Elemental Cats
Chapter 167 Hods & Stitches (1)

Toz, Nil, and Mindle were already used to how small their wooden island was, so they weren't surprised when they arrived at the boats before their conversation ended.

As Toz had expected, the two pirates who had survived the invasion were by the boats. Though, Toz hadn't expected them to have pulled out a table, a couple of chairs, and a set of playing cards.

They hadn't noticed Toz and the two cats' arrival as they continued playing with the cards. It wasn't until Toz stood behind one of them that they noticed. One saw him directly, and the other noticed the shadow. The one who saw Toz was too stunned to speak, but the other one, the one with the eyepatch, began turning around while deftly hiding his cards somewhere.

"You're back already? Didn' I say t'was a small raft? I was just telling Hods that–

"Wait, yer not Kart?!"

The eyepatch pirate had been too busy shoving away his hiding cards to notice he wasn't talking to another one of the pirates that had returned to the boats.

The eyepatch pirate fell off his chair and scrambled backward in panic as soon as he realized he was talking to a stranger. After putting some distance between himself and Toz and realizing that Toz wasn't about to kill him on the spot, the eyepatch pirate stood up and brushed off his pants. Although he had scrambled around on roots without an ounce of dirt on them, the pirate did it out of reflex. Toz almost felt pity for the pirate if he was so used to crawling on the ground he dusted his clean pants.

Toz waited for the two pirates to gather their bearings since it would be pointless trying to hold a conversation with them when they couldn't think straight. But he wasn't the first one to open his mouth. It seemed like the eyepatch pirate was the type to talk when startled or was just someone who liked their own voice a little too much.

"Ahem. So, what happened to the others?"

"Dead."

The eyepatch pirate reacted more strongly to that than Toz had expected since he was shocked enough to steady himself by placing a hand on the should of his still seated friend.

"Even Kart?"

"I don't know who that is, but yes."

"He's the strongest guy on our team. Fuck, that's not good."

By now, Toz was getting slightly curious as to why the pirate reacted so strongly to Kart's death. He also quite disliked the feeling of the pirate taking the lead in the conversation.

"What's the issue with a dead pirate, if I may ask?" Although Toz smiled, the smile was cold enough to send a chill down the eyepatch pirate's spine.

The pirate answered more nervously this time as he fiddled with his hands and avoided locking eyes with Toz.

"Well…Nothing per se. I, personally, didn't like the shitstick. But, he was our map. Without him, we can't make it back to port."

"He was your map?"

"Mhm. He had some kind of exploration-related inclination. Could remember everywhere he'd been. Got benefits by exploring and being in places he hadn' explored before, was supposed t' get strong an' all bu' between you an' me, he was a pretty weak bastard. Cap'n wanted him to make a map over the Void with his skills an' all."

"So without him, you can't replace your way back? And he was bad at frontal combat?"

"Exactly!"

"Damn. That's too bad." Toz's deadpan tone made it more than clear he didn't care about the trouble the two pirates found themselves. Personally, Toz thought it was pretty clear that getting back to their port should be lower on the pirate's list of priorities. If he was in their situation, being the only survivor of a failed raid, he would have tried to ensure his survival first.

The revelation that the pirate leader he fought was considered weak was slightly off-putting, but Toz didn't pay it any further attention since the pirate was dead. Toz refocused on the two live pirates on hand and how much trouble he should put them through.

It seemed like the seated pirate also thought that surviving was more important than getting back to the port since he was gently nudging the eyepatch pirate who was thoughtfully gazing into the Void.

"Mate, we won't ever make it back if we die y'know?"

"Oh… OH! Damn! That's right!"

At that, the eyepatch pirate looked cautiously at Toz before whispering back,

"You don't suppose he'll let us go?"

"..."

"Nah, I s'pose not. Looks way too grumpy."

Toz's eyebrow twitched, and he wondered if he only had to spare one pirate to get the information he wanted. It seemed like the eyepatch pirate sensed the killing intent since he stopped whispering and faced Toz directly with a flattering smile.

"It seems like we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Stitches, or Stitch for short, and for various reasons, I am working as a pirate or rather a healer for a gang of pirates. It must be fate that we met in this desolate Void. How about we become friends?"

Toz didn't accept Stitches' handshake and turned his gaze toward the pirate who had stood up during his friend's introduction.

"You?"

"Ah, My name is Hods. I am a pirate by choice, but only because I like the freedom. I am mostly stuck guarding the boats during raids since I refuse to kill. Nice to meet you."

It seemed like Hods was more polite than his friend, and since he hadn't previously said rude things, Toz accepted Hods' bow with a nod.

"Alright. I am Toz, and I will spare your lives for now."

"For now."

"Don't take it for granted."

Nil and Mindle made sure to look frightening as they reinforced Toz's statement.

Toz wasn't quite sure where to begin asking the pirates questions. Although he hid it well, it meant quite a lot for him that there was an entire gang of pirates casually roaming through the Void. Both the fact that he and the cats wouldn't be stuck on the island of trees forever and that it was pretty cool with Void-pirates. He was also happy that he had acquired boats he could use to control their travels through the Void.

"Come with me."

Since Toz couldn't decide what to do with the pirates at the moment, he decided to bring them back with him to the house.