"W-Well why is it happening then, huh? What does it mean?" Haku asked hectically, glancing around from behind T'charrl to look for the spirit. He still couldn't see anything, now this was creepy! Biting his lip as his friend began doing something he moved back a bit, trembling slightly from nerves as he waited for the situation to be resolved. Something he could see was one thing, being wholly unable to see what was touching him was much too unsettling. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, everything as silent as it had been moments before. When a whimpering noise caught Haku's attention however he became even more confused than before and had to look around, wondering where in the world it was coming from. When he spotted a strange almost transparent animal nearby, its head hidden under its front paws, his eyes widened in shock; that thing, whatever it was, had to be what had been touching him. It looked like one of those dogs back on Earth, only this one had a lot of really long, broad things on it, he had no idea what it was. It looked harmless though. "Wait, wait, I think you're hurting it!" Haku said as he moved over slowly, still quite a bit uneasy about getting close. When T'charrl finally stopped the creature seemed to stop whimpering, lifting its head from its paws and glancing at him curiously. Well this was very weird, he was looking at a ghost right now wasn't he? Smiling timidly he continued moving along, stopping dead in his tracks when the creature began moving towards him. Despite his trembling Haku stayed put, watching as it came right up alongside him, sniffed at him and then licked his cheek. So it really was like a dog wasn't it? Laughing nervously he sat down on his rear, reaching out and trying to touch it, startled and withdrawing his hand when he actually felt the creature. "No way... It's... It's a spirit right?" he asked with a glance to T'charrl. "So why can I touch it?" ----- The pirates seemed to tense up slightly at that claim, that blasting Kiton would do no good. It was true that none of them knew what he was or had ever heard of "Frost Demons", and goofy though he may have looked earlier up close he was somewhat intimidating. No one was brave enough to openly admit that though and they remained silent, ushering the boy inside where two more pirates awaited him. As the doors were shutting behind them Kiton may catch glimpse of two figures swooping in, Sasha and Ricken respectively as they made quick work of the guards, ready to move in after him at a moment's notice. Those escorting the Frost Demon would be blissfully unaware that as the doors shut behind them their compatriots were now lying out in the dirt unconscious. Where there were a few pirates stationed intermittently outside here in the building they were plentiful. Some rooms were full of them sitting around, enjoying food and drink and having the time of their lives. Others lounged about, and now and again a room would be passed, doors sealed and closely guarded. Doubtless if there were indeed hostages that was where they would be hidden. They moved directly past those rooms and continued down the central hall, passing through two sets of doors before stopping at a third and final set. A sign designating this room as the mayor's had been crudely scratched out and hanged from a single bolt, four more pirates stood outside of this room, all armed and lined up against the walls. "Here's the boss kid, you'd better be quick, and don't say anything to make him mad," one of the pirates warned, stepping back and gesturing for the door to be opened, "Whatever you are it ain't nothing compared to the boss, so don't go thinking you're something special. He'll kill you in an instant if you try anything." The doors were parted, and the room beyond was revealed to be heavily cluttered, all kinds of personal belongings stripped from homes and shops littered around the room. At the head of the room was a massive man in what looked like well worn Saiyan armor, his massive blue toned body straining the malleable material around him. His hair was a deep grayish-blue, long and unkempt matching the beard that hugged his jaw and chin, covering most of his face. When the man glanced up from the device in his hands only one eye looked at Kiton, the other hidden behind a patch. Silently looking at the newcomer for a moment he smiled slightly, setting down the device and rising up from his chair. "A Frost Demon... And here I thought your kind extinct," the pirate mused, rising to his full height of just over two meters, well towering over the diminutive Kiton. "I expected a lot of people to appear here. The rebels, the Saiyans, the Galactic Police, but you? What reason could one of your kind have for coming here?" ----- Yumi couldn't keep flying, not with how upset the conversation was making her. After setting down back on the solid ground she kept an arm around Viral for support, moving slowly as not to strain his tired body. What more could she say about this? She'd made her stance clear and so had he, they were two completely different positions and neither was going to back down. She knew this and she should respect that yet she couldn't. Viral was too ready to let himself be the victim, to be hurt, for something he had no control over. That wasn't fair to him, or her, or anyone, she wouldn't allow it. Yes maybe things would be easier if they brought him down during those rampages, maybe trouble would be spared everyone if he was just knocked out or beaten. But that was far from an ideal solution, it wasn't something they could do every single time. She wanted the conversation to just be dropped, she couldn't keep listening to it. Proposing that he be hurt or worse to spare others trouble, it was unthinkable. Yet here it came again though Viral sounded more confused than anything now. It was painful to hear him speak this way as though he were a burden on everyone when he really wasn't. Shu had troubles, T'charrl had troubles, even she had some, everyone did and yet no one else saw anyone as a problem; with everyone else's struggles not being a huge deal why would Viral be any different? Not to diminish his struggles, Yumi would never do that, but she just thought it shouldn't be made into a big deal. Making a huge deal made it seem worse than it was, like that was all the person was, a problem to be fixed. She didn't want that and she was sure no one else did too. [i]Everyone is just so accepting and I don't understand why...[/i] Those words felt like a shot directly at her heart as they were spoken, Yumi stopping in her tracks as a result. Why couldn't he understand? Was it really so hard? Swallowing nervously she turned to Viral then, and when doing so placed her hand on the side of his face. Without so much as a single thought on her part she rose up on her toes and placed her lips against his own, closing her eyes and holding that embrace. It only lasted seconds yet it felt much longer than that, and when she finally pulled away her face was red as the scarf around his neck. "Because we love you Viral, because I love you..." Yumi muttered, putting on a smile as she tried to cheer up her friend, "We've said it before, you're like family to us, and to others you're even more than that. It's what friends and family do for each other, we help each other and we accept one another for who we are. Just because you have some trouble doesn't mean we'll abandon you, we'd never do that. No matter what happens we're here for the long haul," she explained, giving his cheek a stroke with her thumb before pulling her hand back too, "Nothing will change that, no matter how you might change or what you say, we'll all always be there."