April the 8th, naval time 10:00PM, the briefing room aboard The Yamato.
Vice Admiral Ito had gathered all ten captains from the fleet for a briefing. He had spent the last few hours trying to get everything together, from the events that had unfolded upon the Asashimo Destroyer, and even a roundup of chemist engineers, and even the navigators to solve a few of the fleets problems. His eyes had been straining and even had gone blood red around the irises from lack of sleep. When he walked into the briefing room, all the captains in the room saluted and bowed before taking their seats. All of them sat quietly around table, faces neither grim nor without worry. It had now been almost twenty one hours since they arrived to this new world. The fleet had slowly started to call this world Ryu no Yo, The Dragon's World. Some still referred to it as Watasumi.
"Captains, this situation is not any more dire then the original situation we began in." "We currently do not know much about this world or its inhabitants." Ito noticed a few of his captains shiver at the last bit. "Today, a mere nine hours ago one of our destroyers encountered another occupant of this world, three giant birds." He paused to let everything sink in. "These birds posed a large threat and expended ammo as well as took a few lives." "That said, we can fight dumb birds and still feed ourselves." The other captains started to cheer when he finished, but as soon as they did, Ito pulled his sword out, slashing the table as he stood. "Don't mistake we're at a disadvantage, our ammo is limited, the oil from the Wani's might not keep our power and ships moving, and we still don't know how to solve the problem of scurvy unless we find land or a way to climb sky trees!" No one dared speak directly back to Ito. "Assuming everything goes well, our next meeting shall be more pleasant, now if you will excuse me, you're dismissed!"
For a briefing it didn't really inform any of the captains of anything they did not already know. The situation had not changed even after the bird attack or any organizational changes that had occurred as a result. There was no chance of getting back to Japan, and everyone already seemed to already recognize this. Two of the captains were given orders to attempt to find land, but they were given orders to scout only while the sun was up, with the sun going down, they would have to wait for daylight to resume operations. The whalers were still working about ten kilometers away from the main fleet. Engineers had already made some preparations to have some of the destroyers run on whale oil, and a part of the deck of the Yamato had already been somehow turned into a vegetable garden using vegetable seeds from the galleys. Some rice had even been set in homemade rice beds using life boats. It was truly an odd site that everyone smirked at.
Ito tiredly left the briefing room, he had been up for nearly forty four hours. His briefing had been; well brief. He had tried to catch up on some sleep earlier, but then everything seemed to happen to stop him. With the large sun sitting outside his personal cabin aboard the Yamato, originally reserved for its captain, Ito watched it start to fall to the horizon as he fell asleep. This time it seemed like nothing would wake him. He had even ordered the captain of the Yamato to post guards to keep it that way.
April the 8th, naval time 10:30PM, Kenta's perspective.
Kenta was still aboard the Asashimo, he was getting tired as he watched the twelfth Wani that day be gutted. Since the bird attack earlier in the day, three more escort destroyers were deployed to watch and help spot birds. Kenta's hand still twitched as he watched the skies with his anti aircraft scope. The Wani's appeared to be an easy prey for them, for the most part, and with the extra ships, they were able to smoke more of the blubber and collect oils for the fleet.
The sun which was huge in the sky took gasps away as it slowly started to descend under the next two hours. Kenta thought this world could be beautiful in some ways. In this world light as a feather, Kenta a mere human in the realm of Ryu no Yo, birthplace of Japan. Sure as a Shinto believer Kenta believed in deities such as the dragon, but to actually be in the land of the dragons, something about it was magical. He still wondered about that giant woman he first encountered, would there be more? He sure hope there would be, then again he thought back on that, a view is great, but so is your life.
April the 8th, naval time 2:30PM, earlier today.
Maki was sitting in her chair made of vine. In her hand she held some straw which she had balled up, and two large sticks she was using to interweave the straw into a nearly complete man palace. She was not fortunate, she was the twenty second female born in her village to her mother, Momo. She was still rather young, and looked to be in her twenties, although by Japanese standard she was already near twice that. Making a man palace, was an important factor in attracting a mate. After her mother's twenty fifth daughter was born, a son was finally born. After a few short years, the man was traded as dowry to another village in exchange for the right to mate with the other villages young male. Unfortunately again, Maki was not chosen as one of the girls favored by the young male, and did not get to go with him to a new village.
As with the case in Ryujin society, the leader of a village was a bearer of a male child. To be able to have a child in the first place, one had to court and join a starting village, by earning the respect, and lust of a young man. Leaving ones village of birth to court a young man, and being the opportunity to start a new village was huge. Once one of the females in courtship and mating birthed a male child in a village, they became village head over there male, and would speak to another village, to exchange a male as dowry for the right for her daughters to start a village with a young man. In this way both villages would benefit.
In the case of Maki, she was alone, another weaver of clothes and shoes and other household items. Like some of her other sisters, she was not selected, and did not get the right to start a new village and court a young man. Crying as she weaved a man palace, an intricately designed cage meant to safely house a male from a dangerous world. Such a skill was required for any training courtesan to attract a mate. A man held all the power in Ryujin society until one of his ladies in waiting whom he loved gave birth to his male child. After that, the female would take control and continue to hold all rights to his seed. A powerful position in society.
Maki set down her weaving set, the man palace nearly complete. Crafting such things, when one was most likely stuck in a man less village for the rest of your life was only saddening. Never seeing another village a different tree, making a new home, every Ryujin's dream. Her room was far from a mess, as far as straw huts inside tree's were concerned. Her home had two windows to the sky, and she had hand weaved most of the thatching herself. When she had done so a few years earlier, she had hoped to impress her mate, instead she was teased, and a few great fisherman were chosen instead.
Bringing herself to the window as her chest swung over the railing, with her two giant boulders taking a rest out and over it, she sighed. The wind was slightly cool up here in the tree's; and even from this great height, all the branches and foliage ruined any good view she could have. The birds had started nesting nearby, but she no longer paid them any heed. There was no longer any mates to attract. She wanted to show how well she could keep the birds away, but now she no longer cared or tried.
The sun would be setting in about nine hours, and Maki still had to finish weaving a bunch of undergarments for her sisters to wear. None had come and visited her today, besides a few who asked her to make a few things. Maki was not good at fighting and fishing like the other girls, and was seen as an outcast for trying to be smarter and do less work. In Ryujin society, women were very masculine, as the boys were clingy and demanded protection and comfort. Many of the girls that were chosen by men often gave flowers to their male mate, and fought over who was a better protector for their mate. A weaver was considered weak and often called a man, Maki hated it.
While mopping and acting very unwomanly, Maki noticed a bird flying to a nest outside her window. This itself was not a strange sight, but the Wani inside its mouth was. It looked as if it had been bleeding long before the bird had found it, and it was impaled by many small spears. Then she saw something dangling on a line from the fish.
It was an unconscious man.
To be continued.