Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts character/some of the story (c) Square Enix


Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 9

The five began their ascent to the mountain, their destination its summit. Apparently, someone had spotted the man making his way there. Kyrie had already drawn her keyblades, prepared to face anything from shadows to Assault Riders. But once they got to the summit, she was caught off guard. Hearing a hawk's shrill cry, she looked up as a hawk flew overhead, before it headed to a figure at the top of the summit. It landed on the figure's shoulder, revealing it to be Shan-Yu.

Suddenly, hundreds of heartless appeared behind him, a kind that Kyrie had never seen before. They were small, a dark yellow-orange, and looked like they had propellers. She knew they probably weren't much of a fight, but they had the advantage despite this.

They had the advantage of numbers.

"Whoa!" Sora gasped as the group stared at the large horde with wide eyes. Shan-Yu unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the group.

"Attack!" and with that, the horde descended on the group. Sora and Kyrie were the first to run in, with Ping, Donald, and Goofy following behind them. Using both keyblades, Kyrie struck down heartless after heartless in a series of jumps, flips, spins, and uppercuts. But whenever one caught her off guard and landed a blow, the rest seemed to swoop in and try to deal their own blows.

This was the case as Kyrie was thrown back by a large, red, tower-like heartless that stuck her in the side with its head.

"Ugh!" she thought as she landed in the snow, making a flurry of it shoot up and cover some of her body. Thankfully, the heartless became confused because the whiteness of her hair seemed to have blended with the snow around her, and snow covered her skirt like a white blanket. Using this to her advantage, she allowed a large number to swarm before shooting up, leaping in the air as she spun, taking out most of them instantly.

Soon, the horde was gone as the five fighters regrouped. Most of them had their fair share of damage, which Donald instantly fixed with a simple cure. The group looked up as Shan-Yu glared at him.

"Raah!" he yelled as he ran down the large slope, a smaller group of heartless behind him. Kyrie heard crunching of snow from behind and turned just as the three soldiers from before walked over.

"Stand back."

"We'll handle this." The red-armored man began to aim what looked like to be a rocket at Shan-Yu. At that moment, Ping looked at him and gasped, before running forward and knocking the man over, swiping the rocket from his arms.

"Sorry!" she shouted as she ran forward. She dove for the ground, aimed the rocket at the mountain, before looking around for a moment, her eyes landing on Mushu. She quickly grabbed him and forced him to light the rocket, letting him go as he jumped on the tip. Then, it went off.

"You're going the wrong way!" he shouted as the rocket went towards the mountain. It made impact with a small "poof" before an avalanche of snow came barreling towards them.

"Yes!" Ping exclaimed, but Kyrie just stared at her with wide eyes.

"We have to get out of here!" she thought, her heart hammering as the mountain of snow came closer and closer.

"Captain?" Sora exclaimed, astonished. Kyrie turned and watched at the captain approached, Ping gasping as well as she ran at him.

"Look out!" she cried, grabbing his arm as the others made their mad dash to get away from the avalanche. Sora hesitated, and Kyrie had to jump at him, shoving him backwards as they both flew out of the path of the snow. Kyrie landed with a soft thud, as Sora landed a few feet away, dazed and confused. Donald helped him to his feet, while Goofy came over to do the same with Kyrie.

"Gawrsh, are you both alright?" Goofy asked as he helped her to her feet. She nodded as well as Sora, before he turned to her.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to tackle me like that!" he whined, rubbing his hands over his stomach. Kyrie silently giggled as she rolled her eyes, sometimes this boy just didn't seem to get it. The four began walking over to Ping and the captain, Kyrie taking note of the depressed and ashamed expression on the girl's face as she looked at the ground. Realizing that she could jeopardize their cover as army soldiers, Kyrie ducked behind Goofy for cover.

"Ping! Captain!" Sora called as he ran over. Stopping a few feet away, Goofy sighed in relief.

"Oh boy, you're okay!" he spoke, relieved. But the glare Shang gave him silenced him as he glared at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You all knew, didn't you? You knew Ping was really a woman in disguise." He stopped, spotting Kyrie as she hid behind Goofy, his expression darkening.

"You. You're the girl from the mountain. What are you-" he stopped, turning to glare at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You dare allow a woman, no, two women, to fight alongside you in a battlefield? Are you not men?" he exclaimed. Kyrie felt her blood boil, how could he say such terrible things? Drawing her keyblade, she stepped in front of the trio and stared the man down, challenging him.

"Keep talking, you bastard. See where it gets you." she thought as she glared murderously at him, her vision blurring red like before. She could only guess that her eyes were now red, and her aura angry.

Shang stared at the girl in front of him in shock. He could literally feel the anger rolling off her in waves, but he chose to ignore it. What could a girl her size do to him? He turned his attention to Ping, and began to approach her.

"I can't believe you lied to me." He spoke, walking past her. He stopped, placing his hands on his hips, not meeting her gaze.

"The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Army… is death." Ping turned to face him, as Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie stared at him in stunned silence. She had never told them that there was such a high punishment if anyone were to ever find out her true gender. He looked over his shoulder at them, remaining silent for a moment longer before speaking.

"Get out of my sight… now. You're all dismissed."

"But Captain…" Sora started, but stopped when Kyrie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"My debt is repaid." And with that, he walked away, his soldiers following after them. Ping sighed as she slumped, Mushu appearing on her shoulder, his expression that of regret.

"Mulan… I blew it."

-A few minutes later-

After a few minutes, Ping, or now Mulan, had taken off her bulky armor and allowed her hair down, but it only reached to just above her shoulders. Kyrie stared at her, smiling sympathetically at the young woman. She turned to them, smiling sadly.

"Thank you, everyone. Sorry I got you in trouble." She apologized. Sora and Kyrie shook their heads, before Sora spoke up.

"It's no big deal. So Ping… I mean, uh, Mulan… what're you gonna do now?" he asked. She started walking down the mountain, before looking at him from over her shoulder.

"Go back home." She answered. Mushu walked beside her sadly, and Kyrie felt a pang of sympathy for the small dragon.

"You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling." He sighed. Sora immediately grabbed Donald and Goofy, holding them as the three smiled.

"Relax, we'll take our share of the blame." He smiled. Kyrie nodded as she walked forward and placed a hand on the taller girl's shoulder. Pulling out her notebook, she began to write.

Don't worry, Mulan. I'll take the blame too. After all, we girls have to stick together.

Mulan read her words before she turned to them and smiled at their silly antics.

"Thanks. You're all wonderful friends." She smiled. Sora grinned and the group began walking. About halfway down the summit, however, an inhuman roar resounded. Startled, the group ran over to the edge to investigate, spotting Shan-Yu as he popped out of the snow, like a daisy. Her eyes widened.

"How in the world did he survive?" she thought, staring at him in shock. Sora and Mulan shared similar looks of shock as they watched him gather his heartless.

"Shan-Yu?" She gasped. Sora stared at the man, his jaw dropped.

"He's alive." he exclaimed. The Hun leader began his move, making her jerk back when she realized just where exactly he was going.

"He's headed for the Imperial City! We've got to warn Shang!" she exclaimed. She and Sora turned to each other and nodded, before Kyrie grabbed their wrists and began to pull them towards the exit. With that, the group ran, knowing that Shang and the Emperor's life were hanging in the balance.

-The Palace-

The group caught up to the army just as they walked through the palace walls, Kyrie pausing when she realized that some of the soldiers moved erratically, almost like a zombie. She scrutinized them for a moment, before following the others as they caught up to Shang.

"Shang!" Mulan shouted, making the man stop as she stopped right beside him.

"Shan-Yu's alive! He's headed this way!" she explained, sounding urgent. The man placed a hand on his hip as he stared at her, disbelieving.

"And why should I believe you this time?" he asked. Kyrie glared at him, what in the world was this man thinking? Sora seemed to share similar thoughts as he spoke up.

"But… she's telling you the truth!" he added. Donald stared at them angrily for a moment before he spotted something, quacking as he pointed to the sky. All eyes shot up and spotted a familiar hawk as it flew to the rooftops, landing on a familiar shoulder. His eyes widened.

"Guard the palace! Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" he shouted as he waved his hand. Three of his men ran past him, but the others stayed in place, their body movements erratic. He turned to them.

"That's an order!" but within seconds, the men became Nightwalkers. Kyrie drew her keyblades, as well as Sora, as the two and Mulan rushed in to protect Shang.

"Captain! We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Sora ordered as the three blade-wielding protectors stood in front of the confused man. When he didn't move, Donald turned to him.

"That's an order!" he shouted. The man gave the group a small smile before running towards the palace. From that point, it was all child's play as the group took down the heartless that infested the courtyard. Once it was cleared, the group turned towards the palace.

"The Emperor's in danger!"

"No time to lose!" and with that, the group broke into a sprint as they ran towards the palace doors. But once they got there, they stopped.

Shan-Yu was standing in front of the emperor, a sword held to his throat. The man glanced at the group for a moment, catching Mulan's nervous expression as he grinned. Without warning, Shang dropped down in front of them as the emperor moved back, the man, decking him in the chin and elbowing him in the stomach, effectively knocking him down before rushing the emperor into the palace, two of the three soldiers closing the large gates behind them. Before Shan-Yu could make a move towards the doors, the group rushed in, blocking his way.

"It ends now!" Mulan spoke, raising her sword at him as she got into position.

"Right now!" Sora added, glaring at the man. Shan-Yu simply smirked as his hawk landed on his shoulder, before chuckling as a dark aura wrapped around him.

From there, it went straight to chaos.

Kyrie, Sora, and Mulan went straight after Shan-Yu, while Donald and Goofy dealt with the hawk. The three blade-wielders had a difficult time dealing blows with the man, since he was much stronger in arm strength than any of them were. But when she got into a blade-on-blade confrontation with him, Kyrie spotted his one weakness. His feet.

Smirking, she used her right leg and swept the larger man off his feet, making him skid a few feet as she dealt him a massive two-keyblade blow to his side. Sora smirked and gave her a thumbs up when she landed gracefully on her feet.

"Great job, Kyrie!" he called as he rushed in, trading blows with the man. Kyrie nodded before the boy was thrown back, deadpanning as she watched him fly into a pillar. She sighed and shrugged, he got cocky and distracted.

"I really need to teach him not to be so absent-minded…" she thought. Suddenly, she heard a cry and turned, as Mulan was thrown into the ground. Within seconds, Shan-Yu stood over her, sword raised, as he was about to bring it down on her neck. But before he could, Mulan's sword met his in a fury of sparks as metal met metal. Kyrie quickly rushed in, slamming one keyblade into his shoulder and the other into his chest, sending him flying. Sora rushed in as he and Mulan dealt the final blow, their weapons slamming into Shan-Yu's chest.

With that, the villain fell, and the group cheered in victory. Mushu seemed the most excited as he began running around and jumping.

"Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun! Aw, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute… I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!" Kyrie smiled and rolled her eyes at the dragon's antics. But when she heard the large doors opening, she turned her attention to Shang and the Emperor as they stepped out. They walked over and stopped a few feet away from them, before the emperor started speaking.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." He spoke. She nodded and stepped forward, brushing some hair behind her ear as she bowed.

"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier. You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name." Kyrie rolled her eyes and Sora shook his head, placing his hands on his hips.

"We get the picture…"

"Yeah, we get it alright. These people are so damn sexist! Even the organization had more respect for women than these people!" Kyrie thought. He ignored the boy's words and simply continued on.

"You're a young woman. And in the end…" Kyrie felt her heart drop.

"Oh please don't execute her, please don't execute her, please…" she prayed.

"…you have saved us all." Startled, Kyrie looked up and watched as he bowed in front of her, making the young woman flustered. A crowd began to cheer in the courtyard and Donald started jumping up and down in joy.

"Your Excellency!" Mulan cried, hugging him. Once she pulled away, the emperor turned to Shang. "Captain Li?"

Shang proceeded to pick up Shan-Yu's sword and presented it to Mulan. Once she took the sword, he began to explain.

"Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China." Mulan smiled as she bowed.

"Thank you!" Shang was silent before turning to the rest of the group.

"Mulan."

"Yes?"

"Sora."

"Sir."

"Donald."

"Goofy."

"Yes, sir."

"And uh…" he paused, staring at Kyrie. For one, he didn't know what her name was since none of them had spoken her name in his presence, and blushed a little as she stared at him. Oh boy, was this an awkward situation. Thankfully, Mulan stepped in.

"And Kyrie, right captain?" she asked sweetly. The man jumped, before nodding.

"Ah, yes. And Kyrie." the girl nodded before he continued, bowing.

"Thank you." the group nodded and smiled as the emperor leaned in.

"'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that!" the group started laughing at the redness in Shang's face before Sora placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Can I get an autograph?" he teased. She smiled as she turned to him.

"Thanks for everything, Sora." She thanked. He nodded as Mushu began to walk away, mumbling to himself as he did so.

"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian! They GOTTA!" everyone was silent as Goofy placed a hand on his chin.

"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian!" the dragon jumped, not realizing he had actually been heard.

"What? Oh, no, no… don't worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us guardians." At this, the rest of the group managed to put two and two together, irritating both Sora and Kyrie.

"You tricked us!"

"No, no, no, no, see I did… I just, uh…" and then he started running, with Kyrie and Sora hot on his tail. But after a moment, Mulan gasped, as the sword was surrounded by light. Kyrie felt the fluttery feeling inside her chest as the sword began to hover into the air, a keyhole appearing behind it as it did so. Sora repeated what he did in Hollow Bastion, and the light faded away. Donald smiled as he pumped his small fist.

"Okay!"

"Guess it's about time to be movin' on." Goofy added. The emperor nodded, a small sad smile on his face.

"You shall be missed." Sora turned and brushed his finger against his nose, a small, sad look on his face.

"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" he asked, hopeful. Mulan nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!" at this, Shang moved closer to her side.

"We will look forward to your return." Sora grinned at the pair.

"You two play nice!" he teased, making the two jump as their cheeks flooded with color. Kyrie giggled silently as she watched them.

"Whoa…watch it, soldier!" Mulan began to giggle as Mushu appeared on her shoulder, grinning at her. Then she turned to them.

"Goodbye, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kyrie." she spoke. The four nodded and with that, they left the palace.


Yep, that's the end of the first part in Land of Dragons. Now you know what comes next, it's...Beats's Castle! One of my favorite worlds because it crought back so many memories. Only sad thing is that you did get to kick Gaston's ass. I would've personally enjoyed it. Ah well.

Please Read and Review!