May's Dream

From behind a large bush, a younger May of twelve year's old was crawling on the ground using her arms to push herself forward while her legs slightly moved to follow suit, her uncle Pier was next to her with his right index placed over his lips as if telling her to be quiet. When her uncle Pier slowly lifted himself off the ground to peer over the bush May followed his movement exactly and once she locked on her sight to the view in front of her she would see a large male deer eating the forest greenery along with a smaller female looking deer and a baby, as she felt a tap on her shoulder May would look over to her uncle who was pointing at the male deer and then mimicked the motion of him pulling back her bow and arrow at a slow pace and then released the imaginary arrow in the male deer direction. As Pier gave her that small display May had a small sweatdrop roll down her forehead at the thought of her missing completely and the male deer actually summoning a horde that used their antlers to impale her and Pier to death, but nonetheless after a few seconds she took the bow off her back and a single arrow that had been placed in a long bin that Pier had between them and slowly drew back the bowstring, she then took a second to release her aim and then pulled back the string even more until she found her strength could no longer do so, and then with a single breath she released the drawstring sending the arrow through the air and when it hit the male deer he released a loud grunt of animalistic pain.



May's eyes shocked open to reveal the site of a white ceiling, she begun blinking a few times as if to adjust to the light in the room as she wondered where she was until she remembered that she and her new family had just completed a raid on the infamous Mother and had passed out on the ship after doing so. She slightly turned her head to the left to see Kappa and Succubus still sleeping but when she looked to her right she would see an awake captain Jackal with his neck tilted but still on a pillow, "Captain..looks like we pulled it off, I thought we were so going to die." May would say as she chuckled weakly until she spoke again, "But I can assume that this is still only the beginning of a larger war, right? Whats our next move?"

Gilbard hadn't slept for a couple of days following the assault on the second district. He had been nursing the others while they slept, and checking up on Sinbad to make sure he didn't fall asleep at the wheel and take a nosedive nap. The fishman hadn't suffered so badly from the exertion thanks to his zebrafish body, but that meant that he had a duty of care He had concocted a makeshift intravenus drip with a mixture of leftover sea king plasma and glucose water that he had administered to those too weak to wake to eat and drink. Even if they had escaped without major injury, an exertion to this level took as much of a toll on their body as if they had. Of course, he had taken care of any scratches and scrapes along the way, and had done check ups on the bandit grunts, cleaning and binding wounds.

The rescued women had come next. He took charge while his captain slept and got to work. There was still much to do when caring for this many people, and he didn't expect Jackal to worry about that. Full body examinations and some rudimentary blood tests. Hygene was key here, and he made sure that all surfaces were sanitised. Many of them had symptoms of infection, disease and injury from mistreatment and abuse. He had to make sure that the pirates and the prostitutes had separate quarters and that there would be no shenanigans. The last thing they needed was an outbreak of sexually transmitted disease among the men. He treated the women as best he could. He set up meal times and cleaning times and prescribed a regime of exercises that would help them return to health.

Lastly, he whipped up a meal of dried roots and salted fish and a large glass of water for everyone still sleeping. He wasn't a chef, but he did know the dietary requirements best fit for overcoming their fatigue. The roots would be hard and bitter, bearly edible. You could boil them to soften them up, but Gil wouldn't let anyone do that because that would draw out the vitamins into the water and they would be lost. This meal would be sitting next to them when they awoke.

Finally when all his care was done, he lay down and slept a deep, dreamless sleep. Jackal and Sinbad's conversation awoke him about a day later, the fishman stiring before turning onto his stomach and vomiting a sticky greenish brown substance onto the floor they were sleeping on. Putting his lips to the ground, Gil quickly began slurping it up with his mouth and using his fishman jujutsu with his fingertips to bend it back inside himself. The stuff was too valuable to let it go to waste now and he didn't want the floor to taint the balanced ecosystem inside his gut. Blinking a few times, he wiped his hands and mouth on the sleeping Succubus's clothes.

"Good morning. Oh, Jackal. I have a couple of things I would like to discuss as well."

items: spear pistol, water dial, baby den-den

Jackal didn't bother to ask Mays question but instead gave a rather serious look before saying everyone should report to the ships Mess Hall, she wasn't aware of what was going on but such a large meeting was sure to be important so May decided to attend. Upon a few wrong turns May eventually saw the group of women from Mothers brothel moving in one direction and decided to follow them directly to the Mess Hall, the main crew was near the front so May got through the large crowd until she eventually found her seat next to Jake as Sinbad was in front of a speaker looking rather nervous as the women from behind her were clearly giving him flirtatious look, meanwhile May begun to look around for her captain until eventually finding him, although his situation was even dire then Sinbad as he was actually in the crowd but was literally swarmed with the brothel women on all sides looking rather uncomfortable as he gave his usual menacing scowl as they lightly tugged on various parts of his body, May just looked at him kinda disappointingly as she wanted to receive some amount of praise for her efforts from the battle but she supposed it would have to wait.

Sinbad would begin to speak in a nervous tone surely under the pressure of just how many women were in front of him, however, Sinbad was nothing compared to all the women's attraction to their captain as not even a full ten seconds in he was interrupted by the sound of women swooning over Jackal, May didn't say anything but she folded her arms upon each other feeling irritated for a reason she didn't even know as she listened to them flirt and joke with one another about her captain. After a few minutes had passed Sinbad asked the women if any of them had information on how to take down Mother as the crew was getting into major conflicts with them, the women still fearing Mothers iron grip denounced them saying they should quit while they're ahead and skip town. Jakes, mother Lily spoke up explaining how Mother ran her business by pulling girls from other islands and then forces them into a living none of them can afford, but what stunned the room into near silence even for a few seconds was Jackal chiming in saying how her system was actually quite well thought of.

Jackal would lightly explain just what part of Mothers system was good to him, but right after his explanation, Jakes mother broke down crying which May wasn't surprised about as what Jackal said actually did affect her for a split second until she thought about just how misunderstood his words could mean at times. Jake himself, however, being too young and hot-blooded burst out with emotions of anger, confusion, and sadness "I don't understand everything you said Jackal but take it back! How dare you make fun of this situation-"

Jackal ended Jakes talking with a flick of a forehead before explaining that Mothers system was perfect if he wanted to create the perfect slave, but he made his intentions clear by saying that was not his attention, he went on further to explain the helplessness and the loss of purpose and direction of life after being imprisoned by another for so long only to gain freedom and know not what to do with it, May had never known the chains of bondage she couldn't fathom the words of her captain but listened nonetheless as he explained he almost wanted to go back to those who had imprisoned him for so long.

He then changed the direction of the conversation stating that he found hope, not in himself but what the sea held for him, for it was upon traveling by sea that he meant Sinbad, Kappa, Jake, and May and became a family of thieves, he then went on to say that he may not be a better leader then Mother but instead gave a promise that none of the people present would be enslaved by him, although he did make a joke about a business partner which caused May to unintentionally glare his way as her fur slightly lifted into the air while she let off low sparks of electro, but nonetheless she was pleased that her captain wasn't a monster and actually valued others freedom, perhaps that was why she was so attracted to join him in the first place.

Rolling off of the new mood Jackal had set for the Mess Hall Sinbad would speak once more, "With that being said, if any of you can help us... any information on how to bring down Mother. We'll have our men interview each of you one by one at this point." Of course, the men didn't like that as after that battle they were seeking more pleasurable rewards for there efforts and made it quite vocal, unfortunately for them Jackal didn't like that and shot them a quick menacing glance that put them in their place nearly instantly as they begun to move to Sinbad's orders. Sinbad then explained a bit more about the interview stating that it was rather simple, who wanted to join them on the seas and who wanted to continue working in Baltigo, he even asked them if any of them had ideas on how to run one of the many districts, but the biggest and by far the most troubling was when he asked if any one of them had information on Mother.

The women were more motivated to help moved to give their opinions on the current situation while May, Kappa, Jake, Sinbad, and their new ally Succubus sat in the center of the hall. Sinbad taking a deep breath for a second then got on to another topic, "Alright. That should keep them occupied. Let's talk about our next problem Jackal. We're extremely understaffed. For a ship this huge... We need men to man canons... and we need canons to be manned. Our ship's barren like a newborn baby. The Revolutionaries left the outlines for a weapon system but we need a shipwright to put them in." "That's easy. We just get Tally to do it. She's the best shipwright I know. Back when Gin commanded twenty-vessels... She manned them all with a staff of only five. She's your gal." Jackal responded. May, of course, didn't know who Tally was but from their words understood the importance of having her help them.

Jackal plainly stated that she would help them customize the ship but in the meantime the crew themselves had work to do, Jake, job was to use his street connections in Baltigo to gather more man specifically of the bandit variety and rather nasty types that would know Jackals name like a mouse to a cheese and help them out for the chance of getting their names recognized as well, Jake asked how many and Sinbad quickly responded with fifty or at least twenty with rifle skills in which Jake said would be hard to accomplish and instead offered to call in a favor with a unit called the Street Soldier Group. Finally, May herself was given the order to go out and buy weapons by Jackal saying that she was the most suited for it while giving her a wink in which she nodded too.

Knowing her responsibilities now May took out a piece of paper and quickly started taking note of the things they would need, if what Jake said was true about the unit being experienced with weapons then she could afford to get more better equipped rifles with little fire drawback and the maximum range she could achieve, as she begun going through a variety of scenarios in her head she would slightly mumble as she begun to walk away heading towards an area on the ship where she could land in Baltigo safely.

The girl that he had wiped his goo on had woken up soon after and pointed at him and began speaking about the possibility of sexual intercourse. Gilbard didn't understand what she was talking about but she couldn't have possibly been meaning him. Maybe she had mistaken him for someone else because there was no way that he would be in such a situation.

Following the captain, he left the uneaten food where it lay. Sinbad and Jackal got straight to business, laying out the short term objectives of the crew. It all made sense. The fishman was happy about the fact that they had a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve in the road ahead. Their preparations for weapons and recruitment would help for the future. Jackal seemed to have some idea along the lines of having the prostitutes work for him. He didn't exactly know what he had in store for them, but taking these people under his wing would mean providing everything they needed to live as well as protecting them from Mother and whoever else. What the mink was talking about was no longer a small band of bandits, he was talking about an organised operation.

Gil's gaze shifted over those that had assembled here. The stakes were higher now. The ambitions were higher too. There was no doing things by halves anymore. When Jackal let him speak, Gil stepped forward so that he was next to him. With his heels together and his hands clasped behind his back, He stood with a strict, straight posture.

"With our crew growing, need has been increasing for further medical treatment. I've only been able to provide first aid and rudimentary treatment to the females and our fighting cohort expands, I will struggle to keep up with my job. I propose a temporary deal with the fourth district. I would like access to a private lab with assistance from staff. With their resources, I will be able to increase the coverage to an acceptable level. I also think that I may be able to invest some time into investigating new products. I've already sold some of my produce to a contact in the Fourth so I believe I will be able to undertake this myself. The beli payout that I received was substantial so this endeavor could prove useful funding."

"Speaking of funding, I think it is important to recognise that these preparations that Sinbad and Jackal have spoken of will cost a lot of beli. We will need to keep the cash rolling in or everything will grind to a halt. The Calico Pirates are about to become very hungry. With that in mind, I believe that a change in mindset is in order. An aggressive approach to collecting funds will feed this hunger. Each man with a price on his head or something of value is an opportunity that should be considered." Gil reached into his jacket and pulled out a roll of bounty posters and chucked them onto the table. "Jackal, I know your mind when it comes to your ethics surrounding your job. But this road we are starting to go down is bigger than any of us. This decision is up to you, but I ask if you would be willing to accept looser standards and a wider range of methods for our own sake. If we are moving to the big-time, then I suggest we start exerting our power as such, just like we have done against Mother." A few seconds after he finished, he bowed his head, lingering for a second before stepping back as a way to thank everyone for listening.

Just as May was walking away to sit in a corner as it wasn't time to leave yet she heard Jackal's voice finally say something directed at her, "I trust you. You'll do fine." It made her really happy to finally get his attention but she still had to focus on the task at hand because for all intent and purposes they were still in danger, as May finished making the list of which requirements would best be suited for their type of situation she could easily identify two. The easier rifle would most likely be the Winchester 75 with added peep vision, this rifle didn't have as strong as back kick as the rest of its family and the added vision would make aiming at further away targets easier, however, if she was dealing with veterans then the Ishapore 2A1 rifle is what she wanted, it had a stronger kickback and anyone who wasn't ready it would be a practically useless weapon but in the right hands and an eagle eye a single bullet could potentially tear a man apart if not two depending on the bullets used.

Right before it was time to leave nearly an hour later Jackal had an announcement to make, "Before we all leave... There's one last thing I need to let you all know. It's about this Ball Mother has approaching... Buy some fancy clothes... We're all going. That's where we'll settle this whole thing." Everyone would nod before splitting ways into separate groups, May took Jake and six of the bandits with her while Jackal took the rest of the group along with him, her task was to get the guns and after she was to check up on the Kasumi Inn which she and Jake looked forward to the most as they both came to love the old couple, Catherine and Gregory. Once Sinbad lowered the ship in a place near rocks that wouldn't be spotted May and her group got off, they quickly made their way over to the heart of the Nil district, everyone was wearing hoodied jackets, although the Nil was fair territory May still didn't want any of Mothers forces to find them, at least not yet. As to avoid attention May informed the group what they were looking for and they split up into teams of two with Jake being with her, it didn't take them very long to find the items they were looking for as Baltigo was a hub for illegal weaponry and legal alike, in less than an hour they had acquired nearly sixty-five guns with the extra being the bandits upgrading their own ranged weaponry.

Now that official business was taken care of it was time for Jakes and Mays favorite part, dropping by to go see Gregory and Catherine, the two were so excited that May carried Jake on her shoulders as she ran full speed towards the Inn leaving the group of bandits to return back to the ship as the guns being stolen by thieves would be a really bad situation for the crew before they would return to meet back up with them, as they got closer the smell of burnt wood would reach her nose but she thought it was perhaps one of the merchants cooking and didn't pay it any mind. Once they got close enough  something was clearly wrong, the smell of burnt wood was even more prominent and by the time they were literally on its street there was a huge crowd blocking it from view, Jake who was practically on edge now climbed off Mays shoulders and broke his way into the crowd, suddenly Jake screamed so loud that May almost thought he got stabbed or shot by someone and pushed through the crowd worried but what she found was far worst then she ever thought.

May couldn't believe it, at that moment she thought she had entered a terrible nightmare as her eyes visibly filled up with tears that begun to blind her eyesight as she wasn't even blinking, the Kasumi inn was no more. It had been burned down to shambles as smoke rose up to the sky, there were still guests getting bandaged up by those in the crowd adverse in medical knowledge but those were nothing compared to what May was looking upon as tears rolled down her eyes, as Jakes wailing became even more blood-curdling causing the crowd to console him May took a few steps forward before falling onto her knees as she was looking at Gregory and Catherine, however May could only recognize them by the name tags left on their bodies as they had been burned beyond repair and recognition as they were slung up and left to hang on crosses just outside the entrance with one message right under both of their names, "Mother's always listening, Ears."

It was just then the bandits they had left behind finally caught up and pushed their way through the crowd to find Jake wailing so hard his voice was now horsed, May herself started to shake violently as she realized if she had never came to Baltigo, if she had never agreed to go along with Kaito and Jake to eat, if she had just been human, then maybe none of this would have happened, the feelings of regret were so intense that May couldn't hold back her own feelings, but suddenly just right before she could let out a sound the world went black around her, suddenly the people all around her became a mixture of different colors and she could hear their voices but could see no faces, but none of it mattered as she finally broke down screaming so loud as tears streamed down her face that the bandits had to take her and Jake back to the ship as the scene was attracting far too much attention.

Gil nodded once more at Jackal's final directions. It was agreed upon then. There was work that needed to be done. To make sure that the crew would have everything that it needed to survive in the times to come, infrastructure and funding needed to be secured. Even though Jackal didn't ask much of him directly, he knew he was capable of pulling much more weight than was deferred to him. If he could grease the wheels then it would make their lives a lot easier in the future.

Jackal mentioned a ball before they departed. This was... Some sort of social gathering? He remembered that in his first days on the surface, he had attempted to attend one of these things but was turned away at the door. He assumed that when the mink said that they were all going, it meant everyone except him. He didn't feel much like partying anyway.

Gil left the group, returning to his room to gather his things. He had a lot of work to do.

exit

As the bandit crew helped carry May away from the scene she was mentally trapped in the darkest place of her own mind as hot flashes of the memories she spent on the island of Notice vividly flashed through her mind, the moment her parents told her they were leaving her on the island to fend for herself as she was costing them more money then she was worth to them, the unearned treatment of the islanders treating her no more than filth on the side of the road despite trying to make a proper business selling things she found, and the scorn of the other children for simply being born as a mink rather then a human like them. As all those things came to mind May felt as if she had just jumped into the ocean and was continuing to sink lower into the depths and she didn't try to resist it, why bother? She wasn't human and she was never going to fit in with them and the world they seemed to rule over so why not just let it all go? why not just sink to the bottom? There was nothing to fight for anyway.

Sinking feeling:

"May. Listen to me... I know your hurt right now... but focus on my voice." Who was that? They sounded so familiar, so warm. "I promise you. As long as we stay nakama...," Nakama? as May heard those words new images came to mind, the day pier found her crying under a tree, the meals they eat in their home, the days spent spread out across the floor trying to hunt for food, the funny moments where Pier would forget something despite just talking about it no more than a few moments ago. Then even brighter memories came, the moment she felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned around to see..Jackal and Jake behind her and the look of surprise on his face and the shock of hers as she thought she was getting robbed, "I will fight back."

That's right...she wasn't alone anymore, she now had people who cared about her and people whom she also cared for deeply, some of the people she cared deeply for were no longer gone and that made her extremely sad, but she still had people left, there was still a reason to keep fighting...so why was she letting herself sink? Pier told her there would be times for grief and then others to do something about that grief, this was a time to do something about her grief.

May started to struggle against the sinking of her own mind as she started to make her way back to the surface that was bright, and the moment she reached it she audibly took a deep breath as she stopped crying and her sights returned with clarity as the world that was black around her begun to have more colors again and she could see Jake and the bandits, she then picked up the phone one of the bandits had calling Jackal back and as soon as he answered she would speak, "I really don't think we can win and I'm going to kill you with my slowness but lets kick Mother's ass for Catherine and Gregory!" May would say quite boldly despite her negative nature still flowing through and then hung up immediately heading towards her...her home!

-exit-