Xardius grinned and replaced the empty bottle in his belt. He backed up a little, and stretched his hand out, palm up. In his palm was the crystal that had once powered Chomper... "Chomper," Xardius said softly, and suddenly Chomper, in a flash of light, reconstituted itself from the power of its crystal. Smiling, Xardius replaced Chomper onto his back and turned back to the group. "Now what?" he asked, folding his arms.
OOC: That's cool. BIC: Xardius produced a Potion and pressed it to Nulix's lips. Nulix opened his eyes and sprang upwards. Xardius nodded and folded his arms, then looked around. "Hey, where's Oxryt?"
Xardius strode after Wing and the others, who were just now dispersing. Scratching his head, he decided to follow Geryl, who was heading off in the general direction they had been before. Walking behind Geryl, he began to spread out as Geryl turned in the left direction. Walking a little to the right, Xardius noticed something shiny on the ground. Picking it up, he noticed it was a keychain. Interesting, he thought, I'll keep it for later. Walking some more, he heard someone shout. Turning around, he saw Bellatrix waving her hands several hundred yards away. Everyone ran towards her. At her feet was Nulix, out cold. "He must have gotten ambushed right after he walked off," Xardius shrugged.
"Allow me," Xardius said, bowing slightly. At Wing's nod, Xardius turned and raced through the trees, soon leaving the group behind. Tapping into his crystal again, he sprang to the top of a nearby tree, then from there high into the air. 300 feet up, he looked down and saw the masses of knights just entering the trees from a nearby dark portal. "Perfect," he muttered, and floating in midair, he tapped into his armor's crystal, funneling the power of a small thunderstorm into the crystal on Chomper. Chomper glowed red, and Xardius snapped to attention. Wind surged around him as the air slowly heated up. Flame suddenly snapped around Xardius, and Xardius funneled it into Chomper. Chomper literally exploded in fury and Xardius swung in an arc. Fire exploded around the knights, knocking many back, and coursing through the forest in less than a second. Xardius controlled the fire through Chomper, or what was left of it, and then he tied off the control. The fire wouldn't be going anywhere. Smiling to himself, Xardius dropped to the earth. Now it was time to find Nulix and set the plan into action...
"Let's go back to where we split off from each other," Xardius suggested. "That's where he disappeared, isn't it?"
"Correct," Xardius said, "but I have a special secret for these guys..." He grimaced. "Not too pleasant, but I do. We need to find Nulix, and make our chances the best they can be. What do you guys say?"
"Bellatrix was looking for him, last time I remember, but I took a nap about right then, so..." Xardius shrugged. "He's gotta be around here somewhere...Anyway, I was thinking that since these knights are so pathetic, we each can kill about a 100 of them before we have to take a break...I'm just guessing, correct me if I'm wrong. I'd say in the force I was fighting, there was about 50, probably a scout force. Now, if we could get them to funnel into a certain area, we can use our special skills to take them apart piece by piece, one by one, 100 by 100...See what I mean?"
Xardius grinned. "I"m fine. As for the knights, do they have shiny armor and helmets that cover their faces? Cause if so, I was just fighting a bunch of 'em...I was worried about you guys though, so I didn't finish them off..." He scratched his head. "How about we set a nice trap for these bozos..." He grinned again.
Xardius slumped against a tree and wiped his brow. "Just like back home, eh, Chomper?" Xardius said, grinning. More knights rushed him and Xardius spun, Chomper ripping through the tree, the tree crushing the knights. "That'll get their attention," Xardius smirked, and sprinted off through the trees. He didn't really know where he was going and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He could hear footsteps behind him and he stopped, smirking some more. Twisting around, he ripped through a confident knight who'd been about to stab him. Panting, he saw more knights coming at him in a circle. This wasn't hard, just...tiring. And Xardius knew that the more time he took, the less time he'd have for the main battle. Taking a deep breath, Xardius leaped forward, smashing through the circle and sprinting on, Chomper low and ready to slice upwards at any moment. He'd never been very fast, and now with his armor on... Xardius grimaced as he heard the knights catching on. "Blast it all," he muttered, and sprinted for a tall tree. "Have to use it..." He tapped into the energy supply that coursed through his armor, and moved it to his legs. Raw energy burnt leaves around him as he ran for the tree. He used the energy just as reached the base. In a blur of speed, he sprinted upwards and on, flipping off the top of the tree and spinning off towards the castle that was shining in the distance. He landed heavily, creating a small crater in the ground. Listening, he heard voices talking. Slowly, he crept forward, and found Wing, Oxryt, Geryl, Bellatrix, and Vexneah all moving through the forest towards the castle. Standing straight, and popping his shoulders, Xardius strode forward, slinging Chmper back over one shoulder.
Chapter Two "So...how come Zane didn't kill you Riku?" Sora said, licking his chocolate ice cream as he sat on the beach on Destiny Islands. "Well, he probably would have, except..." Riku turned to Zane, who was staring out to the sea, his ice cream melting over his fingers onto the sand. "He doesn't have complete control over the keyblade." Riku shrugged. "When he went to stab me, the keyblade disappeared...The space was enough for me to calm him down." Riku grinned. "He could take you on for size if he learned to control his emotions better...I think that's what set the keyblade off, like you and me in Hollow Bastion...I mean, Radiant Garden's castle...Anyway, three, count them, three Behemoths, Sora...He took them down without breaking a sweat." Sora frowned and peered around Riku at Zane. Zane didn't flinch from staring at the sea, as if in a trance. "Um, Zane?" Kairi said suddenly, poking him. "Your ice cream's melting everywhere..." Zane shook his head, and looked down at the puddle of ice cream. Sighing, he whipped his hand over it, and the sand prickled underneath, shifting the mess. Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Do you want to know about what you've been fighting, Zane?" Sora asked, still looking at Zane. Zane peered back at him, his eyes revealing nothing. Sora got a sharp chill...He'd seen that stare before, somewhere... "Go ahead, talk away." Zane waved his hand. "I'm listening." He stuffed the ice cream in his mouth, chewing off a massive bite. Riku covered a smile, and glanced at Sora. Sora shrugged, and stood. "The things you've been fighting are called Heartless. They are creatures that appear out of the darkness in people's hearts...They're darkness incarnate, and are constantly looking for more creatures to attack. Now, when people with strong wills have their hearts are taken by the Heartless, they become Nobodies, with the souls and the bodies forming their own contraption." Zane stared back at Sora, swallowing the ice cream. "Then who was the man I fought?" Sora shrugged. "I've fought several men, namely a man named Xehanort, who have been trying to control the Heartless. But it doesn't really matter, you killed him didn't you?" "Of course," Zane said, biting the rest of the ice cream off the stick. "Now, the keyblade is a weapon that holds mysterious power. I'm not exactly sure of all its nuances, but the gist of it is that there are keyblades for light and dark and the inbetween of them. All three of us have keyblades." Sora summoned his Kingdom Key, Riku his Way to the Dawn, and Kairi her Princess Guard. Zane stared at the keyblades, and stretched forth his hand. His keyblade snapped into his hand in the midst of dust, unlike the other three keyblades which had appeared in light. "Perhaps this is an inbetween keyblade, a keyblade of twilight," Riku said, motioning at it. Sora moved forward. "It has a chain, but no keychain attached..." Zane shrugged. "I don't remember how I got this, nor what happened to the keychain on it..." Sora shook his head. "That doesn't really matter. What we need to worry about is controlling it. The keyblade isn't a weapon to muck around with." Zane shrugged. "I can handle myself." Sora's eyes narrowed. Kairi quickly got up, and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to Sora, Zane," Kairi said. "He's only doing this for your well-being." "Whatever," Zane said, standing and stuffing the ice cream stick into his pocket. "Show me how to wield the keyblade then." Sora nodded, and moved forward. "The keyblade is controlled by willpower, and strength of heart. To have a keyblade, you must have a strong heart." Sora thudded his fist against his chest. "Now, what kind of heart do you have?" Zane shrugged. "I guess I must have a strong one." "Or a partial one, as you do not have complete control over the keyblade," Riku said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Let's go ask Merlin in Radiant Garden." Sora shrugged. "If you want to." Zane seemed excited for a moment. "Another world?" "Yes," Kairi said. "Zane, have you ever seen an ocean before?" Zane turned back to the sea, his eyes lost in the depths of it. "Never." Kairi nodded. "Let's go." *** "Zaxor." Zaxor, gasping for breath, fell to one knee, clutching his stomach where Zane had stabbed him. "Zaxor!" Zaxor looked up, his eyes glowing in the darkness. "Master?" he whispered. "Zaxor, have you completed your mission?" "Master," Zaxor said, standing. "This is the proof!" He flicked his cape, showing his gaping wound. Instantly, it was healed. Zaxor bowed his head. "Thank you, master." "Be more careful next time. My abilities do not include resurrecting the dead..." Zaxor grimaced. "Next time, I will..." "If all goes as planned, there won't be a next time. Now, you know what to do next." Zaxor turned, and stared into the darkness. "Yes, master, I do..." *** END OF CHAPTER TWO This one's shorter, as I'm kind of pressed for time, but I hope you enjoyed it. I'll post Chapter Three within the next couple of days.
OOC: I'd be happy to PM you. BIC: Xardius stood up from where he'd been lying down, clearing his head of the nasty dream he'd been having. Looking around, he noticed no one was there. "Creepy," Xardius said, his lip curling at the dark forest. Flipping the small crystal he had found in the cave, Xardius smiled. Walking forward, he noticed Oxryt running forward into the woods. Xardius shrugged, deciding that he would follow him. Unfortunately, as he started to run after Oxyrt, he fell down another hole. "Geez," Xardius said to himself, "I must have a thing for falling into holes." Scuffing above him caused him to turn and see strange people in armor standing over him, weapons at the ready. "These must be the knights everyone's talking about," Xardius said, slipping his hand over Chomper's handle. "Guess I'm gonna see some action!" He laughed and flipped forward, whipping Chomper out at the knights... Little did he know that the main force was ignoring him, and marching silently towards the nearly oblivious castle. OOC: For those of you who care, I've made a Guardians of Larenska thread if you guys want to know more about it...It's in the Family section.
"Well," Xardius said, peering upwards and brushing himself off. "A silver locket and a passageway that says it leads to heaven, but I don't believe there is one. Wanna go for a spin?"
"Hmm," Xardius said, folding his arms. "This could get difficult...I'll go look at the castle." Xardius walked off towards the castle. OOC: Are we inside or outside? I say outside right now, but I'm confused. BIC: Approaching the castle, Xardius remembered what he had seen before. Turning, he walked back the way he had come, and moved towards the forest. Parting some bushes, he stepped through into the doorway he had seen and entered. Light filtered in from tree branches above, and Xardius realized that whatever this building had been, the forest outside the city had claimed it. Or perhaps this building had spawned it, as the forest had spontaneously appeared one day. Xardius scratched his chin, walked forward, and fell through a hole in the floor. "Aw, crap," Xardius said, as he saw the ground rushing up to meet his head. A tremendous crash split the forest, and a couple of seconds later, a grumpy voice stated, "Ow...Hey Geryl, I found something!"
From what Yen Sid says in KH2, the soul and the body make up the Nobody... And memories were more of a heart thing.
Xardius watched the other three begin to search for the locket in their own unique way. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. If a locket was lost before... "Geryl," Xardius said, "was the locket lost before you became a Nobody, or only recently?"
All righty, I've had this idea for a while, and I guess now I'll post it up here. Just for a little background, this is set quite a while after Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, and Sora and co. are all like in their early twenties. WORLD'S HEART Chapter One The desert boiled under the sun, the heat rising in tidal waves from its surface. Riku walked under the heart, head held high, not a touch of sweat on his brow. His silver hair jostled slightly behind him, as his boots crushed waterless rocks under his heels. Stepping forward, he rested a black gloved hand on the surface of a rock that seemed to mark something...a pinnacle of sort, set at a right angle to the desert floor once, but know was bent and broken in several places. Feeling the rough, course stone, Riku gently traced the markings on the stone. With a whoosh of escaping air, the dust in a 6 foot perfect circle dissipated without a trace, leaving only Riku staring at the stone, which was now slowly raising into the air, its markings glowing. Riku cocked his head, interested, and made note of what had happened with a small black notebook and a pen he produced from his jacket pocket. Suddenly, he felt cold. Looking up, he saw a sight he'd hoped never to see again, a sight that raked his nerves and sent cold chills up his spine... Heartless. Lots of them. Thousands coursing across the desert, moving towards a ravine that Riku saw in the distance. Their bulging yellow eyes and constantly moving antennae made the mass look as if it were a giant single being. Riku pulled out his keyblade, but the creatures, passing within ten feet of him, ignored him completely, their sole purpose to get to the ravine. Riku stared across the vast expanse of desert around him, and spied other such "armies" of Shadow Heartless racing towards the same spot. Riku's eyes narrowed, and his mouth turned grim. Something wasn't right. *** The young man lifted his chin as he entered the ravine, slowly scanning the steep walls. The sun was blocked from entering here, and shadows were everywhere, moving as if they were alive. The young man's mouth firmed, and he pulled the black hood over his eyes lower. He walked slowly forward, the dirt crunching under his feet. Rocks clashed downwards above his head, and the man's head turned sharply. He scanned the ravine again, and saw a cave. Moving forward, he entered, seeing a light within. The light wasn't the sun, he realized, but it was just hovering there. Reaching out to touch it, he noticed other lights entering his vision. The illumination from the hovering light outlined the shapes of dark beings that were slowly creeping towards him. The man stifled a gasp, and reached inside his cloak, whipping out a weapon that had the distinct shape of a key, with a circular enclosed handle and an end that ended with two sharp points, one that jutted out at an angle, and another that slightly curved from the vertical shaft it tipped. The chain attached at the end was rotted and the last chain was snapped and broken. Shifting his grip, the young man waited for the creatures to attack. They did, and almost to quick for him to follow. But the light was enough. He ripped through the creatures, their bodies disappearing into darkness. He felt himself being pushed back by the sheer force of the creatures, and looking beyond, he saw countless eyes staring back. Gritting his teeth, refusing to give in, he flipped forward, landing near the light, and grabbed it. Light exploded outward, and the shadows disappeared, torn apart by the sheer force of the light. The man released the light slowly, breathing heavily. "Well done, keyblade wielder. Now, if only more were like you..." "Who's there?" the young man called, peering around. "Show yourself!" "Not quite yet, I think. The time isn't right...That's an interesting keyblade you have there. Where'd you get it?" "Hmph," the young man said, folding his arms. "You wanna know? Then come here and ask me like a real man. And what were those things?" "Maybe I'll answer your question...later. For right now, I think it's best I leave..." The young man quickly peered around and saw a flicker of movement above him. He flipped forward, landing on a ledge above him, quickly scaling the cliff with only his feet and one hand, the "keyblade," as the strange voice had called it, held in his right hand out of the way. Reaching the ledge he had seen movement on, he peered around and detected a darkness greater than the darkness around him. Walking forward, he saw light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel sloped upwards towards the light, and the young man found himself running. He burst from the tunnel onto the desert, glancing around. "Fool." He turned and saw the owner of the voice. The man was wearing some weird sort of outfit, with a white vest, black pants, knee-length boots, and a cape that was white on the outside and red inside. His white gloved arms were folded, and his bald head shone under the sun. He was standing on a ledge above the cave he had just come through, staring with golden eyes at the young man. "You should have stayed in serenity...At least, until I'd left...Now I have to kill you." The hands shot out, and suddenly, three monsters appeared behind the man. They had large horns protruding from their heads, two curving forward over its mouth, and another horn protruding from its forehead, with energy coursing around it. "Lovely, aren't they? I call them 'Behemoths.' And now, it's time to die." The man flipped off the ridge and onto the lead Behemoth. "Come and get me!" the young man called, readying his blade. The Behemoths charged, but the young man was ready. He somersaulted underneath the first, slashing left and right, whipping his blade through the legs of the Behemoth. It collapsed with a roar, and the man on top yelled in fury. The young man flipped into the air, lancing off a rock outcropping and landing on the second Behemoth's back. One slice of his keyblade cut the energy horn off of the Behemoth's head, and its eyes rolled up and it collapsed. He rolled off, landing on his feet in time to strike raid his keyblade through the neck of the third Behemoth. Both Behemoths were dust before the second hit the ground. Turning, he saw the man rising from the dust of the first Behemoth. Energy coursed over his arms. "NOW! You will pay!" The man raised his arms and energy raced out. The young man raced forward, straight into the energy...and it had no effect. The keyblade sliced forward...and the man drew back, clutching his stomach. "Impossible," he stuttered, "how could you...?" He raised one arm, and darkness reached out from the ground to swallow him. The young man stared at where he had gone, then stared at his weapon. "A...keyblade?" The young man turned to stare upwards. Riku sat there, his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing with a...keyblade?" "Who are you?" the young man snarled, flipping upwards. Riku somersaulted backwards from the man, pulling out his own keyblade. The young man launched a volley of blows at him. "Are you like him?" the man spat at Riku. Riku grimaced, and smashed him back. "I ask the questions from now on," Riku said, pointing his blade at the young man. The young man smirked, and raced forward, slicing forward, deflecting Riku's counter. Riku's eyes widened as he saw, helpless, the strange keyblade slicing towards his stomach, and the triumphant wielder's face behind the hood. *** Sora sat straight up, breathing heavily. He pounded the sand with his fist, and jumped up, brushing himself off. "Kairi!" Sora called, racing up the beach on Destiny Islands towards the tree. Kairi called down to him from the hut in the top. "What is it?" "Riku's in trouble! We need to go to the Chaotic Desert!" "How do you know?" "I just had a dream!" Kairi stared at him. "Let's just go, OK?" Sora said, spreading his hands with a pleading look. Kairi waved her hand. "All right, I'll meet you down there." Kairi ran down the wooden platforms that led down to the beach. Sora raced for the secret place. By the time Kairi made it to the center, Sora was already in the gummi ship. "Come on, get in." Kairi jumped inside, strapping herself in. Sora shut the cockpit, and nudged the gummi ship forward. Popping out of the center of the island, Sora hit the warp button and the gummi zipped into hyperspace, resurfacing into the atmosphere of the Chaotic Desert. "There's Riku's gummi," Kairi said, pointing. Sora nodded and zoomed towards it. Landing, he jumped out, keyblade summoning to his hand. Glancing around, he saw a figure walking towards them. "Riku?" Kairi asked, squinting. "I don't think so," Sora said, grimacing. He moved forward, and nodded. "He's the guy I saw attacking Riku." "So...then..." "It wasn't just a dream..." Sora finished, readying himself. The young man stopped some distance from them, and pushed back his hood. Black hair bushed out from underneath, and crimson eyes glared at them from underneath. "Who are you two?" the young man said coldly. "Where's Riku?" Sora yelled back, ready for anything. The young man turned and looked back. "Riku...oh, yes, I killed him." "You WHAT?" "He summoned Heartless or whatever, so I killed him." "Heartless?" Kairi said. "Are we talking about the same person?" The young man cocked an eyebrow. "Bald head, weird outfit, Riku, right?" Sora relaxed slightly. "Not quite. Silver hair, about this high, has a keyblade." "Oh, him. He's over there." Sora turned and saw Riku running towards them. "Riku!" "Sora, Kairi? What are you two doing here?" Riku said, frowning and shouldering the wrapped up bundle he was carrying. "I had a dream seeing you two fighting!" Sora said, waving his hands. Riku shrugged. "Just a misunderstanding. Come on Zane!" Zane shrugged, and moved forward. "These are the gummi ships I told you about, and this is Sora and Kairi, my two best friends," Riku said, gesturing at the items. "Pleasure," Zane said, folding his arms. "We got to take him back with us, Sora," Riku said. "He's been wandering around, fighting Heartless for ages...And he has no idea what they are." He grimaced, and moved closer, pulling Sora aside. "Plus, we've got another problem on our hands..." Kairi moved towards Zane. "How long have you been here?" Zane shrugged. "As long as I can remember." "How long is that?" "I dunno. All I really remember is my name. Probably a couple of months at least." Kairi extended her hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you." Zane slowly took it with his own gloved hand. "It's...it's nice to meet you too," he said hesitantly, and in his eyes, Kairi thought she could see into his soul. Suddenly, Zane pulled back and turned around, staring back at the desert. Kairi tapped her nose, thoughtful. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't put her finger on it... "Yo, Zane!" Riku called, and Zane turned, his eyes emotionless once again. "Let's get out of this desert!" Zane nodded, and climbed up into the gummi ship. Riku climbed in front, giving the thumbs up to Sora and Kairi, who gave it back, climbing into their own ship. "Engine running...shield prepped...warp ready...Let's get out of here!" Pointing the nose at the sky, Riku pressed the warp and shot off into the stars towards Destiny Islands... *** END OF CHAPTER ONE All right, so what did you think? POST POST POST! Just so you know, the Chaotic Desert where they are in is the world in which the secret movies for the KH2 games (Final Mix and Normal) is set in. I just call it the Chaotic Desert.
OOC: I gotta go to bed after this, so just have me like following you or something if you guys decide to continue. BIC: "Very well," Xardius said, smiling. He motioned for Vexneah to move ahead after Geryl, but paused as she moved ahead. "Her heart?" Xardius said, tapping his chin. "How could she have a heart? Perhaps, my old dear friend Chomper," Xardius said, patting his sword, "we'll talk to her later, if she's willing. If not," he smiled, "there's always the other way..." He walked forward after Vexneah and Bellatrix, whistling to himself. OOC: Goodnight. This was rather fun, I'll try to get on tomorrow again.
Xardius shrugged, stating, "Perhaps the mystery of your locket lies in whoever you are trying to read the heart of, not the locket itself." He turned to Vexneah. "Do you wish to help Geryl retrieve his lost item? I promise to follow your orders, if you do." Xardius shrugged. "And I'll try not to smirk so much."
"What is Geryl looking for?" Xardius said, ignoring her comment. He stared at her smirk. "That doesn't quite suit you. Leave the smirks to me, I do it enough for the both of us." To prove his point, he smirked some more, then turned to Bellatrix. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance, Bellatrix," Xardius said, attempting to provide a nicer air to the conversation. "But if not, I will go help Geryl look for his...locket." EDIT: OOC: I'm sorry if I'm being rude, it's just the way Xardius is...I'm not really like this in real life...I hope.
Xardius shrugged, then grinned. "Perhaps the annoyance comes from your attitude, and not mine," Xardius said, then shrugged. "I am sorry," he reiterated, "after my fall, I have not been myself. Much more...unfeeling." Something flashed across his face, but was quickly hidden. "If you wish me to leave, I will."
