I was finally able to meet the rest of the crew. His name was Choka and he was Mona's older brother, the second oldest in the crew after Sekai and he was followed by Arnold, then came Mona, Neo, and finally was Tsame who was 23.
I bet Tsame would hate hearing their age. That being said if Choka had any more fat in his body he would look just like Sekai. He was very tall and his entire body was covered by muscles. He did not look like somebody who talked a lot, he just nodded when I was introduced.
He and his sister had black curly hair that peaked just below their chins. The front part of his hair covered his eyes and you could hear from his breathing that he had one hell of a voice, that and his adam's apple was enormous. He was the second person on this ship who looked at me with neither fear nor contempt.
There was food on the table and the size of it made me miss home, I sat down to eat and my only thoughts were; 'I am going to starve here.'
"You got a problem with the food." I lifted my head and was met with Mona's eyes piercing down on me.
"Well aren't you in the talking mood?"
"You don't like my voice?" She grabbed a chair and sat down all the while keeping a distasteful look on her face.
'Did I do something wrong?' I thought to myself as I went back to eating my meal.
Arnold came in a bit later and took me out to see the world that they lived in. I think he was hoping that I would change my mind and consider joining them. I however was considering ways in which I could run away with Betty.
Mona and Neo joined us, and through conversation with Arnold, I learned that Mona was their navigator, pilot, and spear lady. Neo was their ship's medic and she did everything in her power to keep everyone healthy and alive. She was also one of the earliest Stowaway.
Another thing I have learned is that they were called the Stowaways because back when it was only Arnold and Choka they used to sneak aboard other people's ships, all the way from marine ships to the other pirates' ships. On one of their ship sneaks they picked up Sekai and singlehandedly started a tradition of ship sweeping before every flight.
We picked up a bunch of junk, some weapons, and food before making our way back to the main ship. I was not impressed by anything I saw while out, the moon looked like a place that would forever be shrouded in darkness. The creatures living here alien and human alike were indistinguishable from one another because of how dirty everything was.
The farms that we saw were elevated from the ground because the soil used on them was imported from the planet Polodoll. This meant that something as simple as vegetables cost a literal limb here. It was a first for me to see a world existing purely without any livestock roaming around. A literal hellhole, someone from Emporos the planet where the imperial family resides would probably think that this place was made up until they saw it for themselves.
Everyone was wearing scraps and most were skinny. While absent in my thoughts I bumped into a grey child and they fell. Neo rushed towards us and Mona followed her.
"I am sorry sir, please don't kill me I will watch where I am heading next time. I would let you take my arms, but it's all I have left." He said as he gathered bread that had fallen off of his hands.
I spared only one glance at the little boy and I had seen everything, he was missing a leg and was walking with crutches. He was clothed in rags but it was still better than seeing the others I saw a while ago who had nothing. I also noticed that a watch formerly in my possession laid beneath one of his legs. A sight that was not new at all but was instead an addition to the literal dozens already in Grim's memories.
Grim used that watch to time his accelerations perfectly, especially when in a fight. Although I think it's cool I also think that the kid needed it more than I did since I was in tune with my speed. I turned around and continued walking.
Neo knelt to help the kid and Mona tried to get her to continue walking. Arnold did not look back even for a second. I walked at a normal pace and still caught up to him.
When we got back to the ship I noticed for the first time that it was not only the brightest thing around but it was also the biggest. The guys were camped outside and there was a huge line going towards it.
"It's a soup kitchen," Arnold said. "We can't help everybody with everything but we can at least take one worry off their plate. Sometimes we even give them clothes, and when we have some time to spare we help build shelters."
"Am I supposed to be touched?"
"Even you are not that cold-hearted. Surely you don't want to see more people suffer like this?" He continued talking without looking back.
"Is that why you want to take down the empire? Because of a few hungry people on the moon?"
"Hungry, cold, and illiterate. You should hear how the empire talks about them, they say that they are lazy and savages who eat one another. Once they get successful they turn on their own, they say a lot more things worse than what I have said. But it's not about the people on the moon. They are just a small number of all those being robbed of their chance at a better life by the empire."
"I am not a hero."
"I never said you were one."
"I can't be the hero."
"I am not planning on making you one. You are a monster and I need you to stay like that for a little while longer, your strength is a beacon of hope."
"You would take help from a monster?"
"I am more worried about becoming the monster myself." I heard his voice die down and he swallowed a few words.
We finally made it to the ship and there was another one next to it. It was almost as big but it had an official-looking logo on it. I quickly recognized it as the "Turbulence" guild logo. They are a company that specializes in trading just about anything for the right price.
A broker from there used to always assist Teddy and Sizana, it was back when they were both thieves. I think the first time they met the broker names, Goldtooth was around the time Teddy did his first assassination about 10 years ago.
"TEDDY!" Goldtooth screamed as he cut through the crowd. "I haven't seen you in like... 2 years." He hugged me. Goldtooth was a short man about Tsame's height, he walked with a limp and wore a new suit every time he was on duty. Despite the name, Goldtooth did not have any gold teeth at least not in his mouth anyway. Goldtooth had a collection of golden teeth he pulled out of peoples mouths and dipped in pure gold. I think one of mine was also sleeping somewhere in his mountain of golden teeth.
'2 years? I thought he was arrested 4 years ago because I remember meeting Tsame a year after and I promised her that I will help her find Teddy if she joined my crew.' Arnold thought to himself as he watched me and Goldtooth reminisce over the past. 'Now that I think about it, his name didn't start becoming popular until he butchered one of the noble families overseeing planet Kadison which was around the same time as his arrest. I don't think I can trust but I still need him.'
I saw him leering at us from a distance, any passer-by could tell that he was listening in to our conversation. Going over all the details that had just been dropped I would be doubtful too.