Okay then... I've decided to rewrite PKH because I just... really didn't like how it went, I think... my writing started out good then it just gradually spiralled downwards into a never-ending pit of darkness and despair and OOC characters.
Um... this version is going to downplay the romance A LOT, it really didn't fit in well I think, when I went through the original, it seemed... forced and I didn't like it.
So... yeah.
Roxas: Then... why are you just replacing this chapter? Wouldn't it better to... delete the story and start over?
...
Yeah...
But... I... I mean, there are probably going to be people who are like... half way through or something and I'm sure they kinda just want to finish the story so that they can move on with their life.
Roxas: *frowns* O...kay then...?
Roxas: I guess this chapter is kinda like... giving everyone an idea as to how different the two versions are going to be and sort of... what to expect from the updated one
Yup! And it feels like this is some kind of interview for some reason -.-
Anyway, um... some things might seem to overlap, take this chapter for example, I explain the 'Zoo Incident' here, but I have it in the second chapter for my original version, and I can't take the second chapter down because it has other needed info on it and I'm not ready to upload the replacement chapter
Roxas: Well enough blabbing, Jessica doesn't own Kingdom Hearts and she never will
Unless I get extremely lucky and Tetsuya Nomura/Square Enix decides to hand over all rights to it to me for... some unknown reason
Um...
On to the story!
Chapter One: Mamma Always Said…
'Children are trusting… it's not necessarily a good thing'
The two boys that ran down the streets were identical. They were five, slightly smaller than most kids their age. They had deceivingly spiky hair that belied its softness, the sun-bleached blonde rose up like a wave to one side of their head. This bizarre hairstyle was a source of immense bafflement for others, it was completely natural, and yet, their mother possessed dark, straight hair that fell down her back like satin. 'Their father' they'd whisper sagely to one another, 'they never knew him, just upped and away when he discovered she was pregnant. The probably get that hair from him.'
The two boys were twins, with baby-ish faces and easy smiles; as they ran towards home, one after the other, the elder turned back to taunt the younger behind, his blue eyes sparkled amusement and mischief, at the sight of his brother far behind. The identical face behind him screwed into a frustrated expression, eyes flashing with irritation; with renewed determination, the boy picked up speed, racing after his twin.
This was Roxas.
He had always been considered a little different, unlike his older twin, Ventus- rather, Ven- he was more quiet and shy, that in itself wasn't so odd, it was how this boy gave off an aura of mystery and magic. He would smile like any other child, but there was always something else, behind that childish play, something, that maybe even Roxas himself did not know of.
This belief had merely been strengthened by 'The Zoo Incident'.
Not too long ago, little Roxas went to the zoo with his beloved mother and twin. Whilst there, a catastrophe occurred, one of the animals- a tiger- had escape from its cage, now prowling around the zoo unhindered. In the rush to evacuate, Roxas was separated from his mother and twin, terrified, the woman had turned back, struggling against the panicked crowd.
It is said that there was a bright explosion of light from the area in which the tiger had prowled, when the zoo keepers ran to subdue the beast and discover the source of the odd light, they found Roxas crouched on the ground, playing with a pair of intricately carved keys around his neck. He chortled and smiled up innocently at the astounded zoo keepers, before telling them with the air of one imparting some great secret, "the stripey cat doesn't like shiny lights."
Behind him crouched the tiger, terrified, blinded and mewling in pain.
Some claim the light was a trick, maybe people had mistaken the bright light of the sun for something else, something more… magical. But no matter how people tried to explain it away, there was always one aspect that didn't fit.
Roxas had been treated with the utmost caution from then on, by everyone except for his mother and his twin.
Roxas halted, panting, bending over to catch his breath; he looked up and pouted as he watched Ven's receding figure as the boy ran on ahead, he didn't bother trying to run after him again, Ven had always been stronger than him, despite the identical appearance, the two were really quite different. The sky grew darker, Roxas' stomach growled, he pouted again, sticking out his bottom lip in despair at the knowledge that Ven would probably have reached home by now and be eating dinner.
He looked up at the sky, 'mamma will be worried if I don't hurry,' he thought to himself. His town was a sleepy little place, one of those small, friendly towns where everyone knew everyone else, you didn't have to worry about people preying on your children, the inhabitants were all acquaintances or friends, and they rarely had strangers from other places. So the children were given free reign, to play and explore as they pleased, being reminded by their parents to be home by dark, not so much in fear of strangers, more worry that they could lose their way in the dark, or that if they took too long to come home, they would arrived to a cold dinner.
Roxas whinged softly to himself as he walked, it was a cold night and a cold dinner was most certainly not welcome, they could heat it up in the microwave again, but it wouldn't taste the same. He walked on, sulkily kicking rocks and pebbles ahead of him, past one house, hen another, then an alley, then- he stopped, looking back, was that a groan? He backed up until he was standing, once more, in front of the alley, the darkness inside was absolute, he couldn't see a thing.
The groan came again and Roxas started; uncertainly, he edged into the darkness, it wrapped around him like a cloak, the street light's brightness was unable to penetrate it. Roxas paused for a moment, squinting and peering forwards as he attempted to make out what- rather, who- had caused that sound; there was an easier way, of course, but he had no intention of using that, only Ven knew about it, besides, his control wasn't perfect yet. His eyes adjusted and he saw a few garbage cans, rubbish stacked haphazardly around them and, behind those cans, a large bulky object. Roxas squeaked with fright as that object moved, sitting up and turning to him. He paused in his hasty retreat when he saw it was a man, a tall, bulky man with strange hair and thick eyebrows.
Roxas paused, it is often the case, in a town like his, that the parents do not fear for the safety of their child when it comes to a menace such as kidnappers and murderers, these parents do not worry about teaching their children to fear these things either. The children learnt to be kind and respectful to all people, such a concept as 'stranger danger' did not exist. So it was that Roxas walked towards the man who now bore an odd, unpleasant smile; an older, more wary person would have seen the malice behind that smile.
But Roxas did not.
He knew only the teachings, the things he had been told by his mother, the instructions she had given him in certain situations and so despite the odd urge to flee, he walked forward, heart racing towards the man who seemed to be in need of some aid. He stopped in front of the man, he could see- despite the darkness- that even sitting down, this curious man was larger than he was, he towered over him.
"Excuse me, Mister," he began in his most polite voice, as he had been taught to do by his mother, "do you need help?" the man groaned and pulled himself to his feet. Startled, Roxas backed up to give him more room, he craned his neck up until he got a crick in his neck to look at the man's face, feeling a thrill of fear at the realisation of just how big this man was.
But mother had always stressed the importance of being polite.
So he stayed rooted to the spot, meeting the eyes of the stranger who looked down at him, the face that smiled an untrue smile. "Hi kid," the man said gruffly, at such a common-place greeting Roxas felt himself relax, "hello Sir, do you need help?" he replied, repeating his earlier question. The chuckled embarrassedly, "well you see, my friends and I came here for a bit and I wanted to practise some magic but my friends didn't feel like coming with me so I left on my own and it seems I got rather hopelessly lost and…" he trailed, shrugging helplessly, but Roxas had stopped paying attention, he was gazing up at the man in awe, "can you do magic?" he asked in a hushed tone.
The man looked surprised, as though he hadn't realised he had said- nor had he intended to say- anything about magic, he smirked, 'would you like to see some?" he asked. Roxas nodded and the man raised a hand, instantly, wind rushed into the alley, blowing through Roxas' spiky hair and lifting up the rubbish, flinging it everywhere like confetti; Roxas squinted against the sudden force, looking up at the man who was causing it.
As he watched, the hand was lowered and the wind died off, "can you do that type of thing? Can you do magic?" the man asked eagerly, Roxas hesitated, there was a look in the man's eye that suggested he already knew the answer, and that- for Roxas- it couldn't mean anything good. But why would this man hurt him? Surely he meant no harm.
He smiled shyly, "mine isn't as cool," he confessed, flushing with embarrassment; the man's eyes glittered, "any magic is cool, Roxas," the man told him, and Roxas, so delighted by the prospect of having someone else who shared his magic, didn't even realise he had never told his name. he concentrated, biting his lip and frowning, he wasn't very good at controlling his magic just yet, he'd sometimes practise with Ven watching; Ven knew about his powers, but had none of his own to speak of himself. Yet another difference between the two.
He giggled as light swelled out from his palm, filling the alley and lighting up the face of the man next to him, looking down at the boy with a leer that went unnoticed. Roxas smiled triumphantly up at the man, pleased that his magic had worked particularly well. The man clapped his hands together lightly in congratulations, ruffling the boy's soft spikes, "do you want to come back to where I'm staying?" he asked the boy, "I bet my friends would love to see you magic," Roxas hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder, didn't the man say he was lost? "My dinner will get cold," he mumbled finally.
The man laughed, "don't worry about it," he said, "you can have dinner with my friends and I instead," he paused before adding with the embarrassed air of someone who had forgotten something obvious, "I'm Xaldin, by the way," he smiled, "come on kid, it'll be fine," he held out his hand to the boy.
Roxas gazed at the man- Xaldin's- hand with a mix of anticipation and trepidation, he wanted to meet these people who could do magic like he could, and yet, he couldn't shake off that feeling that this wasn't safe, that this person was being completely honest. He raised his hand, it was much smaller than Xaldin's, it was pale and trembling and he realised with surprise that he was shaking all over. He looked up at the man, fear and dread rose inside of him and he experienced a strong desire to simply turn and run away. Go home and eat his weird-tasting microwaved dinner, forget that he ever spoke to the man. But running would be rude.
And mamma always said to be polite.
Okay... uh... yeah :)
Here's the first rewritten chapter, hope you all liked it, how was it compared to the original? Better? Worse?
Roxas: You have me walk off with some random stranger in the very first chapter
Yup! Aren't I nice
But seriously though, it's necessary
Roxas: *glares*
Don't look at me like that!
Anyway, review and uh... check out... some of my other... stories...?
