You know what I own and don't own by this point. Is this story too weird? Seriously, just let me know, cuz I'm not even positive myself...
Chapter 7: A Close Call
"We're all clear, Captain!" one of the crew members called from the crow's nest above. Bowser and Maddie glanced up, then looked at each other.
"Well, my friend," Maddie said. "Are we ready to raise this creaking pile of wood?"
"My pleasure, Captain," Bowser answered with a grin. He turned to the crew. "All hands to stations!"
Jaqulin reached the deck right as the activity started up and the crew started running around doing their jobs. She noticed the boy from earlier pulling on some ropes along with another member of the crew. Jaqulin frowned, returning her attention to the bustling crew.
"Careful now!" Bowser yelled.
Some crew members raced up the rope ladders to the sails, laughing and pushing each other playfully.
"Loose all solar sails! Come on!"
Jaqulin felt herself suddenly rising into the air, attempting to keep her green sleeveless shirt and sleeveless black vest down. Her blonde hair flew upwards in long golden strands. Up above her, Jack was rising as well along with the captain, who only patiently waited.
"Mr. Wulf! Engage artificial gravity!" Bowser demanded.
The black wolf from earlier—apparently called Wulf—growled in response, whipped around and pulled on a nearby lever. A purple wave of electricity raced through the ship.
Jaqulin landed perfectly on her feet, crouching slightly and regaining her balance with her hand planted on the deck. Jack plummeted from the sky and landed on his head clumsily.
Maddie gave him a strange look before shouting, "South by southwest, Dr. Eggman, heading two-one-zero-zero!"
"Aye, Captain!" a long-legged, egg-shaped man responded. He started turning the wheel of the ship. "Two-one-zero-zero!"
"Full speed, Bowser, if you please," Maddie said to her scaly companion.
Bowser grabbed a nearby pipe that lead below deck, where a green-haired boy in a pirate outfit named Youngblood waited. "Take her away!" Bowser commanded.
Youngblood laughed manically as he pulled the boost lever down. A revving sound could be heard from within the ship.
"Brace yourself, Fenton," Maddie warned coolly as Jack rose to his feet. Jack gave her a blank stare.
"What does that…?" Jack started to ask.
Just then, the ship lurched forward. Jack was catapulted backwards while Maddie calmly stood in place. The big man crashed into the wall behind him, denting parts of his suit.
Jaqulin climbed out onto the shrouds of the ship and held herself with one hand on the outside. There was sweet, low songs as orca whales and dolphins swam through space beside R.L.S. Mickey.
"Whoa," Jaqulin breathed. A dolphin flipped over to her and looked her in the eye before following its friends. Jaqulin smiled.
"Wow!" Jack cried, taking out his camera. "Whales and dolphins! This will look good in my scrapbook!" A whale's blow hole was right below him. "Smile!"
"Uh, Fenton, I'd stand clear…" Maddie tried to say. But right then, the whale shot water from its hole, soaking Jack along with assortments of seashells and seaweed. Jack snapped the picture. Maddie chuckled slightly, but she stopped when she sensed a presence.
"Yep, a great day for sailin', right, Captain?" asked Inuyasha as he stretched his arms high above his head. Shippo was present on his shoulder, grinning childishly. Inuyasha looked at Maddie. "Did ya do somethin' to your hair? It looks better than it used to…"
Maddie rolled her eyes. She knew that wasn't a compliment, especially coming from a dog demon. "You can keep that kind of demon talk for yourself, Inuyasha," she responded curtly.
Shippo morphed into a replica of Maddie behind Inuyasha. "Keep your demon talk to yourself, Inuyasha," he mimicked in a mocking way.
Inuyasha reached behind him and yanked on Shippo's tail, making the fox demon poof back into his normal child self.
"Eh, you're judgin' too quick, Cap'n," Inuyasha said as he shrugged. "I only tell ya how it is."
"How it is," Shippo scoffed. This time, Inuyasha brought his fist back and whacked Shippo in the head. Shippo whimpered and rubbed his head while glaring at Inuyasha.
"Oh, by the way, Inuyasha," Maddie remarked. "Isn't that your cabin girl aimlessly playing around in those shrouds?"
Inuyasha glanced over and saw Jaqulin climbing around on the rope ladders on the side of the ship. He turned back to Maddie.
"Yep, it…oh," Inuyasha stammered. He grinned nervously at the captain. "Uh, yeah…just, uh, momentary thing." Inuyasha returned his attention to the blonde girl. "Hey, Jaq!"
Jaqulin swung herself around to the other side of the shroud and looked at Inuyasha.
"I got two new friends I'd like ya to meet."
Jaqulin leaned forward anxiously; if Shippo was a cool friend, Inuyasha's other friends had to be worth seeing.
Inuyasha smirked. "Say hello to Mr. Mop…"—Inuyasha threw a mop at Jaqulin, who caught it—"…and Mrs. Bucket." The demon chucked an empty wooden bucket to Jaqulin. The girl leaned exasperatedly against the ropes as Inuyasha laughed, walking away.
"Yippie," Jaqulin moaned.
Later, the teenaged girl was mopping the deck of the massive ship. She was rather angry at Inuyasha.
"Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop," she sneered, glaring at the slow back and forth motions of her mop.
At that moment, someone shoved Jaqulin aside to the ledge. It was a large brown creature in a purple cape that had what looked like horns on its head. It whirled around, baring its fangs.
"Watch it, girl," the creature said in a deep, growling tone. He stalked away on clawed feet.
Jaqulin sighed, running her fingers through her thick hair and starting her job up again. It was then that she noticed a small group of crew members standing opposite of her. The group consisted of Youngblood, the member from the crow's nest, and another member Jaqulin hadn't seen yet.
The trio was whispering amongst themselves. Jaqulin immediately became suspicious and she absent-mindedly continued to move the mop, trying to eavesdrop. But one of the three crew members saw her and broke up the meeting. Jaqulin narrowed her eyes.
"What are you lookin' at, weirdo?" Youngblood teased. A skeletal bird flew out of nowhere and landed on the little boy's shoulder.
"Yeah! Weirdo!" the bird squawked.
Jaqulin raised an eyebrow at the odd pair. She heard thumping up above and she craned her neck to look. A broad-shouldered, gray-skinned man with fierce yellow eyes was rapelling down the mass toward her. When he landed in front her, Jaqulin got a better look.
He wore ragged gray and black clothes with black boots. He was bald on the top of his head with black hair hanging in the back and he was a little taller than Jaqulin. But Jaqulin instantly noticed the sharp nails on his fingers and the fangs in his mouth—if she didn't know any better, she would have figured the man to be Inuyasha's half brother or something of the sort.
"Cabin girls should learn to mind their own business," the man snarled.
Jaqulin grinned, adjusting the mop. "Why?" she asked. "Got something to hide, Baldy?"
The man grimaced angrily and he snatched Jaqulin up by her shirt, bringing her to his level and right to his face so their noses were inches apart. "Maybe your ears don't work so well."
Jaqulin grunted, turning her face away from the stranger's. "Yeah," she coughed. "Too bad my nose works just fine."
"Why, you pestering little…" The man grabbed Jaqulin's throat, lifting her up and pushing her against the mass. Crew members appeared out of nowhere and started cheering the man on.
"Go ahead!" screamed a red-head girl named Vicky. "Slice her! Dice her!"
"Hey! Shan Yu, leave her alone!" the teenaged boy called, pushing through the other members to reach the man, called Shan Yu.
But Shan Yu wasn't keen on listening to what anyone had to say. He withdrew a jagged-bladed sword and brought it dangerously close to Jaqulin's face.
"Any last words…cabin girl?" Shan Yu hissed. Jaqulin's eyes widened as Shan Yu brought his sword back. Yet just before Shan Yu could strike, something snagged his arm and stopped him from ending the girl's life. Shan Yu whipped around and discovered Inuyasha grasping his arm casually. In the other hand, the demon held a yellow star fruit.
"Shan Yu…" Inuyasha began. Shan Yu shook his head in irritation. "You ever see what happens to a fresh star fruit…when you squeeze real HARD?!" Inuyasha dug his claws into Shan Yu's arm and the man cried out in pain. He dropped Jaqulin, who hit the deck and rubbed her neck, trying to get her breath back.
The crew members started shouting angrily at Inuyasha even though it was pointless. The boy from earlier went to Jaqulin's side and helped her to her feet.
"You alright?" he asked kindly.
"I'm fine," Jaqulin replied crossly.
"I'm Jim. And you must be the new cabin girl, right?"
Jaqulin gave him a look. "That's me." She pulled away from him to stand beside Inuyasha.
"What's all this?!"
Everyone glanced up and saw Bowser stomping down the stairs. Some crew members stepped aside and allowed the large Koopa to walk right up to Shan Yu.
"You know the rules," Bowser announced. "There will be no brawling on this ship. Only I'm allowed to do that. So any further offenders…"—he glared at Shan Yu—"will be sent to the brig for the remainder of this trip." Bowser got in Shan Yu's face. "Am I clear, Shan Yu?"
Shan Yu was about to say something, but he side-glanced at Inuyasha. The demon's fiery eyes shined at him venomously, warning him. Shan Yu sighed heavily, then faced Bowser.
"Transparently," he growled.
Bowser turned and left, the crowd dispersing. Shan Yu narrowed his eyes at the giant turtle behind his back before storming away.
"Good one, Bowser!" Inuyasha yelled after Bowser. "Maybe next time you should fire someone!"
"Ha, ha, Inuyasha!" Bowser replied sarcastically, not even turning around.
Jim grinned quickly at Jaqulin. "See you around, huh?" he said. Without waiting for an answer, Jim was gone.
Inuyasha rubbed his eyes irritably, then glared down at Jaqulin. "Jaq, I gave you a job," he said.
"Hey, I was doing it until that big guy--" Jaqulin started to argue.
"Forget all that, kid! Now I want this hunk of wood cleaned and cleaned good. If it's not done by the time I get back…" Inuyasha looked around. "SHIPPO!"
"I'm right here, I-Inuyasha!" Shippo's voice whimpered. Inuyasha and Jaqulin looked up and found the fox demon clinging with a death grip on the mass.
"Well, get down here," Inuyasha responded impatiently. Shippo leaped down and landed perfectly on the demon's shoulder. "Keep an eye on this kid. Let me know if there's any more distractions."
"Got it, Inuyasha!" Shippo exclaimed, saluting and jumping from Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha shot Jaqulin a quick look before striding away.
Jaqulin picked up the mop and leaned on it hopelessly.
"Hey, you're supposed to be working!" Shippo cried, clambering up Jaqulin's arm and jumping up onto her head. Jaqulin rolled her eyes with a deep exhale and began her mopping once again.
Was this really all worth it? Should I have ever left home?
