(no subject)

[modernholmes]

"Captain Holmes!"  Conan knocked politely on the door.  "I have news.  You are in need of some new crew members. The cook took objection to the cadaver in the larder and quit.  Several of the more squeamish crewmembers left with him."

He sounded rather cheerful about the entire issue.  "But at least the state of putrefaction is proceeding nicely."

It had taken Conan a lot of effort to get taken on as a cabin boy by Captain Holmes.  Months of effort to track down the only pirate captain known to have had encounters with the leader of the Black Pirates.  The same pirates, Conan suspected, who had been responsble for his own poisoning and shrinking.  Weeks more of effort planning on how best to catch the captain's interest.  Conan knew quite well that the only reason he'd been hired and kept on the crew was because Sherlock Holmes found him to be interesting. 

And... at least it was not boring aboard this ship.  He'd found quite a few shared interests with the captain.  Until the day that he could destroy the Black Pirates and regain his life as Shinichi Kudo, this was not a bad life.  Exploration.  Treasure hunting and riddles.  Plenty of scientific inquiry.

Now if only they had an easier time keeping the other crew members around.

Comments

[waterfell]

Instead of Holmes, the first one to appear was a brightly-colored blue butterfly with black markings, a creature who served as something like the ship's mascot and who typically resided on its captain's shoulder. It hovered in the air with a few slow waves of its soft wings.

"Deserters! Deserters!" The voice was a fluttering whisper, somehow clear and loud enough. The butterfly held little opinion of the ones who quit over a few hardships.

[modernholmes]

Conan gives the butterfly a dry look. "We seem to run into a lot of those."

[waterfell]

"Throw them off! Throw them off!" There was only one way to handle a betrayer, after all; especially at sea, where rations were limited and could not be used to support a traitor.

[modernholmes]

"They already left," Conan informs the butterfly. "One of the longboats is gone."

[waterfell]

"What's next? What's next?" It was hard to pick up the pieces of betrayal, of a group falling apart; perhaps the butterfly, which still had the soul of a senshi, knew that.

And more practically, a new crew would be needed.

[modernholmes]

"We hire some new crew."

It was the third time this year.

[waterfell]

"No longboat," the butterfly pointed out, before repeating the phrase again. They were a valuable commodity; the ones taken by the deserters would have to be replaced. Were there even any left?

[modernholmes]

"I already put it on the list." Conan maintained a constant list of things that needed to be replaced thanks to the captain's hobbies.

[waterfell]

The butterfly, who had developed a sudden hobby of hovering just a few inches away from Conan's face, didn't need a longboat itself of course, and so it let the subject drop at that. A bit of powder clung to its wings.

"Captain of None, Captain of None."

oh my god this is amazing

[solvings]

Oh, great, the cook left again. Well, he was rather boring, anyway, so it wasn't much of a loss to him, and who cared if he took the more squeamish crew members with him as well? Certainly not Sherlock. Really, it wasn't like he'd murdered anyone himself for his experiments, but when that once-fresh cadaver washed up he couldn't resist.

But Conan...hmm. Now he was certainly more interesting than the rest of them put together, and that was saying something. Besides, the last time he visited Mrs. Hudson she'd taken his skull, and he needed someone to talk to.

Someone who wasn't the Black Pirates' leader, Jim Moriarty, at least. Now, there was someone quite challenging, and he almost respected him, if not for the fact that he'd very nearly killed his first mate, now recuperating with Mrs. Hudson, much to the man's dismay.

"Never mind them," he replied. "We'll stop by Cassis."

I couldn't resist any longer! The opening line was running through my head all day.

[modernholmes]

Conan nods brightly. He hadn't expected the captain to be upset by the news. After all, this was hardly the first time. "A few days sail, isn't it?"

[solvings]

"We'll manage," he says. True, it's hardly the first time he's had to replace a cook, though it's such a pain to get new longboats when they take most of the crew with them.

And who needs to eat, anyway? He functions perfectly fine without it.

Anyway...

"Pass me the pen." Said pen is on the table, which is within walking distance of the seat where Sherlock is reading the map. Is he lazy? Yes. Yes, he is.

[modernholmes]

Conan gives Sherlock an exasperated look, but moves over to retrieve the pen. Just another of the trials of being stuck at this age.

[theinfamous1412]

Kaito hated the ocean. In fact, he hated it so much he frequently stated to anyone that wouldn't use the knowledge against him and his best friend Aoko that anything to do with the ocean was evil. Most people did not agree. So what he wanted to know is what sick and twisted person decided to drag him into a dream where there was-Oh. Oh it figures. Kaito's eyes narrow dangerously at the small boy from where he was perched in the crow's nest. Bastard. How dare he bring him into a dream that takes place out in the one thing he hates most.

Bastard. He thinks viciously. 'You complete and utter bastard. I will get you for this.' If tantei-kun wanted to play pirates then Kaito was more than ready to play along... just as soon as he convinced himself to get down.

[modernholmes]

Conan glances up sharply at the sound of creaking ropes and stares intently at the crow's nest. Someone was up there?

[theinfamous1412]

Kaito tries desperately to calm his nerves but one thought keeps implanting itself to the front of his mind-He is surrounded by fish. Lots of different sized and different colored fish that all had those same freaky eyes that just stared and-and he shudders at the thought and curls into a tight ball. M-maybe he'll stay up here until they reach solid land.

There's no one in danger so there's no reason for him to brave the fish.

[modernholmes]

By now Conan was convinced that he could see someone up there. Casting one last glance around the deck, he starts climbing up to the crow's nest.

[theinfamous1412]

No! Go away! There's no one up here! Kaito isn't moving. He probably should as he doesn't really want to think about what the brat will do once he discovers that he, Kaitou Kid was hiding in the crow's nest and that the reason he wasn't moving was because he was absolutely terrified of fish.

[modernholmes]

Too bad. Conan was curious now. He keeps moving up the ladder.