Elemental Cats

The two boats laid their sterns against the edge of the island's roots before dropping an anchor on the ground. When the boats stilled, all the pirates began appearing on deck, leaving the cabin and the area below deck one after the other. Most of them looked understandably rugged, but the last one to appear on the first boat had an especially rude face.

The pirate's short, greasy hair was pulled back, fully revealing his face. The scrunched-up forehead and the eyes locked in a constant glare did more than scare children since they also pulled attention away from the crooked nose and scarred chin. The scars messed up the beard, making it look like a dead and dried-up rat.

All of them had pretty rough and sturdy leather clothes, but the pirate with a face meant to give children nightmares had clothes that were a little more refined and looked like they were worth something. Though, Toz didn't need to look at the clothes to guess the pirate's status since it was the one whose presence Toz and the cats had sensed from a distance away and were wary of.

One by one, the pirates jumped off the boats and landed on the strip of roots that served as a border between the forest and the Void. Although Toz and Nil had expanded the island, they hadn't grown new trees, only made a larger base for the island.

The pirate with the mean glare, who was in charge, tapped the ground a couple of times with his foot and muttered something. Toz was too far away to hear what exactly, but since none of the other pirates cared about what he said, it shouldn't have been important.

After all the pirates had left the boats and were on the island, the pirate in charge started shouting orders.

"Hods, you're on guard duty!"

"Again?!"

"You four, take the long way around. The rest of you pair up and spread out. Stitch said there was life on this pile of firewood. Life means food, but don't think I won't notice if you steal what's mine. Thieving shitsticks take the flag punishment on the way back."

"Ahem! What about me?"

"What about you, Stitches?"

"Well, there's an uneven number of people here, and I don't have anyone to pair up with."

"And?"

"You told us to pair up…"

"And!? Pair up with the fishes if you have to. I. Don't. Care."

After Stitches voiced his doubts, the pirate leader had slowly approached him and somehow managed to glare with even greater intensity, scaring the eye-patch pirate into submission. Though, since the mean pirate had said he didn't care, Stitches stayed behind with Hods. Not because he was afraid of being blamed for stealing. Not at all. He just felt that Hods might be lonely.

Two pirates stayed with the boats. Four pirates split into two pairs and followed the edge of the island in either direction. The remaining four pirates also paired up before entering the forest with the glaring pirate leader.

Toz had guessed from the pirate leader's attitude that he wouldn't be willing to come up with a peaceful resolution, even if his opponents were fellow humans.

"I'll deal with that leader. You three take care of the rest. Make sure to leave some of them alive." With the help of the bond that the inclination gave him and his cats, Toz also relayed the orders to Scrael, who was further away from them.

Nil and Mindle left Toz's side and went to catch up to the two pairs of pirates, who had been tasked with going the long way around, leaving Toz, Scrael, and five pirates in the forest to duke it out.

After the pirates had been given orders, Toz had retreated deeper into the forest to allow them to walk farther apart before he launched his attack on the leader. Toz wasn't completely confident in beating him, and if he got help, Toz might have to fall back and regroup with the cats.

However, if the pirates had time to walk far enough apart, Toz would have more time to defeat the leader. Or maybe the pair who wasn't attacked by Scrael would have reached the other side of the woods by then. And if they saw the house where Joan and Joshua were hiding, Toz wouldn't have to worry about them coming to disturb him in his fight with the leader.

Toz had been planning to hide for a few more moments before launching a surprise attack against the pirate leader. Considering it was the first ever high level opponent he would be fighting against, Toz thought he might need the strategic advantage the element of surprise gave him.

But almost as if he had known from the beginning, the pirate leader called out,

"Stop hiding, you cowardly rat!"

Toz wasn't about to leave his hiding spot just because the pirate called out. Maybe he had sensed that someone was watching but didn't know where Toz was. If Toz exposed himself due to such a breezy bluff, he might need to reconsider any confidence he had in himself.

However, the pirate didn't even look around the trees after calling out. His glare was fixed on the tree that Toz was standing behind.

Since he was exposed, Toz didn't bother staying hidden anymore. Refusing to accept the reality of the situation would only give the pirate a chance to attack him instead.

Toz walked out from behind the tree, dispelling the darkness he had used to strengthen his stealth. He held a sword in his right hand. After giving up his other one to the trees, he had started making a new one. It wasn't quite as mighty as the one he had sacrificed, but it was far from being a weak sword.

"Hand over everything you have, and I'll spare your life."

"Not interested."

Toz didn't have much to hand over, to begin with. After he refused to comply with the pirate's threat, the two ended up in a staring competition. Although, the pirate might consider it a glaring competition with how deeply furrowed his brows were.