Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

A Starry Reunion

A small vessel danced on waves several floors high. This wasn't something special for the northern ocean, though it required a skilled crew to sail such a small boat through all that. Even then, the skill of the crew did little to counteract the constant, nauseating bounciness. It's been a few days like that, though navigating several troublesome gulfs closer to the shore required a smaller vessel.

"Hmm..." Asuka hummed out into the gloomy clouds shrouding the already stone-colored ocean and making even the foamy waves look boring. The Allied Ninja weren't part of the crew, they were passengers. Just a side gig to make some extra coin for those sailing across the North Ocean and back. "Where's the new guy?"

"You want to pester him? A great idea, he's in the boilers, meddling with his puppets," Endo pointed over his shoulder.

"You do know that he's a Stars' original, right?" Shige-H raised her eyebrow while leading her teammate off with her stare.

"Damisan's back, now we need to figure out how to make the Konoha Black Ops surrender Skaven and the crew will be back together. I guess Tomi's out of the picture for good..." Endo began counting before noting something only he would have pointed out and shrugging it off like it meant nothing to bring up the deceased this way to him. "By the way, have you figured out how you're going to get Mana back on our side? Last time didn't go too well and you can't afford to flub this again, boss."

"I'll... I'll just have to change the way I approach it. I don't know why I thought trying to strong-arm Mana back was the right call," Shige-H sighed. "We were friends once, and we got along and could relate to each other's struggles and I'll just have to hope that still means something and that Mana still isn't indifferent to coming back."

"And what if she's turned herself over?" Endo slammed his arm into the table with surprising restraint for him. "Are you going to have the guts to take her out?"

"Take her out? Endo... Damn it..." Shige-H groaned. "I don't think she's taken up the Getsugakure headband. If she did, we'll leave it to Konohagakure to handle. She's their ninja, her license with Konoha is suspended for the duration she's working with the Allied Ninja as per the cooperation contract between Konoha and the Allied Ninja. If she's turned over, she'll be a rogue ninja, but I won't make you hurt her."

"Eh..." Endo shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I'd rather she didn't turn sides, and she's a Stars' original too. I've come to like her in a very exotic pet in the zoo kind of way with the dumb things she says and does, but even so, I'd strike her down if you need me to."

"Thanks, Endo, I'll have that in mind. Always good to know I can count on you to kill people I call friends," Shige-H rolled her eyes, not being able to sound any more sarcastic than she did while delivering that last response.

Damisan was working in the boiler room just like Endo tipped Asuka off to. He's been screwing things in, starting small from a couple of screws and moving up to attaching hidden blades, sealing tags and the like, and then placing the mechanical limbs back to where he removed them from. He must have had several puppets unsealed and disassembled as plenty of larger pieces that didn't look like they fit together, laid around waiting for the puppeteer to pick up after himself and clean up.

"Did one of the sailors won your shirt from you at cards?" Asuka teased the puppeteer with a raised tone, referencing the fact that Damisan sat on the floor bare-chested and sweating profusely. It was something that necessitated him to take a brief stop and wipe the sweat off once in a while or else he'd slip up with the more precise aspect of his maintenance work.

"I like the heat. It reminds me of home. It's distracting to some, but it's a distraction I can't work without," Damisan replied without moving his eyes off his work.