"Miiiissss Saaaakuuuurrrrraaaa... Are we there yet?"
This wasn't the first, the second, or the seventeenth time that question had rung in her mind. Carrying Russet had not been an issue for the most part since she had bought herself a small backpack, but the fact even fully zipped up never stopped him from asking about how close they were to the destination that she was traveling to. "I offered to let you stay at home. My mother would have loved to spend some time with you, Russet. But you were so insistent upon meeting the mermaids, I couldn't really take no for an answer, now could I." The doll spoke up, looking over her shoulder. She'd been walking for very much over a day along the ocean. There was no real telling how long it would take before the yokai would even reach the destination as there was no map or anything of it's positive existence. However, if she was certain of anything, it would be apparent that when she reached it, it would be impossible to ignore. Having been here time and time again made it easier for her to be able to recall in some fashion, but... well the wide open sea was not known as a place for landmarks. Everything moved in time eventually. Be it from the current, the wind, or storms and the like that did that, it wasn't anything that could be avoided from happening. Quite frankly, Sakura had been excited for this day. But maybe the next time they could rent a boat so Russet could be more comfortable...
After some time of continual walking, the doll simply stopped atop the waters surface and looked down into the water. Many fish swam below, however the way they did so is what helped give away the place from which she was. Much smaller fish had a murky look to them while the bigger fish seemed to travel through normally. Along the route, it was so easy to spot the sharks and whales, even the dolphins that swam by in order to notice the area in which she was. However, here seemed to be some kind of visual illusion meant to deter things. To the untrained eye, this could be thought to be at the most being some kind of trick of the eye. People wayward at sea would be much more inclined to avoid looking at this again due to how long they had been at sea by this point, but Sakura's eye was a little more.. attuned than others. As someone whom took her job to survey things and people, something like this was just in her radar to pick up on.
Sakura had to take a moment. She could feel her heart racing with excitement and a feeling of worry. It had been so long since she had seen her old friends that she was worried that they may not want to be around her so much. However, that was overrun with the bubble of her heart pounding. She was a hollow doll... what heart was there to feel pounding. Well, turned out it wasn't. It was her seeing the reflection of Russet lightly shoving her body. Looking over her shoulder, she removed her backback and held it over the ocean. "Keep it up~ I can drop you here and I hope you can swim, Russ." The small companion remained silent, only squirming in the bag before becoming still. "That's what I thought..." With a small chuckle, the doll slipped back on her pack and turned back around and took a step forward. That feeling of the illusion was the only thing that ever seemed strange to pass through as her doll form.
Something didn't feel right. She passed through the barrier, but then she heard a splash in the water behind her. Turning to face it, she took another step forward and a small thud made her cry out lightly in pain. Wait... did she feel pain? How- Looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened. She wasn't in her doll body anymore. The hue of blue hair sitting over her shoulder and blocking her view was the very most apparent thing to her at first aside from that feeling. When her body shifted, there she saw the doll body lying at the shore of a beach. Russet popped out of the top flap of the bag and looked at the two before he looked to the conscious spirit in probably close to the same confusion as Sakura had been in herself. The two of them looked on to the other before Sakura let out a small sigh and walking over. "Strange... I never had that problem before. Must be a newer addition or something. Ugh... Now my dress is all soaked. Darn it." Giving a light shake of her head, she pulled the porcelain shell onto the beach and turned it to lay on its back. "You think it'll dry that way, Miss Sakura?" The small fox asked, prowling curiously around the doll.
As Russet took a look up, he had seen that Sakura's attention was now averted. The blue haired spirit was now focused on a large, docked ship that had never been here before. Had they found an abandoned ship and let it stay here for an aesthetics pleaser? Maybe it was recent and wanted to use this for stage material? Who knew? She would place one hand on the hull of the ship, running her hand along it until she was surprised as something broke a piece of the hull board off. It flew past the two and landed in the sand, followed by a very.. creepy laugh. Something that could only be described as a laughing clown on helium. Her head poked up to see through the opening when she had scene a malicious act that infuriated her to no end. One the mermaid whom she'd previously known was trapped in this ship, trying to avoid this creepy looking male sailor who held a perverted grin to his face. "Come on, girly~ Give it up already. You can't do anything in this ship~ Your little sound friends are gagged, your watery pals are kept from any water, and the ice ones are too useless to do anything with~" Well... that about summed up what she needed to know.
Looking further into the situation, the mermaid whom this sailor was trying to get in the moment with was Annette. The once bubbly and friendly girl was also one of the sound mermaids. Unable to speak or cry out for help, she nor the sailor noticed the onlooking spirit. Not willing to stand by and watch, Sakura popped her head away from the makeshift window and nodded to Russet. The fox began to produce fire in his mouth. Jumping up, he saw his aimed target and spat the fireball through the window, hitting him and setting him on fire. The mermaid's eyes began to widen in surprise but also fear. Suddenly, she was pulled through the hull of the ship by the spirit and let down onto the sandy beach. There she saw the blue haired idol and her fox companion, but was completely confused by whom they could be until the sleeping looking doll on the beach brought her memory back. "Hold on, Annette. Let me get this off of you." She spoke softly in case others were nearby. Pulling out her gag, she began to remove the restraints on her wrists while the girl was able to breath through her mouth finally after some time. "I-Is that you, Sakura?" She asked, watching rope being tossed away, her arms wrapped around the girl in a tight embrace. Flushed cheeks came to the girl, but she hugged back happily. This felt so good. The feeling of old friends. Before she had only imagined it, but even in the fearful moment for this mermaid, the spirit was sucking that chance up.
It took a little bit of time to calm the poor mermaid down before she could feel safe enough to be able to ask her any questions. Not only was it the trauma of the whole situation she was saved from, but there was also the fact that Sakura and Russet had practically burned that person alive and didn't seem the least bit caring for them. After a little time, neither did the mermaid. "So, this whole thing happened two weeks ago!? H-How come nobody tried to get to me?" Her tone was worried, angered, and upset all in the same breath. The mermaid, still a little upset, and rightfully so simply nodded and tried to calm herself down. "Well like that Kentucky Fried Chump said, we know what happened to the other girls, so why not find them next?" Chiming in his own thoughts, Annette looked down and calmly petted the fox on the head, smiling sweetly while she had gotten herself back into her old mindset. "I would love to, but they kept all the others together. They only separate us when they do.. things." Her body began to visibly shake at the meer mention of it. She was clearly traumatized, but Sakura quickly took her hands and stared at her, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Then let's take them back."
1568/2000 words
This wasn't the first, the second, or the seventeenth time that question had rung in her mind. Carrying Russet had not been an issue for the most part since she had bought herself a small backpack, but the fact even fully zipped up never stopped him from asking about how close they were to the destination that she was traveling to. "I offered to let you stay at home. My mother would have loved to spend some time with you, Russet. But you were so insistent upon meeting the mermaids, I couldn't really take no for an answer, now could I." The doll spoke up, looking over her shoulder. She'd been walking for very much over a day along the ocean. There was no real telling how long it would take before the yokai would even reach the destination as there was no map or anything of it's positive existence. However, if she was certain of anything, it would be apparent that when she reached it, it would be impossible to ignore. Having been here time and time again made it easier for her to be able to recall in some fashion, but... well the wide open sea was not known as a place for landmarks. Everything moved in time eventually. Be it from the current, the wind, or storms and the like that did that, it wasn't anything that could be avoided from happening. Quite frankly, Sakura had been excited for this day. But maybe the next time they could rent a boat so Russet could be more comfortable...
After some time of continual walking, the doll simply stopped atop the waters surface and looked down into the water. Many fish swam below, however the way they did so is what helped give away the place from which she was. Much smaller fish had a murky look to them while the bigger fish seemed to travel through normally. Along the route, it was so easy to spot the sharks and whales, even the dolphins that swam by in order to notice the area in which she was. However, here seemed to be some kind of visual illusion meant to deter things. To the untrained eye, this could be thought to be at the most being some kind of trick of the eye. People wayward at sea would be much more inclined to avoid looking at this again due to how long they had been at sea by this point, but Sakura's eye was a little more.. attuned than others. As someone whom took her job to survey things and people, something like this was just in her radar to pick up on.
Sakura had to take a moment. She could feel her heart racing with excitement and a feeling of worry. It had been so long since she had seen her old friends that she was worried that they may not want to be around her so much. However, that was overrun with the bubble of her heart pounding. She was a hollow doll... what heart was there to feel pounding. Well, turned out it wasn't. It was her seeing the reflection of Russet lightly shoving her body. Looking over her shoulder, she removed her backback and held it over the ocean. "Keep it up~ I can drop you here and I hope you can swim, Russ." The small companion remained silent, only squirming in the bag before becoming still. "That's what I thought..." With a small chuckle, the doll slipped back on her pack and turned back around and took a step forward. That feeling of the illusion was the only thing that ever seemed strange to pass through as her doll form.
Something didn't feel right. She passed through the barrier, but then she heard a splash in the water behind her. Turning to face it, she took another step forward and a small thud made her cry out lightly in pain. Wait... did she feel pain? How- Looking over her shoulder, her eyes widened. She wasn't in her doll body anymore. The hue of blue hair sitting over her shoulder and blocking her view was the very most apparent thing to her at first aside from that feeling. When her body shifted, there she saw the doll body lying at the shore of a beach. Russet popped out of the top flap of the bag and looked at the two before he looked to the conscious spirit in probably close to the same confusion as Sakura had been in herself. The two of them looked on to the other before Sakura let out a small sigh and walking over. "Strange... I never had that problem before. Must be a newer addition or something. Ugh... Now my dress is all soaked. Darn it." Giving a light shake of her head, she pulled the porcelain shell onto the beach and turned it to lay on its back. "You think it'll dry that way, Miss Sakura?" The small fox asked, prowling curiously around the doll.
As Russet took a look up, he had seen that Sakura's attention was now averted. The blue haired spirit was now focused on a large, docked ship that had never been here before. Had they found an abandoned ship and let it stay here for an aesthetics pleaser? Maybe it was recent and wanted to use this for stage material? Who knew? She would place one hand on the hull of the ship, running her hand along it until she was surprised as something broke a piece of the hull board off. It flew past the two and landed in the sand, followed by a very.. creepy laugh. Something that could only be described as a laughing clown on helium. Her head poked up to see through the opening when she had scene a malicious act that infuriated her to no end. One the mermaid whom she'd previously known was trapped in this ship, trying to avoid this creepy looking male sailor who held a perverted grin to his face. "Come on, girly~ Give it up already. You can't do anything in this ship~ Your little sound friends are gagged, your watery pals are kept from any water, and the ice ones are too useless to do anything with~" Well... that about summed up what she needed to know.
Looking further into the situation, the mermaid whom this sailor was trying to get in the moment with was Annette. The once bubbly and friendly girl was also one of the sound mermaids. Unable to speak or cry out for help, she nor the sailor noticed the onlooking spirit. Not willing to stand by and watch, Sakura popped her head away from the makeshift window and nodded to Russet. The fox began to produce fire in his mouth. Jumping up, he saw his aimed target and spat the fireball through the window, hitting him and setting him on fire. The mermaid's eyes began to widen in surprise but also fear. Suddenly, she was pulled through the hull of the ship by the spirit and let down onto the sandy beach. There she saw the blue haired idol and her fox companion, but was completely confused by whom they could be until the sleeping looking doll on the beach brought her memory back. "Hold on, Annette. Let me get this off of you." She spoke softly in case others were nearby. Pulling out her gag, she began to remove the restraints on her wrists while the girl was able to breath through her mouth finally after some time. "I-Is that you, Sakura?" She asked, watching rope being tossed away, her arms wrapped around the girl in a tight embrace. Flushed cheeks came to the girl, but she hugged back happily. This felt so good. The feeling of old friends. Before she had only imagined it, but even in the fearful moment for this mermaid, the spirit was sucking that chance up.
It took a little bit of time to calm the poor mermaid down before she could feel safe enough to be able to ask her any questions. Not only was it the trauma of the whole situation she was saved from, but there was also the fact that Sakura and Russet had practically burned that person alive and didn't seem the least bit caring for them. After a little time, neither did the mermaid. "So, this whole thing happened two weeks ago!? H-How come nobody tried to get to me?" Her tone was worried, angered, and upset all in the same breath. The mermaid, still a little upset, and rightfully so simply nodded and tried to calm herself down. "Well like that Kentucky Fried Chump said, we know what happened to the other girls, so why not find them next?" Chiming in his own thoughts, Annette looked down and calmly petted the fox on the head, smiling sweetly while she had gotten herself back into her old mindset. "I would love to, but they kept all the others together. They only separate us when they do.. things." Her body began to visibly shake at the meer mention of it. She was clearly traumatized, but Sakura quickly took her hands and stared at her, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Then let's take them back."
1568/2000 words