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Turquoise water splashed and glittered, spraying into white foam as the French schooner cut through the waves like a knife. Sidney had taken down the striped flag, much to Henri's dismay, refusing to sail under the colours of any one nation.

The two pirates had ordered, with many pointed fingers and swords, the four French sailors into Sidney's little skiff that the schooner was still alongside, but not before retrieving the small crate of valuable jewellery that Tooth had stolen from his old crew. Sidney had then wished the sailors the best of luck, despite them not understanding a word he said, and set them adrift with a single canteen of fresh water. Henri had nervously stood at the back of the schooner waving au revoir as they sailed further away, but then shook his head and turned his back.

And so the stolen ship sailed slowly into a crescent moon shaped bay, Tooth and Henri pulling sheets and adjusting sails to slow the boat to a near stop, and Sidney carefully navigating between other anchored ships. There was only one rickety wooden dock extending from the beach with already too many vessels tied off onto it, so they dropped anchor in the shallows and rowed the ten metres to shore.

The three stepped onto the pure white beach, the warm sands sifting around the pirates' bare toes. Sidney turned around with his arms spread wide, the early sunset staining his white fur a light gold.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to Palm Island."

The beach was pocked by a few fledgling fires, burning in preparation for the coming night. Only a few sailors and privateers wandered around the fires, laughing and reliving stories, most of them not drunk quite yet. The island itself was small and mostly thick jungle with only a few acres of grassy flats which were occupied by wooden shanties and ramshackle lean-tos. Sidney could (and on one occasion had) run around the perimeter of the entire island in just a few hours. Which was why he adored the place. It was smaller and less crowded than Nassau, but just as free.

"I know a fence here that we can sell this to," Sidney said, patting the small crate under Tooth's arm. "But I think we owe our new friend a little something." He looked up at Tooth, who rolled his yellow eyes.

"Fine," rumbled the crocodile. Sidney dug through the box and pulled out a few gold coins, and pushed them into Henri's paw.

"My thanks for the help, but it's time for us to part ways. Buy yourself a trip back to Paris." He patted Henri on the arm, then turned and started to walk up towards the village with Tooth following closely behind. The ferret stood on the beach, his paw still clasping the gold, buckled shoes and stockings full of sand. He watched as the two pirates walked away, fear and confusion pulling at his face as he was left all alone. His voice squeaked when he spoke.

"Quoi?"

* * *

"Sidney Sweet, you little bloody rascal!" called a smiling voice.

"Erick, my friend. How long has it been? Five months?" Sidney pulled the other rabbit into a tight hug, slapping his back. Tooth stood away and let the two greet each other. He noticed that Erick, who only wore a pair of dark breeches and no shirt, had a very interesting fur pattern. When the brown fur on his back met the cream fur on his belly, the two colours ran together like spraying sea foam. Tooth also realised that the other rabbit was taller than Sweet by a decent amount.

"Longer than that," Erick replied, releasing the embrace. "And you still owe me for that boat, now I come to think of it."

"That thing? Hardly worth what you asked for it," Sidney said defensively, trying to wave the issue away. Erick raised an eyebrow.

"Then perhaps you should have mentioned that before you sailed away on it without paying me anything at all."

"Fine!" Sidney threw up his hands in mock desperation, and grinned. "I have a decent cargo of sugar tucked away in a schooner on the bay. A quarter of that is yours if you forget all about that bucket of splinters."

"A third." Erick crossed his arms over his bare chest. Sidney narrowed his eyes in thought, but then stuck out his paw.

"Deal," he said. The two rabbits shook, then Sidney added, "But I'm also going to need a new boat."

"Very well," Erick sighed. "Can I assume all this sugar was procured legally?"

"Of course! I'm insulted you would think otherwise."

Erick wrinkled his muzzle in disbelief, but chose not to pursue his train of thought. These days, the less he knew about exactly where goods were coming from, the better. When Kings and countries hired desperate sailors to attack and steal from each other, why should he concern himself with too many morals? All coin had blood on it somehow.

"Erick, I want you to meet a friend of mine," Sidney said as he took the other rabbit by the shoulder. Erick looked up at the crocodile and fought an instinctual urge to run away and hide. "This fine gentleman is Mr Tooth. He's helped me out in a few scrapes."

"It's a... pleasure to meet you." Erick struggled to get the words out. He tried to stop his knees from shaking, hoping his breeches would hide the quivering as the leathery face looked down at him.

"I need to sell this," Tooth said simply, lowering the small wooden box to in front of the brown rabbit. Erick took a peek inside and his eyes widened and glittered.

"I definitely do not want to know where this came from," said Erick. He raised his eyes back up to the croc's. He was still terrified, but a greedy hunger started to spread behind his face. "I can offer you a very good price for this."

"Good," Tooth grinned.

* * *

Rum splashed on the sand, spilled from wildly waving mugs and cups as pirates danced around a large bonfire in various states of intoxication. Their shadows leapt about like demons in the flickering fire light, the sun long since set. The music of a fiddler and a piper cut through the air, adding to the excitement and the energy of the shouting and flailing figures.

Among the most wild of dancers was Sidney, the rum affecting his small lupine body more harshly than others. He emerged from the writhing throng of bodies pulling with him a large breasted vixen in a flowing dress. Giggling fox in tow, Sidney stumbled over to the hulking form of Tooth who sat on the sand a few metres from the dancing, leaning against his barrel of rum, enjoying the night in his own quiet way. The crocodile smiled and raised his mug as the rabbit approached, before downing his fifth cup of rum in one gulp. He blinked slowly as the alcohol only started to affect him.

Sidney flopped down and sat on the soft sand, motioning for the vixen to sit on his lap, which was rather awkward not just because they were both quite drunk, but because she, like most people, was a good foot taller than the rabbit. After some playful scuffling, the two settled down next to the crocodile, the vixen stroking Sidney's long ears.

"Tooth, my friend," Sidney slurred, "You are just... wonderful." He had to pause to think of the right words, speaking loudly over the din of music and drunken singing. Tooth smiled and nodded in agreement. "I am having the best night of my life. And it's all thanks to you."

"You're the one that got me to leave that crew, Sweet," said Tooth. "You treat me like a friend, like a real person. Not some idiot monster, like they did." He stared into his empty mug, not used to sharing his thoughts so candidly.

"I'm really glad I didn't have to kill you," Sidney said, grinning. Tooth's chuckle was low and heavy.

"You couldn't kill me if you tried."

"Oh, I did try. You are one tough bastard. Not even the strongest poison I had could take you down." The words tumbled drunkenly from Sidney's mouth. Tooth's chuckle turned into a frown as Sweet's words bounced around in his head.

"But those are sleeping darts," the croc said slowly. Sidney shook his head and playfully punched Tooth's arm.

"Not for you, my large friend. For you I needed something quite a bit stronger," he said, laughing it off. But Tooth wasn't laughing.

"You tried to kill me..." he muttered, yellow eyes narrowing. Suddenly he jumped to his feet knocking Sidney and his wench into the sand, and bellowed. "You tried to kill me!"

"What? I don't...?" Sidney stammered, confused. His normally sharp tongue was lost somewhere within the drunken fog. The fox immediately squealed and scampered away. Alcohol dulling his reactions, Sidney could not escape as Tooth reached down and grabbed his leg, hoisting the helpless rabbit high into the air as easy as a sailor hoists a flag. Sidney gave a yelp when he suddenly found himself dangling upside down, a giant clawed paw curled painfully around his ankle, and staring down into Tooth's dark, wet maw as the crocodile spoke.

"You said you wanted to help me! You said we were partners!" The little rabbit writhed in the air as the crocodile raged. "But you only said that after you couldn't kill me, didn't you?"

"I... well, yes," Sidney cried out, the alcohol and blood rushing to his head as he swayed about making it hard to think straight. "But look at what we did together! We stole treasure and a ship, and we got away with it!"

"You tricked me so you could get away!" Tooth shook Sidney like a doll, making the rabbit's head swim and stomach lurch.

"Well, you were going to kill me as well!" Sidney spat back. Tooth held him level with his yellow eyes, and Sidney could feel the crocodile's hot, stinking breath wash over him. He quivered at Tooth's snarl.

"At least I would have killed you looking you in the eye. I would have given you that. You would know that you were beaten by someone better than you, instead of sneaking around like a coward trying to poison people!" Tooth roared. But Sidney screamed back.

"You took a lead ball for me!" yelled the rabbit. Tooth was momentarily confused, and the rabbit continued through his moment of silence. "You're right, I am a coward. I tried to kill you the moment I saw you, but you... You trusted me enough to save my life, twice! Not only that but you were willing to put yourself in harm's way, maybe even die to protect me."

The two stared at each other in taut silence for nearly a full minute.

"He couldn't have killed me with that piss shooter," Tooth mumbled.

"That doesn't matter. Do you know who else would have done that for me? Absolutely no one. I don't think that even I could do something so selfless for someone else. And I have to live with that every day now, knowing that someone I barely knew was willing to do something for me that I never would."

Tooth held the rabbit steady in the air and let him swing gently in the cool night wind. His rage had also cooled, defused like wet powder, no longer wanting to tear the small mammal into bloody chunks.

"So what. Are you trying to say I'm some kind of angel?" the croc scoffed sarcastically, not completely willing to let go of his anger just yet. Sidney wanted to chuckle, but the building pressure in his head and gut told him that was a bad idea.

"You're no angel, Tooth. But I guess despite what I'd like to think, underneath all those scales and snarls you are a better person than I am."

Tooth glared at him, his mind slowly processing what the rabbit was saying.

"Do you really mean that?" Tooth growled, "Or are you just saying it?"

"Does it even matter right now?" He attempted to shrug. "My life is quite literally in your hands at the moment."

With an aggressive sigh, Tooth let go of the rabbit's leg, letting him drop two feet onto the sand with a soft thump. Sidney immediately got onto his hands and knees, and breathed deeply trying to settle his stomach. The pounding in his head slowly faded as the blood rushed back to where it should be.

Tooth pointed one giant, clawed finger at the pile of rabbit and growled, somewhat half-heartedly, "If you ever try to kill me again, Sweet, I'll... tear you in half."

Sidney pulled himself to his feet, drunkenly brushing the sand from his clothes. "Oh, I imagine you'll do a lot worse than that." The rabbit stood as best he could and looked Tooth right in his small yellow eyes. "Friend?"

Tooth looked him up and down, scowling. "We'll see."

"Fair enough," Sidney shrugged. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find somewhere private and dignified to vomit into." He wandered away from the party, weaving his way into the night and trying desperately not to stumble over his own feet. Tooth watched him leave, more than a little confused as to what he should be feeling at this moment. After the rabbit disappeared into the darkness, he sighed and reached for his mug.

"Bugger it," he mumbled, turning to his barrel of rum.

* * *

The sky was bright, the sea birds were loud, and Sidney Sweet held his head and groaned at what had to be a cannonball rolling around inside his skull. He stumbled down the gangway of somebody else's ship, desperately trying to remember how he had got there, and why the lady wolf he had woken up under had been wearing his waistcoat. At least the vixen asleep on the floor had just been naked.

Clothes and weapons retrieved, he had left the two sleeping ladies and now wandered along the shining beach, past the remnants of last night's party. He checked everything was where it should be; sword, blowpipe, and most importantly the compass. All there. As he walked he limped slightly because of a nasty bruise on his ankle. That much of the night he could remember. He sighed and tried to push it to the back of his mind, instead trying to enjoy the cool breeze that flowed around him, making his dirty waistcoat flap slightly. Feeling his stomach growl, he tied his red bandanna around his neck and went in search of breakfast.

The rabbit approached a wooden shack with an open front and smoke wafting gently out. Groaning as he sat on a stool at the bar of the shack, he reached into a pocket and slapped a coin onto the bench.

"Hey!" he called into the shack. "I need food here."

A short and stocky bull emerged from the smoky haze of the shack with a knife in one hand and grimy rag in the other. He looked at the coin on the bench and frowned. "Got fish," he said bluntly. Sidney wrinkled his nose. He had been up to his long ears in dried, and sometimes raw, fish for over a week.

"Do you have anything else?" he asked hopefully. The bull glanced down at the solitary coin and raised an eyebrow. Sidney sighed and placed two more coins on the table, which made the bull smile a jagged and unpleasant smile.

"Got eggs."

"That's more like it," said Sidney, nodding. The bull took the coins and disappeared into the smoky haze, a fire lighting up the darkness and the sounds and smells of sizzling making Sweet's mouth water. The rabbit took a few seconds to look around the beach, but didn't see too much of interest. There were still very few other people about in the morning sun, mainly just fishermen out to make their keep. A few unconscious bodies lay on the sand near the barely smouldering bonfire, more often than not with an empty bottle curled up in their paws.

A one eared bulldog sat down next to the rabbit, and immediately demanded a beer. He stank of booze, but that was far from the worst smell that could surround an unwashed pirate. Sidney had smelled much worse on his own person in the past. He greeted the bulldog with a nod and a "morning," who responded with a grunt. The bull emerged from the smoke once again with a mug of beer and a bowl of only partially blackened eggs. Not giving a damn, Sidney shovelled the smoky, rubbery eggs into his mouth with a spoon while the dog next to him disappeared into his beer.

"A bit early for that, isn't it?" Sidney nodded at the bulldog who snorted a laugh.

"The sun's over the yardarm somewhere in the world."

The rabbit shrugged and turned back to his breakfast. A shadow passed over the shack that made Sidney's fur tingle. A huge body sat down with a thump on the other side of the rabbit, making the wooden stool creak and strain. It was Tooth. Sidney looked up at the immense reptile and swallowed his mouthful of egg. If it weren't for the claws and teeth, the crocodile would have looked almost comical as he sat hunched over on the comparatively tiny stool.

"Are you planning on ripping me apart today?" Sweet asked, praying he wouldn't regret it.

"That depends. Have you tried to kill me yet?" Tooth responded in his growl of a voice.

Sidney grinned. "Not yet." Tooth turned his leathery maw towards the rabbit, his wicked teeth curling into the faintest of smiles.

"Eggs!" the crocodile yelled into the shake, bringing his fist down onto the bench. "I'm hungry! And my head really hurts," he mumbled to himself, rubbing the side of his skull and being careful not to knock his hat off.

The bull peered briefly into the daylight to see who was making demands for food, saw Tooth, and then evaporated back into the dark smoke with a fright where the sounds of more frying could be heard.

The bulldog sitting to the right of Sweet, who had thus far taken his time with his morning beer, almost as if hypnotised by the rippling depths of the drink, finished the last dregs of his mug. He seemed surprised that there was now a third person sitting at the shack, having somehow not noticed the eight foot tall crocodile that had arrived. But he was even more surprised when he thought he recognised the beast.

"Tooth? Is that you?"

Those words sent a chill right up Sidney's spine and directly into his brain, instantly dissolving any leftover strands of hangover.

The croc turned at the sound of his name, and squinted at the bulldog. "Charlie?"

"That's right, mate. It's been awhile, hasn't it."

"Yeah, last I saw you, you were sailing away on one of the Captain's fleet ships."

Sidney stared straight ahead, eyes wide and face frozen in horror as the two conversed across him. He prayed to God in Heaven that Tooth would figure it out and realise he had to stop talking.

"We were going after some posh merchant's boat, but he slipped away and led us into a sandbar. The rest of the fleet went after him, but we had to peel off for a bit of fixin'. Got a nasty gash in the hull." The bulldog paused and lifted the empty cup to his lips in the hope that more beer would have miraculously appeared. "Hey, Tooth? Aren't you supposed to be back at the fort?"

Sidney snapped his head to Tooth, slowly shaking his head in a silent gesture for him to be quiet, but the croc didn't seem to notice or understand.

"I was. Got sick of it. So I buggered off."

"How'd you get 'ere though? The Captain took all her ships after the merchant. You couldn't have rowed 'ere."

Sweet stared and listened in silent horror as Tooth said proudly to Charlie, "This little bugger helped me get out. Took a pile of booty with us as well." The crocodile clapped the white rabbit on the back, bruising him. But that was least of Sidney's concerns.

"Well!" said the rabbit loudly, sliding off his stool and grabbing Tooth by the arm. "That's enough tall tales for now. My my, you really can tell 'em sometimes. You could become a writer of grand fiction if you put your mind to it. Oh, well. My word, it's getting late and we really have to get going while the tide favours us you know how it is." He tried to push and pull Tooth away from the bulldog, but the crocodile stood solidly and just gave him a confused look.

"Wait," said the bulldog. "Are you saying that you stole from the Captain's treasure?"

Tooth blinked and his smile slowly went slack as it began to click into place that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn't have said what he just said. A bowl of fried eggs appeared on the bench in front of him, but he didn't notice. The crocodile shifted uncomfortably on the stool as he tried to think of what he could say that would get him out of the incriminating situation.

"No."

Sidney groaned to himself.

"I think you better come with me back to the ship," said the bulldog, pulling out a pistol. He glared at Sweet. "Both of you."

Sweet raised his hands into the air in surrender, swearing under his breath. How on God's green earth was he going to think his way out of this situation. Luckily, Tooth had a different solution in mind. The crocodile lunged forward and grabbed the entire pistol and most of Charlie's paw, engulfing them in his own huge hand.

"I'm not going anywhere," Tooth growled as he squeezed hard. The wood in the pistol popped and cracked, as did the bones in the bulldog's hand making him wail. Charlie mashed his finger against the trigger, but the crocodiles flesh blocked the flintlock from striking. Eyes bulging, Charlie stumbled back cradling his paw and whimpering when Tooth finally released him. The pistol fell uselessly into the sand.

"It's time to leave, friend," Sweet whispered urgently to Tooth.

"You'll bloody pay for that!" Charlie cried out. "Lads! We got a deserter!" Heads belonging to a mass of slowly awakening figures all around the beach turned to look at the commotion. A few of the less hung over ones drew swords.

"Oh bollocks," Sidney said, watching nearly thirty men, all much larger than he, slowly approach.

"No one betrays the Captain and gets away with it!" Charlie yelled and pointed at Tooth with his good hand. The crocodile responded by grabbing the bulldog by his shirt and heaving him through the air toward the encroaching crowd. He landed with a thud and a squeal in the sand. It seemed to act as a signal to charge, as one second after the bulldog's writhing body came to a halt, the group gave a battle cry and dashed forward with weapons raised.

"Time to run, Tooth!" Sidney pushed the crocodile in the direction of the jungle. Even Tooth knew when he was outnumbered and sprinted after the rabbit, cursing. Their bare feet pounded against the ground, the sand turning quickly into grass and then dirt as they ran past palms and ferns. The constant roar of the mob followed close behind them.

"This is my fault," Tooth called, panting, to Sidney. "I'm sorry."

"You certainly keep things interesting!" The rabbit puffed as he vaulted over a thick, low hanging branch that Tooth simply barged through, turning it to splinters with a punch. "If we get out of this, you can buy me a drink and we'll call it even!"

There was a pop, and a lead pellet whizzed past Tooth's head and slammed into a tree. The two pirates quickly glanced at each other and grinned.

"Deal!"