A/N: I should definitely be doing college English since I'm like three weeks behind. But I don't feel like it………..good thing I have a story to fall back on or I might go insane. So without further ado, here is the 4th chapter.
The cool breeze was about the only semi-pleasant feeling that was felt on the stroll back to the village. It caressed everyone's faces with its evanescent fingers, but the miniature explosions that occurred every time they took a step on the jet black field caused a melancholy mood to sweep over everyone except for Sofi, whose eyes still darted back and forth in the hope of finding a flower that wasn't a single color. Ryker knew the question would come eventually from one of the trio, but he hoped they would wait until Sofi was not in the vicinity. They walked in silence for a long while not realizing that they were changing color rather quickly. Sora was the first to notice everyone else around, he tried to stifle his hysterical snickers but he was unable and was quickly doubled over himself pointing and crying at the same time.
Kairi meeped when she looked around and noticed everyone's chameleon act, Riku just shrugged his shoulders and gave his usual short unenthusiastic "hn," followed by his characteristic sarcasm, "Guess that's what we get for walking through a black field, I almost half expected us to turn white through some crazy cosmic event that only happens once every million years."
"Ha, ha, ha, you're a riot, did you know that?" Sora rolled his eyes as his laughing fit was immediately subdued.
Ryker raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he looked toward the now closer village and saw small plumes of black smoke diffusing in every direction. He squinted for a moment and spoke without thinking, "Mom?"
The trio's eyes immediately riveted on the woman that was almost upon them, the streaks of white on her face showed her distress from where the tears had etched anguish upon her face. Sarah yelled savagely as she came upon them, Kairi and Riku jumped out of the way leaving Sora to face her wrath. "Is that a spatul…..."
THWACK!
"OW! There is a misunderstanding miss, please let me expla…."
SMACK!
Sora groaned in agony again and the spatula plastered him with horizontal lines. He raised his arms in defense as another blow was flying towards him.
"Mommy! Why are you hitting Sora like that! Stop it! Stop it!" Sofi cried out as she ran towards her mother.
"Sofi! Oh my little girl!" Sarah exclaimed as she immediately forgot her murderous assault with her cooking utensil and scooped her up in a fluid motion throwing ash all around them. She clung to her tightly as though she could disappear like an ethereal ghost. "Mommy……" Sofi whispered quietly, "these people are my new friends."
"New friends?" Sarah choked, her voice threatening to crack; she raised her eyes up at the ebony colored people her little girl was calling "friends."
"Who are you?" Sarah asked almost instinctively and with a tinge of fear in her voice.
"Maybe this will clear things up a little bit," Sora replied as he raised his hand up and motioned Kairi and Riku to move closer to him.
"Aeroga!"
Wind immediately whipped up in spiraling circles all around the trio and threw every last bit of the excess carbon stuck to their clothes and bare skin up into the air to float away like dust. Ryker, Sofi, and Sarah stared in wonderment at what was taking place before their very eyes. Their once black exterior flew off and revealed some weird looking clothes that were made of a material that neither one of the family had seen before. Sora once again began to make formal introductions, "I'm Sora, this is Kairi, and the grumpy one over there is….ow!" Sora exclaimed before finishing his sentence, "Riku." "Pleasure to meet you Ms." Kairi said questioningly.
"Sarah Artaith," was all she said.
Sora broke the silence and randomly commanded, "All of you, come on in and get yourselves cleaned off; this wind won't hurt you."
Sarah stared cautiously and refused to move, she still wasn't quite sure about the strange visitors in front of her. Ryker was the first to break the awkward silence between them, "Mom, if you're still not sure, this should clear up any doubt you might have about them. Look at my face and back…notice anything?"
For the first time since she had arrived Sarah took a minute to survey her still carbon laden son, she scanned up and down like a machine, searching for the tell-tale signs of his injuries. Eyebrows furrowed she switched Sofi over to one hand and reached out with her free right hand and slid her hand diagonally across his back leaving streak marks where the gashes once were. The trio stood in the middle of the spell silent, waiting to see how things would pan out.
The words escaped her lips, "how?"
"Magic mom, it was some sort of magic."
A small scoff escaped her lips as she assumed that all-knowing motherly tone, "magic….hahahahaha" Sarah laughed heartily at this statement before Ryker's comment threw her back down to earth.
"Ummm…..mom, how do you explain….that?" His gaze and pointer finger directed at the still swirling wind surrounding Sora, Kairi, and Riku.
"……."
"If you are still not convinced………then I'll prove it to you!" Ryker spun on his heel and headed directly for the spiraling column of wind.
"No! Ryker don't!"
He slammed his eyes shut and leapt forward, he hit the wall with what sounded like a dull thud, it was a foreign feeling to him, at first he was repelled, but was soon totally enveloped and before he had a chance open his eyes he was in a sitting position right next to Sora, Kairi, and Riku, totally devoid of any foreign particle on his cotton pajama pants and bare back.
"Welcome to the club Ryker!" Sora smiled half serious and half joking.
Kairi bent down on her knee's and whispered quietly, "thank you for trusting us, I think it will help your mother to accept us now."
Ryker nodded his head in agreement and looked towards his mother and sister, "can you please come in here so we can go home now?"
"…"
Riku had had enough and spoke suddenly and sharply, a tone of annoyance in the inflection of his voice, "look, how about this, Sora disengages the spell, you get close to us and then he casts it again? Then we can all go along our merry way and we can explain why we are in this world in the first place."
"Riku!" Sora and Kairi yelled simultaneously.
Sarah was taken aback, but quickly recovered, "fine."
Sora gave Riku a slight death look before shrugging his shoulders, after all, his directness had worked for once in his life. He breathed out slowly and stopped the flow of magic killing the spell immediately. Sarah wasted no time in covering the distance between them Sofi in tow and before everyone knew it she was standing next to them. Sora wasted no time in casting the spell again, just in case she changed her mind.
"Aeroga!"
The wind immediately enveloped everyone again. Both Sarah and Sofi yelped in surprise as they were cleaned just like everyone else. It really was a strange feeling inside, almost like weightlessness. Sarah took a step in the limited space and felt extremely light-footed even with Sofi's added weight but said nothing.
They walked in silence for the longest time, the only sound heard was the wind whipping around them and the thousands of burnt flowers that were getting ripped apart and thrown out of the way due to the spell. Ryker looked over his shoulder while plodding along beside everyone and noticed the bare ground that they were leaving behind them in the wake of the wind. When the trio finally made it to the cobblestone main street they looked around at the strange sight. Not a soul was seen on the roofs or on the ground. The village had gone from being lively to ghost town in nothing flat.
"Uhhh….guys," Sora motioned towards Sarah and her children, "is there something you want to tell us?" Sarah broke the uneasy silence, "We all thought the heartless had returned…when that contraption you came in on went over the village. I would imagine…" Sarah's explanation was interrupted by her daughter, "Mommy…what's heartless?"
Sarah's eyes widened in horror at what she had just said out loud and off-hand without thinking about her inquisitive daughter clinging to her neck, "Oh nothing sweetie, why don't you have Ryker take you to the fountain, I know you love the fountain."
Sarah shot her son a look and he nodded in quick understanding, "come on sis, I'll give you a piggyback ride there."
"Yay!" Sofi exclaimed as she immediately jumped down and leapt upon Ryker's now healed back. He sprinted away much like he had done when he was trying to escape the heartless but this time he wanted to protect his sister from the horrible realities of his village's personal hell.
After Ryker was finally out of sight his mother continued to give her explanation of the heartless raids, when they started, and her description of the latest one that had occurred. The trio nodded their heads in understanding as her story finally drew to a close and she asked the question they had been prepared for since they had arrived. "Why are you here?"
"Well you see…the thing is…" Kairi started.
"We are here to destroy the heartless so your village can be at peace." Riku wasted no time in saying their intent but was slightly irked when Sarah laughed eerily.
"Destroy them? Impossible! They can't be killed; do you not think that we have tried to fight back? Do you know how many loved ones we have lost and yet we haven't killed a single one? Don't try to give us false hope; the only thing that will come of you three facing those monsters is death."
It was Riku's turn to laugh which left Sarah quite ruffled, "Well it's your lucky day Ms. Artaith, we just happen to have weapons that will destroy them." Riku shifted his eyes back and forth to his companions and when they all nodded in agreement held out their hands. In a giant flash of light three keys appeared in the trios hands. Riku flipped his end over end repeatedly waiting for Sarah to stop gaping and actually say something.
"Keys???" Sarah asked confused.
"Keyblades to be precise, it is the only weapon that can defeat the heartless," Kairi said softly before an ear-splitting yell from Sarah made her jump, "WATCH OUT!"
"Reflega!" Sora yelled just in time as a violently thrown pitchfork narrowly missed putting a couple holes in Kairi's head. Everyone stood at ready trying to determine where it was thrown from, it wasn't a very long before the Keybearer's realized they were surrounded by twenty people or more all holding farming implements in a threatening way. The throng of people were shouting curses and threatening to kill them if they didn't get out of the village but Sarah's voice managed to break through the din, "Everybody stop!! These people are not our enemies! They have come to liberate us of the heartless so our village can once again be at peace!"
"Yeah," a pretentious voice stuck out in the crowd, "how exactly would you know that? For all we know you could be plotting against us with them," he pointed his finger menacingly at Sora, Kairi, and Riku.
"I know because they are kind, they healed my son of his injuries he sustained from the last raid and they possess weapons that can destroy the heartless!"
Riku's eyebrow rose for a split second before he relaxed again.
I'm surprised she took everything we told her at face value……
"Well if that's the case how about they give us a little demonstration?" The same pompous voice rang out from the mob. Everyone else shouted their agreement and pushed a woman forward causing her to stumble. Her right arm hung loosely at her side and she cringed in extreme pain when she tried to put weight on it to pull herself off the cold ground. Kairi immediately dismissed her keyblade and rushed forward and helped the woman to her feet, "What is your name?" The woman sucked air for a few seconds before she answered, "Millie," she struggled. "Okay Millie, this might feel a little strange, but don't be afraid, I'll have your arm fixed in no time.
Kairi closed her eyes and concentrated the flow of magic before releasing it, "Curaga."
Millie gasped for a moment and desperately clawed at her shoulder trying to get rid of the horrible itching sensation that was assaulting her. She was so busy scratching that she didn't notice her shoulder contorting and moving back into a normal position. When the spell finally ended, Millie, without thinking, put her right arm strait out in front of her. Her surprise, and the surprise of the villagers that surrounded them for that matter, was apparent as everyone fell deathly silent. Apparently not believing what was happening Millie swung her arm in a big arc cringing and expecting the same excruciating pain she had been living with ever since the raid.
Nothing was felt, not even the slightest hint of pain. She broke down in sobs and hugged Kairi tightly babbling her thanks to the amazing red-haired girl. Sora smiled brightly at the villagers faces because they seemed to be slightly eased and not so high-strung. Riku rolled his eyes with his same stoic face.
Why is it like this everywhere we go? When I see that damn mouse again I'm going to ask for a better job!
Sarah laughed for the first time in a long time and was at that moment actually happy, she was on cloud nine and everything in the world just seemed right somehow. Movement caught her eye and she looked to see Ryker carrying a very sleepy little sister in his arms down the main street road. The villagers surrounded the trio of Keybearers and one by one started apologizing for their rudeness and introducing themselves. The village had made three of the most important friends they would ever have in its existence.
