Got nothing to say here so just enjoy chapter 2 for now ;)
May the stars guide our way on these seas
Chapter 2: The Lost Clan
Akeno and her two sisters woke up once more finding themselves in the same room Shirayuri had shown them when they arrived on this ship but now they knew where they wanted to go seeing as they learned where they could learn about what Fukushui had shown them.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko ate the food someone left for the on the table that stood by the bookshelf and once they were done with that they started exploring the ship it was a lot bigger than the small torpedo boat Redford and his squad had used and after a while they found who they were looking for walking down one of the hallways.
"Hey Mister Tosa we want to talk with you" Kishiko yelled down the hallway getting the attention of not only Takanaka but also his adjutant that was following him.
Takanaka only nodded while the girl that actually was Shirayuri behind him seemed to fume in rage but Takanaka went with the group of four girls into a room around the corner of the hallway and after he closed the door he sat down on an empty chair Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko doing the same right after.
"What is it you three?" Takanaka asked his chin resting on his folded hands as he looked at them with a raised eyebrow "we have somewhere we want to go can you take us there?" Akeno asked getting right to the point but leaving out a lot of details.
Takanaka whispered something to Shirayuri who turned on a monitor mounted on the wall before displaying a map of the world "where is it you wish to go?" Takanaka asked as Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko looked at the map but the thing only they could see was the form of a blood red anchor that was right between America and the Island chain of Japan.
Akeno pointed out the location for Takanaka but his adjutant seemed to be the only one confused by this "very well then I already arranged for B-company to head to the location of your training camp that is located here" Takanaka pointed at an Island that was right in the middle of the infamous golden triangle "this is the best place to hide the kind of training you three need in order to survive in the future" Takanaka simply added before getting up from his seat.
After that little meeting Shirayuri showed them the way back to their room after a small detour to the ships cafeteria even as the modern stealth frigate started to change its heading to head towards the location Akeno and her sisters had given to Takanaka.
After three and a half days B-company returned via helicopter and one the morning of the next day they arrived at the location Akeno and her sisters had wanted to go to what had always been a mystery about this place was the fact that it was always shrouded in a thick field of fog at this point Akeno and her sisters had joined Takanaka and B-company on the bridge of the modern stealth frigate.
"Now what we arrived where you wanted us to go Captain but there is nothing here" one of the crewmembers reported but for some reason they all suddenly felt some sort of power emitting of off the three girls that had lost their parents during a pirate attack.
Akeno was the first they looked at but gone was the innocent wounded child in her place stood a girl with one thing on her mind the same thing as her two younger sisters and that was all they could see.
"There is something here however it has been hidden" Kishiko mumbled as Akenos eyes changed colors from her natural light blue to a deep crimson blood red Kishikos and Mitsukos eyes changed as well from the natural colors to a similar crimson red the difference being that Akenos hair also changed from her light usual brown to a light ruby red that almost looked as if her hair had become a transparent red curtain.
Without another word from the three they started to move as one and before anyone could stop them they were out of the door and were running down the hallways and down several stairs until they arrived at the small bay of the ship where several smaller crafts were hanging from chains or rested on launch units.
Akeno pointed at two black silver water skippers that were ready to launch and without anyone noticing them Kishiko and Mitsuko boarded the first skipper while Akeno sneaked over to a control panel and after pushing a few keys and pulling down a lever the bay doors opened but that caused several lamps to start blinking along with a blaring alarm.
That was also the moment Akeno had to start running as several crewmen tried to get her but thanks to her small body she easily made it back to her two sisters boarding the other skipper and with the howling sound of the skippers engine the three sisters left the stealth frigates bay several crewmen yelling at them to come back but they didn´t listen as they continued to almost fly over the water of the ocean that felt so familiar to them.
Takanaka was informed about what the three sisters had done and a few minutes later he B-company and two other men had boarded the torpedo boat and started to follow the three runaways but what confused them was that the three sisters had stopped the skippers right at the edge of the fog that seemed to stretch everywhere over the ocean as far as they could see.
But before they could call out to them the three sisters started to move into the fog but still not fast enough for the torpedo boat to lose sight of them so they followed them into the fog.
But once inside the fog it seemed as if the fog was forming a sort of road that the three sisters followed so the torpedo boat did the same by following them even thought the passage seemed to disappear behind them.
Then it happened they only heard a surprised scream accompanied by the grinding of metal on metal as they had to watch as Akeno seemed to fly through the air and land in the water as her skipper seemed to have hit something so they slowed down but once they saw what the skipper had hit they started to feel very uneasy as there partly submerged in the ocean and the sand of a beach were the remains of a warship of what seemed to be German design.
Akeno went to the beach her clothes completely drenched as her sisters made landfall as well with their skipper while the one Akeno used was slowly moving towards the shore as well without a word between the three of them they started to walk into the forest even as Takanaka and B-company yelled at them to wait for them without success.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko continued to walk into the dense forest with Takanaka and B-Company following them until all three girls just stopped looking around before collapsing to the ground worried Takanaka and the five men of B-Company started running but just as they reached the girls they realized why the girls reacted like this.
They were on a small but what they could see in the valley was not encouraging no matter where you looked you could see the remains of burned down buildings even thought the plants had started to camouflage them but that was not the reason they all were shocked.
No the reason for that was the path between the destroyed buildings was littered with what seemed to be human bones but even they had been covered by plant life making it hard to see them clearly.
"What the hell is this place its giving me the creeps" Haggard mumbled as everyone looked around but that was the moment Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko started to get up and started walking down another path that did not lead to the bone filled village and with no other choice Takanaka and B-company followed them.
A few minutes later Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko stopped before an old rusty iron door that was built into what looked like the entrance to an underground bunker but in the next moment Nomad, Marlow and Takanaka had to catch Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko as they started falling but after a quick check they realized the girls were merely asleep.
"We make camp here for the night keep an eye out for any wildlife or other nasty things that might be out there. Nomad you take care of the three girls" Redford simply said as he looked at his watch.
Takanaka, Sweetwater and Haggard left their bag packs on the ground near the bunker door and went back to the torpedo boat only to return with a few boxes of food and other stuff only to find seven green camouflage tents that stood in a circle around a small fire pit that Nomad was busy with digging.
A few hours later the sky turned completely black and by then the six men were sitting around a burning fire while the three girls were asleep in one of the tents "hey Takanaka you got any idea what´s up with this Island or that graveyard we saw back there?" Sweetwater asked.
Takanaka sighed at that looking into the sky for a moment "all I know is that there is not supposed to be any kind of Island here but the fact is that this area is similar to the Bermuda triangle except that no ships or planes disappear here but instead there are supposedly ghost fleets that drive away anyone not wanted" Takanaka explained.
"Well that sounds like the kind of tale some old pirate would usually tell his crew over a bottle of rum" Marlowe added and after the six men glanced at each other they burst out laughing "true enough but why could the three of them find this place then?" Nomad asked after they calmed down enough.
Takanaka sighed at that once more "I already have told you about the legend of the Akai senchō I believe that the three of them are descendants of this clan and will be able to reveal what has actually happened to both the clan and the country that the clan swore alliance to" he explained.
It was getting rather late but one of them stood guard outside keeping the fire alive and every four hours they would switch with someone else until the sun started to rise on the horizon again turning the sky a cloudy white once more.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko woke up by the time Haggard and Sweetwater returned to the camp from scouting the surrounding area and like that they all ate breakfast "ok you three we are on this island and whatever you are looking for is in there do I see that correct?" Takanaka asked.
"We know what it is we are looking for however we do not know how long we have to search for it" Akeno answered for her sisters as Nomad seemed to rummage through his bag pack "alright then we will be helping you find whatever you are looking for" Redford added throwing the remains of a cigarette into the fire.
Nomad handed Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko a holster with a black combat knife in it and after the three strapped them to their belts beside the three wooden scabbards the group of nine entered the bunker through the old iron door.
Behind the door they found a concrete hallway with several destroyed doors but wherever they lit up with their flashlights they saw several scratches all over the walls as well as old rusty bullet casing lying everywhere you looked.
They looked into each room they could access as a few had collapsed due to something but after they went through a pair of double doors they found themselves in a massive cafeteria with a massive destroyed glass front instead of a wall at one side of the room.
Nomad always made sure Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko were with him but as they looked out of the destroyed glass front they could only see what looked like massive railway tracks on the ground with chains hanging from the ceiling from some sort of crane that was under the ceiling but the size of the hall was similar to a massive cathedral.
What confused them was the fact that the massive tunnel was very long and that several other tunnels were connected to the first one with massive machines standing in each tunnel along with of what looked like partly assembled ship artillery turrets and other parts in other tunnels that looked like superstructure of ships.
After they went down a concrete staircase they were standing beside the massive railway tracks but further down the tracks they could see a ship hull that was resting on several flat bed trailers.
"Well you three got any idea where you need to go?" Nomad asked only to find that the three girls were already walking down one of the side tunnels until the light of their flashlight disappeared around a corner.
"Well we better follow them if we don´t want to get lost in here" Marlowe mumbled as they walked up to the corner but the tunnel they now stood in was completely empty except for several massive machines that were covered in rust and dust.
"Where did they go?" Haggard asked confused but no one could answer him that as they were all a bit lost until they decided to start looking around for the girls.
Akeno, Kishiko and Mitsuko had walked down a staircase that was leading down but right as they took the last step the floor of the tunnel started to move sealing the entrance but for some reason it felt so familiar to them as if they had been here before.
With no way to get back to the others the three decided to go on but at some point the hallway they were in was lit up by something that was glowing inside the walls and ceiling casting a strange blue light everywhere.
Akeno turned off the flashlight as they could clearly see the way ahead of them by now but without any of them noticing it they went three separate ways as the hallway split off however all three of them did notice once they all stood before a simple stone pedestal with a sun carved into the top of it that stood in the middle of an otherwise empty room.
But once they looked at the badly damaged flags that were hanging on the walls they knew what it was they had to do all three of them took hold of the knife Nomad had given to them placing the blade with the sharp edge on two of their fingers.
With a shallow cut several drops of crimson red blood dropped into the rising sun and a moment later the entire symbol lit up with crimson light together with several more red lines that lead to the wall ahead of them where the same red rising sun appeared.
A moment later the sun split into two revealing a hidden compartment and on two blood red Wooden stands was a pitch black Katana with a red hand guard and a red string that was criss crossing over the handle of the blade.
The blade was a beauty to see and all three sisters had the same reaction they slowly approached the blade before grabbing it with their right hand after returning the combat knife to its holster at their sides.
They held the blades into the air to look at them from all sides but for some reason their eyes got very heavy and they had to sit down as the entire room started spinning before they all were lying on the ground unconscious with the three blades in their hands glowing a soft red but in Akenos case the blade was glowing in a sinister green.
Mitsuko was the first to find herself floating above an underground port but for some reason she felt drawn towards one of the three cruisers that were simply sitting in the dry docks at the other side of the port.
Mitsuko landed on the concrete pier of the harbor before walking towards one of the three cruisers that had three turrets with three guns per turret at the front and two at the rear with the same gun set up with two quad torpedo launchers at either side of the ship with a very familiar Japanese super structure with a lot of different types of anti aircraft guns.
Mitsuko got into the air once more to get onboard the cruiser but as soon as she landed the ship started to glow in an purple black light and before Mitsuko was able to do anything she found both of her legs and arms wrapped in chains that moved her upwards until she was kneeling on top of the cruiser bridge and only now did Mitsuko notice that the other two ships were glowing in the same dark purple light.
On the ship to her right that looked exactly the same as the one Mitsuko was on she could clearly see her sister Kishiko her arms and legs wrapped in chains and on her left she could see her older sister Akeno onboard a cruiser that had only two guns per turret but with the same amount of turrets and very similar hull and super structure design to the other two ships.
Before any of the three knew what was going on they felt as the chains forced them to stand up once more with their arms at their sides and that was the moment all three sisters found themselves standing in the ruby red sea but this time no matter where they looked they could only see destroyed wrecks of ships but what had them worried were the human shaped shadows that were moving around the shipwrecks turning the water a dark purple wherever they set foot.
"What is this place it just feels so wrong" Kishiko whispered in order to not alert any of the shadows as the three of them moved behind one of the smaller shipwrecks "no idea but its true this place is giving me the chills as well" Mitsuko whispered but for some reason Akeno had an idea what they had to do.
Akeno tapped both Mitsuko and Kishiko on the shoulder before pointing down and once they looked down they were surprised it looked as if they were flying above the Island they also could see the frigate that brought them here.
Akeno had already seen what she wanted of course Mitsuko and Kishiko were confused why she suddenly grabbed them and pulled them by their arms causing them to fall "Onee what are you" Kishiko started to ask but the words died in her throat as Akeno had drawn her blade to block the attack of one of the shadows that had tried to attack them from behind.
"I have a pretty good idea what we have to do here" Akeno growled as she pushed the arm of the shadow away before stabbing it right through the chest and a few seconds later the shadow was nothing more than black mist that was dissolving on the ground until it disappeared together with the purple liquid underneath it.
Mitsuko and Kishiko slowly got up drawing their own blades as they had been surrounded by shadows at this point but Akeno was not seeing any of that as she was standing in the middle of a completely white field but right ahead of her was a cloud of gray white smoke.
"Hm it would seem someone has once more taken hold of this blade. Tell me girl what is it you wish to accomplish with this power?" a female voice asked from the cloud of smoke.
Instead of answering Akeno raised her blade but instead of one blade she now had two in her hands the one she had found in the secret room with its black blade and red edge but the other was a mix between a black blade and a green edge that went to about the middle of the blade.
This confused her greatly but before she could do anything she looked up only to come face to face with the cloud of shadows that seemed to be glaring at her with two white eyes "you seem lost child but for what reason I wonder" the cloud mumbled but as Akeno tried to back away she felt her body being pierced by several spear like shadows.
Akeno gasped in pain as the spears felt as if they were burning her alive "so much hate and rage but yet you try to hide it all but for who?" the cloud asked once more but Akeno only glared at it "for now you can use my power but remember there will always be a price to pay in the future" the voice said again as the spears dissipated allowing Akeno to drop to her knees just before everything went dark Akeno was able to see the figure of a young girl that was clad in a purple robe.
A moment later Akeno found herself back with her sisters on the red sea "lets deal with them before anything else alright" Akeno asked and Mitsuko and Kishiko agreed with her and like that all three of them started to fight against the shadows that attacked as well.
It was the strangest thing for Akeno all of the shadows seemed to be moving so slow that she was always able to redirect their attacks away from her before they could do anything else Akeno stabbed them or sliced off their heads and arms.
Mitsuko and Kishiko had a bit more trouble with fighting the shadows but they somehow managed to do it regardless and about five minutes later the three sisters were the only thing besides the shipwrecks that was on the red sea.
Mitsuko and Kishiko were breathing hard but Akeno barely felt tired for some reason after they had been able to defeat the last of the shadows but then they felt something approach from the right and there on the open sea were the silhouettes of three ships to be more precise the exact same three cruisers they found in the dry docks except that they were now glowing with red symbols on the entire length of the hull and were flying a flag of the blood red rising sun from the main mast.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko approached the three cruisers and before they knew it they were back in the underground port with the chains around their arms and legs shattering but for some reason they felt something else on their heads and for some reason the scabbards Takanaka had given to them had changed color and length to match the blades they found in the secret room.
But before they could say anything else they heard the annoyed voices of Redford and his squad as well as Takanaka so they decided to head down to the pier of the dry dock and started to move towards the group of six men that was obviously searching for them.
"I swear how did they just disappear on us like that?" Sweetwater asked for the hundreds time only getting a groan from the other five "Sweetwater that's the reason we are looking for them and from now on just shut up Sweetwater" Redford added getting a few laughs from the rest of his squad but for some reason Nomad stopped them from walking any further.
"This place looks like a harbor if you ask me" Nomad mumbled as he moved his flashlight around to illuminate a few of the cranes that stood around on the piers as well as the smaller railways that were in the ground with a few small railway cars standing around but that was the moment Nomad saw something light up for just a moment before six orbs of light started to move towards them.
Two were a deep crimson red while the other two orbs of light were of different colors one pair had the top half being a deep oceanic blue and the bottom half being a fiery red it has a certain glow due to low lighting the port and the orb of light had the top half being a bright white and the bottom half being pink that was covered by a strand of hair.
The last pair of orbs was a light ruby red that almost seemed to be made out of glass and all six of those glowing orbs were moving towards the group of six men but as soon as they were able to see what those glowing orbs were they were stunned.
Before them stood the three girls they had been searching for each one of them wearing almost the same outfit with the exception being the colors of their clothes but the most notable thing were the three appendages each girl now had.
Including the two fox ears they had on their heads all three girls had a fox tail in the same colors of their hair showing from the gap between their shirt and the rather short skirts on their backs near their waist.
"Hey there you guys sorry about disappearing for a bit" Akeno gave them a sheepish smile while scratching the back of her neck but after none of them responded she looked at them confused "something wrong?" Akeno asked curious until Nomad took a step towards her and started ruffling her hair but for some reason it felt strange almost if there was something that was not supposed to be there.
"Yep they are real but I have no clue how they got them" Nomad said after a moment of ruffling Akenos hair and only now did Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko look at each other only to notice the fox ears and the tails that had appeared on them without them noticing anything.