DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE! THE GOOD INTENTIONS OF THE BLACK C

[viruswithshoes]

Toulon Kuroko scratched at his newly grown ebony beard which had grown in after two weeks of not shaving. He tried to turn his rapid hair growth into something practical and used his clippings for his puppets but still lacked the ingenuity to find a purpose for the unibrow he was forced to prune daily.
He was glad that the first person to join him in his quest to form a crew of traveling medical practitioners was in fact, a barber.

Other than realistic hair for his puppets, Toulon's new facial accessory was something that he hoped would keep him from being noticed after his trouble on Winchester Island.
The life and death games and their time imprisoned together during their stay in Winchester led the cyborg puppeteer to trust Aguila more than the other crewman, whom he and his Skypien partner had won in a Davy Back Fight.

The newly formed crew of The Black Cross were able to be quartered inside what looked to be a church made of mud and animals skins which did an impressive job of keeping out the cold wind. The multiple stone fireplaces kept the temperature at a comfortable level and provided Toulon enough light to repair his puppets and the cybernetic arm that had broken in the Davy Back Fight.

Despite the ample size of the temple dedicated to an unknown deity was staffed only by a grandmother missing her leg below the knee and her granddaughter who seemed to not want to socialize with outsiders who could have been pirates.

Once the grandmother laughed and enjoyed herself at one of Toulon's puppet shows, he and his crew were considered guests. The maker of prosthetic limbs vowed to make his hostess a leg worthy of the kindness she had given The Black Cross.

[Tlilecuahtli]

Far from the paradise of their last adventure, the trees seemed to creep through the skies, bending clouds and blotting out the sun with masses of leaves. The ground was rich, clinging to each taken step in massive paddies and leaving the tips of Aguila's pants stained with a fresh scent. His personal opinion was torn. An island ravaged and controlled by the wrath of nature was a terrifying place, though at least this time he had Doctors around him. More so than needed, but who was he to complain about the Captains choice of company.

Atop a huddle of mud, mortar and stick a small circle outcropped amongst the refuse and litter of nature, where the grass was groomed, trees were tame and the food wasn't poisonous after eating a pit. They weren't too welcome. At least, not before Toulon pulled off their classic Puppet Show. It was amazing he had the ability to turn so many people's opinion with a ten-minute show. Maybe there was more charm to it than he gave it credit, maybe the atmosphere of not a dank dark cell was the key.

And where Aguila was in all this, he had become perched, atop the crown of the Church with a bell overhead and a tantalizing string that would bellow to all around, 'Come here!' if pulled. He could see it all, peering over the gargantuan trees he observed the landscape. Small blotting fires pecked the landscape in tiny dots. Besides that, the man had barely scraped the surface of this wild land. Though...

It was off in the distance. He could see just crowning over the peaks of the trees another building. They were scarce and few between, but across the lake, he spotted another Church, one of similar make and design though species of green infected and ran through the cobbled house. It was a good place to move too for when they had overstayed there welcome.

[viruswithshoes]

Even with four arms, two of which were cybernetic and shot strings Toulon could not climb. Any plans of joining his crewman Aguila on the roof of the church were temporarily abandoned.

Resting Lake was somewhat famous in the medical community for it's raiton root plants which were said to be beneficial for lungs. Toulon himself being a student of cybernetics preferred the more direct solution of simply replacing the lungs with something mechanized. He had to admit to being biased since barely remembered a time before getting the two cybernetic hands that were attached to his arms.

The doctor with the itching beard and rapidly growing black hair scratched at his face while imagining the unspoiled landscape ahead of him just a little spoiled. Just a small mine, a factory for processing it and a clinic for a retiring doctor to ply his trade of making prosthetics.
Future dreams led him to present realities. Pragmatically, Toulon assumed that with his current resources he could only make one or two cybernetic limbs via cannibalizing two of his four arms.

From out of the dense woods came screams followed by two bleeding men using bandages made from clothes. Somehere in the barrage of fast-paced talk of fear and monsters there was advice about how if one enjoyed their life they should not go into the woods.
Toulon enjoyed his life but potential dismemberment meant nothing to him.

Arteries were clamped and wound bandaged absentmindedly while Toulon thought about the kind of creature that could make such wounds. The cuts and punctures were far too clean to be done by an animal. The men said something about an animal but their wounds told a different story. Unless the wolves had swords in their mouths or the bear's claws were a foot long and metallic those two threads would not tie together.

"Hey, Aguila! Want to take a walk in the forest with me? Just in case something tries to eviscerate me." Toulon shouted upward at his friend.
"It could be fun...or lethal. Either way it'll be interesting."

[Tlilecuahtli]

The air caught a noxious breeze, in the deep dark undergrowth the belly of a creature, not a man but beast clawed it's way through with a predatory stalk, leaving wounded tow men who departed from the seedy belly, escaping the mouths of fate and leaving a wafting trail of stale blood and vile bandages. They very well might have just lead a creature of the depths to them, Aguila was not sure though Toulon seemed rather unphased by the whole tirade that occurred.

It was hard to hear, even with the shouting the wind had died down and Aguila had caught the dying last words of Lethal. That really was his call to action as the crew's 'Barber' looked down, giving a wild wave as his back furled and folded, feathers broke free as his 'Angel' Wings allowed him a brief respite of a glide,  turning and rolling around the tower before landing with a hard thud, while he may have had grace in those skies he certainly lacked the charming landing that most others would have perfected in their life by now.

He looked around, wiping some dirt and debris off his bagged legs, looking to the wild men that had become engorged in wrappings, more Mummies than men at this point as he gaze a long drawn out whistle, emphasizing his impression of the duo. It was great. Really. Men covered in blood and shifting bandages never left a horrible trail that terrifying beasts could track back.

"Well..." He paused nodding along, passing the Bandaged Horrors with some modicum of sympathy, but not enough. This whole island was bad voodoo man. Memories of so short ago stumped his mind and every time he turned a corner he waited to see the trunk turn to a leg and the roots to upturn his body before a head tore him limb from limb. "What's the plan? A nice saunter through the derelict woods? Gather reagents to make horrible concoctions? Maybe a nice cup of Stagnant water?" He quipped, his words more laced witSarcasmam than a Snake's fang.

[viruswithshoes]

Toulon took his winged companion's sarcasm in stride and with a smile.
He spread out each of his four arms in a gesture of grandness to punctuate his sentence.
"We're going on a monster hunt. If things go well we'll catch one."

Two cases of faded black leather, wood and metal accompanyed the puppet master, carried by his two cybernetic arms while his two flesh arms rested in the candy filled pocket of his white lab coat. Once he saw his friend was ready he threw the Skypien a piece of fruit flavored hard candy.
"Armed and ready?"

Though slowed from carrying his puppets and being the least athletic person he knew, Toulon still led. While the Captain of the Black Cross was curious about what dwelled in the forest his first mate seemed pensive.
"Are there forests where you are from? Are they dangerous?"

He knew his bedside manner was a hit and miss affair, like every other aspect of his personality.
"You just seem uncomfortable? I'm something of a sea and city guy, myself...though I've been to more warzones than I would have liked. Sorry, I'm getting off track." He took a deep breath and tried to think of something calming.
"We have my puppets for defense and..." he paused and felt a flush of embarrassment. "And you're really strong. We'll be okay."

One actually inside the forest Toulon's own words of encouragement faded and soon disappeared inside his own head. The first thing he noticed was how difficult it was to move around with all the trees. The second was the lack of light from the foliage growing above hem. He felt not only easy to attack by a well-sighted predator but unable to defend himself in such a cluttered area.
He made a note to rethink his fighting style or learn a new one that made him less helpless in close quarter situations.

The man who grew up around advanced technology and routinely changed out his own body parts was unused to forests save for some time spent as a medic for a troop stationed in a forest war against humandrils. Most of that time was something he wanted to forget.
Bad memories or no, something interesting may lurk in the forest and his instincts told him to carry on.

Twigs broke which sent shivers down Toulon's spine. He wiggled his fingers nervously, ready to get his puppets out of their cases and in between himself and danger.

There were creaks emitting from the trees which caused not only Toulon to unconsciously bring out his weaponized puppets but also gasp for a second.
When he finally found what the was looking for his breathing stopped altogether.

Even in the darkness the black dots on it's shiny scales stood out. He'd seen drawings and photos of such snakes before and while large, paled in comparison to the monster that attempted to climb a tree but broke the branches with it's weight.

What Toulon thought were shiny black scales were actually metal as were a set of long fangs like small swords and excitement stamped out his fear of the giant snake.

He pulled the strings connected to his puppets to make them raise their respective swords and guns. He didn't even know if he wanted to study it alive or dissect it completely so he could reverse engineer the technology inside.
"Please tell me you fight giant snakes all the time."

[Tlilecuahtli]

It fell quiet all around him, that sense of unease that rattled in the back of his mind sounded like the drumming of war drums, his eyes engorged in fear at the prospect. Monster hunting. He may have had a grand gesture, he could have tossed it with all the pageantry in the world but nothing got rid of that stolen that had made his stomach hit the floor. It wasn't even as simple as killing it, he wanted to catch one.

He simply nodded. 

He withdrew his Shield and his Macuahuitl though that thump, that repetitive bang he had refrained from, he might've made a couple of dints into the thing on the ride here, outside of that, he had left the thing alone since rocking up on Forest: The Island.

He followed along, every bramble that broke, every thin thorn that protruded from beneath a rock was a danger that he made wide births. His boss brought up an interesting point, the forest of Skypeia. He had traversed them, most youths had. "Oh, there are forests. Ones greater than this, where the roots could encapsulate an entire town." He replied, there was hesitation in his voice as a stick snapped off in the distance. "And there aren't too many dangerous things there. But..." He paused, he swallowed saliva, imaging he had just consumed a lump of fear. "Well. Skypeia isn't dangerous... It's everything down here that is." He continued, he didn't feel a need to relieve those harsh moments of his life and completely skipped over him being strong. He didn't consider that of himself, back on Daijuu he had been bodied and watched a crew of Skyepians get massacred in the droves, while a Pint-Sized Dwarf had managed to make his way with nary a scratch.

The depths of the forest proved more difficult, the road had slowly slithered out of view and twigs of roots scattered the underlay of the forests grass, rocks snapped and broke here and there with moss coating it in its slippery clutch, Aguila making slow work with his Macuahuitl at the overgrown and infested forest. It would've been faster if he didn't need to make way for one certain robot and his kit of Puppets. But hell, he wasn't the Captain.

It all was bad Mojo. This was completely different before it was towering trees and little undergrowth, but here the trees merely scraped through the skies, their roots didn't grow invisible boulders but snapped through the ground like tripwire, and all around it grass grew in an entangling mat and furry critters and hard-plated bugs ran rampant beneath with all manner of fangs and poison ready to strike out at all that made one wry step.

Then like a horror it slowly began to emerge. Twigs broke, branches snapped and logs cracked under the weight of something great. Aguila pulled his shield up, pressed outwards his Macuahuitl outstretched above, obsidian shards reflecting the tiny shards of light that snaked their way through the jaws of leaves that encapsulated the skies.

He tried to position himself, glaring at the mat that had constricted him. Fighting Daijuu and Dinosaurs was one thing, but at least there it was open as well less fighting and more running for your life.

Then it came. A great many scales turned into an unnatural sheen and those fangs dripped with not poison but seeping oil that paralyzed the life beneath it in sickening drops. Aguila was stunned, he could feel the life drain from Toulon, his breath paused as he took a stance in front of him, shield ready as this time a new fear rose up, swallowed before bracing for the brunt of the attack. Toulon was too gangly and skinny to takes one, but at least his puppets were there to assist.

"Yes, I've fought snakes. Not Metal Anacondas..." There was a sharp drip fo Sarcasm as he took a few steps forward, offering himself as a meal, his plan was simple, avoid the dangs and let its head empower his shield. That was the idea at least. As to whether it would work. Well. Plan's were for the prepared. And neither of them were in that state.

[viruswithshoes]

The cybernetic serpent ceased its' slithering in order to do the most frightening thing possible, look at the two humans in its' vicinity.
Toulon's blood ran cold which made him desperately want to replace it with something less prone to freezing.

The geisha puppet with the extended katana limbs connected to one of Toulon's right hands jerked a bit while the puppet master shivered with dread. The puppet of a bearded pirate connected to Toulon's left hand readied and aimed each flintlock pistol in each of its' six hands and fired.
Only two shots hit, one which ricocheted off of the giant snake with a 'Twang' sound that both frightened and intrigued the cyborg doctor.

When the slithering harbinger of death vanished Toulon panicked and wished that his puppet The Six Shooter had more than six shots to him. The creator of puppets made a mental note to look into better weapons for his wooden friends should he survive his encounter with the hidden snake.

There was more rustling in the foliage and Toulon released an air slash from his sword wielding puppet along with an embarrassing yelp. To his amazement he had not only flushed out the fanged fiend but also landed a blow on it's body, exposing meat and circuitry.

He had no time or space to maneuver another strike with his swordswoman puppet Kuchisake and instead used his ammo-less gunman puppet to take the brunt of the fangs and had it wrap its' six arms around the cybernetic nemesis in hope that it would make it easier for Aguilla hit.

[Tlilecuahtli]

Bullets splayed and... missed. It was a massive target and it seemed Captain hadn't really practised too well with the thing to miss that large a target. He braced his shield as the massive thing crawled beneath a bundle of bushes, the growth managing to engorge the metallic plates.

Aguila had not much to do, he braced his shield, Macuahuitl hovering above it as obsidian shards danced between each other in grating slits as he turned to the rustling foliage a slash of air crumpling the leaves and plates of steel as it was revealed to be all Cyborg. Or Android. One of the two either way it had been revealed that something about it was vulnerable.

Then it came in a great lunge, leaves were snapped, branches crumpled and great trees were left with massive craters in its base with a weaving wheeze as they struggled to stay upright. Aguila tried to manoeuvre into the brunt of the attack, before Captain One Eye the Pirate went hurdling forward, chittering's of wood and string blocking his Shield as Aguila took a step back, diving beneath the feet and strings as his legs bashed against the underside of the Snake, spilling oil and blood in a sick companionship.

He was finally in place, each movement of the thing almost knocked him off balance as he dug his shield into the cavity of the wound, using the Spike's to hold it in and his hand to hold him up as his Macuahuitl started to make work, it was too late for the Puppet Six Shooter, he hadn't the time or speed to make enough of an impact, but as the grand thing kept up its movements, wheezes of pain and woe combined with a metallic chirp he seized the 'veins' with Obsidian ire, oil spilling and blood coating his face as he was blinded, a single hurrah for the snake as it reeled back, it's lower body tossing with a grand display, rearing it's head high as it attempted its retreat. Aguila was out, for now, busy wiping away the gross cohort that had now lathered his face.

[viruswithshoes]

"Now that's...repulsively interesting," Toulon Kuroko said once he knelt down and took a closer look at the giant deceased snake and it's internal organs, both natural and man-made.
"We have a cyberneticist here," the fellow melder of humans and machine said with a slight rise in the pitch of his voice due to excitement.

The puppeteer retracted the metallic strings from his two weaponized puppets and gathered them up into their respective boxes. His unfortunate pirate puppet had broken off several of its' six arms while wrestling with the massive serpent but for the moment Toulon was too entranced with the meat and metal reptile that was responsible for the carnage.
"Do you think it would be more rude or sacreligious if I dissected this in the church?" He asked as he awkwardly hefted part of the snake upward and tried to wrap it around his four arms in order to drag back to their temporary base.

Most of the snake dragged behind the panting and wheezing doctor as he dragged it through the forrest and back to the church he and his crew were staying. His black suit was covered in sweat and grime and his aching back made him want to replace his own spine with something less prone to pain but he was proud to have gotten his specimen somewhere he could really delve into it's mysteries.

"I'm not cooking that," were the first words the silent grand-daughter of his host said to Toulon when she noticed him lying exhausted next to his serpentine subject.
"The meat is still fresh...not that I have any intention of eating it. It's just, you know, fascinating. Whoever did this did a wonderful job of integrating such delicate and flexible circuitry...eh, I'm boring you."
The young woman maintained a blank expression but rolled her yes. "No, you're infinitely fascinating. Please tell me more," Zyanya, the sarcastic young woman rose from her kneeling position and declared that dinner would be ready within the hour and that guests covered in cybernetic snake gunk were not appreciated.

Other people may have come and went but Toulon paid them no mind while he excised and studied the small, sophisticated electronics like a child taking apart a new toy to see what made it fun. Due to the presence of snake gunk, the splattered doctor took his meal outside under the stars.

The next time he noticed Aguila after he had cleaned himself up Toulon made sure to stop him.
"You saved my life and brought me an interesting specimen. Thank you...sorry, that doesn't seem strong enough. I owe you my life." He stuck out his right hand and for once was self-conscious about it's metallic construction and hoped that it wouldn't make his offer of sincere thanks seem artificial.
"If there is anything you need, like a new arm, wings or whatever just ask."

When he raised his right arm Toulon finally noticed two puncture wounds from the fangs of the dissected creature.
"Now that's worrying. Would you like to see someone amputate one of his own arms?"

Among his medical equipment was a syringe of local anesthetic and as luck would have it his bone saw was already out and ready to use.
"We're definitely finding this guy if I survive the night, Aguila. If not, enjoy your new crew of doctors."

[Fox]

One of the children living in the village ran down the streets with urgency. Spotting Toulon, she scurried over immediately, tapping on his metallic arm nervously. His little face was full of fright and worry, not unlike when Toulon and Aguila had arrived initially. He glanced back down the street where he had come from. The way out of the village that led into the forest.

“Th-there’s a stranger..! I gotta tell Granny…!”

Scurrying off again, the boy disappeared into the tent. From down the road, a figure in all white could just barely be seen. It was night, so the details were fuzzy. It would be hard to tell if it was a marine or otherwise. As the figure got closer, however, it was recognizable as a young woman in a plain white dress. She wore a wicker basket backpack.

Lily took every step slowly. She was barefoot. Dirt and dust covered her feet. Occasionally with a step, something small and white would fall from her. Feathers from the broken wings she hid under her dress. Lily paused for a moment, just realizing that she had walked into some form of civilization. She glanced around with a lost, dazed expression.

“...?”

[Tlilecuahtli]

He rolled himself from beneath the majesty of death, a half-way Daiju combined with metal had finally fallen, Aguila pulling at tussocks of grass to wipe clean the gunk and goop that had left his face worse for wear. The Captain, however, seemed fine from it all, busying himself with the Puppets and Cyber Snake as Aguila scoped out the area making sure nothing more was going to take advantage of the lull between battles.

Aguila missed the first part of the conversation, coming midway in as he scooped a gross conglomeration of earwax, blood and oil, turning as he brought up being sacrilegious. "Captain. I have literally no idea what God that church is about." He responded, couldn't be sacrilegious if you don't know who you are worshipping after all. "For all I know, it might be sacrilegious to play cards at the altar." He continued, taking a pause as he grabbed the tail end of the snake, attempting to help the Captain pull the thing along, though its great centre weight dropped and dragged itself through the middle, upturning and at least making a path for them to follow back through. "Which reminds me. When we get back Imma see if I can't gamble us into getting that statue." He continued. The Statute was literally rocks, clay and if he was to take a guess. The smell? Well... Leave that to interpretation.

When they returned, Aguila made his way to the shrine. A small statue of a Bird with its wings outstretched and now, at its talons, a pack of playing cards. Aguila took his seat, waiting for the old lady to approach, though he didn't catch head nor tail of the women. Instead, her Grand-Daughter was the only one left as some of the other Doctor's approached, Aguila, tossing out cards between the crew as he played the first round of blackjack.

The first few games went to the Doctors, the last game, to the Doctors and finally. It all went to the Doctors, money swapped hand beneath the gaze of the Crow that gleamed through tarnished pinecones. He was starting to think this was just a child's attempt at a Scarecrow. But as the games wrapped up and Aguila left broke, dinner was getting ready. The other doctors, greed in their eyes departed leaving Aguila alone.

But as the time passed and Grandma run's the place didn't show up, Aguila packed his things, taking himself for a stroll to bring up an appetite before being stopped by Captain. He turned on a heel to look at the Captain. It seemed the Captain wasn't aware of the Barber's role on the ship. Or at least Aguila wasn't. He patted the good Doctor on the back, "Captain. It is my job to keep you alive. That is the role of the Barber is it not?" He stated, his wings were fine, his arm was a little sore and could use a look over, but the next few words said to him, he could not let Kuroko do that to him. Or even be aware if he was in pain.

"Would you like to see someone amputate one of his own arms?" -Toulon Kuroko

Now, it might just be the fact he is horribly poisoned. It might be the fact he has a problem with Flesh. Or it might be the fact he has forgotten he has a crew of Doctors. But this? This was a bad idea. Aguila watched, thinking he was simply trying to show power, or waiting for his bluff to be called. But the minute that first drop of Anesthetic dripped into his bloodstream Aguila withdrew his Macuahuitl and slapped the blunt side against the Captain's head either to knock him out or bash some sense into him. "Okay. Now, either you are getting real close to a Bluff or actually doing it. Either way." He paused, turned on his heel as he looked around to the crew, hands clasped into a circle around his mouth to amplify his voice, "All right, Crew of the Black Cross! Captain has been poisoned by a snake. Your job, get it out of him." He declared. A Poisoned arm was not a sign of Amputation. And considering how long the venom had been in Captain's system for, he was confident it was an empty shot.

Though, he wasn't about to stick around to see it. The night was dripping, and the food was getting cold as he walked over, capped on a spool a pile of stew and poured it into an old tin bowl, strolling outside as he caught a glimpse of a wild woman. He cupped his hand into his stew, a burning tingle sensation rocking his hand as he slurped and munched on old potatoes and rough beef.

"Yo."

[viruswithshoes]

"I'm not taking 'it's unethical' as an answer," Toulon said to one of his remaining doctors who was against amputating a healthy arm for no reason.
In hindsight, it wasn't the best choice of words.
He was told in no uncertain terms that he had horrible mental problems and body issues before the doctor left in a righteous huff.

Although he could have replaced his own arm by himself, Toulon was glad for the help from the other doctors who weren't as offended by his unique road to self-improvement.

The cyberneticist, under a local anesthetic supervised his latest outdoor amputation. It was nice to do it somewhere peaceful without noise and bullets flying about.

Toulon had his new arm for nearly twenty minutes before a child was tapping on it. It was incredibly painful.

During his time as a medic in the more war torn islands the four-armed man heard many people near death claim seeing a beautiful white-clad woman with wings. For a moment he wondered if his minor surgery went terribly awry.

[Fox]

Lily’s gaze landed on a very tan man with wings. Something akin to recognition flickered in her eyes before her gaze was diverted to another man. This one with cybernetic arms. She stared blankly at the pair of them. Using her best judgement, Lily decided to ignore the strangely bearded man with robot arms and walk over to the sky islander.

“Excuse me…”

Clasping her hands together, Lily took a deep breath to formulate her words. It didn’t matter that he was a sky islander too. Nothing mattered. As she calmed herself down, the air around the two of them got just a touch chillier. She held out her hands, pantomiming holding something.

“I’m looking for a root...It’s about this big. Do you know where they grow?”

Glancing down as something tickled her foot, Lily saw that it was just one of her feathers from her hidden wings. She moved her foot over it so that the sky islander wouldn’t see it. No sense in making this more complicated than it needed to be. She was just asking for directions.

[Tlilecuahtli]

He turned as he caught her glare, eyes narrowed to see behind him before he cupped the bridge of his nose, lips long and drawn out as he heaved in a deep breath, lips never cracking before breaking his nose hold, looking towards the Captain and the crew behind him. "I remember explicitly telling you a lot to get the Venom out." He retorted to no one in particular, looking towards the Captain, pointing to exacerbate his point, "This, this should've been avoided." He snapped, he was under the impression he had a crew of Doctors, though, considering he himself was a 'barber' maybe the entire crew wasn't what they said they were.

But he pulled himself back, the air seemed to tinge with an air of cold, the feathers on his wings pricked up and his hair elongated, "Chilly." He said as he turned, just in time to catch their inquiry, he looked at their empty hands, his own running through his slicked and sweat filled hair she drew out a long sigh, his left eye closed as if it helped him visualize the root in question.

"Ahh...." He responded, slowly devolving into a series to ticks and clicks before shaking his head with a shrug to boot, "Nope. Sorry to say we haven't. If you are willing to go through the forest I have a..." He paused, turning to the Captain, he was almost certain the man was eager to get a new limb by have his big toe get nibbled on by an ant. "Sneaking suspicion that we are going to be heading back into the jungle any minute now." His words last with unenthusiastic sarcasm.

[viruswithshoes]

The local anesthetic Toulon self-administered had long worn off but was nearly as happy at looking at his newly amputated and quickly replaced arm. He wished he would have timed it so he could have a record to beat the next time he had to amputate and reattach a limb in the wild.

Though he could almost feel the irony dripping from Aguila's words about making another foray into the dangerous forest for the chance of seeing another cybernetic animal, Toulon could wait until he had some sleep.
And some company, upon further thinking.

"Gathering roots? Are you an apothecary, miss?"
Visions of a ship's pharmacist danced through Kuroko's mind because he connected most things to medicine.
Whether in the medical trade or not the Captain of the Black Cross could not have too many friends or allies while traveling these harsh seas. As such the eccentric cyborg tried to befriend every person he met.
"Come on, sit and I'll get you some stew."

Most of the locals were keeping their distance from the strangers but still watched in fascination at the three strangers. The winged man who seemed too into gambling to be an angel, the man with metal arms and now what looked to be a ghost woman.

"I'm Doctor Toulon Kuroko and, he gestured to his Skypien friend "this is my first mate and barber." He hated the idea of speaking for Aguila even though he was technically Captain. Robbing his friend of the chance to introduce himself seemed more obnoxious than proactive.
"We're here to explore the world and help people along the way."

There's a comfortable looking rock if you'd like to sit down and tell us your story.