sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #8

1. but times have changed for sailors these days

[you wake up.

it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.

the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:

Dear Passenger(s),

As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.

At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!

See You Real Soon!

Sincerely,
Gal Friday

you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.

you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]

Welcome aboard! I'm so happy you could join us!

[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.

after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]

2. tried to amend my carnivorous habit

[the space inside John's where the piano normally sits is mysteriously vacant today. as a matter of fact, the entire piano bar is silent, without so much as a muzak-inspired interpretation of Uptown Girl to hum along to.

the piano itself seems to have disappeared... for the most part. unlucky, unsuspecting passengers who enter the cabin hallway, step out onto the lower decks, or find themselves in one of the other narrow corridors of the ship, may find themselves suddenly facing down a silent, unmoving grand piano. it takes up too much space to squeeze by comfortably...

and then, the cover lifts, exposing what looks to be... teeth?

yeah. yeah, those are its teeth. and it's coming right for you.]

3. that American creation on which I feed

[it had been a difficult October for bahamanuel, the bahamanal. its territory had changed utterly, becoming alien and strange. new predators were encroaching on its hunting grounds. its position in the natural order is under threat. and so, nature finds a way.

the old timers know to be wary of large piles of clothes, but even they won’t think to look twice at the tiny lumps of garish kids’ swimsuits and sundresses - until they feel something latch onto their leg, and then several more things, and anywhere from ten to twenty balled up clothes piles try to take down their prey.

the young must learn how to hunt, after all.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

1. Arrival

[The last thing he remembers is running through the halls of his fortress, chasing down the insects who dared to call themselves DigiDestined. Kimeramon's horrible cries echo across the stone. Despite their unearthly sound, they fill Ken's heart with pride.

He really should--

The memory ends there, then he's suddenly waking up in bed. At first, he thinks he must be in Tamachi, that the Digital World has somehow rejected him and spat him back out into his bedroom. It would be absurd, of course, for the Digital World to reject its one true god but maybe he hadn't entirely beaten it into submission.

Once his eyes focus and he pulls himself to his feet, he immediately sees that he is still dressed in his Emperor's garb. Not Tamachi, then. Probably still the Digital World.

A piece of paper catches his eye. He snatches it up and reads it. He reads it again. He reads it a third time. No, it still doesn't make sense. A cruise ship? How? Well, there is only one way to find out.

He stalks out the door.

It doesn't take long for him to find the crowd and get swept along. Everything around him certainly looks like a cruise ship. He's never been on a cruise before, granted, but he's seen pictures.

He feels the droning safety drill pass through one ear and out the other. Why all of this. How? Where is his fortress? His empire?

He doesn't snap back to himself until someone puts a lei around his neck. Startled, he jumps to the side and crashes into the nearest person, whom he immediately snarls at.]

Fool! Why don't you watch where I'm going!?

2. You better C sharp or you'll B flat

[It is later, when Ken is exploring, that he stumbles across a lonely hallway with an even lonelier looking grand piano squatting in the center.

He's slight lad for his age, but he doubts even he would be able to squeeze past it.]

Hey!

[He twists around in place and calls out to anyone close enough to hear.]

Whose piano is this!?

[With his back turned, he doesn't see the piano bare teeth at him.]

3. Wildcard

[At various points in time, Ken can be found on the deck, arms crossed, staring out at sea. One gets the impression that if he were old enough he'd be glowering at the waves over a glass of wine. Instead, he just projects a sense of imperious scorn.]

Edited 2022-11-12 17:51 (UTC)

[ Vance might not be picking fights as much as he used to, but deep down he's still ready to throw hands at a moment's notice, especially when the fight comes to him. ]

Who the fuck're you calling a fool, twerp? [ If he hadn't cut the sleeves off of every item of clothing he owned, he'd be rolling them up right now. As it, he squares up and clenches his fists just in case this kid decides to go for a sucker punch. ]

You, you simpleton.

[Seeing the larger boy's fist clench, Ken reaches for the whip coiled under his cape. His gloved fingers grasp the handle but he never draws the weapon.]

I am the most powerful being in...

[He hesitates and looks around the gathered crowd, most of whom look human, very few of whom look like Digimon. He still sees them as masses of shapes, not life, but something is wrong...

...Had that woman addressing them not had a face?

As his confused brain catches up to his eyes he deflates in mid snarl.]

....Where are we?

Simpleton?!

[ He's ready to throw hands over that, but it's been a while since he's gotten into an actual fight and, as skeptical as he is about this whole being a better person thing, he's trying.

So he just sighs and rolls his eyes. ]

The Serena Eterna. Yeah, you've kind of been kidnapped. No, you can't go home. Sucks, huh?

[Natsuno pokes his head around a corner at the sound of someone shouting, and takes a moment to stare at the strange tableau of a displaced grand piano and kid in cosplay.

Then the piano's lid opens to show rows and rows of teeth. No time to think about anything else.]

Move, kid!

[He's coming over. If Ken doesn't think fast he'll himself manhandled by a 16 year old who is absolutely done with the ship's bullshit.]

Move?

[Ken frowns, but before he can ask why he hears the clanging and crashing of something behind him.

He glances back at the piano and sees it gnashing what might be keys or teeth at him. It isn't the most frightening thing he's seen lately. The Digital World was full of monsters and wild animals with laser cannons strapped to their backs. It is surprising, however.

He stares at the piano in bewildered silence, then the stranger roughly grabs him.]

What was that!?

[The question has a steel edge to it; it is partially a command for answers.]

Let go of me!

[Valid question, understandable demand, both of which are promptly ignored in favor of avoiding the piano's gnashing teeth. The lid snaps empty air, and there's an angry cacophony of keys pressed together as the piano gives chase. It's nine o'clock on a Saturday and it's in the mood for a snack.]

Start running and I will.

[Maybe. No promises. Natsuno makes a beeline for the staircase, putting himself between the kid and the piano. If they're lucky the instrument can't climb stairs.]

[Ken does run and he runs quickly, with the speed and agility of an olympian despite his small size.

He bounds up the stairs, leaping multiple steps at a time, then pauses on the landing at the top.

Behind him he can still hear the piano-monstrosity juggernauting down the hallway so he pulls a coiled whip from his belt and glares down the stairs.

If the thing can climb, he is clearly willing to fight it.]

[Athletic kid. That's good, running is an important skill on board the Serena Eterna. Today it's toothy pianos, tomorrow it can be a horde of zombies or some pissed off passenger throwing magic around.

Once Ken is on the stairs, Natsuno sprints the last stretch of corridor to follow. He stops a few steps under the landing to see if the piano's coming. It seems to be having some trouble climbing the first stairs, but it somehow manages to twist itself sideways and slowly drag itself upwards.

Two of the piano's legs are braced against the wall, the sides are scuffed and it has to keep chewing through the rail, but by god it's determined to munch on these kids who probably don't appreciate Billy Joel.]

It'll rip your whip like nothing, [He remarks calmly.] Better we find something to roll down the stairs on it.

[Yeah, it's really too bad that this ship doesn't acknowledge the fact that some people need to have a glass of wine exclusively for aesthetic purposes. This guy gets that. He also gets imperious scorn. He gets sulking at the railing and glaring at nothing while all your machinations fall apart around you.

The only reasonable thing to do is, you know. Sssslide up on the railing so he can lean his elbows on it, very cool-like. Very nonchalantly. He wishes he had his cape so badly right now, instead of this shitty purple Tommy Bahama shirt.]

You must be neww here.

[Ken's own cape billows behind him, though perhaps not as dramatically as he'd like to imagine.

He's aware of someone shifting towards him along the railing which makes him tense, though he's not sure if it's because he's preparing for a fight or for his day to get more annoying.

But the person just makes a statement.]

Heh!

[Ken adjusts his sunglasses and shifts around to address the...stranger? They're not human. He decides to put his money on "Digimon", final answer.]

Yeah. Is it that obvious?

[Damn it. It's such a cool cape, too. Not as cool as his, obviously, but... pretty good, I GUESS.

He waves one hand, super casual-like.]

You could say that. 'Course, I'vve been here a wwhile, noww. Pretty much nothin' escapes my notice. Especially somebody wwith a clear sense'a style that doesn't come in tropical print. For noww, anywway. 'Til you gotta do your owwn laundry.

[Douchemon over here picks at his own overshirt like, ew. Even though he literally picked it out!!!!]

TEST DRIVE MEME #8

Ken Ichijouji | Digimon

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3. i'm sorry...

oh no

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