A/N: Hi hi~ So yeah, here's the next chapter! This time, it'll be sea questing! Set right before the group in the Labyrinth meets Olympia.
Alright then, here ya go!
Warning and Disclaimer... *redirects you to the first chapter*
Enjoy!
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.22: Of Sharks and Hammerheads...
Yuki and his group went towards the port, Adisa practically jumping. How far have they gone, charting the sea? Are they close enough that they'll make it back to Aeaea soon?
But then, common sense spoke, and told Adisa that no, they're no where near close yet. In fact, they may not have passed the Southern Ocean yet.
But still, she is excited. That much is certain.
Chitose, however, is only interested in one thing: what kind of critters they'll find.
They are going father now, who knows if they'll find something like that giant, monstorous fish back in Batavia?
Before they knew it, they reached port. The captain turned towards them, greeting the group.
"Ah, mornin'! I take it you want to chart the sea some more today?"
"Yes. Here you go," Adisa then handed the captain some money. The captain counted, smiling, as it was the right amount.
"Alright then, wait here. We'll prep the ship for you." The group nodded.
After a while of waiting, the captain informed them that the ship is ready. The group got on, hoisted the sails, weighed their anchors, and sailed.
The breeze today is especially strong, giving Yuki, the one steering the ship, a rather hard time.
'I didn't know Yuki can steer ships!' thought the Princess.
The group remained quiet as they sailed, for a day or so, until they came across a patch of weed and strong currents surrounding, from what Yuki can see, a patch of and, and perched on the shores...
A city!
"Jackpot!" Guad turned towards the Princess, raising an eyebrow.
"H-Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing... hehe..."
"You can't wait to get back home, huh? That's why your so excited about finding new cities." Guessed the Farmer. Adisa sighed.
"Hmm... well, it may sound selfish of me, sorry, but your right. I can't wait to head back and tell them what I saw here!" Guad chuckled a bit.
"Don't worry, it's not selfish of you. I understand." The Princess, again, sighed.
"You won't mind if I rant a bit, right?"
"Sure, I don't mind. What is it?" Asked the Farmer, curious.
"Well, see... people think being a Princess or... pretty much a part of a Royal Familiy is great, that they wouldn't have much to worry about. And that is true, for a while..." Guad raised an eyebrow. Adisa continued.
"You live a sheltered life, and for a while it feels good. But then, you start to realize how boring it is. Always studying, practicing battle techniques, wandering inside the castle with no one but guards and servants, locked inside what became a prison, not knowing the outside world... that's pretty much why I fled with Heinrich. Well, one of the reasons that is..."
"Do you have any... friends back in Aeaea?"
"Well, there was this one girl... but then, one day she dissapeared. We don't know where she went, until now. She.. could be dead already." The Princess then looked towards the waters.
"Other than that, I only have my dad and bro. Oh, and mom. I sometimes envy people that I see outside... they live a free life, and can basically do what they want... well, not nessecarilly, but you know..." The Princess then turned to Guad.
"Do you have any idea how many rules there are in my family? It's freakin' crazy!"
"I know. Dining rules, speaking and such?" Adisa nodded.
"Haha, now I'm just rambling... Sorry!"
"No, no, don't mention it! You know, it's not nessecarilly easy for us either... I'm a Farmer, so I manage herds of animals. Also, we face financial problems and all..." Guad then shrugged.
"But hey, everything has it's perks and downfalls, right? It's what I learned when I was travelling around with Rudollf." Adisa raised an eyebrow.
But before Guad can clarify, Yuki called to them.
"We're here!" he said.
The group went towards the deck, looking out to see a grand city perched on shore. They then landed the ship on the docks and almost immediately they are greeted by a local. Specifically, a soldier.
"Hey, your a ship from Armoroad, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"Oh, thank goodness! I'm guessing you charted a route to get here right? Then we can start trading again, right? ...And, you really are from Armoroad, right?" Baffled by the amount of questions the soldier managed to ask in one breath, Adisa decided to answer.
"Uh... Yes, yes, and yes, we are." The soldier sighed in relief.
"Alright, I'll report back to the goverment! You should inform Armoroad of this too!" The group nodded and returned towards the ship, sailing back.
'Man, that guy was excited...' thought the Princess.
They then sailed back, using the rest of their supplies. When they came back on deck, the captain waited, a little surprise on hand.
"Oh, hello! Made it back safe, I see. Did you manage to chart some more?" Yuki nodded, showing the captain their updated map.
Scanning it, the captain's face brightened as his eyes darted over the northeastern edge of the map.
"Ah, I see you've found the trade city of Ayutthaya! Good, I was hoping you did! Some people filed in a few requests while you were away, that city being it's destination." The captain then sighed in relief.
"Our city's recovery will go even smoother now that we've managed to reopen our trade with Ayutthaya. Thank you." The captain then handed the group a handful of money. Guad took it, looking at the pouch's contents.
"Uh... not that I'm not grateful, but... don't you think this is a little much..?"
"Oh, no, no, I didn't give anything for you last time, right? When you rediscovered Batavia?"
"Oh... thanks." The captain then handed them the paper he held, containing the list of requests.
There are 3 requests: One is a Buccaneer seeking help, the other is two friends wanting help with an initiation rite, and the last one is a Princess seeking help for her trial.
Now, which to take...?
"I say we help out with the two friends' initiation rite," said Guad. The others turned towards him. Scratching the back of his head, Guad spoke.
"Hehe... see, I lived in Ayutthaya, and well... let's just say this initiation rite isn't your ordinary coming of age..."
"Wait, this is a coming of age ceremony?!"
"Yeah! Looks like ya done good rememberin'!" And, as soon as those words were spoken, out came a rather short statured girl with short, blonde hair, carrying with her a huge crossbow, kind of like Evita, and next to her, an even shorter girl wearing green, eastern clothing, with gear kind of like Chitose's.
"Hi... you'll help, right?" said the ninja girl. Adisa nodded.
"Yes, of course!" Although, she really wanted to help that princess with her trial...
" 'Righty, then! Let's get goin', beastie's should be waitin right next t'shore!" The arbalist then took their things, as well as dragged her friend towards the ship, the group merely standing there. The two friends then turned back towards the group.
"Oh, by the way, name's Arcadio! And this 'ere's Rebecca!" Said-girl merely waved her hand.
'Arcadio..? Sounds male...' thought Chitose.
The group then weighed anchors, and set sail, back towards Ayutthaya, Guad deciding to stay behind and do some item gathering.
"So, what'll we be fighting?"
"Oh, just a giant shark we call 'Hammerhead'!"
"Uh... 'just' a giant shark...?" asked Adisa.
"Yep!"
"Great..." uttered Chitose. She thought she'll find something intresting around here, but no, it's just a shark.
Yuki, meanwhile, focused on navigating the ship. He closed in on Ayutthaya's shores, but then noticed some disturbances happening in the waters. Stopping the ship, he examined it from a distance, before catching something huge a yellow swimming under the waters.
It then jumpped out, all of a sudden, revealing itself to be, yes, as the two friends said, a giant shark, with yellow and black colored scales.
'Well... I can't do much here...' The Shogun then turned towards the group on deck, the group readying their respective weapons.
Formulating a plan, Yuki jumped towards the ship's deck, getting his katana ready.
"Does anyone have a plan?" Asked Arcadio as she looked around, trying to spot the giant shark.
Noticing the Shogun, the Princess pointed at him.
"I'm pretty sure he does! ...You do, right?"
"Yes, I do." Yuki the looked eastward, spotting the giant fish not too far from the ship.
"Arcadio, you'll shoot at it once it resurfaces. Do you have bolt infused rounds?"
"Yep! Packed 'em just for this!" The arbalist then loaded said-rounds.
"Good. Adisa, you imbue Rebecca's and Chitose's weapons with lightning. Rebecca, you and Chitose try to land some hits on it." The ninja nodded.
"I can do that. C'mon." Chitose nodded, following Rebecca towards the ship's front, ready.
"That shark's not gonna stay still, is it... I'll go and steer the ship, so tell me when it's going to start running!" Yuki then got back to the captain's deck.
"Gotcha!" replied the arbalist. Yuki then steered the ship towards the shark, Adisa chanting incantations, imbuing the two ninja's weapons as ordered.
Once she's done, the Princess spoke.
"Alright, once it resurfaces, try do damage it as much as you can!"
"Go all out?" Adisa nodded.
The shark then began to resurface, Arcadio getting her bow ready.
"Hi there!" She called, then shot a bolt-infused arrow at the fish.
Nodding to each other, the two ninjas leapt off the ship, Chitose landing first on the shark's head, swipping at it with her blade, while Rebecca stayed mid-air, firing kunais and such at the beast, some of it hitting, embeded in the beast's flesh.
Arcadio kept on firing bolt rounds, hitting the shark at random places.
The shark suddenly swipped it's tail, nearly hitting the ship, unfortunately hitting the two ninjas and knocking them back, into the waters.
The shark then opened it's jaw, sharp fangs open for everyone to see. Chitose had just resurfaced from the waters when the thing got close to her.
Suddenly, a shot rang, another bolt infused arrow embedding itself inside the shark. The shark let out a sort of yelp, lightning coursing though it's body as it doubled over, slowly turning towards the arblaist, Arcadio.
"Yo! Over here, ya yellow wuss!" As if reacting to the taunt, the fish suddenlt leapt upwards, exiting the waters completely, it's mouth open, headed straight towards the Arbalist.
Noticing that she has no arrows currently loaded onto her crossbow, the girl dodged, the fish splashing back into the waters, nearly catching her head with it. The waves rocked the ship, as the shark's head resurfaced again.
"C'mon!" Chitose then helped her fellow ninja back onto the ship, Arcadio keeping the shark busy by firing more rounds.
" 'Ey, mind imbuin' my weapon with lightnin' too? 'Might've to use my normal rounds!" Adisa nodded, chanting incantations again.
Just then, Chitose noticed that the fish had submerged itself again, swimming away from the ship.
"Yuki!" Said-man nodded, steering the ship, following the fish.
The fish is surpsisingly fast, despite it's huge size and lack of areodynamic build around it's body.
The two ninjas, again, got ready on deck, as the ship inched closer towards the fish, blood trailing it's course.
The shark then began to resurface again, it's back exposed, but still swimming rapidly. Once the ship got close enough, again, the two ninjas leapt, their weapons still imbued, landing on the shark's back, swipping at it, each strike sending painful jolts of thunder around the Hammerhead's body.
Arcadio loaded some more ammo onto her crossbow, firing it, a rain of bolt arrows landing on the shark's body.
In turn, the shark stopped swimming, swipping it's tail rapidly at the two ninjas, who expertly dodged the assault this time, before it submerged itself again, this time, jumping out almost immediately, launching itself at the two, mouth agape.
Next thing they knew, the two ninjas are inside the shark's huge mouth, blades piercing the mouth's insides the only thing keeping it from closing.
"What do we do?!" asked Rebecca, her calm demeanor starting to crack. Chitose however, kept calm. Noticing the ship inching closer towards the shark, currently suspended because it's unable to close it's mouth, the Ninja turned back towards her partner.
"You wouldn't mind losing some cash, right?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
But before she could ask, Chitose grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the shark's mouth.
Just as the blades were finally going to give in, a barrage of arrows came, this time, being fire arrows, ready to explode when it comes into contact with something.
The arrows entered the shark's body through it's mouth, it's throat big enough for a few, small arrows to enter.
Then the could hear rupturing sounds, the arrows doing it's work, the Hammerhead's insides bursting, one by one.
Fluids mixed with blood started to pour out of the fish's mouth as it wriggled, the intense pain, albeit short, not something even it could handle.
Finally, it dropped dead, falling into it's grave. Rebecca smiled, holding out two scales from the fish, one black, the other, yellow.
"Hehe. Here's our proof that we beat that thing. Um... do you want one?" Chitose blinked. She's being offered something?
Knowing how improtant that scale is for the girl's coming of age ceremony, the Ninja sighed, holding out a hand, albeit a bit reluctant to.
"...No thanks. You'll... need it more than I would." But that scale looks so interesting...!
"Are you sure? This can come in handy for you!"
"I said no, alright?" Chitose snapped. The girl then sighed again.
"Look, sorry, but no means no. You'll need those scales... You earned it." Blinking a bit, Rebecca smiled.
"..Thanks."
"Now c'mon, that shark's fluids are all over us now..." Chitose then swam back towards the ship, Rebecca following right behind her.
Arriving back on deck, Adisa went to hug the ninja, but then closed her nose in disgust.
"Oh god, what is that?!"
"The fish you killed." Right in the captain's deck, Yuki sighed. He could smell the scent of rotting fish organs from even where he is...
Without warning, the Shogun then steered the ship back towards Ayutthaya.
That fight went by rather smoothly though. Not as hard as the one Rudollf had to deal with back in Batavia, at least... Yes, the Buccaneer did tell them about that when they were loafing about in the inn.
But then again... Rudollf did have to deal with hordes upon hordes of fish, while Yuki only had to deal with one, huge shark.
Go figure.
Once the group arrived back in Ayutthaya, Rebecca and Arcadio got off the ship, their supervisor or whatever waiting for them.
They showed him the two scales, proof that they managed to kill the shark, as they didn't manage to get it's head.
The scales alone are enough to bring a smile to the supervisor's face. Taking the scales, he noticed the group of people on a ship, staring at them.
"You helped them? I must thank you. That fish is dangerous to hunt alone."
" 'Ey, we ain't alone, ya know!" Arcadio then began to argue with her supervisor. Rebecca chuckled, turning towards the group, who began to weigh anchors.
Her smile is specifically directed at Chitose, who blinked. She could clearly read that the girl is thanking them again, for the third time.
As Yuki waved, and Adisa waved at the pair, Chitose replied the ninja's smile with her own. Which seemed out of character for the girl, but hey...
As they sailed, Chitose began to wonder...
If she had accepted Rebecca's offer and took one of the scales, would they have passed the initiation rite? Or would they have failed?
Sighing, the girl realized something.
Sometimes, you'll have to hold back on certain things. Your hobbies included. Control yourself, as they say. And Rebecca has taught her that, somehow.
Eh, that's not to say that the girl will stop hunting for animal parts. No, of course she wouldn't stop doing that!
But... she'll try to control herself better from now on. Chitose committed herself to that as they sailed.
...Though not getting anything from that shark sure is a letdown.
-To Be Continued-
A/N: HUZAAAH, HORRIBLE FIGHTING SCENE, I KNOW XDD Also, this NEARLY made it to 3K+ words... Oh well!
Anyway, yay for Ninja development! Also, Adisa's past hint hint XDD if you get what I mean ^^
And now I shall upload this *creeps into FFN account*