[Moon 13, Evening, Crow's Nest, Open] Terror on the Wind

[Daidoji Fuichi]

As night began to settle on the Sea of Shadows, enfolding the proud ship and her crew of trainees in a layer of sweltering velvet, Daidoji Fuichi sat at in the Crow's Nest, hoping for some air.

Much earlier in the hour he had begun to whittle at a small block of wood. At the time he hadn't been sure what he was making, but the wood had opened its secrets to him. Now, wrapped in the dream-like fog of creation, he scraped layer upon layer from the block.

The girl's face was still imperfect when he first heard the whisper. Though unintelligible, it began to worry him out from his trance. The second was much sharper, and, as he became more aware of his surroundings, he found that it was constant.

The shriek of despair, when it came, tore him from the last coverlet of peaceful artistry, wrenched a cry of clear distress from him as he dropped the unfinished statue, which slid across the board of the nest to shatter on the starboard rail dozens of feet below.

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

In a state of near panic ever since entering the sea, Choukichi heads up to teh crows nest, hoping that being able to see all around the ship might help him calm down. Close to the top, he hears the cry, and his first instinct is to get the hell back down to the deck and go hide in his well warded berth. However, he manages to steel himself and completes the climb. Seeing the Daidoji, he stops only halfway onto the platform and makes a warding gesture against evil spirits.

"Daidoji-san, what's wrong!?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

His face is white as a sheet, and his hands tremor rapidly.

"They're SUFFERING!!" Then, ever so slowly, he turns to face the Yoritomo. "But they deserved it. And worse. Can't you hear them?"

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

"Uh...?"

While one hand holds him up, the other keeps making warding gestures.

"I... I don't hear anything... Who are suffering?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi gestures down toward the sea. In his sight, the churning of the waves casts foam--it must be foam--into the form of a screaming face. The voices are coming from that direction, the jaw moves in tandem with the incessant screaming.

He takes a deep breath. When next he speaks, his voice has become shaky as a small child. "They're not stopping. They won't stop."

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

"I think you should get down from here Daidoji-san, go inside the ship, you won't hear them there."

Choukichi stops his warding motions long enough to beckong the Daidoji towards the way down.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi gasps once, eyes widening as he hears something truly horrible. He then meekly nods and follows the Yoritomo, almost reaching for his scroll case on reflex before another tremor takes him.

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

Choukichi makes no attempt to touch Fuichi unless it looks like his tremor might take him off the platform, and so completely unsure of how to deal with a priest who has lost his mind, he stands at the edge of the platform and waits for Fuichi to get a hold of himself.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Finally, the Crane stands up and steps to the edge of the platform. He looks down steadily, entirely unfazed by the dizzying height. "I...I think I might like to come down, now. If you're sure that they'll stop. I'd...I'd rather...like them to. Stop, that is."

He nearly slips as he reaches the point where one gets into the rigging as a stiff gust of wind rips across the Nest. His eyes roll back into his head and he clutches the ropes with whitened knuckles, his mouth open in a silent scream.

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

"Hey, get a hold of yourself! You're gonna gets us both killed messing around up here."

Choukichi gets ready to grab the priest in case he starts to totter, and starts preparing himself to just knock the man out if he can't get himself under control.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi remains stock-still, clutching at the rigging as it shifts and bends in the heavy wind. His eyes remain pupil-less, though the screams borne on the winds blowing across the Crow's Nest no longer found an echo in his trembling body.

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

Choukichi grits his teeth then takes one of the many charms from around his neck and hangs it around Fuichi's.

"Priest, try reading this, it's a charm against evil spirits, will help you get your mind together... and if it doesn't work I swear to Osano-Wo I will knock your ass out and carry you down none too gently!"

Oh kami! Don't make me knock you out. Screaming priests are bad for sure, but there's no way hitting a priest can bring me anything but bad luck.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi lets go of the rope to hold the charm. Of course, this is indescribably dangerous, but the billowing of his robes suggests that the continued caress of the hostile wind is what is keeping him from plummeting to his death.

"It is lovely, Yoritomo-san. Thank you for your kindness to me." His voice is eerily hollow, then, quite suddenly, he loses consciousness. His body slumps, but the devil wind holds him in his position, effectively standing on the rigging.

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

He's possesed! Don't touch him! No, grab him quick before he falls!

While uttering a very loud stream of prayers to Suitengu, Osano-Wo, Tengoku, and anyone else he can think of, Choukichi shifts over on the rigging to grab hold of Fuichi to make sure he won't fall if the wind stops holding him up. Once he is sure that the priest isn't in imminent danger of falling he shouts down to the deck below.

"Someone get your ass up here and help me with this useless priest!"

[Rixy]

Angry samurai were something all heimen were programmed to respond to....especially when they were already in a heightened sstate of alert. Bad enough to be where they were...then bits of wood come raining from the sky to hit hapless passerby. Thus it was that several of the crew, including one of the ship's eta, were below.

After a brief conference, the senior carpenter and the wounded ashigaru's guard partner, the lad known to many as Happy, made their way to the mast, gatehered a few spare coils of rope, and swarmed up to the nest.

Topside, they took one look at the priest and made warding gestures. The elder of the pair all but growled..."Damned spirits..gets one a voyage. Figured it'd be this'un..." Remembering his place, he gulped and did the best bow he could without falling. "Need us to drop 'im down like cargo, -sama?"

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

Choukichi nods his head, grateful to have some assistance. When the ashigaru starts to bow, he makes a quick motion to dismiss it, now is hardly a good time or place to be worrying about that.

"Yeah, that'll do. Hopefully he doesn't wake up and start freaking out again."

[Rixy]

The two peasants exchanged a look. The older one said, rather too helpfully, 'If he does, we'll just knock 'im out'.

They then set about the business of trussing up the poor Crane like a swordfish they were trying to bring aboard, ropes bound around his chest, waist, and ankles. "You should go down with 'im, -sama, so that you can keep his head from bangin' into the mast."

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

Choukichi smirks at the first comment, then nods his head.

"I'll keep him from getting banged up too much."

He then waits for them to start lowering Fuichi, and goes down with him making sure his head at least doesn't strike the mast.

[Rixy]

The pair were no gentler than they had to be, clearly enjoying getting something of their own back against the fool who'd injured one of their own. Still, the motions were smooth and practiced and though the man's legs and shoulders occasionally swung toward the mast, his head never quite impacted.

The eta, who had just finished taping up the bleeding peasant woman, darted a glance at the descending man and tugged urgently at the sleeve of the sole remaining heimen on deck, the young female carpenter. She bent to listen to him and then, blushing, shuffled toward Choukichi. "Yoritomo-sama...do you want him to see if Daidoji-sama's ill?"

[Yoritomo Choukichi]

Once Fuichi is safely on deck, Choukichi speaks a quick prayer for the safety of his soul then looks to the ashigaru and then the eta and beckons him over.

"Hmmm, I think his ailments are of the soul, not the body. But best not to take any risks, please take a look at him."