Damned Pirates! | Bloody Mori! {Nanami&Okata} [Monthly]

[Nomi no Ōkata]

Okata really didn't like traveling at sea, especially without her lordship. Ships were dirty and she was stuck in place. She felt trapped, and the only reason it did not drive her mad was for the constant sun. But at night she felt all the more alone, and internally pined after her Light.

But it was nothing she could help. Lord Mori required information on his enemy the Chosokabe and she was his best spy. If she couldn't get information on them, no one could, especially considering as a woman she was not one people would suspect.

But unfortunately the ship never made it. There was a horrible storm, and the ship sank. The only fortunate thing was that Okata survived, clinging to driftwood for dear life. She woke up to find herself on some lone island with seemingly nobody around. Weakly standing up, cuts from a reef overhead on her legs and hands, the concubine bit down on her bottom lip.

What was she supposed to do? This was not something she was trained to deal with and the wounds, both physical and emotional, were still fresh. The night had been terrifying, like that one all those years back. While she was a calculating woman who allowed her wit to rule her, she was still not on par with her lordship and had much to learn, especially in situations such as these where she was without him, her guidance, her salvation, her Light.

The situation seemed rather hopeless right then and, feeling tears well in her eyes, she gazed up at the sky, whispering shakily, "Motonari-sama..."

The sun beating down on her, warming her soaked flesh, was the only thing keeping her together, imagining it was her lordship's embrace.

[Chosokabe Nanami]

"D-daddy..."

~* Nanami began to come to her senses, finding herself in the middle of the sea, being held up in the water by a piece of stray wood. Taking a moment to adjust to everything and get over the throbbing pain in her head, she looked around, realizing where she was. The bodies of her fellow sailors were floating around her in various locations, and much of their cargo had been scattered amongst the waves. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"G-guys... wake up..."

~* They would not answer. The life already drained from the bodies of her fellow pirates. The pirate princess began to sob uncontrollably, hit with the realization that her entire crew was now lost. A freak storm had hit their ship, and it had taken everything away. She wasn't the great captain she claimed herself to be, nor was she as fit to lead as her father trusted. These men believed in her, and she couldn't steer them out of harm's way. Now they were dead, and Nanami could only blame herself.

"E-everyone... I'm... I'm sorry..."

~* She would drift in the water, crying her eyes out. She didn't know how much time had passed before her eyes finally dried up, and she began to take deep breaths, trying to calm down. She could see an island in the distance, and knew she couldn't allow herself to die at see. Her father would lament the loss of his men, but he couldn't lose his daughter too.

~* She began to kick her feet, swimming closer to the island using the driftwood as support. She was tired and achy from the shipwreck, but she would kick as hard as she could, trying to make it to shore. The bodies that surrounded her made her want to get away from her failure that much faster, and she wouldn't stop kicking until she finally felt the ground beneath her. Getting off from the wood, she would make her way to the beach, clothes heavy and drenched from the water, and collapse on the dry land, rolling over onto her back. Here she was, in uncharted territory. She didn't know if she was alone or not, but she had to survive until she could get home to her father.

~* The Chosokabe princess closed her eyes, trying her best not to cry anymore.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

The sun's rays in a sense dried up her threatening tears, and Okata after a few minutes calmed herself down. She still didn't know what to do but while the sun was up and shining brightly upon her, Okata could feel safe, at the very least.

Looking downwards and out in the sea, the woman's brows furrowed. Were those.... bodies? Her eyes widened at seeing numerous corpses floating out, and there were fins. Sharks. Okata was thankful she was here on the island and not out there.

But she noticed movement and saw someone swimming towards the island. So... there was a survivor. Okata wasn't sure whether that would be good or bad for her, and so she stayed in place and would watch the person. As the individual came closer, Okata realized it was another woman, and that was a little relieving. Men were much more likely to be violent than women. But still. It wasn't like Okata was a trusting individual.

Even so, Okata would need help surviving. She had survived out on the streets, but there was no one here to steal from or seduce for lodging and food. This was raw, and it was something Okata was unfamiliar with. She would need help, and maybe... just maybe this other woman could help her. They could help each other.

Struggling to walk towards the other person who was now on land, it took some time because of her wounds and the distance. Eventually Okata neared and she called out, still some distance away, "So... you survived the storm too."

She looked out to the sea and the dead bodies floating. Okata wasn't necessarily the most compassionate person, but she still had a heart. And the previous night had been absolutely horrifying. "It was awful... frightening. But... it is good to see at least someone else made it and washed ashore. It would be dreadful to be all alone."

[Chosokabe Nanami]

~* Nanami jumped up, or at least attempted to, but her body felt too heavy, and she ended up falling back to the floor, weak. She looked up at the source of the voice, slightly relieved to find a woman there, or maybe she was just glad that there was at least one other soul on this island. But based on her words, perhaps there were only the two of them who survived. And the woman definitely wasn't with the Chosokabe... this meant that not a single other person from Nanami's ship had survived, and the princess looked up at the other woman with tears in her eyes.

"E-everyone... is gone...?"

~* The reality still hadn't hit her completely, and she was trembling, trying to keep it together the best she could. The normally cocky and confident pirate was broken, and even in front of this stranger, she couldn't keep her facade up. She had no idea how they would get home, or even if they could. She didn't know how she could face her father, and rest of the Chosokabe. She didn't even know how to face the one other survivor who was on the island with her. And so she let out a cry as she burst into tears again, covering her face with her hands.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

This woman had obviously been close to her crew, while Okata hadn't even the slightest fleeting thought for hers. They hadn't even been Mori's men. Well, maybe a couple in disguise, but she didn't even remember their faces or names. All she had been concerned about was herself; Okata did not want to be alone and, most importantly, without Lord Mori in a situation like this.

These two were quite different, Okata could tell already.

Still wanting... needing help, the woman suppressed a sigh and moved towards the girl. She was young and lived a different life from Okata, whatever it may have been. No one had really been all that important to Okata after her sister's suicide until Motonari. There were those she valued over others, most certainly, but people were disposable. Hell, even she was disposable.

But Okata wasn't going to share any of that with this girl. If only to gain her trust in order to help survive on this island until they got help, the concubine moved over to the weeping girl and carefully sat down, wincing a bit because of the cuts on her cuts and feet.

Sitting in silence for a couple of minutes, the Mori servant eventually rested her hand on the girl's shoulder gently, patting her and rubbing the girl's back. In a soothing voice, the woman said, "It will be alright. If you survive, they will not have died in vain. Your crewmates... they would want you to make it through and get back home, right?"

These weren't really Okata's ideals, but she had a feeling that they might be a comfort to the girl, and the sooner she stopped crying over her little friends, the sooner they could work on getting shelter, food, and water, and maybe working on a signal. That was all Okata really cared about in the long-run, although it wasn't like she liked the tears or didn't care about the girl's suffering at all. Okata may be practical and ruthless in some regards, but she wasn't an evil person by any stretch.

[Chosokabe Nanami]

~* Nanami hiccuped, looking up slowly when the other woman had gotten closer and touched her shoulder. Through red and teary eyes, the pirate took in what the other woman had said, nodding slowly after a while.

"... Y-yeah... you're right..."

~* This was hard on Nanami. Never before had she lost a single member of her crew, and then all at once, she lost all of them. Her crew, her friends, her family. All were claimed by the harshness of the sea. The sea that Nanami once sailed so confidently, so freely. She was now frightened by the harsh truth that she learned, that the sea could also be a cruel mistress. Her home, her life, even her name had come from the seas... she felt as if everything had been taken away from her, and the mere thought of it all made her heart snap.

"U-um..."

~* She began to speak, or tried, stalled by her tears. She began to wipe away at her eyes frantically with her hands, trying to calm herself down, relaxing her breathing the best she could. After a few moments, she seemed more composed, but one could tell easily that she was moments away from breaking apart again.

"N-Nanami..."

~* She would utter her name to the stranger, unsure if she'd get a name back in return. She felt the other woman was someone she could trust, or at least, that she had to trust her for the time being. They were all alone on an island, they only had each other to survive.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

Okata smiled softly at the girl. Her tears were drying up. That was a good sign. Hopefully soon she would get it together enough to go search for supplies with Okata. It would be best to at least find fresh water and make a shelter before nightfall. Oh, how she dreaded nightfall.

"Amaya," she gave her main false name. Her hand gentle pat Nanami's back and she bowed her head a little. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I simply wish it was under different circumstances."

Tilting her head, she tentatively inquired, voice soft and tone sensitive, "I do not wish to rush you, Nanami-san, but... it would be best to find water and make shelter before the sun sets. Food too, if we can find any before the morrow."

[Chosokabe Nanami]

~* The woman's smile made Nanami feel a little bit better. The tears were slowly fighting themselves back, and Nanami did her best not to cry again and make her efforts feel like they were for nothing. But she was right, they had to secure food and shelter soon, or else they'd have a rough time on this island.

"Amaya-san... y-yes, you're right. My father taught me much. In a few hours, I could probably get all of that done for us..."

~* Nanami and her father, Motochika, had often renovated their ship together, and Nanami was no stranger to helping build hopes for people who had none or who had lost theirs. Now it was simply a matter of building a shelter for themselves, one that could be improved overtime to make things a bit more comfortable. As for the food, she had practice with that as well.

"Just... leave it to me." She smiled weakly. The pieces of the ship that actually reached the island would probably be a huge part of their shelter, as much as it pained the pirate princess.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

Okata blinked. All of it? She didn't expect nearly close to that much, and Okata wondered if she was exaggerating. But the concubine knew Nanami wasn't lying, able to sense it. Typically girls weren't trained in such things, and Okata wondered how Nanami was raised. Much of her garb was torn and gone, but... it seemed the girl spent a lot of life on the sea. But Okata wasn't going to ask questions, at least not yet. She would rather have everything fixed up first.

The older woman nodded and smiled, scratching the side of her head at the end. "I will help with what I can, Nanami-san, but I am afraid I likely won't be of much use. This is certainly not my area of expertise."

She realized just then that her hair was down and Okata blinked. As a traditional Japanese woman, her black hair was always up. It must have fallen down in the storm. It was odd and her slender fingers ran through her black locks, staring down at the quite long hair.

Shaking her head, Okata pushed aside such thoughts and attempted to stand up, but she winced and fell back down. She almost forgot about her injuries, and when really looking down at them, she was surprised a shark hadn't eaten her before she washed ashore.

Nibbling down on her bottom lip, the woman murmured, "This is troublesome, indeed..."

[Chosokabe Nanami]

~* Seeing the other woman was hurt, Nanami would move to catch her. Doing her best to support her, the pirate would frown.

"Amaya-san... your injuries..."

~* Nanami closed her eyes, wondering what she should do. Until her companion was better, she couldn't count on her as much as she initially hoped. Until that point came, Nanami would have to do the bulk of the work, and while she didn't mind... in this situation, it was hard enough to keep oneself alive, let alone another person on top of that. Opening her eyes, she would look at Amaya.

"Don't push yourself too hard, okay? We need to get some place safe enough to camp out, and then you need to rest up."

~* If Amaya was up to it, Nanami would support her for the walk to find some place else. The seaside amongst the dead was not the ideal place for it.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

Okata smiled uneasily after being caught by Nanami. "It seems I cut up my legs and feet on a nearby reef. I am lucky I was not taken by the fish."

Even though she needed someone for help and didn't particularly want to do physical labor, Okata didn't like this situation any better than Nanami. She wanted to survive, and being injured right at the get-go wasn't good. The woman looked down at her injuries and sighed.

"Once we find someplace to settle, I can wrap my injuries, and... well... I suppose I can help with whatever I am able. I should be alright in a few days, I think. ... I hope."

Okata would limp over to wherever with Nanami's help, appreciative of this girl's support. It would have been far easier to just leave Okata behind, and she was appreciative that this girl did not have the same mindset as Okata.

[Chosokabe Nanami]

"I won't let the sea... or this island... claim you."

~* Nanami spoke as the two of them started to move. It would be slow, of course, as Nanami did not want to push Amaya too hard. The less her partner was hurt, the better. Despite being a pirate, she shared her father's kind heart. She wasn't only helping this woman out because her survival depended on it. She did this to help a stranger in need, and someone that she decided that she could care for.

"Let me know if you need to stop to rest... and I'll do whatever I can to help while you need it."

~* Even if she had to do most of the work the first few days, Nanami was fine with it. It would offer a much needed distraction from all that had transpired. She only hoped they could find a nice clearing to set up camp in soon enough.

[Nomi no Ōkata]

Her eyes widened at Nanami's words. How could the world be capable of possessing such kindhearted people? It kind of bothered Okata that this girl was so compassionate, and she felt sorry for Nanami. It was the ways of children, in her mind, and children were corrupted. Their innocence towards the world and people snatched from them. Evidently Nanami lived a sheltered life, and it would be a sad day when the real world and its cruelties fell upon her.

Would she be able to handle it and innovate, or drown like Okata's older sister did?

Okata did not have a response and remained silent, light blue eyes searching for a good clearing. After some time with limping, her gaze rested on an area closer to the vegetation that was far from the water. It shouldn't flood. And it was on a hill, so rainfall wouldn't be a problem either. Her hand pointed in that direction.

"Nanami-san, what about there?"

[Chosokabe Nanami]

~* Nanami really did see life in a different way from most. She wasn't going to be cold and jaded like most of the people around her, she believed that there was a place for kindness in the world. She didn't care about war, conquest, none of that. All she wanted was to sail the seas with her friends and her father. It was a simple desire, yet one that the world threatened to take away from her.

~* Seeing Amaya point towards a clearing, Nanami examined it as they got closer. It seemed like it would work just fine. She carried her companion with her, taking it slowly uphill as to not strain her injuries further. Once they were at a good spot, Nanami would find a place for her new friend to sit, helping her down carefully before sitting down in a slump nearby.

"Phew... this should be good for now. How are you holding up, Amaya-san?"