Ok, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my first chapter. Your opinions mean a lot to me, so please keep 'em coming! Thank you, that is all. Enjoy!
After checking to make sure that Seifer wasn't lying in wait for him, Zidane helped Kairi down from the roof. "So, where do we start looking?" Kairi asked.
"Well, let's start at the beginning," Zidane suggested. "Do you remember the last place you saw him?"
Kairi tried to think of anything special about the place where she and Sora got separated. The only thing she could recall was the Moogle who distracted her. "Um, well I remember that there was a Moogle there, but other than that, I don't remember anything."
"That's a good start. There's only one Moogle in town, and that's Elmina," said Zidane. He then took Kairi's hand and starting walking. "C'mon, let's pay him a visit, shall we?"
Again, Kairi was startled at the boy's forwardness and she could feel her face heat up. "O-Okay, but is it really necessary to hold my hand?"
"You don't wanna get lost again, do you?" he asked, looking back at her with a sweet smile. "Don't worry, you'll be fine as long as you stick with me."
Seeing as she didn't really have any other choice, Kairi just nodded and followed Zidane's lead. After a few minutes, they found Elmina absentmindedly trying to balance himself on a skateboard. Zidane motioned for Kairi to be quiet before he took to the rooftops once again. She had to wonder what that guy was up to. She then saw him scaling the roof just above Elmina. Without warning, he leapt off and landed right in front of the Moogle, making him fall off the skateboard with a yelp.
With a short laugh, Zidane held out a hand to help Elmina up. "How's it goin'?" he asked casually.
"Oh, just fine until you scared me out of my wits, kupo!" Elmina shot back. It was hard to take him seriously with that high-pitched voice of his.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Zidane said with a grin. "Anyway, a lady friend of mine is looking for someone." He then looked in Kairi's direction and called her over.
"Hey, you're that girl from earlier," said Elmina. "Weren't you with a spiky-haired boy, kupo?"
"Yes, actually, that's who I'm looking for," Kairi answered. "Did you see where he went?"
The Moogle just shook his head. "Sorry, I can't help you there. Try looking in the town square, kupo. You might have more luck."
"Hey, thanks," Zidane said as he turned to leave. Kairi was about to follow him when Elmina grabbed her leg.
"I'd be careful around that guy, kupo. He's the biggest flirt in town, and he's a troublemaker. Try not to get too involved with him, kupo," he warned her with as serious an expression as he could manage.
"Um, I'll keep that in mind," Kairi said. She decided against telling Elmina that she had already seen those sides of Zidane in the past half-hour. Even so, he still didn't seem like a bad person.
"Hey! Are you coming?" Zidane called from further down the street.
"Just a second!" Kairi called back. She turned back to the Moogle and smiled. "Thank you very much."
"Good luck!" Elmina said cheerfully as Kairi walked away to join Zidane.
…
Sora chased the thief down an alley, where he was finally able to corner him. He shot off a Fire spell at the thief's feet, causing him to stumble. "Gotcha! Now give back my wallet!" Sora shouted as he grabbed the thief's shirt, preventing him from escaping.
"Okay fine, you win!" the thief exclaimed as he handed the wallet back to the angry teen. "Not much in there, anyway…"
Sora released his grip on the thief and checked his wallet to make sure everything was there.
"You're pretty good, ya know that?" the thief told Sora as he adjusted the thick headband holding back his red hair. "Not a lot of people notice when I try to pickpocket them."
A little confused, Sora cocked an eyebrow. "Um, thanks… I guess?" Now that he had a better look, this guy was one of the stranger-looking people he had ever met. His skin was patchwork, and his eyes were hidden just under the headband to the point that Sora couldn't see them. He almost looked like a rag doll.
"So, you got a name? I'm Blank," the thief said holding out a hand to shake.
Sora looked at Blank's hand with suspicion. Was he trying to steal from him again? Then he shook the idea out of his head and held out his own hand. "I'm Sora."
Blank gave a small smile that was more like a smirk. "Nice to meetcha," he answered. He then looked behind Sora. "Say, wasn't there somebody with you?"
"Kairi, you mean? Yeah, she…" Sora stopped himself when he suddenly realized that his friend wasn't there. "Aw, man!" he exclaimed, whacking his forehead against the wall.
"Hey relax, the guys and I can help ya look for her," Blank said as he put a hand on Sora's shoulder.
"That'd be great, actually," Sora said as he rubbed his forehead. Inside, he was kicking himself for losing track of Kairi in the first place. He had brought her here to spend their vacation together, and already things were going wrong. He had secretly been planning to tell her his feelings about her, too… talk about lousy timing!
"Okay then, follow me," Blank said as he started to leave the ally.
Sora followed him down the street until they came to another alley, one that he recognized as Hayner's hangout. Hayner, Pence and Olette were chatting away until they saw Sora and Blank.
Hayner's eyes lit up. "Hey Sora, long time no see!" he greeted as he hopped off the box he was sitting on.
"How have you been?" Olette asked as she gave Sora a hug.
"Uh, h-hey Olette. I've been pretty good," Sora said nervously, his cheeks flushing from the unexpected contact. Olette sensed his nervousness and quickly backed off.
Pence walked over as well. "So how are things with you and Kairi?" he asked curiously.
"That's what we wanted to talk to you guys about," Blank interjected.
"Oh hey, Blank! I didn't see you for a sec," Hayner said as he punched Blank's arm. "We heard about the oglops. I wish I could've seen the look on Seifer's face!"
"Now now, that was Zidane's handiwork," Blank corrected. "Save your praises for him. Anyway, I believe you had something to tell them?"
"Uh, yeah," Sora nodded before turning back to the other three. "Kairi is somewhere in Twilight Town, and I need you guys to help me look for her."
Olette rolled her eyes. "Wow, you have a bad habit of losing her, huh?"
"Technically, it was my fault that he lost track of her," Blank admitted. "So are you guys gonna help him or not?"
"Of course we are," Hayner said with a nod. Pence and Olette nodded as well.
Sora smiled. "Thanks, guys."
"Hey, what're friends for, right?" Pence said with a grin.
Hayner immediately started giving orders on where to search for Kairi. After the group split up, Sora and Blank headed for train station.
"Hey, can I ask you a couple of questions?" Sora asked Blank.
"That depends. What are the questions?" Blank responded.
"Well, one: What's an oglop? And two: Who's Zidane?" he asked as he counted the questions off his fingers.
"One, an oglop is a big beige bug. I can't stand them," Blank answered with a shudder. "Two, Zidane's… a character, to say the least. You'll know him if you see him."
Sora decided to take Blank's word for it, and he continued to follow his new companion.
Kairi, please be okay... he silently prayed.
