The next island was smaller than the one Tion came from, but it was full of life.
"Do you think we can get a tattoo here?" Tion asked, looking around.
"I surely hope so. Your parents generous, giving us all that gold." Ace said, a malicious smile on his face.
"I know, they are most gracious when you take from them without them knowing you took from them." Tion said snickering.
"It's not stealing, all their fortune was yours anyway." Ace scoffed, making Tion laugh.
"What's our first destination?"
"The tavern? Someone may know where we can get tattoos."
"Fine, but don't drink too much, you know what happens..."
"Ok mother..." Ace said before sprinting towards the tavern, Tion following and screaming in outrage.
"Hello! Can you give us two glasses of water and all the meat-based plates you have?" Ace asked, smiling as Tion protested that she wasn't like a nagging mother. Ace shooed her with a laugh, sitting down.
"Hello there."
Ace turned to find a beautiful woman, blonde and tall, wearing a red dress.
"Hello?" Ace asked, uncertain.
"Awww, are you timid, little one?"
"Hey, I'm not little!"
"Captain, you aren't acting as a grown up either..." Tion snickered.
"Shut up!" He said, poking her on the ribs, making her squeal.
"Are you a Captain? So young? You must be really breve." The blonde interrupted, hands sneaking on Ace's shoulders.
"Ok, look, my Captain is not interested into women." Tion interrupted, making Ace blush.
"Awww, don't say that, he just hasn't met the right woman yet." Now Ace looked positively ill.
"Don't worry, Cap, she'll let you live as soon as she see you eat." Tion laughed, as Ace started to push her away from him
"Go away, you evil being." He said, laughing too. Tion opened her mouth but a loud crash from the kitchen stopped her.
"You clumsy oaf! Now we'll have to cook it again!" Someone shouted as the man that took their order came out from the back door, carrying some of the plates.
"I'm sorry to make you wait, dear costumers, but the rest of your order will take a little more time...our cook dropped some plates..."
"Oh, don't worry! We have some time." Tion answered pleasantly.
"Can you maybe tell us where we can get a tattoo, please?" Ace asked, politely.
"Of course, there's a place just round the corner! You have to walk till the end of the roas and then to your left."
"Thank you so much, sir." Ace smiled, as the man disappeared. Silent fell on the two pirates.
"Captain..."
"I know Tion, but now it's not the moment." He said, putting a hand on her leg in comfort. They exchanged a worried look.
"Oh, are you going to have a tattoo? Is it you first?" The blonde from before asked.
"Well, yeah..."
"How cute!" She said, hugging him.
"Tion, help! She's trying to suffocate me in an ocean of boobs!" Tion laughed before swatting the blonde away.
"Shoo now, let my Captain eat in peace."
"Awww, you are no fun" She whined until Tion decided to throw her chair to her.
"See, all done." She said, smiling to Ace that was holding her sides ."Awww, you are no fun" She whined until Tion decided to throw her chair to her.
"See, all done." She said, smiling to Ace that was holding his sides with his hands, hurting from laugher.
"It hurts so much!" Tion whined, hand squeezing Ace's.
"Greet your teeth! You're a fearsome pirate now!" The raven said, gritting his teeth in return. Tion was laid down on a table, an artist was busy decorating her left biceps and another was doing the same with her right. Next to her, Ace was receiving his on his left biceps. Their right hands were clasped together, knuckle white from the pressure.
"Fearsome pirate my ovaries! If it hurts it hurts! I've seen grown men cry getting a tattoo!" The artist tattooing Ace chuckled, amused. "What the hell are you laughing at you sadistic!"
"Hey, I'm not sadistic! Paul, be extra rough to the lady!" Paul, the man doing her right biceps laughed a little.
"I'm not doing it, Raul. I'm sorry missy, I know it hurts, but once over it will be beautiful, ok?" Tion really looked at Paul for the first time. He had short brown hair, dark skin and eyes as black as the night. His arms were covered in tattoos.
"Say, Paul, are you a good doctor?"
"I like to think so."
"He's being modest, he's really good! Last year he even performed surgery." Piped the third artist, the one on Tion's left side.
"You can do it too, Jude." Jude nodded, hand moving swiftly to work over Tion's shoulder, making her hiss.
"I very much can. But I am older than you."
"What do you think Cap?" Tion asked between gritted teeth.
"That you are trying to break my hand."
"Ace."
"Sorry, sorry. Paul, wanna join our pirate crew?"
"Sure, why not." Came the reply. Tion blinked.
"Just like that? Is that easy? Were I that easy?"
"Well, you asked me to join..." Tion let go of his hand and swatted at him blindly. "Ow! Careful!"
"Missy, don't trash like that or we'll have to redo some parts." Tion looked at Paul with wide eyes.
"Sorry." She whispered, looking like a rabbit in the eye of the predator, making Ace laugh. "Shut up you traitor."
"Oh, finished. Now, I need you to know how to take care of it." Raul said, bandaging his new tattoo. Tion turned him out, trying not to concentrate on the pain as the needle traced the last part of the tattoo on her back.
"Ace?"
"Yeah?"
"We won't be able to control the ship if both of us are aching from the tattoos we got..."
"Oh, crap. Well, I suppose it's a good thing we have Paul now, isn't it?" Ace asked, turning towards the man, smiling evilly.
"Sorry Paul..." He laughed, stroking Tion's hair.
"It's quite alright missy."
"Yeah, but-" She stopped, turning towards the tavern they came from earlier. "Captain?"
"I heard, don't worry." Ace said, moving towards the back. There, sat on the ground, was a boy. His body was lithe, hair blond with the littlest touch of red and eyes as ice. He was gorgeous if not for the black bruise on his left eye. Under the tattered shirt Ace could see more of them, green blue and sickening yellow. Tion moved to the front, slowly, like she was dealing with a startled animal.
"Ace, you might want to call Queen out." The raven nodded, as Tion moved closer.
"Hello there. My name is Tion, what is yours?" The boy shook his head. "Ok. Can I see your bruises? I want to check them. I promise I'm a doctor." She said, hands coming to gently cup his face, examining his eye. "I cure people with plants you know. Do you like plants?" The boy nodded. "Yeah? Good. Can you tell me how old are you?" He hold his hand up, five fingers up. "Fifteen? Oh, you are a young man. Something else besides the bruises that hurts?" A nod. "Can you tell me where, daring?" He gestured his ribs. "May I see?" The boy lifted the shirt, showing a shallow cut. "Can I touch? I need to know if there's pus." Another nod. Gently, Tion started to probe the cut. "It's not infected, that's good. Can you walk? I need to apply some salve, but I don't have it here. Will you follow us to our ship?" The boy shook his head. "We won't hurt you, I promise." The boy nodded but then shook his head no again. "...oh. Are you afraid they will hurt you?" She asked, gesturing towards Paul and Ace. Another denial and a finger pointing towards the tavern. "Oh. Don't worry, we'll protect you." And like that, the girl had an harmful of the younger boy. "There, there, happy?" A nod. "Good, let's go."
With some difficulties she got up, moving towards Ace and Paul.
"Hello dear." Ace said, a hand moving to pet the boy's hairs. He shied away a little, as if trying to melt into Tion's body, but Queen caressed him anyway. "My name is Queen and I'm here to help little Tion to take care of you. Please don't be scared." A nod. "Good. Let's go?" Another nod.
Tion started to hum as she moved, soothing the boy as they moved towards the boat, trying to stay as far away from the sight of others.
"Come little children, I'll take thee away,
into a land of enchantment"
Tion sung, as she jumped on the ship, moving to the infirmary. Inside, she put the boy down on the cot.
"Follow sweet children, the time's come to play,
here in my garden of shadows"
Tion started to strip him of his shirt. Gently, she started to mend his cut, rubbing a gel around it before bandaging it. She cleaned her hands on a towel before she started to rub on his other bruises with another gel.
"Calendula for the cuts, Arnica flowers for the bruises." She said, humming softly as she kept on with her task. "I'm going to give you something for the pain, ok?" He nodded and she gave him a little bottle.
"It's a mix of flowers and leaves. It's a little alcoholic, but it will help you to feel less pain." He nodded and she smiled. "Hey, since you won't speak, why don't you write your name down for me?" He nodded and she got up to search for a pen and a piece of paper. She returned to him with a smile.
"So. Let's talk a little, shall we?"
"Ace." The young captain turned from where he was sharpening his knife.
"Yes?" He asked watching Tion and then the boy.
"This is Denny. He can write, so we had a little talk. As you can see his parents were not gentle with him, so he asked if he could come with us at least to another island."
"Sure, no problem. Do you want us to destroy their house as payment for what they did to you?" He asked. Denny looked stunned, but then shook his head. "You sure?" A nod. "Ok then."
"Cap, we need to buy some clothes for him. And more food now that we have another person on board."
"Sure, I'll get the money and than we can go." Tion nodded and turned towards Denny.
"Do you want to come with us, dear?" A nod. "Good. Let's find you something to cover you up. We don't want people to think that we gave you these" She said, caressing his head. Then she was guiding him inside again, searching the hole ship for a black sweatshirt that was much too big for him.
"Shall we go?" She asked, taking one of his hands in his. A nod, making her smile. "Caaaaaap! Hurry up!"
"Yea, yes, I'm coming you impatient woman!" He said, making her laugh.
The journey was swift. Once in the main part of the city, Tion insisted in buying Denny new clothes, but he was more interested in food.
"Wait wait wait." Tion said, stopping Ace. "These are the ingredients of the plates we ordered at the tavern. Did you cook them?" A nod. "Aww, you are such a good boy." She cooed, hugging him close and making him blush.
"Tion, quit embarrassing him. It's a good thing you are a cook! Maybe you could teach us some recipes before we drop you off to someone worthy." He smiled, patting him on the head and Denny, for the first time in forever, he smiled brightly.
"Let's return home."
The next island was rich, but the inhabitants treated the one with little money like trash.
"I won't leave Den here, Cap." Tion pouted. "It reminds me my home island."
"Yeah, mine too." Ace agreed.
"You to have shitty home islands if I may." Paul said, amused.
"You may." Tion said, looking unimpressed. "I have no wish to return."
"The only thing I have let on the island is my brother and he will set sail in three years, I will see him soon."
"What kind of person is he, Cap?" Paul asked.
"He's an idiot." He deadpanned, making them laugh.
"Is that a violin that I hear?" Tion asked, moving towards the sound. There, in the middle of the street, a beggar was playing the violin skilfully, note rising from his instrument like steam, delicate and invisible. The music was fierce and expressed a sense of despair with his speed and timbre. Sometimes, the tempest was substituted by light drizzle, sweet and gentle, before turning again into a tunderstorm. When it ended, Tion turned towards Ace, eyes begging.
"Cap, can we keep him? Please?" Ace laughed.
"I have nothing against asking him to join. Any objections?" He asked Denny and Paul. Both shook their head. "Then go ask him, Tion." She moved towards him shyly.
"Uhm...hi."
"Hello young one. What can I do for you?"
"Uhm, I am from a pirate crew, the Spades. Would you like to join us?"
"I really don't like pirates."
"Oh. Pity." Then, she took some coins from her fanny pack and give them to him. "Here. You were really good." She smiled, returning back to Ace, that smiled to her and patted her head. Then, they left.
The musician looked curiously at them, before returning to his violin. He played and played until his hands hurt. Few coins had joined the ones the young pirate left him. Sighing, he got up. His long, dark hair were obscuring his view a little, hiding his equally dark eyes, so he moved them behind his ears. It was tiresome, being a beggar. He had no place to return to, no hot meal to wait him, no worm blanket to give him comfort. He was dirty and his bones hurt from sleeping on the ground. Slowly, he moved towards the place all the beggars lived. As he moved, he knew something was wrong: he could smell food, and it seemed wonderful. Following the smell, he found something that surprised him greatly: the young boy with blonde hair was cooking in a great cauldron, the one with black hair and the cowboy hat was helping the bulkier one with chopping some fruit, laughing together. The one that asked him to join was sitting on the floor, hands moving with practised ease as she planted a little seed. She was telling the adults nearby something, probably how to take care of the plant that will born from it.
"Tion, we have some more seeds!" The bulky one said, and the one that was planting smiled at him.
"I'm coming!"
"No, you are not! Food's ready!" A cheer rose from everyone as they assaulted the poor boy, making the one with the cowboy hat laugh as 'Tion' tried to give order to the queue.
"Oh, the musician from before. Come here and eat with us!" The one with the cowboy hat said, smiling. "I'm Ace, nice to meet you."
"I'm Gale."
"Well met Gale, I'm Paul. The one cooking is Denny and the young lady there is Tion?"
"...lady?"
"Oh, yeah, she's a girl."
"Oh."
"Don't worry, she knows she doesn't look like one as she is now." Ace reassured, patting him on the shoulder. "Now go, you seem like you're going to kneel over if you don't eat."
Nodding, he moved towards the cauldron.
At first Gale thought that maybe the crew would stay for a day or two, but in the end they stayed for almost three week. Tion explained how to care for the newborn plants, acting like the expert in botanic she was. Denny explained what ingredients gave them more strength and Paul bought them whatever they might need and Ace thought them how to defend themself.
The day they decided to set sail again, the entire community ws there, the younger ones clung at them like stubborn octopuses.
"Paul, I need a hand here." Tion said, trying to gently untangle herself from the tiny arms that kept on hugging her. Paul laughed, delighted, as he scooped for or five little boys and girls in his arms. He placed them a few feet away from the girl, giving her the time to climb the ship. The children protested loudly at his meddling as he let them go. Quikly, he jumped on the ship as Tion was sticking her tongue out.
"I can see you there Gale." Ace said, smiling. Tha man got out from his hiding place, smiling brigtly.
"You got me."
"Does it mean that we have a musician on board now?" Tion asked, excited.
"Yes, you do." Gale confirmed.
"Yay! Denny, let's cook something extra good tonight to celebrate!" Tion said, taking the boy by the hand as he nodded.
"Well, I guess welcome on board." Paul smiled.
"Thanks."
The piazza was full of people and Charlie was checking the sharpness of the blades on his stall, eyeing every child that run by. He didn't want any accident.
"Hello Charlie. Did you sell something today?" Charlie looked up. There stood a man with long, dark blonde hair held by a low ponytail. His eyes shone aquamarine and a little scar rested on his right jaw. Charlie knew that that the only differences between him and his twin were the eyes, his were dark blue, and the hair that he kept short.
"Hello there Derek. Unfortunately not"
"Uoah! Tion, look at this stall!" Someone called behind Derek.
"Cap, wait! We're going to split if you keep on walking like that!" A voice berated, not really angry.
"Ok, but look at these swords!" Ace said, young eyes sparkling with happiness.
"Oh, I always wanted to be able to held one..." Tion sighed, hand on Denny's shoulder.
"I could teach you if you wish." Charlie shrugged.
"Really? Can you?"
"Sure, why not."
"I'd like that, please!"
"But I warn you, you'll need more than two months to learn." Tion pouted and Ace smiled.
"It's alright. You may as well learn. You'll be a great swordwoman."
"Wait, are you a girl?"
"Yeah, I am. Is that a problem?" She asked, hint of irritation in her voice.
"'Course not. Starting tomorrow."
"Aye!" Tion answered enthusiastically.
"Uhm...Tion?"
"Yeah, Derek?" She answered, looking at the mug he found at the market.
"Wasn't Ace gay?"
"He is, why?" She turned ans saw Ace flirting with a group of girls.
"Oh, for the goddess' sake." She got closer. "Hello." Ace lit up.
"Tion!" He said, hugging her.
"Uhm, he's with me, sorry." She said the girls. Tion waited util they went away. "So, nice to meet you. You already know who I am. Would you mind telling me who are you?"
"I'm Heart! I was born to interact with women." She said, smiling.
"Oh, another girl."
"Tion?"
"Yeah?"
"There's someone else inside us that it's trying to take my place when I'm talking to girls. The others won't make me talk to him. Do you know him?" Tion's eyebrow furred.
"No, I don't. Can you make me talk with Ace, please?"
"Of course." The expression on Heart's face relaxed before contorting into a grimance. "I dont really want to talk about it."
"Too bad because I want to talk about it." Ace sighed.
"It's just Jack. He's lazy and appeared in our teens. You know, whey you develop sexual urges...he is kind of a-"
"If you're going to say slut or something like that I'm going to kick your ass relly hard."
"Ok. Then...he kinds of flirts with everything that breaths and thinks with his dick." Tion sighed.
"My. A normal personality no, eh?"
"Nah, It would be boring."
"I hate you." Ace laughed.