Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Now this," Silva said slowly, his amusement tearing him up from the inside. He wasn't going to let it show, of course. That wasn't a leaderlike act. But seriously, the kid was killing him. "Is not what you expect to see. When'd he fall asleep?"

"When you left him there overnight, sir," one of his twin bodyguards said.

"And he grew that way?" Silva asked. Austin was hanging from his legs, sound asleep, a trickle of drool threatening to go up his nose. The girl was the only one he had told them to let down. He had a soft spot for girls.

"Seems that way," Bavaria said, watching the two that were hanging still. One was not just as big as the other; she wasn't going to give into the details of exact height and all that. Then she looked back at Silva, hands on his hips still. "So why the girl?" she asked him.

Kaeden was asleep as well, having had nothing better to do as he was left out for the night as well.

"Because she--" Silva said, chewing on his toothpick and glancing at the girl sleeping on the ground not too far away. "Is cute. These two ain't. Besides, leaving them upside down that long might kill them."

He didn't sound as if he regretted that fact. It was more as if he had been testing the theory. "Looks like it didn't. Hm. Get 'em down."

"Feminist," Bav muttered, giving him a dark look. She wanted to go up to him and smack him for that. She took out her irritation on the boys, though, flying over to their ropes and abruptly cutting them. She wasn't at all worried about them landing on their heads.

"OW!" Kaeden cried, waking up only when he hit the ground. That large of a jolt was enough to wake anyway! "Dammit! That hurt!" he said, glaring up at the one who obviously cut them down.

"You deserved it," Bav said, before flying back to where Silva and the others were. Why he deserved it, though, she wasn't going to say.

Austin jerked awake, his eyes huge in shock before he grabbed his head and started rolling with the pain. "Ow! Owowowowowoww! What did'ja haveta do that for?" he demanded of whoever had rudely woken him up. To be honest, though, his head was so hard that it only made him dizzy for a little while.

He blinked a few times, looking around. Then he frowned as a fairy moved in front of him. "Feelin' a bit bigger, are you?" Silva asked.

"Huh?"

"Austin! You grew!" the other boy said, shocked out of his own complaints. Then he grinned. "It's about time!"

Bav rolled her eyes, and started to head for the girl that was still asleep. Might as well wake them all up.

Polly was having another one of her dreams. It grew hotter the closer you were to her, and Austin barely got the chance to recover before he was racing for her. "The map!" he said, knowing for certain that it would be burnt as the grass around her started to smoke.

"You mean this map?" Silva asked, taking the rolled up piece of paper from one of the twins. Austin jerked to a halt, looking at him in shock as he unrolled the sheet and held it to the morning sun. "You think I haven't seen one of these before?"

"Hey! That's our map! Give it back!" Kaeden said, hopping to his feet and holding out his hand in a demanding way. Never mind he was talking to Silva, here. He wasn't even worried about Polly. She was freed and maybe about to burst into flames, but right now, all that mattered was the map.

Bav picked up a nut, tossing it in her hand as she looked at the girl. Something should be done about this. The girl was getting -way- to hot and she didn't want a fire in the middle of the grow, if even thing caught flame from the heat the girl was giving off. In her mind, it was best to wake her up. That was why she tossed the nut at the girl's nose.

Polly jerked awake, grabbing her nose. "Owww," she muttered, looking around. Then her eyes narrowed and she jumped to her feet. "Gimme back my map!" she said, racing towards Kae and Silva to try and grab the map back.

Silva flew higher, leaving the kids to jump as high as they could to try and get it while he continued to study the map. Then he stopped. "It's useless," he told them, tossing it down to them. "That treasure's gone."

"What do you mean it's gone?" Kaeden demanded again, not believing the fairy. He had just about told Polly to get or Austin to get onto his shoulders, so that they could reach higher. "How can it be gone already? We got the map!"

"You think we wouldn't know about a treasure in our Grove?" Bav asked, even if she might be bluffing. She never did ask Silva where he got all those rubies he paid her with. That could very well be the case.

"It was moved, a long time ago," he said. "Back when I was starting the grove. You're gonna' have to start over."

"I don't believe you!" Polly said. "It's my map! It's got to be right!"

"You want to see it?" Silva asked. "The remains?"

"Yes!" Kaeden said. He had never seen a real treasure before. Did treasures have remains? Well, he was about to find out. He looked back at Austin. "You wanna see if he's tellin the truth, don't ya, Austin?"


"Why you offerin'?" Austin asked suspiciously.

"Because," Silva said, smirking slightly. "You two look like pirates. That means that sooner or later your boss is goin' to show up, now isn't he?"

"Good question," Kaeden said, looking at Polly. "You're Tock's kid. He gonna come after us, when they find out we're gone? Or what?"

Silva smirked, his suspicions confirmed by that statement. This little girl belonged to Tock. Tock belonged to him. That made her as good as his grandkid in a way. He flew over to her, landing on her head. "See that huge tree not twenty feet to your right?" he asked her as he sat down and fingered his toothpick.

"Wha?" she asked, turning her head to try and see him, or knock him off. It didn't work.

"Look right," he said. "There's a tree that's bigger than the others. Dig at its base."

"Austin! Kaeden!" she said. "Start digging!"

"Don't we get to discuss this first?" Austin asked, holding up a finger. "Seeing as it's obvious that he's just--"

"I said DIG!" she snapped.

"We dig, we get first pick," Kaeden said, dragging Austin with him. Geez Polly was mean! Just who was she to boss them around? But he just wanted to see what there was, really.

"You," Austin said, pointing at her as he was dragged by. "Don't deserve ta' be the captain anymore."

She glared at him, then smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Booger picker," she said evilly.

"An' I TOLE you, I don't do that!"

"Right, cuz you do it!" Kaeden said Polly, taking Austin's side as normal. "And he's right. You've been meaner than normal lately," he pointed out.

Her face fell and a look crossed her face that showed that she was near tears. It was brief, quickly replaced by that same smirk. She wasn't going to tell them what was wrong! Not EVER! They didn't deserve to know about her being kicked out of the bed and shoved into a hellish place like that school, and all the pushy, annoying people that she had to deal with and--

She jerked as Silva dropped from her head onto her shoulder, leaning against her neck in a lazy manner. "You heard the lady," he told the boys. "Start digging or no one's getting anything."

In that brief moment, Kaeden thought he saw such a sad look on her face before that stupid smirk replaced it. Then he fully doubted what he saw. At all of her complaints about school, he really didn't want to go there. It was stupid.

He huffed and started to dig.

Bav landed on the girl's other shoulder, crossing her arms. She liked how in charge Polly was. Besides she wanted to see what was left.

"It might go faster if you help them," Silva said as the two boys dug. "Maybe by pulling the dirt away so they have someplace to put it." It was said far too quietly for the others to hear.

"Annoying bratty, no good little booger picking--" Austin was muttering as he dug the best he could with his bare hands. It didn't work so he picked up a fallen branch and started to use that. "I ain't a baby anymore, she's got no right tellin' me what to do. She's--"

Then he noticed her moving the dirt they had pulled away and shut his mouth, going back to work.

Kaeden felt a bit better when he noticed Polly helping them move the dirt. He had been more irritated with her moodiness lately, and her over bossiness was annoying too. Only Chloe had rights to be bossy.

Now that the girl was gone, Bav looked over at Silva, arms crossed. "So, she is Tock's brat, then? Suppose he'll be looking for her."

"Why do you think I haven't sent them off on a stupid quest yet?" Silva asked logically. "He'll be coming soon. We reinforced the spikes, didn't we?" He rather enjoyed tormenting the kid. It was something he had missed since Tock went missing.

"Yep, and there're look outs for him too," she said proudly. That was her idea. "So we're gonna get rid of that other brat? Finally?"

"I'd like to," he said quietly. "The little b*****d's annoying. He's going to wind up getting the entire pirate group killed one day. Why Tock picked him to take over, I got no idea. That or he didn't pick him, the brat picked himself."

"Bet he picked himself, or overthrew the one Tock picked," she muttered softly. Then she sighed, watching the kids. "So, what do you think's wrong?"

"Not a clue," he said honestly, eyeing the little girl who was working so hard despite how she had bossed the others. She was grinning now, as if this was a great adventure. "Ain't s**t in the box except a few pieces that wouldn't be worth finding a place to put them," he added. "But they'll probably think they've found the grand prize."

"Ya know, I've been wondering where the hell you got all those gems of yours," Bav said casually as she watched the kids as well. "Now I know. And now I know you probably got a lot more. I should start charging more," she grinned evilly.

Now that Polly was actually part of them in this work, Kaeden felt a whole lot better in the digging. He was making it a game, just to see if he could bring the dirt up faster that she could move it. The earlier fight was now forgotten.

Then his stick hit something with a 'thunk'. He paused for a moment before grinning from ear to dirt covered ear. "We found it!"

"Yeah!" Austin bellowed, only to jump as Polly tackled them both from behind, pulling herself up to look over their shoulders into the hole.

"It's perfect," she said. "It looks just like a treasure box!"

"Let's drag it up," Austin said, forgetting his tendency to be lazy over his urge for treasure.

"Yeah!" Polly agreed.

Gaia was a strange place, so the sight of three kids, obviously pirates, walking through the store barely brought strange glances. But even if they had, the kids wouldn't have noticed. They were intent on something.

"Oye," Austin said to a random stranger. "Where's the pirate ships?"

"The what?" the man asked blankly.

"The pirate ships," Polly said. "We need one. And it's got to be easy to carry."

"'Nd can carry all three of us, without sinking," Kaeden put in, having been following behind the other two. The last time the asked a person for a pirate ship, they were directed to the toys. And a tiny toy ship that obviously wasn't going to do the job they needed it to do.

"Yeah!" Polly agreed.

"They don't have that sort of thing here," the man said. "I don't think anywhere has that sort of thing, to be honest. Seriously, a pirate ship?" he added as he walked away. "Crazy kids."

Austin scowled at his back, crossing his arms over his chest. "We should take his wallet."

"Yeah," Kaeden agreed, glaring at the man's back. Then he looked at POlly, who was the best at that sort of thing. He learned long ago, never keep anything shiny and valuable in his pockets. His knife was a different matter. "Did ya? He mighta had something shiny in his pockets, after all."

"Just got his wallet," Polly said, holding up the piece of leather. "It's practically empty other than these stupid pieces of plastic," she added, showing it to them before grabbing the cash and tossing the wallet over her shoulder.

She had yet to learn about credit cards.

"So we look for them ourselves?" Austin said, idly pocketing the wallet she had tossed, just in case. He liked leather.

If Austin didn't pick it up, Kaeden would have. Everything could be useful, especially when you think you don't need it. "Hey, what's that store Chloe dragged us off too? They had a lot of stuff. We could go lookin there," Kaeden suggested.

"Which one?" Austin asked. "She dragged us all over the place." He walked further into the shop, taking in the books and strange pictures hanging on the wall. "Don't think this is the place we want, though."

"It's boring," Polly agreed. "It's just all books and dust and old guys." She looked around a little longer, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Let's go."

"Well find something else," Kaeden agreed, hands in his own pockets as he started to walk for the door. "Then after we get our ship, we'll head off, right?" He was also thinking of the things they had to pack. Food was number one on his list.

"We go as soon as we can," Austin said. "So we don't get followed like we did last time." It had cut the adventure short, being followed. He wasn't particularly in a hurry to be dragged back, anyway.

Polly led the way out of the store, passing by an alley without a thought, until an old woman called out for them. "Fortunes, fortunes! Get your fortunes here!"

With that word Polly jerked to a stop, her eyes lighting up as she turned to the woman in the alley. "I want some fortunes!"

Kaeden ran right smack into her, having not been paying attention to where they were walking, and just following. "Ow..." He complained, rubbing his nose as he backed away.

Then he looked over to the lady after what Polly said. "Fortunes? ... What kinda fortunes?"

"Love, money, treasures, the cards tell all," the woman said with a dry little laugh as she started laying strange looking cards on the ratty blanket that she sat on. She was grimy and smelled bad, with rotting teeth and strange earrings hanging down over bony shoulders. But her eyes, almost white in their blueness, seemed far too sharp.

"Which would you like?" she asked.

"Treasure!" Polly said, looking at the cards curiously.

"Aye," Austin said. "So are these cards a map of some sorts?"

Kaeden moved closer with the other two. They already said what was wanted: treasure. The more the better, right? Even if this weird lady looked and smelled bad. Her eyes were... interesting. And her card map might be useful too, if it helped them find treasure.

Heck, maybe it'd tell them more about the treasure they were after.

"You will pay me first," the old woman said, holding out a gnarly, age spotted hand for them. Her fingernails were too long, cracked and twisting. Polly stared at them for a moment before registering what she had just said.

"No way," she said as she stood straight again. "We came here to get fortunes from you, not the other way around."

Austin hesitated, as if thinking about it, though. "What if it is a map, though?"

"We already got one, remember?" Polly asked lowly. "Let's go."

"Yeah, but... we don't really know where these things go, or if we got them right," Kaeden added in a low voice as well. It went out into the ocean. What if their treasure was deep underwater? They couldn't breathe underwater! "What if this will help us? We might be getting even more, if we know."

Polly groaned, giving up since it was clear she was outvoted. She turned back to the old woman, digging out the cash she had gotten from the man's wallet and slapping it onto the hand before sitting down.

Austin sat down next to her, lounging slightly with one leg bent in front of him. "We want to know about the treasure, old lady."

The old woman cackled and continued laying out the cards.

Kaeden took a seat on the other side of Polly, cross legged and waiting for the results. He hoped this wasn't a waste of money. They needed it for their ship, after all. His stripped tail waved behind him as he watched the card-laying.

The woman stopped, finally, then started to laugh. "There is no treasure for you, little pirates. Only death." Then she shoved the money into her bra. "Now you can go."

"What?" Polly demanded, her eyes narrowing. "Give me my money back you old witch!" she yelled, about to lunge.

Austin grabbed her, hauling her back. "Then tell us where we can find treasure."

"That's what we paid you for, after all!" Kaeden replied as soon as he was out of his shock about that. So it was underwater! And they'd die if they went for it.

"Forget that," Polly said, a tiny blade appearing in her hand. "We'll just take the money back," she snarled, dangerously. Austin was so shocked by that action that he accidentally let her go.

"You dare?" the old woman demanded. "You dare hold a weapon to me?" she asked again, her voice growing louder.

"Woah!" Kaeden yelled, jumping out in front of her, between the old lady and Polly. Polly snarling like that was.. shocking! nd threatening a little old lady was even more shocking then they could just get her to complete what they paid for.

But now doing this, she might as well have ruined that too! "Ya don't gotta do that! Just let the lady tell us the rest," he said. "She's old, ya know. Old people are weird."

The old woman was speaking mumbo jumbo, her white feathery hair flowing around her. She seemed to be glowing. "You will be cursed," she intoned. "Nothing shall come but trouble until you learn to control the fire within."

Then she was gone, leaving nothing behind except for a single card that fell to the ground where her blanket had once been. Austin leaned down, picking it up. "It's blank."

"Great, way to go, Polly. Get cursed before we go treasure hunting," Kaeden said, giving Polly a glare. "Really, why did ya have to go and do that for? Now we don't know if we should go after that treasure or not!"

"She's a liar and a thief," Polly snarled. "C'mon, let's go find a ship."

And that seemed to be the end of the discussion, Austin noticed. It figured.

"So," George said, looking over the trio sitting in front of his desk. The redhead girl was glaring at him, the pirate boy with dreadlocks was looking as if his mind were a million miles away, and the skunk boy was somewhere between the two of them. He hadn't been able to get anything out of them, but he had Polly's files from when she was little.

A call to the Liberty Center had got him in touch with their... Chloe. She had said she and Polly's father would be there any moment. He would be happy to get these kids off of his hands, to be truthful. They were more than he wanted to deal with.

Chloe wasn't, amazingly, mad let alone upset. She was confused. Why were they being called to the All-mart to pick up the kids? She just hoped they didn't do anything stupid. Dealing with Gaia had it's complexities, even when you just wanted to open a restaurant to make some of the gold that this place revolved around.

"I don't suppose you have any idea what this is about?" she asked Tock, as if he'd have any idea.

"They probably got caught," Tock said simply as the door opened and he walked in. Half of the store raised their hands automatically, as if waiting for him to say "Nobody move! This is a stick-up!"

But he merely headed for the nearest (shaking) security officer and leaned down slightly. "We're here to pick up our kids."

"Oh!" the officer said. "You're the pirate girl's dad?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm Chloe," she added around him. At least he was here to get the majority of the odd looks. "What happened?"

"Ah, um, well, they were caught--" He stopped and looked around. "Come with me," he said. "George can explain it to you in private."

Tock followed the little man to the front where there was an office, and walked inside, almost falling over as a wild little redhead threw herself at him. "Whoa," he said, pulling her up as if she were a baby and setting her on his hip. He could do that, even at her age, since she was so tiny. "What's going on?"

"We tried to buy a ship," she said, glaring at George once again.

"You tried to buy a ship.." Chloe echoed, confirming Kaeden's worst fears: she did come.

"Yeah! We did try to by it! And not with nuts or anything like that!" Kaeden said, leaping to his feet as well. He wasn't going to get into trouble for doing something wrong, when they were doing it right this time.

"They tried to buy it with a stolen credit card," George said dryly.

"A what?" Tock asked as Polly leaned her head against his chest. On one level she was testing him, and she knew it. If he threw her away as soon as he found out, her nightmares would be right. So she waited.

"It's a piece of plastic," Austin said, finally coming out of his dream land. "An' he deserved to have it stolen, too. That is, if we had stolen it, of course."

Plastic money? Oh good grief... "Austin...." Chloe said in that motherly, no nonsense tone. She crossed her arms and looked at Kaeden.

Kaeden shrugged it off. "At least we tried to pay for it. It was too big to walk out with, anyway," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away. He didn't have the same fear as Polly.

Chloe turned to the officer. "I'm sorry about this," she started.

George sighed. "I told them that they could have the raft if you were still willing to pay for it," he said. That gator man looked as if he was wearing enough gold to buy half of Gaia, so it wouldn't be that big of a problem.

"So you stole some plastic to buy a raft?" Tock asked Polly.

"It's a blow up ship!" she told him.

"We're looking for treasure," Austin said. "We got the--" And then he stopped, realizing he shouldn't have said that much.

"Austin!" Kaeden hissed in warning, but it was way to late.

"Again...?" Chloe asked, rubbing her temple up under her hat. Frankly, she was starting to get a handle on dealing with pirates, especially when the two boys she looked after (or had been till Jake showed up) were going to be pirates. Seriously... if they were going to use something to pay with, don't get something traceable! "Is it back on the island?"

"On the ocean!" Polly said. "Which is why we need a ship!"

Tock snorted. "Alright," he said. "We'll buy their ship--"

"Where are they?" a man demanded, storming through the door. "Where are those little thieves that stole my wallet? I demand recompense! I demand--" Then he stopped, almost running into Tock. "Her!" he said, his eyes on the phoenix girl. "She's one of them--"

"She stole your wallet, did she?" Tock asked, drawing the man's gaze upwards. Tock grinned at him.

What a rude man! Chloe was about to say something, then Tock got the man's attention. Well, that should be the end of that. She was just a little girl, after all. Then she looked at the boys.

Kaeden said nothing, but nor did he move. They couldn't get the ship with that guy here. Who was he again?

"She--ah--well--maybe she picked it up when I dropped it?" the man asked, feeling for solid ground in what had just become a Louisiana swamp pit, complete with man eating croc.

"That sounds more like it," Tock said. "Who's got the wallet?" he asked the kids.

Austin handed it over without a word.

Chloe took it, giving it back to the man, then started to shoo the boys out of the room. "Right, let's just go and that that ship you were after. Then I'll pack us up something to eat and we'll go."

Kaeden wanted to groan. They were coming too?! Late time they showed up, everything seemed to end far too soon!

"We don't wanna go home as soon as we get there this time," Polly complained. "We want a real treasure hunt!"

"Fine, fine," Tock muttered. His eyes were on the still stuttering male standing there with his wallet. He didn't like the guy. It was no wonder Polly had stolen his wallet.

"So," Austin said as he got to his feet. "This don't mean I'm not the captain anymore," he told Tock. "It's my map."

"Yeah, last time ended way to early," Kaeden added in, but said nothing about Austin being captain. Tock was much, much bigger, after all.

"It does, does it?" Tock asked Austin a bit dangerously.

"Well, if that's all, I'll just be leaving now," the man whose wallet had been returned said. backing out as quickly as possible. "Sorry for the misunderstanding!" he almost yelped before racing away. He would never laugh at those shows about gator tamers ever again.

"You realize," George said, "that this incident will be going on their records, don't you?"

"It will?" Chloe asked. She could feel a headache coming on again. What did records have to do with anything. "We'll be giving them a talking too. A stren one," she then added, giving the boys 'the look'.

Kaeden said nothing.

Polly snorted. "Like I don't have stuff on my record already," she muttered. She waited, wondering what Tock would say to that, wondering if this was the moment that proved the breaking point.

Tock just looked at George. "I'm not sure what a record is," he said. "But do you think it's smart to have them on my kids?" Then he grinned, revealing his gigantic, deadly teeth.

George gulped. The gator man had a point. Where the hell had the easy to deal with mother gone, anyway? "Regardless," he went on stubbornly, "I'm only doing my duty."

"They are only kids," Chloe added in their defense, hands going to her large hips. "And where we come from, we deal more in trade than with money. So all of this is new to us. You can't blame a kid for not knowing any better."

Chloe... was standing up for them? That.. that might have been a surprise, but Kaeden knew they were going to get a lecture, once she was ready for it. Or, at least that's what he dreaded.

Chloe, though, was deciding someone was going to have to learn about the full money system here, to keep the kids out of trouble.

"Let's go get their raft," Tock said instead of replying to any of it. "Austin," he snapped, noticing that the boy had gotten distracted with his compass again. "You steal that, too?" he asked a bit dryly.

"Nope," Austin said. "I got it with our last treasure."

"It's broken," Polly told Tock. But there was something about how it had led them straight to the ships that still taunted her. "And we were cursed by a witch," she added as Tock walked out the door, still carrying her like a baby.

"You were cursed," Austin said, frowning slightly as he closed his compass again. It wasn't working again.

"Yeah, you were the one that made the witch mad, so she cursed you," Kaeden said, walking beside Austin. It was partly to make sure he wouldn't run off without him again, or get distracted by the compass and wonder off without anyone knowing.

"This was probably part of the curse, too," he added in a mutter, loud enough for Polly to hear.

Chloe followed behind the group, closing the door behind them all.

Polly didn't say a word, but the look on her face was enough to melt ice as Tock headed to the check out stands to buy their ship for them.

Rejected. Uttterly rejected.

Once they had gotten to the island, Chloe had got off to the Hut side, to see her old friends and to see who the Hut kids were doing (and bring some treats)-- But alas, being around the notorious pirate captain for so long, meant that she and the boys were now pirates. Which also meant they were not at all welcome to the Hut.

It was a good thing she left the boys back with Tock and Jake, even if she had brought them, she had a feeling they wouldn't have cared. So, with a sigh, she trudged back to the camp site where the others were.

They had set up camp beside the river, intent on getting some cliff diving done before they went on to the hard part. Polly and Austin were lounging around the fire, arguing with Tock about whether they should go to the Jolly Rodger or not. Tock seemed to be winning if their expressions were any indicator.

"We're not going to the ship," Tock said, as if he had said it often enough already. "If we go to the ship they'll expect to be let in on your little treasure hunt. If you let them in you'll be complaining about it for months. That's why we're going south of there, and camping on the beach."

"Think about it," Kaeden said, having been sitting with them and taking Tock's side. He made more sense. "If we go there, and they get in our our treasure hunt, then we'll have ta split the treasure with them," he said, looking at Austin and Polly seriously. "You don't wanna split that treasure more ways than three, right?"

"Well, no, but--" Polly started out.

"We want them to know we've got the treasure map and they don't," Austin said pointedly. "Shove it in their faces, savvy? What's the fun in having the map if you don't get to brag about it?"

"Getting the treasure?" Tock offered a bit dryly. Behind them Jake emerged from the water with a line of hooked fish. He shook off the water and headed for the fire to set up their meal.

Chloe was already by the fire, looking in no mood to be talked too. She had gathered up a few things on her way back and was already getting them cooked up over the fire. Talk about nostalgic, but with the added treasure talk.

"Yeah, but they are pirates too. What do ya think they'd do? They'd try and steal our map! Or follow us, and take our treasure! Why not tease them about it after we're done with the hunt? Or... or sell it to them! Cuz when they'd go for it, there'd be nothin cuz we got it, but we'd still get something for the map!" Kaeden put in with a grin. Selling other pirates a bad map sounded like a good idea to him!

Polly and Austin looked at each other. Then they looked at Kaeden. "Good idea, Kae!" Austin said.

"But it won't work," Polly said with a sigh. "They don't know about coordinates. We had to look them up, remember? And then figure out how they worked, and I'm still not quite sure how they work--"

"But they're idiots," Tock said. "I doubt they'd think of that before buying it."

"Yeah! Or we could draw something on the front, or whatever," Kaeden said with a grin. "By the time they know, we'll be gone."

Chloe shook her head. Even Kaeden was doing the pirate thing. Geez! There was just going to be more trouble for them, when they were older!

Jake moved around her, propping the fish laced on sticks around the fire. He didn't say a word, but you could tell he was wondering what had happened. He was nosy like that.

"Okay!" Polly said. "And we'll take all their gold after we take the treasure!"

"Why are we havin' fish when we brought sandwiches?" Austin asked, distracted by his guardian.

"Yeah!" Kaeden said with a grin. At least he had a good idea that they wanted to listen too!

"The sandwiches are for when you kids are off treasure hunting," Chloe said, glancing at the boy before heading to the cooler. She utterly ignored Jake. "Those are your lunches and things, so you don't have to come back for lunch, or find something else to eat. Like school lunches... without the school."

Austin sighed, looking put-upon, even though he hadn't had to eat fish like this in months. Jake dropped down next to him, bopping him on the back of his head and almost knocking his hat off. "Don't complain," he ordered. "At least you're not cooking this time."

"Yeah, yeah," Austin muttered.

"I don't mind," Polly said. "I like fish just fine. And we get to go swimming after this again, right?" Her eyes went up to the cliff behind them, a tiny grin playing on her lips.

"Yeah," Tock grunted.

"Awesome," Kaeden said as he looked at the cliff. He had liked that too. Well, this would be fun! This was better than how things were when they were living on the island. It was like.... camping!

"If you eat the fish, I've got a treat for you three after dinner," Chloe promised them, getting herself to cheer up. So she was now considered a pirate. That didn't mean she had to be a pirate and do pirate things. She was just a cook!

"You a pirate now?" Tock asked her bluntly, going straight for the heart of the problem even though even Jake had been avoiding it. "I figure as far as the hut brats are concerned, you're all pirates now."

"I," Austin said, self importantly, "was always a pirate."

"No you weren't," Polly said. "You liar."

"At heart."

"He's got a point there," Kaeden said to Polly before looking back a Chloe. "So, we're all pirates now?" he asked her. He didn't even notice how she flinched slightly when Tock went right for it that topic.

"Yep. We're considered pirates now," she answered them, looking right back at Tock, then the boys. "But I figure we've got it better being pirates and being able to live on Gaia, than we do here. Besides, I might be considered one, but I'm going to be trying to keep you boys out of trouble! You too, Polly." She was referring to the All-Mart thing.

"That's right," Tock said. "Next time don't get caught and use pure gold." And that was his idea of keeping out of trouble.

"Yeaaaah," Polly said, taking the fish that Jake handed her and eating it. Austin took his own fish, looking at it darkly for a long moment before he took a bite.

"He deserved it," he muttered about the annoying man they had stolen from. "He was a real jerk."

"We shouldn'ta used the plastic," Kaeden admitted, taking his own fish to eat.

"Yes, next time, don't use something that's traceable," Chole finally voiced, having out the other foods for them to eat. She then took her own fish and took a seat to eat.

"That was a purely pirate thing to say," Jake said. "Looks like we're rubbing off on you."

Polly finished her food and leaned back, sighing happily. "I'm gonna go diving!" she said as she hopped to her feet. "You can't come with me," she added to the boys.

Austin hesitated, wondering if he was stupid enough to dive in the first place, even if it was to bother Polly.

"That's fine. We can dive, just wont be diving with you," Kaeden replied as he finished off his meal. He wanted to cliff dive! It looked like a hell of a lot of fun!

Chloe shot Jake a very dark look. "I said I wanted you boys to stay out of trouble. If things trace you, that's not staying out of trouble, now is it?" she shot back irritatedly.

"Of course it's not," he said. And that was all he said as he ate another fish and grabbed some of the things she had cooked.

"C'mon, kid," Tock said as he stood, grabbing Austin before he could protest. "Bout time you learned to jump off a cliff."

"Daaaaad!" Polly complained. "He doesn't get to!"

"Tock just overruled you!" Kaeden teased her and following them. He'd learn from Tock too! Man this was going to be awesome.

"And for that, you don't get dessert," she told Jake. "Tock can have your half."

Jake gave her an offended look. Then snorted, almost pouting. "Who wants any of your stupid dessert, anyway," he muttered, standing and following the others.

"First lesson," Tock said, tossing Austin into the river under the cliff. "Make sure it's deep enough below."

Austin scowled, then dove, looking to see how deep it was.

"I already know how deep it is," Polly said.

"Water levels change. So check it anyway."

Kaeden jumped into the water, making sure to splash Polly for her trying to show off, then dove as well. His tail was now soaked, and would look as if something drowned when he got out of the water. He didn't care.

Chloe glared at Jake's back, but got up and started to clean up some things. She hadn't been swimming like this in a while. She might was well enjoy it too. But there was no way in hell she was going to dive.

Austin came up, his dreadlocks clinging to his skin. "It's deep," he said. "It takes a lot of work to touch the bottom." More work than he was really willing to expand. So he had guesstimated it.

"You didn't touch it, did you?" Polly said, wiping the water off of her face and taking a second to glare at Kae for the splash.

"Kaeden, you go look," Tock said with a sigh.

Kaeden gave a bit of a huff then a deep breath before he started to dive. What a lackey he was, and he still didn't notice. Maybe that was the price of a crew member, faux-cook?

It was deep and it was no wonder Austin gave up. He touched off the bottom and pushed up to get to the surface faster.

"Since Kaeden did it properly, he's the one that gets to jump first," Tock said as Polly and Austin got out of the pool. "C'mon, Kae-boy! Ready to take the plunge?"

Polly was pouting as her hair dried instantly, but Austin was feeling, and looking, rather relieved.

"Yeah!" Kaeden cheered, scrambling out of the water. Okay, so sometimes it paid to be the lackey! He didn't even notice Polly's pout of Austin's relieved look. He just wanted to do this. It had looked like fun!

"Then get a move on it, boy!" Tock said, shoving him up the mountain. "The sooner you get up there the sooner you can come down!"

"I'm next!" Polly shouted, chasing after them.

"Don't see me complaining," Austin muttered. But for some reason he was still right behind her. He was captain after all. The stupidest thing he could do would be show fear.

Polly had gotten Tock and Jake to blow up their ship. Chloe had handed them the lunches that they had made, and now they were on their way, out to see, to find this treasure of Austin's.

"So, how do we know we're goin the right way?" Kaeden asked.

"You gotta go this far north, then go west," Austin said, pulling out another compass, this a cheap thing that he had bought when they were getting the ship.

"Lemme see this one," Polly said, grabbing the compass that hung from Austin's belt. "I got a theory. We might not even need the map, right?"

"But, it's a map to the treasure. Of course we're gonna need a map. How else are we gonna find out where it is?" Kaeden asked, giving her a skeptical look. He crossed his arms and waited though, looking at Austin. That was his compass Polly was messing with.

Austin was thinking. "Okay," he said, handing over the compass. "You want the treasure, right?" he asked. He seemed like he was being nice, but really he just wanted to see if it worked. "We'll compare what you say to what we got wrote out, alright?" he asked as she opened the compass.

For a moment she glared at the compass as it turned round and round, not settling on any one direction. Then it slowed down, facing out to sea.

Kaeden edged closer to them and peeked over Polly's shoulder. She was shorter than him too, after all. He watched the compass dial spin, then point off in some direction. He looked out to sea and saw--

Nothing more than water. He sighed. Were they just going to follow it, like Austin did in the store? What was up with it, anyway?

"It's north," Austin said. "Start paddling!"

"I'm a girl! I shouldn't have to paddle," Polly complained as she grabbed one of the oars. She was still complaining as she started to paddle. "You gotta paddle too, you know," she told Kaeden and Austin.

"If I dont, you're going to have us going in circles," Kaeden replied, taking another oar and a seat beside Polly, then he started to paddle too. It didn't bother him in Austin didn't paddle. He was the captian.

But at least he wasn't stuck doing it alone.

"You gotta paddle too," Polly told Austin as they started towards the horizon. It would have been romantic, if any of them even knew what that word meant. As it was it was just a lot of work.

"Not enough paddles," Austin said, his eyes focused on the list of directions they had come up with as well as the cheap compass. "And I'm the pirate, you know. My job is to steer, not to paddle."

"'Nd if he paddles, we'll be off again, and going circles again," Kaeden added. Again, he didn't mind it. "And someone needs to make sure we're goin the right way," he added.

"You're such a pushover," she muttered, paddling more.

"We want to go to the right slightly," Austin said, eyeing his notes. There was nothing in front of them, for as far as the eye could see there was no sign of land at all. "We're probably gonna have to dive."

"Better than going in circles and gettin lost at sea," Kaeden muttered back. Last thing they needed was a mutiny so soon into the trip. They could do that later, like he had seen in movies.

Polly had to look at her hands to figure out which way was right. She had never really paid that much attention to right versus left, to tell the truth. It was more in her nature to go straight ahead. "That means Kaeden's side," Austin told her without even looking up. "What's the compass say?"

She looked at it. "The same," she said. "I want this."

"As I recall," Kaeden said, working more on his side to turn the boat slightly, "You threw that compass out, saying it was junk and broken and you didn't want it. Austin took it, so it's his," he said evilly, enjoying this fact.

"Yeah, yeah, but half the time it doesn't even work for him," she muttered, still paddling. She wanted to get there just as much as the others did! "You think we'll get there soon?"

"Maybe?" Austin offered.

"Maybe?" she repeated.

"Possibly?"

"Oh great, so, we don't know how far we should paddle?? What about the broken compass...? Didn't it do anything that first time it worked, and you got to where you wanted?" Kaeden asked, complaining now. The sun here was hot, and they had nothing really to protect them from it.

"There's not a thing that tells you how long it'll take rowing to get there," Austin muttered, flushing a bit since the heat was starting to get to him, as well. "This isn't a game, it's a real life treasure hunt!"

There was a cloud in the sky, it seemed to be getting closer.

"This one's starting to act funny," Polly said as the compass needle started swaying back and forth.

"It is? ... Did it forget what we want?" Kaeden asked, leaning over to look at it now too. They were still out in the middle of the ocean, so it was likely they'd have to dive... hopefully it wouldn't be -too- deep a dive.

He didn't notice the cloud in the distance.

"We're not supposed to be there yet, though," Austin said, looking at his instructions, then glancing at the compass. He scowled. "Let's go a little farther--"

The needle jerked, then turned backwards abruptly. "It's there," Polly said. "Right? It's got to be there!"

Kaeden started to back row so that they were in the right position. Then he looked at Austin. "Alright, Captain, what ya wanna do now? The other compass said this is the spot. What'd you think?" he asked.

Frankly, he was just tired of rowing! And his arms needed a break.

"There's nothin' here," Austin said. "There's nothin' here! Nothin! It can't be a treasure if there's nothin' here!"

He yelped as Polly stood and shed her clothes, revealing her loincloth swimsuit. "I'm goin' in!" she said, and promptly jumped over the side.

"You said we'd have to dive, probably, for it. So of course it could be here. I just hope we don't all drown tryin ta get it," Kaeden said, looking over the edge where Polly vanished.

As a boy, he could just stripped his shirt and gone in to the water(who needs shoes on a boat, anyway?).

Austin scowled. "Well someone's got to stay with the ship," he muttered, not budging from where he was.

Underwater Polly was going deeper and deeper, since the water was so clear she could see everything around her. It was gorgeous, with coral floating on the water, fish swarming around her in all different colors. And there, in the distance, was something that looked like a sunken ship.

Kaeden gave a sigh and slumpt his shoulders. "This means I gotta go down there and make sure she doesn't take a treasure with out us known, don't it?" he asked and started to shuck his shirt. Oh how trusting he was.

"Right, well, don't row off without us!" he added, then dove in to follow Polly.

"Like she could hide the treasure in that loincloth of hers," Austin muttered sarcastically once the other boy was no longer within hearing distance.

Polly had his trick with her tail, she had learned it from her dad. She was motoring her way through the water to the sunken ship, completely oblivious to how there were no living things around it. Gold glinted in her eyes, they were so focused on the treasure she would surely find.

Kaeden hadn't paid a lick of attention to the loin cloth Polly wore, just that she had fast hands. He shouldn't be so negative...

Not that he was thinking that, as he went deeper into the water. He saw the ship, and the tip of a feathered tail vanish and started to follow. He was more curious about the ship than the treasure that was really hear. But then, Austin and Polly were more into gold. He was more into adventure.

"Do you come to free me?" a voice whispered in Kaeden's ear. "My child, you bring me great joy." The water seemed to swirl around him, bubbling slightly, as if a living thing surrounded him.

Polly had no idea what was going on behind her. Her eyes were glued to the ship. It was only because of that that she saw the sharp, deadly curve of a shark's fin swimming inside.

Huh?? Kaeden stopped his swimming, looking around him in the water. He could have sworn he heard something, and felt something different in the water. But no, he was underwater, it was the sea, deep sea and not like what he normally swam in. There was no way....

He shrugged it off, only barely noticing as something touch and 'settled' in the back of his mind. If he thought of it later, he'd have to figure it out then. He started to swim for Polly again.

Polly was still, barely kicking her feet to keep in one place. And there was a shark heading straight for them.

Tock leaned back, munching on his sandwich and resting one large arm along the top of the treasure box he had picked up from the pirate kids. They had been far more willing to pay for the coordinates than the fairies had, but in the end, the fairies had dished up some serious coinage, as well.

Life was good as a pirate. "They should be getting back soon," he said. "Think they actually got the treasure?"

"Probably not," Jake admitted. "Hell, there's probably no treasure to get."

"They are out in middle of the ocean. I doubt that they could hold their breath long enough to get whatever it is they were after," Chloe added as she took a seat. "I just hope they don't get lost out there."

"True," Tock said. "But I had more important things to do than to go looking for the treasure itself." He smirked slightly, looking around their camp on the beach, then at the trees not too far away. "You want to build a hut here?" he asked suddenly. "We could stay there on the weekends, unless we want to take the pirate ship back."

"Why not just bring tents and things like that?" Chloe asked. "If you build a hut, someone will probably take claim of it while we're gone. Camping gear we can just take back and forth."

Then she thought of all the things they'd have to take, and how heavy it would be. "Nevermind, that would make things easier. They do miss it here, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do," he said as he stood. "I'm going to check the wood out, you two have fun while I'm gone!"

Then he was gone, leaving the two cooks sitting there stupidly as he searched for good hut making material.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Chloe asked irritated and gave a glare at Jake. Tock was his best friend, after all. He should know!


"How the hell should I know?" Jake asked irritably. "As if I want to be stuck here with you. It's bad enough I'm stuck sharing a kitchen with you all the time." But he didn't get up to follow the other male, nonetheless.

Tock whistled cheerfully as he made his way into the woods to look around. He hadn't ever seen this part of the island, not that he could remember, and it was interesting to--

Something landed on his head, sharp, needle like talons trying, and failing to pierce his skin. But he jumped in surprise, regardless. "What the hell??"

Oblivious to what was happening in the woods, the two argued. "Well then, get your own kitchen! There's only room enough for one cook." Especially with a lady like her! And she did move her weight around that place too.

She gave a huff, then looked back at sea. So she was worried about them! They were just kids...

Tock reached up, plucking the catbird off of his head and earning a chirrup of rage in return. "Huh," he said, carrying it by the scruff to the others, ignoring the fact it was trying to kill him. "Check this out, guys!" he said. "It's a Polly bird!"

The tiny raft finally appeared on the horizon, heading for the beach.

"Ah! There they are!" Chloe said when she saw the raft. Then she looked back at Tock and the cat-bird thing. "Tock... what the hell is that? You don't plan on taking it home, do you? It's trying to claw your eyes out!"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning it so it was looking at him. It suddenly went still, no doubt horrified as if it had just realized what it had been fighting. "I think she's cute," he said. "Looks a lot like Polly, don't you think?"

It let out a helpless little chirp, and wet itself out of fear.

"Tock! Now you're scaring the poor thing!" That she just accused of trying to claw his eyes out. She grabbed a towel and walked over to them, wrapping it around the cat-bird, being mindful of wings and claws. "But ya know, she is a cute thing. In that wild, Polly sort of way." she added.

The little gryphkit looked at Chloe, as if wondering if she was fair game, then thought better, letting out another chirrup. She was the same size as a house cat, if not a bit smaller. She didn't look anywhere near full grown. "Wonder what it was doing out here," Tock said. "I didn't see any signs of others. Probably abandoned."

"I'm hungryyyy!!" Polly shouted as soon as they were close enough to the beach. "Food!"

"And what about those sandwiches I had ya'll make?" Chloe asked, holding the gryphkit with one hand, reaching up to scratch it behind the ears with another.

"We ate them," Kaeden answered back. Once the raft hit the shore, he got out to bring it on the beach.

"I want chicken!" Polly said as she got out. "With barbecue sauce! And potatoes! And--what in the hell is that thing?" she asked, her attention on the catbird that Chloe was holding.

It chirruped at her, as if greeting a long lost friend. That settled it for Tock. "It's our new pet, Fyre... Fyrebird."

"It attacked Tock and now he wants to make it a pet," Chloe muttered, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, we can have that once we get back. For now, we'll have something else cooked over the fire." She sat the bird down and went to wash up to cook.

It promptly squirmed out of the towel and looked towards the trees for a long moment before heading for Polly.

"It looks like a cat," Polly muttered as Austin got out of the ship. "I hate cats."

"It doesn't look like a cat," Austin said. "It looks like a... um..." He cocked his head slightly. "A..."

"Cat," Polly said again, irritated as it rubbed against her leg, then caught sight of her tail.

"But it's not a cat," Kaeden said, coming up to them and looking at the gryphkit. "It has wings. And feathers... and a beak. Cat's don't have those things," he told her. He didn't notice where Fyrebird was looking.

In her irritation, Polly's tail was waving back and forth. The little gryphkit watched it with fascination, then pounced, grabbing it between its front paws and purring loudly.

Polly about jumped out of her skin. "Get it off! Get it off!!!" she yelled, trying to shake it off her tail.

Austin did what any cousin would do at this time. He started laughing his head off.

Kaeden stood there and stared. "You... have got to be kidding me," he said after a moment of watching thing. Big, bad, bossy Polly... was scared of cats?! He snickered, then started to laugh as well.

"Get it off!" Polly wailed as the gryphkit rubbed against the feathers of her tail with a very loving purr. "It's gonna bite me! I HATE CATS!"

"It's not gonna bite you," Tock said with a sigh. "Look, she likes you!"

"I hate her!" Polly snapped, turning to look at the gryphkit. Then she yanked her tail away from her, glaring at her darkly. "I don't want her."

The poor gryphkit looked at the tail, then at Polly.

Then pounced the tail again.

Chloe sighed, looking over at them. "Unfortunately, she chose to stay, rather than run off. So I think you're stuck with her. Kaeden! Get the cat-bird thing off her!"

Kaeden was still snickering as he walked up to that the cat away from her, and end it trying to attack her tail. "She probably things your tail is some kind of feather toy," he teased, picking it up.

"I don't care," Polly growled. "Keep her away from me."

"That was priceless," Austin said. "I can't even breathe!" he added, breaking into more laughter. "Wish I had a camera!" he added, roaring with laughter now.

"It was, wasn't it?" Kaeden agreed with a big, stupid grin on his face. He held up the gryphkit, looking her over and smirked. "Alright Fyrebird. We're gonna keep you," he told her. Of course, it was probably to torture Polly. "Oy, Chloe, do we got something to feed her?"

Chloe sighed, looking over at her boy. Where did she go wrong?

"We are NOT going to keep--"

"If I might intrude," a very familiar, and unwelcome voice said from the trees. Silva flew out into the open, fingering his toothpick with a slight smirk. "I came to get my gold back."

"Wha?" Kaeden asked, looking away from the gryphkit and to the fairy. "But, we ain't done nothing!" Yet. They were going to sell to the fairies... But they just got back.

"Tock's over there," Chloe pointed in the way of the croc man, then going back to her food making.

"The coordinates still work," Tock said as Silva headed towards him. "The kids didn't get the treasure."

"Who's to say there's even a treasure to get?" Silva asked.

"There IS a treasure!" Polly said. "The shark was keeping us--" She was stopped as Austin's hand slammed over her mouth.

At the same time, Kaeden did likewise, dropping the gryphkit. "There's treasure there! We just couldn't get it," he said, though wither it was true or not, he wasn't for certain. It didn't matter though, right? They got paid for it! Sortta.

"Shark, huh?" Silva said. "Interesting. So is what Nack said true? Are you coming back during the weekends?"

"Yeah," Tock said. "We are."

"Good," Silva said.