AN: Sorry for not uploading for a while, there's been a lot on my plate, but, I'm back now, I've re-done a few chapters but I'm not finished yet, though I should be able to upload a lot more often. So, without further adieu:
Montauk was a special place to Percy Jackson, he and his mom had been going there since Percy was a baby, his mom had been going even longer. It was also where Percy's parents met. Sally Jackson grew younger the closer she got to the beach, her eyes glimmered the colour of the ocean and she seemed to relax more.
So, it is probably strange that Percy felt worried, you see this place held something of great importance to him. This, was where he made his first friend, and for the most part of his life, his only friend. Percy was worried because he hadn't seen this particular friend in nearly three years because his step father didn't let Sally and Percy go. He claimed it was 'too expensive' as he lost both his and his wife's pay-check to a royal flush.
So, Percy was very apprehensive of this particular trip to his favourite place in the world with his favourite person in the world. What if he had gone, or had forgotten him. Maybe he would never see his companion ever again. What if he had found someone else to feed him blue candy and blue meat. Maybe he had become fed up of the loneliness of the beach and had moved on.
As these thoughts fought a veritable war, alongside the butterfly's in his stomach who appeared to have inherited his ADHD and were bouncing along the inside of his gastric track. His mother stopped the car, they were here, it was time to see if he was still here.
As he moved to get out, his mother gently put a hand on his shoulder, she looked him in the eye, sadly trying to convey the whole 'don't be disappointed if he isn't here' vibe, something she pulled off miraculously well. "Percy… we've been gone a long time, just… understand that he will probably be gone." Percy nodded, and got out of the car.
They made their way to the cabin, both looking around for a flash of silver, ears pricked to hear the yips or barks. They both tried to hide it, but they were tense with apprehension, Sally too was nervous to see her sons first friend, he had become a part of their family, more so than Gabe would ever be. Their journey to the cabin yielded no results in their attempts to find him.
By sunset, they had reached the cabin, and set to work fixing up the place, opening the windows and cleaning any dust, spiders and previous patron's food. They then went on a walk on the beach, hopefully to find their third companion.
It was now or never, either he would be here, or he wouldn't, maybe he had moved away, found somewhere better. They walked to the end of the beach and there he was. He sat on the edge of the beach, dozing away, apparently, unnoticed to everyone else. His silver fur gleamed in the evening sun, making it look like fire dancing on a pale backdrop, he was asleep. He waited for them, Percy rubbed the tears that absolutely didn't exist away.
"Anchor!" He called to the fox, who now sat up and was looking at them happily. He first met the fox when he was seven, just before he had to leave, he asked the fox to stay here. When they came back the next year he was still here, they named him Anchor, because he was one of the things that kept them here. He hugged the much bigger fox as it came over to him.
Sally joined them in the hug and he happily licked her on the face, they all laughed and Percy pet him gently. He purred happily, something Percy never questioned, he jumped off them and practically dragged Percy too his feet. His eyes conveying the message of exactly what he wanted, Percy took out some blue beef jerky, the fox munched on it with gusto. He looked up, his eyes saying, 'you owe me two years' worth of jerky.'
They walked around the beach, happily playing fetch with the fox, who acted more like a dog now, they fed some of the seagull's blue corn chips, munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy and all the other free samples Sally had brought from her work. Anchor was happily munching on some of the blue skittles, they gave him occasionally.
The blue food came about after Gabe told Sally there was no such thing as blue food. They had a fight, a small one in hindsight. Ever since, Sally went out of her way to eat blue food. She baked blue birthday cakes, mixed blueberry smoothies, brought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. That, along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs Ugliano, was proof that she wasn't totally taken by Gabe, or just common sense, probably both.
After the sun, had set, they made a fire. They cooked hot dogs and marshmallows, all blue of course. Sally told stories of when she was a kid, before her parent's death. She said about the books she wanted to wright someday, when she could quit the candy shop.
Eventually, Percy asked about what always came to mind when they were in Montauk, Percy's father.
Sally's eyes looked like the sea on a foggy day and Percy prepared himself to hear the same story she always told, what he never got tired of hearing.
"He was kind, Percy," she began, "tall, handsome and powerful. But gentle too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She fished out a blue jelly bean and threw it up for Anchor to catch. "I wish he could see you Percy, he'd be so proud."
"How old was I?" Percy asked, "I mean…when he left?"
She stared into the flames, her eyes softened, in the fire light they looked comforting, "he was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here, at this beach. This cabin."
"But…he knew me as a baby."
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, hut he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."
Percy tried to remember something… a warm glow, a smile, they proud grin of a father. He assumed his father had known him as a baby, Sally never said it outright, but still. He'd felt it must have been true. Now, to be told that he'd never seen him… Percy felt angry, maybe it was stupid, but he resented him for going on the ocean voyage, for not marrying his mom. He'd left, now they were stuck with Smelly Gabe.
"Are you going to send me away again?" Percy asked, "to another boarding school?"
She took a marshmallow from the fire, it dripped down like it was drooling.
"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think…I think we'll have to do something."
"Because you don't want me around?" Percy immediately regretted saying that, even Anchor gave him a look that said, 'not cool dude'.
His mom's eyes began to water, tears threatening to escape. She held onto Percy's hand and squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I-I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."
He remembered Mr Brunner's words, about leaving Yancy. "Because I'm not normal." He said, bitterly.
"You say that like it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realise how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."
"Safe from what?"
Their eyes locked, and something clicked, floods of memories came back, all the weird, scary things that had ever happened, some he'd tried to forget. In the third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked Percy on a playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he left, growling, like a dog that didn't get its prey. No one believed little Percy when he said under the hat the man only had one eye, in the middle of his forehead. Before that, in preschool, a teacher set Percy in a cot with a snake in it, his mom had screamed when she wound Percy playing with a limp, scaly rope, he'd strangled to death with meaty toddler hands.
In every school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and he was forced to move.
He felt he should have told his mom about the old ladies in the fruit stand, and Mrs Dodds at the art museum, about the weird hallucination he'd had about slicing his maths teacher in half with a sword, upon which she turned to dust. But he couldn't get himself to tell her, he felt that this would end his trip to Montauk and he wouldn't see his friend for a further year.
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," Sally said, "they told me it was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy, the place your father wanted to send you. And I just…I just can't stand to do it."
"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"
"Not a school," she said softly, "a summer camp."
Why would his father, who hadn't stayed long enough to see him born, talk to his mom about a summer camp? And if it's so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in Percy's eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying goodbye to you for good."
"For good? But if it's only a summer camp…"
She turned to the fire, if Percy asked any more questions, he knew from her expression, she would cry.
That night, Percy had a vivid dream.
It was storming on the beach, two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the water.
The eagle swooped down, slashing the horses muzzle with its talons. The horse reared up and kicked the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a terrifyingly monstrous voice chuckled beneath the earth, goading them into fighting harder.
Percy ran towards them, knowing he'd to stop them from killing each other, but he was running in slow motion. He would be too late. The eagle flew down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, Percy screamed, No!
He awoke, waking the fox that lay across him, making the poor creature fall to the floor.
Outside, it was storming, the kind that cracked trees and blew houses down. There was no eagle or horse on the beach.
Sally awoke to the thunder clap. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."
Over the roar of the wind a distant bellow sounded, an angry, tortured sound that terrified all who heard it.
Then there was another noise, someone yelling, pounding on the door.
Sally sprung up, in her nightgown and threw the door open.
Grover stood in the doorway rain pouring behind him, hooves out and fur clinging to him because of the rain, he gave off the smell of a wet barnyard animal.
"Searching all night," he gasped, "what were you thinking?"
Sally looked at Percy, terrified, not afraid of Grover, but why he'd come. "Percy," she said, screaming over the rain, "what happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"
Percy froze at the sight of Grover, his eyes caught on the furry legs he now had.
"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" Grover yelled, "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"
"Percy. Tell me now!" Sally said in a stern tone she'd never used before.
He stammered out everything, Mrs Dodds, Mr Brunner and Grover talking, the three old ladies and the eight-weird people who followed them, his mom grew paler by the second.
She grabbed her purse, tossed Percy his jacket and said, "get to the car. Both of you. Go!"
Grover ran to the car, well, he didn't run, he was trotting, and they made it to the car, unfortunately leaving a small fox in the cabin. His ears flattened down on his head, and he whined at the sight of the three of them leaving, he put his face in the ground and put his paws on his nose.
"Percy." He said quietly.
He was unaware of the presence that watched him, in the dark of the night he didn't hear the dark chuckle of a Titan.
(At camp half-blood)
In a hole in the ground a pair of eyes opened, blue eyes shone in the darkness, the eyes looked out to the entrance to his den. He sat up and made his way to the exit, before leaving he listened for noise, a nose emerged from the den, sniffing, this was followed by a snout, and a head. Ears perked, acting as radar dishes to hear any disturbance, a paw emerged, then another, until the entire creature was out, silver fur gleamed in the glow of the moon.
In a flash of silver, the fox was gone, he was nothing more than a flash as he made his way to the big house, already he knew he wasn't the only one awake. A flash of blonde and orange made its way to the large structure commonly referred to as the big house, the fox was suddenly mixed in with the blonde. A hand reached up and plucked the fox from his perch amongst her hair, Annabeth Chase looked down at the fox in her hands, her grey eyes glared before softening at the adorable pout on his face.
"Isn't there somewhere more comfortable for you to sit in?" She asked.
"Nope, your conditioner has made sure of that." The fox replied, now normally a fox talking would be something that would shock normal people. Annabeth Chase wasn't normal, for one thing she had a talking fox, for another she was the demi-god daughter of the Greek goddess, Athena.
"Fine, but someday I'm going to find a way to get you out of my hair." She said, smiling at her joke.
"Clever, is this what the great daughter of wisdom spends her time thinking about, forget architecture, you should start your own comedy show." The fox said, "besides, you could never say no to me." The fox bragged.
"Oh, yeah?" She said, instead of answering the fox turned to her, his eyes taking up most of his face, they glistened with unshed tears, he was pouting so much it physically hurt. "…Ok, just stop pouting, Whiskers." Annabeth muttered, defeat written all over her face.
"See. Now, what are you doing out of bed?" Whiskers asked, eyebrow raised.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Annabeth said, too quickly for her to be speaking truthfully.
"Come on Annie, you know you want to tell me," his face going back to the teary visage it was before.
"N-n-n," She stuttered as she closed her eyes, "stop with that look."
"Annie," Whiskers said, "don't you trust me," he whined sadly, and Annabeth opened her eyes a crack, but, much like Medusa, one look was all it took.
"Dammit," she swore, "fine, I'm going to-" She was cut off as they reached the big house, where Chiron was waiting for them, a look of mild irritation on his face.
"Hello Annabeth, Whiskers." The centaur said.
"You're back!" Annabeth exclaimed, rushing to hug the trainer of heroes, who replied with a gentle hug of his own.
"It's good to see you again." Chiron said with a smile.
"So, how did it go?" Annabeth asked, "is it another child of Zeus?" Annabeth guessed, her analytical mind having discovered the reason for Chiron's absence for the past few months, of course an invisibility cap also helped.
"I'm unsure, but if all goes well he should be here soon, Grover is with him, and he lives in New York, it should be a quick journey, so I'd expect them here in the next day or so." Chiron said.
"Well-" As Annabeth started to speak Whiskers perked up, someone was coming this way, by the looks of it Chiron also heard their heavy footfalls. A boy appeared on the porch his hair black and messy, his eyes were half lidded but reflected the colour of the sea, in his arms was the familiar figure of Grover, muttering in his sleep. He collapsed to the ground, muttering about his mother and began to slip into Morpheus's realm, this must be who Chiron was talking about.
Annabeth and Chiron looked at him before Annabeth spoke up, "He's the one. He must be."
"I don't like him," Whiskers muttered, he smelt the vague scent of himself, an impossible scent for anyone to smell, but the impossible was something he had become used to. This smell showed that he had been recently near Whiskers, but he hadn't been, nor had he been near Parrot, due to reasons of death and tree metamorphosis, nor could he have been near Bandit, this meant there was another.
"Silence, Annabeth," the centaur said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."
Whiskers sighed before growing to the size of a border collie and grabbing him by the scruff of his jacket hoisted him into the big house, Annabeth grabbed his legs to help her foxy friend. She smirked at the look in his face, his eyes widened, before rolling back as he finally drifted off into dream-land, or more specifically, demi-god-dream-land, the more nightmare orientated cousin of regular dreamland.
"So," Whiskers said after putting Percy in a bed, "he's the 'one' Annie? And here I was thinking you and Luke were-" THWACK "Annie, what was that for?" THWACK "Fine shutting up."
"Good," Annabeth said, putting the rolled-up newspaper back down and hiding her blushing face from the fox. "He's got the same hair as Thalia," she said sadly, "and same facial structure, I didn't see his eyes, but they must be like hers." Looking over the boy.
"Annie…" Whiskers said, "don't do this, you say that about every demi-god that makes it here, besides, Zeus isn't the only elder god, it could be one of his brother's children."
"Hades never had that many children in the past and Poseidon… Zeus is the most likely he has had the highest amount. It's got to be." Annabeth said.
"Fine, believe what you want, but just don't be too disappointed if your wrong, for now I'll be going back to bed, you should too, don't want to come off as creepy, watching him sleep." He grinned, but before she could grab the newspaper he was gone, leaving a blushing Annabeth behind.
As he made his way to the den he saw a flash of silver, he turned and met the gaze of what could have passed as his twin, same fur, same eyes, same threatening growl, speaking of, the two foxes growled at each other in unison. They glared into the eyes of the other, anger present in their eyes, if you were to look closely enough, you would notice around the pupils of both their eyes looked like they were bleeding, becoming red. Both grew, until they were the size of full grown huskies, each looked about ready to pounce on the other.
"Hey!" A rough voice growled out, the two foxes turned to it, a burly girl stood there, spear in one hand and shield in the other. She glared at them, giving them the I'm-just-out-of-bed-and-don't-want-to-deal-with-any-of-your-shit look, the effect being ruined by her pyjamas and bed hair. "What have you been told about fighting?"
The second fox looked up and her and sighed, "if you don't get to fight it, I don't either."
"You're damn right, now why are we up, monsters?" She grinned maliciously.
"Not anymore." Whiskers said, "new kid, took out the Minotaur. He's out of it now, I'm not surprised, he was carrying his satyr and had blood down his shirt." The girl frowned before her eyes glinted.
"New kid, took out the Minotaur, hmm, kids got to be strong, must be worth the fight." Her grin came back, even more evil and scary looking, but was again ruined by the fact that her hair was sticking out randomly, instead of a terrifying demi-god, she looked more like a mad woman, who put their hand in an electrical socket.
"You talk big for someone wearing silk jammies, Clarisse." Whiskers grinned, "next thing you know they'll have hello kitty printed on them," the other fox looked amused as well.
Clarisse turned red and she glared at the fox, pointing her spear at him, "watch yourself mutt, you're lucky Chiron doesn't let me gut you."
"Gotta agree with him on this one," the other fox grunted, "I take it this is another little gift from our old pal Selina?" He sniggered as she blushed slightly.
"Shut up, Bandit!" She said, "least I don't live in a hole in the ground." She muttered.
"Clarisse, you insult me," Bandit said in mock sadness, "I might need to go talk to-"
"Don't say it." Clarisse growled, the fox smiled evilly.
"So, what got you up out of bed then, I doubt you smelt a large monster reaching the border like me, so what woke you?" Bandit asked.
"Nothing…" Clarisse said, at the look she was given she gave an exasperated sigh, "fine, I was going to your den, I saw you leaving and followed."
"Oh, anything in particular you need to talk about?" Bandit asked, he gave Whiskers a look basically telling him to leave or the camp would be one fox short. He complied and left, but not before giving the other fox a glare, his eyes unknowingly flashing red for a second, he then disappeared into the underbrush.
"So, what is it?" Bandit asked.
"Nothing important," he was about to speak again but she cut him off, "this new kid, tell my siblings that I have first dibs, they don't go near him unless I say so."
Bandit grinned foxily, "well, well, well, you work quickly, haven't even met him and you've already claimed him."
"You know what I mean," Clarisse grumbled, "you've been hanging around Selina too much."
"So, have you, you're wearing her pj's if I'm not mistaken, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you… followed your father's tastes." He grinned, "something to tell the class?"
"Shut up, these are comfy." She grumbled, "just tell my siblings, if I don't get the chance, or forget."
"Fine, so you are going back to the cabin?" He asked.
"I am now, if the new kids out, why?" She asked.
"I'm gonna spend the night." Bandit said, jumping on her shoulder, now small enough to fit in one of her hands.
"Oh, and you… damn, your right, I do spend too much time with Selina and her sisters, anyway, what if dad doesn't let you?"
"Why wouldn't he? He hasn't before?" She rolled her eyes.
"Fine, let's get going, before the harpies come." With that the two of them made their way to the cabin with a boar's head on the front and what looked like the… various other parts decorating the walls.
(With the jinchuuriki)
After recovering from seasickness/teleportation sickness (with the exception of Yagura) they had their captain (Yagura, obviously) explain what had happened. After a brief discussion, i.e. Yagura being yelled at for being clumsy, they had decided that they would try using the 'underwater hell ride' as Utakata called it, to get to camp Jupiter.
After they all looked over the console they found out that the boat had a limited distance it could go per trip, the little circles that showed up on the map were the locations they could go through to get to camp Jupiter as quick as possible. So, fifteen more trips through water-world to get to their destination, something neither B, nor Utakata were particularly happy about, they voiced these opinions rather vocally. Roshi unfortunately pointed out that using the boat would shorten their journey considerably, and they reluctantly agreed to use it.
They did get the others to agree to camp here, at least for that day and they did, Yagura, Fu and Hana staid in the boat, making use of the surprisingly large cabins. The others, went ashore as soon as they could, B and Utakata sprinting across the lake the moment they were capable, apparently, they were seasick, Roshi too wasn't fond of the constant swaying. Garra and Yugito weren't too fond of water, Garra grew up in the desert, and Yugito was basically raised by a cat made of fire.
So, they spent the night there, and the next, at the insistence of both B and Utakata, it was on the third day that Yagura got to test out her new toy again. This time the necessary precautions were taken care of, i.e. they closed the doors, Hana took one look at them and assured her siblings that they would be able to handle the pressure, Roshi agreed, with a great deal of reluctance.
So, they were off again, this time they took the opportunity to scout out the location they would be heading to beforehand, Lake St Clair, Detroit. From there they would head to Iowa, and then they would take a break, from what Hana had discovered about the tech going into the water teleporter, it would be able to make a jump every six to ten hours or so. The maximum distance was a bit weird, there was no actual distance given, but it said in the safety manual that there were dangers in going too far, something to do with the boat being crushed under the pressure. The dots labelled were the distances they could cross safely, or rather the recommended distances, there was about a fifty-fifty chance that they could safely double that distance but, despite Hana saying that it would be okay, they decided that the risk of being crushed like a tin can was a bit high. Fun fact, the map also called this mode of transport pressure-travel, not very creative, but pretty much sums it up.
So, they finally went with the plan and, with Yagura at the wheel and the others freaking out below deck, they left Locust Lake.
Fun fact, it's called pressure travel mostly because of the horrifying pressure put on the boat, the first time it was attempted, the poor cyclops in the sub crumpled like paper. The boat needed to be reinforced to the point where it could survive the vacuum of space whilst being crushed by the weight of billions of gallons of water, it could, in theory be capable of surviving blows from Typhoon, not that it would do any good, since the occupants would find themselves as a nice even coat on the newly painted red interior if it came to it.
As it turned out, the only reason they actually survived the first jump was because Hana closed the door before it happened. Yagura only survived because she was a daughter of Poseidon, they could handle any kind of pressure, be it the pressure of the ocean above them, different atmospheric pressures (not that they'd get much chance to test that with their trigger-happy uncle) and even peer pressure.
So, after putting Utakata and B to sleep (by going in the mindscape, they didn't kill them) they were ready to go. Yagura was at the wheel, the others went below deck and began praying to their respective parents that all would go well. Now Yagura didn't get much time to admire what it was like to use this mode of travel the first time because she was so shocked by the water entering the boat, but now that she got the chance she was amazed.
You know that feeling you get as a plane is taking off, where it feels like you're stomach, and possibly other vital organs were left behind on the ground? Well picture that but in reverse, the boat was bobbing about on the water then suddenly there was water out the window, to most of the occupants it felt like a demented express elevator to hell. To Yagura it felt like the most thrilling roller-coaster ride ever.
The window outside (which didn't look particularly reinforce, but was probably magic) showed schools of fish scattering at the sight of the boat, and a particularly spooked jellyfish who rippled for a moment before turning around. Then it got really dark, like they reached the bottom of the ocean, suddenly the boat came to a stop, and for a second they were still, before they went flying up, like a yoyo.
They breached the surface and bobbed about for a bit, a few seagulls squawked and shifted about disgruntled but then resumed their usual activities. Yagura opened the hatch and stood on the deck looking onto the city not too far from them, she breathed in the air and frowned at how polluted it was, she had been on this world for a while and still didn't like the pollution, in their old world there was little to no pollution, in fact most of the villages relied on their environment.
She stepped down and knocked on the hatch down into the depths of the ship, signalling the others could get out. They stumbled out of the boat, B and Utakata still unconscious but they were being carried by Hana and Roshi, Fu went into the mindscape and woke the two of them.
They all looked at the Detroit sky and Utakata sighed, "how long until we have to do that again?"
"About eight hours," Hana said, "the length of time it takes to recharge is the distance multiplied by-"
"It's too early for a physics lecture sis." Fu said, before her wings sprouted and she flew up a bit, "besides, we have a city to explore." She bobbed up and down in the air giddily, "come on!"
"Wait up, we need to park the boat." Yagura said, Fu flew closer to the ship and pouted at her.
"Come on, I can fly, I'll go to the shore and start exploring, you lot can catch up if you want, besides what's the worst that can happen?" She asked earnestly.
"No, you aren't going to go galivanting by yourself, we are trying to make it to San Francisco as soon as possible, we already got held up by these two being scared of the water. We aren't making a detour for you to go exploring Detroit." Fu said.
"Fine, we can all water-walk why don't we just put down the anchor here and walk to shore?" The insect themed jinchuuriki asked.
"No, not a chance." B said, stopping his infuriating rapping as he became very pale, "I read through some of the books at camp, big three kids don't do well in their uncle's realm's, I think the only reason me and Utakata are still alive is Yagura."
"Calm down," Yagura said, "dad won't drown you, besides we aren't doing it, because we're all going to stay on the ship and until we get to the nearest port, then we're going to re-supply, we mightn't have enough food to make dinner for all of us."
"I agree," Utakata said, though he looked a bit green.
"Fine, but we won't spend eight hours re-supplying, so that means I can go explore." Fu said.
"No, we have to stick together." Yagura said.
"I'm not so sure." Roshi said, "Chiron said that demi-gods attract monsters, big three kids more than others, since we've got all three of those, I'd guess our scent is pretty strong."
"We can handle any monster that comes at us." Garra said.
"That may be, but they will slow us down, besides, some of the monsters here could prove to be challenging, like the hydra we faced, besides it is unwise to tempt fate like that." Roshi said, "also, even if we can fight them off, what if they come to the boat? What if it's damaged, I don't think your dad will be too happy we broke his gift only a few days after receiving it. It is also our quickest mode of transport."
Yagura looked torn for a moment before responding, "fine, but we need to pick a rendezvous point, the docks."
"I don't think we do, we're the only beings with chakra in this world, right? So, it would be safe to assume that we are the only beings capable of detecting chakra, all one of us needs to do is flare our chakra and the rest will come." Yugito said.
"Fine, but we aren't all going alone, partner up." Yagura said.
"Why? We can all handle ourselves." Fu asked.
"It's not for that, I know some of us," she glared at Fu and B, "are easily distracted, this is for them."
"Fair enough, but what are the groups and who's going shopping?"
"Well, someone needs to babysit B and Fu," Yagura said, at their indignant sounds in denial she continued, "so how about Garra and B, Fu and Yugito, Utakata and me and Hana and Roshi." They all agreed.
"Good, now let's go!" Fu said grabbing Yugito by her armpits, surprising her, and taking off in the general direction of the city, Garra sighed, before looking to B, he then commanded his sand to lift the two of them and take off in the same direction as their sisters. The other four remained, staring at their retreating forms before Yagura started the boat up and Utakata nearly threw up over the side, Roshi nearly joining him.