——KATZE'S POV——
The small kid, Katze, went to explore Katzlenian again. The island is okay, though the small kid loves more action a little bit of relaxation after saving a couple islands from mean pirates and corrupt governments is ideal as well. She went to the park again in hopes of finding the Green Eyed Lady and The Weird Haired one, but she didn't find them at their usual spot. Katze frowns as she couldn't find the two fancy people anywhere. She hoped to see them once more in the park because the Green eyed lady, or the Queen, promised Katze to get her sweets whenever she wanted and she coincidentally wanted sweets right now. Maybe Führung knows where the two cats are. He's fancy, he must know all fancy people because they wear the same type of clothing. Or maybe it's just her childish thinking once more.
The small kitten's ears perked up when she caught a swift of a familiar scent. It's the scent of the fancy people! She started to follow the scent of the Green eyed lady and her butler. It took her a while to get to where the two most likely are, especially because she kept getting distracted easily by anything that caught her eye. But she stopped her trekking when she sees a castle in the distance. She saw guards guarding the front gate also causing her ears to go down because of the sight. "They're in the castle, but there's guards… how will I visit them?" She mumbles as the raven jumps in a bush to try and find an opening to sneak in.
"Papa once said, if you're gonna break in somewhere, at least not get caught!" The kitten whispers to herself the very bad advice her papa gave her. She sneaks around in the bushes and managed to see a bunch of bricks that were slightly out, and so she used those to climb up the wall and jump inside a window. "Man, this building is kind of old…" Even so, she smiled proudly at herself since she always put her pride in her ability to sneak around and infiltrate anything with ease. Of course, she has to thank her cat heritage for that. She continues wandering around while avoiding getting caught by those armored men, the adrenaline getting to her, making her feel that rush she always loved while going out on adventures. She was right about meeting those two fancy people, her instincts in finding adventures is always right after all.
After a bit more exploring, she found herself in a very pretty garden and gets very distracted by a pretty flower. She doesn't often seem this childish and silly in public, since she's too tense and always have her guard up to be like this. In the world of piracy, it'll be hard on those who let themselves get distracted by a flower and be childish, especially for children. She learned that the hard way when her papa got himself hurt because of her own naivety, But she will allow herself just this once to be distracted by a flower.
The whole thing was covered up again by an unreadable front when she heard whispering somewhere. She dives in a bush and sneaks a bit closer to the source of the whispering, going to the corners of the garden. "It's weird haired lady…" The kitten whispered to herself as her ears perked up in excitement. There's also a cloaked girl who's talking to the butler in the shadows but Katze doesn't take notice of her. Maybe the butler could lead Katze to the brown haired lady so she could get her sweets and maybe just maybe… Katze seeks this warm feeling towards the green eyed lady yet again.
"Hi!" Katze cheerfully greets her from behind, which clearly causes the suited girl to jump back in shock and reach into her sleeves. A weapon, Katze's eyes narrowed as she prepared to fight back. She never expected the weird haired lady to be this type of person, nor have any weapons up her sleeves literally, but she could never judge a person based off their covers, one lesson that Ruhig taught her.
But then the suit girl stopped and sighs in relief, before whisper yelling—- "Katze?! What the hell are you doing here?!" The cloaked person who was talking to weird haired lady, clearly raised an eyebrow at me. I just simply replied with "I want sweets!" Which caused them both to give me a dumbfounded look. "Then… ask your papa…?" The butler said in disbelief. She took a few moments to herself before her eyes widen and she pulls Katze away into a hidden and dark place. This caused Katze to almost go into fight mode and fought back, again, the weird hair lady immediately shows that she has no intention to fight her again and instead just puts her hands on Katze's shoulder which grounded Katze, unbeknownst to the butler. "Are you fucking crazy kid?! You don't just break in something that has guards guarding it for sweets! There's guards there for a reason! Please tell me no one saw you…!"
It's obvious that the butler is overthinking again. Even a child could tell. "Calm down Meri" The other girl finally speaks for the first time this whole conversation and pulls down her hood down, revealing her face. She has long dirty blonde and curly hair, blue eyes, tan skin, generally beautiful features and if Katze is correct… She has the marks of a civilian. "I doubt if she did get followed by a guard, that we'd still be standing here and having this conversation." The cloak girl smirks at the suit girl in which the weird haired lady. "You're taking this way too un-seriously… everything will all fall apart if she-"
"Alright, alright~ no matter how cute your panicked ramblings get, let's stay calm now. I don't hear any footsteps or sense any other presence near, it's fine~" she cuts off the butler mid ramble, said butler gets her cheeks slightly flushed. Seems like she's not used to compliments. "Cute?" The suit girl raised an eyebrow which caused the cloak girl to realize what she said. "N- nothing~ hehe…" the Blondie herself blushes but the multi-colored hair girl ignored it "anyways… we have to get you out of here! Not only you, but we'll be in serious trouble if someone spots you!" The butler scolds the pirate
"But I want my sweets first…." Katze frowns and her ears go down. "…why don't we sneak her some sweets first?" The blonde girl took pity on her it seems. "Damn Amy and her weakness for cute things…." The butler cursed under her breath. She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "fine. Stay here okay!" The one in the suit grumbles as she walks away to go get sweets for Katze. Because she works here, she will be able to move freely. Now Katze is stuck with the blonde girl.
"So… what's your name little one?" Said blonde girl tried to make small talk with the kid. Straining her neck while looking down so she could talk to her properly. "Katze Navarra of the Crimson Pirates." The pirate said which seems to have caused a negative reaction from the blonde. Katze hums, "I keep forgetting that pirates aren't that normalize here." The small kid thought to herself. "I- I see…" Blondie stutters and seems nervous now. "Don't be scared, as long as you're no threat, I won't be of any danger to you." Blue eyes doesn't seem to be any less nervous "That doesn't make me any less nervous kid…" blue eyes chuckled, unknowingly just confirming Katze's thoughts. "Sorry." The kid looks down, clearly upset, which made the blonde hair coo in adoration. "I- I mean… it's not like I'm THAT scared…. I guess I could use a little bit of… pirate-y company? I guess?" Blondie laughs awkwardly.
Katze perks up, clearly a bit less down. "What's your relationship with the weird haired lady?" Curly hair looks at Katze weirdly, clearly confused. "OH!" A look of recognition settles on the beauts face. "Y- you mean… Meri?" She asks as she tries to hold back her laughter, letting out small 'pfft' or huffs of breaths from time to time. "Yeah… sure her." Katze just nods along, hoping that they're thinking of the same exact person. Katze has never been one to remember names, always just calling them by their physical characteristics, personality, or whatever Katze remembers them by. "Why'd you ask?" The blonde finally leans forward while putting her hands on her knees to support her so her neck won't get strained. She looks amused? "Just a question. I don't know… I'm curious. That's all." The Blondie hold at the answer. "Well… we're colleagues I guess? No… We're friends!" Blue eyes grins brightly at the friends part. "I see." The kitten said as a simple response.
Both of them goes quiet. Awkward silence envelopes the two. "Well… you're the captain's kid… right?" Katze nods. Another moment of silence…
The same awkward situation continues on…
——MERI'S POV——
"I completely blame Amy's weakness to adorable things..." The butler who went out to go get sweets for the pirate kid says to herself. Said butler is taking swift and big steps towards her designated destination, the kitchen, as she curses out her blonde colleague for her current situation. Of course, her anger for Amy will soon dissipate into nothingness for Meri could never stay mad at Amy for too long.
The butler took a sharp turn but immediately stops at the figure in front of her. The king… King Gegner Auberon. Also widely known as "The Savior of Katzlenian"
Meri's very body turns cold, which is greatly covered by a mask of indifference and then she bows down with practiced eased. "My king." She says, trying to keep her voice void of any emotions she might be feeling at this very moment. "Ah Meri. No need to bow, rise, you've been working with us for so long already, it is quite alright." Meri stands up straight as the king told her to. She stares at the sweet smile the king gives her as she analyzes his features again. The tallest in the kingdom, ridiculously yellow blonde hair which is parted in the middle, with layers that frame his face softly. The length is kept short and neat but yet it gives him a natural and tousled look with a pair of cat ears that sat on the top of his head. He also has black eyes, and is wearing a grey three piece suit with a dark navy red cape.
"Where must you be going in such a hurry hm?" The king steps a bit closer and towers over her as Meri's mind is going a mile an hour to make up a reasonable and believable lie. "Well… I was on my way to the kitchen… because. I was hungry." Meri has been working with them long enough for Meri to be able to go get food despite the time not being her break yet. Meri is sure they'll let it slide once. She has been a diligent and hard working butler for the family for 6 years after all. Not as long as most veterans, but Adhelina and Gegner still appreciates her.
"I see~ don't worry, I'll let it slide for now. Enjoy." The king started walking pass her which caused Meri to sigh quietly in relief. But then the king stops. "Y'know Meri~ I've been suspecting there to be a traitor in the castle." Any sort of relief left Meri's body, the butler's face turning pale and she froze like a statue. The king puts a hand on Meri's shoulder and leans close, whispering in the butler's cat ears. "You wouldn't happen to be seeing any suspicious individuals around. Would you?"
The pregnant silence engulfs them, only further causing Meri's blood to run cold. "No, I have not my King." Meri says confidently. The king hums before leaning back and taking his hands off the half-blind butler. "I see." Was the only words he said before he left the girl with a rapidly beating heart and cold sweat running down her face. She has no idea whether the King is satisfied with the answer or not. But she brushes it off to continue heading back to the kitchen.
——KATZE'S POV——
"Please come back weird haired lady." Katze thought in her mind as another awkward moment of silence engulfs the two. "So... You know how to fight kid?" The small raven haired kid perked up a the question. Finally... Something that Katze is actually interested in. "Mhm. Pa thought me how to fight after I got my scar." Katze points to the burn scar on the left side of her face. "Oh... How'd ya get it?" Blondie asks, looking at the kid with slight empathy. "Oh. Got captured by an attacking group of pirates. I bit the enemy captain so he threw hot water at me. I asked my dad to train me after that." Katze said half a lie and half a truth. It was kind of the reason as to why she begged her papa to train her, but also not the full reason. "I see... So you know how to work around a dagger yeah?" Katze tilts her head at the question.
But before the two could continue the conservation, the weird haired lady came back with a slice of cake. "Yay!" Katze cheered before getting shushed by said butler. "Yay...." Katze still cheered but more quietly. Butler girl gives me the sweet she kindly brought me. "Now leave kid. I need to discuss something with Amy... It's important adult things!"
Katze pouts, but she knows her 'warm' welcoming has been overdue. "Okay. Thanks for the cake missy." Weird hair just nods and Katze walked away at that.
But after sneaking around and wandering for a while, she realized that she has no way out of this heavily guarded place. She doesn't even remember how she got in.... Frau would surely scold her for such a rookie mistake.
She someone found herself in a bedroom? The moon gazing upon Katze from the window. "...I'm so in trouble..." Katze pouts and jumps in shock when the door open. "I'M SO IN TROUBLE." She screamed in her head but calmed down when she sees who it is.
It's the weird haired lady! They both stared at each other in silence. "Why the fu- ...Why! are you still here?!" The weird haired lady started, yelling her words after she closed the door with a loud bang.
Luck really is on Katze's side tonight. Maybe not the butler's but still.
——MERI'S POV——
Meri sighs as she started walking back to her room. "Ugh.. That kid gave me so much trouble today." Meri isn't standing up straight nor is she even trying to act formal anymore. She sighs in relief as she saw the door to her room in the distance, her walking speeding up.
She opens the door to her room, ready to just crash on her bed and immediately fall asleep, preparing herself for a deserved and long awaited rest even with this stuffy and hot suit she has on. Her feeling of relief disappeared when she sees the pirate kid in her room. Is this a coincidence or on purpose? She would never know.
"Why the fu- " Meri cuts herself off as she realized that she almost cursed in front of a child. Though she probably grew up with bad words because of always being around with pirates. "...Why! are you still here?!" Meri yelled after she closed the door.
"I didn't know how to get out!" The pirate kid smiles proudly. "Ugh... You...! ..."
The butler groans out loud. "Why is she looking so proud...?" She sighs internally, but she has made up her mind "...I'm getting you out of here." Meri said with a tired and annoyed tone of voice. The faster the kid is out of her way, the faster she could rest.
She proceeds to swiftly pick up the kid and jumped out of her window. It's clear that the kid is still processing, so Meri slowed down a bit so she could properly process what was happening. By the time the kid memorized, they were back at the garden she first saw the kid and out of the castle.
"We need to hurry up I don't wanna be outside when it hits 10 if I were someone like you." Katze tilts her head, showing expressions of being confused. "Don't worry about it kid, just don't be out when it hits 10 PM." Katze nods, not pressing further probably because she knows that she'll only get vagued answers from the butler. "Tell me where your ship is docked, I'll get you home." Katze lets out a series of 'Uhh' while she looked around trying to see if she recognized where they currently are.
Katze eventually recognizes the place and points to the direction the second dock of the island. Meri nods and starts to run in the direction, she knew by heart. Soon, she sees a big ship in the docks at the distance so she ran faster to close the distance and finally puts Katze down. If she remembers properly, Katze's adoptive dad is waiting in front of the boat with a worried look on his face which immediately dissipates and got replaced with a reliefed look as he spotted Katze. "Katze! Where have you been? You told me you'd be back before nightfall."
"Sorry, Pa..." Katze looks down, feeling bad for making her Pa worry. "Did I hear Katze is back?" An unfamiliar voice comes from the Crimson's Pirates impressive ship. It's an adults woman's voice. "Katze is back? Oh I was so worried..." Another voice came from the ship, yet this one is more soft and quiet, sounding shy and a bit more airy.
Three people came down from the ship. Either jumping down from the decks or going down like a regular person. One of the pirates that jumped down is the owner of the first voice. A lady who looks to be about 5'11. The girl has long messy black hair, almost like Katze's but a bit more neat because it looks like it's combed more and is tied is a high ponytail, with some of her hair let down as well as her bangs which falls softly on her face, framing her face. The woman is wearing light navy blue overalls with a white crop top under it, two belts, one white with a small bag attached to the belt and her thigh, the other are two overlapping ones with a checkered design with the colors yellow and red. She's also wearing black shorts which reaches her knees, and brown boots. She also has a red cap with a silver flowered attached to the hat, a red and green bandanna attached to her elbows, and white gloves. Her skin is tanned from being in the sun for too long, her teeth are shark like and white, and her eyes are the color red with her pupils are a Crosshair Gun Sight Vector Icon in the color of yellow. Meri is kind of intimidated...
The other one is a much shorter gal, The owner of the second, much softer voice. She's much more shorter than any adult Meri has ever seen. She seems to be around 4'8 with tanner skin than the previous lad and white fluffy short hair which frames her head with one big strand of ahoge, her overgrown bangs falls on her face, covering most of her face which is mostly her eyes, but it doesn't cover the green scales under her eyes. She also had green claw like hands that looks as sharp as Meri's daggers. That is not the short girl's most prominent feature though, the most noticeable characteristic on her is a giant green lizard tail that starts just above of her backside. She's wearing a red scarf and a long sleeved black shirt that looks like it got ripped on the bottom which made it look like it's more like a crop top. She's also wearing a black belt and dark blue pants that almost looks like black, which is tucked in her dark brown boots. Meri thinks that she looks sweet...? Her claws look corncerning though.
The other, and last person who came down is someone who hasn't spoke yet. Also a short girl but is slightly taller than the white haired girl. She looks to be around 5'3. This girl has paler skin than the others with tired black eyes and generally beautiful features. She has black hair with red features, her hair tied in a side ponytail with a red bow. She's wearing a diamond necklace, an off white doctors coat with the back being more dirtier. She's wearing a red crop top, and light navy blue jean shorts with a black belt. She has a black strap on her right thigh, and black boots with white laces.
"Who's this?" The taller lady asks Abelard. "Oh, she's Me-" The red haired gets cut off by his own child, who said. "She's Weird Haired Lady!" Quite confidently. "What….?" Meri looks at the raven kid weirdly. "Bahahahaha! Sorry about that." The one with shark teeth laughs. "Katze tends to forget names of the ones she isn't close to yet, always deeming it a waste of time." The red eyed lady reaches a hand out for Meri to shake. "I'm Schütze, nice ta meet ya! I'm the sharpshooter here" Schütze smiles brightly at the butler, the shark teeth doesn't seem as intimidating now. Maybe the fact that she could just blow Meri's brains out is though. "I'm Meri." Meri gives a smile of her own and shakes Schütze's hand firmly. "Nice name." The sharpshooter gave a small comment.
"Thank you for bringing Katze home." A much more softer soft said, Meri looks down, craning her neck an uncomfortable degree just to see the white haired lady with the giant ass tail. "I'm Frau. The helmsman." Meri raises an eyebrow. "Her? The helmsman? She looks so weak though… doesn't seem to be the type of person to know how to sail a ship." Meri shakes her head, it's not good to judge them based of their looks. "So… you're a half and half?" Frau nods, confirming Meri's observation and reaches a hand for Meri to shake as well, which Meri accepts. The small girl's grip is surprisingly strong. The butler winces at the strong grip and Frau pulls back. "O- oh… I'm sorry Meri… I didn't mean for my grip to be that strong…" Meri waves it off, it's not like she injured Meri anyways.
"What's a half and half?" Meri asked, unfamiliar with the term. Another voice from above them, at the deck spoke up once more "A half and half is a term to what people call half humans and half animal. Just like your and Miss Meri here, who are half cat and half human, or Katzens, and me who is half lizard and half human, or Lizarians." Meri looks up and sees a man sitting on the railings, looking down on them. Since when has he been sitting there?
He jumps down gracefully. He's slender and pretty tall… probably around 6'7. The man has long and messy dirty blonde hair, tied in a ponytail messily, with his bangs let down. He's quite pale causing his eye bags to become noticeable, but Katze is somehow paler. He has a red monocle on his left eye, he's also wearing a three piece suit, a white turtle neck and a black long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up underneath that dark navy blue vest. He also has a black belt, perfect white dress pants, and fancy looking black shoes. He also has a pair of white gloves and a red flower attached to his neck. One of his most noticeable features is his long and pointy ears and eyes. Completely white with the man's pupils being yellow. His pupils are interesting too, a sixteen sided star…? "Nice to meet you. I am Führung, the Navigator and, as my captain call it, the only academically smart one. Or main intelligence unit." The man reached out his gloved hands to shake Meri's hand. She also accepts the handshake, the man gives her one firm handshake and retreats his hand, both of his arms folding behind his back.
"Man… how could this guy be a pirate? He looks like he could be the king's noble right hand man…" Führung chuckled which made Meri realized that she said that out loud. "Please do not be mistaken, I am an elf, a long life spanned species with advance knowledge and technology, if you do not know of my species. And it doesn't help that I am of noble family, so my taste in clothing, manners, and speech are more refined than most. But I am a pirate at heart." He puts one hand on his heart and bows his head slightly. "Yep! If this man wasn't in our crew, we'd surely get lost! Or… well… get arrested in some island." The captain finally speaks up again, patting the elf's back harshly, the elf doesn't complain though.
Meri looks at the current group of pirates that's gathered here at the docks. She never thought that pirates could be this nice and well mannered. From the stories here at Katzlenian, pirates are evil, mean ruffians who are out for riches and would destroy and kill anything in their path. Meeting the Crimson Pirates who are apparently one of the most feared group in the seas, gives the butler a different perspective. Then again, she did hear that the Crimson Pirates are one of the few nicer groups. Other than the Captain, Abelard who doesn't seem to be special, he seems to be the type to get himself in massive trouble with that carefree and careless attitude of his. From past observations yesterday, the man seems to be an alcoholic if she heard that Ruhig guy properly. Meri wonders why these types of people follow the red hair.
"Would you like to stay for dinner? Our cook is about to finish cooking." Frau said, her voice filled with hope. "No it's really okay-" Meri gets cut off by the elf. "Now now, wouldn't it be rude to decline a nice invitation for dinner? We insist truly, since you've brought back our trouble maker of a kid." He smiles gently, that smile doesn't seem to be looking for any negotiations or disagreement. Meri knows she can't escape now… "I suppose I could stay for dinner…?"
The group of pirates cheered and they helped Meri climb the ladder up the ship.
There are… less people on the ship than Meri expected. "Our other crew mates tend tools to stay and explore the island we dock on, so you would see less people around. It's only natural for a pirate to wanna stay on solid land after a while out at sea no?" Schütze said. That's understandable… Meri keeps to herself as they lead her to the mess hall. The ship is really big actually, the crew must have a lot of crew mates.
Somehow. Meri found herself eating dinner with the pirates. She never would have expected herself to be eating out with them. Drinks are getting thrown around, laughter echoes in the room and stories told. It's nice. The warm atmosphere is definitely better than the atmosphere in the castle. Since all of the people in the castle are of noble markings like Meri, they are expected to always be proper and not chatter while eating. The king would probably hate how these pirates eat. Especially Abelard. Already drunk out of his mind, doing ridiculous things just to make his crew laugh. That Ruhig guy, or the second in command and Abelard's first mate, beside him, keeping an eye on his captain.
"Our captain's really rowdy huh?" Schütze said, looking at her captain speak loudly with food flying everywhere. "Yeah…" Meri agrees, looking around the table, seeing the others like Führung, Frau, and that one with the doctors coat that haven't introduced herself to Meri yet, eating more calmly. "Why do you guys follow him? From what I've seen, he doesn't seem at all like a leader." Meri asks the sharpshooter, causing the taller to laugh.
"You have no idea how many times we've been asked that." Schütze looks at Meri and back at her captain. "Despite being all rowdy and carefree, he's still a captain for a reason. You may not see it in him for now, but he's got great leadership skills. He's fine way more than I could ever imagine to keep up all safe. He's hella strong and has the stubbornness of a mule." Schütze chuckles as she seems to remember different memories with her captain. "But~ He knows when to get serious when the time comes, and… he saved us all at some point. We're all different. Different homeland, multiple different species, different backstories. And he just managed to show us the light in our darkest moments. Showing us the world of piracy and giving us the freedom we've always wanted. If it weren't for him actually… many of us would be dead by now" Schütze has a solemn expression as she finished talking.
"Sorry." Meri apologizes for causing Schütze to remember bad memories. "It's fine. It's all in the past. Most of the people here are outcasts or people who yearn for freedom. Abelard's charm is what convinced most of us though. He has a certain personality that just attracts people to him"
Meri raises an eyebrow and looks at Abelard "I don't see it." The butler truly can't see any charm the red hair may give off. "Well… it is there though. I guess you just wouldn't be able to see it first." Schütze smiles sheepishly and proceeds to go back to eating, talking and with her comrades, pulling Meri right in a conversation when she saw a chance in order for her to not feel left out. Meri could get used to this, that is if Meri continues eating with them, which she won't. She shouldn't get herself involved with pirates, especially ones so influential like the Crimson Pirates.
She excused herself after she finished eating and stopped in front of Katze before she left. "Katze." She nodded in greeting. "Weird Haired Lady?" She gave her a confused look, a piece of meat still in her mouth. "I will be going now. Instead of trespassing in the castle grounds, it would do good if you instead just requested for my presence and I shall see your requests myself." Meri gave her an advice instead of a warning. She doubts she could convince a pirate from doing something, she heard they were a free spirit of course. "Hm? Okay!" She chirped, being obedient for once. Meri nods once more in satisfaction and left the ship with no plans of coming back once more.