i know I have a way of disappearing, but know that I'm always here.  I'm merely conserving my strength these days.

I have a confession to make. I've been holding back this whole time.

No man can say what will be in the coming battle, but I expect it to be fierce.

If I cut loose, there's a good chance no one will leave alive. My full strength isn't the kind that's suited to fighting along side others.

I'd be writing since talking to a book is weird, even for me, but I got a bad case of rope burn on my hands. Damn winds...

Anyways, has anyone come across any islands that have no people on them but signs there used to be? Other than Marble Tear. I've already been there.

I apologise for my lengthy absence. I'm afraid I became rather ill, one of the symptoms being a severe case of fatigue. [What he isn't saying is how -- by combining low blood pressure with voluntary bloodloss, which led to anaemia. No one else needs to know any of that.] I've been trying to keep tabs on what's happened, but I may have missed some things, I admit.

It seems we're in quite a bit of trouble, aren't we?

On that note, if the crew of the Antoinette could please join me on the top deck, there's something very important we need to discuss. Thank you.

- Otori


(There is a log for Antoinette crew here.)

Yo. Name's Captain Strider, and if there's any of you stragglers around who still haven't hooked yourself a crew, talk to me. Going to be setting sail in a few days for my crews first expedition and it never hurts to have a few extra sets of hands on board. Or paws or hooves, whatever you've got. I don't discriminate. Whatever you don't know how to do, I can teach you so long as you want to learn.

( Private to his crew )

( Private to Itachi )

( Private to Grell )

Okay! I asked some questions of the people around the Island and read the entry that appeared in my journal first. I went to that funny statue too. I think I'm prepared to do this now.

Hello everyone. It feels strange writing in a journal that other people can see, but it's a familiar thing at least. Almost comforting. I hope that other people feel that way about it too.

My name is Nitori Aiichiro. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. I have all this information, but that doesn't tell me much about how someone who doesn't know how to sail can possibly join a pirate crew.

I know how to swim! That's not really useful once you're really far out in the ocean, is it? I mean, unless someone falls overboard. Or you have to dive to look for the treasure. I'm good at cooking too. Everyone has to eat, even on ships, right?

I wish Matsuoka-senpai were here to help me organize my thoughts. He's really good at pointing out what I'm capable of. But I can do this! I can totally handle this situation, even if it's really weird. There's no reason whatsoever to just give up. I'll just find a crew and then

Wait. Everyone can see this. I forgot and gave myself a pep talk. Oh no, that's so embarrassing! Maybe I'll just wait for an answer now.

Ugh... I shouldn't still be so tired, but after everything that happened, I'm almost afraid to go outside, and I'm sure that's not really... helping. Um, for anyone that cares, I was a vampire for a while there, but I'm better now, except for a pretty big hit to my pride. I never, ever want to do something like that again. I'm pretty much feeling well enough to leave the ship, at least, so that's something.

Anyway, it looks like we've got new people washing ashore again - sorry, pun not intended - so... I'm Rikka; I'm currently on the Shepherd's crew, docked at Isla Empieza. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them, though I can't promise I'll have all the answers. I'm definitely happy to just talk to people, too. Failing that, I wish all the newcomers luck finding a crew, and... I think that's it.

[You'll probably catch a faint sigh, which the journal decides to be cheeky and transcribe in small print anyway, before she snaps the book shut.]

Does anyone else think it's weird that all of the new people have arrived the same time of month that the last batch of new people did? And when us first batch people did? That's weird, right? I can't be the only one that thinks that's weird.

Maybe we should ask Dog about that next time. Because it's weird.

Um, anyways, if any of you new people are looking to join a crew, the Fortune's Favors are pretty awesome! And our captain, Celeste Ludenberg, is pretty awesome, too! She doesn't even care if you're a werewolf or anything!

Um... I guess that's all I really had to say, huh? OH! Well, um, since I've gotten used to this treadle I brought with me, does anyone want to trade some materials for garment making? Or quilting? Sewing keeps me busy when I'm not trying to do work on the ship, and I hear textile trading can actually net quite a bit of money! So it's worth looking into, I guess...

[[ one of these days I'll stop accidentally putting posts in the wrong comm ]]