Greetings once again! For those who do not know me, I am Full Metal Celt (or FMC or Celt for short, I don't mind) back with another fanfic for Rosario+Vampire. Like "Who Dares Wins", this story would never have seen the light of day without the co-operation and support of my friend Cal, who inspired the idea for the story by introducing me to a band called Alestorm.
Like "Who Dares Wins", Cal also contributed a lot to this story, and fixed the parts that I wrote so that they didn't make the fic look like it was written by a twelve year old. Unlike our other story, "The Rosario" will be less intense and violent, but there will still be a lot of action and drama as Tsukune struggles to survive on the high seas in the company of monsters, pirates and a fearsome captain.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario + Vampire, or any of the names, characters, locations and organizations which feature in the manga. This is a fan-made, non-profit work of fiction based on Akihisa Ikeda's fantastic manga, which I urge all of you to buy and enjoy when it becomes available in your country. Any resemblance the content of this story shares with real events or people is a coincidence.
Chapter 1 - Dawn
Kyota Naval Academy
Nihon
"Next!"
Everyone shuffled forward a few paces as the next student in line stepped up to the table in the centre of the gymnasium. The bored lieutenant seated at the table brusquely asked for his name and serial number, and after the youth had recited it the lieutenant scored something off his list and searched the open filing case beside him for the appropriate documentation. He handed the young man the paper, briefly summarized his assignment and dismissed him by calling for the next graduate to step forward.
Tsukune had been waiting in line for nearly ten minutes, and there was still many students behind him. Theirs was the largest batch of commissioned officer cadets the Kyota Naval Academy had ever produced, but as Instructor Shiki was so fond of reminding them, their training regime was far softer than that of previous generations. The majority of their lessons were theoretical studies and classroom-based instruction, with the exception of Physical Education and Weapons Drill, and Shiki often told his students that they were in for a rude awakening when they eventually encountered an enemy on the open sea.
"No one ever slew a monster or fended off a pirate raid by reading books," he remarked. "Half of you won't last more than one tour, I reckon. The other half might, if you're lucky, but none of you have what it takes to make it to the top. To think that one of you might even be responsible for a warship someday..."
Although he was still residing at the academy, Tsukune had officially graduated two days ago, and he had already put Shiki behind him. He no longer had to endure the old man's spiteful lectures about how incompetent he was, or have his confidence shaken regularly by sharp criticism and hard slaps to the back of his head. After two years of suffering under Shiki's harsh regime, Tsukune was moments away from freedom. As soon as he had his Assignment Papers...
"Pirate or youkai?"
"Huh?" Tsukune glanced up.
"Pirate or youkai," repeated Junpei, standing one place ahead Tsukune. "Which would you prefer to fight?"
"Youkai," answered Yoshida. He stood behind Tsukune, lean and handsome, and was by far the most capable student in their grade. "Pirates are just human. If you beat enough of them, you can earn a good reputation, but I heard that to move up the ranks you have to kill a lot of monsters. They say that you've got to kill a hundred before they'll consider you to be a ship captain."
"Really? I was told you just had to collect the bounties for a dozen notorious pirates. Is it monster heads they prize now?"
"Apparently. I'm going to kill as many as I can when I get the chance. Maybe when I have my own ship I'll pull some strings and let you two to come and serve on it."
"Screw that. By then I'll be a commodore. Maybe your little boat can be part of my fleet," said Junpei. "How about you, Aono? I'll need a right-hand man to help me manage my mighty fleet."
"We'll see," replied Tsukune. His mind was preoccupied, trying to work out how much of a handicap his poor results from the final exams would prove to be.
Yoshida shook his head. "Tsukune is going to be an admiral like his old man, aren't you? Will you remember us little people when you join the top brass?"
"What? An admiral?" echoed Junpei. "You're kind of batting out of your league there, don't you think?"
"Anyone can be an admiral. They just have to work hard and show commitment," said Tsukune.
"Yeah, and you can catch mermaids by putting something sparkly on a fishing hook," said Junpei. He shook his head. "Admirals get chosen on the whims of the top brass, not by breaking their backs with hard work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is stupid. I didn't think you were naive enough to believe that sort of stuff, Aono."
Tsukune bit back a retort. His maternal grandfather had been an admiral in the Nihon Division of the World Navy, and it had been he who assured Tsukune that promotion to such a respectable position was based on merit. Ojiisan had been a hero from the Old Era, where pirates had openly waged war against the authorities and laid waste to entire coastlines. His tales and accounts of great battles against men and monsters alike had inspired Tsukune to enroll in the Kyota Naval Academy, with the encouragement of his parents and the approval of his other, more dominant grandfather.
At last, Junpei was called forward. Tsukune was now at the front of the line, and he began to feel excited. This was it. Once he was given his Assignment Papers, he would officially be a serviceman in the World Navy. A commissioned officer, a man of rank. He hoped that he would be assigned to a good ship, one that he could earn a reputation on and use as a foothold to advance his career. Despite his unimpressive grades, Tsukune hoped to follow his grandfather's example and become an admiral, a position he could use to make the age-old dream of his forebears a reality.
"Next!"
Tsukune stepped forward, noting the bemused look on Junpei's face as he moved aside. The lieutenant sitting behind the desk wore a vacant and disinterested expression as he scribbled on the side of his list to coax more ink out of his dying pen.
"Name?" he asked flatly without looking up.
"Aono Tsukune."
"Serial?"
"Two-eight-seven-nine."
The lieutenant turned in his chair and flicked through the filing case in search of Tsukune's papers. After a few moments he found them and drew them out, and glanced at what was written on them. He hesitated and re-read the document properly, a slightly bewildered expression on his face. It took him more than one read to absorb the information, but he finally dismissed whatever had perplexed him as something that was none of his concern.
"You're in luck, young man," he remarked as he handed Tsukune his Assignment Papers. "It looks like you've caught someone's interest. Cadet Aono, you are hereby raised to the rank of ensign, and have been commissioned to serve aboard the warship Masamune. Report to the captain at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. Next!"
Tsukune shuffled to the side, half stunned and half engrossed in his Assignment Papers. He too had to read the document several times before it sank in. The Masamune. The warship that had been instrumental in over a dozen famous Navy victories against the armadas of the former Pirate Lords. The warship that had almost been destroyed when it used its bulk to protect the Nihonese emperor's personal yacht when it came under attack from a kraken. The Masamune was a venerable ship, and was one of the finest in the Nihon Division of the Navy. To be given a commission on such a vessel was a great honour.
It's a mistake, he realised. Tsukune held two documents in his hands; one stating that his commission was aboard the warship Masamune, the other stating that it was aboard the patrol boat Nojima. The two had been stapled together, the former on top of the latter, which bore a stamp in vivid red ink which read "VOID". Surely that was meant for the Masamune assignment? Yes, someone must have realized that an inexperienced cadet like Aono Tsukune - who excelled at nothing and rarely scored above average in any given test or assessment - would be unsuited for service aboard a ship as magnificent as the legendary Masamune. And then they too made a mistake by voiding the wrong document.
Aono Tsukune was not destined to begin an exciting career aboard the Masamune after all. He was destined to spend his days patrolling coastlines and policing the waters around minor fishing villages aboard the Nojima, wherever that was stationed.
It was then Tsukune noticed the hand-written footnote scrawled on the Masamune assignment. It read: "Ensign re-assigned at request of T.M., Director, Special Operations. Approved by Ichinose Ryuga, Fleet Admiral, Nihon Division."
He was still puzzling over the meaning of the footnote when Yoshida joined him.
"Have you ever heard of the Shokaku?" he asked Tsukune, who shook his head. "Me neither. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I was hoping for a really good assignment, you know? Meh, maybe the Shokaku won't be so bad. It's a warship, that's something at least. I'll be getting my hands dirty in no time. So, where'd they decide to put you?"
"Well, I think there's been a mistake, because this is..."
Yoshida tugged the Assignment Papers from his hand and skimmed through the wording on the first page. His eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "The Masamune? The Masamune? What the hell? I've been working my ass off to get straight A's for the past three years, and they give away a first-class commission like this to you?"
"Jeez, you too, Yosh?" asked Junpei, wandering over to where they stood. "I told you, the guys wearing the pants of power decide stuff randomly. Hard work never pays off in that kind of system, so it's best to just go with the flow. But I've got to admit the Masamune is one hell of a good placement for a rookie. Do you think your grandfather's legend had something to do with the decision?"
"Maybe. I didn't really think about that," admitted Tsukune. Yes, that was it.
Yoshida handed the document back to Tsukune. "Well, good for you, Tsukune. I'm sure you won't disappoint the Masamune's captain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pack my things. The Shokaku sets sail in three hours. I don't know when we'll see each other again, but good luck. I'll see you guys later."
"I'm going to go pack too," said Junpei. "My boat sets out in the evening. I'll see you around, Aono. Good luck!"
Tsukune watched Junpei rush off after Yoshida. The two of them had been his closest friends since the day he had enrolled in the academy, and after two years of studying together they had parted with him as if it was no big deal. Aono Tsukune had never had much experience with friendship, but even he knew enough to know that it wasn't something cast aside so lightly. He wasn't hurt by the casual termination of their companionship. He was just disappointed that it didn't seem to mean much to them.
Still dazed from the significance of his assignment, Tsukune wandered through the halls of the academy in search of a telephone. There were three in the lobby of the main building, though one had been half-dismantled for maintenance and another was being used by a junior student. Tsukune approached the available unit and picked up the handset, and twirled the rotary dial several times to dial the number designated to the telephone in the Aono Household. It took a short time for the call to connect; the Aono Household was in the capital, Tokyoto, over two hundred miles east of Kyota, which meant that the signal had to pass through hundreds of kilometers of land-line.
"Aono residence," greeted a dry, formal voice when the call finally connected.
"Hello. It's Aono Tsukune. I'd like to speak with my mother please."
"One moment." There was a long pause as the serving man had a hushed discussion with someone else in the room. "Pardon me, young master. Kasumi-sama is visiting a hot spring in the mountains with Kyouko-ojou, and will not return until the end of the week."
"Is my father with them?" asked Tsukune.
"He is at work, young master. Shall I take a message?"
"No, it's fine. Could you tell them I called?"
"I will, young master," promised the servant.
Disappointed that he could not speak to his family before his departure, Tsukune made his way back to his bedroom. It was one of many rooms in the older wing of the complex, designed to accommodate two students for the duration of their residence at the academy. However, Tsukune had Room Forty-Two all to himself; his former room-mate, Tsuda, had dropped out at the end of their first year after suffering from a nervous breakdown (the cause of which was never officially revealed, but everyone knew that Shiki's constant verbal abuse had something to do with it). Tsukune crossed over to the desk by the window and sat down, dropping his papers onto the desktop and staring at them thoughtfully.
Maybe I was chosen for this because of Ojiisan, he thought. All of the Nihon Division admirals were at his funeral. Admiral Ichinose must have been one of them.
But the decision to place him on the Masamune was not the admiral's - it was the Director of Special Operations who made that call. Who was he? Why did he specifically request for Tsukune's transfer? Was he an officer aboard the Masamune? Was this supposed to be a trial of some sort? Was someone from the Special Operations branch watching him right now? That last thought made Tsukune feel uncomfortable. Although it was mid-afternoon, he stood up and drew the curtains shut, as if that would hide him from the world. Tsukune felt uncomfortable being the centre of attention at the best of times, and the notion that someone was spying on him was disturbing.
Beside the pen-pot on the desk stood two picture frames, each displaying a monochrome image on thin card. One was a formal photograph of the Aono family, taken at the request of Father's father; a stern old man who had been the polar opposite of Ojiisan. While Kaa-san's father had been a cheerful man and an admirable character, Aono Uda was a self-centred miser who treasured his political position over the happiness of his family. When his younger son died and left Tsukune's cousin without parents, the old man had shown no grief or sorrow, and had simply instructed his remaining son to take care of the girl and ensure that she was raised to make a good bride. Since Kyouko had come of age, he had regularly attempted to strategically marry her off to the heirs of other wealthy households, but Kyouko's independent spirit and defiance of social expectations repelled most of her suitors.
Kyouko's grin was a prominent feature of the second photograph, which showed a younger Tsukune with his mother, Kyouko and Ojiisan in the well-tended gardens of Aono House. Since coming to Kyota to attend the academy at the age of sixteen, Tsukune had only been home on four occasions, and the longest he had stayed was seven days. He missed the house he had been raised in, but he missed his family even more. He wrote to them frequently, and dearly wished that he had more time to travel back to the capital to see them before he began his first tour of duty aboard the Masamune. Even if he wrote a letter to them now, he would be gone by the time they received it.
There were no classes for him to attend to distract his troubled mind. After the low-key graduation ceremony, senior students were no longer required to attend lectures or take part in drills, which left them in a peculiar state of limbo while they waited for their commissions to be confirmed. Tsukune considered going down to the pool, but reminiscing about his family gave him another idea. He stood up and moved over to his locker, which contained his newly-issued Navy uniform; a knee-length officer's jacket made from green cotton with white lining, a crisp white shirt with a red tie, brown breeches and a pair of new leather boots. His academy uniform was similar, but consisted of a blazer instead of a coat, and shoes instead of boots.
Leaning against the side of the locker was a sword; Kusanagi, the katana of the Edo family. Tsukune's mother had no brothers for the blade to pass to, so when Ojiisan died the sword was given to Tsukune as the sole male heir of the Edo family. Tsukune had admired the weapon since he was a child, and had often asked Ojiisan to show him how to use it. He had looked forward to the day when the sword would finally be his, but only when Kusanagi was presented to him on the day Ojiisan died did Tsukune realize how immature and naive his eagerness to own the blade was.
It was more than just a sword; it was the embodiment of an entire family's legacy, and the men who inherited it also inherited the duty to fulfill the destiny of the Edo family. None of the many heroes who had carried the sword before Tsukune had accomplished this goal, and Tsukune doubted he would succeed where they had failed. What could he do that they could not? He considered the dilemma often, but could not see a way to inspire coexistence between humans and monsters. There was far too much blood between the two races for them to live together in peace, yet this extraordinary ideal was what Tsukune's ancestors had striven to make a reality for over five hundred years. His own mother had even devoted a number of years in her youth to campaign for coexistence. Knowing this, Tsukune felt obligated to at least try and make a difference, and he felt that attaining the influence and power of an admiral would be enough to do so.
Did you feel like this before you first set out, Ojiisan? wondered Tsukune.
Tsukune drew Kusanagi from its sheath and cut the air in front of him experimentally. Fencing was a mandatory study for all servicemen in the World Navy, and in Nihon this was reinforced with additional instruction in the art of kendo. Tsukune was only marginally more skilled at the latter than he was at the former, but no matter how hard he tried his grade in Combat Studies never rose higher than three, the lowest pass score. He had a tendency to score a three in every subject, regardless of how much or how little effort he put into succeeding.
An hour or two going through the basic steps of kendo would not make much of a difference, but at least the discipline and focus it required would take Tsukune's mind off his worries.
The Following Morning
Tsukune rose at first light and dressed into his new uniform. The garments were brand new and felt a little stiff, but they would soften in time. He fastened Kusanagi's sheath to his belt and adjusted his long jacket to cover the weapon, leaving only the hilt and handle visible at his hip. On the reverse of his Assignment Papers was a list of mandatory equipment, tools and spare clothing Tsukune was expected to bring with him to the Masamune; these items were carefully backed into his new kitbag, along with one or two personal effects that Tsukune was sure nobody would mind him possessing. He took the photographs from the frames on his desk and tucked them into one of the inner pockets of his jacket. All his other belongings went into the trunk he had brought to the academy when he was sixteen. He would leave it behind for the stewards of the academy to handle; at the end of the week, after the last of the graduates had left, the stewards would collect all of their luggage cases and send them back to their families. They would have everything they needed at their new posts.
Shiki was bawling at the freshmen on the next floor up, rousing them from their beds as gently as a landslide would. Tsukune did not relish the thought of running into the instructor and receiving one last derogatory comment about his character or appearance, so after he was certain that all of his belongings were either in his kitbag or in his trunk, he left Room Forty-two and made his way out of the building as swiftly as he could.
The walk from the Naval Academy to Sakyo Harbour took him less than an hour, given how quiet the streets were at that time of the morning, but when Tsukune arrived he found that he was on the wrong side of the wide expanse of water; three Naval vessels were docked at the harbour, all moored on the far side of the port. Tsukune sighed in annoyance. It would take a long time to walk around to where the Masamune was docked. He was expected to be there at eight o'clock, and even if he ran Tsukune doubted he would make it there on time.
"Boy," called a voice. "That uniform... are you serving in the Navy?"
Tsukune looked around. Beside a nearby jetty was a sleek steam-powered motorboat, in which stood a tall man in a dark blue uniform. Although his attention was focused on lighting a fresh cigar, Tsukune was certain that the man was the one who had called out to him. There was no one else around.
"Yes," answered Tsukune.
The man grinned and looked up. A peculiar trick of the morning light made it seem as if his eyes were glowing in the shadow of his cap.
"Looks like you're not where you ought to be," said the boatman. "Come take a seat. I'll see you across in no time."
Relieved, Tsukune thanked the man and crossed over to the jetty, and climbed into the motorboat while the boatman started the engine. It took a minute or two, but once the steam engine was up and running the boat started to move, slowly at first but gradually gathering speed as they made their way across the water. The three ships docked in the harbour seemed even more impressive the closer Tsukune got to them, and soon he was able to make out the names painted on their hulls; there was the Nautilus from the Britannian Division, the Franklin's Will from the Americas Division, and the Masamune. Two other warships from the Nihon Division had been docked at the harbour, Tsukune learned later, but they had set sail the previous evening.
Even if he had not seen the ship in textbooks and newspapers, Tsukune would have recognised the Masamune on sight. The sails and banners of all Navy ships bore the heraldry of the World Navy - a majestic eagle gripping lightning bolts in its talons at the centre of a gold ring - but the colours flown by each division varied. The flags flying from the masts of the Franklin's Will were striped blue, red and white, and fluttered in the early morning breeze. The banner of the Britannian division was dark blue, and featured a number of smaller flags to represent the nations that formed the Britannian Commonwealth. The Nihon Division flew white flags, a colour which contrasted with the golden eagle of the Navy and the red sun of Nihon that adorned them.
"Which are you stationed aboard?" asked the boatman.
"The Masamune. That one," replied Tsukune, pointing. "This is the first time I've seen her. I only graduated from the Naval Academy a few days ago."
"Fresh blood, eh?" mused the boatman aloud. He exhaled a silver stream of smoke. "You had best prepare yourself, then. The ocean is vast, and it is the domain of human marauders and predatory monsters alike. Some of the former are similar to the latter in nature, while the latter disguise themselves as the former. It is often hard to distinguish the two. All that stands between these horrors and the innocent inhabitants of civilized lands are the men and women of the World Navy... yet even they are not without flaw. You will need more than training to survive, boy. You are about to step into a world where nothing is as it seems..."
Tsukune was not sure how to respond to that. Neither he nor the boatman spoke for the rest of the trip, though the noise coming from the docks compensated for their silence. There were a lot of people there, mostly men in the uniform of low-ranking Navy personnel and auxiliaries from the Marine Reserve unit stationed in Kyota, but Tsukune spotted a few civilians and private contractors contributing to the effort of preparing the docked ships for their scheduled voyages. The boatman steered his vessel towards another jetty, and the small motorboat coasted to a halt beside the wooden platform. Tsukune gathered up his kitbag and stepped out of the boat, but as he turned to pay his fare he found that the motorboat was already moving away from the jetty.
"Be careful, boy," the man called back to him, grinning.
The docks were at the heart of the bustle of activity; hundreds of people were at work here, grunting and singing and calling out to each other as they moved to and fro, each preoccupied with their own duties and performing the tasks designated to them. As Tsukune made his way through the crowd, he noted the presence of a number of ranked Naval officers amidst the commotion. There, a captain, the gold epaulettes and lining on his jacket a clear indication of his rank. The authoritative voice of a very annoyed lieutenant cut through the hubbub of the crowd as he argued with a trio of quartermasters over the distribution of medical supplies, and a Britannian man in the uniform of a Chief Mate was leading some of his men in an enthusiastic sea shanty while he supervised them.
Tsukune glanced at his pocket watch. Eleven minutes to eight. I'm early.
He identified the Masamune and made his way towards it, and shortly found himself standing at the bottom of one of several boarding ramps. A man wearing the rank pins of a warrant officer staggered towards him, hefting the weight of a sealed crate that sounded as if it was full of glass bottles.
"Need something?" he puffed as he set his load down on top of a nearby barrel.
"I am Ensign Aono. Is the captain around?"
"Ensign?" echoed the warrant officer. He turned and whistled to one of the other men. "Hoi, Yamasuke! Are we taking on a new officer today?"
"Yeah. The lieutenant mentioned it last night. Why?"
"This guy says he's the new ensign. Where's the captain?"
"Inspecting the guns, I think. I don't know. I'm here with you."
The warrant officer muttered something that sounded like "smart-ass" and turned back to Tsukune. "Try the gunnery deck. Someone up there will show you the way. Sir."
"Thank you," said Tsukune, leaving the warrant officer to his task and trudging up the ramp onto the deck of the Masamune. A seaman showed him the way to the gunnery deck, where, sure enough, the captain of the Masamune was inspecting the ship's impressive arsenal of cannons. He turned as Tsukune approached and accepted his salute with a nod. He held his hand out expectantly, and Tsukune presented his Assignment Papers.
"A last minute change requested by one senior commander, and authorised by another," mused Captain Kitano. "I'll assume that it's for the best, though I was promised the most competant officer cadet from the academy. Can I expect such a quality of service from you, Ensign Aono?"
"I will do my best," promised Tsukune. He neglected to admit that his best effort would not be particularly impressive, but the captain would realise that soon enough.
"Very good. I expect no less. Chief, show the ensign to his cabin and brief him on ship standards and protocols."
"Yes sir," acknowledged the one-eyed veteran accompanying the captain. "Follow me, ensign. Follow, listen and learn."
Noon
The coast of Nihon was receding into the distance behind them, and the city of Kyota was now little more than a grey smudge on the far-off landscape. With the wind in her sails, the Masamune was moving at high speed away from the land of Tsukune's birth, and when he had the chance Tsukune would peer over the side of the ship and look back at the coast, silently praying that his family would remain in good health while he was gone. The Masamune was headed for a minor kingdom in the Veerok archipelago, where it would form the flagship of a small fleet assembling there to combat the rising number of pirates gathering in the region. The most optimistic outcome would see the Masamune return to Kyota in ten months. But if things didn't go according to plan...
Chief Mate Hideki was the captain's right-hand man, and Tsukune quickly learned that nothing happened aboard the Masamune without Hideki knowing about it. The man knew the layout of the ship like the back of his hand, and promised that Tsukune would become just as familiar with it over the course of their voyage. He was right; by the end of the third day of their voyage, Tsukune no longer had to ask other members of the crew where certain rooms were, or how to access other decks. By the end of the first week, he had explored the Masamune in its entirety.
By the end of the second week, the novelty of being aboard the venerable warship Masamune had worn off.
Tsukune's duties spared him from the brunt of the inevitable boredom, but even they became less challenging as the voyage stretched into the third week. He spent most of his time following Hideki around, making notes of the Chief Mate's comments as he went about his daily inspections. He occasionally acted as a messenger between Hideki and the captain, and every now and then Hideki would order him to monitor the trio of navigators or sit with the two men in the crow's nest atop the main mast.
"The watchful eye of an officer keeps them alert, even if it's just a rookie," explained Hideki. "They know who you answer to. The men in the nest need that sort of pressure to stop them slacking off. Twenty years ago, when I was serving on the Nobunaga, the ship was boarded and seized when a crew of pirates led by an ayashi caught us unaware from behind. More than a dozen good men died because the fools in the nest were paying more attention to their cards than they were to the horizon."
"Did you repel the boarders?" asked Tsukune.
Hideki shook his head. "We tried to sink the ship and deny it to the pirates, but we were overwhelmed before we could ignite the gunpowder. I spent a few months as the thrall of the vampire captain, and managed to slip away with some of the others while the vampire fought with one of her rivals. I still hear stories about her, sometimes. They never mention her by name, but I'd bet my pension that she's still out there somewhere, preying on the unwary and the helpless. Word of advice, ensign; you ever meet a vampire with gold hair and a pretty smile, run. Run as far as you can, across water if you have to."
Tsukune doubted that any amount of training would give him the ability to run on water, but the conversation did inspire him to take up jogging. In his free time, there was little Tsukune could do but entertain himself in his cell-like cabin or wander the decks of the Masamune without purpose. His casual fitness regimen began with jogs from the bow of the ship to the stern, but after a few days he expanded the course into a full lap along the port side of the ship to the stern, then back along the starboard side. It amused some of the other crewmen to begin with, but after a while they accepted it as a common occurrence. From time to time, Tsukune would see off-duty crewmen jogging too, following a similar course to the one he had taken to running.
Hideki seemed to approve of this. "The captain's pleased. He said that this is a good sign. You're making an impression on the men, setting a good example. That's exactly the sort of thing that earns a man a promotion, when there's a position available."
There were no positions available, of course, but Tsukune was content to know that for once he had achieved something using his own initiative.
The voyage dragged on. It was a three month journey from Nihon to the Veerok archipelago, and Tsukune was beginning to wonder if there were really as many pirates at large on the ocean as people claimed there were. No ships had been sighted within ten miles of the Masamune since leaving Kyota, and there were often several days between sightings of any other vessels at all. Sightings of land were almost as rare. The veteran sailors seemed unfazed by the monotony of the expanse of featureless ocean, but there were times when Tsukune felt like the rest of the world had been swallowed up by the ocean, and that there was nothing left but the Masamune. Some of the tropical storms that the vessel encountered during the second month certainly seemed fierce enough to have marked the apocalypse.
At the end of the first month, Lieutenant Matsuo invited Tsukune to spar with him. After winning five matches in a row, each within twenty seconds, Matsuo decided that whoever had instructed Tsukune in kendo was a terrible teacher (a fact anyone who had met Shiki could attest to), and began giving him informal lessons on basic sword kata. Under his tutelage, Tsukune quickly became adept at Iaijutsu, the art of drawing his sword and either striking his enemy or counter-attacking in the same movement. This was not enough to beat Matsuo, but the duration of their sparring sessions increased as Tsukune's skill improved, and Matsuo judged him to be more than a match for the average pirate.
In the third week of the second month of the voyage, Captain Kitano ordered the navigators to plot a course to the nearest known source of fresh water, so that the ship could re-supply. To Tsukune's surprise, it took them less than a day to find such a place; a small island inhabited by less than fifty people, who had named it after a deity their ancestors had worshiped. None of the navigators could pronounce the name properly.
Even more surprising was the captain's decision to give Tsukune command of the landing party, though whether this was another test his abilities or a sympathetic gesture to let him feel earth under his feet again, Tsukune was not sure. He did not care. When he stepped out of the rowboat in the shallows and helped drag it ashore, Tsukune nearly collapsed on his knees in the sand to embrace the ground beneath him. It felt so strange and solid after getting used to the swaying decks of the Masamune. Petty Officer Sukaki led the way, following an old chart the navigators kept on file to the spring of fresh water. They were not the only ones there; there was a small stand-off as a handful of other Navy servicemen mistook them for marauders and drew weapons on them, but they stood down when it became clear that both parties served the World Navy.
As chance would have it, the other men were also from the Nihon Division, serving aboard the frigate Togusa, anchored on the other side of the island. It did not take long for the men to begin socializing, and soon they were drinking leisurely from refilled canteens while they filled their empty water canisters from the spring.
"Where are you headed?" asked the lieutenant leading the Togusa's landing party.
"We're going south, to pacify the raiders harassing the Veerok islands," replied Tsukune.
The lieutenant perked up. "South? In that case, keep an eye on the horizon. We've spent the past few months chasing the Red-eyed Queen from Kogashima to the southern seas, but we lost track of her five days ago. She could be anywhere between here and the polar region, so be careful."
"The Red-eyed Queen?" asked Tsukune, curious.
"That's the name we use for her, but there's a lot of variations. Red-eyed Angel, Red-eyed Lady, Red-eyed Bitch... it depends who you ask. She's one of the newer pirate legends, but by the way she sails you'd think she has enough experience to be an admiral. Her nakama are all youkai, they say, monsters she saved from persecution and turned against the Navy. If you believe the rumours, there are even a couple of vampires among them, but every official account and tall tale agree on one thing: the Red-eyed Queen herself is a vampire."
"The Red-eyed Queen isn't a vampire," said a seaman nearby. "At the battle of Diamond Bay, the queen and all her crew turned into mermaids and tipped one of the Britannian flagships over in the water from below. My brother said that his brother-in-law was there and saw the whole thing."
"Your brother doesn't have a brother-in-law. Nobody would marry a drunkard like him," pointed out one of the other seamen.
"The Red-eyed Queen is a vampire. That's why they call her the Red-eyed Queen," insisted the lieutenant.
"Yeah? Then how did she capsize the Britannian flagship?"
"I heard they sank it," said another man. "The Red Eye Pirates have a pet berserker, a terrible she-devil with a magic weapon that can change at will to smash a ship's hull to kindling, or cut masts like stalks of bamboo. I heard that the Red-eyed Queen unleashed the berserker on the flagship, and the demon wrecked it all by herself."
The debate escalated, and eventually the lieutenant withdrew from it with a sigh of resignation.
"My point is, watch out for a ship with black sails decorated with a red eye," he told Tsukune. "You'll know it when you see it. The whole ship is made of dark wood, and it has a very distinctive figurehead that looks like a silver cross with a red gem at the centre. It's made of glass, they say, and the Red-eyed Queen puts a lantern in it at night, so under the cover of darkness that red glow will be the first warning that she is coming for you. Whatever you do, keep your distance. A hammering from her ship's cannons are nothing compared to the hell you will face if any of her nakama get aboard your ship."
"We'll be careful," promised Tsukune. He took a sip of water from his canteen and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Is there anything else I should know?"
The lieutenant shook his head. "Just beware of the Rosario."
They parted with the Togusa's men on good terms, wishing each other luck and expressing their mutual hope to meet again and drink together with sake instead of spring water. It took an hour to ferry the canisters of fresh water back to the Masamune and load them, and by late afternoon they were well on their way again.
The last leg of the journey was the most trying for the crew. The oddly-named island was a reliable source of fresh water, but little else, so while the Masamune now had an ample supply of drinking water, the ship's stock of food was nearly depleted. Rationing became stricter, and the attitude of the men became increasingly gloomy as they went about their duties with empty stomachs. Several crewmen were given fishing rods and instructed to catch fish to bolster the ship's dwindling food supplies, but they did not catch enough to meet the demands of the crew. Tsukune stopped running his laps; unnecessary exercise would only waste the precious little amount of calories his body was being sustained with. His rank as an ensign entitled him to attend the regular meetings Captain Kitano held in his quarters, and he supported Matsuo when the lieutenant appealed to the captain to open the sealed crates containing the Masamune's emergency food supplies. Both were surprised and dismayed to learn that they had already done so several days previously.
"We are running behind schedule. Had the adverse weather conditions not delayed us last month, we would be much closer to Veerok by now," explained the captain. "Our provisions were meant to last us the entire voyage, yet we are still ten days from the outermost isles of Veerok and our supplies have been stretched to their limit. We can only tighten our belts and hope that we will reach our destination before we truly begin to starve."
Tsukune tried not to think about that. When his work did not demand his attention, he thought of home, of his parents and Kyouko, of Ojiisan and the peaceful gardens he had spent his childhood playing in. He thought about how his experience of life at sea had changed him. He thought about how nice the ocean breeze was in the morning. He thought about the quality and sublime craftsmanship of Kusanagi, and the fluid elegance of the techniques Matsuo had taught him. Tsukune made an effort to think about everything but the hollow feeling of emptiness in his gut.
They were six days away from their destination when something happened that changed Aono Tsukune's life forever.
Notes
* If you hadn't realised already, this story is set in a completely different world to the manga, and to the real world. It is based on the real world, borrowing names like Nihon for a country based on Japan ("Nihon" is the formal name for Japan in Japanese), Britannia for a country based on Britain, Americas for a continent based on North America, and so on. "Veerok", however, is just a word Celt came up with to name an exotic region in this AU's southern hemisphere. It doesn't correspond to any location in real life.
* To answer RightWrong's query about technology, this story is set in a completely different world from ours, so it doesn't accurately portray any period of our history. Celt leaves world building to me, but was reasonably clear that she wanted this world to feature ships with sails, firearms with magazines and basic telecommunications. So, in order to accommodate her whims, this world's level of technology will drawn on elements from the eighteenth century through to the early twentieth century. Kind of like One Piece, which I stopped reading a while ago. Never understood how snails functioned as radios.
* Just as we have created a whole new world for this story, we've also created a fictional international organisation called the World Navy. Running the whole thing is High Command. Below them (in descending order) are the High Admirals, admirals, commodores, captains, lieutenants and, at the bottom of the ladder, ensigns. Non-commissioned ranks below this include warrant officer, petty officer and seaman.
* We have used and will continue to use a fair bit of nautical terms in this, so here is a short explanation of certain terms that not everyone may know: "port" refers to the left side of a ship. "Starboard" refers to the right side. "Stern" refers to the back of the ship, and "bow" refers to the front. A "bowsprit" is the pole that sticks out of the front of a ship, usually above a ship's figurehead. A ship's "foredeck" (or "forecastle") is the name given to the deck at the front of the ship. "Rigging" is the network of ropes, spars and sails used to propel sailing ships (rigging also refers to rope ladders used to climb masts).
* We also used a lot more italics in this one than our other project. The reason for that is that ship names are usually written in italics for emphasis. No idea why.
Celt: How did that go?
I got the idea for this when I was trying to sort out a major case of Writer's Block while working on "Who Dares Wins". I asked Cal to recommend some songs he listens to while writing and one of the them was a song called "Keelhauled" by Alestorm. Go listen to it. The lyrics are a little violent but the instrumental parts of the song are really good. Especially the fiddle. That was what gave me the idea to write this. I know a lot of people reading this are going "oh no! Lots of OC and no Moka!". Chill! This is just the beginning of the story, and the OCs in this chapter are all needed to give Tsukune someone to talk to before he meets the girls.
Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter is up, so read on if you are still interested!
