Dark stood in the Kracken skulls tavern listening to the creak of footsteps above while he waited for his remaining crewman Barnabus to return from finishing mounting the cannons. The rest of the crew was anxious to hear what their captain had to say, the last time they had stood in this room was before the assault on the hydra; he had briefed them and from there taken the crewmen he wanted into the cave to come out a changed man. The entire crew was praying that Dark had finally recovered after their voyage to retrieve the new vessel that he was willing to go out and get back to work, the crew's general funds were running short and the nicks on armor and swords were starting to show. As Barnabus finally ascended the stairs Dark cleared his voice pulling off his bandanna as he did dropping it on the table while the entire crew took their spots around the table. "You all are the crew of the Dark Titan the strongest and most merciless vessel to have sailed the skyways in over 50 years," Dark began, the crew perked up hoping he would continue this speech into a call to arms. "you have all server under my flag and myself now for 10 long years and I wish to thank you for your service in this crew. As such every one of you shall receive 10,000 gold pieces brand new gear and if you wish a spot under Kobe and his first mate. As of this date I am stepping down as captain of the Dark Titan and the Red skull pirates. all of you wishing to remain as crew of the Titan are to meet with Kobe or Bonnie and your gold pieces you may claim from the treasure trove aboard the Titan. I am no longer the pirate I was and I thank you all for your bravery and loyalty." As Dark finished shouts and complaints erupted from every corner. Catbeard scared to head back to prison now with no captain, Ratbeard thinking that this was so Dark could make off with all the treasure and the three mercenaries for hire: Peter, Barnabus and Gaspard who had joined the rag-tag crew because of the gold and the captain's kindness all of which promptly grabbed their weapons and headed for the door to collect their gold and look for new work. By the end of the day Billy, Mustand, El Toro, Kobe, Bonnie, Taro, Scratch and Temujin were the last remaining crew. all the others had gone back to their old ways or lives except for Gracie who opted to set up a small shop on Skull Island doing articulated peg legs and limb replacements for pirates partially for the money and partially because like Bonnie she had a growing love for the captain inside her and couldn't leave him behind. Dark then headed to Avery's office to have the discussion he dreaded having. "Avery." Dark called upon walking inside. "We need to talk pirate. You returned the loaned ship yes but rumor has it you refuse to continue working to keep your refuge here. If you do I'll be forced to hand you over to the Armada." Avery said looking smug. He knew dark had a special hatred for the armada as they had killed his family in Marleybone and taken him to be a captain in their new army. "Avery I'm through, I cannot see to fight anymore and as such request a teaching roll with either Fish-eye or Mordekai. I know enough about combat to teach new pirates how to dodge and properly hold a gun and how to use larger weapons by throwing their body weight around something Fish-eye and Mordekai don't teach." He said scratching his eye-patch making Avery cringe. "Well I believe Mordekai could use a hand." Avery said for once noticing how worn out and tired the young pirate was. "But first go see the merchants about some new clothes and tell them to put it on my tab, a proper teacher should look respectable and strong to teach not like a bum we picked up off the streets." Avery said trying to be as kind as he could. And so Dark did just that heading down to get a new long coat a tri-corn hat and a new set of boots. Afterwards he headed over to the Buccaneer den as it was called and worked with some students on how they could use a spinning jump with longer weapons to inflict more damage over a quicker period time or how to take an enemy's feet out from under them at times remembering when he'd used these moves to stop gorgons or sharks. As night fell Mordekai led him back to Avery's estate heading through a hidden door into a sort of bunker like room where the other teachers had already gathered. It was sort of like a common room with 12 rooms branching off. Four had been claimed each marked with a different seal over top. The first was a crosshair pattern obviously Fish-eye's room, the second a compass meaning the privateer teacher was staying in there (Dark never could remember his name), Next was mordekai with a sword overhead and finally bearing a potion bottle was Vadima but the one who was missing was Morgan, the leader of the swashbucklers and honestly in Dark's opinion one of the coolest people on this rock but to his surprise there was no marking on any of the doors that showed it belonged to Morgan and as such he turned to Mordekai only to see him chuckling along with everyone else in the room including Morgan. "Our friend Morgan here is nocturnal and as such sleeps very little. When she is tired she sleeps sitting here in the hide away or in the Swashbuckler building on a chair. She believes it keeps us all safer and as such we let her do what she likes. But enough of that friends you all know our once student Hunter Silver or as his enemies knew him Dark Hunter Silver. After talking it over with Avery and I he shall be the secondary instructor for buccaneers and musketeers; show him the same respect you'd show your fellow comrades for he has been through a lot." Mordekai said before propping his sword against the wall and heading to what Dark believed to be the kitchen. "So young'n what made you give up yer glory huntin days?" Fish-eye said cleaning his rifle. "Well I might as well tell you all but be prepared it's a bit of a tail." Dark said talking a seat in one of the many couches surrounding a large armchair he assumed was for Mordekai due to his immense bulk. And thus Dark divulged his tail of tragedy to the teachers who all by the end of it looked on at the young ex-pirate with awe. "To have survived all that but to still push on for so long just for your crew is brave indeed but why did you abandon them now in their darkest hour?" Vadima asked. "Well if I had my way I wouldn't have," Dark said sighing. "But im no use to them anymore. While I hate to abandon my friends and crew I was a burden to the crew and as such turned my legacy to a worthy successor." Dark said looking downtrodden. "No ye ain't," said Fish-eye screwing a cap back onto his rifle's scope. "Like Bonnie told ye all ye gotta do is work with the weapons again. I spent nearly a year at see retraining my sight after my first injury." Said Fish-eye standing up. "And I after every battle restayed my hand with a blade or club." Mordekai said also standing. "We all have gone through many hardships some of us have suffered more than others but we shall retrain you Dark Hunter Silver to be the strongest pirate to sail the skyways once again. "said Mordekai grabbing his axe. "But we must hurry, your crew has already rushed to meet their own challenge head on. They're collecting the entire crew once more to assault the Hydra's den." said Vadima gazing into her crystal ball. And thus Dark's own journey started again as well, to retrain and remaster his lost skills to save his friends and crew.