Elemental Cats

Taienra had said not too long ago that Pirate Haven wasn't very far away. But she had said practically the same thing ever since they first decided to head for Pirate Haven, so the people on the island were quite surprised when Taienra said they had arrived.

Everyone rushed to the edges of the island in order to try and spot the city of pirates, Pirate Haven.

Taienra let them look and point at the various stars and spots in the distance, guessing which one might be Pirate Haven for a while before she cleared her throat.

"We're not that close. I stopped before we got in range since you all wanted to investigate before doing anything. And in case you didn't notice, I'm not exactly made for sneaking around."

The others gently avoided looking into each other's eyes as they scratched their heads and looked embarrassed. However, instead of being overcome by the shame of how excited he had gotten, Toz asked Taienra how they would get to Pirate Haven if they couldn't even see it.

"Asilean can do at least that much. Maybe you can also manage that much now that you have the void element."

Without further ado, Toz brought Stitches and all the cats with him onboard one of the sailboats that had been left by the Bunglehoppers' raid.

Hods and Joshua also wanted to come, but since it was an investigative mission and because they didn't want to leave the island with only Taienra defending it, those two stayed behind with Joan.

With Asilean spreading his senses throughout the Void, they managed to find their way to Pirate Haven. Asilean also took the opportunity to teach Toz how to use void magic and the natural existence of the Void together. It was similar to how darkness magic was strengthened in dark places, so Toz easily understood how to use void magic to sense what happened in the Void.

Toz didn't become skilled enough just like that to compete with how well Asilean did it, but he also sensed Pirate Haven's existence with his void magic. However, his detection was nothing more than a simple response to his magic, so he still had to wait until they arrived before he could tell how Pirate Haven was built.

Thankfully the boat ride passed quickly with the cats and Toz fishing for details from Stitches on how the city looked, even with Stitches not saying a word, probably because he was still upset about how the others had mocked the Bunglehoppers.

The city floating freely through the Void appeared in view soon enough, and it didn't disappoint the group's anticipation.

At first, the city only looked like a pile of garbage since it was so far away, but as they got closer, Toz and the others realized it was, in fact, a large pile of repurposed garbage. The inhabitants of the city used scraps of various things to build houses and connect them with other houses and buildings, eventually creating something similar to a city.

When Toz got close enough, he saw that the bottom of the city was made of a plateau of crushed wreckage, and the houses were stacked on top of each other, creating something similar to a high-rise building, but due to the poor architecture, looked like something a child might make.

However, the city's aesthetic perfectly suited what Toz and the cats had in mind when they heard that a bunch of pirates had built a city. For people who lived by robbing, pillaging, and plundering, it was almost expected they didn't possess the skills necessary to create a proper city. And it was even more fitting that the city was built from scraps of destroyed ships and various wreckage to be found around the Void.

For Toz and the cats, a pirate wasn't a real pirate unless they lived in a dump. If they lived someplace else, they were the Starsling Kingdom's navy.

The city itself looked like a mishmash of different materials and techniques used to connect everything, with a few areas being more clearly connected than others. However, things were different outside the city.

Three large islands orbited the city that, compared to the city, looked a lot more impressive and organized. It was still obvious from a glance that the islands were pirate strongholds, but they were at least somewhat structured. Two of them even had an overall matching color scheme.

If what Stitches had told them was still true, and the names of the pirate crews were anything to go by, the three islands belonged to the three pirate crews. The red island belonged to the Red Hook Pirate Crew. The blue island belonged to the Blue Lounge League of Pirates. And by process of elimination, the island with mixed colors belonged to the Cult of Nihiltas.

When they got close enough to see the city, Stitches began directing them to the place where the Bunglehoppers' base was. He also took the time to explain how the higher up a crew had a base in the city, the greater their power. Even the three big crews shared the top of the city.

Stitches looked a little proud when he pointed to where he remembered the base to be, which was around the middle layers of the city.

When they got close enough to where Stitches pointed, Toz anchored the boat to one of the many bridges pointing out of the island, which were made for anchoring boats. However, only boats small enough. Larger ships were left further away from the city, and people on board those ships had to use smaller vessels to enter the city.

Since they were in a city of pirates, it wouldn't be weird if someone tried to steal their boat, so Toz tied the boat down with a couple of chains he made.

Stitches had already started looking for the Bunglehoppers, so Toz and the cats went to catch up with him. However, the eager Stitches had turned into an utterly confused version of himself. He found the large mansion-like building the Bunglehoppers had used as their base, but it was dilapidated and completely empty.