The soft rocking had a soothing effect on Shachi. After overcoming his first fright of the day, the heart-pirate realizes that Killer couldn't do anything to him right now. Still, Shachi made sure to look everywhere but at his fellow prisoner.

His gaze wanders through the small cell to the door. It seemed to be made out of metal, contrasting the rest of the wooden cell, and of course it appeared to be pretty robust. If you wanted to run away, it might make more sense to go through the wall than that shiny door.

Shachi sighs and tries to put himself in a more comfortable position. The chains around his wrists were uncomfortably loose, but not loose enough to slip through. He had no choice but to try and ignore the pain that echoed through his body. He should be much more worried about who locked him and his unconscious companion up anyways.

They obviously had been able to capture one of the worst generation and weren't afraid to use violence and drugs.

Shachi freezes … the rocking, which just had helped to calm him down, now was responsible for the opposite feeling. At first, he hadn't noticed, way too used was he to the feeling, but now Shachi starts to realize what it actually meant. He was on a ship … he was on a ship, that probably was sailing somewhere!
Madam syringe had spoken about taking them to a harbor!

That meant, he wasn't on the island anymore.
That meant, he would wait in vain for rescue.
That meant, he didn't know where he was and how far he was away from the festival island.
That meant, Law wouldn't find him.
That meant, he would never see his friends ever again.

Shachi bites down on his lip, letting his head hang.
Shit! Shit! No, he wouldn't cry! He was a pirate! He wouldn't allow himself to become so vulnerable! Not in front of Killer, unconscious or not.
Shachi sniffles, pressing his eyelids together to prevent tears from falling out. Now he just felt small and helpless, and he hated that feeling from the deepest end of his soul. The last time he had felt that way had been 10 years ago.

Frustration had eaten itself into Penguin and now was working like a shield against the happiness and exuberance that was surrounding them. He and Kaisei had been pushing through the crowds for hours now.

When they had left the Polar Tang, the streets were still silent. But as soon as the first sun rays hit the cobblestone streets that morning, the weird figures crept out of their holes. People who were dressed in costumes of all possible colors and shapes flooded the town. The streets were filled with sounds and smells and it was almost impossible to navigate through all of that safely. Let alone find anyone.

What were these people even celebrating?

No matter who they asked, no one had seen their comrades. Instead, Penguin and Kaisei had to several times deal with teenagers who were looking for a challenge or had to save themselves from jesters who tried to kidnap them into the crowd.

They hadn't heard from Bepo yet either and the people here were far too busy celebrating to care for some stranger's problems.

"Maybe we should go back and see if captain woke up", Penguin points out as there was little to no point wandering around aimlessly. He turns around to Kaisei … or better to where Kaisei had been just a second ago.

Dammit! Where did he disappear to now?

"Hey Kaisei?" Penguin looks around. He sees what he thinks to be Kaisei's yellow beanie in the sea of people and starts to move towards it. "We should stay together!", he calls out trying to follow the swordsmen. A push from behind lets Penguin stagger, and he spins around but couldn't make out any suspects. When he turns around once more to follow Kaisei, he was gone.

"I don't believe it …", Penguin groans exasperated.

It seemed like fate had chosen to shove a middle finger right into his face. Shamelessly and with a fat grin.

Never in his wildest dreams would have Penguin thought, that an island that suits his tastes so much and seemed to be so much fun, would it have caused so many problems.

Everything seemed to get worse and worse and Penguin was incredibly worried about Shachi and the rest of the crew. By now it was obvious that they hadn't decided voluntarily to not return to the ship. Who knew what was happening to them right now.

Surely Shachi was deadly afraid and maybe not even … Penguin refuses to continue that thought and shakes his head with a newfound determination.

When the world was showing you its middle finger, you just had to return the gesture, he thinks grimly as he continues waltzing through the crowd.

The black haired swordsmen blinks. Just a moment ago Penguin was walking in front of him and now he had vanished into thin air. Searching, Kaisei looks around.
Did he take a turn somewhere, and had he missed it? It wouldn't be surprising with all the distractions on the streets.

The alleys weren't just filled with people but also with stalls that were selling alcohol and sweets. Varying music could be heard from all sorts of places and just got drowned out by the whispering, laughing, and tons of people who flooded the streets. It was impossible to have a conversation if you didn't stand right next to each other. It actually was a miracle they hadn't lost each other sooner.

Kaisei decides not to search for Penguin. The man was very much capable of taking care of himself and it might be better to ask around separately anyways. Their tactic had proven not to be very successful so far.

He allows to be carried by the stream of people, looking around for further victims who might know something about the missing crew. Why was this place so unnerving? If Kaisei hated something then it was people wearing masks and now all he was looking at were people disguised with wooden and paper masks everywhere. How ironically wonderful.

Clowns, witches, fishmen, animals and all sorts of grotesque figures. The whole thing reminded him more of a horror show than a party.

Kaisei squeezes himself through a group of girls dressed up as mermaids, when three particularly tasteless costumes catch his eyes. A little off in one of the branching alleys he sees three boys enjoying themselves at an alcohol stand. They didn't seem to be drunk yet, the day was still young after all.
Kaisei focuses on them and makes his way over to the alley. All three boys looked like they hadn't put much effort into their costumes. Ironically the smallest one was wearing a yellow orange striped suit, a white bedsheet over his shoulders and a paper mask on the side of his head with a picture of marine admiral Kizaru stuck to it.

His sidekicks had thrown themselves in very fake navy soldiers outfits without any masks but instead the characteristically seagull had been painted onto the scrappy white pants and shirts … all of it didn't look too authentic. Tasteless and badly made. Why was Kaisei so sure that the idea for these costumes had come from the suit?

"Oi you there!", he addresses the lads when he gets into hearing range. "I'm searching for a bunch of guys in boiler suits with a Jolly on the back and on the chest. You seen them by any chance?"

How long was he sitting here now? How long was he staring at his feet, always careful to ignore the soft rocking and the ever increasing pain in his shoulders. He wouldn't dare to pay his cellmate any mind either.

Shachi shyly dares to look at Killer once more, only to avoid his eyes back down to search for scratches on his shoes again. Goodness, he really needed to buy some new boots at the next opportunity.

Oh for fuck's sake, all of this was so pointless. Shachi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before finally mustering the courage to turn to Killer:

"You awake?"

No answer, just the heavy silence of the cell.

"You don't happen to know where we are, do you?"

Again, no answer.

"Ah great … me neither …"

Killer's chin still was resting on his chest and he didn't move one inch. The only indicator that the kid-pirate was still alive, was the soft rising and falling of his tummy.

"If you're here … then … then that means your captain isn't too far off either, right?" That would mean that sooner or later Eustass Kid would pop up to get Killer back. At that thought, Shachi's stomach turns. The last encounters with the red haired devil all had gone badly. The entire crew just seemed to consist of unpredictable drunkards and crazy people. No one Shachi wanted to meet in the dark … or in the light of day.

Killer kept his silence and with that started to get on Shachi's nerves a bit.

"You know", he claims. "The others are probably on their way here already. It's just a matter of time before my captain is going to clean up here."

Silence.

"They will show these bastards what happens when you mess with Trafalgar Law! They won't even have time to pray."

Killer's lights really were completely turned off and his lack of reactions just made Shachi more courageous.

"Maybe if you beg nicely, I may ask them to help you too. Of course that would come with a price."

Too much! Shachi holds his breath for a second to wait for a reaction from his cellmate, but gets none.

"If you make a good offer, they might even take off your chains."

That really didn't feel too bad. When would he ever get another chance to safely make fun off a supernovae. It helped Shachi to forget about his current situation and gave him back his self-esteem … also it was far too much fun to pass up.

"Curious that they managed to capture you in the first place. You are supposed to be super strong."

Silence.

"You probably didn't even earn your title and bounty. All you can do is look scary and cling to Kid for safety."

The temperature in the room was dropping, but Shachi doesn't realize and just continues with a firmer voice: "Why are you even wearing a mask? Is your captain unable to bear your ugly face or is he just too embarrassing for you?"

"Shut up you little shit!"

Shachi flinches violently when he finally receives an answer from the massacre soldier. A thick lump forms in his throat, causing him to swallow.

"Oh …", he notes very intelligently. "You're awake after all."

With a sigh Penguin sits himself down on a low wall close to a well. It was a bit off to the side from the crowd, so he could organize his thoughts and think about the next steps to take.

Should he search for Kaisei now? Maybe it was better to return to the submarine … Maybe Law had woken up by now and there was new information. Maybe the others had returned too and nothing had happened to them. Just a stupid prank after being so annoyed with Law's recent decisions and to delay the departure. … Actually he didn't think they were capable of doing something like that.

A soft growl from his stomach reminds him that he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday at around noon. The tasty smells didn't really help him fight off the hunger either, but still he didn't dare to get something from the stalls. Who knew if the food there could be drugged like the drinks had been.

A little girl runs past him and catches his attention. She maybe was around eight years old and was wearing a polar bear costume with a blue dress. He couldn't help but be amused by the cuteness off the far more tasteful costume, after seeing weird and unsavory costumes all day. She was carrying a paper bag and Penguin catches a sniff of something very tasty when she crosses his path.

Surprisingly the little girl stops and turns around. She stares at Penguin through big brown eyes before she starts to smile. "I like your hat." At this, words Penguin grabs the shield of his hat out of habit and pulls it a bit lower into his face.

Curiously the girl gets closer and has to giggle, when she hears the soft rumbling that comes from his tummy. "Are you hungry?", she asks innocently and holds out the paper bag towards the bewildered pirate.

"If you want you can have some. Mummy bought it for me earlier." After Penguin doesn't make any moves to take the bag, the little girl decides it was appropriate to climb the wall next to him. She gets out a steamy ball that was coated in cinnamon and sugar, which was attached to a wooden stem and holds it out for Penguin again. "It's super tasty", she tries to convince Penguin as if he were a dog, while he was still eyeing the sweet thing warily.

Another pulling sensation in his stomach area convinces him, and he reaches for the strange ball. A little girl surely wasn't throwing drugs around to random strangers. So he was probably safe.

"Thanks …", he mutters softly, examining the dripping object closer. It was smelling sweet and was pleasantly warm.

Next to him the little girl had already started to eat. She dangled her legs, staring at him the whole time while she was nibbling on her own sweet ball. Just as Penguin decides to finally try the weird ball of sweetness, she bends forward slightly to catch a glimpse of his face. He immediately shuffles a bit away.
"Where are your parents?", he wants to know. After all, such a little girl shouldn't run around alone, right? Especially not at an event like this one. Penguin looks around to see if he couldn't find anyone who looked like they belonged to the little girl or if anyone even cared for the odd pair sitting on the well.

"Mum went home with Dad, cause he managed to break his costume. We're all bears", she answers chewing and immediately asks a counter question. "What's your name? I'm Narri the dancing bear!"

"Penguin", the pirate replies, glancing down at the beaming girl with a smile. "Say Narri, can I ask you a question?"

"Narri the dancing bear", she corrects him but gives a strong agreeing nod. "But sure! Penguin is a funny name." She starts giggling again.

Penguin gives her an amused smile and raises his hand apologetically. "Of course. Narri the dancing bear …. Can you tell me what you guys celebrate? I'm not from around here you know", he adds for explanation, as his gaze wanders across the laughing and screaming crowd, still looking out for Narri's parents.

Narri starts to tilt her head thoughtfully and plays with the wooden stick that was all that was left of her sweet ball. "Dad says we celebrate so that there are no more bad people and everything terrible is scared of us. That's why we dress up."

Penguin blinks a bit irritated at the answer. So there weren't any bad people anymore?

"What do you mean by that?"

Narri has to think about it again, so she could come up with a better explanation. "Well like really bad people. The ones who destroy everything and take stuff that doesn't belong to them. Thieves, murderers, and pirates! Soon they will no longer exist in the city!"

Penguin frowns, finally biting into his own ball. It tastes sweet and a little bit like honey.

"Soon … so that means they still exist now? Why won't they exist soon?"

The little girl scoffs and jumps from the well. "But everyone knows that stupid Penguin. Cause the heroes will catch them all and make them into good people. We dress up and as soon as we are normal again, the bad people will be too! Everybody will be good again."