Thanks to dragonite123 and FoxyJosh for the reviews! Now for the other 20 or so of you to do the same… ; D
Anyways, I made a mistake in my previous chapter… I said something was coming, and yes, that's still true, but not in this chapter, so bear with me! Hm, where am I now in the writing… well, on the HUGE, main story document on my computer, Skip and his crew are well out of Ayon and are in a bit of a mess. I hope to bring you guys there soon, but forgive me for updating so slowly… I have everything ready to put on here but just no motivation XD.
So, without further ado…..
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The crew met up at their hut a while before sunset. Buso had a wide grin plastered onto his face. On his head was an even taller chef's hat than before. "You're gonna kill somebeast with that one day," Skipper had warned him. Flint lied face down in the dirt, his face streaked with sweat and tears. Those onions had really taken their toll on him. Dorian was punctual, as usual, and stood waiting for their next move. Gully was "already stuffing his ungrateful little beak," as the Totodile eloquently put it.
"What happened to you, mate?" The gator asked, indicating the bruises on the Buizel's arms and body.
The Captain shrugged casually. "Was teaching a bunch of young rogues how to use a sword. Quick learners, aye. Too quick…" he muttered under his breath. Looking around, he added, "Hey, where's Totters?"
Torq giggled, "Ah, Bell told me to tell you that Tottle is with her. Those two have been playing all day! I'm glad our Tot found a friend…"
Skipper nodded, then scowled at the water maid, "And who be this beauty who stands before me, eh? You ain't one o'my crew!"
The Vaporeon rolled her eyes. She was wearing the pale pink dress, as her Mother requested. Torq felt extremely silly in it.
The Buizel laughed and waved a paw at her, "Nah, I'm only kidding ye, Torq. You look lovely, honest."
"Whatever you say, Captain. I for one can't wait to be out on open sea again."
The smallest of frowns flickered across Skipper's face, unnoticed by the crew. He smiled convincingly and bellowed, "Well said, matey! Right, to the feast then! Can't wait to see what those cooks cooked up!"
Flint growled darkly, "Aye, 'tis a feast fit fer kings alright, but shed a tear fer me whenever ye taste those accursed onions…" He headed down the path muttering something that sounded like, "Buso… gone off his rocker… worked me claws off…"
Together, the group headed towards the main square.
-O-O-
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Festive lights decked the area, bobbing up and down like a swarm of Volbeat. Music played without pause and every now and then, the stray firecracker would go off. Villagers of all shapes and sizes danced, laughed, and ate to their hearts' content. Over to the side, three massive tables groaned under the weight of trays upon trays of food. What a feast it was! Every fruit and vegetable imaginable added color and flavor to exotic looking dishes. There was grilled fish, fried fish, steamed fish, fish in all different kinds of sauces. Seafood had a whole table to itself. Skipper had never seen so much food in his life. He could feel his mouth watering.
"Delicious, Blake this is absolutely magnificent!" boomed Lord Ignaceous, who was sampling dishes, "I never knew you could cook something like this!"
The Torkoal wrung his chef's hat (which looked smaller than before) ruefully in his claws. "Er, actually it was the ship's cook who did most of these…" He then saw the crew beasts approach, and went off in a hurry. Buso grinned smugly.
The Flareon turned and saw them as well, "Ah, you made it I see. Welcome, welcome! Eat as much as you can stomach, my friends… oh! Captain Skipper, I have seen to it that your ship is provisioned as well," the fire lord added. He was certainly in a jolly mood tonight.
"Ah, thankee kindly, m'lord. If I could ever repay your hospitality..." the sea weasel started.
"Haha, it is my pleasure, think nothing of it! Come now, enjoy yourselves!"
Skipper needed no second bidding.
Ignaceous spotted Torq. "Torqoise, you look magnificent tonight," he stated proudly.
"Thank you, father."
"Come, you must try these pastries…" He led his daughter to one of the buckling tables.
It was a night of celebration indeed.
-O-O-
Skipper's crew and Torq's family sat at the longest table, a little ways apart from the rest of the villagers. Here they could talk above the din of the thunderous crowd.
Lord Ignaceous rubbed his temple with his paw, cheery temperament gone. A while earlier they had found Gully half submerged in a giant soup pot. The Chatot now closely resembled an overstuffed turkey. Despite warnings from Flint, the Flareon had asked the parrot about their journeys. It'd been an hour since.
"…then Skippy said, 'lookout fer those pirates!' and I says, 'Aye aye, cap-ee-tan!' and then they come, and… yarg! We…" Gully blabbered onwards and showed no signs of stopping.
Ignaceous leaned towards Flint. "Is the bird always like this?"
The gator nodded gravely, "Aye, we think he fell off a mast when he was naught but a chick…"
"Look!" Bell announced, pointing to her plate. "Guess what this is!"
Tottle stared. Five celery sticks poked out at odd intervals from a lump of mashed potatoes. "Er… a sea urchin?"
"No, silly! It's a Squirtle with its head tucked in!"
"Ohh, I see! Kinda…" The tiny turtle had really opened up towards the Eevee maid. She was easy to get along with. "And it's nice playing with someone my age," Tottle thought.
Buso was busy experimenting with different sauces. There was nothing he enjoyed more than cooking. Dorian was talking with Lady Sera. Or rather, the other way around.
"So you've been sailing all your life, sir?"
"Yes, I have."
"On the ocean, you mean?"
"… I couldn't imagine sailing on anything else, miss…"
The Golduck nearly sighed with annoyance, but refrained from doing so, thinking that he was at least luckier than Ignaceous.
Skipper, on the other hand, was tearing away at food like no tomorrow. Everybeast made sure to keep their dishes out of his way.
On one side of the table, Torq and Kito sat across from each other, both pushing things around their plate insipidly. Torq grimaced; her Father had piled too much sweet potato on her plate. She was not fond of sweet potato; those were always Kito's favori… The water maid chanced a glance at her brother. He sat there somberly; chin resting in one paw, eyes half closed and ears drooping.
The Vaporeon felt a twang of pity. She had been cold towards him… "Hey Kito, you want my sweet potatoes? You know I don't like them." Torq gave him an apologetic smile.
Kito looked surprised, then grinned back at her, "Thought you'd never ask, sis." He grabbed a morsel and chewed thoughtfully. "Listen, about what happened…"
"It's alright," Torq interjected, "It's in the past."
The Jolteon smiled. It was a genuine one, one that hadn't passed his lips for far too long. "Welcome back."
Suddenly, he had an idea. "Want to take a walk?"
"Yes, please! I thought I'd die of boredom… where to?"
"Someplace nice," the thunder dog replied, "just don't tell Mom and Dad." He gave her a mischievous wink.
Torq's eyes lit up. "Race you!"
In a flash, they leapt up and bounded into the forest.
-O-O-
"Hey Torq…"
"Yeah?"
"Are… my ears still scruffy?"
"Heh, I think they've gotten even scruffier."
"……….. nice dress."
Kito jumped, dodging a playful slap from his sister. They were back.
-O-O-
The fire dog smiled as he saw the two race off like they did in the olden days. He has sensed tension between them earlier that day. Ingnaceous cast a glance at Skipper. The sea weasel was having trouble removing a cob of corn wedged horizontally in his mouth. "Ahem, Captain Skipper, I would just like to thank you for bringing my daughter home."
The Buizel gasped for air as he finally dislodged the vegetable. "T'aint nothing, Lord… nothing wrong with visiting home now and then."
Skipper had chosen his words carefully. But Ignaceous had caught on to his meaning, and frowned. "My boy, surely you do not expect her to continue traveling with you?"
The Captain frowned as well. He had feared that this, the inevitable, would happen. "With all due respect, m'Lord, Torq is a good crewbeast, and a good friend. I promised her before we landed that I wouldn't let anything happen to her. And this be a good and peaceful place, but she doesn't belong here. As her father, you have more say than me, sir. But keeping to me promise, I must insist that you let her make her own decisions."
Skip braced himself for a verbal onslaught. But to his surprise, the fire looked not angry, but sad. "It is dangerous, yes? A life at sea…"
"I ain't gonna lie. Aye, there be pirates, storms, waves, and as you saw by our arrival, shortages of food and water… Everyday there's another chance to die."
Ignaceous was taken aback by the Buizel's blunt answer. "Then tell me, Captain, why you choose such a perilous life!"
A pondering smile appeared don the sea weasel's lips as he replied, "You should ask your daughter that question, m'Lord."
Finally, the Flareon grinned. "Try me. What would my daughter say if I asked her?"
Skip nibbled on his corn thoughtfully. "Hm… something about always needing to keep moving, about not being able to live the fair and simple life… a thirst for adventure, and freedom."
"And the chance to die everyday," Lord Ignaceous added sarcastically.
"It's a risk us seafarers dare to take."
The fire dog chuckled at the Buizel's audacity. "Did you know that Torq found her water stone on the shore? It must have been that… that accursed stone must have been what turned her into such a sea beast." He strokes his chin reflectively.
"Hm, methinks the sea beast was already in her, inborn," Skipper mused, "What else could have led her to the beach that day?"
The Flareon fell silent for a while. Then… "Thank you, Captain. There is wisdom in that young head of yours."
Skipper bowed his head respectfully.
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A fairly long one, eh? I hope you liked it. And I hope you like the characters in my story so far… character development (along with plot) really make a story for me.
A turn of events in the next chapter, I promise : )
'Till next time then!