15[23:24] The board pitches, the earth spins... and the eight of them are back in the game room, sitting around the board, as if they'd just been having a friendly game. 15[23:24] Sigereth groans. "I almost had you!" [23:25] 10Daizo: "Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand-mortars, my dear Sigereth." [23:25] 4Piu: "Yeah! WOOOO!!" [23:25] 6Zhangyu: "Once a guy 'almost' had me with a rock. I'm here." [23:26] 10Daizo: "Although to be fair, you had me in a sticky spot more than once. If I hadn't been able to save Zhangyu… Well played." [23:27] 4All her hearthbrothers and sister get a hug. The Sidereals get a grin. 15[23:27] Only 99 is there, and he looks chagrined, but not angry. "I really gotta hand it to you," he says. 15[23:28] The door bursts open and Ratel, Caxi, Seiri, and Tataru come in. "Is it over? Did we win??" Tataru yelps. [23:28] 07Dryas beams at her hearth-siblings -- and at their wagers. [23:28] 4Piu: "We kicked ass!" [23:28] 10Handicaps and champions aside, Daizo feels like he's walking on a cloud. "I told you I'd figure out a way to win." [23:29] 6Zhangyu: "We did." 15[23:30] Caxi leaps into Daizo's arms and starts kissing him hungrily. [23:30] "And thank you, Master Oyabun, for the opportunity—!!" [23:30] 10Yowza. [23:30] 6Zhangyu politely looks away. [23:30] Yeah, words kind of stop having meaning there for a little while. 15[23:31] Ratel clears her throat. "So when can we see it?" [23:31] 4Caxi's enjoying the win and she's right to. 15[23:31] Ludo packs up the crumbled pieces and scraps quietly. They go back in the enameled box, now silent. 15[23:32] Tataru, for want of anyone to hug, hugs Seiri, who returns the gesture belatedly. 15[23:32] 99: "You wanna meet him now?" [23:32] 07Dryas's smile fades a bit as she sees the pieces go back in the box. [23:33] 4Piu: "Yeah! Who?" 15[23:33] 99: "Your ship." [23:34] 10Daizo finally untangles himself from his victory makeout, with the promise of more later— "The ship has a daimon?" [23:34] 6Zhangyu: "I think we already covered Caxi and Daizo..." [23:34] 4Piu: "The ship has gender?!" 15[23:34] 99: "Insistently so!" [23:34] 07Dryas scoffs. "All ships have gender." [23:35] 6Zhangyu: "And all of them are 'she,' so this is... a thing." [23:35] 10Daizo: "Contravening centuries of established nautical tradition. Are you sure you're ready for this, Commodore?" 15[23:35] Ratel: "Fuckin' A." [23:35] "Then let's go introduce ourselves posthaste." [23:37] 4Piu: "Yes!" [23:37] "Tataru!" 07Dryas announces as they begin making their way. "You bow to no-one," 07she explains, by way of her promotion. 15[23:37] Ratel sends Seiri and Tataru back to Garnet's room to deliver the good news. 15[23:37] But not before Tataru bows to Dryas, and then looks terribly uncertain. 15[23:37] "Anyone else, you mean, right?" [23:38] 07Dryas: "Precisely." 15[23:38] Tataru balls her little fists in glee and scurries off. Seiri has to hustle to keep up, despite Tataru's much shorter legs. 15[23:39] The Four Fangs and two more head out to the docks, trailing a ridiculous little boy who looks improbably reflective, hands in his pockets. "Where you headed next?" he asks. [23:40] 10Before they go, Daizo will clap Seiri on the shoulders and say "Good job, soldier,"10 in what appears to be complete seriousness, as an officer to a distinguished ranker. 15[23:40] Seiri, already red-eyed, tears up a bit and gives Daizo a big hug before leaving. [23:41] 4Piu: "Abalone. Been away too long!" [23:41] 6Um. [23:41] 14And after that, you don't need to know. [23:43] "Much too long. And there's just some things best done on land." 15[23:44] 99 lets out a low whistle. "Have fun." It's still almost impossible to see this thing, even when you know it's there. But there it is, indeed, the forecastle rising like a magician's tower in the distance. He leads you over the deck so dark and sleek and shining it feels like you're walking right on the water. The forecastle's black jade surface splits along an invisible seam, admitting 15[23:44] them inwards with a gentle pneumatic hiss. [23:46] 4Haha. More like the fuck-sil. Little Realm daughter joke there. [23:48] 10Daizo will defer to Ratel here, and allow her to step aboard first—even if the Fangs technically own this vessel, she's to be the captain, at least for now.  15[23:48] The interior is all black jade trimmed with pipes pushing green-white vitriol. Despite the intense, aggressive color of the piping, the light they cast is a soft, flattering white.The bridge has a panoramic view of the whole ocean through one-way mirrors of black jade. There's no steering wheel or rigging, only a pane of crystal seated beneath a coruscating, veined white-green orb. 15[23:49] The orb pulses. "Guests?" 15[23:49] The voice is high and hoarse and cold. 15[23:49] 99: "New management." 15[23:49] The voice: "Is that so?" 15[23:50] 99: "'Fraid so, old friend." 15[23:50] The voice: "Oh, I will so miss our little chats." 15[23:51] Then, slightly less acidically: "Who is my commanding officer?" 15[23:51] Ratel: "That would be me." 15[23:52] The voice: "What is our mission?" [23:52] 6That would be what? He does not ask this out loud but what? 15[23:52] Ratel: "To save Creation, protect the world from civil war, and have a spectacular time." 15[23:53] The orb pulses once, twice, three times before the bridge resounds with a sharp, bubbling cackle. [23:53] 4Piu: "Wow! This is amazing! He's such an incredible ship! Glad to be working with you, sir!" [23:53] 10If the ship's daimon is intelligent enough to hold its own chatting with Oyabun, it'll be enough work keeping it from sending regular reports to the Chosen of Heaven.  15[23:55] The orb: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your new flagship." 15[23:55] Kimbery Picket Ship Socially Prolix and Spiritually Terse, "The Prolix & Terse": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRD3vrSLPaw - Tracing one warm line, through a land so wide and savage... 15[23:58] NEXT TIME: Home again, home again