Grand Voyage- Log 21

Log 21: Dahlia Part 2
“Thank you so much, Cardigansempaisama-san!” the three pirates said, bowing to the man on the woofing bird.

“Noyoyoyoyoyoyoy problem!” the rider said happily, “if you ever need to move your ship, or disaster strikes, or Feeding Time occurs, just call the SIDC and tell them you’re looking for Peter!”

“WAIT, YOUR REAL NAME IS PETER?!” Art yelled.

“Yoyoyoyoyoyoyo!” Peter laughed, “oyoyoyoyoyof course it is!” And with that, the woofing bird took into the sky, flying into the horizon.

“Damn him,” D’Artagnan mumbled angrily, while Sid patted him on the shoulder.

“Calm down, calm down,” Sid said reassuringly, “let’s just go have a look around.”

“Yeah,” Art said, exhaling, “you’re right. Allright Knave, it’s time to go!”

Only silence met his exclamation.

“D-Do you know where Knave is?” Art asked Sid, looking at him with an incredibly worried expression on his face.

“N-no,” Sid replied, equally worried, “y-you don’t think....”

“Oh, I do,” Art said, sweating, “he’s run off on us again.”

“WOOHOO!” Knave yelled, as he slid down one of the many arches, flying over parts of the shopping district and finally becoming airborne, his form nearly obscuring the sun as he soared above the city. “THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!”

Unfortunately, everything that goes up, must come down. And our marimo protagonist was no different, and had to abide by the rules of gravity. Thus, as soon as he reached his zenith, he began to fall.

“Wait nonononononononono,” Knave said frantically, waving his arms around and attempting flight, “this isn’t gonna end well is-”

“Shit! Dammit!” D’Artagnan swore as he and Sid dashed through the streets of Sensui Island, hardly able to take in the cleverly designed houses (which were built in such a way that most could be accessed via sliding along the various arches), or the way the sunlight reflected off the water, sending beams of light to perfectly illuminate the areas, yet still allowing the arches to cast pleasant shade.

“Calm down, calm down,” Sid said, running along beside him, “I’m sure Knave’s fine. It’s not like he’d purposefully cause trouble.”

Art looked at Sid, a haunted expression filling his face. “You don’t know him like I do.”

“-n’t IT?!” Knave cried, as gravity took hold, and he found himself speeding towards the ground at an angle, his feet heading for yet another one of the arches that was fast rising up to meet him.

“NAGA NAGA NO LIGHTSPEED!” Knave cried, the white aura flaring around him, as he was given a sudden burst of speed, sending him sailing over the arch right in time for the ability to die down. Knave then pulled his legs upward, causing him to spin in midair, right before he reached the next house. As he reached it, he thrust his legs out, landing on the house and forming a small crater, propelling him away from it.

But that’s when it went wrong.

Knave’s face smashed against a rather inconveniently placed building (that had only 2 days left until retirement), causing him to fly back. He bounced between the two buildings several times, before landing on a large wagon filled nearly to the brim with food. Groaning, the marimo lad attempted to pull himself up, right as another massive load of edibles crashed down on his back, covering him completely.

Two soldiers gently sat down the large basket that they had used to dump that immense amount of food down on the ground, rubbing their arms as they released the wait. “God damn,” Soldier 1 said, “and we have to do three more shipments of these things?”

“Don’t complain,” Soldier 2 growled, “you know how much these shipments mean to this island.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Soldier 1 muttered, “but it doesn’t keep them from being bothersome.... do you ever think that we could-”

“Fool!” Soldier 2 hissed, “we have none, zero, nada chance of facing this creature. Any defiance can be met with death!”

“But-”

“No buts! The mayor will kill you for that!”

“Okay, let’s just move to the next block.”

And with that, the two soldiers jogged up to the horses who pulled the wagon and hopped in, quickly setting off towards the next section of the island...

“Dahlia Festival?” Sid asked, flipping through some map paper at the small stall, one of many on this large market street, where he and D’Artagnan had stopped to pick up some supplies.

“Yes, yes,” the elderly lady who acted as a shopkeeper said, nodding, “it’s once a year, always at at this time.”

“What’s it all about?” Art asked, as he picked up a large assortment of melons, holding them in his hands, as if weighing them.

“No one’s entirely sure,” the shopkeeper said, “all we know is that in exchange for a lot of our own food, we’re invited to a large feast at the palace.”

“A large feast?” Art asked, his eyes narrowing.

“The palace?” Sid inquired, grinning slightly.

“Err, yes?” the shopkeeper confirmed, sweat dropping slightly.

Art and Sid seemed to now be sitting in the middle of a large parlor, dressed in formal English jackets, old-fashioned pipes sticking from their mouths. “So,” Sid asked, lifting his pipe down, “you think he’ll be there?”

“It’s a good bet,” Art replied, “he’s a glutton, after all. It’s undoubtable that he’d find his way there somehow.”

“True, true,” Sid answered, “but what about all the food that’s being carted away, do you think he could be there?”

“Hmm....” they both went, as the area, outfits, and pipes faded around them, leaving them simply stroking their chins, as the crowd kept moving around them.

“W-well,” the shopkeeper butted in, “if you want to see the food cart, it should be coming here at around 3.”

“That’s just an hour!” Art said happily, “that gives us plenty of time to restock.”

“Hey, does the wagon seem lighter?” Soldier 1 asked, holding tightly onto the reins of one of the steeds who pulled it.

“Don’t be silly,” Soldier 2 replied, lighting a cigar, “how could it possibly be lighter? What, would someone have hidden in it and be eating through it as we speak?”

“Of course not,” Soldier 1 said, reassured, “that’d be silly, and a contrived way for the author to reintroduce a character into the story.”

“Hey!” came a voice from the heavens, “don’t mock my methods!”

“Yes, sir,” the soldiers muttered.

“Yum!” Knave said happily as he guzzled through even more of the food in the cart, “this stuff’s good! Oooh, what’s this!” He reached for more, grasping a small roll, and pulled, only for his hand to be stalled.

The green-haired pirate raised his eyebrow questioningly, then pulled. Another force pulled on it as well. He tried again, this time lifting it slowly, leaning his head to the side to catch a peek at what was pulling it the other way.

A rather brawny, tall, hooded man looked back at him.

“It’s here!” Art said eagerly, quickly stuffing the last of his purchases into a now massive sack that and Sid pulled behind them. They both watched as the large food cart, a massive wagon drawn by two horses, two armored soldiers driving it, food piled incredibly high in the back, turned onto the market street and began slowly moving down it.

“Is it me,” the elderly shopkeeper remarked, “or does the pile seem... smaller this year? No, no, couldn’t be. Our food outputs are at least twice the size they were last year.”

“CITIZENS!” Soldier 2 called, speaking through a large megaphone that he carried, “IT IS TIME FOR THE ANNUAL DAHLIA FESTIVAL, AS INSTITUTED BY OUR BELOVED MAYOR, LORD BEERUS! PLEASE DELIVER YOUR USUAL AMOUNT OF FOOD, OR MORE, INTO THE WAGON AS WE PASS!”

“Okay, so we have the cart,” Sid mused, “but how are we supposed to tell if Knave’s in there or not?”

“No idea,” Art replied, “but we DO need to check.”

“We could just ask.”

“I doubt that would wo-”

Right as the citizens began loading their goods into the cart, its side exploded, wood shavings showering the area. A muscular, heavy-set man with a shock of white air leaped out, throwing a lime-green coat to the side. Knave leaped out right after him, the white flame energy wrapped around his arms.

“Bastard,” Knave growled, “that roll was mine and you know it!”

“Never!” the muscular man said, drawing from his side a rather nasty looking wood baton, “I grabbed it first!”

“No, me!” Knave snarled.

“Me!”

“ME!”

“ME ME!”

“ME ME ME!”

“MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME-”

As the two continued their very odd verbal duel, Art and Sid stood there, watching, mouths agape. The citizens were all frozen as well, incredibly shocked by what they had just witnessed. The soldiers stood similarly, but quickly regained their composure and drew their blades, leaping towards the offenders.

“You’re under-” Soldier 1 began.

“Prepare 2-” Soldier 2 began.

“SHUT UP!” Knave and the muscular man cried, whipping around and dealing powerful blows to the two soldiers, who were sent flying into the air, screaming unhappily.

“Idiots,” Knave muttered, turning back to the muscular man.

“Dumbasses,” the muscular man snarled, turning back to Knave, “now, where were we?”

“MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME!” Knave yelled.

“NO, MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMMEMEMEME!” the muscular man countered.

“MEME!”

“MEMEME!”

“MEMEMEMEME!”

Is this ever going to end? The citizens, Art and Sid thought, sweatdropping as the two continued to argue.

At that moment, another cloaked figure, this time much smaller, leaped from the top of one of the stalls, landing right in the middle of Knave and the muscular man. “Eh?” they asked, right as the cloaked figure threw a small ball to the ground. As soon as it made impact, smoke flooded the area, blinding all present....

Except for Art, who, as a Majin, had become used to being able to spot things through large obstructions, like sand storms and tornados. He quickly peered through the smoke, his eyes straining, when he finally caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure running away, pulling Knave and the muscular man with it. “There!” he yelled, grabbing the still-blinded Sid by the arm and charging after them.

~End of Log~

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter