Kingdom Hearts: Before the After

Chapter 1: Training in the Past

In the midst of space, the Gummi Ship flies through with heroes, Sora, Donald, and Goofy aboard. Sora was piloting the ship while remembering the letter he was given from the King...

"Hey there, pals,

I'm afraid the celebration must be put aside, since the threat isn't over yet. Before Xemnas disappeared, his shattered Kingdom Hearts transformed and created a new universe, it is filled with worlds torn away from their proper universes and exposed to the unnatural threat of the Heartless. Xemnas may be gone, but his ambitions are still running wild. Sora, I need you to restore the worlds and prevent another world from being devoured by evil! Riku, you will seek out information of the new worlds and how they can be returned to their original universe. I'm counting on you all!"

King Mickey Mouse

"Sora? Sora? ...SORA!" Donald snapped Sora out of his trip to memory lane just in time, they were about to collide with the sun, Sora steers the ship away before he and his friends were turned into charcoal. Goofy asks, "Gwarsh Sora, you look like you haven't slept for a day, are you alright?" Sora replied, "I'm doing fine, I'm just recovering from a long night of yelling from my parents, they really thought I ran away for 2 years when all I ever did since then was defend world after world from the Heartless. I mean, GEEZ, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?" Goofy felt uneasy, so he stayed silent.

An hour later, Sora decided to break the silence "So Donald, where are we going?" Surprised at how quick Sora changed his attitude, Donald explained "The King gave us explicit orders to prepare you for the battle, so Goofy and I will be training you." Sora was confused. "Training? What training? I don't need to train, I already know how to fight." Donald answered "Right, you can fight, but that's just you. You need to fight like a real warrior, like a REAL Keyblade Master." Sora went from confused to irritated, "I'm already a Keyblade Master, I don't need to know any fancy tricks." Donald points his finger at Sora in disbelief, "FANCY? Sora, do you even know how a Keyblade Master fights?" Sora answers "With the Keyblade?" Donald stares in awe at his friend's stupidity and sits back down "You don't know, it's that obvious, I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner, YOU DON'T KNOW!" Then Goofy spoke out "Were here, everyone!" Sora looked through the glass to see a world in ruins. Confused, Sora asks Goofy, "What is this place, Goofy?" Goofy replied, "The Land of Departure, the place where Keyblade Wielders become Masters-" Donald interrupted and said, "You are gonna hate yourself when you see these guys." Irritated, Sora pilots the ship straight towards the Land of Departure, unaware that he is being followed.

The group prepares for landing, as the ship drops onto the ground, the trio began to leave the ship when suddenly, Sora tripped over something, "Ouch!" or someone. Kairi reveals herself, "Geez, Sora, watch were you step! Your Big-Fat-Shoes nearly crushed me!" Sora was startled at the appearance of his friend, "Kairi? What are you doing here?" Kairi responded, "I told you once didn't I? Your NOT doing this alone anymore, I'm going to help you from now on." Sora couldn't help but feel worried, and nervous, "Kairi, this is way too dangerous, you could get hurt, or worse, you might not make it back alive!" Kairi took Sora's hand "I've been training, Sora, you don't have to be alone anymore, besides, Riku's on a mission, and Donald & Goofy will be supervising us, we'll be fine, after all, we aren't any ordinary kids, were future Keyblade Masters!" Kairi cheers on and drags Sora out of the ship.

The two come out of the ship, but were surprised to see the Land of Departure as nothing but ruins, desolate, no life whatsoever. Sora asks Donald, "Donald, where are the Keybalde Masters?" Donald replied, "I swear, I didn't know what happened, I heard Keyblade Wielders still go to this place to become Masters, but I never imagined that the place was destroyed." Before anyone could reply, a strange old man appeared out of the dusty mist, "Well howdy folks, welcome to the Departure Ruins. The resting place of all Keyblade Wielders an' Masters." Confused, Sora walked up to the old man and asked, "What do you mean resting place? They can't be all-!" The old man replied, "Yep, dead as my 5th wife, he-yuk, he-yuk."

The old man continued, "These people were wiped out, or at least, that's what I've heard, by an impact of Darkness, not your average closet/midnight darkness, but something evil, it devoured the world an' everyone on it. It's tragic I know, but after the worlds returned, me an' my buds thought that the Land of Departure would be restored too, an' everyone that disappeared along with it, well, we were half right. As it turned out, the entire world itself was broken, and the people in it, (shrugs) I don't want to remember the grizzly sight."

Sora was shocked, his dream of becoming a master died along with everyone in the Departure Ruins. "Everyone, dead? What could have happened? The world, the hearts, the people, they should be restored when the Heartless World was destroyed! How could this happen?" Kairi tried to comfort him, "Sora, it's not your fault." The old man approached the two, "Well of coarse it wasn't his fault, the real ones to blame were the Unbirths!" Sora and Kairi looked at the old man and asked, "The Unbirths?" Donald and Goofy looked at each other and felt their spines tingle, "Oh no, Sora, we have to make it back to the King!" Sora asked Donald why, but Donald proceeded into pulling Goofy inside the ship, "No questions, JUST GET IN, NOW!" Sora and Kairi decided to go, but suddenly, the ground started to shake, something was coming...

End of Chapter 1