Nym quickly walked to the back. Arlo and Timbo were around the cooling table. "Don't worry, Jinbei, there's a cheat sheet on the counter," she yelled. She turned to face Arlo and Timbo and took a deep breath, "Holy cow, I'm starving. Did you get my usual?"

Arlo passed the spicy pork container with one hand and opened his own with the other. He grabbed chopsticks and started eating. The three of them ate happily. "So, has it been busy?" he asked between bites.

"Not too bad for a Tuesday," answered Nym between bites. "I think Jinbei's a little nervous, but he should be fine."

"The only problem we should have is if the school house came dow..," chuckled Timbo. Arlo and Nym put one hand over his mouth before the word "down" came out. There was anger in their eyes.

"Don't even joke about that!" warned Arlo.

"You remember the last time the school came down?" hissed Nym. Then Timbo's eyes got really big and he shuddered. They removed their hands.

"You're right, sorry," shrugged Timbo. They went back to eating.

They were about done eating when Hank came in from the back door. "What? I didn't know that today was ramen day. You should have gotten me some," he said. Then he noticed that all three of them were in the back. His eyes changed becoming more cat like, "Is Jinbei up front?" he asked.

"Yes," Nym quickly answered, "but he should be fine." Hank landed a punch on Nym's head. Arlo and Timbo stifled laughs into their ramen. The punch seemed to speak volumes to Nym. "Ouch! Fine I'll go help him!" She got up and left rubbing her head and swearing under her breath. Hank smiled and moved to Nym's seat and moved the container closer.

"Careful, its spicy pork," said Arlo. Hank frowned and pushed it aside. "You know you shouldn't have hit her. We weren't that busy. Jinbei would've been fine for a couple of minutes."

"You're right. To be honest I just wanted her ramen. I'll just bring this up to her and say sorry," replied Hank.

"No, you shouldn't take the ramen to her," said Arlo quickly.

"Why?" Hank asked staring at his grandson with a questioning eye. Timbo was watching the two of them like a stage play, silently eating and staring at both of them.

Arlo sighed, "Because Jinbei was the reason Nym and I were back here. He tried to make breakfast and it was terrible."

Hank landed a punch, "You should tell him."

"Augh," said Arlo, "I'll do it later."

Hank walked to the front of the store to talk to Nym. A few seconds later Nym came back. "That old son of a Mink just wanted to my ramen. I love him to death, but he needs to use his words more and his fists less." She went back to eating her ramen.

Then the rest of them got to work after everything was eaten. Hank and Nym were up front, while Arlo, Timbo, and Jinbei were working in the back. Around five o'clock, the store was ready to close. Everyone was ready for the day to be over. "Why don't we have a barbeque at the base tonight?" asked Nym.

"Sure how long has it been since we've hung out there?" wondered Timbo who was cleaning the windows.

"It's been a year," replied Arlo who was counting the money.

"Really that long?" asked Nym who was locking up the front door.

"Yes, and you know what I think I have some stakes." Arlo put the money away. He wrote down the amount of money they made for the day.

"The base?" asked Jinbei who was sweeping the floor.

"Yeah, we passed it yesterday when we went to the river," replied Arlo who was closing the safe and stretched. Jinbei then remembered the tree house that had the green flag. Maybe he would find out the reason why Arlo had a tear in his eye yesterday.

"Okay," smiled Nym, "Let's meet there in about an hour." The store was closed and the four of them went their separate ways. Arlo and Jinbei went to Arlo's house. Arlong was running ahead of them and happily barking. The birds were happily singing in the trees. Arlo opened the door and went to the kitchen.

Jinbei went upstairs to Arlo's room. On the bed there was another bag of clothes. This bag had a green shirt and a grey shirt, a pair of jeans, khaki and brown shorts. He put on the brown shorts. He had a feeling he might be in the water tonight.

He went down stairs to ask Arlo about the bag of clothes. He met Arlo half way down. "Did you get me another bag of clothes?" he asked.

Arlo looked confused, "No, I just got sugar today. Besides I was with you for most of the day after that. When would I have another chance to sneak off?" Then he shrugged, "Maybe it was Nym. Could you grab some blankets from the hall closet?" He went upstairs to change.

Jinbei nodded and went to the closet. There were a few blankets. The top blanket was strangely made in the Fish-Man Island style. "Why would he have a blanket in this design?" He wondered. It was actually hand woven; most blankets on the island were machine made.

Arlo came down the stairs wearing his Panda Bats tank top and jean shorts. "Ready to go?" he asked.

Jinbei grabbed the blankets, "Yeah, let's go." Arlo went into the kitchen and grabbed the container of stakes. They walked down the road. The sunset was just as brilliant as it was yesterday. This one had more pinks and blues. He still had questions for Arlo, but he was worried that he might react like last night. He started with a simple question, "Why do you have a wolf tattoo?'

Arlo looked down at his tattoo. The tattoo was a red tribal looking wolf's head. He got it on his sixteenth birthday. It always brought a smile to his face. "The wolf is my favorite animal," he answered, "I like that it represents the idea of the pack. It tells me that no matter where I go, I will always have my friends and family beside me. It also teaches me how to treat people."

Jinbei smiled at the answer, "So you really value the idea of friends and family?"

Arlo laughed, "Yeah I do. I personally believe that there is no greater joy in the world than sailing the world with good friends."

Jinbei chuckled, "It sounds a little corny, but you've got a point." Arlo shrugged. They approached the tree house. The flag was still waving happily. There was already a fire going in the stone fire pit. Nym was a small distance away from the fire. "Hey guys," she smiled, "Jinbei did you like the clothes I got you?"

Jinbei smiled, "Yes, thank you, Nym." "There they go again being nice to me I need to repay in another way", he thought to himself.

Timbo came out to the front of the tree house, "Hi, guys! Jinbei welcome to the headquarters of EWS." He leaned on the door frame. Jinbei walked up to the tree house and handed Timbo the blankets. Timbo went inside with the blankets.

"EWS?" Jinbei asked.

Arlo explained, "It stands for Earth, Water, and Sky. It's the name that we gave our crew when we were kids. It's also kind of a generational name."

"So it was started by your families?" Arlo and Timbo laughed.

"Well, I guess you could say it was started by my family," replied Arlo, "Papa started it with his two best friends when he was a kid. Mom did the same. The name just sort of stuck. The three of us in the group do become like brothers."

Jinbei turned to Nym, "Were you part of EWS?"

"No," answered Nym, "I was seen as the kid sister and I had my own friends."

Nym wasn't the third member of the group as he thought, "So who's the third member of your guys' group?"

"Drac," answered Timbo, "But he set off to sea last year, which was actually the last time we met here." He jumped out of the tree house and went to the fire. Arlo put a grill top on the fire pit and placed the steaks on top.

"Why did he go to sea?" as he sat down on one of the logs around the fire.

"He wants to be known as the greatest swordsman in the world and I believe that he can do it," answered Arlo with a grin. He turned the stakes over. They sizzled.

Nym laughed, "That's something you'd expect from a brother."

Arlo chuckled, "What can I say? I'm just a proud friend."

The others grabbed drinks. Timbo grabbed an extra cider and handed it to Arlo. Once the stakes were ready, everyone grabbed knives and plates. They each had two. With full stomachs everyone relaxed. Timbo was the first to break the silence, "What would be the weirdest fish-man to see?"

Arlo sighed, "Not this game again you always win."

Timbo looked a little offended, "I don't win all the time, I just happen to be really creative." Arlo rolled his eyes.

Jinbei was interested to see the combinations they could come up with, "All right, I'll play along. I bet I can beat you," he smiled.

Arlo sighed, "Fine, I'm in."

Nym smiled, "Me too. What's the base line?"

"Jinbei and Lo, of course," answered Timbo, "By the way Jinbei what type of fish-man are you?" Everyone wanted to know, but were a little afraid to ask him.

"Oh, I'm a whale-shark," he answered.

"Oh, man Drac would've liked to meet you," said Timbo.

"He always says a whale shark," chuckled Arlo.

"He might be a bit disappointed," laughed Jinbei.

"Probably so. Okay Nym you start, ladies first," said Timbo.

Nym thought about it for a second, "I think an octopus or a squid would be interesting to meet."

"Oh, come on pick one," said Timbo with a wave of his hand that had the cider in it.

Nym put her cider bottle down and put her hands up, "Okay, okay, gun to my head, I have to say an octopus." The other three just shrugged. "Oh, come on they have extra limbs and they should have suction cups. If that's not weird, I don't know what is. Fine you try."

Arlo took a swig of cider and smiled, "Okay, I've got one, a sea dragon."

Timbo chattered in agreement. "Pretty good, Lo," said Timbo.

Jinbei thought about it, "I agree. I think I saw one in the army. He's a master of camouflage and an excellent shot."

"Neat," said Timbo, "All right my turn. I say an angler fish."

"Oh come on," said Arlo, "you can do better than that."

Jinbei had to agree with Arlo, "I thought you were really creative," he replied sarcastically. He took a swig of his own cider.

Timbo cracked a sly smile, "Well now think about, it's late at night and you're bone tired. Then you hear someone calling you over to a bright light and then, bam! I guarantee you won't be tired after that," he laughed.

"And maybe a few berries shorter," chuckled Arlo. Jinbei and Nym rolled their eyes.

Nym gave a thumb down, "Boo! You could do so much better," she said with a laugh.

"What are you talking about? This is my ace in the hole. Like you two could do any better?" snapped back Timbo.

Arlo took a drink of cider, "Ah, but the game's not won yet, Tim. Jinbei, what's your answer?"

"You're right, Arlo," Jinbei commented. He leaned back on one of the logs making the circle around the fire and took a sip of cider. He started to think. He had seen so many. All of a sudden he was down to two new kids living in the District. One was a cookie cutter shark and the other was a wobbegong shark. In the wobbegong kid won out. "Alright, Timbo, I got one for you. Have you ever heard of a wobbegong shark?"

"A what?" the three of them asked.

Jinbei smiled he had them and the game was his, "It's a type of shark that lives on the bottom of the shallow sea. It's the subspecies of a kid who lives on Fish-Man Island. He's light blue and indigo stripped."

"So, he's good at camouflage?" asked Arlo.

"I assume so, but I'm not sure."

Timbo had never heard of a wobbegong shark had to concede defeat, "Fine Jinbei you win." He lifted his cider up and took a drink.

Arlo and Nym let out a round of applause at Timbo's defeat. To get back for losing, Timbo started to tell them the story of the Ghost Bear. When he got to the end of the story he said, "They say on full moon nights, like tonight, you can still hear him in the woods. He growls and chuffs for his next victim. You're only in danger if you feel him breathing down your neck." All of a sudden Nym and Jinbei could feel something breathing down their necks. They tensed up and were afraid to turn around. They slowly turned around. Then they saw a huge bear.

The bear let out a roar. The two of them jumped into the air and fell to the ground. Then the bear let out a familiar laugh, "Sha-ha-ha, we got you guys good." It was just Arlo in a bear skin. He pulled the head back like a hood.

"Ti-ha ti-ha, you should've seen your faces!" Arlo walked next to Timbo and gave him a high five. He sat down wearing the bear skin like a cloak. He was still laughing.

Nym's shock turned to anger, "You two are the worst! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She walked next to Arlo and punched him on the arm. Then she laughed, "Okay you're right it's pretty funny." Then she went back to her seat.

Jinbei was a little embarrassed, but he laughed it off, "Damn it you got me, "Ghost Bear", I'll have to remember that one." The rest of the evening passed with them teaching Jinbei traditional Green Isle drinking songs. At the end of "The Wild Rover" Nym and Timbo went to bed.

"Night, Lo, Jinbei," they said. They went inside the tree house. Jinbei and Arlo were left alone. Arlo pulled the bear skin closer to him and sighed.

Jinbei was ready to ask more questions to Arlo. He took a deep breath, "Whose Drac?" He didn't know why he asked this. Maybe it was the look in Arlo's eyes when he said the reason his friend went to sea.

Arlo threw a log on the fire. The sparks leapt up into the air as he smiled, "His name is Dracule Mihawk and he's my best friend. No, that's not quite right; he's more like my brother. We've been friends since I was five and he was seven." He laughed, "The only reason we met was because he was tracking me. Strange way to meet a friend, huh?" he asked as the shadow of the flames danced on his face.

"So, he was hunting you?" Jinbei asked interested.

Arlo raised his head and looked a little angry at the question, "No, he just wanted to see what made the tracks. Drac likes things that are a little bit interesting and different. He said my feet were weird. Then I said his eyes were weird. Then we laughed about it. From that moment until last year we were inseparable."

Jinbei started to think about the day Tai had left for his adventure. "I bet the day he left was hard for you?" He knew it was especially hard for Arlong and him when Tai would leave. Arlong would always have tears in his eyes, but he would play it off.

"It was," tears started to swell in his eyes. He took a deep breath and they passed, "I'm happy for him, don't get me wrong, he's a great swordsman. It's still hard, you know. I'll gladly cheer him on from afar. You know that's one of the reasons I want to sail this year, just to see him again," he couldn't believe that he was pouring out his feelings to this stranger he just met five days ago. He had also insulted the way he grew up. However he had been holding in this pain and longing for the past year so he went on, "I know it's a bit silly, but I miss him so much. Sorry that got a little deep."

Jinbei took it all in. This man before him seemed to care deeply for his friends. It seemed to hurt him to be away from a friend, he considered a brother. He seemed to come alive when he talked about these people. He was listening to Arlo tell a story of how his group of the EWS fought against the Ruby Pirates, when Arlong came to the fire out of nowhere. The dog put his head on Arlo's lap. Arlo started to pet the dog's back. "Why is your dog named, Arlong?" Jinbei suddenly asked.

Arlo didn't really know how to answer, "It's always been a name that's stuck with me. I can't remember where I first heard it. I almost called him Burlong, but that name doesn't have the same punch as Arlong. Sometimes at night I…" Did he want to tell this part? No, he would keep the dreams secret. He went on, "Never mind. You know Tiger called me Arlong when he met me. So, who's this Arlong? You seem to know him as well. You were going to say something about it yesterday, well?"

Jinbei took a deep breath. How could he describe Arlong? "Well, he's a good friend of mine. Actually I see him more as little brother." Arlo laughed. He continued, "He's about your age, but I have to say, you seem a little bit more mature."

Arlo shrugged, "I doubt that, you don't know me that well."

"He's been my friend since we met in the District fifteen years ago." Did he want to tell Arlo that he and Arlong were near physical matches of each other? Not right now, he would save that for later. He went on, "He's also extremely loyal to his friends."

Arlo grinned, he was actually glad to hear that there was an actual Arlong. He began to wonder if this was the same Arlong he sometime saw himself as in his dreams.

Jinbei turned to Arlo it was time to ask the big question, "I know you said that you have lived in this village forever but…"

Arlo put a hand up to stop him, "I know what you're going to ask, but I don't have the whole answer. In fact I would like to know for myself. All I know was that I was born on Fish-Man Island, but the journey of how I got here is a blank. I was just an infant when my mom found me. In fact that's the first real memory that I have, just seeing her smiling face." Jinbei look intrigued. Arlo sighed, "My only physical link to Fish-Man Island is a blanket."

"A blanket?" Was it the one he saw in the closet?

"Yeah, it's white the top and bottom sections has three stars. Each point is red or black depending where you look at center design is a black line with red spots on the sides. Sorry, but that's all I know," Arlo answered. He let out a yawn, "Well it's late, and I'm going to bed. Put the fire out when you're ready to go inside. He took off the bear skin and went inside the tree house.

Jinbei grabbed the bear skin. A night chill grabbed him and he wrapped the skin around his body. Inwardly he was disappointed He wanted to know more about Arlo, but he didn't seem to know that much about himself. He had one link to Fish-Man Island, but he didn't know how he came by he just had it. Maybe Ms. Swete would know more.

He put out the fire and went inside the tree house. This place seemed happy. He could see the EWS spending hours planning adventures. He went into a room and saw Arlo and Timbo asleep in hammocks made of vines. He walked next to Arlo and saw that he had a smile on his face. Arlong also had this same smile when he was sleeping. He also saw the blanket. "What does it mean?" he wondered. Then Arlo started to mindlessly reach for something. Jinbei thought it was strange and went to the empty hammock that was waiting for him. He climbed in and used the bear skin as a blanket and fell asleep.

Arlo slept and started to have a dream. He had this particular dream for years. It was twilight and wet. He could feel that he was in the water. Then he was in a basket and he looked up and saw a fish-woman. He could only see her eyes and a mark on her left shoulder. The mark was like his only smaller. He wanted to touch her mark. Then he looked at her eyes. They seemed to be worried about something. He tried to touch the mark again. She was about to put something in the basket with him, but then he rose up in the water. Then the dream changed. In the real world he turned over.