Chapter 3
Watching the ragged black combat boots continue up each rickety wooden stair without any pause filled Shogo with even more dread.
The young swab looks up to see impossibly puny and almost reptilian black eyes with three gill like lines underneath each one. His eyes are trained on the door leading into the cabin.
The captain does not even bother to spare Shogo a glance despite the insult, something disturbingly out of character.
The cabin door creaks loudly after it is shoved open, and Shogo is unceremoniously tossed into the badly lit room on his ass by the stoic captain.
The downed child quickly glances around the dim and shadowy place, poorly lit by a single candle that flickers and dances in the drafty room. The walls are made of rough, weather-beaten wood and are adorned with all manner of strange and exotic objects – maps and charts, telescopes and sextants, knives and swords, and a variety of strange trinkets and treasures from around the world. The floor is made of hard, worn planks and is covered with a thick layer of dust and grime, while the air is thick with the smell of saltwater, sweat, and tobacco.
In the center of the room stands a large wooden desk, cluttered with papers and charts, and behind it sits …Mizu smoking tobacco out of a pipe! Shogo's head snaps back to the entrance only to be greeted with the sight of an identical grizzled and weather-beaten Mizu with blue gray skin and piercing eyes.
The Mizu who brought him here steps into the room and roughly shuts the door. Before Shogo can fully vocalize his confusion and panic, the man in front of the door melts away into a puddle akin to a lone piece of ice on an extremely hot summer day. Silence permeates the room, Shogo looks toward the Mizu seating behind the desk, only to flinch at the heated glare illuminated by shaky candlelight.
Mizu takes another long drag from his pipe and roughly slaps it down on to the desk causing the terrified boy to jump in fear again.
Turning slightly to face the candle in front of him, Mizu exhales the smoke on the weak flame causing it to violently combust into a much stronger flame that lights up to every corner of the cabin.
The gross disfigured profile of Mizu is now more visible.
The man almost completely lacks a nose as most of it appears to have been sliced off.
To go along with his missing nose, Mizu also sports a grievous wound that stretches from the absent right nostril down to the bottom of his chin. The scar parts his thin black lips to expose the dark brown gums and yellowed serrated teeth hidden beneath.
It is easy to surmise that this addition to Mizu's already intimidating visage was gained in an encounter with a potentially stronger monster. But Mizu obviously survived so it is doubtful that the person or thing that created the wound is still alive.
If Mizu's hulking frame and inhuman facial features aren't enough to strike fear in the hearts of grown men, the fact that he is a trained shinobi should if they possess an ounce of wit about them.
Shogo's only seen him perform his shinobi techniques a handful of times in these two years including that water clone trick just now. Each time has been a resounding reminder that he is fully capable of butchering every last person on the ship as easily as breathing.
None of the crew could contest him, whether alone or together, that's why these heathens heed his every whim like a deity of some sort.
Mizu rises from his seat, his long curly black mop only inches from grazing the ceiling. The captain is by far the tallest person Shogo has ever encountered in his short life.
In a few strides, Mizu rounds his desk and looms directly above my position on the wooden floor, which Shogo hopes will open up to swallow him whole in order to escape this nightmarish confrontation.
"You've been here for quite a while haven't ye temple boy? Been almost two years, hasn't it?"
Mizu leans his back against his wooden desk causing it to groan a bit,
It takes a few seconds for Shogo to find his voice,
"Yeah, w-what about it?"
"Just wanted to make sure I have my facts straight because ya see, I want you to help me get to the bottom of a LITTLE… issue that has being going under everyone's radar for the past couple of months. I'm confident that ya as my swab would know the ins and outs of the ship almost as well as me by now…. Am I RIGHT?"
Shogo nods quickly at Mizu aggressive reply,
"Good! Follow me as I fill ye in on my dilemma."
Mizu yanks Shogo to his feet by the back of his shirt and physically ushers him out of the cabin door with a single hand.