Murasa stood impatiently on the deck of the Palanquin. She checked her watch again, as if that would miraculously make them show up.
"It's 6:30! Do these people not know the meaning of punctuality?!" She griped.
Finally, she saw Josuke's strange hairstyle appear a little ways away. She began to wave her arms and call to them.
"OI! HURRY UP! YOU'RE ALL LATE! ANY CAPTAIN WORTH HER SALT WOULD HAVE DROPPED YOU BY NOW!"
Only two of them picked up the pace, and unsurprisingly, it was Jonathan and Giorno leading the charge. When they all ambled their way onto the main deck, Captain Minamitsu's patience had began to wear thin.
"I told you all to meet me here at six o'clock. On the dot. Private Josuke, what time is it?"
"Um… six… forty five??"
"Exactly. Private Jonathan, educate me, do you all happen to be on time? Or are you late?"
"It appears that we are quite late, Mi- I mean, Captain Minamitsu."
"I'm glad you aren't as dense as I initially thought. KUJO! Tell me what this means for our departure time."
"I was under the impression that you'd know, but maybe our captain isn't as bright as she thinks she is. It means we'll be leaving later than expected."
Murasa glared at him. What kind of idiot talks back to their superior at a time like this?
'He's got balls, I'll give him that,' she thought. 'But what I WON'T do is entertain this disrespect. It'll encourage mutiny.'
"Well, Kujo, you're quite the smart cookie, aren't you? It'd behoove you to take some of that attitude and snark out of your voice. The only reason I'm letting it slide now is because it's your first day. Keep that in mind, lackey. Anyway, as I was saying, you all are late. That means that we will leave later than expected. Therefore, you'll all have to work double time. Now, unless someone, that isn't Jonathan," she said, glancing at the all too eager brit, "is willing to take all responsibility and deal with the added consequences, then you all will be put on cleaning and upkeep. Speak now, or forever hold your peace."
Not a single one of them spoke. They even managed to prevent themselves from holding council. She was slightly proud, but also unhappy with the state of their ethics. THIS was the crew that the gods had handed her. Somehow, she felt that something… bizarre was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Is that so? I expected better from you all." She said in a disgustingly sweet voice. "No matter. Private Jonathan, rig the sails. Private Joseph, chart our course. Private Josuke and Private Jolyne, start loading our cargo. Private Giorno, get everyone's sleeping spaces together. Private Johnny, go down to the kitchen, and figure out rations. Private… Gappy? You're on crow's nest duty. Watch out for threats. And as for you, Kujo," she once more picked up that sickly sweet tone. "You can scrub all the decks. I want to be able to see my reflection in them. Understand?"
None of them uttered a word, but she could see it all in their faces. They were all quite peeved at her commands, all save for Kujo. Even at a time like this, he managed to keep up that disdainful front. It was admirable, in its own strange way.
"Well, don't just stand there and gawk at me, get to work!"
They all scrambled off to go do their respective jobs, and Murasa decided to take this time to try and gather her thoughts. Returning to her quarters, she flopped down on her chair and gave a huge sigh.
'What in the world am I gonna do? This crew... They're too much! I can't just let them go... But my sanity and quality of life are at stake, for sure.'
She was forcibly jerked out of her daydreaming session by the sound of yelling and crashes. Rushing to the porthole, she saw Josuke and Kujo... She couldn't put what she was seeing into words. The two were glowing with some sort of powerful energy, and somehow were standing still, yet still inflicting damage on one another.
'...W-what the hell?? I SHOULD go do something about this, but... what could I possibly do??'
Murasa took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and flung open her cabin door. The resulting bang of it hitting the wall startled the pair into dropping their quarrel almost immediately.
"Kujo. Higashikata. In my office. NOW. "
She turned on her heel and waited for the sound of them trailing behind her. She entered her office and sunk into her chair. The two were a sight for a sore eyes. Their clothes were tattered, dirty, and covered in bloodstains. Kujo had a black eye, and Josuke's hair was a mess. Immediately, Josuke launched into an explanation.
"Listen, Cap, I know you're probably really pissed at us, but I promise-"
Murasa held up a hand for silence, and gave him a look that said 'shut your yap before things get worse for you'.
"I don't care how this started. I don't care who started it. Hell, I don't even care why you did it. What I wanna know, is what kind of special powers do you have? Clearly, you aren't just some ordinary humans with a questionable fashion taste. Not to be spirited away here, of all places. So spill the beans."
The duo stared at eachother, processing her statement. They all sat there, silently, and things stayed like this for quite a while. Murasa then once more spoke.
"I'd rather you not stall like this. I've seen what you can do, and I've seen that... Aura, you both have. You aren't the only strange ones around these parts."
Josuke went to speak, but paused. Murasa could see he was unsure of what to say. She didn't mind. She had time to spare. Suddenly, she heard creaking, and looked up to see the lamp in the ceiling starting to fall. Before she knew it, her whole body had frozen, and in an instant, she was on the floor, out of harm's way. Kujo crouched warily next to her, waving a hand in front of her face.
"You alright? I know time stops can be pretty disorienting when it's your first time."
"T-time stops?!" she exclaimed.
Kujo sighed, and out of nowhere, another... Human? Creature? (At this point, Murasa didn't care.) appeared.
It had wild, flowing hair, and was pretty much naked, save for a loincloth-type garment.
"W... What the hell is that?!"
"This is a stand. Almost all of us have one. Old man Jonathan doesn't, but that's because he has a power of his own." he explained.
"Every stand has its own unique ability." continued Josuke. "For example, my Crazy Diamond can fix anything, including people. Can't bring back the dead, though."
"And my stand, Star Platinum, is extremely precise, with the added bonus of being able to stop time. Not for very long, though." Kujo added.
"So, you're telling me that all of you have these... Spirit, things? And, if you don't mind me asking, how would one go about acquiring one of these, 'stands'?" Murasa questioned. It still didn't make 100% sense to her, but she grasped the basic concept.
"For the first question, we can show you better than we can tell you. As for the second, we were all born with our stands, so we don't really know how to actually get one outside of being in a family that has users." Josuke sheepishly explained.
"Well then, show me!" she said excitedly. For some reason, she felt like a kid in a candy store.
It's not like she minded, all that much.