InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ On The Sea ❯ The grand tour ^_~ ( Chapter 3 )

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Chapter Three:

Kagome was still staring wide eyed at the ship when an impatient rap on her shoulder brought her to her senses.

"Oh, sorry, what?" Kagome asked dazedly.

Shippo let out an impatient sigh.

"What's your name?" he asked, propping his hands on his hips.

"Oh it's K-" Kagome paused suddenly. `Uh oh. . .' Kagome thought, she hadn't been prepared for that question . . . what was she going to do?

"K- what!?" Shippo said a little impatiently.

"Kage" Kagome said quickly. (Kage as in Cage).

Shippo nodded his head, giving his `acceptance' of Kagome's name.

"Well Kage follow me and I'll show you around the ship." He said as he began to walk away from Kagome's shocked form. `Well that was easier then I thought it would be' Kagome thought with a sigh as she followed Shippo up the plank that led to the Sea Maiden.

As Kagome stepped on board the finely polished deck, she let out a whoosh of breath. If she had thought the Sea maiden to be amazing from afar then she had no words to describe it up close and personal. The whole ship gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. The deck was spotless and scrubbed to a shiny finish, the brass and metal that was on the ship shone in the afternoon sunlight like a beacon. Overall it took her breath away. And there were people everywhere! Well not as much people as of men, but you get the picture. Men shuffled around the deck hauling buckets and ropes. Men where running back and forth shouting orders and cussing. One man in particular had a colorful enough language that he brought a small blush to Kagome's cheeks.

"Alrighty Kage matey this here is the Sea Maiden. How much do you know about ships Kage?" Shippo asked sticking his hands into his pockets as a breeze ruffled his unruly red hair.

"Um, not much." Kagome admitted sheepishly. Shippo gave her a reassuring smile and said:

"Well then you have got a lot to learn in a short amount of time mate." Shippo chucked.

Kagome nodded her head and followed Shippo to the front of the ship.

"This here is the Bow of the ship." He explained "when we are given directions, this is always forward" he turned and pointed to the south, "that's aft" he pointed to the right "that's the starboard side" he then pointed to the left "and that's the larboard side".

"Got it?" he asked.

Kagome nodded her head, her raven black hair fell into her eyes and she had to push it out of her face.

Good" He said as he led her in a slow stroll around the ship.

"We have three masts, the main mast is the big `un right there, the foremast, that's the one closets to the bow of the ship and the mizzenmast, that's the one that's by the stern of the ship."

Kagome nodded her head as Shippo continued on, giving her a tour of the ship. There was A LOT to learn, so much so that after the tour was over Kagome was sure her head was going to explode with all the new information stored in it.

The Sea maiden had five decks total. The spar deck, or upper level, the gun deck, the berth deck, the orl op and the Hold.

It was a lot of information to digest but Kagome felt confident she could handle it.

"Hey Kage, now I get to introduce you to the crew." Shippo said with a wide grin.

Kagome smiled nervously and nodded her head.

They walked up to the spar deck ( the first level) and looked up at the sky. It was dark now, stars winked down at them from over head as a cool night wind ruffled their clothing and mussed their hair.

"Its beautiful isn't it?" Kage asked Shippo as they stared up at the stars.

"Aye, it is." Shippo said softly.

"Shippo, I never knew you were one to admire the beauty of nature." A familiar voice said from behind them.

Shippo and Kagome spun around to come face to face with Miroku, who was now staring up at the sky. He let out a soft sigh and turned to them with a small almost wistful smile on his face.

Shippo blushed a bit.

"I aint a soft chit ya know." Shippo spat indigently.

Miroku chuckled and shook his head, his blue eyes sparkling with delight.

"I know matey, I know." He laughed as he turned to Kagome. His eyes focused on Kagome and he gave her a small grin.

"Do I get the pleasure of knowing the name of the person I rescued from the clutches of drunken idiots?" he said with a small chuckle. Kagome smiled warmly in return, a small flush of embarrassment lighting her cheeks.

"M'names Kage." She said, lowering her voice to sound more like a boy, but not too much. Her throat was getting sore with the effort, she had been doing it all day.

"And thanks for. . ." she trailed off.

"Heh, like you rescued `im, he fought pretty well himself and if I recall correctly it was ME who saved your hide from the fat guy who was slugging at ye with your back turned!" Shippo protested, glaring at Miroku crossing his arms over his chest.

Miroku shook his head sadly, "I think your mistaken my friend, it was me who saved your hide from that small frail old man with the cane." Miroku sighed.

Shippo cocked an eyebrow "Yea, well it was me who tackled the big lug that was about to knock you upside the head with the table leg." Shippo snorted.

Kagome watched with an amused smile as the two of them bickered back and forth about who rescued who. It was ten minutes later when Kagome decided that she had had enough.

"Alright, alright! You guys both rescued each other!" Kagome all but shouted over the loud bickering.

Both of them stopped mid shout and turned to her, big grins plastered on their faces.

"I suppose Kage is right, we did rescue each other." Miroku said grinning at his younger friend.

"Yup, that we did mate." Shippo chuckled.

" `ey! What're you two up to now!" came a jolly shout from behind Kagome, Kagome turned around to stare straight into the strangest pair of green eyes she had ever seen.

Standing in front of her was a young man about her height, a few inches taller with the most amazing green eyes Kagome had ever seen in her life. They were almost unreal, they looked like a cats eyes- a pair of eyes that did not belong to a human.

The young man had curly black hair that fell to his shoulders. His skin was dark, not a natural dark but the kind of color you get from staying out in the sun too long. Thick black lashes framed his green eyes. His jaw was angular and set, stubborn almost. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a pair of faded brown breeches. On his lips he also wore a smirk.

"Hey Corrin" Shippo said with a wave.

Miroku nodded his head in acknowledgement, giving Corrin a small smirk.

"And who's this?" Corrin asked, giving Kagome a level stare. Kagome felt as if those piercing green eyes could see right through to her very soul, his stare was so intense, as if he were sizing her up.

Kagome stiffened her back under his stare and raised an elegant eyebrow.

"The names Kage" She stated gruffly crossing her hands over chest. She would have been friendlier is Corrin hadn't been staring at her like she was dirt, ore rather, a new enemy.

His sharp gaze wavered into one of honest curiosity.

"This `uns a tough one. You the new cabin boy?" Corrin asked, the smirk never leaving his lips.

Kagome opened her mouth to answer but was cut of by Shippo.

"Yeah, he's the new cabin boy alright, `s already met the cap'n and we had a grand tour of the ship." Shippo said cheerfully as if he didn't sense the tension between Corrin and Kagome.

"I'm Corrin, I'm the captains first mate." Corrin said with a nod.

Kagome gave him a small smile. He didn't seem to be trying to intimidate her anymore, he was friendly now.

"Nice t'meet you."

"Well it's getting late and I have first watch so you youngsters should be getting off to bed now." Miroku said calmly.

Shippo and Corrin cast him a fierce gaze where Kagome just shrugged indifferently. She didn't care one way or another.

Shippo sighed and the three of them headed below deck.

"Well I got to go check on Captain Sesshoumaru; I'll see you in the morning in the mess hall." Corrin said as he waved them off and turned down a hallway.

Shippo gave a jaw cracking yawn, its time for bed Kage, I'll get you a hammock and a mess kit, you just wait right here." Shippo said before running off.

Kagome was left standing in the hallway, by herself. So far the day had gone by fast, and it almost didn't seem real. The life of a sailor was going to be easy, Kagome thought smugly as she leaned against the wooden panel.

Real easy. . .

Kagome woke up to the sound of pounding footsteps and groaned. She was laying in her hammock in the dorm room (a/n, gimme a break here people, we all know this isn't the name for it so all I want you to do is nod your head and go along with it).

The room smelt of sweat and stink of dozens of human bodies, MALE human bodies, which made it smell even worse. Kagome had had a rough time getting to sleep last night. They had set up her hammock in the far corner under the hammock one of the fattest men Kagome had ever seen in her life. The hammock wasn't like her soft feather bed at home, there was no room to roll around and stretch too much, Kagome had to be contented to just lay on her back and stare up at the hammock above her, which swooned dangerously close to her face. Then there were the loud snores of the men around her. The man above her had a particularly obnoxious snore and Kagome could have sworn that he was having a heart attack three times last night because of all the racket he was making. And then there was the smell. OH GOD it was horrible, Kagome's small nose cringed as the disgusting smell assaulted her senses.

So when the call was made for everyone to get up, Kagome missed it. She felt as if she had just fallen asleep, her eyes felt sore and stiff when she blinked them open. Kagome groaned and practically rolled out of her hammock, falling to the floor with a painful thump. She got to her feet and shook her head to clear it. When she looked around the room she was greeted with a sight that made her brush to the roots of her hair.

There were SEVERAL naked men running around, throwing on clothing, cussing, laughing and joking. Some of the men were already headed out of the door.

"Kage! C'mon mate we want to make it to the mess hall early!" Shippo shouted from the doorway, waving Kagome over to him. Kagome nodded and slipped quickly into her boots, relieved to find that her small fortune was still there.

Kagome navigated her way through the sleepy NAKED men and made it to the doorway.

"You okay Kage? You look really pale." Shippo said, casting her a worried glance.

"Naw, I'm fine! Really!" Kagome protested, waving him off.

"Let's go." She said cheerfully. And that was one thing about Kagome, she was always a morning person. You know, those overly cheerful, up in your face hyper morning people.

But years of experience taught Kagome not to rub that in other people's faces.

Shippo nodded and led Kagome down to the mess hall, or galley. The galley was fair in size, there were a dozen or so tables with chairs in the room. There was a long line of sailors waiting to be served, towards the back. Shippo handed Kagome her mess kit which consisted of a dingy metal bowl, fork and spoon.

Kagome and Shippo got their breakfast and sat down at one of the empty tables. They were served what looked like to be stew with bits of ham floating around in it and they were also given a stale roll, which Kagome found was as hard as a rock.

They had been served by Yentrou, he was a fat man with a big grizzly gray beard. He had a big bald head but Kagome thought he had more of a muscley bulk then a fat one. He seemed nice enough, he had given Kagome and Shippo a hearty helping of the stew because they were "Wee lads" and he had given Kagome a small friendly wink before filling up the next persons bowl.

Kagome and Shippo began to eat their meal, talking idly about the people and places on the ship, reviewing what Kagome had learned yesterday.

"your not even wait for your dear friend Filbis afore ya start eating, why Shippo matey, I'm hurt!" Said a scrawny man with dark brown hair and goatee to match.

Shippo rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Go away Filbis, I aint your matey." Shippo said boredly, as if they had gone through this same situation dozens of times.

"Aw Shippo! Yer harsh words scorch me like a thousand blows with a . . ." Filbis stopped mid sentence to look over at Kagome, as if seeing her for the first time.

"And who might you be?" he asked, a greasy smile spreading across his greasy looking features.

Shippo sighed as he dipped his roll into his soup.

"I'm Kage." Kagome said flatly, glancing from the obviously irritated Shippo to the pesky greasy Filbis standing next to him.

"Well its nice `ter meet ya matey if there's anything I can get for you anything at all -"

"Scram Filbis, he `aint interested in your stolen goods, no get away from us afore I tell the captain that you stole the-"

"Alright! Alright matey! Keep it down would ya!" Filbis said waving his hands in defeat, his eyes darting around the room.

"Ahh Filbis, could you please leave you're blocking my seat." Came the calm voice of Miroku. Filbis' eyes widened and he nodded his head rapidly.

"Aye, I was just leaving." Filbis said as he scuttled away.

Miroku shook his head sadly and sat down next to Shippo.

"He never learns." Miroku sighed as he began to eat his meal.

"You're telling me." Corrin's voice came from behind Kagome, "I don't know how many times I've had to put that one in the hold." Corrin sighed as he sat down next to Kagome and started his meal. Soon more men filled the room and the seats were all taken. Kagome finished her breakfast rather quickly. It wasn't what she would call a five star meal but if it was good enough for the men it was good enough for her too.

They wiped their bowls clean with their napkins and headed up towards the spar deck.

Kagome gave a small sigh as she the fresh salty smell of the ocean hit her nose. Apparently they had just cast of from the harbor this morning, while Kagome was eating, they were still in calm water so Kagome didn't notice the gentle rocking too much.

"Well its time to start our day, you'll be taking orders from Corrin, he'll tell you what to do and when your done, at noon meet me by the main mast." Shippo said.

Kagome nodded her reply and turned towards Corrin who was looking at her with interest.

"Well then, you best get started cleaning the deck." He said with a smirk. "I'll show you where the bucket and brush are." He said, leading her towards the bow of the boat.

"Thanks" Kagome said as she followed his powerful stride, his walk was confident, almost like that of Sesshoumaru's but a little bit cockier. (A/N not in a bad way). Kagome followed him with a small smile. Her first day had begun.

`How hard can cleaning a deck be?' she thought as she followed Corrin through the small crowd of sailors.

Well she was about to find out.

^_^

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Okay and that's ANOTHER chapter *beams proudly* . So what did you guys think!? Was it good or bad? Tell me darnit! I need more reviews before I can update. Okay so I don't NEED the reviews but it would be nice wouldn't it? LOL. So Please review! I want to know what u guys think of this story, if I made any mistakes. All you people who know about ships and boats and what not tell me if I got the names right, PUH-LEASE! Lol. It is VERY appreciated!