Kingdom Hearts

Wayward Soul

Chapter One

Awakening

Keith had been having weird dreams lately.

Dreams about light and darkness.

Good and evil.

Bright, indescribable figures and dark, horrible monsters.

They fought, one against the other, in a fierce, ageless war.

Never losing, never winning.

The dreams felt like ages, the battles within even longer.

But those dreams had always been thin, distant.

He'd only felt like a spectator, never a part.

Never until now.

Now, Keith was falling, tumbling through the endless darkness with nothing but his own body to tell him that anything was real. There was no wind, no sound of air rushing by. There was no light, no touch of warmth from a distant sun. There was only darkness and cold, endlessly flying past Keith without making even the slightest shiver of movement.

But he did feel…things, in the darkness. Things great and powerful, or small and weak. Things that passed, silent, unfeeling and uncaring. Things that thrashed, screaming, defiant and demonic. Things sat, waiting, or raced, searching. There was anger, confusion, apathy, rage, malice, hunger, mystery, horror, madness, sanity, obsession, sadness.

But fear…there was no fear. Instead, there was confidence. A self-serving smugness, brought on by existence, by being. Among some, their pride was a gaudy glare, for others, a faint glimmer. But that assurance, that absence of fear, was there all the same.

Keith didn't know what he felt. He didn't feel anything, but somehow, he didn't feel nothing, either. Something was there, in his heart of hearts, but whatever it was just sat there, never giving him a sign as to what it was or why it was there. It was…disconcerting. But just like everything else, he felt no fear, and so he simply fell, uncaring.

In time, he felt a change. He must've been spinning before, because he felt himself beginning to slow, until his head stayed up and his feet stayed down. The darkness hid everything from view, but Keith suddenly had the feeling that something was coming, something large, flat, and solid. Keith wasn't afraid. He felt himself slowing even more, and by the time his feet touched the mysterious floor, he had come to a perfect stop. There hadn't even been a bump; one moment, he'd been falling – the next, he was on solid ground.

But where?

He hadn't reached the bottom. Some instinct deep inside him told him that he wasn't even close to the end of the beginning, much less the end of the end. Instead, he was somewhere between, on a strange sort of middle ground between the forces that surrounded him. He looked around. Darkness was everywhere, above, around. But that was all; only darkness. Where was light?

The ground burst in answer, feathers and flappings erupting out from beneath his feet. Light shined up, and Keith felt his first emotion: surprise. He threw his hands up, shielding his eyes from both the birds and the stinging light. Heedless, the birds flapped up and away, even as more birds leaped from the edges of a glowing circle. As they left, more light shined to replace them, and by the time the flapping had begun to fade, Keith was squinting hard, trying to make his eyes adjust. It took so long that by the time he finally could see clearly, the birds were fading out of sight. He couldn't tell if they were doves or crows.

He shook his head, giving up on that curiosity, and looked at the floor, assuming another.

What he had taken to be light was really more of a glow; a pale blue, like the shine of uncut turquoise. It wasn't the only one. Other colors, softer and brighter blues, subtle grays, and a few tinges of the softest pink. They came together like pieces of stained glass, curving and twisting to create one great circle. It looked like there was a picture, some shape among the grays and blues, but it was hard to tell from so close up. The only thing he could make was a figure turned away, with a dark blue shirt and long brown hair, walking away. They looked familiar, but he couldn't be sure who they were. The only sure thing was the background. Beyond the strange figure, the blues and grays and pink blended together to form one great thing, a soft spectacle paying homage to the ideal it represented: Daybreak.

So much to do…so little time.

Keith looked up, surprised yet again. A voice, strange and unreal, had rolled out of the darkness, seemingly passing overhead. He hadn't heard it as much as he had felt it, rumbling and thundering without making a single real sound.

Take your time. Don't be afraid.

Keith looked around, trying to find a source of the mysterious voice… No. Not a voice. More of a… presence, in the dark, in the light, in Keith.

The door has been shut.

Door? Keith looked around, searching. There was no door. What door? He looked up, almost expecting an answer. He got none; instead, he got an order.

Now step forward.

Can you do it?

Could he do it? Keith almost laughed at the question. Of course he could walk -

His legs wouldn't move.

Surprise filled him again, and he looked down at his legs with wide eyes. They hadn't moved an inch. They sat there, useless, only good for holding him up.

This is not a world of flesh and blood.

Here, the rules are different.

Here, you must first feel the movement. Then it will happen.

Keith didn't move. He simply stood there, confused. Feel the movement? What was that supposed to mean? He looked at his legs again, trying to find something that might be holding them back. They were bare. He tried to reach down and pull them up, but he suddenly found that he couldn't move his arms or torso either. That wasn't going to work. He scowled, trying to think of something to do.

Feel the movement.

Keith looked up again, trying to find the voice and ask it what it meant – and he froze. His head. It was still moving. Why?

As quickly as it came, Keith almost blew the question off. It was stupid to ask why, he always moved like that. You just moved it back and forth, like that. It felt like rocking in – wait… felt…?

Oh.

Curious, Keith tried again. He remembered the feeling of walking forward, moving his legs and leaning into the step. He remembered it so well that it almost felt like he was doing it. Suddenly, he was doing it; his legs obeyed, and they moved in time to the feeling. His body swayed with the movement, but he remembered balance, and he managed to stay upright. He walked forward, shaky at first, but he quickly grew used to the backwards way of moving. In less then a minute, he was walking like he always did – and more than that, he moved his arms and body and head. He was mobile. He could walk.

Walking triggered something, because the air, the air itself, suddenly rumbled as he stepped into the middle of the floor. Three spots of light erupted around the edge of the circle: one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead.

Power sleeps within you.

Three tapered pedestals suddenly rose out of the lights, one after another, white and heavy-set like altars of granite. The rumbling died away, as did the light beneath the pedestals. But on the pedestals, new lights began to shine, bursts throwing blazes of white into the endless black.

If you shape it, it will give you strength.

Shapes appeared out of the lights, and as they slowly bobbed in the light, they became brighter, more defined. The ones to the sides solidified faster, a staff and a shield, but Keith only had eyes for the one ahead. It was the slowest to form, but to him, it almost looked like a sword-

But your power is a shape in of itself.

The question is how you will use it.

The objects disappeared, literally gone in a flash. Before Keith had time to register this, the air rumbled again, and the pedestals shifted as lights appeared under them, sinking a corner or a side and making them uneven and lopsided. After a pause like a breath, they fell in, and the lights faded away.

Your time will come.

Very, very soon.

The Darkness has found its Chosen,

And so has the Light.

Now, the Wayward Soul walks between.

You must be prepared.

Keith blinked. Shape? Time? Chosen? Prepared? What was going on here?

There was no answer. There was a crash like breaking glass, somewhere behind and off to the side. Keith turned. The glass floor was breaking, sending showers of shards into the endless abyss – and the edge was coming closer, fast. Too fast. Keith turned back, thinking to run to the other edge and buy himself some time. But he only found another line of breaking glass, crumbling and falling away. He paused, and all of a sudden the ground under Keith had broken away. He was falling again.

And still, Keith wasn't afraid.

He fell, and the shards of the floor fell around him. In time, they faded away, either leaving him or simply ceasing to exist. Either way, Keith found himself alone, just him, the dark, and the things beyond.

But then, maybe not. A sudden pinprick of light, faint, artificial light appeared below him. He looked up (or down?) and saw that the light was like that of the floor that had just broken away. It was different colors and hues, but this floor too was a circle, with strange lines sweeping and crossing to make some indeterminable picture. The only difference was the colors: brighter blues, swirls of white. The colors of Morning.

Just like before, his body righted itself of its own accord, and he slowed to a stop as he touched down on the floor. He looked around, half expecting something to pop out of the ground again.

To his great surprise, something did.

Black spots appeared at the edges of the floor, almost as though they were seeping in from the darkness itself. They twitched at the edges, almost as if the shadows were alive, they kept growing until the shadows were bigger than Keith. They froze, for one second, dull blotches on an otherwise bright Morning.

They quivered once more - and then they moved, leaving the edge of the circle to ring around Keith. Surprised, Keith spread his feet apart, not sure if he should run or stay...

The shadows began to rise. Their inky blotches suddenly shifted, outlining something with arms, legs, and a head, becoming more and more real as they rose from the floor. In moments, they stood complete, standing on the floor rather than in it. Shadows, living, breathing darkness, stood there, in their own way, and looked at Keith.

And for the first time, Keith felt fear.

The Shadows were small, only reaching Keith's hip, but this was only because they stooped, hunched, like wild animals that hadn't quite become used to walking on two legs. But they had no choice; their front feet had been transformed into claws, wicked, hooks perfect for snaring and ripping, and they were only good for that. What they were supposed to rip was hard to say; they had no mouths to eat anything. Instead, there was only smooth, blank skin where a mouth might have been. They had a shambling gait, like they weren't even used to being solid, much less walking. They twitched as they moved, sniffing, though they had no nose or any sort of hole upon them. They're feet were shaped like pointed shoes, but it was as if they were only the thought of shoes. They had strange antennae atop their heads, long yet crooked, like an ant that had been stomped on too many times. Their bodies were shaped like children, save that they were changed, misshapen – and black. They were pitch black, like the darkness beyond the glass. They were strange creatures, frightening enough with their sharp claws and black bodies. But none of this was what scared Keith; what scared Keith was their eyes.

Hunger. That was what Keith saw in their eyes. Their blank, rimless yellow eyes spoke nothing but hunger, the need to fill some deep, endlessly horrible pit in their beings. It was the kind of hunger that could consume you at any moment, take your existence and leave your shell to rot away. It was the kind of hunger that drove people to madness, blank, blatant insanity that would drive you to do anything to fill that horrible sense of incompleteness. The kind of madness that had them looking at Keith, with a dull, fierce, insatiable hunger. The kind of madness that made Keith feel deathly afraid.

A great journey lies ahead of you.

The voice was back. Keith didn't look for it; he was too busy watching the black things around him. More than once, he thought he saw one of them move like they were about to pounce.

Your journey will be long. Or it may be short.

The choice is yours.

But whatever you choose,

There will be great danger.

He was in danger now! Something held the black monsters back, but he had no idea how long it would last. They were growing more and more wild by the second. A few had started hopping in place, like a dog jumps against its leash, desperately wanting to tear something apart.

But don't be afraid.

The Shadows were getting angry. They could see food mere feet away from them; flesh, light, something that could fill the hole inside. They wanted it. Keith could see it in their eyes, their movements. He knew that the moment they were free, he was dead.

Let friends be your strength.

You're never alone.

FOOM!

The sound tore through the eerie silence, impossibly loud, like the hammer of a cannon. One of the black things had burst, a flash of darkness so quick that Keith almost missed it. The creature faded into dark wisps and disappeared, like it had never been, like a bad dream. The other things turned, and Keith followed their gaze with equal surprise. A tall, dark figure stood there, strange weapon held out after its killing stroke.

Before Keith had time to think, the black things charged, leaping at Keith faster than he thought anything could ever move. Keith only had time for one terrifying moment before the things dodged around him, going after the strange newcomer and sparing Keith for later. The figure didn't so much as twitch, save for moving his strange weapon back into position, lazily lain across their shoulders. They stood so still that you'd almost think they didn't even notice the living Shadows only a few feet away, running fast, sharp claws gouging ugly gashes in the floor. Too late, Keith thought. For one moment, he was sure that the stranger was a dead man.

But only for one moment.

A flash of silver. A loud bang. The dark things fell back, four of them bursting and fading like the first. It happened so fast that Keith almost missed it; all he saw now was the same strange figure, legs spread and weapon out after another swing.

For only one, surreal moment, Keith took in the sight of his rescuer, their loose, black pants, the long, dark-blue cloak, a flash of a gold necklace, and long, black hair beneath a shady hood, hiding their face, before he moved again, blurring out of sight from speed alone.

The stranger leaped, rocketing forward as they brought their weapon down on a scrambling monster. It burst, but it hadn't even faded before the figure had flashed over to blow through another three. That's right, flashed. There was no other word for it; they moved so fast that Keith vaguely wondered if they had flown. They were so fast that by the time he had thought it, the stranger had flashed to another two monsters and slashed them to pieces.

The stranger paused, and Keith tripped over his own thoughts. Wait – they were done? Was it over...? Well, the place looked empty, but – no! There was one more! One little Shadow (what were these things?) had been blown clear across the glass, and it was only just getting up, still drunkenly stumbling as it tried to gather it's thoughts.

Another movement drew Keith's eye, but he turned only to see empty space where the stranger had been. Given the time, he might have thought they had left him for dead. But something drew his eyes up, high above his head.

His jaw dropped.

The stranger was there, in the air, almost twenty feet up.

Time slowed. Good thing, too; if it hadn't, Keith wouldn't have seen what happened next. And if he hadn't seen it, he never would've believed it.

The stranger turned in midair, twisting and thrusting their weapon forward, like a spear. They glowed, blue light covering them like flames, as they suddenly pointed their strange weapon at the last Shadow. The poor beast noticed; Keith saw it jump, this first sign of fear he'd ever seen from these creatures. There was a flash, and the stranger streaked forward, guided by the weapon, guided to the monster. It was so fast, so bright, that Keith was blinded for just a moment. It was enough; there was another blast, and the light suddenly faded. All that was left was the stranger and the monster, one with a blade in the other. The Shadow twitched, jerked, then burst, disappeared. The stranger didn't move until they were sure it was gone, then, finally, they stood, laying the blade across their shoulders once more.

Time resumed. Keith blinked. Shock held him as still as the stranger for one long second. A small voice inside, common sense, screamed that that was impossible, that was simply impossible! Reality screamed louder. It had happened. He was saved.

Behind you!

Keith turned.

There was another one. One of the little monsters had been blown behind Keith. Now it had recovered. It had found prey. It had leaped, eyes huge and claws out. Keith fell back, but he knew it was too late. Time had slowed again. He could see it moving; its claws were aimed straight for his chest, his heart, and Keith could do nothing to stop it.

"No..."

Death stabbed claws toward Keith's chest.

SHUNK

Another flash, and the monster burst, stabbed in midair.

Keith blinked.

The stranger had flashed in low, using momentum and another spin to reach around Keith and stab the Shadow through the chest, inches before it could've torn his chest open like an overripe melon. The stranger had saved him again.

Keith was silent.

So was the stranger. Even as he stood, pulling the weapon back around Keith, he never said a word, just checked his weapon for damage and walked calmly away. He might have been in the park, out for a stroll in the midday sun, if they weren't on a window in the middle of nowhere.

Speechless, Keith watched after him. A smell rose to his nostrils, a stray waft of the stranger's scent, and he suddenly knew who the stranger was. At the same time, Keith finally managed to get a good look at the stranger's weapon, and he suddenly knew what the stranger had used. He wasn't sure which of the revelations shocked him more: the fact that the man who had just saved his life used a giant, silver key, or the fact that the man wasn't a man at all, but rather a girl. A girl that he knew.

"...Michelle?"

She didn't hear. She walked on, letting her key disappear in a flash of light as she faded into a wall of darkness. Then, she was gone.

There was a soft hush, like wind sucked down an empty tunnel. The light changed, and Keith looked down to find the floor beneath him changed. The lights were blotted out with a huge, inky blotch, black with a subtly pulsing hue of the deepest purple. Keith sank in. He tried to pull his feet up, but that only pulled him down faster. In seconds, his head had gone under, and darkness swept over him.

The voice came one more time.

Daybreak has passed.

Morning dawns.

Farewell.

Your journey starts today.

What will you choose?

The voice echoed, faded.

And finally, Keith woke up.

A Disclaimer, before you go: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the respective mythos of the stories I bring into this story. I do, however, own my own characters, worlds, creatures, powers, stories etc. But I think you knew that already.

Until next time, I remain yours truly,

-Amadeus Inkblood