Of Cabbages and Sea Kings [mini arc]

[HOTARU SATSUMA]

After traveling for over a day, Hotaru, Bastion, and Axcel finally arrived at the southern coast of Lyneel Kingdom. The ship was about half a mile east of their current location, but they were in just the right place to test the skills of the potential crew members. Tossing her bag into the sand, she spoke to her potential recruits.

"We're here!"

The beach was at the inner most part of a small cove, and out on an island 350 meters (300 meters from the outside of the cove) flew a flag with the Sea Kings Jolly Roger. The beach was covered in white sand, and the partially shattered hull of a small cargo ship were tilted on the shore about 10 meters to the west. How they managed to stumble upon this elaborate yet eerily convenient set up was both mysterious and irrelevant.

"I could let you both try out separately and give you different tasks, but this seems quicker and more fun."

She was quite sure that her potential crew members had no idea what was in store, but she would be more than happy to inform them.

"The rules are simple. Using any materials you can find, including the beached supply ship over there, you need to design, construct, and captain a vessel made entirely out of food out to that island out there and bring back the flag without sinking. You make it back, and you can join."

Hotaru plopped down in the sand and reached into her bag where she removed her sunglasses and slipped them on over her ears. Stuffing her black jacket into the pack, she sat in the sand clad in a red bikini top and jean shorts and waited for the duo to spring into action.

"Well? Get going!"
----

Below, the contents of the cargo ship's eatable haul is listed.

Baking Flour Granulated Sugar Brown Sugar Baking Soda Yeast Semi - Sweet Chocolate Marshmallows Dried Goods Raisins Rice Dried Bananas Dried Black Beans Beef Jerkey Coffee Tea Condiments Gelatin Maple Syrup Honey Pickled Cucumbers Mayonnaise Ketchup Peanut Butter Vinegar Olive Oil

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• Milks
  
  • Evaporated Milk
    
  • Non Dairy Creamer
    
  
  
  
• Ice Box
  
  • Butter
    
  • Fresh Milk
    
  • Eggs
    
  • Cream
    
  • Cheeses
    
  • Fresh Herbs
    
  • Lettuce
    
  • Tomatoes
    
  • Corn
    
  • Turnips
    
  • Eggplants
    
  • Pumpkin
    
  • Strawberries

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Aside from this list, there are various edible items lining the beach. Fruit trees grow in abundance where the sand and grasses meet, including coconut, banana, and citrus. There are also a few stalks of bamboo that have cropped up on the coastline, though nowhere near enough to construct the entire boat from. There is plenty of firewood that has drifted ashore, and more than enough utensils aboard the beached vessel to use to prepare your tasty transportation. [/font][/blockquote]

[BASTION]

I didn’t say much on the way. My boots were heavy, and I sunk deep into the snow with every step. Throughout the day, the snow let up only a little, fell more and more slowly and haphazardly around us until it disappeared completely. Mostly, I just trudged on and thought to myself--about the future, and a little about the past. The last time I was on a ship, the last time I was with a crew I could say I was a part of . . . those were the best times of my life. At least, so far. The decision I made to accompany Hotaru and Axcel so far could change my life, and I hoped it wasn’t for worse, but part of me had doubts. It didn’t have anything to do with my past, I’d come to terms with that long ago. This situation was different. I didn’t know if I could trust anyone. But what else could I do? There was no way I was backing out, anyways. So it seemed pointless to think about it. But my mind just wandered because I had nothing to concentrate on. Until we arrived.

It was warmer, noticeably, though not significantly. The sound of the waves was familiar, even comforting, but felt foreign at the same time. I supposed too much time had passed. Letting out a deep sigh, I hopped down onto the white sand from the rocky ledge I had been using as a vantage point. A wrecked ship caught my eye, some ten meters to my right, and a flag that I assumed to be the jolly roger of Hotaru’s pirate ship. Then, finally, Hotaru began to explain exactly what our “test” was.

“Wait, wait--a ship out of food?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and then taking a glance over my shoulder, back to the wreckage nearby. “I mean--I could, sure, but we’d better hope that crashed ship over there has a hell of a lot of food.” Crossing my arms, I allowed my eyes to dart over to Axcel to gauge his reaction. Something told me he wouldn’t even find this strange.

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[Axcel]

“Are we there yet?” Axcel said again. It was probably the only four words he had muttered during their day long travel, and if anyone had the patience to count how many times he repeated himself, they would have surely gone mad by now. Fortunately, they had finally arrived as denoted by Hotaru’s sudden shout. Stretching his arms a bit as he walked along the white sand, Axcel’s eyes scanned the horizon.

Axcel listened intently as he Hotaru spoke of their task. She spoke of a task that involved both Bastion and Axcel’s intended roles on her crew. She wanted the two potential recruits to. . .build a boat made out of food. Axcel merely scratched his chin at the notion as he eyed the cargo not too far off. Rather than questioning the task itself, he began to think of possible ways to complete the job. Would a raft made out of pretzels work? Maybe—although it was unlikely they would find enough pretzels anywhere to build one.

“Yep. Even if it does have a lot of food, it’s likely that most of what we find will be useless when it comes to making a ship that won’t sink immediately.” He spoke, acknowledging Bastion’s statement.

[/justify]

[DAEMON]

Your character cannot be in two missions/arcs at once. Forfeit one, or realize that your current posts won't count towards the completion of the mini-arc. If you have issue hotaru, which you probably will, pm me. But npc'ing it is not actually participating in the thread with your character, hence the difference between a 'Player Character' and 'Non Player Character' (which is specified). You're to create the scenario as well as the antagonists, if you want to have some sort of prelude to their assignment from the captain then so be it.

[HOTARU SATSUMA]

Violet eyes peered over her sunglasses, watching the two bewildered pirates to be. So far, she was unimpressed with their ingenuity, but it was too early to tell if they would be successful in their endeavor. For now she would sit quietly and just listen to their thoughts, however, if their inaction persisted for much longer she would start to jeer and harass them into beginning construction.

She stretched her legs out on the warm sand leaned backwards, letting the salty wind blow her hair freely behind her. The red tattoo down her chest matched the scarlet bikini, but it was a stark contrast to her fair toned skin. Deciding to maybe give them a bit of advice, she sighed and spoke to no one in particular.

"Doesn't have to be a whole ship. Just so long as you can get the flag and come back without getting wet, you'll pass."

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[BASTION]

Axcel was right. Most of the food the ship would be carrying would be useless for building a ship out of. What sort of food floats? I had to stop and ponder for a moment, thinking through what I knew about food. I knew a bit, but I never cooked on a ship, and even as a slave I never made any food. So what I knew was just from little experiences here and there, and mostly because I had a big appetite. None of my experiences ever pertained to ships made out of food, though. So, figuring it would be more beneficial to think after understanding what I had to work with, I began the trek to the nearby crashed cargo.

I hadn’t voiced any of my thoughts yet. The only thing that had come to mind before I reached the cargo was oil, which lead to fried food. But could we actually make a ship that would support us out of fried food? Maybe Axcel would have ideas, but I’d wait to ask until I saw what we had.

The ship was tilted and splintered. When I arrived at its base, I had to reach out and grab one of the splintered planks, pull it from its resting place, and toss it aside to make enough room to enter. It was dark, but little beams of light pierced through the cracks in the wooden ceiling and illuminated the cargo just enough for me to vaguely see what we were dealing with.

“There’s a hell of a lot more shit here than I expeced,” I said, stepping carefully through the wreckage to investigate. “Not all of it’s food, let’s see . . .” Here and there I had to push some of the non-edible cargo out of my way: chairs and other furniture, a handful of shoddily made weapons, even some clothing. The vessel creaked and rocked a bit as I stepped through, but I didn’t pay much attention.

”Ah--I think I found what we need,” I called back, in case Axcel was sifting through the debris as well. “Pots, pans, that sort of stuff . . .” Stepping over a large crack in the floor where the planks had splintered and split in half, I swung open a door that seemed to lead to a pantry of sorts. The pantry was flooding just a little from the wreckage, but most of the food seemed unspoiled and dry.

“Here’s the food, and there’s a hell of a lot more than I expected,” I said, not turning to see if Axcel was here to investigate with me. “Most of it seems pretty fresh, I guess.”

We found the food, but that still left the bigger issue of creating a boat out of food.

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[Axcel]

Axcel watched as Bastion began to trek towards the crash site of the ship where the two of them were to gather their supplies. Still not moving, Axcel looked at what other resources they could make use of outside of just the stuff they found inside the cargo ship. With the little amount of bamboo near the coast, they could easily use it to hold ingredients/parts together. If they needed to cook something, there was more than enough firewood to start a fire. More importantly, though, was the coconut trees. Those would be useful for sure, since coconuts would be able to float. Whether or not they could support the rest of the pair’s makeshift ship would be another question.

Quickly shifting from being idle to a slow jog, Axcel caught up with Bastion as he was rummaging through the ship. Whenever he mentioned finding pots and pans, Axcel walked over to see for himself. Grabbing a pair of pots as Bastion continued to explore, Axcel repeatedly banged them together (coincidentally near Bastion’s ears) causing several loud clangs to reverberate throughout the ship.

“The pans seem to be in working condition! Nice job, Bastion.” He spoke as he dropped the pans against the ground and gave a thumbs up.

As far as the pantry with food in it—Bastion wasn’t kidding around when there was a lot food. If Axcel hadn’t known that this was a cargo ship, he would have assumed that it was being occupied by a bunch of fatasses which inevetibly led to them being shipwrecked.

[/justify]

[HOTARU SATSUMA]

Hotaru continued to sunbathe, smiling when Axcel and Bastion finally began to explore their surroundings. She had no doubt they would find all they needed (and more) within the beached ship and growing on the shoreline. The loud 'clang' of metal on metal told her that they had found some cooking utensils. Things were so far going smoothly, and Hotaru was actually excited to see just what kind of vessel the odd pair would come up with...and if would actually float.

---

Everything is how you have said; ingredients seem to be in near infinite supply, and a healthy assortment of utensils should be able to pull off even the most complicated dish you can come up with. Though the prospects are good, you haven't made any actual progress towards reaching the island.

[BASTION]

There was a loud, unexpected clang in my ears. I was jarred, stumbling and felt as if my entire body was vibrating. Though I recovered quickly, I turned to see Axcel throwing me a thumbs up. Instinctively, I found myself flying through the air, poised to land a kick square in the his face, probably sending him flying and leveling the wreckage as a whole. Something told me he’d recover healthily, though, so I just continued my search.

One thing caught my eye: non-dairy creamer. It was flammable, and a powder. When spread evenly in the air, I heard that it would explode, which got my mind running. Ships without cannons were defenseless, and even though we were just picking up a flag and taking it back, ships and cannons went together, for me. If I was building this, it wasn’t going to be defenseless.

“I can use this creamer like gunpowder for cannons,” I said, looking back to Axcel. “And I know fried foods will float, but I’m not sure if it will hold us up. Any ideas?” Axcel would have to cook the food, after all. We weren’t just building an edible ship, we were building an edible ship made by our soon-to-be cook.

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[Axcel]

Shortly after dropping the pans and giving his teammate a thumbs up, Axcel’s eyes had set on something majestical off in the distance. Without a hint of hesitation, he moved towards the item that had caught his attention. It was as if it had a gravitational pull of some sorts which latched onto Axcel and reeled him in. As for the kick that had just whiffed him? Axcel wouldn’t notice, because his concentration had been directed elsewhere.

Having moved some six meters as fast as he could, Axcel came to a dead stop when he arrived in front of the basket full of strawberries. It was easily his favorite food to eat. He knew that he probably should have been thinking of how to use them to complete their task, but he couldn’t bare the thought. Something this delicious didn’t deserve the fate of being turned into a tool used to pass a test.

“These are bashiacally usheless.” Axcel spoke to Bastion with a mouthful of strawberries by the end of his sentence. Although the basket contained at least a dozen strawberries, they were all gone shortly after he had spoken. Consuming the sublime fruit had reinvigorated the boy greatly, and he was ready to tackle their actual goal.

“Cannons? We don’t need cannons—we’re just going to retrieve a flag.” Axcel didn’t understand why he would want to build cannons that would likely deal no significant damage to a ship in a proper scenario. “Don’t waste resources.”

As for the fried food being usable—it was definitely possible. “It depends on how we use and how heavy whatever its holding up.” Axcel commented. “I saw a coconut tree outside, we can definitely use those whenever needed.”

[/justify]

[HOTARU SATSUMA]

Not much has changed; you still have not started construction. However, deciding if you need non-dairy creamer or not to make a cannon is something you will need to decide. The build may take a bit longer, but the security of having a weapon aboard your delicious vessel may make you feel better about sailing into the open ocean.

There are lots of coconuts lining the shoreline, however, there are not enough to make a whole boat just from them. Perhaps using them to assist in flotation? The dilemma still exists of what to make the boat from and how to keep it from disintegrating in the ocean. If all else fails and you cant think of what to do, why not experiment?

[/blockquote]

[BASTION]

Axcel stuffed his face with strawberries. No, he devoured what was a full basket of strawberries in almost an instant. He’d mentioned something about strawberries earlier, too, but I had underestimated his craving. In the end, though, he was right: they were useless, so I just raised a curious eyebrow at him before turning around and continuing on.

“We’re not going to use creamer for anything else,” I said, shrugging and sifting through more of the cargo’s hull. “So it wouldn’t be a waste. As for coconuts, we could probably use those. But there’s probably not enough for an entire ship, huh?” Little else came to mind as I pushed more and more useless items out of the way.

“What else was there outside?” I asked, still trying to think of a proper framework. As I awaited the answer, I bent down and continued to rummage through the cargo, still finding new things. “Lots of flour . . .” I said, pushing aside a few giant bags of flour. “Sugars, yeast . . .”

I rose, pausing my investigation, and scratched at the back of my head. This was going to be a pain.

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[Axcel]

“If you want to take the time to make a cannon then we’ll build it after the ship itself is complete.” Axcel said, still unsure how a cannon was going to be of any use on a three hundred meter trip. If there were any other ships around, they would be within their sights long before they even sailed. Still, it wasn’t like they had a time limit and Bastion was right in that they wouldn’t use the creamer for anything else.

“What else is outside? Uh. . .I saw a few stalks of bamboo we could use and a bunch of fruits,” he replied as he scratched the back of his head. “There was also firewood for whenever we need to cook something.” He added, although he said ‘we’, it was most likely going to be just Axcel doing the cooking. That was something he was perfectly fine with, as he couldn’t be bothered to construct something.

Axcel noticed several jars of peanut butter nearby. Those would definitely be useful.“We can use the peanut butter to help cement other foods together, probably.” He wasn’t entirely sure how the peanut butter would hold up, but there was more than enough to test it if they needed to do so.

[/justify]

[HOTARU SATSUMA]

The planning stages are still going smoothly, but you still dont have a solid way to hold your vessel together. Bamboo tethers and plant fibers will only get you so far. Peanut butter is sticky, but is it sturdy enough to glue two pieces of material together? Only one way to find out! Still, it's best to have a backup plan. Got anything in mind?

[/blockquote]

[BASTION]

“Fine, fine, after,” I agreed, turning to face Axcel now, still unsure of whether I’d explored the entirety of the edible cargo or not. Admittedly, the cannons didn’t seem like a necessity, but if I had access to the materials, I could forge the cannon itself pretty fast. So long as I had ammunition of some sort. Assuming we didn’t use all of the coconuts in the construction of the ship itself, they would probably make fine cannonballs.

“Bamboo would be really useful . . .” I said, pressing my thumb to the bottom of my chin and thinking through the design schematics in my head. Hollowed coconuts at each corner, with a bamboo framework? Maybe. Something would have to support us through the center of the vessel, though. That was the hardest part. We’d need either a sail or a paddle as well. Unless we just paddled with our hands, but that felt like cheating.

“Would peanut butter be strong enough? This will have to support our weight, and it’s going to get wet,” I noted, now making my way carefully back out the wrecked ship to better understand how much bamboo we’d be working with. “If we wanted a stronger glue, I’d think using the gelatin would be better.” Eventually I’d step back onto the white sand and into the sunlight, and I’d cast my gaze out across the beach, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun with one hand. Nodding to myself, I continued to modify the blueprints of the ship in my mind.

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