Once in a Lifetime Cruise

The kingdom of Deul was well known for playing into the clutches of the World Government. It was backed by money and received power that in turn was known to change the fate of the rest of the world. One kingdom in the North Blue could reach the corners of the New World if it so wanted. It was an unjust system of rich men and women believing they knew what was best for the rest of the of populace, when in reality they were only thinking of themselves. What did they know about the common man? What did they know about those that weren't considered the same as man? They catered to the ideals of wealth and fame. In the end, they believed money bought all and those without were useless.

Luxuries were afforded to those who could pay, such as expensive cruise ships. A cruise ship filled with clean, elegant men and women. Pastries and drinks filled to the brim, so they could never go without. The finest of wines and greatest chefs to keep them in moments of bliss without so much as reminding them of the squabble working around them to wait on their every need. Music, laughs, cheers, and happiness spread from the ship and danced along the waves. The vibrations among the water leading something eerie right to the the paddles rolling below the decks. Soon enough, the ship would come to a screeching halt as wire tight and strong wrapped the paddles until they could move no more. Jammed by what looked to be netting large enough to catch a sea king.

Of course, those aboard were calmed and told that it was simply part of their expensive, luxury experience. As the workers below slaved away and tried to free the ship from the clutches of wire so rough, the ship would begin to rock without the presence of waves. Still, nobody would notice that there was something far more concerning beneath their very feet. The bow of the ship was suddenly overcome by the most beautiful and haunting voice. A woman would emerge from over the edge with a face so frail and hair as flowing as the sea covered her left eye with a braid running down her spine. From a glance, it was obvious that she was the one singing and gathering the attention of the masses on board. They had become so entranced that people were losing their grip on reality and dropping their glasses. The closest individual had even begun to make their way into her grasp.

A trident would rise from over the edge as her melody continued and as her webbed hand would reach out to grab the object, her voice would taper off. "My, My... You've all made such a mess... but it seems you're good at that." A giggle accompanied by the violent thrust of a trident into the abdomen of the unsuspecting prey as she was lifted up as a signal to the rest of the vile fishman crew. As human after human were captured and lined up along the deck, the woman would toss the now lifeless body into the sea. "Now, I know he's here. The filth. That dirty, lowlife pirate.. what was his name again?" Her one showing eye would close as she would sway with the breeze. She seemed to be envisioning something, but what did she have to be so carefree about? People were dying, screaming, and begging for life. She treated their pain like music before she eye would open again and a grin would etch itself across her features. A grin that seemed cutting and edged followed by a shrill shrieking. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL DIE BECAUSE OF YOU! SHOW YOURSELF!"

When she received no answer, her grin would turn sour, "Fine... Every minute that I don't have him in my hands, someone will die... and it seems it's already been about a minute, wouldn't you say?" The mysterious fish would would turn to one of her crew and simply flick her wrist allowing her henchman to do with the hostage as they pleased.

Meanwhile, somewhere below the ship a small, pink haired girl found herself wandering around the pathing of the waitstaff, who were unaware of the ruckus above the ship. If she had to guess, she was somewhere between the cargo and the kitchen. Boy did that kitchen smell good. As one of the waiters passed carrying a large tray of chocolate covered strawberries, the small girl would gasp and a few of the treats would be suspended in midair. Slowly, they would float their way to a hamper filled with tablecloths before the small hand would reach out to grab them. The munching of the fruit was loud enough to draw suspicion, but nobody seemed to have time to bother with it. When the coast was clear, the child would crawl over the top of the hamper and begin scooting along the walls. As she came closer to the stairway up, the young girl would hear someone clearing their throat behind her.

"Excuse me, you shouldn't be down here, young miss. Where are your parents? Come now, up you go." The woman would begin to usher the young girl up the stairs not giving her the time to respond. As they rounded the corner atop the steps, a large fishman would take hold of the older woman leaving the little girl to fall backwards onto her butt. Her eyes would widen as she would scoot backwards toward the corner. At first, it seemed that the fishman hadn't noticed her, but she would soon be corrected as he turned his head towards her. She would quickly stand to her feet and take off running down the stairs again as the woman above screamed and thrashed about. She would run and run as fast as her little legs would take her as she dramatically took deep, gasping breaths.

“What the hell was that…” Suzume looked up, peering from the lock she had been working on for longer than she would have liked. They had found the vault long before the fishman attack, and so far, had been working without incident so the sounds of violence coming awfully close were not what she had expected to hear. They just couldn’t seem to catch a break, no matter how they altered their plans. With one wrong move she managed to bend her pick again, which immediately had the young pirate angered. Fortunately, the ruckus above gave her the freedom to instead brute force her way through to the goodies beyond the door. In moments she rapidly lowered the temperature of the sturdy material, causing it to fracture when she applied a hint of pressure.

Fumi was on edge already, having spent her time watching from the door for any incoming staff that might put an end to their little scheme. There wasn’t exactly much reason to visit the vault after the voyage had set off though, so until now. Her ears were flicking about, trying to narrow down and listen for a clue as to what they might be dealing with here. "Does that not worry either of you?" She turned away to take a moment hiding away from the doorframe. She sometimes forgot her crew's senses might not be as sensitive as her own, but this time it seemed pretty obvious.

“Fumi, get over here. We’re in” Suzume pushed the door in, clearly in a sour mood as she stepped through to the vault itself, at least until she saw the wealth stashed away beyond door. The sight of gold always seemed to bring a gleam to her eye. “We can bag this up and get on the boat before anyone realizes we’re here” She rolled a coin between her fingers as she turned to look over the horded wealth before them.

Well, here she was following the woman that freed them from their capture, although Ruby wasn’t quite sure why. She had promised to protect the two of these girls and that seemed to be her only reason for living. Although, she couldn’t say that she had any sort of real bonding time with them. What did she know about them? Fumi was a scared, cautious, little girl with dog ears. Suzume was much more complex, but she knew how to pack a punch. She was a slaughtering machine with ice powers and a few tricks up her sleeve when it came to stealing things. Today, they were going to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Them. They were the poor. As Suzume spoke about a sound coming from above, Ruby would shrug her shoulders. She wasn’t all that interested in what was going on up there when everything she needed was right beside her. The woman hardly took the time to hide, instead she would post up leaning against a wall as she curled a toothpick around in her mouth with her tongue. Her hands would be placed haphazardly in her pockets, although a finger or two could be seen peeking out from the corners. Honestly, Ruby could care less about any of this, but she’d be damned if she let these two go alone.

As the ruckus above grew more intense, Ruby would find her eyes drifting to the ceiling and her fingers twitching along her legs. What was that sound? Was there a bar fight or something going on? A duel for a maiden’s honor? Whatever the hell it was, it was starting to make Ruby anxious, even as Fumi asked the ground if they even cared about what she was hearing. This would be the moment Ruby would push herself from the wall and follow after Suzume. As she walked passed Fumi, Ruby would ruffle the small child’s hair. ”Aye. Quit yur panickin’. Ain’t nobody here strong enough fer us. I’m sure tis fine.” Ruby would say with a grin hoping to give Fumi some confidence and reassurance. Although, Ruby couldn’t say she wasn’t slightly worried about what all the noise could mean.

Fumi would follow in behind the two of them closely while the sound of something else would catch Ruby’s ear. At first, she believed she was seeing things as a small, panting child would walk up and stand beside Suzume nonchalantly. However, Ruby would take the time to count heads as she looked between the three of them. ”Hol’ on. Hol’ on. Who’re you?” Ruby would ask as she pointed at the pink haired child, who would immediately tense up. The child would practically turn to stone as her head turned to the side as if placed on by a rusted gear. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was ready to start catching flies. Ruby would begin to scratch her chin before she would count heads one last time. ”Yeah yeah. You. Yur definitely new. Who’re you? We don’t have all day here.” Ruby would say this time squatting down to meet the child eye to eye.

Well, she had been caught red handed and she had thought she was so good at hiding. What were they going to do to her? Did they know who she was? No, of course not. They couldn’t possibly. She was a huge secret, besides she wasn’t the one who killed that lady. The fish man got her. ”H-H-How did you find Cora?!” the girl would scream as if she hadn’t just walked into a completely full room of strangers. ”Also, are you a dog that’s a girl?! Or a girl that’s a dog?! How did you do that?!” The child would point at Fumi before clutching her head between her palms. ”Stupid Cora got lost again on a stupid boat. Cora doesn’t know how to swim and there’s fish people here. What does Cora do now and why are you here too?! You’re obviously broke…” Cora would begin to ask a barrage of questions while panicking about the situation at hand. What was wrong with this girl?