An: Okay, according to the statistics gathered...I have to go work on Your Guardian Angel chapter 3. See you.
2
Smile like you mean it
[Music travels in a burst of energy (2).]
Save some face, you know you've only got one
Change your ways while you're young
Boy, one day you'll be a man
Oh girl, he'll help you understand
Smile like you mean it
[The notes begin to fade.]
The sun beamed over a small canyon but no matter how strong the sun's rays were, it did not stop a group of little dwarfs from travelling through it. Together, they were a total of seven dwarfs and all of them whistled a familiar tune as they walked in a single queue. Each one carried a large pink bulbous nose but their hats and clothing all varied in color. The handles of their pick axe's rested on their shoulders while one side of the metal from their axes reached up high above them. The dwarf that was trailing behind happened to be the only one without a beard. He would occasionally bump every now and then into the dwarf in front of him that happened to have a look of irritation marring his features. The dwarf that was in the front of the line carried his own spectacles over his pink nose and he led the others merrily into a the darkness of a mine. Not one of them, however, noticed a young girl wandering atop one of the rocky walls.
The brown strands of her hair stuck out from the messy bun she made to hold her hair up. They twisted in a fine curl to add a touch of elegance to her child-like face. She wore a white one-piece with crisscrossing gold straps on the sides of her torso and brown ankle boots. The brown belt she had tied around her waist carried a small amount of potions.
She stopped wandering around in search for Vanitas and instead looked down at the necklace that looped around her neck. When she touched the smooth surface of her star shaped pendant she tried tapping it to see if it would work again. To her dismay, it didn't but she couldn't figure out why she didn't see Vanitas.
"Where...am I?" she asked to no one in particular.
Luce only managed to take a step forward before catching sight of a blue squiggly line that dipped down in front of her to form a blue creature. It's head was triangular and had two jagged lightning bolt shaped lines to form its antennae that jerked whenever it made a twitching motion. The most distinguishable trait had to be the red eyes that eyed her with an angry expression but before she could make a move to approach the thing, it moved and ran down a slope of the rocky wall.
She stopped before taking another step forward and attempted to look around. Surely Vanitas was around here somewhere, maybe if she followed this creature she'd get a clue as to finding him. Now that her mind was set, she followed the creature swiftly to avoid any more wasted time.
A shadow of a large tree and devilish looking tree trunks connected with a shadowed hill as well as cottage emerge. Then, an apple covered in poisonous green goo takes form in the center as well as an acidic matching gas. With a series of cracks of ferocious lightning, the image begins to flicker and a precious sound erases and pushes the shadows aside. Now colors are restored to reveal lively flowers and a peaceful pathway to a sweet cottage house. The apple is no longer poisonous but a rich red as it repositions itself atop the fresh green leaves of the tree. As soon as it does, the apple disappears in a flash of light to reveal the following words...
Dwarf Woodlands
Ventus was surprised by the amount of blue creatures that seemed to throw themselves at him. He didn't quite understand why they suddenly started attacking him but they proved useful to use his skills against. As he finished the handful of blue mouse-like creatures he found one darting towards him. Quickly he drove the keyblade down on its head before spinning and stepping in to thrust the blade forward.
"Huh! Rah! Yeah!"
When the creature disappeared in a puff of smoke, he could now see a girl about his age stand before him. Before he could open his mouth to speak, her eyes went wide and she spun around to run. She didn't get very far for she collided against a rather large blue creature, this one was different than the one she initially followed. It's bottom looked heavier than the top part of it that seemed to have predominately blue tinged skin with conical arms and mitten hands. The head of the creature was spherical with similar antennae to the previous one only these antennae hooked upward. The midsection of this creature was dark with white lined symbols that sort of looked like teeth. The red eyes seemed in a more relaxed expression almost bordering on bliss.
When she collided with it, she hit the ground and managed to spot the belly of the creature still jiggle from the impact.
The creature looked down at her and she couldn't make out what to do. With a thick hand, it seemed moments away from landing a harsh impact across her jaw but it's eyes momentarily widened as it was sent floating in the air.
"Gather!"
Her ears picked up the sound of Ventus casting a spell and now saw that he raised his keyblade towards the creature.
"Bring it!"
She covered her head in fear of the body hitting her but cautiously peeked to see that the creature faded away.
"Thank..thank you," she said quietly.
"No problem," she heard him say. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder and saw him standing behind her. Then as she stood up she heard something clinking from behind, it was soft but distinct.
Instantly, the noise sent her spinning about as she wielded a ghostly white bow and quickly fit an arrow on her bow string. With quick precision she drew back the arrow until the bow groaned from the strain.
He watched her raise her right elbow slightly and spotted the concentration in her eyes. He could feel his breath catch in his throat as the intense look in her eyes watched, unblinking. The arrow ripped only inches past his cheek as it crashed into a red floating pot behind him, crushing it on impact.
Now that the danger passed, she eased her pull on the string and it condensed itself to fit inside the white arm guard of her left arm.
"Did you happen to see my friend? His name is Terra. He's dressed sort of like me but he's taller with brown hair and blue eyes."
For a moment, Luce tried to remember if she'd seen anyone but then shook her head.
"I'm...I'm sorry but I don't know where your friend is." she bowed in apology but didn't stand straight up.
He looked at her nervously, unable to react to her sudden gesture, until he decided to just introduce himself.
"It's okay, I'm Ventus but you can call me Ven."
She slowly peeked up at him and went back to standing up straight.
"Luce," she replied with a genuine smile. "I don't think my name could get any shorter than that."
In reaction he chuckled at her response and she felt her face heat up with embarrassment. Quickly, she put the palms of her hands against her cheeks in attempt to hide her red face.
"Oh no! Did I say something wrong?" she asked, flustered.
"No. Nothing like that," he assured her and she removed her hands. She was very strange but she seemed like she had something on her mind. "What's wrong?"
"Actually I'm looking for someone too," she told him. She felt her shyness peel away as she was about to describe him, raising her arm to show how tall he was. "He's about this tall, has honey colored eyes and..."
She trailed off, suddenly realizing that maybe she wasn't supposed to tell him anything about Vanitas. She hardly knew anything about him herself because she wasn't allowed.
"He's about this...this tall?" her smile faltered and Ventus tried to ponder her description.
"Well that narrows it down," he replied.
She felt her face heat up from embarrassment as she lowered her head in momentary defeat.
"Sorry. I'm not the very good at descriptions," she sighed.
He blinked at her before offering information he found himself.
"If you want you can go with me to the mine," he told her, pointing to a tunnel not that far from their current location. "I saw a couple of little men walk in there. Maybe they know where Terra or your friend is."
She glanced back to catch a glimpse of the mine and looked back to him. All rational thought left her mind as she found herself nodding excitedly to his invitation.
"Okay!"
Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pretty much any type of gem peeked out from the walls of the cave. The seven little men that arrived there had already begun to work a sweat by collecting them with their pick axes and placing them inside wooden boxes or small mine carts.
When Ventus and Luce arrived they could see how hard the little men were working since they didn't notice their arrival.
Luce softly laughed at the sight of one of the little men sticking out its pink tongue while struggling to pull his pick axe over his shoulder to mine only to waver and stumble back from the weight of the axe.
Her laughter caused one of the little men to glance back at them with confusion in his face.
"Huh? Who're you?" he asked, without shifting his spectacles.
"I'm Ventus, call me Ven and this is-" Ventus was cut off by a different dwarf who shouted.
"Diamond thieves! Take cover ya' fools!" an angry looking dwarf ordered.
They all dispersed in a panic, running around aimlessly for a safe hiding spot. One of the dwarfs crashed into a wall and fell unconscious.
"Oh no! Are you okay?" she went to the aide of the small dwarf that seemed momentarily unconscious.
Ventus seemed shocked of the outcome but he was more concerned than anything else.
"I'm sorry!" he apologized. When he gestured how sorry he was, he also smiled sheepishly. "We didn't mean to frighten you."
"You didn't?" asked a rotund dwarf.
Another one with tired eyes attempted to speak.
"You mean. You're not here for our diamonds?" he asked.
"Of course not. If we were wouldn't we tell you?" Luce questioned softly.
"See that! That's what diamond thieves say!" the one dressed in red accused.
Luce gasped.
"That's not nice," Ventus said. "Treating us like we're bad people. We're just trying to find our friends."
He gestured for them to listen to reasoning but the dwarfs didn't seem that convinced.
"My friend's name is Terra. He's dressed kind of like me," then he raised his hand to show them how tall Terra was. "He's about yay tall-"
He was cut off yet again by the same one dressed in red.
"Sounds like a tall tale to me. Go on! Git!" he demanded. In reaction, Ventus sighed and lowered his gaze.
"We don't know any Terra," said another one.
"Please!" he tried once more. "could you come over here? I just want to talk!"
"If we were real diamond thieves then we would've taken these diamonds already!" Luce added.
"Don't fall for it! Stay where you are!" yelled the grouchy one.
"Should we just go?" Luce asked him.
"I'm not leaving until I get an answer," Ventus replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and replied back to the dwarfs. "Alright. Then we'll do this the hard way."
The dwarves then took that sign to go hide deeper in the tunnels.
"If you want you can sit this one out," Ventus told her but she shook her head.
"It might be faster if both of us find them," she replied back. Her eyes widened, finding the dwarf that was unconscious before had now pulled himself to stand.
He shook his head and Luce knelt down to one knee to get to eye level with the dwarf to not frighten him off.
"Are you better now?" she asked and the Dwarf gave her a wide smile before nodding.
"Could you tell your friends that we're not here to steal your diamonds?" Ventus asked. In response the little guy only continued staring and smiling.
"Well...he's not going to speak. We should probably go find the others." Luce told him.
When they entered deeper into the cave, they saw a fork in the road so they decided to separate and uncover their hiding spots as quickly as possible.
Luce managed to find tons of wooden boxes piled up on top of each other but she was pretty sure the dwarfs couldn't possibly be that small. As she was about to walk past she spotted little feet shifting from underneath a box. Carefully she approached it but only seconds of reaching it, the box shifted once more, scurrying from her reach.
She dove to grab it only missing by a few inches to see that the dwarf escaped her grasp. Once again she found it and saw that the box was in a dead end. When she dove this time, she was able to put her hands to keep it from fleeing once more.
When she uncovered the box she saw a pudgy dwarf with a calm expression on its face.
"I'm sorry but I was hoping you could tell me if you've seen our friends," she said as sweetly as she could.
"You sure seem nice. I wish we could help ya," he answered and she was shocked to feel the impact of another box hitting her on the ankle.
"Hey!"
When she directed her attention to the box, it was already a great space from her. Luckily she was relieved to see that Ventus destroyed the box to reveal the angry red clothed Dwarf.
"I'm warnin' ya'-keep your paws off our diamonds! I'll be watchin'!" he declared.
When Luce kept looking she found a box that acted rather strangely. It would soar every now and then as if a sneeze was powerful enough to lift the wooden box off the ground. Eventually the box hit the ceiling and out tumbled a sickly dwarf.
"My hay fever! I gotta...I gotta...hold on...hold on...careful." the small dwarf squinted his eyes shut but Luce realized she wasn't going to get any answers from him and chose to find the remaining dwarfs.
It took them a while to round up all the dwarfs but the one that rode the wooden mine cart happened to be the most difficult to catch.
"Come on," Ventus urged once more. Now that they rounded all the dwarfs they were now together with the silent one that was closest to the entrance. "I'm telling you. We're not thieves!"
"Ha!" cried the grouchy one. "That's what they all say!"
"That's not very fair," Luce replied back.
"Being fair's got nothing to do with it!" he shouted back. "Well, we're onto ya'!"
"Fine. I get it," Ventus answered. "You want us to leave. We'll leave."
Luce was about to trail after but stopped to look back at the dwarves.
"Could you at least tell us where there's other people that we can ask?" she offered.
The one with the spectacles blinked at her before answering.
"There's a castle beyond the chorus-I mean the forest," he replied.
"Got it," Ventus smiled. "Well, thanks!"
With that they both set off to find the whereabouts of their companions.
After walking for a few minutes through the forest they came to find a small cottage just sitting there with beautiful butterflies fluttering about.
"Huh," Ventus replied.
"Maybe someone's home?" Luce asked. She hurried forward to knock on the small wooden door of the cottage. She spotted Ventus peering into one of the small windows.
"This must be where those little men live," he remarked.
Luce nearly jumped at the sound of a woman shrieking in the distance.
"Where'd that come from?" she asked.
Ventus searched for the sound to ultimately decide on another side of the forest that appeared darker than the one they just traveled through.
"There!" he said getting in a stance to go sprinting after it.
They soon found themselves inside the part of the forest where the sunlight didn't touch and as they continued down the path they found a weeping woman.
"Miss?" Luce asked but the woman kept weeping. When Ventus took a step forward he asked her what's wrong and she replied.
"These horrible trees- they tried to grab me," she sobbed.
Luce didn't really know how to react to her distress and tried to look around for the signs of those trees she talked about.
In response, Ventus extended a hand to the woman.
"Ah, it's okay. You were probably just seeing things," he then gestured with the same hand. "It happens to all of us when we're afraid."
She took his hand as he helped her up.
"Oh thank you. I feel quite better now," she smiled. "I'm sure I'll get along, somehow but I do need a place to sleep at night. Would you know anywhere I might?"
"Well, we saw a house just up ahead," he offered. "Come on! We'll take you there."
Before they went off to go back to the cottage, Ventus decided to introduce himself.
"Oh I'm Ventus. Ven for short," he said.
"And I'm Luce, it's nice to meet you." Luce told her.
The woman smiled at both of them.
"Thank you Ven, and Luce. My name's Snow White," she replied with a soft voice.
"Great! Let's get going!" Ventus declared.
When they tried to retrace their steps back to the house they found it strange that large leafless trees stood in their path.
"We're these trees here before?" Ventus asked. At the sight of the trees, Snow White quickly hid behind Luce as she spotted one of the tree branches twitch.
"I guess I could see how you were scared of them," Luce replied, taking a step closer to the tree. The trunk was old and had deep cracks in the middle that could resemble a horrific face. Luce inched towards it to touch only to be frightened by the mouth shifting in response.
"Ah!" Snow White's scream pierced Luce's ears as she felt a strong gust of wind and dead leaves hit her from the back. She turned just in time to see another tree alive with its branches attempting to grab the poor Snow White.
Instantly, Ventus jumped forward and traveled behind the tree to give it a couple of whacks with the keyblade to calm it down.
"Huh! Rah! Tah!"
After a while it turned back to its previous state, unmoving. For a moment Luce thought it wouldn't be too bad until she caught sight of a couple of those blue creatures once more. These blue creatures, however were much taller than the small mouse looking ones but shorter than the gluttonous blue creature from before. It's hands appeared to be white claws and its head was in the shape of a diamond with horns sticking out on either sides of it. The red eyes that gleamed from these creatures, however, happened to bear a more sorrowful expression.
Luce found herself taking out her bow and sending arrow after arrow at them. Unfortunately one managed to slip her accuracy and attempt to claw at Snow White.
"Help me!" Snow White pleaded. Luce quickly shifted herself in front, feeling the cold claws of the creature drag down the back of her right forearm.
Swiftly, Ventus lashed out at the creature with a quick motion of his Keyblade. When the coast seemed clear, they called Snow White over to approach the end of the path. Snow White didn't get very far, however, when she found herself in front of yet another possessed tree.
"I'm scared! Help me!" Snow White cried. Ventus immediately rushed to protect her from the strong gust and with one quick motion of pointing his keyblade high in the air, the tree reverted back to its normal state. Cautiously, Snow White continued to follow them whenever they cleared a section of the area and when they finally made it into the sunlight, Snow White seemed worried.
"Oh no!" Snow White gasped.
Luce arched her eyebrow in confusion as Snow White noticed the light gashes on her right arm.
"Oh,"
"This will make you feel better," Snow White told her, tying a white handkerchief around her injury. Luce felt a smile ease on her lips as she felt a strange feeling she never had before.
Is this what kindness is? she wondered to herself.
"Thank you!"
They were able to take Snow White safely back to the small house they came across earlier. The door had been unlocked and now Snow White was looking around at the peculiar home.
"I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here..." Ventus explained. "But sit tight while I look around."
"I'll check out the back," Luce offered.
When they left, the seven little dwarfs came home to an astonishing surprise.
"Someone's asleep in here!" gasped one of the dwarves.
Ventus was the first to arrive back at the house and didn't see that the little dwarves were home, surrounding Snow White.
"The coast is clear! Not a monster in sight-Huh!"
Luce opened the door only moments after to sigh. This was going to be hard to explain.
"Couldn't stay away, could ja?" asked the grouchy one. "An' who invited you in! You rotten thieves!"
"Oh no!" Snow White spoke up. "They're not thieves! They rescued me."
"You fussn't be mooled-uh, mustn't be fooled by them, princess," one of the dwarfs explained.
"Just go on! Git!" cried the grouchy one yet again.
"Please don't send them away," Snow White pleaded. "You see, they helped me when I was lost, and oh, so very frightened."
"What happened?" Ventus asked, approaching them.
"Well, I was picking flowers by the wood, and there was a stranger there." she explained. "He had a sword, but it was like a key-and then these monsters came and-"
"A sword like a key..." Ventus pondered aloud. Then he had a shocked expression on his face realizing what the clue meant. "Terra!"
"Ya mean this stranger saw ya' and set his horde of evil demons after ya'?" questioned the dwarf with spectacles.
"Terra would never do that!" Ventus' outburst to protect his friend has prompted them all to look back at him.
"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't. Not if he's someone who's your friend," Snow White assured.
"Princess! You trustn't be so musting-er, trusting," another dwarf replied.
"He's a-lyin'! Mark my words." the grouchy one replied.
"I'll prove it!" he yelled.
"Ven!" Luce called out but her words didn't stop him from leaving the house as she followed quickly after.
Luckily Ventus eventually stopped in his tracks so Luce could catch up. Carefully she approached him in hopes of comforting him but he spoke before she could say anything.
"I'm sorry, I guess I was just so mad...that I forgot to let you ask about your friend," he told her.
She smiled and shook her head.
"Nah, that's alright. At least we got a clue as to where your friend might be," she gestured him to follow her to the woods they rescued Snow White from. "Come on! No time to waste!"
He smiled back, quickly gaining on her speed before darting past her. She laughed and sped up to race him to the woods.
Once they stepped inside the dark shadows of the forest they were halted by the sight of a strange being.
A large angry tree stood blocking their way. It appeared to be split down the middle but it appeared very much alive with purple and blue fruit dangling from its branches as well as lively green leaves. The thickness of the large roots it carried happened to be the only reason it was still walking.
"Back off!" Ventus shouted, manifesting his keyblade weapon in his hand. He jumped high enough to use one of its enlarged roots to propel himself high enough to hit the cracked middle of its trunk. In reaction the tree violently shook the top of its head to throw him back.
Once he hit the ground, he heard large explosions and managed to see Luce entering arrows rapidly at its cracked core. The tree then angrily spun high in the air, releasing several explosions of its own to the ground. Ventus spun into the fray, able to dodge the areas of impact and approach close enough to strike the tree once more.
This time, the tree began stomping frantically as its leaves and trunk turned a dark shade. The red eyes brightened as well as the purple fruit it carried. When the color returned to its trunk and leaves, the tree rocketed itself in the air creating bright yellow circles that emerged on the ground.
Luce managed to dodge the majority of the impact when it hit the ground once more but she still stumbled forward from the force of the impact that did manage to catch her. Ventus was then hit with a purple fruit that made him feel a bit nauseous on impact.
"Freeze!" Ventus shouted as he jumped in the air. When he raised the keyblade it called forth blinding white orbs that flowed around him and as soon as he pointed to the tree, they all darted for it at his command. In a flash of light he now found himself on top of the tree, taking the keyblade and driving it down the hardened bark of its trunk. "It's over!"
The tree collapsed from the force of the strike and allowed a dark flame to finish consuming whatever was left of its body.
"Almost there," Luce said, trying to keep up the pace. They managed to make it out of the woods to see the sunlight hit them. When they did, Luce could see many flowers and hills in their sight.
"Terra!" Ventus yelled.
Luce looked around for any signs of his friend but couldn't really see anyone over the horizon either.
"Aw," Ventus sighed, sad that he didn't reach his friend in time.
"Huh?" Luce saw something dark peek over a hill and went to approach it.
Ventus was about to follow until something on the ground caught his eye. A shiny red apple rolled innocently in between his shoes and he placed his keyblade in his left hand to grab it.
"Miss!" the sound of Luce's voice caused Ventus to redirect his attention to see her approaching an old woman in a dark coat. In her papery ancient arms, she carried a woven basket piled with delicious apples.
"Eh?" The old woman stopped in her steps to look at Luce but Ventus decided to hand her the apple he just found.
"Excuse me Ma'am. You dropped this," he told her, handing over the red apple. The elderly woman grabbed it.
"Oh, why thank you. My pet," she thanked. "To tell the truth. I really don't know what I would have done without that."
After she turned back around she let out a creepy laugh but Luce didn't really think much of it.
"Haven't I seen that sword before?" she asked. Ventus knew she was talking about the keyblade he held. Of course the way Ventus held his keyblade suggested he preferred using backhanded strikes to inflict damage.
"Terra has one. You know Terra?" Ventus asked.
"Oh, yes, yes..." she agreed. "That ruffian pointed one of those at me. Asking about some "Xehanort"-My poor heart nearly stopped."
"Are you sure it was the same style?" Luce asked.
The old woman nodded.
"Of course. I am certain," her voice suggested she felt offended and when she turned around Luce was sure she got an irritated look at her.
"That doesn't sound like him at all..." Ventus said, looking at his Keyblade. "Ma'am, where did Terra go?"
"I'm sure I have no idea..." her eyes drifted to the keyblade in his hand and her eyes then widened at the sight. "Must you all menace a poor granny so?"
"What?" Ventus asked, astonished by her reaction. "No, I was just..."
He quickly placed his keyblade behind him to stop from frightening her anymore.
She continued walking off and Ventus lowered his gaze.
"Terra, what did you do?"
Ventus and Luce had found themselves in a large meadow that was fit for their departure since none of the creatures seemed to get in the way.
"It was nice meeting you," Ventus told her.
"You too," she smiled.
He smiled back before smashing his closed fist against the shoulder of his armor. He felt a bit awkward leaving her behind but she insisted that he'd go find his friend before he'd miss him again.
Now that he was covered from head to toe in his full armor, he hurled his keyblade into the air and watched it turn into his transportation.
When he got on he could feel it getting levitation and soar higher with each passing second.
"I hope you find your friend!" she yelled, cupping her hands. When he waved back at her, she grinned in response.
Just before he soared into the warping light he managed to catch a glimpse of a blinding white light.
..
.
Goodbye.
.
(2) Smile like you mean it by The Killers
AN: I couldn't think of what to put here…uh…have a great day? :D
Alright if you were hoping for some wisdom from me then here is my wisdom for the day: "You don't realize how good you've got it until it's gone. Toilet paper is a good example." - Unknown