In the basement of the ship where Crystal and Tobi were hiding, there were several empty boxes stacked on top of one another.
Tobi who was asleep had finally woken up, He had passed out immediately Crystal hit him on his neck and was put into one of the boxes that had the label 'Loaded' this reduced the chance of being caught and sent back to the island.
As Tobi woke up, the sight he saw terrified him. He realizes that he's on one of the voyagers' ships, hidden away from the rest of the crew and he was not sure if he is on the same ship as Crystal or he's not.
In a state of panic due to overthinking, he tries to scream for help...
"Sh"
"Calm down Tobi"
Tobi's mouth is covered by Crystal. Tobi is a bit relieved that Crystal is on the same boat he is on but he realizes again, that Crystal did in fact, go with her plan to follow the voyagers, and the thought of being far away from home made Tobi sad. He was prepared for anything to happen but he had a bit of anxiety that trickled from the top of his head to the sole of his feet.
He was scared.
Crystal understands the situation that's happening to Tobi and tries to explain to him what exactly is going on.
"Look, I know you're afraid about what I've just done but, trust me"
"Why are you even doing this ?" Tobi asks Crystal
"Don't worry about it, we're just going on a little adventure" Crystal winks at him
"Instead let's check out this place "
Crystal says
She brushes off the question because Tobi is going to ask her more questions and distracts Tobi by asking him to check out the cargo boxes and the stuff that is inside.
As the two searched the boxes they found a lot of goodies, foodstuffs, writing materials, simple machines, and many others.
As Crystal goes through a certain box that had the label ' !ammunition! '
It was a war cargo, package with several battle guns. Crystal didn't realize it but she was completely immersed with gears.
Tobi notices that Crystal had been starting at the battle guns for a while and he goes over to where Crystal is sitting to see what has grabbed her attention.
"~ So cool!" Tobi said with his eyebrows moved up.
"shhh! Stop shouting!" Crystal snapped back.
"Sorry" Tobi apologises
Crystal was immersed in the pieces of equipment not because of how cool it was but because she fell into a distorted world.
Everything was hazy, she couldn't see anything or feel anything but she could hear. The longer she gazed at the ammunition the louder she heard a voice.
'Fight! Fight! Fight!'
Was all she heard, she was not sure what it meant but she knew it had something to do with the battle guns that were in the boxes.
Thankfully, Tobi snapped her out of it by being sarcastic.
"~so cool"
But Crystal told him to quiet down.
Tobi doesn't find fighting intriguing at all nor anything that involves being physically aggressive but he's more in tune with the mind, heart, and body of people.
Crystal knows this very much and is the main reason that she treats Tobi differently from any other male person she's ever met.
"Hey... Sister, when are we going to eat I'm hungry"
"Big bear... Let's head out first, and don't, make any noise"
"Yes, but Sis where are we going to get food?"
"Don't worry about that, I've got everything
Then the time came for Crystal to figure out how she and Tobi were going to survive for the next three months on the sea.
Unfortunately, luck seems to be far from their decisions.
The two teens tiptoed out of the ship's basement and found themselves at the corner of the second floor of the ship.
"...Crystal" Tobi whispers
"Crystal..." Tobi whispers again
"Crystal-"
"What is it?!" Crystal responds already irritated
"Uhmm where are we going to?"
"Just follow me and stop asking me annoying questions"
Crystal keeps tiptoeing and she eventually finds the kitchen, she peeps through the keyhole to see if there is anybody in there, Tobi was right beside her as well.
"Crystal, is anyone in there?"
Crystal remembered that she told Tobi to keep quiet but just as she was about to hit him on the head, she quickly kept quiet.. the door handle had suddenly moved and a huge man stormed out of the kitchen walking into Crystal and Tobi!
BAM! BUMP!
"Huh? Who are you?!" The man said gruffly
"uh...we... We're... uhmm...."
Crystal stutters unable to speak,
"past...Tobi... Tobi?" she turned to see if Tobi was behind her but boy was she wrong. Tobi had saved his own life by running back to the basement.
"Damn, that boy!" Crystal says to herself
But just as Tobi was about to save himself by running the huge man takes a punch at Crystal!
Tobi turns around and yells,
"Crystal watch out!" Tobi shouts out.
Narrowly, Crystal dodges the punch by squatting fast and simultaneously hitting the man's leg with her left leg, causing him to trip and fall.
THUD!
"Phew that was a close one... Now where is that little boy!"
Unknown to Crystal, the people from the other room heard the noise and came out of the kitchen quickly to see what was going on.
To their surprise! they saw a fifteen-year girl trying to escape and their mate on the floor who had for some reason passed out.
When they looked at the scene properly they saw a fourteen-year-old black kid trying to also escape.
"Hey! What did ya just do here!" The first man speaks
"Bernard! What happened!" Another man shouts as he hits his mate on the floor to wake him up.
The three men that were out of the kitchen were shocked to see their beloved mate and the floor, they looked up and quickly realise that Crystal and Tobi were already escaping.
"Hey! Come back here!" One of the men shouts at them.
The three men run after Crystal and Tobi, running around in the ship was frustrating for the two, especially when they were not used to being directly on top of the sea especially for Tobi,
The three men were closing in on the two and were about to seize them when Crystal grabs Tobi by the hand and throws him in a corner to protect him but they were too late. The men had already caught them.
"Crystal we're going to die!" Tobi mutters in fear.
"Shut up! We're not going to die... If I came here, I'm going to where I want to go and no one's stopping me" Crystal says as she stands her ground giving the three men a stare-down.
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"I can't give up now... Not now... Not ever.."
The three men had Crystal and Tobi in a corner ready to apprehend them and report them as 'pirates' but they were stopped before they could take any action by another crew member.
"Hey hey hey fellas, what's going on?-"
"Huh? Young lady? What are you doing here-"
The crew member who came was the captain's assistant, Alfstrat.
"Lord Alfstrat! Ah, thank goodness, I was just searching for you!" Crystal speaks up in relief. She wioes drips of sweat and sighs in relief.
"Captain, do you know this brat?" One of the men asked.
"Yeah... I do... But the young lady who's the boy behind you?" Abstract smiled weakly
"I'm her brother!" Tobi quickly responds by grabbing Crystal's signal; her signal to get Alfstrat's attention.
"Oh? But you look nothing alike" Alfstrat says as he looks back and forth between the two teens.
The two friends were dumbfounded.
"Hahaha but don't worry, you can join our crew if that's what you want to see me for young lady" Alfstrat affirms the two teens.
"But I want to see you privately, young lady"
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"Young lady..."
"I'm afraid you can't stay on this ship"
Crystal was not surprised nor was she discouraged at what Alfstrat said instead she smiled at Alfstrat and tells him her plan.
"I'm not following you Lord Alfstrat, I'm going to the city of Tokishiki"
Alfstrat was shaken! he wondered how someone who lives on an isolated Island could know about such a prominent place.
"How do you know Tokishiki?"
"haha, I heard about it from the people here, could you tell me about this city?"
Alfstrat explains the city to Crystal,
"Tokishiki is not like your Island young lady, it's a dangerous city where war crimes have been going on for 3 years now and many people don't live in the urban parts of the city anymore, the concentrated part of the city is the capital is 'Ikgrail'."
"They have trains, computers, phones, and many other technological advancements it's not like your Island so it will difficult for you to settle in."
"Is there a war currently going on?" Crystal asks
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"No reason,"
"So, you've got three months to figure out a way for you and your brother to live in Tokishiki"
"How are you going to do that young lady?"
Crystal pauses to think but she doesn't have a clue of what she's going to do to survive, so she asks Alfstrat.
"I don't know... Do you know what I can do to settle down with Tobi ?" Crystal asks.
Alfstrat takes some time to think before bringing Crystal and Tobi to his office, where he shows them what "they need to know"