P.O.V- Milo
Jack, Gaspard, and I are walking toward the Skull Island market, our heads hung low and our spirits lowered. "Captain Allison isn't going to enjoy hearing this news, I just know it." Jack complains as we pass by that old water fountain in Avery's Court. Gaspard chuckles dryly. "Your captain ain't gonna care, Jack." A frown appears on Jack's face. "What do you mean she's not going to care? Seamus and Subodai are her friends; of course she's going to care!" He replies, confusion and outrage apparent in his voice. "Come now, Jack! Your captain could care less about those two! As long as she herself isn't in any trouble, it's no concern of hers!" Gaspard retorts, getting up in Jack's face. Jack, being the taller of the two, glares down at Gaspard. The two are chest to chest, glaring intensely into each other's eyes. Unsure of exactly what I should be doing in this situation, I just stand back and wait for something to happen. A crowd circles around us as the fight escalates.
"Say that again. I dare you." Jack growls, low and menacing. "You want the truth, pup? I'll give you the truth! Captain Allison Kidd is a pathetic excuse for a pirate captain, her blood-lust is a highly obnoxious trait, and she probably doesn't even give a damn about her own crew, let alone a useless pup such as yourself! If I had my way, I'd have both you and her thrown overboard to swim with the sharks!" Jack's fists ball up at his sides as his anger rises. Gaspard pauses for a second before he continues. "I do have to admit, as much as I do despise Captain Allison, there is someone else I despise even more than her." Jack unclenches his fists as he raises an eyebrow in confusion.
"Captain Victoria Nesbit." At the mention of my captain's name, I feel as if time itself has stopped. "Such a horrid, vile, heartless, child she is! The way she spoke to us in the Presidio, the way she orders around the lot of us, I wonder if she even knows how to smile, that cruel bitch! If I had my way, she'd-" A swift kick to the chest, and Gaspard falls to his knees on the dirt ground of Avery's Court. The crowd gasps at the sudden action. Clutching his stomach in pain, he glares icily up at me. "Never insult my captain when I'm around, you bastard." Turning away from a highly pissed off Gaspard, I push through the crowd and head off toward the market with Jack in tow. Both of us are grinning from ear to ear.
"That was one heck of a kick, Milo! I'm certain Gaspard will be feeling that one for quite some time!" Jack exclaims, laughter exploding from his lungs as he playfully punches my arm. I can't help but laugh along with him, but it doesn't last for too long. "The bastard had it coming. No one insults my captain." Suddenly Jack's laughter stops. Out the corner of my eye, I see him smirking in my direction. "What?" I ask, feeling slightly unnerved by the smirk. "You like Captain Victoria, don't you?" Praying that this isn't what I think it is, I simply brush it off as if it's nothing. "Of course I do. She saved me from those confounded monkeys and took me on her crew. What's not to like about all that?" "You know that's not what I mean, Milo." That smirk hasn't left his face. I blush furiously at the oh-so-accurate accusation. Hopefully no one notices.
"What? Me like Captain Victoria? Where did you get such a ridiculous idea like that from?" I reply, trying to make it sound convincing. Jack chuckles at my response. "Oh Milo, you make it so obvious! The way you always rush to her defense, the way you care so much about her happiness, just admit it! You're in love!" I swear my face is on fire at this point. "Oh yeah? What about you and your captain, huh? I've seen the way you look at Allison when she ain't looking. Not to mention you gave that goose a death glare as we were leaving Gullet." Jack's face reddens at my remark. A smile appears on his face as he replies, "At least I can admit it."
Before I can come up with any type of clever comeback, Jack and I walk down the stone steps toward Skull Island's small market area- complete with a Tavern, a few small shops, and even a dueling arena- just in time to see members of Allison's crew exit one of the small shops in the area. The young Watermole Spearman notices us and tugs on his companions sleeves to get his attention. The goose also takes note of our presence as Jack and I approach them. "Any luck?" I ask. Egg sighs as Nanu stares at the sandy ground with an expression of sadness. "I'm afraid not. None of the shopkeepers has seen any sign of Subodai or Seamus." Egg says, unable to hide the concern in his voice. "We had no luck, either. None of the class trainers or even Avery has seen them." Jack replies in the same tone. "Hopefully others have better luck. Let us find them." Nanu suggests.
The four of us venture off in search of the others, hoping that they at least have a clue as to where our two missing friends have gone. "Milo! Hey, Milo! Wait up!" I turn and see two familiar faces rushing towards us. They are none other than my two crewmates Kobe and Barnabus. Once they catch up to us, they stop to catch their breath. "Did you two have any luck finding them?" Egg asks, genuinely curious. "We searched every inch of Skull Mountain, even in the Skull Cave! They were nowhere to be found." Kobe explains once his breathing was less ragged. "Captain's not gonna be happy about that." Barnabus says with his head hung low. At the mention of my captain a wave of sadness passes through my system. If no one else found any useful information about where those two could be, she will be heartbroken. I sigh, yet again hoping that someone has some sort of clue as to their whereabouts.
Out the corner of my eye I see Bonnie and Sara exit the Kraken Skulls Tavern just ahead of us. They see us all congregated in the center of the market area and come to join us, their movements slower than usual. It doesn't take a genius to realize that their news isn't going to be good news. Egg and I seem to be thinking alike because, without even looking at them, he says, "I guess you two had as little luck as we did." It was not a question, and the girls knew it. They refuse to look any of us directly in the eyes. After a short pause, Bonnie finds words to speak. "No one in the tavern has seen either one of them since last week." "Last week? What were they doing there? Subodai hates almost every drink they serve." Barnabus asks, a look of pure confusion spreading across his face. "Seamus was feeling down one day, so Subodai took him out to the tavern to cheer him up. They played some darts, ordered a few drinks, and came right back home." Sara explains as a smile forms on her face. "Why didn't you guys go with?" A still confused sloth asks. Bonnie starts to smile as well as she replies. "We figured that they needed some time alone. You know, like a guy's night out." She and Sara share a knowing glance as Barnabus stands there seeming even more confused. He decides to let it go for now as the remaining members of our pirating group approach us.
"We could not find them on the docks." Emmett says as our captains stand on either side of him. "Did you guys have any luck?" Allison asks. A reply isn't necessary; the way everyone refuses to look the young captain in the eye is enough of a response for them. An awkward silence rises as we all just stand there, refusing to look at each other. After a minute I risk a glance at my captain. My heart breaks at the sight. She's just staring at the ground, a look of pure sadness washing over her entire being as she trembles slightly. I've never seen her so fragile. The desire to reach out hold her close to me surfaces, but I force it back for whatever reason.
Suddenly, Barnabus's voice breaks through the silence. "Ooh! I know a place we haven't checked yet!" The sloth joyfully exclaims, attracting attention from nearby passersby. Immediately Victoria's head snaps up to meet his eyes. "Where?!" She replies, her eyes filled with a mixture of hope and desperation. "Subodai once told me about a friend of his who lives in a tent here on Skull Island! He's a Watermole Witchdoctor named Maka Motl. He specializes in medicines and remedies of all kinds. He probably took Seamus there so he would heal him! All we have to do is find a rope bridge somewhere near the market!" Barnabus replies, overjoyed that he's being as helpful as he is. "Is that the bridge over there, Barnabus?" Emmett asks. Barnabus takes a look in the direction Emmett's eyes have wandered to, and nods his head enthusiastically. "Yeah, that one! His tent should be on the other side!" "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving!" Gaspard exclaims as we all charge toward that bridge. When did he get here? I didn't even notice he had joined us until after his exclamation.
Once we all have crossed the bridge, we scan the area in search of a tent. This area is fairly similar to that of Skull Mountain, minus the troggies and cutthroats. Palm trees stand tall on various edges of land, buckets overflowing with sap hanging from them. Rocks covered in a yellowish-orange mold are scattered throughout the area. Almost every inch of the area is grass, minus the small sandy pathway that leads to a place unknown.
We decide to split up into two groups: Nanu, Emmett, Kobe, Barnabus, Sara, and Gaspard are put in charge of searching near the bridge while Egg, Bonnie, Jack, Allison, Victoria, and I will follow the path to its end. As the six of us venture deeper into the forest-like area, we end up in a formation of sorts. Egg and Bonnie make up the rear, Allison and Jack settle in the middle, and Victoria and I somehow got to lead this expedition. Finally we reach the end of the path, and Egg makes a sudden announcement. "I see the tent up ahead!" Up ahead we spot a small yellow tent. Outside a fire is roaring, even though it's the middle of the day, and a watermole is seen sitting beside it.
We all stop and stare at him for a while. After about a minute of this, the witchdoctor turns and stares in our direction. "Can I help you?" He asks, confused at the sudden invasion. Victoria clears her throat and tries to keep her voice steady. I don't think she can handle any more disappointment. "Are you Watermole Witchdoctor Maka Motl?" She asks. He rises to his feet as he replies. "Yes. Do you need remedy? I have some available." "No, we don't need any remedies." This confuses him quite a bit. "Then what is it you need?" He asks. Victoria pauses, reluctant to ask her question. Unable to bear this silence, I speak up for her. "Have you seen a Horse Barbarian come through here? With his captain, perhaps?"
His eyes light up at the mention of a Horse Barbarian. "Ah, do you mean Subodai? He is good friend of mine! He came by earlier carrying a very badly injured pirate in his arms. I healed his injuries with one of my remedies." His eyes suddenly darkened as he continued his tale. "Once his remedies were healed and he was fully dressed, do not ask about that, they were ambushed by a nasty rat pirate and his Waponi army. I wanted to help, but know nothing outside of cures and remedies. They were taken away. I am sorry." He lowers his head in a gesture of sadness. Victoria copies his action, and my hearts breaks at the sight. I truly do feel sorry for her. I would do anything if I knew that it would take away her sorrows. Unable to stare at her sadness any longer, I scan the faces and reactions of the rest of our crew. As expected, they all wear matching looks and worry and concern. Allison is probably not doing any better than Victoria emotionally, but I have noticed that she has a better hold on her emotions than Victoria does.
Allison lets her worry turn to anger as she asks a question through gritted teeth. "Do you know where he went?" Maka ponders this for a minute before responding. "I believe rat said something about Waponi Wu." Jack's eyes widen as he makes a realization. "Wait a minute, isn't there an active volcano on Waponi Wu?" The fear easily stands out above any other emotion he is feeling. Everyone else's eyes widen as the fact dawns on them as well. "Alright guys, let's get going! We've got a job to do, and it ain't gonna be easy!" Allison orders as she and the others run off down the path.
Before Victoria can take even take one step, I grab her wrist to stop her. She tries to struggle out of my grasp, but that only makes me tighten my grip. After a minute she realizes she can't win, and reluctantly turns to face me. I take a deep breath before I speak. "Captain, you're worrying too much about this. Subodai and Seamus will be alright. We will get to them in time, and then everything will be alright. Please try to stop worrying so much, if not for us then for yourself. It's not good for you at all." Her blue eyes stare into my gray ones, and I immediately become paralyzed. I never have noticed how beautiful her eyes truly are, how much emotion is hidden behind them. I don't think I've ever seen something so beautiful in my entire life.
She lowers her head, and I expect her to start crying. Instead, she surprises me with a small, shy, smile. "Come on, Milo. We'd better catch up with the others." Her voice is quieter than usual. I smile as I release her from my grip, and follow her out of the forest-like area. A thought pops into my head as we head off down the path. 'I don't mind her usual attitude, not at all, but I wouldn't mind if she'd act like that more often…'