out, we can bring it back to the surface."

With a smile of her own, Iku chuckled some before looking at Hachi who nodded. The two of them then rose from the harbour bottom to the surface, waves breaking across the top of the bubble before it fully broke the surface. In the distance, the horizon had just started to lighten, though neither of the Submarines were too bothered swimming in the somewhat chilly water in the pre-dawn hour. After all, they had done trips far to the north. Yawning a bit, Iku looked around. "Well, that is the last of them."

On the other side of the plexiglass sphere, Hachi hummed some. "It is, which is good. Especially as they've all checked out."

Leaning back in one of the seats inside the Submersible, Maruyu grinned. "Was there any doubt? I mean, Akashi might not have built these but they're good enough."

The two Submarines outside examined the small vessel with their eyes tracing along every bit. Not that there was a whole lot to it to be perfectly honest. It was for the most part a sphere of plexiglass and inside, where Maruyu was, there were two seats for people to sit in. In the roof was a small light below the hatchway and there were weights beneath the seats to keep the sphere orientated in the right direction. Outside, there were two reinforced handholds for the Subgirls to hold onto. Lips twitching, Iku gave a small nod. "True enough, I mean, did you see the look on Ooyodo's face when we passed in our idea for Fleet Week?"

As they got closer to the floating dock that they were operating from, Hachi snickered. "I have never seen her so befuddled before." Becoming thoughtful, she tapped her chin with one hand. "Granted, both her and Teitoku cleared it after getting it looked at."

Simply shrugging inside the sphere, Maruyu hummed some. "Can you really blame them? We did come out with the idea from, to them, nowhere."

Both Iku and Hachi gave shrugs at that while the blue haired Submarine shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Maybe." Then she smirked. "Still worth it to see their expressions."

Hachi looked at the other small spheres that came into view, tied to the dock and smiled a bit as she spotted Imuya, Shioi, and RO all cleaning the inside. "Though they agreed it was pretty simple. I mean, all that we do is have passengers sit in these, seal the hatch, and then take them for a little trip along the seafloor for about thirty minutes."

Finger tapping the sphere where she could see a gauge showing CO2 levels, Iku frowned. "Or less if they hyperventilate. Granted, the air supply would last for longer then that, but still." All of the Submarines knew, better then anyone, the dangers and had tested out a prototype. Brightening, Iku giggled some as they came into ear shot of the others. "I did hear that they're really popular on the other bases with Submarines."

Popping her head out of the hatch of the one she was cleaning the inside of, RO grinned. "Ja, and? Does that really surprise any of you at all? Especially with how a lot of teenage boys are taking rides in these..." She paused for a moment and grimaced. "Or older men."

All of the Submarines shuddered a bit with Imuya rubbing her hands over herself as if to wipe off something. "Ugh, don't remind me. Some of those guys are just... ergh. Those creepy fucking stares..."

Only nodding, Shioi sighed some. "If it was not for the money that we're raising for charity, I would drop it... and them." Expression softening, she looked at the others. "A lot of children who are orphans are going to be happy."

Sighing, Hachi crossed her arms under her bust. "That is the only reason that Hacchan is able to continue with this." Fingers snapping, she smiled some. "Though I also like it when we take children for rides. The looks of wonder on their faces along with the rest makes it worth it."

There were nods at that though Maruyu smirked some as she popped the hatch and stuck her head out. "Or how sometimes the sailors will make sure that the worst ones know when they're not welcome anymore."

Just getting out of the water onto the dock, Iku tied the Submersible into place before handing Maruyu some cleaning materials with the smaller Subgirl getting to work cleaning the inside. "Hai, some of those are pretty funny." The blue haired girl then looked over at RO. "So I heard that Goya-chi is coming back to Yokosuka?"

RO gave a nod at that with a small smile. "Ja, she is. Not until September though, or that is what she told me. Goya still has some time left down in Okinawa until the transfer fully comes through anyways. It'll help us when we decide to head to Hogsmeade or ask for days off..." Frowning, the German considered her next words. "Though I wonder how that came through..."

Lips curling upwards, Shioi looked around before leaning towards the others. "From what I heard, Niiyodo-San was involved in that." Seeing the looks of interest, she continued. "I made mention that we were considering heading to Hogwarts during those weekends. Then, from what I heard, she spoke to Ooyodo-San and the two of them looked over the schedules to see if any Submarines could come here just so that we have some leeway."

Eyebrows rising, Iku crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Huh... We'll have to do something nice for her."

Inside the sphere, Maruyu spoke up as she cleaned the plexiglass, making sure to get rid of any fingerprints. "Maybe bring back some treats from that Honeydukes place? Ooyodo-San seemed happy with what Harry-Chan sent back as well as her Imouto's deal with them."

Closing her eyes, Hachi nodded slowly. "That could work, though Hacchan thinks that we should get some for ourselves for our own supplies. Especially to trade with any American Submarines. Harder-Chan did say that they would be more then willing to do that sort of thing after all and be extremely happy."

Bemused, Iku giggled some at the image of the various American Subgirls trading things with them for supplies. Shaking off that though, she tapped a finger against her chin. "Well, it will be nice to see Goya-Chi again."

Head tilted to the side as she floated in the water, Imuya frowned though. "Uh, question?" When they turned to her, the red haired Subgirl continued. "Is she involved in The Plan? Or not?"

Shaking her head, Hachi adjusted her glasses. "She's not actually interested in Harry-Chan. Not like us in any case, she sees him as a close friend."

Iku made a motion with one hand. "Sort of like Nimu-Chi to be honest. She likes Harry-Chan, but more as a friend or little brother." Remembering one conversation, she frowned. "The one time we really talked about to her seriously, the only thing that Goya-Chi said about that was that the most that could happen is when Harry-Chan is older there being 'Fun' between them, but as friends. Mostly though, she just likes him as a friend. But she does support us and I know that Nimu-Chi does as well."

Just shrugging, RO shook her head. "Her loss." Looking up at the sky as the stars began to fade away, the Uboat took a deep breath before releasing it. "Then again, most of us Submarines like Harry, even if most don't like him in the way we do."

With a snort, Shioi gave her a look. "Can you blame them? Harry-Chan takes care of us, even though he's not our Admiral yet and pays attention to us. That's more then enough for any of us to like him. Granted, the Ha-101s-"

A shiver ran down their keels as both RO and Maruyu gave smiles that while not showing anything, were all teeth somehow as they spoke as one. "Are not a problem anymore and won't bother Harry-Chan in the manner that they were."

Both Iku and Hachi shared a glance at that and shivered. What those two did to the Ha-101 Tanker types they did not know. All either of them knew was that said girls were scared shitless of the Uboat and IJA Submarines now. With Harry though, they had calmed down and simply acted friendly instead of... clingy, as they had to put it nicely. It went without saying though that none of them wanted to know what the two smallest of their number in displacement did. Granted, all of them did wonder what the hell was wrong with Tanker Submarines that they were all raging perverts.

Meanwhile, up in Hokkaido, three Tanker Submarines sneezed before getting yelled at by a purple haired Destroyer declaring them shitty Submarines for nearly sneezing into her coffee.

Shaking off their thoughts, and wanting to change the subject, Iku turned to Imuya. "So, you're going to be spending some time with Harry-Chan later today?"

Only nodding as she smiled, Imuya rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, yeah, during my break. I talked with Harry-Chan and he doesn't mind the two of us spending some time then."

Interested, RO looked at her. "And where are you going?"

Humming, the red haired Submarine glanced at her. "Actually? I was thinking a nice meal or snack. In particular Takao's stand, Takao's Takoyaki."

That got her nods from the others and soon the conversation turned to other things, such as the others planning to snag Harry to spend some time with him on their breaks during Fleet Week. Or how to convince him to come down for a ride with them.

 

[darthcourt10]

K9Thefirst1

Remember the daughter Porta killed in her first appearance? Harry and I have been chatting about things regarding her over PM. Furthermore, in the year+ since her, Porta, OLD and Reivana and Stab's first appearance, their circumstances have been clarified and fleshed out in my head. So have some backstory to display the value of what was lost (spoiler: none), plus some info on the father of the twins. Remember: He was chosen for his obvious health and genetic preference of physical strength, not for his personality, and certainly not for his intelligence.



The Duchess

Location Unknown…

He came from a long line of seamen. From the days of the oar through the capture of wind. From the rise of steam to it's fall to diesel, his family lived and died by the sea. Centuries of the work was clear in the breeding of his body – body hair to ward off the Atlantic chill, and easily attained muscles to work the sails or pull the oars. It was why, out of the few who survived in that storm that sank their freighter, she picked him from the sea. He didn't have family to go home to. Dad died at sea when he was a boy, and mom floated from boyfriend to boyfriend, whoever had the money to fund her addiction, with no regard to how the boyfriend du jure used his fists, or on who. He didn't mind. It made him strong, as he proved again and again on the docks and in the bars all over the world, proving his masculinity just as he did in just as many brothels. Or in any place he could get away with it, if none were available.

As mother dearest taught him, no woman was capable of knowing what she really wanted without a man in her life to tell her. So it was refreshing to find a woman who understood her role in that regard. Unlike so many uppity broads he educated in the end, she dressed as was appropriate for her Sex, and never lied when he asked. Sure the horns and albino coloring was weird, but with T&A like her, there was no point getting hung up on it. And when his manliness put a bun in her oven, it was all the more proof that he was a Man.

Now if only he could find a way off this island and get back to civilization. The bitch with the weird vocabulary but sexy bod was getting to big with the kid to be hot, and no amount of streaking on her part was going to help. But that giant tin can, what was he called (because no way was it a woman like everyone else here, to muscly), Ocean Liner Demon? Whatever he was, he was a real bastard, a genuine piece of work. Always cockblocking him when he was trying to score with the other broads around here, and the one time he tried to lay down the law on the tin can (a crack to the jaw, it had always worked before), he wakes up in a hospital bed with a broken nose and the molars of his lower right jaw pulled out.

If he didn't leave before the bitch gave birth, he'd have to – ugh – 'be a dad.'

A Year Before Blood Week

Just as he feared. He just couldn't get away, and now that she wasn't weighed down with the kids – TWINS! He knew he was manly and a good lay, but damn! – the bitch would be able to keep up with him if he ran.

Sure, she was hot again, and eager for more. That was just expected after all. But whenever the brats cried she'd get up and go to them, even if they were in the middle of fucking! And no matter how hard he tried to force her to stay where she belonged like a good girl she somehow managed to slip through his arms. Almost as if she, a woman, was stronger than he, a man, was, or something gay like that.

Five Months Before Blood Week

He had had it with these little shits! The slut had the nerve to say he had no say in whether or not they fucked or not! The Hell should he care if she had 'a duty' or some shit! Didn't she know that he was the man here? Dumb bitch needed to learn her place, and the brats – especially the smaller one with the stupid hat – would be the perfect way to do it.

Step 1, kill 'em.

Step 2, rape the bitch 'till she loved it.

Step 3, leave her crying for his dick as he got out of here.

And with that plan – if it could be called such – he raised the knife up; ready to plunge it into the tiny body of his youngest daughter, who was crying as if aware of what was going to happen. Which would follow soon after by the older daughter, who laughed giddily at the sight of the knife, as if eager for the bloodshed to come, uncaring of the fact that the blade would be coming for her as well.

And then the dainty hand of Ancient Atlantic Gateway Princess, she who would one day be known as Princess Porta Abysseum Atlantia and Empress of Abyssinia, Elder Princess of the Abyssal Fleet, lifted the taller man up by his jaw, crushed it, and pulped his cranium against the far wall of the nursery.
------

Five Days Before Blood Week

The children rolled and played in the tiny play pen the Princess had crafted from driftwood. The time had finally come – Her sisters decided that they were ready to exact their insanity upon the world, to plunge the Abyss into Total War against the humans. Millions were set to die on both sides, and all of the appeals to greed and reason that Gateway made were for not. The Princess couldn't even option out of the madness as a Conscientious Objector. Sub-Continental and her Science-Obsessed minion looked at her in a way that promised something unspeakable if she did not participate.

Gateway left her quarters only when absolutely required. She wanted as little to do with the madness outside of her own – thankfully tiny – role in it. Instead she spent her time away examining her options to weasel out of as much of the war as she could, and tending to her little ones. They were approaching their first birthday, and they grew at the speeds typical of little ones. But they still needed protecting from the corrupting influences of their atrocity-lusting aunts. Ocean Liner Demon stood by her side as per usual, barricading the door with her bulk. If Central Atlantic genuinely wanted to get in the Liner couldn't hold her off, but her sisters were thankfully apathetic for their 'craven' sister.

"They'll need names Your Highness."

"Hmmm… Yes Demon… I suppose so…

Despite being Royalty, there was always the risk of disease of treachery, as their father proved, and so Gateway had held off on naming the twins until she was certain they were likely to survive, and so that she had some sign of their unique personalities to work off of. The youngest was, disappointingly, not gifted with the Divine Right to Rule. Any Abyssal could tell that she was a mundane member of their race. Most assuredly a powerful Aircraft Carrier, but tragically that was all that she would ever be. Perhaps once a settlement was made with the humans she could be educated and find occupation in the government if she proved talented, but as things stood in the present, the smaller and younger twin would never see Rulership in her future, unless events radically changed the circumstances.

But the elder daughter? Who apparently gained their late and unlamented (save for the bedchamber duties) father's physical strength and energy? Such a success! Looking at her with Other Eyes, she glowed with the Divine Right of the Abyssal Elder Princesses! And not even a year old she was running about and climbing things while her sister was apparently more content to lay on her back. And sadly, the younger did not receive her father's physical strength as Gateway had hoped, nor any of his… Strong personality. When her twin smacked her tiny fists against her, the carrier did not fight back or even resist, instead she only cried.

'It's regrettable that the older twin finds tormenting her sister so amusing. But such are the sadistic ways of children. In time she will no doubt grow out of it and into the dignity of her station.' she thought to herself, willfully – foolishly – ignoring the eight glaring examples of how wrong she was that were her own sisters.

So then… Names…

The Princess looked to her younger daughter. A daughter with promise indeed, but tragically denied promise of true greatness by an accident of birth. A daughter that looked forward to being overshadowed by her greater sibling. A daughter in need of strength to find her own path, to find her own place in her mother's realm. Gateway stroked her chin in thought as the crying tot was rolled around by her laughing sibling. Then she recalled a book she had read, before Blood Week, before finding that man, even before she found her aide Ocean Liner Demon. A name of a mighty fortress, impregnable, and unsundered even by gods save by a deluge of the ocean itself. A name meaning 'Iron Prison,' which to the Princess could be taken as both an acknowledgement of her predicament, and as a challenge to overcome it by her own merit…

With a warm smile, Gateway lifted the babe from the pen, holding the sobbing tot in her arms and bouncing her to calm her tears.

"Angband," she said, "This one shall be Angband."

The elder twin was much put upon that her favorite toy was taken from her, and made her displeasure known with loud shrieks and grabbing fingers reaching up for her mother to return the stolen property that was Angband. Gateway just smiled and leaned down to brush the babe's soft hair on her head.

"You, little one, shall not be named by me. Like me and your aunts, you are of a breed of Abyssal beyond the peasants of the fleet. You were born to rule. You represent a region or aspect of this world connected to the sea. Neither of us know what your place is daughter and heir, but I do not doubt that it will be of a glory worthy of your rank. When you are of age, and prove yourself, you will earn your name in a display of your Power.

"In the meantime daughter, you shall be called Duchess. A title recognizing your royal nature, but not of your equality with your family. But when we know what place or aspect of the Sea you embody, you shall know your true name."

The Grand Meteor Seamount

Regrettably, but not unexpectedly, Gateway's sisters proved unable to withstand the onslaught of humanity, and – unlike her – they underestimated their will to live and protect what was theirs, and their capacity to fight back. But the Elder Princess of Man's Lust for Gold, Land, Trade and Empire, had anticipated the need of having to face off alone, and had planned accordingly. When Middle World Ocean washed up on her shores with the Humans in hot pursuit, she wasted no time in faking her death and de-assing the Azores with her fleet to a base of operations she had prepared beforehand.

All that was left to do was build up her forces (and build and build and build and build and-) and prepare for the day when Man's temper would cool enough to tolerate her and hers long enough to make peace and an alliance.

In the meantime, her daughters grew and grew rapidly.

2007

Gateway looked to her eldest daughter and heir, her expression one of uncomprehending befuddlement: Just at the end of the hall, Duchess was laughing cruelly at the still living crab she had pulled the claws and legs off of.

2008

Gateway was angry, Angband was crying over her broken arm and the knife in her gut, Demon was comforting the girl and containing her obvious fury, and Duchess took clear sadistic pleasure at being the cause of it all.

Yes, Gateway was angry. But she was also concerned. Maybe it was the series of events. Or maybe it was a trick of the light. But add a few arms and Duchess looked uncomfortably like Sub-Continental Ocean after cornering one of the peasants while bored. Or add unsightly amount of muscle and she looked like Central Atlantic when she had defeated an opponent in the ring, and was playing with her victim before finishing the job.

She was supposed to be free her sisters' sociopathic dumbassery dammit!

2009

Duchess and Angband sat in their desks, Gateway before them, the scenario written out on the board before them.

"Now then, you have suffered a defeat, and you are pursued and outnumbered by the enemy two to one. You have heavy and light units, but most are moderately or heavily damaged. You only have five submarines, with one having taken damage resulting in her electric drives making far too much noise to be stealthy submerged. Neither side has air support. The enemy commander is known to be short-tempered, and is highly emotional, and likely has taken your fleet's actions in recent months as a personal affront. The sea is calm, with a dense fog bank ahead. It is pre-dawn. How can you extract victory from the scenario? Duchess."

The older twin scratched her head, then scoffed.

"Trick question."

"Explain."

"Obviously this can't happen. The human fleet would've been crushed. I charge ahead and kill them all!"

"You and your whole fleet are wiped out. Angband?"

Duchess slumped back in her seat and stewed in impotent rage. Though it didn't show on her face (much), Gateway was equally frustrated with the girl. When she first planned these classes, she had assumed that Duchess would be just fine while Angband would struggle. Sadly, the younger Elder Princess apparently inherited more than just her strength from her father. The carrier twin, on the other hand, was a quick study, and was a shoe-in for command. Angband nervously stood up. She wilted at her older sister leaning in with a snarling glare, daring her to speak. But after turning to face their mother, and seeing her nod, Angband stepped aside, stood up straight, and spited her sister to speak.

"W-well, I would have the submarines hang back to try and blend in with the enemy fleet, and sacrifice the damaged sub to lead their screening forces away from the main fleet. Then, I would lead the enemy into the fog. There I would arrange my fleet like Hannibal at Cannae: My light and heavily damaged heavies in the center with me, and the remaining on the flanks. That done, I would slow down and let the enemy catch up. With the personality of the enemy commander, he would see my fleet as weak and out of position, pushing his surface group head on. With my flanks staying at the same speed, my center is directed to increase speed to match the enemy's approach. As the enemy fleet presses, the center moves forward and flanking, while the flanks close up from behind. The enemy fleet thus encircled, then my submarines are to begin torpedoing the nearest targets of opportunity while the surface units fire at will. Within half an hour the enemy fleet ought to be either destroyed, or unable to continue the fight."

Their mother is silent for a moment, and just as Duchess takes in a breath to crow and belittle her sister, the Princess begins to clap and offers her youngest child a small smile.
------

Ocean Liner Demon marched through the mothball fleet and into the yards. The Foreman had contacted her directly and informed her that Angband had need of her. Without telling Her Highness.

Had anyone a decade previous told her that she would be genuinely concerned for a damned warship, they would find themselves to be a red smear on the floor. And the walls. And the ceiling. …Actually, if anyone said the same now she'd still leave them as a smear. But though she didn't recognize it, she still had a soft spot for the Ag-Class carrier (though an outsider perspective might pin that on it being hard to enforce one's prejudices on someone when one had changed her diapers). All of them, especially the Imps, did in fact. Her gentle nature was a stark contrast to the rest of the Abyss, and that seemed to invoke an urge to protect her in their black, atrophied hearts. Which was why the demon honored the request without thinking, whereas with anyone else she'd have told the Princess about the meeting out of spite if nothing else. She wasn't sure what to find when she reached the bottom of the pit Gateway's shipyard portion of the throne sat, but it wasn't the young carrier curled up in the fetal position, face buried in her knees, sobbing, and with work crews scurrying over her hanger and the side of her head.

"Angband?"

The Princess' Daughter sat up with a jerk, a gasp escaping from her lips at the sight of the Demon. With hurried motions, Liner Demon ran up to the girl and kneeled, tenderly turning her head to get a better look at the injury.

"It-it's nothing. I-I-I tripped and-"

"The thing about lies is that they only work if they're believable."

Angband closed her mouth and averted her gaze while her Mother's second looked at the left side of her head. And the chewed-up ear the imps were working on repairing and reattaching to the exposed skull. The Demon looked at the hanger off to the side to see that it had been bashed in, with the right eye missing entirely. Liner Demon tilted Angband's face to meet hers, her eyes glowing from the eye slit in her helm.

"Tell me who did this. So that I can kill them."

"N-no! Don't! Mother would-"

"Would forgive me because she's more forgiving than I am, and because I am her pet psychopath and everyone knows it. In fact, it's hard to be a credible psychopath without killing people in a blood rage from time to time."

"It's her sister."

Liner Demon jerked her head to the Foreman, who took her gaze with the apathy only an engineer could manage.

"You heard me. Her sister. Every so often she gets it in her head that Angband here's getting to uppity and decides to 'reeducate' her through the use of teeth and fists. After the stabbing thing she got smart – shocking I know – about the kind of damage she could get away with. This is the seventh incident, and frankly I'm getting nervous about always covering for the shitstain's bullying."

Liner Demon nodded and began to stand.

"Right. One dead Elder Shithead a la Lyons coming up."

"NO! You can't!"

"Sure I can," the Demon replied pleasantly, "It's very easy you see. The key is to ring your hands around the neck at the base of the skull like so, then squeeze until the head-"

"No! You can't kill her and you can't tell mother!"

"…And like that you've lost me."

The little carrier got up and wrapped her little arms around the Demon's waist, looking up to her hidden eyes with a pleading expression, fat tears welling up on her cheeks.

"Please don't Demon! I-I know it's my fault she's always angry. I-if I just didn't do so good, then mother wouldn't praise me so much, that's why she's always mad!"

"No, it's because she's a short-sighted sociopath and you make yourself an easy target because you don't make a fuss. As a long-sighted psychopath I am obligated to frustrate such people with great joy and pleasure."

But alas, such sound logic could not stand against the teary, youthful face, looking ready to burst into tears at any time. And for a flash of a second, the past century was gone, and she was staring at another face, painted in the livery of a hospital ship.

Don't go sister… You'll get hurt…

And deep in the Demon's chest, a shriveled raisin of a heart twitched. And she was defeated.

"…If your mother asks. I am powerless to deny her."

The carrier nodded. And the pair descended into silence as Liner Demon held Angband close while the work crews carried out their repairs. Seeing how Angband barely flinched as the welders worked with clear familiarity of the pain, the Demon found yet another coal of hate and self-loathing to add to her fire to berate herself over. But in time the repairs were complete, and – in a shocking turn of events – the Demon led Angband to her own room to spend the night, rather than the quarters she shared with Duchess. And that night she talked with Her Highness about the training arrangement. Angband was a carrier after all, while the shithead Other Twin was a budding Royal. Would it not be better for their training to be separate? So that Angband could further in her studies under the tutelage of Mordorrim and the other remaining carriers, while she focused on bringing her clearly struggling Hellstain heir up to speed? In fact, it would be best is they just had separate rooms entirely. To better encourage their diverging interests and educations.

Gateway considered this. And agreed. And for once Ocean Liner Demon cursed the implicit trust Her Highness had in her. All she had to do was say something to the effect of 'what brought this on,' and like that she could have been given casus belli to [censored for content].

2010

Building up one's forces for the inevitable return to the war on the clear victor's side was long but productive work – Provided that one knew to take the effort to pace oneself. Therefore, between reading the intermittent reports from her spies and saboteurs in the neighboring fleets, progress reports from her engineers both downstairs at the yards and on Antillia in the oil plants, and checking in on her Fleet and their crews as they trained, Gateway would work to feeding her intellect with knowledge. Sometimes it was history (to better refine her strategies and their contingencies), other times it was law (to better refine her plans for her Post-War government), other times it was Cultural works such as literature or treatises on Art (to glean ideas for cultivating her Post-War culture), or the sciences (for ideas on how to better her fleet and her industry, it was where she got the idea for the Bio-Oil after all). And all of these from books collected and shared with her from a recently built Re-Class named Reivana, who to Gateway's great pleasure was far more interested in books and knowledge than fighting.

At present, the subject at hand was the last of that aforementioned list that was the focus of her current book. Specifically, Psychology in Minors. It wasn't exactly the most relevant, and she had her doubts on its accuracy, but it was still worth looking into. Particularly when the author went into psychosis and sociopathy. At first, she expected a comedy considering that she lived with eight of them… But then things started striking a little too close to home.

…in the case of the developing mind, children do not see dolls as inanimate objects, or animals as baser beings. Rather, they are living, sentient people that they have total or partial power over. In case studies of dozens of individuals exhibiting psychopathy, sadism, serial killers, and spree killers, it was commonly found that – as children – they commonly displayed their psychoses on toys and small animals. Things such as dismembering dolls, or torturing animals in cruel and unusual ways.

For the first time in a long while, the Princess slammed a book shut without marking her place and threw it as far away as she could manage, on her face was an expression of stunned horror, pure and unmitigated.

The crabs.

The fish.

The toys when she was a baby.

The time she stabbed Angband.

The Duchess, that worthless imbecilic daughter undeserving of a name, was too dangerous to be permitted to live, Gateway recognized that now. But how to do it? One does not simply go kinslaying and not expect an uproar.

Spring, 2012, The Royal Quarters

In the viewing orb, Duchess and a coterie of various ships were gathered around in the Mothball Chamber deep beneath the palace. And given the volume they were speaking in, you'd think they weren't plotting treason.

"It's been years, every day she tells us we'll take back what was ours and still she sits her fat ass on that chair and doesn't do anything!" said a Chi-class cruiser, which got a great sound of agreement from the others.

"Our sisters died defending our rear as the Princess cowardly ran from the humans, expecting us to make good on their noble sacrifice and avenge them. Instead we cower in the depths, hidden away like feeble meatbags while our Sisterfleets fight on nobly, laughing at us and our so-called 'glorious' Princess!

"Her Royal Laziness, rather than taking up the cause of her sisters, spits on their efforts at glory for our race and leaves their fleets to squalor! It's time that we take action, because it's obvious that our Princess lacks the courage to do anything!"

The crowd roars in approval and raising their firsts in approval. And prominent among the innermost ring stands Duchess, all sadistic smiles and bloodlust in her eyes as she addressed the crowd.

"My useless Mother and cry-baby sister need to die, and I vow to spill it myself!" the Demi-Abyssal declared, to the clear joy of her audience, "And then? We retake my Birthright the Azores, and from there Iberia, and then ALL of Europe! A black flood to extinguish the Meatbags once and for all!"

For a few more moments the crowd in the orb cheered louder than ever before a wave of Gateway's hand froze the image and dispersed it.

The Princess was slouching back in her seat with an expression of utter boredom, her head resting on one cheek on a fist, Ocean Liner Demon standing beside her, arms crossed, and looking on apathetically.

"You know Demon," the Princess said, disappointment evident in her tone, "They were all going to die just by the fact that they were plotting treason. That is a given. But the fact that they were spouting their drivel in my own Palace, the one place that I would have heard of their plot? I am insulted."

"Shall I arrange a firing squad? Or can I go on a spree? Please tell me I can go on a spree."

Gateway raised an eyebrow at the Demon and held her gaze. After a few moments Liner Demon sagged in clear disappointment.

"Tempting. But it just seems like such a waste... Furthermore, this needs to be handled with finesse. There's no telling how many others in the fleet share their views but are smart enough to keep it to themselves. Furthermore, we need solid evidence that their viewpoint on the Humans is foolishness, otherwise I'll just be playing into their narrative of me being craven rather than wise and prudent, and because of that I can't afford to hold a trial. Even if the number of those involved wouldn't make the process tedious, it would give them a platform to spread their drivel. And of course, that worthless waste of resources is involved, and no matter how justified I can't just kill her over what amounts to a difference of politics."

Liner Demon stroked the chin of her helm as she considered that, watching as Gateway stood up and leaned over the table before her, and the map of the Atlantic it displayed. Her Highness waved her hands over the display in arcane patterns, causing the map to shift to various locals and showing current intelligence of Human activity.

"These children want a brawl Demon?" she said, "Then a brawl they shall have. But where… It can't be on the coasts, I can't afford to have the humans of the major powers have fresh wounds… Perhaps an island… But it can't be just any island… Yes!"

Liner Demon looked over the shorter Princess' shoulder as she moved the map to a small island. It was transparent on the map, indicating that it was hidden from mundane eyes. And the tiny figures on brooms circling it showed that it was protected by magical folk.

"St. Brendan's?"

"Yes! It's the perfect target!"

"How so?"

"Because it's a magical Island! That means that the inhabitants are not only in possession of disproportionate firepower, enough to crush a fleet if they combine it with mundane weaponry, but it's hidden and isolated from the mundane governments of the world, where the actual power lies. It's likely that they don't even know about it, or if they do they can't actually acknowledge it themselves. I have been hearing rumors that the magical guardians at the island have been dwindling in numbers in recent months. Soon enough the whole garrison will leave due to being so undermanned.

"No one else has bothered after Central Atlantic got rebuffed sending her fleets to die against it. Frankly had she kept it up I think she might have made landfall, but if there's one 'good' thing about her it was how easily bored she got with things that gave her a fair fight. When these International Magical folk leave, the island will be wide open for invasion. And if I'm right about the locals and the sum of Mundane and Magic working together, any fleet foolish enough to attack is going to die brutally. And wouldn't you know? I have plenty of fools in need of dying."

"And you think your older daughter and her little friends will buy this?" Liner Demon asked. Gateway did not turn toward her Second, she just smiled cruelly at the island, and what terrors it no doubt in store for her blood-lusting sociopath of a useless daughter.

"Frame it as a challenge Demon, and idiots with dreams of bloodshed and glory will line up to die faster than a stockbroker for an office window after the Crash of '29. Furthermore, the Duchess is no doubt so eager for a landed title and a realm of her own to rule, that she'll be desperate to attack and invade. On top of her own personality plaws, such a prize would make her not bother to plan. As for me? I dispel the notion of me being unwilling to fight, I get to wipe out an entire faction of my fleet plotting treason under my nose – and any number of fools too weak to resist peer pressure or secretly harboring treasonous thoughts, and I get rid of a mistake that I should have aborted. And even if she crawls back here after her failure, I get a fig leaf to kill her without being accused of Kinslaying.

"And that," she said, turning to Demon fully, a proud grin on her face, "is how you deal with traitors like a professional."

The Demon hummed in thought as she looked at the map, stroking her chin.

"I assume that the treason is the final straw then… And not what the Feckless Wonder does to her sister."

"Demon?"

"Just, considering that you can see everything you would have known about her beating up Angband."

"Angband? What has she been doing to my Angband?"

Liner Demon jerked her head to the Princess, and was silenced at the horrified expression on her face.

"…You, didn't know?"

"Didn't know what Ocean Liner Demon!"

"…Huh. Remember when I suggested separating the twins?" The Princess only nodded in affirmation, "You didn't think that was odd?"

"Well, I had assumed that you were talking as an Advisor. I cannot have my Power strewn about every inch of my Realm Demon, only on the vitally important parts. Now tell Us what that sub-human barbarian was doing to Our baby!"

And that was how Gateway Princess learned the story of her heir brutalizing her youngest daughter, and the conspiracy to keep her from finding out about of it. As the story was told, Gateway remained quiet, but in a rare moment of vulnerability, she did not hide her emotions, swinging from horror to rage to sadness and back as her most trusted minion disclosed what had been going on without her – the smart Elder Princess – finding out.

"And that's when I recommended keeping the two separated as much as possible. I had expected you to question my interest out of the blue, but when nothing happened I suspected that you knew, just didn't care."

At that, the Princess seemed ready to give a scathing dressing down to the Demon, only to visibly deflate and slump into the nearest chair and bury her face in her hands and began to sob.

How could she have been so blind, that she didn't connect the dots that her Blood-lusting sociopath of a spawn had been doing to her actual daughter what their aunts had been doing to her? How could she, who saw the consequences of starting a war of genocide against the surface-dwellers a light-year away, miss what was happening within her own halls?

What did it saw about her, that the daughter she actually liked hid her problems involving the daughter she had grown to hate as passionately as any of her sisters?

The Useless daughter should have been disposed of years ago, and had either Angband trusted her enough, or if Liner Demon or her own engineers not bought-in to her propaganda enough, to speak up about the goings on, she would have crucified that monster years ago…

But they didn't and that hurt more than anything else.

'Where did I go wrong…?'

*-*-*-*

Harry Leferts said:
You know, I can actually see that though British waters have less to see...
Lord Khuzdul said:
Just do it in Gibraltar.​

Actually, the English Channel is full of wrecks, especially from WWII. I remember seeing a documentary about someone building a commercial tourist submarine to provide tours of the area.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Grumbling to herself, Kawa snuggled more into her body pillow as her internal clock told her it was time to get up. Or at least close enough to such a time anyways. That was something that she didn't like about being a shipgirl.

Mainly that such a saying as 'Internal clock' was quite literal in her case.

As she attempted to ignore that fact, and how she there was an internal nudge to wake up, Kawa buried her face into her pillow all the more. However, all too soon she noticed that her pillow was moving. More then that, Kawa could also feel another body pressing into her, one which had what seemed like a head buried in her chest. 'Please, please be a Destroyer. Or perhaps Agano... as much as I hate how grabby she is.'

Opening her eyes, she was met with a cloth covered chest that she recognized easily. Upon looking down, the Light Cruiser noted how there was a head of blonde hair there with the face of said person buried in her own chest. It was a sight that was rather common. Closing her eyes, Kawa internally groaned before checking her memory of the night before over. 'Okay, lets see... Enterprise-San and Yamato-Sama both came home last night after the last stalls closed. Neither of them were drunk though, nor was I. So why...?'

Her answer came moments later as Enterprise mumbled a bit. "Cuddly as fuck..."

Yamato gave a mutter of her own not even a second later as she pushed Kawa's face more into her bust. "Get your own Yahagi-Chan..."

There was a time in the past when Kawa would have simply dreamed about the position that she was in with regards Yamato. Yes, she had been, and still was, a Yamato fangirl. Hell, there had been some very pleasant dreams that involved this at least at some point before she had found out that she was the Light Cruiser, Yahagi. Enterprise being there had not been something that the now eighteen year old had ever considered. But if she was truthful, the version of her back then would not have minded imagining it either.

Just the same, the reality of it was somewhat different from those dreams to say the least.

Letting out a soft sigh, Kawa looked from one Capital Ship to the other and frowned. There was nothing in particular about the date that stood out. "Um, why are the two of you..."

Simply opening one eye, Enterprise looked up at her before closing it. "Because this helps me sleep better. Princess is probably much the same with Musashi not around and Shinano with her group."

After a moment, Yamato nodded some. "Hai, Enterprise is right about that. It... One does not sleep easily when alone, I find."

Enterprise then spoke up again. "And once more: You're cuddly as fuck. So fucking cuddly it should be illegal."

Lips curling some, Yamato hummed. "Well of course she is. After all, she is an example of superior Japanese engineering."

One hand raising up, the Carrier gave her a gesture that was near universal. "Fuck you, Jap."

Roughly a half hour later found Kawa in front of her mirror looking herself over. A frown on her face, she reached up and placed her hands on her chest. "I still can't believe it."

Poking her head into the room, Enterprise took a sip of her coffee. "Can't believe what, Yahagi?"

With a blink, the Natural Born looked over her shoulder before blushing some. "Um..." At the raised eyebrow, she glanced away. "I, um... well, I'm pretty sure that since becoming a shipgirl I've gone up a cup size or two."

That made Enterprise blink some in confusion. "Okay?" Seeing the look that Yahagi was giving her, she looked over at Yamato who came into view and shrugged herself. "So... you grew a bit? I mean, that is sort of normal, right? Jersey actually grew some tits with her refit."

Somewhat bemused, Kawa sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, still getting used to it. I mean, I know that some people change when they get awoken, but... Well, you know."

Frowning, Yamato shook her head. "Actually, we don't, Yahagi-Chan."

Also furrowing her eyebrows, the only American there considered the words that she heard. Then Enterprise snapped a finger. "Oh yeah, the whole one's appearance changing. That sort of thing doesn't happen to humans." Looking towards Yamato, she continued. "Remember your little sister? I mean, the Natural Born one? And how she was complaining about how she's growing both in height and muscles?"

Just blinking, Yamato slowly nodded. "I do remember some people commenting on Hana-Chan and how her body is changing. And how her Okaa-San was concerned at first. Neither Musashi nor myself could quite understand what the issue was."

Kawa gave a slight nod at that. "That's... one example. Hana-San growing until she's taller then her own mother at age ten is not normal. Especially when the growth is happening from the normal height for a seven year old to that. At least for humans."

Head tilted to the side, Enterprise turned to Yamato and shrugged. "So... big changes like you gaining bigger tits that fast, or Hana growing as fast as she has is something to be worried about normally?"

Even though she had some redness on her cheeks, the Light Cruiser gave a slight nod. "Generally, that sort of thing doesn't happen for humans. Not that quickly anyways and usually it would be something bad."

With her eyes closed, Yamato rolled that around in her mind before opening them. "I, Yamato am not quite sure. But you would know better then Enterprise-San or I in regards to this."

That brought to mind something else in Kawa's memories. "Sometimes... I'm surprised at what you don't seem to really know or understand."

All Enterprise did was hold her hands up with palms facing upwards. "What can I say? Princess and I were ships, not shipgirls. I mean, sure, our spirits looked like this when we walked along our hulls, true enough. But that's entirely different from, ya know, actually being girls." Looking over her hand, she frowned. "Like, when my hair had that split end shit, you suggested conditioner. And lo and behold, it worked."

Beside her, Yamato nodded. "Indeed. Or when my skin was dry and somewhat cracked, you stated all I needed was moisturizer. Both Enterprise-San and myself have learned more from you in regards to being... well, human, then we have learned since we were summoned."

Scratching her cheek, the Natural Born blushed some. "I'm sure that you would have figured out something eventually..."

Rather amused, Enterprise and Yamato shared a look at that before shaking their heads, the Carrier placing her hands behind her head. "Nah, probably not. I mean, when that kid at that school we went to tripped and fell down the stairs, you were right there handing him. Hell, neither myself or Princess even realized how hurt he was at first because we're ships. And that sort of thing didn't seem like it was that bad."

Only frowning at the reminder, Kawa gave a slight nod. "I remember that..." She then shook her head. "Though I suppose that you do have a point..." Then shrugging, the Light Cruiser smiled. "Well, I don't mind helping when needed."

Internally, Kawa had to shake her head. Sure, before she had become a Shipgirl she had never thought that this was what she might have happen. But in the end, it was not something that was tough. In fact, Kawa did not mind when either Yamato or Enterprise had an issue about being a girl they asked her about. Oddly it reminded her of back in the orphanage when the younger girls would ask her questions as they got older...

Which was something that always made her internally chuckle.

As she watched the two get into another one of their spats, her smile grew slightly. Yes, Kawa had placed Yamato onto a pedestal. While some would have been dismayed with the real Yamato, Kawa was not one of them. Rather, she liked the actual Yamato compared to the one she had in her head. With a shake of her head though, she turned and got the rest of her uniform only to yelp as Enterprise grabbed her into a hug with a grin. "Yahagi! Princess is being mean to me!"

Puffing out her cheeks, Yamato gave the other shipgirl a glare before pulling Yahagi out of the Carrier's arms and into her own. "Leave Yahagi-Chan out of this, Enterprise-San!"

Face smooshed into the taller shipgirls impressive chest, Kawa only internally sighed.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

Walking into the lounge of the Zuchi house after an evening spent touching up and doing some maintenance on his cars, in the middle of doing his best to wipe the worst of the engine grease off his hands with an old rag, Kiba then slowed as something caught his ear. Frowning in confusion, the okuri-inu then glanced around.

Was somebody... humming?

Blinking, and then looking over the couch in confusion, Kiba then finds Kogamaru with a laptop in his hands, and the subjugation of Medieval Europe by the Aztecs taking place on screen.

"Somebody's in a good mood. Game going well?"

Looking up in mild surprise, Kogamaru then looks back down at the screen. "Oh! Er, hey Kiba. Things are actually going kinda sideways right now. I'm playing Denmark."

Looking closer at the screen, Kiba observes that Denmark is currently being pulled through multiple meat grinders in wars against Austria and Poland that he knows Kogamaru would never have initiated. Not when already in his own conflict with the Aztecs. Which probably means allied Calls to Arms requests he couldn't afford not to answer.

"Well, you still seem in a pretty good mood regardless," observed Kiba with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I?" Pausing for a second, and smile then crosses Kogamaru's face. "I suppose I am then. I guess today was a good day."

"Well I'm glad someone had one," grouches Jin as she slouches by behind them. Kogamaru's good mood and smile remain undaunted by the mizuchi's surliness.

Then Kogamaru frowns as something Kiba says catches up with him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said where's your jacket?" asks the okuri-ini with a curiously raised eyebrow. "Chisuheri said she got coffee all over it, so I was wondering if you wanted me to toss it in with a couple of my business suits I'm taking to be professionally dry cleaned when I drop Asuka off for day two of the festival."

For a moment, Kogamaru stares, his twitterpated brain struggling to catch up. Then dawning realization fills his eyes.

"Oh shit, I forgot to ask her number!"

------------------------------

Entering the their quarters after a good jog and evening work out, Moriko frowns and her ears swivel, trying to identify the sound on the edge of her hearing. At first she thinks there is somebody playing a radio or their phone in the bathroom, but then ...

'Was that..... Singing?'

Looking around and seeing Suzume in the kitchen, looking over a stained Tokyo University Letterman jacket on the counter top, Moriko stares as the process of elimination determines her answer for the source of the mystery lyricist. Something that only becomes more undeniable when the water shuts off, and the voice becomes clearer.

"Wait.... is that Sachiko?"

"Sachiko is indeed singing in the shower, yes." Flipping over the coffee-stained jacket, Suzume begins riffling through the pockets.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Moriko watches her twin's progress while waking over to the kettle and pouring herself out a cup of her own coffee to drink. "What are you looking for anyway? A wallet?" she asks cheekily, drawing a roll of the eyes from her sister.

"I'm checking to see if there's any business cards or receipts in the pockets that might give an idea who actually owned this thing."

Taking a sip from her mug, Moriko looks at her sister curiously. "You haven't checked for a name tag on the collar yet?"

Now it's Suzume's turn to raise an eyebrow in return. "A name on the collar tag? Really?"

Her sister shrugs questioningly. "What?"

"Moriko, who honestly does that these days?"

"I dunno," offers the other okami. "Little kids I guess."

"Exactly."

"Well it couldn't hurt to check," suggests Suzume's twin. "You never know."

"Surrrreee," says the middle sister, with a looks that says just how much she believes in the viability of that plan. Nevertheless, Suzume turns the jacket around, and after a few moments, manages to locate the tag in the lining of the neck. Smoothing it out, and after a few seconds of squinting, the okami then freezes.

"HA!" crows Moriko victoriously. "So I was right! There is a name on the tag, isn't there!"

Suzume however, doesn't say anything, and continues to stare at the tag in frozen shock.

"Suzume?" Looking at her sister curiously, Moriko then waves her hand in front of her sister's gaze. "~Suzu-chan~? Hellooooo?"

Suzume.exe continues to remain unresponsive.

At that moment, Sachiko then appears, hair still damp from her shower and wheeling herself into the kitchen with such energy, she actually does a twirling wheelie as she enters.

"~Someday we'll meet again,
And away to his castle we'll go~"

Even in her stunned state, an idle part of Suzume's mind can't help but note the irony of the song and lines that the youngest of the three sisters has just sung to herself.

"Hey guys," beaming brightly, Sachiko looks between her two sisters. "What's going on?"

Moriko shrugs. "Apparently Suzume just found the name of mystery jacket guy."

Immediately the wheelchair bound okami's face lights up. "Really?!"

"Yeah, but Suzume's apparently decided to catch flies instead," points out Moriko, thumbing at their still slack-jawed sister.

"What? Why? Who is it?" asks Sachiko, blushing slightly as she does her best not to seem to eager. "I-I mean, it's a nice jacket. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of vintage classic. We really should return it."

Moriko just grins knowingly.

Sachiko's response is to turn a further shade of red a splutter. "O-Okay, whatever! C-Can one of you just tell me who we're even supposed to be looking for?"

"Alright, alright, No need to get so worked up sis." Chuckling at the rise she has gotten from her sister, and seeing her twin still frozen, Moriko takes a satisfied sip from her drink as she walks over to Suzume and then leans over her shoulder to check.

Moriko then pauses as she catches a glimpse of the name sewn with almost professional neatness into the fabric of the tag.

Her pause then turns into a disbelieving double-take, which is swiftly followed by an impressive cough/spit-take of shock.

One that catches poor Sachiko in someone else's stream of sprayed coffee for the second time that day.

"MOORRRIIIKOOOO!!! WHYYYYYY?!?!?!"

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Monday, 2nd September 2013

Stepping outside of the pavilion in which she currently resided, Zetland took a deep breath of fresh air and set off down the path, passing the large building in which items that weren't currently displayed in the museum were stored before arriving at a somewhat tent-like but permanent structure behind it. The summer holidays now being over it was closed to the public but Zetland wasn't just a member of the public.

Inside an Oakley-class lifeboat occupied the bulk of the space. Zetland took her hat off and nodded in its direction.

"Afternoon James. Sorry I haven't been to see you for a couple of days, things kept coming up."

Walking over to a raised platform to one side of the other lifeboat, the world's oldest climbed the steps and leaned on the railing at the top.

"I've got a few bits of news for you, the bad one being that I've checked and you're definitely too small to summon unless you want to be a dog so these conversations are going to stay one sided for another fifty years or so at least. Don't worry, I'm not going to use that as a reason to stop visiting you, I remember the whole of my life so you'll probably remember all of yours including my visits and that's as good a reason to keep visiting you as any.

Second bit of news is a good one. You remember that lad I told you about, the one whose mam turned out to have been a cruiser the last time she was on Earth? Well they went through to Hartlepool the other day and now she's one of those shipgirls. Don't ask me how that works, I don't have any idea. The whole thing seems very strange to me but it's not my place to question such things. Maybe they'll make sense one day.

Speaking of shipgirls, apparently they've been building ships to serve as ambulances for them at what used to be Smith's Dock and one of the ones currently on the slipway is going to be based at Hartlepool and you'd never guess what they want to call her. They want to name her the Zetland. I had someone around this morning asking if it was alright with me. I didn't understand why they were asking me at first since there's plenty of other things named after the Marquees of Zetland around here and I said so but it turns out that they're naming her after me rather than the Marquees. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about that but I don't have any objection to it and I told them so."

The older lifeboat continued to talk to the younger, bringing her up to date on everything from how things were going with her rot problem to pieces of gossip picked up from the museum's staff, until the light coming through the fabric roof started to dim.

"Well, it's starting to get dark, I've run out of things to say and people are probably starting to wonder where I've got to. I'll see you later. Good night."

On the lifeboat's bow, the unseen figure of a small girl watched her leave.


A/N: Not sure if the last bit fits with the rules of the 'verse so if it doesn't let me know.

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Well, if I end up mixed up somewhere, I'm sure someone will point it out to me.

Checking In

"Excuse me, Miss?"

Mutsuki wiped her forehead with the back of her arm and looked up at the business man who was looking down at her. When was one someone going to come and switch with her so that she could play with Fubuki and Yuudachi? Brushing her annoyance away, she focused on her customer. "Yes, what would you like to order?"

"Actually, I came here as a representative of Todoh Byakuya-sama," he said, offering her a business card. Mutsuki, who had never heard of Todoh Byakuya-sama, was not especially impressed.

"I'm sorry, but does that mean you want to order something or not?" she asked. "We have a line, so if you're not planning to, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to move out of the way." The man glanced over his shoulder, and nodded apologetically.

"Of course, I'm sorry," he said, bowing. "I will make this quick. Rumors have reached my master that the famed swords Juuchi Yosamu and Honjo Masamune were present somewhere at this venue last night. He wishes to inquire after the truth of this."

It took a moment for warning bells to begin sounding in Mutsuki's head. As far as she knew, both blades—and a number of other Muramasas—had duked it out nearby for some reason, though she had yet to learn all the details. But beyond that, something about the way this guy carried himself, the way he was looking at her, set a shiver running down her keel. Something that said in no uncertain terms that, whoever this guy was, he was not to be trusted.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, bowing herself, "but to the best of my knowledge, no one brought any swords to Fleet Week. You will have to check elsewhere."

"Understood," the man replied respectfully. "If you hear otherwise, please do not hesitate to contact me." He indicated his business card. "Thank you for your time."

Mutsuki watched him walk away, then turned to the next customer. "I'm very sorry about that," she said, smiling brightly. "Now please, what would you like to order?"

As she did so, she silently sent out a message to keep an eye out for one Antonio Kiritani.
-----

"Hello, Akechi-san! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, hello… Potter-san, you live with a lot of Shipgirls, don't you?"

"I believe that is public knowledge. Why do you ask?"

"Well you wouldn't happen to know anything about little chibi Shipgirls that show up out of the blue, do you?"

"Uh… Yes, actually, I do."

"Okay, good, because there's this little tiny Yamato girl in my house eating all my food."

"Poi?"
-----

"Finally got some time off, did you Saki?" Umi asked, offering her friend a bottle of water. The ramen cook took it with a grateful smile, twisting the cap off and gulping it down.

"That's exhausting, she sighed, wiping her forehead with the back of her sleeve. "What gives? It's not even the lunch rush or anything!"

"I guess enough people heard that Namiko likes to eat at your place," Umi shrugged. "Sounds like it'd be good for business, doesn't it?"

"Guess I'll have to thank her for that," Saki groaned, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Though, speaking of Namiko, where is she? Haven't seen her all day."

"Helping Houshou out," the JMSDF officer replied. "She does that sometimes in her off hours."

"Ah. Guess the Shipgirl-run places are pretty popular as well, aren't they."

"Heroes and Defenders of humanity cooking for you!" Umi said, deepening her voice into a tone usually reserved for the narrators of movie trailers. Saki facepalmed, but snickered.

"Oh yeah," she said, still smiling awkwardly. "You said Ashida would be here today, didn't you? Where is she?"

Shikinami ran past. Umi watched her go by, then turned back to her friend. "Follow a destroyer, you'll get to her eventually," she said.
-----

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

yukicrewger2 said:
Musashi as Sesshomaru... are any of the Muramasa or Masamune blades willing to act as Tensaiga or Bakusaiga?​

*-*-*-*

Sensing a watching gaze, Chisuheri looks up from her current packet of blood, to find Asuka watching her curiously. Gaze narrowed, the cogs are obviously turning in the young daitengu's mind, as she observes the last of Chisuheri's bruises fading.

"So.... you can heal?"

Dabbing at the corner of her mouth politely, Chisuheri nods. "Admittedly, only myself or whomever wields me, and only through the consumption of blood via either myself or my blades. But yes. I can heal."

Asuka nods. "So would you say that makes you.... a healing shiv?"

The Muramasa raises an eyebrow. "I would like to think that I am a fair bit larger and more dignified than a shiv."

The daitengu remains undaunted in her odd questions. "Can you.... raise the dead or stop people dying?"

Chisuheri now looks at Kiba's young ward curiously. "While I can't raise the dead, for a given value of 'stopping someone from dying'..... if their heart and lungs were destroyed in the heat of combat, it is technically within the realm of my capabilities to keep a wielder's blood flowing and undergoing a limited respiration process, until I can regenerate their organs. Barring irrecoverable blood loss and immediately fatal head wounds, as long as they can recoup the required blood for regenration, there is little that could put down someone wielding me for long."

"I see..." says Asuka, even as she looks a little green at the thought of the scenario described.

Thinking she has disappointed the inquisitive youth, Chisuheri wavers uncertainly for a moment. "I.... suppose I do know a variety of mildly respectable healing spells. Although admittedly I am no healer or mediwitch."

Immediately, Asuka's gaze brightens.

-----------------------------

Running a hair through his white hair, Kogamaru yawned tiredly.

It was nice to be back in the company of other magicals and relax. A chance to go incognito and buy stuff was fun, but he couldn't help but be a stickler for traditional garb. It was what he had grown up wearing, was expected to wear, and was thus always most comfortable in when lazing about.

Sensing movement, Kogamaru then glanced to his side to find a certain young daitengu starring at him intently.

"Evening Asuka. Is something the matter?"

Realizing she has been caught, the young ward blushes slightly in embarrassment at being found out.

"S-Sorry. I was just thinking about something..."

Kogamaru looks at her curiously, his interest peaked. "Oh really? About what if you don't mind me asking?"

"Ah..." Shuffling slightly, Asuka then looks at the okami sheepishly. "Would... I was wondering.... are you able to light up only part of your clan markings. Like, only the side bits, rather than the whole thing?"

Kogamaru raises an eyebrow, even as glowing red lines begin to appear across his face. "What, like this?" Like the arms of a clock revolving around the face, the okami humors her by alternating the visible parts of his markings, moving from forehead, to right cheek, to nose, to left cheek, and then back to his brow. "It takes a bit of concentration but it isn't that hard."

Her sheepishness forgotten, enthusiastic fascination, and something that almost looks like scheming curiosity, alights in the daitengu's eyes. "Yeah! Like that! Except can you do just the sides? And maybe just a little bit of the circle-ly bit on your forehead?"

Mildly amused by Asuka's requests, Kogamaru follows along. "Sure."

"That's almost perfect!" Seeing the results, the daitengu grins and begins looking around the lounge eagerly, as if something has just hit her. "Can you just thin the bits on your cheeks so they're more like stripes though? Oh, and can you do the circle like a crescent?"

"You do realize the circle is supposed to represent the sun, right?" asks the okami with wry amusement.

Glancing at his faint reflecting in a nearby mirror, Kogamaru then chuckles at the sight.

'Heh.... that's kinda funny. The crescent's the wrong color, but if it were purple.... wait.'

Brow furrowing, in the same moment, Kogamaru almost immediately has his suspicions confirmed as something is dumped on his shoulder. Looking to the side, the okami then sees Asuka standing there grinning, having dumped onto his right shoulder one of the voluminous white fur throw blankets that Kiba normally keeps around the lounge for colder nights.

"Haha, very funny."

"Oh come on!" whines Asuka. "It's perfect!"

-----------------------------

Thirty minutes later, Kogamaru and Asuka reappear at the Zuchi house in a flare of green Floo flames.

Striding out of the fire pit on the back porch, Asuka turns around and grins victoriously as she watches Kogamaru brush down the nanban dou style cuirass he has now acquired. Though it doesn't quite match, and his 'pauldron' is actually the upper plate and frame of a sode that has had the lower lamellar plates removed, while the emblems on his kimono are in fact the swirling teeth of the Hokubu kamon..... the okami actually pulls off the cosplay surprisingly well.

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this," he moans.

Asuka grins as she brushes down her own borrowed kosode. One in shades of checkered yellow and orange. "Hey, you were the one who complained you could do better, with real gear you already owned in the first place!"

The okami facepalms. "At least this is all old and obscure enough stuff nobody's going to notice it missing from the manor armory."

At that moment, Chisuheri then exits the house and finds the two 'cosplayers' outside. Looking them up and down, the Muramasa then sighs. "I see she actually succeeded in roping you into this then?"

Viridian said:
Ugh. Yeah, I can see this backfiring horribly. It's not like there is not already a lot of mutual attraction. It would be a lot smarter to just let things progress naturally, rather than trying to force it. A person can like an something if it's their idea, but dig their heels in and be horribly resentful if it's coerced. I know it would be more dramatic, but my suspension of disbelief would start creaking.​

Non-canon Omake

Nervously, Moriko and Suzume stood before the gathered elders of the Hokubu, quietly questioning if this was really a good idea.

Most of those currently in the room were older than both of them combined, and had gained, lost, and still retained, more wealth then either of the two had had ever realistically aspired for, let alone touched.

Looking over the twins with silent hawkish eyes that declare her nobility simply through her presence, Ashihime then gestures. At this seemingly casual symbol, all of the venerable and wizened okami present ,immediately gather around in a surprisingly undignified huddle. Uncertainly, the two twins then look at each other as the school-circle of elders hurriedly converse in whispered tones, with one or two occasionally glancing back at the two as if to check or consider something.

After not even a minute of deliberation, the group splits apart, giving silent nods to Ashihime who then takes the lead.

"Your sister has our full support and approval. Also, if you ever need aid in ensuring their courtship is unhindered and without worry, do not be afraid to ask of us for help."

The twins practically double take at the approval that is almost eager and hopeful in it's no-fuss and no frills delivery, entirely lacking in any expected gravitas or flowery declarations.

"Wait, really?"

"Yes."

"Just like that?"

"Correct."

"Without any... issue? I mean.... we're not exactly well off. Heck, we're not just unlanded. We rent."

Ashihime just gives them a flat look.

"Let me summarize it this way. If it were not for the fact that I know my honored grandson does not, to use the modern parlance, swing that way, we would likely have begun suggesting fellow bachelors to him out of desperation. That, or asking awkward questions about the possibility of certain aspects of identity and potions if it were the case, what with how effeminate he can already sometimes look."

Barricade said:
Its actually partially out of either Sachiko or Kogamaru's hands. Remember, Kogamaru *is* a noble as the Yokai still view things that way, and the head of a major clan. He HAS to get married sooner or later. And if he shows any signs at all, with all his prior polite turning downs? The elders WILL act upon it. From their viewpoint, they HAVE to act upon it.

Thankfully for Kogamaru & Sachiko, both are mutually attracted to each other (and are mutually dorks). Because dynasties can be extremely cold-blooded about things, as the bloodline *must* continue. Full stop.

Go look at Kogamaru's grandfather and what is heavily implied to have happened with his grandmother, just to see how bad things can be. Or just watch GoT and realize to your horror that GRRM actually toned DOWN some of the bullshit that actually happened IRL during the War of the Roses.​

Luckily for Kogamaru, he plays the political tightrope well enough that it wouldn't really be viable to the elders to force him into anything he doesn't really want or has been previously outspoken against. It helps that he's been good enough to the clan over recent years, that they're willing to go out on a limb and allow him some of his less traditional agendas and moves. After all, he's already revitalized the clan's relevance in the youth, so he's at least ensuring it'll be continued, and not just preserved, only to 'stagnate' and die out among the elderly thanks to irrelevance.

Although, they are also somewhat worried the Hokubu luck will kick in and kill him off at a comparatively young (for an okami) age. His resistance to going along with anything arranged and saying her needs to be an exemplar for the clan's progressiveness in even this matter, is also multifaceted. While he does believe he ought to lead by example and "as I do" rather than "as I say" (an element that was a big issue in the reigns of his father and grandfather in different ways/reasons), part of it is also an element of his youth.

He still is pretty young for an okami, and so there's an element to him of that young 20-something "youthful invincibility"/ "It can happen to me, but that doesn't mean it will" to him, even if leadership and preparation for it makes him mature and sharp (when he isn't being a doofus).

Ashihime also doesn't really have it in herself to force Kogamaru or any prospective bride of his, into something neither of them really want, know, or will be happy with. Not after how her own marriage to Royomaru, which was founded solely on political convenience/necessity to their clans, turned out.

 

[darthcourt10]

U.N.Spacy000

It looks like we're well past the Muramasa sit down overseen by Jin, so I feel like I can post this.

Anyways, this is the petty sort of thing I could see Kagotsuruhe doing to get back at Akutoku – and the old Kyoshu while pleasing new Kyoshu.

Oh, and some self-examination on Juuchi's part since some people were rather vocal with their "Juuchi should have prevented this fuckup!"

I mean, it's not as though all the authors involved could have deliberately engineered that glorious trainwreck – it's totally on the characters because they have wills of their own.

____


Nyoro~n Kyoshu-chan 4-Koma

Juuchi sat listlessly on the couch and contemplated how she had reacted to news of Kyoshu living nearby. It had been a reasonable response based on the information she had – it just happened that her information was seventy years out of date and catastrophically wrong. She had not done much information gathering, but that was because with the information she did have, there was a pressing need to create and shore up defenses, and as soon as Shizomizu had returned with Haru – or Jin – things would have eventually been sorted out.

It was just everyone's bad luck that Kyoshu wandered into the vicinity.

And it wasn't like any of her sisters had reacted better when they first learned of the change.

Well, Kagotsuruhe hadn't gone for an attempted murder, but she had used her abilities to discover Kyoshu wasn't affected by them. Juuchi chose to take that as a polite way of saying Kagotsuruhe had attempted to put Kyoshu in a fear comma, which was what she usually did when the old version of Kyoshu came for a visit.

Hell, if it had taken Kyoshu ten minutes longer to arrive, Tsukiakari would have missed the other sword entirely, and Juuchi might have run into Akutoku with Honjo and at least some de-escalation would have occur. Probably.

But still, what way was there for Juuchi to get more information on anything in the magical community these days? It wasn't like she could Google Muramasa blades and get anything useful. It wasn't like she could have called up her sisters, shoot them an e-mail, tweet at them, or anything else since she didn't have their contact information – a point that had been rectified. She hadn't even known where they were – unlike them who figured out where she was from the wedding that had been broadcast on national television.

And even if she could have, she hadn't really want them around Harry. She might brag about the Potters and how they could properly wield her without giving into her bloodlust, but he was still a rather squishy and easily damaged boy, and her sisters were… her sisters. They might not be as bloodthirsty as they were four hundred years ago when she last saw them, but as far as Honjo could tell, they were still 'evil' seventy years ago when she last saw them.

But then again, Honjo was biased like that.

And, come to think of it, Honjo's sisters hadn't gotten in contact with her, either.

This mess could have been avoided if the Masamunes had gotten around to dropping Honjo a line so she could get in contact with them and talk to them about the threat Kyoshu represented, but no, that hadn't happened, either, and they didn't even have the excuse that they were afraid Honjo would flip out and murder everyone.

She supposed she could have gone to Haru directly rather than sending Shiromizu, but all indications from past information was that Kyoshu was A Clear and Present Danger to Harry, and he needed protection. She made the best decision with the information she had at the time even if she had been wrong and mildly perturbed by the fact Kyoshu could show up at any point. Nagato understood that. She did not like it, but she understood how information sometimes needed to be acted because of the potential threat it represented even if it turned out to be faulty.

Like all of Hoppou's descendants showing up.

That had to be acted upon based on the idea that Abyssals were hostile. Follow up probes for information proved that they were not hostile, but if the recon plane had not been available or able to communicate with the commander on the ground before the Abyssals had come across forward shipgirl elements or hit the ground, the consequences would have been… disastrous.

Hoppou understood where Juuchi had been coming from as well. Hoppou also approved of proactive self-defense when it came to protecting her big brother and snuck Juuchi some blood oranges for having 'her heart in the right place' even if she had been wrong. Juuchi opted to leave the oranges around Chisuheri's home as a joke after a visit since she was not willing to go behind Harry's back for a tasty treat.

Harry would probably understand, too, if Juuchi decided to talk to him about it.

But no, she was stubborn like that, and Harry had already made his pronouncement of discipline.

This was probably why no one at that silly school of his was proactive enough to protect the children under their care – they were too afraid of being wrong and receiving punishment.

Actually, she had been in Japan for a while now and should have been considering the potential threat Kyoshu represented well before Harry's friend blabbed that Kyoshu frequented the area. Juuchi had appeared on national television at a wedding – that was as clear a sign that she was affiliated with the Potters as any was going to get, and the Muramasas had always been tapped into the mundane side of Japan, so her sisters were going to notice her.

She should have gone to Haru before the wedding to set up defenses against Kyoshu. Everything would have been dealt with then without Kyoshu suddenly showing up for Juuchi to tear into pieces.

Maybe this was all on her for not taking the defense of her family seriously, Juuchi thought to herself as she curled up in a ball on the couch.

And maybe, she could have just Googled Kyoshu even though the magical and mundane worlds were separated by a curtain of secrecy. Akutoku did draw comics after all – and Juuchi even happened to read one that was based on Kagotsuruhe.

That had been a shock.

So, she opened the search engine on her phone and punched her sister's name into the search bar. Along with the regular assortment of legends, myths, wiki articles, and a game or three based on anthromorphized swords (because Japan), there was a web comic titled Nyoro~n Kyoshu.

It was a four-paneled comic that ran three times a week, and the artist claimed to be Kagotsuruhe.

In the first one Juuchi came across, the first panel had a small Kyoshu running up to Umitsubame as she said, "Umitsabame, Umitsubame!"

The second panel was just of Kyoshu as she said, "Akutoku said Mike Hunt hurts! What should we do?"

A stoic looking Umitsubame occupied the third panel, and she said, "Tell Akutoku he won't be the only one in pain when I see her again."

In the fourth panel, Kyoshu brings a rounded hand to her cheek and says, "Nyoro~n."

Juuchi set her phone down and blinked. After a few minutes, Juuchi picked it back up and began to go through other 4-koma on the website.

Invariably, they all depicted Kyoshu, in chibi glory, scurry around to her slightly better drawn and more realistically proportioned sisters before saying strange things that would need a response. Each of the characters was a parody of the actual Muramasas with Kyoshu, the sword of faded memories, being rather on point for her current form but a parody of her past self. Actually, after having met a number of her sisters, Juuchi was willing to bet that they were all sort of on point for their current selves.

"Umitsabame, Umitsabame!"

"Akutoku said Benjamin Dover took it! What did he take?"

"The same thing Akutoku is going to take as well when I get my hands on her."

"Nyoro~n."

"Kagotsuruhe, Kagotsuruhe!"

"I drew a comic with Akutoku!" – the comic was a recursive comic of the one the two swords were in.

"Actually, I drew that one – your comic is over there."

"Nyoro~n."

"Umitsabame, Umitsabame!"

"Akutoku says she can't wait for Texas Representative Richard Armey to make an appearance in her comics!"

"I suppose it is only natural for her to go into politics."

"Nyoro~n."

"Chisuheri, Chisuheri!"

"Is there any smoked cheese left?"

"You ate it all already, didn't you?"

"Nyoro~n."

"Umitsabame, Umitsabame!"

"Akutoku was encouraging someone to take Oliver Klozoff! We need to save him!"

"I think I'll have some pointed questions for Akutoku."

"Nyoro~n."

"Jin, Jin!"

"I'm looking for a Mizuchi and found one, do I get a prize?"

"Your prize is to be called a butter knife."

"Nyoro~n."

On and on the comics went going back years. Most of them had Kyoshu outing one member of the Muramasa family to another for something they had said – usually Akutoku – but there were a few here and there that just mocked Kyoshu. All of them had dates in the upper right corners – one of the ones dated as being from four and a half hundred some odd years ago had Kyoshu claiming she was going to make Kagotsuruhe's family forget everything before Kagotsuruhe tells the other Muramasa to fuck off – or she would if she had a fuck to give – before Kyoshu fled while crying.

Juuchi blinked. She remembered when that had happened. There had been considerably more violence than the comic depicted, but it was more or less accurate. Another had Juuchi moving to England, and Juuchi wondered if one of the new comics would have her coming back and stabbing Kyoshu – Jin had already declared the Muramasas were butter knives in the comic, after all.

There was even a hashtag called find the mizuchi as well as help Kyoshu find the mizuchi and find mizuchi get prize.

And apparently the Adachi Neighborhood Watch was rather upset with Fearful Thespian on Twitter because of it. Juuchi's vocabulary expanded greatly after she read through the Adachi Neighborhood Watch's twitter page, and she decided to never let Tsukiakari go there.

After some internal debate, Juuchi decided she would purchase a copy of the entire collection of comics once she acquired the necessary funds.

And, she also decided that going to talk to Haru about local magical threats to Harry could wait for a little while. He had managed to survive more than a decade without her worrying over him, so he should be fine looking after himself for another couple of days while surrounded by shipgirls.

She needed to do research on Kyoshu.

Yes.

Research.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Munching his way through a stack of pancakes, Harry was looking around at the others as they had little discussions. Asuka, for example, was listening as both Ayaka and Natsumi spoke of Yokai politics. Even though the young Tengu was confused, she still hung onto their every word. Not quite interested enough in it, Harry's gaze found Usagi reading a small book with interest as she worked her way through her own breakfast. Eyebrow raised, the wizard hummed. "Usagi-San?" When she looked up, he continued. "What book is that?"

Just blinking, Usagi looked down at the book before shrugging. "Its something that my Nii-San picked up in the US on the magical side years ago."

Interested, Asuka poked her head closer for a better look. "Really? What sort of book?"

Slightly smiling, the Inaba showed them the cover, which was covered in stars. More so, the title, "Magic to the Stars" caught their attention. "It's about using magic for space travel and the like. The authors were a group of wizards and witches who had mundane parents. Apparently the oldest was around for the Apollo missions and was inspired to do research into using magic for space travel."

Frowning, Rika shook her head. "And they got it published? I would have thought that MACUSA would have came down on them hard for even suggesting it. Usually they frown a lot on mixing magic and mundane."

Only waggling her hand, Usagi shook her head. "Kind of, sort of. The book is written as a mostly thought experiment in regards to how to use spells. And also as a way for magicals to leave the planet if needed to escape from non-magicals if ever needed, hence why MACUSA didn't have a huge issue with it being published. It's not a bad book to read honestly and some of it is interesting, if a bit dry."

Eyebrow raised, Natsumi leaned forward as she rested her chin on the back of her hands. "Go on..."

Blinking as she noticed that the others were now looking at her, the teenage Yokai took a moment to grab a bite of her food. Once she swallowed, she flipped the pages until she showed them a picture of a rocket launching. "Well the first chapter is about getting off the planet in the first place. It's also where they did get in some trouble with MACUSA law enforcement. See, they came up the thought that one could use an ability like the Knight Bus on Britain. Cast a teleport charm like said bus on a rocket and launch it, the rocket then flies up a mile or two before jumping to a hundred or so miles up. Don't need a huge rocket then, especially with lightening charms added."

It took a few moments, but Asuka facepalmed as she came to a conclusion. "They tested it, didn't they?"

Slowly, Usagi nodded. "Hai, they did. Mainly on small, non-magical model rockets that only went up to about twenty miles normally. With the spell, they got them up to about eighty miles straight up. They nearly got arrested for it by MACUSA, but nothing was technically illegal. They did stop though. But elsewhere they stated that one could enchant said rockets with a spell to slow them down when they fell after running out of fuel to deploy a parachute for them to be reused."

Fingers tapping on the table, Kaku frowned a bit. "You mean like that American No-Maj wants? Musk, I think he's called?"

Just shrugging, Usagi shook her head. "I think?" Continuing to flip through the book, she hummed some. "There's some other neat stuff in here too. The use of shields and radiation repelling wards on spacecraft for example. Those were developed during the Cold War to be placed over magical areas in case of a nuclear exchange. Wouldn't stop a nuke, but would keep out fallout and such. Or gravity charms in order to create artificial gravity on ships." Coming to the chapter that she was on, the Inaba shook her head. "But currently I was reading about how they theorized one could terraform Mars... such as restarting the core via magic."

Having been taking a drink, Harry sputtered some before taking the napkin that Natsumi held out. Quickly wiping his face, the wizard coughed some before looking at the bemused rabbit. "Say what now? Terraform Mars by restarting the core?!"

With a shake of her head, Usagi held out the chapter. "Well... they came up with a method using portkeys. See, they're regulated because if you try to mess with the spell, a lot of bad things can happen. Like finding yourself inside out and still alive. The magic has a lot of safeties built into it, one of these deal with the arrival point to make sure that you don't appear inside of something, or someone else."

Eyebrows furrowing and not quite sure she wants to know, Asuka swallowed. "Did... did that ever happen?"

Grimacing, Usagi gave a nod. "Apparently? The book doesn't go into it thankfully, but during the early development, a man and a horse ended up in the same place and occupying the same space. It sort of... well, merged them together though they didn't live long." Shudders went through the others. "The whole safety bit ties into leaving a spot and arriving, a set point in space. But in this case, they came up with the idea of disabling the safeties for arrival, but keeping a set point which would be the core."

Intrigued, Rika leaned over and blinked some. "Is that something appearing inside the core?"

The Inaba nodded. "Hai. See, they tested out portkeying metal objects into other metal objects. Due to the testing, they also found out that the speed of an object also matters. For example, its well known that if you're running and jump, you'll be heading in the same general direction and speed when you arrive at your destination. Something dropped from a height and allowed to accelerate to terminal velocity, will arrive at that speed." Flipping a page, she showed them a page with a drawing on it. "Their idea is that if one was to take an iron-nickel asteroid, get it up to a speed, and then portkey it into the Martian core, several things would happen. First, you would have physics violently... violated there, among other things releasing a burst of radiation, as well as the creation of radioactive elements. Another is that all the kinetic energy would instead transform into heat and melt a massive portion of the surrounding material, up to the temperatures of the surface of the Sun itself. But the pressures would keep it solid."

A frown on his face, Harry put it together best that he could inside of his head. "So if you did it enough? The core would be molten again, right?"

Smiling, Usagi chuckled as she tilted her head. "Exactly, though some of the kinetic energy would transfer into the core itself, sort of causing it to jumpstart the magnetic dynamo. The heat meanwhile would slowly melt the rest of the mantle, eventually restarting volcanism. Alternatively, slow down a comet to very low speeds and just portkey it under the surface so it would vaporize and the gases would leak upwards."

However, Kaku grimaced before rubbing the side of his head. "Uh, yeah, that... well, you were always better at math and stuff I guess. Still, that sounds like it could be used for some real bad stuff."

Usagi only shrugged with a shake of her head. "Maybe, but the calculations and such would be way too hard and noticeable. Also, you would need a lot of magic for it to happen to be honest. Its sort of impossible in the same way that warp drive is, I think." Closing her book, she put it into her backpack and then ate the last of her food. "Anyways, we should be heading out."

Not long after found them walking along as a group with Harry looking over the schedule when he spotted something. "You know, we got some time before they open up the tunnel tours. And there is something of interest as well."

Confused, Natsumi poked her head over his shoulder. "Really? What?" When Harry pointed at something, she peered closer. Neither of the two really noticing the looks that they got from the rest as the Kitsune pressed herself closer to read. "Wait, she's here? Really?"

Only nodding, Harry smiled some. "Hai, she is. So want to go and see her?"

Moments later found Natsumi fully jumping onto his back and wrapping her legs around his waist as her arms went over his shoulder. "Now that sounds good!"

Eyebrow raised as he looked at the two, Kaku rolled his eyes some before turning to Ayaka with a bemused smile. "Do you think that either of the two realize?"

Rika though answered as she snickered some. "No, not at all." Her smile softened some. "Though it is good to see to be perfectly honest."

Now confused, Asuka looked between each of the teenaged Yokai who were nodding. "Um, am I missing something here?"

Glancing at each other, it was Usagi who spoke up. "Its good to see Natsumi-Chan is comfortable with someone in that manner. All of us know each other and... well, its probably a good thing that you are missing something in this case. It has to do with growing up as clan heirs, and Natsumi due to her family had that issue more then some." Waving it off, the Inaba shook her head. "We'll explain in a bit."

Despite her own questions, Asuka let it lie. Following along, they watched as Harry with Natsumi on his back lead them to one of the stages that was set up. On it, under the shade sat a shipgirl. Slightly pale, she had long black hair and a black top with white overdress. A high collar reached up to her chin. Blinking, the Tengu watched as the woman opened her red eyes and smiled some as she nodded in their direction before starting a song and closing her eyes once more. Everyone listened to her voice which had an uplifting lilt to it.

"Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.
Life is old there, older than the trees,
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze.

Country roads, take me home,
To the place I belong,
West Virginia, mountain mama.
Take me home, country roads.

All my memories gather round her,
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water.
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky,
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye."

The shipgirl's boot began to bounce to the beat of the music she was playing as she continued.

"Country roads, take me home.
To the place I belong,
West Virginia, mountain mama.
Take me home, country roads.

I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away.
And driving down the road I get a feeling,
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday.

Country roads, take me home.
To the place I belong,
West Virginia, mountain mama.
Take me home, country roads."

Once more opening her eyes, she nodded while she sang and her gaze swept across the crowd who were recording her performance on various devices.

"Country roads, take me home.
To the place I belong,
West Virginia, mountain mama.
Take me home, country roads.

Take me home, down country roads.
Take me home, down country roads."

A few minutes later found the shipgirl laughing as a grinning Harry walked up. "I didn't know that you were here doing some singing, Aunt West Virginia."

Lips curling a bit, she pulled Harry into a one armed hug as she walked away for another shipgirl to take her place. "Well, I was in the area and the call did go out for volunteers. So I decided that I could put on a small performance. Colorado is down in Sasebo right now doing the same as well." The smile still on her face, the Battleship looked at the other teens. "So what did you all think?"

Shaking her head as she crossed her arms, Natsumi gave a barking laugh. "Do you need to ask? You owned the song even more then the last time I heard you."

One arm curling, West Virginia only chuckled. "Was there ever any doubt? As Nagato would say, do not doubt the power of the Big Seven." Winking, she poked Harry in the side and make him squeak. "Granted, this little fella here knows that all too well, Mr. Pride of the Big Seven."

Cheeks flushed, Harry's eyes were sparkling with glee. "And you know it, Aunt West Virginia." Then he spotted the nearby table and his eyebrows rose. "Wait, you actually have CDs now?"

Nodding, the American Battleship smiled some as she spotted them. "Yeah, from what I heard it's already in the top ten. All proceeds are going to fund scholarships for those who lost parents in the USN during the war." With a sigh, she stretched before placing her arm back over Harry's shoulder. "A lot better then during the last war for that sort of thing. Besides, we're going to be going on a tour of sorts when we get back to the US, so this is a bit of a break." Glancing from one to the other, she hummed some. "So where are you kids going then?"

Ayaka gave a small bow to her. "We're killing some time before we head for the tunnel tours, West Virginia-Sama."

Much to her surprise, West Virginia waved her off. "No need to call me that. But hopefully you'll enjoy the rest of Fleet Week..." Pausing for a moment, she tapped her chin before walking over to the table. Moments later, they watched her drop money into the tin before coming back with CDs that she handed them. "Here, consider it a present of sorts."

Eyes wide, Asuka looked up at her. "Y-you're sure? I mean..."

Still smiling, the American chuckled. "I am. Besides, maybe you'll like it or know someone who does." For the next several minutes, they talked with her before they had to leave and she went to prepare for the next performance herself.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

I won't lie, I've been kinda slacking lately. This snippet has been about 90% done for about a week now...

Sorry.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Were you aware of Abyssals practicing such a custom as this?"

"How could they? 99 times out of a hundred, their dead end up on the ocean floor." Kirov shook her head in exasperation. "And does it really matter anymore? These two have already defied all our other expectations up to now."

"…Point conceded."

The two Russian shipgirls stood before a grave. To the naked eye, it seemed a simple affair—just a mound of recently-disturbed soil with a wedge of scrap metal serving as a headstone. To any ship-spirit with the necessary equipment (which was a lot of them), however, a cursory sonar ping would reveal the shattered hull of a Ne-class cruiser entombed in the earth. The most interesting part of all this was arguably the engraving on the headstone, set above a carving of a dolphin:

Here lies Nelia—
gone, but never again forgotten.

"'Again'?" Kaganovich noted. "What could that mean?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, sister."

Huffing, Kaganovich crouched down and examined the soil more closely. "When did they do this?"

"They made landfall about five days ago. Spent a day or so making their way to the village and scouring the ruins. After they went into that house over there, though, they didn't come out until close to noon on the next day, carrying out a dead Abyssal. The Re-class fashioned the tombstone as the destroyer dug the grave with its guns, then they left the island right after they finished burying this 'Nelia'."

The cruiser was silent as she processed that information. "Why would they bother? It's a good bit of effort for little to no personal gain."

"I'm not certain, though I do have a couple ideas." Kirov tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe Nelia was just a random Abyssal, and they're simply paying their respects to the dead. If you want my honest opinion, though… I would say they knew her, at some point in the past. An ally, perhaps, or a rival… maybe even a sister. Part of the same fleet, yet were somehow separated. That would explain the epitaph; one of the parties left or were cast out from their fleet."

"But if that were the case, they would have been marked a deserter for leaving the fleet, or an exile for being cast out. Neither option would really foster much goodwill or respect in either side, to give them incentive to offer a proper burial."

"That may be so… but it's not like all Abyssals are mindless drones following the whims of their Princesses. We've seen that they are more than capable of disagreements with their leadership." Kirov gestured to the grave. "Maybe these individuals simply liked each other… regardless of the reason they were separated."

"…fair enough."

The sisters were quiet for several minutes, continuing to stare at the grave. Finally, Kaganovich spoke up again. "Should we perhaps… exhume the body? See if one of those allied princesses could verify its identity? It may give us clues as to who the Re-class might be, what she's doing out here."

There was a pause before Kirov sighed. "No, sister. That would be… sacrilege." Kneeling, she traced the outline of the dolphin on the tombstone. "Those two could have left the Ne-class where she lay, moved on without a second thought… but they took the time to carry her out here, dug her a proper grave, so that she may be put to rest. This was an act of kindness, compassion, maybe even love, and we would be wrong to desecrate that. They may be our enemy in this war, but there are lines that just should not be crossed. Wouldn't you agree?"

Kaganovich frowned slightly, but she nodded. "…very well." Turning around, she began to make for the shore. "Let us return to base, then." Kirov remained standing in front of the grave for a few seconds longer, before moving to join her sister. Soon enough, the island was still once more, the Abyssal's grave undisturbed…

Save for the addition of a single daisy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Nobody was quite sure how the hose appeared in Regalia's hands so quickly—all they knew was that one moment, the champagne bottle was milliseconds away from impact… and the next, there was a nozzle jammed into the sternum of the other Re-class.

In the time it took Revina to realize that 1) she just smashed a bottle of alcohol in her cousin's face, 2) she'd made the grave error of overcommitting, and 3) this had been a very bad idea, a blast of high-pressure water threw her off her feet, to land on the beach several yards back. There, the bombardment continued for another three seconds before the stream was finally cut off. Her target sufficiently neutralized, Regalia dropped the hose in her hands and collapsed to the ground, clutching her face. "MY EYES! HOLY FUCK IT BURNS!!!" she screamed.

Almost immediately, she was swarmed by aunts coming to her aid, doing their level best to wash the champagne out of her face and eyes. As the poor girl was tended to, Sunny stepped over in the other direction—where Revina sat in a small pool carved into the sand, dazed. "You alright?" the demon asked, trying her best to tune out her niece's pained howls.

Blinking, the Re-class spat a stream of water out of her mouth. "Well, I know what people in the Civil Rights Movement went through, now…" she replied, utterly deadpan.

Sunny rolled her eyes, setting her hands on her hips. "I thought Aunt Wanko banned you from procuring alcohol years ago. And roped in the rest of your fleet to enforce that ban."

"She did. That bottle was from before she banned me." The Re-class lifted herself into a sitting position, pausing to dump the water out of her hood. "This seemed like as good a time as any to finally use it."

"And how did she not catch it whenever she examined or repaired your hull?"

Revina briefly averted her gaze, thinking, before looking back to Sunny with a small frown. "…don't worry about it."

Sunny simply sighed. "…you're gonna apologize to her, right?"

"Absolutely. Never meant to hurt her."

Satisfied, Sunny offered Revina her hand, pulling her to her feet, and the pair made their way over to the group of Abyssals surrounding Regalia. The young girl had fortunately recovered fairly quickly, and was now sitting upright, obediently letting her aunts rub her down with rags to get the rest of the champagne off. "Ugh… that felt awful," she groaned, fighting the urge to rub her still-aching eyes. "I don't think I'm ever going to be able to drink without remembering this."

Revina came to a stop in front of her cousin, scratching her scalp. "Hey, uh… I'm really sorry about that, Regalia. I was aiming to break the bottle on your back as a joke… christening a ship on her maiden voyage, and all that. Just want you to know, I wasn't trying to actually hurt you."

Regalia shrugged, straining to focus on Revina with her bloodshot eyes. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean for things to end up happening like that." She chuckled softly. "And aside from getting hit in the face with booze… the joke you were going for was actually pretty clever."

Tandy kneeled beside Regalia, a tiny bottle held between her fingers. "Can you tilt your head back, please? These eye drops should help with the burning, hopefully."

Regalia quietly leaned back and let her aunt place a few drops in each eye, letting out a sigh of relief as much of the remaining burning dissipated. "Thanks. That's so much better." She leaned forward again, blinking the tears out of her eyes, and spotted some more Abyssals coming towards them—including her mother. "Hey, Mom," she greeted her with a wave.

"Hello, Regalia…" Tanith seemed to pause, taking in the sight of her sisters grouped around her daughter on the ground, with a soaking-wet Revina standing in front of her. "…did we miss something?" she asked.

"Just a dose of instant karma," Sunny replied. Her grin fading, she continued. "What did they say?"

At this, Tanith's face fell, her expression grim. "Admiral Goto said he would… pass word to others, set up searches. But it will be up to us… to bring Renita home."

Sunny sighed. "…at least it's not an outright refusal." Smile returning, she clapped her hands. "Now then, let's not dwell on unpleasant thoughts. After all, that's not the reason we're all out here."

Tanith nodded. Stepping forward, she took her daughter's hand and helped her back to her feet. "Sunny is right. This is supposed to be Regalia's moment. Her final step to truly… becoming part of her fleet."

"Damn right!" Sunny trotted to the shore, her colossal rigging deploying as she smoothly transitioned from walking on land to sea. Turning back, she waved to the others. "You ready for this, Regalia?"

The Re-class paused to dry her eyes before grinning brightly. "You know it!"

One by one, Regalia's aunts made for the water, their various riggings manifesting. Before long, only Regalia and her mother remained on the shore. Tanith looked to her daughter, holding out a hand. "Whenever you're ready."

Regalia paused. She looked out one last time to the water… to her aunts watching her expectantly. She could hear several of them calling out to her. Rooting for her. Believing in her.

She took a deep breath and nodded. No more fear. No more hesitation.

Reaching out, she took her mother's hand, and together they deployed their riggings. Where her mother's monstrous armature came into being with a snap of displaced air, hers was decidedly more subtle—the turrets on her tail wiggling and twisting as they came online, the serpentine head rising up over her left shoulder—one of the small benefits of her rigging being a part of her physical body. She could feel her boilers heating up as she took a step forward, her screws beginning to turn. Another step, her rudders began to shift back and forth experimentally.

With a deep breath, she took the last step into the water.

She was not met with blinding pain as her hull slid into the waves.

Her frame did not shriek in protest at the water buffeting it.

She was not shoved away by the current, forced to crank her rudders to the side to move forward.

All Regalia felt… was the rush of water against her hull as it sliced through the waves, sailing straight and true.

But there was also something else, something she'd never felt before. Something that drew her focus away from the cheers of joy coming from her family. She'd had a long time to come to grips with what she was, her frailty and limitations. She knew what it felt like to be at peace… but this was different. Beneath the calm, beneath the worries of the greater world fading away, it felt like she had just found a piece of herself—one she both did and did not know had been missing her entire life. Like a puzzle piece that had been sitting in the wrong place for so long was finally being set right, coming to rest where it was always meant to.

She felt a sense of belonging.

Regalia didn't notice her mother releasing her hand as she began to pick up speed; all her focus was on her hull, as she steadily pushed her boilers to their limit. Twenty… twenty-five… thirty knots… and all throughout, her frame held strong. Seeing a shore-bound wave rapidly building strength nearby, she threw her rudder full starboard—turning right for the very first time—to intercept it. Her heart fluttered as the wave slammed against her side… and accomplished nothing, breaking up harmlessly on impact with the superior Abyssal steel.

She couldn't tell if the water in her eyes was sea-spray, or tears. But she didn't care.

She was finally sailing. And it didn't hurt anymore.

The Re-class couldn't stop herself laughing joyfully as she zipped and weaved through the water, passing by her various aunts. Several of the Abyssals quickly began to take up position beside Regalia, following her as she sailed every which way, testing the limits of her body. Soon enough, she found herself at the center of a genuine task force—something she'd never imagined would happen, before her rebuild, and which filled her with unbridled glee.

There was no objective to this sortie. No convoy to escort, no target to neutralize. Just a family, coming together with one of their own, in what would possibly be the happiest day of her life.

Tanith watched the impromptu formation from a distance away, her heart swelling with happiness and pride in her daughter. As a dreadnought, she wasn't capable of the speed Regalia was currently cruising at, but she was okay with that; this was simply a part of motherhood, wasn't it? She'd done her job; raised her daughter, nurtured her, protected her, until she could finally stand on her own.

And now, she was standing tall.

"Welcome to the fleet, Regalia."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Straw between her lips, Hoshi made her way through the crowds with ease. Most people would not have thought that the woman in jeans, tank top, and long sleeve shirt over it was a Kitsune. Moreover, a Kitsune who was also a Kyuubi and powerful enough that she could devastate most of the base if she wanted with ease before being brought down or needing to escape.

Thankfully for everyone, that was what her mother might have done for kicks and Hoshi despised her.

Instead, the Kitsune took a sip of iced coffee as she glanced over some of the booths. Part of her was still somewhat uncomfortable with being there. After all, like her sister she mostly avoided places and events like what she found herself in currently. Neither of them were usually welcome when they did so. One of the main exceptions being where Natsumi's grandparents lived. However, she had promised Natsumi to come and spend some time. And that very morning, Haru herself had arrived at her underground home with some new clothing, a 'Present from the rest of the family'.

Of course, Hoshi had glared at her but only gotten a smirk from the now five tailed kitsune. A smirk that grew when she mentioned that Natsumi had helped chose said clothes along with her younger sisters. That had brought a twitch to her eyebrow at the time as the two of them knew that Hoshi would never say no to anything that Sakuya's and Kensuke's Kits asked of her. Something that said Kits sometimes took advantage of.

Her thoughts briefly turning back to her two oldest friends, Natsumi's grandparents, Hoshi had her own smirk on her face. Oh, the two of them were so much more then friends to the two daughters of Tamamo-no-Mae. The shared blood spilled between in defense of each other during the Sengoku Jidai and after, the tears shared along with laughter, and many more things made them much more then friends. In many ways, they were family, even if the two Mae Sisters preferred not to mention that aloud in order to cause more trouble then they had. However, the smirk was for another reason...

Natsumi's grandparents wanted to know as much about "Harry Potter" as possible. Especially after having Natsumi suddenly gain a second tail while fighting alongside him. The four Kyuubi, as Tsuki had been there on a laptop (and something that Hoshi as well as the elder Onos were happy about as the level of current technology made such things possible) had their own ideas on what had happened. Not that they shared them with either Haru nor Natsumi's parents. Officially, they spread around the story that Natsumi must have pulled greatly onto the power in the piece of the Sesshō seki and it had awoken her second tail early.

Best part was that it was not impossible for that to have happened. And with the battle that she was in, which was now well known? Well, it was known for normal humans to reach deep inside them to pull out power that they should not have had. A kitsune doing such was also not unknown and with the Sesshō seki being one of the bigger pieces, that helped along with it being drained of power. Hence most just nodded and dismissed it as it was truthful to an extent.

Most, but not all.

Part of Hoshi was all but certain that Shukaku had a very good idea what might be going on. The old Tanuki was very wise and cunning in his own way, for all that he portrayed himself as a jolly old soul. He was also very powerful as well, as one army had discovered when they tried to attack his family. Shukaku had asked only once for them to go elsewhere and then defended himself when they attacked. There were very few survivors of said army. Not to mention the rumours that he might have also fought against Kyoshu several times over the centuries, as he was well prepared to deal with her and might have been able to end her.

However, Shukaku and his family were close allies and friends of the Ono Clan. Which was why the Tanuki never spoke his own thoughts, though Hoshi did see the knowing look on his face during a short visit on the way back when she explained to one of his sons about what they thought in regards to the situation. It was not helped that when her eye flicked over to him, there was a slight smug smile on his face as he nodded very slightly.

The four of them, the elder Onos as well as Tsuki and Hoshi herself, had their own theory on why she was able to jump to two tails from pulling on the power in the Sesshō seki. One that they kept to themselves and very quiet in regards to.

Shaking her head, Hoshi walked over to grab some Korokke from a vender and turned her mind from such matters and back to more amusing things. Such as how her friends had grilled her over what she knew of Harry Potter. That had made her laugh at the time and still brought a grin to her face. No doubt the four of them looked like a bunch of teens gossiping with each other to anyone who might have seen them. And, oddly, they were gossiping as Hoshi did have quite a bit of information in regards to the young Potter. Unknown to him, she had been watching for some time now.

Hoshi only hoped that she was there when he actually met Natsumi's grandparents.

As she walked towards where she was going to be meeting Natsumi, the Kyuubi hummed a small song to herself, even as she noticed various males, and some females (such as shipgirls) giving her a once over, or more then once as the case was. Hoshi did know that she was considered to be extremely beautiful, even by the standards of Kitsune. If there was one thing that they inherited from their mother, it was their looks.

Just as she finished her snack though, Hoshi blinked as she heard a young child call out. "Okaa-San! Otou-San! Look! I won something."

Looking up, she watched as a young boy, who could not be more then six, show off a prize he had won to two very proud parents. With a blink, she was no longer in the present day but nearly four and a half centuries in the past. Around her were those in what was then normal clothing walking among the booths of a festival. What caught her eyes though was the disguised Kitsune walking around.

It was the past version of herself after all.

Beside her was a young man bearing all the marks of someone who worked hard in the mountain forests all day. A little bit gruff at times, his hands though were gentle and loving with his family. Before them was a young boy of five years, their son and also a disguised Kitsune. Hoshi felt the prickle of tears in her eyes as she watched the happy family in her memories. In fact, she could remember that exact day. Between the two of them, both her and her husband had been able to get enough money to go to the festival, their son's first real one. All of them had enjoyed it greatly and loved it, sharing many smiles. Even as she watched, the past version of her blushed as her husband fed her a small bit of tofu with a slight smile on his face before he leaned in and gave her a small kiss...

Then Hoshi shook off the old memory and the sounds and sights of the present day were once more around her.

Still, the Kitsune stood there watching as the couple with their son left, an afterimage of herself along with her long dead husband overlaying the adults while the young boy had an image of her own son overlaying him. Hoshi continued to watch until the young family vanished into the crowd. Whispering a small prayer for her long departed husband, Hoshi turned and made her way to where Natsumi was waiting outside the tunnels with her group. Upon catching sight of her, the teenaged Kitsune waved to her. "Hoshi-San! Over here!"

Despite the pang of sadness, the older Yokai walked over and gave her a smile. It always made her happy to see Natsumi as well as her siblings. "Good morning, Natsumi-Chan." Bowing a bit, she greeted the others. "And a good morning to you as well, Miku-San, Kaku-San, Tsukino-San, Akatsuki-San, Itō-San, Potter-San. It is good to see you all as well."

They greeted her back warmly, which made her smile grow a touch. Then she turned to where Natsumi was giving her a happy look. In fact, Hoshi was certain that if she was not disguised, that the younger Kitsune's tails would be wagging furiously. Natsumi then gave her a hug. "I'm glad that you came, Hoshi-San!"

Yet again, there was a pang before she forced it down and returned the hug while chuckling. "Of course I did. I did promise you after all that I would come to spend the day. Not to mention that I would always do what you asked." When Natsumi opened her mouth, Hoshi smirked. "Except for getting you some treats... while your parents are within earshot."

Blushing some, Natsumi could not meet her eye as she chuckled weakly. Harry then bowed some and looked up at her. "Um, I made a bunch of peanut butter fudge for you if you want it. But I left it at home in a tin. When we're done though, we can drop by and get it."

Unable to help herself, Hoshi licked her lips before nodding. Peanut butter had very rapidly made its way to the top of some of her favorite foods, along with fried tofu. Granted, a slight twitch of her lips happened when a thought occurred to her. 'I wonder how Inari-Sama would react if someone made an offering of peanut butter to... her? Him? I forget which one they are this decade.'

Then she shrugged it off and followed the group as they entered the tunnels.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

Savato93 said:
3) IIRC the Mythbusters actually proved that swearing helps a person handle intense pain.​

*-*-*-*-*-*


Looking up from the bit of trivia on the computer, the Kohai Kollection all share a look. Then in unison, they all look over to Jin.

Jin who is currently in just jeans and an oil-stained wife-beater after working on her bike. Jin who is covered in scars from head to toe. Some of which have a tendency to open up as she calls upon her power.

Noticing their gazes, the mizuchi pauses in the middle of getting a drink, and raises a defensive eyebrow. "What?"

"That explains so much about you sempai."

-------------------

The footage is old and grainy. Likely a rip from an old handheld VHS camcorder from the late '90s, uploaded to various chatrooms and low quality websites on the Internet some time in the '00s, and then finally discovered and uploaded to YouTube by some budding enthusiast of the paranormal goings on over the recent years of the '10s.

Panning upwards from the ground as the camera holder fumbles, the footage captures the neon lit front of a Tokyo bar with a number of cars and motorcyles in the front parking lot, just moments before the glass front windows of the store front shatter. In a single moment, three forms go flying through a trio of windows in a single moment, before landing roughly. Two are 'lucky' enough to simply end up on the pavement outside, but the third impacts the windscreen of a parked Mazda hard enough to crack the windshield.

And then striding out through the shattered portal after them, comes a surprisingly smaller form in biker leathers, glass crunching underfoot as she stalks towards the trio like a terminator. Something spreads across her face and hands. Likely blood from whatever brawl was already taking place inside. And yet... even in the darkness of the night and through the grainy home video footage, it almost looks too dark to be blood.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS THINK YOU CAN DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE CONNECTIONS TO THE YAKS?" Reaching a hand up to her shoulder, the lithe bosozoku seemingly tears a pocket knife out of her shoulder, then tosses it aside like trash. "FUCK YOU! THIS IS MY TURF! THEY EXIST HERE BY MY ACCORD!"

A faint shimmer in the hazy footage is all the warning that comes, before a second trio of figures charges out of the darkness of the ruined bar, wielding a baseball bat, a tire iron, and a rather sizable knife. "Fuck you bitch! Know your place!"

"PLACE HUH?! HOW ABOUT I PLACE YOUR HEAD UP HIS ASS, HIS HEAD UP THAT GUY'S ASS, THAT GUY'S HEAD UP YOUR ASS, AND THEN I WEAR ALL OF YOU LIKE A FUCKING DAISY CHAIN!"

Winding up and unleashing a swing that should K.O., if not kill any normal human, either the biker is extremely lucky, or hoped up on some amazing drugs to simply shrug off the first thug's swing when it connects solidly to her head. "MOTHERFUCKER!" Staggering for a moment and then grabbing the bat, the bosozoku proceeds to tear it out of the mans hands and break it over her knee, before tossing the broken halves aside. For a second the three new thugs stare.

"Oh shit..."

And then the biker is upon them. While the quality of the footage makes the exact details murky at best, it is never the less deniable that the trio are taken apart. In the span of ten seconds, thug one is thrown hard enough to be put through the passenger side window of the Mazda, thug two ends up with his hand staked to a second car by thug three's knife, and despite towering above the diminutive woman, the original owner of the blade now finds himself being hoisted into the air in a single handed choke hold. "YOU SHITSTAINS CALL YOURSELVES YAKS? WHAT A FUCKING JOKE! EVEN THE REAL YAKS WHO CAN'T FIGHT AT LEAST HAVE SOME FUCKING CLASS AND SELF RESPECT IN HOW THEY DRESS!"

Obviously it's some really good drugs, postulates the Youtube comments section. Maybe this is some kind of meth-rage with a little bit of bath salts and PCP thrown in. Others point out that it's not impossible for somebody to lift up someone larger than them. Or apparently make them piss themselves in fear of a 'logically' juiced up bosozoku.

"Ever notice how every once and a while, you come across somebody that you shouldn't have fucked with?" hisses the biker, low enough that her seething anger is very nearly lost in the crackling audio.

Turning around, the biker then chokeslams him into the hood of the now ruined Mazda hard enough to dent it. Leaving him to groan while she begins delivering kicks to the ribs of one of the fallen thugs on the ground, the coughing chug of a turning over engine then draws the attention of both the biker, and the owner of the camcorder. One of the original thugs thrown through the window is now apparently abandoning his comrades to their fates, having used the distraction of the ensuing brawl to crawl away to his own vehicle.

"GET THE FUCK BACK HERE YOU COWARDLY SON OF A BITCH!" Grabbing the fallen tire iron from the ground as the thug's vehicle takes off with screaming tires, the biker then hurls the steel tool at the fleeing car, shattering it's rear window as it escapes into the Tokyo night. Roaring like a beast denied it's prey, not even the grainy footage can hide how the biker visibly seethes with fury, barely restraining herself from further violence as she turns around.

"LISTEN UP YOU SAD SACKS OF SHIT!" Planting her boot in the side of one of the thugs attempting to get back up, the biker makes sure she has their undivided attention before continuing. "I DON'T CARE IF YOU TRYHARD FUCK UPS REALLY ARE YAKS, BUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE, YOU CAN TELL THEM THIS! IF YOU'RE THE KIND OF QUALITY THEY'RE LETTING IN THESE DAYS, OR THEY'RE NOT GOING TO HANDLE IMPERSONATORS AND THE SLOPPY SECONDS WHO RIDE THEIR COATTAILS AND THINK OUR AGREEMENT IS AN EXCUSE TO DO WHAT THE FUCK THEY WANT, THEN THE DEAL IS OFF! TELL YOUR BOSS, IF YOU REALLY HAVE ONE, THAT HE HAS SEVEN DAYS TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOOD."

One of the figures on the ground starts to stammer something, only for the biker to roughly grab the thug by his hair, and pull the yelping man up to face level. "I TOOK CARE OF THE BOSOZOKU! I TOOK CARE OF THE HANGURE! I CAN CERTAINLY TAKE CARE OF SOME CROTCHETY OLD WHITE-COLLAR FUCKWITS, AND THE DINGLEBERRIES THINKING THAT A NAME GETS YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT!"

The biker gives an animalistic growl. "TELL YOUR FRIENDS THAT IF I HEAR ABOUT ANY OF THEM EVER EVEN THINKING OF DOING WHAT THOSE BASTARDS DID TO THAT GIRL ON MY TURF AGAIN, I'M GOING TO MAIL THEM TO THEIR MOTHERS IN FUCKING SHOEBOXES BOXES! AND I'LL START WITH THE SAD LITTLE TOOTHPICKS THEY HAVE IN PLACE OF ACTUAL MANHOODS! GOT THAT?!"

Spinning around and dragging the man by his hair, the biker hurls him into one of the other thugs, only just clambering to his feet. "SEVEN DAYS YOU PIECES OF SHIT! THEN I START BREAKING THE LEGS OF ANYONE STILL AROUND! AND TRUST ME, I'LL KNOW."

Moving to begin stalking off into the night, the biker then stops. Abruptly, the man staked to the car by his hand screams, as the bosozoku rips out the knife. "By the way, I'm taking this." Turning away, the leather clad bosozoku only pauses one more time, in order to kick off the wing mirror off of a fourth, yet undamaged car, on her way out.

Leaving the broken thugs, ruined bar and vehicular property damage in her wake, the biker then slouches into the darkness. Despite being lost to the grainy shadows and pixelation, it appears that the brawler is now approaching the camcorder holder's location.

"Were those kids really Yakuza?" asks a voice from the darkness. "They look more like delinquents and thugs."

The shadowed form of the biker shrugs uncaringly. "Well if they weren't, then that's their problem now."

"Especially with that gauntlet you threw down." Says another voice from somewhere behind the camcorder's owner. "You're really going to kick out the gokudo?"

"Fuck the gokudo, and fuck the Yaks in general." The biker snorts. "We should have given them the boot years ago. If the new generation are going to let this kind of shit slide, and think they can just ignore our deal, then I'm going to remind them why their predacessors and sempai never fucked with me."

For a second the shadowed form of the biker pauses. "Hey- Hey! What the fuck is that?!"

Grainy movement and pixelation offer one last view of a bloody hand covered in fresh cuts and old scars coming into view and clamping over the lens of the camcorder. "Do you want to go to a Reserve?! This isn't a picnic for the home movie collection jackass! Turn that shit off before I shove it where the sun don-"

Cutting off, the footage ends on a black screen which ends the video.

-------------------

Shiromizu gestures pointedly at the ancient video that popped up on Youtube the other day (Bosozoku-Sadako Beats Up Yakuza), thanks to some inquisitive otaku's trawling through old, mostly defunct paranormal forums and WayBack Machine archives from the early 2000's.

Jin meanwhile, frowns. "Looks like somebody needs a long delayed boot put up their ass...." she mutters to herself distractedly.

The younger mizuchi facepalms.

-------------------

Crowded around the computer, and almost standing on top of each other as they fervently vie for views of the video playing on screen, the group of Abyssals cheer madly with each retributive blow and violent promise of pain made true upon the biker's victims.

"HEAR HER WORDS!" Shouts the estatic Re-Class, almost buried under her compatriots at the front. "THE DARK ONE DELIVERS HER JUDGEMENT!"

"BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!" echoes the crowd with ecclesiastic fervor, or at least as best they can while practically locked in a scrum. "BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!"

Uncertainly, the librarian looks from the cult gathered around the public computer terminals, to the police officer who shrugs.

*-*-*-*

Harry Leferts said:
That could be one... and one that they would be hoping for in such a case as the alternative is that Natsumi might actually be Tamamo no Mae reborn, soul purified and sent back around in the reincarnation cycle.​

*-*-*-*
"Can I give her 'the talk'?"

"No Jin."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun, and I'm literally the most qualified person to talk to your niece you know!"

"How does that logic work?!"

"Reincarnation of an essentially minor god, who made a lot of terrible decisions in life, and was kind of an asshole; two guesses who I'm talking about?"

"Look, she doesn't know yet! We're not even sure!"

"Awww.... Well here's my card for when you do need me to give her a 'talk'."

"That's a Lawsons receipt with a phone number scribbled on the back. Also, I've heard from Shiromizu about your 'talks'."

"..... but that's not a 'No' I'm hearing?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K Omake: Why having Jin explain things can fall flat

Omida said:
The cutest cult returns, to entertain us and confuse the law with their adoration .

I feel for both, the librarian and the cop, neither of them is paid enough to deal with crazy Abyssals.

BEHOLD THE DARK ONE \o/!​

BEHOLD THE DARK ONE!

Which reminds me, I ought to do something with Tsubasa and Soma again soon.

hideki101 said:
I kinda feel the Abyssal cultists are a bit out of place temporally speaking. It feels like they should only be showing up post Abyssal war as they don't seem to be affiliated with any of the allied Abyssals and they're kinda wandering around without supervision.
NotHimAgain said:
I think that they're just a bunch of Abyssals that caught wind of Jin/got to see her being terrifying.​

Yeah, at this point, they're (mostly) harmless nutcases more than anything else. After seeing or hearing second hand, what Jin got up to in the opening acts of the Abyssal War, they're all generally rather keen on not being killed to death in horror movie esque ways in retaliation for hurting humans. If anything, what most of them worship her for and aim to emulate, is her effectiveness against other Abyssals, since I figure most of them are either nomads, or (like their leader) were once victims of Abyssal vs Abyssal conflicts that Jin's rampage unintentionally saved.

They first turned up when somebody joked about Abyssals such as the Re-Class being awed by people or things that can kick ass or be terrifying, and from there spawned a joke snippet about a cargo cult of sorts, made up of survivors, witnesses, or fans of tales of her going full on The Grudge mode (like in the snippet involving Tsubasa and Soma).

kinglugia said:
-sniped-.​

I'll admit, that earned a spittake.

That's probably toeing a line, but I laughed, if only for a moment.

Harry Leferts said:
This was great, but this part?

I started chortling at work over.​

Harry Leferts said:
"Kind of an asshole" are not words that I ever expected in regards to Tamamo no Mae.​

"And today's winner of understatement of the year is...."

Harry Leferts said:
Also, I had to laugh at Jin's "Business Card".​

Could any less have been expected from her?

Harry Leferts said:
So very confusing.​

Not as confusing as what poor Natsumi's probably going to be feeling if it turns out this 'fun' theory is true.

"I-I can't be her!"

Jin shrugs nonchalantly. "Maybe you're right."

"Wait- what?"

"I saw Tamamo once. And you are waaaay too flat to be her."

[Angry Fox Noises]

"W-W-Well that's rich coming from you! But then I suppose it's pretty logical considering lizards don't have tits!"

[Angry Mizuchi Noises]

"H-Hey! Just because I'm a dragon doesn't mean-! Another year or two as a human and I would have been bigger! And that's besides the point! Maybe you are her, and she was faking them!"

"Wh-What?!? Screw you! W-Well if I am her, at least I went out in a 2v1 blaze of glory that poisoned the land for a few hundred years! You got trounced by a bunch of aircraft, and then got your physical form filled with holes and had a rock dropped on your spiritual source by a couple of Aurors."

"You get filled by 20mm cannon shells and see how you feel! And have you seen what they used to off me! You could kill a house with that thing! Also fuck you, I am the land!"

"Very flat land apparently."

[Argument and Bickering Continues]

Haru meanwhile, watches on. 'Well.... that's one way to ease her into the idea I suppose.'

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking through the doors into the tunnels, the group felt the temperature drop to the point where it was a lot cooler then out in the hot, August weather. Usagi grabbed her shirt and fanned it with a small nod. "That's a lot better now."

Somewhat bemused, Kaku gave her a small smirk. "Well, I suppose that I should have expected you to feel better once underground."

As Usagi slugged the Tanuki in the shoulder, Asuka glanced around in interest. "This looks different from what I expected." Seeing the look on Harry's face, she blushed some. "Um, I mean..."

Chuckling, Harry shook his head. "Let me guess? More bare stone rather then smooth concrete? As well as tiles on the floor with overhead lights?" At her slight nod, the thirteen year old scratched his cheek as he tilted his head. "Well... not so much in the more used portions for the most part. These got a work over after Blood Week because it was safer then above ground." Rapping a knuckle on the wall, he gave a slight nod. "The original tunnels were built after the Doolittle Raid in order to protect against bombing. They just upgraded a lot of the tunnels and continually doing so."

Interested, Hoshi nodded as she looked around as they walked. "I must admit, I am rather impressed. This whole area looks well done and must have been rather expensive."

Just shrugging, the wizard shook his head. "Well, it was less expensive then continually building and replacing bunkers as well as shelters. Especially as the tunnels run under the base entirely. From what I was told, the funds and materials came from what was being used to rebuild the base each time anyways. Its also one of the places where they keep backup servers, warehouses for materials, and the Archives since they're well protected."

Humming, Hoshi nodded as she looked around before frowning, "Yes, though from what I heard they were closing them down because they were unsafe."

While nodding to a passing Marine, Harry glanced at her. "They were unsafe to some extent. Rockfalls and the like happened pretty commonly and after World War Two, when the US took over the sections that they used simply had steel ceilings and walls emplaced. Sometimes, during earthquakes, one could hear stones bouncing off the steel. So over the years they closed and sealed the various entrances."

More confused then before, Asuka looked at him. "Wait, they were that unsafe, then why are they using them now? How are they using them now?"

Lips curled into a smile, the British born boy shook his head. "Well... that would technically come down to Ryuujou and Junyou after they returned." With a look around, Harry leaned towards her. "See, they've been going through the tunnels and using magic to repair and reinforce them. That means that they can be rebuilt as they're inspected and found to be sound." It was then that he noticed where they were and gave a nod. "Anyways, we're nearly at the vehicle pool where the tour will happen."

They then stepped out into a intersection area and outside of Natsumi and Harry, they all blinked. Mainly because there were a large number of golf carts there. Off to one side, Harry could see Kurosawa speaking with Osamu. Utterly lost, Asuka frowned and tilted her head in a manner that reminded more then one of them of a curious crow. "What? Why are there golf carts down here?"

Unable to help herself, Natsumi chuckled. "Mainly for transport through the tunnels. We got a lot of ground to cover after all for the tour."

Still lost, Asuka looked between her and Harry, who was nodding in agreement. Then the Tengu frowned. "It can't be that much, right?"

Hoshi scratched her chin in thought as she noticed a sign nearby with a map of the tunnels on it. "I would not be so sure of that, Asuka-San. After all, I myself have been down in these tunnels years ago. There is a lot of them." Seeing the looks, her smile became thin. "Just after the war a... situation happened and myself as well as Tsuki-Chan, my Nee-San, came down here. We needed to find someone, let us just say before either the Americans or Japanese stumbled across them."

Arms crossed, Harry nodded before jerking his head at the map. "There's twenty seven miles of mapped and known tunnels in the complex. Besides that, there's a number not on any maps." Seeing the surprise in the others faces, he shrugged. "I know that because there's a 'Tunnel Exploration Club' among the Destroyers and they've been slowly mapping the entire complex on their own. Its practically a small town inside of the small town that is the base... inside the city that is Yokosuka." Ticking off on his fingers, he continued. "Back during the war, besides the tunnels here you also had warehouses, offices, a command center, a hospital, and an entire Midget Submarine factory as well as a power plant."

More then a little surprised, Ayaka blinked. "Wait, there really was all that down here? Seriously?" When Harry nodded, she frowned and looked around. "How much of that is still here though?"

For several moments, Harry did not answer. "Hmm, well there is a power plant down here. Its not a big one, but in case of an attack it is able to provide more then enough power for the base, or at least the tunnel complex. The base hospital also extends down here and in case of an attack, they're to transfer patients down into the tunnels as well as an area that can serve as a... morgue if needed. We also have underground farms and the like as well." Shrugging, he shook his head. "You'll find out on the tour."

While the others shared a look, Harry gave a wave towards Kurosawa who gave him one back. Now, the wizard did note how close she was standing to Osamu, but made no comment on it one way or the other. Once she walked over, the Archivist gave him a small smile. "Good day, Harry-Chan. Are you and your friends here for the tour?"

Putting his hands behind his head, the one human of the group of teens nodded. "That's right, Kurosawa-San! Its going to be so cool to show them around."

A chuckle escaped from Osamu as he joined them. "It will at that." Having caught sight of Hoshi staring at him in shock, his smile became unsure. "Um, is something wrong...?"

Seconds later, the Kyuubi shook her head with a wry grin. "No, not at all. Just did not think that I would see someone like you here to be honest. It is somewhat surprising."

That caused a slight wince to escape from Osamu. "Yes, well... I needed to get away from my Otou-San as well as Nee-Sans. They were somewhat... stifling, if you catch my drift. Or at least my Nee-Sans all were anyways being as I was their Otouto and the youngest."

Looking between them, Asuka frowned for a moment as she watched both Usagi and Hoshi nod at that as if they understood. After so long around Jin, the young Daitengu knew that the young man was really a dragon of some sort. But he did not feel like a stream at all. There was another feel to him, one that made her frown. A sort of depth that Jin did not have...

And that was when she smelt it.

Her nose twitched a bit at the scent that the breeze carried to her. It was the smell of the sea, but not quite the surface. But a scent that she somehow knew to be the deep ocean itself. Of places where coral grew and sharks among others swam. At the same time, she felt a slight feel of power wash past her, like a wave in the surf before she noticed that Osamu was now looking at her directly. 'O-oh...'

Then he smiled and gave her a slight nod. "Don't worry, little one. You have nothing to fear at all." Then Osamu shrugged and shook his head with a sigh. "I have more to fear from my Nee-Sans whenever they might find me. Trust me on that..."

Soft giggles made him look over at Kurosawa who blushed before turning and coughing. "Um... I think that we should get ready for the tour. Harry-Chan? If you would pick out a golf cart?"

Just nodding, Harry walked over to one that had a number of seats and got into the driver's seat. He then patted beside him. "Natsumi-Chan? You can come over and sit here, there should be plenty of room for everyone."

Much to their surprise, there was enough room as Usagi could squeeze in on Natsumi's opposite side to Harry. Behind them, the others could sit comfortably enough in their seats with Hoshi behind Natsumi. As she looked around, Ayaka blinked before frowning at Harry. "Why would there be golf carts down here able to seat all of us anyways? Do that many people actually use them?"

Head turned so that he could look over his shoulder, Harry gave a nod. "You would be surprised, especially in the rainy season or during typhoons. Its a lot easier to get around the base by using the tunnels. And since a lot of people do it in groups, you got transport for them." Suddenly he grinned. "Granted, sometimes it can be fun when you have golf club races."

That got him looks from the others even as Natsumi snickered.
___________________________________________________________________

Driving the cart along, Harry glanced in the mirror. "So what do you guys think of the tour so far?"

Only rubbing the side of her head, Rika gave him a look of disbelief. "What do we think? Besides there being so much down here that we never knew?!"

Rapidly nodding, Asuka began to tick off on her fingers. "I thought that you were kidding! But there really is a power plant down here along with a filtration plant! We saw underground farms, not just mushrooms like I expected but actual hydroponics as well! Then there was that weird manufacturing plant."

Head tilted to the side, the wizard shook his head. "I was sort of surprised that they showed it to be honest. I mean, that's brand new what with how advanced 3D printing has gotten. Not that it can make very complex things, but it helps with small repairs."

A frown on her face as she considered that, Asuka eventually shrugged. "Well, there was also the, Auxiliary Repair Docks?" When Harry nodded, she continued. "Right, those were a lot bigger then I thought. Then there was that small theatre too! Then there was that bar that we visited too!" Thoughtful, she furrowed her eyebrows. "It looked sort of like what Ai and Kiba described bars looking like during the war."

With a small smile, Hoshi gave a snort. "I am not too surprised to be honest. After all, that is the time frame that most shipgirls remember. Places where their crews had good times either before the war or during Leave."

Letting out some chuckles, Harry smiled a bit. "And that's just scratching the surface of what is down here too. There is a lot more then that, you're just seeing the..." Pausing, Harry considered his next words. "The highlights, of what is available down here."

Simply considering that, Usagi gave him a searching look as she leaned forward. "You got the run of what is down here, don't you?"

In reply, Harry gave her a shrug. "Kind of? I'm able to go to a lot of places down here in the tunnels if I want. And I do know my way around them so that I can avoid those places that I shouldn't be. It takes a while, but you get used to it."

Usagi gave a nod at that even as her nose twitched. Meanwhile, Hoshi was watching with a slight smile as Natsumi placed one arm around Harry and leaned slightly into him as they continued the tour. It was both cute and amusing... and something that she made sure to grab pictures of every so often. 'Adorable.'

Every so often as they continued their tour, they passed military personnel going in the opposite direction. Or they had to stop and allow time for some on golf carts of their own to head past at the various intersections of the tunnels as they made their way to their destinations. For both Harry and Natsumi, it was rather normal. But for Asuka and the others, it was an eye opener. Even when they went through the areas that had not been used since the war, they were still surprised at what could be seen.

Sometimes, they slowed down so that those in the golf carts could better see the walls around them. Here and there were graffiti that had been made many decades ago by soldiers that once walked through the tunnels themselves. Usually right at the end of the war, in little travelled areas. Also on the walls were tool marks made when they were dug out of the surrounding rock. Carved words and marks that told stories all their own to those in the present day.

Oddly, as she ran her fingers along one wall when they came to a stop, feeling the pits and grooves, the teenage tengu felt something. It was not something physical, but more a feeling. Whatever it was, it gave her a better idea of what Ai and the others might have gone through during the war. Something that words did not quite convey as well.

At the very end, Kurosawa had Osamu bring their cart to a stop and got out before a door. Knocking on it, she opened it to look inside before gesturing everyone to follow. Upon entering, the Yokai teens for the most part looked around in awe as did various other people in the tour as Kurosawa spoke. "And here we have one of the underground recreational areas for shipgirls and personnel both to enjoy. Originally used as a warehouse during World War Two, this space has since been renovated..."

Eyes wide, Kaku stared at the area with a dropped jaw. In one corner, he could see Fubuki sitting on a beanbag with Kisaragi curled up beside her on one side, and Mutsuki on the other as they were playing a game on a console. And it was not the only one as in several spots were large screens with various game consoles set up for use as well as DVD players. Besides pinball machines, there were a group of pool tables as well as air hockey. As well there were normal tables with an entire bookcase of puzzles, board games of various sorts, and the like nearby.

Not to mention bookcases filled with books along one wall.

In the back, everyone could see a sectioned off area filled with computers that various shipgirls and personnel were on doing their own thing. Slowly blinked, the Tanuki shook his head. 'Okay, this is really impressive...'

 

[darthcourt10]

Barricade Omake: Teasing Onee-Sans

K9Thefirst1 said:
Hmmm... Now I can't help but ponder what such a cult would do with OLD when word of her deeds in the Atlantic gets out. Atlantic Aspect of The Dark One? The One True Rival? The Enemy? ...Huh. I like that last one. It implies that their religion includes a prophecy about The End Times, which would take place should The Enemy and The Dark One meet.

Although, her being a different Aspect a la Hindu Avatars of The Dark One is also appealing. Because I see OLD treating any cults of her like Nyarlathotep or Cthulhu treats their cultists: They meet, the cultists die horribly. Likely by having their souls eaten.

I like that better: The Pacific Aspect of The Dark One is terrible in her Wroth, but is a forgiving god. The Atlantic Aspect of The Dark One is Her Wroth Unrestrained. She is Her Scourge and Her Hate incarnate, for their Race had committed Great Sins, sins which can only be atoned for with payments of Blood and Flesh.

"ALL HAIL THE DARK ONE, TERRIBLE IS HER WRATH! ALL HAIL THE DARK ONE, DELIVERER OF JUDGEMENT! ALL HAIL THE DARK ONE! F'TAGN, F'TAGN!"

\o/

What do you all think?



Ah! That's the Ryujin Child we've been hearing about! Also, I doubt Kurosawa would be out of the woo... Out of the water if his sisters find him. After all, it is an Onee-sama's duty to learn everything about the little girl that is dating their precious baby brother.​

*-*-*-*-*
"I like his horns. Girls dig the horns."

"Wha...what? WHY?"

"Its easier grab ahold of when he's not paying attention then trying to pinch his ear."

*snickers all around*

"Also make for wonderful blackmail."

"WHAT?"

"Well, you see, I needed his help getting ready for a formal event and he'd ducked into the closet to grab my shawl and well...."

"Oh this should be good."

"Its probably best if I show you. Here's the photo I took with my cell."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA. How in the nine hells did he get his horns stuck on three different bras and one of your dresses?"

"He hadn't popped his horns when he went in to grab it, so I think it was from shock that I keep them right next to the door. I don't like to lean in too far after taking a shower as it's a pain to dry the floor there."

"I *need* a copy of this for later. I've got to show mom."

"Agreed/Yes/Oh yes/Agreed/Immediately/Yes!"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Nursing a glass of beer, Jin grumbled a bit. "Fucking Butter knives..."

Just as she was about to take another sip, someone chuckled. "Butter knives, huh? Let me guess... Juuchi and her sisters?"

Head whipping around, the Mizuchi stared at the young man who now sat next to her. Looking around, Jin blinked in complete confusion. "What the fuck? Where the hell did you come from?"

Only shrugging, the young man smirked a bit. "I'm rather unnoticeable when I want to be."

Eyebrow raised, Jin frowned at him before snorting and going back to her beer. Part of her kept one eye on the person next to her, some of her instincts telling her that he was very dangerous. However, she realized something else. "Aren't you a little young to be here?"

If anything, that seemed to amuse the young man before he spoke in a British accent. "I'm older then you would think." Lips still twitching, he shook his head. "So... Butter knives?"

Frowning, Jin gave a snort and took another drink of beer. "Yes, the Muramasas. Fucking butter knives they are, and butter knives they will fucking be. Also, fucking retards who could not get their heads out of their asses long enough to fucking talk."

Lightly laughing, the young man grinned. "Ah, yes, I heard all about it from Juuchi." Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. "Honestly, one would think that she would know better then to rush into something. Though considering what she knew of her sister, I suppose that I could not blame her. I will have to remember that though, butter knives..."

As she took a sip, Jin narrowed her eyes as she looked at the young man, though her senses told her that he was anything but. Much to her amusement though, he was dressed nearly entirely in black. Black leather boots, black trousers, and a black shirt with a dark colored cloak over it. Looking closer though, she blinked some at seeing the what the shirt was. "Are you wearing goddamn fucking boiled leather armor?! Are you seriously shitting me?"

Now it was the young man's turn to frown. "I will have you know that this armor was the sort used by people back when I was made. Also works well enough for what I was made to do."

That, if anything caused Jin's eyes to narrow even more. Most might not realize it, but she did have quite a breadth of knowledge. Enough to recognize old style European armor. "Yeah, and? This is Japan, didn't expect anyone to be wearing something from one of those fucking re-enactors. Though I suppose that considering things, most would assume that you're cosplay."

Only shrugging, the young man made a gesture with his hand. "True, and it does help out."

Both of them stared at each other before Jin sighed and stuck out her hand. "Jin no Hisakawa. Mizuchi or Onryou depending on what you want."

Grabbing the hand in a handshake, the seventeen seeming teen grinned as his dark eyes twinkled. Almost as if he knew something hilarious was about to happen. "Carnwennan."

Still shaking the hand, it took a few seconds for that name to filter into Jin's mind. "That's nice and-wait, what the fuck did you just call yourself?"

Unable to help himself, Carnwennan bowed a bit dramatically. "Carnwennan, Dagger of Shadow at your service."

For several moments the Mizuchi stared at him before blinking. Her eyes then flicked to the sheathed dagger at his side, hidden within his cloak. "Carnwennan, as in fucking King Arthur's dagger? Are you shitting me?"

Carnwennan shook his head some and snorted. "Not at all. And yes, King Arthur owned me..." A frown then appeared on his face as he grumbled some. "Not that he ever really used me much."

Head tilted to the side, Jin scratched her chin in thought. "Huh... well, this is different. Never expected to meet someone from Arthurian England... except for that one time anyways." Ignoring the inquiring look on the dagger spirit's face, she leaned against the bar. "So what the hell are you doing in Japan anyways?"

Raising a finger, the dark clothed tsukumogami shook his head. "One moment." As one of the bar tenders walked up, he gave a smile. "Mind if I have a nice bit of brew?"

Eyebrow raising, the young woman frowned some. "Aren't you a bit young to be here? Let alone drinking?" At his blink, she crossed her arms as Jin snickered. "I'd like to see some ID please."

With a sigh, Carnwennan reached into a pocket on the inside of his cloak. "I hate looking like this at times. Always getting damn carded."

Pulling out a wallet, he opened it before handing her a piece of photo ID. The female bartender took it before looking it over with a frown. "Uh... wait, the fuck?"

Interested, Jin leaned forward to better see before blinking herself. After all, it was an odd looking ID, somewhat different from the normal ones. More so, it gave his name, where it said male it also said 'Dagger', and his birthdate being in the Fifth Century. Leaning against his fist, Carnwennan sighed. "That is an official ID by the way. You can check it with someone more knowledgeable."

More then somewhat weirded out, the bartender walked away as the two waited. When she returned, she was even more confused and looked at the head bartender who was talking with Junyou. Both him and the shipgirl nodded at her before she returned the ID. "Uh, sorry about that... Everything checks out?"

Chuckling some, Carnwennan gave her a wink as he took back his ID which made her blush some. "Not a worry, Lass. I know that it might be a bit odd."

Despite her blush, she looked away. "So, um... are you really..." In reply, he moved his cloak to show his dagger and she nodded with wide eyes. "Wow, uh, right! What sort of drink do you want?"

A minute later, an amused Jin was watching as she walked off before glancing at a spot beside Carnwennan's beer. "She left you her number you know."

Simply smirking, the dagger took a drag of his beer. "I know." Taking the piece of paper, he slipped it into his cloak even as Jin snorted. "Probably not going to be answering back though. At least the beer is good, not American piss water."

To that, Jin growled some. "Fuck off, that's only on the no-maj side. On the magical side of things, the beer is fucking better. No prohibition."

Eyebrow raised, Carnwennan looked at her. "From what I have overheard, were you not only seventeen when you fled the US?" At the narrowed gaze, he shrugged and gestured at himself. "Sort of what I was made to do. Besides which, I overheard Asuka, I believe her name was, talking about it to my current Mistress."

Quickly looking around, Jin leaned in some. "What my Mom didn't know, didn't hurt her." Head cocked to the side, she frowned. "And what Mistress and when the hell were you by Asuka?"

In her tone was something that Carnwennan heard. One that if his answer was not good, she was going to attempt to kick his ass. Really, while he did respect it, it also amused him before he shoved down the urge to fight. After all, it had been a long time since the dagger had been used against something... so much like the one next to him. "I belong to the Potters as a matter of fact. The current Potter, Master Harry, gifted me to Mistress Natsumi to use as her weapon. And I am rather pleased to say that she is coming along nicely." There was a glint in his eye as he continued. "As shown when she used me to gut that spider woman."

Considering that, the fallen Kami raised her glass at him. "Congrats on helping killing She Who Fucking Needed Many Anti-Psychotics. Shame that I didn't get the chance to put my boot up her ass first though." Softly snorting as he clinked his glass against hers, she shook her head with a bemused expression. "I would ask how the fuck the Potters came across you, but fucking magpies."

Now grinning, Carnwennan took a sip of his beer. "The Potters are only carrying on the time honored tradition of killing the fuck out of your enemies and stealing all their stuff. It is perfectly reasonable to be honest." He then shrugged. "Besides which, I rather like them."

Just chuckling, Jin gave a nod at that. "So... what the hell is with that ID?"

Glancing at his pocket, a hum escaped him. "It is an ID that Miss Rose helped me get. Apparently, they have come out with them for shipgirls and the like, with it now extended to beings such as myself. Mainly due to us looking much younger then you would think that we were."

A sigh escaped from Jin as she looked at herself. "I fucking hear you. God, I fucking hate getting carded. Fuck the Past Me, should have set things up that it waited until I was fucking eighteen at least. Fucking bitch."

Bemused, Carnwennan snickered some as he took another sip of beer. "You do realize that you are calling yourself a bitch, correct?"

Jin only shrugged and gave him a look. "So? I was a bitch." Her lips then curled into a smirk. "Granted, I have been called far worse then that." With a blink, she scratched her chin. "You know, since your fifteen hundred, I can't really call you a bratling, I think."

Rather amused by that, the dagger grinned. "No, I suppose not. Perhaps though you can tell me tales of Juuchi's sisters though, and I trade you some involving Juuchi herself." Seeing the confusion, his tone turned dry. "She wants to set me up with her sisters."

For several moments there was silence. But then Jin reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "I feel for you in such a case. Though telling embarrassing shit about the Butter Knives and getting some in return would help."

Both of them shared a grin at that, while elsewhere the various Muramasas all shared a shiver.

 

[darthcourt10]

TempestK

Harry Leferts said:
And at least the Potters always remembered "Pillage and then burn, not burn and pillage".​

*-*-*-*
Now I'm just picturing him holding a sack for one of the Potters while they go through the treasury of a Dark Lord they'd just offed.

"Blood Curse." clank "Family line Curse." shatter "Cursed with mind-bending properties... Eh, it looks tacky. Carn, what do you think?" Carnwennan rolls his eyes.

"I think the Mistress would object to the screaming spirits that are rising in the mirror. And it would clash with the tapestries in the hall." Adam Potter nods and tosses the cursed Foe Glass to one side as well. Then he gives a shout of triumph, holding aloft a pair of ivory statuettes, a pair of swans.

"Ah, now here's something nice! I think Evelyn would like these. Hmm... bit of Old Greek on there... 'lest your heart be untrue, Aphrodite shall strike your mind dull...' Ohho, a mental curse to never enjoy the pleasures of life if the owner is untrue to his beloved." Carnwennan can't help the twitch of his lips.

"Sounds like it was tailor made for your family then, Master." Adam nods.

"So it does. Into the sack then, we can figure out what their actual properties are later." Carnwenna carefully places the loot into the enchanted sack. "Now then, on to the library!"

 

[darthcourt10]

Weaver

Monday, 2nd September 2013

After the rollercoaster of shipgirl related weirdness that had been the last month of the summer holidays, being back at college was almost surreal. It was just so ordinary. Yes, he'd had some of the shipgirl enthusiasts come up to him and ask him questions about Awa Maru and her summoning but there wasn't that many of them and they were easy to deal with. He'd managed to stay out of the news regarding Zetland's appearance thanks to the journalists being too focused on the shipgirls and neither the second summoning he'd been involved in nor the situation with his mum was public knowledge so none of that had come up at all, at least not yet.

It was so strange. Over the course of the last thirty odd days he'd summoned a Japanese shipgirl (and was currently exchanging emails with her), met a bunch of other shipgirls, met the personification of the world's oldest lifeboat, helped to summon four more, discovered that his mum was yet another shipgirl, and watched her sprout rigging for the first time. Now he was sitting in a classroom waiting for his A-Level maths teacher to arrive as if nothing had happened.

Of course, the appearance of normalcy could only last so long. In this case it ended with the arrival of a boy wearing a army surplus jacket over a ridiculously patterned shirt. Sitting down next to Dan he grinned widely. Dan heaved a mental sigh.

"Hello Michael."

"Hi. So, how's it feel to punch a hole in the fabric of the universe and pull out a ship in human form?"

"You know, it's nowhere near as dramatic as you just made it sound, right?"

"Doesn't mean I was inaccurate. So, how'd you do it?"

Dan shrugged.

"Looked up summoning rituals on the internet, got the supplies together with some mates, dug a hole, improvised a bit as needed, and ended up with a shipgirl. It wasn't that hard."

He left out that according to the experts it shouldn't have worked and that they were still trying to figure out how he and his friends had done it. The current lead theory was that him being the son of a naturalborn had added additional MSSB to the proceedings.

Next to him Michael hummed thoughtfully, then fell silent for a few moments. Just as Dan was starting to think that he'd said all that he had to say, he spoke.

"Did you hear about the Zetland?"

"Yeah."

"I've got a theory about her."

Inwardly Dan groaned. Michael's theories were notorious, although to be fair he had heard worse. Such as that weird American online who had some very strange and paranoid theories about the fact that shipgirls and Abyssals could interbreed with humans and what that meant for the future of humanity.

"What is it?"

Mike grinned wider.

"She's a goddess."

Dan blinked.

"What."

"Think about it. A boat her size shouldn't have been able to be person shaped yet there she is and from what I heard she wasn't summoned either, she just showed up. So something else must be going on. I looked up a bunch of stuff about the Zetland and some of it was seriously reverential."

"Well, she is the world's oldest lifeboat with over five hundred saves under her belt. She deserves respect."

"That's it. She saved all those people, which has got to have some sort of value on the spiritual side of things, and people have been treating her with reverence ever since. According to some books I read, gods come into being because people worship them."

"Wasn't that the Discworld novels?"

"Yes, but that's not important. You've got all those lives saved. You've got all that reverence. You've got things that talk about her as if she represents the concept of lifeboats as a whole. There's even been church services in her honour. It all adds up. And from what I've heard, her recent appearance isn't the first time she's popped up. My cousin swears blind that him and one of his mates saw her carry an injured woman and her kids off the beach when Blood Week was kicking off, before roping my cousin and his mate into giving them a lift out of there and running off back into the fray."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Yep. On the day that a bunch of walking incarnations of death from the sea showed up and started wrecking everything, a being who would qualify as the embodiment of saving lives at sea also appeared, well before the other shipgirls did. According to the Japanese shipgirls are kami, which is sort of like them being gods. If they're kami than Zetland is too and since she appeared before they did and she would have had to do so under her own power she's probably more godly than they are. Therefore, she's a goddess."

Dan just stared at him as he tried to make sense of what he'd just said. Not being entirely successful, he was about to point out some of the more obvious flaws in Michael's argument when the teacher finally arrived and all conversation was ended.

Opening up his maths book, Dan wondered if he should warn Zetland that there was a danger of someone setting up a shrine to her or something.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Happily sighing, Imuya took a deep sniff of the food in her hand before snickers made her turn and raise an eyebrow. "What's so funny, Harry-Chan."

Unable to help himself, Harry grinned at her. "What else? Just you looking so happy at getting some Takoyaki."

Blushing slightly, the Submarine gave him a small shrug. "Well, Takao does make good takoyaki." When she looked over her shoulder though, Imuya shook her head. "I still cannot believe that she went with what you said."

Also looking, Harry's snickers became light laughter at the sight of the sign at the Heavy Cruiser's stand. It still stated "Takao's Takoyaki" in kanji. But in romanji, it stated "Takao-yaki", which seemed to have been added to it. "Well, what can I say? I found it hilarious and so did Takao-Oba."

Only shaking her head, Imuya let some giggles escape from her own lips. "True enough, that is just like her too." Glancing around, she adjusted her overshirt some. The shipgirl was wearing her normal swimsuit of course as she was heading back to work afterwards. But over that she wore some short-shorts as well as a grey t-shirt and a long sleeve, buttoned shirt over that. It was just enough that most people didn't recognize her right away.
Which was exactly what she wanted.

Head tilted to the side, Harry frowned some at seeing her glance around. "Is something wrong, Imuya-Chan?"

Glancing at him, she took a deep breath. "Well... let's find a place away from the crowds, Harry-Chan. Just for a few minutes."

More then a little suspicious, the thirteen year old nodded before reaching over and grasping her hand. "Sure, Imuya-Chan."

It did not take the two long to find a out of the way spot between two of the warehouses nearby. Watching as some of Imuya's fairies slid down her legs and headed to either end of the alley, Harry's frown deepened. Granted, his eyes did drift back to the Submarine's legs as well. Something that Imuya noticed but did not comment on. 'Yes! Harry-Chan is looking!'

After a few moments though, Harry coughed some and gave her a concerned expression. "Did something happen, Imuya-Chan? You wanted to get away from the crowds pretty fast."

Sighing, Imuya gave him a look and a small smile. "Can't hide anything from you, can I, Harry-Chan?" At the raised eyebrow, she grasped his hand and gave it a small squeeze. "Nothing too big. "Let's just say that I wanted to get away from where any perverts could see us."

Eyes narrowing, Harry had an expression on his face that made Imuya flush a bit. "Perverts? And they were bothering you?"

Only shrugging, the Submarine shook her head with a sigh. "Harry-Chan, we're teenaged girls in school style swimsuits. We expected it to happen with what we're doing. Most don't bother us that much, but... there was one fan there." Grimacing, she took a deep breath. "Let me just say that he is very lucky that I did not clock him one and instead one of the sailors nearby took care of him for when he snuck up behind me while I was taking pictures with some kids."

That made Harry scowl a bit and clench his fist. "He's lucky that I wasn't there, Dess!"

Giggling, Imuya leaned down and kissed him on the cheek which made him blink. "Very lucky, Harry-Chan. You're good to us after all..." Straightening back up, she let out her breath. "We, all of us Submarines, then took a picture with the kids to make up for it. Also seeing him get his ass kicked before getting thrown into one of the patrol cars also made up for it."

Still frowning, he gave another huff before shaking his head. "There is that, I suppose." Expression softening a bit, Harry gave Imuya an understanding look. "That's why you wanted to get away from the crowds for a bit."

It was not a question, merely a statement but Imuya gave a nod. "Hai." A smile then bloomed on her face. "Also, because it means that I can spend some time out of sight with you like this. It feels sneaky."

Lightly laughing, Harry grinned back at her. "It does feel that way, I guess." Glancing at his plate of takoyaki, he gestured at it. "We should probably eat before our food gets cold."

Humming, the red haired shipgirl nodded. "True. Be a shame to waste the takoyaki we got as Takao makes great ones." Spearing some, she popped it into her mouth with a hum. "Mmm... so good."

Also spearing one of his own, Harry also bit into it. "I know, right." He blinked though as Imuya held out one to him, light blush on her face. "Hmm? Imuya-Chan?"

Blush deepening slightly, Imuya looked around. "Um... I kind of want to, Harry-Chan."

Tilting his head, Harry considered that before smiling and eating said takoyaki. Before Imuya could do anything though, Harry took one of his own and held it out. "Here."

Needless to say, Imuya felt her engines working harder at that as she felt her cheeks warm. "T-thank you, Harry-Chan." Spearing another piece, she held it out to him. "Now have some more..."

Despite their slight embarrassment, the two of them continued to feed each other and soon enough, their food was all gone. Leaning back, Harry sighed as he looked up at the sliver of blue sky that was visible between the warehouses. "That was good, Imuya-Chan."

Watching him, Imuya nodded slightly. "It really was." As the two lapsed into silence, the Submarine took in the thirteen year old as her mind drifted some. Briefly, she thought back a few years to when the teenaged boy before her was much younger. In her memory, Imuya saw him smile up at her and declare that one day, he was going to make sure that her and the others would be taken care of well because he would become their Admiral. Then the memory faded and she saw Harry was he was now. 'We know you will, Harry-Chan. And we look forward to that day as it comes closer and closer.'

Imuya was snapped out of her day dream though as Harry turned to her and cocked his head to the side. "Imuya-Chan? Is something wrong?"

Cheeks red at being caught, she shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong. Just... thinking." Shifting a bit, she leaned into him and placed her head atop of his. Without prompting, his arm went around her waist which made her sigh. "Thinking how lucky we are to have you, Harry-Chan. And how you spend time with us."

Frowning, Harry looked up at her best that he could. "Well, I'm lucky to know you too! Really lucky. As to spending time with you? I like to do that."

Bemused, the shipgirl hummed some. "Even though it takes time away from spending time with Natsumi-Chan and the others, Harry-Chan?"

If anything that made Harry's frown deepen. "Imuya-Chan, I don't mind that at all. Besides, I have plenty of time to spend with them and have spent the last two days. So spending time with you is no problem. Like I said, I enjoy doing that."

Their eyes meeting, Imuya found herself caught by the wizard's emerald gaze. People always said that eyes were the windows to the soul. But the Submarines knew there was something to it as they could always see the truth of their dark haired friend's words in his. It was always something that warmed them. "Thank you, Harry-Chan."

Just then, Harry realized that Imuya had leaned down and paused. Before she could say anything though, he moved a bit and the Submarine's eyes flew open as she felt a featherlight touch on her lips. Pulling back, Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, you're welcome, Imuya-Chan."

More then a little flustered by what happened, Imuya only nodded as she could not trust her voice. And that was mostly due to her internally squeeing at what happened. For the next few minutes though, the two just sat there with the shipgirl leaning into the thirteen year old as they softly talked. Eventually though, she sighed and stood up before brushing herself off. "We should get going, Harry-Chan. I got to head back."

Nodding, Harry grabbed her hand as Imuya's fairies returned to her. Granted, the Submarine ignored the comments coming from them once they were inside her hull as the wizard lead her towards the alley entrance way. "Well, I'll walk you back then, Imuya-Chan."

All she did in reply was nod as she squeezed his hand with a smile. That time she spent with him helped make the day better, and it was worth the grilling she got from the others as well.

 

[darthcourt10]

Savato93

"So…" Goto looked to the Abyssal girls in front of him, eyebrow raised. "You're hoping to consolidate your fleets?"

"Yes. With this peace, we're all free to come out of hiding, get back together and be one big family again." Ritou gestured to the eldest sister present. "The island Tanith settled on is spacious enough for all of us to live comfortably, and Uncle Harry has offered us several options in terms of temporary housing we can use short-term. If we can just resolve the matter of feeding everyone, we should be okay in the long run."

The admiral tilted his head slightly. "You all are having a food issue?"

"Of a sort, yes." Tanith nodded. "Up until now, we've primarily… fed ourselves via fishing. But that has only worked… because our fleets were all… fishing in our own regions. Trying to continue that as a single fleet… will likely decimate populations." She gestured to herself. "My daughter does tend a farm back home… but it's not big enough for all of us… to live off it alone. She's just one girl. As much as we hate to be a burden… we're going to need outside help… to get back on our feet."

"And to be perfectly honest, we're tired of seafood," Sunny added.

"…I see." Goto leaned on the desk, hands clasped in front of him. "In that case… what kind of help are you seeking?"

The girls looked to each other for a few moments, deliberating. "Well…" Ritou eventually began, "To start, Regalia would love to get her hands on some new crops; fruits, vegetables, grains, the works. It would help to introduce some more variety into our diet. And while she's done well up to now being self-taught, getting her and a few others some professional training and proper equipment would help us a great deal."

"Are you anticipating large-scale farming?"

"Large-scale…? Oh, right." Ritou shook her head. "If you're talking those huge machines that are supposed to automate most of the work, I don't think there are enough of us to make those necessary."

"Hm." Goto rubbed his chin, thinking. "That shouldn't be too difficult to arrange." Bringing out a pen, he began to jot down some notes. "So, what about meat? Are you planning on raising your own livestock, as well?"

"Actually, we may already have… a solution for that," Tanith answered. "There's a population of… feral pigs, that terrorizes Regalia's crops. If we can capture those… and re-domesticate them, that would resolve… multiple problems."

Goto nodded. "You get a steady source of red meat and potential fertilizer, while simultaneously cutting down a significant threat to your crops. Good thinking."

"Beyond that? Some dairy animals would be nice," Patty spoke up. "We did some research, and we think goats would be the best bet. Smaller, cheaper and a little less maintenance-intensive than cows."

The admiral looked over the sisters with an intrigued expression. "You ladies seem to have put a good bit of thought into this, which is no doubt admirable. But it's not like you need to take care of absolutely everything by yourself. Nobody is saying you can't ask us for supplies every now and then, if you find yourselves in a pinch."

At this, a couple of the girls looked away sheepishly. "…Miss Supprin advised us to try and reach self-sufficiency as quickly as we can," Ritou admitted, "and this was the result. It wouldn't exactly be a modern lifestyle, true… but we're just not sure if anyone would be open to selling much more than the necessities to Abyssals."

Goto was quiet as he thought their words over. "I think you girls are selling yourselves short, here," he eventually said. "You should keep in mind that you have the benefit of a relatively positive reputation—your fleet gave their lives to defend Unalaska, you sought out peace of your own volition, you brought home the crew of the Regina… and there's a not-insignificant amount of footage online documenting some of your fairly innocent goings-on since your arrival."

"...footage?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"'Abyssal Princess Introduces Her Daughter to'... wait, someone videotaped me and Mom when we went to get ice cream? I feel kinda… violated."

"To be fair, two Abyssals walking into a Baskin Robbins (ugh, that sounds like the setup to a bad joke) isn't something you see every day…"

"A lot of the comments are about my back…"

"Hey, don't even think about feeling down! That's the OLD you. Now you're just as awesome as the rest of us!"

"Plus, there's plenty of people who commented on how adorable your reaction to the birthday cake flavor was; some of them are even calling you a cinnamon roll… oh right, you've never had one of those before, need to fix that later… anyway, they think you're a sweet girl."

"...well… I guess it's nice, to see that not everyone would outright reject me for my disfigurement… hey, hold on. What does that one say? Something about Mom… a MILF? What does tha—"

"Yeahokaylet'sfindanothervideoandpreserveyourmother'sgoodnameshallwe?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Goto gestured to the girls. "Over the past few weeks, you've given people more than enough evidence to prove that Abyssals can be just as human as the rest of us. I'm certain that if you look in the right places, you'll find people who would be willing to work with you, help you build something new for yourselves, once they hear your story."

"...I suppose you have a point," Ritou finally responded with a sigh. "But even if finding someone to buy stuff from isn't that big an issue… we have no money."

The admiral nodded. "If I recall correctly, Supprin has brought up the possibility of mining methane hydrate from the ocean floor, to process into natural gas. Given that you all have the Bering Sea more or less to yourselves, I'm sure that would be a good source of income."

Nuri sighed. "We're aware of that possibility, and we're planning to pool our raw materials and begin production on the Oku-class immediately, once we return to the Aleutians. But locating the deposits, setting up a system to harvest and transport the methane, getting our hands on machinery to process it… that's all going to take time. We don't want to just sit on our debts and tell people we'll pay them back once we have the money, that would just make us look bad…"

The demon was interrupted by a knock at the door. Blinking, Goto rose from his seat. "Excuse me." Stepping over to the door, he cracked it open. "Yes?"

Ooyodo stood just outside the door, another woman—another shipgirl—standing beside her. "Admiral, there's a shipgirl here from Russia. She says she's here concerning the message you sent out a few days ago."

Sparing a glance to Tanith and her sisters, Goto nodded. "You've arrived at a good time, actually. Please, come in." As the admiral opened the door wider to admit the newcomer, the Abyssals turned to get a good look—and paused, baffled by the sight before them.

Physically she was nothing spectacular; sporting an average height and a sturdy build, akin to a Ri-class. Her hull, though… several sets of eyes began to flicker between the shipgirl and Tanith, whose own hull bore shocking similarities. The same rough superstructure design, the same main gun and armor layouts… she could easily be described as a dark reflection of the dreadnought now standing before them. "…I think taking refuge on that Russian island may have influenced your ascension…" Ritou couldn't help but point out.

"…I think you may be right," Tanith responded.

They weren't alone in their observations, as the other dreadnought chuckled. "I see the Abyss has seen fit to emulate the great work of the Motherland," she said dryly. "Fortunate, then, that you sided with us." She gave the Abyssals a small bow. "Russian dreadnought Gangut, name ship of the Gangut-class. It is good to make your acquaintance."

Once the sisters had made their own greetings, Gangut turned to the Admiral and saluted. "Admiral."

Goto nodded. "At ease. I'll be honest, wasn't expecting anyone to find anything this quickly... I hope you didn't trip over yourself getting to Kushiro."

"The journey was uneventful, thankfully." Lowering her hand, Gangut nodded curtly. "I apologize if the Russian Navy's rapid response to your query caught you… unawares. But we've actually been observing some strange activity at the edge of our territory over the last few months, that we've struggled to find an explanation for. When we got your message, we found it critical to reach out to both you and our new allies as quickly as we could."

"Abyssal activity?" instantly, the sisters were on alert.

"Yes." Gangut reached into her hold and pulled out a chart of the Kuril Islands. Each of the islands was connected with an arrow pointing to another, marked with two dates. "A pair of Abyssals were spotted landing on Urup earlier this year; since then, they've been steadily making their way north, hopping from island to island. They follow a relatively consistent pattern: they make landfall, scavenge any nearby razed settlements—presumably for supplies—and then go on to spend several more days going over the rest of the island, up to a week or so depending on the size of the isle in question, before leaving.

"We have no idea what they're searching for, but the moment they detect anyone approaching, they either find a hidey-hole and wait for scouts to pass, or they flee eastward into the Pacific until we stop following them, before returning to their routine." She shook her head. "Their behavior is startlingly non-confrontational… docile, even."

Tanith spoke up. "You think these Abyssals may be… one of us?"

Gangut shrugged. "It's our best guess, currently. They don't come near populated areas, they don't seem to be in communication with any other Abyssals… one of our early presumptions was that they were simply exiles, trying to stay alive. Before you and your comrades made headlines, we had no clue that ANY of the Little Princess's fleet sailed away from that massacre, let alone in such numbers—but your survival has presented us with the possibility of these Abyssals being genuinely non-hostile. If we could just make contact with them, offer them peace… but they just keep running away."

The room was quiet as the occupants thought that dilemma over. The silence was broken by Sunny, as she gave the dreadnought a curious look. "So… just what kind of Abyssals are they? Do you have photos of them?"

Gangut nodded grimly as she produced another photo, holding it out to the girls. "This… is the reason we thought it was so urgent to contact you," she said.

The girls stared at the photo, eyes wide. Despite the blurriness, the poor angle of the shot… despite the visibly crippling damage the Abyssal depicted had sustained…

the outline of a Re-class hull was unmistakable.

 

[darthcourt10]

Lord K

Looking at her reflection in the shopfront mirror, as she waited in line to use the public floo grate, the girl preened more than a little proudly at her appearance. In a time when most styles favoured shorter cuts and bobs, her long dark tresses, so brown they could have almost passed for black, flower down the back of her latest purchase. A new cloak, of the latest Autumn of '62 line up from Ebbingdale's Young Witch line up. Preening, the teen smirks, an almost tomboyish mirth and mischief alighting in her green eyes. So green, they could almost be called poisonous in color, if it's weren't for the waif-like looks her pale complexion and slim build her appearance gives her.

"You know, if you dyed your hair, you'd almost like the Princess from that Disney movie a few years back."

Turning around, the girl twirls a finger through her dark locks and rolls her eyes with faux-vapidness. "Sure thing Zelda. Because I totally want to look like some helpless damsel who can't even identify an item that's linked to a curse on herself. And maybe one day I'll also dye it green as well."

The green dye-job in question pouts. "Hey, at least I'm making a statement and being who I want to be! It's better than Hildegarde the Dime-a-dozen Bottle Blonde over here."

"Hey!" shouts the third witch of the trio, and sister to the second. "It's the in thing!"

Picking up her bags as the line finally shuffles along a little, the sixteen year old Molly Belinda-Tanith Maleficus preemptively cuts off any bickering between the siblings with a grin. "You know... to be totally honest, the only reason I picked this one, is because they didn't have any black cloaks with purple liners. That, and because hennins are so last century."

Looking at her friend, Zelda raises a dubious eyebrow. "You'd want to look like the nomaj version of an evil witch?"

Hildegarde however, rolls her eyes at the obvious joke. "Oh right. Maleficus. Maleficent. Didn't you go as her for Halloween one year?"

"Yeah, when I was thirteen." To the three witches' relief, the line jostles forwards a little more, bringing them closer to the floo grates.

"I guess that means you won't be going as her for Patty Halliwell's Halloween Party?" asks Zelda cheekily.

Molly gives a sniff of disdain. "I'm sixteen now. In another year I'll be of age. Why on earth would I go to a kids party?"

Hildegarde looks at her fiend curiously. "So where are you setting your sights for Halloween then?"

The brunette witch preens. "I heard that Philippe Dauphin is planning to have a beach party at the lake on Hallows Eve instead."

Hildegarde snorts. "You're a bit out of your league if you think you can aim for a party organised by princey-boy himself."

"Yeah," chimes in Zelda. "How do you even plan to get in? Are you just going to walk up there and expect them to let you stay?"

Molly grins mischievously. "The guys might if I wear this..." Opening one of her bags slightly, the teenage witch then surreptitiously turns it towards the sisters, giving them a glimpse of the contents she doesn't want random passersby to see.

Zelda then spittakes, while Hildegarde looks scandalized. "Molly! I can't believe you! You wouldn't- You'd wear that!"

"I would," answers the brunette, confidently smug. "Can you imagine? It'll melt their brains."

"And get you kicked off the beach for indecency!"

Molly's pride then takes a rather derailing blow however, as Zelda then laughs. "Sure, if she actually had the figure for it. You might scandalize and titillate, but melt brains? I think not."

"Wh-What's that supposed to mean!" she splutters angrily.

The greenette of the trio grins. "I'm just saying- Four triangles of fabric might not cover much, but with you, there's not much to cover to begin with."

"Why you-!"

Hurriedly, Hildegarde then imposes herself between her sister and their friend. "Look, Molly, what would you even say to your mother if she caught you wearing that thing?"

"I dunno," offers the witch with a still red-faced and defensive shrug. "Oh hey, congrats on actually catching me dressing like a normal person from this century?"

"No normal person would ever dress in something that unseemly," counters Hildegarde.

"Especially not with your build," chips in Zelda, unable to resist the jab.

Dutifully, Hildegarde ignores her sister and continues, while Molly grinds her teeth.

"Look, as your friend, I feel it is my duty to point out to you that those are practically undergarments! I would not wear that in the presence of friends, much less a guy I have my eye on."

"You say that like the three of us haven't ever been skinny-dipping before." counters Molly defensively, trying her best not to look like she is blushing after having her aims so obviously pointed out.

Hildegarde splutters, but nevertheless forges on. "How are you supposed to earn his respect and interest, beyond just his attention, if you prance around like some loose floozy with your underwear on display?"

"Well, there's always love potions," points out Zelda jokingly.

Molly however, finally seems to loose the wind from her sails. "Fiiiine. If you think it's such a bad idea Hilde....."

Seeing the waning confidence of her friend, the witch winces slightly in guilt. "Come on Molly, chin up. You don't need to lower yourself just to get the attentions of a guy like Philippe."

"Well he's never noticed before," grumps Molly.

"To be fair to Princey-boy," chips in Zelda, "You aren't exactly the first girl I'd imagine he'd think of when trying to fantasize about which of the girls in our year would make prime girlfriend material."

Raising a hand, the witch begins counting off fingers. "You fly better than him, even though quadpot isn't your thing. You beat the pants off of everyone when it comes to swimming, diving, or anything in the water in general, to the degree that there's a betting pool on whether you're some kind of illegal animagus. When he got the tar beaten out of himself trying to stop Rory MacDonald coming onto that poor girl from Salem Witches, you then beat the tar out of Rory. When you used to talk to your grandparents, you'd sound even gruffer than most of the guys in our class. And then there was that time back when we were kids, when you pushed him into the bramble patch."

Molly stares at the greenette for a long quiet moment. "Megi tröllin taka þig."

Zelda blinks in confusion. "What?"

"It means you're a great friend."

"The hell it does!" shouts the witch with knowing, faux-outrage.

Hildegarde meanwhile, just sighs. "Look, Molly. Just give it a bit more time. One day he'll notice you."

"Yeah, and then maybe I'll just just mess everything up by melting into a puddle of goo in front of him" mutters the witch with self-depreciating sarcasm.

"Well...." quips Zelda, "At the very least, it'll give you time to fill in that bikini. If you're as late a bloomer as you've always been, it'll only be another year or two."

The brunette just sighs and buries her face in her hands out of exasperated embarrassment and resignation, while Hildegarde cuffs her sister over the head.

-------------------------

Stepping out of the fireplace as the green flames fade away, Molly glances around the living room, noticing the quietness of the house.

"Mom! I'm home!"

Silence is all she gets in return.

"Hello?!"

Making sure to sequester her day's purchases in the privacy of her room upstairs, the teenage witch then returns back down to the ground floor and starts searching the house curiously. Where is her mother anyway? It's supposed to be one of her off days from work.

"Moooom?! Are you home?!"

Glancing through the windows as she circles the lower floor rooms of the farmhouse, she doesn't see any sign of her mother in the fields outside. The lounge is as empty as it was when she arrived. The front porch is empty, as is the drawing room. Circling around to the back of the house, Molly then finds her answers in the kitchen.

Dinner sits unmade, abandoned mid-preparation on the table, while the radio plays with nobody to hear it. Vegetables sit in chopped piles on their boards, waiting to be added to the roast which is only partly covered in seasoning, and has likely gone funky in the lingering early-autumn afternoon heat. Passing by a chair that was likely knocked over in her mother's haste to leave, Molly finds a hastily scribbled note beside a bunch of apples, likely peeled in preparation for an apple pie, but now thoroughly oxidized.

'Emergency at Work'

"God damn it mom..." mutters the witch under her breath. "This was supposed to be our first chance to hang out in ages...."

Dejectedly, she rights the knocked over chair and sits down, flicking off the radio which is for some reason tuned to a nomaj station. Some newscaster blathering on about something involving Cuba and missiles.

While she hates to admit it, and feels like a whiny kid even thinking it, she misses her mom. Part of her is more than a little irritated and angry, even if she does understand that her mom has important things to do sometimes, that she's can't tell her about. It wasn't so bad when she was younger, especially when her grandparents were still around.

But as the years have gone on, being able to proudly say "my mom beats up bad guys and saves the world" to wow all the other kids in the school yard, has proven rather different to the strain of being a teenager who sometimes doesn't see her mom for weeks at a time at the drop of a hat. While usually such unexpected deployments are a rarity, and it helped that she spent most of the week at her dorm in Ilvermorny anyway, weekends since the Dragon pox epidemic that got her grandparents (and very nearly did her in too) have become rather lonely affairs more often than not. While she could always have simply spent the weekend at her dorm.... that would have felt depressingly like defeat more than anything else.

Besides, at least at home, she had run of the house when left on her own.

Comforting herself with that thought, Molly glances at the abandoned and now half ruined meal on the table. While she could try to salvage what she could.... she had no clue when her mom would even be back anyway.

The thought of spending another evening eating a meal by herself at a table set for two, after preparing it out of love for somebody who didn't even turn up, fills her with with a fuming irritation. Why can't somebody else go help fight the bad guys for once? Sure, it's probably the fault of those godless commie bastards.... but couldn't her mom have set aside some actual leave for once?

"You know what? To hell with it!"

Bottling up the disappointed irritation, Molly fumes as she packs away and saves what she can in the ice box. Then, with at least some semblance of cleanliness restored to the kitchen, the teenage witch lazily slaps together a much more meager and lazy meal for herself. Sandwich in hand, and with a nice cold glass of soda in the other, Molly steps out onto the back porch to eat her dinner and watch the sunset.

Alone.

Again.

After a few minutes, the witch finds herself minus a sandwich, and with a half-empty glass, starring off across the fields despondently. At least the crops were doing well this year. It had been a bit of a hurdle, adapting the enchantments that automatically cared for much of the of the farm after her grandparents were gone. Sometimes she wasn't sure who was present at the farmhouse more. She, who had a dorm at Ilvermorny, or her mom who was up to.... who knew what these days....

Pausing for a moment, Molly then frowns as something catches her eye.

Movement in the fields.....

God damnit, it's a dugbog. No doubt a hungry one, come up from the river to try and steal a meal out of some of the more magical crops they still planted.

Standing up and brushing herself down, Molly doesn't bother to hide her glare of irritation when her reflexive movement of her hand towards her pocket, then turns up nothing. 'If there's one thing the Brits do better, it's damn wand regulation', the witch thinks to herself. Not being able to take your wand home until you were old enough to be on the wand register was stupid.

Taking a moment to consider her options, Molly comes to a decision. It's time to work out her anger, and the unfortunate dugbog has just provided an acceptable target.

Heading back inside, the witch then heads for the small door beneath the staircase that leads upstairs. Rather than a closet however, the space revealed is in fact a second set of stairs, this one leading down into the basement. Knowing her way by heart, Molly descends into the darkness, and then turns right. Her mom's 'work storage' is on the left, and divided off from the other half of the basement. On the right however, is the rest of the family's general clutter and miscellaneous work space.

Including the cabinet and work bench dedicated to the family firearms.

Switching on the light, Molly flicks open the cabinet and finds the old shotgun and hunting rifle her grandfather once kept as a paper thin smoke screen for the nomaj neighbors, to hide the more magical based methods of varmint removal he prefered to employ. Molly however, knew how to actually use the things. Personally, the shotgun was her favorite.

To her dismay however, fishing around in her box of shells, reveals nothing. "Wait... what the-?"

Empty.

Well, maybe she still had some .30-06 for her Springfield?

Unfortunately, that turns up nadda as well.

"Oh come on!" Molly shouts in disbelief. Is she really going to have to go out into the field and chase a dugbog with a broom or something?

Why was this day so shit! Couldn't she catch a break for once?!

Turning around, the witch then freezes. Previously unnoticed, in the darkness of her decent to the basement, is something that then sets her mind awhirl.

The door to her mom's 'work storage' is not just ajar, but open.

'I guess she must have left in such a rush, she didn't even have time to think or notice that she hadn't shut the door...' the brunette thinks to herself.

For a moment, she wonders how major whatever her mom got called off to must be. Then a second part of her comes up with a genius idea.

Her mom has her own ammunition, separate from what Molly buys out of her own pocket. Her mom has an old M1 Garand she's seen her carting about a few times when needing nomaj disguises for whatever reason. Her mom must have her own supply of .30-06 Springfield. Maybe she can 'borrow' some loose .30-06 for her own rifle?

Even just a single round would do, with maybe a second as a back up if she misses. Surely her mom wouldn't notice two single bullets missing from whatever she might have in there?

With the hesitance of a little kid who knows they are entering forbidden ground, Molly approaches the door. Leaving the area of the main basement and standing at the bottom of the stairwell leading back upstairs, the teenage witch looks uncertainly into the room that has always been "mom's space to the left' as long as she can remember.

Sure, this place was always just off limits because she was just a little kid. After all, she has no illusions that it's full of all sorts of dangerous weapons and substances. It's her mother's personal armory after all! But she's not wanting to poke around or go sticking her nose where it shouldn't be, or anything like that. To mess with anything she doesn't recognize in the office of a high ranking auror would be beyond stupid.

But if she's only looking for just one or two, definitely non-magical, mundane .30-06 rounds that would be compatible with a 1903 Springfield.....


Hesitantly, Molly steps through the doorway, expecting for an alarm of some kind to begin screeching at any moment.

When nothing happens, she takes a second, slightly more confidant step.

Still nothing.

Uncertainly, the witch takes a look around, trying to spy anything that might look like an ammo locker.

It's a surprisingly mundane space, and not all that much different from the main basement. More filing cabinets, draws and lockers in exchange for less random junk and trunks full of old keepsakes and dusty memories, sure. But there's also a surprising number of workbenches and tools for tinkering similar to her own set up in the next room over. In one corner is also a cauldron and an obvious potion making station, but Molly makes sure to avoid that side of the room and automatically writes off any cabinets near the set up. No way hose is she going to risk sticking her nose into anything near that unknown. Who know what her mother could be storing or making for work?

The tool benches at least, look mildly more promising.

The faint scents of cordite and oil are promisingly nomaj related aromas to follow when looking for bullets.

As she nears one of the larger cabinets that she hopefully assumes is some kind of beefier, magically enhanced version of a gun safe made to better store whatever tinkered creations her mother has come up with, the teenage witch then pauses.

Something..... catches her eye....

Blinking and shaking her head, Molly tries to brush off the feeling and focus on her original task.

Bullets. She's here for bullets. Just grab the bullets and go. Poking around the unknown who-knows-whats her mom has obviously left in various states of repairs, is not what she came to do. Not even if they're.... they're....

....what is that?

Molly blinks, looking down at the table before her.

Wasn't she just in front of the cabinet with the.....

In front of her, is something underneath a black cloth. It's big and large, as evidenced even from the shape made by the drapes and fall of the fabric. It's huge. The silhouette almost reminds her of one of those anti-tank rifles from the World Wars.

And from the slight edge of the cloth, where it drapes from the veritable cannon, and doesn't quite reach the table, Molly can see a faint glow.

Something that both fascinates her, and sends a strange shiver down her spine.

Wait.... when did she raise her hand...?

No... she she shouldn't be down here! This is stupid! She's-

She draws the cloth back, neither certain why she did so, or certain if she did so at all....

It looks like... she doesn't know how to describe it.

It's like someone tried to make a duo of break-open double-barreled shotguns for a pair of half giants, and then melded the set together. Glowing runes gleam along the length of it's four monstrous barrels. Signs of power and slaying, victory and true death.

It's both awesome, and strangely beautiful to look at in a technical sense.

And yet in the midst of the strangely mesmerizing draw it has over her, Molly feels her skin crawl.

This is.... she shouldn't... but she....

Unbidden, her hand rises.

Between the dreamlike motions of the compulsion, the dis-associative fog confounding her increasingly frayed thoughts, and the innate fear the thing creates within her, Molly also feels something else.

Familiarity.

Like a dream she can't remember.....

Or maybe a memory she once dreamed....

After a few seconds of hesitation, her fingertips brush the metal of the four-barreled monstrosity.


Molly gasps, only for her breath to choke in her throat.

It's not air, but water! Water in her lungs, and all around her! She's drowning, but not!

FIRE

ASH

Molly coughs and heaves, ankle deep in cloying, putrid muck, that covers her claustrophobicly from head to toe.

It burns! It's in her eyes! She can't see! It's in her mouth and nose, and even in her throat and-

POISON

DEFILEMENT

Molly screams, arms raised and looking at her skin in horror and agony.

Every movement is pain, as she looks and feels as if every inch of her has been cut and flayed. Black begins to seep, oozing from the innumerable wounds-

THAT GAIJIN NINGEN

HER CURSE

Molly's nightmare is almost soundless.

Staring at her refection in the oily water at her feet, the witch holds what's left of her chest in petrified terror. A pair of craters have been blasted into her upper body, leaving her upper body a ruin of flesh and bone. Raising a flayed hand to the side her head which feels oddly colder than the other, it comes away sticky and black.

DEATH

MORTALITY

Something's wrong! She can't breath! Her skin feels wrong- stretched and tight and small-

Hysterical panick grips her as she tries to escape. To find release from the binding confines

Her skin! It's too tight! It's suffocating! She's trapped in her own flesh!

Fingers digging into her face, Molly pulls.

It's like taking off a wet shirt, caught around her head and so waterlogged it's impossible to breath through.

She needs needs air! She needs space to move!

What starts with her face, spreads like a tear down the rest of her body

And then she slithers free.

REVENGE

Molly opens her eyes, curled in on herself from agony in the fetid water.

What stares back is not her reflection.

Gleaming reptilian eyes glow poisonous green in the dark mirror bellow her, while great snake-like coils writhe in unison with her own shudders of revulsion and pain-

PAIN

PAIN

mom-

I

-please-

HATE

-help!

YOU





With a struggling gasp, Molly's eyes open. Skin crawling and stomach turning, the teenage witch grabs the black cloth cover and throws it back over the weapon. Staggering backwards away from the table, instinct takes over as she then turns tail and flees. Pausing only to slam the door to her mother's work storage behind her, Molly continues her flight.

Up the stairs-

Out of the lounge-

Out onto the porch-

Out into the yard-

It's only once outdoors, in the cool midnight air (wait, when did it become midnight?) that Molly's racing panic begins to fade. Trembling like a leaf from head to toe, she then raises a hand to her breast, feeling her racing heart.....

Confirming she doesn't have a pair of holes evicerating her chest

Raggedly, she inhales, panicking for a moment as she feels dampness trickling down her face, before realising it is just a cold sweat.

Then she bends over and throws up.

Shakily, the witch sits down and tries to make sense of what just happened.

What was that....?

What she saw....?

What she.....felt?

Looking at her hands, Molly confirms that her pale skin is as smooth and unblemished as ever. No cuts, no black slime for blood, no hysteria inflicted wounds from tearing her own skin off, or looking like she'd been brutally murdered with birdshot....

What the hell did she touch???

Quietly, Molly bites her lip and trembles. The only answers to her questions are the sounds of the night.

She wishes she had her wand. Then she could double check that there's nothing wrong with her.

Her mom wouldn't bring home anything actually dangerous though, right?

Surely she's fine?

It.... It's just the shock that's getting to her. Thrown her off kilter.

For a moment, she wonders if she should tell her mom about what happened.

No. Her mom would kill her if she found out she was poking around her work storage, nevermind whatever the hell that thing was. Besides, she didn't even know when her mom would be back home. For all she knew, the weekend could be over, and she'd be back at Ilvermorny before her mom got back home.

She'd be okay.

She'd have to be.

Worst comes to worst, she could always look up whatever that was, or if anything was wrong with her, once she was back at Ilvermorny and had her wand.

She'd be fine...

Once she forgets the feeling....

The feeling of dying.

-------------------------

Four weeks later, Molly yawns tiredly at the breakfast table, while Hildegarde looks at her uncertainly.

"Morning."

"Morning to you too...." For a moment, the bottle-blonde hesitates. "Molly... are you feeling okay?"

The brunette grimaces. "Honestly, I don't know. I feel like I've been sleeping weird or something, which is odd, since I don't really remember my dreams."

Hildegarde looks at her thoughtfully. "You, er.... Aren't homesick or missing your family or something, like when we were First Years, are you?"

The tired witch actually manages to look mildly affronted at the suggestion, even as she blushes in embarrassment. "Wh-what?! No! Of course not!"

Hildegarde simply continues to look at her oddly. "Are you sure.... Because you were actually talking in your sleep the other night."

"I was?"

"Yeah," the blonde frowns uncertainly for a moment. "But it was.... odd."

"What do you mean?"

"I've heard you speaking in languages other than English before, but this sounded.... different."

Molly shrugs. "Maybe I'm out of practice? The only reason I'm multilingual to begin with, is because my grandparents's accents were incomprehensible, but me and mom really only speak English to each other now that they're gone."

"Still...." mutters Hildegarde, before then being distracted by the arrival of a new figure at their table.

"Morning you two," offers Zelda with a grin.

"Morning sis," responds Hildegade.

"Morning," offers Molly, before being interrupted by a jaw cracking yawn.

"Montana," quips Zelda to the brunette bemusedly.

"What?" Molly looks at her friend in confusion. "What's up with Montana?"

"I dunno," offers Zelda with a shrug. "What's Ohio got to do with anything?"

The brunette blinks uncertainly "Ohio?"

"I said morning to you, and then you said 'Ohio' of all things back to me."

"Oh..." Molly isn't quite sure what to say to that.

For some reason it doesn't sound wrong to her ears...

'Ohayo', not 'Ohio' - wait, what was that?

Vainly she shakes her head, as if to shrug off the tiredness and strange ideas that have hung about her trains of thought for the last few days. "Damnit, maybe I need more sleep...."

 

[darthcourt10]

NotHimAgain

Get Set

Sayaka sat on the bench, watching the crowd mill around her and trying not to fidget. It had been literal months since she was able to stand being in a crowded place, but this was the place that she had agreed to wait for Potter. Maybe, if she'd asked to meet somewhere out of the way… Then again, Potter had asked to meet at the Fleet Day venue, and she'd figured it'd be polite since she was the one who asked him…

She looked around, feeling over the plastic wrapping in her hand and hoping that the contents hadn't melted.

"Akechi!" she heard him calling over the crowd. "Hey, Akechi! I'm over here!" Sayaka rose to her feet, scanning around, before Potter pushed his way out of the crowd to stand in front of her. "Hi! How've you been?"

"Okay," she replied—after all, she was walking, talking, breathing, eating. All physical systems good.

"So… You brought her?" Potter asked again, surreptitiously leaning to scan the bench behind her.

"Yep," Sayaka groaned, nodding tiredly. "Wasn't easy."

"Well… where…"

Wordlessly, Sayaka raised the object in her hand and tore the wrapping open to reveal a popsicle.

One, two, three seconds ticked by.

"MaaaatooooOOOOOO!!!"

The tiny Shipgirl blurred out of the air, snatching the frozen treat from Sayaka's hands and landed in a sitting position, already sucking. Potter grinned, leaning down to greet her. Before he could, Tiny Yamato turned away from him to continue to eat in peace.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Sayaka admitted. "Once she's got her hands on food, she won't respond to anything until she finishes… Or if there's something that really, really catches her interest, like Star Trek…"

"Well, okay then," Potter said, standing back up. "So, do you know her name?"

What? "Tiny Yamato" wasn't a sufficient name? There had to be something more? "A name?" Sayaka asked, wracking her brain desperately. "Uh, how about… Yama… pi?"

"Not quite what I meant," Potter admitted, glancing down at the tiny Shipgirl. "But… Yamapi?"

The Individual looked up from her treat, looked around, then up at Potter. She blinked once, and shrugged. "Mato," she said carelessly, removing her popsicle and then shoving it back into her mouth. Sayaka didn't know what she said, but felt a deep, inscrutable urge to facepalm. So she did.
-----

"I don't know if you've noticed yet," Juuchi said as another blade—Tonbo thought she might be able toplace her, but she wasn't quite sure—walked over to them, "but I'm kind of a badass."

"I know, I know," Tonbo grumbled, shrugging exaggeratedly, "but I'm just saying. You should keep your ear to the ground."

"So, what's going on here?" the new girl asked, pulling out a stool and leaning over the counter.

"Honjo, Tonbo," Juuchi waved between them.

"'Sup."

"She says that some swords got stolen the other day, so she came here to tell me to be careful," Juuchi said nonchalantly. "Like anyone could take me anywhere I don't want."

Honjo (Masamune, Tonbo felt was very likely) frowned. "Actually… I heard something around the base. Apparently, some guy was running around earlier today and asking about us."

Juuchi paused, as if contemplating this. "… Huh," she replied. "Did he look like the stealing type?"

"I don't know. All I've heard is that he had an Italian sounding first name… Do you think we should warn your sisters?"

"Sisters?" Tonbo asked, turning to Juuchi.

"Oh yeah, you were always 'Miss Family," her sister grinned at the memory. "Yeah, they've got a place they're living together at. Let's see…"

"Haven't been 'Miss Family' in a while," Tonbo said softly, looking away as Juuchi listed names that she forced herself to block out lest she want to go see them again.

"Huh?" Honjo asked.

"It's nothing," she responded. "Just… last time I saw anyone I was in a bad place and things went—"

"and Kyoshu's there," Juuchi listed off, "but she's different now, and I—" Tonbo went wild animal-tense, eyes widening in shock and horror.

"Aw, shit," Honjo groaned.
-----

"GRAB HER LEGS! GRAB HER LEEEEGS!"

"HOW IS SHE FAST?"

"TSUKIAKARIIIII! GET IN HEEEERE!"
-----

The elderly man looked up from his work table as the door opened and his employer stepped in.

"Hello, Todoh-sama," he said, bowing reverentially. The man nodded back at him. Each afforded the other respect. Todoh as the employer, and the old man as a master in his field.

"How is she?" Todoh said, turning to face the wall. Unlike the concrete (or was it cement? The old man had always cared more about his arts than the niceties of buildings) walls of the rest of the basement, this one was solid steel, save for the small porthole that rested at eye level just to the left of the vault door.

"Still resistant," the old man shook his head sadly. "It's interesting. So much of her stripped away… and yet she holds on to the same will ferociously. If only I had one of her sister blades, to see if the same holds true for all of them."

"Impressive indeed," Todoh affirmed, walking up to the porthole. "Hello there, you," he said congenially. "How about it? Today will you—"

The old man jumped slightly as suddenly a face was pressed up against the porthole, screaming as if she were trying to bite her way through. Todoh stared on, unimpressed. "I'll consider that another no," he said, disappointed, turning back to the old man. "I trust the blade is still intact?"

"Of course," the old man scoffed, gesturing at the shining katana that rested on his work table. "I was a master of these techniques when we first created them, and I have perfected them over many years. The blade is not damaged."

"Good," said Todoh, turning back to the door. "I'd hate for her to even be scratched the day that she finally acknowledges me as her master."
-----

Somehow, I have a tendency to come up with nasty villains. Wonder where I get that?

Well what do you think, sirs?

 

[darthcourt10]

WickedestCard

Soo....I know that someone else has Smol Yamato in their snips but I don't think she's had a proper debut. I've had this sitting in Docs for a bit trying to finish it and I guess I'm a bit late. Still, have a silly little thing.

-----

Fleet Week at Kure was always busy and crowded thanks to the importance of the location and it was only boosted by a certain museum. The crowd today however was even greater as it was announced that Yamato herself would be speaking and doing a small event during the festival. In fact, the line for her public talk was compared to several ridiculous lines from Black Friday or the release of a new highly sought after item.The amount of wonder people had towards the Super Battleship had seemed to only increased during the lull in hostilities in the Abyssal War and it nearly overwhelmed the staff.


However, Yamato herself seemed to remain calm and collected as she observed everything behind the makeshift stage that was set up in front of her scale model. All the workers worked diligently to make sure everything was perfect for one the symbols of Japan though the battleships assured them that it was already more than acceptable and they could rest. Of course museum workers and visitors were not the only people there as scattered around in both uniform and plain clothes were several JSDF for security reasons. They were there more for the crowd and situations may arise than for protecting Yamato, not just because she was a battleship but because both Yahgai and Enterprise were there. If anyone outside would look up they would notice a CAP of Enterprise's air group and the cruiser was more than ready to summon her rigging should the need arise.


"I Yamato feel that you two are going a little overboard with this though I do appreciate it." The brunette said with a hint of a playful smile.


"Princess, I know the kind of status you have and I've seen how people react to to me and the Iowas stateside and how the people here react to you Battleships. I am not taking any chances." Enterprise said as she crossed her arms, Yahgai next to her nodding.


"Enterprise-san is right. Remember when I went out and drew a crowd and the creeps that hid inside? Both of us agree on making sure that everyone here stays safe and behaves themselves." the Light Cruiser said with a firm voice. Apparently there were otakus for everything and her past as ship gave her a degree of fame that drew quite a few to her.


"I do believe that this one time, my appearance will not cause any trouble." Yamato stated with a twirl of her parasol. Soon enough it was time for the Super Battleship to start her public speech and she stepped onto the stage. Behind the curtain the other two kept their vigilance up.


Sure enough, it seemed that the Battleship's presence was able to keep the crowd behaved however; about half way through Yamato's time the two picked up a spiritual signature very close to them.


"Huh...that's odd...it feels a lot like Yamato-sama but...tiny?" Yahgai wondered aloud as she felt the presence as much as she could, her eyes sweeping the area trying to find it. Enterprise too started to seep the area behind the stage to try and find it, the light cruiser going the other way round.


As the two met up midship of the Yamato scale model the heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet above them and they looked towards the sound. A tiny chibi version of Yamato was there, copying the movements of her full-sized counterpart and somehow a background of cherry blossoms was behind her. Soon the Smol noticed her audience and hopped down to deck to be eye level with the two.


"Mato!" the Smol declared, pointing her parasol to the sky. For a few seconds there was quiet, the only sound being the speech being done on stage and the chibi ship blinked in confusion as the other ships looked at her wide-eyed and surprised. That quiet was broken fairly quickly though.


"KAWAII/CUTE!" was all that was heard, even out to the crowd but it did nothing to deter Yamato with pushing through, as the cruiser and carrier took hold of the Smol and each rubbed a cheek against her. The Smol could only make the odd squeaking sound as the two made their own 'coo' and 'aww' noises. So caught up in the adorableness of the tiny battleship that they didn't notice the end of Yamato's stage time and her standing to the side of them with a very, very smug look as she cleared her throat.


The two looked up at their close friend that interrupted their session of basking in the cuteness of Smol Yamato to the full sized ship, looked at each other and nodded.


"This is exactly what it looks like Yamato-sama/Princess." they said with absolute seriousness and then went back to what they were doing, both Yamato's now having smug looks.
-----

I do have some plans for Lil-E and Smol Yahgai but I'm behind on those as well. Also, a certain floofy Escort Carrier's Launch Day is this month and I should probably make sure it goes well. Also have plans for a Smol Floof.