In a dessert that was covered in the shade of twilight, a blue haired woman around the age of eighteen approached a young male brunette who looked about one or two years older than her; they both were covered in a suit of armor, although it was damaged and missing the helmet, you could easily tell that these two were warriors. "Is it over?" she asked him. "No this battle is far from over, it has just begun…" he responded. "Terra are you okay?" Aqua asked concerned for her friend. "I'm not sure, Xehanort said something to me before he disappeared and I just can't get my mind off of it …" Terra remembered the words of the one he hated so much, "don't lose track of what you hold dear, for you may never get it back" Terra's face showed that he was lost in thought about something, this made Aqua uneasy, she knew that something was wrong. What did he mean by that? Whatever it meant it couldn't be good. The more he wondered, the worse his thoughts became. Why would he say that? If there is one thing I have learned about Master Xehanort, it's that he doesn't just say things like that without a purpose.
The two were silent as Terra thought; you could hear the soft flapping of their capes in the desert wind, it was the only sound. Terra broke the silence as he came to a realization; his tone of voice was alarming,"Aqua, where is Ven?
"I though he was with you!"
Terra had a bad feeling about this situation, Ven never got lost, and he never left Aqua's or his side. Where was he? "Please don't let him be…" Terra was interrupted by a cold voice.
"Looking for something?"
Both of their head's looked up to see where the sinister voice was coming from.
Terra's and Aqua's eyes widened as they saw their armored younger friend being helplessly held over the cliff by a man they wished they did not know; his name was Xehanort, formally known as Master Xehanort. He held Ven dangerously over the cliff, his large hand grasping the boy by his helmet. Master Xehanort's apprentice stood next to him, he was a man shrouded by mystery. They could not see the face of the dark soldier, for a helmet covered his face. "I don't see how you lost your friend here
"Why you!" Terra shouted, "Let him go!" Master Xehanort smiled maniacally, "that's a funny thing to ask, considering you small friend is dangling over a cliff, but as much as I would enjoy to see your face as your friend is mortally injured, I think we'll hold onto him for a while." Aqua spoke this time "Ven! Can you hear me! Ven!"
Ven began to stir groaning softly as his eyes opened "Aqua?" His vision was blurry; he couldn't make out anything. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. Why do I feel like I'm hanging? He asked himself. As his vision became clearer so did his answer; He found himself being held by his head over a cliff, which was definitely not a fun position to be in. He began to struggle, "What's going on? Let go of me!" He kicked and twisted, trying to get Xehanort to release him, but Xehanort's strength was greater than Ven's, his grip did not falter. Aqua watched as Ven's eyes widened when his helmet's visor was shattered from the force of Xehanort's hold. "We have to help him…. but how?" Aqua asked herself frantically.
"Xehanort! I'm warning you! Terra shouted at him. "Your hardly in the position to be making threats my friend." Terra growled in defeat. "What do you want?" Xehanort's face darkened, a wicked smile forming on his face, "what are you willing to do to save this boy?" He asked. Terra pondered for a few seconds then responded, "Anything… he saved me before now it's my turn to save him." Ven couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Terra don't! You can't give yourself up because of me! Only you can save the worlds!" Ven cried out. "Quiet you insolent child!" Xehanort commanded as he shook the boy violently. "I'm not afraid of you!" Ven shouted back, beginning to kick and thrash once more, "You should be…" Xehanort responded coldly.
Xehanort began to cast some sort of magic from the hand that held Ven; it started from his shoulder and shot out into Ven's body. All of a sudden a shrill scream filled the still air. Terra and Aqua became aware of Ven's scream from the second he opened his mouth. "Ven!" they both shouted in unison. The scream brought terror through their bodies, when it ended he slumped and was breathing heavily, coming closer to unconsciousness. "Did that hurt? High voltage of electrical shock is not something you want flowing through your body hm child?" he coughed violently in response, barely being able to do anything at all, the pain made it feel like body had been beaten all over. A thunder from a direct source; it was a wonder how he was still even conscious. "Don't you dare hurt him animore! Just let him go damn you!" Terra commanded, his anger increasing rapidly. "No, I think I understand now. What would you do if this boy were in pain? It is a question that has just been answered. Your weakness is your pathetic friends. Now that I have one of your beloved companions in my possession I think I'll use him as my newest test subject. After all I do have many new tests I have wanted to try… lucky for him, a few of the tests aren't too painful."
"No you can't! He's too young he does not deserve such pain! Please don't take him! Take me instead!" Aqua pleaded. "It is a tempting offer I must admit, but my mind is clear, this boy is mine now.", "I'll never let you take him!" Terra rushed to attack Master Xehanort, scaling the cliff at incredible speed. "Apprentice, you know what you have to do. When you have distracted these two long enough, follow me back to the laboratory, we have a new project to work on." Xehanort slung Ven over his shoulder, by now he had passed out, so he could not struggle. As he walked away, the dark soldier jumped off the cliff, heading straight towards Terra. The two collided and Terra was knocked to the ground. The dark soldier was able to land on his feet and launch a number of attacks on the two. Aqua launch a reflect in retaliation to the attacks, slamming the Dark Soldier into the cliff, Terra then ran to a final blow, but the Dark Soldier was too fast, he was only clipped on the shoulder. "Terra! We have to hurry!" "I know!" He began to build up power in preparation for another attack; "I have to do this quick" He picked up another keyblade from the desert battlefield. "Say your prayers!" Terra shouted as he ran towards Dark Soldier at incredible speed, making multiple blows on the man; he completed his attack waiting to see whether or not he had finished the Dark Soldier. "Well it has been fun. But now I must leave you both." Xehanort's Apprentice said as he stumbled to his feet. "Not if I can help it, you're going to tell us where Xehanort has taken Ven!"
His head moved to a position where it looked as though he were staring right at Terra. "Your friend is as good as dead, though maybe save him if you can get there in time, if you're lucky." With those final words the Dark soldier disappeared through a dark portal. Terra charged at the portal in an attempt to stop him, but he was too late. Aqua and Terra were alone…
Terra slammed his fist into the ground, "I failed! Now Ven is in the hands of that man! I will make Xehanort regret he ever touched Ven! I'll kill him!" Terra put a hand on his forehead, trembling in anger and despair. Aqua fell to her knees next to Terra. She was in complete disbelief. How could this have happened? How did they let Xehanort kidnap Ven? "Terra we can't lose our heads, that's what Xehanort wants. Ven is strong he can handle this until we save him." "If he gets hurt, I don't know how I'll forgive myself….", Aqua put her hands on Terra's shoulders. "Then lets act quickly so he doesn't, please Terra…"
"Your right…" Terra responded softly before lifting himself to his feet. "The first thing we need to do is find the king, and our master." "To Hollow Bastion then" Aqua asked