Chapter Twenty-Four
Tobi cursed. He hoped Kae was all right. Those mermaids had been down right b#$ to her! He kicked himself for that stupid smile that ran across his face. That, if not everything else, had hurt her most, and from that last look he'd seen on her face, he could tell she'd burst at any moment... and that was a very ODD thing on Kae's part. That girl couldn't cry, not for anyone or anything.... or could she?
Kae curled up on top of a large rock, her face buried in her knees. Her shoulders shuddered violently as she choked on her sobs in the middle of the forest. What forest she was in, she had no idea, but she was in a forest. Gulping harshly, she sniffled and glanced down at her chest. Dangling from her neck was a silver necklace with two equally silver rings hanging from the chain. With her head still on her knees, she fingered the rings fondly with one hand, her eyes again welling up with tears,
" If there was ever a time I needed you... it's right now, Daddy."
She burst into tears again, hugging her legs tightly as the sobs became more and more violent. Meanwhile, a pair of bright sapphire eyes peered at her from behind the foliage. The eyes had become fogged with darkness, but they shown a twinge of sympathy for this young girl.... sympathy that their owner could not comprehend at the moment. The person began to step forward to investigate this further, but halted as a strange boy came into the picture. Brown hair fell before the sapphire eyes and the person ducked, retreating from the area before being spotted. A soft chinking sound was uttered from a pendant around the person's neck... a silver chain with a cracked crown dangling from it loosely...
" How dare you! I demand you unhand me at once!"
A British voice shouted angrily. It sounded like that of a young girl. Riku groaned, shaking his head as he sat up slowly. His hands felt around the new area he was in and he frowned. Wood. The floors were made of wood, the walls were wood... everything was wood! And the slight churning he felt in his stomach definately let him know where he was,
" Great.... just great."
A pirate's voice soon came into hearing range and he frowned,
" As you wish, your Majesty!"
The girl screamed and the door to the cell next to him slammed shut. He glanced over in that direction and peered through the small, barred window adjacent to that very cell. A blue light in the shape of a young girl, maybe 12 or 13 years of age, ran to the bolted cell door and pounded on it violently,
" Let me out of here! Let me out, I said--"
" That won't work, missus."
She gasped and glanced over to the far corner of her cell. Riku frowned, spotting a red light in the silhouette of a man. He was aged near 28. The man wore a hat and tilted it up a bit,
" They're not goin' ta let you out, jus' because you ask them to. They have to want to do it..."
The girl folded her arms, retorting in a 'all right Mr. Smartypants' sort of way,
" And how do you suppose we escape then?"
The man smirked, flashing a gold tooth in her direction,
" Simple... we don't."
He then lowered the hat and returned to his solitude. This, however, did not comfort Riku in the least,
" Hey, girl."
The blue light turned his way and frowned. He shoved his arms through the bars, motioning for her to come over,
" C'mon..."
She seemed a bit hesitant to do so, but slowly stepped over and knelt down beside the tiny window,
" Y-yes?"
Riku offered her a smile,
" Don't worry, I won't hurt you. But, that man over there? He will--"
" I'll do none of the sort, mate. I don't harm innocent lit'le girls."
Riku's heart stopped and he glanced up to see that the man was now glaring at him from under his hat,
" You shoul'n't judge a book by it's cover..."
Riku frowned, growling lowly at him,
" Who said I was?"
The man smirked, snickering a bit,
" Well, your a funny man, aren't you?"
The girl sat down beside the window as Riku grabbed her arm protectively,
" Very..."
The girl sunk to the floor, cowering a bit to the wall as the man in the corner lowered his hat again,
" My goodness... why, your--"
" Blind? I know."
She frowned,
" Then how were you able to see--"
Riku smirked,
" I have a special kind of sight that allows me to see different energies. You're a sparkly blue, so that means you're a good person. Gold means something kinda like good. Green, I've recently figured is inanimate objects such as walls, floors, stairs, windows... the occasional dead person...."
The girl gasped at this, but she let him continue,
" And red.. red signifies evil. That man over there is red through and through, so I want you to stay over here with me, alright?"
She nodded, then frowned,
" What about you? Are you evil?"
Riku straightened, lowering his head,
" I... I don't know."
" Kae!"
Kae glanced up, her eyes red with tears. She wiped them immediately and turned away, angry with the person running up to her,
" Go away, Tobi. I don't want to talk to you."
Tobi sighed, shaking his head,
" Kae, I'm sorry--"
He said as he walked around the rock to face her. She turned away, ignoring him completely. Again, he sighed,
" Kae... Kae, would you listen to me? I said I was sorry! Kae, listen--"
Kae jumped up from the rock and turned on him, her face red with a mix of tears and anger,
" No, Tobi! You listen! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was? How utterly humiliating that was? No... of course you don't. Your brain is too puny to even comprehend what humiliation is..."
She began to head off in the other direction, leaving Tobi staring straight ahead. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, reopening them slowly,
" Actually.... I know exactly how that feels..."
Kae spun on her heel and frowned, looking him up and down,
" You... you do?"
He nodded, running a hand through his hair,
" Everytime you and Riku have ever cracked a joke on me.... to tell you the truth, I know exactly what you're saying. And to be frank... I'm humiliated everyday by it."
Kae lowered her head, a feeling of guilt instantly swelling in her gut,
" I... I'm sorry."
He shook his head,
" Don't be. I'm so used to it by now that it doesn't even hurt anymore. Actually, some of those jokes are pretty funny!"
Tobi said, forcing a laugh. Kae smiled, letting out a breathful snort as she tucked some wet hair behind her ear,
" I'll stop then... if you want me to--"
Tobi shook his head,
" No, no! If you quit cracking on me, Riku will go into double time! It's better to have the jokes come from both of you then to have them coming double from him!"
Kae laughed again, bringing a smile to Tobi's face. He hadn't seen her laugh, truly laugh, during the entire time they'd known each other... which had been about a two weeks.
He then cleared his throat and reached into his pocket as he headed for her rock,
" Now, take off your pants."
The young girl in the cell beside him, known as Jane, sighed,
" I wonder how long it will take for someone to rescue us..."
The man in the corner, Jack Sparrow as he seemed to be called, snorted, his hat still resting over his eyes,
" No one will be rescuing us I'm afraid, young lady. I mean, ever since the so-called 'death' of Peter Pan and the tragic fall of the Keybearer..."
Riku straightened, clasping the bars of the tiny window,
" Sora!? What happened to him!? Where is he!? What do you know about him!?"
Jack merely snickered, his gold teeth flashing with a smirk,
" Obviously a lot more than you..."
" TELL ME!"
Jack reared his head back into the corner of the room, frowning as he crossed his legs,
" Easy now, old man. Don't get your panties in a wad...I'm afraid to inform you, good sir, that the Keybearer is now resting in his grave. He and his bonnie lass were brut'lly slain nigh 14 long years ago..."