Re-Reconnecting with One's Roots

It wouldn't be until after Dana had rescinded the fist bump that the motion registered to the small konoichi. Almost as if her brain had gitched, She twitched for a moment before stretching her arm out, fist closed to the space where her friend's had had been. Meeting nothing but air, she'd shake her head again, and turn her attention back to the mission leader. Clearly she'd been the victim of the terrifying 'too slow' technique usually only used in high fives. Her lip curled into a pout at the realization, but there was too much to concentrate on for it to last very long.

"Huh. A crown for the onikagi clan. That... That's pretty cool." She wondered if there was a similar artifact for her own crown. Unfortunately if there were, it would probably be housed in Konoha, but she could definitely see herself making a trip one day to retrieve her own holy relic of the senju clan. Hopefully it wasn't a crown though. Her head was just so small that it would look REDICULOUS. She was more of a tiara girl. Still, it would bring some reality to the title she'd been throwing around on fliers. She really could be a cosplay queen. It became apparent as her consideration of proper head wear came to a close that she'd missed the entire explaination from Gonk. THere was a soft scoff as Ai grinned, shaking her head at her pupeteer's loss of focus. Were she not there, that aspect of her personality could be incredibly dangerous.

Independent to the two sisters, who focused on the group leader, Freyja had turned her attention to the pupeteer who had asked about her. It wasn't exactly uncommon for one of them to have to field questions about the team. It would be odd to see a group of four shinobi constantly together. With Coach making it obvious that he was a puppet, it would be even more odd to see a ninja walking around with two people who could be alive or puppets, and one obvious puppet. Plus it had been some time since they'd seen each other, and she was only just in the begining of the visions that bore Freyja when they'd last met.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. I belive Saya spoke to you about vissions of my vissage when you first met. You'll find aspects of your convorsation in my form I hope. " Turning, she'd allow him a moment to really look at the cloak that covered her back. It was a jet black color, though the feathers that adorned the entire survace lightened the look significantly. For a moment she'd make them flutter to emphasize their effectiveness. "I am a gift from a set of old gods, a pantheon that she has learned to follow from the devout Otterbrook clan. "

As quickly as their meet up began, it had ended. Gonk suggested that they take some time and go hang out in the rooms provided for them, but lets be honest. Saya wasn't going to do that. She would spend the entire trip zipping about the ship, making a game of following the captains orders to perform crew actions before the crewmate intended to take care of them could get there. It would be frusterating at first, but eventually they got into a rhythm of who actually got a break form the hardships of sailing because Saya was in place to answer the call much faster than they could.

(TWC 1625)

"Yay!" Dana's striking face lit up into an expression of utmost joy when the monkey accepted her proposal. She either didn't notice his sly grin or didn't care since she instantly held out her arms so he could jump into them. If he did so then Dana would bring him in close for a small hug and then give him a gentle scritch behind the ears. Dana had absolutely no clue if monkeys liked ear scritches but she figured it couldn't hurt. Assuming he was still with her, Dana would attempt to guide Momo onto her shoulder so she could finally fulfill her dream of becoming a pirate with an actual shoulder monkey.

The news that they were going to be sailing on a boat suddenly caught up to Dana, who only now was just starting to pay attention, and she almost leaped for joy at the news. Thankfully, she remembered that doing so might injure the monkey so she refrained. She had been correct in bringing her tricorn pirate hat, but now she was just upset that she hadn't gone all-in and worn the entire outfit. Oh well, she'd definitely remember for next time! Dana personally would've liked to go sailing on Saya's longboat again since she had gotten really good at sailing it last time and it would be incredibly nostalgic.

She made her way to the boats with the others whilst occasionally giving Momo a stroke, assuming he had accepted her request in the first place, and looked around excitedly. The boat wasn't as cool as Saya's but it'd definitely do in a pinch. "Okay, Momo I'm going to go sleep in the crow's nest. Ye can stay up there with me for the night or ye can go take the bedroom that was supposed to be for me. Yer choice." She said proudly, without elaborating on why exactly she wanted to sleep up in the crow's nest. The reason was simple: Dana had gotten so used to sleeping on a bed without a mattress that she just preferred to sleep on hard surfaces now. She also just really wanted to sleep up at the top of a mast, for no reason in particular.

Regardless of whatever Momo wanted to do, Dana would climb up to the top of the crows nest and curl up to get some rest.

WC: 395
TWC: 1328

Niko would take the time to acknowledge Freyja and her response. Taking note of the name drop with the otter brook clan. This was potential related to the otter Nico had seen the Senju conversing with when he had last talked with her. Was it possible she had obtained a summoning contract Nico had no idea so he would turn his attention to the hoshigaki onboard instead?

Nico would take note of the delay in the answer to the question, posed to the hoshigaki. He would take it as him not wanting to share. Though when he went to speak the younger shinobi would begin to speak. Talking and going into more depth about the crown and its political importance. Though when the thought of stealing something came Niko was not surprised feudal lords such as the one they would be visiting loved treasures the only thing they loved more than treasure is money. Saying his dues he would crash in his chosen room.
 
Upon waking in the morning Niko would exit his room and head to the front of the ship. The distance they were traveling was not far at all and could easily be traveled in one sole night so when he saw the outline of land Niko knew his assumption was correct.
 In a spark of deviancy and for a sort of payback for what Dana had done to him the other day Niko would run through the hand seals for hiding with camouflage. Once he turned invisible he would then jump off the boat and started swimming towards shore a mere 200 feet away. Upon arrival, he would wait at the dock for the rest to arrive.

(1459)

"Don't worry mister Gonk. If we come across an enemy team in the field there's not chance that we'll fail! I can just explain the situation to them, and help them understand how important this is to you as a member of the hogushaki clan, and we can work everything out amongst ourselves. If they're from the Island country I'm sure that they're rational an understanding ninja, so it should be absolutely no problem." And that was it. That was just the way the girl saw the world. It was impressive that even now, having been put into a position where someone was directly trying to assassinate her more than once, that she still looked on the bright side of things, but that's just Saya. Sure if they didn't listen to reason she had more than a handful of very scary techniques designed to bore lots of holes in people, and four puppets whose design was specifically to incapacitate or bore lots of holes in people, but still. She had confindence in her self and her friends, and no one could take that away from her.

As the group dispersed, the music would change drastically. This is called setting the scene. An eerie silence fell across the boat, unnoticable to the ninja or the crew as it was cinematics meant for our dear listeners. At the base of the ship an ink blot looking creature tinted dark purple and black slid from the edge of the water. Impossibly long tenticles stretched up the edge of the ship as it moved, passing planks one by one before the next set reached outwards and then.... The scene zooms back out to reveal the massive monster was actually about palm sized. It was a squid! or... An octopus? unsure. Ah. NO. I'm getting information that it is one of the most fearsome denizens of the deep.... The kraken--but like. A baby kraken I guess. In near silence it found its way up the hull of the ship, stretching up and over the deck. Two beady eyes locked onto their target and it attacked!!!!!

The creature found the back of the coach puppets head, wrapping tentacles half way around the back side. Coach didn't notice. I mean it weighted like two pounds and Coach doesn't have skin.

As Saya continued to dance about the boat, fingertips flashing with blue light as she allowed the chakra threads to be seen on the three puppets, Our devious villian remained unnoticed, doing its best job at boring a hole in his victim's head. The kraki's tiny little beak(kraki, is of course the name for this species of dwarf kraken, which are totally still kraken and not just regular squid or octopus) scratched as best it could against the wood of the coach puppet. It would take the entirety of the six hours down time, but finally he would find some success as a tiny little splinter chipped off.

"Hey are we almost there yet? I can't really navigate while taking on four different tasks on the ship!!!" On the main deck, by the stairs leading below four of the crew sat playing card games. They'd given up on stepping in when the small girl decided to bring her puppets in to help out. They'd still get paid either way.

(TWC 2177)

Dana awoke from her short slumber after only an hour or two. It was one of those naps that lasted just the right amount of time that you didn't go into REM sleep, but still retained all the benefits of sleeping. She could safely say that she was no longer in a slightly grumpy mood like she had been earlier. She pushed herself up, her white hair thoroughly frazzled from the minuscule amount of time that she'd been laying down, and gave a good stretch that made all her joints crack into place satisfyingly. "That was nice." She smiled and then did a few hand seals to pull out her sketchbook from the Storage Dimension. She usually didn't like other people seeing her art but Momo seemed like a respectful fellow.

She spent a few minutes curled up on the crow's nest just adding a few lines of shade and detail to the project she'd been working on for a few days; a portrait of Saya. It started out as a silly idea for a gift she was going to give as thanks for the outfit that the girl had given her, but Dana had found that it was turning out to be her favourite project she'd ever done. What she had in the sketchbook was just that, a simple sketch. When it was fully realized, Dana intended to turn it into an actual painting. She couldn't wait to see how the finished project would end up looking.

From her view up at the top of the mast, Dana saw what she assumed was their destination drawing near. She slammed the book shut suddenly and offered an arm for Momo to climb up onto her shoulder again. After storing the book back in her Storage Dimension, she made her way down the ladder and onto the deck of the ship. "Looks like we're here... Where's Niko?" She asked, looking around confusedly.

WC: 324
TWC: 1652

While swimming Niko would look behind him and see a man swimming extremely fast towards him shocked Nico would pick up the pace and get to the dock just as the man caught up and threw him onto it. Suprised, at his discovery, Niko would say to the shark man.

"Me? I'm pulling a prank on Dana. The last time we met she kind of, how do I put it sprayed blood all over the training room on purpose for a prank. But seeing as you found me I'm assuming they realized I was gone, damn." Niko would sigh. The teenage shark girl just had to ruin his fun. While Niko respected his senior shinobi he did not appreciate that the jounin threw him ashore.

"Though I must ask how did you detect me in the water, I understand your part fish or something is that the cause or do you have some kind of chakra vision." Niko would inquire he wanted to know how his senior had found him.

"Sooo can we still go with the prank or" Niko would ask.

(1639)

THe call came out and team puppet was on it. Raise sail, Drop anchor, prepare for the departure of the team. Ropes pulled taught lifted the white fabric quickly up the masts as Saya and two others prepared the boat to stop--well. It was less the three working in unison, and more the two crewman towing the line as Saya put the entirety of her body mass on the line, legs flinging about as she hung on for dear life. Had she more strength, or any strength at all, she would have been right there heaving to give aid in the final action, but her only strength in the task at hand was in trying to weigh the line down high enough that gravity did the work for her.

As the crew lifted the sails, Freyja and coach released the anchor slowly. They'd learned a thing or two form their time on their own boat. For months Saya's idea of dropping anchor was simply to release the latch holding it in place and allow momentum to do it's thing. That had resulted in thirteen snapped ropes, fifteen lost or broken anchor, and seven instances where a member of team puppet was thrown ass over tea kettle off the ship from stepping too close to the hand holds. Repairing the ship was a dificult task that had taken fare too much time and money, so finally they learned the proper procedure. Freyja's muscles flexed as she held the spinning wheel tightly, allowing the craft to gently slow to a stop before the mass of metal held it firmly in place.

"RIGHT! Uh. Well. " Before she could even consider preparation to leave the ship their leader had simply.... jumped off too? Well he wasn't there, and she was so preoccupied helping out that if he'd said something she'd missed it. Either way that was fine. "Let's go!!" They needed to move fast if Gonk was already gone. That meant the row boat was out. Glancing over at Dana she'd motion for her to follow, and the quartet just jumped off the boat. Freyja and Coach hit the water, their bodies quickly going into motion to begin swimming before Freyja dipped under the water for a moment. Saya landed firmly on the buff woman's back, keeping herself a safe distance away from the water that threatened to ruin her outfit. Ai caught herself, legs bending to absorb impact as she landed on Coach's left shoulder. The mamoth gym teacher didn't even sway under the weight. Then she motioned for Dana.

"You can ride on Coach with me if you don't want to swim Dana! It's great fun once you get used to it." They would give the girl a moment to decide her course of action, completely ignoring the reality that water walking was a thing they could do, and then team puppet with a Dana option would quickly find the beach of whichever island they had intended to land on. A perfect start to a fun day!

(TWC 2682)

Dana's mouth was agape when the captain of the ship just up and jumped off the ship in response to her question, presumably to go find Niko. A ship without its captain was no longer a ship, it was an empty vessel awash on the endless sea. This called for a mutiny! Dana wouldn't stand by and let this glorious vessel fall into disrepair and go derelict. She opened her mouth, ready to start issuing orders to get everything sorted when Dana spotted Saya and all her friends leap over the side of the ship. Well, that wouldn't do. What was a captain without her finest crewmates?

Thoughts of commandeering the ship fell from Dana's mind as quickly as they appeared and she ran up to the side of the ship to see what Saya was up to. She saw the odd sight of Saya and her sister riding on the backs of Freya and Coach. It really showed how much Dana had been hanging out with this lot that she didn't even blink. "Look after the ship fer me while I'm gone!" She shouted back to the rest of the crew who were still playing cards on the deck. "Hold on, Momo." She said to the monkey on her shoulder, and then vaulted over the side of the ship with all the grace of a gymnast.

She landed on Coach's back lightly and sat down next to Ai.

WC: 239
TWC: 1891