A Day in Sadaoby

The girl got up and smiled kindly at Vastile "Its lovely to meet you both" She says nodding to both of them before blinking. Instead of blinking like a normal human would a clear second eyelid crossed over her eyes from the sides. "My name is Mitsuki, and I welcome you to my humble ship.." She say before a sudden thunderous roar like bang could be heard causing an angry vein to appear on her forehead. "...Would you...excuse me for a moment" She says before rushing out of the room.

Crow sweat drops "It seems busier then I remember.." She says before sitting down in a chair and opening a black glass dish to revel many colored skulls. She picked up a blood red one and with a sharp crack bite deeply into it taking a large piece out of the back before chewing it slowly.

Cassie waited patiently for the transaction to be over. She felt a prick of fear poking her in the side, this ship, no, this island, was creepy. There was something off about it.

Vastile sighed and sat, cross-legged, on the floor, huge wrench resting across his lap. "This place seems rife with interesting character and goings on." He took a long drag and blew smoke rings, whih he then shot a line of smoke threw. "Makes me wonder..."

Vastile thought for a moment and looked at the door. "Crow, please tell me all you know about this Ship and The People on Her.

Crow took another bite from the skull chewing slowly. "Well...I don't know much about the where the ship comes from, no one really does. It appeared out of nowhere a long time ago...Not a soul on board...A..ghost ship?" She pauses thinking over the word before she continues.

"I guess there were some people living on the Island even back then because they took it and turned it into a supply boat,you know for trade and stuff...and then...Suddenly for a while trade stopped and people suddenly started visiting the Island more...but...they didn't live long."She ran her fingers through her hair.

Soon the River and the Island became a graveyard...and still is. But I guess one of the poor souls didn't die, because the Ship was soon turned into a ferry...sent to escort the poor souls to their final resting place...or to a warm bed and a hot meal. Either way,a ferry is what she became.

"As for its crew..Mitsuki is the current Captain...The ship has been with her family for a...really long ass time. She and I have know each other since we were kids.." She chuckles "The shit we got away with, I still wonder how we are both alive.." She smiles a bit "Then...there is Jin..I guess he would be classified as Mitsuki's right hand...He's a strange one..But even I would trust him with my life.."

She goes one listing the names off all the Crew members "Kai was the most recent to join...He was on the ship the same day I left....Bastard looks better then he did that day...You see everyone on this Crew had originally came to the Island planing to never see the next day...to end it all"

She takes a large bite from the skull and frowns a bit, "So like past Captains Mitsuki gives them a offer. She can take them to their final resting place and leave their bones where they fall or...To join the Crew and find something they have long been missing...Most turn it down and only she knows now where they lay...but once and a while...The Dead Mans Ferry gets a new member"She lets out a yawn "Or something like that.." She says before falling back into a deep sleep.

Cassie listened intently to Crow's tale, taking mental notes about it. What a strange island. she thought to herself, A strange island for a strange girl. she concluded with a smirk, glancing down at the sleeping Crow. 

The mermaid floated silently over to Vastile, hovering next to him. "Interesting story huh?" she laughed, frowning at Crow's sleeping body. "Wonder what's up with her?"

"I'd wager... She's content." Vastile said thoughtfully, "Home is safety, no matter how strange... Or hostile it can be. She's home and perhaps she is experiencing a mix of nostalgia and warmth that only comes to those, who've been away from home." Vastile thought of Elbaf. This feeling is partly why he brought Crow here... He understood.

"I'd like to hear about your home and story, Cassie." Vastile closed his eyes and felt the ship sway beneath him. The patter was... Off, but otherwise, it was a normal ship.

Crow had been sleeping only for a few minutes when the distant sound of fighting reached their ears but before anyone could react suddenly a large part of the ceiling, and with it three ghoul like creatures. They may of once been humans but now...They seemed to have scraps on dirty faded cloth that was clinging or fused to the shoulders,chest, or legs perhaps the remains of clothes some time long ago.

Their skin a pale greenish yellow looked like it had been half melted off their bones. Bones poked out between the holes yellowed with age and covered in slime. They seemed to be missing their noses and ears. One even had one of its eyes hanging out of its skull, another ones was completely gone small strings of melted skin crossing the black hole it had become.

Their spines curved badly making them hunched over. They gnashed and grind their blackened teeth thin strings of muscle being the only thing holding their lower jaw in place before sniffing the air for a moment before one of them suddenly let out a loud ghoulish shriek then launching its self at Crows sleeping form sensing her to be the most logical chose of prey.

Cassie couldn't help herself, she let out a horrifying scream at the terrifying monsters. 

"Crow!" she screeched, lunging to protect her friend. It was an instinctive move, without any form of thought telling her to. She quickly pulled three arrows of water out of the air, and shot them at the ghoul creatures.

Vastile was caught under the falling ruble, disappearing under it. It took only a few seconds for Vastile to lift the ceiling into the air, his face red with anger and strain. He hoisted it up and place on hand on the edge. He let out a yell and chucked the roof through the ceiling, hearing it splash in the river, outside.

He turned seeing the creatures leaping towards Crow. "Godsdamn it!" He was glad to see Cassie halted their procession, by shooting two in the skull, while another lost an arm.

Vastile flicked both wrists back, switching to Setting One, and brought them back quickly to bear on the attackers. He shot each Gauntlet twice, each shot producing 4 cannon blasts. Two of the creatures were torn apart and reeling through the wall. The remaining creature dragged itself towards Crow, only an arm and torso. It gargled and moved very slowly, intent of catching Crow.

Vastile walked over to it and held it in place, under one large boot, covering everything, but it's head.

"Crow... The Hell is this thing... It's damn energetic... Seeing as it's falling apart..."

Crow, who had woken up as the sound of cannon shots stared down that the creatures a worried but confused look on her face. "I...I don't know...." she says as she watches as a thick black sludge like substance dripped from its torso. Crow realized that this had been its blood. "Its nothing I've seen on the Island before.." She frowned,

"I don't like it..." She says before getting up and placing her boot on its skull and with a deep growl crushed its skull. It gave a noise like a gurgle before dieing "You okay...Anything broken?" She asks to the two after wiping the black gore off her boot in disgust.

Cassie had tensed, ready to attack again, but it seemed Vastile was taking care of the rest. She key herself relax, which was a mistake. It seemed amongst the fighting, the captain had missed one. Cassie screamed as it attacked her, trying to make one of her weapons to fight. It scratched and clawed at her face, leaving shallow scars filling with blood. One ran along her neck, another down her chest. It was a miracle she even managed to get the thing off.

Her bubble had popped and she lay on the floor of the ship. The ghoulish creature laid beside her, water splashed over its chest where her ice arrow had hit it. Cassie breathed deeply, trying to calm her racing heart. She pulled herself into a sitting position, curling her tail to the side. She pressed a hand to her cheek, and looked down at the crimson liquid dripping from her fingers.

Vastile ran over to the scrabble, arriving after the fact. He looked down at the sad creature and sighed. "Crow, Cassie needs attention..." Vastile knelt and picked up the limp mass. He looked hard at it, studying, and making notes on it's face and decomposition.

"It's unacceptable... Unnatural... I'd be willing to believe these were not like this before... And, that the malformations are intentional..." Vastile tossed the thing into the center of the room.

"We will see what our guest captain thinks... Or knows."

Vastile looked to Cassie, worried. "Be sure to sanitize and clean that... I don't like it..."

Crow rushed over to Cassie her doctors bag already open and she pulls out a few cotton balls a bottle of bitter sweet smelling liquid an a few bandages "Hold still now.."She says in a serious voice before dabbing her wounds with the liquid casing it to sting a bit. "Sorry..." She mumbles.

Meanwhile the creature now bent in in odd angle started to twitch and slowly start to get up, but before it could even have a chance at another attack a silver throwing knife was thrown with such force at it from behind that it went straight through the back of its skull and stuck out the front.

"First thing you need to know about Nightcrawlers...They only truly die after a killing blow to the skull.." Says a voice,before Mitsuki jumped from the hole in the ceiling and walked over to the now still ghoul. Then with a slight tug pulled the knife from the things skull and began wiping the black "Blood" off it.

"....Although...Ripping to shreds also works..." She says looking at the splattered gore of a mess on her wall her head tilted to the side as if looking at a strange piece of art. Maybe to her it was.

"Make sure to clean that wound well...Being wounded by a walking decomposed corpse can be nasty if not careful.."

Cassie stopped herself from flinching, even when the disinfectant stung her face. Her eyes narrowed when Mistuki reentered, a frown settling in on her face. 

"What do you know about these...things." she asked around the cotton balls Crow was patting on her bleeding wounds. 

"Thanks, by the way." she muttered to Crow, looking down as she tried to stop heat from rushing to her cheeks.

Vastile sat and lit a new cigar. "Now, I know how to kill them... Cassie, I bet you will be useful in keeping them away. I believe in your ability to head shot from a distance." Vastile took out his iron cased note book and did a quick sketch of the Night-Crawler making a few notes next to it. He flipped it closed and it disappeared into his jacket.

"I want to know anything you do about these and any other dangers we could face on our journey. I want to keep my crew safe... As well as avoid have a roof fall on me, again..."

Vastile brushed a bit of dust from his shoulder and cleaned his glasses.

Mitssuki nods before setting in her chair facing them, a serous look on her face. "They only appeared on the Island a year or two ago, slowly at first with maybe an encounter with one every few weeks...Not that big a deal here.."

She says then frowning deeply "But about a few months ago...they seemed to triple...I assumed they were the reason you came back" She looks at Crow who just looked back at with a confessed look.

"They have been at War with your Village for a while now Crow.." She says darkly "I've sent as much of my Crew I could spare..to help...But I lost contact with them about...3 days ago." She sighs.

"I am going to the Village myself to see what has happened.." She says getting up and searching through a bookshelves."Lets see..."

She then pulls out a thick Journal full of different colored papers and tabs. Flipping through it she runs her fingers down a list of sorts. "They seem to move in a hive or pack like pattern using strength in numbers to over take their..Prey."

She then pauses for a moment to flip a few pages. "As you have seen they are incredibly fast and only die by a killing blow to the head or being ripped apart. They only seem to know an always present hunger and incredible joy for inflecting pain on anything that moves.."

She then looks up at them, "They also seem to have a poison like bite..It causes the skin to bubble and blister and can leave a man feeling weak and possibly seeing hallucinations for a few hours..Lantern Blossom nectar seems the Ideal antidote"

At this Crow nods and realizing that her friends did not know what it was held up the bottle of bitter-sweet smelling liquid that she had been using on Cassie's wounds, on closer inspection it seemed to glow a light white-pink.

"You are welcome to our supplies...you may need them.." She says flipping a few pages. "Another Creature you will need to know about would be Shadow Boars and Blood Crows."

She goes on to tell them about the giant rage filled boars that are often hard to hear and see in the dim light and of the mostly gentle Blood Crows who would only attack if they feel you are a danger or if their nest is damaged.

"Don't be fooled by the little creatures...they can be real monsters when angered.."

At this she and Crow chuckled a bit as if knowing something they didn't, but before being questioned Mitsuki continued "But the Boars shouldn't be a problem if you stick to the paths or you get a hold of some Silver Lillies...I'm Sure Crow can find you some...She knows the Island even better then me."

At this Crow who had been putting the last few bandages on Cassie's wounds blushes a bit and looks away. "You haven't changed a bit.." Mitsuki says smirking before going and handing the Journal to Vastile

"Here...I have plenty of copies and you will need it more then me..This book may just save your life.."

Cassie frowned, "so they're new" she said softly, her brows furrowing. "Blood crows and shadow boars, interesting."

Cassie glanced at Crow "was that what that crow was that delivered you the letter?" she asked


(Sorry short post bit busy)

Crow's hat shook a bit before it moved and Chi, the same crow from the ship stood up Crows hat on his head.Between the mini bell color and now Crows hat, it had looked like Crow herself had been turned into a Blood Crow. Chi turned his head tilting it slightly as he stares at Cassie with a large black eye before giving a loud caw and disappears under her hat once again.

"Yes he is.." She says adjusting her hat a bit "My village trains and uses them for message delivers, they are fat and silent...when they want to be.." She says as another caw muffled this time came from her hat.

"Interesting," Cassie muttered to herself, "this is a very.....strange island, is it not." Cassie trailed off, her eyes distancing. She gently pressed her fingers to her face, feeling the now-apparent angry red scars.

"Guess I'm no longer a pretty face." she chuckled, a small joking smile apreading across her face.

"Scars are not ugly, my dear..." Vastile said without removing his eyes from the pages given to him by his host, "They are proof of experience and of learning. Knowledge and growth is one of the most beautiful things in the world, cherish your scars." Vastile rubbed his ankles, where he had some bad scars from failed prototypes of his Boots.

"I wouldn't go looking for more... Learning experiences today, mind you." Vastile closed the book with one hand and looked to the reddening sky. "These islands hold secrets... Best discovered one at a time... and with careful preparation."

(Sorry for the wait, I've been swamped with classes and what have you.)

Crow stayed quiet thinking, She felt like she had forgotten something, something very important that seemed like it would help. But no matter how hard she tried a part of her brain didn't want her to find the memory.

She sat in the chair as suddenly the boat gives a a bit of a tremble and stops "This is the last stop..." Mitsuki says and motions towards the door.

Cassie pulled her hand away from her face, giving Vastile a small, thankful smile. 

"Crow?" she asked, watching Crow's quietness with intrigue. Just then, the boat came to a shuttering stop. And Mitsuki said it was the last one. '

"Great." Cassie muttered, "Where to now?" She looked at Crow expectantly

Vastile stood up and looked at the sky from the hole in the ceiling. "Heave Ho, young souls... Heave Ho." Vastile strode to the outer deck, barely noticing the surroundings, to find Simon and Francis sipping tea, a few mangle and decaying corpses laying close by, bullet hole and slashes abound.

"I see you met the welcoming committee." Vastile smiled and gestured to The Copper Dragon ,"Our Chariot Awaits, and I wouldn't keep her waiting."

Crow was in such deep thought Mitsuki had to pick her up by the scruff of her sweater. She fallowed the small group with a sigh. Crow just hung like a rag doll her eyes closed deep in thought.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and with a twisted fell out of her sweater and landed on the deck in her tank top. She started digging though her bag as she walked towards the group before pulling out a old black leather bound book and started flipping though it so fast it was wondered if she was even reading.

Eyes widened she slowly closes the book and takes back her sweater, she then turns towards the group, a calm expiration on her face. "Lets go...we need to get there quickly" She says as a walk way is lowered from the ship and hit the soft ground with a soft thud. She turns towards Mitsuki "We will see you there I suppose..?" she asks earning a simple nod from the Captain.

Cassie followed Vastile and the dragged Crow. She watched with disinterest as Crow fell out of her sweater, fumbled around for a leather bound book, and basically stated they needed to get a move on. Cassie nodded before giving her thanks to Mitsuki. 

"Lead the way Crow." She mumbled, waiting for her friend.