Chapter 3- Dwarf Woodlands

Ventus flew through space hoping to find some clue of Terra, but the only thing Ventus ran into was another world. Hoping maybe Terra might be at this place; Ventus flew into to that world and landed on a hill next to a mine spot. Ventus heard a voice on his space glider saying 'Welcome to the Dwarf Woodlands' before disappearing along with his armor, only Ventus's Keyblade remained now. Ventus was about to go off to search for his friend when he heard many footsteps and humming noises behind him. Ventus turned around to see 7 dwarves marching to the mine entrance. They each had a pickaxe in hand and were humming a tune together.

"Wow," Ventus whispered as a huge grin grew on his face. Ventus watched them, first with surprise then amazement. After Ventus watched them enter and disappear from his sight, Ventus stood there wondering what he should do. Deciding, he ran into the mine after the dwarves.

He walked into the cave as light from all the different gems caught his eyes. He looked at the gems distracted and then looked around for the dwarves. He saw them working and watched them till a dwarf turned from his work and looked shocked at him.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"I'm Ventus," Ventus replied. "But call me Ven."

"A diamond thief!" A different dwarf accused. "Take cover, ya fools!"

Most of them took cover deeper within the mine. To do that they went up some stairs that lead to two large rocks. The two dwarves that first spoke to him hid behind those two boulders. One dwarf however ran around till he hit one of the cave walls hard. The pickaxe he dropped had the name 'Dopey' engraved on it. Ventus was confused and hurt, he gasped as he tried to figure out what happened.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," Ventus yelled hoping they would hear. They did, and soon enough they were all gathered next to the two boulders, all of the dwarves except for Dopey who was still on the floor with a big grin on his face.

"You didn't?" the dwarf in the front asked. He was a little more round than the rest with bushy white eyebrows and a beard similar to the first who spoke to Ventus.

"Oh," yawned another dwarf with a blue gray cap and a tan shirt. "So, you're not here for our diamonds?"

"That's not nice," Ventus said finally understanding what happened. "Treating me like I am some kind of bad guy. I'm just trying to find a friend. His name is Terra. He's dressed kinda like me, about ya tall-"

"Sounds like a tall tale to me!" Yelled the same dwarf who accused him of being a diamond thief. He was dressed in a red shirt and a brown cap. "Go on, git!"

"We don't know any Terra" said yet another dwarf. Ventus sighed.

"Please… Could you come over here? I just wanna talk." Ventus begged.

"Don't fall for it!" The dwarf yelled. "Stay where ya are!" Ventus crossed his arms tired of this game they were playing.

"Alright, then we'll do this the hard way!" Ventus ran toward them and they ran off to hide. When Ventus entered the next part of the mine he walked toward the left then scanned the room. There was a cart that ran around on two tracks. Ventus looked closer and he could see the top of a cap. Ventus ran over and with some effort (but not much since it was only half the size of him). Ventus stopped the small cart and looked the dwarf in the eyes and smiled. But Ventus had shocked the poor dwarf.

"Oh gosh" said the dwarf, he looked nervous as shuffled his feet and played with his hands. He did not look Ventus in the eye or say anything else. Ventus decided to make the first move.

"What's your name?" Ventus asked the dwarf. The dwarf looked at him and swayed a little.

"Bashful," he whispered.

"That's a nice name" Ventus replied. Bashful said nothing else as he stared at the ground. After a long awkward silence, Ventus left Bashful in hopes to find the others. Ventus found another dwarf nearby hiding in a box. He lifted it up a little and looked in.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Ventus called out.

"What do you want?" Asked the voice slightly ticked.

"I just want to know your name," Ventus answered.

"Happy," replied the dwarf. Happy crawled out the box and looked at Ventus. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for a friend, he left home a while ago and I was worried." Ventus replied. He looked at the dwarf sincerely.

"You sure seem nice," Happy told Ventus. "I wish we could help ya" Ventus nodded then left. Ventus walked along till he heard something yelp. Ventus looked toward the direction of the voice and saw a box running away from him. Ventus ran after the box and eventually managed to stop it. Ventus lifted it up to reveal an upset dwarf.

"I'm sorry if I upset you" Ventus apologized. The dwarf got up and looked at him crossed.

"We haven't met any Merra- uh, Terra." The dwarf scolded. "And we'd know if a stranger was around." He added before turning around and stomping away.

"Can I at least get your name!" Ventus shouted after him.

"Doc!" He yelled back without turning around. Ventus decided it best not to pursue after Doc, so he went back to looking for the rest of the dwarves. Ventus walked along a tunnel like path to find another box. Ventus lifted the box and found a sleeping dwarf. The dwarf yawned as he got up and stretched. The dwarf then scratched his stomach and looked up at Ventus with half opened eyes.

"Is it morning already?" The dwarf asked Ventus. Ventus gave a laugh at this.

"It's afternoon and you're in the mines. Let me guess, you are…" Ventus stood in a thinking pose as he looked at the tired dwarf. 'If each of the dwarf's names is based off who they are then he must be…' "Sleepy?" Ventus guessed looking at the dwarf. The dwarf nodded sleepily at Ventus then stumbled off. Ventus kept walking forward and found another dwarf blasted out of his hiding spot by a sneeze. Ventus ran over and helped him to his feet.

"My hay fever! I gotta… I gotta… Hold on… Hold on… Careful… Carefu-"When he was interrupted by a huge sneeze, but Ventus had a hold on him so he didn't go anywhere. The dwarf looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks," the dwarf told him before adding his name. "Sneezy." Ventus smiled then heard a box crash behind him. He turned around quickly to see a very mad dwarf kicking the pieces of the wooden box. Ventus ran over to see if he could help. The dwarf turned around quickly and growled a warning at him.

"I'm warnin' ya- keep your paws off our diamonds! I'll be watchin'!" 'Maybe Meanie?' Ventus thought.

Ventus decided to look around one more time to make sure he didn't miss anyone. He didn't see anyone he missed, to his surprise actually he didn't see any of the dwarves he just encountered either. Puzzled, he walked to the entrance to see all of them gathered in the center. He walked up to them as they all looked at him with accusing glances.

"Come on." Ventus pleaded with them. "I'm telling you, I'm no thief."

"Ha, that's what they all say!" Meanie yelled pointing a finger at him. "Well, we're onto ya!"

"Fine, I get." Ventus said hurt. "You want me to leave, I'll leave." Ventus started to walk out when he got an idea.

"But, can you tell me where I can find some other people around here?" Ventus asked.

"There's a castle beyond the chorus- I mean the forest." Doc explained. Ventus nodded.

"Got it. Well, thanks." Ventus walked out of the cave and away from the mining area. 'Or perhaps Grumpy, not Meanie,' thought Ventus before reaching the corner of the forest.