The Tides Go Out

by Regiss

Four months later, the war between Maleficent's Heartless and Braig's Nobodies threatens to consume all worlds. In the middle of the conflict, Sora, Xion, and their friends continue the search for Riku while also dealing with Vanitas, who will stop at nothing to get Ven's heart. Sequel to Remember the Tides.

44. The Frigate That Flies

Chapter 44: The Frigate That Flies

Back aboard the Highwind again, it had been a while. Though things were definitely quieter without Kairi around, they did their best not to dwell on it. Things were back to routine, with Donald at the controls and Goofy, Sora, and Xion helping out. Of course, the modifications that Cid had made to the ship a while back were also a big help. Now the computer automatically mapped out the cosmos as they flew and scanned nearby worlds for signs of Heartless and Nobodies, freeing up Xion and Sora's more time-consuming responsibilities.

Cid's engineering didn't account for Unversed, however, and so Sora and Xion weren't completely off-duty. They glanced down at screens in front of the dashboard a new world appeared on them, looking at the levels of darkness that the Highwind was detecting. If it was unnaturally high without also catching a Heartless signature, then that meant one of two things: either the Unversed were there, or there was the possibility of finding some way into the Realm of Darkness. Either one was definitely something to keep an eye out for.

Seated in the captain's chair, Donald didn't have a real goal in mind. Keeping one eye in front of him and one eye on the fuel, he flew aimlessly through the sea of stars as they passed by world after world. Eventually he'd need to stop somewhere, even if they didn't find a world with the potential to access the Realm of Darkness. But for the time being, he kept going.

Perhaps irresponsibly, Xion allowed her mind to wander. Her gaze drifted from the screen and toward the window. She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and her chin in her palm, watching the remaining stars fly by in the distance. The sky around them was a swirl of purple and blue, with nebulae, dust clouds, and asteroids painting a rather impressive picture. She almost wished she could lean out and run her hand through the glowing clouds the ship was currently passing over. Above them, a comet shot past.

Wait, what was that? Xion sat up straight and leaned forward. She could swear she saw something outside, something that had been racing alongside the comet. It was far too small to be a Gummi ship, at least not any that she had ever seen. And the shape had been wrong anyway. It looked like a small boat, like a skiff (she quickly thanked Sora's dad and his fishing experience for knowing what a skiff even was). But that couldn't be right, could it?

No one else seemed to notice it, and it had vanished into the light of the comet. Xion leaned back. Maybe she was just imagining things… No, there it was again! The bizarre, flying skiff lowered out of the comet, revealing its propulsion: a sail and what appeared to be a rocket engine of all things. Was it some oddly-designed Gummi ship after all? And it was manned, of course, though the Highwind was too far away to see its passengers clearly. Before Xion had any chance to try and make them out the boat vanished, flying off into the dust clouds like it had never been there at all.

Xion wasn't about to let it get away. Her curiosity had been piqued, and now she had to know more.

"Donald, turn around!"

"Huh?" Donald's eyes were half-open when he turned around, like he had been falling asleep after all these hours of staring into space. "What, did we miss something?" Sora and Goofy glanced over at Xion too.

"I'm not sure. I saw something, but I don't know if I even believe it myself." Xion shook her head and pointed out the window, to the comet that was already a distant twinkle in the sky. "It looked like—like a boat, flying alongside that comet. Racing it."

"A boat?" Donald huffed and turned back around. "Xion, there wouldn't be a boat out here!"

"I know, which is why I want to investigate it!"

Sora slapped a hand on Donald's shoulder. "Come on, Donald. It could be a lead! I mean, it also might not be, but right now we're just kind of flying around aimlessly anyway. What's the harm?"

Donald muttered something under his breath, seemingly trying to come up with some counterpoint. As Xion and Sora waited for him to reply, leaning in closer to him, Goofy's attention turned away—toward the controls and screens before them.

"It's just not a world," Donald said at last, sitting back and crossing his arms. "I'm pilot, and what I say goes!"

Sora smirked, which evolved into a toothy grin. "So if I'm pilot, then I get to decide?"

Donald jumped in his seat and shook his head rapidly. "Oh, no! You remember what happened last time you flew!"

"Come on, Donald, that was forever ago!" He reached around Donald's chair and wrapped his hand around the controls.

Donald swatted him away. "Not again, Sora! No way!"

Xion laughed and grabbed the controls from the other side. "Fine, then I will! Gimme a chance, Donald!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Don't be such a stick in the mud. It could be something really cool!"

"Say, uh, fellers?"

"No!"

"Hey, guys!" At Goofy's call, the three stopped with all of their hands still fighting over the controls and turned to their companion. His eyes were glued onto the radar. "Somethin' big is headed our way!"

Donald shoved Xion and Sora away, then hopped off of his seat and moved over to Goofy. "What do you mean?"

"Look at this…"

"I don't see any—Wak!"

Goofy laughed. "Oh, there it is!"

It wasn't a blip on the radar that had surprised Donald. Rather, right in front of the Highwind, something broke through the interstellar clouds and rose up before them. The first things Xion saw were the sails, which resembled the one on the skiff from earlier. They had an odd sort of glow to them, as if they did more than just catch wind; which they had to, what wind was there out here?

The sails rose higher up, revealing the mast they were connected to and the main body of the ship beneath that. It was a ship indeed, but not the sort of ship they were used to. Rather, it appeared to be an actual sailing ship. And not even a cruise liner or some other modern design. This one was a galleon, as true as could be despite the strange situation. And perhaps the most bizarre thing about this situation was that it appeared to be completely built out of wood, from port to starboard and stern to bow. Upon seeing this—something that by all logic should not exist—one thought came to Xion's mind.

Sora voiced it first. He shook his head, his face locked in an expression of absolute bewilderment that was matched by everyone else. "Is that Captain Hook's ship?!"

Goofy frowned. "It looks kinda different, though."

Donald stomped his foot. "It's gotta be! What other ship could just fly around here?"

Xion was about to bring up the boat from earlier again but a warning signal beeped loudly, pulling her attention away from the conversation and the bizarre ship outside. She hurried over to the dashboard, to a blinking red light. The screen beside it lit up, showing an image of the ship before them with a green triangle imposed upon it. Beside the graphic was a purple gauge, which earned a gasp of surprise from the girl.

Xion looked up from the screen. "Guys, the sensor found a reading. Someone on that ship is using the powers of darkness!"

Donald smiled smugly and crossed his arms. "You see? It is the Jolly Roger after all!"

Sora pumped a fist in the air. "I hope we get to see Peter and Tink again. Captain Hook, we're on the way!"

Donald jumped back into his seat and grabbed the controls. "Okay everybody, hold on tight. We're going to board their ship from below and give Hook a big surprise!"

"But haven't they noticed us yet?" Goofy asked.

But Sora shook his head. "No way. Hook would have attacked if he saw us."

"Hm… Well, if you say so."

Xion strapped herself in as Donald lowered the ship's engines and brought it up close to the galleon as slowly as he could. When they were below the hull, he pressed a few buttons and pulled a few switches. The Highwind shuddered and rumbled as it began to rise straight up, and then there was a loud clunk followed by an odd swaying sensation.

"…What did you do?" Sora asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Donald grinned and pointed his finger up. "I hooked our ship onto the bottom of theirs. Where they go, the Highwind goes. Now we won't have to worry about losing it if Hook keeps his ship sailing while we're aboard."

"But they must have noticed all that noise, surely," Xion said. The clanking near the end had been loud. There was no way the crew up above wasn't aware of them now.

"Then we better make this quick and board them before they board us!"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Well we can't exactly use the door, Donald. That opens right up into nothing."

But Donald just grinned again. He turned back to the dashboard and pressed a button that lit up green. Xion felt a tingling sensation in her body and then there was a bright flash of green light that blocked everything else out from her vision.

Xion stumbled backwards, catching her footing. Still blinded, she leaned against the first thing she found—a wall. As the green began to fade away, she found herself, Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing the hull of the galleon. Blinking away the colors dancing across her eyes, Xion let out a sigh. "Feels like a Star Shard. I haven't done that in a while."

Sora rubbed his own eyes. "I'll never get used to being teleported like that. We barely use it."

"Better than suffocating," Donald countered. He didn't seem much better off than them, though, as he struggled to stand up only to trip over his own feet and crash into Goofy. "Ow!"

As the others recovered and gathered their bearings, Xion followed their lead and began to push herself off the wall she was still leaning against. As her palm pressed against it, however, she hesitated. The wood pressed in just barely where she touched it, put under pressure ever so slightly by her fingers. Almost like…gelatin. She had felt that somewhere before, but… "Oh!"

Xion jumped away from the wall, nearly falling into a pit if it weren't for the skiff hanging above it that caught her. As the boat swung back and forth on its rigging, Xion let out a gasp at the little boat. It had been real after all! But her surprise only lasted so long, and she turned her attention back to the wall. She knew where she had felt that same gelatinous material before: Yen Sid's train…and the Highwind.

"What was that about?" Sora stepped between her and the wall, holding a hand out to help her up. Xion smiled in thanks and accepted his help, and almost immediately after she was standing straight again she went back to the wall.

"It's not wood." She pressed against it again and watched as it gave way just barely. "This is made out of Gummi blocks."

"Gummi blocks?" Donald kneeled down and spread his hands over the floor. Beside him, Goofy did the same. "When did Captain Hook upgrade? The Jolly Roger was definitely wood!"

As the others investigated the ship's construction a bit longer, Sora moved past them and made his way to the door. There was a clicking as he opened it up, then a loud gasp that got cut off short.

"Uh, g-guys? I'm starting to think maybe this isn't Captain Hook's ship after all."

Xion's gaze shot up from the wall to the door, her Keyblade flashing into her hand before she even knew what the threat was. Donald and Goofy jumped to their feet and drew their own weapons, standing defiantly at the thing that held Sora captive in the doorway. It had slug-like eye stalks and tentacles for limbs. What in all the worlds…?

"Not so fast!" the creature tightened two of its limbs' holds on Sora, and in another held up a bundle of rope. "Who do you think you are stowin' away on our ship? That ain't smart! One wrong move and the kid's tossed overboard."

Xion hesitated. She glanced at Sora, who was unable to move his hands with that tight hold. He wouldn't be able to summon Oathkeeper like that. Grimacing, she lowered her arms and dismissed Two Become One. After watching her, Goofy and Donald also lowered their weapons. The crewman grinned.

x-x-x

"Hey, watch the hands, buddy!"

Xion was tossed unceremoniously onto the deck of the ship, her ankles tied together and her wrists tied behind her back. Beside her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were in similar positions. As she pushed herself up to glare at the slug-man who had tied them up, she instead found herself surrounded by the rest of the ship's crew. And what a bunch they were.

Creatures of all shapes and sizes decorated the deck, from one covered in tentacles with no visible mouth to one that was only a head. In the back was a dog man, who mumbled to himself in a hushed, worried tone. And at the forefront were two dressed in sharp suits, as opposed to the grimy, dirty clothes of the crew. The regal cat woman was dressed in blue, and the one in red was a man with a large chin and chiseled features—literally! His skin appeared to be stone.

The cat woman leaned down with one arm over her knee. Her eyes ran over Xion and her friends as a frown grew on her face. "And who are they?"

"Stowaways, Cap'n!" Xion couldn't see him behind her, but it was the voice of the crewman who had captured them.

"Stowaways?!" Donald shouted. "We're not stowaways, we only just got here!"

The stone man growled. "Ah, a boarding party! Pirates, then."

"Pirates?!" Goofy struggled to push himself upright. "No way! Ya gotta believe us; we thought this was a pirate ship!"

An uncomfortable murmur moved through the assembled crew, but the cat woman, the captain, chuckled. "Well, I certainly can't fault you for thinking that of this motley crew." She shared a look behind her at the dog man, who looked surprised and then averted his eyes. "Still, I must defend my ship's honor, hm? Mr. Arrow, tell these stowaways where they are."

"We're not stowaways!" Sora shouted.

But the one called Mr. Arrow ignored him. "My pleasure, Captain," said the stone man. "As it is now, you four are prisoners aboard the RLS Legacy, finest Gummi ship you'll find this side of Traverse Town, headed by our fine Captain Amelia."

The captain smiled. "Oh you flatter me, Mr. Arrow."

Xion frowned. So it hadn't been Hook's ship after all, but just a ship of sailors. The RLS Legacy, huh? Where had she heard that name…? Oh! Back in Traverse Town, the dog man they had nearly collided with had mentioned it—the dog man! Was it the same one Captain Amelia had just looked at? Xion scanned the crowd, searching for him to confirm that, hoping that he could vouch for them and confirm they had been in Traverse Town…but then she locked eyes with someone else.

The large figure in front of her laughed as he pushed his way through the crew and made his way to the front of the crowd. Blue and red stood out against the more muted colors the rest of them wore, putting him more in line with Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow though those two didn't look happy to see him. He grinned widely down at them and let out another guffaw as his belly jiggled.

"Well, well! Imagine meeting you pipsqueaks here!"

"Pete?!" Donald and Goofy shouted together.

Mr. Arrow gave Pete a sideways glance. "You know these two, Mr. Pete?" What, they knew him? Was Pete pretending to be a part of the crew?!

Pete turned to Mr. Arrow and saluted, then for a split second glanced at the four tied up heroes out of the corner of his eyes. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, one that Mr. Arrow didn't seem to see. "Oh, we met back in Traverse Town. They sure seemed like a bunch of good-for-nothin's to me! I overheard 'em talkin' about sneaking on board this here ship, see?"

"WHAT?!" Donald shouted. His face grew red and he started screaming incoherently as he thrashed around, trying everything he could to break out of his bonds. "Why you—Let me at him! I'll show him!"

"Tsk, tsk," Pete shook his head and wagged his finger. "That one always did have his anger issues."

"Donald, calm down," Goofy pressed. He and Sora did his best to stop the duck's screaming, leaving him a panting pile of feathers on the boards of the deck. Above them, Mr. Arrow and Captain Amelia exchanged glances at each other. Xion didn't like that look.

"Please, you can't listen to Pete!" At her words, the two of them turned to Xion. The captain raised an eyebrow. "My name is Xion; my friends here are Sora, Donald, and Goofy. We've been fighting Pete for a long time—he's the bad guy, not us!"

Sora nodded as he strained against his own bindings. "Pete uses the powers of darkness! He even had control of the Heartless until just recently!"Xion gasped as Sora's words brought a realization to her, but tried to hide her surprise for fear of the captain misinterpreting it. Darkness, of course! Pete had to be the one that the ship had detected!

Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow raised an eyebrow at each other, sharing some silent conversation with just their expressions. Xion fidgeted awkwardly, while behind her Donald grew silent. All four of them were watching the captain with baited breath.

"…You four aren't exactly in any good graces, right now," she said at last while crossing her arms over her chest. "What reason do I have to believe you?"

"But—!" Xion didn't finish her counter-argument, sighing in defeat instead. The captain was right. They had snuck aboard this ship, after all. There really wasn't any way she or Mr. Arrow could trust them, at least not yet.

"Well, now. What's all the ruckus up here?"

A door nearby opened up, a large figure stepping out onto the deck. He was overweight and not entirely human, with a bizarrely large nose and thick neck. Still, he looked to be perhaps one of the most normal of the crew—if it weren't for the metal. An arm, a leg, and an eye were gone, replaced by robotic limbs and optics that clanked and whirred as he moved. Behind the cyborg was a boy—a human boy, about Xion and Sora's age in fact. He was dressed in brown, just like the color of his hair.

"So you're joinin' us at last, eh, Silver?" Pete asked with rumbling laughter.

The cyborg adjusted his coat as he approached. "Why, Jimbo and I were just workin' on dinner when we heard lots of bangs and shouts. Now here I find a bunch of kids! What in all the worlds happened?"

Captain Amelia stood straighter, more imposing. "Stowaways, that's what. And I was just about to decide what to do with them. I suppose we could throw them in the brig until we return to Traverse Town."

"The brig? Oh, forgive me for speakin' out of turn, Captain, but they're just wee boys and a lass! Why, they shouldn't be locked up in damp, dark cells just for a bit of youthful explorin', should they?"

"Watch your mouth, Mr. Silver," Mr. Arrow warned. "You don't know the specifics."

Silver sighed. "Aye, I admit that I don't."

Captain Amelia did seem to catch on to the man called Silver's words, however. Xion eyed her warily, but for a moment flickered to the boy behind Silver—the one he had called Jimbo. A nickname, she imagined. It seemed odd that of everyone aboard the ship, only Silver seemed to care for her and her friends' well-being by standing against them being tossed in a prison. Did it have something to do with that boy? No, she was looking too into it. Had to be.

"…You may have a point, Mr. Silver." Heads turned to Captain Amelia, mutterings of surprise moving throughout the crew. Pete's jaw dropped. "Still, they must be punished for stowing away somehow." She leaned down and stood Sora up by the ropes around his wrists.

Silver nodded. "Oh indeed, Captain—"

"Which is why you will be taking them in."

Silver's face fell. Beside him, the boy frowned. "I-I… Beggin' your pardon, Captain, but I already have Jim here."

"And now you will have three others. Mr. Arrow?" She snapped her fingers.

"Aye, Captain." In his mighty stone fists, Mr. Arrow stood Donald and Goofy up next to Sora. He withdrew a knife and cut their bonds, then shoved them forward. "The three of you will be aiding Mr. Silver and Mr. Hawkins in cleaning and cooking until we return from this voyage. Is that clear?"

Wait, just the three of them? Xion's heart fell. What was the captain planning on doing with her? Sora looked back at Xion, those same thoughts running on his face. To the side, Pete's earlier expression of surprise transformed into a smug smile.

Donald stomped his foot. "Hey, you can't order us around! We have places to go and monsters to fight! And what about Xion?!"

Xion felt her own bonds release, done by the captain's hand. "I hardly trust a group of sailors to…behave themselves…around a young lady, let alone this motley crew. Your companion will be staying in my quarters."

Xion rubbed her wrists and glared up at the captain. She felt a frown tugging on her lips as she spoke. "I can more than take care of myself. I'll be staying with my friends."

But the captain shook her head. "Self-sufficient or not, you are still a stowaway and a prisoner. It's this or the brig. As with your friends' deal, it is not debatable."

Xion's frown turned into a grimace, and she turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Their own faces matched hers, but they all knew there wasn't exactly a choice. They'd have to meet up again later, when the eyes of ever person on the ship weren't on them. Then they could get out of here. Until then…

"Fine, whatever you say, ma'am." She crossed her arms and turned around. She may be going with this for now, but she didn't want to give them any false hope that she was accepting it.

Behind her, she heard the whirring of gears as Silver moved. "…Alright, then. Jimbo, looks like you have some new partners."

"Great," Jim deadpanned. "At least the load will be less."

"Aye, at least there's that. Come on then, boys. We've got work to do."

"And that goes for everyone here, as well!" Mr. Arrow declared as he walked up to the ship's wheel. "Gentlemen, back to your stations. We're heading back underway."

As the crowds began to disperse and her friends went below deck, Xion spared a glance at Pete. The large cat was pulling on some ropes closer to the bow, but he paused for a moment and looked over at Xion—locked with her gaze, right in the eye. And he grinned. Xion glared at him right back, and she knew that they couldn't leave after reuniting. Not yet, not while Pete was still here. Whatever he was after wouldn't be good.

Captain Amelia moved past Xion. "Come on, then. It's time to introduce you to my quarters. They're the only thing you'll be seeing for quite some time, young lady."

x-x-x

Sora wasn't sure what he had been expecting when they entered the kitchen of the RLS Legacy, but it wasn't what he found. It was a small, round room lit by orange lights, with barrels of fruit and vegetables lined along the walls. As he, Donald, and Goofy came to a stop in the doorway, Silver and Jim shoved past them and moved over to the counters.

"So then, what are your names again?" Silver asked as he began looking at what Sora assumed was a recipe.

Goofy laughed, taking the situation in stride even as Donald grumbled beside him. "Oops, you weren't on deck when Xion introduced us! I'm Goofy, and my friends here are Sora and Donald."

"Nice to meet you boys, then. You herd the captain earlier, but I'm Silver and the boy here is Jim Hawkins." He glanced at the recipe one last time and then turned to Jim. "How does soup sound for dinner, Jimbo?"

"What, again?"

As Silver laughed, the fingers on his robotic hand retracted. Gears whirred and metal prongs flipped, and then a small blade appeared on his wrist. He reached into a barrel with his other hand and emerged with a handful of potatoes, tossing the spuds to everyone else one by one. "Alright, let's get to work."

"Uh…" Donald held up the potato between him and the light, staring at it with a confused expression on his face.

Hearing his hesitation, Silver looked back at Donald and smirked. "What, you don't know how to peel potatoes? What cushy life did you come from?"

Sora frowned as he turned the potato in his hands. "Well I'm from a tropical island, and Donald and Goofy live in a castle." He glanced up at the two staring at them in absolute surprise, and then chuckled awkwardly. "Um, what about you guys?"

Jim recovered quickly. He shrugged as he picked up a peeler. "I'm actually from Traverse Town. Silver is…" A frown. He looked to the man. "Where are you from, Silver?"

"Ah, it's not important, lad. Alright then, if you three don't know what to do, I'll show you how it's done."

As they watched Silver cleanly slice off the rough skin of the spud with his mechanical hand, Sora reached for a peeler of his own. But as he brought it up to his potato, the silver shifted into pink and the metal became goop. "What—?"

"Morph!" Silver admonished the goop. "No more prankin' the new kids!"

Eyes and a mouth appeared on the goop as it floated out of Sora's hand. It let out high-pitched laughter and swirled around in the air, chattering "No more, no more!" again and again.

Jim chuckled. "Don't mind Morph. He does that sometimes."

Sora stared at the pink blob as it flew over to Silver and rested on the man's shoulder. "Uh…sure thing." A transforming little ball of goo? That was cool, honestly! Sora grabbed another peeler hesitantly, wondering if it was another Morph, but it retained its shape. As he awkwardly started to peel the potato, he spoke without looking up. "So…what are you guys doing out here anyway?"

"You mean you don't know?" Jim asked.

Donald huffed. "We thought this was someone else's ship when we snuck aboard, so we don't know anything that's going on!"

Jim and Silver exchanged glances at each other. When Silver returned to his potato, Jim kept his gaze on the man for just an instant longer. A frown tugged at his lips, and he looked like he was unsure if he should say something. Then he sighed and shook his head. "It's a treasure hunt."

"J-Jimbo!" Silver smacked the boy on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Jim snarled and rubbed the bruise that was forming. "What, shouldn't they know now that they're being pulled along into it?"

Silver sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. He glanced up at the trio, who were watching with baited breath and anxious expressions at the mention of treasure. Donald in particular looked ready to jump out of his seat. Silver sighed again as he spoke. "The fine Doctor Doppler, the financer of this voyage, thinks he knows where the long-lost Treasure Planet is."

"Treasure…Planet?" Sora asked. What, like an entire world of gold and jewels? That beat out the Cave of Wonders by a mile!

His question earned him another pair of strange looks, though. "You've never heard of it?" Silver asked. Sora shook his head, and beside him Donald and Goofy did the same. Silver leaned back in his chair. "An old pirate captain named Nathaniel Flint used it to store what he gathered over his life. They say it contains the loot of a thousand worlds!"

"Pirates?!" Sora was sure his face was glowing. Real, honest pirates!

"Aye, so the stories say. No one's ever found it, though." Silver barked out a laugh, which was mirrored by Morph's giggling. "If you ask me, it's a fairy tale. But I'm just a humble cook."

Jim shook his head. "No way, it's real. It's out there somewhere, and we're going to find it."

But Silver just laughed again. "I admire your optimism, boy, but you're talking like you have some kinda proof!"

"U-Uh, no." Jim shook his head and looked away, turning the potato around in his hands. "I've just got…this feeling."

Goofy nodded. "Gawrsh, it sure would be an adventure to find a place like that!"

"And think of how rich you'd be!" Donald added.

"Fair enough," Silver said as he held his hands up in defeat. He pushed himself up off his seat and brushed his hand on his shirt. "Excuse me, kids. I've gotta go ask Mr. Arrow what he wants tomorrow."

"Uh… Have fun, I guess." Sora watched as Silver left the kitchen, and as soon as the door was shut behind him he jumped up to his feet. "Donald, Goofy, come on."

"Huh?" Goofy looked up from his own nearly finished potato. "But Sora, we just got started."

"We gotta go find Xion. I want to tell her about this Treasure Planet place, then maybe we can start figuring out how to sneak back onto our ship."

"But what if we get caught?" Donald asked. Despite his words, however, he followed Sora as the boy began walking to the exit. Goofy frowned, set his potato down, and then stood up as well.

"So they'll throw me in the brig. No lock can hold us, you guys. Come on." But as he was about to turn the doorknob, he hesitated. Looking back over his shoulder, he eyed Jim. "Hey, uh… It was nice meeting you."

"Huh?" Jim seemed lost in thought and surprised at Sora speaking to him. As he snapped out of his thoughts he shrugged and picked up another potato. "Yeah, uh, sure. You too. Have fun with not getting caught or whatever."

"I hope you find this Treasure Planet place. Think you could find a map somewhere?"

Jim's eyes widened slightly, but his face returned to normal a moment later. "Yeah, well, if maps existed I'm sure it'd be found by now."

Sora smirked. "Heh, true enough. Well, bye!"

Goofy waved as they left onto the deck. "It sure was nice meetin' ya, Jim!"

x-x-x

The crew's quarters aboard the RLS Legacy were dark. They weren't dreary, oh no; the Legacy was one of the most well-maintained Gummi ships in Traverse Town's hangar. The floors were spotless, the hammocks without a single hole. Ventilation was fine, leaving only a lingering body odor behind instead of a mighty powerful one. But it was dark nonetheless, and more importantly empty—save for two.

The steps creaked under Silver's weight as he moved down, his robotic leg taking the lead. When the floor beneath him leveled out, Silver let out a groan and sat down on the bottom step. That darn old leg of his was more trouble than it was worth sometimes. Swapping to his toolkit in his mechanical arm, he began fixing the loose bolts on his leg.

But Silver wasn't alone, and he knew it. As he continued his work on his leg, he looked up into the dark room and scanned the shadows against the back walls. There was one figure, larger than even him, who sat on a hammock. The cloth strained under his weight, causing the posts to creek as the hammock swung ever so slightly.

"So who are those stowaways, then?" Silver turned his attention back to his leg as he spoke.

"Just some pipsqueaks who've been messing with me and Maleficent. But don't worry; as long as the girl and spiky-haired brat are separated from each other, they're no threat at all."

Silver shrugged and set his leg back down. The tools on his hand retreated, his mechanical fingers returning in their place. As he stood up he let out a low groan and cracked his aging back, then rolled his shoulders and began walking forward. His mechanical eye game him a full view of Pete despite the lightless conditions.

"Say, it's a good thing that the lady separated them herself," Pete continued. "I sure wouldn't wanna be the guy who stands between that boy and his friends."

"Hm." Silver sat down in a hammock across from Pete. He paid no mind to the stretching fabric. "And the other two?"

"The duck and the goof? No problem at all." Pete waved his a dismissive hand. "They're just a couplea' nimrods, that's all."

"Maybe I should work 'em to the bone, anyway. Just to be sure they can't do anything if they catch wind of what we're up to. They already know about Treasure Planet."

Pete shrugged "Well, it probably wouldn't hurt, but I don't think you need to go through all that trouble. Trust me, they're nothin'—just keep an eye on the kids."

"I will trust you, Pete… Just as long as you hold up your end of the bargain."

"Yeah, yeah. All the worlds you could ever loot, I remember."

Silver looked to the stairway and stood up again, hoping his leg would manage. "I should be returnin' to the kitchen for now. Mr. Arrow won't approve of me leavin' those boys unsupervised."

"Oh yeah, you got that other brat to watch, too, huh?"

"Aye, Jimbo. A fine lad, to be honest."

Pete frowned and rubbed his chin. "What, you even gave him a nickname? Seems to me like…"

Pete trailed off when Silver stopped mid-step and looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You better be watching your tongue, Pete. Don't go sayin' things you'd regret."

Pete grimaced. "I-I wouldn't dream of it…Captain."

Silver's expression returned to what it had been, as if he had never been angered. "Have a good day, then." With a tip of his hat, he moved back to the stairs.

"Yeah… You too."