Waves crashed against the side of the sailing ship with fury as it split the sea. The wooden vessel creaked and groaned while its sails whipped to and fro. The boat, belonging to a furious governor, had been commandeered to be used for a new purpose. It was now heading away from its dock and towards a new land, one known as Far Far Away. And upon its deck was carried a trio of adventurous animals known to all as…
“‘Team Friendship’?! Seriously Perrito, I cannot get over that!” Puss in Boots yelled over the sound of the turbulent sea, “I mean I don’t hate it or anything, but couldn’t we have all talked about it and come up with a cooler name?” The fiery orange cat stood upright on his hindlegs, which were securely placed within the boots of his name's sake, and paced along the bow of the boat. His black cape flapped wildly in the ocean breeze just like the feather sticking out of his black cap.
“Oh come on Puss, it’s not that bad. I think it’s starting to grow on me,” out from the captain’s quarters walked a black cat with a powdered chest and muzzle. She, like the fiery tom, also stood upon two legs as she made her way across the ship’s deck.
“Really Kitty? You can’t be serious,” Puss groaned as the she-cat reached him.
She drew a white paw up to the side of his furry face and leaned into whisper in his ear, “No I’m not. You actually think that I think ‘Team Friendship’ is a good name?” Softpaws sighed, “Give me a little more credit gatita, I just don’t want to hurt Perrito’s feelings because I’m considerate. Unlike you.” She cuffed him on the side of his head before chuckling slightly at his ferhoodled expression.
“I-I’m considerate!” Puss stuttered before casting his eyes upwards towards the pup, manning the ship’s helm, “Right Perrito!?”
A little brown and white dog head popped up from behind the steering wheel in response, “Huh? Puss did you say something?! I can’t hear anything from up here!” the dog motioned to his ears with a paw before his blue eyes lit up, “Oh hi Kitty!”
“¡Hola Perrito!” Kitty called back with a wave before turning back to Puss, “See I’m considerate and you’re not.” Kitty chuckled with bemusement at her partner’s face.
“How does that prove who’s considerate? He said hello to you, and you said it back,” the stabby tabby questioned.
“Well, he didn’t say hi to you, so clearly he thinks I’m more considerate.”
“How does that make any sense?!”
“Relax there, legend. I’m just teasing,” Kitty smiled good naturedly as she tipped the brim of Puss’s hat up and looked into his emerald eyes. “We can talk about changing it later, just let him have this for now. Besides, who knows, it may grow on you.”
“It will not,” Puss said in annoyance.
“We’ll see,” Kitty responded cheekily before flicking the orange cat’s hat down. Puss straightened his cap with a flick of the brim before appraising Kitty. The two cats stared at each other for a short while before Puss burst out in laughter. It was contagious and soon enough Puss’s partner shared in his merriment.
“Hey why are you two laughing?! What’s so funny?!” Perrito shouted from his perch.
“Nothing Perrito!” Puss managed to get out through his laughter, “Just keep steering!”
“Alright but you two better tell me the joke later!”
“Don’t worry Perrito, we will!” Kitty yelled over the sounds of the sea. The chuckling soon subsided as the two cats looked at each other fondly. Kitty’s aquamarine eyes glistened in the afternoon sun as she appraised the cat in front of her. Puss’s eyes did likewise.
“Well, shall we?” the black and white she-cat asked as she reached towards Puss with a paw.
“Shall we what?” he questioned in slight confusion.
“Go and see what exactly that pomposo governor so graciously left for us in his captain’s quarters,” Softpaws smiled as Puss stared back at her with one of his own.
“Isn’t that where you’ve been for the past few hours mi bella dama?” Puss spoke with charm.
“Don’t push it tonto. And while that is true, I didn’t look around too much. Mostly just kicked back, put my paws up, and got a much-needed break from your peludo face.”
“Hey!”
“Just couldn’t resist a little prodding,” Kitty chuckled as she spoke cheekily.
Puss’s annoyance soon washed away as he grabed Softpaws’s soft paw and started walking with her to the captain’s quarters. As a cheeky grin of his own broke out on his face. “Sure, let’s go see what the governor left us because some cat was too lazy to check it out for herself.”
Kitty gasped, “Puss! How could you!” she feigned hurt, “After all the compliments I gave you-you have the audacity to call me lazy?”
The orange tom cat chuckled as he looked back to his companion affectionately, “It seems I do.” Both cats laughed as they walked towards and then disappeared into the bowls of the ship. While up above a dog hummed happily to himself as he continued to steer the ship towards the trio’s destination.
“Oh this is just so fun!” the pup yelled in excitement, “Team Friendship is getting along so well! Man, I can’t wait to meet all those people Puss was talking about. That Donkey fellow sounded like a real riot!” In Perrito’s joyous celebration he failed to notice the skies above him start to ominously darken and billow as an oncoming storm brewed. The dog simply hummed a happy tune as he obliviously sailed forward into treacherous tides.
“Look at me! The Legendary King in Boots!” Puss shouted as he posed in front of a mirror with a golden crown laying lopsided on his head. Kitty, draped in an oversized purple robe, turned from her own mirror to look at Puss curiously. She smiled at his display before swiftly kneeling into a bow.
“Please forgive me your highness, I wasn’t aware that we have royalty aboard. I hope you enjoy your stay on our fine ship,” she finished with a flourish of her purple garbs for added effect. Puss snorted at the act before taking the crown off and replacing it with his trademark cavalier hat. Kitty stood back up and did a little salute motion to which Puss returned. The two were in the governor’s captain’s quarters and were helping themselves to all the treasures that lay before them.
The room was quite simple overall. Everything in it was mostly made from wood including the desk and chair in the center of the room, the bookshelves and chests that lined the walls, and the support beams going across the ceiling. Of course, not everything was wood. For instance, the gold trims around the room, the plush seating on the chair, the crystal chandelier, the fluffy carpet on the floor, and the huge glass window located on the back wall behind the captain’s chair right above the captain's plush bed.
The room screamed luxury; a luxury Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws fulling intended on partaking in. Since coming into the room, the two of them have kind of made a mess of the place. Books laid abandoned on the floor, chests fallen over with their contents spilled out, and curtains hung in tatters with claw marks strewn across them courtesy of Puss and Perritio. The whole trio had come in here on their first day of sailing and rummaged around, but over the course of the trip the room had progressively fallen into disarray.
They had all decided to make the quarters their place of rest when they were tired. So, at night all but one would come down to rest as the other steered the ship. Then the next night they’d trade places. Puss and Kitty both laid claim to the captain’s bed on the first night. It wasn’t a problem for the two at first due to how their sailing schedules lined up. Soon enough however disaster struck as they collided. Both were to sleep for that night, and neither would give up the bed for the other.
Soon enough though they found themselves too tired to care and decided just to snuggle together in the bed. Upon waking up the next day both felt like they had-had the best sleep of their lives while lying next to each other. From there they decided to cuddle together every night their schedules aligned. Their already reignited flame just blazed brighter as they grew closer and closer to one another over the course of the trip. So much so that the idea of marriage would often be on Puss’s mind, and this time it wasn’t something he dreaded but looked forward to. Kitty on the other paw was just waiting for the tom to pop the question. Because if he didn’t soon, she sure would.
“Kitty,” Puss started with a sigh as he always did. Sure, marriage might have been on his mind, but he was still scared to talk about it. It was a big question, you know? “Do you, uh…” he trailed off as he realized what he was doing. Puss didn’t feel the atmosphere was right. He racked his brain for a way to escape the predicament he had gotten himself into as Kitty looked on expectantly. “Do you, uh, do you want, uh…”
“Want to what?” Kitty asked silkily.
Puss was sweating. He couldn’t believe what he had almost unconsciously asked, he wasn’t ready! “U-um, d-do you want, uh…”
“Yes?” Kitty asked with a quirked eyebrow in annoyance. She knew he wasn’t going to ask; he was going to back off like he always did. And yet, she held out hope that there would hopefully be one day he wouldn't.
“Want some, uh…gazpacho?” Puss asked tentatively as the pounding in his chest went back to normal levels after the save.
Kitty rolled her eyes in amusement as she walked towards him, “Sure thing my fearless hero.”
“Alright then!” Puss yelled a bit too loud, “I’ll go fetch us some!”
“Nah-ah, no way,” Kitty said with a huff as she shrugged off her purple robe, “Not after last time.”
“What?! Come on Kitty, you know my gazpacho is good. Last time was just a fluke.”
“Sure it was. But still, I’d feel better eating it if I made it. Just in case it wasn’t, and you’ve gotten sloppy.”
“Hey! Tease me all you want but do not insult my gazpacho making skills.”
“Yeah yeah, you may have been a legend, but your cooking skills are anything but legendary,” Kitty laughed at Puss’s scowl as she turned from him to go back out the captain’s quarters and eventually into the food preparation room down below deck.
Puss turned to Softpaws with indignation “Kitty, now I don’t know what you think but I for one-” the orange cat was cut off as the ship let out a massive groan.
“Um, what was-woah!” Kitty stopped and started to say before the boat began to rock. The two adventurous cats swayed back and forth unsteadily on their feet before the ship suddenly lurched to the side and flung them to the ground. They tried to stand up only for the boat to suddenly move again and launch them into each other. They landed in the center of the room as the ship calmed back down for a moment and looked at each other. In the confusion Kitty had ended up falling on top of Puss and was somehow wearing his hat, only it was backwards. The feather tickled Puss’s face as the two sat up right, Kitty still in the tom cat’s lap.
“What just…” Kitty started before trailing off upon seeing Puss’s forehead. She hesitantly reached out and placed a paw on his head, using a finger to trace a scar. “When did you get this?” she asked in concern.
“What do you…oh, this?” Puss responded as he carefully removed her paw, “It’s a reminder of what I once was and a reason to respect life. I got it from my first encounter with Death, back in Del Mar after I fought that giant I told you about. It was there the whole time on our journey to the wish; I’m surprised you only noticed now. Assumed you just didn’t want to say anything about it.” Kitty frowned as she inspected the wound. Puss meanwhile stealthily slipped his hat off of Kitty’s head and placed it back on his own, covering the scar.
“I guess I didn’t see it because you had your hat on for most of the trip. And I was kind of preoccupied by other things at the time,” Kitty said solemnly.
Puss lifted her chin up with a finger to look her in the eyes, “Don’t be sad, there was nothing you could have done about it. Besides I don’t really care if you notice a scar on my forehead or not. Not really an issue, unlike that.” Puss finished speaking by looking up, after following a shadow, and pointing. Kitty was confused until Puss continued to lift her chin until she was looking up just like him.
“Oh,” was all Kitty said as she looked at the chandelier above their heads, hanging from the roof by a thread.
“That probably would’ve hurt a lot if it had fallen on us,” Puss pointed out the obvious.
“Yeah, and it still could,” Kitty responded.
“We should move, shouldn’t we?”
“Sí.” The two then got up slowly and carefully backed up before looking back to each other and laughing. Then the boat lurched again causing the two of them to slam into each other. They hugged onto each other as they waited for the movement to stop, then once it did they broke apart and walked out unto the deck of the ship.
“Perrito, what is-!” Puss started to say as he cast his gaze to the ship’s helm only to be cut off as Kitty tackled him over. A massive wave crashed into the ship’s deck right where he had just been standing. He flashed Kitty a quick smile before they both got back up and rushed up the ship’s stairs, holding onto the banister for support.
Reaching the top of the steps they ran over to Perrito as he struggled to control the ship’s wheel. The weather outside had worsened considerably since Puss and Kitty had walked into the captain's quarters. It was raining heavily, and the wind whipped wildly to and fro. The sea had grown unruly and turbulent, its gray waters matching the dark and cloudy sky. The ship’s sails flapped wildly threatening to tear themselves from the mast. Various loose ropes were flung about in the wind as anything unsecured to the deck went back and forth across it. And as the boat leaned to the side Puss saw a cannon hit the side of the ship hard enough that it broke through the railing and fell into the murky depth below.
“Holy Frijoles!” Puss yelled as Perrito turned to speak to him. But whatever the dog tried to say was drowned out by the sound of thunder as lightning lit up the sky. “What Perrito?! I couldn’t hear you!”
“I said I’m sorry!” Perrito yelled over the raging storm, “I swear everything was normal and calm! This storm just came out of nowhere!”
“Perrito, can you steer-” a thunderous crash from above drowned out the rest of Kitty’s words but Perrito could easily guess what she was trying to say.
“No!” he screamed over the turbulent tides, pulling on the steering wheel hard, “I’ve been trying to get us out of here, but I think we’re stuck in some kind of whirlpool! The ship won’t stop going left!”
“Well maybe we could-” Puss cut himself off as he spotted a huge wave cresting over the ship’s bow. Quickly he grabbed onto Kitty and Perrito and pulled them to the ground, covering them with his cape. The wave came down hard, pummeling the trio with water. When it finally receded, Puss stood up and looked at his two soaking friends as they all coughed out sea water. All three of them stood there for a moment panting before the vessel rocked to the side and refocused their attention back onto the helm.
They all rushed forth and grabbed the steering wheel trying in vain to pull it to the right. The wheel struggled and stayed in place for a moment before gaining a new burst of energy and violently spun to the left. The spoke the three adventurers were holding onto broke off the wheel with a snap as they all tumbled to the left and the ship turned.
“I thought you said the weather was supposed to be clear!” Softpaws yelled over the wind to Puss while trying to untangle herself from the pile of cats and dog.
“That’s what the guy at the dock told me!” Puss shouted back as another wave crashed on the ship’s deck spraying the three with salty water.
“Well, it seems he was wrong!” Kitty screamed back as the three got back up on unsteady feet.
“Clearly!” Puss hollered back, “Remind me to never trust random guys’ on docks weather reports ever again!”
“Uh, guys!” Perrito called to the two felines over the storm as his gaze was transfixed by a swirling mass of clouds in the sky.
“What?!” both cats yelled in unison as the storm only grew in intensity. They saw Perrito staring up into the sky, so they followed his gaze and were transfixed as well. There in the sky, surrounded by a swirling mass of clouds was a pulsing ball of crackling white energy as bright as the sun. The white sphere seemed to grow larger as it fed on the storm's energy and grew off its power.
“That’s probably bad,” Puss simply said as the other two nodded in agreement. The boat was hit with another massive wall of water that caused it to move suddenly and throw the already unsteady trio off their feet. Kitty fell backwards on her rump as Puss fell forwards and over the railing. He fell to the deck below and landed hard on his side. He grunted in pain and opened his eyes looking up only to see a horrifying sight.
“Perrito!” He screamed as he saw the yelping dog fall overboard and into the dark ocean below. He rushed to the side of the ship and looked over the banister to see if he could spot the pup, but to no luck.
“Puss!” he heard Kitty yell out as he looked up to the steering wheel and saw her looking at the sky once more, mouth agape. The tom followed her gaze and saw the massive white energy ball had grown to an absurd size and looked ready to burst. Worst of all they seemed to currently be entering the eye of the storm, right under the energy ball.
“Oh no,” was all Puss could say before the humongous ball of light broke open and shot a beam of energy straight down and into the ship. It was obliterated in an instance as chunks of wood and debris exploded into a beautiful shower of splinters.
“Kitty!” Puss screamed as he was flung into the air before crashing into the cold sea below. He sank like a rock at first in the confusion before he managed to right himself and swim to the turbulent surface. He spit out water as he floundered on the surface fighting hard to stay afloat. He looked around wildly as he searched for his friends but couldn't find any sign of them. In a panic he didn’t notice a cannon ball heading right for him. He looked up too late as it hit him square in the chest and pulled him under the waves.
It pinned him down as he struggled to move it in his haggard state. But a determination to live and see his friends again combined with an adrenaline rush gave him the strength to move the black ball and swim back to the surface again. He broke the waters in a fit as he looked around for something to grab onto.
He saw a small plank from the ship’s hull nearby and swam for it. He got there as lightning struck next to him, hitting what remained of the sinking ship’s mast, blinding him for a moment. The crash of thunder was deafening as Puss became disoriented. But he quickly cleared his head as he grasped the plank and hauled his upper half onto it.
He breathed out a sigh of relief as he just sat there for a second panting. Water dripped from his soggy hat and onto his face, but he barely registered it in the ocean’s fury. It was a drop in the bucket compared to everything else. Once he had calmed down as much as he could he tied the end of his cape to a nail that was stuck in the board, just in case he let go for whatever reason.
With that task complete he turned over and flopped onto his back, looking up into the cloudy sky. He sat there for a moment wondering where it all went wrong before noticing a small black speck in the sky. He squinted, trying to make the object out only to realize it was getting bigger. The realization almost hit him as hard as the chandelier did, but before he could process anything more, he found himself only seeing stars as he was knocked out cold. His last waking thoughts lingered on his friends as he hoped they were safe.