Pirates?

All of them recognized the voice. Kisig and the other three tensed, putting their feet together and their hands on their sides. Noticing this, Ling smirked which made the four curl their brows when they saw his expression. However, they stopped when the sharp canines of the dragon also faced them.

Maga was mad when another person came to disturd its play. Before it could growl however, it glanced at Ling beside it and saw his raised lips. Seeing this, Maga titled its head and also tried raising the side of its mouth, showing its canines to the other four boys in front of them.

Mayari reached the group with Kisig and the other three turning more rigid, with unscruttable expressions on their faces, while Ling and Maga were smiling fully now.

"What's going on here?"

"Sir, we were just trying to help Ling and Maga here since they looked like they're bored."

Of course Mayari could sense the other boy was lying, so he squinted his eyes as he replied, "Oh, really? I never thought you are such a helpful lad. But correct me if I'm wrong, aren't you four supposed to be in the stables, cleaning after our animals?"

Kisig's swallow was visible on his throat. Before he thought of an excuse for their actions, however, the group felt a suppressing 'mist' around them, making it difficult for them to speak. "Go back to your works before the animals get angry or I'll have you clean up the 'haze' from that, unshielded. I'll take care of Ling and Maga here but thanks for your concerns."

Mayari's smile was a lot different from the 'mist' he was exuding, that three still did not reply and just went on with where they were supposed to be. The three remaining ignored the boys who left.

"Ok, come with me Ling." Mayari walked without looking if the boy followed him, but then he paused to turn around. "You too, Maga."

Since the two had nothing left to do and was waiting for Mayari's help anyway, they soon followed him. With Maga in the group, the people they met were mostly going out of their path. When they saw the group coming, they seemed like they forgot something, so they went some other way.

Ling glared at these people but he knew he couldn't change their views. Meanwhile, Maga was oblivious to it, as it was trying to catch a ball of 'mist' flying around its head.

Before, Maga ignored the ball and just stared at the back of the man in front. But later, the ball kept swishing in front of Maga's face, making it annoyed. When it raised its paw to slap the ball to the ground, the ball moved further forward, avoiding the attack. Inspite of its irritation, Maga followed the ball, moving in front of the group of three now, and it still kept playing which changed Ling's mood, letting out a laugh from him.

"Where are we going, uncle?"

"Hmm?" Maga almost managed to catch the ball when he got distracted, but he moved it up so it still avoided the dragon's paws. "Oh, we're going to the dock. I heard that an acquaintance of mine managed to have a really great ship built so I'm going to ask to let us sail with them to that place I told you about, where we get our 'mists' for the shows. We're almost running out of it with the increase in performance this year."

Hearing this, Ling's face lit up and he skipped to catch up with Maga in front after giving a grin to Mayari.

Finally, the three reached the dock, their footsteps and laughter soon drowned out by the shouts of sailors on the boats and fish sellers on the shore. They continued to walk around, Mayari raising and moving his head to look at all the boats docked in the port. Meanwhile, the other two also ignored the people's stares as they continued to play, with Ling also adding a ball of 'mist' for Maga to play with.

WHOOO~

The horn from the biggest ship on the port startled many people as well as the three who just walked by.

When he saw it was the boat he was looking for, Mayari continue to walked forward until he noticed that the two behind him actually stopped following. When he looked back, Maga was also staring at the gaping boy who was in turn, staring at the big ship in front of them, which was their planned destination too.

Curious, Mayari walked back to Ling to ask, "Is this ship familiar to you, Ling? I heard it was new so where have you seen it before?"

Returning to himself as he heard the question, Ling moved closer to Mayari and waved his hand to ask the man to bend so he could whisper, "Wasn't that a pirate ship? It's my first time seeing one and I've only read it from my sisters' books."

Ling couldn't contain his voice and by the end of his reply, he wasn't whispering anymore. The other people who heard what the boy heard so they stared at the said ship. How was it a pirate ship? Were the crew stole from some other ships so they were able to build this ship? That actually made sense!

The ship looked like any other ships docked here, only slightly bigger. It was made of wood but the boards used were thicker, making it look sturdier. On its bow was a figure of a dragon, its three horns each a meter tall coming out of the head attached to its neck that was making the dragon figurehead almost as high as the ship's mast.

By now, the crew was pulling down its skull and crossbones flag and hoisting up its mainsail on the mast as they set ready to sail.

Mayari voiced out the questions shared by everybody who heard what the boy said, but he already had an idea of the boy's thoughts, being that he was an owner of a theater group. "Why do you think that?" he smiled as he asked.

Confused, Ling replied a little hesitantly, "Because they have that flag." Then, he pointed to the still lowering flag on the ship's deck.

Mayari continued smiling but not as if he was ridiculing Ling. He crouched down to explain, "That flag was not a pirate flag. You've heard before that there were many storms in the sea, resulting to many deaths. That flag was the death flag the crew raises to inform the other ships that there was death on board. If the incoming ship won't be able to handle the death 'mist' from a ship this big, then they would move to avoid it."

Disappointed, Ling bowed his head as he replied his understanding, "Oh, I see."

Mayari laughed this time because of the disappointed expresdion of the boy, which was also copied by Maga. Afterwards, he leaned closer to the two, one standing with bowed head and the other sitting with bowed head while sneaking a peak to the boy beside it, to whisper, "Don't worry. That really is a ship of pirates. Want to take a look?"

Lifting his head, Ling showed a glowing expression. "Then, let's go!"

So the three ran forward now, with the boy and the dragon on the lead. When they finally reached the area where the boat was docked, they saw the men preparing for their departure. However, Ling suddenly stopped in his tracks when he recognized the man near them.

"You!"

When the men heard the shout, they all turned to the direction of its source. Their faces all showed a surprised look then a grimace when they saw the dragon and the boy.

The one man nearest to them immediately turned to the others and shouted for them to run back to their ship as he followed his own order.

"Catch him, Maga. Let's go!" Then, Ling jumped on the dragon's back as it flew up to grab that fleeing man in its claws. The man's screams added to the already noisy dock, while Mayari was left below with his own surprised expression.