It was a warm, sunny morning in the small town known as Daybreak Town. A day fit for a child to go out and play with their friends, much to their parents relief.
In a household at the centre of its neighbourhood sat a boy on the sofa, staring blankly at the TV's screen with a remote in his hand. He would keep mindlessly switching between channels, watching whatever show was on the screen for about 5 seconds before deciding he didn't like it or was bored of it, then would click a button and the cycle continued. After a short while, he looked at the clock, sighing loudly as he got off of the sofa, turning the TV off as he lacked the motivation to watch the TV as he would normally do all day, everyday. Or at least it felt like it was everyday. Each new day seemed to have all mixed with each other and melding into one so he couldn't really tell anymore.
He jumped off of the sofa, walking towards the window and sliding the curtains to one side, watching as kids played carelessly in the middle of the street. It was a fairly quiet street, so there were barely any cars driving around. He smiled, watching the children playfully shove each other, some of their voices could be heard as they screamed at each other from across a makeshift soccer field.
After a while, he looked over to the kitchen just across from him, his eyes searching for the clock. It was 12:00pm. 'Time for lunch' he thought to himself as he walked I over to the counters. As he had started to prepare the food he would eat for lunch, he couldn't help but stare at one of the top drawers, and debating whether or not he should open it and grab the key inside it. Earlier that morning, he had seen Xehanort place it inside that particular drawer when he thought the boy wasn't looking. His gaze remained fixed onto that one drawer. Maybe this would be his only chance at freedom.
What was only a year felt like an eternity to the boy, his young heart yearning to be a child again and just play with the other children without a care in the world. But it would be breaking the rules... As his mind came up with possible scenarios on how Xehanort would react to the keys being stolen, he finally decided that maybe he wouldn't notice if he just stayed in the backyard as he could easily slip back into the house if he hears Xehanort pull into the driveway. He brushed the thoughts away, swiftly getting into action.
He decided that no matter the consequence, finally being able to go outside would definitely be worth it as he jumps down from the stool he was standing on and quickly opening the drawer and taking the key out, walking towards the back door before suddenly stopping himself, his heart racing from both excitement and fear. After a short while he takes a deep breath, gathering up the courage to place the key into the door's lock, turning it and hearing a satisfying 'click' as it unlocks, and he heads outside for the first time without being escorted by Xehanort.
It was a refreshing feeling, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the warm sun touch his skin as he stood outside. The green grass was enticing, the young boy walking slowly to it and noticing that it probably hadn't been cut in a long time. The 6 year old boy giggled softly as the soft grass brushes against his bruised knees, getting lost in pleasant sensation of bliss before suddenly hearing a faint voice call out to him. At least he thought it was directed to him.
"Hello!" He jumped as the voice startled him, swivelling his head around to find where the voice had come from. The voice was soft and soothing, most probably belonging to a girl around his age. Shortly after his ears are met with another "Hello?" From a more masculine yet childlike voice. He looks at the fence to his right to see two children visibly older than himself staring at him, smiling as he turned his head to their direction. The girl giggled.
"Yes, we're talking to you! Who are you?" She smiled, waiting for his response.
The boy said nothing, his heart racing as he tried to find the right words to say. But nothing has come to his mind, as he was already preoccupied on thinking about what he was supposed to do and whether or not he should actually talk to the pair.
"Helloooo??" The older boy said impatiently, "Can you hear us? Aqua I think he's deaf!" Shortly after, his remark was met with a slight tap from the blue haired girl.
"Don't talk to him like that, you'll scare him off!" Was all that could be heard as the girl scolded the boy before turning back to the other. The brown haired boy stuck his tongue out at her playfully, wearing a pout on his face to add to his dramatic reaction.
"Sorry about my friend, he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes..." The boy turned his head to his friend, giving an exaggerated expression of offence. The girl hadn't noticed, or at least chose to ignore her friend, and continued with her introduction. "Anyways, my name's Aqua and he's Terra!" What's yours?" She held her hand out to the younger boy as she greeted him, the 6 year old looking at the hand nervously.
"Ven... Ventus..." the boy said weakly, stepping back a little as he pondered whether or not it would be rude to run back into the house now.
The girl giggled softly, before saying "It's nice to meet you Ven!" She said to him, already giving the boy a nickname. Terra soon chimed in "So, are you new here?"
Ven stared nervously again, wondering how he would explain that he had been in that neighbourhood for about a year now, but was just never allowed outside?
"I've been here for a while... I mean, I've only been here for a year, I just..." The two of them just watched him, waiting for him to finish his response. " I just never had the time to go out much..."
"I understand," Terra said empathetically, "You must've been busy unpacking and stuff." Ven could only assume that the older boy had been in a similar scenario.
Ven forced out a soft chuckle, looking away from the two, looking away sheepishly. The conversation seemed to go dead before the faint sound of a woman's voice called from the house on the other side of the fence.
"Kids!! Lunch is ready!"
"Coming mum!" Aqua called out before turning back to Ven. "Have you eaten yet?"
"No, but-"
"Why don't you join us? I'm sure my mum wouldn't mind another visitor." Aqua enthused, appearing excited to invite her newfound friend over to share a meal.
"I-I'm alright..." Ven forced a small smile, "My... Dad is preparing lunch and is probably almost done... So... I should probably head back." The boy mentally slapped himself for coming up with such a bad lie, but the other two seemed to fall for it, saying their goodbyes before heading into their houses, Ven making sure to lock the door behind him and throwing throwing the key back into the drawer, hoping that Xehanort wouldn't notice that it had been taken out.
He leaned up against the wall and sighing as his heart was still racing a little bit from that interaction. Soon he let himself sink onto the floor, resting his back onto the cold wall as he sat. But despite his sense of fear, he felt quite happy, finally feeling like he can reconnect with the world once more after about a year of isolation. He smiled, remembering their happy expressions as they introduced themselves and how excited they were to have met him.
"Terra... Aqua..." He mumbled under his breath, satisfied that he had remembered their names.
After regaining his composition, he got up and straightened out his shorts, walking back over to the counter before taking a step back up onto the stool and continued preparing a sandwich for himself.
After lunch he had continued watching television, settling for a certain channel until, a few hours later, he heard a car pull up into the driveway. Instantly, Ven felt his heart sink. Ven always treasured the time he spent without Xehanort, no matter how lonely it may get. It didn't take him long to figure out that maybe living with this man wasn't the best decision Ven had ever made in the 6 years he had lived. Soon, the door opened and Ven jumped off of the sofa.
"Ventus, I assume you're ready?" Xehanort asked in a low, raspy voice. He looked at the younger boy with a stern expression. Ven nodded, his heart racing as he couldn't even muster the courage to say anything. With that, the man beckoned him to follow, they both get into the car and soon Xehanort reverses out of the driveway.
The drive was silent for the entire duration of the car ride, or at least most of it. Only in a matter of minutes the car turned into a highway which was practically the bridge between Daybreak Town and Twilight Town. He observed the buildings, built with a soft, warm aesthetic. The buildings seemed to all share a similar colour palettes of browns, yellows, oranges and reds. After a long while the houses and other buildings started to become very few and far between as they got closer to their destination. Ven spent most of his time looking out the window, staring blankly at nothing before Xehanort spoke up.
"Do not disappoint me again, do you remember what happened last time you did?"
Ven brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them tight, looking down at the floor before he absentmindedly started to trace his fingers across the scabs that had started to form on his legs. He was not ready for whatever Xehanort had in plan this time. The man stoped the car right in front of the dark forest, both people stepping out, Xehanort leading the way into the seemingly eternal darkness of the forest. Ven looked around. The sky started to turn into an orangey-pink colour, still with a hint of blue as the sun had just started to set as day turned into night. In the distance he could still vaguely see the glowing lights that belonged to the houses of the citizens that inhabited the town. He remembered the town. He missed it.
"Ventus, follow!" Xehanort commanded, not too far away from the boy. "We don't have all night to continue your training!"
Ven hastily followed, not wanting to be left alone in such a place. In the dimming night, the trees seemed to reach for the young boy as though they were alive, the various noises hidden deep into the woods sounded louder as his imagination started to run wild. What if this place is haunted? What if the trees really were alive? Were they going to hurt him? He had walked down this path countless times but only God knows what could've crawled into this place while they weren't there.
After a while of walking through the narrow path of the forest, they turned into an open area of land, surrounded by more trees and practically hidden from anyone's sight. This is where the training would begin.
They walked a little bit further into the field before Xehanort turned around, hands behind his back. "Now remember what I taught you Ventus, channel the darkness in your heart and turn it into power. Use that power to defeat these Heartless..." As he gave his small speech, te dark and shadowy creatures known as Heartless started to form in a circle around Ven, who looked around at them in awe. It wasn't his first time seeing them, he had seen them many times before this, but this was more than he was used to. "And once you are strong enough, you can create the all powerful x-blade!"
Ven looked around again, the monsters twitching and staring at him with soulless eyes, before the boy averted his gaze back to Xehanort. "But Master there are too many!"
The older man glared at Ven, pointing a finger at him threateningly. "Don't dare disobey me, boy! You know what will happen to you if you refuse to fight!" He yelled from across the field, his raspy voice only barely making it to the boy's ears.
Ven swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and held out his hand and with a burst of light, his Keyblade appearing in his hand before he swiftly got into position, nervously looking at the enemies while holding onto his Keyblade tightly. Then, with the click of Xehanort's fingers, the Heartless all rushed towards Ven, who swung his Keyblade sloppily at them, the weapon still too heavy for the 6 year old. He kept shrieking out loudly as he kept on blindly waving his Keyblade around in the hopes that it would hit the creatures that had started latching onto him. Already he had managed to make a few of the figures disappear. A small smile appeared on Ven's face. Maybe he was strong enough to do this.
"Ventus, keep an eye out for the enemies behind you!" Ven turned around as he heard those words call out from behind him. Xehanort had been walking around the field and observing how the boy was fighting.
Just as Ven had turned around, a Heartless had swung its arm at him, a sharp claw making contact with his skin. A sharp pain erupted on his face as a large cut formed on it, reaching from his jawline and running diagonally across his cheek before it ended just beneath his eye. His reaction was almost instantaneous. He stepped back, dropping his keyblade as he brought his shaking hands to his face, the weapon fading into light after it fell onto the grass with a loud 'clunk'. The Heartless started to surround him once more, swarming around him as he fell to his knees, some of the creatures climbing and latching onto his small frame. The boy let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream, a sort of late reaction as the pain had caught up with him after his short moment of shock. He was crying and sobbing as he tried to shake off the Heartless, but to no avail. Slowly Xehanort walked towards the boy, standing over him and watching as the boy wrestled with the creatures that had started to scratch at him. Ven looked up at Xehanort.
"Master...! Master, please help me!" He called out desperately.
The man watched for a short while longer in hopes that the boy would come to his senses and defeat them like he was supposed to. He then decided that waiting would be pointless, so with the click of his fingers, the Heartless all disappeared into the night. Ven was still curled up, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed loudly before Xehanort used his feet to push Ven onto his back. The boy didn't seem to fight back, letting his body fall to the side before he was rolled onto his back. Xehanort then noticed the rather large wound on his face, it was still bleeding down Ven's face. His eyes trailed down to the boy's shirt, the shirt that was completely white before but now had a large, red stain on the left side of his shirt. He scoffed.
"Pathetic..." The boy was now only barely conscious, still sobbing weakly as Xehanort picked him up and draped him over his shoulders, walking back down the path from which they had come from, the man laying him down on the back seats of the car, blood still dripping from his face. The six year old leaned his head onto the soft car seats, before feeling himself drifting into sleep as Xehanort started the car and drove back into civilisation.
A/N: So I've had this idea sitting around for a while. This is only really part of a story I've had planned but I got bored and decided to write this down! There will be more parts. To give some context, this is basically some backstory to Ven's character in a sort of modern AU. Anyways, it's 1am and I cannot explain this at all so I'll just leave this note here!