Somewhere in the Middle Wasakona, Golden Palace ruled by Byron 'The Cruel' Artemis...
Byron sat in the dimly lit room with a single window in front of him, surrounded by two others, a lady and a man, the woman dragging out a poster of Tim and his bounty.
"Lord Byron. There has been a bunch of intruders who have associated themselves with the Sand Shark Surfers after crossing paths with your sister, Princess Ireene. Our only scout who still follows the rules saw them fleeing from today's sandstorm, and he was able to get some information that will be useful to both our service and our adversaries, who will most likely plan on assassinating this year's king, who happens to be you."
"Oh, really? A bunch of pirates, assisting random people who attacked them? What a strange figure. How many of them is there?"
"There are fourteen persons in total, including the five Sand Shark Surfers, Princess Ireene, and a peculiar boy, two of whom have a bounty on their heads? The Shadow Rider Natan, with a bounty of $75,000,000, while the crew's "captain" has a bounty of $45,000,000. There could be more folks, including ones we haven't been able to find, but there have been no indicators of any additional characters involving the organization at this time."
"Who'd have guessed that the "famous" Shadow Rider would drive himself out and form an alliance with some weird characters? I presume they're after my reward, which makes sense. I don't think I'll have much spare time today or tomorrow."
"What are our options for dealing with them? They don't appear to be opposing any kind of danger at the present, but that will undoubtedly change soon."
"Leave them alone, but keep an eye out for Marienne and alert her about the invaders. I don't want to get my hands filthy with blood, so I'll delegate the decision to my sidekicks. That also applies to you, Joseph."
Biting into the bread and swiftly crushing it in his teeth, a man clothed in brown clothes with a brown cloak linked to his back and a brown hat worn on top of his head with a route around his neck and a little sword held inside of his belt's scabbard looked from the wall.
"You're not worried about some low lives, are you Lord Byron?"
"I'm not. The Shadow Rider, on the other hand, may be able to counter the greatest threat to humanity. He didn't get such a large reward for nothing. In his 20 years on earth, he's killed hundreds of pirates and their captains. That said, he isn't to be trifled with, and his bounty isn't just for show, so keep an eye on him and tell the scout to return to the castle."
"Whatever you say boss."
"I'm Lord Byron to you, Joseph. We don't go over this again."
Joseph knelt behind his back, his torso bowing, and he smiled lightheartedly. "Please accept my apologies, Lord Byron."
"Good. Now, go find Marienne. It's possible that we'll need her help."
"I see your point. Lord Byron, I salute you."
Joseph rose up and waved his cape as he said his final words and agreed to Byron's request, then walked out of the room, leaving only Byron's secretary and himself in the room.
"I should probably leave as well, Lord Byron."
"Do as you please. I need to think over."
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The sandstorm had been slowly making its way through the Town of Hatly, while Tim and his allies continued to remain inside the house to receive some rest as well as sleep through the evening that finally reached its way to the top of the sky.
They were forced to sleep in filthy rooms, with some of them still awake in the morning, planning their attack on Byron and his kingdom. Karisa sat next to Ayuka's resting body, looking at her with a sorrowful expression on her face and a furious stare at her own palm.
"I'm so sorry, Ayuka. I could've protected you if I'd been stronger, but in the end, I was caught immobile, locked solid in the stance, only to see you get hurt. I can't express my regrets properly, but I genuinely wish there was more I could have done to assist. I'll make sure to thank you properly with all my honor once you recover consciousness and your fever has passed. If this happens, I'll do everything I can to protect you. I won't be as frail as I was."
~ "All right! We did it! We won!"
Karisa cheered while Ayuka smiled, who soon understood that the battle wasn't done. Instead, she swung her left arm and quickly whirled around. But before she could succeed, a series of spikes pierced her through the front of her body, forcing her lips to spit blood and shaking her eyes.
Karisa was taken aback as she saw her good friend collapsing onto the floor while getting punctured by multiple spikes and stopped on the spot, swiftly noticing how Ayuka's body lay on the floor, and then saw Naeve standing up with heavy breathing.
"No, way... Ayuka!" ~
"All I did was stand there and watch, unable to come up with a solution quickly enough, or even attempt to intervene and save you. If you can't forgive me, I understand, but even if you can't, I'll still protect you with my life if this happens again. Thank you for your help, Ayuka; now please relax..."
Karisa softly let go of Ayuka's hand and rose to her feet, then chuckled discreetly through the door, her face flushed with embarrassment.
In the meantime, while Karisa exited Ayuka's room, she passed through the room in which Tim, Ireene, Codey, Ellie, Kou, Walmo, Tisch, Elliott and Tomomi sat in silence, while Tim had proper boredom visible on his face with his jaw slapped against the table's edge.
"I'm starving... I wish Ayuka had the foresight to prepare some food. After all, I might die..."
As he frantically complained out loud, Codey instantly stared into Tim's face with a popping vein. "Will you be able to think about something other than food? It's getting a little old!"
"But, it is true... I feel like haven't eaten in days. All of the walking and sprinting through the desert in the heat had worn me out. My tummy is rumbling already..."
"We didn't have any food to begin with, so there's no way we'll be able to eat today!"
Tubby continued to walk around the room, a pleased smile visible in his beak, until collapsing silently on the floor, exhausted and hungry. He was weak and slept on the floor, his breath, spinning out of his beak.
"I'm so sorry, Tubby. I really wish I could give you some fresh water and food, but I really can't give you anything..."
Ireene carefully placed Tubby into her arms and sat down next to Walmo, who remained silent and seemed surprised to accept assistance from Tim and his pals. Tubby's eyes were whirling, and he continued to wobble left and right as he breathed out the breath of hunger.
"Oh, Tubby..."
Walmo dug into his pockets and pulled out a bag containing some form of seed that was widely used as animal fodder.
"Let him eat this."
"What's that...?"
"It's the food that allows the Shore Sharks to keep traveling at such a high rate. I kept some for Rano, but it turned out he didn't need it, so Tubby can eat it if you like."
Ireene was astounded when she saw Tubby leap upon his fluffy butt and raise its wings, bleating with joy and delight.
"Oh, thank you very much. Tubby, try this."
Tubby immediately began slurping the seeds down his beak as Ireene placed some in her palm for him to try. It seems to have satisfied his hunger and made him happy.
"Is it good?"
Tubby hopped on his bottom and began to wave his wings up and down until falling asleep gently and sweetly against Ireene's chest. It enraged Elliott, who jumped from behind the table and glared at Tubby with a jealous look on his face.
"That penguin! How dare you do such a bad thing?! You little pervert!"
Except for Tim, who slowly began to slip under the table, everyone gazed at him with unamused expressions and grasped their brows, while some crossed their arms. "I'm going to die..."
"I don't understand how sharks would eat seeds? Aren't they like obsessed with meat?"
"Shore Sharks, on the other hand, are primarily vegetarian animals. They largely ate sea grass and algae while submerged, with just a small amount of meat. That's why they're easier to tame, because these sharks prefer not to consume flesh, so there's typically no need to be nervous when feeding them. They have strong fangs, although they are otherwise identical to other fish. A Shore Shark could easily consume enough sea grass to keep them moving for a week if they ate only a small amount. They are awe-inspiring creatures, and we learned a lot about them in a short period of time."
"That's kind of neat... So I could have one as a pet in my home!"
"Not exactly... They usually feed on sand, that's their most common food source. So, unless you had some sand at home, then they wouldn't survive or obligate to what you'd ask of them."
"You've gotta be kidding me, right? That's basically magical!"
Kou walked in with his arms in his pockets and swiftly drew everyone's attention, exhibiting displeasure and a lack of trust in his expression.
"That's enough. I have a question for you. Especially pirates such as yourselves."
"Huh?"
"I'm not sure who you are or where you come from. But, Ireene, how can you trust these strangers when you've only met them once? They're basically a bunch of pirates, and the most of them are jerks. After they "promised" to help the people of Golden Wasakona, why would you put so much faith in them? Do you have any recollection of the raid a year ago? The day when so many people were on the verge of dying? It was raided by pirates like these, and watch what happened: devastation and destruction! How can you put your faith in "THEM"? Do you have no interest in the past, Ireene?"
"The past?" Tim wondered, along with the rest.
"Kou! You shouldn't be concerned about them. Don't you see what I'm talking about? They stated that they will help us! They're risking their life for the benefit of our own citizens. We can't possibly "NOT" trust them! Yes, pirates are cruel, but not all pirates are like them! You can see how big of a difference they made in my life. They're attempting to rescue their crew member's life, and even after that, they've continued to aid me in my efforts to keep the Sand Shark Surfers at bay."
"So, what's the deal? They're probably simply pretending to be heroes, and the instant one of their crew members is rescued, they'll most likely turn on us! How can we trust them when they say they'll help? How do we know they'll be able to save our homeland? You can't possibly put your trust in them! Even for strong pirates like them, it's impossible."
"Kou! Don't be such a foolish child! Please, listen to me..."
"The only good pirate I'd ever seen was my grandfather. He was a true pirate hero, with only one goal in mind: to protect! Every other pirate is a psychopath who is just interested in gold and riches. My family was slaughtered as a result of them! I'm not going to put my trust in them!"
"I know, Kou. For once, try to put some faith into them..."
"I'm sorry, but I can't. If you want to entrust them, then be my guest. As for me, I'm leaving. Since you're so busy dealing with these pirates, I'll deal with bringing the water."
"Kou! Stop! You don't need to bring the water! We've already decided that we're not going to do it. Besides, it's dark! These people will ultimately put an end to the kingdom! You'll become disoriented in the dark, and you never know what will happen. Why are you so desperate for that water?"
"Why do you inquire? As a second choice. If they fail to overcome Byron, I'm going to go get some water in case something bad happens. It's not like I have faith in them."
"Wait! Kou-"
However, Kou had already covered some territory and had moved away from the place they were in, which piqued Tim's interest.
"He's at it again... He's always this way..."
"Hey, Ireene... What happened in the past? We'd appreciate it if you could let us know..." Tim only managed to bite into one of the slices of bread that Tisch had offered him.
"I guess I'll tell you. It's not like it makes a difference... Everything happened five years ago, here in Hatly..."