Later that evening the submarine finally docked at an island. Toshiro was with Bepo at the time learning more about the seas and how to navigate them properly. The children had been helpful, but he wanted to know more in case he found himself stranded, and while he hoped that didn't happen since he'd finally found a potential solution to his problem, he could never be too careful. Unfortunately, if he found himself without a Log Pose he didn't have much chance, it seemed, the tri-dial wrist device itself didn't take him too long to understand, but he doubted he could get one just anywhere if he was ever separated from the Heart Pirates. The device was the only way to get safely through this part of the Grand Line, and even then the vicious weather patterns made that journey difficult, not to mention some of the islands were downright suicidal to get anywhere near.

This place thankfully was a habitable place, a small village there to greet them when they stepped outside. Toshiro thanked Bepo for his knowledge and was quick to break off from the group to look for more suitable clothes for this world, especially a hat. Not so much because white hair was odd, there were much weirder things in this world, but because if he got put in any papers for being with the crew he didn't want his own enemies recognizing him. Had the circumstances been different this would be where he parted with the pirates, as there was no need to put them in danger, but with Law's powers he felt it was worth it to go a little further with them and therefore put in some effort to hide himself better.

"He better be able to fix us, huh, Hyorinmaru?" Toshiro muttered aloud to himself. He was painfully aware his spirit-turned-Heartless was nowhere near him, but this still made him feel a bit better. He could almost imagine his dragon rumbling in response, a hum of agreement or even an icy quip about smothering the pirate in ice if he didn't, and the small figure couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

He'd been given a small amount of this world's currency to get his 'disguise', a currency called Beli. It didn't seem too different than the coins and bills used in the Living World back home, albeit probably different in amount. With that in hand, he found a small shop and sought out what he needed. He wasn't picky, and remembering Law's suggestion to look at least somewhat similar to them so he didn't stand out too much, he got black. Simple pants and a jacket over a dark blue shirt suited him fine, he didn't mind keeping the boots he had – he'd prefer the sandals that he had for his Reaper uniform but he felt those wouldn't be helpful on a moving metal submarine – and for a hat he just got a simple black cap to cover his hair.

When changing he looked at himself in the mirror, noticing the black tips to his normally all-white hair. He remembered his comrades mentioning the slight difference, but this was the first he actually saw it himself. It was an odd look…with a shudder he found himself reminded of how his once bright ice had darkened with his change. His once pure white hair was showing the same change…just another reminder of his condition, one he was now almost too happy to cover up before heading over to pay before leaving.

That done he was left with some time to explore. For now, he was anonymous, not associated with anyone dangerous, just an odd figure roaming around curiously. It was a nice cool evening, soothing even, and he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted before he was stuffed back in a sweaty metal ship. His new outfit was more breathable than that leather outfit as well, a much needed relief. And no one seemed to mind his presence, it was peaceful. This was something he didn't often have…and he couldn't help enjoying it. For just a little bit he could get his mind off of the darkness and guilt plaguing him, could forget the past and just walk in peaceful silence without a care.

"You should see this, Hyorinmaru…the night is so beautiful." He muttered, looking into the starry sky above him, barely any clouds to hide the lights far away from them. "This is the kind of night we love to fly in, don't we?"

He liked to imagine that his dragon was purring in agreement, urging him to maybe sneak away and take such a flight.

"We can't do that, though, people could actually see us here." Toshiro sighed. He didn't want to mention or really even think about the fact that he couldn't bring out his wings with the dragon gone anyway. He wasn't even sure his Bankai form was available to him when they were split apart like this. "There's a good mood ruined…might as well head back."

Just before he turned, he thought he heard a soft voice and froze.

"Shiro…it's me…" The voice was hauntingly familiar and had his heart been in his chest it would be pounding frantically. He gulped, wanting to pretend he hadn't heard it, but slowly turned towards it…

"Ah, Toshiro!"

Startled, he whipped towards the new voice with apprehension, the air growing cold and in turn startling Thursday who stopped in her tracks and looked at him in confusion.

"Whoa, easy, you look like you've seen a ghost." She stated nervously.

"More like…heard one…" Toshiro got himself back under control quick enough, looking towards the woods where he had thought he heard that dark fairy's voice echo from. What an impossible thought, she couldn't be anywhere near here, couldn't have found him so quickly. He was just paranoid…that had to be it…The chilly fog amidst the trees was not a welcoming one, especially with the darkness playing tricks on him, so he was happy to turn away and start heading back to the submarine with Thursday.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Fine, I was just thinking, that's all." He responded briskly. He wasn't interested in explaining his thoughts, either, and she was quick to pick up on that.

"Well, I almost didn't recognize you, with your hair all tucked up in that hat." She continued on instead, getting to a lighter subject.

"That's the point, isn't it?" He asked, raising a brow in her direction.

"Haha, yeah, it is." She patted his shoulder and sent a smirk in response to his glance. "Nice job, and good job not running off."

"I'd say I don't have much choice, but it was my decision to trust your Captain with curing me, so escaping isn't really on my mind." Toshiro shrugged. "If it was, I can assure you none of you could stop me."

"Ah, ha, right." Thursday scratched the back of her neck nervously. After seeing his ability with water and ice and then his darkness getting out, she was sure he was correct in that assumption. But damn he didn't have to be so cold about it, she was trying to be friendly here since he was stuck with them for a while, but he had such a thick wall up she doubted he'd ever even try to return the favor.

So they settled into silence for the walk back, meeting up with the twins and Daniel. The four pirate children began to talk amongst themselves, but didn't seem to mind letting Toshiro in on it as they spoke loud enough for him to hear.

"Heinrich said he found some poorly guarded safes in a couple shops, we could maybe crack a few if we're careful. Same plan as usual?" Book spoke first, Toshiro raising a brow but saying nothing. They were pirates, after all, even if they were children they weren't going to be good ones. As Thursday set their positions for this 'same plan as usual' scheme he came to notice these kids were seasoned thieves. They all had a specific purpose. The twins were good distractions, both crafty with flashy traps and the fact they looked alike. Well, save for Dextra's scars, but with hats to shadow their faces that could be switched anytime that wasn't too much of an issue. Daniel had incredible memory and was good at building layouts and recon. Thursday was the nimble quiet one and good with a knife, both for lock-picking and in case they got caught. Heinrich was also one of the distractors, and came in as back up if a fight started. Mostly he was the end goal to hand off the goods to when they finished and make a run for it, help lighten the load between them for more speed.

"You seem very practiced at this." Toshiro spoke up as they were about done.

"Ah, well, this was kind of our job before we joined up with Papa, and now we use it to make sure the Heart Pirates have plenty of money and food." Book replied with a grin. "Sometimes medical stuff for Papa, too, but those are harder to get and he usually prefers to just haggle for them because he doesn't want us getting caught."

"Papa wants us to be very careful with what we try to steal. If it's too high risk, we're not allowed to do it." Dextra added. "Anything above fifty-fifty failure is out."

"We had a bit of trouble some time back with a mission…so he doesn't want us getting too risky with it anymore." Thursday cleared her throat with a nervous look to Dextra. The scarred twin made no indication she noticed but didn't look Toshiro's way anymore. He could only assume from that that the young girl had some trouble. It could be where her scars came from. He didn't ask, feeling it wasn't his place, especially since she seemed uncomfortable about it. "Hey, think you can help? You're pretty quiet, and that ice might come in handy."

"Even without the current volatile nature of my powers in this condition I would say no, I have no intention of becoming a thief. Remember, I'm not splitting up with all of you here because of my agreement with your Captain, but I have no intention of joining in any pirate activities."

"Alright, calm down, we get it." The oldest girl huffed. "Half the time the people we steal from don't need it anyway, and it's not like it matters, what's a little gold to them when they're not even doing anything?"

"Yeah, we take it because we need it for food and medical supplies for our crew." Book added on with a confident nod.

"The same might be said for your victims. The gold you took might have been meant for a life-saving potion, or saved up after hard work to finally get a decent meal." Toshiro easily shot back. He had much experience with this kind of lifestyle from back in the Rukongai, and he was quite proud to say he never fell to the thieving ways of most people there…as much as he was tempted to with his treatment there. Somehow he managed to scrape by, along with his grandmother and Hinamori, and never had any intention to steal from others in as equally poor situations as his own.

"Tough luck then, I guess." Thursday muttered, but when he glanced over he could see the conflict in her eyes as she avoided looking at him.

"This world is quite the 'survival of the fittest' type, one I'm quite familiar with. I won't try to stop you out of some sense of justice, I just refuse to add to it."

"That's fine then, we'll just…get back to it."

He nodded and returned to silence, tuning mostly out of their conversation and instead turning inwards. Normally his deep thoughts were comforted by a caressing icy chill and a calming rumble of a dragon, but all that met him now was darkness and silence. He could sense the emptiness calling to him, trying to absorb all thought and emotion once more, but he refused its embrace. The call was weak for now, he could be in his thoughts without fear of losing them into the void for this brief time, and he took advantage.

His situation was definitely a strange one. Not that his journey before coming here was any semblance of normal, but those events before led to the oddity that was the now, relying on a complete stranger, a pirate at that, to reverse something he thought would be the end of him. He understood he was desperate, and this agreement was one he would normally never make under normal circumstances. But a Soul Reaper without their zanpaktou was a desperate situation indeed. During the time the zanpaktou had rebelled from their masters' back home, there had been a sharp rise in anxiety and a sense of loss among many. So used to having their companions, he and many other Soul Reapers had a hard time coming to terms with the lack of their other half.

This situation was even more extreme. Even then, he could still call upon his power, could still feel his dragon even though it was muffled and distant. Now, it was gone entirely, and while yes he could still use their power…it was dark and corrupted.

So, yes, he was desperate, and despite the obvious risks of allying with a pirate, he felt he had no choice. He would accept any scolding he got when he returned…if he survived.

For now, extra caution was going to be needed. He'd given Law what he could to help with fixing his condition, but unfortunately now it was a matter of waiting and hoping his Heartless found him. Without the other half, there wasn't too much to be done other than maybe allowing the surgeon to prod at him a bit. He shuddered, ignoring the looks he got from the children; that would take some working up to, he did not take kindly to being examined, whether to be healed or as a guinea pig, so if he didn't want to freeze his potential savior he would need some mental preparation.

Until that time when the conditions were met to fix things, he had to think about how he would go about this world. Obviously he would stick with this group, which meant treading carefully around anything attached to the government here. He would most likely have to aid in any fighting, but how much? Showing any powers would bring attention to him and could earn him a wanted poster like the one of Law the crew had posted so proudly in the galley, though Law himself wasn't terribly amused as they showed it off to their guest. Toshiro did not want to join that wall. Way too much attention, the only attention he wanted to get was his dragon's, and the Heartless would be able to sense him just fine once they got close enough. Even as two separate halves they were closely bonded, he was sure…or at least greatly hoped…that the shadow dragon was looking for him.

'I'm sorry for running away, Hyorinmaru…it was a rookie action, but I…find me soon, please, my friend.'

He was snapped back to reality quickly as the children stood, apparently done with their briefing and ready for their mission as the sun began to set.

"Are you going to head back to the ship then?" Dextra asked of him as he stood as well, but obviously not to follow them.

"Might as well." Toshiro shrugged. "See all of you later."

They smirked, catching his words to mean a sort of 'good luck' since he'd earlier expressed his dislike for their thief skills and wouldn't outright tell them so. Instead the confident promise of their return was good enough, and they parted ways silently.

As he returned to the ship, he noticed the mischievous pair of engineers, Penguin and Shachi, waiting out on the deck. He assumed they were there as a sort of watch to make sure the children came back, but cast odd looks at Toshiro as he approached.

"What?" The small figure demanded, defensive about the stares.

"To be honest, pal, we figured you would have high-tailed it." Shachi responded honestly. That was one good thing about this group, they didn't really care how harsh they were, just said whatever they thought, and Toshiro actually found that quite relieving. Too many times people would try to sugar-coat their words because of his supposed appearance.

"As I told your younger crew mates, I have no intention of bailing now after my agreement with your Captain. It seems that, for now, we're stuck with each other." He explained to the pair.

The two adults smirked.

"Sounds fun, look forward to the days ahead." Penguin held a thumb up, whether out of genuine approval or mocking, Toshiro wasn't sure and frankly didn't care, just frowned at them and took a spot on the deck to enjoy the cool air a while longer. He dreaded the coming days where he would have to endure the hot, stuffy temperature of the submarine while it was under the water. By the looks of the polar bear napping in the night air just across from him, he wasn't the only one, so he extended a small breeze of winter air the animal's way. Bepo hummed happily in his sleep and turned over onto his back, snoring.

Considering the stillness of the night and lack of anything to do, Toshiro thought he would meditate. But the moment he realized his Inner World was empty of his companion still and the darkness nagged at the edge of his mind, he jolted out of it with a shudder, making the two engineers look his way with raised brows. Toshiro took a breath to calm the shivering and otherwise ignored them, once more mentally cursing at his predicament and the mistakes leading to it. Meditating was once something he did to calm his mind, bond with his spirit, renew his focus for coming battles. Now it had the opposite effect, and he felt more paranoid than before. He would have to find something else to keep him sharp and calm, it seemed.

So he settled for messing around with the ice. Pent up Spirit Energy was never good, and fortunately there was more water than he could ever hope to freeze to help release it. Small snowflakes changed shape within his palm before he let them be blown away in the wind, where he just made a new one. When that bored him, he twisted more of the water into a more familiar shape, a serpentine form with graceful wings of ice, jaws wide in a roar of battle. As Toshiro created his miniature Hyorinmaru, he could almost hear the dragon rumbling and a small smile came to his face. His ice even seemed to lighten a bit to a more azure tone, the grey temporarily gone.

"Is that the spirit you mentioned to me before?" The sudden voice made Toshiro tense, but he otherwise didn't respond except to look up at the tall figure that was Law.

"Yes. Or at least, this is what Hyorinmaru looked like with me." He set the small figurine down and started forming another, Law watching patiently as a slightly different dragon took form. The grey returned as Toshiro felt saddened when he made this new figure, the more beast-like dragon with horrid claws on the front wings and sharp black spines a sight he did not like on his companion. Where his first figure had no legs, this new one had rear ones to go with the fore-legged wings. "This is how he looks now, with yellow eyes and completely black."

Law took the figure when offered and examined it. He had to admire the precise details put into it, he felt like it would snap at his fingers any second, or jab him with its tail. The detail made it easier to memorize, though, and so he felt he would recognize the Heartless should he ever reveal himself and act accordingly. That is, to not try to pick a fight with him.

"How big is he?" The surgeon questioned.

Toshiro formed an almost tiny ice doll with no features and stood to hold it next to the dragon.

"This would be your height compared to him." The small figure said flatly.

Compared to the dragon, which was almost too big to hold in one hand, the little doll barely stood half the size of its head. That was quite a scary size difference. Even if the Heartless wasn't something to avoid based on alliances, he would avoid a creature like this as best he could, especially if he controlled not only ice and water like his master but shadows as well. Even Law's power could not touch that without difficulty, and the water would render him powerless the moment the dragon realized his weakness.

"You have quite the beast." Was all Law said on the matter.

"He's not the strongest ice-water type for nothing." Toshiro couldn't help a smirk of pride and a lift of his chin as he said this.

Law smirked in response before heading towards the door of the ship, nudging his first mate awake as he walked by. "Time of departure?" He asked the sleepy bear.

"Ah, Captain, right." Bepo gave a big toothy yawn. "Around noon tomorrow."

"Let's hope Heinrich and the others don't stir up too much of a fuss then, we'll be sleeping on the ship."

"Aw, but Captain, there seemed to be some nice ladies at the bar." Shachi complained.

Toshiro made a face and it took considerable effort not to make a gagging sound with it. He wasn't a stranger to this side of men, and by no means innocent in knowledge of that genre, but he preferably wanted no part of it. It was the only time he was grateful he appeared too young and was actually willing to pull the age excuse to get out of it, the ONLY time. The two engineers just snickered at him and he glared icily.

"Do what you want, but we're sleeping on the ship." Law made his orders clear. "We'll have enough suspicion on us once the children get back, I don't need you two making things worse. And leave your wallets here, only take enough for drinks, losing funds to quick-fingered dancers would earn you both heavy punishments."

Though less than pleased with letting the men go do something so dirty, Toshiro respected the surgeon for the limits he set on them. And apparently his discipline was harsh if their quick nods and hasty movements to hand over wallets was anything to go by. Their guest could only assume they'd lost money before to doe-eyed girls with sticky fingers, if their Captain had to take steps to avoid it. Such childish crew members. Once the men were off with goofy grins on their face and limited cash, Law heaved a sigh and went inside. Bepo chose to scoot next to Toshiro as they silently agreed to wait on the children. It also made it easier for the smaller figure to share his cold with the bear, and it was like a small friendship was born. Bepo even let the small figure lean on him as he fell into sleep, something he didn't let just anyone do.

It was there the children found them, Bepo giving them a small wave and smile at their victorious return and Toshiro slumbering quietly against the soft fur, a small bubble of chilly air around the two for their personal comfort. They all snickered but let it be, just heading in to tell their Captain while Bepo gently picked up their guest and went inside as well. While he liked the cold of his new friend, he had to make sure his two adult companions came back without a mess behind them, so back outside he went after gently placing the boy on his cot in the children's room.