Pirate Attack!

The next day went smoothly. Sora, Riku and Kairi had their usual good time, though Wakka flat-out refused to play kickball again. The three friends splashed around in the shallows of the beach, scooping up handfuls of water and throwing them at each other. By the time they stumbled out of the ocean, they were soaked to the bone and howling with laughter. It didn't help when Sora shoved Riku into the sand, which stuck to him like glue.

The boys wrestled for a while Kairi stood back and laughed. By the time they stopped, they looked like a couple of sand monsters. They then rowed to the tiny island off the coast of the main islands, which the kids usually came to play. At sunset, the children went their separate ways for dinner, agreeing to meet back at the island the next day.

As Sora began to walk home, having tied his boat securely at the dock, he looked back out at the ocean. It was a somewhat cloudy day, and mist had begun to creep up onto the beach. Sora did a sudden double-take; what was that silhouette he saw on the horizon? A ship? He thought. It was a bit larger than that of the merchant ships that passed through, though, and had large, black sails…

"Sora!" Sora turned when he heard his mother's voice calling.

"Coming!" He called back. Not wanting to make her angry, he ran home and didn't give the ship another thought.

Until that night…

That night, Sora's usual routine went smoothly. Dinner, playtime, brush teeth, get into nightclothes, go to sleep. He had almost dozed off when he heard a knocking at his window. At first, he ignored it, thinking it was a bird, or maybe it had started raining. Another knock. Sora continued to ignore it. "Sora! Open the stupid window!" Came Riku's voice.

"Huh?" The brunette said stupidly, shooting up in bed. "Riku! What're you doing here?" He asked, opening the window. Riku sat on the windowsill, his eyes bright with excitement.

"You'll never guess what I just saw," He whispered.

"Santa Claus?" Sora guessed sleepily. Riku snorted.

"No, dummy. Everyone knows Santa doesn't exist." He said.

"Non-believer…" Sora grumbled, flopping down in his pillow. Riku sighed, slightly irritated, and grabbed the neck of Sora's shirt, tugging him up.

"A pirate ship!" He hissed. Sora immediately shot up again, his eyes wide.

"What?" He gasped.

"A pirate ship! I swear! It's not a merchant ship- I can recognize one of those easily enough." Riku said, talking quickly in a whisper. "And get this- it stopped at the island! Kairi's on her way there now, watching it. She's waiting for us. Let's go!" Sora didn't bother to protest. He just threw on some clothing, grabbed his wooden sword, and followed Riku swiftly and silently out the window.

They stuck to the shadows as they ran, not wanting to get caught by any adults; they'd be in a world of trouble if they did. They made it to the dock undetected and pulled a rowboat loose, paddling to the small island. Sora could vaguely see the corner of the mainsail behind the tiny island. They reached their sanctuary and quietly tied the boat up. "This way," Riku whispered. They quietly moved around to the other side of the island.

Without warning, they heard a scream. "Kairi!" Sora gasped. The two ran forward until Riku suddenly grabbed Sora's arm, dragging him behind a rock. There was no doubt about it- these people were pirates. And one of them had Kairi by the arms! "They've got her!" Sora whispered, moving to step into the open. Again, Riku held him back.
"Are you nuts? They'll kill you! We have to get off and warn the adults!" He hissed back.

"Come along now, Poppet." The pirate holding Kairi said with a grin, revealing many golden and rotted teeth. Kairi was struggling violently.

"Help! Help! Help!" She shrieked hysterically, thrashing wildly against her captor.

"Scream all you want, no one'll hear!" The pirate said. Riku sensed Sora was about to disprove that- loudly- and quickly slapped a hand over the younger boy's mouth.

"Keep- it- shut-" He hissed violently, his eyes narrowing. They tuned in just in time to hear one pirate say:

"…no good if anyone's heard her. Blast the town a little and move out." He said. Riku and Sora's eyes widened in fright, and they slid back to the other side of the island, trying to drown out Kairi's terrified cries. They ran into the secret spot and fell into the dirt, panting.

"-" Sora panicked. "ThepiratesgotKairiandnowthey'-"
"SORA!" Riku barked. "Down, boy! We'll think of something!" The older boy stood up and began to pace slowly around the cave. Sora watched on anxiously. This went on for a few minutes until-

BOOM.

They both jumped visibly, jerking their heads towards the mainland. "Uh-oh." Riku muttered. "They started the shooting…" He glanced to Sora, and quickly added, "But before you go into a conniption fit, I think we should grab a boat, sneak onto that ship and rescue Kairi!" Sora nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! Yeah! Let's go get her!" He jumped up and ran for the door, but Riku grabbed him.

"Not. Yet." He hissed through gritted teeth. "We have to wait until they start moving. We'll follow them at a distance, and hope they don't see us. One of us will stay with the boat, while the other goes up and gets her off." Sora nodded.
"Okay, okay."

And so, they sat and waited for the booming to stop. This was easier said than done- even from their spot, they could hear the sounds of screaming and smashing as the pirates attacked their home. Finally, there was a long silence following a particularly loud cannon shot. "Go!" Riku whispered. He and Sora dashed from the Secret Spot and for the dock, seeing the silhouette of the pirate's ship as they sailed off.

"Hurry!" Sora whispered. "We'll lose them in the fog!" For indeed, it was a very foggy night, and hard enough to see the island, never mind the ship. They pushed off from the dock, and began to row as hard as they could after the ship. Barely fifteen minutes after they left, the island was barely a shadow in the darkness and fog.

They would not return for a while.