Chapter One: Wayfinder
The stars shone brightly in the sky above. A person in a black coat stands on the small island, holding someone wrapped in a white blanket in his arm. His face wasn't visible, and magic surrounded him, keeping his face and any features hidden from view.
"There, you see?" the man said to the person under his arm. "An empty world, like a prison. I imagine you'll be right at home." He dropped the person on a curved tree nearby. It was a young girl,a troll by species.
The troll's mid-length black hair flows around her. Her short, pointed horns protruded from her hair. She wore wearing a bright white dress that slid around her. She sat on a bright, crumbling platform. Her teal, jaundiced eyes on her gray-skinned hands.
"Hey, where am I?" a voice of a small boy called out. The girl looked up.
"Who's there?" she asked. A bright light appeared above her. It floated down. The girl caught it in her hands.
"I'm another heart." The voice was coming from the light the girl held in her hands.
"But this is-" the girl said, confused. "Why are you in my heart?"
"The light brought me," the voice answered. "I saw it shining in the distance… and followed it here." The girl smiled gently.
"Yeah. That was my light." Her smile fell as she looked over at the broken part of the platform. The edge soon gave away, making the platform smaller. The girl sighed. "But my heart is fractured. And now… the little I have left is slipping away."
"Then you should join your heart with mine." The girl looked down at the light. Curiosity painted her face.
"Huh?" It a bright flash, the broken edges filled in on the platform. The girl's heart was whole once more. She smiled.
"Now our hearts have touched. Nothing else will slip away. And one day…" the voice said with hope, "You'll be strong enough to win back the part that already did." The girl smiled.
"Right. Thanks."
"It's time to wake up now. All we need to do is…"
"Open the door." The blank light of the platform shone brightly and transformed. An image graced the surface. It was of the girl.
The man turned to leave, the girl still resting on the tree. The girl rolled over and raised her hand. The man stopped walking and turns around to look at her. In a flash, a bey-like weapon appeared in the girl's hand. The handle was red, with the teal symbol of Libra split in half on either end. The blade was red as well. The teeth was a white dragon wing, with a dragon's head resting on the blade and its tail curved around it. The keychain of a balance rested beside the girl's face.
"A Keyblade?" the man wondered out loud. The girl's Keyblade glowed at the end and fired a beam of light into the sky. The man in the black coat smiled. He gathered up the girl as her blade disappeared and was on his way.
Five Years (Two Sweeps) Later...
A young troll of six sweeps, or thirteen years, lay soundly in her her bed. She is the same girl all those years ago who had her heart broken. In those years, she's changed.
She is dressed in a black body suit with a short, sleeveless teal dress over it, the collar going to her neck. A red Libra symbol was wrapped around her chest. She wore red gloves and boots. Square red glasses covered her eyes. She sat up on her bed and sighed. She looked out the window, a few shooting stars fall. Her eyes lit up in anticipation.
"A meteor shower!" The girl said excitedly. She jumped off of her bed and ran out of her room. She dashed down the hall, and down the stairs. She pushed opened the front door and ran down the steps of the castle in which she lived. She came to a stop at the bottom, looking up at the sky. She groaned.
"I can't see much from here," she said to herself. The girl started running off again, hoping to find a clear area to watch the shower. She growled as she ran. "I'm gonna miss the meteor shower!"
She panted as she came up to the furthest edge of the castle grounds. The Summit. She grinned as her run slowed into a walk. She looked up at the sky in awe as it lit up with what seemed like a million falling stars.
"Wow…" the girl said as she flopped down onto the grass. She put her hands behind her head as she watched the meteors fall from above. "Why does this seem so familiar?" The girl yawned as her eyes closed behind her glasses, lulling her into a short sleep.
The girl soon awoke a short while later. She yawned, looking up. The girl stretched out her body before lying back down. The girl came face to face with another female troll standing over her. The girl quickly sat back up to face the other one.
The newcomer possessed short black hair, cerulean eyes and her horns were asymmetrical. Her left one was hooked, her right one was a claw. She wore a cerulean dress with long sleeves. Web-like cuts were made in the bottom of both her sleeves and hem. A white Scorpio symbol was emblazoned on her chest, and a black belt was around her waist She wore high white socks that came up to her knees and red buckled shoes. She has white cat-eye glasses on. The newcomer laughed as the girl sighed.
"Gimme a break, Aranea," said the girl.
"Latula, you hopeless sleepyhead," said the newcomer, Aranea. "You know you should have at least brought a blanket."
"But-" The girl, Latula, stuck out her tongue. "Just let me look up at the stars… It reminds me of home."
"Latula, you can go back and visit home whenever you please. You don't need to stay here."
"Yeah… I know." Aranea walked over, sitting down next to Latula. Latula looked over at her.
"Hey, Serket," said Latula. Aranea hummed, acknowledging Latula's request. "Ever wonder what what stars are? Where light comes from?" Aranea smiled.
"Hmm... Well, they say-"
"That every thtar up there with another world," a lisping voice cut in, interrupting two girls turned. Aranea sighed.
"Mituna," she said as the third troll in their little training party came up to them.
Mituna had messy black hair. His bangs were long enough to cover his mismatched eyes, one entirely red and the other entirely blue. He had two sets of short, pointed, curved horns He wore a black and yellow body suit with yellow gloves and boots. The Gemini symbol is on his collarbone. Under his arm is a yellow helmet, the visor being divided between red and blue.
"Yep, hard to believe there are tho many worldth out there besideth our own," Mituna said as he stopped behind the girls. "The light is their hearth, and it'th shining down on uth like a million lanternth."
"What?" Latula asked. "I don't get it."
"In other wordth, they're just like you, 'Tula." Latula stood up, walking over to Mituna.
"What does that mean?"
"Can't tell you, 'Tula."
"But I wanna know!"
"You're too young to know now." Latula narrowed her eyes.
"We're the same age! We're both six sweeps!" Aranea broke into laughter, causing Mituna and Latula to look over at her.
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Mituna asked.
"I can't help it," Aranea said as she stood. "You two are the strangest pair of matesprits I have ever seen." As Aranea continued laughing, Mituna and Latula soon joined in.
Soon, all three friends sat on the grass, watching the meteor shower above. WIthout warning, Aranea stood up, causing Mituna and Latula to look up at her. Her expression was no longer cheerful and carefree.
"I almost forgot," she said. "Mituna, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow." Mituna groaned, flopping backward on the grass.
"Thtupid exam…" he said. "Why do we have to take a tetht to prove we're mathters? We can fight and we know how to use the keyblade. That'th good enough for me!" Latula leaned forward, pecking Mituna's forehead.
"If it was easy as that, I would be a master by now," she said.
"You'll be a master one day, Latula," said Aranea. She now held something in her hands. "In the meantime, I made us good luck charms." She drew a yellow star-shaped charm from her palm before tossing it at Mituna. He caught it in his hands. "Here!" She tossed a teal one to Latula.
"I get one too?" she asked. Aranea nodded, holding up a blue one in her hands.
"Of course," she replied. "One for each of us." The three held them out close to another, forming a circle.
"Yeah."
"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit…" Aranea explained with a small smile. "And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other. Technically, You are supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best I could with what I had." Mituna stuck his tongue out at her.
"Oy, thometimeth you are thuch a girl," he said.
"Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?" Aranea said offensively. Latula laughed uncomfortably.
"So, this isn't a real good luck charm?" she said, trying to change the subject. Aranea looked over from Mituna at her.
"Well, that's yet to be seen," said Aranea. "But I did work a little magic on it."
"Really? What?" Aranea held her charm up.
"An unbreakable connection." Mituna sighed, collapsing back onto the ground. The charm dropped beside him.
"Well, tomorrow'th the exam," he lisped before popping back up. "Anybody wanna thpar?" Latula grinned.
"You don't need to fight," said Latula, nudging Mituna. "Trust me, you guys are ready. You're gonna clean up at the exam tomorrow."
"I hope it'th that eathy."
"It's like the Summoner said," Aranea added to the conversation. "Power is born within the heart. When the time is right, you just need to look inside yourself… and you'll find it there." Latula nodded. Mituna looked up at the sky. It was clear of any meteors, with only the stars and the moon lighting up the night sky.
"Hey, we thhould head back," he said as he stood, "It'th getting late." Latula and Aranea stood up as well. Latula yawned.
"I couldn't agree more," she said. All three trolls began walking toward the entrance to the Summit and back to the castle. "There's a lot waiting for us tomorrow! Together!"
"Together…" Aranea repeated. "Always."
That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars.
A young girl of age twelve stood on a book, swirling around a whirlpool. She had short black hair, red glasses and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a gray t-shirt with a bright blue sleeves and a bright blue creature on it. She wore a pair of capri jeans and black sneakers. And this girl was having trouble keeping her balance as the waves grew higher and higher. The girl was thrown up into the air by the waves. But the water disappeared. She was left in the air of a room, where she fell and landed on the floor. The girl chuckled as she walked over to a female troll. Her teacher.
Her teacher's short black hair surrounded her pointed horns, and her eyes were hidden behind her red, rimless cateye glasses. Her teal and red bodysuit and red boots were darkened by the dimness of the room. She stood tall from her student, facing the window. Her red gloved hands were wrapped tightly around her white dragon-headed cane. She hummed a bit as her student walked beside her.
"Jane…" said the teacher, her voice stoic and regal. "I cannot shake the feeling something terrible is about to transpire." Her student looked at her in confusion before looking out the window. Three stars sparkled brightly in the distance.
Author: And so, the first installment of three begins. I found it much easier to divide Birth By Sleep into three different stories, to make it easier to write out. While I am writing the rest of Kingdom of Homestuck, I will also be working on Birth By Sleep. This way, I'm hoping no one is confused as to what is happening in the story later on. After all, Birth By Sleep comes first chronologically.
Author: As for the cast, here is what we know so far. Latula Pyrope has been cast as Ventus, or "Ven". Aranea Serket is taking Aqua's place. Mituna Captor is played Terra. The Summoner will be debuting as Master Eraqus in the next chapter. If you've read Kingdom of Homestuck, then you already know that Jane Crocker is King Mickey. And yes, I made Neophyte Redglare as Yen Sid. I thought it fit.
Author: Also, if you're confused on what's going on in the story or about the casting choices I made, don't be afraid to ask me about it. I'd be more than happy to explain!