In the captain’s cabin Teruro swore under his breath as he meticulously searched through drawers and cabinets looking for a clue. He was slowly coming to the realization that his was a fruitless task and that being able to read Portuguese would have been useful.
In a completely different part of the ship.
A random assortment of items flew over her shoulders as Takeko rifled through cabinets and barrels. "Aha!" She exclaimed triumphantly, stuffing salted herring, some cured pork, half a dozen apples, and mid-sized sack of rice into her increasingly large pack.
Abruptly a sound like horse-hooves over a wooden bridge echoed through the ship.
Takeko asked herself, “What was that?” but shrugged and resumed her busy looting. A shadow loomed behind. Pale moonlight glinted off of a crooked raised golden club. An evil-looking grin flashing white under the brim of a plumed hat.
A moment in time crystallized… then shattered as Takeko whirled, slamming two feet of club-like chorizo through the face of her attacker. Takeko seemed unphased that her attack had no effect on her intangible attacker. On the other hand, its face registered first shocked bewilderment then fear. It turned in a panic and frantically fled, its golden getas hammering against the floor.
Takeko shrugged, hiked her heavy pack over shoulder and jogged after it, but it quickly vanished into the gloom of the hall… its presence marked only by the sound of its metal shoes against the floorboards. Then there was a great crash and the sound of splintering wood. Takeko came to a stop in front of a gaping hole in the hull of the ship. Looking out of it she could see the figure of her attacker bounding away over the water, barely touching the glass-like top, each step leaving small concentric rings of ripples that quickly disappeared.
A shift in the clouds changed the light and the figure vanished like a shadow. The opaque glassy surface turned clear, revealing the pale bodies of the crew just under the surface…
Teruro’s voice called out from above, “Ok… Come up to the deck, I think it’s time for us to leave.”
Image composed from stuff found online...
Takeko's assailant is an homage to Satoshi Kon's shonen bat.
Satoshi Kon died recently and the world lost an original story teller.
I wonder what it was. Takeko is fearless. She must've had years of training to be so collected in the face of her attacker.
ReplyDeletePerfect picture, as always.
Hehe.. Maybe that's why.
ReplyDeleteI think Teruro is curious about that too.
In fact I have already planned for there to be some explanations in the next part.
Thanks, I actually wound up spending some time putting that picture together. I'm glad to hear you think it works. : j
That's a spectacular picture, Alesa, it's so effective and haunting! Love, love, LOVE the background and colours there!
ReplyDeleteI think I prefer your installments where you describe the setting and customs (and food!) more than I do the action-packed ones, but that's just a personal preference! This was still very well written :-)
Thanks Sangu! The background is from a painting of the dead marshes (LOTR).
ReplyDeleteSo that's your taste... Interesting. : j I think I might agree with you in this story.
Still, I'm not sure how this story would advance without some action parts. ; j Any suggestions on what I could do to improve the action scenes to better suit your tastes?
And have you read the tandem writing assignment joke? http://ramoth4.livejournal.com/7551.html
"slamming two feet of club-like chorizo through the face of her attacker." MAN I love your style, woman!!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Thanks Zoe.
ReplyDeleteNothing like slamming people with sausage to save the day. That could be a super hero... The "frankfurter fighter"! Her nemesis would be "the bratwurst brat" and "The seditious sauerkraut"... ; j