Well, I was working exceptionally fast today, so I'll be kind and post up Chapter 6! Not gonna say anything more, enjoy the chapter!

"Kyaah!"

Kairi fell back on her behind, crying out in pain. True Heart glimmered in the sunlight as she pulled herself upright, glaring at the tall man who had easily sent her flying with a casual flick of the sword he was holding.

It was the first time she had been brought outside her room, but that was mostly her fault: her stubborn-ness and anger at being captured blinding her to the obvious fact that her room was unlocked. She had been startled by the awesome beauty that had met her eyes as soon as she stepped outside; her room lacked windows except for the one that overlooked Radiant Garden. Flowers of every variety bloomed in the dazzling sun, and the light patter of paws could be heard as small rabbits darted everywhere. A large tree in the middle of the yard provided both shelter from the sun and the added temptation of heavy fruit that hung from its burdened boughs.

But Kairi didn't have time to think about the beauty of the place anymore. For her, it was now a training facility and arena, where Kurai would take her and they would both put in countless hours of training. Or at least, that was the way Kurai put it.

Kurai motioned her over. "Kairi, ya gotta learn how to relax. If you're all stiff, the slightest contact with your keyblade will ring through your body. Not fun if the contact is a hard one. Relax, don't grip it tightly. Hold onto it, but be ready to tighten it in a second's moment. Ready?"

Kairi nodded, fierce determination on her face. Her grip tightened involuntarily around the grip of her keyblade, but she forced it to relax. Relax… She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, the tight lines on her face loosening, and she managed to calm herself down. Her heart slowed down from the erratic beating it had been doing when she was sent flying through the air, and a sense of peace came over her. She opened her eyes and nodded again, this time with conviction.

She almost didn't see it coming, a slight movement of his left hand which drew her eyes over there, then a lightning fast strike from the sword in his right. With a sense of detachment, she felt her arm rise to meet the blow, then at the last moment, she remembered, and loosened her grip.

The two blades made contact, the keyblade flying back, but Kairi wasn't sent flying back. In fact, just by leaning her body away from the blow, the loosening of her grip allowed the keyblade to recoil into air before it hit her skin on the other side, lessening the force of the blow.

Kurai stopped the attack with carefully controlled force, sheathing his blade in the scabbard that hung at his waist, tucked into the sash that tied his clothes together. "That's the way Kairi. Do that enough and it'll soon become automatic. That way, those Heartless will first have to find a way to break your mental concentration. Speaking of which, I need to train you in that area as well…"

He lapsed into silence, his brow furrowed. Then he looked back up at Kairi. "Well, I suppose that's it for today. Not bad. The first few days are always the hardest. We'll have you brushing aside Heartless like flies in no time."

Suddenly, the sound of a clarion burst through the yard. Kurai's eyes opened wide, then he threw himself at Kairi, knocking her to the ground. She screamed, then suddenly stopped as she felt a dull thump on Kurai's back. Her eyes were closed shut, but she opened them when she felt some liquid on her fingers. To her horror, blood was soaking them, as the man on her bled freely.

"Kurai!" she screamed.

"Relax kid, I've been through worse." His voice scared her. What was he?

Kurai stood up, reaching behind him and pulling out a short throwing spear that was embedded in his back. He looked at it for a second, scoffed, then destroyed it by tightening his fist around it. His wound bled, then stopped and closed over as a white light appeared around it.

Kairi gasped. His eyes were devoid of all the humour that it usually had, and the silver had turned a bright golden colour. The sight of those narrow black irises scared her more than she thought possible: This wasn't the same man who had trained her and helped her, who had probably saved her life by taking the spear in her stead. This was someone to be feared, to be respected, a mighty warrior who could kill her with a look.

A roar from behind him made her glance past his shoulder, and her eyes widened when she saw a horde of Heartless-like creatures, similar to the ones that had been allied with the Heartless and Nobodies in the raid on Radian Garden. The holes in the middle of their chests seemed to mock the fact that they had no hearts, while their leering white masks sneered at them.

"Kairi, get inside. This is going to get messy." Kurai's eyes were fixed on the Heartless-like creatures. "Now."

"Kurai, what are they?" she whispered.

"They're called Hollows. They seek out the souls of the dead to feast on. Now get inside." His reply was curt, his amber eyes flashing. "Take this with you." He handed her the katana that had been tucked into his sash.

"Wha…? How 'bout you? I wanna fight too!" she answered indignantly, refusing to take it. She gulped when Kurai's golden eyes turned to meet her blue ones, although he didn't say anything. "Alright, alright." She grabbed it, then made a dash for the door.

The screech of one of the Hollows rang through the air, and she felt a shadow being cast over her. Scared, she looked over her shoulder, screaming as one of the ugly creatures came plummeting towards her on out-stretched wings. Suddenly, one of the wings started to drop off, followed immediately by the other. Kairi, glancing back at Kurai, wondered why he was in the exact same position he had been in when he had ordered her to run away. Then she saw a slight flicker in his body.

She thought she was imagining it, but looking closely, she saw that sometimes, all she had to do was blink, and Kurai would disappear and reappear, all in the same moment. Looking at the Hollows that had ambushed them, she saw that they too were stationary, not even moving, blood spurting out of holes that suddenly appeared in their bodies. Hang on… Not moving?

With a sudden gasp, she realized the awesome power of the man who was training her. Looking closely without blinking, she could see a slight silhouette moving between the Hollows and Kurai's body. Something clicked in her mind. This was speed at its highest. Kurai was moving so fast between his current position and the Hollows that his body hadn't even shifted before he was back, therefore there was no need for it to move. His speed was such that the Hollows had no time to react, and their bodies needed time to even register that they were dead.

A slight glint and a shimmering in the air made her narrow her eyes so she could see more clearly in the glare of the sun. Again she was surprised. In Kurai's hand was a magnificent sword, thing and long, slightly shorter than the one she had seen Sephiroth use, but still longer than even Fenrir, Sora's keyblade. It was completely black, including the hilt, which was shaped into a pair of wings. Blood was everywhere, soaking the grass and Kurai's clothes, yet the blade remained oddly free of filth.

Wings? Again the name of this warrior flashed through her mind. Kurai Tenshi. Black Angel.

Angel.

'He really isn't human…' was the only thought that remained now. Suddenly more fearful than she had ever felt before in her life, even including when Kurai had took the spear for her, even when she had been taken away, even when Sora had sacrificed himself, becoming a Heartless to save her, even when Axel had taken her to the World That Never Was, she sought to escape.

She turned and ran again, stumbling up the steps and pushing the door open, then turning around and closing it, slumping down into a tired heap once it was closed. Tears rolled down her face, she no longer tried to stop them. Behind the doors, she heard the unearthly screams of the Hollows a Kurai methodically destroyed them.

'Sora, where are you?! Please! Come take me away!'

As Sora showed Tifa the feather that had been stuck into the ground, she took it eagerly in her hands, inspecting it carefully. After a long while, her face fell. Shaking her head, she handed it back to Sora.

"It's not him. Neither Cloud, nor Sephiroth." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Sora. If it were any of the two, I could track them. But this... Neither Cloud's darkness nor Sephiroth's comes close to matching this one." She shuddered. "It's not that it's evil, it's just… the darkness flowing from it… It's so… complete. So utterly black."

Riku glanced at her, then went over to take the feather from Sora. "It feels… comfortable." He said with a slight smirk. Suddenly his eyes opened wide. "Kairi!" he yelled.

Sora spun around from where he was gazing into the sky where Kairi had disappeared to. "What?! Where?!"

Tifa looked up as well, ready to help Sora and Riku to try and compensate for her own loss. "Where is she? How did you find out?"

"I… I don't know. I just… felt her, if you know what I mean. Kinda like how you can feel Cloud and Sephiroth…" Riku replied.

The sound of footsteps running from behind them prompt a quick morph into Valour form from Sora, and as the two people ran out from behind the corner they had just turned, they almost ran straight into the Oathkeeper, with the Oblivion ready to impale them should they trip.

"Whoa there Sora! Careful with those things!" The voice was familiar, as was the face that grinned up at him from below the white keyblade.

"Yuffie! Why are you here? You were supposed to be about a day's journey from here!" His confusion momentarily made him forgot about Riku's feeling.

Yuffie scoffed, Leon behind her walking straight up to Riku. But it was still Leon who replied. "Don't be stupid. If we were a day's journey behind you, we'd never have been able to come in time should anything happen, as something apparently has." The mercenary turned to Riku. "What is it? Have you found her?"

Riku shook his head, dark eyes downcast. "I don't know exactly where she is. But I get a sort of sense, like she's somewhere. At the very least, I know she's alive!" His eyes lit up for the first time in the past four days, silver depths swirling.

Sora nodded, reverting out of Valour form. "What are we waiting for? Riku, can you track her?"

Riku nodded once, his eyes closed again as he concentrated. "It's faint, but I think I can…" he opened his eyes and glanced up, pointing at the top of the fissure where it levelled out into a plateau that went on as far as the eye could see. "We've got to get up there."

Silver light erupted around them as Sora morphed into Final Form. Yuffie needed no help, ninja speed and skill letting her scale it while doing acrobatics all the way. Leon, being an experienced mercenary, needed even less help then Yuffie, for all that she was faster. Hand over hand, he climbed up the fissure wall, finding hand and footholds in the sheer rock cliff that few others could've found.

Tifa followed in his wake, sometimes punching open new handholds or footholds whenever her progress was halted, making Sora wince. Riku clasped Sora's hand, and with a mighty bound, assisted by the Final Form, they leapt right onto the top of the cliff, where Sora reverted back out of the mighty form. It didn't take that long before Leon leapt up to join them, and by then Riku had already established a route.

"That way. I think that's North." Riku pointed as Leon came up to them. He glanced up at the sky, noting the position of the sun, then down at the shadows their bodies cast, trying to determine their position.

Leon nodded. "I think so too. But it doesn't matter, does it?"

Sora nodded, his face set. "It doesn't matter one bit. S'long as Kairi's there, I don't care which direction is which."

Riku nodded as well, clasping his friend's shoulder. "We'll get her back. For sure."

The small party glanced at each other, nodded once, then set off, their destination marked by Riku, who kept them on the right track. The endless plateau seemed to mock them, throwing up obstacles that would've thrown them off course before long had Riku's connection with the feather not grown stronger the further they walked.

Yuffie's continuous complaints gradually dwindled as they walked, saving her energy for the ponderous task of putting one foot before the other. Riku was growing tired as well, his frequent stops to search for Kairi draining his energy. Tifa was hunched, her long black hair swinging forward to shield her face from the sun. Even Leon, the hardened mercenary, was beginning to show signs of fatigue. Sora was the only one who resembled anything like alert, his eyes scanning the area for signs of ambush. Suddenly he stopped, turning around to face his friends.

"Guys, we can't continue this for much longer. C'mon, gather around." His voice was hoarse, parched from the sun. Too tired to protest or wonder, the party gathered together. Standing in the middle of them Sora summoned Oathkeeper, the silver keyblade sparkling in the sun.

At the last moment, Riku realized what his friend was going to do. "Wait! Sora! Using magic will drain you too!"

However, Sora just smiled and shook his head. "Blizzaga!"

A cold breeze sprang to life around them, the most powerful ice magic Sora knew working on the very atmosphere. Blocks of ice formed around their feet, melting as soon as they touch the ground, but the Blizzaga spell instantly refroze the water that was seeping into the dry earth.

The whole party were feeling the effects, but it was Riku, in his newly refreshed state, that caught the swaying of Sora. With reflexes born of years of fighting Heartless, he managed to catch Sora before he fell to the ground. "Idiot! I told you not to!"

Sora, slipping in and out of consciousness, could barely make out his words, but he managed to respond right before he lapsed into complete darkness.

"I lost Kairi. Not you too."

Riku clenched his fist.

"Idiot."

Suddenly, Leon lifted one arm and pointed, just as Riku used a Hi-Potion on Sora, which revived him somewhat, although he was still unsteady on his feet. "Guys, what's that?"

Riku looked in the direction that Leon was pointing, and saw the castle in the distance just as the feather he had taken to wearing around his neck on a piece of string gave a throb, and starting to glow with an odd purple hue.

"She's there."

Just as he said those words, a massive beam of black light erupted upwards from the centre of the distant dwelling. The wind changed direction, and started to blow from the building towards them. Screams were carried on the wind, still holding the strange resonance that they had heard before only once in their life: In the field around Radiant Garden.

A blast of silver light blew up around them, and Sora stood up a little shakily, the power of Final Form infusing him. Leon drew his gunblade, Lionheart gleaming in the refracting light off the ice blocks. Yuffie's massive Conformer shuriken hummed as it whirled and spun through the air. Tifa pulled on the Premium Heart, her specialized gloves that enabled her to reduce rock to dust in one punch, while Way to the Dawn summoned its own brand of dark light.

Sora raised one hand, the power of Final Form summoning a wind up beneath their feet, lifting them up and sending them flying towards the castle at a speed greater than they could have walked even if they had been fresh.

As they drew outside the walls of the medieval home, they surprised a pack of Nobodies. Yuffie leapt in, the Conformer slicing a graceful yet deadly swathe through the unaware Nobodies before pandemonium erupted. Tifa told the Sora, Riku and Leon to stay back and conserve the strength, then joined in the fray. The two females soon left nothing behind them, grinding the theory that girls can't fight into dust as the Nobodies dissolved into thin air. Finishing off the last one, they turned and slapped each other a high five, before looking at Leon.

He obliged, raising his gunblade into the air. Imbedding all his resolve into it, the blade blossomed from its normal steel-like form into the bright blue moon-light blade, extending the range of the blade by a good metre or two. Stepping forward, Leon effortlessly hefted Lionheart into the air. Glancing at Sora and Riku, who nodded, he brought it crashing down, smashing through the thick stone wall and parting it as though it were made of paper.

Sora and Riku immediately leapt in, keyblades at the ready. But they were met with no resistance, a final shriek greeting their entrance. As the smoke cleared away, Sora's eyes opened wide. In front of him was a man, tall and strong, with a pure black blade in his hand, who was just finishing off the last of the Hollows. But it wasn't the silver hair or the height of the man who made Sora's blood start to boil. It wasn't even the solid onyx blade or the golden eyes. It was the two black wings that sprouted from his back.

I kept wondering whether to make it all into one chapter or split it into two. I decided it would work as one chapter, so this is what you see before you. If you pay careful attention to Kurai, you'll notice that I based some of his powers of the infamous Battousai from Rurouni Kenshin. Just in case you think I'm plagarising. " Please review!