Deep jungle


Cloud looked on with a vaguely startled expression as Leon threatened Sora for the fifth time in the flight. A smirk flitted across his face when Goofy leapt up and held Leon back before he could gouge Sora's eye balls with a spoon. When Cloud saw that Goofy was struggling to keep Leon from omitting bloody murder he sought out a distraction. From the corner of his eye he noticed a green rock and when nobody else pointed it out Cloud decided it was his duty to inform the group. "Hey." Cloud said his voiced covered by Leon increasingly more creative threats. "Guys" Cloud was foiled once again. Sighing Cloud attempted to gain the attention of the group. When he noticed that nobody was going to notice him anytime soon he decided he had to take matters into his own hands.

Striding confidently towards the struggling Goofy and Leon pair and budding Goofy away with his hip Cloud placed his hands onto Leon's waist and pulled him into his well-muscled chest. Leaning down, Cloud pushed his lips against Leon's.

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked on with shock as Cloud moulded his lips against Leon's. Goofy started franticly looking for a distraction when Leon let out a soft moaning noise giving Cloud the opportunity to start exploring Leon's mouth with his tongue. Spotting a new world Goofy thanked Kingdom Hearts before speaking. "Hey, Donald, maybe King Mickey down there". Sora and Donald looked at the world below the gummi ship. As Donald opened his beak to reply Leon's brain finally started to work again.

Bright blue eyes snapped open and Leon started to squirm out of Clouds arms. Looking up Leon saw that Clouds lips had quirked up into an arrogant smirk. Glaring Leon managed to escape from Clouds arms. Still glaring Leon quietly snarled "The fuck?" at Cloud. Still smirking Cloud said "I need to get the groups attention". Leon gaped at Cloud and he exclaimed "So You Molest me?!"

Before Cloud could defend his actions the ship started to move angrily beneath their feet. Looking franticly around Leon noticed that they were approaching the unknown world, a lot faster than what was safe. "Brace for impact" Leon yelled. Looking for something to hold onto Leon noticed that Sora and Donald were still arguing, ignoring the impending possible death. Swearing under his breath Leon leapt forward and pushed Donald towards Goofy while he attempted to strap Sora into his chair.

Suddenly the gummi ship lurched forward as it impacted with a large tree sending Sora shooting out the window and into the canopy below. Swearing, Leon felt himself falling. Wildly swinging his arms Leon attempted to find something to hold on to. Leon stopped moving as he felt something brace against his arm. Leon turned as he saw Goofy and Donald slide out of the ship, fighting against the thing holding him still Leon tried to grab the pair but missed and watched, helpless, as they too fell from the gummi ship.

Leon franticly fought against the grip holding him as he rushed towards the front of the gummi ship. Mustering up unexpected strength Leon broke free and raced towards the front of the ship. Unfortunately for the two occupants of the Gummi Ship this unbalanced the semi broken ship and they were sent tumbling through the trees.

Cloud swore as the ship rocked forwards. He swore again even louder when a piece of the ship fell and hit Leon in the head knocking him unconscious. Moving with enhanced speeds Cloud pulled Leon once more into his chest and curled protectively round him and braced against the dashboard of the Gummi ship.


Cloud groaned as he opened his eyes. A stabbing pain in his temple indicated that his healing abilities were working normally. Looking around Cloud saw Leon crumpled against the broken side of the Gummi ship. Pushing himself up Cloud half stumbled half crawled over to him. Checking Leon over for any obvious injuries Cloud cast a precautionary cure on Leon. When Cloud was sure that Leon wasn't going to die he once again pushed himself up onto his feet. Pleased that his legs hadn't given out from under him he walked over to the edge of the ship and checked to area for danger.

Clouds blue eyes swept cautiously around the clearing the Gummi ship had crashed into. Unconsciously Cloud's mind catalogued the trees at the end of the clearing that could be used for shelter if needed, the small pool of water that looked relatively clean and the fruit littering the floor. Less positively Cloud noticed what appeared to be a fresh animal carcass in one of the trees suggesting that a predator of some kind was going to return to the clearing and though Cloud knew he would be able to fight of a creature he wasn't so sure he could do it while protecting Leon.

Taking a deep breath Cloud leant forward and poked Leon gently in his uninjured shoulder. "Leon" he whispered harshly; well aware that the creature could be in the area watching their every move.

Cloud got no response so he poked Leon slightly harder. "Leon" he tried again slightly harsher this time. Still he got no response. Growling softly Clouds eyes flickered to his clawed hand and a rather evil idea materialised in his mind. But, luckily for Leon, before Cloud could enact his evil plan the sound of snapping twigs alerted Clouds enhanced scenes. Turning Cloud brought Buster Sword up in a wide arch catching the creature by surprise and causing blood to fly out of the narrow wound on the creatures' side.

His blue eyes narrowed Cloud tightened his grip on Buster Swords handle as he adjusted his stance to a more defensive one so he could protect the still unconscious Leon.

Mind once again focused on the battle ahead Cloud analysed his opponent. A leopard was crouched in front of him, his lips drawn back in a fearsome snarl his black claws twitching in agitation as its yellow eyes met Clouds blue ones with an uncanny intelligence.

The flexing of the leopards muscled were the only indication Cloud received as the creature leapt at him. Swinging Buster Sword up defensively Cloud felt the leopards' weight hit the flat of the blade. Face set like stone Cloud swung Buster Sword like a baseball bat sending the 70 kg animal flying like he weighed less than a feather. Cloud felt a grim satisfaction as he heard something snap when the creature land.

That satisfaction died very quickly when he heard Leon groan behind him. 'Shit! Shit!' Cloud thought as Leon stood up behind him. Cloud stared at the Leopard daring it to try and attack the still woozy Leon. The leopard looked like he was considering trying to attack or it was until it saw the look on Clouds face. Then it turned tail and ran like a new-born kitten. 'Coward' Cloud though with vindication. Turning to face Leon Cloud expected some thanks for defending Leon valiantly but instead Cloud was met with an angry glare on Leons scared face. "What?" Cloud asked, genuinely confused. Leons glare deepened as he looked at Cloud like he was scum on his shoe. "What?" Cloud repeated. "You know what." Leon snarled attempting to set Cloud on fire with the power of his eyes alone.

Realisation dawned on Cloud and he looked at Leon completely stupefied. "You're kidding." Cloud deadpanned. When Leon didn't respond Cloud sighed and changed the subject. "How does the Gummi Ship look?" Cloud asked, hoping that Leon know more than he did about the mechanics of their ship.

Leon seemed to be struggling with himself until he took a deep breath and put aside his emotions and moved to examine the damage their crash had done to the ship.

He still ignored Cloud though - it was all about the little victories.


Cloud sighed for what felt like the hundredth time as he pouted at Leon. "Leon." Cloud said, only to be ignored by the brunette in question. "Leon, don't be such a hard-ass." Cloud complained, but before he could continue Leon sliced through his complaints "You weren't complaining about my ass when you had your hands all over it earlier" Leon smirked at the stupefied look on Clouds face.

Or he was smirking until Cloud attempted to defend his honour.

By this point their voices had risen to shouts and the two were mere moments form drawing their swords and settling their dispute by spilling the others blood. It was to this scenario that Sora, Donald and Goofy found the two elder heroes.

"CLEON!" Sora yelled smiling way to enthusiastically, "Im so glad you guys are okay!" Sora, completely ignorant of the anger filling the air, ran towards the taller men and pulled Cloud into a tight hug. "Sora!" Leon attempted to keep his lingering anger towards Cloud from his voice "What did you call us?" Leon didn't thing he was succeeding with the anger thing. "Cleon." Repeated Sora like it was completely obvious "ya know, it's a combination of Cloud and Leon: Cleon." Sora looked very proud of himself.

Goofy let out an awkward cough breaking Cloud and Leons stunned silence. "Anyway… The gorillas are in trouble!" Sora seemed to remember that he was on a mission. Leon despaired silently for a moment before taking a breath and with an exhausted sigh he interrupted Sora's overexcited explanation of what they had been doing before the group had found their missing members. "Explain it on the way." Leon ordered before he picked a direction a marched onwards.


The group had passed through a campsite and some bamboo before they came to a cliff. Sora let put a gasp when he saw a man holding a gun at some gorillas, truthfully Leon was more focused on the impending stupidity. "NO!" Soar yelled, there it is Leon though cynically, Clayton turned his head to look at them allowing the gorillas to make their escape. "Clayton?" Sora asked in disbelief "Not Clayton!" Tarzan semi-explained "*&&x%! Not Clayton"

With an angry yell Clayton levelled his gun at Sora only to be forced back by a Gunblade uncomfortably close to his face. "Don't think so" snarled Leon. Taking in a breath Leon settled into an open stance before throwing himself at Clayton.

Meanwhile, now that there wasn't a danger of getting shot, Cloud and the others were able to focus on destroying the heartless that Clayton had somehow summoned.

Cloud grunted as his Buster Sword cleaved another heartless in two, spearing Leon a quick glance, Cloud refocused on the dimming throng.

Suddenly there was an explosion and with reflexes engrained deep into Clouds body he adjusted his grip on his sword just in time to break Leons fall. Around the clearing Cloud noted that the Heartless had disappeared. With a roar Tarzan ran at Clayton but was thrown back by something. Roughly shaking Leon Cloud looked on with trepidation as Clayton was raised up by an unseen force.

Swearing Leon shoved Cloud from his person. Cloud gave Leon a piercing glare but before the two could start arguing they heard a cry of pain from Sora. Reacting on instinct Leon dropped his Gunblade and threw himself in front of Sora just in time for a bullet and a tail to hit him simultaneously.

"LEON!" Cloud yelled as he scrambled over to where Leon lay crumpled in the dirt. Pulling a potion from his belt Cloud forced Leons mouth open and the potion down his throat. Cloud ignored the sounds of fighting from around him until the only thing he could hear was the faltering heartbeat in Leons chest.

Slowly, far too slowly for Clouds liking, Leons heartbeat began to get stronger and as a moan of pain fell past Leon lips Cloud felt himself relax. Or he was relaxed until he realised that his enemy was still breathing.

A glacial expression on his face Cloud turned and, picking up his Buster Sword, settled into a familiar stance. Cloud felt the familiar weight of his Buster Sword in his hand and, after letting out a breath, began to gather his strength. Holding the blade horizontally in front of him Cloud released that power in movement. Cloud and his sword where a blur: one slice, two slice, three slice, four. Sora began to lose count but he could hear it; the sound of the buster sword ripping through flesh, the coppery tang of blood in the air. And then it was over.

Clayton lay and his giant heartless lay in pieces all over the battle field. Cloud brought the Buster sword back into its holster across his back, ignoring the looks of fear that he was receiving from the others. In a flash of light a heart floated out of the pieces of the stealth sneak. Cloud moved over to Leon and started subtly cheating him over for more injuries. Wordlessly Cloud handed Leon another potion. Smiling in gratitude Leon drank half before handing it back to cloud with a wordless command of "Drink". Cloud looked like he would protest but the sight of the large gorilla walking towards them he quickly swallowed the potion. One by one they were all picked up by Kerchak and thrown over a wall. Leon landed with an off, but it was less painful than he expected. A groan sounded from beneath him and he realised he had landed on Sora. "Sorry" Leon said.

Leon looked around and was shocked by what he saw. A beautiful waterfall echoed around the cavern Tarzan had leaded them in to. There was a blue glow at the end of the tunnel. The gentle light tainted everything a soft blue and ivy grew on every surface. "*&&X%" Tarzan said slowly. "This is your home? But that means…" Tarzan held up his hand stopping Sora in his tracks. They all stopped to listen, noticing Jane and a gorilla having joined them "The waterfalls. They're echoing all the way here." She said breathlessly in awe. "*&&X%" Tarzan repeated again "Friends there. See friends." Tarzan looked oddly pleased with himself. Leon and Cloud shared confused looks, before Leon realised what he was doing and glared at Cloud. "Oh" Said Jane "now I've got it. *&&X% means heart. Friends in our hearts..." Jane looked very pleased with her translation. "Heart…" Tarzan tested the word.

"Oh" said Sora sadly "so that's what it meant." Sora looked like a kicked puppy Tarzan placed a hand on Sora's shoulder "Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No hearts no see friends. No heart, no friends." Tarzan said the last part softly. Sora turned to Donald "Sorry about what I said." Leon didn't hear Donald's response because Cloud had moved to talk to him. Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly Cloud said a confused "Sorry." Leon looked at Cloud confusedly "For earlier, what I did… and said" Cloud looked at Leon hopefully "Friends?" Leon looked at Cloud, searching his attitude for any lies "Yeah" Leon nodded smiling at Cloud.

The two were unable to continue their conversation when the soft glowing light started to get stronger. Sora walked forward to investigate the odd light. Unfortunately for Sora his loud movement caused the butterfly's that had been making the light to leave their perch and float away blinding him for a moment. When Sora could see again he noticed a keyhole. Raising the Keyblade he waited as a light produced from the end and a locking sound was heard. "What the?" asked Cloud completely befuddled. Leon ignored Clouds sputtering and moved to pick up the gummi the Keyhole had spat out. "Hey" squawked Donald, muttering under his breath when Leon smirked at him. "But it's sure not the king's." Goofy said sadly.