Disclaimer: I don't have anything interesting to say…yeah. I don't own Kingdom Hearts…I own your mom.

Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter is a little short. There was a complete lack of inspiration going on, but it turned out okay. R and R everyone!

Chapter 7

A Pirate's Life for Me

"No. Not here!" Belle moaned. "I thought your friend got rid of them!"

"I thought so too," Kairi muttered, her eyes locked on the end of the hall. There were four little shadows there, skittering along the carpet. The only sound they made were these horrible guttural squelches. A pretty ugly language, if you asked her. She was sure they would multiply; Heartless had an unfortunate tendency of doing that.

Every sense she had was telling her to turn and run, but Kairi stood her ground. However stupid an idea it may have been, she knew she had to face these things eventually. If she had to count on someone else to defend her every single time, she would never find Sora.

"Belle, run," she ordered.

Belle hesitated. "What about you?"

"I'll be okay. Just go."

"I'll get the Beast!" Belle said, turning and fleeing back up the grand staircase.

The four Heartless had become six, and they were no longer those shifty little shadows. They had become more substantial, their coloring more potent. Kairi took a deep breath. She had no idea what she was going to do, but whatever it was, she would do it on her own.

She wasn't waiting for the Beast. And neither were the Heartless.

As a group, they leapt at her, claws extended and teeth bared. Almost unconsciously, Kairi lashed out with her hands. The foremost heartless was shredded instantly.

"What..?"

Blades had appeared on her hands, extending from the back of the gloves. Before she had time to think about it, she was whipping her arms around her head, shredding the Heartless left and right. It was almost like someone else was controlling her body. The creatures shrieked, their bodies torn into hundreds of seething pieces. These things didn't bleed. They didn't have veins or organs or skin. They probably didn't even breathe.

The last Heartless eradicated, Kairi sunk to her knees. Her lungs were trying to force oxygen to her startled mind, but it didn't seem to be working. She was unable to comprehend what had just happened. She wasn't dead!

Had Kairi really just killed something? Lots of somethings? It didn't seem possible, timid, girly little Kairi. A killer. A hunter. She jumped a little as the blades retracted back into the gloves. Shakily, she rose to her feet once again.

Suddenly, she began to laugh. "Ha! That'll teach you, little bastards! No way you're gonna…aww, shit."

Her words of victory were drowned out by the sudden (though not completely unexpected) apparition of yet another gate. The darkness swirled around her, clutching at her, heart and soul. All euphoria from the fight was quickly drained away as she began to drown once again in the suffocating nothingness.

It took an even shorter space of time this time around. The Realm only had her for a few seconds, and before she knew it Kairi was sitting up and glancing around at her new surroundings.

It was night, and the sky overhead was filled with stars beyond number. Kairi picked out without difficulty what seemed to be a couple constellations, but they weren't any she was familiar with. This made sense, of course. If every new world was in a different spot in the universe, it stood to reason that the stars would appear differently. She wondered how far away she was from home.

She seemed to have appeared on a dock of some sort. Several creaking ships were tied up to the jetty, riding a gentle swell up and down. The pier was lined with a number of buildings, made of brick and mildew-stained wood. Most of them were dark, but there was one large one in particular from which an assortment of raucous shouts were issuing.

Kairi smiled, facing the ocean. It was good to be back by the sea; it made her feel a little more at home. Of course, the drunken shouts didn't fit, and Kairi turned as they became more insistent. The door of the pub (for that was surely what it was) had opened, casting a rectangular glow of wavering light on the cobblestones. The silhouettes of two grappling figures appeared in the doorway, one of them towering over the other. The smaller one was shoved through roughly, the door slamming behind him.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked, taking a few tentative steps forward. The body splayed on the ground raised its head.

"Aye," he grunted. His voice, though fairly young, was rough and rather slurred.

"Do you need help?" Kairi asked.

He eyed her, shoving himself up to a standing position. "Not from the like 'o you, tha's for certain." He was rather short, blond, and very dirty. His hands and face seemed to be covered in a layer of perpetual grime that Kairi doubted any amount of scrubbing could help.

"Sorry, I was just offering," Kairi snapped moodily.

The boy looked at her again, his eyes glazed over with drink. He grinned, revealing very yellow teeth. "Well now, if yer tha' insistent." He took a step forward, but his legs refused to take his weight and he toppled forward, groping at Kairi's shoulder for support.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Uhh…sure," Kairi said uncomfortably. The boy was now leaning on her like she was a post. He smelled as dirty as he looked. His clothing was stained and ripped and consisted of colors and fabrics that did absolutely everything but match. "Where…uh…do you live?"

The boy jerked his head in a direction further up the jetty, but Kairi wasn't sure if he was answering her question or just experiencing an abrupt seizure.

Kairi half assisted, half dragged him down the pier, passing several silent ships until the boy pulled himself away. He had stopped in front of the most ragged, bashed-up vessel Kairi had ever seen in her life. The rigging was hanging off the masts, the deck needed an intensive scrubbing, and the black sails were riddled with infinite holes. There was a single light coming from the bridge, and this boy stumbled toward, hanging onto everything in reach for support. Not knowing what else to do, Kairi followed.

Before the boy could reach it, the cabin door sprang open and a man paced out. He was wearing a big tricorn hat and an old stained jacket over clothes that were just as mismatched as Kairi's new drunk best friend. But, as opposed to the boy she had dragged to the ship, this man had a small beard and dark hair falling to mid-back. And though he didn't seem to be drunk, he swayed a bit when he was walking, as if he were on the high seas during a storm.

"Jimmy!" he called. "Do you have any notion of what night it is?" His voice was tinged with a casual drawl, as though nothing he was saying was very important, and he didn't care if you listened. But nevertheless, Kairi got the impression it was a voice you would do well to pay attention to.

The boy-Jimmy- grunted, falling into a sloppy salute. "Wha's tha', Cap'n?"

"I said, do you have any idea what this wonderful night is?"

Jimmy shook his head.

"Why lad," the man said, "It is the night of your watch! Now tell me, what would you be do'in taking leave on a night such as this?"

Jimmy seemed to be trying very hard to focus. "Oh, Cap'n…I though' last nigh' was me watch."

The man nodded. "Aye, last night was your watch indeed. But, if you recall correctly, you were unable to attend said watch, so we decided that tomorrow night would be your watch, and it just so happens that tomorrow night is today."

Jimmy scowled in confusion. "Get along with ya!" He scurried into the cabin.

Kairi and the man were now alone on the deck. "Don't mind the lad, Miss, his head's as thick as a deck plank and twice as ugly." He bowed regally. "The name's Captain Jack Sparrow."

"I'm Kairi," Kairi said, offering a hand to shake. Captain Jack Sparrow, however, took it and kissed it, saying, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Yeah, you too," Kairi agreed.

What the hell am I getting myself into now?