Hello and welcome to yet another strange little fanfic by yours truly. Just like to point out, this is my first non-crackish, multichaptered KH fic, so I may screw the characters up a little bit (or perhaps a lot). Forgive me if I do, just let me know and I'll try to remedy it.

Also, I don't usually write serious fics in the third person, crack yes, good quality stuff, no. I prefer the first person because I cannot write very well in the third. Call this practice then... yeah, that sounds better than utter fail.

"No! I will not allow it!" Roxas heard his father's voice drifting up to his attic room from downstairs. He sounded furious. The blonde teen wandered out onto the landing, curious as to what could have roused his father's temper.

"Cloud, we have no choice. If we continue to send the town girls our future could be at stake. There would be no young women left here, and then what would happen?" Roxas leaned over the rail to listen more closely; what was the mayor doing here?

"I will not allow my son to be sent to his death!" Cloud snarled, his hand going to his gigantic sword. Roxas tensed, worried now that this obviously concerned him.

"Those with daughters have already made this sacrifice to the dragon. Isn't it time you gave your share?" Cloud sagged; he knew the mayor was right.

"It demanded girls. It would be angry if we sent a boy."

"It didn't specify gender." The mayor corrected. "It just wanted virgins" Cloud looked like he was going to start shouting again, but Roxas got there first.

"I'll go." He said, descending the wooden staircase to face his father, whose face was the picture of surprise.

"You can't. Do you even know what you're letting yourself in for Roxas?" Roxas nodded; of course he did.

Everyone knew about the dragons that lived in the wildernesses of this world. Normally they kept away from people and didn't cause any trouble, but a year ago one had moved near to Radiant Garden. The townsfolk had been worried and called on a local hero by the name of Leon to drive it off or kill it. He had never returned, but the next day the dragon had landed in the town square, made its demands and left. It had ordered them to send a virgin out to its cave once a week. It had threatened to destroy the town if they refused.

Roxas turned to the mayor. "If I have to do this, I will." His father made to object, but Roxas cut him off. "I'll take Grandfather's sword. If I have to go, I'll take that monster with me or die trying!" Cloud smiled weakly at his son's bravery.

"I can see there's no stopping you; you're just like your grandfather that way." Roxas nodded and ran off to his room to retrive the sword.

It was a truly wonderful weapon, 'Oathkeeper' his grandfather had called it- a Keyblade. Nobody really remembered where the strange weapons had come from, only that they could be quite picky about who wielded them. Roxas's grandfather, Sora, had been one of the greatest Keyblade Masters in history; some said that though most people could only wield their own Sora had been able to command any Keyblade. 'Oathkeeper' was his own though and it had chosen Roxas when he was a small child but he'd never had a use of the beautiful blade- until now. He pulled its case from under his bed and lifted the Keyblade carefully. It glinted in the light as if greeting its master. Strapping the weapon across his back, he headed outside into the bright sunshine of the town streets. Much of the town had gathered to watch him leave, as they had all the girls who had gone to the dragon before him. They said nothing, but their faces gave away that none of them expected to see him again.

It took the best part of the day, travelling along a well-worn path, to reach the craggy hole in the ground where the dragon lived. He took a deep steadying breath as he peered into the hole, inhaling the faint scent of smoke that hung in the air. Roxas drew Oathkeeper and stepped cautiously down into the hole.

It was pitch black in there once you got away from the entrance and much bigger than Roxas had expected. The tunnel he had entered was like a giant rabbit warren; twisting and turning and branching off in all directions. Roxas was gratefull for the faint glow emanating from the Keyblade in his hand, which had already prevented him from walking into the wall several times. There were rats down there; he could hear them scurrying around and sometimes he thought he could hear larger creatures moving, which set his heart racing, but so far he had not seen or heard any signs of the dragon.

Something sighed heavily behind him. He whirled around, brandishing the heavy Keyblade before him. The creature backed up, shying away from the weapon. Roxas relaxed when he saw that it was just a horse. Wait, why was there a horse down here? It was a powerful-looking warhorse with dark chestnut fur and a long, cream coloured mane and it looked oddly familiar. Something clicked in his brain and he realised it was the hero, Leon's, horse. He stretched out his hand to calm the creature, stroking its huge head. "How did you get down here?" He wondered aloud.

A low, rumbling growl rose from behind Roxas. He spun in alarm, backing up towards the horse. It snorted and backed away as if saying 'you're on your own matey'. In the faint light, Roxas could see a pair of huge green eyes glowing catlike in the blackness. The eyes narrowed as their owner surveyed him, the outline of its body obscuring the tunnel behind it.

"A boy?" A deep, growling voice spoke quietly, "That's a shame. I don't like boys, they always try to play the hero."

"Show yourself!" Roxas yelled, bringing Oathkeeper up in front of him. The voice laughed and the last thing Roxas remembered was something huge and heavy colliding with his head.