"Who's causing a ruckus in my ship?!"
When the crew heard the loud, slurred voice, their postures became even stiffer. The ones in the way moved to let their captain deal with the kid.
However, they were already praying. Hoping that after Yati dealt with the kid, it wouldn't be them next. That was wishful thinking though, once the captain saw the person under the dragon's feet.
As usual, Yati was drunk. His men were more afraid now since their captain was stronger when he was really wasted. He was walking slowly, swaying. His footsteps was like an ominous warning to his men, but Ling was only frowning in the face of it.
The aura of the man walking to Ling was familiar. Like before, he could recognize it easily so he never stopped him as the man continued to move forward.
The face, however, was different. The hair was gray instead of the scatter of white. It was longer and shaggier than his usual neat one. He even has a frizzy beard now!
While the bearded man was walking, he was the only one talking, or more like slurring, onboard the ship, "I was trying to rest but you people are noisy! Who was it that kept banging on the deck?! This ship might be new but that doesn't mean you can start destroying it!"
The ship's crew were trembling but they didn't dare cover their ears despite the loud voice assaulting them. They didn't try to shield themselves from the 'mist' their captain was exuding either. Their captain seemed stronger now too. They were almost forced to their knees from his powerful 'mist'.
Meanwhile, Kana was frustrated. What were these men doing just letting this guy walk forward. He was about to warn them even though he was afraid to speak up, but the dragon covered his mouth again. Fortunately, he could still breath and so, he just let the events run its course. It was not like he could do anything about it now. This day was really unfortunate.
To the crew's surprise, when the bearded man reached the boy, he only slapped him on the back then laughed loudly, before he threw a fistful of sand in front of them.
The sand dispersed, making a barrier between the groups. It moved further until several men inhaled some grains and fell on their knees. The thuds on the wooden floor was like rushing hooves on the gravel. However, these men couldn't shout out despite the pain in their knees because they don't have enough energy to even speak softly. What happened to this man they call captain?
This made the crew confused, but when they looked at the other group, they could only see the dragon with the man at its feet and the boy with another young man beside him.
"S-sir Mayari!" Someone shouted.
The crew recognized this man and their shaking became even more prominent. Why was this man here? Weren't they supposed to leave before this man got the news that they were docked at Kanan Island? They had to really call their captain now!
"So, I got the gist of the situation here. I never thought that Yati would even resort to bullying children."
Mayari looked around the crew and pointed to someone. "You, there, call your captain. Tell him I have something to propose." Then, he smiled as that crew backed off and stumbled to do what he told.
"And you, Ling, why did you leave me below?" Mayari ignored the ship's crew to talk to the children, "Maga, you can remove your 'mist' now. That young man wouldn't try to escape again. Right, Kana?"
Kana averted his gaze but nodded profusely like he was going to bang his head on the floor. Hence, Maga relaxed its hold.
Ling was still frowning while facing Mayari, "I'm sorry, uncle. Maga can't fly if he carried you too."
Hearing this, Mayari laughed, "I see. Maga was still young after all. But I'm not surprised that the both of you were able to see through my disguise. You weren't shocked at all!
"So, these were the men who stole your gems?" When both the boy and the dragon nodded, he turned his sight on the ship's crew again. "I won't listen to any of your explanations, but I'll assume you already used those gems to have this ship built. Then, that explains why you have a ship this big. That makes things easier for me."
After saying his piece, Mayari didn't wait for any of the men to answer. They wouldn't be able to anyway. Nobody wanted to be noticed by this man who could even make their captain afraid. How did the kid knew this man?
It only took a few minutes before the real captain of this ship to be called, as he was followed by the crew, now sporting a black eye, who called for him. "Who's causing a ruckus in my ship?!"
Everybody suddenly thought they were experiencing deja vu. Was this really the captain?
"Hey, Yati, I'm the one causing the ruckus. Didn't your messenger tell you?"
Yati had already reached the front of the group. He was staring confusedly at the 'mist' barrier which was stopping him to move forward. After hearing that joyous declaration had he thought to move his stare to the man in front of them. When he saw the man, it made him move back a step.
"S-sir Mayari!"
Ling thought it was funny that the captain had the same reactions as his crew. It was really fortunate that he met Uncle Mayari here. He wasn't concerned about the lost gems now since he could get help from the Sikat troupe.
"So, is it true from what I heard that you got the money to build this ship from this kids here?" Mayari was smiling as he asked. His stare was trained intently on Yati that the other man could only nod.
"Hmm.. I never really thought you would resort to stealing from kids. So you used up all their gems just to build this? I doubt that. From your personality, thereshould still be some leftovers."
Yati gritted his teeth as he nodded again. If he knew that the kid was this close to this man, he wouldn't have stolen from him. Or rather, he would have asked his crew to move faster before the man could sense their presence."
Continuing to smile, Mayari asked, "Then, where are these gems? Let's at least return those to the real owner shall we?"
After another nod, Yati relaxed his gritted teeth to whisper to one of his crews to get it. Before he could instruct his man further, Mayari spoke again, "Oh, and I want all the leftover gems, Yati. You know I tell if you were hiding something."
Yati and the crew could only nod while the other men bowed their heads. They were planning to have fun before setting sail again but that was out of the picture now. Knowing this man's personality, they would be suffering instead before setting sail.
"Lastly, I came here to propose something. We have to go somewhere and I heard you have a new ship. Therefore, we'll use this." The man's smile continued in the face of the dejected captain and his crew.