I followed onto the ship and collapsed, completely immobile during the entire escape. There wasn't much I could do anyways, I wasn't any sort of ranged fighter. When we got a safe distance from the island I summoned my shadow and used him as a support. The captain gave a speech that had no effect on me. I already knew what I had to do. I noticed the girl Zoe go off, and soon after smelled food. "Lets go." I said tiredly to the shadow. It nodded and there may have been a smile if his mouth was visible. I didn't feel the need to introduce myself. I was felt a pang in my chest when I looked at the faces as I passed wearily by them, almost all of them were kids. Pirates of their own free will.

I followed my nose through the ship, coming across the room where we could dine. I fixed myself a large helping and sat on a bar stool as far from the two girls as possible. I sat alone and silently, eating with manners that I had ever since I was a child. It was one of the few things I could still have the moral ground. "You don't look like the pirate type." The girl Zoe said. I immediately thought to myself, I wasn't the pirate type when I was kid. The thought made me angry, and I almost lost my temper. I thought about something that would make me calm, Leona should be a few years from ten. Thinking about my daughter made me much happier. I hadn't seen her in years, but I loved to imagine that she was growing up well. Probably going to become a successful shopkeeper, far from worrying about a life or death situation.

I began to smile peacefully, but it was gone when I remembered I would never be able to see her again. This time I didn't hold back, and I slammed down on the counter and roared, knocking my empty plate onto the ground. I picked it up and replaced it on the counter and walked out, shadow in tow.

I kept my shadow out as a safety measure for the crew. I had a recent condition where I have been sleepwalking violently. Asleep, I am unable to control my anger and depression, and I often have dreams that control my body. Last time it happened, I accidentally broke a shipmate's arm, and that was simply because his screaming had gotten him the aid of the rest of the crew. It was a dream about that accursed captain.

I made my way down to the cargo hold and leaned against a crate. "Keep the crew safe." I said out loud. The shadow already knew what to do though, and I was just saying it to myself. It didn't take much time for me to fall asleep uncomfortably on the ground, but that was the price I paid.

As Zoe moved around from the stove, a large man- one of those vicious looking ones lumbered inside, grabbing food and sitting far away. Staring quite unabashedly at the imposing presence that was deliberately avoiding the two girls, Lotte had half a mind to call him over and see if he would react or not. By her guess, he would probably ignore her like most big men like him did-- they usually didn't even notice her, being as petite and insignificant in stature as she was. But in a room like this, there was no way he'd not notice, right? It would be interesting, pestering him and--

She blinked, turning back to Zoe when she'd answered and not quite understanding what sea legs were- but accepting the explanation as the conversation moved on to introductions. She nodded her head in acknowledgement, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Zoe." Eyes sparkling as she took in the movement of the salute, which she noted so that she could practice it later herself, she then observed this Zoe girl's unceremonious pose. With her legs in the air like that, didn't she worry about being seen as... well.... Lotte supposed with the way the girl was dressed there wasn't much room for any other conclusion anyway.

"Ah, excuse me- my name is Lotte." She wrenched her eyes from Zoe's feet back to her face, "I'm not a pirate, actually- or well, I don't think I am?" Musing for a moment, she retraced the series' of events and nodded in confirmation of her conclusion, "I just followed Vance on board, to avoid the marines. I would get in trouble if they got ahold of me. As of right now, I'd like to say I'm more of a--"

She jumped a little in her seat, when the big oaf of a man suddenly let out a roar and clattered his plate to the ground. A little set out of sorts by his outburst, she stiffened, watching him stomp out like a giant baboon. "...." Face filled with bewilderment and confusion, she suddenly burst out laughing after a few moments of silence had passed. Clapping her hands together and turning back from the door to Zoe, she exclaimed, "He's weird! If he was angry we weren't talking to him, he should've just sat with us in the first place!"

Tristan D. Kuzo - Open Sea

Kuzo nodded when Vance introduced himself. He walked up to the man, looking him over up and down before giving him a cheerful smile. He wasn't sure whether he was naturally shy, or if he was only like that among all of the unfamiliar faces, but Kuzo patted him (slightly hard) on the back to reassure him he was among friends.

"Nice to meetya, Vance," Kuzo began, patting him on the back. "You look like you can handle yourself pretty well behind the wheel. Hey, you can be the navigator," He concluded. He then had a sudden thought, turning around the others aboard the top of the ship just as Zoe headed below deck. "Unless, anyone else has any experience with that? No?" He looked around again to confirm, before looking back at Vance and crossing his arms, nodding again and beaming at him. "Alright then, it's decided. You'll be the navigator!"

The others also took this time to introduce themselves (the ones who decided to), including Lotte, while Morgan reminded Kuzo of the agreement they had. Kuzo grinned at him as he began his climb to the crow's nest, and nodded. "I haven't forgotten. Once we hit land." He said to him, watching his climb up. Bass decided to join Morgan in the area, which caused Kuzo's focus to go from the man to the strange creature, whose story he had yet to hear.

He looked off to the front of the ship, the boat gliding along the sea toward the seemingly endless beyond. While he did this, he heard his stomach growl, combined with the crashing of something from the kitchen area where a few of the others had disappeared into. This reminded him that it had been a while since he ate or drank, and he figured the others would probably want to follow suit.

"Well, it'll be a few days (more like a couple hours, but Kuzo wouldn't know better) before we reach Reverse Mountain and get into the Grand Line, so I say we all relax for now and get to know each other. Let's join the others for a bite and a celebratory drink!" He exclaimed, and headed into the doors below. Along the way, the distressed yelp and the cry for help led Kuzo to the fishman who he had met earlier in the execution plaza, and who helped protect the ship from the Marine's assault as they made their escape. Sucking in a deep breath while on the move, Kuzo reverted to his Tank Mode form, which bulked him up enough to be able to pick up the fishman in one swoop, and carry him over to the kitchen area. He tried his best to avoid the tail, though he may have accidentally rubbed on it a few times as he walked there.

"Quite a nasty injury you've got there, fishman," Kuzo said, still unsure what to call him since he never introduced himself earlier. "We'll see if we can get Skellen to patch it up after some grub and a drink."

The two arrived in the kitchen area, and Kuzo (somewhat carelessly) placed Tunnak down on one of the bar stools while he went over to the side of the room, where barrels of drinks were positioned. Still being in his larger appearing 'Tank Mode', he was easily able to lift up one of the barrels and bring it over to the table, positioning it on the edge and knocking out the cap that held the hole in place. After placing it down, and watching the liquid pour out from it and onto the floor, he quickly reverted back to his normal form with a quickly outward stretching of his arm and clenching of his fists. He then grabbed a few mugs and started filling them up to the top and passing them around to those present, and those coming in.

"Interesting people I've picked up," Kuzo said, mostly to himself, but since he had decided to say it out loud, he directed it to those present. "Multiple devil fruit eaters on a single ship," He counted with his fingers to pinpoint exactly the amount. He knew Morgan, Bass, Leon, Zoe, and himself had one, thought he was unsure of any others. "About twelve by my count. Morgan, Bass, Zoe...." He tried counting with his fingers, figuring out where the other numbers came from, before scratching his head and shrugging. "But anyway...it's just surprising to have so many! I mean, a bat, a dragon, a fireman, a shadowman! I think I won the Devil Fruit lottery here." He smiled, grabbed his cup and raised it up to a toast to everyone else, before downing it quickly.

"So..." He began, putting down his cup as he observed the rest of his crew in the kitchen. "What's your stories?"

Skellen drifted off from the rest of his fellow crewmates once he had seen too it that the fishman had been laid down. He was interested in seeing what the ship had to offer as far as medical facilities since he wasn't exactly equipped to act as a doctor for the most part – in fact he had already used up all of his bandaging and was through several of his various sharp implements too.
Something tells me I should be sure I have plenty in the way of medicines, bandages and even surgical supplies judging by these guys. At least saving people's lives will be an interesting change of pace from my usual work.

Skellen passed the rapidly filling galley, he'd head back there later but for the time being he had other things on his mind. Skellen walked easily through the ship, it hadn't been that long since he had been on one really and he had always had very good balance, so it wasn't too long before he found what he guessed was the infirmary… that seemed like correct word to him anyway. It was quite small, probably due to the lack of crew needed for the boat but it seemed stocked well enough. Skellen rifled through the cabinets and draws in the room, taking note of what was on board.
Not bad actually… there's a couple of things I could do with but in general they're not poorly stocked and I can mix some of these to make stuff. There's two tables for me to work on patients as well as a desk and all these cabinets… yeah I can definitely work with this. I am definitely going to have to stock up on some things at our next stop though.

Satisfied with what he had found, Skellen headed back up towards the galley, which had become somewhat noisy with the arrival of Kuzo. Skellen walked into the room to observe the two young women from earlier sitting at a table – one looking every bit the pirate and the other looking quite out of place on a stolen boat, the fishman he had just cleaned up slumped on a bar stool and Kuzo standing in his "tank mode" a large barrel over his shoulder as he seemed to attempt to count fingers.
"What's your stories?" their captain asked.
"I have to admit I want to hear this too" Skellen grinned at the assembled pirates, for even if they weren't pirates to start with they were all pirates now "but first, what the hell are you doing here and not laying down?" he asked the fishman.

Wright D. Morgan- Open Sea

The happy go lucky nature of the entire crew was amusing. Their near drunken enthusiasm propagated by Kuzo was undoubtedly further fueled by their utter naivety about pirating. At this point, Morgan was nearly sure that he was the most experienced pirate on the "crew", with only Leon rivaling him. The others looked so green, that Morgan would probably confuse them for grass if he didn't already know they were people. They didn't know what they had gotten themselves into and he would be surprised if they survived their first tussle with any other crew on the Grand Line. What was interesting was that somehow Kuzo picked up a fishman along the way too. Morgan hadn't seen too many of those in his time. If he was going to stick around, he would take an interest in him. But that was assuming he wanted to stick around.

And he wasn't. Kuzo remembered the deal and if there was anything Morgan could tell about the "Captain" of the vessel, it was that he would honor an agreement. Morgan sighed with relief at the moment. It was just a matter of time, hopefully no more than a day, and than he can kiss Kuzo and the rest of them goodbye, leave them on whatever island they dock at and move on. Kuzo was capable enough, so he could find another ship for his crew, assuming they want to stick around with a defeated, pathetic excuse for a pirate. Morgan didn't know what devil fruit Kuzo ate, but it wasn't a Logia type. Morgan's fruit made him untouchable (literally). No one stood a chance against him, except for Kiba and that was only because he outnumbered him with a platoon of Marines and used sea stone. Kuzo couldn't do that as he would run the risk of affecting himself in the process. And honestly, Morgan didn't think highly of Kuzo's intelligence. The man was more brawn than brains. All Morgan had to do was bind his time and wait. In time, everything would work out. He would take the Grand Justice from Kuzo and sail to his heart's content. Take it the salty air and be free. If life was kind, all his dreams would come true as well. If life wasn't, he would make his dreams happen. He would find a beautiful maiden and court her as she deserves. They would rule the Grand Line with an iron fist, taking down the World Government that has been such a blight to Morgan and then finally they wou-

ZZZZZZZ.

They woul-

ZZZZZZZ.

"Okay, what the hell is th-"

ZZZZZZZ.

Morgan shuffled around in the crow's nest and got up from his seat, trying to find the source of whatever god forsaken noise disrupted his daydreams. Since nothing could be above him, Morgan peeked down below and scanned the deck for anything. All he saw was another girl on the crew, who stared back at Lougetown. He didn't notice her earlier, but part of Morgan wished he did. He whistled to himself. "Now she ain't ba-"

ZZZZZZZZ.

Morgan gritted his teeth and felt a small fire erupt from his shoulders. He continued to scan the ship with an ear to the ground until another wave of noise came. It sounded eerily close and finally Morgan found it…right below him. It was Bass, snoring ever so sweetly. Part of Morgan wanted nothing more than to toss a fireball at him. Or even simply yell at him for disturbing Morgan's relaxation. But he sighed. "I guess he really is a bat." Morgan forced himself to remember that Bass was…well a bat. And bats are more active at night. "As long as he doesn't ruin my sleep, I won't ruin his."

Morgan collapsed back into his crow's nest and stared up at the sky. He tried to relaxation, despite the snoring, by making shapes from the clouds. Well, that one looks like a boat. And that one looks like a dog. I like dogs. Cute ones especially. I want one. Almost as much as I wan-

"Hey, dumb@ss."

"Now wha…Oh it's just you," Morgan said with a weak sigh as Zoe forced herself into his perch. It was a surprise. Dare Morgan say a pleasant one. Of all the people on the ship, Morgan knew Zoe and Leon the best. But since Leon scared him more than entertained him, Zoe would be the more preferable company.

You should eat something when you're hurt. Brought you this." She gestured with the plate and shoved it into his hands. "Don't think anything of it. It's just a thanks for letting me not be a dragon-kabob on that sword."

"Uh, thanks…" Morgan forced himself to say with his eyes wide in surprise. He didn't want to admit it, but he was hungry. So he wasn't going to refuse the kind gesture.

"Some spot you have here," She continued pulling out the forks as she handed him one. "Think I might have to take it for myself." Zoe giggled before taking a bite of the food.

"Well, don't think twice about taking it," Morgan fired back, before taking his own bite. The food was lemon-y, which was different from Morgan's preference for meaty dishes. Though he forced himself to like said dishes burnt, because Morgan "cooks" at high temperatures. "This is my 'spot.' Always has been," he found himself saying. He took another bite. "Not eating with the others? Aren't they all down in the galley?"

Shadow
The dark figure stood and watched Leon with silent patience. The large man moved around restlessly, and the shadow felt sympathy for him. The shadow lacked vocal cords, but could do much of what his owner could. The shadow felt Leon's dream get worse, and wondered what it was about. Leon had hidden away the personality of the shadow deep within his mind. His shadow was the physical embodiment of a shut away emotion, one that valued life and felt sympathy for all.

Leon began to thrash and kick wildly at the air. The shadow had confiscated the man's weapons in anticipation of this. Still, it knew what would come next, and attempted to restrain the man. The shadow felt the dream get worse and worse, this was highly unusual to it, and it began to worry about the crew. It restrained Leon fairly easy, but then Leon did something even more unusual. He dismissed the shadow.

Leon
I was standing at the gallows, chained up and a noose around my neck. I knew I had been captured, and I was ready to die with dignity. Then I saw that wretched captain appear in the crowd, holding the hand of my daughter with an evil smile. I broke free from my captors, unwilling to die, and tried to force my way forward. Several guards held me back as the vile man walked away with her. "Begone!" I yelled and the guards disappeared. I charged through the crowd, all of them panicking and screaming.

Real world
Leon's body was unconsciously doing what Leon was in his dreams. He would run foreword until he his a wall, and then turn until he hit another. Eventually he made it out of the area he was in, and onto the hall areas of the ship. Any crew members he came across were pushed aside as he charged around the ship. Occasionally he would trip, causing him to roar loudly. He charged out on deck and almost ran off the side of the ship roaring, but he was stopped when a splash of seawater to his face caused a reaction from his body to stop.

He crashed down onto the deck of the ship, sobbing while calling the name "Leona" over and over. He was still deep asleep, reaching out for the sky.

Bass - You know... hanging around​

His ears twitched as he heard the voices underneath him. Loud voices, obnoxious voices that simply made him groan and wrap his wings tighter around his body. His ears flattened down as far as they could go. yet he still heard them. That was the curse of having sensitive ears though, you always were aware of something going on and the fact that it was bright and sunny wasn't helping him reach the throngs of sleep. He found himself every so often managing to drift off to sleep for a few seconds before something new would wake him up. He had managed to drift to sleep thankfully as the voices drowned out and apparently everyone went off deeper into the sleep. He quickly fell into his natural slumber and resumed his snores. Hanging from his feet always gave him a relaxed feeling. It was natural and it also helped to straighten out his back.

As he slept there his sleep was disturbed once more. He could hear a conversation up ahead and he let out a weak sigh. He opened one sleep deprived eye and opened his wings just a bit.

"Not eating with the others? Aren't they all down in the galley?"

Bass easily recognized Morgan's voice and he let out a weary sigh and flapped his wings a bit. "How can you guys avoid sleep?" He murmured while he rubbed at his eyes and yawned. He stretched his wings a bit and then let them hang down. He knew he had heard something in his sleep... something important. Problem was that he could quite remember it now. He crossed his arms and frowned while he thought for a bit. It then hit him like a thunderbolt.

"Well, it'll be a few days before we reach Reverse Mountain and get into the Grand Line..."

Kuzo's words... days!?

Bass shuddered a bit, but did his best to repress his fear as he let go of the crow's nest and spread his wings and flapped in mid air, "Morgan, will it really take days to get to the Reverse Mountain... whatever that is? H-How many days?" He asked warily. He couldn't alarm them... not yet. No one could know. He knew that if they found out he would be kicked off the ship and while he could fly well enough, there was no land nearby! He would fall into the ocean and drown!

His thoughts were cut off when he glanced down and watched as that... that freak from the prison suddenly moving about. He looked down in bewilderment as the overly large monster ran out on deck clearly in some sort of berserk state. It didn't seem to last long as he quickly fell down and just stayed there. Bass gulped and looked over at Morgan. "Uh... Morgan? Is it against pirate law to throw someone off the deck? Look at that! Just... look at him! At the very least is it alright to chain someone up?" He looked back down again. "I saw him in the prison... he's strong... very strong... he just kept killing and killing..." Bass shuddered there in the air. "It's like... he's unstoppable."

Wright D. Morgan and Zoe Zane- Open Sea

"Hey, what's with the third degree? Yeah, they're all down in the galley," she chided him and stabbed at him gently with the tip of her fork. "Maybe I just felt like getting some air, you don't know my life. Besides, I wanted to bring you that plate. I owed you one," mumbling she reached up and combed some stray hair that had begun to flitter in front of her eyes. The wind was strong up here, not as strong as flying the currents, but strong for her human form.

"What about you? Yeah, the view is killer, but I've seen better. I mean, you don't want to come and meet everyone else?" Zoe looked over at him, taking another bite and chewing thoughtfully as she studied his face for any trace of truth. He seemed like he would be a good liar, she doubted she would ever really get his true story.

"I don't intend to get attached," Morgan said rather bluntly, stuffing his face with the food without giving Zoe a look. He paused for a moment, swallowing the mouthful of food, as he collected his thoughts. He wondered if it was worth even continuing the conversation at this point, but he could take a guess that Zoe would pester him with questions. She already did, whether she intended to or not. So, he figured he would have to. Morgan would have to answer one way or another. "I've...I've traveled alone for a while. I'm not exactly the crew type. Not anymore. I am honored that Kuzo would consider me for his crew, but I am leaving the first chance I get."

"Oh, I'm Morgan, I don't want to get attached!" Zoe deepened her voice, trying to get it to match Morgan's as she mocked him playfully. "I don't want to get close with anybody, god forbid I make a friend." She sat down next to him and continued eating in silence after that, reflecting on his words and really thinking about them. It didn't necessarily sound like somebody who hated people, but somebody who lost them.

"So what's the deal?" She spoke up again, kindly this time, more kindly than she had probably spoken with him before. "I don't mean to be insensitive, well, I do at times, but not always. You lose somebody? Lover leave you? Parents? I know, you watched your parents get murdered in front of you in a dark alley and ever since then you've sworn yourself to a life of vigilantism?" She was obviously joking on the last one, her tone light and jovial. Morgan seemed so serious all the time, even when he acted all flirtatious, there didn't seem like real fun behind those words.

Morgan just stared at out at the ocean, before raising his head to the clouds. He just stayed there, fixated on a cloud that looked like a little ship. He imagined that Zoe (and many others) pegged him for an angst ridden teenager with anger issues. A man with reckless abandon who cared little for his life. The funny thing is...they weren't completely wrong. "I don't expect you to understand," Morgan said with a frustrated sigh. "So..." Morgan couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. He just dropped his head down and stared at the floor before raising his fork for one last bite.

"Yeah, totally…The orphaned dragon girl wouldn't understand about attachment issues. Her best friend just happens to be a parrot that she left behind and will not see again for a long time." She shut up and just pushed the leftovers around her plate with the fork. "How dare I assume to understand that," she said sarcastically. "Whatever. You want to keep it to yourself, that's your business. You do what you want, that's obviously what you're good at." Standing up and looking out over the water again, she sighed and thought about just leaving him there, but she didn't want to seem childish and be one who ran away from things. So, she groaned and just leaned against the crow's nest, getting comfortable and adjusting her stance, still unsure about the movement of the waves beneath her feet.

"Heh," Morgan chuckled. "Maybe you would then, but that would assume you want to hear the story." He said rather bluntly before looking over at her, making eye contact for the first time in the entire conversation.

She got resilient in her posture, almost as if he had challenged her with his words. Staring him down and holding her ground, she put her hands her hips and smiled. "Go ahead, lay it on me."

Morgan considered sparing the details, much like he did with Leon. Truthfully, the story was not one he enjoyed telling, but it was bound to come out sooner or later. Nor did he even want to tell the story to anyone. After all, the plan was to leave the crew and take the ship. "Well, you see this charm?" He asked, holding up the wristband. "It's a good luck charm. I never thought anything of luck. I thought it was a bunch of crap, really. I used to think that we were in control of lives. That...that we had free will. But, no. No, that's the crap that they feed us instead."

Morgan stared at the charm for a moment. "I decided to become a pirate because of that, ya know? I wanted to get out and travel the world. Experience everything. Do anything. I didn't want anyone telling me otherwise. I wanted to live a truly free life. So I left home. I became a pirate. I saw how they live life without adhering to the rules. They did whatever they damn well pleased. I experienced that firsthand when some pirate crew raided my village. I was lucky to not lose anything. Only took me several years to realize that. I was too caught up in wanting to leave my island then. Damn, I was so stupid," Morgan paused again, trying to find the words to continue.

"I went from crew to crew, trying to find my place in the seas of the West Blue. Nothing really clicked until I find my place with the 'Falcon Pirates' led by a Captain Harper. I stayed with them for a few years, and learned so much. About sailing. About pirating. About living. Captain Harper was like a second father to me and the crew was a second family. There was a moment where I thought I was going to accomplish my dream with them. That I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life trying so hard to pursue it. Instead, it would just come to me. But then..." Morgan stared at the ground again, bringing a hand to his face.

"But then...it happened. We were attacked by some random crew. Happened out of nowhere. Harper and the rest of the crew never stood a chance. In a panic, as the ship was going to go down, he stuffed some chest into my hands and pushed me overboard. I woke up hours later on some island in the middle of the ocean. I was so ready to fight alongside them. To die with them. But there I was...on an island...with our last bit of treasure and living each and every day wondering why I am still alive. I am living on borrowed time, really. I ask myself every day: Why did Captain Harper choose me of all the men on that ship?" Morgan took another breath. "That treasure ended up being the devil fruit that gave me these powers. And I have relied on them ever since. They got me off the island. They got me a ship. They got me my revenge."

Morgan looked back at Zoe, his eyes holding a tinge of red amongst the green. "The fact I am here...it was all luck. I happened to be the one tossed off the ship. I happened to get a powerful devil fruit that got me off that island. I happened to get caught. And now I happened to get freed. It was all luck. Nothing was in my control. Free will is nothing but an illusion that we blind ourselves with."

Cocking an eyebrow, she listened to him in silence. Nodding in bits and only giving the occasional audible grunt acknowledgment to his words. Was he being truthful, or just stringing her along? She couldn't tell and just decided to take it at face value.

"Damn, that sucks, Morgan" she finally said, her tone flat and a bit sad. "I mean, you can't go around keeping that sh*t in! Don't you know that it's just going to put you in an early grave?" Zoe began to fidget, her hand thrumming on the hilt of rapier again. She felt uncomfortable, the way she always did when stuff like this got super serious. It all struck a bit close to home, maybe not exactly her home, but close. She was much more inexperienced and never had exposure to a crew of her own, her pain came from somewhere else.

"Hey, listen to me," she spoke sternly all of a sudden. "I know I don't know you that well. Hell, I know you less than I know a parrot. But trust me when I say, that talking about it is the only way to get better. Your little one man army thing isn't going to help anyone." Her tone was fiery but kind, how it was when she felt passionate about a topic.

"I'm sure that hurt a lot," she mumbled, her gaze going back to the ocean, the ebb and flow of waves hypnotic in their way. "Being alone is one of the worst things you can do. I've only realized that not too long ago. I tried to run from issues, they don't go away. They only haunt you until you die. It's up to us to remove their power over us."

Things fell silent again, an awkward silence taking over. She had a feeling their conversation was about to draw to an end. "Have you ever flown?" Her face lit up with an idea. "It is one of the best ways to clear your head, for me at least." She smiled at him, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "For the right price, I'll consider taking you up one day. Maybe luck is real, maybe it isn't. Wiser people than me could tell you. All I know, is that if we live our days not trying to make them better, than we are worse off for it. Luck be damned."

"...Fly? No...I never did. I burnt down ships. That was a nice stress relief," Morgan tried to joke back, but it was a bit dark. Talking about that was never easy and part of him felt worse than before since now someone actually knew the story. Especially Zoe. She wasn't exactly the nicest person, but she listened so he had to be thankful. At least he had to try. "I'll consider the offer. Thanks," he said with a genuine smile. The first one he had in a while.

"Morgan, will it really take days to get to the Reverse Mountain... whatever that is? H-How many days?" A panicked voice said from the skies. It was Bass and Morgan rolled his eyes unconsciously, before looking back at him.

"No, it won't. Kuzo is just apparently really bad with navigation...and math, too it seems" Morgan answered plainly. He wasn't familiar with the area, but he would guess that Reverse Mountain was maybe a few hours away. No more than half a day's trip at the most.

Uh... Morgan? Is it against pirate law to throw someone off the deck? Look at that! Just... look at him! At the very least is it alright to chain someone up? I saw him in the prison... he's strong... very strong... he just kept killing and killing...It's like... he's unstoppable."

Morgan simply glared back at Bass. "We aren't throwing anyone overboard." Morgan looked down at Leon, vaguely remembering that Leon had his own set of issues and fondly remembering Zoe's advice. "He won't hurt us. He just needs to sort himself out. Give him time. And calm down, alright? Worst case, I'll keep ya alive."

Skellen grinned cheerily back at the fishman, who he now knew was named Tunnak and hated being referred to as "Fishman" before responding to him
"Fair enough, I'm Skellen by the way and way to completely skirt around my question" he chuckled somewhat before continuing "if you intend to stay in here I strongly recommend getting very, very drunk. Because if you still have feeling in your body when someone inevitably knocks your tail it is going to hurt like hell and you're going to wish I just let you bleed out."

Taking the stool next to Tunnak and leaning back against the counter Skellen listened to Zoe's account of her life prior to being a member of the crew, recognising the heroic tale as complete and utter bull but deciding that he would entertain himself by trying to work out the truth rather than calling her out on it.
Twenty men? Yeah, okay then. I'm guessing she's never actually been in a serious fight in her life and is probably more a swindler than anything. Lying does seem to be her first instinct… Skellen laughed to himself, politely moving his feet in so she didn't drop her plates everywhere.

Once Zoe had departed he spoke up more to the whole room, referring to both her and Tunnak when he spoke
"None of you are exactly forth coming with the truth, or at least information are you? Not a shock considering we're a bunch of pirates I guess. Well just to be different I will be honest and forthcoming. My story is fairly simple. I was a happy little science geek, well more or less, living on this really beautiful island in the Grand Line called Eden. Then marines showed up in my village abused the community, extorted money from us and killed my parents who remained neutral throughout the entire thing. Hell, they even gave medical aid to marines who were injured in the rebellion as well as to rebels – something I admit I was against. Long story short, they killed mum and dad anyway so I either burned down or exploded all their ships and the majority of their base – enjoyed the show from this really comfy chair that was floating in the shallows, leftovers from a ship I assume, and then got the hell out of the Grand Line on account of "marines everywhere. Marines are not fond of terrorists who blow up their crap." Since then I've been wandering around doing whatever I can to bring down the World Government. So yeah, basically I spent years poisoning people I don't like." The entire time Skellen spoke he spoke nonchalantly, still reclining lazily against the counter – not giving a hint that it actually hurt a fair bit to talk about the events on Eden.
– and now I'm going back into the Grand Line under the command of a mad man who can't count and doesn't realise it is only a few hours until we hit Reverse Mountain. Well done Skellen.

Skellen's thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise. Not one of drunken revelry like in the Galley, but a loud crashing noise that sounded as though a feral beast had been unleashed on the deck.
"On that note" he called out cheerfully "I'm going to go see what that was. I do hope it's Kiba trying to blow us up, I still owe him." With that, Skellen grabbed a glass from Kuzo and walked back up to the deck.

Stepping back out into the sun he looked around, pinpointing the source of the noise pretty quick. The hulking white haired man, who seemed to have left his shirt back in Logue Town, was having some bizarre fit near the edge of the boat. Perhaps not making the wisest choice of his life, Skellen crossed the deck soon reaching the pirate.
"Sleep walking ey?" he asked nobody in particular, proceeding to prod his giant crew mate with his foot as he sipped his drink he added "come on, what's the matter big guy? Bad Dream?"

Lotte & Vance: The Galley​

As the others entered, Lotte began to subtly bounce in her seat from excitement, watching all the interesting characters from earlier file in and eat and drink their fill. She'd always been watching it, the way commoners ate and such, but until today she'd been an outsider to it all. She'd had to sit on the edges, watching the commotion in the middle-- but wasn't she apart of it right now? Maybe not in the middle, but they'd certainly included her earlier, and they wouldn't deny her familiarity now, would they?

But as she leaned forward excitedly to hear everyone's amazing tales of adventure and the world outside of her manor-- no even the world outside of her city, her kingdom, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she flinched at the unfamiliar sensation of being touched. Though her face wasn't repulsed or anything, she gave Vance a levelled look that showed a touch of bewilderment at his ease. His question however, drove the momentary disorientation from her as she processed what exactly 'talking over there' would entail.

"Eeeeehhh?" She began to whine, pouting hugely at him as she pointed to the others, "But I'll miss the stories!" ...... Shooting a torn look between Zoe and Vance, it was her glance towards Zoe that brought her attention back to a source of nagging discomfort for her. It was that fishman again...! With a detached glance at him, she finally pulled a sigh and puffed out her cheeks at Vance. "Okay, but only because you gave me your food." With that, she hopped off her stool, prancing off towards the corner with a light skip in her step as her grudge was instantly forgotten in lieu of curiousity of what Vance needed to say. Spinning around and clasping her hands behind her, she tilted her head to prompt him to say whatever it was he needed to say.

Vance switched between opening and closing his mouth everytime he was about to reply to her, but constantly being cut off by Lotte herself. As she finally skipped off to the corner, way more cheerfully than she'd seemed a moment ago, Vance let out a little sigh of exhasperation, shaking his head as he followed her.

Standing a little ways away from the other, Vance placed his hands on his hips, glancing a little to the side, trying to find the words. "Right, so... uhm, firstly, I wanna say that I'm sorry for bringing you into all of this. But... at first, we were just running from marines to prevent being locked in a cell for a day or something, and the next thing you know, we're being accused of being pirates alongside people like Morgan." Pausing a moment, he looked back up at Lotte, realizing that she probably had no clue who Morgan was. "... Uh, and he's a very infamous guy, so being associated with him would probably mean we'd have been locked up forever. And I didn't really want to do that to you, so I kind of felt I had to bring you on board here."

Lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck slightly, Vance gave her a little smile. "But don't worry, I know Kuzo wants to go to the Grand Line, and... well, so do I, but before then, I'll take us to a nearby island and drop you off and you can get a ship to sail you home from there, so it'll be alright!" he finished with a bright smile.

Throughout his spiel, Lotte herself also had half a mind to cut in every now and then- but she kept her mouth sealed out of both manners and doubts as to what was his fault and what was hers. In the end, she switched her hands from behind to in front, lacing them neatly in front of her lap as she blinked at his smile.

"Hmmm..." Putting a finger to her chin, she stared up at the wooden roof-- the floor of the deck? And thought for a moment, "It's okay if I'm associated with him, because I won't get locked up or anything like that-- but for the other things too, you don't have to apologize." Nodding resolutely she mirrored his smile, "You suggested it, but I agreed to it, right? Everything is actually quite convenient for me as it is-- You don't have to drop me off! I'm just thinking of it as 'I got a little kidnapped', and it'll be fine that way."

"Whaaa-?" Vance replied, blinking several times while staring at Lotte in disbelief. She 'got a little kidnapped'? How would that -ever- work as an excuse for travelling with a bunch of pirates?! He raised a hand to scratch the back of his head in bewilderment, still looking a little unsure. "You... want to travel with us to the Grand Line? You know that Kuzo's probably planning on sailing around the world... right? He wants to find One Piece."

Lotte hesitated slightly, glancing down at the ground with her smile turning a bit sheepish, "Mmm, I want to, but... I don't know if it's okay...? Because I don't know how to fight, or cook, or navigate-- and I've only been on a ship for maybe a week at most..." Putting a hand on her cheek as she mused over the various circumstances, her eyes glanced over towards the captain who was listening to the others' speak of their tales. Newly determined, she pulled her arms up to her shoulders and clenched her fists, "... I can learn though! I want to see the whole world, as much as I can! So it'll be okay, right? Right??"

Lowering his gaze in thought, Vance stared at the floorboards, chewing on the inside of his cheek, raising his arms to fold them across his chest. What she said sounded so familiar to him. It sounded alot like how he'd sounded just a few years ago, and he knew how much it pained him to not be able to do what he wanted, rather than doing what his father wanted for him.

She wavered for a moment when he'd momentarily gone quiet-- was he going to say no? It wasn't going to work out that easily after all, was it? Even she knew she was different-- even from Zoe. It wasn't that she was a girl, or that she was smaller than everyone else. She was just... not meant to walk a path other than the one that she'd started off on at birth.

After another moment, he looked up at her again, a confident smile on his lips. "Of course it'll be okay, Lotte. You might not be able to fight or cook or navigate, but that's what you've got a crew for! I can't cook, but someone else clearly can! We're all here, as a team, working together to help each other get to our goals, right? So... as long as you have the determination to follow your captain to the end of the world, there shouldn't be any problem with you staying here. So tell me, do you have determination?!"

"...." Lotte's face registered surprise as he suddenly smashed her confidence that he would advise her to go home-- and brightened into a smile as she nodded vigorously, "Yes! I do, I want to go to the end of the world! If anything, I can do odd jobs, like clean or something! ... But I don't know how to do that either, but once I learn I can do it!"

Vance's smile turned into a bright grin as he unfolded his arms and placed one hand on his hip, raising his other hand in a fist into the air. "Then let's promise each other that we'll both get to see the end of the world and we won't stop until we have! And if we ever get in a fight, just stay down and let me handle it!" He was practically bursting with confidence as he moved his hand down to jab a thumb into his chest.

"Okay!" She agreed, throwing her hands into the air in answer to his fist, "And I promise I won't get in your way, either! .... Well no I don't promise that, but I'll try not to!" Laughing a little at that she stepped past him lightly, leaning towards the bar when she turned to look to him again, "So if it's OK, then lets go back! But you have to sit on my left, okay?" So there would be a proper buffer, between her and the fish-- ..... Lotte looked up when a sudden noise from above interuppted her thoughts, blinking as she glanced between the roof of the galley and Vance. "...?"

"Oh, su-" Vance managed to reply as he heard the roaring and stomping around up above, his brows raising in surprise as he tilted his head back to look upwards, looking down at Lotte again. "..." After a moment of silence, he glanced back to the exit of the galley and then over to the food and drinks laid out, almost feeling his heart break a little at having to abandon the food for now. "I'll... go see what's going on. You go enjoy yourself with the others." He finally said, offering her a smile.

As he moved towards the door, she quickly stepped in his way, eyes darting to notice that Skellen and Zoe had both left while they'd been talking, leaving only Kuzo and Tunnak behind. And there was no way she was sitting here with the latter. "It's okay!" She said disarmingly cheerfully, "I'll look- Mr. Doctor went up too so I'll be okay!" And without letting him say otherwise, she hurried out the door of the galley.

... Well, she won't hear any complaints from me. He thought as he turned back to the food, giving a bright grin and rubbing his hands together as he hurried over and hopped onto one of the barstools, quickly pooling himself a meal on a plate, which he hungrily started eating, quickly followed by a mug of beer offered by Kuzo. For now, he was more focused on getting food than talking to either of them, so they could wait.

Following her trail of open doors, Lotte easily found her way back onto deck, finding the doctor already there and making a prognosis. A prognosis...? She blinked as he nudged the man Lotte had filed away as one of the largest members of the crew with his foot. Following Skellen's example, she also approaching without fear-- but less because she wasn't scared, and more because she simply didn't understand that perhaps now was a moment to be cautious. After all, what harm could a crying adult do? Plodding over and squatting beside the mountain of a man, she reached out a small hand and patting his head, she mused aloud to the doctor, "Maybe he's homesick...?"

Leon awoke slowly to the kicks of one of the crew members. "You got balls guy." He said tiredly to the fool kicking him. He looked around and saw he was on the deck of the ship, "Did I hurt anybody?" He asked slightly worried. His face was wet, and he figured it was because he got splashed by the ocean.

Skellen raised an eyebrow at the larger man's comment, completely disregarding his tone
"It's good to see you're familliar with male anatomy." he jibed lightly, taking another sip of his drink before continuing "No, nobody got hurt. We've all been out of reach enjoying ourselves whilst you go out of your mind. Mind explaining what this is all about?"

"Damn shadow couldn't keep me still." Even Leon didn't know exactly what happened, he always forgot such dreams after he awoke from them. "I should probably keep sleeping to a minimum." He sighed. He looked up at the girl who was also there. He sat himself up, "I'm not homesick."

"Not homesick?" Skellen thought to himself briefly "Perhaps just nut's then?"
Probably not advisable to continue provoking the very large, very dangerous, man. But then again, what the hell.
"You don't seem the type to be rolling around on the deck crying like an infant without either good reason or some kind of mental defect. Either way, if you're going to lose your mind every time you sleep I could always sedate you." Skellen continued to stand there casually, taking a sip of his drink every now and then, as he more or less mocked one of the most dangerous people on the boat a cheesy grin on his face.

Peering between the two men as they spoke, she withdrew her hand from Leon and propped her head up on her hands, cheeks squishing together slightly as her brain attempted to decipher what was going on. "....." Sleep problems? Sedation?? "... But sleep is important!" She piped up at last with a confident smile, "I know exactly what you need Mr. Muscles-" And though she was speaking to Leon, she looked at Skellen, "A warm glass of milk before bed, don't you think Mr. Doctor?"

"The sedative thing sounds safer." Leon said, "You said I was crying? What was I crying?" Leon looked at the girl and noticed how really young she was. He wondered why she was even here, but didn't say anything.

"What were you crying?" Skellen couldn't help but enjoy himself a little, even if he was risking having his head hammered in by a fist about the same size as it "Tears I assume, unless of course you're so full of vodka that it's leaking from your eyes... which could explain the crying I guess." Finishing the drink and tossing the glass mindlessly behind him he knelt down next to the girl, looking the giant before them up and down.
"I'm gonna just guess that a big guy like you probably isn't going to complain about me jabbing you with something sharp before bed every night. So I'll see if I can come up with something strong enough to knock a bear like you out, should be easy enough if it goes straight into your blood stream. Oh yeah... I'm Skellen by the way" he added, now looking at the girl "so you can stop with the "Mr. Doctor" thing... and never suggest milk as a rememdy for anything again unless the problem is a lack of calcium."

Leon came to her defense, "Milk has protein." He growled

Lotte pointed to Leon's statement, happily bouncing on the balls of her heels as though her point had been proven to the no-fun doctor. "See, see?" Not that she was at all aware what protein was, or what purpose it served. Perhaps she would've pouted at being denied her nickname for Skellen, but the fact that her solution had been defended and seen as even mildly useful (or at least she was under the impression that that was the conclusion at hand) had put the displeasure from her mind as she pointed back to herself, "Okay Mr. Doctor, I'm Lotte!"

"Yes and how will protein help you sleep?" Skellen responded rolling his eyes "should be careful you know, if you argue with me I might make your sedative a suppository." He chuckled to himself, leaning back on his hands.
"Seriously... enough with the Mr. Doctor, I'm an assassin... okay maybe I'm also a doctor but knock it off."



"I've killed a few assassins in my day." Leon pondered, "A lot of them tried to poison me." He didn't know what suppository was, but he did know what he would do if he got poison instead of a sedative. "I'll either call you doc or ass, you can pick which one." He sighed and looked at the girl, "Why are you on this ship, you can't be much older than my daughter."

Suppo-- supo... super.....???? Lotte's brow furrowed and she stared at Skellen with a bewildered expression. This guy used a lot of big words. "Milk is milk." She said, with a tone of finality that essentially said her brain was now shut off towards all other considerations that might excercise her thoughts, "And...." She put her chin in her hands again, giggling mischievously as she experimentally tacked on a new nickname, "Mr. Assassin? .... Nope, that's not as cute as Mr. Doctor." Putting her hands on her knees now as she looked to Leon, "Hm? Oh, mmmm.... I was kidnapped, a little! But it's okay, because Vance is with me!"

"You too?" Skellen laughed "because I'm pretty sure me and the guy that sounds like a wall with vocal cords technically kidnapped the girl being all loner over there. I'm not entirely sure how that happened, she was supposed to be a false hostage so I could get away from a - wait? Do neither of you really know what a suppository is?"

"Milk is milk." Lotte repeated simply.

"... Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be the only one on this ship capable of doing anything requiring thought?.. No offence I mean."

"Killing is thoughtless." Leon added in.

"Thoughtless? I put a lot of work into killing people!"

"Killing people is bad!"

"That depends on whom you're killing and why... you didn't get assasin either did you?"

"Killing is killing." Leon said, "Is it true you got kidnapped?"

Lotte pouted at that, "Of course I know what an assassin is! I'm not stupid!"

"That remains to be seen quite frankly... I kinda get the feeling neither of you are exactly avid chess players."

In the meantime, she glanced over at Leon and tilted her head, "Yeah, sort of. I mean, I wanted to come, but I'm technically not allowed to be here, so I'm sort of kidnapped, you see?"

Skellen continued undaunted by the subject change "-So not only is this boat Kidnappers R' Us, it is also full of simpletons - except me of course - interesting. At least you two can probably count...Kuzo seems to still be working on that."

"So you were taken from your parents?" Leon growled, slowly getting angrier.

Lotte shook her head, "No, I came to Loguetown by myself-- my father would never let me leave. But I want to see the world!" She babbled excitedly, oblivious to Leon's displeasure, "This is the first time I've ever been outside of the kingdom!"

"Not so sure that's case with her" Skellen mubmled under the main coversation, gensturing briefly to Rosa in the distance. "Oops..."

"How old are you Lotte?" Leon growled. He was getting angrier each time the doc talked.

"Seventeen!" She announced proudly.

"That's physically... mentally I'm banking on about ten. It's all good though, laws work on physical age... wait I'm a pirate what do I care?"

Shooting Skellen a pout, Lotte let out a small 'hmph' as she retorted, "Boys learn different things! I bet you can't even knit a scarf, thank you very much!"

"I'm somewhat familliar with other needles I admit, but if you told me how it would be eas - big guy you look like your head is about to explode." He said, finally taking note of Leon's growing rage.

"I'm going to kill the kidnapper." He growled, "Tell me who took you on this ship!"

"Well if you want to be technical, there's three kidnappers on this ship and I don't really recommend trying to kill me... not that it was Lotte who I got stuck on... actually I have no idea what we're calling this ship but you get the point."

She furrowed her brow, pout now directed at Leon as she repeated, "Killing is bad!"

"That's part of being a pirate." Leon replied back, failing to speak calmer to her, "Do you know how to defend yourself? What about shoot a gun? Can you run or hide!?"

"I'm guessing no..."

"Nope!" She answered, pausing for a moment, "Oh but I can hide just fine. Besides, like I said earlier, I have Vance! He's my bodyguard you see. But even if he wasn't here, I'd be okay. I don't ever get hurt." she held up two victory signs with her hands, smiling at Leon and Skellen.

"And if he dies doing that, are you prepared to lose that? Are you prepared to see true loss?!" Leon was seething now, his words were like roars.

"Well since you're apparently going to kill him I guess we'll find out." Skellen chirped, completely unperterbed by the larger mans anger.

"....???" Lotte frowned now, getting to her feet, "But Vance won't die, because I'm here! I don't get hurt, so it's fine. It's magic, so it's okay- and besides, everyone else here is strong too, so it's fine!" She was more convincing herself at this point- she'd just talked to Vance about whether it was okay for her to tag along after all. And here Leon was, trying to convince her that it wasn't. "It's fine, right Skellen?" She rounded on the doctor, pouting and putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't particularly care what you do." Skellen shrugged at the impetuous girl "Although i must say your ignorance of just about everything on the face of the Earth is somewhat amusing. Magic you say? Care to explain?" Skellen looked at Leon before adding "Also, if you're going to go on a rampage can you get it over and done with? The suspence is killing me."

Leon realized what she meant by magic, "You ate a devil fruit!?" He roared. "Where is Vance now?!"

"That would make sense..."

"???" Lotte's face spelled out pure confusion as Leon began to shout, and she covered her ears, ignoring him in the meantime in favor of answering Skellen's calmer inquiry, "I just don't get hurt. Of course, I don't get hurt because if I get hurt then whoever did it goes away forever, but then father says I won't get hurt even if I do get hurt." At that, she turned to Leon, "I didn't eat anything like that!"

Leon grabbed the collar of the doc, "Tell me ass, where is this Vance? Tell me!" Leon wasn't planning on hurting anybody, but he hardly planned anything.



Skellen was hardly surprised by Leon grabbing him at this point, and as such remained perfectly calm.
"I don't have the slightest idea. Now if you don't mind -" Skellen whirled, allowing him to slip from the giant's grasp "I want to test a theory. Don't move" he added to Lotte, not that she was going to have the opportunity. Skellen grabbed her wrist lifting her arm, and moved to draw a scalpel he had withdrawn from within his coat across her skin -

Leon grabbed the doc's arm growling, "What do you plan on doing?" He said with a low grow, "Continue with that action and it will be swimming."

Lotte yanked her wrist back, to no avail against Skellen's grasp as her hackles raised in response to the evident threat. Her hand waved like a fish out of water, trying to smack the doctor's face as her indignant voice protested to his brutish designs, "Hey!! Who do you think you are, grabbing a lady like that?! And even if I don't get hurt, it still hurts so don't!!"

Skellen blinked at Leon, a faux confusion on his face
"Um... I'm going to cut her hand open and see if she bleeds what does it look like I'm doing?" he asked, still perfectly calm despite the rather strong grasp on his arm "Lotte, you're a pirate now, not a lady, hate to disappoint you. Besides, I think it is perfectly clear at this point I really have no interest in social conventions. Now -" he returned his gaze to Leon "please let go of my hand before I have to escape myself. That would be a waste of effort for something no bigger than a paper cut."
What happened to the good old days when people trusted doctors...?

"She's not a pirate." Leon growled, "and you are an ass, not a doc."

"I'm not a pirate!" She echoed, though her eyes were glittering at the prospect of becoming one. But in just a moment she began to wave her hand about in Skellen's grasp, "And don't fight you two!!" Her hand twisted to point at Skellen, "You don't point sharp things at me!" Her hand twisted towards Leon, "And you don't bully Vance!"

"I'm sorry." Leon said, suddenly calmer, "Tell me Lotte, how did Vance like the food?"

"Cue "last meal" pun" Skellen commented still withing Leon's grasp "that's what I'd do anyway. Although, I'm kinda thinking puns aren't your thing..."

Lotte crinkled her nose at Leon, "The food? That Zoe made? Vance and I were talking earlier, so neither of us have eaten anything since Loguetown-- why? I just said not to bully him, okay!"

"I think we might be a ways passed bullying at this point you know" Skellen again interjected... still firmly in the grip of Leon.

"I'll let go if you tell me where he is, I just want to talk." Leon said, tightening his grip.

"I don't know dumbass" Skellen replied, ignoring the dull pain the tightness of his collar against his neck was causing "-and if you don't let me go soon, I'll just escape anyway so I'm not exactly concerned."
Seriously... if he had half a brain he'd just check the Galley since he knows he's eating or was recently at least.

Leon threw the doc on the ground. "I'll just find him myself." Leon growled. "Lotte I don't want you around the ass, he's a bad person."

Her eyes slid from Leon to Skellen, and she blinked quietly before holding out her pinky with a smile, ".... Okay Mr. Doctor, if you pinky promise you won't do it again, I'll forgive you! Proooomiiii~iiise?" Her grin grew wider as she leaned in, holding her pinky out mere centimeters from Skellen's face.

"You're joking right?" Skellen climbed to his feet, brushing non-existent dust from his clothing "that would imply I didn't have every intention of trying again later... although for now at least I'll leave it be." Skellen briefly intertwined his pinky with the strange girl, letting go after maintaining the contact just long enough to further irritate Leon.
"Did the violent nut job seriously just call me a bad person?" he added on, glancing sidewards at the giant man who had been gripping his collar.

"Kids are not pirates." Leon muttered, "I have my reasons." He growled.

"Somehow I don't think reasoning is something you're doing much of - nor do I think it is a specialty of yours." Skellen replied to the giant, feeling snarky but otherwise not losing his calm demeanour... after all his tranuility in the situation would only annoy Leon further, which was starting to seem rather entertaining to The Taipan.

"I'm getting real tired of you ass." Leon growled, "My reasons are all I have left, and I will kill if I have to prove that."

"You'd kill? Wouldn't have guessed from the constant mentioning of how you kill things..." Skellen flashed a large cheesy grin at Leon.

"Jeez, all you two talk about is killing killing killing-- killing is bad!" Lotte interjected with a light stamp of her foot before she held up a finger to bring their attention to her, "If you two are just going to keep fighting and talking about bad things, then I'm going back!" She put her hands on her hips, looking between the two once more before huffing out a sigh, "Okay? If we're going to see the world together, then we have to get along!! We're a team!" She stated, repeating what Vance had said earlier.

"I'm not here to see the world, I used to have the world in my hands before I was a pirate."

Skellen smiled at Lotte
"Do we still get to kill people?"
Couldn't resist...

"...." She looked over at Skellen, before smiling and saying nothing in response, giving him a victory sign with her hands before rounding on Leon, "Then don't be a party pooper for everyone else OK!" With that she waved at the two of them, skipping back down towards the galley. She had to tell Vance that she might've caused a bit of trouble for him. Oops....!

Skellen watched Lotte bound across the deck before heading back below and then turned to Leon
"You're still a violent ignoramous. Just saying. Anyway, I have a very strong sedative to go and make." With that Skellen strode off in the direction Lotte had just headed leaving Leon alone on the deck.

Leon decided he would follow behind them to find out where this Vance guy was.

Tristan D. Kuzo - Open Sea

Kuzo was quiet while Zoe shared her story with them. He had always enjoyed hearing the stories of others, being that his own natural disposition was of an individual who listened more than he talked. Everyone had their own, unique tale to tell. The events that led to their current situation was marked throughout their history. Finding out what each person had to say, about themselves, about their desires and goals, was something Kuzo enjoyed doing. Beyond that, these would be people he would sail with to the ends of the world. He wanted to know what they hoped to gain from this adventure. That way, he could help guide them there, and he could also maybe get some ideas about what he wanted.

Kuzo went between nodding excitedly and taking gulps of his drink as he listened to Zoe. Unlike the others, he had no reason to be skeptical about her past, and the actions she had claimed to do. From his perspective, every person on this ship was a pirate who deserved to be here, until they proved otherwise. And even then, proving to Kuzo someone doesn't belong on a ship bound for adventure would be a hard thing to do. Everyone was deserving of a chance for adventure.

His eyes followed the young woman as she excused herself with (what looked like to him) multiple plates in her hands, probably bound for the other crewmates who have yet to eat. He admired that she had taken an apparent interest in the others who hadn't eaten. Or perhaps she was simply trying to share her delicious creation for the world to see. Either way, Kuzo believed she was a welcome addition to the crew.

He went back now to acknowledge the fishman's name as Tunnak, or Tunn', and then proceeded to listen to Skellen's story. His was much different than Zoe's, apparently laying it all out there for them to hear. Kuzo always welcomed the variety of different stories, even if this one was a much darker one. Everyone had one of those, some of which were worth sharing, and some of which were better left in the past. Kuzo appreciated that Skellen was willing to share his own.

Skellen then went back up to the deck to examine the noise they all heard. He was quickly followed by Lotte, leaving Vance and Tunnak with Kuzo below.

"What an interesting set of tales," Kuzo spoke quietly, finishing up the last of his drink and pouring himself another, while also passing along another two mugs over to Tunnak and Vance who sat beside him. He smiled warmly at them, before slapping each of them across the back. "Drink up, guys!" He crashed his own mug into both of theirs and took a large gulp of the contents in it.

He then looked out through a small, hole-shaped window at the sea as the ship sailed across. He hadn't been together in a group since the Blue Paradise Orphans, but he could already tell he was in for something special. He leaned his back and elbows on his barstool across the counter and closed his eyes, relaxing.

"This is going to be fun."

Bass - You just need the courage!​

Bass just sighed and let his head droop, "Alright Morgan... you seem to know what you're doing here though." He flew back down and gripped onto the bottom of the crow's nest yet again, glancing down at the commotion happening down on deck. He sighed and wrapped his wings around himself and closed his eyes. He could hear every single word being uttered... that name that the demon cried out in his sleep, the way that Leon and Vance seemed to be going about to protect this Lotte. Heh, it was amusing in a way, how they thought that they had secrets... yet he knew every single one. Even though he knew that it was bad to spy on others and to overhear important conversations, it was also a way to ensure his survival. He couldn't recall how many times he had heard important information in hiding that allowed him to find food without having to encounter anyone or being able to take important supplies that would let him live a far easier life.

He snuggled against his wings and sighed a bit. Now that he thought about it... he called Leon a monster. What would happen when he fell into his blood lust though? Would... would the others turn against him as well? Despite that fact that he was by far more gentle and more trustworthy? He could only shudder at the idea of the others weighing him down with a chain and throwing him out into the sea. He needed blood yes... and although Morgan did tell him that it wouldn't take days to get to their destination he could see a conflict coming in soon enough.

He could hope... he could hope that for years he could keep this secret among these people... but it would soon come out. Better to come out now instead of letting it become a long forged secret then right? He opened an eye yet again and flew down from the nest, landing near the door and quickly made his way in. Such constricted areas didn't bother him as much. He had lived in a cave for most of his life after all. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air, the scent of warmth hitting him. He followed his senses for only a short while and came upon the gallery where the rest of the crew ate. He coughed softly and looked over at Kuzo, "Sir? Can we have a talk?" He asked shyly.