[Ongoing] Dréd-Son - Chapter 46: Under the sea
Title: Dréd-Son - Chapter 46: Under the sea
Fandom: Johnny's & Associates
Pairings/Characters: ABC-Z, Kansai Juniors
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of violence maybe.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Owned by J&A. The AU is mine though as well as aymagun's.
A/N: Under the sea - or, when Ebi hijacked the fic.
Summary: It's called the 'gift' or 'soul' by most. A strange, mysterious force only few possess on the planet that is half ocean and half desert. The people on the planet have lived in harmony with each other and their environment for centuries but something yet unknown is threatening to throw everything into chaos.
When Kitayama recovered, he took walks through the new gardens of the ghayi, thinking quietly. There were so many things he had and wanted to think about after all.
One of those days, Master Yara came to visit him. The two of them sat in a corner in the shade and talked.
“You met Hashimoto, right? Ah, I mean Captain Hashimoto Ryosuke,” Kitayama corrected himself. “What...do you think of him?”
Master Yara smiled, “You noticed as well, didn’t you? Then again, I guess it is not hard to tell.”
“It’s not the soul, is it? He doesn’t have...” Kitayama let that question trail off.
Shaking his head, Master Yara replied, “Indeed it isn’t. He is different from us and yet he is not. Hashimoto, too, has abilities a normal person doesn’t possess. Yet his are different from ours. Our abilities come from somewhere within us. As for Hashimoto,” he paused here. “I can only make assumptions but his powers might be rooted to this very planet. In a way you could say that he is perfect where he is now, on a ship, traveling constantly.”
Kitayama thought about that for a moment, “So that is why he is able to do everything so easily despite being well, who he is? Do you think he knows?”
“Sometimes it’s better not to make people think about their abilities. Especially those at sea or in the desert. Believing it’s instinct might be better. And safer.” Yara looked down. “Who knows what some people at the Maggra or even at the university would want to do to him if it were to become known that he was...special.”
After all what they had experienced they had all become weary and maybe a little distrusting towards people. Not that any of them thought all scientists or all other people were like ‘that guy’ but you just couldn’t brush things off so quickly. The damage had been done.
“Well, to summarize everything, they’re in good hands now. So no need to worry,” Master Yara smiled. “That’s what you were thinking about, right?”
Kitayama smiled back. “I’ll try. And I guess I was a little too obvious, wasn’t I?”
“Being obvious isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Kitayama,” Master Yara said and got up. “It usually saves you a lot of trouble.” He spoke from experience there.
Kitayama nodded his goodbye to the master then and then went to stare off into the distance again. He wondered what those five were up to, those five and their ship.
~*~
Hashimoto stared off into the distance. He looked like his mind was not quite there right now, like his soil had, for the moment, gone to a different place.
“Hasshi?” Totsuka approached his young captain, calling out to the other softly. Then he smiled, “Where are we going? Will you tell us?” Some times their destination was a surprise until the very end. But they never went anywhere without reason. There would either be someone who needed them or something they needed wherever they went.
It seemed like Hashimoto had known when in fact he hadn’t and seemed just as surprised as the rest of them about it.
Unlike what Kitayama, and sometimes the others, had been like. Especially Iida. They had always known things and been able to see and feel things that had been out of Totsuka’s reach. And they had known why they had been able to, known that they were able to do it. Hashimoto was different though.
“Ah, Tottsu!” Hashimoto’s expression changed from one moment to the other and he smiled at Totsuka brightly. “We’re heading towards and oasis up ahead. It seems like a good idea, right? I kind of want fruit!”
Said and done, the Five Stars made a port call at the oasis and except for Goseki - who had lost the janken for watch duty - everyone got off to explore a little bit. The oasis was quite lively, a mid-way trading point that was situated between the end of the desert and the start of the ocean. The earth was fertile as the winds brought in clouds from the sea, which brought plenty of rain and washed the minerals from the desert sand into the earth.
After acquiring the fruit - Hashimoto was munching on a fruit skewer happily as they walked - they went to a different part of the central market square.
Kawai took an interest in some horses one of the traders was offering to a crowd of what looked like farmers and other desert folk. He whistled through his teeth, “These are some fine things you have here. I’ve never seen anything quite like them.”
“And Fumito here is our resident horse expert,” Tsukada prompted, earning himself a kick in the behind from his crewmate.
Hashimoto ruffled the mane of one of the horses as it trotted closer to him. “They’re not from the surface, right?” He looked at the trader.
“You can tell?” the man grinned proudly, “Indeed they aren’t. They’re from down there alright, Oyo’gh they call the town, I reckon. I get from from Hamada’s. He has the finest horses on this planet and I’m the only one who sells them up here.”
The four of them looked at one another and then back at the animals in front of them.
Later on, they were back on their ship and had changed from their sand-sails to the ocean ones. Hashimoto was looking down at the dark waves and asked, “Wouldn’t that be an awesome place to go next?” He looked at his crew. “Let’s go!”
“But isn’t that-” Goseki stopped himself mid-sentence and then his small frown melted into a smile, “Lead the way, Hasshi. Where do we need to go?”
Kawai cackled, “Yeah, just don’t ask, Gocchi. It’s useless.”
Looking at Totsuka, Hashimoto asked, “Tottsu knows about what to expect down there, right? I know you read books about it. Will you tell us?”
“I can’t be sure if the books are correct or the stories of street dwellers I listened to back in the capital or along the way. They might not be very reliable sources of information,” he smiled, “I’ll look forward to finding out the truth. So let’s just...wait for the surprise?”
Totsuka leaned back against the rail, “What I do think is true though is that the people for example from Senga’s colony are distantly related to the people down there. The blood must have run very thin though. Then, traders said that the city down there isn’t completely flooded like many imagine it is. So it is possible for people like us to wander around without a constant oxygen source. Some parts are off limits though, only accessible to those who do not need ‘air’ to breathe.” He then recalled what the trader from earlier had told him, “He said that the horses but also the people in general, who are from down there, are stronger than the ones from the surface because of the different environment, low oxygen conditions being one but then the lifestyle and the food as well. The horses are supposed to have sea-creature DNA crossed with theirs, too, making them far superior to normal ones.”
“He also went on about how people just looked really attractive down there, too, both males and females alike,” Kawai added.
“Man, that sounds so flattering when you say it. It almost makes me feel a little embarrassed but you shouldn’t be embarrassed about the truth, huh?” a new voice spoke up.
All give crew members whirled around and got into their battle stances immediately. How had someone made it into the ship without any of them noticing it? They all stopped dead in their tracks when they got a better look at the person on deck though.
The male had black hair and tanned skin which glistened in the sunlight. At frist glance, it could’ve just been water but upon closer inspection, the other’s skin was covered in small scales. Blue markings could be seen on his body here and there, looking not unlike the clan-markings on tattoos some of the desert people had.
“You guys were knocking on the door, so I thought I’d be nice and open it. Ah, you guys also might want to get up your shields or something unless you fancy getting a little wet. I wouldn’t mind but I could imagine that you guys would,” he rambled on and grinned.
Goseki and Tsukada immediately got moving and ran around. Hashimoto approached the stranger and smiled at him, “Will you show us around your place then?”
“You guys are in good hands. If not the best, I might say,” the male gave Hashimoto a thumbs up, “You have found yourself a tour guide.”
“I’m Hashimoto. Hashimoto Ryosuke but you can call me Hasshi,” Hashimoto introduced himself. “These are Tottsu, Fumi, Gocchi and Tsuka.”
“Nice to meet y’all. The name’s Kiriyama Akito.”
Their ship gradually sunk down into the water but their shields, which suddenly seemed to materialize around them and looked like a bubble around their ship, protected them from it. All of them stared at the underwater landscape with wide eyes. They made their way down on what seemed like a giant underwater elevator or gondola, transporting their shielded ship down into the ocean.
“This is the Gate. The only legal passageway from the surface down,” Akito explained.
After a while, they were able to see towers of what looked like a city. A few moments later, it came into full view. There were towers carved out of rocks and corals, something that looked like large, floating bubbles, which were illuminated in all sorts of colors, spiral columns which houses build in and on them. It was a sight that none of them had seen before.
“Welcome to the main city, Ok’nsaia. The underwater metropolis,” Akito smiled proudly. “Not too shabby, huh? And a lot more awesome than that capital of yours up there.”
The five other males were left speechless. They just let Akito guide them wherever. Neither of them really remembered the way to the port they finally stopped at and where they disembarked their ship. Akito assured them that their ship would be safe and he assigned four younger males to take care of it.
“This is Oyo’gh. I believe you were talking about the horses from Hamada’s earlier, right?” Akito showed them around and explained things here and there about the merchants and their wares they passed on their way.
About half-way to the large area that looked like a farm, they passed by what looked like a bubble-tent. A male, dressed in black, was sitting in front of it and was blowing soap bubbles into the air. Another male sat close to him there and kept him company.
Akito’s face lit up when he saw them, “Junta! Bun!”
“Akito!” the one addressed as Junta looked up, “You’re bringing guests?”
“Yup. Some guys from the surface. The ones who came knocking,” he nodded.
The five offered their greetings and Junta smiled, “Nakama Junta.”
“And this is Bunichi. Hamanaka Bunichi. We call him Bun. He can sometimes see the future. His accuracy is a little off though, so take whatever he tells you with a grain of salt,” Akito introduced the other male, who had been ignoring them pretty much.
Hashimoto’s eyes sparkled and he looked at the bubble-blowing male, “You can see the future? Will you tell us about our future?”
Bunichi looked at the tall captain and put his little bubble tube away. He sighed and pulled up the hood of his robes. He stretched his hands out dramatically and his eyes started glowing.
“Wow, that must be so handy when you don’t have a lightsource,” Hashimoto admired.
“Well, down here we often have no external light sources. Or sometimes it’s too dangerous to use one,” Junta pointed out.
“Guys, guys, something’s happening!” Tsukada said excitedly.
A small, glowing bubble appeared in front of Bunichi and he looked into it until it popped again. He looked up then and pointed at people in turn.
First was Kawai, “Be wary of injuries.” Then Tsukada, “Be wary of sickness. Also don’t wear shorts.” Then he looked at Totsuka, “You’ll get lost.” Hashimoto, “You’ll be meeting other people and make more friends.” Goseki was last and here, Bunichi hesitated for a moment, “Sorry, yours was too blurry.”
Kawai looked at the other, “What the hell?”
Akito shrugged, “I told you his accuracy is a little off!”
As they continued their way towards Hamada’s, Kawai and Akito kept arguing about how Bunichi’s accuracy wasn’t just “a little” off but really off. The rest of their little group just trotted along behind them.
Totsuka fell back a little bit though and craned his neck to look back up to the surface. Getting lost? Where could he possibly be going that would get him lost?
Unless it was a different kind of getting lost that the other meant. The face of a person briefly appeared in front of his inner eyes but he shook his head. No. It wasn’t the time yet. Soon, maybe, but not yet. He didn’t think he was ready yet.
To be continued...
Fandom: Johnny's & Associates
Pairings/Characters: ABC-Z, Kansai Juniors
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of violence maybe.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Owned by J&A. The AU is mine though as well as aymagun's.
A/N: Under the sea - or, when Ebi hijacked the fic.
Summary: It's called the 'gift' or 'soul' by most. A strange, mysterious force only few possess on the planet that is half ocean and half desert. The people on the planet have lived in harmony with each other and their environment for centuries but something yet unknown is threatening to throw everything into chaos.
When Kitayama recovered, he took walks through the new gardens of the ghayi, thinking quietly. There were so many things he had and wanted to think about after all.
One of those days, Master Yara came to visit him. The two of them sat in a corner in the shade and talked.
“You met Hashimoto, right? Ah, I mean Captain Hashimoto Ryosuke,” Kitayama corrected himself. “What...do you think of him?”
Master Yara smiled, “You noticed as well, didn’t you? Then again, I guess it is not hard to tell.”
“It’s not the soul, is it? He doesn’t have...” Kitayama let that question trail off.
Shaking his head, Master Yara replied, “Indeed it isn’t. He is different from us and yet he is not. Hashimoto, too, has abilities a normal person doesn’t possess. Yet his are different from ours. Our abilities come from somewhere within us. As for Hashimoto,” he paused here. “I can only make assumptions but his powers might be rooted to this very planet. In a way you could say that he is perfect where he is now, on a ship, traveling constantly.”
Kitayama thought about that for a moment, “So that is why he is able to do everything so easily despite being well, who he is? Do you think he knows?”
“Sometimes it’s better not to make people think about their abilities. Especially those at sea or in the desert. Believing it’s instinct might be better. And safer.” Yara looked down. “Who knows what some people at the Maggra or even at the university would want to do to him if it were to become known that he was...special.”
After all what they had experienced they had all become weary and maybe a little distrusting towards people. Not that any of them thought all scientists or all other people were like ‘that guy’ but you just couldn’t brush things off so quickly. The damage had been done.
“Well, to summarize everything, they’re in good hands now. So no need to worry,” Master Yara smiled. “That’s what you were thinking about, right?”
Kitayama smiled back. “I’ll try. And I guess I was a little too obvious, wasn’t I?”
“Being obvious isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Kitayama,” Master Yara said and got up. “It usually saves you a lot of trouble.” He spoke from experience there.
Kitayama nodded his goodbye to the master then and then went to stare off into the distance again. He wondered what those five were up to, those five and their ship.
~*~
Hashimoto stared off into the distance. He looked like his mind was not quite there right now, like his soil had, for the moment, gone to a different place.
“Hasshi?” Totsuka approached his young captain, calling out to the other softly. Then he smiled, “Where are we going? Will you tell us?” Some times their destination was a surprise until the very end. But they never went anywhere without reason. There would either be someone who needed them or something they needed wherever they went.
It seemed like Hashimoto had known when in fact he hadn’t and seemed just as surprised as the rest of them about it.
Unlike what Kitayama, and sometimes the others, had been like. Especially Iida. They had always known things and been able to see and feel things that had been out of Totsuka’s reach. And they had known why they had been able to, known that they were able to do it. Hashimoto was different though.
“Ah, Tottsu!” Hashimoto’s expression changed from one moment to the other and he smiled at Totsuka brightly. “We’re heading towards and oasis up ahead. It seems like a good idea, right? I kind of want fruit!”
Said and done, the Five Stars made a port call at the oasis and except for Goseki - who had lost the janken for watch duty - everyone got off to explore a little bit. The oasis was quite lively, a mid-way trading point that was situated between the end of the desert and the start of the ocean. The earth was fertile as the winds brought in clouds from the sea, which brought plenty of rain and washed the minerals from the desert sand into the earth.
After acquiring the fruit - Hashimoto was munching on a fruit skewer happily as they walked - they went to a different part of the central market square.
Kawai took an interest in some horses one of the traders was offering to a crowd of what looked like farmers and other desert folk. He whistled through his teeth, “These are some fine things you have here. I’ve never seen anything quite like them.”
“And Fumito here is our resident horse expert,” Tsukada prompted, earning himself a kick in the behind from his crewmate.
Hashimoto ruffled the mane of one of the horses as it trotted closer to him. “They’re not from the surface, right?” He looked at the trader.
“You can tell?” the man grinned proudly, “Indeed they aren’t. They’re from down there alright, Oyo’gh they call the town, I reckon. I get from from Hamada’s. He has the finest horses on this planet and I’m the only one who sells them up here.”
The four of them looked at one another and then back at the animals in front of them.
Later on, they were back on their ship and had changed from their sand-sails to the ocean ones. Hashimoto was looking down at the dark waves and asked, “Wouldn’t that be an awesome place to go next?” He looked at his crew. “Let’s go!”
“But isn’t that-” Goseki stopped himself mid-sentence and then his small frown melted into a smile, “Lead the way, Hasshi. Where do we need to go?”
Kawai cackled, “Yeah, just don’t ask, Gocchi. It’s useless.”
Looking at Totsuka, Hashimoto asked, “Tottsu knows about what to expect down there, right? I know you read books about it. Will you tell us?”
“I can’t be sure if the books are correct or the stories of street dwellers I listened to back in the capital or along the way. They might not be very reliable sources of information,” he smiled, “I’ll look forward to finding out the truth. So let’s just...wait for the surprise?”
Totsuka leaned back against the rail, “What I do think is true though is that the people for example from Senga’s colony are distantly related to the people down there. The blood must have run very thin though. Then, traders said that the city down there isn’t completely flooded like many imagine it is. So it is possible for people like us to wander around without a constant oxygen source. Some parts are off limits though, only accessible to those who do not need ‘air’ to breathe.” He then recalled what the trader from earlier had told him, “He said that the horses but also the people in general, who are from down there, are stronger than the ones from the surface because of the different environment, low oxygen conditions being one but then the lifestyle and the food as well. The horses are supposed to have sea-creature DNA crossed with theirs, too, making them far superior to normal ones.”
“He also went on about how people just looked really attractive down there, too, both males and females alike,” Kawai added.
“Man, that sounds so flattering when you say it. It almost makes me feel a little embarrassed but you shouldn’t be embarrassed about the truth, huh?” a new voice spoke up.
All give crew members whirled around and got into their battle stances immediately. How had someone made it into the ship without any of them noticing it? They all stopped dead in their tracks when they got a better look at the person on deck though.
The male had black hair and tanned skin which glistened in the sunlight. At frist glance, it could’ve just been water but upon closer inspection, the other’s skin was covered in small scales. Blue markings could be seen on his body here and there, looking not unlike the clan-markings on tattoos some of the desert people had.
“You guys were knocking on the door, so I thought I’d be nice and open it. Ah, you guys also might want to get up your shields or something unless you fancy getting a little wet. I wouldn’t mind but I could imagine that you guys would,” he rambled on and grinned.
Goseki and Tsukada immediately got moving and ran around. Hashimoto approached the stranger and smiled at him, “Will you show us around your place then?”
“You guys are in good hands. If not the best, I might say,” the male gave Hashimoto a thumbs up, “You have found yourself a tour guide.”
“I’m Hashimoto. Hashimoto Ryosuke but you can call me Hasshi,” Hashimoto introduced himself. “These are Tottsu, Fumi, Gocchi and Tsuka.”
“Nice to meet y’all. The name’s Kiriyama Akito.”
Their ship gradually sunk down into the water but their shields, which suddenly seemed to materialize around them and looked like a bubble around their ship, protected them from it. All of them stared at the underwater landscape with wide eyes. They made their way down on what seemed like a giant underwater elevator or gondola, transporting their shielded ship down into the ocean.
“This is the Gate. The only legal passageway from the surface down,” Akito explained.
After a while, they were able to see towers of what looked like a city. A few moments later, it came into full view. There were towers carved out of rocks and corals, something that looked like large, floating bubbles, which were illuminated in all sorts of colors, spiral columns which houses build in and on them. It was a sight that none of them had seen before.
“Welcome to the main city, Ok’nsaia. The underwater metropolis,” Akito smiled proudly. “Not too shabby, huh? And a lot more awesome than that capital of yours up there.”
The five other males were left speechless. They just let Akito guide them wherever. Neither of them really remembered the way to the port they finally stopped at and where they disembarked their ship. Akito assured them that their ship would be safe and he assigned four younger males to take care of it.
“This is Oyo’gh. I believe you were talking about the horses from Hamada’s earlier, right?” Akito showed them around and explained things here and there about the merchants and their wares they passed on their way.
About half-way to the large area that looked like a farm, they passed by what looked like a bubble-tent. A male, dressed in black, was sitting in front of it and was blowing soap bubbles into the air. Another male sat close to him there and kept him company.
Akito’s face lit up when he saw them, “Junta! Bun!”
“Akito!” the one addressed as Junta looked up, “You’re bringing guests?”
“Yup. Some guys from the surface. The ones who came knocking,” he nodded.
The five offered their greetings and Junta smiled, “Nakama Junta.”
“And this is Bunichi. Hamanaka Bunichi. We call him Bun. He can sometimes see the future. His accuracy is a little off though, so take whatever he tells you with a grain of salt,” Akito introduced the other male, who had been ignoring them pretty much.
Hashimoto’s eyes sparkled and he looked at the bubble-blowing male, “You can see the future? Will you tell us about our future?”
Bunichi looked at the tall captain and put his little bubble tube away. He sighed and pulled up the hood of his robes. He stretched his hands out dramatically and his eyes started glowing.
“Wow, that must be so handy when you don’t have a lightsource,” Hashimoto admired.
“Well, down here we often have no external light sources. Or sometimes it’s too dangerous to use one,” Junta pointed out.
“Guys, guys, something’s happening!” Tsukada said excitedly.
A small, glowing bubble appeared in front of Bunichi and he looked into it until it popped again. He looked up then and pointed at people in turn.
First was Kawai, “Be wary of injuries.” Then Tsukada, “Be wary of sickness. Also don’t wear shorts.” Then he looked at Totsuka, “You’ll get lost.” Hashimoto, “You’ll be meeting other people and make more friends.” Goseki was last and here, Bunichi hesitated for a moment, “Sorry, yours was too blurry.”
Kawai looked at the other, “What the hell?”
Akito shrugged, “I told you his accuracy is a little off!”
As they continued their way towards Hamada’s, Kawai and Akito kept arguing about how Bunichi’s accuracy wasn’t just “a little” off but really off. The rest of their little group just trotted along behind them.
Totsuka fell back a little bit though and craned his neck to look back up to the surface. Getting lost? Where could he possibly be going that would get him lost?
Unless it was a different kind of getting lost that the other meant. The face of a person briefly appeared in front of his inner eyes but he shook his head. No. It wasn’t the time yet. Soon, maybe, but not yet. He didn’t think he was ready yet.
To be continued...