Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

[chalicejoker]

Heads up--if you run into Teruo, Kinji's infiltration, some kind of yellow sea snake mermaid--be really damn careful. He's a menace.

Asshole goaded me into what I thought was a spar, but then he started singing, and it...

[Hajime's mental voice trails off in embarassment here before picking up again.]

Look, I'm not proud of it, but it's hard to get me to back down from a fight. And what he did, it...I just stopped fighting. Didn't even think to defend myself. He kept it up long enough to hit me with a cheap sucker punch.

[The irritation is just coming off his mental voice here.]

He also said several times that if I was a warrior, I should be sticking closer to the boat and protecting my school--I'm still not sure if that was a threat or not. I wouldn't put anything past him.

...and if you do end up talking to him and he mentions someone named Chalice, that's me--I'm not about to go by my real name in the same world as the Bando, even if I'm a fish this time around.

Comments

[shiroganeheir]

As long as they are comfortable wielding the weapons, please do. I have some experience with blades, but more with firearms, which is somewhat less useful in our current situation. My main method of attack, while... pretentious, is possibly not that far out of the realm of possibility in this world.

If anyone wishes a quick lesson on throwing kunai, I would be happy to help.

[chalicejoker]

Fighting underwater takes some getting used to. I can't run quite as wild as I could on the land--it's a work in progress down here.

But I can try to help other people figure it out, too.

[shiroganeheir]

Yes, that does seem a bit difficult. Good luck.

If there is anything you all need, please let us know, and we can coordinate.

[chalicejoker]

We're going to have to--who knows what the humans on the other boat are like, if their mermaids are this bad.

[shiroganeheir]

When we find the other ship, we should get a group together for reconnaissance. I can speak to the others who have retained their usual form on the ship and we can possibly put something together.

[chalicejoker]

We should probably figure out who's supposedly serving what purpose on the part of both groups. I know our little "school" down here is coming off as a bit fragmented. Presenting a more unified front would probably help us out.

[shiroganeheir]

There has been some comment on that from our end. I believe we are saying we lost most of our ship-board officers in a storm.

I hope it is believable enough. If it comes to it, I do have the ability to lie extremely convincingly.

[Thank you, Mako]

[chalicejoker]

That's good to know. I know we've been saying our school's on the run from the Empress and already suffered heavy losses, so I guess we go well with the boat.

I don't know who else is posing as warriors or Sirens or whatever, though.

[shiroganeheir]

We all might want to take a stock of who is saying they are what.

I am mostly taking the part of a young navigator. I think.

[chalicejoker]

Yeah, if we start telling conflicting stories, that's going to be a bit of a problem...

I figure I can cover by saying I don't pay much attention to what the humans on the boat are doing, so there's that. But navigator? That's good to know.

[awitchdidit]

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't retain my expertise with Koroshima weaponry when I left Yuki's consciousness. If I can't bother fellow former ninjas for that, I would appreciate some concealable weapons lessons in general.

[shiroganeheir]

Certainly, Beatrice-san.

My expertise, picked up from Noriko-hime, is more of fans and throwing kunai, but I am always willing to share.

[awitchdidit]

Anything that lets me fake being my own body double if someone recognizes me is fine, really.

Also, I've never used a fan as a weapon, it sounds fun.

[shiroganeheir]

The fan that I use is quite the step up from the fans that one of my friends used at home.

This fan has some magnetic elements that allow me to throw it and have it return to me. It also has sharp edges to use as a slashing blade rather than a bashing weapon.

[She sounds rather proud of it.]

I retained it from Noriko-hime.

[awitchdidit]

...the purist in me wants to disdain the period-science-fiction elements, especially for use in this world, but the rest of me finds that fascinating.