Pebbles: [Any comments]
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any of the Disney characters, places or products, or any of the Digimon characters, places or products. However, I will claim to own the concept of this story.
*****
You Can Fly!
*****
Flying was like a drug, Hikari decided as she felt the breeze dance with her hair. It was an addictive habit and, now, Hikari seemed to be flying everywhere, even walk-able distances. She could see now why Peter's feet rarely touched the ground – flying was too exhilarating to give up!
She was currently following Peter as he took her on a tour of the island. They had spent the morning hunting Indians, although close to midday it had been the Indians chasing them. Hikari had found a good friend in the chief's daughter, Tiger Lily, who had taught Hikari a traditional Indian dance. She had listened to their music for a while until Peter had pulled her away, leading her to "more interesting things", or so he claimed.
Hikari took a deep breath at the beauty she saw below as they flew past the edge of the forest. The woodland stopped to reveal a beautiful lagoon, complete with crystal blue waters and perfectly grey rocks with beautiful figures perched atop them. As they drew closer, Hikari realised that these figures were all female, and upon further inspection, that they were all mermaids. Their tails, covered in glistening, jewel-like scales, lay across the rocks, shimmering in the sun, and their hair (although different shades of blonde, brown and red) all shone with the same mesmerising brightness.
Peter blew into his pan pipes as he descended – a habit he commonly did, as though announcing his own arrival. The mermaids looked up and, upon seeing him, took turns to welcome him almost seductively. Now closed, Hikari could see their torsos were naked – there were no seashell bikinis, as expected. Instead they were kept decent in a number of different ways. One had two starfish, another used her hair, trailing the thick, red locks down her chest, and a third had been trying to fix a pair of seashells together, but upon seeing Peter she dove into the water, only her head and shoulders remaining visible.
Peter effortlessly hovered over a rock for a moment, taking the time to cross his legs and sit in the air before lowing himself to sit on something more solid. Hikari was slightly less graceful, and she finally managed to drop out of the air onto a smaller rock nearby, almost ending up in the water.
"Oh, Peter," one mermaid sighed, "why do you always go away for so long? We all miss you terribly." Peter laughed.
"I had to," he replied, "I had an adventure!" At this, the mermaids seemed to perk up, and they inched closer to Peter's rock.
"Go on," the redhead pleaded, "do tell us about it." Peter grinned, obviously wanting nothing more than to recount a story about himself. Hikari, having gained her balance upon the rock, remained silent to listen.
"Well, it all started when I went to rescue Wendy from-"
"Oh, that girl," the blonde scoffed, checking her reflection in a handheld mirror. "I'm so glad she's gone. You didn't visit as much when she was here." Peter shrugged, ready to continue, but was interrupted by the third mermaid.
"And look!" she moaned, pointing at Hikari. "He's gone and brought another one!" The other mermaids looked Hikari with curiosity that soon turned to envy, and Peter looked as though he had forgotten she was with him. Hikari shifted uncomfortably at their gazes.
"Oh, Peter, you seem to be developing an endless line of wretched girls!" the first exclaimed, folding her arms over her chest and putting. "Where do you get them from?" Peter laughed and flew over to hover by Hikari.
"She's part of my adventure," he answered. "Just yesterday, she helped me save Cannibal Cove from invasion!" Hikari didn't bother to inform the mermaids that, in fact, she had done everything whilst Peter and the Lost Boys had hidden; from what she knew of Peter so far, he was the leader, and therefore everything have to be about him, or at least related in some way to how brave he was. At the mermaids' requests, Peter told them about the events of the previous day from his perspective, starting with waking up early to plant the treasure chest. Hikari slowly sat down on the rock sometime during the storytelling and listened, a little less avidly than the mermaids.
*****
Koushiro Izumi was glad he had been raised to be patient. He didn't curse of fidget whilst waiting to get off the plane; he didn't swear at the ten minutes wait for his baggage, nor at the pushy travellers that jostled him out of the way to get their bags first. He simply waited calmly, one of the last to leave the baggage claim and enter the busy main terminal.
It didn't take him long to find who he was looking for; the slender brunette was stood amongst the few remaining people waiting for passengers, holding a pink cardboard sign that read "Izumi" in western characters. He travelled to see her often, and she came to Japan when she could afford it, and despite not needing the signs to identify each other, they continued the ruse as a small inside joke. He smiled and waved at her when she met his eye and she waved back. She dropped the sign from infront of her chest and moved towards him, opening her arms.
"Izzy!" she exclaimed, embracing him. He hugged her back tightly; once, a long time ago, he had barely come up to her shoulders. Now though he was tall enough to stand at least a head above her.
"Mimi," he replied as they let go, the embrace far too short for his liking. "It's been too longer." He almost hit himself; he always said that. She giggled at his response.
"It has," she agreed. "How have you been?" Now they were moving out of the terminal, towards the parking lot.
"It's the same old," he replied. "I got a new job at a school as the IT technician – it's actually the old school we all used to go to. Well, not you, of course, you moved to America, but..." He trailed off, unsure of where his words were taking him. "So...how about you? I see you're back to brown again." She picked a few strands of wavy, chocolate brown hair from her shoulder and twirled it inbetween her fingers at the reference.
"Yeah, I didn't feel...professional with pink hair, y'know?" she replied. "I figured it was better for me to go back to being natural for a while." He nodded.
"Well, it looks good on you." She blushed slightly at the compliment and he smiled at her.
"Thanks," she said quietly, brushing a few loose strands behind her ear.
The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence, and Koushiro found himself stopping infront of a dusty-pink convertible. He looked at Mimi, raising an eyebrow, and she shrugged in a silent response.
"What?" she asked defensively. "You can be professional with a pink car." Now it was his turn to shrug – he couldn't argue with that. And the pink convertible just seemed to fit Mimi – he couldn't honestly imager her driving anything else.
Mimi brought the roof down and Koushiro threw his duffel back on the backseat, carefully followed by his rucksack. He then slid into the passenger seat at the front and buckled up, waiting for Mimi to start the car.
The forty minute drive from the airport was filled with small talk and playful banter. Koushiro learnt that she had recently be promoted to head waitress at the restaurant she had been working at for the last two years (slightly more stressful, but double the pay). Seeing and serving the dishes had inspired her to become a chef – a large career jump from fashion design, but she said it appealed to her more. He also discovered that although her father had bought her a house in Beverly Hills for her birthday, Mimi much preferred her small apartment and handful of friends, most of whom lived nearby.
Mimi pulled up into her reserved spot in the connected outdoor parking lot, and Koushiro looked up at the tall apartment block. Although a far cry from a high-maintenance lifestyle, it was by no means a ruin. The outer door could have been a little more well-kept, and some colour wouldn't be wasted, but everything necessary seemed fine. The banisters didn't wobble and the staircases didn't squeak, and when they finally stopped on the sixth floor, Koushiro found Mimi's apartment to be quite a reasonable size. The living room was spacious and joined onto a moderate kitchen. Two more side doors lead off from the main room to what Koushiro assumed were a bedroom and bathroom. The walls were cream and the furniture a mix of beiges and browns that both complimented and contrasted each other. The lack of pink did not go unnoticed by Koushiro.
"Okay, so you'll be on the sofa again, but it's a pull out bed now – I bought it second hand off an old friend downtown," she explained as he placed his stuff on the floor. "It's quite comfortable and...What's that beeping noise?" Her head cocked to the side and she curiously ventured towards the kitchen. Koushiro listened for it as well, and after a moment recognised it. He turned to his duffel bag and rummaged through the outer pockets, looking for the offending object. Finally he withdrew it – the silver-coloured D-Terminal given to those chosen to be Digidestined all those years ago. He had rediscovered it (as well as messages about several reunions that he had undoubtedly missed) amongst other miscellaneous items he had lost or misplaced over the years (in truth they had all been packed into the same box when he had moved out of his parents' house). He had then spent a jobless summer tinkering with it to make it almost a miniature laptop. He could access his e-mails and text messages from it, but he was unable to surf the internet fully.
Koushiro glanced over to Mimi who was bustling around the kitchen, checking all the appliances for the source of the beeping. Opening the lid, Koushiro typed in his password and called over to Mimi, "I've found it." Mimi pulled her head out of the microwave and gave him a sceptical look before noticing the device in his hand.
"Seriously?" she asked. He didn't answer, instead read the message on the screen.
Hey Izzy
I know it's been a while, and I wish this could just be a regular e-mail to see how things are going, but I need to ask a favour. Have you been able to get in contact with Gennai recently? Because Hikari's gone missing. Daisuke and Takeru haven't heard a thing, but they're looking. She's not the type to just run off, so I'm assuming it's something digital, but all I get when I try to contact Gennai is static. Any chance you could try for me? I wouldn't bother you but I'm desperate. I need to know where my sister is.
Please let me know if you can do anything to help.
Tai
Koushiro paused thoughtfully; this didn't add up. Taichi was right – Hikari wouldn't just run away, although Koushiro hadn't seen her in so long, he couldn't say that for definite. But any changes in her personality would have been noticed by Daisuke or Takeru at the very least. He came to the same conclusion as Taichi – this had to be something digital related.
"Izzy?" Mimi asked, walking over to him cautiously. "What's wrong?" He looked slowly up at her, still processing the message.
"Hikari's missing."
*****
Hikari was glad to be free of the mermaids' hate-filled glares. The highly-strung women had paid avid attention to Peter, but as soon as his story was over (or whenever his back was turned) they were relentless in their attempts to drown her. They had almost succeeded at one point, but Peter had turned round just in time. He had obviously enjoyed being the centre of attention, but when a dark cloud had hidden the sun, the mermaids had disappeared, and Peter had jumped into action, a smirk upon his face. Hikari had followed, desperate to get away from the lagoon. They had flown to Cannibal Cove and were currently staring out to the sea through the eyeholes.
"See that?" Peter asked, pointing out to the ocean, darkened by the grey clouds overhead. Hikari followed his pointed finger and saw a giant ship, with an elegant carved mermaid upon it's bow. It was too far away to see any people on deck, but she looked to the mast and noticed the flag – a pirate flag.
"That's Hook's ship," Peter explained, "and you can't really be one of us until you've fought him."
"F-fought him?!" Hikari asked in surprise, turning to Peter.
Peter nodded, shrugging.
"It's easy! He's just a huge codfish!" Peter answered. "Just watch!" He flew off through the eyehole before Hikari had a chance to protest, and she simply sat and waited. Surely he would realise what a fool he was being to try and take on a ship full of pirates. But...he had done it before, hadn't he? She couldn't tell the different between fact and fiction in his stories, but there seemed to be some truth in them all. Perhaps... Hikari sighed.
"I must be out of my mind," she groaned. Kicking off the rock, Hikari flew after Peter. Realising she didn't have a weapon, she summoned her keyblade, and it was ready in her hand when she touched her feet down on the deck.
Looking around she gasped – there were no humans on deck, instead only an army of heartless coming from every angle. Peter was nowhere to be found.
Deciding he could take care of himself (she hoped), Hikari turned to the heartless, swinging her keyblade mercilessly. At first, Kurokiba's kind swarmed her, and she beat them back as well as she could, but then they seemed to back down, as if to an unseen command. With the slight pause, Hikari managed to have a quick look around, and she saw the pirate from the day before who had held Tinkerbelle in the glass prison. But then she realised there wasn't just one – there were at least seven, maybe eight – and they all had completely black skin, and yellow dots for eyes (the ones that weren't hidden under an eyepatch). As they swarmed towards her, Hikari realised with a jolt that they must be more heartless, only a different kind. And though it was only an assumption, her thoughts were confirmed when she attacked one of the oncoming pirates and they disappeared in black smoke.
She almost groaned – now she had not only to deal with the little heartless (which seemed to attacking harder and stronger than ever before) but also these pirates, which seemed to have an enormous amount of strength. It took her at least nine or ten hits with her keyblade to defeat them. It was impossible! They just kept coming! Hikari could feel her muscles getting weak – she was starting to tire now, and she didn't know how long she could last.
"So the princess has a keyblade?" a voice asked, echoing around the ship. The heartless backed away, melting into the shadows of the floor. Hikari turned around and saw an ominous figure standing on the higher deck. He was dressed in a long red cloak-like jacket, and had wavy black hair kept under control by a large, red hat. In one hand he held a sword, and Hikari noticed that the other hand was not a hand at all, but a silver hook.
"Captain Hook," she whispered to herself. The captain looked at her and laughed.
"A little girl," he continued. "You should be telling stories and entertaining Pan, shouldn't you?" Hikari growled lightly, setting into a defensive stance, and Hook laughed at her again, raising his own sword into a half-hearted attempt at readying to fight.
Hikari felt her anger surge – nobody called her a 'little girl'. Eyes narrowed in rage, she charged forwards, keyblade at the ready. Hook's face quickly changed from smug satisfaction to complete terror as Hikari flew towards him. She swung at him and caught him in the side, sending him staggering backwards, and Hikari landed where he had been standing. Hook sent her an angry glare.
"Heartless!" he cried. "Take care of her!" Hikari felt shock run through her – this was the person controlling the heartless? She beat a few pirates back and thought; if she didn't take him out, the heartless would probably just keep coming for her. Her gut told her she was right and so, ignoring the mounting numbers of heartless, she focused her anger on the red-clad captain. He had to be taken out first.
She followed, close on his tail as he ran away from her. Jumping after him, she landed and planted the keyblade into the wooden floor, catching Hook's jacket. The captain stumbled forwards and fell onto the deck as Hikari removed her keyblade, rushing to him. She swung for his head to knock him unconscious, but he moved his head out of the way just in time. Hikari's keyblade stuck inbetween the wooden slats of the deck, and she tried to wrench it out, but found it too hard to remove. Suddenly she was flying backwards and she landed heavily on her back, cracking some of the floorboards beneath her. With tremendous effort, she managed to prop herself up on her back to get her breath back and saw with shock that Hook was reaching for the keyblade.
"No!" she yelled, thrusting her hand forwards. Hook smirked at her and placed his hand around the handle.
Suddenly there was a blinding white light, and Hikari fell backwards, shielding her eyes. When the light died, Hikari looked up again and found Hook nowhere, and her keyblade was nowhere to be seen. Looking around, she noticed that the heartless had disappeared too. She distantly heard screaming and, curious, she scurried to the side of the ship to look out over the waters. She laughed at the sight that met her – Hook was somehow managing to run on the water, his legs moving frantically as he covered the distance quickly, a large crocodile following behind him, snapping his jaws, and the both of them followed by a short, plump pirate in a rowing boat, trying desperately to catch up.
Hearing a crowing sound, Hikari turned to find Peter descending from the crow's nest, hands on hips.
"That was amazing!" he exclaimed. "Told you Hook would be easy!" She smiled lightly, looking around. There was something she had to do, besides finding her keyblade.
At the thought, she felt a weight in her hand. Looking down she saw her keyblade had reappeared and was vibrating wildly. Letting it control her, Hikari found herself pointed towards a highly decorated wall that must have led to a cabin. A glow on the wall and a large keyhole appeared; the keyblade vibrated up her arm and Hikari pointed it towards the keyhole. A solid beam of light left the tip of the keyblade and entered the keyhole, sealing it shut in a spectacular light show.
When it was finished, the keyblade disappeared and Hikari turned to Peter who was gaping at her, a look that didn't suit him.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Your world will be safe now," Hikari said, not sure of what else she could say. Thankfully she was saved from any further conversation as a bright light shot from the sky, landing next to her, travelling faster than anything Hikari had ever seen before, and yet she didn't feel a thing as it made contact with the deck. The light faded and Mickey stood, keyblade in hand, eyes searching the area. When he noticed (almost immediately) that there seemed to be no threat, he relaxed, and the keyblade vanished.
"Sorry, fellas," he apologised, "I got down as soon as I could, but it seems I've missed the fight! Everything's good to go on the ship, and seeing as you've locked the keyhole, I think we'd better be going." Hikari nodded – her time with Peter had been fun, but there were pressing matters to attend to. She turned to Peter (who was looking at Mickey with a look of shock).
"Goodbye, Peter," she said, finding this goodbye only somewhat easier than the one she shared with Edward and Nancy. He only nodded back to her, and Hikari was about to turn to Mickey, ready to go, when a glowing ball of glitter appeared infront of her face, looking quite annoyed. Hikari giggled.
"Of course I didn't forget about you, Tinkerbelle," she said as the fairy hovered infront of her face. Tinkerbelle flew down to Hikari's hand, and Hikari held it out so she could stand on her palm. Tinkerbelle crouched down, touched Hikari's palm and then flew away, curling Hikari's fingers into a loose fist as a light began to erupt from her palm. When the light dimmed, Hikari uncurled her fingers and saw a little fairy pendant, silver but glittering with green and gold sparks. Upon closer inspection, the pendant seemed to be a freeze of Tinkerbelle herself, right down to the bobbles on her slippers. Hikari slipped it into her pocket carefully and then looked at Tinkerbelle and smiled.
"Thank you," she said, and Tinkerbelle flew around her once more, coating every inch of her in pixie dust. Hikari sneezed slightly as she turned to Mickey, and together they returned to the ship.
Aboard the Gummi ship, Hikari sat on one of the sofas and toyed with the little pendant as Mickey moved around the cabin, muttering.
"You're second world, locked," Mickey said, although he seemed to be talking more to himself, "and yet still... Hmmm, I wonder... Yes, I think that would be very helpful." He stopped pacing and Hikari looked up at him, slightly confused. He stared back at her.
"Hikari, I'm taking you to Disney Castle."
*****
Pebbles: A bit of an anti-climatic fight scene, I know, but I wanted to finish it quickly and get it posted. I'll try and make up for it in the next battle. I'm so glad Neverland is over! This has been the hardest thing I've written so far. Ever.
So let me know what you think? Hopefully I'll be settling back into a routine soon, what with school starting up again and everything. So every other Friday should mean a new chapter for all of you! (And, fingers crossed, I can try and get a few finished before the publish date.)
Quote:
GENIE: Once again, this broadcast has been brought to you by SAND – It's everywhere! Get used to it! [From Aladdin: Prince of Thieves]
REFERENCE POINTS:
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