Hey there everyone got another chapter for you all
Life is a bit bumpy right now so the next chapter will take me a bit to write I do hope you can wait for that long ;)
Big thank you goes out to Killroy122496 for his help with this chapter and the story in general
May the seas of blood lead to peace one day
Chapter 14: Old and New Friends?
On the high sea a fleet of thirteen warships meet up with each other the formation consisted of IJN Battleship Haruna, German Battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, Project Ship H44 Dönitz, Yamato class battleship IJN Yamamoto and IJN Hiroshima, U.S.S Montana, HMS Vanguard and Battleship Richelieu.
Right in the middle of the formation were another five ships but these were the aircraft carriers Shoukaku, Zuikaku, Shinano and the U.S.S Enterprise there was another ship in the formation however it was being towed by the Haruna and that was the ship all of the other captains of the various ships had gathered on.
"Now then Wolf we are all here why did you have us all come here?" Riya Nomura asked as she sat down with everyone else and removed her mask before placing it on the table before her everyone else doing the same with their various masks.
"Some of you already know about some of what I am about to tell you but you need to know it regardless" Genichiro Nomura took a deep breath before he continued "we were informed by our friend Saint that a Red crow had been captured by a group of pirates but by the time we arrived at the hideout our crow had left the nest leaving a real mess behind" Genichiro explained as a screen on the wall behind him turned on displaying various gruesome pictures.
"We learned that our Red crow had single handedly destroyed the entire slave camp and rescued anyone imprisoned there however we had to withdraw as the ghosts of the sea came to the Island as well but by that time I was already attacking the Red crow that used a ship we have never seen before to escape" Genichiro got various strange questioning looks for that but he continued without delay.
"During my attack on the ship I accidently wounded the person that was our target however as soon as I saw her I got the surprise of a lifetime" Genichiro did something on a keyboard on the table before him and the images on the screen changed showing him and three other girls all of them at the young age of six or seven years old.
"What do these girls have to do with everything?" Aria asked before anyone else could say a word "The girl with brown orange hair that is leaning against me is the very same person I have been looking for but aside from that she is also the Red Crow I do not know how far her training has come however I do know that she is highly skilled in combat and has excellent control over her ship as she was able to shoot down twenty of my airplanes before her ship was disabled" Genichiro answered before bringing up another picture.
This picture showed a young girl with ruby red hair that was lying in a bed both of her arms covered in bandages and from underneath the blanket you were able to see even more bandages wrapped around her body.
"If you know her what is the name of this mysterious girl then? Because it would seem that I might know her as well" Ava Nomura added her tone hard as steel causing a few heads to turn towards her before looking back to Genichiro.
"Everyone I do not know how she became a Red crow one of us but the name I know from my younger years is Akeno Misaki oldest daughter of the Misariutski Naval Corporation one of the most powerful and well known companies on the planet today" Genichiros explanation caused utter silence to fall over the room as what he just told them sunk in.
Ava Nomura was the first to recover as she picked up her mask and walked towards Genichiro "Where is she Genichiro?" Ava asked her voice just barely above a whisper so that only Genichiro was able to hear it.
"She is in my room resting as of now it seems she is the same person you knew during your childhood then?" Genichiro asked getting a nod of Ava´s head as answer.
"For now we all are heading home for the time being until our guest wakes up and can answer some" however Riya was interrupted by a rusty alarm that started blaring through the entire ship but before anyone could ask Genichiro what was going on he was already running down the hall of his ship with Ava hot on his heels together with Riya.
A few moments later they stood before the open door of a room and Genichiro was already inside but it wasn´t what was in the room that worried him no it was the fact that the bed of the room was empty when someone was supposed to be resting here.
"Riya give everyone a call, Akeno escaped please help me find her again" Genichiro spoke before walking very fast out of the room Ava following him only a moment later as Riya got to work on contacting everyone but just as she was done with that the world turned a dark gray with a black sky.
"What is it you want this time Muramasa?" Riya asked a Caucasian female Japanese with long silver pink hair, pointed ears, and golden-brown eyes walked out of a completely black Japanese mansion she was wearing a white and black robe toga dress, red and white roses going down from the top to the bottom of her hair, and snow white geta sandals.
"I am here to warn you do not trust the girl no matter what you do" the female demon called Muramasa replied before Riya was back onboard the battleship Haruna ´what was Muramasa talking about?´ Riya thought as she started to walk around the ship.
Akeno was not sure where she was or who had patched her up but for now none of that mattered as Asuramaru had warned her that someone with a power similar to her own was onboard this unknown ship so after she allowed her injuries to heal a bit longer she made a run for it.
But as soon as she was out of the door and had started running an alarm was triggered and a few moments later she could already hear the sound of running feet coming towards her so she started running in the other direction as fast as she could.
Akeno was able to avoid being seen by anyone at least until she was already on deck but the moment she walked outside she was stunned she was onboard a Japanese battleship that was towing her damaged Tsukuba but all around them were another twelve ships.
Akeno shook her head to get focused again before she started running towards the aft of the battleship but unknown to her someone saw her from the bridge of the battleship and said something into a radio.
Akeno almost made it to the aft of the ship before she threw herself to the side as a bullet crashed into the ground where she had been a second ago but before Akeno could get up and start running again she heard several more guns being loaded behind her and as she turned around she came face to face with seven other people that seemed barely older than her but were a bit shorter except for a few of them but none of their faces were visible as they were all covered by various masks of either demons or animals.
But all of them had some kind of rifle aimed at Akeno that is until someone walked up to them from behind and stopped for a moment as he saw Akeno but as his hands moved up to his wolf kabuki mask Akeno noticed how most of the people lowered their weapons as another one of the group removed their mask.
As soon as the silver grey dragon kabuki mask and red and white wolf kabuki mask had been removed Akeno remembered both underneath but for some reason her vision got very blurry as she felt really dizzy and she would have landed on the ground if not for the two who she had almost forgotten about to catch her.
"Hey there Emma and Sekiro been a while huh" Akeno smiled as she tried her hardest to stay awake but a moment later darkness took over her vision as she passed out again while her old friend Sekiro was holding her in his arms with Emma by their side.
Genichiro Nomura was known to be a usually quiet person that did not talk all that much especially when it came to his past but everyone who saw him holding this red haired girl in his arms with Ava right beside him knew he cared a lot about this girl but just how much was unclear to them.
After Genichiro brought Akeno back to his room and tucked her in he and Ava told everyone that they would be taking care of her until they arrived at their base and no one had an issue with that except for a certain girl with long snowy white hair in a loose French braid however she did not say a word about it.
Back on the Island with Shirayuri and Claire:
Claire had been surprised when Shirayuri had asked to train her but after a while it became clear to Claire just how lackluster Shirayuri had been trained sure she was fitter than most people but when it came to hand to hand combat and marksman ship she was even worse than Akeno and her two sisters when they started with her.
That meant that Claire mainly trained Shirayuri in those two areas before moving on to other kinds of training but none the less Shirayuri never complained even once and even if Claire gave her the day off she always found Shirayuri training in some kind of manner be that he tacking apart pistols or assault rifles.
Claire also noticed that Shirayuri was trying to learn anything that had something to do with the Akai Senchō, their ships and way of life Shirayuri had come a long way since she came to Claire to start training that was for sure but her obsession with anything that had something to do with the Akai senchō sometimes got on Claires nerves.
That's why Claire was really thankful that Mitsuko and Kishiko would be returning together with the five men of B-company in about two days as they had lost sight of the unknown ship and even with their GPS transmitter they were unable to find the ship again as they had to sail around a massive storm.
Right now Shirayuri was reading something in her room after she ate dinner with Claire and Claire was watching the early evening sky from the terrace while drinking a beer but as she was taking another sip from her beer she noticed that a ship was approaching the Island.
Claire decided to take a closer look at the ship with her binoculars only to see that it was a cruiser the exact same one that Akeno was in command of but this one wad different as it had no flag but a moment later Claire heard someone walk down the stairs and opened the front door.
As Claire turned around she saw how Shirayuri walked out of the door with a look in her eyes that seemed as if she was deeply lost in thought but just to be safe Claire followed Shirayuri and like that they both went down to the ship bunker where the cruiser had stopped at a pier and silently waited.
Shirayuri walked towards the cruiser without even looking around once and got onboard but as Claire tried to do the same she was unable to move once she was close to the ship but as soon as she tried to walk backwards she was able to move once more.
´Ok then just what is up with creepy ghost ships and young girls?´ Claire thought as she tried to see where Shirayuri had gone but she didn´t see anything so Claire decided to wait for now.
Shirayuri had gone onboard the cruiser and walked straight to the captain's quarters the room may be dusty but there was something in this room that Shirayuri wanted and after she rummaged around for a few minutes she found what she was looking for.
A simple black wooden chest and inside the chest Shirayuri found a black Katana with a red edge and hand guard together with a ruby red scabbard but as she tried to lift it out of the box her eyes closed and she passed out.
Claire had seen a lot of stuff during her life both in and out of the military but a cruiser that started to glow with black and red symbols all over its hull was defiantly something Claire had not ever seen before but that was what was happening right now as the cruiser Shirayuri had boarded wad glowing for several minutes before the light died down once more.
Onboard the cruiser Shirayuri was fighting against several black human shaped creatures but what was weird was the fact that the cruiser was moving on a crimson red sea with a purple sky but after several minutes of fighting later Shirayuri was the only person left onboard the cruiser.
Just as Shirayuri was able to catch her breath she noticed how the cruiser stopped at a concrete pier besides another cruiser but this one was a lot larger and only had three turrets but that was all about Shirayuri could see of the other ship but the person wearing a black red uniform that seemed to be waiting for Shirayuri on the pier was something familiar to Shirayuri in this strange place.
"Fukushui what is this?" Shirayuri asked confused as she walked down to the pier "this is part of what you have to learn and learn of who you really are" Fukushui answered before turning around and walking into the jungle that was still covered in white fog.
Shirayuri followed him until they walked through a village and up a staircase until they stood on the top of a mountain but they could barely see anything "This place was once full of life and something so very close to paradise but now there is no one left that remembers that time" Fukushui spoke as the wind blew around them.
"But there are four of you that can now learn from the mistakes that were committed in the past and avenge our clan if you so desire" Fukushui added before turning towards Shirayuri again but behind him three other girls appeared but they were still only silhouettes hidden by the fog.
"Shirayuri Tosa that is the name you currently have however you know you are adopted what if I told you that your real family has been closer to you than you might have thought" Fukushui spoke with a sad smile on his face.
The three figures stepped forward revealing Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko in very similar outfits mainly the long sleeved black and red captain's jacket that was hanging over their shoulders and otherwise their outfits were similar to a school uniform except that Akenos skirt was a dark red while her shirt was pitch black with a tactical vest in the same colors over it with ammo pouches with magazines for her two rifles as well as magazines for her pistols and on her back she had her Ak-74 and her Spas-12 shotgun right beside it while on her thighs just under the skirt she had her two M1911s in their holsters.
Mitsukos outfit consisted of a brown shirt, brown trousers and a tactical vest with magazine pouches in the same color with her CheyTac Intervention sniper rifle and her CZ-805 sub machine gun hanging over her back while her browning high power pistol was in its holster on her right side of her belt.
Kishikos outfit was mostly a very dark red with a lot of silver thrown into the mix but unlike her two sisters her captain´s jacket also had a large hood that was covering her head while underneath the jacket she wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and a simple gray skirt with silver knee socks but over her knees she had some knee pads in black over her back rested her Dragunov and her AKU-74 while at her side she had her modified M-9 berretta pistol in a holster on her belt.
But all three girls held simple Katana in their left hand with the only difference being that the handles of the blades were the same color as their hair "Shirayuri we will not force you to confront the truth but it would be the best for you and us" Akenos voice was gentle and felt so familiar to Shirayuri as she looked at the three girls before looking towards Fukushui again.
"You must have noticed it by now but the blade you found onboard that ship is the twin to this one" Fukushui spoke as Akeno had drawn her blade holding it in front of her and true to Fukushuis words the blade in Akenos hands was the exact same one Shirayuri had found onboard the cruiser.
Shirayuri drew her own blade but that was the moment Shirayuri started to feel dizzy but before she could fall Mitsuko caught her and kept her from falling "You will learn who your real family is in a bit for now rest" Akeno whispered after she returned her blade to its scabbard before it disappeared in a cloud of blade red smoke.
Shirayuri´s eyes closed and Mitsuko gently placed her down on the ground before turning towards Fukushui again "You are not ready to learn the truth of the past either however I do need to speak with your older sister for a while as she is in the presence of several other Akai Senchō that do not know of their full power" Fukushui explained and a moment later he was alone with Akeno on the mountain.
"You already know what it is you might need to do in case they prove themselves unworthy of their power correct?" Fukushui asked as Akeno looked at her hands and a moment later Asuramarus blade appeared "I know of the duty that comes with this blade however one of the people I am with seems to have a similar power to my own" Akeno replied as she looked into the distance.
"Once you know of their goals for the future you may make your decision, I will not interfere with it" Fukushui added before he disappeared leaving Akeno alone on the mountain that is until she as well descended the mountain until she disappeared in the fog.
The fleet of the Rogue Akai Senchō:
The thirteen warships continued their way through the ocean that was relatively peaceful for the most part as only a few white clouds were in the sky but even thought the weather was pretty good the mood of everyone onboard their ships was a bit tense.
Saint had called them a few hours after they had to search for Akeno but what Saint had told them was unsettling to say the least for some reason the Ghosts of the Sea were a lot more active in the last few days than they have ever been in recent years.
Saint also told them that she would contact them as soon as she learned anything new about why the Ghosts of the Sea had become so active again but what also worried Riya was the fact that someone named Takanaka Tosa had contacted them after they had attacked the slave camp only for him to deliver them the location of some supply depots that they had raided before the entire fleet meet up again with Wolf and his three ships.
Except that Wolf was towing a damaged battle cruiser behind his battleship and the Captain of the damaged ship was onboard the Haruna as well but so far the girl had shown no sign of waking up again since she had tried to run until they cornered her on the stern of the Haruna.
Riya didn´t know why but every time she saw the red haired girl called Akeno lying in that bed she felt as if she knew her from somewhere but in the next instant Muramasa´s warning stopped her from thinking about that any longer until she returned her attention to what she had been doing before.
Over the next two weeks Genichiro and Ava were the two that almost constantly stayed at Akenos side to make sure she was healing alright but after the first week Akenos wounds had almost completely healed except for three scars two of them on her forearms and the third starting just above her right eye before going over her nose and ending right underneath her right eye.
But even with those scars Genichiro couldn´t stop his hand from going through Akenos hair whenever he sat at the side of her bed with a small smile on his face but in the evening just as they were about to arrive at their hideout Akeno woke up again but Genichiro was busy on the bridge as the fleet started to move into port.
Of course by the time all ships had successfully stopped at their piers there was a group of people waiting for everyone but for now Genichiro had to explain what was up with the damaged ship and in that time Akeno got fed up with just lying around and started doing some simple exercises as she called them.
"So what you are telling me is that not only did you find someone that has the same powers as you but that same person is the one that Genichiro has been looking for ever since he joined up with us?" asked a Caucasian Japanese male with long black hair in a loose ponytail, full grown black beard, huge scar across his right eye which is milky white along with the whole right side of his face being burned, his left eye being a golden sulfuric yellow, and a tattoo of a red and black dragon on his left eye.
He wears a silver white dragon knight helmet with the visor in the middle being a bright midnight black diamond crest, a midnight black scarf around his neck, a dark brown trench coat while underneath is a white naval undershirt, black Kevlar vest, black Kevlar gloves on his hands, dark naval blue Kevlar trousers, and brown combat boots.
This man was known to all of them as Isoroku Nomura or Overlord or old man as some of the younger ones called him "So Genichiro finally found his crush isn´t that nice?" asked a Caucasian Russian male with short silver grey hair with the sides being fairly trimmed, a scar going across his left eye, and dark brown eyes.
He was wearing a dark forest green Spetsnaz combat helmet combined with a welding mask, a dark black ski mask over his face, and a dark black trench coat while underneath is a dark black combat shirt, dark grey combat vest, black Kevlar gloves on his hands, dark black Kevlar pants, and dark brown combat boots.
This man was known to them all as Kazimir Zhukov but most of them just called him Strife "even though I am happy for you kid, I really am but I still want to talk to her before we do anything else" Strife added looking directly at Genichiro.
"Fine she is still onboard my ship but she is injured so please try to tone it down a bit will you?"Genichiro asked as he turned around and started walking towards his ship with Strife and Ava following him.
Akeno had sweat running down her forehead as she balanced on her hands while standing upside down and like that she was doing pushups in the middle of the room without leaning against anything but a few minutes later Akeno heard someone walking towards the room but she just continued with her workout.
That is until the door to the room was literally kicked open by a man wearing a dark forest green Spetsnaz combat helmet combined with a welding mask, a dark black ski mask over his face, and a dark black trench coat while underneath is a dark black combat shirt, dark grey combat vest, black Kevlar gloves on his hands, dark black Kevlar pants, and dark brown combat boots.
Akeno immediately jumped to her feet and took a defensive stance keeping her eyes on the unknown man "Seems you woke up that makes my job a whole lot easier" the man mumbled before he tried to punch Akeno.
Akeno would have none of that as she rolled to the side before facing the man again who turned towards her a second later "nice reflexes there Kid" the man mumbled but Akeno had enough and called the outfit Oleg had made for her together with the two pistols to go with it causing the man to stare at her.
"Whoever you are you better explain before I put a nine millimeter slug through your brain" Akeno growled leveling both of her pistols at the unknown man who in response leveled an AN-94 assault rifle at her without hesitation.
"Dammit Strife I told you to go easy on her didn´t" Genichiro ranted but stopped as soon as he took in the scene before him with one of his mentors aiming his gun at his friend from his childhood who had in turn two pistols aimed at his mentor while wearing the same dress Genichiro had found her in onboard her ship.
Genichiro needed a few minutes to understand what was going on but even in that time neither Akeno nor the man called Strife lowered their weapon that is until Genichiro literally face palmed with a sigh "please put the guns down alright Akeno?" Genichiro asked but Akeno made no move to do so that is until Genichiro walked over to the man called Strife.
"Fine you win Kid but I will still want some answers from her mainly from where she got those guns and how the heck her clothes changed from one second to the other" Strife mumbled slowly lowering his assault rifle and in response Akeno did the same with her two pistols until they both holstered their weapons.
"Akeno if you could please explain" Genichiro started but that was the moment Akeno fell down on the bed with a sigh "will do that but then you will have to do the same Sekiro" Akeno replied while looking towards Genichiro and Strife.