Capper had lived in Klugetown for quite some time, and it wasn't a place that he particularly cared for. The dessert town reminded him of a black hole that just sucked away all of the light that a creature may have, and it was nearly impossible to escape from. Verko controlled the whole town, and very few creatures were able to leave without his say-so and resources. Capper had only gotten away from Klugetown because he had pretty much been kidnapped by that crazy purple pony with a broken horn.
Capper hadn't necessarily been glad when he had been taken away from the town, he had been too worried for his safety to feel any sort of relief. After all the excitement had died down and Capper had the room to properly breath, he certainly hadn't complained about being away from the dessert town. He hadn't been in any rush to get back there. It had nearly been three weeks since Capper had been to Klugetown, and he was nowhere near ready to return. Capper actually wouldn't mind if he never returned, and yet, here they were.
Even though Capper didn't say so, he was relieved that Celaeno had ordered him to stay on the ship. Klugetown was a dangerous place, and though Capper was too stubborn and cautious to say so out loud, he wasn't in any state to defend himself if he ran into trouble. Capper could normally deal with hunger well enough, he had been doing it his whole life, but he had made a mistake earlier that day.
Capper had known from day one that he couldn't eat a lot of the bird seed. He knew that he should have said something about this to Celaeno, but he hadn't. Capper had kept his mouth shut partially because he hadn't wanted to worry the others or be a burden, but also partially because he had been worried that they wouldn't care. Capper knew that he wasn't being fair towards the pirates. They had let him join their crew, and he didn't trust them.
He couldn't help it. Capper had been burned pretty badly the last time he had really trusted somebody, and it was really hard for him to move on from that.
So Capper tried to keep his problems to himself. He had thought that if he just ate the bird seed a little bit at a time, that it would be enough and he wouldn't get sick. It had worked for a bit, but after two weeks of barely nibbling at food Capper's hunger had really caught up with him. It had felt as though his stomach was eating him from the inside out. He had been in pain, and he was so tired and sluggish all the time. He had needed something more, so he had eaten nearly his whole serving of bird seed, and his stomach had protested against it in a horrible way.
Now, Capper was still as hungry as he had been before, but because he had gotten sick from the bird seed the pain was even worse.
Capper had been this hungry enough times in his life to know that if he couldn't immediately get his paws on some food, then at the very least he needed to distract himself from the hunger. Luckily, he had two crewmates on the ship with him, and they were surprisingly entertaining.
"I don't think I've seen Mullet this tense before." Capper commented as he watched the first mate pace along the deck, his talons twitching at the sword that he had around his waist. By the way that Mullet was glancing towards the town every five seconds, Capper knew that he was anxious for the others to return, he just didn't know why. Capper turned to Squabble, who was sitting right next to him, playing with some wooden figures, and gestured back to Mullet. "Tell me, is it normal for him to get like this when we dock?"
Squabble squawked loudly and nodded his head eagerly. Mullet paused in his pacing to glare their way.
"I do not." Mullet dropped his hand away from the sword, though he didn't drag his gaze away from the town. "I just don't likes this place."
Capper didn't think that anybody actually liked Klugetown, but Mullet's attitude of the place reminded him of his own. If Mullet didn't like the town, he probably had a really good reason why.
"Y'all have a bad experience here or somethin'?" Capper asked. A dark look came into Mullet's eye, and Squabble stopped playing with his wooden figures and seemed to freeze up. Capper began to feel concerned. If it was bothering Squabble, who never seemed to be bothered by anything, then it must be something pretty bad. "What happened?"
Mullet clenched his talons tightly. "Verko." He growled the word with so much hate, not that Capper could blame him. Capper himself had had a couple of bad experiences with Verko, but he considered himself lucky that he had never actually been through anything, just been threatened...numerous times.
Squabble squawked unhappily, stood up, and made his way to Mullet. The shorter bird nuzzled up against Mullet, probably in an attempt to comfort him, but Squabble was stronger than her thought he was. His 'nuzzle' ended up being more of a tackle that knocked Mullet off his feet and sent them both to the ground.
Capper chuckled at the two birds. This soon turned to full on laughter when Mullet tried to get back to his feet, but Squabble stopped him. The shorter bird apparently liked the fact that they were both on the ground, as it made it easier for him to nuzzle Mullet's neck. The first mate tried to get away from the other, but his attempts were in vain.
"Alright, alright, I get it." Mullet laughed as he finally just gave in. He ruffled the red feathers on Squabble's head. "I'm fine, brother, I promise."
"Y'all are brothers?" Capper raised an eyebrow. He had gathered that the three guys were all brothers, it wasn't as though it was something that they tried to hide, but this was the first time that he had actually heard confirmation. Capper made a show of eyeing the two of them carefully. A moment later he shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. There's not much of a family resemblance there."
Squabble let out a loud, high pitched screech that made Capper laugh and put his hands up in surrender. He may not speak Orinthian, but he understood enough to know that Squabble wasn't amused. "I'm just kidding." Capper quickly assured him with a chuckle. "Trust me, I can tell that y'all are brothers."
"He's just messing with us." Mullet grinned. He at least sounded rather amused by the whole thing. Or maybe he was just happy that he was able to slip out of Squabble's reach.
"It's a little hard to doubt that you two are related after seeing the way you interact with each other." Capper crossed his arms and shook his head slightly. "No creatures that aren't related are that close."
"I know of many families that aren't as close as we are." Mullet got back to his feet. Squabble squawked something that Capper, of course, couldn't understand. Mullet, however, nodded his head in agreement. "True, there are actually many close friends who might as well be family."
"Really?" Capper didn't know if he believed that. Maybe he would believe that Rarity and her pony friends had that kind of closeness, but he had never heard of any other kind of creature who had such a familial kind of friendship.
"Sure." Mullet looked at Capper curiously, a sly look in his eye that the Abyssinian didn't trust. "Why do you sound so surprised? When we first found you stowed away on our ship, you seemed pretty chummy with that other Abyssinian you were with. You sure the two of you didn't...Capper?" Mullet's teasing tone had fallen away and he looked at Capper with complete concern. "Are you...alright?"
"I'm...fine." Capper said stiffly. He didn't notice how he had become stiff as a board at the reminder of Chummer. He hadn't noticed how he had started to dig his claws into the deck of the ship. He hadn't noticed how his tail had bristled, or his eyes had become somewhat glossy. Capper hadn't noticed any of this, but both Mullet and Squabble had noticed it all.
"Did something happen?" Mullet slowly approached Capper and sat down on the deck next to him, though he was careful to respect Capper's personal space.
Capper was tempted to not share what had happened between him and Chummer, but he was too tired and weak to tell a convincing lie. And Celaeno wanted him to trust the crew more and open himself up to them, so he did. Capper had only meant to tell the brothers the abridged version that he had previously told Celaeno, but once he got talking he found that he couldn't stop. The words just came pouring out, and soon Capper forgot that he even had an audience at all. It was just him, finally admitting out loud what he had been trying to deny for so long.
"We had grown up together." Capper said in a quiet, tired voice after he had finished getting Chummer's betrayal off his chest. Capper sighed, his ears lay flat. "We had always had each others backs. I would have jumped at the chance to call him my brother, because to me, that's what he was"
"I didn't ever say it out loud though, because he didn't want me to." Capper frowned and folded his arms across his chest. He told himself that it was just because he was getting cold, which, to be fair, was at least the partial truth. However, he didn't think that he could warm up or get rid of the cold, empty feeling that had been festering inside of him since Chummer had left. "He never liked it when I said he was like my brother. I guess it's because he never felt the same way."
Capper had avoided even thinking these thoughts, because they brought so much pain. Talking about all of it just made the pain all the more real. At the same time though, it felt like a weight that had been pulling him down had fallen away. He still felt like he was drowning, but at least now there was a chance that he could get away from the suffocating feelings that Chummer's betrayal had caused.
Mullet and Squabble had listened to him in silence. By the time he was finished, he could tell that they both felt sorry for him. He didn't exactly like being pitied, but he didn't necessarily mind it either. All his life Capper had only known other creatures that would just get annoyed by someone else's pain. It actually felt pretty good that his pain wasn't being ignored or ridiculed.
"That sounds horrible." Mullet said. Squabble let out a sad noise of agreement and curled up against Capper, nuzzling him slightly. "And after knowing each other your whole lives-well, it's no wonder you don't trust us."
Capper flinched slightly. He hadn't meant for the others to notice that he had trust issues. It had nothing to do with them. It was his own problem, and Capper just knew that at least some of the crew would take it personally. Like he would trust them if they just tried hard enough, even though that wasn't how things worked.
"Hey, I trust ya'll." Capper protested, because he really did trust them...in some ways. In other ways, not so much. "I'm just...cautious."
Squabble squawked loudly and grabbed tightly to Capper's arm, in an almost protective way. Mullet gave his brother a stern, almost scolding look. "Hey, you don't get to say stuff like that."
"What did he say?" Capper asked. He needed to learn what these squawks meant, because he didn't know how much longer he could deal with not understanding anything that Squabble said.
Mullet sighed. "My brother was just cursing that old friend of yours. Says that it was a good thing that he didn't let you call him brother, because he didn't deserve the title." Capper was surprised that Squabble had said all that in a single squawk.
"No, he's right." Capper said. "I guess I'll just be siblingless forever." Capper moaned in an overly dramatic way that made Mullet laugh. Squabble squawked in disagreement and nuzzled closer to Capper. Whatever he said, it made Mullet laugh even harder.
"I don't think you get to make that decision on your own, Squabble." Mullet chuckled. "Though, it's not a bad idea."
"What?" Capper looked from one bird to the other.
Mullet shook his head. "Squabble doesn't think that it's fair that he has two brothers and you don't have any, so he has decided to share his brothers with you."
Capper's chest tightened uncomfortably, though even he didn't know what it meant. "I don't think that's how it works."
"Why not?" Mullet asked simply. "This crew is like a family, you know that." Capper did know that, but somehow the word 'brother' felt much more personal. He wasn't sure if he was ready to take that leap.
Mullet stood up and grabbed Squabble arm. He pulled him away from Capper to give him a little room, which he appreciated. Capper had been feeling overwhelmed, and having Squabble curling up against him was not helping.
"If you don't feel comfortable with it, that's fine." Mullet assured him. "But, if you're ready to call someone 'brother' again-"
"I'll...think about it." Capper didn't think that it was going to happen, but he just didn't know. He hadn't really thought about this before. There was a lot of complicated feelings that he had to get over and consider before he made any serious decisions, and letting himself get close to somebody again was a very serious decision. Capper knew that it was risky, but maybe…
"That's good enough for me." Mullet let go of Squabble's arm, and Capper was relieved that the smaller bird didn't jump right back onto him. Mullet turned his gaze back to the town and frowned. "The others have been gone for a while."
Capper would normally reassure Mullet that everything was fine. They both knew that trips into town could take quite some time, but especially if one was looking for something specific, which was exactly what their crew was doing. Still, it had been an awfully long time, and Capper was eager to get out of that town.
"If you're concerned, why don't you go look for them?" Capper suggested. Mullet didn't look happy about the suggestion. He was very clearly tempted, but still conflicted. Mullet wanted to find out what was taking the others so long, but he didn't feel okay with leaving Squabble and Capper on the ship by themselves, and Capper definitely wasn't in any state to be leaving.
"Go find the others." Capper insisted. "We can handle things here for a few minutes." It was incredibly unlikely that something would happen. And the best way to make sure that they weren't threatened by the citizens of Klugetown was by leaving the place as soon as possible.
Mullet sighed and reluctantly took his sword, which he handed to Squabble. "You're in charge of Capper while I'm gone." Mullet then looked at Capper. "And you're in charge of Squabble. Watch each other's backs, and don't go anywhere. I'll be back soon."
Capper was glad that Mullet had given the sword to Squabble, because he had absolutely no experience fighting with a weapon. Capper could smooth talk his way out of most any situation, but he had never used a sword in his life. He didn't like to get his paws dirty. He would rather rely on his silver tongue than an old blade, but if things really came down to it and a sword was needed, it should be wielded by somebody who at least had an idea of what they were doing.
Mullet hurried off of the ship and ran into the old town. Capper didn't think that Klugetown was the kind of place where anybody should be wandering by themselves, but he wasn't worried about Mullet. That bird knew how to take care of himself.
Once Mullet was gone, Squabble climbed onto the rigging and kept look out. He didn't seem all that concerned, so Capper believed that he was just doing this out of habit. Squabble was their lookout. He knew how to spot things from a distance, and he had good instincts on whether something was a threat or not.
As Squabble kept an eye on the town, he 'talked' cheerfully to Capper. As his talking consisted of squawks and other bird noises, Capper didn't have an idea what he was saying. He enjoyed hearing him talk though. In a way it was somewhat comforting and relaxing, hearing something that he couldn't understand, something that he didn't have to think about, coming from a source that he saw as friendly.
Capper wasn't the kind of creature that let his guard down around others, but he found himself dozing off to the sound of Squabble 'talking' to him. He just felt safe, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this. He had always had to watch his back, even when he was with others that he trusted. But...this was different.
Capper dozed into a half asleep state. He was just barely holding onto the threads of consciousness when Squabble squawked loudly and bit his arm. All sense of drowsiness gone in an instant, Capper snapped awake. A part of him was irritated that Squabble had disturbed him, but a larger part of him was concerned, because the bird sounded worried about something, and Capper didn't think that he would have woken him over nothing.
"What's wrong?" Capper quickly got to his feet, though he did have to grab the side of the ship to keep himself up for a moment. He had been sitting down for so long because Celaeno had insisted that he needed to rest, but if there was danger, it really wasn't a good time to let himself adjust slowly.
Squabble gestured towards the town. Capper followed Squabble's gaze and grimaced when he saw a couple of shady creatures hanging around the dock. Almost every creature in Klugetown could be considered 'shady', but, unfortunately, Capper knew that these creatures were worse than most others were. There were about a dozen creatures, and eleven of them just looked like generic thugs. The last creature, Capper recognized in an instant. It would be pretty sad if he didn't recognize the little creature that had stood outside his house every day.
"Needy, you sneaky little monster." Capper scowled. He gently pushed Squabble behind him. Needy on his own wasn't dangerous, but he was a sneaky little snitch. If Needy was around, his boss wasn't far behind, and Capper wasn't ready to have another run in with Verko.
Capper and Needy made eye contact with each other, and the bug eyed little creature clearly recognized Capper just as much as Capper recognized him. "Little kitten, long time no see!" Needy waved up at him.
"Not long enough, rodent." Capper's ears twitched. This was one reason why he really hated Klugetown. Everybody there that knew him treated him as though he was a child. Nobody respected him. And yet, unfortunately, every creature refused to overlook anything that he did. It had definitely been the worst of both worlds.
Capper looked back towards Squabble, who was getting fidgety. "Let me deal with this." His big mouth may have gotten him into this trouble with Verko in the first place, but it had also kept him from getting hurt too badly. Capper had to trust his instincts and stick with what he knew.
Capper took a deep breath and straightened his posture. In Capper's dealings with Verko, he had come to realize that the rodent's goons practically fed off of fear. He couldn't let these guys know that he was unnerved. Things would only get worse for him if he did.
By the time that Needy had led the thugs up the gangplank, Capper had regained his composure enough to appear in control of the situation. After living a life filled with thievery and lies, Capper had learned that if he wanted somebody to believe what he was saying, then he needed to act like he believed it himself.
"Verko got word that there was an unauthorized ship in his town." Needy said in that obnoxious voice of his. The little creature usually kept silent, but when Verko had a message that he wanted delivered, Needy was right there to deliver it with a voice that was so grating that it could make ears bleed. "Rumor was that there was an Abyssinian on board. Just wait till the boss hears that his little kitty really has returned."
Capper's tail twitched nervously. So Verko already knew that he was back in town. That wasn't good. And he hadn't missed how Needy had said that he was Verko's little kitty. Verko was a possessive creature, but he didn't label his debtors as 'his'. That was reserved just for his merchandise.
This was really not good.
"Look, if Verko wants his money, I can get him his money." Capper held up his paws in a defensive manner. While it was true that Capper didn't currently have any money, the crew certainly did. Capper was sure that there was enough money below the decks of the ship to pay off his debt to Verko. He felt bad about even considering using the crew's treasure, but his life might just be on the line. They could always get more treasure. He was sure that Celaeno and the others would understand...wouldn't they?
Needy narrowed his buggy little eyes at Capper. "Verko's not interested in your money any more." Needy nodded at two of the thugs, and with a speed that neither of them looked capable of, the two goons rushed forward and grabbed Capper's arms before he could even think of running away. "The boss has something else in mind for you."
Capper didn't like his tone. He really didn't like his tone. He needed to get out of there before things escalated.
And, fortunately, he had somebody there to help him out of the tight situation.
Squabble shrieked furiously and bit one of the goons that was holding Capper's arm. The thug yelped in pain and let go, and Capper didn't blame him. Nips from birds could hurt if that was what they wanted to do, and with Squabble's metal upper beak, it was just that much worse. Capper was grateful for the assist, but it didn't do him much good. He only had one thug holding his arm at that point, but whether it was one guy or two, if the grip was like iron, he wasn't going to pull away.
That wasn't even the worst of it. Capper was horrified to see that the thug that had dropped his arm had gotten a hold of Squabble, and his grip didn't look like it was all that gentle either.
"Let him go!" Capper hissed furiously. He was not going to be responsible for any of his friends getting taken by Verko.
"Kitty, you're defending an Ornithian?" Needy looked at him in shock. "I thought you didn't have ties with anybody?"
Capper's ears twitched and he took a moment to mentally push back his fear and fury. He wasn't going to let Squabble get hurt, but he had to be smart about this. Verko had a fascination with birds, half the creatures that were sold and bought in Klugetown were birds or Ornithians. He would probably want to get his hands on Squabble, even if he didn't know that he could use the pirate to get to Capper. No, he had to do more than convince them that he didn't care about Squabble, he had to convince them that they would be better off if they didn't take the bird.
"It doesn't matter if I have ties with him or not." Capper forced his voice to remain even and casual. "Y'all had better listen to me when I say that you don't want this one."
"Oh, and why is that?" Needy asked. At that very moment Squabble screeched so loudly that he was probably heard back in town. Squabble began to squirm so violently that it looked like he was trying to fly away. Capper knew that Ornithians couldn't fly, but if he hadn't already been aware of that, he never would have guessed. Squabble was desperate, going absolutely crazy. Capper felt bad that Squabble was so clearly scared, but it would make his goal easier to achieve.
"He's a wild one." Capper leaned towards his captor, away from Squabble. "Can't be tamed."
"Verko's dealt with 'untamable' creatures before." Needy reminded him.
"Not like this one." Capper insisted. He glanced around nervously for show and held up his available paw to block his mouth from Squabble's view. "You see those crazy eyes? His molted feathers? Those, my friend, are signs of Senguisitis. A thirst for blood."
Needy gave him an annoyed look He clearly didn't believe him. That was okay. Capper wasn't done yet.
"Fine, don't believe me." Capper shook his head and shrugged. "But I would keep my fingers away from his mouth if I were you."
Needy opened his mouth, probably to call him out, when the thug that was holding Squabble screamed in pain and let go of him. However, Squabble refused to let go of him.
"Get him off!" Squabble's captor tried to shake him off, but he wasn't getting anywhere with it. Squabble had gotten his beak into his arm, and he wasn't about to let go.
"Be careful to not agitate him." Capper cautioned. "He gets vicious when he's agitated."
"You mean he's not agitated now?" Two more thugs had to help pry Squabble away, and even then it was still really tough.
"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." Capper said sincerely. Squabble was tough and unpredictable. He could handle a couple of goons for a bit. Capper just really didn't want to test how long Squabble could last for. "If you still want to take him to Verko…"
"Leave the bird." Needy ordered. "And make sure he doesn't follow us." Needy then approached Capper and glared at him. "I'm doing you a favor here, Capper. Your friend is off the hook, but if you give us a hard time…" Needy trailed off, leaving the threat wide open.
"I haven't tried to escape yet, have I?" Capper turned and watched as the thugs dragged Squabble to Celaeno's cabin and locked him in there. They probably used more force than was necessary, but Squabble wasn't hurt, so Capper wasn't going to complain. He just hoped that the others returned soon, because he knew that Squabble would just end up hurting himself if he continued to screech like he was a siren.
Capper was worried about Squabble, but as Needy and Verko's thugs dragged him off of the ship, his concern turned inwards. He had gotten Squabble out of the mess. Now he just needed to find a way to get himself out. And something told him it wouldn't be nearly as easy.
Capper let himself be dragged along, but he couldn't help but freeze up and fight back the tiniest bit when he laid his eyes on the glorified cage on wheels that Verko's goons had brought with them. He had thought that he could handle whatever they threw his way and get out before things got too serious, but the second Capper saw the cage that he just knew they planned to put him in, he realized that he was not ready for this.
"H-hey now, is this really necessary?" Capper said nervously as he tried to dig his feet into the ground. He wasn't strong enough to get out of their grip though, and it wasn't long before he was forced into the cage.
"It's just protocol." Needy reassured him as he took a seat at the front of the cage carriage and snapped the reigns to get the creatures that were pulling it to move forward.
Protocol. Capper rolled his eyes. Just because Verko did this to everybody did not mean that he felt comfortable having it happen to him. He wasn't just some wild animal that could be caged and tamed. He was a living creature, just like anybody else. Though, of course, to Verko, there wasn't a difference.
Capper didn't know exactly what Verko wanted with him, but he knew that it couldn't be anything good. Nothing that had to do with Verko ever was. He knew he had to get out of there. And he thought that he had an idea on how to do just that.
"So, is Verko capturing all of his debtors, or am I just lucky?" Capper leaned casually against the bars that were right near where Needy was sitting. He knew that this wasn't something that Verko was doing for every creature. If that were the case, half the citizens of Klugetown would be crowded into Verko's home/prison. He had to get Needy talking though.
"He's not happy with you, Capper." Needy kept his eyes glued forward. He could be a real professional when he wanted to be.
"He never is." Capper said. "So what was the metaphorical straw that broke his back?" Capper actually knew exactly what it was.
"You let your magical ponies escape." Needy reminded him.
Now, that wasn't my fault." Capper said slyly.
Needy looked over his shoulder to give him an annoyed look. Capper saw his opportunity, and he took it. Quick as he could, without raising much of a ruckus, Capper slid his tail through the bars and snaked it to Needy's right side. The side that he was turned away from. "Of course, it doesn't help that you brought a crazy unicorn behind you." Capper hurried to wrap his tail around the ring of keys that Needy had around his waist while the bug eyed freak spoke. Bingo. And then you left."
"I wouldn't exactly say getting kidnapped would qualify as leaving." Capper muttered, but he didn't fight him further on it. He had gotten what he had wanted. He couldn't risk losing it all just to defend his honor to somebody who likely wouldn't listen anyways. Capper made his way to the back of the cage and leaned against those bars instead. Still holding the keys in his tail, he slipped his tail through the bars again and brought them to the keyhole. He was just as handy with his tail as he was with his paws. Without too much difficulty he was able to unlock the cage. Capper could have escaped right at that moment if he wanted to, but he fought off the temptation. He had to be smart about this.
Verko's place wasn't far from the docks. They probably would have been just fine walking there. The carriage cage was just a power play, nothing more. Within just a few minutes they reached their destination. Needy hopped off his seat and made his way past the guards at the front door. Two of Verko's thugs that were just hanging around, there were always a handful lingering around the town, approached the cage to get him out. Capper was two steps ahead of them though.
The very moment that Needy had made his way inside, Capper made his move. He pushed open the cage doors and rolled right out of the thug's reach. They may be stronger than him, but he was faster and smarter than any of Verko's creatures were. Capper ran like his life depended on it, because it very well might.
Capper had let himself get careless. He was so desperate to get away that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. Capper had run into the first alleyway that he had seen. It was a good idea in theory, if he got off of the main streets, it would be easier to lose anybody that might be following him. He hadn't taken into account that the first alleyway lead directly behind Verko's lair. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if Verko's lair didn't happen to have a back door, and the rodent had gotten to know Capper fairly well in his time in Klugetown.
Capper yelped in pain when he felt a sharp tug on his tail. It stopped him dead in his tracks and caused him to trip hard.
"You're so predictable, Capper." Verko sneered from above him. Capper grimaced and looked over his shoulder to see the rodent's ugly face sneering at him. Verko looked way too happy to see him. "I've always liked how sneaky you were." That was a lie. "But I can't have you trying to escape from me again." Whatever Verko had in mind for him, it couldn't be anything good. And Capper was beginning to worry that he wouldn't be able to get out of this one.