A former member Posted 12/17/09 2:34 PM

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Post #: 871 Konnichiwa to All:



This is to let you all know that about four years ago, I was writing an Adventure Story about a Japanese Ronin Bushi Warrior who goes off to sea on a merchant ship as their Chief Ronin Man-at-Arms. I wrote about 2 or chapters and then stopped.



Recently, I was laid off from my Landscaping Occupation, so I spent the past 3 weeks or so rememorizing all the Japanese that I ever knew and once that is completed, I would restart writing my Adventure Novel.



The thing is, in this Novel, I write what is happening in the story in English, but all the spoken dialogue between is written entirely in Japanese with descriptions about what sort of things the characters are saying to each other.



I will start by serializing what I had already written in 2005 and once that is done, I will then start adding on new stuff.





TheDruid-3X3





Note:

Today, I have finished serializing the story as I had written to March 13 2005. From this day forth, the story will be brand new stuff!

Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 5:43 PM

A former member Posted 12/17/09 2:35 PM

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Post #: 872 It has been Three Months since Ki No Ronin's Merchant Ship Kawashima Maru left the Village of Maidens sailing away down the River and out to sea.



It took about two days to make the crossing of the English Channel to get to Cherbourg. Once there, Ki No Ronin and the ship's First Mate went to shore to see if the French had any goods they would like shipped off to Japan for sale. After getting some translations done, a French Perfume Manufacturer provides a few dozen cases of French Perfume that he wished to trade for some of the couple of rolls of good English Cloth that Ki No Ronin's ship had on hand which he had picked from the Village of Maidens. The French also loaded up a few cases of French Champagne and Wine.



After spending two days in Cherbourg eating, drinking, and touring around the town, they weighed their anchor and were off.



So for the next Three Months, they sailed down the Western Coast of Africa and without too much trouble. Ki No Ronin was relieved that the only thing that came their way was the occasional Merchant or Fishing Ship which drooped their colours in salutory salute. Although there had been no incidents of Piracy, Ki No Ronin still occasionally had the Crew of the Kawashima Maru he was responsible for protecting go through the occasional Emergency Drills going to Battle Stations armed with their Jarai Spears, with a few Crewmen going up into the rigging armed with Bows and Arrows. Ki No Ronin would do one of these drills at least once for every two days, and the crew became very sharp in their disapline getting ready to face any threat from Pirates. The crew was so sharp, in fact, that the Captain of the Kawashim Maru rewarded Ki No Ronin with an extra daily Sake Rice Wine ration, for which Ki No Ronin was very appreciative and honoured.



We now take up the Story of Voyages of Ki No Ronin just as his Merchant Ship is rounding the Southern Tip of Southern Africa. Ki No Ronin is standing on the Poop Deck of the Ship next to the Captain. The Captain, whose name is Nobunaga Kaigunreda-San, is looking through his collapseable telescope. He muses to himself as well as to Ki No Ronin as he points to the spawlled out Map: "Kore wa Cape Horn Chiten Desu. Sugu ni tsukimasu soshite higashi Africa no Kaiyo no naka ni shukko shimasho", to which Ki No Ronin smartly bows to Capt. Nobunaga-San and responds, "Hai Nobunaga-San. Kore wa sugoi desu! Anata no boenkyo wa karettemo Idesnu Ka?"



The Captain obliges by lending to Ki No Ronin his telescope while saying, "Hai, Dozo".



Ki No Ronin take the telescope and looks East. Indeed, he can see the shores of South Africa's Cape Horn. He then smiles and sort of winks at the Captain, and then uses the telescope to have a look around the perimeter of the ship. It is important to search around for other ships that may be Pirates in such oceans as when two different Oceans meet each other, that is where Pirates like to wait in ambush.



Ki No Ronin looks around and around for a minute or so, then gives the Captain another quick wink and then shouts, "Kiken Desu!!! Kiken Desu!!! Kiken Dessssssu!!! Anata no atakai no oku de Iki Nakareba Narimasen!!! Hayai, Hayai, Hayai!!!"



The Crewmen, who had been relaxed at their posts suddenly jump up and grab their weapons and jump to their battlestations, some at the gunrails with their Jarai Spears, while others scramble up the rigging with their Bows all the while screaming, "Hai! Hai! Hai!".



When the men get to their battle positions, everything goes quiet as they wait for further instructions. After about a minute, Ki No Ronin turns to Captain Nobunaga and says, "Kore wa Renshu Kiken deshita. Hayai ni ikimashita ka?", to which the Captain responds, "Hai Ki No Ronin-San. Kore wa yoroshii deshita".



Ki No Ronin then shouts to the crew, "Kore wa Renshu Kiken deshita. Anata tachi wa hayai ni ikimashita. Nobonaga-San wa ureshi desu. Bonzai!".



To this expression of how good they had preformed their drill, the crew starts shouting back to Ki No Ronin and Captain Nobunaga, "Bonzai! Bonzai! Bonzai!", after which they leave their battlestations, start stowing away their weapons, and going back to their usual duties of doing their ship maintenance.



Then the First Mate and Chief Navigator comes up on deck. He had been sleeping, but was arroused by the practise drill. His name is Yoshimune-San. "Kono Renshu wa watashi ni sametemashita", he says with sleepy eyes. "Shimpai shinaidekudasai", responds the Captain, "Tonikaku, anata no shigoto wa sugu ni hajimemashita". Just as the Captain says that to Yoshimune, he takes the telescope from Ki No Ronin, and hands it to the First Mate. "Tabun ima hajimemasu". Captain Nobunaga then turns and heads down below to his cabin.



Ki No Ronin bows politely to First Mate Yoshimune, "Genki Desu Ka?" he asks, to which Yoshimune responds, "Hai, Okagasama desu". Ki No Ronin then responds with, "Hai, Genki Desu yo", while again bowing politely.



Ki No Ronin then looks about the Top Deck of the Kawashima Maru and decides to take a walk about inspection. He first asks the Yoshimune for permission to leave the Poop Deck to have do his inspection, "Kono Fune wa mitiemtietai desu. Koko ni shuppatsu shiteimo Idesu Ka?", to which Yoshimune smartly responds, "Hai, Dozo!"



Ki No Ronin then goes about the ship inspecting various bits of equipment. He finds a couple of Jarai Spears that were not quite as sharp as he likes, so he has a couple of crewman who are good at sharpening weapons set to work on them.



He also finds a couple of ropes that are a bit frayed, so he summons the Ship's Cook and Carpenter Shooji Chorishi-San to see to the ropes reweaving so that it is in better shape.



As the rest of the day goes by, the distant shoreline of Cape Horn slowly passes them by and disappears into the distance. The shoreline disappears as they set course for the open ocean heading for the southern tip of India. Ki No Ronin is relieved as this obsticle has been past without any sign of any other ships with possibly Pirates on them.



Yoshimune ShOko-San muses to himself as well as Ki No Ronin that the crossing of the Indian Ocean to the Southern Tip of India should take just over Two Months. There they might be able to make trades for the exotic Indian Curry Spices that the Japanese seem to like a lot back in Japan.



Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 5:46 PM

A former member Posted 12/18/09 9:43 PM

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Post #: 873 As Evening came, Yoshimune ShOko-San and Ki No Ronin assigned ship watches for the night, gave out the evening Sake Rice Wine Ration to the Crewmen who are going off duty. Once that is done, Yoshimune-San goes down to the Captain Cabin and summons the Captain who comes up and sets to doing his First Watch. During the nights, the Captain always does the First Watch, then First Mate Yoshimune, and then Security Chief Ki No Ronin.



Once relieved of duty, Ki No Ronin goes down to the Officers Mess and Quaters and gets into his bunk. He takes out his small picture of his favorite Geisha in Japan and looks at it for a while. He can not wait to get back to Edo so that he can visit his precious Geisha Terumi-San. Then he takes out his Katana and Wazazaki Blades and gives them a good Oiling and Sharpening, and then he goes to sleep.



It is about 4:00am when Yoshimune ShOko-San comes to his bunk and wakes him up. He informs Ki No Ronin that his shift of standing watch is on by saying, "Sumimasen Ki No Ronin-San. Asa ji no shigoto wa ima hajimemasu. Sametekudasai. Sumimasen", to which Ki No Ronin have sleepily replies, "Hai, Ima Sametemasu".



About five minutes later, Ki No Ronin is on the Poop Deck with three other Crewmen to stand the nights last watch. His watching companions are the ships Cook and Carpenter Shooji Chorishi-San, and the Deck Hands Yuji-San, and Muto-San. Ki No Ronin takes the telescope from Yoshimune Sensho-San and scans around the horizon for anything that may be suspicious or out of the ordinary. Once satisfied that all is in order, he turns to First Mate Yoshimune-San and says, "Subete ima yoroshii desu. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu. Anata wa ima Nemeru Koto Ga Dekimasu, Dozo", to which Yoshimune replies, "Hai, Domo Arigato Gozaimasu. Oyasumi Nasai". Ki No Ronin responds while bowing, "Hai, Oyasumi Nasai" just as Yoshimune is turning to got down below to his bunk in the Officers Quarters, taking his three Crewmen with him.



So for the next 3 hours, Ki No Ronin stands watch with the help of his three Crewmen helping. Yuji climbs up the main mast and takes a position in the Crows Nest, and Muto goes to the pinnacle located at the bow of the Merchant Ship, while Toranaga keeps Ki No Ronin company on the Poop Deck. He also takes the wheel of the ship and acts as Helmsman while Ki No Ronin checks the compass to make sure that the ship was still on its proper heading and course as per the instructions left behind by the First Mate and Navigator Yoshimune. There was a nice 10 or so Kmh Breeze filling the sails and the ship was making a good clip as it progressed accross the Indian Ocean at a nice steady 8 to 10 kmh. All was well.



After being satisfied that all is well, Ki No Ronin starts having a bit of small talk with Toranaga. They muse about how much their local favorite Geishas are going to like the nice French Perfume that they have in the holds. They had smelt it on the French Women who were friendly with them in Cherbourg, and are anxious to see how much their Japanese Geishas would like having it to put onto themselves. They also speculate how much Yen that they will make selling it to all the Japanese Women of Edo. They way it smelt, they figure it will be a big hit with the Geishas of Edo and that they would probably sell out in no time and then have to go back for more. If it sells as good as they hope, they may have to take three or maybe four Merchant Ships back to fill up with the Perfume. During their conversation, the Sun started to pop up in the East.



When the Sun had popped the horizon, the light rays woke the crewman who is the Ship's Cook Shooji-San. After rousing himself, he went to his Galley, which is right next to his bunk, and started the fire under the Rice Steamer. He then started steaming the Rice for the days Asa Gohan.



As the Rice Cooked, and the smell of the cooking rice started to permiate throughout the ship, which started to arouse the other crewmen of the ship. They started getting out the bowls and chopsticks, getting ready for the Cook to shout, "Asa Gohan Desu! Ima Itadakemasu!"



When just about when Ki No Ronin watch shift is over, Shoji-San came on deck and after bowing politely to Ki No Ronin, rang the ships bells while shouting "Asa Gohan Desu! Ima Itadakemasu! Tabetekudasai, Dozo!"



Thus, the crew then lined up in the Galley to get their share of Gohan Steamed Rice. After all the crewmen were served, Shooji Chorishi-San then filled six other bowls. He then went to the Capt. Nobunaga-San's Cabin, knocked, and bowed very politely as he gave the Captain his bowl of Gohan. Then he stopped at the Officers Quarters and gave the Yoshimune ShOko-San his bowl full of Gohan, again bowing politely. Then with the last three bowls, he went up to the Top Deck and gave Ki No Ronin his bowl, bowing politely, and then distributed bowls of Gohan to the other three crewmen who were on duty with Ki No Ronin. They all bowed to Shooji Chorishi-San as they received their bowls.



After taking their meals, Captain Nobunaga Sensho-San came up to the Poop Deck to Ki No Ronin. After bowing politely to each other, Capt. Nobunaga looked about the ship a bit. After being satisfied that all was in order, he said to Ki No Ronin, "Rai San ji kan no aida ni yasumettekudasai", to which Ki No Ronin said, "Hai, Domo Arigato Gozaimasu Nobunaga-San". Ki No Ronin then informs the other three Crewman that had stood watch with him that they also can have about 3 hours rest, and leads them down into the ship with him. Once again, Ki No Ronin admires the picture of his favorite Geisha Terumi-San, dresses his sword, and then fall fast asleep for his well deserved three hours shuteye.





Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 5:51 PM

A former member Posted 12/19/09 3:03 PM

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Post #: 874 So about 3 Hours Later, Capt. Nobunaga, from the Kawa Shima Maru's Poop Deck, summons one of the Sailors. The Sailor Suzuki-San comes forward and bows down very respectfully while saying very smartly, "Hai!". Just as the Captain is requesting the Sailor to go down below to rouse Ki No Ronin from his three hours rest, Ki No Ronin appears on Deck, "Kyo no Shigoto wa Hajimemo Idesu ka"? Captain Nobunaga quickly dismisses the Sailor with a gesture of his hand, while saying back to Ki No Ronin while bowing back politely, "Hai, Kyo no Shitogo wa Hajimetekudasai". To which Ki No Ronin goes up onto the Poop Deck, bows to the Captain again, and then goes to a Chest which is behind the Ship's Wheel. Ki No Ronin takes out a key and unlocks the Chest and takes out a Scroll. He turns smartly back around and resummons Suzuki-San again. Suzuki-San bows politely to Ki No Ronin. Ki No Ronin then instruction Suzuki-San, "Minna Hito no kono Fune wa Atsumetekudasai!" The Crewman smartly replies, "Hai!", and grabs a couple of Alarm Banging Blocks and goes down below and back up around the ship banging the blocks together making a loud piercing Bang! Bang! Bang! while shouting, "Fune no ue ni ima Atsumeri Nakareba Narimasen!!!" At the same time, Ki No Ronin helps the effort by taking out his own set of Alarm Blocks banging them aloud, although he is staying on the Poop Deck. Within about Five Minutes, the entire Crew is lined up on the Main Deck of the Merchant Ship, some of them still looking a bit sleepy and getting their clothes straightened.



Ki No Ronin asks Crewman Suzuki-San, "Minna Hito wa to Imasu ka?", to which Crewman Suzuki-San replies, "Hai. Minna Hito wa tabun to Imasu". Then Ki No Ronin unrolls the scroll and starts reading off the names of the Kawashima Maru's crew of 18 men, not including the three Officers



Ki No Ronin reads:



"Fujii Funanori-San!", to which there is a shouted: "Hai!"



"Isono Funanori-San!" Again: "Hai!"



"Katayama Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Hirayama Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Miyazaki Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Nishihara Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Sakurazawa Funanori-San!": "Hai"



"Shimizu Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Shoji Fune no Chorishi-San": "Hai!"



"Suzuki Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Toranaga Funenori-San": "Hai!"



"Yamashiro Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Yamazaki Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Yoshida Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Yuji Funanori-San!": "Hai!"



"Muto Funanori-San!": "Hai!"





Satisfied that all the Crewmen are present, Ki No Ronin turns smartly to the Capt. Nobunaga and says, "Minna Funanori Hito to Imasu!", to which the Captain nods back, "Hai, Tsuzukettekudasai". Ki No Ronin then replies, "Hai!".



He turns smartly back to the company and crew and instruction, "Suzuki-San, Yamashiro-San, soshite Isono-San: Kono Fune wa ima Shoji Shitiekudasai! Shoji Chorishi-San: Sugu ni Hiro Gohan Desu. Ima Ryori Shitiekudasai! Tanin no Hito wa Anata Tachi no Beddo ni Yumatte mo Idesu! Hirogohan no ato ni Kyudo no Renshu Shimasho!"



While the other Crewmen smartly go down below, delighted to get out of cleaning duty, the crewmen Yamashiro, Isono, and Suzuki get out pails, mops, and brushes and set about cleaning the Deck. It is not tooo particularily large Merchant Ship, so three Crewmen at a time in all that is required to clean the ships Decks. It is also the Cleaning Crew's job to keep an eye out of any Wear and Tear Damage to the Ship, and report it to the Ship's Cook and Helsman Shooji Chorishi-San.



The Kawashima's Cook, Shooji Chorishi-San, after being told to start preparing lunch, also quickly goes down below and starts steaming the rice.



While lunch is being prepared, the rest of the Crew go below to their bunks. They take out the Archery Equipment and start checking it out to make sure the bows are serviceable for the Archery practise that Ki No Ronin announced about that is going to take place after lunch. They good naturedly start making beats of sips of Sake Rice Wine on who will get the best scores during the days practise.



About an hour later, the Cleaning Crew report that they have completed their tasks, and report no damage. Shooji Chorishi-San is relieved. This means he is going to have another easy day of nothing to worry about.



Right after the Cleaning Crew has reported, the Cook Shoji-San bangs his own set of Alarm Blocks while shouting, "Hirogohan wa Arimasu! Ima Itadakemasu! Tabetekudasai, Dozo!" The Crew line up with their bowls and they are filled with Gohan Steamed Rice. For lunch, the crew gets a squirts of Shoya Sauce onto their Gohan Rice along with a chunk of Fish. Once the Crew has been fed, three steaming hot bowls of Gohan Rice are rushed to the First Mate at his Bunk, and two bowls to the Captain and Ki No Ronin, who are still up on the Poop Deck standing watch of the day. It will be about 3:00pm or so when the First Mate will come up and take over watching.



After lunch has been eaten, and all the dishes washed with nice fresh seawater (in order to save fresh drinking water), the Archery Range Equipment is set up.



Ki No Ronin has devized a get idea for setting up a range for Archery Practise on the Merchant Ship. Once a few baskets and kegs of food have been consumed (that took about 2 months out at sea), he takes one of the larger Lifeboats and sets it up on its side at the bow of the ship with the keel of the Lifeboat facing out to the bow and the top of it towards the Poop Deck. The Lifeboat is then filled with old kegs and matting from baskets to protect the bottom of the Lifeboat to protect it from getting hit by Arrows. Then a medium sized target is fixed to the center of the Lifeboat, which is on it side. One Crewman at a time takes three shots each in turn, with as many turns per Sailor as Ki No Ronin decides. Only two Crewman can not participate. One has to man the Ships Wheel and One has to go to the Crowsnest to watch out for other ships or hazzards. For this, to be fair, they draw lots, and Hirayama and Sakurazawa lose and have to go preform those duties. There is one penalty during the Archery Practise, and that if you miss the Target so badly that you miss the Lifeboat completely, and the Arrow flies off into the Sea, lost forever, you are eliminated from the contest, and have to late night watch duty with Ki No Ronin as punishment. The offending contestant also loses their Sake Rice Wine ration as well as any other bets with the other Sailors as well.



So after Six Rounds of practise, Shimizu Funanori-San has the best score. No Arrows are lost today either. Arrows are not lost very often. Maybe one per week or so. Shimizu gets to have the nights watch off, and he collects an extra Sake ration as well as he collects the bets he has made. Receives a Sake ration from Uyehara, Fujii, Toranaga, as well as extra scoop of Fish and Gohan from the Cook at the evening's Bangohan Dinner from the Cook Shoji. It is actually not very often that Shimizu wins, so he is very grateful. The best shot at Archery (other than Ki No Roni

Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 5:54 PM

A former member Posted 12/21/09 7:16 AM

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Post #: 875 So when Yoshimune ShOko-San took over the Watch, Ki No Ronin stayed on to keep Yoshimune-San company on the Poop Deck. For the next three hours until Dinner time, they kept watch over the ship and enjoyed some small talk. Yoshimune-San recalled the fun time they had in the Tavern of that Fixato-San's, but he muses to himself that he also misses his favorite Izakaya in Edo, and could not wait to get back there. He actually muses that he had been away from Edo soooo long now that his Wife Homine-San should have given birth to their child by now. He takes out a small picture of his Wife and shows it to Ki No Ronin. Although Ki No Ronin is a Bachelor, he does have his picture of his favorite Geisha, which he responds by pulling out to show Yoshimune.



They are having small talk of that sort when suddenly, from the Crows Nest, Muto-San (who had replaced Suzuki-San when watch changed) shouts, "Fune wa Arimasu!!! Fune wa Arimasu!!!"



Yoshimune takes the telescope and looks at the general direction pointed out by Muto-San. There is definitely a smaller vessel just to the North West of them. It is at least 1 1/2 Km from them. He hands the telescope to the Security Chief Ki No Ronin while asking, "Kore wa Kiken na Fune Desu ka? Boenkyo wo Dozo." Ki No Ronin takes the telescope and looks. It is definitely a small Two Masted Ship with not much sideboard. He does see one man on deck at where may be the tiller. The ship seems to be paralleling their course.



Ki No Ronin decides that this may be a good time for another semi-for real emergency practise. A few of the Crewman, who had overheard Muto-San's cry had already come up to the Main Deck to look, some already armed with their Jarai Spears. Ki No Ronin starts banging his Emergency Alarms Blocks while shouting, "Fune wa Arimasu. Tabun Kiken Desu! Atakai no oku ni Ittekudasai! Hayai itteikudasai!", to which the Crew now goes into the motions of getting into the battle positions.



Captain Nobunaga Sensho-San, having overhead all this, quickly comes up onto the Poop Deck. He quickly bows politely to Ki No Ronin while taking the telescope away from him saying, "Sumimasen, Mi Nakareba Narimasen!" to which Ki No Ronin simply responds "Dozo" as he releases the telescope to the Captain.



Captain Nobunaga looks out the telescope for a few moments and then orders, "Yori Osoi Moto ni Noritekudasai", so which Yoshimune repeats, "Hai, Yori Osoi Moto ni Norimasu." Yoshimune points up into the rigging at one of the main sails and orders, "Kono Ho wa Hida Shitekudasai", upon which three Crewman smartly stowed their Jarais and climbed up into the rigging and started folding up the Main Sail. Accordingly, the Merchant Ships progress slowed a bit. Yoshimune then gives an extra order to the Crewmen, "Kono Ho no soba ni Inokori Nakareba Narimasen." He desires the Crewman to stay on the Sails Yardarm in case it has to unfolded again in a hurry if they need to gain speed again.



After about 10 or 15 minutes, the smaller ship got a bit closer. Captain Nobunaga Sensho-San is now better able to make it out. It appears to be a small fishing vessels with a crew of 2 or maybe 3 Black Africans on it. Remembering that they are just one day out from the Cape Horn of Africa, then it is not too much of a surprise to see a Fishing Vessel out this far.



After the Vessel gets a bit closer, Capt. Nobunaga Sensho-San orders a flag be waved at them. Crewman Hirayama takes out the signal flag with the Empirial Kiku Symbol on it and waves it at the Fishermen. They respond by waving back.



Capt. Nobunaga, after taking another look around for any other ships in the area, and find none, orders, "Kono Fune no naka ni Hitori no Hito Dake wa Maneku Koto ga Dekimasu.", to which Ki No Ronin responds, "Hai, Hitori no Hito Dake to Imasu".



As the distance close, the Black Africans seem to realized that the Japanese Merchant Vessel had slowed for them. As they come closer, it is now totally obvious that there are three fisherman on the Small Fishing Schooner. They smile widely as they come sailling up. Ki No Ronin now goes down to the Main Deck and goes up to the gunrail. As the smaller Fishing Vessel pulls up alongside, Ki No Ronin selects on of the Africans, points to him, and is a hand jester of "Just One" gesters to the African to come up.



The African gives a hand gester seeming to mean "Who?, Me?", and then takes hold of rope ladder that has been tossed down to him. He then climbs up the rope. One of the other Africans trys to climb up, but suddenly a shaft of a Jarai Spear barrs his way. There is a bit of disappointment on the African's face, but it soon passes.



So with the one African on their ship's Main Deck, Ki No Ronin uses pantimyme to see what they are doing. He points down the fish that are on the deck of the smaller Fishing Vessel and makes a pantimyme to fishing while saying slowly, "Sakana Tsuri Desu Ka?" The African seems to understand and replies with a nod with a gester of Fishing as well. Then Ki No Ronin pantimymes breakage and pointing to the Fishing Ship. He is trying to communicate whether the smaller Fishing Vessel has any Damage. While doing his pantimymes, the African seems to understand and shakes his head while smiling seemingly to communicate that there is nothing wrong with their vessel and everything is all right. Ki No Ronin then looks up to the Poop Deck and ask Capt. Nobunaga, "Gohan tabemono wa Kyodo Shitei Mo Idesu Ka?", to which Capt Nobunaga replies, "Hai, Dozo!". Ki No Ronin then summons the Ship's Cook Shoji-San to bring up some Steamed Rice left over from Dinner to give to the Black Africans along with about a half dozen Traditional Style Rice Balls, which they keep on hand for such events such as this. Shooji Chorishi-San then bows politely, disappears down the below, and after a 10 minutes or so, brings up three large bowls of Gohan Rice with Shoyu Sauce on them, along with a small parcel filled with 6 fat Rice Balls. Shoji-San bows down to the African Fisherman very politely as he presents to him the packages, and then politely waits to be dismissed by Ki No Ronin before leaving.



The African bows back happily. He turns, and passed down the food in a basket and rope provided by the Japanese Crew to his mates and then climbs down himself. They try the Rice and find it very tastey. They smile happily as this is the first Gohan with Shoyu Sauce they had ever tasted in their Lives. After emptying the basket, they fill the basket again with a few fresh Macherel that they had on their ship. The Mackerel as so fresh that they are still twitching. The Japanese, being people to really enjoy fish that fresh, are overjoyed, even though they do have their own Fishing Equipment for their own fishing. The basket of Mackerel is taken up to the ship and presented to Captain Nobunaga, who takes it, bows towards the African Fishing Vessel, and then hands it off to the Kawashima Maru's Cook Shooji-San while saying, "Sashimi wa Ryori ni Junbi Shitekudasai" Shoji bows smartly, and then disappears down below to his Galley where he keeps his very sharp Sushi Knives.



Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 5:58 PM

A former member Posted 12/23/09 8:02 AM

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Post #: 880 After a session of Happily Waving back and forth, the Fishing Vessel lets go, turns around, and sets sail back to the African Coast. This is when Yohimune orders up to the Yardarms for the Main Sail to be unfolded again. Once this is done, the Kawa Shima Maru regains speed again. Shortly thereafter, Shooji Chorishi-San shows up back onto the Poop Deck with a Big Tray of Saba Sashimi. After the Captain and the Officers have had their first tastes of the nice fresh Saba Sashimi, they then motion for Shoji to take the rest and share it amongst the Crew. Shooji Chorishi-San beams with pride to see his Crewmates enjoying the Saba Sashimi that he had prepared and whistles contentedly as he goes back down into the Galley with his empty tray.



It is now getting a bit Dark as the day is about to end. The night watches are posted with the Captain taking First Watch as per normal, Yoshimune takiing Second Watch, and Ki No Ronin taking the Third Watch.



At around 3:00am, Ki No Ronin is aroused very politely by the Crewman Isono-San. As he awakens from a slight tugging on his shoulder, Ki No Ronin looks over and sees Isono-San bowing politely as he says, "Ima San Ji Desu Ki No Ronin-San. Ima Sametekudasai". Sleepily, Ki No Ronin responds with a, "Hai, Domo Arigato".



About 10 or 15 minutes later, Ki No Ronin is up on Deck and relieves the Yoshimune ShOko-san of watch. Yoshimune-San reports that things are normal and he had taken some navigation readings from the Stars and that they are on the North East Course for India and they have made another 80 Km during the night so far. With Ki No Ronin the Crewmen Sakurazawa-San, Katayama-San, and Shimizu-San are on watch with him. Ki No Ronin (being a bit of a Gamer himself) allows the 3 Crewmen on duty with him to draw straws on who had to sit in the Crowsnest during the watch. Ouchi-San loses, so up the rigging he goes to the Crowsnest. When he gets there, he has a look around and shouts down, "Subete Yoroshii Desu"! Ki No Ronin puts Sakurazawa-San on the Ships Wheel and sends Katayama-San to stand watch at the Bow of the Ship.



For the first hour of Watching Duty, everything was pretty quiet and normal. Then some rather Dark Clouds came rolling noticeably in as they obscured the Stars from being seen. Shortly thereafter, the Wind picked up to about 20 to 25 Kmh or so, and the Sea has become a bit rough. This does not worry Ki No Ronin or the three Crewmen too much as they had seen rougher weather than this before, but Ki No Ronin sends Sakurazawa down to the Captain Nobunaga's Cabin with a Change of Weather Report anyways. Shortly, Sakarazawa-San returns with a message from the Captain saying thanks for the report, and that if it gets any worse, then notify him again.



Then a Misty Shower starts to fall. Ki No Ronin breaks out a few Umbrella that they have in storage for such events, and has one sent up to the Kawa Shima Maru's Crowsnest to Shimizu-San so that he will stay a bit dryer. You don't want your Crewman catching Cold and becoming sick as there is no replacements readily available for a long time.



Then the Rain starts falling a bit more harder, and the ship starts to rock and roll and bit more to the extent that Ki No Ronin decides that it is Wise to send another report to the Captain saying that the Weather has gotten a bit more sever. Shortly after Sakurazawa-San had disappeared below Decks to the Captain's Cabin when Captain Nobunaga appears on Deck closely followed by Sakurazawa-San. He gets up on the Poop Deck with Ki No Ronin and looks around, "Kore wa mo sukoshi na Arashi Desu", he says to Ki No Ronin who nods in agreement while replying, "Hai". After 10 or 15 minutes or so, Captain Nobunaga orders, "Funinori-nin San Hito Moto wa ima Iri Nakareba Narimasen. Toranaga-San, Isono-San, soshite Yamazaki-San wa Sametekudasai". Ki No Ronin replies with a smart, "Hai", while at the same time he signals Sakurazawa-San with his thumb to carry out the Captain's Orders. Sakurazawa immediately disappears down below and in the following 10 or 15 minutes later, those three Crewmen come up with Sakurazawa-San following. They immediately send Yamazaki up to the Crowsnest to relieve Ouchi-San, who has now become very cold and tired from being up there in this minor Squal.



For the next 2 hours, the ship pitches and throws through this small Storm, advancing along its course at double its speed as it had before. Although Captain Nobunaga does not show much alarm on his face, it is obvious that he thinks enough of this storm to stay up and keep an eye on it. During this time, Ki No Ronin wisely decide to have a couple of Water Barrels put out to catch some of the rain water for drinking purposes.



Then there is a loud "SNAP"! They look over and find that one of the Rigging Rope Ladders has come loose, and is now dangling in the wind. Captain Nobunaga quickly orders, "Sakurazawa-San, Isono-San, Kono Nawa Hayai ni Shuri Shi Nakareba Narimasen"! The two Crewmen jump to it smartly. They take hold of the dangling ladder, sees where it is broken and prepares to repair it. While Isono-San is holding onto the broken end of the rope, Sakurazawa-San goes and breaks open the Rope Storage Locker to get out some more rope and the Repair Kit.



Just as Sakurazawa-San is rummaging through the Storage Locker, there is a sudden gust of wind and a wave splashes up on the deck. The Ships suddenly lists to Port. After everyone has wiped the Rain from their eyes and steadied themselves, they look around. They suddenly realize that near the Gunrail, the broken piece of rope is not dangling again, and there is NO SIGN Of Isono-San!



Isono-San has been Swept Overboard!



Almost in unison, they all start crying, "Tasukete!!!, Tasukete!!!" Ki No Ronin runs below and rouses the entire crew crying, "Tasukete!!! Sameru desu! Sameru desu! Tasukete!", while at the same time, Captain Nobunaga shouts up to the Crowsnest to Yamazaki-San, "Isono-San wa Miru koto ga Dekimasu ka???!!!" Yamazaki, having heard all the commotion below, is already looking. Although it is not very dark and cloudy with the rain falling, he looks out towards the Port Side of the Ship hoping to spot Isono-San. He listens hard and can tell in the distance, there is a cry of "Tasukete!" in the distance, but it is too dark to see anything. Yamazaki-San shouts down while pointing in the direction that he believes he hears the voice coming from, "Isono-San no Koe wa Kikimasu, keredomo hito no karada wa Miru koto ga Dekimasu!"



By now, the entire Crew is on Deck and looking out to Sea to find their Shipmate, but they too seem to hear the voice, but are unable to see him. Captain Nobunaga orders some Crewmen to go above and fold up the sails so that the ship does not continue on with Isono-San. It takes a bit longer to do as one of the Rigging Rope Ladders is still broken. As all the sails are folded up, the Merchant Ship's progress is slowed.



Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 6:02 PM

A former member Posted 12/26/09 10:41 AM

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Post #: 882 Now the Crew are now on deck looking out for Isono-San while Sakurazawa-San, now with the help of the Ships Cook and Carpenter Shooji Chorishi-San, gets the broken Rope Ladder fixed.



Suddenly, from the Crowsnest, Yamazaki-San manages to spot a glint of a man in the water in the direction of Port Stern. He shouts down the direction while pointing. He has been able to spot Isono-San in the water because the small Storm has abatted somewhat. Quickly, without having to receive orders from the Ships Officers, the Crewmen put down one of the Merchant Ships Lifeboats. Into it goes the First Mate Yoshimune along with Suzuki-San, Uyehara-San, and Shimizu-San. Since the Storm is still on, they have a Lifeline attaching the Lifeboat to the Ship so that they do not get swept away from the Ship while on their Rescue Mission.



Just as they launch, Yamazaki shouts down, "Kiemashita!!! Kiemashita!!!", which startles the Crew. But undaunted, Yoshimune launches and rows out to the location where Yamazaki had last spotted Isono-San. They row out and around searching for what seemed like infinity, but can not find anything. After about a half hour more, they can tell that the Sun is starting to come up as it is no longer as dark as it was before.



Now that everyone can see better, they are looking out as best they can, but there is no sign of Isono-San. They search for an hour more, by which time, the Sun had come up, managing to pierce the clouds lighting up the Sea a lot better. It is around an hour later that they spot something floating in the water. Yoshimune ShOko-San quickly has the launch rowed over, to find that it is just Isono-San's Shirt and nothing more.



They continue to Shout, "Isono-San, Isono-San!" for about 10 or 15 minutes more, but no reply or anything has been heard. After Captain Nobunaga has had one more thurough look around with his telescope, he finally relents to destiny that Isono-San, while holding down the broken rope, has been swept away to his fate by a rogue wave and has now drowned. Capt. Nobunaga signals the recall of the Lifeboat, which is pulled in by its Safety Line. The First Mate and the three dejected Crewmen come up and then the Lifeboat hauled up onto the Ship.



They unfurl a couple of Sails, and sail around in circles a couple of times in a last ditch hope to spot something, but to no avail. It is now about 10:00am when they finally give up looking for their lost Friend, and Capt. Nobunaga reluctantly orders the Merchant Ship put to full sail and put back on course, with Yoshimune ShOko-San reading the Compass making sure that they do get back on course.



After getting that accomplished, they then call to order the Ships Company and do another roll call in order to make sure no one else has fallen overboard during the time that they had been distracted while looking for their lost Friend. Everyone was present, except for Isono-San. Shortly after that, the Ships Cook Shoji-San starts up his Galley and starts steaming Rice. The Crew then eats quietly after they receive their Breakfast portions of Rice.



Then in the Afternoon, Captain Nobunaga calls the Crew to the Deck, and in his capacity as the Ships Shinto Representative, leads a bit of Memorial Service for their lost Comrad, followed by a Sake Rice Wine ration to all.



For the rest of the day, the Clouds are still fairly thick and the Wind still about 20 Kmh or so, so the Ship makes good progress.



It is actually because of such twists of fate as Sea that the average Ships crew always takes one or two extra Crewmen, of which, this ship had two, and one has now been lost. For the rest of the day, Ki No Ronin has the Crewmen practise a few "Man Overboard" Drills, even though they had done their best when Isono-San was lost.



In the Evening, the Storm abates, and the Clouds do disappear releaving the Sun just as it in settling in the West Horizon. They set up their Night Watches and the off duty Crewmen go to their bunks.



For the first Night there were steady 15 to 20 Kmh Winds and the Craft made good progress. As Ki No Ronin relieved Yoshimune ShOko-San of his watch, Yoshimune-San remarked to Ki No Ronin as he was updating the Maps that they are right on Course and had made at least another 240 Kilometers as the Ship was always sailing at at least 6 knots.



Nothing out of the ordinary happened during Ki No Ronin's Watch. He had Miyazaki-San as his Helmsman, and they discussed various methods and ideas on how to improve Rescue Drills when a Man goes Overboard.



The next day was also uneventful, and it was mostly Cloudy, with Winds that were 6 to 9 knots and there was occasional Showers of Rain, which they wisely collected in Buckets to suppliment the Water Supply.



Along with the lose of their companion, the dingy Weather was no improvement on Moral, and everyone was somber and deflated.



Captain Nobunaga Sensho-San decided to announce that the Daily Sake Rice Rations would be saved for a few days until the 2nd of Febuary, as that is the day that is exactly between Winter Sosltice and Spring Equinox, and thus should be celebrated. So instead of having issuing just one Sake Ration on the 2nd of Febuary, he would save three days worth and issue out three whole days rations worth on the 2nd of Febuary, thus getting the Crew thuroughly braced up.



So for the next few days up to that, the Kawa Shima Maru sailed along without much breavity or joy. They did have one Pirate Battle Station Drill although Ki No Ronin is confident that they are now far away from the Coast of Southern Africa to be out of range of any Pirates. But they still have to be cautious as they are in the short cut Merchant Shipping route between South Africa and India, so there may be an enterprising Pirate along this route sitting in wait for a unwary Merchant Ship to come along. And the Kobayashi Maru have a fairly attractive cargo with British Beers, Ale, French Champagne and Wines along with the British Textiles that they were taking back with them.



On the day before December 26th, they did get in a little exhibition of Archery Target Practise in which the top three competitors would get and extra Ration of Gohan with Salted Fish with Shoyu Sauce.



Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 6:06 PM

A former member Posted 12/27/09 8:19 AM

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Post #: 883 So the morning came round and once the nights watches were over and the roll call had been done, Capt. Nobunaga Sensho-San drew lots to see which three Sailors would have to obstain from drinking during the days festivities in order to be able to stand the next nights watches. The unfortunate Sailors turned out to be Uyehara-San, Shimizu-San, and Muto-San. Those three Sailors were not too disappointed as they would then be dismissed from duty for a whole day after having to stand the next nights watches. During the next day, those three Sailors (unless they screwed up and went to sleep during their watches) would then be able to do their own eating, drinking, and partying.



After those lots had been drawn, the cook brought up food for the days partying. He brought up Riceballs, Kamaboko, various types of Sushi, as well as Sashimi. There was also a cask of Sake Rice Wine brought up on Deck so that each Sailor can get his three days worth of Sake rations. During the day, various Sailors, in various states of intoxication, had to go up to the Crowsnest to keep somesort of watch on incase of any problems or Pirates popping up. Luckily, none of the Sailors who went up to the Crowsnest during the day fell or anything.



Hirayama brought up a Japanese Lyre, and along with that Nishihara and Yamashiro had a couple of Oriental style Flutes. They then started playing tunes that were not too bad, and all the other Sailors liked it enough that they started humming along.



They also started playing a few Games such as "Who can Tie the Knot the Fastest", "Carry on the Story", as well as getting in some Archery practise. In the Game "Carry on the Story", the Sailor who draws the lot to go first starts a Fictional Story, tells it for a while, then stops to let the next Sailor carry on the story until the Captain decides that the story should stop. Fujii-San got the draw to start the story. He decided to start the Story by telling a story that involves the Famed Blind Samurai Zatoichi-San.



The Story went:



Zatoichi was travelling along a Road on his Horse when he came upon a Sentry Post that was monitoring the comings and goes from the Fujisawa Prefecture. When he approached, the Samurai at the gate immediately recognised him as for who he is. He Guard bowing politely asking what kind of business Zatoichi had in Fujisawa. Zatoichi replied that he was looking for Peace and Harmony, and was travelling the land looking for Wrongs to make Right with the Wisdoms of the Budha. The Samurai Guard, knowing of Zatoichi's lifes goals, then let him pass, informing him to stop by his Lord's Castle in order to pay respects to the local Daimyo Lord.



Then Sakurazawa-San continued:



When Zatoichi got to the Castle, he was warmly greeted, and given a place to stay in the local Tavern while his saluations to the Daimyo who was in the nearby Castle. During the time it took for the message to get responded to, Zatoichi was enjoying a nice bowl of ramen noodles when there was a commotion out in the middle of the street. It sounded to Zatoichi like a couple of horses stampeding through the streets, and from the sound, he could tell that the horses were unmounted and riderless. He assumed that a few horses had gotten loose from a corral somewhere and was now stampeding around.



Then Katayama-San continued:



Zatoichi then sprang for the door and listened. He could hear the horses coming, had to be at 4 or so. He could hear their hoofbeats on the ground coming. He could also hear the various peoples in the street screaming in panic, afraid that the horses stampeding around would hurt someone.



Listening carefully, he could tell where the lead horse was coming from, and that it was about to pass where he was standing. When he was sure that the lead horse was just at where he was, he acted.



Yoshida-San then continued:



With a careful leap, Zatoichi lept up and grabbed for where he judged to be the lead horse's neck. He succeeded in getting it and then jumped up and onto the horse's back. Using the Mane of the Horse's neck sort of like reins, he then took control of it. It bucked around a few times, but Zatoichi had a good grip on the horses mane and finally got control of the lead horse. The other horses, in following with the lead horse, stopped stampeding around.



Riding around the street on the horse, Zatoichi asked a few people whose horses these were. The people obediantly informed him that the horses came from the local Daimyos corral. Zatoichi then selected one of the voices in the crowd to lead him there.





As the rest of the story unfolded, the local Daimyo, being grateful to Zatoichi for stopping the Stampede, invited him to be in charge of his stock of horses. The rest of the story went on to tell how Zatoichi not only protected the herd of horses from Bandits, but actually recovered a few that had been stolen earlier. He even discovered one of the Daimyos own Samurai had been involved with the ripping off of some of the thefts. Once he had found out about the traitorous Samorai, he then immediately had a Katana fight with him, won, and then cut his head off for the Daimyo to see.



At that point, the Capt. Nobunaga then stopped the story by finishing it off by telling about how much gratitude the Daimyo had to Zatoichi for solving the problems of his horses always going missing.





So, for the rest of the day, the Crew sung songs, ate, drank and made merry. When the Sun started going down, the three Crewmen who had their numbers picked where paired up with the Captain, First Mate, and then Ki No Ronin. Ki No Ronin had wisely watched what he had to drink that day, so when his watch came up, he was able to do it along with Shimizu-San. It was reported that each Sailor had succeeded in not allowing the Ship Officer they were paired with from falling asleep during their watch, so that ment no Crewman was to be beheaded for deriliction of duty by their officer. After which, the Officer in question would then have to commit Sepuku.



During the day of the party, the Clouds had broken up and the Sun came out. The wind had disminished a bit to about 10 Kmh, so while the partying was on, the ship made about another 80 Km or so.

Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 6:07 PM

A former member Posted 12/29/09 8:45 AM

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Post #: 884 Ki No Ronin was Wise and drank only his Three Sake Rations and did not indulge anymore, unlike a few of the rest of the Crewmen managed to sneak a few extra Sake Rations for themselves. He mainly spent it on the Poop Deck drinking the occasional toast to the Captain, the First Mate, and the Carpenter.



He turned in early to sleep off this Drunkedness so that he could stand watch, which after drawing lots, he would be doing his Watch with Muto-San. He slept fine deep sleep, which was aided by the Alcohol that was in his system.



Then at around 3:00am, there is a knock at his bunk. Ki No Ronin opens his eyes to find Muto-San bowing politely, "Banpei no Shigoto wa ima Hajimemasu. Sumimasen Ki No Ronin San."



Ki No Ronin sleepily responds, "Hai, Hai, Arigato Muto-San", as he makes bowing motions with his head as he is also reaching for his Kanata Swords.



After straping on his Katana Sword, he becons to Muto-San, who had been standing there politely waiting, "Watashi to issho ni Tsuite Ikitekudasai". He then steps up the ladder to the Main Deck, with Muto-San following closely.



They get up to the Poop Deck to find the First Mate on duty. He does look a little hungover, but his Watchmate Uyehara-San managed to keep his awake and on duty, although Uyehara-San was doig the Alert part of the job.



After releaving First Mate Yoshimune, he disappeared down below with Uyehara-San. Muto-San was pleased as he observed that Ki No Ronin was relatively sober and fairly well rested. Ki No Ronin instructed to Muto-San to get to the Crewsnest, and that Ki No Ronin took the Wheel himself.



Muto-San obediently climbed up to the Crowsnest and looked around. He waved down that all was alright. The Wind was at 5 to 10 Kmh, and there were a few Clouds. Muto-San kept a look out and occasionally looked down to make sure that Ki No Ronin was still awake and alert. They chatted back and forward about how much fun the Feb 2nd Celebration was and that Muto-San was looking for having his day off with his Three Companions.



The Watch went along fairly uneventfully, and no sign of any other ships. The Sun started to come up when the Captain appeared on Deck at about 7:00am or so, there was a commotion under deck as Yoshimune Chorishi-San started awakening the Crew and selecting which men would stand the First Days Watch.



Once the First Watch was on deck, Ki No Ronin bowed to the Captain and asked permission to dismiss himself. He went down below with Muto-San following him. He went to get together with Uyehara-San and Shimizu-San. The one thing about their day off is that they had to stay , so they decided to hang around nearby the Galley. The got a couple stools and a small table on which they played dicing games and cards while they sipped on thier rations of Sake. They mainly spoke of Home and and also how much fun they will have once they arrive at India. They had a good time in India when they came from Japan to Europe the first time around.



Ki No Ronin, once statisfied that Muto-San was now enjoying his day off, retired to his bunk in order to get about 3 hours sleep.





About 3 Hours later, Ki No Ronin awoke, got dressed and went to the Galley. There were Muto-San partying away with 2 other Companions, with Chorishi Shoji-San standing close by, doing maintenance on his cooking stoves and prepping for Lunch. They were sipping on their rations of Sake, and playing Dice.



Then Ki No Ronin went up to the Main Deck and then the Poop Deck. Captain Nobunaga-San is still on Duty there by the Wheel with Miyazaki-San at the Wheel. Ki No Ronin bows respectfully to the Captain and then borrows the Telescope, then looks around. There is nothing on either Horizon, and upon checking the Wind Gage, finds that the Wind is presently 8 Kmh, with the Merchant Ship sailing along at about 4 to 5 Kmh. Captin Nobunaga-San informs Ki No Ronin that the Wind had been fluctuating between 5 to 10 Kmh all morning.



Then suddenly!



Yoshida-San, who is in the Crowsnest, points out to the SW yelling, "Kujaku Desu, Kujaku Desu!". Captain Nobunaga-San quickly takes back the telescope from Ki No Ronin while muttering, "Sumimasen", and then looks.



Indeed, there appears to be a Pod of Whales about 300 yards off the SW of the Kobayashi Maru. It he can tell that the Whales are fairly big, but can not tell what kind of Whales they are. Capt Nobunaga-San shouts up to Yoshida-San, "Yoshida-San, Kono Kujaku wa Donna ni Arimasu Ka??!!" Yoshida-San shouts back, "Chotto mattekudasai", as he cups his eyes and takes a better look. After a few more moments, a couple of the Whales break the surface. In his judgement, from the size, shape, and the colour of the skin that broke the surface, Yoshida decides that they must be Grey Whales. He shouts back down, "Sumimasen Nobunaga-San, Tabun ni Gurei Kujaku Desu!"



Capt Nobunaga Sensho-San nods back his acknowledgement at the same time. I thinks that this would have been a great opportunity if the Kobayashi Maru were a Whaling Vessel. Ki No Ronin comes to Capt Nobunaga, and bows politely. Ki No Ronin knows that Whales can damage ships, so he asks the Captain, "Kono Kujaku wa kara Abunai Dekigoto Desu. Kono Fune no Atakai no Tokoro ni Yoberu koto ga Dekimasu Ka?" Captain Nobunaga-San considers the request, and decides that it is best to Battle Positions in case they need to fight back if the Pod of Whales starts threatening.



Realizing the any sudden shouts or beating of Drums might attract the Whales, he signals several Sailors on deck and instructs them to go below, and rouse up all their Shipmates and get them up on deck to their Battle Positions as quietly as possible. They disappear below, with Ki No Ronin accompanying them. Muto-San and his 2 Companions had overheard what has been going on and they are already going up on Deck on their way to their Battle Positions. They are a little drunk though.



Ki No Ronin goes to First Mate Yoshimune-San's Bunk and rouses him up as politely as possible. He informs Yoshimune about what is happening and to go to his Battle Position as quietly as possible. After Yoshimune-San is dressed and his Katana Sword strapped on, he goes back up with Ki No Ronin. As they go up, various other members are as quietly as possible, are going up on Deck to the Battle Positions. After having been instructed to go to Battle Positions as quietly as possible, they are now doing while making as much noise and commotion as a Ninja.



After everyone is on Deck, they then start keeping an eye on the Whales. For about half an hour, the Whales seem to be swimming parallel to the ship. It does seem that the Whale had spotted them and are now just swimming parallel in order to check out the strange floating object that has come their way.



Edited by User 1,998,119 on Jan 17, 2010 6:10 PM

A former member Posted 12/30/09 5:39 PM

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