Author's notes: Wow, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update. I've just been really busy with school and stuff. Well, at least I updated

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the Disney characters. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-Enix and Disney belongs to...well, Disney :P
But I do own Cassy.

Chapter 2: Explanations & Companions

Cassy stared at the messy-haired man. What was the guy talking about?

"Umm . . . What do you mean that the walls have been broken?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

The man sighed but the young woman looked cheerful. "I guess you have to explain it yet again, Squall!"

"It's Leon," he mumbled annoyingly but as a reply he got a cheerful slap on the back from the woman.

"Aw, it's been 10 years and yet you still hold on to that name," said the woman, grinning playfully.

"That's because it's still my name," he grumbled.

The woman pouted. "C'mon, we just got here and already you're moody!"

"And whose fault is that?" asked the man, rubbing his temples annoyingly.

Cassy, who was getting really confused watching those two bickering like old friends (which hurt because they reminded her of herself and Sakura), decided to jump in. "Who are you guys?" she asked, and, looking around, added: "And where am I?"

The two stopped talking and both looked at her. The woman tossed her shiny black hair behind her back, taking a stance in front of Cassy. "I'm the great ninja, Yuffie Kisaragi!"

Cassy felt kinda embarrassed to look at the woman because of her revealing clothes. She looked at the man, waiting for his introduction. He just stood there, arms folded on his chest and glared at the both of them. Cassy sweatdropped, turning to Yuffie for answers. Yuffie came behind him and began ruffling his hair.

"Squall's not much into introductions," she explained, winking at Cassy, only to be thrown away by the man who growled "It's Leon!". Yuffie just giggled, pretending to be afraid and hid behind a lightpost ("Eek, Squall's mad at me,").

Cassy continued to stare at them. What a weird duo!

"And this place is. . .?"

"Traverse Town!" Yuffie exclaimed cheerfully, jumping out of her so-called hiding place. If she expected some kind of understanding from the girl, she was wrong because Cassy had the same confused look on her face.

Leon took over. "It's a world for the ones who have lost their own worlds to the Heartless," he explained. "Those who manage to survive or flee from their world's destruction, end up here."

Those words hit Cassy like a punch in the stomach. Then had her world been destroyed? What about everyone else? What had happened to her parents or her friends? Wait a minute. . .

"Then maybe my friends ended up here too!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Did you guys see them? One of them has magenta-hair and crimson eyes and the other has brown hair and wears glasses. She's usually seen with a book glued to her face!"

Yuffie thought for a while, trying to remember if she had seen such a person. "Nope, sorry," she said. "We've been here before and we know this place like the back of hands!"

Cassy's depression rose up another notch upon hearing that her friends were still missing. "Oh. . ." she mumbled, her head hung down. Yuffie glanced at Leon before she went to Cassy and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry," she comforted her softly. "I think you'll find them soon."

Cassy just nodded, feeling guilty that she couldn't protect them.

"Hey, you haven't told us your name yet," said Yuffie, trying her best to cheer the girl up.

"It's Cassy," Cassy replied.

"Well then, Cassy, it seems that the Keyblade has chosen you as its next Wielder," said Leon, leaning against the wall, still with his arms folded.

Cassy looked up at the man, surprised. She felt that she was still holding the weird looking sword in her hand. "It's called a Keyblade?" she asked and when the man nodded, she thought sarcastically: Suits it.

"You have to be careful," Leon continued. "They will keep coming for you as long as you have it."

Cassy furrowed her brow. "They?" she asked, puzzled.

Leon's eyes narrowed. "The Heartless," he said and Cassy saw that Yuffie had also a serious look on her face.

Cassy tried to figure out who those 'Heartless' were, then she remembered the attack back home. "You mean those black blobs with the piercing, yellow eyes?"

They both nodded. "Since they are still here, it means that the doors to the worlds have been opened again." said Yuffie. "But I really thought that he had closed them 10 years ago..."

"The one who was chosen by the Keyblade before you," Leon explained, seeing that Cassy still wore the same, puzzled look. "I gotta say, that you look nothing like him," he mumbled, making Cassy unconsciously clench her fists. It sounded to her that he was disappointed.

"Well, sorry for being me," she muttered under her breath, so low that he couldn't hear her.

"But nevertheless, the Keyblade chose you now and we'll have to see if it made the right choice," he concluded with a smirk on his face.

Cassy looked down on the weapon, then threw it away. "You can have it. I don't want anything to do with it," she said annoyingly. "I just want to find my friends." But before she knew it, the Keyblade had appeared back in her hand. Cassy gasped.

"It's not a matter of choices here," said Leon. "You're the only one who can wield it because it chose you. The Keyblade has mystical powers. It's the only thing that can lock the door of the worlds, keeping them safe from the Heartless."

"So it's your job as the Keyblade Wielder to go to different worlds and lock them before they get destroyed by the Heartless!" said Yuffie cheerfully, ruffling Cassy's short red hair.

Cassy felt an immense burden fall on her shoulders. "D-Do I have to do it all alone?!" she piped up, nervously. "Won't you guys help?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Sorry, but we can't," she said and jumped when Cassy almost cried in despair ("Ehhhh?!"). "We can't, " Yuffie repeated, sweatdropping. "We have to stay here, in case some more we know show up," Cassy's knees almost buckled down upon hearing it. She would have to do it alone; that almost seemed worse than walking through the school hallway, wearing nothing but your underwear and Cassy would've been more than glad to do THAT instead of what she was going to embark into!

"Don't worry," said Leon, standing upright and began to walk away. "Like your predecessor, you'll get some help,". Yuffie began follow suit and beckoned Cassy to do so as well.

They walked through the streets in silence, all with their own reasons. Cassy was mostly trying to let all that information sink in. Okay, so maybe her friends weren't in this world but they could be in other ones. That lifted her spirit up a little.

This place looked so different from the lively houses and huge buildings of her home. Everything so dark-colored and old looking. She said those comments outloud to Yuffie, who giggled.

"Of course it is, silly," she said. "It would be boring if everything looked the same. Look-" she pointed at Cassy. "even your clothes are different since when you arrived here."

Cassy stopped, looking down. Her eyes widened; Her clothes had indeed changed. She no longer wore her favorite purple tank-top or her jeans. Instead, she was wearing a magenta-colored tank-top which was almost covered in zippers and had a black hood on but it just reached to the solar-plexus. Underneath it, she wore a black, slim and longer tank-top and the shoulder-straps hung down on her arms. As for pants, she was wearing a denim cut-off shorts and on her left thigh was a thick strap with a zipper on it. There were also some on her arms and wrists.

Cassy blushed. "Not exactly the types of clothes I'd normally wear..." she mumbled awkwardly.

Yuffie smiled broadly. "Don't be silly, it looks good on you," she complimented her. "In fact, that's almost like my old clothes."

They continued walking until they reached an old house in the 1st District. Leon opened the door and walked inside, so did Yuffie and Cassy. Her eyes widened at what she saw before her: Three teenage ducklings and a young dog were sitting in the lounge (who all currently had been in deep discussion but when the door opened, broke off and looked in that direction). The ducklings looked to be all related because they were wearing similar clothing. They might even be triplets, thought Cassy, unintentionally staring at the group.

"Who's that, Leon?" asked the duckling clad in red sharply, referring to Cassy. He had a big, red witch hat on his head and wore a red, zipper-shirt. On his wrists were wristbands with weird stones attached on it. In his hand was a wooden staff.

"That's the Keyblade Wielder," said Leon with a smirk.

"WHAT?!!" all of them cried out in disbelief. The ducklings immediately ran to her and began examining every thing of her, which made her feel quite annoyed.

"There's no way she's the Keyblade Wielder," mumbled the duckling in the blue clothes. His hair (feathers?) was messy and kinda ruffled and wore a blue, long-sleeve shirt with a beltpouch attached to it. He also carried a staff but a smaller one. "She doesn't look nothing like him,"

"Well, she does look a little like her," said the one in green clothes, grinning. He wore a green tank top and had a green baseball-cap, which he turned backwards, on his head. He carried a beltpouch as well and a staff. "But the eyes are different,"

"Guys, you're making her feel awkward," said the teenage dog with a sympathic tone. He was wearing a red and black hoodie but also had a navy-blue vest on. His jeans were baggy and a medium-sized shield lay beside him on the couch.

"Yeah, give her room to breathe!" said Yuffie, grabbing hold of Cassy's shoulders and pulling her away from the ducklings' examination.

"What, we were just checking her out," said duckling nr.3 with a careless shrug.

Cassy blushed, more out of annoyance than embarrassment. How dare they, examine her like a dissected frog!

"And who are you?" she asked, her voice slightly shook from anger.

The duckling in red glared at her. "I'm Huey and these-" he jerked his head at the other ducklings. "Are my brothers, Dewey and Louie," The others smiled,waving.

Cassy raised an eyebrow. So they are triplets, she thought grinning. She turned her head to the dog. "And you?" she demanded.

The dog smiled politely and introduced himself as Max Goof. Cassy nodded to him and then turned to Leon. "So, why did you bring here for?" she asked, even though deep down, she already knew.

Leon smirked. "Why, to show you your companions."

End of chapter 2. To be continued.

Author's notes:

Sorry that this chapter was kinda dull and boring but hey, she needed some explanations, right?
The next chapter will be more excited and funny as Cassy and her new companions get to know each other better :)