CHAPTER 126
I do not own Skip Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.
~~Magical Summer trip ~~
~~ part XXXII~~
~~(because I don't care anymore,
fucking hell, there is no end of this summer trip)~~
Pirates?
Strolling through the castle myriad of rooms, they ascended and descended numerous towers, wandered into many rooms, visiting the glass edifice with every nook and cranny, per se. And always the clinging of their feet followed after them. And sometimes, sometimes she swore, Kyoko could hear the glass sing high above. Like a faint melody surrounding them, in between the occasional music they could hear, it was like a buzzing, or maybe more akin to a ringing. A whispered whistle she thought the walls emitted. She was so persuaded of the sound, unable of getting rid of the feeling it was real, she wondered if they had manufactured it to do that.
They crossed paths with Vaiana giving bow lessons on their way through the various stands of food just after entering another corridor, who indicated to them, they could probably spot Kida on top of the garden house, and Jane in the orchard trees. Which they did. Finding the abundant orchard filled with as many fruits as it was with people, they threw the towel after being granted a couple of free fruits and berries from Jane.
They had had a peek into at least two third of the amazing architecture the place was and were going down from sightseeing from the highest tower, and the view it was giving when they had the pleasure to meet, or rather– nearly bump into–Raya, one of the latest and rarest to see, princess in every park and Disney entertainment structures all confounded.
She was carrying a long braided twisting sword, just like in the cartoon, as well as Kumandra peace vegetable bums, she claimed had the power to bring harmony between anyone.
She encouraged them to knock into Eilonwy princess tower, to sample the bums, whispering the tower held a couple of secrets about harmony. Especially in the edible kind. For more than one reason, it instiled curiosity inside Kyoko, as not only she was aboard for any new recipes, and was beginning to work up an appetite, but far worse, she had to admit to a very shameful evidence.
"Eilonwy princess?"She inquired to Raya, in shame. She didn't know all the princesses of Disney, after all. She heard Ren made goggle eyes at her, very amused by this, and she did her best ignore him. She was aware it was putting a dent in her thought-spotless knowledge. And she was even more aware the very fact it brought a shitty grin to Ren's.
Raya smiled with indulgence, clearly in the clue on her embarrassment into not knowing.
"It is one of the nearly fully forgotten princesses." She said. "Even more so than Kida. She is from Taram and the magical cauldron. Maybe understandably so. It has a darker tone than the usual movie of the time."
She munched on her bum.
"Her tower is quite mystical and filled with skeletons, but I can only praise the herbalist shop, and all those vegetarian recipes, as a defender of harmony."She added, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb on the left. "It is right around the corner. And oddly, it has those magical crystal she found somewhere to purchase. They are supposed to give immortality and eternal youth, you know." She added as she left them in their dust with a conniving stare. "Back to practice, see you around."
Following her advice, they were climbing it in search of the boutique, marvelling at how many bones lied around in those stairs and in the nooks of missing bricks, and the ominous green smoke perpetually trickling down the stairs as they ascended the tower. They reached the highest floor, establishing the origin of the smoke came right from the herbalism shop, a huge rusty raven-tone cauldron emitting it. Sharing the place right by, another store promised antiques artefacts and unexpected discoveries.
She dragged Ren inside the smoking boutique, and it was dragging indeed, because besides the fancy spooky aesthetics Ren found quite interesting, the rest concerned exotic spices, fancy recipes to make your own potions and magical dishes. And shelves of refined but odd foods or sweets. There were also goodies bearing the designs of the film, but Kyoko felt like she was putting Ren on the spot here. So, after buying some spices, a couple of books, and the hot bums they proposed–none, she let him pay, and she was very pleased in her success–, she took pity on him, and they left.
They took a quick stroll in the other boutique, and while there were many interesting objects, she knew none of them would be useful for her, and was planning to leave, but Ren insisted on buying them a pair of crystalline pendants and bracelets the very depiction of the crystals Atlantians had in the movie, before they left. They pocketed the pendants, as she refused to remove the one Ren had gifted her, with the tiniest risk of losing it while they were here, and he slipped on the bracelet on her wrist.
She should have refused, but her resistance to any gift of him had really weakened, and she just didn't have the heart to. Not when he looked so happy offering it to her. The tiny white-blue crystals glittered at her wrist, cleanly cut in those elongated lozenge shapes, and she thought it seemed quite qualitative for goodies-type of bracelets, but she resisted the urge to go check the price. She had seen the jewellery displayed behind glassed doors and locked shelves, but honestly, all of them had looked pretty good. So, she doubted very much Ren would have bothered buying the expensive versions for some nonsensical goodies.
§§§
They visited a couple more rooms, and another tower, and subtly Ren had been beginning to guide her to a specific way. He didn't know the exact particularities of the whats and hows, the online website having been all blurry and such, but he knew the new addition had sounded promising enough, and had wanted to keep that for the end of their visit, knowing there were a couple of events that could be fun, and quite sure Kyoko would love it.
They were in the midst of cascading down another tower, though from the outside this time. And they were very grateful–more than for their own interests–for the tactile warning stripes and nubs put on the many steps leading down. Ren thought it was a good way to make it accessible for everyone, blind or limited sight people, and he had seen elevators nearly everywhere, where wheelchairs could be fit. Very personally, the floor had already been slippery while on plane surfaces, so he wouldn't have trusted those glass stairs without it. Sure, inside the towers, they had the rails and walls to hold on to. Not that he didn't feel comfortable or sure enough of his step, he felt usually dexterous enough that he thought he would have been alright, but out of his subjective perspective, those stairs could have been a disaster hazard, for nearly anyone. And they only had one wall they could rely on here. The long curvy flights rolled itself around the outside of the tower like a decorative stripe, and while the steps were ample, both in width and length, they still had one side always hanging into the void. So, as they descended, he praised the high banister and measures made to roughen up the stairs.
They were reaching the end section of circling the huge tower, and he was admiring the windows' glazing high above their head, letting the sun enter at vast, when Kyoko spoke.
"Is that water I hear?"
She was right, of course, and he couldn't help a little smile, vaguely knowing what to expect from the site brief outline.
"I think it is." He replied.
They turned down the last angle of the tower, and only a dozen steps separated them from the floor when the view bared itself in a wondrous display, stopping them in their track.
The river they had met on the outside was rushing in a ringing wave of splashes from the right, before going through the left and outdoor.
Its belly, swollen in the middle of the spacious chamber, shaped a small lake or very abundant pond, and created a cove. Lightened only by the rays gliding down on the midnight river, they brought undulations of turquoise and clearer hues, to the rhythm of flood ripples reflecting them.
Yet, the real prize unravelling, was elsewhere. Imposing in silent mystery, expansive and soaring beyond, a vessel anchored on the deceivingly quieter waters of the bed of the river, laid.
Rays of the sun poured like columns of light from the sky. Hazardously yet precisely illuminating the cove bank and its river, bathing in golden threads down in their plunge the rims of ebony sails, hanging from three massive ivory masts.
And as Ren heard his companion gasp when she took it all in, gaining a smile from him and knowing exactly what she would be thinking, he had to give it to her.
The uncanny charismatic spot they had created for everyone, had a way of creating a miraculous bewitching nook. Even to him.
The eerie atmosphere was inescapable, and the glowing beams on the edges but never quite reaching the point of fully enlightening the ship only enhanced the wondrous view. Yet, the faded crossed set of bones painted on the largest sail came contrasting with the safe innocence it could have had, bringing outward an unspoken sinister spell to this noble vessel.
It was quite the thing they had going there.
"This is–" Kyoko started.
"Magical?"He proposed, grinning at her but she didn't look or even scowl, she was too busy starring.
They rode down the steps separating them from the ground, and finally took notice of the crowd amassed around the bank, right near the ship, and as they made their way on the tilting floor leading to the water–if the slight curve could be called that–they crossed more than a few groups leaving. The closer they got, the more it appeared people were leaving, and Ren wondered if they had chosen wrong timing. Maybe they had come right between performances.
But as more strangers passed them again, Ren caught some of their words, and even more of their expressions, seeing the irritation clear as day on their faces and in their tones, even when he could not decipher the words.
They eventually reached the site, and when they were finally in position to ought to lift their head to see the splendour of the huge ship from under, only a fraction of the former gathering remained.
That could be summed up to roughly three to four families, the same number of couples and maybe a tad more smaller groups of adults. Ren caught sight of people hurrying around on the deck above, their precipitation more telling than the clothes they wore–a mismatch going from staff uniforms to pirate disguises–, about who they were. He read the wood pole plank sealed to the ground near the gangway, sharing information in a pretty scribing about the hours of the events. There was one every four hours. But shy of 120 minutes remained before the next one. The discontent of people escaped him. And he could see Kyoko was pondering that too. When they had left, they hadn't seemed disappointed only to have to wait for next one, the visitors were more irritated than warranted.
A little girl with braids pooling down from everywhere on her head whined with impatience in gurgled mumbles, but the response of his father got both of them the answer they were looking for.
"It is not open for now, sweetie. We have to be patient and wait for them to tell us when we can climb on the ship."
That was how it occurred to them another kind of activity was available when there was no performance going on.
"But I wanna try a pirate hat. You said we could go try pirate hats and go on the ship when nothing was going on, Dad."
"I know sweetheart. I think they are delayed." His dad said, and Ren surreptitiously glanced their way, finding the father, just a head shorter than him and helpless as he starred apologetically at his daughter. The tiny little thing had two glowing blue eyes popping out in the brown skin surrounding them, even through the tears overflowing around. She shook her head like she was trying to resist throwing a tantrum and the many green and violet bows fastening her braids twirled in merry-go-round of colour, all around her head.
She pressed her lips together and stuck close to her father, nodding grimly. He could not help but smile. He began searching for additional comments with his eyes until Kyoko whispered near him.
"I see a bigger panel at the back, I'll go check it out." She told him with a knowing grin at his intention, and he was sure she had picked on his immediate reason in wanting to know. Not that they couldn't use it too. But they could have gone to play at some of the stands some, before coming back. There was no urgency for them, and she was no fool.
When she returned, however, she didn't possess further explanation. It was as they had heard. When the performers were on the ship, you were allowed to step on, and play around. For most of the time no shows was undergoing.
He envisioned asking one of the staff members after a dozen more minutes had passed, and the father had gone to sit down with his daughter near the bank of the river.
§§§
He was pissed. He had been promised a good show. Or, at the very least, his friend had implied he might find something that he'd like if he came. So he had. He had come here, clearing a whole day for it, and after a quick greeting to his Jo, he had gone straight ahead to visit the place. He had to give back to Caesar what was to Caesar, most entertainers and cast princesses were more than decent. A few even deserved much more than the gig they had, though, knowing the boss, he was pretty sure his friend would have made sure the pay was correct.
And he had met no truly poor act from anywhere on the grounds since he had stepped on them. Regardless, the main event for which he was there, suffered a bad luck, as he had only reached the end of the first performance of the morning–finding its way to that part of this monstrous structure had taken him a while and he felt slightly claustrophobic being surrounded by walls and roofs of glass everywhere–thus failing to see truly what the first batch of entertainers on the boat were made of. Granted, it would not have meant he could quit if he had seen it from the beginning, as they took turns, and people of the morning were not the ones on the ship in the afternoon or the evening. Even so, even with how little he had seen, he could not say he was pleased. Oh, the crew, which changed less from one performance to another if he dared say, as he had recognized some of the faces lounging around and staying in costumes for what was supposed to be the second show– , was acceptable. He guessed. Nothing outstanding like the two-three rare impressive displays he had seen from some of the princesses. But tolerable. It was still nothing like he had been looking for, obviously. But he could not fault them too much, all things considered.
It was the main cast of the morning–even with how slim he had seen of them–that made him want to peel his eyes out with one of those prop pirates swords. He made him feel sardonic, wondering if Disney was aware how fitting it was their worst show was of those of Piracy, with how fresh the theme had been included, with their recent acquisitions of some franchises. Or … if they should take the blame nonetheless, if you were to remind them–even remote in only one movie–pirates did exist before their latest addition.
He was still surprised it was not better, even with how new this show was, it was Disney after all. They didn't lack the resources.
Regardless of all that, knowing it would be different casts, he had planned to stay through the day. So, why … why, when he had no time to lose, was this happening?
Just when he had settled himself near the bank, ready to spend the day here, knowing he had already seen all the other performers but those of this show. He was even planning to observe the complete amateurs and tourists that would roam the ship in between the programmed acts. That was how desperate he was.
But no, not only was the site now unavailable to said-roaming, but the next event was in jeopardy. Because he knew. No one had to say anything. There weren't many things that could prevent such a new attraction to be fully operational, if they didn't want to torpedo the whole event. So, something was very wrong.
Well, that, and his friend had just confirmed it to him when Jo had called to apologize merely minutes before.
They were probably currently in a panic, trying to reorganize the whole thing, while seeing how much time they could spare to the public on the ship until next performance. But Jo had assured him he had ordered the thing to reopen, so ready or not, next act happening or not, the public would get to go on the ship soon. And as he peeked up, it came as no surprise when he saw his friend had gotten personally involved into settling the affair, though he had to smile as he took note of how even more deeply frazzled his apparition had just made the whole staff and crew present. He was unsure that would help them remain calm, even if Jo were certain to shake their fleas into action, no doubt.
But even so. Salvation was unlikely to happen today, after what Jo had told him on the phone.
With every minute passing, he despaired.
Was it even worth staying? Just to see the evening act?
He could understand troubles, and though with his personal circumstances, it annoyed the hell out of him, he was not in the mood to blame his friend.
He had faith in Jo that this show would ultimately become exceptional. Or his friend would have the heads of anyone preventing so, way before admitting something less than grandiose to happen. But now was not the time. Not the day. And he could be, should be, running around the globe trying to find what he was yearning to find. He was already beyond every deadline. The luxury of a 'maybe' was not enough to keep him here anymore. Not when the risk of vain time was growing by the minute.
Kane sighed, folding back his rusty notebook, as it hid the wild scribbling, and pushing on his legs with a heave, he stood.
He will understand.
§§§
They had been hearing the muffled words of several arguments above them shy of half an hour, and the little girl had returned near them, the dad close behind, jumping up and down to try to glimpse at what was happening in the huge vessel, when they heard a booming voice.
"You will open it!"
Even so, besides the shuffles of quiet voices, nothing happened in the following minutes, and the tiny girl, finally done with being patient, it seemed, was looking crestfallen, staring at the ground near her dad.
The poor dad appeared nearly as upset as his daughter when he stared at her, and Ren wondered if there anything they could do. Clearly, the bulky man that had climbed the gangway twenty minutes ago had been the one shouting his lungs out. So, he was pretty sure it would happen, but the question was when. He was no expert in children, but he had worked with enough of them to know it was harder to be patient for the little ones.
He was distracted from his pondering when Kyoko crouched in front of the tiny thing, after a questioning gaze to the father. Once approval was acquired, she spoke to the little girl.
"Hello there."She said, bent at the knees and crossing her arms on them, and Ren carefully took the end of her locks so it wouldn't drag on the ground and get dirty, since it was so long it had been pooling behind her feet when she squatted. She didn't seem to notice, as she spoke to the girl once the child had turned in her direction. "What's your name?"
The tiny girl stared at in awe for a second, before tilting her chin down.
"Joyli."
"That's a wonderful name." Kyoko said with a smile, and the little girl blushed. "Do you know that beautiful is called 'joli' in French?"She asked and the girl shook her head.
"So, your name looks like 'beautiful joy'."And the girl looked up to her father, questioning with her eyes if he knew, and was granted a shake of the head and a smile.
"I didn't know."
Joyli returned her gaze to Kyoko, and she spoke again.
"You will get to go up, you know."
Under the sad unsure look of the girl, Kyoko asked.
"Did you hear the scary shout of earlier? Do you think anyone could refuse that voice?"
The girl frowned for a second, before hesitantly shaking her head.
"But it is not opening…"She said with tears threatening to come out.
Kyoko smiled at her again.
"It might take a few more minutes," She granted, "but that is a ferocious captain pirate up there, no one can disobey." And she faked a shudder, earning a small smile from the girl.
"Really?" she asked again.
"I would bet on it."She said with a confident grin, and Ren couldn't help but think she was too good at this.
He squatted too, still holding the ends of her hair.
"And otherwise, we can kick a few villain pirate butts for not letting such a sweet girl visit their ship."
A bell escaped from the tiny girl as she laughed, but then her attention refocused on Kyoko.
"You have gold eyes."
Kyoko blinked at the change of subject before replying.
"It might be more like light brown, but–"
Ren rolled her eyes.
"It is gold." They both said at the same time, and the little girl glanced at him with a smile, before turning her gaze towards Kyoko again.
"Is that all your hair?"She asked in awe, staring at the handful of locks Ren was still holding in his right hand.
"I– … well, yes."The main person concerned replied sheepishly.
"They are so gorgeous … you are like a real princess."The little girl said with such amazement, and it was Kyoko's turn to blush, earning a snort Ren totally failed to contain. Oh, the irony.
The father was smiling too, as Ren continued to laugh as quietly as he was able to, on the side.
But then, the tiny Joyli furrowed a brow again, a vital question in mind, evidently.
"But how would you fight Pirates? You are way too cute for that. Both of you." She said, after a more studied glance in his direction. And Kyoko laughed this time, no doubt because another person had called him cute.
He unfurled himself from his crouch, standing proudly after placing Kyoko's locks on her left shoulder, and with a smirk, he set an invisible hat on his head.
"I'm not so sure about that."He said, pointing an imagined sword in the opposite direction of where Kyoko was standing. "I could be very menacing if I have to defend my princess."
Kyoko stood back at once.
"Who said I wanted to be a princess? On guard vile boor!" She said, her eyes turning hard and cold as she pointed her own invisible sword at him.
He took his invisible hat and placed it on his chest, bowing to her, a nefarious look appearing.
"As you wish."
He pointed his tight wrist at her, mimicking the sword, and she made a move like she was paring it away, jumping backwards, lightness in her feet.
"Wow…" said the cute stunned voice, and they stopped, looking at her.
"How did you do that?!"She asked but before either of them could reply, the gruff voice sounded again.
"The ship is open!"
Focused as he had been in their mock play, the abruptness of the voice echoing down stunned him for an instant. But only so that silence filled the air momentarily, just as it was replaced by the little girl ecstatic squeals as they erupted, rounding the three close adults. Dragging his father, she set a zealous pace that even her father struggled to keep up, stumbling on the footbridge and holding himself from falling with a palm, and both Ren and Kyoko, laughing, remained forgotten in her dust.
Their movement followed her lead soon, however, and they climbed the passageway, the narrow rectangular wood ridges extending out and leading their careful but easy steps the flight up to the deck.
The vessel was even bigger once aboard he had imagined–and while part of the crew–and one bulky man Ren could only imagine was the one at the origin of the loud shouting–were present and pursuing some discussion, they gave all the visitors and public a clear way to visit the ship. Only one member sometimes pointed at areas, warning of dangerous sections or giving details if someone had a question, but otherwise they were free to roam around. Which they did, stepping around or above barrels, lines and very thick ropes, that were absolutely everywhere.
Ren admired the care and precision that had been put into making this believable, the massive masts had all those woods rings all the ways up, and the knots looked so sophisticated he could not comprehend how you would initiate it. And he would know, his father had shown him a handful of the simpler knots when he was younger.
They walked the deck, circling the masts, and his gaze ringed back to Kyoko, eyeing the way she kept her neck cranked back to peek above, making him question if she was admiring the two lookout baskets, for a moment. But he followed her stare, and it was eagerly running after the stretched ropes in the sky, connecting the masts in straight horizontal lines, or the diagonal ones, leading down to hard fastened knots at the deck.
She had such a captivated glitter in her expression, but for some reason … it looked mischievous. As if … she was artfully calculating something that delighted her.
"What got you so fascinated?"He couldn't help but inquire as her gaze jumped again from one high section to another, and they passed the many shrouds of the main mast in direction of the quarter deck when she replied.
"Cordage."
He tried to question what she meant by that, but she just smiled, and then they were climbing the steps to the back of the ship, where the little girl and her father were, gathered with a few others, making him lose the line of his thought.
Stacked baskets and antique lookalike treasure chests waited to their left, right to the ship's wheel, and already surrounded by the interest of half a dozen visitors. It was obvious it was what was inside the chests that had attracted the attention, though. The jewelled chests were full of neatly piled prop cloaks, while the baskets held numerous tricorn hats, the classic shape of pirate headgear. By the lean awkwardly pirated man, looking both at ill with his attire and overwhelmed by the people pressing near him, Ren noticed a barrel spilling with swords too. The poor pirate was handing hats and cloaks to try on.
Joyli already had her own tiny hat and coat, both fitting her to a T. Her father had consented to a hat, apparently, though, and he could not help his lips to quiver, he appeared to be suffering immensely from the concession.
The moment the girl saw them, she ran in their direction, halting in front of Kyoko with an overjoyed grin, and grabbing her palms in her very tiny ones.
"I'm a pirate, I'm a pirate."
"You are a very fierce pirate."Kyoko told her, and he added.
"And a very cute one, Joyli." He added and the little girl blushed at the compliment, until a slight frown scrunched up her tiny face, and she dropped Kyoko's hands.
"What is it?"Kyoko asked, seeing how sad and displeased she had become.
"I don't know your names."
"Oh."Kyoko said, chuckling with relief. "It's ok. We can tell you."
But she shook her head frantically before Kyoko could even reply.
"But I didn't ask for them. That was very rude of me. Dad is going to scold me."
Ren folded his legs again in front of her.
"There was not much occasion before, don't worry." He said, and pointed with his chin at her father.
"See, your father is not mad at you."Kyoko said, robbing the words right out of him, as the tiny girl swiftly shifted her head around to peek at her dad. Not a moment later, her frail shoulders slacked in ease, from the nod of approval and the half smile of her dad.
"I'm Ren," he said, once she looked back at them, "and this is Kyoko," he added with a wave of the hand.
"Pretty names."Joyli mumbled, dazed, and he gathered she mustn't have heard those kinds of names often in the area.
"Thank you."He said, standing up, but then the little girl grabbed both his and Kyoko's hand, looking at them all glee, and pumped up energy again.
"Are you going to put on hats and play pirates?"
Ren glanced at Kyoko, and she shot an eyebrow up, amusement crinkling on the corners of her vibrant eyes. She grinned, a question directed at him in the eyes.
He smiled at her, laughing inside, she was all up to it.
"I don't see why not." He said to the child, and turning back, it came to his attention the place had vacated itself of part of the crowd while they talked. A few remained but most had gone down after putting back the hats, or still had it on while they visited the rest.
In any case, there would have some room to move if they stayed on the quarter deck, and he had to be thankful of the early departure of the other visitors, even knowing it was caused by the hindrance of the next show. It would not have been possible with a whole public going on and about on the ship.
He went to the person handing down hats, and plopped a hat on his head. It was a little tight but he would make do. He saw Kyoko do the same while he was free to choose a coat for himself.
Not two minutes had passed, and they were pivoting back to the little girl, sporting tricorn hats, long cloaks, matched with fake swords held in their hands.
"What do you think?"He asked when they both turned to the girl and her father.
Joyli clapped eagerly, but her head tilted and she stopped mid-motion, a grimaced grin pulling at her tiny lips.
"Your normal clothes awkwardly stand out."Commented the father succinctly, with a grim smile, and Ren looked down on himself. For once, he hadn't been wearing black pants, knowing the temperature it would be, and his jeans, even well cut didn't go well. Well, that, and while a classic white shirt could have done, the light blue of this one matched poorly with the theme of pirates. And he knew he had it easy, Kyoko's modern outfit seemed even more irregular with the hat and cloak than his.
Joyli pulled at his coat.
"The pirates' clothes are too short for you, Ren."She said, trying to stretch the coat, and she was right. It only reached the back of his knees, and the hat barely held, since it would cover his head properly.
"You are right."He smiled at the little girl.
"It's because Ren is huge."Kyoko said.
He chuckled.
"But it just means you need to forget about the dreadful outfits."Kyoko added, and glanced at him for the get-go.
"Raise your weapon, woman." As he did so with his. "And fight."
She rose her sword, and pointed it at him. They engaged.
A slow but artful combination of clangs crashed around them under the little girl eyes, as their wrists moved the swords. Clink, clink, clink. Their swords blurring as their movements accelerated in front of Joyli. Pushing back, pushing forth. They kept making two steps forwards, before going two backwards.
Faster and faster, they kept sparring, the blades sliding against another like it was suddenly a real battle to the death, and inside, she felt her little heart rush out its beat. Her teeth worried her lips as fear came inside when the huge man called Ren shot the beautiful lady an evil look before throwing his sword right at her neck. In less than she took to blink, there was no one, and she was looking where Kyoko's head went. She only realized she had bent down when she popped back in a standing position, and they circled the barrel full of swords, to her shock, continuing their fight above it.
They were still grinning like they were having the most fun, until the lady slid her sword right between the protruding handles of the other pirates swords, going right for the man's belly. But he parried it, throwing it up to the sky and above right before it could hit him, and then they started a new battle of fast moves.
A scary grin crossed the lady face as she said.
"Failing to find an opening, matey?"
"Hardly." He replied.
The man's eyes shined like he was finding her terribly amusing for some reason, and his sword fled to the Kyoko lady's legs this time, right at her knees. And then, Joyli gaped, the woman was flying in the air, directly dropping back on the borders of the barrel holding the swords. Her feet as stable as if she had been on the ground.
"Beautiful try."She said, and her sword was racing high down to him in less than a moment of hesitation, captivating more than one pair of eyes around, at the sure curve as much as at the deft blocking of said weapon. The man movement embraced his figure with his cloak, and made the sword go right into it, instead of in his flank. It was the only moment Joyli remembered the swords were fake, when she saw the blade pull back inside the handle instead of cutting through the black cloth.
"Likewise, young lass."He said, and Joyli didn't even get a second to wonder what he was going to do now. He jumped. Awed, she watched him fly so high in the air, as if gravity had nothing on him, and he landed on the railing of the quarter deck, barely a metre away from the handrail leading down the stairs to the main deck, as light as if he were a sprite. And Joyli couldn't understand how he could support on such a tiny trail of wood, and so easily at that, that humongous body the man seemed to have.
Both elevated, the barrel stood close enough to the rail for them to lift their swords and connect. And they looked at each other with defiance.
"I'm at your beck and call…"The Ren man said, and his swords swirled around the tip of the woman one, as if he was caressing it. " … unless you are tired of guarding me already?"
The lady hissed backward, and Joyli couldn't understand her sneering expression, as she arched her back a little, as if to move away from the man.
"The scourge likes to tease … such a … displeasure."
A round of applause began just as their swords dived for another tempting clang, and they jumped a little, stopping in their gears.
They bowed shyly to them before the crowd slowly scattered all around the boat again, and Joyli lost track of them, as they left her and her dad, while she tried to make her dad reproduce some of the forms the two beautiful people had just shown them. In spite her efforts, her father seemed to be doing his best to scurry away from her attention, and she barely contained her pouting as he tried to find every excuse to let her play on her own.
She wished she could ask the young lady and man how they had done all that. How they had even known to act like that. She hadn't even gotten the chance to say goodbye and thank them.
After a short while of another failed attempt on her dad, she decided to just do so. She could not really ask any stranger she saw wandering the boat to play with her, or reproduce something they might not even have watched. How would she know which one to ask? Which one was capable? She needed to find them.
But where they had gone, that was the question.
One she was determined to answer, as she dragged her father down the main deck, trying not to let her awe of everything, of the whole impressive ship swallow her all focus away from her mind's target.
§§§§§§§
Carried by her eagerness to see, her eyes led the way through, going from one ship rail to the other, dancing–so to speak–her way forwards, between piles of rope floored in spirals on the deck, open barrels filled with pistols and cutlasses, some with their tops covered by beer tankards and mysteriously shining stones or golden coins.
A few daggers were even planted directly into surfaces, so real it made Kyoko wonder if those were not fake.
Worn-out shred of black cloths also hung like holed curtains, creating secluded areas to be discovered at times, and she realized they had pushed realism further she'd imagine when, upon flipping one behind her back to pass, she fell nearly head first into a mountain of props dirty skulls and bones built up just behind the shredded veil.
Her quiet gasp attracted Ren's attention and he followed behind to peek above her shoulder, before they both pursued their visit.
It is all naturally the time came they reached the doors leading down to the cabins, especially the captain cabin, and they entered after one of the latest visitors came out.
Both Ren and her climbed down a curving flight of stairs, and she let her fingers trace the carved wave rollers, every droplet a contrast of white foam to the deep painted blues of the surfing waves. Vibrant turquoise seaweeds, coral and shells on a bank of molten gold sand replaced the waves as they progressed down. And there, breaching the heavy bushes of seaweed leaves, shadowy glowing, figures leaked. Two more steps and as sand and sea met in union, shiny scales unveiled themselves. Sparkling lavender here. Pale blue there. Svelte fishtails appeared everywhere at the next curve, and feminine bodies followed as the whole mermaids dropped from the shadows of the sea.
Many were foreign for her, though one was the distinct depiction of Ariel, and she smiled, glad this pirate ship leaned on the more fairy tale kind than the Caribbean movies had been.
After another couple of steps, they reached a corridor lightened by a lantern, forecasting nearly two dozen cabins right ahead. They passed the threshold of the captain's one, and the last visitor present crossed them, surprising her when she didn't see anyone else come after them. Thinking still, more might come, they both decided not to linger and went to visit the other cabins, before returning to the captain's. But most found to be very basic on what you could have expected. Berths in each of them, desk and chair too, sometimes the sleeping beds were hanging from the roofs of the rooms in hammocks. But that was about it. Only a couple were different. One represented the pantry of the ship, filled with goods. The other three clearly served as proper cabins for the actors of the show. But while they could get slight glimpses, it was clearly meant as private.
They returned in the depths the corridor, way down where the cabin of the captain was, surprised they hadn't crossed anyone else, as they finally took the time to admire the room. The desk was filled with inkers, scattered papers and scrolls. Navigating maps throned on the wood walls, and a pocket watch, gold, and heavy worn journals were set on the left cabinet. Splatters of ink adorned the edge of the russet wood desk and onto the light-brown carpet.
Marin knots hung on the wall. Glass cases with sabres inside. And again, the same artistic designs carved into the woods and painted.
But this time, a glorious ship, the perfect copy of the one they were on, had joined, battling the raging ocean in massive tumultuous waves.
A thick metal-edged trunk rested under, high enough it was reaching her hips, and as she detailed it, her mind finally picked on the absence of noise coming from upstairs. None of the cabins had their doors closed, and it didn't differ for this one, even as they stood in it.
With the number of people aboard, she would expect she would hear at least a light rumble of voices, even from here. In fact, she was pretty sure she had heard it when they had come down earlier.
But now? None.
She could emit a few guesses on the reason. Main one being the door had been closed momentarily to the outside sounds. But instead of wondering if they should go to verify or leave, she was just glad for the respite from the crowd. Not that it had been intolerable yet … just, the sudden quiet was too pleasant not to make good use of it.
Ren came near her and leaned on the bulky trunk, and she didn't drag before joining him in the same fashion. Minutes passed before he spoke.
"We will have to go back … or people will go down. Eventually."
She nodded.
"I know."
She looked around once more, starring at all the details featured in the cabin that felt so real.
"You knew about this, right?"She said, turning with a smile in his direction. One he returned as he replied.
"I knew there was a ship and shows," he admitted easily, "but I didn't know it would be this good. I ignored how much detailed they would have put into it."
She narrowed her eyes through her smile.
"But that was why you made it so we would get to this part of the castle at the end, right?"
He grinned.
"Yes, that was with intent."
"You knew I would like it."
His smile grew.
"I knew you would love it."
"Cunning fairy."
He chuckled.
Still smiling, she stood, roaming around the cabin, as hands and eyes followed after the route drawn by wave after wave of blue. The ship kept appearing on the murals, as if it were moving, and she kept her eyes on the fresco for the moment it would pass the storm, as the sun breached through the heavy clouds, and glittering mermaids came back to the surface.
Pivoting with a grin, Kyoko observed the messy maps piled, and plopped the captain hat on her head, looking in Ren's direction.
"This is so cool."
Ren stood, and joined her on the opposite side of the desk, craning his neck to peek at the papers, and she leaned over the desk, grabbing a writing feather from it. She barely caught the movement of Ren as he caught the ends of her hair, like earlier, and she looked at him with confusion.
"Your hair is going to get dirty." He explained, looking down at the desk, before shifting his head away.
"Ahh." She snorted, taking hold of his other hand and leading his fingers on the splatters on the wood. "I think it is pretty old paint made to look like ink spatters actually. All safe."
"Oh."He said, his fingers letting drift out her locks from his hold, and he rubbed his neck. "Sorry."
So adorable. That was twice he paid such attention to her hair like that.
Leaning again, she took the opportunity to peck his right cheek. "Thank you nonetheless." And their noses brushed as she began to straighten.
Ren's hand shot, grabbing her wrist before she could pull back completely, as their gazes locked.
His thumb rubbed against the inside of her wrist. Delicately. Repeatedly. She ignored if he was aware of it. Probably not. But little pleasurable chills were running up her arm for each rub his finger did.
His eyes, anguished, bored into her, and she couldn't understand the sudden intensity. There was a shredded weary begging roaring its way out in his strained expression. And, oddly enough, even as he was looking from above in reality, it seemed as if he was the one staring up at her, in her. As if she could grant all his prayers with a simple wave. The simplest of gesture.
"Kyoko…"He breathed, "I- … I–."He came closer, and the breach of his lips grew, as if those were begging for something as she fixated them.
What did he need? What could he need from her?
No. That wasn't the right question. What would she not give? He just had to ask. Whatever would be fine.
She lifted her left hand, brushing the side of his face. He very subtly leaned against it, and she rejoiced in the innocent gesture.
"What's the matter?"She whispered, and his eyes danced with conflict in them, but they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming closer on the wood corridor, and she dropped her hand when Ren turned his back to her, and returned to the trunk.
Seven people reached the captain's cabin, and it suddenly felt all very crowded in the formerly quiet room as they entered, and closed the door behind the last one, while Kyoko and Ren observed with perplexity when they all turned their eyes in their direction. There were three men that appeared to be young disguised sailors whom all looked with curiosity their way. Two others appeared to be excessively nervous, a tense man was staring at their shapes from head to toes on repeat, nearly immobile, but so on edge it was making Kyoko nervous. The second wrecked ball of nerves was a woman who kept pulling at her fingers and massaging her hands, and was shuffling all her toes on repeat.
The last woman was holding a touchpad pen and electronic notepad, and was looking at them with a predator vibe that made her uncomfortable. There was such an impatient eagerness coming from her as she grinned merrily, it made the urge to rub her gaze away from her.
An impressively sturdy man, barely a couple inches smaller than Ren, was the last of them, and he was wearing the kind of attires that made her think he might have been the person in charge. As well as the booming voice they had heard earlier.
"We apologize if we should have vacated the cabins earlier," began Ren, "we were visiting and no one else followed after us but since it was only for a couple of minutes, we didn't think you had closed the area."
The woman with her pen made a wave of the hand.
"It is not an issue. We were the ones to close the door early."
Ren frowned but replied anyway.
"Yes, that's why–"
"On purpose."
They both stood on alert, silent, as they waited for the explanation to come.
"We wanted to talk to the both of you."
Ren arched a brow.
"About?"Kyoko said.
"We would like to propose something to you," started the woman, but the beefy man gruffed a rough cough. The woman cleared her throat.
"Or rather, ask a huge favour out of you, if possible."
They both looked at each other, even more puzzled.
"What do you mean?"Ren asked.
"We saw you earlier, playing for the little girl."
Since none of the two knew where they were going with this, they just nodded and waited.
"You were pretty good."The tense man added.
"Thank you, but where–"
"We'd like you to replace the people who were supposed to do the next show."Blurted out the fidgeting woman, and she continued in a flurry of words. "The people who were supposed to come got into an accident and won't be there in time, and we cannot not present a show, and you were pretty good, and we know you were probably on a date but–"
Ohhh. Kyoko was starting to understand, she and Ren shared an amused glance.
The bulky man cleared her throat, and the anxious woman shut up abruptly.
"I see. I do have one question, though. When you said replace them … if it is for the whole duration of the shows, we do have lives and–?"Ren started.
"Oh, no. We just meant for today." Said the other woman, with the same eagerness.
"Today as in?"Kyoko then inquired.
"The midday show, starting in one hour and a little more than a half, to be exact."The massive man stretched with a sigh, and their eyes grew. They had no knowledge of the story, of the exchanges, or even any person they would play. To manage that in such a short time was-
"Wouldn't it be easier to ask the crew of the morning shows or evening ones?"She asked. Rather than ask complete strangers to do it was something she did not say aloud.
The woman with a pen tapped it on her notepad, and shook her head.
"It's three different shows. Not the same actors, not the same story."
"Can you not just propose twice the same performance, exceptionally?"Ren specified, and the woman shook her head again. "Even if we could, they have other obligations, they won't be able to make it in time."
She crossed her arms, and leaned her backside against the border of the desk. That was tougher to resolve.
"What do you mean by 'even if you could'?"Ren continued after a minute.
The substantial man in the suit took a step forwards.
" I'm Jo Al, their big boss," he introduced himself in a gruffed half smile but swift voice, "This is a new show. The whole pirate event is. The event, and thus the participants in it, are contracted to propose three different shows on days it is played. As a whole new entertaining area, it is regularly evaluated both by the public and by my superiors."He admitted.
"Aren't you the big boss here?" she said, dubious.
He nodded.
"But even I have to reply to someone, and Disney is pretty intransigent in producing perfection or getting rid of what doesn't work."He said with a grim expression that spoke from déjà-vu.
Ren took a step back, and she wondered what he was thinking. It was evident they wouldn't have come to them if they had another solution and were in a pretty tight spot, but imagining the two of them could figure out the whole show in such a short time was bonkers.
"Don't you have backups? Actors that can replace the main cast in case something like that happen?"Ren asked, adding. "I know it is something current in live shows."
Jo smiled at them like he was savouring something they were unaware of, but shook his head.
"You know your stuff pretty well, but no. As it is such a new show, it didn't earn its backups yet, besides a couple of little hands."
"But surely even the few present would know the show more than us."Kyoko said, looking in the direction of the three young sailors keeping silence by their side.
The tense man nodded.
"They do know the show, but that doesn't mean they can play it. They were hired for exactly what they are doing."
"We will title the show as unavailable if we really ought to," Jo said with a shrug, before giving a hard gaze to the others, "but it would be really bad press for such a new event, so I would rather not."
She also gathered at what they were not saying. It was not just about the public, it would probably be sticking their necks to be cut out, if the whole pirate shows were still on trial.
"There was no harm in asking, after all."Mumbled the nervous woman.
She sighed, giving an eye to Ren who was staring at the wall, clearing sorting out the feasibility. They were asking for a miracle.
"We won't have time to know the cast here, to even coordinate,"Kyoko said, though it was not even the main issue. "How many are still present?"
Both Jo and the pen girl grinned, and she furrowed her brows as they replied.
"A dozen sailors."
She opened her mouth to protest the whole utility of asking them if they had so many, but they cut her intent.
"They can fight with swords, play mock hands fights, attack and scream, and are not so bad with coordination with a good lead," he added for her, "but they don't have much text, usually none besides screams. They are more like stuntmen than actors in many ways."
She understood their dilemma a whole lot better now. She sighed.
Jo pointed at the tense man.
"Jack is the lone more experienced actor we still have at the time."
Ren turned back their way, a resigned and apologetic expression to face them.
"That is far from being the primary issue."He said, waving a hand. "There is no way we are memorizing the story and the text, context and dialogue in–he looked at the old-fashioned clock on the wood wall–an hour and twenty-five minutes."
The seven of them nodded at once.
"We know. That's not what we are asking."The pen girl said with a smile.
"Then what–"
"How far from amateurs are you?" cut Jo, and Kyoko starred at him.
"Don't look so shocked," he grunted out, another half-smile pulling. " Your questions. Far too precise. Too knowledgeable of the ways things work in the business. Right to the core of the matter. You also didn't act like it was a first, from what I noticed with your little performance earlier."
"It could have been luck, but–" the tense Jack commented, their boss shook his head no, before turning again to them.
"So?"
"Is that so important?"Kyoko asked, wondering what was alright to say.
"The level of the favour we are asking out of you might change, as well as what we can expect," The pen girl said, "and yes, we know that so far, your response doesn't look good for us."
She heard Ren sigh, and she shot him a look, he shrugged. Fine. Alright. The mere fact he hadn't already said no for his part spoke enough of his interest. Even with the prospects. They really did think too alike sometimes. She grinned at him, and returned his shrug, giving him the go from her side, if he wanted to divulge something.
He turned back in their direction.
"It is our profession."
The smile on Jo's face turned feral.
"To which point?"
Ren gave them their names.
The pen-girl hurried into googling it, and with her, both their boss and Jack leaned over her shoulder.
They saw each of the pair of eyes enlarge for each scroll that passed, and with those, smiles grew. When they finally looked up, Kyoko was positive she felt like prey in front of eagles.
"Damn … I saw you in several movies." Jack said at the intention of Ren. "BJ is scary as hell."
Ren bowed lightly, and she couldn't help her secret smile, knowing the habit from his time in Japan even if it were not done here.
"I remember seeing The Artist," the pen girl said, looking at her, "it was heart-wrenching."
"Thank you."
"I saw both of you in several things. On vacation?" their boss finally asked to them.
"Somewhat."Ren replied.
"You will pardon my franchise but … Jackpot?"Jack attempted with his first smile, appearing way more chill than before.
They both chuckled.
"We didn't say yes, yet."Kyoko said.
"There is still no way we are memorizing your whole show in a little more than one hour."Ren reminded them, and she had to agree. As much as she'd like to accept, the only person that could do that would be Kanae. And it was only for the dialogues. It didn't take into account the whole context, motions and displacements, action parts.
"We wouldn't expect you to."
Then what? What could they have in mind?
"With your talent, I think we can ask."
"You are far from rookies but full-fledged professionals, so…"Jack started. " … if there is anyone that can do it, it would be you."
More and more confusing. Where were they going with this?
"What if we gave you free rein?"Proposed Jo with a wicked expression.
She froze.
Wait.
They weren't saying–
"No need to remember anything, no pre-established context or story, no dialogues, and as said, the sailors can coordinate on basic moves pretty easily."
Impro. They wanted them to improvise.
"Full improvisation?"She questioned.
Jo nodded, and everyone after him too.
"We never had actors good enough to even imagine that could be a possibility before, but with you…"
That was yet another thing altogether. They would need to go purely on what they felt was right, imagine the whole thing, no, go purely on instinct and imagination of the instant. But there would be no restriction whatsoever, and she would have Ren as partner.
"It would probably mean what we will do would be very far from what you had in your show, in your script," Ren warned. "The story would surely be very different. It would only be based on Kyoko and I sensibilities and imagination."
They nodded, nearly without any hesitation at all. And he was right, without any clue on what was supposed to happen, they would both only act based on the actions of the other and their own perspective on what pirates might do. Or the character they will act might do.
"It might even be better that you don't even read the original story planned. Not to confuse you at all."Jack said, and their boss gave a sharp nod.
That would be intense and challenging, and they had so little time to prepare.
She shifted her centre to face Ren, staring at him.
"If it is impro…"
He grinned, his gaze boring back into hers.
"If it is impro…"
"We can do it."They both said at once, and his eyes glowed with the prospect of acting and the challenge ahead, making her heart first race at the rightness of it all, before it melted at his next words. "And there is only one person I know I could do this with, in such a narrow time."
"Plus, the fact we know each other so well will sure come in handy in this situation."She added with a soft grin.
They turned back to the seven other people in the room.
"We are in."They said.
Their boss thanked them while everyone else cheered.
"We know it is a pretty big request, and you have no idea how grateful we are you accepted."
Ren smiled at him but waved it away as unimportant, and she understood. Now that they had taken the decision, there was more urgent.
"I suppose you have costumes or outfits we could borrow." He said, and frowned when more grimaces bloomed on the many faces.
"That's the other issue," the pen girl said, "all the costumes are with the main cast, in the trunk of their car to be exact."
"You have nothing?" Ren asked darkly, and for the first time, he seemed a bit angry. Kyoko suspected his professional soul might have felt outraged by their lack of preparation.
The anxious girl recoiled a bit at his tone, but the pen girl held her ground as she replied.
"We still have the weapons, and the hats, and a couple cloaks."She protested. "But … for the rest, it is only bits and parts of clothes."She admitted looking crushed.
"I dare say we are pretty good in your profession," Ren started, "but between the improvisation and the lack of proper outfit, it will not help to sell the deal to the public."
Hearing this, they all took a crushed expression, and while she sympathized, she couldn't help but agree with Ren.
Yet, something was still circling in her mind. Bits and parts, she had said.
"Can I see the pieces?"Kyoko asked, and they looked frozen, their stares locked on her.
"There is no time to lose. Can I see the room with those bits?"
The pen girl nodded, and led both her and Ren–and everyone really–to a room adjoined to the dressing rooms they had spotted earlier.
They penetrated inside, and she took a turn of the room, opening a few of the trunks and drawers. Soon, she was grinning. She pivoted.
"That, I think I can handle."
PS: Well, to my surprise. Or maybe not? Who knows? Here I am with another chapter. And the further we go, the less I will give clues to you all in footnotes, muahaha. But sweet bunnies, do not forget to read the titles as we go on.
Kisses to you all, I hope you are all happy, bubbly, healthy. And I wish you a good beginning of September.
Mimagfan,
AUTHOT OUT.