A Well Earned Rest [AtI|Corvus]

[kojin]

a wintery retreat

In a small port city located in the north of Mizu no Kuni a beautiful luxury ship had just docked and was gathering quite a crowd as a few well-dressed men and women roamed the streets and docks handing out fliers advertising an all expense paid cruise. Most of the people who were interested in the ship were people visiting the town, those who lived here year-round were fairly used to this type of thing, but even for some of them the ship was more magnificent than most they had seen come through.

Rumors spread through the crowds like wildfire, talking about what the trip was like and who was supposedly on board. People were saying this was the last country the ship was stopping in before setting off for what some said would be a few weeks and others said would be months. The only truth could be found on the fliers, which at this point were scattered just about everywhere one would look: on the ground, in the trash, held in front of someone's face, and plastered to a couple announcement boards and walls. They all read the same way:

A Trip of a Lifetime!
Don't miss your chance at living the pampered life
All expenses covered*
A trip to the most beautiful places you could dream of.

Find anyone with a yellow jacket to get setup for the time of your life.

*shinobi only, must present headband as proof, at which point we'll ask you to store it away for the duration of your stay as this is not the place for conflicts.

We hope you choose Tamon-ten Sea Lines!

[Corvus]

Akiko sat on Hayate's back as she walked along, walking along at her own pace. Her four buttbags hung off her jacket, most of her gear stored away. A handful of soldier pills, a couple bloodclot pills, an electronic compass, an advanced electronic communication device, a few Kunai, some shuriken of a couple kinds, plenty of grenades...yep, she was well supplied. Her goggles dangled around her neck.

Kyuushi hung at her left hip, zankyuuha installed into her arms. Archemedes napped in Akiko's hood, while Omori, Seiryuu, Lynx, and Ryuunosuke walked alongside. A bundle f chain, with the ends weighted, wrapped around both of Omori's forelimbs. A flyer was clutched in one of Akiko's hands. A free trip? How could she possibly say no? At least, that's what Auntie had said when she had shooed Akiko out.

Slowly, her group approached the docked luxury ship. Each of the seven of then was rather dressed up. Ryuu and Lynx each wore full suits, while Omori wore a formal vest and coattails instead. Sei, Archimedes, and Hayate were each freshly groomed, and even Akiko was dressed formally, wearing a white dress and petticoat, to which her buttbags were attached.

It was logical that around the boat in question was probably the singular best place to find one of the yellow jacketed fellows the flyer mentioned. Akiko's headband sat in one of her pockets.

[kojin]

Blurs of yellow rushed through the crowds of people only stopping for brief moments to check someone's ticket, or sell them one, before having them ushered onto the ship. They came to people without even being asked, doing their best to push tickets and fill up every room on board. A young woman with brown hair and a flashy yellow jacket approached a young girl in a white dress atop a large bird. At first thinking she must have been lost, but upon getting closer she realised the child was surrounded by even more animals, some more menacing than the others, but all dressed up just as nicely as the girl.

Clearly she wasn't just any child, and quickly the representative straightened out her jacket making sure the embroidered anchor with the words “Tamon-ten Sea Lines” encircling it was unmistakably visible. She spoke to the young girl in a very perky voice, making sure she could be heard over the rest of the crowd, “Why hello there, my name is Suzuku, I noticed that flier in your hand, are you looking to get on the ship? It's a free ride for shinobi and I can assure you and your animals will be pampered to your heart's desire. If you present your headband I can give you a free ticket here, otherwise I'll show you where to purchase one as you board.” The woman finished with a beaming smile, clasping her hands together in front of her and eagerly awaiting the child's answer.

[Corvus]

Akiko rifled through her pockets for a short while, before removing her headband, as well as her recently updated shinobi identification card, which held summation of her achieved ranks and shinobi accomplishments. Her headband was in reasonably good condition, considering how long she had it. Then again, she hardly ever wore it.

Akiko smiled brightly back, "here you go, ma'am," she said politely. Truthfully, she would have prefered to stay home, where she could keep her hands busy, but if she tried that, Tsukasa would have thrown her straight at the boat. Probably would have landed her straight in the pool, too.

[kojin]

The attendant took the girl’s headband and identification card with a smile and looked them over carefully before handing them back. She was rather surprised that such a dignified shinobi would be coming on a cruise with the likes of normal and less special people. But all the same she led the young girl to a line of people about six long contained between two red velvet ropes who were patiently waiting to climb the wooden ramp to the deck of the ship.

Before the attendant left the ninja in line she presented her with a white ticket decorated with five purple stars on the front with a raised lettering that read ‘Tamon-ten Sea Line, Luxury Suite #5’. And with one final smile she wished the shinobi a good trip and disappeared back into the bustling crowd.

By now the line had moved and only one person stood before you in line, at the bottom of the ramp was a man in an orange vest checking tickets and giving people directions as the climbed on board. Finally it would be your turn and the man would take your ticket and punch two holes in it, while giving the same speech he’d given hundreds of other people throughout the day, “Please enjoy your trip, we ask that all guests meet in the dining hall at sunset, which will be announced by three horns, this is the only part of the trip that we’re deeming ‘mandatory’, if you have any questions all staff members on board are wearing white jackets. Have fun!”

With your ticket back the only thing left to do was climb the ramp and board the ship.

SPOILER: Click to show

Choices:
You may either,

• explore the ship until the horns sound
  
• report straight to the dining hall and wait there

[/blockquote]

[Corvus]

Akiko smiled and replaced her ID card and headband with the rest of her key items, and followed the attendant to the line, or what was left of one. She took the ticket when it was handed to her, and got it punched by the line attendant. Akiko and her companions then climbed the ramp in single file. "Ok," Akiko said, dismounting from Hayate, and grouping her animals around her. "Why don't we split up here and meet back up at dinner time?"

One by one, the animals nodded, "Hayate and I will head to our suite and unpack, then look around," Omori stated, as Akiko's mount walked over to the wolf's side. Archimedes flew out of Akiko's hood and landed on Seiryuu's back, "I'll take Seiryuu down to the pool," he said. Lynx turned around and started to walk off, "I'll be in the casino if you need me. Scales, you coming too?" Ryuunosuke nodded, figuring an arcade might be nearby.

"Alright," Akiko said, smiling, "I think I'm going to explore around and see what I can find. I'll see you all at dinner." With that, the party split up to go enjoy the downtime. Who knew when any of them would get the chance to properly relax again?