What's a Mutiny? Sounds Fun- Let's Try It!
“Like a big fat pig, the tide tosses itself against the beach, grinding together the tough grains of sands along with dozens of unburnable trash, moaning its agony as it is pierced by a sharp piece of broken glass-”
“Minako? Stop it. Not only is that disturbing; it's starting to make me seasick.”
A woman with flowing blond hair in a white captain's suit turned to her companion, an innocent grin on her rosy lips. “Aww, what's wrong, Rei-chan? Don't you like my poetry?”
Her companion, a raven-haired beauty, flicked a lone lock of hair over her shoulder before giving her captain a stern look. “If that's your idea of poetry, I never want to hear your attempts at writing songs.”
Taking the notion completely off track, Minako's eyes lit up with glee. “You want to hear me sing? Why, I'd be honored. Just name the time and place. Or I could do it now-”
“No!” Rei let out a slow, calming breath before turning her violet eyes back to the one person who didn't visibly shudder at the smoldering anger within. “Just... don't you have captain duties to attend to?”
Still smiling as bright as the sun above, Minako innocently remarked, “I'm a merchant's daughter- but my uncle is letting me try my hand at being captain this week. But... is it just me, or does everyone already know what to do?”
Rei scratched the back of her head as she sighed, already knowing what Minako's uncle had in mind. 'Keep her occupied in a place where she's not likely to be a troublemaker,' he had told Rei. There'd be little to do let alone make a mess of if she was in the middle of the sea. 'Keep her away for a week so as to not ruin the surprise party upon her return.' Despite knowing this, Rei was still wondering why she of all people, had been given the week off to keep an eye on Minako. They probably want me out of the city too. Ah, two troublemakers out where the sea shines on every horizon... I'm already feeling sick.
“Rei-chan?” The generally seclusive priestess snapped out of her reverie, only to be brought inches to her captain, her best friend's, face. “Are you all right?”
Startled, Rei stepped back with a shocked look, as most could not creep up on her so well without being noticed. “Don't... don't step so close.”
Minako broke into another grin, concern disposed of upon hearing her friend reply. “Aw, don't be like that! Hey,” paying no heed to Rei's comment, she stepped closer and whispered, “Do you think we're being set up?”
Her proximity shut down a fair percentage of Rei's cohesive deduction cells, and therefore allowed her to mistake the nature of the question. “I don't think of us like that...”
Curious, Minako tilted her head slightly, humming a small note as a way of prompting her to continue. Rei turned her head away, already feeling a light blush come into her cheeks, as she said, “We're best friends so...”
“Mmm... my uncle wanted me to have a companion I trusted as my co-captain, right?”
“...Eh?”
It took a few moments before Rei's mind could successfully push the rewind and play button and remember what Minako had been talking about before she spaced out. Then taking into account how different Minako's topic was to hers... she breathed a sigh of relief that Minako hadn't realized it, too.
Rei softly shook her head. “Captain Aino has been a trusted leader since before you were even a thought. His crew has been well trained by him, to the point where no one really needs to give them orders, as they've been doing their job for a long time now. Of course there isn't much for a captain to do. Well... actually-”
“What, what is it? I'm really getting bored here, Rei-chan! Come on, tell me!”
Rei peeked through one leaden eyelid at her friend, and grinned. “You could take a dive and get left behind to starve or drown...”
Minako frowned, knowing full well that for one, a captain sunk with her ship. For two... “What does that have to do with being a captain?”
Rei shrugged nonchalantly. “You said you were bored.”
“I can swim when we reach the port. Come on- I know you were thinking of something else.”
“Feel like writing?”
Minako instantly backed off. “Not in particular... why?”
“I believe it's the captain's duty to make a daily journal entry of what happens on any voyage.”
“But... but nothing's happening!”
“We're moving aren't we?”
“...You're awfully sarcastic today.”
“...So?”
“Rei! Tell me what you do then. Maybe I can help!”
“My job is to watch you.”
“...”
“Any ideas, Captain?”
Minako perked up as if a light bulb had turned on in her mind. “I know! Let's talk!”
“... All right. Then what were we just doing?”
“...”
Rei sighed, and walked over to the railing so she could lean against it. “You could always go below deck and help stoke the fire.”
Minako wrinkled her nose at the thought. “You're more comfortable with fire then I am.” Suddenly, another bulb went off and she hurried to stand alongside Rei. “I know! Let's practice our powers! We shouldn't get rus-”
“No.” Knowing she was waiting for a fuller reply, Rei sighed and added, “My fire is too destructive to effectively practice on a ship, and there's no telling what your meteor shower will do. I am not paying for the damages.”
“You're just here to make sure I don't give you a reason to need to, right?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Hmm... Well, what do sailors usually do while out at sea, anyway?”
“Depends on who you are and what kind of ship you have. Order people around, drink cocktails, swim in a pool, row the boat, stoke the fire, record coordinates from the nest, take care of the sails, mutiny against the pompous captain, drop or raise anchor...”
“Hold on. What was the second to last thing you said? Mu...tiny?” Rei merely nodded. “Ehh... say, what's that word defined as?”
“What do I look like- a walking dictionary?”
“No, your soul would probably burn your pages right up. You should know relatively speaking though, right?”
“Mutiny is when you... when subordinates group together to rebel against their leader... it's usually considered a thing that happens with sailors.”
“Ooh... Like us? Sailor senshi?”
A cold draft suddenly chilled Rei's bones. Why do I get a bad feeling about this...? “Actual sailors, Mina. Like your uncle and his crew.”
“Eh... so what does a mew-tiny usually consist of?”
“Consist...? I'm no expert on it but... it usually means imprisoning or killing the current leader, selecting a new one, and then basically going on strike, not doing what any higher powers might want them to do.”
“You mean like... turning into pirates?”
“Uh... I suppose that's happened before... sure... Mina? Do I want to know why you're so interested in it?”
“Hey Rei, let's try it!”
“Try... try what?”
“Let's go on a mutant-thingy!”
“Mutiny Mina. You want me to kill you?”
“What? No! Uncle is 'away' at the kingdom, so technically, I'm the new captain, at least for a week, right? So... after we drop off our commodity of tea, let's burn and plunder like pirates! You're already a pyromaniac, and I already have command of a ship, so it'll be easy. Sounds fun, doesn't it?”
Rei stared at Minako like she'd suddenly grown another head. “You'd never get the crew to agree.”
“Aw, all they have to do is not run out on me and take care of the ship. We can do the active pirating!”
“Who ever heard of a pair of pirates with a non-active crew?”
“So that means you'll pair up with me?”
“...No.”
“Hey, you hesitated! Come on, it'll be really fun. Besides, I want to do a last sprint of mayhem before I become an official “Lady” of the Kingdom. Please, Rei-chan?”
Keep her occupied... Keep her out of trouble... Which one's more important! Eventually, Rei sighed and muttered, “This is crazy... You're crazy... what are you going to do with the loot?”
“Hmm... you know, I think Ami-chan once said that the Treasury was running low on valuable items...”
Rei continued her stare of disbelief. “You're going to donate stolen goods to a Royal Treasury! Now I know you're insane.”
“But Rei-!”
“That isn't even real piracy, Mina! And a merchant's daughter doesn't even need to learn how real piracy works. Or mutinies.”
“...What if I said that's what I wanted for my 21st birthday?”
“...I'd call you an idiot on top of being insane.”
Minako lowered her head sullenly, before looking up at Rei with a large pout and tears in her eyes. “Please, Rei? You know I'd do the same for you!”
“I wouldn't ask for something like this.”
“...Still! Fine- what do you want for your 21st? It'll be an exchange- hands on piracy lessons for whatever you want, within my power.”
Rei considered it a moment before turning her eyes on Mina's, a malevolent glint midst the depths of purple. “All right. What if I want you to stop this idiocy and not have me teach you how to be a pirate?”
A sideways frown broke Mina's attempt at a pout. “Rei...! That'd be counterproductive!”
“So would your idea.”
Mina fidgeted from one foot to the other and back before finally asking, “Rei-chan, in all seriousness, what would you like for your 21st birthday?”
Rei shrugged and looked back at the sea. “Haven't thought about it much.”
Leaning on the railing again as well, Mina whispered, most of her insane energy seeming to have seeped out, “Really? You seem like the type that would want one, and only one thing for a really long time, but keep it so well hidden that people are more likely to get things that you'd throw out the next day than anywhere near what you want. So won't you tell me, so that I can get it for you?”
Rei grew quiet, a distant look in her eyes as she stared at the ever moving waves. Just when Mina was starting to fall asleep in the peaceful atmosphere, Rei murmured, “What I want... you could never just 'get' it. Not... not the kind that I really want.”
A serene smile passed over Minako's lips as her senses tingled. She knew this feeling all too well. “If I can guess it then, and find a way to... bring it to you, will you join me in my plan?”
Rei turned to Minako then, her eyes widen in surprise. Quickly she turned back, heat rising to her cheeks. “I'm not promising anything.”
Minako grinned then, having confirmed her suspicions even more. Brushing their bare arms as she leaned closer, she asked, “It wouldn't happen to be true love, would it?”
At that, Rei's blush increased, and Mina took her reaction to be an affirmative. “If it is... to have it cultivated before your birthday a fortnight away... it'd have to already started, wouldn't it?”
Although she had already remembered just what Mina was the senshi of, Rei refused to give in just yet. Under her breath she grumbled, “You make it sound like it's some sort of plant.”
“Isn't it though? Didn't Prince Endymion say, 'Love is like a rose, beautiful when it's in bloom-” Minako stopped, suddenly remembering the end of that saying and what the circumstances had been when he'd said it. “Bah, still, Love is a beautiful thing that with enough TLC, can blossom and brighten someone's day or days.”
Rei snorted softly. “But that kind of love can still die can't it? I want... I want to feel a love that I know will never die.”
Her whole body tensed when it felt two soft, slender arms wrap around her waist, and a chin on her shoulder. “You mean like the love of a certain eternal Goddess?”
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