Kingdom Hearts: Striking Midnight

"Tifa... you know just as well as I do there was a reason you didn't find me easily. I don't want you to get dragged into this." Cloud got up from his chair. "It's dangerous, and if you got hurt, it would be my fault." He looked at her. "And most of all... it's not a laughing matter. If I we are to go together, you'd better be careful." He bent down to her face, "I don't want you to get hurt, and I sure as hell don't want to lose you.

 

Ali rounded a corner and closed her eyes. She'd never let her Master see the fear she had when fighting. Pushing herself off the wall, Ali calmly walked toward the skittering Heartless. "Times up." Dark Lust glowed with a vibrant darkness as she slashed through it's dark flesh.

Kairi nodded and hurried off, using her tears as an excuse to leave them. Grabbing a few tissues Kairi left immediately to where Sora and she trained. Sora....why is this happening now? Why...? she thought and started to pace.

 

Tifa sighed. "I know, Cloud. I was laughing... I wanted to lighten the mood." She stood up and crossed her arms. "If I get hurt, it'll damn well be my fault." she said, clenching her fists. "Cloud. I'm strong." She closed her eyes and opened the door. "Let's go."

 

Cloud sighed. It doesn't matter if you're strong if the enemy is stronger, Tifa." He walked up to her. "But I sure as hell am not gonna let anyone hurt you." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on then," he said as he passed her, out the door.

 

Eiji heard something, footsteps it sounded more like and turned his head to where the direction came form. "There's some people here?" He thought to himself and he peeked aaround the corner of the shack, looking above him, was a wooden bridge leaading to a small circular island with trees and if one focused enough, there was star shaped fruit hanging from it as Eiji raised an eyebrow. "What is that? A fruit? What a weird shape." he thought to hismelf by brushed that thought away, he been to other worlds with very different technology or natural life but then he turned around to hear a waterfall and the footsteps from before was covered by that water crashing down.

"I better investigate this island then, if the residents of this world find me, no big deal, but the Gummi Ship is a different matter." He thought to himself, by becoming a space pirate, you had to know the natural order of the worlds, and every Gummi Ship had a manual that technology like this should stay undiscovered in worlds that aren't ready for it and even though he was a space pirate and taken things considered treasure from worlds, he always abided by the natural order.

"Let's get started then!" He thought with a smile and saw a nearby hole within a mountain that was beside the waterfall and he decided to start there as he bent down a bit to get inside and followed down the tunnel before coming upon a pecliuar sight.

"What's this? A secret place?" He asked himself, taking everything he saw into account, most of the place was covered in chalk with childlike drawings as he gave a smile and decided to examine them before coming upon a seperate drawing and crouched down, the ends of his red coat brushing against the soft ground, there was chalked drawing of what seemed to be a girl and spiky haired boy smiling but what it stand out was the stars their hands held, Eiji immediately recongized it.

"It's the fruit, so I guess it's s a symbol of affection." He said and gave a heartful smile, he wondered if he would of done this if he was born in this world but he mvoed that thought away to the back of his mind and stood up again as he looked at the door that bore in front of the tunnel he came out of.

"Where does this lead to? the treasure?" He asked himself and scanned it briefly, noting there wasn't a keyhole which was peculiar. "How odd, a door that isn't a door, this world just got a bit more interesting."

 

Master X waited patiently in their hiding place. He had hoped that Ali was doing well on her mission. Not because he respected her, but because he needed her strength. Killing Yen Sid was a bold move, but it was used to send a message. Ali was weak; it was by his own hand that Yen Sid passed away. She needed to understand what was important, and that her couldn't bail her out every time she got scared.

He then had an interesting thought. Create an underground throughout the worlds. An army of expendable warriors who lust for power. In the end, they would all have to die. That would happen when he was ready. Still, he wanted Ali alive. "This time, I won't fail".


Sora waited by one of the trees for Kairi. It was here where he vowed that he would make her strong. This wasn't some game; it was the beginning of a war. "Why couldn't he just stay dead." He hadn't been home for too long, and he had little time with Kairi outside of helping her get stronger.

 

Ali shook her head and swept her gaze around the area. Nothing left of the Heartless swarm that had invaded. Again, she had to remind herself she was doing good for the worlds. Her Master was teaching her good and instructing her to do good. "Done...time to go home."

Kairi saw Sora and felt the familiar quicken of her heart. "Sora..."

 

Eiji rapped his knuckles against the door, even tryign to give it a push to see if it ws a sliding door but alas, there was no luck, whatever lay behind this door was obivously not meant to be looked upon. he couldn't even use his Keyblade to unlock since every Keyblade required a Keyhole as a function and he rubbed his hair in a bit of frustation for a few moments, no ideas came to him except one. "Worth a try..." He thought to himself and turned around before kicking at the door, his boot meeting with wood but the door still wouldn't budge at all.

"Figured as much." he said and knew if treasure were this easy to grab, it wouldn't be much of a adventure now so he had two, no three options to choose from, one was exploring the rest of this Island, the second one was to go to the mainlaind wehere the inhabitants were and see if he can learn any interesting stories and the the third option was to find and ask the people who are here right now and work on from there as he left the Secret Place and emerged the hole.

 

Lukya landed on a small group of islands and went around, asking for info on her bounty. She sighed, and went to the inn for better info, stretching. Taking her keychains, Lukya sighed and walked quietly through the town.

 

OOC: I'm sorry guys that I haven't posted here in a while. I've been feeling bad these past couple of days. Let's try to pick up the story, okay?

BIC:
Sora's stomach began to stir. He knew that it would be impossible to convince her not to come. Still, he had to try. "Kairi, I'm sorry, but I don't think that you're strong enough to come with us. Riku and I; we're the real Masters. I only helped you so you could defend yourself if you needed to." He approached Kairi slowly, trying to not make eye contact. He hugged her. "I want you to be safe."

 

OOC: Okay, so my character was following two people, and neither of them have posted in awhile, so I'm just going to leave them and do something else.

IC: Hana Kaida almost followed the two men into the second district, then thought better of it and turned around. If she really wanted to know what they were up to, she would take the shortcut to the first district and wait for them there. Then she would simply tell them that she had never seen them before, and ask them if they were new here. If she did it right, they would never know she had heard their conversation. Putting her keyblade away, she went back up onto the balcony and through the door, winding up on the rooftops of the second district. She moved quickly and quietly, until she jumped down into a dead end corner, stepping through a small house that had been vacant for some time. This house had many rooms, and the front door opened into the first district. She stepped out into the night, and for a second, all was mayhem. people were screaming and running everywhere. Then she discerned why. "Another heartless attack." she muttered to herself as Final Strike appeared in her hand and she slashed through several neo-shadows. They were becoming more and more common with every passing day.

 

Kairi shook her head in disbelief. "Sora.... No, I'm coming with you this time! I can fight! I want to go with you Sora." She stepped back out of his embrace and met his eyes, "Whether or not you let me go...I'm coming otherwise. I'm not letting you leave the island again without me. Waiting isn't good enough for me Sora, I want to have an adventure just like you and Riku."

Ali warped back home and stood before her master, "The Heartless has been liberated. I did the best of my abilities, Master." She couldn't have hated herself more at that moment. 'The best of her abilities?' She'd barely tried. Heartless were easy for her. Ali needed a real challenge.

 

Master X gave a slight nod to the girl. "Do you know why I give you these missions Ali? It's to keep you alert, to help you grow stronger, and to make you into a Master as well. Remember, all Heartless lived a human life once before, just like you or I. Greed and corruption can take over anyone's heart if they are weak." X knew the truth of how much power Ali used in her last battle. That's what made her so easy to manipulate. "There's a fluctuation of power that's been happening hear recently. I need you to go see what is going on. If their aura agrees with yours, bring them to me. However, if your powers push them away, you need to destroy them. It is an order. Do you understand, Ali?"

"This isn't some sort of game Kairi," Sora protested. "If something were to happen to you...I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Sora knew that there was no way for him to win this fight. In the end, Kairi would come along no matter how much he protested the idea of putting her in danger. "If you come...there's a good chance that we'll get separated again."

 

Eiji was walking along the many ways around the Island, it was fairly big and and he noticed a another shack and pushe dteh door open before finsing himself at another beach with what seemed to be a training course as he raised his eyebrow every so slightly, the kids must of really enjoyed being here, if eh were born from thsi world, he'd play pirate everyday as he walked along thw ooden pathway as it creaked under his feet but one huge panel was fairly loose but he jumped off as the panel made an audible splash in the water. "Not bad." He said

He proceeded onwards before coming upon something, it was a raft, just left on shore but a few parts were missing, most likeely the damage was caused by a storm as he gave a grin. "Someone planned on leaving this place." He said before pausing, he slowly reached for his gun tucked in his waist and turned around, seeing a few Shadow Heartless as he spoke.

"You are sure persistant."

The Shadows Heartless didn't respond at all as they wre shifting their head around, looking at brief glances of it's surroudnings as it noticed the threat and one leapt at at Eiji before he pulled the trigger, a bullet hitting the Shadow as it evaporated, the other Shadows ha dimmeidately taken notice of their fallen comrade as Eiji opened up the barrel of the gun and removed a Diamond from the inside. and slid it in his pocket as they leapt upon him, he wasn't exactly caring much at all, being distracted before inserting a red gem and shut the barrel before taking a jump back and fired two more times at the remaining Shadows as they burst into flames then evaporated as Eiji twirled the gun in his hand before tucking the gun back in his waist.

"They're everywhere, geez, they are like a bad cold you can't get rid off." He thought in annoyance, but probably from the bullets firing, someone on the island was bound to hear it. "...Too late to regret it now."

 

Contiuning to make his way across twilight town, Akira soon came across the hole that led to the forest. Deciding to head in their, he began to walk through the forest. It wasn't long before he reach the center of the forest and looked up at the sky. "Not as bad as watching the sun set from here, but it's still better from the clock tower." He said as the sun contiued to set. Figuring it was probadly starting to get late, he decided to head back.

 

Lukya heard the bullets firing and ran to the source of the sound. She willed her Keyblades into her hands and slashed through the Shadow Heartless. She grinned and attacked the Shadow Heartless, not seeing who was behind her. When the Shadow Heartless was defeated, Lukya willed away her Keyblades and turned around, gasping. "Uh, hi....................... Wait. You're my bounty! Alright, Eiji! I got you!" She smirked and pulled out a special pair of cuff.

 

Eiji blinked at the woman's tried out so quickly then she said hello and finally pulling out what were cuffs as he crossed his arms with a small smile. "Wait... you're the next one to come after the bounty on my head?" He asked in feigned surprise, this woman seemed to not have teh slightest idea of what her job was or is, whichever of the two fitted her.

"Sorry but I'm not exactly one to come willingly, go back and play bounty hunter on a easier job, of course you can try and catch me, unless of course, you don't know the reason for my bounty?" He asked and from ehr facical expression, she knew nothing. "Okay let me tell you a brief story, I stole the latest model Gummi Ship from a government empire in space, taken some important treasures and basically escaped, that's pretty much it." Eiji said thoughtfully.

"I had like... many hunters come after me, can't remember their names as they weren't too important, so..." Eiji stared at Lukya. "Still wanna have a go?"

 

"Of course! But I'll have you know I'm not doing for the money or anything." Lukya said, twirling the cuffs on a finger. "Though, I know you won't go down with a fight, right? I figured hunting for wanted criminals and gaining the reward is a way I can make a living." She put the cuffs and crossed her arms, looking at him. "So, how do you want this?"

 

EIji shrugged his shoulders "...Figures. You are that naive." He said and placed his hands in his pockets. "Well, only advice I'll give you is try your best, why not use those Keyblades? maybe if I'm lucky, those will be my treasure afterwards." he said with a small grin. "Or better yet, I might locate where your ship is and take anything of value in there... or..." He trailed off. "nah, stealing you isn't worth the effort." He said boredly.

 

Lukya willed her Keyblades into her hands, "No way you're getting these! They're my only reminder of the people I loved, my brother and my lover!" The dark blue Keyblade, Brother's Scarifice, was held securely in her left hand while the white/light blue Keyblade, Fallen Lover, was gripped in her right. The image of her brother and her lover being attacked by the Heartless in her mind. "I will capture you and get the reward!" She held the two blades in a inverted style.