OOC:
I think some of us would appreciate more details about the setting. How large is this boat? We know its advanced and right off the line, but it'll be overbearingly constricting if it's too small. Who built it would also be a nice detail. Where did it depart from? Where's it headed?
((thanks for the concerns Paradigm_shift i hope this helps
-i already mentioned the size, the boat is one of the largest cruise ships ever meaning that it feels almost like a small city or a really really really bg mall/resort so there is plenty of different locations to enjoy. just think of it as double or triple the capacity of your standard cruise ship with three times the fun.
-and the boat left from santa barbara and will be stopping (theoretically) in thailand and other southeast asian hotspots.
-and the origin of the cruiseline is a secret, silly.....all in due time))
((Alright, I'll bite - but don't you disappear for another year after the first few pages, okay? 
Oh, and welcome back of course. 
))
The sun returns as fast as its gentle rays had vanished. The expected figure, however, is nowhere to be found. None had cast a shadow.
The shadow, however, doesn't much care. It flits down the hull and into the shade of an awning. Its master is expecting it.
Near the stern he stands, letting eyes wander over and into the whitewash of ship's wake. He is with another, by a rail of one of the lower decks, neither of the two figures seeming to carry a care in the world.
The left is a man of visible age, the bleached gray of his Fu Manchu standing in stark contrast with the deep tan of his face. He stands frighteningly tall, nearly bordering on three meters, and holds his head high and proud. Robes of fine, deep-red silk wrap fluently about his body, adorned with golden trim and intricate decor, and the winds of the sea caress them most softly, as a mother might her child.
The large bamboo coolie atop his bald head is almost an anachronism, having little, if any, in common with the intricately woven garments of the orient. Still, it hides his eyes, and somehow it seems to all fit together in indecipherable harmony. The towering man stands visibly relaxed at the stern, slightly wrinkled fingers curled about the white metal of the rail.
His counterpart stands respectably shorter, reaching little more than 1.9 meters, clad in the garb of the innocuous tourist. His skin carries a Caucasian hue, and his wild hair is white as snow. Mirrored sunglasses conceal his eyes, and the rest of his outfit hides away his nature beneath white shorts, black sandals, and a sea-blue Hawaiian shirt dotted with palm leaves and lemon wedges.
He too leans against the rail, but with forearms instead of fingers, keeping these nervously drumming against one another over the whitewash below. Unlike the essence of serenity beside him, this man stands by no means relaxed. Far from, in fact - he is twitchy, nervous, and deeply concerned as he converses with the man to his left.
They speak Japanese.
"I really don't know why you're so worked up." the robed figure tells him with a long sigh. His voice is deep, but pleasant, his tone gentle as wind's breath itself, "Here of all places. What could possibly happen?"
"Pirates." the shorter fellow's lips spit back like a pistol. His tone carries all the twitch and sporadic manner of the man of science embroiled in a heap of wall-covering equations.
"Oh come now, what is it with you and pirates?"
"Ninja." the nervous man's shoulders give a speedy shrug, "Can't help it."
"That is a myth."
"Is not."
"It very much is."
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is not infinity!" a jolt runs through the man, his finger thrown in the direction of his counterpart, "And infinity's a concept, not a number! No plus one!"
"Fine." the aged hands turn to reveal empty palms, "But this is a cruise ship. They really aren't normally attacked. And it's large...and very much so. There would simply be too many people to give a lucrative target."
"They could just be thieves."
"Thieves in targeted pursuit of a certain container that doesn't even look remotely valuable? No. Just no. You're being paranoid, that's all there is to this. Relax. It's a cruise. We don't even have to do anything, so do at least try and enjoy yourself."
"Can I...?"
"No explosives."
The conversation quickly turns in this direction, the shorter man rattling off reckless forms of amusement while the other denies suggestion after suggestion. The thoughts of neither any longer hold concern over the large cube of metal resting peacefully in one of the massive ship's holds.
And why should they? After all, what could really happen...?
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((I'll give it a try. ))
[ QUOTE ]
a slender Chinese woman standing at a nearby bar.
[/ QUOTE ]
Harry flopped onto one of the bar stools, spinning himself around once before leaning on the bar and ordering a Coke.
He was dressed comfortably in worn cargo shorts and lime-green sandals. A straw hat of such poor design that he may have well woven it himself, was jammed down over his dark brown dreadlocks. The unbuttoned hawaiin shirt worn over the plain "wife-beater" was such a jarring contrast of vibrant blue and yellow, orange and red flowers, that it almost seemed more "squint-worthy" than the bright sun that shone down on the ship's deck.
Sipping happily at his drink through a twisty, tourist-trap straw, Harry suddenly seemed to realize that someone was beside him.
"Hola," he greeted the Chinese woman enthusiastically. "I'm currently celebrating a ringing victory on the shuffleboard court. So how's about you join me and I buy ya a drink."
Near the stern of the ship, barely in earshot of the two men speaking Japanese, a young girl, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, was enjoying a new and exciting concept:
A vacation!
*Flashback to one week before the ship disembarked*
The young girl, Shioh, had just finished her training for the day in the 'daycare center' where she lived. The exercises entailed dodging objects without using her eyes and ears, so not only was she physically exhausted, but mentally as well.
With a sigh she collapsed into a sofa, breathing heavily.
"Very good, Shioh," Asuka, her mentor and older-sister figure, said as she sat down beside her charge.
"It's hard...was it...this hard for...you?" Shioh panted heavily.
"When I was your age? No, but I had already been training for a very long time, so my body and mind were always even. Your body and mind, however, are not," Asuka told her in her usual cold-yet-aloof manner.
"Great...I bet that'll take another sixteen years..." Shioh whined.
Asuka smirked at the girl, "Do not sell yourself short, you have promise, and you've been working hard. In fact, I have a gift for you."
Asuka reached into her pocket and produced an envelope, passing it to Shioh.
"I hereby order you to take a vacation, rest and relaxation will help in the synchronization of body and mind," Asuka announced.
"But I've never taken a 'vacation'...what do I do?" Shioh asked pleadingly.
Asuka stood up, chuckled, and mussed up the girl's hair.
"Have fun."
*Back to the present*
Shioh was at a loss. She had researched 'vacations' and 'cruise ships' and always saw girls like her lying down on these chairs,smiling, and wearing 'sexy bikinis' like the blue and white floral one her other mentor Shiomi picked out for her. While comfortable, sitting around was immensely boring.
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and jumped up to her feet and walked over to the other two on this part of the ship.
"Excuse me?" she said in her best Japanese, what little she had gleaned from Asuka and Shiomi's conversations they thought she couldn't understand.
"I'm sorry...Could you read that off again? I do believe I misheard you." Said a pleasently distant voice.
It was one of the many grand suites of the cruise liner, and a very befuddled paige was trying to deliver a message to its occupant. A strange man-but the paige wasn't one to question. This was the meta-human age, after all.
"Err. My apologies Mr. Erik. It says here that you are cordially invited to the Masquerade Ball in hall eighteen later this week, that it will be filled with delights and astounding visions that you are guaranteed to love
Before the page could react, he was grabbed by the throat and yanked into the suite.
"YOU DO NOT SAY THAT WORD." The occupant hissed. The paige smelled immense amounts of perfume that made him dozy, even suspended above the floor...Or was that just the air deprevation? He was faintly aware of the door snapping shut, casting the room in complete darkness. The curtains were drawn and the lights were off. The only lines of light were the giant, bloody tears running down the pearly face in front of him.
"I will have mercy. But you will say it correctly. Or you will die." Tears rolled down the poor, doomed paige's face as the ornate invitation was shoved under his nose once again.
"Say it." The distant voice beckoned.
Blubbering, sputting for air, the paige gasped out the message. "You are cordially...invited to...the Masquerade ball in...hall eighteen...later this week, that...it will be filled...with delights...and astounding visions...that you are guaranteed...to lo-"
"No." The voice said coldly.
"uuuuuh-"
"NO."
"vu..."
The paige stared into those brilliant ruby tears and choked out a different word entirely, his tongue twisting before he could finish almost of its own accord. "...Loyalty."
"Much better. That took you a couple of tries though. You will die." The paige's eyes widened. And then there was only the darkness, and those awful bloody tears.
***
"And I loy you so Mr. dolly doll!" A grow man wearing a white tux, with a cheerfully blank and instantly forgettable face was walking down the deck, tossing a tannish brown teddy bear up and down in the air as he walked. "And I loy you so much I'm going to hwug you and sqweeze you until you be tiny wittle bits."
"I think it's so cute I could just eat him up." Said a rather similar man in a grey tux.
"Speaking of which, I think we should stop by the kitchens and see what everyone will be having for dinner." Said the final member of the trio, yet another nearly identical man save for the color of his suit-midnight black.
"Later." Thre grey-suited man said. "That's strictly business there, that is. We were told to ENJOY ourselves."
"And I am. I loy my wittle red cap." The white suited man said, nibbling on the ear of his teddy bear.
"And what am I supposed to do? Sing that song with the coconuts in it?" The dark suited man asked the other two with a slight trace of anger in his voice.
"People don't actually sing that song." The man in the grey suit said. "If you're feeling anxious, I'd suggest...tennis? This monstrosity has a few courts on it, I believe.'
"Tennis." The dark suited man repeated, his voice flat and dull.
"Oh yes, it's QUITE exciting." The grey suited man said, nudging his darker compatriot with an elbow. "Just be careful that you don't go and hurt somebody by accident. Bound to happen one of these days, I swear. All these high velocity sports."
"Say, that actually sounds like a good idea. I'll see you two before dinner." The man in the midnight black suit said, turning and heading for the nearest door back inside.
"By the way, Grey..." The man in the white tux said in a low whisper. "What kinda jokes do posh people use?"
"What? Oh!" The grey man said, startled from his staring back at all the people staring at them. "Use...classy jokes. Political ones are good, I think."
"Really?" The white man said, patting his teddy bear absent mindedly on the head. "Like what?
"Like..." The man with his grey suit froze, trying to think of a good joke on the spot while simultaneously wondering why the hell the narrator hadn't assigned them names yet. "Like...uh...ok, here's one. Bear with me." He cleared his throat.
"Say my good fellow, do you know what's funny?" He asked in an overly cheery tone.
"What would that be?" The white suited man asked.
"Poor people." The grey suited man said proudly.
There was silence as the two walked down the deck.
"I don't know." The man in white said. "That seems in awfully poor taste there. Don't you awgwee, Mr. dolly? You should know what's tasty. CAUSE YOU ARE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Shut up." The grey man said bitterly, wondering how many teddy bears he could eat when the time came.
"BUT I DON' WANNA!" The man in the white tux shouted, drawing several stares and causing several people to hurry away. "Oh look, Japanese people. Are there any good jokes about them?"
"Shut. Up." The grey suited man said, smiling a very forgettable smile and waving a bit to the passerby, as if to assure them they were not at all freaks of nature.
"Let's find out!" The white suited man said excitedly, zipping off like a blur on a crash course for the two men and the strange girl who had just started speaking with them.
Post deleted by TemptingTorrent
[ QUOTE ]
"Hola," he greeted the Chinese woman enthusiastically. "I'm currently celebrating a ringing victory on the shuffleboard court. So how's about you join me and I buy ya a drink."
[/ QUOTE ]
The Chinese womans misty grey gaze turns to the dreadlocked guest and her distant demeanour turns quickly to a slightly warmer one. oh, well sure Ill take a mojito with lots of mint. She is obviously preoccupied as her attention is conatantly focused towards the door the Nigerian woman entered. Within just a few moments, the Nigerian woman exits through the door and with a smile, the Chinese woman now directs her full attention towards her new friend, thank goodness you got here, I was beginning to think that there werent any singles on this monstrosity.
****
Upon seeing the Nigerian woman exit the lower decks, the French woman immediately gets up and joins her walking down the deck casually. They begin to converse in French softly as they stroll along the wooden deck.
How long the French woman says tipping her sunglasses down
The repair cant be done in less than a week, and the staff still has no idea what happened to the lead engineer so we have time says the Nigerian woman putting on a sunhat that was previously tied to her wrist
Do we know how many are on board
Meta-human? No but we can handle anything right
Just in case, where is la maîtresse (the mistress)
At one of the casinos I would assume, but she asked us not to bother her until all was ready for the ball and besides, this is our task
Right
Switching to English the two woman speak in brighter tones,
Have you eaten? the French woman says fastening her sarong around her waist
No and I heard there is a lovely sushi place at sternside
Well then, please lead the way
THe two women head towards the back of the boat
((sorry again for the delay keep it going!))
((I'll be writing up a post tommrow.
I also hope that you realise that having Bwerp, Ace, and myself in the same RP is a RP in itself.
I hope you're ready for more plot twists and mini-arcs than M. Night Shamalamadingdong cna pull out of his [censored].
Expect a few angry buisnessmen within the next 24 hours.))
[ QUOTE ]
thank goodness you got here, I was beginning to think that there werent any singles on this monstrosity.
[/ QUOTE ]
If Harry noticed her temporary preoccupation, he didn't show it. He motioned to the barmen to bring her order and spun around on his stool to lean back on the bar.
"Well, I'm single alright," he smiled wryly, raising his Coke in a mock toast. "Stick with what ya know, I guess. But whatever! Nothin' can ruin my day now. This is the first real vacation I've had in forever. No surprises, no emergencies, no unforseen complications. Just clear sailin' fer ol' Harry. That's me by the way."
Harry sighed contentedly, looking up at the clear blue sky.
"Yup, what could possibly go wrong on a trip like this."
"Yes?" the aged man invited Shioh to continue to speak, though she was sure the fellow of more average stature had taken note of her first, "Can we hel-"
His words turned to silence with the suddenness of a candle's flame extinguished. From one moment to another, the towering robed figure no longer looked at her (well, technically the hat hid his eyes, but he'd toward her in his response, so the idea wasn't exactly far-fetched), instead having directed his attention ahead.
"Is something wrong?" his companion queried, though now much calmer, peeking curiously at the wall the aged man seemed to be looking at...or through.
"I sense murder." came the answer, his tone most serene, yet his expression decidedly perturbed, "We should probably inform the steward..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
"Well, I'm single alright," he smiled wryly, raising his Coke in a mock toast. "Stick with what ya know, I guess. But whatever! Nothin' can ruin my day now. This is the first real vacation I've had in forever. No surprises, no emergencies, no unforseen complications. Just clear sailin' fer ol' Harry. That's me by the way."
Harry sighed contentedly, looking up at the clear blue sky.
"Yup, what could possibly go wrong on a trip like this."
[/ QUOTE ]
Well I can tell that this vacation is putting you in a good mood. Ill tell you what; I have a quick errand to attend to in my quarters. If you stop by in a few, I should be dressed for a little fun at Calypso, that nice club down below. Just come by the first class cabins by the casino, room 304B in a few, which should give me enough time to shower and change for the club. Come ready to party, and *after sipping her cocktail* thanks again for the drink, cutie. The woman saunters off towards the cabins.
[ QUOTE ]
"Yes?" the aged man invited Shioh to continue to speak, though she was sure the fellow of more average stature had taken note of her first, "Can we hel-"
His words turned to silence with the suddenness of a candle's flame extinguished. From one moment to another, the towering robed figure no longer looked at her (well, technically the hat hid his eyes, but he'd toward her in his response, so the idea wasn't exactly far-fetched), instead having directed his attention ahead.
"Is something wrong?" his companion queried, though now much calmer, peeking curiously at the wall the aged man seemed to be looking at...or through.
"I sense murder." came the answer, his tone most serene, yet his expression decidedly perturbed, "We should probably inform the steward..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Shioh was originally going to ask if there was anything to do on the ship besides sit on a chair, but the old man's comment piqued her interest instead.
"Murder? Doesn't that happen a lot? I mean, with this many people on the ship, someone's bound to kill someone else!" she said, unconcerned with the idea of a murderer on board the ship.
(OOC: Quick note about Shioh: she doesn't hold the same abhorrence about killing a normal human would. She views 'dying' on the same level as 'black eye'.)
And that's when a man with a pure white tuxedo pulled in from a dash that would have shamed a super-speeder, grinding to a halt in front of the two men and Shioh. He has a pleasently forgettable face with oiled blond hair.
He was also carrying a tannish brown teddy bear.
"Hai. ^.^" He said. "Would any of you happen to know any good jokes? It's important."
The arrival of the man carrying the teddy bear again distracted Shioh, and she thought of her favorite joke.
"Knock knock."
[ QUOTE ]
The arrival of the man carrying the teddy bear again distracted Shioh, and she thought of her favorite joke.
"Knock knock."
[/ QUOTE ]
"Who's there?" The man asked in a sing-song voice.
"Retcon," Shioh said, he lips curling up in a smile.
[ QUOTE ]
"Retcon," Shioh said, he lips curling up in a smile.
[/ QUOTE ]
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAThat was a horrible joke.HAHAHAHAHAHA...Say, you're cute. You'd make a good teddy bear. ^.^"
OOC:
Think we should wait for the others now. 
Just then a well-dressed buisnessman turned the corner and pulled out his cell phone. It seemed important.
"No we don't know --"
"I'm sorry, there is no ETA on the fix."
"Yes."
"No."
"Positive."
"Positive."
"It's already been done."
"We can't get an exact location for air-lift."
"I'm sorry, I understand that you need to be in Bangkok as soon as possible."
"I was not aware that it a buisness meeting was a matter of life or death. I'm sorry."
"And who would replace--"
"With all due respect, Ivanov is a complete moron. I wouldn't even trust him with the keys to my car let alone all my personal infomation."
"I understand."
"Consider him dead. I'll give the word soon."
-Click-
The man's casual stroll though the group came to a halt at the mention of jokes. He closed his phone with the flick of two fingers and slipped it into his pocket. He smiled, unbuttoned his sportscoat, slipped it off, and sat down in a near by chair.
Shio's expression changed to a more pouty, angry expression as she looked at the man with malice.
"I WASN'T FINISHED!" she bawled.
Clearing her throat she said, "Ding dong!"
He chuckled. "What is that some kind of a pick-up line?" He mimiced the man who had just finished laughing. He turned to Shio, "I'm sorry, but I don't see the humor in that."
He stretched his legs out and put his hands behind his head.
[ QUOTE ]
((I'll be writing up a post tommrow.
I also hope that you realise that having Bwerp, Ace, and myself in the same RP is a RP in itself.
I hope you're ready for more plot twists and mini-arcs than M. Night Shamalamadingdong cna pull out of his [censored].
Expect a few angry buisnessmen within the next 24 hours.))
[/ QUOTE ]
((Meowth! That's right!))
Edit: A lone man, decked in the standard white T-shirt, khaki shorts and sandals, leaned against the railing of the ship, looking down at the ocean as the ship caused salt water to cascade in a brilliant combination of blue and white.
He was a slender man, standing at about 5'10". His long dark hair reached the back of his neck, a pair of sunglasses parting his bangs in the front. He was of obviouis caucasian descent, his skin only slightly tanned due to his time under the sun.
His mind was fairly blank for the time being. After all, it was vacation. Who needed to think? All he cared about at his moment was the pattern formed by the ripples on the surface of the sea. However, that was certainly going to change in the next few moments. Right as he finished watching a dolphin in the distance jump into the air, at almost the exact same moment the old man began to cry murder, his ears perked. He could feel it. He'd been around death for long enough to know the feeling of passing life, and the sudden coldness it brought to those around. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with.
He smiled, leaned off of the rail, stretched his arms, and leisurely strolled through a door leading to the interior of the ship.
Shioh was mad. This...guy...had just made fun of her joke...and not in a good way!
All sorts of interesting ideas for 'divine punishment' raced through her head. The possibilities were staggering. However her anger was held off by a few simple words from her mentors: "Keep your anger in check or we'll punish you."
...
So she just gave him the finger and blew a raspberry.
[ QUOTE ]
"Come ready to party, and *after sipping her cocktail* thanks again for the drink, cutie. The woman saunters off towards the cabins.
[/ QUOTE ]
Harry watched her go, thoughtfully sipping at his Coke as he turned back to the barman.
"She called me 'cutie'," he said, raising an eyebrow and sounding a little wary.
"She was being nice," the barman answered once he'd realized Harry was talking to him.
"Yeah, but... 'cutie'?"
"Have any other good looking, single women shown any interest in you?" the barman asked back.
"Hmmm, good point, buddy," Harry conceded. He leisurely sipped at his drink. He supposed he'd have to put on something a little fancier for the club.
"Well, let it not be said that ol' Harry can't mix with any crowd if the occasion calls," he smirked to himself.
At sea
((ok give this one a try. Its pretty straight forward but if you have any more questions just OCC))
In a seemingly endless expanse of blue a fantastic new ocean liner makes takes its maiden voyage across the pacific. The ships name is the Naiad, the newest, largest and most advanced cruise ship to ever cross the pacific. The suns rays kiss the deck as the guests enjoys its many pools, spas, restaurants and clubs that spread about the boat. Its almost like a flawless floating city filled with almost every vacation fantasy a guest could think of.
At the bow of the boat near one of the more luxurious pools a delicate French woman sips a clearly strong tropical beverage while reading a small book of poetry. She peaks above her sunglasses and her sparkling eyes lock with those of a slender Chinese woman standing at a nearby bar. She in tern locks gazes with a Nigerian beauty lounging on the opposite deck. Raising from her chair the Nigerian woman strolls inside heading towards the lower decks and the engineering room.
The French woman returns her attention to her poetry with a smile when a figure blocks her reading light. Do you mind? says the woman looking up, once again, from her reading. Please move you are blocking my sun
((you may interact with any of the three characters that I introduced. You can also interact with multiple, just keep it organized. They can be heroes or villains and regular RP etiquette applies ))