Me: Okay, so I told myself that Chapter 34 would be the last chapter I posted before school started.
Char: Yeah, she kinda lied.
Me: Yup. I find writing the scenes from the original KH2 easy (since you can find most of it on YouTube anyway), but boring. So, I got off my ass and wrote this. Ari?
Ari: I am not going to introduce the bloody chapter -
Me: (waves Shadow plushie in front of her face)
Ari: I HATE YOU! Erg... Well... in this chapter they leave Hollow Bastion (finally) and head to Port Royal, where a certain pirate captain is a very nasty son of a bitch.
Char: Or, if that euphemism's too much for you, a pedophile.
Me: Exactly! -knew her bondage fetish would come to life someday... not really-
Ari: GIVE ME THE DAMN PLUSHIE NAO!
Me: NEVER!

Disclaimer- I only own Char and all the other stuff that is OBVIOUSLY of my design. Why the hell do you people think the story lists Sora/ORIGINAL CHARACTER, Roxas/ORIGINAL CHARACTER, and ORIGINAL CHARACTER/ORIGINAL CHARACTER as the pairings?!
Char: Geez, and you wonder why you never get reviews...
Me: What's that supposed to mean?
Char: You know damn well what.

Char awoke to the sound of rain pattering gently against the windowpane. The events of yesterday morning and the discomfort beforehand came rushing back to her, and she quickly searched her subconscious memories for whether or not she'd dreamed last night. She let out a sigh of relief when she could recall no unpleasant dreams – couldn't remember her subconscious sending her anything at all, actually. It wasn't that she had expected nightmares like the one with Riku accusing her of replacing him with Sora, but Char, being naturally paranoid, didn't want to take many chances.

She glanced out the window. The raindrops were creating blurred streaks on the window, but, looking at the clock on the nearby wall, through her grogginess Char gauged that it must be around eight o'clock.

As quickly and quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake everyone else up, Char cleaned herself up and changed into her regular attire, then stepped carefully out the door. A flicker of movement flashed out of the corner of her eye and she turned toward the main room.

"Good morning!" Yuffie greeted brightly. Leon, who was sitting on her other side, simply nodded. Cid, already at the stove in preparation of their breakfast, simply grunted in acknowledgment.

"Well, aren't we bright and happy this morning," Char commented dryly as she approached. She stopped right in front of the table as she noticed the absence of a certain trio of dorks. "Where are Sora, Donald, and Goofy? And isn't that the same stove you stuck in the Gummi ship yesterday?" she added to Cid, raising one eyebrow at him.

As it was, Leon only answered her first question with a shrug of one shoulder. "I guess they're still asleep."

"Geez, lazy asses…" Char sighed, putting one hand on her hip. "I can wait for breakfast; I'll go wake them up."

She turned on her heel and started toward Sora's room, which sat directly across the hall from hers. Without hesitation, she opened the door and headed right inside.

"Sora, get up," she ordered. "It's time to leave."

For the most part, there was no response from the bed, except that the mussed and entangled sheets murmured just a bit.

A frown dragged its way across her countenance, and she stepped right up to the bedside. "All right, Sora, it's almost time to leave," she muttered, painfully aware of how awkward this was. To try and take her mind off of that, she took hold of the covers that, she guessed, concealed his spiky head, and pulled the sheets away.

To her surprise, her attempt revealed not his hair, but his side. Growling under her breath, Char made her way to the other side of the bed and pulled those sheets off of him. Sora grunted, his eyes opening in a small squint. "Ahh… Char… what?" he grunted, his voice practically incoherent as he raised one hand to rub his eyes.

"About time, I should say," she snorted. "It's eight o'clock, we have to leave soon, and I still haven't woken your friends up yet."

"Oh… sorry," Sora murmured, getting up and pushing the covers back. "I'll be ready in a bit, I promise."

"Damn right you're sorry," Char growled. As he stretched, arching his back slightly backward, she sighed. "It's just… it's a bit late. We should have been able to leave a while ago."

"Sorry," he said again.

Looking at him, Char felt a sudden, irrational burst of anger. "Would you stop apologizing?" she snapped, and left the room.

Thankfully she was spared from having to wake Donald and Goofy, because the aforementioned animals were making their way toward the main room. "Smells good, Cid!" Goofy remarked, smiling at everyone and plopping down in a chair.

Donald, however, glared at Char. "Thanks for waking me up," he said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," she answered, an equal amount of sarcasm in her own words. "I'd expect much better from the mage of Disney Castle, but I suppose that will do."

"How do you know these things?" Donald squawked, throwing his feathery hands up in anger.

"Because I listen," Char retorted. Inside, however, she was scolding herself at her slip-up; she'd thought she was through with giving them hints that she knew more than she let on.

The duck just coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "stalker" and sat down next to Goofy.

Char turned toward the hallway and saw Sora emerging from it, clad in his normal attire and with his bed-head significantly tamed – though with Sora, that really wasn't saying much. He smiled tentatively at her, and Char stared at him blankly before realizing he wanted reconciliation from earlier. She gave a subdued, close-lipped smile and added a small wave for good measure. In response, his own grin widened and he sat in the chair on Leon's other side. "What's for breakfast, Cid?" he asked.

Cid grunted. "Scrambled eggs. I figured since it's the last meal you guys'll be having here for a while that you should have something good."

Char sighed inwardly; she didn't even like scrambled eggs.

Sora seemed to notice her thoughts and nudged her gently. "Sit down and eat," he urged. "We never know where our next meal should be coming from."

Seeing the logic in his words, Char gave a single nod and sat next to him.

They finished breakfast relatively quickly thanks to Sora and Donald's ravenous appetites – a fact that induced dry remarks from Char and indignation from the mage. Leon had left in the middle of the meal to go protect the town for a bit, but after a while he came back just in time to finish his own breakfast. Now everyone stood in front of the door.

"Is it still raining outside?" Char asked Leon. A stupid question, she realized when she took in his stiff-looking clothing and damp hair.

Leon folded his arms. "I think so. It was winding down when I got back."

"That's good, then," Sora said.

Char rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. It's just a bit of water."

They stepped outside, and Char found that Leon's words rang true. The only "rain" to be found around the area was a bit of water that dripped from some of the shops' overhangs.

"We'll leave you here," Leon said.

Sora turned and stared wide-eyed at the older man. "Aren't you going to lead us to the Gummi ship?"

"Eleven days ago, we would have." Leon's deep voice cut through the cool early morning air as he met Sora's gaze. "But since Char is fully healed and she has new weapons, we figured that you all should exercise your fighting muscles."

"We?" Yuffie cut in. "You decided that all on your own, Squall!"

Leon's scar-adorned eye twitched a bit as he glanced over at her. "I told you already, it's Leon."

"So… we'll see you later, then?" Sora asked, smiling hesitantly at the duo.

"Of course!" Yuffie chirped. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee can always use your help!"

Leon lifted one hand in a small wave. "Be careful," was all he said.

"Damn, it's been so long since we've actually gone anywhere on this thing," Char sighed, sitting in a chair – not the pilot's, Sora and the others noted with relief.

The brunette himself glanced around. The interior of the ship looked so much more different than it had before, what with the new renovations Cid had made on it. Sora returned his gaze to the window and moved to sit in the pilot's seat. "Guess we should set off – huh?"

Donald and Goofy looked over Sora's shoulder as the Keybearer picked up the note that had been taped to the dashboard. As Char watched, a dark look crossed her face for a brief moment, but then it was gone.

"Sora – I put some new blueprints under the seats so that the Gummi ship could be stronger and faster than ever before. From Cid," Sora read aloud. He grinned. "Well, that makes sense, right?"

"Yup, he was always givin' us those Gummi blocks before, remember?"

Sora nodded in agreement. "Well, at least he's looking out for us…" Remembering the way Cid had characterized them all as gluttons, Sora gave a weak little laugh before glancing down at the controls. "Guess we should be on our way."

He started up the ship without much problem, but as Donald and Goofy scrambled into their respective chairs, Sora cast a glance in Char's direction. She didn't seem like anything other than her determined self – perhaps with a bit more happiness because her wound had healed – but Sora asked her the question all the same.

"Are you okay with leaving your home like this?"

Char gave him a sidelong look, her eyes narrowing. "Of course I am. I've stuck with you this long, haven't I?"

"Good point," Sora answered, deciding to just let the matter drop. He pointed his Keyblade up to the sky, and the telltale flash of light created a rift just wide enough for the Gummi ship to enter the realm between worlds.

Leon watched the red-and-yellow shape move off and promptly vanish into the clouds, and he sighed to himself.

Merlin gave the man a concerned look. "Is everything all right, Leon?"

"Yes," Leon replied, not taking his eyes off where the Gummi ship had been.

Inside the Gummi ship, Char pointed at the snow globe-like container that held a pirate ship, a world that was labeled Port Royal. "Let's head to this world," she suggested to the others. "It's the only one that came up, anyway."

"Maybe Kairi and Riku are there," Sora murmured, steering the ship through the rushing mist. He blinked. "Wow, Cid was right – this thing is faster than before!"

"Really…" Char muttered softly, her eyes widening.

"Don't even think about it," Donald grunted.

Char gave him an innocent look. "Oh come on. I wasn't even thinking about piloting it again. Even I understand how much I suck at that."

"Heartless incoming!" Goofy suddenly shouted.

"Uh oh!" Sora quickly fired a few lasers at the creatures that had approached the ship – had nearly latched onto the windshield and broken the glass, actually. The well-aimed blast knocked the Heartless away and effectively destroyed them.

"Piece of cake," he commented with a grin.

After a few more minutes of frantically dodging past Heartless and the occasional Nobody – "maybe that's a sign that the Organization is in that world," Sora pointed out uneasily, a possibility that none of them wanted to consider – they had finally gotten through the barrage of attacks from the between-worlds Heartless.

"That'll show ya!" Donald yelled, shaking his fist at the currently-sinking Heartless pirate ship.

Char folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, secretly glad that the whole affair was over. She'd never been fond of this kind of travel – but then again, for the past year she'd traveled by dark portals. "A pirate ship of Heartless on the pathway to a world that's undoubtedly full of pirates? Geez. Whoever's sending all these enemies to us has no creativity whatsoever."

Goofy and Sora laughed. "Very true," Sora agreed. As he spoke, his sapphire eyes darted about in search of a place to land. As the vessel descended a bit closer to the world itself, things became easier for the pilot. "We'll just land in that little corridor over there," he announced at last, nodding toward the aforementioned area. He had to squint, as the only light around this area came from the meager torches along the walls. Guess it's night in this world…

"Sora, don't crash it again!" Donald squawked, standing up in his seat to further make his point.

Sora grinned sheepishly. "I'll try not to, but I can't make any promises…"

"Oh, that's great," Char muttered, sarcasm etched into every note of her words.

Sora just gave her a reprimanding look for interrupting his concentration and then refocused on the task at hand. Things were made a little more difficult by the darkness, but with a little squinting and hasty redirection from Char, Sora got the Gummi ship parked snugly into the corridor.

"How'd you learn to see so well in the dark, Char?" asked Goofy, tilting his head to the side and causing his long ears to swing.

She shrugged, a little modestly. "Well, a lot of times, Master made us go out late at night to gather research material."

"Last-minute studying?" Donald queried dryly.

"Sometimes, yes," Char replied, causing the duck to blink in slight disappointment that she hadn't bitten back.

"Who else worked with you? Was it anyone we know?" Sora asked.

Char rolled her eyes. "What is this, the third degree? Shouldn't we be checking out this new world?"

"Of course." The two residents of Disney Castle got up from their seats and headed toward the door, but Sora roused himself a little more sedately. He held back a sigh. It seemed like, even after all the time Char had spent with them, while she had softened a bit from the woman they'd met in Twilight Town, she was still hiding things from them – from him. Part of him urged him to be patient, and yet the other just wanted Char to open up already.

"Yo, Key-boy! You coming, or what?" Char shouted, sounding like she was already about to leave the Gummi ship.

Sora started. "Oh yeah! Let's go, then!"

He followed her out, squinting a little to get used to the abrupt change in lighting and taking his place at the front of the group. As the hatch closed behind them and Sora's eyes got used to the darkness, Donald uttered a "wow".

"This place is…" Sora murmured, folding his arms.

Goofy finished his sentence for him. "Kinda different."

From what she could see of the area, Char had to agree with the knight. As far as she could tell, they stood on the edge of a rampart. There was a set of concrete stairs nearby that led down to the rest of the town, and the moon was hidden behind a layer of clouds – it was probably a sliver, from the lack of light that came down. Char could hear the rough whisper of waves lapping at the shore below and realized that this area overlooked the ocean. So it's a port… maybe we can get some supplies here.

When she voiced this thought, Sora sighed. "Yeah, maybe so. We all know that we're gonna have to get used to Cid not being there to cook for us."

"I miss it already…" Goofy put a hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh at Donald's words. The duck turned to glare at his friend, but at that moment a series of long, drawn-out screams rent the air and made them all shiver.

The four of them ran over to the edge of the rampart that overlooked the town. Sora squinted and craned his neck, but he couldn't gauge anything at the moment. "Something's up," he commented quietly.

Char turned her head to quirk one eyebrow at him. "Now what makes you say that? Was it the screaming?"

"Ha, ha," Donald muttered. "Maybe it's Heartless?"

"Or Organization XIII…" Goofy added nervously.

Sora nodded and returned his gaze to the town. "Only one way to find out," he said, hoping he sounded braver than he felt.

The group descended the stairs at a run, weapons at the ready in case any enemies decided to jump them from the darkness. If that happened, then Char certainly couldn't blame the Heartless for their choice of strategy; in this thick darkness, penetrated by weak torchlight, one could easily get taken down by one of the black Neo-Shadows and not notice a thing. She shivered at the thought.

But this time, things are different. I have those blades Master gave me, and there's almost no chance of them getting broken this time around, unless the Heartless somehow have particularly sharp claws. Things are different.

"Aztec treasure, eh?" Pete asked.

"Aye," the unshaven leader of the pirate group confirmed. "And thanks to the curse put on it, we are neither among the livin' nor the dead." He gestured to the rest of his crew as he spoke.

Pete held back a shudder at the captain's words. He'd gone to this world – Port Royal, it was called – in the first place because Maleficent had told him that a massive cloud of darkness resided within. Certainly, that was correct, and he'd planned to expand that darkness. But then these creepy pirates had shown up, and while Pete saw a chance for an unholy alliance, the thought of the pirates actually being the "undead" put him off more than a little.

"B-but you just look like regular pirates to me," he said, trying to keep his bold appearance.

"Ah," the captain laughed, "but in the moonlight…"

Pete was getting the nagging feeling that this guy was talking down to him now. However, he remained silent instead of summoning forth Heartless to take them all out.

He looked up at the sky, where the wind was just starting to push a cloud away from the moon. It was a full silver orb, he noted, and he lowered his head, fully ready to turn these pirates away and carry on with his plan.

But then he started and nearly whimpered aloud at the way the pirates had changed. What had started out as skin was now mere skeletal cartilage and bone; what had started out as clothing was now only tattered rags that hung off the bony bodies like moss off of a tree branch.

"Whoa," he managed. "Now I get what you were sayin'… Hm…"

He hesitated. Maybe they could be a valuable asset after all – because in the volatile clouds of this world, who could truly take down the undead pirates?

The captain continued to survey Pete with his eyes-that-weren't-eyes. Pete shivered.

"Well," he said at last, "if you see two doofuses with a brat holdin' a Keyblade and his angry girlfriend, steer clear. They got a kind of magic that don't belong in this world, see? And nobody knows what it'd do to ya. Especially when the moon's showing what you really are."

As he spoke, the clouds had clearly obscured the moon again, because skin reformed on the bones and the pirates were staring at him normally again.

"A match for Barbossa, you say?" the captain – Barbossa – mused. A smirk wove its way across his lips. "We'll keep an eye out."

"Hey!" a deepening voice suddenly called out, and they all turned to see none other than Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Char, approaching with their weapons ready. Sora lowered himself into his battle stance, while Donald and Goofy did the same. Char simply narrowed her eyes and tightened her hold around her new swords.

"See there? I knew it," Pete sighed. "Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about."

"Really?" Barbossa asked, looking from one to another. His eyes lingered on the redhead, and Char fought back the urge to shudder when his tongue darted out to lick his lips.

Apparently his crew was of the same mind, whistling and shouting. "Hey, why don't you ditch Spike and come with some real pirates?" one taunted.

"Hey! Back off!" Sora ordered, in as close to a snarl as Char had heard him get. "And we're not punks! It's Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Char to you – and don't you forget it!"

"That we won't," Barbossa said, his amusement clear on his face and in his voice. "And we'll engrave it on your tombstones, to be sure."

"Whoa! I like your style!" Pete said.

Barbossa turned to the others and snapped his fingers. "Men – half of you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest – bring me that medallion!"

"Medallion?" Char murmured, eyebrows raised slightly.

"I see the dear lass is curious," Barbossa purred. "Would you truly like to know?"

"I said back off!" Sora shouted.

"Sora, shut up," Char growled sharply at him. "I can take care of myself."

The pirates remaining approached them, scimitars and guns brandished. "Aw, we only get to stomp on a few of you?" Sora asked mockingly.

Barbossa simply smirked before turning on his heel and following the rest of his crew.

"Bastard," Char grunted. "Thinks only with his –"

"We're gonna ask you one more time: ditch Spike already," one of the pirates leered, blackened teeth visible in a lecherous grin.

Char kept her composure, as much of an effort as it was, and instead, she smirked. "No thanks," she answered smoothly, and charged at the pirates with Sora at her side.

She brought up one of the swords and slashed downward in a way that should have ripped the guy in half…

…but instead his figure only distorted a bit and he struck out at her with his curved blade. The hell?

She danced out of the way just in time and glanced nervously at the others. "Uh, guys? I think we have a problem," she said, grunting with the effort of blocking the pirate's blows with both swords. Donald cast spells frantically, but it was about as useful as Char's efforts were. Goofy soon pulled his shield away, just as confused as the others.

"It's no use," Sora muttered, leaping back and panting slightly. "We can't beat them."

"Aye, what do ya expect?" one of the pirates queried smugly.

Char narrowed her eyes; something about the way he addressed Sora sent her temper bubbling over. "Shut up!" she spat, and raced toward him.

"Char, stop!" Goofy cried, putting out one hand; but she had already blocked the scimitar with one sword and, whirling around, ripped into him with the other…

…and then the clearing was suddenly illuminated with moonlight, and the pirate fell, choking a bit on his own blood.

"Holy…" Char murmured, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy emitted shocked cries of their own. The pirates had suddenly turned into… skeletons…?

One of the remaining pirates smirked at them. "Your efforts don't make a bit of difference, girl," he said. "We're cursed to live forever – strike us down and we'll just keep coming."

"But you do stay down, if only for a bit," Char retorted, watching his still-fallen comrade. She whipped her head toward Sora. "Let's pound them!"

"Hey, watch out – they can see ya! Stay away from their magic!" Pete squawked behind them.

Sora stared at Maleficent's minion for a moment; then he grinned. "Thanks for the tip, Pete!" he laughed, while Pete quickly slapped a hand over his mouth as though that could correct his words.

So Donald cast in the background while Goofy, Sora, and Char lay into the now-exposed pirates with their respective weapons. Needless to say, the group quickly took down the undead pirates.

The pirates all leapt up and ran off, shouting angry obscenities over their shoulders that made even Char wince. Pete looked briefly flustered, then yelled, "This ain't over!" and lumbered after them.

Char sighed and made her swords vanish. "Well, damn. That was…"

"Pretty weird," Donald agreed.

Goofy looked at his friend in surprise; he'd never thought that he'd see Donald and Char agreeing on anything other than plain fact. Then again, wasn't that what this was – pretty weird?

"If Pete's here, that must mean we have work to do." Sora clenched his fists.

"Yup. And that pirate captain looked pretty mean, too," Goofy remarked.

Char crossed her arms in obvious agreement. "Damn right. He looks like just a stereotypical captain – only thinks about gold, women, and booze."

"But there was something else he was after, remember? He said something about a 'medallion'," Sora mused. Inwardly, he passionately agreed with Char's statement about the captain; yet the Keybearer still wasn't sure why he felt so much irrational anger about the way the pirates had treated the redhead.

"Well, we are here…" Donald pointed out.

Sora nodded. "So we might as well help out. Hey," he added teasingly, "maybe we can take a pirate ship out for a spin!"

The looks of shock on Donald and Goofy's faces and the way Char rolled her eyes confirmed how they'd taken his statement. Sora laughed and put his arms behind his head. "Kidding."

"Sure," Char said dryly, clearly still brooding about the fight earlier.

Ignoring that, Sora looked at all of them. "Weren't those guys headed into town?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think they were looking for treasure," Goofy said.

"That medallion, maybe…" Sora glanced toward the torch-lit bridge. "Let's go."

Me: I was originally going to extend it longer than that, but since this is a short chapter for me, I figure I may as well spare you all :D It's mostly a filler chappie, but the action will hopefully increase next chapter. Char gets to do something very funny later that I've really been planning since before starting this fic...
Char: Che.
Me: Also, as a bit of shameless plugging, I put a TSA-related poll on my profile. Check it out if you want -suppresses desire to lecture 500-some people that clearly read this story but don't review-
Ari: Next chapter, everyone meets Captain Jack, and Char gets trapped in a ghost story, if you get my meaning. -crickets chirp- Oh, come on! That was pure gold! -grumbles to herself while stealing my Shadow plushie and hiding away in the corner-