Serious: Aoi Pirates Chapter 1: What an incredibly stupid idea! (Open only to the Aoi Pirates)

Chris felt Bliss adding pressure into her grip. She surprisingly powerful, to the point where it actually hurt. 'What the hell's with her strength? Can she really be a fighter?' He wondered. Soon enough, it became clear that she actually could, after she explained that she trained in some sort of a dojo. It was odd, Chris couldn't remember much, but he could have sworn Bliss wasn't a violent person, so why would she practice fighting? Could she possibly have this piracy idea in her head way longer than she admits? Chris didn't know, but he was blasted out of his thoughts when Bliss mentioned his name again.

"Uhm Yeah sure, I bet I can help with whatever condition you might have" Chris said, rubbing the back of his head. A medical condition? It was kind of shameful, but Chris was almost glad Bliss knew someone with such a disease. Of course, if Red was completely healthy it would have been much better, but Chris finally had someone to treat, someone to practice on. He was ashamed in these thoughts, they made him feel like he was some sort of a mad doctor from a horror movie. Maybe his father's illness affected him more than he dared to admit, but that was a different issue.

"Sure I can help you out" Chris said, "And don't worry, I got everything I need right... here!" Chris said, slinging his heavy backpack over his shoulder as a gesture. He never went anywhere without it. He couldn't afford to miss a single chance to practice. No, not practice, help! Truth was, he wasn't so sure anymore.

Youri just sat there... watching everyone leave. He wanted to stop someone but was to shy to answer. After all these were all strangers who he sometimes vaguely saw. He frowned a bit, but then came to the illogical conclusion they would come back later once they found out they forgot about him. He let himself slide on the ground and watched the sky.

Youri closed his left eye, as a sun ray got into it, and gave it a burning feeling. The sky looked empty, as there was close to no clouds. It annoyed youri a bit. because now he was lying partially in the sun. After a short time youri fell into a deep sleep, not worrying about the others... They'd come.. right?

He was proven wrong however, since he woke up with a headache, and still nobody around. Wondering how late it is, he looked at his wrist only to notice he didn't wear a watch. '' Oh yeah..'' . Dull as he was he stood up, getting a small headache of the quick movement. Yawning loudly he looked around and wondered where everyone could be.

He soon resumed his quest for adventure with a stroll through the streets.. And as usual the streets where full of people. Youri tried to walk under the shade of the market stands, but even then they were sometimes to crowded to walk through. And after a boring stroll, he was near some restaurant and saw bliss... " Bliss!'' He unintentionally yelled, because he was still a bit frustrated she left him there.

Bliss smiled and nodded, at least Red had agreed that her ideas were good, of course they were brilliant! She did feel a little bad about her outburst, after all she didn't like being like this with her friends, she grabbed Red's hand with her empty one and smiled at him softly again, hoping that he would notice that she was trying to ask for forgiveness about her outburst. But before she could say anything Red mentioned something about going to pick some things she noticed that she didn't have her own things with her! And she had just been in her house too! She turned to glare at Chris while she nodded.

WHY DIDN'T HE REMIND ME OF TAKING MY THINGS WITH ME? GAH CHRIS YOU'RE SUCH A NICE PERSON, AND YOU EVEN HAVE YOUR OWN THINGS WITH YOU OHAIDJSAODIHNA, she thought in her head, she glared at Chris some more before turning to smile sweetly at Red. She was about to tell him that Chris could help him with everything when Chris himself offered it, she sighed and smiled at Red once again. "Well, guys, I have to go pick my own things, because someone" insert glare at Chris here "Didn't remind me to take my things with me" she said and then waved her hand dismissively. "Oh well, I need to find Lucia, Yan and Roku anyway... oh and" she was about to say the guy's name when he appeared himself, it was creepy! Like if she had somehow summoned him.

Then it came to Bliss' mind. She had left the tree place to look for people to join, Yan and Lucia had followed her, Roku possibly left, which meant that she had left Youri alone! She felt bad about it, really bad, because she knew that Youri was too shy around strangers and that he wouldn't have asked him to wait for him, or to stay with him for that matter. She smiled sadly and hugged Youri, he seemed mad and it was only understandable. "I'm sorry for leaving you in the tree by the way... I was going to ask some people to join, I didn't think the others would leave... but Yan and Lucia followed me, and by your mood I guess Roku left you too?" she said and by the tone of her voice anyone could tell that she was truly sorry, she just hoped that Youri would understand and forgive her.

Red smiled and nodded at Bliss in forgivenss and took her hand. He heard the conversation between chris and bliss and heard that bliss was going to pack her own stuff. He was quite happy that Chris was so kind to join him he had quite a lot off stuff he wanted to bring and he couldnt carry this allone. As he waved Bliss goodbye and gave her a hug hetold her he would meet her in the docks when he and chris returned

Red showed chris the way " I do not live far from here just a few blocks around, we can go and pick your stuff after this and it might be good to do some shopping, I think you know Bliss her apetite" he said in a smiling way it felt good to have someone off his age on the crew too the offside was they would be held responsible iff something went wrong. Red had no idea how long this adventure would take but he sure knew that it was going to be fun

(( Sorry for short post, posting on phone))

Chris rubbed the back of his head once again when Bliss stared him down. "You can't blame me for forgetting your stuff... it's your stuff" Chris said with an awkward smile. He figured they'd better set a meeting spot instead of having everyone looking for each other around the island, but before he managed to suggest it him and Red were already on their way to Red's house. "Don't worry about my stuff, I'm taken care of" Chris said. The last thing he wanted to do right now was get back home, he'll manage with the supplies he didn't get to unpack from his backpack, it should be enough.

"Actually, I don't know Bliss that well anymore, I didn't see her for about 3 years until today" Chris explained. It was so odd in retrospect. There was a girl who was two years younger than him, that he haven't seen for around 3 years,and yet on the very day he sees her again she makes him leave home and join her in one of the most bizarre ideas for a quest he ever heard. He couldn't really explain it, not even in his head, it was just odd. "She has this ability to drag people behind her with her enthusiasm you know? You just can't say no to such determination" Chris joked. The fact that he decided to join Bliss after so much time made him feel a bit weird, he needed justification for his behavior.

As red led the way he heard that Chris just came back to this island, that was probably the reason he hadn't seen him before, but that didn't mather a friend of bliss was a friend of red, he found it a bit strange that chris already took care off his stuff, he just had one bag with him, and red heard he was a doctor, so he assumed he had more stuff. Red assumed that chris didn't wanted to go home again, maybe because he didn't want to tell his parents about leaving, ''don't worry, if you find out later you forgot something we can always buy it. dont worry about the money'' red said, Red had saved up a lot since last two years with lots of dreams in mind, maybe he wanted to open a restaurant, or go around the world and play music becoming a pirate wasn't one of them but well he thought it was a good chance for something new ''Well bliss is indeed a person that can get people very enthousiastic, thats the part I like about her, and ofcourse the fact she is kind and full of energy'' he said while searching for his keys

'' Bliss hasn't changed that much, she did mature a bit'' he said smiling, Bliss was actually a good friend of Red, and they were teasing eachother at times. When Red and chris arrived at his appartement he opend the door and lead the way, ''want a cup of tea?, coffee?, something else'' he said to chris as he began packing, he offcourse needed lots of stuff, a few pans some cooking knives, ofcourse his bow and arrows and some food for the first few days, he knew he had to go to the shop after this since he stuff at home meant for just a few days, he ran around the house gathering stuff, in the mean time boiling water for tea or coffee, when Red packed some clothes and threw them in a bag he rolled his bow and the quiver in a blanket and strapped it behind the bag the lute was in. So nobody would see a weapon there, when he almost got everything he sat down by the kitchen table ''it might sound a bit strange but I think this adventure will be quite a lot of fun''

Youri frowned and nodded very annoyed. '' And where is the 'ship' we're going to use anyways.. It's not like I need to take anything with me..or face my dad''. He looked a bit away while saying the last part, after all now together with his mom he practically lost his son now too..Although lately he has been weirdly active work.

''Hmpf, and who are these strange individuals anyways? You're asking a bit much from me now knowing we're going to be on the sea with a boat which is almost full with strangers..''. His anger rapidly chased into sadness. Secretly he was hoping the crew would be small, but hearing bliss talk there were many more.'' And once again don't expect me to do actual pirate stuff!''. He blurted out while sorting his thoughts.

Chris was lost in thought as him and Red walked to the apartment, but he could think and listen at the same tie, an ability that got him through most of his medical lessons. "Don't worry, I don't really have that much equipment, in training they make you handle situations with the most basic stuff, I'll manage for the time being" he answered when Red offered to buy him some equipment. Red seemed like a nice guy, Bliss obviously knew how to pick her friends. It was actually pretty amazing that she knew people with such a wide variety of skills.

He followed Red into his apartment, which was surprisingly impressive for someone as young as he was. He was the same age as Chris, yet had a place of his own and a job, while Chris' greatest achievement was being rejected from marine service. "A cup of coffee would be~" Chris started saying, but a rumbling from his stomach cut him in mid sentence. He was so full that the mere thought of food or drinks made his stomach hurt. "On second thought, I really shouldn't" He joked as he wore a silly grin while his stomach sang.

Youri was a bit annoyed bliss said he had to get his stuff and say goodbye to his dad. '' I don't have anything important really.. and my I think my dad is off to work already..So I guess I'm all set to go!'' . Youri was trying to sound positive so bliss would get off his back, yet he couldn't keep himself from sounding sarcastic while saying that.

After hearing bliss talk about socializing he couldn't stop but laugh and pet bliss on her head. '' You're different. It's not like everyone can make friends with everyone so easily. I guess I'm just not that kind of person.'' . After saying that he pulled his hand back and walked off towards the dock while shouting '' see you on the docks!''

Red was almost done packing his stuff, if chris didnt want coffee he decided to skip too so they could leave faster he gathered all his stuff and threw a few bags over his shoulder, one with cooking suplies his guitarbag with his bow strapped to the back off it and the bag full of clothing and his money, he decided to just bring his lute and not his other instruments he couldnt bring a lot since well he couldn carry alot nad didnt want to strain chris a lot, he should just carry some groceries then they went off to the store as letting chris leaving first he closed the door locking it letting the keys slip into his pocket, his home would he ever see it again he wondered he walked off to buy groceries.

When Red and Chris entered the store Red grabbed lots of flour for baking, milk, eggs meat for those who wanted to eat that, vegetables and lots of products, he would bake bread and make a good meal, when he filled the cart full of products he had around 3-4 bags of products, he even bought some chocolate cause it be good to have something as a snack. the crew wouldnt starve with him around, Red walked to the counter and payed the woman behind the desk, he stuffeed everything in 3 bags and took one, since he was already carrying a lot, and chris didn't carry alot so he could take 2.

Red didn't feel well, he already had a fever, why now he thought, he would just try to hide it, he was sick before, and he didn't want bliss to say he couldnt join because he was sick, he was sweating but he walked a bit before chris so he wouldnt' see '''lets hurry to the ship, were having lots of stuff to bring there'' he was relieved the ship wasnt far, he had bought lots of stuff enough for being weeks at sea he knew he could buy some big bags of flour at the mill by the harbour, since flour would always be usefull for bread. he would buy it or ask someone to buy it when they reached the docks. When chris and red arrived at the dock they waited at the ship that was supposed to be bliss her fathers. he put his stuff on the ground and ran off to the mil and bought some bags of flour, he returned in a minute and then sat down panting against the big pile of fresh bought good, waiting for bliss and the crew to arrive

Chris followed Red, helping him with some of the supplies and bags he packed. Chris didn't really mind the weight. Sure, it was heavy, but after a few years in which he trained for marine service that never came, he was sued to carrying heavy weight, but he was surprised that Red managed to carry such a weight. From what he heard he expected Red to have some very noticeable condition, but he seemed fine. Maybe it was because Chris was walking behind him, since for some reason Red kept a fast walking pace, but Chris was a bit irritated by this. If Red had a condition, Chris wanted to know as much about it as he could, making their way to the dock an unspoken race, in which Chris tried to walk besides Red, who kept speeding up to stay in the front.

When they finally reached the docks, Chris placed the supplies down, but before he could say anything Red was already gone, heading to get some flour. Chris sighed, in that pace he'll never make any progress, even if he did join a pirate crew. He sat himself next to Red's supplies and took his glasses off, before rubbing his temples. It was an eventful day, packed with plenty of emotional events. He got home, saw his parents, united with a childhood friend and was now about to leave home again. Such a day would have a toll on anyone, and Chris was no different. Of course, he'll never let his stress or frustration show in public, but he took advantage of the fact that nobody was around to try and calm his nerves, reboot his systems.

When he heard Red coming back, Chris quickly pulled his glasses back on, regaining his calm expression. He looked at Red, noticing how heavily he was breathing. "Are you alright?" Chris asked. He got up and extracted a bottle of water from his bag, before offering it to Red. "Looks like you'll need it more than I do" Chris said with a smile. Perhaps if he got to know Red better, he'll be able to examine his condition and still not feel like a mad doctor.

Lucia had to use all of her willpower to keep herself from shouting. Bliss had scared her, badly. She could feel herself trembling. She shook her head, listened to Bliss, tried to answer, couldn't, kept listening, sighed and just when she was about to answer, Bliss left as quickly and suddenly as she had appeared. She sighed again, louder this time. "What was that about...?" She muttered, then turned around and started walking back to her house "Why did I even come all the way here then? Argh. Fffaaaa... I guess I'll just head home then." She sighed again and kept walking.

She arrived home once again to find no one there, just as expected. (Although she did have some hope that they would be there.) She walked, slowly, with no enthusiasm, as if it pained her to walk, towards her room. She looked all over for something to put some things in, but didn't find anything, she groaned, shouted out some random insults and walked over to her brother's room. There she found a big enough bag, she grabbed a paper and wrote a small note on it 'I've taken your big bag. I don't think you'll ever get it back. Think about buying a new one. Thanks. Bye, I love you. -Lucia' She shook her head to try to stop her crying, but she couldn't. She re-read the note, then added some more to it 'Tell daddy I love him too. And I'll miss you too. Kill Bliss when we're back.' She chuckled sadly, then went to her room to get her stuff.

After she finished, she washed her face and then threw herself on her bed to rest. But when she was about to fall asleep she remembered Bliss, 'Ah, that's right, Bliss must be waiting somewhere for all her 'crew' to meet up. I should get going.' And so, she, with as much enthusiasm as before, stood up, got her stuff and then walked out from her house. She shook her head again to stop herself from crying. Then walked towards...'Um...Umm...Bliss' house? Nah. The park? Yeah, that sounds like a nice spot.' ...she walked towards the park slowly, admiring the scenery, breathing the air, taking her time and trying to remember the village as clearly as possible.

Red noticed that Chris found it strange that red started avoiding letting someone see his face, it was al sweaty, when he returned with the flour chris offered him a bottle of water, ''thank you, '' as he gulped down half of the water and returned the bottle, ''to be honest im not feeling too well, but don't tell Bliss she might tell me not to join anymore, now I am ready for adventure.'' He had hoped that chris wouldnt tell that to Bliss he was ready for an adventure, he wanted to see the world and he wanted to have fun,

Red sat waiting in front of the ship his back resting against the pile of sacks of flour he bought, hsi body was in pain, but he decided to ignore this again, the weather was good, the tired he was he grabbed his guitar back from the pile of baggage and got the lute out off it, and started playing some songs, he knew how to play the lute and he could sing quite well too. not great but it was okay, he loved playing songs, in the middle of the song he looked at chris ''oh do you mind if I play, and do you have any requests'' he said already feeling a bit better then before, it always helped to do otherthings to get his mind of the pain and the fever

Chris was pleased about his ability to help Red, even the slightest. His illness must have been bugging him, whatever it was. "Hey, don't worry about it, doctor-patient confidentiality" Chris joked with a grin as he took the water bottle back, before returning it to his backpack. With nothing better to do, Chris decided to calm his nerves, that were itching from the excitement for a new journey. He laid down on the ground and placed his hands behind his head, looking at the sky. It was a calming position, and Red's music sure helped. "How about some sailor songs or something? To get us in the mood for adventure" Chris laughed, trying to ease the spirits.

Home. Yan was going to leave it soon. He couldn't really say he had enjoyed his time here, with the whole fear of the forest woman and his scumbag of a family. He was compelled to leave, but was also compelled to stay. It was a hard to explain feeling, but his feelings to stay behind was far smaller than his feelings to leave the island. He wished he could've said goodbye to Hijiri, after all, she did make Yan what he is right now. Heck, he probably would've never gotten the chance to leave Aoi Island if he had continued to act the way he was before the encounter. As he stood by a tree on the outskirts, Yan closed his eyes and reflected on his past self.

He imagined what would've been him if he had never encountered the lady in the forest. Yan imagined himself bullying his only friend, Bliss. He imagined him stealing fruits and goods from stands in the marketplace. He imagined a future life devoted to sin and self-pleasure. He opened his eyes before his overactive imagination got the best of him. Strange, he never knew he had an imagination this vivid and real before...Perhaps it was...No, that's just preposterous. Yan shook his head to get rid of those fearful thoughts and proceeded back into town. A life of sin and pleasure...That sounded real good. No! I must resist these kinds of evil temptations! If I succumb to these thoughts, I'll become a villain and probably will die by the hands of some random guy...Maybe I've been reading too many stories...

Yan walked to his house and looked at the exterior. This would be the last time he would see this building and his family, so it would be respectful to tell his mother before he left. He put his key in the keyhole and turned it, then opened the door. His mother was in the living room reading, most of his brothers and sisters were there too. Yan approached them carefully. "Mother, I am leaving with Bliss to become a pirate." There was a brief, awkward silence from the family til Mother closed her book and said, "I always knew that Bliss girl would corrupt you sooner or later. Go on! Leave! It'll erase the oddball of our family out of the picture for good!" Two of the older sisters started whispering to each other, no doubt talking about whether or not Yan has a crush on Bliss. The silver-haired preteen looked at his mother in disbelief. "Mother..." He said trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. Such hurtful words coming from the woman that conceived him made Yan feel like he was the mistake of the family. "Very well then, I'm glad...You understand...Farewell, mother, brothers, sisters..."

Yan burst out of his house, throwing his keys on the table before he left. He was never wanted by his family. He was the mistake his family made. Yan didn't even think his late father wanted him in the first place, and even began to question why they didn't just toss him off into a wolf's den when he was an infant. Tears came rolling down his eyes like floodgates holding back massive flood. He ran as fast as he could to nowhere in particular, taking random turns and cutting through random alleyways. Suddenly, he crashed head first into someone. Yan rubbed his head and looked at the person he bumped into. And it was Bliss! What luck! He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes but they kept on coming.

"Hi, Bliss..." The oriental looking boy was silent for a moment. He spotted her abundance of bags and decided to speak his mind. "Here, let me carry some of those and let's get out of here as fast as possible. Every second here now makes me resent my days since by birth." Yan was demoralized from the verbal beating his mother had given him. Her words lingered in his mind as he grabbed some bags and tried to avoid eye contact from his only best friend. Was Bliss really corrupting him? Were Mother's words really what she meant? Was he unwanted? Too many things flew past his mind as he stood still. He let off a soft sob before quickly walking in the direction of the docks.

What happened. Yan knew what happened, and it broke his heart every time he thinks about it. Considering that this was the first and only time he had thought about it, though...The silver haired boy didn't want to tell his only best friend why he was crying, it was far too personal and heartrending to him to let it out. He simply shook his head to her question and continued walking and avoiding eye contact. "I...don't want to talk about it. Let's hurry up and get to the ship." Yan's words were ice cold and lost its fake happiness to it. He broke off into a jog, weapons in his crate shaking and making loud noises every step he took.

He blinked the tears out of his eyes and tried to put the fake happiness back into his voice, but the words came out rather uneasy and strange. "So, Bliss. Who else is accompanying us on our new...journey...? I'd...really love to meet them, it'll take some.....'unnerving'...yes...things off of my mind. You've had those kind of thoughts in your head....right Joyce? The ones that tear your heart in two every time you think about it?" Yan gave off an awkward laugh before lowering his head as if he was being shamed about something.

red smiled, ''thank you I apreciate that chris'' he said answering chris, then he looked at his lute and began playing some sailor sings he had heard before, and read from stories, he hoped it would entertain chris since it seemed like he was in thoughts, red hoped that bliss would come fast together with everyone, he wanted to be at sea now it seemed like a fun experience and the people he met so far were nice, he just met chris but it seemed like a nice guy he didnt know how the rest of the crew would be so he wondered about their personalitys and speciality's

Yan listened to every single word she said and nodded in agreement. He understood that Bliss wanted to help him feel better, but what Yan thought he needed wasn't the comfort of another friend, but comfort from someone he knew that never come: His dead father. Yan closed his eyes and looked back into the time he spent with his father. Oh, the good times we had, it makes me feel warm thinking about it. Yet the coldness from the rest of my family freezes it completely. Who am I kidding, the past could never be relived...I long for those days but yet I fool myself thinking that they will come again. I feel like I should hang myself...

Yan tried to blink the tears out of his eyes, but they kept on coming and just wouldn't stop. He had run out of conversation with Bliss, which left a bit of an awkward walk ahead of the two of them, and combining the fact that Bliss was worried about him didn't really make it any less awkward. And after that short, awkward walk, Yan had reached the docks and set the unusually large bags down. "Bliss, which one is your ship?" The oriental boy said coldly as he turned to Bliss with a surprisingly cold expression.