Chapter 4: A Narrow Escape
Written by: Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI
Rating: G (K)
Summary: After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.
Disclaimer: We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.
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"What've we gotten ourselves into?" Sora said as they walked out of the captain's cabin.
"Hey, who's that?" Goofy pointed to two individuals. One sat upon the riggings, the other walked up to the railing.
"Shhh! Let's see who it is; maybe we'll find out if they know." Donald pulled them both down behind a laser cannon by their ears.
Sora recognized the two as Mr. Silver and Jim Hawkins, the latter of which sat tying a bit of rope into knots.
The heavy-set cyborg puffed on his pipe. "It weren't your fault, you know."
Jim sighed irritably.
"Why, half the crew would be spinnin' in that black abyss if not for—"
Jim threw the rope overboard, jumping down onto the railing. "Look, don't you get it?!" He confronted Silver. "I screwed up! I mean, for two seconds, I thought that maybe I could do something right, but--aaaagh!" Running frustrated fingers through his hair, Jim turned and headed toward the mast support. "I just—" He sighed angrily. "Just forget it. Forget it." The youth rubbed his face with a few fingertips.
Sora knew that kind of frustration well, from when he lost the Keyblade to Riku in Hollow Bastion. Still, no one died from that, and his heart sank for the youth.
The cyborg looked sympathetically at the youth with his glowing yellow eye. Using his massive, finely-clawed hand, he took Jim by the shoulder and turned him around to face him. "Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins." He motioned with his pipe. "Ya got the makings of greatness in ya...! But you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you're made of...well, I hope I'm there, catching some of th' light comin' off ya that day."
"Light," Sora whispered.
Silver held out his arms, seeming as if he were imagining what that day would be like, and looked at Jim with compassion.
Sora knew the light of the heart well...and he could only imagine Silver, in some way, knew about it too. Whether or not he fully understood it, he knew that Jim, despite his seemingly unsociable demeanor, had a bright light inside him.
As a response, Jim lowered his head, sniffling, and leaned it against Silver's stomach. The cyborg looked rather taken aback and unsure before finally taking Jim by the arms. He laughed weakly. "There, there. Lad, it's all right, Jimbo." The reassuring hold became a full embrace. "It's all right."
Silver cleared his throat, clearly trying to put an end to the touching moment. "Now, Jim, I, um..." With some noticeable uncomfortableness, he straightened his hat and thumbed behind him. "I best be getting' about my watch, and you best be getting some shut-eye." He gently pushed him in the direction of the crew's quarters. Jim lingered a moment, looking back. His dejected expression turned into a small smile before he went down.
"Those two are real buddies," Goofy turned, commenting to the other two.
"Looks like it," Donald said. "Those other guys give me the creeps, but that Silver guy doesn't at all."
"Yeah..." Sora looked back to the opening for the quarters. "Y'know, I think I'm gonna go talk to him."
"What? Now?" Donald asked, but Sora was already on his way. The deck itself was now clear, save for them. "Why that—"
Goofy took Donald by the shoulder. "He don't get ta meet other guys his age much. Jus' let him go. Personally I could use a glass of water right now."
Donald sighed and gestured for Goofy to follow. "Yeah, me too, c'mon..."
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"Hey! Hey, wait up!" Sora waved his hand as he ran down the hall.
Jim turned, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking suddenly annoyed. "You following me?"
"What? No, I just saw you going down the hall."
"Huh." He turned, heading closer to the crew's quarters.
"Hey, wait." Sora trotted up. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself." Holding out a hand, he continued, "I'm—"
"Sora. I was there."
"Oh, right." With mild embarrassment he scratched the back of his head. "And you're Jim Hawkins."
"Yeah?" He leaned his back against the wall.
"Well, I just wanted to say it's nice to meet the guy who, um..." He stopped himself from saying too much, in case they were in earshot. "The guy who started this voyage. I would have loved for something to happen like this in years past. Still kinda do, actually," he laughed.
"Sure..." he said simply. He turned, but stopped short of heading anywhere. "You three are the oddest spacers I've seen for a while. Believe me, that's saying a lot." He looked back, his short ponytail flipping over his shoulder. "Still, nice to see someone younger around."
"Yeah. So, how come you're on this trip?" the Key-bearer gestured. "You could have sent someone else out."
"For whatever the same reason you're out here in the middle of the Etherium, probably."
Sora looked confused. "Etherium?"
"Yeah, you know..." Jim displayed a sarcastic smile as he motioned with a finger. "What you've been traveling in? What this ship is floating in?"
"Really. You call this the Etherium, not Interspace..."
"Hit your head pretty hard when you were attacked by those weird ships, huh?" Jim put a finger to his temple.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Why?"
"Thought so," he smiled, crossing his arms.
Sora paused, but asked another question. "That guy I noticed when I came onto the ship...Silver? Is he your adopted father or something? You seem pretty close."
Jim took on a brooding expression. "No."
This took Sora off-guard, and, cocking his head a little, he dared to ask, "Um, you didn't get along with your dad?"
"He was never the type to be there to get along with." Jim faced away.
"Wow. So he was always away."
"Most of the time. Until he took off for good one day." He glared at the wall darkly. "What do you care?"
"Well, if I'm going to be here until our ship's fixed, I might as well help out and get to know everyone, right?"
Jim gave him an odd look. "If you want. So why are you guys out here, anyway? You're quite a ways off from the nearest spaceport."
"Oh, well...we've been on our own search, too." Sora tried to dodge the question, putting his hands behind his head.
"Treasure hunting?" Jim folded his arms.
"Not quite. Kind of exploring, and looking for my friends."
"They're spacers too?"
"You could say that. Riku, I think...I think something really bad happened to him, but I can't get a word from anybody as to what. And Kairi, she..."
"You have a girlfriend?" Jim straightened himself.
Blushing, Sora tried to finish, "She's, um, well..."
Jim just smiled. "Did she run off?"
"What?! No! No, she wouldn't-- She was kidnapped."
Jim looked a little concerned. "Do you know by who?"
"Yeah, though he lost her to someone just as bad..."
"Well, maybe on your trip you can get her back."
"Yeah. She and Riku are two of my closest friends. I grew up with them."
"Hmm." Jim looked to the door of the crew quarters. "You want the top hammock? I'm sick of sleeping anywhere near him..." Lowering his voice, Jim opened the door.
"Who?"
Sora was answered by Jim pointing to a gaseous, slug-shaped creature emitting various noises that made the Key-bearer grimace. "Mr. Snuff."
"Ohhh..."
It was fairly easy finding hammocks enough for not only them, but for Donald and Goofy when they could come in. Both guys ended up using their jackets as blankets as they got ready to sleep.
"Hey, Jim?" Sora whispered, peering over the edge.
"What?" he asked with one eye open.
"So...what was it you planned on doing when you got back?"
Jim rolled over, putting his hands behind his head. "You're doing stuff for people, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when I'm done, they'll finally see me a little differently."
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Sora rolled over, barely noticing the light filtering through the grating in the ceiling. It had been the first time in quite some time he had a real bed to sleep in rather than the gummi ship cockpit. Or rather, something closer to a real bed. He yawned and closed his eyes again.
"Land ho!" he heard a voice cry.
"Wha?!" Sora sat up in a hurry, tipping the hammock and falling several feet onto the deck.
"Oooooh..." He rubbed his head. "Wait, land?"
"What?" Donald sprang up in another hammock.
Enthusiasm ran in Sora's veins like sugar in a five year old. "They said, 'Land ho!' We're here, we're really here!" He turned his attention to Goofy, who was asleep in the hammock below Donald. "Goofy! We're here!"
"Huh? Oh, good mornin' Sora," he yawned.
"C'mon up!" He shook him and scrambled up the stairs.
It looked like all of the crew was already on deck, though Sora noted that neither Silver, nor Jim were around. They're missing out! he thought, running to the railing.
The world was near now, close enough to see a wide variety of yellows, oranges and greens, surely from the native flora. Two rings adorned the planet. One looked like typical space debris, the other a glowing green band that looked like part of a nebula. "Woah...!" He was totally oblivious to Donald and Goofy joining him in ogling.
Loud footsteps turned Goofy's head. "Hey, where's Jim goin'?"
"Sure seems to be in a hurry," Donald observed as he slammed the door. "I wonder why?"
A loud whistle alerted the trio to Silver. "Change in plan, lads!" he cried as he switched his cyborg hand to a sword blade. "We move NOW!"
"Huh?" Sora looked to the excited crewmembers. All of the ragged crew were pulling out swords and guns of their own, staring down at both the nearby world and the trio with wicked grins.
"I got a bad feelin' about this." Goofy pulled out his shield as the group began to turn on them.
Sora summoned the Keyblade to his hand, eliciting a few, "Ooooo's" from the group surrounding them. However, from their vantage point, Sora knew that they'd be easily overpowered. "Jim had the right idea! Run!"
"Strike yer colors, Mr. Onis!" he heard Silver shout up to the crow's nest, but with mutinous crewmembers dropping all around him, Sora heard nothing else as they barreled through, leaping up the stairs as a giant, four-armed creature tore into a room that obviously held more guns.
"Let us in! Let us in!" the Key-bearer cried as he pounded on the door to the captain's cabin, holding back enemies. The door opened part way and several hands hauled them though. The captain shut the door and locked it tight again before running to a nearby cabinet.
"Pirates on my ship? I'll make sure they'll see the noose!" She produced an odd-looking gun from the cabinet and armed it.
"Pirates?" Sora cocked his head in interest. "ALIEN pirates?" He grinned with great delight.
"Oh, shut up." Tossing the gun to the Doctor, Amelia asked, "Familiar with these, Doctor?"
As the gun whined, powering up, he replied, "Oh, I've seen--well, I've read that—" But at that the gun fired a bright magenta blast, destroying a globe next to Amelia. "Uh, no, no. No, I'm certainly not." The Doctor looked abashed.
Amelia rolled her eyes as what appeared to Sora as a wad of living pink bubble gum approached a golden orb she was holding with great interest. She tossed the last remaining weapon, a sword and scabbard, to Jim. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, watch the door!"
A sizzle turned heads, as the deadbolt on the door was being burned though. "You three, get ready." Amelia commanded. "Mr. Hawkins! Defend this with your life!" She tossed it gracefully in his direction, but the little pink blob intercepted it in its mouth, flying off with it.
"Morph! Give it here!" Jim grabbed the ball and pried it away from the creature, pocketing it.
"Where do we go?!" Donald squawked.
But Amelia gave no answer beyond action; taking her gun and blasting a hole in the floor, just wide enough for them to slip through to the lower deck. She grabbed the protesting Donald and threw him in.
It was a mad chase after the captain, who dashed though the maze of corridors and stairs with ease. Goofy and Doppler executed the race with amazing awkwardness. The knight managed to slam into the other, making them both tumble down the stairs. As the pirates ran for the door, Amelia pulled them both out of the way to close the door. Amelia pulled out another gun to wield the lock together as Doppler uttered an abrupt "Thank you!"
They were now in the RLS Legacy's hold, where the damaged gummi ship still sat directly above the hatch. "Quickly! Your ship will have to do!" she cried to Sora.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Sora ran with his companions, hopping into the open cockpit just as Amelia threw a switch to unseal the hatch. The hatch slowly opened, revealing the jungle far below. "But I'm not sure if it's good to fly yet! The Auto-Regen--"
"Doesn't matter!" Jim yelled. "Move!"
Amelia did a flip into the increasingly crowded cockpit, arming a laser rifle.
Meanwhile, the little pink blob that had followed them grabbled the orb from Jim's pocket. Morph floated back towards the ship's hold, leaving Jim gawking. "Morph! Noooo!" He leapt out of the gummi ship after the creature.
"Jim!"
"Sora, we've got other things to worry about too!" Goofy pointed to the door as the pirates finally burst through, firing immediately.
Sora held up his Keyblade to deflect the shot, hoping to return their own fire, but Donald beat him to it. "Reflect!" For a breath's moment, a glistening shield of magic protected the ship.
"Keep at it! We need to hold our ground until Mr. Hawkins returns!" Amelia readied her gun as Sora cast the same spell as Donald. "Chew on this you pus-filled boils!" Taking aim, she took several shots at the pirates.
Doppler dared to take a shot, stuffing a finger in an ear as he fired. Some odd tangle of wires and boards fell from the ceiling, crashing through the planking three pirates had been standing on.
Everyone stared at Doppler. "No way you aimed for that." Sora looked at him dubiously.
"Actually, y'know, I did," he said, looking amazed at the gun.
The moment was short-lived, as heavy gunfire made them all take refuge. The sound of gears cranking ended up turning heads.
"Oh, blast it!" Amelia growled, noting Silver was closing the hatch. "Doctor, when I say 'now,' shoot out the forward cable. Donald, if you have a spell that can shoot out the third cable, do it. Sora, Goofy, keep at it and keep a look out for Mr. Hawkins. We've still a few pirates to keep a watch on."
Time was irrelevant, suddenly. Sora was unsure if a few seconds or a couple minutes went by as he waited for the captain to give the signal to the doctor. Shots sizzled through the air or when not blocked by the shield of magic. That is, assuming the lasers didn't eat into the ship's hull.
As he tired from casting spells, he noticed every breath, the pound of every heartbeat in his head. In the haze of battle, a form moved somewhere...
"He's coming!" Sora cried as soon as he spotted Jim.
"NOW!!!"
Two ropes were fired through, and when Donald froze the last one the rope proved too brittle to hold the ship alone. The Highwind was free. Jim caught hold of the side of the cockpit, finding a foothold on one of the flat gummis that comprised the wings.
"I'll get us out of here!" Sora headed toward the controls. He pushed the steering bars forward, and the Highwind launched from the hold out into the world's atmosphere. It skitted along the clouds rougher than normal, indicating imbalance in the aero gummis. The engine sputtered to life with only half its normal power.
And behind them, the RLS Legacy took pursuit. "Look! The ship! It's gonna fire!" Goofy cried.
"Donald, our shields aren't repaired! You're gonna have to—"
"Sora, I can't..."
He looked back, realizing just how exhausted the wizard was. With the supplies elsewhere, he knew he'd have to be the one to cast reflect.
"I'll take the helm." Amelia headed toward navigation as Sora bolted from his seat.
"Laser ball at 12 o'clock!" Doppler shouted, pointing behind them.
"But isn't that the front of the ship?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.
Timing was everything with this spell, and Sora himself was tired. He had one chance, with no time to pull out ether. He watched, concentrating and taking a tight grip on the Keyblade.
The jungle neared below, individual bits of flora becoming distinguishable. He knew poor timing would mean meeting the ground below. He just needed to wait for the right instant...
He could feel it.
"REFLECT!" he cried, a barrier forming as large as he could muster around the ship.
Despite his effort, it wasn't big enough.
The gummi ship jolted, and energy sizzled through the controls. Amelia cried out in pain, holding herself. The cockpit windshield shattered.
Everyone held on for dear life as the captain regained herself, skimming what was best described as trees and finally bursting through one, sending spores flying. The ground welcomed them, and the ship crashed and tumbled before rolling right-side up.
Sora moaned and rolled over in his seat. He wasn't quite sure why his pockets were wet and crunching as he moved.
"Owies...is everybody okay?" Goofy rubbed the bump on his head.
"Present!" Sora looked to the floor to find a weary Jiminy had been thrown from his pocket. The ship sputtered as the Auto-Regen hardware began to kick into gear, and large gloved hands began to mend the wings. Sora immediately noticed how they sputtered and sparked. "Great, the repair system's damaged too. This is going to take forever."
"Looks like everyone's here, at least." Jim twisted his sore neck.
"My goodness." Doppler stood up after straightening his glasses. "That was so much fun, but I think I can do without an encore."
Amelia chuckled weakly as she stood up. "That's not one of my gossamer landings."
"Anything you can walk away from," Sora commented just as Amelia grasped her side and collapsed.
A couple people shouted "Captain!" though it was Jim and Doppler who helped her up.
"Donald, you feel up to casting Cure yet?" Sora asked.
Donald looked at him, annoyed.
"Me neither..."
Goofy looked back at the wrecked gummi ship. "I'll go check the First Aid kit and see if we've got some spare potions." He clambered back behind the cockpit seats.
"Oh, don't fuss," Amelia insisted, yet she fell backward into Doppler's arms. "Slight bruising. That's all." The captain picked herself up again, straightening her hair. "Cup of tea's all I need. I'll be right as rain." She looked to Doppler. "Mr. Hawkins."
The doctor looked surprised as Amelia narrowed her eyes to see him better. Correcting herself, she looked to Jim and said, "The map if you please."
He pulled the orb from his pocket, looking relieved.
"Oh, so that's what that is..." Sora commented. But then, it floated into the air and scrambled to reveal itself as Morph.
"Whoa!" Sora marveled. The little shape-shifter giggled at its prank.
"Morph!" Jim yelled. "Morph, where's the map?!"
The living liquid creature demonstrated by turning itself into a small map and rope and tossing the map into the pile of rope.
"Are you serious?!" Jim was understandably livid. "It's back there still?!" He began to grab for Morph.
An engine whined in the distance. "Man! Now what...?" Sora rubbed the back of his head, made sorer from the crash.
"Restrain that blob and get low." Amelia had caught sight of a solar longboat going overhead. "We've got company."
"Uh, fellas, I've got some bad news," Goofy said as he emerged from the gummi ship's interior. "That crash musta jostled the back real hard, 'cause all of our potions and ethers are smashed!"
Amelia ignored him, more intent on the rest of the situation. "We need a less vulnerable site." She looked for her laser pistol, but sighed when she realized it must have been thrown clear. "We'll need a scouting party."
Jim looked to his sword, obviously preferring a gun. "Aye, Captain," both he and Sora nodded.
"Wait, I'm sure I have some—" Sora reached into his pocket, hoping to find an elixir, but ended up pulling his fingers out immediately. "OW!" Peering inside his pocket, he found glass. He finally realized why his pocket was wet and sticky. "Man!"
Amelia collapsed, barely caught by the doctor. "Steady, steady. Now, let's have a look at that..."
"I'll stay behind and try to help Amelia," Donald said. "You, Jim and Goofy see what you can find. We don't know what kind of creatures live here." The three nodded and turned.
"We'll rest up," Donald said. "Then we can take care of her."
"Be careful." With that, the Key-bearer turned to follow Goofy, Morph and Jim.