EDITED 6/28/2010
Author's Comments: Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, or its story lines (as noted by a *). I own Imani and Aden.
I step out on all-fours, slightly relieved I ended up far away from his stone castle. No way am I going to let myself drag the pride into this. Razor-sharp claws and fangs can only do so much to protect against Xemnas.
Slowly (and clumsily) I trod towards the small pond of water. As long as I can find food to eat, I should be able to stay here for a week or two. Hopefully that will be enough time to figure out how to stop him.
He stares out across the vast expanse of azure. "Running away, are we?"
I swallow the suddenly-salty water too quickly and end up coughing out my drink. He's figured out I've left already?
"Where could you be?"
Well, what are the odds he'll think to search here next? This has to be one of the most remote worlds we both know of. He thinks I'm rushing off to inform everyone I know.
"Perhaps your friends will know where you are."
Nothing I try to tell myself will make the stickiness sitting in my stomach or the slimy guilt weighing at the back of my head go away. I'm sure Riku and Sora and the rest will forgive me for this in the end, but...
If only you weren't a galaxy or two away, Aden.
"Xemnas is back?" Donald squawks.
"And he destroyed the clock tower in Twilight Town?" Goofy cries.
"And now Imani is missing?" the king finishes.
Sora nods to all three eagerly. "Right. She ran away right before our eyes without telling us where she was going."
"But why?" the queen asks. "Why would she run?"
"She wouldn't say." Sora shakes his head sadly.
Donald punches a fist into the air. "Then we have to go find her and make her tell us!"
"But it sounds like she doesn't want to be found," Goofy frowns, his fingers itching his scalp thoughtfully.
"We're her friends," Donald declares. "She owes us an explanation."
The three teens laugh. "We were hoping you'd say that."
Through his one visible eye and the curtain of slate hair hiding his other eye, he spots the back of a red head of hair, its owner leaning against one wall with his arms crossed. He comes to a halt beside him, studying the mountain of debris lying in the once empty courtyard. "What now?"
The redhead takes another minute to survey the mess, his sharp green eyes flitting from one jagged block to another. "We wait."
"Just wait?"
"You got any better ideas? It's not like we can go ask Imani for advice. She could be anywhere."
"Why not go out and find her?"
"How? The only light portal in the whole town that we know of is now buried beneath that." He waves a hand at the courtyard. "I doubt your heart came with a tolerance for doing dirty work."
"There must be another way to transport ourselves to different worlds," he sighs, ignoring the jab. "How else would Imani be able to disappear?"
"This is Imani we're talking about. She knows how to do everything."
"She certainly knows how to keep us in the dark."
Axel's retort dies on his tongue.
"What reasons does she have for essentially leaving us stranded here?" Zexion demands.
His eyebrows inch together. "If there's one thing I've learned about her, it's that she always acts with intention according to her knowledge."
Zexion repeats the sentence in his head, bringing a hand to his lips. "Meaning that if she intentionally left without a trace knowing we don't know of any other safe mean of transportation besides the portal that's now buried, she intends for us not to find her," he deduces in mild defeat.
Axel heaves a sigh. "So we wait."
She opens the front door and gives a silent gasp. Five companions wearing worried faces and cloaks of haste stand in her doorway. "What a surprise," she says uncertainly. "Is something wrong?"
"Has Imani come by at all?" Sora asks for them all.
She shakes her head. "No, she hasn't. Has something happened to her?"
Donald jumps forth and cries, "Xemnas has his heart and he's destroying everything and now Imani's missing and we don't know why!"
Her eyes widen with each bit of bad news, a dozen questions pushing against the back of her throat. The fidgeting companions standing before her make her purse her lips and swallow the questions down. "What do you need me to do?" she asks calmly, wiping her face clean of despair.
"We need you to help us warn everyone about Xemnas," Riku tells her.
"And to find Imani," Goofy adds.
She nods. "I'll go to Merlin's. Leon and Cloud should be at the bastion. I believe Lexaeus and Xaldin are there, too."
They offer her grateful smiles before turning to dash off. "Thanks, Aerith!"
"GYAAAAAAHHHH!"
I jerk awake just in time to find the world spinning chaotically before my eyes as I tumble and land on my back in the grass.
"Good work, Pumbaa!" a voice above me cheers triumphantly. "We've finally captured the rogue!"
"Don't you mean I captured the rogue?"
"Yeah, that too."
My temples throb and stars explode against my eyelids. With a groan I pry my eyes open to find a warthog and a meerkat towering over me. "Oi Simba!" the meerkat calls over his shoulder. "Look what we found!"
My heart sinks and I suddenly wish I had transformed into an ant or a bird when I came here—something no one pays much mind to.
Paws crunch against the grass and soon Simba's face appears behind the warthog. "Imani?" he exclaims in shock. "What are you doing here?"
I wave a paw sheepishly as my stomach churns under the warthog. "Um...Hello. Long time no see."
"Wait wait wait wait wait a minute!" The meerkat—Timon, my memory reminds me—leaps off the warthog—Pumbaa—and lands soundly on my chest. I vaguely wonder if he can feel my increasing heartbeat. "You two know each other?"
"She's Sora's friend," the lion explains, still puzzled.
At the mention of the name, Timon's indignation melts to numb wonder. "Sora? You mean the kid who fought off the Heartless?" He whips his tiny head to me with his jaw hanging wide open. "And you—you secret spot stealer, you—you're his friend?"
Simba waves away Pumbaa and swipes Timon off my chest with one paw. "Sorry about him, Imani. He's just surprised."
"Just because you're on good terms with Simba and Sora doesn't mean you're allowed to just pop out of nowhere and stalk around here without asking!"
"I-I'm sorry," I say as sincerely as I can, rolling over and sitting upright. "I'm really sorry. I just needed a place to stay."
"You could've stayed at Pride Rock with us," Simba says. "How long have you been here?"
Timon points an accusing finger, declaring, "She's been lying here mooching all the goods for a whole week!"
"Oh, give her a break, Timon." Pumbaa offers a smile to me. "She said she was sorry."
"Her first impression is totally turning me off!" he cries, throwing his hands into the air and pacing frantically. "If Sora were here, then maybe I might be more understanding. Where the heck is he, anyway? Why isn't he with you if your his friend?"
"We'll split up. Riku and the king will go find Leon and Cloud. Me, Donald, and Goofy will look for the two former organization members."
I flick my tail nervously. "He's somewhere else right now."
"Keep an eye out for Imani, too."
"I know you're upset and I'm really, really sorry, but could I—"
"Oh, so now you're asking for permission?" he scoffs, spinning on his heel to face away from me. "The answer is no."
"Just for a few more days! Please, Timon?"
His tiny shoulders go rigid and he slowly turns his tiny head to eye me warily. "How'd you know my name?"
Oh great. It's Riku and his bedroom all over again.
Timon wheels around, his nose hovering inches away from mine in a challenging manner. "I'm waiting."
I sigh. This could be the only way he'll let me stay. Taking a moment to rearrange the right words into a short, easier-to-understand explanation, I murmur, "I'm...I'm a memory recorder. My mind naturally records every memory revolving around those connected to Kingdom Hearts. That's how I know your names; you met Sora who was fighting for Kingdom Hearts, so I hold every memory of yours ever since you met him."
Slightly stunned at my explanation, he reaches up to tap his temple skeptically. "Right."
"You don't believe me."
"Of course I don't believe you! You've got a kooky imagination to think up some reason like that! Sora could've told you my name and Pumbaa's and whatever else happened! You don't need to exaggerate how highly you think of yourself!"
I almost let my shoulders sink when a particularly funny memory plays in my head. "Sora wasn't around when you fell off a really high tree limb while trying to catch a fat inchworm."
Timon lets his jaw drop. "How'd you—?"
"Hey, is that…?"
Sora peers closely at a figure with billowing silver hair standing on a turret of the bastion. The man's tanned skin provides stark contrast to his goldenrod hawk-like eyes.
A sudden gust of wind whooshes past and the fur on my back rises to stand on-end. B-bmp.
The king's eyes widen in recognition. "Xemnas…"
"What?" Riku turns to find the figure atop the castle and narrows his eyes. "It's really him. Imani was right."
My mind reels at the sight of Xemnas and my friends in the same world, but my heart refuses to keep up with my panic. B-bmp.
"What should we do?" Donald asks a little louder than his companions would've liked. "Should we fight him?"
Without glancing away from Xemnas, Sora slowly shakes his head. "No. Imani told us to stay away from him. I think we should trust her on this…"
B-bmp.
"At least, I think we need to wait until we know more about how dangerous he is before attacking."
"Which means we really have to find Imani," Riku concludes. "She knows how powerful—"
"Hey!" Tiny fingers snap before my eyes. "What's wrong with you? You're zoning out on us."
To my relief, I'm pulled from my memory stream like a swimmer breaking through the surface of the water for air. "Please let me stay here, Timon," I plead again as my heart finally races. "I won't eat more than you'll allow me and I'll let you get the first pick of bugs you want to eat and—"
"Imani, you can stay," Simba laughs. "Right, Timon?"
The meerkat heaves a long-suffering sigh, crossing his arms and glaring at the ground. "I guess. You kinda scare me, but otherwise you're not bad."
I breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you—"
"BUT!" He leaps back and points a finger at me. "Since you're a lion, you've gotta do something for me."
"Something like what?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.
"Ooh, what's this?" a smooth, almost oily voice purrs.
"Wah!" Pumbaa cries, scurrying behind Simba. "The hyenas are here!"
Crazed laughter scrapes my ear canals as I catch sight of three hyenas—Shenzi, Banzai, Ed—prowling forth coolly.
"You're back?" Timon groans once safe on Pumbaa's back. "Why won't you stay in your own territory?"
"Well why not?" the one called Shenzi asks. "It's a free country."
"You're not allowed to be here." Simba growls. "Everything the light touches belongs to me. As king, I order you to—"
"But we're thirsty," Banzai complains. "Plus, there's nothing good to eat in the Elephant Graveyard anymore."
"There's nothing to eat here, either," Timon shoots back. "You guys don't eat bugs or plants!"
"Oh ho ho no," Shenzi shakes her head, flicking her yellow eyes to me and licking her lips. "We were thinking of something with more meat."
Ed cackles madly and I nearly shiver.
"Hey kid." Timon lands on my back and leans towards my ear, whispering, "You wanna stay here? You're gonna have to fight for it."
Author's Afterthought: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!
