CH - 17 [ Losing your shit ] part - 1

Halcen walked slowly back down to the docks, with the figurine in his hand, staring at it. Tears welled up in his eyes. His chest kept seizing so he could barely breathe, though he tried anyway. Each breath an exasperated cry. He arrived at the wooden floating mass and noticed the bald man was still sitting there. Halcen flared up in anger and rushed at the man. He grabbed him by the collar with his free hand and threw the man onto the ground. Halcen stood above him with his fist clenched around the figurine, ready to bash this guy's face in. His eyes flared in hatred. "What did you do to her, you sick fuck?!"

"Halcen!" Grey shouted, chasing after him. He grabbed the distraught captain and pulled him off the trembling man. "What are you doing?"

"He knows where she is!"

"Why do you think that?"

"He told me to take Valentina off the island before something happened. He knows what's going on here!"

Grey looked at the man. "You better start explaining." Halcen could feel a power like none he had ever felt coming from Grey.

And the man obeyed. "Alright. Here's what I know." He rolled back over onto his stomach and stood back up, taking his time. Finally, he sat back down on his bench. But there was something off about him. "The Bear God isn't just a superstition to some people. There are those that actually worship him. And they serve him." He was terrified. "They do a lot to please him."

"Like bringing him women?"

"Only young, attractive women."

"Why didn't you tell us this when we first got here?"

"I'm barely allowed to even stay alive. I'm hardly able to manage warning lost crews that wash up here without getting myself killed. If I was to straight out tell anyone, then I would be taken care of for sure. And now I'm going to end up dead for this."

Grey realized he was right. Just this warning was enough to put this man on their short list. "So this cult… where do they bring the women?"

"Somewhere in the forest. That's all I know. I don't go there. I try to stay as far from it as possible. And I stay down here all day everyday to try to keep people like you out of there as well. I figure if I can make you uncomfortable enough to want to leave, then at least you'll leave alive."

"What do they do to the women?"

"I'd rather not know. I can sometimes hear their screams. It keeps me up most nights." He looked down at himself shamefully. "I'm not a fighter. There's nothing I can do. I just try to keep you guys from getting hurt."

"And then what happens to the crews? The ones that they stole the women from?"

"The ones that don't leave? They all die. There's an army of these people. They'll overwhelm anyone who tries to fight. This is the part where most of them run. I suggest you do the same."

"We can't do that," Halcen jumped back in. "I promised I would protect her. I need to save her."

"Halcen," Grey began, solemnly.

"No, Grey! I'm not turning around and leaving her here. We can't do that. You Know that."

"I wasn't suggesting we do. I was going to say we need to make a plan. We can't just rush in there. I know you're upset, but now's when we need you to put your head to use. What can we do? How are we going to find her in this massive forest?"

Halcen had to think for a moment. There were so many signs to follow. Clues: people behaving aggressively, the island giving off weird vibes, the sky refusing to settle. "There's too much going on here all at once. We need information to decipher it all." Halcen continued to think for a moment. "The bartender. There has to be a bartender!"

"Bartender?" Grey asked in confusion.

"People drink and talk. Bartenders hear everything. Whether or not they're willing to help us is different, but they at least have to know something."

"Alright," Grey turned back to the man with kind eyes. "Listen… what's your name?" he asked, softening his tone.

The man was panicking; truly horrified. He didn't want to help anymore. He knew he was in danger as it was. "Lenny," he finally answered.

"Alright, Lenny, is there a bar here? Somewhere a lot of people go to let go?"

"Yeah… there's a place up the hill. It's a couple levels above the center of town. Diego's place. He's actually a good man, but he has to follow their rules the same way I do… or we all die."

Grey nodded, understanding. "Thank you, friend," he said, patting Lenny on the shoulder. "We appreciate the help." Grey turned back to Halcen. "Alright, let's get going."

Halcen's face was red with the swirling of so many different emotions. "Yeah, we gotta take care of this."

So Halcen and Grey went back to the Black Tail to lay out the plan to the crew. "We're gonna go talk to this bartender and hopefully we'll get some answers. This place is so fucked up; I don't know what to make of it." Grey was trying to maintain focus on himself, instead of forcing Halcen to take charge, knowing Halcen was in a bad place. "Do you want to stay here? I can take Bo or Kazuki with me instead?" He asked Halcen quietly.

"No, I have to do this." He turned and headed back to the rest of the crew. "The shipment of supplies should be here relatively soon. Get to work as soon as it gets here. Bailu."

"Yes, Captain?"

"I need you to bust your ass on this. We need a sailable ship immediately."

"Roger."