Chapter 5

Notes: thank you for bearing with me for the last chapter. It was necessary to move the plot along, and now we can get back to more action based sequences. P.S. when I was writing this story I made it so that it could easily be transferred over to a video game format, so that may explain a few things regarding the style. (Alas, I don't own any characters in this chapter)

"So," contemplated the Queen, "the Princess has even more protectors now. But alas, the Heartless failed miserably in their last attempt to assassinate her. Perhaps some jobs are meant to be done personally. I will just have to deal with Snow White myself!"

She marched down the stairs to her dungeon laboratory. There she looked up a spell to disguise her so entirely that no one would ever guess who she was. When she found it she began to recite it and do each intricate step.

"Change my queenly raiment to a peddler's cloak. "Mummy Dust" to make me old. To shroud my clothes, the black of night. To age my voice, an old hag's cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind... to fan my hate! A thunderbolt... to mix it well. Now... begin thy magic spell. A perfect disguise!"

Her laugh, now a cackle, soared high in the night. She was the perfect assassin now. No one would recognise her and she had the most lethal magic at her disposal. But brute force simply was not her way. She preferred trickery and deceit, which went oh so well together. Poison was her weapon of choice, and poison she would do. An Applebomb Heartless appeared before her and grew null on the table before her. The black area that was its face hid, to make it seem like a real apple.

But that was not enough. The apple would simply explode on her first bite and that would be far too messy. She dipped it in a poison that would make the victim fall into such a deep sleep that she would appear dead.

Everything was set, except for those blubbering fools that kept getting in her way. "Heartless heed my call! Attack the dwarves and their companions. Ensure that once they leave the cottage they never return! Then Snow White shall be all mine!"

They all woke up bright and early the next day with the promise of waffles. Snow White had gotten up early and made them so they could have a hearty breakfast. And heartily they ate! Sora gulfed down several waffles to himself, white Donald was close behind. But the time for merriment came to an end as the cuckoo clock struck eight O'clock, and it was time for them to set off for work. Snow White personally saw each and every one of them off. She waved good bye to them as they walked into the distance of the rolling hills. Dopey jumped up and down with excitement at the thought that he would help Snow White out for the entire day.

The others were merrily marching down the hills. They didn't get to far though before they ran into the Heartless. This particular platoon was made up of Shadows, an easy match even for the inexperienced. The Dwarves all huddled in a circle with their backs together at the face of their enemy from yesterday. When the Heartless closed in enough to attack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all did. The Dwarves all noticed in astonishment the easiness at which they fell.

They all stood together and pounced on the closest one, and started beating it maliciously. The Heartless was dispatched quickly, but they continued to beat each other for a while till they noticed the absence of their enemy.

Overall it only took a couple of minutes to dispatch this group and they were able to move on.

"Don't the Heartless ever give up?" asked Doc.

"Not so long as there is a person to direct their rage," answered Sora.

"Stop your blabberin!" yelled Grumpy. "We won and that's that! Now lets move on!"

"Who put you in charge!" muttered Donald under his breath. But Grumpy's words did remind them that they had to move on. With only a few more Heartless encounters they were able to reach the mine relatively quickly. When they reached it Doc had a look of confusion on his face.

"Now hold up!" he commanded holding out his arms. "Look there." He pointed at the open door that held all their valuable jewels. "Now I'm positively sure that I saw Dopey lock it yesterday."

No sooner than he had declared that a Knight walked out, with a bag of jewels slung over its shoulder. It saw them and walked into the mine.

"Heartless!" they all gasped in unison, but Grumpy was the only one that took action.

"I'll teach yeah for robbin us, yeah filthy rat!' He yelled as he charged into the mine.

"Grumpy!" called Sora, who ran into the mine after him.

"Hey!" yelled Donald, "What's the big idea! Wait for me!" he to ran, but ran right into an invisible wall just at the cave entrance. They had seen the likes many times before.

"Gawrsh," moan Goofy, "guess we're locked out.

"I smell the Heartless!" accused Donald.

"Well now," mediated Doc, "we must watch our heads and keep up our guards. Sora and Grumpy will make it out alright, you'll see."

The Knight ran and jumped in one of the mine carts. Its momentum sent the cat sailing down the tracks. Grumpy flowed suit with another car. Sora just managed to catch the cart with the end of his Keyblade. He used some leverage to hop in, and by then they were speeding into the great unknown of the mine shaft.