"Hey guys, Horsenado here was wondering if he could join you guys." Melville and Horsenado walked into the kitchen and waved their hands at the small crew of two chefs who were in charge of keeping the other thirty plus Toons fed. "He's a real expert. Well I mean he read a book, but I know that he is energetic and will be a great help. Plus he's pretty funny. I think you guys will love him." a pair of bats in oversized chef's hats and similar mustaches walked over and put their arms around the red horse.
"Ah, young friend. My name es Eclair. I prepare the breakfasts and the desserts." the red bat gleamed. "This here is my brother Souffle, he works on the lunch and dinner menus." Eclair leaned over and whispered in Horsenado's eat "It's why nobody ever shows up for dinner."
Souffle walked over and rapped his brother's buttocks with a ladle. "Eh, look at this joker. Saying that nobody comes for my dinners? Everybody loves my dinners. I see everybody scraping your desserts for the fishes. Ain't no wonder we can't catch anything, if I had to eat your canoodle I'd run away too!" the pair of brothers chuckled and simultaneously slapped Horsenado on the back. "We could always use another pair of hands around here. have you seen the appetite of this crew? Ha, we'll be lucky if we're not eating ship boards by the end of the week."
"Bet it'd still be better than your pancakes." Eclair joked, catching another swing from his brother's ladle. "Thanks for the opportunity, Leader. We'll get him up to shape. You go relax."
Melville had to restrain his laughter at the ridiculousness of the brothers. "Alright, I'm going to go check with Cloud and see how things are going. I for one look forward to a nice ship board for dinner soon." stepping out and pulling the door closed behind him. "Have fun guys."
Now that it was just the trio, Horsenado waited awkwardly. The duo were quite energetic and lively, which conflicted with the red horse's more shy and reserved nature. "Ah, yes. Enough of our shenanigans. So, Horsenado. What exactly do you know cooking? Are you more of a baker? We'll take anything we can get."
"Um, to be honest, I don't really know much. I used to help my mom make desserts when I was younger, but that mostly involved me licking spoons or going to grab stuff." thinking deeply, the multi-colored Toon got lost in thought as he searched the deepest depths of his mind for something to impress the chefs. "Well, I can make a pretty good veggie pizza?"
"Pizza?" Souffle inquired. Horsenado forgot that these Toons had never left their home and wouldn't know about a food from Toontown. "I'm sorry, could you please explain?"
Smiling, Horsenado walked over to a large pantry and began to forage for supplies. "Oh, you guys are in for a treat. We're going to blow the socks off of this ship."
"Wait, why would we want to remove their socks? Is that part of the pizza passage of right? I don't think I'm even wearing socks." Eclair leaned down and shook his head. "Nope, just slippers. Nobody has said anything so I'm just going to go with it."
"Nevermind that. Do you guys know how to make dough?" Horsenado pulled out a huge sack of flour and dragged the bulging bag of powder near the bats.
The pair roared with glee at the insanity of the question. "Do we know how to make dough? Sonny, we've been rolling dough since before you were born. Leave that to us, how do you want it?" the red horse laid out exact details for how to create the dough, down to the smallest ingredient. "Aye aye, Captain!" the bats saluted and went off to create the dough.
Five-o began to create the sauce. He was surprised that a tropical island was capable of growing tomatoes, however they were greener than he was used to. Regardless, they still looked and tasted like the delicious fruit that he used back at home. Unfortunately for him, many of his favorite spices were nowhere to be found. oregano, pepper flakes, among a few he had to work around. This wouldn't deter him from his goal. He needed this sauce to be as perfect as it could be. If he was going to convince somebody that pizza was indeed the greatest food in the world, he couldn't give them a bad first experience. Pulling out his whisper device he began to play his pizza making song "Toonatella Napoletoona." It always inspired him to get into the pizza making mood. Behind him he watched as the bats perfectly twirled large circles of dough on singular fingers, just as he had instructed them. "Great job guys!" Horsenado expertly dashed his seasonings and stirred the pot as it slowly heated into a burbling and plopping aromatic masterpiece. Almost immediately Toons from up on the crew started to sneak down to get a smell of this incredible new scent. Horsenado smiled, knowing that he could finally reward the crew for everything they were doing for him by gifting them the greatest thing he could think of - pizza. Once the sauce came to a boil, the red horse moved onto the toppings. This is where he would have to be very careful. He knew that the Old World Toons loved pineapple, but would they like it on pizza? He decided against it and instead went with his personal favorite; mushrooms, onions, and peppers. This confused Horsey even more, why was there peppers but not pepper flakes? It didn't matter because he was going to rock this anyways.
"Hey, Horsenado. The dough is all flattened out. What's next?" Eclair beamed proudly, looking down at his work.
"Well, we have a lot of Toons to feed. We're probably going to need at least three or four more of those big boys. Actually, while he's doing that, do you want to get the oven heated up, Souffle?" Horsenado felt like a natural instructing the Toons through their tasks. He was beginning to feel more and more like a leader. He felt like... well like Scurvy. Maybe the old captain had rubbed off on him? Once he had the veggies chopped, he walked over and took a big whiff of the sauce. "Ah, perfect. How's the dough coming along guys?"
Souffle walked over and patted his new chef companion. "I think we may have gone overboard making that dough. We're having a bit too much fun, I think. Are we going to have enough sauce?" much to Horsenado's surprise, they had already flattened out 7 pies.
"Woah, you guys are impressive. Melville did say you were both incredible, so I guess I shouldn't be shocked. Anyways we should have plenty of sauce. Do you guys have cheese ready to go?"
"Do we have cheese? Do you know who you're talking to? We are the lords of cheese. Not a Toon has walked this earth who knows more about cheese than us." Eclair walked over to a separate fridge and opened the doors, revealing an almost blinding light. Inside was every type of cheese a Toon could imagine. "What do you need? Cheddar? Gouda? Swiss?"
The red horse wandered over, eyes wide and stomach growling. Having to restrain himself, he held his hands behind his back and leaned forward. Drooling lightly, he scanned the fridge until he discovered his prize. Reaching for a large cylinder of white cheese he nodded. "Here we go, mozzarella. You can't make pizza without mozzarella."
"Mozzarella, eh? That's an interesting choice. But we'll just have to take your expertise here. Generally mozzarella isn't used very often, so maybe we have been missing out!" Souffle added. Over the next couple of hours, the Toons had to lock the doors to the kitchen as more Toons wandered in to coincidentally check if everything was going okay and to volunteer to sample some of the upcoming lunch. Eventually they were done, and eight incredible pizzas were done. "Mama Mia my stomach can't handle it anymore. Can we eat now, Horsenado?" a string of cheers from outside caused the trio to break into laughter.
"I think that's a yes. Let us eat!" Horsenado yelled out.
"Well, unfortunately Melville took our best ship, and a decent amount of our best sailors. But I was able to cobble together a pretty decent crew. They are preparing as quickly as they can. I believe they understood the importance. Plus, I think a lot of them are also eager to hit the open waters. We do not have many opportunities to really get out of here. I think you all will be pleased." Big Monkey stood in front of the crew who were all seated in front of him as he graciously explained the plan. "Now, they will have about a day head start on us. We're going to be taking this stretch of water here. It's a little rough at first which means they likely wouldn't take this way. However this is where we'll really catch up. If they are going the way I assume they did, we will probably catch up about six hours alone. From there it will be a lot of rowing and hoping for a strong wind. We will have around the clock teams on the oars so no need to worry there. We will have double their crew so I think it will take us about two days to catch up to them. I am sure you are all exhausted and would like to stay longer, but this is our best chance to catch up to them without likely making it all the way to Toontown."
"Arrrgh. That be a fantastic plan, Big. Once again we thank you all for yer incredulous generosity. What be the plan for us?" Scurvy raised their hand and spoke, like a child in school.
Big Monkey nodded and pointed to a large paper he had written on. "Most of you will probably rotate through small chores. Rowing, cooking, whatever needs to be done. Scurvy, I know you are quite a proficient captain, but we're going to take control of things, at least until we catch up to Melville. We can't take any risks at this point. I'd say for the most part you all should just relax. You are our guests. Plus you have all worked so hard to get here, take a break."
"That be tough to do, Big. I been running waters for many years now. However I can't say I feel too confident riding the blue out here. However, I will be around if anything be needed." the blue cat twiddled with their thumbs as they tried to wrap their mind around not commandeering the ship. "I think we best be heading over to the ship, mateys. Longer we be here, harder it'll be to leave." Scurvy stood up and stretched. "Ye be sure ain't nothing we can do fer ye all, Big?"
"Not a thing. Like I said, being out on the ocean again is all of the reward I could ever need. Plus, my wife is going to use the opportunity to take some time for herself and just work on her art, so I think it is good for all of us!"
John stood up and walked over to the large paper outlining the plan. "This is incredible detailing. I don't think Calypso here could put together something like this."
"Hey, I heard that!" Calypso snarked. "I mean, he's right but you didn't have to say it!" the group chuckled. The blue duck could already envision the ending to his book. It was all becoming clear. At times things felt like a dream. Sometimes a nightmare. But it was never boring. While he missed his life back home, his son, he had found a reinvigorated purpose in life. For the first time in years he was... happy It made him sad, conflicting himself, to feel that way. He had waited so long to be happy, but why? For years he was in a marriage that he wasn't happy in, he was in a job he didn't care for, and yet it took a dangerous adventure and nearly dying to realize how much he loved life. "Last one to the ship is a rotten egg!" breaking out towards the door, the entire crew began to jog off, leaving the three oldest members - Big, Scurvy, and John to their devices.
"So, Big. Do you really think we can catch up to them? I'm a bit worried." John asked.
Big rubbed his chin. "Well I can't be for sure. But Toontown is the end goal for both ships. Maybe we get there before, but I am prepared for this to be another long journey. Anyways John, do you mind if I speak with Scurvy here. There is something I would like to ask about before we leave."
"Yeah, absolutely. I'll see you guys there." John wallowed off to go join the rest of the crew, taking a brisk pace as he knew he would indeed not be the rotten egg.
With the two older Toons alone, there was a bit of an awkward silence. Finally Big Monkey spoke. "Captain, you are Melville's former lover. I imagine you have known him quite a long time, yes?"
"We were friends and partners for seven years, yes." Scurvy had an idea of where Big was going with this. After all, saying it out loud made them realize just how long Melville had been here. Melville had been here four times longer than Melville and Scurvy's entire relationship.
"Yes, that sounds about right. Well you knew him before he came to this place. I have always wondered what he was like back before he ended up here. I have known him for a very long time, and he has been a great friend to me. I'd go as far as to say I consider him a brother. I know that he longs to return to you, but part of me is still distressed knowing he will be gone. I thought it would be nice to have an idea of who he was before, so I know when he returns home that he will be happy. Not because I believe Toontown to be a bad place or anything, but I guess just for my own comfort." the subtle tone of Big's question was not lost on Scurvy.
The blue cat pondered for a moment and dug into what life was like for the brown horse before. "Well, when I met Melville he be runnin' his own shop. I had just left me job as a mechanic and looked to the sea for an answer. Arrrhgh, I guess ye won't be knowin' a mechanic. Anyhow, I was lookin' into sailin' and decided to go get some parts for me ship. The first time I met Mel I instantly charmed me dubloons. He be the most handsome horse this side of Donald's Dock. Well I'd be makin' any excuse to return to the shop, even for things they didn't sell. Heck, once I said I ordered me dinner there just to have an excuse. Well one day I finally gather the nerve to be askin' him to go out on the water with me and amazingly before I could ask, he asked me! Well the next few years were steady, slowly buildin' our relationship. He worked his shop, and I became a captain, takin' on different jobs. Well one day we goes out sailin' and tragedy struck -"
"Ah, that must be when the boat was attacked. I'm very sorry to hear about your tragedy." Big looked down at Scurvy's missing leg. "It appears he was quite successful and happy in his old life... That is good to know."
"Well, I be sure he were happy here. Ye know, he had thirty years to try and come home yet he stayed. So he must've found something pretty good here. Maybe he just be afraid of the sea. Whatever it be, I hope ye know that me and him both appreciate everything you all did fer him. I know he will always hold that place in his heart for ye Big Monkey. Because ye were beyond simple messmates, ye were true blood brothers if I ever saw it." both staring down at the ground, they waited a few moments to speak again. "Anyway, I guess we best be goin'. Crew ain't gonna be too homesick soon if they be waitin' here too." Scurvy chuckled.
Big cracked a soft smile and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I guess so. Anyways, what was that about being a rotten egg?"
"Ye, in yer dreams, Big." Scurvy began toddling off as quickly as their peg leg could take them, with the elderly gorilla in tow.