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| - “Next island in sight?” Art asked. The Majin was standing on the deck of the Shooting Star, calling up to Sid, who sat in the crow’s nest, peering out into the ocean ahead of them. The navigator took several minutes to reply. “Yeah....” was all he said when he did. D’Artagnan raised an eyebrow. “Anything wrong?” “Well,” Sid replied, “the next island is in sight, but I don’t think you’re gonna believe me when I say what it looks like.” “Well, what does it look like?” “Well, like a...” “A...?” “A giant cereal bowl.” “...Pardon?” Bowl Island. A geographical marvel by anyone’s definition, forged out of some strange route that natural evolution had decided to take. The outside of the island was quite literally, a giant rock cereal bowl, big enough to keep the ocean from advancing, but small enough so that people could actually enter and establish something resembling a civilization. And what a civilization had appeared. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but they weren’t badly off. They had all the necessities required for day-to-day existence and a fair bit of pleasures and recreations available as well. They even did a fair bit of tourist business for people who’s minds were boggled by the simple SHAPE of the island. And it was to this island, dear readers, that our heroes sailed to. “OOOOOOOOHHHH!!” Mercuia cried, almost throwing herself over the railing, her eyes shining even brighter than before, “I’VE NEVER SEEN AN ISLAND LIKE THIS BEFORE! NOT EVEN IN BOOKS!” “I hate this place,” Knave said immediately. “WHY?!” the rest of the crew asked. “It reminds me of breakfast...” Knave mewled, sinking the lower half of his face into the side of Starry’s railing, “...that I missed.” “IT’S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT FOR SLEEPING IN SO LATE!” the Marimos cried, slapping the air near Knave. “Oh, hey, look,” Art observed, as he too peered over the side, “there’s a shore here. Looks like we can dock there.” “Did you just change the topic?” Sid asked. “Gao, gao!” Gopher cried, hopping up on the railing and pointing at a now visible path leading into the side of the bowl, obviously for people hoping to enter. “Uh, guys...” Sid continued feebly, “we kinda lost track of...” “OOOOOOHHH!” Mercuia said, her eyes having turned to the edge of the bowl, “I THINK I CAN SEE TREES UP THERE!” “Okay, I give up,” Sid muttered quietly. “Looks like I guessed right!” Sirius crowed triumphantly, once again lowering the binoculars he seemed to perpetually carry with him. “I was the one to track them though,” Canis Major said quietly, a sweatdrop falling down his head, accompanied by several vertical lines that ran from somewhere on his forehead to his eyebrows. “Yeah, but the chain of command dictates that I automatically get any credit for YOUR accomplishments,” Sirius replied, “so let’s just go with me tracking them, okay?” “But, sir,” Canis Major began to whine. “Okay?” Sirius asked in a much quieter voice, with one more small edition: crumbling a large outcropping of rock near them with his bare hand. “Y-yes sir,” Canis Major said simply, bowing slightly. “Oi, dumbass,” Canis Minor said to her male counterpart, from her position on the edge of the giant bowl, peering down into the village and forest below, “they just entered the island.” “Zazazazazazazazazazazazazazazazazazaza!” Sirius laughed, standing up, “alright then! Let’s move out!” “So, how long do you plan on travelling with us, Mercuia-chan?” Pura asked, as she and the blue-haired young girl walked down one of the streets of the town that lay within the giant stone bowl. “Well, I was thinking about going along for the next few-” Mercuia began, before her eyes practically exploded out of their sockets, “WAIT, I’M NOT PART OF THE CREW?!” “Well,” Pura replied, smiling politely while still sweatdropping, “we didn’t really have time to make a decision, and in the end it’s all up to Knave... so I can’t really answer...” “Oh...” Mercuia replied softly, a hit of a sulk in her voice. “Target sighted,” Canis Minor reported, as she walked past the two girls as quietly as she could, wearing a brown travelling cloak. She spoke into a small Den Den Mushi that she had placed on a small wristband. “I’ve found a few more members of their crew,” Canis Major reported in, “I can take them out at the order.” “...Nah,” Sirius said, “only take the girl. I’ll finish off the rest.” “Why, sir?” “I want to have some fun. Zazazazazazazazazazazazazazaza!” Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
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