"Ya old fart"

After having been thrown out by his father, Peyton had been living on the streets of Wahou Island. The clothes he wore were tattered and dirty because of the fishing for food and sleeping on the ground. Peyton sat on a bench, enjoying the latest fish they had caught and being rather proud of themself. He hadn't been outside much before and knowing he could live independently as a nine year old really boosted his confidence.

This street life of Peyton went on for a little while and because of this they learned all about their surroundings and the people in it. He started using this knowledge to his advantage and pickpocketed tourists whenever he could. He often had luck with new arrivals, because usually their wallets were stuffed with money for the first night out.

One afternoon Peyton was on the lookout for new targets. They sat on the higher end of the docks to have a proper view of everyone who got off the ships. Their eyes spotted an older man who was somewhere near 50 years old. The cleanly shaved beard, sunglasses, half-closed button up shirt and knee-length, dark gray pants combined with the skin-and-bone arms and legs really made him seem as just the right person to steal from.

Peyton sneaked closer, crossing through the masses up until there were only three people between him and his next target. They swiftly manoeuvred to the back of the man, slipped their hands through all the pockets and as soon as they grabbed a wallet, Peyton took a leave. Before he was away from the man, though, he was pulled back by his tail and suddenly hung about half a foot above the ground.

"Let. Go." They tried to reach the ground with their feet but to no avail. Peyton turned their head to look at the old man "Let go of m-whuaah!" He realised the one that was holding him wasn't the old man. Instead he was held up by quite a muscular .... bat? Rabbit..? They had trouble finding out what exactly this being was. What they did know was that he had been caught in the act. Peyton still hung in the air, frantically moving himself and trying to whack his tail in hopes to set himself loose.

People had gathered around the ruckus and whispered as to what this big bunbat had to do with the little kid. Some felt sorry for Peyton while others were talking about the warning for pickpocketers, when a voice started to speak. "Now now, people. It's time to leave. The show is over." They looked at where the voice came from and there he was. The seemingly fragile old man, standing next to the buffed up bunbat. It was quite a sight. As if yin and yang were portrayed by two men right then and there. "Mitsuki sensei!" "oh my! It's master Shiro" "so the big guy is Yannick.." people whispered as they realised who he was and quickly decided to move along.

Peyton, still confused as to who this man and cabinet sized being were, kicked around to be set free. "Hnnngg. Lemme go, ya bully!" He whacked his tail around one more time, finally causing Yannick to lose grip. In this small moment of freedom, however, Peyton hadn't calculated the landing and hurt their foot as they came down. He tried to stay up, but had quite some trouble to balance himself. "Okay. Okay. Here. Take ya stupid wallet." They threw it towards the two men and made an attempt to walk off.

"You've got quite some energy, kiddo." Mitsuki Shiro spoke calmly. "You might wanna use it for a different purpose, though." Peyton looked over their shoulder and snarled "Whaddaya know, old fart?". "I know more than you think. I've seen you roam around for quite a while now." Shiro gave a slight smile. " 'Fcourse" Peyton exclaimed with a huff. "I shoulda known a fossil doesn't go far from his place. Just let me be, gramps, Imma manage myself." Peyton turned away from the duo "Oh" he stopped in his tracks. "Tell the big turd to not grab a shark by its tail. Next time it won't be like this." Peyton murmured some more complaints as they started to walk again.

"Sensei..." the big guy gave his peer a concerned yet inviting glance. "Yeah. I see it as a challenge too, Yannick." Shiro laughed sneakily. "Go ahead." He took a few large steps and took Peyton in a single swoop off of their feet again, onto his shoulder, making Peyton yelp in shock. "You're coming with us, lil one." Yannick said in a joyful tone. "What? No! Let Go! Take ya hands offa me, ya skunk!"

Peyton tried to kick himself free again, forgetting he had injured himself earlier. "MONKEY FISHSTICKS!!" They screamed. "Lemme go, dangit!" Peyton kept worming around but it didn't make any difference because Yannick's arm clenched them too tightly. "Settle down, kiddo. We're gonna take proper care of you. Don't move too much, you might hurt yourself." Shiro laughed as he heard himself say that. "Dasnot funny, smart fart." Peyton hissed before letting hemself hang, knowing he couldn't go anywhere anyway. Maybe the old man was right, and if not, he'd just flee again, just like before.