D.ALL Chapter 27

Poppy and Clary kept their distance from the other three. Sal tried to get answers out of the two, but they said not a word.

Several minutes of silence passed, and with no sign of Free or Lav, Foxx politely asked if he and Frost may go back to the Camper. Sal agreed with a quiet, “Yes.” And so, Foxx and Frost left.

A little while after, Melli and Albo arrived at the scene—Albo was no longer in a Pearlwarl suit, wearing his normal attire.

Melli frowned, his face showing worry, “What happened? Are you three alright?”

Sal crossed her arms and nodded, about to speak but Poppy spoke up first, “Lav’s—”

Clary put her paw over Poppy’s mouth and whispered, “Remember, we don’t talk without captain’s orders. Even if it's Melli that’s asking the questions.”

Sal sighed, about to speak again—

“Clara. Sclarea. Medi. Bucceae,” Albo stomped towards the young Gilieot, looking down at her in absolute fury.

For a moment Clary wavered, then, at the sight of Poppy’s look of fear, gave a dauntless smirk, “That’s my full name, yeah. Surprised you can still remember all four of em.’ ”

Albo’s face turned red, so angry that all he could reply with in that moment were frustrated growls and mutters.

“You just dug a bigger hole for us,” Poppy whispered.

“Trust me, my move’s calculated—”

“Welpful rope tying barely-fit for sea—barely fit for land—back talking underhanded town-ending blubber shucking only-future’s-swabbing—bilgerats!” Albo placed his finger on Clary’s nose, “A thousand years in the hanging irons for the both of—”

“Hold on, hold on, simmer down,” Melli got between Albo and Clary. “No one’s getting put in a gibbet or any of that sort.”

“Simer down?! These two—and that other picaroon who’s probably part of it too—ruined our only two good shows! What do you think the guests are going to think, whatever they spread, it’ll ruin everything."

“We had plenty more good shows than that, besides, the storm would’ve canceled those anyhow. Sure, the guests were a bit disappointed, I'll give you that, but they still left happy.”

“It’s also the principle of the matter—and we didn’t break even today because you couldn’t help but refund em’. ”

“We’ll just work extra hard for the remainder, it’ll be fine. What he should focus on right now are the—”

“Chew frozen blubber, you sponge of an old man. Acting soft is what left us in this mess—by the sea, I’d say your even softer and blunt then right after Fera’s—”

“Shut it and focus,” Sal’s feathers puffed up. “My sister got—”

Albo turned and got in Sal’s face, “Then go bloody find her! She’s your responsibility, not mine. The way I see it, you're part of this mess too—so swab it!”

Sal and Ablo stared each other down for what felt like minutes, the rest watching in breath. Clary especially, her confident smile shaky. The stare down ended when Sal suddenly stormed off.

Melli put his hand on Ablo’s shoulder, “Albo—”

Albo swatted Melli’s hand, “I was just telling the truth—sorry that hurts feelings. “Sorry I’m not soft-livered like the rest of you! I’ve got no time for this ramshackle crew of—”

“Mighty fine pirates!” A voice shouted from behind them.

The five turned to see it the voice was Lav, who had Free alongside her.

“Captain!” Poppy and Clary said in unison.

Lav gave a wide smile, “What’s with those looks? Though I’d died?”

Clary—along with Poppy—ran up to her, “Never doubted for a moment Lav-Lav!”

“Yeah!” Poppy added.

“Oh, so now you're making a show of this,” Albo stomped towards Lav, “Do you have any idea—”

“Hey, oldie, there’s never a reason to yell at kids,” Free stepped in front of Albo. “It’s a bad look.”

"You're not a part of this. I’ll do what I—”

“Don’t want to look bad in front of a visitor, right, Albo?” Melli said.

Albo glared back at him.

“Just telling you, since you're worried about reputation and all that.”

Albo muttered something then let out a frustrated huff and walked away, “I’m going back to my boat, I’m too old for this.”

“Thanks for saving our captain—You’re not half bad,” Clary said to Free. “Your name was… freeze, or something?”

“It’s Free, Free the Self-made Machine,” he replied.

“I was way off! Won’t forget it again, promise.”

“I want to give my thanks as well,” Poppy said. “Don’t know what any of us would have done without her.”

“No problem, really—couldn't have just sat there. Plus, give her some credit, I was just a sail for a little while.”

“But what a great sail he was!” Lav laughed, “Ever thought about going professional, Free?”

Free was in shock at her tone, then dramatically posed like a character in a great tragedy, “Alas, I can’t! My water-sensitive form prevents me from pursuing my true passion!”

“Seriously?” Poppy said.

“Naw, it’s a joke, kid.”

“Oh.”

Free dropped the pose and looked around, “Where’s Foxx and Frost?”

“They went back to your ship, Frost needed rest I take it,” Melli answered.

“Hmm,” Free turned to Lav, “You think you got the rest of this handled? Need to make sure my own crew is alright.”

“Now that me and my crew’s back together, we can conquer anything that sails our way!” Lav declared.

“Aye-aye!” Poppy and Clary said.

“Hey, don’t get overconfident, alright? I’ll tell you now, things will probably get only harder from here, and there’s no telling what you’re gonna have to face. But…” Free paused, “Stick to that mentality and it'll take you all pretty far. Prove me wrong in the right way, kids,” With that, Free left.

“So, what now, Lav?” Poppy asked.

“Ahem,” Melli got Romp's attention. “I am happy no one got hurt, and that you three are closer than before—however, you are still in a lot of trouble.” Melli sighed, “There’s a lot of work ahead of you, and a lot of explaining to do.”

“I understand,” Lav said.

“Poppy, Clary?” Melli looked at them.

“Sure,” Clary said.

“Same here,” Poppy said.

“Good!” Melli smiled and yawned. “That’ll be tomorrow though, for now, go back home and get some shut eye. I bet we’re all exhausted.

“That’ll give us some time to prepare a good apology too,” Clary said.

“Like?” Poppy said.

“No clue! Maybe a strategic use of sad pup eyes will do the trick. That tends to work for me—even works on gramps.”

“Let’s save the talk for later alright, crew?” Lav said. “Melli, did Sal go back home?”

“Oh, I can’t believe I nearly forgot! She stormed off earlier to look for you, ‘should radio her and tell her you’re—” Melli put his hand on his chin, "Actually, I think it would be better if you found her first, talked with her.”

“Why?”

“Can’t say I know the full picture, but I think I’d do you some good to be honest with her and why you did this in the first place. She should be the first person to know the full truth.” Melli sighed, “Don’t think we didn’t notice how close off you’ve been, and I have a feeling there’s more to it than wanting to become buccaneers.”

“...”

“Take this as a fellow little sibling, you both are better off being open with each other.”

“...You’re right, I think I know where she is too.” Lav turned to Poppy and Clary, "Tomorrow, we’ll meet up at the monument at dawn, sounds good?”

“Works well enough, good luck, Lav-Lav,” Clary said.

Poppy nodded his head, “Good luck!”

“Hope I won’t need it!” Lav ran off.

***

The dock’s post lamps flickered, the insects fluttering around them. The only other lights were the moon, the few stars that were out, and a fluorescent light which leaked from under where the dock’s landing was suspended above the shore.

Lav knew the light was from Sal’s flashlight. As she thought, Sal had remembered a fact she told her about the current around New Lilipass—Most currents led to this shore. If something was lost and didn’t float too far, it could be found here. All the others either led away from the island or… to Fera’s resting place, where she found the Dyeheart petal.

With what Melli said, Lav couldn’t help but think about Fera as she hesitated to walk down to the shore. She’s heard their tale a few thousand times, or at least she felt like she had. Fera sounded cool, Lav wished she could have met them.

Lav looked down at a puddle in the concrete, she gave her reflection a confident smile. Yet couldn't do it the same way as she did a few minutes before, not as wide, not as sure of herself. The best she could do was a subtle smirk.

A thought suddenly popped into her head, “The Dust Devil must’ve been scary to live through.” An inane thought, obviously it was, and she didn’t know why she thought it… although she didn’t feel angry as she usually did about it, the Dust Devil.

That seemingly random calamity that resigned her town, her entire world, to what felt like an age of dust and rust, an era of grasping at once was, wasn’t the first thing she thought about this time. She thought about how it must have affected Melli, Albo, her parents, everyone from the two generations before her.

Maybe that had something to do with how dedicated everyone was to Lilipass? She didn’t know what to make of the thought, how to expand on it. When she thinks hard about the past she thinks about galleons, sabers, and treasure chests—the far past, not the recent.

Either way, she realized that she was just stalling herself. So, she fixed up her clothes a little, wiped some sand off, and walked down to where Sal was.

Under the dock, no light passed from above, and Sal's flashlight—which was embedded in the sand with its bulb facing up—it looked dimmer up close than it was from afar. Sal was digging into a pile of glass bottles, seaweed, and what was left of the New Gold. Her breathing was heavy and short, she had to been digging for a while.

“Hey, uh, sis, who you-who you digging for?” Lav didn’t know how she wanted to say that, but it certainly wasn’t like that.

Sal whipped her head to look at Lav and stared for a moment before running up to her and giving her a hug and petting her head, “Please, please, please don’t tell me you’re my imagination.”

“I’m the real deal, y-yeah.”

“I thought for a moment, maybe—”

“You think I’d ever die before you? Not a chance,” Lav let out a short chuckle.

Sal laughed, then cried. Lav cried too.

***

After a short walk made long by his limping, Free saw the Camper, warm light escaping from its window blinds. And with a little more limping, he walked up and opened the door, a little surprised it was left unlocked for him.

Frost was in the driver’s seat, half asleep, keeping their head up with a craft pole. And Foxx was laying on the floor, his ears going up high when Free entered.

Free stood in the door, looked at the two, and waved, “Yo.”

Gekk-grekk, Foxx got up as Frost snapped awake.

“What happened? Are you ok? Is Lav ok?” Foxx asked, examining Free with short looks.

“Settle down, everything turned out fine, Lav’s safe, I’m safe. Crazy story—I’ll tell you during dinner. You didn't earth without me, right?”

Frost looked Free up and down, seeing his damaged and twisted shell.

“What?” Free looked over himself, “Oh yeah—Come on, just some external damage. You’ve seen me at a lot worse... Like when you ran me over—”

“Never mind,” Frost turned around in their chair, “I shall spare no sympathy,”

“Really?” Free walked up and leaned over their shoulder, Frost was clearly hiding a smirk, “Fine, fine, I’ll quit it, just for this night—been too eventful.”

Free went over to the pantry and grabbed a few cans of beans and meat, a bag of chips, a bouillon cube, and a small bottle of sauce, “Now, I’ll ask again, have you guys eaten yet?”

Foxx shook his head.

“Nope,” Frost said.

“Good, cause I’m feeling like making something quick but special—the good kind.”

Frost turned around, “What is the occasion, evading death once again?”

“Can’t say that’s not part of it,” Free spread the ingredients across the kitchen counter. “Now how hungry are each of you? Answer quickly ‘cause I could eat all this raw right now.”

“Adequately,” Frost got up and pulled out a table from the wall. “Do not forget to charge as well.”

“I know, I know—but I gotta feed my heart first!” Free looked at Foxx, “How much? You gotta be hungry too after the stunt you pulled.”

“...Sorry,” Foxx replied.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, your heart was in the right place.”

“Please do not do that again,” Frost said.

“Ok,” Foxx nodded, then tilted his head as he observed Free draining the beans, “What are we eating?”

Free rinsed the beans in a strainer, "Traveler bags, a delicacy that has saved me many a late, tired night.” After drying the beans off and cooking them in broth—made from water mixed with the bouillon cube—in a pan with the meat, he opened up four chip bags and dumped about half of what was in the pan into them.

Free handed one bag to Frost and another to Foxx before sitting down with his two, “Add sauce to taste—no clue what it tastes like, but looks good, so give it a try.” Free then proceeded to dump a third of the sauce into his bags and ate a bag’s worth in less than a minute.

Free ate fast—but not as fast as Foxx, who ate the whole thing, minus the bag itself, in mere seconds while the other two weren't looking.

“May I have more?” Foxx asked.

“Of course!” Free answered.

Meanwhile, Frost, who had barely begun eating, looked at Free, then Foxx, and simply let out a content, “Humph.”