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Post by Kuro on Jun 5, 2013 20:00:36 GMT -5
Shroud Demon was already trying to put on the new armor he had, delighted as ever at the gift. He was still wearing his bucket helmet though, and unless the guards had full-face helmets, he wasn't giving it up. After all, it was his best defense against evil.
When someone mentioned gifts, he turned his head and was even happier than before. "Another gift! Wow, you really are kind! I'm sure that any mistakes you made with the guard and stuff, you won't make again, right? Yeah, you're nice. I am sorry though, for I cannot serve you as the best knight of justice ever, as much as you most definitely would have wanted me to, definitely. I am already a vassal to another, the Tea Princess! Perhaps in another story, I can be your guard. For now, my duty awaits."
The Sea Pony Princess #2, who was apparently more of a Sea Pony Princess than Camellia according to what everyone was saying, offered words as gifts. Huh. Well, fortitude was the only word he didn't know, so he guessed he wanted that one. Then he would know what it meant, right? He would have thought the others knew the definitions of the words they were getting though; how strange.
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Post by CJ on Jun 9, 2013 17:31:55 GMT -5
Connor rubbed his arm and nodded nervously at Kaede. He wanted to help her as much as possible but knew to keep his distance when asked. As much as he told himself he would let Kaede be, he would likely find himself at her side the next day.
The Sea Pony Princess carefully took everyone's wishes into consideration. She smiled warmly at Shroud Demon, seeming to find extremely great favor in him. But when she looked to Connor, he didn't say anything. Unlike the others, he didn't choose and this seemed to get her thinking.
The guards brought up a large sack of items. As the Sea Pony Princess addressed each of them, a guard would bring said item to them.
"For you," the Sea Pony Princess first said to Beth and Shroud Demon, "we give you necklaces containing teeth of a tough and powerful lion shark. It is known to never back off and fight until it cannot fight anymore."
"Neat," Beth said with a grin, holding the necklace in the light. It was a silver caged locket with a single tooth trapped inside.
"For you," she looked to Kaede, "we give the gift of a unique and precious book. This paper is made so that even if it is splashed with water, it will never be ruined. Half of it is filled with parables of our people. My favorite being: 'The mind of one fish has a sea in itself.' The other half is blank so that you might write your own discoveries. Included is this precious pen, which is designed to write especially on this paper."
The book looked worn but hardy. There was a single sea shell that was etched into the front. The pen was a made of a material that looked like pearl.
"For you," she turned to Camellia, "we give the gift of a portrait of my dear father, King Sea Pony. He was the most compassionate person I have ever known. He loved me and his people so much that he gave his life when the vicious and terrible dragon-panda sea king attacked our city. I miss him and I hope you can be inspired by him as I am."
The portrait was of a sea pony with a brilliantly large mustache. He was so majestic.
"For you," she said to Finnegan, "the gift of a precious map of our land, so that you know that despite being only one person, you have the weight of a city behind you and supporting you. You are not alone."
The gloriously drawn map seemed to be made of the same paper Kaede's book was composed of. The city was in the shape of a sea horse.
"For the human who did not choose a gift," she said finally to Connor, "we give you this."
"A tiny gold statue," his mouth dropped, "of you!"
The gift was truly stunning. The shining figure of the Sea Pony Princess was identical to the figure standing before them.
"Yes, but in future you shall receive the true gift, A LIFE SIZE GOLD STATUE OF ME. We will track you down and deliver this great statue, which you must keep to honor our friendship! Truly, this is the greatest of gifts! You are indeed blessed!"
Beth nearly fell over laughing as Connor struggled to find the right words to say. His face was extremely pale as he was clearly wanting to protest such a thing. The Sea Pony Princess seemed absolutely serious about it though. She began to spin around in glee as her guards danced and cheered.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 12, 2013 3:08:53 GMT -5
"Oh... thank you very much. I'll be sure to put it to good use."
Kaede struggled to take the book, but managed a way by leaning against the crutch with her body, and reaching out with her freed hand. Of course, it didn't help that she was given more than one gift in the form of both the book and the quill. She wanted to look through it right then and there, but being unable to do so, she merely thanked the Princess and attempted to bow as best she could. Holding the book close, the description the Princess gave of it would have to do for now until she could get back to her room and get a chance to seriously examine it.
"Wait, a gold statue is nice and all... but where would you put it?"
Speaking to Connor but going over the logistics in her mind, Kaede was trying to make sense of the giant gold statue he would be receiving. Of course they could just throw it into the ocean, but she had a feeling that they'd hold onto it. That said, she got a sudden mental image of the Happy Happy Restaurant with a giant gold statue of the Princess right in the front of the reception area. Whether or not it was a pleasant mental image didn't much matter, as it was certain a funny mental image. Kaede giggled softly to herself at this, the first sign of happiness to have crossed her face since they had left Clockwork Island.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 13, 2013 1:14:34 GMT -5
Camellia squealed with happiness upon receiving her very own present, spinning around a few times in her teacup while holding the portrait close to her body, before she actually took the time to see what the gift was. She smiled at the picture of the mustachioed man, already forming a specific idea in her head of what the man was like alive.
"Thank you! Thank you so so very much! I really like his 'stache! I don't know how to say how much this means to me. Your dad seems like he was a neat guy. My dad's gone, too, so I think I know how you feel. I'll take real good care of this!"
Of course, her situation couldn't be fully compared to that of the Princess. Unlike the Sea Pony, Camellia knew that her own father was obviously still alive somewhere, but she still knew what it was like to go without a parent for so long. The simple gesture of the Sea Pony Princess seemed to deeply touch the tea girl, and she planned to keep the gift for as long as she could. More than anything else, she loved that she now had a way to remember the magical pony adventure she had that day. Hopefully one day she'd be able to come up with a way to return the favor.
Finnegan, meanwhile, was not nearly as impressed, but he still appreciated the symbolic gesture. Placing the map inside a pocket, he nodded politely to the Princess.
"It is an honor to receive such a gift, Your Royal Highness."
As the Princess gave Connor his gift, Camellia's jaw dropped into the pool of tea she was swimming in. Instantly, she saw the horrendous error in her ways that was telling Finnegan to choose a gift. The thought that such a grand thing could have been given to Finnegan, meaning, by extension, given to her, was too much to bear. Well, at least somebody on the ship had it. Camellia planned on staying with the bunch of fun new not-pirates for quite some time, so it was enough that she could be able to just look at the full-sized statue, once it was delivered.
"Thank you so much again, Ms. Princess! This was all super fun! And thank you, Mr. Guards, for making me a real princess for a few minutes! I'll remember this forever... eh..." she paused, and thoughtfully scratched the top of her head, wondering how it was she forgot to ask this important question earlier.
"By the way, Ms. Princess... what's your name, again?"
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Post by Kuro on Jun 20, 2013 10:18:28 GMT -5
"Oh, cool! I will keep this with me forever and ever, don't you worry! Thank you very much for the gift! I never knew that the word 'fortitude' meant 'locket of shark teeth'. Thank you!"
Shroud Demon had not expected to get any sort of physical gift at all, for he had thought that he was just being asked what word he would like to know the definition of. Now he knew: If anyone asked him what fortitude meant, he could say that it meant shark teeth. He felt a little smarter knowing that he had such knowledge.
He smiled behind his bucket at the sight of everyone getting gifts, and was overjoyed to hear of Konner's gift. "Yeah! Woo-hoo! That's such an awesome gift for him, thank you so much, princess!" Before he could applaud the generous gesture any more, he noticed something. He heard the giggle come from Kaede and rushed to her side immediately, joy overflowing from his voice as he spoke.
"Oh, wow! I don't think i've ever seen you happy before! That was beautiful! Five stars out of five for you, hero-friend of mine! I didn't even notice that you've been so gloomy all the time; I will make it my duty to make you smile and be happy more and more often! On my honor as a knight, I now add that duty to my list of very super duper important duties! Trust me, I will not fail!" He pointed his sword at the sky in a very dramatic gesture as he spoke of his promise, determined to make it come as true as the safety and protection of his princess.
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Post by CJ on Jun 24, 2013 23:07:39 GMT -5
If a storm cloud had appeared over Connor's head and poured a shower over him, it wouldn't have done much better to dampen his mood. Despite the cheers around him, he looked entirely bummed.
"I... I... I don't know," Connor frowned deeply at Kaede. "Wait, why are you guys laughing? What am I supposed to do with such a thing?!"
The chef fell down in a moment of pitiful silly despair. He curled up on the deck and clenched his legs, facing away from the group. Placing his hand to his chin, he wondered if he could sell it and donate the money to some person or place that needed it.
The Sea Pony Princess smiled as best she could with her sea horse face. She seemed to appreciate especially Camellia's reaction to her gift. She couldn't have cared less about Finnegan. To her, he was an old fart, which is why she was glad he asked for humility and got the map. Then again, she figured she could always lie and give Camellia her father's portrait anyway.
Beth, meanwhile, laughed again when Shroud Demon rushed Kaede. She went to place her hand on his shoulder to politely tell him to give Kaede some space. However, she seemed appreciated the gesture. Asking him to join them was spontaneous, but she appreciated his company, especially after Snake left.
"Yeah," she commented, "I think bad times are behind us for now. We've really come far. Let's hope we'll have more chances to smile."
As the sea ponies prepared to part, the princess turned back to Camellia. With glorious sparkles in her eyes, she gave her parting words.
"My friend, my name is Sea Pony Princess Priscella Penelope Sandwich the Second! YAAAAAAAY! LONG LIVE ME!"
With that, they all leaped into the air and splashed down into the water, disappearing, along with their obnoxious energy, into the depths.
[You can now use this thread for finishing posts.]
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 28, 2013 19:53:31 GMT -5
Kaede was startled at first, by Shroud Demon's sudden approach. It was hard to take him seriously, and she tried not to laugh, although she realized that was probably what he wanted her to do.
"I... I'm not a hero, but I appreciate it. I'm sure you have much more important things to busy yourself with."
Between seeing the Princess depart in a wondrous display of splendid amazement, and hearing Beth's hope for the future, it was hard not to feel great at that moment. They really had come a long way and done much. Things had been hard at times, but they met a bunch of new people and went to many different places, but most important of all Connor was back to the way he was supposed to be. The Andersons would be able to resume their lives the way they should have been, and just looking at Connor, Kaede seemed to forget all about her own predicament. Certainly at least, she felt it was all worth it.
"That was fun and all, but it would be nice if we could just get back to the restaurant... some peace and quiet after all..."
There was a slight change in her tone as she spoke about halfway through, when she realized what she had said. It wasn't that she didn't believe or hope for what she said, but rather that she remembered what was waiting back at the restaurant. For the Andersons it was their life. For Finn and Cammy, it was probably a nice cup of tea, and for Shroud Demon it was probably a slice of justice pie with a scoop of heroism on top. There was a person waiting at the restaurant for Kaede though, and after all she had been through, she wasn't sure if she could keep lying to the Andersons like she had been all along.
She put on a nervous smile for the others there, but she reached for the old crew mark on her neck (with some difficulty), for support.
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Post by Kyubey on Jun 29, 2013 1:33:01 GMT -5
Camellia looked on as the Princess and her guards vanished, a twinkle from a single delicious, savory teardrop forming in her eye. Even though the encounter had been but a few minutes, and only just learned her name, she felt as if she just saw off a lifelong friend.
"Priscella Penelope Sandwich the Second..." she said wistfully. "What a great name. For a really great Princess. I'll make sure to not ever forget it. Prissypen Applebee Burrito the Fourteenth... yeah."
She sighed and rested her cheek upon her fist, wishing that her magical Pony Princess times could have been all the times. Maybe in her dreams. Maybe.
"Finnegan?"
"Miss?"
"We're going to stay with Beth and Connor and Shroody Shroud and Kaede forever, right?"
"Forever is highly unlikely for anything, Little Miss."
Camellia gave Finnegan yet another irritated look. "I know that, you silly radish, but, I mean, like, for a really long time, right?"
Finnegan paused. "That depends, Miss. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson might not want us to remain that long. We are their guests, and we must respect their wishes."
"Oh, always about that! Come on! They're fine with us! They have been so far! And it's not like we'll just be mooching like we've done so far. I wanna, like, help them do boat things and stuff! I gotta learn to start doing things on my own sometime, y'know! And when I do, I wanna start by helping these new friends of ours!"
"That is very admirable of you, Little Miss. I am proud. But, pardon for me asking, what is it about these pira...people that has made you so adamant about staying with them?"
"It's like I said to Princess Pantszilla before! They make me feel as though I really am a Princess! They care about me, and worry about me, and protect me, and let me go on all kinds of adventures with them! I've only known them for a short while, but during that time I met Sea Ponies, got a nifty present, almost burned to death, and all kinds of things! You do that, too, and I'm really happy you're here to help me do all the things I can't on my own, but, it's like, y'know, you have to do those things. But these guys are my vassals because they wanna be! I dunno, I think that's great."
Finnegan frowned slightly, but his tone conveyed understanding. "Yes, I do not disapprove of you making friends. But surely you are aware that these friends might be taking us somewhere dangerous now?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"Miss, you do realize that this ship is currently on a course for the Grand Line."
Camellia did not, in fact, know this, but also she did not, in fact, seem to care. "That's great! We'll go there then! I've heard a lot of cool stuff about the Grand Line, and..." her tone picked up, and she became increasingly excited and giddy. "And maybe we'll find my parents there!"
"Now that is silly!" Finnegan exclaimed, momentarily letting some emotion through before reeling it back in again. "Just why in the world would your parents be in a place like that?"
"Well, you said they had to go far away, and the Grand Line is pretty dang far away. And we've checked almost all the Not Grand Line, so there's only one more place left to go! And as long as our friends are going with 'em, we might as well stick around, yeah! C'mon, it'll be just like before, only there'll be even more people to hang out with, and we won't be so so lonely!"
Finnegan sighed. "I do not approve, but you are the Little Miss. I cannot argue."
"Yay!" she beamed, smiling at him, then at the others, then out at the great wide sea. "Hey Finnegan?"
"Yes Miss?"
"Do ya ever just stop sometimes, and look out at the sea or the sky or a nice breakfast, and do nothing for a while but smile and think about how really great the world is? 'Cause that's what I feel like doing."
---
While the Little Miss was happy as could be, dark clouds loomed in the thoughts of Edwell Finnegan. For five long years of chasing after an unreachable goal, Finnegan had managed to keep the Grand Line safely away from Camellia's mind. But now that she had brought it up directly, he was at a loss for how to dissuade her this time, without revealing far too much. He knew, better than anyone, how unstoppable she was when her heart was set. During their travels, he had taught the tea girl to be strong, to fight beyond, and to fend off most of the threats that she would be faced with in life. And, though they were pirates, he trusted the Andersons to help with the dangers that the girl and butler pair could not fend off on their own. But what he was worried about was not what most feared from the Grand Line. His fear was something far worse.
Finnegan knew, without any doubt, that They were on the Grand Line. They, who posed a potential danger to Camellia that nobody, not Finnegan, Beth, Connor, Kaede, Shroud Demon, or anyone else, could fully protect her from.
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Post by Kuro on Jun 30, 2013 15:53:33 GMT -5
Shroud Demon backed away a few steps at Beth's gesture for him to do so, but a beaming smile could still be heard in his voice. "Kaede, you are most definitely a hero! I've seen you do so many heroics right in front of my eyes! Kinda. Trust me when I say that I can busy myself with a bunch of things at once, and my mission to make you happy is now one of those things! I promise that I will not fail you, Hero Kaede!"
At her mention of the restaurant, Shroud Demon jumped up and looked positively giddy. "Ooh! That's right! The restaurant! What's it like, huh, huh, huh? No wait, don't tell me! I want to see it for myself! Oh, this will be great! I'm so glad we're all working together in the name of justice." After uttering that last word, he became less energetic though. "...Hm. Peace and quiet. Well, that's good, I suppose. Er...we'll still go on adventures to help people and vanquish villains, right?"
Shroud Demon thought to himself about what would happen at the restaurant. Peace and quiet...he wasn't sure if he could be used to just...relaxing every single day. That is, he loved to relax, but could he go weeks without saving a single soul?
...Hm.
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Post by CJ on Jun 30, 2013 16:28:51 GMT -5
Home. Yeah, they were going home. Connor was too busy getting used to his body to even think of his son back home. He had never seen him with his own eyes. There would be no constant measurement in the difference of his eyelids in millimeters, no red filter that comprised Tomahawk's vision. He would be able to hold onto him without worrying about his arm turning into a cannon.
His mouth twitched into a smile. He blinked, noticing Beth suddenly right next to him. This was it. At this point, he would start living life not as a cyborg or a bumbling robot or even a witch. He would be himself. He didn't even think of how he was going to escape the Grand Path at this point. He could barely wait to get back to the restaurant and continue his life from here.
Connor gripped Beth's hand and she squeaked, shaking her hand away from him. He frowned in concern.
"Beth?"
"E-haha," Beth said with a smile, gripping onto her hand in slight pain. "Static shock."
When everyone started speaking about the restaurant, Beth seemed a somewhat miffed. Not even Kaede's rare happiness or Shroud Demon's usual peppiness could cure whatever attitude she felt. Camellia's wishes helped only to put an even more sour look on her face. With a sigh, she turned around, looking out onto the vast ocean.
"Yeah, the restaurant. I didn't want to tell you guys in case things went bad."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out its contents. In her hands was a extensively written and signed contract, her signature along with a scribbled name with a capital N and G.
"The deal's already been struck. I've sold the Happy Happy Restaurant. I'm out."
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