Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to its rightful owners.

Time to get good . . .

I woke up to loud snoring. My eyes shot open in alarm, searching around the Gummi Ship for the source of the loud noise. We were sailing through space like usual. The only sound in the ship was the sound of the engine, four people breathing, and the awful noise. It was too dark for me to completely pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Instead, I sat up, the red blanket that I had fell asleep under moving to the side as I did so. Occasionally, lights from the twinkling stars and small bursts of colours in the abyss of space lit up the inside of the Gummi Ship. Donald and Goofy were seated in front, watching as the nothingness outside of the windows passed by. However, to my left, was a sleeping Sora, huddled up under the blanket with me, mouth wide open, a hint of drool trickling past his lips, and snoring.

He was the one making the noise.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, yawning as I stretched out my limbs. Sora shifted and pulled the blanket tighter around him. My head felt sore and it was still pulsing. My nap had done nothing to relieve me of the pain from my slight concussion. I leaned back into my seat. Great. The white gauze was still wrapped tightly around my head, only small red spots staining it from where my major cuts and scraps were. Though, it was not bloody enough to need changing yet. I tiredly gazed out of the window, something that I found myself doing a lot these days, and sighed again. How long was it going to be until the pain subsided.

After riding in silence for another twenty minutes, Sora took a sharp intake of breath, his blue eyes opening and staying half-lidded. He stared at me blankly before sitting up, stretching his arms high above his head. Yawning, he pulled the blanket tightly around him again, leaning back into the Gummi Ship seat to get comfortable. Who knows how long we'll be riding until we find the next world that needs his saving? We could be here for hours. But, until then, his half-lidded eyes roamed around the Ship as if he had never been here before. It was funny to see him so vulnerable. Usually, he woke up before me.

He glanced back over to me, wiggling four fingers in my direction. "Hello." I wiggled four back. "Hi, sleepy head." He let out a chuckle-slash-scoff sound, resting his head back against the headrest. Obviously someone had a good nap. He still can't even wake up.

He broke the silence with his raspy, half awake voice. "Donald," he called out. The white duck nodded to let him know that he was listening. "How long have we been asleep?"

"For about five hours. Not too long . . . you know, other than your snoring. That was torture." Donald chuckled at his own joke, causing Sora's lips to pull into a straight line. The brunet took another sharp intake of breath and pulled the cover all the way up to his neck. I could tell that he was still tired. His eyes were no longer that shiny, sky blue, but a dull 'still processing' baby blue. And I couldn't blame him. After fighting nonstop to lock the Keyholes to so many worlds, I'm pretty sure we were all super tired.

Goofy sat up in his seat, the leather seat belt over his torso making a pulling sound. "Uh," he started carefully. My eyes snapped over to him. Where we getting out of the Gummi Ship? "A big ship is catching up to us . . ."

Just as the words escaped his mouth, a huge pirate ship flew past the Gummi Ship. It was about twenty times the size of ours. It must have gotten Sora's attention because he sat up, dropping the soft blanket into his lap. It was just like the pirate ships in the book. Full sails, a poop deck, it even had a plank that people had to walk on. It was clear that we all were now wide awake.

"Quit gawking!" Donald snapped. "That's a pirate ship!"

The ship did a U-turn, aiming straight for us. I stared in confusion as it seemed to get larger, and larger, and larger. "It's going to ram us!" I said, clicking on my seat belt. Sora quickly did the same. "Hold on tight!"

3rd Person P.O.V.

Lost. If there was one word to describe Sora right now, it would be lost. He didn't know where he was, how he had somehow gotten here safely, or where the others were. But, he did know that he was on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, it was night time, he was alone, and . . . he was lost. He looked around the front of the ship, finding nothing but the endless ocean ahead of him. There must be something wrong, right? Usually, they all land together. Either that or knocked out. But now, he couldn't find any of them.

He opened his mouth to call out for them, to see if anyone would respond, but, instead, he was cut off by a voice he wasn't quite sure he was ready to hear again. "I didn't think you'd come, Sora."

Turning around, he looked up to see the silver-haired boy he had grew up with. One of the people who knew him better than he knew himself. Sea green eyes stared right into his blue ones and he found himself gasping. There was no way that Riku was here, too. This isn't the first time that they had crossed paths in their journey to these different worlds. Why does he keep coming and leaving? Despite questioning it many times, Sora didn't ask. Rather, he let the older boy speak.

"Good to see you again."

"Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora ignored his comments. Riku had a habit of beating around the bush lately and Sora didn't have time for that. Especially since three important people were missing. "Where is S-"

Riku cut him off with a shake of his head. "Are they that important to you? Are they more important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her." Stepping aside, Riku revealed the dazed redhead sitting on the ground behind him. Her dark blue eyes remained glued to the floor and she lacked any facial expression. Sora's eyes went wide; it was Kairi. "That's right. While you were off goofing around, I finally found her. Too bad you had got to the One With None first, though . . ."

Sora didn't know what to do. So he did the first thing that came to his mind. He ran. Ran over to the people he had been searching high and low for. Ran over to the boy he wanted answers from. Though, he didn't get too far. A shiny hook stopped him dead in his tracks. A tall man with long, black hair and a weird mustache stared down at him, his dark eyes filled with distaste.

"Not so fast," the man said. "No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy."

Sora ignored him, looking up to his friend. "Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?"

"The Heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear." Riku's answer was simple.

It left Sora speechless. He was once a strong fifteen-year-old who wouldn't stand for crap like this. Now, here he was, falling for it. "You're stupid," Sora shouted. "Sooner or later they'll swallow your heart."

"Not a chance. My heart's too strong. I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance."

With a wave of his gloved hand, Riku sent a Heartless floating out of the ground in front of Sora. It was shaped just like him. It looked just like him. It was wearing baggy red shorts just like him. It was him. Or at least, it was his shadow. Sora gasped again out of shock. This was all confusing and happening so sudden.

"You can go see your friends now," Riku said, turning his back on the brunet to leave. "But you're not getting her back." That was it. A hole in the ship underneath Sora opened and the boy fell into the chambers below. He didn't say another word, just like how riku wanted it. He had always liked getting the last word. His eyes shot over to Captain Hook, a serious glint in them. "Let's get under way, already. And keep Sora away from Kairi and Sasuke until we're ready to land."

Captain Hook watched as the boy walked away before looking down at Smee with a frown. He couldn't believe his ears. "That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around!" he practically shouted to the small blonde man.

"What shall we do, Captain Hook?" Smee asked innocently.

"Nothing! The hold is crawling with Heartless. Let them keep an eye on the brats."

"But, Captain, you-know-who is also down-"

Captain Hook raised a hook to cut the man off. "Shh . . . Did you hear that, Smee? Oh, that dreadful sound!" He could have sworn he heard that awful ticking noise in the ocean. Smee shook his head, making Hook scratch his head. "Are you sure? Did I imagine it? Oh, my poor nerves . . . Let's go find that white-haired brat before he tries to take over even more of my ship."

No words were spoken as Captain Hook and Smee walked to the Captain's quarters of the ship. He could still hear that ticking noise. Like a clock off into the distance. It was irking him, pressing as his buttons, and making him even more nervous with each passing second. He could hear it deep within his head. But, maybe Smee was right. Maybe it was just his imagination. Shaking away the thoughts, Captain Hook opened the door to the quarters, only to see an annoyed looking Riku.

"So," Hook walked over to his desk slowly as if just waiting for the boy to say something smart. He was good at talking back to be only fifteen. "Is Wendy the princess or not?" The boy shook his head and Captain Hook frowned. "What? So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?"

"There are seven, supposedly," Riku started, rolling his eyes at the older man. "and Maleficent says she's not one of them. Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all dead weight behind . . . including that girl."

"After the trouble of capturing her?" Captain Hook was shocked. He worked hard to get Pan's precious Wendy, now he has to just toss her? "And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning, anyway?"

Riku just shrugged. "Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back and finding out what's wrong with Sasuke, I couldn't care less."

"You're wasting your time! The Heartless have devoured that redhead girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever. And that other one. How do you plan on fixing a toy that you bought broken, boy?"

"I'll do whatever it takes . . ."

Captain Hook opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off by Smee clearing his throat. Both males looked down at the small man, their eyebrows furrowed. "Uh, the prisoners have escaped." Well, that Sora kid is fast. "What's more is that Peter Pan is with them."

Captain Hook frowned, growing very agitated. "Blast that Peter Pan!" he snapped. "All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee! Hop to it!"

This is a short chapter, but I feel it gives a little insight into what's about to happen since this is nearing the end of Kingdom Hearts. I think there will be about three to five chapters left until it's over.

See ya next week!