Chapter 13: of pirates and chasers
I do not own kingdom hearts or the properties shown in this fanfic. They belong to the respective owners and the original story is based on the works of Darius Almighty. Kingdom hearts and trials of the keyblade is owned by square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please support the official release.
Right. Now port royal aka the Caribbean has returned! as a person who liked the four films besides the fifth let's see what our favorite drunken pirate is up to!
With that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
"We're baaaaacckk," Sora said, annoyingly, as he, Kairi and Mulan walked into the Shera cockpit.
"About time," Quistis said.
"Hey, these things take time!" Kairi joked. Mushu scurried up to Mulan and climbed on her shoulder.
"So, tell me all the juicy details of your little quest. Were the people nice? Did you fight any bad guys? Did you bring me anything?", he asked, grinning at the last part. Mulan smiled and shook her head.
"Did you find the Keyblader?", Aerith asked. Sora smiled and nodded.
"Sure did!" The doors to the cockpit then slid open. The large form of the Beast stepped inside, his large frame barely able to fit in the doorway. His Rumbling Rose Keyblade sat comfortably in his paw. Everyone tensed as the intimidating Beast glowered at them all, giving them a look that seemed to say 'I hate you all already'. "Guys, this is the Beast!" Everyone waved uncertainly.
The doors slid open again and this time Ron stepped through with Rufus on his shoulder. "Man, that soda goes right through you! Right Rufus?" When he walked next to the Beast he looked him up and down. "Who let Cousin It on board?"
"Ron!", everyone exclaimed. The Beast growled low and menacingly, causing Ron to "Eeep." and run to hide behind Tifa. The former prince glared at them all one last time before turning around and stalking through the slide-away doors. "Beast," Sora whispered. Everyone glared at Ron who was still hiding.
"What?"
Beast stalked angrily through the steel halls of the Shera, unaffected by the fact that this was all very different and strange compared to his world. His expression was void of every emotion except hate. All that was going through his head was 'What was I thinking?'. He was stupid to think that anyone other then Belle would accept him for his appearance. Then again, back when he was going through the first few weeks of his transformation he was afraid to look at himself in the mirror. These people were obviously no different.
Something touched his bare foot. He looked down ans saw that it was a ball colored blue and white. Following behind it was a little girl who picked it back up. She noticed that the ball was stopped by someone and looked up to see who it was. The Beast scowled at her as she met his eyes, knowing that she was just going to run away screaming.
"Hi there!" Marlene said cheerfully, catching the Beast of guard.
"Uh, hi," he replied uncertainly. A slightly taller red-haired boy ran up beside her and also looked up at him.
"Hey Marlene, who's he?", Denzel asked curiously.
"I don't know yet. What's your name mister?"
Beast, still amazed that they had not run away yet, hesitated to answer. "Uh...Beast", he finally uttered.
"Nice to meet you Mister Beast! I'm Marlene."
"I'm Denzel!"
Beast looked down at the two children who did not seem to care about his appearance. "Hey, you've got a Keyblade!" Denzel exclaimed, pointing to the hefty weapon in Beast's paw. Beast raised the Keyblade at its mention. "Can I see it?" Beast shrugged and handed the boy the key-shaped weapon. As soon as it left his grasp, it crashed to the floor and Denzel down with it. Try as Denzel might he could not lift the Keyblade.
"Wow! You must be really strong!" Marlene said in awe. "You have to be a hero!"
"A...hero?" Beast said, testing it out.
"Want to play Blitzball with us?" Denzel asked. Marlene nodded enthusiastically.
Beast mulled it over a bit before he smiled for the second time since he changed.
KHKHKHKH
"Omega Heartless?" Merlin questioned, stroking his beard. Sora nodded.
"They were some of the strongest Heartless I've ever had to face. They were different from the others, too,"
Merlin continued to stroke his beard. "This Horned King must have powerful sorceries to be able to alter the strength and appearance of the creatures of darkness." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Things just seem to get more and more difficult for us, don't they?"
"At least we have one more Keyblader to help us out," Kim said. "Until you scared him off, Ron!" Said boy hung his head in shame.
"Nevertheless, if these new Heartless are as powerful as you described, we may have quite the problem," Leon said.
"Next world, coming up!" Cid shouted. Once again Sora rushed to the cockpit window.
"Port Royal!", he exclaimed. The great pirate capital of the universe floated in the distance, home of Sora's old friend, Jack Sparrow who, in his opinion, was one weird dude.
"Alright guys, you know the drill," Leon said to the Keybladers. "What about the new guy?"
At that moment the doors slid open and Beast walked in along with Denzel, who was holding a Blitzball. Riding on his broad shoulders was Marlene, laughing happily. What Sora found most strange, though, was Beast was also laughing. "Uh, Beast?" Beast stopped his laughing and turned his attention to Sora. "We're going to the next world now." Beast then grew stern again and nodded. Gently, he lifted Marlene off of his shoulders and placed her back on the ground.
"Awwww, we were having fun," Marlene pouted.
Once again, the Gummi shuttle flew down to the planet's atmosphere, Sora talking all the while. "Wait till you guys meet Jack. He's the greatest pirate ever to sail! Granted he's a little strange, but once you see past that he's...alright."
"What's that whistling sound?" Kairi asked. Everyone perked their ears. There was a whistling and it was gradually getting louder. They didn't have time to ponder that anymore as the ship was suddenly hit with a cannonball. It blew the wing clean off and the ship was sent spiraling out of control. Everyone tumbled around the ship as they plummeted to the planet.
"Guys?", Wade called through the intercom. "Guys!", he called louder. everyone in the Shera looked at each other worriedly.
"We could have a problem."
KHKHKHKH
Kairi slowly opened her eyes. She found herself laying face down on a wooden surface and slowly sat up. She sat in a daze for a while before the events of the shuttle ride all came flooding back. But where was Sora? And Mulan and Beast for that matter. She was alone.
Her surroundings weren't all that impressive. She was in what looked like a wooden barrel. The top was open, revealing the clear blue sky above. She stood up and peered out the barrel's edge, at the very long drop below. It was then that she realized she was in the crows-nest of a large ship floating in the wide open sea. The crew of the ship scurried about doing their duties, looking like bugs to Kairi.
Suddenly, something jumped on her head, causing her to screech in surprise. The thing jumped from her hair and hopped on the ledge of the crows nest, revealing it to be a monkey...a monkey dressed in tiny clothes and small earrings. It smiled mischievously at her before it scurried down the ladder to the deck below.
Kairi watched it go down over the edge, before she heard a voice behind her. "Well, the man top deck finally smiles down on old Jack."
KHKHKHKH
"Riku! Wait up!" , an eight-year old Kairi called to the nine-year old Riku.
The silver haired boy sighed in annoyance. "What now, Kairi?", he asked. Kairi ran up to him and panted, out of breath. She then leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips.
Riku stumbled back and blushed bright red. "What was that for?", he shouted, still blushing.
Kairi, who was also a little red, answered him. "I just wanted to know what it was like. You know...kissing."
"Why did you choose to kiss me? Why not Sora?" Kairi blushed as red as her hair.
"Well, I kind of...like you, Riku," she confessed, staring at her feet. Riku's eyes widened.
"You like me?", he repeated.
"Please, you can't tell Sora about this!", she pleaded.
Sora opened his eyes and wearily rubbed them. Another strange dream. This one about Riku and Kairi. And they...kissed? That had to be a dream.
He sat up from where he was laying on his back and looked around. He was on an island. He sat on the hot white sand. Palm trees swayed in the breeze behind him. Kairi, Mulan, and Beast were nowhere to be seen
Sora frowned. What was with these visions? Every time he fell asleep he had another one, each one different and more confusing than the next. He thought some more. This started happening when he bumped into that woman back in Radiant Garden. That was the first time he'd had one. Unfortunately, she ran before he could ask her anything. What did it mean?
He was pondering all of this when, inexplicably, a shadow formed in the white sand. It formed into a shadow Heartless, with its beady yellow eyes shining. Sora immediately jumped to his feet, whipping out his Keyblade as more Heartless appeared. Pirates, Air Pirates, and Shadow types all appeared to challenge him.
Sora gritted his teeth and prepared for battle.
KHKHKHKH
"It's a monster!"
"It's horrible!"
"Look out! He'll eat us!"
Beast backed away to the wall of a building as the townsfolk closed in around him. The all had the same look on their faces. Fear. Confusion. Anger. All because of what he looked like. The crowd began to throw rocks and stones at him. He raised his arms to protect himself as they pelted him.
"Please! We mean youno harm!" Mulan pleaded, running up beside Beast. The crowd took no heed of her and continued their barrage. Beast did nothing. It was just like back in his world where no one would accept him. He guessed people were the same no matter where you were.
The crowd then began to disperse to make way for the red and white uniformed soldiers, each one carrying a bayonet. "All right, what's all this then?", one of them asked. The soldier's eyes took him straight to the strangers in their town. "What the? It's some kind of monster man! Take it down!" They all took aim with their rifles on the two Keybladers while the crowd cheered them on.
"Stop it!"
Everyone stopped at the female voice that rose above the crowd. The soldiers held their fire and turned around. The crowd parted to make way for a young blond woman. She wore a gold emblazoned dress with long sleeves. She walked down to the soldiers with a look of displeasure on her face. "What is going on here?", she demanded of the captain of the soldiers.
"Miss Swan, I was just about to deal with these interlopers," he explained.
"And what have they done wrong?", she asked.
The man blanched for a while. "Well, uh, you see, um they, they uh..."
"Well?"
"Well, look at them!", the captain exclaimed gesturing at Beast and Mulan. The woman scowled and walked to the point in between the Keybladers and the crowd.
"Just because something looks different, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Do you all judge a book by its cover?" Beast stared at her, amazed, while the townsfolk bowed their heads in shame. "Now everyone leave!" They all hastily obliged and went about their lives.
"Thank you, Miss," the Beast said respectfully. The woman turned and smiled at him.
"Please, call me Elizabeth."
KHKHKHKH
Sora sliced through another Heartless as it leapt for him. The pirates and shadows surrounded him while the air pirates circled over head. He drew in heavy breaths. The Heartless kept on coming and he was tiring fast. He had to think of something before they overwhelmed him.
Wait. There was something. He thought back to before he left Beast's castle.
"So you are leaving then?" Lumiere asked Sora.
"Yup. If Belle is out there then we have to leave right away. Sorry we can't be any more help here," he said sorrowfully.
"Think nothing of it, my friend, but please we wish to help you." Mrs. Potts and Chip hopped up to Sora. In Chip's cup was a necklace of some kind. "Take it! Please."
Sora reached into Chip's cup and lifted the necklace out. On the charm was a picture of two bongos with many leaves and stars surrounding it. "A Summoning Charm!"
"Please take it with our prayers," Mrs Potts said.
Sora pulled out the charm that would summon someone to help him out and clutched it in his palm. "Time to test it out!", he said. His body then began to glow a golden light as the charm glowed a clear bright light.
"POWER!", he shouted, throwing it in the air. The charm showered down sparks and stars as the light began to take shape. The one summoned was large and covered head to toe in black fur. Its sharp claws and fangs were paled in comparison to his cheerful expression. "BALOO!" Sora cried. The large black bear with the smiling face danced around as if he didn't have a care in the world. Baloo turned to Sora and they both high-fived.
When the light show ended and the Heartless were with them once more. Baloo turned to them and whipped out a pair of bongos. He threw one to Sora and placed the other under his arm. Jumping around, he pounded on his bongo with his paw and Sora pounded on his with his Keyblade. Their steady beats and melody instantly entranced the Heartless as they, too, began to dance along.
As they kept them under their spell, Sora pounded down on his Keyblade with tremendous force, sending a shockwave through the Heartless horde, obliterating several. Baloo then did the same with his paws. The shockwaves ripped through the Heartless, which were helpless to the power of the bongos. For the finale, both Sora and Baloo jumped in the air and landed simultaneously on their bongos, sending the biggest wave yet to the Heartless. It destroyed them all in a shower of sand.
Sora turned to Baloo who flashed him a smile and a thumbs up before disappearing back into his world. Sora sighed and slumped back down to the sand. "Always nice to have a new friend," Sora said smiling.
"Impressive," a cold voice said.
Sora jumped up from the sand and whipped around. The large, armoured figure that was not there a second ago stood with his arms crossed. "Sora, is it not?", he asked. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Sora stared at the figure, examining him. "Are you a...Chaser?", he asked. The figure raised his head, slightly surprised.
"And how would you know that?", he asked. Sora scowled. He didn't want to say that he saw this exact same guy attacking King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in a dream. If this was him, then he was the supposed Chaser that the King had warned him about.
"None of your business," Sora spat. "Now what did you do with Donald and Goofy?"
"Who?"
"My friends! What did you do with them?" In his anger he summoned his Keyblade again, charging at this mysterious man. The armored figure merely sidestepped to avoid his clumsy attack.
"If you wanted to fight, all you had to do was ask." In a flash he was right in front of Sora before Sora even knew it. A backhand to the face knocked him to the sand. There was so much strength in his blow that Sora did not get back up.
"What do you want?", Sora asked.
"That," the man answered pointing to the weapon in Sora's hand.
"My Keyblade?"
"Exactly. Now don't make this any more difficult." He then rushed for Sora, who jumped out of the way before the man's Keyblade struck the sand on which he was just sitting. Standing up, Sora raised his Keyblade to block the other Keyblade that was crashing down. The armoured man's weapon was large and heavy but he wielded it as if it weighed nothing. The man kept Sora guessing as he rained down powerful destructive blows that Sora could hardly block. His arms weakened with each hit. Sora couldn't get in a single attack but continued to block and dodge until, at the point of exhaustion, he was knocked high into the air. He fell back to the earth, thankfully on the soft sand.
"Are you done? Good." The figure walked up to Sora, flat on his back, struggling to get up.
"Who are you?" Sora asked.
"I thought you already knew. I am a Chaser. What do I chase? Keyblades. How do you separate a Keyblade from its wielder?" The man pointed his Keyblade at Sora's face. "Death." He raised his massive Keyblade above his head, ready to cleave Sora's head in two. Sora closed his eyes for the inevitable.
The Chaser stopped in mid-chop when he heard a low whistling. Turning his helmeted head, he saw what it was. A cannonball hit him square in the chest with a loud clang. He was sent flying back into the palm tree forest, leaving the stunned Sora behind.
"Ahoy!" Sora whipped his head around to the direction from whence the cannonball came. A large ship with grey sails floated offshore. Many cannons protruded from its body and the wooden statue of a sea maiden decorated the mast. Standing on the ledge of the craft was a familiar, goofy pirate. "Spikey haired mate off the port bow!", Captain Jack Sparrow shouted to the crew of the Black Pearl. "Man the boats and break out the rum! Let's get the lad a drink!" The crew followed their captain's orders.
Sora smiled at seeing his old friend again. He then got up and walked to where the Chaser had landed. The palm trees with which he collided were broken and damaged, leaving a crater of destruction. He peered over cautiously. The Chaser had disappeared. Gone, without a trace.
And that concludes another chapter. Be sure to write nice reviews adapt the original story (Darius Almighty's work) on DeviantArt or post the story on TV tropes or follow and favorite it. And remember may your heart be your guiding key!