Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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Thallasa said nothing more to Qamar. Perhaps her time with the Council had not served her well. The master sat back beside Illiana once more and smiled slightly on hearing her query. "The Council believed that the Light Chaser was responsible for the destruction of my world. They suspected he was systematically taking out masters and their students to weaken his opposition...though if that was true, I'm sure I would have seen him. In any case, the Council wanted me to recover and stay out of the way while they planned how to best put me to use. I did not want to keep my head down but it was what they ordered."

"Anything else you wish to have answered? My favorite color is light blue, by the way." She spoke in jest.

 

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Thallasa's eyes saddened upon the mention of her students. The woman looked down and tapped her fingers against the log. "They..." She cleared her throat. "They didn't make it. I failed them. I failed them all. The world fell to darkness and I was incapable of saving any of them. I barely survived the ordeal. It had not been the first time a home of mine had fallen to darkness. Before I took on students of my own I..." She shook her head. "No. Perhaps that much is best reserved as a story for another time." Thallasa sniffed and brought a hand to her eye, rubbing it before lowering her now wet hand back to the log. "Is...is there any other questions you have, Illiana?" She spoke softly.

 

It wasn't too long before Tinarah managed to make up some toast and hot chocolate for herself, her brother and for Take. She knew that it was kind of a sad meal and that she could make better, but Tinarah had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't care. Taking out the first set, she brought it over to Take, noticing Chrono was in the middle of a conversation. "Here I thought you might be hungry." She offered him both a couple pieces of toast with honey on them and the hot chocolate. Her stomach started to make noises again and that was enough for Tinarah to back off. "I will should keep handing food out." She excused herself before she returned to the kitchen to fetch another set of toast and hot chocolate to bring to her brother.

Approaching Chrono she handed him the food and hot chocolate before looking to Boreas. "Sorry, I didn't think to make you anything. Do you want some. You can have mine and I will just make more." Tinarah offered to be nice, though she didn't really want to give up her food and wait to eat, her stomach hurt. That being said she was making an effort to have better relations with Boreas and Torrin, and this was one nice thing that she could do for him. Although if she really wanted to try she should have offered something a little more than toast, but until she was a little healthier and she could look at herself in a mirror without cringing, it was the best she had to offer. ​

 

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"My own master was...well...he's gone now. He passed away not long after I completed my exam. He was a kind elder man who I never once saw lose his temper. A fascinating man, really. He was once a member of the Council before retiring to focus solely on teaching, actually. He often spoke of Master Gero with great admiration. I believe several members of the Council retired at around the same time leaving Stamatis as the most senior member other than Gero. I believe the former members have all passed away by now though..." She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "I remember one year during my training that my master and Gero were eagerly discussing two of Gero's apprentices, excitedly comparing notes over one of two's rapid progress and chatting about the other's enjoyable personality. It seemed that Gero had taken the two in as if they were his own children. Given how rigorous I heard their training regimen to be, I cannot say I was jealous of their situation. I do not know what became of the two, however. The others who were students at the time, such as Aster, Varos, and Kaio have refused to answer any questions about the subject. My luck has been even worse when questioning Stamatis and Gero directly. Harsh as some of the Council may be, and despite the secrets they hold close, I do know that they only have the best interests of both realms at heart."

 

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Thallasa shook her head. "As far as I'm aware, those two students left of their own accord. I do not know why but it does appear to be a rather unpleasant memory for those old enough to have been around for it." The master held her hands out to the flames to warm them up as the air began to cool in the night. "Hm...yes I suppose the Light Chaser's students do have more raw power than the majority of those here. Still, everyone here has managed to grow at an impressive rate and I believe that it is only a matter of time before you students will be capable of standing against the Light Chaser's own. Hm..." The woman shrugged. "Curious how Torrin was never overwhelmed during his year alone... From what little we know about the Light Chaser himself, it seems that the man is unnaturally cunning and..." She stopped herself short and shook her head once more. "Ah...but I do not wish to worry you with needless speculation. For now we should just worry about the road ahead and get some rest." She lowered her hands to her lap. "Sleep. There will be more time to continue this in the morning if you wish."

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Chrysanthemum's keyblade was caught in between her master's index finger and thumb. Still able to speak with a relaxed tone the man pushed her blade away with the flick of his wrist. "Good. A solid choice for your opening move though a little too conservative. Come now, Chrys. After five years I believe we both know what power you can bring out to breathe some fresh air into this test." The man motioned for her to come at him again. "Again! With everything you have! Otherwise there is no point in this exam."

 

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Spoiler: Late Night Call

"Glyde? Gone? Hm...never spoke to him...but he was young. Too young to be killed off in some random world. Damn." He leaned back on his bed and blinked at the ceiling. "Gone but not forgotten..."Just how many more times would he have to say that during this fight? "I think I'll have to step in and assign the groups myself the next time this happens. We're done with this world but everyone's too tired to move on so soon. Um...so both Dentro and Kefka returned as Heartless. Boreas and I took down Dentro and the others fought Kefka. Dentro was different at the end. He called the other Chasers his family." Torrin shrugged but realized Aria wouldn't be able to see him do it. "Um...I shrugged."

"So...Qamar and Illiana don't get along...and Thallasa is with you...huh. Your group is pretty female heavy." He mused.

"Evil Clown strikes again, huh? Kind of reminds me of that world you ditched me on a while back. This spider-scorpion guy went full heartless on us... Knocked Take out pretty bad." She then wondered about Dentro, not having seen him face to face (or maybe she did and didn't know it). "They did seem... pretty close when I was there. At least from what I could see and how they treated me. But maybe that was cause I was a princess of heart." Aria then heard the last comment and raised an eyebrow, glaring at the communicator when he mentioned the team was female heavy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mhm...bad things seem to happen to you regardless of whether I'm there or not." He chuckled. "Sorry. It's just an odd feeling. Used to being the center of everything bad going on." Torrin rested the communicator on his chest and started to relax as he laid there listening to Aria. "Hm...I don't know. To be honest I've treated you different because of who you are. Hell, one of my master's last words were an order for me to protect the light. The light being people like you. But you're not some emotionless snowflake that needs to be kept in a box."

"People will treat you different. It's going to feel uncomfortable but it's going to keep happening. I know I'm not used to it. But it's nice to just get some some privacy and...I've been talking for too long. Sorry." Torrin immediately went quiet. After a pause he then asked, "How's that world look? Not including the creepy castle."

Aria hummed out after Torrin’s response, and then flopped back on the sleeping bag. He treated her differently...? She didn’t notice it much, but then again she didn’t know him that well. She looked at the ring on her finger and stared at it in the lantern light. At least he believed she didn’t to be protected all the time.

She placed the communicator next to her head, just in case someone was easedropping again and she could grab it to muffle it. As much as she liked her friends, she liked her privacy as well. “It kind of reminds me of a simple fantasy world... minus the creepy castle,” Aria said quietly. “We were called Demons after we stumbled on an old man in a cottage, who was apparently the pig keeper... there’s magic, but apparently there’s only a few kind that’re good. There’s dragons, goblins... I think fairies too? I like the forests around here.”

"Forests sound nice." Torrin closed his eyes and felt strange being in such a position that would have otherwise caused him to sleep. Listening to her description, brief as it was, relaxed him.

She smiled a bit and then her thoughts drifted to the bracelet around her wrist. “Okay, so I have some more... kinda bad news. But try not to freak out. Remember Quietus...? Well, I think that blast broke the protection spell on the bracelet the Light Chaser gave me. I don’t see the protective bubble light like I used to. I’ve been okay,” she quickly added, “but I still can’t take it off. Master Thallasa knows it’s not working either now.”

As soon as Aria mentioned that her bracelet's protective spell had disappeared his eyes shot right back open and he sat up catching the communicator before it slipped off to the floor. "What? That's...I mean...I'm glad you're okay. Hm...maybe when we see each other again I might be able to remove it. I guess that's a good thing. I don't even know anymore. I mean it saved our lives." He sighed.

Aria turned her head to the communicator when Torrin seemed worried about the bracelet. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself again,” she said quietly, remembering the last time he tried to pry it off of her.

"I bounce back. I always do." Torrin responded just as quietly. It's the one thing I'm good at. He turned on the bed now having his back face the door and leaned down so his head could just barely peek over the nearby window to stare at the city lights from his view. Everything was so calm and peaceful now. It was hard to believe that this world had been so close to breaking apart and falling. "Anything else going on in that head of yours?"

She turned on her side and sighed out softly, looking over to the tent door. She dropped her voice again so she wouldn’t disturb anyone and be overheard. “I feel like I’m just getting in the way,” she opened up. “I’m causing more trouble than good.” She opened up about what happened on their mission, how they helped the pig keeper’s assistant Taran, how they got in a sticky situation, no one jumped to Master Thallasa’s orders right away, so Aria took it on herself to save Hen Wen and fought off the bad guys on her own just fine. “I got her to safety, but then I got overwhelmed and had to get myself out... so I locked them outside, I was running back, and then I ran into Qamar. Turns out, she was ordered to help Illiana... but she heard my magic and came for me instead...”

Aria rolled on her stomach and scooted the communicator to be in front of her. “She keeps telling me she doesn’t think I can’t handle myself, but... I’m just... so overwhelmed and at a loss. Master Choma told me he couldn’t tell me I was a Princess of Heart because I throw myself in danger and I’m reckless, Grandpa Gero didn’t want me to go because I’m a princess of heart, almost half the council didn’t want me to go, I can’t be taken seriously because I’m so happy and go-lucky... But the Light Chaser told me what I was... and he let me go... I know he can probably get back to me any time but...”

Aria rubbed at her eyes as the tears stung. “All the people I’ve grown to trust and love, I feel like they don’t believe in me. And the one we’re suppose to hate and fight against? He actually put some faith in me. It could be fake trust, but it feels real to me. Master Thallasa did too, and I don’t even know her that well... I don’t know Torrin... I used to have so much confidence and I was so excited to explore and help the worlds without a second thought. And then this princess of heart popped up... and I don’t feel the same anymore... Was it a bad idea I came along? Should I go back to the castle?”

As Aria began to explain everything that had happened in the world she had been sent to Torrin remained silent with only the occasional "mhm" and "hm" to let her know he was still listening. He wasn't sure he had ever not been taken seriously due to his own position but he knew the pains of being constantly reminded about being different. "I see..." He said after a moment of contemplation. "I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with you being on the field. But you have your own will and you've held your own. I've seen what you can do in a pinch and if I had any doubts about that I would have spoken to the Council about it. Being trapped in a glorified prison when all you want to do is help would not be right."

"Even though you've had some close calls, I'm glad you came. Seeing you dish out that flying kick to the clown's face is definitely a sight I'll treasure." He teased. Torrin rested his head against the pillow and for the first time in a long time he felt drowsy. He decided to rest his eyes for a moment and yawned as he began to relax. "Mm..." He slowly opened his eyes feeling a little better but also a little sleepier. "I miss you...rrrr hot chocolate." He laughed. "Ah...fine. I guess I was looking for an excuse to say that. I miss you. I know I should try pushing myself to get to know the others more but, and I know some of it is my fault, I know they don't all fully trust me. And to be honest...I don't trust most of them as much as I should. Boreas is an exception but I've known him since we were children. I suppose Take's a good kid but I haven't exactly inspired much confidence in the non-Boreas parts of my team." He took in a deep breath. "I trust you though. Even if you wanted to slap me not long after we first met...or maybe because you nearly did. You've got spunk."

The girl giggled as Torrin mentioned the memory of her kicking Kefka in the face and she wiped a stray tear away. “Yeah, that was pretty fun and bold... I did practice a lot of acrobatics with Master Choma.”

She could hear Torrin yawn on the other end and couldn’t help but to stifle a yawn herself. She then caught what Torrin said and then looked back at the communicator with wide eyes. He missed her...? Aria’s cheeks suddenly felt warm and she placed her hands on them to try to cool them off. She wondered if the temperature was suddenly hot, but it was nice and cool all around.

As her mind raced with thoughts, it was grounded again when Torrin explained his difficulties with the group and getting to know them. He trusted her though, even after she wasn’t sure of him at first. She smiled with embarrassment when he mentioned about her almost slapping him and buried her head in her hands. “Aaaaah, I thought you just killed a world by taking me away!” Her feet popped up and began to wave in the air as she rested her chin on her hands. “But I guess that wasn’t the case... mmm... maybe you can cook them all a simple breakfast tomorrow? Ya know, my aunt told me food brings people together. Or, you know, you can offer training to Take? He might like that. That’s how we connected more that one night I couldn’t sleep.”

Torrin scratched his chin and thought over her suggestion for a moment while picturing himself in full chef's garb preparing a breakfast for the group. He shook his head at the thought. "I'm not sure anyone wants to taste my cooking. I'm a keyblade master not a breakfast master. But you've given me something to think about. I'll see what I can do." He held a hand up to the air and summoned his keyblade and turned it over in his hand, examining the blade as his mind wandered.

"Maybe I should give you a few cooking lessons sometime. How have you survived all these years? On canned beans?" she teased.

"Well...I've had some experience hunting. Er...the less said about what I've had to eat the better. For your sake." Torrin figured Aria would be the type to not appreciate knowing that he had eaten rabbits on more than one occasion. "Would you be interested in a little bedtime story to help you get to sleep? Well...it's not much of a bedtime story. You might find it boring. It's more like a collection of legends I've heard from this old smith from my home when I was a child." Torrin moved the communicator by his head as he turned to get more comfortable.

She perked up in interest when he offered to tell her a bedtime story, and then rolled her eyes slightly in amusement. "Sure, why not a bedtime time story," she spoke with sarcasm while smiling. "What's it gonna be about? Scwary heartless and the shadows of the past? Perfect things to lull me to sleep."

"The first one that comes to mind is a story of a time long before the keyblade. Now, Heartless in the Realm of Darkness have always been a problem and before the keyblade was created over in the Realm of Light, people had a hard time dealing with them. A long time ago there was a blacksmith who sought to find a way to rid his home of Heartless and went on a perilous journey throughout the lands. Years passed and the blacksmith had even traveled to the Realm of Light and back again in search for anything that would help him. He found himself in the Realm Between, weary and ready to give up when he came across a world home to a giant tree so tall that its trunk pierced the clouds. Immense magical power flowed throughout every inch of the tree. According to legend, the blacksmith found that taking any piece from the tree would cause that piece to disappear the instant it went too far from the tree. Even still he refused to give up for that tree was the most powerful thing he had ever come across. After seeing its massive fruit glowing like stars in the night sky he decided that he would climb the tree as he was certain that those fruits could be taken from the tree as that was the only way for a tree to reproduce. Not thinking of what he would do once he reached them he set out on his journey up the tree. It took him a weeks to reach the lowest branch and another day's worth of travel on that branch before he reached the fruit."

Torrin took a deep breath and shifted on his bed. "I imagine that there's some exaggeration going on here." He commented. "Anyway. Once he reached this legendary magic fruit he soon found that his sword could not pierce its skin and nothing he could do would free it from its branch. The blacksmith began to give in to despair and cried out to the stars for astral intervention but nothing came. Too weary to make his trek back home he spent the night on the branch. The next morning he was awakened by violent vibrations along the branch. Above him, its tail extending far beyond up to a branch high above hung a massive black serpent its red eyes glaring at him. The serpent spoke to him and said, "I have heard your pleas and I have answered. Tell me, mortal, why do you seek the fruit of this tree?" The blacksmith replied, "I wish to use its power to create a weapon powerful enough to vanquish the darkness that plagues my home." The serpent lowered its head and with a single push it knocked the fruit from the tree sending it crashing to the earth below and cracking its skin open. The serpent then spoke once more. "Very well, small human. But heed my warning, should a weapon ever be made from the magic of this tree a price most great must be paid by all those who shed blood with it for power this great and this pure must never be tainted." The Blacksmith thanked the serpent for its assistance and acknowledged its warning. A year passed before he was ever able to climb down the tree and find a way to extract enough of the magic within the fruit to create a weapon. When the deed was done he had forged himself a blade filled with power so immense that it is said that even a keyblade could not match it in combat."

Once more Torrin took a short breather before continuing on with the story. "When he returned home he used his sword's power to wipe out the Heartless that had caused his people so much strife. He took it upon himself to be his realm's protector and over the years he traveled from world to world vanquishing Heartless with ease. Of course, it didn't take long for some to become jealous of his power. One night a thief seeking to use the blade's power to gain a seat at the throne stole the sword from the blacksmith while he slept. He strode into the castle feeling invincible and called out to every guard that he intended to kill the king and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He struck down one guard. Two. Three. In seconds a dozen guards fell before his blade unable to touch him. The thief reached the throne and standing between him and the king was the blacksmith who had been awoken by the commotion going on outside his home. Not wishing for a blade of his own making to kill his king he allowed himself to be killed by the thief to buy time for the king to make his escape. The blacksmith was said to have died with a smile upon his face. Upon felling his thirteenth victim the thief found that his arms could no longer raise the sword. Try as he might he found himself unable to even move. The blood staining the mystical sword began to cause the blade to disintegrate. The thief screamed and tried to release the blade to no avail. He had spilled blood with the blade and the blade exacted its price on the unsuspecting thief. Both the thief and sword were erased and since then no one has dared to find where such a weapon ever originated from. After all, once the keyblade was created, the need for such a destructive weapon disappeared."

"And...uh...there you have it. I don't really buy into the story myself but it was so detailed that it just stayed in my mind for all these years."

Aria ended up laying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the tent as Torrin told the story. One arm rested over her forehead while the other one was on her stomach. She could see all the details he was talking about, even though it was a strange story indeed. “... you have interesting stories,” Aria finally said. “I hadn’t heard anything like it before. The poor black smith though... it’s sad it ended like that. The king should have moved out of the room when trouble was first brewing. I’m over-analyzing it too much though.” Aria laughed a bit and then rubbed at her forehead. “Sadly I don’t have very interesting stories like that,” she said with yawn. “Sorry, that one snuck outta no where... but yeah. I liked it.”

Torrin yawned after Aria did and glared slightly. "Hey. I already yawned once. I don't need to be doing that again." He folded his arms and let out a quiet sigh. "I suppose it is a sad end for the blacksmith but the story is just a warning of the dangers of using a weapon of immense power. Even if your intentions are noble people will inevitably still get hurt." Torrin turned to lay on his back once more and held the communicator up to his face. "So...you want to sleep now, Princess Dorin?"

“Ew.” Aria cringed at the name and shook her head. “I dunno if I can sleep to be honest, but I can try I guess. Maybe it won’t come out again. What about you, Prince Torrin? Oh yeah, you don’t sleep... do you?” She thought it was mentioned before, or maybe she was just hearing things. She wasn’t sure at this point with how much was crammed into the last few days.

Torrin smirked as she teased him back. "That's Prince Master Torrin to you." He joked. "I'm sure you'll be okay if you sleep. Just hold onto that family ring keep it close. It'll tether you to the waking world. Anyway...I actually think tonight I'll give sleeping a try. It's been a while and...maybe I don't need to always be on guard every second. But you? You really do need to get some sleep. I know it's hard after what happened, trust me I know, but you're no good to anyone if you're ready to collapse from exhaustion. Sleep."

“True,” Aria said sleepily as she held the communicator in her hand. “I do feel tired...” Still, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to fight or wake up screaming; not with how that nightmare had practically tried to kill her in the previous world. But her eyes landed on the family ring that now rested on her finger. Maybe the totem walking that Take talked about would work this time. The last time she was knocked out cold and all energy was drained out of her. She sighed out a little and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, I’ll try to get some sleep too,” she decided out loud. “Good night, Torrin. Stay safe out there. Can’t wait to have everyone back together again,” she said with a loud yawn in there. “S’cuse me. The yawn monster got me apparently.”

"Good ni–" He yawned in response to Aria's own yawn and frowned. "Good night Aria. Stay one piece. I'll be seeing you soon hopefully. Sleep well." He set the communicator down by his pillow and clasped his hands together, staring up at the ceiling while his mind began to slow and the thoughts racing in head became a blur. Sleep came easy that night.

Torrin yawned and squinted his eyes as light poured into the room and struck his face. He held up his hand to shield his eyes and let out a low growl of annoyance after having been disturbed. Morning had arrived and even though he had a peaceful night's sleep his body was sore all over. He wondered if that was normal or if it was a side effect of having using magic to replace sleep for so long. Either way, knowing the answer would not have helped how he felt. He pushed himself to sit up and stretched his arms out. For a moment Aria's suggestion to make breakfast crossed his mind and as he stood up he wondered if anyone else had woken before him.



"Ah!!! HEEEEELLLPP!!! Monster!" Fflewddur Fflam's voice rang out in the forest loud enough to awaken anyone who had not already been up. "M-m-m-monster!!" The bard cried out in terror. Not far from the tents the man was shivering in fear on the ground as a small gray furry creature ruffled through the bard's pockets eagerly speaking of "munchies and crunchies" he could smell in the bard's pockets.