The Cruise Ship

[Tartarus]

All aboard for adventure! Well, either that or just a lot of martinis and poolside chitchat. It’s up to you really. Anyway! We’re setting sail now in the lovely Mediterranean, so grab your suitcase, find a cabin and come enjoy the ride!

[Samantha Law]

Me, Stitch, and Stitch’s parents board the cruise ship. Stitch was nearly jumping off the deck, he was so nervous. “it will be good for you, Stitchie.” Miss Marie, his mother, says soothingly. This doesn’t help at all, until I step in. “Don’t worry, Stitch, it’s only a ship. What could go wrong?” I say, smiling warmly. He nods a little and smiles at me, but of course his parents couldn’t see me. Miss Marie gets a sad expression, sighing at the ground. “Stitchie… Why don’t we talk to living people today, okay?” she says tiredly. “No way.” Stitch firmly replies. “Okay then…” she says, obviously sick of trying to argue with him. Stitch’s parents thought he was a little, well… traumatized, after my death. They thought he was delusional, but they tried their best to still be good parents. I was a little hurt that they couldn’t see me, but I knew it wasn’t their fault.
Anyway, as we boarded the ship, Professor Stein, Stitch’s father, gave each of them a key to their room. I got to tag along because, for some reason, if I ever was too far away from Stitch, I started to fade, go invisible. I didn’t want to disappear entirely, so I traveled with him.

[Loaka of the Wind]

Loaka of the Wind, professional barbarian and expert at the subtle arts of making things less alive than they were previously, was going on a holiday. She didn’t know where she was or where she was going, but there was a boat and boats went to Somewhere Else. Wanderlust was in her soul, in her blood. It was the very essence of her being to go to places that she had never been before. Not to mention, Loaka could smell a fully-stocked bar from some kilometres away.

The man at the gate had asked to see Loaka’s ticket and advised her that she couldn’t bring her yak aboard the vessel. A small pile of gold and the threat of spontaneous defenestration quickly changed his mind on the matter, proffering a shiny silver key attached to a tag that read ‘LUXURY’. Riding her yak up the gang-plank, Loaka looked about with glee. A real metal ship! Loaka felt oddly at home on the seas, a place that was was full of excitement and adventure. If it wasn’t, Loaka would make sure it would be.

Riding out onto the main deck, Loaka looked entirely out of place. A woven wool shirt the same colour as her black-haired yak, scratched and bloody leather armour (not her blood) and a muscular frame gave her the look of a roving conqueror astride her mount, not a vacation-goer. Woe betide the one who catches her eye, ear, nose or fist. She was either going to be a great friend to party with, or an annoying foe to tussle with.

[Samantha Law]

“whoa, who’s THAT?!” exclaims Jameston loudly, from where he was staring out of a handheld mirror Miss Marie carried with her. Stitch freezes in fear, he knew that he and Jameston were almost exactly alike, including their voices. I back up slightly to avoid passing through the yak that had somehow found its way on board, because passing through living things hurt. Badly.
Professor Stein grins, straightening his glasses so that the light obscured his eyes. “I’ve never dissected a yak before…” he mutters under his breath before Miss Marie comes in and gives him a wake-up punch on the shoulder. “yeesh, you didn’t have to do that, Marie…” grumbles, rubbing his shoulder where Marie’s iron fist had been embedded moments before. Literally, iron. Marie was a Death Scythe as well as my father and a few others, meaning she was a weapon. In Marie’s case, she was a rather large mallet, and she could turn her hand into the end that would hurt at a moment’s notice. That’s one of the reasons why people stayed away from Stitch. She also kind of has a scary mother complex… I, too, also found it hard to go near him for fear of being beaten to a pulp. Nope, now she couldn’t see me, so I could haunt around the place as much as I liked.

[Sky the Mongoose]

A man ventures out from below deck, his hair lightly disturbed by the wind as his face, shoulders, torso, then legs slowly appear. He is walking backwards, speaking with a member of the crew cheerfully. Once he reaches the deck, he nods his goodbye to the crew member, and leans against a wall.
The action is preformed with much speed and precision. He whips out a pipe, fills it with a bit of tobacco, or something, no one can be sure, as he does it so quickly. He lights the pipe, and places it gently in his mouth, sucking smoke from it before expelling it with an unnatural amount of grace. He smokes for a few moments, before noticing the large beast, the black yak.
His gentleman’s cane lightly taps the ground with each of his steps, creating a perfect tune of step, step, tap, step, step, tap. He offers warm smile to both the yak and the catfolk leading it. “Hello, miss. I cannot help but notice your… mount, I believe? May I pet him or her? I do so love animals, especially ones that I do not regularly see.”

[Phoe]

A young lady shakily sits down, looking around and not too sure what to do at this moment. Gently she sets down her bag that contains any items that she deems necessary to keep on her person, none of which would really be deemed useful if anyone were scavenge around in it’s depths, but oh well. Blue eyes move back and forth, slightly nervous, why she decided to board a cruise ship was beyond even her understanding, it was just a decision made on a whim.

She wrung her hands in the fabric of her hoodie, lightly biting down on her lower lip to try and calm down a little bit.

[Selena]

Pure white fangs flashed in the sunlight as Selena watched from above. Silvery fur, complete with black rosettes, covered her body-apart from her snow white hands, feet, stomach and tail tip. Green eyes watched keenly from her perch high above the ‘humans’ below-she always found them ever so amusing.

How else do I keep them safe, if I don’t watch them…? She thought to herself-and watch them she did. Alarm bells had rung in her mind a few weeks back on hearing about this particular ship, so here she was, ready to have fun-and work at the same time. A simple pale blue silk slip served her for a top, with a matching short skirt that allowed her tail to move as it wanted, the tip curling round elegantly. A blue lace agate pendant hung around her neck, accompanied by matching jewelry at her ears, wrists, and ankles-as well as a large ring on her right index finger.

Standing, she adjusted the quiver attached to her hip. “I’d best start searching this ship, I think. I don’t want that boy to lose his ghostly friend, after all.”

[Professor Kokonoe]

A weird portal opened, not far from the boarding dock. Besides the fact that the other side literally looked like eyes and maybe even had hands emerging from it, it was donned with two red bow-ribbons on either side. From this, three peculiar women floated down. The first was a catgirl with an ear piercing in her left ear, with brown hair and – Perhaps oddest – Her tail split into two separate ones, each actually intact. Her dress was red, and she wore a green hat. She looked to be rather young. Behind her came a nine-tailed kitsune, which quickly caught the nekomata before she could get on the boat.

Unlike the catgirl, the kitsune looked similar to an adult woman, with blonde hair. She wore an odd hat to cover her ears, but she shape made it obvious where they were, so there was little point to it besides being cute. The kitsune’s tails were very, very fluffy.

“Raaaaaaaan, let me goooooo! I wanna go on the ship!” The catgirl hissed, kicked, and clawed at the kitsune apparently named ‘Ran’.

“Not until we get the tickets, Chen. Lady Yukari already told us the rules.” The obviously older woman tried to calm her down, to little avail. The strength difference was far more than that of a child and parent, though – That was all too obvious.

The third woman was, by presence alone, clearly the “Lady Yukari” Ran spoke of. With long blonde hair intertwined with red ribbons, and obviously the fanciest dress and hat, she must be a woman of great wealth and power. “Ran! Chen! Stop fighting, now.”

The catgirl stopped fighting against the kitsune. Ran sets Chen down, and the two stand before Yukari.

“Now, my shikigami and my shikigami’s shikigami. Do you remember the rules for this trip? Especially you, Chen.” She gives Chen a look not unlike one a parent would give to a child prone to misbehavior, in addition to pointing at her with her now-closed, pink parasol.

Chen sighed. “Yes, Lady Yukari…Don’t start fights, don’t fall off the boat, don’t break anything, and don’t bug you if you seem busy unless it’s an emergency.”

“Good. Surely you remember the punishment if you were to break the rules?”

“Once is a smack on the butt with the parasol, then being grounded to the chambers for the night, then gapped back home.” Chen seemed rather reluctant to go through with this.

“Good, good. I am treating the both of you for your good behavior. Do not spoil it.” With that, Yukari re-opened her parasol, holding it against her shoulder, as she closes the strange arm-portal thing. She then walks to the ticket clerk, revealing three tickets – All for top-class services. The methods she used to get these may have been dubious, but all the same, how would she have heard of the cruise in the first place?

//As I have no Ran or Chen, I will be playing them myself until one stumbles across this community, which I would then happily relinquish the role to them.

If you want information on Ran or Chen, please see the following pages:

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Ran_Yakumo

http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Chen

This also includes the pictures of the characters. However, as I feel ZUN art is less than satisfying, I will let you Google the characters and find this out yourself because Skyrie’s linking system is being idiotic.

[Sky the Mongoose]

A loud boom is heard from the sky as an object speeds down, apparently towards the cruise ship. It has easily broken the sound barrier, and seems big enough to render the ship useless. However, the object lands in the ocean, next to the ship.
A few more moments, and a being lifts itself onto the dock. On closer inspection, it seems to be made of pure machinery. (( This is the closest thing that I could find to it ))

It tilts its head at the strange cat creatures, not saying anything yet, simply staring.

[Professor Kokonoe]

Ran, with her trained instincts, immediately prepared for action. Clearly, Ran was trained to always get the first strike. Chen hid behind Ran. She had not yet been trained.

Yukari, on the other hand, was intrigued. Despite being a robot, whatever this mechanical being was, it seemed sentient. As Yukari, Ran and Chen were three of the few technology literate in Gensokyo, which is where they gapped from, they were the first to assume that this being was a robot, and not an alien life form thing that wanted to destroy the world. Besides…If this being were intelligent, if it were aiming to destroy the world, a cruise ship would not be a good spot to start. Yukari had a feeling that the mechanical being was more curious than aggressive.

[Sky the Mongoose]

The mechanical being stares for a few more moments, before standing up as straight as it can. It then raises a hand, but instead of attacking, it does an awkward, slow wave. “I am sORRRRy if I startled you…” He pauses, noticing the fact his words sounded squeaky and rough. He bangs himself on the head, causing water to shoot out of it.

[Professor Kokonoe]

Yukari couldn’t help but chuckle. Not only was the being – a him, from the voice – not aggressive, but he was also only intimidating from a glance. Ran eases her stance, but still looks ready to enter that state again. Chen peeks her head out from Ran’s fluffy tails – The perfect hiding spot for someone so tiny.

Yukari makes no move against the being, allowing him to get himself fit for whatever he was to say or do. She was already over 12 centuries old – A couple minutes wouldn’t hurt her.

[Sky the Mongoose]

He stares up at the tallest being for a few moments, then to the other two, unsure of what exactly to say or do. He had very few interactions with other beings. However, his eye changes from purple to light blue, and a lighter, less squeaky voice comes from him. “Hello! Mentin isn’t the greatest talker, sorry. I’m Sepheri! Is this a cruise ship? I thought a cruise ship might be a nice starting point for his introduction to new and wonderful experiences~!”

[Selena]

Selena gasped as the ship rocked, almost falling from her perch. Wide-eyed, she glanced down at the alien craft that had just landed in the ocean, then huffed in annoyance. The Great Mother’s going to freak when she hears about this one. At least she can’t blame me this time…

Not that she would be having much to do with-oh, Hell Hounds. The blast had scared her enough that her fur was now standing on end, and from experience, she knew it would take her ages to flatten it out again. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out between her fangs. She was an Acolyte of the Great Mother Goddess. She did not lose control over an alien space ship fluffing up her fur right when she was about to start a mission.

Opening her eyes, she stepped off of her perch, calling the winds of the sea to aid her in simply floating down to the deck of her ship. One of the crew spotted her immediately and walked over to her. “Miss, can I see your-” Not even stopping, she pulled her ticket out of her top and held it up where he could clearly see it, a sweet smile playing about her lips as he went wide-eyed and quickly backed away from her.

The smile slipped from her face as she turned back to the group. Sighing, she walked over to greet the aliens-just as it introduced itself. She raised an eyebrow at the way it spoke, but couldn’t say she was all that surprised. “Forgive me for the interruption, my Ladies” -the cat girl, Nine Tail Fox, and the older woman accompanying them- “and to you, Sepheri, or to Mentin, whoever is at the forefront right now. Please, if I could make a suggestion…?”

Directing her gaze to the robotic alien, she smiled ruefully. “My Sisters and I have a lot of work to do, keeping this planet’s winds working properly. Perhaps the next time you come to land, or to leave, you could ask us to direct you down…? I mean no offence, but it’s very difficult to keep this world working as it should, and our Mistress would not be happy if something were to happen that could hurt the residents here…”

[Sky the Mongoose]

The robotic being’s head rotates to look at the newcomer. The eye changes back to the color purple, and it returns to the male’s voice. “I am very capAAABle of entering an atmosphere on my own.” The eye shifts back to the blue. “Sorry! He’s had experience with dropping onto planets, is all. It’s fine, we’ll contact you next time, we just didn’t know about… you, and your sisters!”