A/N: Ahhh okay so I recently got back into Kingdom Hearts, and I really REALLY wanted to write something for it that is a bit different than the fanfiction I've been reading lately. This is more of an introduction chapter but please feel free to let me know what you think of it so far!
Blair yawned loudly into the early morning air, the sound nearly carried off by a gentle wind as she shut her green eyes, small tears forming at the edges of them in tiredness.
Blinking away her blurred vision, Blair tugged her fishing pole curiously, causing the white bobber to dart across the lake's surface like a luminescent bug.
The fishing was slow today.
Carefully, Blair began to reel in her line, giving her pole a few more gentle tugs in an attempt to entice a curious fish to her bobber. The silence of the water was answer enough as she finished reeling in her hook, pausing momentarily to look over it only to find the bait still snugly attached.
A little disheartened with her luck, Blair began to maneuver through the dark water of the lake, shivering as the chilly water teased the back of her knees. Holding her fishing pole above her head she shifted her feet delicately along the rocky bottom, starting for a moment as a disturbed crayfish scurried past her toes.
Narrowing her eyes, Blair continued her trek, feeling out her footsteps more cautiously, now hyperaware for anymore creatures she might accidentally step on before reaching the dock.
Placing her fishing rod down on the old wooden surface of the harbor, she shifted to palm the wood before hauling herself out of the water with a grunt, the sounds of her awkward splashing disrupting the soft birdsong of the morning.
With a sigh of relief, Blair found her balance as best she could on numb toes before allowing herself a good stretch. Her back popped softly as she moved her arms, throwing them across her chest to work out the cramps that had been building in them after having to support her fishing pole for so long.
Giving her arms a final stretch and a minor shake to relieve the soreness in them, Blair dropped to give a few squats in an attempt to chase the cold from her legs.
Satisfied with removing the stiffness that haunted her limbs, she further bent to retrieve a dark colored towel from the top of her aged tackle box. Tossing it onto the small dock's surface Blair stepped onto it, yanking the free ends of the towel up to dry off her legs and feet.
Once dry, she attempted to suppress a shiver as she hurriedly tugged on her socks, shortly followed by her shoes before positioning herself at the edge of the dock.
With both hands, she gripped the wet ends of her navy, knee length, shorts and began to twist the material, wringing out any excess water that had gathered there. She set to work on smoothing out the wrinkled fabric before wringing it out again then turned her body to repeat the process on the other side.
Pleased with her clean up, Blair tossed the used towel next to her tackle box, making a mental note that she'd return for it later before turning her gaze to face the horizon of the lake.
Soft tones of pink and orange decorated the edges of the purple stained lake as light blue beginning to fade into the dark navy of the sky. A promise that dawn would soon be upon her.
A frown painted along Blair's face at the sight.
Tearing her eyes away from the impending sunrise she instead set to remove her unused hook from her former fishing line. With patient fingers, she worked against the knot, providing tugs in just the right places before the line crumpled easily into a neat string in her hands.
Dipping her hands into the lake, she set to removing the sardine she had been using as bait, wary of the sharp hook lurking just beneath it. Once finished stroking the hook clean of any unsightly residue she returned the hook back to her tackle box, resting her unarmed fishing rod on top of it before sitting at the edge of the dock.
"I wonder how long I'll be able to keep doing this…" Blair drifted, the question released to the wind as her mind tugged at the thought she had been trying to keep at bay all morning.
The Mark of Mastery exam.
Naturally, it was a great achievement to even be participating in the exam according to Master Inxe, but Blair couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by it.
While she had made certain she was well prepared for this day, training and taking out every stray Heartless or Nobody that threatened their world, it all seemed to fall flat in comparison to what she knew of the Keyblade Masters of old.
Once upon a time, Keyblade Wielders and Masters were able to travel to the outside worlds freely, in hopes of protecting them from danger and provide a guiding light to them in their darkest hour.
However, things didn't operate that way in her world.
Master Inxe, as well as the Masters before him, set the rule to keep their world entirely cut off from the others, making entry as well as leaving impossible save for one week out of the year.
This special occurrence was for the Mark of Mastery exam, a grand opportunity for young Keyblade Wielders to prove themselves worthy of the title Master.
The test itself was relatively simple, after testing the strength of their heart, each prospect would be gifted an automatic digital counter and would be sent on a journey to the outside worlds. During their week long pilgrimage their task was to procure various reports from other Masters scattered about in their own worlds, as well as destroy as many agents of darkness as they could. If one managed to get the digital counter to reach one thousand, they would be granted the title of Master.
Blair sighed grumpily at the thought of the exam.
The title, Master, meant nothing to her. If she could not utilize the rank's full ability of protecting the worlds whenever the need should arise, then what was the point?
Blair felt she would be better suited to being useful outside of her own world, with her strength she knew that she could help any world that struggled with darkness if only given the choice of freedom. Eliminating Heartless and Nobodies was a need, perfect for the exam but afterward, one with authority to do so should root out the cause of their appearance and that was what she truly wished to do.
Master Inxe, of course, would never allow her to do this.
She had been chided on multiple occasions by her mentor upon suggestion, that it was no longer their responsibility to meddle in the affairs of the other worlds, even with the intention of helping them.
Defeating Heartless was a charitable enough act, even if only once a year, but Blair had a hard time accepting the fact that her only duty as a Keyblade Wielder, was to protect only her own world and accept its reclusive nature.
Disgruntled by the thought of never being able to fully realize her ambitions and the uneasiness that came paired with it, Blair attempted to shift her focus on the sky above her. Stars that seemed to speckle every free space in the vast blackness appeared to have lessened significantly, and she set to work on counting the ones she was familiar with before they too were chased away by the rising sun.
Then it happened, radiant pink clouds clotted the sky, wefts of purple neatly tucked into the dark edges as a sharp orange peered from the horizon. Blair had seen this transition many times right here at the lake, and despite the similarity of each sunrise, she felt that they all looked different, each one holding a different promise.
It's what earned the town's namesake after all.
"Splendent Dawn," Blair said softly, the words rolling off her tongue so naturally it was as if she hadn't spoken at all.
The sight today was truly breathtaking to behold, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had enveloped her thoughts. Somewhere, deep down in her heart, her soul, even to her very core she knew that she did not want to live all her life here, spent in the shade of never ending morning.