Muffins rule the world. Anyways, my second chapter is up and running—
somehow I managed to find a way around FanFiction's annoying upload error problem.
Wow, it's up earlier than I expected... Again, review if you feel like it!
Kiba comes in this chapter! Akamaru and his fluffiness, too! I tried not to make them OOC...
*gets pelted with tomatoes*
Yeah... well, enjoy.
Chapter Two – Muffins
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"Ack!" The sound of Ebo choking on yet another fish.
"Bleh!" The sound of Riyu using up yet another cheap paper bag.
Riyu jumped on the bed and lay flat, staring (and trying to avoid staring) at the extremely dirty ceiling. There were stains. Riyu did not want to know how they got there. "I can't take this anymore," she said hoarsely. One week into their month long trip and she already felt like crap.
"Me, too," agreed Ebo. "I don't need to breathe, but all of this feesh getting stuck in my throat is really screwing with my system. Watch this." The metal cat trotted around the room, lifting his tail high as he did so. It jerked in a very unsightly manner. "See? The feesh messed up my movement mechanism. Look at what it's doing to my tail! It's disastrous, horrific! Isn't it!?"
"Yeah, very scary," Riyu said absentmindedly.
"You can't even begin to understand the scale of this atrocity!"
"Yeah, absolutely dreadful."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Huh, what?"
Looks like a vegetable. Feels like a vegetable. Smells like a vegetable. But is it a vegetable!?
"Doesn't taste like it…" Riyu chewed a few more times. She couldn't quite say what it did taste like, but it certainly wasn't a vegetable. "Ebo?" she inquired after swallowing. "What does it taste like?"
"My internal taste sensor is telling me that it tastes like…" He paused. "Like… nothing."
"My thoughts exactly." Riyu observed her food, regretting her decision when she immediately lost her appetite.
"Wow, it's delicious!" Ebo exclaimed excitedly, ingesting a veggie and washing it down with a huge gulp of water.
"Delicious? A few seconds ago, you said it was terrible and flavorless," Riyu pointed out.
"Well, my taste sensor was telling me that it had no taste. But I just told my taste sensor to tell me that it tasted good," Ebo mewed smugly.
"Oh," said Riyu dejectedly, not fully understanding robotics and wishing she had a taste sensor she could talk to. Slightly depressed, she inattentively stabbed at a vegetable with her fork. A few moments later, she noticed that her fork was now embedded in the wooden dining table instead of her original target. Her plate was on the other side of the room. "Okay, that's not normal, is it?" she said.
The boat lurched again, and Riyu's plate met the floor with a crash. "I hope they don't make me pay for that," Riyu said, eyeing the cracked pieces. "Come on, Ebo, we're going back to the room. If anyone asks, just say the cat did it."
"Okay… Wait, but I'm the cat!"
"Exactly."
"That's evil, Riyu. Really evil. You know just how evil that is? It's—dammit!" Just then his throat was blocked by a large clump of broccoli. "B-broc… li… p-plug… my tu—!" he gagged.
"That's too bad, Ebo. Hurry up."
"Yeah, yeah…" Ebo finished up his food morosely and followed Riyu downstairs. Riyu was just about to open the door to Room Eleven when, suddenly, a large white fluffy thing appeared. Riyu was very surprised for a moment. It's not everyday that you get attacked by a large white fluffy thing; the experience is traumatic for some people.
Without preamble, the large white fluffy thing proceeded to tackle Riyu. Riyu attempted to fight back, but her arms were pinned. She waited for the death blow. It did not come.
"Akamaru?" asked a now slobber covered Riyu. The large white fluffy thing replied with a happy bark.
"Riyu? Wow, is that you? Akamaru, move for a sec." A brown-haired boy with red fang-like marks on his face grabbed the overly affectionate dog, allowing Riyu to stand up and breathe. Kiba was almost as tall as Riyu, even though he was only sixteen. Akamaru—Akamaru was gigantic.
"Yeah, it's me," Riyu groaned, searching for a towel to wipe her face with. "I didn't know you guys were on the boat, too. Could've saved me from some unnecessary slobber, you know." She disappeared for a second. Returning with a towel from her room, she quickly rubbed her face.
"Well, we eat in our room, and we go out for walks at the weirdest times." Kiba grinned. "I think the boat's messing up the schedule Akamaru used to have." He looked at Akamaru, who was looking at Ebo, who was looking terrified. Ebo backed away slowly.
"Good dog, nice dog… don't kill me…"
Akamaru barked in response.
"No, I'm not a toy, you idiot!" retorted Ebo.
Akamaru barked again.
"And yes, I'm allowed to call you an idiot. I have authority! Authority, I say!"
More barks.
"No you're not! If you were smart you'd be talking instead of barking!"
"Hey, Kiba, so you're relocating, too?" asked Riyu. She decided to ignore Ebo's nice little chat with Akamaru. It was best to avoid violence, after all.
"Yeah. First I have to stop at Nabarumi to deliver a package from Hokage-sama to the Nabarumi daimyo. Apparently, it's for keeping our good relations." Kiba smirked at Akamaru, who was now growling very angrily at Ebo.
"Where's Hana?" Riyu smiled, picturing her short-tempered, loud, and completely random friend. That girl could really punch a person.
"She went on the last ship. There was only one spot, and I wanted to go first, but, you know, she wanted to go first, and…" Kiba winced. Riyu understood him perfectly. You do notwant to make Hana angry.
The boat lurched spontaneously, and Riyu bashed her head on a wall. Kiba was lucky, and fell on Akamaru. Ebo was not lucky, and Akamaru fell on top of him. If you thought about it, Akamaru wasn't very lucky either, having fallen on top of a very vicious mechanical cat.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"
"I win… again," Kiba said, beaming.
Riyu wore an unmotivated, miserable look. This was their 396th match. Kiba, 394 points. Riyu, 2. "Let's stop at four hundred, okay? I think we've already established the fact that I suck at this game. We can switch to hangman or something. I think we only played that two hundred and fifty times."
Riyu and Kiba had exhausted their portable, wireless game systems' batteries, and had yet to find a usable outlet for recharging. There were working outlets somewhere on the ship, Riyu knew, but to use their energy she'd have to sneak off to the kitchen at night, and the kitchen wasn't a fun place—too many knives and too many murderous cooks who used them.
As usual, nothing much was on TV besides people selling freakishly expensive merchandise on QVC. More freakishly, people were buying, despite the price.
And those scientists were talking about their damn telephones again.
"We're stoppin' at Nabarumi today," announced the captain. "We'll be stayin' for a day. Everyone has to be back 'fore six. And we will leave without you if you aren't."
The Big Feesh docked at the small but busy Nabarumi Islands, shortly after a tasteless breakfast.
The Nabarumi Islands were very famous, but not because of their beaches. The beaches there were horrible, strangely colored, and infested with fifty-two species of man-eating sharks. Instead, tourists came to Nabarumi to survey their impressing selection of top quality muffins.
"Hey, Kiba, can I come with you on your mission?"
"Sure, we can stop at the muffin shops on the way back."
Riyu's mouth watered. Flavor. Real flavor. "I've always wanted to buy a Nabarumi muffin. And they say the ones here are a lot better than the imported ones."
"What's so good about them?"
"They're just better."
"Why?"
"Just because." No one ever had to explain why Nabarumi muffins were so delectable. It was just a fact that everyone acknowledged. They were yummy. They just were.
"Whatever. You know, they also sell cupca—"
"No!" roared Riyu. "It must be a muffin! Who would buy cupcakes at Nabarumi? It's preposterous!"
Kiba cringed at Riyu's outburst. "Okay, okay. I was just suggesting something. Calm down."
They exited the ship from the starboard side. Kiba was being especially careful not to say anything else about muffins in front of Riyu. Sometimes, her temper could match that of Hana's. It wasn't pretty.
The first thing they noticed was the smell. It wasn't a particularly good smell, and it was wafting up from the water. Riyu looked down, and wished she hadn't. She averted her eyes, turning them towards the sky. Clouds. Happy, fluffy clouds. Just clouds. The water had looked even worse than the food on the ship. Kiba and Akamaru were suffocating. With skill, and much more eye-averting, Riyu dragged the two away from the water, inland.
The main island of Nabarumi had three small mountains; the capital city was nestled in between. Riyu and Kiba entered through a massive gate located between the two southern peaks. Walking through the streets, they were surprised to find that many of the city's houses were similar to those in Konoha.
Kiba seemed to know where he was going, so Riyu just tagged along, obediently.
"Oh crap, we're lost," said Kiba suddenly.
"I thought you knew where you were going!"
"Um, actually, no, I didn't. I just went towards the prettiest-looking building… but apparently, it's the tourist center." He pointed at the orange structure in front of them.
"Well, great job, Kiba!" Riyu sat down on a bench and pondered their situation for a moment. Closing her eyes, she focused. After a few seconds, she decided to quit focusing, and pointed in a random direction. "Okay, we're going that way."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
Coincidentally, they ended up right in front of the daimyo's mansion.
"That was convenient," Kiba remarked. He rang a snazzy doorbell.
"Do not doubt the powers of randomness," said Riyu wisely.
"You mean being spontaneous?"
"No."
"Aren't they, like, the same?"
"No, young Kiba. You must understand that there is a fine line between spontaneous and randomness. Of course, randomness completely pwns spontaneousness."
"You mean spontaneity?"
"No! Spontaneousness, Kiba. Spontaneousness! You have to realize that—"
Just then, the daimyo's snazzy door opened. A snazzy servant in a snazzy outfit ushered them inside. "Welcome," he said, in a snazzy manner. "You are delivering the package, right?"
"Yeah," Kiba replied, reaching into his bag and fishing out a thick, crumpled envelope.
"I see," said the man. "Entou-sama will be with you shortly. Until then, please enjoy our complimentary muffins." He waved his hands at an ornate table in the corner. There was an expensive silver tray laden with chocolate chip muffins.
"It's almost too beautiful to eat," Riyu whispered as the servant left the room.
"Yeah, too beautiful to eat," echoed Kiba dubiously.
Despite the muffins' well-appreciated beauty, they were devoured within a minute, with Riyu wolfing down more than half.
The snazzy servant returned and led them down a labyrinth of lavishly decorated corridors. They paused in front of two large, golden doors, probably worth more than Riyu's house. The (still unnamed) servant knocked gently on the door, and they waited for a response.
"Enter!" commanded a loud, imperious, and muffled voice.
Riyu and Kiba walked in hesitantly.
"Hurry up! Hurry up! I need that message! It's a matter of life and death! If I don't get that package I will declare war on innocent countries! I will ban the tourists from eating our muffins!"
Kiba quickened his pace and stopped halfway in the room, his face plastered with a smile. Riyu looked closely at the daimyo. The man had a bushy mustache, and a large, round nose. He was surprisingly skinny, being that his country made muffins. The room was fashionably elegant, complete with chandeliers, plush carpeting, and servants.
The daimyo's eyes flicked to Kiba. "And you are?" he inquired. His hands swished from underneath his royal robes.
"Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba gestured at Riyu. "And this is Riyu Ikimono."
"I see. Welcome, Kiba-san… Riyu-san." He grabbed a muffin from a nearby tray. "Where's the package?"
Kiba got the package out of his bag and hastily handed the envelope to the snazzy servant, who hastily handed it to another servant, who hastily handed it to another servant, who hastily handed it to another servant, who hastily handed it to another servant, who hastily handed it to the daimyo. He opened the envelope with careful fingers, and scanned the contents inside, secretively. After a moment or two, he nodded. "Thank you," he said. "You may leave now."
As they left hurriedly, Riyu asked Kiba, "What was in that envelope anyway?"
"You know, I have no idea. I never checked. But it was really bulky. A book, maybe?"
Back in his room, Entou-sama was having a particularly splendid time. He was reading the latest Icha Icha book, taking his time on every page, smiling perversely, and thinking …disturbing thoughts.
If you're wondering where the plot is... they get to Kantyo next time, I promise!
If you see any errors in my writing, please tell me!