Chapter 2: Desert Pirates

"Brother your back!"

"I told you I'd be back in time for your first day."

"Ah I see you start new today? We will be expecting much from you considering who your brother is."

"I'll do my best master….."

"When do I get a crest like him?"

"When you can summon a keyblade…."

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"How was your first day, Rai?"

"I quit! I'm the weakest in the class…"

"You can't expect to be good on your first day silly brother."

"Most students already have a keyblade…."

"You'll get there…have faith."

"Was it like this for you?"

"Sort of…"

"Ugh…" Rai said as he awoke from his sleep "More dreams." Puri jumped off his chest and onto the floor. He looked up at Rai and blinked "Purrri~" it said. Rai brought himself to a sitting position as he looked around the room and reminisced about yesterday.

"Ah! That's right we start our journey today with Miss Jen!" Rai said; he quickly stood up and made his way to the door. Just as he was about to open it the door opened, inward, Rai fell back as the door smacked him in the face. He cringed and held his nose Puri looked at Rai then at Jen who stood in the doorway.

"Oh you're up! I see I didn't need this cold water after all! Hurry up and come downstairs!" She said closing the door. Rai stood up as he checked for blood "Cold water? What did she intend to do with that?" Rai said to himself Puri blinked twice "Puri~."

Rai and Puri made their way downstairs where the bar was filled with people. He became a little intimidated and slowly made his way to the bar where Pops was. "Who are all these people?" Rai asked in a low whisper.

Pops raised an eyebrow and removed his cigarette "They're my customers I open this place at this time. Well I guess since you got here after closing you wouldn't know." Pops said as he went back to cleaning. "Do you know where Jen is?" Rai asked as he surveyed the horizon.

"Jen? She's outside with her hover bike." Pops said as he motioned towards the old western-styled entry way before making his way to the back room. Rai smiled and began to walk towards the exit but not without getting a few stares along the way Puri followed closely behind. You could hear the word "heartless" being said around the bar.

Suddenly, a large muscular man who made Rai appear as a mere toddler stood in front of him. "Ey! Yous know yous be traverlin' wit' dat der heartless righ'?" He said in a very deep tone Rai became frightened when he looked at the man using the full flexion of his neck to look at his face. "Pu—Puri….isn't a h-heartless!" Rai responded, suddenly, a silence broke out into the room followed by intense laughter.

"Dis' kid don even know what a heartless is!" The tall man said. Rai's face turned flush and he quickly looked down saying "W-well…he's not…" Puri looked at Rai then at the tall man. Puri became angry although with a face like his it wasn't noticeable. Puri lashed at the man's leg biting into it.

The man hollered in agony as he kicked his leg back and forth Rai looked up horrified. Pops rushed from the back room "What's going on in here damn it!" He said. Finally, the muscular man flung Puri off of him as he landed on a table. "You little rodent! Dat hurt!" He said as he punched at Puri.

Puri yelled as he barely dodged; the table burst into pieces of wood as the man was clearly infuriated. "Puri!" Rai yelled as he cradled him in his arms; Puri shook violently in Rai's arms. The tall man stood over Rai; he pulled back his arm and clenched his fingers into a fist. "Yea! Get that little bug Largo!" A man called from another table.

"Teach that kid that heartless aren't pets!" Another called. Rai held Puri close and closed his eyes tight awaiting the man's punch. Largo, as the man was called; yelled as he made the motion to throw the punch as the crowd cheered. Pops' eyes widened but he was too far away to stop Largo.

Rai waited to feel his bones shatter under the strength of Largo, but nothing came. Then he noticed the bar was silent. He opened his eyes and looked up and he saw Jen holding Largo's arm with her hand; she looked very upset. Pops let out a breath of relief.

"Largo…unless you wish to anger me further I suggest you sit down. Now," Jen said in a soft but irritated tone. Largo looked at her "Dis' here heartless bit my leg! Nos way is Largo gonna let dat runt get away wit' dat!"

Jen's eye twitched "I see." She said "In that case…" Jen walked in front of him her back turned to Largo. Then without warning she turned and brought the front of her boot to his genitals; kicking so hard Largo bit his tongue when his body jerked up. His legs crossed and he quickly brought his hands down before falling on his knees with tears rolling down his face. The bar quickly erupted in oos and ahs as some even held their own in response.

"Maybe next time when I say sit you'll listen, yea?" She said as she turned to face Rai. "Are you alright kiddo?" Rai nodded still in shock. Puri looked at Jen and blinked twice "Puri~" it said as if thanking her.

Jen smiled. Suddenly, Rai's eyes widened and Pops yelled "Jen!" Largo had regained his composure and was furious. He yelled as he threw the strongest punch he could in Jen's direction. A vein showed up on Jen's forehead indicating her anger; she turned and met Largo's face with the sole of her boot. The punch never making it to its desired location; Largo's head shot back as teeth and blood hurled through the air.

Jen jumped up and dive kicked into Largo's chest sending him hurdling out of the bar breaking the doors in the process "NOW STAY OUT!" Jen yelled. Rai shivered as his fear quickly traded individuals. Puri's antennae fell back and his eyes opened wide; he began to shake. "Sc-scary…"Rai said.

"You're payin' for the table and the doors Largo!" Pops yelled. Jen looked around the motel "Anyone else wanna piss me off today!" Everyone except Pops but including Rai and Puri shook their heads no and the bar quickly returned to its solemn self. "Now listen up you bunch of low lives! I'm leaving town for a bit and this town had better be the way I left it or Largo won't be the only one looking for a healing spell got it!" Jen cleaned the dust off her coat and faced Rai.

"I'm sorry you had to see all that. This town can get a little rowdy at times." She said. "A little?" Rai thought to himself then a thought crossed his mind. "Oh yes I never asked where this was."

"This is the desert town Dune it has a pretty small population, so everyone knows each other and with that said I have to apologize for their behavior it's very odd to see a docile heart…I mean creature around these parts." Rai looked down at Puri in his arms.

"Jen…what's a heartless and why does everyone keep calling Puri that?" Jen frowned and placed her hand on her hip. "Well, a heartless is…" She began to explain "You know what? It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that Puri will always be Puri despite what other people think." Jen said as she patted Puri's head.

Rai smiled "I guess you're right besides if it's something I should know I'm sure it will come back to me in time." Pops listened closely but kept a thought to himself. "We should get going the temple is going to take us two weeks to get to and there is a whole lot of ground to cover." Jen looked up at Pops.

Pops nodded "Take care of yourselves out there I don't wanna outlive you young people." Pops said. Rai bowed "Thank you for your hospitality." "Yea yea." Pops said as he walked into the back room. Jen motioned Rai to follow and they both went outside walking around the unconscious Largo.

On Jen's hover bike were two large brown sacs filled with munitions and supplies. "Wow that's a lot of stuff." Rai said, Puri jumped onto the bike and began looking through the bags. "I told you didn't I? We have a long trip I went to the shops last night they were….generous to give me the stuff I requested." Rai questioned the shops generosity but to prevent himself from becoming like Largo he said nothing.

"Can I ask you something kid?" "Sure" "Why didn't you protect yourself from Largo?" Jen asked. Puri fell into the bag after trying to look deeper in. Rai paused for a second then responded "I don't like hurting people." Jen became confused "Then why become a keyblade wielder?" Rai shrugged his shoulders and looked at the palm of his hand; Puri popped his head up after finally finding the opening.

"I don't know." Rai summoned Golgotha "I know this is mine but I don't know why I would use it. I know I don't like fighting or hurting others so why do I possess this weapon? That's why I need to know my past." Rai said as Golgotha vanished in a flash of light. Jen frowned then smiled "Well, that's why we are going to the Temple of Keyblades to get some answers." She said as she boarded her bike.

Rai nodded "Thank you Miss Jen for helping me even though you just met me." Jen scratched her head "I told you before I couldn't sleep at night if a kid was wandering the desert without a sense of direction. No need to thank me oh and another thing….don't call me "Miss" I'm not some old maid." Jen responded. Puri climbed out of the bag and onto the back seat.

"I'm sorry." Rai said "That's not something to be sorry about now get on and let's hit some sand I want to make it to the next town before nightfall." Rai smiled and got on behind her as Puri moved to Jen's lap. "Hey!" She said "Puri likes you Jen." Rai laughed "Pee on me once and you'll be catching a sandstorm back!" Jen said Puri looked up and blinked twice "Purri~?"

Jen handed Rai a pair of goggles and took out her own "Put those on or the sand will dry out your eyes." Rai did as instructed. Jen revved her bike and it took off leaving a cloud of sand behind to settle on Largo's face.

Two hours have passed since Rai and Jen had left Dune. "You know yesterday you were pretty quick to draw that keyblade on me when I threatened Puri." Jen said.

"Well, Puri can't defend himself so of course I'd fight for him." Rai said "Maybe that's why." Jen responded "Huh?" "You chose to be a wielder…to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"Oh…yes…maybe." Rai said as he thought on that for a moment. They continued to drive through the desert when something caught Jen's eye. "Hmm" Jen said. "What's wrong?" Rai asked. "We have company." Jen said "I don't see anyone." Just as Rai finished talking two manta-like hover ships popped up on each side of the hover bike.

"Great….desert pirates." Jen said "Pirates?" Rai asked "Hang on tight kid!" Jen said as she increased her speed; as she was doing so two sets of high rate of fire guns came up from the top of the ships; they fired at the two. Rai quivered and held on really tight. Puri held on to Jen's shorts. Jen was able to dodge the bullets well, but the pirates kept on the pressure "Damn! Those are type-88 sand cruisers there is no way I can out run them!" She scoffed "I really wish I would have upgraded this thing."

"Jen what do we do?" Rai yelled "We fight back!" She said. She turned the bike so that she was facing the cruisers while still driving forward; she drew her gunblade and returned fire, but the shell of the cruiser was too thick for the bullets to penetrate. "As I thought a hardened alloy shell probably second edition" she tsked "this gets more troublesome by the minute how the hell do these guys get such powerful equipment?" Jen turned the bike around and continued forward.

"What do they want!" Rai asked "Probably our stuff…I have an idea hold on." Jen revved the bike and began to slow the speed. When the cruisers got close enough she hit the brake and the cruisers passed her and traveled a bit before turning around to come back.

"Jen they're coming back!" Rai said "Purrri~ Purri~ Purr~!" Puri said frantically. "I know!" Jen reached into a pouch on her coat; she pulled out a case, and opened it and inside were different colored bullets; two of each primary color: red, blue, yellow, and green.

Jen took out two yellow bullets and loaded them into a clip and took aim "Piercing shot: Falcon's Dive!" She said as she pulled the trigger; two thin beams of yellow light came out of the gunblade and straight at the cruiser on the left side; cutting through the shell all the way and hitting the sand behind; causing a cloud of sand to shoot upward.

The cruiser began to smoke and fire burst from the holes in its hull. It pulled off to the left and crashed into the other; causing them both to come to a sand raising, fiery halt. "Whoa." Rai said in amazement "What was that?" He asked. "Special ammunition called soul shots; it takes the cry of my soul and turns it into a powerful weapon. It's similar to your keyblade magic." She explained as she took out her clip and removed two pure black bullets placing them in the case.

"It will be a whole day before I can use those two again. " She said. "Keyblade magic?" Rai thought. Suddenly, a third cruiser from behind shot up from the sand; Rai and Jen turned around to look. "Shi.." before Jen could finish, the much larger cruiser at top speed rammed the bike flinging its riders and sacs with its contents in different directions and the bike in another leaving Jen and Rai unconscious.

The cruiser stopped and opened its main door; several men dressed in the same raggedy outfits came running out followed by a man with different clothing. That man was about the age of twenty, had smooth brown hair with a piece hanging over his left eye; his eyes were both brown. He wore a red jacket that he left open with no shirt so it exposed his chest and stomach. He had red pants with black snake designs going down the side of his leg held up by a black belt. He wore no socks with black tai chi shoes. He carried around a Zanbatou as his weapon of choice.

"Heh heh I didn't think those guys would be so strong they cost me two cruisers! Well, they better have enough stuff here to make up for it." He said "Sir, some men still live. Also the riders are unconscious; shall we kill them?" The man walked over to Jen.

"Well, I'll be damned this here is Sandstorm Jen…..well no wonder" He said. "We hit it big today boys! Grab the girl and the kid we'll take them back with us. Tie them up and throw them in the back." The men did as he ordered. Puri popped up out of the sand unharmed, luckily; he was snuggled so close to Jen the impact did not affect him except a small airborne trip into the sand. "Puri~" Puri watched carefully remaining out of sight.

He made his way on board the cruiser when the coast was clear. He crawled up to the restrained Rai and patted his face. "Puri~" Puri said. Rai slowly opened one eye "Pu..ri?" was all he could get out before falling unconscious again. "Puri~" Puri said in a saddened tone then hid himself amongst other stolen goods on board.

"Is that everything?" The pirate leader asked. "Aye sir!" "Good, good let's get out of here!"

"Brother today is my first practical exam maybe I'll finally get a keyblade!"

"Oh? Sorry Rai, I can't be there the master is sending me off to meet with the King."

"Oh…I see…"

"Sorry bro….I'm sure you will do fine."

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"Rai you're up."

"Yes master."

"Begin."

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"You show promise young one it won't be long now before a keyblade chooses you."

"I still failed…"

"Which means you have time to improve; failure is not always a negative thing."

Rai slowly awoke from his sleep to find himself tied to a wooden post; Jen next to him on his left tied in the same fashion. "Finally decided to wake up huh?" Jen said. "Where are we?" Rai asked "Their hideout most likely." The room, or to be more accurate cave, was filled with stolen goods including Jen's hover bike. The room was relatively large but not naturally made. The room was carved out by the pirates themselves to act as a treasure room.

"You two finally awake yea?" The pirate leader said walking in from the next room with a group of men following behind him smirking or chuckling. Jen looked at the man then looked down at the ground and said "Of all the people to run into out here…" "What's wrong Sandstorm Jen, not happy to see your old friend?" He said with a smug look.

"It's just Jen." She replied Rai looked at her "You know him?" "Unfortunately, his name is Duke Sandrider." "Ehy! I go by the Sandman now" Duke said "What I can't seem to understand is how the infamous sand pirates settled with you as their new leader." Jen said. Duke chuckled while walking over to her and wiped his index finger across the bottom of her chin.

"Well darlin', I guess you didn't know how truly gifted I was." Duke said Jen thrust her head away in disgust. "Besides me the real surprise hea is you; I never woulda guessed that Sandstorm Jen would have a kid what's your name muppet?" Duke asked but Rai remained quiet.

"Not talkin' eh? Whateva, I bet you didn't know your mum hea once upon a time used to be leader of this hea band of thieves." Duke said as he grabbed a fresh apple and bit into it. "First off Duke he isn't my kid, secondly that's in the past," Jen replied.

"It's Sandman! Also, the fact you left without a word left us in a bad state it did. Your little act cost us a lot of gald. It must be fate that you'd run into us again." Duke laughed as he took another bite of his apple. Rai looked at Jen and she looked at him "I was eighteen when I was their leader I was confused and without a purpose so I stole and stuff then I met Pops and I changed."

Rai shook his head "What is in the past is in the past." Duke looked at Rai. "Ah we got ourselves a philosopher hea boys. Cute kid too he might even catch a good gald on the market." The other men laughed. "What do you want with us Duke?" Duke looked at Jen.

"For the last time it's Saaaandmaaaaan and what I want is to offer you a deal for old times' sake yea? You join us again and we forget that you eva left us or you can become an item on the next auction to make up for the gald you cost us." Jen rolled her eyes in response.

"That was more than three years ago besides with those cruisers you sent after us you seem to be doing fine." Jen replied. Duke tossed the apple's core to the side "Yet you managed to trash two of 'em in a matta of minutes; you were always good at gettin' us the best in machines." Duke replied as he stood up and walked over to her.

"Well you can forget it! I'm not sorry for getting my life together while you fools continue to rot in the desert." Jen said. Duke gave an annoyed smile and got in Jen's face. "Well that is a shame sweetheart…but with this body of yours you will fetch quite the gald." Duke began to laugh until Jen brought her boot to meet with his genitals. He gulped and fell to his knees holding them in agony; Jen then brought her foot across his face causing him to fall.

Rai watched and smiled as the men around the room shouted "boss boss are you okay?" Several ran over to help him up. "I'm fine!" Duke said in a cracked voice he turned to face Jen "You bitch!" He said and backhanded her; Jen's face snapped left as the sound echoed through the cave.

Rai's face grew serious "Why didn't anyone tie their legs?" He said as he limped towards the exit of the treasure room. "Son of a bitch….someone get me a bag of cold peas or something!" He said, as he was no longer in sight, the men quickly followed him out.

"Jen are you alright?" Rai asked. Jen raised her head and spat at the ground "Yea, I'm fine the problem is how do we get out of here." Rai stopped to think. He couldn't summon Golgotha because his hands were bound too close together; just when he was about to give up scampering could be heard.

"Do you hear that?" Jen asked Rai's face lit up "It's Puri!" He said as the little black creature crawled into the room "Puri~" It said as it stared at them and blinked twice. Jen smiled "Puri come here and untie us!" Puri made his way to the posts and climbed up Rai's, nibbling the rope that bound his hands. "That a boy Puri!" Rai said as his hands were finally freed, Puri proceeded to free Jen's hands.

"Puri~" he said then it blinked and made its way towards the exit of the treasure room. Rai walked over to the exit and peered through "The coast is clear." He said. Jen was walking around the room looking at the stolen goods "Jen, come on!" Rai urged. "Hold up I need to get my weapon back and my bike." Puri tilted his head then ran towards Jen and crawled around a bit "Puri~" It said looking up at Jen.

Jen walked over and began to dig through the gald. Finally, she unearthed her falcon gunblade "Wow thanks Puri." Jen said Rai continued to keep watch "Good all my clips are still here; for leader of the pirates Duke sure is dumb," She said as she picked up her hover bike.

"It's still operational, Rai get on." Rai ran over and jumped on; Puri jumping up on his lap "Here we go." Jen said as she revved her bike.

Meanwhile Duke and his men were gathered in the room next to the treasure room that was much larger in comparison to accommodate the pirates' numbers. "Aww….the pain is going away…" Duke said as he laid his head back on the couch he was sitting on. When the revving caught their attention Duke's head shot up "Oy, you blokes hea that?"

Suddenly, Jen came driving through; the pirates jumping out of the way as she made her way outside. Duke jumped up from the couch "What the hell! Quickly to the cruisers get after them!" Duke ordered.

Jen was racing through the desert but before long four cruisers were in pursuit "Uh…Jen!" "Puri~!" "I know!" She replied. They began to speed when smoke appeared out of the bike "Crap…not now, hang on!" Jen said as she steered left towards a canyon of stones and cliffs.

"Uh sir they're going into Canyon Forest we won't be able to steer our cruisers in there." Duke punched the side of the wall. "Damn it! Well then I guess we're gonna go look for them on foot now ain't we? Jen ain't the only one who knows that place." Duke said.

Jen came to a stop deep into the "forest;" she, Rai and Puri all got off just as the bike let out a thick pillar of smoke. Jen was coughing as she placed a hand over her mouth, swiping away the smoke. "Crap." Jen said. "I'm guessing we are going to be here for a while." Rai said "Puri~ Pur" Jen opened the bike to look at the damages. "Well it was rammed pretty hard; the fact I got it to go this far is a miracle…I can fix it temporarily but I need to take it to a shop to really fix it." Jen replied as she messed with some of the machines innards.

Rai looked at Puri and picked him up "Well Puri it looks like were stranded for the time being." Puri looked at him and blinked "Puri~."

End Chapter 2