Chapter 2
Rolling Tides (and Barrels)
There is no issue in leading the mute seabard down the docks and onto the ship. He neither struggles nor does he protest- not that he verbally can- and instead he seems content in carrying his instruments beside him and eying her up and down.
Ochako can't tell if he's sizing her up, or admiring her, and the silence is driving her mad. Her hand rests comfortably on her pistol's grip, ready to pull it should there be any issue with Tsuyu's hand likewise on her sword. They are both prepared for a fight of some type- but it is one that never comes.
They face no opposition as they make their way down the dock, to a sleek schooner that Ochako had outfitted to be nearly as deadly as a fully fitted barque or brig. Cannons above and below deck- the sides of the ship bristling with twenty four cannons each side- made her deadly- and the grate in the middle of her hull that dropped into her belly made her capable of hauling just as many goods as some of the larger briggs she'd considered. And yet she was still sleek- low to the water and painted dark to blend into the waves- the vessel was a wicked creature that Ochako commanded easily with the help of her two seabards.
And hopefully that same deadly ship that has carried her across the sea from port to port will be strong enough to carry them through the Nest.
Ochako finds herself chewing her lip as Izuku mounts the gangplank and walks aboard.
There's a roar from the crew as she follows, her sailors and friends recognizing their captain and first mate. A jaunty tune erupts when her boots hit the deck- and she combs the faces of her crew to find Denki in the back already playing his guitar.
She smiles at him over the crowd, and he flashes her a wink.
"I take it recruitment went well?"
She turns, finding Jirou resting against the guardrail next to her. The musician eyes up Izuku, the silver likeness of music notes jingling in her ear as she tilts her head. "He's a touch small to have a voice that can calm storms."
Izuku shoots her a look, a cocky smirk on his lips as he clicks one of the guitar clips open.
Jirou returns the look, crossing her arms. "That a challenge, seaweed brain?"
He sweeps the floor invitingly, and the crew readily clears the deck.
A sea bard duel is something no one wants to get in the way of.
Ochako clicks her tongue disapprovingly, looking to Tsu for her opinion.
"You wanted to test him." Tsuyu murmurs. "A duel with Jirou is as good as making him rig the ship himself."
She's right, and Ochako grits her teeth and combs a hand through her hair. Damn it. This better not end up with her deck in a wreck. She hated a filthy ship.
Last time her and Denki got in a spat it ended up with the mizzenmast wrapped in its own sails and the rigging on the other two masts tangled together. It was hell-on-the-highwater trying to fix it and Ochako made damn sure that both of them headed the clean up of it.
"Captain?" Jirou asks.
The crew has already set out two barrels in the middle of the deck, and Jirou's violin is propped up and ready for her on the top of one of them. Izuku clicks open the next clasp on his guitar.
"If you wreck my ship, you and the new one are cleaning it up." Ochako resigns to it, already feeling a headache brewing in the back of her mind.
Tsu leans over, her voice a bare whisper in her ear, "are we telling them he's mute?"
She shakes her head, "let them figure it out on their own."
If he's cocky enough to challenge Jirou to a match knowing full well that he can't sing to match her own vocals- then he should be prepared for the consequences of it as well.
There is only a moment of hesitation as Izuku clicks open the last of the three latches that hold his guitar case shut. He pulls the instrument free, setting the smaller case by the ground next to the barrel.
He glances at Jirou, then flicks his hand over to Denki and cocks an eyebrow.
"Just me." Jirou understands, though she glances at Ochako and frowns before gesturing at Izuku. "Cat got your tongue?"
Izuku flashes his teeth and winks back.
Then he sticks out his tongue, pointing at her.
Her specifically being Ochako.
She does.
Tsu looks at her, "Did he just flirt with you?"
"We're misinterpreting." Ochako dismisses as Jirou mounts the other barrel, picking up her violin and pressing it into the nape of her neck.
Izuku snaps his fingers, pointing at Tsuyu. It takes her a minute to understand, but she steps forward, hands on her dual sword hilts and looks at both musicians.
"Are you ready?" She asks both of them.
In response Izuku picks a dozen strings, a half-melody filling the air between them. Jirou matches in tone, her eyes still narrowed in suspicion at the green-haired bard as she draws her bow across the strings.
"If the musicians are ready…" Tsuyu trails off, looking back to Ochako for confirmation.
She already knows how this will end. Perhaps not who will win the music battle, but she knows that it will end with her rigging tangled, the knots unraveled and her rudder turned the wrong way. But she huffs and flicks her hand at her first mate anyways.
Even should the two seabards exhaust themselves in a battle, Denki will be able to salvage the ship and manage the ship- should they need- in the day and a half it will take them to reach the entrance to the Nest.
"Then with our Captain's approval…" Tsuyu's smile is devious and it only adds to the headache Ochako is experiencing. "Start!" She bellows, and before her voice is whipped away by the coastal winds the air is filled with the ring of guitar chords and the humming of Jirou's violin.
Both have a quick tune- the slow sorrow Izuku played in the bar swapped for a swift jaunt- and Jirou is matching the notes with quick jerks of her bow. The guitar is louder, but the violin is faster- and the difference in speed is made clear when Izuku's barrel rocks slightly and Jirou's remains firm.
A sea bard's fight can be a handful of things, but the least destructive of them is the barrel- with both bards trying to knock the other off their respective barrel.
The ship creaks, and Ochako hums as the tide shifts the sea.
Izuku's barrel slaps back down onto the deck, and the two bards continue to battle.
The guitar sings louder, and with the rise in volume Ochako can feel the magic in the song.
It feels different than Jirou's tune- which is subtle and swift. Izuku's is instead heavy and shifting, like the rolling tide of the sea.
Jirou laughs suddenly, her barrel shaking lightly as Izuku shifts his tune, a quick plucking of three strings that make the wooden container rumble and leap slightly.
"So you have some fight in you after all!"
Izuku flashes her a smile.
You have no idea.
Ochako doesn't have to read lips or hear the words to tell what his expression is saying. Still- his attack isn't… clear…
A barrel fight is always back and forth- both bards tying melodies and tunes together to try and rock the opposing bard off his barrel- one way or another. It's a game of defense- weaving stability or counterbalancing the barrel- at the same time of offense- tipping and shifting the opponents barrel and using their defense against them.
Jirou was a master of the latter- and Denki hadn't won a barrel match against her since Ochako hired the pair.
Yet Izuku's barrel- while it rocked, refused to tip. And at the same time, Jirou's own barrel remained firmly on the deck.
"Tides coming in." Tsuyu says suddenly, slumping against the guardrail next to Ochako and peering down into the water below. "Might have to move out ahead of schedule."
"Mmm." Ochako hums back in a noncommittal agreement.
What was this bard's plan?
Jirou lets her voice sing now, no doubt tired of playing by this man's strange rules and limits.
"Well here we are, we're back again safe upon the shore.
In Belfast town we'd like to stay and go to sea no more."
Jirou's first verse matches the speed of her violin, but the pitch is off as the bard pushes herself, and Ochako can tell. She's struggling to match the musical intensity of Izuku's guitar and has instead slowed the tune to overpower him in vocals.
Izuku's heel clicks against his barrel, and his seat rumbles and shakes.
Vocals made all the difference in a storm- capable of detailing intent and direct action- even with a random verse such as this one, as opposed to a general feel and want that chords and music must settle for. It was the difference between brute forcing a ship to re-rig itself, and being able to specify which line went slack and which snapped tight.
Which is why it made her all the more interested in the mute little seabard when his lips stayed shut, and his barrel continued it's gentle rocking- unperturbed by Jirou's added lyrics.
She kept singing regardless, matching the notes of her violin with the tune and pitch of her voice.
"We'll go into a public house and drink till we're content.
For the laddies they will love us till our money is all spent."
Her barrel jerked slightly, but if that bothered her it didn't show, and instead the intensity of her words made the whole deck rumble and shake.
"Tide schedules don't shift." Tsuyu states the obvious beside Ochako.
"Nope." Ochako doesn't take her eyes off Izuku's fingers.
The emerald green eyes have slid from Jirou's violin to stare directly at her. There's an intensity in them as his fingers plunk and press the strings, and he clicks his tongue twice and winks at her.
Watch this.
The ship bucks.
It's the only word Ochako has for it when a wave-far too big to have swept into the harbor-tosses everything not nailed to the floor into the air. Ochako's grip on the railing is the only thing that saves her from stumbling, and she grabs onto it and whips her head back over the railing to check the seas.
The water is calm around them- dark and inky in the evening gloom, and there is no scent of rain or storm in the air. She whips her head back to Izuku, who is laughing silently on his barrel- his guitar tipped to the floor as Jirou lies on the deck across from him- rubbing her head and swearing.
"Interesting." Tsuyu grumbles, pulling herself to her feet next to Ochako. She slumps against the railing, then looks to Ochako. "He jumped the ship."
Jumping the ship would imply that they were moving.
It was a technique she'd seen before in practice- but never in a battle- much less something as trivial as a barrel challenge. It was suppressing the waves around the ship, keeping the energy of the tide at bay and then riling it up all at once to push a wave into the hull and send everything and everyone in it to their knees with the unexpected tip and lurch of the floor. The term 'jumping' came from the break at the top of the wave where the keel cleared the water line and tasted air- before splashing back down into the water.
And he'd done it all while fending off Jirou's attacks on his own seat. Albeit- it wasn't a 'jump' but it was the same technique without the ships movement to fuel it.
"Hell." Ochako murmurs, pushing off the railing and marching across the deck.
Her crew is getting to their feet, grumbling about the rogue wave that sent them crashing to their rears. Jirou is among them, but Ochako doesn't have time for them to settle the duel properly. Instead she grabs Izuku off the barrel and drags him across the deck.
She kicks open the door to the navigation room-which doubles as her personal quarters most days- and shoves him inside. Tsuyu shuts the door after them, no doubt moving back to calm the rest of the crew and get them back to their chores.
"You jumped the ship!" She snarls, curling a hand into his shirt. "Do you know the damage that can do to a keel? If we'd been moving you could have snapped the whole damn thing in half!"
"What's this about?" A tentative voice asks from behind them.
"Sea bard is being a dumbass." Ochako growls, "I'll explain in a moment.
"As you say Ochako-san." And with that Ochako's navigator flits around them- her black hair tied up in a ponytail. "I'll give Tsu our course and heading. Let me know when you want to set sail."
"Can do." Ochako replies, and the black-haired woman leaves. Once the door slams shut once more Ochako drags the madman across the floor and shoves him back against the map table. "You. Will. Not! Wreck. My Ship." She hisses.
She fought tooth and nail to get it. And she would not have some arrogant idiot break it trying to show off.
He flashes her a disarming smile, and instead of withdrawing he pushes closer. She's pinned him against the table, but he looks comfortable there.
He mouths a set of words at her, and she blinks and frowns, pulling away and stepping back.
He repeats the words, silently rolling off his lips. 'Knew what I was-" she misses the last word but assumes it's 'doing'. And in response she growls.
"Did you shield it or something?"
He nods and rolls his eyes- as if not shielding or cushioning the 'jump' was a novice mistake instead of another complexity to add to an already ridiculous trick.
He instead gestures to the floor of the ship and lifts his hands. When he brings them back down to 'level' he sweeps his hands together, bringing them gently back down with a rocking motion.
She frowns- suddenly wishing she brought Tsu in-given her talent for recognizing and deciphering the man's gestures. "A… a cushion?" she guesses.
He nods, repeating the rocking motion.
"You…" She frowns, and he mimics the jerky 'jump' again, "jumped the ship… then rocked…?" He nods helpfully. "Back down to take the weight off the keel?"
He gives her a thumbs up and Ochako glares at him.
He taps his heart and then gestures at her.
Your reason. She guesses.
Instead of answering the silent question, she grabs her coin purse and throws it at him.
He ducks it and the thud of her coin purse hitting the floor behind him and bursting open makes her huff. She knows that he's not going to be someone she can buy.
Somehow this was a man of principles- despite his occupations, his condition, and his dress.
Which was a damn anomaly- and preposterous.
He does the same set of actions she saw him do in the alley. Swatting at his own coin purse dismissively before tapping his head and gesturing at her.
The reason matters more than the coin. Tsuyu had translated, and she's starting to think that he really means that.
Ochako crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back against the closest wall. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Izuku pinches his fingers together, passing them over his lips. My lips are sealed.
She chooses not to comment on that choice of expression.
"My reason for going through the Nest is medicine." She explains, hoping that the bare minimum is enough.
He waves his hand in a continue gesture and she huffs.
Of course, he wouldn't let her off that easily.
"It's for my parents."
He repeats the gesture and Ochako groans, rolling her eyes at him as she pushes off the wall.
The navigation room is the largest room by choice. It doubles as her quarters, the war room, and in some cases all three at the same time. The farthest corner of the room is curtained off to hide her bed and the chest containing her equipment, but the center of the room is dominated by a heavy oak table she 'liberated' from another ship's captain's quarters. Across is a map, staked down into the table with an assortment of knives, nails, and weighed down with whatever dozens of books Yaomomo pulled for referencing their chosen course. Ochako strolls to it now, looking over it carefully before stopping in the middle.
The map is an overview of the discovered world- and it cost her more than one voyage's payment to get- but she called it worth it. Her navigator was the best in the world and having a good accurate map for her to go off of was the best choice she could have made.
She gestures to the map, where the major continents are set on the outer edges- it is a sea map after all- and the sea splits the world down the middle. A gray rocky outline marked the Nest, the quickest route to the opposite shore.
Too bad going through the pass was asking for a watery grave.
"I need to travel through the Nest in order to get to Europa." Ochako explains, tapping the continent on the other side of the sea. "Grow a special kinda herb there. Makes a medicine that can cure the Wailing Death."
Izuku cocks an eyebrow, dropping his finger on their current location- Caracuttie- and tracking a route that swings under the Nest, meeting her finger on the other side.
"That route takes three weeks there, and three weeks back- assuming the wind is on our side both ways." Ochako replies, and she bites her lip as she weighs her next statement. "My parents don't have that long. They're already coughing up blood, and the doctor doesn't think they'll last to the end of the week."
Izuku zips a line back from Europa through the Nest and back to their port.
Ochako reaches up, nudging his finger up a few ports until it rests on Mustafu. "They live there. Going through the Nest will get us to Europa in four days instead of three weeks and doing the same coming back will save that same amount of time.
Izuku holds up four fingers, then adds four more to it, giving her eight. He taps the edge of the Nest, and then Mustafu's position on the map and adds a ninth finger to his count.
"I know how long it will take." Ochako assures him. "I can do the math. And I've checked the winds in the Nest too." She moves back to the gray patch- dividing the sea in two and separating the East from the West. "If we take a northern route then the current and winds will be with us going, and then with a southern route, it will be with us coming back."
Izuku continues to hold up nine fingers.
"Eight and a half."
He thrusts the nine fingers at her with a frown.
She huffs in response, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Then I guess you'll be playing for speed as well as luck with the winds."
He cocks an eyebrow at her- amused by the idea. He gestures at himself, then grabs his own neck, before extending the hand towards her. It takes a moment to understand the gesture.
He's acting like he's on a leash. A collar around his neck. Teasingly, he jingles the imaginary leash at her, a crooked smile on his freckled face.
Ochako huffs, pushing away from the table and combing her fingers through her hair again to try and soothe her frazzled nerves.
"Look, are you going to help or not?" She demands, pacing back from the curtained space to the map room.
She slaps her hands down on the table, fixing him with a glare. He returns it with a cool expression, and despite his lack of words she's already irked at him.
No verbal baiting necessary for this one to rile her up it seems…
He gestures back towards the door in a sweep of his hand.
"My crew?" She guesses- and he nods his approval. "My crew is loyal to me and me alone. I have pulled them from shipwrecks, off the streets, from dungeons and executions, and they will follow me to the grave because that's where they would have been without me."
Izuku cocks an eyebrow at that but doesn't choose to comment- or rather gesture- his thoughts.
"And any that do, the Sirens can have." Ochako adds.
It's a cold comment and she knows it- but she has had to become someone that can say it and mean it. The seas are not kind, and what happens on them is not all rum and cheer. There is death and murder and blood mixed in the waves, and no ship can sail without partaking in those certainties.
Then Izuku smiles, a wicked crooked grin as he holds his hand out to her. She frowns at it, and Izuku takes a step forward, offering the appendage out to her.
"You're agreeing to sail with me?" She clarifies.
He nods.
She stares at his fingers, then up to his eyes, weighing the look in his eyes.
"Can you get us through the Nest?"
He winks instead of giving her an affirmative, but she already has her suspicions. He has two instruments. A guitar- something loud and well versed for different circumstances, and the smaller case.
Denki played different instruments sometimes- a string instrument was good for most cases, but in stormy weather he would switch to a brass. There were reasons that musicians swapped instruments.
Which meant there was a reason this man carried two of them around in slick leather cases.
She takes his hand, squeezing it roughly.
She can feel the calluses on his fingertips, even as the ones on her palms dig into the soft skin of his palm.
Instead of letting go she pulls him close and lowers her voice. "If you get me and my crew killed, rest assured my ghost will drag you to a watery grave, and I will drown you over and over again for each of the precious lives you cost me."
He clicks his tongue in response, and she pulls away, smoothing over the wrinkles on her shirt and pulling up the sleeves on her shirt. He watches her, eyes combing over her- and on another man she might have been offended- but this one has too many mysteries for her to know the intentions behind this gaze.
So instead she dismisses it, "Get out on the deck then! You're part of my crew and I expect you to act like it! Go see Denki and Jirou- help them coordinate the rigging and get this ship going! We're pulling out at dawn- supplies are coming in the morning. I want this ship ready to leave port as soon as the last barrel is loaded."
He flickers her a mock salute, his expression bright but unreadable as he dances out the door.
And she huffs, slumping against the map table.
"Something about that man…" She mutters.
It riles her up. Gets something in her unsettled and going. Not in the same ways that other men did, it was like something in that man reminded her of the sea. Something in the way he played- skillful and elegant- but never classically. He jumped the ship and defended his barrel instead of attacking Jirou's in the battle.
He was anything but a typical sea bard- and that didn't even include his… lack of… voice.
The door opens to the deck and Tsuyu walks in, humming some tune she probably picked up on the way over. "Izuku's handling the rigging, just got started on the mizzenmast and already has half it rerigged with fresh rope."
"That good?" Ochako cocks an eyebrow. Denki was fast when it came to rerigging the ropes and knotting up the masts, but the bard just walked out…
"He's something. Just picked up Denki's guitar and started playing. I guess he doesn't have his tuned to the ship just yet. Not a word or a gesture, just got started." Tsuyu confirms, coming around the table to join Ochako in looking over the map.
"They'll be okay." Her first mate assures a gentle hand on Ochako's shoulder. "We'll make it."
Ochako nods, swallowing the emotion that's clogging her throat. She nods again, straightening up and huffing. "I know. I know." She checks her belt, her hands running over the grips and hilt of her weapons. "It's just…" And she quirks her lip and Tsuyu hums in acknowledgement.
That is one of the benefits of heading a ship with your best friend. They always know what you are thinking. Always sympathize with your worries and wants.
"Your parents are strong. Izuku will get us there and back. And your parents will get the medicine they need."
Or they could die before dawn.
The ship could crash on the rocks of the harbor. Or Izuku might not be as good as he should be and they'll end up as another shipwreck in the Nest. Or maybe he will be as good as they need, but a double-run through the Nest could be beyond him.
There were dozens of things that could go wrong- winds, weather, Sirens, songs, anything. But Ochako had to shoulder those burdens and steady herself.
"Thank you." She says, "I'm just…"
"worrying." Tsuyu offers the word, and Ochako nods. "Don't." Tsuyu continues, "your crew is at your back, and we'll get there. Whether it's by song and luck, or steel and sweat." She pats her back, then heads back to the door. "Don't stay in here too long, the crew would do well to see their captain before we set sail. Gotta steel their nerves and yours too 'Chako."
Ochako offers a smile, and the door shuts, leaving her with her thoughts for a moment.
But she doesn't want to be alone with them any longer than necessary.
She storms out onto the deck, forcing her shoulder to square and her back to straighten as her crew looks to her.
"Did I tell you dolts to stop?" She cries, a smile on her lips despite the harsh words. "If we're going to be one of the only ships to ever sail through the Nest, I think we should do it in style! So put some sweat into it and let's get this ship ready for Hell and high water!"