For those who are curious, I Deym is pronounced 'day' with a sort of murmured 'm' at the end. I couldn't bring myself to use Myde, even though I know it's quite common. It just rubs me the wrong way.

I apologize for any glaring errors. I proof-read the best I could, but you can only do so much with your own eyes, you know? As always, offers to beta are welcome...

"I still don't see why I have to come with you," grumbled Ienzo as he tried yet again to find a comfortable position for his le

"I still don't see why I have to come with you," grumbled Ienzo as he tried yet again to find a comfortable position for his legs. Gummi ships might be the most advanced method of travel in any world, but they were certainly not designed for passenger comfort. Sora, damn him, being considerably shorter, seemed to have no problems with the tight space, and just shot his companion a sardonic grin.

"For your scientific research, of course. You might be useful, maybe see something that I can't since this isn't just about killing Heartless."

"I suppose."

Sora went back to ignoring him and focused instead on the controls, carefully steering the ship away from a rather ominous looking vortex. The Heartless might no longer be present in the inter-world passages, but navigating them still required all his concentration. Traveling between worlds was perilous at the best of times. He let out a tiny sigh of relief as he spotted the end of the passage, then sucked his breath in sharply as the world loomed large in the screen. Ienzo was starting at it as well, his eyes wide.

"Where do we even land?"

Sora shook his head. It was clear that this world was in desperate straits even from the atmosphere. When you looked down at Radiant Garden from above, it was a beautiful sight, shimmering with vibrant blues and greens overlaid with white swirls of cloud. This one was gray – gray land, gray seas, no color anywhere. A dead world.

They stared at it in silence, their expressions a mixture of dismay and curiosity, when Ienzo suddenly reached across Sora and tapped a dial that was flashing urgently.

"Look. Quite a bit of Darkness on this world."

Sora nodded absently and brought the ship a little closer to the planet. He had visual confirmation of what looked like cities, although they weren't giving off any energy readings. Better to steer clear of those until they knew more about what the situation was.

"That looks like some kind of canyon over there toward the southwest. I say we set down there and see what's what."

Ienzo shrugged, which was as close to an agreement as Sora was likely to get. He rolled his eyes slightly and began the landing cycle.

Things happened very quickly. One second they were descending smoothly through the atmosphere, the next the gummi ship was shaking violently and the readings were going haywire. Sora reached frantically for the controls, but it was impossible to stabilize the craft. They were spinning faster and faster, and the planet's surface grew closer and closer at an alarming rate.

"We're going to crash!" he yelled at Ienzo, and braced for impact.

When he opened his eyes, everything hurt. He tried to uncurl from his protective crouch and hissed as pain slammed through him, so intense it was difficult to breathe. It didn't feel like any arms or legs were broken, but he'd surely cracked some ribs. No lungs punctured, though. He'd survive.

He held himself still for a few more minutes, then slowly, slowly rolled onto his side, then up onto his knees, gritting his teeth against the pain. He crawled out of what was left of the ship, then turned back to take in the damage. The engine was sending thick tendrils of black smoke into the sky, and what he could see of the instrument panel was broken. Sora felt a cold shiver of fear run through him. He didn't think he'd be able to repair it any time soon, and that depended on if he could get the necessary materials. He was stranded.

He looked around and realized that he was alone. Ienzo was gone. Sora stumbled around the crash site looking for a body, for footprints, for anything.

"Ienzo?" he called out, his voice hoarse. No answer.

Sora looked at the bleak, desolate landscape and laughed humorlessly. He'd seen worlds overrun by Heartless, worlds besieged by Darkness, but nothing like this. This world was grey and lifeless as far as the eye could see, without anything green or living to provide some relief. It was as if everything had been simultaneously destroyed at the roots, leaving everything dead with no chance of ever growing back.

"Well," he said absently, speaking to no one, "this is just great."

Unlike Sora, Ienzo hadn't lost consciousness in the crash. He had, however, been extremely disoriented and frightened, and after the impact he'd stumbled away from the craft as fast as possible, his instinct for self-preservation overriding any thoughts to help Sora. He'd stumbled along some kind of road for a long time before finally collapsing, overcome by shock and exhaustion.

When he came to he was being jolted around terribly in some kind of wagon. He could feel the vibration of a motor deep in his bones, and whatever surface they were traveling on was none too smooth. It made him all too aware of how much his body ached, and he couldn't stop a loud groan from escaping his mouth.

Almost immediately he sensed someone fluttering at his side, cool hands reaching out to brush the hair away from his forehead. He felt a sudden spike of alarm. Was he a prisoner? Would he be harmed? This world looked dead, had the population resorted to cannibalism? But no, surely if whoever had found him had any ill intentions, they would have bound and gagged him. Or never given him the chance to come to.

"Lexaeus! He's awake!"

The vehicle lurched to a stop and Ienzo opened his eyes slowly. He was in the back part of some kind of covered vehicle. It was difficult to see in the dim light that filtered through the canvas flaps, but hovering over him was a young man with dirty blonde hair, who grinned cheerfully at Ienzo and said brightly,

"Lucky for you that we found you before one of the gangs did, or who knows what would've happened? They'd probably kill you and then strip the corpse for clothes like that."

Ienzo blinked. His traveling clothes weren't much, just plain black pants and shirt, sturdy boots, and a jacket filled with chocobo down. He looked closely at his new companion and saw that his clothing was worn and heavily patches, and hung loosely off his thin frame. It probably wouldn't do much to keep him warm in cold weather. To a desperate person, his warm jacket and boots would worth a lot, he realized. Worth enough to kill for.

"Deym, he's been through enough quite enough even without having the gangs to worry about."

The driver had crawled into the back and was regarding Ienzo solemnly. He was large and well-built, but his eyes were full of intelligence and his manner was gracious and polite. He passed Ienzo a canteen of water that he gulped gratefully, gasping a bit at the acrid aftertaste. The giant – Lexaeus – shrugged ruefully.

"Sorry about that. We have to use chemical tablets to purify our water. Everything was contaminated by the Blast."

"The… Blast? Is that what happened here?"

Lexaeus nodded, then said smoothly, "I take it that your own world has had no such hardships?"

Ienzo opened his mouth, then shut it. "You know about other worlds?"

"Of course. Marluxia was very interested in other worlds and the possibility of… expansion. Hence, the formation of the O.W.I. Committee. Of course, nothing came of that other than disaster." A shadow fell over Lexaeus's features, and even Deym looked uncomfortable. Ienzo felt a sudden sense of kinship with them. He understood the unintended consequences of certain paths of research all too well.

"My world has had its share of catastrophe, although it wasn't quite like this."

"Ah." Lexaeus nodded. "Plenty of time to discuss that later. For now, we have to get back to Ydris before nightfall."

Ienzo shook his head, wincing at the movement. "No. No, I have to go back to the ship and find Sora."

"Sora?" Deym's eyebrows shot up and he looked at Ienzo worriedly. "You were alone when we found you, and that was quite a ways back. No way can we go back now. It's too close to dark, and trust us, you do not want to be out on the roads after night falls."

"But Sora's important, he's –" Ienzo tried to sit up and fell back with a groan, his head throbbing fiercely. Deym put a hand on his shoulder and patted him awkwardly, as though trying to reassure him.

"Really sorry, um…"

"Ienzo," he snapped.

"Right. Really sorry, Ienzo, but you're pretty beat up and we should really get you back to Ydris. We have a secure place there and quite honestly, I don't think there's much we can do for your friend at this point. He's on his own."

Ienzo closed his eyes. If these people thought they needed to reach some kind of safe place as soon as possible, he should probably listen to them. Moreover, Sora was the Keyblade Master, not some helpless child. His chances of survival were no doubt significantly higher than Ienzo's. He had to admit that he wished Sora was with him, if only for his own security.

"How do I even know I can trust you?" he muttered. Lexaeus shrugged.

"You don't," he said matter-of-factly. "But we haven't killed you yet, which is more than a significant percentage of the survivors can claim."

He climbed back to the front and the engine came to life with a low rumble. Ienzo closed his eyes and waited for them to get wherever they were going, saving his strength for whatever came next.

Sora wasn't sure how long he'd been walking, only that by now he was tired, thirsty, and the western sky had turned a smokier shade of gray. The landscape he was walking through was like nothing he'd ever seen before. The cities back home had a natural, organic feeling in spite of the Garden's technological advancements. The buildings were all made of brick and stone, carefully preserved to maintain a sense of historicity and beauty, and the cobbled streets were lined with trees and flowers to keep a balance with nature. This world had been enslaved to the ugly side of technology, and was characterized by humanity's attempt to subjugate the natural world. The roads were made out of some kind of harsh, synthetic material, cutting across the country in aggressive lines. The buildings he'd seen made no attempt to harmonize with their surroundings, but were instead squat, ugly blocks. Sora thought somewhat dispassionately that this world couldn't have been much to look at even before whatever disaster had struck. He hated it. There were so many threats that could destroy worlds from the outside, why set out to destroy it from within?

He was worried about being out after dark. He had a reasonable amount of faith in his ability to defend himself, but also knew better than to tempt fate unnecessarily. This was an unfamiliar world, and he was a stranger. He didn't like to think about what could happen to a lone traveler in a place that had clearly fallen apart at the edges, especially one who didn't know the rules. He had the Keyblade, yes, but he had no real idea of how it would fare against the weapons of this world, and he'd just as soon not have to find out.

Luck appeared to be with him, though. Off in the distance he could see the dark outlines of buildings marking what looked like the remains of a medium-sized city. He figured that he could reach it by nightfall and find a place where he could lie low until he figured out what to do. He began to walk faster, a small tendril of hope unfurling in his chest.

He arrived just as the last traces of gray daylight were beginning to fade. The streets looked empty, but Sora was carefully to move silently, keeping a wary eye on the dark windows. He finally came to a stop in front of what might have once been a café. A few pieces of what looked like wrought iron table legs were scattered on the pavement in front, and inside he could see some kind of marble counter. He stepped behind it and began to systematically go through the drawers and cupboards, almost crying in relief when he found an opened can of… something. Some kind of fruit, maybe?

The feeling of cold metal pressing into the base of his skull took him by surprise.

"Don't fucking move or I'll blow your brains out."

Sora could have killed himself in that instant. Stupid, stupid, stupid to have not scouted out the place right when he walked in. It was the kind of mistake a novice would make, not a Keyblade Master who had spent years traveling from world to world battling Heartless. Somewhere, in the depths of his mind, he thought he could hear the laughter of the performer who had given him his coin. Even the greatest among us can make a fatal misstep…

His brains had not yet been blown out, however, which could be a good sign. Maybe the person holding him up was just a kid who had no real idea how to wield a weapon and was just trying to be intimidating, or maybe this was a person who would only kill when necessary. He forced his muscles to relax and strove to keep his voice calm.

"I'm not looking for a fight. I just want to keep going on my way."

The pressure on his head vanished, but before Sora had a chance to move he was being whipped around to come face to face with a scrawny redhead whose face was dominated by the most shockingly green eyes Sora had ever seen. The stranger was looking at Sora with an expression of disbelief.

"Where the hell are you from? You don't look like you're freezing or starving like everyone else on this rock."

His eyes hardened and he lifted his weapon so that it was aiming straight for Sora's forehead. He clearly knew how to use it.

"Maybe you're one of Marluxia's pets come out to gather subjects for whatever experiments the government's up to now? We always figured that the higher-ups would've survived the apocalypse, and so now you're out to destroy what's left?"

They Keyblade sprang into Sora's hand without him even needing to summon it, the weapon responding instinctively to a threat against its master. The redhead's eyes widened and he stepped back, his grip on his weapon wavering.

"…The fuck is that?"

"It doesn't matter," said a new voice from behind Sora, cold and angry, "because if he doesn't lower it now he's getting shot."

Sora whirled around and saw a second person, probably a few years younger than the redhead and closer to his own age, with messy blonde hair and bright, bright blue eyes. In a different world he'd probably look boyishly handsome. As it was, there was a hard look to him, as in someone who'd known too much hunger and desperation and didn't trust the world to give a damn about his own well-being.

Sora groaned inwardly. He really didn't want to fight these two. They hadn't killed him on sight, which made him think that weren't natural killers even though they clearly knew how to use a weapon. He could probably talk his way out of this. It was the indignity of it all that was killing him.

He banished the Keyblade, took note of the brief flickers of astonishment that crossed their faces when it faded from sight, and forced himself to stand up straight and look like he was in control.

"My name's Sora. I don't want to hurt you. Let's just walk away from this, all right?"

Silence. Then the redhead slowly lowered his weapon and nodded jerkily. "All right." His eyes flickered to his companion. "Roxas?"

"All right," agreed the blonde grudgingly, "as long as he doesn't try anything."

"I won't."

The blonde – Roxas – lowered his weapon as well and went to stand next to his companion, looking at Sora critically. Sora returned his gaze coolly and wished he'd thought to wear something a little less… clean. His well-tailored, sturdy combat clothes stood out like a beacon in a world that was surviving through scavenging.

"You're not from these parts are you? Not from Ragnok, not from Baldir. So where are you from, and what do you want?"

Sora sighed and tried to think of a way he could possibly explain all of this. "I'm –"

He was spared the need to continue by the arrival of yet another person, this one a young woman with shoulder-length reddish hair wearing a concerned expression.

"Axel? Roxas? I heard shouting and thought…" her voice trailed off as she saw Sora, her mouth forming an "O" of surprise. It only took her a second to regain her composure as she took in his appearance and said softly,

"You're not from here, are you?"

"No." Sora shook his head wearily. "No, I'm not. And I'm alone. So please, either offer to help me or just let me leave."

Axel and Roxas both looked like they'd rather he left and never came back, but the strange girl just walked straight up to him and examined him thoughtfully.

"What's your name?"

Axel rolled his eyes and said warningly,

"Kairi…"

The girl ignored him and kept looking at Sora, her head tilted to one side. Sora had the distinctly uncomfortable feeling that she was looking inside him, judging what kind of a person he was and whether he was worth bothering with. She looked just as tired and worn down as the two men, but she seemed to lack their cynicism. Sora thought that he might be able to like this girl, and hoped that she wouldn't dismiss him out of hand.

He needn't have worried. After a few moments the girl smiled and said easily,

"In my experience, all that we have left is our faith in other people. If we assume that everyone we come across is vicious and cruel, then there really is no hope left, is there…?" She smiled tentatively and stretched her hand out, palm facing up. "I'm willing to take a chance on you. My name is Kairi. The redhead is Axel; the blonde is Roxas. They're my friends."

Sora looked at her and saw someone who was genuinely kind and generous, rather like Aerith. He took her hand.

"I'm Sora. Thank you."

They smiled at each other, and in that instant both of them knew that they had made a friend.

"This is very touching," snapped Axel irritably. "But can we bond elsewhere? Someplace not so visible?"

The girl blinked, and Sora noticed something like concern flicker over her features. "Oh of course." She grabbed Sora's wrist and began to move toward a shadowed staircase behind the marble countertop that he hadn't seen before. She glanced back over her shoulder and said quickly,

"The four of us have been staying upstairs. It has a good view of the streets so we can see people coming, and there's a lot of stuff left to scavenge in this area. We figure we can stay here another month, maybe two if we're lucky."

They were at the top of the stairs now, and Sora blinked as they came out into a spacious, airy room that was full of the grayish light streaming in through several large windows. It must have been a beautiful space once, but now the walls were streaked with soot and grime, and the only furniture that was left were a few rickety chairs and a makeshift table fashioned out of cracked plastic bins. Sora thought longingly of Radiant Garden, then shrugged it off. No use bemoaning what couldn't be helped. He could be much worse off.

"Welcome to our home," said Axel, and Sora didn't miss the bitter sarcasm in his voice.

Kairi had ducked into a side room and he could hear her speaking to someone, someone who was answering in a light tenor. Someone else? That's right, Kairi had said there were four of them…

"Don't worry," drawled Axel with a smirk. "He won't hurt you."

Kairi came back out, this time accompanied by a young man. He looked to be Sora's age, maybe a little older, and had beautiful silver hair and teal eyes. Sora could only stare at him, and thought that somewhere, deep inside his mind, something had just fallen into place.

"Sora," said Kairi with a smile, "this is Riku."

"There, you see?" exclaimed the jongleur with a snap of his fingers as he peered over the little blonde girl's shoulder. "There, the High Priestess crossing the Sun. They've come in contact with each other, Namine. This is going to be exciting!"

Namine touched the brightly colored cards lightly, frowning as she tried to make sense of the pattern. Orlud had only given her the Tarot recently, after what felt like an eternity of studying the symbols of playing cards and dice, and the more complicated symbolism of the Major Arcana still hovered just beyond her grasp. She let her fingers rest against a picture of a skeletal figure riding a stallion through a field of corpses and murmured softly,

"Death…"

"Ah yes, Death. The end of a cycle. But sometimes only complete destruction can clear the way for new growth." He tapped the card to the right. "You see? The World emerges triumphantly from the ashes."

"But at what cost?"

"All things worth having come at a high price, Namine. The question is if we're willing to pay it."

Do drop me a line and let me know if you like it or hate it, or how you think it's progressing. You have my eternal love if you do. :)