A.N.: So chapter 11 is here! Thank you to my new followers. Relax and enjoy!
A bulky man with messy black hair and heavy body paint observed them. He slid the tip of his tongue around his dry lips, exposing yellow fang-like teeth.
Riku, Rapunzel and Jack froze.
This alone was enough for Rapunzel and Riku to evaluate their options and possible courses of action. They'd both agree that in this case fighting wasn't really necessary. The man, even though hungry, was completely unarmed and defenseless against the three of them. 'Easy does it', as they say.
But, of course, they forgot who their third party was.
"AAAAAAAH" Jack Sparrow lunged forward, pointing the tip of the wooden pole on his back straight to the cannibal, who easily dodged him, stabbing a pile of coconuts instead.
Riku and Rapunzel were completely flabbergasted.
"Dock!" The silverette yanked Rapunzel downwards just in time, as Sparrow sharply turned around, sending a coconut flying straight to a different cannibal's head.
The native's hands were faster, though. Slowly bringing the coconut down from his face, he revealed wet skin and hair, covered by white liquid. His upper lip furrowed upwards.
"Watch out!" Rapunzel unsheathed her sword and slashed at a flying pineapple, splitting it in two, juice falling all over her hair and dress. Great. The cannibal had backup now. Two native women stood by his side.
A watermelon came this time, followed by multiple projectiles. Riku cut them right in half with his blade, getting support from Rapunzel and approval from Sparrow, who also started receiving his own fair share of tropical fruits.
For a moment, Riku was reminded of that videogame Fruit Ninja, in which neither Sora nor him had been able to beat Kairi at. Lea had gotten close enough, but right at the next day, she'd managed to beat her own score again, setting the bar even higher. Lea said he'd be the first to beat Kairi, but it was an empty threat and they all knew it. However things got serious between the three young men when the redhead said he'd always be the second best. Things had been pretty even since. After Kairi, Sora held the best score. 'For now'.
Rapunzel fiercely slashed her blade at the numerous fruits sent her way, docking and dodging whenever she recognized them impossible to hit, which meant they would become impaled along the pole on Jack's back.
Riku would barely miss a fruit, sparing Rapunzel from a few hits, but followed her steps when it came to calculating if a fruit was an evasive target or would splash too much juice for his own comfort. Sparrow also dealt with the splashy consequences of this.
Until he had enough.
"STOP IT!"
The women stopped and stared, much to everyone's relief. They took the pause to look at themselves.
Juice dripped from Rapunzel's features, dress and hair. Riku's clothes, still looking tattered after his encounter with Jack the Monkey, had sticky and colorful spots all over them, because even if he had managed to avoid the juicy fruits there was nothing he could do to escape the ones cut on Rapunzel's behalf. Meanwhile, Jack looked like he was part of a shish-ka-bob.
The cannibals and they exchanged glances. Neither of them making the first move. That was until…
"AAAAAAAH" Captain Sparrow charged at the women, who calmly stepped aside, leaving Jack to his fate as he ran straight to a chasm.
Riku's eyes widened and Rapunzel ran after the pirate in an attempt to stop him by grasping the end of the pole. But it was a lost cause by now.
Having bent more than advised, the front end of the pole on Jack's back got stuck in a pile of rocks right at the edge, his previous force lifting his whole body.
This allowed to those present to be witnesses of one of the master minds behind many wonders: Physics.
Rapunzel and Riku watched petrified as Jack Sparrow vaulted across the chasm, performing two clean front flips in the air without meaning to, barely landing on the other edge safely on his feet.
The native women were unimpressed.
Feeling cold sweat on her palms, Rapunzel scoffed nervously, slowly beginning to giggle the stress away, relieved to see Jack Sparrow was safe. Not fully believing what just had happened himself, Mr. Physics straightened, relived and strangely proud.
That was his mistake.
The fruit slid down, putting weight on the one end over the chasm. As expected, gravity did its job, sending him backwards. He screamed.
Riku performed several spells with his Keyblade as Jack Sparrow fell into the chasm, his body already going through a rope bridge below. Frustration built, as his attempts proved to be completely useless from that distance. Right before Rapunzel leashed out her hair to the pirate, his pole caught between the two walls of the chasm, the rope untangling, only to leave him hanging upside-down from one foot.
At that moment, the native women walked off, disinterested.
"Hold on!" Rapunzel called out to him, heart pounding, preparing her hair once more.
"Hey, Sparrow, hang in there!" Riku said with a smirk, only to be elbowed by Rapunzel.
"Bugger" Sparrow mumbled and saw a flash of gold going straight his way.
Physics, however, had different plans.
The pole slipped loose, making Rapunzel's strand fail to wrap around Jack's leg, much to the blonde's horror. He fell and went through a rope bridge. Two. Three. Until there were too many to keep track of, each one slowing down his fall. Riku watched in absolute shock as Jack landed on his back on the grass. Rapunzel couldn't help to wince as the pole came down at him, spearing in the ground near his head, the fruits tumbling down all around him afterwards.
Had the man done something either terrible or extremely good in some past life to deserve his luck, would forever remain a mystery.
"We should go get him" Riku looked down at him, his eyes in an icy half-hooded gaze that only Sparrow seemed to be able to bring out of him.
The crew along Sora and Kairi burst through the jungle straight to the shore, with the Black Pearl ahead of them. A joyful sight, indeed. A different pirate was already on board and another preparing the ship to set sail, the tide proving to be in their favor. Sora recognized them to belong to Barbossa's crew, but didn't give it much thought.
And just like the Keybearers had expected, neither Riku nor Rapunzel were to be seen.
"I knew it" Kairi breathed in exasperation. "We have to find them"
"Boys, make ready for sail!" Gibbs called out and the pirates swarmed the ship.
Fortunately, Will had motives to support the Keybearers' cause.
"What about Jack? And Sora's and Kairi's friends are missing. I'm not leaving without them"
Gibbs pointed and the three of them turned around.
"Hey!"
A voice called out, and Jack Sparrow appeared at the distance running down the beach towards the crew and the ship, a frightened Rapunzel and an irritated Riku following right behind, both of them carrying long golden strands of hair.
Kairi sighed in relief, smiling at the sight of her friends. That had been lucky. Sora beamed, waving at them. "Hey guys, hurry up!"
They didn't respond and their faces remained the same. Kairi frowned slightly. Something wasn't right.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hoard of cannibals appeared far down the beach close behind the three, spears and bows in hands.
"Time to go" Will said lightly and his words set everyone in motion.
"Cast off! Cast off!" Gibbs ordered, and the pirates got to work faster than they'd ever had in their lives, worry etched on their faces.
"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Kairi called out to her friends before turning to Sora. "We have to make it to the gummi ship. Mission abort"
"Thought that was settled a long time ago" He said before running and standing a few feet away from the still-possible-cannibal-dinner, a.k.a. his friends, his keyblade materializing in his hands.
"Confuse!" The magic didn't take long to do its' work.
The wild crowd came to a halt, making some of the cannibals trip with each other along the way, rage suddenly replaced by questioning and intriguing looks. Their focus was changed from Jack Sparrow to their own tribe, as if they were seeing each other for the first time, all interest in running and chasing completely lost.
Riku and Rapunzel almost caught up with him.
Sora motioned for them to keep running. "C'mon! That won't last long. Go! Go! GO!"
"You and Kairi get in the ship!" Riku commanded.
"What are you talking about?! We need to find the gummi ship!" Sora exclaimed stabbing a thumb to the other side of the shore.
"JUST DO IT!"
His face must have looked quite desperate, because in spite of having doubts, Kairi did as told and Sora had no choice but to trust his friend. Indignant voices began sounding in the distance. The spell was losing its effect.
Rapunzel and Riku ran to the ship, where Sora was waiting to help them up. The Black Pearl was beginning to set sail.
"C'mon guys! COME OOON!" They could hear the anguish in Kairi's voice as she called out to them from the rail.
The cannibals came after them but it was already too late. Sora reached out and helped Rapunzel up, hair and everything, and Riku came last. The blonde dropped to her knees, panting. Between breaths, he asked her if she was okay, but could never listen to her response as Sparrow started to them with a lazy smirk.
"Welcome onboard"
After making sure their friends weren't hurt, Kairi and Sora were quick to ask why they'd just abandoned their only way out of this world. Going back to Radiant Garden was a problem now. There was no possible way they'd be back at Merlin's by the morning. Riku and Rapunzel tensed and shifted uncomfortably, exchanging worried glances. They knew from the start it wasn't going to be easy but their friends deserved to know, so it was story time.
When Rapunzel, Riku and Sparrow were running through the jungle away from the cannibals and towards the Black Pearl, they came across something they certainly weren't expecting to find. Rapunzel stopped dead in her tracks and Riku asked what was wrong, desperation in his voice, not understanding why on Earth she would stop at a time like that.
Rapunzel pointed ahead, her expression turning into a horrified one. Riku looked in such direction, preparing himself for the worst.
But there was no way they could've been ready for what he saw.
The gummi ship came into view.
Or more like fragments of it.
Thick pieces of glass were spread across the sand, reflecting sunrays in every direction. The cockpit had been forced open and was completely empty, all seats and levers gone, except for the shattered buttons and lights, and some fragments of wires that still sparked with electricity. A weak trace of smoke kept coming from the propellers. Jagged bits of glass at the edges was all that was left of the viewport and numerous small metallic parts and broken bulbs were half buried in the shore, some of them having already been pulled by the waves. There was a big trace on the sand that indicated there had been an attempt to drag the whole ship deeper into the jungle, but obviously failed.
The view alone was shocking. Even for Rapunzel who'd traveled only twice in Sora's gummi ship, the whole scene was heartbreaking.
Of course, the hardest part was explaining the whole thing to Sora…
Surprisingly, he took it better than expected. Sure, they omitted unnecessary details, but the explanation had been enough to get a clear mental picture. He went quiet for a while. His friends were quick to comfort him even though they were still shocked as well, but this barely lasted since Will and Jack were having a chat that couldn't be ignored.
Turner stubbornly insisted on Sparrow handing him the compass in order to save Elizabeth, to which he refused, and soon enough Sora, Kairi and Rapunzel were all about helping this cause, easily pushing their world-traveling worries aside for the moment. As expected, Jack had a counterproposal. Riku and Will watched unimpressed, certain that he was just talking his way of this as he usually did, but then the pirate took out a sheet of paper.
His so called master plan consisted on the drawing of a simple but unusual kind of key. According to him, this special key belonged to Davy Jones' and would solve all of their problems. The saving-Elizabeth part at least. Riku mentally logged Sparrow's odd demeanor –odder than usual- at the mention of Davy Jones' name. The captain of the Black Pearl shot a quick glance to Mr. Gibbs. Riku also logged that.
By the time he was done explaining Will looked satisfied, Sora was on save-a-friend mode and Kairi and Rapunzel joined him. Of course Riku wanted to help Elizabeth too, but his thoughts refused to leave his mind…
What was Sparrow up to?
And how the heck would they leave this world?
Since the location of Davy Jones remained a mystery, they made another stop first.
The world travelers, Will and Mr. Gibbs found themselves in longboat, beginning their way up a quiet river. Mist came from the twisted roots on the edges of the swampy area. Little sunlight made it through the thick jungle. The whole crew was divided in other longboats, Sparrow and two others taking the one in the lead position ahead of Gibbs' boat.
Will turned to Mr. Gibbs. "Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?"
Riku squinted. A pirate afraid of the open ocean?
"Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that suction your face clean off." Gibbs made a claw with his hand and Rapunzel felt herself slouch. "And drag an entire ship past the crushing darkness." He paused, gazing at everyone with intense eyes. His voice grew darker and lower. "The Kraken"
At the mention of the word, everyone exchanged shocked looks. Gibbs continued, "They say the stench of its breath is like - oooh!" He shivered. Rapunzel slouched further. Unknown to her, Riku noticed. "Imagine: The last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken, and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses."
By the time he was done speaking, Sora looked scared but was clearly enjoying the whole thing since he loved horror stories and Mr. Gibbs was his favorite story-teller. Kairi was holding onto his arm and Rapunzel was hugging her knees. Riku shot her a quick sideways glance.
"If you believe such things" The silverette shrugged, his voice flat. Rapunzel looked up at him but he pretended not to notice. Gibbs broke into a hearty light grin as if he'd just been discussing what he'd like for lunch. "Aye, mate."
"And the key will spare him that?" Will lifted his eyebrows.
"Now that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit... Her"