It's been a day since their arrival.

Leer wasn't allowed to steal anything in this town, so he tagged along with Takara. The red-haired male wandered to the sides of towns, the alleys, the dumpster-- and gathered pieces of wood, metal and anything that looked useful-- like a homeless old man, somehow.

But it was free stuff, he'd argue.

"Now that I think about it," Takara mumbled to himself and the bear, "Leer's got his collar, Cross has a pendant and I have this belt... what should I give Visul for the pirate mark?"

"Gaoo," Leer whined, "Uuuh."

"Ah, you're hungry?" Takara turned to the bear in attention, "sorry. Let's go back to the inn, then."

Pulling a bunch of scrap metal and wood he gathered from the slums, he dragged it across the ground, strolling around the town.

  ー  

"Are we lost?" Visul asked, carrying a bag of fruits and vegetables.

Cross hailed two bags of groceries on his shoulders, "I can't find the inn!" he wailed, despaired.

Visul sighed. Well, her sense of direction wasn't any better... she'd forgotten where the inn was already. She wondered if Takara would be angry if he realized these two couldn't even run an errand properly...

"Oh, you two!"

A pink-haired boy was lifting a long wooden pole on his shoulders, bringing it to the shipbuilding yard. Spotting the two lost children, he swung around-- his wooden pole spinning across the place and sending another man flying.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" the victim yelled.

"Sorry!" he laughed, putting the stick down vertically beside him, "hey, you two, what's up?"

Cross and Visul noticed him-- they leaned closer, getting a better look at the man down at the port-- He was a little older than both of them, rough pink hair, baby blue eyes-- he had a childlike babyface, smiling widely as he waved at the two.

He was covered in bandages-- as if he'd just been through the worst of brawls, most of his body was covered in bandages and stitches-- why was he doing arduous work with wounds like that?

Beside him, another boy with styled red hair was carrying a stack of wood. That boy had green eyes, and a small scar under his chin. A silver, crescent-shaped earring glinted on his left ear.

He, too, was covered in bandages, but wasn't as badly off as the pink-haired boy.

"Oh, those kids," he mused.

"Who's that?" Cross asked.

"Well, he sounds familiar," Visul mumbled.

"Eh, you don't recognize me?" pink-haired seemed hurt, and the redhead beside him guffawed, "ah, I didn't bring my mask with me. Uh, it's me, me! Pierrot, from the ship!"

"Pierrot? Oh, you're the pink clown guy!" Cross gawked, "You have a face under that mask??"

"You thought I didn't??" Pierrot gawked.

"Ah, so that's Jester!" Visul brightened up, waving at the red-haired boy beside Pierrot, "Jeesster!!"

The red-haired boy waved, "hey, you guys look like you're doing fine!" he greeted, "doing grocery shopping?"

"We're lost!" Cross responded promptly, "what about you guys?"

"We're helping out in the shipyard!" Pierrot hollered, gesturing at the large wooden pole he was holding, "cause they needed more people that could do heavy lifting!"

"Do you guys need directions or something?" Jester offered.

"Yes please!" Visul returned, "we're trying to get to an inn called the Fox Ear!" 

Jester laughed, "that's on the other edge of town, how did you get this far away?" 

Jester pulled the stack of wooden planks off his shoulder, handing them right into Pierrot's hands. The pink-haired took it with surprise.

"I'll be right back. Leavin' that to ya!" he chuckled, waving off his pal quickly with a smile.

"Always the slave driver, aren't you!" Pierrot held the stack under his left arm, taking the wooden pole with his left.

"You're strong, so it doesn't matter, right?" Jester dashed up the hill, "I'll get ya some strawberry shortcake on the way, so do it, kid!"

"That's a lie, you're gonna pretend to forget! I can feel it in your eyes!" Pierrot roared after him, ready to fight.

"You know me way too well!" Jester laughed.

He stepped in right next to Visul and Cross, offering to take one of the bags Cross held. They set off back toward the town-- leaving behind the pink-haired clown at the shipyard, who calmly began his walk back to the ships.

His face fell solemn as he resumed his work with a serious farce.

"It's by the backstreets, around the ship-breaking yards," Jester told the two of them as they began to walk, "well, try to remember the ways to go, alright?"

  ー  

"Two bowls of ramen, pork and mackerel, right'up!"

The shopowner was a cheerful, bright man that exuded his love for his job, dropping two huge bowls with seasoned grace before his customers.

"Enjoy!" he grinned.

Leer sparkled at the sight of the bowl, while Takara picked up the chopsticks, closing his palms together in the gesture Visul always did, mumbling a 'thank you for the food'.

"Gawrah raaah!!" Leer declared, diving into his meal.

The man laughed at the sight, warning the bear not to fall into the bowl, with how excited it was.

"Old man, Miso Ramen," A woman with long, silver hair strolled in, a black, rose-patterned eyepatch over one eye. Like Jester and Pierrot were, she was covered in bandages and patches to ail wounds that seemed to have appeared overnight.

Takara recognized her as Rose Eyepatch, from the ship.

"Mawar, you guys are already back?" the old man greeted her, "it's only been two months since you guys last left Ilisia!"

"Yeah, the Captain's calling it quits with this trading business, so we're gonna settle down here from now, apparently," Mawar sat down, being served some water.

"That's a shame," the old man smiled a little sadly, "but I guess I'll be seeing you guys around a lot more, aren't I?"

Mawar downed her glass of water, slamming it back down on the table.

"No way am I staying here!" she raised her voice like a ranting drunkard, "Captain decided it by himself, without telling us! Can you believe that?"

The old man only laughed, scooping out a serving of noodles.

"Me, Cion, Kier and Ruu were the only ones unaware of what was happening," she was upset, "he told us we could choose to stay or leave after this, as if that was a noble choice to give us."

She was served a hot bowl of noodles-- the old man only nodded, hummed and listened intently as the girl ranted on and on, disregarding the presence of the customers beside her. It was only Takara and Leer, after all.

"So, what have you four decided?" the old man asked, considering deeply, "after all, you've been with them for ten years now."

"I have no idea where Ruu's gone," Mawar sighed, "Cion, Kier and I got into a huge fight with Captain about it yesterday, can you believe it? There's a crack in the hull now!"

Bidding a soft thanks for food, she began to eat. Takara finished the last mouthful of his soup, thanking for the meal. Leer was drenched, so he asked for a towel.

"So, the Masked Merchants disbanded?" Takara spoke up, "you guys didn't seem like it when you ferried us here. Why, did Grizzly break his back or something?"

Mawar choked on her food. "Takara!" she freaked out, "sorry, you heard all that?"

"Did we unintentionally become the companions of your last voyage?" Takara asked for a glass of water, leaning into the table and resting his chin in his palm, "not to butt into your issues, but what happened?"

Mawar looked away with a dry laugh.

"It's nothing like that," she decided to keep away unnecessary notes. It wasn't as if she wanted to spill everything about the happening to this guy she barely knows-- but it would hurt to just tell them, right?

"It doesn't look like just 'nothing' to me, though," Takara mumbled, rubbing Leer's head.

Mawar was covered in bruises, scratches and bandages-- nothing that should be on a girl like her.

"Captain Grizzly wants us to finally settle down instead of wandering as vagabonds, and Ilisia's granting us protection," Mawar explained, "so we decided to stop our trading business and make ourselves home, that's all."

"And that turned into a fight?"

"It's not without a price. Grizzly and Mime have to serve a short prison sentence in the town prison before we can be pardoned for good," Mawar grumbled, hands clenching around the edge of the bowl. She bit her lip, watching her noodles get soggy as he felt the animosity boil in her again-- maybe she should ask for some sake, it might make her feel better. 

Takara froze at that. 

Grizzly was a criminal, a former pirate, Takara had gathered from their week-long journey together. But Mime? Mime was a nameless bandit as far as the world knew now. His bounty was high-- but there should have been more people with bounties higher than Mime, why him?

"I've never been too much of a fan of the World Government, so I don't like the thought of being under their guard," Mawar sighed, "Mime and Grizzly said they were fine, but they don't understand anything!"

Takara abruptly stood up, "you think they'll be tricked?"

Mawar shrunk back, surprised at his abrupt reaction, "no, I'm not saying that-- it's just," she faltered, "I don't... want them to go. I don't think anyone wants them to.  Everyone else is gonna be serving penance in the form of community service, but..."

"I... see," Takara mumbled. The words seemed difficult on his throat-- somehow, something just didn't sit well. Sit a few years in prison and they can have a happily ever after on this island-- that sounded idealistic, but it's not something the Ilisia Kingdom can't do. Even he had heard of this place-- it was like a hidden heaven for many.

But something's not right.

"Sounds tough," Takara sighed, "so, what do you plan on doing?"

"Jester, Pierrot, Pirouette and I don't have bounties, so we're free to choose where to go from now on," Mawar sighed back, turning to her bowl of noodles and beginning to eat, "I think i'll leave-- but I'm not sure where."

Takara sat back down, unease in his chest-- he wanted to do something to help them-- but what could he do?

This wasn't his business, he realized.

He and Cross, and Visul and Leer, they had to find a way to get a ship, and leave the island to the Grand Line. They didn't have the time to worry about these people too.

The Masked Merchants ended, and it wasn't for a bad cause.

So Takara had to just leave it that way.