A/N: Hey, remember this story? Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't. Sorry about the long wait, just been busy with a lot of other stuff when it came to finishing and editing this story. But luckily, now you get to see where I've decided to go with it. Including a twist worthy of M. Night Shamylan at the end of this update.
So, let's begin mon amis!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Mononoke, or Hetalia (you all know what it means when I add this to a disclaimer.)
On a large boat, straight out of the history books of China, an older gentleman was standing on top of a balcony. His long, spiky white hair played in the wind as he spoke, "'Do not leave the harbor on the tenth of any month!'" His eyes narrowed, "Thus was the rule of this port. However, never hearing of this rule, several young fishermen took a boat out and went to make an earning."
You could practically hear the strum of the Biwa as he began again, "The boat swayed, the sky grew dark, and they were soon enveloped by a strange fog! 'My goodness, what could that be?' Then," He sat down, "A ship carrying the wretched souls of the damned appeared before them, controlled by the spirit of a sailor lost at sea. The spirit turned to them and wheezed out,
'Give me your ladle!'
Referring to the long-handled instrument the men carried." The old man sighed, scratching at his neck, "Not knowing what would happen if they refused, they handled the ladle over to the ghost. Having appeased the spirit, they—"
"Oh!" A delicate hand raised up in the air, a woman's voice calling out, "I know what happens!" The hand belonged to a woman with long, wavy black hair and sparkling red eyes; her body clad in a white, black-swirled kimono. She was sitting with a feminine-looking Chinese male, his chocolate-shaded hair in a pony-tail that draped over his shoulder, and there was a youth sitting near the edge of the ship's built-in pond. His hair was teal and his skin was pale against his purple yukata, a large sword resting on his back. The woman nodded before continuing, "The ladle is filled with sea-water and the fishing boat sinks, right?"
The old man nearly sputtered out in rage but suppressed himself because of the woman's appearance, "Yes, that's how it happened… Anyway, that's why a ship should always carry an extra ladle."
"Well done Jiraiya!" The Chinese man stood, clapping his hands, "A wonderful tale, aru!" Jiraiya shook his head in fake modesty before the younger man spoke up, "Well then, even if we're all strangers, fortune has compelled us to all travel in the same boat today, aru. If I might be so bold, but perhaps we should introduce ourselves?"
The wind blew through the ship's elegant sails.
"I'll go first then!" The man who was speaking announced, "My name is Wang Yao and I've been sailing my family's vessel, The Shimmering Fortress, for the past three years now, aru! I use it to travel all over the world in bring back things that I find interesting to my homeland!"
"Ha!" Jiraiya laughed before he cleared his throat, "Jiraiya's the name, as you've all heard, I'm a novelist. I travel all around, weaving tales of beautiful…"
"Oh…" The woman sighed, her attention straying from the conversation, "A massive ship like this and not one other woman to talk with?"
"And you?" All attention had suddenly turned to the woman who blushed and stated,
"Um, I'm Kurenai! I used to be the seamstress for the Hoku household, but—" Jiraiya suddenly whooped, interrupting Kurenai's talk,
"You mean the Hoku house of the Ghost Cat story?"
"Oh…" Kurenai whispered, clutching at her kimono, "So it's a famous story now?" She cleared her throat and replied, "Yes, you see, I've decided to go home back to my husband and try and find work closer to my family."
"And you?" Yao called over to the youth sitting by the pond, "Young samurai, could you please grace us with your name?" The youth looked out onto the ocean before quietly replying,
"Suigetsu. Cousin to the late lord Zabuza Momochi."
"Thank you for your answer!" Yao smiled before looking down towards the balcony below them, "And we even have some western visitors today with us, aru! Oi, care to introduce yourselves?"
The younger of the two, a man with wavy brown hair dressed in simple clothing, spoke up, "Oh, um, I'm Toris and I'm the main servant for Prince Ivan here!" He held out a hand towards the large, quiet man besides him. He was dressed in elegant clothing, his cream hair cut short and lavender eyes cold and stern as he read a book in silence.
"Ah!" Yao beamed, "Royalty on my humble ship, aru! Wow!" But Jiraiya looked at the scene, humming,
"A foreign noble on a ship at sea? Hm… An interesting plot device."
The First Night
"At any rate," Kurenai spoke as she stood to her feet to walk around, "This is an unusual ship." She looked up, "The sails are far too thin and delicate to catch much wind," Then she looked down, "And I've never seen a boat with a pond built in the deck before."
"I'm glad you find it interesting, aru." Yao smiled as he walked over, looking at the koi, goldfish, and beta fish swimming in the calm water. "Come," He told Kurenai as he began walking towards the descending staircase, "I'll show you the rest."
"Ah!" Kurenai gasped, looking at the wall-high aquarium of multi-colored fish, "Such huge betas, and so many colors!"
"Yes, this is the best aquarium in the world, aru!" Yao bragged, a blush on his face. Kurenai had to ask,
"How many do you have in here?"
"Well, let me think…" Jiraiya had come along with them, but his attention was hardly intrigued by the fish. He stood there, thinking about the plot to a new book when he glanced to the side and smiled,
"It seems we forgot a passenger…" Kurenai and Yao looked over at the indicated staircase to see what Jiraiya was talking about. But Kurenai went pale as she screamed,
"Oh no! It's you!" A tall, broad-statured man with wild blue hair hidden underneath a bandana stood on the staircase; his body covered in vibrant robes and a heavy carrying case on his back. "Mr. Fruit-Merchant, why are you here?" He seemed to be ignoring the noise, even when Yao asked who he was and Kurenai replied, "He's the one who exorcised the Ghost Cat from the Hoku house!"
A wind that seemed to have a magenta hue to it whisped by, The Fruit-Merchant sniffing it before he muttered, "A sweet-smelling wind…"
"Oi!" Jiraiya called up, taking in the man's appearance, "Are you some sort of sorcerer?" The Fruit-Merchant smiled before speaking in that calm, deep, decadent voice,
"Just a… Fruit-Merchant… You see…"
"If this wind keeps up," Yao explained as they all stood around the navigation room, "We should get to the mainland in four or five days, aru!" He turned to his first mate, "Right Yong Soo?"
"Mm-hm!" The young Korean man nodded before going to check on the rest of the ship. He stopped at the balcony when he noticed, "No stars out tonight, though."
"Who needs stars with a ship like this? You see," Yao pointed to what looked like a large compass in the middle of the room, "That compass is what controls the boat, and it's pointing north…"
Ivan narrowed his eyes, glaring at the device.
"If everything stays in balance, like the Yin and Yang, we should get to the mainland just fine, aru!" Jiraiya hummed, looking out at the sea,
"Balance huh?"
"Mr. Fruit-Merchant?" Kurenai asked, watching the bluenette from across the balcony, "If a demon or something comes here, you'll use your sword and slay it, right?" The Fruit-Merchant's eyes were looking to the ceiling, but he replied,
"Why?"
"Wh- Why?" Kurenai asked in disbelief, "You know why!" The Fruit-Merchant only sighed,
"Demons and spirits are things that should simply not exist. Yet, there are millions of them everywhere. We could try and kill as many as I could and still not even make a dent in their population."
"Isn't that what they say," Kurenai whispered, "About the gods?" The bluenette nodded,
"Similar, yes. But foul spirits are different."
In his mind's eye, The Fruit-Merchant was on the ceiling while Kurenai was still in her position on the floor. His dark eyes glared at a strange creature a few inches away. It seemed to be a large fish but its body ended in the disembodied leg of a man. The Fruit-Merchant narrowed his eyes as the creature seemed to be drowning due to a lack of water, it's large red eye looking around the room.
"Hey…" The Fruit-Merchant's thoughts were brought back to the floor as Suigetsu walked down the stairs, panting and sweating a bit, "That sword of exorcism…" He panted and licked his lips, "Would you mind drawing it so I could see it?"
Kurenai was a bit put off by the teen's manner but the Fruit-Merchant only shook his head, "I can't. For my sword to be drawn, I have to know the Form, Truth, and Regret of a foul spirit."
"Heh," Jiraiya huffed as he walked into the hall, "His power doesn't seem so impressive for someone so mysterious. I, on the other hand –"
That night…
The boat rocked and groaned as it was carried over the ocean waves. Inside the boat, the only sounds that could be heard were the boat's creaks and groans, and a soft voice reading from a book of western fairy-tales.
They were abruptly stopped.
In the navigation room, Yong Soo was in a deep sleep in the lounge-chair of the room. He was snoring so loud that he didn't hear the footsteps coming into the room. Nor did he notice something being placed by the compass, the needle beginning to sway, causing the boat to move.
As the footsteps depart, we can see a rod of iron leaning against the compass table.
In the sleeping quarters, Toris leaned against the door, softly sobbing as he put on a pair of shoes.
To realign the compass arrow to 'North', the boat moved and moved until it was finally straight again. The clouds in the sky above being the only witness to the boat shifting in course.
"Hm?" Kurenai hummed as she drowsily opened her eyes, having the sense that she wasn't alone in the sleeping quarters.
There was no one else there.
The Fruit-Merchant was sitting at the edge of the pond on deck, listening and smelling that strange, feminine-colored, sweet-smelling wind. But all at once, it disappeared. He also noticed that all of the fish in the pond were swimming towards the innermost corner for safety.
"The wind…" The bluenette muttered, "Why has it stopped?"
He was also there to witness the foul fog that began to roll in.
The Second Night
Kurenai awoke the next morning, finding herself all alone. She quickly got dressed and walked outside.
No one was there.
On the second floor there was silence as well.
Finally, she made it to the highest floor where the pond was and smiled, "So you're all up here!" Indeed, all of the ship's passengers were up on deck. But none of them looked like they were enjoying the fresh air. Kurenai noticed the strange fog all around, asking, "What's going on?" Yao gulped before nervously speaking,
"Well, you see…"
"Though it's morning," Jiraiya called out, pointing towards the sky, "The sun is nowhere to be found." Kurenai gulped as she looked up towards the foggy sky, asking,
"There's no sun… But it's still so hot."
"Your majesty," Toris whispered to Ivan, "We should get you out of the heat." Ivan ignored him, keeping his gaze out towards the sea.
"Shouldn't we be seeing the harbor by now?" Jiraiya asked, Kurenai huffing,
"Well I don't see anything at all."
All eyes were on the compass in the navigation room and the map of the ocean they were traveling. The Fruit-Merchant was busy inspecting the compass table as Jiraiya spoke with Yao. "This is our departure point, right?" He pointed at the map, Yao nodding,
"Yes."
"And this is our destination?"
"That's right." Jiraiya sighed, Kurenai asking all the men in the room,
"What are you all doing? Should we just be sitting around like this?" Jiraiya ignored her as he stated,
"I've heard tell that the area between the three points on this map is called the Demon's Triangle."
"The Demon's Triangle?" Yao, Yong Soo, and Kurenai screamed, The Fruit-Merchant smiling as he heard the name.
On another balcony of the ship, Ivan was busy marking a certain point inside of a book that seemed to have a very detailed map of the oceans while Toris read to him again.
"Yes," Jiraiya continued, "Anyone who wanders into this spectral area will be attacked by all sorts of foul spirits and demons and never be returned to their homes!"
"Impossible, aru!" Yao gasped in shock-laced horror. Jiraiya looked at the map once more before stating,
"This is… The Sea of Demons."
"Demons?" Kurenai gulped. Yao shook his head, running to the compass table, screaming,
"That can't be! Yong Soo, the compass is still pointing north, isn't it?" Yong Soo nodded, the compass's red needle still pointing towards North.
Suddenly, the needle shifted east; everyone screaming as it moved.
Up on deck, Suigetsu was carving a small block of wood; glancing up at the sky every once in a while.
The Fruit-Merchant was holding the iron rod that he had found by the compass table closer to the compass, moving it back and forth. "This iron rod is a magnet," He explained as he moved it, back and forth, "With this hidden near the compass, one could control the direction of the ship."
"Why on Earth would someone do this, aru?" Yao screamed, running back and forth in a panic to see if he could do anything to get them out of there. Kurenai carefully looked around before whispering,
"Then that means… The culprit is still on this ship."
The steady beating of drums could be heard from around them. Everyone was quiet, Jiraiya smirking, "I know what this is. Kokuu Taiko: a drumming demon. Alas, if it was the Ghost Ship, my poetry could have calmed it down and sent it back to its world."
In his mind's eye, The Fruit-Merchant was standing on the ceiling of the room, everyone still talking amongst themselves below. He found his attention on the spiraling spine bone of a serpentine fish wrapping itself around the staircases of the ship.
At the end of it, there was the head of a strange bird: it was white, with three red, wandering eyes on each side of its head. Every time it moved and opened its mouth, the sound of chains could be heard.
The bluenette's attention was ripped back to the navigation room when the compass started to spin out of control, the glass covering it shattering as the boat quaked; something crashing into it. Kurenai and Yao were screaming, Jiraiya yelling, "What is that?"
Yong Soo rushed over to a window, gulping when the clouds took on a yellow and red hue, hovering over the waves around them.
Suigetsu silently walked down to the navigation room just as Ivan and Toris had arrived, the young swordsman humming, "It seems we've been trapped."
"No!" Toris gasped, turning to Ivan, "Your majesty, surely this is just someone's idea of a joke, right?" Ivan chuckled, shaking his head,
"Calm yourself, Toris. The denizens of the underworld prey on those of weak mind and soul."
"I can't believe…" Jiraiya gulped, "I'm in the Demon's Triangle! Such a story could be weaved from this and –"
"Kurenai-san." The Fruit-Merchant's voice broke through the old man's ramblings, said woman looking over to see the bluenette unpacking his carrying case; a familiar item floating out of it.
"Oh! Scales-chan!" She smiled as the bird-like toy floated onto her finger. Jiraiya was obviously unnerved as he asked,
"Scales? What are you weighing?" Kurenai smiled, shaking her head,
"His scales determine distance not weight."
"Distance to what?" The old man asked. The Fruit-Merchant smiled,
"To something not of this Earth."
The scale tilted to the side.
Outside, the clouds above took the same hue as the clouds floating around the boat.
Slowly, gradually, a massive form began to descend from the skies. It looked to be a titanic sea-vessel of some sort, its hull covered in various sea-shells and barnacles.
"It's huge…" Kurenai gasped as they all had moved to the deck, Jiraiya completely flabbergasted,
"That's the Ghost Ship? No one told me it would be this big!" The Fruit-Merchant muttered to himself as everyone else panicked,
"Whether we kill it or decided to display it in Edo, this will require a bit of finesse." Jiraiya looked towards the bluenette and asked,
"Why don't you try your sword of exorcism?" By the pond, Suigetsu gasped and turned, smiling,
"I'd like to see that."
"He told you!" Kurenai shouted, "He needs the Form, Truth, and Regret first!"
"Well, I'd say the form is more than taken care of…" Jiraiya huffed.
The air went still.
The Ghost Ship stopped its descent, allowing its formidable presence to seep into the air.
Abruptly, the strange bird-skeleton creature that The Fruit-Merchant had seen earlier shot out from its hull, more of them surging towards the ship below. The group was screaming as the creatures wrapped around the boat, but The Fruit-Merchant was calm as he asked, "Ghost Ship?"
His sword growled in irritation.
Kurenai whispered, her eyes going wide, "The sword didn't accept the answer?" Jiraiya rushed to the center of the deck and shouted,
"Quick, everyone ready your ladles!"
"That won't do any good…" The Fruit-Merchant spoke, Jiraiya snapping,
"Why the hell not?"
"This slow, sluggish movement," The Fruit-Merchant explained, "Is uncharacteristic for a foul spirit, let alone a demon. Besides," He chuckled, "It has yet to demand a ladle."
"Then what do they want, aru?" Yao cried, hiding underneath a table. The Fruit-Merchant smirked,
"They're saying how they want us to join them."
"I don't want to become a demon!" Kurenai shrieked, Jiraiya calling out,
"Ship-owner!" Yao looked up, "Gather all your stove's ashes and bring them to me at once!"
"Okay…" Yao nodded, still a bit unsure, "Yong Soo, let's go!"
"I'll help!" Kurenai called as she followed them.
"Why ashes and not salt, aru?" Yao asked Jiraiya as Yong Soo helped line the widows of the ship with ash.
"The ocean is already filled with salt," Jiraiya stated as Kurenai sprinkled ashes over the doorways, "It won't help against the Ghost Ship."
"Will this be enough?" Kurenai asked, the area going silent. All seemed to be at peace.
More of the spiny birds shot through the stairways, Kurenai yelling, "No! It didn't do anything!"
"Ship-owner," The Fruit-Merchant asked, "What happened to the ropes that held the firewood together?" Yao had been running about in fear but he stopped to reply,
"They were burned with the wood, what else?"
"I see…" The bluenette nodded, "If anything besides wood is in those ashes…"
"They won't ward off the dead…" Jiraiya groaned.
"Fine then!" Suigetsu shouted, drawing the over-sized sword he had on his back, "If that won't work, I'll just slice them up!" With that, he sliced through one of the creatures, it disappearing with a poof and leaving nothing but seaweed on the blade.
"You cannot kill what isn't alive," The Fruit-Merchant spoke, "A sword used for killing won't work."
All at once, the creatures stopped.
Then Yao's ship started shaking as the Ghost Ship began to pull it up, obviously trying to bring those below into its grasp. "My poor boat, aru!"
"Why are we floating?" Kurenai shouted before turning towards the bluenette and crying, "Mr. Fruit-Merchant, please do something!"
"Well…" The Fruit-Merchant hummed as he opened his carrying case and taking a few things out, "I am still a Fruit-Merchant, aren't I?" He sat down and got to work, Jiraiya barking out, "How can you be so calm? What are you going to do, bribe them with food?"
The Fruit-Merchant quietly worked, mixing a few juices with a few dried fruits before grinding them all together into a fizzling paste.
"No, not necessarily…" The bluenette calmly replied, "Jiraiya, you're a novelist, right?"
"Yes…"
"Then could you recite a poem for the Ghost Ship? I still need time to finish this…"
"Okay…" The old man gulped before taking a scroll from his pocket and reading out loud, Toris deciding to help by reading one of Ivan's story-books. As The Fruit-Merchant worked, he gently explained,
"Demons and foul spirits come to this world through darkness..." He poured the sizzling mixture into a small, paper disk; Ivan smiling,
"These demons must be numerous, as to block out the sun…" The paper disk, after it was sealed up, popped up into a beautiful, round lantern; Yao screaming,
"Then is there no way to escape?"
"However," The Fruit-Merchant seemed to be only in a conversation with Ivan, "Light does not only come from the sky…" He nodded to himself before stating to all, "If you open your eyes, you'll be blinded."
He tossed the lantern out of the window, the ball-shaped ornament floating through the sky until it got to a certain point.
It burst into a starburst of white light, an inhuman shriek filling the air as the Ghost Ship relinquished its hold.
Kurenai whimpered as she covered her eyes. After a moment, she opened them, looking around and seeing that the sea had gotten…
Relatively back to normal.
"Thank the gods, aru!" Yao shouted, "The Ghost Ship is gone!"
"You're no ordinary Fruit-Merchant…" Jiraiya whispered, Kurenai laughing with a flip of her hair,
"I told you he's simply amazing!" The Fruit-Merchant's attention was focused on Ivan for a moment, the prince staring back at him.
The rattling of chains filled the air, Yao and Kurenai screaming, "Why did we have to come here?" Jiraiya stating,
"That's right! Someone altered the compass and made it so we would have to come to this wretched place!"
"The culprit is in this room…" Kurenai whispered, Jiraiya shaking his head,
"Nonsense—"
"You can't talk!" Kurenai shouted, "You just said that this would be a wonderful element for your next book!"
"And Yao," She turned towards the ship-owner, "Maybe you wanted to sell the Ghost Ship's corpse, like those fish of yours!"
"But I—"
"And Suigetsu-kun," She huffed at the young swordsman, "You wanted to see The Fruit-Merchant's sword so badly! You probably just want it for yourself!"
"Cast all the accusations you want, lady," The teal-haired teen rolled his eyes, "But I'm innocent."
"And Toris!" She accused the young brunette, "You were wandering about the boat last night, weren't you?" The servant shivered,
"Well… I was getting sea-sick, so I needed fresh air…"
"In fact," Kurenai concluded, "None of us are above suspicion aside from The Fruit-Merchant and Prince Ivan!" The room was quiet for a moment until chuckling could be heard. They all turned and saw that the source was the bluenette and the cream-haired noble.
"What apparition will appear next?" The Fruit-Merchant asked, a smile on his face. Ivan laughed,
"Who knows? In this place, all is possible."
"Oh," The Fruit-Merchant spoke, a side note, "I've used up all of the fruits in my stock which produce volatile concoctions. We can't use the same trick again." Kurenai could only shiver at the sight of the two men smiling at this horrifying predicament.
"Are you…" She whispered, "Enjoying yourselves? It can't be… You too, Mr. Fruit-Merchant?"
