Madison's obsession with pirates began when she was very little. Her parents were adventurous and calm, willing to explore the world as long as they kept their true identities a secret. Naturally, Madison grew up with a similar attitude, flying around the planet and exploring as much as she could. But her identity had always been an issue.
She didn't want to be seen as a mindless animal, which was how everyone else rightfully saw the rest of her species. But Alpha Dragons like herself were far different from the others who roamed the world, since most Alpha Dragons had the unique ability to take on human forms. This vital flaw in her DNA meant that Madison was stuck living two separate lives: The one which she lived as a Dragon, and the other which she lived as a Human. Until finally, she met a boy who merged those lives together.
Madison was young when she met him, maybe only twelve years old, but despite not remembering his face or his name, she never forgot the things that he said to her. The boy planned to become a pirate, the greatest pirate in the world, and offered to take Madison along with him. But she couldn't go; people who lived close by to him knew about her special powers, and despite telling the boy that she would return to see him once more, she was never able to return to his island. But in the last few moments in which she spoke to him, Madison had promised to become a pirate as well, the greatest female pirate in the world. And from then on out, that was her goal. Until one fateful day, barely seven years later, she was captured and held by the one thing she strived to be.
A pirate by the name of Captain Gogetsu shot her down and held her captive atop his ship, aiming to sell her scales to armourers and hang her head as a trophy. Of course, he knew very little about her Alpha abilities, she had never revealed her human form to him in any way, so they could only assume she was nothing more than an animal. That thought alone was what drove Madison to where she was today; her goal was to create a place where Dragons were no longer seen as mindless beasts, and instead they would be viewed as allies and friends.
The only thing Madison wanted in life was peace and safety for every person that she came to meet. And as she told her crew about her life, and how she was saved by a golden ship with distinctly patterned sails, they understood her passion and love for being a pirate.
"Hold up, that sounds like you were saved by the Golden Skull." Elez cut in at the end, catching the attention of the rest of the crew.
"The Golden Skull?" Madison mumbled, confused but curious by what he meant. She had always wanted to identify her saviour, in hopes of repaying them in the future.
"Yeah, it's the King's personal ship." He said, amazed that the words were even leaving his mouth. "You were literally saved by the Demon King!!" He gasped, earning similar shocked reactions from Madison and Zenith, all while Pip was far too busy eating to even understand or care about the new information.
"Who's that?" Pip mumbled suddenly, looking up at them all while his head barely peeked up over the top of the plates of food. He was shorter than all of them, hovering around four feet tall, so sitting to eat as a crew was difficult since he could barely see over the top of the table.
"You don't know who the Demon King is?" Elez gasped. "Even Zenith knows who he is, and Zenith is an idiot." He said, motioning towards the swordsman who restrained himself from tossing a knife at the Angel.
"I wasn't allowed to leave the master's house." Pip muttered, looking down at the floor while his ears drooped softly in sorrow. "I'm sorry I don't know everything you do." He cried, causing Zenith to rise from his seat as soon as tears began rolling down his cheeks.
"Elez, that was too far." Zenith growled, embracing the smaller boy into his arms and holding him close while he walked back to his own seat. Madison's curiosity peaked though, as she turned to question the fox boy's statement.
"You served a master?" She asked, watching as Pip instinctively curled up tighter in Zenith's arms. But after many moments of tense and untouched silence, Pip began to tell as much of his story as he knew.
The young boy had been born into a family of two loving parents and five older siblings, but after only a few years of caring for him, his mother and father suddenly vanished and never returned. And without their magic to protect him, Pip was soon summoned in order to serve a cruel man and his family. Of course, the man's children were never very rough with him, in fact they were quite kind, but the person he was forced to call master had become enraged by the mere sight of Pip being the one that he summoned.
Most of the time, when a summoning ritual was performed, an older and more capable familiar would be summoned. So, when Pip appeared in place of a powerful alternative, his master was not very pleased at all. At that time, Pip was barely six years old, but he was forced to work around the house and look after the kids that were of similar ages, eventually leading him to begin reading about all of the plants and animals in New World. He did this in order to protect his master's children, but also because his only escape from the world became the library that sat unused at the back of the house.
After his first year of living there, Pip had become accustomed to the daily lectures that his master gave him, often in the form of yelling and whacking the side of his head with a wooden bar. After far too long of having this happen to him, Pip became numb to the pain in every way, as his eyes grew slowly worse from the constant head trauma, leading to a severe lack of sight in any bright spaces.
Another year passed, and Pip made a fatal mistake which finally tipped his master over the edge. Of course, Pip was only trying to save the master's wife from a poisonous plant, but in the end he was pushed away and stumbled back into an expensive artefact, shattering the precious item against the stone floors of the household. He was dragged outside and thrown into the alleyway, and his life may have been lost if Zenith didn't show his face.
After telling the crew his story, Pip slowly curled up in Zenith's arms, hiding his tears of pain and agony from anyone who might see them. After barely a moment of crying though, Madison and Elez stood up and walked over to him, embracing him and Zenith into a hug and holding Pip tight.
"We won't ever let anything bad happen to you, ok?" Madison smiled, holding all of her boys and hugging them tightly while they relaxed.
"Yeah, I promise to protect you as well." Elez said, petting Pip's hair and slowly stepping back from the hug.
"I won't let any harm come to you or anyone else in this crew." Zenith smiled, allowing Pip to soften and nuzzle up in his arms, before the others slowly sat back down into their seats.
"Hey wait, you still need to choose a Vice Captain." Elez said to Madison, trying to turn the conversation away from Pip and calm the young boy's nerves.
"Oh yeah." She giggled, looking up and humming as she analysed them both. After many minutes of silence though, she had yet to come to a decision. "Hmmm. Oh, I have an idea!" She smiled, rushing over to Elez and dragging him back towards Zenith. "Rock, Paper, Scissors."
"Seriously?!" They both yelled, horrified that she was placing the role of Vice Captain in the hands of luck.
"Yeah." She grinned, reaching out and holding both of their right hands in her own, before pulling them close together and smiling adorably. "I would happily have either of you take the job, I love you both of you the same."
"Best out of three," Elez said quickly, earning a nod from Zenith as a response. This was no longer just a competition for Vice Captain, it had become a competition for Madison's recognition as well.
"No games; normal rules; on the count of three." Zenith replied, raising his hand and lowering it down after they began. Round one, Zenith won with paper.
"Damn," Elez groaned. "Go again." He said, lowering his hand after the count. Round two, Elez won with rock. And round three went to Elez as well, leaving Zenith to groan angrily as they raised their hands for round four.
"I won't let you win," he said, smiling and playing paper, only to look up as Elez played scissors. A wide and victorious grin covered the Angel boy's features, as he stood and let out a joyous shout of happiness.
"Take that!" He yelled, dancing happily where he stood while his wings puffed up and fluttered adorably.
"Eh, so what." Zenith grumbled. "I could beat you in a fight any day." He said, turning back towards the food that was now becoming cold atop the table.
"Seeing as you won, you can go next," Madison smiled, sitting back down in her seat and staring up at Elez hopefully.
"Go next?" He asked, confused what she was talking about.
"Your backstory, idiot." Zenith replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance before noticing that Pip had drifted off to sleep in his arms.
"Oh yeah, of course." Elez chuckled, seating himself back at the table as he began his glorious tale.
Elez was born into a small family of four, with only his younger brother to keep him company while his mother and father worked in the city. He was raised on a small, secluded island, surrounded by many other Angels and magical creatures. For many years he believed that there was nothing else out there, and that his island home was the only place he could exist, since the water that he loved so dearly would drown him with ease the moment it began weighing down his wings. But then, one fateful day, Valen and his crew docked at one of the island's many beaches.
They never searched around or found the Angel city nearby, but they did set up a camp and sing songs late into the night, eventually leading to a young fifteen year old Elez discovering their existence. Upon seeing the curious wingless crew, Elez decided to explore and investigate, only to find himself trapped on the ship as they began sailing away before he could escape. After a day or two of hiding though, he was eventually found and admired by the crew, who took him in as one of their own and raised him like any other pirate.
Five years later, Elez discovered the prison room, and for three long years, he fed and nurtured everyone inside, planning and hoping for a way to eventually set them free. Until finally, that opportunity came in the form of a Dragon and her Swordsman.
"Pretty short backstory," Zenith said. "Aren't you going to tell us about all of your pirate adventures? Why have you never gotten a bounty before?" He asked, curious as to why he was holding alot of his past back.
"There's too many to tell," Elez replied. "And you haven't even started on your backstory, why don't you hurry up and tell us about you." He argued back, only to receive a soft and hurt expression from Zenith. He didn't mind going last, but telling his story in any way always seemed to upset him.
Like many others at the table, Zenith was born to a loving and caring family, with a mother who cherished him every day of his life. She was kind and loving, full of happiness and hope for the world, as well as a profound love and knowledge for the sea. But when Zenith was only ten years old, a large group of bandits broke into his family home, murdering his mother in front of him while she valiantly sacrificed her life for his own.
Many hours later, Zenith's father returned home from his workplace, stepping inside the house with a smile, only to find Zenith asleep and covered in tears while he lay next to his mother's body. Most parents would have embraced their child and apologised for the sight that they had come to witness, but Zenith's father was not a loving parent. Upon seeing his wife's corpse, he was thrown into a fit of rage and guilt, pushing all of his anger and sorrow onto Zenith's shoulders, blaming him for her death for so long that at one point he actually began to believe it.
After only a month of living with his father's guilt, and being ridiculed and yelled at for every mistake and loss he ever made, Zenith was finally tossed out of the house and abandoned in the woods. Thankfully, he was able to take his mother's sword, holding it close while he followed his father's demands and set out on his own, learning to live and survive like a man, or die at the hands of nature.
Eleven years had passed since that fateful moment, and after travelling across seas, jumping ships and stealing food, Zenith was no stranger to the hardships of those without family. On top of his goals to become the strongest man alive, defeat the swordsman Zorin in a battle, and avenge his mother's death - Zenith also wanted to save as many lives as he possibly could, in order to protect them from a similar fate to his own.
"...Damn... I'm so sorry Zenith, I never knew." Elez muttered, but after Zenith had finished telling his story, he stood and walked away without another word, carrying Pip to bed as he hid his tears from the rest of the crew.