Chapter Seven
Chimei-Tekina Kage No O O Mukaeru! [2]

"Love bravely. live bravely, be courageous, there's really nothing to lose. There's no wrong you can't make right again, so be kinder to yourself, you know, have fun, take chances. There's no bounds."

-Jewel

"Ugh, what happened?" Tamaki asked, opening his eyes groggily. He blinked as a piece of parchment came in view, tacked to a barrel in front of him. As he focused on the words, he began to panick.

Senpai,

You freaked out again. Stop doing that.
We left to go get fruit and water from the
island we stopped at. It's called Yumenoshima.
Don't worry, we'll be back soon.
If you get hungry look to your left.

- Haruhi

"Noooo! My darling Haruhi has been kidnapped by the canabilistic islanders who think she's a sea godess in huma form and intend to eat her to free her from the earth!*" He looked back at the note. "Look to your left?" He did as the note said and looked. "Oh, she made me a wonderful meal!" Tamaki drooled, happy tears running down his face. "I knew she cared! Wait, how am I supposed to eat it?" He looked at his bound arms and slumped, now crying sadly. "I can't eat her wonderful cooking... Time to break freeeee!"

"Achoo!" Haruhi sniffled and rubbed her nose.

"Someone's talking about you," Ritsu observed, helping her over a large fallen branch.

"Probably Tamaki-senpai," she muttered, lifting her skirts as she crossed a puddle.

"What was that?" Mitskuni cried, pointing at something glinting behind a tree.

"Hello there," a deep voice said, and a man dressed in dark breeches and a crisp white shirt stepped out. The glint turned out to be the burly man's gun, which was pointed directly at the crew. "Good-bye."

"Run!" Ritsu bellowed.

They took off running as the gun fired, just missing Haruhi. Her earings tinkled and slapped against her face as she hiked up her skirts and ran. Ducking and weaving through the trees, she tripped and lost sight of the others. Hikaru, noticing her absense, double backed.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru cried, attempting to run after him. Ritsu grabbed his arm and continued on.

"Haruhi's a big girl, she'll take care of him."

"Then why the hell are we running!" Kaoru yelled.

"He had a gun."

Haruhi scrambled backwards as the man advanced on her, shotgun cocked and ready to fire.

A yowl split the air as an orange tom cat hurled himself at the attackers face. The gun was brought up, barrel slamming into Hikaru's side. As he fell to the ground, Haruhi gathered him in her arms, shielding him from further harm.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the butt of the gun connected to her temple with a sickening crack.

"Ahhh," Tamaki sighed, hands resting on his full stomach. "That was wonderful." His eyes became hearts as he thought of having Haruhi make meals like that every day. He couldn't see why Kaoru and Ritsu were secretly terrified of the girl's cooking. Sure, the soup did have a charcolish taste, but it wasn't inedible.

His violet eyes snapped open as a horrifying thought entered her head.

"Oh, no! I forgot about her being kidnapped by cannibals!" he cried, racing off the ship and diving into the water. As he climbed on shore, the rest of the crew was running from an unknown enemy. . . .

A/N: Sneak peak to those who recognize the story. And Haruhi's a bad cook in this story for a reason that'll be revealed next arc. . .

-Nimash - thanks for Story Alerting, Favoriting, and the Review! Thanks for the compliment, but we're afraid Hikaru will have to stay as a cat for a few more arcs. But never fear, he'll be human . . . eventually. . . .

Next Chapter: Haruhi regains conciousness and meets the illusive Shadow King. Tamaki gets lost and the others make their way to the mansion on the island in search of their missing first mate and resident boy-turned-cat!