Lore: Voyage to Ighten

[Soran Nightblade]

Thread Started by Emora Deen on November 11th, 2004

Emora:

The ship was a nice one with white sails and a clean deck. The sails were up and the wind had caught them. It wasn't long until you could barely see the capital city of Ongoreth. Shinobu had made her way to the main deck and stood at the stern of the ship looking back at her home kingdom. This was the first time she had ever done something like this...

She felt this strange sickening feeling in her stomach every time the ship moved around... which was all the time. It wasn't to bad, and she surprised the sickening feeling well enough.

She looked around, wondering where Kyosuke had gotten off too, probably playing with the minds of these poor fools. She looked out of the corner of her eye, pushing the hair from her face that had come out of it's bun and flowed in the wind gently, she was being watched, she could feel it.

Kyosuke:

In fact, Kyosuke was not messing around with the sailor's minds. Well, maybe he was. If any of them thought of taking advantage of the small "woman" they would have second thoughts about it. Kyosuke was practicing katas on the deck.

Strangely enough, despite the fact that he could not keep good balance on horseback, he had impeccable balance on the swaying ship. The sways rarely caused him to misstep at all and the few times he did he managed to adjust himself before he fell.

Emora:

Shinobu turned to find Kyosuke not to far away practicing. She smiled at him before leaning against the railing to the back of the ship and looking at the clear water that was bellow them. It made her rather dizzy, but she was getting used to it.

She noticed when looking back at Kyosuke that some of the crew men found it facinating, the actions he was making. She chuckled lightly.

How was it so hard for them to see he was a boy?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke quickly moved from kata to kata. He ran through single katana and double katana as well as nodachi katas. He longed to use his newly created three sword style, but he had no targets to practice it on. The bodyguard looked menacingly towards the sailors admiring him, then smiled, deciding against doing what he just thought of.

Emora:

The sun set some hours later and the day seemed to have flown by to Shinobu. "Lady," the captain called to her and she smiled at him as he smiled at her. "Time to eat."

Shinobu was just about to yell his name across the ship to get his attention when she remembered he was supposed to be a girl and she didn't know if he wanted to use his name or not... She decided he would notice if they were going in or not and follow soon after.

She walked in through a door way and down a ladder to a hall. They led her to a room that had a long table at which a good number of burly men were seated at.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke noted Shinobu leaving out of the corner of his eyes. Finishing his double katana kata, he threw them into the air and brought their sheathes out to let the swords fall into them. The bodyguard ran off to follow inside. Finding his way to the room, he entered and sat down next to Shinobu, pretending to be oblivious to the stares he was getting.

Emora:

Shinobu was seated at the end of the table where the captain was seated at the head with her. Beside her was a brute of a man with broad shoulders and a grumpy look on his face. He had a cigar in his mouth and the smoke was filling the small room and Shinbou felt rather sufficated and sick from the rocking of the boat.

She waved to Kyosuke with a forced smile on her face. They wouldn't be in the small room for long, just long enough to eat.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke noted the somewhat sick expression on Shinobu's face as he walked in. He let out a slight cough from the smoke that was now filling the air and noted that the man that was smoking was sitting next to his employer. Taking the two into account, Kyosuke bowed to the captain. "It would seem that Shinobu-dono seems somewhat sea sick right now? Can we eat our meal on the deck instead of in here?" Kyosuke asked.

He hoped the captain wouldn't take offense to the seeming refusal to dine with him. The samurai didn't even ask about the man smoking next to Shinobu, not wanting to cause an incident with that man either.

Emora:

The captain looked at Shinobu and she smiled sweetly. "It seems she does look rather ill... it is a nice afternoon outside and a good amount of lanters will do well to light our table. My lady, if you and our body guard will go on up to the deck we will have everything up in a sec."

Shinobu smiled again and got up from her seat on the bench. She walked out of the door and waited for Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke bowed to the captain again. "Thank you captain," he said and followed Shinobu out. The two walked towards the deck. "You're feeling somewhat sea sick in addition to being next to the man that was smoking right?" he asked.

Emora:

"Yes," Shinobu said and nodded. "Thanks, I was going to try and sit it out, but you said something so now I won't have to pretend," she said and smiled warmly to her friend.

With in minutes the crew was carrying up a table from bellow the decks, they seemed to be having a time with it, but amazingly enough all the food was kept on! Though, they brought the drinks out separately. They sat the table down and went back to there seats while a skinny little cabin boy placed lanterns on the table.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke let out a whistle. "Wow, when the captain agrees to have guests, he really goes all out on the service. I woulda been happy if they just brought the plates and food up and we ate on the floor," he said. He nodded to the men that came up with the food. "Thanks guys!"

The samurai motioned for Shinobu to sit down first then followed suit. He picked up the knife and fork offered to him and looked at them strangely. "Man, I'm too used to using chopsticks now, but these'll do I guess," he said and picked the whole steak on his plate with the fork and started chewing on it.

Emora:

Shinobu looked at him for a moment and smiled. She looked at the knife and fork too. The men at the table were watching Kyosuke eat with strange expressions. The captain as well. "Nice eating manners for a lady," he said chuckling.

Shinobu watched how the others ate with them and she noticed that they ate about the same way as Kyosuke, except they bothered to use the knife. She cut her food, though the sea sickness made her not want to eat. She ate any way, getting the hang of using the utensils as she went.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke bit out a chunk from the steak and chewed it. While he was chewing, he noted the manner in which the fork and knife should have been used as one. Coughing politely, he followed suit, using the knife to cut pieces off before he ate them.

"So captain, how long will it be before we reach Ighten?" Kyosuke asked.

Emora:

"Depends on the weather," the Captain said and smiled. "If it's windy and sunny we should reach it in at few days, Ongoreth isn't that far off the coast. If it's a storm... we might not make it there at all..."

Shinobu's head came up and she looked at him with surprised eyes. He looked completely serious for a moment and then he busted out in laughter. "Lady, I only be joking... we'll make it there. You've never been on a ship before have ya?"

“No,” Shinobu admitted and sighed in relief.

Kyosuke:

"Well, if there was a storm and this ship was really rickety then I'd be worried," Kyosuke said. He then ate another piece of steak. "But I'm pretty sure this isn't one." The samurai finished off the last of his steak and he stretched his arms upward. "Ah, that was a tasty meal."

Emora:

Shinobu finished her meal as well and noticed they all were finished. "It was very good, thank you," Shinobu said politely and smiled to the captain.

"You're welcome," he said and grinned. "It's good to have the presence of two lovely ladies."

"Aye."

Shinobu looked around and they were all smiling, some had creepy smiles, but other's were just playful.

"Well, thank you for the ride your giving use," Shinobu said and bowed her head, taking her hands from the napkin on the table and placing them in her lap.

"Ya, welcome," he said and smiled.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke stood up from his seat. "I'm going to go back to training now," the samurai said and walked off to another part of the deck. He removed his swords from the place on his belt, and started running through martial arts katas. He used his small body to his advantage and went through fast paced motions, picturing a larger opponent before him, sometimes with a weapon, sometimes without.

Emora:

Shinobu rose from her seat also. She bowed to the men and rose again. "I think I'll go to my room and get some sleep," she said and before she did she went to Kyosuke. "Sorry to disturb you." She smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that I was going to bed. Will you be alright with these hormon crazed men?" she asked with a warm smile. She knew very well he could handle himself.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke waved his hand in an offhanded manner. "You know I'll be alright Shinobu-dono," he said. "Just go get some rest, it'll help the sea sickness you've got." Kyosuke went back to do his katas, using weaving motions of his upper body to avoid his imaginary opponents punches. Then he started to do some shadow boxing.

Emora:

Shinobu nodded and turned to walk to the door. When she got to it she walked opened it and walked down the steps and then down the hall. She thought she was going down the right hall. She counted the doors and opened the one she thought was her room. It wasn't... it seemed to be a holding cell or something. "Curiosity killed the cat," was the perfect saying for Shinobu.

She stepped inside and through the light that shined in through the porthole she could see a room filled with bodies! She covered her mouth quickly and went to step back when something grabbed her ankle and she fell back onto the floor. She looked down and there was a half starved man. He had a uniform on and on the arm it had the sun symbol for Ighten. He was trying to say something... but he couldn't... he died.

Shinobu pried his hand off her ankle and she left the room quickly, closing the door behind her. She didn't know what to do... She was confused... but she had a feeling that the ship had belonged to those people before they were thrown into that place.

Kyosuke:

Kyoshiro finished up with his shadow boxing and wiped the sweat off his brow with his sleeve. "Is there something I can do for you two?" he asked. Two sailors were approaching him from behind.

One of them smiled. "How would you like to be with a real man hmm?" one asked.

"Or maybe two at once?" the other added.

"Sorry, not interested," the samurai replied.

"Too bad, we're gonna have to make you then!" the second one yelled before the two pounced at the feminine man.

Kyosuke smirked. "Sorry, if you haven't noticed, I'm a man." That stopped both of them in their tracks at which point he knocked the two out with a hook kick to the temple each. "Idiots. But I should look for Shinobu-dono now..." The samurai ran off, looking for the woman.

Emora:

Shinobu was clambering up a ladder into another part of the ship. When she reached the top she saw a pair of black boots.

"Why, my lady, what are you doing down there?" the Captain asked and looked at her with a smile.

"I... I got lost, this ship is amazing and I've never been on one... I think I went down the wrong hall..." she said and smiled slightly.

He held down a hand and she hesitated a moment before taking it. He helped her up onto his level and motioned for her to walk in front of him. She did, but her whole body was rigged. She had a bad feeling about this all. She wanted to find Kyosuke.

"Something wrong, my lady?" he asked and she glanced at him. He had a completely pleasant smile.

"No... I'm still a little sea sick," Shinobu said and sighed when she turned and stepped forward, running into the tall brute who had been sitting beside her with the cigar. He had a another one in his mouth and he blew the smoke at her.

“We got lots a ways of curing sea sickness,” the captain said.

“Lots,” the other agreed and nodded his head.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ran down hallway after hallway, not knowing exactly where he was. "Tch, where the hell could Shinobu be?" he asked himself. "If these men are willing to try that on me, they could try on Shinobu-dono too." Kyosuke continued to run down hall after hall before he was stopped by another sailor. As before, the sailor tried to make an advance on the samurai, and the samurai replied in the same manner, save for the type of kick he used to knock the man out.

Emora:

Shinobu jerked and kicked as two of the captains men dragged Shinobu onto the deck of the ship. She managed to wiggle free from the grip and use one of the defense maneuvers that Kyosuke hade taught her, but as soon as that one was gone another came and she didn't have time to react. Most of the crew was on the top deck cheering.

"Where's the other one?" one asked and grinned, showing his horribly ugly teeth. He reached out a hand for Shinobu to touch her hair and she kicked him right in the face, breaking his nose.

She was drug into the Captains quarters and slung onto the overly cushioned bed that was very high off the floor. "Find the other one boys and you play with her while I test this one..." he closed the door behind him and turned.

There was only one other man left in the room and that was the cigar man. "I wouldn't try this..."

"And why not, it's not like there is any one going to stop me..."

"Why can't you people visit brothels like normal men," Shinobu asked as they advanced on her and she was in between them and a walled in bed.

"It's not the same as seeing the look of fear on a pretty ladies face..." the captain said.

“You’ll regret this.”

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke calmed his mind down, running around aimlessly would accomplish nothing. "I'll ask the next guy who approaches me about the location of Shinobu-dono, if there intentions towards her are the same as to me, they must have grouped together for their little 'fun'" he said to himself.

"And speak of the devil," Kyosuke added, seeing another group of three men approach him. This time, the samurai drew his two katana and ran two through the neck with them, he glared at the third one, pulling the two blades out and pressing them close to his jugular. "Where is Shinobu-dono?" he asked, voice like death. The sailor was left shivering at the tone.

Emora:

Shinobu was being crushed by the heavy body of the captain as his hands roamed voer her clumsily. "I don't think I'll regret this at all," he said and smiled her, kissing her neck.

"You will, when Kyosuke gets here, you will," she said and pushed with all her might, but it did nothing. She hated when she wasn't strong enough.

"Whose Kyosuke?" he asked, stumbling over the name as if he couldn't prenounce it right.

"You'll see," Shinobu said, trying to be as brave as she could be.

Kyosuke:

The sailor led Kyosuke to the captain's room, having wet his pants earlier. Before getting there, the samurai had to slice apart a few more people that got in his way. When they got there, Kyosuke heard Shinobu through the door. "Well, as your reward for leading me here, I'll leave you alive," he said and with that he slammed the blunt edge of the blade into the man's head.

"Here I come captain!" Kyosuke shouted and sliced down the door. Revealing the captain molesting Shinobu. "Get your hands off of her now." The small samurai's voice had returned back to being cold and deadly.

Emora:

The captain looked at him, a little surprised to find a lady with such a tone of voice. He smiled at him and then looked back at Shinobu. "This is Kyosuke I take it?" he asked and looked back up. "I quite like where my hands are... but I can always begin again later," he said getting off of Shinobu and pulled her to her feet.

He slung her into the arms of the cigar man who held her fast. She looked pale, yet had a certain strength in her eyes. Her kimono was a little loose and hung off the shoulder slightly on one side. She was so happy to see Kyosuke she could kiss him.

"Well, what ever you are, what do you plan on doing about it?" he asked and pulled his curved blade. "It's not nice to interrupt people."

Kyosuke:

"Well," Kyosuke said, reaching into his pocket. "I bought this stuff so we wouldn't need to work too hard on building a fire while camping, but I could use it now too." Kyosuke brought out a small canister of oil and some flint. "Y'know, if there's a fire on a boat, the people on it are all screwed." There's nowhere to run on a boat captain." The samurai was smiling dangerously.

Emora:

"Now wait a minute, this is your ride to," he said holding up his hands.

"I can swim pretty good, Kyosuke," Shinobu said, very proud of him for being so clever. She only hoped he could swim really good too. There was difference in swimming a few feet and swimming a few miles. She didn't even know if she could swim miles.

"No, don't go doing anything rash, we were just having a little fun," the captain said, stepping forward.

Kyosuke:

"Of course, if this is gonna happen to us, I think I'd rather us all die," Kyosuke smiled. "I could probably kill you all without too much effort also you know, but then it'd be troublesome to have to steer the ship by myself." The samurai smirked dangerously.

Emora:

Shinobu squirmed in the man's grip. She stomped his toes and when he bent forward she swung her head back, smacking him in the face. He let her go and she turned in a fluent moment and pulled his sword and poked him in the stomach.

"Now boy, it's alright. I'm sure we can strike a bargain. We'll give you safe passage, no trouble at all, swear it on me soul. But, now you're paying customers and I require a little amount for your safety and a little about for our voyage..." He smiled a perfectly innocent smile and glanced at Shinobu. "Money and the lady."

"No," Shinobu said and glared coldly. She had, had enough of this. She stabbed the cigar smoking man in the stomach and walked to the captain, holding the blood sword to his throat. "Safe passage or your life."

"I wasn't asking you," the captain said.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled cheerfully. "Now why would I do that when I have the advantage in bargaining right now?" Kyosuke asked. He noted the captain's gaze and already sense the presence behind him. The samurai stabbed backwards and killed the man he had earlier spared. "If you didn't try that you would still be alive right now," Kyosuke coldly said.

Emora:

"Just thought you might be stupider than you look..." the man began and shrugged. "Worth a try. After all... look what I'd get out of it."

Shinobu poked his neck with the sword and he flinched slightly. "We will not be harmed in any way, you will take us to Ighten and that will be the end of our relationship."

"Look, I'm talking to the kid here..."

"And I've had enough of your bargaining skills," Shinobu replied coldly.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled cheerfully. He started to toss the bottle of oil up and down and walked towards the cigar smoking man. His cigar had fallen out of his mouth and was still lit. "Ah, wouldn't it be bad if I dropped the bottle now? It might break right here and catch on fire. You should really listen to Shinobu-dono or accidents can happen," Kyosuke said, throwing the bottle higher and higher, and taking longer to catch each time.

Emora:

"Ah... alright!" he said and sighed heavily. "Alright."

"And you will bother us no more," Shinobu said and wanted so much to slit his throat when she thought of the way he had handled her.

"Alright!" She hadn't even realized she was poking hard into his neck.

"You will sleep on deck and we will take your quarters," Shinobu said and he hesitated for a moment. "I can kill you and still order these people around." She was being more hostile than her usual self. He nodded.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled. "And don't pull anything tricky later on. I'm sure you know the consequences," he said. "And send some of your sailors in to clean up all the dead bodies. They'll start stinking up soon."


Emora:

The captain nodded and left, soon two people came in and dragged the body out. When they had all gone and she could hear the orders be called out she dropped the curved blade of the sword and sighed heavily. She moved over and sat down in a creaking chair. She pulled her kimono back onto her shoulder. "Thank you," she said to Kyosuke and looked at him. "You're not hurt are you?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Kyosuke:

"Na, I'm fine," Kyosuke said, putting away the oil and flint he had. "Anyway, I think I managed to scare them enough to leave us alone for the rest of the trip. I don't want to trust the food they make from now on either, so we should start living off of our rations too. What do you think?"

Emora:

"I agree," Shinobu said and nodded as she rose from her seat. "I also think... were going to have problems. It won't take them long to realize that they have numbers and all we have is oil. They might be able to over power us... but I have faith that you will come through. You always do. I don't know what I'd do with out you or where I'd be. I owe you so much and I don't know how to repay you for what you've done. That's they third time you've saved me from that sort of fate. Am I wrong in thinking they tried to treat you the same way?"

Kyosuke:

"Keh, all we have is oil huh?" Kyosuke asked. "The captain already realizes that, and he's scared of that fact. As of now, we're still close enough to shore that we could probably swim back. Or at least he thinks we're confident enough in our ability to swim back, it's still a difficult distance to swim. He may give us problems when it becomes too far for anybody to swim back, but as of now, if i set fire to the ship, all of them will most likely die and he believes that we will make it back."

Emora:

Shinobu nodded, knowing he spoke the truth. "What now?" she asked quietly, smothing out her Kimono which was a bit ruffled and out of place.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled dangerously again. "I wasn't bluffing when I said I could kill them all you know. "It's not that hard to convince them to take us to Ighten after we kill a few of them." Kyosuke sat down on the floor. "I wonder what kinda people they are to get a ship though. Pirates? Slave traders? Or maybe they just stole a ship." The samurai sighed.

Emora:

"I was trying to find my room earlier and I was wondering around bellow deck. I found a room field with Ighten sailors, they were dead... well all except one," Shinobu said and looked at him. "They must have stole the ship, and killed the crew... but why keep them on board when they could dump the bodies over board..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke looked up, grimacing. He played with the hilt of his katana and said, "Well, it looks like something else we have to figure out when we attack them. Now whether or not they're going to attack us I will have to kill them all." Kyosuke shrugged, a cold look in his eyes.

Emora:

Shinobu shivered when she looked at his eyes. They seemed unusually cold. She wondered what could have happened for him to look so cold and deadly. "Can you take them all on and live?" she asked not sure if she should ask him what was wrong with him. "I'll help you... but do you think we can win?"

Kyosuke:

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. The only one who may give me trouble is the captain, but as long as I take care of his men first I should be fine without distractions. I don't like it when people are killed for bad reasons," Kyosuke said. "So depending on the answer to why they killed the men, it may end their lives. We can't have that many of those kinds of people around."

Emora:

Shinobu nodded, she agreed with him. They didn't need many of these people around at all. She watched him for a few more moments looking at him with a concerned look. There seemed to be something wrong. "Something troubles you, no?" Shinobu asked lightly, hoping it would not bother him if she asked.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shook his head. "Not really. I'm just hoping they don't decide to take us somewhere else. I don't know the sea well enough to know if they took us off course."

Emora:

Shinobu froze, she hadn't even thought of that. That was her problem, she hadn't been thinking lately. "I'm sorry I got you into this, if I hadn't have taken a ride then this wouldn't have happened at all... I'm sorry." Shinobu rose and walked to a w window that took up most of the back of the room. They were at the back of the ship. She looked out it, watching the waves. "I guess I need to start using my head again, I've been so ridiculously idiotic lately."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke waved his hand idly. "Don't worry about it. If I didn't want to go I wouldn't have came. It was my choice to come." Kyosuke lay back and sighed. "Man, this is gonna be a boring trip though.

Emora:

Shinobu nodded and looked out the window. "That it will be... I don't know what we could do to keep ourselves entertained..." she looked back at him, for some reason something seemed different about him, he ddin't seem as cold though.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed. "Anyway, it's getting late, go to bed, I'll take first watch," he said. Kyosuke walked over to the door and made sure it was locked. The samurai sat down next to the bed.

Emora:

Shinobu nodded and climbed onto the bed looking at it wearly, flash backs running through her mind. She pushed them a side and laid her head down, closing her eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep.

Kyosuke:

The night was fairly uneventful. Kyosuke just sat there, not letting his guard down. Every once in a while he would get up and look outside the porthole. The samurai stayed awake the whole night, waiting for Shinobu to wake up to take her shift rather than wake her up for one.

Emora:

Shinobu woke up, but didn't see how she had. She usually didn't wake up in the middle of the night unless something was telling her too. She rose up to find the samurai looking out the port whole. She rose out of the bed and walked over to him, putting her elegant hand on his arm. "Go to sleep my friend, I will watch for the rest of the night," she said softly, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. He was still fully conscious but figured that it was fine to let Shinobu take over. He closed his eyes while still sitting against the wall and fell into a peaceful rest.

Emora:

"You could have had the bed," she murmered when she saw him fall a sleep leaning against a wall. She sat down in the rickedy chair and looked at the door Kyosuke had cut down to save her and the window. She saw something go passed it and it startled her at first. "What..." she said walking towards the window. Nothing was there. She shrugged turning around to find the captain standing, he looked odd though and when she blinked her eyes he was gone. She shook her head... The stress was getting to her...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's consciousness flicked in his sleep. The presence of danger was there but suddenly disappeared again. His slumber was left undisturbed until another incident like that happened again.

Emora:

Shinobu sat down in the rickety chair and stared out the window for a moment. I could have sworn I saw... But.... how could he go in less than a mili-second? Maybe I'm going crazy... Or maybe I'm just really stressed out.

"Or maybe you really did see me," a voice came from above her. She looked up to see the captain holding on to the top of the roof with his claws. He had fangs coming out of his mouth!

Shinobu gasped and pushed herself out of her chair quickly. Before she could worn Kyosuke the Captain had lifted him up by his hair. Shinobu rushed forward. "Let him go!"

"Not until he has joined out little pack," the captain said. He wanted to turn Kyosuke into... whatever he was?! "A vampire."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's eyes shot open open the moment he was lifted up. In one motion his hand went to his katana and it was drawn out, cutting the offending arm off. Kyosuke landed neatly on the floor, seeing as it wasn't much of a drop. He glared coldly at the captain. "What do you want?"

Emora:

((OOC: sorry if this is taking a turn for the stupid... my mind has totally run out of ideas lately...))

"Why... you impressed me to day little one... I thought you would make a fine addition to my family," he said and picked up his arm of the floor. He looked at it as it disappeared and then reappeared attached again. "Nothing more than that."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sneered. "Keh, not interested pal," he said. He moved towards Shinobu and put his free hand on her shoulder, moving her behind himself and backing near the wall where the porthole was. "Stay near me Shinobu-dono." After saying that, Kyosuke drew his second katana.

Emora:

Shinobu looked worried for Kyosuke as he pushed her behind him. She wanted to get in front of him and protect him. They were after him, not her. She should be protecting him for once. Shinobu ran to a corner, seeing her Katana, the captain must have pulled it off when trying to force himself upon her.

"Too bad you're a man," the captain said. "I was fancying having you as a consort. I would have had the both of you to my bed. Alas... one will have to do and the new addition to my family and Shea's family would be even better than what I had planned. No matter how many times you strike me I can not die. I am the undead. When we reach Ighten is where the real fun begins. I will let you run... it's more sporting to catch prey when there free." He laughed and walked out of the room.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke turned his head towards Shinobu, but kept his eyes pointed to the vampire in front of him. "Say, how much do you know about these undead things anyway?" he whispered softly. "And do you know how to kill them?"

Emora:

Shinobu looked at him as she stood behind him and whispered back. "Nothing..." she said and looked from the vampire as she watched him walk out to Kyosuke. "I don't know what a vampire is really... I think it has something to do with drinking blood... but that's about it." She had never come in contact with one before and had only ever heard of them from her stories of Vladimir Dracul.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke muttered under his breath, "Well, let's hope they can't teleport." The samurai sheathed a katana and drew his nodachi and ran towards the vampire. In that charging motion he stabbed forward and the nodachi went through the vampire's chest all the way down to the hilt, pinning the vampire to the wall. In another motion, he stabbed his katana through the heart and drew it back, hoping that even the undead's weakness is its heart.

Emora:

The vampire laughed and laughed as if it was all very funny to him. "Yep, you will make a fine addition!" he called and looked at him, pulling Kyosuke closer. "Your aims right boy... you just got the wrong weapon."

He pushed himself the wall and lifted Kyosuke by the throat, throwing him into a wall. "Until Ighten boy," he said and disappeared.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke coughed a few times, rubbing his throat. "Dammit. Wrong weapon? What could I use then?" Kyosuke pulled himself out of the wall and recovered the nodachi which was now on the ground and resheathed it.

The samurai turned towards Shinobu. "Shinobu-dono, are you alright?"

Emora:

Shinobu walked to him and pushed him back onto the bed. Putting her hands on his neck and looking to over to find claw marks. "I'm fine, but there is no need to worry about me, he was after you silly," she said trying to lighten the mood by adding "silly" into it.

"Are you alright?" she asked knowing it was a stupid question, but she asked anyway.

Kyosuke:

"Yeah, he's a quick little sucker though," Kyosuke said. "Since he wants to hunt me as a sport, we can probably safely assume that he will take us to Ighten. I just wanna figure out what weapon is the right one to kill him with."

Emora:

"I heard the undead were immortal.... and I always thought that even if you were an immortal that if you lost your head you would still die... but I don't know," Shinobu said and shrugged rummaging through some cabinets to find something to wipe his claw marks down with.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's eye twitched. "Say, why didn't you tell me that about the undead before I decided to charge in?" he asked. "It really coulda been useful. Ah well, it doesn't matter, I can use it next time."

Emora:

"Sorry..." Shinobu said and looked at him for a moment. "I was just a little worried about you." She pulled down a vile of something and a rag. She read the vile and put it back in the cabinet... basically because she didn't understand the language it was in. "I wanted to put something on those claw marks... but I can't read any of the things on the front of these viles..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "We have some ointment in the bag used to treat cuts. You could probably use that," the samurai said. He sat down on the floor again. "Didn't he say something about his and Shea's family? Who's Shea?"

Emora:

Shinobu pulled the ointment out and walked towards him, kneeling in front of him as he sat on the bed which she had pushed him on while he was still recovering from his landing. "Shea... well, most people know her as the Witch Queen and not Shea.... Queen Shea, Queen Sinead's sister, Shea ruler of Arken and all it's great demons. She even has power over these... vampires."

Kyosuke:

"Oh, so she has control over demons then," Kyosuke said. "I should probably figure out the situation on the continent better than I know right now." Kyosuke let Shinobu take care of the claw marks he had and just sat patiently.

Emora:

"There, maybe it won't get infected," she said putting the ointment away and sitting down in her chair. "What if they come in all at once..." she said and that is what she had been thinking about for the most part. "What if they don't wait until we get to Ighten..."

Kyosuke:

The samurai grimaced. "If they DO decide to all attack at once, I'll have to kill them all. I don't think the crew is undead, only the captain. They would have regenerated otherwise. However, if we discover that they ARE undead, then we'll have to escape to a lifeboat."

Emora:

"I think your right, I think if they were all undead they would have came in here a while ago and dragged us out there..." she said and looked at him. "If you want you can go back to sleep... I'll wake you if something happens. You need your sleep."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. He hoped that the rest of the night would be uneventful and fell asleep on the bed. He would worry about anything else that happened after he woke up.

Emora:

((OOC: you can control the captain any time you want I'm sort of running out of ideas... I'm so sorry!))

Shinobu sat in the chair, watching the door. She didn't fall a sleep or get drowsy or anything the whole night. Maybe it was the threat of that vampire coming back. She didn't know, but she was wide awake.

Kyosuke:

(OOC: Would you mind if we just make most of the rest of the trip uneventful and just skipped to near the end of it? Being stuck in a room can only be so repetitive)

Kyosuke slept like a rock for the rest of the night. There were no disturbances to wake the sleeping samurai up save for the rays of the morning sun entering through the porthole to strike Kyosuke in the face. He opened his eyes and blinked lazily a few times before yawning and sitting up. "Good morning Shinobu-dono," he said.

Emora:

((OOC: Exactly what I was thinking ))

Shinobu smiled at him. "Good morning," she said and yawned. "Nothing happened." And nothing would happen. Nothing seemed to happen at all for the rest of the trip to Ighten as if the vampire was afraid he was giving Kyosuke to many hints.

Upon the morning they reached Lowight, the port to Ighten and the capital city, the captain came to tell them that they had arrived.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully and looked to Kyosuke. "I hope you've rested up boy, you've got a lot of running to do..." He turned. "I'd get off this ship before any more trouble is started between you and my men." Then, he left them.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke glared daggers at the vampire. Walking out slowly, the samurai looked around to make sure they would not be attacked. What he saw was that nobody was in the hallways. Kyosuke nodded to Shinobu, "The way hall is clear." The two walked out and towards the direction of the deck.

Emora:

When Shinobu and Kyosuke reached the deck she found that they were gathered there, forming a path way by standing on either side that led to the gang plank off the ship. She kept her hand on her katana and stayed close to Kyosuke.

"I'll give you a five minute head start," she heard the captains voice say from the bow of the ship. He was standing on the top floor of the deck. "Lose the girl, she'll only slow you down."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled. "You know, this is perfect. Everyone is gathered here right?" Kyosuke asked. At the captain's nod, Kyosuke continued speaking. "Now I can avenge those Ighten sailor's deaths." Kyosuke charged into the first group of sailors cutting a few of them down. "And it saves us some trouble of dealing with more people later at the same time!"

Emora:

When Kyosuke attacked all hell broke lose. The sailors charged in attacking Kyosuke. They didn't seem to worried about her. So she attacked them from behind to take some of the pressure off of Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke noticed a few of the sailors noticed that Shinobu was attacking them and one snuck up behind her. The samurai flung a katana at the sailor and started to utilize his three sword technique, the sailors backed away after a minute, several of them now dead. Only 20 of them and the captain remained. They all stared in shock at the samurai. The short feminine looking man was now drenched in blood. The sailors almost had the urge to laugh, but instead wished they could cry when Kyosuke said, "Man, I gotta shower and change so very badly."

Emora:

Shinobu was way cleaner than Kyosuke, then again he was using a more deadly attack with three katanas. She made sure no one snuck up behind him and he seemed to be doing the same for her.

Kyosuke:

After slaying a few more men, Kyosuke felt a burning sensation across his back, turning around, he found that the captain was standing behind him, having moved extremely fast and slashed him. Finishing off one more sailor, he picked his nodachi up and resheathed it. He left the remaining 10 or so men to Shinobu and faced the captain, katanas in hand.

Emora:

Shinobu found that she would prefer her katana over there weak blades any day. One mans sword actually broke on contact with her own. She noticed Kyosuke had left her ten... well nine now, as she pulled her blade from him. He was going to face off with the captain.

"Well, I guess you don't want your head start, boy," the vampire said and held up his sword.

Kyosuke:

"Nope, I kinda want your," Kyosuke slashed towards the captain's neck "head though!" Kyosuke wasn't very surprised when the captain blocked his slash. "As I thought, you are stronger than the rest of your men." Kyosuke also noated that his sword, unlike the other sailors', did not shatter when his katana connected with his.

Emora:

Shinobu was down to five and these seemed to be the best she had fought so far. She paused for a moment to watch and see how Kyosuke was doing with the captain.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke winced because of his back. The fight couldn't go on for too long or he would bleed to death. The samurai blocked an overhead swing from the captain and aimed the other katana for the man's torso, which was also blocked. The two exchanged hits on and on for several more minutes, neither getting the upper hand.

Emora:

Pulling her blood covered blade from the man and noticed that she no longer had any one to fight. These had been easy opponents compared to those mages and that Raith... though she never fought them.

She noticed that Kyosuke was wounded from his movements, though she never gave up in his fight with the vampire.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's eyesight blurred for a moment due to blood loss and his grip loostened on his katana as he went to block one of the vampire captain's strikes. The katana went flying out of his hands and the captain went for another slash which Kyosuke brought his forearm up instinctively to block.

The captain smiled in triumph as he expected the samurai's hand to be cut off. His triumph ended abruptely as steel connected with steel. The katana remaining with Kyosuke was brought around in a slash that cut the vampire's head clean off. Panting with exhaustion, the samurai said, "I hope what Shinobu-dono said about the undead were right."

Emora:

Shinobu saw when Kyosuke cut the captains head off that he turned to dust and the dust blew away in the wind. She ran to him and fell to her knees beside him. "Kyosuke!" she said and put her hand on his arm gently. "Your covered in blood and hurt... you need a healer!" She had a worried expression on her face. "Can I help you stand?"

Shinobu didn't know how bad his wounds were and she didn't know what he needed. She did know he needed a healer. "The castle... if we reach Sinead's castle she'll surely give us a healer... I'll find a way Kyosuke. Can you hold on a little longer?"

The castle wasn't that far at all. It was close to the docks in Lowight. So close that it seemed to rise up just behind the buildings sitting on the very edge.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. "I'll be fine for a bit. Just slow the bleeding for now and I should make it to the castle. We should have bandages in our bags also. Just wrap them tightly and it should slow the bleeding down some."

Emora:

Shinobu went to there packs and got the bandages. She wrapped them around him to stop the bleeding until they could get to a healer. She helped him up and put his arm over her shoulder, with the packs hanging on one side.

She walked with him down the gang plank and onto the city streets. She felt lost with the high stone and wood buildings around Kyosuke and herself. People stared blankly at them as if they were strange beings of some sort.

When they reached the palace gates she was stopped. "Who are you?"

She explained who she was politely and that she needed the help of a healer for her body guard. It wasn't that hard and they seemed to believe her, which was good that these people were so nice to believe her right away. They allowed her in and took Kyosuke from her so that they could get him to a healer...

To Lowight....