"Ehhh? Old man Bear's quitting?" Cross gawked exaggeratedly loudly, tears nearing him in disappointment.

"Yeah!" Jester chuckled, "we decided to stay on this island from now on! It's fun, we still get tons of work, after all!"

"You're not going to sail anymore?" Visul sounded sad, "no more adventures?"

Jester seemed to pause a little at that-- Visul had a tearful, tragic expression, as if someone had just forced her into such a whirl of bad emotions she was going to burst into cries--

Jester put a hand on her head, as if in assurance or comfort.

"The sea's dangerous," he told her, "pirates, bounty hunters and occasionally marines come after us sometimes because of the bounty on Grizzly's head. We're trying to redeem ourselves, but with how we're going, we won't hold out for very long."

"Aren't you guys strong?" Cross spoke up, looking down.

"We're strong, but not all of us," Jester sighed, "everyone wanted a life that's away from daily fighting and stressful night-watching. So we decided to stay here and work."

"Well, as long as you guys are happy about it..." Visul mumbled, still a little sulking. 

"How did you get so beat up, though?" Cross questioned, noting how Jester and Pierrot were covered in wounds when they saw them before.

Jester, understanding their concerned glances toward the bandages all over him, laughed at that.

"Pierrot and I were racing to climb the mast yesterday!" the lie slipped out of him easily, "then we fell down and got into a fight."

"Are you two idiots?" Cross laughed.

"Maybe!" 

They walked through town, past a number of shops-- they stopped at a sweets shop, bought some daifuku, and continued on their way.

They found the inn eventually-- and there they parted ways.

Visul and Cross watched him walk off back toward the port, carrying a small box of pastry with him. His steps were considerably quicker than when he walked with the children-- he disappeared into the crowd almost too quickly.

Visul and Cross weren't smiling.

"I wonder how much of that was a lie?" Visul whispered to herself.

"Who knows?" Cross murmured, "let's go, Visul."

ー

When Cross stepped out later that evening, he found a ship with a bear figurehead docked at the ship-breaker's port. The Lilting Hunny, lined up among the broken vessels, waiting.

Visul stood by his side, catching sight of the huge ship they had lived on for a week--

It was sad to see it go.

Cross turned away from it, closing his eyes--

A pink-haired figure dashed past, filled with fear and ridden with panic. Heartbeat pacing rapidly, breath ragged-- Pierrot sprinted to the shore.

"What are you doing to the ship?!" he was yelling, angered, horrified, scared-- "don't touch it, don't touch the Lilting Hunny!"

Cross swung back, finding the boy standing protectively before the ship.

The workers were bewildered at the sudden intrusion-- there were signs to keep out of there for the dangers, and most of the ship-breakers held dangerous devices they didn't want to use on humans. They stood back at the pink-haired boy's furious display-- but were not shaken by it.

"Calm down, kid, don't be rash," they raised their voices-- machines were turned off-- people were surrounding him now-- "Deep breaths. Do you have any idea where you are?"

"I know full well where I am!" Pierrot was erratic, "and you're not touching this ship! You're not going to break it!" He put his hand on a crack in the hull-- big and scarred, but not something that couldn't be fixed.

A man stepped forward with a sigh. A balding, big fisted man huffed in resignation.

"Say what you must, kid, but this is our job," he grumbled, obviously annoyed at the intrusion and the interruption of his work, "Hornigold was the one that sent the ship here and gave us the green light. If you've got complaints, speak to him."

Pierrot's teeth gritted. He did not move.

"What's... going on?" Cross leaned over the fence, confused. 

"Is the Hunny gonna get broken up...?" Visul took a glance, "should we go over, Cross?"

"Hey!" Jester's voice boomed across the street, the red-haired boy ran forward, "I said to stay! Can't you cool your head and listen to anyone for five fucking minutes?!"

Jester marched right through the workers, roughly taking Pierrot by the arm.

"It's just a ship, give it up!" Jester raised his voice sharply, "nothing we say's gonna change the Captain's mind, when are you gonna bloody realize that?"

Pierrot threw him off, infuriated, "you can give up because you know nothing!" he shouted, "you know nothing about bounties, prisons or the World Government! That's why you can say this all so fucking easily!"

Surprisingly easily, Jester was thrown back with just a swing of Pierrot's arm.

"The Lilting Hunny is our ship!" he declared almost angrily, "if Captain doesn't want it anymore, I'm taking it! It's mine!"

Jester's teeth gritted. Picking himself back up, he barreled forward, pushing Pierrot down and taking him by the collar.

"It doesn't fucking work that way!" his voice was pained, challenging, absolutely provoking, "what are you going to do, set sail alone and get fucking targeted because this was Grizzly Hornigold's ship? Do you want cannons sinking the Hunny? Is that what you want? To die?"

"Then are you just gonna let the ship-breakers take it?" Pierrot retorted fiercely.

Jester sucked in a breath, trapped from words.

"They're fighting, even though they were like twins when we were on the ship," Visul muttered back, resting her chin in his palm, "well, maybe because they don't have their masks..."

"Then, if we put their masks back on, will they get along again?" Cross asked her.

"Well," Visul sighed, "if only it could be that easy."

"ORACION! KIERAN!"

Visul and Cross leaped at the loud shriek.

A large, burly man marched through, rage infuriating him-- Grizzly stepped forward, bear mask on his brunet head, a low growl rumbling at his throat like a grumble of a hungry beast.

"HOW MUCH LONGER WILL YOU KEEP FIGHTING??" Grizzly made himself known at the shore.

"Shut up!" Pierrot yelled, "to begin with, you're the cause of this entire situation! You kept it a secret and expected us to just say yes to your choices??"

"It's because you would respond like this!" Jester fought back, "can't you understand? They were thinking of the best for the crew that had nothing to do with us! You're a blind, stubborn fool that only thinks for himself instead of viewing for the bigger picture!"

"You're getting on my nerves!" Pierrot grabbed him at the collar, "if you wanna stay here, do whatever the fuck you want! I'm leaving, and I'm taking the ship with me!"

"The ship isn't yours!" Jester gripped a hard fist-- and threw a punch in Pierrot's face.

"ENOUGH!" Grizzly pulled them apart. He held the two by their heads, far apart in case they tried to scramble around again, "stop bickering! If you want the ship-- then take it! But I will not allow you to sail on it anywhere!"

Evidently, Pierrot wasn't happy about that in the least. 

Pulled up by the scruff, he swung his feet to the ground-- Anchoring himself on the sand, he grappled Grizzly's arm-- near twice his arm size-- and swung him over his shoulder.

Grizzly, almost as if he gave no resistance-- was sent flying.

"Then, I'll steal it!" Pierrot's voice was breaking, painful, "I'm leaving this island on the Hunny, alone if I have to!"

"And where are you going to go?" Grizzly threw himself up, his voice hoarse with rage, "alone? What can you do alone? You'll sink in the first storm you meet!"

"I won't..." Pierrot bit his bottom lip-- he was stumped, failing to compose a valid comeback-- perhaps he was starting to realize his actions made no sense now. 

"When will you stop being a child?" Grizzly scolded him grimly, standing up-- and putting a surprisingly gentle hand on Pierrot's head.

Pierrot's fists clenched-- he bit down on is bottom lip painfully, suppressing himself. This was dumb and immature, and he had to face it.

"This isn't just about you-- this is for everyone's sake," Grizzly told him with a deep sigh, "if you want to leave, so be it-- but the Lilting Hunny is tainted by my name. Thus, I will not let you go with it and die."

The conversation was forced to an end right then and there.

Grizzly marched away-- but Pierrot sat by the ship until nightfall. The ship-breakers let him be-- begrudgingly giving him one last day to mourn for that irrelevant ship.

Visul and Cross watched the scene with a strange interest.

"Sorry to let you see such a disgraceful scene," a woman stepped in beside them, leaning on the fence beside them, a laughter in her throat and a cigarette at her lips.

Her long, blue hair was styled into a bun that fell apart on one side-- a very frantic, messy bun. 

This was Masquerade.

"Is it really alright?" Visul asked her softly, "to end like this?"

"Pierrot definitely doesn't like it," Masquerade laughed, "as of the moment,, he's the only one actively opposing it. Jester gave up yesterday, and Rose said she was going to leave."

"Hey," Cross mumbled, "is it really so easy to end a crew?"

Masquerade fell silent, taking in another drag.

"It was the captain's orders," Masquerade told him, eyeing him in motherly patience, "we respect his love for the crew, so we will respect his decision."

Cross sulked, leaning into the fence as if he wanted to sleep there.

"If the captain's decisions can be so hard to bear, I'd rather we stay without a captain," he mumbled to himself.

Visul, hearing it, solemnly agreed.