A/N: Hey guys, it's been a long time since I posted anything FanFiction-y. For the past few months I've been working hard on a FanFiction; this FanFiction. I've put a lot of thought into it and here's hoping that it'll be good as I think it is. Thank you for my cousin, PixoChaos (on deviantArt) for beta-reading this incredibly long serious. I'll put more details at the end of the chapter if anyone wants to read it (Ex. Update Schedule, Chapter Length, etc). I also want to say that this is a Modern-Medieval Fantasy AU, but I took influence from the Kingdom Hearts series. Maybe so much, you might want to take more than just a glance at the name of some things *wink* Go ahead and enjoy my hard work :)
Another thing before you go, when you see "-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-", don't be confused. It's a divider, a transition.
Disclaimer: I don't own crap.
CHAPTER I: The Passerby Wind
"Sora! There you are!" A brown haired man called out, waving his hand in a 'come here' manner. "You're late!"
A lanky and flighty teenager waltz over to where this man was standing behind the counter, putting both hands on the countertop and grinning. Moments later, a milky yellow cat leaped onto the counter with a loud thud, startling Leon. The cat scanned the room before eyeing the man suspiciously before yawning and licking it's paws. Flabbergasted with the situation in front of him, the man ran a hand through his hair. Despite knowing that he was in trouble, Sora didn't seem fazed, instead had a bright smile plastered on his face. It almost seemed like an act of defiance, yet Leon didn't feel the urge to scold him. No one had the ability to stay angry with Sora. The vibrant aura of the boy's personality seemed to cut through any chance of lighting the fuse of rage.
"I'm not that late, right Leon?" Sora asked, putting one elbow on the counter so he could lean in. He shoved his face up to his superior, who leaned back in discomfort.
"It's still five minutes. You have messages and packages to deliver." Leon replied irritably, raising one gloved hand and pushing Sora's face back.
One blue eye peeked through his finger and even though he couldn't see his face fully, he could still feel the little brunette smiling. After a few moments, Sora leaned back on the balls of his feet, swinging his arms around playfully.
"Well, the more you talk, the more time we're wasting." countered Sora, reaching one hand to pet the cat on the table. "Where are the things I need to deliver?"
"...They're in Satchel 13, by the door, be sure to-"
"Thanks, Leon!"
Before Leon could continue speaking, Sora dashed to the door. No, it was more like he slid across the floor in a fluid motion. A strong gust of wind billowed behind him, causing what felt like a mini-hurricane to whip through the inside of the room. Leon hand to bring up a arms to shield his eyes from the harmful gusts. He heard a few things fall over and he glared through his blockade of fingers to Sora, who was now at the glass doors of the building. The brunette caught his gaze and stuck out his tongue playfully, before turning his attention to the cat, who was now looking at him with a disgruntled look on it's face. Apparently, the wind had ruffled up it's fur into an intangible mess that it would later have to groom out.
"Come on, Roxas!" Sora called out.
Giving a gruff meow, the yellow feline bounded to the door and jumped on Sora's back, before making it's way into the satchel to nestle with the other packages and letters. With one last look at Leon, who was trying to pick up the fallen objects on the floor, Sora leaped through the door, sending another gust of wind backwards. The sound of audible crashing only confirmed that a few more things had fallen over.
"Sora! You better clean this up when you get back!" Leon yelled through the swinging doors, but his voice was lost with the voracious wind that propelled Sora away.
Sora reached his hand into his satchel while he was still in the air, looking at the piece of paper with the list of names on them. Roxas poked his head out the satchel, watching the scenery change as the brunette jumped over streets and buildings as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Scowling, the cat tightened it's grip, glaring at Sora with peevish eyes.
"You could've at least stopped to read instead of reading while we're traveling…" Roxas snorting in contempt.
With one last graceful leap, Sora landed on the sidewalk with a tap of the fot. A strong gale circled the brunette, cushioning his landing. Soon the wind disappiated into the air and it was once again still. Sora earned some stares and grumbles from some people nearby, but he did not falter easily to other people's judgement. His way of traveling was simply not their business and he was not going to let a few judgmental stares ruin his day. However Roxas let out loud cranky meow to say that he was not pleased with the situation.
"Oh shut it you. It's better than walking or riding a bike." Sora said to the cat, who sniffed and looked in the other direction.
Seeing that Sora was now going to walk like a normal person, he wriggled his way out of the satchel and climbed onto Sora's shoulder, latching on with his claw so won't fall. He leaned into Sora's ear so no one else would hear him.
"But horses are a thing to you know. You could ride one, like a normal person." The cat whispered into Sora's ear.
"But that's also no fun, Roxas. Stop being a such a killjoy. That's Leon's job." Sora informed. "And besides, I'm not normal." The messenger grinned.
Roxas scoffed. "No, you certainly aren't."
Taking a look at the list, he was delighted to see that one of his friends was on the list. It would make the trips way more fun. Yes, fun indeed. Maybe he might even get a treat or something. This was exciting. Deciding that he wanted to enjoy the view, he let the ring on his finger take a rest for a moment and he walked merrily down the street. If Leon had seen him, the older man would probably tell him to speed up, but he already covered a lot of ground with the wind. It wouldn't be a problem.
Sora halted by a store that was literally embroidered by flowers and floral designs. He took a deep breath, taking in the nice crisp scent of freshly picked flowers. He peered through the glass of the store, right in between the large letters of 'Godmother's Flowers' that was delicately painted on the window. Inside, he saw a bustling old woman who was tending to lovely flowers that were tucked into pots. Seeing that someone was inside, he pushed the door open. A bell near the door rang to let the owners of the shop know that someone was going in. He was greeted by another old woman wearing a red dress and a funny looking hat that stretched upwards in a neat cone.
"Oh, Sora! How nice to see you!" The old woman said, circling Sora in a delicate manner. She caught sight of a fluffy yellow shape resting on his shoulder. "Oh, and Roxas too! How lovely to see you two again."
"Hello Ms. Flora. We're here to deliver a package!" Sora greeted the old woman smiling. Roxas leaped off Sora's shoulder and onto the wooden floor and meowed, looking up at Flora with pleading eyes.
"Oh, alright Roxas. You got me. You always know where I'm hiding the treats." Flora chuckled. She reached into a pouch on her waist and took out a fish-shaped cookie. Seeing the cookie, Roxas leaped up and snatched the cookie out of her hand and stalked away to eat his prize.
"Roxas! At least say thank you! That's not very nice!" Sora exclaimed, watching the yellow cat disappear under the shelves full of plants. The only reply was a meow that told him 'don't bother me'.
"Don't worry about it, dear." chuckled the old woman. Then she turned the empty counter and put one hand near her mouth to help amplify her voice. "Fauna! Mayweather! Sora's here!"
"Sora?" A woman wearing a green dress appeared soon behind the counter holding a roll of green ribbon and a pair of scissors. Soon after another old woman emerged from the back room, her fingers tangled in what looks like fabric and some flowers.
"Hi, Ms. Fauna, Ms. Mayweather." Sora waved.
"Oh, does that mean our package has arrived?" asked Mayweather excitedly.
"Yup! It's arrived!"
Sora reached into his satchel, taking out a small box wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Flora, who delicately opened it. Inside the box rested a small bottle with a sparkly thick pink fluid inside. Upon shaking it gently, the liquid sparked up, sending little shiny specks of light dancing in the trapped air inside the container. It was truly a trifle little thing.
"One bottle of Super Growth Formula, right?"
"Indeed!" Fauna exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad it's finally arrived! Thank you, Sora!"
"No, problem, just doing my job." The brunette brought up one hand to scratch the back of his head.
"This formula will help some of the weaker plants go strong and healthy." Flora said, tucking the bottle safely into her pouch for safe keeping. "This will help us a lot."
The old woman, took Sora's hand and held it tightly, giving him a bright warm smile. Sora felt something drop into his hand and found a couple of cookies tucked in plastic wrapping and he looked excitedly at Flora, who gave him a warm smile.
"We baked a whole batch of them this morning." Fauna smiled.
"It's a little thank you for delivering it to us." agreed Mayweather.
"Aw thanks guys. You're the best florists in the whole Kingdom of Cor!" Sora said, taking the cooking and putting it in his satchel to eat later.
"Well, I don't know about that." Flora giggled, before waving her hand in a 'shoo'-ing manner. "Now off you go, before Leon catches you."
"Alright! Thanks for the cookies!" Sora nodded and he turned to the dark corner where his cat disappeared to. "Roxas time to go!"
Just as his name was called, a blur of fur latched itself onto Sora's arm, clawing his way up his shoulder until he was standing across the teen's two shoulders. He licked his lips and gave a polite meow before climbing down and nestling himself inside the bag. He poked his head out from the opening and meowed again. Sora gave one final farewell to Flora, Fauna, Mayweather before walking out the door in a careful manner, contrasting the large windstorm he had left behind whilst exiting Leon's building. After all, he needed to adapt to the people around him.
The brunette and his cat spent most of their day going to and fro, delivering messages and small packages around the Fantum Citadel. Even though his job was quite exhausting at times, it was fun as well. Since he had decided being a foot messenger (messengers who go on foot and not by horses or carriages), Sora could admire the wondrous view of the citadel and get to meet new people, and for an outgoing easily-excited person like him, it was his ideal job. He couldn't stand the idea of being restricted to the ground, by carriage or bike. The only plus to that was that those people were able to deliver bigger packages while Sora was stuck with tiny packages and letters, but he didn't mind. Sora loved jumping from building to building, leaping over streets and seeing everyone's reactions, although he started becoming well known as the 'street jumper'. As long as his ring was in his possession, which was forever because he won't come off, he'd be free to ride the winds anytime he wanted to.
When the sun started set, Sora found his satchel empty, save for a lazy cat who was snoozing inside. With nothing else to do, Sora jumped a few buildings where he finally landed in the lonely building at the outskirts of the city, where most of the parks were. Outside the citadel, there was a stretch of grass that crawled towards the son as well as a large dirt road that helped merchants and travelers make their way. The messenger yearned to travel outside the cramped citadel he called home. There was so many things he wanted to do. Of course, on top of his list is to find his mother, but he also would like to travel to other Kingdoms and meet new people. Regnum Tres, the neighboring kingdom, seemed like a nice place to visit. People were always excited to hear the news, or so people had told him. Maybe his mother would be there. The road they were separated on led to Regnum Tres, maybe. His memory was a little fuzzy.
"You thinking about leaving again, aren't you?" A muffled voice came from within the satchel. Moments later, Roxas poked his head out from the hole of the satchel and yawned.
"Aw, c'mon Roxas!" Sora said cheerfully. "It'll be an adventure."
"No way I'm going out there!" Roxas flattened his ears, eyeing the vast stretch of land. "There are Shadows out there. Don't tell me you forgot that already."
Sora nodded his head absentmindedly, pursing his lips together."Right…"
Shadows were small dark little creatures with bright yellow eyes that reside in that forest. Supposedly, they would draw in lost travelers with the bright glow of their beady eyes before attacking and eating their heart. Although Sora was not fond of the idea of getting his heart eaten, he still wanted to find his mother. If only he had willing participants to go with him. He glanced down at Roxas, who had crawled out of the warm brown bag and stretching his legs. Obviously, Roxas was not going to grant him of this privilege, no matter how much the feline cared for him.
Suddenly the cat stood still and looked back, twitching his ears. "It's here."
Before Sora could reply, there was a familiar 'caw' of a bird behind them cut through his words like knife through butter. Sora looked back to see a black raven, perched on the smokestack on top of the building. The raven looked at them carefully before giving a loud caw and flapping it's wings.
"Xion!" Sora exclaimed happily. The cat scowled upon hearing that name and pretended to look the other direction. "What are you doing here? Have you come to watch the sunset with us?"
The bird stared blankly at Sora, twisting its head to get a better look at them, giving small inaudible sounds. Roxas scoffed loudly to himself, trying to seem unimpressed by the whole scenario. Sora was about to speak again when he was cut of by a piercing shriek. It gave an ear deafening screech, one to send Roxas bolting back into the satchel and send Sora's hands flying up to block his ears. After all this was not a normal raven. It shrieked loudly again before diving over Sora's head and flying down the street with a few more caws.
"What was that?" Roxas exclaimed, peeking his nose from the satchel, scowling silently. "Crazy bird." Unlike human ears, cat ears are way more sensitive to sound and that loud shriek had hurt his eardrums.
Sora was tracing the dark shape of the bird with his eyes.
"Where is Xion going?" Sora eyed the black shape that was slowly flying down the street. It was getting so dark, the brunette was starting to have trouble making out the dark moving object from the growing dark atmosphere. "Wait! Xion! Let's follow her, Roxas!"
The cat flatten his ears, giving Sora an annoyed, yet terrified look. "Sora, wait! We don't even know-ack!"
Sora seized the satchel, slinging it on his shoulder. Roxas, who was still inside gave a short cut-off yowl of surprise as he was suddenly put into motion again. Sora landed on the street before propelling himself forward to follow the black raven. The milky yellow cat in the back wasn't sure if he was able to hold in his lunch as the swinging motion of the bag was overwhelming. Sora hadn't gone full speed in a long time. He had never been fond of going too fast, even if he was doing it himself. Though the last time he actually used his Caster abilities was the last time he was a human...which was a long time ago.
"Sora slow down!" Roxas ordered, poking his head out of the bag, only to have the wind flatten his fur. He retreated back inside. "You know it's not really her!"
Ignoring him, the brunette sped after the raven, who had landed on the street lamp at the end of the street. Seeing that his target had stopped, Sora launched his legs forward so he could stop, using the wind to slow himself. As suddenly as he began moving, he had come to a complete stop, standing right under where the raven was. The messenger took deep breaths, trying relax from the sudden rise in adrenaline. Roxas merely stuck his head out of the satchel, his fur tussled in a disorganized manner and his owlish eyes blinking erratically as tried to get the dust out of his eyes which had blown in earlier. Seeing them the raven gave a shrill of approval before flapping it's wings and taking off into the sky.
"I wonder what's her deal." Sora said quietly, seeing the raven fly off outside the citadel.
Roxas leaped out of the satchel, shaking his pelt, trying to smooth out his fur. Sora knelt down and petted the cat on the back, but the yellow cat growled at him, swiping one paw to keep Sora from petting him. Shrugging, Sora stood up to hear footsteps nearby. Immediately, Roxas 'forgot' why he was so angry with Sora and leaped up onto the brunette's shoulder for safety.
"Someone's coming." he whispered to Sora tightening his hold on Sora.
Curious, Sora poked his head around the street corner, only to have Roxas bite one of his locks of hair and jerk it back, causing Sora to stagger back a few steps.
"Shh!" Roxas warned, unsheathing his paws on instinct."It's already late, who knows who's out here at this hour."
"But we're out here out here at this hour."
"Be quiet!" Roxas whacked Sora on the cheek with one paw, careful not to draw blood with his claws extended, but only the deep voice that came next silenced Sora.
"Do you know where he is?"
Sora was not one to be afraid easily, especially of other people. If a dark shady wizard was to walk up to Sora on a moonlight night asking for a cup of sugar, Sora would hand over a cup of sugar as asked. Although this trusting personality caused the brunette to have many friends and allies, it also opened up the opportunity to make enemies too. It drove Roxas crazy sometimes. However this time, this voice was unusually deep, cold, and just...different. It's one of those voices you hear that just send you into a panic, the ones that fill you with just dread, the perfect horror story voice. Upon hearing this particular deep voice, Sora flattened himself against the wall, squishing Roxas against the wall who let out a silent squeak and jumped into Sora's arms, who caught him and hugged him close.
"Yes sir, he is located in this mansion in the central of the Citadel." answered another voice, who was much less frightening, but still intimidating in some ways.
"That is troublesome." The dreaded voice commented, although the voice lacked any hint of being upset.
A slight pause. "Do you think we can still catch him, sir?"
"Of course. Everything shall go to plan." Sora could almost hear him grinning. "The Dark Seeker's plan will be put forth."
Sora nearly screamed when the street lights flickered on, but he covered his mouth with one hand, instead, he knocked his elbow on the wall which made a small 'dok'. The voices stopped talking and the air was suddenly still. Roxas' fur stood on end and he arched his back, ready to either run away in terror or fight to death. Sora gave an apologetic-terrified look to Roxas who looked a mixture between being cross and horrified.
"Someone is here." The shady voice grumbled threateningly.
The young messenger could almost feel the finger pointing at him accusingly, despite the fact that there was a wall between him and the finger. A cold shudder overcame him and Sora decide to act now, otherwise he wouldn't be given another chance.
"Alright, time to go, Roxas." He huffed quietly, stuffing the cat into his satchel.
Flicking his hand, the boy shot up vertically, the wind twisting under him like a tornado to launch him up, grabbing the ledge of the wall he was pressed up on and doing a brief handstand before landing on the roof of the building and scampering away like a frightened mouse. Sora wasn't sure what he just witnessed, but it was probably bad. He probably shouldn't linger here any longer. Sora thought he could hear footsteps behind him and it only made him speed up even more. By the time Sora made it to the front of his apartment building, it was extremely dark. Using one hand to prop himself on the wall, the brunette took deep pants to catch his breath.
"Well…" Sora started. "That was exciting."
"Exciting?" Roxas' muffled voice came through the leather. "We could have died!"
Sora took a lungful of air. "We can't be sure they wanted to kill us."
"But you ran anyway." Roxas countered sharply, flattening his ears.
"Well…yeah…" The brunette admitted.
There was a moment of silence where Sora just breathing, listening for anything suspicious sound or movement, any indication that they might've been followed, but the only sounds were the chirps of the bugs.
"Let's just go home." Roxas said.
Nodding his head, Sora shakily opened the apartment complex door and walked tiredly up the stairs, where his room was located. He tried to make sure not to make any noise, as most people would be sleeping at this hour. The messenger unlocked his door and walked in, making sure to lock the door. After letting Roxas out of the bag, to which the cat slinked to the kitchen, Sora tossed the satchel onto the couch. Leon will have to make do without his satchel for the time being. Walking into the kitchen, he poured a glass of warm milk into a cup and into a saucer for Roxas to drink. He placed both of the containers on the table and sat down on one of the wooden chairs, staring blankly at the white liquid sitting in the glass while resting his head on his arm. Roxas jumped onto the table, eagerly lapping up the milk with a pink tongue. Neither of them said a word after that, they were simply too spooked to say anything about what had just happened. They had never met those strange people last night and the two were glad that they were spared from such an encounter, but that chilling voice was enough to haunt their dreams tonight.
-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-
Find Riku.
Sora jolted awake, causing Roxas who was asleep on his chest to leap off the bed out of surprise. The cat gave an annoyed yawn before looking up at his human, who was breathing heavily and clutching the bed sheets. His eyes softened and he jumped back onto the foot of the bed and looked curiously at Sora.
"What's wrong, Sora? Bad dream?" he asked the tussled teen.
"Something like that." Sora sighed, swinging his legs onto the side of the bed. He gave a tired yawn, stretching his arms out to get the sleep out of his system. "It was weird."
"How so?" Roxas asked, watching him closely.
Sora jumped up and twisted his body. He winced when his back cracked from the stretch, but seemed much more energized afterwards. "Xion was there." Roxas frowned. Sora started to walk towards the bathroom. He continued. "She was telling me to 'Find Riku' and those guys last night were there too."
"Xion?" Roxas cocked his head, but there was a look of disgust on his face. "Look Sora, we've been through this-"
"No, it was definitely her. She was trying to tell me something." Sora poked his head out the door of the washroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, his voice muffled by the foam. "Those people are bad."
"Really?" Roxas asked sarcastically. When it came to Xion, Roxas always seemed to give up with Sora. "We didn't even meet those people last night, how did you dream about them?"
There was a brief moment of the sound of a toothbrush brushing against teeth. The feline waited impatiently for an answer.
"I didn't see them. In fact, I didn't see anything. I just heard voices." Roxas heard Sora gurgle and spit the water out. There was a moment of just splashing and Sora came out looking refreshed. "But I heard Xion tell me to find somebody. I think she wants me to help this person."
"Listen Sora, Xion didn't tell you anything. Why?" Roxas didn't wait for Sora to answer. "Because she's gone. It was just a coincidence that that raven led us to those people." Roxas scowled, jumping off the bed and sulking by Sora's feet, giving a difficult look to the brunette. "You don't need to help anyone."
"But I'm helping you, right?" Sora replied with a smile, following the cat to the kitchen.
The cat didn't reply, but the twitch of the tail confirmed that he was a little unsure of himself. Sora chuckled to himself as he watched the milky yellow cat sit on the table to await his breakfast. After a healthy helping of bacon and eggs, Sora had leaped out his open window, neglecting to use the front door like a normal person with Roxas riding in the satchel again. Sora made his way to the Messenger Headquarters where Leon was presumably waiting to scold him for not returning the company satchel.
"Hey Leon!" he shouted, entering the building. A large gust of wind followed him in, knocking over the poor plant near the front door again.
"Sora! What did I tell you about magic indoors?" Leon scolded him from behind the counter again. "And you didn't return the satchel yesterday either. You have some explaining to do, young man."
"Oh hey, Sora, you're early today!" There was a boy in front of the counter as well and he waved to the brunette as he approached. Seeing the cat in the bag, Hayner grinned. "Roxas is here too! Boy you two are always together."
"Hey, Hayner, how's it going?" Sora greeted his fellow messenger and good friend. They shared a high five. Roxas took this opportunity to crawl out of the satchel and curl up near Sora's feet.
"Nothing much." shrugged Hayner. Then after a moment of thought he nodded his head in consideration. "I think it's about time for Old Bess to retire, She's been moving real slow lately and some people were mad that we were holding up the traffic." Hayner said, gesturing to the old gray mare outside the glass doors.
Sora glanced at the old horse outside the glass doors, ignoring the look of dismay on Leon's face. "Old Bess can't just help, but being old. She's almost fifteen years old right? I think Chilly will be able to make up for her slowness though." Sora commented. He was referring to the the new red stallion that Leon recently bought to pull one of the new carts.
Leon slammed his hand on the countertop, startling Sora and Hayner out of their conversation. "If you two are done talking about my horses, Sora still needs to tell me where he was last night." Leon said, grabbing Sora's head and turning it so he faced him. He was met with a cheeky smile which almost made Leon slap his own face.
"Oh, yeah!" Sora said, sheepishly grinning. "I ran into some trouble last night and I was too scared to come here in the dark."
This seemed to grab Leon's attention. The crime rate was relatively low in the Fantum Citadel, so to hear that one of his employees, especially a special case like Sora, ran into trouble is a troubling thought. The former swordsman was very fond of the young teen and hearing something like this was kind of distressing.
"What kind of trouble?" Leon's voice was laced with anxiety.
Sora looked off into space as he tried to recount the details of the night before. "Ran into some creepy dudes talking about trying to catch someone."
"Did they do anything?" Hayner asked, a little excited, but concerned at the same time.
Sora shook his head. "No, I ran away before they were able to notice I was there. That's why I didn't come here to return the satchel." He decided to leave the part where he accidently got their attention. He didn't want to worry Leon anymore than he did.
"I'm not sure if I believe you, Sora. You might just be coming up with an excuse about the satchel. " Leon said, massaging his temples. "But you still need to make the rounds today. There isn't that many deliveries today since it looks like the Mail Carriers from Cielo City are late this week. You two can take off after lunch."
"I'm not lying!" Sora exclaimed. "We did see some people before right, Roxas?"
There was an audible meow from below.
"Alright, alright. Just be careful late at night." Leon said, crossing his arms. "Now you guys better get started on the deliveries. The quicker you are, the faster you get to take the rest of the day off."
And with that, Sora and Hayner scampered out the front door, trailed by a sleepy cat. Sora stopped briefly to pick up the fallen plant he had knocked over, muttering an apology. When they were outside, Hayner was tending to Old Bess, who looked like she was going to fall asleep any minute.
Hayner looked at Sora. "You know, I've heard of some shady dudes hanging around the citadel, but since they aren't doing anything bad, the police can't arrest them." Hayner said thoughtfully. He turned to Sora. "Maybe you saw them."
"Maybe. That's a little creepy though" Sora replied, picking up Roxas and holding him in his arms. Roxas mewled and squirmed uncomfortably. The brunette was suddenly reminded of the dream he had earlier in the day. "Hey, Hayner, do you know someone named Riku?"
"Riku?" Hayner thought for a moment, before he clapped his hands together. "Oh that guy! He's that rich kid who lives in that manor in the rich section of the citadel, near the center. I delivered a package to him once before." He crossed his arms. "He ordered a whole pack of oatmeal. Not sure what that was for."
"In the central? Can you tell me his address?" asked Sora. Roxas grumbled quietly, sensing where this is going.
"Well, you know the Hamada Memorial Hospital? Take a left and travel the street to the far end. Once you're at the Radiant Garden St. take another left at the giant King Mickey Statue. Then look for a house with the twin winged pegasus statues in the front." explained Hayner. He then gave Sora a questionable look. "You have a message to deliver to him?"
Sora shook his head. "No, nothing like that."
"Then?" Hayner looked expectantly at Sora. The brunette felt a prick on his arm seeing that Roxas had nibbled his arm gently.
"...Some personal business." The messenger managed to say with a nervous smile.
"Oh, alright." Hayner was tempted to press for more, but he really wanted to get started on delivering the messages before Old Bess fell asleep.
"Well, see you later Hayner! Say hi to Pence and Olette for me!" Sora shouted and he leaped straight into the air, the wind guiding him through the air, still holding Roxas in his arms. Roxas yelped, holding on to Sora with his claws.
"Yea sure! See you, Sora! Bye Roxas!" Hayner watched Sora disappear from view and he turned his attention at the old gray mare who had fallen asleep. "Aw c'mon, Old Bess. Time to wake up. We'll never get this done with you napping all the time!"
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sora couldn't get his mind off Riku. He had just had to warn him about what he saw last night. Roxas was pretty against it, going to help someone because of a raven and a dream, but since Sora was the human in this situation, Roxas had the decision to either go along or leave, which the latter was not fond of doing. Pretty soon, Sora had made all his rounds and returned to Leon to return the satchel. Without the satchel, Roxas was forced to either stay in Sora's arms during the 'street jumping' or on his back, neither of which was Roxas pleased to be doing, but he trusted Sora's grip much better on his own. After making sure that no one was around, the cat spoke.
"Are we going to Riku's mansion?" The cat asked as Sora came to a slow walk.
"Yea. I want to tell him about what happened." Sora nodded. "Xion wanted me to tell him about it."
Roxas felt his mood dampen and he fought the urge to snap back. "Why couldn't Xion just tell him directly instead of using us?" Roxas asked rather irritably.
The messenger shrugged. "I don't know, but it must be important."
Roxas didn't ask any further questions because they were approaching the designated house. The front of the house was certainly impressive. Just as Hayner said, there were two beautiful stone winged pegasi situated at the side of the gate. The fence wasn't that tall, about as tall as Sora himself, but there was sharp spikes on top of the fence, to discourage any potential robbers. Through the mesh of the fence and gate, Sora spotted someone moving about inside the was a servant outside the front of the manor, sweeping the dead leaves into one neat pile. Upon seeing Sora by the front gate, she walked up to the gate, looking at Sora in the eyes.
The maid gave a little curtsy, but it seemed a bit forced. "Greetings sir, Master Riku is not at the house at the moment." She told Sora politely.
"You don't need to speak to me like that." Sora assured the servant. "Just call me Sora, what's your name?"
The servant seemed bewildered. Never before had someone spoke to her with such kindness. Not many people asked for her name either, much less a complete stranger to the house. This was certainly a delightful surprise. The servant girl brushed her red hair out of the way and smiled.
"I'm Kairi, one of the servants here." She responded cheerfully. "Forgive me, I'm just a little shocked that someone asked for my name, much less a stranger." She looked up up and down. "You're not a noble are you?"
"Nope. Also why don't they? I don't think that's very nice." Sora responded, putting both hands behind his head and leaning backwards in a very relaxed manner.
"Well, I am, but a lowly servant after all." Kairi rolled her eyes and she noticed the yellow cat staring at her from Sora's shoulder and she clasped her hands together. "A cat! He's so adorable! Can I hold him?"
"Sure." Roxas meowed as Sora handed him to her.
Roxas was hesitant to be held by someone other than Sora. He never allowed anyone, but Sora carry him around; however, before he knew it, he was in Kairi's arms. He felt nervous at first, he looked at Sora nervously and gave an angry scowl, but Kairi scratched him under the chin and he unwilling began purring. Just like that. Roxas felt embarrassed to have fallen so low to be tickled on the belly, but it just felt nice. The yellow cat purred contently, deciding that he liked Kairi. Just the vibe she gave off was just different from anyone he has met before. It was like he could sense how pure her heart was, it just felt nice.
"He likes you!" Sora exclaimed happily, a little surprised. "That's incredible! Roxas rarely lets anyone hold him, let alone pet him!"
"So you're Roxas?" Kairi asked the cat, to which he twitched his tail. "You're a cute little guy aren't you?"
Sora laughed. "If you keep petting and complimenting him like that, he's going to get spoiled." He was really glad that Roxas made a friend.
"So why are you here, Sora? You look just like the messengers around the citadel. Are you here to deliver a message?" Kairi stopped petting Roxas. He grumbled a little pawing her arm, asking her to pet again. Sora noticed this and laughed quietly. "Master Riku's not here right now, but you can leave the message with me and I'll give it to him when he comes back."
"No, nothing like that. I just have to talk to him." Sora explained, thinking about his dream. He still needed to figure out how to break it to Riku about the whole dream thing.
She looked at him questionably. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Nope, I thought I'd just stop by and talk." he shrugged.
"You're pretty brave." Kairi put Roxas down at her feet and the yellow cat meowed once before catching sight of a sparrow pecking at the grass nearby. He bounded off to chase it. "Not many commoners go up to a noble just like that."
Sora blinked, looking a bit confused. "Why not?"
"Or maybe you're just oblivious." Kairi giggled. "So is it important? Do you mind if I ask you?"
Sora glanced over at Roxas, who was chasing the sparrow up a tree. Then he nodded his head and crossed his arms. "I don't mind telling you." He thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a way to properly word his dream so he could keep a late friend's secret. "My friend told me that Riku is in danger. I came to tell him that." Sora explained after a moment
"Danger? What kind of danger?" Kairi seemed a little worried.
"I'm not quite sure…" Sora thought for a moment. "Just that I also overheard two guys talking about catching someone. I think that someone is Riku."
A look of worry was on Kairi's face. "That sounds serious. Maybe you should tell the police. We only have one guard here taking care of Riku." Kairi answered. "I don't think you're lying. You just don't seem like that kind of person to be lying."
"Wait, you're talking as if Riku's the only one living in the house." Sora noted.
"He is. Master Riku's parents passed away a long time ago. Since he's already a legal adult, he inherited the house and the wealth. He lives by himself with three of us: two servants and a guard." explained Kairi, she seemed a little upset and Sora touched her shoulder sympathetically.
"That must be hard. Are you the only servant?" Sora asked.
"I'm one of the two." She responded, looking towards the manor. "There's also Namine, but since she's also a Caster, she doesn't spend that much time home during the day. She's still required to go to Magic Academy until she turns eighteen, so she takes the night cleaning. I'm the one who does most of the work during the day."
"That sounds tiring." Sora gaped, looking at how big the manor was.
"It is, but Riku orders most of the rooms to be closed off. Like his parents room and a couple other rooms, so I don't have as much to clean as you think." Kairi smiled reassuringly.
"So when do you think he'll be back?" Sora asked, looking up at the sky, checking the sun to see what time it was.
"He might return from his meeting in an hour or so." Kairi informed. "Usually he doesn't allow anyone to come in while we're gone and he tells me to turn anyone who visits away, but I don't really want to turn you away. You can just wait in the servant quarters if that's alright with you."
"That'll be great!" Sora exclaimed happily. "Roxas come here!"
Upon hearing his name, the cat stopped chasing the bird, giving one last growl to tell the bird that it had not won the chase before padding to Sora and Kairi. He meowed a greeting to Kairi, twitching his tail and stretching and rubbing himself across her legs. There was a certain aura to her that Roxas just found appealing. Sora followed the red-haired girl into the servant quarters, which was really quite lavish despite it being the 'servant quarters'. There was a large living room area with a simple dining table and a set of chairs in the middle. One part of the living room morphed into a dainty little kitchen. There were many windows and flower pots around, making it feel really roomy.
"This is a really nice place. It's not stuffy like my apartment." Sora mused as he observed the surroundings.
Roxas took off from Kairi's side to explore the area, disappearing into another room. Sora was tempted to call him back, but he knew that Roxas was well aware enough to take care of himself so he stayed quiet.
"You should see the manor, it's way bigger and extravagant than the servant quarters, but still nice and homy enough to make almost anyone comfortable." Kairi said, gesturing to the large building in front of the quarters. "I've overheard that a famous architect designed this place before his death. It's one of the few masterpieces he had left behind."
"I wouldn't mind working for Riku if I get to stay in a place like this." The brunette observed his surroundings with the inquisitive nature of a curious monkey.
"Working for him isn't so bad either. The pay is good and he treats us well." The redhead servant pulled up a chair and gestured for Sora to sit. "Feel free to sit down and make yourself at home. I have to finish up in the yard."
Sora gave Kairi a bright look. "Do you need a hand?"
-RECONNECT. KINGDOM HEARTS.-
Sora waited for Riku to come home. He chatted with Kairi while he helped her with the chores around the manor. She told him how Riku was very different from all the other nobles, more down to earth than any noble she has ever seeing. Sora learned about the manor and how it doubled as a library and an office. Apparently, Riku had a job too and he was just a good businessman as Sora was a messenger. Supposedly, when he was younger, his parents taught him all about good marketing and business. Riku had earned a name in the business world, but he has yet to earn a name within social world, where Sora thrived. Kairi explained that Riku did not really like to socialize with other people or was fond of the idea of making new friends. He did not hire new servants or bodyguards, even though most had left after his parents death, merely because he didn't want to go through talking with new people. The few people who stayed: Kairi, Namine, and his bodyguard, were the only ones to stay behind, mainly because they have no where to go and that they had grown quite affectionate of their household master. Even then, Riku didn't really talk much to his servants or bodyguard either. When Sora heard all this, he was very sad. Having no friends must be quite lonesome. The brunette decided to make some sort of resolve to help Riku. He was just that type of person.
"You know Roxas," Sora told the yellow cat who was snoozing on the bench outside the servant quarters. "I want Riku to be my friend."
"What if he doesn't want you to be his friend?" Roxas asked lazily after saw that Kairi was out of an earshot.
"I've decided." The brunette said determinedly. "I'll be his friend no matter what. Even if he doesn't want to."
The gave him a 'whatever' look with one open eye before yawning and stretching himself comfortably on the wooden panels of the bench, going back to his peaceful light snooze. Kairi returned from looking down the street and looked at Sora with a worried expression.
"I don't see the Master or Noruma-er, I mean his guard, anywhere. He's already an hour late…" Kairi told the lanky teen boy. "You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"
"Well, Xioo-" Roxas looked at him threateningly. "Er-my friend did tell me that he was going to be in trouble, I didn't know it was going to be so soon…" Sora replied thoughtfully. Then he hit his fist against his palm. "Let's go look for him!"
Kairi looked appalled."Look for him? And leave the house unattended?" Kairi stammered. She already seemed like a nervous wreck. "I can't do that...what if someone robs the house? Or something important happens..." She put a hand to her head. "Riku's parents would never forgive me."
"Then you stay here, Kairi. Roxas and I will go look for Riku and his bodyguard." Sora declared, puffing up his chest. "Sounds like an adventure!"
Roxas meowed in protest, leaping on Sora's head, causing the brunette to stagger a bit. Roxas unsheathed his claws and lightly tapped the teen's cheek with his extended edges. Then he leaned down close to Sora's ear, twitching his tail irritably.
"It's none of our business!" he hissed quietly. "We're getting ourselves into unnecessary trouble again. Why are you always like this?"
"Roxas, you do want to help Kairi, right?" Sora asked the cat, who sniffed irritably.
Kairi's eyes flitted towards the street and to the boy and his cat, unsure what to say or do. She stared a moment at the milky yellow cat, sitting atop Sora's head. Catching Kairi's gaze, Roxas gave a loud meow to reassure her that he was a cat. Seeing that his cat has no further complaints, Sora put a hand on his hip and bumped his chest with the other one. He grinned at Kairi as heroically as he possibly could.
"Don't worry, Kairi. We'll bring them back home for sure!"
A/N: And so it ends for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and maybe I'll see you next time on the next chapter. Oh, what's that? Why is Roxas a cat? Oh I was influenced by a Fanfic long ago with Roxas a cat. Don't worry there's a very good reason why he is a cat. I'm sure the later chapters where you would find out will not disappoint. Also does this the title of this FanFic ring a bell? I borrowed the name from Guild Wars 2. Destiny's Edge in Guild Wars is a group of heroes facing up against the evil Elder Dragons. Maybe it means something...
I'm guessing that this FanFiction series is going to be very long. Maybe 14-20 chapters depending on how much I can cram into one chapter without overdoing it. Each chapter is about 7000-8000 words each, so be sure to take breaks in between reading. I also have a system when it comes to uploading FanFics. By the time you read chapter one, I already started writing on chapter four. Why? I always want a surplus of at least 2-3 chapters so when I hit a writer's block or get too busy, I'll have a chapter up for anyone to read. I do not have a defined schedule set up for this FanFic, but something like...once every two weeks? I spend at least two weeks writing and perfecting a chapter so you guys will get the highest quality reading that I can offer. It also takes time for my Beta, my dear cousin, to read it over and find mistakes. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes I may have made. I might've missed it when I was proof-reading it or my Beta might be too busy and might skip over some. I will do my best to make sure that this FanFic is free of mistakes and enjoyable for you guys to read.
Anyways, I will see you guys later, two weeks from now. And by then, I'm working on Chapter 5 :)
NEXT CHAPTER: Shadows of the Lost
