Chapter 3: A Truthful Journey.

". . . then, slowly but cautiously he went for a preemptive strike while I fought the pirates. Me, some 10 pirates, and the huge shark. Haha!" Puss laughs with disregard to know the exasperation of his stories from both Matthew and Dulcinea. Babieca shows the most. Being Puss's partner for years, yet he still can't ignore his meticulous but false storytelling. At least that's what Babieca thinks.

Do you ever learn to enjoy a peaceful stroll in a secluded forest? Babieca wishes to gain his power to speak again.

Puss continued, still lacking his own indigenous annoyance. "Then afterward, I cautiously prepare myself, as the epic finish rises!"

"You jumped on the shark and flipped the ship!" Matthew finally gives out. "We both know!" Puss's tone couldn't go over Matthew and Dulcinea. He gets rather confused.

"Ha! I see you have been listening to my wonderful and fantastic stories of the great Puss in Boots!" Like a body of water shined with the sunbeam, Puss felt appreciable.

"Yes, Puss. That fantastic story you literally been talking about since we left El Pueblo!" Dulcinea quickly mentions the hardness of Puss arrogance. Puss starts to see their point. "Oh, I guess I did" He adds a nervous laugh. It's a relief to Matthew and Dulcinea.

Especially to Babieca.

The sprout of day hovers above Westside Harbor as they return to seek more knowledge on the whereabouts of El Guante Blanco. The sprawling streets only get decorated with the community on edge with their daily schedule. Babieca gives a small neigh, thinking he could bump into people if they stay with him.

"Alright, we are back!" Puss, Dulcinea, and Matthew jumps down Babieca as he leads himself to a place where he can relax, not from the journey back.

But from his ear. Still whispering the constant voice of Puss.

The three look upon the clinic. "So, what is in the clinic?" Matthew seems relatively addled. Dulcinea gave some light on their reasoning. "Well this is where El Guante was before he left. We didn't really get our answer because-" She was hesitant to explain more from the lack of their long presence, but Matthew knows. "You don't have to feel bad saying it." Dulcinea suddenly felt light.

"We need to know more on where my Maestro traveled" Puss says with a grin on his face as he and the others walked into the clinic. The smell of brewed tea and the lit of the candles strengthens as they enter. It was more vibrant than when they traversed here last night. Imel and Lynda, both as white as the clouds. Headed towards Puss. Imel had a gold ring with strange carvings, but the small yellow stain on her right side of her hips was more distinct. Lynda was bigger than Imel, but not too big to not fit through the front desk. "Have you found your gato viejo you itsy, cutey feline?" Imel had a cracking voice, it doesn't reach a point of uncomfort in their ears. Imel leaned closer to Puss and squished his right side face to bounce it back and forth to show her love of cute animals. Puss groaned as Matthew and Dulcinea chuckled.

"It is pronounced handsome!" Puss jumped back. "But we, Puss in Boots, Dulcinea, and Matthew demand more information on my Maestro's whereabouts"

"El Guante Blanco" Dulcinea made clear the teacher Puss is mentioning.

"Well, yeah you were in a hurry when we saw you last time" Lynda joins in the conversation, it gave the full attention of Puss, Dulcinea and Matthew as her accent is clear.

She continued. "He did ask us that day after nursing him back to health to find a vessel to traverse the Great Blue Sea." It left as if a thousand spikes have rammed into Puss's body. "Wait where did he go?"

Lynda leads them outside the clinic and points west. "You should go to the docks. I helped him get there to ask the sailor Guel". Dulcinea quickly responded "Great! We should ask the ferrymen, he might know where El Guante is going."

As they are just about to leave, Lynda forgetfully added "Oh wait, make sure you kinda give respect to him." That didn't go through to their ears.

The cold feeling of the water slams them as they enter the harbor. The logs lining up to create the paths to the wooden ships, all perfectly in line and ready to sail the seas. With many of the travelers entering in and out of the docked ships. One looked different than the others. Where he wore a striped shirt and worn out pants, topping it off with a bandana. Dulcinea thinks this is who they are looking for. "Guel?"

He is leaning on a wooden barrel. His stare is disturbing. He is thinking of something, but his ignorance of his surrounding shows it clearly. He finally took notice on two felines and one skinny human. He had a commanding tone, raspy but really forceful. "What do you want?"

"Hello. . ." Dulcinea questions his full attention. He stays leaning. "Can we ask if you have talked or helped an old cat around to sail?" Guel stays indecent. "Yep" he strolls his attention to a ship. "He boarded a crew, same a-place, might as well join em." Guel gave them a straightforward direction to one of the ships. They gallantly head towards it. A mixable color of brown and black differ the ship from the rest. A small group already settles in it as they boarded it. Matthew sees a gut-wrenching bucket that even he wouldn't want to know the content of. A collection of them being tattooed, covered sailors. Carrying barrels around to confine a neat space. Upon the ships' deck stands a woman, who remarkably shows promise to Puss as she looks at him with awe and interest. Puss suddenly feels strange with being in this particular group of sailors.

Something is not right with this.

"Daniela!" Guel shouted as she walks towards them. "They's a-looking for a black cat that you a-brought." She stares at the felines with a broad smile. "You a-think you canna help them?"

She immediately replies. A certain glare similar to outcasts gives an edge to her words. "Eh, no problem. I can take care of them laddies."

Guel takes his leave back to the harbor as the three heads inside the deck with Daniela, much eager to know the three travelers "Hey mates, what ya got with that cat of yours."

"That cat is my Maestro" Puss savagely answers. Dulcinea notices his tone and cuts him back. "Well, he respects him a lot I guess, but we think he is in trouble and he went ahead without us." Daniela backed up, looking at the side. "Interesting…"

"We crew will take care of ya, just relax here." She opens the door, the hallways were tightly spaced. Daniela opens a wooden door, leading into a living room like compartment in the ship. Circular windows give a clear view of the horizon of the Great Blue Sea. Puss, Dulcinea and Matthew takes a seat to relax from the journey back."

"Me and my crew will take it from here and we will take ya all to where we dropped your eh, Mustro?" Daniela looked back while opening the door to leave. Puss groaned. "Maestro…"

"Yeah, right uh. I catch with y'all later." She turns outside.

"I'm sure ye will."

Puss grew suspicious from the time they entered the rusted ship. Matthew notices his disturbance. "What's wrong Puss?"

"Something is off with this let me say, sailors." Puss implies his suspicion. "They do not seem like sailors." Puss gets up cautiously, looking at the window in the door. Matthew switches to Dulcinea.

"Is he always this suspicious?" Dulcinea gave a slight grin. "He's Puss, he has gone through many things. To him, being suspicious is his trait."

Matthew turns to Puss as he went out to know more about the group. He sees him in a new light. "What do you mean 'went through'?" his temptation to know more deepens. Dulcinea gives him a small summary.

"Well, we used to live and cherish in a place called San Lorenzo." Matthew is surprised to hear those words.

San Lorenzo?

Dulcinea continued. "Puss is, well was the hero there. We first met in the Thieve's Market. The world has changed even since his steps inside." Matthew feels the need to understand more. Dulcinea traverses back to her biggest memories of her old home. "It was the time to be alive. We went to wild adventures, collecting artifacts, fixing his mistakes. He just wants to be the hero he wants to be remembered, he wanted to reverse his wrongdoings." She loses her connection to reality as she goes on. The sounds of the open ocean disappearing. "He always tries to show how much of a hero he is, always brags about it. To me, the mistake for him coming to San Lorenzo and causing all the destruction within doesn't mean a mistake to me. I always think he is more than just a hero. Even Sino realized that. Maybe that's why he has to leave. Maybe, just maybe." Dulcinea returned to see Matthew falling asleep through all the deep thoughts Dulcinea shared. She strokes his hair and stays by his side. Her thoughts continue to flourish the exciting thoughts and memories of her and Puss's past. Her ears sank thinking about it.

Puss heads to the top of the deck to speak with Daniela. She steers the wheel valiantly as the seas roughen. "Ah, the pretty cat with two boots." Puss hightailed to the railings. "It is pronounced handsome!" Puss realizes his forceful tone and backs it down. "Oh, and uh. My Maestro, did he say anything on where he is going?" Daniela continued steering.

"Well, that might be. He seemed troubled at the start and he bailed out as soon as ye dropped him. He didn't even give us mates tips!" Daniela laughed shortly. Puss starts getting aware of their choice of wording.

Mates?

Are not those spoken by pirates?

Puss returned below deck to see Matthew and Dulcinea sleeping soundly, Puss regains his thoughts and the awareness of the situation.

It does not matter.

The only thing to know is that they will take us there.

Puss clears his negative thoughts and sits next to Dulcinea, her posture inadequate to comfortably fall asleep but Puss bears no mind to fix. Just as yet Dulcinea slouches over, falling her head to him.

Puss didn't mind about it, either.

But it made him more comfortable.

The sudden weightlessness awakens Puss as the rough sea strengthens. Sounds of small items of furniture inside the room fall over and break as the Puss looks around. He felt trapped with his hands and boots. The shallow darkness covers the room. Hard to see but the small cracks emitting light from the moon. He took longer to realize his sword is missing. Dulcinea and Matthew wake up after, also tied with ropes.

"Uh, Puss? Where are we?" Matthew points out as Puss and Dulcinea questions similarly themselves. The cold feeling of small iron bars gives Puss the idea of where they are.

"Puss, I think we're trapped," Dulcinea calls out. Puss growled in madness.

"I knew it! There is something fishy going on here, and I will get to the bottom of this. So swears Puss in Boots!" Matthew looked in disbelief to know the need to proudly shout his intentions. But he was right about being suspicious. He didn't deny it.

A fracture of light grows as Daniela closes in with her prisoners. "Well, you mateys really made it easy for us." Puss first looks at them before noticing a figure behind them. The light from the torch helped clear the picture of El Guante. Bound and tied. "Maestro!" Puss yelled.

"What is the meaning of this? I demand to know!" Daniela laughs that makes a loathsome frown to Puss. Dulcinea goes to Matthew "Well can you do something? Probably your magic. I think its best to use it here?" Matthew becomes aware and needs to spell out the truth behind his magic. "To be frank Dulcinea, I don't know how to activate my magic." He gives a nervous smile. "Hehe?" Puss faces him, surprised. "Great!"

"Well mates, no hard feelings. You know, a pirate gotta so what theys gotta do." Puss now has the strong urge of taking them down. "Pirates, I knew it!"

"Tomorrow, we're off to feast upon our success! These mates here will be proud of us." Daniela shows in front of them the wanted poster of Puss and a separate poster of El Guante. He already knows who wants him. Badly.

El Temido. . .

"So sit tight laddie, it'll be a charm to wreak some gold." Daniela laughs again as she and her crew leave the cell. Puss wasn't happy with the situation, yet he already knows the lack of knowledge they have about cats. "Puss, what should we do?" Dulcinea struggles up.

"Dulcinea, I want you to reach on my boots" Dulcinea and Matthew were startled with the action Puss is asking her. "Whut?"

"Well, I think it might be a mistake, but I think it should be fine today."

Dulcinea grabs one of Puss's boots with her legs and out revealed the key to San Lorenzo's treasure vault. "The key is still in your boots?" Dulcinea spoke with total shock. Matthew didn't show much reaction.

"Well we did go back in time so maybe there is a duplicate?" Puss questions with curiosity. Dulcinea couldn't catch a glimpse with the rules of time and space. But it stopped lingering in her mind with the sole focus of escaping the cell. Puss further explains his plan.

"Dulcinea, the sharp extension of the key, try to turn around and grab with your paws to slice my knot." Dulcinea, finally aware of the plan, already started converting to grabbing the key. Puss turns around to present the knot and Dulcinea with just enough space between her paws, grabbed the key and saws it back and forth. The small burning sensation and freckles of the knot accumulate in Puss's paw. As the strength of the knot weakens and finally lets go. Puss used one of his claws to scuttle the keyhole on the lock of the door and shakes it until it clicks to show it worked. The iron door squeaked shortly as Puss slowly pushes. He returns back to Dulcinea and Matthew to but their knots with his claw and they started sneaking out to the cell across them. El Guante, looking dead but is really asleep due to his slight snoring. Puss wakes him up. A memorable cat faces him. He instantly recognizes. "Ginger!"

"Maestro, are you alright?" Puss helped him stand up. But El Guante lets go for a moment, still showing some strengths left in him. "I'm fine ginger, but I should have been more aware of my bounty from pirates. They look for nothing but gold." El Guante veers toward the exit as Puss regains his sword from the haystack next to their cell. They made their way upstairs to only meet the entire crew. Daniela already aware of their escape and her men with their swords at a standstill, waiting for her command.

"It's a good thing to me, that I didn't underestimate you all eh?" Daniela looks on her fingernails.

Matthew and Dulcinea clunches their fists as Puss sheathes his sword. El Guante watches in cover as a faceoff commences.

"If you want our bounty. You will have to fight for it." Puss hands his paw to Dulcinea. "Shall we?"

"You shall"

Puss and Dulcinea spun rapidly as Puss releases for her to kick one of Daniela's men, others follow through to Puss and Dulcinea as they fight. Matthew goes and tries pushing one of the men. Due to his heavy weight. The pirate taunted Matthew, "You're a weak hatchling." Matthew from the fit of rage, shined his power. His energy charges. The confused pirate isn't aware of the transformation as Matthew gives a hurl of energy at him and plunges him to the deep water. The other men, fear throughout their bodies, watches.

"Don't call me that!"

Puss continued slashing attacks. "Haha! Nothing can stop me!" Puss with might in his heart outmatched their fighting strength of two men and flips them down, injuring them. Dulcinea acquired the weapon from a fallen pirate and stabbed it down on the wooden floor. Using the sword like a pole to deliver a smashing kick around her.

"Capo Ferro!"

Daniela proceeds to Puss with a mighty sword. It glimmers with gold as she slashes once. Puss flips to dodge it as she spins the opposite direction to hit him again. "Ha!"

"Why don't ya stop for once!" Daniela, with her sluggish moves, gave Puss an opening and he takes it.

Slash

Slash

Kick!

He pushed her back, but Puss loses attention for a moment and slashed him with the sword. The sword knocked him out of the ship and held on to one of the rope that helped with keeping the mast in shape. Daniela immediately cuts it and with it Puss into the depth of the ocean below.

"Puss!" Dulcinea can only spot his hat floating on the surface as she continued fighting. Matthew forms a spiral shield to push back the rest of the crew. It immediately disappears as Matthew passes out.

"Matthew!"

Dulcinea hangs back to protect her fallen friend. El Guante went out from the deck, but the unsteadiness of the ship urged him to retreat. Dulcinea, now surrounded with Daniela and her crew, thinks of her next move. But the thought of Puss never goes out of her head.

An utterly disappointed Daniela move forward from the crowd. "You, you and your mates made me lose my gold, he might be long a-gone, but your Mustro will be fine enough. Surrender you scallywags, you're surrounded." Dulcinea watches her in complete madness. Yet, sadness to understand the outside world isn't as innocent as being in San Lorenzo. The unforgiving world not only gives for its good nature but its flaws as well. El Guante watches in shock, as he knows he's too feeble to fight back. He only realizes now that he will need their help. But he might have realized too late.

Puss wakes seeing nothing but blue.

A desolate place.

Nothing but water.

He sees the ship and he swims his way to it. To only notice from the near horizon, a dorsal fin can be seen. "Oh no!" Puss shouted as he meticulously struggles to swim away as it bounds closer. He screams in agony as he looks back with the open mouth of a shark. Just as the jaw snaps, He dives in to dodge the shark's frontal attack. With the muscular power of the shark, it was able to turn back to Puss just as he starts swimming up to gather air. Puss took a quick breath and dives back down to see the shark's sharp teeth in inches as Puss strides left. Puss swims back up for more time to see the rope he held on to. That gave him an idea.

Come and get me tiburón.

Shark makes one final turn for an attack. Puss strikes left and knocked the shark, biting the rope, getting it lodged between the two side teeth. Puss immediately swims above the shark and grabbed the two ends of the rope. Like a pitbull rodeo. The shark struggled to shake Puss. Without knowledge. The shark starts swimming forward. Blindly. "Haha!" muffled Puss. The shark leaped once in the air, giving Puss a breather as they dive back down, Puss still in control. He forced the shark on the direction of the ship. Unaware of the events occurring in it.

Puss in Boots to the rescue!

Dulcinea moves back, dragging the unconscious Matthew with her as the pirate draw closer to them to subdue them.

BOOM!

A forceful shake roared on the ship, everyone loses balance as they are all blinded by the origin of the impact. Dulcinea further moved back to El Guante with Matthew.

"What is going on?" Daniela cries out. She ran to the side to see Puss, on the verge of grabbing his hat still floating standing and moving incredibly fast. "Who is this cat?"

Puss dives in with the shark for another hit, the ship slides left, most of the crew fell off. The ship veered back to normal as Daniela held on. Dulcinea and El Guante are still puzzled on where these hits are coming from.

Daniela moves toward the low deck. "This has gone-a far enough!" She yelled as she closes in. Dulcinea, prepares to elude, only to be greeted by a wall of white and grey. Daniela completely disappeared in front of her. Puss leaps off the shark as it completes its full jump over the ship, Daniela lands in the water as the shark swims away in fear. "Ahh!"

Dulcinea sees Puss and ran to him.

"Puss!"

"Dulcinea!" They share hugs.

The ocean calms as they steer away from the carnage. El Guante approach Puss with a thought. "Ginger, I remember you once told me a story about this. Ten pirates with a shark. I never knew I would see it with my own eyes. Haha!" El Guante laughs tremendously. Puss took long enough to realize it. He stands strong as he speaks with power "Ha! Once again! I prove myself not only strong and handsome, but I am also the greatest hero that ever lived!" He clenches his fists.

"I never knew your story would be true." Dulcinea happily says.

"Of course they are!" Puss wonder what Dulcinea means for that. "Do you say none of my amazing adventures, you believe they are real?" Puss was stupefied. Dulcinea thought twice on what she said. "No! Not that I don't believe it" Puss grumbled. Dulcinea served a nervous smile with her eyes winking.

"Anyways" Dulcinea diverts his attention to El Guante. "Where are you going, Maestro?"

El Guante looks down. "El Temido. He is holding one of my new students' hostage. I need to get to him. But I have to do it alone." He walks to the side, looking over the horizon as the sun rises. "But we can come with you Maestro, we can help you!"

El Guante immediately replies. "No! This is something I have to finish on my own. If he finds out that Puss is with me." Puss steps up. "Maestro, this is something you have trained me to do. I can help you handle your problem." El Guante looks to him

"But I also trained you to understand which is your fight and which is not. Ginger. . . you just won't understand." Puss can't deny his level of worries towards his teacher. "Well at least let us escort you?"

"No, you will only escort me there" beyond the horizon, a mixture of green and grey can be seen. "The land of Kema" El Guante adds. "It will be dangerous for you Ginger, I ask that you turn back after I land there. Please, ginger." They all look upon the land as it draws near. A land Puss and Dulcinea have never seen before. The feeling of terror crawls upon them as they docked.