Chapter XXV; Lost Boys
X groaned in annoyance as yet again Terra jumped to the rescue of people who were being attacked by the Unversed. It seemed everytime they went to a new world someone was getting attacked by Unversed and Terra had to step in. In this world, it happened to be two pirates of some kind and a treasure chest. Terra beat back the Unversed easily. X was impressed by Terra's growth as a keyblade wielder. He was getting stronger each world and doing well to keep up with the Unversed that were rapidly growing in strength.
"If I'd desired your assistance, I'd have demanded it. We had the situation under control. Isn't that right, Smee?" The black haired pirate in red said after Terra had beat all the Unversed for him. He had a hook for his left hand which X found amusing.
"Oh yes, Cap'n. Completely. We woulda cleaved those fiends to the brisket, we would. Why I'd have given 'em a little of this- and this-" His partner, Smee said swinging his fists around. Watching his moves X guessed he'd last about three minutes against the swarm. If he was lucky and the Unversed felt like playing with their food.
"Yep, they totally had that handled." X said to Terra his voice drenched with sarcasm. Terra looked down at X with a soft grin. X shrug at Terra grinning in return. The pirates seemed to completely miss the sarcasm, however.
"And don't think your efforts mean you'll get a share of me treasure. Understood?" The man with the hook said. Terra sighed and looked at the man calmly.
"I'm not after your precious box, Captain." Terra said simply. X supposed it was alright to assume he was the captain. Compared to the other man he was rather well dressed. "I'm looking for a person. A boy wearing a mask. Ring any bells?" Terra asked. X frowned. He had forgotten that was who they were looking for. He hadn't seen Vanitas even once while with Terra. Vanitas had his focus elsewhere.
"No, not a one." The captain snapped. Terra sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Figures." He said. He glanced down toward X as if asking what to do now. X frowned and crossed his arms. This world might still have something interesting so there was no point in just leaving. Terra could just exterminate Unversed for all X cared.
"Smee! Ye blithering barnacle! We're off. We shall leave this place before the light draws 'em back again." The captain yelled interrupting X's thoughts. X looked up in confusion just as Terra turned his attention back to the pirates.
"Hey, hold on." Terra said stopping the pirates in their tracks. "What did you just say about the light?" He asked. The captain looked at Terra a moment before a grin spread across his face. X didn't like the look of the grin, but Terra didn't seem bothered.
"Ah yes, it's heartbreaking really. This chest, you see, contains light gathered from all around. And I got an acquaintance, a boy, who's sure to try and seize it." The captain explained with a sorrowful voice. Terra frowned and looked to X.
"A boy who's after the light. If it's not Vanitas, then who?" Terra asked. X frowned and looked at the chest. It wasn't special, so the captain was probably lying. But even so, it was better to just let Terra figure that out on his own.
"A lot of people want to steal the light. It's rather precious." X said after a moment. Light was for some reason greatly valued. Plenty would want to take it from others. There was an entire war fought over that after all. Terra nodded and looked back to the pirates.
"Hey, why don't I help you keep the light safe? Maybe you could tell me more about this boy who's troubling you. What's his name?" Terra suggested. The captain looked pleased by Terra's decision. He grinned once again.
"Peter Pan." He said. X blinked a few times and looked around the area. It was the edge of a forest. Not much else stood out to identify the world. "This chest must be brought to Skull Rock safely. Don't let Peter Pan anywhere near it!" The captain X assumed now was Captain Hook ordered.
"Right. I've got you covered." Terra agreed. Hook and Smee left as soon as Terra agreed. X glanced at the chest once again. He wondered what was actually in the chest. He looked up and glanced around. Where were they taking this chest again?
"Where is Skull Rock? What does Peter Pan look like?" X asked, glancing around still. Terra looked at him in confusion. X met with Terra's eyes again. "Those are questions you should have asked before agreeing to this." X finished. Terra glanced around and laughed nervously.
"Good point." Terra agreed. He turned back to see X still looking around the area in wonder. Terra didn't think much of this world. It seemed not too different from any other world they had been to. And X had been to more worlds. Surely this world couldn't be that interesting. "Why do you keep looking around?" Terra asked. X stopped looking around and turned his attention to Terra almost reluctantly.
"Second star to the right and straight on till morning." X said. Terra frowned.
"What's that about?" He asked. X smirked and sighed looking around. His usually angled eyes soften if only slightly. Terra was surprised to see his expression.
"That's what Y used to tell me. That's how you get to Never Land." X explained. Terra looked around slowly. X hadn't spoken much about his relationship with Y. Terra could only guess he felt as a Heartless he didn't have a right to be with his sister. She was still one of light while X was trapped in the darkness.
"This is Never Land?" Terra asked. X shrugged.
"Pretty sure. Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Smee. It's all the characters in the old bedtime story. Y's favorite." He explained. Terra tried to remember all the stories Y had told. She had always loved telling stories. And she was pretty good at it too. Even Master Eraqus would stop and listen if she decided to tell any kind of story. If had been her favorite, she had never told it to them for some reason.
"So you know about this world." Terra guessed. X shrugged once again.
"All I know is now I owe Y munny." He said. X turned and walked away. Terra sighed and followed, dragging the chest with him.
As it turned out the stories Y had told gave a good basic sense of directions to X. He was able to roughly guess where they were and find their way to Skull Rock fairly quickly. X took out all the Unversed in the way as well, letting Terra handle the chest. They reached Skull Rock to find Hook and Smee already there inside a cave they took up most of the island.
"Well done." Hook praised, looking at the chest with greedy eyes. X rolled his eyes and paced away investigating the area. He heard a conversation between Smee and Hook, but he tuned out most details. Something about a shooting star that might not be a shooting star at all.
Hook approached Terra once again, clearing his throat as he did so. Terra looked at him calmly waiting for him to speak.
"We've a bit of business to attend to and must, I fear, step away. I trust you can see to things till I return." Hook said calmly. Terra nodded without a second thought.
"Sure. When Peter Pan gets here, I'll be waiting." He said. Hook and Smee once again vacated the area.
Terra took a guarding position by the chest while X sat on top of the chest. He picked at the underside of his nails with one of his daggers like he often did when he was bored and waiting for something. Before long the two were greeted by a red-haired boy wearing green flying into the room.
"Are you Peter Pan?" Terra asked.
"That's me!" The boy confirmed.
"The light is not yours to take!" Terra said summoning his keyblade and charging after Peter Pan. X stayed seated on the chest as he watched Terra fight the boy in green. X sighed and looked away. He was surprised to see two boys dressed as animals in front of him. He identified them as two of the Lost Boys.
"So what's actually in the chest?" X asked leaning back on the chest. The Lost Boys exchanged a look and shrugged at each other before turning back to X.
"Pirate treasure!" The one dressed as a fox said excitedly. X nodded.
"I see." He said. He hopped off the chest and opened it. As promised it was filled with gold and jewels. X sighed and stepped to the side. "Hey, Terra! Stop fighting!" X called. Terra stopped and turned to face X in surprise. His eyes widened and his lips part in a soundless gasp.
"What's this?" Terra asked approaching the chest. Peter landed beside him and walked beside him to the chest.
"Pirate treasure." X answered with a shrug.
"I've been guarding a pile of loot?" Terra asked softly.
"Sounds like you've been tricked." Peter said crossing his arms. Terra nodded and turned to look at Peter apologetically.
"I'll say. I owe you an apology. I picked a fight over nothing." Terra said. X could see his eyes harden. He was angry. Good, maybe he'd do something about that anger. Then they'd get somewhere.
"Aw, it was all in good fun. Not every day I get to fight such a good swordsman. Say, what's your names, anyway?" Peter said waving off Terra's apology. He looked between Terra and X curiously.
"Terra." He introduced himself. He opened his mouth to introduce X, but the blonde Heartless beat him to it.
"X." He said. Terra gave him a strange look but X only shrugged. It was uncommon for him to introduce himself, but he figured he could make an exception for this world.
"Right then, Terra, X. Which way did Hook go?" Peter asked. X frowned. They hadn't actually said where they were going. Just that they had business elsewhere. They could really be doing anything anywhere on the island.
"They said something about a shooting star." Terra said.
"Shooting star?" Peter asked in a panic. Terra nodded slowly. "Tinker Bell must be in danger! Men, guard that treasure with your lives!" Peter ordered. The Lost Boys saluted and gave some kind of confirmation as Peter took flight and left Skull Rock.
"We should get going." Terra said with a smile. He was looking at the Lost Boys who were looking at the treasure with awe.
"Alright." X agreed.
X and Terra left the cave they had been in while guarding the chest. They had hardly gotten out of the cave when they heard the Lost Boys yelling.
"Ah! It's a monster!" One of the boys yelled. X turned around quickly, Terra turning with him.
"Somebody help!" The other boy yelled.
"We should go back." X said calmly. Terra nodded before taking off back towards the cave where they had left the Lost Boys. Inside the cave, the two Lost Boys were running from a swarm of jellyfish-like Unversed.
"Unversed!" Terra yelled summoning his keyblade. While he charged at the Unversed X drew his daggers and went to the Lost Boys. He beat back the Unversed that got near them, keeping them from harm.
Terra took down the large swarm quickly. X smirked a little as the Lost Boys came out from behind him. They looked at Terra with awe.
"Boy, you sure cut that monster down to size!" The Lost Boy dressed as a fox said happily. Terra smiled at the boys, but his smile quickly dropped as he looked toward the entrance of the cave.
"Shh..." Terra cautioned.
"Ahoy! How fare ye, lad?" The voice of Hook called into the cave.
"Hook!" The boys cried in fear. X grabbed both of their wrists and pulled them away.
"Come on." X said as he pulled them to a place behind a bunch of rocks.
"Fine. Alls well." Terra answered. X peaked around the rock he had hidden the Lost Boys behind. He saw Hook approach Terra carrying a lantern of some kind. "What' that?" Terra asked curiously. Hook held up the lantern.
"Tinker Bell. One of Peter Pan's dearest friends." He replied with his evil grin. X frowned and glanced to the Lost Boys. Both looked very concerned that they had lost their pixie friend.
"Can I take a look?" Terra asked. Hook handed Terra the lantern and turned away. While Hook's back was turned Terra opened up the lantern and freed the fairy. The fairy flew around and kicked Hook in the face. X held in a snicker as Hook stumbled back in confusion.
"What's the meaning of this?" Hook demanded turning back to Terra.
"You know, I didn't really give it that much thought. Just doing what my heart tells me." Terra said calmly. Hook seemed to only get angrier, his teeth grinding together.
"That's mutiny! And you'll walk the plank for it!" Hook yelled. Terra responded by summoning his keyblade remaining calm. Suddenly a ticking sound filled the air. Hook tensed up in fear. "That sound!" Hook turned to see a crocodile in the water. Hook let out a scream and ran away. X laughed as he left his hiding place with the Lost Boys.
"Hooray! We sure showed Hook this time!" The fox boy said happily. Terra banished his keyblade and looked up as Tink flew above them. He looked up for some time, so X guessed he was thinking.
"Aww, so much for the pirate treasures." The bear Lost Boy said in disappointment. He was looking at a now empty treasure chest. The Unversed must have spread the jewels and gold around or perhaps stolen it.
"Ohhh." The other boy said.
"Did you guys really want the jewels and gold that badly?" Terra asked.
"Nah, we don't care about that stuff." The fox boy said.
"Uh, but, uh, Pan was countin' on us." The bear boy continued. The fox boy nodded in agreement. X frowned looking at Terra. There was no way they could find all the treasure. He hoped Terra wasn't going to suggest they try.
"I'll tell ya what, put the stuff that's really special to you in there. That can be your treasure." Terra said calmly. The Lost Boys brightened up visibly, smiles crossing their faces.
"Yeah!" They said in unison.
"Real swell idea. Thanks!" The fox boy said. The two boys hurried to pick up the chest and head off to find Peter again. Terra watched them leave with a soft smile.
"Kinda makes me wonder what I'd put in there." Terra said. X glanced at him then looked back to where the boys had disappeared.
"Yeah, that's an interesting thought." X admitted. When he was a someone he might have had an answer to that. But now, there was nothing he could easily think off. He didn't really have anything precious. He supposed Terra had a few things, but he didn't have a clue as to what.
"Huh, what's that?" Terra asked suddenly. X looked up and followed Terra's gaze. He was surprised to see a black creature with bright yellow eyes. He hadn't seen another Heartless for some time.
"That's a Shadow. It's a Heartless." X explained. Terra looked at X quickly then looked back to the Shadow his eyes wide. His eyes widened even more as the Heartless made a hand gesture that could be considered rude.
"Did that just..." Terra began to ask but trailed off in shock. X blinked a few times beside him.
"Yeah, I think it did." He said. The elite Heartless walked over to his lesser, his hands in his pockets. "What do you want?" X asked annoyed.
The old guy says get to the badlands. He needs your help. The Shadow replied. It quickly sunk into the ground and ran off.
"Oh," X said. He turned to Terra and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I have to go. Master Xehanort needs me." He explained. Terra nodded.
"I'll meet you later then." He said before turning and walked away. X smirked as Terra walked away. It looked like the act was finally ending.