As they came into view of their first island, it seemed to be rather smaller than Evergreed Island, but there was still a heavy presence of people even though it was less populated than "Evergreed Island.". There was a dock and a bridge leading into the forest with a rocky hill behind it.
When the people in their towns saw Tim's crew on board the ship as their flag waved in the distance, they locked themselves inside their homes while the guards surrounded the docks and pointed their weapons at them.
"Another bunch of pirates, this has been getting out of hand! Men prepare to surround our enemy!"
The crowd waited for our heroes' ship to arrive closer to the docks, while Tim leaned against the fence, mouth full of meat. "Hey, what's going on?" He continued biting into the meat as if nothing had happened. "Are we being attacked?"
The ship stopped and the anchor had fallen, alarming the people on the island even more.
"Looks like we came to Pelwick Island..."
"Pirates, drop your weapons now!"
Tim leaned over the ship's fence to grab hold of the scarf and threw it into the trash can after throwing the bone of the meat into it. "Ahoy, mateys! We have come to rob you. Give us everything!"
Tim's irritating lie prompted Ayuka to raise her arm and hit him on the head hard enough to knock him to the ground. "Stop being dumb to lie! They're already scared so don't make it more difficult, you fool!"
In response, Ayuka raised her arm and expressed their true intentions, while the guarding army looked at them suspiciously with weapons drawn and ready to use.
"Please accept our apology for our captain's deception! We are not here to harm you nor are we pirates. Having just been transported here from "The Vast Expanse," we have been trying to locate the "Outer-Sea Barrier" as that is the only way home. We are also well aware of the "Black Storm" and that's another of our priorities that must be eradicated! Although we have a flag, it isn't a pirate flag. This is only so that the ship can be moved as the winds are quite strong here. We are here only to gather some food."
"We've been tricked several times and every pirate left us without food and money. Even after the arrival of the Jawjack's Army we've been under their control. Therefore, there is no way we will allow another crew of pirates to land on this island! Retreat now or we'll fire!"
"We're telling the truth! Please believe us! We're not here to harm you in any way. We just want to gather some food from the forest as I believe there's got to be a decent source of it on this island!"
Prior to the commands being spoken, an elder stepped into the middle and raised his arm, aiming it directly at Ayuka. A long white beard adorned his stick and he wore a red uniform and a barrel on his back.
"Drop the weapons, there is no need to be afraid of them."
"But Elder Rai, you can't be serious! They are pirates." One of the men standing amidst the army explained, "We cannot afford to lose more than we already had." They all appeared to have listened intently to the elder's explanation.
"The crew is not a pirate band; they are a small group of individuals without any weapons, so you do not need to worry. We would like to welcome you to our town; you may leave your ship there, we promise nobody will damage it."
Tim and his crew quickly smiled and agreed before stepping onto "Pelwick Island" for their next journey.
As our heroes had been led through the town by the Elder Rai, they listened to what he was saying. He was talking about people becoming more confident in standing outside, yet still fearless.
Tim's mouth was opened wide while he had been looking at the food served at the food stalls and the smells coming from the people's homes.
"Elder Rai, earlier you mentioned the name 'Jawjack'. We're not familiar with him."
His goal was to determine why the people of this island were afraid of a pirate.
"Jawjack is a cruel pirate who settled on this island with his crew called the "Jawjack Army". The crew steals our fortune and imposes a harsh rule on the island. If we do not work for him under his orders or pay our bills to stay at our homes, we will be annihilated. Several of our people have already died because of him. We were even forced to build that tower because it is his residence, and no one is allowed to visit unless they are executed or enslaved. While we tried to fight, it was hopeless...Jawjack's jaws were like metal and could bite into our homes like nothing, so unless we paid and worked for him we could only watch our people die or our homes get destroyed, torn apart, and devoured like demons..."
"I knew that pirates were terrible people but never expected them to be so awful. For civilians to even resist their cruelty is beyond comprehension. Elder Rai, we are well aware that we're just a bunch of visitors to the island but if there's any way we could help, we'll do it."
"We're grateful for your kind words and willingness to help, but you can't really do much. You may have a ship, but without weapons there's nothing you can do to help us, unless you have some mysterious powers like the pirates.."
Tim rekindled a threatening orange flame in front of his chest as it waved menacingly. A puddle of dirt reflected his serious gaze. "Will this make a difference?" Elder Rai became astounded by the sudden occurrence and finally came to a conclusion.
"Are you by chance the "Spiritual Duellists" that came from the Spiritual Realm? I can't believe for people like you to even sail across these oceans!"
"We aren't really from the "Spiritual Realm", we've each been born on the earth and I'm known as the "Substitute Duelist" that received his powers from a warrior known as Giovanni. He suddenly appeared on Planet Earth while one of my close friends was chased down by a blood-searching demon... Back then I was a mere doll that couldn't even control his own powers and had to be controlled by the blade itself..."
While mentioning the past there was a sudden realization that shone throughout his mind and he immediately looked into his palm where the flame kept wriggling left and right in the wind. "Why do I... remember this...?"
"Tim don't you think that's a bit strange that you remember that now? It's so sudden that there's no answer to why you remembered..." explained Codey who had been insecure about the reasons filling Tim's mindset.
"Ah, it's probably nothing! Hey, geezer do you mind if we get some food? I have been hungry and I cannot enter into battle without energy, please!" Tim had been shouting excitedly, pumped with excitement and curiosity, when he was grabbed by the head and spoke quietly.
"Stop talking only about food!" With aggression, she threw Tim's body forward as he crashed into the fountain soaking the floor as his legs dangled out of the water.
"You would really assist us in getting rid of the Jawjack's Army? That would be most wonderful if it were possible."
"Of course, you can call us pirates if you like, but we're a virtuous kind of pirate and strong enough to defeat the Demon God!" Elliott laughed, spinning his pen between his three fingers with a laughable expression.
"That would be very gracious of you, please be our guests and help us defeat the Jawjack's pirates." but then a girl ran out into the street and breathed out the breath of fatigue, whose medium-length brown and blonde hair and blue eyes sparkled in front of everyone.
"Elder Raid, it's an emergency! A mother has come to the Scarlet Bar asking for a scouting team because her children have gone missing! We urgently need your assistance and orders!"
"Another person was reported missing? I can't believe what I'm hearing but I understand. I urge you to alert the scouting team as soon as possible and search for them immediately!"
"We can't! Our Scouting teams have already been deployed into the woods searching for a missing grandmother and are still looking for her! We can't call them or request their assistance, so I am here as soon as possible for a hint on what to do."
"If all the scouting teams have been released into the wild, then we'll have to find somebody else to help."
Yet in return for their gratitude and willingness to help Nina raised her arm and uttered the least expected words. "We can quickly look for the child, we've been out on many scouting missions, so we already know how to hunt somebody."
Tim leapt from the water and hurriedly stepped behind the girl who appeared to be a messenger. Both of them exchanged glances with each other at that moment, and Tim froze on the spot. They stared at each other in confusion, but neither could understand why. His memory could not erase something familiar about the girl's face.
"Is there something on my face...?"
The girl pondered, silently and uncomfortably.
To be continued...