The Pirate of the Opera [open]

[Deleted]

[This is an 'open' thread. Though I would like a maximum of 5 members participating, for this is Sonata's first thread and I don't want this thread to be in any way slow. Farris and Whitemimic have already shown interest in joining prior to the threads actual creation and therefore have reserved slots unless they say otherwise. The rest of the spots are going to be served on a first come first served basis. And it's a "soft cap" so I may feel free to let extra people in if things feel right. Thanks for reading]

Tonight was to be a glorious one on the Fountain.

Sonata watched from her bedroom window as the first of the passenger ferries grew larger on the horizon. She smiled. Each ferry had traveled to one of the nearest islands, advertised the Fountain's latest performance and brought paying customers back to the floating theater. Each ferry or visiting ship would land in the theater's small dock and guest would be greeted by smiles and famed service. Sure they had come for the performance, but there was much to see and hear before hand. Entertainers ranging from dancers and musicians, to comedians and stuntmen would fill the halls of carved and polished wood. It would be a magnificent experience in the first few moments of arriving. The customers would be guided with music and smiles to red carpeted seats of the utmost comfortable make. Those who arrived long before the performance and who were seated would be then greeted by servers would take orders on a sublime menu of drinks and various culinary delicacies.

All the while wow guest were pampered and entertained, the inner workings of the theater bustled with urgent preparations. For Sonata that meant a series of dance exercises, a quick run over her acting lines, and several long minutes doing makeup and costume. Tonight would be playing the female lead in their current production of Beauty and the Fish. It was romantic drama with hints of comedy about a fishman who falls in love with a human girl, recklessly captures the girl and keeps her captive in a sea cave in hope time will cause her to love him back. Sonata liked the play, it had a happy ending.

With her personal preparations all ready, Sonata stood at the dock's entrance as part of the welcoming party. In her costume of a robin egg blue dress and her brunette hair down, she waved and welcomed the guest as they approached. Sonata was happy.

For tonight was to be a glorious one on the Fountain.

[king]

On a mission for the Creed Poot ran into an accident and somehow ended up on a ferry. How Poot got there wasn't the big issue at the moment, just the mystery.He still very confused on how he got aboard a very high class ferry boat, probably filled with nobles, people who held power, or even worst marine admirals. If any of these was the case then the group of people were either going to a celebration of sort, considering the high class ferry that was now docked. Luckily Poot wasn't no where near the rest of the crowd on the ferry, instead he was at the bottom of the ship in the storage room where the chefs and cooks were steadily making meals with a steady pace. As the ferry came to a complete stop Poot began to look from the small circle window that the push door provided only to see everyone on the ship, including the chefs, janitors, and workers alike leave the assigned area. Knowing that this might be his only time to escape Poot quickly transformed his entire body in a thick cloud of Nitrous Oxide and squeezed through the quickest crack that the ferry provided that would lead him to outside. Once he had pushed himself through the ferries crack he transformed his entire body back to its normal state. " Where the hell am I? " Noticing that he was at what looked like to be a huge celebration of some sort he began to wonder again how he got aboard of the ferry. Once he seen that there wasn't no sign of any marines or any rival pirates he felt no need to no longer hide himself behind the ferry that he was once aboard.

As he walked closer to whatever was going on he seen that the type of celebration that was being held had a various amount of entertainment that kept him interested. Though everything seemed interesting he wanted nothing more but to get off this island and to figure out how he ended up on the island to begin with. Keeping his cool he felt that his only chance to get off the island was to wait until whatever was going on to end and once again get aboard the ferry that he was on and get sent to the nearest or next island for further advancement. This could either mean that he would end up somewhere threaten or marine infested. Poot knew that he had to find out what ferry was going toward and island that shared the same interest as him. Until then he remained cool and calmly walked over toward a seat, kicked his feet up upon the table and awaited for the celebration to quickly end even if he had to end it himself.

[raeia]

“Hey Resley, over here!”

It has been about a month since the S.L.D. practitioner Resley left his birth city Kurohari. Like many from the Pirate Age, he too set out to obtain and fullfill his dream. However unlike what most wanted, he wished neither money nor power. In fact, it was the knowledge and mastery of his sword he had set his eyes on.

Nonetheless, the road to that dream was tricky just like any other. It will be tiring, long and hard. Sarcastically, with these three you will need cash: first, cash to pay the lodging needed to rest those tired muscles; second, cash to pay those long transportation and regular food expenses; and lastly the cash to buy other miscellany items in preparation for the harsh journey towards that goal. As of the moment, money-making reason number two was under works.

“Don’t be lazy now stow away,” commanded by a ship crew. “You have to work your ass off until we reach The Fountain at West Blue. That is what you get for not paying the boarding fee!”

Two days ago, Resley was caught riding on the passenger ship without paying the boarding fee. He wouldn’t have been caught if he had his wits with him and had not drank a beer too many to blabber how his cleverness got him on board for free. Apparently, he opted to keep the few money he was left with after his travel out of Mt. Oblivion to another isle in the South where he got aboard this medium-sized ferry. Since the little money he had was not enough to pay for the transportation fee for this ship which heads out of South Blue, he chose to sneak and stow away instead.

Resley was lost in his thoughts until the crewman closed in on him and spoke right on his face, “… and don’t you dare disappear on us soon as we dock! We will not return your swords until you are done unloading the cargos on board. Safely! ”

He sighed at the accusation. It was only when he’s drunk that he do stupid things. “Aye cap…” he said half-heartedly.

Soon thereafter, the portly ship navigator came towards them. “Prepare everyone, land is about an hour away…”

It was a very welcome news to Resley. Anything that can reprieve him from these tasks, he will take no matter what. On the other hand, he knew that as soon as they land he'd find himself looking for ways to get more money. He was about to go bankrupt.

[Deleted]

The blue dress bloomed outward as Sonata twirled before a group of young girls who were drawn to the "princess." Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at the little ones who squealed in glee. Sonata then looked up and past the group of girls to the rest of the crowd. It was quite packed today for the Fountain had very successfully sold almost every ticket for today's performance. Customers of all shapes, colors and sizes were streaming into the large floating theater. Sonata couldn't help but smile as she tried to imagine the stories of various guest.

That plump lady with the several feathers in her hat and a large mole on her nose must be a witch of some sorts. But she's probably a good witch; not a bad one. Sonata wondered what kind of wondrous potions the witch could concoct.

The man wearing the straw hat and chewing on a piece of straw was probably a pumpkin farmer who grew the world's largest pumpkins. But secretly he was Samurai and a master of the blade.

Sonata couldn't wait for the period of time after the show where she got to sit down and talk to the guest and listen to their stories. She was so curious of the world beyond The Fountain. She contemplated going to talk to the plump witch when she noticed that Shapely's crew had just docked.

With a huge grin on her face and deft footsteps, Sonata made her way quickly through the crowd to greet the supply boat. "Captain Shapely!" She cried as she was freed from the masses and near the docks.

The captain laughed as he was overwhelmed when the young woman glomped him. "Look's like I made it just in time for the show huh Little Lily?" the old ship captain smiled down at Sonata and released her.

Sonata also laughed as the captain used his pet name for her, "You sure did Farren! Glad you guys could make it." She said waving to the rest of the crew. Sonata was about to ask Shapely about the islands they visited when a new figure among the the crew caught her eye.

A thin man with dark hair and a gaunt face was sulking as he helped the other workers unload the cargo. "Who is that?" Sonata pointed.

"Oh that's some stowaway we found. He's working off his traveling fare by helping the boys with the new cargo." Shapely then held up two blades for Sonata to see, "These were his and I'm holding them ransom until he's done."

Sonata looked at the beautiful swords of black and white, and then looked back at the stowaway. Her lips pursed in judgement. He must be an assassin! He was sent by a competing theater to kill all the members of the Fountain theater company. Sonata then walked over to the man and pointed her finger at him, "Just because you got everyone else fooled doesn't mean you're going to get by me assassin!"

Shapely laughed, "Oh Sonata, he's not an assassin. Gosh you really need to get off this theater and see the real world. Maybe I'll take you along next time."

Sonata flipped away from the assassin and her eyes shown with happiness at Captain Shapely, "Oh I would really love that Farren." And then she spun back around with a deadly stare and pointed again, "I'm still watching you assassin."

Then with that Sonata twirled around and ran back into the now dwindling crowd of guest.

[raeia]

The captain laughed heartily as the young lady went back to the crowd. He really wanted to take Little Lily with him out of the floating stage. Regardless of him being on a ship most of his life, he deemed that a ship was not the best place for a nice lady to be in. People like her should be out enjoying life under the sun dating with their friends by the shore or in Sonata’s case the city as she’s been at sea for a long time. However, he was glad that the girl was happy in spite of the limited space within the confines of the Fountain.

’Damned land this is… This is no island, islet or any mass of solid ground… This is also a ship! A ship for cracks no less!!!’ Resley grumbled as he worked tirelessly lugging boxes and crates out of the cargo area, carefully.

”Dammit Resley!” the captain barked as he saw the bounty hunter work.

The lean Triune straightened up heeding to the ship leader’s call. Groaning, the hunter thought, ’What now?!’

“I told you to lift and carefully; CAREFULLY…” the word carefully obviously heavily stressed out,”…put down those crates! Do not drop them when it is still up by three inches to four from the ground!”

“You have cushions in them Cap. Not –“

”REGARDLESS!”

Other crews tried their best to stifle their laughter but some couldn’t. Since Resley’s capture, they’ve found the two a welcome entertainment. A day never passed without the two bickering at each other. They were like father and son. Even a married couple as some would say, ‘The nagging wife and a subservient husband.’

After an hour of laborious work, Resley was at last done hauling everything out of the ship. Satisfied Shapely approached him giving him money, “Resley, you’re a tough guy and one big pain in the ass. But still, I thank you for the job you did.”

Resley forehead creased, “This is not a payment for the torture you’ve given me, am I correct?”

“Take your time here and watch the play. The Fountain is known for the great performances they show in their theaters. Tonight is their best performance yet.”

The hunter counted the money. “An expensive show that one is…”

“Its enough to buy you a ticket for the play, some beer and grub, and two fare tickets going out of this… festival. If you are prudent, that money can last another day in any island within West Blue.”

Something the captain said that bothered him, “Two fare tickets?”

“That’s all I can give. I have my ship to take care of.” Turning his back on Resley the captain Shapely barked the last command the hunter will ever hear from him, ”Men we’ll leave in fifteen minutes!”

-------

Finding his way within the Fountain, Resley dragged his huge luggage towards the main attraction. His interest was piqued by the captain’s request. There was an obvious reason why he wanted him to watch the play.

Stopping at the theater announcement pinned on the wall, many looked at him warily. He looked too conspicuous for their taste: a poorly-dressed, haggard-looking, thin man with a dirty duffel bag of enormous size strapped with two beautiful swords... He really was an intriguing character that needs to be watched out for.

’Six forty five… ‘ thought Resley as he read the announcement. ’Damn. That is probably two hours of wait…’

[Deleted]

[Omg I just lost my post two times in a row... BBL]

The wooden hallways that Resley traveled were beginning to empty as the guest were gently ushered into the main theater room. There was no line at the ticket booth and the elderly lady the glass smiled at Resley invitingly. However, before the swordsman could reach the booth, Sonata appeared in a flurry of blue cloth and ribbon. "Hey! I found you!" The young woman's face was red and showed signs of frantic running, "I just wanted to apologize for accusing you of being an assassin. I have a crazy imagination and I usually let it get the better of me." Sonata eyed Resley over rosy cheeks, drew out a piece of red velvet with a white rose embroidered on it and shoved it into Resley's already full hands, "This this, it's a VIP ticket. I gotta go now; no time to talk. Bye" Then spinning in her blue dress, Sonata took off in the direction she had come, with a trail of blue ribbon in tow.

Then, as though he popped up from the ground below, a small boy dressed in a fitted tuxedo appeared behind Resley, "Hello good sir. If you would please follow me to your box room." If Resley followed the young boy who strangely resembled an over-sized penguin, he would be led to a small door in the hallway which went up a flight of stairs into a small box room that overlooked the theater stage. The room was simply yet elegantly furnished with a small wooden table with room for four and four matching matching cushioned chairs; all which were empty. "Please make yourself comfortable and take a look at the menu sir." The young boy then pointed at the red piece of velvet in Resley's hand, "Everything is on the house, courtesy of Miss Hayashi. So please let me know if you would like anything. The show should start shortly."

_-~-_

"Where have you been? We're about to start!"

"Sorry I had to take care of something real quick. Don't worry I'm ready now. Sonata smiled. Like a bird about to take wing, Sonata was about to take to the stage.

Music then began to rise from the symphony, signaling the approaching start of the play.

[raeia]

Granted the tough luck the swordsman had with women, he did not expect such a beauty to approach him on a strange vessel, twice. He was honestly taken aback by the young lady. She seem to keep up with surprises that made him more intrigued about her. Looking at the pass he was given, Resley wondered how long his luck will last.

Out of the blue, a cute but funny looking kid appeared behind him. The black and white suit was a nice fit but it made the boy look more plump. He offered Resley to follow him inside and to which the swordsman obliged. As they went through the entrance his guide kept talking to him however he paid little attention to the boy. Resley was busy adoring and taking notes of the beautiful designs and displays that welcomed them; none of those at display he had seen back home and to him they were grand. At that moment he realized how his appearance seem to not belong inside the fine-looking theater. The more he saw of the beauty stashed inside the theater the more he realized how rugged and dirty he looked in comparison to everything and everyone he has seen aboard the Fountain. He was not sorry for himself moreover he felt alienated by the place.

Finally he was ushered into a large room that was more welcoming than the displays by the entrance. As he dragged his heavy bag inside the room he was told by his young escort to make himself comfy. He looked at the menu offered to him and saw the pricey foods and drinks in list. Thinking of the money he received from Shapely, he considered but his cheap-nature won. Silently dumbfounded by the outrageous worth of the grub, he gave the menu to the kid thanking him and told him good bye. He made it a rule to himself not to indulge on pricey foods regardless if it was given free or not. To him, indulging on foods he could not afford was a no-no, worse to receive them from the pocket of others was shameful on the other hand a good beer was an exception.

Alone in the room, Resley thought and repeated the name mentioned by the little attendant who just left.. 'Hayashi is it,' Resley thought as he took his place in the room and seated. Shortly, the show started as the sweet piece of music played in the background. Resley was not a fan of such entertainment however he was not that rude to skip and ditch the kind offer by the girl. Soon hushed pleasure and pure ecstasy was obvious from the crowd as the play picked up pace.

A little while later, his musings were distracted by the sound not from the show in front of him but by that of his rumbling stomache. Glumly he brooded, 'May be I should have allowed myself a few grub...'

[Deleted]

As the young well dressed boy shuffled away in silence music began to rise from the symphony besides the stage. This music drew the many ears and eyes of the audience to the stage front where large crimson curtains were being pulled away to start the play.

The first scene depicted a small human village street where the citizens looked busy with their daily life chores and errands. Two young children ran about in their own fantasy world of play. Music, singing, and laughter filled the stage and spread amongst the audience. The opening was comedic and it encouraged participation from those sitting in the red carpeted chairs.


[WIP]