"Shigure, of the Shiratsuyu-Class Destroyer class, and previously from the Kure Naval Base, reporting!"
"At ease, sailor. The Admiral is away on business, but I'll show you around.
My name is Hiei, let's do our best from now on."
Hiei replied whilst looking through the transfer papers as Shigure cut down her saluting hand in a crisp, smooth, and practiced motion, as her previous base had taught her.
According to the papers, the Kure Naval Base in the South had expended a little too much resources in the development of ship girls, a major venture after months of expeditions and stockpiling by an Admiral hell-bent on defying the mostly luck-based construction mechanics through a mass construction spree.
Although he had gotten the submarines and rare ship girls he needed, a lack of fuel and ammo meant that he had to trade some ship girls with other admirals for extra resources so that his resources wouldn't hit dangerously low levels.
Although it sounded like a violation of ship girl rights, the other bases around Japan, and by extension, the world, were always in need of more ship girls.
That, and the constructed ship girls were not against the idea, as it was simply a relocation of manpower, and so long as the ship girls were not needlessly scrapped or abused, they were fine with it.
And one destroyer was sent over to the esteemed Yokosuka Naval Base to boost their already humongous roster of ship girls, even if it was by one more ship girl.
Shigure.
A barely teenaged girl with black hair tied in a braid down her back and two long strands down the sides of her face, along with a black, white and red sailor uniform and fair Japanese skin.
On her back was a metallic backpack of sorts that had two protruding barrels, jutting upwards and reached slightly above her head that could be re-positioned at will, swiveling down to rest on Shigure's shoulders and form shoulder cannons.
An ahoge hung down the crown of her head, "not unlike the lure of an angler fish", as her previous admiral commented in a harmless, teasing tone as she departed for Yokosuka Naval Base.
Facing her was Hiei, an auburn haired, older teenage girl wearing a miko uniform, with an emerald-green skirt and thigh highs.
She sported a winged hairband unique to the Kongou-class Fast Battleships, golden-shaped paddles that were sticking out the ends of the hair-hand that was holding down her hair, and her sapphire-blue eyes shifted through the transfer papers quickly.
Her hair was swept down and backwards and loosely resembled a pixie cut. Her back straight and shoulders pulled back, she exuded an air of authority and pride that Shigure would later learn to associate with the battleship and heavy cruiser class of ship girls, who carried the pride of Japan, and the main bulk of the burden of war on their shoulders.
Hiei turned away as she held the transfer folder in one hand and gestured towards the base,
"So, shall we?
We can get some dinner at the canteen after this."
Shigure followed her senior into the base of operations. Along the way, a map that was handed to her by her impromptu guide showed her the layout of the ship girl base.
They were headed towards the Administration Office that was located near inland, beyond the ship girl barracks located in the heart of the triangular-shaped base.
This was so that the ship girls could easily access the armory, located to the West, the harbour and the training range located to the south-west and south-eastern end of the base respectively.
A medium sized reinforced building a distance away, behind the armory and adjacent to the barracks had a red cross symbol on it, signifying the medical bay and the docks that were designed to resemble a Japanese bath house.
To the right of the barracks was a canteen, and a slight distance behind, close to the training range, was the research and development facility and the port where a couple of cranes stood, hanging around and currently at rest due to the lack of construction or orders by the main office or cargo ships coming in with cargo to be unloaded.
They stood, silent, waiting and ready to activate at a moment's notice to fulfil their purpose.
The dormitories for the sailors and personnel managing the base were located some ways off to the North-Western end of the base, the sailors accessing the base through the shuttle buses that were parked nearby and awaiting the end of their day shifts to ferry its passengers back.
Due to the possibility of an Abyssal attack on the base, Hiei pointed out several pods lined up along the sea, the outskirts of the base had been reinforced with "sentient" turrets to hold the fort to shoot down anything that possessed an enemy signature.
In a sense, Hiei commentated, the base was the size of a small town, capable of a turtling defence and defending itself from almost every known threat out there.
Shigure noticed her choice of words and wondered how they were going to defend against something not classified under "known threat".
She left that question well alone.
As she observed the view around her, she could make out several ship girls coming back from the training range and headed in the direction of the canteen. By the Development Hangar were sailors carting weapon parts and crates into the open hangar door. Several ship girl weapon packs could be seen by her android eyes, identifying them by their classes.
"The sailors on this base are friendly," Hiei commented as she noticed Shigure looking at them.
"Most of them are volunteers, a large number of them from the mainland.
We hire them as we can't keep a base this large running through ship girls alone.
They understand the nature of our duty, and often put up with our more… well, eccentric quirks and habits as we go out there to fight the Abyssals."
Moving past the barracks, she saw the ship girls of several ship classes gathering and talking to one another. Colourful hairstyles and outfits all contrasted with the workers on the base, who were issued uniforms that matched their respective jobs.
Shigure looked around the ship girls, some of them wearing their various unique uniforms and were close to others who wore similar uniforms. She wondered how to recover from the false assumption her senior had made.
"Errm, that wasn't what I was trying to say. I just…"
"I get it," Hiei dismissed with a wave of her hand.
"New base, new vibe. Don't worry about it.
Just trying to let you know of how we look out for each other here, in case things were different in Kure. From what I heard, it shouldn't be. We're also close within ship classes as well, 'cause when we're out there, we only have each other to depend on."
The duo made their way across the light cruiser barracks, the base barracks being one of the largest buildings in the base. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy what seemed to be a small establishment, neatly constructed and located behind the barracks, named the Shinsengumi, from what characters she could make out on the signboard.
"We only have each other to depend on."
The weight of that last line had resonated with Shigure, who reflected on the two sorties that she was sent on in her previous base.
She had to learn how to work with ship girls of different personalities, from the quiet Wakaba to the friendly and casual Suzuya, among others. They worked well with each other, and no one made things difficult for anyone else to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
That's what you learnt from the longest ongoing war in recent history.
Hiei elaborated on the base turrets upon Shigure's inquiry, which could be deployed to lay down cover fire to deter the enemy while the ship girls prepared to sortie at the harbor. Anti-Air turrets could shoot down Abyssal planes, while the Cannon and Torpedo turrets could engage the Abyssals.
Created with the aesthetic style of the old turrets of World War 2, but with modern ship girl technology.
They were programmed by the previous engineer, Yuubari, to sense Abyssal signatures, and had come in useful several times in the past when the Abyssals had punched through their lines through sheer force and numbers and tried to scout out the location of the base.
When asked about what happened to said previous engineer, Hiei slowed down to a stop away from the barracks, which Shigure followed suit.
And after a few seconds, when Shigure was debating whether to apologize for asking such an insensitive question, Hiei slowly turned around and gently put an arm on her shoulder, her voice was understanding, yet her eyes was tinged with a trace of sadness, looking through her and the tired voice echoed by one who has experienced loss.
The slight slouch of the shoulders, deflation of her posture, and the shadow that clouded her features a clear indicator that Shigure had stepped on a conversational landmine, and really wished she hadn't blurted out that question.
"She's not here anymore."
A lingering silence that stretched on for far too long left a sour taste in Shigure's mouth, who was inwardly cursing herself.
Who comes out and asks "Hey, what happened to the last guy?" in the middle of a war, where people could die, or sink in this case, in less than a day of arriving at their new post?
She would have face-palmed herself right then if it didn't make her look silly.
Before she could kick herself further mentally, Hiei seemed to recover her bright persona, the light suddenly coming back to her eyes, and straightening her back as she looked down patted Shigure's shoulder.
"It's alright! It's natural for you to ask, since you're new here and all. The current developer is Akashi-san with my sister, Kirishima, as the assistant, and Akashi also doubles as the Chief Medical Officer of the Fleet! If you're injured, or want an upgrade, she's your go to girl!"
Hiei boasted as she turned away to continue their journey with her usual gait, seemingly recovered from that faux pas. Shigure hung her head, looking down at her feet in shame and wondering who she was going to piss off next, before trailing behind Hiei.
They reached the Administration Office, more resembling a cross between a hospital and a school building than a military office. A two-floored building that certainly saw damage during its lifespan, where a clock sat atop its centre, with an assembly ground in in front.
The building clearly led to a small garden in a spacing seen through the glass doors, and if she squinted, she could make out the tranquil land housed within these buildings, as if built around it to protect what little sacred land that was untouched by the horrors that lay beyond the ocean's horizon.
Several rooms in the building were lit with activity, she noted, with certain rooms being used either as labs, if test tubes and chemical flasks stacked by the windows were anything to go by, or as classrooms filled with destroyers, likely to educate them on naval tactics, a detailed history of the Abyssal war or even about the technology of the modern age and how they were to fit into society.
She considered asking to be enrolled into some these classes. Knowledge of tactics and the modern world was understood by all ship girls to be critical to success, while the learning of history could at least help learn of the enemy maneuvers.
Anything to give them an edge, no matter how small, against the enemy.
The sheltered walkways to its side led around the building. The edge of the one side of the building was surrounding by scaffolding, likely a restoration of the affected area.
Due to the explanation of Abyssal attacks by Hiei just now, it was easy to assume the damage done to the building was likely to have been the work of at least an Abyssal heavy cruiser class, who could outrange most other ship classes.
The debris by the floor below the scaffolding hadn't been cleared completely, as a small truck carrying the larger pieces were brought on board by the neatly arranged buckets carried by the diligent sailors maintaining the premises, the human caretakers of this base almost omnipresent everywhere she looked.
Hiei reminded,
"Come on. Let's meet up with the Coordinators and drop this file off."
As they approached the door, two adult ship girls exited, wearing metallic headdresses with antennas pointing backwards atop jet black hair, and another pointing forward atop light auburn hair.
Metallic collars held up their sleeveless shirts struggling to contain their well-endowed "assets", revealing their firm abdomens and a little more skin than Shigure was comfortable with while looking in their direction.
The duo noticed them, and the cheerful auburn haired girl waved her white gloved hand, the other folding her arms while wearing black, finger-less elbow gloves and stood upright, a picturesque form of seniority.
If matching uniforms were anything to go by, and according to the limited data pre-programmed into her, they seemed to be sister ships.
Hiei waved back, noticed Shigure's discomfort, and whispered to her,
"Let's move. You don't want to know how much Mutsu's miniskirt reveals when she starts sashaying."
Which caused Shigure to fight back a slight blush.
Shigure couldn't help but agree as she followed in Hiei's footsteps. How could any ship girl, no matter how brazen they were, wear miniskirts that covered less than a few centimeters of skin?
Coupled with their thigh-highs, garter belts, high heels and their beauty…
She was going to need to get used to this.
"Hey Hiei, is this the new girl? Shigure, was it? Welcome, I'm Mutsu!"
Short auburn hair coiled down and tickled her exposed cleavage as she bent down to offer her gloved hand to Shigure. Her vibrant green eyes looked into Shigure's ocean blue pupils as Shigure reflexively snapped out of her trance and noticed Mutsu's outstretched hand.
She tried her best to maintain eye contact as she returned the gesture.
Shigure noticed as Mutsu straightened up, that while she was 1.22 meters tall, Hiei was 1.85 meters tall, which made her a fair bit taller due to her status as a fast battleship. Mutsu and company were 2.03 meters tall, which made Shigure feel quite intimidated by the towering, silent guardian that was the black haired woman beside Mutsu, intimidating her through sheer height alone.
Mutsu swung over and slid her arm around the side of her sister ship, oblivious to her commanding aura, inadvertently causing her chest to press against her sister's arm.
"This is Nagato, the Second-in-Command in this base!"
Nagato stood silently, studying Shigure with focused red eyes, not condescending in nature, but seemingly with genuine interest in her abilities.
Finally, when Shigure started to feel like she was wilting under her intense stare, she unfolded her arms and bowed (she really tried to maintain that eye contact) and introduced herself simply.
"My name is Nagato. Welcome to the base. We have the theater prepared to brief you on the current situation."
As Mutsu unhanded her, Nagato turned her back to them and walked into the base, a silent cue to follow.
Nagato walked ahead, regal yet matching the pace of the group. Hiei and Shigure walked side by side, the destroyer secretly struggling to keep up with the larger pace of the battleships as Mutsu trailed behind.
The floorboards, made of wood, were tailored to support the weight of the ship girls, creaking underneath the massive weight of the Nagato and Kongou-class battleships, while it barely made a peep under Shigure's weight.
The evening sun radiated a light hue of orange through the windows, something that escaped Shigure's observant eyes as she was starting to feel a rumbling in her stomach, a recommendation made by the ship girls of Kure to travel on a light stomach.
"You don't want to empty your stomach on the off chance of the rough waves making you sick."
Although the journey had been fairly smooth sailing off the coast of Japan, she was grateful for the advice of the various ship classes when she set off. By the calculations of the Kure Base's secretary Ooyodo, she would be in Yokosuka in time for dinner, so it was unnecessary to stockpile on fuel.
She'd miss them, but she knew this was where she belonged now, so no point in getting too sentimental.
Coming up on a door that the nameship of the Nagato-Class opened while Shigure noted the extra effort to try not to simply crush the handle of the door with the titanic strength that she possessed as a reincarnated battleship, Shigure saw nothing but pitch-black darkness within that made her freeze up slightly at being herded somewhere without light, but Hiei placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she whispered comfortingly in her ear while looking her in the eye,
"Don't worry, it's just a movie theater, and we'll be with you the entire time."
As she exhaled a breath that she ahd no idea she was holding out of a slight trepidation of the unknown, nodding thankfully at the Nagato-Class battleship's courteous move of holding the door for her to enter the movie theater.
The small theater was actually rather well-lit from the inside, and it was the entrance that was left unlit as Shigure entered, noting everything from the tough looking long steel benches that were lined up five-in-a-row for them to sit while facing the projector screen.
There were a few lamps to illuminate the place and to plunge it into darkness later, and the projector screen that was the closest thing they could use as a clear platform to project images on hung on the wall at the far end of the room, as well as the small electronic box that was hanging on the ceiling, looking to be the primary source of illumination as it shone a plain blue screen on the projector screen.
This setup was likely often used by the base to try and educate ship girls and newly recruited human sailors alike about the war, seeing that the seats were well-worn and that Shigure figured it was easier for them to simply sit them all down together and watch some sort of prerecorded video about the situation behind the war instead of trying to spend time teaching the ship girls about the various functions of the ship girl HUD and get them to stand around idly, watching a video in their own ship girl minds while the newly recruited human sailors stood around confused and oblivious to the entire situation.
Shigure sat down on the bench, feeling two enormous presences making themselves comfortable beside and behind her, Shigure looking up to see that Hiei was sitting down beside her while Nagato had plopped down on the bench behind them, folding her arms and nodding mysteriously to her as the steel bench creaked underneath her weight.
Hiei winked at her as she leaned in to whisper to Shigure in an encouraging tone,
"There's no need to be afraid.
We're here."
Shigure gulped, exhaling again as her body relaxed somewhat, again feeling somewhat reassured that she wouldn't be left alone in the dark, despite the lamps currently staying on as the projector made a barely audible buzzing noise upon starting up.
The sources of illumination dimmed, and Shigure inhaled sharply as she prepared herself for a history lesson about the war that the ship girls had to be resurrected in order to fight a war to protect all of mankind.
A ship girl logo, the complicated character "艦これ" in a golden font surrounded by a pair of green leaves assembled to resemble a crown while being held together by a shining gold anchor at the bottom of the symbol, representing their advanced race and lingering for a solid five seconds before fading to black.
The next scene had Nagato herself appearing on screen next whilst standing before a green screen as she narrated.
"Greetings, everyone. I believe that you may have a few questions about the war and how it all started, but perhaps a quick introduction of the events that occurred ever since the start of this war might answer a few of your questions. In 1994, a Japanese cruise ship off the coast of Okinawa spotted a school of Abyssal destroyers, each about the size of a goblin shark as the fishermen captured one, which made waves through the government upon noting its unique biology."
Shigure nodded at the image of various Abyssal flitting through the screen behind a stoic Nagato on-screen, noting that the one or two Abyssals that she had fought and observed at a safe distance were rather alien-esque in appearance, and their designs were sinister, carrying weapons around and touting them as though ready to wipe out their mortal enemies on the battlefield, the ship girls.
The recording of Nagato continued as she continued to look into the camera and therefore at her, Shigure gulping at the intensity reflected in the battleship's eyes as someone who had to lead the Yokosuka Naval Base whenever the Admiral wasn't around.
"For several months, Abyssal Cruisers and Destroyers appeared throughout the Japanese Archipelago and a fair distance off the coast of the United States of America, Germany, and India, which was important in helping us keep the knowledge of this invasion contained, away from the eyes of the world aside from a few internet rumors, which were heavily censored. As the world governments confirmed that such enemies were not the work of any terrorist organization or country, we tried to bring them down with everything short of a tactical nuclear strike, for obvious reasons.
It took around 7 ICBMs, or a full shelling by battleships, destroyers and carriers to destroy a fleet of Abyssal destroyers and cruisers due to their ability to submerge in the time it takes to get a lock-on on them, which meant such meant such methods were impractical for a battle of attrition, especially the speed of response which was difficult for even a conventional destroyer to achieve in order to hit a human-sized Abyssal, which first popped up around August 1995. We were starting to get desperate around the development of Abyssal battleships in 1997, when we made a breakthrough. The Research and Development Branch of the Ministry of Defense made contact with the Fairies, little deformed humanoids who claimed to have the answer to the Abyssal threat, and introduced the then-foreign and seemingly arcane concept of ship girls, to combat an unconventional enemy through unconventional means. The first destroyer summoned was the name-ship Mutsuki of the Mutsuki-Class."
The screen now changed to show the blueprints of a prepubescent ship girl like Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noting Mutsuki's weapons and the rigging shaped a little like a backpack, the destroyer having her arms raised horizontally and slightly at an angle like the Vitruvian Man, her weapons also on display beside her and available for viewing from the front, top and side angles.
"With their guidance, we spent our resources on small-scale construction efforts to create a fleet consisting of a few light cruisers and destroyers. The rest of the world followed suit, due to us 'leaking' our secrets to get the other countries to cooperate, and to simply close the gap in terms of the number of ship girls compared to the innumerable enemies that spawned from the depths. During the first few months of sorties, we had to stick to guerrilla tactics due to the disparity in numbers and managed to hold the line for several years. In 2003, the decision was made to go public due to the Abyssals stepping up their game, and secrecy was getting harder to maintain."
Cue a cut to a live footage recorded from some sort news channel, the date clearly stating the date on that day to be February 23 2003 as Nagato herself was talking on the screen behind Nagato.
It was slightly surreal, not the entire "sunk ships reincarnating into girls to fight against aliens" feeling, since that the wonder that previously consumed her had already petered out after exactly 3 hours, 22 minutes and 12 seconds of her being in a state of awe upon coming back to life, but rather the fact that Shigure was sitting in a room with Nagato while watching a recording of the same battleship on screen before her, while a smaller screen behind the on-screen Nagato was showing another Nagato talking to the press.
It was quite the headache, simply trying to make sense of it all as Shigure shook her head and focused.
"When we went global, the backlash was initially great. Not exactly from the governments who were unaware of the ship girl program, but mostly from the public, enraged that we were sending girls, some looking to be teenagers and children, out to fight what seemed like aliens. The Abyssal Princesses came soon after that, a being more powerful than even that of a battleship that we weren't prepared enough for and made quick work of us despite our best efforts. When the media got wind of that massacre, there was an uproar to give us ship girls some form of rights and at least some form of protection that made sure we weren't being sent to our deaths if it wasn't necessary. Around the latter half of the year, after a number of protests, and us ship girls threatening to rebel, the government relented and granted us ship girl rights, and a means to report our Admirals to the proper authorities if we were being abused or neglected, in which there'd be a formal investigation and a court martial if necessary."
The screen now changed into a horizontal straight line, grabbing Shigure's attention as she saw what was a timeline of events after World War 2, showing slightly more familiar images of war and death that all ship girls felt was a natural part of their life, the highlights now displaying the events on the white timeline as the names of the major events were typed in capital letters above the accompanying image.
Nagato was shifting her stance as the extreme left of the line went skipped back in time to showcase a mushroom cloud, Shigure noting the impressive effort on the battleship's part not to look uncomfortable.
"This is but a simple timeline of major events that took place after World War 2 to get you ship girls up to speed on world events. Starting after the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to signal the end of World War 2, the world has moved on and made significant progress in terms of improving the livelihood of humans all around the world. But even then, they still committed a few blunders even after the war's end, starting with the Cold War that would've wiped out most of humanity with the stockpiling of nuclear warheads and a dangerous game played between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Smaller wars have occurred between the Soviets and Americans and the ugly side of mankind occasionally raises its head, what with the Korean and Vietnam War, along with the Khmer Rouge, the Great Chinese Famine and the 9/11 Twin Towers incident. The Iraq War and the War on Terrorism to combat extremists in the Middle East was... unfortunate, but it was a chance for ship girls to experience land combat as well as aid human soldiers in battles, which helped spare the human lives that would have been sacrificed accomplishing but a fraction of what we were capable of."
The timeline's point of interest shifted to the right as various images were projected behind the Nagato-Class battleship, Shigure hungrily lapping up all this new knowledge of the world and its events as Nagato continued.
"Some of the accomplishments that humans have achieved after World War 2 was sending men into space by the now-defunct Soviet Union, and eventually to the moon by the Americans. Technological advancements also meant that citizens of the world are now more closely connected to each other than ever before as mankind became more modernized, any one of us now able to get in touch with a citizen of another country via a simple call. Others, like breaking the sound barrier, the invention of computers and the internet after that, the ending of slavery and mainstream discrimination as well as different countries like Africa, India and Singapore gaining independence, the establishment of equal rights for women and the growing acceptance of minorities are all a part of what humans are truly really capable of."
The screen behind the on-screen Nagato blacked out, and Shigure was slightly surprised at that as Nagato looked right into Shigure's eyes, the destroyer now really seeing the genuine concern and camaraderie that the stoic battleship allowed to seep through her demeanor, something that would resonate in those who had fought in that war more than half a century ago, but might pass over over the heads of the young human sailors as Nagato wrapped up the video.
"And that all would have continued, until the Abyssals showed up to disrupt the peace on a global scale. Their motives, sadly, are unknown besides the complete annihilation of mankind and likely the assimilation, or what we call 'Abyssalization' of all ship girls, an Abyssalized ship girl suffering a loss of her own identity and free will, and forced to turn on our own sisters and former comrades. We've kept them at bay, the war having gone on for quite a while now. I ask of you all to rise to the call once again, and fight for humanity once more. We all should strive to expand all possible efforts in aiding the war effort, be it expeditions or sorties, all to bring an end to this war at all costs. But in order to do that, do take some time to relax, for there is no immediate need for you to jump back into battle so soon."
Nagato's face softened a touch as she regarded only the ship girls this time, asking of them to learn to appreciate this second chance in life, and all the opportunities it had in store for them.
"Get back in touch with your sister ships and comrades whom you fought alongside with in the war, and take advantage of your ability to communicate with them to get to know them better in this life. This is still a war after all, and despite our best assurances, there's no telling when any one of us might perish in battle. And there's another matter."
Nagato's expression now hardened slightly again, Shigure seeing that the ship girl on-screen was now looking more like a parent who had to give a serious talk with her children that were the rookie ship girls, and almost knowing that there might be some resistance upon this next point being brought up.
"I won't be so audacious as to simply ask of you to let go of whatever grudges you may have against our main enemies, the Americans, at the drop of a hat. But know that the Japan of the present has close ties with America, both politically and economically, and our hatred of them that may have existed in the past does nothing except to blind us to the concepts of international teamwork and acceptance, something that is essential in this war to even hope to win against the Abyssals, who are an international menace and their numbers too great for any one particular country to handle. Put aside everything you previously knew about this world and how we are to fight wars, and accept this new life as a chance to start anew, make new friends and find new comrades to sail into battle with. And as one ship girl to another, welcome back."
Shigure could barely see a ghost of a smile flicker over the usually-stoic battleship's face, something that caused an unrecognizable feeling to well up in her chest as one of her comrade-in-arms that doubled as a commanding officer officially welcomed her back, sitting in the darkness as the screen slowly faded to black, trying to take in everything that she had learnt.
The world had moved on after the war, away from the atrocities of the Nazis and Japanese to move forward and attempt to build a more peaceful world.
They had certainly fumbled in that quest, but their accomplishments and progress had been nothing short of miraculous, Shigure barely able to comprehend how a human, frail beings that they were, was able to reach the seemingly untouchable moon.
And the Abyssals that they were called upon to fight and defend mankind against.
A complete mystery other than their mission to invade and wipe out all of mankind, and the endless hordes of Abyssals that spawned from the depths to accomplish their one goal with no definite end to this war in sight as their enemies lurked deep beneath the ocean where mankind feared to tread.
Shigure sighed, feeling thankful for each breath which was a sign that this wasn't all some sort of twisted dream that might fall apart at any moment, where she'd be back at the bottom of the sea, chillingly alone and yet somehow strangely at peace with her final resting location.