It wasn't long before the two pirates had reached the dock of the next island. Drake quietly slipped off the ship and onto the large dock, then busied himself with retying his already-tied shoe, purposefully leaving Rhythm to drop down the anchor and pretending he was too busy to do it himself.
Once she had completed the task, she gracefully stepped onto the dock beside her, catching up to Drake. The dock was huge, extremely wide and much longer lengthwise. It took the two of them a good thirty seconds of walking in order to finally reach the end of it. Drake, with his hands lazily shoved into his pockets, dragged his feet as he walked, and upon reaching the end of the dock, he slowly lowered his feet down onto the sandy beach below, his movement drawn-out and sluggish. Rhythm gracefully jumped down, landing without a sound and so lightly that hardly a single particle of sand around her feet moved when she hit the beach.
Surrounding the large dock was a civilization, though Rhythm was unable to tell how large it was due to the limited vantage point she held. With Drake to her left trailing just behind her by a couple steps, the two began making their way into town. The streets were dirty, littered with garbage of all sorts. As they walked, they kicked up some of the many layers of dust coating the town, tinted with the decaying smell of the area, assaulting their nostrils with the pungent smell.
Despite the horrid shape the town was in, however, the area was bustling with many different kinds of people, all different shapes and sizes. There was an obvious distinction, though, between two different classes of people. The first were those who looked to be about mid-class or higher, and all wore nice clothes and unashamedly looked down upon the other class. The second group of people were those who were poorer than poor, with ripped rags just barely holding together, pieces of the garments dangling by mere threads. Each of these people's faces and clothes were masked in a layer of dust and grime, and some were so filthy that there hair could have been bright blonde originally, though now turned black with soot, and no one would have been able to tell. There was no in between with these two different groups of people—there were those who were well-off, and those who were not.
Before the two pirates could get too far, however, a tiny creature not much larger than a rat turned the corner and began barrelling towards them, whiz zing by bystanders like a bullet, stirring up the dust in the street ahead of it so greatly that Rhythm was unable to determine what kind of animal it was, the air-born dust covering the entirety of its body like a mask.
Without being able to see where it was going, and with the pungent smell of rotting decay that filled the city preventing its nose from helping to determine its surroundings, the little creature barrelled straight into Drake's leg. Dazed, the small animal fell onto its backside, whimpering slightly. Rhythm bent down to examine it, and was surprised to find that it was a tiny dog, easily small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
Despite the cloud of dust and grime it had kicked up earlier while running, the dog now stood in front of them, its fluffy coat of fur shining a pristine white, not a speck of dust in sight. The little creature let out a squeal of delight upon seeing Rhythm, and immediately began dancing around on its hind legs, tail wagging, as it tried to reach her. Rhythm picked the small dog up carefully, letting it snuggle into the palm of her hand with a contented bark as she stood back up and held it at eye level.
Before she could spend too much time trying to think of a dog breed that would allow a dog to be so incredibly tiny yet extremely fast as a puppy, Drake alerted her attention to an old man scurrying frantically back and forth between the many people on the streets, asking each and every one if they had seen a tiny dog run by. Each replied that they hadn't, and told him to try asking someone else further down the street, or on another street altogether.
As the old man was pleading with yet another person, he happened to notice the unusual lime green hair of a woman with a man beside her, who also had oddly coloured hair, though his was black with bright blonde strands strewn about randomly. He immediately stopped his rushed conversation with the woman in front of him, confusing her greatly, and scurried over to the two pirates, letting out a cry of happiness upon seeing that they had found his dog.
"Oh my, you found my little Jacqueline!" he exclaimed excitedly, bubbling over with joy. He gently took the sleeping dog from Rhythm's hand and snuggled it close to his body for a moment, before slipping the small dog into the large left hand pocket of his black cargo pants. Eyes frantic, he cried out, "How could I ever repay you! You two children truly are angels, sent from heaven above!"
"Actually, Drake and Rhythm are pirates," Rhythm growled in annoyance.
"Pirate angels, then!" he bellowed in delight, happiness bursting forth from his person. Rhythm scowled, taking a step away to ensure that she wouldn't be affected by such contamination.
"Can we go now?" Drake asked rudely, raising an eyebrow as he pulled out a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, beginning to gently gnaw on it.
The man's eyes widened, apparently horrified at the thought of letting the two escape so easily. "Oh, no! That wouldn't be right! I simply must have you both over for breakfast this fine morning!"
"She already ate," Rhythm sneered, turning away and beginning to walk in the opposite direction.
Drake smirked, seeing an opportunity to annoy his captain as he called after her, "Yeah, cap'n, you ate a piece of cardboard. I don't think that's all that beneficial to your health. This old chap here though will fill your stomach to the brim, ain't that right, old man?"
The aged gentlemen beamed, "Oh yes, I will definitely fill you to the brim with my luscious waffles, dipped in thick syrup and dotted with whip cream and sweet strawberries."
Rhythm turned around and glared at her first mate, scowling in immense annoyance as she walked back over to the pair. Drake had been smirking triumphantly, until he saw his brooding captain's expression, which caused it to immediately slip off his face. The green haired woman huffed, annoyed that she had been roped into going with some old unnaturally joyful idiot, who seemed to just be overflowing with sparkles and sunshine. The only tempting thing about the place they were headed was the waffles she would soon be eating; she'd always had a soft spot for waffles.
Unable to contain his delight, the man began bouncing in a direction that Rhythm assumed would lead them to his home. Feeling obligated to follow, she began walking at a quick pace to keep up with him, making sure to stay at such a distance behind the eccentric geaser that no one would associate her with him, and also so that she wouldn't have to deal with the huge beaming rays of delight he was sending off in all directions.
Drake, originally happy at the opportunity to eat sugar-enriched food, now stared after the two in distain. He'd forgotten that he'd have to walk all the way to the man's house, and really didn't want to exert all the energy required in doing so. He'd much rather just lay down against one of the old stores lining the streets and have a snooze in the sun. Upon receiving a sharp look from his captain, however, which wordlessly told him that if she had to do this then he also had to, Drake began following after the two, dragging his feet and walking at a slow pace to show how unhappy he was about having to move.
Seeing that his two guests were far behind him, the old man waited for them to catch up. He began walking slower, at Rhythm's pace this time, much to her dismay. Every time she would move away from him, he would move closer to her, seemingly not noticing her apprehensiveness.
He bored them with a long story that lasted the entire way there, the subject of the tale being some story about when his grandson was just a baby and had gotten scared by the housecat. The old man beamed with pride whenever his grandson was mentioned, and it was obvious by the way he talked that the man simply adored the child.
He went to begin another tale when he realized that they had come upon his house. Rushing ahead, he held open the door for Rhythm, and then waited an entire minute until Drake lazily strolled in, his beaming smile never once wavering despite having to hold the door open for so long.
"Have a seat, have a seat!" he cheered good-naturedly, shooing them into his small kitchen and pulling out two chairs for them both. Hesitantly, the pirates sat down and waited for the waffles that the old man had promised them.
True to his word, the old man soon came back in from the kitchen with a plate of steaming waffles, using both of his shaky hands to balance the dish. He grinned at them, "Hey! I didn't introduce myself, did I?"
"Rhythm is sure you did," the green haired woman muttered to herself, hoping that saying that would stop him from continuing with his next long and drawn out explanation. She stared blankly at the little wooden table through sleepy half-lidded eyes.
The old man either didn't hear her, or simply ignored her, informing them, "My name is Jai! And this is my puppy, Jacqueline! You saved her, and I'll be forever thankful!" He then gestured to the plate of waffles, urging them, "Please, do help yourselves."
Drake immediately began helping himself to the plate of waffles. He used the fork that Jai had provided to dish himself out four waffles, setting them carefully on his plate so that none overlapped another. He then grabbed the jar of syrup from in the middle of the table and tilted it downwards, leaving a zig-zagging trail of syrup on each. Taking ahold of the spoon that had been placed in the whip cream, Drake helped himself to a large serving of it, making sure that each waffle was completely covered in it.
While Drake dotted a large helping of strawberries onto his waffles, Rhythm frowned, staring at the large plate in suspicion. The old man obviously couldn't eat the amount of waffles that he had cooked in advance, and that only meant that he had been expecting guests. Rhythm's gaze fell upon the happy man, realizing that he had let his puppy loose in order to make friends with someone and invite them to his house for breakfast. He was just a lonely old man who wanted some company.
"So, old man," Drake asked with a mouth full of food, "Why's it that some people are sparkly clean around here, and others are filthy?"
Jai's expression immediately soured as he replied, "The mayor of our town has a sort of bias towards those who have a higher income, and therefore pay him more taxes. He had a special concoction invented, which he gives to those who have an income over a certain amount. All they have to do is continuously put it in their bath water and in the liquid they used to wash their clothes, and they'll always remain sparkly clean, despite the horrendous amount of dirt in this town."
Rhythm helped herself to the some of the waffles in the large plate positioned in the middle of the table, and then added toppings. She, too, took enough whip cream for many more pancakes than she had put on her plate, and then picked up her fork. Biting into the first waffle, she was surprised by its delicious taste and texture. They had been cooked for just the right amount of time, and each waffle had the perfect amount of crispness to them.
As they ate, Jai began telling his favourite stories. Most of them were about his grandson, who he had explained was only eleven years old, but other stories took place in the watch factory he owned, on this very island. This went on for well over an hour, during which Rhythm and Drake had both dozed off multiple times, Rhythm on purpose and Drake by accident.
"My son didn't take much interest in the family business, and couldn't be bothered by taking our family heirloom, which is this very golden watch," he held up his wrist excitedly, displaying the golden accessory with great pride, "But my grandson, you see... he loves watches! Whenever he comes to visit me—he lives just the next island over, by the way—he comes to my factory and we both build and fix watches together! When I told him the history behind this watch, and he learned that it's been passed down from generation from generation for centuries, he became so excited, and couldn't wait for the day I passed down my watch to him!"
"That's... great," Rhythm grumbled sarcastically to herself, annoyed that she had to listen to such nonsense as she ate. If someone was going to talk around her while she eat, they should at least be saying something useful. Though, she supposed, the old man most likely thought of what he was telling them to be of the greatest importance.
Jai laughed excitedly, not realizing that his audience was being sarcastic. With even greater vigour, he continued, "Today is the day that I pass down my watch to my grandson! In fact, I'm setting sail in my very own fishing boat right after breakfast. He's going to be so thrilled!"
"Good for him," Rhythm hissed quietly under her breath, her expression was one of annoyance, never once wavering throughout the entire meal.
"Yes, it is!" Jai chuckled heartily, "Actually, one time when he was six, he got into..."
Rhythm didn't let the man continue his tale. She stood up abruptly, causing both the men to look to her in surprise. She frowned deeply, "Thanks for yer food, mister, but we haveta go, hmm."
Jai beamed up at her, "One more story? Please?"
"NO!" Rhythm and Drake chorused in unison, causing the old man to grin even wider.
"Very well, I've kept you both here for almost an hour and a half already, and I s'pose I'd better let you go!" Jai announced loudly, standing up from his chair and allowing Rhythm and Drake to walk towards his door before he followed after.
Drake smiled at the Jai, "Thanks for the meal, old man! It was really good! Loved the whip cream, by the way. It was blended absolutely perfectly!"
Rhythm's scowl lightened significantly as she turned to her first mate and muttered in an amused voice, "Wow, didn't know you could get so soft about food."
"Just the sugary stuff," he smirked back, "Vegetables can go rot."
Jai smiled widely as he bid the two pirates farewell, and even Jacqueline came out of his pocket to say goodbye to them in the form of a happy high-pitched bark. Rhythm gently pat the tiny puppy on the head a couple of times before turning and around and walking off before the old man tried sucking them in for yet another story. Drake followed her, waving one last time at the man before following after his captain. He groaned as he jogged for a few seconds to catch up to her, before asking, "Yo, cap'n, can you slow down?"
"Why, can't take it?"
"I'm too lazy to take anything, really," he muttered with a long and drawn-out sigh.
XxxXxxX
A/N: Thanks so much for the recent reviews, you guys! I really love hearing from you, and it honestly motivates me to post new chapters sooner than I had originally planned to release them. So yeah, it would be great if you guys could review more too... it's greatly appreciated. Just tell me what you think of the story so far, good things or bad things alike(: