NEMESIS
Little Tori looked nervous at her exclamation, but to Nemesis' delight he seemed open to her idea. She grinned. "Bad? Oh definitely in most cases, but that's why it's fun!" she explained, before a slight frown appeared on her face. It quickly left, however. "Not too much fun for the person getting robbed, though. I was stolen too, once. It was the captain, actually! Stole me right out of my manor, held me for ransom and everything." Nemesis was nonchalant about the entire story. "I got over it though. I begged to join the crew, even. Anyways, you only get into trouble if you get caught, and with us around you'll be perfectly fine!"

By now Nemesis felt excited at the thought of robbing some dumb bastard. She couldn't wait to teach Tori some of her tricks. When the young vampire agreed, she gave him a look filled with pride.

CHARLIE
He sighed as Nemesis spoke. "This is going to lead to trouble...I just know it..."he muttered dejectedly. If they let something happen to the boy, would Jecht care? He probably would not at the moment but the second they retrieved Trixxtal, and if he heard Protettore was hurt in some way, the first mate would become upset. And the entire crew knew that anything or anybody that upset Trixxtal (outside of the captain himself) would infuriate Jecht. "Ohhhh no...oh no no...this will end badly..." he whispered to nobody, his head hanging low as he kicked a few debris out of his path.

To his horror he kicked with more force than he meant to and miraculously managed to hit Jecht, of all the people in the world, straight to the forehead. The already irritated captain cursed as his anger rose to a new level and Charlie saw a few drops of blood drip down from the wound he accidently inflicted.

JECHT
The ship had finally landed at the port and anchored. Once Jecht heard this news he forced himself out of his quarters, feeling completely fed up with all of the bedrest. "Ugh, I don't care about my injuries anymore, I'm getting off this blasted ship!" he whined to every person unfortunate enough to be nearby to hear his complaining. He still felt pain on his body, but he ignored the sensations, feeling he deserved to hurt for failing Trixxtal like he did. But the captain had no desire to stay aboard the ship for much longer. Everything he saw reminded him too much of Trixxtal. He just wanted to get away and forget everything for awhile.

As he began to leave, a piece of debris caught him off guard and he was smacked in the head with driftwood. "What the fuck!" he scowled, rubbing his now throbbing forehead as he turned to the perpetrator. The guilty party looked pale and grimaced at Jecht's glare.

"Charlie..." he hissed, steadily walking towards the blond and the rest of the group, "The FlyingDeath better be in perfect condition when I return, otherwise I'll pick up every remaining piece of debris I find on the ship, sharpen them into stakes, and use you as target practice...!" He promptly turned away from his crew and Tori, whose presence he refused to acknowledge at the moment, and stormed off the ship.

☆protettore☆
If Nemesis' story was meant to inspire him, it didn't work. Infact it did the absolute opposite. Jecht sounded even crazier than Tori ever pictured him. What kind of person stole another person and demanded money in return? Did Trixxtal go along with this? Why was Nemesis here if Jecht had treated her so badly? Tori didn't really understand any of it, but maybe things were just different at sea?

" W-well, if you say so!" the young vampire agreed hopefully. He wondered if his parents would get mad at him for stealing. He could easily imagine his father sitting down and telling him that taking things from others was wrong. His mother had told him that her father, his grandfather, was a bad man because he stole things, and that he should never be like him. But if they knew that it would help him fit in so that he could save them, would they still get angry? Maybe if he apologized when they finally rescued him, it would be okay? After all, everyone on the FlyingDeath seemed nice, apart from Jecht, so how bad could it be?

Speaking of the devil, Jecht suddenly appeared, and with no Cepheus to hide behind, he hid behind Nemesis instead. What Cepheus had said about Jecht getting mad if Protettore reminded him of Trixxtal rang clearly in his mind and he did his best to hide his face behind Nemesis' body. He didn't know if there ever would be a time where he wouldn't be afraid of Jecht, but if the rest of the crew members could withstand him, and if Trixxtal could even be friends with him, maybe all it took was time?

He really doubted it though.

☆mariemaia☆
If Mariemaia was still a human she was sure that her heart would be thumping against her chest when Jecht suddenly appeared on deck. She tried her best to avert her eyes when he stormed over to yell at Charlie, but she couldn't keep her eyes off him, observing his wounds to see if they were healing properly or if the stress was delaying them. Jecht still seemed tired and sluggish compared to his regular self, but if he had enough energy to successfully threaten Charlie, then it couldn't have been that bad. Not once did Jecht's eyes meet her's and for a moment she felt offended, thinking that he was ignoring her. They had parted on bad terms when she had tried to help him after his temper tantrum and he just yelled and belittled her. The last thing she was expecting was an apology as it wasn't in Jecht's nature to apologize, but she just wanted him to understand that she wanted to help him anyway she could.

Like everyone else, she watched as Jecht angrily left the ship and a tiny sigh left under her breath. She turned to Charlie who looked absolutely terrified and nudged him playfully, trying to lighten the mood. " C'mon Charlie, you know Jecht wouldn't hurt you. It's just his anger talking." It wasn't completely true, Jecht would most definitely kick them around if he felt like it, but he wouldn't kill them. But she was trying to lighten the mood here.

" Si," She heard Videl say from behind her. " And even if he did, we'd never let him kill you!" He added cheerfully. Perhaps a little too cheerfully Mariemaia thought to herself but patted Charlie shoulder. " See! We have your back! Let's just allow all this to blow over and stay out of his way for a while. Then we can focus our efforts in getting Trixxtal back!"

" But first lets go into town and get the supplies for the ship so Jecht really doesn't kill us." Videl said. Everyone murmured in agreement and even Tori spoke up from behind Nemesis, " And to get new pants."

NEMESIS & CEPHEUS
Before they all left, Nemesis noticed an annoyed looking Cepheus approaching them, and concerningly pale. But clutched in his hands was an empty bag and Nemesis thought it was perfect for stashing their stolen goods! "Ooooh, just what I needed, thanks!" she gleefully snatched the bag from Cepheus's hand, earning an exasperated look from the man. "And weren't you supposed to be with Jecht? We just saw him run off the ship."

Cepheus rolled his eyes at her question. "What could you possibly want that bag for? That was supposed to be for collecting trash off the floor," he drawled, but all he received was a laugh and 'just throw the debris in the ocean!' from her. "But whatever. And you will not believe how much Jecht was whining back at his room, I had to listen to that while fixing his bandages. Then he insisted he was healed enough now and yelled at me when I insisted he stay, then he ran off." he complained, but Nemesis nodded in understanding. She wouldn't be able to stop angry Jecht from leaving either.

"We're going to steal little Tori some new clothes! We're getting supplies for the ship too. So this bag is perfect to stash the loot in. Wanna come with us?" she asked, and Cepheus shrugged before looking at Tori who was hidden behind Nemesis for some reason, making him wonder if Jecht had scared him again. He gave the child a reassuring smile.

"Alright, I'll come along." he agreed, worried about Protettore getting caught up in all of this but if he was going to be a long time guest on the ship then he needed multiple sets of clothes. "And besides, Jecht didn't bring any money with him...we'll have to bring him some so he doesn't cause a scene at whatever bar he runs off to. The last thing that needs to happen is him getting into a fight and aggravating his injuries." he pointed out, cringing at the thought of his friend getting into worse trouble. "What is the currency, anyways?" he asked, puzzled. When they actually purchased things legally instead of stealing them Jecht usually took care of the finances, so Cepheus barely had any idea of the different currencies of all the places the crew travelled to.

"I don't know, but who cares we can just steal some money, no big deal!" said Nemesis.

CHARLIE
Their encouragement did not completely lift his spirits, or terror of Jecht's threat, but it was enough to at least make Charlie feel more at ease. "Right..." he mumbled, praying that they were right. As he stepped off the ship with them, Charlie looked towards the others to lead the way.

"Hmm, let's go...that way! There's bound to be plenty of pants for little Tori there." he heard Nemesis as she pointed in a seemingly random direction, until Charlie noticed a few large buildings. Hopefully, one of them would be a carpenter they could steal from otherwise Charlie might as well prepare for his journey to the underworld.

"Okay, listen up little Tori, here are some tips to keep in mind." he heard Nemesis enthusiastically explain to the child, who Cepheus was currently holding by the hand, causing Charlie to feel pity for the innocent child the crew would no doubt end up corrupting, "Be aware of your surroundings! Keep track of any noises and move carefully so you don't make sound bumping into something, we wouldn't want you from getting caught. But don't worry, Cepheus here can smell and listen to everything in the house when he goes dog. And normally, we'd scout out the area beforehand, but we don't really have time for that right now so...Oh well! And walk carefully, breathe slowly through your nose...hm...what else?"

Charlie sighed at her advice, which Nemesis seemed to be thinking and blurting out at random in no particular order. "Um...Nemesis...you're telling him to do all of those things, but you haven't explained how to do it..." he pointed out hesitantly, not wanting to offend her or anything. Thankfully, Nemesis didn't seemed bothered by his intrusion to the conversation.

"Oh, right! Sorry Tori, I'm not the best at this. Jecht is the one who explained this all to me, he's a pretty good teacher haha! How did he say it...?" she wondered to herself, pausing a moment to recall the captain's wisdom. "Keep your arms close to your side so you don't accidently knock anything down when you move through the house. And if you need to jump, when you land try to be crouched in a balanced position. If you want to move quietly, walking in a slightly crouched position engages all of your muscles. That lightens the amount of force that hits the ground when you make contact with the ground. And you have to distribute your weight evenly when you walk. Walking heel to toe helps, too! He was a very harsh teacher though and expected me to learn to walk silently...I had to walk across the floor, and every time he heard me take a step, he would send a bolt of lightning at me! It's funny now, but I was terrified at the time!" she continued explaining to the child, but at this point Charlie was tuning her out. He shivered as he remembered his own torturous training with Jecht.

☆protettore☆
Even though most of the instructions Nemesis was giving him were clear and easy enough to understand, Tori still couldn't wrap his head around some things. " Um, okay," He nodded along with her words when she paused to show that he was listening, but every now and then he would look to to Cepheus for confirmation that everything she was saying was true. It sounded simple while she explained it, but Tori knew that if they forced him to test it out now, he'd fail within a minute. But he supposed it could be worse. Jecht could have been the one teaching him these things and then he'd be the one getting shocked with lightening. Shuddering at the thought, Tori paid extra special attention to the rest of her speech. When they arrived closer to the buildings, Tori's stomach began to twist and turn. While everyone else was talking, he tugged on Cepheus' hand and whispered to him, " They won't make me do it by myself right...? I don't know if I can..."

☆videl☆
"Ah, I too remember my own experiences with the captain." Videl said in a whimsical voice, looking off into the distant night sky. " He taught me how to be a good thief too, not so much in stealth, but in other areas! If you could senorita." He held out his hand to Mariemaia, who placed a rolled up satchel in his hand. " There was no way I could become a silent walker with my bulky muscles, so he taught me other things. Such as breaking and entering!" He laughed as he unrolled the satchel to reveal a number of metal utensils, all of which Tori had never seen before. He crouched by the door and stuck one of the utensils into the lock and then fit another one inside it, and began to fiddle with it. It had taken a while for him to master the art of lockpicking, but as he was a terrible thief and a clumsy walker, this was the only area he could excel in. After a minute or two, with a final jab, the lock popped open and Videl confidently opened the door. As luck would have it, the building happened to be a work space for a carpenter with huge planks of wood littering the floor and tables. " Ah! Perfect! Just what we needed." He walked inside and inspected the wood. It was a little different than the ones they had on the FlyingDeath, but they would no doubt be useful.

" These will work with fixing the ship. Any volunteers to help me carry all this back?" He looked expectantly to each of his crewmates.

☆Mariemaia☆
While she was glad that Videl had broken into the building so seamlessly and she would have loved to help out, she had more important matters to think about. Before anyone spoke up about Videl's offer, she announced loudly, in a rushed voice, " I think we should split up!" There was a beat of silence and she quickly backpedaled to explain hurriedly explain herself. " It's just, it'll take us forever to carry all of this back to the ship. What about Tori's pants? He needs pants! And we still need to find Jecht..." She mumbled that last part under her breath, " So I think we should all split into groups. Videl, since you're so strong, you can carry all this wood right? It'd be no problem for someone like you!" She saw him faintly nod in agreement and she knew that she had him there.

" And Nemesis, you can show Tori how to steal, firsthand! Cepheus, you can go with them and overlook everything with...you know...your dog senses. And as for me and Charlie, it looks like we're stuck with going to look for Jecht." She sighed, making it seem like it was a burden for her. She couldn't let it be so obvious that this was her plan all along. Of course she cared about the ship and Tori's pants, but to her, Jecht came before all those things. She had to make sure he was okay and not drinking himself to death or else she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else.

" You're right," She heard Videl say, breaking her away from her thoughts, " it sounds good to me." He shrugged, and to show that he was on board, he slung five heavy planks of wood over one shoulder as if they were nothing. Excitedly, she turned to the rest to see if they also agreed to her plans.

☆Cepheus☆
Cepheus stared at the vampires with a puzzled look. If he felt incredibly lost by their theivery trivia, Cepheus did not want to imagine how confused Tori was. "Honestly, do you old vampires even understand or remember how to teach anything to young people?" he asked with a roll of his eyes. Cepheus and Tori were significantly younger than he rest of the crew, making him wonder if that was why he seemed to be the only one not overestimating a child. Tori was a vampire and probably naturally stronger than a human like him, but he was still a child. "That was just a long sentence of words that came out of your mouth too quickly to take in. At least, all I got from it was that every time you messed up, Jecht hurled lightning at you."

Nemesis huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, excuse me for trying to help. Tori must have understood that, right? He is obviously already much smarter than you." she complained, though Cepheus ignored her rebuttal and looked to Tori instead, who looked anxious and whispered his fears to him.

"Not while I'm around, so stay close to me alright?

☆Charlie☆
"Um...Okay." he agreed hesitantly, not wanting to be part of the team to find Jecht, but not wanting to disagree either. Looking around town would be the least demanding anyways. If he went with Videl he would probably become too nervous and accidentally mess up fixing the ship. And if he went with Nemesis, Cepheus, and Tori then he would just be a burden. It's not like he could have anything useful to teach the child and while he could fill in for Cepheus...he could not or did not want to comfort a frightened child. "Mariemaia, do you have any plans for where to go? All I can think of is the local tavern..."

☆Nemesis☆

"Yeah, good plan Mariemaia!" she grinned, giving her a thumbs up. It was completely obvious to her, like it was to every other person in the group, that the woman wanted to find the captain herself. It was almost cute how she thought her crush was a secret, but then again Jecht appeared to have no idea about her crush and Mariemaia seemed oblivious that the captain had a thing for Trixxtal.

"Ah, so I'm the watchdog?" sighed Cepheus, but Nemesis ignored him because she still felt annoyed that he disliked her explanation. She whirled to Protettore, who was still gripping onto Cepheus' sleeve.

"I will definitely be the greatest teacher for little Tori. Come on, Tori and dog! Let's find you some pants." she said with determination, and took Tori's hand. Cepheus, who Tori had still been holding onto, followed behind them.

"Okay, Tori, the first thing that is going to happen is that we look for the best looking house to steal from!"

☆Cepheus☆

"Because the lower class probably won't have anything worth stealing." he clarified for Tori's sake, "And out of those houses Nemesis picks, I'll shift into my other form and choose one with more than one scent. Those will probably have a better chance of having a child around than one with only one or two scents. A home like that will probably only have an adult living alone or a couple."

Honestly, it would be much more convenient if someone on the crew could just make a pair of pants for Tori. However, Cepheus also had a feeling that even if they conveniently had extra fabric stashed somewhere to use for mending Tori's pants, Jecht would still make Tori go through the trouble of stealing pants anyways.

"Hey, Tori, do you want to pick the house?" he heard Nemesis ask, causing Cepheus to frown.

They had not been walking for very long so there were not many houses to choose yet, but he had a feeling Tori would feel a lot of pressure to pick the perfect house. "Nemesis...you pick first and give him an example." he intervened.

"Oh, it will be fine! He just has to decide on the prettiest looking home. I want to see his opinion." she replied cheerfully, excited over the anticipation of their upcoming theivery.

☆Mariemaia☆

For it being the dead of night, Mariemaia was surprised to find the local tavern with it's lights on and a steady flow of customers coming in and out of the entrance. Nothing in particular stuck out to her that told her that Jecht was here, but honestly, where else would he be? He had been dead set on drinking and according to the random two or three people that they had talked to on the way here, this tavern was the only one in town. " Looks like we're here Charlie!" She exclaimed happily, turning to the man on her side. " Why would they put the tavern so far from the dock I wonder! It took us a while to get here, it almost felt like years!" She laughed to herself, knowing that she was just being overdramatic. The actual walk over had probably taken 15 minutes at the most. " Anyway, we better go in. The tavern is still standing now, but if Jecht gets his hands on more alcohol, it might be much longer!!" She was eager to find Jecht and make sure he was okay.