Oi vey. Not only am I on another island, but this makes less sense than the last one did. Not only were there kids dressed as wild animals but they were led by this boy who looked more like an elf. And when I saw those losers were with those kids… Did they think being with this Peter Pan was a good idea?
Then again, the idea of pirates being heroes was strange to me.
“See? What did I tell you?” The one calling himself Captain Hook was telling me. “That codfish Peter Pan is holding a bunch of children captive for his fun and games.” He still seemed to flash with that crimson coat with gold lining and rose pants. He also had this wide red hat with a lavender feather sticking out. I also noticed when he spoke he seemed to enjoy twirling his mustache with the hook that replaced his left hand.
“You can stop with the sales pitch,” I told him. “I already showed you I was going to fight this Peter Pan.”
“B-but those monsters you summoned.” The first mate, a short portly man with white hair and a stomach that popped out from underneath his white and blue striped shirt added. “Why, I remember being chased by those demons like it was yesterday.” Even though he was looking at me through half-moon glasses, I couldn’t take him seriously with that red cap, pom-pom ornament, and teal shorts. His sandals I was okay with.
Grinning at him, Leroy asked, “You afraid they’re going to eat you?”
“Quiet, Leroy,” I growled before looking at them. “Don’t worry. As long as you are not my enemies, I guarantee they won’t attack you.”
“But using such dangerous creatures isn’t good form.”
“Good form, Mr. Smee?” Hook asked. “Blast good form! Did Pan show good form when he did this to me?”
As he held up his hook, I raised an eyebrow. “Peter Pan did that to you?”
“Aye, he did. And you know what that bilge rat did next? He threw it to the crocodile.”
“So?”
“So, that cursed beast liked the taste of me so well he followed me ever since licking his chops for the rest of me.”
I hated Peter Pan more and more. But why did I care if he was herding and abusing children? That was the part I couldn’t wrap my head around. As soon as I heard that they just swarmed out of me. “And yet you’re still alive.”
“Aye, because of my skill and determination.”
“And because of that alarm clock it swallowed. It warns everyone when it’s about with its tick-tock, tick-tock, tick–” Smee’s explanation was cut off as Hook hit him on the head with his hook. This was a sensitive topic.
Rolling my eyes at them, I said, “Look. I get it. Peter Pan is a bad guy. Leroy and I were going to take care of him before, but now that he’s joined up with some pests it’ll be more enjoyable.”
“It’ll take more than brute strength to best that scurvy brat.” The captain warned me. “Many times I have tried to best him, but each time he slipped away. If you truly want him, you will need to catch him in a trap. And I know the perfect bait.”
I found myself leaning on the ship’s mast with a sigh. I honestly didn’t know why I was even bothering teaming up with these weaklings. These two were barely worth the dirt on my boots. But still, these two seemed to know this strange island pretty well. Whatever the case, those meddlers are gonna get what’s coming to them.
***
CLAIR’S POV
We had been moving along for a while now, and we’d managed to find a couple of the items that Peter was having us find on this Scavenger Hunt. I was finding this enjoyable, but it didn’t seem to be helping Jason much. He stayed quiet and kept this frown on his face as we picked up the next club. How was this supposed to help us get better?
With a sigh, I leaned against a tree to rest and think. As far as I can remember Jason never had fun because Uncle Kendall was trying to prepare him to be ready to fight. Why did Uncle Kendall have to be so mean? Why did he have to push Jason to be so hard and cold? So many people at school were hurt by him, and in return, they hurt Jason back. It had just been a never-ending cycle, and now it felt like my cousin was paying the price.
Guess I’d better… wait a minute. Where was everyone? Did they leave without me? Looking around, I asked, “Guys?” When I didn’t get an answer I knew I was on my own. But which way did they go? Why didn’t I pay attention to my grandpa when he tried to teach me about tracking in the wild? Nothing I could do about it now.
Any direction was good now. Turning to the place I last saw them facing, I began to walk in that direction. It seemed well-traveled so I had to be on the right path. However, I still failed to see any sign of my friends even when I began jogging through the trees. Eventually, the trees broke and I found myself at some sort of lagoon with lots of rocks jutting up from the water. What caught my attention were the strangest creatures I had ever seen.
They had the upper torso of people, or women I should say, but their lower halves weren’t. They were like fish tails, except the fins were flat like an aquatic mammal. They seemed to be doing their hair and admiring their reflection, but what in the world were they? How could something be half-mammal, half-fish? It made no sense.
Since my new friends weren’t here, I was just about to walk away when something else caught my attention. It was like blue splotches moving on the ground, and now they made me think of how the Shadow Heartless could move. As they zipped up into their physical forms, I began to run toward them, but they headed for some bushes instead.
“Huh?” I raised my eyebrow at their action, but while I did that someone came out of the bushes trying to fend them off. It was a girl close to Peter’s age, but she was dressed in a dress that reminded me of what my ancestors wore. Scrambling to her feet while her braided hair flew around her face, she pulled back on a bow she carried and fired it at one of the Floods, destroying it.
Before she could celebrate, three more Floods appeared and brought their numbers up to eight. Then they were joined by four of the Scrappers and two Bruisers. There was no way she could take them all by herself, so I called my Keyblade, which still had the stone I got in Motunui on, and rushed over to help her. I managed to slice through two of the Floods to get to her side. “Who are you?” She asked when I got there.
“Someone who can fight these things,” I answered as I readied my weapon. Looking back at the Unversed I blocked a blow from a Scrapper while my new friend shot another Flood. As I forced the Scrapper back, I got rammed by one of the Bruisers. I found myself hating those things.
The person I was helping managed to destroy the Flood she shot before using an arrow to wound a Scrapper. Taking a tomahawk, she threw it at a Flood that was leaping up, destroying it. Holding my Keyblade up, I decided to show some of my skills. “Thunder!” I cast the spell, electrocuting several Unversed and managing to destroy three Floods. I then jabbed and sliced the last one, ending the Floods in this fight.
We still had some tougher Unversed to deal with. Retrieving her tomahawk the person who was helping me fight threw it at the Scrapper she shot earlier. Pointing my Keyblade at it, I felt a new spell come to me. “Stop!” To my surprise, the Scrapper stopped moving like it had been frozen in time. That allowed the tomahawk to hit it, destroying it.
Looking at me, she said, “Thanks,” before engaging another Scrapper. I then gasped out in pain while a Bruiser tackled me from behind before the last Scrapper sliced me with its claws. With a small growl, I glared at them while I readied my Keyblade. Running towards the Bruiser, I leaped up and delivered a blow to the back of its head. While it was dazed, I shot a Fire spell before slicing it some more with my Keyblade.
As it faded back into darkness I got the impression that I needed to dodge. Leaping out of the way, I turned to see the last Scrapper running at me while the other was destroyed by the warrior girl. She then turned to face the Bruiser while I concentrated my efforts on the Scrapper. Casting another Blizzard spell, I then fired a Thunder spell that zapped both the Scrapper and the Bruiser before I sliced at it several more times, finally destroying it.
As the Bruiser fell over, I looked at the person who had fought by my side. “You’re good. I don’t meet a lot of people willing to fight the Unversed.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve faced them.” The girl said. “They invaded my tribe’s home before, so when I saw them again I decided to not let them make the same trouble again.”
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