Waves crashed idly against the Shellshock, as Haylee steered the ship towards an approaching cove. They could no longer dock in harbours or main ship yards, especially now that Haylee had also received a bounty.
"What do we need from town?" Elez asked, walking out onto the deck with a bag of coins rattling in his satchel.
"Basics," Zenith said. "Food, booze, maybe some more bandages and stuff." He explained.
"Yeah, I'll go to town with Zenith." Haylee nodded, lowering the anchor into the water while the others nodded in agreement. "Madison needs some time alone, and Elez's wings stand out too much." She explained, walking over to Elez's side and taking away his satchel full of cash.
"Stay safe," Elez sighed, letting them go while he turned back towards the stairs.
"We won't be long," Zenith replied, leaping down onto the beach below.
"Yeah," Haylee nodded, stepping down the plank nearby before joining Zenith on the beach and disappearing off into the depths of the forest. Elez watched them leave, before looking back at Jade and Pip who were happily picking berries and placing them into a bowl for Kaylo to cook with.
Elez sighed and pulled the newspaper out of his pocket, looking down at the crumbled sheet of paper and staring sadly at the headline that they had been presented with. The Star Pirates were officially documented as deceased, but with no bodies found, and vastly increasing bounties, Elez had his doubts.
He'd grown up with pirates, they were never so easily killed. Plus, the Star Pirates Captain - Red Star Kaizo - had a bounty increase up to 75 million ever since his documented death. No way they were dead.
Elez noticed that Madison was stepping up above the deck, he raised his hand to wave and attempted to smile, but she only glanced down at the floor in sorrow. He sighed and stepped towards her, before suddenly looking up as the Shellshock rocked from the powerful waves of another ship. The sun was blocked out by the masts of a similar sized ship, while a signature black and red flag swayed gently in the wind.
"Hey!" A voice yelled, causing Elez to look up towards the sound. A boy was sitting idly atop the large wolf figure-head of the approaching ship, he wore an open-sleeveless vest with shorts and sandals atop his feet. With sandy blonde hair and piercing red eyes, he called out towards them and attempted to receive their attention.
Elez snapped open his wings and lifted up into the air, ignoring the striking pain in his side as he darted towards the ship. He hovered in front of the figure head, looking down at the blonde-haired boy.
"No way," he said, looking up at their signature red flag. "You're alive?!" He yelled, staring down at the Star Pirates' Captain in confusion. Kaizo glanced up at him with a puzzled stare, as a blue-haired boy with tinted glasses stepped over towards the Captain and knelt down at his side. They whispered something silently to him, while staring up at Elez profoundly.
"No... we're dead," Kaizo announced, causing the blue-haired boy to facepalm in annoyance.
"I can see you right in front of me!! I know you're alive!" Elez growled. "How did you survive?" He asked, landing down atop the snout of the figure head. Slowly, he looked up towards the pirates with a glare, knowing exactly who they were.
"I didn't," Kaizo lied, causing Elez to groan and roll his eyes.
"You know, you really scared our Captain," he said, looking down at them seriously. "She was broken in two when she heard of your death." He growled. "Don't you dare pretend that you're not alive."
"Who?" Kaizo asked, tilting his head to the side with a curious glance.
"Madison Nightshade, Captain of the Nightshade Pirates." He replied, opening up his wings as he prepared to fly off. "Of course you wouldn't know us. I don't even know why she was so sad about your death, you're nothing but strangers to me." He hissed.
"Hey buddy!" a voice called out from the crow's nest, causing Elez to glance up at a red skinned woman who was pointing a pistol at him with one hand, while eating a pizza slice with the other. He stared up at her in annoyance, but didn't have much mobility due to his wing still aching from before. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge a bullet, so he slowly held up his hands.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone, lower your weapons," he groaned.
"You seem pretty aggro to me," she chuckled, climbing down to approach her cremated while they all stood curiously around Elez.
"I'm annoyed because he's lying to me," Elez snapped, as a shadow cast suddenly over the Star Pirates ship. The sun was blocked out for a short moment of time, before Kaizo was tackled back onto the deck of the ship by Madison, who was laying atop his body in her dragon form and endlessly nuzzling and licking his face. From a distance though, it seemed like she was attacking him.
"Kaizo!" His crew yelled, as a blonde-haired swordsman drew his sword and began rushing towards the Dragon. Elez had already raised his fists though, flying over to Madison's side and defending her while she continued to nuzzle Kaizo. The Star Pirates backed down after they realised that she wasn't hurting him.
"Calm down, she won't hurt you." Elez sighed, watching as Kaizo laughed and accepted Madison's hugs.
"Who are you people?" The swordsman asked, lowering his weapon but keeping a close eye on both of them.
"I'm Elez. This is my Captain, Madison," he replied, gesturing to the now purring Dragon who was sprawled out atop Kaizo's body.
"Does she always do that?" The red-skinned Demon asked, peeking over to check on Kaizo once again.
"Gonna be honest, I've never seen her do that to anyone." He admitted. "She must know your Captain, which would explain her sadness over his death." Elez sighed.
"It's been too long!" Madison smiled, transforming back into her human form while she spoke, before tackling Kaizo into a tighter hug with her arms wrapped securely around his chest.
"Kaizo, do you know her?" The swordsman asked, although Elez knew him well enough from bounty posters. Zero was a well known swordsman, a skilled cook as well. The blue haired boy at his side was Altary, a water bender. And the red-skinned woman was Lezlie, a remarkable sharpshooter.
"I think so," Kaizo replied, looking up and down at Madison's body. Her eyes dropped immediately into sadness though, as she moved back and stepped away, being protected immediately by Elez who stepped in front of her.
"Maybe we should just leave," Elez sighed, picking up on the sadness in her eyes.
"Wait, I remember her! that's the baddest dragon around, she once shocked a dude so much his hair became spiky!" Kaizo laughed, causing Madison to immediately perk back up.
"You really remember?" She smiled. "We met as kids, I made a promise to come see you again… but, I got caught…" She muttered, thinking back to her darker days.
"Yeah, I remember your hair," Kaizo smiled, accepting her embrace as she smiled more and leaped forwards once again to hug him.
"I missed you so much!!" She squealed, squeezing him tight and nuzzling into his chest, while Kaizo perked up in response to an amazing aroma coming from the Shellshock nearby. By now, their ship had pulled up next to the Shellshock, and the rest of the Star Pirate crew was appearing above deck.
"What's that smell?" Kaizo asked, looking over at the similarly sized galleon that was stationed beside them.
"Oh, Kaylo is making us rice and steaks for lunch. With homemade raspberry and vanilla ice cream." Elez explained, introducing another member of their crew to the Star Pirates. Kaizo disappeared almost instantly at the mention of food, and was already inside the kitchen before the others could even process his quick movements.
Meanwhile, Kaylo was walking about inside the kitchen, singing softly and chopping up some herbs and butter to make his own version of the famous Golden rice that was known across New World. He hummed and sang happily, unaware that someone else was there.
"Smells gooooood!" Kaizo hummed, causing Kaylo to turn around and scream from his sudden presence in the kitchen. Without thinking, he tossed a knife directly at Kaizo's forehead, only to watch as he dodged it easily. The knife continued to dart through the air though, as it sliced through Altary's arm just as he was just walking in.
"W-who are you?!" Kaylo yelled, backing up into the wall behind himself and grabbing another knife from the shelf nearby. Jade heard his yells and stepped quickly into the room, immediately noticing Altary's bloody arm.
"Kaylo!! Calm down!" He gasped, holding onto Altary's arm and grabbing a cloth from nearby to help stop the bleeding. He was a doctor after all, so his first priority was helping others, not asking who they were.
"But they're intruders!" Kaylo yelled, preparing to attack if Altary tried anything to attack his crewmate.
"I just want food," Kaizo shrugged, sitting down at the table nearby.
"Well this is our food! Get off our ship!" Kaylo yelled, throwing another knife towards Kaizo's head. Of course, his throw was weak so Kaizo caught it easily, but his attention soon turned to Zero who had just walked in with a hungry look as well.
"I could make food," the swordsman announced.
"Oh hell no, I'm the only one making food here. I'm the cook. I make the best food." Kaylo argued, lifting up another knife and waving it around while he spoke. "You pretty boys can do nothing but look good."
"I can also chop you in half," Zero smirked, feeling as though he was being challenged.
"Try me, handsome~" Kaylo hummed, flipping his knife around in his hand and using his charm to confuse and distract his opponent. "But, I have no need to kill you, I could destroy you in other ways." He smirked.
"Okay," Zero said, drawing his sword and swinging it directly at him, all in a weak attempt to intimidate him. Kaylo was on guard though and easily dodged to the side, blocking his sword with the thin end of his cooking knife.
"I bet that I can cook better than you," he smiled. "All you are is a sexy boy with a fancy sword." He chuckled, batting away his blade with a simple cooking knife.
"I bet you can't!" Zero growled, pulling out his own personal knives and sparking a cooking war between the two pirate chefs. Although, most of Zero's time was wasted trying to ignore Kaylo's flirts.
In the background, Jade turned slowly back to Altary, before looking at him softly with wide, caring eyes. He removed the cloth from his arm, but kept his soft hands on the taller boy's skin while he analysed him.
"Are you alright?" He asked, checking over the small slash wound, and making sure that it wouldn't get infected in any way.
"Y-yeah," Altary mumbled, looking down at the pastel-haired boy. Slowly, Jade pulled away, before looking up at him with a wide, adorable smile.
"You're going to be just fine, but, I can heal it if you would like. I don't want you to be in any pain." He explained, allowing Altary to pick up on the boy's gentle nature.
"Um, sure, go ahead," he muttered, watching as the smaller boy placed his hands atop his arm, slowly closing the wound with his iridescent purple healing magic. After he was done, and the wound was fully healed, Jade glanced up with another adorable smile, locking eyes with the blue-haired boy in front of him.
"My name is Jade, by the way, I'm sorry about my friend." He said, his hands still lingering on Altary's arm.
"I'm Altary," He mumbled, looking down at the boy's hand.
"I hope that helped you, I'm sorry about annoying you… I can leave you alone now," Jade muttered, noticing his stare and looking down at the floor, before nodding and slowly turning away. He was never good at guessing other's emotions, so he always assumed that everyone disliked him.
"Thank you," Altary said quickly, causing Jade to look back at him confused.
"W-what? You're not mad or annoyed at me?" He mumbled, clearly shy and a little nervous. "New people don't usually like me…"
"But you're so nice," Altary smiled, causing Jade to look up at him happily, his eyes shimmering a bright crystal blue.
"Thank you, you're nice too." He said, as Kaylo looked over from inside the kitchen.
"Are you guys gonna set the table? Or are you too busy admiring each other with your eyes?" He chuckled, causing Jade to blush and weakly throw a towel at his face. Kaylo just laughed though and went back to cooking and teasing Zero.
"I'm so sorry about him…" Jade sighed, looking down and feeling embarrassed once again, blushing slightly when he glanced back up towards Altary.
"We should have a barbecue!" Kaizo cut in, speaking out before Altary could even get a word in.
"Good thing we cooked a lot of food," Kaylo smiled, walking out of the kitchen with tonnes of plates stacked in his arms. "Zero ain't bad," he chuckled, although he was actually super impressed and learnt a good few tricks from the highly skilled cook.
"Barbeque!" Madison smiled, stepping inside the room and helping Kaylo and the others set up a picnic blanket outside to eat on. The others followed and chuckled softly, laughing at mild jokes that the others made, before sitting down to eat while the remaining Star Pirates joined them atop the deck.
There was a young and adorable Dalmatian dog boy who went by the name of Olga. He was fluffy all over and covered in little star-shaped patches of fur. His natural form was very short though, but that was natural considering his species. Next to him, there sat a beautiful and delicate girl named Kauna, who was the Star Pirates' personal doctor. She had long, lime-green hair and a precious smile, but was protected closely by a short violet-haired girl named Jesabele, who protected Kuana like she was a princess, although Jesabele herself was the true Princess of a nearby native island out in the Red Circle. She had joined the Star Pirates soon after they saved her home, and Jesabele was now their personal shipwright.
Soon enough, Zenith and Haylee had returned to the ship, both carrying bags of food and booze, while Pip was standing idly atop Zenith's shoulder. They ignored the Star Pirates ship, seeing as there was no commotion coming from the hidden cove, but as soon as they stepped up on the deck, Pip jumped down from Zenith's shoulder and rushed in front of Olga. He stared up at him in confusion, before raising his paw and slapping him multiple times on the nose like an angry cat. The action knocked Olga's hot dog out of his hand, before it fell and hit the floor. The puppy boy looked down at his ruined meal, before he growled and transformed into his large angry dog form.
"Pip!!" Zenith gasped. "Why did you do that!?" He yelled, pulling the frightened fox cub away from the growling doggo.
"He smells funny." Pip whined, shaking in fear at the sight of Olga's new form.
"You hurt my hot dog!" Olga growled, trying to leap forwards but being held back by Zero.
"You have a funny smell on you!! It's not a good smell. Bad! Bad smell! Not good." Pip cried, cuddling up in his father's arms in order to hide from Olga.
"You're a meanie," Olga pouted, transforming back and sitting down to wait for more food.
"Calm down idiot. He's only a kid," Zenith growled, drawing his sword and pointing it towards Olga. "And don't you dare call him mean, I will put you down."
"Calm down, Zenith, he's only a kid." Elez smirked, passing Olga another hot dog.
"I'm going to kill you," Zenith growled.
"Not if I do it first," Zero said.
"Wanna go man?" He growled, turning his blade towards Zero.
"Hey!" Madison pouted. "Stop fighting and eat with us." She said, making grabby hands towards Pip who ran over and hugged her tight. The Nightshade Pirates lowered their guards and sat down to eat, passing out the booze while Pip kept pouting towards Olga.
"Well you don't see that often," Kaizo mumbled, looking out in the far off distance. The entire group followed his eyes and looked out at the distance as well. Upon the horizon, there was a huge Dragon falling limply from the sky above, with a body almost bigger than a galleon, they crashed down into the sea below.