You know, my Kingdom Hearts fics are always longer than every other fic I write... weird.
This is 40.9kb long, without the author's notes (but including the commentary from the cast at the end).
Yes, this is a fusion of Pirates of the Caribbean and Kingdom Hearts. No, I don't know why I decided this was a good idea, but it amused me. Especially when I was watching PoTC for the fourth time and found myself giggling over the dialogue and scenes I changed further on into the movie. Because there will be changes. Serious changes. Freakin' amusing changes.
Some of the characters may not make sense as the ones they portray at this particular time, but trust me, they'll make sense by the end of the fic. Or not, but by then, you'll have come up with your own reasons for my decision to make certain people certain characters.
Onwards, folks, to the story.
Disclaimer: PoTC belongs to Disney. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square. Neither of which employ the author. Characters used without permission.
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Pirates of Destiny Isle
Part One
Priest Li Xiang
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The fog was thick, causing the eyes to strain to see anything about them. It was an unnatural fog, and she was pretty sure that she smelt smoke on the winds-- but that was impossible, was it not? How could there be smoke enough to be smelt here, at the prow of the ship, where she stood, so softly singing. This was the ocean, after all, and everything she had learned previously said that water would always conquer over fire. Therefore, it was quite impossible.
Her childish words were cut off quite abruptly as a hand came down upon her shoulder, causing her to gasp. Whirling, soft brown eyes stared into the cool almost black depths of a stout man. A hat sat lopsidedly upon his head, a shade or two off of the colors of the coats of the navy men that accompanied she and her father. He was frowning, "Quiet, young missy. Cursed pirates sail these waters-- ye don't want to be bringing them down upon us, do ye?"
The ten year old opened her mouth, annoyed and ready to respond, when someone else did it for her. The man was dressed in the finery of a Lieutenant in the navy, although he refused to conform to the standards of the day-- his hair was long and shaggy, a tussled brown-gold beneath the hat he had to wear. He had other changes to his uniform, simple changes-- such as the thick, and sturdy black leather boots with an absurd amount of belts and buckles upon them, and the sleek black leather gloves that bore a strange lion's head-like symbol upon their backs. The same symbol, done in silver, slapped against his chest; he wore it as a pendant.
"Mister Donald," the man-- he could not have been more than eighteen, really-- snapped, sending the older male a sharp look, "That is quite enough."
"She was singin' about pirates," Donald spat back, eyes flashing with barely tamped fury. He was a superstitious sort, and his beliefs had held firm over the long years of his life, "It be bad luck to sing about pirates-- what with us mired in this unnatural fog. Mark my words," he warned, lifting his chin.
"Consider them marked," the Lieutenant returned, nary an ounce of emotion coloring his voice, "Be on your way."
"Aye, Lieutenant," the older one tipped his head in understanding, before all but stomping past him. Beneath his breath, the old one grumbled, "It's bad luck t'ave a woman on board to. Even a miniature one," before taking a long swig from his rum flask.
"_I_ think it would be rather exciting to meet a pirate," she interjected, lifting her head proudly to stare the Lieutenant in the eye. A dark, slender eyebrow rose, stretching the star between his eyes a bit strangely. His voice was flat when he spoke.
"Think again, Miss Swann. Vile men who deserve what they get-- a short drop and a sudden stop," he didn't bother to explain, and she looked past him in confusion. Donald had turned about to see her face, and decided to end her confusion. He tipped his head back, stuck out his tongue and yanked upwards on the straps of his flask. She recoiled in shock, never having been all that fond of hangings.
"Lieutenant Loire," a new voice, belonging to a rounded figure with a dark wig and fancy hat, interjected somewhat hesitantly, "I do appreciate your fervor, but I... I am concerned about the effect this subject will have upon my daughter."
Loire tipped his head in acknowledgement, moving off to continue with his duties.
"Actually, I find it all quite fascinating," she smiled cheerfully up at her father, who patted her on the shoulder with a pained grimace.
"Yes. That's what concerns me."
With a roll of her eyes, the young Miss Swann turned back to her previous activity-- watching the waters for any sign of their destination. Or for the reason behind the smoke-smell that even yet still tingled her nostrils.
To her surprise, a speck of white came drifting out of the fog. With a tiny laugh, and a smile, she leaned over the edge to get a better look at the... parasol? What in the world was a parasol doing out on the ocean? There was no reason for it to be out there... unless some poor woman had dropped it overboard on a windy day. Like the day before, for example-- they had gotten quite ahead of schedule thanks to the wind that had picked up, but that wind had died down to nothing over the course of the night and now they were drifting along, barely moving.
With a sigh, she focused back into the present, sweeping her gaze up and away from the parasol-- only to land upon another oddity in the waters. But this one was neither a parasol, nor other accessory.
"Look! Look!" the half shriek brought about the attention of many of the crew, "A boy! There's a boy in the water!"
Donald was the first to the side, peering down at the wreckage and the youth who lay sprawled across what could only be the remains of the deck of a ship, "Man overboard!"
"Haul him aboard," Loire's voice was quiet, but commanding, and the men leapt to the task, hefting the soaked boy onto the deck. It took only a moment to check, "He's still breathing," before Loire stood alongside many of the other men to see where the child could have come from.
"Mary, Mother of God!" Donald spat, his eyes widening as the answer came into view. Her own eyes flew wide at the site, and to her dismay, she discovered what, exactly, could cause the smell of smoke to be on the air in the midst of the ocean.
A burning ship.
There was not much of it left-- bits and pieces scattered here and there, the mast propped oddly against what could have once been the Captain's quarters, the sail burning brightly. Flames leapt from piece of piece, turning the fog bright, and the waters orange. Many a hat came off.
"What happened here?" her father was saying, as her gaze was captured by the beauty of the flames. She did not think she was supposed to be finding it to be such a wondrous sight, but she could not help what she felt.
"Most like the powder magazine," Loire murmured, eyes flashing oddly in the flickering light, "Merchant vessels run heavily armed."
"Bloody lot of good it did them," Donald muttered, turning his gaze away from the sight and towards his shipmates, "Everyone's thinkin' it; I'm just saying it. _Pirates_."
"There... there's no proof of that, now. It was probably an accident," her father stuttered, only to be ignored. Loire whirled about, "Rouse the Captain. Heave to and take in sail. Lower the boats."
"Kairi," her name startled her out of her daze, and she looked up at her father, "I want you to accompany the boy. He will be in your charge. Take care of him."
"Yes father," she gave the barest nods of acknowledgement, skirting around the ropes on the deck to get to the boy's side. He was truly a remarkable figure, she mused, although it would be several more years before she was of any age to understand the ideals of handsome and ugly. No, what was remarkable was his coloring. His youthful face was striking against the pale of his hair-- a blonde that was so near to white; she could have sworn that it glinted blue for a few moments. His feet were bare, but from their coloring, obviously used to wearing boots. A white shirt was barely tucked into black britches, and a gold chain sparkled about his neck.
Carefully, she reached out to snag the chain, curious over the pendant. Would it be something unique like Loire's lion, or would it be chain to a timepiece? However, before she could pull it out, the boy jerked awake, fingers curling tightly around her wrist-- she could feel his nails biting into the skin. The pain was minimal enough to ignore.
"It's okay," she soothed, brushing away all worries from her face, as she stared into brilliant, brilliant blue eyes "Everything will be just fine. My name is Kairi Swann."
"R... R... Riku... T... Turner," he choked out, adrenaline already seeping out of his body and causing him to start to go limp. Kairi patted his hand softly as his fingers unclenched.
"I'm watching over you, Riku," she murmured, watching as his ocean-blue eyes fell shut. Nearly the moment he had fallen back to the deck, she slipped the chain from beneath his shirt, and over his head to investigate it. A gold trinket, was her first thought, before her mind put together the images on the pendant. It was circular, a skull directly in the center, and several odd symbols and designs she amused to be words in another language around it.
Around the skull itself was the carefully etched and designed flame-like drawings that could only be one mythical figure-- Heartless. It was creepy. It was disturbing. It was something only a pirate would wear.
"You're a... pirate," she whispered, eyes lighting up with some strange joy as she stared at the youth. But it dimmed quickly as she realized what would happen if her father or Loire learned of Riku's status as a pirate. Less than guiltily, the girl quickly shoved the medallion into the pocket of her skirt.
"Has he said anything?"
Kairi jumped, whirling about to face Loire, delighted that she had managed to hide the medallion before the man had gotten close enough to see it. Taking a breath, she nodded, "His name is Riku Turner. It's all he said."
Loire nodded in understanding, a faint look of amusement flickering in the man's eye. Did he know? Did the Lieutenant already know Riku was a pirate, and was merely humoring her? Would he take the boy and lock him up? There were rumors of Loire's own status on the seas-- that he was all but pirate himself, except working for the Royal Navy, and therefore exempt from hanging. Did that mean that he knew the names of all the pirates on the seas?
Her nervousness was on the verge of breaking into the visible range, when Loire spoke again, "Take him below," and stepped past her.
Shaking her head, the girl returned to where she had been standing before Riku had been discovered, and raised her eyes out to the waters, where the beautiful fire still flickered.
Her mouth went dry, as she saw a myth upon the waters, beginning to glide back into the fog.
"The Black Pearl..."
---
With a sigh, the beautiful redhead slid the twin blades between the mattresses of her bed, and stretched luxuriously, spine popping and cracking as she did so. Mmm, such a delicious feeling, the sun warmly filtering through the window on her sweat-soaked body. Practice made perfect, she mused, rolling her shoulders and twisting her hips. It had been a good practice, the swish of her nightgown rippling around her as she moved... how delightful. She'd have to thank Riku for the blades again, sometime soon.
Custom made for her, they were not a weapon native to Europe, and therefore, not one that she was expected to know how to use. Not that, she mused darkly as she reached for her bureau to retrieve the only bit of jewelry that she wore every day, she was supposed to know how to fight in the first place. It had certainly taken long enough to convince Riku to help her on her endeavor. You would think being friends for years would have helped in some way, shape or form.
Shaking silly thoughts from her head, she did the clasp for the medallion she had stolen years ago, and snatched up her quilt to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. Mere moments after completing the task at hand, there came a heavy-handed knock at the door, and her father's voice came to her ears, "Kairi! Are you alright? Are you decent?"
"Yes!" she called in answer to both questions as she pulled a robe on over her nightgown, tying the sash in record time.
"Still abed at this hour?" her father shook his head with a sigh, turning to look out the window, and missing the nervous grin on his daughter's face as she pretended to have only just awoken, "Ah, it is a beautiful day. I have a gift for you."
One of the maids that had accompanied her father into the room held out a decorated box, and Kairi carefully lifted the lid of it to stare down at the dress held within the box. Lifting it out, she marveled at the design, even as she itched to be allowed to pull on a pair of men's britches and go about like that. Or even, she thought back to the slaves she had seen some weeks ago on a ship bound for England, to be able to wear the short, light skirts that they wore. Some of the clothing her father ordered her-- direct from London, of course-- was to heavy, or had to many layers to wear in the heat of Destiny Island, the heart of the Caribbean.
The majority of the dress was white in color, flowers and vines embroidered into the fabric in several different shades of violet. Kairi's eyes lifted to her father's and she smiled widely, "Oh, it's absolutely beautiful, father!"
"Isn't it?" the Governor chuckled, and Kairi barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew damn well her father had merely asked for 'a dress for my daughter', and someone else had decided on the design and colors to give her. Still... violet was one of her favorite colors...
"May I inquire as to the occasion?" she wondered suspiciously, hiking an eyebrow. For one thing, he father never actually bought her anything unless there was an occasion for it. More often than not, she had found herself down at the port buying her own clothing, or even just the fabric. Not that her father knew that she was quite the capable seamstress, and had taken to repairing her own clothing in lue of spending money to have it done for her.
"Does a father need an occasion to dote upon his daughter?" When it's you? Yes, she thought at him, although refrained from speaking aloud. Daughters weren't allowed to be disobedient, now where they? "Go on, try it on."
With a shake of her head, Kairi disappeared behind the changing screen, and threw off her robe. The maids that had followed her shared smiles at the sight of her sweat-soaked nightgown. It was a regular occurrence, and while neither woman had inkling of the true reasons for the sweat, they had their own thoughts in the backs of their minds.
"Actually..." there it was, exactly as she had expected it her father hedged his bets and spoke, "I had hoped that you might wear it for the ceremony today."
"Ceremony?" what ceremony? Had she missed something while she had been practicing? Or when she had gone down to the port to bother Riku into going off with her?
"Captain Leon Loire's promotion ceremony," the old man confirmed with a nod of his head. Kairi peered around the changing screen, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I knew it!"
"Commodore Loire, he's about to become," her father continued on, as though he hadn't heard her proclamation, "Fine gentleman, don't you think? He fancies you."
Really now, Kairi wondered, wrapping the corset around her body. How could you possibly tell? Loire was a frigid man-- handsome, but frigid. He only thought of the sea and bringing in more pirates, really. She'd once heard, however, that he had once had a fiancée. Apparently she refused to be married to a man who loved the sea and battle more than her, and had broken the engagement.
"Kairi? How is it coming?"
"Difficult to say," Kairi huffed, drawing in her breath and her stomach, as the maids pulled the strings of the corset tight. Now, this was most assuredly not something she had worn before, and it was damned painful.
"I'm told it's the latest fashion in London."
Well, maybe they know how to survive without breathing, she shot back in her mind, gasping, as the boned cloth was pulled even tighter. Yes, she would kill whatever foolish man had decided that corsets were fashionable. Painfully. With a rusty butter knife.
Hmm, she'd been hanging around the jails and the pirates within a bit to often.
Her thoughts were cut off as yet another knock came at her bedroom door, and a servant stepped in, "M'lord, you have a visitor."
As her father left, Kairi rolled her eyes, then turned to the maids, "Do you think you could loosen it just a bit? It's quite painful."
"I'm sorry, M'lady," one of the servants murmured, "but the dress'll not fit right without it as tight as it is."
"Dammit all," Kairi spat beneath her breath, so that the two ladies with her would not hear her words. It wouldn't do to be impolite when she was supposed to be a lady. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be as free as the women at the port! Brushing away such thoughts, she slipped into the elegant dress and allowed the two maids to fuss over her hair and matching jewelry.
It took a bit longer than she had hoped, but soon enough she was walking down the spiraling staircase from her rooms to the main hall. Her ears perked as a familiar voice floated to them.
"--Always pleased to hear his work is appreciated."
"Ah, Kairi!" her father's voice practically boomed through the house, "You look absolutely stunning."
But Kairi couldn't care less about her father's words, as her gaze fell upon the man who was more family to her than her own flesh and blood, "Riku! So good to see you. I had a dream about you last night."
"A... about me?" Riku looked confused, and slightly wary. Kairi had shared some of her dreams with him before, and the silver haired youth, while not adverse to hearing them, really didn't think her father needed to hear some of the things that Kairi-- and he, at times-- got into in her nightly adventures.
"Kairi," came her father's slightly pained voice, "Is that entirely proper for--"
"About the day we met, do you remember?" she prodded with a smile. With her back to her father, her eyebrows twitched, and Riku began to get a sinking feeling. Best to get out of this before Kairi dragged him into even _more_ trouble than she usually did.
"How could I forget, Miss Swann?" it's not like I haven't wondered what would have happened had you not come across me.
"Riku," the girl huffed, "How many times must I ask you to call me Kairi?"
"At least once more, Miss Swann, as always," had the Governor not been there, the sentence would have been met by Kairi pouncing on him in a tickle attack that sometimes made him wonder if she was a five year old in an eighteen year old's body. Not that he was any better, tickling back and getting the two in a right proper mess, should anyone have seen them. It was a surprise that no one had yet.
But the Governor was there, and he smiled, clapping a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "There, see? At least the boy has a sense of propriety. Now, we really must be going. Farewell."
"Good day, Mister Turner," Kairi sighed, following her father out of the building. Riku tagged along until right outside the doors, calling to the carriage that the two Swanns were climbing into, "Good day!" With a slight smile, and a shake of his head, the youth left the premises to return to work. No rest for the weary.
---
With the day so fair, it was only right that there was enough of a sea breeze to bring ships into harbor.
Even if the ship was little more than a lifeboat with a mast, crows nest and sail, he thought with a smirk, blue eyes focused on the island he was coming ever closer to. Shaking his head in amusement at his own predicament, he looked down and sighed. Apparently his fix-all gunk hadn't worked. But then, it was only mud, so there had been little hope that it would do much else than keep him from sinking completely as he tried to find a port to sail into. With a cheerful little bounce, he dropped into the water that was filling his small boat, and snatched up a bucket to begin bailing it out. It did little to help, but it gave him something to do.
There was nothing more boring than to be on a slowly sinking ship, for which you know there is no hope, being well within reach of land, on a bright, sunshiny day. Well, perhaps being out in the waters, far away from land, with little food, when it was a bright, windless day. That was pretty boring, too.
Raising his eyes, he pushed away his mental distractions as his eyes landed upon the three skeletons swaying in the sea breeze, and the creaking wooden sign that hug, weather beaten, beside them. Pirates ye be warned.
Not that warnings ever mattered to him, was his thought as he pulled off his captain's hat to reveal a messy mass of brown spikes, decorated with beads and bones, to salute the skeletons. Might as well send his regards to those who went before.
And damn to the depths anyone who thought that they would ever have _his_ body to hang there, as well.
The breeze shifted slightly, and his boat crept closer to the skeletons for a moment, before swaying back onto the course it had been set before as he fixed the sail to catch the wind properly. Not that it truly mattered, not all that much time later, as his boat sunk to the bottom. He merely stepped off the crows nest and onto the dock, with a cheerful little bounce to his step. Now... he just needed to find himself--
"Hold up there, you!" barked a voice from behind, and he swung around to blink at the white-wearing harbormaster, "It's a shilling to tie up your boat at the docks," Incredulously, he looked from the harbormaster to where his boat had gone beneath, but the man was not finished, "And I shall need to know your name."
"Well..." he came forwards, a grimy hand partially bound in leather dropping three coins onto the man's log book, "What d'ye say to three shillings, and we forget the name?"
"Welcome to Destiny Island, Mister Smith," the Harbormaster smiled, clapping his book shut. 'Mister Smith' smiled, clapping his hands together and bowing slightly, red-brown waistcoat swishing gaily about him as he stood. He paused only to look at the bag the Harbormaster had carelessly left behind, lifting it and shaking it. The sound of coins clicking caused him to smile, and he tucked it away into his coat. How delightful! Extra booty.
Now, he had to go find himself a boat, didn't he?
No. Wait. There was something _else_ he needed first.
Rum.
---
Sufficiently plied with rum, he strolled down the walk, weaving slightly as he moved. Damned land was impossibly hard to walk upon. Give him a ship and the sea any day! Now there was something made for walking.
Amused smile curving his lips, he turned his head towards the harbor, eyes sweeping the docks for a suitable ship. It needed to be a fair size, of course, and it needed to be prepared to leave. It would be rather hard to get a ship ready by himself, and he already knew it would be quite the task to accomplish, but who else but he would every try? That's right, no one, and he enjoyed making a name for himself.
Ah, now there was a ship. With an off kilter smile, and a bounce in his step, he continued on towards the navy docks, and the ship he had decided would be his. At least, temporarily, until he got his real ship back. All he needed to do was stroll down the docks and hop into the boat. It wouldn't do to take the boat and then find something wrong with it, something he couldn't work around. Therefore, he had to look at it before... borrowing without permission.
"This dock is off limits to civilians!" came a voice, and two men shuffled in front of him. They stood about the same height, one with bright blonde hair that was only slightly painful as the sun glinted off of it, and the other had shaggy black hair. The first looked like some sort of prince with his grooming and all, while the other looked like he had been picked up off the street. Ah, well, the navy got all sorts, did it not?
"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know," he responded with a smile and a gesture, "If I see one, I shall inform you immediately!" With this cheerful sentence-- because, of course, he didn't consider himself a civilian. He didn't live on Destiny Island, now did he?-- he tired to walk around the two red-coated guards. They refused to let him by. He decided to try another tactic, "Apparently, there's some sort of a high toned and fancy to do up at the fort, eh? How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?"
"Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians," the blonde returned.
"It's a fine goal, to be sure, but it seems to me that a ship like that one," he shifted slightly, pointing out at the military ship floating not all that far out from the docks, "makes this one here a bit superfluous, really."
"Ah, the Ragnarok is the power in these waters, true enough," the blonde nodded, "but there is no ship that can match the Highwind for speed."
"I've here of one," he smiled, the sun glinting off a gold tooth, "Supposed to be very fast, nigh uncatchable... the Black Pearl."
"Well," the dark haired one finally decided to speak up, "there's no _Real_ ship that can match the Highwind."
"The Black Pearl is a real ship," his partner insisted.
"No, no it's not."
"Yes it is. I've seen it."
"You've seen it?"
"Yes," the blonde nodded firmly, crossing his arms.
"You haven't seen it," the rough one snorted.
"Yes I have," the pretty boy insisted.
"You've seen a ship with black sails, that's crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?" Neither man noticed the smirk on his face as they argued, nor did they notice as he stepped around them, going up the boarding plank to poke and prod at the ship.
"No."
"No," there was a triumphant note in his voice.
"But," the blonde nodded, "I have seen a ship with black sails."
"Oh, so no ship that's not crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out could possibly have black sails and therefore couldn't possibly by any other ship than the Black Pearl. Is that what you're saying?"
The blonde nodded with a smile, "No."
"Like I said, there's no _real_ ship that can match the Highwind," the black haired one shook his head and turned back to the man they had been speaking with, only to realize that he was gone. A quick look about showed his position to both of the guards-- aboard the Highwind, playing with the wheel, as though he was some over sized and drunk child.
"Hey!" the blonde squawked, completely forgetting the argument that he had begun, "You! Get away from there!"
"You don't have permission to be aboard there, mate," his partner also seemed to have forgotten as the two men leapt aboard, bayonets aimed towards the offender.
"I'm sorry, it's just that it's such a pretty boat-- ship. I meant ship."
"What's your name?" the blonde have him a suspicious look, and he smiled.
"Smith. Or... Smithy, if you like."
"And what's your purpose on Destiny Island, Mister Smith?"
"And no lies now!" the blonde added on, nodding sharply.
Never one for lying, he smiled, stepping away from the wheel, "Well then, I confess. It is my intention to commandeer one of these fine ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage and plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasley black guts out."
"Hey, I said no lies!"
"I think he's telling the truth, Hercules."
"If he were telling the truth, Aladdin, he wouldn't have told us."
"Unless, of course," he interjected cheerfully, "he knew you wouldn't believe the truth, even if he told it to you."
Ah, he enjoyed playing with peoples' minds. It was a surprise he could do that while drunk.
---
"May I have a moment?" the quiet voice was commanding, bordering on monotone, and left no doubt as to who it belonged to. Kairi turned to see the newly promoted Commodore Loire standing at her side. He was a chill as normal, the scar between his eyes dark against his pale skin. She would never know how the man managed to stay so pale, all but living on the seas of the Caribbean. It didn't seem possible, but then, Leon was always one to be able to perform the impossible.
Nodding her head, she trailed after him, and they found themselves standing atop the battlement, Kairi struggling for breath through her corset. It was too damned tight-- she'd told her maids that! And now, she was suffering due to lack of breath and the damnable heat of the day. Her pitiful little hand fan did little to alleviate the pain of being so short of breath, and she decided, then and there, that she would never, ever, ever, wear a corset again.
Ever.
Even if she went to London, where it was the fashion.
Because, dammit it was killing her!
While she was thinking all this, and vowing vengeance against the fool who had created the damned thing in the first place, Loire was trying desperately to figure out a way to approach Kairi. She was over a decade and a half his junior, but she was both beautiful and unmarried, although he was unlikely to ever speak of her beauty in anything but his mind. He was not a talking person.
But the ceremony, the promotion he had received not even an hour prior threw his life into sharp relief-- he needed a wife. If not for him, than for his father, back in England. The man was growing old, and his mother had just passed on two months previous. The least he could do was offer the man a grandchild before he died. He had hoped his marriage to Rinoa would have worked out, but the woman... she loved him more than he had thought she had, and had allowed him to break free of the engagement so he could stay with his first love-- battle.
He shook his head with a sigh, turning to face the girl he had brought to the Island eight years earlier as a child. It was hard to believe that he was actually going to do this. Well... he could always go about it the way he had with Rinoa thirteen years earlier.
"Kairi..."
"Yes?" she managed to smile, even though she was in pain and leaning against the battlement to keep upright.
"I... apologize if I seem... forward, but I... must speak my mind. The promotion... it throws into light that which I have not yet achieved--"
He can't be serious, her mind whispered through the haze. Was her father right about Loire?
"-- a marriage to a fine woman. You have become a fine woman, Kairi." It wasn't quite what he said to Rinoa, although it was close. Very close. But he had proposed to Rinoa when he had made Lieutenant, and he hadn't tagged on that last line, but all else was the same.
"I... can't breathe," the girl whimpered, and Leon nodded slowly, not really looking at her. Which was a sad thing, because so much could have been avoided if he'd only been looking towards her as she collapsed in a faint, tumbling off the edge of the battlements and into the water. He only caught the movement from the corner of his eye, whirling about as she fell, hat flying off of her crimson locks.
"Kairi!"
"The rocks!" came the startled voice of his closest companion, Aeris, as the woman in the navy uniform wrapped her arms around him to prevent him from diving after the redhead, "Sir, it's a miracle that she missed them!"
---
"Will you be saving her then?" he wondered, looking at the two men who stood beside him. The three had leapt to their feet when the woman had hit the surf, a mere second before.
"I can't swim," Aladdin admitted somewhat sheepishly. A glance to the blonde Hercules revealed a blank stare and a shrug, and he shook his head.
"Pride of the King's Navy, you are," was all he muttered in response, stripping off his hat and a jacket. His sword and pistol, as well as a compass, followed the cloth into the arms of the navy men, and he half growled, "Do not loose these," before diving into the water after the girl. Long used to long swims and diving into the ocean, he let the water sting his eyes as he went after the sinking dress-wearing form.
For a moment, he could have sworn he felt something, an energy of some sort, pulse through his bones. He brushed it off, while topside, the sky began to grow dark, and the wind began to blow. A perfect day soon became a brewing storm. Aladdin and Hercules shared a worried look, aboard the Highwind.
She was heavy, he noted, somewhat annoyedly, hauling her up to the surface over one shoulder. Her weight-- or rather, the weight of the soaking dress-- dragged him back under, however, and he fought with the clothing for a moment, before managing to tear the cloth away from her body. Without it, she was much lighter, and one hell of a lot easier to keep on the surface.
It didn't take all the long to pull the girl onto the dock, where Hercules very nearly panicked, "She's not breathing!"
"Move!" he barked, shoving the man away from the girl, snapping a knife out from a pocket on his soaking pants, and cutting the strings of the corset. As the fabric fell away, she coughed up a lungful of water, and he sat back. Aladdin held the corset somewhat dazed.
"Never would have thought of that."
"Clearly," was his dry response, "You've never been to Singapore," before his eyes landed on the medallion about the girl's neck. Startled, he lifted it into grimy fingers, before looking into her eyes, "Now where did you get this...?"
"On your feet," the chill voice was, somewhat surprisingly, familiar to him. Slowly, he stood, looking into the frosty storm-gray eyes that he could clearly remember, despite the alcohol induced fog in his brain. He knew this man, although the sight of him in a navy uniform was a bit of a shock. He wondered, briefly, if the other members of the military knew of the pirate brand that was hidden by the dark blue jacket, and the lion-pendant on the man's chest. Probably not, as if they had, he wouldn't be wearing the colors of a Commodore, now would he?
"Kairi, are you alright?"
He spared a look to the girl, as the Governor pulled her to her feet, and wrapped his own jacket about the girl. The family resemblance gave him the clue that she was his daughter. Hmm, maybe he wasn't as drunk as he thought he was.
"Yes," she returned, looking at him, "I'm fine.
"Good. Men, shoot him!"
"Father!" Kairi barked, clearly startled enough not to remain in her role of proper female, "Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?"
The Commodore's eyes narrowed sharply, and the two men stared at each other long and hard, "I believe," Loire began, "that thanks are in order," extending his hand. For a moment, he considered not shaking, and instead jumping into the water and risk being riddled full of bullets. Then he dismissed it. Like Loire would do that to him-- he, after all, knew of Loire's own checkered past as a pirate.
He should have known better, he thought dismally, as Leon's grip tightened, and he pulled up the other man's sleeve. They returned to staring at one another for a moment, before Loire's voice, as cold and emotionless as he remember, broke the tense silent, "Brush with the East India Trading company, pirate?"
"Hang him," the Governor commanded, eyes narrowed. The pirate may have saved his daughter, but no doubt there were countless other lives lost to the man before them.
"Keep your guns on him," Loire commanded, "Aeris, the irons." Here, there lie a small problem. The majority of the men that were with him on the dock had served with him at some point or another. He couldn't just call the pirate by name, as he had never encountered him while with the military, but he wouldn't just ask for his name.
Wait. Didn't he have a tattoo on his arm? Yes, he could clearly remember the other pirate-- even if he was a military man, it was hard to break out of the habit of considering himself a pirate-- showing him the tattoo shortly after he had gotten it done. And it was on this arm as well. How convenient.
"Sora Sparrow," Loire muttered, pulling the sleeve up higher to reveal the sparrow tattoo on his arm.
Sora tipped his head slightly, "Captain Sora Sparrow, if you please, Squa... sir."
"I don't see your ship... Captain," and he knew damn well which ship Sora had captained all those years before.
"I'm in the market, as it were."
"He said he'd come to commandeer one, sir," Hercules interjected, clearly happy to be able to help.
"I told you he was telling the truth. These are his, sir," and he held out Sora's effects to the newly made commodore. Loire rifled through them, clearly amused at what the pirate deemed important enough to carry with him.
"No addition shots, nor powder. A compass that doesn't point north," he mused, before pulling free the sword. A raised eyebrow and a smirk were all Sora needed to know what Loire was thinking, as the sword was slid back into it's scabbard, "You are, without a doubt, the worst pirate I've ever heard of."
"Ah, but you have heard of me," Sora smirked, clearly enjoying this little game, and none to worried about being sentenced to hanging mere minutes ago.
"Commodore," Kairi jumped back into the conversation, as Sora was dragged away, "I really must protest."
"Careful Lieutenant," the man stated, ignoring his intended bride-to-be.
"Pirate or not, this man saved my life!"
"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness," Leon muttered, and Sora blinked. That certainly explained why the man had given up being a pirate, given up the name Squall Leonhart and returned to his proper, English roots. He'd probably found God, and decided to repent his ways.
"Though it seems enough to condemn him," Sora put in, pushing away his thoughts. It was hard to think of the fierce and feared Squall, a pirate he had looked up to as a lad, as a military man, hell bent on destroying all pirates.
"Indeed," was Loire's dry response as Aeris moved away from chaining Sora.
"Finally," the pirate huffed, swinging his arms up and around and catching Kairi about the throat with the chain, pulling her back against him. "Sorry luv," he murmured, only for her ears, "Don't particularly want to die."
"No! Don't shoot!" the governor was pleading, as he saw his daughter's life on the line. His eyes were wide, and he looked about at the point of having a heart attack. Sora wondered if his father would have been like that, had he ever been in this position as a child and decided that he didn't care. What did it matter anyways; he'd been a pirate since his seventh birthday, and damned if he could do anything else now.
"I knew you've warm up to me," Sora grinned ferally at the navy men, "Commodore Squall--" hey, if Loire was going to blow Sora's identity as a pirate, it was only fair to return the favor,"-- my effects, please, and my hat. Commodore!"
Loire scowled at him, but tipped his head ever-so-slightly. Sora's lips quirked, an understanding passing between the two of them. Pirate to pirate, even if one was in chains, and one was playing at being a good man.
"Kairi, isn't it?" he turned his attention to the girl, as his belongings were handed to her.
"It's Miss Swann," she huffed, annoyed at being used as a hostage.
"Miss Swann, then. If you'd be so kind," he grinned at the girl as she began to put his things on him while within the circle of his chained arms, "'Ey, easy on the goods, darling," he muttered as she pulled his sword belt a wee bit to tight in her annoyance.
"You go beyond annoying," she growled lowly, to low to be heard by anyone but the pirate practically wrapped around her.
"Sticks and stones, luv. Sticks and stones. I saved your life, you saved mine, we're square," raising his voice, he addressed the men about him, "Gentlemen, m'lady, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Sora Sparrow!"
And with a twist and shove, Kairi was out of his arms, and he was running off.
"Now will you shoot him?" queried the girl's father.
"Open fire!" Loire commanded, irritable at the treatment of Miss Swann, and at his own previous identity being proclaimed to all. Hopefully, none amongst them would be able to put two and two together. As the guns began to fire, Sora took hold of a rope and kicked off the weight. Up, up, up he went swinging into the air and about in a circle before landing upon another wooden crane.
A grin was shot to the soldiers and to Kairi, as he looped his chain over a rope and kicked off. Ah, this reminded him of his childhood; back when he and his old friend would race each other over the docks of the port where they grew up, increasingly annoying the men and women about as they played their games. With a thud, he found himself on the dock, and bolting full speed away from the approaching soldiers. Every shot that came just slightly to close would cause him to jump and wave about his arms theatrically, but never did he stop running.
Loire had to admit; even he would have stopped by this point, if only to end up full of bullets rather than getting hanged. Despite the long years since they had last seen each other, he still held that spark of respect for Sora Sparrow. It was hard not to, knowing the sorts of things the man could escape from while still alive. Truly a remarkable man.
Now, to see, just how remarkable.
"Aeris."
"Aye sir. We'll make sure he doesn't miss his dawn appointment with the gallows, Commodore."
---
End Part One
Sora: ...
Riku: ...
Kairi: What the _hell_ was that?
Sora & Riku: Kairi!
Kairi: Well, I'm serious! What was that all about? Why's Sora the pirate and Riku the blacksmith?
Riku: Good question. Wouldn't I make a better pirate?
Sora: Hey! Are you saying I'm doing badly?
Riku: No, I'm saying that you don't fit the part, Sora.
Kairi: That's enough, boys. Another question-- why is this almost word for word from the movie?
Sora: Oh! I know the answer to that!
Riku: Do tell.
Sora: Because it hasn't gotten to the point where anything can seriously diverge yet. Remember the ending?
Kairi & Riku: You mean where-- mpph!
Sora: *covering their mouths* Hush, we don't want to be giving it all away, now do we? Ack! Riku! Don't lick my hand!
Riku: Then don't put it over my mouth.
This is 40.9kb long, without the author's notes (but including the commentary from the cast at the end).
Yes, this is a fusion of Pirates of the Caribbean and Kingdom Hearts. No, I don't know why I decided this was a good idea, but it amused me. Especially when I was watching PoTC for the fourth time and found myself giggling over the dialogue and scenes I changed further on into the movie. Because there will be changes. Serious changes. Freakin' amusing changes.
Some of the characters may not make sense as the ones they portray at this particular time, but trust me, they'll make sense by the end of the fic. Or not, but by then, you'll have come up with your own reasons for my decision to make certain people certain characters.
Onwards, folks, to the story.
Disclaimer: PoTC belongs to Disney. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square. Neither of which employ the author. Characters used without permission.
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Pirates of Destiny Isle
Part One
Priest Li Xiang
--------
The fog was thick, causing the eyes to strain to see anything about them. It was an unnatural fog, and she was pretty sure that she smelt smoke on the winds-- but that was impossible, was it not? How could there be smoke enough to be smelt here, at the prow of the ship, where she stood, so softly singing. This was the ocean, after all, and everything she had learned previously said that water would always conquer over fire. Therefore, it was quite impossible.
Her childish words were cut off quite abruptly as a hand came down upon her shoulder, causing her to gasp. Whirling, soft brown eyes stared into the cool almost black depths of a stout man. A hat sat lopsidedly upon his head, a shade or two off of the colors of the coats of the navy men that accompanied she and her father. He was frowning, "Quiet, young missy. Cursed pirates sail these waters-- ye don't want to be bringing them down upon us, do ye?"
The ten year old opened her mouth, annoyed and ready to respond, when someone else did it for her. The man was dressed in the finery of a Lieutenant in the navy, although he refused to conform to the standards of the day-- his hair was long and shaggy, a tussled brown-gold beneath the hat he had to wear. He had other changes to his uniform, simple changes-- such as the thick, and sturdy black leather boots with an absurd amount of belts and buckles upon them, and the sleek black leather gloves that bore a strange lion's head-like symbol upon their backs. The same symbol, done in silver, slapped against his chest; he wore it as a pendant.
"Mister Donald," the man-- he could not have been more than eighteen, really-- snapped, sending the older male a sharp look, "That is quite enough."
"She was singin' about pirates," Donald spat back, eyes flashing with barely tamped fury. He was a superstitious sort, and his beliefs had held firm over the long years of his life, "It be bad luck to sing about pirates-- what with us mired in this unnatural fog. Mark my words," he warned, lifting his chin.
"Consider them marked," the Lieutenant returned, nary an ounce of emotion coloring his voice, "Be on your way."
"Aye, Lieutenant," the older one tipped his head in understanding, before all but stomping past him. Beneath his breath, the old one grumbled, "It's bad luck t'ave a woman on board to. Even a miniature one," before taking a long swig from his rum flask.
"_I_ think it would be rather exciting to meet a pirate," she interjected, lifting her head proudly to stare the Lieutenant in the eye. A dark, slender eyebrow rose, stretching the star between his eyes a bit strangely. His voice was flat when he spoke.
"Think again, Miss Swann. Vile men who deserve what they get-- a short drop and a sudden stop," he didn't bother to explain, and she looked past him in confusion. Donald had turned about to see her face, and decided to end her confusion. He tipped his head back, stuck out his tongue and yanked upwards on the straps of his flask. She recoiled in shock, never having been all that fond of hangings.
"Lieutenant Loire," a new voice, belonging to a rounded figure with a dark wig and fancy hat, interjected somewhat hesitantly, "I do appreciate your fervor, but I... I am concerned about the effect this subject will have upon my daughter."
Loire tipped his head in acknowledgement, moving off to continue with his duties.
"Actually, I find it all quite fascinating," she smiled cheerfully up at her father, who patted her on the shoulder with a pained grimace.
"Yes. That's what concerns me."
With a roll of her eyes, the young Miss Swann turned back to her previous activity-- watching the waters for any sign of their destination. Or for the reason behind the smoke-smell that even yet still tingled her nostrils.
To her surprise, a speck of white came drifting out of the fog. With a tiny laugh, and a smile, she leaned over the edge to get a better look at the... parasol? What in the world was a parasol doing out on the ocean? There was no reason for it to be out there... unless some poor woman had dropped it overboard on a windy day. Like the day before, for example-- they had gotten quite ahead of schedule thanks to the wind that had picked up, but that wind had died down to nothing over the course of the night and now they were drifting along, barely moving.
With a sigh, she focused back into the present, sweeping her gaze up and away from the parasol-- only to land upon another oddity in the waters. But this one was neither a parasol, nor other accessory.
"Look! Look!" the half shriek brought about the attention of many of the crew, "A boy! There's a boy in the water!"
Donald was the first to the side, peering down at the wreckage and the youth who lay sprawled across what could only be the remains of the deck of a ship, "Man overboard!"
"Haul him aboard," Loire's voice was quiet, but commanding, and the men leapt to the task, hefting the soaked boy onto the deck. It took only a moment to check, "He's still breathing," before Loire stood alongside many of the other men to see where the child could have come from.
"Mary, Mother of God!" Donald spat, his eyes widening as the answer came into view. Her own eyes flew wide at the site, and to her dismay, she discovered what, exactly, could cause the smell of smoke to be on the air in the midst of the ocean.
A burning ship.
There was not much of it left-- bits and pieces scattered here and there, the mast propped oddly against what could have once been the Captain's quarters, the sail burning brightly. Flames leapt from piece of piece, turning the fog bright, and the waters orange. Many a hat came off.
"What happened here?" her father was saying, as her gaze was captured by the beauty of the flames. She did not think she was supposed to be finding it to be such a wondrous sight, but she could not help what she felt.
"Most like the powder magazine," Loire murmured, eyes flashing oddly in the flickering light, "Merchant vessels run heavily armed."
"Bloody lot of good it did them," Donald muttered, turning his gaze away from the sight and towards his shipmates, "Everyone's thinkin' it; I'm just saying it. _Pirates_."
"There... there's no proof of that, now. It was probably an accident," her father stuttered, only to be ignored. Loire whirled about, "Rouse the Captain. Heave to and take in sail. Lower the boats."
"Kairi," her name startled her out of her daze, and she looked up at her father, "I want you to accompany the boy. He will be in your charge. Take care of him."
"Yes father," she gave the barest nods of acknowledgement, skirting around the ropes on the deck to get to the boy's side. He was truly a remarkable figure, she mused, although it would be several more years before she was of any age to understand the ideals of handsome and ugly. No, what was remarkable was his coloring. His youthful face was striking against the pale of his hair-- a blonde that was so near to white; she could have sworn that it glinted blue for a few moments. His feet were bare, but from their coloring, obviously used to wearing boots. A white shirt was barely tucked into black britches, and a gold chain sparkled about his neck.
Carefully, she reached out to snag the chain, curious over the pendant. Would it be something unique like Loire's lion, or would it be chain to a timepiece? However, before she could pull it out, the boy jerked awake, fingers curling tightly around her wrist-- she could feel his nails biting into the skin. The pain was minimal enough to ignore.
"It's okay," she soothed, brushing away all worries from her face, as she stared into brilliant, brilliant blue eyes "Everything will be just fine. My name is Kairi Swann."
"R... R... Riku... T... Turner," he choked out, adrenaline already seeping out of his body and causing him to start to go limp. Kairi patted his hand softly as his fingers unclenched.
"I'm watching over you, Riku," she murmured, watching as his ocean-blue eyes fell shut. Nearly the moment he had fallen back to the deck, she slipped the chain from beneath his shirt, and over his head to investigate it. A gold trinket, was her first thought, before her mind put together the images on the pendant. It was circular, a skull directly in the center, and several odd symbols and designs she amused to be words in another language around it.
Around the skull itself was the carefully etched and designed flame-like drawings that could only be one mythical figure-- Heartless. It was creepy. It was disturbing. It was something only a pirate would wear.
"You're a... pirate," she whispered, eyes lighting up with some strange joy as she stared at the youth. But it dimmed quickly as she realized what would happen if her father or Loire learned of Riku's status as a pirate. Less than guiltily, the girl quickly shoved the medallion into the pocket of her skirt.
"Has he said anything?"
Kairi jumped, whirling about to face Loire, delighted that she had managed to hide the medallion before the man had gotten close enough to see it. Taking a breath, she nodded, "His name is Riku Turner. It's all he said."
Loire nodded in understanding, a faint look of amusement flickering in the man's eye. Did he know? Did the Lieutenant already know Riku was a pirate, and was merely humoring her? Would he take the boy and lock him up? There were rumors of Loire's own status on the seas-- that he was all but pirate himself, except working for the Royal Navy, and therefore exempt from hanging. Did that mean that he knew the names of all the pirates on the seas?
Her nervousness was on the verge of breaking into the visible range, when Loire spoke again, "Take him below," and stepped past her.
Shaking her head, the girl returned to where she had been standing before Riku had been discovered, and raised her eyes out to the waters, where the beautiful fire still flickered.
Her mouth went dry, as she saw a myth upon the waters, beginning to glide back into the fog.
"The Black Pearl..."
---
With a sigh, the beautiful redhead slid the twin blades between the mattresses of her bed, and stretched luxuriously, spine popping and cracking as she did so. Mmm, such a delicious feeling, the sun warmly filtering through the window on her sweat-soaked body. Practice made perfect, she mused, rolling her shoulders and twisting her hips. It had been a good practice, the swish of her nightgown rippling around her as she moved... how delightful. She'd have to thank Riku for the blades again, sometime soon.
Custom made for her, they were not a weapon native to Europe, and therefore, not one that she was expected to know how to use. Not that, she mused darkly as she reached for her bureau to retrieve the only bit of jewelry that she wore every day, she was supposed to know how to fight in the first place. It had certainly taken long enough to convince Riku to help her on her endeavor. You would think being friends for years would have helped in some way, shape or form.
Shaking silly thoughts from her head, she did the clasp for the medallion she had stolen years ago, and snatched up her quilt to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. Mere moments after completing the task at hand, there came a heavy-handed knock at the door, and her father's voice came to her ears, "Kairi! Are you alright? Are you decent?"
"Yes!" she called in answer to both questions as she pulled a robe on over her nightgown, tying the sash in record time.
"Still abed at this hour?" her father shook his head with a sigh, turning to look out the window, and missing the nervous grin on his daughter's face as she pretended to have only just awoken, "Ah, it is a beautiful day. I have a gift for you."
One of the maids that had accompanied her father into the room held out a decorated box, and Kairi carefully lifted the lid of it to stare down at the dress held within the box. Lifting it out, she marveled at the design, even as she itched to be allowed to pull on a pair of men's britches and go about like that. Or even, she thought back to the slaves she had seen some weeks ago on a ship bound for England, to be able to wear the short, light skirts that they wore. Some of the clothing her father ordered her-- direct from London, of course-- was to heavy, or had to many layers to wear in the heat of Destiny Island, the heart of the Caribbean.
The majority of the dress was white in color, flowers and vines embroidered into the fabric in several different shades of violet. Kairi's eyes lifted to her father's and she smiled widely, "Oh, it's absolutely beautiful, father!"
"Isn't it?" the Governor chuckled, and Kairi barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew damn well her father had merely asked for 'a dress for my daughter', and someone else had decided on the design and colors to give her. Still... violet was one of her favorite colors...
"May I inquire as to the occasion?" she wondered suspiciously, hiking an eyebrow. For one thing, he father never actually bought her anything unless there was an occasion for it. More often than not, she had found herself down at the port buying her own clothing, or even just the fabric. Not that her father knew that she was quite the capable seamstress, and had taken to repairing her own clothing in lue of spending money to have it done for her.
"Does a father need an occasion to dote upon his daughter?" When it's you? Yes, she thought at him, although refrained from speaking aloud. Daughters weren't allowed to be disobedient, now where they? "Go on, try it on."
With a shake of her head, Kairi disappeared behind the changing screen, and threw off her robe. The maids that had followed her shared smiles at the sight of her sweat-soaked nightgown. It was a regular occurrence, and while neither woman had inkling of the true reasons for the sweat, they had their own thoughts in the backs of their minds.
"Actually..." there it was, exactly as she had expected it her father hedged his bets and spoke, "I had hoped that you might wear it for the ceremony today."
"Ceremony?" what ceremony? Had she missed something while she had been practicing? Or when she had gone down to the port to bother Riku into going off with her?
"Captain Leon Loire's promotion ceremony," the old man confirmed with a nod of his head. Kairi peered around the changing screen, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I knew it!"
"Commodore Loire, he's about to become," her father continued on, as though he hadn't heard her proclamation, "Fine gentleman, don't you think? He fancies you."
Really now, Kairi wondered, wrapping the corset around her body. How could you possibly tell? Loire was a frigid man-- handsome, but frigid. He only thought of the sea and bringing in more pirates, really. She'd once heard, however, that he had once had a fiancée. Apparently she refused to be married to a man who loved the sea and battle more than her, and had broken the engagement.
"Kairi? How is it coming?"
"Difficult to say," Kairi huffed, drawing in her breath and her stomach, as the maids pulled the strings of the corset tight. Now, this was most assuredly not something she had worn before, and it was damned painful.
"I'm told it's the latest fashion in London."
Well, maybe they know how to survive without breathing, she shot back in her mind, gasping, as the boned cloth was pulled even tighter. Yes, she would kill whatever foolish man had decided that corsets were fashionable. Painfully. With a rusty butter knife.
Hmm, she'd been hanging around the jails and the pirates within a bit to often.
Her thoughts were cut off as yet another knock came at her bedroom door, and a servant stepped in, "M'lord, you have a visitor."
As her father left, Kairi rolled her eyes, then turned to the maids, "Do you think you could loosen it just a bit? It's quite painful."
"I'm sorry, M'lady," one of the servants murmured, "but the dress'll not fit right without it as tight as it is."
"Dammit all," Kairi spat beneath her breath, so that the two ladies with her would not hear her words. It wouldn't do to be impolite when she was supposed to be a lady. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be as free as the women at the port! Brushing away such thoughts, she slipped into the elegant dress and allowed the two maids to fuss over her hair and matching jewelry.
It took a bit longer than she had hoped, but soon enough she was walking down the spiraling staircase from her rooms to the main hall. Her ears perked as a familiar voice floated to them.
"--Always pleased to hear his work is appreciated."
"Ah, Kairi!" her father's voice practically boomed through the house, "You look absolutely stunning."
But Kairi couldn't care less about her father's words, as her gaze fell upon the man who was more family to her than her own flesh and blood, "Riku! So good to see you. I had a dream about you last night."
"A... about me?" Riku looked confused, and slightly wary. Kairi had shared some of her dreams with him before, and the silver haired youth, while not adverse to hearing them, really didn't think her father needed to hear some of the things that Kairi-- and he, at times-- got into in her nightly adventures.
"Kairi," came her father's slightly pained voice, "Is that entirely proper for--"
"About the day we met, do you remember?" she prodded with a smile. With her back to her father, her eyebrows twitched, and Riku began to get a sinking feeling. Best to get out of this before Kairi dragged him into even _more_ trouble than she usually did.
"How could I forget, Miss Swann?" it's not like I haven't wondered what would have happened had you not come across me.
"Riku," the girl huffed, "How many times must I ask you to call me Kairi?"
"At least once more, Miss Swann, as always," had the Governor not been there, the sentence would have been met by Kairi pouncing on him in a tickle attack that sometimes made him wonder if she was a five year old in an eighteen year old's body. Not that he was any better, tickling back and getting the two in a right proper mess, should anyone have seen them. It was a surprise that no one had yet.
But the Governor was there, and he smiled, clapping a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "There, see? At least the boy has a sense of propriety. Now, we really must be going. Farewell."
"Good day, Mister Turner," Kairi sighed, following her father out of the building. Riku tagged along until right outside the doors, calling to the carriage that the two Swanns were climbing into, "Good day!" With a slight smile, and a shake of his head, the youth left the premises to return to work. No rest for the weary.
---
With the day so fair, it was only right that there was enough of a sea breeze to bring ships into harbor.
Even if the ship was little more than a lifeboat with a mast, crows nest and sail, he thought with a smirk, blue eyes focused on the island he was coming ever closer to. Shaking his head in amusement at his own predicament, he looked down and sighed. Apparently his fix-all gunk hadn't worked. But then, it was only mud, so there had been little hope that it would do much else than keep him from sinking completely as he tried to find a port to sail into. With a cheerful little bounce, he dropped into the water that was filling his small boat, and snatched up a bucket to begin bailing it out. It did little to help, but it gave him something to do.
There was nothing more boring than to be on a slowly sinking ship, for which you know there is no hope, being well within reach of land, on a bright, sunshiny day. Well, perhaps being out in the waters, far away from land, with little food, when it was a bright, windless day. That was pretty boring, too.
Raising his eyes, he pushed away his mental distractions as his eyes landed upon the three skeletons swaying in the sea breeze, and the creaking wooden sign that hug, weather beaten, beside them. Pirates ye be warned.
Not that warnings ever mattered to him, was his thought as he pulled off his captain's hat to reveal a messy mass of brown spikes, decorated with beads and bones, to salute the skeletons. Might as well send his regards to those who went before.
And damn to the depths anyone who thought that they would ever have _his_ body to hang there, as well.
The breeze shifted slightly, and his boat crept closer to the skeletons for a moment, before swaying back onto the course it had been set before as he fixed the sail to catch the wind properly. Not that it truly mattered, not all that much time later, as his boat sunk to the bottom. He merely stepped off the crows nest and onto the dock, with a cheerful little bounce to his step. Now... he just needed to find himself--
"Hold up there, you!" barked a voice from behind, and he swung around to blink at the white-wearing harbormaster, "It's a shilling to tie up your boat at the docks," Incredulously, he looked from the harbormaster to where his boat had gone beneath, but the man was not finished, "And I shall need to know your name."
"Well..." he came forwards, a grimy hand partially bound in leather dropping three coins onto the man's log book, "What d'ye say to three shillings, and we forget the name?"
"Welcome to Destiny Island, Mister Smith," the Harbormaster smiled, clapping his book shut. 'Mister Smith' smiled, clapping his hands together and bowing slightly, red-brown waistcoat swishing gaily about him as he stood. He paused only to look at the bag the Harbormaster had carelessly left behind, lifting it and shaking it. The sound of coins clicking caused him to smile, and he tucked it away into his coat. How delightful! Extra booty.
Now, he had to go find himself a boat, didn't he?
No. Wait. There was something _else_ he needed first.
Rum.
---
Sufficiently plied with rum, he strolled down the walk, weaving slightly as he moved. Damned land was impossibly hard to walk upon. Give him a ship and the sea any day! Now there was something made for walking.
Amused smile curving his lips, he turned his head towards the harbor, eyes sweeping the docks for a suitable ship. It needed to be a fair size, of course, and it needed to be prepared to leave. It would be rather hard to get a ship ready by himself, and he already knew it would be quite the task to accomplish, but who else but he would every try? That's right, no one, and he enjoyed making a name for himself.
Ah, now there was a ship. With an off kilter smile, and a bounce in his step, he continued on towards the navy docks, and the ship he had decided would be his. At least, temporarily, until he got his real ship back. All he needed to do was stroll down the docks and hop into the boat. It wouldn't do to take the boat and then find something wrong with it, something he couldn't work around. Therefore, he had to look at it before... borrowing without permission.
"This dock is off limits to civilians!" came a voice, and two men shuffled in front of him. They stood about the same height, one with bright blonde hair that was only slightly painful as the sun glinted off of it, and the other had shaggy black hair. The first looked like some sort of prince with his grooming and all, while the other looked like he had been picked up off the street. Ah, well, the navy got all sorts, did it not?
"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't know," he responded with a smile and a gesture, "If I see one, I shall inform you immediately!" With this cheerful sentence-- because, of course, he didn't consider himself a civilian. He didn't live on Destiny Island, now did he?-- he tired to walk around the two red-coated guards. They refused to let him by. He decided to try another tactic, "Apparently, there's some sort of a high toned and fancy to do up at the fort, eh? How could it be that two upstanding gentlemen such as yourselves did not merit an invitation?"
"Someone has to make sure this dock stays off limits to civilians," the blonde returned.
"It's a fine goal, to be sure, but it seems to me that a ship like that one," he shifted slightly, pointing out at the military ship floating not all that far out from the docks, "makes this one here a bit superfluous, really."
"Ah, the Ragnarok is the power in these waters, true enough," the blonde nodded, "but there is no ship that can match the Highwind for speed."
"I've here of one," he smiled, the sun glinting off a gold tooth, "Supposed to be very fast, nigh uncatchable... the Black Pearl."
"Well," the dark haired one finally decided to speak up, "there's no _Real_ ship that can match the Highwind."
"The Black Pearl is a real ship," his partner insisted.
"No, no it's not."
"Yes it is. I've seen it."
"You've seen it?"
"Yes," the blonde nodded firmly, crossing his arms.
"You haven't seen it," the rough one snorted.
"Yes I have," the pretty boy insisted.
"You've seen a ship with black sails, that's crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out?" Neither man noticed the smirk on his face as they argued, nor did they notice as he stepped around them, going up the boarding plank to poke and prod at the ship.
"No."
"No," there was a triumphant note in his voice.
"But," the blonde nodded, "I have seen a ship with black sails."
"Oh, so no ship that's not crewed by the damned, and captained by a man so evil that Hell itself spat him back out could possibly have black sails and therefore couldn't possibly by any other ship than the Black Pearl. Is that what you're saying?"
The blonde nodded with a smile, "No."
"Like I said, there's no _real_ ship that can match the Highwind," the black haired one shook his head and turned back to the man they had been speaking with, only to realize that he was gone. A quick look about showed his position to both of the guards-- aboard the Highwind, playing with the wheel, as though he was some over sized and drunk child.
"Hey!" the blonde squawked, completely forgetting the argument that he had begun, "You! Get away from there!"
"You don't have permission to be aboard there, mate," his partner also seemed to have forgotten as the two men leapt aboard, bayonets aimed towards the offender.
"I'm sorry, it's just that it's such a pretty boat-- ship. I meant ship."
"What's your name?" the blonde have him a suspicious look, and he smiled.
"Smith. Or... Smithy, if you like."
"And what's your purpose on Destiny Island, Mister Smith?"
"And no lies now!" the blonde added on, nodding sharply.
Never one for lying, he smiled, stepping away from the wheel, "Well then, I confess. It is my intention to commandeer one of these fine ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage and plunder and otherwise pilfer my weasley black guts out."
"Hey, I said no lies!"
"I think he's telling the truth, Hercules."
"If he were telling the truth, Aladdin, he wouldn't have told us."
"Unless, of course," he interjected cheerfully, "he knew you wouldn't believe the truth, even if he told it to you."
Ah, he enjoyed playing with peoples' minds. It was a surprise he could do that while drunk.
---
"May I have a moment?" the quiet voice was commanding, bordering on monotone, and left no doubt as to who it belonged to. Kairi turned to see the newly promoted Commodore Loire standing at her side. He was a chill as normal, the scar between his eyes dark against his pale skin. She would never know how the man managed to stay so pale, all but living on the seas of the Caribbean. It didn't seem possible, but then, Leon was always one to be able to perform the impossible.
Nodding her head, she trailed after him, and they found themselves standing atop the battlement, Kairi struggling for breath through her corset. It was too damned tight-- she'd told her maids that! And now, she was suffering due to lack of breath and the damnable heat of the day. Her pitiful little hand fan did little to alleviate the pain of being so short of breath, and she decided, then and there, that she would never, ever, ever, wear a corset again.
Ever.
Even if she went to London, where it was the fashion.
Because, dammit it was killing her!
While she was thinking all this, and vowing vengeance against the fool who had created the damned thing in the first place, Loire was trying desperately to figure out a way to approach Kairi. She was over a decade and a half his junior, but she was both beautiful and unmarried, although he was unlikely to ever speak of her beauty in anything but his mind. He was not a talking person.
But the ceremony, the promotion he had received not even an hour prior threw his life into sharp relief-- he needed a wife. If not for him, than for his father, back in England. The man was growing old, and his mother had just passed on two months previous. The least he could do was offer the man a grandchild before he died. He had hoped his marriage to Rinoa would have worked out, but the woman... she loved him more than he had thought she had, and had allowed him to break free of the engagement so he could stay with his first love-- battle.
He shook his head with a sigh, turning to face the girl he had brought to the Island eight years earlier as a child. It was hard to believe that he was actually going to do this. Well... he could always go about it the way he had with Rinoa thirteen years earlier.
"Kairi..."
"Yes?" she managed to smile, even though she was in pain and leaning against the battlement to keep upright.
"I... apologize if I seem... forward, but I... must speak my mind. The promotion... it throws into light that which I have not yet achieved--"
He can't be serious, her mind whispered through the haze. Was her father right about Loire?
"-- a marriage to a fine woman. You have become a fine woman, Kairi." It wasn't quite what he said to Rinoa, although it was close. Very close. But he had proposed to Rinoa when he had made Lieutenant, and he hadn't tagged on that last line, but all else was the same.
"I... can't breathe," the girl whimpered, and Leon nodded slowly, not really looking at her. Which was a sad thing, because so much could have been avoided if he'd only been looking towards her as she collapsed in a faint, tumbling off the edge of the battlements and into the water. He only caught the movement from the corner of his eye, whirling about as she fell, hat flying off of her crimson locks.
"Kairi!"
"The rocks!" came the startled voice of his closest companion, Aeris, as the woman in the navy uniform wrapped her arms around him to prevent him from diving after the redhead, "Sir, it's a miracle that she missed them!"
---
"Will you be saving her then?" he wondered, looking at the two men who stood beside him. The three had leapt to their feet when the woman had hit the surf, a mere second before.
"I can't swim," Aladdin admitted somewhat sheepishly. A glance to the blonde Hercules revealed a blank stare and a shrug, and he shook his head.
"Pride of the King's Navy, you are," was all he muttered in response, stripping off his hat and a jacket. His sword and pistol, as well as a compass, followed the cloth into the arms of the navy men, and he half growled, "Do not loose these," before diving into the water after the girl. Long used to long swims and diving into the ocean, he let the water sting his eyes as he went after the sinking dress-wearing form.
For a moment, he could have sworn he felt something, an energy of some sort, pulse through his bones. He brushed it off, while topside, the sky began to grow dark, and the wind began to blow. A perfect day soon became a brewing storm. Aladdin and Hercules shared a worried look, aboard the Highwind.
She was heavy, he noted, somewhat annoyedly, hauling her up to the surface over one shoulder. Her weight-- or rather, the weight of the soaking dress-- dragged him back under, however, and he fought with the clothing for a moment, before managing to tear the cloth away from her body. Without it, she was much lighter, and one hell of a lot easier to keep on the surface.
It didn't take all the long to pull the girl onto the dock, where Hercules very nearly panicked, "She's not breathing!"
"Move!" he barked, shoving the man away from the girl, snapping a knife out from a pocket on his soaking pants, and cutting the strings of the corset. As the fabric fell away, she coughed up a lungful of water, and he sat back. Aladdin held the corset somewhat dazed.
"Never would have thought of that."
"Clearly," was his dry response, "You've never been to Singapore," before his eyes landed on the medallion about the girl's neck. Startled, he lifted it into grimy fingers, before looking into her eyes, "Now where did you get this...?"
"On your feet," the chill voice was, somewhat surprisingly, familiar to him. Slowly, he stood, looking into the frosty storm-gray eyes that he could clearly remember, despite the alcohol induced fog in his brain. He knew this man, although the sight of him in a navy uniform was a bit of a shock. He wondered, briefly, if the other members of the military knew of the pirate brand that was hidden by the dark blue jacket, and the lion-pendant on the man's chest. Probably not, as if they had, he wouldn't be wearing the colors of a Commodore, now would he?
"Kairi, are you alright?"
He spared a look to the girl, as the Governor pulled her to her feet, and wrapped his own jacket about the girl. The family resemblance gave him the clue that she was his daughter. Hmm, maybe he wasn't as drunk as he thought he was.
"Yes," she returned, looking at him, "I'm fine.
"Good. Men, shoot him!"
"Father!" Kairi barked, clearly startled enough not to remain in her role of proper female, "Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?"
The Commodore's eyes narrowed sharply, and the two men stared at each other long and hard, "I believe," Loire began, "that thanks are in order," extending his hand. For a moment, he considered not shaking, and instead jumping into the water and risk being riddled full of bullets. Then he dismissed it. Like Loire would do that to him-- he, after all, knew of Loire's own checkered past as a pirate.
He should have known better, he thought dismally, as Leon's grip tightened, and he pulled up the other man's sleeve. They returned to staring at one another for a moment, before Loire's voice, as cold and emotionless as he remember, broke the tense silent, "Brush with the East India Trading company, pirate?"
"Hang him," the Governor commanded, eyes narrowed. The pirate may have saved his daughter, but no doubt there were countless other lives lost to the man before them.
"Keep your guns on him," Loire commanded, "Aeris, the irons." Here, there lie a small problem. The majority of the men that were with him on the dock had served with him at some point or another. He couldn't just call the pirate by name, as he had never encountered him while with the military, but he wouldn't just ask for his name.
Wait. Didn't he have a tattoo on his arm? Yes, he could clearly remember the other pirate-- even if he was a military man, it was hard to break out of the habit of considering himself a pirate-- showing him the tattoo shortly after he had gotten it done. And it was on this arm as well. How convenient.
"Sora Sparrow," Loire muttered, pulling the sleeve up higher to reveal the sparrow tattoo on his arm.
Sora tipped his head slightly, "Captain Sora Sparrow, if you please, Squa... sir."
"I don't see your ship... Captain," and he knew damn well which ship Sora had captained all those years before.
"I'm in the market, as it were."
"He said he'd come to commandeer one, sir," Hercules interjected, clearly happy to be able to help.
"I told you he was telling the truth. These are his, sir," and he held out Sora's effects to the newly made commodore. Loire rifled through them, clearly amused at what the pirate deemed important enough to carry with him.
"No addition shots, nor powder. A compass that doesn't point north," he mused, before pulling free the sword. A raised eyebrow and a smirk were all Sora needed to know what Loire was thinking, as the sword was slid back into it's scabbard, "You are, without a doubt, the worst pirate I've ever heard of."
"Ah, but you have heard of me," Sora smirked, clearly enjoying this little game, and none to worried about being sentenced to hanging mere minutes ago.
"Commodore," Kairi jumped back into the conversation, as Sora was dragged away, "I really must protest."
"Careful Lieutenant," the man stated, ignoring his intended bride-to-be.
"Pirate or not, this man saved my life!"
"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness," Leon muttered, and Sora blinked. That certainly explained why the man had given up being a pirate, given up the name Squall Leonhart and returned to his proper, English roots. He'd probably found God, and decided to repent his ways.
"Though it seems enough to condemn him," Sora put in, pushing away his thoughts. It was hard to think of the fierce and feared Squall, a pirate he had looked up to as a lad, as a military man, hell bent on destroying all pirates.
"Indeed," was Loire's dry response as Aeris moved away from chaining Sora.
"Finally," the pirate huffed, swinging his arms up and around and catching Kairi about the throat with the chain, pulling her back against him. "Sorry luv," he murmured, only for her ears, "Don't particularly want to die."
"No! Don't shoot!" the governor was pleading, as he saw his daughter's life on the line. His eyes were wide, and he looked about at the point of having a heart attack. Sora wondered if his father would have been like that, had he ever been in this position as a child and decided that he didn't care. What did it matter anyways; he'd been a pirate since his seventh birthday, and damned if he could do anything else now.
"I knew you've warm up to me," Sora grinned ferally at the navy men, "Commodore Squall--" hey, if Loire was going to blow Sora's identity as a pirate, it was only fair to return the favor,"-- my effects, please, and my hat. Commodore!"
Loire scowled at him, but tipped his head ever-so-slightly. Sora's lips quirked, an understanding passing between the two of them. Pirate to pirate, even if one was in chains, and one was playing at being a good man.
"Kairi, isn't it?" he turned his attention to the girl, as his belongings were handed to her.
"It's Miss Swann," she huffed, annoyed at being used as a hostage.
"Miss Swann, then. If you'd be so kind," he grinned at the girl as she began to put his things on him while within the circle of his chained arms, "'Ey, easy on the goods, darling," he muttered as she pulled his sword belt a wee bit to tight in her annoyance.
"You go beyond annoying," she growled lowly, to low to be heard by anyone but the pirate practically wrapped around her.
"Sticks and stones, luv. Sticks and stones. I saved your life, you saved mine, we're square," raising his voice, he addressed the men about him, "Gentlemen, m'lady, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Sora Sparrow!"
And with a twist and shove, Kairi was out of his arms, and he was running off.
"Now will you shoot him?" queried the girl's father.
"Open fire!" Loire commanded, irritable at the treatment of Miss Swann, and at his own previous identity being proclaimed to all. Hopefully, none amongst them would be able to put two and two together. As the guns began to fire, Sora took hold of a rope and kicked off the weight. Up, up, up he went swinging into the air and about in a circle before landing upon another wooden crane.
A grin was shot to the soldiers and to Kairi, as he looped his chain over a rope and kicked off. Ah, this reminded him of his childhood; back when he and his old friend would race each other over the docks of the port where they grew up, increasingly annoying the men and women about as they played their games. With a thud, he found himself on the dock, and bolting full speed away from the approaching soldiers. Every shot that came just slightly to close would cause him to jump and wave about his arms theatrically, but never did he stop running.
Loire had to admit; even he would have stopped by this point, if only to end up full of bullets rather than getting hanged. Despite the long years since they had last seen each other, he still held that spark of respect for Sora Sparrow. It was hard not to, knowing the sorts of things the man could escape from while still alive. Truly a remarkable man.
Now, to see, just how remarkable.
"Aeris."
"Aye sir. We'll make sure he doesn't miss his dawn appointment with the gallows, Commodore."
---
End Part One
Sora: ...
Riku: ...
Kairi: What the _hell_ was that?
Sora & Riku: Kairi!
Kairi: Well, I'm serious! What was that all about? Why's Sora the pirate and Riku the blacksmith?
Riku: Good question. Wouldn't I make a better pirate?
Sora: Hey! Are you saying I'm doing badly?
Riku: No, I'm saying that you don't fit the part, Sora.
Kairi: That's enough, boys. Another question-- why is this almost word for word from the movie?
Sora: Oh! I know the answer to that!
Riku: Do tell.
Sora: Because it hasn't gotten to the point where anything can seriously diverge yet. Remember the ending?
Kairi & Riku: You mean where-- mpph!
Sora: *covering their mouths* Hush, we don't want to be giving it all away, now do we? Ack! Riku! Don't lick my hand!
Riku: Then don't put it over my mouth.