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yume_to_ameTitle: The Odyssey of Ohno Satoshi
Pairing: Juntoshi, also starring Sho, Aiba, Nino
Beta:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ryo_pyon
Genre: pirate/fantasy-AU, romance, humour, bit angst
Raiting: PG-13
One-shot
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these guys, but the plot/story is mine :D
Summary: Ohno would have never become part of the crew of this unlucky ship, had he known the rumours about this pretty Captain Matsumoto and his unfaithful crew, including the mascot Aiba, always-seasick navigator Nino, arrogant first officer Sho and nerve-wracking dog Cucumber. However, he does, and once he steps on this ship, he sails into adventures, dramatic incidents and unbelievable stories, including a giant octopus, a moving island and Atlantis.
Note: Written forriidaaisbest for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
arashi_exchange. I had a blast writing this and hope you'll have a great time reading it <3 A big thank you goes to my beta of course :D
Ohno would have never signed on as part of the crew on this unfaithful ship, had he known the rumours that:
But Ohno had searched for a job, in desperate need of one. The ocean and boats were the only things he knew something about. Never had he learned something, never had he studied. His parents had no money to offer him anything.
He was at a young age when he learned how to look after himself. When he had to steal food occasionally, not to starve. When he got beaten up by the owners of restaurants and bars because they caught him. When he learned to do dirty work.
Very dirty work. Bad things he wanted to forget.
He was a man with a past, but without a future and without a real talent. Of course Captain Matsumoto hired him – he also had hired the mascot Aiba, seasick navigator Nino and the Captain’s first officer Sakurai. In comparison to them Ohno was a win for the Captain.
He had met Aiba, the mascot and failed cook, in a bar. They had talked and Aiba had brought him to Matsumoto. (Apparently Aiba’s skills of hiring people were slightly better than the Captain’s, because Ohno was not hopeless, unlike the others.)
That’s how Ohno became part of the infamous crew of Queen Matsumoto.
~~~~~
“My food is alive.”
Nino’s high-pitched voice made Ohno startle for a moment, before he moved his gaze to Nino’s plate. And really, he was sure he could see how the crab moved its legs slightly.
Ohno gulped, his stomach tugging in an uncomfortable way. Suddenly he was sure that all fish and crabs were moving, twitching on their plates. “I think,” he mumbled. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
Aiba just threw them a reproachful glance, before he turned towards Sho with a bright smile. The latter had just appeared in the canteen together with Captain Matsumoto, apparently too hungry to stay away from this disgusting and horrifying food. “What do we have for lunch?” It took Sho only one glance on the food, eyeing the twitching crabs on Nino’s plate, to nod his head knowingly. “I see. We could give it Cucumber,” he suggested. “Right Jun?”
The Captain nodded his head, grabbing one of the fish and holding it towards Cucumber. Cucumber looked at it, then moved his gaze towards Jun, glaring at the rest of them and turning around to leave the room. Not without barking of course.
Ohno flinched when he heard the high-pitched barking of the dog.
“Gives you the chills, right? In a bad way,” Sho mumbled. “Can’t we just get rid of the dog?”
“Sho-chan.” Aiba frowned. “I’m sure Cucumber has also nice and good side… eh… deep down… well… I’m sure he has them!”
“Yeah,” Sho mumbled. “He is just hiding them very well.”
Ohno looked at the other men in interest, his sharp eyes following every of their movements. The captain was pretty, no doubt about that. His hair was black, a bit curly, and now sticking to his forehead because of the warm weather and the salt of the sea. Sakurai looked fierce. They seemed to be close… Ohno frowned, were they? He had heard rumours about Captain Matsumoto and his liking for pretty guys. Well, he shrugged, so the pretty captain was having a good time with his first Officer. Not that Ohno cared all that much… though this guy was so pretty…
Pretty…
Ohno sighed about his own thoughts, moving them away from the beautiful captain and his pretty boytoy, and back to Cucumber. Cucumber was ugly and nerve-wracking but a good distraction.
~~~~~
“So, you are the new guy?”
Ohno looked at the Captain in surprise. They were sailing over the ocean for around three weeks now and this guy only realized now that he was new? “Yes.”
“And, you like it here?”
Apparently, the captain was trying to make some conversation. Now that Ohno thought about it, he remembered how Aiba had told him that Captain Matsumoto had read a book about how to welcome new employees. Ohno sighed, yeah, just that they were on a ship, not in a high classed restaurant. On pirate ships, new employees were welcomed by throwing them into the water, watching them struggle until they were so tired that someone helped them. Then everyone drunk tons of rum and got helplessly drunk.
But here, it seemed like the world was turning in a different pace. “Yes,” Ohno bowed slightly. “Thanks for hiring me.”
“Hm,” Jun nodded his head. “You know something about boats?”
Again, Ohno frowned. This was a ship, damn, why would he hire on it if he didn’t know anything about it at all!? But then he thought about Aiba… who knew nothing about ships and sailing. Sho at least had an eye for navigation, maths and science. Nino on the other side was just as useful as Aiba. But Sho had explained to him that Nino was a smart guy with a sharp mind.
Maybe, after all, the captain’s question wasn’t that weird. “Yeah, Captain Matsumoto, quite a bit. My grandfather was working at a harbour. My father was a fisherman.”
Jun’s eyes beamed. “Good, I’m relieved.” He nodded his head in approval. “By the way, we are not giving anything on formalities here. So, no need to call me Captain Matsumoto. Call me Jun, or whatever you want. Just like the others.”
“Eh?”
“Formalities just keep us away from the more important things. We don’t need to bother with them, better concentrate on something else.”
This, on the other side, Ohno definitely approved of. He wasn’t the type of guy who was too much into formalities. “Good,” He chuckled slightly. “So, what will our first adventure be?”
A gleam appeared in Jun’s eyes when he heard Ohno’s question. “Now that I’m not the only one who knows how to move a ship, how about we go for something dangerous?” he joked.
Ohno smiled. “Aren’t we pirates?” His eyes grew dark as he smelt the scent of adventure and danger. “Nothing is too dangerous.”
~~~~~
Adventure 1: Insula Movaris
Ohno had heard stories from his grandfather, from many years ago when he was a young man and sailing over the sea, part of a dangerous crew of pirates. Adventures, mysterious creatures, flying unicorns accompanying them and saving them, sirens, mermaids, waves that were pulling them under the sea towards Atlantis. All these things his grandfather had told him about.
His parents had only laughed about it and told their son not to believe it.
And though Ohno’s rational mind told him not to believe in his grandfather’s strange stories, there was something inside him, jumping every time in excitement when he heard his grandfather’s adventures.
His grandfather had called it the scent of adventure… like a slight burning scent in the air, mixed up with the salt of the sea and the sound of waves. Ohno had felt it too. He had never believed in it, but years later he realized that he had always wanted to become what his grandfather once was. An adventurer.
There was just one problem: Though he was skilled, he didn’t really have any huge talent. His grandfather on the other side had always been a good-looking, alluring man – he was able to convince people to buy the most useless things. He was a genius when it was about boats, history and science. He could talk himself out of any trouble. He was a skilled, talented man. Ohno on the other side felt more like a slightly skilled guy, who had no real talent.
He was about to learn to live with this knowledge, when he had suddenly felt it. The scent of an adventure… He had smelled it when he met Aiba. He didn’t even know how and why it happened. He knew about this weird Captain Matsumoto and his Queen Matsumoto and would have never asked him for a job, but the scent was there. This scent. The one he had smelled slightly when he was younger and heard his grandfather’s stories. The one he had always dreamed of, until he gave up and decided that he was too boring for an adventure to seek him out.
But it happened. Aiba was suddenly in this bar. This scent all around him. And when he followed him to the ship, it got stronger.
It was there, all over the other four guys and this ship. So apparently Ohno was, like his grandfather, someone worth an adventure. But still, he didn’t know why. What was his talent? Why did an adventure want him? Why did it want Aiba? Or the others on the ship? What made them so special?
~~~~~
Ohno soon learned what it was that made the other guys special. Or rather: What it was they had no idea about: Basically everything that concerned the sea.
Sunday:
~~~~~
“I’m sorry.” Aiba’s let his head hang down when he looked at Jun. Sho was currently trying to gather some things for the night, together with Nino. Ohno was checking on what they needed to do to repair the ship. He side-eyed Jun and Aiba a bit, but to his relief, Jun merely sighed and nodded his head. “It’s okay. Be more careful next time.”
“He is mad at me.”
Ohno was surprised when he heard Aiba’s voice right behind him. He smiled slightly when he saw the younger one sitting on a rock, legs dangling lazily. “You mean Jun? I don’t think so.”
“Oh, believe me,” Aiba sighed. “He is mad.”
“But Sho was the one who let go of the helm,” Ohno argued, stopping his work for a moment to sit down next to the other. “Not you. You just dropped into the sea. It was an accident. Can happen.” He patted Aiba’s head for a moment. With these warm, brown eyes and his helpless smile he really looked like a puppy. Ohno slowly understood why he was the ship’s mascot.
“Oh, Jun’s not mad at Sho.” Aiba shook his head. “He would never be. He is his brother, you know?”
“Wait a moment…” Ohno frowned. “They are brothers? I thought they were… well, you know?”
Aiba giggled slightly. “No,” he sing-songed. “Brothers, by blood.”
“Really?” Ohno pulled his eyebrows up. To his own surprise he felt relieved. It had bothered him that Jun and Sho were in a relationship. Now, knowing that they were brothers, it made everything simpler. He didn’t know WHAT exactly it made better, but he felt relieved. “But wasn’t Sho chased by some sidekicks of the king?”
“Yes,” Aiba nodded his head. “The king is actually their father and wanted them to study.” He frowned, blushing out of a sudden. “Or something like that. It’s a complicated story.”
Ohno stared at Aiba in disbelief. Jun and Sho? The King’s son? FOR REAL!? “They are princes?”
Aiba smiled warily. “Yeah, but when they told me their story I fell asleep, so I don’t know any details. I didn’t want to ask again later, it would have made me look so stupid…”
Yeah, Ohno frowned, stupid was the key-word here. But with a glance towards Aiba and his honest eyes, he rewrote his thoughts: not stupid, but naïve. Strangely Ohno felt like protecting this guy. Mascot. He really was one. “Why should Jun be angry with you? I don’t see why he wouldn’t be mad at Sho, despite being his brother.”
Aiba shrugged slightly. “No, it’s not Sho’s fault that we landed here. He let go of the helm, but he did it out of his instincts. I can’t swim, so…”
“Wait a moment!” Ohno stood up, looking down at Aiba sternly. “You-can’t-swim!? Don’t joke with me, kid!”
“It’s the truth.” Aiba blushed. “I can’t swim. The last time I fell into the sea, I almost drowned. But Sho’s wristband had dropped into the water and I wanted to get it back for him. Sho and Jun jumped after me to save me. God, Jun was mad. But Sho was even angrier. He even slapped me.”
Ohno was still staring at the younger one in disbelief. This was a ship! They were on the sea most of the time. And this kid couldn’t swim!?
He couldn’t swim…
~~~~~
“He thinks you are mad at him.” They had been sitting around a campfire. Nino had prepared something to eat together with Sho – and it actually didn’t taste all that bad. Aiba was asleep.
Then suddenly Jun was gone. The others didn’t realize it, but Ohno did. He had always been more attentive than others imagined him to be.
Jun was at the beach, sitting there and looking out to the sea. When he heard Ohno’s almost silent steps, he turned around. Ohno smiled when Jun’s dark eyes were scanning him, before he nodded in approval. A sign for Ohno to sit down next to him. “He thinks you are mad at him.”
“Who?” Jun asked though they both knew who Ohno was talking about.
“Aiba-chan.”
“Well,” Jun shrugged. “He is right.”
“You are giving him a hard time.” Ohno shrugged when Jun looked at him in surprise as he voiced his criticism. “What? You said to treat you like everyone else.”
To his surprise Jun grinned. “Yeah, I said that.”
“But didn’t mean it?”
“Nope, it’s okay.”
“You shouldn’t be mad at him,” Ohno stated.
A sigh. “I know. I just hate to see him getting hurt. And he can’t swim… he should be more considerate than that.”
He shouldn’t be on a boat in first place, Ohno thought, but didn’t say it out loud. Then he chuckled out of a sudden. “How about changing it then?”
“Change what?”
“His problem. All of you others can swim, right? Someone could teach him…”
Jun looked at Ohno in sincere surprise, before his eyes widened. “You are right,” he rasped out, as if Ohno had just come up with some Nobel-prize worthy idea. “I never thought about it.”
Ohno had to smile slightly, this captain with his whole crew was so weird. But when Jun reached out his hand to touch Ohno’s affectionately, he couldn’t help the warm feeling in his stomach. This special feeling that made him freak out every time. Unfortunately, this time Cucumber was nowhere around to distract him and Ohno was left alone with these weird feelings inside him.
~~~~~
Tuesday:
Aiba didn’t stop practising. Once he had learned the basics from Ohno and understood them, he was able to practice on his own. It had awakened his ambition, definitely, and he had realized his chance to never get scolded again for dropping into the water.
Apparently it happened more than twice, from what Ohno had heard from Nino and Sho. He couldn’t even believe it that no one had ever thought of teaching this guy how to swim.
“Thanks,” Jun handed Ohno a bottle with rum.
“Rum?” Ohno was surprised. They hardly drank anything on the ship. Quite unusual for a pirate ship. And if they were drinking, it was mostly wine. Ohno hadn’t known that in fact they HAD rum on the ship. When he eyed the bottle, he blinked. This one looked expensive. “Where did you get that from?”
Jun shrugged. “Last year Cucumber dropped into the sea. And… well, you can guess who jumped after him?”
“Aiba.”
“Yes.”
Ohno grinned. “I see.”
“So, I jumped into the water as well. The problem was that there was a storm coming up. I grabbed Aiba and Cucumber. Nino had thrown a rope towards us, gladly, and we were clinging to it. And then suddenly… we were somewhere else. As if the storm had carried us away. It was a different land, something I’ve never seen. Not even Sho knew anything about it. There we saved a young woman – apparently she was the princess of the country. Her father gave us lots of gold and some of his expensive rum and with the next storm he sent us on the ocean again. Suddenly we were back.”
Ohno stared at Jun in disbelief. This sounded like a story his grandfather would tell him. Just that this time, it was different. Jun was not his grandfather. In fact, he was a young sincere guy. He wasn’t exactly a liar or someone who was good with words like his grandfather.
Could it be?
That the stories were true?
Ohno’s head hurt. But then it was back all of a sudden… The scent of adventure. It was lying in the air again, all around Jun.
~~~~~
“The island is moving.”
Sho stood up when he heard Aiba’s voice. He crossed his arms in front of his body, looking at Aiba who was swimming in the water. “Didn’t I tell you to take a break!?”
“Sorry,” Aiba pouted. “I wanted to train a bit more.”
“You are getting exhausted!”
“No, I’m fine. Just that the island is moving.”
“See?” Sho sounded so aggravated that Ohno felt slightly worried that he would actually get mad again. This guy had a temper, really. “You are already imagining things. NOW OUT OF THE WATER!”
Aiba glared angrily while he patted out of the water. “And I said the island is moving.”
“Aiba-chan,” Ohno sighed. “An island can’t…” move he wanted to say, but the last word got stuck in his throat. Something was cracking and rumbling underneath them. And if he wasn’t losing his mind now, he would be sure that the ocean was moving.
Or…
“The island is moving,” he mumbled.
Now, if Aiba said something like that, the others would normally smile and cuddle him. But if something like that came from Ohno, who was the knowledged and calm type, it was indeed alarming.
Being on a moving island:
The advantages of being on a moving island:
“It’s sinking.” Sho blurt out. “The fucking island is sinking!”
Jun looked around a bit, a frown on his face. “How fast is it sinking Sho? How much time do we have?”
For a moment it was awkwardly quiet, while Sho was taking his measures and hovered over his calculations. Then he looked up at them. “24 hours. If nothing changes.”
“Good,” Jun took a deep breath. “We need to get the ship prepared. As fast as possible.”
“But what if it won’t be enough?” Nino asked silently. “I mean…it’s stuck. What if the pressure of the sinking island won’t press it up but rather tug it down with it?”
Ohno looked from his friends to the ship, then back to the island. “Can’t we move it?”
“No,” Nino shook his head. “The boat is stuck.”
“I didn’t mean the ship.”
“Yes!” Jun’s eyes lit up out of a sudden, he looked at Ohno in excitement. “Whatever moves you can…”
“…drive” Ohno finished.
“Did I get that correctly now,” Sho frowned. “You want to drive the island? With what?”
Apparently Jun’s senses were awakened now, much to Ohno’s relief. “A sail, we need one, big enough to catch a lot wind.”
“And then?” Ohno asked curiously. Even if they would be able to force the island to move into a direction, it was still sinking.
“There is a water fountain,” Jun explained breathlessly. “It has to be close to this place.”
“Yes,” Sho nodded his head. “We actually wanted to avoid it and ship around it. It has to be right in front of us.”
“A lot of pressure coming from the ground beneath the ocean and pushing the water up,” Jun explained. “It’s an impressive, dangerous fountain. But if we reach it in time before the island is sinking completely…”
“It will push us up,” Nino finished his thought. “Sounds insane, but worth a try.”
“Aiba, Nino. Prepare the boat. Sho we need you to navigate. Satoshi and I will prepare the sail.”
Sho frowned. “What kind of sail? There is nothing big enough to actually navigate the island. Even though it’s a small one and it’s windy today, it needs to be a huge sail.”
Ohno tilted his head, checking the area thoughtfully. His gaze wandered over the small island, checking on the little hills and palm trees. He paused for a moment. Palm trees. Huge leaves… if they sew them together, it could become a huge sail. “Jun… I’ve an idea.”
Ohno and Jun carried tons of palm leaves to the beach, before they started to tie them together with ropes. Ohno was surprised when he had seen how well prepared Jun and the others were. But the storage room in the ship was huge, tons of stuff in it. Books in a language Ohno didn’t know and actually had never even heard of it. Tons of bottles and objects Ohno had never seen before. He had believed that they were a hopeless crew, but in fact… they were so well prepared that Ohno couldn’t help but wonder. They didn’t know anything about ships, but they knew everything about the ocean and its dangers. How could that be?
His gaze shifted towards Jun, watching how his beautiful face was red now from the heat and the hard work. He had put off his shirt, his body toned, skin so smooth like Ohno had never seen it before. The well known warm feeling was back again… but this time he didn’t need to look at Cucumber to get distracted.
His own curiosity was distraction enough.
Aiba had said that Sho and Jun were princes. But from where? Their king, the emperor of the world they were living in, only had one daughter and she was about to marry a young wealthy man soon. It was only a few months ago that they held this impressive engagement celebration. So, even if the King was denying to have two sons, word would have spread through the people. Rumours or little legends. But nothing. He had never heard anything about two princes.
“You are a prince?” Ohno finally asked bluntly, frowning slightly when he saw the shocked look in Jun’s eyes. For a moment he looked angry and nervous, then his face was straight again.
“Aiba, huh?” he only asked.
When Ohno nodded his head, Jun sighed. “We should keep on working. The island is moving faster…”
Ohno, realizing that he had touched a sore topic, nodded his head. He had no intention at all to see Jun sad or aggravated. Hence he decided to distract him a bit. The only distraction he found though, was freaking himself out too. He stopped his work for a moment. “Say…” he asked, loud enough for all of them to hear it. “Why is the island moving?”
For a moment it got uncomfortably silent. Ohno could almost feel it, the sudden fear and nervousness around the others.
“Maybe,” Sho started carefully. “It’s… like a flotsam, a huge one, from a huge ship that sunk. And throughout time flora and fauna started to grow there.”
“The idea is not bad, but…” Ohno shook his head. “But why is it changing its pace occasionally, though the wind is still the same?”
“Well,” Aiba chuckled. “Maybe it’s alive?”
For a moment it was uncomfortably quiet again. Aiba blushed. “Sorry, that was stupid.”
“No,” Jun finally breathed out. “Not stupid at all! Damn!”
“It’s alive,” Ohno mumbled nervously.
The next hours Ohno went through like in trance. If this island was alive, it meant that it was an animal. A huge animal. If it was not an herbivore, it meant that…they would be its food. This thought brought Ohno back to reality. He gathered his senses, working as fast as possible. To his own surprise his strength didn’t leave him. They were human beings after all, it was impossible for them to work that hard throughout the whole day, without feeling tired. But he wasn’t tired, not at all.
Ohno shook his head, strange things were going on here. Also with him. He just didn’t know what.
Jun worked even faster than he did, not even taking one single break until they were finished. With Sho’s help they fixed the sail, choosing two palm trees – one on the right side of the island, one on the left, so that it would catch as much wind as possible. The island was alive, but with the wind blowing into the sail, it might be pushed into the right direction.
Ohno looked at the sail in awe. The wind was pulling at it and to his surprise the ropes held against the pressure. The island started moving, fast and towards the fountain.
Ohno smiled slightly, he was about to feel relaxed again, when he suddenly heard it. There was a grumbling. A strange sound, coming from deep beneath the island.
Ohno frowned, it was not a loud sound and the others apparently didn’t hear it. He tried to concentrate on the strange rumbling, then his eyes widened in shock. “On the ship!” he yelled. “Fast.” He grabbed Jun’s arm to tug him along.
“What happened!?” Nino called from the ship.
“It’s crumbling. The island is making noises!”
“Sounds like a volcano,” Sho agreed. He had followed Ohno and Jun as fast as possible. Not even complaining that Ohno was obviously only concerned about Jun.
“Yeah,” Ohno huffed. “A volcano inside of a huge sea animal?”
Again, it was uncomfortably silence. Like the world stopped to move for a moment. “DAMN!” Sho yelled. He hurried up, taking Jun’s other arm and tugging him along too. “Come, brother.”
Brother. Ohno sighed in relief. So it was true, they were brothers. Despite their dangerous situation he felt relieved.
Aiba and Nino reached out their hands, helping them on the ship. Ohno wanted to thank them, when he suddenly saw the threatened and panicked expression in Aiba’s eyes. “Aiba-chan?”
“There,” the younger one pointed at something on the island. “An eye.”
Ohno was still wondering slightly what this kid meant, when he heard Jun gasp next to him. He turned his gaze away from Aiba, towards the direction he was pointing at. An eye, Aiba was right.
The island had opened its eyes.
Adventure 2: The Giant Octopus.
10 good points about being on a giant octopus and being hunt by it
1 bad point about being hunt by Giant Octopus:
“NINO!” Jun yelled in panic. “Take Aiba and hide in the ship. I’ll entrust you with his safety.”
“Of course,” Nino bowed a bit. It was the first time that he did something like that. It was also the first time that Jun actually spoke an order.
Nino had bowed. Very politely. Which he had never done before.
Prince. So, was Jun a prince? And Sho?
Sho, Jun and Ohno were clinging to the ship’s mast. All three of them using all their strength. Ohno realized that Sho wasn’t all that bad with ships, apparently he just wasn’t interested.
They were trying to keep the octopus’s arms away from them, while also keeping an eye on the sails. The fountain was getting closer to them. Hopefully it would work and save them. How, Ohno didn’t know, but at least it would do something.
But then, suddenly, “CUCUMBER!” Sho cried out, eyes widened in shock. “He is dropping into the sea!”
Ohno was surprised. He had thought that Sho hated this dog, but judging by the look in his eyes and his shocked expression, he didn’t.
“We need to save him,” Jun breathed out.
“Eh!?” Ohno looked at them firmly. “Are you crazy. This is insane. We are hardly able to save our own lives.”
Jun and Sho looked at each other warily, before Jun sighed deeply. “You don’t know it of course, but,” his eyes were twitching in worry. “We need him.”
The way Jun said need sent shivers over Ohno’s spine. There was a helpless and scared expression in his eyes, something Ohno didn’t want to see ever again. “Okay, hold on.” He angled for a rope, wrapping it around his body and handing the end to Sho and Jun. “Don’t let go of me, okay?”
“Satoshi,” Jun’s eyes widened. “That’s insane.”
“You said it yourselves,” Ohno answered calmly. “You need him. And the captain’s order is mine.” With that he let go of the mast. He was swept away immediately, the waves pressing him away and towards the guard rail. Somewhere far away he could hear Jun and Sho screaming. Their grip on the rope was strong, much to Ohno’s surprise, since the wind and waves were so strong that it should have been almost impossible for them to hold him. But they did.
Ohno had always loved the sea, even when it was dark and dangerous and scary like now. He closed his eyes, trying to remember this feeling, his love and respect for the ocean. He was calm all of a sudden. He could almost feel it, the soul of the ocean, its heart. It was like the water was reaching out its hand, grabbing him and leading him towards Cucumber.
Ohno’s eyes were piercing through the storm and the spume. When his eyes finally caught Cucumber it was like the hand of the sea grabbed the dog and brought him towards him. Seconds later, Ohno was already clinging to the mast again, Cucumber save.
He was too stressed, too much adrenaline in his veins to really wonder what had happened before and how he was able to save the dog. Had he had more time to think, he would have wondered a lot about what kind of magic had led him…
But now he was still under this weird spell, his mind sharp, his eyes and body stronger than ever before. He could understand the ocean out of a sudden, as if he heard it thinking. “Let go of the sail, now,” he told the others.
Sho’s eyes widened. “What? Are you insane!?”
Ohno shook his head. “Believe me, let it go.” His voice was unusually calm for such a horrible situation. And to his surprise Sho and Jun only exchanged some glances, before they let go.
The sail they were navigating the octopus with flew away, giving the huge animal the possibility to move freely and the way it wanted. But what the others hadn’t thought about and Ohno had realized when he was saving Cucumber… that they were right in front of the fountain, Jun had been talking about before. And that the others hadn’t counted on the octopus’ natural behaviour.
Once they had let go of the sail, and hence of the pressure that was leading it, the octopus suddenly dropped back, its legs shivering, pressing them down, before it had to let go.
They held their breath, feeling how the ship got pulled down under the ocean. The blood was hammering against Ohno’s veins, his head aching and right at the moment when Ohno thought he had miscalculated everything… they reached the fountain.
The pressure from underneath the ocean, the force of nature, was suddenly working against the strength of the octopus. And before they even realized it, it was pushing them up on the surface again - and more than that, through their air and far away from the octopus, until they dropped down on the surface of the ocean again.
“Phew.” Ohno let out a sigh of relief when he realized how far away they landed. In fact they landed so far away from everything that he lost his orientation completely. He felt a bit dizzy from his encounter with Cucumber and from the moments under water, also from their flight through the air after the fountain had pushed them up. He looked around a bit, his hands gliding away from the mast.
“DON’T LET GO!” Jun yelled.
But it was too late…
Adventure 3: The maelstrom:
The moment Ohno heard Jun’s words, he jumped, wanting to cling back to the mast immediately. But it was away.
He turned around, his eyes widening in shock, when he realized how he was falling… down from the ship and towards a huge maelstrom. In fact he had never seen such a maelstrom before. Its diameter was huge, like an enormous hurricane, just that it was in the middle of the ocean, IN the ocean.
“Jun…” Ohno thought when he was falling downwards. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to him more and to get to know his secrets. Also not to find out the reasons behind this warm feeling in his chest whenever he was close to Jun.
Well, if he was honest to himself, he knew where this feeling came from. But it was too late for any realizations now.
He was falling into the maelstrom, and towards the bottom of the ocean. He gasped when the waves caught him, swirling him around. He tried to swim against it, tried to remember the feeling he had before when he saved Cucumber. But he couldn’t, he was too tired. Exhausted.
His strength was leaving him. Ohno desperately clenched his teeth, he didn’t want to stop fighting. He was no one who would give up easily. No matter how much water he was swallowing, no matter how much he was longing for air now… he needed to fight it.
Then, he could hear it. He hadn’t thought he would be able to hear anything through the loud noise of the water, but he could. A melodic sound, as if someone was playing the flute.
But not only did he hear, he also could smell it… the scent. The scent of adventure. And he could see. Someone.
Ohno’s eyes widened for a moment, was he going insane here? He was sure that this person in front of him was Jun, but he was shining, walking through the water and storm as if it was nothing. No clothes, besides of strange paintings on his skin.
Ohno was mesmerized. When he looked down at his own body, his surprise grew even more. Also he was naked, strange signs and paintings on his skin too. He reached out his hand, wandering through the rough sea as if it was a calm morning breeze on the land.
Jun smiled. “You are wearing the sign of a cheetah.”
For a moment Ohno looked at him in wonder, before his gaze wandered over his own body, eyeing the painting on his chest. “Yes,” he finally answered. “Why did I get the sign of a cheetah?” he asked, shoving aside the thought that there were better places and moments to talk than when drowning.
But something about this situation was so natural, that he couldn’t help it.
“Because you are wild, open-minded, smart, calm and you like it to be free.”
“Yes,” Ohno smiled, his eyes wandering over the signs on Jun’s body. “You are an eagle… Why?”
“What do YOU think?”
“Because you are wild, open-minded, smart, strong-headed, stubborn and you like it to be free.”
“I’m not stubborn,” Jun argued.
“No?” Ohno smiled, pulling his eyebrows up teasingly. Then he grabbed Jun’s hand.
The moment he opened his eyes again, he was back on the ship, gasping for air. He looked down at himself. Clothes, he was wearing clothes. Same for Jun. But when he took a closer look he could see how Jun was panting, looking tired. If he thought about it, it was the first time Jun really looked tired.
Sho was looking aggravated.
Ohno and Cucumber were the heroes of the day. Jun kept telling Nino and Aiba how Ohno saved Cucumber and whenever Ohno wanted to say something about how Jun saved him, Sho shot him a warning glance, Jun a begging one.
So, Ohno stayed silent. He hadn’t wanted to spill Jun’s secret or to worry the others (he was pretty sure they knew Jun’s secret, but apparently it was something that shouldn’t have happened) but he didn’t like it to get praised, while someone else saved his life.
Ohno was sitting on the guard rail, stroking Cucumber’s fur. He wasn’t surprised when Jun approached him, a wary smile on his lips. Ohno smiled back at him, warmly, to diffuse the other’s wariness.
“You know,” Jun suddenly looked at Ohno, though he hadn’t even asked a question. “Cucumber. He is our key back. Our only one.”
Key? Ohno wanted to ask what kind of key it was, but he didn’t. He felt like Jun had opened up more than he was actually supposed to do. Not only now but also before when he saved him.
“You,” Ohno paused. “saved me.” Turned into mysterious creature, just like me, and saved me.
“Yes,” Jun’s eyes grew a bit darker and Ohno was sure that he blushed a bit. “Maybe,” he sighed. “maybe Sho’s right and it’s about time to return.”
“Return?” Ohno asked. “To where?”
“You will see.” Jun smiled his mysterious smile, before he looked at Ohno insistently. “Say, Satoshi, do you belong to somewhere?”
For a moment Ohno was quiet. He understood what Jun meant immediately. “No,” he answered sadly. “My parents and grandfather died. I’ve been surviving on my own, doing dirty work. Bad things. There is nowhere I can return to.”
“I see,” Jun smiled warmly. “But you are wrong.”
“Eh?”
“There is a place for you to return to, even though you might have never been there on your own.”
“What do you mean?” Ohno frowned. “What kind of place?” But Jun didn’t answer, he merely leaned back on his back, looking up at the sky.
“The night sky is beautiful isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ohno smiled, lying down too. He took Jun’s hand into his, instinctively, as if to protect him, and to his relief Jun let him. Jun’s presence had reminded him of the thoughts he was having while he almost drowned. He didn’t want to let go of any chances again. “There is nothing more beautiful than the night sky above the ocean.”
In-midst Adventures: We don’t belong here
The next days were calmer than the ones since they landed on the moving island. But they were rougher than the days before. Ohno didn’t understand why, but strange sea monsters were behind them, almost chasing them. There were lots of storms, hurricanes, thunderstorms. It was like the sea was angry with them, as if it wanted to get rid of them.
They always managed it to make it through these troubles, they weren’t as hard to beat as the problems with the octopus. But still, it was weird.
Jun’s expression got sadder with every day that passed and with every creature or weather that was chasing them. While Sho’s behaviour got more and more stressed. He was looking exhausted and aggravated most of the time. And he hardly left Jun’s side.
But there was one night, a calmer one, a break in between a rough storm and whatever would hunt them next that Sho was standing at the guard rail, looking at the sea in worry. Ohno had never seen such an expression on him before. He looked different, almost stoic, as if he was meditating. But when Ohno approached him, carefully, not to disturb him, Sho turned around.
“It’s alright,” he said, when Ohno was about to pull back. “You don’t need to leave.”
It was the first time for Ohno that he also felt it with Sho: That something was different. As if he was from another world.
“You know,” Sho spoke out of a sudden, clear worry in his voice. “It’s because of what happened a few weeks ago.”
Ohno knew immediately what he was talking about: When Jun had turned into this beautiful mysterious creature and saved him.
“Now they know we are here,” Sho mumbled silently, slight fear in his voice. “It’s bad. They are hunting us. They won’t leave us alone.”
“Why?” Ohno rasped out. And what is hunting you? But he didn’t dare to ask the last question.
“Because we don’t belong here.” Sho answered. “The sea and its inhabitants are hunting us. They know we are here, because of Jun’s accidental exposure.”
Ohno thought that it was nice from Sho to say because of Jun’s accidental exposure and not because of you being too stupid to think before letting go of the mast.
Ohno turned around to look at Sho’s face carefully. It was beautiful, but his eyes weren’t as mesmerizing as Jun’s. Also Jun’s hands were more beautiful. And his hips more fragile. His whole persona was perfect in Ohno’s eyes.
Sho grinned out of a sudden and Ohno had the uncomfortable feeling that he had been reading his mind. To diffuse this embarrassing situation, Ohno decided to dash forward. “Where are you from, Sho?”
Sho’s expression got earnest immediately. He sighed deeply. “Far far away. If you close your eyes and think of the furthest away place you know… it’s not even half as far away as where we are from.”
“But you need to go back?” Ohno pushed the subject further, slightly annoyed that Sho wasn’t giving him a proper answer.
“Yes.”
“Okay,” Ohno nodded his head. “What are we waiting for then?”
The talk with Sho had stirred something in him. Ohno had realized that it was a mistake not to ask any questions or not to know too much of his friends. But since it was difficult to talk to Sho or Jun about these things, he decided to go for some easier victims:
“Why did you two join a ship crew?” Ohno looked at Nino and Aiba insistently. “Don’t get me wrong, but… you,” he pointed at Aiba. “Couldn’t even swim until a few weeks ago. And you,” He turned his attention towards Nino, checking his beautiful and fragile features. Really, what was this guy doing on the sea? “You get seasick so easily. You hate the sea.”
For a moment Nino and Aiba exchanged glances, looks Ohno didn’t really understand. Similar to the way Sho had been looking at him the other day. Then Aiba smiled warmly. “We love Jun and Sho,” he answered simply. “There was no way we would let them travel through this world all alone.”
Through this world. There it was again. Just like Sho said it. Because we don’t belong here.
Ohno leaned back a bit, looking at the guys in front of him. What was with these two? Or not only, with them, but also with Sho and Jun? They were weird. First he had wondered why such hopeless guys were even on a ship, but then he realized that though they didn’t know anything about a ship, they were skilled. They knew what to do and apparently they had already made it through lots of adventures. Things Ohno had dreamed about his whole life.
“Where are you guys from?” Again Ohno looked at them insistently, not missing the wary look in their eyes. He had touched a sore topic, apparently. And it was only then that he realized that he hadn’t even asked ONE personal question before. The only time he did ask was when Aiba was worried that Jun would be mad. He had told him this strange story about them being princes. For a moment Ohno frowned as the realization hit him. Aiba had lied to him when he told him that he had fallen asleep when Sho and Jun had shared their story with him. It was a lie! Aiba hadn’t fallen asleep. He knew what happened.
“We are from far away,” Nino finally asked diplomatically.
“Yeah,” Ohno grumbled. “When I recall the place furthest away from here, it’s still not half as far away as your home, right?”
“Yes,” Aiba stuttered. “That’s the place we mean.”
“A place where Jun and Sho were princes?”
The two exchanged some surprised glances. Ohno knew this kind of surprise, many had it when it was about him. He looked absent-minded and dreamy most of the time, while people didn’t realize that it was only his outer appearance. In fact he was very attentive and sharp. These two had just realized the same, because now the uncomfortable glance in Nino’s eyes was obvious, so was the worried one in Aiba’s.
“They are always our princes,” Nino finally answered cryptically. “No matter where we are and where we go to. They will stay our princes.”
10 important facts about this ship:
Sho was holding Cucumber in his arms. The sight alone made Ohno almost faint. Sho disliked Cucumber, well, it was an annoying dog, but sometimes it felt like Sho’s annoyed feelings towards Cucumber were coming from deep beneath the surface.
“It’s because he feels it’s an insult,” Jun explained, smiling slightly.
“Who?” Ohno blinked. “Cucumber?”
“Yes,” Jun looked at Ohno, giggling a bit. “He feels like we should have a better key than a dog like Cucumber. But it’s not that simple, you know?”
No, Ohno didn’t know. But nevertheless he nodded his head.
“It’s fate. Cucumber found us. He is our key, no matter what we wished for.”
“I thought it was your grandmother’s dog?” Ohno asked.
Jun laughed, his voice sending shivers over Ohno’s spine. “That’s only a rumour.”
Ohno was still mesmerized by Jun’s laugh. He just realized that he had never heard him laughing, not like that. “I won’t let you get hurt,” he said earnestly.
Jun’s expression got earnest again, he was about to say something, but Ohno shook his head. “I won’t, Jun. No matter if you belong to this place or not. No one will hurt you.”
Jun’s eyes were shining in a way Ohno had never seen it before, but it only lasted for a second, then Jun turned his head away, obviously feeling embarrassed. Instead of Jun, Sho was now looking into his direction. When he met Ohno’s glance, he sighed slightly. But he didn’t look half as aggravated as Ohno had thought he would. In fact, he was almost looking pleased.
“Cucumber,” Sho stroked Cucumber’s fur. “show us the way back… Lead us.”
Ohno’s eyes widened when there suddenly appeared a thin glimmering light, as if raindrops were sparkling in the sunlight. But it was a clear line, something that apparently led them into a certain direction.
But unfortunately… it wasn’t the right one.
Cucumber had felt distracted and accidentally led them into a labyrinth of caves and maelstroms.
Adventure four: The water catacombs.
The only good thing about shipping through a sea labyrinth was that there were no storms. Plus, also the sea monsters were getting lost.
The bad thing was that they were lost too.
“THIS STUPID PIECE OF TRASH!” Sho yelled in fury. “WE SHOULD HAVE KILLED AND ATE HIM ON THE MOVING ISLAND.”
“I’m pretty sure he would have tasted awful,” Aiba tried to defend Cucumber.
“THIS WORTHLESS DOG! I SAID LETS WAIT FOR A PROPER KEY AND NOT TAKE ANYTHING! BUT NO, WE HAD TO ACCEPT THIS PIECE OF SHIT!”
“It’s not that simple,” Nino tried to reason. He was outside, on deck, much to Ohno’s surprise. But apparently the current situation was too bad, worrying him too much. “The key chooses you. It’s fate.”
“FATE IS A PIECE OF SHIT!”
“Don’t get worked up too much now,” Jun tried to calm Sho down. “We’ll find the way back.”
“I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO GET WORKED UP, JUN!?” Sho’s eyes were sparkling now, his fingers clenching to the guardrail, knuckles white. “Damn, you are dying! With every fucking day were out there, your chance of surviving gets less. Don’t tell me not to get worked up! I’m worried as hell! You put your life into danger! For what!? You call it destiny! I call it stupid!”
Jun was pale now, and Ohno didn’t like this at all. But what he liked even less was one part of Sho’s rather emotional speech. With every day we are out here, your chance of surviving gets less.
“Hey…Jun,” Aiba was looking worried when Jun turned away and walked downstairs to the rooms.
Nino sighed, frowning. “You shouldn’t have said that, Sho.”
“Yeah,” Sho looked at the water angrily. At this point Ohno wasn’t sure anymore if he was angry at Cucumber, the whole situation, or at himself. “I know.”
“Wait a moment,” Ohno stepped forward, arms crossed in front of his body. “What did you mean with dying?” When there was no answer, Ohno frowned. He could feel it clearly in his stomach, something tugging and pulling at him. “Okay, guys,” he huffed. “I’m sticking here with you since months now, I’ve helped you out of tons of situations. I believe, I deserve to finally get filled in into parts of the truth. Don’t you think so!? And,” his eyes were sparkling in anger now, voice vibrating. “Don’t tell me about a place far far away, farer away than anything I can imagine! DAMN, GET A GRIP, GUYS!”
“Listen,” Sho shifted around a bit. “We can’t…”
“YOU CAN’T!?” Ohno yelled out of a sudden. “Damn, yes, you can! You just told Jun to his face that he is about to die! I’m not going to take it that easily! GOT IT!? Now tell me what’s going on here! Do you think I’m stupid? I saw what Jun turned into when he saved me, I also saw what I turned into!”
“You changed your appearances when Jun saved you?” Nino asked in surprise.
“YES!”
For a moment it was quiet, then Nino smiled a bit, looking at Sho almost teasingly. “Destiny, huh?”
“Stop the hints now!” Ohno huffed. “I want answers.”
Sho looked down at his hands, obviously still fighting with some guilty feelings, then he sighed. “Didn’t you already find out yourself?”
Ohno frowned. “Maybe, parts of it, but there are still questions I want to have an answer to.”
“Like, why Jun is in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Because he saved you by turning into his original appearance. It’s like he called out to the whole sea that he is here. That’s what I meant,” Sho answered warily. “by us not belonging here. We can only stay here until we get discovered. The ocean discovered us.”
“Also, we can only stay at the upper world for a special amount of time,” Aiba continued. Ohno looked at him in surprise. He hadn’t heard how he came back. Before, he had hurried after Jun. “Jun is getting tired and exhausted since he showed his natural side. He needs to go back to where he came from. Still…” he shot Sho a glare. “It’s not right to talk about dying here!”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
Ohno tilted his head, his thoughts wandering in his head. “What about me?” he finally asked. The strange glances of the others made him realize that he indeed hit the right point here. “Why did I change my appearance when Jun saved me.”
“This,” Sho answered after a long silence. “Is for you to find out by yourself.”
Go HERE for Part 2.
Pairing: Juntoshi, also starring Sho, Aiba, Nino
Beta:
ryo_pyonGenre: pirate/fantasy-AU, romance, humour, bit angst
Raiting: PG-13
One-shot
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these guys, but the plot/story is mine :D
Summary: Ohno would have never become part of the crew of this unlucky ship, had he known the rumours about this pretty Captain Matsumoto and his unfaithful crew, including the mascot Aiba, always-seasick navigator Nino, arrogant first officer Sho and nerve-wracking dog Cucumber. However, he does, and once he steps on this ship, he sails into adventures, dramatic incidents and unbelievable stories, including a giant octopus, a moving island and Atlantis.
Note: Written for
riidaaisbest for arashi_exchange. I had a blast writing this and hope you'll have a great time reading it <3 A big thank you goes to my beta of course :DOhno would have never signed on as part of the crew on this unfaithful ship, had he known the rumours that:
1) The captain was the most skilled, but unfortunately also unluckiest pirate in the wide wide sea and
2) had called his ship Queen Matsumoto, just like his name, Matsumoto. (What happened to names like Black Pearl? Only douchebags named their ship after themselves)
3) His first officer, a certain Sakurai, was a guy who failed at everything but math.
4) And only worked for Matsumoto because on mainland he was chased by some dangerous, dark sidekicks of the king.
5) His navigator was a guy who was never on deck because he immediately got seasick.
6) His cook failed at cooking, hence he became the ship’s unofficial mascot, going by the name Aiba-chan.
7) The real, official mascot was a male dog called Cucumber. A dog on a ship!?
8) Cucumber was a grumpy, old, and ugly little dog, afraid of every tiny bug, but barking in a high-pitched voice whenever he felt safe. Legend says that Captain Matsumoto inherited the dog from his grandmother, who only faked her death to get rid of nerve-wracking and annoying Cucumber.
9) Captain Matsumoto most likely was a skilled sailor, but failed at hiring the right people
10) Ohno was the only guy besides the Captain who knew how to handle the ocean and a ship, at least somehow.
But Ohno had searched for a job, in desperate need of one. The ocean and boats were the only things he knew something about. Never had he learned something, never had he studied. His parents had no money to offer him anything.
He was at a young age when he learned how to look after himself. When he had to steal food occasionally, not to starve. When he got beaten up by the owners of restaurants and bars because they caught him. When he learned to do dirty work.
Very dirty work. Bad things he wanted to forget.
He was a man with a past, but without a future and without a real talent. Of course Captain Matsumoto hired him – he also had hired the mascot Aiba, seasick navigator Nino and the Captain’s first officer Sakurai. In comparison to them Ohno was a win for the Captain.
He had met Aiba, the mascot and failed cook, in a bar. They had talked and Aiba had brought him to Matsumoto. (Apparently Aiba’s skills of hiring people were slightly better than the Captain’s, because Ohno was not hopeless, unlike the others.)
That’s how Ohno became part of the infamous crew of Queen Matsumoto.
~~~~~
“My food is alive.”
Nino’s high-pitched voice made Ohno startle for a moment, before he moved his gaze to Nino’s plate. And really, he was sure he could see how the crab moved its legs slightly.
Ohno gulped, his stomach tugging in an uncomfortable way. Suddenly he was sure that all fish and crabs were moving, twitching on their plates. “I think,” he mumbled. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
Aiba just threw them a reproachful glance, before he turned towards Sho with a bright smile. The latter had just appeared in the canteen together with Captain Matsumoto, apparently too hungry to stay away from this disgusting and horrifying food. “What do we have for lunch?” It took Sho only one glance on the food, eyeing the twitching crabs on Nino’s plate, to nod his head knowingly. “I see. We could give it Cucumber,” he suggested. “Right Jun?”
The Captain nodded his head, grabbing one of the fish and holding it towards Cucumber. Cucumber looked at it, then moved his gaze towards Jun, glaring at the rest of them and turning around to leave the room. Not without barking of course.
Ohno flinched when he heard the high-pitched barking of the dog.
“Gives you the chills, right? In a bad way,” Sho mumbled. “Can’t we just get rid of the dog?”
“Sho-chan.” Aiba frowned. “I’m sure Cucumber has also nice and good side… eh… deep down… well… I’m sure he has them!”
“Yeah,” Sho mumbled. “He is just hiding them very well.”
Ohno looked at the other men in interest, his sharp eyes following every of their movements. The captain was pretty, no doubt about that. His hair was black, a bit curly, and now sticking to his forehead because of the warm weather and the salt of the sea. Sakurai looked fierce. They seemed to be close… Ohno frowned, were they? He had heard rumours about Captain Matsumoto and his liking for pretty guys. Well, he shrugged, so the pretty captain was having a good time with his first Officer. Not that Ohno cared all that much… though this guy was so pretty…
Pretty…
Ohno sighed about his own thoughts, moving them away from the beautiful captain and his pretty boytoy, and back to Cucumber. Cucumber was ugly and nerve-wracking but a good distraction.
~~~~~
“So, you are the new guy?”
Ohno looked at the Captain in surprise. They were sailing over the ocean for around three weeks now and this guy only realized now that he was new? “Yes.”
“And, you like it here?”
Apparently, the captain was trying to make some conversation. Now that Ohno thought about it, he remembered how Aiba had told him that Captain Matsumoto had read a book about how to welcome new employees. Ohno sighed, yeah, just that they were on a ship, not in a high classed restaurant. On pirate ships, new employees were welcomed by throwing them into the water, watching them struggle until they were so tired that someone helped them. Then everyone drunk tons of rum and got helplessly drunk.
But here, it seemed like the world was turning in a different pace. “Yes,” Ohno bowed slightly. “Thanks for hiring me.”
“Hm,” Jun nodded his head. “You know something about boats?”
Again, Ohno frowned. This was a ship, damn, why would he hire on it if he didn’t know anything about it at all!? But then he thought about Aiba… who knew nothing about ships and sailing. Sho at least had an eye for navigation, maths and science. Nino on the other side was just as useful as Aiba. But Sho had explained to him that Nino was a smart guy with a sharp mind.
Maybe, after all, the captain’s question wasn’t that weird. “Yeah, Captain Matsumoto, quite a bit. My grandfather was working at a harbour. My father was a fisherman.”
Jun’s eyes beamed. “Good, I’m relieved.” He nodded his head in approval. “By the way, we are not giving anything on formalities here. So, no need to call me Captain Matsumoto. Call me Jun, or whatever you want. Just like the others.”
“Eh?”
“Formalities just keep us away from the more important things. We don’t need to bother with them, better concentrate on something else.”
This, on the other side, Ohno definitely approved of. He wasn’t the type of guy who was too much into formalities. “Good,” He chuckled slightly. “So, what will our first adventure be?”
A gleam appeared in Jun’s eyes when he heard Ohno’s question. “Now that I’m not the only one who knows how to move a ship, how about we go for something dangerous?” he joked.
Ohno smiled. “Aren’t we pirates?” His eyes grew dark as he smelt the scent of adventure and danger. “Nothing is too dangerous.”
~~~~~
Adventure 1: Insula Movaris
Ohno had heard stories from his grandfather, from many years ago when he was a young man and sailing over the sea, part of a dangerous crew of pirates. Adventures, mysterious creatures, flying unicorns accompanying them and saving them, sirens, mermaids, waves that were pulling them under the sea towards Atlantis. All these things his grandfather had told him about.
His parents had only laughed about it and told their son not to believe it.
And though Ohno’s rational mind told him not to believe in his grandfather’s strange stories, there was something inside him, jumping every time in excitement when he heard his grandfather’s adventures.
His grandfather had called it the scent of adventure… like a slight burning scent in the air, mixed up with the salt of the sea and the sound of waves. Ohno had felt it too. He had never believed in it, but years later he realized that he had always wanted to become what his grandfather once was. An adventurer.
There was just one problem: Though he was skilled, he didn’t really have any huge talent. His grandfather on the other side had always been a good-looking, alluring man – he was able to convince people to buy the most useless things. He was a genius when it was about boats, history and science. He could talk himself out of any trouble. He was a skilled, talented man. Ohno on the other side felt more like a slightly skilled guy, who had no real talent.
He was about to learn to live with this knowledge, when he had suddenly felt it. The scent of an adventure… He had smelled it when he met Aiba. He didn’t even know how and why it happened. He knew about this weird Captain Matsumoto and his Queen Matsumoto and would have never asked him for a job, but the scent was there. This scent. The one he had smelled slightly when he was younger and heard his grandfather’s stories. The one he had always dreamed of, until he gave up and decided that he was too boring for an adventure to seek him out.
But it happened. Aiba was suddenly in this bar. This scent all around him. And when he followed him to the ship, it got stronger.
It was there, all over the other four guys and this ship. So apparently Ohno was, like his grandfather, someone worth an adventure. But still, he didn’t know why. What was his talent? Why did an adventure want him? Why did it want Aiba? Or the others on the ship? What made them so special?
~~~~~
Ohno soon learned what it was that made the other guys special. Or rather: What it was they had no idea about: Basically everything that concerned the sea.
Sunday:
1) 5AM: Jun and Ohno were fixing something at the backside of the boat. Meanwhile Sho was driving it.
2) 7AM: Nino got seasick and appeared on deck.
3) 9AM: Aiba joined him, because he wanted to catch some fish for their dinner.
4) 10-12AM: Sho got into a fight with Cucumber. It was a nuisance, lots of screaming and barking.
5) 12:01AM: Aiba got in between Sho and Cucumber. Cucumber bit into his trousers and tore them apart.
6) 12:10AM: Nino was watching the scene and laughed like madly. Unfortunately he slipped and dropped down – his seasickness reappearing.
7) 12:11AM: Nino threw up again.
8) 1PM: Aiba had caught Cucumber, changed his trousers, handed his old ones to Cucumber so that he was distracted and locked him into one of the empty rooms. Then he patted Nino’s back.
9) 3PM: Aiba got grumpy because he hadn’t caught any fish. (Ohno generously decided to ignore the fact that while he and Jun were working on the ship, tons of fish were passing them.)
10) 3:10PM: Cucumber escaped the room. This time he was going after Nino though.
11) 3:30PM: Aiba got mad because he didn’t catch a fish. In a heated moment he threw the fishing rod away… it landed in the ocean.
12) 3:35PM: Shocked about his own actions Aiba tried to get the fishing rod back.
13) 3:40PM: Aiba dropped into the sea.
14) 3:41PM: Everyone, including Ohno and Jun, hurried to help Aiba. The shock was huge. Until…
15) 4PM: Jun screamed: SHO! What are you doing here!? Who is driving the ship?
16) 4:01PM: After an awkward silence, Sho answered: Oh…
17) 4:02PM: Ohno hurried to the helm and tried to move the boat away from the unfaithful fate in front of them.
18) 4:10PM: They ran ashore.
19) But at least Aiba and the fishing rod were safe.
~~~~~
“I’m sorry.” Aiba’s let his head hang down when he looked at Jun. Sho was currently trying to gather some things for the night, together with Nino. Ohno was checking on what they needed to do to repair the ship. He side-eyed Jun and Aiba a bit, but to his relief, Jun merely sighed and nodded his head. “It’s okay. Be more careful next time.”
“He is mad at me.”
Ohno was surprised when he heard Aiba’s voice right behind him. He smiled slightly when he saw the younger one sitting on a rock, legs dangling lazily. “You mean Jun? I don’t think so.”
“Oh, believe me,” Aiba sighed. “He is mad.”
“But Sho was the one who let go of the helm,” Ohno argued, stopping his work for a moment to sit down next to the other. “Not you. You just dropped into the sea. It was an accident. Can happen.” He patted Aiba’s head for a moment. With these warm, brown eyes and his helpless smile he really looked like a puppy. Ohno slowly understood why he was the ship’s mascot.
“Oh, Jun’s not mad at Sho.” Aiba shook his head. “He would never be. He is his brother, you know?”
“Wait a moment…” Ohno frowned. “They are brothers? I thought they were… well, you know?”
Aiba giggled slightly. “No,” he sing-songed. “Brothers, by blood.”
“Really?” Ohno pulled his eyebrows up. To his own surprise he felt relieved. It had bothered him that Jun and Sho were in a relationship. Now, knowing that they were brothers, it made everything simpler. He didn’t know WHAT exactly it made better, but he felt relieved. “But wasn’t Sho chased by some sidekicks of the king?”
“Yes,” Aiba nodded his head. “The king is actually their father and wanted them to study.” He frowned, blushing out of a sudden. “Or something like that. It’s a complicated story.”
Ohno stared at Aiba in disbelief. Jun and Sho? The King’s son? FOR REAL!? “They are princes?”
Aiba smiled warily. “Yeah, but when they told me their story I fell asleep, so I don’t know any details. I didn’t want to ask again later, it would have made me look so stupid…”
Yeah, Ohno frowned, stupid was the key-word here. But with a glance towards Aiba and his honest eyes, he rewrote his thoughts: not stupid, but naïve. Strangely Ohno felt like protecting this guy. Mascot. He really was one. “Why should Jun be angry with you? I don’t see why he wouldn’t be mad at Sho, despite being his brother.”
Aiba shrugged slightly. “No, it’s not Sho’s fault that we landed here. He let go of the helm, but he did it out of his instincts. I can’t swim, so…”
“Wait a moment!” Ohno stood up, looking down at Aiba sternly. “You-can’t-swim!? Don’t joke with me, kid!”
“It’s the truth.” Aiba blushed. “I can’t swim. The last time I fell into the sea, I almost drowned. But Sho’s wristband had dropped into the water and I wanted to get it back for him. Sho and Jun jumped after me to save me. God, Jun was mad. But Sho was even angrier. He even slapped me.”
Ohno was still staring at the younger one in disbelief. This was a ship! They were on the sea most of the time. And this kid couldn’t swim!?
He couldn’t swim…
~~~~~
“He thinks you are mad at him.” They had been sitting around a campfire. Nino had prepared something to eat together with Sho – and it actually didn’t taste all that bad. Aiba was asleep.
Then suddenly Jun was gone. The others didn’t realize it, but Ohno did. He had always been more attentive than others imagined him to be.
Jun was at the beach, sitting there and looking out to the sea. When he heard Ohno’s almost silent steps, he turned around. Ohno smiled when Jun’s dark eyes were scanning him, before he nodded in approval. A sign for Ohno to sit down next to him. “He thinks you are mad at him.”
“Who?” Jun asked though they both knew who Ohno was talking about.
“Aiba-chan.”
“Well,” Jun shrugged. “He is right.”
“You are giving him a hard time.” Ohno shrugged when Jun looked at him in surprise as he voiced his criticism. “What? You said to treat you like everyone else.”
To his surprise Jun grinned. “Yeah, I said that.”
“But didn’t mean it?”
“Nope, it’s okay.”
“You shouldn’t be mad at him,” Ohno stated.
A sigh. “I know. I just hate to see him getting hurt. And he can’t swim… he should be more considerate than that.”
He shouldn’t be on a boat in first place, Ohno thought, but didn’t say it out loud. Then he chuckled out of a sudden. “How about changing it then?”
“Change what?”
“His problem. All of you others can swim, right? Someone could teach him…”
Jun looked at Ohno in sincere surprise, before his eyes widened. “You are right,” he rasped out, as if Ohno had just come up with some Nobel-prize worthy idea. “I never thought about it.”
Ohno had to smile slightly, this captain with his whole crew was so weird. But when Jun reached out his hand to touch Ohno’s affectionately, he couldn’t help the warm feeling in his stomach. This special feeling that made him freak out every time. Unfortunately, this time Cucumber was nowhere around to distract him and Ohno was left alone with these weird feelings inside him.
~~~~~
Tuesday:
1) Aiba whined because Jun ordered him to learn to swim
2) Sho was trying to teach it to him but got mad and impatient in the middle of it, because Aiba was hopeless.
3) Cucumber was eating Sho’s shoes.
4) Jun asked Ohno to teach Aiba how to swim.
5) When Jun put a hand on Ohno’s shoulder when he agreed, Ohno blushed.
6) He felt warm inside.
7) Ohno shifted his attention away from Jun and his warm hand, to Cucumber. He grinned when he saw how he was having fun with Sho’s shoes.
8) Sho got mad again. At Cucumber and everyone else.
Aiba didn’t stop practising. Once he had learned the basics from Ohno and understood them, he was able to practice on his own. It had awakened his ambition, definitely, and he had realized his chance to never get scolded again for dropping into the water.
Apparently it happened more than twice, from what Ohno had heard from Nino and Sho. He couldn’t even believe it that no one had ever thought of teaching this guy how to swim.
“Thanks,” Jun handed Ohno a bottle with rum.
“Rum?” Ohno was surprised. They hardly drank anything on the ship. Quite unusual for a pirate ship. And if they were drinking, it was mostly wine. Ohno hadn’t known that in fact they HAD rum on the ship. When he eyed the bottle, he blinked. This one looked expensive. “Where did you get that from?”
Jun shrugged. “Last year Cucumber dropped into the sea. And… well, you can guess who jumped after him?”
“Aiba.”
“Yes.”
Ohno grinned. “I see.”
“So, I jumped into the water as well. The problem was that there was a storm coming up. I grabbed Aiba and Cucumber. Nino had thrown a rope towards us, gladly, and we were clinging to it. And then suddenly… we were somewhere else. As if the storm had carried us away. It was a different land, something I’ve never seen. Not even Sho knew anything about it. There we saved a young woman – apparently she was the princess of the country. Her father gave us lots of gold and some of his expensive rum and with the next storm he sent us on the ocean again. Suddenly we were back.”
Ohno stared at Jun in disbelief. This sounded like a story his grandfather would tell him. Just that this time, it was different. Jun was not his grandfather. In fact, he was a young sincere guy. He wasn’t exactly a liar or someone who was good with words like his grandfather.
Could it be?
That the stories were true?
Ohno’s head hurt. But then it was back all of a sudden… The scent of adventure. It was lying in the air again, all around Jun.
~~~~~
“The island is moving.”
Sho stood up when he heard Aiba’s voice. He crossed his arms in front of his body, looking at Aiba who was swimming in the water. “Didn’t I tell you to take a break!?”
“Sorry,” Aiba pouted. “I wanted to train a bit more.”
“You are getting exhausted!”
“No, I’m fine. Just that the island is moving.”
“See?” Sho sounded so aggravated that Ohno felt slightly worried that he would actually get mad again. This guy had a temper, really. “You are already imagining things. NOW OUT OF THE WATER!”
Aiba glared angrily while he patted out of the water. “And I said the island is moving.”
“Aiba-chan,” Ohno sighed. “An island can’t…” move he wanted to say, but the last word got stuck in his throat. Something was cracking and rumbling underneath them. And if he wasn’t losing his mind now, he would be sure that the ocean was moving.
Or…
“The island is moving,” he mumbled.
Now, if Aiba said something like that, the others would normally smile and cuddle him. But if something like that came from Ohno, who was the knowledged and calm type, it was indeed alarming.
Being on a moving island:
1) Sho forgot his anger
2) Jun grabbed Ohno’s arm, asking for his help
3) Increasing the warm feeling inside him again. But gladly…
4) …Nino was running after Cucumber, because the nerve-wracking dog was too afraid to stay at one place.
5) Aiba dropped into the water, but this time he was able to swim.
6) Still, Jun and Sho got mad at him.
7) Their ship was still stuck between two rocks.
8) As long as the island was moving normally it didn’t matter. But when it started to move downwards, sinking, Jun got pale.
The advantages of being on a moving island:
1) None.
“It’s sinking.” Sho blurt out. “The fucking island is sinking!”
Jun looked around a bit, a frown on his face. “How fast is it sinking Sho? How much time do we have?”
For a moment it was awkwardly quiet, while Sho was taking his measures and hovered over his calculations. Then he looked up at them. “24 hours. If nothing changes.”
“Good,” Jun took a deep breath. “We need to get the ship prepared. As fast as possible.”
“But what if it won’t be enough?” Nino asked silently. “I mean…it’s stuck. What if the pressure of the sinking island won’t press it up but rather tug it down with it?”
Ohno looked from his friends to the ship, then back to the island. “Can’t we move it?”
“No,” Nino shook his head. “The boat is stuck.”
“I didn’t mean the ship.”
“Yes!” Jun’s eyes lit up out of a sudden, he looked at Ohno in excitement. “Whatever moves you can…”
“…drive” Ohno finished.
“Did I get that correctly now,” Sho frowned. “You want to drive the island? With what?”
Apparently Jun’s senses were awakened now, much to Ohno’s relief. “A sail, we need one, big enough to catch a lot wind.”
“And then?” Ohno asked curiously. Even if they would be able to force the island to move into a direction, it was still sinking.
“There is a water fountain,” Jun explained breathlessly. “It has to be close to this place.”
“Yes,” Sho nodded his head. “We actually wanted to avoid it and ship around it. It has to be right in front of us.”
“A lot of pressure coming from the ground beneath the ocean and pushing the water up,” Jun explained. “It’s an impressive, dangerous fountain. But if we reach it in time before the island is sinking completely…”
“It will push us up,” Nino finished his thought. “Sounds insane, but worth a try.”
“Aiba, Nino. Prepare the boat. Sho we need you to navigate. Satoshi and I will prepare the sail.”
Sho frowned. “What kind of sail? There is nothing big enough to actually navigate the island. Even though it’s a small one and it’s windy today, it needs to be a huge sail.”
Ohno tilted his head, checking the area thoughtfully. His gaze wandered over the small island, checking on the little hills and palm trees. He paused for a moment. Palm trees. Huge leaves… if they sew them together, it could become a huge sail. “Jun… I’ve an idea.”
Ohno and Jun carried tons of palm leaves to the beach, before they started to tie them together with ropes. Ohno was surprised when he had seen how well prepared Jun and the others were. But the storage room in the ship was huge, tons of stuff in it. Books in a language Ohno didn’t know and actually had never even heard of it. Tons of bottles and objects Ohno had never seen before. He had believed that they were a hopeless crew, but in fact… they were so well prepared that Ohno couldn’t help but wonder. They didn’t know anything about ships, but they knew everything about the ocean and its dangers. How could that be?
His gaze shifted towards Jun, watching how his beautiful face was red now from the heat and the hard work. He had put off his shirt, his body toned, skin so smooth like Ohno had never seen it before. The well known warm feeling was back again… but this time he didn’t need to look at Cucumber to get distracted.
His own curiosity was distraction enough.
Aiba had said that Sho and Jun were princes. But from where? Their king, the emperor of the world they were living in, only had one daughter and she was about to marry a young wealthy man soon. It was only a few months ago that they held this impressive engagement celebration. So, even if the King was denying to have two sons, word would have spread through the people. Rumours or little legends. But nothing. He had never heard anything about two princes.
“You are a prince?” Ohno finally asked bluntly, frowning slightly when he saw the shocked look in Jun’s eyes. For a moment he looked angry and nervous, then his face was straight again.
“Aiba, huh?” he only asked.
When Ohno nodded his head, Jun sighed. “We should keep on working. The island is moving faster…”
Ohno, realizing that he had touched a sore topic, nodded his head. He had no intention at all to see Jun sad or aggravated. Hence he decided to distract him a bit. The only distraction he found though, was freaking himself out too. He stopped his work for a moment. “Say…” he asked, loud enough for all of them to hear it. “Why is the island moving?”
For a moment it got uncomfortably silent. Ohno could almost feel it, the sudden fear and nervousness around the others.
“Maybe,” Sho started carefully. “It’s… like a flotsam, a huge one, from a huge ship that sunk. And throughout time flora and fauna started to grow there.”
“The idea is not bad, but…” Ohno shook his head. “But why is it changing its pace occasionally, though the wind is still the same?”
“Well,” Aiba chuckled. “Maybe it’s alive?”
For a moment it was uncomfortably quiet again. Aiba blushed. “Sorry, that was stupid.”
“No,” Jun finally breathed out. “Not stupid at all! Damn!”
“It’s alive,” Ohno mumbled nervously.
The next hours Ohno went through like in trance. If this island was alive, it meant that it was an animal. A huge animal. If it was not an herbivore, it meant that…they would be its food. This thought brought Ohno back to reality. He gathered his senses, working as fast as possible. To his own surprise his strength didn’t leave him. They were human beings after all, it was impossible for them to work that hard throughout the whole day, without feeling tired. But he wasn’t tired, not at all.
Ohno shook his head, strange things were going on here. Also with him. He just didn’t know what.
Jun worked even faster than he did, not even taking one single break until they were finished. With Sho’s help they fixed the sail, choosing two palm trees – one on the right side of the island, one on the left, so that it would catch as much wind as possible. The island was alive, but with the wind blowing into the sail, it might be pushed into the right direction.
Ohno looked at the sail in awe. The wind was pulling at it and to his surprise the ropes held against the pressure. The island started moving, fast and towards the fountain.
Ohno smiled slightly, he was about to feel relaxed again, when he suddenly heard it. There was a grumbling. A strange sound, coming from deep beneath the island.
Ohno frowned, it was not a loud sound and the others apparently didn’t hear it. He tried to concentrate on the strange rumbling, then his eyes widened in shock. “On the ship!” he yelled. “Fast.” He grabbed Jun’s arm to tug him along.
“What happened!?” Nino called from the ship.
“It’s crumbling. The island is making noises!”
“Sounds like a volcano,” Sho agreed. He had followed Ohno and Jun as fast as possible. Not even complaining that Ohno was obviously only concerned about Jun.
“Yeah,” Ohno huffed. “A volcano inside of a huge sea animal?”
Again, it was uncomfortably silence. Like the world stopped to move for a moment. “DAMN!” Sho yelled. He hurried up, taking Jun’s other arm and tugging him along too. “Come, brother.”
Brother. Ohno sighed in relief. So it was true, they were brothers. Despite their dangerous situation he felt relieved.
Aiba and Nino reached out their hands, helping them on the ship. Ohno wanted to thank them, when he suddenly saw the threatened and panicked expression in Aiba’s eyes. “Aiba-chan?”
“There,” the younger one pointed at something on the island. “An eye.”
Ohno was still wondering slightly what this kid meant, when he heard Jun gasp next to him. He turned his gaze away from Aiba, towards the direction he was pointing at. An eye, Aiba was right.
The island had opened its eyes.
Adventure 2: The Giant Octopus.
10 good points about being on a giant octopus and being hunt by it
1) No need to worry about their ship sinking anymore, since the octopus had grabbed it with its long arms.
2) Aiba was able to swim, so no one needed to tie him on a chair.
3) Nino was too shocked to get sick and throw up
4) Cucumber was too shocked to bark and get on anyone’s nerves. For a moment Ohno thought they had lost Cucumber (but unfortunately, they hadn’t.)
5) The sight of the octopus, moving, with palm trees on its head, was a fun one. (as fun as it could be when you were about to get eaten up)
6) Lots of fish were dripping down from the octopus’ arms, down into their ship.
7) So, their dinner (if they would survive this) was saved.
8) Cucumber was hit by a fish and knocked out
9) Jun had grabbed Ohno’s arm at least three times. Ohno had to smile at that.
10) Octopus don’t eat meat.
1 bad point about being hunt by Giant Octopus:
1) This one ate meat.
“NINO!” Jun yelled in panic. “Take Aiba and hide in the ship. I’ll entrust you with his safety.”
“Of course,” Nino bowed a bit. It was the first time that he did something like that. It was also the first time that Jun actually spoke an order.
Nino had bowed. Very politely. Which he had never done before.
Prince. So, was Jun a prince? And Sho?
Sho, Jun and Ohno were clinging to the ship’s mast. All three of them using all their strength. Ohno realized that Sho wasn’t all that bad with ships, apparently he just wasn’t interested.
They were trying to keep the octopus’s arms away from them, while also keeping an eye on the sails. The fountain was getting closer to them. Hopefully it would work and save them. How, Ohno didn’t know, but at least it would do something.
But then, suddenly, “CUCUMBER!” Sho cried out, eyes widened in shock. “He is dropping into the sea!”
Ohno was surprised. He had thought that Sho hated this dog, but judging by the look in his eyes and his shocked expression, he didn’t.
“We need to save him,” Jun breathed out.
“Eh!?” Ohno looked at them firmly. “Are you crazy. This is insane. We are hardly able to save our own lives.”
Jun and Sho looked at each other warily, before Jun sighed deeply. “You don’t know it of course, but,” his eyes were twitching in worry. “We need him.”
The way Jun said need sent shivers over Ohno’s spine. There was a helpless and scared expression in his eyes, something Ohno didn’t want to see ever again. “Okay, hold on.” He angled for a rope, wrapping it around his body and handing the end to Sho and Jun. “Don’t let go of me, okay?”
“Satoshi,” Jun’s eyes widened. “That’s insane.”
“You said it yourselves,” Ohno answered calmly. “You need him. And the captain’s order is mine.” With that he let go of the mast. He was swept away immediately, the waves pressing him away and towards the guard rail. Somewhere far away he could hear Jun and Sho screaming. Their grip on the rope was strong, much to Ohno’s surprise, since the wind and waves were so strong that it should have been almost impossible for them to hold him. But they did.
Ohno had always loved the sea, even when it was dark and dangerous and scary like now. He closed his eyes, trying to remember this feeling, his love and respect for the ocean. He was calm all of a sudden. He could almost feel it, the soul of the ocean, its heart. It was like the water was reaching out its hand, grabbing him and leading him towards Cucumber.
Ohno’s eyes were piercing through the storm and the spume. When his eyes finally caught Cucumber it was like the hand of the sea grabbed the dog and brought him towards him. Seconds later, Ohno was already clinging to the mast again, Cucumber save.
He was too stressed, too much adrenaline in his veins to really wonder what had happened before and how he was able to save the dog. Had he had more time to think, he would have wondered a lot about what kind of magic had led him…
But now he was still under this weird spell, his mind sharp, his eyes and body stronger than ever before. He could understand the ocean out of a sudden, as if he heard it thinking. “Let go of the sail, now,” he told the others.
Sho’s eyes widened. “What? Are you insane!?”
Ohno shook his head. “Believe me, let it go.” His voice was unusually calm for such a horrible situation. And to his surprise Sho and Jun only exchanged some glances, before they let go.
The sail they were navigating the octopus with flew away, giving the huge animal the possibility to move freely and the way it wanted. But what the others hadn’t thought about and Ohno had realized when he was saving Cucumber… that they were right in front of the fountain, Jun had been talking about before. And that the others hadn’t counted on the octopus’ natural behaviour.
Once they had let go of the sail, and hence of the pressure that was leading it, the octopus suddenly dropped back, its legs shivering, pressing them down, before it had to let go.
They held their breath, feeling how the ship got pulled down under the ocean. The blood was hammering against Ohno’s veins, his head aching and right at the moment when Ohno thought he had miscalculated everything… they reached the fountain.
The pressure from underneath the ocean, the force of nature, was suddenly working against the strength of the octopus. And before they even realized it, it was pushing them up on the surface again - and more than that, through their air and far away from the octopus, until they dropped down on the surface of the ocean again.
“Phew.” Ohno let out a sigh of relief when he realized how far away they landed. In fact they landed so far away from everything that he lost his orientation completely. He felt a bit dizzy from his encounter with Cucumber and from the moments under water, also from their flight through the air after the fountain had pushed them up. He looked around a bit, his hands gliding away from the mast.
“DON’T LET GO!” Jun yelled.
But it was too late…
Adventure 3: The maelstrom:
The moment Ohno heard Jun’s words, he jumped, wanting to cling back to the mast immediately. But it was away.
He turned around, his eyes widening in shock, when he realized how he was falling… down from the ship and towards a huge maelstrom. In fact he had never seen such a maelstrom before. Its diameter was huge, like an enormous hurricane, just that it was in the middle of the ocean, IN the ocean.
“Jun…” Ohno thought when he was falling downwards. He hadn’t had the chance to talk to him more and to get to know his secrets. Also not to find out the reasons behind this warm feeling in his chest whenever he was close to Jun.
Well, if he was honest to himself, he knew where this feeling came from. But it was too late for any realizations now.
He was falling into the maelstrom, and towards the bottom of the ocean. He gasped when the waves caught him, swirling him around. He tried to swim against it, tried to remember the feeling he had before when he saved Cucumber. But he couldn’t, he was too tired. Exhausted.
His strength was leaving him. Ohno desperately clenched his teeth, he didn’t want to stop fighting. He was no one who would give up easily. No matter how much water he was swallowing, no matter how much he was longing for air now… he needed to fight it.
Then, he could hear it. He hadn’t thought he would be able to hear anything through the loud noise of the water, but he could. A melodic sound, as if someone was playing the flute.
But not only did he hear, he also could smell it… the scent. The scent of adventure. And he could see. Someone.
Ohno’s eyes widened for a moment, was he going insane here? He was sure that this person in front of him was Jun, but he was shining, walking through the water and storm as if it was nothing. No clothes, besides of strange paintings on his skin.
Ohno was mesmerized. When he looked down at his own body, his surprise grew even more. Also he was naked, strange signs and paintings on his skin too. He reached out his hand, wandering through the rough sea as if it was a calm morning breeze on the land.
Jun smiled. “You are wearing the sign of a cheetah.”
For a moment Ohno looked at him in wonder, before his gaze wandered over his own body, eyeing the painting on his chest. “Yes,” he finally answered. “Why did I get the sign of a cheetah?” he asked, shoving aside the thought that there were better places and moments to talk than when drowning.
But something about this situation was so natural, that he couldn’t help it.
“Because you are wild, open-minded, smart, calm and you like it to be free.”
“Yes,” Ohno smiled, his eyes wandering over the signs on Jun’s body. “You are an eagle… Why?”
“What do YOU think?”
“Because you are wild, open-minded, smart, strong-headed, stubborn and you like it to be free.”
“I’m not stubborn,” Jun argued.
“No?” Ohno smiled, pulling his eyebrows up teasingly. Then he grabbed Jun’s hand.
The moment he opened his eyes again, he was back on the ship, gasping for air. He looked down at himself. Clothes, he was wearing clothes. Same for Jun. But when he took a closer look he could see how Jun was panting, looking tired. If he thought about it, it was the first time Jun really looked tired.
Sho was looking aggravated.
Ohno and Cucumber were the heroes of the day. Jun kept telling Nino and Aiba how Ohno saved Cucumber and whenever Ohno wanted to say something about how Jun saved him, Sho shot him a warning glance, Jun a begging one.
So, Ohno stayed silent. He hadn’t wanted to spill Jun’s secret or to worry the others (he was pretty sure they knew Jun’s secret, but apparently it was something that shouldn’t have happened) but he didn’t like it to get praised, while someone else saved his life.
Ohno was sitting on the guard rail, stroking Cucumber’s fur. He wasn’t surprised when Jun approached him, a wary smile on his lips. Ohno smiled back at him, warmly, to diffuse the other’s wariness.
“You know,” Jun suddenly looked at Ohno, though he hadn’t even asked a question. “Cucumber. He is our key back. Our only one.”
Key? Ohno wanted to ask what kind of key it was, but he didn’t. He felt like Jun had opened up more than he was actually supposed to do. Not only now but also before when he saved him.
“You,” Ohno paused. “saved me.” Turned into mysterious creature, just like me, and saved me.
“Yes,” Jun’s eyes grew a bit darker and Ohno was sure that he blushed a bit. “Maybe,” he sighed. “maybe Sho’s right and it’s about time to return.”
“Return?” Ohno asked. “To where?”
“You will see.” Jun smiled his mysterious smile, before he looked at Ohno insistently. “Say, Satoshi, do you belong to somewhere?”
For a moment Ohno was quiet. He understood what Jun meant immediately. “No,” he answered sadly. “My parents and grandfather died. I’ve been surviving on my own, doing dirty work. Bad things. There is nowhere I can return to.”
“I see,” Jun smiled warmly. “But you are wrong.”
“Eh?”
“There is a place for you to return to, even though you might have never been there on your own.”
“What do you mean?” Ohno frowned. “What kind of place?” But Jun didn’t answer, he merely leaned back on his back, looking up at the sky.
“The night sky is beautiful isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ohno smiled, lying down too. He took Jun’s hand into his, instinctively, as if to protect him, and to his relief Jun let him. Jun’s presence had reminded him of the thoughts he was having while he almost drowned. He didn’t want to let go of any chances again. “There is nothing more beautiful than the night sky above the ocean.”
In-midst Adventures: We don’t belong here
The next days were calmer than the ones since they landed on the moving island. But they were rougher than the days before. Ohno didn’t understand why, but strange sea monsters were behind them, almost chasing them. There were lots of storms, hurricanes, thunderstorms. It was like the sea was angry with them, as if it wanted to get rid of them.
They always managed it to make it through these troubles, they weren’t as hard to beat as the problems with the octopus. But still, it was weird.
Jun’s expression got sadder with every day that passed and with every creature or weather that was chasing them. While Sho’s behaviour got more and more stressed. He was looking exhausted and aggravated most of the time. And he hardly left Jun’s side.
But there was one night, a calmer one, a break in between a rough storm and whatever would hunt them next that Sho was standing at the guard rail, looking at the sea in worry. Ohno had never seen such an expression on him before. He looked different, almost stoic, as if he was meditating. But when Ohno approached him, carefully, not to disturb him, Sho turned around.
“It’s alright,” he said, when Ohno was about to pull back. “You don’t need to leave.”
It was the first time for Ohno that he also felt it with Sho: That something was different. As if he was from another world.
“You know,” Sho spoke out of a sudden, clear worry in his voice. “It’s because of what happened a few weeks ago.”
Ohno knew immediately what he was talking about: When Jun had turned into this beautiful mysterious creature and saved him.
“Now they know we are here,” Sho mumbled silently, slight fear in his voice. “It’s bad. They are hunting us. They won’t leave us alone.”
“Why?” Ohno rasped out. And what is hunting you? But he didn’t dare to ask the last question.
“Because we don’t belong here.” Sho answered. “The sea and its inhabitants are hunting us. They know we are here, because of Jun’s accidental exposure.”
Ohno thought that it was nice from Sho to say because of Jun’s accidental exposure and not because of you being too stupid to think before letting go of the mast.
Ohno turned around to look at Sho’s face carefully. It was beautiful, but his eyes weren’t as mesmerizing as Jun’s. Also Jun’s hands were more beautiful. And his hips more fragile. His whole persona was perfect in Ohno’s eyes.
Sho grinned out of a sudden and Ohno had the uncomfortable feeling that he had been reading his mind. To diffuse this embarrassing situation, Ohno decided to dash forward. “Where are you from, Sho?”
Sho’s expression got earnest immediately. He sighed deeply. “Far far away. If you close your eyes and think of the furthest away place you know… it’s not even half as far away as where we are from.”
“But you need to go back?” Ohno pushed the subject further, slightly annoyed that Sho wasn’t giving him a proper answer.
“Yes.”
“Okay,” Ohno nodded his head. “What are we waiting for then?”
The talk with Sho had stirred something in him. Ohno had realized that it was a mistake not to ask any questions or not to know too much of his friends. But since it was difficult to talk to Sho or Jun about these things, he decided to go for some easier victims:
“Why did you two join a ship crew?” Ohno looked at Nino and Aiba insistently. “Don’t get me wrong, but… you,” he pointed at Aiba. “Couldn’t even swim until a few weeks ago. And you,” He turned his attention towards Nino, checking his beautiful and fragile features. Really, what was this guy doing on the sea? “You get seasick so easily. You hate the sea.”
For a moment Nino and Aiba exchanged glances, looks Ohno didn’t really understand. Similar to the way Sho had been looking at him the other day. Then Aiba smiled warmly. “We love Jun and Sho,” he answered simply. “There was no way we would let them travel through this world all alone.”
Through this world. There it was again. Just like Sho said it. Because we don’t belong here.
Ohno leaned back a bit, looking at the guys in front of him. What was with these two? Or not only, with them, but also with Sho and Jun? They were weird. First he had wondered why such hopeless guys were even on a ship, but then he realized that though they didn’t know anything about a ship, they were skilled. They knew what to do and apparently they had already made it through lots of adventures. Things Ohno had dreamed about his whole life.
“Where are you guys from?” Again Ohno looked at them insistently, not missing the wary look in their eyes. He had touched a sore topic, apparently. And it was only then that he realized that he hadn’t even asked ONE personal question before. The only time he did ask was when Aiba was worried that Jun would be mad. He had told him this strange story about them being princes. For a moment Ohno frowned as the realization hit him. Aiba had lied to him when he told him that he had fallen asleep when Sho and Jun had shared their story with him. It was a lie! Aiba hadn’t fallen asleep. He knew what happened.
“We are from far away,” Nino finally asked diplomatically.
“Yeah,” Ohno grumbled. “When I recall the place furthest away from here, it’s still not half as far away as your home, right?”
“Yes,” Aiba stuttered. “That’s the place we mean.”
“A place where Jun and Sho were princes?”
The two exchanged some surprised glances. Ohno knew this kind of surprise, many had it when it was about him. He looked absent-minded and dreamy most of the time, while people didn’t realize that it was only his outer appearance. In fact he was very attentive and sharp. These two had just realized the same, because now the uncomfortable glance in Nino’s eyes was obvious, so was the worried one in Aiba’s.
“They are always our princes,” Nino finally answered cryptically. “No matter where we are and where we go to. They will stay our princes.”
10 important facts about this ship:
1) Jun was Sho’s brother. (Younger, older? Who knew…)
2) Jun was able to turn into a beautiful mysterious creature.
3) Jun was wearing the sign of an eagle.
4) In Jun’s presence also Ohno had turned into a mysterious creature.
5) Jun and Sho were princes.
6) Jun and Sho, and also Aiba and Nino, were coming from a far far away country. If Ohno thought of the place furthest away from here, it was still… blah blah blah.
7) Jun’s dog Cucumber was the key back to the place far far away.
8) Jun’s hand had felt warm when he had the chance to hold it… warm and gentle.
9) Jun had black hair, it felt soft when you touched it.
10) Jun was able to make the sun shine with his smile.
Sho was holding Cucumber in his arms. The sight alone made Ohno almost faint. Sho disliked Cucumber, well, it was an annoying dog, but sometimes it felt like Sho’s annoyed feelings towards Cucumber were coming from deep beneath the surface.
“It’s because he feels it’s an insult,” Jun explained, smiling slightly.
“Who?” Ohno blinked. “Cucumber?”
“Yes,” Jun looked at Ohno, giggling a bit. “He feels like we should have a better key than a dog like Cucumber. But it’s not that simple, you know?”
No, Ohno didn’t know. But nevertheless he nodded his head.
“It’s fate. Cucumber found us. He is our key, no matter what we wished for.”
“I thought it was your grandmother’s dog?” Ohno asked.
Jun laughed, his voice sending shivers over Ohno’s spine. “That’s only a rumour.”
Ohno was still mesmerized by Jun’s laugh. He just realized that he had never heard him laughing, not like that. “I won’t let you get hurt,” he said earnestly.
Jun’s expression got earnest again, he was about to say something, but Ohno shook his head. “I won’t, Jun. No matter if you belong to this place or not. No one will hurt you.”
Jun’s eyes were shining in a way Ohno had never seen it before, but it only lasted for a second, then Jun turned his head away, obviously feeling embarrassed. Instead of Jun, Sho was now looking into his direction. When he met Ohno’s glance, he sighed slightly. But he didn’t look half as aggravated as Ohno had thought he would. In fact, he was almost looking pleased.
“Cucumber,” Sho stroked Cucumber’s fur. “show us the way back… Lead us.”
Ohno’s eyes widened when there suddenly appeared a thin glimmering light, as if raindrops were sparkling in the sunlight. But it was a clear line, something that apparently led them into a certain direction.
But unfortunately… it wasn’t the right one.
Cucumber had felt distracted and accidentally led them into a labyrinth of caves and maelstroms.
Adventure four: The water catacombs.
The only good thing about shipping through a sea labyrinth was that there were no storms. Plus, also the sea monsters were getting lost.
The bad thing was that they were lost too.
“THIS STUPID PIECE OF TRASH!” Sho yelled in fury. “WE SHOULD HAVE KILLED AND ATE HIM ON THE MOVING ISLAND.”
“I’m pretty sure he would have tasted awful,” Aiba tried to defend Cucumber.
“THIS WORTHLESS DOG! I SAID LETS WAIT FOR A PROPER KEY AND NOT TAKE ANYTHING! BUT NO, WE HAD TO ACCEPT THIS PIECE OF SHIT!”
“It’s not that simple,” Nino tried to reason. He was outside, on deck, much to Ohno’s surprise. But apparently the current situation was too bad, worrying him too much. “The key chooses you. It’s fate.”
“FATE IS A PIECE OF SHIT!”
“Don’t get worked up too much now,” Jun tried to calm Sho down. “We’ll find the way back.”
“I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO GET WORKED UP, JUN!?” Sho’s eyes were sparkling now, his fingers clenching to the guardrail, knuckles white. “Damn, you are dying! With every fucking day were out there, your chance of surviving gets less. Don’t tell me not to get worked up! I’m worried as hell! You put your life into danger! For what!? You call it destiny! I call it stupid!”
Jun was pale now, and Ohno didn’t like this at all. But what he liked even less was one part of Sho’s rather emotional speech. With every day we are out here, your chance of surviving gets less.
“Hey…Jun,” Aiba was looking worried when Jun turned away and walked downstairs to the rooms.
Nino sighed, frowning. “You shouldn’t have said that, Sho.”
“Yeah,” Sho looked at the water angrily. At this point Ohno wasn’t sure anymore if he was angry at Cucumber, the whole situation, or at himself. “I know.”
“Wait a moment,” Ohno stepped forward, arms crossed in front of his body. “What did you mean with dying?” When there was no answer, Ohno frowned. He could feel it clearly in his stomach, something tugging and pulling at him. “Okay, guys,” he huffed. “I’m sticking here with you since months now, I’ve helped you out of tons of situations. I believe, I deserve to finally get filled in into parts of the truth. Don’t you think so!? And,” his eyes were sparkling in anger now, voice vibrating. “Don’t tell me about a place far far away, farer away than anything I can imagine! DAMN, GET A GRIP, GUYS!”
“Listen,” Sho shifted around a bit. “We can’t…”
“YOU CAN’T!?” Ohno yelled out of a sudden. “Damn, yes, you can! You just told Jun to his face that he is about to die! I’m not going to take it that easily! GOT IT!? Now tell me what’s going on here! Do you think I’m stupid? I saw what Jun turned into when he saved me, I also saw what I turned into!”
“You changed your appearances when Jun saved you?” Nino asked in surprise.
“YES!”
For a moment it was quiet, then Nino smiled a bit, looking at Sho almost teasingly. “Destiny, huh?”
“Stop the hints now!” Ohno huffed. “I want answers.”
Sho looked down at his hands, obviously still fighting with some guilty feelings, then he sighed. “Didn’t you already find out yourself?”
Ohno frowned. “Maybe, parts of it, but there are still questions I want to have an answer to.”
“Like, why Jun is in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Because he saved you by turning into his original appearance. It’s like he called out to the whole sea that he is here. That’s what I meant,” Sho answered warily. “by us not belonging here. We can only stay here until we get discovered. The ocean discovered us.”
“Also, we can only stay at the upper world for a special amount of time,” Aiba continued. Ohno looked at him in surprise. He hadn’t heard how he came back. Before, he had hurried after Jun. “Jun is getting tired and exhausted since he showed his natural side. He needs to go back to where he came from. Still…” he shot Sho a glare. “It’s not right to talk about dying here!”
“Yes, yes, I know.”
Ohno tilted his head, his thoughts wandering in his head. “What about me?” he finally asked. The strange glances of the others made him realize that he indeed hit the right point here. “Why did I change my appearance when Jun saved me.”
“This,” Sho answered after a long silence. “Is for you to find out by yourself.”
Go HERE for Part 2.
