We've accustomed ourselves pretty well to the crew now and have fallen into their rhythm. Chiyo has appointed herself as Captain, something that most of the crew and even Batu have begun to play along with to everyone's amusement. A few times he has even let her steer the ship...though based on a glance he shared with Aroon I have a strong suspicion he can steer the ship mentally somehow.
Each evening Aiko has taken it upon herself to invite the Captain to a meal of dried trail rations and each evening the Captain has instead invited her along to eat with the crew in the mess hall. It's a good thing as the mess hall food is prepared fresh and is far better than the fare we brought along. Just this last evening was a delicious meal of clam chowder and freshly baked bread. I could see getting used to this! Perhaps we should hire a cook to join our travels...
Anyway, each night as they wait for the meal the crew sings together, usually the vulgar ballad, "Hanbei Daijo and the Ever Soaking Sponge". I usually just miss the singing. It's become my queue that the meal is just about to be served and I should be able to sneak into a seat without getting knocked around by the crew (too much at least).
Keisuke has joined them singing the last few nights and become a target for the Captain's jokes and teasing, usually about just how bad he is and how the cook's should hurry up to get him quieted down and eating. It doesn't seem to bother him overly and I think he seems to be feeling a little more at home here.
This evening as everyone was getting seated the Captain requested we tell them a story in exchange for the meal. After a bit of consideration I told the tale of how we saved Prince Bogden from the Hall of Long Shadow with Aiko playing her ocarina for background music. It went over very well with most of the crew sitting in utter silence attention utterly focused the story as we told it.
There was some more teasing afterward with Aiko asking the Captain to teach her to gamble. We then learned that the master gambler was infact the first mate, Aroon...who actually owned the ship having won it from the captain in a game of cards. Amusing!
Shortly after that the Captain put out a call for requests for stories or tales to be told and it was Chiyo that piped up asking to hear the tale of "The Baychiro". I had never heard of it before but evidently the captain had as his face with solemn and serious and asked how she knew of it. Apparently Chiyo's parents had been fishermen and it was a pretty well known myth amongst those sorts.
Amusingly, Keisuke had also heard of this tale before, told by one of his instructors back home. The gist is that 100 years ago in the Crab clan there was a girl named Kyonshi Nyudo, the last daughter of the Sazae-oni clan. She fell in love with an orphan boy known as Genbo, a lowly cleaning boy in the palace. A very taboo love. The pair snuck away together and ended up fighting together in a guirella war that repelled a large number of Oni lead by a half-blood Oni known as Tennen (not all that uncommon in the Crab clan considering its borders). For their heroism their love was forgiven (supposedly) and they were awarded a beautiful elemental galleon known as the Baychiro. They set sail together, but the ship never even arrived at their destination. Even to this day it is occasionally rumoured to be seen floating lifelessly in the waters around Seiya Zei.
Keisuke also mentioned some other parts that weren't as well known or simply rumors such as that Tennen was actually the son and true heir to the Sazae-oni clan. Also that the ship was merely a ruse to get the pair of lovers somewhere where they could be separated, with one or both killed aboard the tragic vessel, their outrage and sadness changing it into a ghost ship.
The truth of the matter at least was that the Sazae-oni clan did exist though and fell to infighting and was destroyed. How much of the rest is fact and how much is fiction is the subject to a lot of debate. Keisuke did say that he was told all folklore came from a source, hence why he learned it and why he figured at least some of it had to be true.
The chilling, sad story put a bit of a damper on the rest of the evening. Aiko retired from the mess hall shortly after seeming a bit depressed to play her ocarina quietly on the deck, a familiar tune grandfather used to play for us...though the melody was tinged by her own sadness, whether that was intentional or not. I practised my kata earlier than usual and have been mostly alone on my bunk since, going over the story in my mind.
Much as I try to avoid the thought, there are parallels between Kyonshi and Genbo's position that mimic Kiyoko's and my own, if only to small degrees. I can't imagine everyone would be so welcoming of such a union...it's neither here or now, though, and we certainly have larger goals to achieve first before I should be lending my time to such thoughts.
At this point I think we are about a week away from the Lion clan or so. If you can say nothing else about an elemental galleon, they sure go quick! I can't wai
*The entry ends abruptly in a smear of ink*
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