Most of Tim's friends were curious of Kou's past as they waited patiently, while Tim started to slip down the table from starvation. He seemed extremely tired and sad about not having any proper meat for his teeth.
"Can we continue this tomorrow? I'm sleepy. The hunger is killing me..."
It didn't take long for Karisa, Codey and Tomomi to whack the top of his head and gave him three smaller bumps on the top.
"Just wait and listen. You'll sleep soon."
"... Kill me..."
~ Behind their table, Kou and his family sat. They were each telling one other about their experiences and times, piqueing each other's curiosity. As he listened to their story and looked over the photos they took on their voyage, Kou was the most ecstatic.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing! Have you seen all of this incredible stuff? I wish I could have joined you! I feel like I've missed out on a lot of enjoyment."
"You certainly did, but don't be bothered. There'll always be another opportunity. So, how about you? We'd like to know about your experiences during our two-year absence. I'm an inquisitive mommy."
Kou nodded, lifted his arms, and enthusiastically began to recount all the wonderful things he did while visiting grandfather, which went on for a couple of hours, but even after so many minutes, the parents were still able to enjoy his stories, until an unexpected alarm went off.
Kou and his family dashed to the open window, peering out to observe the people return to their homes as a guy issued a warning to the remainder.
"Please return to your homes and lock your doors if you are outside! The pirates are on their way! Repeat!"
People began to abandon their goods and barrels of water, abandoning their yards, grabbing their children or pets, and swiftly locking themselves inside their homes. A group of silhouettes may be seen in the distance. They took the form of easily identifiable clothing and body shapes. The pirates had assembled a whole army and were preparing to attack the town of Hatly.
"Please return to your homes and lock your doors if you are outside! The pirates are on their way! Repeat!"
Kou and his family were in shock. They were gathered together in the living room with his father looking through the windows, seeing the massive metal jaw of the Jawjack's face shining in the thunderstorm. They were laughing and raising their weapons.
"It's the Jawjack Pirates! We're being invaded!"
"W-What? Why today of all these days?! I wanted to have some happy time with my family!"
Kara, Kou's sister, stayed in the back with her mother, gripping her legs as she gulped and felt fear creeping closer to their homes. Jawjack and his pirates continued to yell and compel people to feed and water them.
"You "innocent" Golden Wasakona residents! We've made the decision to raid your town! We'll massacre each of you and your family if you don't throw your goods, food, and water! Hurry up, my crew is fatigued after the long trek!"
People who remained outside attempted to flee, but the majority of them were shot and killed on the spot by the pirates' weapons. Everyone was trembling, scared about their children, and the men were mainly able to maintain their bravery, with some even attempting to fight back with their tools but were slain on the spot.
The Jawjack army continued to raid the town. People's houses were being broken down with Jawjack searching for a very "rich" family with enough food, water and some treasures that they managed to gain through their time living in the Golden Wasakona.
"Keep quiet, everyone..."
Despite Kou's father warning them to stay quiet, he was quickly spotted by Jawjack whose smile widened upon noticing an entire feast inside their home. He licked his metal jaw and laughed out loud. Without any hesitation, he opened its massive jaws and shocked Kou's family. He bit through the walls and ripped them apart and quickly caused mother and Kara to fall back onto the floor, with Kou who stepped back.
"Look what we have here. An entire feast that could really benefit our voyage. It doesn't matter if it's been eaten a little. It should work just fine for my men."
"P-Please, excuse us. You can take the food and our rich, but please leave my family alone."
"Leave your family alone in return to gain some food? Now why should I do that? I don't feel safe around people who saw me raid their home. It's not safe. I prefer not to have to deal with the world government."
Jawjack quickly grabbed a gun on his belt and pointed it at Kou's father, laughing as the father sweated with fear, terror and stress.
"Hurry up you little dogs. Grab the food and pack it inside the bag. I promise I won't hurt you if you obey."
"Do you?"
"Of course. I don't break my promises. Now get a move on, before I rip you apart in my shining jaws."
Kou's father threw his left arm behind his back and motioned for his family to hurriedly pack the food into the bag. Jawjack stood there watching them scurry as they began stuffing food into their bags, where Kara dropped one of the pieces of meat.
Jawjack was rapidly upset, and he encouraged him to pull the trigger, shooting a bullet straight into their father's back, causing him to scream in pain.
"DAD!!!"
Both of the children ran toward him and tried to support him. Nevertheless, their father only held his wound, asking them to continue packing the food.
"What was that for you big old fart?! You said you wouldn't shoot anybody if we packed the food!"
Jawjack's gaze soon shifted to Kou, who, despite sweating from the stress, had exhibited some bravery toward him.
"Kou! Stop! Just do as I told you!"
"No way! This old guy can't keep a promise! He shot you, even if we were packing the food!"
"Did I ever give you permission to drop the food on the ground? With that awful dirt on it, how will my men eat now? If you're not cautious, we'll shoot your poor little mommy as well. It's possible that I'll shoot you."
"Leave my children out of this! You can do whatever you want to me, but keep your ugly fat hands off my children!"
Jawjack pointed the gun towards his mother with a sick grin and pulled the trigger without hesitation. The bullet whizzed through the air and slammed into their mother's head. The blood from her wound squirted out and splashed on the ground in front of their children. She sank slowly to the floor, her blood pooling around her. As they felt the horror, Kou and Kara's eyes began to shake. They started crying and crawled towards their mother.
It was enough to upset their father, who snatched up a knife and charged at them. "You bastard! That was my wife!"
Both of the siblings heard another gunfire as their father assaulted, and when they looked around, they saw another tragedy. Their father lay still on the floor, his lifeless body encased in his own blood.
"FATHER!"
Kou's gazes flitted back and forth, taking in both his mother and father. Kara was terrified in the corner, and she couldn't stop crying.
"Y-You pirate! I'm gonna kill you!"
Kou's wrath overpowered him and he lost control as he grabbed a fork and ran full speed toward Jawjack, who pulled the trigger, causing Kou's eyes to tremble. He saw his little sister die right in front of his eyes the following second. She died the same way the rest of his family did.
"KARA!!!"
Kou's emotions were entirely destroyed, and he was on the verge of breaking down. He dropped to the floor, his despair and panic causing him to fall to his knees. His eyes were trembling as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His entire family was slain one by one, while his scream reverberated across the village.
It forced him to start cutting his own palm to relieve the pain, which astounded Jawjack, who was watching him suffer.
"Damn it! Why?! Why?! I don't deserve this! I don't! Mom! Dad! Kara! Please, say something! You're still alive, r-right?! Please I beg of you to say something! Anything!"
He felt the pain in his palm as he bled due to the knife. It forced him to turn around and rage into Jawjack's eyes.
"HOW COULD YOU?!"
"You're a monster! That was my family! Don't you know how long I wanted to talk to them?! It's been two years since I saw them! And this is what happens?!"
"I don't want to live! Please, kill me! Do it! I don't want to live!"
However, despite Kou's begging, Jawjack just laughed and dropped his gun. Putting it inside his pocket as he just laughed.
"I think I won't! I like to see children's tears splashing inside their parent's blood! It's so memorial that it's too amusing! All right, everyone! Let's retreat, we've gathered enough source of food!"
As they carried the bags of food and barrels of water, the Jawjack's pirates began to flee, with each individual slain on the spot and lying in their own blood.
"I SAID KILL ME! I BEG YOU!"
But the terror he experienced was enough to force him into a comma.
-
-
-
After an hour had elapsed since the raid, a woman stepped into the middle of the bodies, still breathing Kou. She crouched and gently scooped him into her arms, then walked away in quiet, leaving no one else alive.
"We were too late..." ~
Tim and his pals listened, Karisa's lips covered with both of her palms, and Natan, despite his solemn expression, appeared to be terrified.
"Kou was the only person I was able to save. He was fortunate to have survived, and I took him into the Golden Wasakona's kingdom later, where we cared for him as best we could. Soon after he recovered consciousness, we became buddies."
"H-How terrible... H-He had to experience such dread? I-I am speechless..."
"Y-Yeah, and that's the reason of why he hates the pirates."
"Jawjack... That bastard!"
Tim smashed his fists into the table as he expressed proper fury. He was sweating and still shivering after hearing something so terrorizing.
"Y-You know Jawjack?"
"Mhm! We certainly do! Jawjack conquered Pelwick Island, where Karisa was born. Despite the fact that he invaded them later, he compelled people to pay for their housing, food, and water. That's also the island where I was cursed to never be able to swim again. I'm pleased that Ayuka has finally reduced that pirate to ashes! He's the type of person I can't stand!"
"Y-You mean to tell me, that Jawjack was finally put to rest by you?!"
"That's right. That Jawjack pirate was a total loser and criminal. We've gotten through so many people, but we never came across someone as cruel as him!"
"I-I can't believe it! I am so grateful for what you did!"
"That's true, but we didn't know about it either. So I guess we had no choice but to get rid of them because of what he was doing."
As they talked to one another, Kou's eyes. shook as he sat sweating beneath the window, listening to them.
Tim quickly straightened his pose and grabbed the top of his hood and quickly showed an intimidating face.
"I will never forgive a cruel person such as Jawjack and Byron. Their way of treating people is unforgiveable. That's why, no matter what happens, I promise that I'll kick Byron's ass. I'll do it, even if it kills me!"
The journey continues...