All of the characters in this story are owned by Square Enix, Disney, or Nickelodeon unless otherwise stated. Also, some of the dialogue in the first few chapters is taken from Birth by Sleep so it may seem familiar.

Lost Before Birth Chapter 1: The Mysterious Stranger

The Land of Departure

One starry night, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua were in the clearing in front of their home. Terra and Aqua were training for their Mark of Mastery Exams tomorrow, and Ventus was cheering them on.

"Huh! Ha!" Terra grunted as he swung his Keyblade at his friend, Aqua. He wasn't actually hitting her, just practicing his combos. Aqua was practicing her magic, because that's what she was best at. She only aimed the Blizzard and Aero attacks at him; the others were too dangerous and might hurt Terra.

Ven noticed this and smiled. He knew that Aqua liked Terra- it was their little secret. Sometimes Ven dropped obvious hints in the conversation when they were all together until Aqua zapped him with lightning or something, which made his hair perpetually defy gravity. He had tried asking Terra if he liked her back. Unfortunately, he was the type who kept to himself, so instead he would say something like "Shouldn't you be training?" or "Why, do you like her?" Ventus eventually gave up trying to figure out Terra's emotions.

Ventus got bored watching the two friends fight, so he turned his attention up to the night sky. He could never get tired of staring at the stars. Once Terra had told him that each star was a different world. Ven couldn't imagine so many worlds existing at the same time, so instead he tried to guess which one was his home world. He had been in a deep sleep when he first arrived at The Land of Departure. When he awoke, Aqua had told him that a man named Master Xehanort had found and brought him here so that he could train under Master Eraqus. He couldn't remember any part of his life before that, but he kept having dreams about an island and a similar starry sky…

Just then, a star zoomed across the sky. More stars followed, and Ventus's face lit up. "A meteor shower! C'mon, we've gotta get a better view!" he called to his friends.

"Not now, Ven," Terra said, grunting as he blocked Aqua's Keyblade.

"Go ahead without us," Aqua added, getting ready to blast her friend with another Blizzard attack.

"Okay," Ven said, rushing to the Summit. He didn't get why his friends weren't as interested in astronomy as he was, but he knew they had to train. He did too, so that he could take the Mark of Mastery Exam in a few years.

He reached the cliff and sat down on a rock. The meteor shower was the best one Ventus had ever seen so far. He couldn't stop staring at the tiny but brilliant sparks in the sky.

"This world is impure."

Ventus spun around, eyeing the field until he spotted a hooded figure wearing a black coat standing by the path that led to the clearing. By looking at the person's stature, he immediately figured that he wasn't Terra, Aqua, or any of their Masters. "Who are you?" Ventus demanded.

"The people in this world need to be cleansed of their impurities," the strange man said, ignoring Ven's question.

"What are you talking about? Quit playing mind games with me!" Ventus said.

"You have spirit, yet you know so little," the stranger remarked.

"I'll show you how much I know," Ventus said, summoning his Keyblade.

"Rest, boy. This will all be over soon." The man pointed his hand at Ventus.

Ven was overtaken by a powerful need to sleep. "Wha-?" he managed to say, before dropping to the ground. The mysterious man was walking away just as Ventus closed his eyes.

~ o ~

"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead!" Aqua said, standing over him. "You know, you should've at least brought a blanket."

"Huh?" Then he shot up, remembering. "That man! Where'd he go?!" Ven said, looking around. He couldn't have been sleeping that long, so maybe he was still-

"What man?" Terra said, looking serious.

"This guy in a black coat! He said something about 'cleansing people from impurities'. He was standing right there!" Ven pointed.

Aqua looked concerned. "We just came that way and we didn't see anybody."

"Maybe it was a dream," Terra said.

"It wasn't a dream! I know he was here! He was from another world!" Ventus insisted.

"Why don't we go back home? It's late. We can talk about this after the Exam tomorrow," Aqua suggested, heading up the slope to their castle-like house. Ventus hung his head, knowing that no one believed him. Terra saw that he was disappointed and playfully slapped him on the back.

"So, how was the meteor shower?" he asked his blonde friend.

"It was okay," Ven replied.

"I bet it was more than 'okay'. Wish I'd seen it."

"And miss quality alone time with Aqua?" Ven teased.

"Hey! We were just training! But, Ven…" started Terra.

He was interrupted by Aqua, who was already halfway across the clearing. "Hurry up, you guys! Master Eraqus is about to lock the doors!"

Ven started running. "C'mon, Terra!" he called.

Terra smiled and ran, easily passing Ventus. "Catch me if you can!"

Terra would just have to tell him what was on his mind some other time.

A/N: I just want to let you guys know that this story will not be updated for a few weeks because of exams, so let's all take a moment to thank exams for being a waste of time. Thanks to those who left reviews on the last story! I'd really appreciate some on this one ^.^

See you guys soon! :P

~IJustDrownedUrGoldfish