Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Home, Sweet Home

"Farewell, Mana-chan!" the lower ranking sailors yelled out at the crew of Mana, Meiko, Kouta, and Kusagoro while only the magician saw the departing ship off into the horizon with her eyes. It was a while before the ship totally faded in the misty morning gloom and the all too familiar smells of rotten wet port wood and mashed quince met Mana's nose.

The mornings were the messiest of all times of the day for small port towns like the one the team was let go in. Fish stands had no time to promote their newly resupplied stocks as they were too busy selling the dead and sometimes still gasping for air marine life of all sorts.

"Awww, they think the moody savior of the world is cute and they'll miss her, isn't that just adorable!?" Meiko teased Mana pinching her cheek which made the magician laugh out in the sudden painful shock and hit Meiko back with her elbow. By now Mana was used to not hold back when hitting Meiko – the redhead didn't appear to feel a single thing and it didn't look like she used much augmentation. Must've been the natural toughness of the blacksmith.

"No, seriously it's a little strange though... Am I the only one thinking it's strange?" Kouta scratched the back of his head curiously looking back at where the ship could've been at that point in time as the crew made their way through the port town. Soon they'd hit the long stretching forests and the surroundings won't change all the way until they finally reach Konoha.

"Lowly sailors shouldn't talk to a ninja that way, they should be afraid she'd be sent after them. It's pathetic, really." Kusagoro noted with disgust.

"Eating with these "lowly sailors" does wonders. I think the pirates had the right idea there." Mana replied feeling really uncomfortable about having to defend her stance on the more humane treatment of low ranking sailors. It's almost like the lessons of seeing where these inhumane conditions lead washed off of her team completely. Despite her abhorrent dislike of the conditions below the deck where these men ate, she visited those quarters several more times after that one time just to show those men some magic tricks and keep them company before they drank each other under the table. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.

"I dunno, I'd like to set sails again sometime, really tear through the oceans, maybe kick some more Pirate Lords' butt when we get stronger but for now, I'm really sick of the sea and this damp weather. All of my weapons and armor pieces are getting rusty and I didn't think my alloys gathered rust." Meiko pouted looking at a couple of her reserve shoulder pieces. Despite repairing and rebuilding her armor out of the spare parts she bought along the way constantly Meiko found herself unable to keep a stable set on her without it melting or being busted to pieces.

"Pirates only have the right idea when they hang their own damn selves. They're lowly traitorous criminals and they're only good as dead meat." Kusagoro began angrily taking glances at Mana's general direction. It was like built up tension between the two was erupting over a totally unrelated issue.

"That solves the symptom but not the problem. Pirates only become pirates because of how badly they're treated as legitimate sailors. All they want is to live in dignity and a little respect. They want to make enough money to live and to see their own families once in a while. Those men in the engineering basically make the ship sail and yet if they wish to provide food for their families they have to be away for whole but one week year. They're constantly abused and have no idea if they'll make enough for a living or won't get murdered by pirates the next day. What kind of a way is that to live?" Mana replied becoming more and more annoyed that meeting Francho and Read apparently taught nothing to her team.

"You're just sympathizing with pirates, justifying their stupid excuses for killing and robbing people. Sailors need to suck it up, if they go rogue – they get killed just like a rogue samurai or a rogue ninja." Kusagoro cut down crossing his hands on his chest.