Strange. This is the last chapter with a flashback in it. WTF happened? How come I didn't put flashbacks in the future chapters?? Maybe it's 'cause I got better at writing and just stopped putting them in for some reason. I HAVE NO IDEA.
Chapter 3: Traverse Town, Enter The Keybearer
"Here you go, son." Ann's mother smiled as she handed Chris a yellow star-shaped fruit.
"What's this?" A very young Chris asked.
"On the island I came from, these were everywhere. It's called a paopu fruit."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you just got here."
"Yes, my job has kept me busy, but now I'm here with my husband. And daughter, of course." Ann's mother winked.
"What's a paopu fruit for? Is it good?"
"Legend says that when two people share it, their destinies become entwined. Forever." Ann's mom said, "And I've heard so much about you from Ann! It's cute." She smiled.
Chris didn't know exactly what she meant by that statement. He looked down at the fruit in his hand, not knowing what to do with it.
Chris opened his eyes after that flashback. He had forgotten what he did with that fruit.
Picking up a sharp rock that was left there from years ago, he began to carve a picture. He didn't want to, but he couldn't help it. He drew Ann next to an old portrait of himself that the girl drew. He still had a very sloppy drawing style. He cursed at himself, but laughed at himself seconds later.
Then, he drew a paopu fruit next to Ann, and an arm holding it. The arm came from the drawing of Chris. It looked odd, since that picture was old, and the one he drew was new.
He didn't really care. He knew no one would see this picture. Ann hated water, and he knew she would never come here. Ever again.
He sighed, placing the rock back in its original place. Then he looked around. It was eerily quiet and dark. Though he didn't mind the darkness, he was afraid of it for some reason.
He stood up, wandering further into the cave. He'd never been further than those pictures before, so he was curious to find out.
The pathway was long, he didn't know when the suspense was going to end. How far did it go?
He used the wall as guidance, his hand tracing it absently so he wouldn't bump into anything.
Then he hit a dead end. Literally. He rubbed his nose, which was flattened by the wall in front of him. No, it wasn't a wall. It felt like wood.
Why was wood in a cave? Impossible. Chris felt the wood. It was arched in the shape of a door. It was a door. If only he had light to see what it really was.
Maybe he'd bring a flashlight tomorrow, he yawned. He was tired now, and he figured it was best to get home before it got really late.
He ran back to the pool of water that was the exit. He slipped in, feeling a bit chilly. He took a breath of stale air and submerged, swimming and getting to the surface again.
He took a breath of fresh, cool night air, looking up.
He gasped when he saw the sky was gray and there was a large swirling vortex high in the air. "What in the world…?" he wondered, swimming back to shore. There was barely anything, except for the numerous shadows around that he had a mind to avoid. He saw Sora and Riku, being engulfed. What was that about?
"Ann!" Chris called, ignoring everything. He ran up to higher ground, dodging various shadows along the way, and found Ann there, staring up at the hole in the sky.
"Ann! Ann…" He looked at her, she look at him, her icy eyes showed signs of worry.
"Chris! You're here! I got so worried when the storm appeared, I thought you wouldn't come home!" She ran over to him, but she seemed weak.
"Ann, we have to get out of here." Chris looked around for any source of transport. Of course there was nothing, they were nowhere.
"How?"
"Run." He said, grabbing her arm and the two of them ran to the lower ground.
"Chris…" Ann moaned behind him, he glanced back. "I'm tired…"
"Thanks for admitting it, but please, Ann, keep up your strength! We have to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but it's dangerous!" Chris only assumed.
Ann only half listened, her body broke down and refused to operate for her.
"Ann!" He stopped, kneeling beside her.
"I'm trying…" Her eyes were wet as she tried to keep up with everything.
Suddenly Ann felt as if she was being lifted. The winds got stronger and began to pick them up, trying to suck them into the vortex.
"Ann!" Chris reached out for her hand, grabbing hold of it. He held on tightly. I won't lose you! Not again! He was on the verge of tears.
Ann's grip wasn't very tight. He tried to hang on to the ground, his fingers digging into the dirt. But somehow, he was forced into the air, his green hair whipping his face. He tried his best to hang onto Ann, but their grips loosened on each other.
Ann and Chris reached out for each other, but the winds violently tore them further and further apart. Ann fell unconscious, and Chris was swallowed by darkness only seconds after.
Where am I? Where are you?
I can't see you… in all this darkness….
How long have I been here? Where are you going?
What is this… feeling? I feel something…. There's something else too. Something… dark.
Where are we? How long have we been here?
"WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" A boy screamed, getting strange looks from the few people around him. No one answered, and the boy continued to curse.
The boy looked like an average fifteen-year-old, wearing red clothes and black and white boots and accessories. His spiky hair was a stunningly bright shade of red with a tint of blond at his roots and his eyes were aqua-green.
He felt like he was in a dream. One second he was in his house, the next—in the middle of a town and he had no idea what it was.
He looked up, screaming like hell again. Another star went out right above him. "Wh-what?" He looked, there was a tiny shooting star in the distance, and it was one that looked like it had been standing still for a while. It grew closer and closer, until he suddenly realized it was heading right towards him. "Wah!" He tried jumping out of the way as the thing crashed into the ground, or rather, him.
"GET THIS FREAKIN' THING OFFA ME!" The boy yelled, not realizing it was an unconscious girl he was screaming at. Then he realized it was human.
He looked at the girl that landed on him. Brown spiky hair, dark colored clothing, dangerous looking boots, bandaged hands.
"Is it dead…?" He wondered, "Hey, wake up." He shoved her off, grunting. "Heavy bitch…" He looked at her, she still wasn't awake. "Yo, wake up!" He frowned.
He began processing his thoughts. A girl fell from the sky, almost knocked him out, was already knocked out or something, and now she was waking up.
He stared. She was waking up?
"Hell, I guess I'm responsible now." The boy muttered.
The girl blinked, staring back at him. "Where am I? Who are you?"
"How the hell should I know? You're the one falling on people from space." The boy snapped. Then he sighed, unnoticing of the girl's dark and confused expression. "Name's Alex. You?"
The girl brightened. "I'm Ann."
"Okay. Good. If you're old enough to take care of yourself, do that. I'm out of here." Alex grumbled, turning.
He stopped when he saw a bunch of shadows in front of him. He slapped the side of his forehead lightly. "Aw shit…"
"You have a serious problem, you know that?" Ann judged, even though she'd only known this boy for a few minutes.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Alex growled, swiping his hand at his side. In his palm he manifested a large black and white key with a strange key chain on the end.
Ann blinked, amazed. What was that thing?
Alex raced forward, slashing the shadowed creatures mercilessly. "What the heck are you waiting for!? Get the hell out of here!"
Ann frowned, jumping to dodge a shadow creature at her feet. "No way! I can fight too!"
"Pfft. You're a freakin' girl!" Alex argued, not watching Ann.
He stopped and turned when he heard a crashing sound. Ann was kicking the shadowy things far away. Some that jumped at her got a taste of her fist too.
"What's this about being a 'freakin' girl'?" Ann smirked, putting a hand on her hip as she leaned back a little.
"Watch out!" Alex swiped at a larger creature behind her. He grabbed her wrist. "There are too many. Let's get the hell out of here!"
Letting him pull her as she ran, not exactly knowing where they were going, she commented on his language, "Heh, you can't go ten seconds without cursing, can you?"
Ignoring her, Alex ran. As he pulled her wrist, it began to hurt her. It reminded her of the way Chris pulled her.
"Chris!"
"What?"
"My friend. Do you know where my friend is?" Ann asked as they ran.
"Hell no. But apparently I don't care about shit." Alex said, slowing as they came to another district.
Panting, the duo looked around. No shadows to be found. "Whew. Safe."
"Chris! Chris, where are you!?" Ann called.
"Another Keyblade, huh?" A third voice entered.
"Key… blade?"
"How the hell do you know what this is? Who the heck are you?" Alex demanded.
There was a brown haired man in front of them, he was wearing black leather and a white undershirt, and there was a scar running across his face.
"I doubt you know much about it yourself. In fact, we just found a kid just like you a while ago."
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"Actually, I'm surprised there's another Keybearer. Maybe Aerith will know more about this then me." The man continued.
"Who the hell are you!? Quit ignoring us!" Alex readied his Keyblade.
"Call me Leon."
Alex calmed, but still held tight to the hilt of the Keyblade. "Finally. Now, tell me all you know about this," Alex held out the blade, "and those things that attacked us."
"The Keyblade and the Heartless."
"Um…" Ann interrupted, not following their conversation really well, "if you don't mind, can you tell us where we are? And… if you've seen my friend?"
Not a big fan of the flashback at the beginning. And look, more cliché stuff that happened in the real game. I'm pathetic! T.T
I like that little part after those two got sucked into the Heartless vortex though. I bet you're wondering what the heck it was. Well, the timeline for their arrival was different than Sora's. They arrived later, so basically they were floating in this darkness meanwhile, and they stayed there for a while till Alex showed up at Traverse. It's kinda my only explanation to the fact that they start later than Sora. WHY they start later than Sora? Um, well, that'll be explained in the next chapter. …Maybe.
And I'm aware there isn't supposed to be cursing in KH. But you know what? I don't care! (Evil-ish grin) I love the interaction between Alex and Ann: both are sarcastic, tough teens. What do you expect when two of the same type clash? Oh! And the appearance of the second "heavy" comment! (Read the last chapter's commentary if you don't get it.)
Alex is Cassie's favorite character, mostly 'cause he curses. Since she read the entire thing (or at least the first draft), she totally spazzed about his personality and all in future chapters. She says he's like her . God, I love spazzing with her. And Alex is so much fun to make fun of (mostly cursing jokes. But still funny!). Oh yeah, Alex is my other brother's (Andy's) character. He originally didn't curse, but when I was writing this chapter, I think I was in the stage of the year where I was cursing like crazy. Don't ask.
I. Cannot. Write. Official. Characters. Seriously. That's why I stuck to OCs. Read & Review!
