Description: After a series of off-screen misadventures, Momo reaches the Suiryuu and begins Solid Snaking her way on board... only to be caught by Hotaru! Can a clever fish impression keep her from being recognized?
The mist is thick this evening as the Suiryuu glides effortlessly through the ocean waters, close to Southtown. Of course, seeing as mist isn't exactly normal for balmy summer Southtown summer evenings, Momo gathered that something was amiss. She has heard of Jinchuu, certainly, of the rumors surrounding it, and of a certain stupid Sada who is participating-- which makes her all the more annoyed that SHE wasn't invited in! Honestly, just because a girl doesn't use martial arts is no reason to leave her out of a martial arts tournament...
But that's neither here nor there. The tennis player had gone out into the depths of the mist with a paddle boat, figuring that a big ol' ship can't be THAT hard to find in a cloud of fog, considering that it's the one making it in the first place. Lo and behold, she was right, and after a suitable misadventure involving a pair of sea turtles, the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt, and the Harlem Globetrotters that would be totally epic if not for the fact that it happened off-screen.
"Whoever designed this thing has no taste," Momo says as she stands on one of the platforms jutting out from the side of the boat, running her hand along one of the circuits carved into the hull. She carries a lantern in one hand, which pierces the fog just enough to be seen from the deck should someone be looking down...
Momo's timing turns out to be quite fortuitous. Ever since the first round completed and those who were to make it aboard, /had/, the boat has been spending a lot of time out to sea, only to stop back by the harbor to periodically let people off who had gotten their fill of the insanity aboard the boat or let people on who had no idea what kind of ridiculous cruise they were getting into. On the other hand, Momo's approach to the whole problem is perhaps less than optimal... Any recognized fighter is actually allowed to walk right onto the boat whenever it is in port without having to pay any boarding fee. So to a certain extent, it might be said that she's gone about this the hard way.
Hotaru had considered getting off Suiryuu when it last pulled into port, even though she really was curious about the tournament itself. She had stood at the plank descending down to the dock for a long moment, indecision in her eyes. She's bunking with a crazy woman who's strangely making a ton of sense. And if that wasn't scary enough, the crazy woman has some kind of dooms day device she's building. The sensible thing would be to get right off the boat and wish everyone the best.
But if people only did what was sensible, Momo wouldn't have just scrambled aboard in the cloud of mist that obscurs the boat much of the time. And Hotaru wouldn't be standing up top to look over the side and notice the lantern glowing in the dark. Blink. Is that one of the mysterious staffers down there setting something up for an upcoming match? Hotaru glances from side to side, noticing she's the only one right nearby to notice. Curiosity gets the better of her and the girl slips over the rail, dropping lightly down to a platform that's still a few layers up from where Momo has gotten on.
Yeah, well, just because Momo COULD have gotten on without incident doesn't mean she KNOWS she could've gotten on without incident. She only really got back into fighting in the last few weeks, anyway, and her track record has been beyond poor.
The tennis player doesn't notice as Hotary sneaks closer to her, footfalls strangely muffled even against the metal platforms. Perhaps it's just another quirk of the boat. "Ooh, I'll show that Sada," Momo says as she climbs, thankful for the handholds in the hull as she climbs to a higher platform-- even athletic as she is, that doesn't mean she WANTS to have to exert herself getting up, after all, and the lantern now hanging off of her waist is already giving her more weight than she's used to. "Think you're so hot 'cause you're in a super secret special ninja tournament. It shouldn't be too hard to get in, I've just got to prove I'm better than someone who's already in it..." Hopefully, that odd muffling quality that's keeping footfalls silent prvents more than a couple of stray words from drifting up to Hotaru.
Once she's dropped down to the platform on the side of the boat, Hotaru gets down on her hands and knees and crawls over to the edge to peek over, perhaps nervous about losing her footing and falling off into the ocean never to be heard from again. Hands clench against the side of the platform as the girl's head finally sticks out beyond the limit and focuses down on the determined Momo.
There is a quirk of an eyebrow. Most of the climbing girl's words are lost, muffled by mist, the sounds of water below, and maybe in some small part, a dampening property of the boat itself. But she does catch the last bit of it. That isn't a ninja-staffer at all! That sounds like some girl peeved that she didn't get invited!
"Heya," comes the voice from somewhere not too far above Momo. With how much the girl is carrying on at herself, she might not even recognize Hotaru by sound of voice alone, but appearance should be hard to mistake!
Caught!? Momo is clamboring onto another platform as the call floats down, and she freezes in place. It's actually a little uncomfortable, freezing halfway through pulling yourself onto a platform. After a few moments, she pulls herself all of the way up as quietly as she can, and then douses her lantern.
Then she starts making ocean sounds. No stowaways here, nosiree!
The lantern goes out and all the sudden Momo is a lot harder to make out. Hotaru's vision was a lot more accustomed to the brighter lights up on deck, and now that the little beacon Momo is wearing at her waist is no longer on, it's as good as having vanished from sight. Hotaru stares down into the darkness, no doubt waiting for her eyes to adjust so that she can make out the younger sounding girl. Very young, in fact.
"H-hey. Are you okay? Do you need any help getting up? What'cha doing out here anyway? It's dangerous. You could fall in the water or something!" The same voice calls down, followed by a huff as Hotaru sits up, no longer staring over the edge of the platform since she can't see anything anyway. "Yesh. Everyone is paranoid around here."
Wow, whoever is up there is persistant. Momo squints up through the fog to try and see who's there, but even if she could make out a silhouette for a moment, it's gone now that Hotaru is pulled her head back. Darnit.
Looking around, she notices that some of the handholds in the hull of the ship lead off to the side instead of up. Maybe she'll try and go around instead of straight up from here. In the meantime, though, she needs to do something to try and throw off her would-be discoverer...
"Nobody here but us fish!" the tennis player calls up. "Glub glub glub!"
That's a pretty faux fish voice there. So close to the real thing as to be nearly indistinguishable from a real live school of fish calling up at her! Only problem is, she's trying to pull one over on a girl who many are convinced can talk to animals, which makes her perhaps the foremost fish-speach expert aboard the boat this very moment.
Brow furrowing a little, the girl leans forward a second time, hands planting at the edge tightly as she peers down. Hey, is that someone still moving around down there? Maybe it's a fighter hoping to get a sneak peek at where their round two match is supposed to take place. She's seen some of the 'agents' of Jinchuu doing that very thing a lot lately.
"Hey!" comes the voice belonging to the girl that just doesn't seem to take a hint. "Are you fighting in the next round? This is going to be a pretty crazy location to fight if so... out here, on the side of the boat and all!"
There's a pause as Momo considers how to react to this. Whoever is up there watching her (or trying to through the fog, anyway) obviously hasn't recognized her. So long as her bluff isn't called, she might be able to get away with pretending to be a competitor-- and really, would Hotaru really WANT to come further down the side of the ship in his nasty weather?
Eventually, Momo decides to just be needlessly vague and let her discoverer draw her own conclusions. "Maaaaybe," the tennis player says, continuing her stealthy move to an alternate platform. After a moment's thought, she adds, "Glub glub."
Hotaru shakes her head slowly, lifting one hand from the side of the platform to press against her forehead in a gesture of mild consternation. She can sorta hear the rustling around down there and as her ability to see improves, she gets the impression that whoever it is is moving off to somewhere else, though she can't really tell in what direction.
"I don't think you're fish," comes the dry proclamation. "But if you don't want to talk while you're doing whatever it is you're up to, that's fine too." She can be taught! "I'll just meetcha back up top on the deck. It's not too bad of a night out tonight. Be careful though." Scooting away from the edge, Hotaru looks back up, crouches a little, then makes a leap straight up, just high enough to grab hold of the railing that surrounds the lower deck of the boat before slinging herself right over it to plant her feet on the other side.
"My name is Hotaru!" she calls back down, hands at her mouth as if to better direct her voice. "What's yours?"
Hotaru? HOTARU? That girl that Kurow was mooning over!? Momo is all set to let the other girl go back to the deck when her name is revealed, but now she's not so sure. One one hand, if Hotaru is in the tournament, then Momo could totally throw her overboard right now and steal her spot. On the other, she's already been bested in combat by the Seijyun student once, and she doesn't have the element of surprise right now, so that'd be pretty risky.
The smart thing to do would be to just let her go. And unlike many fighters, Momo is fully inclined to do exactly that. The question of her name gives her a moment's pause: How much will she give away by using her real name? Will Hotaru try to look for her later if she does? Or blab about it to the other competitors, including dumb ol' Sada? No, that wouldn't do at all, she'll have to use a fake name for now. Searching for inspiration, the girl glances around, and spots the heart-shaped design on her tennis racquet. Hmm...
"My name? It's... McLovin." Yeah, sure, that's just crazy enough to work.
Having made it back up to the top un-Momo'd, Hotaru turns around and leans her elbows against the railing, looking down toward the water as she continues the conversation, this time from a much less precarious position as being out on one of those platforms. The offering of the name is met with silence. From down below, it would probably be hard to pick up on the stunned, bemused expression on Hotaru's face as she struggles to stiffle a laugh at the strange name. It must be an alias, but she hasn't heard of any fighter with a stage name that ridiculous in a long time.
"I-" she starts to speak, only to realize that she doesn't have full control over the giggle that is just dying to get out. The rest comes a moment later as at last she thinks she's ready, "What happened to your light? Did it go out? Are you sure you're all right down there?" The girl stops leaning against the railing, standing up straight, shuffling along to the side in the direction that she's pretty sure she last heard the strange young girl voice coming from.
Well, the issue of name isn't being pressed, even if it is being snickered at, so McLovin she shall be! "I don't want to get caught," Momo says, continuing to feel around. The only light now is filtering down from the deck, so it's much harder to see her handholds-- she's mostly climbing by braile right now. "If you could spot me from up there, then anyone else who looks over could as well. Better safe than sorry, right?"
Though, if one is trying to not get caught, yelling up at someone on the deck probably isn't the best way to go about it.
"That's probably a good point!" Hotaru calls back down... still walking along the railing to keep pace with Momo. The secretive McLovin is going to have to go silent snake mode or just hope the pig-tailed girl up top gets bored and wanders off leaving her alone at last. Hotaru doesn't have anywhere better to be, alas.
"But isn't it slippery down there? Can you see okay? I'm just worried if you fall off no one will be able to find you!" yells back down the Seijyun student. "So I'll just wait up here until you're safely aboard!"
And hey, while they're idly chit-chatting like that... Hotaru up comfortably on the deck and Momo down clinging on for dear life in the dark, the girl just continues right on with the small talk. "So, uh, where'd you get that stage name, anyway? I haven't heard that one before!" But that's not surprising. A lot of those invited to this tournament have barely been heard of before now in most cases. McLovin might be the greatest teen fighter to step foot out of Ireland as of late for all Hotaru knows.
"It's not a stage name," Momo says. "Just a name." Hearing that Hotaru is following her along the length of the ship, Momo decides to double back. She's got all night to get up to the deck, and she's got plenty of endurance-- not fighting endurance, of course, but strength endurance. "It's kind of slippery, but if you've got a good grip it's no problem," she continues, coming to a halt and hoping that Hotaru keeps walking forward for a bit. "Besides, aren't you in the tournament? There are a lot more things to worry about than some slippery platforms." Not that she knows for a fact, but the rumors are out there.
The only downside to this little charade is that the more they talk, the more Hotaru is starting to get the feeling that she's heard this voice before. "Oh? Ah! I'm sorry." Just a name, huh. On a girl at that. That's got to be regularly awkward to say the least. "Well..." The pig-tailed teen slows down in her pacing that has allowed her to keep up with the scrambling girl down below.
"There's lots of things to be wary of. But outside of the actual fighting events themselves, I haven't seen anything to worry about..." Her voice sounds kind of uncertain then, as if she's holding back. But it does make her think of something else she really should be getting to now that she's decided to stay aboard the boat after all.
"You're right though. If you think you're safe enough down there crawling around, I'm going to go take care of some things. Lots of stuff going around here after all. But you must know that already, eh McLovin?" The girl breaths in then sighs a little, turning around to lean back against the railing, "I'm sure I'll seeya around though. Make sure to scream real loud if you slip so someone will hear you!"
Man. Hearing the name given back to her makes Momo realize just how silly it is. She's surprised that Hotaru took it at face value. She makes a mental note that Hotaru doesn't sound too sure about how safe this boat is out of combat; she'll have to do some investigating of her own to see what THAT'S all about.
"No problem!" she calls back up as Hotaru voices her intention to leave. Even still, the tennis player will double back anyway, just in case Hotaru is secretly planning to stake out the edge of the deck and catch Momo climbing up. "I'll see you later." Though whether she'll be seen herself... well, Momo's always been fond of sneak attacks.
Hotaru does hesitate for a long while up top, actually just lazily leaning against the railing, eyes straying off to gaze into the fog. But if she's trying to track Momo any longer it would be hard to tell.
But by the time the determined tennis player finally gets up top, the Kenpo artist is no where to be found, having eventually wandered off to take care of whatever it is crossed her mind moments ago. "I wonder who McLovin is fighting this round," the girl ponders idly, making a mental note to inquire as to whether there is a posted match schedule so she knows where to be to see all the action!
Log created on 22:09:24 09/04/2007 by Momo, and last modified on 05:47:06 09/06/2007.