Chapter One:

A new acquaintance…or two.

Sora, Goofy and Donald felt there insides begin to tear as they chased further and further after Pluto. It really wasn't a fair run; Pluto had two extra legs...

"When...is...he...going...to- slow- DOWN!" Sora said between gasps, clutching a stitch in his chest he raised his head for more air. It was then he noticed- "What's going? - What's that!"

"I know!" quacked Donald, "We've been running for ages and we've still passed this scenery a thousand times! I swear I saw that rock before!"

"Gawsh..." Goofy looked up as well, still running in his long, awkward stride.

"I know Goofy, there it is again! Right there, see! That same rock!" Donald still waddled furiously along, pointing out a large and vaguely familiar boulder.

"LOOK UP DONALD!" Goofy and Sora yelled simultaneously.

"Huh?" Donald looked up (cue piping sound effect), "OH NO!"

Meanwhile, precisely 3 miles above and closing...

"Easy...EASY!" A dark figure struggled to man the two ropes and the wheel, her ship's gummy sail began to tear loose- the rudder struggling against the high-pressure dark matter, "Keep it together, girl! You've been through worse than this!"

The S.S. Arpeggialis obviously hadn't...the sail tore and automatically furled and the ropes flung from the figure's wrists- the wheel spun from her control and the ship leaned to the starboard side- preparing for an uncomfortable landing.

"Sea spirits- guide me well!" the figure uttered before strapping herself to the mast.

CRASH!

On the positive side...Pluto finally stopped and dropped the letter. Right in front of his nose laid the smoking remains of-

"A boat?" Sora tripped over Donald- who tripped over Goofy- who tripped over Pluto- who fell into the small, one-sail boat.

"Ohh...- WHAT THE-! A HEARTLESS! HAVE AT YOU!" A slap came from inside the boat and Pluto rocketed out and landed on Donald (cue head-orbiting stars and birds). The dark figure cut her ropes and climbed to the masthead. "HA-HA! FLEEING, HM? BUT I IN CLOSE PURSUIT YOU- you...dog?" The figure leapt through the smoke, revealing a deeply-tanned girl with a long red scarf in her black hair.

"Who are you?" groaned Sora, pushing Pluto off Donald.

"Who am I?" the girl tilted her head; "You pounce into my ship and frighten me half to death! I think you should make the first introduction- wait! You might be a heartless!"

The girl took a menacing step towards Sora- Goofy rose his shield but she flicked it away with her lacy-gloved hand- Sora tried to shuffle back but the girl skipped forward and wrapped her lacy hand around his collar.

"What are you-?" he never finished. Sora looked into the girls, black-rimmed, amber eyes and found himself in a trance. Donald, typically, remained half-comatose. The girl put her ear to Sora's chest and hummed a single...flawless...note-

-Sora broke out of his trance and clutched his chest. A golden glow shone through his fingertips! As it did with Donald and Goofy- and far across the other worlds, dozens of others, familiar to Sora, clutched their chests as well, feeling each other's presence, their friends' hearts! Even someone very special to Sora...

The humming stopped...and the glow faded. Satisfied and somewhat shocked, the girl stood, "Definitely. Not. A. Heartless. Your friendship with others...it's a rare thing to find a heart such as yours and theirs," she offered her hand to Sora.

"What-? What was that? It's like I felt...everyone..." Sora took the hand and lifted himself up, pulling Donald and Goofy up as well.

"You did," the girl said simply, "their hearts, anyway,"

"Gawsh, so that there glow was all of our friend's hearts?" Goofy shook Donald awake, "Donald!"

"What! Oh..." Donald fell limp, "I had the most wonderful dream...Daisy..."

"You see," the girl began, "my name is Deita, and I'm half siren-"

"Siren? That purty hummin' sounded nuthin' like a siren," said Goofy.

Deita laughed, "No, not that type of siren. Anyway, when I play music- singing especially- it reacts with people's hearts, no offence but your dog-" she gestured to the cowering Pluto, "took me by surprise a bit. I had to make sure you weren't heartless,"

"What would've happened if we were?" asked Sora, nervously.

"Then you would've all turned into floating spheres of light and have zoomed off," she waved her hand away, "to find your hearts. Oh by the way," she handed Goofy his shield, "sorry about that..."

"Aw shucks, that's all right. I'm Goofy and that there is Pluto," Pluto hid behind Goofy's legs, "Aw, come on Pluto, Deita said she was sorry,"

"Wait a moment," Deita reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a few biscuits, "here you are," she tossed them to Pluto, who sniffed them suspiciously, ate the first, and then became her canine soul mate in a shower of saliva.
"O-o-o-kay, that's enough!"

"Donald Duck," Donald shook hands, well...wings, with Deita.

"And I'm Sora-"

"The key-bearer. Part of the trio of heroes out to restore light and connection to the worlds!" She shrugged off their stares, "Word travels quickly in Traverse Town, that is before my ship crashed of course...It's an honour to meet all of you."

"That's a ship?" Donald blurted- then covered his bill.

"Used to be, made it myself- uh...what is that?" she pointed to the letter next to Pluto.

Suddenly Deita's curiosity was interrupted. A black panther had stolen across the green hills flanking the path; dark and vigilant eyes noticed the group rather quickly and the panther made towards them instead of its present direction. It pounced and was soon only meters from the group.

The panther snarled at the people before him who looked more curious than afraid. It flexed its claws and was ready to pounce forward just as the boy before him spoke;

"What do you reckon, some new kinda' heartless? Well, let me show you how I take care of them..." The boy told the girl standing opposite him. He brought his hand down to his waist quickly and a keyblade appeared in his open hand. As soon as it materialised he ran forward towards the panther, blade over his shoulder ready to attack.

As soon as Tobias had seen the keyblade he knew, knew that the only person able to wield it was Sora. The boy he had heard about when he had journeyed to other worlds, the boy who fought the heartless. But in this place too? Walking down an endless road, was this coincidence or fate?

The panther leapt to the side of Sora and raised its front paws, as if surrendering. He showed this by retracting his claws and lowering his paws to the ground. The first thing to change was the eyes; a deep blue rose out of the black mist that had veiled the pupils. His knees reversed with a sickening crunch; however he appeared in no pain what-so-ever. Green cargo pants seemed to transpire from his black fur, as well as a brown t-shirt and leather jacket. A large sheath appeared as having been strapped to the panther's leg, as well as a sai at the base of each. His skin hidden by clothing and black fur returned to human form and the black hair started to melt into his skin, except for the top of the head: where he had kept the dark hair but it had grown and turned into human hair. He looked human now as the last changes took place.

He stood up looking at the group of strangers, as they stared back wide-eyed and gasping.

"What! You've never seen a shape shifter before?" He asked them, as they stared back with an obviously 'no'.

"A... a shape-shifter? Wait a second! What are you doing here! How did you get here!" The keybearer interrogated.

"Yes, a shape-shifter, and pyrokinetic or pyropath depending on which term you prefer. And what am I doing here? Looking for answers, just as I suspect you are. As for how I got here, well even I can't answer that. I had been on a different world; I think it was called Hollow Bastion. Anyway there was lots of Heartless and I was trying to defeat them, I trapped myself in a room that the heartless couldn't penetrate, but something happened...All I remember is a bright light and I closed my eyes, then I don't know how many days later woke up in this new land. Where I found you. Maybe we were meant to meet keybearer. I'm Tobias." He stepped forward as he finished and offered his hand to Sora.