Chapter 4-Renunions with Old Friends and Old Worlds

Sora woke up sleepily. He heard a familiar sound in his bedroom and tried opening his eyes some more. It was completely dark so the most he could make out in his room wasn't much. All of the sudden, by his bedroom door he spotted two darkly shadowed figures. They were stealthing and whispering, obviously trying to sneak up on him. "Heartless," he whispered to himself. He quickly summoned the Keyblade and jumped out of bed.

"GOTCHA!" Sora called loudly as he rapidly turned on a light and raised the Keyblade high above his head in mid swing to attack the oncoming heartless.

"WAIT!" the heartless suddenly yelled trying to shield them-selves from the approaching blow. "Sora STOP!!!"

Sora stopped right at the last second as he processed the figures in front of him with the mention of his name. The Keyblade loomed just above their heads.

"Donald? Goofy?" Sora questioned.

"Boy that sure was a close one." Goofy said heaving a relieved sigh.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora repeated, this time ecstatically. He dropped the Keyblade and immediately went to bear hug his friends.

Donald's eyes were still spinning from the close call, the lack of oxygen from Sora's embrace not helping. "Geez, Sora. Don't you think you should ask questions first and swing later?"

Sora just laughed happily. He was glad to see the two of them again. This means the King's letter was a sure fire thing. Even if it meant he'd have to start traveling around again, he was going to be fulfilling his destiny with their trio back together again.

"I'm sooo glad to see you guys!" Sora proclaimed continuing to squeeze the life out of them.

"Us too Sora, but could you let us go please!" Donald said gasping for air.

Sora dropped them and the three continued the happy greeting.

"Man this is the best!" Sora cheered. "The three of us back together again saving the universe from the force of darkness! The almighty trio! Well…I guess since Kairi and Riku are going to join us it wouldn't really be a trio anymore since that makes two additional sides. I guess it'd be more of a pentagon…that's even cooler! All hail the almighty pentagon!"

Goofy and Donald just looked at each other.

"Well Sora, "Donald said shaking his head amused, "It's safe to say you haven't changed much."

Sora just grinned.

"Hey fellas, I think we can continue meetin back up once we find Kairi and Riku and get on the ship. Remember the King said it was important we hurry to Hollow Bastion?" Goofy just put in with an easy grin.

Sora became serious and nodded. "Alright guys, I just need a minute to grab my stuff and get dressed. Riku's house is just next to mine though. Find him then we'll go get Kairi."

Donald and Goofy agreed and before Donald magically transported them outside Sora's house he looked at Sora smiling and said, "Nice to see you again Sora."

Sora grinned wider," Same her pal."

The two of them disappeared and Sora quickly changed and grabbed the bag he had put together the night before. He was in his outfit he wore the last time because of its magical properties, which miraculously seemed to fit him well even after his recent second growth spurt. He summoned the Keyblade in his hand and beamed happily into the glittering blade. He was ready.

He jumped out his window and saw that he had caught Riku laying out in his front yard before Donald and Goofy did. Riku was on his back, looking curiously into the sky.

"Hey Riku!" Sora called out. "Guess who's here! Hey…what are you looking at?"

Riku merely pointed upward still focusing gazing at the sky. "That star."

Sora looked up. "Which one?"

"It's not there anymore. It disappeared." Riku explained intently.

Sora's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Riku nodded. "A world just went out."

"Then we really do have to hurry." Sora concurred. "Goofy and Donald are here. There looking for you then we're going to go get Kairi."

Riku nodded, already dressed by predetermination and grabbed a backpack that was by his side, getting up off his back and brushing the grass off his shirt.

Donald and Goofy suddenly appeared and Riku waved silently with a slight smile. They looked just as happy as when they had reunited with Sora and ran over to the two of them.

"Hey Riku! How's it goin?" Goofy said during his carefree clumsy run.

"Pretty good Goofy." Riku smiled. "We better get Kairi. There's another reason to hurry right now."

"What happened?" Donald asked.

"Riku was watching the sky, and he just saw a star dark out." Sora said for Riku.

Donald's eyes widened and he turned into his directive nature. "Then we cant waist time! You guys need to find Kairi now and we have to get going."

"Looking for me?" a giggly voice called out.

The four of them turned to see an approaching Kairi running down the darkened sidewalk.

She was in her usual pink dress and seemed freshly showered and widely awake. Her ocean blue eyes sparkled in excitement and her straight red hair flew behind as she ran to get closer to them faster. A large pink duffel bag was slung over her right shoulder.

"Well, that was easy." Sora chimed. "Now the gang's all here."

The group nodded and Donald directed them to the location of the gummi ship, all the while repeating the same series of greetings with Kairi as they had with Riku and Sora, not faltering in enthusiasm of course. As they approached the gummi ship Sora noticed something different about Kairi. A new piece of jewelry dangled at the end of her wrist.

"Hey Kairi what's that?" Sora said pointing out the charm.

"Oh this?" Kairi asked lifting her wrist. "It's my Thassalla shell charm. I decided to wear it as a bracelet." She grinned. "Being it's my lucky charm I thought we could use all the luck we could get. "

Sora grinned back in agreement, remembering just how important that charm had really been in the past. Maybe it really might help them in this new journey. They all got on the gummi ship and Riku and Kairi settled in the back while Sora headed straight for the captains' chair like it was second nature.

"Hold on there Sora!" Donald said halting him.

"What?" Sora asked confused. "Come on Donald, move so I can fly this thing and we can get going."

"Uh-Uh Sora," Donald vetoed. "You haven't piloted the ship in while now. I'm going to put it on auto pilot for this first journey. We don't have time to waste."

"I'm not gonna waste time!" Sora pleaded. "Come on Donald let me drive!"

"Sora I said no." Donald said his best trying to keep Sora from the cockpit.

Kairi, Riku and Goofy just watched the struggle with smirks on their faces.

"Come on Sora, just sit back here. I think we have some talking to do anyway." Kairi tried coaxing.

Sora sighed and relinquished the fight to join the others in the passenger seats. He moped until he sat next to Kairi, then he became strangely okay. Donald set the autopilot and the ship began to take off.

"See ya later Destiny Islands," Goofy waved to the now small appearing cluster of islands cheerily.

"Yeah…see ya later." Sora whispered as he gazed out the window. He knew Riku and Kairi were thinking the same thing. They had just returned to their island home, and now they were saying goodbye to it once more. It seemed too soon. They all looked at each other for some kind of comfort. Then Kairi smiled at the two of them and Sora remembered what she had told him on the beach. As long as they were together it didn't matter where they ventured. They all shared the same destiny so they might as well share it together. Sora smiled back, and Riku smirked, not immediately picking up on the reason of this silent reassurance, but developing his own answers and realization in his own mind concerning the bonds of his two close friends. The journey seemed to take a while in the beginning, it being quite calm without the usual number of Heartless ships trying to stop them. The time was passed by Riku and Kairi intensely intrigued out the window as they had never traveled to other worlds in this kind of manner, or by the five individuals sharing what each other had been up to in the time they had been separated. At some point Sora and Kairi seemed to get drowsy and nodded off on each other's shoulders. Riku was too focused to become tired. A strange sense made him keep vigilant out the window as if he were trying to keep watch for seeming. All of the sudden a far away world caught his eye, one that looked like it was being reformed. Riku went over to Sora and nudged him awake.

"Hey Sora," Riku urged.

"Huh…" Sora mumbled.

"Look at that world. Does it seem familiar to you?" Riku asked.

Sora slowly turned his head to Riku's insinuating direction. He squinted at the passing world and realized that it did look vaguely familiar. "Hey Donald," Sora called now a little more awake. "Is it possible to go closer to that world over there? I think we've been there before."

"Sora we can't stop for anything. King's orders." Donald forbids not even looking at what the others were.

"But Donald," Goofy said now looking out the window too. "I think …that's…Traverse Town!"

"What!" Donald spat out in disbelief as he now turned around to see it for himself. "But that's impossible!"

"Wasn't it lost in the darkness after the first fall of Kingdom Hearts?" Sora questioned confused. "It had only acted as a surrogate world for those whose own worlds were destroyed and they ended up there, lost from wandering the darkness."

"Remember what I saw Sora?" Riku reminded him. "If that's the case then a world must have just fallen."

Donald and Goofy stared at each other in disbelief.

"Then I think we better go check it out." Sora seemed to say gaining some determined control back.

Donald did argue and set the ship off autopilot, maneuvering to the newly reformed Traverse Town. IT was all put together, some parts were being re-sharpened and other still clouded in darkness. All of this just because of a newly fallen world waiting for it take host. Kairi stirred a little and opened her eyes, still lying on Sora's shoulder.

"What's going on?" she asked calmly.

"We're taking a slight detour." Riku informed her. "Traverse Town reformed."

"Its back?" Kairi seemed perplexed. "Why would it be back?"

"Because there are residents of a fallen world that have just been released from the darkness." Riku explained.

"Oh!" Kairi gasped in half shock and half dismay. Being a princess of heart, Kairi was sympathetic and empathetic to the plight of worlds befallen by darkness.

They approached the world and found a familiar sight to land. As they all began disboarding the ship, Sora suddenly stopped Kairi at the door.

"Hold on Kairi…" Sora said. "I think you should stay in the ship. I'm not sure but I have a feeling this might get too dangerous."

"But Sora-"Kairi protested.

"I think it's a good idea too." Riku agreed. "If there's heartless around, you haven't had as much experience as us. We just want to check things out."

Kairi merely sighed and nodded, re-entering the ship.

The rest of the four turned and found that the place seemed completely abandoned. The town area was in some what disarray but still maintained the basic set up as the last time residents had been about.

"This is sooo creepy." Sora commented, running a hand over the broken down door that had once been the Accessory Shop. "It's like a ghost town."

Riku nodded taking in the scenery while leaning against a bent up light pole.

All of the sudden they heard screams in the distance.
"What was that?!" Donald questioned alert.

"I think we better find out!" Riku called, summoning his sword into his hand.

Sora agreed silently as he called upon the Keyblade and getting into a determined battle stance.

This is where the new journey was about to begin.

The four of them ran off into the directions of the screams.

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The portal spat out Rhiara before she had a chance to think. He mind was mixed and thickened with different sensations she couldn't control. Trying to open her eyes she saw she was in an alley of some kind, in an abandoned town. Just as she had gotten any kind of wit about her, dark shadow masses began to form around her. They turned into creatures with twitching antennas and evil yellow eyes. She couldn't recall where she had seen them before. Suddenly they all started attacking at her. She ran frantically from the odd shadows until she was bombarded by several more in an open area that contained a beautiful fountain. She tripped and fell in front of it, struggling by being surrounded.

Helplessly reacting, she cowered against the fountain and put her hands in front of her face to shield herself from their attacks. All of the sudden she felt something materialize into her left hand. She opened her eyes, gazing at the strangest weapon she had ever seen. It was a blade, shaped like a giant key, if that's what you could call the schema of the design. She lifted it up to a vague source of light and tried to identify it.

"What is this thing?" she murmured.

She spent the moment wondering so much about what it was that she forgot to use it. The creature's attacks came flying at her and knocked the blade out of her hand and across the floor. She screamed again, trying to scramble for the key, but one of the shadows took a swipe at her back and another across her face. The force and over all sense of the creatures was too much and a striking blow to the back of her head knocked her unconscious.

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Riku ran down the twisted allies to try and find the source of the scream. He, Sora, Goofy and Donald decided to split up because they noticed several different ones coming from different places in Traverse Town's back Allies. Sora, Donald and Goofy were headed for the multiple ones coming from the section where the Third District was. He was headed for the solitary cry that lingered in the Second District. He approached the main area of the district and immediately began scanning the area for heartless, his blade raised high and ready. He detected a few Shadows and followed the trail to a swarm that was gathered by the fountain. He went to go destroy them until two things caught his eyes.

First, a black iron Keyblade cast in the middle of the floor of the area.

Second, the girl whom the heartless were swarming.

He reacted immediately to the girl first and slashed through the Shadow heartless to see her initial damage. There was something strange about the heartless. It was like their dark attempts to seize her hearts were strained. Like they didn't affect her. Like they were being controlled some how. He had cleared the heartless and he now saw the girl was unconscious, probably from an overwhelming of the attack. He quickly went to pick up the Keyblade, but the minute he touched it, it disappeared in his hand and reappeared near the hand of the unconscious girl. Riku stared perplexed and approached her again.

"Why does she have a Keyblade?" he thought to himself. He resolved to just carry and bring her back to the ship. Maybe the others could shed some light on it.

As he knelt beside her and went to touch her ,a wave of intense familiarity swept over him.

He went and picked her up bridal style with the odd Keyblade lying in her lap. Making his way back to the ship, he still experienced the faint sense of a recognizable presence about her. He dismissed it and focused on trying not to drop her.