[attr="class","sharpHead12"]So long, and thanks for all the fish
[attr="class","sharpText12"]A little wharf more busy than it was ever meant to be. Three rows of dark wooden docks crammed with tiny fishing vessels and merchant stalls. There was a jollyness in the hustle and bustle that not even the stench of fish or the toils of the day could break through. Children with full bellies played games of tag around sailors joking to one another as they worked. It was a nice little gem in the Land of Water, oh so much in contrast with the sense of dread that seemed to hang over the Hidden Mist.
Shu concealed himself behind a simple transformation that shared his own traits beyond a recolor of his skin and hiding of his gills. Aside from avoiding the glaring eyes of the judgemental, he was hiding from would-be hunters. He chose dark hair too, to try to break familiarity. As a finishing touch he changed the color of his jacket to a light color with green accents. He was carrying a curious brown sack in his hand that had the satisfying clink of metal with each step. More gifts for Kokkoro Orochi, or perhaps junk. He was still learning the difference between gifts and junk, but hopefully something in there would make her smile.
Approaching nearer to the wharf made him feel nervous. He kept checking his hands to make sure that his disguise was still up. He hadn’t even shown her what he really looked like, unless he had been incorrect about her consciousness the day that he pulled her from the waters. She likely had some idea he wasn’t quite normal, given he had no trouble beneath the waves, but the aesthetics of his physiology remained hidden away.
Getting to the wharf he peered around at all the ships. He felt something brush against his back as a child breezed by him, turning in time to jump out of the way of another.
"Oh. Sorry," he said to excuse himself to no one in particular, as the children were long gone.
He walked by a stall where sea bass and tuna laid in buckets of ice. The ice was a gift of the wharfmaster, a novice of a powerful ninjutsu. He was the reason for the prosperity and excess of the little dock and vibrant community. Shu eyed the stall, the sight reminding him that he was peckish, but now wasn’t the time.
As he continued making his way. The sound of a whistle blowing made him wince, though the community didn’t skip a beat as yet another ship pulled into port. Groups of men and women in outfits like sackcloth began pulling ropes dropped by folk on the ship. Shumoku weaved by, making his way further down the dock. Scanning around in search of someone, using one of his hands to block the cloudless morning sun.
Today was the day a new chapter would begin. He’d have to actually find Kokkoro though. A tall order in the busyness that surrounded him. There was a bit of a flustered look on his face as a bit of anxiety welled up. Lost in a crowd.
This Wharf was a lively place and gem all its own, but it had never shined quite as brightly as this day! Kokkoro had been preparing since the break of day with excitement, every waking moment taken advantage of while she prepared her little ship. They promised to leave today! And nothing could match her joy. She’d see the world~ See knew things to break down and make. The way people acted different or built different things. How people reacted to her or how the air smelled different. Amegakure would have been the most fantastic place to see! But really she was itching to go anywhere. He promised.
A promise that might have been as vague as him saying he’d show up, it was taken to heart though! Kokkoro often putting weight into things that seemed passing and being sure to keep up on her end of things as well~ Shumoku was her only consistent friend, even if their consistency had at one point only been once every so many months. But it worked~ He always came back. And even moreso now!
A boat~ A surprise she had sprung upon him at their last ‘scheduled’ meeting and her plans to go see what he had seen and more. To which he helped her. What had truly been a rusted and terrifying hunk of metal that she had apparently saved up to get was a disgrace. Barely floating, it had been stuck in the shallows off the coastline instead of marring the actual docks. Little by little though they fixed it up. It could float now! They got a huge new mast that only took many many weeks of hard work to make sturdy as they secured pieces together… It was all coming together though. The little boat, all her preparations, and all she needed now was Shumoku!
Thankfully who was on his way~ The far dock, one that was least used by far, but one she was able to get her little craft pulled up to in order to set sail whenever they were ready. Her little body up the mast and checking for loose rope, any screws loose, anything crooked! This had to be perfect, and she saw him too~ Up there she had plenty of vantage and space, so it was easy to see he was making his way to where she was! Hanging off the mast, giggling to herself as she watched for just a little bit, but then went back to her work checking over the little details so she didn’t end up capsized in the middle of the water!
Little by little, check by check, time flew by and… where was he? Shouldnt’ he have called to her by now…? A little bit of a mock grumpy pout came to her face as she looked back to the docks for her friend. He had been coming before… did he get distracted by fish…?
That pout turning to a little more understanding, the poor guy. While Kokkoro wasn’t generally a very popular sight among the places she visited she also tended to care a lot less. She was used to it, the freaky tail and horror at noticing the oddities about her, even worse if they realized how snake-like it all was. Snakes weren’t exactly the most revered creature among civilians~ But. Things were always fine. Shumoku though? He tended to be the more nervous sort, especially around a lot of people. Cute~ When it wasn’t annoying.
Sliding down the mast, ropes taken in hand and helping her down in little hops and slides as quickly as she could. Her hands burned a bit by the bottom, rough and naturally more rugged and cut up digits from all her tinkering never had her seeming the most dainty or pristine. But hitting the deck, she’d be off! A thud of her feet, tap tap tap across the top, then launching over teh side to land on the dock! Stumbling a bit, catching her breath from the hop and… where had he been… hm….
The girl cut into the crowds with that curiosity and without much of a plan. Why? Because the first gasp was all it took to get people looking her way. The seas parted, grinning female all too happy to be part of the Wharf and dock for that day showed of the pointed daggers of teeth set in her jaw. She was happy~ Though not beyond knowing it could be unsettling.
The first glimpse of her friend though, she’d dart ahead. Smacking into one individual and skidding into another, she could feel light thunks of her tail as people scurried away from the odd, thick appendage. “Shu! C’mon, I’m getting ready!” A launch towards him as well, practically hugging him yet not quite letting go of that momentum either… Arms around him briefly, hug, then swirling about behind him with one hand dragging along his body as if centering her turn.
“Hahaha! You’re so slow!” Making light of it all, eager and excited to go, and by his side again and inching forwards ahead to lead him with the thick tail behind and practically pushing him forward along with her. They could get to her ship! Her little boat all her own! And once to it… Well… she hadn’t put down her docking board… whoops. Looking at her boat as if it was its fault for forgetting, huffing a bit as she glared, then turning round on her heel and shoving her hands behind her back. Grinning~
“So? Isn’t she real pretty?”
The… busted and mixed up mess of a ship that she had been working on for months and months that he had seen come together was far from ‘pretty.’ But it was hers and obviously she was proud.
[attr="class","sharpHead12"]So long, and thanks for all the fish
[attr="class","sharpText12"] Shumoku’s lip curled into a soft knowing smile as he saw crowds parting like schools of fish as Kokkoro made her way to him. He pretended to be browsing one of the fish stalls until she grew nearer. Whether he had spotted her on the mast or not would be hard to discern, as his eyes widened in surprise as she lunged towards him. Briefly returned the hug with his free arm, at first underestimating the force of her tackle as his light hand against her shoulder blade turned into a tighter grip to keep himself from stumbling back too noticeably. He moved to steady them, but the energetic brunette had already begun spinning around. He found her tail whacking against his side as she began pulling him away.
“I’m coming!” he said in a pleading voice. It was the closest thing to complaint he gave as she dragged him away towards the ship. His eyes scanned the crowd a bit as they moved, noticing a few awkward glances here and there but otherwise they had not gotten too much attention. People continued cleaning fish, children kept running around, and gulls continued stalking on fence-posts for opportunities to steal.
When she stopped in front of the ship, he stopped with her and looked it up and down. Wooden ships were more prevalent in these lands, finding a small lightning country vessel abandoned was quite the catch, and Kokkoro was undoubtedly well suited to fix it.
“Beautiful,” he said, maintaining his smile. Soon after his eyes gave a hint to a bit of mischief as he noticed the docking board wasn’t up. His smile turned into a grin. He took a few steps back and then began running, the contents in the sack that he was hauling on his left shoulder clicking and clanking with the thud of each footstep.
He gracefully jumped onto the deck of the ship, the echo of a metallic thud against his heels followed by another as he plopped the bag of goodies on the ground. The bag opened partially to reveal a plethora of screws, nuts, and bolts that were very oxidized. Alongside them was an orange cat figurine with a clock built into the back of it, a long string of rusted chain, and a large chunk of quartz.
He stood on the ship with the docking board resting against his arm. “Not so slow after all~,” he said with his smile returning to warmth and his eyes closing. Unless she suddenly matched his jump he wouldn’t tease her long, lowering it for her to climb up.
Always so quick to react to her, it was one of the many benefits of being able to interact with Shumoku~ Her bit of sudden contact with him was little more than a brace of himself and return, the girl allowed to be as free as she wished as hugging was given briefly between them and she spun about him. Contact kept! Because she couldn’t lose him now. Tail even used as a means to keep them together, ushering him along even if he protested~
A laugh sounding out all too happily, his confirmation in following her practically whining about how she had done it. It was good to see him though and she was glad to be able to drag him off out of the crowds and all to herself! The seas of people still parted, if only not wanting in direct contact with whatever serpentine tails was weaving their way, but with nothing more than curious eyes there was nothing to fret over. Kokkoro was more used to such things~ And hardly a mind was plid. Plus! She had Shu now.
A brief and annoying dilemma was… not addressed. Not in the least! She was pretty sure she’d wiggle her ass up there somehow just fine, hardly in the most graceful way though that was for sure. Distracted by trying to draw a compliment out of her friend towards her handiwork. It was definitely one of a kind! And her smile grew all the bigger as he admitted it was, indeed, beautiful. “Right! She got a lot of care and att-... hey!”
Bragging on her little ship had her miss that glint to his eye, a telltale sign that he was up to no good and she was only clued in once he jumped! Onto her ship! Whipping around, surprisingly smooth echo of that movement with her tail letting it swirl about her and remain behind her. Accented pout given with hands set to her wide hips and weight distributed to one side. Man was he pretty when he did stupid stuff like that… She was only a little jealous though!
Look at him tease her. A grin fighting against her obvious pout all for her to take a hand and pointer finger to tap lightly against her short brown hair and to her skull. “Yeah, I totally meant physically slow~” Grin won out, the girl at least keeping from chuckling as she sent a wink her friend’s way. Her senses finally starting to clue in on all the noise he had been making jumping around that her her interested definitely piqued.
Lowered bridge though, girl practically skipping up them. She wanted to look around like it was some big triumphant one last time, leaving the docks of this land and going to somewhere big and beyond! She couldn’t fight her gaze off of her friend though… Shu staying in her eyes and her pace turning to a brief ‘run’ for those last few steps to hop in front of him.
“Shu~ I’m good!
I’m excited. And super super nervous.
What if I missed something? Or it springs a leak? I’m pretty good at fixing but what if I can’t fix it fast enoughhhhh?”
His answer would have been sudden, with just the briefest pauses as she went to grasp his hands. Bouncing on the balls of her feet and exclaiming her excitement and nervousness. All for the eager girl to let him go if he hadn’t held onto her, flats of her fingers and hands patting against her body as she thought about the reasons of those worries and a few of them spoken. Her poor ship maybe going under would be terrible! Patpat to her hips and belly, sides of her thighs and even a couple claps.
[attr="class","sharpHead12"]So long, and thanks for all the fish
[attr="class","sharpText12"]“I’m glad that you are excited, I am too,” he said.
Shumoku remained mostly still, but Kokkoro’s jittery energy put a warm smile on his face that was broken by a sudden parting of his lips in surprise as she reached for his hands. It was perhaps a bit comical that he still had this sort of reaction. Soft as it was, he did give her hands a slight squeeze in return but released them as she pulled away and placed them into the pockets of his jacket as he tilted his head to the left.
A warm breeze passed over and lightly shifted his hair and fluttered his collar. One hand was not cloistered for long after Kokkoro finished voicing her worries while her feet rose and fell. The hand covered a chuckle that escaped his chest. His hand fell back down a moment too soon and a slight glimpse of pointed teeth in a genuine smile were revealed for an instant before falling back to his resting expression.
“Maybe we should do one last inspection before we go underway, you could show me around a bit more. A first mate needs to know the ship too, yea?”
He paused for a moment, noticing that a vibrant plumed bird of paradise with a crimson plume had landed on the pile of salvage that Shumoku had left laying on the deck. It seemed to be pecking through it in search of something to eat.
“Oh, looks like you might already have one,” he said with another chuckle. His attention turned fully back onto the woman and his expression tightened a bit followed by a more serious tone. “Anyways… I will protect you from the seas if something happens, but I don’t want you to lose everything you’ve worked hard to make. I understand if you would rather wait awhile.”
How could they not be excited?! But his words no less were encouraging towards the young woman. Contact was so easy to gain with him, but just as easy to part with. It was the sort of thing that she was more or less used to now and didn’t bat an eye nor take a moment of hesitation when she moved through her antics.
Making him laugh was always worth it though~ A grin all the brighter as he expressed that bit of joy, whether she had noticed his teeth or not, a word wasn’t spared. There was no time! For what he suggested was the perfect thing~
“Of course! You’re always welcome to stick your nose into anything I’ve made~ But this is ours. She wouldn’t have existed without you!”
Gleeful expression of her sharing the craft, rough as it was, the creation was equally in existence due to him. “Hm?” Didn’t mean she wasn’t totally distractible from whatever he was talking about. One what A First Mate? Turning on her heel and tail whipping about just barely missing the poor male on the turn around she’d find herself looking at a brightly colored bird on top of a bunch of junk! Eyes sparkling and a look turned on her friend, tail actually meeting its mark, or meaning to, by a gentle swipe to his butt.
“Did you bring me presents~”
Closing in on what he had brought and crouching down, coaxing the bird away with a few ‘shoos’ of her hands. She wanted to see! And if that bright bird didnt inhibit her, she’d rummage through the things he had dropped there. “I can probably get most of this cleaned off. Hm… probably used to be cute…” Muttering to herself as she fingered through the oxidized and rusted metals, peering at them a moment, then set aside for another. But the cat picked up and the girl laughed, holding it up next to her face and trying her best to mimic a cat expression!
“Haha~ Did it remind you of me~? Meow!”
Giggling and teasing him, but placing it back down and popping back up with something different in her hands.
“No way I’m putting this off! We’re ready! And if we’re not, I have the best swimmer in all the nations to save my tail~ Where’d you get this anyway?”
Her attention left and right, up and down. But tending to go back towards his words before presenting something completely different before his eye, holding up the quartz and practically showcasing it at his nose as if he must never have seen it before...
[attr="class","sharpHead12"]So long, and thanks for all the fish
[attr="class","sharpText12"]“Eyuh!” Shumoku gasped as he felt something thud against his backside, eyes wide as he stumbled forward a step before catching himself. He quickly looked over his shoulder as he reached towards his back with his right hand and catching a glimpse of the culprit. The transformation jutsu did little to hide the flush in his face, but she seemed preoccupied with the bird and then the things that he had brought for her. ‘It was just an accident,’ he told himself. ‘What if it wasn’t?’
“Kokkoro… umm…” he began in a near inaudible tone. He ran his hand down the unzipped seam of his jacket around his neckline with his left hand. He dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. ‘Stop being presumptuous’ he told himself. “Er.. never mind, its nothing.”
He broke away from an awkward pondering thanks to the fluttering of the retreating bird. He watched it fly deeper into the wharf, landing near market stalls before being shooed away again by an old woman with a broom tending a melon stall. He blinked and turned his attention back to Kokkoro.
“Y-Yea, just some things I found on a reef north of here, old Kumogakure Ship that sank,” he told her. “There’s probably more, but time was short,” he said and then grinned at her cat impersonation. “I had a cat once… or well, fed a stray, it’s too bad I couldn’t take them with me under water.”
He leaned forward as she brought the quartz towards his nose, peering through it with its own to try to look through to see if he could see her through it. No such luck, but he glanced at her with his other eye for a moment before shuffling back into place.
“Did you remember to get food?” he asked her. “Fruit specifically. Nutrition can be kind of hard at sea,” he started to walk towards the hatch towards the small cargo bay to see for himself even though he had asked. The hatch was opened by turning a red wheel to open up a mechanism that kept it locked. It was a bit stiff, requiring him to use both hands to turn it as old gears whined.
It was good for him that his friend was rather distracted by what he brought. Her question ame with the smack and left him to flounder about while she dug through things. His little muttering never met her ears~ Or if it did, she just barely started looking his way before he started on about something with ‘nevermind.’ So okay! Shumoku would have said if something was up anyway.
The nuts and bolts and cat and chain dug through, examining it and a faint sway to her tail as it assisted in her crouched balance, she’d find herself barely listening to where he got her ‘presents.’ It probably would have helped when she started questioning him later…
Giggling with the cat impression and putting it down, she was on her feet again and near him without a care in the world. Today was a great day! He had a cat though? The girl would have tilted her head inquisitively at that, the very thing she was wondering soon mentioned. “Ahhhh. Aww~ you’re too cute.” Chuckling again at his sweetness and sad little story. Shumoku was a good friend~ Though there was plenty she didn’t know about him, he was one of the best things to happen to her and the little bits he revealed about himself were always welcome.
“So I am the new cat~ You always come back to the surface and bring me things but I can’t go with you!”
A grin to the girl’s lip, quartz twirled in her fingers and then held in her palm, she’d find him shifting the conversation once more. Well, right in line with what they were talking about. Look, he even fed her~ A soft chuckle at her own inner thoughts and giving a bit of a nod.
“Yuup! Some, I guess? Do we need more.”
The girl carried after him after hurriedly gathering all the nonsense he brought up in her arms. Proud of her new selection of trinkets! And eagerly thinking on what to do with them while thoughts of food mixed into her thought processes. “I helped some lady out and she gave me a bunch of these jars. The fruit’s reaallll sweet. But I got like… apples and a bunch of rice. Um… Water!”
Proud of herself! Though perhaps to a arguably extend. The jars of preserved peaches boxed up in a couple boxes in the corner. Large containers of water perhaps the only thing that seemed that it was meant to last a rather long trip. Barrel of apples roughly half full. Bags of rice. But she did get things~
“Aren’t we gonna fish? Maybe I shoulda got spices or something. Hm.”
It apparently hadn’t occurred to her that it might be helpful to not eat the blandest food, but also she didn’t seem bothered. Her arms full of things and fingers gripping the smaller items, she’d be watching him all the same with a grin.
“Shuuuu! There’s something super super important that we can’t forget. More important than food!”
Eagerness swept across her face and surely she meant whatever was exciting her so much. Her tail behind her lightly whipping side to said, keeping out of striking distance anything but clear enough sign of her energy from all points of her.
