Jada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toru sat on the floor. He was not in any mood to talk to me, I did not blame him. I had grown up with sailors as did he, but not french sailors. French sailors are snobs, most can speak english on this ship but I wasn't about to tell Toru. As I said before French sailors are snobs. I am better than I was but still have my mothers upturned nose additude towards life. But being half Norweigian has humbled me a bit.

I just stared at Toru who was singing some song....he told me the name and I still can't remember but another song, one my mother sang came into my head.I started humming it and then started singing,
"He was a saucy sailor boy
Who'd come from afar,
To ask a maid to be the bride
Of a poor Jack tar.

The maiden, a poor fisher girl,
Stood close by his side;
With scornful look she answered thus;
I'll not be your bride.

You're mad to think I'd marry you
Too ragged you are;
Begone, you saucy sailor boy,
Begone you Jack tar.

I've money in my pocket, love,
And bright gold in store;
These clothes of mine are all in rags,
But coin can buy more.

Though black my hands my gold is clean
So I'll sail afar,
A fairer maid than you, I ween,
Will wed this Jack tar.

Stay! Stay! you saucy sailor boy,
Do not sail afar;
I love you and will marry you,
You silly Jack tar.

'Twas but to tease I answered so,
I thought you could guess
That when a maiden answers no
She always means yes.

Begone you pretty fisher girl,
Too artful are you;
So spake the saucy sailor boy,
Gone was her Jack tar."

I looked up to see James standing in the doorway, a snile upon his face.

"I seem to remember another woman who sang that song,but how can I forget the voice of a girl as pretty as you Jada."

Toru stood up and looked at me confused again because of course James was talking in French.

"It is ok Toru,this is James the captain."

Toru stood as tall and proud as he could.

James tried to muster up the best English possible,"Hellou Torue,I ama peroud to hava you upona my shipia." His french accent was so thick that is sounded like another lanagage all together.

Toru just stared him down, i stared between the two of them.

I broke ther staring contest by asking James about his comment, "the one about my voice"

"I am suprised you do not remember the little boy, the one who wittled u birds everyday."

"How did you know bout that?"

"That is me."

"You can't be, you're Chester's brother!"

"Ha! Chester is a friend who likes to believe we are related, not more blood is shared between us than you and I."

"I am so confused." I replied, "Why bring this up now?."

Toru
------------------------

It turned out that the "stuff" Jada had mentioned mostly meant menial tasks like galley work, scrubbing the deck, and other mindless activities. I had tried to explain to any of the sailors that I myself was a sailor and could help with greater duties, but they only laughed at the little Japanese man who couldn't speak French. Jada refused to translate. She seemed to enjoy my misery.

It was late on the first night on the ship and I sat cross legged on the floor of our small room. I felt it entirely inappropriate that we should share a room, so I tried my best to ignore her presence as I carefully cleaned my katana. I softly hummed a slowed version of the tune to the o-bon dance, 'Tanko Bushi.' I did not have a good voice, but it was not horrible, either. My sister had loved dancing to that song. I remembered my mother would sing it while teaching the dance to Miho when we were very young.

"Dig the ground, Miho, like this. Yes! Now carry the coal over your shoulder, both sides now. Toru-chan! Show your little sister how to carry the coal!"

"What are you singing?" Jada asked. She had been idly watching me clean my katana for a few minutes now.

"An old Japanese folk song," I said, keeping my eyes on my work. "Coal Miner's Song. In late summer, we hold O-bon festival, to honour our ancestors who have left this life. We dance Tanko Bushi for Bon Odori."

I glanced up at Jada, who raised a brow and shrugged.

Oh, very nice! See what good things you can do when you're pressed? lol. I'll post someday ^_^

Jada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My smirk became a smile as we walked down the back alley behind my tavern towards the docks.

"So you are a sailor, hm?"

"Yes, my otoosan, how do you say the man who raise me?"

"Father?"

"Yes, father! He was a sailor, taught me everything I know also I met a dutch man he teach me dutch and english, which is good, no?"

"Yes it is passable. But will you be able to get passage on a boat here?"

I ducked into a side alley leaving Toru in the alley. I went inside a small dark and dusty room full of books and at the back of the room sat a little man.I slipped behind him and put my hands over him eyes.

"Who? what?" He mumbled out. I released my hands and he spun around in his chair."Jada! Things going ok at the tavern? Not too many drunks hitting on you tonight I hope."

"Well, that is not why I am here." I said with a frown on my face

"How much do you need this time?"

"I don't need money. It is nothing, it's just."

" I get it Jada, I have seen it all along why didn't I not guess it sooner."

"What do you mean? How did you find out so fast?"

"It is so apparent, so clear, I see it in your eyes."

"See what in my eyes?"

"You want to marry me. But Jada, how would my other employees feel? If I married you then I would up and have to marry all of them. Which would be great for all of you but very stressful on me."

"Oh! No, that is not what I meant you old crazy man. I remembered you bragging about your kid brother being a captain of a boat, said he sailed from here to Sierra Leone alot?"

"That is true but why does that matter any?"

"There is something I would love for you to do for me."

I grabbed a few things from my room, upstairs hugged Chester and thanked him. And walked out of the building with a sack about the size of Toru. I dangled it in front of him and he reluctantly took it

We walked up the boardwalk towards one of the nicer boats, the more expesive looking the boat the more protected, and the more likely to have room.

"Excuse me?" Toru said the captain. "Can we get passage on this boat?"

"Vous porc asiatique pourquoi vous parlez le non-sens ? Parlez comme un vrai homme !" said the captain with arm muscles bigger than Toru's head.

I started giggling, because it struck me as funny that Toru didn't know what in the world the man had just said to him.
I approached the man and put on a flirty face and quickly placed the note from Chester in his hand.

"Bonjour James, votre Chester de frère m'a dit alot de vous. Il m'a donné ceci vous donner. J'espère que vous soutiendrez les souhaits de votre frères. Excuser mon ami qu'il a été tombé sur sa tête comme un enfant"

He looked down at the note, and back up at me and he ushered us in.

I turned to look at Toru who was standing there slack jawed and with a puzzled look on his face.

"Translation please?" he said with his appearence unchanging.

"Oh I just got us onto the really nice boat. You can thank me by naming your first child after me of something fancy like that."

James ushered us to a room on board, it was small a servants quarters, just off the captain room.

"What do we have to do while on board?" Toru said aprehensive

"Oh, you know stuff...." I giggled

I will re-write it in the mean time

Well, there's a point where reality needs to kick in, though lol. I mean, honestly, no one is going to let a couple of freeloaders onto their ship without working or payment or something, and especially not in a nice room. Since we've gone for a more historical story here, we're going to have to try to be slightly realistic. I'm just sayin'... ^_^

Um, I'll post something later, I can only access on school comps atm, so I'll post when it is more convenient to be stuck at the school for a bit lol.

Oh jimi you under estimate Jada's control over men and also the fact her father was a pirate! there is mystery running through her veins she does stuff that is crazy but always ends up turning out great

Just to note, um, are we working on the ship? Otherwise, we'd have to pay a load of money- flirtations only get you so far unless you made "special arrangements" with the gentleman :P And wouldn't Jada have to like... go get some things before they leave? You know, tell her boss she quits and all that good stuff? Oh, also, "Father" in this case would be "Otoosan" ^_^

Toru
============

"What kind of a barmaid has that education?" I asked her with a scowl.

"I'm not a barmaid," she spat. "I just work at a bar for the time being."

I laughed. "Yes, yes. And I am the honoured Emperor, just no one recognizes, hai?"

"Are you going or not, Shorty?" she growled. My hand went to my katana.

"Watch what you say! I may have been a sailor, but I am samurai, too!"

A grin crept upon her face. "A sailor, are you? Easy for a sailor to get passage to another country, isn't it?"

"Kusou..." I murmered. After a while of staring up at her smug face, I finally nodded. "Fine. I will go. But I am not looking for a..." I thought a moment, couldn't think of the word, tried something else, "A not-stranger?"

She looked at me as if I were slightly insane. "You mean friend?"

"Hai, hai, fu-re-n-do," I said, mimicking the word to the best of my ability. "I am not interested in that. Now... we go."

She rolled her eyes and started to leave the alley we'd been in. I stopped her and said, as humbly as I could muster. "And... thank you for help."

Should we set?

I looked at him plain in the eye not shuddering.

"Bad disposition or not, they will make her work and if she does not work she is work nothing and will die."

"Why?" he looked at me, I could see the top of his head plainly from my level.

"Muspelheim is to the south of Ginnungagap right?"

"Yes.... I still don't see what you are getting at."

"Muspelheim in Norwegian Mythology is our version of hell. They both go together. Only one place where 'gold grass shines' and 'animals run freely'. In a place that slaves who have traveled through there have Rightly named hell,Sierra Leone."

"But how do we get there? Even if you are right how can we be so certain that my sister will be alive."

"She will be sent to hell then to the Americas if the price is right."

"She would never survive, she would lash out." He turned away and seem to be brooding. Me being one not to pass up a chance to prie, spoke up.

"What is wrong with your sister anyway. You act as if she is your girl than a little brat of a sister. I never had no siblings but I wouldn't up and go searching for 'em"

"Mind your tougue." He barked

"I will but, if my intuition is right, and it almost alway is. You will need an interpreter when you get to Sierra Leone if you go yourself."

"What are you getting at?" He scowled and tried to lengthen his short frame.

"How many people do you know that speak Italian,English,Spanish, French, Creole/Cajan, and Norwegian. These are some of the
langages spoke in hell so unless you can tell me that you, yourself can speak all of those now, I am finding us a boat to Sierra Leone and we are going to find your sister and also find out why I am a part of this."

Toru
------------------

I looked at her with narrowed eyes. Why was she so willing to help me? And could I even trust her? To go to Africa... And what did that have to do with the Norse creation story?

"I'm Jada, by the way." She held out her hand. I knew this was how foreigners met one another, but I did not accept her hand. That was too intimate of a motion, I did not feel comfortable with it.

"Why this Gin place and Africa? Why does this gap become so suddenly Africa?"

Jada thought about it for a moment, but again I did not leave her time to answer. "Anyhow. I have no... what is the word? Okane? Uh, payment?"

Jada crumpled her brow. "Money?"

"Yes, money. I have none." I did not bother to tell her I could probably get free passage on a ship for helping on board. "My sister cannot be at this place. No slaver would want her."

"And why is that?"

It would dishonour my sister to tell a stranger that she was mentally ill, so I simply said, "She has... ah... bad disposition for a slave."

A new clue

Jada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Storybooks,huh?"

"What you mena to tell me you think this place is real?"

"Let me see that paper again. Why didn't I see this before?"

"What?"

"Look here!"

"Look where? I see nothing but what i read to you and some weird jumbled up words."

"Stedet å det sør der hvor gullet gresset skinner og dyrene løpe ledig"

"What?!"

"Translated it means A place to the south where golden grass shines and animals wander freely."

"and...?"

"Tell me what countries or country is south of here."

"Spain,and a whole bunch of countries in Africa."

"Gold grass. Animals roam freely."

"What? What?"

"It is a riddle. Where in Africa do both these things happen?"

"In all of them."

"I know that but if they are transporting her to 'hell' why would golden grass shine and animals run freely? Do you have a map?"

" Yes" he handed it to me

"There it is!"

"There is what?"

"Sierra Leone!"

"Sierra Leone?"

"Is there an echo here? Sierra Leone is the centre of the transatlatic slave trade. Golden Grass has to be gold coins and the animals are the people who buy and sell slaves. They must be taking her there to sell her."

"But she isn't african."

"Is she pretty?"

"I believe so."

"A pretty girl as a slave are a luxury."

"You mean she is being transported and being sold right this very minute."

"Someone wanted us to find this and how the man who gave this to me knew I would meet you, I do not know. But, there is a reason for all this and a reason that there is both Norwegian and Japanese on this parchment. We must go together, if you let me."

Toru
====================

"There are so many versions of the world's creation," I said after a while, with a smile. "My people believe that a spear was dipped into the oceans by the gods and the drips off of that spear formed Nihon, my country."

"So... do you believe this?" the girl asked, gesturing towards the paper in my hand. I looked it over again, sighed.

"No. Even if I did... this..." I looked at the paper again. ギッヌンガガプ "Gi-n-nu-n-ga-ga-pu," I carefully read the characters which formed the strange word, "Existed at one time, wouldn't the creation of the world have filled the gap? Anyhow," I bowed, not giving her time to answer, "It was an honour to have met you, miss." I began to turn away when she said,

"What's your name?"

I faced her again. "Mori. Mori Toru." I handed her the paper, but she didn't take it.

"Your sister. Do you want to find her?"

I straightened up. She was taller than me. I didn't really care for that. These pale people were so tall.

"I will find her. But not in storybooks."


------------------

Full of Suprises

Jada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You speak english.......you are sooo lucky my father was english..."What do you mean how? I don't know what it means it is all scribbles to me." I said to him.
He seemed to frown, "Who you get this from?"

Trying to think back to where that old man had been...i looked back and thought against running from this strange man. What had the man said?

"A man gave this to me and there would be another man who would understand this, and to watchful. Can you tell me what it says?"

"Mori Miho caught and to be transported to the south of Ginnungagap?"

"Ginnungagap!?"

"Did I say it wrong?"

"When I was little my father told me an old Norse Myth about how the world was made.In the beginning there was a giant void or chasm called Ginnungagap. On one side of the void was Niflheim, the land of fog and ice, in the north, and on the other was Muspelheim, the land of fire, to the south. But it is only a myth there can't actually be a place called Muspelheim? Can there?"

"Who rains over it?"

"Some guy named Surtr."

"Surtr?"

A blank expression comes across his face. And all falls slient.