sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #9

1. tidal waves out on the sea

[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. I don't know where I'm-a gonna go

[something new has been set up at Friday’s desk. there’s a sign, but it’s not advertising the next excursion, or anything familiar like that. instead, it says, in big, bold letters, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS, with a large downward-facing arrow below it, pointing at what looks to be an empty tissue box with the word “COMPLAINTS” hastily etched onto it. there is a pile of small slips of paper and some pens next to it, and Friday cheerfully informs you that you can submit anything you like, no consequences! and it’s weird that she has to specify, but, also, she really does, doesn’t she?

and there aren’t any consequences! the Captain doesn’t come out of nowhere and dome you instantly for the slight. Friday doesn’t give you the cold shoulder or a rude remark. now, an unidentifiable voice does start reciting your complaint or suggestion, with your name attached, over the loudspeaker at full volume every 20 minutes or so. but, that’s debatable as a consequence. probably. maybe. not actually.]

3. pretty soon we learn to fly

[this was one of the suggestions. apparently. that’s what Friday will say if anyone asks her about it. and they probably will. because surely there has to be some sort of reason why the floor in windjammer is, currently, lava.

like. actual molten magma-type lava, flowing in sluggish rivers around the tables and booths, the sections of the buffet. so, maybe you decide to go eat at one of the many other fine dining establishments aboard today, or at least until the floor decides to stop being lava. or, maybe you decide that those dinosaur chicken nuggets are worth the risk of life and limb. and thus, you climb, clamber, jump, leap - a perilous and terrifying journey, knowing you are only one false step away from an agonizing death.

until you fall in. and then you realize that, no, this is not actually lava at all, for all it looks exactly like it. it’s actually barely room temperature, and strangely watery. you taste sweetened tomato paste. it’s not death, but maybe that would have been a little bit better.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Miracle indeed." Wars have been declaird for much less after all. She made it sound like they were in Hell itself.

"You mentioned other worlds... How is such a thing possible and is there a way for us to return to our respective worlds?" Honestly, the less time he spends here the better. He had a lot to do back in Azuchi. Traitors to sniff out and twart their plans, would be assassins to catch and enemies of the Oda to spy on. All that fun stuff. He didn't have time to be on some strange ship with even stranger individuals.

"Technically you are still on your world, you are just also here. Both a parallel and alternate timeline of your life." She shrugs, "I have been told that going home would be a paradox because of this, and potentially a destructive one."

She's finished evaluating, as he isn't really giving much away.

"Your armor. It seems familiar in a way. Where are you from?"

What she just described didn't sit well with Mitsuhide. From what he understood, it essentially meant that there was no going back to Azuchi. The only reassuring thing about all of this is there was another version of himself back there, so Nobunaga still had his left hand.

Of course, he wasn't going to let the fact that he was troubled show. Instead, he gave an easy-going smile as he answered her question.

"I'm from Japan." He wasn't going to elaborate on where in Japan. It was likely she knew very little about the political environment there but he wasn't going to risk anything by revealing too much of himself.

He may not wish to elaborate, but she's not stupid, He's holding back information like anyone reasonable should upon meeting a stranger.

"Japan? I know someone else from Japan, he has armor similar to yours. Wears his heart on his sleeve, very scattered, loud, likes candy a little too much. Perhaps you know him?"

That actually got Mitsuhide to chuckle a little.

"You may want to be more specific. I know of several individuals who are like that."

Which is true. Though he knew she was most likely referring to Oda Nobunaga due to 'candy' being specified, she could also be referring to Takada Shingen as well. The Tiger of Kai also had a sweet tooth as well, and, according to his sources, he was still alive as well.

"Well, I suppose he's not as unique as he would like to believe if that is the case. Though considering his flair for dramatics, he could be making it all up."

She's certain he knows who she's talking about, but nothing in her expression, tone or body language will give anything of that sort away.

She was good. Usually, he can pick even the tiniest bit of detail in other people's body language, but she wasn't giving him anything. Though, sometimes silence speaks volumes by itself. Her keeping her expression neutral could either mean she was an ally of Nobunaga and thought Mitsuhide was a possible enemy of the Oda. Or, she was an enemy of Nobunaga's and was trying to feel out if he was either an ally of the Oda or not.

He gave one bit of an easy-going smile. While she tries to show nothing in her expression to hide her thoughts, Mitsuhide found it more effective to hide his true thoughts behind a smile.

"Ah, the 'flair for dramatics' does narrow it down quite a bit. Does he also go around calling himself the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven?"

There it is. She flashes a smile, knowing he hasn't quite figured things out, which is helpful considering he's as good at hiding what he is feeling as she is. Except, she obviously cheats and she can sense what he is feeling anyway. Luckily, they seem to be on the same side.

"Indeed he does," she replies, "Are you Mitsuhide or Hideyoshi?"

TEST DRIVE MEME #9

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