Chapter 1 - Welcome To The Archipelago; The Return of the Captain and the Wizard!

Croc Diles hummed nonchalantly as he continued sanding the soon-to-be surfboard propped up in front of him; dust and chalk lined up at his feet, tail sweeping residue off the slightly sandy floor.

Peddy would return in five hours from the market so he still had plenty of time to finish and clean up. The small bar/shack they had rented wasn't too spacious but it was small enough to be considered decent so it take too log to clean it. Croc sighed lightly.

It was all so calm now. After his and Peddy's Adventures in Amestris, this island-like world was so calm compared to the nearly catastrophic events revolving around the Philosopher's Stone and the Homunculi.

It was also one of those endless plan places where both anthros and humans could walk around and live peacefully together without any major conflict. They could hardly believe their surprise when instead of people seeing them and running away screaming; they were kind enough to give them directions to the town he and Peddy were currently occupying.

He was inwardly glad when no one took notice of the Gummi-ship they had expertly crash-landed in the field beyond the town.

Croc chuckled to himself as he remembered how steamed Peddy was as he ranted and barked out at him in curses in at least nineteen languages. Despite knowing Peddy never meant a mean word he said, he couldn't help but laugh at Peddy's ridiculous expressions whenever he got angry.

Peddy had gone out to the market, immediately taken to the common magic and modern way of life. He promised to be back before dark and left him in charge of taking care of the building they had rented for a short time.

Croc was taken in by the surroundings as well. The sights, the smells, the sounds; the sounds were what he liked especially. The music they heard around town was a mixture of reggae, Jamaican hip-hop and country. He hardly had a day go by without hearing traveling musicians walk by the bar. The smells were interesting too. The first night here, Peddy and he were convinced to try something called "Phottle".

It smelled like hamburger so they assumed it was okay to eat. Croc was right but Peddy instantly knew he was wrong.

After hacking for eight minutes, Peddy vowed to never eat Phottle again. As to Croc, who asked for seconds.

Wildwing would've laughed like crazy if he saw Peddy look like a balloon. He sighed sadly. Wildwing . . . Chris . . . King Waldaren . . . Donatello . . . Toby . . . The Royal Guard . . . Master Sage . . . He missed all of them so much. He knew that Wildwing had important things to do and that he and Peddy had a quest to undertake for themselves but he still couldn't help but miss his friend. His smile, his laugh, his way that he and Peddy fight as though they were trying to bite their throats out. But he knew that he and Peddy had taken Wildwing to their hearts, kinda like a brother. Croc knew he hadn't seen their friend in months, but to the green Crocodile it felt like centuries. He wished their friend would hurry and come back.

Croc snapped out of his revere'. He noticed that he was leaning on the white and dusted board so long, he arms, palms down, had been covered in white.

He stared at them for a second. Croc then chuckled at himself.

Boy, was he being silly. Wildwing was coming back. He promised them, didn't he? He always kept his word, no matter what.

"It's a lot easier to face the scary stuff when you got a promise to keep." Croc murmured. He said that himself, so that was what he was going to stick by.

He smacked the dust off his arms and reached in his shirt to pull out his necklaces. In one had he had a small coin engraved with what he thought was a six laced on a string and in the other he had a large golden pocket watch that didn't tick.

Magicz Time and Warrior's Lucky Number.

He clutched them both to his chest and breathed through his snout, 'Don't worry, everyone.' He silently vowed. 'We'll all be back soon.'

He sniffled, wiped at his eyes and tucked his prized possessions back into his shirt. No time to be nostalgic. He had to hurry and finish making the board and clean up before his companion returned.

~X~

"Thank you, come again!" The store clerk chirped happily at Peddy Mosmo as he gathered up his purchases into his satchel.

Peddy nodded in goodbye, hopped off the Clerk's countertop with ease and moved on down the Marketplace Street. All his goods in his satchel felt light with the magic surrounding it and he was personally glad for it. No sense doing all this shopping only to gain a sore shoulder.

The small Dalmatian hummed happily as he continued walking. This was one of the happiest moods; he's ever been in for a long time. This was rare since he was hardly happy. He was more the snarky, sarcastic type. But no one dare say that aloud unless they wanted to get a mouthful of fire.

The town was an oasis of magic items, weapons and such. All of Peddy's favorite things. He could hardly find any of the materials he needed when he was in Amestris, so he could rarely do magic, only Alchemy and Alkahestry. He was giddy to be able to have the chance to do magic again.

This time he was going to be prepared. Already he had brought ten Magi-Crystals, thirteen spell-books, nine key-chains for his wand, eighteen bottles of Napalm for his collar-bombs and six small boxes filled with eight Ethers each. All in all, a good day.

Of course, knowing that he and Croc would need some new clothes, he bought enough fabric for him to make plenty of suits for him and fabric that was uniquely similar to Croc's Chinese Gis and street clothes. Have seen Croc's sparring sessions, he was going to need new clothes.

He was glad that people accepted munny from Croc and Peddy's world. When he paid for his first purchases, the clerk recognized the currency with a smirk and shrugged as he said, "Hey, munny's money."

Peddy stopped for a second and frowned in thought, "'Wait, was that guy messing with me?' . . . "Nah!" He smiled and continued walking.

There was no doubt in Peddy's mind that everything was going perfect for once. For that he was glad. No Master sage to egg him on for the moment; no Felon or Lula to jump out of nowhere to kill him; no Wildwing to – He froze.

Peddy placed a paw over his heart and sighed. Now his heart felt hollow and sore.

Mother of Kibble, who was he trying to fool? He missed that mullet-haired featherhead. Even all the aggravations, the constant worrying and the tears he cried over him when he thought Wildwing was gone; he missed his friend.

Peddy never thought he would miss someone he hardly knew so much. He knew Wildwing wasn't dead; he was simply taking the Mark of Mastery Exam along with Canard. He knew that Wildwing would become a Keyblade Master for real and rush in to save the day like usual. But he just couldn't help but miss him.

Not only him, but he missed Chris, Canard, and Donatello too. Although he was suspicious of the mallard at first, Canard proved to be a good friend, like Conner. A little harsh and hard-headed, but a good friend. Chris was a natural person to miss, being the Queen's counterpart. She had her good and kind nature but wasn't afraid to step up to bat when she had to. Plus he and Croc never got tired of teasing both her and Wildwing's love life. Donatello was a smart cookie, not too easy to forget. After all, how often do you meet a turtle in spats and a top hat that can explain science in Laymen's terms?

Peddy sighed again. Now he felt even more depressed. That and a little hungry. Relieving memories could definitely make a little Dalmatian crave something.

"Well, might as well grab some chow." Peddy admitted as he began looking around for a snack or noodle stand. "Maybe somethin' fer Croc, too. We're gonna need all de energy we can get fer tonight –" Peddy's thoughts came to a halt as he suddenly came face-to-face with a clothed leg.

The next thing the Black-and-White Magicz knew he was caught in a dog-pile (AN: NO PUN INTENDED!!!) between two muscular and very heavy men. Swearing heartedly, he began trying to wiggle himself out.

"Oy! What the heck was that?!" One of the men exclaimed from below Peddy.

"I'm a "Who", not a "What", ya moron! Now get offa me!" Peddy shot back annoyed as he smacked the side of the person on top of him.

In response, the person on top quickly got off him and said politely, "Oh! Uh, sorry about that. My brother and I are in a bit of a hurry."

Peddy raised his head to shoot off a sarcastic comment but froze when he saw at least two rows of incredibly sharp teeth and equally sharpened spikey red hair as big as him. He panicked for a second but managed to squeak out, "'Ey, what's wit' yer –" He tumbled to ground as the man underneath him leaned up and exclaimed in surprise and panic. "Guys!"

A mob of angry-looking farmers with pitchforks and swords were gaining o them rather quickly shouting curses and insults.

"Oh, crap." They all said, sweatdropping.