Chapter 4
Maybe your heart desires… power?
Reno had landed his helicopter just outside the white forest, the group then trekked into the forest, Cloud led the group, followed by Zack, then Sora and Roxas and at the back was Reno,
"Is everyone ok?" Cloud asked, the group nodded, cloud peered over his shoulder,
"Well keep an eye out" he stated the group then huddled tighter. They travelled long into the night, vision was almost impossible if it weren't for the tree's heavenly glow, Sora gazed around his Keyblade in hand, he didn't feel right, there was something hanging in the air that made him feel on edge, Roxas noticed this,
"What's up Sora?" he asked quietly, Sora looked at him with uneasy eyes,
"I don't know I feel weird" Sora said, Cloud turned his head,
"What's that?" he asked, the two teens looked at him,
"Something doesn't feel right" Sora stated, Cloud nodded,
"What should we do?" Zack asked,
"We separate and search" Cloud said, Reno's eyes widened slightly,
"Ok then, so how do we notify each other if we find the hunters?" Reno asked, Cloud looked at him, he then checked his phone,
"Hmm no signal, well then we'll have to use whatever we have" Cloud said, the group nodded, and then went their separate ways, Sora was more reluctant then the others so remained in his spot for a few minutes,
"I don't like this at all" he told himself, he took a breath and slowly walked onwards. Roxas ventured on, his two Keyblade weapons ready for any possible attack, his sky, blue eyes shifted to any movement, a dark shadow passed his vision at the corner of his eye,
"What was that?" he questioned as he spun round, slight fear struck him as he peered through the tree's, he relaxed a little and continued on his way.
"This is so not cool yo!" Reno scorned himself, he tapped his weapon upon his shoulder (An: I don't know what Reno's weapon is called sorry, it's some sort of steel bat/rod thing) he coolly looked around a small smile on his face.
"I bet Reno is having so much fun" Zack chuckled, he knew the red head too well, and knew well enough that he wouldn't be having fun at the moment, ever since Rude left, Reno has been less adventurous, Zack shrugged as he spun his sword a couple of times before resting it on his shoulder.
"Too much occurs in this place" Cloud told himself as he wandered through the trees, visions of him fighting against Kadaj and his gang flashed before him, followed by Aerith being submerged in the lake, Cloud shook his head,
"Now isn't the time to be thinking about that" he told himself, he placed his huge sword in his right hand and continued to walk.
Sora continued on his way through the forest of white, his eyes gleamed as he stared up into the dark sky above; the stars twinkled above him,
"I guess it's kind of pretty here" he said to himself, suddenly a wave of energy coursed through Sora's body which made his hair stand up on end, a dark fear grew in Sora's heart,
"What's going on?" he asked, looking around he could find nothing, feeling a little constricted by his surroundings, Sora lifted his Keyblade slightly in a defensive mode,
"Who's there?!" he called, receiving nothing Sora cautiously edged further. Moments later he ended up at a lake, at the other side there was a huge, shell like palace,
"Whoa" he gasped at the sight,
"Well what do we have here?" a male voice sniggered, Sora swiftly turned to come face to face with a tall, well-built man, Sora raised his weapon in an attack stance,
"Oh… you're the Keyblade master" the man spoke, a sly smile appeared on his lips, Sora edged away but kept his weapon high, the man chuckled lightly,
"Don't be afraid boy" the man said as he advanced upon Sora,
"Get back" he growled as he swung his Keyblade as a warning, the man backed off from him,
"Now take it easy son, I don't want any trouble" the man said, Sora lowered his blade slightly, the man's smile grew,
"Good boy" he said, suddenly the man brought up his hand, Sora raised his blade once more, a blue light emitted from the man's hand, something wet formed at the bottom of Sora's feet, he gazed down to see a puddle of water rippling underneath him,
"What the…" Sora said, then in one quick burst, the water exploded and started to swirl around Sora, fear was evident in his eyes as the water formed a sphere around him, however he could still breathe, the sphere was hollow, there was no water actually inside, the man laughed at this,
"Don't look so confused, it will fill with water soon, but don't panic…" he said as he saw Sora's eye widen,
"You'll still be alive, until I say other wise," he said, and then with another flick of his wrist, the water sphere started to rotate around Sora, whilst it did this a calming light formed, then what sounded like a prayer began to play in Sora's mind,
"Trust the water, don't be afraid,
Allow it to hold you,
Your body is safe, submit to the water,
Don't fight it, Close your eyes,
Sleep…" the words spun in Sora's mind, his eyes began to become heavy, his breathing slowed, his mind became numb,
"Must stay…awake…uhn" he groaned as darkness filled his vision, he eyes closed as he drifted into sleeps embrace, water then began to fill the sphere, his breathing had now become almost still, the water was giving him oxygen,
"What a handsome face" Boss said as he placed a hand upon the sphere's surface, (An: ok now this is where your memory kicks in hopefully, remember in KH2, Sora seems to be floating up right, so vertically, like standing but not ok)
"Shame really…but I need you to lure in my main prize" he chuckled slightly, he then removed his hand and pointed it towards the lake, the water sphere then hovered over the centre of the lake,
"All I have to do now is wait" Boss said as he went back to his camp. He returned to find his men still asleep, he growled a little at this,
"Get up you mongrels" he said, the men shifted but still did not awaken,
"I SAID GET UP!" he yelled, the men shot up and stood before Boss,
"Yes Boss?" the men chorused,
"I need all of you to go into the woods and lure in the ex-soldiers and their friends," he said, the men looked at each other,
"How do we do that Boss?" one man asked, Boss looked at them,
"Use your imagination" he simply said as he walked of, the men stood there gob smacked,
"Ok then lets get on with it" another man said, the men nodded and headed of in their many directions.
"I wonder how Sora and the others are doing." Roxas said out loud, he then looked up to the sky, he continued walking forwards but the stars didn't seem to move with him, he looked down to see a dark figure in front of him,
"Hello" he said, the figure didn't respond, a sense of uneasiness was in the air, Roxas lifted his weapons up lightly,
"Maybe a heartless?" he asked himself quietly, the figure then turned and ran,
"Hey wait!" Roxas called after it, he then went after the figure. Else where Reno, Cloud and Zack were all chasing after their own mysterious figures,
"Damn it you get back here Yo!" Reno yelled as he frustratingly threw a rock at the running figure, the figure continued to run, Reno growled in his throat as he ran faster. Cloud had gained some distance on his escapee; however they were still out of his reach as he swung his sword at them. Zack had grown impatient a long time ago, Zack leapt from tree to tree,
"Gotcha now!" he cried as he landed in front of the retreating menace, the figure stopped in front of him,
"Ooh you are good" the figure cooed, Zack sighed,
"Alright mate, where do you think you're going?" he asked, the male chuckled a little
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" he asked as he pointed behind Zack, he turned to see three other men running towards him, he quickly raised his sword as the men came closer,
"I said wait!" a voice yelled suddenly a bright light struck one of the men down,
"Roxas…" Zack said, and sure enough Roxas stood there panting, the two remaining figures had stopped dead in their tracks as they watched their comrade fall, one of the men were knocked out by Reno's banter (rod thingy), and the last of the three was forced to the ground by Cloud's sword,
"Glad you could drop in" Zack sighed, the trio shrugged, Roxas looked around,
"Where's Sora?" he asked, Zack stared at him,
"I don't know…guys?" he asked, Cloud shook his head,
"I haven't seen him" Reno replied, the male behind Zack chuckled loudly; Zack turned to him and grabbed him by the collar,
"What's so funny" he asked,
"He's probably dead" the man cried, Zack growled as he shoved the man against a tree,
"Where is he?" he growled out, the man looked at him,
"At the lake, Boss has him… maybe dead already" he sniggered, Zack brought his sword to the mans throat,
"Listen you, I'm not in the mood for this, you'll take us to this Boss of yours, got it!" Zack said through gritted teeth, the man nodded, Zack then dropped the man, he fell to his knees and quickly scrambled to his feet,
"Follow me then" he said as he walked in front of the group, they followed him uneasily, fear of what has happened to Sora sinking in their hearts,
"Do you think he's ok?" Reno asked, Cloud looked at him, uncertainty evident in his eyes,
"I'm not sure" he replied, Roxas was in panic mode, his heart raced, his blood pumping around his body, sweat had now began to form on his brow,
"Hey calm down" Zack cooed, Roxas quickly looked up at him; Zack's eyes looked tenderly at him,
"He'll be fine" he added, Roxas nodded. Moments later the man had led them to the life stream lake,
"Now what?" Cloud sighed as he gazed around him; the gang all looked around when something caught their eyes,
"What's that?" Reno asked as he pointed towards the middle of the lake, Roxas's eyes widened in shock,
"No…" he said, in the centre of the lake hovered a sphere of water, within it was a figure,
"SORA!" Roxas cried as he ran to the lake, Zack quickly grabbed his arm,
"No it could be a trap" he said, Roxas struggled in his grip,
"Let me go Zack!" Roxas yelled, suddenly a chill filled the air, the atmosphere became tense,
"Stay close" Cloud whispered, the gang shuffled together
"Well, the whole gangs arrived" a voice called, then from out of nowhere Boss appeared before the group,
"It was so nice of you to finally join us" he said, a small smile curled on his lips,
"Let Sora go" Roxas snarled, Boss looked at him amusedly,
"Oh I don't think so… you see I need him for my hunt" he said, Reno looked at him quizzically,
"You have all of us, you can let him go now" he said, Boss chuckled slightly,
"It's not you I'm after you dolt" he said, Reno bared his teeth, once again the atmosphere changed, the wind picked up and a more eerie feeling filled the air,
"Here's my prize" Boss whispered, he then turned towards Sora,
"If you want to rescue him, come and get him!" he called, then with a quick movement of the hand, the sphere cracked at Sora fell into the waters depths,
"SORA NO!" Roxas yelled, images of his dream flashed before his eyes, a low howl filled the air and broke Roxas's thoughts, then a huge 6 foot wolf burst through the forest of white, and leapt into the water,
"What was that?!" Reno yelled,
"A wolf duh?" Roxas sighed; Reno knocked him round the head gently,
"Excellent she's here" Boss sneered as he watched the last of the ripples in the water disappear.
The wolf surged through the water, its mighty paws forced their way through, it's eyes burnt through the darkness,
"I'm close, I can feel it" it thought to itself,
"Come on show me the power" it said, suddenly a bright light shone before it, and a dark figure floated before it,
"There" it sighed as it grabbed the unconscious Sora in its jaws.
"What's taking it so long?" Roxas asked, the gang just continued to stare at the water,
"She'll emerge, after all she is the forest Guardian" Boss stated, the gang looked at him quizzically,
"I've never heard of a forest Guardian" Cloud stated, Zack nodded in agreement, Boss chuckled slightly,
"Well, you won't ever again, after I capture her" Boss said,
"Oh really?" a voice called, bursting from the water was the white wolf, Sora upon her back, still unconscious,
"What makes you think that I'm so easy to capture…human?" the wolf asked,
"This…" Boss hissed as he muttered a verse under his breath, water formed in jagged waves and descended upon the duo, the wolf merely rolled her eyes,
"I see… you can only control the element of water" she stated, Boss growled,
"That's all I need for your Hyde!" Boss yelled, a burst of energy flared out from his right hand, the jagged water then descend at quick pace onto the wolf and Sora,
"Foolish human" the wolf calmly said, suddenly little droplets of water formed around the wolf, she gave a quick grunt which sent the water droplets towards Boss,
"Heh, you're the ones who's foolish" Boss chuckled, the wolf smiled slightly, confusion grew on Boss's face, the water quickly then turned into razor sharp icicles, Boss's eyes widened in surprise,
"Whoa it turned to ice so suddenly!" Roxas called,
"That's only frozen water, I still have control!" Boss stated, the wolf's eyes were closed, but she remained calm,
"can you control this?" she asked, opening her eyes she snarled, the ice shards started to steam, then suddenly they burst into flames, which collected to form a huge inferno of fire,
"Fire!" Boss yelled as he attempted to form a water barricade, but the fire burnt through and struck Boss. Steam clouded over the lake, the wolf remained in the centre of the lake, Sora still unconscious upon her back,
"I can't see a thing!" Reno cried, at this Wolf sighed and then she took a deep breath and gently blew it out, the steam then vanished, leaving scorched trees in her wake,
"Whoa the steam has gone!" Roxas said, he looked towards the lake to see that the wolf was walking the other way,
"Hey come back with Sora!" he yelled, the wolf continued on her way, Roxas sprinted around the lake, the wolf angered by this slightly summoned a wall of fire to block him away from her,
"No give Sora back" he cried, the fire wall disappeared to reveal nothing, the wolf, and Sora had vanished.
Roxas and the gang had searched for any traces of Sora or the wolf for about two hours, and nothing led them any closer to finding any of them, Roxas had become very stressed with the lack of information,
"They can't have just disappeared!" Roxas yelled unexpectedly, causing every one to jump slightly,
"Calm down Roxas, we'll find them" Cloud said, he gently placed a comforting hand upon Roxas's shoulder which shuddered slightly, he turned to show tears streaming down his face,
"I couldn't do anything to save him" he sobbed, Cloud frowned slightly he then turned to Zack with a pleading look in his eyes, Zack sighed slightly, he looked around quickly, it had gotten too dark to continue their search, even though the tree's themselves could provide light, the gang was exhausted,
"Let's rest for a while" he simply said, Reno nodded, but glanced at Cloud quizzically, Roxas was still sobbing,
"Come on we need our strength if we're going to find Sora" Cloud stated, Roxas nodded tiredly as he looked for a place to sleep, the gang smiled as they settled down and drifted to sleep.
Sora woke to the found of rippling water, his eyes fluttered open to see a bright light from above, he raised his hand in front of his face to block out the light,
"Am I dead?" he asked himself, his eyes adjusted to the light, but still all he saw was white,
"No silly, you're in the forgotten palace" a female voice spoke, Sora turned his head slightly to see a young woman kneeling next to him, she was wearing a fur pelt like skirt, armour adorned her torso, but fur could be seen underneath, for comfort, fur padding covered her shoulders, fur also covered her lower legs which seemed to be strapped on with leather, her hair was short, silver, her fringe covered her right side of her face, golden eyes seeped through the silver strands, she looked like a warrior of some kind, but she was beautiful,
"What's your name?" Sora asked, the woman stared down at him a small smile graced her lips,
"Ciara, I took the liberty of changing your clothes, the ones before are soaked" she said calmly, Sora's face turned pale, he looked down to indeed see that he now wore different clothes, he stood as he examined himself,
"Here use this" Ciara stated as she raised her hand, a silver light emitted from it, water formed out of no where and formed a oval like shape in front of him, suddenly it turned to ice effectively forming a mirror,
"Wow" Sora simply said as he gazed in the mirror, he was now wearing a tight, muscle t-shirt, which was black, black baggy jeans, a studded belt surrounded his waist, chains adorned the rim of the jeans, he wore fingerless, black gloves, and he was now wearing a black choker, he still had his original necklace on, he had to admit he looked damn cool in it,
"So what do you think?" Ciara asked, Sora looked at her with a great big grin on his face,
"It's awesome!" he yelled, Ciara smiled at him, Sora looked at himself in the mirror again, his smile slightly lessened,
"What's wrong?" Ciara asked, her voice filled with concern, Sora turned his gaze to the floor,
"I was just thinking about my friends" he stated, Ciara bit her lip slightly, she then rose to her feet and walked over to him,
"I can take you to them" she said, Sora quickly lifted his head,
"Really?" he asked, Ciara nodded, Sora smiled brightly at her,
"How?" he asked her, Ciara chuckled at him,
"Why, the way we got here" she said, Sora frowned slightly at her, he crossed his arms over his chest in confusion,
"How did we get here?" he asked slowly, Ciara stepped away from him, a silver light emitted from her body, suddenly flames roared around her, engulfing her in a spiral of fire,
"Ciara!" Sora yelled, he raised his hand up to his face for protection against the heat, the flames then dispersed leaving a white wolf in their wake, the wolf stared at Sora with kind eyes,
"Don't be afraid, Keyblade wielder" the wolf growled, Sora slowly lowered his hand,
"Ciara…is that you?" Sora asked as he stepped towards the wolf, the wolf nodded,
"Come, we must find your friends" Ciara said, Sora nodded as he leapt on the wolf's strong back, she growled lightly and then ran of into the forest.