This chapter was finished with the help of Albertasteithe21stgenius for helping me write this chapter and tyiinva for helping me write the chapter after this one. Please read and review.
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" I'm telling you I don't want to be a sailor boy," Yokai argued with Fletcher's lame excuse for the monk's position on the ship.
"But why not?" Fletcher whined.
Before Yokai could reply, Christopher said "You're a part of this crew now, captain's orders, whether you like it or not. Now, you can either go along with Fletcher's dumb ideas, or you can tell us what you're good at so we can come up with better ones."
Yokai seethed quietly for a few seconds, debating whether or not he should jump off the ship.
"Resistance is futile," Christopher added.
Realising that jumping off the boat was as dumb as Fletcher's idea, Yokai gave up. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. "Well," he began, "you've seen what I can do with my shards . . ." He frowned, trying to think of something else useful "I'm a trained assassin . . ." So was Christopher. What else could he do? "I-" Nope, he wasn't going to mention that. "Well, I can . . . read maps?" Yokai's eyes lit up. "Yeah, I can read maps!"
"Navigator." Christopher said before Fletcher could open his mouth. Yokai sighed in relief.
Disaster averted. Fletcher's idea had been horrible.
It was then that they heard an odd sound on the breeze, a sound that almost seemed like . . . laughter. The three went out on deck, looking for the source of the sound. Way, way in the distance, they saw a dim shape on the horizon in the direction from which the breeze was blowing. Yokai stepped up to the bow of the ship, head cocked to one side to try and discern what the noise was. After a moment, his eyes began to gleam.
"Captain?" he said, turning back to the others, "can we go there?"
Christopher had a sense of impending doom.
Fletcher picked his nose before replying. "W-"
His words were drowned out in a roar of water as a Sea King surfaced, leaping over the small ship and crashing into the sea on the other side, rocking the boat wildly. Christopher grabbed Fletcher to keep him from falling overboard, looking up to check on their new navigator.
Yokai was gone. As soon as the ship stopped shaking, Christopher let go of Fletcher and ran to the bow, peering at the water between them and the far-off island. With a sense of deja vu, he saw the Sea King surface some distance away.
" Dammit!" Christopher cursed. " If I could only stretch my tongue long enough I could strangle that dumb beast."
"Wouldn't you touch the water though?" Fletcher asked innocently. Christopher cringed at the thought of it, hating the way seawater made him weak.
With a sigh, and a bop to Fletcher's head, they began to row towards the distant island.
XXX
Far behind them, lying a little while away from a ruined tower, an orb lay on the sand basking in the sun. Slowly, it began to rock back and forth.
XXX
What was the orb? What was it doing in the sand, how did it get there, and why was it moving around in the sand? All that mattered when Christopher and Fletcher stepped on the sand.
Fletcher jumped out of the row boat. His arm grabbed the boat as his legs flew over it. Christopher removed the oars from the boat and put them together under an extra flag he found on the ship.
"Chris?"
"What, Fletcher?"
"What's that?"
'That' was a strange sphere that Christopher could swear he'd seen before. It rocked back and forth with slow, deliberate movements. But when he reached out to touch it-
It disappeared, leaving no sign that it was ever there. Christopher sensed his sword giving an extra large pulse. With a shake of the head, he said "Nevermind. We have to find Yokai."
The two boys looked around for any clue as to their new navigator's whereabouts. But all they saw was girls. Lots and lots of giggling girls, with the odd drunk-looking man here and there staring at the women. Christopher raised an eyebrow as Fletcher frowned.
In an irritated tone, Christopher said "Well, this'll be fun . . ." He was being sarcstic, of course.
XXX
Half an hour later . . .
"Yokai!"
"Navigator-guy!"
" I'm tired of working too hard to find my crewmates so get out here before I show you how hard my tongue can squeeze, you stupid monk!" Christopher shouted.
Despite the volume at which this was bellowed, no wandering monks responded to the threat. However, it did draw the attention of many scantily clad women. Christopher's doom sensor sent alarm bells ringing moments before his captain was swept away by an avalanche of cooing fans, all of them saying things like "He's adorable!" and "So sweet!" and, inevitably, things that sounded suspiciously like "He's mine!"
Christopher was left standing in the middle of the street, gawking as his captain was carried away, rapidly fading from sight. Slowly, a hand came up and he slapped himself in the forehead.
"Of course," he muttered, "I'm the only responsible one here."
With a highly irritated expression, Christopher scanned the area for wayward monks. Seeing as Fletcher tended to have the best luck, he was most likely safe and would soon be fed enough to satisfy even his prodigous appetite. The monk, on the other hand, was the cause of this little mess. He just had to get a ride from a Sea King, didn't he?
It never once occurred to Christopher that the monk might actually have been digested. Going by past experience, Christopher fully expected to find their navigator alive and well. Now, to find the guy and squeeze the life out of him. Then they would both fetch Fletcher.
Christopher set off in search of Yokai.
XXX
Yokai was having the time of his life.
If anyone wanted to guess what made Yokai happy they would have to remember how old he was. The point is Yokai was around beautiful woman in swimsuits and he liked it. Yokai could see the most bubbly personalities in these girls. They were young, energetic, long haired, had beautiful eyes, and had slim but also busty bodies.
Not only that, but they were all over him, fighting for the chance to touch him. Yokai may not have known why, but he loved a good massage.
He was lying on his stomach on the softest of pillows, watching the women with heart-eyes as they fought, almost purring in pleasure as several others rubbed his back and gently pummeled his muscles. This was life! He opened his lips, and one of the girls popped a grape into his expectant mouth.
XXX
A storm cloud hung over Christopher's head as he marched through the streets, fending off over-enthusiastic ladies and giving black-eyes to all the crazy guys that kept attacking him for some reason. They were yelling something about "staying away from my women", causing Christopher to snort in disgust. When he got his hands on that monk . . .
" I will make him put down those maps, get in my kitchen to work as my kitchen assistant, and then...let's see him holding that staff of his with only six fingers."
He smiled grimly, imagining all the things he would do when he caught Yokai.
XXX
Yokai shivered suddenly as a chill ran down his back for no apparent reason.
XXX
Fletcher's sides were hurting. He couldn't stop laughing.
"Stop *hahaha* please *snort* hurts *hic* HAHAHA!"
With great big grins on their faces, the women continued to tickle Fletcher's feet with a feather as others held him down.
XXX
Christopher stopped in the middle of the street, tilting his head to one side to listen better. Was that what he thought he heard? Because it sounded a lot like a bunch of fan-girls giggling and saying Yokai's name over a over again. It also sounded like something was on fire, the air crackling when he turned his head in a certain direction. Christopher just really didn't like this island. The sounds the girls made reminded him of a howling monkey.
He continued walking in the direction of the crackling. Eventually, he came upon the source. What he found was the perfect reason to why he was an assassin. To rid the world of things like this.
Yokai stood in the middle of a circle of adoring girls, his fire shard glowing on his staff as he made a dragon of flame twist and twirl through the air. All this time Christopher had been looking for him, and he'd been showing off to a bunch of girls who should have had better things to do. Christopher's eyes narrowed, and his hand gripped the hilt of his sword instinctively. It pulsed, and Christopher heard something growl. Startled for a moment, he looked around, but only saw Yokai doing his fire thing. Chris heard the growl again, just as Yokai's fire-dragon surged dangerously close to the cook's face.
Then Christopher had a flash of understanding. He drew his sword, grinning at a suddenly pale Yokai. He might not have entirely understood the mechanics of how the Ether-shard got stuck to his sword, but Christopher knew that whatever he was about to do would be the highlight of his day.
Yokai shivered at the bloodthirsty light in his crew mate's eyes. Maybe visiting this island hadn't been such a good idea. He began to back away as Christopher pointed his sword at the unfortunate monk.
Christopher spoke, the words instinctual, "Art of Ether: Alpha Hunt"
Yokai ran away screaming as a huge beast of smoke shot out from Christopher's sword, growling fiercely as it chased the robed man through the astonished ranks of women. Christopher's huge beast didn't give Yokai the chance to stay with the women.
The monk was instead acquainted with the feeling of having the jaws of death snapping literally inches from yoir heels.
"We can talk about this, right?"
Christopher's gave no response, but the Alpha hound roared all the same.
How odd they looked. First, there was a man in a plain brown robe that was missing one sleeve and had a chunk ripped out of the hem. This man was clutching a staff in his hand as he leapt ungainly over the many obstacles that contrived to be in his path.
Second, a large dog made of black mist that passed through these objects without resistance, the inside of its red mouth visible each time it snapped at its prey.
Third was a grinning swordsman with his sword drawn, the blade held low by his side so as not to accidently impale people. He leapt over the many items in the road with agility and grace, encouraging the hound of mist with things like "sic him boy!" and "he can't run forever."
XXX
How odd they looked indeed. Fletcher, temporarily released from his tickle torture, laughed as his crew mates passed him by. Although, he did wonder what they were doing.
XXX
Christopher had no idea that they'd already passed his captain.
He didn't know it would be very hard to find a wacky captain with lots of energy.
But, then again, the girls were keeping him occupied. And Christopher wasn't exactly paying attention, seeing as he was too busy chasing Yokai. Speaking of which, the monk seemed to be running out of steam.
What would Yokai do without his steam? Stop running, of course. If he didn't, he might just-
Crash!
-trip.
The Alpha hound lunged in triumph, landing above Yokai with paws planted either side of him. It growled deep in the back of its red throat, blue eyes gleaming.
Christopher came to a stop beside the smoke-dog, panting. He finally sheathed his sword.
"That's enough. Good boy."
The Alpha seemed to smile. Its jaws snapped shut inches from Yokai's nose as it dissipated. Christopher smiled.
"Well, monk, *pant* what have we learned today?"
Yokai tried his best to explain what Christopher wanted him to learn with a bright smile on his face.
"Er, well, maybe that I, um, shouldn't run off on my own?" He said uncertainly.
" Good. Ever since you got in this island I got to see what a pervert you really are? And we are not taking any of these girls on our crew so say your good-byes before we leave."
" Okay. But I just need to know...are you gay?"
"Hell no!" Christopher yelled.
Yokai was immediately sorry he asked such a pointless and dumb question.
The monk held his arms up in defence from the blistering glare Christopher gave him.
"Uh, sorry!" He squeaked, eyes darting around for a way out.
Christopher spoke through clenched teeth.
"We are going to find captain Fletcher. I am going to pretend you never asked. You are never going to mention anything like that again unless you want to be eaten by a smoke-dog. Do I make myself clear"
Yokai nodded hurriedly.
"Good" Christopher said, and began to walk back the way they'd come.
Yokai and Christopher never said even one word on their way back. Christopher was busily focusing on finding Fletcher. Yokai was terrified of Christopher. Christopher's head jerked up at the sound of laughter.
XXX
Fletcher giggled as his feet were mercilessly tickled once more. The girls surrounding him giggled at how adorable they thought he was.
Christopher was not impressed.
He couldn't believe his loyalty lied with a captain who liked getting his feet tickled. Christopher thought his captain was better than that even if he was an idiot. But apparently he wasn't. Christopher felt a tic develop over his eye as the monk slowly backed away from the fuming cook. It just wasn't Christopher's day today. Or anyone else's day, for that matter.
"FLETCHER!" he roared. Everyone froze in fear and surprise. Fletcher slowly turned his head to stare owlishly at his cook.
"Hi Chris!" he said cheerily, not seeming to notice the tension in the air. Next thing Fletcher knew, his cook was dragging him away from his new friends by the ear.
"OW! Ow, ow, ow! Chris!"
""We're leaving. Right now."
"But Chris!"
The cook actually growled at him.
"You want a black eye." he said dangerously. A dim instinct sounded muted klaxons at the back of Fletcher's mind. He wisely kept his mouth shut, instead focusing on using his wind powers to throw the bag of goodies the girls were giving him at Yokai.
XXX
Soon, the three made it back to their ship. The bag of supplies was stowed away, Fletcher was lectured and Yokai . . .
Well, Yokai was tied to the mast. Christopher didn't want him wandering off again, which was understandable really.
And so, they sailed off in search of a new adventure, one that didn't involve scantily dressed girls and disappearing monks.