The Lost Voyage

Our heroes' journey starts off on Tranqui Island; a beautiful, always-sunny tropical island! The place is filled with tourists, natives and even pirates! Do not be alarmed though, everyone gets along here! It's as though the island is shrouded in a calming presence, pushing away all conflicts and ill feelings towards one another. It was the perfect place for the Dark Atlantic crew to rest up.

While the rest of their crew was down by the beaches and in the busy body village, Captain Davis and First Mate Jenna were hiking up the mountain, eagerly on their way to reach the old hag's house. Though her face wasn't pleasant to look at, the woman was rather kind- even to pirates!

Jenna was exhausted from climbing the mountain. Sure, she could fly up, but Davis had teased her that she was a wimp when it came to walking on land. She'd show him! The redheaded Harpy was power walking, trying her best to keep one step ahead of Davis. "What was that, Davis, about me being a wimp on land? I'm ahead of you, ya slow troll!"

"Slow troll? Hah!" Davis merely laughed at her insult. He pulled a hand up to his forehead and pretended to be fixing his headband. In truth, he was wiping some small amount of sweat that was trying to make its way down the side of his cheek. His pace was slow but steady. Even as healthy and fit as he was; the force of gravity was pressing against him, tiring him out. "I'm only taking my time, you goon."

To make himself seem like he wasn't tiring out, he sped up a little bit. Picking up his feet and stepping around the random rocks that lay in his path. He could see the Hag's house up ahead, resting at the peak of the hill. Davis took note of this and glanced over to Jenna. "I wonder if this old fart has a nice view of the island?"

Jenna snickered and gave Davis a cheeky grin. "Yeah well, A troll captain needs a gooney sidekick like me!" By this point, Davis had sped ahead of her. She huffed, and tried to speed up beside him, but almost lost her balance over a small rock. She quickly tried to recollect herself between pants from the hike. "U-uh- probably. She lives way up on top of the mountain, she can probably see everything from up here!"

They were reaching the door now. "I heard she lives up here by herself because she's ugl- Yelloooo, Miss Hagatha!" Jenna said with a nervous laugh, hoping the old woman didn't catch that last bit. Thankfully, she didn't appear to. "I'm Jenna and this is Captain Davis of the Black Atlantis. W-We were hoping to collect some medicinal herbs from you."

The hag looked the two over. "Oh, a young pirate couple! Come on in, come on in. Please wait while I mix some up for you. I assume you want the ones with healing purposes?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Jenna called, plopping down on the small sofa in the tiny hut. The other wall was line with a small bed. "A-And we're not a couple, I mean- he wishes!" Jenna snickered.

Davis couldn't help but smirk like a cocky fool when Jenna had to save herself from saying the old hag was ugly. Indeed, Hagatha was quite atrocious looking. Old, missing teeth was a possibility, scraggily hair. There was an odd scent that Davis smelled. Though he prayed that it was some old woman perfume. He even gave the old woman a curt nod, trying to be as professional as he could. That was going well until she thought the two of them were a couple.

The pirate gave Jenna a sly smirk. "Looks like she's not the only one that says this." He teased. Other people have asked if they were a couple and Davis was only capable of giving them a cheeky grin. Leaving their interpretation to make the answer for them. "Wish? You hurt my heart, Jenna. I thought we were!" He placed a hand to his chest as he acted all dramatic and offended.

"Ah. Yes. We are seeking some herbs for medical purposes. Here's a list of items that our medic requested for us to fetch." He reached into one of his many pouches and pulled out a tattered looking parchment. After he dusted it off and straightened the paper out, he handed it over to the old woman. "I ain't got a single clue as to what any of that stuff is. But I am sure that a lovely lass, such as yourself would have some-or all of them!"

"Though we were?" Jenna said with a cheeky grin. "How could we be, you haven't even asked me for a date yet, Davis! But I could understand if a beauty like me makes you too nervous to ask." The maroon headed girl said with a wink.

The hag looked over the list, cackling when Davis called her lovely lass. "'Lovely lass,' eh? Oh, you humor me so! But yes, young man, I do have everything on this list! However, some of the things on this list are made by mixing two ingredients together. So, please- sit! Make yourself comfortable as I set to work." With that, the elderly hag hobbled to the back of the cottage, mixing the herbs.

"Thank ya, Ma'am!" Jenna said before relaxing back into her seat. "Davis, are we rushin' off again on the Dark Atlantis after we get these herbs?"

Jenna got him, red handed. It was true. Her humor and attitude were definitely charming. The girl certainly kept him on his toes. And he never asked her out because he was unsure as to how to actually ask her out--without screwing up. It seemed that fate just liked playing around with him. Every time he did try to ask, something happened. Whether it be; a sudden chaotic event, someone interrupts them, or Davis simply screws himself up somehow. But he continued with the fun flirting. "Why? Do you want me to ask you out, now? I can do that." He then paused. "Though maybe I'll do it later, when we're on the ship. We need to pick some stuff up before our medical buddy decides to use us as test subjects for some random testing because we're late."

Yes. He was avoiding the bullet. Davis wasn't sure how to ask her directly.

Davis took a seat and kicked back, placing his feet on a foot rest. The chair was comfortable but he's been in better chairs before. "I dunno. I know we're supposed to be hunting for those map pieces. But I ain't got a damn clue as to where to start. All I remember is that Captain Cough took off after some pigeon and the others took off as well."

Jenna's cheeks became slightly pink when Davis directly asked her if she wanted him to ask her out right at that moment. She did, but how could she directly say that without looking lame?! Thankfully he said he'd ask her later on the ship, which make her laugh. "Oh yeah, ask me on the boat, surrounded by our rowdy crew. SO romantic Davis!" She crossed her legs, thinking about the map pieces. "Where could that pigeon have flown off to? I really hope it didn't tear up that map piece.."

The old hag, who was grinding together herbs then placing them in small bags made from larger potato sacks, slowed her grinding at this point, listening in to the young couple's conversation.

"Yeah it's not really romantic isn't it?" Davis scratched his nose. Then he turned, facing her. He had a bit of an awkward look on his face. Nervousness. "Fine! I'll ask. Jenna! There is this wonderful cafe here and I wonder if you would like to--"

Just as fate predicted. Something interrupted his time to shine. The Old Hag shot a look up at the two pirates and was engulfed with overwhelming amounts of energy. She bolted, much too fast for an old woman to be moving, over to the two pirates. Her hands grabbed a hold of Davis' leather vest and she shook him. Interrupting his romantic question!

"YOU WOULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT THOSE IMMORTALITY RINGS AND THAT SPECIAL MAP THAT BRINGS YOU TO IT. WOULD YOU?!"

Her breath smelled awful. Far worse than being stuck with rotten fish all day. It took Davis' breath right from him. He gagged a couple of times before he managed to speak up. "Y-Yes. Ma'am. I-I think."

Jenna was slightly disappointed that Davis was interrupted! His awkward facial expression had been cute. She would have said yes if he had gotten out the question, though she would have somehow tried to humiliate him in the process-just for shits and giggles. However, she was intrigued that this old hag knew about the map.

"Y-yes Ma'am, that's the very one! You've heard of it?" Jenna asked. The elderly woman's breathe had wafted over near Jenna, making her bite her lip. It smelled so foul! She wanted to cover her nose, but she couldn't be so rude. "We're after it, along with a bunch of other pirates."

"OF COURSE I KNOW ABOUT IT!" The hag shouted in excitement, bustling over to work herbal work just to keep her hands busy. She'd explode if she didn't do something with all this excitement! "I've been a-waiting for someone to bring it up to me! See, I'm the only one who knows where that giant pigeon took off with it. I am indeed. But no one would ever expect me to know!" She gave a happy cackle. "Ya two are lucky showin' up here. The birdies talk to me." She said with a wink.

Okay, this woman sounded crazy. The birds talk to her? Jenna flashed Davis a is-this-woman-sane look. This woman couldn't really know where it was-could she? Then again, the crew of pirates had no leads on where it could possibly be, so it wouldn't hurt to hear this woman out. "The uh..birdies, right. Could you tell us where it is, please? We'll pay you-"

"I don't want any money! And I won't tell you where it is directly, there's not fun in that for me! Solve my riddle and you'll find it no problem!" The hag was now bagging up the rest of their herbal remedies.

The woman had let go of him. She let go! Hah! Davis was relieved of the deadly and foul smelling breath of the woman. Fresh air was wonderful! He even took a deep breath, listening to her talk about how she knew about the map and how they were lucky to have asked. She then stated that she spoke to birds-or rather, they speak to her. Davis slowly glanced at Jenna with an apathetic look. Was this woman serious? He opened his mouth to ask if she really did say 'the birdies talk to me' but then he clamped his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted was the woman to be up in his face again.

He flinched when the woman completely rejected Jenna's offer. The old woman didn't need money? But money got food! Supplies! Not that Davis was really in it for the money but it was kind of needed in certain areas. Ship repairs, food, refilling supplies, taking pretty girls on a date--that probably wouldn't happen because fate hates him like that. He frowned at that last thought but shoved it aside. Business talk now!

The Hag told him that all she wanted was them to solve her riddle. "A-A riddle?" He repeated like Captain Hook's parrot. "Alright. I guess I am up for that. What's the wild riddle, ma'am?"

The hag cleared her throat, recalling the riddle she made up on spot:

"I shit on your hat,
I shit on your boat,
I beg you for food
Then strut around and gloat
I used to deliver letters though I'm not a mailman
Now my followers bow to me until they have a tan."

"That was a lousy riddle..." Jenna mumbled, jumping with a large sack filled with the smaller sacks of herbs was dropped on her lap. She looked up to see the Old Hag with a smile? On her face. "U-Uh thank you ma'am! For the herbs and the riddle."

"Ohoho, no problem dearie! Solve that riddle and you should find where it is no problem. " The look on Jenna's face made her cackle. "You didn't think I'd tell you if your answer was correct or not, did you? No fun in that, you'll have to go search for yourself! Time for you to go now, I'm going to take off these old shoes and soak my feet in the sink."

Jenna cringed at that horrible thought placed into her mind by that old hag. Her feet- yuck! "Of course, we'll be off now! Don't wanna uh- hold you up from your soaking there. C'mon, Davis," She grabbed a hold of his arm and slipped a few coins onto the hag's windowsill, hoping she wouldn't notice. "Unless you wanted to stay and help." She snickered.

The riddle caused Davis to stop and think. Things that crapped on your hat and boat? Was it literal or figuratively speaking? He pulled his hand up to his chin and tapped his cheek with his index finger. It was certainly puzzling, even if the riddle was a little weird and silly. He glanced over to Jenna and noticed her puzzled look too. "Thank you, I suppose." Davis thanked the old woman.

She was going to soak her feet in the sink?! The horror! Davis quickly shot up, standing on his feet once more. There was no way he was going to stand there and witness the disaster be unleashed. If her breath smelled terrible, he'd hate to know what her feet smelled like! And he was certainly sure that they did not smell of roses and daffodils.

"Uh-I would love to, Jenna. But you see, we have many more tasks to accomplish today and I'd like to get them done as soon as possible." Jenna grabbed a hold of his arm, and he looped his around hers. "See you later ma'am." He waved goodbye to her with his free hand.

As the two left the building he shut the door behind them and continued down the path. He was quiet for the most part. That is, until they got far enough away from the old hag. That's when he did an exaggerated sigh. "Oh thank God. Did you take a whiff of her breath?!" He turned to Jenna, not realizing he still had her hand. "It was the most rancid smell I've ever smelled! I think it sucked five years from my life. But at least she gave us this riddle. . . even if it is confusing. . ."

Jenna laughed at Davis's comment on the hag's breath. It was true, though. He breath was just NASTY! "Heck yeah I did! It was awful! Probably worse than that time I got locked in a goblin's outhouse.." she shuddered, remembering that moment. Thankfully she was able to occupy her mind with the riddle. "There's so many islands out here, that I'm not sure which one she could be talking about. Obviously it's an island that worships something that poops a lot. Should we round up the crew and ask?"

Walking down the mountain was much quicker than going up it! It had taken them half an hour to walk up the mountain, but coming down seemed to take only half of that time! "Do you think Kai would know? I mean, shouldn't navigators know all the islands around here?" An evil grin appeared on her face. "Hoho, I can't wait to go bother him about this.."

"Well... I dunno." Davis said as he scratched his chin once again. His mind wandered in circles about what sort of thing people would worship, that relieved itself all the time. "All I can think of are; Pigs, Goats, Horses, Flies, Deer, Birds. . . animals in general. Then if you think about it, there could be something about being a large city--though I don't know why people would worship a city." He then threw his hands in the air with frustration. He hated riddles! Why couldn't he just do something else cooler?!

"Maybe. Kai seems to know everything." He noticed the snicker on her and laughed. Oh how he knows how much she loved to torment that guy. It was really funny actually. "Go right ahead! Too bad I won't be able to witness this. Though I guess if Rusty is around she might be able to video record the whole thing! Maybe."

"Though. . . The one person I am NOT asking is Charlie. He's a pain in the ass and would probably say; 'I think the answer is you Davis. Why? Cuz you're a shit head.'" He paused while wearing a bitter frown. "Short punk-ass troll. I wish he wasn't so useful. I'd feed his ass to the Krakken." He let out an irritable sigh.

They reached the entrance to the town and he stopped beside Jenna. Turning to her he pointed to the right. "I guess I'll go take the right, looking for some of our comrades. Hopefully I can get them to come back to the ship. Unless they're there already. Which would be really handy. You can check the left--though I'm sure you'd be able to find them easily since you're a cheater." He pointed to her wings. Of course he was only joking about her cheating because she had the ability to fly.

"Ugh, Charlie.." Jenna said, with a scowl on her face. That guy was an annoying little shit! "I guess if I see him, I'll let him know to come to the ship. But if I don't see him, we're leavin' him here!" She decided with a cheeky grin.

Davis had pointed that he was taking a right, so she decided to go left. "I'll go left then!" She said, stretching out her dark wings as she prepared to fly over the beach. "Pfft, I ain't a cheater! I just have a uh... natural boost!" It didn't really make sense, what she was saying, but she thought it sounded cool. "I'll meet ya at the boat soon!" With that, the two went their separate ways.

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


Kai released a sigh from his throat, utterly relaxed. Tranquil Island was one of the best places in all of the Scarlet Ocean. No annoying wind from the sea, bothersome crewmates, no work to be done.. all he had to do was relax. Relax and be lazy. He didn't plan on leaving the water until he absolutely had to.

His lower half was in the cool, aqua waves. The ocean was beautiful and clean here around the shores. The water was crystal clear. If he looked below, he could see aquatic life going about their daily schedules. Kaito preferred being in the water opposed to being on land. Unlike people, sea creatures didn't annoy him all that much.

His upper half was on a heated, flattened rock that was a good ways from shore. His head was resting on his arms, which were folded over part of the rock. His eyes were half lidded as he looked at the shore in front of him, feeling drowsy. He stifled a yawn, enjoying himself.

The view of the island from his spot was breathtaking. The sand was a pretty white that almost hurt to look at, and was lined with a myriad number of elegant shells. Tourists and his fellow crewmates.were scattered about on the beach, soaking up the sun, playing a game or even swimming. Palm trees were here and there, coconuts dangling from them; a natural treat that Kaito often enjoyed.

The sweet scent of tropical fruits and flowers along with salty sea air caused Kai to doze off until...

"Kai! Kai! Kaito! KAITO! KAAITOOO!! KAIIIIIIITOOOOOOOOOO!" Jenna's 'annoying' voice was calling to him from shore. He felt his eyebrows furrow. Maybe if he didn't say anything, she'd go away. "OY! KAITO! SEA WORM!!"

"Oh my God!" Kai growled to himself with an annoyed tone, pushing off the rock and swiveling in the water to face her. "WHAT! WHAT DO YOU WANT YOU BURNT PIGEON!" He called angrily back at her, noting her dark wings and attire.

He continued to grumble to himself. "Jesus, do I ever get a break from work.." Though he complained about his crew often, he really liked them all.

"DARK ATLANTIS MEETING. GET YA ASS OVER TO THE SHIP! AND IF YOU SEE THAT PIG CHARLIE, SEND HIM OVER!" She figured the guy was up in the village, stuffing his face. She turned to the rest of the beach goers with a cheeky grin. "Hehe, if any of you are a part of the Atlantis crew, head on over to the ship!"

"Ugh, but we just got here.." Kaito whined to himself as he swam swiftly to shore. When he arrived, he slowly walked out of the ocean.

"We got here like two weeks ago! And it's just a meeting, quit complaining, sea worm!" She noted he had been swimming in his boxers and turned away, embarrassed. "Ugh, get dressed and come on!"

Kaito rolled his eyes at Jenna's behavior and grumbled at her as he pulled on his pants and vest, already dry. "Oh, grow up Jenna! They're basically a pair of shorts!"

 

Luna was swimming underwater a good ways-away from the shore, when she heard yelling from the shore. The voice was muffed and unfamiliar, so she peeked her head up above and breathed in a huge gulp of air. It felt wonderful to her air-lacking lungs! It felt like a breath of fresh... well, air. The voice became familiar to Luna, and as it turned out, it was Jenna the first mate. Jenna was yelling at Kaito, and Luna wondered where he was. She looked to her right to see an annoyed Kaito.

Luna swiveled around to face the shore, and she barely heard the words 'Dark Atlantis meeting' before she dove back underwater and started for shore. She kicked and flapped her wet wings to get herself to swim better. When she reached shore, she saw that Kaito was already there. And she didn't see her clothes. "Ah poo..." She mumbled to herself. "Where are my damn clothes now?" Luna was wearing just her shorts and her black tight under-shirt that cut off right above her naval.

Luna had left her clothes on the shore and hoped the sea didn't take them. She looked to her left to see her clothes over in that direction. "Wow..." She said. "Better look next time." She stood up, walked to her clothes and moved them away from the shore. Luna flapped her sliver and gold wings rapidity. In no time, they were dry. She ringed out her ever curly hair, then set her hand on fire. It was only a small fire--nothing to worry about, and it didn't sap too much of Luna's energy.

She moved the fire up and down her body--never making contact--starting from her feet, then her legs and shorts, then her mid-section and shirt and finally her arms. She make the fire disappear by closing her hand. She was dry now! Well, her face and neck were wet, but she didn't mind at all. The water felt nice. Luna pulled her shirt on, then put on her vest. She belted on her belt then slipped on her boots. Last, but not least, she fixed her rock necklace. It had been backwards. No one likes a backwards necklace.

Luna fixed her bangs then walked past Kaito and Jenna, flashing them both a smile and a wave. After the smiles and waves, Luna jumped into the air and at just the right moment, flapped her wings making her fly higher. She flapped her wings a few more times until she was high enough to see the ship. She looked down, hoping to see one of her crew-mates but she saw no one she knew. Shrugging it off, Luna soared towards the ship. Luna had already saw the town like this, but it was always pretty to her.

Luna landed on the ship and noticed she was the first one there. "Now, how much time do I have till the others get here? Maybe I have time to go see what extra herbs I have?" She asked herself with a smile.

 

Naomi and Yuzuki were sparring when Davis called for a meeting for the crew. Yuzuki was thinking she might have been getting the hand of her left hand when Naomi swung straight for the blade and she lost her grip. "How many times has that been Yuz? 30 times you've lost your grip today?" Yuzuki, or Yuz as Naomi called her, had tried relentlessly since they landed to get her left hand into fighting shape, but to no avail. "Come one, we'll get through to that arm again one day." They shook hands signalling the end of their spar and started walking over to the Dark Atlantis.
"So, Naomi, you think they've found the location of the chicken." Yuzuki couldn't help but call seagulls chickens, cause to here, that's what the are. unfortunately, they didn't taste alike, which would have made cooking seagulls so much easier to do. "I hate those bloody birds, don't you." She stopped talking when they arrived at the docks and waited for the rest to arrive. "You know I would be beating you in these matches if I still had my right hand."
"Keep saying that Yuz, but it won't change the past."

 

Luna was standing and day dreaming when Rusty said; "With wings like yours, I am sure you can make it back in time before the rest show up. Just don't talk to too many people or day dream." Rusty's words snapped Luna back to the real world and she scowled at Rusty, but then she smiled. She never scowled for too long. "I have my extra herbs with me, Rusty. Besides, my other extra stack is on the ship. But thanks about that. I guess my wings are kinda nice." She pulled a purple sack full of herbs from her back pocket, and held it up for Rusty to see. After that, she placed the sack back in her pocket. After Luna said that, Rusty stomped her foot on the floorboards. Her metal foot made a loud thumping noise. Not long after that, someone emerged from the lower level of the ship. Rusty said to the someone; "You're not helping the Captain and the First mate out with getting the herbs?" The someone was Taiko, one of the newest members of the crew. She scratched her head. "Sorry. I was making sure... the canons were full.." Luna heard Taiko sheepishly spit out. She rubbed her arm and looked to the side. Taiko said hello to Luna and waved to her. "Hello, Taiko~" Luna waved to her and smiled. "No matter." Rusty shrugged. "It's odd not seeing many people here." Luna agreed with Rusty. "Yeah, it is kinda odd." She nodded. "Please don't be too hard on Taiko, Rusty. She doing her very best." Luna walked over to Taiko and placed a hand on her shoulder, as if to say; 'I'm here for you.'

 

E was working on repairing some of the weapons when she heard crew members moving about. In any other case, she would have kept at her job, but it sounded like the crew was returning to the ship for some reason. She placed the weapon down carefully and made sure she had her pistols with her. They were still set aside on the workbench, waiting patiently to be placed back in her holsters, which she did. She walked up towards the deck and noticed Rusty, Taiko, and Luna. She went over. "Hello. Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but is something going on?"

 

Leonard was checking his pistol, making sure it was ready to fire if he needed it to, when he heard, "MEETING AT THE SHIP!" he sighed angrily, holstered his pistol and sprinted to the ship, climbing onboard. He looked over to see Davis bickering with Charlie. He walked over, and up onto the ship, approaching Charlie. "Hey, pal, why do you have to argue with everything? Just follow your damn orders for once. It'd probably serve you well to just shut the hell up, if that's even possible." Leonard rolled his eyes. He never liked Charlie. He was always sarcastic, pessimistic...just like him. But at least Leonard followed orders. He walked off to check the cannons and weapon inventory.

"Cannon One good...two good...three good..." he mumbled to himself.

Eventually all the cannons were checked, even though he was sure someone else already did it. "Precautionary." he grinned. "Can't trust half these people with a damn butter knife."

He walked down into storage to check ammunition and weapons. There was probably enough ammunition for three years on a voyage. "Overprepared, much?" he shook his head with a grin. "We do have some pretty terrible shots. Not surprising we need this much ammo."

The extra swords and daggers, knives, guns, they were all there. They even kept an extra cannon. Not that it'd do much good when not bolted to the floor, but, hey. It's a good back-up plan.

"Wish the guys on Midnight Murder had this. They all ended up dead." he mumbled as he walked out of storage and back onto the deck. He found Davis, and said, "Weapons and ammo are good, sir." he nodded with his statement. He could respect Davis. He was kind of funny, too. Not knee-slapping, loud laughter hilarious, but he could get a laugh out of you if he wanted to. There was nothing more to report, so he strayed over to the boat's edge, staring into the sea.

"That map, and those rings, are ours for the taking." Leonard chuckled. "Anyone who gets in the way? In a pool of their own blood, squirming on the ground."

 

A cranking noise emitted from the wrench turns as Siven twisted the final bolt into place. "There," he said, "try that." He stood up and spun the wrench in his hand, then took a step back from the turret as Sierra stepped forward. She pulled back on the handles only to have it slide off the gun to the deck. Again. "Come on!" The Valkyrie shouted angrily, "That's the third time today!" Siven sighed and put his hand in his head. "Forget it, I'll ask Rusty about it. Lets just check the others." The fairy boy started to trot across the deck when he heard Davis start to call out, "MEETING FOR THE DARK ATLANTIS!" Paying more attention to that, he bumped into the others on board. "Oh sorry. What's going on? I heard there was a meeting being called soon."

Sierra flicked her hair back off her shoulder. She was tired of waiting for action. They had stuck here on this island for almost two weeks now, and nothing had cropped up about the map or otherwise. She was anxious to get back out at sea and fight something. "Can we at least get this over with? We still have to check the rest of the guns." Siven nodded. "Yeah, I know, we'll get to it." Unconsciously he gripped his sword handle, a small habit of his. He looked over to Rusty. "Hey Rusty? We've got a small issue with the gun on the bow, port side." The boy wasn't exactly the top engineer on the ship, so he didn't quite know everything about the tech they had onboard. Leonard's statement made him sigh with angst, but Sierra seemed to silently agree. "That's only if they try to kill us. Not like you'd get them, anyway, you're too slow to do some real damage." His poking fun might have been a bit too much, but it didn't seem to bother the guy.

 

"Yeah I know they are, but they're on YOUR body." Jenna said, still covering her eyes as Kaito got dressed. He growled back at her. "Oh, thanks. You don't look so great either. Your eyes are huge."

Jenna snickered at his comment. "Well Davis likes my eyes, they look like chocolate! At least mine don't look like kitty eyes." The two began to make their way to the ship, seeing Luna had flown off ahead of them.

Kaito grumbled. He hated when Jenna compared his eyes to a cat's! "They're not kitty eyes." He grumbled lowly. "They're reptilian."

"Whatever, either way, your pupils look like a coin is supposed to be slid through them."

"Your bandana looks stupid."

"Your tattoo looks like a dumb worm."

And the silly argument continued as the two made their way onto the ship. Jenna found the whole thing funny and was often laughing. While Kai just looked pouty and irritated. "I'm just saying your head looks like an awkward potato." Jenna said.

"I'm just saying you look like a man." Kaito fired back. He didn't think Jenna looked like a man at all, but it was the only think you he could come up with at the time. "You irk me, Jen-"

"Oh good, almost everyone's here!" Jenna cheered. She spotted one of their doctor's, Luna, by Rusty. "Yo, Luna, here's the herbs we got from the Old Hag." She tossed the pretty girl the bags of herbs. "I forgot to give them to you earlier, ehehe."

Jenna hadn't been on the boat in a few days, so she decided to ask how the ship was doing. "Hey Siven, Rusty! How's the ship lookin'? All in ship shape I hope?" Jenna winked at Naomi, E and Yuzuki. "E, Yuz, Naomi, how ya doin'?" She gave a grin, looking around the ship, happy that she had such good crewmembers. All were helpful in their own way.

Kai sighed, glad that his stupid 'argument' with Jenna was over. He made his way to the railing of the ship before pulling himself up into a sitting position onto it. Near him were Sierra, Siven and Leonard. He gave them a lazy wave. "Have any of you even come off the ship any? We're on here all year long, it's nice to be out on land for a bit. Get away from work, take a nice nap; maybe even go for a morning jog. I needed this; I was so tired of looking at maps all day.

As he waited for their replies, he called out to Jenna. "Alright Jenna, we're here, what do ya want? I could be out being lazy somewhere."

"We have to wait for Captain Davis first, duh!" Jenna snickered with enjoyment after eyeing the expression on Kai's face. "Be patient! And we've been here for two weeks, how much more lazy stuff can you do?"

Kai groaned, afraid he'd be waiting FOREVER before his captain and good friend returned. He gripped the railing tightly before leaning back over the ship's railing, staring at the sea upside down. "Oh great, we'll be waiting for ages then! Davis loves this island, he'll take so long to get here." He said in his deep voice. The blood was beginning to rush to his head, so he sat back up, muscles flexing as he did so.

"Oh hush, the wait will be worth it- We've got information on the map! Plus Charlie isn't here yet, so enjoy the moment." Jenna winked.

 

Brant stepped out of the doors of a brothel, fixing his pants and taking a swig from a flask he kept in a pocket inside his vest. A smug, pleasured smile was plastered on his face, but his long ears perked up as he heard Davis's familiar voice echoed through the streets of Tranquil Island's modest town. He saw his newly crowned captain heading to the docks, announcing a meeting. He knew that he had been up to visit the old hag that lived on the mountain of the island, and wondered what information he had learned to have called this meeting suddenly.

He tucked the flask back into his pocket and casually made his way back to the ship, noticing others from the crew eking towards the ship from their respective places where they had decided to spend their time ashore. He stood on the dock and took a deep breath of sea air before walking up to the deck. The ship rocked with the waves beneath his feet and he relished the feeling. It was like the ocean was rocking him gently. He leaned against the railing and looked back out at the town, lighting a cigarette. He tossed the match into the water and waited.

Most of their crew made their way up the dock and onto the ship and Brant grave Jenna a playful salute with his cigarette in hand, winking teasingly. He knew she hated it, but he loved to push her buttons. They had been stuck together on this ship for many years, and Brant couldn't help himself.

"Hey, what's this meeting all about?" He flicked his cigarette butt into the water and turned to walk with her, curious about the gathering. If anyone knew what was going on, it would be Jenna.

 

Luna flashed Jenna and Kaito a grin as they boarded the ship. Jenna looked in her direction.

"Yo, Luna, here's the herbs we got from the Old Hag." Jenna tossed the bag of herbs to her. Luna caught it with one hand and it felt a good weight to her. She gave Jenna the thumbs-up and stuffed the herbs into her back pocket.

"I forgot to give them to you earlier, ehehe." Jenna laughed.

"Thanks! So... I guess I'm not gonna test any of my new concoctions on you or Davis. Hey Jenna... Who do you think I should test my new concoctions on? Should I try them on Charlie?" Luna grinned evilly. She hoped Charlie would get here soon. The girl loved to test out new herbs and concoctions she has made, and it was fun trying them on other people. The lady fire-fairy took out her sack of herbs and her newly-got bag of herbs from her back pocket, then pulled herself onto the railing of the ship and sat down next to Kaito. The twin completely ignored everyone and everything around her, and went to work sorting her herbs. Whenever Luna did anything to do with medicine or doctor things, she was in her own world of things-Luna-liked. When she was finished, she looked around, hoping a lot of time had passed. Only a minute or two had passed. Luna sighed and looked to the sea. Most sane people would think Luna hated water because of her element being fire, but that wasn't the case. She loved the water, and looking at the sea like she was, made her just wanna jump into the water from the ship. The gold and sliver fairy turned herself around the railing and looked down. She could of jumped down into water, and she was about to jump when she heard Jenna said something about information on the map. Luna turned herself around and hopped back onto the deck.

"Where is Davis?" Luna mumbled to herself.

 

E waved at Jenna before she walked off. E tried to recall when she last saw her, but no recent dates came up. Everything was the past week or before.

"Meeting?" E repeated, then started to walk in the general direction of where meeting took place. "I better hurry so that I am not late," she muttered to herself, then continued to head in that direction.

"Oh dear..." E sighed when Charlie fell in the water. The organic crew members seemed to love to cause each other misery. She still did not understand why most of the time.

E search her data banks for anything that sounded remotely like the riddle. Multiple things came up, so she decided to stay silent until asked for an answer.

 

Leonard continued to stare out into the water, pondering on his own reflection, when Tai called out from behind him. He turned around, and she asked about the cannons, and if she checked them correctly.

"Yeah, you did a good job. Didn't miss anything." he nodded. "I just like to double check things. They aren't much use when you can't fire 'em." Leonard shrugged. "You're doing great for a newbie." he reassured her.

Leonard could be a genuine good guy when he wanted to be, but that was rarely. Usually someone on the ship got onto him for something. Most of the time it was either Charlie himself or someone telling him to back off of Charlie. Why did people put up with him? He couldn't find any way to make him useful.

He walked over to sit on a bench to swear in his mind about Charlie. It sounded pathetic, but he wasn't allowed to beat the shit out of him, or even hit him, so he had to stick to his mind. Hell, he was hardly allowed to talk to Charlie if it wasn't for duty. Davis seemed okay with it though, they shared common ground on Charlie. They both thought he was an ass. Leonard couldn't stand Charlie. His overconfident act, his way of carrying himself like he was actually respected, he wasn't. He was a selfish, pretentious brat.

And that NICKNAME. His name wasn't Leon. It was Leonard, and he liked it Leonard. It wasn't a terrible name. Get it right, you thick-skulled, shit for brains waste of-

Siven and Rusty called out to him about one of the guns not functioning. Leonard looked up, and nodded. "Yeah. I can fix it. No problem." They turned to walk towards it when Tai asked if she could come along. "I don't have a problem with it." he shrugged.

When they got there, Leonard checked the exterior before moving in. All the pieces were there. There was nothing wrong with that. He grabbed his knife and untwisted one of the bolts, removing the barrel. Nothing was stuck inside, but there was a shell casing jamming the firing mechanism. He took it out with ease, and popped it off the side of the boat.

"There we go. It was jammed." he nodded, beginning to screw the barrel back into place as the others left. He took the time to fire the gun before leaving, just to check. "Working perfectly." he nodded and walked back. Just in time to see Davis bump the gate, causing Charlie to fall into water. Charlie swore and yelled at Davis, who replied with a mellow, and faked, "Oopsie!"

Leonard looked down at Charlie and grinned. "He said report to the ship, not under it!" he called down before turning his attention to Davis. He recited his hike with Jenna before reciting a riddle. Leonard couldn't think of an answer immediately, but then thought of the damn birds that always flocked.

"I gotta agree. Sounds like a bird. Pigeon? Seagull?" he commented.

 

Siven nodded his thanks to Rusty and Leonard for fixing the gun; it would've taken him forever to fix it himself. The others of the crew were starting to gather around the main of the deck of the ship, making it a bit more crowded. As Davis started, Charlie was shoved into the water, causing most everyone to start laughing. "Well, well, the hothead gets doused out," he said. Not the best snarky remark, but good enough.

Davis then began to explain the hike with Jenna and the little riddle they got. He starting thinking hard about when Sierra piped up. "What about a dragon?" She got punched in the arm by Siven. "Hey!" She shouted. "Your blonde is showing," he stated flatly. "Can you take this seriously for a minute?" He turned back to Davis. "I think Leonard's got a good idea with the pidgeon. They do crap everywhere, they take food, and in older times they were used as messengers for urgent mail. But that last line really throws me off..." His voice trailed off into nothing. "What about the sun?" Sierra offered, "Most birds head out that way at sunset, right?" The fairy beside her shook his head for a second, paused, then said, "That kind of makes sense. What about you guys? What do you think?"

 

When Davis mentioned the riddle, Yuzuki perked up. "I could've sworn I saw a chicken flying off...
"Yuz means a seagull."
Yuzuki could just never say seagull for some reason, Naomi was always correcting her. "Anyway, after the fight, I saw one with something in it's mouth. Maybe it was carrying part of the map." Everyone was suggesting things at the same time and she was sure she would get drowned out. Naomi said it again just in case anyone missed it. "I think that cowardly bird might be what it is referring to, and the do their business wherever they want, although I've never heard of any religions based around a seagull. Maybe it was just a scrap of food that it stole."
Yuzuki was second guessing herself, thinking maybe her mind was just drifting like it often was. She was cooking below deck and didn't realise there was a fight going on until it had finished. Naomi had gone down to get her, but as usual, bad prioritizing on her part lead to her missing out of the fun.

 

Luna was pacing to and fro, when she saw Davis walk on board, lean against a railing and just listen. She was happy and sighed. Finally, the wait was over. Well, for now aleast. He said something about not minding the time of the meeting. She smiled to say 'I don't mind'. Davis talked to Rusty and Taiko a little bit then he turned back to Luna and her crewmates, and asked how their time here was. She just thought back on her time here. Most of it was spent swimming. Taiko chimed in how she spent how time here flying. She flapped her wings, then said; "I still stink at it though I am getting much better!" "Yeah cuz you're dumb." Charlie said as he started up the ramp. Dammit. Charlie was here. Wait, that could be a good thing. Luna had just made a concoction that turned your hair pink for a day, and she wanted to test it on Charlie before tesing it on herself. When he neared the ship, Davis 'accidentally' bumped the gate. It swung closed and knocked Charlie into the water. Luna snickered as a wave of half-finished swear words came from Charlie. Davis put on an act, then told the crew of his hike and the riddle. "What sort of shit is that?" Charlie asked as he hopped over the gate. She smiled. Hopefully pink hair for Charlie soon! Davis said he thought of birds and Charlie asked about planes. "Idiot.." Luna mumbled as she rubbed her head. She wanted to yell out at Charlie; 'Planes. Don't. Shit.' Luna thought about it, and all she came up with was birds; mostly pidgoens. She shrugged and decided not to say her ideas, unless asked and just listen.

Leonard said he thought it was pidgeons or seagulls. "Pidegeons seem to fit the riddle best." Luna said to go with what Leonard said.

Siven agreed with Leonard and said a lot which made piddgeons fit the bill more and more. But the last line still irked Luna. Sierra asked that most birds head out that way. She then paused, shook her head and asked if that made sense. Luna wasn't all too sure. If she was sure, she would speak up.

 

Jenna gave an evil snicker when Luna asked if she should try her new herbal remedies on Charlie- just in case they failed. "Heh, I think that's a GREAT idea! We'll tell him it's a special quest only he can do." She winked.

Fortunately for Kaito, who hated waiting, Davis was on the boat soon after Jenna told him to wait. However, the way Davis was talking, they'd be leaving the island soon. Probably right after this meeting. "I-wha-we're leaving already?" The sad look on his face didn't match his gruff voice. "But we just got here! I haven't even tried all the different noodles they have to offer or took a nice nap by all of the trees-"

"Oh you can do all those things on the boat, Kai!" Jenna snickered, knowing it was hard for him to sleep on the boat. "You're lazy enough as it is- we're lucky we actually get you to look at the map and tell us where to go."

Kai just grumbled, leaning against the railing. "Yeah whatever.. let's just get this meeting started."

"I for one," Jenna went on, speaking to Davis and anyone who was listening, "Had a wonderful time on this island! The food and sunshine were amazing- and it was nice to be on stable ground for a few days." Davis mentioned the beautiful women on the island. She knew he directed towards the men that liked to have fun with different women, but she wanted to tease Davis anyways. "What other women you been lookin' at? I thought I was your special girl~" She snickered and winked at him.

The happy teasing didn't last long because Charlie's loud mouth interrupted as he came up the ramp. "That," Jenna said as she looked at Charlie. "Was the only bad thing on this island." She laughed loudly when the brat was knocked into the ocean. "HA!" she snorted. "You look like a drowned goat- smell like one too!"

Finally, the moment they'd all been waiting for, the riddle! Davis recited it perfectly. "So? What do ya guys think it is? I think it has something to do with birds." Jenna asked the crew. She laughed in Charlie said plane. "Why don't you go ride on a plane Charlie; let us know if it poops you out."

Many of the crew members had great suggestions for what the riddle could mean. Several different birds that fit the description were brought up, but no one could really tie it in to the second part. Many suggested pigeons, started with Leonard.

"Huh.. pigeons might fit. They like to shit, and are sometimes used to deliver mail.. but followers bowing down and getting a tan? Such an odd last bit." Jenna tapped her chin. "Maybe it's a flower or something. Sometimes people attack letters to flowers when they deliver them, and people crouch down tend to them, which could tan their backs.." she trailed off, thinking on her own idea.

Kaito sat silently, mulling the riddle over. Sierra had mentioned the sun, but he'd already ruled that out. "Sunshine works for the tanning part, but not for delivering letters." He furrowed his brow, deep in thought when it dawned on him.

"Oh." He said, his face suddenly relaxed, as he pushed himself off the railing and headed towards the Captain's Quarters, where a map of all of Scarlet Ocean was. He disappeared through the beautiful crafted twin doors.

"'Oh?'" Jenna repeated, watching Kai retread. "What do you mean 'oh'? Hey, where ya goin'?" She began to follow him into the Quarters, but he quickly emerged with the large map in hand. He strut over to a large barrel, using it as a makeshift table. He spread out the large map.

His pearly silver eyes glanced over all the islands on the map. "I have a feeling it's referring to pigeons." By now, he'd laid out his navigator tools. "More specifically the ones on..." His eyes finally landed on the island he was looking for. "Poopcoop Island, 'bout a half a day's travel from here." He jabbed a dagger into the location.

"Poopcoop Island, home to a giant pigeon named Zeke. The inhabitants worship him because he's huge." For once, he didn't look lazy. He worked his divider swiftly between his fingers. "Pigeons beg for food, poop everywhere, and deliver letters. If there's a giant one that people worship, wouldn't their backs get tan from bowing constantly?" He scratched the back of his neck nervously, looking off into the sea. "It's all we really have so far."

"Kai, I don't think I've ever seen you move to so fast." Jenna said, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. "That's pretty much the only lead we have so far, and a lot of the crew agree with the pigeon idea. I guess a smaller pigeon could've brought the map piece to er.. Zeke."

"Yeah, it's possible," Kaito said, with his arms crossed. "I wouldn't have thought of it if Leonard and the others hadn't mentioned pigeons." He turned to them, and dipped his head. "Thanks."

"Well," Jenna continued. "Should we head out for Poopcoop, or brainstorm some more?"