Woot, so chapter 3 eh? No clue how this story's gonna turn out... I need to keep planning. Har har.
This chapter's a bit iffy, but I think you'll see why. Since this IS birth by sleep, I think expanding stuff too much is impossible. Those who played the game should know what I'm talking about. Too bad the game felt a little...short. D:
Where is Rise on the first step of her journey?
Have fun reading. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own BBS... D:
[Providence]
It this how things are meant to be?
"Ouch!" Rise fell to the ground with a loud and musky thud, her butt against the ground. "Where am I…?"
She stood up and looked around her, turning her head right and left several times before realizing she wasn't in the place where all the worlds connected anymore. The air was different from before. The air here was warmer, but still chilly. It tasted slightly sweet, and was a good change from where she was before. The rift was a little suffocating when one had no clue as to where they were supposed to head off to. Rise merely stumbled across the first world she was capable of entering…or rather, getting sucked into.
She found herself sitting on grass, the texture soft, yet rough at the same time. The colour was a fresh green, no yellowing spots in sight. Continuing to look around, she saw many small trees, probably taller than her, but weren't exactly massive either. Each one of these trees were the same, and were lined up in rows on the right and left side, as if they were a red carpet for something. There was not a single person in sight.
Rise got up from her position and stood up, patting the dirt and dust from her skirt. Just as she stood up, she was forced to jump back, falling backwards in surprise. "Whoa! A cliff? I could've killed myself!" She slowly crawled her way backwards, careful not to make too much movement. It's like in the books, when someone stands on a cliff and it crumbles, the person standing falling down to their death. It was fairly common in literature...the idea in so many stories nowadays. Then again, it isn't exactly as if it couldn't happen either. Better play it safe then sorry. Her breathing settled down when she took a few deep breaths and proceeded to stand up once again, this time watching herself and her surroundings before moving.
"This is so odd…how'd I wind up here?" She peeked over the edge of the cliff, talking slow steps this time, curious to see where it led to. There was nothing over the cliff in fact. It was just clouds, and more clouds. There was a nice sunset though. The sky was painted a vivid orange, crimson, and a mellow yellow. If only she had her camera with her…then she could've taken a picture and probably showed Ven and the others if she ever meets up with them. That would be nice, creating and saving some memories along the way, as she tries to find them.
She took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. The sky was so dazzling to look at. She felt calm, looking at nothing but the sky. For a second, she even forgot she was standing at the edge of a cliff before she was forced to remind herself of that fact and shook her head to get her head back into reality.
Wait…nothing but the sky? Doesn't that mean she really did land in another world? Or…was she dead and in the afterlife? She pinched her cheeks quickly, stretching them as far as she could. They still hurt quite a bit…meaning she was alive. She placed her feet back and began to walk backwards from the cliff before turning her body a one hundred and eighty degrees and found herself gaping with wide eyes.
She was in the presence of a huge tower. It was really quite tall. There were stars and moons painted on the building. It looked fairly old, but very vintage. It reminded her of something she had in her room. It was a little figurine of a tower that she had on her windowsill that she received from Master Eraqus one year for her birthday. It was a very special present.
Rise took little steps nearer to the spire, the building looming closer and closer, as well as larger and larger. "What's up with this tower…?" Her feet rustled against the grass as she walked nearer and began to slow down, each step full of caution as she observed her surroundings. There wasn't a single soul in sight…oddly. It was very quite quiet. Her boots clacked against the gray cement steps, about ten of them or so before she finally reached the top, pausing her movements.
"This…is the door?" Approaching the large wooden frame, she stopped, her head looking up. The door was big, wooden, and very antique looking. Was it safe to go in? She gave the door a little poke with her finger, and it cracked open, the door creaking creepily. "Hello? Is anybody home?" No one answered.
Finding herself to be quite lost, she gave the door a little push to open it, poking her head in first to check if it was safe. The first thing she noticed was a large staircase, extending up into what seemed to be high in the sky, curving around in endless loops, weaving itself up. The staircase was not only long, but it was also wide. Captivated by the inside of the tower, she unknowingly let herself into the building, closing the door behind her quietly, hoping that if someone was here, they wouldn't hear her intruding uninvited.
"Who…lives here?" Her eyes were in awe as she spun around a few times looking up. How high up was this tower? Rise's green eyes were staring hard above, trying to pinpoint where the top could be. It was really quite high up. Would she be able to make it to the top? What if something bad was up there?
Rise paused in her tracks, stopping her movements. Maybe…she should stop? She was intruding on the place anyways…it would be rude. But…on the other hand, she was completely lost as to where she was. Maybe whoever lived here would have a clue where Ven and Terra could be?
She nodded her head once.
She had to be brave. This was for her friends. It would be useless to be afraid of something petty as this. There were probably plenty of other frightening things out there.
She started moving again, taking slow steps up the stairs. It was long, and very tiring. It was steps, after steps, after steps. A never-ending number of stairs. Even the stairs back home were nowhere near as perilous and deadly as these. Rise could start feeling the numbing feeling in her legs as she continued her way up, her panting becoming heavier.
"Really? How many steps are there? This is brutal!" Rise paused as she finally reached what seemed to be a rest station. She looked up. "Are you kidding me? I'm only half-way? Maybe I should just give up now…"
She took a quick stop and slumped her back against the walls. "I'm so tired…" Her breath was short and hot. Was this really worth it?
Rise shook her head. "No, I've gotta do this. This is the least I can do. I gotta stop being a kid and keep on relying on others. They're not with me anyways, so it's my turn to be responsible and do things myself. I'll never become Keyblade master if I keep acting like this." She slapped her cheeks lightly, hoping to snap herself out of it. She put on a serious face and stood up once again.
"Okay stairs. Rise's gonna tackle you head on."
With that, she charged up the stairs. Using her full leg-power, she jolted up the stairs…to what seems to be only about fifteen stairs up from where she just took a break. "I…need…more…stamina…energy. Argh…this is pathetic." She stopped in her tracks and looked down on the hard concrete floor. The floor was rather cold, her palms resting against the ground.
Lifting her head up, she looked up, looking at the endless number of steps that stood before her. She sighed once before pushing herself and standing straight again.
"Okay, once more. I'll take it slowly this time."
Her steps became slower than the first time, her body becoming less tired. Walking slowly like this actually made the walk not that bad. She wasn't so tired, nor was her breathing short.
Step by step by step, she slowly made her way up. It was awhile after that she had finally reached the very top of the stairs, coming across a wooden door, quite large actually. She touched the door knob lightly with her right hand, flinching slightly as she heard someone call her name from beyond the wood in front of her.
"Rise. Come in." The voice was fairly deep, the tone very calm like. Had the man who was speaking already expected her to come? She took a deep breath and turned the doorknob, squeezing her eyes. Should she really follow through with this? What if it was dangerous?
Pushing the door open, she opened her eyes, and found herself screaming. "What? Get off me! HEY!" Rise screamed as she flailed her arms with a panic, not realizing her situation. Her eyes were closed…until she realized the things she was attacking…were furry.
Opening one eye, she peeked through it. She jumped back in surprise, as she met the eyes of some…animal. It had what appeared to be a witch's hat on its head, as well as a blue cloak. Screaming once more, she threw the animal-like thing away, shoving it as far away as possible.
"OW!" The animal screeched. Rise paused and blinked her eyes. It…spoke. Could animals speak? That couldn't be...could it? The animal was a duck, seeing it had a large…bill-like mouth. Its fur was a snowy white. "What was that for?" The duck spoke with some strange accent, like…like…duck-talk? His voice was quite odd, almost a little difficult to understand what the creature was saying...it was rather slurred.
Rise stared at the animal and began to crawl her way over. "Are you…a duck?" She crawled until she was about ten centimetres from the ducks face. She took her hands and began to brush its fur, the feeling soft and warm until her hands. "Your fur's so soft…"
The duck quacked once in surprise. "What're you doing?"
"Gwarsh, she's just being friendly Donald. No need to get your tongue tied in a knot." Someone else spoke, this time in a dopey-like voice. Rise turned around and saw the face of another…animal, resembling a dog this time. He wore scrap metal, and other miscellaneous items all over its body. Noticing her stare, he offered her a hand. "Ah-yuck. Name's Goofy. Nice to meet ya."
Rise took the hand and was pulled up to her feet. Grinning, Rise felt amused as she stared at the two animals. "This is all so new to me…is this what the outside world is like?"
"Indeed it is." There was another voice, only, this time it was the same voice as the one who had called her into the room earlier. Shifting her eyes over, there was an old man sitting on some very tall green and gold chair. He appeared to be a wizard of some sort, cloaked in blue with a blue wizard hat. He had a very long white beard that spread into two sections in the middle. "The world outside of what you know is larger than you can imagine."
Rise felt her body tense up in his presence. Who was he?
"Fear not child, I'm of no harm to you. I merely wish to speak." His tone was very calm, almost in a scary way. She nodded her head once reluctantly. Maybe…maybe he had some clues?
"Umm…" Rise began.
"Speak up child."
A light blush swept over her cheeks. "How do you know my name?" She blurted out. Her hands fiddled with each other in a nervous way, Rise biting her own lips. She didn't exactly feel like the safest person out there at the moment.
A short silence paused before she heard the sound of a duck-like voice. "He's the great Master Yen Sid. He knows everything." The duck's voice sounded quite proud of this fact. "We're his apprentices." The duck, Donald as Goofy called him, beamed in excitement, puffing his chest up. He was grinning and turned over to Goofy. Goofy exchanged a similar grin back to the duck as Rise's eyes were still locked onto the wizard, eyebrows raised and fairly skeptical.
"…Everything?" Her voice was questioning, slightly in disbelief.
"I've heard about you child, from Eraqus. You're currently searching for your friend Ventus am I correct?"
Rise's eyes widened as she felt her hands tense up. How did he know? Did he really know everything? Or…was it her Master that told him? But...no one was supposed to know where she was. Heck, she didn't even know where she herself was.
"Fear not. Eraqus has yet to contact me. I can tell by the expression on your face." He gestured his hand to my face once. "I would suppose you want clues to where your friends are?"
She shot her head up, her hand clenched against her chest. Her mouth gasped as her eyes sparkled in excitement. "Yes! Very much so! Please! Tell me where my friends are!" Her voice showed desperation as she called out towards Yen Sid, hands together by her chest.
"I'll see what I can do." With that, Yen Sid took both hands and began to swirl them, a grey cloud appearing before him. "Yes…yes…I see. It appears, it appears you've lost your way. You've been separated from your friends and has landed on the opposite side of where your friends currently are."
Rise cocked her head to the side. "I'm…separated? Does that mean they're in a different world than I am?"
"They're close by, but it appears something's blocking you from going back to them." The wizard nodded to himself. "You must travel to the world of Neverland first if you wish to meet up with your friends. That is the first path you must take."
"Neverland? Where's that?"
The grey puff of smoke disappeared instantly as he flicked his hands out. Yen Sid had his eyes turned back and stared deeply into Rise's, their eyes meeting. His eyes appeared slightly creepy as he had his eyes on her. The more he stared at her, the eerier it became. "Go back out into the world that connects all other worlds. Find a place where it appears to be a tropical island. That is to be your first destination."
"An island? So…that's where I must start my journey…" Rise turned her eyes down onto the ground and found herself kinda lost. It felt scary to be outside of the comfort of her home in the Land of Departure. She had been living there for so long…going out on a journey now seemed dangerous. Was it really safe for her to go alone? Would it have been a better choice to stay home? Maybe going out on a journey was a bad idea in the first place... Master Eraqus would surely worry to no end.
As she found herself wondering lost in her thoughts, someone had slapped her back and made her jump up. "Chin up! I'm sure you'll find your friends again." Goofy grinned in an idiotic manner, his face expressing kindness. Seeing the animal's childish grin made Rise cheer up. Seeing other people smile always made her feel better. Goofy seemed to have the personality of someone she'd like to be friends with. He'd make a good traveling partner for someone out there. Donald maybe?
"Yeah! The world out there may be big, but you'll always trace your routes back together." Donald quacked.
Rise found herself smiling sadly, as she embraced Goofy in a sudden hug. "Whoa!" Goofy shouted in surprise. A few seconds later as Goofy's head registered what was going on, he proceeded to return the hug. He understood how Rise was feeling.
After the hug, she then leaned down, and gave Donald a quick brush of the fur before hugging him also. Donald was first reluctant but eventually gave in.
"Thank you. I feel slightly better now." Rise turned her head back to Yen Sid, who sat on his chair stroking his grey beard.
"Have you decided what to do?" He asked.
Rise gave a confident nod. "Yes. I'm going to go out there. Even if I may stumble across the way, I know Ven and the others are probably suffering through whatever's happening also themselves. I know they're alone, and they want to do their own thing alone also. They're all waiting to meet up again, all of us meet up again when we have thing figured out. It's my job to play my part of the story and do what I can to ensure that happens. I'm going to Neverland. I'm going to find them. For sure."
Yen Sid gave an approving nod. "It appears you are ready. Before you go however, I will need to give you a brief outline of what you will encounter."
Confused, she raised an eyebrow. "Is something going to happen along the way?"
"Yes." He began to stroke his beard once again. "On your journey, you will meet many people, both good and evil. However, there is a group of enemies you must watch out for. If you aren't careful, you'll fall and all be over." He waved his hand as some sparkly dust like things appearing, showering the air with the glitter. He pointed his finger to a corner as Rise's eye's followed.
From out of nowhere, a blue creature appeared.
"Whoa! What is that? A monster?" Rise spoke. She summoned her Keyblade and got into battle-ready position, preparing to attack the thing.
"Wait child, that is only a hologram. It will not attack you." Rise dispersed her Keyblade upon his comment. "There are groups of monster out in the world called 'Unversed.' These are ruthless creatures that will attack anyone. It is in your ability to protect yourself with your Keyblade. If you are not careful, you will surely fall, so you must take the utmost care with yourself."
"My Keyblade… protect myself..." Rise looked at her bare hands as she summoned her Keyblade once again. Staring from the head of the blade to the chain, she gripped it tightly, clenching the object. She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily before reopening their green luster.
Yen Sid stopped stroking his beard. "Take this child." From his hand, appeared to what seemed to be a set of cards. "I'm sure you know what these are."
"Oh! Command cards!" She perked up as soon as she saw them. These were the cards that taught one new magic. She had learned Aero, Sparkle Spiral, and Cure from these cards, although the cards she got were mostly presents from her friends and her teacher. She scanned the cards from left to right: Fire, blizzard, thunder, quick blitz, and zero gravity.
"I would trust you would learn these moves and gain stronger commands of your own accord." Rise nodded enthusiastically. There were so many cards! This would definitely make her stronger. " Would she have the time to learn them all, and make new commands too? "Here, one last thing." He passed her a velvet blue pouch. "Do not open this. You are currently lacking in power and abilities to use this to its full potential. You will know when the time is right to open it. I'm putting my trust in you."
Rise stared at the pouch with skeptical eyes but obeyed nonetheless.
"Alright. I believe you best be on your way. I'm sure you would want to meet with you friends as soon as possible." Yen Sid nodded one last time and gave her a calm look in the eye. She knew what he was getting at.
"Thank you…Master Yen Sid. I've learnt so much from you today. I'll get going then. See you Donald, Goofy! I really hope we can meet again one day. I'll try my best to come back and visit!" She took the doorknob of the wooden door and shifted it with a downwards motion and opened the door. She bolted out, leaving the door wide open, her lips stretched wide and eyes glowing.
"Good-bye Rise!" Donald cried out as the door closed.
"I know we'll meet again!" Goofy called out as her footsteps began to fade softly into the background.
Exchanging glances with Goofy, Donald turned towards Yen Sid. "Do you think she'll be alright? Would she really find her friends?"
Yen Sid turned his head to the side, looking out the window. He walked up from his chair and stood there, eyes looking into the vast sky. The sky was lit fairly dark now, evening befalling the trio in the tower.
"Her actions depend on her. We're only here to encourage her. Whether or not she takes the correct route, that's up to her. All we can do is lie in wait for future results."
Donald and Goofy began to walk near one of the windows, as their eyes gazed out into the starlit sky. One star in the sky sparkled as the trio watch the young girl jump off the cliff and become one with the sky.
Chapter 3...done! Hope you enjoyed?
If you guys noticed, there were quite a few Sora references...KHII references...
Yes, so, Rise starts off at the Mysterious Tower (Like Sora...I guess.) Hmm...placing an OC is kinda difficult into BBS... So, I'm gonna do the opposite of the actual storyline and have her start at Neverland. HUZZAH. Wonder what's gonna happen at Neverland...hmmmm. Keep reading to find out...as I write it.
Will she ever find Ven? Probably...maybe...hopefully? :D
And as usual, Rate and Review. :)
AND...AND...THANK YOU FOR ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED LAST WEEK. YOU PEOPLE MADE MY DAY. =]
