Heartless: Dark beings, taking on many forms, created when a person looses their heart. They are very nimble creatures, but mostly harmless when alone. If Heartless join together, they can cause massive destruction, most commonly under the guise of a storm cloud, and even destroy worlds. Though this rarely occurs, Heartless are easily controllable, and, under the wrong influence, their powers can amount up to unbelievable heights.
Cloud rushed passed countless palm trees, making his way towards the main island, with the help of his singular wing. Once he got close enough to the shore, he could see the purple clouds above him, swirling, causing the leaves of the trees to rustle uncontrollably. By the small dock, he saw three small boats, large enough to only carry one person at a time.
Why would anyone be coming to the beach during a storm like this?, he thought to himself. But he could not continue to ponder, for he suddenly felt as though a thousand tiny claws were scratching his legs. Looking down, he saw a dozen Heartless clawing at his feet.
Groaning, Cloud reached for his Buster Sword, behind his back. But when his hands reached the red cloth behind him did he realize what happened: He didn't have his blade. He gave a slight gasp. Did I bring it with me? Of course I did, but did someone steal it? Oh, why didn't I check!
Instead of attacking the horde of Heartless, he dodged them, rolling in the sand, and tried to make his way towards the tiny cave with the mysterious doors. Suddenly, he came across a large plateau, overlooking the now-raging sea, where two kids stood, arguing. He hid in some nearby bushes, and listened to what they were saying.
"Riku? Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!" one of the boys tentatively asked. Cloud recognized him as the brunette boy he saw with the girl and the silver haired boy.
"The door,"replied the other boy. "...has opened..."
Cloud raised an eyebrow. What did this boy know about the door?
The brown-haired boy also looked confused. "What?"
The boy, Riku, who had sounded so calm before, turned around suddenly, with a slightly crazed look in his eyes. "The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!"
Watching closely, Cloud realized the boy reminded him of someone. But who?
"What are you talking about?" the boy apparently called Sora retaliated. "We gotta find Kairi!"
"Kairi's coming with us,"responded Riku, mysteriously. The crazed look was now more apparent on his face. His voice seemed to be trembling, out of excitement.
Sora was trembling, too, but mostly out of fear. He started to take a step back. When realizing Sora wasn't going to respond, Riku continued, "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again." Riku turned to look above himself, where a glowing orb floated. His voice began to falter.
"There's no turning back...But this may be our only chance..."he said, regaining strength. "We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
Darkness...
The boy returned his gaze towards Sora; his face gave away the hint of a smile. Riku outstretched his hand towards his friend. That was when Cloud remembered: The maniacal gleam, the calm features, no fear of darkness, the ominous outstretched hand... This boy was almost exactly like Sephiroth. He was turning towards the power of darkness.
But if he's darkness, then who is light? The other boy?
Cloud did not have to wait long for his answer. Black pools of darkness began forming around their feet. While Riku remained calm, his hand still there, inviting Sora, the other boy began to struggle, as black tentacles began forming around his legs, sucking him in.
Cloud suddenly jumped out of his hiding place, and ran towards the darkness that was sucking in Sora. He grabbed the boy's shaking hand, and began to pull him out, but to no avail; the darkness began drowning them both.
He continuously struggled, keeping a tight grip on the boy's hand.
I can't die like this! I still have to find Sephiroth! I have to undo the mistakes I made! I can't leave just yet!
Suddenly, he felt the handle of a weapon clenched in his free hand. He swung it around, and suddenly, a bright light enveloped both of the boys. They soon found themselves standing in the same area where the darkness had appeared. Cloud let go of Sora's hand and began to examine his new weapon. It took the appearance of a tumbler lock key, with bandages around the blade by the handle. Where his fingers were clenched was a small pipe-like red metal, with a large metal square protecting the hand. At the end of the square was a small key chain, in the shape of a wolf's head. Behind it, in small, but legible handwriting, was written the words "Fenrir".
Was this weapon's name "Fenrir"? What kind of weapon is this?
A small gust of wind blew, and he heard it: The nameless voice. It repeated the same word, over and over again, until it finally disappeared. The words rang in Cloud's ears.
Keyblade...
Keyblade...
Keyblade...
Suddenly, Cloud felt something tap his elbow. He swung around, holding the weapon inches away from Sora's nose. Sora took a couple of steps back, as Cloud lowered the weapon. He noticed that the boy was also carrying a weapon similar to his own.
"I'm sorry if I freaked you out, but I just wanted to thank you for saving me. By the way, who exactly are you, anyway?"Sora asked politely.
Cloud did not answer his question, and instead replied, "You better be getting home. This isn't safe."
Sora shook his head. "I can't I gotta find Kairi. She's probably at the Secret Place. Can you help me find her?"
Cloud sighed, then nodded. "Okay, I'll help."
The young boy smiled. "Great, let's go! Follow me!" But, before they could even get out of the plateau, Heartless surrounded the small duo. Cloud was the first to swing his weapon, killing at least a dozen Heartless in the process. Sora swiped at a Shadow tentatively, but soon got a hang at it, and was able to fend off most of them.
Finally, they reached the cave, but there was a slight bump in the road: The opening was guarded by a large door, similar to the door Cloud saw in his dream. Sora went up to the handle, and tried to pull it, but the door didn't move. Cloud raised his weapon, but before he struck the door down, it opened on it's own.
"Huh. That saved us time," he muttered under his breath. The two of them continued onward, until they came across the opening. A young girl was standing in front of them, turned around.
"Kairi!"Sora exclaimed.
She turned around slowly. Her skin seemed drained of color, and there were dark lines underneath her eyes.
"Sora...,"she managed to groan. Her voice seemed void of life. Suddenly, her sickly eyes widened in fear.
The wooden door behind her burst open, and all of hell broke loose. A large gust of wind pushed towards them; Cloud managed to protect them both, using his keyblade. When he lifted his weapon, Kairi was falling down, into the open arms of Sora. It had seemed as f she was going to be fine... that is, until she disappeared.
"What!"he gasped. Before they could assess the situation, they were blown out of the room. Cloud struck the ground with Fenrir, and managed to get up, and tried to get a good look at his surroundings, until he realized: What surroundings?
He had been too late: The entire world of Destiny Islands had been destroyed, all but this one small speck of land he and Sora were on. Above himself, was a giant vortex-like orb, sucking in the remains of the world. Debris flew around it, like food around a toddler's mouth. Suddenly, out from the vortex, came a giant Heartless.
Sora suddenly appeared by his side, keyblade at hand. "That's the same monster from my dream!" he yelled. Cloud nodded. "A Darkside heartless."
They began to fight, attacking the monster's legs first, then the hand. But before they could smite the monster down, a ominous wind began to pick up, and the vortex took the monster back inside it's mysterious grip, and soon, the rest of the island with it.
Clutching onto a nearby tree, Cloud and Sora exchanged a look, and before either of them could scream, they were sucked in, and darkness took over.