Pirates. Every child across every sea knew the stories about pirates. For many, they were feared worse than the gearborn; they were humans after all, while the robots were simply following their nature.
"You think this island is controlled by pirates?" Red asked under raised brows.
"You really think so?" Vizim cut in worriedly.
Derrin glanced back to the jungle, "Yes."
"Pirates?" Red asked again.
"Did you not hear the first time?" Derrin looked at him.
Red rubbed his neck. Pirates weren't an unknown thing. However, they were always one of those tales that seemed to float in the background out in Wale Port. After all, why would you worry about pirates when there was an ever-present armada of robots as enemies? They'd seen the gearborn now, but none of them had seen pirates.
"You genuinely think these are pirates, then… how did they manage to take control of a Valencian island? That seems a little far-fetched," Red was still unsure if he could simply go along with the idea of pirates hiding out on this island.
Derrin sighed, "If I had to make an assumption, I would guess they were alerted to the huge expedition against the Gearborn. If they had plans for this island, it would be the perfect time to strike when everyone is away. They clearly can't contend with someone like Ayjax, but if they trench in…well, we all experienced what happened already."
It was possible now that he thought about it. There was something strange about the pair. They had been talking about a king. Red definitely didn't know what that meant.
"We've made the trip to this island before. Cairen…" Vizim's voice cracked when he said the deceased man's name, "...well, he was in charge of delivering supplies whenever they needed them here. That wasn't what we were doing this time, though. It was supposed to just be a passenger delivery."
"The mercenaries," Red muttered, "Mercenaries to take the positions of the missing soldiers. I guess that kind of makes sense."
Derrin simply nodded. Red was starting to understand Derrin's theory. This group of pirates had swooped in after the original soldiers had left to fight the Gearborn but before the mercenaries had arrived. This allowed them to sink any ships with mercenaries and keep themselves entrenched on the island.
"What are we supposed to do now!" Vizim threw his arms into the air as he finally began reclothing himself from the previous night.
"Anything we do is going to be risky," Red stated.
"There is likely an outpost of some kind on the island," Derrin resheathed his sword. "Everything we do from this point is going to contain some amount of risk. We can't simply give ourselves over to the pirates, but we also won't survive long unless we find a steady supply of food. Reaching this outpost is our best chance. It is possible that it hasn't fallen into pirate hands."
Red grunted angrily. It was just his luck that he would end up being forced to fight pirates when all he was supposed to be doing was meeting someone. Something just had to go wrong to screw him over. It always did. He was almost starting to wish he'd never left Wale Port in the first place. Not like he had much of a choice…
He decided to ignore how unlikely it was that the pirates didn't take the most important location on the entire island. It might have been a false sense of hope or simply his need for something to strive for. Whatever the reason, he decided to once again trust Derrin. This was his area of expertise after all.
Derrin eyed the two of them, "We will need to fight if it comes to that, but for now, the most important thing for us is to get information. We need to figure out where we are on the island."
Vizim took a deep breath, "There is indeed an outpost on the island. It was heavily defended the last time I was here. It's on the opposite side of the island and there is a large cliff that it uses as a defense point against the sea. That's about all I remember."
"Do you know how big the island is?"
"No," Vizim shook his head, "I don't ever see the island until we're already docked."
"That's fine," Derrin said, "We need to figure out how big this island is first. From the little looking around I did, it seems this place is filled with very sharp plateaus. Climbing one would be the best chance of getting a glimpse at the outpost."
"Before we do this," Red cut in, "We probably should figure out some sort of plan, I guess. For what we need to do when we enter the jungle. Unless you think wandering around aimlessly is our best bet."
Derrin nodded, "You're probably right. Just follow my lead and keep your ears focused. I doubt we'll get snuck up on, but if we are attacked and lose each other, we should try to meet back here."
Red nodded, but Vizim just shook his head. He couldn't blame him for being worried. He didn't believe that Vizim had ever been in this sort of situation before. Besides, they were all starving at this point. They either needed to make it to the outpost or try something else.
"Well, are we going?" Red asked quizzically.
He was growing impatient just standing here. His stomach was also not agreeing with him. Standing around would only make him focus on hunger. He needed to move and keep his attention elsewhere.
The trio started off. Red paused for a moment to drink some water from the sea. Despite not having food, the water still felt good in his stomach. He was fairly certain that it had to do with the connection between the water, his seaheart, and the heart of Valencia. Whatever the reason, the salt also didn't affect him as a result. The others followed his example before they headed off into the jungle.
Derrin led the way at a decent distance. He could still make it to them in a few quick strides if he needed to. However, he had explained it was important for a party like theirs to have someone constantly scouting ahead. Red figured it was common for the military to do the same.
As they traversed the green-covered island, Red couldn't help but marvel at the surroundings. He had originally thought the place untamed and controlled by nature. Now he knew that was only partially correct. While the plants were clearly abundant, as well as smaller animals like birds and rabbits, there was no sign of larger predators.
Red didn't know how the island managed to maintain its ecosystem without a single larger animal. It was clear that it had been tamed to some extent. Perhaps that was the same reason that none of the populations grew completely rampant.
His thoughts drifted around, and he was only cut short when Derrin's hand rose. Red froze where he stood with Vizim bumping into his back. It was the simple fist telling them to stop moving. But it was still the first time he saw it, so he tensed. Then he heard the slight sound of voices in the distance. They were faint and didn't seem to be drawing any closer, yet.
"What is it?" Vizim whispered in his ear.
"Voices, that direction," Red pointed towards the thick jungle with a quiet murmur.
He heard Vizim's breathing quicken. A moment later, Derrin beckoned them forward, and they continued onwards. The voices faded into the distance as the three of them snuck past through the thick of the jungle.