Kingdom Hearts {Reader Insert}

42. A Pirate's Life for Me

Cid landed the ship on top of a large stone structure overlooking a cliff. It was night, and the building seemed to be mostly abandoned, except for a few guardsmen. The surrounding environment reminded you a little bit of home. It was a similar island atmosphere. Everyone climbed down, avoiding notice, and you all followed a path down to the docks. Tifa explained that there had been Heartless sightings here, so you weren't surprised when you found Pete talking with a man dressed in dirty sailor garb by the water. A group of men stood behind them, dressed in varying versions of attire like the man Pete was talking to, but none of them with quite as large a hat.

"See there?" Pete pointed in your group's direction. "I knew they'd be comin'! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about."

"Who're you callin' punks!?" Yuffie shouted back. "We're here to help by taking you down!"

"There's a lot of them," Leon said quietly to the group.

You called your keyblade and widened your stance. Pete could have an army of Heartless hiding somewhere, and you weren't sure what he would do next. You wanted to charge him, but you weren't sure what you'd be running into. And that man he was talking to looked tough. Who knew what they were planning.

"'Here to help,'" the man chuckled, "We'll engrave it on your tombstone, tuh be sure." His accent was foreign to you. One of the teeth in his grin glinted golden under his large-brimmed hat.

"Woah, I like your style," Pete grinned at the man.

The man turned to call to the other men around him. "Men, half of you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest, bring me that medallion!"

"Medallion?" you thought aloud.

The men cheered in approval. Half of them hurried forward up the dock, the other half moved between your group and Pete. There were about 10 of them, from what you could quickly count. A couple were dual-wielding hatchets, some held out long knives, and you noticed some crossbows at the back of the group. They wasted no time in charging forward. You blocked an attack from two hatchets and then attempted to knock the weapons out of the man's hands. You only succeeded in knocking him back.

You were used to fighting Heartless. When you cut through their little black bodies they'd fade away, freeing the heart of whoever the Heartless had been. Now, these were real people. None of you wanted to hurt them, but they definitely wanted to hurt you. You tried to keep the hatchet-man at bay, but his weapons only swung back harder. And then a crossbow bolt glanced off your shoulder. You hissed in pain and the man in front of you laughed.

The clouds in the sky opened up and the moonlight sparkled off of the sand. You gasped as the man in front of you changed. The moonlight shone off of his ribs and skull, his skin disappeared. Looking around, the whole crew was skeletons.

"You best be sayin' your prayers," one of the crew snickered as he watched your faces change to surprise.

"Hey, watch out! They can see ya!" you heard Pete call from the dock. "Stay away from their magic!"

"What for?" one of the men called back.

"Weren't you listening to me before?" Pete groaned out in frustration.

"Thanks for the tip!" Tifa called out, smiling, and then spoke more quietly to the group. "Sounds like magic is the way to take these guys out, while they're exposed in moonlight."

Okay, I want them to stop moving. You lifted your keyblade, readying a blizzaga attack. You caught five men in the ice who froze in place with their weapons raised. With half the crew down, it was much easier to knock out the rest of them.