Dream Waltz, a Kingdom Hearts fanwork: Drabble challenge by HawkRider, written by Raberba girl
Save (Theme 9)
*ROUGH DRAFT
Summary: Terra and Ventus have different gaming styles. Or maybe there's something else going on.
A/N: I imagine that the characters have lives offscreen when they're done filming for the games.
o.o.o
Terra was lounging on a bench in the Land of Departure's courtyard, playing Birth by Sleep with Ven practically draped over his shoulder as he watched.
"Bruiser's coming."
"Yeah, I hear it."
"Ooh, get those Hareraisers before they-"
"I'm on it."
"Try a Sonic Shadow, Terra."
"I don't really need to, I've got it covered."
"But it looks cool! Oooh, no, wait, your D-gauge is full again, D-Link with me!"
Terra sighed and complied.
"Hah! Yeah, take that! Whoo!"
"Ven, it's a little distracting when you're yelling in my ear..."
"Oops! Sorry, Terra."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...It's easier to hit the flying pots when you lock o-"
"I know how to play the game, Ven!"
"Okay! Sorry, sheesh."
A cutscene came right after that which Ven fully expected Terra to skip through, but to his surprise, the scene played right on. "But sometimes just believing in dreams is easier said than done..."
"C'mon, Terra, we've seen all these a billion times. We lived through them, remember?"
"Mm."
"..."
"Go. And when you see her dancing, you'll know that she believes-"
"Terra?"
Terra suddenly paused the scene and swung his legs over the bench so that they were face to face. "Ven," she said, calmly but firmly, "either let me enjoy playing this game in peace, or go hang out with Aqua or the others. I mean it."
"Okay, fine! I just don't get it..." He expected Terra to explain, but his friend merely turned back around and resumed the cutscene. "-and that will help you to believe, too."
The Terra in the game jogged across the castle courtyard, fighting Unversed as he went. The real Terra didn't skip over the next cutscene, either. "Please, may I go with you? I so want to get to the ball."
"I hate these 'protect the damsel' missions," Ven grumbled. "Snow White Game Overed me so many times, I don't know how I managed to get it done in one try for real-" He paused. "Unless maybe the real time was like a game, too?" He shivered. "Terra, what if there's someone playing us like we play the avatars, and every time they mess up, we die and float in darkness forever and some other version of us has to keep playing, over and over and over again-?"
"Ven, can you please be quiet?"
Ven pressed both hands over his own mouth as the HP alarm started blaring.
"Aaaaggghhh!" game Terra screamed.
Ven stared at the unconscious floating body on the screen in horror. "Terra! Terra, I'm so, so sorry! I promise I'll be quiet!"
"It's fine," Terra mumbled.
"Are you gonna load a save file or retry the mission?" Ven asked in a small voice.
Terra wordlessly selected the 'Retry' option.
Ven was much more subdued as he watched the game Terra escort Cinderella down the castle entrance hall, defending her from hordes of Unversed. He let out a quiet sigh of relief when they reached the doors, successfully completing the mission. "Oh, good."
"Thank you, Terra," Cinderella said warmly on the screen.
"She's really pretty, isn't she," Terra said softly.
"Huh?" Ven stared at the virtual girl in the shimmering silvery dress. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, they're all pretty." He frowned. "Come to think of it, we're all pretty, except, like, Master Xehanort. And Vexen. Aladdin told me the other day that I look like a girl. And you know what, I think he's right, I was looking at all those cosplay photos Tron found, and the girls who dress up like Roxas look more like him than the guys do, and he looks just like me so I was thinking-"
"Aaaaggghhh!"
Ven shot to his feet in shock. "I made you die again? Terra I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sor-!"
"It's fine."
Ven gaped. "Terra, why didn't you pick 'Continue'? The last time you saved was in the Lanes Between!"
"It's fine," Terra repeated.
"But you'll have to play the entire world all over again!"
Pause. Glare.
Ven clapped his hands over his own mouth again.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's just that my friends made me the most beautiful dress..."
"You know," Ven whispered cautiously, "you can skip through all the cutscenes, because we just watched them-"
"Ven, the next time you open your mouth, I'll sit on you."
"Sorry!"
Fairy Godmother, escort-the-damsel, ballroom dancing, boss crashes the party, game Terra heads off to face it-
"Aaaaggghhh!"
"What?" Ven cried. "But I was good this time!"
Continue
Retry
[Load Game]
"Terra!"
Terra didn't skip over a single one of the cutscenes this time, either. Bored, Ven tossed his Keyblade into Glider form and whooshed around the courtyard, trying tout some of the new moves he and Roxas and Sora had experimented with earlier. When he came back, the game Terra was running down the staircase outside the ballroom.
"Finally." Ven dismissed his Keyblade and draped back over Terra's shoulder again to watch.
"Aaaaggghhh!"
"Are you doing this on purpose?" Ven shrieked.
Continue
Retry
[Load Game]
"TERRA!"
o.o.o
Author's Notes: This one's my second-favorite so far (after "Beginnings"). Though I think it was more fun to write than it is to read, I dunno.
Complete: 7/100
