Summoner Hearts-A FFX/KH Crossover

The other day, Haseo and I were talking on MSN about ideas for a new fanfic after I changed my display idea to this: Halloween Town Yuna It looked like Yuna went to Halloween Town. So I made up this! Enjoy!

Prologue The voice that calls

“I’ve been having…these weird thoughts lately…Like…is any of this…for real? Or not?â€

She felt this strange sensation of falling into an abyss.

It was cold.

It was dark.

It felt like…like she was falling into the depths of the ocean.

She leaned back, letting go, allowing herself to continue to drift away. She was falling faster now. The sensation was incredible, unreal, words could not describe it. The air that rushed over her skin was ice cold and soothing. It felt like freezing water, but at the same time like cold air. And the freedom that went with that feeling was amazing. The teen found the experience exhilarating and ethereal, when suddenly, it stopped. Just like that, it stopped.

The teen’s bright bi-colored eyes spanned open, and there was suddenly a flash of brilliant light. There, before her, was an expanse of ocean. Her boots were digging into the beach sand as the waves withdrew from the shore just inches in front of her toes. She was standing in front of an ocean; behind her was Besaid Islands…her home. But hadn’t she just been falling into what seemed like the ocean? The teen had to shield her eyes from the bright midday sunlight, though it didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust to the sudden change of setting.

There was someone standing in the water. The teen squinted her eyes at the figure. Shoulder length black hair, very tall, somewhat tanned skin. She was strong, the muscles on his arms proved it. The girl recognized her. Wasn’t that…? Lulu? The teen grinned mischievously. It was the perfect opportunity to play a trick on her. She took a step forward, ready to charge to at her friend. But when she took her step into the water, there was no water beneath her foot. She hadn’t heard the splash of water underneath her boot, nor had she felt it. The girl checked to see if she was simply imaging things. No…It seemed like the water was receding away…From her!

Just then, her eyes caught on something. It was…a tidal wave! Going straight for Lulu! Lulu could see it as clear as day; it was barely twenty yards in front of her, huge, and coming fast. Yet she paid no mind to it. And then, as if someone had called her name, Lulu turned around to face the teen standing on the shores of the ocean and stared at her with a knowing brown eyes. She looked as though she was smiling as she extended her right hand to her friend.

The teen charged into the water, one hand extended to grab her companion to save him from the tidal wave, which were now just a few feet behind her. The tip of the wave curled into itself as it hit shore. She knocked back by the powerful wave, and found herself pushed under the water, despite how shallow it had been earlier. It had swallowed both the teen and Lulu, but Lulu looked as though the water hadn’t touched her. She was still standing, exact in the same position as before the wave had hit. She opened her hand even more, extending it to her friend. Didn’t she want Lulu’s help?

She struggled against the water current, still trying desperately grab to Lulu’s open hand, when the current suddenly grew stronger and she was thrown backwards, flipping and spinning. She attempted to yell out, but only ended up with mouth full of water. Her eyes were forced shut and her lungs began to burn with the need for air. When she managed to open her eyes, the midday sun had been replaced by orange sunset. She thrust her head up out of the water, gasping for air, shaking the water out of her short messy dark chocolate brown hair. After a brief moment, the teen came to her senses and tired to regain her bearing. She was still in the ocean in front of Besaid Islands.

“Yuna! Yuna! Over here, Yuna!â€

Yuna turned in the direction of the voice that was calling her name. There on the beach was a boy with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, waving and calling her name with a beautiful wide smile across his face. He was completely bathed in the orange tint of the setting sun. He wouldn’t stop screaming her name. Yuna grinned and waved back at him just as happily.

“Tidus!â€

She hurried over toward him, pulling herself through orange gleaming waves to reach him. Tidus only continued to giggle and smile. As she reached the shoreline, Yuna looked at him, somewhat breathless, yet managing to give him her best grin. Tidus couldn’t help but laugh at the goofy smile on her face, throwing his head back slightly. His smile suddenly faded as he blinked in confusion, his attention shifting skyward. There was something in the sky. And no, she wasn’t being a ditz upon seeing her first cloud. There was something in the sky. The expression on his face caught Yuna by surprise and she looked into the sky to what he was looking at.

Early shooting stars glimmered against the fiery sky; making shadows and highlights on something that was falling. Tidus gasped at the sight, as Yuna blinked in disbelief. What in the world was falling? Yuna quinted and adjusted her eyes to make out the features of the object. Was it…? Yes, it was a person! Yuna looked even harder at it. It wasn’t just any person…It was her!

Yuna's bi-colored eyes widened at the sudden realization, and she suddenly had the sensation of falling, as though the ground beneath her was simply given way. Tidus turned to look at her, gasping. She was falling! But how could it be? She was standing on the beach, next to Tidus, and he wasn’t falling. She looked up, or rather, down, trying to see where she would land, but there was no ground in sight. She then turned to Tidus, extending a hand, pleading for his help. But he could do nothing more than reach for her. It was as though he was standing on some invisible platform that had him nailed down. Yuna opened her mouth and began to shout her name, but nothing escaped her throat. And then, much to her shock, the image of Tidus vanished, broken by a ripple as though he had been nothing more than a reflection on the surface of the water.

She leaned back. She knew at this point that it was no use to cry for help. Nothing could reach her out here, falling into the sunset. Is it a dream? Suddenly, in a flash of light, Yuna found herself surrounded by a great blue, as though she was right back where she’d started, falling into what seemed like the ocean. She spun and twirled through water-like atmosphere, falling headfirst until her legs grew heavy, and when she opened her eyes (with some effort) she found herself flipping right-side up. Her feet touched ground.

Yuna looked around. Nothing but darkness, not a soul in sight. No Lulu, nor Tidus. Yuna summoned up all her courage she took a brave step forward, and as she did so, a blinding came up from below her. She had to shield her eyes as the darkness she was standing on broke away and flew off. Yuna looked at the piece of blackness that were flying away, and realized that those creatures were not dark fragments. They were birds. They were doves, to be more exact. Yuna gasped at them, their white feathers drifting downward all around her. Until finally, they had all fluttered deeper into the blackness that surrounded her.

Yuna turned her head slightly to the right, so she was looking over her shoulder, then looked straight ahead of her once again. She was truly all by herself. She was on a small circular platform that seemed to be floating in the darkness. There was picture of a boy with spiky blonde hair in a purple top holding a large sword spread across it, and all around him were the faces of seven different people, each of which to express different power or weapon.(A/N: Instead of the princess platform, I created the warriors platforms. In order: Cloud, Squall, unknown, Zidane, and Vaan.)

But Yuna wasn’t interested in the giant picture. She wanted to know where she was-and she wanted to know right and then. She ran one hand through her short straight dark chocolate brown hair. What to do…? Suddenly, Yuna heard a voice-it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once…Perhaps it came from within her. Wherever it had come from, it caused the teen to look back over her right shoulder. She tried to follow the voice, slowly moving her head from the right side and to the left in an attempted to pinpoint the voice’s source…

So much to do…So little time…Take your time.

Yuna was at a loss. Take her time? But there was only “so little timeâ€, wasn’t there? She found herself confused and almost frightened by this series of events. What in the world was happening!

But don’t be afraid. The door is still shut.

The door? What door?

Now, step forward. Can you do it?

For a moment, she wasn’t sure if she could. Her feet suddenly felt extremely heavy, as if she had grown roots and was suddenly stuck to the spot. Yuna looked around for a while, wondering if she ought to obey the strange voice. Then, swallowing hard, she lifted her black sneaker boot up off the ground and took a step forward. Then another. And another. The belt that dangled around her waist jumped as she moved, and her necklace, with the crystal flower pendant, a gift from Tidus when he arrived, rocked back and forth with her movement. She managed to cross over to the center of the platform and stood still, as though awaiting further instructions from the strange voice.

Power sleeps within you

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared on her right. Yuna turned her head to look at it, and it that was a stone tablet bearing a red shield had risen up from the part of the floor that the light had touched.

If you give it form…

Yuna spun around just in time to see another beam of light fall upon the surface of the platform to her left, and saw another stone tablet had appeared, this time bearing a green wand bearing a blue symbol on its top. Some kind of demon dog on its hind legs, it had three head and was ready to attack.(A/N: Recognize the symbol? X3) She then noticed that the shield bore the same symbol.

…It will give you strength.

Yet another beam of light had appeared and summoned yet another stone tablet from the depths of the flooring. Yuna turned her head. This one had appeared right in front of her. This stone tablet held a broad sword with a gold and blue hilt. All three objects spun around in place just above the stones. Yuna looked at each item, baffled, when the voice came once more.

Choose well.

After a moment’s hesitation and thought, Yuna stepped toward the platform that held the sword. She pulled herself up onto the platform and took the sword into her hands. Upon further inspection, Yuna saw a small red circle on the hilt, and inside it was the symbol of the demon dog that she’d seen on the other items. She stared at the sword in awe, her bi-colored eyes wide in wonder. It felt good in her hands. Like she was born to wield it.

The power of the warrior. Invincible strength. A sword of terrible destruction…Is this the power you seek?

Yuna looked up into the blackness, still hoping the owner of the voice would reveal himself. After a moment of empty silence and darkness, she looked back at the sword in her hands and nodded “yes†in reply. The sword instantly vanished from her hands, breaking up into lights as though it had made of fireflies. She was alarmed to feel strength flow into her, her body was absorbing the light of the sword!

Your path is set. Now…what will you give in exchange?

She slowly turned around to look at the remaining two items: the shield and the wand. “Give upâ€â€¦? She had to give up one of those in exchange of her newfound power? Yuna jumped from the platform that once held the sword and looked at each of the items. What to give up? She started for the shield, but stopped when she reached the center of the platform. No. Who wanted to be strong and weak all at the same time? She had no choice. Her eyes drifted from the shield to the wand. She swallowed hard and walked toward it. She pulled herself onto the platform and, looking sadly at the item before her. She had decided. Gently took the wand into her hands.

The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?

The wand seemed to be nothing short of amazing in itself. It had a very simple design, which would probably make it not only useful for magic, but for bashing things with as well. Her fingers fiddled with the three dog heads at the top as she tore her eyes away from the wand and looked back into the darkness. Once again, Yuna nodded. Similar to the sword, the wand broke into lights, and the teen watched silently as the lights wicked out one by one-she was not absorbing them this time around.

You have chosen the power of the warrior. You’ve given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?

She had to wonder why the strange voice kept saying aloud what her choice had been. But once again, she nodded her approval. Yeah. That sounded pretty good. Yuna turned on her heel, awaiting further orders from the voice. Yet as she waited for the voice, there was a large jolt that almost knocked her off the grey platform. She looked down at her feet and realized the platform was sinking into the stained glass image.

There was another jolt, and Yuna tumbled from the stone tablet onto the colored glass. She stood up quickly, realizing that the glass, too, was shattering. The pieces flew up around her and vanished into the darkness. Yuna hoped briefly that she wouldn’t fall, but when the glass broke beneath her, she was disappointed to find her hopes false.

She ended up falling with quite impressive speed. There was no light around; she was engulfed in the darkness. Where had she been taken? Yuna didn’t think she’d ever find out. She must be dreaming. But this felt so real…And it was lasting longer than any dream she’d ever had before. So…what was happening to her?

Her hair was fluttering about wildly into her beautiful green and blue eyes as she plummeted further into the darkness. Yuna's eyes strained to catch the glimmer of light that wasn’t going to come for awhile. The darkness seemed to last forever-which was bad news for her. Most people her age probably didn’t agree, but she thought that darkness, whether it be just the dark of night or the deeper darkness of, well, this place, for example…It just seemed to hold some kind of evil.

Suddenly, like a ray of hope, Yuna's eyes managed to catch onto something that glowed a brilliant blue. She gazed at it intently, as though it was her savior. She eventually realized that it was another platform, just like the one before. It, too, had a boy painted upon it like the stained glass windows of churches she’d seen in books. But this boy had brown hair, and wore black clothes. And in place of the seven people, she saw pictures that seemed to tell some kind of story-it had something to do with a girl and some special kind of power.

After a moment, Yuna’s feet touched the smooth surface, and everything she’d noticed was forgotten. A sword had appeared in her hands, almost instantaneously. She examined it carefully, and discovered that it was the very sword she’d chosen on the other platform. She checked it again. Yes, it had the demon dog on it.

You’ve gained the power to fight. Take a swing.

Yuna had almost completely forgotten about the voice. It had surprised her and she jumped back a bit, but once the surprise had faded away, she did as she was told. She took the sword in both hands and swung it around, like she did with her wooden staff often.

Use this power to protect yourself and others.

As if she couldn’t figure that out for herself. Yuna almost laughed aloud. Her cheery grin, however, was wiped away when a dark spot appeared on the platform. She spun around in place to face it and leaned forward, examining it, watching a strange black like-creature that was taking shape with ever so curious blue eyes. What was it? Was it dangerous? Would it hurt her?

There will be times you have to fight.

As Yuna watched, another spot emerged, and ever more amazing was that the creature had risen out of its two-dimensional form and stood before her. By this she was aback, and unwittingly took a small step backward. Looked like one of those times. Yuna clenched the sword in both hands and watched, her bi-colored eyes wide in shock.

Keep your light burning strong.

Suddenly, the creature jumped at her in an attempt to attack. Yuna leapt back, and then ran around to the side so she was directly behind it; and then took three good swings at the creature. The creature exploded into black mist with her third swing. The other, similar creatures flattened themselves into the floor and vanished. Yuna spun around several times, checking, making sure there was no more shadow creatures.

Behind you!

The voice had caught her off guard again. Yuna spun around so quickly to face the shadow that approached her that she almost slipped. She swung the sword wildly before her, and to her great luck, the blade struck the shadow in what appeared to be its chest, making the creature vanished with explosion of darkness. Only one was left now. Yuna struggled to regain her footling, turning around fiercely and glaring at the monster. She was about ready to attack it when the creature flattened itself into the floor, vanishing into a dark blotch that formed beneath it.

Yuna were aback by the black patch’s sudden appearance. A rumbling noise. Yuna's head snapped in the direction it had come from. Her eyes went wide as she saw more of the dark blotches. They were spreading across the platform. Within moments, more of the large dark blotches began to appear on the blue glass-like surface. First near the circular rim, and then everywhere. Spreading, like a disease. Yuna looked down near her feet. These dark patches…they were everywhere! All around them! For the first time, a sad expression appeared across Yuna's face as she realized with dismay that she couldn’t move. Not because her body wouldn’t obey her, but because if she did, she would step into darkness…And who knew what would happen if she did that?

Either way it didn’t matter; the dark void appeared right under their feet. Yuna immediately sank into the darkness, and they gasped in shock as they did so. That’s when everything seemed to move in slow motion. This shadow…This darkness…It was like quicksand, expect for the texture…It was like ice-cold air pulling at her skin, pulling her into some cold, dark void.

It felt cold. It felt wrong. It felt…evil.

She couldn’t stand it. While the stuff was crawling up to her waist, Yuna tried to lift herself out of it, tried to pull herself toward what was left of the glowing blue platform, tried to grab hold of something-anything-that could help her.

The darkness was up to her neck now. Yuna threw up a hand, hoping that someone would grab her and pull her back to where it is safe…

Swallowing her face. Yuna's bi-colored eyes went wide in terror as the last of her vanished.

She struggled as though her life depended on escaping that darkness, her eyes shut tight and her breath held as though that would help repel the evil the darkness held. But after a moment, Yuna gasped for air, her eyes opening wide and her hands grabbing the nearest object in her reach. She was grateful to find her hand press against a smooth, glass-like surface, and see a soft red glow out of the corner of her eye. She looked around cautiously, and then slowly rolled onto her stomach, happier than ever to find that she’d ended up on another platform.

This one, however, did not have distant image of a boy on it. This platform had three red hearts on it, each of which showed a white silhouette of a boy, the same boy in all three hearts. Who he was and what his story was, Yuna would probably never know. There was nothing else on this stained glass platform, save a beam of light coming out of the seemingly endless darkness, coming out at an angle. Yuna followed the light with her eyes and saw what it was pointing at. There, jotting out of the surface of the platform, just in front of her eyes, was a large arched door.

Yuna stood up and walked around the door, examining it, and the stopped right in front of it. It had a beautiful ornate pattern all over it: around the handles, on the edge, where the double doors met…It seemed to be somehow important, though Yuna couldn’t exactly pinpoint how so. It didn’t seem to lead anywhere-just to the other side of itself. It was slightly transparent, but it was standing there. She placed both hands on the door’s surface and pushed.

‘I can’t open it…’

She folded her arms and placed one hand thoughtfully under her chin. Now what? There was nothing else here, right? Yuna turned herself around, and noticed that another beam of light had appeared. She followed the light column down to where it met the platform, and saw a peculiar red chest that had appeared. Baffled, she walked toward the chest and knelt next to it. Yuna opened the chest, only to find whatever had inside vanished. It left only a few twinkles of light behind in the chest. She sighed and closed it again, then stood and looked at the door. And when she did so, she gasped in surprise.

It was no longer transparent. Yuna blinked in confusion. But…how…? She walked back to it, but before she could lay her hands on it, she heard a strange noise coming from within. She took a few steps back. If anything was coming out of there, she didn’t want to get in its way. Then it was silent. Yuna looked at the door again, starting from the bottom to the top. What was happening? Then the double doors began to part, ever so slowly.

A bright white light was emitted from within, so powerful she had to shield her eyes from it. The door opened itself wide, inviting Yuna to enter. She looked down at the floor, and then slowly raised her eyes upward to the light, allowing her eyes adjust to the brightness of it. She then began to step toward it. Yuna leaned forward as she walked, curious now as to what was creating the light, or what the light was hiding. But the light grew stronger and stronger, until it finally had swallowed her up within.

After a moment, Yuna could hear the sound of water rushing up onto shore. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself back on the island, up on one of the wooden platforms that had been built in the trees. She looked around in confusion. What was she doing back here? Had she woken up from this dream? If so, why did she found herself still standing? Was it possible to fall asleep standing? Yuna found herself hoping beyond hope that she’d finally manage to wake up.

Hold on. The door won’t open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself.

Nope. Yuna sighed in dismay. The presence of that voice…It meant she was still in this…this bizarre dream world. Yuna looked up from the floor, and gasped when she saw the girl sitting on the wooden railing. She was stretching her limbs and yawning as though she had just woken up from a good nap and swinging her legs playfully back and forth. She recognized the way her dark brown laid on the sides of her face, and her brown eyes, and her yellow dress. (A/N: FFX-2 Donna is KH Selphie) Yes, Yuna knew her. She smiled and stepped forward to greet her, when she suddenly turned to look at her. Yuna was shocked at the hardness and wisdom she saw in her young brown eyes.

“What’s most important to you?†she asked, her voice crystal clear.

Yuna stared back at her, hoping to see her break. But it never happened. Yuna sighed, surrendering. She didn’t even have to think about the answer to that question. “Friendship.â€

“Is friendship such a big deal?†The girl’s expression didn’t change as she looked away.

A strange sense of panic washed over her. She began to back up quickly, but in doing so almost flipping over the edge of the platform and fell into the water. Yuna grabbed onto the edge of the platform and pulled herself back up onto it. As she tried to catch her breath, she saw a pair of sandals just inches away from her nose. Yuna raised her head up to find another one of the kids she recognized from the island. The boy was dark raven black hair, wearing a short blue and green shirt and black shorts, holding what looked like a red staff in his hand. (A/N: FFX Isaaru is KH Tidus) He had the same hardness and wisdom in his face as the girl.

“What are you so afraid of?†he asked, his voice also ringing out as clear as day.

She looked at the boy before her as though he was crazy. Yuna had to wonder if these were really the friends she knew, or just images that the strange voice had pulled from her memory. It didn’t matter. The voice had said to tell him more about herself. Yuna sighed in defeat, but she had to think about this question. She wasn’t sure what her fear was.

“Being…being indecisive.â€

“Being indecisive? Is it really that scary?†He looked away after that, just like the girl had.

It was as if Yuna held nothing of interest to them, or if they didn’t want anyone to see them talking to her. And it was scaring Yuna beyond belief. Yuna hesitantly moved backward. She had this place memorized. She knew all the pathways, the trees, docks, the plants…the whole island by heart. So she headed straight for the way off the platform, but instead bumped into another one of her friends from the island.

This one was pretty tall, withhair that seemed loaded with gel to keep it vertical. He was fiddling around with something similar to a volleyball, spinning it around on one finger and watching its movement intently. (A/N: Wakka is just Wakka) However when Yuna bumped into him, the boy’s attention turned from his ball to Yuna’s nervous figure. As Yuna was about to apologize for bumping into him, the boy spoke, his voice just as loud and clear as the two kids before him.

“What do you want outta life?†he asked, somewhat causally.

By now, Yuna had decided it was best not to argue with the voice’s will. The quickest way to get out of this dream, this nightmare, this premonition, was probably to answer all the questions. Yuna straightened so she was looking straight into the boy’s eyes, and tried to think without flinching. It took her a while, but she finally came up with an answer.

“To see rare sights.â€

“To see rare sights, huh?†It looked like the kid was going to laugh at her answer, and to Yuna's extreme surprise, the boy didn’t look away as though he’d lost interest. This boy lingered amusedly on Kelsi’s face, until finally turning away as though he had to go off and laugh by himself. Kelsi almost grew angry, and was about to step forward to smack him one, when she found that her feet was glued to the floor.

Your adventure begins at midday.

The voice!

Keep a steady pace and you’ll come through fine.

Yuna grew confused. What was that supposed to mean? Midday? Her adventure?

The day you will open the door is both far off and very near.

The door? Did it mean the door that she’d seen on the other platform? The one that she was now allowed to enter? Yuna was suddenly blinded by a great white light, and stumbled forward as she waited for it to dim. When it did, Yuna found herself somewhere else, on another one of those stained glass platforms that floated in darkness. Yuna's footsteps became steady as she crossed the platform. She examined the image on the surface.

Anotherboy…with short blonde hair in thief clothes. He seemed to be crying, but was surrounded by angel feathers. (A/N: In IX, Zidane is supposed to be the Angel of Death, so why not angel feathers?) Yuna moved across, still examining the picture, when a beam of light shot down onto the boy’s face. Yuna looked up to where the light seemed to be coming from, and then walked over to where it seemed to pointing. Yet as she reached it, she found herself surrounded by the little shadow creatures from before. The sword appeared suddenly in her hand as Yuna ran toward the first in her reach and slashed at it ferociously until it disappeared into a burst of black fire. The rest of the shadows huddled together as they began what seemed to be some kind of group charge. Yuna could hardly help smirk as three wide swings of her sword defeated the entire group at once.

She straightened, confident now that all the little shadows were gone. Yuna turned their attention back to the beam of light, but this time it had moved. It was no longer on the boy’s face. It had moved downward, and then created a circle imprint. The outline looked like white fire, ever burning and seeming to grow stronger all the time. Yuna ran toward it, dropping to her knees as she reached it. Yuna stretched one hand into the circle and, feeling nothing out of the ordinary, stepped inside it. She was starting to think that she was on some kind of training mission. Either that or a wild goose chase.

As they stood there, waiting for the voice to speak up before Yuna forgot it, the beam of light moved again. This time it went all the way over the edge, and as soon as it did so, a series of square stained-glass platforms appeared, making a sort of stairway up to another place. Yuna was pretty sure that it was another stained-glass image platform. She looked around, and seeing that there was nothing more to do on that platform, she ran toward the stairway and hurried up it, careful to not slip and fall into the pit of darkness that surrounded her on all sides.

The brilliant yellow glow of this particular platform was the first thing that Yuna saw. And there, right in the middle, just like all the other platforms before it, was a boy. Another blond, this time wearing some kind of outfit. He was quite handsome, but just behind him was the face of a young girl. Yet, both of them looked quite peaceful-neither of seemed afraid or anger. Forming a around them were the silhouettes of various people: women, men, and even lizard-like people.

Yuna pushed the thoughts out of her mind and looked that beam of light. She found it just above the center of the platform. She smiled slightly as they stepped toward it, curious now, as it wasn’t running away. She stepped underneath the light and gazed up at where it seemed to come from. And then the voice that Yuna'd been waiting for made its presence known.

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

Yuna was no longer sure if the voice was being cryptic or literal. Though confusion reigned over her, Yuna slowly turned around to look at her shadow. Sure enough, there it was. Darker then she’d seen it before, reaching all the way from the center of the circular platform to the very edge. Her shadow turned slightly to face her, adjusting itself so that it looked like it was lying down on the floor, so it was looking at Yuna straight in the eye.

Yuna's heart stopped for a second. She hadn’t done that.

Then suddenly, the shadow began to pull itself up out of the floor. Yuna stepped back in alarm, starring as it began to change its shape. It had at first looked just like her, but now its hair stretched reaching out from its scalp, some of which chose to wrap itself around the creature’s head. Two eyes began to glow yellow from deep within the mask of dark tentacles. Its fingers stretched and sharpened into sharp black claws. Its feet became smaller, curving inward as you followed it to the toe. Yuna stepped slowly backward.

But don’t be afraid.

A giant-shaped hole appeared in the chest area. Yuna could see right through it. “My Yevon.†Yuna said to herself. The shadow had grown to immense proportions. It loomed over Yuna, dark and menacing, staring down at her with glowing yellow glows. Yuna took small steps backward, one hand held slightly upward, hoping that it would see she didn’t want to fight it. But somehow, Yuna felt that she was about to.

And don’t forget…

Yuna's eyes widened in fear as the creature completed itself. Yuna stumbled backward, gasping in terror, trying to escape. She ran, still staring over her shoulder at the giant shadow creature. It was just standing there, as if it were waiting. She continued to run, but nearly slipped over the edge. She’d forgotten. There was no way out. She was on a large circular platform floating in darkness. Where could she possibly run? She began to teeter on the edge of the platform, but thankfully managed to shift her weight on back onto the platform. A look of despair appeared on Yuna's face. Yuna swallowed hard and spun around to face the creature. Yuna had no choice but to fight it. She stared at the monster as it straightened itself to its full length.

It…was…huge.

She gripped the sword tight in her hands, and then ran forward the shadow. Its gigantic frame grew as she came closer, becoming more and more frightening as she approached. But Yuna had learned a long time ago to swallow her fear. Yuna ran at the nearest available limb of the creature-its right hand. Unfortunately for Yuna, the hand seemed to be creating a purple energy sphere. Its first attack, evidently. Kelsi didn’t care. She followed the hand at all costs, as if she had a lock on it. Even when the creatures raised into the air and then slammed it onto the platform. The purple energy had disappeared as a black patch had appeared underneath its palm.

The hand was resting on the ground. An opening! Yuna leapt in the air; sword raised, and began to swing wildly at it. Her swings didn’t seem to do anything to the creature, but she had to keep trying. She slashed the fingers and the palm furiously, and followed that hand everywhere it went. She wouldn’t let it get away from her.

Suddenly, Yuna felt a sharp pain at her back. She spun around and saw some of the little creatures from before surrounding her. So that’s what the giant had been doing: pulling little helpers out of the platform. Jerk. Yuna slashed at them, too, pushing them further from her, then returned to the Black Hand. She leapt at it when it was high above her head, and swung her sword at it with all her strength when it was level with her. She didn’t think about the little black creature, though they were attacking her from behind and weakening ferocity of her attack at the giant hand. It seemed to be luck that they moved themselves in the way of her sword and were attacked as well. And every time they disappeared, Yuna felt her energy return.

Eventually, all the small shadows had vanished, but the giant had other means of attack. From the heart-shaped hole in the being’s chest appeared a huge glowing sphere of purple energy. Even though her alarm, Yuna didn’t stop attacking the beast. Even when the energy sphere shattered into pieces and all those pieces came after her, Yuna did not hesitate in her blitz. Even though every muscle in her body had told her to run, she had merely jumped into the air in order to keep her attack rolling.

She was starting to think that this battle was going to be hopeless. She switched her focus from hand to foot and back to the hand. Nothing seemed to be working. The giant continued slamming his fist into the floor, making it ramble to the point where Yuna would lose her footing. The giant didn’t even seem to notice that it was being attacked. And that’s when Yuna remembered. The creature’s face! She’d read in a book somewhere about how the face would always be the weakest point on the fighter’s body, since the muscles in the face couldn’t be built, no matter what kind of training was endured. Yuna jumped up onto the creature’s arm and began to run up toward the monster’s face, clutching the sword tightly in her grip.

“Hey, ugly!†Yuna yelled as she reached the monster’s face. “Your face is wide open!!â€

Yuna screeched to a halt in front of the monster’s face. The head began to move slightly, acknowledging Yuna's presence. She raised her sword high into the air and then swung the blade swiftly downwards, the blade slicing across the giant’s face, right between the eyes. The creature roared in fury, everything seems like it was going in slow motion; Yuna had won.

Yuna slid down the monster’s arm, planting her feet firmly on the stained glass platform and then spun around to face it. She moved quickly backward, away from the creature for the first time. She had won, but the giant hadn’t disappeared yet. It was still standing there, still looming over her. Yuna clutched the sword tighter in her hands, waiting for something to happen, when the sword suddenly vanished with a white light. She gasped in shock-she was weaponless! And the monster was still alive! Yuna wanted to run, but she remembered where she was-a circular platform. Even so, she had to get away from the giant shadow monster. Even just being out of its reach would be enough.

She leapt backward again when the creature lashed out at her, swinging one mighty hand in an attempt to knock her off the platform. The shadow slammed his other hand down onto the platform as well, causing a great rumble in the ground beneath Yuna’s feet. The creature had fallen to its knees and glared at Yuna with those terrible glowing yellow eyes.

Yuna’s knees suddenly gave way, and she tumbled and fell onto the ground. Yuna felt all her fear return. She was powerless. She couldn’t swallow the fear anymore. It felt like she was going to throw up all of her terror. She stared up at the creature, terrified, still trying to get away even though she was sitting on the ground. Yuna kicked her feet, pushing the ground to help her get away, when suddenly she felt a familiar texture on her hands and legs. She risked taking a glance at the floor and was horrified by what she saw. It was one of those dark patches from the blue platform! One had formed underneath her! Her heart began to race, feeling like it was going burst from her clothes.

The monster stared down at Yuna, those yellow eyes gleaming as though everything had gone according to its plan. She squirmed under the giant’s gaze. Those horrible glowing yellow eyes…

But don’t be afraid.

Too late.

Yuna tried to escape from the dark blotch that was below her, but this patch was different. Instead of slowly pulling her under like quicksand, it was reaching up to her with dark tentacle like things and holding her down. Along with its black tendrils was something that resembled black fire and smoke, curling around her limbs and holding Yuna down just as firmly as the tendrils. The smoke and tendrils first began to wrap around Yuna's legs, engulfing her in darkness. They seemed to hold her tightly; it even felt like a series of cold, soft hands had taken hold of her. Yuna struggled under the feeling of it. She clenched her teeth, holding back a yell of frustration and terror.

The monster was still there, still glaring at her, but doing more than that. Its malicious glowing eyes burned into Yuna. Yuna's mind raced. She could do nothing more than to stare back at the monster, but…that malicious stare…

Suddenly, the creature raised itself so it was almost standing upright. As though it was planning to do something. Like delivering a final bow.

You hold the mightiest weapon of all.

The voice seemed to be trembling.

Yuna had finally managed to roll onto her stomach, even though those dark tendrils had wrapped around her entire torso. She tried to crawl over and grab the edge of the platform, but it wasn’t working. She could barely gain more than a few inches. Yuna stretched her arm out, but her hand couldn’t reach the edge. Then the dark tentacles and the black fire began to grab hold of that hold. Now all of Yuna's limbs had been caught by that dark stuff. There was nothing more she could do.

So don’t forget…

The voice was definitely shaking.

She found herself slowly starting to sink into the dark patch as the tentacles began to engulf her. She turned around, checking to see if the giant shadow beast was still there. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw it there, still looming over her. It was leaning downward as though it was going to crush Yuna with its body. Yuna's eyes were wide with terror, begging for mercy. No. She didn’t want to die here. Not here. Not in this bizarre place. No. Not here. Never here. Anywhere but here.

Black tendrils of fire and smoke reached up and began to wrap around Yuna's face.

“Cold…and dark…so dark…â€

You are the one…who will open the door.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of water crashing on the beach shore had slowly filled her senses. She opened her eyes and stared up at the blue sky. The large white clouds rolled lazily across the blue expense. She shielded her eyes from the sky as she stared up. It looked like midday, but she couldn’t really tell.

‘The sky’s blue today…’

She switched her attention from the sky to whatever was lying in front of her. She pushed herself into a sitting position and propped herself up with her hands. It was the ocean. A great expense of beautiful blue ocean lying out before her. No mainland in sight. She smiled sleepily and yawned, than laid herself back down to get some more sleep. She lay down, finding herself suddenly lying in some shade. She lazily opened her eyes and looked up. Her view of the sky was obstructed by a girl and a boy.

“Whoa!â€

She sat straight up, all her chains jingling at the sudden movement. Still on her knees, she turned herself around to her friend and her confused, her semi-exposed knees rubbing against the beach sand. Both summoner and guardians began to laugh at each other.

“Gimme a break, Rikku, Tidus.â€

Tidus giggled, tucking a loose turf of his spiky light sandy blond hair behind his ear, and then stared straight into his summoner's face, still grinning as though he knew she’d done something wrong. His ocean blue eyes were still laughing as he spoke in a tone that sounded just like a mother’s.

“Yuna, you lazy bum. I knew that I’d find you snoozing down here.â€

Then he turned away, as if he were shunning her for her wrong doing, his nose lifted snobbishly in the air.
He looked back at Yuna out of the corner of his eye, waiting for her to laugh at his imitation. Rikku laughed at him, then jumped on Yuna, almost knocking her down. (A/N: Rikku will play a key role in the story. I just need to figure what.)

“No! This huge, black thing swallowed me up!†Yuna began to explain, trying to maintain her balance after Rikku jumped on her. The adrenaline had suddenly begun to run through her body, just like it did at the end of her dream. She tried her best to recall everything she’d seen, every detail, her blue eyes burning through the ground as she struggled to find words to explain. “I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t-â€

A hand dropped onto the top of her head. “Ow!†Yuna raised one hand and rubbed her new bruise. Rikku barely escaped a giggle after that.

“Are you still dreaming?†Tidus laughed, dropping the false mom act. He leaned forward and stared straight into Yuna's face.

“It wasn’t a dream!†Yuna protested. But her words caught in her throat. “Or… was it? I don’t know…†Yuna looked down at the sand, suddenly confused. Had it been really a dream? But it had felt so real… She then looked over her shoulder, toward the ocean, as though its deep depths held the answer to all her questions. Rikku was confused and looked at the ocean with her cousin.

“What was that place?†she murmured, mostly to herself. “So bizarre…â€

“Yeah sure.†Yuna looked up at Tidus in surprise and slight dismay. He didn’t believe her…?

Tidus had given up making fun of Yuna – for now. He walked causally toward the shoreline, and stopped just a few inches from where the water receded from the shore. Tidus looked up at the sky at first, gazing at the white clouds as they rolled by. And then he turned to stare out to the horizon, as though he also believed that there was some big secret out there that he just had to know.

Yuna turned her attention to Tidus. “Say, Tidus. What was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up.â€

She shifted her position so she and Rikku were no longer kneeling on the sand (the texture was starting to hurt their knees) and turned slightly so that they were still facing Tidus. She propped herself up with her arms, her gaze never drifting far from him.

He smiled at the question. “I've told you before, I don’t remember.â€

“Nothing at all?†Yuna sounded suspicious, and almost doubtful of his answer.

“Nothing.†Tidus had answered as if didn’t bother him one bit.

“Do you ever wanna go back?â€

“Mmm…Well, I'm happy here.†Tidus' smile deepened as the words came out.

“Really…†She was still doubtful. Yuna finally looked away from Tidus and stared out over the horizon, just like he was. Rikku did the same as her cousin and her friend

“But you know,†Tidus continued with a little giggle, “I wouldn’t mind going to see it.†He smiled at the thought.

“Rikku and I’d like to see it too,†Yuna replied, fixing her gaze back on Tidus and resting one arm on her knees. She grinned at her thoughts. “Along with any other worlds out there. We wanna see ‘em all.â€

Tidus giggled as he turned to face his friends with a nod. “So what’re we waiting for?â€

“Hey, aren’t you guys forgetting about me?â€

Yuna, Rikku and Tidus turned around. There, standing with a log tucked one arm, was another girl. She was taller than Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus together. She had shoulder length black hair, that piled into a bun just above many ponytails along her back and brown eyes that were almost black in color. She was well built for a nineteen-year-old, and held the thick log as though it was nothing. Yuna and Rikku grinned. They'd known this girl since…well, as far back they could remember. Yuna, Rikku, and Lulu had grown up together.

“So,†Lulu continued with a shake of his head, “I guess I’m the only one working on the raft.â€

Lulu glanced at Yuna with a slight smile, and tossed the log to her as she walked over to Tidus. Yuna yelled in surprise as she tried to catch it… and failed miserably. Lulu laughed slightly than looked right at Tidus, straight into his innocent blue eyes.

“And you’re just as lazy as they are,†Lulu finished, accusing Tidus as she motioned toward Yuna and Rikku.

Yuna made a face at Lulu as she pulled closer the log to her and Rikku. Rikku struck her tounge to Lulu in a childish manner.

Tidus giggled. He put one hand behind his head in an embarrassed gesture, and feigned a wince as Lulu spoke. “So, you noticed,†he laughed, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. “Okay, we’ll finish it together! I’ll race you!â€

“Huh?!â€

Yuna and Rikku had seated themselves on top of Lulu's log, and looked up at Lulu as though he was craziest person they’d ever met in thier entire lives. There was no way Yuna was going to race Lulu, Rikku, and Tidus after she’d just woken up.

Lulu had seated himself down in the sand next to Yuna and Rikku. And then, as though Lulu had read Yuna and Rikku's thoughts, she yelled out, exhausted that she’d been doing all day – alone, as it turned out. She rolled her brown eyes so she was looking up at Tidus, the only one still standing.

“What, are you kidding?â€

Tidus paid no attention to their protests, and merely laughed at their expense. He then cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. “Ready, go!â€

The three girls exchanged glances, then suddenly leapt to their feet and began to run along the shoreline as fast as they could. Lulu and Rikku looked over at Yuna, thier faces filled with laughter. Yuna, on the other hand, looked absolutely determined to beat Lulu and Rikku in this race. Lu almost laughed at Yuna's seriousness, and finally looked straight ahead. If Yuna was going to try to win, then so was they. Tidus laughed the entire run across the beach, bringing up the rear of the so-called “raceâ€. He couldn’t stop laughing at them as he made his way toward the “boat ruins†on the other side of the island. Lulu, Yuna, and Rikku were way ahead of him, the three of them being neck in neck.

Yuna finally looked over at Lulu and Rikku. The three girls looked at each other as they ran for a moment, and then suddenly, all grinned at each other, as though there was some kind of joke just the three of them shared, and then continued their race. Yuna's grin grew even bigger, the mysterious dream pushed out of her thoughts. Then the three girls looked back at Tidus, all of them grinning, and began to call out his name and urge him to run faster.

There was only this moment. This eternal summer that had been granted to the four of them in the form of an island paradise. There was only now. There was no door. No darkness. No mysterious voice. This place…

These were the Besaid Islands.

The passage to Kingdom Hearts.

There you go!

 

WOW. How did you come up with that. I'm impressed! Nice work.

 

Whoa...just...wow. That was the most descriptive thing that I've read in a long time. You did an excelent job with adjusting to Yuna being the main person instead of Sora. It was interesting and very entertaining. Keep it up!

 

Thanks you guys! Like I said, the idea came after talking with Haseo the other day.

 

Chapter One-Besaid Islands

The first chapter, just a day on the Besaid Islands. :3 I put in a little history and a little flashback. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 Besaid Islands

“So, can you gather the rest of the supplies?†Tidus asked Yuna, putting his hands behind his back and giving her his sweetest smile.

She blinked, confused. What? Yuna put one hand behind her head, looking up into the tree benches as she tried to remember what it was that Tidus was talking about.

His face twisted ever so slightly in anger. He leaned forward, getting up into Yuna's face, his meanest, angriest face having replaced his smile. “Yuna, are you listening to me?â€

Yuna looked back into his face; blinked once or twice, and then smiled, letting out a light, care free laugh. “Sorry, what was that again?â€

Tidus' face twisted as to himself look meaner (though it didn’t work very well), then let out an exasperated sigh. He shook his head sadly at Yuna. “Geez. We can’t build a raft without materials right? And you call yourself the daughter of the high summoner?†(A/N: Like Tidus is so great himself!)

Yuna giggled, "Sorry. I was thinking about all the aeons I've gotten, and wasn't listening."

Sighing, Tidus turned his face away and said softly, 'Are you visiting the graves today?'

'Yes, I will,' Yuna whispered to him. 'Don't worry, I'll tell him what you want to say.' Tidus sighed after that.

He then took a few steps forward and began to pace back and forth as though he was a general in the army, giving orders to the soldiers. Yuna sighed helplessly. She crossed her arms behind her head and smiled at Tidus.

“Here’s what we need.†He then faced Yuna and began to list, using his fingers to number them. “Two logs. One cloth. One rope.†Tidus smiled again, putting his hands behind him once again. “Bring everything back here. If you need help, just ask.†He then winked at Yuna and gave her a thumbs up. “I’m counting on you!â€

Yuna nodded in reply and began to hurry away. Tidus smiled as he called after her.

“No more slacking, okay, Lady Summoner?â€

Yuna could’ve laughed at how military he had seemed, not to mention the motherly call that had come after. But now was no time for that. She had to hurry up and find all those supplies for the raft. What had been the first?

Her footsteps slowed as her eye caught on something jutting out of the sand by the edge of the water. One log. Yuna grinned and walked toward it, bending over to scoop it up into her hands. Her grin widened as she tucked the log under one arm.

“One log down, one more to go!†Yuna said aloud with a laugh as she raced away to find the rest of the materials.

The entire layout of Besaid Islands was embedded in Yuna's memory so well, that she knew exactly where to find all of Tidus' demanded supplies and where to visit the graves. Right smack in the middle of the island was a large tree that was, in most places, hollow. They had built a series of wooden platforms all around it, jutting out of the side of the tree. There were two levels of platforms, connected by a wooden ladder. The top level had a railing around it so as to prevent anyone falling from it.

The cloth was in the hollow of the tree that had been made as a hideout for when it rained and they didn’t want to stay in the shack that they had built on the beach. Yuna climbed up the various ladders to reach the hollow. Nobody was inside, so obviously no one was going to need the cloth. She pulled the white cloth down from the wall and wrapped it around the log.

“Hmm,†Yuna murmured as she turned the cloth into a simple bag. “Why did we ever put a piece of cloth up here in the first place?â€

Yuna shrugged, turning on her heel and heading back outside of the hollow. She slid down the ladder and jumped down from the first level platform to the ground. But as she did so, she misjudged the distance from the edge of the rock and ended up slipping on some moss and falling face first into the sand. Yuna pulled her face out of the sand, spitting out the grains that ended up in her mouth and wiping them off her face.

“Wow, that was a real spill, ya?â€

She turned around to face the speaker, rising slowly to her feet. There stood one of the boys from her dream. He stood with his volleyball tucked one arm, putting his weight all on one leg, giving him an almost cocky stance as he smiled at Yuna. Yuna found it surreal to be seeing him now after the strange dream she’d had. She shook her head slightly to the side and then grinned at him.

“Hey Wakka,†she replied, reaching for the log and cloth that had landed a ways from her. She put the log back into the makeshift bag and threw it over one shoulder.

Wakka grinned and pointed at the log. “What’s that for?â€

“It’s for our raft,†Yuna replied with a smile. “Tidus' orders,†she added with a wink.

Wakka laughed heartily, throwing his head back. “I won’t ask any more, then. I know how that boy is. He thinks he owns the island or somethin’, ya?†He tossed his volleyball up into the air then caught it on one finger. He then gave Yuna a mischievous look, his smile deepening.

“So… You up for a round?†He held out a wooden staff for Yuna and winked.

Yuna laughed lightly, taking the wooden staff from Wakka and dropping the log and cloth on the ground near a rock. She was kind of in a hurry, but…how could she turn down a challenge from Wakka?

“Sure, let’s play.â€

“Play is for kids,†Wakka told her. “This is serious.â€

Yuna smiled, crossing the sand so that she and Wakka stood opposite of each other, dragging the sword as to make a line in the sand. Wakka moved toward his position on the beach as well. He laughed from the other side, and yelled, “Show me your stuff!â€

With that, Wakka threw his volleyball toward Yuna, who merely stepped out of the way, propping her wooden staff up on one shoulder. She laughed at Wakka, who had to run over and pick up his ball before he could resume. Yuna stood ready to receive, having figured out a way to “help†Wakka with getting that ball of his back.

As Wakka spun around on his heel, ready to serve the ball again, Yuna grinned, “Gimme your best shot!â€

“Oh, you’re gonna eat those words, Yuna!†Wakka yelled, rearing back and throwing the ball with all his might.

Yuna struck the ball right back at Wakka with her staff, who yelled in alarm as the ball headed straight for him. The ball flew right back into his hands, but the impact had sent Wakka in a state of confusion. Dizzy and disoriented, he began to throw the ball randomly in the air. Yuna shouted out as one just missed her head. She then grinned, picking up the ball. She tossed it straight up in the air, and, using her staff as if it was like a baseball bat, smacked the ball toward Wakka. The ball hit Wakka right in the chest this time and knocked him off his feet.

Yuna gasped, dropping the staff into the sand and hurried toward Wakka. “Aw, man, Wakka, are you okay!â€

Wakka grinned up at Yuna dizzy. “Man, that really hurt,†he murmured with a smile, admitting defeat. He recovered quickly, shaking off the dizziness and getting up onto feet. He laughed lightly and held his hand out toward Yuna. “That was a good match, ya?â€

Yuna sighed with relief and shook Wakka by the hand. “Yeah, great match.â€

“Still no match for Lulu though, ya?†Wakka said, taking his hand back.

Yuna's smile faded slightly at the words. “Yeah, I guess not.†She pushed the thought away as she picked up the wooden staff and tucked into her belt. She turned and grinned at Wakka as she continued on her little mission to gather stuff for the raft. “See ya later, Wakka!â€

Still not good enough for Lulu, huh?

The next item Tidus had asked for was a rope. She knew where she could find one of those.

At the edge of the island there was another large tree. It was half on the island and half in the water. It wasn’t as big as the one in the center of the island, nor was it hallow. Because of that, they’d built a platform in the big depression between the branches. It too, had a small railing on the sides. Nobody wanted to end up falling into shallow water. But to reach the platform, one had to climb up the ladder. It wasn’t extremely long ladder, but it was most certainly one of the longest on the island.

Yuna jumped back up onto the gravel platform and headed toward that area. She knew for sure that she’d find a rope there. She was about to grab the rungs when she saw Rikku come out of a cave, dusting herself off. Wondering what her cousin was doing, Yuna ran over to her. "Rikku!"

"Huh?" Rikku turned to Yuna and shouted, "Hey, Yunie!" She smiled when Yuna came up to her, putting her hands behind her. Yuna smiled back and asked, "What were you doing here, Rikku?"

Rikku sighed and looked at Yuna with a sad smile, "Oh, you know. I was just visiting Sir Jecht and Uncle Braska. That's all." Yuna smiled and hugged her cousin, softly crying. Rikku hugged her cousin back, also crying.

Braska was the high summoner of Besaid Island and Yuna's father, when he died, the villagers decided his grave should be on the island. Jecht was one of Braska's guardian and the man who brought Tidus to the islands ten years ago. Braska's another guardian, Auron, mysteriously disappeared after the deaths of Barska and Jecht.

It was Rikku who wanted Yuna to become a summoner, to honor the memory of her uncle. Yuna and Rikku were related through Braska's wife, who was the sister of Rikku's father, Cid. Since Braska's death, Yuna stayed with Rikku, Brother, and Cid. Right after Yuna agreed to become a summoner, Rikku, Lulu, and Tidus became her guardians.

After Rikku left, Yuna looked toward the cave entrance, it was about big enough that one would have to lower their head to enter. Yuna sighed and walked to the entrance, lowering her head as she entered, dragging the bag on the ground beside her. She finally come to an opening and stepped into a valley, the sound of a waterfall a few feet away made her smile.

Under the shade of two palm trees were two tombstones, in front of each one a small doll that represented whose grave it was. Yuna smiled at the graves, both her and Rikku made the dolls to show to put on the graves and they did. Yuna set her bag of supplies down and did the islands' prayer, kneeling down at the graves and bowed.

Tidus couldn't recall his past, but knew that his father, Jecht, was a great player on his original world and hated him for that. Yuna recalled the exact day when Tidus appeared on the island with Jecht and sighed as the memory flooded her mind.

Seven year old Yuna was playing with her cousin, five year old Rikku and nine year old Lulu in the forest of Besaid Islands. She laughed as the arugement between Rikku and Lulu was going on, but then looked up at the sky. Many shooting stars were seen in the sky, she smiled and turned to Rikku and Lulu.

"Rikku! Lulu! Look at the sky!"

The two looked up and gasped in awe. The three friends had never seen so many shooting stars before, no one on Besaid Islands had ever seen such an event before in the history of the island. Rikku smiled, and shouted, "Wow, there are so many! I bet a lot of wishes are coming true!!!!!! OHHHH, what should I wish for?!" She closed her eyes to make her wish. (A/N:Most the lines in their talk/promise are taken from a doujinshi called Innocent. It takes place before the Original Kingdom Hearts and is SoraxRiku.)

"Wow...." Lulu said softly. "It looks they might fall toward us, you guys. Not to mention, this is the first time anything like this has happened."

"Don't worry, Lulu!" Yuna said encourging. "We'll just hit right back into the sky!"

"All of them?"

"You bet!" Rikku said, excitedly. Yuna smield at her and the two cousins hugged with Lulu smiling at them. "Let's promise, if we're together, we can do it!"

"Right, promise."

"Promise made, Rikku!"

Then a villager came running to them, a worried look on his face. He gasped for air as he kneeled to the summoner-in-training. "Lady Yuna, you must come to the shoreline. Sir Jecht has appeared, with a child in his arms!"

Yuna gasped, her and her friends ran to the shoreline with the villager behind them. They walked through the large crowd of people that appeared and gasped when they reached the shore. Laying unconscious on the sand was a man with messy raven black hair. What really got Yuna's eye was the samll bundle the man was holding in his arms. A boy around her age with spiky blond hair. She had recongized it was Sir Jecht by the red headband he wore.

She kneeled down and was about to heal him when he looked up to her and gasped. "Lady Yuna, please take care of my son, Tidus before the darkness gets him! Please!" He looked badly wounded, but Tidus looked unharmed and perfectly fine. Yuna stared as Jecht sighed and fell back to the ground, finally dead. Some villagers pulled Tidus out of his dead father's arms and took him to the mayor's house.

The next day, Yuna performed a sending to send Jecht's soul to the Farplane.

Yuna sighed and stood up, still staring at the graves of her father and Tidus' father. She smiled, picking her bag of supplies and walking away. She left the cave and went back over to the ladder, smiling.

With the log wrapped in the cloth over one shoulder, Yuna grabbed hold of the rungs and began climb the ladder as quickly as she could. She scrambled over onto the wooden platform and headed toward the flat that they had built there.

It was when she was standing in the center of that wide platform that Yuna realized. This was where she had been in her dream. This was where she had been interviewed. Her eyes grew wide as she remembered seeing the three of them, and their strange, hard, cold eyes…

She shook the memory off and headed for the rope that she could see lying on the ground just in front of her. Yuna grabbed the rope and tucked it into the bag, then spun on one heel. She was shocked to find Issau up on the platform as well. He was practicing swinging around that red stick of his.

It was weird seeing him right after the dream as well, just as it had been with Wakka. There he was, with his shorts that were darker than his shoulder lenghtened hair and his green and blue jacket. Yuna grinned.

“Hey!â€

Issau stopped swinging for a moment and turned around slowly to look at Yuna. He swiped the sweat from his brow and smiled, running a hand through his short dark raven hair.

“Hey Yuna!†Tidus’s grin widened even more as he clutched the red staff in his hands, a challenging look coming over his face. “You feel lucky today?â€

Yuna laughed, throwing the materials she’d gathered over her shoulder. “Not now, Issau, maybe some other time.â€

Issau made a face. “Come on, Yuna, be a man!â€

“Hey, I’m kinda busy right now,†Yuna replied with a sigh. “I’m on a mission. Tidus' orders.â€

Issau laughed at that, folding his arms over his chest, a mocking gleam in his eye. “Oh, so it’s like that, huh?â€

Yuna cast a death glance over at Issau, which soon turned into a lopsided smile. “Tomorrow, okay? I promise!†She then spun on her heel as she resumed her little mission. Issau cupped his hands over his mouth and called after her, “Why would you want to cross the ocean? Sword fights beat that any day!â€

She laughed at the comment, casting one final glance in Issau's direction, and then slid down the ladder as quickly as she could. She was just about to head back to Sora when she caught sight of Donna sitting at the edge of the dock. Yuna grinned mischievously to herself as she quietly snuck up behind her, doing her best to not make the wooden planks of the deck creak. She wasn’t very far in front of her now. Just a few more steps. Yuna's grin deepened as she got ready to grab her by the shoulders…

“Don’t… even.â€

Her face fell as she turned around, her short auburn hair swishing into her face, with happy little grin on her face. “Hey Yuna!†she chirped happily. “What’re you up to these days? We never see you.â€

Yuna shrugged helplessly, adjusting her hold on the cloth bag. “We’ve been busy.â€

Donna frowned slightly, putting on her puppy dog face.

“Come on, tell me what you’re planning,†she said, somewhat sadly. And then suddenly her face changed, her eyes growing slightly wide and her gaze switching from Yuna's face to a blank stare. “Actually, never mind.†She looked back up at Yuna and smiled. “I’ll find out on my own.â€

She could hardly help but laugh. “Alright then, Don. Catch ya later!†Yuna jumped down from the dock into the sandy beach. She turned around slightly and winked. “Off to do some ‘top secret’ business!â€

Donna's face twisted angrily. “Hey, no fair!â€

Yuna's laughter echoed down the beach as she headed back toward where Tidus was waiting for her, the bag of materials bouncing on her shoulder as she ran, smiling to Rikku had joined him. She hopped up toward Tidus and Rikku, holding the bag out for him. He turned to look at her from where he was leaning against the doorway and smiled. “Hey, that was quick! Thanks, Yuna.â€

He took the bag from her with both hands and peered inside, making sure of the contents. “Let’s see what’s still missing?†His face brightened as he remembered, his head snapping upward and her gaze turning back to Yuna. “One more log!â€

Yuna sighed. “One more log?â€

Tidus smiled. “That’s right! Come on, Yuna, we're counting on you!â€

How could she refuse when he put it that way? “Alright, I’ll find it.â€

She spun around and walked back onto the beach, toward the shack. One more log? Where could she find another log…? She smiled as the memory returned to her. Yuna pushed open the door of the shack and hurried up the stairs. After all, there was nothing inside that shack except for those stairs. She opened the door at the top and stumbled back outside. Here, there was a bridge that led over to a part of the island that stuck out like a plateau. It wasn’t too far from the main part of the island. It was still perfectly connected to the rest of the island. But they liked to consider it as this unusual little dot on the side of it, since it was separated by some water.

She was almost sure that she’d seen a log here before. Yuna hurried across the wooden bridge and grinned as she caught sight of the log sitting on the edge. She hurried over toward it, but just as she was about to grab hold of it, she heard a voice coming from behind her.

“Hey, Yuna!â€

She turned slowly around and saw Lulu sitting on the truck of one of the trees. The tree was bent over, so it was perfect to relax on. They were never able to figure out what happened to it that it swerve the way it did, but no one ever complained. It was the perfect seat. And there Lulu sat, one knee pulled up close to her and her arms propping her up in her sitting position. “Did you get everything we need for the raft? I already gave my stuff to Tidus.â€

Yuna smiled. “Well, I need this last log.â€

Lulu grinned. “That can wait a little while longer. How about a quick round?â€

Suddenly Yuna remembered what Wakka had said earlier about Lulu. And something inside her began to boil over. Yuna's smile turned slightly vicious as she grabbed onto the hilt of her wooden staff.

“Okay, you’re on!â€

“This one decides the champion!†Lulu said with a grin.

Lulu hopped down from her seat on the bent tree trunk. She and Yuna glared at each other as they headed toward the center of the plateau, weapons in hand. They stood facing each other, Yuna already in her battle stance, her staff gripped in two hands. Lulu stood as cocky as ever, still fiddling with her stuffed moogle(A/N: Yay! Lulu and her moogle!!!!!!!) slightly, tapping the stomach of it into the palm of her left hand. Her smile deepened as she watched Yuna with her green eye.

“Ready or not!†she taunted.

Yuna could feel herself shake slightly. She wasn’t sure if it was rage or fear, but she could feel the blood pumping in her ears. All she could hear was Wakka’s words, repeating over and over again. It felt like both a challenge and a curse. And all Yuna knew at that moment was that she did not like the idea of always having to be second best to Lulu.

She clenched her staff tightly between her hands and watched Lulu's every move very carefully. Lulu made the first move. She tossed her moggle high into the air and it landed right behind Yuna. Yuna's eyes widened and she hurried out of the way as Lulu's moogle got ready to swing its paw. Yuna ran forward as Lulu's moogle took its paw, missing her only slightly. Yuna took advantage and hurried right back, charging at Lulu's moogle with her staff, swinging the wood with all her might. But Lulu was just too quick. She swung her hand backhand, as though her moogle was tennis racket, countering Yuna's blow. Yuna gritted her teeth at the backslash of the countermove. She refused to give in.

She swung her staff again, this time lower. Once again, Lulu continued her move. But this time, Yuna had been ready for it. She kept the staffs movement going and brought the staff back into an overhead swing. It stuck Lulu in her shoulder. Lulu grunted in pain, stepping back slightly. Unfortunately for Yuna, Lulu was quick to recover. Lulu swung her hand toward Yuna, her moogle managing to scratch the material of Yuna's shirt as she jumped away.

Yuna backed up slightly, then turned on her heel and ran to get some distance between them. The two then faced each other, the tips of their weapons pointed at each other as they circled. Yuna gritted her teeth and launched herself forward, swinging at Lulu furiously. Lulu blocked every one of her moves. She smiled.

“You still don’t got it,†she said with a short chuckle as she pushed Yuna back.

She could hardly stand those words. Yuna narrowed her eyes at Lulu as she got ready to charge again. Yuna ran straight for Lulu, her staff ready. Lulu only smiled at the charge, already set to deliver another blow. But as Lulu took her swing, Yuna jumped up and over Lulu's head, turning slightly in the air and stuck Lulu in the back.

Lulu stumbled forward, shocked. She looked over at Yuna, her eye wide in surprise. Yuna could hardly help but smile. Her smile seemed malicious. “Come on,†she taunted, pleased with herself.

Lulu smiled back, turning around. “Now it’s my turn.â€

Yuna gritted her teeth and clutched her wooden staff tightly in her hands. She didn’t like the way Lulu had said that. It sounded mocking. And then her ears began to roar with the sound of Wakka’s voice, telling her that she would always be second best to Lulu. Yuna charged forward and jumped over Lulu's head. Yuna spun in mid-air and stuck her again, but this time Lulu turned around so that she fell onto his back. And as Yuna planted both feet on the ground and spun to face Lulu, she ended up with an unpleasant Chinese get-up kick to the gut, which ended up knocking Yuna off the plateau and into the water below.

Yuna surfaced with a loud gasp for air.

“Still not enough, Yuna!†Lulu called from above. “You still need a little more training!â€

Yuna's face fell as she pulled herself out of the water and began to climb the ladder back up to the plateau. Lulu grabbed Yuna's shirt and helped her pull back topside. They looked at each other full in the face for a long, silent time before they both burst out laughing. Lulu pulled Yuna into a headlock and gave her a friendly noogie before releasing her and they both continued to laugh out loud. As soon as they had calmed down, Yuna tossed the wooden staff to one side and plopped down into a cross-legged position. She then looked up into the sky.

“Man… now the score’s zero to one,†Yuna sighed.

Lulu grinned. “Better luck next time,†she told her, giving Yuna a pat on the back. She then reached over and picked up the log, holding it out for Yuna. “Here. Better get this back to Tidus, huh?â€

Yuna gazed at the log and grabbed it hesitantly. She looked up at Lulu and smiled to cover up her disappointment. “Yeah, I’d better.â€

As Yuna rose to her feet and headed back to Tidus, Lulu seated herself back on the trunk of the bent over tree. She watched Yuna intently as she jumped from the bridge to the beach below and ran to where Yuna was still waiting. She then turned away and chuckled slightly to herself.

Yuna handed the log over to Tidus and Rikku and then continued to squeeze the water out of her shirt and skirt. Tidus took the log from her and titled his head to one side. “What happened to you?â€

She looked over at him and smiled. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.â€

Tidus smiled knowingly, one eyebrow raised. “You and Lulu went at it again, didn’t you?†Rikku giggled, hugging her cousin, "Silly Yunie!"

She froze and said nothing. She merely grunted in response. That boy was awfully perceptive sometimes. Tidus shrugged it off and put one hand on Yuna's shoulder.

“Thanks, Yuna!†He then began to reach into his pocket. “I found something today, too. Here, it’s yours.†He grabbed Yuna's hand and put a bottle labeled “Hi-Potion†into her palm. “Considering your little spat with Lulu, I guess you’re gonna need it.â€

Yuna smiled slightly and put it away. “Thanks, Tidus.â€

Tidus smiled, putting his hands behind his back. “Tired? Want to call it a day?â€

“Yeah, let’s go home,†Yuna said with a stretch.

“Okay,†Tidus replied with a slight giggle. “It is getting late. We’ll finish up tomorrow.â€
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The four sat together watching the sun set from the plateau, as they usually did before returning home. Tidus, Rikku, and Yuna were seated on the trunk of the bent over tree, while Lulu leaned against the base. They merely sat and gazed at the horizon as the cloud and ocean turned orange and red as the sun began to vanish beneath the waves. Each of them lost their own thoughts.

Yuna was the first to speak.

“So, Tidus' home is out there somewhere, right?â€she asked, turning to look at her friends.

Tidus smiled to himself, continuing to look into the sunset, swinging his legs back and forth as they waited for Lulu to answer. Her eye were firmly on the vision of the setting sun, her arms folded over his chest. There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on her face. She didn’t even look at her friends as she answered.

“Could be. We’ll never know by staying here.â€

“But how far could a raft take us?†Yuna prompted, leaning forward a bit more.

“Who knows?†Lulu said with a slight gesture of her hand. She folded her arms once again. “If we have to, we’ll think of something else.â€

“So, Lulu, suppose you get to another world,†Rikku began with a giggle. “What would you do there?â€

“Hmm. Well, I haven’t really thought about it,†she answered haltingly, still refusing to look at either Tidus, Rikku, or Yuna. “It’s just…â€

Yuna turned her attention back to the sunset, rocking back and forth as she sat on the tree trunk. The whole raft thing was Lulu's idea in the first place. Though Yuna and Rikku were curious to hear what Lulu had to say, she decided that if Lulu didn’t want to look them in the face as she spoke, then she didn’t really want to either.

“I’ve always wondered why we’ve here, on this island,†Lulu continued. “If there are other worlds out there, why did we end on this one? And, suppose there are other worlds… Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?â€

Lulu turned to look at them for the first time. Yuna turned slightly, looking over at Lulu out of the corner of her eye, then shrugged and leaned back onto the bent tree trunk. She put her arms behind her head and dangled her legs over both sides of the trunk, starring up at the sky where dark blue met orange.

“I don’t know,†she said nonchalantly.

Tidus and Rikku looked over at Yuna, an almost exasperated look on their faces. Lulu smiled slightly at Yuna’s action and returned to the horizon.

“Exactly. That’s why we need to go out there and find out.†Lulu took a few steps forward, her hands dropping down to her sides. Her brown eyes seemed to glow as they remained fixated on the fiery sunset that bathed the entire island in an orange glow. “Just sitting won’t change a thing.â€

As Tidus and Rikku listened to Lulu, they looked up into the sky, smiling and shaking their heads from side to side as though they'd heard the story a thousand times. Yuna let out a sigh and rolled his head so that he was looking out into the horizon. She still didn’t understand Lulu, after all these years. She was always searching for something bigger, while Yuna and Rikku had always been fairly content with what they had. What difference did any of it make?

“It’s the same old stuff,†Yuna heard her say. “So let’s go.â€

“You’ve been thinking a lot lately, haven’t you?†Tidus said, looking over at Lulu. The tone in his voice was so solemn that Yuna wasn’t sure whether or not it was really him.

Lulu turned around and looked Tidus full in the face. A slight smile crossed her face as she looked at him. “Thanks to you.â€

Yuna's eyes widened slightly and her jaw dropped open. Her head rolled slightly so that she was looking over at Tidus and Lulu. For a moment, she thought he ought to say something, but she couldn’t think of a single sensible thing to say. She watched them warily for a moment, and then reluctantly returned her attention to the blazing sun.

“If you hadn’t come here,†she could hear Lulu continue, “I probably would’ve never thought of any of this. Tidus, thanks.â€

Tidus smiled slightly at Lulu and nodded. “You’re welcome.â€

Tidus walked in front of them all as they began to walk toward the boats near at dock, ready to head back to the mainland and join their families for dinner. Yuna dragged her feet, kicking into the holes between the planks of the bridge. She didn’t really like going home, but then again she was pretty hunger. She looked at Tidus. What about him? He didn’t remember much about his home life. She didn’t think that he lived with his family anymore. If that was the case, then…

“Yuna!â€

She turned at the sound of her name, looking back where Lulu was. Lulu smiled as she tossed a star shaped object at her. Yuna managed to catch it clumsily and cradled it in her hands, both her and Rikku examining it carefully. It was a yellow star shaped fruit, clearly freshly picked, since parts of the vine was still sticking out from some of its points.

“You wanted one, didn’t you?†Lulu asked, pointing at it.

“A Bikanel Star fruit…?†(A/N:For this part, I decided to make a fruit in the paopu fruit style, but with a name with Spira. So I chose Bikanel.)

She looked up at Lulu, confused. She’d wanted one? She couldn’t remember ever asking for one. What was Lulu thinking?

Lulu smiled as she resumed walking. “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives, no matter what.â€

Yuna and Rikku gazed at the Bikanel Star fruit intently, hooked on the story Lulu had just told them. Maybe… she did want one… Lulu laughed slightly to herself as she reached the end of the bridge, glancing ov at Yuna and Rikku.

“C’mon, I know you want to try it!â€

Now maybe it was the light from the sunset, but Yuna and Rikku's faces turned slightly red. “What’re you talkin’-â€

Lulu laughed at Yuna and Rikku, interrupting her sentence as she continued toward the docks. Yuna looked first at Lulu, then at the Bikanel Star fruit. Lulus story began to repeat itself in her head.

‘If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined…â€

She stole a glance in Tidus' direction, and then immediately returned her gaze to the fruit.

‘They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives… No matter what…â€

Yuna let go a long breath. It was just a legend. There was no need to get so worked up over a legend about a fruit. Just because it was shaped like a star. It wasn’t like that meant anything. She slowly shifted the fruit into her right hand, and then, taking one last long look at it, hesitantly tossed over the edge of the bridge.

‘H-How stupid,’ she thought to herself angrily.

And with that, Yuna and Rikku took off in a run.

 

Great chapter, but I liked the first one better. You made a few mistakes in this one. The one I can think of right now is durning the fight with Yuna and Lulu. You just randomly put Kairi in there at one point 0.o.
Oh, and I believe you mean "Braska" not "Barska". Unless you purposely spelt it wrong. *shrugs*

 

Second Chapter

The second chapter of the story introduces Yuna's companions.

Chapter 2 The Plot Thickens

Destiny Islands Castle

The castle’s towers stretched up toward the sky as though it was reaching for the clouds. The entire castle seemed to glow. The light white stone of the castle and light blue titling on the cone shaped towers glimmered in the brilliant sunlight. The many colored flags that decorated the castle façade, jutting out from the peaks of the towers, flapped in the light morning breeze. The day was just about perfect as usual.

As usual, the court witch walked down the long hallway toward the throne room, her footfalls falling evenly on the red carpet that stretched all the way to the end of the hall. To her left, the wall was lined with windows that almost reached the high, arched ceiling. Pouring in from the windows was the bright light of the early morning. This was the court witch’s cue to greet the king.

The court witch was in fact a tall young woman. Atop her head was a blue hat, similar in shape to that of a stereotypical witch. The point was teased into a crude curlicue, and all along the rim of the hat was a thick pink line. Shoulder lenght dark auburn red hair swayed along the back of her neck. A pair of deep dark sea blue eyes shining with cheerfulness. She wore a long sleeveless white shirt, with two dark gray buttons in the middle of her chest, held securely to her body by a dark purple belt that went her waist, and the light pink skirt she was wearing. Over the sleeveless shirt was a black cloak, which actually looked like a long sleeved robe. It was a long back robe with a small red hood, leading to the back of her booted feet. (A/N: Kairi is the court witch of Destiny Islands Castle and plays the role of Donald in the story.)

She tipped her hat and nodded as she passed by some servants as they scurried down the hall toward the next place that required cleaning. The girl chuckled to herself as she heard them walked further and further down the hall. Then suddenly she stopped short, planting both her booted feet before turning on her heel to the right, where she stood facing a set of giant brown double doors. On either door was a symbol consisting of a crowned dog, a demonic dog on its hind legs, looking ready to attack. The door stretched up in its great white lined archway until it reached the ceiling. There was no way for a small woman to open them.

The court witch smiled to herself, lifting one loosely clenched fist towards her mouth as she cleared her throat. She then knocked on the base of the doors five times, rhythmically, as though to a song that no one else could hear but her. A slight clicking sound was made from the other side of the door as the girl dropped her hand to her side, and a small section of the giant door popped open for the court witch to step through.

The throne room was huge, able to fit possibly hundreds of guests at a time. But for now, it was empty. The tiled linoleum floor glimmered with their fresh polish, clean and spanking new. The only thing laid out on top of the floor was another long red carpet that stretched all the way from the double doors to the throne. Above the throne was red tapestry, outlined in yellow, that once again bore symbol of the lion. Intricate cravings in the wall directly behind the throne. On either side of the throne were statues, one of the court witch and the other of the captain of the guard, the king’s two best friends in the world.

The court witch walked triumphantly down the length of the carpet, as though she was a soldier returning from war and visiting her great king. She was barely even halfway to the throne when she bowed toward it as she walked, in greeting to his royal highness.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” she called out in her clear feminine voice.

She continued her march down the long red carpet. She was going to have to reach the throne if she was going properly greet the king. As she approached the throne, the girl smiled to herself and bowed slightly once again. “It’s nice to see you this morn – What!” (A/N: This part makes me laugh my pants off always.)

As the court witch raised her head to look up at where the king should have been sitting, she realized with great shock and horror that he wasn’t there. The court witch froze. What would she tell the others? The queen, the servants, all the king’s friends? Just then, the king’s faithful moogle popped out from behind the throne, holding delicately between his paws. The court witch looked at the moogle, shocked. (A/N: Yup! The role of Pluto in this story is that of a moogle.)

“What are you holding there, Mog?” the girl asked out as she bent over to take whatever it was from him.

It was a small light green envelope that bore the king’s symbol, the crowned dog. The court witch carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter within. She slowly unfolded the letter and began to read, her eyes going hurriedly over each line, taking in the meaning behind the writing. The girl blinked once or twice, slowly lowering the letter so that it fell out of her line of vision.

Suddenly, all control over her lost, the girl spun around and ran out of the throne room, screaming and waving her arms as though the world was about to an end. She knew exactly where to go. She had to tell the captain of the guard!

As it happened, the captain of the guard was resting on the lawn of his own little castle. Of course, it wasn’t a real castle; it was a model of the entire Destiny Islands Castle, which had been shaped out of the large bush that had been growing in the garden. From that castle grew many different flowers, positioned in such a way that they would create a multi-colored spiral with the castle placed in the center of it. The entire circle was separate from the other bush sculptures in the garden, all placed around a large circle. That castle was in the center of the entire garden.

It was on the lawn that the captain of the guard was taking his nap. He was still dressed head to toe in his armor, as for his hamlet, which sat on top of his head as a hat since it wasn’t able to cover all of his ivory sliver hair. He lay on the flowers with one leg perched over one knee and his arms folded casually behind his head. His mouth would open wide as he slept and snored peacefully in the garden. (A/N: Riku is Destiny Islands Captain of the Guard, but does not play the role of Goofy.)

Right at that moment, the court witch rushed in, running in a crooked line toward the captain, still waving her arms like crazy (though she had finally stopped screaming). She hopped on the flowerbed and screeched to a halt next to the captain, waving her arms frantically to maintain her balance.

“Wake up, Riku, wake up!” she screamed, jumping around frantically. “This is serious!”

Riku merely moaned in his sleep and then let out a long slow breath. A carefree smile appeared on his face as he slept. The girl began to grow furious. With a loud scream, she pointed one finger toward the sky, her eyes fixated on Riku, releasing a jolt of lighting into Ron’s body. The zap of electricity finally awoke Riku, so much so that he just about jumped into the air with a cry of surprise and pain.

He dropped back down onto the flowerbed with a loud thud and clangs of metal, his eyes finally opened and looking around. Riku rubbed his eyes sleepily with one large, armored hand as he gazed around him, somewhat disoriented. His vision was still somewhat blurred, but it didn’t take long for him to recognize the angry face of one of his best friends in the world. He smiled at her sleepily.

“Hey there, Kairi,” he greeted with a wave. “Good morning.”

“We’ve got a problem, Riku!” Kairi told him urgently, waving her arms around in the air. Suddenly she stopped, and looked cautiously to the left and then to the right. She then cupped one hand around her mouth and said in a lower voice, “But don’t tell anyone…”

Riku’s eyes went wide. “Queen Namine?”

Kairi put her hands on her hips, raising her nose almost snobbishly in the air. “Not even the queen.”

Riku's expression changed slightly as he shifted his gaze. “Roxas?” (A/N: Roxas is the general of the army while Namine serves as Queen.)

The court witch shook her head furiously from side to side. “NO! It’s top secret!”

The captain bowed slightly, his gaze having completely shifted away from Kairi’s face. “Good morning, my lady, general,” he said politely.

Kairi froze. “Wh-What?”

She slowly turned around, afraid to see her fears come true. And as she did so, her heart stopped beating for just a moment. For there, standing under one of the many bush archways of the garden, were Queen Namine and Roxas. Kairi swallowed hard as they stared at her and Riku expectantly, Roxas putting his hands on his hips and narrowing her eyes slightly. He cleared his throat and raised one eyebrow, his gaze fixed exactly on Kairi's face.

Riku turned to look at Kairi, somewhat bewildered, as a nervous laugh escaped from Kairi's throat.
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Destiny Islands

Another perfect day in paradise.

Yuna hopped up onto the docks with Rikku from their boats as she put her hands on her hips and breathed in the summer sea breeze. She stretched for a moment and then spun around slightly, staring up at the sky through the leaves of the trees. Yuna then heard a voice.

“Hey, Yuna!”

She turned to look at the speaker and saw Donna standing on the edge of dock. She smiled at her warmly.

“Hey, Donna.”

She smiled back at her and came a bit closer, looking both ways before she began to speak, as though she had some big secret to share with her. She leaned forward slightly as she opened her mouth.

“Have you heard about the legendary power of the Bikanel Star fruit?”

Something inside Yuna jumped.

“They say if you share it with someone you reallycare about,” she continued matter of factly, “it binds you together forever and ever, through eternity!” Donna sighed dreamily, her eyes glazing over as she seemed to forget about Yuna and Rikku’s presence. “It’s so romantic, I gotta try it sometime.”

Yuna smiled faintly, putting one hand on her shoulder. “Well, you tell me how that works out, alright?” she told her with a laugh, turning on her heel to go and ready to follow Rikku.

There was something mischievous in Donna’s smile as she replied. “Why, are you thinkin’ about tryin’ it?”

She began to quicken her step with Rikku when the words came out of Donna's mouth. She chose not to answer. If ever she asked her why, she’d just say that she hadn’t heard her. That was fair enough, right?

“If you doesn’t share a paopu fruit with Tidus soon, Lulu might beat you to it,” Donna called after her.

Yuna’s heart skipped a beat. She did her best to ignore Donna’s comment as she and Rikku hurried up to the first level platform around the big trees.

They had agreed to meet up near the boat ruins today. That meant the other side of the island. They knew a shortcut, rather than having to go through that door all the way on the other end. There was a little cave that they could take to get there fast, nearly close to the cave to the graves. Yuna and Rikku pulled themselves into the cave and hurried through, slightly bent over so as not to hit their heads on anything. They popped out on the other side of the island, elevated so that they were level with the tops of the “small” forest of palm trees that grew in the shade. Directly next to Yuna and Rikku stood was a small barren tree that had a large yellow star stuck on the trunk. Yuna grinned at the tree, placing one hand absentmindedly on its surface

Just next to the small forest was where they started to build their raft. And that’s where it still was. Yuna and Rikku hopped onto the top of one of the palm trees and shimmed down its trunk to reach the ground. They then ran straight for Tidus, who stood expectantly on the raft, looking for Yuna, Rikku, and Lulu. Yuna grinned and waved.

“Tidus! Over here!”

He turned at the sound of his name and gave Yuna and Rikku a huge smile. “Look!” he exclaimed, gesturing toward the raft.

The raft was just about finished. All the logs had been tied securely together to make the bottom of the raft. The mast jutted out from the center of the raft and stretched up toward the sky, the cloth that Yuna had gotten the day before stretched out to make the sail. Yuna smiled proudly as she gazed at it.

Tidus' smile grew. “The raft’s almost done! All we have to do is load it with food!”

“Sounds good!” Yuna said with a grin. “Lulu must’ve gotten here early and worked on it, huh?”

At that, Tidus' smiled faded slightly. “Hey… have you seen Lulu?”

“Oh, come to think of it, no,” Yuna murmured slightly, taking a cue from Tidus to look around. She grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll find her.”

She then took off for the other end of the island, jumping up onto a rock and then clambering onto the stone plateau. This side of the island had more rocks than the other. But it was the perfect racecourse. Directly on Yuna’s right hand side was a large wooden tower. It had a long ladder leading up to the top, where there was a rope tied to one of the planks that tied to another, smaller wooden tower on the other end of the island. Attached to that rope was a wooden slider that they could grab onto to glide across.

There was a rickety old bridge right in front of the tower, leading in the other direction over a small section of water toward the doorway that led to the other side of the island. Some of the planks of the bridge had rotten through and fallen off, making large gaps in it. Yuna looked across the water and squinted. There, standing near the edge, looking out into the horizon, was Lulu. Yuna smiled. Lulu’d been doing that an awful lot lately. She began to make her way across the rickety bridge.

She raced across the bridge, hopping over the gaps. She remembered one set of planks was just about ready to break off. But when Yuna finally remembered which one it was, it was already too late. The platform broke off as she shifted her weight onto it, taking her down into the water below. Yuna tumbled into the salty water as the planks broke on the stones. She lifted herself out slowly, shaking the water out of her light brown hair. With a defeated sigh, Yuna trudged through the water and pulled herself up onto the stone platform where Lulu stood.

She looked up at Lulu and grinned. “What’re you doing all the way over here?”

Lulu gave a start, as though she’d been in a deep trance, and then turned to look at Yuna. “I was just thinking that our raft still needs a name,” she told her. She put one hand thoughtfully under her chin for a moment. “Let’s see…How about Alexander?”

Yuna grinned. For some reason that name sounded rather familiar. She wasn’t able to place it, but she was sure that she’s heard it somewhere else. “Naw, not Alexander.”

“What would you call it?” Lulu wanted to know, folding her arms over her chest.

“Me? Well… hmm…” Yuna tapped the side of her head thoughtfully. Then her face stretched out into a grin as she looked back at Lulu. “Bahamut!” Yuna shouted excitedly. (A/N: This part was taken from XII, how summon names are used as airships or places.)

A challenging gleam appeared in Lulu’s brown eye. “Hey, ‘bout how…”

“The usual?” Yuna finished, the same competitive gleam in her own bi-colored eyes.

“Lets do it!”

Just then Rikku and Tidus appeared stepped onto the gravel platform with a smile. Tidus put his hands behind his head and gave them a knowing look. “You guys at it again? All right, Rikku and I’ll be the judges.” Rikku turned slightly with a giggle and pointed in the direction from which they came. “The same rules apply: Take any route you want. First one to tag the tree with the star and make it back here wins.”

Yuna turned to Lulu as they took their places. “If I win, I’m captain…” she told her cheerily. “And if you win…”

“I get to share the Bikanel Star with Tidus,” Lulu said solemnly, without even looking at Yuna.

“Huh!”

Lulu smiled mischievously at Yuna. “Deal? The winner gets to gets to share the Bikanel Star with Tidus.”

Yuna’s eyes widened, panicked. She looked away, her mind racing. Share a Bikanel Star with Tidus? That meant… So then Lulu wanted to… But what if Yuna lost…? “W-Wait a minute…”

Rikku and Tidus, having taken his position as referees, turned to the two girls. “Okay, on Rikku's count.”

Lulu leaned into the position that professional racers got into at the start of a race. But Yuna’s mind was still in a whirl. What was she going to do? It was too late to back out now!

"Drnaa!" "Three!"

The countdown had already begun!

"Dfu!" “Two!”

She had no choice.

"Uha!" “One!”

She had to win!

"Ku!" “Go!”

Tidus dropped his hand as though it was a flag.

The two girls sprung forward at the signal. They were evenly matched-for now. Yuna glanced at Lulu as they turned the corner onto the bridge. She considered nudging her slightly out of the way… She shook her head slowly, pushing the thought out of her mind. Yuna turned her attention to the old wooden planks. She frowned slightly. It was too bad that she’d already broken off the rotten blanks. Yuna could have used that to lose Lulu.

Lulu and Yuna hopped over each gasp in the bridge, both of them still perfectly matched. Yuna clenched her teeth, determined to win. She looked forward and stared up at the tower. It would probably be the fastest to use the slider. Yuna extended one hand and grabbed onto one of the rungs of the ladder before Lulu could and swung herself onto the ladder, climbing as quickly as possible. Lulu slowed for a moment, glancing up at Yuna. It slowed her down, but most certainly wouldn’t make her stop.

Yuna hurried up the ladder. It was definitely a very long ladder to have to climb, but Yuna couldn’t stop. She scrambled up to the top, pulling her up onto the platform. She grabbed onto the wooden slider with both hands and pushed off the tower with her feet. She tucked her legs in as she slid down the rope so she could go faster. Below her she could see Lulu running toward the incline, her arms pumping at her sides. Yuna made a face and began to swing her legs in an attempt to speed up.

As she began to approach the second wooden tower, Yuna swung forward and released the slider, sending her flying through the air. She rolled as she hit the ground, and then scrambled back up to her feet as Lulu was just about to pass her. Yuna groaned. No fair. They ran up the slope, jumping from one stone to the next. Both of them extended one hand to touch the star on the tree. Their hands touched it at the exact same moment, and both girls looked at each other. Yuna grinned before taking off, jumping down into palm tree forest. As she landed in the sand, Yuna rolled back up on her feet and ran as fast as she could to where Rikku and Tidus were waiting for the two girls to arrive.

She jumped back up to the stone platform, nearly slipping on a patch of moss near the edge, and then leapt into the water with a big splash. She struggled through the water as quickly as she could. Yuna could see Tidus and Rikku. She was practically there already! She could hear Rikku and Tidus cheer excitedly. Yuna smiled, reaching forward to grab onto the edge of the platform. She pulled herself up so she was standing right next to Tidus, her smile growing as she realized that she had won. Rikku screamed excitedly, pulling Yuna in a hug and then began to jump up and down.

“Congrats, Yunie!” (A/N: Yuna had to at least win one round against Lulu.)

Yuna grinned, her face slightly pink. She then turned to Lulu, who had just arrived. “Now the score’s one to one!” she laughed, almost mockingly.

Lulu gave Yuna an almost malicious look. “Man, lighten up. It’s just a name, after all.”

Yuna looked at Lulu, shocked for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, screwing her face up in frown. How could she have done that to her….?

Tidus looked at the two girls in turn, and then giving them his best smile in an attempt to lift their spirits. “Anyways! Today, we collect provisions for our trip!” Tidus turned to Yuna, putting his arms behind his head. “Let’s see. Yuna, you’re looking for one seagull eggs, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and….” Tidus reached into his pocket and pulled a clear bottle. He pushed it into Yuna’s hands, closing her fingers around it. “And fill this up with drinking. But not from the ocean!”

Yuna put the bottle away, glancing at Lulu one last time. “Alright, I got it.”

“Bring everything to the boat ruins,” Tidus said as he began to walk away with Rikku. “Rikku and I’ll be over there, okay? If you need help, just ask.”

The coconuts were probably the easiest to get. All Yuna had to do was whack the trunks of the coconut trees a few times until a ripe one fell to the ground. And since the trees were so close to the raft’s building site, Yuna merely dropped them down near the base of the mast.

As for the mushrooms, Yuna knew that there were a few growing on this side of the island. She managed to scrape up two mushrooms; one had been growing in a small cave near the boat ruins, but Yuna had had to move a boulder in order to get inside. The other grew among the plants near the base of the large wooden tower. Those were also quickly returned to the raft. Yuna set them down nicely near the coconuts.

Yuna had to get into the water in order to get the three fish. For some reason, she couldn’t find any in the cove, so she had to return to the other side of the island to find them. And since Yuna didn’t have any fishing gear on him, she’d had to catch them with her bare hands (no easy task). Donna had a lot of fun watching Donna swim around, trying to grab hold of the fish. In the end, she gave her a small net and a bag for her to keep them in.

The drinking water was also very easy to obtain, since on that side of the island, near the base of the big hollow tree, was a small waterfall and pond of fresh water. All she had to do was open the bottle and fill it up. The bottle of water was placed carefully into the bag with the fish.

It was possible that Yuna had the hardest time getting hold of a seagull egg. She didn’t even know where to begin to look for a seagull egg, as she had no idea where the seagulls nested. She probably climbed to the top of every tree on the island in order to find it. And when she did find the egg, she was surprised to see how big it was. Unfortunately, there was only one. Yuna sighed and placed the egg into the bag with the water and fish.

She returned to the boat ruins. Tidus was leaning against the mast of the raft, fiddling with a knife and his wooden sword that Yuna could see in his hands. Rikku was messing with some items to protect them, apparently.

Yuna smiled. “Tidus! Rikku!”

He didn’t look up. He merely smiled. Yuna tilted her head curiously to one side and came closer. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Just sharpening my sword,” he said. Turning to Yuna, he asked, “You made something the other day, right?”

“This?” she answered, raising a long piece of thread with a series of gray and red shells hooked into it from her pocket. “I made a necklace of Kilika shells. In the old days, sailors always wore Kilika shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage.” (A/N: Kilika shells are from the world temple of Kilika. In this story, all the temples Yuna goes to are their own seperate world.)

Yuna grinned. “Don’t worry, Tidus,” she said confidently. “With or without them, we’ll be just fine.”

Tidus smiled slightly. “You know I don’t believe in fairy tales, Yuna?”

She merely shrugged in response. Then, remembering, she held the bag out for Tidus. “Here’s the stuff we need.”

Tidus smiled as he took the bag from her with both hands. “Hey, that was quick! Thanks, Yuna. Let’s see, what’s still missing?” He inspected the bag and looked over what Yuna had placed at the base of the mast. “One more mushroom!”

Yuna groaned. “Another mushroom?”

Tidus laughed to himself. “You have this habit of forgetting just the one more item on the list,” he told Yuna. “I know you can find it, Captain!” He saluted Yuna playfully. Yuna looked confused.

“Don’t you remember, Yuna? You won the race and named the raft! And since you named the raft, doesn’t that make you captain?”

“Oh yeah,” Yuna murmured. That had been her condition. If Yuna won the race, then she’d be captain, and they’d name the raft Bahamut.

“Then from now on,” Tidus said with a laugh, “I’ll say ‘Aye, aye, Captain Yuna!’”

Yuna laughed. “Okay, Tidus. I’ll go find that last mushroom, so you and Rikku stay right here.”

Tidus smiled. “Aye, aye, Captain Yuna!”

Easier said than done. Yuna didn’t even know where to begin to search for another mushroom. She turned to Donna for help, but all she could talk about was the Biknel Star fruit, and who she should share it with. Yuna shrugged and left. She jumped down from the dock and looked around for someone else to ask. Her eye caught on the figure of Issau, still practicing with that red staff. Only this time, he was practicing where Lulu and Yuna had had their little spat the day before. Yuna made her way up to the top of the plateau as quickly as she could. “Hey, Issau!”

Issau turned around and looked over at Yuna, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He smiled and waved, and then continued with his practice.

“Hey, Yuna,” he said with a grin. “I think you’ve gotten stronger, but odds are you’re still no match for Lulu.” Yuna twitched at the words. “We took her on three-to-one last time, and she whipped us all. Well, I guess Tidus and Rikku can always count on her.”

Yuna’s face fell. “Hey, listen, Issau, you wouldn’t happen to know where to find some mushrooms, would you?”

“Say, are you and Lulu really pals?” Issau went on, as though he hadn’t heard Yuna’s question. “It’s kinda hard to tell sometimes. I know she's your guardian and all, but....” Then Issau lowered his weapon and looked over at Yuna. “Anyway… Let’s go a round, Yuna!”

Yuna sighed. Issau had completely ignored her question. There was just no helping how air-headed Issau could be. “One-on-one?” Yuna prompted. “Sure! I did promise you, right?”

Issau grinned and nodded. Yuna walked over to where she had left her staff the day before and took it into her hands. “And I always keep my promises. Bring it on, Issau!”

“Hey, no problem. I can take you down myself!”

Yuna and Issau got into their positions atop the plateau. Issau grinned as he ran forward and swung his staff with all his might. Yuna blocked the blow with her own staff and then moved around so she stood behind him. She struck Issau in the back, sending him forward, almost causing him to hit one of the trees face first. Issau spun around and swung his staff again, but Yuna jumped out of the way. He then did a somersault kick in the air, which Yuna just barely managed to dodge. Issau grinned as he followed up with a swing of his staff, striking Yuna in the side. Yuna slid to the side, clutching the bruise on her side and wincing.

As Issau made another charge, Yuna pulled the same move she had with Lulu before; jumping over her head and turning mid-air to strike Issau in the back. Issau stumbled forward and rolled over the edge of the platform. Yuna put her sword down and peered over the edge of the plateau.

“Y-You okay?” she called down.

Issau shook the water out of his hair and looked up. He waved at Yuna with a smile and then hit himself lightly on the head. “Aw, man… What’s up?”

Yuna smiled slightly, and then wordlessly took off. She still had a job to do. She was still looking for that last stupid mushroom. Yuna raced across the bridge and hopped onto the roof of the small wooden shack. She glanced around. Mushrooms grew in dark places… Kairi jumped from the roof to the fresh water pond, where Wakka was standing with his volleyball tucked under one arm. Wakka looked at Yuna as she landed and smiled.

“Hey, Yuna! You seen Issau?”

“Yeah, he’s back there.” Yuna pointed at the plateau then looked at Wakka curiously. “Why?”

Wakka smiled mysteriously at his reaction, turning toward the tree and pointing at a crack in the rock at the base of the large hollow tree. The rock surrounding it was overgrown with moss and other kinds of leafy vegetation. It was dark and musty looking. As Yuna followed Wakka’s gaze, her eyes widened.

“Me and Tidus,” Issau said, “we’re gonna do a little explorin’ today. You know, to the secret place at the base of that tree. There’s gotta be somethin’ there, ya?”

Yuna’s eyes still wide, she nodded in agreement. “You’re right,” she said slowly as a smile crept onto Yuna’s face. She turned to Wakka and patted him on the arm. “Thanks, Wakka!”

And with that, she hopped up toward the cave. Wakka looked confused at first, but then shrugged it off and turned back around to face where Issau was. Yuna bent over as she passed through the crack in the rock and then carefully rose to her full height when she reached the other side. She followed the tunnel wall with one hand as she walked, staring up at the gnarled roots that could be seen inside. The tunnel led to one very special place.

Tidus, Lulu, Rikku, and Yuna had never told the other three kids about their secret place. They had claimed the place as their own several years before. Right below the large tree was a fairly large hollow cavern. The walls were all rocks piled on top of each other, held together by the long, twisted roots of the tree above. Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus had been scratching drawings onto the rocks for the past few years. They had drawn castles and imaginary underwater places, with mermaids and fish. They had pictures of strange creatures, men that transformed into superbeings, dolls that talked and moved while dangling from a belt. There were drawings of strange smiling faces, hearts, diamonds, spades and clovers. There was even a picture of a ghost-like shadow creature looming over a small group of people.

They were never able to explain why they had drawn the pictures that they had drawn. There was nothing to connect them together, but they were all over the cavern. Every rock had a drawing of some kind etched into its surface. It made the place all the more special, the way they saw it. But the most mysterious and wondrous thing that could be found there was the strange door.

Or at least, it looked like a door. But there was no handle or keyhole to be found on it anywhere. All they knew was that, even though it seemed to be made of wood, it never rotted or decayed. The gold embroidery on the door’s surface never faded. It always looked brand new, even though it had been there for as long as Lulu, Rikku, and Yuna could remember.

Yuna smiled as she spotted a small mushroom nestled between the roots of the tree near the mysterious door. She walked over and pulled the mushroom out, inspecting it, and then tucked it into her belt with a grin. As Yuna was about to rise to her feet, she spotted another one of the drawings. It was a particularly special drawing, to her anyway. It was an etching of her and Tidus. Yuna had drawn Tidus, and Tidus had drawn Yuna. They weren’t the best artists in the world, so the drawings weren’t very good, but Yuna still loved it best of all.

She put one hand affectionately on the image of Tidus' face, remembering the day that the two of them had scratched the images onto the rock about a year and a half before. Yuna smiled faintly, taking a sharp rock into her hands. She then seated herself on the ground and began to etch something new into the rock, just below the image of Tidus' face. The rock whitened with every scratch she made, and small, dust-like pieces of the rock rained slowly down to the ground from the stone’s surface.

Yuna pulled away, gazing at her new etch, content. She smiled at the image. For there, near the sketch of STidus, was something that looked like a shooting star. But if one looked close enough, they would realize that it was actually an arm, leading from the image of Yuna’s face, holding a star close to Tidus' mouth. Yuna touched the star, smiling.

As she stared at the image, Yuna heard a noise from behind her. She turned around and rose to her feet. “Wh-Who’s there?” Yuna stammered. (A/N: This scene here still creeps me out!)

Standing in the shadows beneath one of the tree’s roots was a strange person in a long brown overcoat. The hood was so deep that the face of whoever it was got lost in the shadow. A deep voice boomed from within the darkness of the figure’s hood.

“I’ve come to see the door to this world.”

“Huh?”

“This world has been connected,” it continued.

“Wh-What are you talking about?”

“Tied to the darkness…” It was as though the cloaked person couldn’t hear Yuna’s questions.

“Soon to be completely eclipsed.”

Yuna narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists. “Well, whoever you are,” Yuna told him, finding her voice, “stop freakin’ me out like this.” Her eyes widened in a sudden realization. “Huh? Wh-Where did you come from?”

The figure never moved an inch. “You do not yet know what lies beyond the door.”

Yuna glanced at the door to her side. Her heart began to race. “So,you’re from anotherworld!”

“There is so very much to learn. You understand so little.”

“Oh, yeah,” Yuna said, her voice growing as she challenged him. She narrowed her eyes at the hooded figure. “Well, you’ll see. I’m gonna out there and learn what’s out there!”

“A meaningless effort,” came a voice. “One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”

She thought to say something biting, but nothing came out of Yuna’s mouth. She merely glared at the hooded figure for a while, waiting for him to say something. After moment of silence, Yuna slowly turned her head to look at the door, her eyes burning holes into its surface. She had seen a hundred times before, and this time was no different. She scrutinized it for a brief moment and then turned quickly to look at the figure.

But she was all alone.
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Yuna returned to Tidus and Rikku and handed him the last mushroom.

“Thanks, Yuna! I found something today, too. Here, it’s yours.”

Sora pulled out a Hi-Potion and handed it to Yuna. Yuna laughed as she took it from him. “Is this all you ever have for me, Tidus?”

He screwed her face up in an attempt to look mean. “Hey, no complaining, Captain!” Then, as though he just couldn’t hold it back anymore, Tidus smiled. “Tired? Wanna call it a day?”

“Yeah, we should get home soon,” Yuna said, slowly glancing over her shoulder as though expecting something to be there. She then looked up into the sky, noticing that it had suddenly gotten darker.

“Okay!” Tidus said with a giggle. “Tomorrow’s the big day! We should rest up!”

"Coming, Rikku?" Yuna asked her cousin, Rikku looked up and shook her head, smiling, "No, Yunie. I'll stay here and make all our supplies are safe for tomorrow. Make sure to tell Pops for me, okay?" Yuna smiled and nodded.

Both Yuna and Tidus walked together toward their boats, but as Yuna was about to jump into her boat, Tidus walked toward the end of the dock and sat down, dangling his feet over the edge. Yuna tilted her head slightly to one side, confused, then walked over and sat next to him.

They sat in silence for a while, looking out toward the horizon at the sunset. The water glimmered in the orange light as the sun was just beginning to sink and set the sky aflame.

Yuna leaned back, propping herself up with her arms as she stared out into the sunset. She smiled slightly as she watched the water gleam in the failing light.

“You know, Lulu has changed.”

She looked over at Tidus curiously. His face was solemn, his hands folded in his lap, his eyes lowered slightly. The seriousness in his voice had surprised her.

“What do you mean?”

He shut his eyes slowly, taking a deep breath, and then slowly looking up into the sunset. “Well… hmm…”

Yuna kept her gaze on his face. “You okay?”

Tidus looked over at Yuna, a faint, cheerful smile on his face. “Yuna, let’s take the raft and go – just the two of us!”

Fortunately for Yuna, the orange tint of the sunset covered up her red face. “Huh?”

He looked away quickly, returning his attention to the horizon. He giggled, rocking slightly back and forth. “Just kidding.”

Yuna looked away slowly, also gazing into the fiery sunset. “What’s gotten into you?” Yuna asked him, her voice shaken with nervous laughter. “You’re the one that’s changed, Yuna.”

His face was solemn again, his eyes having once again lowered so that he was staring into his lap, at the hands that clutched his knees tightly. “Maybe.” He leaned forward, putting his weight on his hands, his eyes lifting toward the sunset again. “You know, I was a little afraid at first, but… Now I’m ready! No matter whereI go, or what I see, I know I can always come back here.”

He looked at Yuna with a smile. “Right?”

She looked back at himslightly taken aback, and nodded. “Yeah, of course!”

“That’s good,” he said quietly, looking into the sunset again. H rubbed the palms of his plams on his knees. He took a deep breath. "Yuna, don't ever change."

“Huh?” She atched with wide, alarmed eyes as Tidus rose to his feet. What... did that mean?
“I just can’t wait,” Tidus said, even quieter than before, putting his hands before his head. "Once we set sail... It'll be great."
Yuna leaned back, looking back at the sunset. Once they set sail...
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Dear Kairi,

Sorry to rush off without sayin’ goodbye, but there’s big trouble brewin’.
Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin’ out, one by one.

And that means disaster can’t be far behind.
I hate to leave you all but I’ve gotta go check into it.

There’s someone with a sword like a "key"-the key to our survival. (A/N: You'll find out this meaning soon.)

So I need you to go with Vincent Valentine from Gaea (A/N: Vincent, who is captain of the guard for Gaea, is playing the role of Goofy in the story) to find him, and stick with him. Got it?

We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon.

He'll point you in the right direction.

P.S.
Would you apologize to Namine for me? Thank, Kai.

~Sora​

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Destiny Islands Castle

“Oh, man! What could this mean?"

Kairi, Riku, General Roxas, and Queen Namine were all gathered in the castle library. The king’s moogle, Mog, was asleep in his bed on the floor near the desk, from where the queen had been reading the letter aloud to the others. Kairi bowed her head in dismay, putting her hands solemly together. Riku scratched the back of his head, somewhat confused by what had just happened. The queen put the letter down on the desk, smoothing it over the surface, and rose to her feet.

“It means we’ll just have to trust the king,” she told Roxas, walking around the desk to stand next to him.

Riku placed one finger thoughtfully on his lips. “Gee, I sure hope he’s all right.”

Kairi looked up at Queen Namine, putting one fist over her heart. “Your Highness.” Namine turned to look at the court witch.“Don’t worry,” she told her proudly. “I'll find the king and this sword like a 'key'."

The queen smiled at Kairi. “Thank you,” she said sweetly. Then, letting out a deep breath, she added, "Thank you very much, Kairi."

The court witch dropped her fist and turned to Roxas. "Roxas, can you take care of - ”

“Of course.” The young general smiled and nodded. "You be careful now, you lucky girl!"

“Oh,” Queen Namine said quietly, the word escaping from her lips in a high whisper. Her eyes drifted back toward the table. “And to chronicle your travels, she will accompany you.” The queen gestured toward the desk.

Kairi blinked, confused. She couldn’t see anybody. All she saw was the desk and everything that the king had left on its surface. That is, until she noticed the black coated person leaning against the table.

“Hey there!” came a loud voice.

The voice belonged to the black coated person that leaned against the edge of the desk, the person took off the black coat. She stood upright on her legs, her feet slipped into a pair of simple black and white sneakers. She wore a long white lab-like jacket over her gray shirt and light blue pants. Her hair was wavy and went down along her back, light blue in color, on the back of her body was a pair of angel-like wings, light blue in color, which she folded in greeting to Kairi. (A/N: The role of Jiminy will played by one of my characters, Arisa, the persona user of Icarus.)

“Name's Arisa,” he said with a bow. “Arisa Anila, at your service.”

Namine looked back at Kairi. “We hope for your safe return. Please help the king.”

Kairi straightened and put her right hand over her heart in salute. The queen and Roxas folded their hands in front of them, nodding approvingly at the court witch. Riku, who now stood next to Roxas, saluted Kairi as though Kairi were a soldier heading off to war. Kairi glared at Riku, instantly breaking her posture as she stormed forward and grabbed Riku by the arm.

“You're seeing me off!” she shouted, dragging Riku away.
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“Wow, Arisa, your world disappeared, too?”

Kairi and Riku trudged down a long spiral staircase that led to where the Highwind ships were held. They weren’t used very often, only in emergencies, and there were only two ships. Kairi and Riku knew for sure that the king had taken one of them on his investigation, which meant they were left with the other to follow him, but they both knew that Vincent had already arrived with his kingdom's.

They were pretty much a secret to everyone. Only a small group of people knew about these Gummi ships. Because of this, they were stored far below the castle, which was why Riku and Kairi, with Arisa following behind Riku, were walking down a very long spiral staircase. It was dark, and the only sources of light came from symbols etched into the wall that cast a dim light over the steps.

“It was terrible,” Arisa replied. “We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I’m the only one who made it to this castle. I know my sister and a friend are around.”

Kairi glanced behind her. “Riku?” she called, reminding her friend of her mission.

“Oh, right,” Riku said, remembering. “I got it. While you're in other worlds, you can’t let on where you’re from.” Riku chuckled softly. “You’ve gotta protect the world border.”

Kairi shook her head sadly from side to side as she softly smiled. “ ‘Order’,” she corrected him.

“Right. World order.” Riku let out a silent chuckle.

The witch sighed, exasperated, as they left the spiral staircase behind them and walked down a short tunnel to where a door awaited their arrival. They had just about reached the Highwind ship hangar.

“I guess you’ll need new duds when you get there, huh?” Riku asked Kairi as they reached the large crown shaped door.

There was no reply from the witch.

The Highwind ship hangar looked like the inside of a clock while being fixed. There was a pair of giant mechanical white gloves that moved about the hangar attached to sliders that were in the rafters, picking items up and moving them across the room. There were giant gears all over the room, including one exceptionally large one right next to the control center. There were strangely shaped gizmos all over the room, some of which had functions unknown to most everyone. The Highwind ship was placed in the middle of the clockwork chaos, basking in its own glory.

Kairi stepped up to a yellow pipe, designed after the kinds used to communicate on sea ships. The pipe was meant to allow communication between the launch crew up in the control center and the pilots. Kairi cupped one hand around her mouth as she spoke into it.

“Hello up there?” he quacked. “Kairi to launch crew! Anytime you’re ready!”

As Kairi’s voice echoed in the control center, one of the launch crewmembers eagerly gave a salute. The other crewmember dashed behind the first, running to the other side of the control center, and pulled on one of the levers, lowering it. The crewmember planted both feet on the ground and spun around, trying to make sure all was in order in the hangar. It would’ve been a disaster if he had jumped the wrong lever.

Inside the hangar, pipes began to blow out steam and the gears began to spin even faster than before. The giant white gloves moved across the hangar to where Arisa and Kairi stood waiting. They lowered one by one and closed their giant fingers gently around first Arisa, then Kairi, and carried them quickly over to the Gaea Highwind ship, where they were dropped into the cockpit.

It was about then that Mog flow through the entrance to the hangar and leapt gracefully from the balcony. When he landed, he slid across the flooring, straight into the ground entrance of the Highwind ship. Mog was tucked inside the ship with a slight kupo of surprise.

Arisa and Kairi stood ready with Captain Vincent Valentine in the cockpit as the doorway in front of them began to open slowly. The Highwind ship’s engine started up, and the entire ship began to shake, mildly at first, but slowly getting stronger and more violent. The runway on the other side of the door had red and blue lights lined all along the walls until they were engulfed by the darkness.

Queen Naminee and Roxas had come down to see them off. They stepped out toward the railing, standing next to Riku, and looked up to where the Highwind ship had been elevated so that it was level with the now open runway. Kairi looked out and winked, giving a thumbs up signal to Riku and Roxas.

The rocket engines began to spew fire as the Highwind ship was just about ready to blast off. The ship shook violently with the force of the engine. Kairi grinned, and pointed one finger enthusiastically toward the runway.

“Blast off!” she screamed excitedly.

Suddenly a red arrow that pointed down appeared in the way of the runway. An alarm began to go off. And then, as quick as lightning, the flooring beneath the ship vanished. Kairi, Arisa, and co-pilot Elena began to scream as the ship fell and tumbled through darkness, the engines trying desperately to start up again. The ship popped out from the dark tunnel just as the rocket boosters finally kicked in. The pilot, Tseng, took hold of the controls. It wasn’t long before the ship had vanished out of sight.
Enjoy!

 

Good as always. But in the conversation with Tidus and Yuna, I believe it should say "Tidus, don't ever change." instead of "Yuna".

I would be very interested in seeing some work where you don't base it off of anything that already exists. I know that was random, but still, it would be pretty awesome xD.

Keep up the good work.

 

Chapter 3

Third chapter! Yuna's journey begins!

Chapter 3
The Adventure Begins
Besaid Island

The sky had turned dark purple, now that the sun had completely set, and the ocean, reflecting the sky, had also turned into a murky dark blue-violet. The water looked infinitely deeper than it had just an hour or so earlier. Outside, the street lamps cast their unnatural yellow light on the road, piercing through the darkness at regular intervals.

Yuna’s room was engulfed in darkness, even though she had turned on the light near her desk. The only light was what managed to creep in through the slits in the bottom of her bedroom door (the hall light was always so much stronger than the lights in her room), as well as the faint moonlight that came in through the shut window. The light just barely touched the many items strewn across the floor; clothes lying in the neat piles that she had placed them in, old books that had been pulled out but was stacked on one aother. It was the typical bedroom of a seventeen-year-old girl.

Yuna lay on her bed, still fully dressed. Her arms were wrapped under her knees as she stared blankly out through the closed window, where she could see their island in the distance. Her gaze shifted slowly from the window to the ceiling, and then wandered to some of the many toys she had dangling from the ceiling. Among them was a ship, in which she had placed some time before (how long ago she couldn’t remember) two dolls that Rikku had made for her a few years earlier. They weren’t the best dolls that Rikku had ever made, but they did definitely look like one boy and one girl. She stared at the dolls intently, his thoughts drifting to Tidus.

‘I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.’

She could hear his voice echoing in her head. Yuna smiled, turning his head slowly to look back out the window. The night sky was getting illuminated slightly by a white blue light, flashing on and off. Yuna started to slowly rise into a sitting position, her smile fading. She could see lightning flashes illuminating the sky, the clouds, and the trees of a distant island.

“A storm? Oh, no!” Yuna gasped, sitting up in bed quickly. “The raft!”
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“Yuna!”

The rough fatherly voice came from downstairs. Footsteps could be heard, getting louder and louder as Cid, Yuna’s uncle and Rikku's father, approached her bedroom.

“Dinner’s ready!”

The footsteps were loud now. He was just about to open the door to her room.

“Yuna?”

The doorknob rattled as Cid wrapped his fingers about it. The door creaked as he opened the door. The yellow light from the hallway spilled into Yuna’s room, pouring over the first objects that would be caught, casting long shadows across the floor. The night sea breeze blew in through the open window, gently rolling the curtains between its fingers. The bed was ruffled, but no one lay in it.
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Yuna paddled hurriedly toward the island in her raft, the lightning and thunder booming in her ears. The sea was calmer than it usually was during storms, which made the boating trip that much easier. Yuna gasped for breath as she had just about reached the island, taking a small break from paddling. Her eyes lifted to the sky.

“What’s that?” Yuna breathed aloud, her eyes narrowing.

Hovering just above the island was a large blue-black colored orb. Its core glowed a sort of pinkish-orange color, and all across the surface of the orb were strings of what could only be described as lightning. Yuna glared at it. This was no storm. No clouds were gathered, nor was the water any harsher than usual. But still, that giant orb couldn’t mean anything good. She hopped up onto the dock, deciding not to bother with tying up the boat, and as she was just about to head to the where the raft lay in wait, her eye caught. She froze, her eyes fixated on three other boats floating in the water, right next to hers.

“Lulu’s boat,” he gasped. “Rikku's! And Tidus'!”

She clenched her teeth. What were they doinghere? Were they worried about the raft, too? Yuna looked away from the boats and searched what she could see of the island. No Lulu or Tidus anywhere. Just a scared Rikku running toward her. “Yunie!!!!!!! These weird creatures just appeared when I got done checking the supplies on the raft!” And Yuna found out what she meant when something caught her eye.

That’s when something dark rose up from the ground. It was bent over, its front limbs lowered to the ground, making it look something like a giant black ant with glowing yellow eyes. It bounced about, constantly shifting its weight from one crooked leg to the other. It wasn’t alone. More and more of its kind soon joined it. Yuna’s eyes widened. Her heart stopped for just a moment.

The shadow creatures from her dream.

She suddenly felt like she was going to lose his mind. How could those things exist? They were supposed to have just been images in her mind, it was just supposed to be a dream... Maybe she was still dreaming. Maybe she wasn't on the island at all and was really still at home, lying in bed.

Due to her shock, she didn't realize that several of the creatures were about to attack her and Rikku. By the time she did, they had already pounced on them, raking their claws across their clothes and exposed flesh. She and Rikku cried out in pain and quickly shook them off. These things - these monsters - were real. The pain was enough to tell her that. But why?
Finally breaking away, she ran to her boat to grab her wooden staff. She then spun around on her heel to face the shadow monsters, placing herself in front of Rikku to protect her.

They took little hops toward them, and once they got close enough, they jumped at them. Yuna and Rikku moved out of the way, turning slightly in a dodge. And then she realized - they had them surrounded. The ones behind her attacked and sent her tumbling forward, straight into others who sent her back. Yuna bit down on her lip, trying desperately to swallow her fear and panic, and began to swing her wooden staff frantically from side to side.

A chill ran down her spine. Her sword couldn’t hit them. She could feel her mind border on the edge of panic again, buts he quickly forced it back down. Clenching her teeth, Yuna spun around, grabbing Rikku’s hand and started to run. Maybe she could escape from them.

She stared at the creatures he had left behind, wide eyed. Maybe they wouldn’t follow her. Suddenly, Yuna and Rikku were pushed back onto the ground by something that had hit them from the front. She looked. More of the shadow creatures.

A small, frightened sound escaped from her throat as Yuna and Rikku scrambled to her feet and continued to run. But where could they run to? To the secret place. Yeah, the secret place. They could be safe there. Yuna’s eyes widened in shock when he reached the crack in the wall. It was covered. Not by a rock, not by plants. There was a door standing in their way.

‘Where did this door come from?’ Yuna thought, panicked.

It looked familiar somehow. White in color. Slightly pointed at the top. Intricate carvings all over its surface. Sora grabbed the handles and pulled. Nothing. It was locked.

‘Better go find Lulu first.’

She and Rikku spun around and began to run. They jumped down into the fresh water pond, leapt up onto the roof of the shack. The shadow creatures kept popping out. From where? Yuna didn’t know. They would just rise up from the ground, no matter where she went. And she couldn’t escape every flashing claw he encountered.

It wasn’t long before the exposed parts of her and Rikku’s arms and legs had scratches all over them. In panic, Yuna and Rikku jumped up onto a tree trunk and began to climb to the top. Yuna looked below them, where the creatures had followed. They hopped around frantically, but none of them climbed.

“Serves ya right, ya freaks!” Rikku shouted down at them.

The tree swayed as the wind began to pick up speed. Yuna looked around him desperately. Strong wind was not good, especially since they were in a tree. Where to run to? No matter where they went, those creatures would be there. She had to calm down. She had to think… The plateau was nearby. Yuna looked to the plateau on their right. And that’s when she realized… Someone was standing there.

“Lulu?”

Yuna and Rikku jumped from the tree trop to the ground, hitting the ground in a run. They dashed across the bridge, doing their best to ignore the shadow creatures. It was… Yes, it was Lulu! It seemed like she was looking out into the horizon. Again. Yuna gritted her teeth as she and Rikku came to stop just a few feet behind Lulu.

“Where’s Tidus?!” she screamed, half angry, half panicked. “I thought he was with you!”

“The door,” came Lulu’s voice, “has opened…”

Lulu’s voice was surprisingly even and calm. Yuna and Rikku narrowed their eyes, confused. “What?”

“The door has opened, Yuna, Rikku!” Lulu said as she turned to face them, her voice louder. “Now we can go to the outside world!”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Yuna shouted, clenching her hands into fists as Rikku held onto her arm, worried. “We’ve gotta find Tidus!”

“Tidus’ coming with us!” Lulu shouted back, her voice almost trembling with excitement, a strange gleam in her eye.

Yuna and Rikku were taken aback, their eyes widening. Her heart skipped a beat. What was going on? What had gotten into Lulu? What was wrong with her?!

“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back,” Lulu said matter of factly. She was looking up at the glowing orb, which hovered directly above her.

“We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back. But this may be our only chance.” She sounded calm, even somewhat remorseful. But what she was saying… “We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!”

Lulu turned back to Yuna and Rikku, a hint of a smile on her face and an almost maniacal gleam in her eye. She calmly outstretched one hand toward Yuna and Rikku. Yuna had seen this before, too. Terror had completely seized her now. Her dream…

“Lulu…” Her voice was shaking.

Suddenly, a large black patch appeared right underneath Lulu’s feet. Black tendrils reached up from the ground and wrapped tightly around Lulu’s body, steadily climbing higher and higher. It had almost completely engulfed her. Yet Lulu’s position remained the same, one hand still outstretched. Something inside Yuna's head kept screaming in panic, ‘The dream, the dream…’

Yuna ran toward her, one hand reaching out for Lulu. But suddenly, her feet refused to move. A black patch had appeared around her and Rikku, too. Yuna was terrified. It was like that dream, all over again. Maybe it hadn’t been a dream after all. Yuna looked back up at Lulu and leaned forward, still trying to grab hold of Lulu’s hand. She had to save her… Somehow, she had to save Lulu…

A force pushed Yuna and Rikku backward, her arm thrust back toward her. Yuna and Rikku began to struggle, the black shadow tendrils beginning to wrap around her. It was exactly like her dream! Even the texture… The cold, icy feeling… Suddenly it felt like the ground was shaking beneath her. Yuna felt like she and Rikku would fall at any moment.

The darkness began to close in around them… She could hardly see… The whole world was going black… Where was Lulu? She didn’t even know any more. Where was this? What was this feeling? Why was everything so dark? Why couldn’t she see? What had happened to Lulu? To Tidus? She hadn’t found Tidus yet!

A bright gleam of light suddenly pierced through the darkness. It got brighter and brighter, until all the darkness was forced away and Yuna and Rikku were blinded by the white light. And then the strange feeling was gone. The white light dimmed. Yuna and Rikku opened their eyes and gazed around them. They were back on the island. Still in the exact place they had been standing with Lulu. Lulu!

Yuna looked in front of her and Rikku. Lulu was gone. She frowned, looking down at her feet, and then into her right hand. She was holding some kind of sword. The upper portion of it, where his fingers were tightly wound about it, was colored gold and red. The length of it was blue, and the blade was shaped like a large hook. Yuna gripped the sword in her hand and looked up into the sky with Rikku. Was this… Was this for that weird fancy door that had appeared…?

Brotherhood…(A/N: Brotherhood is Yuna's Keyblade. Because of the hook. Its 'keychains' are two pendants that symbolize what kind of Brotherhood is it.)

A voice. The same one from her dream?

Brotherhood…

She looked down at the Brotherhood and examined it. Dangling from the top on two red silk ribbons, like a keychain on a bag, were two small pendants: one was a crown and the other was some kind of demon dog on its hind legs, it had three head and was ready to attack. Yuna recognized that symbol. That, too, had been in her dream. What did it mean?

Just then, the shadow creatures began to appear again. Yuna gasped, spinning with Rikku on her heel and dashing back across the bridge to the mainland. They reappeared on the bridge. They popped up from the sand on the beach. And it seemed like there were more of them!

Yuna began to swing the sword at them, panicked, not knowing what else to do. And, quite to their surprise, the sword was striking them. It was as though the sword could pop them open with just a few swings. Yuna grinned. It was time for revenge. She struck every shadow creature that came in their way, relishing in the fact that she could now kill them. And every time one vanished, she felt strength flow into her body.

While it was fun to kill these things, Yuna and Rikku did eventually remember the strange door. Maybe now that she had this Brotherhood, she would be able to open it. That made sense enough, didn’t it? Yuna destroyed one more shadow creature before she and Rikku headed for the door.

Once Yuna and Rikku reached it, she raised the Brotherhood toward it. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, though. She began to grow impatient, just waiting for something to happen. Yuna moaned and began to run in place, restless. For all she knew, those shadow things were surrounding them!

“Agh, screw it!” Yuna grumbled.

She tucked the Brotherhood into her belt and was just about to grab the door handles, when suddenly, the door opened on its own. Yuna and Rikku stepped back, alarmed. Suddenly, she realized where she had seen this door before. It had also been in her dream. No doubt about it. They looked almost exactly the same, and they even opened the same way.

She hesitated slightly before crawling through the crack in the rock with Rikku. They ran down the earthy tunnel, their arms pumping at their sides. There was something here. Something was different. Something… had changed.

Yuna and Rikku entered the cavity beneath the tree and screeched to a stop, their eyes caught. “Tidus!”

Tidus was standing in front of the strange wooden door. It seemed as though he had merely been staring at it all this time. he slowly turned around at the sound of his name. Something inside Yuna jumped. There was something different about him. He looked drained of energy, almost sickly. His eyes were half shut, his arms lying limp at his sides. His eyes moved as though vaguely aware that there was anything in front of him.

“Yuna… Rikku…..” His voice was slow and dragging. It sounded almost like a ghost.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and the sound of his voice. What was going on? First Lulu, and now Tidus?

he began to lifted one arm slowly, outstretching it toward Yuna and Rikku. Yuna lifted one hand toward him as though meaning to take his hand into hers. There was something wrong with him. She had to help him somehow. She had to save him… Tidus’ eyes began to widen. There was something in his face that looked terrified of something…

The door behind him suddenly exploded open. Some kind of dark force flushed out like a strong wind. Yuna had to shield himself and Rikku from the blast. She forced her eyes open and looked back at Tidus. The wind pushed him forward. Yuna looked up at him and stretched out her arms in an attempt to catch her. Tidus opened his arms slightly, ready to grab onto Yuna…

Yuna closed her arms… around nothing. Tidus had vanished! Yuna’s eyes went wide in alarm. What…? She looked up into the newly opened doorway. Suddenly, the force strengthened, and Yuna and Rikku knocked off their feet and sent careening backwards down the earthen hallway, tumbling head over heels until they popped out on the other side and they were rolling in the beach sand. They pulled their faces out of the sand and raised themselves up onto all fours. Their eyes widened in horror.

“Whoa!”

The entire island had been destroyed! No, the entire world had been destroyed! All that was left was a small spat of the island. There was no more water, no more mainland, no rocks, no trees, no anything! She could feel her face grow cold, unable to do anything but watch, feeling pathetic and helpless to stop these horrible things from happening. Every ounce of panic she had felt that night came back to him in full force, overwhelming all of her senses. Her mind raced, full of distraught, unanswered questions that only panicked her further.

Yuna and Rikku spun around, rising to their feet. Just above them was the glowing orb. It seemed to have gotten bigger. Debris from the island was spinning around them as though they had been caught in the eye of the tornado. They seemed to be getting sucked into the orb. The whole world had gotten sucked up by that giant glowing orb. All that was left was the small piece of island, a few surviving wooden planks, Yuna, Rikku, and something that had come back to haunt her.

The giant monster from her dream.

It loomed over them ominously, its yellow eyes peering out from the tangle of tentacles that were wrapped tightly about its face, its claws, its curled feet, the giant heart shaped hole in its middle… There it was. And Yuna knew that this was no dream. Every sensation here was real: the panic, the terror, the frustration and anger... The only thing she could think to do at that moment was attack.

So she did. She pulled out the Brotherhood from his belt, gripping it tight in her hands and then ran toward the shadow monster. She leapt into the air, the Brotherhood raised high over her head, and Rikku strictly holding onto her neck. Then, with all the distraught, fragmented thoughts and emotions blasting through her mind at light speed, something inside Yuna exploded.

“This is all your fault!” she screamed, feeling hot tears pricking at her eyes. Somewhere deep down she knew it wasn’t true, but she needed to take the blame out on something.

The Brotherhood sliced vertically downward on the monster’s hand. The monster released a cry of fury and pain as the tip of the Brotherhood was pushed deeper into the monster’s skin. Yuna pulled herself and Rikku up onto the monster’s arm, then grabbed the Brotherhood with both hands and pulled the tip back out. She then began to half-run, half-stumble up the length of the monster’s arm toward its head. As Yunaapproached the giant’s face, it turned slightly to look at her and Rikku with its large yellow eyes.

A shiver of terror ran down Yuna’s spine. Those malicious yellow eyes…

Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and struck at the monster’s face with the Brotherhood. How effective it was this time around, Yuna couldn’t tell. She didn’t dare look. She didn’t ever want to have to see those eyes again. For extra measure, Yuna raised the Brotherhood up into the air and slashed again. Had she won? She couldn’t tell. She just wanted to find out what had happened to Lulu and Tidus. She thought that maybe, just maybe, once this thing was defeated, he’d find out. There must be a connection.

The creature slammed its hands into the ground, sand rising from the ground with the impact and flying up into the glowing orb above them. The force of the blow knocked Yuna and Rikku back to the ground, falling from the monster’s shoulder. Yuna and Rikku rolled away from the monster and then quickly rose up to their feet to see what was happening.

Whether Yuna had won or not, the force of the tornado that they were caught in had gotten stronger. Yuna and Rikku ran to the side, grabbing onto the first thing that they saw; a portion of the dock. The monster’s feet began to lift up off the ground. Yuna and Rikku gasped in horror as they watched the monster get pulled into the air. The orb was sucking the monster up, too! They turned away as the monster merged with the giant orb, focusing all their energy on holding on to the wooden planks.

The wind, or the force, or whatever it was, was getting stronger with each passing second. Yuna and Rikku’s feet began to lift up off the ground. One hand each was wrenched away from the wooden planks. Yuna gritted her teeth, trying to hold on with her one hand alongside Rikku as she tried to get the other hand low enough to grab on. But it was no use. The force was just getting too strong. It wasn’t long before Yuna and Rikku found themselves high above the ground, getting closer and closer to the giant orb’s surface. All they could do was reach desperately for the land that was quickly getting farther and farther away from the reach of their outstretched hands…

Enjoy the start of Yuna's journey to close Kingdom Hearts!

 

That was good. I loved it. It's sod that Riku's not in it.

 

Actually, Riku is in it, he's replaced Goofy as Captian of the Royal Guard and Kairi replaces Donald Duck as the High Court Magician and the role of Jiminy Cricket had been handled over to one of Aerith's original characters Arisa.

I'm interested to see what will happen to Yuna and Rikku as they have be shedded in a new spotlight.

 

Thanks for all the comments, everyone. Now that Yuna has started her journey, I will have some surprises for her along the way.

 

Chapter 4

The first outside world Yuna and Rikku counter, Traverse Town! Yay! Please, enjoy!

Chapter 4 Traverse Town

“Look, a star is going out!”

Vincent pointed up at one of the many stars in the night sky. He was right. It was definitely vanishing. Kari and Arisa stared up at it, their mouths agape in shock. The three friends watched in alarm as the star shone brightly for one final moment, and then vanished without a trace. Kairi lowered her eyes and fixed her gaze on Vincent and Arisa’s faces. “Come on, let’s hurry.”

Vincent and Arisa nodded at Kairi in agreement. Vincent and Arisa led the way, Kairi still looking wondrously upwards into the starry night sky. Kairi and Vincent, along with the king’s moogle and Arisa, had finally made it to Traverse Town. After all, the king had told them to go to there to find this “Leon”. They’d given themselves a wardrobe makeover as to appear less suspicious to the civilians they were going to encounter. Traverse Town had provided them with the clothes they’d needed.

Traverse Town was very basic in structure. It looked just like any other town that anyone could find in any corner of the galaxy. But this place was where people from any world could go to. It was quite possibly the only place where there were people who knew that there were worlds other than its own. It was almost homely, but just about overrun with people of all different kinds, from different worlds across the galaxy. The town was divided into three major districts, each filled with buildings of different kinds; inns, houses, stores, and even a gizmo shop.

The first district had the most shops in it. The red roofed houses always had their lights on at night, making it very welcoming to the people who had wound up in the town by accident, or if they were worn from a long journey. It was the entryway into the rest of the town. It was there that Kairi, Vincent, and Arisa began their search.

“Now, where’s that key?” Kari grumbled, her arms folded indignantly over her chest.

“Hey,” Arisa suggested, casting a glance at Kairi. “You know, maybe we should to go find Leon.”

No answer. Kari was clearly annoyed at Arisa’s habit of pointing out the obvious. Arisa merely shrugged and sighed. The quartet continued walking through the town, walking up a set of stairs in front of one of the shops. Vincent and Arisa stormed up the right side, while Kari and Mog were on the left. Mog had his nose high in the air, sniffing out a trail like a true bloodhound in search of his master.

As they reached the top of the set of stairs, Kairi stopped walking. Arisa and Vincent had turned to the right while Mog had turned left down an alleyway. She looked first at Mog, then at Arisa and Vincent, then back at Mog. She scratched her head thoughtfully, jingling her new bracelets around her arm. She then raised one hand objectively in Vincent and Arisa’s direction.

“Uh, Vincent, Arisa,” Kairi called her companions, pointing toward where Mog had gone. “You know, I think that…”

Arisa cast a sideways glance at Kairi and waved her off, frustrated. “Aw, what do I know, Court Magician?” (A/N: Protecter212 would only know what she means. In the rpg, Arisa starts clueless about her life.)

“What do you know?” Kairi wondered aloud, putting one finger over her lips thoughtfully. Unable to answer the question, Kairi shrugged and turned to follow Vincent and Arisa. “C’mon, Mog!”

Mog seemed to be too consumed in the scent trail he had picked up. It wasn’t his master’s scent, nor was it the scent of any one he knew, but for some reason, Mog was unable to tear his moogle nose away from its trail. He didn’t know for sure, but he wondered if maybe the thing or the person or the creature the scent belonged to was important somehow.

He continued down the alleyway, his nose up in the air. He turned the corner and passed a large set of crates piled on top of each other against the wall. He passed a group of barrels in the corner. Mog continued to walk until he had almost reached a wooden barrier, but before he reached the dead end, Mog stopped.

For there, nuzzled between the wall and a stack of crates and barrels did the scent trail end. Pluto put his nose next to the normal black boot, smelling it, matching it with the intoxicating scent trail he had picked up. Matched.

Mog jingled his pom-pom out in a happy gesture and gazed at the prize he had found. A girl, maybe seventeen years old. She had shoulder light brown hair curled to a curve to one side of her head. She wore a colorful designed beaded earring that hung from her right ear with a light blue furred tip. Around her neck she wore a silver chain with an unusually shaped flower pendant.

The earring touched a sleeveless white kimono-style top that fitted perfectly on her chest, the sides showed a bit of black. As it went a little past her hips, there was a long dark purple skirt with the design of flowers around the lower right corner. Around her waist was a yellow slash, from a red flower shaped pad two long chains dangled on the girl’s left side. Her purple skirt was almost spilt on her right side, revealing the knee length of her boots. A plush toy of a girl in a bright orange sleeveless top, lime green shorts, and light brown boots also dangled from her slash. (A/N: I needed to find major refences pics to desrcibe Yuna's FFX outfit! ><)

Yuna.

There was something about the girl that reminded Mog of his master. Maybe it was the shoes. Mog smiled as he stared at Yuna’s slumbering body. He then plotted forward and tickled the girl’s face happily. Yuna began to groan at the feel of Mog’s pom-pom “kisses”. Mog retreated briefly, his pom-pom still jingling on his head in moogle laughter.

Yuna forced her eyes open and gazed sleepily at her surroundings, then over at the moogle that stood nearby. As her vision began to clear, she recognized the features of the moogle. She moaned, shutting her eyes and turning slightly away.

“What a dream,” she moaned tiredly, her head rolling back to where it had been.

Mog’s pom-pom stopped jingling, tilting his head to the side. The girl was going back to sleep! Mog grunted and jumped at Yuna, pushing her hard into the wall. The mixture of shock and pain made Yuna’s eyes shoot open. She was wide awake now. Yuna looked back at Mog; her bi-colored eyes now open wide.

“This isn’t a dream!” she realized aloud, screwing her eyes up as she looked at Mog.

The moogle allowed his pom-pom to hop around as he watched Yuna use the wall and the crates she was up against to rise to her feet. Yuna turned her head around and around, completely lost and utterly disoriented.

“Where am I?” she murmured as she gazed at her surroundings. She was most definitely in an alleyway. And there really wasn’t much to see. “Oh, boy…”

It wasn’t even like there was any interesting garbage lying around. There was a garbage dump in the corner to Yuna’s right hand side, but it was very neatly kept. The lid was on and everything. Everything else in the alley was just barrels and crates, stacked somewhat haphazardly on top of one another. All she could see were walls that seemed to be closing in on her, with a boy with lying against it.

She couldn’t see the horizon from here… Yuna frowned. She didn’t know where this was. She looked over at the moogle, which was now scratching playing around his pom-pom. Yuna bent down, looking into Mog’s face.

“Do you know where we are?”

She didn’t really expect an answer from a moogle, but she had guessed that there really wasn’t anyone else to ask. Mog smiled up at Yuna, not saying a word. Then suddenly, he tilted his head to one side, raising an ear as though he had heard someone far away call his name.

“Hey!” Yuna called after Mog as the moogle raced out of the alleyway.

Not quite knowing what else to do or where else to go, Yuna decided to follow Mog as he ran out the alleyway. She looked toward the boy lying against the wall that closed her on. He looked to be around in his early teens, with short black hair.

He wore a white long sleeved shirt underneath a black and red tunic that his chest, around his neck was some kind of pendant that held up a soldier flag along his back. A combination of pants and boots covered legs, and a pair of brown boots were on his feet. (A/N: Same thing with Larsa here!!!! >< I decided to bring Larsa in, because in his host game, he seemed like such a minor character and I wanted him to have a big role.)

Yuna had noticed he had some horrible wounds and healed him, and started to look for Rikku when she heard her voice.

“Yunie!!!!! Down here!”

She noticed the plush toy looking up at her with an angry expression on her face from her slash. She took the plush toy off and held it in both of her hands, confused. “Rikku? What happened?”

“I don’t know!!!!!” Plush Rikku shouted. “Just heal me!” Yuna placed her on the ground and cast Esuna on her, Rikku grew back to her normal size, but still looked like a plush toy.(A/N: Originally, I wanted Rikku a plushie on Yuna's belt, but she's such a fighter, I decided not to.) Yuna giggled when she heard a gentle voice asked, “Excuse me, my lady, but are you a summoner?” Yuna and Rikku turned to the boy, who struggled to stand up using the closed on wall to help him.

“Yes, I am.” Yuna replied and bowed. “Yuna, summoner of Besaid Isle. This is one of my guardians and my cousin, Rikku. You are?”

The boy bowed back as he replied, “Larsa, my lady. Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, prince of Archadia and youngest son of House Solidor.” Yuna smiled at Larsa, and looked at both him and Rikku, “Well, lets get going.” She started to walk out the alleyway, Rikku and Larsa following close her.

As they reached the main section of the district, Yuna’s eyes widened in alarm. The neon lights from the nearby shops and the few scattered street lamps lit the town up, in spite of the darkness of night. Yuna looked out into the street and at the people who wandered about. She couldn’t recognize this place at all. She’d never seen this town in her entire life.

“This is totally weird…” Yuna’s eyes went wide when she heard Rikku and saw a small white creature with a pink ball (she thought it was Mog, who woke her up) sticking out of its head, walking nonchalantly down the street among the other, human-looking people. It was then that she knew. “We’re in another world!” Larsa nodded and said, “This world is quite different from my home.”

And then she could remember Rikku’s words ringing in his ears. “Suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?”

Her head began to spin. “I don’t know,” she answered.

The trio took a few wild steps backward, with Yuna shaking her head slowly from side to side. How did this happen? Did it have anything to do with that orb, and how he had gotten pulled into it? Was that it? Each of the trio’s backs shoved up against a door, pulling each of their thoughts back to their setting.

They looked up at the sign above the doorway. The shop’s name flashed in bright neon lights, but Yuna couldn’t read it because of the angle she and the others were at. Yuna backed up slightly, putting one hand around the doorknob, and entered with Rikku and Larsa. Maybe they could get some answers in there.

The shop wasn’t the biggest that Yuna or Rikku had ever seen, but it wasn’t extremely small, either. To the trio’s immediate right was a large stone fireplace, similar to the kind one would find in a log cabin. Beyond that was a shiny black couch and a matching footrest. In the middle of the room was a black display case, filled with rings, charms, and bracelets. On the left side of the room was the counter. It stood out from the others, its surface being colored grass green and all. And there, behind the counter was an old man.

Well, he wasn’t really old. He was probably only in his early to mid-forties. He had thin blonde hair that stuck up vertically in an upside down V-shape. On the man’s forehead was a pair of black goggles, the kind that pilots used to wear in the olden days. He wore a white shirt and baggy blue pants, with a yellow-orange utility belt wrapped around his waist. He stood as though surveying his shop, a toothpick dangling like a cigarette between his lips and his fists on either side of his hips.

He turned when the door shut behind Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, his face brightening somewhat at the prospect of a customer.

“Hey there, how can I…” The man’s face fell when his eyes set on the trio. “Aw, it’s only a couple of kids.”

Yuna frowned, clenching her hands into fists. “We’re not kids!” she said defiantly as she, Rikku, and Larsa walked up to the counter. “And the name’s Yuna!”

“I’m called Rikku!” Rikku introduced, making her fingers a peace sign, Larsa bowed his hand and said, “Call me Lamont.”

The man chuckled slightly. “Okay, okay, simmer down. So why the long face, Yuna? You and your friends lost or somethin’?”

“No!” Yuna answered, the word just flying out of her mouth. Then Yuna’s face fell, her eyes dropping to the ground, confused.

“Well, maybe.” She looked up at the clerk, hoping that this man knew what was going on. “Where are we?”

The clerk’s jaw dropped open. “Huh?”

Yuna frowned, biting her lower lip. And then before she even knew what was happening, Yuna was telling the man everything that had happened in the past night. About how a whole world seemed to have gotten sucked up into a glowing orb. About how she had lost her other guardians and two best friends in the world. About how she had to find them, no matter what.

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head on somethin’?” the clerk asked, half as a joke and half in concern for the girl’s sanity. “This place is called ‘Traverse Town’.” He leaned forward and repeated himself, slowly so Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa could understand. “‘TRA – VERSE – TOWN.’ ”

“Traverse Town,” the trio echoed. Rikku turned her gaze onto the man’s face. “So, gramps, is this really another world?”

“Don’t call me gramps!” the clerk said, giving his nose a quick scratch with his thumb. “The name’s Cid! Anyway… Not sure what you’re talkin’ about, but this sure ain’t your island.” Cid put his hands on his hips as he continued to chew on the edge of his toothpick.

“Hmm…” Yuna dropped his gaze. “Guess Rikku and I’d better start looking for Lulu and Tidus,” she murmured to herself. She began to turn toward the door with Rikku and Larsa.

“Well,” Yuna could hear Cid say, “good luck with whatever it is you’re doing. If any of you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I’ll look out for you.”

They looked back at Cid and smiled gratefully. They continued to walk toward the door. Yuna pushed the wooden double doors open, casting one final glance at Cid with Rikku and Larsa, and walked out onto the street. She put her hands on her hips as her and her friends surveyed what she could see of the town. So far, no Lulu and no Tidus. There had to be more to this town than just this little district.

Yuna turned on her heel and walked down the street with Rikku and Larsa. They walked up a set of stairs and turned to their left, where the road was lit up brightly by a group of neon green street lamps. Yuna shrugged and began to walk in that direction with Rikku and Larsa, and continued to follow the road. At the end of the road was a large set of double doors. Yuna stared at the door, disheartened. Maybe they weren’t allowed to go through.

“That door leads to the Second District,” came a voice. The trio spun around and saw a man resting near a set of barrels. “Beyond that lies the Third District.”

Even though Yuna had been surprised, he smiled at the man and nodded.

“Th-Thanks,” she said, walking slowly toward the doors with Rikku and Larsa.
The man nodded at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa. “You’re welcome.”

The trio hurried over to the doors, Yuna was still slightly rattled by that strange man. She cast a glance back at him, slightly worried that he was a stalker or something. Then, pushing the thought out of her mind, Yuna heaved open the door, leaning her weight against it. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa passed through the opening she created and stepped out into the Second District.

It may have been just the lack of lighting that the First District had, but the Second District seemed to have been washed over in shades of blue and gray. There were two levels; the lower one looked like it was used for large crowd gatherings, as it was mostly empty and flat. The only things decorating the lower level were a few benches against the wall and a small fountain on the wall nearest a set of stairs that led up to the upper level.

The upper level didn’t have much, apart from a few shops with dimly lit display windows. From the entrance, the upper level split into two walkways; the one on the right led to the set of stairs, while the one on the left led down to a large building that had a series of archways on the roof.


They walked in slowly, just looking at their surroundings, when suddenly they saw a man dash out into they path. The man’s face was panicked, and it didn’t help when he tripped over his own feet. Yuna gasped, and was just about to run over and offer to help him, when a strange sound resounded in the air. It seemed almost familiar, though Yuna couldn’t quite place it.

The man rolled over onto his back, staring at a spot in the air, his breathing coming in short gasps. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa watched in alarm as a spot on the left side of the man’s chest gleamed brilliantly, and a glowing heart appeared. It hovered over the man for a moment; glimmering brilliantly, as the man’s frame began to grow transparent and eventually fade into a dark purple light. At the same time, something that looked like a small black hole appeared not so far from where the man had been.

The heart began to haphazardly move toward the black hole until it had merged with it and then vanished. In its place appeared something that looked like a larger version of the monsters he’d seen on the island, but dressed in dark soldier clothes, complete with a shiny metal helmet. It was there for a moment, and then vanished in a flash.

Yuna ran out to where the man was, searching the ground for any kind of remnant of him. There was none to be found. What was going on around here!
Just then, the creatures from the island emerged in a circle surrounding them. Yuna’s eyes went wide in shock. They had appeared again! Yuna reached for the Brotherhood tucked in her belt… It was gone. Her heart skipped a beat.

The Brotherhood was gone! She didn’t have it! What had happened to it? The little shadow creatures began to move slowly forward, closing the circle around them as Larsa took his sword and Rikku put her arm claw on. Yuna swallowed hard. The Brotherhood… Where had it gone?

Suddenly, the little black monsters all jumped. Yuna flinched, bracing herself for the blows, watching as Larsa and Rikku attempted to protect her. Then, just at that moment, there came a brief flash of light. The monsters were thrown back slightly, and they rolled onto their backs. Confused and disoriented, they waved their limbs in the air in a panic.

Yuna looked over at them. What happened? She glanced around, dropping her arms, and that’s when she realized that the Brotherhood had appeared in her hands. Rikku and Larsa stared in surprise at her.

Yuna stared at the Brotherhood. It was definitely one of the strangest things she’d ever seen before. It had suddenly appeared in her hands… But this was no time to wonder. She could do his thinking after those little black monsters were gone.

She smiled, swinging the Brotherhood ostentatiously in the air before charging at the little black monsters and joining in with Rikku and Larsa. And just a few hack and slash moments later; all of them had disappeared in black flames. Yuna’s smile became a confident grin. How perfect.

Just then, the Brotherhood began to flash, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished from Yuna’s grip with a twinkle of small yellow lights as Larsa put his sword away. Yuna’s eyes grew wide in wonder as she looked down into her now empty hands.

“It appears and disappears,” Yuna mused to herself and her friends. “So I… I can just make it appear at will?” Rikku nodded excitedly and Larsa smiled, nodding as well.

For a moment, Yuna stood there with Rikku and Larsa, staring at her hands and willing the Brotherhood to appear. And, just like magic, the weapon would appear in her hands and then vanish whenever she wanted it to, doing both with a glimmering twinkle of yellow lights. Yuna grinned, clenching her fist excitedly in front of her and then dashed down the walkway on her left with Rikku and Larsa on both her sides.

They had barely run ten feet when they found themselves surrounded again by the monsters. She willed the Keyblade into her grasp, her grin widening as she gripped it with both hands; Larsa drew his sword and pointed it at the monsters. A mischievous twinkle gleamed in her bi-colored eyes as she, Rikku, and Larsa stared down the first of the black creatures.

“Bring it on,” she whispered.

The creature leapt, its claws outstretched and its eyes burning yellow. Yuna leapt out of the way, hopping right over its head, Rikku jumped to the right, Larsa jumped to the left. She planted both feet on the ground and spun, Brotherhood flashing, slicing through the creature. She wasn’t sure if she’d killed it or not, but she’d get back to it later. There were still others. She dodged their attacks, merely shifting out of the way or leaping over them with Rikku and Larsa.

She enjoyed slicing through them with her cousin and her new friend and watching them vanish into black fire. Yuna never seemed to run out of energy as he fought them, and as the last black monster turned into nothing but black mist, she couldn’t help but smile. She held the tip of the Keyblade close to her mouth and blew over it, like blowing smoke away from the barrel of a gun, Rikku cheered happily and Larsa simply smiled.

Yuna stretched, willing the Brotherhood away for the moment, and continued down the walkway. She looked up at the buildings around them. As her eye passed over the word “Inn” above one of the doorways, Yuna smiled to herself and her friends. They could use a rest. And maybe Lulu and Tidus were doing the same! Maybe they were checked into this Inn! Yuna pushed open the doors and stepped into the inn’s lobby/hallway with her friends.
________________________________________
Arisa threw open the doors into the district and looked around. Vincent and Kairi followed Arisa into the district. Vincent put his clawed hand to his forehead as he surveyed the area.

“Doesn’t look like he’s here,” Vincent muttered, somewhat disappointed.

Kari folded her arms over her chest and began to tap one booted foot impatiently on the ground. She glared up at Vincent and Arisa.

“Keep looking!” she quacked.

Wordlessly, Vincent and Arisa obeyed their younger friend and walked further into the district, keeping their eyes peeled. Kairi followed soon after.
________________________________________
The hallway was empty. Along the sides were small tables that had flower vases decked on their surface, usually positioned right next to the doors. As Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa took a few steps forward, they noticed that there were three doors, each one a different color and a different type.

She wondered briefly why that would be, but shrugged the thought off and continued walking down the hall. Yuna looked at each door in turn and made a face. Whoever owned this inn had pretty poor taste.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa made it all the way to the other end of the hallway with no trouble at all. As they came to the clerk desk, Rikku decided to ring the bell, just for fun.

“No vacancy,” came a voice.

She was somewhat surprised, but grinned soon after. She hadn’t expected anybody to be there. As they turned to leave, they noticed a set of brochure packets near the desk, announcing that the hotel was holding a multicultural art exhibit. Yuna smiled. That explained the weird doors.

Yuna pushed open the doors out of the inn and stepped back into the Second District with Rikku and Larsa. They continued on their way, walking up a set of stairs to their left. Apparently, it led to some odd looking building that had three bells at the very top of it.

Yuna didn’t mind. Lulu and Tidus could be anywhere in this place. Maybe she’d find one of them hiding in the building. As Yuna was about to open the door into the building, another group of the shadow creatures emerged behind her, Rikku, and Larsa. Yuna narrowed her eyes at them, turning slowly. It was like they were gluttons for pain or something. She grinned, willing the Brotherhood into her hands, and charged with Rikku and Larsa at her side.

Her Brotherhood clashed with the claws of one of the shadows, disorienting Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa slightly. A second creature crept up behind her and managed a blow to Yuna’s lower back. Yuna winced as she was knocked forward slightly. Gritting her teeth, she spun the Brotherhood around, managing to slice both shadow monsters in one swing.

One vanished while the other flew into a wall. Yuna gripped the Brotherhood and ran at the monster again with Rikku, this time jabbing the blade of the sword into the torso of the creature and watched with some degree of pleasure as it vanished into black smoke.

With a confident little serves-you-right nod, Yuna pushed open the doors and stepped inside with Rikku and Larsa.
________________________________________
Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent opened the doors of the inn, stepping back out into the main section of the district. Kairi grunted angrily, putting one hand to her forehead and looking around as Vincent had done before.

“Hmph,” she muttered angrily. “Where is he?”

Vincent turned in the opposite direction of Kairi and Arisa, took a deep breath, and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Leeeooon!”
________________________________________
Yuna felt like she and Rikku had just entered a brightly colored clock. The room before them was almost entirely coated in white, yellow or pink, except for three large segments that appeared to be made of stone. They all had some kind of mechanical function. What that could be, Yuna would probably never know. What the reason for this entire room was, she would probably never know either.

They crossed the room casually. There was probably an exit somewhere else in this building. As Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa turned the corner, they caught sight of a set of double doors. She grinned. Well, that was easier than she’d expected.

Suddenly, a strangely familiar sound resounded from behind them. Yuna’s eyebrows came together, confused, as she tried to figure out where she had heard it before. She didn’t have much time to think, however, as the next thing Yuna was aware of was her tumbling head over heels onto the ground, and a sharp pain wedged in her back. Disoriented and in pain, Yuna dizzily rose to her feet, using the wall, Rikku, and Larsa to support her, and turned around.

Even more monsters! There were about ten of them all together, all of them hopping over each other’s heads, regardless of whether or not they landed on top of each other. Yuna gasped as they all suddenly jumped at her, Rikku, and Larsa, all ten of them, in unison, their yellow eyes flashing.

They scrambled out of the way, Yuna willing the Brotherhood back into her hands. She began to swing at them with Larsa wildly, not really knowing if they were winning. They were, after all, moving together as one unit. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa pressed their backs against the wall as they watched the shadowy creatures tumble all over each other. It was almost fun.

They could hardly help but smile as they tried to jump back onto their feet. Yuna tapped the edge of the Brotherhood against her shoulder before attacking again, swinging the Brotherhood with all her might. It didn’t take long for her with Rikku and Larsa to dispose of them all. It was just a matter of sending them flying to the other side of the room, slamming them into walls, and doing the best hack and slash job they could.

Yuna grinned, pleased, as she glanced around and saw that there were none left. She let out a laugh, putting her fists on her hips and releasing a cocky laugh. And that’s when she found herself rolling across the floor again until she hit her head on the opposite wall. She groaned in pain, struggling to peel his eyes open. She’d been hit! Yuna rolled onto her stomach and scrambled to her feet, replacing her other hand on the handle of the Brotherhood. More of the shadow creatures.

“Where do you guys come from?” Yuna wondered aloud as she charged at them.

As she took another good swing of her Brotherhood, Yuna gasped in shock. The monsters she’d charged at had leapt up into the air, high over her head. She stared up at them, bewildered and shocked. Her bi-colored eyes widened as they came back down, falling on top of her, Rikku, and Larsa, claws and sharp elf feet first. They knocked them flat onto the ground. The wind rushed out of Yuna’s chest as her body was more or less crushed between the weight of the monsters and the floor.

The entire fun factor that she’d managed to find in fighting these creatures was gone. They were really starting to bug her. Yuna struggled to kick them off of her, Rikku, and Larsa, unable to swing her Brotherhood from such a position. Once she had successfully knocked them all a decent distance away from them, she quickly scrambled back up to her feet, helping Rikku and Larsa up.

They each got into their fighting stances, taking long, deep breaths in an effort to catch what had been knocked out of them. The energy that had once been boundless in her had finally given in. Yuna was losing strength. She wasn’t sure how much longer her and her friends could hang on. She gripped the Brotherhood tightly in her hands.

“Not yet,” she muttered angrily.

As Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa launched another attack on the monsters, Yuna swinging the Brotherhood, Rikku and Larsa swinging their weapons horizontally in their direction, they were shocked to see them melt into the ground. Their jaws dropped open slightly as they wiggled their way around the floor, flat, not allowing Yuna, Rikku, or Larsa to lay a hand on them, no matter how hard they tried.

They chased the shadows around the room, Yuna jamming the blade of the Brotherhood vertically into the floor in an attempt to hit them. And when they finally rose out of the floor, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa found themselves surrounded by an undulating black wave of monsters with glowing yellow eyes. They yelled in pain as they ganged up on them, clawing at their legs and torsos, pushing them into a corner while Yuna swung her Brotherhood wildly at them.

By the time Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa was through with them, they were so exhausted he could hardly stand. They leaned against the wall, panting for air, surveying their cuts and bruises. Yuna gritted her teeth angrily. This wasn’t over yet.

She pulled out one of the Hi-Potions that Tidus had given her and began to drink it, letting Rikku and Larsa drink some of it. Yuna and her friend wiped their mouths and put the bottle away, slowly regaining their footing. They headed toward the exit of the death chamber and heaved the doors open.

They wound up in a peculiar little alleyway that was elevated up off the ground. Regaining her strength, Yuna walked toward the only opening her and her friends could see. There was a drop, but she could definitely see a door down there. Yuna smiled and, gathering her courage and grabbing her friends’ hands, hopped down from the ledge to the ground. They hit the ground in a roll and was about to make for the door when they heard that noise again.
By now, they knew what that noise meant.

Yuna glanced over her shoulder, seeing yet another group of the shadow monsters. Yuna smiled nervously, waving in their direction absent-mindedly. This wasn’t a good time. Not caring to fight them this time around, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa shoved open the door and tumbled into the Third District.
________________________________________
Kari, Arisa, and Vincent emerged from the back door of the Gizmo shop and looked around. Seeing a ladder leaning against the wall, Vincent walked toward it and looked up. It looked pretty broken. Kari and Arisa walked down the little alleyway in the opposite direction and straight to edge of the ledge.

Vincent stroked one of the rungs of the ladder before following his companion and peered over the edge at the short drop below, managing to catch sight of something that looked like a black fire fade away. Vincent shrugged it off. He preferred not to think too hard about things.


The court witch growled (were it possible for a person to growl) and folded her arms over her chest. Her booted foot tapped impatiently on the ground. “Not here, either,” she groaned.

Vincent sighed and scratched his head. “This could take a while…”
________________________________________
Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa leaned against the door and breathed. Just managed to get away from that one. They smiled to each other and took their first few steps into the Third District. It looked an awful lot like the Second District, only much smaller.

It seemed like this area was most definitely used strictly for performances or gatherings, considering the large, open space that lay out before him, just a level lower. There was a large arched doorway to their left, which must have meant an exit. Probably leading to another district.

After having taken a decent look at the district before them, Yuna stretched and turned around, and found herself and her friends face to face with still another group of shadow monsters. She could have fainted right then and there.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me,” she groaned.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa spun around on their heels and pulled the doors open again, sliding through the gap back into the Second District. As soon as they turned back around to make a break for it, their eyes grew wide and they gasped in shock. The monsters that they had run away from in the first place were still there. Yuna swallowed hard. Maybe there was no other way. Maybe she and her friends really had to fight her way through them all. It had seemed pretty fun at first, but…

There were just so many of them! Where were they coming from? And why were they attacking them all the time?

She took a deep breath before she, Rikku, and Larsa barreled through the group of monsters. They ran right beneath their limbs as they charged at them, taking a minor cut to her forearm. She winced, one hand flying up to cover the small wound instantly. Maybe it was about time to head back to First District.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa hurried down the alleyway. There was a ledge nearby that they could jump up to. Maybe the one that led up to the inside of the colorful clock. Yuna leapt, arms outstretched as she tried to reach the edge. No good. It was just too high. As Yuna’s feet planted firmly back on the ground, she, Rikku, and Larsa was pushed into the wall by one of the monsters behind them.

She gasped for air when the weight was removed. Finding that she and her friends had no other choice, Yuna willed the Brotherhood into her grip once again and spun around, Larsa pulled out his sword.

“You guys really suck, ya know that?” she snapped as she and Rikku sent one of the monsters flying backwards into the others.

She glanced around frantically and fortunately spotted another ledge, right in front of them. Yuna grinned and leapt at it, the Brotherhood clanging against the red bricks as she grabbed onto the edge with both hands, Rikku and Larsa jumped after her. She winced as the monsters leapt back into action, jumping into the air and scratching at their exposed legs.

Yuna gritted her teeth, adjusting her hold on the edge as she took the Brotherhood in one hand, grabbing Rikku and Larsa, and began to swing it at the monsters below them. With some effort, she managed to scramble onto the ledge where she, Rikku, and Larsa collapsed in exhaustion.

She sprawled out on the surface and groaned. The scratches on her legs and arms were starting to sting something awful. Yuna got up in a sitting position and, pulling her legs close to him, rubbed at the scratches until the stinging pain began to subside.

After been given time to catch their breath, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa crawled toward the edge of the ledge on all fours and peered over to where the monsters were collecting. They laughed out loud, pointing one finger mockingly at the monsters below.

“Nyaha!” Rikku laughed. “Can’t catch us when we’re up here, can ya?”
Yuna grinned and waved, and then gave them a loud raspberry before picking up the Brotherhood and slinking out of their sight with Rikku and Larsa. She put her fists on either side of her hips and let out a loud breath. This little platform, which was attached to someone’s house (who apparently wasn’t home), was, in a sense, floating between the building with the gizmos inside of it, and the pathway that led to the doorway to the First District. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa peered over at the gap that was between the ledge and the walkway.

They backed up and leapt across, and then ran down the pathway.
As they turned their attention to the pathway in front of them, they narrowed their eyes at another group of monsters that had appeared not ten feet away. They were getting a feeling that they were going to be seeing a whole lot more of these guys. The shadow monsters leapt forward, their favorite first attack.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa exploded into action, swinging the Brotherhood, Mage Husher, and Archadian Sword(A/N:I had no clue what Larsa's sword was called, so I chose his homeland's name.) first to the right, then to the left as they passed the creatures before them. One vanished in a black flame while the other was knocked to the ground, stunned. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa slid to the side and slashed at the stunned one, finishing the job.

One left. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa turned their heads sharply to glare at the remaining shadow creature. A slow smile appeared on their faces. They spun sharply on the balls of their feet and slashed at it, once vertically and once more horizontally, sending the monster flying through the air. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa smiled, amused, when the monster turned into nothing more than a black flame in mid air.

Deciding not to allow any more of them to sneak up or gang up on them, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa broke for the doorway that led back to the First District. They pushed it open and slid through, immediately spinning around and pushing the door shut behind them. They leaned against the door for a while, catching their breath. What was going on around here? What were those things? With a heavy sigh, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa headed for Cid’s shop. After all, Cid had said that if any of them ever ran into any trouble…

“Still haven’t found ‘em?” Cid asked as Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa entered the shop.

Yuna hung his head sadly, Rikku and Larsa comforted her.

“Keep your chin up,” Cid said encouragingly, giving Yuna a thumbs up signal. “Take another look around town.”

Yuna gaped at Cid in disbelief. Her mouth opened and shut as she tried to figure out what to say. Go around town again! But there were monsters all over the town! They wouldn’t leave her, Rikku, and Larsa alone! How was she and her friends supposed to properly go around town looking for Lulu and Tidus that way?

Suddenly, an image of Tidus being attacked by those monsters flashed through her head. Yuna lowered his eyes and shut her mouth.

“All right,” she muttered. She leaned back against the door with Rikku and Larsa, pushing it all the way open and stepping outside as the heavy doors swung back shut. She willed the Brotherhood back into her hands and fiddled with the handle between her fingers.

She stepped out onto the street. This time, she wouldn’t let those monster things scare her or her friends. She’d been an idiot for letting them freak her out like that. But now…

“They’ll come at you out of nowhere.”(A/N:Upon first playing Kingdom Hearts, Leon was probably one of the hardest bosses I had to fight.)

The voice had come from somewhere on his left. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa turned sharply toward it, searching for the speaker. “Who are you?”

A man stepped out from behind the corner of Cid’s shop. He was clad almost completely in black, from his black leather boots to his black leather jacket. His pants, black in color, were tied to him by a series of black and brown belts wrapped around his waist. Similar brown belts were wrapped around his lower left arm, though they were obviously smaller in size. His hands were tucked snugly in a pair of black leather gloves.

An off-white shirt could be seen from underneath his jacket, making the man’s lion-shaped pendant more visible. The symbol on the pendant was also found embossed in red on the sleeves of his jacket. His jacket collar stuck up vertically, as though there was cardboard inside of it. The man’s spiky brown hair shaped itself around the collar as it hit his shoulders, his bangs over his baby blue eyes.

He gazed sternly in Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa’s direction, his face never changing expression. The seriousness in his voice and expression was almost frightening.

“And they’ll keep on coming at you,” he continued, raising one finger at Yuna’s weapon, “as long as you continue to wield the Brotherhood.” He then dropped his hand and looked away, his expression changing for the first time to that of confusion. “But why?” he murmured, putting one gloved hand to his forehead in thought. “Why would it choose a kid like you?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Rikku snapped, somewhat annoyed at the man’s comment about her cousin.

“Never mind,” the man said sternly with a shake of his head, his spiky hair swishing into his face. He took a few steps forward, holding one hand out. “Now, let’s see that Brotherhood.”

“What?” Yuna yelled, his eyes widening in a combination of shock and rage. She gripped the Brotherhood even tighter as she got into her fighter’s stance with Rikku and Larsa. “There’s no way you’re getting this!”

The man’s footsteps came to a halt. He dropped his hand and straightened. “All right, then have it your way.”


It was then that the man pulled out his weapon as though from thin air, the way Yuna could. His weapon’s handle looked like that of a black pistol, only longer and with a chain sticking out from the end. A pendant, matching the one the man wore around his neck, dangled from the end. Where the barrel of a gun was usually found was a long silver blade.

It gleamed almost maliciously in the artificial glow of the streetlamps as the man raised the weapon and tapped his shoulder with the blade. His face changing back to one of grave seriousness, the man swung his weapon in the air in front of him, ready to fight.


Yuna gritted his teeth, clutching the Brotherhood tight in her grip, and charged with Rikku and Larsa. The man’s blue eyes burned as he watched Yuna’s every movement, and as Yuna came within reach, he slipped to the side, dodging the charge.

Switching his weapon from his right hand to his left, the man smacked Yuna’s back with his fist. Yuna stumbled forward, trying not to trip and fall on her face. Catching herself with her hand, Yuna spun around and back onto her feet. The man stood with his back to Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, just barely looking over his shoulder, his weapon in his left hand.

“You… You’re good,” Yuna murmured angrily, mostly to herself and her companions.

Gripping her weapon in her hands, Yuna sprang forward, exploding into action with Rikku and Larsa, her bi-colored eyes locked with those of the strange man. The man would swiftly and effortlessly dodge all of Yuna’s attacks, regardless of whether the weapon came from above or below.

Yuna would jab and slash with every ounce of strength she could muster with her companions, yet the man would move effortlessly out of the Brotherhood’s path with perfect timing. The man never even attacked. His weapon remained in the clutch of his left hand, perched on one shoulder. Yuna was becoming furious. She couldn’t even touch the guy, and he was holding back! Not only was he holding back, he wasn’t fighting her at all!

Yuna began to force the man backward, pushing him over to a set of nearby steps. The man was hardly fazed by the change at all. He merely walked backwards down the steps, his eyes never tearing away from Yuna’s flashing weapon, still dodging and blocking her attacks.

Yuna frowned, her eyes narrowing, her eyebrows coming together in frustration. She gripped the Brotherhood and swung vertically in the air, charging forward. The man slid out of the way, and Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa stumbled down the set of steps. They spun around quickly to face the man. They eyes grew wide in shock.

The man had extended one hand outward, palm facing Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, and small flames began to spin into the palm of his hand, creating a ball of fire.

As the ball shot out from the man’s palm, Yuna held out the Brotherhood to block the attack. The fireball hit the side of Yuna’s Brotherhood with a loud clang, sending the girls and the boys backwards a few feet, the soles of their boots rubbing against the red cement floor. The fire singed some of Yuna’s short hair, but was, for the most part, successfully blocked.

“You don’t stand a chance,” the man said sternly, walking down the rest of the steps slowly, his hand lowered.

Yuna’s eyes snapped open, flashing angrily. She leapt to her feet, her grip on the Brotherhood becoming even tighter. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa sprang forward. The man’s blue eyes widened slightly. Yuna’s attacks became slightly stronger, and they were coming faster than they ever had. He was still able to block them, but they were more frequent and more powerful. The tips of the man’s lips curved upward into a small smile. It was time to get serious.

The man countered one of Yuna’s moves, the backlash of which caused Yuna to stumble slightly toward Rikku and Larsa and hesitate. As Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa tried to regain their footing, the man took his weapon in hand and swiped it in the air, knocking Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa back.

They winced as they tried to stop themselves from flying too far back, each pushing one foot on the floor as a brake. Yuna clutched the Brotherhood, facing the man again with Rikku and Larsa.

Their eyes strained to keep their focus on the man’s figure. Their limbs ached as they tried to maintain their fighting stances. They’d had it. The one final blow had already come. Their energy had completely drained out of them. It had taken so much just to try to hit the guy. He was… just… too good…

Yuna groaned as her vision blurred completely, and the world began to tumble into darkness. She was vaguely aware of her own collapse to the ground after Rikku and Larsa fell the ground, but she never heard the final thud.

The man straightened, rising to his feet, willing his weapon away. He looked down at the girls and the boy as they slumbered on the floor, sprawled out, one hand still clinging to the handles of their weapons.
“Hey, you found it. Nice going, Leon!”

Leon turned at the sound of the familiar voice, looking over his shoulder at his young “partner in crime,” a young female ninja by the name of Yuffie. He looked away from her face and back over at the slumbering Brotherhood wielder and her companions. Yuffie walked over to Leon and peered over his shoulder at the girls and the boy.

“Still… It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse.”

Yuffie made a face at the girls and the boy. What a couple of little dorks.
________________________________________
It was fairly dark in the alleyway. The only sources of light around were the small lampshades on the balconies of the hotel rooms. They were at least bright enough to cast their light dimly on the opposite wall and on the street below, just barely illuminating the way for Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi.

“Gee,” Arisa murmured sarcastically as she glanced around cautiously. “There’s nobody here. Sure is spooky!”

“Aw, poop,” Kairi scoffed. “I’m not scared.”

Just then Kairi felt a hand tap at her left shoulder, making her scream loudly in alarm and jump several feet into the air. She latched herself to Vincent, her eyes squeezed shut, her entire being trembling in fear and alarm. Vincent’s eyes went wide as Kairi’s weight became a part of his own, and he was pulled slightly downward, almost falling backwards.


“Excuse me,” came a soft gentle voice from behind them. “Did the king send you?”

Kairi’s eyes opened wide at mention of the king. She, Arisa, and Vincent looked over at the speaker. There stood a fair young lady, dressed in a long pink and red dress and brown boots. Her long, curled light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail with a red ribbon. Around her neck was a thin black choker.

The many bracelets around her wrists jangled as she withdrew her hand from where Kairi had once been standing. Her bangs fell neatly over her sea-green eyes, and her lips were curved upwards into a soft smile, a smile that deepened slightly as she looked at Arisa, Kari, and Vincent, her hands folded in front of her.

The court witch slid from Vincent’s shoulders and looked up into the young woman’s face.

“Yeah,” she said with a nod and salute. “Are you… Aerith?”

The young lady smiled.

 

Wow....very long indeed but good, I knwo leon was a hard boss 1st time for me too, I look forward to the next chapter!

 

Chapter 5

New chapter! Yay!

Chapter 5
Heartless

Traverse Town

“Come on, lazy bum. Wake up!”

Yuna groaned, sitting up slowly, rubbing the spot that ached on the back of her head. She shook her head vigorously from side to side as she peeled her bi-colored eyes open, one after the other. The vision she saw before her had to have been the greatest but most pleasant surprise of her life.

Standing with his hands on his hips by the bedside was Tidus, staring down at her with a slight smile on his face, his head tilted to one side. He leaned forward slightly as soon as Yuna’s eyes opened. “You okay?”

Her hand dropped from the back of her head, propping herself up with both hands. She smiled and nodded at Tidus. “I guess…”

Tidus straightened, one hand dropping from his waist, all his weight shifted to one leg. He looked away, out the nearby window as his smile slightly faded. “Those creatures that attacked you, Rikku, and Larsa are after the Brotherhood,” he said coolly. “But it’s your hearts they really want, because you wield the Brotherhood.”

What did that mean? Yuna’s eyebrows came together in confusion. What was he talking about? In spite of her confusion, Yuna smiled at him.

“I’m so glad that you’re okay, Tidus.”

His head snapped around to look at Yuna, confused. “‘Tidus’?” he echoed, turning around to face his completely, both hands back on his hips. “Who’re you talking about? I’m the great ninja Yuffie.”(A/N: In my mind, that is not right!!!)

Yuna blinked in confusion, taken aback. What? She shut her eyes and shook her head vigorously from side to side, waking herself up and clearing her head. After a moment, she reopened her eyes. There really was no Tidus here. Only a girl with short, black hair with a white headband and purple-gray eyes. She was dressed in a green sleeveless midriff top that had blue straps going over her shoulders.

Her neck was wrapped in a long yellow scarf that draped over her shoulders. Her arms were wrapped in black fishnet sleeves, disconnected from her top, and were encased in a pair of brown leather gloves at the hands. She wore a pair of white shorts with a blue belt hanging loosely around her waist, and her legs were wrapped in long white stockings that never touched the hem of her shorts, but did slip into her brown boots.

The girl named Yuffie smiled helplessly at Yuna, leaning forward slightly to look carefully into her face. She tilted her head to one side thoughtfully as she looked at her. After a moment she sighed and turned to look over her shoulder.

“I think you might’ve overdone it, Squall,” she called.

A man stepped out from the shadows of the room. Yuna narrowed his eyes. The man from earlier that he had fought, being dragged by the arm was Rikku, who had still knocked Larsa on her back. But he looked much calmer now than he had then, except for the slight annoyance that tainted his face as he looked at Yuffie.

“That’s Leon,” he corrected her sternly.

Yuna’s attention drifted slightly, as her eyes caught sight of a familiar object propped up against the wall near Leon and Rikku. “The Brotherhood…”

“Yeah,” Yuffie said slowly, moving toward Leon. She raised one finger in the air as though to make a point. “We had to get it away from you and your friends to shake off those creatures.” She stopped and spun around to face Yuna once she was lined up with Leon, putting her hands on her hips. “Turns out, that’s how they were tracking you.”

“It was the only way to conceal your hearts from them,” Leon said matter-of-factly as he let go of Rikku and folded his arms over his chest. “But it won’t work for long. Still, hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one.”

Yuna looked up at Leon and narrowed her eyes, annoyed. She watched as Rikku ran to her and Leon bent over and took the Brotherhood into his grip, then swung it once horizontally in the air. Almost instantaneously, the Brotherhood broke into bright white lights, vanishing from Leon’s grip and reappearing in Yuna’s. Yuna and Rikku’s eyes widened in surprise as the Brotherhood appeared with a brilliant flash of light in her hand. She then smiled slightly and raised the Brotherhood in the air, examining it.

“Well,” Leon sighed as he took a few steps in Yuna and Rikku’s direction. “I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.”

Putting the Brotherhood down in her lap, Yuna looked up at Leon, somewhat angry. For one thing, what in the world was that supposed to mean? And for another…

“Why don’t you start making sense!” Yuna yelled. “What’s going on here?”
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“Okay,” Aerith said as she seated herself on the edge of the hotel bed. “You know there are many other worlds out there, besides your castle and this town, right?”

“Yeah,” Kairi replied with a firm nod as she shut the door of the hotel room behind her. She trotted into the center of the room to join Vincent and Arisa where they stood.

“But they’re supposed to be a secret,” Vincent remarked.

He put his hand over his mouth. Had he somehow given it away? So much for protecting the world order. Aerith smiled at the captain.

“They’ve been secret,” she assured him gently, “because they’ve never been connected. Until now.” Aerith’s expression changed to that of a more solemn nature. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “When the Heartless came, everything changed.”
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“The Heartless?” Yuna echoed, confused.

“The ones who attacked you and your pals,” Yuffie told her, seating herself next to Yuna on the edge of the bed. “You remember?”

She and Rikku gave Yuffie a firm nod. Of course they remembered. They’d only attacked her in a dream, on her own island, and chased her, Rikku, and their new companion all over this unusual new town. Those things had almost killed her at one point. It was hard to forget things like that.

“Those without hearts,” Leon said bluntly.

Well, duh! As if they couldn’t have figured that out for themselves. It was just a little bit obvious, considering they were called the “Heartless”. Rikku gave Leon a funny look, having half a mind to say it out loud as Larsa began to wake up. Leon had his head turned slightly so he was looking out the window, not seeing the face Rikku had made.

It was a good thing, Yuna supposed, considering that Leon had been the one who won the fight. Just remembering their loss both annoyed and saddened her. It even made the bump on her head sting.

“The darkness in people’s hearts,” Yuffie continued, leaning back slightly as she ignored Leon’s feeble little note. “That’s what attracts them.”

“And there is darkness,” Leon finished, tearing his eyes away from the window and looking back down at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, “within every heart.”

Yuna looked up at Leon, and then turned her gaze to the floor. She was still completely confused. Darkness in hearts… What did any of that have to do with what was going on? Just as Yuna was about to ask a question, Yuffie’s voice suddenly rang out, almost causing Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa to jump.

“Hey,” she said, almost cheerfully. “Have you heard of someone named Ansem?”
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“Ansem?” Vincent echoed as he thoughtfully put one hand under his chin.

Aerith nodded. “He was studying the Heartless,” she explained. “He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report.”

“Gee, uh, can we see it?” Arisa asked, holding her palms outward as though ready to receive a stack of papers from Aerith.

Kairi folded her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes and tapping one booted foot on the floor impatiently. As far as Kairi knew, a report wasn’t exactly what they had come to Traverse Town for. They had come to talk to Leon. On the other hand, it could prove useful for whenever they may run into the Heartless creatures that she was talking about. Maybe having that report wouldn’t be so bad.

The young woman frowned slightly, and shook her head sadly from side to side. “Its pages are scattered everywhere,” she told them sadly.

“Scattered?” Kairi exclaimed in alarm, dropping her arms to her sides and looking at Aerith as though she was out of her mind. What did she mean by scattered? What could have happened to a stack of papers!

She looked over at the witch and nodded solemnly. “To many worlds.”

“Oh, then maybe Kairi’s king went to find them,” Arisa offered, thumping one fist into the palm of her other hand as the idea occurred to her. A classic grin spread across her face.

Vincent, Kairi, and Aerith nodded, the smile returning to Aerith’s face. “Yes,” she said excitedly. “Those were my thoughts exactly.”

“We’ve gotta find him, quick!” Vincent exclaimed, he and Arisa ready to head for the door.

“Wait!” Kairi yelled at Vincent and Arisa with a loud stomp of his booted foot on the floor, turning the attention of the group back to her. “First we need that ‘key’!”

Vincent and Arisa blinked a few times in confusion, before remembering what Kairi was talking about. Kairi frowned, especially at Vincent, who was the sharpest captain she knew. There were times when she really just wanted to smack someone (usually Riku or Roxas) upside the head for his denseness, and as it happened, this was turning out to be one of those times. Before Kairi could even threaten to act, Aerith’s voice broke through Kairi’s train of malicious thought.

“That’s right,” she said calmly. “The Brotherhood.”
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Yuna’s eyes dropped so that she, with Rikku and Larsa was looking down at the Brotherhood in her lap. She picked it up with one hand and held it up in the air. “So… this is the key,” she breathed, somewhat in awe as she, Rikku, and Larsa examined the Brotherhood up and down once again.

Yuffie grinned and glanced over at Yuna. “Exactly!” she said with a nod.

“The Heartless have great fear of the Brotherhood,” Leon said, turning on his heel and walking to the other side of the room. He glanced at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa over his shoulder. “That’s why they’ll keep coming after you and your friends, no matter what.”

Putting the Brotherhood back down, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa’s smiling faces faded. “Well, Yunie didn’t ask for this,” she heard Rikku murmured, her gaze on the Brotherhood turning from a look of awe to one of remorse. Nor did she asked to become a summoner to stop a evil that her father died to stop.

“The Keyblade chooses its master,” Yuffie said with a shrug. “And it chose Yuna.” She looked over at Yuna with that, trying to make the situation sound like she had been the winner of a grand prize.

“So, tough luck,” Leon continued apathetically, leaning against a door near the opposite wall.

Yuffie narrowed her eyes at Leon. That sure hadn’t helped. She turned to look back at Sora, ready to apologize for Leon and for his being, well, the way he was.

“How did all this happen?” Yuna asked her, turning her bi-colored eyes fiercely into her face. Yuffie was taken aback somewhat by the stern gaze in her eyes, then watched her face cloud over with confusion as she looked away. “I remember being in my room…” Suddenly she jumped to feet and gasped, her eyes suddenly wide with horror.

“Wait a minute! What happened to our home, Rikku? Our island? Lulu! Tidus…” The names of their friends had barely come out in a whisper. Rikku comforted her cousin after that, Larsa lowered his head, thinking about his own friends.

“You know what?” came Leon’s voice from the doorway.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa’s gaze set on Leon, waiting to hear what he had to say. Leon turned his head so he and Yuna were looking at each other full in the face for just a moment, only to have Leon look away again, folding his arms over his chest. He shut his blue eyes as though it were painful.

“I really don’t know.”

Her face fell at the words. Leon really didn’t care much for tact, now did he? Yuna fiddled with the handle of the Brotherhood between her fingers, her eyes lowered to the ground. So… what were they to do now? She looked over at Yuffie, who was looking at Leon as though trying to figure out what made him tick. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa then began to move around the room. It had just occurred to her that she had no idea where they were. Not that she knew much of anything about this weird town.

The room seemed to be dominated by shades of green. The walls and the doorways were the most obvious. The rest of the colors in the room simply complemented them. The decorations and furniture were quite simple, almost homely. There were small pictures in wooden frames hanging on the walls, and right above the doorway in which Leon was leaning was a green cuckoo clock.

A wooden bird rocked back and forth as it ticked the seconds away. Between the center of the room and another doorway was a round wooden table with a pitcher of water on top. This doorway had the number two inscribed in gold on its surface. Sora narrowed his eyes at the gold inscription. That was weird…

“Where are we, by the way?” Rikku asked sheepishly as she looked around with her cousin and her friend.

Yuffie looked over at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa and smiled. “We’re at the Second District inn,” she told them casually. She rolled her eyes slightly and let out a light laugh. “We don’t exactly have our own place to hide you, so we figured that the inn would be a good place.”

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa nodded like they understood (though they didn’t) as they continued to look around. They noticed that there were three doors in the room, total. One seemed to lead to the outside, while the other two must have led to more of the hotel. Leon was blocking the way through one, so Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa walked toward the other.

“It’s dangerous out there,” Leon warned as Rikku was about to put her hand on the knob. “Don’t wander off.”

Yuna looked over at Leon, annoyed. Why should they have to listen to him? None of them weren’t a little kid anymore! Rikku grabbed hold of the handle and began to turn it. It was then that Yuna realized it was locked. Somewhat shocked, Rikku began to rattle the doorknob, hoping that it was just stuck. After a moment, Rikku began to whack the door with Yuna’s Brotherhood.

“O – pen – up!” she yelled with each strike. “Let – us – out!”(A/N:Don't ask how Rikku can use the Brotherhood)

“Just can’t sit still, can you?” Leon called again, putting one hand on his forehead as though he was getting a headache.

Yuffie smiled helplessly in Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa’s direction. “Hey, think of this as an adventure!” she called out, trying to make the trio feel better.

An adventure? They were confused at first, but then slowly their minds cleared. Yeah, this was an adventure, Yuna and Rikku decided to themselves with a small nod. Just like the kind… that Lulu had always wanted to go on. Their spirits dropped. They had to find Lulu and Tidus before anything else.

Deciding that they wouldn’t be let out without Leon’s consent, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa dragged themselves back to the bed and Yuna seated herself next to Yuffie. She let out a small, nervous chuckle as she tried to think of something else that might cheer them up.

“I’ve heard that the Brotherhood is like a key, it can open all sorts of locks,” she offered hesitantly. “Give it a try the next time you find a treasure chest or door lock!”

Yuna slowly turned her head to look over at Yuffie. What? It didn’t take long for Yuna to figure out that she was serious, but just as Sora was about to see if he could unlock that doorway, Leon raised his head and opened his mouth to speak.

“Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you all,” he told Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa sternly. “You’d best prepare yourselves.”

“Prepare ourselves?” Yuna echoed suspiciously. For what?

Leon looked straight into Yuna’s eyes, sending a slight chill up and down her spine. “To fight for your life.”

The words began to echo in Yuna’s head, her heart jumping into her throat. Her eyes dropped to the floor as her mind raced. To fight for her life…

“Are you ready?” Leon continued.

Yuna slowly raised her eyes and looked back at Leon. There was an almost condescending look in Leon’s face. It was like he really didn’t think that Yuna could handle being the bearer of the Brotherhood. Not able to take the fact that there was so much that she’d have to do. Narrowing her eyes at Leon along with Rikku and Larsa, Yuna nodded, determined to prove to Leon that she could do this job.

“We’re ready!” she said, rising from her seat and walking up to Leon with Rikku and Larsa by her side.

Leon nodded, the expression in his face lightening slightly as he turned to Yuffie.

“Yuffie, let’s go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors.”

As Larsa was about to ask about the “other visitors”, Yuffie suddenly jumped to her feet and took a few wild steps backward, pointing at something in front of her. “Leon!”

His eyes shot wide open as he looked where Yuffie was pointing. Sora whirled around to look at what was there. There, in the spot that Yuffie had pointed to, appeared an armored Heartless. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa jumped in alarm. He hadn’t fought an armored one before…

Leon stepped forward, willing his weapon into his grip. “Yuffie, go!”

Aerith, Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent headed for the door, Kairi more or less leading the way. As she reached forward to grab hold of the doorknob and open the door, it burst open, smacking Kairi straight into the wall with a loud scream. Yuffie ran past Aerith without a word, her eyes wide. Aerith gasped at the sight.

“Yuffie?”

The young ninja ran straight for the door that led back into the hallway, not even looking at Aerith once. Aerith bit her lip and ran quickly after her companion. Arisa and Vincent looked first at Aerith as she ran out the door, then back to where they had last seen Kairi. What should they do now?

Meanwhile, in the other room, Leon, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa stood ready with their weapons in hand. Leon took a practice swing in the air. “Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, let’s go!”

Leon charged at the armored Heartless and swung his blade with all his might, sending the monster crashing through one of the hotel room windows and up against the opposite wall in the alleyway. He led the way, running through the broken window and jumping out, planting both feet firmly on the ground in the alleyway. Yuna gripped the Brotherhood, nodded at Rikku and Larsa, and swallowed before following Leon out the window.

Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi hadn’t gone anywhere. Vincent pushed the door shut and he and Arisa looked over at Kairi warily. The force of the door flying open had pushed Kairi so hard into the wall that she had been embedded in the plaster of the wall. Vincent and Arisa merely looked at her for a while, before it occurred to them to help their friend out.
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“Don’t bother with the small fry,” Leon told Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa as he quickly began to dispose of the Heartless that got in his way. “Find the leader!”

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa nodded firmly, taking a few slashes at the nearest Heartless to make room for themselves. These things were definitely tougher than the ones Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa had been fighting earlier. These ones were taller; they were just about their height. They stood upright in their flashy purple armor, their yellow eyes glowing maliciously from out of the shadows of their shiny metal helmet.

Leon looked over his shoulder at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa. “Let’s go!”

With that, Yuna, Rikku, Larsa and Leon made a break for it. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa made sure to keep an eye on Leon, since it seemed he knew where to go. They didn’t mind so much; Leon was an amazing fighter. He swung his weapon with ease at the Heartless who made any sort of charge at him, knocking them away. Rikku took a cue from him, doing the same to the Heartless that came at her.

They fought their way down a hallway and burst through the door on the end, their weapons flashing, slicing through countless Heartless. Leon led the way through Second District, his attention divided between finding some sort of leader, fighting the Heartless, and keeping an eye on the young Brotherhood master and her two young companions. As Leon hacked through a thick group of Shadows, he glanced around Second District and frowned.

“No leader here,” he called to Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, taking a swing at another Heartless and then running toward the doorway that led to Third District.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa leapt into the air, trying to break away from a set of Heartless that had surrounded them. They hacked at them angrily, and then spun around to look for Leon. They eyes widened when they realized that he had vanished. “Leon?”

They spun around in place, looking around. Where had Leon gone? Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa looked over at the army of Heartless before them and swallowed hard. This wasn’t good. They took a few steps backward as the Heartless slowly advanced toward them.

Yuna gritted her teeth, adjusting her hold on the Brotherhood, and charged forward with Rikku wildly swinging the Mage Husher and Larsa tightly gripping his Archadian Sword, taking a good swing at the line of advancing Heartless. As they were knocked backward and crashed into the others behind them, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa spun on their heels and began to run.

They didn’t have a clue as to where he was headed. They merely decided that they’d go wherever instinct told them to go. When they found themselves confronted by a wall, they merely turned to whichever direction they could and continued. Even when more Heartless popped up before them, Yuna merely swung the Brotherhood left and right, slashing at them, and kept running.

Whether or not those Heartless had been defeated, they would probably never know. When Yuna found herself, Rikku, and Larsa in front of a door, they charged through it and tumbled out on the other side. Clambering back up to their feet, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa ran back to the door and closed it.

Taking a deep breath, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa turned around slowly and looked around. Looked like they’d ended up in Third District. Maybe this was where Leon had gone. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa took a few hesitant steps forward and Rikku cupped one hand around her mouth.

“Leon!” she yelled into the seemingly empty area.

When no answer came, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa clenched their fists and ran into the district.
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Vincent ran out toward the ledge of the small balcony they’d ended up on, nearly toppling over the edge. They were elevated high off the ground, too high to hope for a decent escape. He looked around him, finding that they’d tumbled into Third District.

Down below the balcony Vincent could see the doorway between Second District and Third, as well as the figures of two young girls and a young boy running further into the district. The captain then turned around as Kairi and Arisa approached him. As they looked on, a pair of Heartless appeared before them, trapping them in the corner of the balcony.

“Hey,” Vincent muttered as he pulled out a large triple barrel gun with his king’s symbol on each of the barrel and slightly holding it against his shoulder. His gaze shifted from one armored Heartless to the other, and back again. “Are these those Heartless guys?”

Kairi pulled out her mage’s staff and Arisa pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows, gritting her teeth and tapping one booted foot impatiently on the floor as she and Arisa glared at the Heartless in front of them. She, Arisa, and Vincent got into a fighting stance, tapping her staff on her shoulder and then swinging it in the air before her like a sword. She glanced back at Vincent and Arisa.

“Let’s go get ‘em, Vincent, Arisa!”

As Kairi raised her staff to cast her Fire spell, the Heartless charged. Before any of them knew it, Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent found themselves flying in the air. They screamed uncontrollably as they spun around in the air, their arms flailing and their legs kicking wildly at nothing.
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As Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa wandered into the middle of Third District, they glanced around warily. No Leon here. Then where in the world had he gone? Just then, they heard screaming coming from above. Confused, they looked up into the sky. Their eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped open. For up in the sky, they could see three figures; what seemed like a teenage girl, a girl with wings on her back, and a tall young man, flailing their limbs in the air as they fell out of orbit. They… They were coming straight at their!

Their gaze fixated on their bodies as they fell, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa tried to move out of the way, but to no avail. Within moments, the three figures had fallen on top of them, and all six toppled to the ground, the wind knocked out of their lungs. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa gasped for air and groaned, trying to raise themselves from out of the bottom of the pile.

Yuna looked over at the Brotherhood, clutched in her right hand and splayed across the ground before her, Rikku, and Larsa, and sighed, relieved that no one had landed on it. That probably would’ve hurt them something awful. Then, with a short glance at the two girls and man that had landed on top of her, Rikku, and Larsa, Yuna rolled her eyes and groaned in pain.

One of the girls, one with shoulder auburn hair shook her head vigorously from side to side, while her companions tried to get their heads on straight. As the dizziness and shock subsided from their minds, Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent glanced down at Yuna, then at the sword she held out in one hand. Their eyes opened wide at the sight of it.

“The key!” they yelled in unison.

Yuna looked up at them slowly, lifting the Brotherhood slightly for them to see. A small, confused smile appeared on her face as she, Rikku, and Larsa once again attempted to rise to their feet. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, pulling the group back down onto the ground with a thud. Yuna, being on the bottom, winced in slight pain as the weight of the four girls and two boys fell onto her once again.

She pried her eyes open and looked around. As the six glanced around in shock, they saw a series of pillars start to appear, blocking the exits out of Third District. All but the large arched doorway. Standing in front of the doorway, terrified, was a boy with short black hair and deep blue eyes in some kind of uniform and a short round blue bear in a red and white jumpsuit.(A/N: Shinji is the boy, and the creation of Protector212 and Teddie is a character from Persona 4.)

Once the ground stopped shaking, all six jumped to their feet and ran toward the doorway, and all six (including the boy and the bear) began to bang their fists on the wooden doors. Yuna narrowed her eyes at it, taking the Brotherhood and swinging it straight into the door. Nothing. She stomped one foot on the ground, cursing her bad luck, and then spun around on her heel.

Right then, a large group of the armored Heartless appeared, jumping about with their armor clanking metallically against itself, their yellow eyes glowing viciously from within the shadows of their helmets. Yuna groaned angrily. Leon was right. This was never going to end. As long as she was wielding the Brotherhood… She clutched the Brotherhood with both hands and charged with Rikku holding the Mage Husher and Larsa gripping the Archadian Sword.

Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent looked over at Larsa, Rikku, and Yuna, watching her run forward and swing the Brotherhood viciously at the army of Heartless. Arisa and Vincent looked down at Kairi.

“You know, I think we ought to help him,” Arisa said, grabbing onto her bow and arrows.

“For once, you’re right,” Kairi agreed, raising her staff and starting up a spell.

The bear and the boy nodded, the boy ran with them, a pair of metal flamed gloves appearing on his hands, the bear began to sniff around for something.

At first, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa didn’t notice that they were helping them. As they fought their way through the Heartless, they each took a bit of time to watch them. The man didn’t seem like he would be able to fight, since all he was holding was a gun, but Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa was surprised to watch him shoot through the swarms of Heartless with his gun, and destroying them with the group of bullets from his gun.

As for the auburn haired girl, she seemed to mostly stand back and cast magic spells. She did, however, run into the action with her magic staff flailing, working as quite an effective weapon. As the sliver-haired girl and the boy, the girl shot her arrows through Heartless as the boy smashed his fist into the Heartless.

They both pulled out strange looking guns and shot themselves, appearing out of nowhere was a woman with cat eats and tail wearing a fur top, a mask around her mouth, and black stockings on her legs and a man in a white tunic with wings on his back.

“Look out!” Two people yelled in scared worried voices. (A/N: This is Fuuka and Teddie yelling, Teddie will fight later on. The persona Yuna are Nekotoma from the Magician Arcana and Rapheal from the Lovers Arcana.)

Yuna turned her head and noticed, almost a moment too late, that one of the armored Heartless had snuck up on her from behind. Her eyes went wide in shock, trying to get her feet to move her out of the way. She swung the Brotherhood clumsily, losing her balance and falling onto her butt. That’s when it happened.

A trio of bullets and Rikku’s Mage Husher popped out from the corner of Yuna’s eye, knocking the Heartless out of the way. Vincent and Rikku stepped into Yuna’s field of vision and looked over at her. They each extended one hand toward Yuna.

“You okay?” Vincent asked, offering to help Yuna to her feet.

“Yeah,” Yuna said hesitantly, taking hold both of Vincent and Rikku’s hands and rising to her feet. “Thanks.”

The young captain smiled at Yuna and Rikku and gave them a thumbs up. Yuna and Rikku smiled back. Just as they was about to introduce themselves, a loud, young female voice resounded from the other side of the area.

“We did it!” Kairi yelled excitedly, running toward Vincent with Arisa and Shinji and waving her staff in the air. “We beat ‘em all!” Larsa joined Yuna and Rikku.

“What?” Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa looked around. The auburn haired girl was right; all the Heartless were gone. They blinked in shock. That was fast. “So, what next?” Rikku wondered aloud, taking a few cautious step forward.

“Don’t ask me,” Arisa snapped, turning around and eyeing Yuna suspiciously.

“Hey! Look up there!”

Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Arisa, Shinji and Kairi looked over at Vincent, who was pointing one of his long fingers up into the sky. Whatever he was pointing at was coming toward them, its shape growing bigger and bigger with each passing moment. As all seven of them looked on, they realized that there was more than one object falling from the sky.

None of them had any idea what they were until they hit the ground nearby, shaking the floor so violently that all three of them toppled over. They were five large objects all of them dark purple colored pieces of armor; two arms, two legs, and a torso. They each bounced off the stone flooring and spun in the air before each limb attached itself to the torso piece.

As soon as they had attached, another piece tumbled from the sky and landed with a loud clang on the top of the torso; the head. In one of its arms was a young boy with short light brown hair. (A/N: Looks like more than one of Arisa's friends survived.)

“Ken!!!” Arisa and Shinji shouted.

Yuna clambered to her feet, gripping the Brotherhood in her hands and stared up at the giant suit of armor. She watched the limbs detach from the torso and begin to float around the “arena”, surrounding the group and forcing them into the center. Their backs pushed against each other as they each stepped backward.

“Aw, man, this is bad,” Rikku groaned.

“What do we do?” Arisa yelled, her voice shaking as her grip on her bow tightened.

She took a deep breath before answering. “We gotta fight it,” Yuna said firmly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Kairi muttered under her breath.

“Well, we don’t really have a choice, right?” Larsa snapped, glancing over his shoulder at Kairi. “So let’s work together on this, okay?”

Arisa, Kairi, Shinji, and Vincent nodded in agreement.

Yuna watched the pieces of armor float about in a wide circle around them, her eyes fixating on one of its arms, the one that held the boy. She carefully watched it in its orbit, waiting for her opening. After a moment, Yuna tightened her grip on the Brotherhood and dashed at the arm, leaping into the air and unleashing an airborne blitz on it, freeing the unconscious boy in its grasp. Arisa, Vincent, Shinji, and Kairi watched her for a moment, somewhat in shock.

“C’mon!” Kairi yelled, raising her staff in the air. “Let’s go, Arisa, Vincent!”

Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi ran forward, their weapons raised, joining Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa in their attack. They each jumped at the arm, swinging their weapons madly into the metal surface of the armor. They would jump one after the other, striking the dark purple metal with all their might.

It didn’t take long for them to remember that there was more than one piece of the armor to attack. As they attacked the one arm, Yuna was struck in the back by the other. She was knocked forward, toward Rikku, almost falling on her face. They groaned in pain, spinning around on their heels to face the other arm.

It was throwing punches in their direction! Yuna backed up in front of Rikku quickly, holding the Brotherhood in front of her, its tip pointed at the arm. As the arm took a swing, Yuna and Rikku ran out of the way, leaping into the air and attacking the arm.

Kairi’s booted feet planted firmly on the ground as she fell out of the air and looked up at the arm. She, Arisa, and Vincent had finally defeated the piece of armor.

“One down!” they shouted joyously in unison.

The armor shook violently, creating the most awful noise of metal scratching against more metal, before finally exploding into what seemed like purple dust and vanishing into thin air. Then and only then did Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent take a good look around.

It seemed like each part of the armor had gone crazy. They all wandered about the district of their own free will, randomly attacking, even if the nearest opponent was a good ten feet away. The remaining arm was throwing punches at Yuna (who was holding the unconscious boy), Rikku, and Larsa while the torso and the head spun around in circles around the area, seemingly trying to hit somebody. The feet stomped about the area angrily, occasionally leaping into the air and stomping back onto the ground with a loud, violent thud.

Arisa yelled in alarm as the feet stomped toward her, Vincent, and Kairi, running out of the way with her wings flapping her high in the air, screaming loudly. Vincent and Kairi jumped away as one great armored foot flew high into the air and stomped the ground nearby, but the sheer force of the thud was enough to knock the girl and the man flat onto their rear ends.

“Vincent! Kairi!” Arisa called worriedly. “Vincent! Kairi! Are you okay?”

Both the girl and the man didn’t reply. Gritting their teeth angrily and clutching their weapons in their grips, Vincent and Kairi leapt to their feet and charged at the foot while it rested on the ground. Kairi bashed the end of her staff into the armor as Vincent shot behind her, screaming so incoherently in her young female voice that no expert linguist would ever be able to understand her. Vincent’s eyes went wide at the flurry of angry, incomprehensible words that poured out of Kairi’s mouth. Hell hath no fury like Kairi scorned.

Yuna leapt into the air and slashed her Brotherhood into the arm, creating a large gash in the purple metal. The arm shook violently before exploding into purple dust and vanishing into the atmosphere. Yuna ran for the next piece of armor within range; the head and torso. Without a moment’s hesitation, she charged at the set and began to hack away, leaping high into the air and unleashing the best aerial combo he could muster.

“C’mon!” Kairi screeched.

She ran toward the next armored leg, leaving the one she had defeated single handedly in a fit of rage to explode on its own. Kairi grabbed Vincent’s arm as she ran past, pulling Vincent to join him in her attack on the next leg. She practically threw Vincent at the leg before running into the action herself, staff raised high in the air.

Vincent put his clawed hand over his head as he flew at the leg, wincing at the moment of impact. He slashed across from the leg, his head spinning, walking haphazardly into the middle of the district. Kairi simply continued to attack the leg. Her eyes burned with rage. There was just no stopping her.

Planting both feet on the ground, Yuna ran to get some distance between her, Rikku, and Larsa and the armor. She wiped the sweat off her forehead as he ran, readjusting her hold on the Brotherhood. It seemed like the torso was the toughest. But it was getting much easier, now that there were fewer pieces to deal with.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa spun around to face the torso once again, taking a deep breath. This was tiring. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out. Mustering up some more strength, Yuna made another charge at the torso, leaping into the air with Rikku and Larsa and slashing into the armor angrily. She glared at the armor.

“No fair!” she heard Rikku yelled as she ran back and jumped at it, swinging the Brotherhood. “You can fly!”

Both Kairi and Vincent had unleashed a flurry of attacks on the remaining leg, even though Kairi’s anger had slowly given way to annoyance, making her attacks slightly less effective. They would bang on the surface of the metal armor with their weapons and then make a break for it when the leg began to move.

Every so often it managed to strike one of them or knock them to the ground, but they would merely get back up to their feet and continue. It took some time, but as Kairi cast a Thunder spell on the leg one final time, the leg began to rattle and shake, even as the strings of electricity continued to spark across its surface. Arisa leapt into the air with a round of joyous yelling as the leg exploded into dust. Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent looked around.

“Where are those kids?” Arisa asked.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa tumbled to the ground and hissed in pain. Yuna let go of the Brotherhood for a moment, clutching her sides and wincing, sucking in air through her gritted teeth. That stupid torso thing could really smack a person around. Biting her lip to keep from crying out, Yuna tried to stand. She thought she could taste blood. She looked over Rikku and Larsa at the torso, her vision blurred, every muscle in her body aching.

The torso moved closer, starting to spin ever so slightly. Yuna merely glared at it, slowly taking the Brotherhood back into her hands. She couldn’t find the strength to get up at the moment. She could hardly lift her weapon more than a few inches off the ground. She needed help. The torso wasn’t very far now. One hit was all it needed on Yuna. One hit, and it’d be over. Yuna narrowed her eyes.

“You snick,” she hissed.

Just as the armor was about to make its final move, Arisa leapt at it shield first, knocking the torso slightly and shifting its attention from Yuna to Arisa. Yuna’s eyes went wide in shock. She’d almost forgotten about those three. As Arisa made a break for the other side of the district, away from Yuna, Kairi knelt next to Yuna, pulling out a Hi-Potion and offering it to Yuna.

“Hurry!” she urged, looking back at Vincent and Arisa.

She grabbed hold of the bottle, wincing slightly at the movement, and began to drink. Kairi watched Yuna for a moment before her patience ran out and she ran back into the battle to help Vincent and Arisa. As soon as the bottle was empty,

Yuna took in a few long, deep breaths, feeling her energy return ever so slowly. She could hardly help but smile. She turned her gaze onto the fight that she could see happening on the other side of the district. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. Gripping the Brotherhood in her right hand, Yuna rose to her feet and returned to the battle.

They would attack the armor alternately, having Vincent, Rikku, and Larsa jump up and attack, then Kairi and Arisa, and then finally, Yuna. The torso hardly had any time to counter, because as soon as one of them was finished attacking it, someone else would almost immediately come in.

Their blitz continued in this way, the torso getting knocked around between the six fighters. Yuna grinned eagerly. Thanks to these three, they were going to win. She didn’t think he had ever worked this well with someone else in battle.

She, Rikku and Lulu… Even if they worked as a team, they were still competing with each other. Trying to see who was better. Who would reach her goal fastest. Who dealt the final blow. It was always a competition between them. Yuna couldn’t think of any exceptions.

Suddenly the torso began to shake violently, more so than the other pieces had. It shook and rattled, grinding sheets of metal against each other, sparks flying from the friction. The group merely watched with wide eyes, stepping backwards, away from the armor, just in case it erupted and sheets of dark purple metal went flying in every which direction. Then, just as quickly as the shaking had begun, it stopped. The head piece dropped onto the armor with a clang, and then tumbled from there onto the ground with a loud metallic thud.

The entire armor then began to glow, and Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa watched as a glowing heart appeared from within the torso of the set of armor. Their eyes remained focused on the heart as it floated up into the sky, vanishing from view. The torso shook one last time before it vanished into a series of soft purple lights.

All six fighters dropped to their knees in exhaustion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, you were looking for Yunie?” Rikku asked, pointing at her cousin in shock.

Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent nodded firmly. “Uh-huh!”

“They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Brotherhood.”

Everyone turned around to see Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith walking towards them, with them was the boy and the bear from before, the young boy and a young girl with light blue eyes. Leon folded his arms over his chest as he came to a halt a few steps away from Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa.


Yuffie nodded in agreement to Leon’s statement, her face lightening into a kindly smile as she looked at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa. The young Brotherhood wielder tilted her head curiously to one side as she looked at them. That Leon came and went like the wind. Yuna wondered whether or not she should have asked Leon where he’d vanished to.

“Hey,” Kairi said as she looked at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa, the boys, the bear, and the girl, her face brightening. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa spun around to face Kairi. “Why don’t you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel.”

Yuna and Rikku’s faces fell as they dropped their gaze and hung their head slightly as images of two very special, familiar faces flashed in their minds. “I wonder if we could find Riku and Kairi,” Yuna wondered aloud.

Yuffie and Aerith exchanged glances, Aerith clutching both hands close to her heart. Leon shut his eyes sympathetically, turning away slightly. Yuffie looked at Leon for a moment, but almost immediately turned away. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath as Rikku hugged her. Anything could have happened to them by now. And the last time they’d seen them… They had been acting weird. Something was wrong. And if they were still like that, then…

After a moment of silence, Vincent looked over at Yuna and Rikku and smiled. “Of course.”

Yuna and Rikku’s heads snapped up in shock, looking over at Vincent, a glimmer of hope in their eyes. He couldn’t mean that! Could he?

Arisa and Vincent looked down at Kairi and leaned closer to her, giving her a suspicious look. “Are you sure?” Arisa whispered.

Kairi rolled her eyes as she turned to Vincent and Arisa, cupping one hand around her mouth. “Who knows?” she whispered back. “But we need the girl to come with us to help us find the king.”

Leon walked slowly over to Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa and put one hand on Yuna’s shoulder. “Yuna, you and Rikku go with them,” he told him sternly. “Especially if you want to find your friends.”

Yuna’s gaze dropped sadly to the ground once again. “Yeah… I guess.”

“But you can’t come along looking like that. Understand?” Kairi said, wagging one finger in the air. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa slowly turned their eyes to look at Kairi. What did she mean?

“No frowning,” Kairi continued, her expression softening sympathetically as he looked at the girls and the boy. “No sad face, okay?”

Arisa silently chuckled and leaned toward Kairi. “Yeah,” she pitched in. “You gotta look funny, like us….”

As Arisa began to laugh to herself, Kairi made a face and pushed Arisa away from her. She turned his attention back to Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa. Her annoyed expression vanished as she returned to trying to cheer Yuna and Rikku up. “This boat runs on happy faces!”

Yuna and Rikku didn’t look up. They kept his gaze set firmly on the toes of their boots. They looked old and worn. They were starting to get really dirty. “‘Happy’?” Rikku echoed skeptically.

Everyone looked over at Yuna expectantly. Larsa, Rikku, Kairi, Arisa, the boys, the bear, the girl and Vincent gave Sora their funniest faces in an attempt to cheer her up. Yuna didn’t move. Her head was still hung sadly in silent defeat, but everyone continued to wait for a response.

After a moment of expectant silence, Yuna looked up at Larsa, Rikku, Kairi, Arisa, the boys, the bear, and the girl with the biggest, strangest looking grin she could make. Her eyes were rolled up toward the sky so that her bi-colored eyes could hardly be seen, to the point that the smile she’d made was on the verge of terrifying. Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi’s jaws dropped in shock, their eyes going wide in alarm.

Yuna rolled her eyes back downward to look at Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi, her grin shrinking slightly upon seeing their reaction. She immediately dropped the scary looking grin, and looked at Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi worriedly. Maybe that wasn’t quite what they were expecting.

Arisa, Vincent, and Kairi suddenly cracked up. The area was filled with the sound of their hysterical laughter. “That’s one funny face!” Arisa managed to get out between laughs, pointing at Yuna’s face.

Relieved, Yuna gave them a real smile along with Rikku and Larsa and nodded. “Okay, why not? We’ll go with you guys.”

“We’re going as well,” The boy said, the other boy, the girl, and the bear nodded with him

Once they had calmed down enough to talk properly, Kairi looked up at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa and smiled, holding out one hand. “Name’s Kairi,” she introduced herself.

“Vincent Valentine,” said the captain of the guard, putting his hand on top of Kairi’s.

“I’m called Arisa Anila,” Arisa said, putting her hand on top of Vincent’s.

“Shinji Arlyn,” the black haired boy introduced, putting his hand on top of Arisa’s.

“My name is Fuuka Yamagishi,” the girl said, putting her hand on top of the black haired boy’s.

“Ken Amada,” the brown haired boy said, putting his hand on top of the girl’s.

“I’m Teddie!” the bear said, putting his paw on the brown haired boy’s.

“My name is Larsa Ferrinas Solidor,” Larsa introduced, putting his hand on top of the bear’s.

“Call me Rikku!” Rikku said, putting her hand on top of Larsa’s.

Yuna looked down at their hands and followed suit, putting one hand over Rikku’s. “I’m Yuna.”

“All for one and one for all,” Arisa chuckled.

It looked like the start of a beautiful new friendship.
_________________________________________________________________
The 3-D image of the new group of heroes glimmered in the dim light, a hazy green tint over it. The hologram hovered in the middle of the darkness, its dim, eerie green light cast on the figures of five very different looking creatures. Six pairs of eyes glared down at the image before them, their blood boiling in anger at the sight of the rise of three new heroes.

“That little squirt took down that Heartless!” one voice roared furiously from within the darkness. “Who’d have thought it?”

“Such is the power of the Brotherhood,” hissed another as he slowly turned his snake eyes on the previous speaker. “The child’s strength is not his own.”

“Why don’t we turn him into a Heartless?” suggested someone, her voice bubbling with her own wicked cackle. “That’ll settle things quick enough.”

“And one of the brat’s friends is the king’s lackey,” someone else shouted in outrage. He looked back at the glowing three-dimensional picture, his blood-shot pirate eyes narrowing at the sight.

“Swoggle me eyes!” he exclaimed. “They’re all bilge rats by the look of them.”

“You’re no prize yourself,” retorted yet another, throwing his head back as he released a round of wicked, burbled laughter.

“Shut up!” screamed the pirate angrily, shaking his hook in the other’s face, the dim green glow of the image reflecting off the sharp, curved metal.

“Enough,” someone called from a different part of the room.

The other five figures turned slightly to look at her. One could say that she must have been their leader. She stood in an almost regal stance, but her appearance suggested a dark dragon. Her yellow-green eyes seemed to glow from out of the darkness, tinting the color of her skin to a sort of green-gray.

Her red lips curved into a wicked smile as she stared at the hologram, her long, thin fingers fiddling with the clutch of her staff, her free hand holding onto a long chain. She moved forward slightly, her black and purple robes flowing across the stone flooring.

“The Brotherhood has chosen her,” she continued, her deep voice slow and thoughtful. “Will it be she who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow her?”

The other five creatures in the room exchanged glances. Their eyes were at first wide in confusion, but it soon gave way to malicious gleams and smiles. This little girl posed a threat to their plan. But he was just a little girl. There were plenty of ways to turn someone like that to their side.

The darkness was strong. The chances of that girl’s resistance were slim. Pulling the chain, two girls appeared, both bounded and gagged. They both appeared to be in their teens and had blond hair. (A/N: The girls are Penelo and Aigis, the truth about them will be revealed in the future.)

The leader smiled maliciously to herself as she watched the girl talk to her newfound friends.

“Either way, she could be quite useful…”

 

Very interesting; I was tied to this chapter the whole time. =).

However, I'm forced to point out several mistakes. You used Sora's name several times where you weren't supposed and said "Riku and Kairi" instead of "Tidus and Lulu" in another. Also, at the end with the villians, you had some gender confussion.

Other than those mistakes, it was great writing.

 

Well well, that was alengthy chapter, I could learn somethign from this and I was surprised at a few new characters, I didn't expect teddie at all, it surprised me, now what will ahppen next, but anyway, good job Aerith but words of advice, re-read everythign before you post ok?

 

Chapter 6

Sorry about the long wait. I wanted to do all the chapters of the visit to Wonderland before uploading them to Kh-vids. And be sure to expect entries of Arisa's jounral.

Chapter 6

Setting Out

Traverse Town

“Make sure you’re prepared for the journey ahead of you,” Leon said sternly, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa. “We don’t know how far the Heartless have spread.”

Yuffie smiled and gave Yuna a pat on the shoulder, making Yuna look over at her. “Check out the shops here,” she offered cheerfully. “They’ve got some pretty neat stuff!”

“This is from all of us,” Aerith said softly, holding out a small sack. Yuna took it with both hands and she, Rikku, and Larsa peered inside. The bag was filled with small golden orbs, ranging in size, each of them labeled with numbers that ranged from one to twenty. Yuna could only assume that it was money of some kind. They looked up at Aerith, confused. She merely smiled warmly. “Spend it as you see fit.”

She was right. It was money.

“Good luck!” Yuffie chirped.

“I hope you find your friends,” Aerith said, gently putting her hands on Yuna and Rikku’s shoulders.

“Look out for each other,” Leon said even more sternly than before. He gave a firm nod as he looked at Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa straight in the eyes. “Keep your spirits up.”

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa looked at Leon, then Yuffie, then Aerith, and then back to Leon. Ever since they’d defeated the giant suit of armor, all that the three of them had done was tell her all about her duties as a “new hero”. They’d been stopped in the middle of First District for a while now, Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa listening to everything that they had to say, just as Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Ken, Teddie, Fuuka, Arisa, Kairi, and Vincent headed for the Highwind ship.

She nodded firmly in response to everything, tucking the bag of money away. She watched and absent mindedly waved good-bye as the three “teachers” left them on their own. Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa stood perfectly still, somewhat dumbfounded and in shock by what had just happened.

Kairi cleared her throat and tugged at Yuna’s arm. “The Highwind ship is outside that gate.” She gestured toward a large doorway standing not twenty feet behind them.

Yuna, Rikku, and Larsa turned to face Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent slowly. “The what?”

“That’s our ship,” Kairi said with a firm nod. “We travel to different worlds on the Highwind ship.”

Arisa grinned widely. “Wait ‘til you see it!”

“Okay, then,” Shinji said, a smile growing across his face. “Let’s get going! I can’t wait to see this ship of yours, Arisa-chan!”

The girl grinned as she turned to lead the way to the large doorway. She marched proudly, swinging her young girl arms back and forth with each step that she took, her nose help high up in the air. And as she walked proudly and slowly toward the doorway where the Highwind ship was waiting, five some things rushed past her quickly, the force of their fast movement causing Kairi to stumble slightly.

When she looked up she saw Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Ken, and Teddie, all with excited expressions on their faces, opening up the doorway. Steam could have blown out of Kairi’s ears. Here she was, trying to put on a big impressive show for the kids, and there was Shinji, one of Arisa’s friends, blowing Kairi’s plan to pieces. Yuna, Fuuka, and Arisa helped Kairi stand up.

Rikku, Larsa, and Ken shoved the doorway open with Shinji and Teddie. “So, what’s the ship like?”

“You’ll see it for yourself,” Arisa chuckled as she watched Shinji peered through the crack in the doorway.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” came Kairi’s voice, shrill and furious.

“Oh, sorry, Kairi,” said Arisa apologetically. “I guess everyone else just really wanna show the ship to Rikku and Larsa.”

“Yeah, and I really wanna see it!” Rikku said excitedly as she grabbed Yuna and slipped through the partially open doorway.

They spun around on their heel once she’d made it through to the other side. There were no lights on this side of the door, except for two that hung on the walls near the doorway. Not much could be seen through the darkness. The lights could only manage to illuminate a ten-foot radius near the doorway. Here, the ground was not paved the way it was in the town.

It was left as rocks and pebbles that crunched and ground together underneath one’s footsteps. There seemed to be some trees and other foliage near the doorway, but other than what little could be seen beneath the ever night sky and the two lights on the wall, there was only darkness beyond.

One thing that definitely could be seen, even under the dim lights, was Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent’s ship. It was huge, and reminded Yuna and Rikku of drawings of space ships that he’d seen in science fiction books and in movies. It was colored a shady gray, with a painting of a woman in a red bikini on the nose.

It had large white spheres on either side with smaller ones that probably served as rudders placed above it. A small set of cannons was stuck to the bottom of the ship, though what that could be for, Yuna and Rikku didn’t know. Yuna and Rikku could see straight into the cockpit, as it was covered by a large glass dome at the end of the nose. (A/N: Everything about the Highwind ship was modeled after the Highwind Ship in FFVII.)

“Well?” Yuna and Rikku could hear Arisa say from behind him. “What do you think?”

Yuna and Rikku could hardly help but smile at the sight of the ship. “It’s awesome!”

Arisa and Kairi stood next to Vincent and grinned, pride swelling up within her. They stole a glance at Yuna and Rikku, who seemed to be frozen in place. Their excited eyes were wide in amazement as they stared at the High wind ship in its entire gray and bikini woman glory. Yuna turned slightly toward Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent and pointed at the small cannon.

“What’s that for?”

“Well, you see, there are these ships that give us often a hard time,” Vincent explained.

“They must be Heartless ships,” Kairi answered grumpily. “We always gotta be on lookout during the flight.”

“So we’re armed, huh?” Rikku’s grin grew slowly. “Wow! This is so awesome!”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Kairi said eagerly, grabbing Yuna and Rikku’s arms.

“Yeah,” Arisa added as she, Vincent, Shinji, Fuuka, Ken, Larsa, and Teddie moved toward the ship. “If you like the outside of it, wait ‘til you see the inside!”

An entrance began to appear. Bright white light seeped through newly opened cracks on the ship’s deck, outlining the bridge. The outlined shape then popped out of the surface of the ship’s deck and began to lower toward the ground, creating a ladder into the ship. Air rushed into the interior of the ship as the door opened, and light exploded from inside the ship. Yuna and Rikku had to shield their eyes until the light dimmed slightly.

The girls and the man turned to each other, grinned and began to pull Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Ken, Fuuka, and Teddie into the ship. As soon as they had adjusted to the brighter light and were able to see inside, Yuna and Rikku’s eyes went even wider in wonder and their jaw dropped visibly.

“Whoa!”

They’d never seen anything quite like it before. It was a much bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, and it seemed to have a lot more room than was probably necessary. There were people in uniforms that were moving everywhere. Giant tanks, engines and gauges of various unknown materials were lined up on two of the walls. The entire room hummed with the sound of the engines revving up. There was a small cupboard on one side near the doorway, and whatever walls were available had at least two pictures, posters, or signs.

The far side of the room that Yuna and Rikku were facing seemed to be split into three floors. The second floor was lined with three doors; Yuna assumed they belonged to Vincent, Arisa, and Kairi. Next to the last door was a flight of stairs leading up to the next floor, which she could see some door, assuming the rooms up there were any extra guests. It certainly made Yuna and Rikku wonder who could use them, then.

On the current floor they were on were three rooms, to their left was a large square archway with a red sign that read “Operation”, further down was a small room with a picture of a chocobo and words that read, “Chocobo” with an arrow pointing towards the room. And right in front of them was a bridge leading north. On the floor just behind their feet was a sign with a steering wheel that read “cockpit” with an arrow pointing towards the bridge.

Arisa laughed to herself lightly. “Roomy, isn’t it?”

“Welcome aboard the Highwind ship, everyone!” Kairi exclaimed with a large gesture of her hands, winking proudly.

Rikku ran toward the nearest tank and examined it excitedly. She looked at it, behind it, and under it before running toward a different one and doing the same. She couldn’t quite get over the fact that she and her cousin were in a space ship. It was surreal! Rikku continued to dash around the room, examining everything, touching everything, until Yuna, Larsa, and Shinji began to get dizzy from watching her.

“This is totally awesome!” she yelled out excitedly as she examined everything top to bottom.

As Rikku spun on her heel and began to run to the next cool thing she could lay her gloved hands on, something long and fast flew at Rikku’s face and smacked the underside of her chin. “TAKE THAT!”

Sora stepped backward, trying to balance himself after taking a hit to the face. He rubbed his new bruise sadly. “What was that?” he wondered aloud.

“You mind, kid!” came a angry young male voice. “Don’t you be touching this an’ that like you own the place!”

Yuna began to look around, searching for the owner of the voice. Whoever it was, he sounded a bit like a much younger man than Vincent. She wondered to herself whether or not she should tell the owner that. She then wondered if it was a good idea to. Either way, she couldn’t see anyone other than Kairi, Vincent, Arisa, Shinji, Fuuka, Ken, Teddie, Larsa and Rikku around, and she was pretty sure that neither of them had a young voice like that.

“Down here! Below you!”

She blinked, stunned, and then looked down near Rikku’s feet. Yuna almost burst out laughing.

The owner of the voice was a young man, much younger than Vincent.

There were actually two young men, but only of them was glaring up at Rikku and tapping one of his long fingers impatiently on his bended knee, making a fast tap-tap-tap noise. Both men were wearing matching blue tuxedos and aprons that bore a symbol of a gear with the Gaea King’s symbol in the center of it. One of them was scrubbing the floor with a small rag, while the one who was glaring at Rikku held a mop in one hand, since the other hand was placed stubbornly on his knee. (A/N: The mechanics are noneother than Rude and Reno!!! ^^)

“All day I slave away getting this vessel spotless and ship-shape, and what do you do! You trash the place the first chance you get!”

He had spoken so quickly in such a high pitched voice that Yuna felt somewhat dizzy just listening to him. The second man glanced up at Rikku once and then returned to wiping the floor with his rag, shaking his head side to side and tut-tutting to himself.

“Honestly, kids these days…”

Rikku knelt on the floor near them and gaped, half hoping that they weren’t going to smack her again if she did so. Vincent moved toward them, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. “These two are Reno and Rude,” he explained. “They’re the mechanics responsible for the maintenance of the Highwind ship.”

The first man (the one who had been yelling at Rikku) then turned to look at Vincent, the tail in the back of his hair swinging wildly as he shook one fist in the air and he opened his mouth. “‘These two’?” he shrieked.

The second man rose to his knee, looked Rikku full in the face and waved cheerily. “Good day, young lady!”

Vincent looked at each man in turn and then turned to Yuna, Larsa, Shinji, Fuuka, Ken, Teddie, and Rikku. “The annoying one with the long red hair is Reno,” he whispered. “The silent one with the sunglass and the bald head is Rude.”

That’s when Reno stood up on his legs on the ground with a shrill “harrumph.” He pointed first at Vincent, then at Rikku, then back at Vincent. “I heard that!” he screamed. Reno then pointed angrily at Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Fuuka, and Ken’s shoes. “Shoes off, everyone! I won’t have ya dirtying the cockpit!”

Teddie chuckled to himself as he walked cross the long bridge to the cockpit. Fortunately for him, he didn’t wear shoes. Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Arisa, Kairi, Vincent, Fuuka, and Ken plopped onto their bottoms and removed their shoes quickly. As soon as they all had become barefoot, Yuna looked over at Vincent.

“Uhh, where do we put ‘em?” she asked.

Vincent looked thoughtful for a moment and then grinned.

“We put ‘em over in that cupboard. See?”

He pointed to the cupboard that stood near the entrance before moving to place his shoes inside the cupboard properly. Everyone followed Vincent’s example as they each carefully tucked their shoes into one of the cubbies and turned. Yuna was about to head to the cockpit when she and Rikku heard a voice from behind them.

Yuna and Rikku spun around and looked at the entrance and were surprised to see a young boy. A tall young man with armored clothes, black crossed sneakers, and dressed in pirate gear waved at Yuna and Rikku happily from his position inside the archway of the entrance. He had short spiky sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, for a moment Yuna thought she saw Tidus.

“Harhar!” he yelled out. “I be Roxas, the captain o’ this skipper! Welcome aboard!”

Blinking in confusion, Yuna and Rikku smiled slightly and waved absentmindedly at the boy. They didn’t understand what had just happened there… They then spun on their heel and followed Larsa, Teddie, Vincent, Arisa, Fuuka, Ken, Kairi, Shinji, and Arisa across the bridge to the cockpit. They chose to ignore Reno’s yelling as they passed him, simply walking across the cold surface of the bridge and following their new friends into the cockpit. They could hardly wait to see what it was like.

Yuna and Rikku walked across the bridge, popping out at the top in a dark room that had only one door. There was absolutely nothing of interest in the room, so Yuna and Rikku headed through the doorway and found themselves in the cockpit. Yuna heard Rikku’s breath caught as they looked about. As they had seen earlier, the almost entire cockpit was encased in glass, which let them see the absolutely breathtaking sight of the stars in the night sky. Yuna and Rikku had entered from the side, from where they could see pretty much the whole cockpit.

It was a very large room with two floors, a railing going around the edge of the top floor and machines around the floor, but the mere idea of their being in the cockpit of a spaceship had Yuna and Rikku thrilled. There were three machines surrounding them, the one in front of them was semi-circular and was operated by a woman with short blond hair, there was a small one in the left corner.

A man with shoulder black hair wearing a piloting suit was at the wheel (Yuna and Rikku knew almost immediately that it was the driver’s seat), and was currently examining all the switches, gauges, buttons and monitors that were spread across the control board at the front. Vincent was on the lower floor, examining all the switches, gauges, buttons, and monitors on a much bigger machine similar to the other two.

“Wow, there were a lot of rooms in the hold,” Yuna commented as she and Rikku stood near the railing. She leaned back against the rail with Rikku. “Were you expecting us or something?”

Both Vincent and Kairi froze and Vincent looked over at Kairi. “Well, uh…”

“Well,” Vincent said slowly. “There’s usually more of people on this ship… I mean, I…” He let his voice trail off as his face took on a thoughtful, sad glaze.

The two were silent for a moment before Kairi continued with what she was doing and Vincent, too, returned to normal. Yuna tilted her head to one side, slightly confused. Then, with a small gasp of realization, Yuna lowered her eyes and shut her mouth. It looked like she and Rikku weren’t the only ones who had lost some friends. She looked sadly at her cousin standing close to her and shut their eyes sympathetically. She hadn’t meant to bring up a painful subject…

That’s when Yuna decided to switch gears.

“What’s up with that Roxas guy?” she asked as the thought came to her.

“Oh, Roxas?” Kairi echoed, turning slightly so she was looking at Yuna. “The general of my world’s kingdom army. He must have stowed away in the ship.” She then chuckled softly, mostly to herself.

Vincent rolled his eyes as he waited for the pilot and the engines to rev up properly.

“Oh, okay,” Yuna said with a slight lopsided smile. She turned to look out the window.

It was too dark to see any horizon out here. And once they took off, there wouldn’t be a horizon to look out to at all. Yuna sighed heavily. She missed watching the sunset while she and Rikku talked with Lulu and Tidus back at their island. They’d done that everyday since Tidus came into their lives.

The engines began to roar loudly, and Kairi and the pilot grinned excitedly. She turned around to look at Yuna, Rikku, Shinji, Ken, Fuuka, Larsa, and Teddie and smiled. “Haven’t forgotten anything, have you? If not, then hold on very tight. We’ll be taking off shortly.”

Just the way she had said it reminded Yuna of a ride operator at an amusement park. Yuna could hear Reno bark out orders from outside the room, even over the sound of the engines. She spun around slightly to see if she could catch a glimpse of them at work, but could only manage to hear their voices.

“Engines at full throttle!”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

The pilot gripped the handles of the steering wheel and leaned forward, his eyes piercing through the endless beyond. “To the stars!”

The take off was so sudden that Yuna and Rikku had no time to react. All they really knew was that they were suddenly fell to the ground by the sheer force of the movement, Rikku held onto her cousin, whining. Their ears began to ring with the sound of the engines roaring, the change of pressure, and the sound of Kairi’s excited whoops and yells. It took longer than Yuna and Rikku would have liked, but the pressure soon lifted off them and they slowly up, using the railing for support. Rikku moaned, clutching her belly.

“Whoa… it feels like I left my guts back there,” she groaned, airsick.

“Aw, you’ll get used to it,” Kairi said sympathetically, chuckling slightly.

As Rikku leaned backwards and slumped against the railing as low as she could go, the quick arm of Vincent Valentine catching her before she fell to the ground, Yuna noticed Arisa and Fuuka walk out of the room. She let out a long breath and decided to follow Arisa. As she thought this was going to take some serious adjustment, she heard something. A beautiful piano melody. Just then, Yuna looked up to the second floor and noticed the door to Arisa’s room was open.

She carefully climbed the flight of the stairs to the second floor and peered through the opened door and gasped. Sitting in front of a piano was Arisa, her eyes closed and playing the keys in front of her, Yuna could only stare at her, she played so beautifully.

Soon, she began to sing, “Follow as the time flows in eternal waves. Hold on to the dreams you have every day. Wander to the lands that are so far away. Watch me; come with me into the pouring rain. Though the trail is so long, so cold, I still know, we will make it. Will our story be lost in the wind? Will it live on to sing on again?” (A/N: What Arisa is singing is the fan vocal arranged version To Zanarkand, arranged and sung by HollowRiku on Youtube)

Fuuka, who was sitting on her bed, smiled at her and clapped. Yuna swallowed and knocked on the door, she heard Arisa told her to come in and she did. “You enjoyed?” Arisa asked, Yuna nodded. She heard one of them asked her something.

“It’s Yuna, right?”

She smiled and nodded.

“A word with you then? If we may.”

It took a moment for Yuna’s mind to realize where she was and sighed. She opened her bi-colored eyes slowly and looked around. The room was simple, her bed was unmade and her desk piled with stuff. The piano was in a corner of the room. Her eyes eventually caught on the shy figure of Fuuka Yamagishi, now standing right in front of her and messing with her fingers. The quiet girl smiled at Yuna and curtsied her dress graciously.

“Since Arisa-chan is supposed to be chronicling your travels,” Fuuka said, standing up straight and seating herself on the piano bench, “I thought it would only be right for us to ask you for your side of the story.”

“My side of the story?” Yuna echoed, pointing to herself in her. “You want me to tell you everything that’s happened to me and Rikku so far?”

Here Fuuka nodded. Yuna tilted her head to one side and shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

Fuuka smiled and shook her head slowly from side to side. “Just in a nutshell, if you please.” Arisa then pulled out a notebook and a pen. She looked up at Yuna and, seeing the lost expression on her face, laughed slightly.

“It’s just a little something to pass the time,” Arisa assured her. “And it’ll take your mind off Rikku being airsick!”

That last comment reminded Yuna of her cousin’s airsickness, and she slumped back down to the ground.
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It had taken quite some time for Yuna to recover and try to figure out the most important parts of her story to tell Arisa and Fuuka. But now that they had been traveling for quite a while, Yuna felt most of his own airsickness subside and was able to help Arisa and Fuuka in their chronicling process.

“Can I, uh, just ask what this is for?” Yuna asked when they had finished.

“Well, the queen asked me to do this for her,” Arisa replied as she tucked his notebook and pen away. Yuna nodded as though she understood, even though she didn’t. Arisa then turned to the keyboard and Fuuka dismissed herself with a slight bow.

“Yunie!”

She turned her head at the sound of her name. Rikku had run into the room and hugged Yuna, a smile on her face. “Take a look out the window!”

Hesitantly, Yuna ran onto Arisa’s messy bed to look out the window. It wasn’t like there was a sunset out here, or a horizon of any sort to look out to. But the sight through the glass was just short of breath taking.

True, it was nothing like the sunset on Besaid Islands, but the sight of the ocean of stars that twinkled brightly; peeking out from within the endless darkness and the large clusters of stars that looked just like the rolling white clouds was still amazing. Yuna placed one hand on the cold glass, leaning forward slightly until her nose was only centimeters away and her breath was making clouds of mist on its surface.

“Whoa!” Yuna breathed in awe. “Wish Lulu and Tidus were here to see this…”

Kairi smiled to herself as she appeared and glanced at Yuna. “We’ve arrived, Yuna.”

Yuna tore her eyes away from the vision out the window and looked over at Kairi in shock.

“Eh? Already?”

The girl pointed out the window with a grin. “Wonderland!”

Yuna and Rikku looked forward and saw what could possibly be one of the strangest things they would ever lay their eyes on. Wonderland was right.

It seemed like a small planet, which was growing as they approached its surface to land. Yuna and Rikku could see an unusual looking castle and a heart shaped arch. They could see hedges, possibly forming a labyrinth, spreading out all the way around one half of the world.

As Yuna and Rikku looked on, it seemed like that part of the world was inaccessible. The other half (where they were landing) was simple grassland. Rolling green grassland and a dirt path that zigzagged across it, on top of which the Highwind ship landed.

Kairi walked back to the cockpit and began to hit the switches and press the buttons. Yuna and Rikku could hear the engines begin to hum as they powered down. She spun around on Arisa’s unmade bed a few times before figuring out that it was time to get off the ship. Arisa stood from the piano bench the moment she had heard the engines herself and turned to Yuna and Rikku.

“C’mon!” she yelled excitedly. “Get up, Yuna!

“Let’s get a look at this place!” Kairi said, tearing herself away from the doorway and making a break for the ladder outside.

“Right,” Yuna said with a nod, fumbling around on the mess of sheets on Arisa’s bed. She grinned. “Hey, hold on a second!”

As soon as she and Rikku were off of Arisa’s bed, Yuna and Rikku hurried to catch up with Arisa, Fuuka, Ken, Shinji, Teddie, Larsa, Kairi, and Vincent.

Rikku was just about to run straight for the door and throw it open when one hand reached out and grabbed her by the collar. She was yanked backwards and ended up dropping on the floor with a thud and a groan.

“Don’t just jump the airlock,” Arisa warned, moving toward the doorway slowly. “That’s a bit dangerous.”

“Yeah!” Kairi pitched in. “You never know what’s out there, so you gotta be careful.”

Rikku rose to her feet slowly, rubbing her neck and fixing up her shirt (Kairi had, after all, pulled at it). Vincent opened the doorway slowly and poked his head out, looking both ways before he stepped out. He then turned back to Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Arisa, Kairi, Shinji, Ken, Teddie, and Fuuka and motioned for them to come outside, giving them the “all clear”.

Arisa and Kairi stepped outside, Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Ken, Fuuka, and Teddie following closely behind, and took a look around. The place seemed perfectly ordinary. In fact, it looked almost mundane.

All around them was an almost ordinary sight of blue skies and a rolling green field. There were trees speckled across the landscape, and there was a small pond near a field of daisies that bustled with various kinds of birds as they bathed in the water.

“So much for ‘Wonderland’,” Rikku said to herself and her cousin, somewhat disappointed. She raised her arms casually over her head and then turned to Kairi. “So, what now?”

Kairi, Arisa, and Vincent looked over at Rikku and Yuna, and then at each other. Kairi shrugged helplessly, and Yuna could only roll her eyes.

“Great.”

Just then, Yuna saw something move. She spun around to see what it was and caught a brief glimpse of a short, stout figure running through the bushes. Yuna took a few steps forward, following the figure, and then halted. She didn’t know whether she should follow it or not.

“What’s wrong, Yuna?” Arisa asked.

She said nothing, but continued to hold her hard gaze. Kairi, Vincent, Arisa, Fuuka, Shinji, Teddie, Ken, Rikku, and Larsa spun around to look where Yuna was looking. Something white flashed over the bushes.

“See that!” Yuna yelped, pointing. “What is that?”

The group waited for a few moments more, haltingly moving in the direction that the creature seemed to be moving, until the creature finally popped out from the bushes and came into full view. Yuna and Rikku’s eyes went wide in alarm at the sight of him.

“It’s… It’s a rabbit!”

A rabbit indeed. A white rabbit, to be exact. He ran on his two hind legs and was wearing a bright red tuxedo jacket with a washed out yellow blouse underneath and gray trousers. He held an umbrella in one hand (or should that be a paw?) and a large golden pocket watch in the other.

His eyes seemed bloodshot from lack of rest as they stared out through the small pair of horse spectacles that was perched on his red rabbit nose and the fur on the top of his head was ruffled and messy. He kept looking down at his watch, which seemed to cause him further distress, and then continue running.

Arisa and Vincent shrugged, turning away slightly as Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, Shinji, Fuuka, Ken, Teddie, and Kari looked on. “Aw, it’s just a rabbit in a waistcoat.” Their eyes suddenly widened and they took a double take. “And a watch!”

The white rabbit looked back down at his watch and his eyes widened further, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “Oh my fur and whiskers! I’m late I’m late I’m late!”

Fuuka tilted her head curiously to one side. “What could a rabbit be late for?”

Yuna shook her head from side to side, finally snapping out of her funk. “Hey, you! Wait!”

The rabbit didn’t stop. In fact, he only quickened his pace. He turned back slightly to look at Yuna and shook his head vigorously, pointing at the watch face in a panic.

“No no no no no no no, I’m overdue! I’m really in a stew! No time to say ‘goodbye’! Hello! I’m late I’m late I’m late!”

Yuna slowed slightly, stunned by how quickly the rabbit was speaking and by his mixing up of the words “goodbye” and “hello”. At least, she was pretty sure that the rabbit had meant to say them the other way around. Pushing the thought aside, Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, and Teddie raced after the rabbit. Arisa, Fuuka, Kairi, Ken, Shinji, and Vincent exchanged glances and shrugged, and then followed Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, and Teddie.

“You think he’s going to a party?” Fuuka asked Arisa curiously.

The girl merely sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes.

“Hey!” Yuna yelled again. “Wait up!”

With one final glance backwards, the rabbit ducked into a rabbit hole in the side of a small hill. Yuna, Rikku, Larsa, and Teddie screeched to a halt in front of it and got down on their knees. They peered curiously into the hole as Arisa, Fuuka, Kairi, Ken, Shinji and Vincent came to a stop nearby. Yuna looked up at them, and then back into the hole.

“D’you think we should follow him?”

Arisa got down on her knees and looked into the hole. They couldn’t see farther than a few feet in. The rest was completely engulfed in darkness. Fuuka cupped her hands around her mouth.

“Hey Mr. Rabbit!” she yelled. The sound of her voice echoed back at them. Fuuka looked at Yuna and chuckled. “That’s a pretty strange place to be having a party, huh?”

Kairi folded her arms over her chest and grunted impatiently. Yuna paid her no heed. She looked over at Arisa, Shinji, Ken, Fuuka, Teddie, and Larsa and nodded silently, as if to say “let’s go”, and then crawled into the rabbit hole on all fours. Kairi and Vincent spun around and watched amusedly as Teddie struggled to get his larger frame into the hole.

“You know, Yuna,” Arisa said as she squirmed inside. “We really shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Yeah,” Fuuka agreed. “Curiosity often leads to trouble!”

“And we haven’t been invited to his party,” Teddie continued with a chuckle.

Yuna grinned to herself. “Well, don’t you wanna know where he’s going? And how could we possibly end up getting in troub – bulllll!”

As the last syllable left her mouth, Yuna shifted his weight onto nothing and began to fall headfirst into the dark abyss. Rikku grabbed hold of her cousin as she followed her. Arisa fell through shortly after, grabbing hold of Shinji and Fuuka, who was holding Ken and spreading her wings. Teddie and Larsa fell soon afterwards, each letting out a scream.

Kairi and Vincent hopped around anxiously outside of the rabbit hole, pondering as to whether or not they should try to help them. With one final stomp of their booted feet, Kairi and Vincent got down on all fours and began to crawl through the darkness, only to end up falling down an unseen hole as their companions had before them.

Please, enjoy!

 

o.o....very detailed indeed, so it's now follow the rabbit and then, after that world would be Tarzan and the Coliseum

 

Impressive ^__^ <3