OOC: Bolt, Ika, Alberto, you're here.
IC:
Alberto found himself strangely swabbing a deck, a raggedy sailor's uniform having replaced his tailored suit, the sound of ocean waves rolling beneath the ship he was standing on, the chatter of energetic sailors nearby. Were all of these contestants? Enemies? It was hard to say. He had not been told how many would be challenging for the prize.
A tall silver haired man found himself holding an archaic ship wheel in his hands, the wind blowing through his hair as as clouds drifted overhead. Where the hell was he now?
Sitting down in a big comfy chair was a small girl, her head covered by a big black captain's hat and not at all sure how she got there. She could smell the ocean water not far beneath her.
OOC: Rolls a knowledge check on the comfy chair and the meaning of having a captain's hat and fails automatically. As shown below, knows what a hat is because she has one built into her anatomy.
Ika-musume was disoriented. One minute she had been swimming in the ocean, waving her tentacles furiously to clear the water and keep from inhaling the microscopic bits of plastic that choked it these days, about to close in on a delicious morsel of prey, and the next...
Well, that was the way of the ocean. One minute you were the eater, the next you could be eaten. She leapt from the soft, disturbingly comfy maw of the creature which had engulfed her (surely the comfyness was an evolutionary adaptation to allow it to entice and devour unsuspecting squid girls!), and panicked for a moment as her vision refused to clear. For some reason, her hat had become huge and... it was dark inside. Some kind of sudden tumor? Tentacles swishing about in order to keep an enemy from closing in while her eyesight was impaired, Ika gulped, grabbed the edges of the hat and... it came off?
After a brief moment of complete body horror and then utter confusion, Ika noticed that her real hat (actually fused to the top of her cranium, such that successfully removing it would probably cause her brain to fall out) was still intact on her head. White, rounded and conical, with two cute flaps on the side. Okay. Where was she...
Something had been attacking her! Focusing her attention on the comfy chair, Ika watched it for any sudden moves. It was disturbingly still. Tentatively reaching out with a tentacle, she poked it very carefully, ready to snatch it back if the chair made any attempt to snap at her...
Alberto is more disturbed at his change in costume than the change in scenery. A uniform is acceptable, but these rags simply will not do. He will need to find a replacement soon. Alberto continues swabbing the deck, evaluating those nearby to see if they look troublesome.
OOC: It's reasonable to assume that, contrary to Ika's strange idea, the comfy chair is not, in fact, predatory.
The chair does not react. Ika pokes it once, twice, in the side, then in the comfiest spot, which should presumably have reacted and taken off a tentacle by now. It does not move. It was never alive in the first place.
Feeling very silly, but also a little disturbed, Ika takes stock of her surroundings, only now noticing that she is out of the water. Not the first time she's experienced the sensation, but it always feels just slightly off. She is standing on a vast bulk floating upon the surface of the ocean. A whale? No, it smells... dead. Unnatural. She notices what the surface of the vast bulk is crawling with. Humans.
Now these she does know about. That an entire huge weird bulk full of them is floating through the sea like this, is not a good sign. They can't be up to any good purpose. What does a squid do in a situation like this?
She takes stock of what little she knows about dealing with humans. Propensity for dumping pollution into the ocean? Complex social structure? What does that even mean? That they play endlessly convoluted domination games against each other? In short, a large amount of wasted cranial capacity that can be turned against them. In theory. Ika doesn't even begin to have a clue of how to begin to do something like that.
Well, the one thing you should never do when surrounded by apex predators in an unfamiliar environment is to show weakness.
Ika leaps up on top of a prominent architectural feature of the bulk (that she can't quite name), raises her tentacles into the air and stretches them outwards to make herself appear larger, and addresses the humans thus:
"Nobody move, under pain of death! Identify yourselves, and confess your evil purpose in coming to this location!"
Ika-musume has the unpleasant feeling that this didn't come out quite as intimidating as she'd hoped. While maintaining her intimidating stance, she glances towards the surface of the ocean to see if it will provide a reasonable escape route.
Everyone sees a small girl coming out of the main cabin, her voice shouting loudly as the sailors look at her with confusion.
The nearest one turned and laughed. "Captain, did you forget again? You really have the shortest memory!" Everyone seemed to start laughing at that, save possibly the man at the wheel and the swab, the only ones who didn't have a clue what was going on.
Ika stands there for a moment, looking utterly and completely confused. Had she really forgotten something? That did tend to happen... however! What she was witnessing, was probably the hideous and confusing complexity of the human social structure in full play! They were just saying things and laughing to throw her off guard, and then presumably they could all rush in at once and...
Certain apex predators hunt in packs. Fighting off a pack of apex predators was not something Ika had ever needed to do before, being too cautious to let herself get into such a situation. Or so she'd thought. There were some rules about doing it. Think, Ika, think, what did your father use to say?
(Ika's father didn't use to say anything. He was a giant squid, who also never needed to fight off packs of apex predators. Just solitary whales. Not an analogous situation by any stretch of the imagination.)
Eh, whatever. Probably the logical solution was to latch onto the one who'd called attention to himself, and make it very clear to the others that they did not want to be the first one to rush at her.
Dragging the now-certainly-never-alive-in-the-first-place comfy chair towards her with one set of tentacles, Ika wraps another set of tentacles around the sailor who'd spoken up, and hoists him up into the air, making what she hopes to be a dangerous face.
"What do you mean, 'again'? What do you mean, 'captain'? I think I'd like an explanation!"
"woah...woah, captain, you promised you wouldn't do that!" The sailor stopped laughing as he was lifted up by the tentacles, flailing about, his stained white shirt tight against his skin under her grip. "You wrote it all down for yourself, but I can tell ya all the same, captain. You said when you hired us that you had a short memory, and you really weren't kidding! Barely a day goes by before you forget why you hired us all, to hunt the Great White Whale aboard your ship. Ah... Mind kindly putting me down, cap'n?"
The expression on Ika's face is one of complete and utter bewilderment.
"Huh? Hunting a whale? What the heck would I do with a dead whale? Well, at least you have given away your nefarious purpose!"
Feeling -- bizarrely enough -- that the sailors around her are ridiculously submissive for whatever reason, and are unlikely to rush her en masse, Ika puts the one she'd grabbed down as roughly as she can manage and sits down on the comfy chair, deep in thought. Fortunately, writing and things written down are quite familiar to her.
OOC: ... don't ask me why, it was in the manga.
"... so. You say I wrote it all down somewhere. Bring it."
Alberto takes advantage of this distraction to sneak off in search of more suitable attire. He can confront this tentacle girl later, at his leisure.
Yes, he's aware the most likely location for adequate clothing is the captain's quarters, but there must be some other place to look. The first mate's quarters, perhaps.
Alberto:
It seems it is not hard to escape your work with the eyes upon the captain, the boat mostly drifting along the ocean as you spot a couple of options, sneaking into the captain's quarters is definitely one, but so is heading below deck, where perhaps there would be other rooms. Where does your judgement take you?
Ika:
"Ah, It's tuesday isn't it? Friday's captain always says she wants to eat the whale. Either way, it's a big one, and we'll all be famous when we get it!" The man grunted as he was flung down, bouncing among the wood. "Hey, captain, come on man, we're working with you here!" He frowned. "I think you had it on your desk? You don't let us in your room much at all."
Wiping some errant water from his glasses, Bolt kept a steady hand at the wheel while taking a quick look around. Only half paying attention to the antics of the 'captain', he tried to locate any navigational materials.
OOC: The first mate's cabin is below deck? Alberto heads there, then.
Bolt:
There seemed to be some maps in his pocket, with several courses marked upon them, declaring whale migration patterns. There didn't seem to be a particularly clear path that they were definitely on though.
Alberto:
Down below deck, he found several rooms, as well as the brig, though his attention was quickly gotten to the first mate's room, a larger one at the foot of the stairs, a man sleeping in the bed inside.
Ika remembers something... about being on the beach before (as part of her, ahem horribly botched stratagem to invade Japan), and the strange foreign man who'd kept hanging out at the cafe and trying to get Chizuru's attention with some talk about a challenge. However, it would be Squid Girl who was the equal of any challenge that might be placed before her! (The strange man had looked at her oddly, shrugged, and then grudgingly agreed to let Ika go instead.)
OOC: note for the future -- logically, Ika should know a lot from having invaded Japan, but to keep consistent about the 'Clueless' rule, we'll assume she doesn't.
Essentially, it was simple enough: for some odd reason, these humans insisted on obeying her. Well, their loss! Now if only she could get to the captain's quarters where allegedly there was something written down...
About to let the sailor wander off, and about to head off herself to the captain's quarters, but then remembering something, Ika pauses with a look of utter exasperation. The end of one tentacle snags the sailor's collar, preventing him from leaving.
"Where is the captain's quarters, anyways?"
(This was probably going to be a very long day for everyone concerned.)
"Ah, I can answer without you grabbing me all the time, captain. It's right there," He pointed to the room Ika had come out of when she first began her rant, dragging her comfy chair behind her to avoid lowering her guard. The fools, they had left all of that undefended!
"Oh... oh, right. Well, of course I knew that!"
Releasing the sailor and feeling thoroughly humiliated (a not unfamiliar sensation), Ika stomps off into the captain's quarters and begins looking around for anything that might contain written information -- or for anything else that catches her interest.
OOC: You're doing excellent Arakawa, gonna hesitate a bit with your responses though for a little and try and let the other two get some motion going. Other two, get some motion going before your captain squid has you keelhauled.
IC:
Indeed, on the table was her Secret Instructions to Captain Ika Musume! Just in case she forgot, it told of how her dear old dad had finally lost his life in a battle against a fearsomely large white whale, who's vicious rams and mighty bite resisted his tentacled fury. Calling a delay to her invasion plans against the mainland, she gathered a surly set of expert whale hunters to help her in tracking down and getting vengeance upon this horrible white whale.
And beneath that was a journal, written in her own hand. There was even a half dozen days of captain's logs, detailing such important things as the best way to cow the entire crew, how to use the harpoon, and the color of the clouds.
And next to that was this nice golden shiny thing, about a hand long and with two arms that could stretch or come near attached together by a center. They even had sharp points, and one of them had a feather attached!
Alberto ignores the sleeping man at first and searches through his chests for better clothing in his size.
The man is a bit shorter, and a fair bit rounder than Alberto is, but with some stretching, he could steal the man's clothing. He seemed to be a deep sleeper at least.
Depositing the comfy chair back in its designated location and donning the captain's hat (at an angle that doesn't obscure her vision), Ika studies the materials.
OOC: energy point cost due to absorbing the notes on proper captaincy.
Ika sits down in the comfy chair, toying idly with the shiny, pointy thing, and ponders whether the stuff about her father and the white whale might be true. Everything fits together (how else would she have ended up captaining a ship so suddenly?), and yet there's something she can't quite put her tentacle on about the story... as though she might have heard it before. Well, maybe just deja vu due to the amnesia?
(But then what was that stuff about the cafe on the beach, and the strange man who called himself Q and wanted Chizuru to join in some game?)
The main thing now was that she was stuck on the ship, and they were just drifting about in search of a White Whale. Given the sailors' peculiar insistence that this was her mission, Ika got the sense that they would react oddly if she gave the order to sail back to Japan, or just tried to sink the ship and swim away herself.
So, to pass the time, she should do some captainly things and keep the sailors in line! Maybe she could hand out rum, or keelhaul someone to show she was a properly intimidating invader who meant business. Ika gets up and, leaving the dissonance between the two sets of evidence -- the ship and diary, and her own memories of her recent invasion -- to simmer in her mind, begins to wander about in search of the first mate, starting by trying to find his quarters. Maybe he'll have some advice on which of the sailors might be suitable for administering rum and/or a keelhauling to.
Unless the strange man wanted a somewhat short challenge, Bolt figured that the 'ribbon' would not be found anywhere near the whale they were after currently. Bolt studied the maps some more, paying more attention to the land masses shown. There was a slim chance that he was familiar with the area after all.
OOC: You mentioned that Alberto's outfit changed. Is the same true for Bolt?
Not-quite fitting decent clothing is still a step up from these rags, so Alberto puts it on. And then binds the man hand and foot for good measure. That done, it's high time to figure out what's going on here and how best to turn events to his advantage. Back above decks it is!
OOC: Yes, Bolt's outfit changed as well. You're currently dressed appropriately for a sailor.
IC:
Alberto was in for quite the surprised reaction as he went back above deck, the nearest full sailor turning and looking confused at him. "Swab, what the heck are you doing? Those clothes don't even fit you right."
The so-called Captain of the ship was coming out again as this interplay was going on.
Alberto grabs this insolent man with one hand and charges his other hand with some energy. "Do I LOOK", he demands, "like the sort of person who cares what you think?" When he judges the man to be sufficiently cowed, he releases him. "Back to your duties, then. I know I need to keep some of you to run this ship, but I'm sure I don't need all of you. You would be wise to remember that."
Instinctively, he reaches for his suit pocket for a cigar, but of course he hasn't got one. Living on a ship will certainly be a trying experience.
Coming out of the captain's quarters, Ika observes the man in a nice (though ill-fitting) suit being extremely intimidating and growling something about 'needing to run the ship'. Ah, that must be the first mate, then.
A brainstorm occurs to her. Either she actually is an amnesiac ship captain (kind of silly, really, and the poor idiots who went to work for her deserve every single misery she can get!) or the whole thing really is somehow staged, a play, but in that case...
"Well, well, well!" Ika addresses the sharply dressed man, "you seem to be enjoying yourself actively! How goes the search for the White Whale? No one... slacking off, I trust? I think I might like to have a word or two with you in private... in your quarters, perhaps?"
(A tentacle hooks itself around the edge of Lord Alberto's collar, in a vain attempt to act more intimidating.)
"T-The swab is challenging the captain!" The sailor stared in confusion, stumbling back out of the way of the two of them as he shouts in surprise, reading the discussion between them wrong perhaps.
OOC: switching to past-tense; it seems more natural
Alberto smiled. In a way, this girl reminded him a little of his daughter Sunny. "But of course," he replied. "Right this way." He led the captain/girl back to the room he'd just left. "Pay no attention to this man; he suffers from fits of insanity, which is why he's been bound; for his own protection." If the erstwhile first mate had remained asleep through all this, surely he'd stay asleep a bit longer.
"Now then, tell me of this ... White Whale." Alberto smiled; while he doubted he was meant to actually subdue a whale, playing along for now would likely be instructive.
Ika pondered the fact that the situation had gotten sort of odd. Well, even more odd than waking up on a ship amidst people who insisted you had amnesia. Again, she needed to determine whether that was actually true, and she wasn't in any hurry to go about it.
(Subconsciously, her tentacles began to sort of wave about idly by her head -- a mimicry of how she liked to dangle them lazily in the water, waiting for some prey to come swimming by.)
"Eh?" she noted, pointing at the bound-up man and ignoring the previous question (how did this man get the idea that it was the crew's job to question the captain like that?), "What a coincidence! I'd just determined that there was either a case of insanity aboard this ship... or maybe an outbreak! I'm trying to determine which is the case. That was very perceptive of you to tie up this man, but tell me... what exactly was he suffering from? Unfortunately, my notes have a lot of information on the White Whale, but no information that the crew is in danger from something I don't understand; it would be nice to find out what my second-in-command knows about the situation!"
OOC: I have absolutely no clue as to how to get the helmsman more involved in the proceedings... Drac might want to figure something out.
OOC: The captain might need a refresher on the course we're taking?
OOC: A bit confused, not that it would be unreasonable, just there has been no posts tying up the first mate. Bolt's angle really depends on Cy being a bit more active. There's been a number of 'Hey, everyone attention here' that he's just sort of backgrounding on. But then, Bolt might just be going the stealth angle. If neither of the two of you are aware of him, he's in a good place to cheat you two out of the prize if the opportunity avails itself. While it is good (expected) for everyone to be acting, you guys aren't necessarily on a team, just in the same scene/area together.
I shall assume you aren't shouting. If you guys are, the first mate will wake up.
IC:
Bolt:
The debacle on the deck seems to have quieted, with the captain wandering below deck following the former deck swab. Folks seem to be going back to their jobs, the clouds getting grey overhead.
The man snored a bit loud. It was kind of strange really, as he wasn't tied up, but he didn't seem like he would wake up as long as neither of them were shouting at each other. The room seemed reasonably fancy, in a similar way to Ika's captain's room. It was quite likely the man was lying in part to Ika, but he was also the only person not submissively going along with her and who didn't seem to know what was going on either.
OOC: Okay, back to our scheduled mind games. Wait, is the man tied up, or isn't he?
Ika toys with the shiny golden thingy she's still carrying (so... shiny...), and looks at Lord Alberto expectantly.
"... well? You should answer when your captain asks you something!"
OOC: I'd specified that Alberto "bound the man hand and foot". If he's no longer bound, Alberto will be startled to find this out. I also have no idea what this shiny golden thing is supposed to be. A sextant? A crossbow? A squid toy?
"I suspect he suffers from the delusion he is the first mate of the ship. Then again, who's to say he's wrong; you seem to think you're the Captain. You certainly seem accustomed to giving orders." Alberto paced back and forth. A ship at sea was an island; in order to reach land again he might have to put up with situations he otherwise would never have countenanced. He made up his mind.
"For the time being, let's assume you really are the Captain. What do you intend to do with your ship?"
It seems the captain, that strange young girl with white squit tentacles, is toying with a fancy expensive looking navigation tool in her hand, possibly a simple sextant.
"I was thinking of taking things slowly and carefully. You seem so convinced that I'm another one with delusions. Maybe. But then I have to figure out which of my delusions are actually true! Should I stay with this ship and chase the Whale, or should I jump overboard and swim for land?"
She realized she could take a stab at resolving this issue with minimal risk.
"Does the term 'ribbon' mean anything to you?"
... hopefully with minimal risk.
"A ribbon? A child's decoration, yes? Or perhaps a symbol of ultimate power." Alberto's good eye gleamed. "So you too are a contender for the prize? I wish you good luck, my dear; you'll need it."
Alberto's mind raced. This squid girl had been placed in the scenario as captain, which might be compensating for her lack of a power, if this "Q" fellow were a sporting man. For the time being, then, it seemed best to cooperate with the 'captain' and look for future advantage.
"Heh, I think that answers my question. Keep in mind, though, being the swab (I heard that, you know!) you probably have no skills particularly valuable to the running of a ship. So unless you feel like sharing your more valuable insight regarding the ribbon," Ika giggled, "I doubt your contribution to keeping my deck clean will outweigh what you've done to this poor man. Even if he is insane, what's one more madman on a ship full of mad people? In fact, I have always longed to enslave and conquer, and since becoming the captain of this vessel I've been in a keelhauling mood in particular... and if I woke up this man, he'll probably have a more specific idea than you have of which sailor on this ship is ripe for a keelhauling, really, I doubt you've got a tenth of the experience invading and dominating stuff that I have, I remember this one time I..."
She was getting off track.
"... so, who will you be? Would you rather be the thoroughly insane swab, or Mr. Jones, my trusted associate who I'd secretly stowed away, cleverly disguised as the swab?"
Alberto's eye turned cold. "My dear girl, you clearly have no idea who I am," he said, his voice rising to a theatrical pitch. "You have the distinct pleasure of making the acquaintance of Alberto Casanegra de Nueva Castilla, commonly known as Shockwave Alberto, leader of the Magnificent Ten! While I will gladly be your trusted associate, I am no mere 'Mr. Jones'."
With that, he seemed to relax, and a gentle smile entered his expression. "Now then, to business! This White Whale; do you suppose it to be an immediate goal, or merely a distraction?"
"Well, you can be my trusted associate Lord Alberto then! That's an even more trusted-associatey sort of name, actually!"
Ika glanced towards the tied-up first mate, wondering what to do about him.
"... as for the White Whale: who knows what it signifies? All the sailors have their eyes peeled for it, you know, so its importance is something to decide if we actually see the creature. It's not like we could be doing any more to search for it -- I'd suggest some other approach. Although, personally, I think finding the ribbon swallowed inside the whale or something like that, would be far too obvious."
OOC: I trust the sailors do have their eyes peeled for it, and I don't have to reenact the 'first man to spot the White Whale earns x amount of gp' scene from Moby Dick? I could if it's absolutely necessary, though...
Meanwhile, Ika was thinking additional thoughts which she kept private from Lord Alberto -- Besides which, there's the question of why Chizuru kept refusing that guy Q's offer. And Chizuru is the only thing that scares me in the whole entire universe, so the real mystery is what about this guy is so scary that even Chizuru would want to avoid his challenges. I mean, he seemed like a friendly guy, and I get to be a captain and stuff! It's not that bad! But that means I can't see the problem. If I figure out what the problem is, that would definitely get me closer to this ribbon, and then I can win the challenge!
"... by the way, I don't think this mutiny farce is going anywhere. Would you like to untie this man quietly so that you don't have to go through the tedious duties of first mate in his place... not to mention the tedious duty of explaining to everyone why the swab would now be the new first mate? I'm sure you'd much prefer to be a passenger, first-class... well, whatever class we can manage for you... and focus your energies on your actual objective."
Before Lord Alberto could formulate an answer, Ika swept out the door. (It reminded Lord Alberto a bit of an ordinary squid releasing its cloud of ink and scooting away.)
"... and after you do that (I'll trust you to untie him properly), come up on deck and I'll show you something I think is pretty interesting! Happy hunting!"
OOC: I hope that wasn't too much fast talk for one post (about to get away from computer for several hours, but wanted to keep things moving properly). Thanks to Drac for giving away to Ika that Alberto is just the swab. Otherwise, I'd have no choice but to pretend as though he's the first mate.
Bolt passed the time at the wheel by checking his pockets and inventorying his equipment while keeping an eye out for any other 'strange' people.
OOC: Sent Drac the list of stuff Bolt has eaten before getting here.
Finding herself above decks without any further, Ika found herself needing to make some additional arrangements. Unfortunately, the first mate was tied up just at the moment. Ika found herself mentally running through what her notes had listed as the next people down the ship's chain of command, but, not being able to recognize the faces of her crew members, it was pretty useless and would require an embarrassing amount of asking around to find this or that person.
Umm...
The guy standing at the helm would have to be pretty responsible in the grand scheme of things, wouldn't he?
OOC: I'd prefer to involve Bolt in this rather than force Drac to pull out some other NPC...
Making her way up to the helm, Ika greets the silver-haired man at the wheel.
"He-llo! How goes the search for the White Whale, may I ask?"
'Well, I haven't seen it yet, captain.' Bolt answered truthfully. 'But according to the maps, we're on the right track. If you'd like to go over the maps again, we can do that if you wish.' He waved the maps for emphasis.
Alberto:
And so the small girl...his competitor? His captain? Had left him in the cabin with her orders. Truly, this was annoying, as if she expected him to take a swab's role in this ridiculous farce, but what would he do about it?
Ika/Bolt:
The clouds were getting a bit grey.
"Need to take a break, Bolt? I can take the wheel if you need to check the course with the captain." Another man climbed down from the rigging, offering.
Bolt nods and heads off to the captains cabin.
OOC: I'll assume Ika follows if you don't mind.
Spreading the maps out on the captains desk, he points to the course they're following. "We're near here, and heading this way."
"I see..." Ika said, not really seeing at all. "I suppose nothing can be done to improve our search patterns. Out of curiosity, how far are we from the nearest land? I'm wondering whether our location might be having unpleasant effects on the crew's morale."
To be thorough in her captaincy duties, Ika reaches for the captain's log and begins considering whether to make an entry, while waiting for the navigator to answer.
It seemed like they were currently following the whale migration trails in the Atlantic. This was unbelievably far from the home grounds of the east pacific that Ika was most familiar with, that giant block of land labeled Canada seeming to not be too far on the map from where the little marker indicating their ship was. They didn't seem far enough north for ice to be in the waters, but they were clearly hunting around the northern waters.
"Well, then, that..." Ika blanked on what to say... "doesn't look too bad? We're over here and it's over..."
She had been worrying a bit about whether the next thing she'd say was wise or not, and decided to just go ahead with it.
"If I were to tell you that there might be a dangerous mutineer aboard this ship, what would you say?"
Well, it was all a game, after all... why not cover all her bases? Who knew what the other players might try?
"You are paying me to be the helmsman while we look for the whale." Giving Ika a small smile he added. "But if you decide that you wanted to do something else, I would be open to renegotiations."
"What I want you to do is not too hard," Ika announced, crossing her arms. "All that's necessary is for you to warn the crew to keep a weather eye out in case anything suspicious happens, and not worry too much about it -- it's the captain's job to decide what to do about this threat. Your job, by the way, is still to make sure the ship stays on course. The rest of it is just a simple errand. I don't think we need to negotiate over a simple errand, do we?"
"If you know who the mutineer is, did you want me to keep an eye on them specifically or just keep an eye out?" Bolt asked as he scanned the captain's cabin. "Either way, I'll go look for something to eat since I'm not needed at the helm right now."
"Well, I won't even bother telling you right now because soon it will be incredibly obvious who is out of place... and if it isn't obvious then there is no problem... anyhow, the important thing is, now that you know to keep a weather eye out, I'll be able to trust you to do the sensible thing!"
Now on to the important part.
"You say you know where there's some food?"
Well, neither of them had the preprogrammed knowledge, if they guessed or looked around, or even asked someone, they would not have a hard time finding the ship kitchen, where fish and slop was available any time of day that the cook happened to not be drunk.
"I don't think my diet is exactly the same as yours, but I'll join you for a bit in the galley." Making an exaggerated bow, Bolt motioned for the door. "After you, captain."
"Well, let's go ask around, anyways!" Ika announced. "I hope they have shrimp on the menu. No, after you, I insist!"
Gently pushing the navigator out of the room with an outstretched tentacle, Ika followed, closing the door after her.
OOC: if Bolt wants to physically resist this for whatever reason, I don't mind rolling back the stuff below:
"Hmm... sky's turning a bit gray. I'll have to make an entry once I am properly fed."
Oh, and now she'd have to ask someone stuff she was supposed to know as the captain. Sure they all humoured her with claims that she had amnesia, but it was embarrassing as all hell... no way would she abase herself like that! Instead...
"Hello sailor!" Ika called out to a nearby sailor, pointing out the silver-haired navigator to him, "This guy seems to have forgotten where we keep the vittles on the ship! Hehehe, perhaps you could point him the way to the kitchen! I am far too squidly and important to do it myself!"
"Huh. Aye, Aye, captain!" The man nodded, "Just follow me."
Obediently he lead the two downstairs, the rain just starting to patter down outside. It looked like a storm was beginning to brew as they walked to the middle of the ship, the ship's cook lazing about in the kitchen.
Bolt tries to find the cleanest spot for them before setting down. "Hey, we'll take whatever you're cooking today." he calls to the man.
"I will have shrimp!" Ika contradicted the navigator, hopping up and down impatiently.
"Shrimp, shrimp... It's always shrimp, cap'n. You'd think we were trawling for 'em the way you eat 'em. Today is tuna! Tuna or nothin'," The older man grumbled, putting a plate before each of them.
Bolt shrugged and dug into his meal.
"No shrimp?" Ika asked despondently, "No shrimpy-shrimp?"
For just a brief moment, she looked about to burst into tears.
"OH WELL!"
And, spirits restored, she then began to devour the tuna, with about nine-tenths of the usual carnivorous fervor reserved for shrimp.
The food was crude and served on rough wooden plates, but it was plentiful and filling and soon they were both full.
Even if Bolt's plates and silverware had vanished.
Alberto:
A sailor comes down meanwhile looking for the swab, wandering the corridors a bit. "Swab? Hey, Alberto, you aren't throwing up somewhere are you?"
Once his meal was finished, Bolt excused himself. "I will start looking around unless you have other orders first."
A strange feeling swept through the ship, the swab heading up, apologizing to the sailor for being late to his shift.
Ika had the strangest feeling she'd talked to someone earlier, but it seemed that this sailor was probably the only competitor on the ship. This is good, she could take him at any time it looked like. Still the storm was getting rather rough out there, the ship beginning to shake back and forth.
OOC: Ika actually hasn't cottoned onto the fact that Bolt is another competitor. Doubly so now that her memory has been messed with.
"Well, I was going to ask you to... ugh. I forgot. Never mind. I'll find you if I remember whatever-it-was. Probably not important. Dismissed!"
It was weird though... she had this certainty that she was just inside some game searching for the ribbon but... when had she realized that was the theory that was correct, and she wasn't really an amnesiac ship captain? Particularly since there was definitely something she was forgetting... She needed to do some thinking about this.
Ika made her way up to the deck and decided to take a good look at the weather.
It was certainly getting rainy above deck, the sailors pulling in the sails as a crack of thunder carried over the stern.
All of this was drowned out by a single voice that simply carried, "Whale to the north east! Thar she blows!"
"Whale?!!! What kind of whale?? What colour?"
Ika was understandably anxious, since if it was the White Whale she might be expected to hunt it. She didn't particularly want to hunt any whales, but explaining that to the crew would be... there went her thinking time out the window.
Making a quick tour of the ship, Bolt tried to pull out the handgun he ate a while back. He was looking for any cannon's that the ship might have.
The ship seemed oddly cannonless, but there were plenty of harpoons about. Even one harpoon gun.
"Too far to say! It seems to hide well in the wake, but the storms getting worse captain!"
Making a quick snack of a couple harpoons, Bolt made his way back to the top deck.
OOC: Was I able to pull out the gun? If yes, he ate it again. If no, that will make things harder.
That made things easier. It wasn't like they could eat an entire whale, even if they did have an entire crew of hungry stomachs. There was no stipulation in Ika's notes about hunting ordinary whales.
"A dead whale's worth a fortune, but..."
(But that was part of why the humans were so stupid anyways. Why kill something you're not going to eat yourself? What did humans do with a dead whale, anyways?)
"With this foul storm, and with my foul mood, if it is not the White Whale, I will not waste a harpoon on it!"
"But, Captain... don't you want to go closer?" A sailor asked, tugging hard at a knot, everyone looking at her. "We can't tell from here. If we turn and it's the white whale, we'll lose it completely."
"Well, get us closer! Waste no harpoons, but spare one weather eye at all times for the whale!"
Privately, Ika wondered at her own unusual speech pattern (she didn't usually talk like this), but dismissed the thought for the moment.
Nothing to be done about it, was there?
"The harpoons...where did the harpoons go?" Aside from the gun that was bolted down, most of them had seemingly vanished, the sailor tasked with getting them ready in a bit of a panic.
"Aye, Aye captain," Another called, swinging the boat toward the sighting, heading right toward the whale. "It's a big one...And heading fast. It'll be tough to catch it...but it actually looks white. White whale ahead!" The soaked sailor atop the mizenmast shouted down. "We got it cap!"
Swallowing nervously, Ika inspects the harpoon gun, in the back of her mind wondering whether she might wriggle out of her obligation to fight the whale.
It's an old but sturdy thing with plenty of hard line attached. She must've bought it for this venture.
After making his way to the deck again, Bolt looked for the whale. "It definitely is a big one. Are you going to take the shot, captain? Or did you want one of us to do it?"
Ika was busy barking (well, not the right word, her voice was too thin for it) orders to give chase to the White Whale and ready the boats. Since this was a strange game in search of a ribbon, she was beginning to get a hunch as to what the appearance of a White Whale might mean... this was most likely going to be complicated and unpleasant.
"Oh, you'll get your shot if you're so eager for it." Ika finally answered the navigator, "Now if we could figure out what happened to our harpoons... and then I have a rousing speech to give.... and then we go down in the boats and..." sigh "... hunt the whale."
Taking over the harpoon gun, Bolt pointed out. "You might want to hurry up with the speech, captain. We are heading towards it." Making a quick check of the gun, he started loading it with one of the harpoons available on deck.
Calling the attention of the crew, Ika gives her speech.
Um... how exactly do you give a speech again? Ika decides to just start with the obvious.
"THIS IS A ROUSING SPEECH!"
That should clear up any confusion, shouldn't it?
"... how do you hunt a whale, men? You do not sit in the ship and wait for it to come to you. You have to go out and chase it! That's how life works! You chase stuff, you have to go out and try things, whether you're looking for some whale or for some silly ribbon!"
Whatever. Anyone thinks that speech is bad? They should try making their own speech.
"That said, anyone who is afraid of being left behind! Or of sitting complacently and failing to get the rich rewards of action! -- who will come with me, in my boat?"
OOC: *handwaves*
IC:
The ship shook as the storm raged around them, the sailors staying on feet mainly, but it was a struggle. "But captain, where are the harpoons? The whole place has been ransacked!"
The sailors were looking at each other suspiciously. "What kind of coward takes the harpoons?" None seemed to be brave enough to get into the boat unarmed. Especially with the lightning crackling overhead.
The harpoon gun at least was now armed, but it'd be a hard shot in these waves unless they got right up alongside it.
"Ahem," The first mate stumbled up, "You lillywitted slackers! Check the armory. Grab a harpoon per man and get into the drop ships! Dammit! This is the one, isn't it captain? It's dangerous to chase in this storm though."
Wiping more water off his glasses, Bolt calmly waited for his shot.
OOC: Rolled a hit
IC:
The storm raged heavily, making the shot quite difficult, the boat bouncing up and down as Bolt lined up the shot, sea salt splashing against his face. Patience won out though and the shot went clean in, a fearsome bellow as the boat began to get dragged along by the enormously strong whale.
"You." Bolt points at a random crew member. "Get me another harpoon. If I can get a few more hits, it might slow down enough."
Arming the gun with the new harpoon, once it arrives, Bolt takes another shot.
OOC: Another hit, but gonna wait a sec to let Arakawa enter back onto the scene.
Having been essentially dragged along to the boat by the further progress of affairs, Ika falls quiet and watches the navigator throw harpoon after harpoon at a poor sea creature. This was always Ika's problem, missing the right moment to stand up for herself... though, what could she do?
The navigator could finish off the whale himself for all she cared. (She can hold it against him later if an appropriate occasion came.)
Ika looks at the water. Worst case, she could just jump out and swim for it, couldn't she?
Another harpoon speared into the side of the whale as it turned around, charging into the side of the ship with a heavy thud.
Indeed, though the water was rough, as a squid, Ika could dive beneath it. It would even be safer for her than being in the boat. Well, assuming the whale didn't swallow her whole.
Holding onto her hat, Ika decides she should do something...
"How many harpoons do we have left?" she inquires.
"Here captain!" A sailor handed her one, each of the five on her boat holding a harpoon, two more on the floor.
Giving up on trying to find a way to end up without a dead whale, Ika decides that they might as well get the carnage over with quickly.
Hefting her harpoon in a tentacle, she decides to try something no one else can do: stab the whale with the harpoon while still holding on to it... as soon as it gets close enough for her tentacles to reach.
Well, that worked interestingly. The whale turned, shaking boats aside as her harpoon lashed into it, the huge creature screeching angrily as one red eye opened to stare at her, it's bulbuous bulk carrying her along as it smashed right through the small boat she was on, taking the sailors down to their watery graves.
OOC:
10 hp damage. The big ship is still there, but the whale has destroyed all of the harpooner boats.
*pokes cy too*
Now having more pressing worries than the balance of nature, Ika tries to get a grip on the surface of the whale using something besides the harpoon: tentacles? hands? feet? anything?
OOC: Going to attempt this unless Q interferes.
Bolt started loading the harpoon gun again, using one of his eaten harpoons. If anyone was paying attention, they would notice a something attached to the harpoon near the head. It was a small gray cylinder with a small black cap.
Ika's long tentacles can reach out and secure to the whale's side. She could climb on top or try and leap off, though with the whale thrashing around from the three harpoons in it, that would be dangerous.
Bolt:
The harpoon is loaded and ready for firing, though you notice your captain on the whale. You would have to be careful to avoid catching her in the blast.
With her other tentacles secured to the whale, Ika tries to pull out the harpoon she is still holding on to.
Taking aim away from the captain, Bolt lets loose the harpoon. Hit or miss, he loads up another modified harpoon without detonating the first one and shoots again. Extending the detonator from his hand, he waits until the captain won't be killed by the explosions, then presses the red button.
Ika/Bolt:
The whale thrashes through the ocean waves, the storm pummeling them both from above. Ika's tentacles wrap around the harpoon she was holding, yanking it clear out with a good twist of her tentacles.
Bolt meanwhile takes aim, lining up one shot, then another. The first one flies high as the ship bounces around in the storm, but the second is a clean shot...almost too clean as he nearly hits his captain with it!
Ika:
it's quite distracting as Bolt's harpoon slams in almost right next to her, piercing the white whale blubber deeply.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
Noting that she was almost hit by a harpoon just now, Ika decides to scramble off the side of the whale and into the sea as fast as she can, trusting whatever instincts she might have to avoid being skewered and/or eaten.
Relieved that Ika is safe from the explosion, Bolt presses the detonator.
Diving under the waters, Ika hears an explosion overhead, the seawater tossing her this way and that, dangerously shoving her around before suddenly she splashed down onto a bed of all things. Though disoriented, she was now in some fancy bedroom, a single window off to the side and very old furniture around.
Bolt:
The detonation rocked the poor whale as it gave a tender scream, sinking under the suddenly dark red waves, blood flowing freely from the wound. The world around him went grey suddenly, slowing down as suddenly he was in a multicolored room, ten by ten. A simple ugly green creature was sitting in the corner, in front of some box as the rainbow hues of the walls moved around, emitting light from all directions rather disorientedly.
Moving threads.