Serious: The Clockwork Pirates Chapter 4: The Eastern Line Trading Company

Molly

Molly could see that Kyren was nervous. And he had a right to be, she realized with a pang of guilt. That was exactly what she wanted to talk to him about.

Once she had decided that they were sufficiently out of hearing range of the rest of the crew, even the other ones who were on the main deck, Molly reached out and placed a hand on Kyren's shoulder. Her grip was tight enough to get his attention, but not nearly enough to hurt him.

"This is far enough."

Molly let go of him and backed up against the side of the ship and leaned against it. She folded her arms in front of her, her serious expression still showing. She was a bit nervous herself. She had never done this before, but Victor had told her that she should. She had argued, saying that she never needed to do it before so she didn't need to do it now, but he convinced her that it would be the best way of joining the crew. That had caught Molly completely off guard. She hadn't even mentioned joining the Clockwork Pirates and Victor had never made a decision like that on his own before. Her older brother was turning into a bundle of surprises as of late.

"I guess...I don't know where to start," Molly said. She sighed. "Fine, I'll just get it over with. I wanted to apologize to you for how I've been acting. I've just been so worried about my brother that I never considered anyone else's feelings. I realize now that you were just trying to help my brother and I out when you fought that man in our place and we hadn't even agreed to join your crew." She paused, mentally going back over what she had just said. It sounded good enough to her and the truth was, she meant every word of it. "The thing is, my brother and I would like to join your crew," Molly continued. "And assuming I haven't ruined everything with my attitude, we would like to make it official from this point forward."

Victor

Victor came into the galley just in time to watch Molly and Kyren walking out. So she had followed his advice. Good. With a little bit of luck, Molly might be able to cobble together an apology that would put them back in Kyren's good graces. Victor had a lot of faith in his sister and he believed that she would usually make the best decisions for the two of them. However, when it came to the art of saying, "I'm sorry for being an idiot, please don't hate me for the rest of my life" Molly was still a novice.

Victor came over to the table and sat down next to the place where he had seen his sister sitting. He was sitting on the opposite side of her seat from Uta, where he could avoid getting close enough to touch people.

"It does not matter what you make for me," Victor said to Mina with turning his head. "It all looks good."

Victor returned to silence and tugged his hood down a bit further. As he waited for his food, he recalled his decision to join the Clockwork pirates. His reasons for doing so were quite simple: They were a good influence. Most of the pirate crews he had encountered during his life on Water 7 had been composed of punks with oversized egos. They all seemed intensely focused upon getting the One Piece and it never seemed to occur to them that they were going to have to fight tooth and nail against pirates far superior in number and experience than them if they wanted a shot at getting it. Everyone was looking out for his or her best interests. Then there was the Clockwork pirates. They were a friendly group with a captain who was willing to protect his fellows with his own life. Victor was sure that they might just be able to change Molly for the better.

Listening to what Molly had to say and feeling her tight grip on his shoulder he looked into her eyes and hoped she wasn't going to hit him. When she began speaking and let it all spill out he felt relieved that there wasn't a punch coming his way and breathed out lightly.

He began nodding and replied, "Ok Molly...I'm sorry about taking you with us straight away before letting you make your own mind up. That was selfish of me and I know it was, I'm also very sorry for saving you and Victor, but I did it because I didn't want to let you get injured, as a doctor I hate seeing people get injured. Especially people I know and since you were kind enough to help me, I wanted to make sure you were safe. As for joining my crew I would love to have both of you aboard....but only as long as its what you really want." Kyren looked at Molly and could see she had calmed down he felt more comfortable now that she wasn't as angry anymore then continued.

"If you and Victor do want to join the Clockwork pirates then I have one question to ask the two of you. what are your goals in life?"
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Sitting at his desk the smartly dressed man smiled at Serina then reached for his transponder snail and called his Mafia members in the town.
"Angelo, its me Carrius, I want you to be on the search for some new slaves. Let the others know I want them to be on the look out for some new slaves too."

"Right boss, will do." Angelo hung up and placed his glasses on then sprouted his wings forth and took off into the sky and began to circle the town looking out for anyone who might be worthy of becoming a slave. As he observed the people below he swooped down and grabbed hold of a young pretty woman and lifted her into the sky.

The woman screamed in fright and dropped her belongings to the ground as she was lifted high into the air and flown away from the town to a darker part of the island. Angelo began to lower himself as he held the woman's arms. Reaching the ground Angelo pulled the woman's arms behind her back then pushed her forwards to the men of the Eastern Line Trading Company.

"Of course I'm still here. I serve you and you alone, Carrius. No one holds a torch to you; not even those traders."

At first it would seem that Serina was sitting in what seemed to be a small pool. Her arms were sprawled out on one end which made her breasts protrude out of the water. The black and white striped shirt did not cover her chest up much, mostly because she could not button the top buttons. On the other end of the small pool was her dark purple and blue mermaid tail which rested on the edge and folded itself once every few seconds. On her face was a pair of sunglasses and a fedora; both of which she never seemed to take off. By the side of the pool was a rather long looking gun.

On closer inspection the pool was not a pool. It was a water-filled tube in the floor that, if you looked at the building's plan, was connected to almost every major room in the mansion plus several tubes leading to the sea outside. Serina did not take to walking much so out of laziness she had the tube system installed in the mansion. She was, after all, Carrius' office guard so she pretty much had the rights to do what she wished with the building.

"Looking for some new slaves? There don't seem to be many that please you, eh? Personally I think you should be looking for more fishmen to work for you. I can personally vouch for their strength and usefulness. In fact they could have had my water network finished in a quarter of the time it took for your men to do it... Well then again we already have Robert and he's a fishman... I wonder where he is now...?"

"Say, Cassius" Serina said pointing at the coat rack by the tube, "Could you have me my jacket? It's right over there."

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(Back on the Time Goes)

Uta just watched as Molly saw Kyren and the two of them walked out of the galley. Wanting to change the subject, Uta returned to the others in the room.

"Come now, Victor. Sit next to me. It's easier to get food from where your sister sat compared to where you are. I hope she wont mind. And you will want to be closer to the food. Mina here is an excellent cook.

So Trake, you said St. Columbus's a moment ago, correct? I don't mean to offend you but you seem a bit young. How old are you, exactly?"

Wolfgang brushed himself off as he began to stand, offering his mermaid crewmember a half-grin. "Nah, I'm sure it's fine. Little bit of pain is good for the body, helps me remembe- GAH!" Wolfgang yelped as he touched the bruise that had now grown into a lump onto his forehead. "Nevermind my yelps of pain or any uh, other yelps I may have..." Wolfgang needed an exit strategy from this conversation, stat, for it was getting quite awkward. "Well, I think I left my stove on, nice seeing you Delphi!" He quickly dashed off to a safer position on the ship where he wouldn't be able to humiliate himself.

OOC: Short, bad, horrible post because I have to head out for X-Mas family stuff soon.

Hexi smiled at Delphi when she saluted him and let him continue singing , he was glad that people enjoyed his music. When Hexi finished with his song he walked up to where Woldgang and Delphi were, apparently they were having a conversation. But then Wolfgang rushed off to somwhere, so Hexi stayed with Delphi.

"Hi Delphi, did you enjoy my music?" -Hexi asked her smiling.

Hexi's wings flapped on their own... he wandered if he could ever fly. That was something that he had to discover with time.

Mina winked to Victor, ruffling Uta's hair affectionately. "Sure, my darling boys. Uta's right, I can prepare the most delectable delights on the sea. But I'd say that you'd like one of my delicious omelettes."
Within moments, there was a huge, steaming cheese and vegetable omelette in front of Victor. "Bon appetit."

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Delphi had only just turned her head to bid Kyren a good morning when suddenly Wolfgang hastily concluded their conversation and walked away.
She felt rather sad, a sinking feeling in her chest. Had she said or done something to drive him away?
"Probably the same thing you did to drive Annachie away you pathetic, dull, half-fish freak...who on earth would want to hang around with a girl like you anyway?" a nasty little voice in the back of her head hissed scathingly.

She looked up when Hexi approached her, managing to smile. "I love your music, Hexi. You really are very skilled," she complimented the winged musician. "How long have you been learning to play and sing like that?"

Molly

"Yes, of course we want to join," Molly said with a smirk. "That's what I've just been telling you. As for goals..." Molly cocked her head on one side. "...I guess...I haven't put a whole lot of thought into that before. I mean, sure, I want to help my brother when and where I can, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you're talking about." She fell silent and closed her eyes, thinking to herself. Then her eyes opened and she smiled slightly. "Okay, how about this: I'm going to build the best ship in the world." Molly frowned. "No, that's not good enough. And it sounds lame." She turned and leaned once more against the side of the ship, but this time she had her elbows on top of it. "Let's see...I'm a shipwright so I should probably have something to do with ships...I've got it. I'm still going to build a ship, but it's not only going to be the best ship in the world of its time." She glanced back at Kyren and flashed him a grin. "I'm going to build the best ship this world has ever seen and will ever see. I'm going to build a ship that can never be destroyed, no matter how much people try. The ship I will build will make the Oro Jackson look like a bath toy. It'll be so expensive that not even One Piece itself would be equal its price. Like that would ever happen..." Molly shrugged. "As for Victor, I dunno. You'd have to ask him that. He and I don't talk all that much about dreams."

Victor

Victor didn't reply to Uta's comment and he stayed right where he was. It was all empty words as far as he was concerned. Except for the part about Mina's food being delicious. If it tasted half as good as it smelled, Victor would be in his equivalent of a rapture. In other words he would raise his eyebrows and keep on eating and not waste verbal compliments over something that was proven by the simple fact that he was still eating it. Which was exactly what he did, after he had taken the first bite.

Hexi blushed at Delphi's comment... wow, he couldnt remember for how long he had been practicing. Lets see, he was twenty-one and he played the guitar since he had memory! he couldnt really remember when he started, but at the same time he learnt about the weather, so he had studied both for a very long time. Singing... he had done all his life, not specially liked it but it produced happiness to everyone. Singing was something he liked to do when he was happy, and well he was more-a-less a happy-go-lucky person, so he sang frequently, although not the best of his skills.

"Oh well, I've practiced the guitar and sang almost all my life, since I was a baby..." -Hexi could notice that something was wrong with Delphi, she looked kind of sad. Hexi didnt know her history, but he knew something was wrong. -"Is there something wrong, Delphi?"

Hexi was worried for her, he didnt really know what could be wrong, and he didnt know much about feelings and everything, but he hoped that he could help her at least in talking about how she felt.

Kyren nodded to Molly as she tried to figure out her goal and he smiled, he was happy to hear they both wanted to join his crew and even happier to hear her settle on a goal.

"Ok Molly well I will be incredibly grateful to have you and your brother aboard my crew, I'm certain you will be great new crew mates and again I'm sorry for being so selfish. Thank you for sharing your goal with me I will make sure I can help you achieve it, and I'll ask Victor what it is he wishes to achieve, I hope I can help him with his goal too." Kyren then saw Hexi and Delphi talking and felt he should speak with Hexi more about joining the crew.

His meeting hadn't been much of one and he had chosen to tag along for now but after hearing his song he must admit it would be nice to have someone else musical aboard the ship. Kyren smiled at Molly and continued.
"Thank you Molly, I look forward to spending time with you and Victor and feel free to make yourselves at home and pick a room for yourselves, there are about 4 spare rooms left and they are further down that corridor." Kyren pointed down the corridor where his office was at the end and the kitchen was at the start of.

He then walked towards Hexi and Delphi and waited till an opening in their conversation before joining and saying, "Hexi we haven't had much of a chance to speak but I have to say I agree with Delphi, you are a very talented musician Hexi, you and Uta should perform a duet sometime. In fact Hexi could I ask a favour of you?"
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Wilfred looked down at his crew mates conversing and smiled as they came closer and closer to the island. He felt it was time to speak to Trake about being dropped off here but decided he would pull the Time Goes into the docks then he would speak to Trake and let everyone else know they were docked. Wilfred knew the ship needed some more supplies as the kitchen was running low on supplies and they were running out of spare wood too.

The majority of the wood they had before was used by Cid to modify the ship into the air ship it now. He still hadn't come back from his delivery, Wilfred hoped he was ok.
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Carrius looked at Serina and smiled as he could see her breasts slightly covered by the water.

"Serena I'm not looking for any slaves for us, I'm looking for some slaves for the Eastern Line Trading Company, you should know that. We don't need any slaves really as they always seem to be a pain and we always end up killing them. Either they try their luck at escaping and fail, get curious and try to break into my office and you deal with them or sometimes they just bore me."

Carrius climbed to his feet, "We don't need any more members of the Noelle Mafian Serena, we have enough members as it is for now and we are strong enough to stand on our own two feet. Now that we're working with The Eastern Line Trading Company if anything we are stronger than most of the other families. And as for Robert he is a strong man, he is our one man army in the family, I'm sure he is busy relaxing keeping his eye open for some more slaves."

Carrius reached for Serena's jacket happily and handed it to her.

deer finnall looked away from his maps and drawings and to the sea behind the ship, he was trying to think about something else. staring at the horizenhe thought he saw a shape in the horizen... a ship? rubbing his eyes he looked again an he definetly saw it, a ship was sailing towards them, it was a small ship, but was catching up fast. backing away he dropped his maps and stared at the ship for a few seconds, its jolley roger was familiar. but from where? ignoring that he rushed to warn his friends.

Delphi smiled. "Since you were a baby? Wow, what dedication you have."
She blinked at his question, her brow furrowing and her heart starting to thud at the idea that her worry was so evident that it was starting to show on her face. She shook her head quickly, deciding not to tell Hexi anything. She didn't want to bore or burden him and besides, they'd only just begun to talk- why should he be crippled by the troubled mind of a virtual stranger?
"Uh, no," she replied with a faint smile. "There's nothing." Delphi felt rather thankful when Kyren walked over, changing the focus of the conversation from her to him. "Yes, Kyren. I'd love to see Uta and Hexi perform a duet. Both of their talents would blend perfectly, I think..."
Her brows furrowed when she felt her stomach growl. "I...I should probably go and get some breakfast. I'll talk to you later." She bowed her head to Hexi and Kyren. She could feel her face heating up as she headed away to the galley, starting to fear that she was appearing aloof again. Delphi had gotten the impression that Kyren wanted to talk to Hexi alone anyway.

Mina lifted her head as the young doctor walked into the galley, watching as Delphi take a seat at the table, her lips curving into a smirk of mirth when she very timidly asked: "Are you still serving breakfast, Mina? I apologize for being so late..Good morning everyone, by the way."
She laughed. "Well good morning to you too, little mousie brown! Yes, I'm still making breakfast. What do you fancy, Delphi, lovie?"
Delphi blushed, looking down. "I'll have whatever you're making at the moment, thanks."
Mina grinned. "One pancake, coming right up..."
She served one for Delphi, accepting her thank yous with a cocky kind of graciousness, before making one for herself and joining her crewmates at the table. After a few moments of chewing, she looked to the half-mermaid doctor and raised an eyebrow. "So what's on your mind, Delphi?"
Delphi shook her head. "Nothing, Mina." She smiled a little awkwardly. "Thanks for asking though."
Mina watched the girl start to eat and in a few seconds, the cook had dragged a chair over to sit beside her, leaning up close, her face in her palm. "This is about a man, isn't it?"

After Kyren had gone, Molly stayed where she was for another minute or so. She was staring out over the calm ocean, considering her goal. Building a powerful ship was the ultimate objective of every great shipwright, however she had never thought about making one that powerful. It was absurd to even consider such a thing, but she figured that it didn't hurt to raise her bar of expectations above her own ability. Then, if she wanted to satisfy herself, all she could do was excel from that point forward.

Molly suddenly remembered that she had had something to ask Kyren about. She needed some wood to build herself a new hammer and she wanted to know if there was any spare wood laying around somewhere. Turning, she glanced back to see that Kyren was already talking to someone else. Well, she already planned to check out the ship. This gave her the perfect excuse to do so.

While talking to Delphi, the captain of the clockwork pirate popped into the scene, something apparently good for Delphi, who wanted to change the topic. Hexi guessed she would want to talk about her feelings with some stranger that was just tagging along with the crew.

After the captain suggested the idea of a duet of Hexi and Uta, who Hexi knew as another musician of the crew... never really talked to him much. But apparently, there was another reason more than his music that the captain wanted to talk to him, or maybe it was something related... he didnt know.

Kyren wanted to ask him a favor... and that was weird, he didnt really imagine what he could want from someone like Hexi.

"Well, I think it could be a good idea to perform a duet." -Hexi said before Delphi rushed off saying she should go and get some breakfast. Hexi followed her with the sight before turning to Kyren again. -"So yeah... what is that favor that you want to ask me?"

Hexi was a little excited about having a favor asked to him.

Seeing Delphi leave both himself and Hexi to chat as she went for breakfast he could see that her recent break up with Annachie was bothering her and wanted to help but knew no way in which he could and let her pass without saying anything. He felt bad about it. Looking at Hexi he smiled as he said a duet would be a good idea.

"Yea I did say I wanted to ask you a favour and if your willing to perform a duet with Uta that would be fantastic. I'd like to ask you using your fantastic musical skills which I heard this morning if you could compose something for me, well I say me. I mean. Us. Could you compose a sort of theme song for the crew you know, a song which represents this crew and only this crew. I just feel it would be a nice thing to have a song which would remind people of our crew and if your hungry feel free to help yourself to some of Mina's omelettes and pancakes. They smell great and from what I saw in the kitchen everyone is enjoying them."

Looking back to Molly to see if she was angry with him leaving her he saw she was gone, Kyren was relived she didn't want to hit him and grateful her and her brother offered to join the crew. Seeing deer rush our from his room looking worried Kyren excused himself from Hexi and stepped in front of deer to stop him.

Kyren could see something was wrong from the look on his face but finding out what would be a little bit difficult without asking so he asked, "Whoa, deer whats wrong? You look worried buddy."
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Wilfred saw that the docks were fairly full up with many other ships none of which were pirate ships. Mainly the ships here where supply ships unloading food & drink, building supplies and even weapons. There were a group of a few men around the docks all wearing black suits, they seemed to be like Marines guarding the docks only not Marines. There were about 11 of them 10 human and one fishman.

They all looked like they meant business and Wilfred wasn't sure how friendly they would be or how accepting they would be of them docking here. Wilfred shrugged his shoulders and decided screw it we're pirates, if they start a fight with us then we'll simply carry it on. As he directed the ship into the port 3 men approached the ship one with a clip board 2 with their hands resting inside their blazers.

"Excuse me!" Called out the man with the clip board. Wilfred looked over the edge and waved to them.
"Ah good day to you."
The men nodded at Wilfred's friendliness before the middle one replied.
"And to you too......Sir......" the men were shocked to see Wilfred as they had never seen anything like him before.
"What can I do for you?" asked Wilfred
"We, would like to know the nature of your visit to this island, your Captain's name and the amount of passengers aboard your ship."
Wilfred looked at the men suspiciously and asked, "Why?" it seemed like an odd request.
"We like to keep a chart of people on the island, so we know if any one goes missing or anything happens to them. Its all about safety here you see. We ask questions because we care." replied the man holding the clip board, he smiled at Wilfred hoping to receive some sort of indication that he believed him since Wilfred had no face and just a plain transparent glass head it made him seem intimidating.

"Ok that seems legit I suppose, we are here to pick up supplies mainly, the captain's name is Kyren Antler and we are carrying 13 passengers, but I'm not sure if cyborgs count, so if they don't count we are carrying 11 passengers. Also we might be leaving one of our passengers here."
"...ok...cyborgs do count so that's 13 passengers and why may you be leaving one behind, may I ask?"
"He asked us to drop him off here."
"...Ok and what's the name of this passenger you may be dropping off here?"
"Oh I do believe his name was.....something beginning with a T. Tom, Trey,Tractor. No. Traktor. No. Tra...ke. Yes that was it Trake, his name is Trake."
"Ok then," The man with the clipboard wrote everything down on the clip board then sighed, he looked up at the pirate flag and wrote down Pirates Be Careful. "Ok thank you for your help Sir, enjoy your stay." The men with hands resting in their blazers removed their hands and followed at the man with the clipboard walked over to a bill board with a box attached to it and slipped the paper into it then locked it shut.

Wilfred then turned back around and saw Kyren trying to speak with deer, and Hexi with his guitar. "Good morning, we're here at Villanueva Island guys and I thought we could pick up some supplies while we were here since we didn't get any on Lunakirk island."

Kyren looked at Wilfred and nodded, "Ok Wilfred, good idea."

Wilfred headed into the kitchen and happily announced. "Good morning everyone. I thought I should inform you all we have arrived on Villanueva Island and I figured this would be a great place to collect supplies since we didn't collect any in Lunakirk. Trake I believe you wanted to dropped off here too didn't you?"

Mina had been mercilessly interrogating Delphi, forcing her to spill every detail of she and Annachie's fight and the former slave's fast departure.
"So he just left, huh, baby? Well, forget him, Delph. There are plenty more fish in the sea...and on it." She winked. "I know from experience that the ocean is full of hot sea-farers just waiting to meet a cutie with two "x" chromosomes..."

Delphi sighed, finishing her pancakes. Mina's questioning had made them quite difficult to enjoy despite how tasty they were. The half-mermaid listened to the cook and shook her head, saying in a quiet voice. "That's easy for you to say, Mina...you're beautiful and confident...I'm a freak."

Mina cocked an eyebrow. "A freak? Aren't you like, a mermaid? And isn't it like, every sailor's private fantasy to bang a mermaid before they die?" She chuckled and then paused, tilting her head. "Hey Delphi, come to think of it...don't most mermaids have fins? I mean, I heard Kyren say that you were a mermaid but you...have legs..."
Delphi shrugged. "That's why I'm a freak. I'm only a half-mermaid. My father was human, my mother was one of the merfolk. I can fuse my legs into a fish-tail, but I can only use it for a maximum of around eight hours a day..." She shuddered. "And transforming back into a human when you're several feet beneath the surface of the water is not the nicest of experiences."
Mina nodded. "I see." She grinned, leaning back in her seat. "But that doesn't make you a freak, Delphi. You're a mermaid with the ability to grow legs...you've got the best of both worlds, as far as I can see..."

Mina looked up. "Good morning, Wilf! Oh we're here? Nice! Thanks for letting us know." She smiled and winked. "If you'd like a pancake or omelette, you're welcome to join us. Though I'm not sure whether cyborgs eat that way or not. " She stood up. "Anywho! Time to go and buy some decent ingredients! This ship could use some stocking up!" She checked her magazines of ammo in her satchel before bidding the group goodbye and heading to the top deck.
"So Villanueva Island, hm?" she murmured to herself as she headed down the gangplank. Truthfully, she didn't know much about the island so she made a quick resolution to watch her back.
The young white-haired girl headed down to the market, her pistol shamelessly on display strapped to her thigh by a frilly, lace garter and began to look around for some food-stores.

Delphi stood up, exhaling. "Thank you, Wilfred. I think I'll head ashore too. For some fresh air...good bye everyone."
She hadn't used her mermaid fins in a while and all that talk about her mermaid genes had only increased the doctor's desire to get back into the water once more.
She bowed to Kyren and Hexi as she passed them on the upper deck and walked off of the gangplank only minutes after Mina. Though, rather than head into town, the young brunette found herself wandering over to the docks, to a more secluded area.

After a few moments of simply admiring the sights of the harbour and when she felt ready, hoping that no one was staring at her, she summoned her mermaid fins- a long shining green tail with soft pink accents at the end. She sat on the edge of the most secluded pier, taking her blouse off to leave her in her tank-top beneath and stuffing it into her satchel.
The satchel contained a small dagger, some medical supplies and a small pistol and since Delphi wasn't content that no one would want to steal it, she carefully hid it behind a few crates.
Then she slipped into the water, smiling and feeling at peace as she rested back in the cool waves on the surface of the harbour water.

Mina had been mercilessly interrogating Delphi, forcing her to spill every detail of she and Annachie's fight and the former slave's fast departure.
"So he just left, huh, baby? Well, forget him, Delph. There are plenty more fish in the sea...and on it." She winked. "I know from experience that the ocean is full of hot sea-farers just waiting to meet a cutie with two "x" chromosomes..."

Delphi sighed, finishing her pancakes. Mina's questioning had made them quite difficult to enjoy despite how tasty they were. The half-mermaid listened to the cook and shook her head, saying in a quiet voice. "That's easy for you to say, Mina...you're beautiful and confident...I'm a freak."

Mina cocked an eyebrow. "A freak? Aren't you like, a mermaid? And isn't it like, every sailor's private fantasy to bang a mermaid before they die?" She chuckled and then paused, tilting her head. "Hey Delphi, come to think of it...don't most mermaids have fins? I mean, I heard Kyren say that you were a mermaid but you...have legs..."
Delphi shrugged. "That's why I'm a freak. I'm only a half-mermaid. My father was human, my mother was one of the merfolk. I can fuse my legs into a fish-tail, but I can only use it for a maximum of around eight hours a day..." She shuddered. "And transforming back into a human when you're several feet beneath the surface of the water is not the nicest of experiences."
Mina nodded. "I see." She grinned, leaning back in her seat. "But that doesn't make you a freak, Delphi. You're a mermaid with the ability to grow legs...you've got the best of both worlds, as far as I can see..."

Mina looked up. "Good morning, Wilf! Oh we're here? Nice! Thanks for letting us know." She smiled and winked. "If you'd like a pancake or omelette, you're welcome to join us. Though I'm not sure whether cyborgs eat that way or not. " She stood up. "Anywho! Time to go and buy some decent ingredients! This ship could use some stocking up!" She checked her magazines of ammo in her satchel before bidding the group goodbye and heading to the top deck.
"So Villanueva Island, hm?" she murmured to herself as she headed down the gangplank. Truthfully, she didn't know much about the island so she made a quick resolution to watch her back.
The young white-haired girl headed down to the market, her pistol shamelessly on display strapped to her thigh by a frilly, lace garter and began to look around for some food-stores.

Delphi stood up, exhaling. "Thank you, Wilfred. I think I'll head ashore too. For some fresh air...good bye everyone."
She hadn't used her mermaid fins in a while and all that talk about her mermaid genes had only increased the doctor's desire to get back into the water once more.
She bowed to Kyren and Hexi as she passed them on the upper deck and walked off of the gangplank only minutes after Mina. Though, rather than head into town, the young brunette found herself wandering over to the docks, to a more secluded area.

After a few moments of simply admiring the sights of the harbour and when she felt ready, hoping that no one was staring at her, she summoned her mermaid fins- a long shining green tail with soft pink accents at the end. She sat on the edge of the most secluded pier, taking her blouse off to leave her in her tank-top beneath and stuffing it into her satchel.
The satchel contained a small dagger, some medical supplies and a small pistol and since Delphi wasn't content that no one would want to steal it, she carefully hid it behind a few crates.
Then she slipped into the water, smiling and feeling at peace as she rested back in the cool waves on the surface of the harbour water.

The moment Mina began to delve into Delphi's personal life, Uta decided that it was time to go. He wanted to do so silently and without being rude. Fortunately for Uta, he had already finished his pancakes as to leave no leftovers. Satisfied with the meal Uta pulled his mask up over his nose and stood up. He silently waved goodbye to Trake and Victor and slipped out of the galley.

Uta walked through the ship when he felt the ship stop and Wilfred shouting. He headed to his room to grab his violin case.

Arriving on the deck, Uta looked at what he could make of Villanueva and then turned his focus to the sky. Staring into the clouds, Uta felt that there was something in the back of his mind... something that he couldn't quite make out. He was forgetting something but could not remember just what it was.

Dissatisfied with his blanking out, Uta figured he needed to take a walk. Before anyone could talk to him, Uta got off the ship. It had only been a day since they left Lunakirk but he needed to feel his land legs again. He stood on the docks in front of the ships and walked along admiring the other ships at port. He received strange looks from the suited men but that did not disturb him. After a few moments he made up his mind. He was going to find a music shop. Because it was his first time on the island, he figured the smartest thing to do was stick by the waterfront so if he ever need to, he could easily find his way back to the ship. With that, Uta proceeded down the docks.

Although Victor was not much of a conversationalist, he was a more than capable listener. He sat there, eating and taking in what Delphi had to say about her troubles.

After just about everyone had left, Victor leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling.

"So humans and mermaids are compatible with each other..." Victor commented out loud to the almost empty room. "...I didn't know that..." He absentmindedly tugged at the front of his hoodie. "If it's natural, how could anyone consider her a freak?"

He supposed that her attitude towards her own problem was a little bit like his own, though they were ultimately different. While Delphi was someone born completely ordinary, Victor was...deformed, to put it bluntly. And albinism wasn't his only physical issue. He'd have to consider the matter more carefully as time went on. Perhaps there was some way he could help Delphi. He still owed her for what she had done for him.

Victor stood and carried his plate over to the sink. He thought about looking for his sister and telling her that they had landed, but he decided against it. She had probably already heard about it and was on land right at that moment.

Victor stepped out of the galley and into the sunshine. He pulled his hood down as far as around his head as he could without impairing his vision. With skin like his it was easy to get burned if he wasn't careful. Victor set off, springing to land and pausing to stand in the shadow cast by the Time Goes. He stared out towards the city and the tiniest of smiles crossed his features as he decided upon his next course of action. He hadn't been able to cut loose for the last few days and now that he could, he fully intended to take advantage of it. Cities were his favorite places for freerunning, after all.

Barely a minute later, Victor was on the rooftops, flipping and cartwheeling as he went.

Hexi smiled at the captain as he made his request. Indeed, it was something related to music but it was bigger than anyone had ever asked him. He wasnt sure if a song he wrote would be perfect for the crew... he didn't know if the people would actually like it, but he had to try. First of all, he needed to investigate on how the people of the crew were, so he decided to take the captain's advice and go to the kitchen.

"Alright Captain Kyren, I'll try my best with this." -Hexi told him, he turned to look at Wilfred and then he went away. -"Be sure I'll come up with something, and i think I'll take your recommendation of going to the kitchen."

After saying this he headed to the kitchen, his stomach was growling because he had not eaten a single thing since he woke up. Sticking up with this crew was fun. But when he headed to the kitchen everyone was heading out... well, it didnt matter. Apparently they had docked in an island called Villanueva Island... cool name.

Hexi went into the kitchen, apparently Wilfred was still there.

"Good morning Wilfred!" -Hexi exclaimed, taking an ommelette and pancakes from the pans. -"How have you been?"

Hexi was eating standing up, with the plate in his left hand and a fork in his right, cutting things with the side of it and putting them in his mouth.

It did not take long for Uta to find what he was looking for. Not too far from the docks was a classical music shop. Uta figured that it was the perfect place to have his own instrument checked while practicing with some others. Uta had mastered all conventional instruments including strings, brass, winds, percussion, electric instruments; anything common you could name. However, ever since Uta joined the Clockwork crew he had only his violin to practice with.

Walking into the store he was greeted by a smell of age and wood. It was more of an antique music store with older piano models and several stringed instruments here and there. Music of composers from centuries ago were displayed in the shelves behind the counter. Standing at the counter was a gray-haired old man who seemed to breathe knowledge with every breath he took. This man was the pinnacle of musical genius.

"Excuse me, sir. I would like to have my instrument checked out. It has been through a lot so I just need to see the shape it's in."
"Why yes, of course. That is one service I provide freely. Please let me see it."

Uta placed his violin case on the counter and opened it for the old man. He handed him the violin slowly as if worried that the man could not catch it.

"Hmm... why this violin is an excellent model. I have not seen this maker's name in decades."
"It was given to me by my father when I was a child. He is a traveling musician. Have you heard the name Ichiho before?"
"Ichiho? I cannot say that I have. But it seems that your father had an excellent eye for instruments."
"Yes. He did. If you don't mind, could I use one of those pianos over there? I have not played one in a while."
"Why, of course. Go right on ahead. I will just be changing your violin's strings for you. Sea air is bad for wooden instruments like this. There is no way to protect the violin itself unless you decide to stop sailing but I don't suppose you would consider that option. Well, I will just be a minute. Feel free to look around the shop."

Uta wandered from piano to piano trying out the keys on each one to hear the one that sounded the best in his ears. When he found one, he sat down and began to make music...


(OOC: Sorry if you don't like anime music. I just happen to particularly like this one.)

Wilfred shook his head in reply to Mina's offer for food and said, I no longer eat any more Mina but thank you."

As people left the ship Wilfred watched them exit happily all heading their own separate ways and felt sad no one had asked him to come with, he had wanted to accompany Delphi as he felt most comfortable talking to her as she usually seemed to understand how he felt and vice versa but he knew that he was a cyborg and most people didn't ever really acknowledge a cyborg as a person, more of an object, there was nothing he could do and accepted his fate to remain an object on this crew.

Seeing Hexi wonder in he nodded to him and replied, "I'm fine, thank you for asking and how are you this morning Hexi?" Wilfred knew someone would have to stay behind and look after the ship and he knew it would probably be him but he hoped Hexi would stay with him and play another song like the one he played earlier.
________________________________________________

Seeing people heading off of the Time Goes and heading into town Kyren noticed Mina leave first and decided maybe this would be a good time to get to know her better since everyone was going out into town for various things and nothing important was needing his attention. Kyren chased down after Mina and shortly after sprinting to catch up with her he looked up at her eyes and smiled.

"Hey Mina.....I figured since we're all here and going out for some shopping for supplies I would......join you. Maybe we could......urm....I dunno get know each other better and perhaps.......have a.........."

Kyren felt awkward trying to ask her out on date but wasn't sure why, he could handle confrontations with bullets, swords and death but not girls like Mina whose beauty pierced his heart and confidence. He wanted to spend time getting to know her and wanted to learn about her and tell her all about himself, but first he had to do what he had failed to do in Lunakirk and ask her out on a date.

Kyren smiled up Mina through confused eyes confused how to say what his heart was screaming at him, he stood up tall and looked at her trying to say the next word but nothing came out, he hoped she would know what he was trying to say but doubted she even felt the same way about him and felt like a moron as he stood there speechless before the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, or at least in his eyes she was.

(sorry for the bad, short, and inactive posting, but im trying, and its been hard for the past few days...)

ken exited his room after waking up and walked into the hallway... and bumping right into deer. "hey watch it!" he shouted before getting up and calming down "hey, whats the hury?" deer quiclkly replied "a ship, and its headed straight ffor us!" sighing ken brushed his hair back and slowly started "its probably nothing, but if your worried, ill have a look. walking out onto the deck deer poiinted to the ship, which was now a few yards off. from it a figure shouted "ken! ive finnally found you" the figure brandished a sword and jumped onto the the railing of the time goes. the figure, back to the sunligt, was masked from the two, but ken and deer were both in fightting positions, ready for whatever trick the man would pull.

"now, now, is that anyway to greet an old friend?"

After swimming a few laps of the harbour, Delphi felt much more relaxed and it was as if a great release within her had taken place. Feeling much more at peace with herself, Delphi returned to the pier, sitting back up on the deck and flexing her fins.
With a clear mind, the young doctor now decided to scrutinise the docks a little more. For the first time, she noticed all the men in black suits- eleven in total- inspecting the ships and she started to feel uncomfortable. They didn't seem like marines but they still had a rather ominous presence.
Feeling a little intimidated, the young half-mermaid lifted her shining green scales from the water and transformed them back into her light-brown legs once more, tugging her shorts up properly and tying her long hair back up.
Something told her that maybe she shouldn't hang around the dock for so long and shrugging her satchel up on to her shoulder, she silently decided to head into town.
However, her blouse was now damp, her hair thoroughly soaked...so as such, she felt that maybe she should return to the ship first for a warm towel.
Delphi kept her head down, her cheeks pink as she passed one of the men with a clipboard, heading back to the Time Goes.

Mina blinked when Kyren arrived at her side, having not expected him to join her, but she smiled warmly all the same to the strong-hearted, strong-minded doctor.
He seemed so shy with her! Mina couldn't understand why that was, but she couldn't understand what he was trying to ask her.
Quite frankly she was rather flattered that the handsome captain was asking her this and tugging him to a halt by taking his hand, she winked to him and flicked her hair over her shoulders.
"...have a lunch date? I'd like that a lot," she smiled softly. "I've been looking for an excuse to check out a few of the restaurants around here, so I could critique them and check out what cool recipes the chefs here know." She gave his hand a squeeze, moving a little closer to him. He was very handsome up close and she delicately pressed herself to him for comfort. "Plus...I'd really like to go on a date with you, Kyren...You're such a nice guy..."

Kyren nodded to Mina when she asked, lunch date and he felt a smile reach across his face. He was happy to hear her say it instead of letting him agonise over trying to say it himself. He felt his heart melt as she took his hand and winked at him, he felt her squeeze his hand and didn't want to let go.

As she moved closer to him he swallowed and tried to think of what to say, his mind was sent racing before his mouth started saying, "I would like that, I'll pay for you."
I'll pay for you, what kind of thing was that to say, that's a given on a date.

"I too would really like to go on one with you too Mina.....and I'm happy you want to go on one with me, I've been looking forward to getting to know you better ever since you helped me back in Lunakirk. I want to thank you again Mina. You really helped me out there, you Molly and Victor."

Looking at her he felt his throat dry up trying to think what else to say, he wasn't sure what to say and felt Mina's hair tickle his shoulder.

"S-s-s-so, where would you like to eat?" looking at the restaurants Kyren noticed allot of them had Italian names and saw more men hanging on every street corner and walking up and down streets in black suits. They seemed like some sort of gang. Kyren looked at them and noticed that allot of them where passing glances at himself and Mina, it was probably because of Mina's beauty and he felt like he should say something.

"Looks like your beauty hasn't just attracted my attention but all these guys around us too." He felt stupid saying something like this and like he should lay off the compliments.
"So Mina, what made you want to become a cook and, thank you again for joining my crew and cooking for everyone, I hope they weren't too much of a pain to cook for, speaking of food I should eat something."

"Why young man, that piece you played was beautiful. However it sounded a bit melancholy. Is there something on your mind?"
"No; there is not. Sorry it was just what I felt like playing at the moment."
"Well there is no problem with that. And look here, I just finished restringing your instrument. It is all set to go."
"Thank you for your services, sir." Uta picked up his case from the counter and turned to leave.
"Oh young man; one more thing. You case seems a bit heavy. Is there more to it than you are letting on?"
"You have a keen eye, sir. I have my own secrets hidden within. Sorry but I can't repay you in any way."
"That is very acceptable young man. And one more thing... I stuck some music into your case while you were playing. Complementary, of course. You may want to take a look at it when you leave."
"Thank you once again, sir."

Uta turned to the door and proceeded outside. He began to walk back toward the ship when he came across an empty bench. He took a seat on it and opened his case. He saw his violin with his new strings and his bow but saw no music. Curious, Uta opened the secret compartment and, surprised, he found a piece of paper rolled up next to his wakizashi. Pulling out the paper, Uta looked at its contents once. With a worried look, he read it over again. After he was sure that he read it correctly, Uta crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the sea. He then began to walk back to the ship.

[Young man Ichiho,
I fear that there is a danger on this island even more clever than they let on. Once you read this letter, please return to your ship. You must leave the island as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
The old man in the music shop.]