Kingdom Hearts:
The Wanderer and the Heart

He wandered. He had wandered as long as he could remember, and he planned to wander the rest of his life. He was a Wanderer. He knew nothing else, and the idea of being chained down to one place the remainder of his life span repulsed him. He could barely understand how other people could do it so easily. Didn't they want to see everything? See the worlds?

Of course, wandering had gotten so much more expensive once the discovery of new worlds, but that made it just so much more exciting! Instead of just seeing new people, different ways of life, one could see all sorts of oddities never imagined in another world! It was splendid! Who could want to stay on their own world and never see the wonders of another? While many wanderers had to purchase their own Gummi Ship before they could set out, he had been given his own by an old friend. An old mentor.

His earliest memory was of a Wandering troupe, one might call them. They were wanderers, through and through, but simply wandering never made money, so they became a circus of some sorts, making money off of entertaining others. One of those Wanderers was an extraordinary character named Michael, although everyone called him Mickey. He wasn't a young boy - neither was he an old man - but he could light up the spirit around the campfire just by walking and sitting down in the circle. He was bright and cheery, but also wise and stern. He charmed almost everyone he met, and once they had found this small boy, Mickey instantly took to him, caring for the boy as if it were his own son.

One day, however, Mickey just disappearing, leaving his own personal ship to the boy he had found. They mourned the loss of their brightest member, but soon moved on, all except the boy. They forgot, but he couldn't. He soon left, disgusted at how easily they forgot their friend. But he wouldn't. He would travel on his own, living his mentor's dream.

He sighed and stretched, glancing at the screen again. He had been in the Sea of Stars for days without a sign of life. Well, that wasn't true. Two days ago he had met another Wanderer, but they didn't stop to chat. What was the point? They both had better things to do. But now, there was nothing, really. He groaned. It had been weeks since he had stopped at an unfamiliar world, and he was itching for something new. How long would he have to wait?

Just as the thought passed through his mind, the screen flashed at him, indicating that a world was in a few hours' journey. He jumping out of his seat, racing over to his desk, scrambling to find something. He gave a "A-ha!" and pulled out his map, unrolling it. While many Wanderers simply traveled for enjoyment and barely remembered many of the worlds they visited, he had fervently mapped out his travels, making notes of every place he had been and many of the people he had met. He checked his map, along with a map he had gotten from an old Wanderer awhile back. He often used this one for reference to things. He blinked, and frowned. The old man had never gone out this far... Had anyone? He glanced at the screen as the world become visible, and he frowned more. It didn't look like any place that had been described before. Had he discovered a new world? That would be simply magnificent! A new world that he could boast about once he met other Wanderers! Riku could hardly wait.

-o-O-o-

"Sora!" Kairi, one of his childhood friends, called, clutching her basket closer as she raced to catch up to him. He smiled, and paused to wait for her. Why not? It wasn't like he hated her or anything.

"Good afternoon, Kairi," he said politely, "How are your parents?"

"Oh, they're the same as usual," she shrugged, not very interested in that topic. She glanced at him, and blushed a little, smiling shyly. "Are you going to the temple? I would love to accompany you. I-If you would have me, I mean!"

The temple was one of the highlights of Twilight Town. The town had always been famous for its artisans, but also for the extreme faith of the people. It was a glorious place indeed, second only to the holy city! The temple was fairly crowded most of the time because of it, full of people come to offer up prayers to the god in hopes of a good harvest, or a long life for the Daughter. He went once a week at the instruction of his father, and all of his friends had quickly learned his schedule.

"You know I love your company," he said honestly, a small frown forming, "But I promised Olette I would go to the temple with her today. You know how my cousin is terrified of the angels." Kairi pursed her lips, as if deciding whether she was going to argue about it, before sighing and nodding.

"I understand," she said softly, "But you have to promise your next visit for me!" She leaned over, quickly placed a kiss on his cheek, before running off, nearly dropping her basket. His eyebrows shot up, and he turned to watch her run. That was certainly a surprise. While she had never been too secretive of her affection, she had never been so bold, either. He smiled slightly, and continued his light walk, pondering over what he would say to her. What could he say?

He turned at the right road, and smiled. This was always his favorite part of the walk to the temple. Since the god created the world and placed the chosen people upon it - at least according to the story the Seraphim Demyx shared when he was a child - he had ordered the construction of 13 beautiful temples in his honor, which his people willingly did. Not only were the buildings themselves beautiful, but for almost a mile in every direction was full of simply magnificent greenery. In Twilight Town, the temple was surrounded by a lush green forest that the children loved playing in.

He strolled down the stone path that had been set up, stopping every once in awhile to admire a particular plant or another. However, in what he guessed was the middle of his trek through the forest, he stopped, a familiar smell invading his nose. Familiar, but never for this spot. His eyes widened in alarm, and he glanced to the sky, looking for smoke. He could smell smoke, fire! He blinked, thinking he saw something through a thicket of trees, and rushed towards them. Maybe someone was hurt! Or worse, maybe someone was trying to destroy the beautiful scenery! He couldn't allow it! This was a symbol of their love for the god, and he wouldn't let it be destroyed so easily!

As he ran, coming closer to whatever he was seeing in the trees, he glanced around, wondering if anyone else had noticed. Wouldn't someone notice? He ran through the last few trees into a clearing - well, one that seemed to be made very recently - and stopped, agog at what he saw. It was... it was impossible! It was foreign. Nowhere else had anything like this.

In front of him seemed a large vehicle, larger than even the Daughter's carriage. It was shiny, reflecting off the sun in a painful manner, making him wince and shield his eyes. It was monstrous, and he was almost fearful of it. At least, until he stepped out of it.

He had seen silver hair before, sure, but always it had been a dulling silver, topping the crowns of old wise men. But this... this hair was flowing like a river, looking softer than the softest fabric. At first, he only noticed the newcomer's hair. Well, and why not? It was so strange, just like the monster he had arrived in! But he looked over the newcomer, trying to decide if he was friend or foe.

He was a boy, probably around Sora's own age. He was taller though, and possessed that strange hair. His eyes, though, weren't much better. He walked a few steps closer, peering into them. He couldn't decide if they were blue or green. They seemed to flicker somewhere in-between. He walked a bit closer still, as the boy was just staring at him, and touched his clothing, another foreign thing about him. The cloth felt so... indescribable. He frowned, feeling it over and over again, trying to identify it.

He jumped when the stranger started speaking in - who would've guessed it? - a foreign tongue. His voice was soft and velvety, and Sora just stared, much like an animal right before it was hunted. The stranger spoke again, slower this time. Sora tilted his head in confusion.

"I don't understand," Sora explained, stepping back and shaking his head. The stranger raised his eyebrows in surprise, before starting to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" the brunette said with an annoyed expression, before pointing at himself, "Sora. So. Ra." He paused, extending his hands out to the stranger to request identification of some sort. He seemed to be carrying no weapons, so he didn't see him as too much of a threat.

"My name's Riku," the stranger said, surprising Sora once again, although this time with his fluent speech. This only had the brunette gaping even more. This Riku only laughed more, and glanced around. "You mean you don't recognize me? You haven't seen a Wanderer before? At all?"

"Wander...er?" Sora frowned, "No... what is it? And what is that strange monster you brought with you? Is it injured? I can go ask the priest for assistance. I'm sure he knows a few prayers that can certainly heal your beast. Or was it eating you?" This seemed to be hilarious for Riku, as he doubled over with laughed. Sora waited with annoyance for his answer. Was he so funny? He was asking normal questions!

"Oh! Haha, don't worry about... him, I suppose. He'll be fine. It seems I have made it to a new wo-- Er, place," he said, before glancing at Sora, "Well, er... Sora, right? Would you mind explaining to me everything about this place? I'm new here, as you can obviously tell, and I'm very curious."

"Olette will kill me for missing it... but I'll explain what I know to you, Riku," he said politely, a smile slowly appearing on his face, "Well... Welcome to Twilight Town."

-x-X-x-

"Okay, okay, let me get this straight," Riku said, biting into the food Sora had offered him. He had really found a weird one this time. The world seemed completely empty of any sort of technology! At least for the common folk. He couldn't believe this Sora thought that his Gummi Ship was an animal! Really! That wasn't all - it also seemed that this world was extremely religious. Which was fine, although he was glad he saw Sora first, instead of someone who would brand him as a demon and try and kill him.

Sora... he really was a strange boy. He was his age - maybe a bit younger - but possessing a politeness he was unused to. But he was also happy and likable. He reminded Riku of his old mentor, Mickey. He had the most outrageous hair he had ever seen as well. It was a normal color - chestnut brown - but it spiked out in unbelievable ways. And they had no hair gel - he had asked, getting another odd look from the boy - so he could only guess it was natural. But, although he was a man, he had to admit, Sora did have beautiful blue eyes. They were inviting, almost seductively so, and just a color you could stare at for hours, which he was sure many of the girls around here tried.

"So you have a place called Kingdom Hearts, which appears once a month, lighting up the night sky. This is where the god lives, the one who created the world and almost everything. If you live in the way he has asked, once you will die, your soul will be sent to Kingdom Hearts, where you will dwell with the god forever more," Riku asked, pausing as if to ask that what he had said was correct. Sora nodded, and he continued.

"To know the god's wishes, he created the Daughter of the Heart - usually just called Daughter - who is a direct connection to him, and keeps peace and harmony throughout the world. She has thirteen Angels - called Seraphim - underneath her, which travel the world, assisting the people and acting as a symbol of hope to everyone. Beneath the Seraphim, there are also other, lesser angels...? And then you have temples where you worship the god, and every year there's a huge ceremony where the Daughter... does something...?"

"It changes," Sora explained calmly, "She usually chooses what she does."

"Wait, so has it always been the same Daughter?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully, "Since the beginning?"

"Oh no, of course not. The Seraphim are always changing as well. I'm not sure how the god chooses the Seraphim - I think he communicates with the Daughter - but the Daughter is chosen from any of the holy children."

"Holy children?"

"Yes. The child of a Seraphim, usually. They're mostly recognizable by their blonde hair. No one except the child of an angel has blonde hair," he explained quickly, frowning.

"And it is always a girl? There is no Son or anything, or a male Daughter?" Riku asked. Sora shook his head, and they both let it drop. There was nothing else to get out of that.

Riku sighed, and took another look around him. They hadn't explored the area like he had wanted. Instead, his 'tour guide' took him to a small spot in the forest where people could stop and rest, or eat if they so wanted. He wasn't really interested in it, but he didn't want to offend Sora, who seemed severely attached to the place. So he simply nodded and allowed the boy to take him where ever he wanted.

Only after about a half-hour after they had sat down - not long enough to satisfy Riku's never-ending questions - a voice started calling for Sora. He almost immediately jumped to his feet, groaning slightly, which made the Wanderer curious. Was this a lover, come to chastise him for a late meeting?

His curiosity was intensified when a girl raced into the clearing, her scowl becoming more pronounced when she saw Sora. He looked guilty, and glanced back at Riku, as if he would have the answers. "Olette.. I'm sorry, I mean, I-" he said, stumbling over the words.

"Oh, who cares about that?!" the girl said loudly, bouncing over to him, "So you were late! Cousin, I have something much better for you! It's simply wonderful!" She paused, as if waiting for gasps and demands as to what it was. When she didn't get away, her smile faded slightly, but she went on anyway. "Today, at the temple... the Seraphim Roxas is here! Come on, you have to come see him! And bring your friend along!"

A/N: Well, this was just an idea when I couldn't focus on anything else, really. I wrote this mostly for my best friend, after she lent me two books she had suggested long before, but I was "too cool" for science-fiction, although it's really not that. Even though I always complained about the characters, especially in the sequel, I did enjoy the books. My friend and I are completely in sync when it comes to music and books.

Anyway, I don't mean to be one of those begging people, but unless people really want me to continue this, I won't. It's not that I wrote this simply to get reviews, but I wrote this for myself and my friend, and I meant it to originally be just a "what-if" for her. I'm not going to say "I'll continue it if I get x-amount of reviews!" But, unless people show interest in it, I'm just going to let it stay where it is, and be a nice little beginning. I like it, but I could be doing other things instead of this, so why bother continuing this when I could be working on other things and nobody cares anyway? I know how it's going to end, and I could just write up a summary for my friend.

Well, that's about it. I wasn't originally going to have that explaination about some of the world's mechanics, but things would've been pretty confusing without it.

Because I am willing to settle with this if there's no interest, I also haven't decided upon any romantic couplings, if there are any, at all.