Task:

Charles:

It is the middle of the night. The sky is clear of any birds which all lay sleep in their respective nests. The sky which was once clear, and void of clouds appeared to have some now coming in, indicating that it will soon start to rain. The full moon is still visible despite pieces of clouds covering parts of it. The milky colored giant ball of rock illuminated so brightly, reflecting off of the calm waters which added to this peaceful scenery. A lone rowboat sailed this quiet sea with two figures on top. Joey who looked around, taking in all he saw, and....Charles who should be back at home, and not on this boat at all rowing it.

"I remember first sailing out here in the morning." Joey claimed as Charles continued to silently row, not once making eye contact with him. "It looked mighty fine I tell ya what. With the birds flying around...looking pretty tasty." Joey said with a small grin as his stomach once again started to do the thinking, Charles finally looking up with an eyebrow raised. This guy really thinking about eating seagulls?" Charles mumbled confusingly. "Though there is somethin about these here night skies that make things a whole lot more peaceful am I right?" Joey asked, turning to look at Charles who just went back to being silent, and no eye contact. There is an obvious sense of disdain coming off of Charles, but Joey being the way he is didn't really notice it.

After sometime now of rowing, Joey's stomach began to growl prompting the blond pirate to rest a hand on his once again empty stomach. "Hey did ya bring anything to eat? I'm starving. Do you think there are any fish around?" Joey asked one question after the other. He peeked his head over to look down at the water, and sent an arm down there in hopes of grabbing a fish. "How about you jump all the way in, and drown? Maybe you'll find something then." Charles said with a cold tone. Joey looked back up at the obviously annoyed "partner" of his with a slight frown. "That's not very nice." he claimed before smiling once again. "But it was nice of you to come along, and nice of yer folks to change their minds." Joey said, causing Charles to shift his eyes to the side.

~Earlier this evening~

"Okay, so he said the boat would be down these docks..." Joey said to himself while walking around some buildings. It was beginning to hit night, and the streets were calm. Thankfully there was no marine in sight possibly patrolling other areas. Getting closer, and closer to the docks, Joey perked his head up once he noticed someone sitting beside the boat. "Oh hey there! Are ya sight se-" Once Joey walked up next to the stranger, he noticed that this was the son of those store owners. "Charles? What are you doing here?" the blond pirate asked, tilting his head some. "Come on, we're leaving...." Charles declared before getting up, and onto the boat. "Oh cool! You're coming with!?" Joey asked excitingly before jumping into the boat, causing it to sway some as water splashed on them much to Charles' dismay.

Charles simply groaned, and began to row. As they got a bit away from the island, Charles' father came running down to the docks yelling towards them. "Oh look it's your dad! He must've came to see us off, or...maybe he wants to join too!!" Joey claimed as Charles simply winced. "We should turn ar-" "Not going to happen....We should be going now." Joey just looked back at Charles, blinking a few times before shrugging.

"CHARLES YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!! DON'T MAKE ME COME SWIM AFTER YOU!!!" Charles' father yelled, jumping up, and down in fury, but at this point the two were already too far to hear.

~Present~

"Yeah....Well I'm just here to make sure you don't just run off with my mom's stuff next. Don't know why that old geezer trusted a pirate...over me." Charles said. Joey simply tilt his head. "Whatever. Let's just keep going." Charles said, continuing to row. "Hmmm, ya know. I should probably try to cook up something for you guys when we get back." the confident youth said, placing a finger on his chin as he thought about what to make. "IF we get back." Charles chimed in causing Joey to look at him confusingly. "You really know nothing about the Lenny Pirates. They won't think twice about stealing everything you own....or even worse. I saw when he came in with his crew, and snatched the watch right from my mother...." Charles claimed, his grip on the paddles tightening while Joey simply watched quietly.

"Their captain...My dad couldn't do anything about it, and neither could I. I...I...." tears slowly leaked from Charles eyes as he tried to hold it in. "Why did I even come out here....? I was worthless back then, so what difference would be made!?" The boat came to a complete stop as Charles broke down, resting his face into his hands. Joey frowned a bit before scooting up some to the crying guy. Well I'm not too sure what happened back then on the count of I wasn't there." the blond rest a hand on his shoulder leading Charles to look up at Joey with teary eyes. "But yer here now, so it must mean you're ready now, huh?" Charles looked at Joey, and attempted to wipe some tears from his face. "I know this won't be no cakewalk. My teacher told me that nothin in this here world is free. Ya gotta work hard for it. That's how it is for cooking, and definitely how it is for now." Joey turned around to out, seeing that they were nearing the next island.

"We'll get that watch back, and when we do. I'm gonna cook up a big feast for you, me, and your family. Heck we can even let others in on this! I don't mind sharing." Joey said with a chuckle. Charles looked up with some remaining tears still flowing down his face. His frown slowly turned to a smile before laughing a bit himself before nodding, and going back to rowing. Charles wasn't feeling it before, but now the determination he had briefly lost was rekindled, and he was now ready to take on these crooks as Dawn Island approached.

"I still don't trust though, pirate."

-Exit-