The Gate to Kisho
Tohru's Diary
Day 8: Still with the events of yesterday bugging us, Shooting Star sailed straight for our amazing destination. It appeared so fine before us! The Gate of Kisho!!
Chapter 17
Last Step!
All five crew members had gathered at the bow and gazed at the remarkable landmark. The mountain range isolating Lightblue Sea and Kisho Sea suddenly dipped into a curving and bumpy feature with a massive hole at its base. "That's clearly the tunnel!" Tohru exclaimed while she pointed at the entrance. "We sail through there, and we'll go right beneath the mountains and pop out at the other side in the Kisho Sea!"
Fuyu seemed very impressed and commented, "I never knew something like this could be geographically possible. Mountain ranges do this through all of West Range Blue, right?"
"Which is how it got the name West Range Blue itself," said Zato. "Alright, let's go, full speed towards the Gate to Kisho!"
Mike took command of the ship, and the crew pushed its way towards their primary destination.
\/\/-\/\/
"The Makino Cruise is reaching the peak of our adventure!..." the announcer on the cruise ship exclaimed into the speaker.
There was nothing to follow him. "We are currently approaching the legendary landmark known as the Gate of Kisho! Whether it exists or not… we're not really sure!" His voice dropped and seemed to be whispering to someone else. Unfortunately, the speaker was still on.
"Shouldn't Olvia be playing the Climax Trance? Where is she?? She's supposed to be leading my grand speech!"
Inside the tech room, three crew members huddled in worry. "She's not here! I just went down and checked!"
"Olvia disappearing? The captain will crush us!"
"She couldn't have just disappeared!"
"Master Makino prized her as his best musician!"
"She's one of the main reasons why people board this ship!!"
People on vacation, sitting in the lounge, restaurant, or even by the swimming pool, all heard this.
Disaster followed.
\/\/-\/\/
A small raft bumped into the stern of Shooting Star, and it toppled over. The figure resting upon it let out a squirm and managed to catch hold of a protruding plank. "Oh no!" she wailed to herself. "If I fall into the water then I'll die!"
"Stowaway, is it?" a voice from above muttered. The young lady squealed at the sight of Fuyu and Tohru staring down at her.
"No! No no no no!!"
Tohru grinned and had her pulled up immediately. "I recognize your face. You're that musician on my father's ship."
Olvia's eyes bulged upon remembering Tohru's face. "Y… you! You're exactly who I've been looking for!"
Giving another smile, Tohru responded, "I know I'm all that…"
"No! Where's that captain!! Zuto!"
Short catfight. Resolution. Fuyu sighed and pointed at the bow of the ship.
The crew members gathered once more, all facing the great tunnel before them. "You arrived just in time, musician," Zato whispered, still looking north.
"My name's Olvia," she sighed.
"My name's Zato," he responded sarcastically. "And you've come to join our crew, of course."
"Of course!" Olvia said excitedly. "So who's in charge of the money here? Ya'll are rich, so let's go shopping a lot at the next island."
"We're out of money," said Evian.
"And we could use the money to… wait WHAT?!"
Zato continued looking forward. "Yeah, we lost everything at the last island."
Olvia crumbled to her feet and sobbed. "I thought you were rich!! That was my only motivation!"
"Miss Musician, what do you play?" Zato asked.
Before she could object, Fuyu laid out his weapons on the deck and inspected them carefully, as if his action was done for a specific purpose. "Nice threat," she muttered.
"Hm?" Fuyu replied.
Olvia raised her arm and produced a small puffy cloud in front of her body. "Here is my ability," she said in a dull voice. "Happy? Now I'll just get my instrument."
The cloud materialized into the shape of a violin, and Olvia flicked a bow out of her pocket. She pulled the protruding end and extended it to full length. And with that, the notes came out beautifully.
Playing the peaceful song to lighten up the crew's attitude, they headed into the realm of light ahead. The ship disappeared into the tunnel.
The Star Crew, filled with optimism, sailed through the first of their obstacles. "It's been about a week and a half total since my journey started," said Zato. "We've reached the first destination! Here, our adventure truly begins!"
--
This concludes Part 1 of the Star Crew series.
Stay tuned for the next story! New nakama, new islands, a whole new organization, but most importantly – new adventure!
Enjoy, don't forget to review!